_What a laughing-stock would this rascal have made of me._ Quos mihi _ludos_ redderet. This is an allusion to the games which were exhibited among the ancients with a view to entertain the people; and also to create in them a spirit of emulation in glorious actions. Games, both in Greece and Rome, constituted a part of religious worship; they were divided into three classes, 1. what the Romans called _ludi equestres_, or horse, and chariot-races; 2. _ludi agonales_, or combats of gladiators and others, and also of beasts; 3. _ludi scenici et musici_, or dramatic exhibitions of all kinds, music, dancing, _&c._ The chief games among the Greeks were, 1. the _Olympic_, dedicated to Jupiter; 2. the _Pythian_, to Apollo; 3. the _Nemæan_, to Hercules; 4. the _Isthmian_, to Neptune; 5. the games celebrated at the observation of the _Eleusinian_ mysteries, in honour of Ceres and Proserpine: 6. _the great Panathenæa_, dedicated to Minerva. Those who obtained the victory in these games, were universally distinguished; and their success reflected glory on their family, and even on the cities from whence they came; part of the wall of which was thrown down to admit them in triumph on their return. Those Athenians who were conquerors in the Olympic games, were afterwards (_at their own option_,) maintained at the public charge, and enjoyed various extraordinary privileges. Among the Romans, the principal games were, 1. _the Ludi Romani_, dedicated to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva; 2. _the Sæculares_, to the deities and the fates; 3. _the Consuales_, to Neptunus Equestris; 4. _the Capitolini_, to Jupiter Capitolinus. The Romans celebrated their games chiefly in the Circus Maximus; which, as a place of entertainment, was magnificently extensive. Pliny asserts that it would contain _one quarter of a million_ of spectators; and more modern authors have augmented that number to 380,000. NOTE 146. _Now, first, let her be bathed._ Nunc primum _fac――――ut lavet_. Though I have followed the common reading in this passage, as it is not a point of any importance, I think it doubtful whether Terence meant Lesbia to speak of the mother or the child, when she said the words _fac ut lavet_, as the Greeks practised a remarkable ceremony on new-born infants, in order to strengthen them. A mixture of water, oil, and wine, was made in a vessel kept for the purpose, which they called λουτρὸν and χύτλος, and, with this liquid, they _washed_ the children; as some think, they wished to try the strength of the infant’s constitution, which, if weak, yielded to the powerful fumes of the wine, and the children fell into fits. I imagine that this was done, when it was the question if an infant should be exposed, as puny, sickly children sometimes were. (_Vide_ Note 93.) NOTE 147.