You are so sunk in sluggardry, More stubborner than this and me; [dangles the whip before them] 30 [flogs one of them] Doe this; but they doe other things; Pay heed to this;-you plaguey things, To what I say hearken and list, O rascals born to feel the fyst. Marry, your hyde shall never be harder than this my hyding. What now? It smarts? So smarts the slave his master for deryding. Stand all by me and what I say look you be mynde-abyding. 35 You, pitcher-bearer, water draw, With th' hacchatt, lay you down the lawe That governs the wood-chopping. Let be; do I the less Slave. 'Tis blunt! Ballio. 40 For that enjoin your helpfulness Be off! You'll rue the stopping. 45 I find the whole preparèd, And every chamber aired. You hear what I am saying? His way into my money. 50 55 60 Nay, stop! For one home-truth almost forgot I here this morning. 65 D'ye hear me, girls, to you in turn I give this solemn warning. 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 Your youthful years everichon Of noblemen the minion; This day I'll learn which one I May one day set at liberty Her savings, sleep, or sorrow. Or you be trash to-morrow! To life and joy and kisses ? And all you love, young misses. While I am drained dry. So now 'tis best I should address See that corn this way wander! A year's supply for me and all Pseudolus. D'ye thinks he boasts enough? The Pig ! He's beast and boastful. Mind your wig! Ballio. You, Aischrodora, at your feet And swear to others' ruin. I have my larder full, Where are they? Where are hyding All of whose life and love the flower But vengeance is delaying. PLAUTUS, Pseudolus 1. ii. 133 sqq. § 16 Julius Caesar enforces the Law against Extravagance. ECTICARVM LE (44 в.с.) (Cf. VIII. 13.) usum, item conchyliatae vestis et margaritarum nisi certis personis et aetatibus perque certos dies ademit. legem praecipue sumptuariam exercuit dispositis circa macellum custodibus, qui obsonia contra vetitum proposita retinerent deportarentque ad se, summissis nonnumquam 5 lictoribus atque militibus, qui, si qua custodes fefellissent, iam adposita e triclinio auferrent. SUETONIUS, Julius 43. (A.D. 120.) VINI § 17 Julius Caesar at Table. ☑INI parcissimum ne inimici quidem negaverunt. Marci Catonis est: unum ex omnibus Caesarem ad evertendam rem publicam sobrium accessisse. nam circa victum Gaius Oppius adeo indifferentem docet, ut quondam ab hospite 5 conditum oleum pro viridi adpositum aspernantibus ceteris solum etiam largius appetisse scribat, ne hospitem aut neglegentiae aut rusticitatis videretur arguere. N § 18 SUETONIUS, Julius 53. nam et si paulo The Emperor Claudius at Dinner. EC eo minus contumeliis obnoxius vixit. serius ad praedictam cenae horam occurrisset, non nisi aegre et circuito demum triclinio recipiebatur, et quotiens post cibum addormisceret, quod ei fere accidebat, olearum aut 5 palmularum ossibus incessebatur, interdum ferula flagrove velut per ludum excitabatur a copreis. solebant et manibus stertentis socci induci, ut repente expergefactus faciem sibimet confricaret. Y § 19 Id., Claudius 8. Julius Caesar is the Guest of Cicero. M DEAR ATTICUS, Pozzuoli, Dec. 19, 45 в.с. A formidable guest! Cependant je n'ai pas de regrets. He was so sweet'. Still, when he visited Philippus on Christmas Eve, the Manor was so full of soldiers that there was hardly a room for Caesar to dine in. Fancy, two thousand men ! 5 I was a bit nervous as to what would happen on the next day, when Barba Cassius came to my rescue in the nick of time. He supplied me with some sentries, who guarded the house, while the troops encamped on the estate. The great man stayed with Philippus on Christmas Day till a little after noon. He saw 10 no one. Accounts with Balbus, doubtless. Then a walk along the shore of the Bay. Bath here about 2 p.m. Listened to 'Lines on Mamurra' (not a letter altered). Anointed and scented, he sat down to dinner. He started with a pill. So he ate and drank sans peur; and 'so sweetly' too. The entertainment was handsome and tasteful, and, what is more, 15 Though Wit, you know, was the best sauce he took. His clientèle I entertained in three dining-rooms, and right royally. His valets and grooms wanted for nothing: his secretaries were entertained correctly. In a word, we seemed 20 'mighty fine fellows'. Still, he is not the sort of guest to whom you say, 'Delighted to see you the next time you pass this way!' Once is enough. Conversation? Oh, rien de sérieux; belles lettres the whole time. Que voulez-vous ? He was amused, and it was all to his taste. He said he would 25 stay one day at Pozzuoli, and another at Baiae. Now you know all about my entertainment or perhaps I should call it a logement; a plaguey nuisance, as I say, though not so very terrible. I am staying here for a little. Then Tusculum. Ever yours, MARCUS. PS.-I hear from Nicias that when Caesar passed Dolabella's estate, he had his whole escort riding on either side of him. He did this nowhere else. CICERO, ad Att. xiii. 52. IX. ILLNESS AND DEATH MANY people have the courage of others' misfortunes. We are not therefore surprised to read fine and curious embroideries on the themes of Death and consolation for the deaths of others. It is doubtful, however, if in any language, even Bossuet's or Jeremy Taylor's, more splendid rhetoric has wound its solemn length along, itself a funeral procession, than that of the companion letters on the death of Tullia, or Virgil's Dante-like lament for Marcellus. Golden lads and girls all must Propertius said that before Shakespeare. But where Christ 30 |