Footnotes Book Two
Let the old woman come.—Ver. 329. In sickness it was the custom to purify the bed and chamber of the patient, with sulphur and eggs. It seems also to have been done when the patient was pining through unrequited love. Apulius mentions a purification by the priest of Isis, who uses eggs and sulphur while holding a torch and repeating a prayer. The nurse of the patient seems here to be directed to perform the ceremony.]
Notes
901 Sing, ‘Io Pean.’—Ver. 1. This was the usual cry of the hunters, who thus addressed Apollo, the God of the chase, when the prey had been captured iu the toils. See the Metamorphoses, Book iv. 1. 513.
902 Amyclæ.—Ver. 5. A town of Laconia. See the Metamorphoses, Book x. 1. 219, and the Note.
903 Erato.—Ver. 16. He addresses himself to this Muse, as her name was derived from the Greek ‘love.’ It has been suggested that he had another reason for addressing her, as she was thought to take pleasure in warfare, a state which sometimes, by way of variety, exists between lovers.
904 A bold path.—Ver. 22. This story is again related in the Eighth Book of the Metamorphoses.
905 Like oars.—Ver. 45. He aptly compares the arrangement of the main feathers of a wing to a row of oars.
906 Orion.’—Ver. 56. So in the Metamorphoses, Book v. 1. 206, he says to his son Icarus, ‘Fly between both: and I bid thee neither to look at Bootes, nor Helice, nor the drawn sword of Orion.’
907 Is angling.—Ver. 77. There is a similar passage in the Metamorphoses, 1. 216.
908 The Clarian God.—Ver. 80. See the Fasti, Book i. 1. 20, and the Note.
909 And Calymne.—Ver. 81. These peaces are mentioned in the corresponding passages in the Metamorphoses, Book viii. 1. 222.
910 Astypalæa..—Ver. 82. This was an isle in the group of the Sporades, between Crete and the Cyclades. It contained but one city, and was long and narrow, and of rugged appearance.
911 The young horse.—Ver. 100. See the Amoves. Book i. El. viii 1. 8, and the Note.
912 The Marsian spells.—Ver. 102. The ‘naenia’ was a mournful dirge or chaunt uttered by the sorcerer in his incantations. On the Marsi, see the Sixth Book of the Fasti, 1. 142, and the Note to the passage.
913 Causing paleness.—Ver. 105. Philtres were noxious potions, made of venomous or stimulating ingredients, prescribed as a means of gaining the affections of the person to whom they were administered.
914 Nireus.—Ver. 109. See the Pontic Epistles, Book iv. Ep. xiii. 1. 16, and the Note to the passage.
915 Charming Hylas.—Ver. 110. See the Tristia, Book ii. 1.
916 Ocean Goddesses.—Ver. 124. Calypso was really the only sea Goddess that was enamoured of Ulysses. Circe was not a sea Goddess.
917 Blood of Dolon.’—Ver. 135. See the Metamorphoses, Book xiii. line 244.
918 Hjemontan horses—Ver. 136. The steeds of Achilles.
919 The Chaonian bird.—Ver. 150. Chaonia was a district of Epirus, said to have been so called from Chaon, a Trojan. Dodona was in Epirus, and in its forests were said to be doves that had the gift of prophecy. See the Translation of the Metamorphoses pp. 467-8.
920 Resort to law.—Ver. 151. He means to say ‘let man and wife be always thinking about resorting to law to procure a divorce.’
921 1 gave verses.—Ver. 166. He intends a pun here. ‘Verba dare’ is ‘to deceive,’ but literally it means ‘to give words.’ See the Amores, book i. El. viii. 1. 57.
922 Atalanta of Nonacris.—Ver. 185. See the Amores, Book iii. El. ii. 29, and the Note.
923 Bow of Hylceus.—Ver. 191. Hylæus and Rhæcus were Centaurs, who were pierced by Atalanta with her arrows, for making an attempt on her chastity. He alludes to the bow of Cupid in the next line.
924 The ivory cubes.’—Ver. 203. He alludes to throws of the ‘tali’ and ‘tessera,’ which were different kinds of dice. See the Note to 1. Footnote 471: of the Second Book of the Tristia. In this line he seems to mean the ‘tessera,’ which were similar to our dice, while the ‘tali,’ which he next mentions, had only four flat surfaces, being made in imitation of the knuckle-bones of animals, and having two sides uneven and rounded. The dice were thrown on a table, made for the purpose, with an elevated rim. Some throws, like our doublets, are supposed to have counted for more than the number turned up. The most fortunate throw was called ‘Venus.’ or ‘Venereus jactus’; it is thought to have consisted of a combination, making fourteen, the dice presenting different numbers. Games with dice were only sanctioned by law as a pastime during meals.
925 Make bad moves.—Ver. 204. ‘Dare jacta’ means ‘to move the throws,’ in allusion to the game of ‘duodecim scripta,’ or ‘twelve points,’ which was played with counters moved according to the throws of the dice, probably in a manner not unlike our game of backgammon. The hoard was marked with twelve lines, on which the pieces moved.
926 Or if you are throwing.—Ver. 205. By the use of the word ‘seu, or,’ we must suppose that he has, under the word ‘numeri,’ alluded to the game with the ‘tesseræ,’ or six-sided dice.
927 The game that imitates.—Ver. 207. He here alludes to the ‘ludus latrunculorum,’ literally ‘the game of theft,’ which is supposed to have been somewhat similar to our chess. He refers to its name in the words, ‘latrocinii sub imagine.’ The game was supposed to imitate the furtive stratagems of warfare: hence the men, which were usually styled ‘calculi,’ were also called by the name of ‘latrones,’ ‘latrunculi,’ ‘milites,’ ‘bella-tores,’ ‘thieves,’ ‘little thieves,’ ‘soldiers,’ ‘warriors.’ As we see by the next line, they were usually made of glass, though sometimes more costly materials were employed. The skill of this game consisted either in taking the pieces of the adversary, or rendering them unable to move. The first was done when the adversary’s piece was brought by the other between two of his own. See the Tristia, Book ii. 1.477. The second took place when the pieces were ‘ligati,’ or ’ad incitas redacti,’ brought upon the last line and unable to move. White and red are supposed to have been the colour of the men. This game was much played by the Roman ladies and nobles.
928 Hold the screen.—Ver. 209. The ancients used ‘umbracula,’ or screens against the weather (resembling our umbrellas), which the Greeks called ————. They were used generally for the same purposes as our parasols, a protection against the heat of the sun. They seem not to have been in general carried by the ladies themselves, but by female slaves, who held them over their mistresses. See the Fasti, Book ii. 1. 209. These screens, or umbrellas, were much used by the Roman ladies in the amphitheatre, to protect them from sun and rain, when the ‘velarium,’ or awning, was not extended.
929 Tasteful couch.’—Ver. 211. This was probably the ‘triclinium’ on which they reposed at meals. The shoes were taken off before reclining on it. Female slaves did this office for the ladies, and males for the men.
930 Looking-glass.—Ver. 216. These were generally held by female slaves, when used by their mistresses. See the Metamorphoses, Book iv. 1. 349. and the Note.
931 Held the work-basket.—Ver. 219. Hercules, who Wiled the serpents sent by Juno, is reproached for doing this, by Deianira in her Epistle.
932 As though a servant.—Ver. 228. He is to be ready, if his mistress goes to a party, to act the part of the slave, who was called ‘adversitor,’ whose duty it was to escort his master home in the evening, if it was dark, with a lighted torch.
933 A vehicle.—Ver. 230. ‘Rota,’ a wheel, is, by Synecdoche, used to signify ‘a vehicle.’
934 Cynthius.—Ver. 240. See the Note to line 51, of the Epistle from Aenone to Paris.
935 Through the open roof.—Ver. 245. He gives a somewhat hazardous piece of advice here; as he instructs him to obtain admission by climbing up the wall, and getting in at the skylight, which extended over the ‘atrium,’ or ‘court,’ a room which occupied the middle of the house. The Roman houses had, in general, but one story over the ground-floor.
936 The high window.—Ver. 246. This passage may be illustrated by the Note to 1. 752: of Book xiv. of the Metamorphoses.
937 Day on which.—Ver. 257. He alluded to a festival celebrated by the servants, on the Caprotine Nones, the seventh of July, when they sacrificed to ‘Juno Caprotina.’ Macrobius says that the servants sacrificed to Juno under a wild fig-tree (called ‘caprificus’), in memory of the service done by the female slaves, in exposing themselves to the lust ot the enemy, for the public welfare. The Gauls being driven from the city, the neighbouring nations chose the Dictator of the Fidenates for their chief, and, marching to Rome, demanded of the Senate, that if they would save their city, they should send out to them their wives and daughters The Senate, knowing their own weakness, were much perplexed, when a handmaid, named ‘Tutela,’ or ‘Philotis,’ offered, with some others, to go out to the enemy in disguise. Being, accordingly, dressed like free women, they repaired in tears to the camp of the enemy. They soon induced their new acquaintances to drink, on the pretence that they were bound to consider the day as a festival; and when intoxicated, a signal was giver, from a fig tree near, that the Romans should fall on them. The camp of the enemy was assailed, and most of them were slain. In return for their service, the female, slaves were made free, and received marriage portion? at the public expense. Another account, agreeing with the present passage, says, that the Gauls were the enemy who made the demand, and that Retana was the name of the female slave.
938 The lower classes.—Ver. 259. Witness his own appeals in the Amores to Napè, Cypassis. Bagous, and the porter.
939 In the Sacred Street.’—Ver. 266. Presents of game and trout very often follow a similar devolution at the present day.
940 Amaryllis was so fond of.—Ver. 267. He alludes to a line of Virgil, which, doubtless, was then well known to all persons of education. It occurs in the Eclogues: ‘Castaneasque nuces, mea quas Amaryllis amabat.’ ‘Chesnuts, too, which my Amaryllis was so fond of.’ In the next line, he hints that the damsels of his day were too greedy to be satisfied with chesnuts only.
941 Thrush and a pigeon.—Ver. 269. Probably live birds of the kind are here alluded to; Pliny tells us that they were trained to imitate the human voice. Thrushes were much esteemed as a delicacy for the table. They were sold tied up in clusters, in the shape of a crown.
942 By these means.—Ver. 271. He alludes to those who continued to slip into dead men’s shoes, by making trifling presents of niceties. Juvenal inveighs against this practice.
943 Poetry does not.—Ver. 274. See the remarks of Dipsas in the Amores, Book i. El. viii. 1. 57.
944 Only rich.—Ver. 276. See the Amores, Book iii. El. ii.
945 Tyrian hue.—Ver. 297. See the Fasti, Book ii. 1. 107, and the Note.
946 Of Cos—Ver. 298. See the Epistles of Sabinus, Ep. iii. 1. 45, and the Note.
947 A dress of felt.—Ver. 300. ‘Gausape,’ ‘gausapa,’ or ‘gausapum,’ was a kind of thick woolly cloth, which had a long nap on one side. It was used to cover tables and beds, and as a protection against wind and rain. It was worn both by males and females, and came into use among the Romans about the time of Augustus.
948 You are setting me on fire.—Ver. 301. Burmanu deservedly censures the explanation of ‘moves incendia,’ given by Crispinus, the Delphin Editor, ‘Vous mourrez de chaud,’ ‘You will die of heat,’ applying the observation to the lady, and not, figuratively, to the feelings of her lover.
949 Her very embraces.—Ver. 308. The common reading of this line is clearly corrupt; probably the reading is the one here adopted, ‘Et un dat, gaudia, voce proba.’
950 What advice—Ver. 368. These attempts at argument are exhausted by Paris, in his Epistle to Helen.
952 Stinging-nettle.—Ver. 417. Pliny prescribes nettle-seed as a stimulating medicine, mixed with linseed, hyssop, and pepper.
953 White onion.—Ver. 421. The onions of Megara are praised by Cato, the agricultural writer.
954 Alcathous.—Ver. 421. See the Metamorphoses, Book vii. 1.
955 At first.—Ver. 467. See the beginning of the First Book of the Metamorphoses.
956 Unclean mate.—Ver. 486. He alludes to the strong smell of the he-goat.
957 Machaon.—Ver. 491. He was a famous physician, son of Æsculapius, and was slain in the Trojan war. See the Tristia, Book v. El. vi. 1. 11.
958 He came.—Ver. 496. ‘Adest’ seems a preferable reading to ‘agit.’
959 To know himself.—Ver. 600. ‘Know thyself,’ was a saying of Chilo, the Lacedaemonian, one of the wise men of Greece. This maxim was also inscribed in gold letters in the temple of Apollo at Delphi. ‘Too much of nothing’ was a second maxim there inscribed; and a third was, ‘Misery is the consequence of debt and discord.’
960 [ Drinks with elegance.—Ver. 506. It is hard to say what art in drinking is here alluded to; whether a graceful air in holding the cup, or the ability of drinking much without shewing any signs of inebriety.
961 The Fasti, Book ii. 1. 19, and Book iv. 1. 728. From a passage of Juvenal, we find that it was a common practice to purify with eggs and sulphur, in the month of September, * On Athos.—Ver. 517. See the Metamorphoses, Book ii. 1. 217, and the Note.
962 On Hybla.—Ver. 517. See the Tristia, Book v. El. xiii. 1. 22.
963 Off your head.—Ver. 528. Iphis, in the fourteenth Book of the Metamorphoses, 1. 732, raises his eyes to the door-posts of his mistress, ‘so often adorned by him with wreaths.’
964 The senses.—Ver. 532. He seems to believe, with Nixon d’Enelos, in the existence of a sixth sense.
965 Of mighty Jove.—Ver. 540. He alludes to the triumphal procession to the Capitol.
966 Gentle sleep.—Ver. 546. See the Amores, Book iii. El. i. 1. 51. He means to say that husbands give a certain latitude to their wives, who do not fail to improve upon it.
967 Own husband.—Ver. 551. See the Amores, Book i. El. iv. 1. 38.
968 Other men visit.—Ver. 554. ‘Viri’ seems to be a better reading than ‘viro.’
969 Mars and Venus.—Ver. 562. See the Metamorphoses, Book iv. 1. 173.
970 Says, laughing.—Ver. 585. See a similar passage in the Metamorphoses, Book iv. 1. 187.
971 For Thrace.—Ver. 588. He was much venerated by the warlike Thracians.
972 Paphos.—Ver. 588. See the Metamorphoses, Book x. 1. 298.
973 Fire and water render.—Ver. 598. Among the Romans, when the bride reached her husband’s house, he received her with fire and water, which it was the custom for her to touch. This is, by some, supposed to have been symbolical of purification; or it was an expression of welcome, as the interdiction of fire and water was the formula for banishment.
974 My sallies.—Ver. 600. See Book L 1. 31, and the Note. See also the Fasti, Book iv. 1. 866, and the Note.
975 The rites of Ceres.—Ver. 601. He alludes to the mysterious rites of Ceres, in the island of Samothrace.
976 Not enclosed in chests.—Ver. 609. Certain chests were carried in the procession at the festival of Ceres, the contents of which, if there were any, was a mystery to the uninitiated.
977 The left hand.—Ver. 614. This is the attitude of the Venus de Medicis.
978 At a heavy price.—Ver. 626. Men spend their money on debauchery, only for the pleasure of talking of it.
979 Waving wings.—Ver. 644. He refers to Perseus admiring the swarthy Andromeda.
980 Of larger stature.—Ver. 645. She was remarkable for her height.
981 Green bark.—Ver. 639. He speaks of the slip engrafted in the stock.
982 What Consulship.—Ver. 663. The age of persons was reckoned by naming the Consulship in which they were born; the period of which was Known by reference to the ‘Fasti Consulares.’ See the Introduction to the Fasti.
983 Rigid Censor.—Ver. 664. It was the duty of the Censor to make enquiries into the age of all individuals.
984 Best years.—Ver. 666. Even in those days, it was considered ungallant to make too scrutinizing enquiries into the years of ladies of ‘a certain age.’
985 Kind of warfare.—Ver. 674. See the Amores, Book i. El. ix. 1. 1.
986 Besides in these.—Ver. 675. In reference to females of a more advanced age.
987 Seven times five years.—Ver. 694. He probably means, in this passage, a lustrum of five years. Burmann justly observes, that ‘cito,’ ‘quickly,’ or ‘soon,’ can hardly be the proper reading, as it seems to contradict the meaning of the context. He suggests ‘nisi,’ meaning ‘but,’ or ‘only.’ See the Fasti, Book iii. 1. 166, and the Note. Also the Tristia, Book iv. El. xvi. 1. 78.
988 Stored up in the times.—Ver. 696. He uses this metaphorical expression to signify that he admires females when of a ripe and mature age See the Amores, Book ii. El. v. 1. 54, and the Note.
989 The shooting grass.—Ver. 698. In Nisard’s translation, the words ‘prata novella’ are rendered ‘l’herbe nouvellement coupée,’ ‘the grass newly cut.’ This is not the meaning of the passage. He intends to say that the grass just shooting up is apt to cut or prick the naked foot.
990 Hermione.—Ver. 699. She was the daughter of Helen and Menelaus.
991 Gorge.—Ver. 700. She was the daughter of Altnea, and sister of Meleager. She married Andræmon.
992 Podalirius.—Ver. 735. The brother of Machaon. See the Tristia Book v. El. xiii. 1. 32.
993 Calchas.—Ver. 737. See the Metamorphoses.
994 Automeden.—Ver. 738. The son of Diores. He was the charioted of Achilles.
995 Upon his spoil—Ver. 744. It was the custom to write inscriptions on the spoil. See the Notes to the Fasti, Book ii. 1. 663.
Notes
1001 Penthesilea.’—Ver. 2. See the 21st Epistle, 1.118, and the Note.
1002 Dione.—Ver. 3. See the Fasti, Book ii. 1. 461, and the Note.
1003 Son of Atreus.—Ver. 11. ‘Helen was unfaithful to Menelaus, while Clytemnestra killed Agamemnon.
1004 Son of Oeclus.—Ver. 13. See the Metamorphoses, Book viii. 1. 317, ind the Note.
1005 From Phylace.—Ver. 17. See the Epistle of Laodamia to Protesilaius.
1006 Son of Pheres.—Ver. 19. See the Pontic Epistles, Book iii. El. i. L 106, and the Note.
1007 And in place of—Ver. 20. See the 111th line of the same Elegy, and the Note. Also the Tristia, Book v. El. xiv. 1. 38.
1008 My skiff.—Ver. 26. ‘Cymba.’ See the Amores, Book iii. El. vi. 1. 4, and the Note.
1009 Another bride.—Ver. 34. Jason deserted Medea for Creusa.
1010 Nine journies.—Ver. 37. See the Epistle of Phyllis to Demophoon.
1011 Two treatises.—Ver. 47. His former books on the Art of Love.
1012 Who before had uttered.—Ver. 49. He alludes to the Poet Stesichorus, on whose lips a nightingale was said to have perched and sung, when he was a child. Pliny relates that he wrote a poem, inveighing bitterly against Helen, in which he called her the firebrand of Troy, on which he was visited with blindness by her brothers, Castor and Pollux, and did not recover his sight till he had recanted in his Palinodia, which he composed in her praise. Suidas says, that Stesichorus composed thirty, six books of Poems. Helen was born at Therapnæ, a town of Laconia.
1013 Your own privileges.—Ver. 58. ‘Sua’ seems to mean the privileges sanctioned and conceded by the law, probably to those females who were in the number of the ‘professae.’
1014 No door.—Ver. 71. So Horace says, in his address to Lydia, Book i. Ode i. 25; ‘Less frequently do the wanton youths shake your joined windows with many a blow, and no longer deprive thee of sleep, and the door adheres to its threshold.’
1015 Bestrewed with roses.—Ver. 72. See line 528: in the last Book Lucretius speaks of the admirers of damsels anointing their doors with M ointment made of sweet marjoram.
1016 Hermione.—Ver. 86. According to Hesiod, Venus was the mother of three children by Mars, of whom Hermione was one.
1017 May take up again.—Ver. 96. This is not the proper translation, of the passage; but the real meaning cannot be presented with a due regard to decorum.
1018 I begin with dress.—Ver. 101. He plays upon the different meanings of the word ‘cultus’; which means either ‘dress,’ or ‘cultivation,’ according as it is applied, to persons or land.
1019 A great part.—Ver. 104. This is a more ungallant remark than we should have expected Ovid to make.
1020 Of Phoebus.—Ver. 119. He alludes to the temple of Apollo, on the Palatine Hill, where Augustus and Tiberius resided.
1021 And choice shells.—Ver. 124. He alludes to pearls which grow in the shell of the pearl oyster, and are found in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean.
1022 By the moles.—Ver. 126. He alludes to the stupendous moles which the Romans fabricated, as breakwaters, at their various bathing-places on the coast of Italy. See the Odes of Horace, Book iii. ode 1.
1023 Round features.—Ver. 139. See the Pontic Epistles, Book iii Ep. iii. 1. 15, and the Note.
1024 Figure of the tortoise.—Ver. 147. Salmasius thinks that the ‘galerus,’ or ‘wig of false hair,’ is alluded to in this passage. Others think that a coif or fillet of net-work is alluded to. He probably means a mode of dressing the hair in the shape of a lyre, with horns on each side projecting outwards. Mercury, the inventor of the lyre, was born on Mount Cyllene, in Arcadia.
1025 The waves.—Ver. 148. Juvenal mentions a mode of dressing the hair to a great height by rows of false curls.
1026 The herbs from Germany.—Ver. 163. He alludes, probably, to herbs brought from Germany, which were burnt for the purpose of making a soap used in turning the hair of a blonde colour. See the Amores, Book i. El. xiv. 1. 1, and the Note.
1027 For money—Ver. 166. See 1. 45 of the above Elegy.
1028 The eyes of Hercules.—Ver. 168. He means that the wig-makers’shops were in the neighbourhood of the Temple of Hercules Musagetes, in the Flaminian Circus. See the Sixth Book of the Fasti, 1. 801.
1029 Gold flounces.—Ver. 169. ‘Segmenta’ are probably broad flounces to the dresses inlaid with plates of gold, or gold threads embroidered on them.
1030 On one’s person.—Ver. 127. Like our expression, ‘To carry a fortune on one’s back.’
1031 That art said.—Ver. 175. He refers to the colour of the Ram with the Golden Fleece, that bore Helle and Phryxus over the Hellespont.
1032 Resembles the waves.—Ver. 177. He evidently alluded to dresses which resemble the surface of the waves, and which we term ‘watered’; and which the Romans called ‘undulatae,’ from ‘unda,’ a ‘wave.’ Varro makes mention of ‘undulatæ togæ.’ Some Commentators, however, fancy that he alludes here to colour, meaning ‘glaucus,’ or ‘sea-green,’ which Lucretius also calls ' thalassinus.’
1033 Amaryllis.—Ver. 183. See the last Book, 1. 267, and the Note.
1034 And wax.—Ver. 184. Plautus mentions the ‘Carinarii,’ who dyed garments of a waxen, or yellow colour
1035 Seriphos.—Ver. 192. See the Metamorphoses, Book v. 1. 242, and the Note.
1036 Shocking goat.—Ver. 193. See the Note to 1. 522: of the First Book.
1037 Application of wax.—Ver. 199. Wax is certainly used as a cosmetic, but ‘creta’ seems to be a preferable reading, as chalk in a powdered state was much used for adding to the fairness of the complexion. Ovid would hardly recommend a cosmetic of so highly injurious a tendency as melted wax.
1038 The eye-brows.—Ver. 201. We learn from Juvenal, that the colour of them was heightened by punctures with a needle being filled with soot.
1039 And the little patch.—Ver. 202. ‘Aluta’ means ‘skin made soft by means of alum.’ It is difficult to discover what it means here, whether ‘a patch’ made of a substance like gold-beater’s skin, somewhat similar to those used in the days of the Spectator; or a liquid cosmetic, such as Pliny calls ‘calliblepharum,’ ’an aid to the eye-brows.’ He seems to use the word ‘sinceras’ in its primitive sense, ‘without wax’; which recommendation certainly would contradict the common reading, ‘cera,’ in the 199th line.
1040 To mark the eyes.—Ver. 203. To heighten the colour of the eyelashes, ashes (and probably charcoal) were u»ed by the Roman women. Saffron also was used. A black paint, made of pulverized antimony, is used by the women in the East, at the present day, to paint their eyebrows black. It is called ‘surme,’ and was also used at ancient Rome. Cydnus was a river of Cilicia.
1041 A little treatise.—Ver. 205. He alludes to his book, ‘On the care of the Complexion,’ of which a fragment remains.
1042 Of the cesypum.—Ver. 213. The filthy cosmetic called ‘cesypum,’ was prepared from the wool of those parts of the body where the sheep perspired most; it was much used for embellishing the complexion. Pliny mentions the sheep of Athens as producing the best. It had a strong rank smell. The red colour, which was used by the Roman ladies for giving a bloom to the skin, was prepared from a moss called ‘fucus’; from which, in time, all kinds of paint received the name of ‘fucus.’
1043 Of the deer.—Ver. 215. Pliny speaks highly of the virtues of stag’s marrow. It probably occupied much the same position in estimation, that bear’s grease does at the present day.
1044 Myron.—Ver. 219. There were two sculptors of this name: one a native of Lycia, the other of Eleuthera.
1045 Beautiful statue.—Ver. 223. He alludes to that of Venus Anadyomene, or rising from the sea, which was made by Praxiteles, and was often copied by the sculptors of Greece and Rome.
1046 Pierces her arms.—Ver. 240. See a similar passage in the Amores. Book i. El. xiv. 1. 16.
1047 Toilet in the temple.—Ver. 244. He tells those who have not fine heads of hair, to be as careful in admitting any men to see their toilet, as the devotees of Bona Dea were to keep away all males from her solemnities.
1048 Sidonian fair.—Ver. 252. Europa was a Phoenician by birth.
1049 With the clothes.—Ver. 226. See the Amores, Book i. El. iv. 1.48, and the Note.
1050 With purple stripes.’—Ver. 269. Commentators are at a loss to know what ‘tingere virgis’ means; some suggest, ‘to wear garments with red ‘virgæ,’ or ‘stripes,’while others think that it means ‘to tint the skin with fine lines of a purple colour.’ It is thought by some that vermilion is here alluded to, while others suppose that the juice of the red flowers, or berries of the ‘vaccinium,’ is meant.
1051 The Pharian fish.—Ver. 270. The intestines and dung of the crocodile, ‘the Pharian’ or ‘Egyptian fish,’ are here referred to. We learn from Pliny that these substances were used by the females at Rome as a cosmetic, to add to the fairness of the complexion, and to take away freckles from the skin.
1052 Small pads are suitable.—Ver. 273 ‘Analectides,’ or ‘Analectrides,’ (the correct reading is doubtful) were pads, or stuffings, of flock, used in cases of high shoulders or prominent shoulder-blades.
1053 And let the girth.—Ver. 274. He alludes to the ‘strophium,’ which distantly resembled the stays of the present day, and was a girdle, or belt, worn by women round the breast and over the interior tunic or chemise. From an Epigram of Martial, it seems to have been usually made of leather. Becker thinks that there was a difference between the ‘fascia’ and the ‘strophium.’
1054 At a distance.—Ver. 278. One of the very wisest of his suggestions.
1055 Umbrian.—Ver. 303. The Umbrians were a people of the Marsi, in the north of Italy. They were noted for their courage, and the rusticity of their manners.
1056 The son of Sisyphus.—Ver. 313. He here alludes to a scandalous story among the ancients, that Ulysses was the son of Anticlea, by Sisyphus the robber, who had carried her off, and not by Laertes, her husband.
1057 The wax.—Ver. 314. By the advice of Circe, Ulysses filled the ears of his companions with melted wax, that they might not hear the songs of the Sirens.
1058 The measures of the Nile.—Ver. 318. These airs were sung by Egyptian girls, with voluptuous attitudes, and were much esteemed by the dissolute Romans. These Egyptian singers were, no doubt, the forerunners of the ‘Alme’ of Egypt at the present day. The Nautch girls and Bayaderes of the East Indies are a kindred race.
1059 Plectrum.—Ver. 319. See the Metamorphoses, Book ii. 1. 601, and the Note; also the Epistle of Briseïs, 1. 118, and the Note.
1060 Thy mother.—Ver. 323. Amphion and Zethuswere the sons of Jupiter and Antiope. Being carried off by her uncle Lycus, Antiope was entrusted to his wife Dirce. When her sons grew up, they fastened Dirce to wild oxen, by which she was tom to pieces. Amphion was said to have built the walls of Thebes by the sound of his lyre.
1061 Arion.—Ver. 326. See the Fasti, Book ii. 1. 79.
1062 The festive psaltery.—Ver. 327. Suidas tells us that ‘naulium,’ or ‘nablium,’ was a name of the psaltery. Josephus says that it had twelve strings. Strabo remarks that the name was of foreign origin.
1063 Callimachus.—Ver. 329. See the Amores, Book ii. El. iv. 1. 19: and the Pontic Epistles, Book iv. Ep. xvi. 1. 32, and the Notes of the passages.
1064 Poet of Cos.—Ver. 330. The poet Philetas. He flourished in the time of Philip and Alexander the Great. Anacreon was a lyric poet of Teios, and a great admirer of the juice of the grape.
1065 Or him, through whom.—Ver. 332. Some think that he means Menander, from whom Terence borrowed many of his scenes; he probably alludes to the Phormio of Terence, where the old men, Chremes and Demipho, are deceived by Geta, the cunning slave. See the Tristia, Book ii. 1. 359: and 69.
1066 Propertius.’—Ver. 333. See the Tristia, Book ii. 1. 465, and the Note.
1067 Tibullus.—Ver. 334. See the Amores, Book iii. EL ix.
1068 Varro.—Ver. 335. See the Pontic Epistles, Book iv. Ep. xvi. 1. 21; and the Amores, Book i. El. xv. 1. 21, and the Notes to the passages.
1069 Lofty Rome.—Ver. 338. He refers here to the Æneid of Virgil.
1070 Two sides.—Ver. 342. Both the males and the females.
1071 Composition.—Ver. 346. He takes to himself the credit of being the inventor of Epistolary composition.
1072 Masters of posture.—Ver. 351. These persons, who were also called ‘ludii,’ or ‘histrlones,’ required great suppleness of the sides, for the purpose of aptly assuming expressive attitudes; for which reason he calls them ‘artifices lateris.’ See the First Book, 1. 112; and the Tristia, Book ii, 1. 497, and the Note.
1073 Which she must call for.—Ver. 356. Probably at the game of ‘duodecim seripta,’ or ‘twelve points,’ like our backgammon; sets of three ‘tesseræ,’ or dice, were used for throwing; he recommends her to learn the game, and to know on what points to enter when taken up, and what throws to call for. See the last Book, 1. 203; and the Tristia, Book ii. 1. 473, and the Note.
1074 The pieces.—Ver. 357. See the Note to 1. 207, in the last Book.
1075 The warrior, too.—Ver. 359. He alludes to one of the principal pieces, whose fate depends upon another.
1076 Let the smooth balls.—Ver. 361. He seems to allude here to a game played by putting marbles (which seems to be the meaning of ‘pilæ leves,’ ‘smooth balls,’) into a net with the month open, and then taking them out one by one without moving any of the others.
1077 Kind of game.—Ver. 363. These two lines do not seem to be connected with the game mentioned in 1. 365, but rather to refer to that mentioned in 1. 355.
1078 A little table receives.}—Ver. 365. This game is mentioned in the Tristia, Book ii. 1. 481. It seems to resemble the simple game played by schoolboys on the slate, and known among them as tit-tat-to.
1079 No trusting.—Ver. 377. On account of the continued run of bad luck.
1080 Flying ball.’—Ver. 380. See the Tristia, Book ii. 1. 485-6, and the Note.
1081 The Virgin.—Ver. 385. This was near the Campus Martius. See the Fasti, Book i. 1. 464; and the Pontic Epistles, Book i. Ep. viii. 1. 38, and the Note.
1082 Etrurian.—Ver. 386. The Tiber flowed through ancient Etruria.
1083 The Virgin.—Ver. 388. He alludes to the heat while the sun is passing through the Constellation Virgo.
1084 Parætonium.—Ver. 390. See the Amores, Book ii. El. xiii. 1. 7, and the Note. He alludes to the victory of Augustus over Antony and Cleopatra, at Actium; on which the conqueror built the temple of Apollo on the Palatine hill.
1085 The suter and the wife.—Ver. 391. Livia, the wife, and Octavia, the sister of Augustus, are referred to.
1086 His son-in-law.—Ver. 392. The allusion is to M. Agrippa, the husband of Julia, the daughter of Augustus; after the defeat of the younger Pompey, Augustus presented him with a naval crown. A Portico built by Augustus was called by his name.
1087 Memphian heifer.—Ver. 393. See the Amores, Book i. El. viii. 1. 74.
1088 Frequent the three Theatres.—Ver. 394. He probably alludes to the theatres of Pompey, Balbus, and Marcellus, as they are mentioned by Suetonius as the ‘trina theatra.’
1089 Glowing wheels.—Ver. 396. See the Amores, Book iii. El. ii.
1090 Thamyras.—Ver. 399. He was a Thracian poet, who challenged the Muses to sing, and, according to Homer, was punished with madness. Diodorus Siculus says that he lost his voice, while the Roman poets state that he lost his sight. Amoebeus was a famous lute-player of Athens.
1091 Of Cos.—Ver. 401. See the Pontic Epistles, Book iv. Ep. i. 1. 29.
1092 Poets were.—Ver. 405. Euripides was the guest of Archelaüs king of Macedonia, Anacreon of Polycrates king of Samos, and Pindar and Bacchilides of Hiero king of Sicily.
1093 Placed near to thee.—Ver. 410. According to some accounts, the ashes of Ennius were deposited in the tomb of the Scipios, by the older of his friend Scipio Africanus.
1094 Its own Priam.—Ver. 440. Priam and Antenor advised that Helen should be restored to Menelaus.
1095 Liquid nard.—Ver. 443. There were two kinds of nard, the ‘foliated,’ and the ‘spike’ nard. It was much esteemed as a perfume by the Romans.
1096 Narrow belt.—Ver. 444. He probably means a girdle that fitted tightly, and caused the ‘toga’ to set in many creases. See the Notes to the Fasti, Book v. 1. 675.
1097 And many a ring.—Ver. 446. ‘alter et alter.’ Literally, one and another.
1098 Some thief.—Ver. 447. Among its other refinements, Rome seems to have had its swell mob.
1101 You, ye Goddesses.—Ver. 452. He probably alludes to the Nymphs whose statues were near the Appian aqueduct, mentioned in the 81st Une of the First Book. The Delphin Editor absolutely thinks that the ‘pro-fessæ,’ or courtesans, are themselves alluded to as the ‘Appiades Deæ.’
1102 Theseus.—Ver. 457. Who deserted Ariadne.
1103 Of Inachus.—Ver. 464. Isis, or To. Seo the Metamorphoses, Bk. i.
1104 To deceive your husbands.—Ver. 484. It is not improbable that ‘viros’ here means merely ‘keepers,’ and not ‘husbands,’ especially as he alludes to their being without the privilege of the ‘vitta,’ which the matrons wore.
1105 Two hands.—Ver. 496. He means, that the writing of the lover must be quite erased before she pens her answer on the same tablets.
1106 Hence, avaunt.—Ver. 505. See the Fasti, Book vi. 1. 696. * Laying aside his foils.—Ver. 515. The ‘rudis’ was a stick, which soldiers and persons exercising used in mimic combat, probably like our foil or singlestick.
1107 With Tecmessa.—Ver. 517. She was taken captive by Ajax, and probably had good reason to be sorrowful.
1108 The twig of vine.—Ver. 527. He alludes to the Centurions, who had the power of inflicting corporal punishment, from which circumstance their badge of office was a vine sapling.
1109 Nemesis.—Ver. 536. Nemesis was the mistress of Tibullus. See the Amores, Book iii. El. ix. Cynthia was the mistress of Propertius and Lycoris of Gallus.
1110 Shut your door.—Ver. 587. He addresses the husband, whom he supposes to be wearied with satiety.
1111 Than even Thais.—Ver. 604. Thais seems to have been a common name with the courtesans of ancient times. Terence, in his Eunuchus, introduces one of that name, who is pretty much of the free and unrestrained character here depicted.
1112 Lictor’s rod.—Ver. 615. This conferred freedom on the slave who was touched with it. See the Fasti, Book vi. 1. 676, and the Note, lie means, that free-born women are worthy to become wives; but ‘libertinæ,’ or ‘freed-women,’ are only fit to become ‘professæ,’ or ‘courtesans,’ when they may sin with impunity, so far as the laws are concerned.
1113 Broad girth.—Ver. 622. This seems to be the kind of belt mentioned in line 274.
1114 Stalk of wetted flax.—Ver. 629. According to the common reading, this will mean that the letter is to be written on blank paper, with a stalk of wetted flax; which writing will afterwards appear, when a black substance is thrown upon it. Heinsius insists that the passage is corrupt, and suggests that ‘alumine nitri’ is the correct reading; in which case it would mean that alum water is to be used instead of ink. Vessius tells us that alum water, mixed with the juice of the plant ‘tithymalum,’ was used for the purposes of secret correspondence.
1115 Good Goddess.—Ver. 637. The debauched Clodius was detected as being present at these rites, in a female dress.
1116 The false key, too, tells.—Ver. 643. He plays upon the double meaning of the words, ‘adultéra clavis,’ which properly signifies ‘a false key.’
1117 Even though.—Ver. 646. ‘Even though you should have to go to the expense of providing the rich wines of Spain for the purpose.’
1118 Even she.—Ver. 663. He alludes to the accommodating lady mentioned in line 641.
1119 Has she filled.—Ver. 666. See his address to Cypassis, in the Amores, Book ii. El. viii.
1120 Lemnian dames.—Ver. 672. See the introduction to the Epistle from Hypsipyle to Jason.
1121 Cephaltis.—Ver. 695. This story is also related in the Seventh Book of the Metamorphoses.
1122 The quinces.—Ver. 705. These are called ‘cydonia,’ from Cydon, city of Crete.
1123 Cyllenian God.—Ver. 725. Cephalus was said to be the son of Mercury; but, according to one account, which is followed by Ovid in the Metamorphoses, Deioneus was his father.
1124 Her breath.—Ver. 746. See the corresponding passage in the Metamorphoses, Book vii. 1. 861. It was the custom for the nearest relative to catch the breath of the dying person in the mouth.
1125 With your fingers.—Ver. 755.. Perhaps he means in moderato quantities at a time, and not in whole handfuls. See the Note to the First Book, 1. 577.
1126 And do not first.—Ver. 757. He seems to irs two precepts here; first, they are not to eat so much at home as to take away all appetite at the banquet, as that would savour of affectation, and be an act of rudeness to the host. On the other hand, he warns them not to stuff as long as they are able, but rather to leave off with an appetite. The passage, however, is hopelessly corrupt, and is capable of other interpretations.
1127 Perform their duty.—Ver. 764. ‘Constent,’ literally. ‘Will stand together.’
1128 The swans.—Ver. 899. He also alludes to them in the Metamorphoses, as drawing the car of Venus, though that office was more generally assigned by the Poets to doves.
Footnotes of Book the Third
1099 Thou, Venus—Ver. 451. This temple is referred to in the First Book, 1. 81—87. Its vicinity was much frequented by courtesans.