148 
PLIKY's ITATTJEAL HISTORY. 
[Book VII. 
of opening his mouth, and the spasmodic contraction of his 
tongue, and his hurried and indistinct utterance when speaking. 
Cassius Severus,*^^ the celebrated orator, had it thrown in his 
teeth how strongly he resembled Armentarius, the gladiator."^^ 
Toranius, a slave-dealer, sold to Antony, while he was one of 
the Triumvirs, two boys of remarkable beauty, as being twins, 
so strong was their resemblance ; whereas, in reality, one of them 
was born in Asia, and the other beyond the Alps. The fraud, 
however, having been soon afterwards discovered through the 
difference in the language of the youths, Antony, who was 
greatly exasperated, violently upbraided the dealer, and, among 
other things, complained that he had fixed the price at so high 
a sum as two hundred thousand sesterces.^'^ The crafty slave- 
merchant, however, made answer that that was the very reason 
for his having set so high a price upon them ; for, as he said, 
there would have been nothing particularly striking in the re- 
semblance of the boys, if they had been born of the same mo- 
ther, whereas, children found to be so exactly like each other, 
though natives of different countries, ought to be deemed 
above all price ; an answer which produced such a reasonable 
feeling of surprise and admiration in the mind of the pro- 
scriber,"^^ that he who was but just before frantic under the 
injury he had received, was led to set a higher value on no 
part whatever of all the property in his possession. 
OHAP. 11. (13.) WHAT MEN AEE STJITEI) FOR GENERATIOIST. 
INSTANCES OF VEEY NUMEROUS OFFSPRING. 
There exists a kind of peculiar antipathy between the bodies 
'^^ A celebrated orator and satirical writer of the time of Augustus and 
Tiberius. He is mentioned in the Index of authors at the end of B. xxxvi., 
where he is called Longulanus, as being a native of Longula, a town of 
Latium. It was even thrown in his teeth, that he was the offspring of 
adultery, and that this low-born person was his father. 
71 u Mirmillonis." Many of the editions make this word to be a proper 
name, and Armentarius" to signify the calling of the person described, 
as being a herdsman. The " Mirmillones" were a peculiar class of gladi- 
ators, said to have been so called from their having the image of a fish, 
called " mormyr," on their helmets. 
72 We assume the sestertium to be equivalent to somewhat more than 
eight pounds sterling; this sum will be about £1600. — B. 
73 a Proscripter animus.'' According to Hardouin, this means " delight- 
ing in proscription," alluding to the well-known proscriptions of the 
triumvirate, in which Antony acted so conspicuous a part. — B. 
