(praenomen) which was given sons on the ninth day after their birth. Claudius is the name of the gens, the family in the wider sense of the word (nomen gentilicium). Mucianus is the cognomen, the surname, the name of the immediate family (stirps or familia). Thus several stirpes belonged to a single gens. Daughters bore only the name of the gens; for instance the daughter of Titus Claudius Mucianus was called Claudia. If there were two of them, they were distinguished by the words major (the elder) and minor (the younger); if there were several, by numbers. The Claudia Gens was a very ancient and famous one. The principal characters of the story, belonging to the stirps Muciana, are purely imaginary.
40
Gavius Apicius, the famous Roman gourmand (Tac. Ann. IV, 1) who finding that he had only two million and a half denari left in the world (about 400,000 dollars) killed himself, thinking it impossible to live on so little.
41
Hymettus. A mountain in Attica, famed for its delicious honey. (Horace, Od. II, 6, 14).
42
Polished emerald. (Plin. Hist. Nat. XXXVII, 64) where it is stated that the emperor Nero used such an eye-glass at the public games.
43
The lobster, (cammarus), was less highly esteemed by the Romans than among ourselves. See Plin. Ep. II, 17. "The sea, it is true, has no superabundance of delicious fish; yet it gives us excellent soles and lobsters" – a passage in which lobsters are contrasted with delicious fish.
44
Cut Crystal. Window panes of glass (vitrum) mica plates (lapis specularis) and similar materials were by no means rare in ancient times.
45
Menander, son of the general Diopeithes, B.C. 342. The most distinguished poet of the New Comedy; fragments of his comedies have come down to us.
46
Tibur. A favorite summer resort of the Roman aristocracy, now Tivoli.
47
Cappadocian horses. The province of Cappadocia in Asia Minor was famed for its horses.
48
Litters (lectica). The usual conveyance, somewhat resembling the Oriental palanquin, were supplied with rich curtains (vela) and in other respects became the object of luxurious decorations. The number of litter-bearers (lecticarii, calones) varied from two to eight. In the city of Rome itself, where riding in carriages was not allowed during the day-time, the lecticae took the place of our carriages and hacks, for they could also be hired by the hour, and there were stands of them (castra lecticariorum) in several frequented quarters.
49
Lava Blocks. The usual material for pavements in central and southern Italy.
50
Sicambri. A powerful German tribe, occupying in the time of Caesar the eastern bank of the Rhine, and extending from the Sieg to the Lippe.
51
Red Livery. The usual costume of the litter-bearers in the time of the emperors.
52
Woolly-headed Ethiopians. The name Ethiopian Αἰθίοπες in its more restricted sense, applies to the inhabitants of Upper Egypt; in a more general meaning to the whole population of North-eastern Africa, and South-western Asia. According to Herodotus (VII, 70) the Ethiopians dwelling in the East had smooth, those in the West woolly hair.
53
Baths (thermae, θέρμαι, that is “warm baths”) were public bathing-establishments on the grandest scale, modelled after the Greek wrestling-schools. See Becker, Gallus III, p. 68 and following.
54
Cumae (Κύμη) now Cuma, the oldest of the Greek colonies in Italy, beyond the mountain range that bounds the bay of Baja on the west; it is only a few thousand paces from Baja.
55
In front walked eight or ten slaves. Such a vanguard was customary among people of distinction, even when they went on foot.
56
Lusitanians. A people living in the region now known as Portugal, between the Tagus (Tajo, Tejo) and Durius, (Duero, Douro.)
57
Caecubum. A district on the shores of the bay of Gaeta, famous for its wine. See (Horace Od. I, 20, 9 and I, 37, 5) where it is said, that it would be positively sinful to bring Caecubian wine from the cellar with other kinds on ordinary occasions (antehac nefas depromere Caecubum cellis avitis, etc.).
58
Erymanthian boar. So called from Mt. Erymanthus in Arcadia, where the animal lived until slain by Hercules.
59
Dionysus. A surname of Bacchus.
60
Libation. Wine poured as an offering to the gods.
61
Vestibulum. The space in front of the house-door (fores) which in the time of the imperial government was frequently covered with a portico.
62
Adopted Daughter. The adoption of a child in ancient Rome was regulated by very strict laws. Adoption in its narrower sense (adoptio) extended to persons who were still under paternal authority; with self-dependent persons the so-called arrogatio took place. With women this last form was entirely excluded.
63
Atrium. From the door of the house a narrow passage (ostium) led to the first inner court, the atrium, so-called because this space, where the hearth originally was, was blackened by the smoke (ater). The atrium, which in the more ancient Roman houses possessed the character of a room with a comparatively small opening in the roof, and afterwards resembled a court-yard, was at first the central point of family life, the sitting-room, where the industrious house-keeper sat enthroned among her slaves. When republican simplicity gave way to luxury, the atrium became the hall devoted to the reception of guests, and domestic life was confined to the more retired apartments.
64
Triclinium, (triple couch) really the sofa on which three, and sometimes even more persons reclined at table; the name was also given to the dining-room itself, which comprised the second inner court-yard, the so-called peristyle or cavaedium.
65
Cimbrian Peninsula, now called Jutland.
66
Guttoni. A German race on the lower Vistula.
67
Aestui. A German race living on the coast of Revel.
68
Scandii. Inhabitants of southern Sweden.
69
The Sense of Contrast was a conspicuous trait in Roman character. They were wont to heighten their appreciation of the joys of life by images of death, and the dining-room was intentionally placed so as to afford a view of tombs.
70
The Golden House (domus aurea). The name given to the magnificent palace of Nero, which extended from the Palatine Hill across the valley and up again as far as the gardens of Macaenas on the Esquiline. It contained an enormous number of the choicest works in statuary. Vespasian had a large part of this building pulled down.
71
The Seven Hills. Contempt for all who lived in the provinces was peculiar to all Romans, even the lowest classes of the populace. Thus Cicero says: “Cum infimo cive romano quisquam amplissimus Galliae comparandus est?” (Can even the most distinguished Gaul be compared with the humblest Roman citizen?) This prejudice extended to later centuries, though under the first emperors numerous inhabitants of the provinces attained the rank of senator and reached the highest offices. It is very comical, when Juvenal, a freedman’s son, treats the “knights from Asia Minor,” (Equites Asiani) condescendingly, as if they were intruders, unworthy to unfasten the straps of his sandals. Inhabitants of the other provinces were held in higher esteem than the
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