Between Heathenism and Christianity · Charles William Super
III.
6. The wild boar roasted whole was generally placed on the center of the table. Around it were piled fruits, vegetables, etc. 7. _Tua felicitas._ Sulla called himself FELIX, and in the next section we find this epithet applied to him. The atrocities he committed are familiar to every reader of Roman history. 8. The Cornelian law. The Roman Legal Code was greatly modified under the inspiration of Sulla. The statute here referred to, fixed the penalty for homicide and similar crimes. It bore its author’s gentile name. The familiar story of Regulus was accepted as true by the Romans, and, in fact, by the world generally, until recent times. It is interesting as showing the high estimate placed upon patriotism by the Romans from their point of view. Though narrow it was intense and played a conspicuous part in the growth of the Roman state. 9. Maecenas the well-known Premier of the emperor Augustus was passionately attached to his wife Terentia; but her fidelity was more than suspected, a condition of things that led to many quarrels with her husband. 11. The writer refers here to the disgusting practice of the Romans, who, at their feasts, frequently ate and drank to excess, then produced vomiting in order to be able to begin eating and drinking over again. 12. Vatinius was a worthless fellow who defeated Cato in the contest for the praetorship. 12. The Romans were wilfully blind as to the climate and soil of Germany. It was a case of “sour grapes.” After vainly endeavoring to conquer its inhabitants, they decided that they were not worth the trouble of conquest.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.