Note 1 — BOOK III.

Eutychus)—Ver. 2. It is not known with certainty who this Eutychus was to whom he addresses himself. It has been suggested that he is the same person who is mentioned by Josephus, Antiq. B. xix., c. 4, as flourishing at the Court of Caligula, and who had previously been a charioteer and inspector of buildings at the stables of Claudius. He is also supposed, from the words of the Epilogue of this Book, line 20-26, to have held more than one public office. It has been suggested that he was the freedman of the Emperor Claudius or Augustus, an inscription having been found in the tomb of the freedmen of the latter to C. Julius Eutychus. But it is hardly probable that he is the person meant; as there is little doubt that Phædrus wrote the present Book of Fables long after the time of Augustus. Indeed it has been suggested by some that he wrote it as late as the reign of Caligula.

2. Some holidays)—Ver. 8. The Romans had three kinds of public “feriæ,” or holidays, which all belonged to the “dies nefasti,” or days on which no public business could be done. These were the “feriæ stativæ,” “conceptivæ,” and “imperativæ.” The first were held regularly, and on stated days set forth in the Calendar. To these belonged the Lupercalia, Carmentalia, and Agonalia. The “conceptivæ,” or “conceptæ,” were moveable feasts held at certain seasons in every year, but not on fixed days; the times for holding them being annually appointed by the magistrates or priests. Among these were the “feriæ Latinæ,” Sementivæ, Paganalia, and Compitalia. The “feriæ imperativæ” were appointed to be held on certain emergencies by order of the Consuls, Prætors, and Dictators; and were in general held to avert national calamities or to celebrate great victories.

3. Worthless ditties)—Ver. 10. “Nænia” were, properly, the improvised songs that were sung at funerals by the hired mourners, who were generally females. From their trivial nature, the word came to be generally applied to all worthless ditties, and under this name Phædrus, with all humility, alludes to his Fables.

4. On the Pierian Hill)—Ver. 17. Judging from this passage it would appear that Phædrus was a Macedonian by birth, and not, as more generally stated, a Thracian. Pieria was a country on the south-east coast of Macedonia, through which ran a ridge of mountains, a part of which were called Pieria, or the Pierian mountain. The inhabitants are celebrated in the early history of the music and poesy of Greece, as their country was one of the earliest seats of the worship of the Muses, and Orpheus was said to have been buried there. It is most probable that Phædrus was carried away in slavery to Rome in his early years, and that he remembered but little of his native country.

5. As Sinon said)—Ver. 27. He here alludes to the words of Sinon, the Grecian spy, when brought before Priam, in the Second Book of Virgil, 77-78:—

Others, again, suppose that this was a proverbial expression in general use at Rome. It is not improbable that it may have become so on being adopted from the work of Virgil: “Come what may of it, as Sinon said.”

6. And your goodness)—Ver. 30. “Honori et meritis dedicam illum tuis.” We learn from ancient inscriptions that this was a customary formula in dedications.

7. Slavery)—Ver. 34. He probably alludes to Æsop’s state of slavery, in the service of the philosopher Xanthus.

8. To my own misfortune)—Ver. 40. He evidently alludes to some misfortune which has befallen him in consequence of having alluded in his work to the events of his own times. It has been suggested that he fell under the displeasure of Tiberius and his minister Sejanus, in consequence of the covert allusions made to them in Fables II and VI in the First Book. This question is, however, involved in impenetrable obscurity.

9. Than Sejanus)—Ver. 41. He means that Ælius Sejanus had acted against him as both informer, witness, and judge; but that had an honest man condemned him to the sufferings he then experienced, he should not have complained. The nature of the punishment here alluded to is not known.

10. Anacharsis of Scythia)—Ver. 52. A Scythian philosopher, and supposed contemporary of Æsop. He came to Athens in pursuit of knowledge while Solon was the lawgiver of that city. He is said to have written works on legislation and the art of war.

11. Nearer to learned Greece)—Ver. 54. Alluding to Pieria, the place of his birth. The people of Pieria were supposed to have been of Thracian origin.

12. A cask)—Ver. 1. “Amphoram.” Properly, the “amphora,” or earthen vessel with two handles, in which wine was usually kept.

13. Falernian Lees)—Ver. 2. The Falernian wine held the second rank in estimation among the Romans. The territory where it was grown commenced at the “Pons Campanus,” and extended from the Massic Hills to the river Vulturnus. Pliny mentions three kinds, the rough, the sweet, and the thin. It is supposed to have been of an amber colour, and of considerable strength. It was the custom to write the age of the wine and the vintage on the “amphora,” or cask.

14. O, delicious fragrance)—Ver. 5. “Anima,” most probably applies to the savour or smell of the wine; though some Commentators have thought that she addresses the cask as “anima,” meaning “O dear soul;” others, that she speaks of the wine as being the soul of life; while Walchius seems to think that she is addressing her own soul, which is quite cheered by the fumes.

15. Who knows me)—Ver. 7. Burmann thinks that the author covertly hints here at the habits of the Emperor Tiberius in his old age, who still hankered after those vicious indulgences which had been his main pursuits in his former days; or else that the Poet simply refers to human life, in the same spirit in which Seneca, Ep. lvii., calls old age, “fæx vitæ,” “the lees of life.” Others again suppose that Phædrus alludes to his own old age, and means that those who knew him when this Fable was written, may judge from their present acquaintance with him what he must have been in his younger days. Heinsius thinks that it refers to the present state of servitude of Phædrus, compared with his former liberty; but, if he was manumitted, as generally supposed, by Augustus, and this Fable was not written till after the death of Sejanus, that cannot be the case.

16. A Panther)—Ver. 2. Some have suggested, Burmann and Guyetus in the number, that by the Panther is meant Tiberius, who, during his banishment to the isle of Rhodes, occupied himself in studying how to wreak his vengeance upon his enemies at Rome, and, with the fury of the Panther, as soon as he had the opportunity, glutted his vengeance. This notion, however, seems more ingenious than well founded.

17. Of greater age)—Ver. 11. “Majori hostiâ;” probably, a sheep of two years old instead of a lamb.

18. For your shepherds)—Ver. 17. Plutarch introduces Thales in his “Convivium Sapientium,” as telling a somewhat similar story. Phædrus might, with better grace, have omitted this so-called Fable.

19. How it might taste)—Ver. 3. The Butcher puns upon the twofold meaning of “sapio,” “to taste of,” or “have a flavour,” and “to be wise.” The customer uses the word in the former sense, while the Butcher answers it in the latter, and perhaps in the former as well; “Such as the head is,” pointing to it, “I’ll warrant the wisdom of the animal to be;” the words at the same time bearing the meaning of, “It has an ape’s head, and therefore it can only taste like the head of an ape.” “Sapor” ordinarily means “flavour,” or “taste;” but Cicero uses it in the signification of wisdom or genius. Many other significations of this passage have been suggested by the various Editors.

20. On the cross)—Ver. 10. The cross was especially used as an instrument of punishment for malefactors of low station, and, as we see here, sometimes on very trivial occasions.

21. Guides my yoke)—Ver. 6. “Jugum meum;” meaning, “me who bear the yoke.”

22. It is nothing)—Ver. 17. “Nihil est.” This was a form of expression used when they wished to cut short any disagreable question, to which they did not think fit to give a direct answer.

23. Their mother’s chair)—Ver. 4. The “cathedra” was properly a soft or easy chair used in the “gynæcæa,” or women’s apartments. These were of various forms and sizes, and had backs to them; it was considered effeminate for the male sex to use them. “Sellæ” was the name of seats common to both sexes. The use of the “speculum,” or mirror, was also confined to the female sex; indeed, even Pallas or Minerva was represented as shunning its use, as only befitting her more voluptuous fellow-goddess, Venus.

24. I might be acquitted)—Ver. 4. He alludes to the fate of Socrates, who, after he was put to death by his countrymen, was publicly pronounced to be innocent, and a statue was erected in his honour.

25. Met his death)—Ver. 3. The story of Hippolytus, who met his death in consequence of the treachery of his step-mother Phædra, is related at length in the Play of Euripides of that name, and in the Fifteenth Book of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The fate of Cassandra, the daughter of Priam, who in vain prophesied the fall of Troy, is related in the Second Book of the Æneid, l. 246, et seq.

26. The white toga)—Ver. 10. The “toga prætexta,” or Consular robe, was worn by the male children of the Romans till their sixteenth year; when they assumed the ordinary “toga,” which was called “pura,” because it had no purple border, and was entirely white.

27. The hair cut close)—Ver. 27. This is appropriately introduced, as the hair of youths was allowed to grow long until they had reached the age of manhood, on which it was cut close, and consecrated to the Gods.

28. The Centumviri)—Ver. 35. The “Centumviri” were a body of 105 officers, whose duty it was to assist the prætor in litigated questions. They were sometimes called “judices selecti,” or “commissioned judges.”

29. The patrons stand)—Ver. 37. The patrons stood while pleading the causes of their clients, while the judges sat, as with us.

30. Sure source of truth)—Ver. 43. It is suggested that the source of information here alluded to was the evidence of the slaves, who had heard their master mention in his last moments the treachery of his freedman. It is not probable that the freedman voluntarily came forward, and declared the truth to Augustus. In l. 39, Augustus is called “Divus,” as having been deified after his death. Domitian was the first who was so called during his lifetime.

31. Deserved to suffer)—Ver. 7. Though this moral may apply to all misfortunes in general, it is supposed by some of the Commentators that by the insulter some individual notorious for his adulteries was intended to be represented; who consequently merited by law to be reduced to the same situation as the innocent Eunuch.

32. Have no relish for me)—Ver. 8. From this passage we may infer either that Phædrus himself had many censurers at Rome, or that the people in general were not admirers of Fables.

33. The proposed stipulation)—Ver. 17. It has been suggested that Phædrus here alludes to some who had laid claim to the authorship of his Fables, and had refused a challenge given by him, such as that here given to the Drones, to test the correctness of their assertions.

34. At play with nuts)—Ver. 2. It is thought by Schwabe that Phædrus wrote this Fable in defence of his early patron Augustus, against those who censured him for the levity of his conduct in his old age, as we learn from Suetonius that he amused himself with fishing, playing with dice, pebbles, or nuts with boys. —For some account of Roman games with nuts, see “The Walnut-tree,” a fragment of Ovid, in vol. iii. p. 491, of Bohn’s Translation of that author.

35. To a Lamb)—Ver. 1. Burmann suggests that this Fable is levelled against the cruelty of parents, who were much in the habit of exposing their children, who were consequently far from indebted to them. Schwabe conjectures that the system of employing wet-nurses is intended here to be censured.

36. Black or white)—Ver. 10. This, though disregarded by the mother, would be of importance to him, as the black lambs were first selected for sacrifice.

37. Pallas lately gave me)—Ver. 13. The Owl was sacred to Pallas.

38. So heaven help me)—Ver. 8. “Mehercule,” literally “By Hercules.” This was a form of oath used generally by men, and Phædrus has been censured for here putting it in the mouth of Minerva. Some Commentators also think that he is guilty of a slight anachronism in using the name of Hercules here to give emphasis to an asseveration; but there does not appear to be any ground for so thinking, as the choice must, of course, be supposed to have been made after his death and deification. In the Amphitryon of Plautus, Mercury is represented as swearing by Hercules before that God was born.

39. Vain is our glory)—Ver. 12. “Nisi utile est quod facimus, stulta est gloria.” This line is said to have been found copied on a marble stone, as part of a sepulchral inscription, at Alba Julia or Weissenburg, in Transylvania.

40. Seeking for fire)—Ver. 3. Fire was kindled in general by being kept smouldering in a log under the ashes, from day to day, for culinary purposes; or else it was begged from a neighbour, as we learn from the Aulularia of Plautus, A. I., Sc. ii., l. 12 et seq.; and so generally was this done that we find it stated in the Trinummus, A. II., sc. ii., l. 53, that it was the custom not to refuse fire when asked for even to an enemy.

41. In search of a man)—Ver 9. Meaning that he did not deem the enquirer to be a man. The same story is told in Diogenes Laertius, of Diogenes the Cynic.

42. This and the following Prologue seem better suited to their present places than to the close of the Fourth Book, where in most of the editions they appear.

43. Of a wearied life)—Ver. 15. It is impossible to say with any certainty to what he refers; but the most probable conjecture is that he has again got into trouble through his compositions, and is begging Eutychus, in some public capacity, immediately to give a favourable decision in his behalf. That “Languens ævum” means a life worn out with misfortune, and does not refer to himself as sinking, in want, under old age, is evident from the next line. It has been conjectured by some that Phædrus wrote these lines in prison, where he had been thrown through the malice of his enemies.

44. It is your province)—Ver. 24. He is supposed to allude to some judicial position held by Eutychus, which he would have to vacate at the end of a year, and be succeeded by others, probably not so favourably disposed to himself.

45. To murmur in public)—Ver. 33. “Palam mutire plebeio piaculum est.” These words are quoted from the Telephus of Ennius.