Note 766 — JUVENAL'S SATIRES. (continued 3)

Mappæ. Holyday gives the following account of the origin of this custom. "Nero on a time, sitting alone at dinner, when the shows were eagerly expected, caused his towel with which he had wiped his hands to be presently cast out at the window, for a sign of his speedy coming. Whereupon it was in after times the usual sign at the beginning of these shows." For the mappa see Bekker's Gallus, p. 476.—Præda, because "ruined by the expense;" or Prædo, from his "unjust decisions;" or Perda, from the "number of horses damaged."