﻿120 THE AGE OF PETRONIUS ARBITER. 



in use long after the custom to which it owed its birth had disappeared. If other ir- 

 refutable arguments should force us to place Petronius long after the death of Juvenal, 

 and in a time when the "lex Roscia" with its amendments had fallen into disuse, the 

 above passage would have little or no effect to impugn such a conclusion. But, on 

 the other hand, it must also be conceded that this passage contains nothing which , 

 would prevent the adoption of the earliest possible period as that in which Petronius 

 lived and wrote. 



In collecting the passages which have been examined in the preceding pages, it has 

 been my endeavor to omit or wink out of sight none which could possibly have any 

 influence upon the decision of the question under consideration. Having no favorite, 

 preconceived theory at the time when I entered upon this investigation, but honestly 

 desiring to arrive, if possible, at a result satisfactory to my o'oti mind and to that of any 

 one callable of weighing and appreciating arguments on which the decision of the 

 question must turn, I had no occasion for admitting some and excluding other evi- 

 dences. K I have passed over any passage or expression which can throw additional 

 light on the subject, it is to be ascribed to ignoi'ance or inadvertence, not to design. 



What, then, is the result of the preceding examination 1 What time is indicated by 

 the customs, institutions, persons, and occurrences alluded to in the above passages, as 

 the period in which our author, Petronius, lived and composed this work 1 



It will be readily perceived, that among the passages which have been examined 

 there are many which refer to customs or institutions prevailing so great a length of 

 time that their mention affords no positive aid in determining a particular point of 

 time ; these passages are of negative value only, inasmuch as they contain nothing 

 inconsistent with a result based upon other and more definite e\idence. Of this kind 

 are, for example, the passage in c. 65. 10, mentioning the " Vicesimarii " ; c. 70. 10, 

 alluding to the "Factio Prasina"; c. 71. 9, concerning golden rings; c. 71. 12, con- 

 cerning the "decimae" ; c. 85. 1, mentioning the province of Asia. 



Of the remaining passages, some go to fix the earliest possible limit, others the latest, 

 between Avhich the composition of the book must have taken place. The following 

 passages are of the former description, that is, they refer to events or institutions the 

 mention of which proves that the composition of the book cannot be placed farther 

 back than the time when the event alluded to happened, or the institution mentioned 

 was established, and they •determine one of the limits of the period during which the 

 composition of the book must be placed. 



The mention of the "Augustales" as reorganized by Augustus — a measure which 



