◆Suetonius, _Cæsar_, Chap. VI. Brantôme is thinking of Clodius; but Cicero never made the speech in question. ◆Brantôme (Lalanne edition, t. VIII, p. 198) repeats this anecdote without giving further details. [17] P. 25: ◆Fulvia. (Sallust, Chap. XXIII.) ◆Octavius (Augustus), first Roman Emperor, was the son of C. Octavius, by Atia, a daughter of Julia, the sister of Julius Cæsar. He was therefore the grand-nephew of the latter, the founder of the Empire and virtual, though not nominal, first Emperor. He married Livia after his divorce of Scribonia. [18] P. 26: ◆Caligula, the third Roman Emperor, A. D. 37–41. His name was Caius Cæsar, Caligula being properly only a friendly nickname, “Little Boots,” bestowed on him as a boy by the soldiers in his father, Germanicus’ camp in Germany, where he was brought up. He was inordinately cruel and licentious and madly extravagant. Eventually murdered. ◆Brantôme does not appear to know very well the persons he is speaking of here: Hostilla is Orestilla; Tullia is Lollia; Herculalina is Urgulanilla. [19] P. 27: ◆Claudius, the fourth Roman Emperor, A. D. 41–54. The notorious Messalina was his third wife. For a lurid picture of her immoralities see Juvenal’s famous Sixth Satire. [20] P. 28: ◆Giovanni Boccaccio, the author of the Decameron, was born at Paris in 1313, being the (illegitimate) son of a wealthy merchant of Florence. He died 1375 at Certaldo, a village near Florence, the original seat of the family. ◆Does the following _chanson_ refer to the same woman? On void Simonne Proumener aux bordeaux Matin, soir, nonne, Avec ses macquereaux. (Bib. Nat., ms. français 22565, f^o 41 v^o.) [21] P. 29: ◆This is indeed one of the most curious passages of the book, and I am glad to remove one of Lalanne’s doubts. Brantôme is really talking of a statue, an antique piece which was found July 21, 1594, in a field near the Saint-Martin priory. It had been admirably conserved. Unfortunately, Louis XIV. having claimed it later, it was placed on a barge which sank in the Garonne, and was never recovered. (O’Reilly, History of Bordeaux, 1863, Vol. II.) The statue is described as having had one breast uncovered and curled hair, a description that agrees only partly with Visconti’s type (_Iconographie romaine_, t. II., planche 28), in which Messalina is not décolleté and carries her son. Was the Bordeaux statue indeed a Messalina? [22] P. 31: ◆Brantôme is mistaken; Nero caused Octavia to be killed. (See Suetonius, _Nero_, Chap. XXXV.) ◆Nero, fifth Roman Emperor, A. D. 54–63. ◆Domitian succeeded his father Titus on the Imperial throne; reigned from A. D. 81 to 96.