3655. _Swetonius_; this refers to the Lives of the Twelve Caesars by
Suetonius; but it would be a mistake to suppose that Chaucer has followed
his account very closely. Our poet seems to have had a habit of mentioning
authorities whom he did not _immediately_ follow, by which he seems to have
meant no more than that they were good authorities upon the subject. Here,
for instance, he merely means that we can find in Suetonius a good account
of Nero, which will give us all minor details. But in reality he draws the
story more immediately from other sources, especially from Boccaccio, De
Casibus Virorum, lib. vii. cap. 4, from the Roman de la Rose, and from
Boethius, de Cons. Philos. lib. ii. met. 6, and lib. iii. met. 4. The
English Romaunt of the Rose does not contain the passage about Nero, but it
is interesting to refer to Chaucer's translation of Boethius. Vincent of
Beauvais has an account of Nero, in his Speculum Historiale, lib. ix. capp.
1-7, in which he chiefly follows Suetonius. See also Orosius, lib. vii. 7,
and Eutropius, lib. vii.
3657. _South_; the MSS. have _North_, but it is fair to make the
correction, as Chaucer certainly knew the sense of _Septemtrioun_, and the
expression is merely borrowed from the Roman de la Rose, ed. Méon, l. 6271,
where we read,
'Cis desloiaus, que ge ci di;
Et d'Orient et de _Midi_,
D'Occident, de Septentrion
Tint il la juridicion.'
And, in his Boethius, after saying that Nero ruled from East to West, he
adds--'And eke þis Nero gouernede by Ceptre alle þe peoples þat ben vndir
þe colde sterres þat hy[gh]ten þe seuene triones; þis is to seyn, he
gouernede alle þe poeples þat ben vndir þe parties of þe norþe. And eke
Nero gouerned alle þe poeples þat þe violent wynde Nothus scorchiþ, and
bakiþ þe brennynge sandes by his drie hete; þat is to seyne, alle þe
poeples in þe _souþe_'; ed. Morris, p. 55 (cf. vol. ii. p. 45).
3663. From Suetonius; cf. Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer, ii. 285.
3665. This is from Suetonius, who says--'Piscatus est rete aurato, purpura
coccoque funibus nexis'; cap. xxx. So also Orosius, vii. 7; Eutropius, vii.
9.
3669. This passage follows Boethius, bk. ii. met. 6, very closely, as is
evident by comparing it with Chaucer's translation (see vol. ii. p. 44).
'He leet brenne the citee of Rome, and made sleen the senatoures. And he,
cruel, whylom slew his brother. And he was maked [243] moist with the blood
of his moder; that is to seyn, he leet sleen and slitten the body of his
moder, to seen wher he was conceived; and he loked on every halve upon her
colde dede body; ne no tere ne wette his face; but he was so hard-herted
that he mighte ben domesman, or Iuge, of hir dede beautee.... Allas, it is
a grevous fortune, as ofte as wikked swerd is ioigned to cruel venim; that
is to seyn, venimous crueltee to lordshippe.' Thus Chaucer himself explains
_domesman_ (l. 3680) by _Iuge_, i. e. judge. In the same line _ded-è_ is
dissyllabic.
3685. _a maister_; i. e. Seneca, mentioned below by name. In the year 65,
Nero, wishing to be rid of his old master, sent him an order to destroy
himself. Seneca opened a vein, but the blood would not flow freely;
whereupon, to expedite its flow, he entered into a warm bath, and thence
was taken into a vapour stove, where he was suffocated. 'Nero constreynede
Senek, his familier and his mayster, to chesen on what deeth he wolde
deyen'; Chaucer's Boethius, lib. iii. pr. 5. 34 (vol. ii. 63).
3692. 'It was long before tyranny or any other vice durst attack him';
literally, 'durst let dogs loose against him.' To _uncouple_ is to release
dogs from the leash that fastened them together; see P. Pl. B. pr. 206.
Compare--
'At the _uncoupling_ of his houndes.'
Book of the Duchesse, l. 377.
'The laund on which they fought, th' appointed place
In which th' _uncoupled_ hounds began the chace.'
Dryden; Palamon and Arcite, bk. ii. l. 845.
3720. 'Where he expected to find some who would aid him.' Suetonius
says--'ipse cum paucis hospitia singulorum adiit. Verum clausis omnium
foribus, respondente nullo, in cubiculum rediit,' &c.; cap. xlvii. He
afterwards escaped to the villa of his freedman Phaon, four miles from
Rome, where he at length gave himself a mortal wound in the extremity of
his despair. Cf. Rom. de la Rose, 6459-76.
3736. _girden of_, to strike off; cf. '_gurdeth_ of gyles hed,' P. Pl. B.
ii. 201. A _gird_ is also a sharp striking taunt or quip.--M.