Note 1286 — PERSIUS.

Edictum, i. e., Ludorum, or muneris gladiatorii; the programme affixed to the walls of the forum, announcing the shows that were to come. The reading of these would form a favorite amusement of idlers and loungers. Callirhoe is probably some well-known nonaria of the day. Persius advises hearers of this class to spend their mornings in reading the prætor's edicts, and their evenings in sensual pleasures, as the only occupations they were fit for. Marcilius says that it refers to an edict of Nero's, who ordered the people to attend on a certain day to hear him recite his poem of Callirhoe, which, as D'Achaintre says, would be an admirable interpretation, were not the whole story of the edict a mere fiction.