Note 1 — BOOK IV.

I have omitted)—Ver. 5. “Divinabit” seems preferable here to “damnabit,” or “demonstrabit,” the other readings; and Burmann is probably right in supposing that he means to say that many of the Æsopian fables had not yet been used by him, and though others may make use of them as bearing a general moral, they will not be able so well as himself to point their moral in reference to individuals or classes, in consequence of his advantage in having already adapted many of them to the censure of particular vices.

2. Particulo)—Ver. 10. Of Particulo nothing whatever is known, except that he was a freedman.

3. Cannot imitate)—Ver. 16. Gronovius thinks that he alludes to the Greek proverb “Μωμεῖσθαι ῥάδιον ἢ μιμεῖσθαι.” “’Tis easier to blame than to imitate.”

4. Priests of Cybele)—Ver. 4. During the Festival of Cybele, the Galli or eunuch-priests of the Goddess went about with an image of her seated on an ass, and beating a tambourine, for the purpose of making a collection to defray the expenses of the worship. They were called by the Greeks μητραγύρται, “Collectors for the Mother.” See the Fasti of Ovid, B. iv., l. 350, vol. i., p. 149, of Bohn’s Translation.

5. Tambourines)—Ver. 7. “The tympana,” which were almost exactly similar to our tambourines, were covered with the skin of asses or of oxen, and were beaten with the hand or a small stick.

6. So fare you well)—Ver. 21. “Sic valeas.” —“Fare you well, if you are flour, which you are not. I wish you luck as much as I believe you are what you pretend to be, i.e., not at all.”

7. The horse)—Ver. 3. “Sonipes,” literally “sounding-hoof.” This was a name commonly given to the horse by the Romans. Lucan repeatedly calls a war-horse by this epithet.

8. Spinner of wool)—Ver. 5. “Lanificam.” Working in wool was the constant employment of the more industrious among the females of the higher class. Ovid, in the Fasti, Book ii., l. 742, represents Lucretia as being found thus employed by her husband and Tarquinius. The Emperor Augustus refused to wear any clothes that were not woven by the females of his family.

9. Consulted equity)—Ver. 20. This seems to be the meaning of “fidem advocare:” but the passage has caused considerable difficulty to the Commentators.

10. A store-room)—Ver. 25. The “apotheca” was a place in the upper part of the house, in which the Romans frequently placed the amphoræ in which their wine was stored. It was situate above the “fumarium,” as the smoke was thought to heighten the flavour of the wine.

11. A finely finished house)—Ver. 26. “Politam” probably refers to the care with which the houses of the opulent in cities were smoothed by the workman’s art. According to some Commentators, however, “domus polita” here means “a house furnished with every luxury.”

12. In our taverns)—Ver. 2. We learn from Horace and other ancient writers, that it was the custom to paint comic subjects on the walls of the taverns; and similar subjects have been found painted on walls at Pompeii.

13. More lofty style)—Ver. 5. “Cothurnis,” literally “the buskins of Tragedy.”

14. Summits of Pelion)—Ver 6. The ship Argo was said to have been built of wood grown on Mount Pelion. The author alludes to the expedition of Jason to Colchis to fetch thence the Golden Fleece.

15. The realms of Pelias)—Ver. 13. He alludes to the death of Pelias, King of Thessaly, through the schemes of Medea, daughter of Æetes, King of Colchis, at the hands of his own daughters. See Ovid’s Metamorphoses, B. vii. l. 297, et seq.

16. Limbs of her brother)—Ver. 15. When, on her flight with Jason, Æetes pursued his daughter Medea, she, having taken with her her brother Absyrtus, in order to retard her father in the pursuit, cut her brother in pieces, and scattered his limbs in the way. Thus, while the father was employed in gathering the limbs of his son, Medea made her escape. The place where this happened was thence said to have had the name of Tomi; and to this place Ovid was banished by Augustus. See the Story related in the Tristia of Ovid, B. iii. El. ix.

17. If neither Fables)—Ver. 22. By “fabellæ,” he probably means Æsopian fables, while by “fabulæ,” the more lofty stories of tragedy are meant. By “Cato,” he means a censorious or over-scrupulous reader.

18. A Viper entered)—Ver. 3. Lokman, the Arabian Fabulist, has the same fable; but there a Cat plays the part of the Viper.

19. Fallen into a well)—Ver. 3. Some of the Commentators think that Tiberius and Sejanus are pointed at in this Fable.

20. From a lamp)—Ver. 13. The ancients were compelled to light sacrifices to the Gods from torches, and not with fire from a lamp. More usually a fire was kept constantly burning in the temple for the purpose.

21. A man of worth)—Ver. 1. It has been suggested that by “forti viro,” Phædrus means a military man. The word “fortis” seems rather here to mean “of real worth,” or “of strong mind.” Some of ancient authors make Plutus to be the son of Ceres and Jasius.

22. Began to prevail)—Ver. 9. The remainder of this Fable is lost. It is supposed to have been torn out of the MS. of the writings of Phædrus by some pious monk, who, objecting to the following Fable, destroyed the leaf which contained the latter part of the present one, as well as some part of the next. Orellius considers the lines ending with “obscœnitas” as the fragment of a Fable distinct from the succeeding lines.

23. The She-Goats)—Ver. 1. This Fable is thought by some to bear reference to the interference of Livia in affairs of state.

24. The Dogs once sent)—Ver. 1. It is supposed that in this singular Fable, Phædrus ridicules, in a covert manner, some of the prevailing superstitions of his day, or else that he satirizes Tiberius and Sejanus, while the Dogs signify the Roman people.

25. And so it is)—Ver. 35. This and the next line are regarded by many as spurious: indeed Hare is disinclined to believe that this Fable was written by Phædrus at all.

26. Not to assist the wicked)—Ver. 5. It has been remarked that Phædrus here deviates from nature, in making the Serpent give a bad character of itself. Those who think that Phædrus wrote after the time of Tiberius, suggest that Caligula is represented by the snake, who wreaked his cruelty on his former benefactors, Macro and Ennia.

27. Of a Dragon’s den)—Ver. 3. In former times, when riches were more commonly buried in the earth, it was perhaps found convenient to encourage a superstitious notion, which was very prevalent, that they were guarded by watchful Dragons.

28. Joy of your heir)—Ver. 18. That is to say, in his death.

29. Extorts a groan)—Ver. 22. So in the Aulularia of Plautus, Act II. Sc. viii. the miser Euclio is represented as groaning over the high price of provisions.

30. Cutting down)—Ver. 25. In his will.

31. Lest Libitina)—Ver. 26. The “pollinctores,” or “undertakers,” kept their biers and other implements required at funerals, at the Temple of the Goddess Libitina.

32. In the island of Ceos)—Ver. 28. The poet Simonides was born at Iulis, a city of the isle of Ceos, one of the Cyclades, in the Ægæan Sea.

33. Their girdles)—Ver. 11. Among the ancients, the zones or girdles were sometimes used for the purpose of keeping money there; while sometimes purses were carried suspended from them.

34. Carrying about their pictures)—Ver. 24. It was the custom for shipwrecked persons to go about soliciting charity with a painting suspended from the neck, representing their calamity; much in the fashion which we sometimes see followed at the present day.

35. A Mountain)—Ver. 1. Tachos, King of Egypt, is said by Plutarch to have said to Agesilaüs, King of Sparta, when he came to his assistance: “The mountain has been in labour, Jupiter has been in alarm, but it has brought forth a mouse,” alluding to the diminutive stature of Agesilaus; who contented himself with replying, in answer to this rude remark: “One day I shall appear to you even to be a lion.”

36. A certain Pugilist)—Ver. 5. “Pyctæ;” from the Greek πυκτὴς, a “boxer,” or “pugilist,” Latinized.

37. Twin stars of Leda)—Ver. 9. Castor and Pollux, the twin sons of Leda.

38. Usually are)—Ver. 9. Orellius introduces this after Fable V in the Fifth Book.