[33] Newly-bleached toga. The fullers (fullones) played an important part in ancient Rome. When togas became soiled and unsightly, they were given to the fullo to be washed, smoothed, and renovated. At the festivals, even the most insignificant man appeared, so far as his circumstances would permit, in gala dress.
[34] In the form of the hawk-headed god, Osiris. Nothing is said by the ancient authors concerning such a farce enacted by Domitian; but from all we know of the man’s character, there is no doubt that my imagination does him no injustice. With respect to the incident itself, similar ones actually happened, and in A. D. 19 Flavius Josephus relates that a Roman knight, Decius Mundus, pursued an aristocratic lady called Paulina a long time with offers of love, without obtaining a hearing. As she was eagerly devoted to the worship of the goddess Isis, Decius Mundus, by the offer of 5,000 denarii, induced the priest to tell her that the god Anubis (son of Isis and Osiris) desired a nocturnal meeting. Paulina believed this, and Decius Mundus appeared in the jackal-headed mask of the god. The cheat was successful, but when the emperor Tiberius heard of it, he sent the knight into exile, ordered the priests to be crucified, the temple levelled to the ground, and the statue of the goddess flung into the water.—By the way, it may be remarked that Domitian, before he was emperor, escaped from the besieged Capitol, whither he had fled in the war with Vitellius, in the costume of a priest of Isisrsquo;s defeat.
[35] Is to be buried. Usually a longer interval elapsed between the date of death and the funeral—about a week.
[36] Temple of the Flavia Family. See Suet, Dom. 15 and 17. The ashes of Vespasian and Titus lay there.
[37] I see him, barefoot, his mantle torn, riding towards Phaon’s house. For Nero’s terrible end, see Suet. Ner. 48 and following pages. Dio Cass. LXIII, 27, etc. Phaon was a freedman of the emperor, one of the few who were faithful to him to the last. See also what Dio Cassius (LXXVII, 15.) relates of the visions of Caracalla.
[38] At this moment the heavy tread of Clodianus was heard approaching. In Dio Cassius (LXVII, 15), it is Domitia, the empress, who surprises the boy playing with the little wooden tablet.
[39] Service in the cubiculum. Service at the altar of the Lares. See Suet. Dom. 17.
[40] The holy citadel of Jerusalem. The destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, son of Vespasian, the reigning emperor at that time, occurred on the 10th of August, A. D. 70.
[41] Catching flies, as he had been wont to do as a boy. See Suet. Dom. 3: “In the commencement of his reign he spent several hours alone every day, doing nothing but catching flies and impaling them on a sharp stylus.”
[42] Cassiopeia. A constellation near Cepheus, so called for Cassiopeia, the mother of Andromeda, who was placed among the stars. See Prop. I, 17, 3; Ov. Met. IV, 7, 38.