[28] Pag. 1002. Litt. C. μαντικὸς ἦν μαρτύρομαι δὲ, ἦ μὴν καὶ ἱερέας
αὐτῶ αποδειχθήσεσθαι μαστίγων ἢ καυτηρίων.
[29] Pag. 158. Edit. Rig. _Namque hodie apud Lacedæmonas solemnitas
maxima est_ διαμαστίγωσις, _id est, flagellatio. Non latet in quo
Sacro ante aram nobiles quique adolescentes flagellis afficiantur,
adstantibus parentibus atque propinquis, & uti perseverarint
adhortantibus._
[30] In Euterpe, Lib. II. Cap. 42. pag. 113. Ἐφ’ ὅτω δὲ τύπτονται, οὐ
μοι ὅσιόν ἐστι λέγειν.
[31] Whether those Priests whipped themselves in earnest, or only
made a feint so to do, as Beroaldus suspects, is difficult to
determine; but with respect to the incisions which they pretended to
make in their own flesh, there is just ground to think that they only
imposed upon their spectators, since a law was made by the Emperor
Commodus, which Dr. Middleton has quoted in his _Letter from Rome_,
by which it was ordered that those Priests should be made really to
suffer the amputations which they pretended they made on themselves.
_Bellonæ servientes brachia verè exsecare præcepit._ Lamprid. in Com.
[32] “_Itaque ut Tutela navis expiaretur, placuit quadragenas utrique
plagas imponi. Nulla ergo fit mora; aggrediuntur nos furentes nautæ
cum funibus, tentantque vilissimo sanguine Tutelam placare; & ego
quidem tres plagas Spartanâ nobilitate concoxi._”--Pet. Arb. Sat.
L. II.----The Story, as it is to be found in Petronius, is this.
_Encolpus_ and _Giton_ had embarked, unawares, on the ship of one
_Lycas_, to whom Encolpus had formerly given offence; and on board
the same ship was also a Lady named _Tryphena_, who owed a grudge
to Giton, by whom she thought she had on a former occasion been
slighted. Encolpus and Giton no sooner discovered in whose ship
they were, than they were afraid of being ill-used, and attempted
to disguise themselves in the dress of Slaves, and for that purpose
cut off their hair; a thing which (though they did not know it) was
the worst of omens during a voyage, as it never was done but in a
storm, in order to make offerings to the incensed Deities of the sea.
Somebody spied Encolpus and Giton while they were performing the
above operation; the rumour of such a nefarious act, in fair weather,
soon spread about the ship, and the crew thereupon used our two
passengers in the manner above related. Encolpus (as himself says)
bore the three first blows with great magnanimity; but Giton, who
was of a more tender frame, screamed so loud at the first blow, that
Tryphena heard him, knew his voice, ran upon the deck, and instead of
being moved by the sight of his nakedness, insisted upon the whole
number of blows being given him: other passengers then took the part
of the two culprits; which brought on a battle between them and the
crew: at last the affair was compromised, and Encolpus and Giton were
released. As for the latter, a Maid slave found means afterwards
to fit him with a wig, and paste false eyebrows to his forehead,
which made him appear as charming as ever, and Tryphena’s favour was
restored to him.
[33] “_Hic exultantes Salios nudosque Lupercos._” Æn. Lib. III.
[34] “_Nec prodest agili palmas præbere Luperco._” Juv. Sat. II.
[35] “_Steriles mulieres februantibus Lupercis se offerebant, &
ferulâ verberabantur._”
[36] From the above sentiments delivered by Prudentius, we might be
induced to think that only persons of low condition, in Rome, or even
Slaves alone, used to _run_, in the festival of the Lupercalia; yet
this does not seem to have been the case, and the lines of Prudentius
appear to have contained more declamation than real truth.
The _Luperci_ were in very early times formed into two bands, which
were called by the names of the most distinguished families in Rome,
_Quintiliani_ and _Fabiani_; and to these was afterwards added a
third band, called _Juliani_, from J. Cæsar’s name. Marc Antony, as
every one knows, did not scruple to _run_ as one of the _Luperci_,
having once harangued the people in that condition: and if he was
afterwards inveighed against, on that account, by several persons,
and among others by Cicero, his personal enemy, it was owing to his
being Consul, when he thus ran among the _Luperci_: a thing which, it
was said, had never been done by any Consul before him.
The festival in question (which may surprise the Reader) continued to
be celebrated so late as the year 496, long after the establishment
of Christianity; and persons of noble families not only continued to
run among the _Luperci_, but a great improvement was moreover made
about those times in the ceremony; the Ladies, no longer contented
with being slapt on the palms of their hands, as formerly, began to
strip themselves naked, in order both to give a fuller scope to the
_Lupercus_ to display the vigour and agility of his arm, and enjoy,
themselves, the entertainment of a more compleat flagellation. The
whole ceremony being thus brought to that degree of perfection, was
so well relished by all parties, that it continued to subsist (as has
just now been observed) long after the other ceremonies of Paganism
were abolished; and when Pope Gelasius at last put an end to it, he
met with a strong opposition from all orders of Men, Senators as well
as others. The general discontent became even so great, that the
Pope, after he had carried his point, was obliged to write his own
Apology, which Baronius has preserved: one of his arguments, among
others, was drawn from the above practice of the Ladies, of stripping
themselves naked in public in order to be lashed.--_Apud illos,
nobiles ipsi currebant, & matronæ nudato corpore vapulabant._
[37] “_Nec mirum si, in plateis & foro rerum venalium, fictus Ariolus
stultorum verberet nates._” Lib. II. adv. Juv. Cap. XIX. & Lib. I.
Apolog. adv. Austin. Cap. IV.--_Reverà, non_ nates, _sed_ nares
(subjungit Author noster) _legendum estimaverunt Erasmus & M. V.
Reatinus; sed ex Codicibus Manuscriptis_, nares _in_ nates, _denuò
emendaverunt Grævius, & doctissimus Jesuita H. Rosveidus_.
[38] _Nùm obsecro, num Ariolus qui ipsus se verberat?_
[39] _Immò potius ii videntur fuisse qui flagris cædebant._
[40] “_Quoties post cibum obdormisceret, quod ei ferè quotidiè
accidebat, olearum & palmularum ossibus incessebatur: interdùm ferulâ
flagrove velut per ludum excitabatur à Copreis._”
[41] This _Superanus_, who considered whipping as a necessary
circumstance to make a complete education, has been followed in that
opinion by no less a man than the celebrated Loyola, the Founder
of the Order of the Jesuits. Ignatius of Loyola, after having led
a military life, took it into his head, though past thirty years
of age, to begin his studies; and in order to render his course
of learning as complete as possible, he insisted, on a certain
occasion, on the Master inflicting the correction of the School upon
him, in the presence of all the Boys. Some Writers have advanced,
that Loyola was thirty-three years old, when he underwent the above
flagellation; while others say, he was thirty-seven. On the other
hand, certain Protestant Authors, in order to rob the Saint of the
praise of humility he acquired on that occasion, pretend, that
when he desired to undergo the above correction, he knew that the
Professor had, of himself, resolved to inflict it upon him. The
question is also examined in _Bayle’s_ Dictionary, whether Ignatius
of Loyola was served in the manner above-recited, at Bayonne, or in
the _Montaigu_ School, at Paris.
Molière, in his _Bourgeois Gentilhomme_, introduces just such another
character as Superanus and Loyola. M. Jourdain, though a Man of a
middle age, and without education, takes it into his head to be on a
sudden a learned Man and a fine Gentleman: and in consequence of this
fancy, fills his house with Fencing Masters, Dancing Masters, Masters
of Music, Masters of Philosophy, and Masters of every kind. His Wife
and Maid Servant, being very angry to see their apartments full of
dust, and their floors covered with dirt, take him to task on that
account, and the Wife, who is a sort of blunt, vulgar Woman, among
other peevish expressions of her displeasure, asks him, “Do you mean,
at your age, to get yourself whipped, one of these days?”--To which
Mr. Jourdain, like a true _Superanus_, answers, “Why not? Would to
God I were whipped this very instant before all the world, and knew
what is to be learnt at School.”
_Madame_ JOURDAIN.
_N’irez vous point un de ces jours vous faire donner le fouët, à
votre âge?_
_M._ JOURDAIN.
_Pourquoi non? Plût à Dieu d’avoir tout à l’heure le fouët, devant
tout le monde, & savoir ce qu’on apprend au Collège._
From the extensive use of flagellations that took place among the
antient Heathens, the Abbé Boileau ten or twelve times draws the
conclusion in different parts of his Book, that the first Christians
held that mode of punishment in detestation, and never adopted it
for themselves. However, the other Catholic Divines are very far
from admitting this conclusion, nor by any means grant that, because
certain practices were adopted by the antient Heathens, it follows
that the first Christians abstained from them. They, on the contrary,
say that the Abbé himself ought to know, that Christians have
imitated several ceremonies of the Pagans, which they have sanctified
by the intentions with which they perform them; and on this subject
they quote Polydore Vergil, who remarks, that the custom adopted by
Prelates, of giving the outside of their hand to be kissed, when
they officiate in their Pontifical dresses, the custom of making
prayers for the dead on the seventh day after their burial, the
offering of pictures to those Saints by whose assistance dangers have
been escaped, &c. &c. are practices derived from the Heathens.
They moreover add, that even the Temples of the Pagans have been
converted by Christians, to their own use; and on this occasion they
alledge, among other instances, that of Pope Gregory the Great, who
wrote to St. Augustin, Apostle of England (or rather to Melitus,
with an injunction to inform the Apostle) that he must not demolish
the temples of the idols in the above kingdom, but that he ought to
preserve those which are well built (_benè constructa_), and after
purifying them with holy water, and by placing relicks, appropriate
them to the use of the Church.