"Hear at the city's gate the recent tale, Or coin a lie herself when rumors fail." Hodgson. [277] _Niphates._ Properly a mountain in Armenia, from which Tigris takes its rise, and which, in the earlier part of its course, may have borne the name of Niphates. Lucan, iii., 245, and Sil. Ital., xiii., 765, also speak of it as a river. Gifford thinks it is a sly hit at the lady, who converts a mountain into a river. [278] _Exorata_ implies that their prayers _were_ heard, otherwise their punishment would have been still more cruel. [279] _Fastes._ "Ho whips! she cries; and flay that cur accurst, But flay the rascal there that owns him first!" Gifford. [280] _Œnophorum._ A vessel of any size. The _Urna_ is a determinate measure, holding 24 sextarii, or about 3 gallons, i. e., half the amphora. Cf. xii., 45, "Urnæ cratera capacem, et dignum sitiente Pholo, vel conjuge Fusci." [281] _Orexim_; cf. iv., 67, 138. This draught was called the "Trope." Mart., xii., Ep. 83. Cf. Cic. pro Deiotaro, 7, "Vomunt ut edant: edunt ut vomant." [282] _Marmoribus._ Cf. xi., 173, "Lacedæmonium pytismate lubricat orbem." Hor., ii., Od. xxiv., 26, "Mero tinguet pavimentum superbum." [283] _Præco._ "Dumfounders e'en the crier, and, most strange! No other woman can a word exchange." Hodgson. [284] _Laboranti._ The ancients believed that eclipses of the moon were caused by magic, and that loud noises broke the charm. "Strike not your brazen kettles! She alone Can break th' enchantment of the spell-bound moon." Hodgson. [285] "_Sylvano_ mulieres non licet sacrificare." Vet. Schol. Women sacrificed to Ceres and Juno. Vid. Dennis' Etruria, ii., 65-68. Cf. Hor., ii., Ep. i., 143.--_Quadrans._ Philosophers used to go to the commonest baths, either from modesty or poverty. Seneca calls the bath "Res Quadrantaria." Cf. Hor., i., Sat. iii., 147. Cic. pro Cœl. "Quadrantaria permutatio." [286] _Torqueat._ Cf. vii., 156, "Quæ venient diversæ forte sagittæ," Quint., vi., 3, "Jaculatio verborum." So Plato uses the term δεινὸς ἀκοντιστής, of a Spartan orator. [287] _Palæmon._ Cf. vii., 215," Docti Palæmonis." "Insignis Grammaticus." Hieron. "Remmius Palæmon," Vicentinus, owed his first acquaintance with literature to taking his mistress' son to school as his "custos angustæ vernula capsæ" (x., 117). Manumitted afterward, he taught at Rome in the reigns of Tiberius and Claudius, and "principem locum inter grammaticos tenuit." Vid. Suet., Gram. Illust., 23, who says he kept a very profitable school, and gives many curious instances of his vanity and luxuriousness. He was Quintilian's master. Cf. Vet. Schol., and Clinton, Fasti Rom. in anno, A.D. 48. [288] _Opicæ._ Cf. iii., 207, "Opici mures." Opizein Græci dicunt de iis qui imperitè loquuntur. Vet. Schol.