Chap. 4.] SHIELDS WITH POETEAITS IK PEIVATE HOUSES. 227 



better of mankind. Thus was he the inventor of a benefit to 

 his fellow-men, that might have been envied by the gods 

 themselves; for not only did he confer upon them immortality, 

 but he transmitted them, too, to all parts of the earth ; so that 

 everywhere it might be possible for them to be present, and 

 for each to occupy his niche. This service, too, Varro con- 

 ferred upon persons who were no members of his own family. 



CHAP. 3. (3.) — WHEN SHIELDS WERE FIRST INVENTED WITH 

 PORTRAITS UPON THEM ; AND WHEN THEY WERE EIRST ERECTED 

 IN PUBLIC. 



So far as I can learn, Appius Claudius, who was consul 

 with P. Servilius, in the year of the City, 259, was the first to 

 dedicate shields^^ in honour of his own family in a sacred or 

 public place.""* For he placed representations of his ancestors 

 in the Temple of Bellona, and desired that they might be 

 erected in an elevated spot, so as to be seen, and the inscrip- 

 tions reciting their honours read. A truly graceful device ; 

 more particularly when a multitude of children, represented 

 by so many tiny figures, displays those germs, as it were, 

 which are destined to continue the line : shields such as these, 

 no one can look at without a feeling of pleasure and lively 

 interest. 



CHAP. 4. — WHEN THESE SHIELDS WERE FIRST PLACED IN 

 PRIVATE HOUSES. 



More recently, M. -^milius, who was consul" with Quintus 

 Lutatius, not only erected these shields in the -<iEmilian 

 Basilica, 2^ but in his own house as well; in doing which 

 he followed a truly warlike example. For, in fact, these 

 portraits were represented on bucklers, similar to those used 

 in the Trojan War ;" and hence it is that these shields re- 

 ceived their present name of " clypei," and not, as the perverse 



23 " Clypei." These were shields or escutcheons of metal, with the fea- 

 tures of the deceased person represented either in painting or in relief. 



2* Hardouin informs us that there are some Greek inscriptions given by 

 Gruter, p. 441, and p. 476, from which it appears that public festivals 

 were celebrated on occasions of this kind. — B. 



25 A.u.c. 671.— B. See B. vii. c. 54. 26 ggg B. xxxvi. c. 24. 



2' It is scarcely necessary to refer to the well-known description of the 

 shield of Achilles, in the Iliad, B. xviii. 1. 478 et scq.^ and of that of 

 -Slneas, ^n. B. viii. 1. 626, et seq.—B. 



Q 2 



