Note 1006 — JUVENAL'S SATIRES. (continued 3)
Lewis Evans translation
Tangens. In swearing, the Romans laid their hands on the altars consecrated to the gods to whose deity they appealed. Vid. Virg., Æn., pass. Hor., ii., Ep. i., 16. Cf. Sat. xiii., 89, "Atque ideo intrepide quæcunque altaria tangunt." Sil, iii., 82, "Tangat Elissæas palmas puerilibus aras." Liv., xxi., 1, "Annibalem annorum ferme novem, altaribus admotum tactis sacris jurejurando adactum, se quum primum posset, hostem fore populo Romano."