Petronius speaks, _Anus recocta vino_; or AEson, who was re-cooked by
Medaea. That witch, says Valerius Flaccus, _Recoquit fessos aetate
parentes_.

C. lvi. v. 6. _Trusantem_. Many read _crissantem_, which means the movement
of the loins in women; _ceventem_ being the like of a man. As the
expression refers to the lad, _crissantem_ cannot be correct.

v. 7. _Pro telo_. Alluding to the custom of punishing adulterers by
transfixing them with darts. The double-entendre of _Telo_ with _Mentula_
is evident, and makes clear the apology to Venus. See _lib._ 9 of Apuleius
for a similar passage.

C. lvii. v. 7. _Erudituli_. The accomplishments alluded to are not
literary, but Priapeian. It is in this sense Petronius calls Gito
_doctissimus puer_. Oezema, a grave German jurist, parodied a part of this
piece. His epigram can be read without danger of having one's stomach
turned.

Belle convenit inter elegantes
Dione's famulas, et eruditos
Antiquae Themidis meos sodales.
Nos jus justitiamque profitemur:
Illae semper amant coluntque rectum.

"There is a charming coincidence of sentiment between the fair votaries of
Venus and my learned brethren: we profess law and justice; they dearly love
the thing that is upright."

C. lviii. v. 1. _Caeli_. This is the same with Caelius Rufus, Catullus's
rival in the affections of Lesbia, or Clodia, according to Achilles
Statius; Plutarch calls her Quadrantaria; she was debauched by her own
brother, Publius Clodius; afterwards she became the mistress of Catullus,
and lastly the common strumpet of Rome.

v. 4. The meanest trulls frequented the public streets.

v. 5. _Glubit_. _Glubo_ = to husk (corn), hence it is tropically used to
denote masturbation. Cf. Ausonius, epigram 71.

C. lviiii. v. 1. _Fellat_. This refers to the complacent use by the female
of her lips in the act of connection.

v. 3. The half-starved women of pleasure attended at funerals in the hope
of picking up parts of the viands which were laid on the pile and burnt
with the body.

C. lxi. v. 22. _Myrtus Asia_. The Asia of Catullus was that marshy tract of
land near Mount Tmolus and the River Caystrus. Cf. Homer (_Il._ ii. 461)
for the "Ancient Meadow." It was said to be as famous for its myrtles as
for its cranes. Proper "Asia Minor" is the title first used by Oratius
(Orazius?) (1. 2.) in the IVth century. See the "Life and Works of St.
Paul," by Dr. Farrar (i. 465).--_R. F. B._

v. 54. _Timens_. Many