metrius, and which was also projected by Julius Caesar,
c. xliv., and Nero, c. xix.; but they all failed of accomplishing it.

[423] On the authority of Dio Cassius and the Salmatian manuscript, this
verse from Homer is substituted for the common reading, which is,

Eis gaian Danaon perao se.
Into the land of Greece I will transport thee.

[424] Alluding, in the case of Romulus, to the rape of the Sabines; and
in that of Augustus to his having taken Livia from her husband.--
AUGUSTUS, c. lxii.

[425] Selene was the daughter of Mark Antony by Cleopatra.

[426] See c. xii.

[427] The vast area of the Roman amphitheatres had no roof, but the
audience were protected against the sun and bad weather by temporary
hangings stretched over it.

[428] A proverbial expression, meaning, without distinction.

[429] The islands off the coast of Italy, in the Tuscan sea and in the
Archipelago, were the usual places of banishment. See before, c. xv.;
and in TIBERIUS, c. liv., etc.

[430] Anticyra, an island in the Archipelago, was famous for the growth
of hellebore. This plant being considered a remedy for insanity, the
proverb arose--Naviga in Anticyram, as much as to say, "You are mad."

[431] Meaning the province in Asia, called Galatia, from the Gauls who
conquered it, and occupied it jointly with the Greek colonists.

[432] A quotation from the tragedy of Atreus, by L. Attius, mentioned by
Cicero. Off. i. 28.

[433] See before, AUGUSTUS, c. lxxi.

[434] These celebrated words are generally attributed to Nero; but Dio
and Seneca agree with Suetonius in ascribing them to Caligula.

[435] Gladiators were distinguished by their armour and manner of
fighting. Some were called Secutores, whose arms were a helmet, a
shield, a sword, or a leaden ball. Others, the usual antagonists of the
former, were named Retiarii. A combatant of this class was dressed in a
short tunic, but wore nothing on his head. He carried in his left hand a
three-pointed lance, called Tridens or Fuscina, and in his right, a net,
with which he attempted to entangle his adversary, by casting it over his
head, and suddenly drawing it together; when with his trident he usually
slew him. But if he missed his aim, by throwing the net either too short
or too far, he instantly betook himself to flight, and endeavoured to
prepare his net for a second cast. His antagonist, in the mean time,
pursued, to prevent his design, by