FOOTNOTES BOOK ONE
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Ovid and Riley, Henry T. (Henry Thomas)
701 (return) [ For stripes.—Ver. 16. Statius, in the Thebaid, mentions the strictness of the discipline of Chiron. See the Amores, i. El. xiii. 1. 18.]
702 (return) [ Be ye afar.—Ver. 31. He quotes this and the following line in the Tristia, Book ii. 1. 248, to show that it was not his intention, by his precepts, to inculcate breaches of chastity among the Roman matrons. See the Note to the passage, and to the Fasti, Book ii. 1. 30. The 'vitta,' or 'fillet,' was worn solely by women of pure character.]
703 (return) [ The tawny Indians.—Ver. 53. Herodotus considers the Æthiopians to be Indians. According to some, the father of Andromeda was king of Ethiopia; but she is more frequently represented as a native of Joppa, on the coast of Syria.]
704 (return) [ As many stars as.—Ver. 59. Heinsius considers this and the next line to be spurious.]
705 (return) [ Wish a riper fair.—Ver. 63. 'Juvenis,' applied to a female, would mean something more than a mere girl. 'Juventus' was that age in which a person was in his best years, from about twenty to forty.]
706 (return) [ Pompey's Portico.—Ver. 67. He alludes to the Portico which had been erected by Pompey at Rome, and was shaded by plane trees and refreshed by fountains. The Porticos were walks covered with roofs, supported by columns. They were sometimes attached to other buildings, and sometimes were independent of any other edifice. They were much resorted to by those who wished to take exercise without exposure to the heat of the sun. The Porticos of the temples were originally intended for the resort of persons who took part in the rites performed there. Lawsuits were sometimes conducted in the Porticos of Rome, and goods were sold there.]
707 (return) [ The lion of Hercules.il—Ver. 68. The Nemean lion; which formed the Constellation Leo in the Zodiac.]
708 (return) [ Where the mother.—Ver. 69. He alludes to the Theatre and Portico which Augustus built; the former of which received the name of his nephew Marcellus, the latter of his sister Octavia, the mother of Marcellus. After the death of Marcellus, Octavia added a public library to this Portico at her own expense. Here there were valuable paintings of Minerva, Philip and Alexander, and Hercules on Mount Aeta. Some suppose that the temple of Concord, built by Livia, and mentioned in the Fasti, is here referred to.]
709 (return) [ The Portico of Livia.—Ver. 72. The Portico of Livia was near the street called Suburra. This Portico is also mentioned in the Fasti. We learn from Strabo that it was near the Via Sacra, or Sacred Street.]
710 (return) [ Granddaughters of Belus.—Ver. 73. This was the Portico of the Danaides, in the temple of Apollo. It is referred to in the Second Elegy of the Second Book of the Amores.]
711 (return) [ Bewailed by Venus.—Ver. 75. He alludes to the temple of Venus, at Rome, which, according to Juvenal, was notorious as the scene of intrigues and disgraceful irregularities. It was a custom of the Romans, borrowed from the Assyrians, to lament Adonis in the temple of Venus. See the Tenth Book of the Metamorphoses. This worship of the Assyrians is mentioned by the Prophet Ezekiel, chap. viii. ver. 13, 'women weeping for Thatnmuz.']
712 (return) [ The Jew of Syria.—Ver. 76. He alludes to the rites performed in the Synagogues of the Jews of Rome, on the Sabbath, to which numbers or females were attracted, probably by the music. There were great numbers of Jews at Rome in the reign of Augustus, who were allowed to follow their own worship, according to the law of Moses. The Roman females visiting the Synagogues, assignations and gross irregularities became the consequence. Tiberius withdrew this privilege from the Jews, and ordered the priests' vestments and ornaments to be burnt. This line is thus rendered in Dryden's version:
'Nor shun the Jewish walk, where the foul drove,
On Sabbaths rest from everything but love.'
This wretched paraphrase is excused by the following very illiberal note,
'If this version seems to bear a little hard on the ancient Jews, it does not at all wrong the modern.']
713 (return) [ Many a woman.—Ver. 78. Io, or Isis, was debauched by Jupiter. Martial and Juvenal speak of the irregularities practised on these occasions.]
714 (return) [ Where the erection.—Ver. 81. He refers to the Forum of Cæsar and the temple of Venus, which was built by Julius Cæsar after the battle of Pharsalia.]
715 (return) [ Of Appius.—Ver. 82. He alludes to the aqueduct which had been constructed by the Censor Appius. This passed into the City, through the Latin gate, and discharged itself near the spot where the temple of Venus was built.]
716 (return) [ Shooting stream.—Ver. 82; He alludes to the violence with which the water was discharged by the pipes of the aqueduct into the reservoir.]
717 (return) [ Which is adjoining.—Ver. 87. The temple of Venus was near the Forum.]
718 (return) [ Ravished Sabine fair.—Ver. 102. See the Fasti, Book iii. 1. 199.]
719 (return) [ Neither did curtains.—Ver. 103. The 'vela,' here referred to, may mean either the 'siparia,' or curtains of the theatres, or the awnings which were hung over them. See the Note on the 'siparia' of the theatres, referred to in the Third Book of the Metamorphoses, L 111. The 'velaria,' or 'awnings,' were stretched over the whole space of the theatres, to protect the spectators from the sun and rain.]
720 (return) [ Marble theatre.—Ver. 103. The Theatres of Pompey and Scaurus were of marble.]
721 (return) [ Nor was the stage.—Ver. 104. The 'pulpita' was that part of the stage where the actors stood who spoke. It was elevated above the orchestra, where the Chorus, and dancers and musicians were placed.]
722 (return) [ Upon the maidens.—Ver. 116. Some writers say that only thirty women were carried off. Valerius Antius made the number 427, and Plutarch mentions a statement that it was 600]
723 (return) [ The partition.—Ver. 141. See the Amores, Book iii. El. ii. 1. 19.]
724 (return) [ Let the usual subjects.—Ver. 144. 'Publica verba' means the compliments of the day,' and the 'topics suited to the occasion.']
725 (return) [ Statues of ivory.—Ver. 149. For an account of this procession, see the Amores, Book iii. El. ii. 1. 43.]
726 (return) [ Your fingers.—Ver. 150. See 1. 42, of the same Elegy.]
727 (return) [ Dirty ground.—Ver. 154. See 1. 26, of the same Elegy.]
728 (return) [ Knee against it.—Ver. 158. See 1. 24, of the same Elegy.]
729 (return) [ With his ready hand.—Ver. 160. As the seats of the Circus were hard, the women often made use of a cushion to sit upon. Those who were not so fortunate as to get a front seat, and so rest their feet in the railings opposite (see the Second Elegy of the Third Book of the Amores, 1. 64, and the Note), used a footstool, 'scamnum,' (which is mentioned here in the 162nd line,) on which they rested their feet.]
730 (return) [ Its sad duties.—Ver. 164. Juvenal tells us that gladiatorial spectacles were sometimes exhibited in the Forum.]
731 (return) [ Himself receives a wound.—Ver. 166. The word 'habet,' here used, is borrowed from the usage at the gladiatorial games. When a gladiator was wounded, the people called aloud 'habet,' or 'hoc habet and the one who was vanquished lowered his arms, in token of submission. If the people chose that he should be saved, they pressed down their thumbs; but they turned them up, if they desired that he should be killed.]
732 (return) [ Asking for the racing list.—Ver. 167. The 'libellus,' here mentioned, was the list of the horses, with their names and colours, and those of the drivers. It served the same purpose as the race-cards on our courses.]
733 (return) [ Having deposited the stake.—Ver. 168. When a bet was made, the parties betting gave to each other a pledge, 'pignus,' in the shape of some trinket, such as a ring. When the bet was completed, they touched hands.]
734 (return) [ When of late.—Ver. 171. He speaks of a 'Naumachia,' or mimic sea-fight, which had been lately exhibited at Rome by Augustus, in commemoration of the battle of Actium. As Antony had collected his forces from the East and all parts of Greece, his ships are alluded to as the Persian and Cecropian, or Athenian ships. The term, 'Naumachia,' was applied both to the representation of a sea-fight, and to the place where it was given. They were sometimes exhibited in the Circus or Amphitheatre, the water being introduced under-ground, but more generally in spots constructed for the purpose. The first was shown by Julius Cæsar, who caused a lake to be dug for the purpose in a part of the Campus Martius, which Suetonius calls 'the lesser Codeta.' This was filled up by Augustus, who dug a lake near the Tiber for the same purpose; to which, probably, reference is here made.]
735 (return) [ Introduced.—Ver. 172. 'Induxit.' By the use of this word, it would seem that Augustus Cæsar introduced the ships, probably, from the river Tiber into the lake.]
736 (return) [ See! Cæsar prepares.—Ver. 177. Augustus sent his grandson, Caius, the son of his daughter Julia and Agrippa, to head an expedition against Phraates, the king of the Parthians, the conquerors of Crassus; from this expedition he did not live to return, but perished in battle.]