[71]This statement must have been in some of his lost works.
[72]His works in ivory were said to have been so small, that they could scarcely be seen without placing them on a black surface.
[73]Or Bacchus.—“Father Liber” is the name always given to him by Pliny.
[74]“Magnus.” Plutarch states, that, on his return from Africa, Sylla saluted him with the name of “Magnus,” which surname he ever afterwards retained. He also says that the law did not allow a triumph to be granted to any one who was not either consul or prætor.
[75]When a Roman overcame an enemy with whom he had been personally engaged, he took possession of some part of his armor and dress, which might bear testimony to the victory; this was termed the “spolium.” The words “hasta pura,” or victor’s spear, signify a lance without an iron head. We are told that it was given to him who gained the first victory in a battle; it was also regarded as an emblem of supreme power, and as a mark of the authority which one nation claimed over another.
[76]Among the Jews and other nations of antiquity, it was considered an essential point for the priests to be without blemish, perfect and free from disease.
[77]Some of these are given by Valerius Maximus. It is very doubtful, however, if Greece did not greatly excel Rome in this respect.
[78]This remark is not found in any of Cæsar’s works now extant.
[79]Cuvier remarks, that this account of the elephant’s superior intelligence is exaggerated, it being no greater than that of the dog, if, indeed, equal to it. The opinion may perhaps have arisen from the dexterity with which the animal uses its trunk; but this is to be ascribed not to its own intelligence, but to the mechanical construction of the part. The Indians, from whom we presume that Pliny derived his account, have always regarded the elephant with a kind of superstitious veneration.
[80]Plutarch informs us, that Pompey had resolved to have his chariot drawn by four elephants, but, finding the gate too narrow, he was obliged to use horses.
[81]However ill adapted the elephant may appear, from its size and form, for this feat, we have the testimony of Seneca, Suetonius, Dion Cassius, and Ælian, to the truth of the fact. Suetonius tells us that a horseman ascended a tight rope on an elephant’s back.