Note 110 — LIFE OF CAIUS MARIUS.

Appian's account is clearer than Plutarch's. He says that Metellus withdrew before the passing; of the enactment by which he was banished. This was the usual formula by which a person was put under a ban, and it was called the Interdiction of "fire and water," to which sometimes "house" is added, as in this case. The complete expression was probably fire, water, and house. Cicero had the same penalty imposed on him, but he withdrew from Rome, like Metellus, before the enactment was carried. There is no extant Life of Metellus Numidicus by Plutarch.