3342* ff. Note the subjunctive after ‘who (that)’ here and in ll. 3349, 3355: see note on Prol. 460.
3418. The name ‘Spertachus’ is given in full by F in the Latin summary, l. 3426 (margin). In the English text the first syllable is abbreviated in most copies, but A has ‘Spartachus’ and H₃ ‘Spertachus.’
3539. Pite feigned: cp. l. 3835.
3581. The reference should be to Juvenal, Sat. viii. 269 ff.,
‘Malo pater tibi sit Thersites, dummodo tu sis
Aeacidae similis, Vulcaniaque arma capessas,
Quam te Thersitae similem genuisset Achilles.’
Gower has here taken the point out of the quotation to a great extent, but it occurs in the Mirour, 23371 ff., in its proper form, though with the same false reference.
3627 ff. From the Book of Judges, ch. vii.