SYLVA CRITICA CANADENSIUM. 83 
MENSE : FEBR*M :-TVL*‘C: ANT: COS * ANCHIAL :SIRTI‘L:S: 
SPECTAT : NVM. 
From this it appears that of the two expansions spectatus is the more probable ; 
but even it is not satisfactory, and Mommsen with good reason calls it in ques- 
tion. He objects that the words of Horace by no means prove that spectatus 
was the proper or ordinary term for expressing the fact that a gladiator had 
fought.* Pugnavit, he believes, would be much more clear and suitable than 
spectatus est. He also notices the inconsistency of the days named on the 
tesseree with the days which we know were fixed for the /udi gladiatorii at Rome, 
viz., a.d. xiii, xii. xi. x. k. Apr. To these objections I would add, that there is 
no notice, so far as I am aware, in any ancient author, of tessere gladiatoric. + 
The designation is a modern invention, accepted and used by those archzolo- 
gists who read SP as spectatus, with reference to gladiators. ip oma Wben 1 
first examined the inscriptions on the tessere consulares, I had seen only those 
containing the names of slaves, and was inclined to conjecture that they might 
have been given to persons of that class as testimonials of approved character. 
Thus Terence, Adelphi, v. 6, 5, is mihi profecto est servos spectatus satis. On 
re-examination of the subject two or three years ago, I found the names of 
freemen also; and observing the frequent mention of the Calends, Nones and 
Ides, I was led to think that the fesser@ were in some way connected with 
money. Hence I conjectured that the word was SPECTATOR, in the sense 
**examiner of money ;” and now, perceiving that this conjecture derives sup- 
port from SPECTAT :- NVM: (i. e., as I read it, spectator numorum or numu- 
Jarius) t in the recently published Arles inscription, I submit this reading as 
more probable than any of which I am aware. 
**Of the use of specto and its derivatives in this sense, the following passage 
affords sufficient evidence: Hu omni pec iia certis nominibus deductiones fieri 
solebant, primum pro spectatione, &e. Cicero, Verr. v. 78; Cape hoc, sis. Quin 
das? Numi sexcenti heic erunt Probi, numerati; fac sit mulier libera, Atque 
hue continuo adduce. Jam faxo heic erit. Non, hercle, quoi nunc hoc dem 
spectandum, scio. Plautus, Perse, ili. 3; Quum me ipsum noris, quam elegans 
* The sense in which the word was understood by the greater number of those who received 
ii, conveyed more than this, as I have elsewhere stated Mommsen’s objection, however, as to 
the application of spectatus to gladiators is valid in whatever sense the term was taken. Indeed 
I do not recollect any passage in a Latin author, besides that cited from Horace, in which spec- 
tatus is used with a reference, direct or indirect, to gladiators. 
t+ This designation is used by Maffei, Fabretti, Orsato, Marini, &e. And yet the phrase is, as 
I have remarked, unsanctioned by ancient authority. There is no passage with which I am 
acquainted that mentions any such object as a tesser@ given as a reward, unless the words 
tabulam illico misit in Suetonius, Claudius, c. 21, be taken m this sense, as Morcelli interprets 
them. His explanation, however, is, in my judgment, very unsatisfactory. He seems to have 
forgotten the statement in Dio Cassius, Ix. 13, relative to the usage of Claudius at these shows: 
knypvic piv thax.ora ixphro, ra 62 On wrEiw tc cavidac ypddwy duedHAov; *.¢., 
Preconibus rarissime usus est ac pleraque tabulis inscripta signisicavit. 
t The nwmularii did more than tell whether coin was good or base. They seem to have been 
like our money brokers, Their occupation and position were below those of argentarii. In the 
Theodosian Code, xvi. 4, 5, sevri and numularii are classed together. 
