Nor was the founder of Præneste absent,
Cæculus, the reputed son of Vulcan.
Præneste was deemed a place of military importance, from its situation, and Cicero (in Catal.) tells us that Catiline, when foiled in his attempt to seize the capital, endeavoured to make himself master of Præneste. This town was particularly celebrated for very cold springs, which were held in high esteem, as Strabo assures us, and Horace mentions the circumstance in one of his odes.
“seu mihi frigidum
Præneste, seu Tibur supinum,
Seu liquidæ placuere Baiæ.”
[NOTE 53.]
Equal flutes right and left handed.
Flutes were called in Latin tibiæ, because they were made of the shank or shin-bone of some animal, until the discovery of the art of boring flutes, when they began to use wood,
“Longave multifori delectat tibia buxi.”—Ovid.
The manner in which these instruments were played on the stage, and the distinction of right- and left-handed flutes, has never been ascertained with any degree of certainty: few subjects have more obstinately baffled the researches of the learned. The most perspicuous detail of all that the moderns are acquainted with respecting the ancient flutes, is written by the learned Madame Dacier, part of which is quoted in the Preface to this Translation.