Part 7

A.U.C. 767.

Augustus interlards this epistle, and that subsequently quoted, with Greek sentences and phrases, of which this is one. It is so obscure, that commentators suppose that it is a mis-reading, but are not agreed on its drift.

A verse in which the word in italics is substituted for cunctando, quoted from Ennius, who applied it to Fabius Maximus.

Iliad, B. x. Diomede is speaking of Ulysses, where he asks that he may accompany him as a spy into the Trojan camp.

Tiberius had adopted Germanicus. See before, c. xv. See also CALIGULA, c. i.

In this he imitated Augustus. See c. liii. of his life.

Si hanc fenestram aperueritis, if you open that window, equivalent to our phrase, "if you open the door."

Princeps, principatus, are the terms generally used by Suetonius to describe the supreme authority vested in the Caesars, as before at the beginning of chap. xxiv., distinguished from any terms which conveyed of kingly power, the forms of the republic, as we have lately seen, still subsisting.

Strenas; the French etrennes.

"Tiberius pulled down the temple of Isis, caused her image to be thrown into the Tiber, and crucified her priests."--Joseph. Ant. Jud. xviii. 4.

Similia sectantes. We are strongly inclined to think that the words might be rendered "similar sects," conveying an allusion to the small and obscure body of Christians, who were at this period generally confounded with the Jews, and supposed only to differ from them in some peculiarities of their institutions, which Roman historians and magistrates did not trouble themselves to distinguish. How little even the well-informed Suetonius knew of the real facts, we shall find in the only direct notice of the Christians contained in his works (CLAUDIUS c. xxv., NERO, c. xvi.); but that little confirms our conjecture. All the commentators, however, give the passage the turn retained in the text. Josephus informs us of the particular occurrence which led to the expulsion of the Jews from Rome by Tiberius.--Ant. xviii. 5.

Varro tells us that the Roman people "were more actively employed (manus movere) in the theatre and circus, than in the corn-fields and vineyards."--De Re Rustic. ii. And Juvenal, in his satires, frequently alludes to their passion for public spectacles, particularly in the well- known lines--

--------Atque duas tantum res serrius optat, Panem et Circenses. Sat. x. 80.

The Cottian Alps derived their name from this king. They include that part of the chain which divides Dauphiny from Piedmont, and are crossed by the pass of the Mont Cenis.

Antium, mentioned before, (AUG. c. lviii.) once a flourishing city of the Volscians, standing on the sea-coast, about thirty-eight miles from Rome, was a favourite resort of the emperors and persons of wealth. The Apollo Belvidere was found among the ruins of its temples and other edifices.

A.U.C. 779.

Terracina, standing at the southern extremity of the Pontine Marshes, on the shore of the Mediterranean. It is surrounded by high calcareous cliffs, in which there are caverns, affording, as Strabo informs us, cool retreats, attached to the Roman villas built round.

Augustus died at Nola, a city in Campania. See c. lviii. of his life.

Fidenae stood in a bend of the Tiber, near its junction with the Anio. There are few traces of it remaining.

That any man could drink an amphora of wine at a draught, is beyond all credibility; for the amphora was nearly equal to nine gallons, English measure. The probability is, that the man had emptied a large vessel, which was shaped like an amphora.

Capri, the luxurious retreat and scene of the debaucheries of the Roman emperors, is an island off the southern point of the bay of Naples, about twelve miles in circumference.

Pan, the god of the shepherds, and inventor of the flute, was said to be the son of Mercury and Penelope. He was worshipped chiefly in Arcadia, and represented with the horns and feet of a goat. The Nymphs, as well as the Graces, were represented naked.

The name of the island having a double meaning, and signifying also a goat.

"Quasi pueros primae teneritudinis, quos 'pisciculos' vocabat, institueret, ut natanti sibi inter femina versarentur, ac luderent: lingua morsuque sensim appetentes; atque etiam quasi infantes firmiores, necdum tamen lacte depulsos, inguini ceu papillae admoveret: pronior sane ad id genus libidinis, et natura et aetate."

"Foeminarum capitibus solitus illudere."

"Obscoenitate oris hirsuto atque olido."

"Hircum vetulum capreis naturam ligurire"

The Temple of Vesta, like that dedicated to the same goddess at Tivoli, is round. There was probably one on the same site, and in the same circular form, erected by Numa Pompilius; the present edifice is far too elegant for that age, but there is no record of its erection, but it is known to have been repaired by Vespasian or Domitian after being injured by Nero's fire. Its situation, near the Tiber, exposed it to floods, from which we find it suffered, from Horace's lines--