Quintus Claudius, Volume 1 of 2

that fine, luxuriant hair, that the greatest poet might rave about, all out by the roots. I have shown you a hundr

e present day are like babies or dolls. And if the gold pin slips and the plaits come down, then it is the old woman who is to blame and there is no end of the fuss. Ah! you naughty girl,[209] how do you expect to get on wh

mit to a wedding with offerings of corn?[210] We have grown wiser, and know what such offerings are meant to symbolize-we are to surrender our liberty to the very last grai

olding in her hands the ivory roller of an elegantly-written book. When Lucilia spoke

y the border lies on the ground, oh! and your hair! Do you know I am quite in love myself with that hair; it goes so beautifully with the soft brown of your eyes. That dark fair hair, with a kind of dim lustre, is too lov

r coiffure first from the right and then from the left, while one of the young s

, never was my mouth so wide and vulgar. And listen, Claudia, in spite of all its beauty, I can do without going to Baiae for the future. I gained twenty pounds in weight there, and brought

stroking her sister's cheek. "But you know I am b

praise them?[214] Nay, no bribery is possible, when we stand before the Centumvirate[215] who judge of beauty.-And, my good Baucis, what are

of life dressing need not take long. Who looks at the hawtho

ly paced the gleaming marble pavement. As they turned the farther corner of

and waiting," sh

sked Lucilia. "Do you rea

Cornelia, but you-what need you care about the debates in the senate? Besides, Cornelius Cinna is related

a horrified. "Claudia, what are you sayi

irl, "I am only speaking the truth. T

our music and your poets, give your mind to the flowers you twist i

looked down in

na will very likely not be visible; you know how strangely the old man behaves. Come, mother-and remember, dear little mother, it is

been my law. Believe me, my sweet child, the utmost

if he had not formally released Quintus from his filial bon

commonwealth above every other consideration. You can hardly imagine,

admire it. Say no more, Lucilia; mother is right. A man must never yi

h a man as your father is the husband. He is strict and firm, but not a tyrant; he is always ready to listen to reason, and to take council with the chosen companio

h fairest of brides, clad in the garb of rejoicing! Baucis in sky-blue! If t

ing right. If I wear grey, she hints at an ass; if I put on a handsome dress, she laughs at me to my face. However, what

te ready,"

to the air. A number of idlers had collected round these-the inquisitive gapers who always swarmed wherever there was anything to be seen, however trivial. These were the class who, not choosing to work, lived on the corn given away by the state;[216] the uproarious mob who fille

audia stepped into the foremost litter; Lucilia took her place by her adopted

ong the crowd, who fell back, and the procession se

to the right, they turned into the street leading to the Caelimontana Gate.[220] The throng of humanity, which in the neighborhood of the Forum defied all description, here became somewhat thinner; and the litter-bearers mended their pace. In about ten minutes they stopped at a house, which in point of magnificence was hardly inferior to that of the Flamen Titus Claudius Mucianus. In the vestibule, beside the door-keeper, there s

o the atrium. This was festally decorated with flowers; in the middle stood a hearth[222] after the old fashion, but there were no images of the Lares and Penates. Cornelius Cinna held the opinions and views of the world at large, which had been taught by Lucretius[223] and Pliny the Elder;[2

ed in the atrium, among them Caius Aurel

rave conversation with the master of the house, whose gloomy and almost sinister countenan

young man his hand. "Your words have do

u desi

must know how strongly I feel on this point. After d

st t

, Caius, you may think it a miracle that I am not choked by the insult! And not a soul that could s

oung and too much a stranger?

h letters of introduction to me; but I could not guess how early ripe and truly noble your whole nature was, how fervent your patriotism and how unco

the atrium to the entrance where the young people, surrounded by their guests, were chatting gaily. Cinna pressed the hand of his niece's lover-kindly, but yet with a certain reserve

oorway; with a gleaming white toga over his shoulders and flowi

the Batavian to Herodianus

this man on arriving here, I should have said th

and you will do well to k

andsome marble seat covered with carpets, and a ci

ne; and they stand round him like the guard round Caesar.-And now, as he raises his right hand! If he were but thirty

wine yet to-day-what will you not say when you have pla

nother word," rep

y. They were tastefully laid out in the arcade on brazen tables; gold brooches and necklaces among exquisite flowers; tissues mixed with silk;[226] handsome books with purple edges, rolled on cylinders of amber and ebony; little slippers worked with pearls; beaten silver vessels from the hand of Mentor,[227] the esteem

ashamed in truth of any disingenuous coquetry towards such a man as Aurelius. Still, the conversation they began was not particularly lively; they stood in front of the tables and made the usual remarks

ared in the frame of a door close b

if I disturb you, it is from sheer necessity. The steward of

ely. "Did I not give him full and exact ins

he had not counted on Cocceius

ars on a superior nature, when the details of daily life intrude on a moment of exalted feeling. Those roses from Paestum,[232] that thought of Quintus! what a delicious flood

hday gifts with redoubled attention; you might have fancied t

udia breathing the perfum

flowers. "And look at this strange bird! How naturally it

from the banks

hoenix[

that story of Tacitu

es from its ashes in renewed youth, is no doubt a myth. But does not Pliny tell us of a

ntly stroked the neck of the

it feels!"

s, and Claudia colored. She hastily stooped over a book lying close by-the "The

Batavian, "I read it some

Roman, it re

w morning to the bookseller in the Argilet

too kind!" re

th the greatest interest the quality of some flaxe

nk it too bold, allo

audia, again bendin

loud to you. Without wishing to boast, I have had a good deal of practice in reading and

that there is nothing I like better than to hear good reading. Qu

l allow

ou to be

d w

sently; just now, I see,

into the hall as lightly as a deer. "I have been seeking

a glance up to heaven. "I hardly kno