[701] Beneath which there was poison concealed, Hardouin says. Hannibal killed himself in a similar manner; also Demosthenes, as mentioned in the next Chapter.
[702] The adopted son of the great Marius. This event happened in his consulship, B.C. 82. After his defeat by Sylla at Sacriportus, he retired into the fortified town of Præneste, where he had deposited the treasures of the Capitoline temple. The temple, after this conflagration, was rebuilt by order of Sylla.
[703] Called the “Fasti;” probably because this was the first word of the title.
[704] “Dies fasti.” These were the days on which the courts sat, and the Prætor, who was the chief judge, gave his decisions. The word “fasti” is derived from the ancient Latin “for,” or from the old Greek word φάω, both signifying “to speak:” consequently the “dies fasti” were “the speaking days,” and the “dies nefasti” the “non-speaking days,” in allusion to the restrictions put upon the judgments of the Prætor.
[705] This complex state of the Roman Calendar long remained one of the sources from which the priesthood and the patrician order derived their power and influence over the plebeians. Having no other method of ascertaining what days were “fasti,” and what were “nefasti,” the lower classes were obliged either to apply to the priests and nobles for information, or to await the proclamation by the priests of the various festivals about to take place.
[706] Appius Claudius Cæcus, the Censor and jurisconsult, who constructed the Appian Way.
[707] A.U.C. 440, or B.C. 314.
[708] In the war, probably, with the twelve nations of Etruria, who were conquered by the Consul Fabius A.U.C. 444. See Livy, B. ix.
[709] The father of the former C. Pœtilius Libo, was Consul A.U.C. 428: the father of the latter, Cneius Domitius Calvinus, was Consul A.U.C. 432.
[710] “Anulos abjectos.”