gh originally worn
only by the children of the Patricians, they were subsequently
used by all of free birth. The children of the Libertini, or
'freedmen,' indeed wore 'bullae,' but they were only made of
leather. The 'bulla' was laid aside at the same time as the 'toga
praetexta,' and was on that occasion consecrated to the Lares. The
bulls of the Popes of Rome, received their names from this word;
the ornament which was pendent from the rescript or decree being
used to signify the document itself.]

[Footnote 21: _Pendants of brass._--Ver. 116. The ear-ring was
called among the Greeks +enotion+, and by the Romans 'inauris.'
The Greeks also called it +ellobion+, from its being inserted in
the lobe of the ear. Earrings were worn by both sexes among the
Lydians, Persians, Libyans, Carthaginians, and other nations.
Among the Greeks and Romans, the females alone were in the habit
of wearing them. As with us, the ear-ring consisted of a ring and
drop, the ring being generally of gold, though bronze was
sometimes used by the common people. Pearls, especially those of
elongated form, which were called 'elenchi,' were very much valued
for pendants.]

[Footnote 22: _Nation of Cea._--Ver. 120. Cea was one of the
Cyclades, and Carthaea was one of its four cities.]

[Footnote 23: _Who are sorrowing._--Ver. 142. The Poet in this
manner accounts for the Roman custom of placing branches of
Cypress before the doors of houses in which a dead body lay. Pliny
the Elder says, that the Cypress was sacred to Pluto, and that for
that reason it was used at funerals, and was placed upon the pile.
Varro says, that it was used for the purpose of removing, by its
own strong scent, the bad smell of the spot where the bodies were
burnt, and also of the bodies themselves. It was also said to be
so used, because, when once its bark is cut, it withers, and is
consequently emblematical of the frail tenure of human life.]

EXPLANATION.

Cyparissus, who, according to Ovid was born at Carthaea, a town in
the isle of Cea, was probably a youth of considerable poetical
talent and proficiency in the polite arts, which caused him to be
deemed the favourite of Apollo. His transformation into a Cypress is
founded on the resemblance between their names, that tree being
called by the Greeks +kuparissos+. The conclusion of t