﻿94 THE AGE OF PETRONIUS ARBITER. 



that, takiiio- into consideration the immense number of slaves owned by Trimalchio * 

 he would not have -violated the proAisions of the "lex Furia Caninia" by manumitting 

 the few slaves referred to in this passage, and mentioned in the preceding chapter ; and 

 consequently neither he nor the author had occasion to mention those laws. On the 

 other hand, it cannot be denied that, considering the gossiping style of Trimalchio's 

 conversation, an allusion to those laws, if in existence, would not surprise, but appear 

 natural and in keeping. But be this as it may, while I am not disposed to go so far as 

 to find in Trunalchio's silence concerning the "lex Furia Caninia" a positive evidence 

 that the book was written before the passage of that law, it is evident that this passage 

 contains nothing which militates against such an opinion, if, from other considerations, 

 it should prove probable or certain. 



19. C. 71. 9: " Cum annulis aureis quinque." This, like the i^receding expression, 

 " et me in tribunali sedentem praetcxtatum," is merely a proof of Trimalchio's excessive 

 vanity. For there is no doubt that the wearing of five gold rings, with which he de- 

 sired to be represented on his sepulchral monument, as well as his actual appearance 

 with two, one of which was gilt and the other apparently of gold,t were in violation of 

 the existing laws and customs. Trmialchio, prompted by his vulgar canity, takes 

 great pains to inform us, in various ways and with great minuteness, of the leading 

 circumstances of his life, especially of his wealth, offices, and distinctions. It is not 

 probable, therefore, that he would have failed to mention the fact, if by some means he 

 had obtained the right of wearing a gold ring, or, in other words, the rank of a knight. 



The use of rmgs, whether derived from the Sabines or Etruscans, was an ancient 

 Roman custom, the earliest ring being of iron. Not even the senators, in earlier times, 

 had golden rings, except those who went abroad as ambassadors. Cf Plin. Nat. Hist. 

 33. 1. 4. 11: "Longo certe tempore ne senatum quidcm Eomanum habuisse aureos 

 manifestum est, siquidem iis tantum, qui legati ad exteras gentis ituri essent, annuli 

 publico dabantur, credo, quoniam ita exterorum honoratissimi intellegebantur." J Even 

 as late as the time of the Social War, not all senators wore golden rings. C£ Plin. Nat. 



* Cf. c. 37. 9 : " Familia vero babae ! babae ! non me Hercules ! puto decumam partem esse, quae 

 dominum suum novit." — Cf. c. 53. 2 : " VII Kal. Sextiles in praedio Cumano, quod est Trimalchionis, nati 

 suat pueri XXX, puellae XL." 



■f- Cf. c. 32. 3 : " Habebat etiam in minimo digito sinistrae manus annuhim grandem subauratum ; extremo 

 vero articulo digiti sequentis minorem, ut mihi videbatur, totum aureum sed plane ferreis veluti stellis ferru- 

 minatum." 



I Pliny adds in the following paragraph (12) : " li quoque, qui ob legationem acceperant aureos, in publico 

 tantum utebantur his, intra domos vero ferreis." 



