16
She was a courtesan who had been enfranchised by her master Volumnius. The name of Volumnia was dear to the Romans as that of the wife of Coriolanus, to whose entreaties he had yielded when he drew off his army from the neighbourhood of Rome.
17
This is a play on the name Hippia, as derived from
[Greek: hippos], a horse.
18
The custom of erecting a spear wherever an auction was held is well known, it is said to have arisen from the ancient practice of selling under a spear the booty acquired in war.
19
There seems some corruption here. Orellius apparently thinks the case hopeless.
20
The Latin is, "non solum de die, sed etiam in diem, vivere;" which the commentators explain, "De die is to feast every day and all day. Banquets de die are those which begin before the regular hour." (Like Horace's Partem solido demere de die.) "To live in diem is to live so as to have no thought for the future."—Graevius.
21
This accidental resemblance to the incident in the
"Forty Thieves" in the "Arabian Nights" is curious.
22
The septemviri, at full length septemviri epulones or epulonum, were originally triumviri. They were first created BC. 198, to attend to the epulum Jovis, and the banquets given in honour of the other gods, which duty had originally belonged to the pontifices. Julius Caesar added three more, but that alteration did not last. They formed a collegium, and were one of the four great religious corporations at Rome with the pontifices, the augures, and the quindecemviri. Smith, Diet, Ant. v. Epulones.
23
It had been explained before that Fulvia had been the widow of Clodius and of Curio, before she married Antonius.
24
Riddle (Dict. Lat. in voce) says, that this was the regular punishment for deserters, and was inflicted by their comrades.
25
Cnaeus Octavius, the real father of Octavius Caesar, had been praetor and governor of Macedonia, and was intending to stand for the consulship when he died.
26
Bambalio is derived from the Greek word [Greek: bambala] to lisp.
27
Julia, the mother of Antonius and sister of Lucius
Caesar, was also a native of Aricia.
28
He had intended to propose to the senate to declare
Octavius a public enemy. We must recollect that in these orations
Cicero, even when he speaks of Caius Caesar, means Octavius.
29
It is quite impossible to give a proper idea of Cicero's meaning here. He is arguing on the word dignus, from which dignitas is derived. But we have no means of keeping up the play on the words in English.
30
The general proceeding on such occasions being to ask each senator's opinion separately, which gave those who chose an opportunity for pronouncing some encomium on the person honoured.
31
Spartacus was the general of the gladiators and slaves in the Servile war.
32
Lepidus had not in reality done any particular service to the republic (he was afterwards one of the triumviri), but he was at the head of the best army in the empire, and so was able to be of the most important service to either party, and, therefore, Cicero hoped to attach him to his side by this compliment.
33
It has been already explained that this was the name of one legion.
34
The mirmillo was the gladiator who fought with the retiarius; he wore a Gallic helmet with a fish for a crest.
35
The English reader must recollect that what is called Gaul in these orations, is Cisalpine Gaul containing what we now call the North of Italy, coming down as far south as Modena and Ravenna.
36
After the year B.C. 403 there were two classes of Roman knights, one of which received a horse from the state, and were included in the eighteen centuries of service, the other class, first mentioned by Livy (v. 7) in the account of the siege of Veii, served with their own horses, and instead of having a horse found them, received a certain pay, (three times that of the infantry) and were not included in the eighteen centuries of service. The original knights, to distinguish them from these latter, are often called equites equo publico, sometimes also ficus vanes or trossuli Vide Smith, Dict. Ant. P. 394-396, v. Equites
37
He had been one of the septemvirs appointed to preside over the distribution of the lands.
38
Janus was the name of a street near the temple of Janus, especially frequented by bankers and usurers. It was divided into summus, nedus and imus Horace says—