Jorio mimica degli antichi 136 seq. A like insult still remains in use, the insertion of the tip of the thumb between the index and middle finger, while you say A fig for you! See Ducange ficha. Tommaseo fica. Littré figue. Nares fico. fig. Dante purgatorio xxI 2. HSt. σkiμaXitw. Aristoph. Pac. 549 schol. In Petron. 131 Encolpius is released from a spell by an application to his forehead of clay made by the middle finger with spittle and dust. On the middle finger alone no ring was worn Plin. XXXIII § 24. See Jahn on Pers. 1. c. Grysar in Rhein. Mus. 1834, 44. Gesenius understands the putting forth of the finger,' Is. 58 9, as medium digitum porrigere. 54-5 For what then must we pray? ['Ergo begins a new paragraph, as it so often does with an interrogative, or an imperative; in coming back from a digression. Iuvenal may have written: ergo supervacua aut ut perniciosa petuntur, propter quae fas est genua incerare deorum? that is, ergo, ut supervacua aut perniciosa inceratis genibus deorum petuntur, ita quae vere utilia et pia hoc modo petuntur? "Well then to come back to our subject, even as superfluous or hurtful things are, as we have seen, asked for in prayer, what things may we with propriety ask for?" Then he goes on to put cases: then 103 ergo quid optandum-Seianum, as if with reference to our ergo. Then he goes on to other cases; and then 346 Nil ergo optabunt etc., as if again with reference to our ergo. The ut merely repeating the letters of aut is a very easy emendation. The omission of ita in the apodosis is very common in poetry, and even in prose. I had first thought of another emendation: haut I find from Jahn's index occurs eight times in Iuvenal: in three of the eight places P has aut, a blunder common of course in all MSS.: in seven of the eight places too I think haut is joined with an adjective, as furor haut dubius. I thought then of reading ergo supervacua haut, haut perniciosa petuntur, | propter etc. with a question: "Are then the things asked for in prayer not superfluous, not pernicious, things for which we may with propriety petition the gods?" H. A. J. M.] 54 SUPERVACUA AUT PERNICIOSA PETUNTUR Sen. de ben. vi 27 § 7 votum tuum aut supervacuum est aut iniuriosum. Suet. rhet. p. 269 13 Roth tum utilia et necessaria, tum perniciosa et supervacanea. 55 FAS EST I 58. VI 628. GENUA INCERARE DEORUM XII 88. Apul. de mag. 54 votum in alicuius statuae femore assignasti. Lucian philops. 20 an image with coins strewn at its feet, and some silver pieces fastened with wax to its thigh, and silver leaf also, the vows or fee of those who had been healed of fever. Prudent. apoth. 455-7 Iulian used to bow his imperial head before the foot of a Minerva of pottery ware, to crouch at the foot of Hercules, genua incerare Dianae.id. hamartig. 403-4 incerat lapides fumosos idololatrix | relligio. id. c. Symm. 1 202-4 the heathen infant had tasted of the sacrificial cake before he could speak, saxa inlita ceris viderat. Philostr. her. 3 § 2 an image worn by time and also by those who smear it and seal their vows upon it. The knees were clasped or kissed by suppliants Cerda on Aen. x 523. Dempster on Coripp. Iustin. III 278. Alex. ab Alex. 11 19 p. 425 Lugd. Bat. 1673. Lasaulx Studien 154. Plin. xI § 250 hominis genibus et relligio quaedam inest observatione gentium. haec supplices attingunt, ad haec manus tendunt, haec ut aras adorant. Plaut. asin. III 3 80. Arnob. vi 16' these breathing statues, whose feet and knees you touch and handle in prayer.' The wax tablets, hung from or fastened to the knees of the gods, were sealed (Plin. ep. ad Trai. 35-44), as a sort of contract; if the god failed to perform his part, the worshipper was free from his vow; the tablet, ever in the eyes of the image, was a continual monitor. [Aesch. Suppl. 463 νέοις πίναξι βρέτεα κοσμῆσαι τάδε. Η. R. Β.] 56-113 Some fall in headlong ruin through great power exposed to as great envy. The long and stately roll of their dignities wrecks them; down go their statues, following the tugging rope, then the stroke of the axe shatters the very chariot-wheels of their triumphal statues, and the innocent horses, like malefactors on the cross, have their legs broken. Now hiss the fires, now the bellows blow, and the head worshipped by the Roman people is a-glow in the forge, mighty Seianus crackles: then of the face second to one only in. the wide world, are made ewers, washpots, frying pans, vessels for every meanest use. Festoon your homes with bays, lead to the Capitol for sacrifice a tall and whited ox: for 'tis a general holiday; Seianus is drawn along the streets by the hangman's hook, a public show; not a man but rejoices over him. • What lips he had, what a haughty face! if you trust me, I never could abide the man: but under what a charge was he cast? who was the informer? by what approvers, by what witness did he make good his case?" "Nothing of this: a long and wordy despatch arrived from Capreae." 'Good: if Caesar writes, I ask no more.' But what does the throng of Remus? It sides with fortune, as ever, and hates those on whom sentence has gone forth. The same people, if Nortia had smiled upon her Tuscan, if the emperor's age had been crushed off its guard, would this very hour proclaim Seianus Augustus. Long ago, since we ceased to have votes to sell, it shook off state cares: once it granted commands, fasces, legions, what it pleased; now it narrows its ambition, and dotes on two boons alone, bread and the shows. 'I am told that many will die.' "No doubt of it; a great furnace is heated; Brutidius met me at Mars' altar, and my friend was pale. How I fear, lest Aiax take vengeance on Brutidius for his defeat, as due to his sorry pleading. Let us run at full speed, and while yet he lies on the bank, trample on Caesar's foe. But let our slaves be there to see our loyal zeal, lest any denying it, collar his master and drag him quaking for fear to the bar." This was then the talk, these the whispers of the crowd respecting Seianus. Would you be courted as Seianus was? be master of his wealth, and bestow on one curule chairs of highest rank, on another the charge of armies? be counted guardian of an emperor perched with his wizard crew on Capreae's narrow cliff? you would at least wish to have pikes and troops at command, young nobles on your staff, a guard quartered in your house? why should you not? even they who lack the will to kill, would fain enjoy the power. Yet what glory or success can make you content with joy counterpoised by trouble? Would you choose the robe of state of him whose corpse is now dragged in scorn, or be a country mayor of Gabii or Fidenae, passing sentence on false weights, an aedile in tattered tunic at deserted Ulubrae, breaking short measures? You confess then that Seianus mistook the true objects of desire; for while coveting excessive dignities and grasping at excessive wealth, he was but rearing the numerous stages of a lofty tower, from which his fall might be from the greater height, and his crash once set in movement, might be from a more appalling steep. What overwhelmed the Crassi, what the Pompeii, and that Caesar who tamed the Quirites and brought them under the lash? Why, ambition that spared no means to secure the highest place, and aspiring prayers heard and granted by heaven's displeasure. Few kings go down to Pluto without a stab, few tyrants by a bloodless death. The Seianus of Ben Jonson embodies nearly all that history records of the mighty favorite; in particular a very spirited and faithful version of these lines of Iuv. Wolsey, chosen by Johnson as the modern Seianus, resembles him in his power and his fall; otherwise the comparison is far too flattering to Seianus, who more nearly resembled Thos. Cromwell. Cf. Shakspeare's Henry VIII. esp. Wolsey's farewell to his greatness. 56 SUBIECTA POTENTIA MAGNAE INVIDIAE 42 n. Pind. Pyth. xi 29-45. Stat. s. v 1 137-8 quisnam inpacata consanguinitate ligavit fortunam invidiamque deus? Lucr. v 1118-1130. Ov. rem. am. 369 summa petit liv or. Sen. Herc. Oed. 604-617. Even wisdom beyond the measure of man's nature is hated by Zeus and the Fates Philostr. her. 11 § 1. Stob. flor. xxxvii e.g. 34-36. mea.... 57 MERGIT XII 8. )( emergo. Lucr. v 1008 rerum copia mersat. Catull. 58 13 merser fortunae fluctibus. Aen. vi 511-2 Heyne me fata . his mersere malis. ib. 615. Liv. Ix 18 § 1 Alexandro nondum merso secundis rebus, quarum nemo intolerantior fuit. Lucan 1 159, 160 publica_belli | semina, quae populos semper mersere potentes, viz. avarice, ambition, luxury. Plin. h. n. vII § 132 the day honoured with the white pebble has been the origin of trouble. quam multos accepta adflixere imperia! quam multos bona perdidere et ultimis mersere suppliciis. Sil. vIII 285. 58 PAGINA Schol. 'a plate of bronze in front of their statues, containing every step of their advancement, now called tabula patronatus.' cf. VIII 69. Pallad. vi 11 § 3 uses it for the flags of a pavement. Salvian. de gubern. Dei 1 9 incisas digito Dei litteras, rupices paginas, saxeum volumen. DESCENDUNT STATUAE RESTEMQUE SEQUUNTUR VIII 18. dig. XLVIII 4 7 § 4 crimen maiestatis facto vel violatis statuis vel imaginibus maxime exacerbatur in milites. DCass. LXV 10 § 3. Many exx. of destruction by the populace of statues of emperors and grandees are collected by Lips. exc. ad Tac. an. vI 2. Pitisc. s. v. statua p. 849. Sir H. Savile Chrys. VIII 805 b (statues of Theodosius at Antioch, of Constantine in Egypt, of Constantius at Edessa). Add (1) the statues of Ptolemy at Alexandria Iustin. XXXVIII 8 § 12; (2) that of L. Piso at Dyrrachium Cic. in Pis. § 93; (3) Caesar (Suet. 75. Plut. 57 § 3) replaced the statues of Sulla and Pompeius which his party had overthrown; (4) A.D. 43 the brass coins of Gaius (Caligula DCass. LX 22 § 3) melted down; his statues had been removed A. D. 41 ib. 4 § 5; (5) statues of Piso dragged to the scalae Gemoniae Tac. an. III 14; (6) of Poppaea ib. XVI 61. [Sen.] Oct. 808-814 every statue of Poppaea in marble or bronze afflicta vulgi manibus et saevo iacet eversa ferro, membra per partes trahunt | deducta laqueis, obruunt turpi diu | calcata caeno. their words are of a piece with their savage deeds; (7) of all hieronicae by Nero's order, that no trace or memory of them might remain to rival his fame Suet. 24 subverti et unco trahi abicique in latrinas [cf. Iuv. ver. 64] omnium statuas et imagines imperavit; (8) A.D. 68 of Nero, by the soldiers of Verginius Rufus DCass. LXIII 25 § 1; id.. LXIV 8 § 3 A.D. 69 Otho ordered the statues 'of the guilty' to be restored; (9) of Vitellius DCass. LXV 21 § 2; (10) of Domitian Suet. 23 the senate tore him to tatters' after death with the bitterest jeers, ordered ladders to be brought, his shields and portraits to be taken down before their eyes and dashed upon the ground, all inscriptions in his honour to be effaced, eradendos ubique titulos [Iuv. 58 pagina], and his memory to be abolished. DCass. LXVIII 1 the numerous gold and silver effigies were melted down [Iuv. 61— 4]. Plin. paneg. 52 §§ 4-5 those countless gold statues fell in ruin, an acceptable sacrifice, amid universal rejoicing. It was a delight to them to dash that most tyrannical face to the ground, instare ferro, saevire securibus, as though blood and pain followed every blow. No one was too sober in his joy or too deliberate in gladness, but thought it a kind of revenge to behold mangled limbs, lopped members, and lastly those fierce and terrible images cast out and melted down, excoctas flammis; ut ex illo terrore et minis in usum hominum, ac voluptates ignibus mutarentur. Macrob. 1 12 § 37; (11) of Favorinus at Athens Philostr. soph. 1 8 § 3 Hadrian's enemy; (12) of Commodus: see the wild cries of the senate, with a burden as of a litany in Lamprid. 18 e.g. § 12 hostis statuas undique, parricidae statuas undique, gladiatoris statuas undique. gladiatoris et parricidae statuae detrahantur; (13) of Plautianus by Severus Spartian. Sever. 14 § 5; (14) of Maximinus, which were burnt Capitolin. 12 § 11. 23 § 7; (15) of Theodosius at Antioch A.D. 387, described by Chrysostom and Libanius Tillemont empér. Iv 264-6. So on the 3 Sept. 1870 the Parisian crowd hooted the statue of the first Napoléon in the Place Vendôme: on the 4th the crowd is tearing down the imperial arms everywhere.' The same day (Daily News 6 Sept.) 'in the neighbourhood of the Pont Neuf I saw people on the tops of ladders busily pulling down the emperor's bust, which the late loyalty of the people led them to stick about in all possible and impossible places. I saw the busts carried in mock procession to the parapet of the Pont Neuf and thrown into the Seine, clapping of hands and hearty laughter greeting the splash which the graven image of the mighty monarch made in the water. Portraits of the emperor and empress, which many of your readers must have seen in the Hôtel de Ville ball-rooms, were thrown out of the windows and the people trod and danced [ver. 86] upon the canvas.' The subsequent fate of the Vendôme column may be read in the history of the Commune. RESTEM the form restim is common in Plautus cf. Prisc. VII 52. RESTEMQUE SEQUUNTUR I 164. Aen. Ix 539 semineces ad terram, inmani mole secuta (veniunt). ib. vi 146. 59 BIGARUM VII 126 n. hist. Apollon. Tyr. 50 statua a nobis posita in biga. 60 INMERITIS Hor. c. 1 17 28 inmeritamque vestem. id. s. II 3 7 culpantur frustra calami inmeritusque laborat (paries). Prop. 11 4 3 saepe inmeritos. corrumpas dentibus ungues. Other exx. in Mühlmann. On the folly of wreaking spite on inanimate things (e. g. throwing away a book written in small characters, tearing a dress that does not hit our fancy) see Sen.. de ir. II 26. FRANGUNTUR CRURA the punishment of slaves.. Sen. ib. III 32 § 1 if we have sent a poor slave to the barracoons, ergastula, why need we make haste to flog him, crura protinus frangere? Wetst.. on Jo. 19 31. CABALLIS III 118 a word of common life, which has gained dignity in its passage into the Romance languages, cheval, cavalry, chivalry; so tête from testa. 61 CAMINIS XIV 118. hence (through low Lat. caminata) cheminée and chimney. 62. ADORATUM POPULO CAPUT Tac. an. III 72 A.D. 22 Tiberius commends the activity and vigilance of Seianus, by whose exertions a fire had been confined to the theatre of Pompeius: the senate vote Seianus a statue in the restored theatre. IV 2 A. D. 23 Tiberius calls Seianus in the senate and before the people, the partner of his labours,' and allows his images to be worshipped in theatres and market-places and at the headquarters of the legions. ib. 7 Drusus complains cerni effigiem eius in monumentis Cn. Pompeii. ib. 7 A. D. 28 the senate voted altars to Clemency and Friendship, with statues of Tiberius and Seianus about them. Sen. cons. ad Marc. 22. §§ 4-8 a striking passage on the 'bloodhounds' or 'wolves' of Seianus,. · fed with human blood, whom Cremutius Cordus escaped by suicide. Seianus gave him as 'a largess' congiarium to his client Satrius Secundus. The free speech of Cordus was his ruin: tacitus ferre non potuerat Seianum in cervices nostras ne inponi quidem, sed escendere. A statue was decreed to him in the temple of Pompeius, which Tiberius was restoring. Cordus exclaimed tunc vere theatrum perire. Quid ergo? non rumperetur supra cineres Cn. Pompeii constitui Seianum et in monumentis maximi imperatoris consecrari perfidum militem? Cf. DCass. LVII 21 § 3 who adds that after this many statues of Seianus were made by many, and panegyrics pronounced upon him among the senate and people. ib. LVIII 2 §§ 7-8 A. D. 29 it was decreed that the birthday of Seianus should be kept as a public feast; the number of statues raised to him by the senate, the knights, the tribes and the grandees, was past counting; the senate and knights and people sent envoys to Seianus and Tiberius alike, prayed alike and offered sacrifices for both and swore by the Fortune of both. cf. ib. 6 § 2. 8 §. 4. ib. 4 § 4 A. D. 31 brazen statues of Seianus and Tiberius were everywhere set up together, they were painted together, and gilt chairs were set up for both in the theatres: sacrifices were offered to the statues of both alike. ib. 7 §§ 1-2 among other omens of the fall of Seianus: smoke issued from one of his statues; when the head was removed a great snake leapt forth: when a new head was placed upon the statue, and Seianus was about to sacrifice to himself (for such was his practice) on account of the omen, a rope was found round the neck of the statue. ib. 11 § 2 'him, whom they used to adore and sacrifice to him as to a god, they now were leading forth to death. The name of Seianus was erased from coins (Eckhel vi 196) and inscriptions Orelli 4033. Suet. Tib. 48 certain gifts granted by Tiberius to the legions of Syria, because they alone had worshipped no image of Seianus among the standards. ib. 65 Seianus, who was plotting a revolution, he overthrew at last rather by guile and cunning than by imperial authority, although he saw both that his birthday was already kept as a state holiday and that his golden statues were everywhere wor shipped. 63 SEIANUS L. Aelius Seianus, son of the eques L. Seius Strabo of Volsinii (ver. 74 n. Borghesi oeuvres rv 435-444. v 86) and a Lunia, adopted by L. Aelius Gallus third prefect of Egypt (Borghesi Iv 444 seq.). In his youth he was in the suite of C. Caesar who died Febr. 4 A. D. Shortly after the accession of Tiberius he was made colleague of his father, the praef. praet., and, when his father was entrusted with the government of Egypt, he had the sole command of the praetorian guard, and gradually became the second personage in the state. His daughter was betrothed to a son of Claudius, afterwards emperor Tac. an. III 29. IV 7. Suet. Claud. 27. DCass. LVIII 11 § 5. Iu his way to the throne stood Drusus son of Tiberius and the children of Germanicus nephew of Tiberius. Having seduced Livia, wife of Drusus, he poisoned her husband A. D. 23 Tac. Iv 3. 8. Suet. 62. DCass. LVII 22 § 2; and afterwards sued for her hand, but Tiberius discouraged the suit, as exposing Seianus to envy Tac. rv 39. 40. He fell 18 Oct. 31, when apparently at the summit of his greatness. See the character of him in Tac. Iv 1-3. vi 8 (where he is called 'son-inlaw' of Tiberius cf. Zon. XI fin. DCass. LVIII 7 § 5). Sen, de tranq. an. 11 § 11 'You have filled the highest offices of state: have you filled offices as great or unexpected or as universal as Seianus did? yet on the very day on which the senate had escorted him, the people tore him to pieces. Of him, on whom gods and men had bestowed all gifts that |