[695] Gustus. III., 93, "Quando omne peractum est, et jam defecit nostrum mare, dum gula sævit, retibus assiduis penitus scrutante macello proxima." The idea is probably from Seneca. "Quidquid avium volitat, quidquid piscium natat, quidquid ferarum discurrit, nostris sepelitur ventribus." Contr. V. pr. The Cœna consisted of three parts. 1. Gustus (Gustatio), or Promulsis. 2. Fercula: different courses. 3. Mensæ Secundæ. The gustus contained dishes designed more to excite than to satisfy hunger: vegetables, as the lactuca (Mart., xiii., 14), shell and other fish, with piquant sauces: mulsum (Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 24. Plin., i., Ep. 15). Cf. Bekker's Gallus, p. 466, 493. Vide ad Sat. vi., 428.
[696] Difficile, i. e., "non dubitant." Vid. Schol. Not that they "have no difficulty" in raising the money, as Crepereius Pollio found. Cf. ix., 5.
[697] Oppositis. "Ager oppositus est pignori ob decem minas." Ter., Phorm., IV., iii., 56.
[698] Fractâ. "Broken, that the features may not be recognized:" alluding probably to some well-known transaction of the time.
[699] Quadringentis. Cf. Suet., Vit., 13, "Nec cuiquam minus singuli apparatus quadringentis millibus nummûm constiterunt."
[700] Fictile. III., 168, "Fictilibus cœnare pudet."
[701] Miscellanea. "A special diet-bread to advantage the combatants at once in breath and strength." Holyday. It is said to have been a mixture of cheese and flour; probably a kind of macaroni. "Gladiatoria sagina." Tac., Hist., ii., 88. Prop., IV., viii., 25.
[702] Ferratû. XIV., 259, "Æratâ multus in arcâ fiscus." X., 25. Hor., i., Sat. i., 67.
[703] E cœlo. This precept has been assigned to Socrates, Chilo, Thales, Cleobulus, Bias, Pythagoras. It was inscribed in gold letters over the portico of the temple of Delphi. Hence, perhaps, the notion afterward, that it was derived immediately from heaven.
[704] Conjugium. Cf. Æsch., Pr. V., 890. Ov., Her., ix., 32, "Si qua voles aptè nuberè nube pari."