3736. _girden of_, to strike off; cf. '_gurdeth_ of gyles hed,' P. Pl. B. ii. 201. A _gird_ is also a sharp striking taunt or quip.--M. HOLOFERNES. 3746. _Oloferne._ The story of Holofernes is to be found in the apocryphal book of Judith. 3750. _For lesinge_, for fear of losing, lest men should lose. 3752. 'He had decreed to destroy all the gods of the land, that all nations should worship Nabuchodonosor only,' &c.; Judith, iii. 8. 3756. _Eliachim._ Tyrwhitt remarks that the name of the high priest was Joacim; Judith, iv. 6. But this is merely the form of the name in our English version. The Vulgate version has the equivalent form _Eliachim_; cf. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 4. 3761. _upright_, i. e. on his back, with his face upwards. See Knightes Tale, l. 1150 (A. 2008), and the note to A. 4194. [244] ANTIOCHUS. 3765. Antiochus Epiphanes, King of Syria (B.C. 175-164). Paraphrased from 2 Maccabees, ix. 7, 28, 10, 8, 7, 3-7, 9-12, 28. ALEXANDER. 3821. There is a whole cycle of Alexander romances, in Latin, French, and English, so that his story is common enough. There is a good life of him by Plutarch, but in Chaucer's time the principal authority for an account of him was Quintus Curtius. See Ten Brink, Hist. Eng. Lit., bk. ii. sect. 8. 3826. 'They were glad to send to him (to sue) for peace.' 3843. _write_, should write, pt. subj.; hence the change of vowel from indic. _wroot_.--M. The _i_ is short. 3845. 'So Alexander reigned twelve years, and then died'; 1 Mac. i. 7. _Machabee_, i. e. the first book of the Maccabees. 3850. Quintus Curtius says that Alexander was poisoned by Antipater; and this account is adopted in the romances. Cf. Barbour's Bruce, i. 533. 3851. 'Fortune hath turned thy _six_ (the highest and most fortunate throw at dice) into an _ace_ (the lowest).' Cf. note to B. 124. 3860. 'Which two (fortune and poison) I accuse of all this woe.' JULIUS CAESAR. 3862. For _humble bed_ Tyrwhitt, Wright, and Bell print _humblehede_, as in some MSS. But this word is an objectionable hybrid compound, and I think it remains to be shewn that the word belongs to our language. In the Knightes Tale, Chaucer has _humblesse_, and in the Persones Tale, _humilitee_. Until better authority for _humblehede_ can be adduced, I am content with the reading of the four best MSS., including the Harleian, which Wright _silently alters_. 3863. _Julius._ For this story Chaucer refers us below to Lucan, Suetonius, and Valerius; see note to l. 3909. There is also an interesting life of him by Plutarch. Boccaccio mentions him but incidentally. 3866. _tributárie_; observe the rime with _aduersárie_. _Fortune_ in l. 3868 is a trisyllable; so also in l. 3876. 3870. 'Against Pompey, thy father-in-law.' Rather, 'son-in-law'; for Caesar gave Pompey his daughter Julia in marriage. 3875. _puttest_; to be read as _putt'st_; and _thórient_ as in l. 3883.