369. _corniculere_, a sort of officer. The note in Bell's edition, that the
French version has _prevost_ here, is wrong. The word _prevost_ (Lat.
_praefectus_) is applied to Almachius. Maximus was only a subordinate
officer, and is called in the Early Eng. version (MS. Ashmole 43) the
'gailer.' The expression 'Maximo Corniculario' occurs only in the Lives of
Valerian and Tiburtius, in the Acta Sanctorum (April 14); and we thus
gather that Chaucer consulted this source also. This was noticed by Dr.
Kölbing, in the Englische Studien, i. 215; and I subsequently noticed it
myself, independently.
Riddle's Lat. Dict. gives--'_Cornicularius_, -i. m. a soldier who was
presented with a _corniculum_, and by means of it promoted to a higher
rank; hence, _an assistant of an officer_, Suetonius, Domit. 17; then also
in the civil service, _an assistant of a magistrate, a clerk, registrar,
secretary_; Cod. Just.'
'_Corniculum_, -i. n. (dimin. of _cornu_). 1. _A little horn_, Pliny; also,
_a small funnel of horn_, Columella. _An ornament in the shape of a horn
worn on the helmet_, with which officers presented meritorious soldiers;
Livy, 10. 44.'
Ducange gives several examples, shewing that the word commonly meant a
secretary, clerk, or registrar. Tyrwhitt refers us to Pitiscus, Lex. Ant.
Rom. s. v. _Cornicularius_.
373. 'He got leave for himself from the executioners.' _tormentoures_,
executioners; Lat. 'carnifices.' See l. 527. Cf. _tormentor_ in Matt,
xviii. 34; see Wright's Bible Word-book.
380. _preestes_, priests. The original says that pope Urban came himself.
[412]
383. _knightes_, soldiers; as in l. 353. Lat. 'Eia milites Christi, abicite
opera tenebrarum, et induimini arma lucis.' See Rom. xiii. 12.
386. Tyrwhitt notes a slight defect in the use of _y-doon_ in l. 386,
followed by _doon_ in l. 387. The first six lines in this stanza are not in
the original, but are imitated from 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8.
395. 'This was the criterion. The Christians were brought to the image of
Jupiter or of the Emperor, and commanded to join in the sacrifice, by
eating part of it, or to throw a few grains of incense into the censer, in
token of worship; if they refused, they were put to death. See Pliny's
celebrated letter to Trajan. Those who complied were termed _sacrificati_
and _thurificati_ by the canons, and were excluded from the communion for
seven or ten years, or even till their death, according to the
circumstances of their lapse.--See Bingham's Antiquities, b. xvi. 4.
5.'--Note in Bell's edition of Chaucer. Cf. note to l. 365.
This stanza is represented in the original (in spite of the hint in l. 394)
by only a few words. 'Quarto igitur milliario ab urbe sancti ad statuam
Iovis ducuntur, et dum sacrificare nollent, pariter decollantur.'
405. _to-bete_, beat severely; _dide him so to-bete_, caused (men) to beat
him so severely, caused him to be so severely beaten. I have no hesitation
in adopting the reading of ed. 1532 here. _To-bete_ is just the right word,
and occurs in MSS. Cp. Pt. Ln.; and, though these MSS. are not the best
ones, it is clear that _to-bete_ is the original reading, or it would not
appear. To scan the line, slur over _-ius_ in _Almachius_, and accent
_dide_.
406. _whippe of leed_, i. e. a whip furnished with leaden plummets. Lat.
'eum plumbatis tamdiu caedi fecit,' &c.; French text--'il le fist tant
batre de plombees,' &c.; Caxton--'he dyd do bete hym with plomettes of
leed.'