[139]
The slave class is the topic of many of these monodies: either the virtues
of the loyal slave are extolled[140], or the knavery of the cunning
slave[141]. The parasite is "featured" too, when Ergasilus bewails the
decline of his profession[142], or Peniculus and Gelasimus indulge in
haunting threnody on their perpetual lack of food[143]. Bankers, lawyers
and panders come in for their share of satire[144]. Our favorite topic
today, the frills and furbelows of woman's dress and its reform, held the
boards of ancient Athens and Rome[145]. In _Mil._ 637 ff, Periplecomenus
descants on the joys of the old bon vivant and the expense of a wife. The
delights or pains of love[146], the ruminations of old age[147], marriage
reform[148] and divorce[149], the views of _meretrices_ and their victims
on the arts of their profession[150], the habits of cooks[151], the pride
of valor and heroic deeds[152] are fruitful subjects. In _Cur._ 462 ff.
the _choragus_ interpolates a recital composed of topical allusions to the
manners of different neighborhoods of Rome. We have two descriptions of
dreams[153], and a clever bit which paints a likeness between a man and a
house[154]. In foreign vein is the lament of Palaestra in _Rud._ 185 ff.,
which sounds like an echo from tragedy. The appearance of the Fishermen's
Chorus (_Rud._ 290 ff.) is wholly adventitious and seems designed to
intensify the atmosphere of the seacoast, if indeed it has any purpose at
all.
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