[52.] First to drink)—Ver. 342. To be the first to drink, and to take the higher place on the couch when eating, was the privilege of the most honored guests, who usually bathed, and were then anointed before the repast.
[53.] Banquet full of doubts)—Ver. 342. “Coena dubia.” Horace, who borrows many of his phrases from Terence, uses the same expression.
[54.] Since you reign alone)—Ver. 605. This is a remark well put into the mouth of an Athenian, as the public were very jealous of any person becoming paramount to the laws, and to prevent it, were frequently guilty of the most odious oppression.
[55.] So many minds)—Ver. 454. “Quot homines, tot sententiæ.” This is a famous adage. One similar to the succeeding one is found in the Second Eclogue of Virgil, l. 65: “Trahit sua quemque voluptas,” exactly equivalent to our saying, “Every man to his taste.”
[56.] Must deliberate further)—Ver. 457. “Amplius deliberandum.” This is probably a satirical allusion to the judicial system of procrastination, which, by the Romans, was called “ampliatio.” When the judges could not come to a satisfactory conclusion about a cause, they signified it by the letters N. L. (for “non liquet,” “it is not clear”), and put off the suit for a rehearing.
[57.] Much more at a loss)—Ver. 459. See the Poenulus of Plautus, where advocates or assistants are introduced among the Dramatic Personæ. Colman has the following remarks on this quaint passage: “I believe there is no Scene in Comedy more highly seasoned with the ridiculous than this before us. The idea is truly comic, and it is worked up with all that simplicity and chastity so peculiar to the manner of Terence. An ordinary writer would have indulged himself in twenty little conceits on this occasion; but the dry gravity of Terence infinitely surpasses, as true humor, all the drolleries which, perhaps, even those great masters of Comedy, Plautus or Molière, might have been tempted to throw out. It is the highest art of a Dramatic Author, on some occasions, to leave a good deal to the Actor; and it has been remarked by Heinsius and others, that Terence was particularly attentive to this circumstance.”
[58.] From his place of exercise)—Ver. 484. “Palæstra.” He alludes to the Procurer’s house under this name.
[59.] Befall his own safety)—Ver. 490. Overhearing Phædria earnest and determined, and the Procurer obstinate and inflexible, Antipho and Geta join in apprehending that the brutality of the latter may provoke Phædria to some act of violence.
[60.] With fine words)—Ver. 499. “Phaleratis dictis.” “Phaleræ” were, properly, the silver ornaments with which horses were decked out, and being only for show, and not for use, gave rise to this saying. “Ductes” was an obscene word, and not likely to be used by any but such characters as Dorio.
[61.] A wolf by the ears)—Ver. 505. A proverbial expression which, according to Suetonius, was frequently in the mouth of Tiberius Cæsar.