Ernst Eckstein - Quintus Claudius, Volume 1

“What about?”

“That you will keep my errand an absolute secret, and return me this letter when you have read it.”

“Good, I swear it by Jupiter!”

Polycharma handed him the note; the mere sight of it filled him with a suspicion of its origin. He hastily broke the seal and the silk thread, and by the light of the colored lamps which lighted the place, he read as follows:

“She who is wont only to command, humbles herself to the dust – so terrible is the power of love to change us. The cruel wretch who scorns me – he is the god of my aspirations! Have pity, O Quintus! have pity on the miserable woman, who is dying of love for you. Caesar, my husband, holds out his hand to me in reconciliation. It costs me but one word, and I shall be again, as I have been, the mistress of Rome and sovereign of the world. But behold, beloved Quintus, all this might and all this splendor I will cast from me and go into the remotest banishment without a tear, if you will give me, for one second only, the happy certainty of your love. Crush me, kill me, but ere you kill me say you are mine! Quintus, I await my sentence. At a sign, a glance, from you I reject all reconciliation.”

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The publisher of this translation has, for the reader’s convenience, placed all the notes at the foot of the pages containing the corresponding text.

Trireme. “Three-oared;” a vessel with three ranks of rowers, one above another. The time was given by the beats of a hammer or by word of command; not unfrequently by an air played on a flute or a sailor’s chant ( cantus nauticus ).

Posidium, now called the Punta della Licosa, south of the Gulf of Salerno.

Capreae, (Isle of goats) now Capri.

Puteoli. An important port in Campania, now Pozzuoli. Concerning Puteoli’s commerce, see Stat. Silv. III, 5, 75.

Apollonius of Tyana in Cappadocia. An ascetic and ecstatic philosopher and miracle-worker (A.D. 50) often compared with Christ by heathen writers. (Philostratus wrote his life.)

Ivory map. Sketch-maps of various routes were common in ancient times, and were often engraved on wine-jars, cups, etc.

Tunic. The short-sleeved under-garment worn by both sexes, the house costume, over which men, when they went out, threw the toga, women the stola or palla. During the period of the empire a second garment, the tunica interior , corresponding to the shirt of modern times, was worn under the tunic.

The palace of Tiberius. For an account of the cruel and extravagant proceedings of Tiberius at Capri, see Tacitus Ann. I, 67, Suet. Tib. 40, Juv. Sat. X, 72 and 93. Insignificant remains of this palace are visible at the present day: Villa di Timberio ; the perpendicular cliff 700 feet high is called il salto (the leap.)

Castor and Pollux. Leda’s twins, the Dioscuri, were the patrons of sea-faring men.

Wax-tablet ( tabula cerata ). A little tablet covered with wax, on which memoranda were written with the stylus. In the schools the wax-tablet supplied the place of the slate, and in daily life was a substitute for our note-book.

Freedman. The institution of slavery ( servitium ) which existed from ancient times, was an extremely important factor in the organization of Roman society. The slaves ( servi ) were the absolute property of their masters, who had unlimited control over their destinies and lives. (This right was not withdrawn until A.D. 61, when the law of Petronius prohibited the arbitrary condemnation of slaves to combats with wild beasts, etc.) The slave could then be released by the so-called manumissio , and was styled libertus or libertinus . His position depended upon the greater or less degree of formality with which the manumissio was granted. The most solemn manner bestowed all the rights of the free-born citizen, but even in this case he was socially burdened with the same stigma that rests upon the emancipated slaves in the United States. If a freedman attained power and influence – which under the emperors was very common – the haughty representatives of the ancient noble families paid him external respect, it is true, but the man’s origin was never forgotten.

Trajectum. A Batavian city in the Roman province Germania, now Utrecht.

Gades. A city in southern Spain, the modern Cadiz.

Panormus. A city on the north coast of Sicily, the modern Palermo.

Corybas. In the plural Corybantes ; priests of Cybele. Their worship was a wild orgy with war-dances and noisy music. (Horace, Od. I, 16, 8: non acuta si geminant Corybantes aera, etc. )

Ostia. The port of Rome, situated at the mouth of the Tiber.

Massilia. An important city founded by the Greeks on the southern coast of Gaul, now called Marseilles.

Rugii. A German race occupying a considerable part of the coast of the Baltic – the present Pomerania and island of Rügen.

Frisii. A German race settled in the northern part of what is now Holland and farther east beyond Ems ( Amisia ).

Breakfast. The first meal after rising was called jentaculum . In the time of the republic (and still later among the poorer classes) it consisted principally of pulse. Among the wealthy luxury intruded even here; but in comparison with the second breakfast ( prandium ) and especially with the principal repast ( coena ) the jentaculum always remained frugal.

Ram’s-head at the prow. These ornaments were usually carved in wood on the prow. They must not be confounded with the ship’s beaks ( rostra , ἕμβολα). These beaks – two strong iron-cased beams – were on the fore-part of the ships of war and also on vessels intended for long voyages, where they would be exposed to danger from pirates. They were beneath the surface of the water, and were destined to bore holes in the enemy’s ships. See vol. 2, Chap IX.

Magus. A Gothic word – (not the Latin Magus , Greek μάγος – magician, sorcerer,) – means a boy, or knave in the old sense of servant.

Parthenope. The ancient name of Naples, from the siren Parthenope, who is said to be buried there.