[174] The long flowing hair of a female slave. This fancy was not at all unusual. (See Petron., 27.)
[175] Hispalis. A city in southern Spain, now Seville.
[176] Castanets. Castanet dances are often represented in pictures. (See O. Jahn, Fresco-paintings on the walls of the columbarium, in the Villa Pamfili.)
[177] Jester. Jesters, especially dwarfs, were very popular in ancient Rome. The scene that follows here is based upon various incidents in a description by Lucian, which has come down to modern times: “The Banquet, or The Lapithae” 18, 19. In this a hideous little fellow, who gives utterance to all sorts of jests and witticisms, appears at Aristaenetus’ banquet. "Finally he addressed each person with some mischievous joke—and each laughed as his turn came. But when he accosted Alcidamas, calling him a Maltese puppy, the latter, especially as he had long been jealous of the applause and attention bestowed on the jester by the whole company, grew angry, threw off his cloak and challenged the dwarf to a boxing-match. What could the poor jester do? It was infinitely comical to see a philosopher fight with a clown. Many of the spectators were ashamed of the scene, but others laughed merrily, until Alcidamas was at last beaten black and blue.”
[178] Velarium. The cloth hung across the amphitheatre, to screen it from the sun.
[179] The baths of Titus were located near the Cyprius Street, on the site of Nero’s domus aurea, which had been destroyed after its builder’s death.
[180] Curtain. The drop-scene (as we should call it) raised between the acts of a play. The curtain, properly so-called, was the aulaeum. These were not drawn up, as in modern theatres, but lowered.
[181] A tall cross. Crucifixion was the common punishment of great crimes.
[182] Trimeter. A verse of three double feet—the usual metre in dramatic verse.
[183] The capital punishment of a criminal slave. Such executions in theatrical form, especially pantomimic representations of them, were no rarity in the arena. Condemned criminals were specially trained for such performances. “They entered, clad in costly, gold-broidered tunics and purple mantles, and adorned with golden wreaths; suddenly, like the death-dealing robes of Medea, flames burst from these magnificent garments, in which the miserable creatures died a cruel death. There was scarcely a torture or terrible end known in history or literature, with whose representation the populace had not been entertained in the amphitheatre. Hercules was seen burning to death on Mt. Oeta, Mucius Scaevola holding his hand over the brazier of coals till it was consumed, the robber, Laureolus, the hero of a well-known farce, fastened to a cross and torn by wild beasts. At the same spectacle, another condemned criminal, in the character of Orpheus, ascended from the ground as if returning from the nether-world. Nature seemed enchanted by his playing, the rocks and trees moved towards him, birds hovered over him, countless animals surrounded him; when the scene had lasted long enough, he was torn to pieces by a bear.” (Friedlaender II, 268, etc.) It can scarcely be termed an unwarrantable license, that Lycoris presents a similar spectacle for the amusement of her guests. The masters’ right to dispose of the lives and persons of their slaves had been restricted in the first century, it is true; but the omnipotent Parthenius was doubtless superior to such legal edicts.