The Agonales Were Celebrated In January;
The Carmentales, In January And February; The Lupercales And
Matronales, In March; The Megalesia In April; The Floralia, In
May; And The Matralia In June.
They had their saturnalia,
robigalia, venalia, vertumnalia, fornacalia, palilia, and
laralia, their latinae, their paganales, their sementinae, their
compitales, and their imperativae; such as the novemdalia,
instituted by the senate, on account of a supposed shower of
stones.
Besides, every private family had a number of feriae,
kept either by way of rejoicing for some benefit, or mourning for
some calamity. Every time it thundered, the day was kept holy.
Every ninth day was a holiday, thence called nundinae quasi
novendinae. There was the dies denominalis, which was the fourth
of the kalends; nones and ides of every month, over and above the
anniversary of every great defeat which the republic had
sustained, particularly the dies alliensis, or fifteenth of the
kalends of December, on which the Romans were totally defeated by
the Gauls and Veientes; as Lucan says - et damnata diu Romanis
allia fastis, and Allia in Rome's Calendar condemn'd. The vast
variety of their deities, said to amount to thirty thousand, with
their respective rites of adoration, could not fail to introduce
such a number of ceremonies, shews, sacrifices, lustrations, and
public processions, as must have employed the people almost
constantly from one end of the year to the other. This continual
dissipation must have been a great enemy to industry; and the
people must have been idle and effeminate. I think it would be no
difficult matter to prove, that there is very little difference,
in point of character, between the antient and modern inhabitants
of Rome; and that the great figure which this empire made of old,
was not so much owing to the intrinsic virtue of its citizens, as
to the barbarism, ignorance, and imbecility of the nations they
subdued. Instances of public and private virtue I find as
frequent and as striking in the history of other nations, as in
the annals of antient Rome; and now that the kingdoms and states
of Europe are pretty equally enlightened, and ballanced in the
scale of political power, I am of opinion, that if the most
fortunate generals of the Roman commonwealth were again placed at
the head of the very armies they once commanded, instead of
extending their conquests over all Europe and Asia, they would
hardly be able to subdue, and retain under their dominion, all
the petty republics that subsist in Italy.
But I am tired with writing; and I believe you will be tired with
reading this long letter notwithstanding all your prepossession
in favour of - Your very humble servant.
LETTER XXI
NICE, November 10, 1764.
DEAR DOCTOR, - In my enquiries about the revenues of Nice, I am
obliged to trust to the information of the inhabitants, who are
much given to exaggerate. They tell me, the revenues of this town
amount to one hundred thousand livres, or five thousand pounds
sterling; of which I would strike off at least one fourth, as an
addition of their own vanity:
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 157 of 276
Words from 81048 to 81565
of 143308
