carried, by a circular motion, round the central fire: moreover, that it is far from being the most important, or principal part of the worldly system. It is reported, that Plato, in his advanced age, entertained the same notions concerning the earth, and that he did not think it to be where it was commonly supposed to be fixed, but that the centre, or principal place, belonged to some other, and superior, object." This is, indeed, a near approach to the Copernican System, and to those exalted truths, which the science of modern times has been so fortunate as to discover! That passage is very remarkable. 6 The holy fire, in the temple of Vesta, was never suffered to expire, or to be extinguished: it was thence characterised by the epithets, everlasting, eternal, immortal, unextinguished, ever watchful. Ignis. sempiternus,' Cic. de Legg. ii. 8. æternus,' Val. Max. i. 1. 6. πup abávarov, Plutarch. Numa, c. ix. Ignis inextinctus,' Ovid. Fast. vi. 297. Tup ȧoßeoròv, Plutarch. vigil ignis,' Ovid. Fast. vi. 267. Vesta herself is, by Ovid, Fast. vi. 334. called ignea:' and by Horace, Od. iii. 5. 11. æterna.' A medal, given by Montfaucon, Supplem. T. i. p. 66. exhibiting Vesta, bears the inscription Æternitas.' By Virgil, Æn. ii. 297. she is styled 'potens ;' a denomination which may originally have been derived from the power of the element she represented unless the interpretation of Macrobius, Saturn. iii. 4. is to be preferred, stating, that she is so distinguished as being in the number of the greater deities, the δυνατοὶ θεοί. The fire was kept on a place, called the hearth, or the altar. This seems to be liable to no doubt. Plutarch. Numa, c. ix. calls it ßwμós: περὶ τὰ Μιθριδατικὰ καὶ τὸν ἐμφύλιον Ῥωμαίων πόλεμον ἅμα τῷ βωμῷ καὶ τὸ πῦρ ἠφανίσθη, "about the time of the Mithridatic affairs, and the eivil war of the Romans, the holy fire disappeared, together with the altar." Auson. Grat. Act. p. 547. ed. Delphin. Ara Vestalis.' Macrob. Saturn. i. 12. Aræ Vestæ.' Cicero, de Legg. ii. 8. and 12. terms it Focus;' and under this appellation it repeatedly occurs, in the passage of Ovid above quoted, viz. Fast. vi. 301. 305. 315. 317. 456. Upon this hearth, or altar, I conceive, the fire was maintained by means of wood. Montfaucon seems not to have been aware of the information, contained in those quotations; for he is uncertain whether the holy fire was not preserved in a lamp. In Vol. i. of his Antiquities, p. 64. Pl. xxvii., he exhibits a lamp, of a peculiar shape, with the inscription, Vesta, and asks: Etoit-ce la forme de celle où l'on conservoit le feu sacré ? Cela pourroit être : mais on n'oseroit l'assurer.' I have met with nothing in any author, which could lead to that idea, except it were the passage of Plutarch, Numa, c. ix. where, speaking of the sacred fire at Athens, and that at Delphi, he says that the iepòs λúxvos was put out at the time of some particular event: but mentioning, immediately after, the fire of Vesta, he abandons the expression λúxvos, and uses that of up. Consequently, if it be right to infer from that passage, that the sacred fire both at Athens, and at Delphi, consisted in a burning lamp, still we are not justified to apply the same conclusion to the fire of Vesta. NO. XXIX. CI. JI. The Vestal fire, though constantly kept alive, was renewed every year, on the first day of March. This intelligence is furnished by Macrobius, Saturn. i. 12. ‘Hujus (mensis, scil. Martii) prima die ignem novum Vestæ aris accendebant: ut incipiente anno cura denuo servandi novati ignis inciperet.' The first of March was the commencement of the ancient Roman year, as is known from the authority of Plutarch, Numa c. xviii., besides what Macrobius alleges. It might happen, that, by some casualty, the holy fire was extinguished, and must be lighted again. This then was not to be done by the common and vulgar method: but it was to be rekindled by fire, immediately derived from heaven. Plutarch. Numa c. ix., speak. ing of the Vestal fire, adds: ὅ φασι μὴ δεῖν ἀπὸ ἑτέρου πυρὸς ἐναύεσθαι, καινὸν δὲ ποιεῖν καὶ νέον, ἀνάπτοντας ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου φλόγα καθαρὰν καὶ auíavrov;" which fire, they say, is not to be lighted from another fire, but must be revived, and renewed, by kindling a pure and unpol luted flame from the sun." 66 66 For that purpose a peculiar mirror was generally employed, by Plutarch called okapeiov. It seems to have been formed of a piece of metal, in the shape of an equilateral rectangular triangle, which was wrought concave. What the metal was, we are not told. The word Kapelov denotes a spade, or shovel, and the mirror may have been so denominated from the resemblance of its form to the shape of that instrument. Plutarch describes it thus: Εξάπτουσι δὲ μάλιστα τοῖς σκαφείοις, ἃ κατασκευάτεται μὲν ἀπὸ πλευρᾶς ἰσοσκελοῦς ὀρθογωνίου τρι γώνου κοιλαινόμενα, συννεύει δ ̓ εἰς ἓν ἐκ τῆς περιφερείας κέντρον : « They generally light the fire by means of the Scaphia, which are made by the side (or rather surface) of an equilateral rectangular triangle being excavated (or rendered concave) in such a manner, as to verge, from all directions, towards the centre." There may originally have been a meaning attached to that particular shape. The action of the sun upon the mirror is then accurately delineated: "Orav ovv 0éσɩv évarτίαν λάβῃ πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον, ὥστε τὰς αὐγὰς πανταχόθεν ἀνακοπτομένας ἀθροίζεσθαι καὶ συμπλέκεσθαι πρὸς τὸ κέντρον, αὐτόν τε διακρίνει τὸν ἀέρα λεπτυνόμενον, καὶ τὰ κουφότατα καὶ ξηρότατα τῶν προστιθεμένων ὀξέως ἀνάπτει, κατὰ τὴν ἀντέρεισιν, σῶμα καὶ πληγὴν πυρώδη τῆς αὐτῆς λaußavouons: "when, therefore, the mirror is placed in a position λαμβανούσης facing the sun, so that the rays, being reflected from all sides, are gathered and united at the centre, it rarifies and dissipates the air, and quickly kindles any very light and dry material, when brought near it, because, in consequence of the reflection, the rays obtain the consistency and power of fire." 131 ADVERSARIA LITERARIA. No. XI. JULII PHÆDRI FABULE NOVE.-(PARS II.) FABULA VIII. Oraculum Apollinis. UTILIUS nobis quid sit, dic, Phoebe, obsecro, FABULA IX. De malo Scriptore se laudante. ESOFO quidam scripta recitârat mala, In quis ineptè multùm se jactaverat: 'Ite obviàm subdolis, id est : Date operam ne vos dolosi homines circumveniant. Ire obviàm est veluti antevertere dolos. 2 Concidit; in terram corruit, quod reverà fiebat; haud enim diu furorem illum incredibilem ferre poterat. 3 Perdidit: incassum edidit, frustra protulit. Scire ergò cupiens quidnam sentiret Senex: Ego, inquit, quòd te laudas vehementer probo; FABULA X. Pompeius et Miles. MAGNI Pompeii Miles vasti corporis 6 Cum veste et auro, et magno argenti pondere, 8 1 Haud vana, etc. Haud temerè ingenii nostri viribus confidimus. Virgi lius ait: Fiducia generis; Ovidius: Fiducia formæ, pedum; Quintilianus : Fiducia memoriæ. 2 Confectus, id est : Pene occisus. 3 Pessimo, id est : Ineptissimo. 4 Fractè loquendo. Vox fracta plenæ et integræ ac virili opponitur. E est quæ mulierculis delicato quodam flexu ducitur. Almæ nutricis blanda atque infracta loquela. LUCRET. 5 Famam Cinædi. Mollis et effeminati hominis. 6 Exscreat. Exscreare est sputum ejicere. 7. Digitis sputum dissipat. Vel disjicit, spargit, in parvas guttas infringit. 8 Exstillescant. Sensus est: Eodem pacto, quo sputum hoc digitis disjectum in minutas stillas resolutum est, oculi mei în minutas guttas stillasque dis rupti disperdantur. erat. Id dedecus castrorum. Impurum hunc militem, qui dedecori castris J Sibi quisque metuit, et primi mussant Duces.' Et voce molli: Licet? enim verò ejici, ' Mussant Duces. Mussare est summissâ voce loqui, ne alii audiant, quod pudorem faciat. Licet? Perinde ac si dixisset: Licetne mihi in hostem prodire? cum Barbaro congredi? 3 Ut in re atroci. Rem atrocem Romani appellabant, ex quâ Reipublicæ' dedecus aliquod fieret. Sallustius ait: Itaque, quod plerunique in atroci negotio solet, Senatus decrevit. 4 Turpe illud reddens. Imitans turpitudinem illam quam Miles fecerat. 5 Jucunditatis causam. Arripuit Venus, non passa est præteriri. Quidam legunt: Jucunditatis causâ. Quod sic interpretandum est: Jocandi causâ, Venus Junonem non repulit, non confutavit. 7 6 Parem. Junoni in castitate parem. Scalpere. Dicuntur Gallinæ scalpurire, ruspari, radere, scabere. |