Transcriber’s Note
This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical
effects. Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_.
A bold font is delimited with the ‘=’ character as =bold=. Text
printed in mixed case small capitals is printed in all upper case.
Errors and inconsistencies in punctuation have been attributed to
printer’s errors, and corrected without further comment.
Please note the publisher’s decision to place footnotes at the bottom
of each page, as well as the author’s note on this topic in the
Preface. In keeping with his intent, notes here have been moved to the
end of each chapter.
Please consult the endnotes at the bottom of this text for more details
on the handling of textual issues.
WORKS
BY
ERNST ECKSTEIN.
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QUINTUS CLAUDIUS
A ROMANCE OF IMPERIAL ROME
BY
ERNST ECKSTEIN
FROM THE GERMAN BY CLARA BELL
IN TWO VOLUMES--VOL. I.
REVISED AND CORRECTED IN THE UNITED STATES
NEW YORK
GEO. GOTTSBERGER PECK, PUBLISHER
117 CHAMBERS STREET
Copyright, 1882, by WILLIAM S. GOTTSBERGER
THIS TRANSLATION WAS MADE EXPRESSLY FOR THE PUBLISHER
PREFACE
TO THE FIRST GERMAN EDITION.
It was in Rome itself, in the sublime solemnity of the Colosseum,
among the ruins of the palaces of the Caesars and crumbling pillars of
the temples of the gods, that the first dreamy outlines rose before
my fancy of the figures here offered to the reader’s contemplation.
Each visit added strength to the mysterious impulse, to conjure up
from their tombs these shadows of a mighty past, and afterwards, at
home, where the throng of impressions sorted and grouped themselves at
leisure, my impulse ripened to fulfilment.
I will not pause here to dwell on the fact, that the period of Imperial
rule in Rome bears, in its whole aspect, a stronger resemblance to the
XIXth century than perhaps any other epoch before the Reformation; for,
without reference to this internal affinity, we should be justified in
using it for the purpose of Romance simply by the fact, that hardly
another period has ever been equally full of the stirring conflict of
purely human interest, and of dramatic contrasts in thought, feeling
and purpose.
I must be permitted to add a word as to the notes.[A]
I purposely avoided disturbing the reader of the story by references in
the text, and indeed the narrative is perfectly intelligible without
any explanation. The notes, in short, are not intended as explanatory,
but merely to instruct the reader, and complete the picture; they also
supply the sources, and give the evidence on which I have drawn. From
this point of view they may have some interest for the general public,
unfamiliar with the authorities.
LEIPZIG, June 15, 1881.
ERNST ECKSTEIN.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] The publisher of this translation has, for the reader’s
convenience, placed all the notes at the foot of the pages
containing the corresponding text.
QUINTUS CLAUDIUS.
CHAPTER I.
It was the morning of the 12th of September in the Year of Our Lord
95; the first cold gleam of dawn was shining on the steel-grey surface
of the Tyrrhenian sea. To the east, over the gently undulating coast
of Campania, the sky was tinged with that tender dewy-green which
follows on the paling of the stars; to the west the waters still lay in
impenetrable darkness. Their almost unruffled face was swiftly parted
by a large trireme,[1] just now making its way from the south and
opposite to Salernum, between the Posidium[2] promontory and the Island
of Capreae.[3] The oars of the crew, who sat in rows on three ranks of
benches, rose and fell in rhythm to a melancholy chant; the steersman
yawned as he looked into the distance, hoping for the moment of release.
A small hatchway--fitted with silver ornaments--now opened on to the
deck from the cabin between decks; a fat round head with short hair
showed itself in the opening, and a pair of blinking eyes looked
curiously round in every direction. Presently the head was followed by
a body, of which the squat rotundity matched the odd head.
“Well, Chrysostomus, is Puteoli[4] in sight yet?” asked the stout man,
stepping on to the deck and looking across to the blue-black rocks of
Capreae.
“Ask again in three hours time,” replied the steersman. “Unless you can
succeed in looking round the corner, like the magician of Tyana,[5] you
must need wait till we have the island yonder behind us.”
“What!” exclaimed the other, drawing a little ivory map[6] from his
tunic.[7] “Are those rocks only Capreae?”
“Thou sayest, O Herodianus! Out there on the heights to the right,
hardly visible yet, stands the palace of the glorified Caesar
Tiberius.[8] Do you see that steep cliff, straight down to the sea?
That was where such useless fellows as you were dropped over into the
water by Caesar’s slaves.”
“Chrysostomus, do not be impudent! How dare you, a common ship’s-mate,
make so bold as to scoff at me, the companion and confidential friend
of the illustrious Caius Aurelius? By the gods![9] but it is beneath me
to hold conversation with you, an ignorant seaman--a man who carries
no wax-tablets[10] about him, who only knows how to handle the tiller
and not the stylus--a common Gaul who is ignorant of all history of
the gods--such a man ought not even to exist, so far as the friend of
Aurelius is concerned.”
“Oho! you are dreaming! you are not his friend, but his freedman.”[11]
Herodianus bit his lip; as he stood there, his face flushed with
anger and turned to the growing day, he might have been taken for an
ill-natured and vindictive man. But good temper and a genial nature
soon reasserted themselves.
“You are an insolent fellow,” he said laughing, “but I know you mean no
harm. You sea-folks are a rough race. I will burn a thank-offering to
all the gods when this accursed sea-saw on the waves is over at last.
Was there ever such a voyage! from Trajectum[12] to Gades[13] without
landing once! And at Gades hardly had we set foot on shore, when we
were ordered on board again! And if Aurelius, our noble master, had
not had business to settle in Panormus[14] with his deceased father’s
host, I believe we should have made the whole voyage from Hispania to
Rome without a break. I will dance like the Corybantes,[15] when I am
once more allowed to feel like a man among men! How long will it be yet
before we reach Ostia?”[16]
“Two days, not more,” replied Chrysostomus.
“Aphrodite Euploia be most fervently thanked!”
“What are you talking about? Who is that you are blessing?”
“To be sure, my good Chrysostomus,” replied the other with a triumphant
smile, “I was forgetting that a seaman from the land of the Gauls is
not likely to understand Greek. Euploia, being interpreted, means the
goddess who grants us a good voyage. Do not take my observation ill,
but surely you might have picked up so much Greek as that in the course
of your many voyages with the lamented father of our lord Aurelius.”
“Silly stuff!” retorted Chrysostomus. “Besides, I never sailed in the
Greek seas. Ten times to Ostia, eight times to Massilia,[17] twelve
times to Panormus and a score of times northwards to the seas of the
Goths up by the land of the Rugii[18]--that is the sum total of my
annals. But Latin is spoken everywhere; even the Frisii[19] can make
themselves understood more or less in the language of Rome; among the
Rugii, to be sure, we talked in Gothic.”
“A poor excuse!” said Herodianus pathetically. “However I have talked
till I am thirsty! I will be on the spot again when the master appears.”
He carefully replaced his little ivory map in the bosom of his
under-garment, and was about to withdraw, when a tall youth, followed
by two or three slaves, appeared on the steps from below. The ship’s
crew hailed their master with a loud shout, and Caius Aurelius,
thanking them for their greeting, went forward while the slaves
prepared breakfast[20] under an awning over the cabin roof; only one of
them followed him.
It was by this time broad daylight; the whole eastern sky glowed with
flame behind the blue Campanian hills, a light breeze curled the no
less glowing sea into a thousand waves and ripples, and the prow of the
galley, which was decorated with a colossal ram’s-head[21] in brass,
threw up the water in sparks of liquid gold. The palace of Tiberius
on the top of the rocky isle seemed caught in sudden fire, at every
instant the glory spread lower, kindling fresh peaks and towers, and up
rose the sun in all the majesty and splendor of his southern might from
behind the heights of Salernum.
Herodianus, who had taken his place officiously close to his master,
appeared to promise himself immense satisfaction in interpreting the
young man’s mood of devout admiration by a long quotation of Greek
poetry. He had already thrown himself into a pathetic attitude and laid
his finger meditatively on his cheek, when Aurelius signed to him that
he wished to be left undisturbed. The freedman, somewhat offended,
drew back a step or two while Aurelius, standing by the side of his
favorite slave Magus,[22] who preserved a discreet silence, leaned over
the bulwark for a long space lost in thought, letting his eye wander
over the open sea and linger for a while on the fantastic shapes of the
rocks and mountains, which constantly shifted in form and grouping as
the swift galley flew onwards.
Capreae was already on their right hand, and the broad bay of
Parthenope,[23] with its endless perspective of towns and villas,
opened before them like a huge pearly shell; the dark ashy cone of
Vesuvius[24] stood up defiantly over the plain where, a short time
since, it had engulfed the blooming towns of Herculaneum, Pompeii and
Stabiae. Now there rose from its summit only a filmy cloud of smoke,
ruddy in the light of the mounting sun. Farther on, the quays of
Puteoli were discernible, the stately buildings of Baiae[25] and the
islands of Aenaria and Prochyta.[26] On the left hand the distance
was unlimited; vessels laden with provisions from Alexandria[27] and
merchant-ships from Massilia slowly crossed the horizon like visions;
others, with every sail set, flew across the bay to disembark their
precious freight in the emporium of Puteoli, whence it would be carried
to lay at the feet of Rome, the all-absorbing and insatiable mistress
of the world.
Meanwhile the slaves had laid the table under the awning with fine
cloths, had arranged couches and seats and strewn the spot with a few
flowers, and were now standing ready to serve the morning meal at a
sign from their young master. The weary night-rowers had half an hour
ago been relieved by a fresh crew, and the fine boat flew on with
double rapidity, for a fresh breeze had risen and filled the sails. In
an instant the whole face of the waters had changed, and as far as the
eye could reach danced crest on crest of foam.
Aurelius wrapped himself more closely in his Tarentine
travelling-cloak[28] and involuntarily glanced at Magus, the Gothic
slave who stood by his side; but Magus did not seem to see his master’s
look, he was gazing motionless and with knitted brows in the direction
of Baiae. Then he shaded his eyes from the glare with his right hand.
“_Hva gasaihvis._[29] What do you see?” asked Aurelius, who sometimes
spoke in Gothic to the man.
“_Gasaihva leitil skip_,” answered the Goth. “A little boat out there
not far from the point. If it is the same in your southern seas, as
in our northern ones, these good folks would be wise to get their
cockleshell to shore as fast as may be. When the sea is covered with
eider-down in such a short time, it generally means mischief.”
“You have eyes like a northern sea-eagle. It is indeed, a small boat,
hardly visible among the tossing waves, it cannot have more than eight
oarsmen at most.”
“There are but four, my lord,” said the Goth. “And with them three
ladies.”
The wind was rising every instant; the trireme parted the water like an
arrow, and the prow, now rising and now sinking on the billows, dipped
in them far above the large metal ornaments.
“It may indeed be a serious matter,” said Aurelius; “not for us--it
must be something worse than this that puts the proud ‘Batavia’[30] in
peril--but for the ladies in that little bark....”
He turned round. “Amsivarius,” he cried to the head oarsman. “Tell your
men to give way with a will; and you, Magus, go and desire Chrysostomus
to alter our course.”
In a few seconds the vessel’s head was turned round a quarter of a
circle and was making her way straight into the bay. The accelerated
thud of the time-keeper’s hammer sounded a dull accompaniment to the
piping wind; the sea surged and tossed, and the deep-blue sky, where
there still was not a cloud to be seen, beamed incongruously bright
over the stormy main. They were now within a hundred yards of the small
boat, which was one of the elegant pleasure-barks used by the gay
visitors to Baiae for short excursions in the bay. As the trireme came
up with them, the rowers gave up their futile struggle with the raging
elements and only tried to avoid being capsized. The ladies, it could
be seen were much agitated; two of them, a richly-dressed woman of
about forty and a young and blooming girl sat clinging to each other,
while the third, tumbled into a heap at the bottom of the boat, held an
amulet[31] in her hand, which she again and again pressed fervently to
her lips.
Aurelius gave a shout from the trireme, which the boatmen eagerly
answered, and a sailor on board the Batavia flung a rope with a
practised hand to the foremost of the men in the smaller vessel--the
slave hastily tied it fast and cried out “ready,” the sailor pulled
firmly and steadily, the rope stretched taut, the little boat came
on and in a few minutes lay under the lee of the galley like a fish
judiciously hooked and landed. In two minutes more it was fast to the
side of the trireme, and the ladies and the crew were placed in safety.
Aurelius, leaning against the stern-bulwark, had watched the
proceedings with anxious interest and now, as the ladies, exhausted by
the tossing they had had, sank on to the couches under the canopy, he
politely went forward and invited his unexpected visitors to go down
into the more sheltered cabin rooms of the trireme. The younger lady
rose at once, and with a dignified eagerness expressed their thanks.
Nor was it long before the elder had quite recovered herself; only the
old woman who held the amulet hid her pale face in the pillows as if
she were stunned, while she trembled and quaked in every limb.
“Come, stand up, Baucis,” said the young girl kindly. “The danger is
over.”
“Merciful Isis[32] save and defend us!” groaned the old woman, turning
the amulet in her fingers. “Preserve us from sudden death and deliver
us in danger! I will offer thee a waxen ship,[33] and sacrifice lambs
and fruits as much as thou canst desire!”
“Oh, you superstitious simpleton!” said the girl in her ear. “How am I
to bring you to your senses? Pray rather to the almighty Jupiter, that
he may enlighten your ignorance! But come now--the noble stranger who
has taken us on board his ship is growing impatient.”
A shrill cry was the only answer, for the vessel had given a sudden
lurch and the old woman, who was sitting with her legs under her on the
couch, was thrown off somewhat roughly.
“Oh, Isis of a thousand names!” she whimpered piteously. “That has
cost me two or three ribs at least and a score of weeks on a sick-bed!
Barbillus--you false priest--is that all the good your amulet is? Was
it for this that I had my forehead sprinkled with water out of the
sacred Nile,[34] and paid fifty sesterces[35] for each sprinkling? Was
it for this that I laid fresh bread on the altars? Oh woe is me, what
pain I am in!”
While she was thus besieging heaven with complaints, Magus the Goth had
with a strong hand picked up the little woman and set her on her feet.
“There, leave off crying, mother,” said he good-humoredly. “Roman bones
are not so easily broken! But make haste and get below; the storm is
increasing fast. See, my master is leading your ladies down now.” And
as Baucis gave no sign of acting on the slave’s advice, she suddenly
found herself lifted up like a feather in his strong and sinewy arms
and carried to the hatchway, to the great amusement of the bystanders.
“Madam,” said Aurelius to the elder lady, when his guests were snugly
under shelter in the eating-room, “I am a Roman knight[36] from the
town of Trajectum in Batavia, far north of this, not far from the
frontier of the Belgae. My name is Caius Aurelius Menapius, and I am on
my way to Rome as being the centre of the inhabited world, in order to
improve and extend my knowledge and perhaps to serve my mother-country.
May I venture now to ask you and your fair companion, to tell me who
you are that kind fortune has thus thrown in my way?”
“My lord,”[37] said the matron, with a gravity that was almost solemn,
“we can boast of senatorial rank. I am Octavia, the wife of Titus
Claudius Mucianus,[38] the priest of Jupiter, and this is our daughter.
We have been staying at Baiae since the end of April for the sake
of my health. The sea-air, the aromatic breath of the woods and the
delightful quiet of our country-house, which is somewhat secluded,
soon restored my strength, and I take a particular pleasure in morning
excursions on the bay. We started to-day in lovely weather to sail
as far as Prochyta; then the storm overtook us, as you know, at some
distance from the shore, and we owe it to you and to your good ship,
that we are so well out of the danger. Accept once more our warmest
thanks, and pray give us the opportunity of returning in our villa at
Baiae the hospitality you have shown us on board your galley.”
“With the greatest pleasure,” said Aurelius eagerly, “and all the
more so, as I purposed remaining to rest at Baiae--” but he colored
as he spoke, for this was not the truth--he looked round in some
embarrassment at Magus, who was standing humbly in a corner of the room
and preparing to serve some refreshment. The eyes of the master and the
slave met, and the master colored more deeply, while the slave laughed
to himself with a certain satisfaction. Two other servants placed seats
round the table in the old Roman fashion, for the custom of lying on a
couch at meals was by no means universal in the provinces, and Aurelius
knew that even in Rome women of high rank and strict conduct contemned
this luxurious habit.
The rocking of the vessel had ceased, for it had been steered into
a sheltered cove of the bay, and before long a tempting breakfast
was spread on the embroidered cloth; fish, milk, honey, eggs, fruit
and a dish of boiled cray-fish, of which the scarlet mail contrasted
picturesquely with the artistically-embossed silver-platter on which
they were served.
Aurelius begged his guests to be seated and led Octavia to the seat of
honor at the upper end of the table. On her left hand her daughter,
the fair Claudia, took her seat; Aurelius sat on the other hand and at
the side of the table. Herodianus and Baucis, who was still very much
discomposed, took their places at the other end of the table and at a
respectful distance.
“You must take what little I can offer you, ladies,” said the Batavian.
“We Northmen are plain folks....”
“You are joking!” interrupted Octavia. “Do you imagine, that all the
inhabitants of the imperial city are gourmands after the fashion of
Gavius Apicius?”[39]
“Well,” said Aurelius in some confusion, “we know at any rate that Rome
is the acknowledged mistress of all the arts of refined enjoyment, and
above all of the most extravagant luxury in food....”
“Not half so much so as you believe,” said Octavia. “You gentlemen from
the provinces fall, without exception, into that strange mistake. A
Roman lady in the same way is to you the type of all that is atrocious,
because a few reckless women have made themselves talked about. You
forget that it is in the very nature of virtue to remain concealed and
ignored. But tell me, my lord, whence do you procure this delicious
honey?”
“It comes from Hymettus,”[40] replied Aurelius, who was somewhat
disconcerted by the lady’s airs and manners. “My friend here, the
worthy Herodianus, procured it at Panormus.”
“Ah!” said Octavia, raising a polished emerald[41] mounted in gold
to her eye, for she was short-sighted: “Your friend understands the
subject, that I must confess--do you not think so, Claudia my love?”
The young lady answered with vague abstraction, for some minutes she
had sat lost in thought. She had hardly touched the delicacies that had
been set before her, and she now silently waved a refusal to the slave
who offered the much-praised honey. Even the vigorous struggle in which
Herodianus was engaged with an enormous lobster[42] failed to bring a
smile to her lips, and yet her expression had never been brighter or
more radiant. Once and again her eyes rested on the face of the young
Batavian, who was engaged in such eager conversation with her mother,
and then they returned to the loop-hole in the cabin roof, where the
pane of crystal[43] shone like a diamond in the sunshine.
Octavia was talking of Rome, while Herodianus entertained Baucis with
an account of Menander’s[44] comedies; thus Claudia could pursue her
day-dream at her pleasure. She was in fancy again living through the
events of the last hour--she pictured herself in the small open boat
tossed on the angry waves; far away across the seething waters she saw
the tall trireme--saw it tack to enter the bay. It was all vividly
before her. And then the moment when the slave flung the rescuing rope!
who was the man who stood, calm and proud, leaning over the bulwarks,
undisturbed by the wrath of Nature? She remembered exactly how he
had looked--how at the sight of that noble figure, which seemed as
though it could rule the storm, a sudden sense of safety had come over
her, like a magical spell. Then, when she found herself on board! At
first she had felt ready to sob and cry like Baucis; but the sound of
his voice, the wonderful look of gentle strength that shone in his
face, controlled her to composure. Only once in her life had she ever
felt like this before; it was two or three years since, when she was
out on an excursion to Tibur[45] with her illustrious father. Their
Cappadocian horses[46] had shied, reared, and then galloped off like
the whirlwind. The driver was flung from his seat--the chariot was
being torn along close to the edge of a towering cliff--her father had
seized the floating reins just in time, and quietly saying: “Do not be
frightened, my child,” in five seconds the horses were standing still
as if rooted to the spot. The feeling she had had then, had to-day
been vividly revived--and yet, how dissimilar were the two men in age,
appearance and position!--It was strange. And once more she glanced at
the face of their host, which was glowing with animation as he talked.
Suddenly the head oarsman’s time-marking hammer ceased; the bright spot
of light cast by the sun through the glass skylight on to the panelled
wall, described a brief orbit and then vanished; the vessel had swung
round and was at anchor.
“Madam,” said Aurelius to Octavia, “allow me to offer you my services.
We Northmen rarely use litters,[47] still--on the principle that a
wise man should be ready for all emergencies--Herodianus has provided
my galley with that convenience.”
“And the litters are already awaiting your commands on deck,” added the
freedman.
“You have surpassed yourself, Herodianus! Well, then, whenever it is
your pleasure....”
“Then it is settled,” said Octavia, going to the door. “For a few days
you will be my guest.”
“For as long as you will allow,” Aurelius would have said; but he
thought better of it and only bowed in answer.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] TRIREME. “Three-oared;” a vessel with three ranks of
rowers, one above another. The time was given by the beats of
a hammer or by word of command; not unfrequently by an air
played on a flute or a sailor’s chant (_cantus nauticus_).
[2] POSIDIUM, now called the Punta della Licosa, south of the Gulf
of Salerno.
[3] CAPREAE, (Isle of goats) now Capri.
[4] PUTEOLI. An important port in Campania, now Pozzuoli.
Concerning Puteoli’s commerce, see Stat. _Silv._ III, 5, 75.
[5] APOLLONIUS OF TYANA in Cappadocia. An ascetic and ecstatic
philosopher and miracle-worker (A.D. 50) often compared with
Christ by heathen writers. (Philostratus wrote his life.)
[6] IVORY MAP. Sketch-maps of various routes were common in
ancient times, and were often engraved on wine-jars, cups, etc.
[7] TUNIC. The short-sleeved under-garment worn by both sexes,
the house costume, over which men, when they went out, threw
the toga, women the stola or palla. During the period of the
empire a second garment, the _tunica interior_, corresponding
to the shirt of modern times, was worn under the tunic.
[8] THE PALACE OF TIBERIUS. For an account of the cruel and
extravagant proceedings of Tiberius at Capri, see Tacitus
_Ann._ I, 67, Suet. _Tib._ 40, Juv. _Sat._ X, 72 and 93.
Insignificant remains of this palace are visible at the
present day: _Villa di Timberio_; the perpendicular cliff 700
feet high is called _il salto_ (the leap.)
[9] CASTOR AND POLLUX. Leda’s twins, the Dioscuri, were the
patrons of sea-faring men.
[10] WAX-TABLET (_tabula cerata_). A little tablet covered with
wax, on which memoranda were written with the stylus. In the
schools the wax-tablet supplied the place of the slate, and in
daily life was a substitute for our note-book.
[11] FREEDMAN. The institution of slavery (_servitium_) which
existed from ancient times, was an extremely important factor
in the organization of Roman society. The slaves (_servi_)
were the absolute property of their masters, who had unlimited
control over their destinies and lives. (This right was
not withdrawn until A.D. 61, when the law of Petronius
prohibited the arbitrary condemnation of slaves to combats
with wild beasts, etc.) The slave could then be released
by the so-called _manumissio_, and was styled _libertus_
or _libertinus_. His position depended upon the greater or
less degree of formality with which the _manumissio_ was
granted. The most solemn manner bestowed all the rights of
the free-born citizen, but even in this case he was socially
burdened with the same stigma that rests upon the emancipated
slaves in the United States. If a freedman attained power
and influence--which under the emperors was very common--the
haughty representatives of the ancient noble families paid him
external respect, it is true, but the man’s origin was never
forgotten.
[12] TRAJECTUM. A Batavian city in the Roman province Germania, now
Utrecht.
[13] GADES. A city in southern Spain, the modern Cadiz.
[14] PANORMUS. A city on the north coast of Sicily, the modern
Palermo.
[15] CORYBAS. In the plural _Corybantes_; priests of Cybele. Their
worship was a wild orgy with war-dances and noisy music.
(Horace, _Od._ I, 16, 8: _non acuta si geminant Corybantes
aera, etc._)
[16] OSTIA. The port of Rome, situated at the mouth of the Tiber.
[17] MASSILIA. An important city founded by the Greeks on the
southern coast of Gaul, now called Marseilles.
[18] RUGII. A German race occupying a considerable part of the
coast of the Baltic--the present Pomerania and island of Rügen.
[19] FRISII. A German race settled in the northern part of what is
now Holland and farther east beyond Ems (_Amisia_).
[20] BREAKFAST. The first meal after rising was called
_jentaculum_. In the time of the republic (and still later
among the poorer classes) it consisted principally of pulse.
Among the wealthy luxury intruded even here; but in comparison
with the second breakfast (_prandium_) and especially with the
principal repast (_coena_) the _jentaculum_ always remained
frugal.
[21] RAM’S-HEAD AT THE PROW. These ornaments were usually carved in
wood on the prow. They must not be confounded with the ship’s
beaks (_rostra_, ἕμβολα). These beaks--two strong iron-cased
beams--were on the fore-part of the ships of war and also on
vessels intended for long voyages, where they would be exposed
to danger from pirates. They were beneath the surface of the
water, and were destined to bore holes in the enemy’s ships.
See vol. 2, Chap IX.
[22] MAGUS. A Gothic word--(not the Latin _Magus_, Greek
μάγος--magician, sorcerer,)--means a boy, or knave in the old
sense of servant.
[23] PARTHENOPE. The ancient name of Naples, from the siren
Parthenope, who is said to be buried there.
[24] VESUVIUS. The famous eruption, which buried the three cities
mentioned, took place A.D. 79, that is, sixteen years before
the commencement of this story.
[25] BAIAE, now Baja, the most famous watering-place of ancient
times. See Horace, _Ep._ I, 1, 83.
[26] AENARIA AND PROCHYTA, now Ischia and Procida.
[27] ALEXANDRIA in Egypt was, in point of commerce, the London of
ancient times.
[28] TARENTINE TRAVELLING-CLOAK. The woollen stuffs from Tarentum,
now called Taranto, were famous.
[29] “HVA GASAIHVIS?”--“GASAIHVA LEITIL SKIP.” Literally: What
do you see? (I) see (a) little ship. The earliest existing
specimens of Gothic date from several centuries later than
the time of this story, namely the period when the Goths
left their original settlements on the lower Vistula and
settled farther to the southeast on the Black Sea. I thought
it permissible, however, to make a Goth of the first century
speak the language of Ulfilas, since there is nothing against
it in the general analogies of language, and Gothic, in the
form in which it remains to us, is so concrete and logical in
its structure, that it is hardly credible that it should have
varied to any great extent within a period of two or three
centuries.
[30] BATAVIA. It was the custom at a very early date to name
vessels after towns, persons, or countries, etc.
[31] AMULET. A faith in the protecting power of charms and amulets
was universal among Roman women, and children were always
provided with amulets against the evil eye.
[32] ISIS. The Egyptian goddess Isis was originally a
personification of the Nile country, and as such was the wife
of Osiris, the god of the Nile, who is slain by Typhon and
longingly sought by the deserted goddess. She was afterwards
confounded with every conceivable form of Greek (See
Appuleius. _Met._ XI, 5.) and Roman Mythology and thus in the
first century after Christ became the principal goddess. Her
worship was chiefly by women.
[33] WAXEN SHIP. Such votive offerings are commonly mentioned. They
were generally painted pictures, but models in wax or metal
were also given.
[34] NILE-WATER. The worshippers of Isis ascribed a special power
to the waters of the Nile.
[35] SESTERCES. A Roman silver coin worth about 4 or 5 cents.
[36] ROMAN KNIGHT. During the reign of the emperors the free
population of Rome was divided into three orders: senators,
knights, and people (third order). The order of senators was
limited to Rome, and in its hands lay the real political
power, which in the time of the republic had been exercised
by the assembled populace. To the senate belonged the right
of conferring and recalling sovereign power, that is,
by appointing and deposing the emperors, a right rarely
exercised, it is true, but which the emperors formally
recognized by allowing themselves to be confirmed by the
senate. In their relation to this body, the emperors were
only first among their peers, the members of this order being
really their equals; a relation which, with the exception of
Caligula, Nero, Domitian, and Commodus, the emperors during
the first two centuries, more or less earnestly endeavored to
maintain. (Friedlander. _Rom. Sittengesch._ I, 3.) The number
of the old senatorial families was comparatively small.
The second order, the knights (_equites_), was scattered
over the whole empire. A class specially designated for
military service, it became in the time of the Gracchi, a
body of rich men, each of whom possessed a fortune of 400,000
sesterces, and also fulfilled the conditions of being of free
birth and descent, blameless reputation, and refraining from
dishonorable or indecorous methods of making money. Loss
of this fortune, whether by their own fault or otherwise,
entailed loss of rank. In consequence of the confusion and
dissolution of all legal regulations through the civil
war, these conditions were largely abrogated. While many
who had formerly been entitled to belong to the order of
knights, lost their rank through loss of fortune, others,
who though possessing the needful property, had none of the
other requisites, assumed without opposition the external
distinctions of the knights, especially the gold ring and
the seat of honor in the theatre. (Friedlander.) There were
various degrees of rank in the order of knights, and also
great diversity of fortune. Besides the poor titular knights,
there were bankers, wholesale merchants, and the directors
and members of great commercial companies and societies for
mercantile enterprises of every kind.
The third order comprised mechanics, small tradesmen,
tavern-keepers, learned men, artists, etc., etc.,--except
in cases where those who followed these pursuits were
slaves,--and also the immense body of proletarians, who
subsisted almost exclusively on public alms.
[37] MY LORD SAID THE MATRON. Concerning the address “lord”
(_domine_), see the minute discussions in Friedlander’s
_Sittengeschichte_, I, appendix. It was not so common as
the modern “sir,” but was used as an expression of special
courtesy in the most varied relations of life. The emperors
themselves used it in intercourse with persons to whom they
wished to show attention. Thus Marcus Antoninus writes to
Fronto: “_Have, mi domine magister_.” According to Seneca (Ep.
III, 1.) it was already customary under Nero to greet persons,
whose names could not be instantly remembered, by this title,
in order not to appear uncourteous under any circumstances.
The Fronto just mentioned calls a son-in-law “_domine_,” and
when Nero once played the cithara in public, he addressed the
spectators as “_mei domini_.”
Nay, the association of _domine_ with the name, which to our
ears has a very modern sound, is often found. Thus in Appuleius
(Met. II,) we read: “_Luci domine_,”--“Lord Lucius.” In this
story, however, this association is avoided, as it might have
produced the semblance of an anachronism. In accosting women
_domina_ (lady) corresponds with _domine_. The French, when
referring to subjects connected with ancient Rome, reproduce
the sound as well as the meaning of the word correctly by
their madame (_meam dominam_).
[38] TITUS CLAUDIUS MUCIANUS. The Romans usually had three names.
Titus is here the first name (_praenomen_) which was given
sons on the ninth day after their birth. Claudius is the name
of the gens, the family in the wider sense of the word (_nomen
gentilicium_). Mucianus is the cognomen, the surname, the name
of the immediate family (_stirps or familia_). Thus several
stirpes belonged to a single gens. Daughters bore only the
name of the gens; for instance the daughter of Titus Claudius
Mucianus was called Claudia. If there were two of them, they
were distinguished by the words major (the elder) and minor
(the younger); if there were several, by numbers. The _Claudia
Gens_ was a very ancient and famous one. The principal
characters of the story, belonging to the _stirps Muciana_,
are purely imaginary.
[39] GAVIUS APICIUS, the famous Roman gourmand (Tac. _Ann._ IV, 1)
who finding that he had only two million and a half denari
left in the world (about 400,000 dollars) killed himself,
thinking it impossible to live on so little.
[40] HYMETTUS. A mountain in Attica, famed for its delicious honey.
(Horace, _Od._ II, 6, 14).
[41] POLISHED EMERALD. (Plin. _Hist. Nat._ XXXVII, 64) where it is
stated that the emperor Nero used such an eye-glass at the
public games.
[42] THE LOBSTER, (_cammarus_), was less highly esteemed by the
Romans than among ourselves. See Plin. _Ep._ II, 17. “The sea,
it is true, has no superabundance of delicious fish; yet it
gives us excellent soles and lobsters”--a passage in which
lobsters are contrasted with delicious fish.
[43] CUT CRYSTAL. Window panes of glass (_vitrum_) mica plates
(_lapis specularis_) and similar materials were by no means
rare in ancient times.
[44] MENANDER, son of the general Diopeithes, B.C. 342. The most
distinguished poet of the New Comedy; fragments of his
comedies have come down to us.
[45] TIBUR. A favorite summer resort of the Roman aristocracy, now
Tivoli.
[46] CAPPADOCIAN HORSES. The province of Cappadocia in Asia Minor
was famed for its horses.
[47] LITTERS (_lectica_). The usual conveyance, somewhat resembling
the Oriental palanquin, were supplied with rich curtains
(_vela_) and in other respects became the object of luxurious
decorations. The number of litter-bearers (_lecticarii_,
_calones_) varied from two to eight. In the city of Rome
itself, where riding in carriages was not allowed during the
day-time, the _lecticae_ took the place of our carriages and
hacks, for they could also be hired by the hour, and there
were stands of them (_castra lecticariorum_) in several
frequented quarters.