this particular form of trial should have received its name from the absence of the cheering or groaning mob. Lange (Röm. Alt. III. p. 351) supposes that the 'silent trial' was one at which neither witnesses, nor proofs, nor counsel were heard by the jury. It can hardly be supposed that the senate intended the verdicts to be given according to mere untested floating opinion. The word tacitum must bear a restricted sense, as indeed it must if the "voiceless trial" is a trial with doors closed. Witnesses could not be silenced, the reading aloud of proofs could not be stopped, but representation by advocates might be excluded, as a means of simplifying and shortening the trials. That this is the explanation may be deduced with fair probability from Plut. Cat. min. 44: ἔπεισε δόγμα θέσθαι τὴν σύγκλητον, ὅπως οἱ κατασταθέντες ἄρχοντες, εἰ μηδένα κατήγορον ἔχοιεν αὐτοὶ παριόντες εἰς ἔνορκον δικαστήριον εὐθύνας διδῶσιν. There is of course some confusion here; magistratus designati are substituted for candidati. But if there was no prosecuting counsel, there would probably be no defending counsel either; and it is likely that the senate assimilated the proceedings in all these trials.

Att. 10, 1, 4: Maconi istud, quod scribis, non mihi uidetur tam re esse triste quam uerbo. Haec est aλŋ in qua nunc sumus, mortis instar.

A notorious crux. The second sentence seems to show that under Maconi is hidden some reference to death. That Mucianum should be read is, I think, proved by 9, 12, 1: torqueor infelix, ut iam illum Mucianum exitum exoptem, and by 9, 15, 2 (written only a few days before 10, 1, 4): nihil expedio nisi aut ab hoc tamquam Q. Mucius, aut ab illo, tamquam L. Scipio. The expectation of death was much in Cicero's mind at this period.

J. S. REID.

NOTES ON THE ANNALS OF TACITUS.

xi. 25. 5. Famosos probris quonam modo senatu depelleret anxius, mitem et recens repertam quam ex severitate prisca rationem adhibuit, monendo, secum quisque de se consultaret peteretque ius exuendi (so edd. for exeundi) ordinis: facilem eius rei veniam. Et motos senatu excusatosque simul propositurum, ut iudicium censorum ac pudor sponte cedentium permixta (so edd. for permixti) ignominiam mollirent.

SEN

ENATORS could not resign their position without permission. But Claudius expressed himself ready to accept the resignations of unworthy members,' so that they should not be subjected to the disgrace of expulsion. But it is not easy to see how the proposal, that those who were expelled and those who resigned should be published in one indiscriminate list, would induce resignations. Rather the contrary. It would mitigate the disgrace of the expelled, but would be little reward to the "pudor sponte cedentium." If this is not one of the absurdities of Claudius's censorship (cf. Suet. Claud. 16), I think we should read nec motos senatu . . . cedentium impermixta ignominiam mollirent. Neither of these changes is very violent. Impermixtus is found in Lucilius. Such compounds are necessarily rare: cf. impermissus, which seems to occur only in Horace, Odes, iii. 6. 27.

xi. 38. 5.

Decreta Narcisso quaestoria insignia, levissimum fastidii eius, cum super Pallantem et Callistum ageret.

Editors usually adopt Ernesti's correction fastidio, or Haase's fastidiis, translating a most insignificant reward

for his disdain'; or alter, with the inferior MSS., to fastigii, 'a most trifling element in his rise.' Orelli retains fastidii the reading of Med., understanding it to mean 'the honour was the least ground of his haughtiness.' But in all these cases we should expect some substantive with levissimum. Perhaps we should read levissimus and add <cumulus> before cum, retaining fastidii, 'a most paltry crown for his arrogant aspirations': cf. Hist. i. 77 Otho pontificatus auguratusque honoratis iam senibus cumulum dignitatis addidit. For a somewhat similar kind of sentence compare xii. 28. 2: decretusque Pomponio triumphalis honos, modica pars famae eius apud posteros.

xii. 6. 4. Statueretur immo documentum, quo uxorem imperator (lacuna of five letters) acciperet.

Ritter adds a patribus; but it is unlikely that such a common word would have been omitted. Orelli gives a re p., comparing Plin. Ep. iv. 15, 10 liberos a re p. accipere. Perhaps a P. R., i.e. a populo Romano, which might have fallen out after IPR (= imperator).

xii. 64. 2. Biformes hominum partus et suis fetum ediditum (so Med.), cui accipitrum ungues inessent.

Editors usually alter to editum; but still it is strange that Tacitus would not have added a verb of speaking, when passing into the oratio obliqua after previous sentences of direct narration. It is improbable that fetum is nominative, both on account of the fact that this form is not found elsewhere, and also because the subjunctive inessent points to sentence of indirect narration. The latter objection applies to fetus editus of Lipsius, and to fetu editum of Jo. Müller (meaning 'by the parturition of a sow a creature was born,' &c.). Madvig (Adv. Crit. ii. 552) proposes either to supply memorabant, or to suppose

that ediditum is a corruption of editum esse creditum. Possibly we should read est diditum, 'it was noised abroad': (cf. xi. 1. I didita per provincias fama; cf. Verg. Aen. vii. 144, viii. 132, and often in Lucretius), and supply esse after biformes. Francken, in ‘Mnemosyne,' xvii. 357, wishes to read cui accipitrini ungues essent.

xiii. 21. 6. Baiarum suarum piscinas extollebat.

'She was adorning (cf. xi. 1. 1) the fish-ponds of her favourite Baiae' (Furneaux). There is no necessity to press suarum, for Baiae is not infrequently used for a villa at Baiae: cf. Cic. Att. xi. 6, 6 Lentulus Hortensii domum sibi et Caesaris hortos et Baias desponderat; ib. xii. 40. 3 ibi (sc. at Astura) sum igitur, ubi is qui optimas Baias habebat quotannis hoc tempus consumere solebat.

xiii. 28. 5. Tamquam ius hastae adversus inopes inclementer augeret.

It has been supposed that, as g is in an erasure, the original reading may have been auderet. Others prefer ageret. If augeret is retained it must be translated extended, stretched the rights of sale'; but a parallel for augere ius in this sense should be adduced. Perhaps urgeret, unmercifully pressed against poor men the strict law in the case of sales': cf. Cic. Off. iii. 67 ius Crassus urgebat. aequitatem Antonius.

h

xiii. 41. 4. Adicitur miraculum velut numine oblatum: nam cuncta extra tectis actenus (so Med.) sole inlustria fuere : quod moenibus cingebatur repente ita atra nube coopertum, &c.

The correction adopted by Halm and Furneaux is that of Acidalius, Artaxatis tenus, which is very bold, and introduces the name of the town where we should only expect some common noun like urbe or oppido. The right

reading is probably that suggested by Heller ("Philologus," 1892, p. 326), extra ac tectis tenus, all the part outside and right up to the houses of the city.' The ac may have been omitted between the a of extra and t of tectis, then added above the line and afterwards copied into the wrong place. There was probably a space between the fortifications and the dwellinghouses which formed the town.

xiii. 42. 8. Crimen, periculum, omnia potius toleraturum quam veterem ac do partam dignationem subitae felicitati submitteret.

In this violent tirade of Suillius against Seneca, what does do stand for? dicendo say Spengel and Orelli; ac do is agendo say Dräger and Döderlein; Pichena suggests diu, opposing it to subitae; Heller proposes sudando (comparing Dial. 4), most improbably. Rather domi, as is suggested by Gronovius, which is a common proverbial expression, generally used with nasci, to signify a thing which is a person's own, and need not be sought from others: this use is found in Dial. 9, and often in Cicero's Epistles, Att. i. 19. 3; X. 14. 2; Fam. ix. 3. 2: add Senec. Ep. 23. 3. But the corruption will be better explained if we read domo : cf. Cic. Fam. vii. 5 domo petes; Cluent. 27 domo sibi quaerendum remedium existimavit; Phil. ii. 26 ab alienis potius consilium peterent quam a suis? et foris potius quam domo? also in the phrase domo doctus, Plaut. Merc. 355, Poen. 216, Truc. 453: cf. Amph. 637.

xiii. 44. 6. Tum, ut adsolet in amore et ira, iurgia preces, exprobratio satisfactio, et pars tenebrarum libidini seposita; et quastim census nihil metuentem ferro transverberat, &c.

All editors read incensus, but diverge widely in their opinions as to the proper correction of et quast. Halm, Dräger, Heller, and Furneaux suppose that quasi lurks therein, and that et is a corruption of ex. Accordingly,