CHAPTER X.
"Really, Baucis, you are very clumsy again today!" cried Lucilia,half-vexed and half-saucily. "Do you want to pull that fine, luxurianthair, that the greatest poet might rave about, all out by the roots. Ihave shown you a hundred times how the arrow is to be put through, andyou always towzle my hair as old Orbilius[207] does the schoolboys!"
"Ingratitude for thanks, all the world over!" muttered the old slave,casting a last glance at Lucilia's curls, her successful handiwork. "Isuppose you would like to stick a pin into me.[208] Really, the youngpeople of the present day are like babies or dolls. And if the goldpin slips and the plaits come down, then it is the old woman who is toblame and there is no end of the fuss. Ah! you naughty girl,[209] howdo you expect to get on when you are married, you impatient littlething! Many a time will you have to sigh, when your husband is outof temper! Many a time will you say to yourself: 'Ah! if only I hadlearned a little patience when I was younger!'"
"You are greatly mistaken," said Lucilia in a declamatory tone. "Thedays are over, when the husband was master over everything in thehouse. What woman now-a-days will submit to a wedding with offeringsof corn?[210] We have grown wiser, and know what such offerings aremeant to symbolize--we are to surrender our liberty to the very lastgrain! So I should think! If ever I marry.... But what are you about?Will you ever have done fidgetting with that tiresome necklace? Dolook, Claudia, how she is tormenting me!"
Claudia was sitting in holiday attire in front of a handsomecitrus-wood[211] table, holding in her hands the ivory roller of anelegantly-written book. When Lucilia spoke to her she absently raisedher soft, fawn-like eyes, laid the roll aside and stood up.
"You look like Melpomene," cried Lucilia enthusiastically, while Baucisdraped her _stola_.[212] "If I were Aurelius, I should have my headturned by the sight of you. How well the folds of your dress fall, andhow admirably the border lies on the ground, oh! and your hair! Do youknow I am quite in love myself with that hair; it goes so beautifullywith the soft brown of your eyes. That dark fair hair, with a kind ofdim lustre, is too lovely; my stupid, every-day brown looks no betterby the side of it than a cabbage next a rose. Of course, too, Baucistakes three times as much pains with you as with me. Tell me yourself,is not this arrow all askew again?"
So speaking she took a polished metal mirror[213] from the table, andstudied her coiffure first from the right and then from the left, whileone of the young slave-girls, who stood round Baucis, came to herassistance with a second mirror.
"It is quite horrid!" she said crossly. "In short every single thing iswanting in me to-day, that could please the fancy of any human being.Never was my fatal snub-nose so short and broad, never was my mouth sowide and vulgar. And listen, Claudia, in spite of all its beauty, Ican do without going to Baiae for the future. I gained twenty poundsin weight there, and brought home three dozen freckles. It is a luckything, that I have a philosophic soul! If I were in love now with someson of the gods, by Socrates' cup of hemlock I should be desperate withrage!"
"You are only fishing for praise," said Claudia, stroking her sister'scheek. "But you know I am but ill-skilled in the art of payingcompliments."
"Silly girl!" said Lucilia. "As if praise could mend an evil. Do yousuppose I want to do as the young law students do, who hire flatterersto praise them?[214] Nay, no bribery is possible, when we stand beforethe Centumvirate[215] who judge of beauty.--And, my good Baucis, whatare you staring at now, like a country cousin at a circus. Make hasteand get dressed, you old sinner, or Cinna's cook will have burnt thepasty."
"I shall be ready in an instant," replied Baucis. "At my time of lifedressing need not take long. Who looks at the hawthorn, I wonder, whenroses are in bloom?" and she hurried away.
Lucilia and Claudia went out into the colonnade where, arm in arm, theyslowly paced the gleaming marble pavement. As they turned the farthercorner of the quadrangle, they saw their mother coming towards them ata leisurely pace.
"Quintus is ready and waiting," she said pleasantly.
"And you, dear mother?" asked Lucilia. "Do you really mean to stay athome?"
"It is such a pity," added Claudia. "We are accustomed, alas! to myfather's never accompanying us to see Cornelia, but you--what needyou care about the debates in the senate? Besides, Cornelius Cinnais related to your family. Your views as to what contributes to theprosperity of the Roman people differ no doubt...."
"In Jupiter's name, child!" cried Octavia horrified. "Claudia, what areyou saying? If your father were to hear you...."
"But, my dear mother," answered the girl, "I am only speaking thetruth. There are many very estimable men...."
"Be silent--when and where did you pick up such notions? Attend to yourmusic and your poets, give your mind to the flowers you twist into yourhair, but never meddle with the mysteries of state-craft."
The young girl looked down in some confusion.
"Do not pay any heed to it, mother dear!" said Lucilia. "She chatterswithout thinking. But, once more--do come with us. Cornelius Cinnawill very likely not be visible; you know how strangely the oldman behaves. Come, mother--and remember, dear little mother, it isCornelia's birthday. She will certainly feel hurt, if the mother of herfuture husband lets the day pass without going to embrace her."
"It is of no use; your father's wishes have always been my law. Believeme, my sweet child, the utmost I can do is to allow you to visit atthat house...."
"Come, that would be too bad, mother! I really believe, that if he hadnot formally released Quintus from his filial bondage, he would havebeen capable of forbidding the marriage."
"It is quite possible," replied Octavia. "That noble soul places thecommonwealth above every other consideration. You can hardly imagine,how unswervingly he goes on the road he believes to be the right one."
"Oh yes! I know his resolute nature," said Claudia, "and I honor andadmire it. Say no more, Lucilia; mother is right. A man must neveryield even a hand-breadth, and silent obedience is a wife's first duty."
"You are my dear good child," said Octavia much touched. "And believeme when I say, that the fulfilment of this duty, hard as it seems, isa heartfelt joy when such a man as your father is the husband. He isstrict and firm, but not a tyrant; he is always ready to listen toreason, and to take council with the chosen companion of his life. Nay,he is not above learning from the humblest. On one point only he standslike a rock against which the surf beats in vain, and that point isDuty."
"Here comes Baucis!" cried Lucilia with a laugh of saucy amusement."Hail, oh fairest of brides, clad in the garb of rejoicing! Baucis insky-blue! If this does not procure her a Philemon, I must despair ofthe fate of humanity."
"You hear, mistress, how shamefully she mocks your waiting-woman," saidBaucis in lamentable tones. "I can never do anything right. If I weargrey, she hints at an ass; if I put on a handsome dress, she laughs atme to my face. However, what I had to say is, that the litters are atthe door and the young master has asked three times if his sisters werecoming."
"We are quite ready," said Claudia.
A dense crowd had gathered outside the vestibule. Quintus, withonly three of his slaves, was waiting impatiently in the entrance.The twelve litter-bearers in their red livery stood by the poles,and eight negroes--the van and rear-guard of the procession--werestaring vacantly into the air. A number of idlers had collected roundthese--the inquisitive gapers who always swarmed wherever there wasanything to be seen, however trivial. These were the class who, notchoosing to work, lived on the corn given away by the state;[216] theuproarious mob who filled the upper rows of seats in the theatres andcircus; the populace whose suffrages no Caesar was too proud to court,since it was among these that arbitrary despotism had its most staunchadherents, in the struggle against the last remnants of a free andfreedom-loving aristocracy.
"Oh! how handsome she is!" ran from mouth to mouth among the loiterers,as Claudia stepped into the foremost litter; Lucilia took her place byher adopted sister
's side. The second litter was to carry Baucis and ayoung slave girl.
"Make way!" cried the principal runner, stepping among the crowd, whofell back, and the procession set out. Quintus followed on foot at ashort distance.
Their way led them through the Forum and past the venerable templeof Saturn, where the Roman state-treasure was kept. To the right onthe Palatine, spread the enormous palaces of the Caesars, and amongthem the capitol and the splendid but scarcely-finished residence ofDomitian. Proceeding but slowly, they reached the Arch of Titus[217]and then, leaving the fountain of the Meta Sudans[218] and the vastFlavian amphitheatre[219] to the right, they turned into the streetleading to the Caelimontana Gate.[220] The throng of humanity, whichin the neighborhood of the Forum defied all description, here becamesomewhat thinner; and the litter-bearers mended their pace. In aboutten minutes they stopped at a house, which in point of magnificence washardly inferior to that of the Flamen Titus Claudius Mucianus. In thevestibule, beside the door-keeper, there stood a stout little woman,who hailed the visitors from afar with a broad grin, and was most eagerto be of use to the young ladies as they alighted. This little womanwas Chloe, Cornelia's maid; her mistress now appeared on the scene, atall and finely-made young girl, with hair as black as night, dressedentirely in white and wearing no ornament but a string of large,softly-gleaming pearls. The girls embraced each other warmly.
Quintus had by this time joined them; with a tender light in hiseyes he went straight up to his betrothed and kissed her gravely onthe forehead. "All health, happiness and blessing on you, on yourbirthday,[221] my sweet Cornelia!" he said affectionately; then takingher hand he led her into the atrium. This was festally decorated withflowers; in the middle stood a hearth[222] after the old fashion, butthere were no images of the Lares and Penates. Cornelius Cinna heldthe opinions and views of the world at large, which had been taughtby Lucretius[223] and Pliny the Elder;[224] he thought it folly toenquire curiously as to the form and aspect of the Divinity, or evenof any particular god or goddess; since, if there be indeed a Powerbeyond and behind Nature, that Power must be Force and Wisdom pure andsimple. Hence he contemned all the ordinary household gods.
Eight or ten guests were already assembled in the atrium, among themCaius Aurelius and his faithful follower Herodianus.
The young Batavian did not at first seem to observe the new arrivals.He was standing in grave conversation with the master of the house,whose gloomy and almost sinister countenance by no means harmonizedwith the gay decorations of the hearth and the Corinthian columns.
"I thank you," said Cinna offering the young man his hand. "Your wordshave done me good. But now, ask no farther...."
"As you desire...."
"One thing more, my dear Caius--Quintus Claudius too must know howstrongly I feel on this point. After dinner bring him, as if by chance,into my study...."
"Trust to me."
"Very good; and now for a few hours I will try to banish these memoriesfrom my soul. As you see me, Caius, you may think it a miracle that Iam not choked by the insult! And not a soul that could sympathize withme! Nerva, my old friend, was absent. Even Trajan was so far off asAntium[225]...."
"And Caius Aurelius was too young and too much a stranger?" said theBatavian laughing.
"Yes, I must confess that it was so. From the first, it is true, I sawyou to be an admirable youth, and I thank my friend at Gades, who sentyou with letters of introduction to me; but I could not guess how earlyripe and truly noble your whole nature was, how fervent your patriotismand how unconquerable your pride.--But in all truth, Aurelius, fromthis day forth--here comes Quintus and his sisters; we part for thepresent, but do not forget!"
His face, which had brightened somewhat as he spoke, fell again to theexpression of grave, almost sinister determination, which characterizedhis strongly-marked features. He crossed the atrium to the entrancewhere the young people, surrounded by their guests, were chattinggaily. Cinna pressed the hand of his niece's lover--kindly, but yetwith a certain reserve--and addressed a few half-jesting words to thegirls; but when Claudia attempted to offer such apology as best shemight for her mother's absence, he turned away as if he did not hear.
At this moment the noble figure of an old man appeared in the doorway;with a gleaming white toga over his shoulders and flowing snowy locks,his towering height gave him a majestic presence.
"Cocceius Nerva," whispered the Batavian to Herodianus, who came up tohim to ask.
"By Castor!" said the freedman, "but if I had met this man on arrivinghere, I should have said that he and no other must be the ruler of theworld."
"Remember, we are in Rome, and you will do well to keep such ideas toyourself."
Cornelius Cinna led the illustrious senator to a handsome marble seatcovered with carpets, and a circle of reverent friends formed round himat once.
"By all the gods," muttered Herodianus, "may I perish if that marbleseat does not look for all the world like a throne; and they standround him like the guard round Caesar.--And now, as he raises hisright hand! If he were but thirty years younger, he would be like thatimage of Zeus we bought a while since in Gades; he only lacks thethunderbolt."
"Silence!" repeated Aurelius angrily. "You have had no wine yetto-day--what will you not say when you have played your part at dinner,if you are as thirsty as usual?"
"I will not say another word," replied the freedman.
Claudia, who till this instant had been talking eagerly with UlpiusTrajanus, a Hispanian friend of Cinna's, of Cocceius Nerva's--tooeagerly, Aurelius thought--now went off with Cornelia under thecolonnade to see the birthday gifts which, in accordance with an oldRoman custom, had been sent to Cornelia early in the day. They weretastefully laid out in the arcade on brazen tables; gold broochesand necklaces among exquisite flowers; tissues mixed with silk;[226]handsome books with purple edges, rolled on cylinders of amber andebony; little slippers worked with pearls; beaten silver vessels fromthe hand of Mentor,[227] the esteemed silversmith; Arabian and Indianperfumes from the stores of Niceros,[228] the famous druggist; ribbonsand trimmings of amethyst-purple;[229] stuffed birds, fruits from AsiaMinor, and a hundred other costly trifles from every quarter of theworld made up the tribute sent to this spoilt daughter of a senatorialhouse.
Aurelius took advantage of the opportunity, and went to join the younggirls. Claudia affected great surprise at seeing him, but immediatelyafter gave the young man her hand with frank warmth, as though ashamedin truth of any disingenuous coquetry towards such a man as Aurelius.Still, the conversation they began was not particularly lively; theystood in front of the tables and made the usual remarks--this presentwas charming, that offering was splendid. Cornelia declared, thatprettiest of all were the exquisite roses[230] that Quintus had givenher--and Claudia sighed, very softly, still she sighed.
At this moment a grinning head appeared in the frame of a door closeby. This was Chloe, Cornelia's maid.
"I beg your pardon," she said with comical importance. "But if Idisturb you, it is from sheer necessity. The steward of the tables[231]cannot arrange the places for the company."
"Indeed, how is that?" asked Cornelia severely. "Did I not give himfull and exact instructions? He seems to have a short memory."
"Excuse us, dear mistress--but he had not counted on Cocceius Nerva.Come and help us, pray."
Cornelia frowned, but did as she was requested; her pallid face coloredscarlet; such a question seemed to her vulgar and trivial, and shefelt that shock to her taste which jars on a superior nature, when thedetails of daily life intrude on a moment of exalted feeling. Thoseroses from Paestum,[232] that thought of Quintus! what a deliciousflood of happy feeling they symbolized! And Chloe's appearance, in thevery midst of this beauty and happiness, wounded her like the emptyfarcicality of an Atellanian buffoon.[233]
Aurelius and Claudia were left to gaze at the display of birthday giftswith redoubled attention; you might have fancied they had never beforeseen such things as flowers or bracelets.
; "How delicious!" said Claudia breathing the perfume of a splendidrose-bush.
"Delicious!" echoed Aurelius, putting his face close to the flowers."And look at this strange bird! How naturally it sits with its wingsspread out--exactly as if it were alive."
"It is a parrot from the banks of the Indus."
"Or a phoenix[234]...."
"A phoenix? I thought that story of Tacitus' was a mere fable."
"Nay, not altogether. The marvellous bird, which burns its father oritself and then rises from its ashes in renewed youth, is no doubt amyth. But does not Pliny tell us of a real phoenix, which builds itsnest at the sources of the Nile and shines like pure gold?"
"What, seriously?" and she gently stroked the neck of the stuffed birdwith her finger.
"How soft it feels!" she said.
"Like crape from Cos,"[235] said Aurelius, doing the same. His handtouched hers, and Claudia colored. She hastily stooped over a booklying close by--the "Thebais" of Statius--and read the title, writtenin gold on the outside of the roll.
"A capital work," said the Batavian, "I read it some time since inTrajectum."
"And to me, a Roman, it remains unknown."
"If you only desire it, I will go to-morrow morning to the booksellerin the Argiletum and bring you the best copy I can find."
"Oh! you are too kind!" replied Claudia.
Then there was a pause, while Aurelius examined with the greatestinterest the quality of some flaxen cloth from Cordova. At last hebegan hesitatingly:
"If you will not think it too bold, allow me to propose...."
"Speak on," said Claudia, again bending over the "Thebais."
"I should be only too happy, if I might be allowed to read thismasterpiece of Statius aloud to you. Without wishing to boast, I havehad a good deal of practice in reading and declamation, and,--as youknow, epic[236] poetry was originally intended for recitation."
"Of course; it is for that very reason called epic. I may own too, thatthere is nothing I like better than to hear good reading. Quintus readsvery well, but he rarely has time or is in the humor."
"You will allow me then?"
"I beg you to be so good."
"And when?"
"That we will settle presently; just now, I see, they are going totable."
"Where have you hidden yourselves?" cried Lucilia flying into the hallas lightly as a deer. "I have been seeking you everywhere. Come, makehaste; I am desperately hungry."
"She is hungry!" thought Claudia with a glance up to heaven. "I hardlyknow whether to envy her or to pity her!"
FOOTNOTES:
[207] ORBILIUS. The well-known schoolmaster, nicknamed by his pupils _plagosus_, (delighting in blows) to whom Horace went. (Suet. _Gramm._ 9.)
[208] I SUPPOSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO STICK A PIN INTO ME. Roman ladies often avenged mistakes committed by their slaves, during the process of making their toilettes, by such abuse. Nay, it sometimes happened that a slave thus stabbed was killed. See Mart. _Ep._ II, 66, where Lalage knocks down the female slave Plecusa on account of a single curl escaping from her hair.
[209] AH! YOU NAUGHTY GIRL. With the sovereign contempt with which so many Romans treated their slaves, this tone, addressed to the daughter of the house, might seem strange, but even under the emperors the relation between masters and slaves was in many respects a patriarchial one. The older slaves, especially, were permitted many familiarities in their intercourse with the children of the family, who often called them "little father," "little mother," allowed them to reprove them, and according to their personality, frequently permitted them to exercise no little authority. A beautiful example of cordial relations existing between the master, and his slaves and freedmen, is shown us in a letter from the younger Pliny to Paullinus (_Ep._ V. 19) where he says: "I see how mildly you treat your people, and therefore acknowledge the more frankly how indulgent I am to mine; I always remember the words of Homer:
"'And was kind as a father....'
and our own 'father of a family' (_pater familias_). But even were I harsher and sterner by nature, I should be moved by the illness of my freedman Zosimus, to whom I must show the greater kindness, now that he needs it more.... My long-standing affection for him, which is only increased by anxiety, affords a guarantee for that. Surely it is natural, that nothing so fans and increases love as the fear of loss, which I have already endured more than once on his account. Some years ago, after reciting a long time with much effort, he raised blood; so I sent him to Egypt, from whence he returned a short time since greatly strengthened by the long journey. But on straining his voice too much for several days, a slight cough served to remind us of the old difficulty, and he again raised blood. Therefore I intend to send him to your estate at Forojulium, having often heard you say that the air there was healthful, and the milk very beneficial in such diseases."
[210] WEDDING WITH OFFERING OF CORN. The oldest form of the marriage ceremony was the _Confarreatio_, so-called from the offerings of grain (far). By this form the wife entirely lost her independence. Her property passed into her husband's possession, and she could neither acquire anything for herself, nor transact any legal business. The desire for emancipation, here jestingly uttered by Lucilia, was in reality very widely diffused throughout Rome at the time of our story, and the form of the _Confarreatio_ was therefore constantly becoming rarer.
[211] CITRUS-WOOD. The citrus (_tuja cupressoides_) a beautiful tree growing on the sides of the Atlas, furnished costly tops for tables, for which the most extravagant prices were paid, as the trunks rarely attained the requisite degree of thickness. Pliny (_Hist. Nat._ XIII, 15) mentions slabs almost four feet in diameter, and six inches thick. Cicero gave a million sesterces for a citrus-wood table. Seneca is said to have owned five hundred of them. The slab rested on a single base of skilfully-carved ivory, from which they received the name of _monopodia_ (a single foot).
[212] STOLA. The over-garment worn by women (_stola_) was trimmed around the bottom with a border (_instita_) that often lengthened into a train.
[213] METAL MIRROR. At the time of our story mirrors made of a mixture of gold, silver and copper were preferred.
[214] WHO HIRE FLATTERERS TO PRAISE THEM. See _Quintillian_, XI, 3, 131; Juv. _Sat._ XIII, 29-31, Plin. _Ep._ II, 14, 4.
[215] THE CENTUMVIRATE. A body of judges whose function it was to decide in civil cases, more particularly in suits concerning inheritance. The Decemvirate presided over them.
[216] LIVED ON THE CORN GIVEN AWAY BY THE STATE. The number of Roman paupers, who lived almost exclusively by this means, far surpassed those who need support in civilized countries at the present time.
[217] THE ARCH OF TITUS. The triumphal arch of Titus, at the southeastern corner of the Forum Romanum, designed for the commemoration of the victory over the Jews, A.D. 81, is still standing at the present day. It bears the inscription: "_Senatus populusque Romanus divo Tito divi Vespasiani filio Vespasiano Augusto_." Some of its bas-reliefs are admirably preserved.
[218] META SUDANS. One of the Metae (the obelisks at the upper and lower ends of the circus) resembling a fountain, not far from the Flavian amphitheatre. Part of the sub-structure still remains.
[219] THE FLAVIAN AMPHITHEATRE, now the Coliseum. This edifice, commenced by the emperor Vespasian at the close of the Jewish war, finished under Titus, and dedicated A.D. 80, contained seats for 87,000 spectators, and room for 20,000 more in the open gallery. Even at the present time, no similar structure in the world has equalled, far less surpassed it in extent and magnificence.
[220] CAELIMONTANA GATE.. (_Porta Caelimontana_) near the Lateran. The street here entered by Claudia and Lucilia still exists; it now bears the name of Via di San Giovanni in Laterano.
[221] THE BIRTHDAY (_dies natalis, sacra natalicia_) was celebrated in ancient times.
[222] IN THE MIDDLE STOOD A HEARTH. The real hearth, originally in the atrium, had long since vanished from the atria of the wealthy and aristocratic. Here a festal hearth erected for the occasion is meant.
[223] LUCRETIUS. Titus Lucretius Carus, who was born in the year 98, and died in 55 B.C., composed a philosophical didactic poem "on the nature of things." (_De Rerum Natura._) The view of the world taken in it is a thoroughly material one. The poet constructs the universe out of an infinite multitude of atoms, which exist singly and imperishably in infinite space.
[224] PLINY THE ELDER. Caius Plinius Secundus, called to distinguish him from his nephew, so often quoted here, the elder (major) a warrior, statesman, and famous naturalist, was born at Novum Comum, A.D. 23. He met his death, a victim to his thirst for scientific knowledge, at the great eruption of Vesuvius, A.D. 79. (See the famous description in his nephew's letter to Tacitus, Plin. _Ep._ VI, 16.) Of his numerous works, nothing has come down to us except the _Historia Naturalis_, a vast encyclopedia, the material for which was obtained from more than 2,000 volumes. He was an absolute denier of the gods, nay, of transcendentalism altogether. The opinions attributed to Cinna are in part literally copied from the _Historia Naturalis_.
[225] ANTIUM. The modern Porto d'Anzio, an ancient city south of Rome. Many Roman aristocrats owned country-seats there.
[226] TISSUES MIXED WITH SILK. Fabrics made entirely of silk were rare in Rome.
[227] MENTOR was a famous sculptor, especially celebrated for his cups and goblets in metal (_repousse_). Pliny. _Hist. Nat._ VII, 38, and XIII, 11, 12, also Martial, Ep. III, 41:
The lizard wrought by Mentor's hand so rare, Was fear'd i' the cup, as though it living were. WRIGHT.
that is, the silver lizard, wrought on the cup, is so true to life, that people might fear it. See Mart. _Ep._ IV, 39, IX, 59 (cups that Mentor's hand ennobled), etc.
[228] NICEROS. See Mart. _Ep._ VI, 55 ("because you smelt Niceros's leaden vials ...") Mart. _Ep._ X, 38, ("the lamps that exhaled Niceros's sweet perfumes ...") and Mart. _Ep._ XII, 65, ("a pound of ointment from Cosmus or Niceros.")
[229] RIBBONS AND TRIMMINGS OF AMETHYST-PURPLE. Garments of amethystine-purple, woollen material (_amethystina_ or _vestes amethystinae_) were among the most magnificent and costly clothes. See Mart. _Ep._ I, 97, 7, and Juv. _Sat._ VII, 136. The color was so-called because it glittered in the amethyst, a violet-blue gem.
[230] EXQUISITE ROSES. Roses and violets were the favorite flowers of the ancients. The use of these blossoms was enormous. For the rose-culture in Rome, see Varro, _R. Rust_, I, 16, 3.
[231] THE STEWARD OF THE TABLES. The chief slave in the dining-room, the butler, was called _Tricliniarcha_. (Petr. XXII, 6, _Inscr. Orell._ No. 794.)
[232] PAESTUM ([Greek: Paiston]) in the most ancient times Posidonia, a city on the western coast of Lucania, south of the mouth of the Silarus, (now Sele) was famous for its magnificent roses.
[233] ATELLANIAN BUFFOON. Atellanae (_Atellanae fabulae, ludi Atellani_) was the name given to a species of dramatic performance, somewhat coarsely comical in character. The material for these plays was taken from the lives of the humble citizens and country people. The language used was that of every-day life, and they were often written in the Oscan dialect. The name comes from the Campanian city Atella, where this style of play first originated. Certain fundamental characteristics of the Atellanae representations are still visible in Italian popular farces.
[234] PHOENIX. See Tac. _Ann._ VI, 28, Plin. _Hist. Nat._ X. 2, _Ov. Met._ XV, 392.
[235] LIKE CRAPE FROM COS. Corduba, now Cordova, on the Baetis, now the Guadalquivir, was one of the most important commercial cities in Spain, the principal place in Hispania Baetica, the seat of the imperial governor. See Strabo III, 141. Materials woven from Spanish flax (_carbasus_) were considered specially delicate for clothing.
[236] EPIC from Epos ([Greek: Epos])--word, speech, tale. Afterwards the Greeks distinguished epic poetry from lyric by the [Greek: epe].
Quintus Claudius: A Romance of Imperial Rome. Volume 1 Page 11
