194 Flint's natural histokt. [Book VII. 



degraded ; and who, as if that had not satiated his vengeance, 

 still farther wreaked his malice upon him, by throwing a 

 rope around his neck,®^ and twisting it with such extreme 

 violence that the blood flowed from out of his ears.^^ And 

 for my part, too, I should look upon it as in the number of his 

 misfortunes, to have been the enemy of the second Africanus ; 

 indeed, Macedonicus, in this instance, bears testimony against 

 himself; for he said to his sons, " Go, my children, render 

 the last duties to Scipio ; you will never witness the funeral 

 of a greater citizen than him ;" and this speech he made to 

 his sons, one of whom had already acquired the surname of 

 Balearicus, and another of Diadematus,^ he himself at the time 

 bearing that of Macedonicus. 



Now, if we take into account the above iujury alone, can 

 any one justly pronounce that man happy, whose life was thus 

 endangered by the caprice of an enemy, and that enemy, be- 

 sides, not an Africanus ? What victories over enemies could 

 possibly be counterbalanced by such a price as this ? What 

 honours, what triumphs, did not Portime cancel, in suffering a 

 censor to be dragged through the middle of the city — indeed, 

 that was his only resource for gaining time- — dragged to that 



ties, to some god or goddess ; after wkich it could not, under ordinary 

 circumstances, be recovered, whether the sentence was revoked or not. 

 Cicero had been capitally condemned through the instrumentality of 

 Clodius, and obliged to fly from Eome. 



38 It was a common expression among the Romans, for a person, *' ob- 

 torto coUo ad praetorem trahi," " to be dragged to the praetor with his 

 neck wrenched;" and we meet with it repeatedly in the writings of 

 Plautus. It would appear that it was customary for the lictors or officers 

 of justice to seize criminals in a peculiar manner, perhups with a rope, and 

 with the exercise of great violence, whatever their rank. 



3^ According to the remark of Dalechamps, it appears to have been not 

 unusual with the Roman magistrates, when resistance was ofiered to their 

 order, to seize the party by the throat, as is here stated to have been done 

 by Labeo. — 13. 



1 There has been considerable difficulty in ascertaining the names which 

 should be given to the sons of Metellus, as the MSS. differ, and there ap- 

 pears to be no means of coming to any accurate decision, by a reference to 

 other authorities. The essential circumstance, however, is, that two of the 

 sons had obtained the honour of a triumph, and had acquired appropriate 

 surnames. — B. IMetellus Diadematus has been much confounded with his 

 cousin, Metellus Dalmaticus. Diadematus was so called, from his wearing, 

 for a long time, a bandage round his forehead, in consequence of an ulcer. 

 He was consul B.C. 117. 



2 By being dragged, and not proceeding willingly, in order to gain time 



