[22.] Out of his allowance)—Ver. 43. Donatus tells us that the slaves received four “modii,” or measures of corn, each month, which was called their “demensum.”
[23.] Will be struck)—Ver. 48. “Ferietur.” “To strike” a person for a present was said when it was extorted from him reluctantly. So in the Trinummuns of Plautus, l. 247, “Ibi illa pendentem ferit.” “Then does she strike while he is wavering.”
[24.] For another present)—Ver. 48. Presents were usually made to persons on their birthday, on the day of their marriage, and on the birth of their children.
[25.] Initiate him)—Ver. 49. It is not known what initiation is here referred to. Madame Dacier thinks it was an initiation into the great mysteries of Ceres, which was commonly performed while children were yet very young; others suggest that it means the period of weaning the child, and initiating it into the use of another kind of diet. Donatus says, that Varro speaks of children being initiated into the mysteries of the Deities Edulia, Potica, and Cuba, the Divinities of Eating, Drinking, and Sleeping.
[26.] Ready counted out)—Ver. 53. “Lectum,” literally “picked out” or “chosen”—the coins being of full weight.
[27.] Have been angry with me)—Ver. 74. He alludes to the common belief that each person had a Genius or Guardian Deity; and that when misfortune overtook him, he had been abandoned by his Genius.
[28.] Kick against the spur)—Ver. 78. “To kick against the pricks,” or “in spite of the spur,” was a common Greek proverb. The expression occurs in the New Testament, Acts ix. 5. “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”
[29.] To make your market)—Ver. 79. This is a metaphorical expression taken from traffic, in which merchants suit themselves to the times, and fix a price on their commodities, according to the course of the market.
[30.] To the school)—Ver. 86. It was the custom for the “lenones,” or “procurers,” to send their female slaves to music-schools, in order to learn accomplishments. So in the Prologue to the Rudens of Plautus: “This Procurer brought the maiden to Cyrene hither. A certain Athenian youth, a citizen of this city, beheld her us she was going home from the music-school.”
[31.] Young man in tears)—Ver. 92. In the Play of Apollodorus, it was the barber himself that gave the account how he had just returned from cutting off the young woman’s hair, which was one of the usual ceremonies in mourning among the Greeks. Donatus remarks, that Terence altered this circumstance that he might not shock a Roman audience by a reference to manners so different from their own.