Juvenal, Satire 8
Translated by Lewis Evans (1889)
Formatted, modified and with notes by C. Chinn (2007)
WHAT is the use of pedigrees? What boots it, Ponticus,1 to be
accounted of an ancient line, and to display the painted faces
of your ancestors, and the Aemiliani standing in their cars,
and the Curii diminished to one half their bulk, and Corvinus deficient
5 of a shoulder, and Galba that has lost his ears and nose2--
what profit is it to vaunt in your capacious genealogy
of Fabricius, and in many a collateral line to trace dictators
and masters of the horse begrimed with smoke,
if before the very faces of the Lepidi you lead an evil life!3 To what purpose
10 are the images of so many warriors, if the dice-box rattles all night long4
in the presence of the Numantini: if you retire to rest at the rising of that star
at whose dawning those generals set their standards and camps in motion?5
Why does Fabius plume himself on the Allobrogici and the “Great Altar,”
as one born in Hercules’ own household,6 if he is covetous, empty-headed,
15 and ever so much more effeminate than the soft lamb of Euganea.7
If with tender limbs made sleek by the pumice of Catana
he shames his rugged sires,8 and, a purchaser of poison,9
disgraces his dishonored race by his image that ought to be broken up.10
Though your long line of ancient statues adorn your ample halls
20 on every side, the sole and only real nobility is virtue.
Be a Paulus, or Cossus, or Drusus, in moral character.11
Set that before the images of your ancestors. Let that, when you are consul,
take precedence of the fasces12 themselves. What I claim from you first
is the noble qualities of the mind. If you deserve indeed to be accounted
25 a man of blameless integrity, and stanch love of justice, both in word and deed,
then I recognize the real nobleman. All hail, Gaetulicus! or thou,
Silanus, or from whatever other blood descended, a rare
and illustrious citizen, thou fallest to the lot of thy rejoicing country.13
Then we may exultingly shout out what the people exclaim when Osiris
30 is found.14 For who would call him noble that is
unworthy of his race, and distinguished only for his
illustrious name? We call some one’s dwarf, Atlas;15
a negro, swan; a diminutive and deformed wench,
Europa.16 Lazy curs scabbed with inveterate mange,
35 that lick the edges of the lamp now dry, will get the name
of Leopard, Tiger, Lion, or whatever other beast there is on earth
that roars with fiercer throat. Therefore you will take care and begin
to fear lest it is upon the same principle you are a Creticus or Camerinus.17
Whom have I admonished in these words? To you my words are addressed,
40 Rubellius Blandus!18 You are puffed up with your descent from the Drusi,19 just
as though you had yourself achieved something to deserve being ennobled;
and she that gave you birth should be of the brilliant blood of Iulus,20
and not the drudge that weaves for hire beneath the shelter of the windy rampart.
“You are the lower orders!” he says; “the very dregs of our populace!
45 Not a man of you could tell where his father was born!
But I am a Cecropid!”21 Long may you live! and long revel in the joys
of such a descent! Yet from the lowest of this common herd you will find
one that is indeed an eloquent Roman. It is he that usually pleads the cause
of the ignorant noble.22 From the toga’d crowd will come one
50 that can solve the knotty points of law, and the enigmas of the statutes.
He it is that in his prime carves out his fortune with his sword, and goes to
Euphrates, and the legions that keep guard over the conquered Batavi.23 While you are
nothing but a Cecropid, and most like the shapeless pillar crowned with Hermes’ head.24
Since in no other point of difference have you the advantage save
55 in this--that his head is of marble, and your image is endowed with life!
Tell me, descendant of the Teucri,25 who considers dumb animals
highly bred, unless strong and courageous? Surely it is on this score
we praise the fleet horse—to grace whose speed full many a palm
glows, and Victory, in the circus hoarse with shouting, stands exulting by.
60 He is the steed of fame, from whatever pasture he comes, whose speed
is brilliantly before the others, and whose dust is first on the plain.
But the brood of Corytha, and Hirpinus’ stock,26 are put up
for sale if victory sit but seldom on their yoke.
In their case no regard is had to their pedigree--their dead sires
65 win them no favor--they are forced to change their owners for
paltry prices, and draw wagons with galled withers,
if slow of foot, and only fit to turn Nepos’27 mill.
Therefore that we may admire you, and not yours, first achieve
some noble act that I may inscribe on your statue’s base, besides those honors
70 that we pay, and ever shall pay, to those to whom you are indebted for all.
Enough has been said to the youth whom common report represents
to us as haughty and puffed up from his relationship to Nero.28
For in that rank of life the courtesies of good breeding are commonly
rare enough. But you, Ponticus, I would not have you valued for your
75 ancestors’ renown so as to contribute nothing yourself to deserve the praise
of posterity. It is wretched work building on another’s fame, lest the whole
pile crumble into ruins when the pillars that held it up are withdrawn.
The vine that trails along the ground, sighs for its widowed elms in vain.29
Prove yourself a good soldier, a faithful guardian, an incorruptible judge.
80 If ever you shall be summoned as a witness in a doubtful and uncertain
cause, though Phalaris30 himself command you to turn liar,
and dictate the perjuries with his bull31 placed before your eyes,
deem it to be the summit of impiety to prefer existence to honor,
and for the sake of life to sacrifice life’s only end!
85 He that deserves to die is dead, though he still sup on a hundred
Gauran32 oysters, and plunge in a whole bath of the perfumes of Cosmus.33
When your long-expected province shall at length receive you
for its ruler, set a bound to your passion, put a curb on your avarice.34
Have pity on our allies whom we have brought to poverty.
90 You see the very marrow drained from the empty bones of kings.
Have respect to what the laws prescribe, the senate enjoins.
Remember what great rewards await the good, with how just a stroke ruin lighted on
Capito and Tutor,35 those pirates of the Cilicians, when the senate fulminated
its decrees against them. But what avails their condemnation,
95 when Pansa plunders you of all that Natta left?36
Look out for an auctioneer to sell your tattered clothes, Chaerippus,37 and then
hold your tongue! It is sheer madness to lose, when all is gone, even Charon’s fee.38
There were not the same lamentations of yore, nor was the wound inflicted
on our allies by pillage as great as it is now, while they were still flourishing,
100 and but recently conquered. Then every house was full, and a huge pile
of money stood heaped up, cloaks from Sparta, purple robes from Cos,39
and along with pictures by Parrhasius, and statues by Myro, the ivory of
Phidias seemed instinct with life; and many a work from Polyclitus’ hand
in every house; few were the tables that could not show a cup of Mentor’s chasing.40
105 Then came Dolabella, and then Antony, then the sacrilegious Verres;41
they brought home in their tall ships the spoils they dared not show, and more
triumphs from peace than were ever won from war. Now our allies have but few
yokes of oxen, a small stock of brood-mares, and the patriarch of the herd
will be harried from the pasture they have already taken possession of.
110 Then the very Lares42 themselves, if there is any statue worth looking at,
if any little shrine still holds its single god. For this, since it is the best
they have, is the highest prize they can seize upon. You may perhaps
despise the Rhodians unfit for war, and essenced Corinth:
and well you may!43 How can a resinsmeared44 youth, and the
115 depilated legs of a whole nation, retaliate upon you?
You must keep clear of rugged Spain, the Gallic car, and the
Illyrian coast.45 Spare too those reapers46 that overstock the city,
and give it leisure for the circus and the stage. Yet what rewards
to repay so atrocious a crime could you carry off from thence, since Marius47
120 has so lately plundered the impoverished Africans even of their very girdles?
You must be especially cautious lest a deep injury be inflicted on those
who are bold as well as wretched. Though you may strip them of all the gold
and silver they possess, you will yet leave them shield and sword,
and javelin and helm. Plundered of all, they yet have arms to spare!
125 What I have just set forth is no opinion of my own.
Believe that I am reciting to you a leaf of the sibyl, that can not lie.48
If your retinue are men of spotless life, if no favorite youth
barters your judgments for gold, if your wife is clear from all stain of guilt,
and does not prepare to go through the district courts, and all the towns
130 of your province, ready, like a Celaeno49 with her crooked talons, to swoop
upon the gold--then you may, if you please, reckon your descent from Picus;50
and if high-sounding names are your fancy, place the whole army
of Titans51 among your ancestors, or even Prometheus52 himself.
Adopt a founder of your line from any book you please.
135 But if ambition and lust hurry you away headlong,
if you break your rods on the bloody backs of the allies,
if your delight is in axes blunted by the victor worn out with using them--
then the nobility of your sires themselves begins to rise in judgment
against you, and hold forth a torch to blaze upon your shameful deeds.
140 Every act of moral turpitude incurs more glaring reprobation
in exact proportion to the rank of him that commits it.
Why vaunt your pedigree to me? you, that are wont to put your name
to forged deeds in the very temples which your grandsire built,
before your very fathers’ triumphal statues! or, an adulterer that dares not
145 face the day, you veil your brows concealed beneath a Santon cowl.53
The bloated Lateranus54 is whirled in his rapid car past the ashes
and bones of his ancestors--and with his own hands, yes! though consul
with his own hands locks his wheel with the frequent drag-chain.55
It is, indeed, at night. But still the moon sees him! The stars strain on him
150 their attesting eyes. When the period of his magistracy
is closed, Lateranus will take whip in hand in the broad glare
of day, and never dread meeting his friend now grown old,
and will be the first to give him the coachman’s salute, and untie
the trusses and pour the barley before his weary steeds himself.
155 Meantime, even while according to Numa’s56 ancient rites he sacrifices
the woolly victim and the stalwart bull before Jove’s altar,
he swears by Epona57 alone, and the faces daubed over the stinking stalls.
But when he is pleased to repeat his visits to the taverns open all night long,
the Syro-phoenician,58 reeking with his assiduous perfume, runs
160 to meet him (the Syro-phoenician that dwells at the Idumasan gate59),
with all the studied courtesy of a host, he salutes him as “lord” and “king;”60
and Cyane,61 with gown tucked up, with her bottle for sale.
One who wishes to palliate his crimes will say to me, “Well, we did so too
when we were young!” Granted. But surely you left off, and did not indulge
165 in your folly beyond that period. Let what you basely dare be ever brief!
There are some faults that should be shorn away with our first beard.62
Make all reasonable allowance for boys. But Lateranus
frequents those debauches of the bath houses, and the painted signs,
when of ripe age for war, for guarding Armenia and Syria’s rivers,
170 and the Rhine or Danube.63 His time of life qualifies him to guard
the emperor’s person. Send him then to Ostia!64 Caesar--send!
But look for your general in some great tavern.
You will find him reclining with some common cut-throat;
in a medley of sailors, and thieves, and run-away slaves;
175 among executioners and cheap coffin-makers, and the
now silent drums of the priest of Cybele,65 lying drunk on his back.
There, there is equal liberty for all--cups in common--
nor different couch for any, or table set aloof from the herd.
What would you do, Ponticus, were it your lot to have a slave of such a character?
180 Why surely you would dispatch him to the Lucanian or Tuscan bridewells.66
But you, ye Troiugenae!67 find excuses for yourselves, and what would
disgrace a cobbler will be becoming in a Volesus or Brutus!68
What if we never produce examples so foul and
shameful that worse do not yet remain behind!
185 When all your wealth was squandered, Damasippus,69 you let
your voice for hire to the stage, to act the noisy “Phasma” of Catullus.70
Swift Lentulus acted Laureolus, and creditably too.71
In my judgment he deserved crucifying in earnest. Nor yet can you acquit
the people themselves from blame. The brows of the people are too hardened
190 that sit spectators of the buffooneries of the patricians,
listen to the Fabii with naked feet, and laugh at the slaps on the faces
of the Mamerci.72 What matters it at what price they sell
their lives: they sell them at no tyrant’s compulsion,
nor hesitate to do it even at the games of the praetor73 seated on high.
195 Yet imagine the gladiator’s sword on one side, the stage on the other.
Which is the better alternative? Has any one so slavish a dread of death as to
become the jealous lover of Thymele,74 the colleague of the heavy Corinthus?75
Yet it is nothing to be wondered at, if the emperor turn harper,76 that the
nobleman should turn actor. To crown all this, what is left but the amphitheatre?77
200 And this disgrace of the city you have as well—Gracchus78 not fighting
equipped as a Mirmillo,79 with buckler or falchion
(for he condemns—yes, condemns and hates such an equipment).
Nor does he conceal his face beneath a helmet.80 See! he wields a trident.
When he has cast without effect the nets suspended from his poised
205 right hand, he boldly lifts his uncovered face to the spectators,
and, easily to be recognized, flees across the whole arena.81
We can not mistake the tunic, since the ribbon of gold reaches
from his neck, and flutters in the breeze from his high-peaked cap.
Therefore the disgrace, which the Secutor82 had to submit to,
210 in being forced to fight with Gracchus, was worse than any wound.
Were the people allowed the uncontrolled exercise of their votes,
who could be found so abandoned as to hesitate to prefer Seneca to Nero?83
For whose punishment there should have been
prepared not a single ape only, or one snake or sack.84
215 “His crime is matched by that of Orestes!”85 But it is the motive cause
that gives the quality to the act. Since he,86 at the instigation of the
gods themselves, was the avenger of his father butchered in his cups.
But he neither imbrued his hands in Electra’s blood, or that
of his Spartan wife; he mixed no aconite
220 for his relations. Orestes never sang on the stage;
he never wrote “Troics.”87 What blacker crime was there for
Verginius’88 arms to avenge, or Galba leagued with Vindex?89
In all his tyranny, cruel and bloody as it was, what exploit did Nero achieve?
These are the works, these the accomplishments of a high-born prince--
225 delighting to prostitute his rank by disgraceful dancing
on a foreign stage, and earn the parsley of the Grecian crown.90
Array the statues of your ancestors in the trophies of your voice.
At Domitius’91 feet lay the long train of Thyestes,
or Antigone, or Menalippe’s mask,92
230 and hang your harp on the colossus of marble.93
What could any one find more noble than thy birth, Catiline,
or thine, Cethegus!94 Yet ye prepared arms to be used
by night, and flames for our houses and temples, as though
ye had been the sons of the Braccati, or descendants of the Senones.95
235 Attempting what one would be justified in punishing by the pitched shirt.96
But the consul is on the watch and restrains your bands.
He whom you sneer at as a novus homo from Arpinum,97 of humble birth, and but
lately made a municipal knight at Rome, disposes everywhere his armed guards
to protect the terrified people, and exerts himself in every quarter.
240 Therefore the peaceful toga,98 within the walls, bestowed on him
such honors and renown as not even Octavius bore away from
Leucas or the plains of Thessaly, with sword reeking with
unintermitted slaughter.99 But Rome owned him for a parent.
Rome, when unfettered, hailed Cicero as father of his father-land.
245 Another native of Arpinum100 was wont to ask for his wages
when wearied with another’s plow on the Volscian hills.101
After that, he had the knotted vine-stick broken about his head,
if he lazily fortified the camp with sluggard axe.102
Yet he braved the Cimbri,103 and the greatest perils of
250 the state, and alone protected the city in her alarm.
And therefore when the ravens, that had never lighted on bigger
carcasses, flocked to the slaughtered heaps of Cimbrians slain,
his nobly-born colleague is honored with a laurel inferior to his.104
The souls of the Decii were plebeian, their very names plebeian.105
255 Yet these are deemed by the infernal deities and mother
Earth a fair equivalent for the whole legions, and all
the forces of the allies, and all the flower of Latium.
For the Decii were more highly valued by them than all they died to save!
It was one born from a slave that won the robe and diadem
260 and fasces of Quirinus, that last of good kings!106
They that were for loosening the bolts of the gates betrayed to
the exiled tyrants, were the sons of the consul himself!107 men from whom
we might have looked for some glorious achievement in behalf of liberty
when in peril; some act that Mucius’ self, or Cocles, might admire;108
265 and the maiden that swam across the Tiber, then the limit of our empire.109
He that divulged to the fathers the secret treachery was a slave, afterward to be
mourned for by all the Roman matrons:110 while they suffer the well-earned punishment
of the scourge, and the axe, then first used by Rome since she became republican.
I had rather that Thersites111 were your sire, provided you
270 resembled Aeacides and could wield the arms of Vulcan,112
than that Achilles should beget you to be a match to Thersites.
And yet, however far you go back, however far you trace
your name, you do but derive your descent from the infamous sanctuary.113
That first of your ancestors, whoever he was, was either
275 a shepherd, or else--what I would rather not mention!114
Notes
1 The addressee of the poem is presumably a man of noble birth.
2 The idea in this sentence is that Ponticus and people like him have a large number of statues of their noble ancestors in their houses. The names given here are the names of ancient aristocratic Roman families. Juvenal’s final touch is to depict the statues as worn-out and broken with age.
3 The notion in this sentence is the same as the previous, though here Juvenal finally gets to his point: virtue is better than birth. The offices of Dictator and Master of Horse were powerful ones during the Republic. The smoke comes from oil lamps used to light Roman houses, and indicates again the age of these statues.
4 I.e. if the nobleman gambles too much.
5 The debauched nobleman who stays up all night at parties is contrasted with the virtuous ancestor observed strict military discipline.
6 Three claims to fame of the Fabian family: defeating the Allobroges (a Gallic tribe); building a famous altar at Rome; being descended from the hero Hercules.
7 A reference to a region of Italy renowned for the softness of its wool.
8 Catana was a town near Mt. Etna, and hence well-supplied with pumice. Pumice was used for exfoliating the skin, something the “rugged ancestors” would have though effeminate.
9 Poisoning was considered an extremely disgraceful crime.
10 To have one’s own image or statue broken up or defaced was a mark of infamy.
11 Obviously examples of Roman Republican virtue.
12 Bundles of rods and axes that symbolized the power of a Roman magistrate.
13 An ironic gesture playing on the fact that by adoption the nomenclature of many Romans became confused.
14 Osiris was an Egyptian fertility god who died and was reborn according to the cycles of nature. His discovery then would be a rare event (like finding a truly “noble” noble).
15 The Titan who held up the sky.
16 A beautiful Phoenician girl who was seduced by Jupiter.
17 Two more famous Roman family names.
18 Either the husband of Julia, the granddaughter of the emperor Tiberius, or their son.
19 The father of the elder Rubellius was Drusus, Tiberius’ son. Tiberius also had a brother named Drusus, hence the plural here.
20 Aeneas’ son, and the ancestor of the Roman kings.
21 Cecrops was an ancient king of Athens, supposedly born from the very earth of the city. The reference here is probably proverbial, something like saying “I am of blue-blood.”
22 I.e. those employed by the noble are often more noble than he. Juvenal points to those with a knowledge of Roman law as a case in point.
23 The second example is the lowly man who wins renown while on military campaign. The Batavi are a German tribe.
24 The reference here is to Greek statues with enormous penises. The Latin could be taken to mean either that our putative noble is only concerned with sexual matters, or that he is sexually impotent.
25 I.e. the Trojans, from whom the Romans were said to be descended.
26 Evidently two famous horses.
27 The Latin probably doesn’t indicate a name here, but rather the “descendent” of the famous horses.
28 Evidently the Rubellius mentioned above at line 40.
29 A proverb expressing abandonment.
30 A 6th century BCE Sicilian tyrant known for his cruelty.
31 Phalaris evidently had a bull made of bronze in which he would cook his victims.
32 I.e. from Lake Lucrinus near the Bay of Naples.
33 Evidently a well-known seller of perfumes.
34 Roman provincial governors were notorious for their rapacity and exploitation of provincials.
35 Capito was a provincial governor of Cilicia, and was condemned for extortion there. Tutor is not known, but presumably was in the same situation as Capito.
36 Not known, but they were presumably governors who got away with their extortion.
37 A generic Greek name, presumably meant to refer to a resident of Cilicia.
38 In order to enter the Underworld, souls had to pay the ferryman Charon a coin so as to cross the River Acheron.
39 Purple dyed cloth from Sparta (in the Peloponnesus) and Cos (and island in the eastern Aegean) were famous luxury goods.
40 Parrhasias, Myron, Phidias, Polyclitus, and Mentor were all famous Greek artists of the Classical and Hellenistic periods.
41 Extortionist governors who lived during the Republic.
42 Roman household gods, usually in the form of small statues.
43 The people of the island of Rhodes in the eastern Aegean Sea, and the people of Corinth in Greece proper, were known for luxurious living.
44 With perfume.
45 A reference to provinces with a hardier reputation.
46 Africans. They are called reapers because Rome’s grain supply largely came from Africa.
47 A rapacious governor of Africa in the late 1st century CE.
48 The reference here is to the Sibylline Books, a collection of prophecies relating to Rome’s future.
49 Queen of the Harpies, creatures that are half bird and half woman. They steal and pollute the food of those who dine near them.
50 An ancient Italian king.
51 A race of gods that ruled the world in the generation before the contemporary one.
52 One of the Titans, and a great benefactor of humankind (and often its creator). He was punished by Jupiter for the aid he gave to mortals.
53 Some kind of Gallic cloak. Evidently a proverbial disguise.
54 Not known for certain, but seems to have been a man of consular rank either during the reign of Nero or of Domitian.
55 Lateranus evidently drives his own chariot instead of being chauffeured himself.
56 The legendary second king of Rome, noted for his establishment of Roman religious customs.
57 A goddess of mule-drivers. She was evidently of Gallic origin, not Roman.
58 A stereotypical innkeeper.
59 Evidently a reference to the Porta Capena (the southern gate of Rome), near which many foreigners lived.
60 A hyperbolic form of flattering address. The emperor Domitian himself was reputed to have preferred this appellation.
61 A female bartender.
62 I.e. upon coming of age.
63 A reference to four of the most important borders of the Roman empire, regions where most of the Roman legions were stationed.
64 Ostia was Rome’s port city, and hence the main point of departure for a military expedition abroad.
65 An eastern fertility goddess whose worship was characterized by noisy ecstatic celebrations.
66 I.e. to the country to work as a farm-slave. House slaves were often threatened with farm labor if they misbehaved.
67 “Trojan-born,” a reference to the fact of Rome’s supposed foundation by Trojan refugees.
68 Two more generic examples of family names with ancient Republican pedigree.
69 Unknown, though probably a noble.
70 A writer of mimes in the 1st century CE. The play referenced here is unknown.
71 Lentulus is an aristocratic name. Lareolus is a robber (evidently in a play).
72 Two more famous aristocratic family names.
73 A Roman magistrate, often placed in charge of public spectacles.
74 Evidently a stock character in mime.
75 Probably a slave character.
76 A reference to Nero’s obsession with music.
77 Where gladiatorial contests took place.
78 Another generic senator.
79 A type of gladiator.
80 Most gladiators fought using helmets with heavy visors. The visors are thought to have provided anonymity to the man about to die.
81 The retiarius (or “net man”) was a type of gladiator with no helmet. Instead he fought with a net and a trident.
82 A heavily armed gladiator usually paired against the retiarius.
83 The philosopher Seneca was one of Nero’s most influential advisors in the early part of his reign. He was thought to have exercised a restraining influence upon the emperor.
84 Seneca was forced to commit suicide when he fell out of favor with Nero. The sack with animals in it refers to the traditional punishment for parricide, of which Juvenal accuses Nero.
85 According to myth, Orestes killed his mother in order to avenge the murder of his father.
86 Orestes.
87 Tradition accuses Nero of having done all these things.
88 A general who supported the candidacy of Galba for emperor during the last days of Nero’s reign.
89 Galba eventually became Nero’s successor. Vindex was a general who rebelled against Nero.
90 Nero was notorious for his participation in Greek athletic and artistic competitions (which he invariably won).
91 Nero was descended from the Domitii, an ancient Republican family.
92 I.e. Nero had performed roles in the tragedies with these names.
93 Nero built an enormous statue of himself in Rome. The harp refers again to his musical obsession.
94 Two senators who participated in a conspiracy to overthrow the Republic in 63 BCE.
95 A Gallic and a Germanic tribe, respectively. These are meant to denote traditional enemies of Rome.
96 Certain criminals condemned to death were burned alive. The “pitched shirt” aided in this process.
97 The consul in 63 BCE was Cicero, who came from a non-aristocratic family from the Italian town of Arpinum. The term “novus homo” means “new man” and refers to someone whose family has produced no holders of high office.
98 I.e. Cicero’s largely political and police (and non-military) actions.
99 Octavius later became Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. Leucas refers to the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE in which Augustus defeated Antony, his last foe. Thessaly refers to the earlier Battle of Philippi in 42 BCE in which Augustus and Antony together defeated Brutus and Cassius, the assassins of Caesar.
100 Gaius Marius, a novus homo from Arpinum whose military genius helped Rome in many wars.
101 Where Arpinum is situated.
102 I.e. Marius reinstituted strict discipline in the army.
103 A Germanic tribe that Marius defeated. The Cimbri had menaced Rome for several years prior to Marius’ victory over them.
104 Marius’ colleague in the consulship for that year was nominally his equal in command, but in reality took little part in the battle.
105 An ancient Republican family known for their self-sacrifice for the state.
106 Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome. Quirinus was a personification of the Roman people.
107 Brutus, one of founders of the Republic, had his own sons put to death for their treacherous involvement in a plot to reinstate the monarchy.
108 Two famous heroes from the legendary Roman past.
109 Cloelia, a legendary Roman woman who was held hostage by one of Rome’s enemies, but escaped by swimming across the river. In those days Roman territory consisted only of the city and immediate environs.
110 Brutus was told about his sons’ treachery by a slave.
111 A low class man in Homer’s Iliad.
112 Aeacides is Achilles. He was given divine weapons made by the god Vulcan.
113 Romulus, the legendary first king of Rome, in order to attract more inhabitants for his new city, created a sanctuary for criminals and runaway slaves.
114 Perhaps a prostitute.