[1] “Enough!” was attached to the base of a portrait bust. See Suet. Dom. 13, where it is true, the “enough” refers to the excessive quantity of triumphal arches and statues, the emperor ordered to be erected everywhere. Inscriptions similar to those quoted in our chapter were, however, by no means rare in all times.

[2] A Centurion had raised the standard of revolt on the germanic frontier. See Dio Cass. LXVII, 11: About this time Antonius, governor of Germany, rebelled against Domitian, but was defeated and slain by Lucius Maximus.

[3] An astrologer, Ascletario by name. See Suet. Dom. 15.

[4] Latinus the actor. See Mart. Ep. I, 4; II, 71; III, 86; V, 61: IX, 28. The manner in which Martial, in this last-named passage, flatters Latinus, proves how high the actor stood in the emperor’s favor. Concerning the matter, see Suet. Dom. 15.

[5] A stranger came by with three huge dogs. Faith in the sudden appearance and disappearance of mysterious, demoniac creatures was very wide-spread under the reigns of the later emperors. A striking instance of this is found in Dio Cass. LXXIX, 18.

[6] An intolerable dread almost deprived him of breath. See Suet. Dom. 16: “At midnight he was seized with such terror, that he sprang out of bed.”

[7] Julia was senseless on the floor. For the death of Julia, see Suet. Dom. 22. What is there related, is so ill adapted for artistic description, that we have replaced this act of brutality with a less loathsome one. Our invention can appeal to historical analogies. Thus Nero, from whom I borrow various traits for my Domitian’s character, killed his wife Poppaea, during a quarrel, by a kick. See Suet. Ner. 35; Tac. Ann., XVI, 6.

[8] It was Domitian’s birthday, the 24th of October. The Caesars’ birthdays were great and universal holidays. At the time of this story, the month of October was called “Domitianus” (See Mart. Ep. IX, 1.) The vain ruler had hoped by this change, following the example of Julius Caesar and the emperor Augustus, to perpetuate his name forever. But while “Julius” (July) for the month Quintilis, and “Augustus” (August) for the month Sextilis, still exist at the present day, neither “Germanicus” for September, nor “Domitianus” for October, bestowed by Domitian, remained even a single day after the tyrant’s reign. The emperor called himself “Germanicus” on account of his campaign against the Chatti. (See Mart. II, 2), where the flatterer compares the prince to Scipio Africanus, and asserts that the surname “Germanicus” would be far more illustrious than that of “Africanus.”

[9] The usual ceremonious reception took place of magistrates, senators, and knights. Vespasian had abolished this custom, which flourished, especially under Claudius, even during the civil war. See Suet. Vesp. 12.

[10] A dull atmosphere of suspicion brooded like a vapor and seemed to fill the splendidly-decorated room. See Plin. Paneg. 48: “Menaces and terror hovered around the doors, and those admitted had as much cause to fear, as those who were not.”

[11] Atra cura, as sung by Horatius Flaccus. See Hor. Od. III, 1, 40.

[12] Why, the very morning dew, disgusted at the crime, did its best to wash them away. A flattering flowery turn of speech in perfect harmony with the spirit of the times. (See numerous passages in Martial’s Epigrams.)

[13] Our heart in its tender mercy. See Suet. Dom. 11: “He never uttered a harsh sentence, without a preface about his mildness.”

[14] Toga Virilis. Donning the toga virilis, by which the boy was regarded as a man, was an important family festival.

[15] Rhea gave birth to Zeus. Zeus, according to Greek tradition, was born of Rhea, in a cave on Mt. Ida, at Crete.

[16] Pylian Nestor. Nestor, king of Pylos, was considered in ancient times the type of vigorous old age.

[17] Feast of Minerva. Reference is here made to the Quinquatria (a five-day festival, principally for the benefit of workmen, artists, etc., as well as school-boys) which Domitian ordered to be annually celebrated in the month of March, at his Albanian estate.

[18] This poem is an almost literal translation from Martial, Ep. IV, 1.

[19] He was writing down on a wooden tablet the names of those whom he devoted to death. The story of this wooden tablet, according to its actual characters, is borrowed from the account of Dio Cassius, (LXVII, 15).

[20] Garum. A delicacy similar to our caviare, prepared from the entrails of sea-fish.

[21] Milk cooled with ice. In well-to-do families, the drinks, etc. during the warm season of the year, were cooled by snow or ice. See Mart. Ep. XII, 17 (“Caecubum cooled with snow-water”) XIV, 103, 104, etc.

[22] Fathers. This nearly corresponds with the Latin patres conscripti, as the senators were called.

[23] With thumbs turned down. These words, with very little variation, are found in a satire by Juvenal. Turning down the thumbs by the audience was a sign, that mercy was refused the conquered gladiator.

[24] Dressing-chairs and litters (cathedrae). High-backed chairs with arms and a stool for the feet. The fashionable Roman dames performed the duties of the toilet in these cathedrae.

[25] Lictor. A public officer, who attended on the higher magistrates, and who preceded them bearing the fasces, the bundle of rods with an axe.

[26] Pronounced the sitting opened. The following description of a session of the Senate corresponds precisely, in its main features, with the accounts handed down to us by the ancient authors.

[27] Relatio. The name, as is evident, given to the discourse concerning the cause and purpose of the session.

[28] Leda. Danae. Sisyphus. Familiar forms of the Hellenic myths. Leda was the daughter of Thestius and the wife of Tyndareus. Zeus approached her in the guise of a swan. Danae, conquered by Zeus in the shape of a shower of golden rain, gave birth to Perseus. Sisyphus, son of Eolus and Enarete, king of Ephyra, (Corinth) was compelled in the nether-world, as a punishment for his crimes, to roll the oft-mentioned mass of stone up-hill.

[29] Truly Latin word religio. The etymology of the word religio really corresponds with the interpretation here given by Cinna.

[30] Postpone your decision by digressions. This was called; dicendo diem eximere; for no valid decree could be made after sunset.

[31] Be on your guard, lest the fatherland should suffer. A variation of the familiar formula: videant consules ne quid res publica detrimenti capiat.

[32] Collect the votes by a show of hands. See Tac. Hist. IV, 4, and Sen. Ep. VIII, 6.

[33] Newly-bleached toga. The fullers (fullones) played an important part in ancient Rome. When togas became soiled and unsightly, they were given to the fullo to be washed, smoothed, and renovated. At the festivals, even the most insignificant man appeared, so far as his circumstances would permit, in gala dress.

[34] In the form of the hawk-headed god, Osiris. Nothing is said by the ancient authors concerning such a farce enacted by Domitian; but from all we know of the man’s character, there is no doubt that my imagination does him no injustice. With respect to the incident itself, similar ones actually happened, and in A. D. 19 Flavius Josephus relates that a Roman knight, Decius Mundus, pursued an aristocratic lady called Paulina a long time with offers of love, without obtaining a hearing. As she was eagerly devoted to the worship of the goddess Isis, Decius Mundus, by the offer of 5,000 denarii, induced the priest to tell her that the god Anubis (son of Isis and Osiris) desired a nocturnal meeting. Paulina believed this, and Decius Mundus appeared in the jackal-headed mask of the god. The cheat was successful, but when the emperor Tiberius heard of it, he sent the knight into exile, ordered the priests to be crucified, the temple levelled to the ground, and the statue of the goddess flung into the water.—By the way, it may be remarked that Domitian, before he was emperor, escaped from the besieged Capitol, whither he had fled in the war with Vitellius, in the costume of a priest of Isisrsquo;s defeat.

[35] Is to be buried. Usually a longer interval elapsed between the date of death and the funeral—about a week.

[36] Temple of the Flavia Family. See Suet, Dom. 15 and 17. The ashes of Vespasian and Titus lay there.

[37] I see him, barefoot, his mantle torn, riding towards Phaon’s house. For Nero’s terrible end, see Suet. Ner. 48 and following pages. Dio Cass. LXIII, 27, etc. Phaon was a freedman of the emperor, one of the few who were faithful to him to the last. See also what Dio Cassius (LXXVII, 15.) relates of the visions of Caracalla.

[38] At this moment the heavy tread of Clodianus was heard approaching. In Dio Cassius (LXVII, 15), it is Domitia, the empress, who surprises the boy playing with the little wooden tablet.

[39] Service in the cubiculum. Service at the altar of the Lares. See Suet. Dom. 17.

[40] The holy citadel of Jerusalem. The destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, son of Vespasian, the reigning emperor at that time, occurred on the 10th of August, A. D. 70.

[41] Catching flies, as he had been wont to do as a boy. See Suet. Dom. 3: “In the commencement of his reign he spent several hours alone every day, doing nothing but catching flies and impaling them on a sharp stylus.”

[42] Cassiopeia. A constellation near Cepheus, so called for Cassiopeia, the mother of Andromeda, who was placed among the stars. See Prop. I, 17, 3; Ov. Met. IV, 7, 38.

[43] Semele, the daughter of the Theban king Cadmus, at the instigation of the jealous Hera, entreated Zeus, who loved her, to appear before her in all the splendor of his divine majesty. As Zeus had sworn by the Styx to grant her request, he was bound. He approached the unfortunate girl with lightning and thunder—and the heavenly flames consumed her. Dying, she gave birth to Dionysus (Bacchus).

[44] The room quivered under her feet. Hippolytus, in his “Refutation of Heresies,” gives a number of directions for the magical appearances commonly used by the conjurers and miracle-workers of those times; among them is one in a MS. not wholly preserved, for the production of an earthquake.

[45] Pulvinar (from pulvinus, the pillow and cushion) was originally the name given to a cushioned seat covered with costly tapestry, placed for the gods at the so-called lectisternium (banquet of the gods). Statues of the gods were placed on this pulvinar, and food was offered them, (See Liv. V, 13, 16). But the name was also applied to the couches of goddesses and empresses—(See Cat. 64; Ov. Pont. II, 2, 71; Juv. VI, 31)—and lastly to the cushions of the imperial box at the circus and amphitheatre. See Suet. A. 45.

[46] Well—that blood has been shed. See Suet. Dom. 16, where it is related that the emperor, tortured by forebodings, once accidently scratched himself till the blood came, and then exclaimed: “Would this might be enough!”

[47] Apodyterium, (?p?d?t?????) the room where the clothing was removed at the baths. See Plin. Ep. V, 6, where a dressing-room at the bath of a villa is mentioned.

[48] Elaothesium, (??a????s???) the anointing-room, the oil-room. See Vitr. V. 11, 2.

[49] Gymnasium, (????s???] from ?????, naked) the wrestling-room.

[50] Will of a childless senator. See note, 324, Vol. I. That such stories of wills formed one of the principal subjects of city gossip (fabulae urbis) appears in Juv. Sat. I, 144, where the failure of a will attracts attention, and Plin. Ep. VIII, 18, where the will of Domitius Tullus is mentioned. The passage runs as follows: “The most contradictory rumors are circulating through the whole city. Many call him ungrateful, false and faithless.... Others, on the contrary, praise him, because he disappointed the unworthy hopes of these people.” And at the close of the long letter: “Now you know all the city news, for nothing is talked of except Tullus.”

[51] An incident in the life of a certain attorney-at-law. The following episode was suggested by Mart. Ep. IV, 46, where a lawyer named Sabellus, is derided precisely as here described. There, however, the point in question did not concern the payment for a lawsuit won, but the customary gifts at the Saturnalia. The lines given as improvised verse, a little farther on, are to be found in Martial (verse 5-10.)

[52] Falernian chitterlings, from the Etruscan city of Falerii. The inhabitants of this city were called Faliscans.

[53] Lucanian Sausage. The old Romans were passionately fond of sausages. They had black-pudding (botuli) liver and common sausage (tomacula) which were to be had hot in the streets from little tin ovens, smoked sausage (hillae) and Lucanian. (Lucanicae, so called from the province of Lucania in Lower Italy, famed for its sausages) which were usually eaten with spelt-flour bread. See Mart. Ep. XIII, 35:

[54] Martial Ep. IV., 46. “All these airs and all this exaltation are excited in Sabellus by half a peck of meal and as much of parched beans; by three half-pounds of frankincense, and as many of pepper; by a sausage from Lucania, and a sow’s pauch from Falerii; by a Syrian flagon of dark, mulled wine, and some figs candied in a Libyan jar, accompanied with onions, and shell-fish, and cheese. From a Picenian client came a little chest that would scarcely hold a few olives, and a nest of seven cups from Saguntum, polished with the potter’s rude graver, the clay workmanship of a Spanish wheel, and a napkin variegated with the laticlave. More profitable Saturnalia, Sabellus has not had these ten years.”

Bohn, Class. Lib.

[55] Praxiteles. A celebrated Athenian sculptor, creator of the famous Cnidian Venus, a master of the graceful and charming. Clodianus only means to say: a great sculptor; otherwise something about Lysippus would have been more appropriate to the subject—two wrestlers.

[56] Frigidarium. The cold bath, in distinction from the caldarium, the hot bath. Rooms, similar to those described here—are found, though of smaller size, among the excavations at Pompeii.

[57] Tractators, (tractatores). The name of the slaves who, after the bath, rubbed and kneaded the body and limbs. (See Sen. Ep. 66.) According to Mart. Ep. III, 82, slave-women (tractatrices) also performed these services, but probably only in private houses.

[58] Herodianus not only bolted the door, but barred it too. The fastening of the door was usually accomplished either by bolts (pessuli), or by means of a crossbar (sera). Here the crossbar is used besides the ordinary fastening of the bolt, as an additional means of security. The crossbar was generally made of wood.

[59] City prefect, (praefectus urbi). His position under the emperors was similar to the office of a chief of police. He commanded the cohortes urbanae, the city-guard. His authority extended to the hundredth mile-stone.

[60] Via Ardeatina. The highway to the little city of Ardea, situated on a hill eighteen miles south of Rome. See Liv. 1, 57; V, 11.

[61] Oracle of the faun. This was about two-thirds of the distance from Rome to Ardea.

[62] Lavinium, Laurentum. Only the ruins of these two cities exist at the present day.

[63] Setian wine. Setia, a city in Latium, south-east of Suessa Pometia. A famous place for wine, now Sezze. See Liv. VI, 30; VII; 42 etc. Plin. Hist. Nat. XIV; 6, 60. Mart. Ep. IV, 64, 69; VI, 86; IX, 2; X, 13, 36; XIII, 23 (—“old Setian wine may be compared to Chian figs.”)

[64] Acta Diurna. The official collection and publication of important news was first introduced by Julius Caesar. These publications were called acta diurna urbis or acta diurna populi. After one number of this official gazette was prepared, it was multiplied by an army of copyists, and sent to the most distant provinces. Besides the official news, the acta diurna published miscellaneous communications about specially important events in public life, family news, art notices, etc. See HÜbner in Fleckeisen’s Jahrbuch, Suppl. III, pages 364-594, as well as the admirable explanation by GÖll, “the newspaper of Rome” in his “Pictures of Civilization.”

[65] There lay her favorite authors neatly arranged in ivory cases. Valuable books were kept in closed boxes.

[66] The head of Jupiter, copied from the world-famed work of Phidias. The most renowned and perhaps most magnificent creation of Greek plastic art, was the Pan-hellenic Zeus at Olympia, a work of Phidias. Everything the ancient authors tell us of this colossal statue sounds extremely enthusiastic. Thus an epigram runs:

Dio Chrysostomus writes: “No one who has seen Phidias’ Zeus, is capable of forming any other image of the god.... A man, whose soul is troubled, oppressed by the many cares and griefs life offers, so that he would no longer be refreshed by sweet slumber, must I think, while confronting this statue, forget everything that is gloomy and terrible. Thus, Phidias, hast thou designed and executed thy work. Such light and grace animate thy art.” Phidias had created his statue of the god according to the image of the Homeric verse, where Zeus grants the entreaty of the imploring Thetis:

Phidias’ Zeus was represented seated on a throne; his left hand held the sceptre, his right bore a goddess of victory. Among all the statues of Zeus that have been preserved, the bust of Otricoli seems to approach most nearly to the ideal of Phidias. There is no absolutely accurate copy; but the descriptions given us by the ancient authors, as well as two coins from Elis, carefully described by Overbeck and FriedlÄnder, afford a succession of by no means unimportant points.

The bust in Claudia’s boudoir may be imagined a duplicate of Otricoli’s Jupiter—only approximating somewhat more closely to the separate features of the original.

[67] Sardinian Mines. Sardinia played a similar part in the Roman Empire, to the one performed by Siberia in the kingdom of the Czar. Criminals, and often innocent persons, languished through a miserable existence in the mines there. Besides, the climate of the island was considered extremely unhealthy. (See Strab. V, 13. Mart. Ep., IV, 60.) In cases of less importance the culprits were simply exiled to Sardinia, without being condemned to enforced labor, and permitted to live there at liberty. (See Mart. Ep., VIII, 32.)

[68] Tigellinus. Sophonius Tigellinus, of Agrigentum, in Sicily, by his talents as a sportsman and horse-breaker, won Nero’s favor, and finally became commander of the praetorian guard. (Tac. Ann., XIV, 51.) Dissolute, revengeful, and unprincipled, he was regarded, with reason, as the evil principle in the life of the Emperor, whose last noble impulses he strove to stifle. He was most to blame for the majority of Nero’s crimes; even the horrible conflagration, that laid half Rome in ashes. (See Tac. Hist., I, 72, Dio Cass. LXII, 13, LXIII, 12.)

[69] Smoked Cheese. See Mart. Ep. XI, 52; XIII, 32. The best smoked cheese was the Velabrian, so called from Velabrum, a region between the Capitoline, Palatine and Aventine Hills.

[70] Metapontum, also Metapontium (?etap??t???). A Greek city on the Tarentine Gulf, which has now disappeared except the remains of a Doric temple (la Tavola de’ Paladini). Even at the time of our story the once famous city had already begun to decline.

[71] Cyrenaica. A region on the northern coast of Africa; now the table-land of Barca.

[72] Grappling Hooks. Grapnels (corvi, manus ferreae) were an invention of Duilius. See Front. II, 3, 24; Flor. II, 2. When the corvi had seized the hostile ship, bridges were thrown across. Of course the party most interested in securing this close combat was the side that considered itself the superior in military strength, while inferior in point of strategy. For instance, the Romans in their wars with the Carthaginians.

[73] Or else a pirate. In spite of the energetic measures adopted against the piracy practised by the Illyrians, Cilicians and Isaurians, it was not wholly suppressed on the Mediterranean, even in the reign of Domitian.

[74] Liguria. The Ligurians lived in the country, now called the Riviera, between Marseilles and Pisa. Under the emperors the territory of Liguria contained the region now occupied by Nice, Genoa, Southern Piedmont, and the Western part of Parma and Piacenza.

[75] He severed the rope by which the rudder was worked. This bold method of rendering a hostile ship unfit for battle, was by no means rare. The two-edged axe, used to cut the rope of the rudder, was called bipennis.

[76] Was it not the same perhaps with the vessel of State? Comparing the administration of the government to a ship was common among the Romans. See the well-known ode of Horace “Ad rem publicam” (I, 14.): O navis, referent in mare te novi fluctus....

[77] Planasia and Ilva, now Pianosa and Elba.

[78] Athenopolis, now Saint Tropez.

[79] Olbia, now HyÈres.

[80] Rhodanus, now called the RhÔne.

[81] Savo. Now Savona on the Riviera.

[82] Albium Ingaunum. The modern Albenga, south-west of Savona.

[83] It would sail straight to Gaul to meet your sisters in beauty. The women of Marseilles, and especially those belonging to the neighboring city of Arles, are distinguished even at the present day for a beauty resembling the type of the Hellenic ideal of feminine loveliness.

[84] A shower of rose-scented spray. This delicious method of cooling the air, which was by no means rare in wealthy and noble houses, was called sparsio (sprinkling). In theatres, etc. the spectators, on particularly hot days, were cooled by such sparsiones.

[85] Paphos (??f?? more accurately ?a?a?paf??, Old Paphos, to distinguish it from ??f?? ??a, New Paphos) a city of Cyprus, the principal seat of the worship of Aphrodite. Here the foam-born goddess was said to have risen from the sea. See Hor. Od. I, 36: III, 28 etc.

[86] Quoted the famous line of Catullus. See Cat. V, I: Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus!

[87] He plucks the present. See Hor. Od. I, ii, 8. The expression “he enjoys the present day” is a literal translation of the “carpe diem” used there—just as the phrase: “without troubling himself about the future” corresponds with Horace’s “quam minimum credula postero.”

[88] The Mamertine Prison. The state-prison in Rome was the Carcer Mamertinus at the foot of the Capitol—still in existence at the present time.

[89] Tullianum. A part of the Mamertine Prison, so called after King Servius Tullius, who is said to have built it. The Catilinarians had been executed in the Tullianum.

[90] The stone bench. Bedsteads built of stone were not unusual even in private dwellings, as appears from numerous specimens in Pompeian houses.

[91] Amphora. A jar, usually made of clay, but sometimes of glass, running to a point at the bottom and supplied with a handle on each side. By this point the amphora was fastened into the soft earth, or the holes in the tap-room counters specially intended for them. Here allusion is made to a hole in the stone floor designed to secure the amphora.

[92] Street-porters and executioners. The profession of executioners (carnifices), to whom the execution of slaves and foreigners was committed (condemned citizens were put to death by the lictors), was held in greater obloquy than any other.

[93] Kissed the gallows. Titus Claudius means the cross, which to cultivated Romans was held in no higher esteem than the guillotine is regarded by us.

[94] Till then you will be a prisoner, but in my house. For accused persons of high rank, an arrangement existed called the libera custodia, which consisted of setting a guard over them, but permitting them to remain at large in the house of an aristocratic citizen.

[95] The supreme council of the Pontifices. The pontifices were a college of priests, that superintended the affairs of religion and worship on behalf of the government. Under Sulla they numbered fifteen; the emperors increased or diminished them according to their good pleasure. The chief of the pontifices, the Pontifex Maximus, was at the head of the college. Under the emperors the head of the government eo ipso was also Pontifex Maximus. The oversight of the manner of worship was the special duty of the pontifices.

[96] A herald now proclaimed silence. The herald (praeco) was in the habit of shouting to the crowd: “Favete linguis!”

[97] A mixture of wine, spring-water, incense, and cones. The libation with which the victim was consecrated to death was called immolatio.

[98] Your poets praise tenacity as the crown of glory. See for instance the well-known “Justum ac tenacem,” etc., (Hor. Od., III, 3.)

[99] Silenus. (Se??????.) Son of Hermes and a nymph, the constant companion of Bacchus. “He is the very image of an elderly satyr, a perpetually-intoxicated, jovial, good-natured old man with a baldpate and snub-nose, fat and rotund as a wine-skin, from which he is inseparable. His own feet can rarely carry him; he usually rides on a donkey, or is led and supported by satyrs. He delights in music and song as well as wine.” Silenus had a temple at Elis.

[100] You see, my worthy friend, how truly Domitian inclines to leniency. See note 13, Vol. II.

[101] Past the Circus Maximus. The Circus Maximus lay south-west, the Mamertine Prison north-east of the Palatine Hill.

[102] Breast-Belt. The breast-belt (mamillare) supplied the place of corsets to the Roman ladies.

[103] Bryonia (the hedge-rape). Such professional poisoners are often mentioned. Locusta (“the grasshopper”) a contemporary and accomplice of the emperor Nero, was specially notorious. See Suet Ner., 33; Tac. Ann. XXII, 66; Juv. Sat. I, 71. Our Bryonia is not historical.

[104] Amathusia. A surname of Aphrodite, from the city of Amathus on the southern coast of Cyprus, where there was a famous temple of the goddess.

[105] Marry the vine with the elm. A favorite phrase, to characterize the idyllic activity of rural life. See Hor. Epod. II, 9; Od. IV, 5, 30.

[106] All the meat had come up ready carved. The various dishes were usually carved in the triclinium, by a slave (scissor) specially appointed for the purpose, after which the taster (praegustator) tried them, to secure the company from poison.

[107] Parthenius, give me your arm as far as the balcony. Out-buildings (galleries, balconies, bow-windows) were not unknown to the ancients. See, among other instances, the famous bow-windowed house in Pompeii.

[108] The little town of Rodumna. Municipes, that is, sharers, was the name originally bestowed upon the inhabitants of those cities most closely connected with Rome, for instance Tusculum, Formiae, Lanuvium. Later the term extended to all the cities in Italy, so that every Roman country-town was called municipium. Still later the name included all the cities in the empire. We use the word municipium here incorrectly, in the sense of the German “country-town” for the elevation of all the cities of the empire to municipia did not occur until several decades after Domitian’s reign. What is here said of the importance of Rodumna is not supported by the writings of the ancient authors.

[109] Decetia, now DÉcise.

[110] Noviodunum, now Nevers.

[111] The ides of February. The middle of the month was called idus (from the Etruscan iduare—to divide; see div—idere). In March, May, June and October it fell on the 15th, during the rest of the months on the 13th day.

[112] Lilybaeum. A city on the western point of Sicily, now Marsala.

[113] Vesontio. Now BesanÇon.

[114] Argentoratum. Now Strassburg in Alsace.

[115] Opimian wine-jars. Jars containing the vintage of former years, jars with wine that was pressed under the rule of the Consul Lucius Opimius (633 years after the building of Rome.) See Cic. Brut. 83, 287; Vell. II, 7.

[116] Rhaetia, embraced portions of what is now Tyrol, Upper Bavaria and Switzerland.

[117] Pindar, (???da???.) A Greek lyric poet, born at Thebes, 522 B. C. The only poems of Pindar which have come down to us complete are his Epinicia, festal songs to celebrate the triumph of the victor at the Greek national games.

[118] Imperial spies. For such persons, see Epict. Diss. IV, 13, 5: “Thoughtless people in Rome allow themselves to be arrested by the soldiers, in consequence of their over-hasty confidence. A soldier in civilian’s dress sits down beside you, and begins to abuse the emperor. You believe, that the circumstance that he commenced the reviling, affords you a guarantee of his trustworthiness, you therefore express your thoughts, and are instantly fettered and thrown into prison.”

[119] The campaign on the Rhine against the Germans. For Trajan’s campaign on the Rhine, see Plin. Paneg. 14. Some expressions in the description given there have been literally transcribed.

[120] The Propraetor of Lugdunum. Augustus divided all the provinces of the empire into two classes: the imperial and senatorial. The management of the former he undertook himself, confiding the latter to the senate. “In one respect, he had selected for himself those most difficult to govern, either because the inhabitants were not yet at peace, or warlike neighbors threatened an assault: the senate, on the contrary, obtained the peaceful ones. Thus the matter looked as if he had granted the senate the best and most lucrative, undertaking all care and peril himself; but in reality, he made the senate defenceless, retaining the army for his own exclusive use. Only one senatorial province (Africa) obtained one, and afterwards two legions. The governors of the senatorial provinces were divided into two classes. Africa and Asia, according to the decision of the senate, obtained ex-consuls. The other senatorial provinces were entrusted to praetors, who also bore the title of proconsul. The governors of the imperial provinces, on the contrary, though they might also have been consuls, were called propraetors, to indicate that they commanded the army (praeire). These propraetors (legati Caesaris pro praet. cons. pot.) were distinguished from the senatorial proconsuls in this respect—that they held office longer than a year, in consequence of which the provincials obtained great pecuniary relief.” Lugdunensian Gaul belonged to the imperial provinces, and therefore possessed a propraetor and a larger garrison.

[121] With regard to Ulpius Trajanus. See Plin. Paneg. 14, where the supposition is expressed that Domitian at that time cherished “a certain fear” of his victorious general Trajan.

[122] Guard of honor. An imperial propraetor had a right to six lictors.

[123] They have determined to accuse Domitian before the Senate. The senate possessed the right, which however was scarcely more than theoretical, of elevating and deposing emperors.

[124] Republic of Cincinnatus and Regulus is reËstablished. The opposition, under the emperors of the first centuries, possessed a really republican character, which frequently asserted itself in contemporary literature.

[125] To-day, the sixth after the Calends. The first day of every month was called Kalendae (from kalare, to proclaim). The beginning of the month was originally fixed by the new moon. An official, in later times the Pontifex Maximus, proclaimed the appearance of the new moon from a house (Curia Calabra) specially built for the purpose on the Capitoline Hill. The days of the second half of the month were reckoned in such a manner, that they were mentioned as before the calends of the following month; for instance, the 24th of March was the 9th day before the calends of April. The day from which, and the one to which the computation was made, were included in the reckoning. The phrase used here, “the sixth day after the calends, corresponds identically to no Latin form of speech.”

[126] Three hundred lions. “We are most amazed”—says FriedlÄnder—“at the number of animals of one species, as well as the whole number of those belonging to different species, gathered at the great Roman spectacles. These numbers sound incredible; of course it must not be forgotten, that within two thousand years the species of the large animals have sustained a vast, scarcely computable diminution. Doubtless Dio’s remark, that all such numbers are exaggerated, is correct; but even after great reductions, nay, even if cut down one half, they remain enormous. The spectacles exhibited by Pompey and Caesar, are not only unsurpassed, but unequalled in this respect. In the former 17 or 18 elephants, 500 or 600 lions, and 410 other African animals were displayed; in the latter 400 lions and 40 elephants. Among the historians of the empire, the statement is by no means rare that 100, 200 and even 300 lions, 300, 400 and 500 bears, an equal number of African wild beasts (and still larger numbers of the ordinary kinds of animals) were exhibited or hunted at a single spectacle. All the Zoological gardens in Europe at the present day could be abundantly supplied with the animals gathered in Rome for a single great festival. According to Augustus’ own statement—he took great pleasure in ‘vast numbers of animals and unfamiliar wild beasts’—3,500 African animals alone perished in the 26 spectacles he gave. At the hundred-day festival given by Titus in the year 80 to commemorate the opening of the Flavian amphitheatre, 5,000 wild beasts of all kinds were exhibited in a single day, and the whole number of wild and tame ones killed reached 9,000.”

[127] End of the great festival. The centennial games, so far as we are informed, usually numbered only three festival days; nothing however prevents the supposition that Domitian, by the exercise of his sovereign will, might have made an exception.

[128] "Come hither to see, what none of you has ever yet seen, or ever will see again!" Latin:—quod nunquam quisquam spectasset nec spectaturus esset.

[129] Stibium. A cosmetic much used by the Roman ladies—a powder made of baked antimony, known at the present day among the orientals by the name of SurmÉ.

[130] First there was the great procession from the Capitol to the Circus Maximus. The centennial games commenced with a festal procession (called pompa) whose route corresponded with the description given here, and which closed with the chariots, that were to appear in the races in the Circus Maximus. These, however, usually played a more conspicuous part than in our story, where they are treated more as an introduction.

[131] The Consul Flavius Clemens. See note 137, Vol. I. Pyat has made the fall of this (historical) Flavius Clemens the subject of a novelette—unfortunately faulty in coloring—from which I have used some outlines for my story. Flavius Clemens’ relations to Christianity are told by Dio Cassius, (LXVII, 14.) and Suet. (Dom. 15.)

[132] Ivory tickets of admission. Such admission tickets (made also of clay and metal) have been found in large numbers during the excavations of the last decade.

[133] An attendant in a gaily-colored holiday tunic, (designator) corresponds with our box-opener or usher.

[134] The cushions, which a slave had carried in for them. The rows of seats consisted of marble blocks, which during the spectacle were covered with cushions and seats of honor (bisellia.)

[135] Every part was as gay as a flower-garden with gorgeous dresses. Every one appeared at the public spectacles in full gala dress. Those who possessed but one toga sent it before the festival to the fuller (fullo) to be cleansed and smoothed. The fuller’s work is very clearly depicted in the frescos on a fuller’s shop, excavated in Pompeii in 1826. See note 33, Vol. II.

[136] The gaudily-gilt podium, kept for the senators. The senators had special seats reserved for them at all public spectacles.

[137] Broken vow. Concerning the broken vows of vestal virgins, see Suet. Dom. 8. If the crime was discovered, Domitian’s government treated the culprit more harshly than those of Vitellius and Titus, indeed the severity increased at each instance. The vestals Ocellata and Varonilla were granted the choice of the manner of death, but their betrayers were exiled. In later times, however, Domitian ordered the vestal Cornelia to be buried alive, and her lovers—for she had several—to be flogged to death in the comitium. In contradiction to this is the (perhaps incorrect) remark of Dio Cassius (LXVII, 3) according to which Domitian, to his credit, ordered that vestal virgins convicted of breaking their vows, should not be buried alive, but sentenced to a less cruel death.

[138] Pulvinar. Here a superb seat resembling a divan, is meant. See Suet. A. 45, also see note 45, Vol. II.

[139] The enormous canvas awning. The stone rings, into which these masts were fastened, are still visible at the present day in the walls of the Coliseum.

[140] Tauromenium. A city on the eastern coast of Sicily, now Taormina.

[141] The tenth or twelfth seat from you. My story here allows both sexes to be seated promiscuously, as was customary in the circus. At the exhibitions in the amphitheatre, women had places specially set apart. The license I have taken is the more easily justified, because the disposal of seats in the theatre was never strictly carried out, hence the frequency of the complaint that people who had no right to the places, crowded into those reserved for the knights.

[142] Rhegium. A city in the southern part of the Italian peninsula, in the country of the Bruttii; now Reggio.

[143] Moved the world by a wink of his eyelash. See Hor. Od. III, 1, V. 8; “cuncia supercilio moventis.” The words there refer to Jupiter; but Domitian’s flatterers, especially Martial, never wearied of deifying the emperor as a second Jupiter. See Mart., Ep. V. 6, V. 9, and many others.

[144] Ave Caesar! or Ave Imperator! (Hail to thee, oh Caesar!) The emperor was greeted with these words whenever he appeared in public, and replied by the phrase: Avete vos! (I greet you also!) The word Ave! (Be greeted! Be blessed!) was also in general use when persons met or took leave of each other.

[145] The seat to the left remained vacant. At public games, by virtue of his office, the Flamen Dialis sat at the emperor’s left hand. See Suet, Dom. 4: “Beside him sat the priest of Zeus.”

[146] Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant! The actual words with which the gladiators destined for the approaching combat saluted the sovereign.

[147] The vicinity of their flattering Gallants. See note 141, Vol. II, Ovid’s prescriptions, here mentioned, are found in the Ars amandi, I, p. 135. Elsewhere (Amores III. 2) the same author gives us examples of a flattering gallant’s conversation with a fair neighbor.

[148] All the spectators’ thumbs were turned down. See note 23, Vol. II.

[149] Habet! He is hit! was the usual acclamation from the audience, when a blow struck home.

[150] When the servants had strewn the arena with sand. See Mart. Ep. II, 75, 5.

[151] Calenus, a wretch—one of the brood of traitors. The expression is similar to the well-known “sus de grege Epicuri.”

[152] "When, when is this vision to be fulfilled?" Perhaps it will not be superfluous to remark, that Barbillus here beholds in imagination the Flavian Amphitheatre, as it afterwards appeared in Catholic Rome—the mighty vine-grown ruins of the Coliseum with the solitary cross in the grass-grown oval of the arena. The Italian government has meantime somewhat changed the picture, by removing the vegetation, which seemed to endanger the venerable ruins by promoting the process of disintegration—certainly to the detriment of the artistic effect.

[153] Till supper-time puts an end to it for to-day. It is here supposed, that the games only lasted until the hour for the principal meal (doubtless delayed on these days). The amusements at the centennial festivals and similar occasions were, however, usually continued through the night.

[154] Her fine scented hair. The hair was anointed with costly essences, especially with an oil, made from the blossoms of the Indian spikenard (Nardus indica.)

[155] The underground cells of the amphitheatre. The greater part of what in our theatres we call “behind the scenes,” was underground in the Roman amphitheatre; especially the cages for wild beasts, and cells for condemned criminals. The subterranean rooms in the Flavian amphitheatre are still visible.

[156] The consul Flavius Clemens and his noble wife. The wife of the consul Flavius Clemens was a relative of Domitian. According to Dio Cassius (LXVII, 14) she was called Flavia Domitilla, According to this historian, she was not condemned to the wild beasts, but only to exile at Pandataria. How near Flavius Clemens originally stood to the emperor’s person, appears from the narrative of Suetonius (Dom. 15,) where it is said, that the emperor publicly designated the two sons of his cousin Flavius Clemens, then little boys, to be his successors, and therefore gave one the name of Vespasianus and the other that of Domitianus, in place of the one hitherto borne. Besides, according to Suetonius, the Christianity of Flavius Clemens is not so clearly shown as my story supposes. See also note 137, Vol. I, and note 131, Vol. II.

[157] Caesar angrily shook his head. Usually the emperors had endeavored to heed the publicly-expressed wishes of the people. Only Domitian and a few others were an exception. Thus Suetonius (Dom. 13) states that Domitian, when the audience at the combats in honor of the Capitoline Jupiter, asked for the reinstatement of Palfurius Sura, who had been expelled from the senate and now crowned as orator, did not even vouchsafe an answer, but through the mouth of the herald unceremoniously ordered silence. The compliance with the demands of the audience at the circus, who required the recall of the empress, described in this story (note 148, Vol. I.) does not contradict this trait of character, for there the emperor was bound by an express promise.

[158] Some violent measures on the emperor’s part were only too probable. Dio Cassius, LXVII, 8, gives us a striking example of such violence towards the spectators at public games. A terrible storm arose during a brilliant performance in the circus. The wind howled, the rain poured in torrents, but no one ventured to leave the place, even for the short time necessary to get a cloak. The emperor himself, on the contrary, constantly changed his upper garment. “Many” writes Dio Cassius, “took cold and died.”

[159] A fight between a little girl of thirteen and a dwarf. See note 177, Vol. I. Also Dio Cass., LXVII, 8.

[160] A magnificent naval fight was performed. The sea-fights (naumachia) took place either in basins and ponds, specially dug for the purpose, or in the arena itself, which by means of the high state of perfection attained by the Romans in the science of hydraulics, could be flooded in a few moments.

[161] Igilium, now Giglio.

[162] Alsium, south of Caere, an old Etrurian city, afterwards a Roman colony, a favorite place of resort, where there were numerous villas (see Front. “De feriis Alsiensibus” as well as Cic. Mil. 20; Ad fam. IX, 6), now Palo. Some ancient ruins still exist.

[163] The via cassia ran between the Via Flaminia and the Via Aurelia to central Etruria.

[164] Clusium. Early mentioned as the residence of King Porsena, between lakes Trasimenus and Volsiniensis; now Chiusi.

[165] Luna. A city in northern Etruria, not far from the modern Carrara; a Roman colony.

[166] Pisae now Pisa.

[167] Rusellae, now Roselle.

[168] Forum Cassii, south of the Lacus Volsiniensis (Lago di Bolsena.)

[169] The soldiery were allowed to do just what they pleased. In a poem belonging to the early part of the second century, among other advantages of military life, it is specially mentioned, that the soldier can perpetrate many a wanton act upon civilians (See Juv. Sat. XVI, 7-34.) “If a soldier strikes a civilian (togutus,) the latter not only does not venture to return the blow, but cannot even commence a law-suit, for the whole cohort takes sides with the accused before the military tribunals, by which the soldiers’ offences are punished.”

[170] Stephanus, when he came out op his office in the morning, had his arm in a sling. See Suet. Dom. 17.

[171] This was the instant of which Stephanus took advantage. The description given here corresponds in essential particulars with the accounts of Suetonius and Dio Cassias, except that we identify the young slave, from whom the emperor, according to Suetonius, demands the sword, with the slave, who rushed in and struck down Stephanus. Domitian’s murder, which for private reasons I defer till the month of April, really occurred on the 18th of September.

[172] Phaeton!... too late! These words are borrowed from Suetonius’s account of Nero’s end, (Ner. 49) where the centurion, who is ordered to arrest the dying Caesar, overcome by compassion, lays the mantle over the fatal wound, feigning to come to his rescue.

[173] The very men, who had hitherto grovelled in the dust before the despot, etc. See Dio Cass. LXVIII, i.

[174] The numerous statues of himself, etc. See Dio Cass. and others.

[175] Powers of denunciation. See Dio Cass. and others: “Many were also sentenced to death through false informers.”

[176] The Senate were given full powers to provide for the liberation of all prisoners of state, inclusive even of the Nazarenes. See Dio Cass. and others. “Nerva ordered those accused of offences against the Caesar to be set free, and the exiles to be recalled home.” He also allowed no one to be dragged before a court of law, on account of a Jewish (Christian) mode of life.

[177] Old Palaemon. See note 202, Vol. I.

[178] Samian wine. The island of Samos, near the coast of Asia Minor, was famed from ancient times for its delicious wine.

[179] Courage my child! This familiar tone from the physician’s lips need cause no surprise. Earlier (see note 209, Vol. I.) I have explained that a sort of filial relation existed between the old family servants and the children, nay that the former often took it upon themselves to reprove and scold the latter.

[180] The venerable emperor, etc. See Dio Cassius, LXVIII, 3. In reality this adoption and the appointment of “crown-prince,” (“Caesar” in a stricter sense) connected with it, occurred some time later, while Ulpius Trajanus was living as imperial governor in Upper Germany.

[181] Trajan, that noble, moderate and just man. See Dio Cass. LXVIII, 5: “His character had not the slightest trace of falsity, malice or cruelty; he loved good citizens, treated them with respect and distinguished them: about the bad ones he did not ask.”—LXVIII, 6: “He was eminent for his love of justice, courage, and simplicity of manners.... He envied no one, barred no one’s path to fame; he rather honored and exalted all merit. Hence he had no cause to fear any man. Slanderers he did not trust. He neither meddled with the property of others, nor allowed the innocent to be put to death”—LXVIII, 16: “When he gave the sword to the commander of the Praetorian guard, he drew it from the sheath and held it up, saying: ‘Take this sword and use it, if I reign well, for me, if I reign ill, against me.’” Even the eulogy of the younger Pliny, who was a friend of the new emperor, spite of many exaggerated expressions, shows that it is the utterance of sincere conviction; certain facts especially speak for themselves; for instance the total change in the ceremonies of the court. “Formerly”—so says Pliny—“the imperial palace was a fortress; under Nerva and Trajan it has become a public building. There are no bolts, no degrees of humiliation, and when a thousand thresholds have been crossed, we do not constantly encounter fresh forms and obstacles. We do not come to Trajan, as was the case with former emperors, in confusion and haste, that we may not endanger our lives by delay, but with a feeling of security, gladly, and just as it suits our convenience. If some pressing business detains us, Trajan does not even require a word of apology. When we have saluted him, we do not rush hurriedly away. We linger, stroll comfortably about, as if the palace belonged to us—the very palace, which but a short time ago that abandoned monster (Domitian) surrounded with so many horrors; the very palace where the wild-beast shut himself up as if in a den, sometimes drinking the blood of his nearest relatives, sometimes rushing out to slay the noblest citizens.... But vengeance burst the wall of his guards and pressed victoriously through the locked doors.... How much safer and more free from anxiety is this palace, now that it is not protected by the guards of tyranny, but of love, not protected by seclusion and bolts, but by the citizens passing in and out. You have shown us by experience, that a prince’s virtue is his best defence,” Pliny Paneg. 65: “Trajan convinced us that the sovereign is not above the law—but the law above the sovereign,” Pliny Paneg. 67, and “Usually we have taken vows of fealty simply for the emperor’s welfare; but the expressions in which we have sworn faith to our present government deserve to be emphasized—if you will rule the state wisely and for the good of all ... that is you will only be preserved by the gods, on the condition that you rule the state wisely and for the welfare of all.”