lance without an iron head. We are told that it was given to him who
gained the first victory in a battle; it was also regarded as an emblem
of supreme power, and as a mark of the authority which one nation
claimed over another.—B.
[1114] “Phaleris.” These were bosses, discs or crescents of metal,
sometimes gold. They were mostly used in pairs, and as ornaments for
the helmet; but we more commonly read of them as attached to the
harness of horses, and worn as pendants from the head, so as to produce
a terrific effect when shaken by the rapid movements of the horse.
[1115] The “torques” was an ornament of gold, twisted spirally and bent
into a circular form, and worn among the upper classes of the Persians,
the Gauls, and other Asiatic and northern nations. They are often found
both in France and Ireland, as well as in this country, but varying
greatly in size and weight.
[1116] Golden “armillæ,” or bracelets, were worn by the Gauls on the
arms and the legs. The Sabines also wore them on the left arm, at the
time of the foundation of Rome.
[1117] The word “fiscus” signifies a wicker basket or pannier, probably
of peculiar construction, in which the Romans were accustomed to keep
and carry about large sums of money. In process of time the word came
to signify a treasure or money-chest.
[1118] We have nearly the same detail of the honours bestowed on
Dentatus by Val. Maximus, B. iii. c. 2. Pliny again speaks of Dentatus,
and the honours bestowed upon him, B. xxii. c. 5; and especially
notices the “corona graminea,” the grass or obsidional crown, as the
highest of his honours. The different kinds of honorary crowns are
very fully described in B. xvi. c. 3, 4, and 5; in B. xxii. c. 4, we
have a particular account of the “corona graminea;” in c. 5, mention
is made of its having been given to Dentatus, and, in the next, other
individuals are enumerated to whom it had been presented.—B.
[1119] T. Romilius Rocus Vaticanus was consul B.C. 455. Having defeated
the Æqui, and gained immense booty, instead of distributing it among
the soldiers, he and his colleague sold it, on account of the poverty
of the treasury. They were, in consequence, brought to trial, and
Veturius was sentenced to pay 10,000 asses. He was, however, elected
augur in 453, as some compensation for the ill-treatment he had
experienced.
[1120] Livy, B. iii. c. 31, gives an account of the conviction of
Romilius, but says, that it was effected by C. Claudius Cicero, the
tribune of the people. To obviate the discordance in the names, some
commentators have proposed to substitute the words “Lucio Siccio” for
“Claudio Cicerone.”—B.
[1121] We have an account of the victories, honours, and unfortunate
fate of Manlius in Livy, B. vi. c. 14-20. In enumerating the honours
conferred upon him, the numbers are given somewhat differently in c.
20; thirty spoils of enemies slain, forty donations from the generals,
two mural and eight civic crowns.—B.
[1122] M. Sergius Silus. He was one of the city prætors B.C. 197.
[1123] Among the Jews and other nations of antiquity, it was considered
an essential point for the priests to be without blemish, perfect and
free from disease.—B.
[1124] In allusion to the compliment paid by the senate to the consul,
M. Terentius Varro, by whose rashness the battle of Cannæ was lost.
On his escape and safe return to Rome, instead of visiting him with
censure, he received the thanks of the senate, “that he had not
despaired of the Republic.”
[1125] It appears somewhat remarkable, considering the extraordinary
acts of valour here enumerated, as performed by Sergius, that we hear
so little of him from other sources.—B.
[1126] Hardouin takes the meaning to be, that though ill fortune
overtook the Romans in their wars with Hannibal, nevertheless Sergius
defeated Fortune herself, in dying before his country was overwhelmed
by those calamities.
[1127] Pliny informs us, B. xiii. c. 1, that the art of making perfumes
originated with the Persians.—B.
[1128] The city was taken by him by assault, and all its buildings,
with the exception of the house of Pindar, levelled to the ground; most
of the inhabitants were slaughtered, and the rest sold as slaves.
[1129] Stagirus, or Stagira, a town of Macedonia, in Chalcidice, on
the Strymonic Gulf. It was a colony of Andros, founded B.C. 656,
and originally called Orthagoria. It was destroyed by Philip, and,
according to some accounts, was rebuilt by _him_, as having been the
native place of Aristotle.
[1130] Archilochus of Paros was one of the earliest Ionian lyric
poets, and was the first who composed in Iambic verse according to
fixed rules. He flourished about 714-676 B.C. Pliny speaks here of
his murderers; but it is generally stated by historians that he was
murdered by one individual by some called Calondas, or Corax, a Naxian,
by others Archias.
[1131] We may here refer to some remarks by Hardouin and Ajasson on the
actual sum obtained by Isocrates; Lemaire, vol. iii. pp. 126, 127.—B.
[1132] This anecdote is related by Cicero, De Oratore, B. iii. c. 56,
and by Val. Maximus, B. viii. c. 10.—B.
[1133] This is rather a strong expression, and it is doubtful if the
great historian at all deserves it. The facts of the case seem to
have been as follow. Thucydides was employed in a military capacity,
and was in command of an Athenian squadron of seven ships at Thasos,
B.C. 424, when Eucles, who commanded in Amphipolis, sent for his
assistance against Brasidas, who was before that town with an army.
Fearing the arrival of a superior force, Brasidas offered favourable
terms to Amphipolis, which were readily accepted, as there were but few
Athenians in the place. Thucydides arrived at Eion, on the mouth of the
Strymon, the evening of the same day on which Amphipolis surrendered:
and though too late to save Amphipolis, prevented Eion from falling
into the hands of the enemy. It was in consequence of this failure,
that he became voluntarily an exile, perhaps to avoid the still severer
punishment of death, which appears to have been the penalty of such a
failure as that which he had, though unavoidably, committed. It is most
probable that he returned to Athens about B.C. 403, the period of its
liberation by Thrasybulus.
[1134] The following passage in Livy, B. vi. c. 34, may serve to
illustrate this remark of Pliny:—“The lictors of Sulpicius, the
military tribune, when he went home from the forum, knocked at the door
with his staff, as the usual custom is.”
[1135] Of Cyrene, the Academic philosopher. In B.C. 155, being then
fifty-eight years old, he was chosen with some others to deprecate
the fine of 500 talents which had been imposed on the Athenians for
the destruction of Oropus. It was then that, in presence of Cato the
Elder, he delivered his famous orations on Justice. The first oration
was in commendation of the virtue, and on the ensuing day the next was
delivered, by which all the arguments of the first were answered, and
justice shown to be not a virtue, but only a matter of compact for the
maintenance of civil society. The honesty of Cato was greatly shocked
at this, and he moved the senate to send the philosopher back to his
school, and save the Roman youth from his demoralizing doctrines. He
lived twenty-eight years after this, and died at Athens B.C. 129, aged
eighty-five, or, according to Cicero, ninety.
[1136] This is related by Plutarch, in his Life of Cato. His general
dislike of the Grecian character is again mentioned, B. xxix. c. 7.—B.
[1137] See B. xxxiv. c. 19.
[1138] We have an account of this embassy in Plutarch. Pliny informs
us, B. xxxiv. c. 20, that the only article which Cato retained, of
the works of art that he brought from Cyprus, was the statue of Zeno,
“not for its intrinsic merit, but because it was the statue of a
philosopher.” Valerius Paterculus, B. ii. c. 45, and Plutarch refer to
this transaction.—B.
[1139] This circumstance is related by Valerius Maximus, B. viii. c.
14, and is referred to by Cicero in his defence of Archias, sec. 9.—B.
[1140] M. Varro, the philosopher, sometimes called “the most learned”
of the Romans. His command under Pompey, in the war against the
Pirates, has been already mentioned in B. iii. c. 16. He also served
under him against Mithridates, and was his legatus in Spain, at the
first outbreak of the civil wars.
[1141] Pliny refers to the same subject: in B. xxxv. c. 2, he speaks
of Pollio as “qui primus, bibliothecam dicando, ingenia hominum
rempublicam fecit”—“The first who, by forming a public library, made
public property the genius of learned men.” Aulus Gellius, B. vi.
c. 18, informs us, that the first library, formed for the use of
the public, was that collected at Athens by Pisistratus.—B. Ptolemy
Philadelphus, the king of Pergamus, and Lucullus, had formed extensive
libraries, but solely for their own use, and not that of the public.
[1142] Some of these are given by Val. Maximus, B. viii. c. 15.—B. It
is very doubtful, however, if Greece did not greatly excel Rome in this
respect.
[1143] Meaning Cicero, the orator and philosopher.
[1144] Cicero, in an Epistle to Atticus, B. ii. c. i., enumerates what
he styles his consular orations: the total number is twelve, and among
them we find all those here referred to by Pliny.—B.
[1145] The individual referred to is L. Roscius Otho; by his law the
Roman equites, who, before this time, sat mingled with the people
generally, had appropriate seats allotted to them. Cicero designates
this oration, “De Othone.”—B.
[1146] This title was bestowed upon him by the general acclamation of
the people, at the end of his consulship. We have an account of it in
Plutarch.—B.
[1147] This remark is not found in any of Cæsar’s works now extant.—B.
[1148] These terms signify “acute” and “judicious;” they are derived
respectively from “cautus” and “cor.”—B.
[1149] Son of Damagetus, and one of the Seven Sages. He flourished
towards the beginning of the sixth century B.C. Herodotus says that he
held the office of Ephor Eponymus in Ol. 56. He was a man remarkable
for his wisdom and his sententious brevity, so characteristic of his
Spartan origin.
[1150] It appears somewhat doubtful to which of the Grecian sages the
credit of this maxim is due.—B.
[1151] We have an account of Melampus, probably the same as the person
here styled Melampodes, in Herodotus, B. ii. c. 49, and B. ix. c. 34;
Ajasson, in Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 135, has given a list of writers who
have referred to him as an eminent soothsayer. Pliny mentions him in a
subsequent passage, B. xxv. c. 21, as celebrated for his skill in the
art of divination.—B.
[1152] Marcius is said by Cicero, De Divin. B. i. c. 50, to have given
his predictions in verses.—B.
[1153] We have an account of this in Livy, B. xxix. c. 14, and B.
xxxvi. c. 40; it is also referred to by Valerius Maximus, B. viii. c.
15.—B.
[1154] In consequence of the number of eminent men who bore the name
of Scipio, it is not easy, in all cases, to decide to which of them
certain transactions ought to be referred. In this instance, it
has been doubted, whether it was the same Scipio who was twice an
unsuccessful candidate for the consulship, and who died in a foreign
country. Livy, B. xxxv. c. 24, remarks, “P. Corn. Cn. F. Scipio” had
been an unsuccessful candidate for the consulship; and afterwards, B.
xxxix. c. 40, that “P. and L. Scipio” were unsuccessful candidates for
the office of censor. Val. Maximus expressly states, B. v. c. 3, that
it was Scipio Nasica, who, in consequence of the little estimation in
which he was held by his fellow-citizens, went to Pergamus, and “lived
there the remainder of his life, without feeling any regrets for his
ungrateful country.”—B.
[1155] We have this anecdote related by Valerius Maximus, B. viii. c.
15. He informs us, that it was the statue of Venus Verticordia which
was ordered to be consecrated; the more readily to win the hearts of
the maidens and matrons from wanton thoughts to a life of chastity.—B.
[1156] Her story is told at great length by Ovid, in the Fasti, B. iv.
l. 305, _et seq._ Her name was Claudia Quinta, and she is supposed to
have been the sister of Appius Claudius Pulcher, and grand-daughter
of Appius Claudius Cæcus. The vessel which was conveying the statue
of Cybele from Pessinus to Rome having stuck fast on a shallow at the
mouth of the Tiber, the soothsayers declared that none but a really
chaste woman could move it. Claudia, who had been previously accused
of unchastity, being in the number of the matrons who had accompanied
Scipio to Ostia to receive the statue, immediately presented herself,
and calling upon the goddess to vindicate her innocence, seized the
rope, and the vessel moved forthwith. A statue was afterwards erected
to her in the vestibule of the temple of the goddess.
[1157] Solinus and Festus differ somewhat from Pliny, in stating
that it was her father whose life was thus saved by the affectionate
daughter. Valerius Maximus, who tells the story, says that the family
was “ingenui sanguinis,” meaning “of genteel origin.” Such families
were, however, sometimes reduced, even among the Romans, to a level
with the plebeian classes.
[1158] A.U.C. 604.
[1159] This theatre is again mentioned in B. xxxvi. c. 12. It was built
of stone, and erected by Augustus in honour of his nephew Marcellus.
This is related by Valerius Maximus, B. v. c. 8, somewhat more in
detail, and with a degree of animation, which is not frequently to be
met with in that author.—B.
[1160] Cicero, De Divin. B. i. c. 18, Val. Maximus, B. iv. c. 6, and
Plutarch, relate this more circumstantially. The serpents were of
different sexes; if the male serpent was killed, his own death was to
be the consequence; if the female, that of his wife, Cornelia.—B.
[1161] Pliny gives an account of the circumstances which attended
the death of Lepidus, in the 54th Chapter. He was the father of the
triumvir.—B.
[1162] Or Rutilius, consul B.C. 132, the year after the death of
Tiberius Gracchus, whose adherents he prosecuted with the greatest
cruelty. He also obtained a triumph for bringing to a conclusion the
Servile war. He was an intimate friend of the younger Scipio Africanus,
who obtained the consulship for him, but failed in gaining that honour
for his brother Lucius. About the same period, he was condemned, in the
tribuneship of Caius Gracchus, for his illegal acts in the prosecution
of the adherents of Tiberius Gracchus. It has been suggested that this
indignity may have had a greater share than the ill success of his
brother in causing his death.
[1163] Pliny again speaks of the great talents of Hippocrates, B. xxvi.
c. 6, and B. xxix. c. 2.—B.
[1164] We have an account of the origin of these games in Livy, B.
xxix. c. 14.—B.
[1165] Cleombrotus is supposed to be the same person who is mentioned
in B. xxix. c. 3, as Erasistratus, the grandson of Aristotle. From
Suidas we learn that a near relative of his was called Cleombrotus,
though, from his perplexed language, it is impossible to say whether
father or uncle. The story to which Pliny is supposed here to refer
is a curious one. Antiochus, the son of Seleucus Nicator, fell in
love with Stratonice, whom his father had married in his old age, but
struggled to conceal his passion. The skilful physician discovered
the nature of his disease; upon which he reported to Seleucus that it
was incurable, for that he was in love, and it was impossible that
his passion could be gratified. The king, greatly surprised, inquired
who the lady was; to which Erasistratus replied that it was his own
wife; whereupon Seleucus began to try and persuade him to give her
up to his son. The physician upon this asked him if he would do so
himself, if it were his own wife. Seleucus declared that he would;
upon which Erasistratus disclosed to him the truth. Seleucus not only
gave up Stratonice to his son, but resigned to him several provinces.
Erasistratus was one of the most famous physicians and anatomists of
antiquity.
[1166] It was on this occasion that a label was said to have been
fastened on the arrow, inscribed, “To Philip’s right eye.” The
inhabitants were permitted to depart, however, when the city was taken,
with one garment to each person.
[1167] This accident occurred to Philip, at the siege of Methone, of
which we have a brief account in Diodorus Siculus, B. xvi. c. 7, and in
Justin, B. vii. c. 6; but neither of these authors makes any mention of
Critobulus. Quintus Curtius, B. ix. c. 5, informs us, that Critobulus
exhibited great skill in relieving Alexander the Great from the effects
of a dangerous wound, which he received in India; but he does not refer
to the fact here mentioned.—B.
[1168] At the present day, this mode of treatment would have figured as
the “wine-cure.”
[1169] See B. xxvi. c. 8.
[1170] Pliny again speaks of Asclepiades, in B. xxvi. c. 7, and B.
xxix. c. 5. The anecdote respecting the man who was saved from the
funeral pile is referred to by Celsus, B. ii. c. 6.—B. Pliny says,
in B. xxvi. c. 7, that Asclepiades first came to Rome as a teacher
of rhetoric, and that being unsuccessful, he turned his attention
to medicine. Bruce, the Abyssinian traveller, also met his death by
falling down stairs. Rabelais, in the prologue to his Fourth Book,
refers to this peculiar death of Asclepiades.
[1171] This is related more at large by Val. Maximus, B. viii. c. 7,
and by Plutarch.—B.
[1172] Mentioned in B. xxxvi. c. 31.
[1173] Val. Maximus refers to Philon and his public works, in B.
viii. c. 12.—B. He was an architect of eminence in the reign of the
successors of Alexander. He built for Demetrius Phalereus, about
B.C. 318, the portico of twelve Doric columns to the great temple at
Eleusis. He also formed a basin in the Piræus, which was destroyed at
the taking of Athens by the Romans under Sylla.
[1174] See B. v. c. 11, and B. xxxiv. c. 42.
[1175] Plutarch, in his life of Alexander, mentions the restriction
made in favour of Lysippus, but does not extend it to Apelles; he
does not speak of Pyrgoteles. We have an apposite allusion to this
circumstance by Horace, Ep. B. i. l. 239, 240. Boileau has elegantly
imitated Horace, in his “Discours au Roi.”—B. For further particulars
of him, see B. xxxiv. c. 17 and 19. He was a native of Sicyon, and at
first a simple worker in bronze, but eventually obtained the highest
rank among the Grecian statuaries.
[1176] According to the usual estimate of the value of the Attic
talent, £193 12_s._, the sum given for this picture would be about
£19,000.—B.
[1177] Nearly all the topics here treated of are again mentioned in
B. xxxv., which is devoted to the fine arts. The 34th, 35th, and
36th Chapters of that Book, contain an account of all the celebrated
painters of antiquity, and their principal works.—B.
[1178] Between £15,000 and £16,000.—B.
[1179] “Poliorcetes.”
[1180] We have a further account of this artist in B. xxxiv. c. 19, B.
xxxv. c. 39 and 40, and B. xxxvi. c. 4.
[1181] This is referred to by Pliny, B. xxxvi. c. 4, and by Valerius
Maximus, B. viii. c. 4.—B.
[1182] He is again mentioned in B. xxxiv. c. 19, B. xxxv. c. 34, and B.
xxxvi. c. 4.—B.
[1183] Mentor is noticed for his skill in carving, B. xxxiii. c.
55.—B. Littrè says, on referring to that passage, “we find that he was
a worker in silver, and a maker of vases of great value.” He seems
disinclined to believe that he was a statuary. As Pliny tells us, _ubi
supra_, none of his public works were in existence in Pliny’s time.
Some small cups, however, existed, which were highly prized, though
some were undoubtedly spurious.
[1184] Now Pesaro.
[1185] We have the same difficulty in ascertaining the sums here
mentioned, as in all former cases. Holland estimates the sum given for
Daphnus at 300,700 sesterces, vol. i. p. 175.—B.
[1186] “Dispensator;” we have an explanation of this term, B. xxxiii.
c. 13.—B.
[1187] Holland estimates the sum paid for the enfranchisement of this
man at 120,000 sesterces, vol. i. p. 175.—B.
[1188] In his capacity, probably, of contractor for provisions and
stores.
[1189] Holland estimates the price paid on this occasion at 3,500
sesterces, _ubi supra_, thus differing exceedingly from Ajasson’s
estimate.—B.
[1190] “Quam quidam injuriam lucri fecit ille mercatus in luctu
civitatis, quoniam arguere nulli vacabat.” We can see the meaning of
this passage, but a literal translation of it, as it stands, is out of
the question.
[1191] “Virtus”—“manliness,” that being esteemed by the Romans the
ideal of true virtue.
[1192] It appears that a similar custom prevailed among the Scythians,
according to Phylarchus, from whom Pliny probably took his account of
it; Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 151.
[1193] As being fraught with an intensity of pain, which no number of
days passed in pleasure can compensate.
[1194] She was the daughter of Leotychides, and the wife of Archidamas,
and mother of Ægis. Ajasson expresses his surprise, that so diligent
a collector of facts as Pliny, should have been acquainted with only
one example of this kind.—B. “The following are additional instances
collected by Ajasson:—1. Olympias, daughter of Neoptolemus, king of
Epirus, wife of Philip II., king of Macedon, and mother of Alexander
the Great, king of Macedon. 2. Roxana, daughter of king Darius
Codomannus, and wife of Alexander the Great; her son by whom was
proclaimed king by certain generals of Alexander, but was shortly after
slain at Amphipolis. 3. Laodice the Younger, daughter of king Antiochus
Soter, sister and wife of Antiochus Theös, and mother of king Seleucus
Callinicus. 4. Berenice, daughter of king Ptolemy Philadelphus;
married to her brother king Ptolemy Euergetes, and mother of Ptolemy
Philopater, by whom she was put to death. 5. Cleopatra, daughter of
Antiochus the Great, king of Syria: she became the wife of king Ptolemy
Epiphanes, and was mother of king Ptolemy Philometor. 6. Cleopatra
Cocce, daughter of Ptolemy Philometor, married her uncle, king Ptolemy
Physcon, and became mother of kings Ptolemy Lathyrus and Alexander I.
7. Cleopatra, another daughter of Ptolemy Philometor, married first
to Alexander Balas, the usurper of the throne of Scythia, then to
king Demetrius Nicator, and then to Antiochus Venator. Her sons by
Nicator were Seleucus V. and Antiochus Gryphus, both of whom became
kings of Syria; and her son Cyzicenius by Antiochus Venator, likewise
became king of Syria. 8. Selene or Cleopatra, daughter of king Ptolemy
Physcon, was married, first, to king Ptolemy Lathyrus, secondly, to
king Antiochus Gryphus, and thirdly, to king Antiochus Eusebes. She
was mother of king Antiochus Asiaticus. In all, she had nine kings as
her near relations or connections. 9. Stratonice, daughter of king
Demetrius Poliorcetes, was married first to king Seleucus Nicator, and
then to king Antiochus Soter, and was mother of king Antiochus Therös.
[1195] Val. Maximus, B. viii. c. 15, gives nearly the same account of a
person whom he calls Pherenice; from the resemblance of the names, it
has been supposed, that they may both refer to the same individual.—B.
[1196] He alludes to the three persons, father, son, and grandson,
known by the name of C. Scribonius Curio. The first was prætor B.C.
121, one of the most distinguished orators of his time. His son, who
acquired some reputation as an orator, was tribune of the people B.C.
90, prætor B.C. 82, and consul in B.C. 76, with Cn. Octavius. He is
represented as being possessed of great eloquence, and of extreme
purity and brilliancy of diction, but to have had none of the other
requisites of an orator. Like his son, he enjoyed the friendship of
Cicero. The younger Curio was an orator of great talents, which, from
want of industry, he left uncultivated. Cicero endeavoured to direct
his talents into a proper channel, but all in vain, and he remained to
the end a man of worthless and profligate character. He was married to
Fulvia, who afterwards became the wife of Antony.
[1197] Hardouin observes, that M. Fabius Ambustus was three times
consul, Quintus Fabius Rullianus five times, and Q. Fabius Gurges three
times.—B.
[1198] We have a similar account of the fate of Fidustius in Dion
Cassius, by whom he is named Filuscius.—B. He was at length slain by
order of Antony.
[1199] We have an account of the vicissitudes in the life of Ventidius
Bassus in A. Gellius, B. xv. c. 4, and in Valerius Paterculus, B. ii.
c. 65. We learn from these writers, that Ventidius was a native of
Picenum, and that, when that city was taken by Cneius Pompeius, in the
Social war, Ventidius, then an infant, was carried in his mother’s
arms, before the car of the conqueror.—B.
[1200] The passage of Cicero referred to, occurs in a letter to
Plancus, Ep. ad Fam. B. x. Ep. 18, where, speaking of Ventidius, who
had united himself to the party of Antony, he says, “And I look down
upon the camp of the mule-driver, Ventidius.”
[1201] “Caliga.” A strong heavy sandal worn by the Roman soldiers and
centurions; but not by the superior officers. The term “a caligâ,”
therefore, had the same meaning as our expression, “from the ranks.”
The Emperor Caligula received that surname when a boy, in consequence
of wearing the caliga, and being inured to the life of a common soldier.
[1202] In the year A.U.C. 704.
[1203] He was a native of Gades, in Spain. A party of the Roman nobles
induced an inhabitant of Gades to accuse him of having illegally
assumed the privileges of a Roman citizen. The cause was tried B.C. 55,
and he was supported by Pompey and Crassus, and defended by Cicero. One
of the tests of the being a Roman citizen, was the immunity from being
scourged, according to the provisions of the Porcian law. So St. Paul,
who, as a citizen of Tarsus, enjoyed the rights of a Roman citizen,
says to the centurion, Acts xxii. 25, “Is it lawful for you to scourge
a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?”
[1204] The accusation against Balbus appears to have been his illegal
usurpation of the rights of a Roman citizen, being born a foreigner.
Pliny has previously informed us, B. v. c. 5, that he was a native of
Gades or Cadiz. He was elected consul A.U.C. 713.—B.
[1205] L. Fulvius Curius, consul B.C. 322. In B.C. 313 he was master of
the horse to the dictator, L. Æmilius.
[1206] “Felix.” Hardouin informs us, that he transmitted this surname
to his descendants; among them was Felix, the governor of Judæa, before
whom St. Paul was taken for judgment.—B.
[1207] “Infelix.”
[1208] According to Pliny, B. xi. c. 39, and Plutarch, Sylla was
affected by what has been termed the “Morbus pediculosus” or “Lousy
disease.” Plutarch, however, ascribes his death to the bursting of an
internal abscess; and the same cause is assigned by Val. Maximus, B.
ix. c. 3.—B. It was probably of a similar disease that Herod Agrippa
died, whom we find mentioned in Acts xii. 23, as being eaten of worms.
[1209] Plutarch refers to a dream which Sylla had a short time before
his death, but it does not seem to correspond to the one here alluded
to.—B. “Plutarch relates that shortly before his death, Sylla dreamed
that his son Cornelius, who died before his wife, Cecilia Metella,
appeared to him, and summoned him away to join his mother. Appian also
states that just before his death, Sylla beheld a spirit in a dream,
which summoned him by name; upon which he called together his friends,
made his will, and died soon after of a fever. Only two days before
his death he finished the twenty-second book of his Memoirs, in which,
foreseeing his end, he boasted of the prediction of the Chaldæans, that
it was his fate to die after a happy life, and in the height of his
prosperity.
[1210] This is referred to by Tacitus, Hist. B. iii. c. 73.—B. Plutarch
tells us that Catulus performed this ceremony of dedication.
[1211] His consulships were A.U.C. 502 and 506.—B.
[1212] Hardouin informs us, that a certain number of public officers,
which varied from three to twenty, were appointed to divide the lands
of the conquered people among the Roman colonists. Lemaire, vol. iii.
p. 159.—B.
[1213] The commentators have endeavoured to prove, and not without
some success, that Pliny is not correct in the remark, that the first
elephants brought to Rome, were those which followed in the triumph of
Metellus. He has himself informed us, B. viii. c. 6, that they were
introduced by Curius Dentatus, in his triumph over Pyrrhus, some years
before that of Metellus. The same fact is also stated by Florus, B. i.
c. 18.—B.
[1214] Ovid, Fast. B. vi. l. 436, _et seq._, and Val. Maximus, B. i. c.
4, allude to this circumstance.—B.
[1215] This fact has been supposed by Hardouin to be controverted by
the statement of Aulus Gellius, who says, B. iii. c. 18, that all the
senators, who had passed the curule chair, were carried to the curia or
senate-house, in a chariot. But, as Ajasson correctly observes, Aulus
Gellius does not assert that the senators were carried at the public
expense, which was the case with Metellus.—B.
[1216] Val. Maximus, B. vii. c. 1, details the various fortunate
circumstances which occurred to Q. Metellus; he makes no mention,
however, of the violent attack made upon him by Labeo; indeed, he
expressly states, that his good fortune continued to the last moments
of his life.—B.
[1217] Val. Maximus, _ubi supra_, and Velleius Paterculus, B. i. c. 11,
speak of the honours obtained by the four sons of Q. Metellus; they are
also alluded to by Cicero in his 8th Philippic, sec. 4., and his Tusc.
Quæst. B. i. c. 35.—B.
[1218] Dalechamps remarks, that we find in the ancient historians a
similar account relative to M. Drusus, who, when tribune of the people,
hurried off the consul Philippus with such violence to prison, that the
blood started from his nostrils: also of P. Sempronius, the tribune
of the people, who, had it not been for the opposition offered by his
colleague, would have carried the censor Appius Claudius to prison.
[1219] This attack of Labeo on Metellus is mentioned in the Epitome
of Livy, B. lix. The tribunes of Rome were styled “sacrosancti,” and
it was considered a capital crime to offer personal violence to them,
under any circumstances. Hardouin remarks, that the tribune who came
to the rescue of Metellus must have been a military tribune, who, in
virtue of his office, had a right to claim the services of Metellus for
the army.—B.
[1220] Cicero, in his oration “Pro Domo suâ,” sec. 47, refers to the
consecration of the property of Metellus, as a case analogous to that
of his own house, which had been similarly consecrated by Clodius.—B.
It seems to have been the custom, when a person had been capitally
condemned, for the tribune of the people to consecrate his property,
with certain formalities, to some god or goddess; after which it could
not, under ordinary circumstances, be recovered, whether the sentence
was revoked or not. Cicero had been capitally condemned through the
instrumentality of Clodius, and obliged to fly from Rome.
[1221] It was a common expression among the Romans, for a person,
“obtorto collo ad prætorem trahi,” “to be dragged to the prætor with
his neck wrenched;” and we meet with it repeatedly in the writings
of Plautus. It would appear that it was customary for the lictors or
officers of justice to seize criminals in a peculiar manner, perhaps
with a rope, and with the exercise of great violence, whatever their
rank.
[1222] According to the remark of Dalechamps, it appears to have been
not unusual with the Roman magistrates, when resistance was offered to
their order, to seize the party by the throat, as is here stated to
have been done by Labeo.—B.
[1223] There has been considerable difficulty in ascertaining the names
which should be given to the sons of Metellus, as the MSS. differ, and
there appears to be no means of coming to any accurate decision, by a
reference to other authorities. The essential circumstance, however,
is, that two of the sons had obtained the honour of a triumph, and
had acquired appropriate surnames.—B. Metellus Diadematus has been
much confounded with his cousin, Metellus Dalmaticus. Diadematus was
so called, from his wearing, for a long time, a bandage round his
forehead, in consequence of an ulcer. He was consul B.C. 117.
[1224] By being dragged, and not proceeding willingly, in order to
gain time for succour, and so save himself from being hurled from the
Tarpeian rock.
[1225] Which allowed the laws to take their course, even against an
individual of the first consequence in the state.—B.
[1226] In the class of those who were considered peculiarly fortunate;
“hâc censurâ,” literally, “in this assessment,” in allusion to the
classification of the citizens of Rome, according to the estimate of
their property.—B.
[1227] In B.C. 45, when, being but about eighteen years of age, he had
the presumption to ask his uncle for the office of “magister equitum;”
upon which Julius Cæsar bestowed it on M. Lepidus, probably being of
opinion that his nephew was not yet fit for the office.
[1228] In his triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus, he showed himself no
less cruel than his colleague, Antony, notwithstanding the gloss which
Pliny attempts to throw over his actions. Two thousand equites and
three hundred senators are said to have been put to death during this
proscription.
[1229] Augustus was detained at Dyrrhachium for some time before the
battle of Philippi by illness, and had not recovered when the battle
took place.
[1230] In the first engagement at Philippi, Brutus defeated the army of
Augustus, while Cassius was defeated by Antony. Appian speaks also of
his concealment in a marsh to the south of Philippi.
[1231] In his war against Sextus Pompeius, his fleet was twice
shattered by shipwreck off the coast of Sicily, and he suffered several
defeats by sea.
[1232] C. Proculeius, a member of the equestrian order, and a familiar
friend of Augustus. It is of him that Horace speaks in the lines (II.
Ode 2),
“Vivet extento Proculeius ævo
Notus in fratres animi paterni.”
He was one of the Romans to whom Augustus thought of giving his
daughter Julia in marriage. The mode of his death is mentioned in B.
xxxvi. c. 59.
[1233] This circumstance is stated more fully by Suetonius in his
Life of Augustus; he tells, that “in crossing from Sicily to Italy to
rejoin his forces, Augustus was unexpectedly attacked by Demochares and
Apollophanes, two of Pompey’s captains, and only escaped in a small
vessel with the greatest difficulty.”
[1234] L. Antonius having raised an army at Præneste, took possession
of the town of Perusia, which was blockaded by Augustus, and Antonius
was at last obliged to surrender. During this siege Augustus
encountered several dangers, and was once nearly killed while
sacrificing beneath the walls, by a band of gladiators, who came upon
him unawares.
[1235] The victory was long doubtful, and it was only the sudden panic
of Cleopatra, that finally ensured it to Augustus.
[1236] The exact nature of the accident here alluded to, is discussed
by Hardouin, Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 169; he concludes, from the account
of Suetonius and of Dion Cassius, that it was owing to the fall of a
gallery, which extended between two towers.—B.
[1237] These are fully described by Suetonius, in his Life of Augustus,
c. 80 and 81.
[1238] M. Claudius Marcellus, the son of Octavia, sister of Augustus.
He was adopted by Augustus. Tacitus seems to hint that he was greatly
beloved by the Roman people, and it is not improbable that Augustus may
have become suspicious or jealous of him; his decease took place in his
twentieth year.
[1239] To Mitylene. This refers to the jealousy between Marcellus
and his brother-in-law, M. Vipsanius Agrippa. Pliny probably uses
the term “pudenda,” implying that Augustus showed neither firmness
nor gratitude on this occasion; for anxious, at any cost, to prevent
these differences, he sent Agrippa, against his will, as proconsul to
Syria; immediately on which Agrippa left Rome, but stopped at Mitylene,
and left the government of Syria to his legatus. Upon the death of
Marcellus, Agrippa returned to Rome.
[1240] Dion Cassius mentions three conspiracies, the first by Fabius
Cæpio and Muræna, a second, of which he does not name the authors, and
a third by Cornelius Cinna.
[1241] Said in allusion to the suspicious deaths of his grandchildren
Lucius and Caius, the children of his daughter Julia by Agrippa.
They were probably removed by the criminal acts of Livia; but some
historians have hinted that Augustus was privy to their destruction,
the object of which was to remove all obstacles that lay in the way of
Tiberius to the throne.
[1242] Implying that he was conscience-stricken at his share in their
death, as well as struck with sorrow and remorse.
[1243] She was his only child; Scribonia was her mother. She was
first married to her cousin Marcellus; on his death to L. Vipsanius
Agrippa, and after his decease to Tiberius Nero, the son of Livia.
Her profligacy was universally known, and Augustus did not scruple to
enlarge upon it before the senate; but Pliny is the only writer who
states that she contemplated an attempt on the life of his father;
though Suetonius says that she became, at a late period of her reign,
an object of interest to those who were disaffected. Julia was first
banished to Pandataria, off the coast of Campania, and then to Rhegium,
which she was never allowed to leave. Her death took place A.D. 14.
[1244] Tiberius Nero, afterwards emperor. Pliny here alludes to his
retirement to Rhodes, where he remained seven years. Tacitus represents
that his chief reason for leaving Rome was to escape the society of
his wife Julia, who treated him with the utmost contempt, and whose
licentious life was not unknown to him. During this retreat he devoted
himself to the study of astrology. He left Rome without the consent of
Augustus, who was equally unwilling to allow of his return.
[1245] Julia, one of the daughters of Julia and Agrippa, and the wife
of L. Æmilius Paulus. She fully inherited the vices of her mother. For
an adulterous intercourse with D. Silanus she was banished, by Augustus
to Tremerus, off the coast of Apulia, where she survived twenty years,
dependent on the bounty of the empress Livia. A child born after her
disgrace, was, by order of Augustus, exposed as spurious. She is
supposed by some to be the Corinna of Ovid’s amatory poems.
[1246] He probably alludes to the rising of some tribes in the
provinces on the north-eastern coast of the Adriatic, in B.C. 35, who
refused to pay their tribute. They were finally vanquished by Statilius
Taurus, B.C. 33.
[1247] After the defeat of his general Varus, by Arminius, in Germany.
[1248] This pestilence is also mentioned by Dion Cassius; it took place
A.U.C. 732.—B.
[1249] We have an account of the disastrous expedition of Varus in
Florus, B. iv. c. 12.—B.
[1250] Suetonius speaks of calumnious pamphlets (libelli), that
were circulated about, even in the senate-house, to his extreme
disparagement.
[1251] A posthumous son of M. Vipsanius Agrippa by Julia, the daughter
of Augustus, by whom he was adopted together with Tiberius. He was
afterwards banished to Planaria, off the coast of Corsica, on account
of his savage and intractable character, though guilty of no crime.
Augustus is said to have privately visited him there, which, coming to
the ears of Livia, increased her enmity against this youth, and he was
murdered by her orders or those of Tiberius.
[1252] Tacitus, Ann. B. i. c. 3, says that he was banished by the
artifices of Nero.—B.
[1253] After his death his solemn apotheosis took place in the Campus
Martius. In some of the coins which were struck even during his
life-time, he was called “Divus,” or “the god.”
[1254] For Tiberius Nero, the father of Tiberius Cæsar, took the side
of M. Antonius in the Civil War.—B.
[1255] We have no mention of Pedius, or Phedius, as he is named in some
of the MSS., in any of the ancient authors. A story of the same import
is related of Solon and Tellus, by Herodotus, B. i. c. 30, and by
Plutarch.—B.
[1256] A town of Arcadia. See B. iv. c. 10.
[1257] This is also related by Valerius Maximus, B. vii. c. 1.—B.
[1258] This is very similar to Virgil’s beautiful description of the
old man Corycius, in the Georgics, B. iv. l. 125, _et seq._
[1259] We have some account of Euthymus in Pausanias, B. vi., and in
Ælian, Var. Hist. B. viii. c. 18.—B.
[1260] It has been conjectured by Poinsinet, that the word
“Callimachus” does not refer to the well-known poet of that name, nor
to any other individual, but that it was the title of the president
of the Olympic games. The opinion is not without plausibility, but is
scarcely sanctioned by sufficient authority.—B.
[1261] Pliny here alludes to the doctrine of astrology, which forms the
especial subject of the next Chapter.—B.
[1262] These statements are not found in any of the works of Hesiod now
extant; it is scarcely necessary to observe, that they are entirely
without foundation, and contrary to all observation and experience.—B.
[1263] The great age of Arganthonius is referred to by Lucian, in his
treatise “De Macrobiis,” “on Long-lived Men;” by Herodotus, B. i. c.
163; by Cicero, de Senect. sec. 19; and by Valerius Maximus, B. viii.
c. 13; the three latter writers agree in making his age 120 years,
and hence Pliny assigns to him the same age in the next page.—B. St.
Augustine, De Civitate Dei, B. xv., quotes this passage of Pliny, and
mentions the age of Arganthonius, as stated by him, to have been 152
years. For Tartessus, in Spain, see B. iii. c. 3, and B. iv. c. 36.
[1264] His story is told by Ovid, Met. B. x., where he is said to have
become unwittingly the father of Adonis, by his own daughter Myrrha (or
Smyrna), in consequence of the anger of Venus or Aphrodite. He was said
to have founded the city of Cinyra in Cyprus.
[1265] Callimachus mentions a person of this name, who wrote a treatise
on the art of making cheesecakes. There was also a physician so called,
who flourished in the fifth century B.C., and who is said by Galen to
have been the first who wrote a treatise on the probe. Whether either
of these individuals is the person here alluded to, is unknown.
[1266] We have the same statement as to the age of Epimenides, in
Valerius Maximus, B. viii. s. 13; he also, in the same section, gives
an account of the Epii, of Pictoreus, of Dandon, and of the king of the
island of the Tyrians, all of which agree with the present statement,
except that the person mentioned by Damastes is called Literius, and
the last-named individual is styled the king of the island of the
Lutmii.—B.
[1267] The king of the Tartessi, mentioned above.—B.
[1268] Pliny has already spoken of the vigorous old age of Masinissa,
in the 12th Chapter of the present Book.—B.
[1269] We have an account of Gorgias in Cicero, de Senect. sec. 9; in
Valerius Maximus, B. viii. c. 13, and in Lucian.—B.
[1270] Valerius Maximus, _ubi supra_, reduces this to sixty-two
years.—B.
[1271] We have the same statement respecting Perperna in Valerius
Maximus, but he does not mention his age.—B.
[1272] The names of the succeeding censors were C. Claudius Pulcher,
and T. Sempronius Gracchus.
[1273] V. Maximus gives the same account of the age of Corvinus,
but he states the interval between his consulships to have been
forty-seven years. According to the Fasti, in Dr. Smith’s _Dictionary
of Antiquities_, the interval was forty-eight years, from A.U.C. 406 to
A.U.C. 455.—B.
[1274] The honour of the curule-chair—“sella curulis.” It was attached
to the offices of consul, prætor, and ædile; Corvinus had, therefore,
been elected to one or other of these offices twenty-one times.—B.
[1275] Valerius Maximus gives the same account of Metellus. He also
informs us that Metellus, although of an advanced age when created
pontiff, held the office for twenty-two years; so also Cicero, de
Senect. sec. 9.—B.
[1276] We have the same account of these females in Valerius Maximus.
He adds, that Clodia survived all her children; Seneca, Epist. 77, also
refers to the great age of Statilia.—B.
[1277] “Emboliaria,” an actress in the “embolium,” or interlude of the
Roman stage; also called “acroama,” by Cicero. It appears to have been
a concert of musical instruments, perhaps accompanied by dancing.
[1278] Their consulship was A.U.C. 761.—B.
[1279] Their consulship was A.U.C. 671, which would leave an interval
of ninety years between her first appearance and her appearance at the
votive games.—B.
[1280] “Togatus saltare instituit.” He acted in the “togatæ fabulæ,”
comedies representing Roman life, or the life of those who wore the
toga, the civic costume of the Romans. The Greek comedies were called
“palliatæ.”
[1281] The secular games of Augustus are stated by Suetonius, in his
Life of Augustus, c. 31, and by Dion Cassius, to have taken place
A.U.C. 739.—B.
[1282] “We have an account of Epigenes, by Hardouin, Lemaire, vol. i.
pp. 86, 87, where he is designated Rhodius. He is referred to by Varro,
Columella, and Seneca; Pliny mentions him in other parts of his work.—B.
[1283] Berosus has been referred to in the 37th Chapter of the present
Book.—B.
[1284] For some account of Petosiris and Necepsos, see end of B. ii.
[1285] Literally, the fourth part; according to Hardouin’s explanation,
Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 186.—B.
[1286] Literally ... “repetitions.” Dalechamps explains it as
indicating, “that part of the heavens which is distant thirty parts;
that is to say, two signs from the horoscope;” Lemaire, vol. iii. p.
187.—B.
[1287] Ajasson refers us to Jul. Firmicus for an explanation of the
difference which may exist in the length of the lives of individuals
as depending on their natal day; Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 186. It
appears to have been one of the leading tenets of the astrologers,
that the favourable influence of the ascending sign is diminished or
counteracted by the rays of other planets, or of the sun, falling upon
the sign in certain directions or at certain angles, and that the
length of the life of the individual is shortened in proportion to this
injurious effect.—B.
[1288] This term means, literally, “increasing by a regular scale,” or,
“according to a proportional series of numbers;” the multiples of 7
have been generally supposed to be the critical periods of human life,
and, more especially, 63, or 9 times 7, which was accordingly termed
“the grand climacteric.”—B.
[1289] This census appears to have taken place A.D. 74, under the
fifth consulship of Vespasian, and the third of Titus; according to
Censorinus, it was the last of which we have any distinct account.—B.
[1290] “Vasaria;” it is said, by the commentators, to be a term of
German origin, derived from a word which signified the bark of a tree.
It does not appear, however, from what cause it was appropriated to
the sense in which it is used by Pliny. The word is found in Cicero’s
oration against Piso, sec. 35; but is there applied to a totally
different object.—B.
[1291] Now Brigella or Brescella. Parma still retains its ancient name,
Placentia is now Piacenza, and Faventia the modern Faenza.
[1292] Probably the same as the Velia, mentioned by Phlegon Trallianus
as famous for the longevity of its inhabitants.
[1293] “Marcus Mucius, M. Filius, Galeria, Felix.” It has been doubted
by the commentators, whether the word Galeria refers to the name of
the mother of Mucius, or to the tribe to which he belonged. The latter
is, perhaps, the more natural interpretation. Hardouin and Ajasson,
however, adopt the opinion, that Galeria was the mother of Marcus;
Lemaire, vol. iii. pp. 191, 192. We meet with a precisely similar
construction of words in Cicero, 9th Philip. sec. 7; “Ser. Sulpicius,
Q. Filius, Lemonia Rufus.”—B.
[1294] The son of Panthöus, and friend of Hector. He was famous for his
wisdom and prudence in giving counsel. See Iliad, B. xviii. l. 249-52.
[1295] The passage referred to is in the Iliad, B. xviii. l. 249-51.—B.
[1296] Respecting Cælius [formerly called Cæcilius in most editions]
Hardouin informs us that he was the accuser of Calpurnius, that he was
prætor during the consulship of P. Lentulus Spinther and L. Metellus
Nepos, and was oppressed by Clodius. Pliny refers to Cælius, and his
accusation of Calpurnius, in a subsequent passage, B. xxvii. c. 2.—B.
Licinius Calvus Macer was by some considered, as an orator, to rival
even Cicero himself; and as a poet, is generally mentioned by the side
of Catullus. He exhausted his constitution by his severe application,
and died in his thirty-fifth or thirty-sixth year. He was remarkable
for the extreme shortness of his stature. Cælius was a partisan of
Pompey, and was eventually put to death at Thurii.
[1297] Consul A.U.C. 463; he is generally called Rufinus.—B.
[1298] This anecdote is mentioned by Cicero, De Nat. Deor. B. iii. c.
28, and by Valerius Maximus, B. i. c. 8.—B. He was tyrant of Pheræ and
Tagus in Thessaly, and was finally assassinated.
[1299] He was consul A.U.C. 633; in consequence of the victories
which he obtained over the Allobroges, he obtained the agnomen of
“Allobrogicus.”—B.
[1300] Valerius Maximus, B. viii. c. 13, refers to the great age of
Xenophilus, but designates him “Pythagoræus;” he says that he obtained
his information respecting him from Aristoxenus, the musician,
which may have led to an inaccuracy on the part of Pliny. Poinsinet
endeavours to reconcile the discrepancy, by the circumstance, that
music formed a prominent part of the Pythagorean discipline.—B.
[1301] “Per sapientiam mori.” Many conjectures have been formed
respecting the meaning of this passage, which is obscure. Attempts have
been made to amend the reading of the text, but, as it appears, without
success; see the notes of Hardouin, Ajasson, and others, Lemaire, vol.
iii. pp. 197, 8.—B. It is pretty clear, however, that Pliny here refers
to what, in the next Chapter, he calls “sapientiæ ægritudo,” the malady
by the Greeks called “phrenesis,” and by us “frenzy,” which attacks the
seat of wisdom, the understanding. Many pages have been written upon
the meaning of this passage, obvious as it seems to be.
[1302] The same doctrine is advanced in B. xxviii., which treats of
medicine, see c. 10.—B.
[1303] Among the ancients, all the manufactures and mechanical arts
were carried on by slaves; they were, consequently, subjected to the
same kinds of morbid causes which are found, in modern times, to be so
detrimental to certain descriptions of workmen.—B.
[1304] Our own experience has taught us the truth of this observation
in the case of the cholera; and the great plague of 1348, which is
thought to have swept off one-third of mankind, is supposed to have
travelled to Europe from the vicinity of the Ganges.
[1305] Dalechamps correctly remarks, that the laughter here referred
to, is not the indication of mirth, but what has been termed the “risus
Sardonicus,” the “Sardonic laugh,” produced by a convulsive action of
the muscles of the face; Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 201.—B.
[1306] “Sapientiæ ægritudine.” See Note [1301] above.
[1307] Pliny probably took this notion from Celsus, who speaks of this
as being a fatal symptom, B. ii. c. 6; “si manibus qui in febre, &c.,
in veste floccos legit, fimbriasque diducit....”—B.
[1308] “Venarum percussa;” the ancients were not acquainted with the
relation which exists between the arteries and the veins, or the
appropriate functions of these parts.—B.
[1309] In Seneca, Contr. B. ii., we find the remark, “Such genius, at
so early an age, bodes no long life.” Apuleius, quoting from some Greek
writer, says, “Odi puerulos præcoci sapientiâ.” “I hate your bits of
boys, with their precocious wisdom.” We have a somewhat similar saying
to the above passage from Seneca, “He is too wise,” or “too clever to
live long.”
[1310] This remark has been confirmed by various writers, ancient and
modern; it appears to depend upon an unnatural development of the
cerebral and nervous system, which renders it more liable to disease,
and less able to bear the impressions to which it is ordinarily
exposed.—B.
[1311] This was probably Phthiriasis, or the “morbus pediculosus,”
which has been previously mentioned in this book with reference to
Sulla, and of which, probably, Herod Agrippa died. Some authors state
that Pherecydes put an end to his life by throwing himself from a rock
at Delphi; others give other accounts of his death.
[1312] This circumstance is mentioned by Seneca, De Provid. c. 3.—B.
[1313] We have the same account of Antipater in Valerius Maximus, B. i.
c. 8. He was the preceptor of Cato of Utica; Cicero makes honourable
mention of him, De Oratore, B. iii. c. 50.—B.
[1314] We have an account of the death of Aviola, in Valerius Maximus,
B. i. c. 8. This name occurs in the Consular Fasti, A.U.C. 806; but it
could not be that of the person referred to by Valerius Maximus, as his
work was published under the reign of Tiberius, who died A.U.C. 789.
We have also an account of the death of Lamia in Valerius Maximus, as
occurring under the same circumstances with that of Aviola.—B.
[1315] Poinsinet, vol. iii. pp. 251, 252, supposes, that Messala and
Rufus are the names of two writers, and not, as usually supposed, of
one only. The conjecture appears not improbable.—B.
[1316] Plutarch, “De Deo Socratis,” gives us the same account of
Hermotinus. Ajasson has remarked, not inaptly, that this story is very
similar to the modern statements as to the effect of animal magnetism,
Lemaire, iii. 207.—B. Apuleius, in his “Defence,” has a passage which
is remarkable as clearly bearing reference to the doctrines inculcated
by the mesmerists of modern times; be says, “Quin et illud mecum
reputo, posse animum humanum, præsertim puerilem et simplicem seu
carminum avocamento, sine odorum delenimento, soporari et ad oblivionem
præsentium externari; et paulisper remotâ corporis memoriâ, redigi et
redire ad naturam suam quæ est immortalis scilicet et divina; atque ita
veluti quodam sopore futura rerum præsagire.”
[1317] We have no notice of any people, under this appellation, in
Greece; Cantharus, however, occurs as the name of an individual, and
possibly these may have been his descendants, or the members of his
family.—B.
[1318] See B. v. c. 44.
[1319] We have an account of Aristeas in Herodotus, iv. 13, but
somewhat different from that here given; Aristeas is also mentioned by
Apollonius in his Hist. Mirab., and A. Gellius, B. ix. c. 4.—B. He was
an epic poet, who flourished in the time of Crœsus and Cyrus. Herodotus
mentions a story that he reappeared at Metapontum, in Italy, 340 years
after his death. He is generally represented as a magician, whose soul
could leave, and re-enter his body at pleasure.
[1320] A poet and prophet of Crete. The story was, that being sent
by his father to fetch a sheep, he went into a cave, and fell into a
sleep, from which he did not awake for fifty-seven years. On awaking,
he sought for the sheep, and was astonished on finding everything
altered. On returning home, he found that his young brother had in the
meantime become an aged man. His story is only equalled by the famous
one of the Seven Sleepers of Damascus, who fell asleep in the time of
the Decian persecution of the Christians, and slept in a cave till the
thirtieth year of the reign of the Emperor Theodosius, 196 years. It is
not improbable that it is to this story about Epimenides, that we are
indebted for the amusing story of Rip Van Winkle, by Washington Irving.
[1321] We have the life of Epimenides by Diogenes Laertius, who gives
an account of this long-continued sleep. It is also mentioned by other
writers, but there is some difference in their statements as to its
length.—B.
[1322] According to the interpretation of Dalechamps, “spiritus et
animæ interceptioni ac privationi,” “the interception and privation of
the breath and faculties;” Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 208.—B.
[1323] He probably alludes to what are known among us as hysteria, or
hysterical affections.
[1324] We have an account of Heraclides in Diogenes Laertius; he was a
native of Pontus, and a pupil of Aristotle.—B.
[1325] This circumstance is not mentioned in either of the two works
of Varro which have come down to us, “De Re Rusticâ,” and “De Linguâ
Latinâ.”—B.
[1326] They were a body of commissioners appointed for the distribution
of lands in Campania; Julius Cæsar, when consul, having caused a law to
be passed, dividing that territory among such of the Roman citizens as
should have three or more children.
[1327] We are not informed, whether these persons of the name of
Corfidius, were in any way connected, nor, indeed, do we appear to have
any certain knowledge of their history.—B. L. Corfidius, a Roman eques,
is mentioned by Cicero, in his oration for Ligarius, B.C. 46, as one of
the distinguished men who were then interceding with Cæsar on behalf of
Ligarius; but after the oration was published, Cicero was informed that
he had made a mistake in mentioning the name of Corfidius, as he had
died before the speech was delivered. It does not appear certain that
he was one of the parties here mentioned: but it is not improbable that
he was the brother whose sudden death is mentioned below.
[1328] Among the ancients, servants used to be summoned by clapping the
hands, as they are, in modern times, by ringing of bells.—B. The same
practice still prevails in the east.
[1329] In the twenty-third Chapter of the present Book.—B.
[1330] Val. Maximus, B. ix. c. 12, and Diodorus Siculus, B. xiii. c.
14, gives the same account. It has been said, that, when he heard
the news, he called for a draught of wine, and was choked with
a grape-stone; this incident forms the subject of an epigram by
Simonides, quoted by Hardouin, Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 210.—B.
[1331] There is reason to believe, that the prize was given rather to
the rank, than to the poetry of Dionysius; see the remarks of Ajasson,
Lemaire, vol. iii. pp. 210, 211.—B.
[1332] This anecdote is related by Livy, B. xxii. c. 7; by Valerius
Maximus, B. ix. c. 12; and by Aulus Gellius, B. iii. c. 15; the
two former, however, state, that it occurred after the battle of
Thrasymenus.—B.
[1333] Cicero, De Fato, sec. 6, styles Diodorus, “valens
dialecticus.”—B.
[1334] According to Hardouin, these were Lucius, the prætor, and Caius,
the father of the dictator; they were brothers, and the sons of C.
Cæsar.—B.
[1335] Thirty-first of December; consequently his tenure of office
was for a few hours only. Cicero indulged in several jokes upon his
consulship, remarking that no one had died during it; and that the
consul was extremely vigilant, for that he had never slept during his
term of office.
[1336] This took place A.U.C. 708; Macrobius, in his Saturnalia, gives
us an account of the jests passed by Cicero and others on the brief
duration of his office.—B.
[1337] He is supposed to have been the same person who was consul
A.U.C. 732.—B.
[1338] The Comitium was a place in the forum at Rome, where the
“comitia curiata” were held, and certain offences tried and punished.
It was here also that the tribunal, or “suggestum,” was situate.
[1339] We are informed by Hardouin, that he held the office of Prætor
A.U.C. 660.—B.
[1340] “A puero;” not necessarily a slave, as Littrè seems to think.
[1341] On Hardouin’s authority, we learn that A. Pompeius was surnamed
Bithynicus, and was prætor A.U.C. 680.—B.
[1342] The death of Thalna is given somewhat more in detail by Valerius
Maximus, B. ix. c. 12; it took place A.U.C. 590.—B.
[1343] The ancients reckoned the hours from sun-rise; in summer, the
second hour of the day would be six o’clock A.M., and in the winter, a
quarter past eight.—B.
[1344] Bankers, and usurers more especially, had their shops in the
Roman Forum.
[1345] “Cum vadimonium differri jubet.”—B.
[1346] Augustus built a third Forum, because the old one and that of
Julius Cæsar, were not found sufficient for the great increase of
business. He adorned it with a temple of Mars, and the statues of the
most distinguished Romans.
[1347] According to Hardouin, this ivory statue was in the eighth
region of the city.—B.
[1348] “Specillum;” this instrument is mentioned by Celsus, B. vi.
c. 6, 25, _et alibi_. There has been a considerable discussion among
the commentators respecting the “specillum;” see Lemaire, vol. iii.
pp. 213, 214. From the uses to which it was applied by Celsus, we can
have little doubt upon the subject. Poinsinet and Ajasson employ the
equivalent French term “eprouvette.”—B.
[1349] “Mulsum” was the most universally esteemed of all the beverages
used among the Romans. It seems to have been of two kinds: in the one
case honey was mixed with wine, in the other with must. Massic or
Falernian wine was preferred for the purpose, and new Attic honey. The
proportions were four measures of wine to one of honey; and various
perfumes and spices were added. See B. xxii, c. 4. It was especially
valued as the most appropriate draught on an empty stomach.
[1350] The Cornelius Gallus here mentioned could not have been the poet
of the same name, because, as we are informed, he died by his own hand.
The death of the poet Gallus is alluded to by Ovid, Amores, B. iii. El.
9, l. 64.—B. A similar fate is said, by Tertullian, to have overtaken
Speusippus, the Platonic philosopher. The same was also said by some of
the poet Pindar.
[1351] Val. Maximus, B. ix. c. 12, gives the same account of the death
of Gallus and Haterius.—B.
[1352] Which was usually worn by the Romans at their entertainments.
[1353] Considering _some_ of the above cases, Pliny must have had a
curious notion of a happy death. Ovid would have agreed with him in one
respect; for in his amatory poems, he expresses a wish that he may die
of a surfeit of sensual enjoyment.
[1354] The great-grandfather of the Emperor Nero. We have a reference
to his death by Seneca, De Benef. B. iii. c. 24, and a more full
account of it by Suetonius, Life of Nero, c. 2.—B.
[1355] The charioteers at Rome were divided into four companies, or
“factiones,” each distinguished by a colour, representing the season
of the year. These colours were green for the spring, red for the
summer, azure for autumn, and white for the winter. Domitian afterwards
increased them to six, adding the golden and the purple. The most
ardent party spirit prevailed among them, and the interest in their
success extended to all classes and both sexes.
[1356] In the thirty-sixth Chapter of this Book.—B.
[1357] It would appear, from Dalechamps and Hardouin, that this
statement, respecting the period when the custom of burning the body
after death was first adopted by the Romans, is incorrect, Lemaire,
vol. iii. p. 219. There is much uncertainty as to its origin, and the
source from which they borrowed it. We learn from Macrobius, that the
practice was discontinued in his time, _i. e._ in the fourth century
after Christ.—B.
[1358] We have the same remarks, respecting the antiquity of the custom
of interring the body, the continued adoption of it by the Cornelian
family, and the supposed notion of Sylla, in ordering his own body to
be burnt, in Cicero, De Leg. B. ii. c. 22, from whom it is probable
Pliny may have borrowed them.—B.
[1359] We have no English term that will preserve the distinction
which Pliny makes between the two modes of disposing of the body after
death.—B.
[1360] He views the state after death in the same light as Democritus
and Epicurus, utterly denying the immortality of the soul; though
it cannot be said that he looks upon life in the same cheerful,
laissez-faire manner in which it was regarded by the latter of these
philosophers.
[1361] Hardouin remarks, that the ancients made a distinction between
the souls of the dead, and their spirits or shades, “umbræ.” The former
were supposed to remain on the earth, while the latter were removed
either to Elysium or to Tartarus, according to the character or actions
of the deceased.—B.
[1362] According to Varro, Democritus directs, that the body shall not
be burnt after death, but preserved in honey; on which Varro remarks,
how greatly such a practice would tend to raise the price of that
article.—B.
[1363] It has been conjectured, that Bacchus derived his name from the
Greek word Βάσκω, on account of his numerous journies into different
parts of the world; it was during these that he conveyed to the various
nations which he visited the arts of civilized life.—B.
[1364] We have a long discussion by Poinsinet, vol. iii. pp. 234, 235,
on the derivation of the name of Ceres, in which he endeavours to
explain the various attributes that were ascribed to her. The character
in which she was generally regarded by the writers of antiquity, was
the one here given to her by Pliny; in proof of which we may refer,
among other authorities, to Virgil, Geor. B. i. l. 147. and to Ovid,
Metam. B. iii. l. 341.—B.
[1365] The earliest method of reducing corn to the state proper for the
food of man, was by pounding it in a mortar; afterwards, when it was
ground between stones, they were moved by the hand, as is still the
practice in many parts of the East. It was not until a comparatively
late period that water was employed as the moving power for mills.—B.
[1366] It has been supposed by some commentators, that the character
of legislator was bestowed upon Ceres, in consequence of the name by
which she was designated, in the ancient northern languages, being
incorrectly transferred to the Greek. Others have thought that it might
be referred to the connection which may be supposed to exist between an
advance in the arts of life generally and an improvement of the laws.—B.
[1367] We do not find the circumstance here referred to in the “Noctes
Atticæ” of Aulus Gellius.—B.
[1368] It would appear that there were two individuals of this name,
who were confounded with each other; Simonides, the celebrated poet,
lived as late as the fifth century before Christ, so that it has been
thought improbable that the Greek language could have existed without
the four letters here mentioned, until so recent a period.—B.
[1369] The account of the original introduction of the alphabet into
Greece, here given, is the one generally adopted in his time. Most
readers will be aware, that the actual invention of letters, the share
which the Egyptians and the Phœnicians had in it, the identification
of Cadmus, and still more of Mercury, with any of the heroes or
legislators of antiquity, of whom we have any correct historical data,
and the connection which the Greek alphabet had with those of other
nations, are among the most curious questions of literary discussion,
and are still far from being resolved with any degree of certainty.—B.
[1370] It seems to have been the general opinion, that the Greek
language had, originally, sixteen or eighteen letters, the source
of which was very uncertain, and of high antiquity; and to these,
additional letters were, from time to time, appended by different
individuals. Upon the whole, the claim of the Egyptians to the
invention of letters, seems to rest upon, at least, a very plausible
foundation.—B.
[1371] Epicharmus was born in the fifth century B.C., in the island of
Cos, but removed, probably at an early age, to Sicily, where he passed
a considerable portion of his life. His original profession was that of
a physician, but he appears to have devoted his attention principally
to general science and literature, and is more especially remarkable
as the inventor of regular comedy. A few fragments only of his dramas
remain, but the titles of no less than forty are preserved. From a line
in the Prologue to the Menæchmi of Plautus, where it is said that the
plot of the play, “non Atticissat verum Sicilicissat” “is not Attic,
but Sicilian;” it has been conjectured, that Plautus took the plot of
the piece from Epicharmus.
[1372] Phoroneus was the son of Inachus, and the second king of Argos;
he began to reign about 1807 B.C.—B.
[1373] Epigenes has already been referred to in the fifty-fourth
chapter of this Book.—B.
[1374] There has been much discussion respecting the interpretation of
this passage. In the first place, the numbers in the text have extended
from 720 and 490 to as many thousands, by the addition of the letter
M., against the authority, however, of some MSS. In the next place,
in order to curtail the enormous periods thus formed, the years have
been supposed to be only lunar, or even diurnal periods. The opinion
of Hardouin and Marcus is perhaps the better founded, who reject the
proposed alteration, and consider these numbers to indicate, according
to their natural signification, periods of years. The principal
consideration that has been urged in favour of the alteration of the
text is derived from two passages in Cicero’s Treatise de Divin. B. i.
c. 19, and B. ii. c. 46, where he refers to the very long periods which
the Babylonians employed in their calculations, but which he justly
regards as entirely without foundation, and even ridiculous. Pliny,
however, professes to follow the opinion of Epigenes whom he styles
“gravis auctor,” and who, we may premise, would reject these improbable
tales.—B. The reading, 720 _thousands_, is the one adopted by Sillig.
[1375] Pausanias, in his “Attica,” calls the two brothers Agrolas and
Hyperbius. Some commentators have supposed, that these names, as well
as Doxius and Cælus, mentioned below, are merely symbolical, and that
the personages are fictitious.—B.
[1376] The Gellius here mentioned had the prænomen of Cneius; he is
not to be confounded with the more noted Aulus Gellius, by whom he is
quoted in the Noct. Att. B. xiii. c. 29.—B.
[1377] There is a number of ancient legends attached to the name of
Cecrops, yet we have but little authentic information respecting
him. What appears to be the best established is, that he was born in
the city of Sais, in Egypt, and that, about 1556 B.C., he conducted
a colony to Attica, where he built a fortress, on the Acropolis of
Athens, and that his descendants continued, for some generations, to be
kings of Attica.—B.
[1378] If this is the Cinyra previously mentioned in c. 49, he is more
generally represented as the son of Apollo, or of Paphos, a priest of
the Paphian Aphrodite or Venus. The true reading, however, is uncertain.
[1379] Hardouin informs us, that in all the MSS. which he has
consulted, this person is named Agricola, while in the printed editions
of Pliny he is styled Agriopa, or Agriopas. Poinsinet, vol. iii. pp.
250, 251, endeavours to explain this, by supposing, that the word
“Agricola” was the one employed by Pliny, but was used by him as a
generic, not as an appellative term. Some of the earlier editors,
however, conceiving that no agricultural operations could be carried
on, before the invention of the necessary implements, had changed the
name into Agriopa, derived from two Greek words, signifying “a man in
the savage state, who is only capable of uttering inarticulate sounds.”
This method of solving the difficulty will probably appear fanciful and
too refined, but it is the only one which has been proposed.—B.
[1380] The copper-mines of Temesa, supposed to have been in Cyprus, are
mentioned by Homer. There was another place of that name in Bruttium,
and another in India, both equally famous for their copper.
[1381] Danaus is said to have migrated from Egypt into Greece about
1485 B.C. He may have introduced wells into Greece, but they had, long
before his time, been employed in Egypt and in other countries. The
term “Dipsion,” “thirsting,” which it appears had been applied to the
district of Argos, may seem to render it probable, that, before the
arrival of Danaus, the inhabitants had not adopted any artificial means
of supplying themselves with water.—B. But this country, we are told,
is naturally well supplied with water.
[1382] Nothing is known respecting this individual; it does not appear
that he is mentioned by any other of the ancients.—B.
[1383] There is so much fable mixed up with the account of the
Cyclopes, that it is difficult to ascertain their real history. It
seems probable, that there was a people of high antiquity, who were
particularly skilful in the erection of stone edifices of various
kinds, and more especially of those which served for the defence of
cities. The remains of walls and other structures, which have obtained
the name of Cyclopian, are found in various parts of Greece, Italy,
and Sicily, and may be regarded as among the oldest works of man in
existence, although they are probably of less antiquity than those of
Egypt and of some parts of Asia.—B.
[1384] We have sufficient evidence of the early period at which the
art of weaving was practised in Egypt, from the figures to be found on
their monuments, and from the specimens of their manufactures, some of
very delicate texture, which have been found in the most ancient of
their tombs. It was doubted, at one time, whether these fine stuffs
were formed from the fibres of flax or of cotton, or, in other words,
whether they were cambric or muslin; but it is now generally admitted
that they are made of flax. We have frequent mention of the products
of the loom in the Pentateuch; we may select the 13th chapter of
Leviticus, where linen and woollen stuffs are especially mentioned, and
distinguished from each other.—B.
[1385] It is very difficult, probably impossible, in the present day,
to determine to which of the nations of antiquity we are indebted for
the invention of the art of dyeing. We have notices of coloured stuffs
in various parts of the Pentateuch, and there is reason to suppose,
that the art was practised, at a very early period, by the Egyptians,
the Phœnicians, and the Indians. They had even arrived at the knowledge
of partial dyeing, or what is technically termed “printing,” as applied
to cotton or linen.—B.
[1386] According to Justin, B. ii. c. 6, the Athenians introduced the
use of wool among their countrymen; but it has been supposed that they
learned it from the Egyptians.—B.
[1387] Arachne is said to have been a native of Hypæpæ, near Colophon,
in Asia Minor, and has been celebrated for her skill in embroidery
by Ovid, Metam. B. vi. As we have sufficient evidence that linen was
manufactured by the Egyptians at a very early period, we may presume
that this account of Arachne is either fabulous, or that, in some
way or other, she was instrumental in the introduction of linen into
Greece.—B.
[1388] Nothing is known of this individual, nor have we any further
information respecting the discovery ascribed to him.—B.
[1389] Homer, Il. B. vii. l. 221, and Ovid, Fasti, B. iii. l. 824,
speak of Tychius, as particularly skilful in making shoes, and other
articles of leather.—B.
[1390] It is difficult to determine, how far we are to regard the names
here mentioned as belonging to real or only to fictitious personages,
nor is it easy for us to ascertain what should be regarded as the
actual invention of medicine. A certain kind of medical, or rather
surgical practice, must have existed in the rudest state of society and
in the earliest ages, which was improved and refined by the gradual
experience and increased civilization of each successive generation.—B.
[1391] In this, as in so many others of the arts, the original
invention has been given to the Egyptians, while the introduction of it
into Greece is ascribed to Cadmus. The word _æs_, which is generally
translated “brass,” as well as the Greek word χαλκὸς, was applied by
the ancients, either to copper, or what is properly bronze, _i. e._
a mixture of copper and tin. Brass, the compound of copper and zinc,
does not appear to have been known to them. With respect to the claim
of the Scythians to the discovery of the use of copper, it has been
justly remarked, that it is natural to suppose it to have been first
known in those countries, where the ore of the metal is found in large
quantities, which is the case in the region that was anciently named
Scythia.—B.
[1392] According to Pausanias, the art of forging iron was discovered
by Glaucus of Chios. Strabo ascribes it to the Idæan Dactyli, and the
art of manufacturing utensils of bronze and iron to the Telchines; the
former were inhabitants of Crete, the latter of Rhodes.—B.
[1393] According to Hyginus, silver was first discovered in Scythia by
Indus, and introduced into Attica by Erichthonius. Æacus is said by
Cassiodorus to have been the discoverer of gold.—B.
[1394] Pangæus is generally described as a mountain on the confines
of Macedonia and Thrace; but Marcus says that it was a mountain of
Abyssinia, near the source of the Nile, and he adduces various passages
from the ancients to prove that the Egyptians had an extensive traffic
there in gold at a very early period; Ajasson, vol. vi. pp. 191, 192.—B.
[1395] Thoas was the king of the Tauric Chersonnesus, and Panchaia was
a district of Arabia Felix; it does not appear what connection Thoas
could have with Panchaia.—B.
[1396] We have no account of any individual bearing this name, and it
has been proposed by Hardouin to substitute for it “Midas Phrygius,”
who is said, both by Hyginus and by Cassiodorus, to have been the
discoverer of lead.—B.
[1397] From the accounts of Pliny, B. iv. c. 36, as well as of Strabo,
and the other ancient geographers, it appears, that he here alludes
to the Scilly Isles, including, probably, the western extremity of
Cornwall. We are informed by Herodotus, B. iii. c. 115, that tin was
brought from them, and they were hence named the “tin islands,” from
the Greek word for tin, κασσίτερος.—B.
[1398] On this subject we may refer to Note 72.—B.
[1399] Pliny, in B. xxxv. c. 45, informs us, that Choræbus invented the
art of making pottery, and that it was first exercised, as a trade, by
Chalcosthenes. He says, that a certain district of Athens obtained the
name of “Ceramicos,” from his manufactory of earthen-ware, derived from
κέραμος, “potter’s clay.”—B.
[1400] The inventions here ascribed to Dædalus, are, by many of the
ancients, given to his nephew; see Isidorus, Hyginus, Diodorus Siculus,
and Ovid, Metam. B. viii. l. 234, _et seq._—B.
[1401] “Ichthyocolla,” perhaps more properly, “Fish-glue.”
[1402] Pausanias ascribes also to Theodorus the invention of forging
iron and copper. According to Vitruvius, the square was invented by
Pythagoras.—B.
[1403] The same statement is made by Strabo, and other writers of
antiquity, and is confirmed by the Arundelian Marbles.—B.
[1404] See B. xiii. c. 42.
[1405] Marcus informs us, that, according to the Arundelian Marbles,
Erichthonius, the fourth king of Athens, was the inventor of
chariots.—B. See p. 229.
[1406] Hardouin remarks, that Pliny, in the beginning of this Chapter,
ascribes the invention of commerce to Bacchus; we may suppose, that the
commerce there referred to, was the conveyance of goods by land, while
that of the Carthaginians was traffic by sea.—B.
[1407] Eumolpus was a native of Thrace; but being expelled from his
native country, he invaded Attica, and, after various contests with
Erichthonius, obtained the office of high-priest of Ceres, which was
continued to his descendants.—B.
[1408] We learn from the writings of Moses, that the planting of the
vine, and the conversion of the juice of the grape into wine, was
practised by Noah immediately after the Flood. The mixing of water with
wine would seem to be a very obvious and natural mode of procuring a
pleasant and refreshing beverage.—B.
[1409] From the writings of Moses, we learn that the use of oil and of
honey was known to the inhabitants of Palestine and Egypt, at a very
early period.—B.
[1410] “Buzyges” is a Greek term, signifying “one who yokes oxen;”
according to Hardouin, the real name of the person here referred to was
Epimenides.—B.
[1411] For an account of Triptolemus, the reader may consult Hyginus,
and Pausanias, B. vii. Achaica.—B. Also the Fasti of Ovid, B. iv. l.
507, _et seq._
[1412] Phalaris is supposed to have been contemporary with Servius
Tullius, who reigned from 577 to 533 B.C.—B.
[1413] Meaning a citizen who obtained the sovereignty by violence and
usurpation.
[1414] This is supposed to have taken place 1000 years before Christ,
when the Lacedæmonians conquered the Helots. But Moses had given the
Jews a code of laws, respecting the treatment of slaves, between 400
and 500 years before that event, and we have various intimations of
the existence of slavery, in his writings, long before his time. It
appears, indeed, that in the different countries of the East, and in
Africa, slavery has existed from time immemorial.—B.
[1415] This is confirmed by Ælian, Var. Hist. B. iii. c. 38.—B.
[1416] According to the same fabulous account of the early Grecian
history, they were twin brothers, kings of the Argives; after much
contention, Acrisius succeeded in expelling Prœtus from Argos; they are
said to have lived 1400 years B.C. Athamas was a king of Thebes, and
the contemporary of Acrisius.—B.
[1417] According to Hardouin, the Lacedæmonians had the helmet, the
sword, and the spear, of a peculiar form, different from that used by
the other natives of Greece.—B.
[1418] This account of the invention of the bow and arrow seems to have
been derived from the high character which the Scythians and Persians
had acquired for their dexterity in the use of those weapons.—B.
[1419] The “amentum” was a leather thong tied to the middle of the
javelin, to assist in throwing it, though it is unknown how it added to
the effect. It has been suggested that it was by imparting rotation,
and consequent steadiness.
[1420] Ætolus was said to have been the son of Endymion, of Elis, who,
having accidentally killed one of his countrymen, left his native
place, and settled in the part of Greece named after him, Ætolia.—B.
[1421] See B. xxviii. c. 6. This was the Roman “veru,” or “verutum,” so
called from its resemblance to a spit. Its shaft was three feet and a
half long, and its point five inches. The “Velites” did not form part
of the Roman legion, but fought in scattered parties wherever they were
required.
[1422] The “pilum” was short and thick; its shaft, often made of
cornel, was partly square, and five feet and a half long. The head was
nine inches long. It was used either to throw or thrust with, and, in
spite of what Pliny says, was peculiar to the Romans.
[1423] Julius Firmicus ascribes the invention of the apparatus used in
hunting to the Cretans; and Gratius, Cyneg. l. 108, that of the hunting
spear, with its iron spike, to Dercylus, of Amyclæ.—B.
[1424] Vitruvius informs us, that the catapulta and the balista were
instruments formed upon the same principle, the former being adapted
for the discharge of arrows, and the latter, masses of stone. Cæsar,
however, in his account of the siege of Massilia, Bell. Civ. B. ii. c.
8, speaks of stones being thrown by the catapulta. Ælian, Hist. Var. B.
vi. c. 12, says, that it was invented by Dionysius, the first king of
Syracuse.—B.
[1425] Strabo ascribes the invention of the sling to the Ætolians; he
informs us, that the inhabitants of the Balearic Isles, so famous for
their dexterity in the use of this instrument, originally obtained it
from the Phrygians.—B.
[1426] According to Hyginus, Tyrrhenus, the son of Hercules, invented
the trumpet; Clemens, of Alexandria, and Athenæus, ascribe the
invention to the Tyrrhenians.—B. Virgil speaks, B. viii. l. 526, of the
“clangor of the Tyrrhenian trumpet.”
[1427] The “tortoise.” He probably means a military machine, moved on
wheels and roofed over, used in besieging cities, and under which the
soldiers worked in undermining the walls. It was usually covered with
raw hides or other materials, which could not easily be set on fire.
The same name was also applied to the covering formed by a compact body
of soldiers, who placed their shields over their heads, and linked them
together, to secure themselves against the darts of the enemy. The
latter kind of “testudo” was sometimes formed, by way of an exercise,
in the games of the Circus.
[1428] This has been supposed to have been the real origin of the
Trojan horse, on which Virgil has built one of his most interesting
episodes; the horse, as described by Virgil, was, however, in every
respect, different from the battering ram.—B.
[1429] In consequence of some false charges brought against him,
Bellerophon was sent to combat with a monster called the Chimæra, in
the expectation that he would perish in the attempt; but Minerva,
pitying his situation, provided him with a winged horse, named Pegasus,
by means of which he accomplished his perilous task in safety.—B.
[1430] Pelethronius is said to have been a king of the Lapithæ,
a people of Thessaly, who were celebrated for their skill in the
management of the horse.—B.
[1431] According to Cicero, De Nat. Deor. B. iii. c. 23, Minerva was
the first who used a chariot with four horses. Hardouin supposes that
the Erichthonius here mentioned was not the king of Athens, but the
son of Dardanus, the king of Troas; he does not state the ground of
his opinion, and Ælian, Hist. Var. B. iii. c. 38, expressly speaks
of him as an Athenian. Virgil, Geor. B. iii. ll. 113, 114, speaks of
Erichthonius as the inventor of the chariot with four horses; he is
supposed to have lived about 1450 B.C. As Hardouin justly remarks, we
have an account, in the writings of Moses, of chariots being used by
the Egyptians long before this period. It is not, however, stated what
was the number of horses used for these chariots.—B.
[1432] “Tesseræ,” in the original, which is also the name of the
dice used in various games. But the connection in which the word is
here placed makes it more probable that it refers to some military
operation; Virgil employs it in this sense, Æneid, B. vii. l. 637, as
also Livy, B. vii. c. 35. There is, however, a tradition that Palamedes
invented the games in which dice are used, during the siege of Troy.—B.
[1433] The words are “auguria ex avibus,” while the art which is said
to have been taught by Tiresias, is termed “extispicio avium.” The
first of these consists in foretelling future events, by observing
the flight, the chirping, or the feeding of birds, the latter by the
inspection of their entrails. But it appears that this distinction is
not always observed; see Cicero, De Divin. B. i. c. 47. The observation
of the auguries was committed to a body or college of priests, regarded
as of the highest authority in the Roman state. The “Haruspices,”
whose office it was to inspect the entrails of sacrificed animals, and
from their appearance to foretell future events, were considered as an
inferior order.—B.
[1434] Amphiaraüs was reputed to be the son of Apollo, and was famous
for his knowledge of futurity; he was one of the Argonauts, and joined
in the expedition of the Epigoni against Thebes, in which he perished.
Divine honours were paid to him after his death, and a temple erected
to his memory, which was resorted to as an oracle.—B.
[1435] Amphictyon established the celebrated council named after him,
and which consisted of delegates from the principal cities of Greece,
who assembled at stated periods to decide upon all public questions. He
is supposed to have lived about 1500 B.C.—B.
[1436] It is very difficult, perhaps impossible, to separate the actual
history of Atlas from the mythological and fabulous tales mixed up with
it. We may, however, conclude that he was a king of Libya, or of some
part of the north of Africa; that he was an observer of the heavenly
bodies, and one of the first who gave any connected account of them.
Under the term “astrology,” Pliny probably intended to comprehend
both the supposed science, now designated by that name, and likewise
astronomy, or the physical laws of the heavenly bodies.—B.
[1437] Pliny has previously stated, B. ii. c. 6, that the sphere was
invented by Atlas, and that Anaximander discovered the obliquity
of the ecliptic, by which he is said “to have opened the doors of
knowledge.”—B.
[1438] The simplest and most common musical instrument used by the
Greeks, was the “tibia,” or pipe.—B.
[1439] According to Hardouin, the Phrygians invented the pipes employed
by hired mourners at funerals, or, more probably, were the first to
adopt the use of the pipes at that ceremony.—B.
[1440] Which was played on the side, like the German flute of the
present day.
[1441] It was not uncommon for two “tibiæ,” or pipes, to be played upon
by one performer at the same time, one being held in each hand.
[1442] Apuleius, Flor. B. i. c. 4, characterizes the different kinds
of music, termed “moduli” by Pliny, as follows: the Æolian, as simple,
the Asiatic varied, the Lydian plaintive, the Phrygian solemn, and the
Doric warlike.—B.
[1443] According to the mythological traditions, Mercury, when a child,
found the shell of a tortoise on the banks of the Nile, and made it
into a lyre, by stretching three strings across; he presented it to
Apollo, and he gave it to Orpheus, who added two strings to it; after
the death of Orpheus, his lyre was placed among the stars, and forms
the constellation still known by that name.—B.
[1444] He was a native of Miletus, and contemporary with Philip, the
father of Alexander the Great. The fact of Timotheus having accompanied
Alexander in his expedition to Asia, which forms the basis of Dryden’s
immortal Ode, is not supported by any historical authority.—B.
[1445] Pausanias (Corinth) informs us, that he was the son of Vulcan,
and invented the tibia, but he does not mention his vocal powers.—B.
[1446] According to Hardouin, the first of these, the “saltatio
armata,” or “armed dance,” was performed on foot, and with wooden
armour; the second, the Pyrrhic dance, was performed on horseback, and
consisted in the dextrous management of the animals. Pyrrhus, from whom
the dance received its name, was the son of Achilles.—B.
[1447] The honour of the invention has been given to Phemonoë, a
priestess of the oracle of Delphi.—B.
[1448] Apuleius, Flor. B. ii. c. 15, says that Pherecydes was the first
to disregard the fetters of verse, and to write in desultory language.
Pliny, however, in B. v. c. 31, has ascribed the invention of prose
to Cadmus. Hardouin endeavours to reconcile this inconsistency, by
supposing that Cadmus was the first prose writer of history, and that
Pherecydes first applied prose to philosophical subjects. But Cicero,
De Orat. B. ii. c. 12, speaks of Pherecydes as a writer of simple
annals.—B.
[1449] There are several persons of this name among the kings and
heroes of the semi-fabulous periods; but the one here mentioned is
said to have been the son of Phoroneus, and to have lived about 1400
B.C. These games were celebrated in honour of Pan; the combatants
were naked, and had the body anointed with oil; the Lupercalia of
the Romans, in many respects, resembled the games of Lycaon. We are
informed by Livy, B. i. c. 5, that the Lupercalia were introduced into
Italy by Evander, the Arcadian.—B. Ovid, in the Fasti, B. i., states to
the same effect.
[1450] Iolcos was a city of Thessaly, from which place the Argonauts
embarked on their expedition to Colchis; Acastus was one of them;
the funereal games which he instituted were in honour of his father,
Pelias.—B.
[1451] See B. iv. c. 10.
[1452] The Isthmian games were originally instituted by Sisyphus, king
of Corinth; after having been interrupted for some time, they were
re-established by Theseus, who celebrated them in honour of Neptune.—B.
[1453] These were the celebrated Olympic games; Diodorus Siculus, B.
iv. c. 3, Pausanias, and other ancient writers, as well as Pliny,
ascribe their origin to Hercules; Pausanias, however, says, that some
supposed them to have been instituted by Jupiter.—B.
[1454] “Pila lusoria.” There have been many conjectures respecting the
person to whom this invention is attributed, as well as respecting
the nature of the game itself; in either case it appears that we
have nothing but mere conjecture to direct our opinion.—B. Among the
Romans, the games with the “pila, or ball,” were those played with
the “pila trigonalis,” so called, probably, from the players standing
in a triangle: the “follis” was a large ball inflated, and used for
football. “Paganica” was a similar ball, but harder, being stuffed with
feathers, and used by rustics. “Harpastum” was a small ball, used by
the Greeks, and was scrambled for on reaching the ground.
[1455] The MSS. differ as to the name of the person to whom the
invention of painting is ascribed; but, in those which are considered
the most worthy of credit, he is called Gyges Ludius. Marcus endeavours
to prove, that the term “Ludius” refers to the country of Lud or Ludim,
to the south of Egypt; and he points out some analogies between the
name Gyges, and some words which are found in ancient inscriptions,
or which are still in use among the Nubians and Abyssinians. Pliny,
B. xxxv. c. 5, attributes the invention of painting to the Egyptians,
and says, that “it was practised by them long before it was known in
Greece.”—B.
[1456] The term Euchir, Εὔχειρ, which is literally “dextrous or handy,”
would rather seem to be a prefix to a name, than a proper name itself.
With respect to Polygnotus, and the share which he had in the invention
of painting, the reader may examine what Pliny says in a subsequent
part of his work, B. xxxv. c. 35.—B.
[1457] The vessel in which Danaüs came into Greece, may, probably,
have been of a much superior construction, or much larger than those
previously seen in that country; but it is generally supposed, that
Cecrops, Cadmus, and the other Egyptian and Phœnician colonists, had
come by sea to Greece, long before the arrival of Danaüs. In the
ancient Egyptian monuments there are representations of different kinds
of vessels of considerable size, which would imply a knowledge of the
art of navigation at a very remote period. The same is proved by the
traditionary annals of the Egyptians.—B.
[1458] The word here used, “ratis,” would appear to be applied to any
species of slightly built vessel, of whatever form. The term _raft_ is
not altogether appropriate, but we have no English word which exactly
corresponds to it.—B.
[1459] According to the generally received account, Erythras migrated
from Persia to Tyrrhina, an island in the Red Sea. See B. vi. c. 28 and
32.—B.
[1460] It has been conjectured, that the ancient Britons borrowed the
peculiar form of their vessels from the Phœnicians, who were known to
have frequented the south-west coasts of our island. Small vessels, not
unlike those here described by Pliny, were used very lately, by the
fishermen in the Bristol channel.—B. They are still used by the Welsh
fishermen, and are made of oil-cloth or leather stretched on a frame.
They are called by the Welch _cwrwgle_, whence our word “coracle.”
[1461] By the term “longa navis,” here used, Pliny probably designates
a vessel which was propelled by a number of rowers, ranged side by
side, in contradistinction to the small skiffs which were moved along,
either by a sail or a single pair of oars, and were more of a rounded
form.—B.
[1462] Ctesias has already been referred to, in c. 2 of the present
Book.—B.
[1463] One of her most remarkable exploits was her expedition against
India, of which we have an account in Diodorus Siculus, B. ii.; he says
that she fitted out a fleet of between 2000 and 3000 vessels.—B.
[1464] From the account of Damastes, given by Hardouin, he was a
native of Sigæum, whose works appear to have been held in considerable
estimation by the ancients.—B.
[1465] There were at least three ancient cities of the name Erythræ,
but the one most noted was situate on the coast of the Ægean Sea,
opposite to the Isle of Chios.—B.
[1466] The passage in Thucydides here referred to, is in B. i. c. 13.—B.
[1467] There appears to be much uncertainty respecting the statements
made in the concluding part of this paragraph, in consequence of the
variation of the MSS.—B.
[1468] The position of the rowers, in the vessels of the ancients,
and, more especially, the mode in which the ranks, or “ordines,”
were disposed with respect to each other, has been a subject of much
discussion. From the incidental remarks in the classical writers, and
from the representations which still remain, particularly those on
Trajan’s Column, and on certain coins, it would appear that they were
disposed in stages, one above the other, and provided with oars of
different lengths, in proportion to their distance from the water. But,
although we may conceive that this was the case with two or three rows,
it is impossible that a greater number could have been disposed in this
manner.—B.
[1469] It is not easy to determine what was the construction and form
of the four kinds of vessels here mentioned, which he designates
respectively by the terms “lembus,” “cymba,” “celes,” and “cercurus.”
The “lembus” is mentioned by Livy, B. xxiv. c. 40, as a vessel with two
benches of oars, “biremis;” and in B. xl. c. 4, he describes it as a
small vessel used for towing large ships. The “cymba” has been supposed
to have been a still smaller vessel, answering to our idea of a common
boat; the “celes,” we may suppose, was named from “celer,” being
especially adapted for quick motion, and the “cercurus” from κερκὸς,
“a tail,” from its long narrow form, or from its having a tail-like
appendage attached to it.—B.
[1470] Hardouin conjectures, that the cities of Copæ and Plateæ derived
their names, respectively, from the inventions here ascribed to them,
κωπὴ and πλατὴ.—B.
[1471] Pausanias ascribes this invention to Dædalus; Diodorus, B. v. c.
1, to Æolus, who gave his name to the Æolian islands.—B.
[1472] “Hippagus.”—B.
[1473] “Tecta longa;” Cæsar, Bell. Civ. B. i. c. 56, says that the
Massilians fitted out long ships, of which eleven were “tectæ.”—B.
[1474] Ships of war had their prows armed with brazen beaks, to which
sharp spears were attached; these were used in their naval engagements
as instruments of attack, and, when the vessels were captured, were
considered the trophies of victory. The tribunal, in the Roman Forum,
from which the orators harangued the people, obtained its name of
“Rostra,” from its being ornamented with the beaks of captured ships.—B.
[1475] The “harpago” and the “manus ferrea” are mentioned by Cæsar,
Bell. Civ. B. i. c. 57, and by Livy, B. xxx. c. 10; Quintus Curtius
also speaks of them, but considers them as only different names for the
same instrument, B. iv. c. 2, 12.—B.
[1476] Tiphys was the pilot of the vessel of the Argonauts; he died
before the expedition reached Colchis.—B.
[1477] Hardouin remarks upon this passage, that Pliny probably means
to speak of the persons who first killed oxen or other animals for
what may be styled profane purposes; as they had long before this been
employed for sacrifice.—B.
[1478] Herodotus, B. v. c. 59, says that the Phœnician letters were
very similar to the Ionian; and we are informed by Hardouin, that
Scaliger, in his Dissertation upon an ancient inscription on a column
discovered in the Via Appia, and removed to the Farnese Gardens, has
proved that the Ionians borrowed their letters from the Phœnicians.—B.
[1479] Herodotus confirms this opinion by a reference to an ancient
tripod at Thebes, written in what he terms Cadmæan letters, having a
strong resemblance to those used by the Ionians.—B.
[1480] Tacitus, Ann. B. ix. c. 14, says, “The Latin letters have the
same form as the most ancient Greek ones.”—B.
[1481] There is scarcely a letter of this inscription which has not
been controverted, and no two editions hardly agree.—B.
[1482] Probably the earliest existing reference to the practice of
shaving is in Genesis, xli. 14, where Joseph is said to have shaved
and changed his raiment, when brought from prison into the presence of
Pharaoh; in this case, we may presume that it was the head, and perhaps
not the beard, which was shaven.—B.
[1483] The ancients had two methods of arranging the beard; in one it
was cut close to the skin, in the other it was trimmed by means of a
comb, and left of a certain length. These two methods are alluded to
by Plautus, Capt. ii. 2, 16:—B. “Now the old fellow is in the barber’s
shop; at this very instant is the other handling the razor—but whether
to say that he is going to shave him close, or to trim him through the
comb, I know not.”
[1484] Varro, De Re Rus. B. ii., states this fact in almost the same
words. He remarks, in continuation, that the old statues prove that
there were formerly no barbers, by the length of their beard and
hair.—B.
[1485] “Africanus sequens;” he was the son of Paulus Æmilius, the
conqueror of Perseus, and the adopted son of Scipio Africanus. In
consequence of his conquest of Carthage, he was named Africanus the
Younger. His custom of shaving is alluded to by Aulus Gellius, B. iii.
c. 4. From the remarks of these writers, we may conclude that the
Romans were not generally in the habit of shaving until after the age
of forty.—B.
[1486] “Cultus.” Suetonius gives a different account of the method in
which Augustus managed his beard. After remarking upon his carelessness
as to his personal appearance, he says, that Augustus sometimes
cropped, “tonderet,” and sometimes shaved, “raderet,” his beard.
Dion. Cassius mentions the period when Augustus began to shave, the
consulship of L. Marcius Censorinus and C. Calvicius Sabinus, A.U.C.
714; he was then in his twenty-fourth year.—B.
[1487] In B. ii. c. 78; where Pliny says, that the first clock was
made at Lacedæmon, by Anaximander; he was the contemporary of Servius
Tullius, who commenced his reign 577 B.C.—B.
[1488] “Accensus;” he was one of the public servants of the
magistrates, and was so called from his office of summoning the people
to the public meetings (acciere).—B.
[1489] See also B. xxxiii. c. 6. This was a place in Rome appropriated
to the Greek ambassadors; it is mentioned by Cicero, in a letter to his
brother, Quintus, B. ii. c. 1.—B. It stood on the right side of the
Comitium, being allotted to the Greeks from the allied states, for the
purpose of hearing the debates in the comitia curiata.
[1490] This column is supposed to have stood near the end of the
Forum, on the Capitoline Hill. It was C. Mænius (in whose honour it
was erected) who defeated the Antiates, and adorned the Forum with
the “rostra,” or beaks of their ships, from which the “rostrum,” or
orator’s stage, took its name. His statue was placed on the column. He
was consul in B.C. 338. See B. xxxiv. c. 11.
[1491] Hardouin supposes that this event took place in the consulship
of Papirius Cursor, A.U.C. 461, B.C. 292. According to the commonly
received Chronology, Pyrrhus came into Italy, B.C. 280, twelve years
after the consulship of Papirius Cursor.—B.
[1492] According to Censorinus, in his treatise, De Die Natali, it
was difficult to decide which was the most ancient dial in Rome; some
writers agreeing with Pliny, that it was the one in the Temple of
Quirinus, others that in the Capitol, and others the one in the Temple
of Diana, on the Aventine.—B.
[1493] Marcus conjectures, that this account of the dial was contained
in the work of Varro, De Rebus Humanis, referred to by Aulus Gellius,
B. iii. c. 2, but not now extant.—B.
[1494] Owing to the circumstance of the dial having been adapted to the
latitude of Catina, now Catania, about four degrees south of Rome.—B.
[1495] Vitruvius describes this instrument. Marcus, Ajasson, vol.
vi. pp. 218, 219, gives us an account of two kinds of clepsydræ, or
water-clocks, which were constructed by the Greeks.—B. See also the
account of clocks in Beckmann’s History of Inventions, vol. i.
[1496] See end of B. iii.
[1497] He was a contemporary of the Gracchi, and was author of a
History of Rome, down to B.C. 145 at least; supposed to have been very
voluminous and full in its details of the legendary history of the
Roman nation. Livy probably borrowed extensively from it.
[1498] See end of B. ii.
[1499] A hearer of Ateius Capito, and celebrated as a jurist under
Tiberius and later emperors. From him a school of legists, called the
Sabiniani, took their rise. He wrote some works on the Civil Law.
Pliny quotes him, as we have seen, in c. 4, to show the possibility of
gestation being to the thirteenth month.
[1500] Daughter of the elder Agrippina and Germanicus, and the mother
of Nero. Her memoirs of her life are quoted by Tacitus, but we have no
remains of them.
[1501] The great Roman orator and philosopher.
[1502] A distinguished orator, poet, and historian of the Augustan
age. He was an active partisan of Cæsar, and the patron of Horace and
Virgil, whose property he saved from confiscation. He wrote a history
of the civil war in seventeen books, but none of his works have come
down to us. His tragedies are highly spoken of by Virgil and Horace.
[1503] See end of B. ii.
[1504] Nothing whatever seems to be known relative to this author, who
is mentioned in c. 53 of this Book. See the Note to that passage.
[1505] See end of B. ii.
[1506] The author of the Æneid and the Georgics, the friend of
Augustus, Pollio, and Mæcenas, one of the most virtuous men of ancient
time, and the greatest probably of the Latin poets.
[1507] See end of B. vi.
[1508] Cremutius Cordus, a Roman historian, who was impeached before
Tiberius, by two of his clients, for having praised Brutus, and styled
Cassius “the last of the Romans,” his real offence being the freedom
with which, in his work, he had spoken against Sejanus. He starved
himself to death, and the senate ordered his works to be burnt. Some
copies, however, were preserved by his daughter, Marcia, and his
friends.
[1509] C. Mæcenas Melissus, a native of Spoletum. He was of free birth,
but exposed in his infancy, and presented to be reared by Mæcenas. He
was afterwards manumitted, and obtained the favour of Augustus, who
employed him to arrange the library in the portico of Octavia. At an
advanced age he commenced the composition of a collection of jokes and
bon-mots. He also wrote plays of a novel character, which he styled
“Trabeatæ.”
[1510] See end of B. ii.
[1511] A. Cornelius Celsus, the celebrated writer on medicine. Little
is known of his age or origin, or even his profession. It is supposed,
however, that he lived in the time of Augustus and Tiberius. His
treatises on Medicine and Surgery are still used as hand-books for the
medical student, and his style is much admired for its purity.
[1512] Or Valerius Maximus. He is supposed to have lived in the time of
Tiberius, and wrote nine books on memorable deeds and sayings, which
still survive, and are replete with curious information.
[1513] Trogus Pompeius, the Roman Historian, on whose work Justin
founded his history. His grandfather, who was of the Gaulish tribe of
the Vocontii, received the citizenship of Rome during the war against
Sertorius; and his father was a private secretary of Julius Cæsar.
Except as set forth in the pages of Justin, no portion of his history,
except a few scattered fragments, exists. The quotations from him in
Pliny, are thought to have been all taken from a treatise of his, “De
Animalibus,” mentioned by Charisius, and not from his historical works.
[1514] See end of B. vi.
[1515] The friend and correspondent of Cicero, descended from one
of the most ancient equestrian families of Rome. His surname was,
probably, given to him from his long residence at Athens, and his
intimate acquaintance with the Greek language and literature. Though,
generally, of a virtuous character, he neglected no means of making
money, and was, consequently, a man of great opulence. He wrote a book
of Annals, or rather an Epitome of Roman History, which, like the rest
of his works, has perished.
[1516] He lived in the time of Augustus and Tiberius, and is mentioned
by the Eusebian Chronicle, as becoming blind in his seventy-third year,
during the reign of Vespasian, and attaining the age of eighty-five.
He wrote a work on the Life of Sallust, another on the Censurers of
Virgil, and commentaries on the speeches of Cicero, of which alone
a few portions are still extant, and are of considerable value in a
historical as well as a grammatical point of view.
[1517] Probably Papirius Fabianus. See end of B. ii.
[1518] See end of B. iii.
[1519] See end of B. v.
[1520] Nothing whatever is known relative to this author.
[1521] See end of B. ii.
[1522] He is said to have written an epic poem, called Arimaspeia, full
of marvellous stories respecting the Arimaspi and the golden regions.
See c. 2 of the present Book, and Note [1319] in p. 211, where some
further particulars relative to him will be found.
[1523] See end of B. v.
[1524] He was a native of Nicæa, in Bithynia, and the author of some
works, characterized as being full of incredible stories. Cyril,
however, says, that he was born at Cittium, and Gellius styles him a
writer of no small authority. He is generally looked upon as belonging
to the class of writers called Paradoxographi.
[1525] See end of B. iv.
[1526] Or Agatharchus, a Greek grammarian of Cnidos. He was, as we
learn from Strabo, attached to the Peripatetic school of philosophy,
and wrote several historical and geographical works. He was living in
the reign of Ptolemy Philometer, who died B.C. 146. His works, which
were very numerous, are enumerated by Photius.
[1527] See end of B. iii.
[1528] See end of B. ii.
[1529] See end of B. iii.
[1530] Strabo, in B. ii. speaks of a Periplus of Europe, written by a
person of this name. There was also a physician called Apollonides, a
native of Cos, who practised at the court of Artaxerxes Longimanus,
where he was eventually put to death.
[1531] A Greek historian of the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes, and said by
different authors to have been a native of Athens, Naucratis in Egypt,
and Sicyon. He wrote a work on history, of considerable value, though
his credit as an historian has been violently attacked by Polybius.
[1532] Of Cyrene, an author of uncertain date. He wrote a work on the
philosophers.
[1533] See end of B. v.
[1534] See end of B. ii.
[1535] Nothing is known of this writer.
[1536] For Eudoxus of Cnidos, see end of B. ii: and for Eudoxus of
Cyzicus, see end of B. vi.
[1537] See end of B. ii.
[1538] See end of B. vi.
[1539] Of Samos, a descendant of Alcibiades, who flourished in the time
of Ptolemy Philadelphus. When a boy, he gained a pugilistic victory at
Olympia. He eventually became tyrant of Samos; but nothing further is
known of his career. From what Pliny says, in c. 40. of B. iii., he is
supposed to have been living in the year B.C. 281. He was the author of
a history of Greece, and other historical works, of which, however, we
possess no remains.
[1540] See end of B. ii.
[1541] Of Cos, the father of the medical art, and in many respects the
most celebrated physician of ancient or modern times. It is supposed
that he flourished in the fifth century before Christ. A great number
of medical works, still extant, have been attributed to him: but there
were many other physicians who either had, or assumed, this name.
[1542] Of Prusa, in Bithynia. He is mentioned in c. 37 of this Book.
See Note [1170] in p. 183.
[1543] Of Ascra, in Bœotia, the earliest of the Greek poets, with the
exception of Homer. His surviving works, are his “Works and Days,” and
the “Theogony.”
[1544] Of Teos, in Asia Minor, famous for his amatory and lyric poems;
he died at the age of eighty-five. Pliny mentions the supposed mode of
his death, in c. 5, of the present Book.
[1545] See end of B. ii.
[1546] See end of B. iv.
[1547] See end of B. iv.
[1548] See end of B. iv.
[1549] See end of B. ii.
[1550] A priest of Belus, at Babylonia, and a historian of the time of
Alexander the Great. He wrote a History of Babylonia, of which some
fragments are preserved by the ecclesiastical writers.
[1551] See end of B. ii.
[1552] See end of B. ii.
[1553] See end of B. iii.
[1554] See end of B. iv.
[1555] See end of B. iv.
[1556] See end of B. ii.
[1557] An Athenian, who wrote a history of Greece and Sicily in
twenty-six or twenty-seven books, coming down to B.C. 298, from which
time Psaon of Platæa continued it.
[1558] Of Lampsacus, a Peripatetic philosopher, and tutor of Ptolemy
Philadelphus. He succeeded Theophrastus, B.C. 288, as head of that
school. He devoted himself to the study of natural science, and appears
to have held a pantheistic system of philosophy. By Cudworth, Leibnitz,
and others, he has been charged with atheism. The “Euremata” of
Ephorus, here mentioned, was a book which treated of inventions.
[1559] See end of B. iv.
[1560] Of Tragilus, in Thrace, a disciple and contemporary of
Isocrates. His book, here mentioned, treated on the subjects chosen by
the Greek tragic writers, and the manner in which they had dealt with
them.
[1561] Of Cyrene, the friend or disciple of Callimachus. He flourished
under Ptolemy Philadelphus, about B.C. 249. He wrote works on places
in Asia, on Rivers, and on Islands; but none of his compositions have
survived.
[1562] A native of Magnesia, who wrote on rhetoric and history,
probably in the early part of the third century B.C. Strabo speaks but
slightingly of him; and Cicero and Dionysius of Halicarnassus agree in
looking upon him as a downright blockhead. Upon the other hand, Varro
rather admires his style. The history of Alexander the Great was his
favourite theme; and he is represented by Aulus Gellius as dealing
rather largely in the marvellous.
[1563] Mentioned by Athenæus as having written a history of Eubœa.
[1564] See end of B. iii.; and see c. 31 of the present Book,
and Note [1133] in p. 175.
[1565] Nothing whatever appears to be known of this writer.
[1566] See end of B. iv.
[1567] See end of B. iii.
[1568] See end of B. iv.
[1569] See end of B. ii.
[1570] Cuvier remarks, that this account of its superior intelligence
is exaggerated, it being no greater than that of the dog, if, indeed,
equal to it. The opinion may perhaps have arisen from the dexterity
with which the animal uses its trunk; but this is to be ascribed not
to its own intelligence, but to the mechanical construction of the
part. The Indians, from whom we may presume that Pliny derived his
account, have always regarded the elephant with a kind of superstitious
veneration.—B.
[1571] Some would read this “Amilo,” and others “Annulo.” Hardouin
considers it the same with the river Valo, which is mentioned by
Ptolemy, B. iv. c. 1, and said to have its rise in the mountains known
as the Seven Brothers, and mentioned in B. v. c. 1.
[1572] “Præ se ferentes,” probably alluding to the use which the animal
makes of its trunk in seizing and carrying bodies.—B.
[1573] “Alienæ religionis.” The meaning of this is doubtful. It may
mean “differences in religion,” or “religious feeling in others,” or
perhaps, to judge from the context, “the religious regard for their
oath which others feel.”
[1574] “Veluti tellure precibus alligata,” one of the harsh
metaphorical expressions occasionally occurring in Pliny, which it is
very difficult to translate, and even perhaps fully to comprehend.—B.
[1575] “Nothi.”
[1576] Cuvier remarks, that there are two kinds of elephants, one of
which attains sixteen feet, and is chiefly known in Cochin China and
Tonquin, while those that are domesticated in India are seldom more
than half that height. They are supposed, however, to be only varieties
of the same species. Pliny, in B. vi. c. 22, gives an account of the
uses which the Indians made of the elephant, and of their different
sizes, but he does not state there that it is the smaller ones only
that are employed in agriculture.—B.
[1577] Plutarch informs us, that Pompey had resolved to have his
chariot drawn by four elephants, but finding the gate too narrow, he
was obliged to use horses.—B.
[1578] See an account of this, and of the feats performed by the
elephants, in Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. ii. c. 11.—B.
[1579] The Pyrrhic dance has been referred to in the last Book, c. 57.
p. 231. It is not improbable that the elephants employed in this dance
were caparisoned with armour.
[1580] However ill adapted the elephant may appear, from its size and
form, for this feat, we have the testimony of Seneca, Suetonius, Dion
Cassius, and Julian, to the truth of the fact.—B.
[1581] Plutarch, in his treatise on the Shrewdness of Animals, tells us
that this wonderful circumstance happened at Rome.
[1582] “Eadem illa meditantem,” is the expression. It would be curious
to know in what way the elephant showed that he was “conning” over his
lesson.
[1583] Suetonius is supposed to allude to this circumstance.—B. He
tells us that a horseman ascended a tight rope on an elephant’s back.
[1584] Ælian informs us, that he had seen an elephant write Latin
characters. Hardouin remarks, that the Greek would be Αὐτὸς ἐγὼ τάδ’
ἔγραψα, λαφυρά τε Κελτ’ ἀνέθηκα.
[1585] See B. iii. c. 9.
[1586] As to the tusks of the elephant, no doubt the opinion of
Herodotus, B. iii. c. 97, is correct, that they are teeth, and not
horns. They are essentially composed of the same substance with the
other teeth, and, like them, are inserted into the jaw, and not into
the os frontis, as is the case with horns.—B.
[1587] Not improbably, the great quantity of fossil ivory which has
been found, may have given rise to this tale. We have in Lemaire,
vol. iii. p. 581, a long extract from Cuvier’s “_Recherches sur les
ossements fossiles_,” in which he gives an account of the parts of the
world in which the bones of the elephant have been discovered.—B.
[1588] Tables and bedsteads were not only covered or veneered with
ivory among the Romans, but, in the later times, made of the solid
material, as we learn from Ælian and Athenæus.
[1589] Plutarch, in his treatise on the Shrewdness of Animals, gives
the same statement respecting the whiteness of the teeth in the young
animal.—B.
[1590] It is scarcely necessary to remark, that these statements
respecting the sagacity of the elephant in connection with their teeth,
are without foundation.—B.
[1591] The word employed is _vestigium_; it is explained by Ælian to
refer to the herbage, which has received both the visible impression as
well as the odour of the foot.—B.
[1592] In the case of a footstep, this must mean the ground with which
the foot has come in contact.
[1593] It is a general opinion, and one founded upon observations of
daily occurrence, that animals have an instinctive dread of man. We
have, however, facts stated by travellers of undoubted veracity, which
would lead to an opposite conclusion. One of the most remarkable is
the account which Denham gives of the tameness of the birds in Lake
Tchad.—B.
[1594] Cuvier observes, that this is correct; see Ajasson, vol. vi. p.
408, and Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 338.—B.
[1595] “Novere ea.” It is doubtful whether these words do not mean
something more than merely “knew their names,” as Hardouin explains it,
for that would be nothing wonderful in an elephant. On the other hand,
to say that they were aware of the honour which had been conferred on
them, in giving the names of famous men, would be to make a statement
which exceeds belief; for how could the elephants _show_ that they
appreciated this honour, even supposing that they did appreciate it?
Pliny’s elliptical style repeatedly gives rise to doubts of this nature.
[1596] “Phaleris.” See Notes to B. vii. c. 29, p. 170.
[1597] Pliny informs us, in B. xxii. c. 4, that this was done by those
conquered in battle.—B.
[1598] We may conclude, from the account given by Aristotle, Hist.
Anim. B. v. c. 2, and by Ælian, B. viii. c. 17, that this opinion
was generally adopted by the ancients.—B. We learn from Cuvier, who
mentions the results of M. Corse’s observations, that there is no such
modesty in the elephant, and that the two at the Museum of Natural
History at Paris gave proof of the fact.
[1599] This is erroneous; the males do not arrive at puberty before the
females, which takes place about the fourteenth or fifteenth year. In
the elephant which was under the inspection of M. Corse, the period of
gestation was between twenty and twenty-one months, so that there may
be some foundation for the biennial period, but the term of five days
is entirely imaginary. Aristotle makes the interval three years.—B.
[1600] There is a passage in Suetonius, in his Life of Augustus, and
one in Macrobius, where the custom of offering pieces of money to
elephants, which they took up with the proboscis, is referred to.—B.
[1601] In the Epitome of Livy, B. xiii., it is said, that Valerius
Corvinus was unsuccessful in his engagements with Pyrrhus, in
consequence of the terror produced by the elephants.—B.
[1602] Varro, De Ling. Lat. B. vi. calls the elephant “Lucas bos,” “the
Lucanian ox,” from the fact of this large quadruped being first seen by
the Romans in the Lucanian army.—B.
[1603] According to Seneca, Manius Curius Dentatus was the first who
exhibited elephants in his triumph over Pyrrhus. See also Florus, B. i.
c. 18.—B.
[1604] There are coins extant struck to commemorate this victory, in
which there is the figure of an elephant.—B.
[1605] The number of elephants brought to Rome by Metellus is
differently stated; Florus, B. ii., says that they were “about a
hundred;” in the Epitome of Livy, B. xix., they are one hundred and
twenty, and the same number is mentioned by Seneca.—B.
[1606] Who were their allies, or rather vassals; for in such case, they
might make a dangerous use of them.
[1607] Val. Maximus, B. ix. c. 2, gives an account of the brutality
of Hannibal on this occasion, in forcing the Roman captives to fight
against each other, until only one was left; but he does not make
mention of the combat with the elephant.—B.