X" ROMAN SCENES THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS. BY THE SAME AUTHOR CHABICLES: or, Illustrations of the Private Life of the Ancient Greeks. With Notes and Excur- suses. With 29 Illustrations. Translated by the Rev. FREDERICK METCALFE, B.D. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. LONGMANS, GREEN, and CO. London, New York, & Bombay. G A L L U S ROMAN SCENES OP THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS. "WITH NOTES AND EXCURSUSES ILLUSTRATIVE OF TUB MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE ROMANS. BY PROFESSOR W. A.. BECKER. TRANSLATED BY THE REV. FREDERICK METCALFE, B.D. FELLOW OF LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD, AND LATE HEAD MASTER OF BRIGHTON COLLEGE. NEW EDITION. LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 89 PATEENOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1898 OALLU8 ET HESPERUS ET GALLU8 NOTUS KO!f 41 bUA CUM OALLO NOTA LYCOBIF EttAT. (Ovta.) ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION. QINCE the appearance of the first edition of Gallus in ' an English form, its learned author, as well as the veteran Hermann of Leipsic, to whom he dedicated his Chnricles, have been numbered with the dead, while the irreparable loss thus sustained by the literary world was heightened by the decease, soon after, of Orelli at Zurich. At the period of his too early removal, Professor Becker was engaged in collecting the materials for a second improved and enlarged edition of Gallus : the task of completing which was consigned to Professor Rein oi Eisenach, and the deceased's papers placed at his disposal. Besides interweaving in the work these posthumous notes, the new editor has likewise added very much valuable matter of his own, correcting errors where they occurred, throwing new light on obscure points of criticism or an- tiquarian knowledge, and, where the explanations were too brief, giving them greater development. He has further adopted the plan of the English editor, whereby the Excursuses were thrown together at the end, so as not to interfere with the even tenor of tho narrative ; and the woodcuts removed from the end to their proper place in the body of the text. Much matter has also been extracted from the notes and embodied in the Appendix. These changes have given a unity, con- Ti ADVERTISEMENT. eecutiveness, and completeness to the work which Tiui.-t materially enhance its literary value. Indeed, so great have been the alterations and additions, and there has been so much transposition and remodelling, that this English edition has required nearly as much time and labour as the preceding one. By the advice of friends many of the citations have now been given at length. The Excursus on the Biihlcrinnen has been entirely omitted. It may be added, that the first edition having been for some time exhausted, in order to lose as little time as possible, the proof-sheets were, by the kindness of the German publisher, forwarded to this country as they issued from the press. The editor may be permitted to observe, in conclusion, that he is glad to find from the extensive circulation of Gallus in this country and Ame- rica, as well as from the opinions of the press, that the praise he ventured to bestow on the work has been fully borne out. BRIGHTON: May, 1849. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. oder Romische Scenen aus der Zeit Augusts ^ such is the German title of Professor Becker's work was published at Leipsic in 1838. The novelty of its conception, the comparatively fresh ground it broke in the field of Roman Antiquities, and the exceeding erudi- tion brought to bear on the subject, at once arrested the attention of German scholars, and it has ever since been considered, what its author ventured to hope it would bej ' a desirable repertory of whatever is most worth knowing about the private life of the Romans/ Soon after its publication, a very lengthened and eulogistic critique ap- peared in the Times London newspaper ; and as it seldom happens that that Journal can find space in its columns for notices of this description, no little weight was attached to the circumstance, and a proportionate interest created in the work. Proposals were immediately made for publishing it in an English dress, and the book was adver- tised accordingly ; but unforeseen difficulties intervened, arising from the peculiar nature of the work, and the plan was ultimately abandoned. In fact, in order to render the book successful in England, it was absolutely necessary that it should be somehow divested of its very German appearance, which, how palatable soever it might be to the author's own b viii TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. countrymen, would have been caviare to the generality of English readers. For instance, instead of following each other uninterruptedly, the Scenes were separated by a profound gulf of Notes and Excursuses, which, if plunged into, was quite sufficient to drown the interest of the tale. The present translator was advised to attempt certain alterations, and he was encouraged to proceed with the task by the very favourable opinion which some of our most distinguished scholars entertained of the original, and their desire that it should be introduced into this country. The notes have been accordingly transported from their intercalary position, and set at the foot of the pages in the narrative to which they refer. The Scenes therefore succeed each other uninterruptedly, so that the thread of the story is rendered continuous, and disen- tangled from the maze of learning with which the Excur- suses abound. These, in their turn, have been thrown together in an Appendix, and will doubtless prove a very substantial caput coence to those who shall have first dis- cussed the lighter portion of the repast. In addition to these changes, which it is hoped will meet with approba- tion, much curtailment has been resorted to, and the two volumes of the original compressed into one. In order to effect this, the numerous passages from Roman and Greek authors have, in many instances, been only referred to, and not given at length ; matters of minor importance have been occasionally omitted, and more abstruse points of disquisition not entered into. Those who may feel an interest in further inquiry, are referred to the Professor's work, in four volumes, on Roman Antiquities, now in course of publication in Germany. At the same time, care has been taken not to leave out any essential fact. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. ix The narrative, in spite of the author's modest esti- mate of this section of his labours, is really very interest- ing, nay, wonderfully so, considering the narrow limits he had prescribed for himself, and his careful avoidance of anything not founded on fact, or bearing the semblance of fiction. The idea of making an interesting story the basis of his exposition, and of thus ' strewing with flowers the path of dry antiquity,' is most judicious. "We .have here a flesh and blood picture of the Roman, as he lived and moved, thought and acted, worth more a thousand times than the disjecta membra, the dry skeleton, to be found in such books as Adam's Roman Antiquities, and others of the same nature, which, however erudite, are vastly uninviting. In conclusion, the translator will be abundantly satis- fied if, by his poor instrumentality, the English student shall have become acquainted with a most instructive work, and thus his mind stimulated to the further inves- tigation of a subject fraught with peculiar fascination the domestic habits and manners of the most remarkable people of antiquity. LONDON: May, 1844. AUTHOR'S PREFACE. was once a period, when no portion of classic * lore was more zealously cultivated than the study of Antiquities, by which is meant everything appertaining to the political institutions, worship, and houses, of the ancients. Though the two former of these are the most important, in an historical point of view, yet objects of domestic antiquity excited still greater attention ; and as it was evident that on the understanding of them depended the correct interpretation of ancient authors, the smallest minutiae were deemed worthy of investigation. The greatest philologists of the sixteenth and seven- teenth centuries, such men as Lipsius, Casaubonus, and Salmasius, took great delight in this particular branch of archseology. The last-mentioned scholar has, in his Exer- citt. ad Solinum, in the notes to the Scriptt. Hist. Augustce, and Tertuttian. De Pattio, as well as elsewhere, displayed his usual acumen and erudition. And although more recent discoveries have often set him right in the explanation of manners and customs, still his must always be considered as a rich compilation of most judiciously chosen materials. It however soon became apparent that written ac- counts were frequently insufficient; and, as monuments were gradually brought to light from amidst the rubbish xii AUTHOR'S PREFACE. that hid them, their importance grew more and more manifest. These witnesses of departed grandeur and mag- nificence, of early habits and customs, were canvassed with increasing animation ; and, in Italy, a great number of works appeared descriptive of them ; which, however, often evinced rather an ostentation of extensive learning than real depth and penetration. The Italians possessed the advantage of having the monuments before their eyes, and moreover, the Dutch and German scholars contented themselves with throwing together a quantity of loose and unconnected observations, without bestowing much inves- tigation on their relevancy. But it was after the conclusion of. the seventeenth century, that this fault reached its height, and the writings became exceedingly unpalatable, from the tasteless fashion of jumbling ancient with modern, and Christian with heathen customs. Even up to the present time not much has been done in explanation of this particular branch of archaeology, and little as such works as Pignorius De Servis, Ferrarius De re Vestiaria, Mercurialis De Arte Gymnastica, Ciaco- nius De Triclinio, Paschalius De Coronis, &c., are calcu- lated to give satisfaction, they still continue to be cited as authorities. Whilst the political institutions have been subjected to profound investigation, the private life of the Romans has been quite neglected, or nearly so ; and the hand-books, which could not well be entirely silent on this head, have merely presented us hasty notices, taken from the older writers. The works of Maternus, Cilano, and Nitsch, may have been useful in their day, but they are now quite obsolete. Meierotto, who undertook to describe the cus- toms and habits of the Romans, has confined himself to AUTHOR'S PREFACE. xiii making a compilation of a quantity of anecdotes, culled from the old authors, and deducing some general charac- teristics from them. Couture has also written three essays, entitled, De la Vie Privee des Remains in the Mem. de I'Acad. d. Inscr. i. The most important work that has been written, at least upon one part of Roman life, is Bottiger's Sabina, as it is the result of actual personal investigation. This deservedly famed archaeologist succeeded in imparting an interest even to less important points, and combin- ing therewith manifold instruction, notwithstanding his tediousness, and the numerous instances of haste and lack of critical acumen. We must not omit to mention Mazois' Palace of Scaurus. The work has merits, though its worth has been much increased by translation, and it is a pity that the editors did not produce an original work on the subject, instead of appending their notes to a text which, though written with talent, is hurried and uncri- tical. Dezobry's Rome du Siecle d'Auguste may also prove agreeable reading to those who are satisfied with light description, void alike of depth, precision, and scien- tific value. It would be still more futile to seek for instruction in Mirbach's Roman Letters. In the second edition of Creuzer's Abriss. der Romischen Antiquitaten, Professor Bahr has given a very valuable treatise on the objects connected with the meals and funerals. It is the most complete thing of the kind that has appeared, though, the work being only in the form of an abstract, a more detailed account was inadmissible. In the total absence of any work, satisfactorily ex- plaining the more important points of the domestic life of the ancients, the author determined to write on this xiv AUTHOR'S PREFACE. subject, and was engaged during several years in col- lecting materials for the purpose. His original intention was to produce a systematic hand-book ; but finding that this would lead to too much brevity and curtailment, and exclude entirely several minor traits, which, although not admitting of classification, were highly necessary to a complete portrait of Roman life, he was induced to imitate the example of Bb'ttiger and Mazois, and produce a con- tinuous story, with explanatory notes on each chapter. Those topics which required more elaborate investigation have been handled at length in Excursuses. The next question was, whether a fictitious character, or some historical personage, should be selected for the hero. The latter was chosen, although objections may be raised against this method ; as, after all, a mixture of fiction must be resorted to in order to introduce several details which, strictly speaking, may perhaps not be his- torical. Still there were preponderant advantages in making some historical fact the basis of the work, par- ticularly if the person selected was such as to admit of the introduction of various phases of life, in the course of his biography. A personage of this sort presented itself in Cornelius Gallus, a man whose fortunate rise from obscurity to splendour and honour, intimacy with Augustus, love of Lycoris, and poetical talents, render him not a little remarkable. It is only from the higher grades of society that we can obtain the materials for a portraiture of Roman manners ; of the lower orders but little is known. The Augustan age is decidedly the happiest time to select. Indeed, little is known of the domestic habits of the pre- vious period, as Varro's work, De Vita Populi Romani, the fragments of which are valuable enough to make AUTHOR'S PREFACE. xv us deplore its loss, has unluckily not come down to us. The rest of the earlier writers, with the exception of the comedians, whose accounts we must receive with caution, throw but little light on this side of life in their times, inasmuch as domestic relations sunk then into insigni- ficance, compared with the momentous transactions of public life ; a remark partially applicable to the age of Augustus also. The succeeding writers are the first to dwell with peculiar complacency on the various objects of domestic luxury and comfort, which, now that their minds were dead to nobler aims, had become the most important ends of existence. Hence it is, that apart from the numerous antique monuments which have been dug up, and placed in museums (e. g. the Museum Borbonicum), our most valuable authorities on Koman private life are the later poets, as Juvenal, Martial, Statius; then Petronius, Se- neca, Suetonius, the two Plinies, Cicero's speeches and letters, the elegiac poets, and especially Horace. Next come the grammarians and the digests ; while the Greek authors, as Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Plutarch, Dio. Cassius, Lucian, Athenaeus, and the lexicographers, as Pollux, still further enlighten us. The author has made it a rule never to quote these last as authorities, except when they expressly refer to Roman customs, or when these correspond with the Grecian. He has also confined himself to a citation of the best authorities, and such as he had actually consulted in person. Their number might have been considerably increased from Fabricius, Biinau's Catalogue, and other works of the kind. In dividing the work into twelve scenes, the author disclaims all intention of writing a romance. This would, xvi AUTHOR'S PREFACE. no doubt, have been a far easier task than the tedious combination of a multitude of isolated facts into a single picture; an operation allowing but very little scope to the imagination. It was, in fact, not unlike putting together a picture in mosaic, for which purpose are supplied a certain number of pieces of divers colours. What the author has interpolated, to connect the whole together, is no more than the colourless bits, indispensable to form the ground-work of the picture, and bring it clearly before the eye. His eagerness to avoid anything like romance may possibly have rather prejudiced the narrative, but, even as it is, more fiction perhaps is admitted than is strictly compatible with the earnestness of literary in- quiry. The character of Gallus may seem to have been drawn too pure and noble ; but the author does not fear any censure on this score. His crime has been here sup- posed to be that mentioned by Ovid, Unguam niinio iion tenuisse mero ; and indeed the most authentic writers nowhere lay any very grave offence to his charge. Possibly, the reader may have been surprised that Gallus has not been introduced in more intellectual company, since his position towards Augustus, and -friendship with Virgil very probably with Propertius also would have yielded a fine opportunity for so doing. But, apart from the hardi- hood of an attempt to describe the sayings and doings of men like these, nothing would have been gained for our purpose, while their very intellectual greatness would have prevented the author from dwelling so much on the mere externals of life. Moreover, it is by no means cer- tain that the early friendship between Virgil and Gallus AUTHOR'S PREFACE. Tvii continued to the close of the latter's career, after he had fallen into disfavour with Augustus. Such persons as are here portrayed, abounded in Rome, as we learn from Juvenal and Martial. In describing Gallus as ccelebs, the author wished to institute an inquiry into those points of domestic life Avhich had hitherto been little attended to, or imperfectly investigated. As far as the customs, occupations, re- quirements, &c., of the fair sex were concerned, Bottiger has given very satisfactory information in his Sabina ; so that the introduction of a matron into Gallus' family might have led to a repetition of matters which that writer has already discussed. In that case the author must also have entirely omitted Lycoris a personage affording an excellent opportunity of introducing several topics of interest relating to the sex. The relations of marriage, so far as they form the basis of the household, could not be passed over in silence ; but it is only in this point of view that the Excursus on Marriage must be considered, as it makes no pretensions to survey the matter in its whole extent, either as a religious or civil institution. The author was desirous to have introduced an ac- count of the public shows, theatre, amphitheatre, and circus, but they required such a lengthy preamble, that the subject was omitted entirely, as being too bulky for the plan of the work. In treating of matters so various, it is quite possible that the author may have occasionally offered erroneous opinions ; nor can it be denied that some chapters have been elaborated with more inclination than others ; all he xviii AUTHOR'S PREFACE. wishes the reader to believe of him is, that he has never shunned the labour of earnest personal investigation ; and he hopes that a work has been composed, which may serve as a desirable repertory of whatever is most worth knowing about the private life of the Romans. CONTENTS. PAGE Advertisement to the Second Edition ..... v Translator's Preface ...... . vii Author's Preface . . xi GALLUS. SCENE THE FIRST. THE EOMAN FAMILY 1 EXCURSUS I. The Women, or Roman Marriage . . 153 II. The Children and Education . . .182 III. The Slaves 199 IV. The Relations, Friends, and Clients . . 226 SCENE THE SECOND. THE ROMAN HOUSE ' 14 EXCURSUS I. The Structure of the Building . . . 231 II. The Manner of Fastening the Doors . . 281 III. The Household Utensils . . . .285 IV. The Manner ol Lighting . . . .308 V. The Clocks . 315 CONTENTS. SCENE THE THIRD. EXCURSUS I. The Library II. The Books III. The Booksellers IV. The Letter PAOE 28 322 325 334 338 THE JOURNEY SCENE TITE FOURTH. EXCURSUS I. The Lectica and the Carriages II. The Inns 39 341 351 SCENE THE THE VILLA .... EXCURSUS. The Gardens . 57 358 SCENE THE SIXTH. LYCORIS 70 SCENE THE SEVENTH. BATHS AND GYMNASTICS EXCURSUS I. The Baths 85 366 II. The Game of Ball, and other Gymnastic Ex- ercises . 398 SCENE THE EIGHTH. DRESS . 98 EXCURSUS I. The Dress of the Men . . .408 II. The Dress of the Women . . .431 Appendix. Material, Colour, Manufacture, and Cleaning of Garments . , . . 442 CONTENTS. xxi SCENE THE NINTH. PAGE THE BANQUET . . . . . . .110 EXCURSUS I. The Meals . . 451 II. The Triclinium . . . . .471 III. The Table-utensils . . . .476 IV. The Drinks ... .485 SCENE THE TENTH. THE DRINKERS 126 EXCURSUS I. The Chaplets and Games .... 496 II. The Social Games . . . .499 SCENE THE ELEVENTH. THE CATASTROPHE 134 SCENE THE TWELFTH. THE GRAVE . 142 EXCURSUS. The Burial of the Dead .... 605 INDEX .... 52$ G A L L U S. SCENE THE FIRST. NOCTURNAL RETURN HOME. third watch of the night was drawing to a close, -- and the mighty city lay buried in the deepest silence, unbroken, save by the occasional tramp of the Nocturnal Triumviri 1 , as they passed on their rounds to 1 The nightly superintendence of Kome soon became one of the duties of the triumviri or tresviri, treviri capi- tales, who had to preserve the peace and security of the city, and especially to provide against fires. Liv. xxix. 14 : Triumviris capitalibus mandatum est, ut vigilias disponerent per urbem servarentque, ne qui nocturni caetus fierent ; utque ab incendiis cavere- tttr, adjutores triumviris quinqueviri uti cis Tiberim tune quique regionis eedijiciis praessent. Val. Max. viii. 1, 5. M. Malvius, Cn. Lollius, L. Sextilius, triumviri, quod ad incen- diuin in sacra via orlum extinguen- dum tardius venerant, a trib. pi. die dicta ad popnlum damnati sttnt. They were also called triumviri noc- turni, Liv. ix. 46; Val. Max. viii. 1, 8. P. Villius triumvir nocturntis a P. Aquilio, trib. pi. accmatus quia vigilias negligentius circiimie- rat. The timorous Sosias alludes to them, Amphitryo Plauti, i. 1, 3 : Quid faciam nunc, si tresviri me ill earce- rem compegerint? because they arrested those whom they found in the street late at night ; and we find the vigiles discharging the same function. Itaque vigiles, qui cmtodiebant vicinam regionem, rati ardere Trimalchionis domum ef- fregerunt januam subito et cum aqua securibusque tumultuari suo jure cceperunt. Cf. Seneca, Epist. 64. When I'etrandus speaks of water, we must suppose that the watch were provided with fire-buckets ; we can scarcely assume that engines (sipho- nes) are alluded to, although Beck- mann points out, with much pi'oba- bility, that one of the means of extin- guishing fire in the time of Trajan was referred to in Pliny, Ep. x. 42, and Apollodorus in Vett. Ma them. Opp. p. 32. V. also Isidor. xx. 6 ; Schneider, Eclog. Phys. i. 225, ii. 117; Colum. iii. 10; denique Xat. ii. 16. Buckets (hama, Plin. x. 42 ; Juv. xiv. 305) and hatchets (dolabra, Dig. i. 15, 3) were part of the ap- paratus for extinguishing fires. Pe- tronii Satirce, c. 78. Augustus re- modelled this nightly watch, forming seven cohorts, headed by a prefect, called Prafectus Vigilum. Suet. Aug. 30 ; Paul. Dig. i. 16. In spite GALLUS. [SCENE I. see that the fire-watchmen were at their posts, or per- haps by the footstep of one lounging homewards from a late dehauch 2 . The last streak of the waning moon faintly illumined the temples of the Capitol and the Quad- rigae, and shot a feeble gleam over the fanes and palaces of the Alta Semita, whose roofs, clad with verdant shrubs and flowers, diffused their spicy odours through the warm night- air, and, while indicating the abode of luxury and joy, gave no sign of the dismal proximity of the Campus O*1 -4. bceieratus. ^^tju wfc* Xw . * #~t*~&*A. ^-^ In the midst of this general stillness, the door of one of the handsomest houses creaked upon its hinges ; its ves- tibule 3 ornamented with masterpieces of Grecian sculpture, its walls overlaid with costly foreign marble, and its doors and doorposts richly decorated with tortoise-shell and of these precautions, fires frequently occurred; and although the Romans possessed no fire-insurance offices, yet such munificent contributions were made for the sufferers' relief, that suspicion sometimes arose of the owners of houses having themselves set them on fire. So says Martial, iii. 52: Empta domus fuerat tibi, Tongiliane, du- centis ; Abstulit hanc nimlum casus in urbe frequens ; Cellatum est dccies ; rogo, non potes ipse videri Incendisse tuam, Tongiliano, domum? Juvenal describes the zeal of those who, not content with rendering pe- cuniary relief to the sufferers, also made them presents of statues, pic- tures, books, and so forth. Sat. iii. 215: meliora et plura reponit Persicus orborum lautissimua, et merito jam Buspectus, tanquam ipsc snas Incenderit cedes. On the method of extinguishing fires, see also Ulp. Dig. xxxiii. 7, 12: Acetum quoque quod exstinguendi in- cendii causa paratur, item centones, siphones, perticas quoqtie et scalas. 2 Probably like Propertius, when he had the pleasant vision, described in ii. 29. Morning would frequently surprise the drinkers. Mart. i. 29, Bibere in lucem; vii. 10, 6, cainare in lucem. The debauched life of those who, inverting the order of nature, slept all day and rioted all night, is well sketched by Seneca, Ep. 122. Turpis, qui alto sole semisomnis jacet, et CHJ'HS vigilia media die incipit. Et ad hue multis hoe antelucanum est. Sunt qui officia lucis noctisque per- vertunt, nee ante diducunt oculos hesterna graves crapula, quam ap- petere non ccepit. He terms them Antipodes, who, according to a saying of Cato, Nee orientem unquam solem nee occidentem viderunt. Cf. Colum. Prof. 16. 3 For a description of the different parts of the house, accompanied by illustrations, see the Excursus on The Roman House. Seme I.] NOCTURNAL RETURN. precious metals, sufficiently proclaimed the wealth of its owner. The ostwrius, rattling the chain that served as a safeguard against nocturnal depredators, opened the un- bolted door, disclosing as he did so the prospect into the entrance-hall, where a few of the numerous lamps were still burning on two lofty marble candelabra, a proof that the inmates had not yet retired for the night. At the same time, there stalked through the hall a freedman, whose imperious mien, and disregard of the surly porter, even more than the attending vicarius, at once pointed him out as one possessing much of the confidence of the lord of the mansion. He strode musingly across the thres- hold and vestibule towards the street, and after looking anxiously on all sides, through the dim light and the sha- dows of the lofty atria, turned to his attendant and said, ' It is not his wont, Leonidas ; and what possible reason can he have for concealing from us where he tarries at this late hour ? He never used to go unattended, whether to the abode of Lycoris, or to enjoy the stolen pleasures of the Subura. Why then did he dismiss the slaves to-day, and hide from us so mysteriously the place of his destination ? ' ' Lydus tells me/ answered the vicarius, ' that Gallus left the palace in evil mood, and when the slave who was putting on his sandals enquired whence he should escort him on his return, he bade him await him at home, and then hastened, clad in his coloured synthesis, in the direc- tion of the Yia Sacra. Not long before his departure, Pomponius had left the house ; and Lydus, impelled partly by curiosity, and partly by anxiety at the unusual excite- ment of his master, followed at a distance, and saw the two meet near the Temple of Freedom, after which they disappeared in the Yia a Cyprio.' ' Pomponius ! ' returned the freedman, ' the friend and confidant of Largus ! No company he for an open and frank disposition, and still less at a jolly carousal, where the tongue is unfettered by copious goblets of pure Setinian wine, and of which the Sicilian proverb too often holds B 2 GALLTT8. (.SCENE I. good the next morning, " Cursed be he who remembers at the banquet 4 ." I don't know, Leonidas,' continued he, after a moment's reflection, ' what dismal fo7-eboding it is that has for some time been pursuing me. The gods are, I fear, wroth with our house ; they hate too sudden pro- sperity, we are told. There was too, methinks, more tran- quillity in the small lodging 6 near the Tiber than in this magnificent palace : more fidelity, when the whole house- hold consisted of few besides ourselves, than is to be found in this extensive mansion, filled with many dccurice of dearly-purchased slaves, whom their lord hardly knows by sight, ministers of his splendour, but not of his comfort. Above all, there was more cordiality among those who used to climb the steep stairs, to partake of his simple fare, than in the whole troop of visitors who daily throng the vesti- bule and atrium to pay the customary morning greeting.' 4 Micrsoi fi.vaiJ.ova avuirorav. Plut. Sympos. i. 1. The sense in which Martial, i. 28, applies this proverb to Procillus, is certainly the only correct one. Lucian, Symp. iii. p. 420. 6 The Roman of wealth and dis- tinction occupied, with his family, the whole of his extensive mansion ; the less affluent rented, in proportion to their requirements and means, either an entire house, or a section of some larger insula, the name by which all hired houses went and the poorer classes took a small caenacu- lum in an upper story, though at a somewhat extravagant price, pensio cellce. Mart. iii. 30, 3. The poet himself occupied a ccenaculum of this description in the third story, i. 118, 7, Scalis habito tribus, sed altis; and he says of the miserly Sanctra, who used to take half his caena home vi*h him, vii. 20, 20, Heec per du- centas Oomum tunt scalas. As in an insula of this description the lodgers might be very different persons, the stairs to their private apartments often led upwards from the street out- side ; an arrangement also to be found in the private houses. The icenaculum assigned to Hispala, for her security after she had discovered the mon- strosities of the Bacchanalia, was of this description. Liv. xxxix. : Consul rogat sacrum, ut aliquam partem cedium vacuum faceret, quo Hispala immigraret. Ccenaculum super aides datum est, scalis ferentibus in publi- cum obseratis, aditu in aides verso. We learn from Cicero, pro Ccelio, c. 7, that lodgings could be let even as high as 30,000 sesterces. Ccelius, however, only went to the expense of 10,000, i. e. 80. The Kalends of July were the usual, though perhaps not the only, period for changing lodgings. Mart, xii. 32, humorously describes the moving of a familia sordida amount- ing to four persons, who managed to transfer all their goods and chattels at one journey. See the Excursus on The Roman House. SCENE I.] NOCTURNAL RETURN. ' Alas ! thou art right, Chresimus,' replied the slave ; ' this is no longer a place for comfort, and the gods have already given us more than one warning sign. It was not without an object that the bust of the great Cornelius fell down, and destroyed the new pavement inlaid with the image of Isis. Moreover, the beech at the villa, on the bark of which Lycoris carved the name 6 of our master, has not put out leaves this spring ; thrice too have I heard in the stillness of night the ominous hooting of the owl.' Conversing thus, they had again reached the vestibule, without perceiving a man who approached with somewhat uncertain gait, from the Temple of Flora. Over his under- garment he wore a festive robe of a bright red colour, such as those in which Roman elegants of the day used to appear at state-banquets. His sandals were fastened with thongs of the same dye ; while a chaplet of young myrtle a-nd Milesian roses hung negligently down on the left brow, and appeared to be gliding from his perfumed locks 7 ; in short, everything indicated that he was returning from some joyous carousal, where the amphorce had not been spared. Not till he had gained the vestibule did Chresimus become aware of his approach. * There he is at last/ exclaimed the faithful freedman, with a lightened heart. * All hail ! my lord. Anxiety for you brought us out of doors ; we are unused to find you abroad at so late an hour.' ' I was with true friends,' answered the master, * and the hours vanish gaily and swiftly over the wine-cup, in familiar converse : Pomponius, too, was my companion nearly all the way home.' At this closing remark the visage of the freedman again became clouded; he went 6 Tropert. i. 18, 21. Ah, quoties teneras resonant mea vcrba sub umbras, Scribitur ct vestris Cynthia corticibus. 1 Ovid, Amor. i. 6, 37. Ergo amor et modicum circa mea tem- pora vinum Mecum cst et mad idislapsa corona corals. Mart. xi. 8, 10 ; divitibut lapsa co-, rona cowi-i ; ct, iii. 65, 8. OALLUS. [SCENE I. silently towards the door, and having opened it, he and Leonidas followed their lord into the house. While the osti- arius was engaged in bolting the door, Chresimus proceeded to light a wax-candle at one of the lamps, and led the way, through saloons and colonnades, to the sleeping apartment of his lord. Having arrived in the ante-room, the slave of the toilet, who was in waiting, received the synthesis and sandals, whilst the ciibicularins threw open the door and drew back the many- coloured tapestry of Alexandria which served as a curtain. Then, after having again smoothed the purple coverlet that nearly concealed the ivory bed- stead, and remained till his master had reposed his head on the variegated feather tapestry covering the pillow stuffed with the softest wool, he quitted the apartment. He who returned home thus late and. lonely, without the usual accompaniment of slaves, was CORNELIUS GALLUS 8 , 8 ,The scanty accounts we possess respecting the personal history of Gallus, are to he found in Dio Cas- sius, Straho, Suetonius, Virgil, Pro- pertius, and Ovid. The few fragments of his poems, even if authentic, afford us no further information. Gallus was of obscure, at least poor, ancestors, but that did not prevent his obtain- ing the favour of Octavianus, and being included in the select circle of his friends. In the war against Antony he was general of a division of the army, and Dio Cassius, li. 9, commemorates his skilful conquest and defence of the port of Paraeto- nium. After the subjugation of Egypt, Octavianus appointed him Prefect of that country. Dio Cass. c. 17. 'EK Sk TOVTOV TTIV Sk Ai 7ToJx oaif tyxpi(Tai avrtv , K. T. X. We have no further account of him till on the occasion of his unfortunate end. Dio Cass. liii. 23. 6 Sk Sij TuXXos Kopvrf- XiO Kai iv/3piafv virb rije rJ/JJjc- IloXXd plv yap Kai /tarata is TOV Avyoinrrov aTrtXt'ipfi, jroXXd dk Kai tiraina -irapiirpaTTi. Kai yap coi iMvas tavrou tv oXy, u> (I tiv, ry Alyvirrip lariat, Kai TO. ipya 'oaa |jr7ro('jjt is TO.Q irvpafitSay iai- ypail/f. It was probably his expedi- tion against the rebellious cities of Heroopolis and Thebes, which caused his downfall. Strabo thus speaks of his end : Fa'XXoe \&v jc. KopvijXws, 6 TrpUJTOf KaraffTadtii; *7rap^o Tjjg X6pove iv (Jpa^tticar- kXvaiv. At all events Valerius Lar- gus, formerly the confidential friend of Gallus, made these suspicious cir- cumstances the ground of an accusa- SCBNK I.] NOCTURNAL RETURN. a man received and envied in the higher circles of the Roman world as tho friend and favourite of Augustus, but secretly hated by them; for though not ashamed of slavishly cringing to the mighty despot, they looked haughtily on the exalted plebeian. He was, however, among the friends of the soberer as well as brighter Muses, universally prized as a man of much learning, and celebrated as a graceful tion against him, and in consequence Augustus forbad Gallus visiting his house, or remaining in his provinces. (Suet. Aug. 47, Claud. 23.) Imme- diately after his disgrace, numerous other accusers appeared, who suc- ceeded in getting him exiled and bis property confiscated. Gallus could not endure his fall, and killed him- self with his sword. This account agrees with that of Suet. Aug. 66. Neque enim temere ex omni numero in amicitia ej'us afflicti reperioitur, prater Salvidienum Rufum, quern ad consulatum usque, et Cornelium Gal- lum, quern ad pratfecturam JEgypti, ex infiina utrumque fortuna pro- vexerat. Quorum alterum res novas molientem damnandum senatui ira- didit, alteri db ingratum et malevo- lum animum domum et provinciis suis interdixit. Sed Gallo quoque et accusatorum denunciationibus et senatus-consultis ad necem compulso laudavit quidem pietatem tantopere pro se indignantium : cceterum et illacrimavit et vicem suam conquestus est, quod sibi soli non liceret amicis, qua terms vellet, irasci. Thathishighly treasonable speeches against Augustus were the principal cause of his condemnation is proved by Ovid, Trist. ii. 445 : Nee fiiit opprobrio celebrasse Lycorlda GaUo, Sodlinguam nimio non tenuisse mero ; and Amor. iii. 9, 63 : Tu quoque, si fulsain est temerati crimou amid. Sanguinis atque anima, prodige Galle, tuae. Ammian. Marc. xvii. 4, brings a more severe charge against him : Longe autem posted Corn. Gallus, Octa- viano res tenente Homanas, JEgypti procurator, exhausit eivitatem (The- bas) plurimis intercepts, reversusque cum furtorum accusaretur et popu- lates provincice, stricto incubuit fern. But it is mentioned neither by Sue- tonius, Dio Cassius, nor Ovid, as the cause of his disgrace ; and that Gallus ten years before, at least, was neither a violent nor a dishonest man, the friendship of Virgil, who inscribed his tenth Eclogue to him, testifies : Fauca meo Gallo, sed qua* legat ipsa Ly- coris, Cannina sunt dicenda: neget quis car- ruina Gallo? The contempt too with which Largus was treated, and the regret of Au- gustus, show that he had not deserved such a fate. Donat. relates, Vit. Virg. x. 39, Verum usque adeo hunc Gallum Virgilius amarat, ut quartus Georgicorum a media usque ad finem ejus laudem contineret. Quern postea, jubente Augusto, in Aristeei fabulam commutavit. But this proves less the guilt of Gallus, than that the recollection of his end was painful to Augustus. His passion for Lycoris arose about nine or ten years before his death, and the circumstance of his renewing the connection with her, after her infidelity, is, like other in- cidents, imaginary. GALL US. [SCENE 1. and elegant poet ; while in the more select convivial circle he was beloved as a cheerful companion, who always said the best of good things, and whose presence gave to the banquet more animation than dancers and cJiomitlce. Not- withstanding the renowned name he had taken, he had in reality no claim to the glorious family reminiscences which it suggested. The trophies indicative of former triumphs which decked the door and door-posts 9 of his mansion, were the unalienable adjuncts of the house itself; earnest mementos of a glorious past, and serving as an admonition to each occupier, what his aim must be, would he avoid the humiliating feeling of living undistinguished in the habitation of renown. His grandfather had arrived a stranger in Rome, a little before the reign of terror, 'when Caius Marius and L. Cornelius Cinna profited by the absence of the most powerful man of the time, to effect a reaction, the ephemeral success of which only served to prepare more securely the way to fame for the ambitious Sylla. It was through Cinna himself that Grallus obtained the right of a citizen, and in conformity with the custom of the period he adopted the Cornelian name, along with the surname 10 which denoted his extraction. But the horrors of Sylla's proscriptions drove him from Rome, and he returned to Graul, where he had since been residing in The Triumphator was permitted to suspend the spolia at his door. Liv. x. 7, xxxviii. 43. These marks of valour achieved, remained as the unalienable property of the house which they had first rendered illus- trious, and could not, even in case of sale, be taken down. Plin. xxxv. 2 ; Alice foris et circa limina animnrtim ingentium imagines erant, ajflxis hox- tium spoliis, qua nee emtori refigere licerct ; triwnphabantque etiam do- minis mutatis ips(0 domus, et erat ha-c stimulatio ingens, exprobantibns \ interfui. Itaque nune P. Cornelius Uctia, quotidie 'imbellem dominum | vocatur. intrare in alienum triumphiim. Cic. Phil. ii. 28. 10 The custom by which the stranger assumed the name of him through whom he obtained the right of a citizen, is generally known. Cic. ad Fam. xiii. 36. Cum Deme- trio Mega mihi vetustum Jioxpitium eat ; familiaritas autem tanta, quanta cum Siculo nullo. Ei (Cornelius) Dolabella rogatu ineo eivitatem a impetravil, qua in re ego SCENE I.] NOCTURNAL RETURN. 9 ignoble obscurity at Forura Julii. There Gall us passed the first years of his childhood, under the careful auspices of, his father, who saw in the happy disposition and lofty spirit of his boy the harbingers of no ordinary future. Therefore, although he could not be accounted wealthy, he determined to make every sacrifice in order to give his son such an education as usually fell to the lot of the sons of senators and knights. When the boy had been instructed in the first elements of knowledge by an accomplished Greek tutor, his father set out with Gallus for Rome, and after carefully search- ing for a suitable person, placed him under the tuition of a grammarian of great repute. Gallus subsequently attended the school of a celebrated rhetorician, and also took les- sons in Lutin elocution, which had lately become some- what fashionable ; nor was he allowed to intermit those studies even after he had passed the threshold of boyhood and put on the toga, the symbol of riper years. At the age of twenty he was sent to Athens, even at this period the nurse of all the profound and elegant sciences, in order to give a finish to his education, and to combine in him Attic elegance with Eoman solidity. Gallus was still at Athens, when the faithful Chresimus brought him the news of the death of his father, who after accomplishing his grand object, the education of his son, had returned to Forum Julii. He wept tears of love and gratitude with the true-hearted Chresimus, and left Athens to take possession of the small patrimony bequeathed him by his father, and which he found much more insignificant than he had supposed. There was just enough for him to live on with tolerable comfort in a provincial town, but it would only keep him like a beggar in Rome ; nevertheless he resolved to seek his fortune in the focus of the world, and a year later returned to Rome, a powerful, resolute, and highly-educated man. There the terrific scenes of the second triumvirate were not long over, and the republicans, driven from Italy 10 GALLUS. [SCENE I. were preparing beyond the sea for the final struggle. There were only two parties to choose from, and Gallus did not long hesitate which to espouse. It was not any particular inclination to the ambiguous Octavianus, still less to either of the other potentates, that determined him to take up arms for the cause of the triumvirate. He was convinced that the time had arrived, when the crumbling edifice of the republic must be annihilated, and the am- bition of a selfish aristocracy kept down by the mighty energies of one supreme ruler. Perhaps, too, he was actuated by the hope that his merits were more likely to be appreciated, and meet with proper acknowledgment from one raised above the petty consideration of rivalry, than from the haughty patricians, who were accustomed to look down upon merit striving to emerge from obscurity. He first took part in the campaign against Sextus Pompeius, under the command of Salvidienus. His gal- lantry and fortitude at the unlucky sea-fight, which took place not far from the destructive rocks of Scylla, did not fail to attract the eye of Octavianus, whom he soon after followed to the decisive battle of Philippi. There, too, his warlike deeds were adorned with fresh laurels, and in returning with the victor back to Italy, his social qualities soon made him the agreeable companion, and before long, the intimate friend, of Octavianus, a friendship which he had tact enough to keep up. The proper hours of re- laxation he spent in familiar intercourse with Virgil, the younger Propertius, and other congenially-minded friends of the Muses ; but he by no means neglected the more grave occupations to which his distinguished oratorical powers called him. The war against Antony and Cleopatra summoned him again into the field, and now commenced the most brilliant period of his life. The able manner in which he took and held the important seaport, Paraotonium, the destruction of the hostile fleet, and many other spirited exploits, raised him so high in the estimation of Octavianus, that when SCENE I.] NOCTURNAL RETURN. 1 1 Antony and Cleopatra atoned for their long intoxication of pleasure and folly by voluntary death, and Egypt was enrolled among the number of Roman provinces, he, being in the undivided possession of the supreme authority, made Gallus governor of the new province, under the title of Prefect. The command of so rich a province could, Octavianus doubtless thought, with more safety be en- trusted to him than to a senator. Was it wonderful, then, that when Gallus found him- self suddenly placed at so great an elevation, his sanguine and fiery disposition carried him occasionally beyond the bounds of moderation, and that, after severely chastising the rebellious cities, especially the wondrous Thebes, he caused statues of himself to be erected, and the record of his deeds to be engraved on the pyramids ? Was there anything unusual in his carrying off the treasures and valuables of the subjugated cities, as a fit recompense for his exertions ? Octavianus, who had now assumed the more noble name of Augustus, heard the report of these acts with a concern, which the enemies, whom the good fortune of Gallus had raised up against him, did not fail to foment. So without being actually angered with his former friend, he recalled him to Rome, and nominated Petronius, a man by no means well disposed towards him, as his successor. Gallus was not pleased with his recall, although it had been made in such a manner, as in a great measure to efface its unpleasantness. The riches which had followed him from Egypt to Rome, enabled him to live with a magnificence hitherto quite unknown to him, and in the superabundance of such enjoyments as served to heighten the pleasures of life. Still accounted the favourite of Au- gustus, and always admitted as a welcome guest to the select circle that had access to the table of this mighty sovereign, he now saw people, who, ten years before, would scarcely have deigned to acknowledge his saluta- tion, vying with each other to gain his friendship. 1 2 GALLUS. [SCENB I. Although Gallus was advancing to that period of life when the Roman was considered no longer a youth, he had not yet prevailed upon himself to throw constraint on the freedom of his existence, by entering the bonds of matrimony. Indeed the stricter forms of marriage began generally to be less liked ; and no law inflicting a penalty on celibacy had at that time been passed. At an earlier period of his life, the narrowness of his circumstances had led him to look with shyness on mar- riage, in consequence of the expenses attendant on such an increased establishment as the grand notions of the Roman ladies would have rendered unavoidable. He also even more dreaded the state of dependence into which he would have been thrown, if he had married a person of fortune ; and being at the same time averse to concu- binage, had preferred contracting an intimacy of a less durable nature with certain accomplished Hetairai, who were capable not only of admitting, but also of returning his passion. Thus, after his return, he continued to pursue an un- fettered course of life, regulated by his own inclinations alone ; a life which others much envied, and which would have been a happy one, had it not been for his impetuous and passionately excitable temperament, and unsparing freedom of speech, especially in his cups. These causes were beginning to throw a cloud over his future prospects ; for, although raised by Augustus from the depths of poverty to honour and wealth, he had nevertheless too much straightforwardness not to express frequently his loud disapprobation of many arbitrary proceedings and secret cruelties, perpetrated by his benefactor. Clandestine envy, which was busy about him, had dexterously profited by these speeches, and there was even talk of a complaint secretly lodged against him by his former friend and confidant, Largus, on the score of misgovernment in Egypt. At all events, Gallus could not conceal from himself, that for some time past a coolness had pervaded SCENE I.J NOCTURNAL RETURN. 13 Augustus' manner towards him, and that his former inti- mate familiarity had been succeeded by a tone of haughty and suspicious reserve. But although his present position would have enabled Gallus to regard this alteration with indifference, stijl his estimation among the higher circles of Rome depended too much on the favour of Augustus for him to neglect using all his endeavours to remain, at any rate in outward appearance, in possession of the emperor's good graces. It was for this reason that he had this evening been supping at the imperial board, without invitation, as he had always been accustomed to do ; but he had found Augustus in a worse humour than ever, and among the company his bitter enemy, Largus. Some caustic remarks touching the fate of Thebes, drew forth from the irritable Gallus an acrimo- nious retort, which Augustus replied to with still greater severity. As soon therefore as the latter had withdrawn u , according to his custom, Gallus also departed, to spend the evening more agreeably in the company of Pornponius and other friends. 11 Suet. Aug. 74. Convivia non- nimquam ct serins inibat et maturius relinquebat, cum convives et cccnare inciperent, priusquam tile discum~ beret, et permanerent digresso eo. SCENE THE SECOND. THE MORNING. THE city hills were as yet unillumined by tlie beams of the morning sun, and the uncertain twilight, which the saffron streaks in the east spread as harbingers of the coming day, was diffused but sparingly through the windows and courts into the apartments of the mansion. Gallus still lay buried in heavy sleep in his quiet chamber, the care- fully chosen position of which both protected him against all disturbing noises, and prevented the early salute of the morning light from too soon breaking his repose 1 . But around all was life and activity. From the cells and cham- bers below, and the apartments on the upper floor, there poured a swarming multitude of slaves, who presently pervaded every corner of the house, hurrying to and fro, and cleaning and arranging with such busy alacrity, that one unacquainted with these customary movements, would have supposed that some grand festivity was at hand. A whole decuria of house- slaves, armed with be- soms and sponges, under the superintendence of the atriensis, began to clean the entrance rooms. Some in- spected the vesUbulum, to see whether any bold spider had spun its net during the night on the capital of the pillars, or groups of statuary; and rubbed the gold and tortoise-shell ornaments of the folding-doors and posts at 1 One thing that the Romans especially kept in view in planning their sleeping-apartments, was that their situation should be removed from all noise. Pliny, Up. ii. 17, boasts of these qualities being pos- sessed by a bed-chamber at his villa. Junctum est cubiculum noctis et eomni. Non illud voces servulorum, non marts murm'4r, non tempestatum motw, non fulgurum lumen, ae ne diem quidem sentit, nisi fenestris apertis. Tarn alti abditique secrett ilia ratio, quod interjacent andron parictcm cubiculi hortique distitiyutt, atqtte ita omnem sonum media inani* tate consumit. SCBNE II.] MORNING. 15 the entrance, and cleaned the dust of the previous day from the marble pavement. Others again were busy in the atrium and its adjacent halls, carefully traversing the mosaic floor, and the paintings on the walls, with soft Lycian sponges, lest any dust might have settled on the wax- varnish with which they were covered 2 . They also looked closely whether any spot appeared blackened by the smoke of the lamps ; and then decked with fresh garlands 3 the busts and shields which supplied the place of the ima- gines majorum*, or waxen masks of departed ancestors. 2 Many of the colours used by the ancients for wall-painting, as, for instance, the minium, could not stand the effects of the light and atmo- sphere, and, to make them durable, a varnish of Punic wax, mixed with a little oil, was laid on the wall, when dry, with a paint-brush of bristles. See Vitruv. vii. 9, and Plin. xxxiii. 7,40. 3 Although the stemmata, which constituted the ancestral tree, could find no application here, still it was not unusual to crown with chaplets, even the portraits of strangers. Mart, x. 32 : H;ec mihi quse colitur violis pictura rosis- que, Quos referat vultus, Caeditiane, rogas ? * The beautiful custom of olden time of placing the imagines majo- rum in the atria or their alee, must have lost more and more in signifi- cancy, and even grown obsolete, after so many who had neither majores, in that sense, nor any title whatever to such distinction some of them being persons of the lowest class, and others even slaves became very wealthy, assumed high-sounding names, and lived in magnificent edifices. And again, many who were entitled to imagines, found them, perhaps, too insignificant in appearance to consort with the magnificence of the rest of their dwelling. These imagines were waxen masks, formed after the life, cerce, which those only had the right of setting up, who had borne a curule office, viz. from that of cedile upwards. Polyb. vi. 53. On the manner of arranging them, Vitruv. says, vi. 5, Imagines item alte cum suis orna- mentis ad latititdinem alarum sint constitute. The ornamenta are clear- ly designated by Seneca, De Benef. iii. 28, Qui imagines in atrio expo- nunt et nomina families sues longo ordine ac multis stemmatum illigata Jlexuris in parte prima tedium collo- cant, noti magis quam nobiles sunt. Still mure so by Plin. xxxv. 2, 2, Ex- pressi cera vultus singulis dispane- bantur armariis. Stemmata vero li- neis discurrebant ad imagines pictas. Polyb. vi. 53 : Ev\iva vatSta trtpiTi- QIVTIQ: and, ravrae Sri TUQ tiVovaj iv ralf SrffiortXsffi Qvaiaif avoiyov- rt Koaftovat QiXoTtfiuii; : lastly, Auct. Eleg. ad Mess. 30, Quid quaque index sub imagine dicat. The masks were kept in little presses, placed up against the wall, under which stood the name of the deceased, his honours and merits, tituli, Ovid. Fast. i. 591. [The several imagines were connect- ed with each other by garlands ; for 10 CALLUS. [SCENE II. In the cavum cedhim or interior court, and the larger perutyKttm, more were engaged in rubbing with co;ir>r linen cloths the polished pillars of Tenarian and Numidiau marble 6 , which formed a most pleasing contrast to the intervening statues and the fresh green verdure of the vacant space within. The Tricliniarch and his subordin- ates were equally occupied in the larger saloons : where stood the costly tables of cedar- wood, with pillars of ivory supporting their massive orbs, which had, at an immense Pliny's words, stemmata lineis dis- currebant ad imagities pictas, do not seem capable of any other than the literal meaning ; and so likewise the stemmatum Jlexurte of Seneca.] On festive days, when these armaria were opened, the imagines received fresh crowns of laurel. It is evident from Pliny, that, at a later period, instead of the masks, clypeata imagi- nes, as they were called, and busts were substituted. Imaginum qui- dem pietura, qua maxime similes in eevum propagabantur figures, in to- tum exolevit. JZrei ponuntur clypei, argentae fades surdo figurarum dis- crimine. Again : Aliter apud ma- jores in atriis htzc erant qua specta- rentur, non signa exlernorum artifi- cutn, nee (era nee marmora ; expressi cera vultus, &c. Those persons who had no images to boast of in their own family, and yet wished some such ornament for their atrium, had no course left but alienas effigies colere. s The most valuable species of white marbles were the Parian, the Pentelican, and the Hymet- tian ; which latter two Bottiger mistakes for the same. Strabo expressly says pappapov S' iarl Trie TI 'Turjrriag icai ri)c Hiv-i\i- K(i\\iffra fiiraXXa ir\r)aiov Tiff Horn. Od ii. 18, 3 ; Plin. H. N. xxxvi. 3. If it be correctly supposed, as was first imagined from Pausanias, that -Pentclicus was in early times comprehended under the name Hymettus, we must un- derstand Pentelican marble by the Hymettiis columnig trabibus so fre- quently mentioned, especially by the poets. Besides these there was that of Luna in Italy, now called Carrara marble. Variegated marbles (marmor ma- culosum, Plin. H. N. xrxvi. 5 ; in- gentium maeulce columnaruin, Sen. Ep. 115), brought not only from Greece, but even from Asia and Africa, became afterwards more fa- shionable. The most precious sorts were the golden-yellow, Nwnidian ; that with red streaks, Phrygian, Syn- nadic, or Mygdonian; the Tanarian, or JLaconian, or cerde antico, a kind of green porphyry ; and the Carys- tian (from Euboea) with green veins. But even this natural variety was not sufficient for the demands of taste. In Nero's time veins and spots were artificially let into the coloured mar- ble. So says Pliny, xxxv. 1 : Nero- nis (principatu inventum) maculas, qua non essent, eriistis inaerendo unilatem variare, ut ovatits esset Numidicus, ut purpura distinguere- tur Synnadieus, qualiter illo.i nasci aptarent delicice. SCEN-B II.] MORNING. 17 expense, been conveyed to Rome from the primeval woods of Atlas. In one the wood was like the beautifully dappled coat of a panther, in another the spots, being more regular and close, imitated the tail of the peacock, a third re- sembled the luxuriant and tangled leaves of the opium, each of them more beautiful and valuable than the other ; and many a lover of splendour would have bartered an estate for any one of the three. The tricHniarii cau- tiously lifted up their purple covers, and then whisked them over with the shaggy gausape, in order to remove any little dust that might have penetrated through. Next came the side-boards, several of which stood against the walls in each saloon, for the purpose of displaying the gold and silver plate and other valuables. Some of them were slabs of marble, supported by silver or gilded ram's feet, or by the tips of the wings of two griffins looking in opposite directions. There was also one of artificial marble, which had been sawn out of the wall of a Grecian temple, while the slabs of the rest were of precious metal. The costly articles displayed on each were so selected as to be in keeping with the architec- tural designs of the apartment. In the tetrastylus, the simplest saloon, stood smooth silver vessels unadorned by the ars toreutica, except that the rims of most of the larger bowls were of gold. Between these were smaller vessels of amber, and two of great rarity; in one of which a bee, and in the other an ant, had found its transparent tomb. On another side stood beakers of antique form, to which the names of their former possessors gave their value, and an historical importance 6 . 6 The passion for collecting ob- jects curious on account of their an- tiquity, or from having belonged to some illustrious person, had become prevalent in the time of Gallus ; V. Hor. Sat. ii. 3, 21 ; 64. p. 3, 90 ; at all events it was not far off. This mania became still more ridiculous, when ignorance credited the grossest falsehoods and histo- rical impossibilites. The instances we have mentioned are really re- counted by Martial, viii. 6, who ridicules these argenti fumosa stem- mata. The archetypa of Trimalchio are still more laughable. Petr. 52. 18 CALLUS. [SCBNB II. There was, for instance, a double cup, which Priam had inherited from Laomedon ; another that had belonged to Nestor, unquestionably the same from which Hecamede had pledged the old man in Pramnian wine before Troy : the doves which formed the handles 7 were much worn, of course by Nestor's hand. Another again was the gift of Dido to ^Eneas, and in the centre stood an im- mense bowl, which Theseus had hurled against the face of Eurytus. But the most remarkable of all was a relic of the keel of the Argo 8 ; it was indeed only a chip, but who could look on and touch this portion of the most ancient of ships on which perhaps even Minerva herself had placed her hand without being transported in feeling back to the days of old. Gallus himself was far too en- lightened to believe in the truth of these legends, but every one was not so free from prejudice as he; it was more- over the most recent fashion to collect such antiquities. On the other hand, in the Corinthian saloon stood vessels of precious Corinthian bronze, whose worn handles and peculiar smell sufficiently announced their antiquity, together with two large golden drinking cups, on one of which were engraved scenes from the Iliad, on the other from the Odyssey 9 . Besides these there were smaller Habeo scyphos urnales plus minus, quemadmodwn Cassandra occidit filios suos, etpueri mortui jacent sieuti vere putes. Habeo, capidem quam reliquit Patroclo Prometheus, ubi Dadalus Niobem in equum Trojanum includit. V. Lucian. Philop. 19. 7 Iliad, xi. 632, seq. Martial, or the possessor of the goblet, no douht had in his eye the passage of Homer which runs : Aotai $k irtXtiaStf apty'ic eicaoTov xpvoitai vcpkOovro : and the Roman poet says : Pollice de Pylio trita columba nitet. 8 The ancients also had their relics, and looked with veneration on a chip of the Argo. Martial, who is so fond of ridiculing folly and credul- ous simplicity, speaks quite seriously (vii. 19) on the subject : Fragmentum quod vile putas et inutile lignum, Haec fuit ignoti prima carina maris. Scocula vicerunt; sod quam vis cesserit annis, Sanctior est salva parva tabolla rate. But perhaps this valuable relic be- longed to Domitian himself, or to some other patron of distinction, and the poet for this reason affected to credit the story. The ancients used also to collect natural specimens and other rarities. 9 The Corinthian brass, as it was called, was used in the manufacture SCENE II.] MORNING. 19 beakers and bowls composed of precious stones, either made of one piece only and adorned with reliefs, or of several cameos united by settings of gold. Genuine Murrhina vases also, even at that time a riddle, and according to report imported from the recesses of Par- thia, were not wanting. The Egyptian saloon, however, surpassed the rest in magnificence. Every silver or golden vessel which it con- tained was made by the most celebrated toreutce, and possessed a higher value from the beauty of its work- manship than even from the costliness of its material 10 . There was a cup by the hand of Phidias, ornamented with fishes that seemed only to want water to enable them to swim ; on another was a lizard by Mentor, and so exact a copy of nature, that the hand almost started back on touching it. Then came a broad bowl, the handle of which was a ram with a golden fleece, more beautiful than that brought by Phryxus to Colchis, and upon it of vessels which were sold for high prices. Respecting the composition of it, a secret which was lost even in the time of the ancients, see 0. Miiller's Archaeology, translated by Leitch; and Plin. xxxiv. 2, 3, and Petron. 50, jokingly. Connoisseurs detected its genuineness by the pe- culiar odour it acquired by oxydation. Mart. ix. 60, 11. Consulerit nares, an olerent (era Corinthon, Beckmann even affirms that the money-changers had recourse to their noses to judge of the genuineness of the coins, as Arrian, in Epict. i. 20, 6 apyupoyvw- fiiav Trpoerxpijrat Kara. SoKtuaolav TOV vofi.iffna.Tog ry fyti, ry a$y, ry 6al ALLUS had for some time past kept as much as pos- ^ sible aloof from the disquieting labours of public life, and had been accustomed to divide his time between the pleasures of the table and of love, the society of friends, and the pursuit of his studies, serious as well as cheerful l . On the present occasion also, after his friends had departed, he withdrew into the chamber, where he used daily to spend the later hours of the morning, in converse with the great spirits of ancient Greece a pursuit animating and refreshing alike to heart and soul or to yield himself up to the sport of his own muse. For this reason, this apartment lay far removed from the noisy din of the street, so that neither the rattling of the creaking wains and the stimulating cry of the mule-driver, the clarions and dirge of the pompous funeral, nor the brawlings of the slaves 2 hurrying busily along, could penetrate it. A lofty 1 In this description of the mode of life to which Callus, after a long continuance of active exertion, had resigned himself, reference has been principally had to Cic. Fam. ix. 20. Omnein nostrum de republica cttram, cogitationem de dicenda in senatu sententia, commentationem causarum- ttlijccimus. In Eplcuri nos adver- sarii nostri castra conjecimus. No doubt this Epicurism would assume a different form in Gallus from that of Cicero, yet the latter's account of his morning occupations might very well be transferred to Gallus : Hcec igitur est nunc vita nostra. Mane saltitatus domi et bonos viros mullos, sed tristes, et has loi, who wrote by means of marks, Sid arjfitiwv the short-hand writers of antiquity, unex- celled perhaps in facility even by the moderns. [This art was introduced into Rome during the last hundred years of its freedom. Plutarch (Cat. Min. 23) calls Cicero, and Dio Cass. (Iv. 7) Maecenas, the inventor of it. Isodorus, i. 21, mentions Ennius as the founder of tachygraphy, and the freedmen of Cicero and Maecenas, Tiro and Aquila, as those who in practice had further improved it. Gellius, xvii. 9, speaks not of steno- graphy, but of a kind of secret cy- pher-writing in use between Caesar, Oppius, and Balbus : In his epistolis quibusdam in locis inveniuntur li- terce singularice sine coagmentis syllabarum, quas tu putes positas incondite; nam verba ex his lileris CGiifici nulla po*sunt. Erat autem conventum inter eos clandestinum de commutando situ literanim, ut in so-ipto quidem alia alia locum et nomen teneret, sed in* legendo locus cuique suus et potestas restitueretur. There was also some process similar to our short-hand writing, and to that Pliny alludes when he calls Ccesar the inventor of it. "When, however, Cicero writes, ad Att. xiii. 21 : Quod ad te de decem legatis scripsi, parum intel- lexti, credo quia Sta ffijfitiuiv scrip- seram ; we must not suppose that either a secret cipher-writing or ste- nography is meant, but hieroglyphics (understood figuratively) or mys- terious indications, which Cicero was accustomed to make in his letters.] Later, the marks which the notarii made use of, were certainly far sim- pler than the notj/ vitaroc tvva- iviavToig irportpov iiroiqae rt Kai fauvaftQV taxev. 'Eerrt fit T) bSbc 7j/ifpu>v irivTi dvSpl tK 'Pw/ijjc yap a'vrrj is SifjKti. evpo Si tan TTJS bSov Tavrrjg oaov a/id^ac Svo a'X- \ij\atc ivavriaiG ievai, Kai ianv dto9iaTO irdvrtav paXtara. rbv yap \iQov uTravra, /wXirjv Tf ovra Kai ivravOa ri}f Si tKOfiifff ' TavTijc yap Si] ovOaftij if'i.j/fouc Si ry svro/iy vof c a'XX^Xotijj ZvviSqat KOV ivTOfOVTt Tld 01 Si aXX//Xoi ovru> rt dff6apt]vai f{ fj.fi- ovi yiviaQai Zweirtatv, ov /}v ovSt r^c dfiapvyiie TI dTroj3a\ia9at. The main points of which are, that the Appian Way was made by Appius five days' journey in length, as it reached from Rome to Capua. It was broad enough for two carriages to pass each other, and was built of stone, such as is used for mill-stones, but which was not found in the neigh- bourhood. The stones are hewn sharp and smooth, and their corners fit into one another without the aid of metal, or any other connecting material, so that the whole appears to be one na- tural stone, and notwithstanding the great traffic, it is in a wonderful state of .preservation. Procopius assigns to it the age of 900 years, which is at least fifty years too much. It is most remarkable that he should confine the Appian Way to the distance between Rome and Capua, for though Appius Claudius had only built it to that place, still it was afterwards continued as far as Brundusium. All accounts on the date of this extension appear to 40 GALLtJS. [SCENE IV. charming place between Sinuessa and Capua, and pre- sented the most perfect assemblage of all things necessary, in order, as Horace observes, to quaff happy oblivion of be wanting, and in their absence the most various suppositions have been made. Some think that this was .done by Julius Caesar, although he gives no tenable ground for this supposition, and appears quite in error about the direction of the road. On the other hand, others assert that it must have been continued very soon after Ap- pius, and reached to Brundusium as early as the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, in proof of which they adduce a letter from Pompey (in Cic. Att. viii. 11), who writes thus to Cicero: Censeo Via Appia iter facias, et celeriter Brundusium venias. It is necessary that we should be clear about the direction of the Via Appia, before we can form any opi- nion of the period when it was con- tinued further. It went from Rome by Bovillae, Aricia, Forum Appii, Terracina, Fundi, Formiae, Minturnae, and Sinuessa to Capua, and from thence to Beneventum ; of this there is no doubt. Some suppose that it proceeded from thence by Canusium to the sea-coast, and along it, by Barium, and Egnatia, and as Horace travelled this way with Maecenas to Brundusium, that the Via Appia must at least, at this period, have been extended as far as there. But the premises of this conclusion are false, for, as it has been demonstrat- ed, the road leading along the coast was not the Appian. Strabo, vi. 3, says : Auo 8' tiVJ (6' y bStft 'Eyvarta 7roXc, tlra KsX/a, cat Vijnov KOI Kavvfftov Kai KfpSot'ia' r; 8k Std 'fdpavTog fiiKpbv tv dpiarf- pq. "Oaov Si HICK; i'ifitpas TrtpioSov KtK\evffavrt i'i 'Amria Xiyofitvq a/taE?/Xaroc /taXXoV tv raury Si iroXig Qiipid Tf Kai Qvtvovaia, t) fuv fitTuv TdpavroQ Kai Bptvrtaiov. / d' tv [itOopioic 'Savvirwv cat Atvica- vnttv. 2v[il3a\\ovffi Sk dfupui Kara TSevtovivTov Kai rf}v jKa/iTrav/ov i K TOV TlpivTtaiov. TouvrtvOtv d' ijSii ptXpt- rijg 'Pw^iijf 'A.irtria KoXtlrai, Sid KavSlov Kai KaXar/af, Kai Ka- irvag Kai KatriX/voS />v TOVTWV ttjtairronf vt] ftovov, rfjf Tt TapaKivijf, Kai rHiv itIj<; &op- fjiliiiv fitv Kai Mivrovpvtjt; Kai Zivon- Kai TtOiv iu\dTwv Tdpavroc Tt iou. We learn therefore, beyond all doubt, that this more eastern road was not named the Ap- pian, which only applied to the more western one, which led by way of Venusia. The opinion that it must have been, in the time of Horace, built as far as Brundusium, is also erroneous, for Horace travelled on the eastern road by Equotutium, Rubi, Barium, and Gnatia, and it would have been strange that Maecenas should have chosen the route through the Apulian hills, if the more con- venient Appjan Way led to Brun- dusium ; and, since Strabo is ac- quainted with it in its whole length, it could not have been made much SCENE IV.] THE JOtTRXEY. 41 the disturbing cares of life. The litter, manned by six stalwart Syrian slaves, whose light-red livery distinguished them from the rest of the escort, who were dressed in brown travelling coats, was already in waiting at the vestibule. The carriage in which Gall us intended to travel before nightfall the first forty-two miles of his journey, to Forum Appii, was waiting outside the city, by the grove of the CamcenEe 2 . He had meanwhile donned later. The argument adduced from Cicero proves nothing; for I'ompey could still have advised Cicero to travel on the Via Appia (and not the Latina) as far as it went. Strabo, however, seems by the words rouvTtvQiv S' ?/5ij /XP l T *?C 'Pwfirji; 'ATTiria KaXiirai, to mean that only the part from Beneventum to Rome was called Via Appia ; and as Procopius also confines the name to the distance between Rome and Capua, the road probably from thence to Brundusium was not constructed in the same manner, and thus the old part might always specially bear the name. Livy says, x. 23 : Eodem anno Cn. et Q. Ogulnii ced. cur. aliquot fcene- ratoribus diem dixerunt, quorum bo- nis multatis ex eo quod in publicum redactum est semi tarn saxo quadrato u Capena porta ad Martis straverunt; and c. x. 47: Damnatis aliquot pecua- riis via a Martis silice ad JBovillas, perstrata est. From whence some conclude that the Appian "Way was not originally paved, but only gravel- led, for in that time it had been built nearly twenty years. Of the former portion, we read in Liv. xxxviii. 28, viam silice sternendam a porta Ca- pena ad Martis locaverunt, and con- sequently the whole way, via, not till 560, and previous to then, only the se- tnita, a trottoir. Still, the Via Appia is not named in any of these passages, and the Temple of Mars alluded to here, and vii. 23, may have been situ- ated sidewards, in which case quite a different way would be meant, for the temple on the Appian "Way was first built by Sylla. Moreover, in both passages, we have silice sternere, to pave, which is very different from lapi- de sternere, to lay with slabs ; and the expression does not therefore suit the Appian Way, for it was certainly laid with hewn slabs,' not square, but of irregular form, the corners of which fitted exactly into each other, simi- larly, perhaps, to the Cyclopian walls. On both sides there was a higher border, margo, on which were placed alternately, seats and milestones, but this was doubtless a later addition, and is so called in Liv. xli. 27 : Cen- sores vias sternendas silice in Urbe, glarea extra Urbcm substruendas mar- ginadasque primi omnium locave- rant. The primi omnium refers only to marginare. 2 Not far from the Porta Capena, probably in the Vallis Egeriae, was the Lucus Camoenarum, also called simply Camcenje. The scholiast on Juv. Sat. iii. 10, says, Stetit ex- pectans rhedam, ubi soknt Procon- sules jurare in Via Appia ad por- tam Capenam, i. e. ad Camc&nas, and GALLUS. fSCENB IV. his travelling shoes, and changed his toga for the more befitting dress for travelling, the posmtla. All the other preparations had been already seen to by Chresimus; a number of slaves were despatched before with the baggage, while others were to follow after ; those only who were indispensable being permitted to accompany their lord. These arrangements had been completed in less than two hours by some hundred nimble hands, whom a sign from the dispensator had set in motion, and there were no female slaves, to cause any further delay by their dilatory toilet and tedious preparation 3 . Gallus consequently found himself, before half the fifth hour had elapsed, reclining on the cushions of the Icc- tica ; the Syrians then ran their poles through the rings affixed to the sides, lifted the burden on their broad shoulders, and strode expeditiously along the street, whilst the remainder of the escort partly opened a passage for them through the crowd, and partly kept behind to bring up the rear. The way led through the most lively portion of the city, and it was just the time when the streets, though Mart. ii. 6, 15 : Et cum currere debeas Bovillas, Inteijungere quseria ad Camcenaa. Gallus is made to go through the city in the lectica, while the carriages wait ad Camasnas, on account of doubts whether it was allowed at that period to drive in a travelling carriage through the streets. For there are no instances of it, and Claudius even forbad travellers to drive through the towns of Italy in a carriage. Suet. Claud. 25. In Juv. iii. Umbricius, and pro- bably his whole family also, enter the rheda outside the town : Sed dum tola doraus rheda componitur ana, Substitit ad vetcres arcus madidaraque Ca- penam. It is quite manifest that the car- riage had waited outside the gate, not that it came after, from the words at the end of the Satire : Sed jumenta vocant, et sol inclinat: eundum est, Nam inilii commota jam diidtim mulio rirga Adnuit. * Such delays in the departure on a journey appear to have been com- mon. Fleusides, in Plaut. Mil. iv. 7, 9, says : Mulicr profecto r.ata eat ex ipsa niora. Nam quvis alia, qua mora eat seque, morn Minor ea videtur, quam qua propter mulie- rem eat. Milo too says, in the preceding scene : PauUisper dum se uxor, ut fit, coiiiparat, commoratus eat. SCENE IV.] THE JOURNEY. 43 always full, presented the most motley throng, and the greatest bustle; for the sixth hour approached, when a general cessation from business commenced 4 , and people generally were wont to take their morning meal. Whilst some therefore were still sedulously engaged in their daily avocations, many of the less occupied were already hurry- ing to the place of refreshment. Here, a prompt builder was despatching, by mules and carriers, the materials of a new building, for which he had only just contracted 6 ; there, huge stones and beams were being wound up aloft, for the completion of an edifice. Countrymen with loud cries were driving to and fro their mules, carrying, in baskets 6 suspended on either side, the produce of the country into the city ; or perhaps the street would become stopped up by a solemn funeral procession happening to meet a heavily laden waggon coming in the opposite direction. The most lively sight was presented by the Suburra, where a multitude of hawkers plied their miser- able trade. Some from the region beyond the Tiber 4 Sexta quies lassis, says Martial, iv. 8 ; and during this time the me- render, or prandium, was taken. See the Excursus on The Meals. The many idle persons who lived at Rome even then, and more numerously af- terwards, and the multitude of slaves, who also did not fail in the sapere ad genium, no doubt betook themselves to the various tabcrnee at this period. See the Excursus on The Taverns. 6 The bustle and hurry in the streets of Rome are described in lively colours by Horace and Juvenal. The first, Epist. ii. 2, 72 : Festinat calidus mulis gerulisque redemtor; Torquet nunc lapidem, nunc ingens mnchi- na lignum ; Tristia robustis luctantur ftinera plaustris; Hac rabiosa fugit canis, hac lutulenta ruit us. The latter, Sat. iii. 245 : ferit Die cubito, ferit assere duro Alter, at hie tignum capiti incutit, ille me- tretam. Pinguia crura luto; planta mcnc undique magna Calcor, et in digito clavus mihi militis hseret. And iii. 254, in accordance with Horace : modo longa coruscat Sarraco veniente abies atque altera pinum Plaustra vehunt, nutaiit altse, jwpuloque minantur. Nam si procubuit, qui saxa Lignstica portat Axis, et eversura fudit super agmina mon- tem, Quid supercst de corporibus ? 6 In this manner mules and asses were laden, and this is what Petron. c. 31, means by bisacciwn. Comp, Apul. Met, ix. 44 GALLUS. [SCENE IV. offered matches 7 for sale, occasionally taking in exchange broken glass, instead of money ; others carried boiled peas, and sold a dish of them to the poorest class for an as, whilst those accustomed to somewhat better fare, betook themselves to the cook's boy, who, with a loud voice, cried smoking sausages for sale. In one place a curious crowd was collected round an Egyptian juggler, about whose neck and arms the most venomous snakes familiarly wound themselves. In another stood a group reading the pro- gramme 8 , painted in large letters on the wall of a public 7 The profession of this people was probably not more respectable than that pursued by our chiffoniers ; they sold matches, sulphurata, and bartered them for broken glass, which they repaired again with sulphur. Their head-quarters were trans Ti- berim, generally the abode of the lowest class. Mart. i. 42 : Trans- tiberinus ambulator, qui pallentia sulphurata fractis permutat vitreis ; Stat. Silv. i. 6, 77 : Ptebs qua com- minutis permutat vitreis gregale sul- phur. They cried their wares, as we see from Martial, xii. 57, 14, where, among the reasons enumerated why one could not sleep in Rome, the sulphurates lippus institor mercis is mentioned. Comp. Ruperti ad Ju- venal, v. 48. 8 As among us the plays at the threatres are made known by placards exposed to public view, so they were announced among the ancients by means of inscriptions on the wall (programmata) in public and fre- quented places. Several such inscrip- tions have been discovered at Pom- peii. SeeMus. Borb.i. p.4; A. Suettii xrii cedilis familia gladiatoria pitg- tabit Pompeiis Pr. K. Juntas ve- natio et vela erunt ; in ii. p. 7 is one of still greater value : Dedicatione . . . arum muneris Cn. Alii Nigidii Mai . . . venatio, athletes, sparsiones, vela erunt. For others, see Cell's Pompeiana, in several places ; Orell. Inscr. i. 2556, 2559. In the same manner, either by means of the prceco, or inscriptions on the walls, or by writing on a tablet hung out of doors, private persons made known when they had lost any thing, or when they had anything to let or sell. The oldest traces of such announcements are in Plaut. Merc. iii. 4, 78 : Certum est, prseconum jubere jam quan- tum eat conducier, Qui ilium investigent, qui inveniant. And Menccch. v. 9, 93, when Messe- nio, %& prceco, announces the auction of Menaechmus. But a special pas- sage is Petr. 97 : Intrat stabulum prceco cum servo publico, aliaque sane modica frequentia, facemque fumo- sam magis quam lucidam quassans heec proclamavit ; Puer in balnea paullo ante aberravit annorum circa xvi., crispus, mollis, formosus, no- mine Giton ; ei quis eum reddere, aut commonstrare voluerit, accipiet nummos mille. For the placards there is a locus classicus in Prop. SCENE IV.] THE JOURNEY. 45 building, of the next contests of gladiators, which pro- mised to be brilliant, as the place of exhibition was to be covered with an awning but everywhere the lower classes, old and young, were hurrying to the thermopdice and cookshops, to obtain each his wonted seat, and to drink for breakfast, according to choice, a goblet of honey- wine or the favourite calda. This motley multitude kept passing through streets which were, besides this, rendered disagreeably narrow by a numerous cluster of shops chok- iii. 23, 23, where a letter has been lost: I puer, et citus hsec aliqua propone colurana ; Et dorainum Esquiliis scribe habitare tuum; and Dig. xlvii. 2, 43. Solent plerique hoe etiam facere, ut libellum propo- nent. The vela mentioned in both the announcements referred to, served to cover in the theatre. This conve- nience was first provided for the spec- tators by Q. Catulus, A.U.C. 683. Plin. xix. 1, 6 : Postea in theatris tantam umbram fecere, quod primus omnium invenit Q. Catulus, cum Ca- pitolium dedicaret. Carbasina deinde vela primus in theatris duxisse tra- ditur Lentulus Spinther Apollina- ribus ludis. Max Casar Dictator totum forum Romanum intexit, &c. Lucret. iv. 73, describes the new cus- tom : Et vulgo faciunt id lutea russaque vela, Et ferrugina, cum magnis intenta theatris Per malos volgata trabesque trementia fluc- tant. Coloured cloths were used even at this period. In Pliny's time the luxury went still further ; they imitated the starry heaven : Vela nuper culore eaeli itellata per rudentes iere etiam in amphitheatro principis Neronis. The sparsioties mentioned in the second programme consisted in besprinkling the theatre with sweet-smelling es- sences, as saffron, crocus, the odour of which appears to have pleased the ancients. This sprinkling was effected by means of pipes, from which the liquids were thrown as from the jets of a fountain. Sen. Epist. 90 : Utrum tandem sapientiorem putas, qiii inve- nit, quern ad modum in immensam altitudinem crocum latentibus fistulis exprimat ? Sen. Qucest. Nat. ii. 9 : Ntomjiiid dubitas, quin sparsio illa t qua ex fundamentis media arena cresccns in summam altitudinem am- phitheatri pervenit, cum intentione aqua fiat ? This took place just the same in a regular theatre, and the boards, as well as the spectators, were besprinkled. Hence Martial says, v. 25 : Hoc, rogo, non melius, quam rubro pulpita nimbo Spargere, eteffuso permadiiisse croco ? and lubrica, or madentia croco pul- pita, are often mentioned. See Lips. de Amphith. c. 16. Essences and flowers were rained down in the tri- clinia also, as with Nero. See Suet. Ner. 31 ; comp. Dio. Cass. Ixix. 8. That this was customary, at. least as early as the time of Augustus, we see from Ovid, Art. Am. i. 104 : Tune neque marmoreo pendebant vela the- atro, Nee 'uerant liquido pulpita rubra croco. 46 CALLUS. [SOJBNB IV ing them up 9 , for huxters and merchants of all sorts, artists in hair and salve-sellers, butchers and pastrycooks, but above all vintners, had built their booths far into the street, so that you might even see tables arranged along the piers and pillars of the halls, and covered with bottles, which were, however, cautiously fastened by chains, lest perchance they might be filched by the hand of some Strobilus or Thesprio hurrying by. In consequence of so many obstructions occurring every moment, it was certainly more convenient to allow yourself to be carried through the throng, reclining in a kctica, although it often re- quired very safe bearers, and now and then the sturdy elbow of the prceambulo to get well through ; by this mode you had also the advantage of not being incessantly seized by the hand, addressed, or even kissed 10 , a custom ' The taberncB built up against the houses had, by degrees, so narrowed the streets, that Domitian caused a decree to be issued against them, and every one was confined to the area of the house. Martial, his ever-ready flatterer, has also immortalized the interdict by an epigram (vii. 61) in- teresting to us, as it contributes so much towards a picture of the ap- pearance of the Koman streets : Abstulerat totam temerarius instilor urbem Inque suo nulhim limine limen erat. Jussisti tenuea, Germanlce, crescere vlcos ; Et mo Jo quse fuerat semita, facta via est. Nullu catenatis pila est prsecincta lagenis, Nee praetor medio cogitur ire Into. Stringitur in densa nee caeca novacula turba, Oocupat aut tolas nigra popina viaa. Tonsor, caupo, coquus, lanius gua limina servant. Nunc Boma .eat ; nuper magna tabema fuit. "We see from it that wine was sold not only inside the tabernce, but also be- fore them : probably at the pillars of the porticos, tables were set with bot- tles, which were fastened by chains to prevent their being purloined, and in this manner, perhaps, it would be more correct to interpret the catenata taberna in Juv. iii. 304, which Ru- perti explains by catenis firmata. 10 Effugere Roma non est batia- tioncs, is the ejaculation of Martial, xi. 98, who censures this very dis- agreeable habit in several humorous epigrams. Not merely at the salu- tatio, but at every meeting in the street, a person was exposed to a number of kisses, not only from near acquaintance, but from every one who desired to show his attachment, among whom there were often mouths not so clean as they might be. Martial, xii. 69, says of one who had returned to Rome after long absence : Te vicinia tola, te piloaua Hireoso premit oseulo colono*. Hinc instat tibi textor, inde folio, Hinc sutor raoilo pelle basiata, Hinc menti domimis pediculosi, Ao. The misanthrope Tiberius, who wished himself not to be humbled by this custom, issued an edict against it (Suet. Tib. 34), but it does not ap- pear to have done much good, as the SCENE IV.] THE JOURNEY. which of late had begun to prevail, but escaped with a simple salutation, which was still quite troublesome enough, for, from every side resounded an ave to be responded to, and frequently from the mouths of persons for whom even the nomenclator in his hurry had only an invented name ready u . The train having at last succeeded in safely winding its way through all impediments to the Porta Capena, passed under an antique-looking arch, on the moist stones of which great drops from the aqueduct which was carried over it l9 , were always hanging. At a short distance from custom continued ; in winter only it was improper to annoy another with one's cold lips, on which the same poet also gives us a jocular epigram (vii. 95) : Bruma est, et riget horridus December, Audes tu tarnen osculo nivali Omnes obvius bine et hinc tenere Et totam, Line, basiare Romam. He does not give a very much over- drawn picture when he says, Livida naribus caninis dependet glades ; and thence concludes with this ex- hortation : Hibernas, line, basiationea In mensem rogo differas Aprilem. Cf. Lips, de Osculis et Osculandi, ii. 6. 11 This actually took place, as is testified by Seneca, de Benef. i. 3 : Quemadmodum nomenclatori memo- rite loco audaeia est, et cuicunque nomen non potest reddere, imponit. So also Epist. 27 : Vetus nomencla- tor, qui nomina non reddit, sed im- ponit. 13 The Porta Capena in the first region, between the Ardeatina and Zatina, led to Capua, and it is the most natural to deduce its name from thence, and the more so, as the Ar- deatina and Tiburtina derived their names from the towns arrived at by their means. In Juven. iii. 10, it is called the moist gate : Substitit ad veteres arcus, madidamque Capenam : and the Scholiast remarks thereupon : idea quia supra earn aquae ductus est, quern nunc appellant arcum stillan- tem. Ruperti is wrong therefore in saying, Alii portam rectius ita dic- tam putant a fontibus, qui ibi erant, unde et Fontinalis voeabatur ; for how can we refer the passage in Martial, iii. 47, Capena grand! porta qua pluit gutta, to the fountains in the vicinity P "We have the similar designation (iv. 18) where a boy has been killed by the fall of an icicle : Qua viclna plult Vlpsanis porta columnis Et madet assiduo lubricus imbre lapis. The Porticus Vipsana may have been near the Porta Capena, or another gate may be meant (Comp. Donat. de Urb. Rom. iii. 17. In Horace, Epist. i. 6, 26, two especial prome- nades are placed together by a mere chance, but it is uncertain whether the Columnre Vipsance were the well- known Porticus Agrippse) ; but at all events the icicle has nothing to do with the fountains, and if a Porta 48 GALLUS. [SCENE IV. hence, by the sanctuary of the CamoDnsD, were waiting the carriages, consisting of a light covered rheda drawn by Gallic palfreys, and two petorrita likewise provided with fast horses, for the slower pace of the mule was incom- patible with the plan of the journey, according to which the travellers were to avail themselves of the next night to pass through the Pontine marshes. Gallus mounted the elegantly-built rheda. It was not, it is true, a state vehicle with gilded wheels and rich silver mountings, still the body was ornamented with beautifully wrought foliage in bronze, and Medusa's heads of the same metal peeped from the centres of the wheels. The hood of leather served as a protection against the hot rays of the mid-day sun, whilst the purple hangings, being fast- ened back, admitted an agreeable current of cool air. Beside Gallus, on the left of his master 13 , the faithful Chresimus took his place ; but the seats which on other occasions were occupied by the notarii, who committed to writing the chance thoughts of their master 14 , remained empty. The servants seated themselves in the less fash- ionable petorrita, a couple of Numidian riders vaulted on to their light steeds, and started off in advance, whilst runners, girt up high, flying along before the carriage, emulated the speed of the swift palfreys. Thus whirled the light vehicle at a sharp trot, past the sanctuary of Mars Extra-urbanus, and between the numerous sepulchral monuments 15 , along the queen of was pluens, it might still be the Ca- pena ; on the contrary, we might ra- ther fancy a similitude with the meta sudans, were there not other grounds against it. Cf. Frontin. dc Aquicd. 19. 13 Lipsius. (Elect, ii. 2) has shown that the right hand was the place of honour among the Romans; in the Capitoline Temple, and in the assem- blies of the gods, Minerva took this place. Hor. Od. i. 12, 19 : proximo* illi occupavit honores. 14 That this sometimes happened, follows from Seneca, Epist. 72. Qtta;- dam enim aunt qua possis et in ci/tio wibrre ; but this is explicitly re- lated of the elder Pliny. Plin. Epist. iii. 5. Cf. Plut. Cots. 17. 15 On the custom of placing the tombs on the great roads, see the Ex- SCEXE IV. J THE JOURNEY. 49 roads, which, paved with slabs skilfully joined so as to form, as it were, one stony band, offered no obstruction to the easy rolling of the wheels. Gallus was in the most cheerful humour. The everlasting bustle and monotony of the restless metropolis lay behind him, and before him was the expectation of days of peaceful enjoyment in the bosom of nature decked out in all the charms of spring, and in the undisturbed pursuit of studies refreshing to the mind, which the visits of friends in the neighbourhood, or from Rome, would only pleasantly interrupt. Lycoris too must soon arrive at the bath, and the bliss of requited love be even enhanced by the attraction of new scenes. Chresimus was in a less joyful mood. Gallus had caused a tomb to be erected on the left-hand side of the Appian Way, and the faithful old domestic had not failed to observe, in passing by, how a crow, which had been disturbed by the outriders, had settled upon the tippus of the monument and cawed hoarsely 16 . This occurrence fell the heavier on the old man's heart, because an evil, omen had already made him distrustful of the result of the journey. As he turned, before ascending the carriage, to the altar of the lar viaHs, to invoke good luck and pro- tection during the short journey, a black viper had sud- denly shot across the street with the speed of an arrow 1T , a sufficient cause for entirely giving up the journey, cursus on The Tombs. On the Via Appia they were very numerous. It is only necessary to rememher what Cicero, Tusc. i. 7, says : An tu egres- sus porta Capena, cum Calatini, Scipionum, Serviliorum, Metellorum, sepulchra vides, miseros putas illos ? The Columbarium lib. et serv. Livice Augusta, and many others, were also there. 16 It is well known how much the ancients regarded such omens. Among the apparitions which could deter a person from prosecuting a journey, Horace names the crow, Od. iii. 27, 16, with which compare the passage from Virg. Eel. i. 18 : Ssepe sinistra cava praedixit ab ilice comix. 17 This warning before a journey is also mentioned hy Horace in the Ode just referred to : Rumpat et serpens iter institutum, Si per obliquum similis sagittw Terruit mannoe. 50 CALLUS. [SCENE IV. had Gallus been a believer in the significancy of such signs. He did not, however, appear to perceive the old man's dejection, but talked much of the alterations he was about to effect at the villa, and of his intended pur- chase of a neighbouring estate, and mentioned with much pleasure the rich vintage which the vineyards on the two properties would yield him ; taking no heed the while of the prophetic warning, which the domestic involuntarily uttered, ' That between the cup and the lip there hung many a chance 18 / The tenth mile-stone and the smallhamlet of Bovillao 19 , where the traveller usually made his first halt, were soon reached; but it was too early for Gallus to stop, and moreover, the poverty of the place was anything but inviting, therefore, although the hour for breakfast was long gone by, the travellers continued their journey five milliaria further, to the more important little town of Aricia. There they witnessed a strange scene. On the hill outside the town, a troop of filthy beggars, their nudity only half covered with rags M , had taken up their station, to tax the benevolence of the numerous passers-by, and 18 The beautiful Greek proverb, IToXXa ptratv ire\ti KV\IKOS *ai %/- Xoc diepov, was rendered somewhat more pro.- saically by the less refined Romans : Inter os et offam multa intervenire possunt. See Gell. xiii. 17. i> Bovilla, at the tenth mile- stone ; according to Gell's Topo- graphy of Home, beyond the twelfth ; and to the scholiast on Pers. vi. 55, at the eleventh. But Gell's suppo- sition rests on the presumption that in Plutarch, Coriol. 29, BoXXac iro- \iv ov irXtlovc araSiovf IKO.TOV dir- typvaav rijc *P ( >'/"/C) is to be read, BoiXXaf. It might appear odd that the place is called by the poets tub- uroanus. Ovid. Fast. iii. 667 : Orta suburbania qusedatn fuit Anna Bo- villis. Prop. iv. 1,33: Quippe suburbans; parva minus urbe Bo- villse: but it has already been remarked, on Flor. i. 11, that Tibur was just in like manner termed sttburbanum. 20 "Whether this society of beggars was to be found in the time of Gallus at Aricia, the town situated at about the sixth mile-stone, and celebrated for the grove of Diana, I will not venture to determine. Juven. iv. 117, Dignua Aricinos qul mondicaret ad axes, mentions them, and Martial often, as where he says of a family chang- SCENE IV.] THE JOURNEY. 51 by their daily earnings of polenta, peas, and vinegar- water, to drag on a miserable yet idle existence. Gallus was al- ready well acquainted with the importunity of these worthy prototypes of the lazaroni and lepros, who now hastily hurrying down the hill, surrounded the carriage and voci- ferously demanded alms. Chresimus had in consequence to distribute a bagful of coins among the dirty crew, who thereupon retreated lazily to their lair, or cast a servile kiss of the hand to the rheda, as it sped quickly towards the town 21 . In the neighbourhood of Aricia there was many a villa, and in the town itself more than one house, where Gallus would have been received as a welcome guest. On this occasion, however, he intended to make his stay as brief as possible, and therefore preferred passing at an inn, of not very superior accommodation, the short time during which the unharnessed horses 22 were allowed their rest at a crib- ing its abode, and carrying its dirty chattels : Migrare clivum crederes Aricinum. So the father of Laelia is called, x. 68, Durus Aricina de regione pater ; ii. 19, alludes to this, Aricino conviva recumbere clivo ; and in a similar sense he wishes an indiscreet poet, x. 6, 3, Erret per urbem pontis exsul et clivi, Interque raucos ultimus rogatorea Oret caniuas panis improbi buccas. On the above-mentioned passage of Juvenal, the scholiast remarks : Qui ad portam Aricinam, sive ad clivum mendicaret inter Jtid&os, qtii ad Ariciam transierant ex urle missi. Nevertheless in none of the passages is there any hint that only Jews or Christians (who are also to be under- stood under this name) are meant ; on the contrary, the clivi are desig- nated as the haunts of beggars gen- erally. Yet the frequent mention of the beggars at the clivtu Aricinus as Roman beggars, is sufficiently strange, if we are really to suppose it to have been at Aricia, fifteen miles from Rome, and it would almost appear that in Rome itself there was a place of this name. Besides, the beggars chiefly haunted the bridges (see Ru- perti ad Juven. iv. 116, xiv. 134) and the gates. Plaut. Capt. i. 1, 21 Ire extra portam trigeminam ad saccum licet; and Trin. ii. 4, 21 Pol opinor afimis rata sedes vendidit. Pater cum fereque veniet, in porta est iocus. 21 So I understand the words of Juvenal, iv. 118, which follow im- mediately the above quoted : Blandaque devexsa jactaret basia rhedaa. It is the token of gratitude that the beggar sends after the carriage from which he has received alms. 22 Interjungere is the proper ex- pression when one unyoked the ani- mals at noon, or any other time, to E 2 62 GALLUS. [ScE.v. IV. ful of provender. Little as he might reckon on getting a decent repast in such a place, still he thought it the more advisable to take liis pmndiiim there, although late in llio day, as the dirty sailors' pot-houses in Forum Appii promised a far worse meal at night ; and in fact the table proved better than the exterior of the inn betokened. The freshly- boiled lacertce, encircled with a string of eggs and rue, looked quite inviting ; the plump fowl and the still uncut ham of yesterday, which, with asparagus, the never- failing lactuca, and the more celebrated porrum, muscles of the peloridce kind, but no oysters from the Lucrine lake, pre- sented, it is true, a poor recompense for the breakfast with Lentulus, which he had deserted, but still afforded one which exceeded his expectations. The wine could not conceal its Vatican extraction, although the landlord had mixed it with some old Falernian, and the mulsiim was decidedly pre- pared with Corsican honey ; the service was only from the hand of a common potter; but who could desire more in such a place ! It was the company who at the time happened to be in the humble tavern, and amused themselves with coarse jokes and loud laughter, or abused and bullied the host, that made his stay not very pleasant. As soon there- fore as the horses had had an hour's rest, Gallus again started, proposing to perform the far longer journey from thence to Forum Appii without further halt. Quickly as the rheda rolled beyond Aricia, past Tres Tabernae to the low grounds, yet the sun was already set, and single stars began to be visible in the darkening heaven before the travellers arrived at Forum Appii 23 . allow them to take rest, and for bait. Mart. iii. 67, 6 : Exarsitque dies, ot bora lassos Interjungit equos meridiana. So also, ii. 6, 18 : Et cum currere debeas Bovillas, about forty-three milliaria from Rome, where the Pontine marshes had already commenced, and from whence there went, besides the road, a canal of about fifteen milliaria in length, nearly to Terracina, or Anxur. Strabo, V. 6 : nXrjaiov f rjjf TappairivtiQ Intcrjungere quteris ad Cumoenas. iiri Tiic 33 Forum Appii, a' 1 little town /3Xjrat ry bt{t ry SCENE IV. j 53 Here the road, which had entered the Pontine marshes for several milliaria, became more unpleasant, especially on warm summer- days, when the exhalations from the marshes poisoned the air. On this account they usually preferred travelling in the cool of the evening by the canal made by the side of the road, as far as the temple of Feronia, which lay on the other side of the marshes. Such was also the plan of Gallus, and for this reason the horses had been forced to step along briskly, as it was two and forty miles from Rome to this place 24 . But it was not at all disagreeable to him that no longer stay was necessary in this wretched little place, full of miserable taverns frequented by sailors 25 . The exterior of the lame and disproportionately fat landlady, in shape not much unlike a wine-cask 20 , who approached him in the caupona, as well as the disgusting taste of the impure water **, made lir i TroXXotie TOTTOVQ TrXrjpovfievTi role fXtioig rt ical ro7f Trorap.otQ vSaai, TrXfTrai Si /xaXterra vvKTwp, WOT" tic/3ai/ra tip' iiriripa^ ficfiaivtiv Trpiotag ical ftaSi^nv rb \oiirbv ry 'ATnriy.. So Horace, as we know, made his journey to Brundusium, Sat. i. 5, from which the description here given of the night voyage is mainly taken. 24 The rapidity with which Gallus performed the journey to Forum Appii, is at least not exaggerated : to that place it was forty-two or forty- three Roman miles, seventy-five of which go to a degree, or five to the geographical mile, therefore it could be done with ease in ten hours. Far more considerable is the speed with which Capito travelled from Rome in Ameria, to convey the news of the murder of Roscius. Cic. p. Hose. A.m. 7. Cum post horam primam tioctis occism esset, primo diluculo nuncius hie Ameriam venii. Decern horis nocturnis (the short hours of a summer -night) sex et quinquaginta millia passuum cisiis pervolavit. Horace too says, that for a good walker, it was a good day's journey from Rome to Forum Appii. 25 By sailors are here to be under- stood the barge-men, who forwarded the travellers along the canal : the great number of them employed, and the numerous travellers who must necessarily have stopped there, caused so many inns. 26 There might have been in many cauponee very tolerable hostesses ; but for an Appian sailor's pot-house, such ,a figure as Harpax describes, Plaut. Pseud, ii. 2, 64, will not be unfitting : Ego devertor extra portam hue in taber- nam tertiam, Apud anum illam doliarem, cludam, crassam Chrysidem. 87 The Via Appia generally was not provided with good water. 54 GALLUS. [SCENE IV. him determine to let the prandium in Aricia compensate for his evening meal also, and to content himself with some bread and bad wine. Meanwhile Chresimus had been busy about a boat, but could not obtain one that would take them without other passengers ; for there was never any lack of travellers there, and no one willingly made the journey alone through the marshes, which were not unfrequently rendered insecure by footpads who infested them 28 . Nearly an hour in consequence was lost, during which the boatman interchanged rough words with the slaves of the travellers, who would not allow the bark to be overloaded as he wished ; he afterwards collected the passengers' fare, and having lazily yoked his mule which had to tow the bark on the causeway made alongside 29 , the passage at last began. The banks were lined with willows, interspersed here and there with an alder, around the roots of which tall plants of the fern species waved to and fro, moved slightly by the night-breeze, and above them, on the natural festoons made by the creepers, rocked the glow-worm. The stars shining brighter and brighter from above invited the travellers to repose, but the troublesome gnats, which the morass generated in myriads, and the croaking of the lively frogs, scared away the quiet god. Besides which the boatman and one of the travellers, Horace, i. 5, 7, says of Forum Appii, propter aquam, quod erat teterrima, ventri indico helium : and farther on there was also a similar want At Equotutium and Canusium water was a regular article of commerce, as also at Ravenna, where an innkeeper cheated Martial, and instead of the wine and water, mixtum, which the poet demanded, gave him merum. See Mart. iii. 56, 57. 28 The roads of Italy were gener- ally disturbed by numberless high- waymen, firasaatores ; but the whole distance from the Tontine marshes to the sea-coast was particularly in- fested by bands of these depredators, the loneliness of the vicinity affording them a secnre retreat. It was on this account sometimes occupied by troops, in order to expel the robbers, who, however, only went elsewhere, and even to Rome itself. Juven. iii. 30-5 : Interdum et ferro subitus grassator aglt rem, Armato quoties tutae custode tenentur Et Poutina palus et Gallinaria pin us. 29 The whole description, the eonvicia, the nauta -am. [So also hirsuta capella was said of dirty-looking men, Juv. v. 155 ; Amin. Marc. xvii. 12 ; xxiv. 8.] SCENE VI.] LYCORTS. 77 oral and not a written one ? But I'll provide for that also ; rely upon rne, that before the bell summons to the bath, you shall have the letter, or measures shall at least have been taken to prevent any message reaching Lycoris ex- cept through you.' The sixth hour was past, and there was less bustle in the popince. Only here and there remained a guest, who could not break from the sweet mead, and the maid who waited on him ; or was still resting, heavy and over- come by his sedulous attentions to the fluids. In a small tabcrna of the Subura sat two slaves, draining a goblet, which apparently was not their first. The one was a youth of pleasing exterior, numbering little more than twenty years, whose open and honest-looking countenance was in a rubicund glow, while his reddening neck and the swelling veins of his full round arms showed plainly that the earthen vessel before him had contained something besides vinegar 14 . The other, whose age might be between thirty and forty, inspired the beholder with less confidence ; his bold and reckless mien, lips turned up scornfully, and rough merriment, betokened one of those^siaves who, con- fiding in the kind disposition of their master, and the thickness of their own backs, were accustomed to bid defiance to all the elm- staves and thongs in the world. * But now drink, Cerinthus ! ' exclaimed the latter to his younger companion, as he quaffed the remainder of his goblet. ' Why, you take it as if I ordered nothing but Vatican, and yet the landlord has given us the best Sabine in his cellar : and I assure you that the Falernian that I slily sipped behind the column at the late banquet, was scarcely so good.' 14 Vinegar-water, posca, a com- mon drink of soldiers in the field (Spart. Hadr. 10), as well as of slaves. Plaut. MU. iii. 2, 23 : Alii ebrii sunt, alii poscam potitant. Palsestrio is evidently himself amongst those who indulge in posca, whilst Sclederus and Lucrio intoxicate them- selves by wine. 78 GALLUS. [SCENE VI. ' In truth, Gripus,' answered the young slave, * the wine is excellent, but I fear I shall be drinking too much. My temples burn, and if I taste more, I may be tipsy when I go to Lycoris. You know how Gallus insists on order and punctuality.' ' Gallus, indeed ! ' said the other, ' why, he drinks more than we do. Besides, he has to-day gone into the country, and the old grumbler Chresimus with him; therefore we now are free, and moreover it's my birthday, and as nobody has invited me, why, I'll be merry at my own expense.' As he thus spake, a third person entered the popina. ' Ah ! well met,' cried the fat little figure ; ' I salute ye both.' ' Oh ! welcome, Dromo/ exclaimed Gripus, as if sur- prised at his appearance. ' You have come at the happiest possible moment. Our lord is set out on a journey, and I am now celebrating my birthday 16 .' ' How, your birthday ? Excellent ! ; We must make a rich offering to the genius. But, by Mercury and La- verna, your glasses are empty. Holloa ! damsel, wine here ! Why, by Hercules, I believe ye have ordered but a glass each. A lagena here ! ' cried he, throwing a piece of gold on the table, ' and larger goblets, that we may drink to the name of our friend.' The lagena came. ' The name has six letters,' ex- claimed Dromo ; ' let six cyathi be filled.' ' But not unmixed, surely P ' put in Cerinthus. ' What cares the genius about water ? ' replied the other. ' To Gripus health ! How, Cerinthus, you won't shirk, surely ? [ 15 The celebration of the birthday amongst the Eomans is frequently mentioned. On this day they were accustomed to sacrifice to their pro- tecting genius, and to invite their re- lations and friends to festivities (natalicice dapes). Varro, Censor. 2 ; Ovid. Trist. iii. 13, 13; Tibull. i. 7, 49 ; ii. 2, 1 ; Pers. ii. 1 ; vi. 18 , Juv. xi. 83 ; Cic. Phil. ii. 6 ; Mart. xi. 65 ; x. 27 ; Gell. xix. 9 ; and fre- quently in Plautus. The friends who came brought congratulations and presents, Mart. viii. 64 ; ix. 64. Many ancient monographies treat of this custom.] SCENE VI.] LYCORIS. 79 Bravo ! drained to the bottom, so that the genius may look down brightly upon us. So Gallus has departed from Rome ? To the Falernian region for certain ? Well, he knows how to live ! An excellent master ! "We'll drink to his well-being also. Actually just the same number of letters. Now, Cerinthus, health to your lord ! ' ' Long life and happiness to him/ cried the other, already intoxicated, as he emptied the goblet. ' One thing is still wanting. Come hither, Chione, and drink with us. By Hercules, though, a spruce lass/ 'True,' stammered out Cerinthus, with some difficulty, as he drew the unresisting damsel towards him ; ' you seem to me even prettier than before 16 .' ' Oh ! that is because you are now in merrier mood,' replied the female, smiling. ' Yes,' cried he, ' the proverb is true which says that " without Ceres and Bacchus, Yenus is but a frosty affair." ' ' What say you ? ' interrupted Gripus, who thought this was the right moment for the prosecution of his scheme ; ' she was always pretty ; Lycoris herself has not finer eyes.' The name struck the ear of Cerinthus, in spite of his drunkenness, like a clap of thunder. He tried to spring up, but his feet refused their office, and he leaned reeling against the damsel. 4 What's the matter, man ? Whither would you go ? ' exclaimed the other two. ' To Lycoris,' stammered he. * You don't suppose I'm drunk, do ye ? ' * Oh no/ said Gripus ; ' but you seem weak and fatigued/ ' How ? I fa-fatigued w ? ' He tried to depart, but after a few paces w In Terent. Hun. iv. 6, 4, this is said by Chremes, who is somewhat tipsy, to Pythias, and she answers similarly: Ch. Vah ! quanto nunc fonnoslor Videre mihi quam dudum. Py. Certe tu quidem pol multo hilarlor. Ch. Verbum hercle hoc verum erit : Sine Cerere et Llbero frlget Venus. 17 In Plant. Most. i. 4, 18, where the drunken Callidamates is led in by his maid, the latter says, Madet homo, and the drunken man stammers out in reply, tun' me ais ma-ma-madere. The same authority affords us an ex- cuse for the picture here given. 80 CALLUS. VI. sank down. ' Take a sleep for a little while,' said Gripus, * and let me have charge of your letter, and I'll immediately carry it to its destination.' The drunken man nodded assent, and produced the tablets. Dromo obtained from the landlord a place for the unconscious slave to sleep in, paid the score, and hurried off with Gripus. The bustle of the day had ceased, the last twilight of evening was already beginning to yield to the darkness of night, and all who but a few hours before were en- livening the streets, had now retired home to rest. In the Subura alone the business of the day had subsided, but only to be succeeded by activity of another kind. Here and there persons with muffled faces 18 glided cau- tiously along ; and shrouded forms stealing to and fro about the streets, slipped into the well-known cellce, or sought new acquaintances in houses, the doors of which, adorned with foliage, and lit up with numerous lamps, announced them to be newly-opened temples of Venus 19 . 18 On such occasions, to avoid being recognised, the garments were drawn over the head, or it was con- cealed in a cucullus. So we read of Antonius, who wished to surprise his love. Cic. Phil. ii. 31 : Domum venit capite obvoluto. Juv. vi. 330 : Ilia jubet sumto juvenem properare cu- cullo; and viii. 145 : nocturnus adulter TemporaSantonico velas adoperta cucullo. Cf. Ruperti in iii. 170 ; Jul. Cap. Ver. 4 : Vagari per tabernas ac lupana- ria oblecto capite cucullione vulgari viatorio. See the Excursus on The Male Attire. 19 There does not seem to have been any street-lighting at Rome till very late, as no mention is made of it before the fourth century. As far as Rome is concerned, I find no proof of it at all. For the passage quoted from Am. Marc. xiv. refers not to Rome, but to Antiochia : Adhi- bitis paucis clam ferro succinctis ves- peri per tabernas palabctur et coin- pita, quaeritando Greece sertnone, cujus erat impendio gnarus, quid de Cte- sare quisque sentiret. El JUEC confi- denter agebat in urbe, ttbi pernoc- lanlium luminum claritudo dierum solet imitari fulgorem. The lighting of the streets in Antiochia in the fourth century, had already been placed beyond a doubt by the pas- sages of Libanius. In another pas- sage of the Cod. Justin, viii. 12, 19, the lighting of the baths merely is meant ; concerning which see the Ex- SCENE VI.] LYCORIS. 81 Now and then a door would gape, and, the curtain being drawn aside, allowed a glimpse into brilliantly-lighted chambers, where youths, surrounded by unblushing females in immodest costumes, were passing their time in riotous enjoyment 20 . Here and there, too, sat some rejected lover, on the solitary threshold of a hard-hearted libertina, hoping by entreaties and perseverance to soften the coy beauty 21 . cursus on The Baths. Lastly, the burning of the Christians, Tacit. Annal. xv. 44, cannot possibly afford any proof of a regular lighting. General illuminations of whole towns, however, were not unusual among the ancients. Apart from the usage of the Egyptians and Jews (Bahr ad Herod, ii. 62), perhaps the earliest known instance of it in Rome is that where this honour was paid to Cicero after the quelling of the Cati- line conspiracy. Plut. Cie. 22: rr6f, TroXXoD de ical tK rHiv opijv firi\dn\ltavTO aifft. TOV yap x 01 ' piov [irjvotidovg ovrog Trvp iravra- Xodiv icaOdirtp ev 6(.nrp/ TroXic tetKOff/ujro icat uai rai 0rt(f>avii>ftaatv. This was so also when Nero returned from Greece, Dio Cass. Ixiii. 20 ; and when Septimius Severus made his entrance, Ixxiv. 1 : i] rt yap TroXtc iratra avQiai re Kai dvatc iart- eat Iiariotf m>UcXot t- ?Xa/i7rt : and in honour of Aurelius Zoticus under Elagabalus, Ixxiv. 16. Martial mentions such illuminations, x. 6, 4 : Quando erit ille dies, quo campus et arbor et omnis, Lucebit Latia culta fenestra nuru? [See further Stat. Silv. i. 2, 231 ; 4, 123; iii. 5, 6270; Arrian. Epiet. i. 19, 24; ii. 17, 17; Tertull. de Idol. 15; App. Met. iv. 26; Claudian de Nupt. 206; Prudent, centra Symm. ii. 1009 ; Pacat. Paneg. Theod. 37.] Of the custom here mentioned of decking with garlands and illumin- ating new lupanaria as if it were the house of a bridal, Lipsius, Elect, i. 3, has spoken. He cannot affirm that this was the case in the earlier times, as the proofs of the fact are only de- rived from Tertullian, Apologet. 35 : Cur die lato non laureis pastes ad- umbramus ? nee lucernis diem infrin- gimus ? Honesta res est solemnitate publica exigente inducere domui tu& habitum alicujus novi lupanaria. Se- condly, Ad TTxor. ii. 6 : Procedit de janua laureata et lucernata, ut de now consistorio libidinum publica- rnm. The same was the case on birth and Avedding days. See also Ferbar. de Lucent. Sepulcral. ; Der- rutzer on Juvettal, xii. 92. 20 Such is really related by Petron. c. 7. > See Horat, iii, 10, i. 26 ; Tib. i. 82 CALLUS. [SCENB VI. Towards the end of the street, where the ascent of the Ooelian hill commenced, there stood, somewhat retired, a small but cheerful-looking house, which had evidently nothing in common with the public resorts of the vicinity ; for there was no taberna to be seen, nor was the threshold crossed by the step of any visitor ; it might almost have been supposed uninhabited, but for the gleam of lamps that pierced through some of the windows. Now, however, two men might be seen approaching the vestibulum, both dressed as slaves, with the pcenula drawn over their heads. The shorter of the two stopped at some distance off, while the other, whose carriage seemed to accord but ill with his dress, went to the door and knocked. ' Who are you ? ' inquired the ostiarim 22 . ' A tdbcl- larius from Gallus.' The porter opened the door and de- manded the letter. ' My commission is an oral one,' said the other ; ' lead me to Lycoris.' The porter surveyed the muffled stranger doubtingly. * Why does not Cerinthus come ? ' he inquired. ' He is sick/ was the reply ; ' but what does it concern you to whom my lord entrusts his messages ? It is late ; conduct me to your mistress.' Lycoris was occupied in packing various sorts of female ornaments, in a neat box of cedar- wood, placing them for security between layers of soft wool. Her light tunica, without sleeves, had become displaced by her movements, and slidden down over the left arm K , disclosing something more than the dazzling shoulder, upon which the black hair descended in long ringlets. She was, it is true, no 1, 66 ; Prop. i. 16 ; Ovid. Amor. i. 6, ii. 19, 21. 22 So the ostiarius inquired of An- tonius, who, on knocking, stated him- self to be a iabellarius. Cic. Phil. ii. 31: Janitor: Quistu? A.Marco: Tabellaritis. ** So many passages of this kind could be adduced in justification, that it is scarcely worth the trouble to point them out particularly. The wide opening for the neck, and the broad holes for the arms, caused the light tunica, on every occasion of the person's stooping, to slip down over the arm. Artists appear to have been particularly fond of this drapery. SCENE VI.] longer in possession of the youthful freshness and child-like naivete that had fixed the love of Grallus when first he saw her, but the exquisite roundness of her form was not less attractive than ever, so that at the age of twenty-five 24 she was still a blooming, beauteous woman. Her several female attendants were also busy packing up apparel and other things in flat baskets and boxes, and everything gave symptoms of preparation for a journey. 'Lay the palla once more under this press/ said she to the maidens, ' and the tunica also. Have you put in the stomachers too, Cypassis ? ' The damsel answered in the affirmative. ' Then go and see with Lydus and Anthrax about the plate necessary to be taken with us **.' The hand- maidens departed. Lycoris was putting together some necessaries for the toilet, when the porter announced the messenger from Grallus. * At last ! ' said Lycoris. ' Admit him/ The ostiarius bade the person come in, and then retired to his post ; but the mysterious behaviour of the pretended tabettarius had made him uneasy, and he there- fore directed a female slave, who met him, to watch by the door of her mistress. The slave placed her ear against 24 An accurate calculation of the age of Lycoris in the year 728 A.U.C. is neither possible, nor of any im- portance here. If we suppose the Eclogues of Virgil to have been writ- ten 718 A.U.C., and that Lycoris was at that time a girl of fifteen, she would have been at the period of the downfall of Gallus, of the age as- signed here to her, twenty-five. [If, as Serv. (on Virg. Ed. x. 1) states, and Hertzberg (Quasi. Propertian. specim.) more recently affirms, Lyco- ris was identical with the ill-renowned paramour of Antonius, Cytheris (a freedwoman of Volumnius Eutrape- lus), she must have been of the same age as Gallus, twenty-eight years old in 718, and not far removed from forty at the time of the death of Gal- lus. Inspecting Lycoris and Cythe- ris, see Cic. Phil. ii. 24 ; ad Att. x. 10, 16; ad Fam. ix. 26; Plut. Ant. 9 ; Plin. H. N. viii. 16 ; Schol. Crug. ad Hor. Sat. i. 2, 55, 10, 77.] 25 It is to be supposed that persons used to take their own plate with them, even on short journeys, because the inns, which could not be avoided, were but mean. Mart. vi. 94 : Ponuntur semper chrysendeta Calpetlano. Sive f oris, seu cum coenat in urbe domi, Sic etiam in stabulo semper, sic coenat in agro. 84 CALLUS. [SCENE VI. the door, but the curtain within deadened the sounds, and she could hear nothing distinctly. At last their conversa- tion became more animated, and their voices louder ; the door opened, and the man hurried hastily away, disguised as he had entered. The attendant found Lycoris in the most extreme state of excitement. ' We must away from hence this very night,' cried she. ' Send Lydus to me.' The slave received orders to hire two rhedcB immediately. The preliminaries of the journey were then hastened, and before the end of the third night-watch, Lycoris, with a portion of her slaves, was already beyond the Capenan gate. SCENE THE SEVENTH. A DAY IN BAIJE. IF any place of antiquity could lay claim to be considered as the very abode of pleasure and free living, it assuredly was BaisD 1 , by far the most renowned bathing-place of Italy, and selected equally by Aphrodite and Comus, as by Hy- gieia, for a favourite residence. Nature had decked the coast of Campania, on which Baise was situated, with all the charms of a southern climate. Art and the taste of the Roman patricians had still further heightened the beauty of the landscape by the erection of magnificent villas. The lofty towers 2 of these gorgeous palaces which lined the 1 Baiae asserted a decided pre-em- inence amongst the numerous baths of Italy (whence Martiil, vi. 42, 7, amongst many other baths, mentions Bai principes, and its name is used by poets as an appellation for baths generally, Tibull. iii. 5, 3 ; Mart. x. 13, 3), and was considered by the ancients in general a most attractive place, and life there to be the most pleasant : NuUus in orbe sinus Baiis pralucet amoenis, says Horace, Epist. i. 1, 83; and all writers making mention of it concur in this eulogy. Mart. xi. 80. Andr. Baccius (de Thcrmis, p. 162) briefly extol its advantages. ' The city lay,' says he, ' on the left shore of the sea, surrounded by a circle of hills co- vered with green ; to the north, at a distance of five Roman miles (millia passuuin), lay ' Curase, three miles nearer the Lacus Avcrnus; south- wards, distant three miles, was Mise- nnm, and Puteoli, the same distance across the bay. The extraordinary mildness of the climate made it an agreeable place of sojourn even in winter, and there was no season of the year when the trees did not pre- sent fruits, and the gardens flowers.' Comp. Strabo, v. 4, 187 ; Dio Cas- sius, xlviii. 51. 1 By towers are to be understood parts of the house, built several sto- ries above the rest of the building, to allow of a distant prospect. Pliny had two such in his Laurentinum. He says of one (ii. 17, 12) : Sine tur- ris erigitur, sub qua dicetce duce, toti- dtm in ipsa: preeterea cosnatio, quee Ictissimum mare, longissimum litits, amcenissimas villas prospicit. So the turres (Tibull. i. 7, 19) appear to be rightly explained by Heyne. It may be well imagined that the villae around Baise, the neighbourhood of which displayed everywhere the most 86 GALLUS. [SCENE VII coast commanded a view right across the bay to the open sea, whilst the villas of more humble pretensions, erected by the more serious men of former times 3 , looked down like strong castles from the neighbouring heights. Just oppo- site, and in the direction of the not far distant Nauplia, lay the fair Puteoli. On the right, after doubling the promon- tory, was Misenurn with its renowned haven, the station of the Roman fleet. Close by lay Cumse, hallowed by ancient sages, and near the latter was the lake Avernus, which, with the smiling plain adjoining it, seemed to represent on earth the contrast between the terrors of Hades and the happiness of Elysium. But fashion and the joyous mode of life, even more than the charms of the scenery, rendered Baiae a most de- lightful place of sojourn. Besides invalids who hoped to obtain relief from the healing springs and warm sulphur- baths 4 , there streamed thither a much larger number of magnificent views, were also provided with such turret. The environs of Baiae were not considered healthy, as we see from Cicero's letter to Do- lahella (ix. 12), and therefore the villas were built as far out into the sea as possible, and probably higher than was usual. 3 Seneca, who took such offence at the mode of life at Baiao, that he left on the second day after arriving there, praises the choice of those men. Epist. 61 : Illi quoque, ad quos primes fortuna Romani populi pub- licas opes transtulit, C. Maritts, et On. Pompeius, et Casar, extruxcrunt quidem villas in Seaione Baiana, sed illas imposuerunt summit jugit mon- tium. They looked more like eastra than v ilia. But besides these there were splendid palaces built round the whole bay, which, with the towns lying upon it, presented the appear- ance of one vast city. Strabo, v. 4 : "Airac IP tori KarfffKtvaofnivoc (6 *c6\7roc) TOVTO fiiv raTf iroXiffiv, &f ttyafifv, TOVTO S( Talq oiKoScifiiatg Kfii ovvai Cf. Dio Cass. above. * The springs at Baiaj were of very different ingredients, and the sana- tory poweis manifold. Plin. xxxi. 2, 2 : Alice sulphuris, alies aluminis, alia salts, alia nitri, alia bituminis, nonnullae etiam acida salsave mixtura, vapore quoqtie ipso aliquot prosunt. Chief of all were the hot sulphureous vapours which sprung up in many places, and particularly on the heights, and were used as baths to promote perspiration. Such suda- toria were situated not only in the town of Baiae itself, but close to the spot where the vapours rose from the ground. Vitruv. ii. 6. In mon- SCENE VII.] A DAY BAI^E. 87 persons in health, having no other end in view than the pursuit of pleasure, and who, leaving behind them the cares and formalities of life, resigned themselves wholly to enjoyment, in whatever shape it was offered. One continual saturnalia was there celebrated, in which even the more reserved suffered themselves to be carried away by the in- toxication of pleasure, whilst follies, which in Rome would have drawn down reproof, were scarcely regarded as imput- ations on character, or such only as the next bath would entirely efface. The intercourse between the sexes in society was of a much more free description, and none but a stoic would look askance when wanton hetarce, sur- rounded by thoughtless youths, skimmed by, in gaudily- painted gondolas, while song and music resounded from the skiffs of many a troop of revellers, who were rocking lazily on the level surface of the bay. Of course pleasure did not always confine itself within the bounds of innocence, and connubial fidelity doubtless tibus Cumcenorum et Baianis sunt loca sudationibus excavata, in quibus vapor fervidus ab imo nascens ignis vehe- mentia perforat earn terram, per eum- que manando in his locis oritur et ita sudationum egregias efficit utilitates. These hot streams of vapour were conducted by means of pipes into the buildings. Dio Cass. xlviii. 51 : n)v 8" arpiSa avrov t rt oiKruiara fitrttapa (suspensuras) Sia avayovat, KavravBa avr Of this kind was the bath ad myrteta, celebrated by Horace, Epist. \. 15, 6, which also lay outside the town, and probably on an eminence, for Celsus, ii. 17, says: Siccus color est qua- nmdam naturalium sudationum, ubi a terra profusus calidus vapor cedi- Jicio includitur, sicut super Baias in myrtetis habemm. If the bath was visited by numerous invalids on ac- count of the efficacy of its waters, yet, doubtless, far greater numbers came from Eome, merely for the sake of pleasure, to Naples and the neigh- bourhood, which seemed places cre- ated entirely for a life of ease and pleasure. Strab. v. 4 : Batat icai ret a. vara, TO. jcai Trpof TpvQrjv Kai Qepaxaiav vootav liriTr}$ua. Dio Cassius, supra. K araffictvai re ovv irepi an