libera = while yet free, emphatic. The State was no longer free when Augustus received this title, 2 B.C.—Duff.
247 frangebat vertice vitem = he had the vine-switch (rattan) broken on his head, i.e. served as a common soldier.—D.
248 dolabra = half-hatchet for cutting stakes, and half-pickaxe for digging the fossa. For dolabra, cf. Dolabella.
249 Cimbros, annihilated by Marius and Catulus near Vercellae, 101 B.C.
250 Excipit = faced (lit. is ready to receive); metaphor from field-sports.—D.
[B.] From a poem by Cicero on his fellow-townsman Marius.
Hic Iovis altisoni subito pinnata satelles
Arboris e trunco serpentis saucia morsu
Surrigit ipsa feris transfigens unguibus anguem
Semianimum et varia graviter cervice micantem.