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1 In the twenty-third Chapter of the present Book.—B.
2 Val. Maximus, B. ix. c. 12, and Diodorus Siculus, B. xiii. c. 14, gives the same account. It has been said, that, when he heard the news, he called for a draught of wine, and was choked with a grape-stone; this incident forms the subject of an epigram by Simonides, quoted by Hardouir, Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 210.—B.
3 There is reason to believe, that the prize was given rather to the rank, than to the poetry of Dionysius; see the remarks of Ajasson, Lemaire, vol. iii. pp. 210, 211.—B.
4 This anecdote is related by Livy, B. xxii. c. 7; by Valerius Maximus, B. ix. c. 12; and by Aulus Gellius, B. iii. c. 15; the two former, however, state, that it occurred after the battle of Thrasymenus,—B.
5 Cicero, De Fato, sec. 6, styles Diodorus, "valens dialecticus."—B.
6 According to Hardouin, these were Lucius, the prætor, and Caius, the father of the dictator; they were brothers, and the sons of C. Cæsar. —B.
7 Thirty-first of December; consequently his tenure of office was for a few hours only. Cicero indulged in several jokes upon his consulship, remarking that no one had died during it; and that the consul was extremely vigilant, for that he had never slept during his term of office.
8 This took place A.U.C. 708; Macrobius, in his Saturnalia, gives us an account of the jests passed by Cicero and others on the brief duration of his office.—B.
9 He is supposed to have been the same person who was consul A.U.C. 732.—B.
10 The Comitium was a place in the forum at Rome, where the "comitia curiata" were held, and certain offences tried and punished. It was here also that the tribunal, or "suggestum," was situate.
11 We are informed by Hardouin, that he held the office of Prætor A.U.C. 660.—B.
12 "A puero;" not necessarily a slave, as Littrè seems to think.
13 On Hardouin's authority, we learn that A. Pompeius was surnamed Bithynicus, and was prætor A.U.C. 680.–B.
14 The death of Thalna is given somewhat more in detail by Valerius Maximus, B. ix. c. 12; it took place A.U.C. 590.—B.
15 The ancients reckoned the hours from sun-rise; in summer, the second hour of the day would be six o'clock A.M., and in the winter, a quarter past eight.—B.
16 Bankers, and usurers more especially, had their shops in the Roman Forum.
17 "Cum vadimonium differri jubet."—B.
18 Augustus built a third Forum, because the old one and that of Julius Cæsar, were not found sufficient for the great increase of business. He adorned it with a temple of Mars, and the statues of the most distinguished Romans.
19 According to Hardouin, this ivory statue was in the eighth region of the city.—B.
20 "Specillum;" this instrument is mentioned by Celsus, B. vi. c. 6, 25, et alibi. There has been a considerable discussion among the commentators respecting the "specillum;" see Lemaire, vol. iii. pp. 213, 214. From the uses to which it was applied by Celsus, we can have little doubt upon the subject. Poinsinet and Ajasson employ the equivalent French term "eprouvette."—B.
21 "Mulsum" was the most universally esteemed of all the beverages used among the Romans. It seems to have been of two kinds: in the one case honey was mixed with wine, in the other with must. Massic or Falernian wine was preferred for the purpose, and new Attic honey. The proportions were four measures of wine to one of honey; and various perfumes and spices were added. See B. xxii, c. 4. It was especially valued as the most appropriate draught on an empty stomach.
22 The Cornelius Gallus here mentioned could not have been the poet of the same name, because, as we are informed, he died by his own hand. The death of the poet Gallus is alluded to by Ovid, Amores, B. iii. El. 9, 1. 64.—B. A similar fate is said, by Tertullian, to have overtaken Speusippus, the Platonic philosopher. The same was also said by some of the poet Pindar.
23 Val. Maximus, B. ix. c. 12, gives the same account of the death of Gallus and Haterius.—B.
24 Which was usually worn by the Romans at their entertainments.
25 Considering some of the above cases, Pliny must have had a curions notion of a happy death. Ovid would have agreed with him in one respect; for in his amatory poems, he expresses a wish that he may die of a surfeit of sensual enjoyment.
26 The great-grandfather of the Emperor Nero. We have a reference to his death by Seneca, De Benef. B. iii. c. 24, and a more full account of it by Suetonius, Life of Nero, c. 2.—B.
27 The charioteers at Rome were divided into four companies, or "factiones," each distinguished by a colour, representing the season of the year. These colours were green for the spring, red for the summer, azure for autumn, and white for the winter. Domitian afterwards increased them to six, adding the golden and the purple. The most ardent party spirit prevailed among them, and the interest in their success extended to all classes and both sexes.
28 In the thirty-sixth Chapter of this Book.—B.
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