Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Iliinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates ' r https://archive.org/details/gallusorromansce00beck_0 NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION OF RICH’S ILLUSTRATED CLASSICAL DICTIONARY. Now ready, in One thick Volume, crown 8vo., price 7s. 6d, cloth, A DICTIONARY OF EOIAN AND GREEK ANTIQUITIES. With about 2,000 Engravings on Wood from Ancient Originals Illustrative of the Industrial Arts and Social Life of the Greeks and Romans. By a. rich, B.A. SOMETIME OF CAIUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. Third Edition, revised and improved. As the title of this edition states that the work has been revised and improved, the Author thinks it right to explain exactly what is meant by that announcement, lest it should he understood as a mere conventional formula, or as implying either more or less than is intended. Large additions or material altera- tions are not to be expected. But the pages have been submitted to a care- ful revision throughout; and such changes or improvements introduced as a fresh perusal of them after many years might suggest. If anything seemed redundant, it has been re- trenched ; if deficient, more fully set out ; if matters upon which the opin- ions of scholars differ appeared to have been affirmed somewhat too posi- tively, such affirmations have been modified; if with too much hesita- tion, greater decision has been ex- pressed; and, in general, if the lan- guage in which any explanation or description was conveyed seemed in- volved or confused, it has been studi- ously corrected in order to render it clear, precise, and free from ambiguity. The Greek Synonyms and the In- dex to them have received some con- siderable additions ; and some few additional illustrations have been in- troduced from originals discovered in excavations made since the previous publication, or which were at that time unknown to the Author, or had escaped his memory. Some few arti- cles have likewise been added ; and others have had more matter intro- duced into them, if interesting in itself ; but always with extreme care, so as not to destroy the original de- sign, which was to produce a large book in a small compass, entitled to take its rank as an authority amongst scholars, and be a safe guide to the student, whilst it would serve no less as a manual of ready reference for artists, archaeologists, and all who in- terest themselves about the history and manners of bygone ages ; and especially of those two great and gifted families of the human race to whom our modern civilization is so largely indebted. London: LONGMANS and CO., Paternoster Eow. PItOFESSOB RAWLINSON’S NEW WORK. In 8vo. with Maps and Illustrations, price I65. cloth, THE SIXTH OEIENTAL lOMRCHY; OR, THE GEOGEAPHY, HISTORY, AND ANTIQUITIES OE PARTHIA. COLLECTED AND ILLUSTRATED FROM ANCIENT AND MODERN SOURCES. By GEOBGE BAWLINSON, M.A. Camden Professor of Ancient History in the University of Oxford, and Canon of Canterbury , OPINIONS of ‘ A book which it is a duty to read atten- tively.’ Conservative. ‘ The author works out in detail a very in- teresting account of the history of Parthia, showing its position, its relation to surround- ing nations, the probable origin of its people, and its efforts in opposition to the Romans.’ Oxford Undergraduates’ Journal. ‘ It is quite a pleasure to read this book ; for the style of the author is clear and concise, and the meaning is conveyed in simple sentences, which “ he who runs may read.” Another ad- vantage is that the text gives so much contem- porary history of the other surrounding states. The book will undoubtedly be well re- ceived, as it is a careful history of a period and of a nation about which little has hitherto been known ; and it is with the assurance that those who read it will gain both pleasure and profit that we recommend its perusal.’ OXFORD Undergraduates’ journal. Second Notice. ‘ Professor Rawlinson’s History of the Par- thians is undoubtedly a permanent addition to one of the most important sections of our his- torical library The early days of this singular people, the peculiar complications arising out of the death of Alexander the Great, and the constant struggle with neighbouring states, are graphically, often eloquently, nar- rated, and the very complicated succession of the Parthian sovereigns is presented to the reader in the clearest guise. "The chapters devoted to the long and obstinate struggle with Rome are especially good. In particular, the entire account of the ill-fated expedition of Crassus is admirable, being extremely lucid in the arrange- ment of events and picturesque in detail, with- out in any case sacrificing historical accuracy for the sake of mere rhetorical effect. The description of the decisive conflict is very spirited Some very interesting chap- ters on the architecture and internal policy of the Parthians are appended.’ ASIATIC. tU PRESS ‘ The pages of this volume afford an ample store of interesting facts and learned disqui- sitions. The work will be found to present features of peculiar interest at the present moment, when territorial boundaries are in dis- pute, inasmuch as the Parthian Empire com- prised precisely that large tract of country extending from the Hindoo Koosh to the Eu- phrates, within which all the divisions, bound- aries, and landmarks now contested are situ- ated.’ Globe. ‘ In this valuable book Prof. Rawlinson gives us a further contribution to that study of Oriental History on which his untiring labour and great erudition have thrown so much light. To the five great Monarchies treated of in his former work, which has taken a permanent place in English literature, he now adds a sixth— that of Parthia. While his present volume thus serves as a continuation of the History of the East, he also intends it as a sup- plement to the Ancient History of the West. To vindicate the true position of Par- thia in the world’s history as a rival of Rome has been the author’s main incentive in the preparation of a volume which possesses the further advantage of being yet another link in a chain of historical records which he has made peculiarly his own.’ John Bull. ‘ Parthia proper was, as nearly as can now be ascertained, co-extensive with the modern Persian province of Khorassan. Of its capital only the name, Hecatompylos, survives. The Parthians were not a literary people, and their history was, therefore, written by their enemies. Their language is lost, and their only remain- ing records are ruins and coins. Professor Rawlinson, in his Manual of Ancient History, began the work of restoring them to their pro- per place, alongside of the Romans ; and in this volume he completes it, by bringing together in the form of a connected history, all that is known of them. It is needless to say that the book is a permanent addition to historical lite- rature ; though the revived interest in the Cen- tral Asian question gives it especial attraction at the present moment.’ Daily News. London: LONGMANS and CO., Paternoster Eow ROMAN SCENES OF THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS. New Edition, in post 8vo, price 75. CHAEICLES, a Tale illustrative of Private Life among the Ancient Greeks; with Notes and Excur- suses. Edited by the Rev. F. Metcalfe, M.A., from the German of Professor Beckeb. London : LONGMANS and CO. G A L L U S OR ROMAN SCENES OF THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS. WITH NOTES AND EXCURSUSES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE ROMANS. BY PROFESSOR W. A. BECKER. TRANSLATED BY THE REV. FREDERICK METCALFE, M.A. FELLOW OF LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD, AND HEAD MASTER OF BRIGHTON COLLEGE. FIFTE EDITION. LONDON : LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 1876. GALLUS ET HESPERUS ET GALLUS NOTES EOIS ET SUA CUM GALLO NOTA LYCORTS ERAT. {Ovid.) Mo '^/ 3.37 f3 ADVEETISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION. CINCE the appearance of the first edition of Gallus in an English form, its learned author, as well as the veteran Hermann of Leipsic, to whom he dedicated his Charicles, have been numbered with the dead, while the irreparable loss thus sustained by the literary world was heightened by the decease, soon after, of OreUi at Zurich. At the period of his too early removal. Professor Becker was engaged in collecting the materials for a second improved and enlarged edition of Gallus : the task of completing which was consigned to Professor Eein of Eisenach, and the deceased's papers placed at his disposal. ^Besides interweaving in the work these posthumous notes, the new editor has likewise added very much valuable ^ matter of his own, correcting errors where they occurred, ^ throwing new light on obscure points of criticism or an- , tiquarian knowledge, and, where the explanations were ^too brief, giving them greater development. He has further adopted the plan of the English editor, ^whereby the Excursuses were thrown together at the 4 end, so as not to interfere with the even tenor of the ^^arrative ; and the woodcuts removed from the end to ^their proper place in the body of the text. Much matter nas also been extracted from the notes and embodied in ^the Appendix. Ihese changes have given a unity, con- A ADVERTISEMENT. tI secutiveness, and completeness to the work which must materially enhance its literary value. Indeed, so great have been the alterations and additions, and there has been so much transposition and remodelling, that this English edition has required nearly as much time and labour as the preceding one. By the advice of friends many of the citations have now been given at length. The Excursus on the Buhlerinnen has been entirely omitted. It may be added, that the first edition having been for some time exhausted, in order to lose as little time as possible, the proof-sheets were, by the kindness of the German publisher, forwarded to this country as they issued from the press. The editor may be permitted to observe, in conclusion, that he is glad to find from the extensive circulation of GaUiis in this country and Ame- rica, as well as from the opinions of the press, that the praise he ventured to bestow on the work has been fully borne out. Bkightox: Maij , 1849. TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE. ^ALLUS Oder Bomische Scenen aus der Zeit Augusts ^ — such is the German title of Professor Becker’s work — was published at Leipsic in 1838. The novelty of its conception, the comparatively fresh ground it broke in the field of Roman Antiquities, and the exceeding erudi- tion brought to bear on the subject, at once arrested the attention of German scholars, and it has ever since been considered, what its author ventured to hope it would be, ‘ a desirable repertory of whatever is most worth knowing about the private life of the Romans.’ Soon after its publication, a very lengthened and eulogistic critique ap- peared in the Times London newspaper ; and as it seldom happens that that Journal can find space in its columns for notices of this description, no little weight was attached to the circumstance, and a proportionate interest created in the work. Proposals were immediately made for publishing it in an English dress, and the book was adver- tised accordingly; but unforeseen difficulties intervened, arising from the peculiar nature of the work, and the plan was ultimately abandoned. In fact, in order to render the book successful in England, it was absolutely necessary that it should be somehow divested of its very German appearance, which, how palatable soever it might be to the author’s own b Yiii TEANSLATOR’S PEEFACE. countrymen, would have been caviare to the generality of English readers. For instance, instead of following each other uninterruptedly, the Scenes were separated by a profound gulf of Notes and Excursuses, which, if plunged into, was quite sufficient to drown the interest of the tale. The present translator was advised to attempt certain alterations, and he was encouraged to proceed with the task by the very favourable opinion which some of our most distiuguished scholars entertained of the original, and their desire that it should be introduced into this country. The notes have been accordingly transported from their intercalary position, and set at the foot of the pages in the narrative to which they refer. The Scenes therefore succeed each other uninterruptedly, so that the thread of the story is rendered continuous, and disen- tangled from the maze of learning with which the Excur- suses abound. These, in their turn, have been thrown together in an Appendix, and will doubtless prove a very substantial caput coence to those who shall have first dis- cussed the lighter portion of the repast. In addition to these changes, which it is hoped will meet with approba- tion, much curtailment has been resorted to, and the two volumes of the original compressed into one. In order to effect this, the numerous passages from Roman and Greek authors have, in many instances, been only referred to, and not given at length ; matters of minor importance have been occasionally omitted, and more abstruse points of disquisition not entered into. Those who may feel an interest in further inquiry, are referred to the Professor’s work, in four volumes, on Roman Antiquities, now in course of publication in Germany. At the same time, care has been taken not to leave out any essential fact. TEANSLATOE’S PEEFACE. IX The narrative, in spite of the author’s modest esti- mate of this section of his labours, is really very interest- ing, nay, wonderfully so, considering the narrow limits he had prescribed for himself, and his careful avoidance of anything not founded on fact, or bearing the semblance of fiction. The idea of making an interesting story the basis of his exposition, and of thus ^ strewing with flowers the path of dry antiquity,’ is most judicious. We .have here a flesh and blood picture of the Roman, as he lived and moved, thought and acted, worth more a thousand times than the disjecta membra, the dry skeleton, to be found in such books as Adam’s Roman Antiquities, and others of the same nature, which, however erudite, are vastly uninviting. In conclusion, the translator will be abundantly satis- fied if, by his poor instrumentality, the English student shall have become acquainted with a most instructive work, and thus his mind stimulated to the further inves- tigation of a subject fraught with peculiar fascination — the domestic habits and manners of the most remarkable people of antiquity. London: May, 1844. AUTHOR’S PREFACE. rriHERE was once a period, when no portion of classic lore was more zealously cultivated than the study of Antiquities, by which is meant everything appertaining to the political institutions, worship, and houses, of the ancients. Though the two former of these are the most important, in an historical, point of view, yet objects of domestic antiquity excited still greater attention ; and as it was evident that on the understanding of them depended the correct interpretation of ancient authors, the smallest minutiae were deemed worthy of investigation. The greatest philologists of the sixteenth and seven- teenth centuries, such men as Lipsius, Casaubonus, and Salmasius, took great delight in this particular branch of archaeology. The last-mentioned scholar has, in his Exer- citt. ad SoUnum, in the notes to the Scriptt, Hist, AugustcBy and TertuUian, Be Pallio, as well as elsewhere, displayed his usual acumen and erudition. And although more recent discoveries have often set him right in the explanation of manners and customs, still his must always be considered as a rich compilation of most judiciously chosen materials. It however soon became apparent that written ac- counts were frequently insufficient; and, as monuments were gradually brought to light from amidst the rubbish AUTHOR’S PREFACE. xii that hid them, their importance grew- more and more manifest. These witnesses of departed grandeur and mag- nificence, of early habits and customs, were canvassed with increasing animation ; and, in Italy, a great number of works appeared descriptive of them ; which, however, often evinced rather an ostentation of extensive learning than real depth and penetration. The Italians possessed the advantage of having the monuments before their eyes, and moreover, the Dutch and German scholars contented themselves with throwing together a quantity of loose and unconnected observations, without bestowing much inves- tigation on their relevancy. But it was after the conclusion of the seventeenth century, that this fault reached its height, and the writings became exceedingly unpalatable, from the tasteless fashion of jumbling ancient with modern, and Christian with heathen customs. Even up to the present time not much has been done in explanation of this particular branch of archaeology, and little as such works as Pignorius De Servis, Ferrarius T)e re Vestiaria^ Mercurialis Be Arte Gymnastica, Ciaco- nius Be TricliniOy Paschalius Be Coronis, &c., are calcu- lated to give satisfaction, they still continue to be cited as- authorities. Whilst the political institutions have been subjected to profound investigation, the private life of the Romans has been quite neglected, or nearly so ; and the hand-books, which could not well be entirely silent on this head, have merely presented us hasty notices, taken from the older writers. The works of Mat emus, Cilano, and Nitsch, may have been useful in their day, but they are now quite obsolete. Meierotto, who undertook to describe the cus- toms and habits of the Romans, has confined himself to AUTHOR'S PREFACE. xiii making a compilation of a quantity of anecdotes, culled from the old authors, and deducing some general charac- teristics from them. Couture has also written three essays, entitled, De la Vie Privee des Eomains in the Mem, de VAcad. d, Inscr, i. The most , important work that has been written, at least upon one part of Roman life, is Bottiger’s Sahina, as it is the result of actual personal investigation. This deservedly famed archaeologist succeeded in imparting an interest even to less important points, and combin- ing therewith manifold instruction, notwithstanding his tediousness, and the numerous instances of haste and lack of critical acumen. We must not omit to mention Mazois' Palace of Scaunis, The work has merits, though its worth has been much increased by translation, and it is a pity that the editors did not produce an original work on the subject, instead of appending their notes to a text which, though written with talent, is hurried and uncri- tical. Dezobry’s Rome du Siecle dMugiiste may also prove agreeable reading to those who are satisfied with light description, void alike of depth, precision, and scien- tific value. It would be still more futile to seek for instruction in Mirbach’s Roman Letters, In the second edition of Creuzer’s Abriss, dev Rdmischen Antignitateny Professor Bahr has given a very valuable treatise on the objects connected with the meals and funerals. It is the most complete thing of the kind that has appeared, though, the work being only in the form of an abstract, a more detailed account was inadmissible. In the total absence of any work, satisfactorily ex- plaining the more important points of the domestic life of the ancients, the author determined to write on this XIV AUTHOR’S PREFACE. subject, and was engaged during several years in col- lecting materials for tbe purpose. His original intention was to produce a systematic hand-book ; but finding that this would lead to too much brevity and curtailment, and exclude entirely several minor traits, which, although not admitting of classification, were highly necessary to a complete portrait of Roman life, he was induced to imitate the example of Bottiger and Mazois, and produce a con- tinuous story, with explanatory notes on each chapter. Those topics which required more elaborate investigation have been handled at length in Excursuses. The next question was, whether a fictitious character, or some historical personage, should be selected for the hero. The latter was chosen, although objections may be raised against this method; as, after all, a mixture of fiction must be resorted to in order to introduce several details which, strictly speaking, may perhaps not be his- torical. Still there were preponderant advantages in making some historical fact the basis of the work, par- ticularly if the person selected was such as to admit of the introduction of various phases of life, in the course of his biography. A personage of this sort presented itself in Cornelius Callus, a man whose fortunate rise from obscurity to splendour and honour, intimacy with Augustus, love of Lycoris, and poetical talents, render him not a little remarkable. It is only from the higher grades of society that we can obtain the materials for a portraiture of Roman manners ; of the lower orders but little is known. The Augustan age is decidedly the happiest time to select. Indeed, little is known of the domestic habits of the pre- vious period, as Varro’s work, De Vita Popidi Romani^ the fragments of which are valuable enough to make AUTHOR’S PREFACE. XV US deplore its loss, lias unluckily not come down to us. The rest of the earlier writers, with the exception of the comedians, whose accounts we must receive with caution, throw but little light on this side of life in their times, inasmuch as domestic relations sunk then into insigni- ficance, compared with the momentous transactions of public life ; a remark partially applicable to the age of Augustus also. The succeeding writers are the first to dwell with peculiar complacency on the various objects of domestic luxury and comfort, which, now that their minds were dead to nobler aims, had become the most important ends of existence. Hence it is, that apart from the numerous antique monuments which have been dug up, and placed in museums (e. g. the Museum Borhonicum), our most valuable authorities on Roman private life are the later poets, as Juvenal, Martial, Statius ; then Petronius, Se- neca, Suetonius, the two Plinies, Cicero’s speeches and letters, the elegiac poets, and especially Horace. Next come the grammarians and the digests ; while the Greek authors, as Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Plutarch, Dio. Cassius, Lucian, Athenscus, and the lexicographers, as Pollux, still further enlighten us. The author has made it a rule never to quote these last as authorities, except when they expressly refer to Roman customs, or when these correspond with the Grecian. He has also confined himself to a citation of the best authorities, and such as he had actually consulted in person. Their number might have been considerably increased from Fabricius, Biinau’s Catalogue, and other works of the kind. In dividing the work into twelve scenes, the author disclaims all intention of writing a romance. This would. XVl AUTHOR’S PREFACE.' no doubt, have been a far easier task than the tedious combination of a multitude of isolated facts into a single picture ; an operation allowing but very little scope to the imagination. It was, in fact, not unlike putting together a picture in mosaic, for which purpose are supplied a certain number of pieces of divers colours. What the author has interpolated, to connect the whole together, is no more than the colourless bits, indispensable to form the ground- work of the picture, and bring it clearly before the eye. His eagerness to avoid anything like romance may possibly have rather prejudiced the narrative, but, even as it is, more fiction perhaps is admitted than is strictly compatible with the earnestness of literary in- quiry. The character of Gallus may seem to have been drawn too pure and noble ; but the author does not fear any censure on this score. His crime has been here sup- posed to be that mentioned by Ovid, linguam nimio non tenuisse mero ; and indeed the most authentic writers nowhere lay any very grave offence to his charge. Possibly, the reader may have been surprised that Gallus has not been introduced in more intellectual company, since his position towards Augustus, and friendship with Yirgil — very probably with Propertius also — would have yielded a fine opportunity for so doing. But, apart from the hardi- hood of an attempt to describe the sayings and doings of men like these, nothing would have been gained for our purpose, while their very intellectual greatness would have prevented the author from dwelling so much on the mere externals of life. Moreover, it is by no means cer- tain that the early friendship between Yirgil and Gallus AUTHOR’S niEFACE. xv'd continued to the close of the latter’s career, after he had fallen into disfavour with Augustus. Such persons as are here portrayed, abounded in Rome, as we learn from Juvenal and Martial. In describing Gallus as ccelehs, the author wished to institute an inquiry into those points of domestic life which had hitherto been little attended to, or imperfectly investigated. As far as the customs, occupations, re- quirements, &c., of the fair sex were concerned, Bottiger has given very satisfactory information in his Sabina ; so that the introduction of a matron into Gallus’ family might have led to a repetition of matters which that writer has already discussed. In that case the author must also have entirely omitted Lycoris — a personage affording an excellent opportunity of introducing several topics of interest relating to the sex. The relations of marriage, so far as they form the basis of the household, could not be passed over in silence; but it is only in this point of view that the Excursus on Marriage must be considered, as it makes no pretensions to survey the matter in its whole extent, either as a religious or civil institution. The author was desirous to have introduced an ac- count of the public shows, theatre, amphitheatre, and circus, but they required such a lengthy preamble, that the subject was omitted entirely, as being too bulky for the plan of the work. In treating of matters so various, it is quite possible that the author may have occasionally offered erroneous opinions ; nor can it be denied that some chapters have been elaborated with more inclination than others ; all he AUTHOR’S PREFACE. xviii wishes the reader to believe of him is, that he has never shunned the labour of earnest personal investigation ; and he hopes that a work has been composed, which may serve as a desirable repertory of whatever is most worth knowing about the private life of the Romans. CONTENTS PAGE Advertisement to tlie Second Edition . . . . . v Translator’s Preface . . . . . . . vii Author’s Preface . . . . . . . xi CALLUS. SCENE THE FIRST. THE EOMAN FAMILY 1 Excursus I. The Women, or Poman Marriage . 153 II. The Children and Education . 182 III. The Slaves . . 199 IV. The Relations, Friends, and Clients . 226 SCENE THE SECOND. THE KOMAN HOUSE . 14 Excursus I. The Structure of the Building . 231 99 II. The Manner of Fastening the Doors . 281 99 III. The Household Utensils . . 285 99 lY. The Manner of Lighting . . 308 99 V. The Clocks • . * . . . 315 XX CONTENTS. SCENE THE THIED. PAGE STUDIES AND LETTEES 28 Excursus I. The Library ..... 322 „ II. The Books . . , . . 325 „ III. The Booksellers ..... 334 „ IV. The Letter ..... 338 SCENE the' FOUETH. THE JOUENEY 39 Excursus I. The Lectica and the Carriages . . . 341 „ ir. The Inns ..... 351 SCENE THE FIFTH. THE VILLA 67 Excursus. The Gardens ...... 358 SCENE THE SIXTH. LYCOEIS . . . . . . . .70 SCENE THE SEVENTH. BATHS AND GYMNASTICS . . . . . 85 Excursus I. The Baths ..... 366 II. The Game of Ball, and other Gymnastic Ex- ercises ..... 398 SCENE THE EIGHTH. DEESS . . 98 Excursus I. The Dress of the Men .... 408 91 II. The Dress of the Women 431 Appendix. Material, Colour, Manufacture, and Cleaning of Garments . . . . - . 442 CONTENTS. xxi SCENE THE NINTH. PAGE THE BANQUET 110 Excursus I. The Meals . . . . .451 „ II. The Triclinium . . . . .471 „ III. The Table-utensils .... 476 „ IV. The Drinks ..... 485 SCENE THE TENTH. THE DBINKEUS 125 Excursus T. The Chaplets and Games . . . .496 ,, II. The Social Games .... 499 SCENE THE ELEVENTH. THE CATASTEOPHE 134 SCENE THE TWELFTH. THE GEAVE . 142 Excvrsus. The Burial of the Dead .... 505 Index ........ 525 /, 4 k G A L L U S SCENE THE FIRST. NOCTURNAL RETURN HOME. T he third watch of the night was drawing to a close, and the mighty city lay buried in the deepest silence, unbroken, save by the occasional tramp of the Nocturnal Triumviri^, as they passed on their rounds to ^ The nightly superintendence of Eoine soon became one of the duties of the triumviri or tresviri^ treviri capi- tales, who had to preserve the peace and security of the city, and especially to provide against tires. Liv. xxix. 1 4 : Triumviris capitalihus mandaUmi estj ut vigilias disponerent per urhein servarentque, ne qui nocturni mtus fierent ; utque ah incendiis cavere- tur, adjutores triumviris quinqueviri liti cis Tiberim time qnique regionis cedijiciis prceessent. Yal. Max. viii, 1, 5. M. Malvius, Cn. LoUius, L. 'Sextilius, triumviri^ quod ad incen- dium in sacra via ortum extinguen- dum tardius venerant, a trib. pi. die dicta ad populum damnati sunt. They were also called triumviri noc- turne Liv. ix. 46; Yal. Max. viii. 1, 8. P. Villius triumvir nocturnus a F. AquiliOy trib. pi. accusatus — quia vigilias negligcntius circumie- rat. The timorous Sosias alludes to them, Amphitryo Plauti, i. 1, 3 : Quid faciam nunc, si tresviri me in carce- rem compegerint ? because they arrested those whom they found in the street late at night ; and we find the vigiles discharging the same function. Itaque vigiles, qui custodiebant vicinam regionem, rati ardere Trimalchionis domum ef- fregerunt januam subito et cum aqua securibusque tumultuari suo jure coeperunt. Of. Seneca, Fpist. 64. AYhen Petrandus speaks of water, we must suppose that the watch were provided with fire-buckets; we can scarcely assume that engines {sipho- nes) are alluded to, although Beck- mann points out, with much proba- bility, that one of the means of extin- guishing fire in the time of Trajan was referred to in Pliny, Ep. x. 42, and Apollodorus in Vett. Mathem. 0pp. p. 32. Y. also Isidor. xx. 6 ; Schneider, Eclog. Fhys. i. 225, ii. 117; Colum. iii. 10; denique Nat. ii. 16. Buckets [hama, Plin. x. 42 ; Juv. xiv. 305) and hatchets (dolabra, Eig. i. 15, 3) were part of the ap- paratus for extinguishing fires. Pe- tronii Satirev, c. 78. Augustus re- modelled this nightly watch, forming seven cohorts, headed by a prefect, called Frcefectus Vigilum. Suet. Aug. 30 ; Paul. Dig. i. 15. In spite 2 GALLirS. [Scene I. see that the fire-watchmen were at their posts, or per- haps by the footstep of one lounging homewards from a late debauch^. The last streak of the waning moon faintly illumined the temples of the Capitol and the Quad- rigae, and shot a feeble gleam over the fanes and palaces of the Alta Semita, whose roofs, clad with verdant shrubs and flowers, diffused their spicy odours through the warm night-air, and, while indicating the abode of luxury and joy, gave no sign of the dismal proximity of the Campus Sceleratus. In the midst of this general stillness, the door of one of the handsomest houses creaked upon its hinges ; its ves- tibule^ ornamented with masterpieces of Grecian sculpture, its walls overlaid with costly foreign marble, and its doors and doorposts richly decorated with tortoise-shell and of these precautions, fires frequently- occurred; and although the Komans possessed no fire-insurance offices, yet such munificent contributions were made for the sufferers’ relief, that suspicion sometimes arose of the owners of houses having themselves set them on fire. So says Martial, iii. 52 : Empta domus fuerat tibi, Tongiliane, du- centis ; Abstiilit hanc nimium casus in urbe frequens ; Cellatum est decies ; rogo, non potes ipse videri Incendisse tuam, Tongiliane, domum? Juvenal describes the zeal of those who, not content with rendering pe- cuniary relief to the sufferers, also made them presents of statues, pic- tures, hooks, and so forth. Sat. iii. 215: meliora et plura reponit Persicus orborum lautissimus, et merito jam Suspectus, t-anquam ipse suas incenderit aedes. On the method of extinguishing fires, see also Ulp. Dig. xxxiii. 7, 12: Acetum quoque quod exstinguendi in- cendii causa paratur^ item centoneSy siphonesy perticas quoque et scalas. 2 Probably like Propertius, when he had the pleasant vision, described in ii. 29. Morning would frequently surprise the drinkers. Mart. i. 29, Bibere in luccm ; vii. 10, 5, ccenare in lucem. The debauched life of those who, inverting the order of nature, slept all day and rioted all night, is well sketched by Seneca, Ep. 122. TurpiSy qui alto sole semisomnis jacety et cujus vigilia medio die incipit. Et adhuc multis hoc anteliicanuni est. Sunt qui officia lucis noctisque per- vertunty nee ante didncunt oculos hesterna graves crapulay quam ap- petere non coepit. He terms them Antipodes, who, according to a saying of Cato, Nec orientem unquam. solcm nee occidentem viderunt. Cf. Colum. Brcef. 16. 3 For a description of the different parts of the house, accompanied by illustrations, see the Excursus on The Homan House. SOEXE I.] NOCTUEN’AL EETUEX. 3 precious metals, sufficiently proclaimed the wealth of its owner. The ostiarius, rattling the chain that served as a safeguard against nocturnal depredators, opened the un- bolted door, disclosing as he did so the prospect into the entrance-hall, where a few of the numerous lamps were still burning on two lofty marble candelabra, — a proof that the inmates had not yet retired for the night. At the same time, there stalked through the hall a freedman, whose imperious mien, and disregard of the surly por+er, even more than the attending vicarius, at once pointed him out as one possessing much of the confidence of the lord of the mansion. He strode musingly across the thres- hold and vestibule towards the street, and after looking anxiously on all sides, through the dim light and the sha- dows of the lofty atria, turned to his attendant and said, ^ It is not his wont, Leonidas; and what possible reason can he hav^e for concealing from us where he tarries at this late hour ? He never used to go unattended, whether to the abode of Lycoris, or to enjoy the stolen pleasures of the Subura. Why then did he dismiss the slaves to-day, and hide from us so mysteriously the place of his destination ? ’ ‘ Lydus tells me,^ answered the vicarias, ‘ that Gallus left the palace in evil mood, and when the slave who was putting on his sandals enquired whence he should escort him on his return, he bade him await him at home, and then hastened, clad in his coloured synthesis, in the direc- tion of the Yia Sacra. Not long before his departure, Pomponius had left the house; and Lydus, impelled partly by curiosity, and partly by anxiety at the unusual excite- ment of his master, followed at a distance, * and saw the two meet near the Temple of Freedom, after which they disappeared in the Via a Cyprio.^ ‘Pomponius!^ returned the freedman, Ghe friend and confidant of Largus ! No company he for an open and frank disposition, and still less at a jolly carousal, where the tongue is unfettered by copious goblets of pure Setinian wine, and of which the Sicilian proverb too often holds 4 GALLTJS. [Scene I. good the next morning, Cursed he he who remembers at the banquet I don’t know, Leonidas,’ continued he, after a moment’s reflection, ‘ what dismal foreboding it is that has for some time been pursuing me. The gods are, I fear, wToth with our house ; they hate too sudden pro- sperity, we are told. There was too, methinks, more tran- quillity in the small lodging^ near the Tiber than in this magnificent palace : more fidelity, when the whole house- hold consisted of few besides ourselves, than is to be found in this extensive mansion, filled with many deciirice of dearly-purchased slaves, whom their lord hardly knows by sight, ministers of his splendour, but not of his comfort. Above all, there was more cordiality among those who used to climb the steep stairs, to partake of his simple fare, than in the whole troop of visitors who daily throng the vesti- bule and atrium to pay the customary morning greeting.’ * Mi(7€W fJLvafJLOva avinroTav. Plut. Sympos. i. 1. The sense in which Martial, i. 28, applies this proverb to Procillus, is certainly the only correct one. Lucian, Symp. iii. p. 420. 5 The Poraan of v/ealth and dis- tinction occupied, with his family, the whole of his extensive mansion ; the less affluent rented, in proportion to their requirements and means, either an entire house, or a section of some larger insula^ the name by which all hired houses went — and the poorer classes took a small ccenacu- lum in an upper story, though at a somewhat extravagant price, pernio cellcB. Mart. iii. 30, 3. The poet himself occupied a coenaculum of this description in the third story, i. 118, 7, Scalis habito tribus^ sed altis; and he says of the miserly Sanctra, who used to take half his coena home with him, vii. 20, 20, Hcec per dii- centas domiim tulit scalas. As in an insula of this description the lodgers might he very different persons, the stairs to their private apartments often led upwards from the street out- side ; an arrangement also to be found in the private houses. The eoenaculion assigned to Ilispala, for her security after she had discovered the mon- strosities of the Bacchanalia, was of this description. Liv. xxxix. : Consul rogat socrum^ ut aliquam partem cedium vacuum faceret^ quo Hispala immigraret. Coenaculum super cedes datum est^ scalis ferentibus in publi- cum obseratis, aditu in cedes verso. We learn from Cicero, pro CoeliOj c. 7, that lodgings could he let even as high as 30,000 sesterces. Coelius, however, only went to the expense of 10,000, i. e. £80. The Kalends of July were the usual, though perhaps not the only, period for changing lodgings. Mart, xii. 32, humorously describes the moving of d^familia sordida amount- ing to four persons, who managed to transfer all their goods and chattels at one journey. See the Excursus on The Roman House. Scene I.] NOCTURNAL RETURN. ^ Alas ! thou art right, Chresimus/ replied the slave ; ^ this is no longer a place for comfort, and the gods have already given us more than one warning sign. It was not without an object that the bust of the great Cornelius fell down, and destroyed the new pavement inlaid with the image of Isis. Moreover, the beech at the villa, on the bark of which Lycoris carved the name^ of our master, has not put out leaves this spring ; thrice too have I heard in the stillness of night the ominous hooting of the owl.’ Conversing thus, they had again reached the vestibule, without perceiving a man who approached with somewhat uncertain gait, from the Temple of Flora. Over his under- garment he wore a festive robe of a bright red colour, such as those in which Roman elegants of the day used to appear at state-banquets. His sandals were fastened with thongs of the same dye ; while a chaplet of young myrtle and Milesian roses hung negligently down on the left brow, and appeared to be gliding from his perfumed locks in short, everything indicated that he was returning from some joyous carousal, w^here the amphom had not been spared. Not till he had gained the vestibule did Chresimus become aware of his approach. ‘ There he is at last,’ exclaimed the faithful freedman, with a lightened heart. ‘ All hail ! my lord. Anxiety for you brought us out of doors ; we are unused to find you abroad at so late an hour.’ ^ I was with true friends,’ answered the master, ^ and the hours vanish gaily and swiftly over the wine-cup, in familiar converse : Pomponius, too, was my companion nearly all the way home.’ At this closing remark the visage of the freedman again became clouded; he went ® Propert. i. 18, 21. Ah, quoties teneras resonant mea verba sub umbras, Scribitur et vestris Cynthia corticibus. Ovid, Amor, i. 6, 37, Ergo amor et modicum circa moa tem- pera vinum Mecum est et madidis lapsa corona comis. Mart. xi. 8, 10 ; divitibus lapsa eo^ rona comis ; cf . iii. 65, 8. 6 GALLUS. [Scene I. silently towards the door, and having opened it, he and Leonidas followed their lord into the house. While the odi~ arms was engaged in bolting the door, Chresimus proceeded to light a wax-candle at one of the lamps, and led the way, through saloons and colonnades, to the sleeping apartment of his lord. Having arrived in the ante-room, the slave of the toilet, who was in waiting, received the synthesis and sandals, whilst the cubicularius threw open the door and drew back the many-coloured tapestry of Alexandria which served as a curtain. Then, after having again smoothed the purj)le coverlet that nearly concealed the ivory bed- stead, and remained till his master had reposed his head on the variegated feather tapestry covering the pillow stuffed, with the softest wool, he quitted the apartment. He who returned home thus late and lonely, without the usual accompaniment of slaves, was Cornelius Gallus^ ® The scanty accounts we possess respecting the personal history of Gallus, are to be found in Dio Cas- sius, Strabo, Suetonius, Virgil, Pro- pertius, and Ovid. The few fragments of his poems, even if authentic, afford ns no further information. Gallus was of obscure, at least poor, ancestors, but that did not prevent his obtain- ing the favour of Octavianus, and being included in the select circle of his friends. In the war against Antony he was general of a division of the army, and Dio Cassius, li. 9, commemorates his skilful conquest and defence of the port of Pijroeto- nium. After the subjugation of Egypt, Octavianus appointed him Prefect of that country. Dio Cass. c. 17 . 'Efc ^6 TOVTUV TYjV Ss A’lyVTTTOV VTTOTtXr] e7roir](Te, Kai toj rd\\(p T(p }^opvrj\ii() E7:sTpe\pe. Trpogreydp to TT oXvavCpov Kal tu)v TvoXeiov Kcii t7]q X d)poLQ Kai Trpog to pd^iov to re KOVROV TOiV TpOTTiOV QVTMVj Tt]V TE ciTOTTopniiav fcai to. xP^P^ltu ovdepi (3ovXsvTy ovx OTTwg ey^etpicraj avTt)v tToXprjaeVy k, t. X. We have no further account of him till on the occasion of his unfortunate end. Dio Cass. liii. 23. 6 de dy rd\Xo(," Kopvr]- Xiog Kai i^vppKJEv vtt'o TYjg Tiptjg. IloWd pev yap kul paTaia tg top AvyoiKTTOP dTitXiipsi, TToXXd de Kai EiraiTia TrapsirpaTTS. Kai ydp Kai HKovag eavTov iv oXy^ o)g el eIv^ Ty AiyvTCTip EfTTrjdE, Kai tcl ipya oaa ETTETToiTjicEi tg Tag TTvpapidag tas- ypaxpE. It was probably his expedi- tion against the rebellious cities of Heroopolis and Thebes, which caused his downfall. Strabo thus speaks of his end : PdXXoc ys KopvijXiog, 6 7rpu)Tog KaTaGTadtig ETrapxo.g rrjg Xtopag vTtb Kaiaapog rrjP te 'Hpwiop ttoXlp d xoGTCLGavETTEXOiov oXiyiop eIXe, GTaGLP TE yEl'7]0ElGaV EV TJJ Qr)~ pa'iSi Sid Tovg ^opovg iv Ppax^T-KUT- eXvgev. At all events Valerius Lar- gus, formerly the confidential friend of Gallus, made these suspicious cir- cumstances the ground of an accusar- Scene I.] NOCTUEKAL EETUEX 7 a man received and envied in tlie higher circles of the Roman world as the friend and favourite of Augustus, but secretly hated by them; for though not ashamed of slavishly cringing to the mighty despot, they looked haughtily on the exalted plebeian. He was, however, among the friends of the soberer as well as brighter Muses, universally prized as a man of much learning, and celebrated as a graceful tion against him, and in consequence Augustus forbad Gallus visiting his house, or remaining in his provinces. (Suet. Augi. 47, Claud. 23.) Imme- diately after his disgrace, numerous other accusers appeared, who suc- ceeded in getting him exiled and bis property confiscated. Gallus could not endure his fall, and killed him- self with his sword. This account agrees with that of Suet. Aug. 66. Neque enim temere ex omni mimero in amicitia ejus affiicti reperientur, prmter Salvidienum Bufum, quern ad consulatum usqiie^ et Cornelium Gal- ium., quern ad prcefecturarn JEgypti., ex infima utrumque fortuna pro- vexerat. Quorum alterum res novas molientem damnandiim senatui tra- didity alteri oh ingraturn et malevo- lum animum domum et provinciis suis interdixit. Sed Gallo quoque et accusatorum denunciationibus et senatus-consultis ad necem compulso laudavit quidem pietatem tantopere pro se indignantium : cceterum et illacrimavit et vicem suam conquestus est, quod sibi soli non liceret amicis, quatenus vellet, irasci. That his highly treasonable speeches against Augustus were the principal cause of his condemnation is proved by Ovid, Trist. ii. 445 : Nec fuit opprobrio celebrasse Lycorida Gallo, Sedlinguam nimio non tenuisse mero ; and Amor. iii. 9, 63 : Tu quoque, si falsam est temerati crimen amici, Sanguinis atque animae, prodige Galle, tuse. Ammian. Marc. xvii. 4, brings a more severe charge against him : Longe autem postea Corn. Gallus., Octa- viano res tenente Bomanas., JEgypti procurator., exhausit civitatem (The- bas) plurimis interceptis^ reversusque cum furtorum accusaretur et popu- lates provincice., stricto incubuit ferre. But it is mentioned neither by Sue- tonius, Dio Cassius, nor Ovid, as the cause of his disgrace ; and that Gallus ten years before, at least, was neither ’ a violent nor a dishonest man, the friendship of Virgil, who inscribed his tenth Eclogue to him, testifies : Pauca meo Gallo, sed quas legat ipsa Ly- coris, Carmina sunt dicenda : neget quis car- mina Gallo? The contempt too with which Largus was treated, and the regret of Au- gustus, show that he had not deserved such a fate. Donat, relates, Vit, Virg. X. 39, Verum usque adeo hunc Galium Virgilius amarat, ut quartus Georgicorum a medio usque ad finem ejus laudem contineret. Quern postea., jubente Augusto., in Aristcei fabulam commutavit. But this proves less the guilt of Gallus, than that the recollection of his end was painful to Augustus. His passion for Lycoris arose about nine or ten years before his death, and the circumstance of his renewing the connection with her, after her infidelity, is, like other in- cidents, imaginary. 8 CALLUS. [Scene I. and elegant poet ; wl^ile in the more select convivial circle he was beloved as a cheerful companion, who always said the best of good things, and whose presence gave to the banquet more animation than dancers and choraulce, Not- withstanding the renowned name he had taken, he had in reality no claim to the glorious family reminiscences which it suggested. The trophies indicative of former triumphs which decked the door and door-posts^ of his mansion, were the unalienable adjuncts of the house itself; earnest mementos of a glorious past, and serving as an admonition to each occupier, what his aim must be, would he avoid the humiliating feeling of living undistinguished in the habitation of renown. His grandfather had arrived a stranger in Rome, a little before the reign of terror, Vhen Cains Marius and L. Cornelius Cinna profited by the absence of the most powerful man of the time, to effect a reaction, the ephemeral success of which only served to prepare more securely the way to fame for the ambitious Sylla. It was through Cinna himself that Grallus obtained the right of a citizen, and in conformity with the custom of the period he adopted the Cornelian name, along with the surname which denoted his extraction. But the horrors of Sylla’s proscriptions drove him from Rome, and he returned to Gaul, where he had since been residing in * The Triumphator was permitted to suspend the spolia at his door. Liv. X. 7, xxxviii. 43. These marks of valour achieved, remained as the unalienable property of the house which they had first rendered illus- trious, and could not, even in case of sale, he taken down. Plin. xxxv. 2 ; Alice forts et circa limina animorum ingentium imagines erant, affixis hos- tium spoliis, quce nec emtori refigere liceret ; triumphahantque etiam do- minis mutatis ipscc domus^ et erat hcec stimulatio ingens^ exprobantibus tectiSy quotidie imbellem dominum intrare in alienum triumphum. Cic. Fhil. ii. 28. The custom by which the stranger assumed the name of him through whom he obtained the right of a citizen, is generally known. Cic. ad Fam. xiii. 36. Cum Fem.e- trio Mega mihi vetustum hospitium est ; familiar itas autem tanta, quanta cum Siculo nullo. Fi (Cornelius) Folabella rogatu meo civitatem a Gcesare impetravii, qua in re ego interfui. Itaque nunc F. Cornelius vocatur. Scene I.] NOCTURNAL RETURN. 9 ignoble obscurity at Forum Julii. There Gall us passed the first years of his childhood, under the careful auspices of his father, who saw in the happy disposition and lofty spirit of his boy the harbingers of no ordinary future. Therefore, although he could not be accounted wealthy, he determined to make every sacrifice in order to give his son such an education as usually fell to the lot of the sons of senators and knights. When the boy had been instructed in the first elements of knowledge by an accomplished Greek tutor, his father set out with Gallus for Home, and after carefully search- ing for a suitable person, placed him under the tuition of a grammarian of great repute. Gallus subsequently attended the school of a celebrated rhetorician, and also took les- sons in Latin elocution, which had lately become some- what fashionable ; nor was he allowed to intermit those studies even after he had passed the threshold of boyhood and put on the toga^ the symbol of riper years. At the age of twenty he was sent to Athens, even at this period the nurse of all the profound and elegant sciences, in order to give a finish to his education, and to combine in him Attic elegance with Eoman solidity. Gallus was still at Athens, when the faithful Chresimus brought him the news of the death of his father, who after accomplishing his grand object, the education of his son, had returned to Forum Julii. He wept tears of love and gratitude with the true-hearted Chresimus, and left Athens to take possession of the small patrimony bequeathed him by his father, and which he found much more insignificant than he had supposed. There was just enough for him to live on with tolerable comfort in a provincial town, but it would only keep him like a beggar in Home ; nevertheless he resolved to seek his fortune in the focus of the world, and a year later returned to Home, a powerful, resolute, and highly -educated man. There the terrific scenes of the second triumvirate were not long over, and the republicans, driven from Italy 10 GALLUS. [Scene I. were preparing beyond tbe sea for tbe final stinggle. There were only two parties to choose from, and Gallus did not long hesitate which to espouse. It was not any particular inclination to the ambiguous Octavianus, still less to either of the other potentates, that determined him to take up arms for the cause of the triumvirate. He was convinced that the time had arrived, when the crumbling edifice of the republic must be annihilated, and the am- bition of a selfish aristocracy kept down by the mighty energies of one supreme ruler. Perhaps, too, he was actuated by the hope that his merits were more likely to be appreciated, and meet wdth proper acknowledgment from one raised above the petty consideration of rivalry, than from the haughty patricians, w^ho were accustomed to look down upon merit striving to emerge from obscurity. He first took part in the campaign against Sextus Pompeius, under the command of Salvidienus. His gal- lantry and fortitude at the unlucky sea-fight, which took place not far from the destructive rocks of Scylla, did not fail to attract the eye of Octavianus, whom he soon after followed to the decisive battle of Philippi. There, too, his warlike deeds were adorned with fresh laurels, and in returning wdth the victor back to Italy, his social qualities soon made him the agreeable companion, and before long, the intimate friend, of Octavianus, — a friendship which he had tact enough to keep up. The proper hours of re- laxation he spent in familiar intercourse with Virgil, the younger Propertius, and other congenially-minded friends of the Muses ; but he by no means neglected the more grave occupations to which his distinguished oratorical powers called him. The war against Antony and Cleopatra summoned him again into the field, and now’ commenced the most brilliant period of his life. The able manner in which he took and held the important seaport, Parsetonium, the destruction of the hostile fleet, and many other spirited exploits, raised him so high in the estimation of OctaAuanus, that w’hen Scene I.] NOCTURNAL RETURN. 11 Antony and Cleopatra atoned for their long intoxication of pleasure and folly by voluntaiy death, and Egypt was enrolled among the number of Eoman provinces, he, being in the undivided possession of the supreme authority, made Gallus governor of the new province, under the title of Prefect. The command of so rich a province could, Octavianus doubtless thought, with more safety be en- trusted to him than to a senator. Was it wonderful, then, that when Gallus found him- self suddenly placed at so great an elevation, his sanguine and fiery disposition carried him occasionally beyond the bounds of moderation, and that, — after severely chastising the rebellious cities, especially the wondrous Thebes, — he caused statues of himself to be erected, and the record of his deeds to be engraved on the pyramids ? Was there anything unusual in his carrying ofiF the treasures and valuables of the subjugated cities, as a fit recompense for his exertions ? Octavianus, who had now assumed the more noble name of Augustus, heard the report of these acts with a concern, which the enemies, whom the good fortune of Gallus had raised up against him, did not fail to foment. So without being actually angered with his former friend, he recalled him to Rome, and nominated Petronius, a man by no means well disposed towards him, as his successor. Gallus was not pleased with his recall, although it had been made in such a manner, as in a great measure to efface its unpleasantness. The riches which had followed him from Egypt to Rome, enabled him to live with a magnificence hitherto quite unknown to him, and in the superabundance of such enjoyments as served to heighten the pleasures of life. Still accounted the favourite of Au- gustus, and always admitted as a welcome guest to the select circle that had access to the table of this mighty sovereign, he now saw people, who, ten years before, would scarcely have deigned to acknowledge his saluta- tion, vying with each other to gain his friendship. 12 GALLUS. [Scene I. Altlioiigli Gallus was advancing to that period of life when the Roman was considered no longer a youth, he had not yet prevailed upon himself to throw constraint on the freedom of his existence, by entering the bonds of matrimony. Indeed the stricter forms of marriage began generally to be less liked; and no law inflicting a penalty on celibacy had at that time been passed. At an earlier period of his life, the narrowness of his circumstances had led him to look with shyness ^on mar- riage, in consequence of the expenses attendant on such an increased establishment as the grand notions of the Roman ladies would have rendered unavoidable. He also even more dreaded the state of dependence into which he would have been thrown, if he had married a person of fortune ; and being at the same time averse to concu- binage, had preferred contracting an intimacy of a less durable nature with certain accomplished Iletairai, who were capable not only of admitting, but also of returning his passion. Thus, after his return, he continued to pursue an un- fettered course of life, regulated by his own inclinations alone ; a life which others much envied, and which would have been a happy one, had it not been for his impetuous and passionately excitable temperament, and unsparing freedom of speech, especially in his cups. These causes were beginning to throw a cloud over his future prospects ; for, although raised by Augustus from the depths of poverty to honour and wealth, he had nevertheless too much straightforwardness not to express frequently his loud disapprobation of many arbitrary proceedings and secret cruelties, perpetrated by his benefactor. Clandestine envy, which was busy about him, had dexterously profited by these speeches, and there was even talk of a complaint secretly lodged against him by his former friend and confidant, Largus, on the score of misgovernment in Egypt. At all events, Gallus could not conceal from himself, that for some time past a coolness had pervaded Scene I.] NOCTUE.NAL EETURX. 13 Augustus’ manner towards him, and that his former inti- mate familiarity had been succeeded by a tone of haughty and suspicious reserve. But although his present position would have enabled Gallus to regard this alteration with indifference, still his estimation among the higher circles of Borne depended too much on the favour of Augustus for him to neglect using all his endeavours to remain, at any rate in outward appearance, in possession of the emperor’s good graces. It was for this reason that he had this evening been supping at the imperial board, without invitation, as he had always been accustomed to do ; but he had found Augustus in a worse humour than ever, and among the company his bitter enemy, Largus. Some caustic remarks touching the fate of Thebes, drew forth from the irritable Gallus an acrimo- nious retort, which Augustus replied to with still greater severity. As soon therefore as the latter had withdrawn according to his custom, Gallus also departed, to spend the evening more agreeably in the company of Pomponius and other friends. Suet. Atig. 74. Convivia non- nimquam et serins inibat et matnrins relinquebat, cum convivce et ccenare inciperent, priiisquam ille discum- hereto et per manerent digresso eo. SCENE THE SECOND. THE MORNING. T he city hills were as yet unillumined by tbe beams of the morning sun, and the uncertain twilight, which the saffron streaks in the east spread as harbingers of the coming day, was diffused but sparingly through the windows and courts into the apartments of the mansion. Gallus still lay buried in heavy sleep in his quiet chamber, the care- fully chosen position of which both protected him against all disturbing noises, and prevented the early salute of the morning light from too soon breaking his repose k But around all was life and activity. From the cells and cham- bers below, and the apartments on the upper floor, there poured a swarming multitude of slaves, who presently pervaded every corner of the house, hurrying to and fro, and cleaning and arranging with such bus}^ alacrity, that one unacquainted with these customary movements, would have supposed that some grand festivity was at hand. A whole decuria of house- slaves, armed with be- soms and sponges, under the superintendence of the ati'iensis, began to clean the entrance rooms. Some in- spected the vestihuluni, to see whether any bold spider had spun its net during the night on the capital of the pillars, or groups of statuary ; and rubbed the gold and tortoise-shell ornaments of the folding-doors and posts at * One thing that the Romans especially kept in view in planning their sleeping-apartments, was that their situation should be removed from all noise. Pliny, Ep, ii. 17, boasts of these qualities being pos- sessed by a bed-chamber at his villa. Junctum est ciibiculum metis et tomni. Non illud voces sei'vulorum^ non mavis murmur^ non tempestatum moHis, non fulgurnm hmien, ac m diem quidem sentit, oiisi fenestris apertis. Tam alti abditique secretx ilia ratio^ quod interjacens andron parietern cubiculi hortique distinyuit^ atque ita omnem sonum media inanU tate consumit. Scene II.] MOHNIXG. 15 the entrance, and cleaned the dust of the previous day from the marble pavement. Others again were busy in the atrium and its adjacent halls, carefully traversing the mosaic floor, and the paintings on the walls, with soft Lycian sponges, lest any dust might have settled on the wax- varnish with which they were covered^. They also looked closely whether any spot appeared blackened by the smoke of the lamps; and then decked with fresh garlands^ the busts and shields which supplied the place of the ima- gines majorum^y or waxen masks of departed ancestors. 2 Many of the colours used by the ancients for wall-painting, as, for instance, the minium^ could not stand the effects of the light and atmo- sphere, and, to make them durable, a varnish of Punic wax, mixed with a little oil, was laid on the wall, when dry, with a paint-brush of bristles. See Vitruv. vii. 9, and Plin. xxxiii. 7, 40. 2 Although the stemmata, which constituted the ancestral tree, could find no application here, still it was not unusual to crown with chaplets, even the portraits of strangers. Mart. X. 32: Haec mihi quae colitur violis pictura rosis- que, Quos referat vultus, Caeditiane, rogas ? ^ The beautiful custom of olden time of placing the imagines majo- rum in the atria or their alee, must have lost more and more in signifi- cancy, and even grown obsolete, after so many who had neither majores, in that sense, nor any title whatever to such distinction — some of them being persons of the lowest class, and others even slaves — became very wealthy, assumed high-sounding names, and lived in magnificent edifices. And again, many who were entitled to imagines^ found them, perhaps, too insignificant in appearance to consort with the magnificence of the rest of their dwelling. These imagines were waxen masks, formed after the life, cerce, which those only had the right of setting up, who had borne a curule office, viz. from that of eedile upwards. Polyb. vi. 53. On the manner of arranging them, Yitruv. says, vi. 5, Imagines item alte cum suis orna- mentis ad latitudinem alarum sint eonstitutce. The ornamenta are clear- ly designated by Seneca, Be Benef. iii. 28, Qui imagines in atrio expo- mint et nomina familice suce longo or dine ac multis stemmatum illigata Jlexuris in parte prima cedium collo- cant, noti mag is quam nobiles sunt. Still more so by Plin. xxxv. 2, 2, Ex- pressi cera vultus singulis dispnne- bantur armariis. — Stemmata vero li- neis discurrebant ad imagines pictas. Polyb. vi. 53 : ^vXiva vatSia Tvepiri- OtvTSQ : and, Tavrag di) rag tiKovag sv Taig drjpoTtXstjL dvaiaig avoiyov- reg Koapoven (piXoripwg : lastly, Auct. Eleg. ad Mess. 30, Quid quaque index sub imagine dicat. The masks were kept in little presses, placed up against the wall, under which stood the name of the deceased, his honours and merits, tituli, Ovid. Fast. i. 591. [The several imagines were connect- ed with each other by garlands ; for 1C CALLUS. [Scene II. In the cavum cediim or interior court, and the larger peristylium, more were engaged in rubbing with coarse linen cloths the polished pillars of Tenarian and Numidian marble^, which formed a most pleasing contrast to the intervening statues and the fresh green verdure of the vacant space within. The Tricliniarch and his subordin- ates were equally occupied in the larger saloons : where stood the costly tables of cedar- wood, with pillars of ivory supporting their massive orbs, which had, at an immense Pliny’s words, stemmata lineis dis- cm'rebant ad imagines pictas, do not seem capable of any other than the literal meaning ; and so likewise the stemmatum flexurm of Seneca.] On festive days, when these armaria were opened, the imagines received fresh crowns of laurel. It is evident from Pliny, that, at a later period, instead of the masks, clypeat(je imagi- nes^ as they were called, and busts were substituted. Imaginum qui- dem pictura^ qua maxime similes in cevum propagahantur Jigurce, in to- tum exolevit. J[!lrei ponuntur clypei, argentce facies surdo Jigurarum dis- crimine. Again : Aliter apud ma- jores in atriis licec erant quce specta- rentur^ non signa externorum artiji- cum^ nee cera nee marmora ; expressi cera vultus, (fee. Those persons who had no images to boast of in their own family, and yet wished some such ornament for their atrium, had no course left but alienas effigies colere. 3 The most valuable species of white marbles were the Farian, the Fentelican, and the Symet- tian ; which latter two Bottiger mistakes for the same. Strabo expressly says pappdpov d' sari Trjg re 'VpTjrriag Kai Trjg ITej^reXt- Krjg KaWicrra fisraWa TrXrjalov rrjg ^oXewg. Horn. Od ii. 18, 3 ; Plin. II. N. xxxvi. 3. If it be correctly supposed, as was first imagined from Pausanias, that Fenteliciis was in early times comprehended under the name Hymettus, we must un- derstand Fentelican marble by the Hymettiis columnis trabibus so fre- quently mentioned, especially by the poets. Besides these there was that of Luna in Italy, now called Carrara marble. Variegated marbles [marmor ma- culosum, Plin. H. IS", xxxvi. 5 ; in- gentium maculce columnarum, Sen. Ep. llo), brought not only from Greece, but even from Asia and Africa, became afterwards more fa- shionable. The most precious sorts were the golden-yellow, Numidian ; that with red streaks, Fhrygian, Syn- nadie, or Mygdonian ; the Tcenarian, or Laconian, or verde antieo, a kind of green porphyry ; and the Carys- tian (from Euboea) with green veins. But even this natural variety was not sufficient for the demands of taste. In Nero’s time veins and spots were artificially let into the coloured mar- ble. So says Pliny, xxxv. 1 : Nero- nis (principatu inventum) maculas, qucB non essent, crustis inserendo unitatem variare, ut ovatus esset Nwnidicus, ut purpura distinguere- tur Synnadicus, qualiter illos nasci aptarent delicice. Scene II.] MOENING. 17 expense, been conveyed to Rome from the primeval woods of Atlas. In one the wood was like the beautifully dappled coat of a panther, in another the spots, being more regular and close, imitated the tail of the peacock, a third re- sembled the luxuriant and tangled leaves of the apium, each of them more beautiful and valuable than the other ; and many a lover of splendour would have bartered an estate for any one of the three. The tricliniarii cau- tiously lifted up their purple covers, and then whisked them over with the shaggy gausape, in order to remove any little dust that might have penetrated through. Next came the side-boards, several of which stood against the walls in each saloon, for the purpose of displaying the gold and silver plate and other valuables. Some of them were slabs of marble, supported by silver or gilded ram’s feet, or by the tips of the wings of two griffins looking in opposite directions. There was also one of artificial marble, which had been sawn out of the wall of a Grecian temple, while the slabs of the rest were of precious metal. The costly articles displayed on each were so selected as to be in keeping with the architec- tural designs of the apartment. In the tetrasfyhis, the simplest saloon, stood smooth silver vessels unadorned by the ars toreuiica^ except that the rims of most of the larger bowls were of gold. Between these were smaller vessels of amber, and two of great rarity ; in one of which a bee, and in the other an ant, had found its transparent tomb. On another side stood beakers of antique form, to which the names of their former possessors gave their value, and an historical importance^. ® The passion for collecting ob- jects curious on account of their an- tiquity, or from having belonged to some illustrious person, bad become prevalent in the time of Gallus ; Hor. Sat. ii. 3, 21 ; 64. p. 3, 90 ; at all events it was not far off. This mania became still more ridiculous, when ignorance credited the grossest falsehoods and histo- rical impossibilites. The instances we have mentioned are really re- counted by Martial, viii. 6, who ridicules these argenti fumosa stem- mata. The archetypa of Trimalchio are still more laughable. Petr. 52. 18 GALLTJS. [Scene II. There was, for instance, a double cup, which Priam had inherited from Laomedon ; another that had belonged to Nestor, unquestionably the same from which Hecamede had pledged the old man in Pramnian wine before Troy : the doves which formed the handles^ were much worn, — of course by Nestor’s hand. Another again was the gift of Dido to ^neas, and in the centre stood an im- mense bowl, which Theseus had hurled against the face of Eurytus. But the most remarkable of all was a relic of the keel of the Argo® ; it was indeed only a chip, but who could look on and touch this portion of the most ancient of ships — on which perhaps even Minerva herself had placed her hand — without being transported in feeling back to the days of old. Gallus himself was far too en- lightened to believe in the truth of these legends, but every one was not so free from prejudice as he : it was more- over the most recent fashion to collect such antiquities. On the other hand, in the Corinthian saloon stood vessels of precious Corinthian bronze, whose worn handles and peculiar smell sufficiently announced their antiquity, together with two large golden drinking cups, on one of which were engraved scenes from the Iliad, on the other from the Odyssey^. Besides these there were smaller Habeo scyphos urnales plus minus^ quemadmodum Cassandra occidit filios suos, etpueri mortiii jacent sicuti vere putes. Haheo capidem quam reliquit Fatroclo Frometheus^ uhi Fcedalus Niobem in equum Trojanum includit. V. Lucian. Fhilop. 19. Iliad, xi. 632, seq. Martial, or the possessor of the goblet, no doubt had in his eye the passage of Homer which runs : Aotaf TraXeiddeg dpcplg aicaarov xQv(seiaL vepsOovro : and the Eoman poet says : Follice de Fylio trita columba nitet. 8 The ancients also had their relics, and looked with veneration on a chip of the Argo. Martial, who is so fond of ridiculing folly and credul- ous simplicity, speaks quite seriously (vii. 19) on the subject : Fragmentum quod vile putas et inutile lignum, Hsec fuit ignoti prima carina maris. — Ssecula vicerunt; sed quamvis cesserit annis, Sanctior est salva parva tabella rate. But perhaps this valuable relic be- longed to Domitian himself, or to some other patron of distinction, and the poet for this reason affected to credit the story. The ancients used also to collect natural specimens and other rarities. 9 The Corinthian brass, as it was called, was used in the manufacture Scene II.] MORNING. 19 beakers and bowls composed of precious stones, either made of one piece only and adorned with reliefs, or of several cameos united by settings of gold. Genuine Murrhina vases also, — even at that time a riddle, and according to report imported from the recesses of Par- thia, — were not wanting. The Egyptian saloon, however, surpassed the rest in magnificence. Every silver or golden vessel which it con- tained was made by the most celebrated toreidm^ and possessed a higher value from the beauty of its work- manship than even from the costliness of its materiaP^. There was a cup by the hand of Phidias, ornamented with fishes that seemed only to want water to enable them to swim ; on another was a lizard by Mentor, and so exact a copy of nature, that the hand almost started back on touching it. Then came a broad bowl, the handle of which was a ram with a golden fleece, more beautiful than that brought by Phryxus to Colchis, and upon it of vessels which were sold for high prices. Respecting the composition of it, a secret which was lost even in the time of the ancients, see 0. Muller’s Archceology, translated by Leitch; and Plin. xxxiv. 2, 3, and Petron. 50, jokingly. Connoisseurs detected its genuineness by the pe- culiar odour it acquired by oxydation. Mart. ix. 60, 11. Consulerit oiares, an olerent cera Corinthon. Beckmann even affirms that the money-changers had recourse to their noses to judge of the genuineness of the coins, as Arrian, in Epict. i. 20, o apyvpoyvvj- fjiiov 'irpoaxp^TciL Kara doKifiaaiav Tov voiii