432 TESSERZ CONSULARES. 
ture in what sense* he understood it. Morcelli, who notices this 
expansion, dismisses the reading with the expressive phrase—quod 
miror. His own expansion, however,—spectavit,—cannot be re- 
ceived, even though a second} inscription, in addition to that given 
in p. 431, may be cited in its favour, for there can be but little doubt 
that both these inscriptions are forgeries. Besides, we may now 
assume that the first two syllables of the word are SPECTAT, on 
the authority of the following inscription, on an unquestionably 
genuine ¢essera, published for the first time by Mommsen,{ p. 201: 
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 question. He objects that the words of 
Horace by no means prove that spectatus was the proper or or- 
‘dinary 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 tessere with the days, which we know were fixed for the Judi 
gladiatorii at Rome, viz. a.d. xiii. xii. xi. x.k. Apr. To these ob- 
jections I would add, that there is no notice, so far as I am aware, 
in any ancient author, of tessere gladiatorie.§ The designation is 
* Muratori, Nov. Thes. p. DCXI. un. 2, explains SP. as meaning that the person named ine 
formed the people that he had given or intended giving a spectaculum. 
+ See Mommsen, ec, p. 200. 
t The account of this is so interesting that I give the words: “Sero repert wm 
tubro ms. Lanthelmi Romieu Arelatensis scripto a. 1574, servatoque hodie Lugdunt 
Bat. inter Voss Germ. Gall. Q, 1. Legitur ibi f. 88 sic: Ores ie commence icy a fere 
mention des Epitaphes d’Arles —— —— et en premier lieu ie veux reciter l’escrib mee 
morable, qui se list clairement en une piece d’ivoire ou plustot de corne de cerf, que Vay, 
qui a esté nouvellement trouvée icy a la poincte au bord du Rosne, la quelle est si menue et 
estroicte, qu’elle n’ est pas plus longue, ne plus large, que la moytie du petit doigt de ma 
main, etant percée a ’un des bouts: ou est faite mention de Ciceron, et de Caius Antonius.” 
|| The sense, in which the word was understood by the greater number of those who res 
ceived it, conveyed more than this, as I have stated in p. 431. Mommsen’s objection, how- 
ever, 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 spectatus is used with a reference, direct or indirect, to gladiators. 
§ This designation is used by Maffei, Fabretti, Orsato, Marini, &c. And yet the 
phrase is, as I have remarked, unsanctioned by ancient authority. Thereis no passage, with 
which I am acquainted, that mentions any such object as a tessera given as a reward, 
unless the words tabulam illico misit in Suetonius, Claudius, c. 21, be taken in this sense, 
as Morcelli interprets them. His explanation, however, is, in my judgment, very unsatise 
factory. Heseems to have forgotten the statement in Dio Cassius, Ix. 13, relative to the 
usage of Claudius at these shows:—Knpué: mey éAdx.ioTa expiito, Ta d— 5) mrclw és 
gavidas ypddwy SiednAov. 4.0. Preconibus rarissime usus est ac pleraque tabulis in= 
scripta significavit. y 
