The clearing the mud from rivers and harbours,' or else the fisheries, ferries, and harbour dues.' FA. BRI. Or the construction and reparation of harbours.' GR.

32. The cleansing of the public sewers.' VS. cf. Arist. Eth. iv. 1.

The furnishing of a funeral.' G. Scipio's funeral was performed by contract, the sum being raised by subscription: Plin. H. N. xxi. 3. PR.

33. To speculate in a drove of slaves' by buying the whole cargo, and then disposing of them by auction in separate lots. GR. Pers. vi. 76 sq. M.

'A spear' used to be stuck up as the sign of a public auction. It was called the mistress-spear' as implying the dominion over the person and life of the slave, which was then and there vested in the purchaser. BR. M. Tib. II. iv. 54. dominus and domina are often used as adjectives: Ov. Her. iii. 100. H.

34. They once used to blow the horn at the provincial theatres, and attend the strolling company of prize-fighters from town to town.' T. PR. The horn' was sounded to call the people together, as at the shows in our country fairs. M.

Municipium was 'a borough-town,' which had the privileges and freedom of Rome, and at the same time was governed by laws of its own, somewhat like our corporations. M.

35. Their faces were known;' for which Juvenal says 'their cheeks,' the most prominent part of their faces while they were puffing their horns. PR. M.

36. Now they give shows to the people.' From the occasional practice of putting prisoners of war to death at the grave of a favourite chief who had fallen in battle, as the readiest way to appease his manes, arose that of exhibiting combats of gladiators in Rome, at the funerals of eminent persons; to which they were for some time restricted. The magistrates were the first to break through this restriction, by producing them at festivals for the amusement of the citizens. Ambitious men soon found that to gratify the people

with such entertainments was one of the readiest roads to power. Cicero first checked this abuse by a law prohibiting candidates from so doing. Augustus decreed that they should be given but twice a year. Caligula removed every restriction: Domitian gave them every encouragement and even Trajan exhibited the horrid spectacle of 10,000 victims, on his triumph over the Dacians! There were other checks of a secondary nature: among these a decree of the senate, ne quis gladiatorium munus ederet cui minor quadringentorum millium res; Tac. An. iv. 63. and he was also required to be a free citizen; for Harpocras, the freedman of Claudius, exhibited them by the emperor's special indulgence. This will account for the indignation which the poet feels, when such purse-proud upstarts presumed to trifle away the lives of their fellow-creatures at the caprice of an unfeeling rabble. Constantine suppressed these barbarous shows; which were finally abolished by Arcadius and Honorius. cf. Suet. Cæs. 10. Tac. An. xiii. 49. G. T. R.

Vertere pollicem was a sign of condemnation, premere pollicem of favour. cf. Hor. I Ep. xviii. 66. LU. Plin. xxviii. 2. PR. The brutalization, resulting from the frequent sight of these massacres, rendered instances of compassion but rare. If any where, we might have anticipated such pity would be found in the breasts of the Vestals: O tenerum mitemque animum! consurgit ad ictus: et, quoties victor ferrum jugulo inserit, illa delicias ait esse suas! pectusque jacentis virgo modesta jubet converso pollice rumpi; ne lateat pars ulla animæ vitalibus imis, altius impresso dum palpitat ense secutor! Prud. adv. Sym. 1095. No war or pestilence ever swept away such myriads of the human race, as these barbarous sports. In some months, twenty or thirty thousand were slaughtered in Europe alone Nero and Caligula put to death some hundreds in the course of their reigns and even private citizens frequently butchered a thousand in a day! G.

:

37. When the vulgar spectators have notified their wishes, he gives the deathsignal which was waited for, to curry favour with the rabble;' LU. GR. and therefore might be said to kill' the gladiator: cf. 116. R. upon the principle qui facit per alium, facit per se.

From these magnificent exhibitions, they start off to the Ediles to get some lucrative contract, no matter how sordid.' ACH.

38. They farm the jakes,' built for the accommodation of the public, upon payment of a trifle. R. conducere to contract for;' vi. 597. R. see note on 13. cf. Arist. Eth. iv. 1.

40. The elevation of such low people is solely attributable to a frolic of the blind goddess.' x. 366. Hor. I Od. xxxiv. 14 sqq. xxxv. 1 sqq. III Od. xxix. 49 sqq. M. vii. 197 sq. Stat. Th. iii. 179. Claud. in Eut. i. 23 sqq. Hence she is called improba; vi. 605 sqq. δὲ καὶ τῶν τῆς Τύχης ἀγαθῶν καταφρονεῖν, ὁρῶντα, ὥσπερ ἐν σκηνῇ καὶ πολυπροσώπου δράματι, τὸν μὲν ἐξ οἰκέτου δεσπότην προϊόντα, τὸν δ ̓ ἀντὶ πλουσίου πένητα, τὸν δὲ σατράπην ἐκ πένητος ἢ βασιλέα· τοῦτο γάρ τοι καὶ τὸ δεινότατόν ἐστιν, ὅτι, καίτοι μαρτυρουμένης τῆς Τύχης παίζειν τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων πράγματα καὶ ὁμολογούσης μηδέν αὐτῶν εἶναι βέβαιον, ὅμως μεστοὶ περιΐασι Távtes_ov_yıyvopśvwv iλxídwv. Luc. in Nig. 20. R.

41. Vir bonus et pauper linguaque et pectore verus, quid tibi vis, Urbem qui, Fabiane, petis? qui nec leno potes nee comissator haberi, nec pavidos tristi voce citare reos; nec potes uxorem cari corrumpere amici, plaudere nec Cano plaudere nec Glaphyro. Unde miser vives? homo fidus, certus amicus. hoc nihil est ; numquam sic Philomelus eris; Mart. IV. v. Wyatt, in his Epistle to his friend Poynes, shows that he had this Satire before him:

"But how may I this honour now attaine, That cannot dye the colour black a lyer? My Poynes, I cannot frame my tune to fayn, To cloke the truth, for praise without desert, Of them that list all vice for to retayne." Hence he cannot prefer Chaucer's Tale of Sir Topas to his Palæmon and Arcite: he cannot "Praise Syr Topas for a noble tale, And scorne the story that the Knight tolde. Praise him for counsell that is dronke of ale; Grinne when he laughes that beareth all the sway, Frowne when he frownes, and grone when he is pale; On others' lust to hang both night and day." G.

Librum: cf. Hor. A. P. 419 sqq. Pers. i. FA. quod tam grande " oopws!” clamat tibi turba togata, non tu, Pomponi, cœna diserta tua est; Mart. VI. xlviii. M.

42. Poscere to say I should be delighted to have a copy.' FA.

'I am no astrologer.' FA. vi. 553 sqq. xiv. 248 sq. R.

43. Spondere; vi. 548. to the prodigal and expectant heir' (vi. 565 sqq.), R. qui filius ante diem patrios inquirit in annos, Ov. Μ. i. 148. FΑ.

44. Though a soothsayer, I never explored the entrails of a toad, for the purpose of extracting poison. Ex ranae rubeta visceribus, id est, lingua, ossiculo, liene, corde, mira fieri posse constat, sunt enim plurimis medicaminibus referta; Plin. FA. i. 70. PR. vi. 658. 563 sqq. M. Ov. M. xv. 577. R. Either our toad' is not the rana rubeta, or it has lost its noxious qualities in this country. The compounders of poisons might pretend to extract venom from toads, in order to conceal their secret, which more probably was some vegetable or mineral poison. G.

45. Quæ mittit, billets doux and presents.' GR.

inted

whelmed.' G. cf. xiii. 157. The depravity of the Greeks we learn from 1 Cor. vi. 9-11. and elsewhere in the New Testament. M. λa rà šlvn ülgóws avróbı (at Rome) συνώκισται, ὡς τὸ Καππαδοκῶν καὶ Σύρων καὶ Ποντικῶν καὶ ἄλλων πλειόνων· Ath. i. 36. BO.

62. The inhabitants of the East, and especially of Antioch, which was on the Orontes, (Julian. Misop. Herodian II. vii. 15. HN.) were scandalously debauched in their morals, (viii. 158 sq.) and introduced quite new fashions; (vii. 14 sqq. viii. 198 sqq.) Mart. III. iv. V. lvi. Suet. Ves. 19. For a similar metaphor, see vi. 295. Claud. Eut. i. 434. Isa. viii. 6-8. R.

63. Luxuriæ peregrina origo ab exercitu Asiatico invectu in urbem est; tum psaltria sambucistriæque et convivialia ludionum oblectamenta addita epulis; Liv. xxxix. 6. the Sambucum was a triangular lyre. The harp and flute' were very generally played together; cf. Hor. E. ix. 5 sq. and elsewhere. SP.

64. National tambourines.' VS. Lucr. ii. 618. R.

65. There were several Circuses at Rome. The Circus Maximus is here meant, which was first built by Tarquinius Priscus, PR. and by subsequent alterations was able to accommodate 260,000 spectators, KE. being more than three furlongs in length, and one broad; Plin.

xxxvi. 15 s 24. BRI. See 223.

'To stand for hire.' vi. 123. R. i. 47. Puellas, et quas Euphrates et quas mihi misit Orontes; Prop. II. xxiii. 21. R. 66. Hie thither.' G.

ix. 616. Id. Cop. 1. Ov. M. xiv. 654. Claud. Eut. ii. 185. R.

67. The Romans were reduced to the level of prize-fighters; while foreigners were worming themselves into every post of power and proft. LU. To mark his contempt the more, the poet crowds his description with Greek words. G. cf. Hor. ÎI Ep. i. 32 sq. R.

M.

Rusticus; cf. ii. 74. 127. viii. 274 sq.

It is not agreed what part of the dress is meant by rgexidurva. It may be the same as ivdeouis, a gymnastic dress,' 103. vi. 245. T. or the succinct vest of the Greek wrestlers,' G. or 'a suit of livery,' cf. v. 143. RU. or a cloak in which they ran for their supper or dole,' 127 sq. LU. PR. HO. or 'Grecian shoes,' VS. SA. HN. or the same as inrng, i.e. ' prizes worn round the neck," which served as badges to distinguish such as were entitled to partake of the suppers provided at the public expence.'

JS. RI. VO.

Quirinus, a surname of Romulus, derived from curis a Sabine word signifying a spear;' or from Cures, after the admission of the Sabines into Rome. Mars was called Gradivus when incensed, and Quirinus when pacified. Ov. F. ii. 475 sqq. PR. cf. ii. 128.

68. Cf. ii. 143. ACH. Ceroma was an ointment made of oil, wax, and clay; LU. (Mart. VII. xxxii. 9. PR.) Plin. xxviii. 4 s 13. xxxv. 12 sq. R. with which they besmeared their neck and breast, and that profusely; for Seneca, telling his friend Lucilius of a journey he had taken, says, 'the roads were so bad that he rather swam than walked, and, before he got to his inn, was plastered over with ceroma like a prize-fighter.' G. Mart. IV. iv. 10. xix. 5. 69. Cf. vii. 14 sqq. was irì aópor iguuvór

R.

Sicyon, in Achaia, Strab. viii. p. 587,