[291] The chamberlains on duty. At the emperor’s formal morning reception a large number of court officials was present, to maintain order, announce those who were awaiting admission and accompany them into the hall of audience. These persons were called admissionales (admitters) or people ab admissione, ex officio admissionis etc. (See Suet, Vesp. 14, etc.)
[292] Saturnalia. A name given to a festival held for several days in the latter part of the month of December, in honor of the old Italian god of the harvest, Saturnus. It resembled in some respects our Christmas festivities, in others the carnival gayeties. The Saturnalia commemorated the happy age of Saturnus. All work ceased. Our “Happy New Year!” or the cry: “Fool, let the fool out!” had their counterpart in the shouts echoing on all sides: “Io saturnalia! Io bona saturnalia!” People caroused, feasted and gambled; pleased each other with gifts and surprises. The slaves were admitted to table, in token, that under the rule of Saturnus there had been no distinction of rank; all sorts of jests and amusements were practised, and a certain liberty of word and deed everywhere prevailed.
[293] Mead (Mulsum, scil. vinum) prepared from cider and honey, a favorite drink, especially at the prandium.
[294] He spoke, and the dark-browed Kronion nodded assent. In these words Lucilia quotes a well-known line of the Iliad (Il. I. 528.)
Ἡ, καὶ κυανέησιν ἐπ’ ὀφρύσι νεῦσε Κρονίων.
How customary such quotations were—not only in Latin translations, but in the original language—appears in Pliny’s letters, for instance, I, 24, where in two different passages lines from the Iliad are quoted, among them the one mentioned here, also in I, 18, (farther below in the same letter) I, 20, (several times;) IV, 28; V. 19; V, 96. Elsewhere in Pliny numerous Greek words and phrases are found in the Latin text (see Ep. I, 13, 19, 20; II, 2, 3, 12, 13, 14, 20; IV, 10; VI, 32, etc.) as in our own times a French, English, or Latin phrase occurs in a German letter. Every cultivated person understood Greek; nay, the preference for this language had become a fashionable mania, just as in the last century there was a craze for French in Germany. (See Juv. Sat., VI, 185: omnia Graece. Everything is Greek!)
[295] Reed. A pen made from a reed, cut in the same manner as our goose quills, was often used for writing.
[296] Spartacus. The terrible insurrection of the slaves under Spartacus failed only on account of the want of harmony among the rebels. This insurrection, 71 B.C. was conquered with the utmost difficulty. Spartacus, after a famous battle, fell with his ablest comrades.
[297] Daughter of Ares. A name given to Rome in consequence of the well-known legend, that Romulus and Remus were sons of the war-god Mars and the vestal virgin Rhea Silvia. Quintus here uses the Hellenic name Ares, as the words Ῥώμη θυγάτηρ Ἄρεος which occur in the first verse of a celebrated ode by the Greek poetess Melinno (600 B.C.) flitted before his mind.
[298] Against Christianity. Concerning the persecutions of the Christians under Domitian, see Dio Cass. XLVII, 16.