Chap. 10.] 
IlfSTAHCES OF EESEMBLAKCE. 
147 
her as the successor to the crown. Vibius, a member of the 
plebeian order/^ and Publicius as well, a freedman who had 
formerly been a slave, so strongly resembled Pompeius Magnus 
in appearance as to be scarcely distinguishable from him ; they 
both had that ingenuous countenance^^ of his, and that fine 
forehead, which so strongly bespoke his noble descent. It 
was a similar degree of resemblance to this, that caused the 
surname of his cook, Menogenes, to be given to the father 
of Pompeius Magnus, he having already obtained that of 
Strabo, on account of the cast in his eye,^^ a defect which he 
had contracted through imitating a similar one in his slave. 
Scipio, too, had the name of Serapion given him, after the vile 
slave of a pig-jobber : and after him, another Scipio of the 
same family was surnamed Salvitto, after a mime^'' of that 
name. In the same way, too, Spinther and Pamphilus, who 
were respectively actors of only second and third rate parts, 
gave their names to Lentulus and Metellus, who were at that 
time colleagues in the consulship ; so that, by a very curious 
but disagreeable coincidence, the likenesses of the two consuls 
were to be seen at the same moment on the stage. 
On the other hand again, L. Plancus, the orator, bestowed 
his surname on the actor Eubrius : the player, Burbuleius, 
again, gave his name to the elder Curio, and the player, Meno- 
genes, to Messala, the censor.^^ There was a certain fisher- 
man, too, a native of Sicily, who bore a strong resemblance to 
the proconsul. Sura, not only in his features, but in the mode even 
^ This circumstance is related by Valerius Maximus, but he speaks of 
Vibius as being "ingenuse stirpis," "of good family." — B. 
6* Hardouin expands the words " os probum," into " liberale, venus- 
tum, gratum, venerandum, probandum," B. xxxvii. c. 6. — B. 
See B. xxxvii. c. 6. 
6^ The Latin word "strabo," means "squinting," or having a cast" or 
" defect in the eye." 
6'^^ The word " miraus" was applied by the Eomans to a species of dra- 
matic performance, as well as to the persons who acted in them. The 
Roman mimes were imitations of trivial and sometimes indecent occur- 
rences in life, and scarcely differed from comedy, except in consisting more 
of gestures and mimicry than of spoken dialogue. Sylla was very fond 
of these performances, and they had more charms for the Roman populace 
than, the regular drama. As to the mime Salvitto, here mentioned, see 
B. XXXV. c. 2. 
6^ This anecdote, and the one respecting Spinther and Pamphilus, are 
mentioned also by Val. Maximus, B, ix. c. 24. — B. 
