﻿THE AGE OF PETRONIUS ARBITER. 155 



day's occurrences. Some of the familiar letters of Cicero, in which he relates the less 

 important occurrences of his life while at home, or on a journey, or in one of his villas, 

 come perhaps nearest, both in matter and form, to the narrative of Petronius. But 

 although the difficulty here indicated, the want of any other work of the same kind 

 with which the Satyricon coidd be compared, may render the result of an examination 

 of the language of Petronius extremely uncertain and unsatisfactory, this is certainly 

 no reason why the examination should not be made. 



C. 10. 4: "privatis quaestibus." "Privatus" in the sense of "individual," the re- 

 verse of "communis." Cf Cic. de Off. 1. 7. 20: "deinde, ut communibus pro commu- 

 nibus utatur, privatis ut suis." Cic. de Leg. 3. 19. 44: "In privates homines leges 

 ferri noluerunt: id est enim privilegium." It is to be noticed that Scaliger alters "pri- 

 vates" into "privos," without the authority, however, of the manuscripts. Cic. pro 

 Domo sua, 17. 43: " Vetant leges sacratae, vetant XII tabulae leges privatis hominibus 

 irrogari: id est enim privilegium." In this instance, too, Scaliger reads "privis" for 

 "privatis." — C. 10. 5: " et i^er totam urbem rumoribus different." Cf Plant. Aul. 3. 

 2. 31 : " Ita me bene Laverna amet, te jam, nisi reddi Mihi vasa jubes, pipulo hie diffe- 

 ram ante aedis." Caecilius in Gell. 2. 23: " Differor sermone miser." Propert. 1. 16. 

 47 : " Sic ego nunc dominae \itiis et semper amantis Fletibus aeterna differor invidia." 

 — C. 10. 6: "quia tamquam scholastici ad coenam promisimus." Cf. Plant. Men. 5. 2. 

 43: "Una opera prohibere, ad coenam ne promittat, postules." Plant. Stich. 4. 2. 16: 

 "Ad coenam hodie hercle alio promisi foras." Plin. Ep. 1. 15. 1 : "Ileus tu, promittis 

 ad coenam, nee venis." Cic. de Orat. 2. 7. 27: "Quidnaml inquit Catidus. Ut hie 

 sitis hodie. Tum, cum ille dubitai-et, quod ad fratrem promiserat. Ego, inquit Julius, 

 pro utroque respoudeo." — "et habitationem mihi prospiciam." Cf Cic. ad Fam. 13. 2: 

 " Peto igitur a te in majorem modum, quod sine tua molestia fiat, ut ei de habitatione 

 commodes." Caes. Bell. Civ. 3. 21 : " unam (legem), qua mercedes habitationum annu- 

 as conductoribus donavit." — C. 10. 7: "amoliri custodem molestum." Cf Ter. Andr. 

 4. 2. 24 : " Proinde hinc vos amolimini." 



C. 15. 5 : " nisi ut semel deposita vestis inter praedones strangularetur." Cf Stat. 

 Silv. 2. 2. 150: "Non tibi sepositas infelix strangulat area Divitias." But although 

 in both instances " strangulo " is used in the sense of " removing out of sight," in 

 Petronius it is probably a vulgarism for " to steal," like the English " to hook." 



C. 17. 1: "et ad neutram partem assentationem flectentibus." Cf Veil. Pat. 2. 

 128. 3: "et qui M. Tullio tan tum tribuere, ut imene assentatione sua, quibus vellet, 

 principatus conciliaret." The verb "assentari" is used in the corresponding sense. 

 Cf Plant. Most. 1. 3. 90: " Xvmc, ne ejus causa vapulcm, tibi potius adscntabor." 



