PLINY THE ELDER. 



91 



an high spirit and brave mind in those daies, unto 

 whom this prodigious sight did prognosticate the 

 yoke of subjection : for what should I say, how An- 

 tonie rode in that wise with the courtisan Cytheris, 

 a common actresse in enterludes upon the stage ? 

 to see such a sight was a monstrous spectacle, that 

 passed all the calamities of those times. It is re- 

 ported, that Hanno (one of the noblest Carthagi- 

 nians that ever were) was the first man that durst 

 handle a lion with his bare hand, and shewe him 

 gentle and tame, to follow him all the citie over in 

 a slip like a dogge. But this device and tricke of 

 his turned him to great domage, and cost him his 

 utter undoing : for the Carthaginians hereupon laid 

 this ground, that Hanno, a man of such a gift, so 

 wittie and inventive of all devises, would be able to 

 persuade the people to whatsoever his mind stood ; 

 and that it was a daungerous and ticklish point to 

 put the libertie of so great a state as Carthage was, 

 into the hands and managing of him, who could 

 handle and tame the furious violence of so savage 

 a beast : and thereupon condemned and banished 

 him." He then relates two examples of the gentle- 

 ness of this animal, or rather of his confidence in man. 

 On one occasion, a lion applied to Mentor, a Syra- 

 cusan, for relief from a thorn which had pierced his 

 foot ; and on another, Elpis, a Samian, had the 

 honour, when in Africa, of extracting a bone from 

 the palate of the royal beast, for which he was re- 

 warded by him with an abmidant supply of fresh 

 venison so long as he remained in the country. 



In this book Pliny follows no methodical arrange- 

 ment, either as to the animals themselves or as to 

 the descriptions and anecdotes in each article. He 



