[331] The daughters of our noblest families are stolen. That this was really to be expected, is proved by the incredible description Dio Cassius gives us of Nero’s conduct, (LXII, 15.)
[332] The suspicious tyrant who has the walls of his sleeping-room lined with mirrors. See Suet, Dom. 14.
[333] There are troops enough in Gallia Lugdunensis. True, nothing is expressly stated concerning this fact in the reign of Domitian; but as it was the case under Nero, this extremely probable opposition certainly scarcely involves a license. The liberty I take in the treatment of the conspiracy itself, is much greater. Strictly speaking, it was only a revolution in the palace. Considerations more important to the novelist than strict historical accuracy, compel me here to deviate from the accounts of Suetonius and Dio Cassius.
[334] Rodumna on the Liger, (now the Loire). Called at the present day Roanne.
[335] Islands of Pontia. Now Isole di Ponza, opposite the Gulf of Gaeta.
[336] Messana. Now Messina.
[337] Aricia. Now Ariccia.
[338] Lanuvium. Now Civita Lavigna.
[339] At the foot of the Aventine was a slip arranged by the aediles M. Aemilius Lepidus and L. Aemilius Paulus in the year 193 B.C. Ships still lie at anchor there at the present day.
[340] Long-haired woollen cloaks. The paenulae, the travelling and winter garments made of rough woollen material or leather. The lacerna differed from the paenula in being an open garment like the Greek pallium, and fastened on the right shoulder by means of a buckle (fibula), whereas the paenula was what is called a vestimentum clausam with an opening for the head. (Mart. XIV, 132, 133.) See Becker’s Gallus, vol. II, p. 95, etc.