Ars Amatoria; or, The Art Of Love / Literally Translated into English Prose, with Copious Notes

FOOTNOTES BOOK TWO

901 (return)
[ Sing, 'Io Pean.'—Ver. 1. This was the usual cry of the hunters, who thus addressed Apollo, the God of the chase, when the prey had been captured iu the toils. See the Metamorphoses, Book iv. 1. 513.]

902 (return)
[ AmyclÆ.—Ver. 5. A town of Laconia. See the Metamorphoses, Book x. 1. 219, and the Note.]

903 (return)
[ Erato.—Ver. 16. He addresses himself to this Muse, as her name was derived from the Greek 'love.' It has been suggested that he had another reason for addressing her, as she was thought to take pleasure in warfare, a state which sometimes, by way of variety, exists between lovers.]

904 (return)
[ A bold path.—Ver. 22. This story is again related in the Eighth Book of the Metamorphoses.]

905 (return)
[ Like oars.—Ver. 45. He aptly compares the arrangement of the main feathers of a wing to a row of oars.]

906 (return)
[ Orion.'—Ver. 56. So in the Metamorphoses, Book v. 1. 206, he says to his son Icarus, 'Fly between both: and I bid thee neither to look at Bootes, nor Helice, nor the drawn sword of Orion.']

907 (return)
[ Is angling.—Ver. 77. There is a similar passage in the Metamorphoses, 1. 216.]

908 (return)
[ The Clarian God.—Ver. 80. See the Fasti, Book i. 1. 20, and the Note.]

909 (return)
[ And Calymne.—Ver. 81. These peaces are mentioned in the corresponding passages in the Metamorphoses, Book viii. 1. 222.]

910 (return)
[ AstypalÆa..—Ver. 82. This was an isle in the group of the Sporades, between Crete and the Cyclades. It contained but one city, and was long and narrow, and of rugged appearance.]

911 (return)
[ The young horse.—Ver. 100. See the Amoves. Book i. El. viii 1. 8, and the Note.]

912 (return)
[ The Marsian spells.—Ver. 102. The 'naenia' was a mournful dirge or chaunt uttered by the sorcerer in his incantations. On the Marsi, see the Sixth Book of the Fasti, 1. 142, and the Note to the passage.]

913 (return)
[ Causing paleness.—Ver. 105. Philtres were noxious potions, made of venomous or stimulating ingredients, prescribed as a means of gaining the affections of the person to whom they were administered.]

914 (return)
[ Nireus.—Ver. 109. See the Pontic Epistles, Book iv. Ep. xiii. 1. 16, and the Note to the passage.]

915 (return)
[ Charming Hylas.—Ver. 110. See the Tristia, Book ii. 1.]

916 (return)
[ Ocean Goddesses.—Ver. 124. Calypso was really the only sea Goddess that was enamoured of Ulysses. Circe was not a sea Goddess.]

917 (return)
[ Blood of Dolon.'—Ver. 135. See the Metamorphoses, Book xiii. line 244.]

918 (return)
[ Hjemontan horses—Ver. 136. The steeds of Achilles.]

919 (return)
[ The Chaonian bird.—Ver. 150. Chaonia was a district of Epirus, said to have been so called from Chaon, a Trojan. Dodona was in Epirus, and in its forests were said to be doves that had the gift of prophecy. See the Translation of the Metamorphoses pp. 467-8.]

920 (return)
[ Resort to law.—Ver. 151. He means to say 'let man and wife be always thinking about resorting to law to procure a divorce.']

921 (return)
[ 1 gave verses.—Ver. 166. He intends a pun here. 'Verba dare' is 'to deceive,' but literally it means 'to give words.' See the Amores, book i. El. viii. 1. 57.]

922 (return)
[ Atalanta of Nonacris.—Ver. 185. See the Amores, Book iii. El. ii. 29, and the Note.]

923 (return)
[ Bow of Hylceus.—Ver. 191. HylÆus and RhÆcus were Centaurs, who were pierced by Atalanta with her arrows, for making an attempt on her chastity. He alludes to the bow of Cupid in the next line.]

924 (return)
[ The ivory cubes.'—Ver. 203. He alludes to throws of the 'tali' and 'tessera,' which were different kinds of dice. See the Note to 1. Footnote 471: of the Second Book of the Tristia. In this line he seems to mean the 'tessera,' which were similar to our dice, while the 'tali,' which he next mentions, had only four flat surfaces, being made in imitation of the knuckle-bones of animals, and having two sides uneven and rounded. The dice were thrown on a table, made for the purpose, with an elevated rim. Some throws, like our doublets, are supposed to have counted for more than the number turned up. The most fortunate throw was called 'Venus.' or 'Venereus jactus'; it is thought to have consisted of a combination, making fourteen, the dice presenting different numbers. Games with dice were only sanctioned by law as a pastime during meals.]

925 (return)
[ Make bad moves.—Ver. 204. 'Dare jacta' means 'to move the throws,' in allusion to the game of 'duodecim scripta,' or 'twelve points,' which was played with counters moved according to the throws of the dice, probably in a manner not unlike our game of backgammon. The hoard was marked with twelve lines, on which the pieces moved.]

926 (return)
[ Or if you are throwing.—Ver. 205. By the use of the word 'seu, or,' we must suppose that he has, under the word 'numeri,' alluded to the game with the 'tesserÆ,' or six-sided dice.]

927 (return)
[ The game that imitates.—Ver. 207. He here alludes to the 'ludus latrunculorum,' literally 'the game of theft,' which is supposed to have been somewhat similar to our chess. He refers to its name in the words, 'latrocinii sub imagine.' The game was supposed to imitate the furtive stratagems of warfare: hence the men, which were usually styled 'calculi,' were also called by the name of 'latrones,' 'latrunculi,' 'milites,' 'bella-tores,' 'thieves,' 'little thieves,' 'soldiers,' 'warriors.' As we see by the next line, they were usually made of glass, though sometimes more costly materials were employed. The skill of this game consisted either in taking the pieces of the adversary, or rendering them unable to move. The first was done when the adversary's piece was brought by the other between two of his own. See the Tristia, Book ii. 1.477. The second took place when the pieces were 'ligati,' or 'ad incitas redacti,' brought upon the last line and unable to move. White and red are supposed to have been the colour of the men. This game was much played by the Roman ladies and nobles.]

928 (return)
[ Hold the screen.—Ver. 209. The ancients used 'umbracula,' or screens against the weather (resembling our umbrellas), which the Greeks called ————. They were used generally for the same purposes as our parasols, a protection against the heat of the sun. They seem not to have been in general carried by the ladies themselves, but by female slaves, who held them over their mistresses. See the Fasti, Book ii. 1. 209. These screens, or umbrellas, were much used by the Roman ladies in the amphitheatre, to protect them from sun and rain, when the 'velarium,' or awning, was not extended.]

929 (return)
[ Tasteful couch.'—Ver. 211. This was probably the 'triclinium' on which they reposed at meals. The shoes were taken off before reclining on it. Female slaves did this office for the ladies, and males for the men.]

930 (return)
[ Looking-glass.—Ver. 216. These were generally held by female slaves, when used by their mistresses. See the Metamorphoses, Book iv. 1. 349. and the Note.]

931 (return)
[ Held the work-basket.—Ver. 219. Hercules, who Wiled the serpents sent by Juno, is reproached for doing this, by Deianira in her Epistle.]

932 (return)
[ As though a servant.—Ver. 228. He is to be ready, if his mistress goes to a party, to act the part of the slave, who was called 'adversitor,' whose duty it was to escort his master home in the evening, if it was dark, with a lighted torch.]

933 (return)
[ A vehicle.—Ver. 230. 'Rota,' a wheel, is, by Synecdoche, used to signify 'a vehicle.']

934 (return)
[ Cynthius.—Ver. 240. See the Note to line 51, of the Epistle from Aenone to Paris.]

935 (return)
[ Through the open roof.—Ver. 245. He gives a somewhat hazardous piece of advice here; as he instructs him to obtain admission by climbing up the wall, and getting in at the skylight, which extended over the 'atrium,' or 'court,' a room which occupied the middle of the house. The Roman houses had, in general, but one story over the ground-floor.]

936 (return)
[ The high window.—Ver. 246. This passage may be illustrated by the Note to 1. 752: of Book xiv. of the Metamorphoses.]

937 (return)
[ Day on which.—Ver. 257. He alluded to a festival celebrated by the servants, on the Caprotine Nones, the seventh of July, when they sacrificed to 'Juno Caprotina.' Macrobius says that the servants sacrificed to Juno under a wild fig-tree (called 'caprificus'), in memory of the service done by the female slaves, in exposing themselves to the lust ot the enemy, for the public welfare. The Gauls being driven from the city, the neighbouring nations chose the Dictator of the Fidenates for their chief, and, marching to Rome, demanded of the Senate, that if they would save their city, they should send out to them their wives and daughters The Senate, knowing their own weakness, were much perplexed, when a handmaid, named 'Tutela,' or 'Philotis,' offered, with some others, to go out to the enemy in disguise. Being, accordingly, dressed like free women, they repaired in tears to the camp of the enemy. They soon induced their new acquaintances to drink, on the pretence that they were bound to consider the day as a festival; and when intoxicated, a signal was giver, from a fig tree near, that the Romans should fall on them. The camp of the enemy was assailed, and most of them were slain. In return for their service, the female, slaves were made free, and received marriage portion? at the public expense. Another account, agreeing with the present passage, says, that the Gauls were the enemy who made the demand, and that Retana was the name of the female slave.]

938 (return)
[ The lower classes.—Ver. 259. Witness his own appeals in the Amores to NapÈ, Cypassis. Bagous, and the porter.]

939 (return)
[ In the Sacred Street.'—Ver. 266. Presents of game and trout very often follow a similar devolution at the present day.]

940 (return)
[ Amaryllis was so fond of.—Ver. 267. He alludes to a line of Virgil, which, doubtless, was then well known to all persons of education. It occurs in the Eclogues: 'Castaneasque nuces, mea quas Amaryllis amabat.' 'Chesnuts, too, which my Amaryllis was so fond of.' In the next line, he hints that the damsels of his day were too greedy to be satisfied with chesnuts only.]

941 (return)
[ Thrush and a pigeon.—Ver. 269. Probably live birds of the kind are here alluded to; Pliny tells us that they were trained to imitate the human voice. Thrushes were much esteemed as a delicacy for the table. They were sold tied up in clusters, in the shape of a crown.]

942 (return)
[ By these means.—Ver. 271. He alludes to those who continued to slip into dead men's shoes, by making trifling presents of niceties. Juvenal inveighs against this practice.]

943 (return)
[ Poetry does not.—Ver. 274. See the remarks of Dipsas in the Amores, Book i. El. viii. 1. 57.]

944 (return)
[ Only rich.—Ver. 276. See the Amores, Book iii. El. ii.]

945 (return)
[ Tyrian hue.—Ver. 297. See the Fasti, Book ii. 1. 107, and the Note.]

946 (return)
[ Of Cos—Ver. 298. See the Epistles of Sabinus, Ep. iii. 1. 45, and the Note.]

947 (return)
[ A dress of felt.—Ver. 300. 'Gausape,' 'gausapa,' or 'gausapum,' was a kind of thick woolly cloth, which had a long nap on one side. It was used to cover tables and beds, and as a protection against wind and rain. It was worn both by males and females, and came into use among the Romans about the time of Augustus.]

948 (return)
[ You are setting me on fire.—Ver. 301. Burmanu deservedly censures the explanation of 'moves incendia,' given by Crispinus, the Delphin Editor, 'Vous mourrez de chaud,' 'You will die of heat,' applying the observation to the lady, and not, figuratively, to the feelings of her lover.]

949 (return)
[ Her very embraces.—Ver. 308. The common reading of this line is clearly corrupt; probably the reading is the one here adopted, 'Et un dat, gaudia, voce proba.']

950 (return)
[ What advice—Ver. 368. These attempts at argument are exhausted by Paris, in his Epistle to Helen.]

952 (return)
[ Stinging-nettle.—Ver. 417. Pliny prescribes nettle-seed as a stimulating medicine, mixed with linseed, hyssop, and pepper.]

953 (return)
[ White onion.—Ver. 421. The onions of Megara are praised by Cato, the agricultural writer.]

954 (return)
[ Alcathous.—Ver. 421. See the Metamorphoses, Book vii. 1.]

955 (return)
[ At first.—Ver. 467. See the beginning of the First Book of the Metamorphoses.]

956 (return)
[ Unclean mate.—Ver. 486. He alludes to the strong smell of the he-goat.]

957 (return)
[ Machaon.—Ver. 491. He was a famous physician, son of Æsculapius, and was slain in the Trojan war. See the Tristia, Book v. El. vi. 1. 11.]

958 (return)
[ He came.—Ver. 496. 'Adest' seems a preferable reading to 'agit.']

959 (return)
[ To know himself.—Ver. 600. 'Know thyself,' was a saying of Chilo, the Lacedaemonian, one of the wise men of Greece. This maxim was also inscribed in gold letters in the temple of Apollo at Delphi. 'Too much of nothing' was a second maxim there inscribed; and a third was, 'Misery is the consequence of debt and discord.']

960 (return)
[ Drinks with elegance.—Ver. 506. It is hard to say what art in drinking is here alluded to; whether a graceful air in holding the cup, or the ability of drinking much without shewing any signs of inebriety.

Let the old woman come.—Ver. 329. In sickness it was the custom to purify the bed and chamber of the patient, with sulphur and eggs. It seems also to have been done when the patient was pining through unrequited love. Apulius mentions a purification by the priest of Isis, who uses eggs and sulphur while holding a torch and repeating a prayer. The nurse of the patient seems here to be directed to perform the ceremony.]

961 (return)
[ The Fasti, Book ii. 1. 19, and Book iv. 1. 728. From a passage of Juvenal, we find that it was a common practice to purify with eggs and sulphur, in the month of September, * On Athos.—Ver. 517. See the Metamorphoses, Book ii. 1. 217, and the Note.]

962 (return)
[ On Hybla.—Ver. 517. See the Tristia, Book v. El. xiii. 1. 22.]

963 (return)
[ Off your head.—Ver. 528. Iphis, in the fourteenth Book of the Metamorphoses, 1. 732, raises his eyes to the door-posts of his mistress, 'so often adorned by him with wreaths.']

964 (return)
[ The senses.—Ver. 532. He seems to believe, with Nixon d'Enelos, in the existence of a sixth sense.]

965 (return)
[ Of mighty Jove.—Ver. 540. He alludes to the triumphal procession to the Capitol.]

966 (return)
[ Gentle sleep.—Ver. 546. See the Amores, Book iii. El. i. 1. 51. He means to say that husbands give a certain latitude to their wives, who do not fail to improve upon it.]

967 (return)
[ Own husband.—Ver. 551. See the Amores, Book i. El. iv. 1. 38.]

968 (return)
[ Other men visit.—Ver. 554. 'Viri' seems to be a better reading than 'viro.']

969 (return)
[ Mars and Venus.—Ver. 562. See the Metamorphoses, Book iv. 1. 173.]

970 (return)
[ Says, laughing.—Ver. 585. See a similar passage in the Metamorphoses, Book iv. 1. 187.]

971 (return)
[ For Thrace.—Ver. 588. He was much venerated by the warlike Thracians.]

972 (return)
[ Paphos.—Ver. 588. See the Metamorphoses, Book x. 1. 298.]

973 (return)
[ Fire and water render.—Ver. 598. Among the Romans, when the bride reached her husband's house, he received her with fire and water, which it was the custom for her to touch. This is, by some, supposed to have been symbolical of purification; or it was an expression of welcome, as the interdiction of fire and water was the formula for banishment.]

974 (return)
[ My sallies.—Ver. 600. See Book L 1. 31, and the Note. See also the Fasti, Book iv. 1. 866, and the Note.]

975 (return)
[ The rites of Ceres.—Ver. 601. He alludes to the mysterious rites of Ceres, in the island of Samothrace.]

976 (return)
[ Not enclosed in chests.—Ver. 609. Certain chests were carried in the procession at the festival of Ceres, the contents of which, if there were any, was a mystery to the uninitiated.]

977 (return)
[ The left hand.—Ver. 614. This is the attitude of the Venus de Medicis.]

978 (return)
[ At a heavy price.—Ver. 626. Men spend their money on debauchery, only for the pleasure of talking of it.]

979 (return)
[ Waving wings.—Ver. 644. He refers to Perseus admiring the swarthy Andromeda.]

980 (return)
[ Of larger stature.—Ver. 645. She was remarkable for her height.]

981 (return)
[ Green bark.—Ver. 639. He speaks of the slip engrafted in the stock.]

982 (return)
[ What Consulship.—Ver. 663. The age of persons was reckoned by naming the Consulship in which they were born; the period of which was Known by reference to the 'Fasti Consulares.' See the Introduction to the Fasti.]

983 (return)
[ Rigid Censor.—Ver. 664. It was the duty of the Censor to make enquiries into the age of all individuals.]

984 (return)
[ Best years.—Ver. 666. Even in those days, it was considered ungallant to make too scrutinizing enquiries into the years of ladies of 'a certain age.']

985 (return)
[ Kind of warfare.—Ver. 674. See the Amores, Book i. El. ix. 1. 1.]

986 (return)
[ Besides in these.—Ver. 675. In reference to females of a more advanced age.]

987 (return)
[ Seven times five years.—Ver. 694. He probably means, in this passage, a lustrum of five years. Burmann justly observes, that 'cito,' 'quickly,' or 'soon,' can hardly be the proper reading, as it seems to contradict the meaning of the context. He suggests 'nisi,' meaning 'but,' or 'only.' See the Fasti, Book iii. 1. 166, and the Note. Also the Tristia, Book iv. El. xvi. 1. 78.]

988 (return)
[ Stored up in the times.—Ver. 696. He uses this metaphorical expression to signify that he admires females when of a ripe and mature age See the Amores, Book ii. El. v. 1. 54, and the Note.]

989 (return)
[ The shooting grass.—Ver. 698. In Nisard's translation, the words 'prata novella' are rendered 'l'herbe nouvellement coupÉe,' 'the grass newly cut.' This is not the meaning of the passage. He intends to say that the grass just shooting up is apt to cut or prick the naked foot.]

990 (return)
[ Hermione.—Ver. 699. She was the daughter of Helen and Menelaus.]

991 (return)
[ Gorge.—Ver. 700. She was the daughter of Altnea, and sister of Meleager. She married AndrÆmon.]

992 (return)
[ Podalirius.—Ver. 735. The brother of Machaon. See the Tristia Book v. El. xiii. 1. 32.]

993 (return)
[ Calchas.—Ver. 737. See the Metamorphoses.]

994 (return)
[ Automeden.—Ver. 738. The son of Diores. He was the charioted of Achilles.]

995 (return)
[ Upon his spoil—Ver. 744. It was the custom to write inscriptions on the spoil. See the Notes to the Fasti, Book ii. 1. 663.]

Clyx.com