Quintus Claudius, Volume 1. Eckstein Ernst

Quintus Claudius, Volume 1

time of this story it was still the custom among the higher classes (but not among the lower ones and the slaves) to shave off the beard after the twenty-first year.

82

Stoa. The school of the stoics; so named from the pillared hall (ποικίλη στοά) at Athens, where Zeno, the founder, taught. The doctrine inculcated was the subjugation of physical and moral evil by individual heroism.

83

Coena. The second and last principal meal after the day’s work was over. Under the emperors the coena began about half-past two o’clock in the afternoon, in winter probably somewhat later. It corresponded in its relation to the other hours of the day, to the “dîner” of the French, for the Romans were early risers, and even among the aristocratic classes day began at sunrise.

84

Cavaedium or peristyle was the name given to the second court-yard of the Roman house, which was connected with the first or atrium by one or two corridors. The dining-room, as well as the study of the master of the house, were in the cavaedium. The space between the latter and the atrium, called the tablinum, contained the family papers; it was the business office.

85

Typhon. The evil genius who killed Osiris. (See note 32, vol. 1.) The Greeks regarded him as a monster of original evil, the personification of the Simoom and other destructive hot winds, or of the primeval force of volcanoes.

86

Cithara (κιθάρα). A favorite musical instrument. The strings, usually of gut, were sounded by means of a plectrum (πλῆκτρον) of wood, ivory, or metal. Music was as common an accomplishment among ladies of rank then as now, and they often composed both the words and airs of their songs. Statius tells us that his step-daughter did so, and Pliny the younger says the same of his third wife.

87

Ibycus of Rhegion in Lower Italy (B.C. 528). A distinguished lyric poet, who is the hero of a well-known poem by Schiller. Few of his numerous lyric compositions remain to us. We here give a translation of Emanuel Geibel’s admirable German version of his Spring-greeting. (Classisches Liederbuch, p. 44.)

88

Quince. Cydonia is the modern botanical name of the quince, called by the Greeks and Romans the Cydonian apple, after Cydonia, in the island of Crete.

89

Water-organ (Hydraulus, ὕδραυλος). A musical instrument mentioned by Cicero, Seneca and others. Ammianus observes: "Water-organs and lyres are made so large, that they might be mistaken for coaches.”

90

Baiae was considered from ancient times friendly to Bacchus. (Sen. Ep. 51).

91

Statius. – P. Papinius Statius, born in Naples, A.D. 45, and died A.D. 96, was a lyric and epic poet, often artificial in style, but possessed of a brilliant imagination. His principal works are the epic poem “Thebais,” in which he treats of the battle of the sons of Oedipus before Thebes, and the Silvae (woods), a collection of short poems. He also commenced an epic poem "Achilleis.”

92

Martial. (See note 100, vol. 1.)

93

Cubiculum. A sleeping-room. The cubicula were located in the atrium, peristyle, and upper stories.

94

Note. The Romans wrote their letters either on wax-tablets, (See note 10, vol. 1.) or on paper (papyrus, carta), using in the former case the stylus, in the latter a reed-pen and Indian ink. When the letter was finished, the wax-tablets were laid one above the other, and the papyrus folded several times. A string was then wound around the whole and the ends sealed.

95

The Empress Domitia. The emperor’s wife was Domitia Longina, the daughter of Corbulo, and formerly the wife of Aelius Lamia, (Suet. Dom. 1).

96

Caesar’s friends. Among the “friends (amici) of the emperor,” were included those persons, who not only regularly shared the social pleasures of the sovereign, but were invited to consult with him on all important government business. Within this group of friends there were of course inner, outer, and outermost circles. Quintus, who had little intercourse with the court, can only be included in the outermost circle of all, and even there more on account of his father, who was one of the emperor’s most intimate “friends,” than by virtue of his own relations with the palace. He of course had a right to appear at court, like all persons of his rank, even without a special “relation of friendship” to the emperor. When inner and outer circles of friends are mentioned, this must not be confounded with the different classes of friends. Belonging to the first or second class implied a distinction of rank. Of course, in this sense, Quintus could only be numbered among the first class (primi amici).

97

Cypris. A name given to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, from the island of Cyprus, the principal seat of her worship.

98

A Slave. Domitia had been the mistress of Paris, a slave and actor. When Domitian discovered it, he wished to sentence the empress to death, but at the intercession of Ursus, changed the decree to exile. Paris was massacred in the open street. (See Dio Cass. LXVII 3; Suet. Dom. 3.) Quintus calls Paris a buffoon out of contempt, for the profession of “player” was regarded by the ancient Romans as degrading.

99

Muraenae (μύραινα). Lampreys were esteemed a delicacy (Cic., Plin., Hist. Nat. etc.) The best came from the Lucrine lake, near Cumae.

100

A client in his patron’s house. The clients were originally protégées, faithful followers of their lords (patroni) who on their part were obliged to aid them by word and deed. They represented in a certain degree an enlargement of the family circle. Afterwards this relation degenerated into a mercenary connection of the most pitiful kind. Under the emperors the clients usually became only poor parasites, in comparison with their rich masters. They formed their court, paid them the usual morning-visit at a very early hour, accompanied them wherever they went in public, and received in return a ridiculously small compensation in money or goods.

101

Martial. M. Valerius Martialis, born at Bilbilis in Spain, about 43 A.D. was famous for his witty and clever epigrams. The 1,200 which have been preserved are the principal source of the history of manners and customs of the period in which the scene of this story is laid. He died about the year 102.

102

L. Nonius Asprenas held the office of consul with M. Arricinius Clemens in the 14th year of Domitian’s reign, (94 A.D.) and therefore was still in office "last autumn.”

103

Appian way. The Via Appia, built by one of the Claudia gens (the Censor Appius Claudius Caecus, 312 B.C.) led from Rome across Capua to Brundisium (the modern Brindisi). Statius (Silv. II, 12), calls it the queen of roads (regina viarum). A large portion of its admirable pavement, as well as the ruins of the tombs on its sides, exist at the present day.

104

Health and Blessings! The Romans always began their letters by mentioning the writer’s name, who wishes health and blessings to the person addressed. Thus the commencement of the letter given here, literally interpreted, should have run as follows: Titus Claudius Mucianus wishes his Lucilia, Health and Blessings. T. Claudius Mucianus Luciliae suae, S.P. D.

105

Centennial festival. A brilliant spectacle in the arena, the amphitheatre, etc., which, as its name implies, was celebrated every hundred years. Domitian, however, disregarded the necessity of an interval of a hundred years, by reckoning, as Suetonius (Dom. 4) relates, from the one before the last, which took place under Augustus, instead of from the very last, that was celebrated in the reign of Claudius. In this romance the time of the Domitian centennial festivities is placed somewhat later than they really occurred.

106

Albanum. Domitian (Suet. Dom. 4) had an estate

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