332 flint's NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XV. 



Papirius Maso, who was the first to enjoy a triumph for a 

 victory over the Marsi— it was on the Alban Mount 59 — was 

 in the habit of attending at the games of the Circus, wearing 

 a wreath of myrtle : he was the maternal grandfather of the 

 second Scipio Africanus. Marcus Valerius 60 wore two wreaths 

 one of laurel, the other of myrtle ; it was in consequence of 

 a vow which he had made to that effect. 



chap. 39. (30.)— the laurel; thirteen varieties of it. 



The laurel is especially consecrated to triumphs, is remarkably 

 ornamental to houses, and guards the portals of our emperors 61 

 and our pontiffs : there suspended alone, it graces the palace, and 

 is ever on guard before the threshold. Cato 62 speaks of two 

 varieties of this tree, the Delphic 63 and the Cyprian. Pompeius 

 Lenams has added another, to which he has given the name of. 

 " mustax," from the circumstance of its being used for putting 

 under the cake known by the name of " mustaceum. 6i " He 

 says that this variety has a very large leaf, flaccid, and of a 

 whitish hue ; that the Delphic laurel is of one uniform colour, 

 greener than the other, with berries of very large size, and of 

 a red tint approaching to green. He says, too, that it is with 

 this laurel that the victors at Delphi 65 are crowned, and warriors 

 who enjoy the honours of a triumph at Rome. The Cyprian 

 laurel, he says, has a short leaf, is of a blackish colour, with 

 an imbricated 66 edge, and crisped. 



59 The Senate refused him a triumph ; and he accordingly celebrated 

 one on the Alban Mount, b.c. 231. Paulus Diaconus says that his 

 reason for wearing a myrtle crown was his victory over the Corsicans on 

 the Myrtle Plains, though where they were, or what victory is alluded to, 

 is not known. 



eo The brother of Valerius Publicola. 



6i We learn from two passages in Ovid that the laurel was suspended 

 over the gates of the emperors. This, as Fee remarks, was done for two 

 reasons : because it was looked upon as aprotection against lightning, and 

 because it was considered an emblem of immortality. 



62 De Pe Rust. 133. . ■ •*,*,. e^ a 



63 Or " laurel of Apollo :'* it was into this tree that Daphne was tabled 

 to have been changed. See Ovid's Met. B. i. 1. 557, et seq. 



6i Cato De Pe Pust. c. 121, tells us that this cake was made of fine wheat, 

 must, anise, cummin, suet, cheese, and scraped laurel sprigs. Laurel leaves 

 were placed under it when baked. This mixture was considered a hght 

 food, good for the stomach ! 



65 At the Pythian Games celebrated there. 



ee Meaning" that it curves at the edge, something like a pent-house. 



