Ernst Eckstein - Quintus Claudius, Volume 1

Vesuvius. The famous eruption, which buried the three cities mentioned, took place A.D. 79, that is, sixteen years before the commencement of this story.

Baiae, now Baja, the most famous watering-place of ancient times. See Horace, Ep. I, 1, 83.

Aenaria and Prochyta, now Ischia and Procida.

Alexandria in Egypt was, in point of commerce, the London of ancient times.

Tarentine travelling-cloak. The woollen stuffs from Tarentum, now called Taranto, were famous.

"Hva gasaihvis?“ – ”Gasaihva leitil skip." Literally: What do you see? (I) see (a) little ship. The earliest existing specimens of Gothic date from several centuries later than the time of this story, namely the period when the Goths left their original settlements on the lower Vistula and settled farther to the southeast on the Black Sea. I thought it permissible, however, to make a Goth of the first century speak the language of Ulfilas, since there is nothing against it in the general analogies of language, and Gothic, in the form in which it remains to us, is so concrete and logical in its structure, that it is hardly credible that it should have varied to any great extent within a period of two or three centuries.

Batavia. It was the custom at a very early date to name vessels after towns, persons, or countries, etc.

Amulet. A faith in the protecting power of charms and amulets was universal among Roman women, and children were always provided with amulets against the evil eye.

Isis. The Egyptian goddess Isis was originally a personification of the Nile country, and as such was the wife of Osiris, the god of the Nile, who is slain by Typhon and longingly sought by the deserted goddess. She was afterwards confounded with every conceivable form of Greek (See Appuleius. Met. XI, 5.) and Roman Mythology and thus in the first century after Christ became the principal goddess. Her worship was chiefly by women.

Waxen Ship. Such votive offerings are commonly mentioned. They were generally painted pictures, but models in wax or metal were also given.

Nile-Water. The worshippers of Isis ascribed a special power to the waters of the Nile.

Sesterces. A Roman silver coin worth about 4 or 5 cents.

The second order, the knights ( equites ), was scattered over the whole empire. A class specially designated for military service, it became in the time of the Gracchi, a body of rich men, each of whom possessed a fortune of 400,000 sesterces, and also fulfilled the conditions of being of free birth and descent, blameless reputation, and refraining from dishonorable or indecorous methods of making money. Loss of this fortune, whether by their own fault or otherwise, entailed loss of rank. In consequence of the confusion and dissolution of all legal regulations through the civil war, these conditions were largely abrogated. While many who had formerly been entitled to belong to the order of knights, lost their rank through loss of fortune, others, who though possessing the needful property, had none of the other requisites, assumed without opposition the external distinctions of the knights, especially the gold ring and the seat of honor in the theatre. (Friedlander.) There were various degrees of rank in the order of knights, and also great diversity of fortune. Besides the poor titular knights, there were bankers, wholesale merchants, and the directors and members of great commercial companies and societies for mercantile enterprises of every kind.

The third order comprised mechanics, small tradesmen, tavern-keepers, learned men, artists, etc., etc., – except in cases where those who followed these pursuits were slaves, – and also the immense body of proletarians, who subsisted almost exclusively on public alms.

Roman Knight. During the reign of the emperors the free population of Rome was divided into three orders: senators, knights, and people (third order). The order of senators was limited to Rome, and in its hands lay the real political power, which in the time of the republic had been exercised by the assembled populace. To the senate belonged the right of conferring and recalling sovereign power, that is, by appointing and deposing the emperors, a right rarely exercised, it is true, but which the emperors formally recognized by allowing themselves to be confirmed by the senate. In their relation to this body, the emperors were only first among their peers, the members of this order being really their equals; a relation which, with the exception of Caligula, Nero, Domitian, and Commodus, the emperors during the first two centuries, more or less earnestly endeavored to maintain. (Friedlander. Rom. Sittengesch. I, 3.) The number of the old senatorial families was comparatively small.

My Lord Said the Matron. Concerning the address “lord” ( domine ), see the minute discussions in Friedlander’s Sittengeschichte , I, appendix. It was not so common as the modern “sir,” but was used as an expression of special courtesy in the most varied relations of life. The emperors themselves used it in intercourse with persons to whom they wished to show attention. Thus Marcus Antoninus writes to Fronto: “ Have, mi domine magister .” According to Seneca (Ep. III, 1.) it was already customary under Nero to greet persons, whose names could not be instantly remembered, by this title, in order not to appear uncourteous under any circumstances. The Fronto just mentioned calls a son-in-law “ domine ,” and when Nero once played the cithara in public, he addressed the spectators as “ mei domini .”

Nay, the association of domine with the name, which to our ears has a very modern sound, is often found. Thus in Appuleius (Met. II,) we read: "Luci domine," – “Lord Lucius.” In this story, however, this association is avoided, as it might have produced the semblance of an anachronism. In accosting women domina (lady) corresponds with domine. The French, when referring to subjects connected with ancient Rome, reproduce the sound as well as the meaning of the word correctly by their madame (meam dominam).

Titus Claudius Mucianus. The Romans usually had three names. Titus is here the first name ( praenomen ) which was given sons on the ninth day after their birth. Claudius is the name of the gens, the family in the wider sense of the word ( nomen gentilicium ). Mucianus is the cognomen, the surname, the name of the immediate family ( stirps or familia ). Thus several stirpes belonged to a single gens. Daughters bore only the name of the gens; for instance the daughter of Titus Claudius Mucianus was called Claudia. If there were two of them, they were distinguished by the words major (the elder) and minor (the younger); if there were several, by numbers. The Claudia Gens was a very ancient and famous one. The principal characters of the story, belonging to the stirps Muciana , are purely imaginary.

Gavius Apicius, the famous Roman gourmand (Tac. Ann. IV, 1) who finding that he had only two million and a half denari left in the world (about 400,000 dollars) killed himself, thinking it impossible to live on so little.

Hymettus. A mountain in Attica, famed for its delicious honey. (Horace, Od. II, 6, 14).