BOOK V.--Line 6, _Palatine_, one invested with royal privileges and

rights. l. 16, _atria_, halls or principal rooms in Roman houses. l. 17, _stibadium_, a half-round reclining couch used by Romans near their baths. l. 18, _lustral vase_: used in purification at meals, etc. l. 34, _pelt_, a skin of a beast with the hair on. l. 43, _obsidion_, a kind of black glass produced by volcanoes. l. 58, _Mauritania_, an ancient country of North Africa == land of the Moors, celebrated for the wood called Citrus, for tables of which the Romans gave fabulous prices. l. 61, _Demiurge_: a worker for the people; so God, as Creator of the world. _Mareotic_: of the locality of Lake Mareotis, in Egypt. Mareotic wine was very famous; _Cæcuban_: Cæcubum, a town of Latium. Cæcubus Ager was noted for the excellence and plenty of its wines. l. 82, _Pythoness_: the priestess who gave oracular answers at Delphi, in Greece. l. 83, _Lydian king_: Lydia was a kingdom of Asia Minor. The king referred to was Croesus, who interpreted in his own favour the ambiguous answer of the oracle, and was destroyed by following the advice he thought was given to him. l. 115, _Nina and Alcamo_: Sicilian poets of the period. In the life of Joanna, Queen of Naples, we read of "the Poetess Nina, whose love of her art caused her to become enamoured of a poet whom she had never seen. This fortunate bard (who returned her poetical passion) was called Dante; but we cannot plead in her excuse that he had anything else in common with the great poet of that name. Nina was the most beautiful woman of the day, and the first female who wrote verse in Italian. She was so engrossed by her passion for her lover that she caused herself always to be called 'The Nina of Dante.'" [S.] "Sismondi only mentions C. d'Alcamo as a Sicilian poet, apparently nearly contemporary with Frederick II. See Ginguené for a full account of Sicilian poetry." [S.] l. 145, _Castellans_, governors of castles. l. 146, _Suzerains_, feudal lords. l. 163, "_Hildebrand of the huge brain mask_": Pope Gregory VII. He was one of the most famous of the popes, and he lived in the latter part of the eleventh century. l. 174, _Mandrake_: Mandragora--a plant with a bifurcated root, concerning which many singular superstitions have accumulated. l. 186, "_Three Imperial Crowns_": the Imperial Crown proper, the German crown, and the Italian or Lombard crown. There seems a little confusion here in the order of the different metals. The Imperial Crown was of gold. The German is always spoken of as the silver crown. The Italian or Lombard crown was known as the iron crown, because one of the nails of Christ's cross was inserted into its gold frame. (_Encyc. Brit._) l. 188, _Alexander IV._, Pope of Rome (1254-61); _Innocent IV._, Pope (1243-54). l. 189, _Papal key_: the keys of Peter in the papal arms. l. 194, "_The hermit Peter_": Peter, the Hermit of Amiens, who preached up the first Crusade. l. 195, _Claremont_ == Clermont, a city of France, in which, at a council held in 1095, Pope Urban II. first formally organised the great Crusade. l. 200, _Vimmercato_, a town on the Molgova, fourteen miles north-east of Milan. l. 203, "_Mantuan Albert_": Blessed Albert founder of the Order of Canons Regular. But it was Albert, patriarch of Jerusalem, who was umpire between Pope and Emperor. l. 204, _Saint Francis_, of Assisi, born 1182; one of the most beautiful characters who ever lived. All living creatures to him were his "brothers and sisters." l. 205, "_God's truce_": "The Pax Ecclesiæ," or "Treuga Dei"--a suspension of arms, putting a stop to private hostilities within certain periods. The treaty called the "Truce of God" was set on foot in A.D. 999. It was agreed, among other articles, that "churches should be sanctuaries to all sorts of persons, except those who violated this truce; and that from Wednesday till Monday morning no one should offer violence to any one, not even by way of satisfaction for any injustice he had received" (Butler's _Lives of the Saints_, _sub_ "St. Odilo," Jan. 1st.) l. 281, _hacqueton_: a quilted jacket, worn under a coat of mail. l. 298, _trabea_: a regal robe. l. 384, _thyrsus_: a spear wrapped about with ivy, carried at feasts of Bacchus. l. 405, _baldric_: a richly ornamented belt, passing only over one shoulder. l. 453, "_Caliph's wheel work man_": an automaton. l. 509, _Typhon_, a giant. l. 660, _Lombard Agilulph_: a king of Lombardy, A.D. 601. l. 712, "_changed the spoils of every clime at Venice_": the great Cathedral of St. Mark's, Venice, contains columns and ornaments of various kinds, brought from heathen temples in all parts of the Roman world. Pillars from the Temple of Jerusalem, and precious marbles from ancient Roman palaces, combine to make the interior of St. Mark's one of the strangest and richest Christian churches in the world. So these spoils from many lands, taken from temples devoted to alien worship, have been "changed" to Christian uses in this church. l. 718, "_earth's reputed consummations_": that is to say, the noblest works which the world at the time could produce. "The temple at Thebes was the consummate achievement of one age; of another, that of the Temple of Jupiter Tonans; of another, the Parthenon at Athens. All these were 'earth's reputed consummations.'" l. 719, "_razed a seal_": Thebes being despoiled like Rome, Athens rifled like Byzant, until St. Mark's at Venice having razed a seal (_i.e._ broken the seal, or, as it were, extracted the nails that fixed the most famous works in the world to their original site) lo! the glittering symbols of the all-purifying Trinity blazed above them: so the "horned and snouted god," the "cinerary pitcher," became part of the Christian edifice. l. 719, "_The All-transmuting Triad blazed above_": that is, they were consecrated by reason of the new faith in the Trinity. The three persons of the Holy Trinity are represented in the mosaics of St. Mark's Church."[7] l. 750, _Treville_ or Treviglio: a town in Lombardy, fourteen miles south of Bergamo. l. 751, _Cartiglione_: is this a misprint for Castiglione? l. 788, _writhled_ == wrinkled. l. 794, _pauldron_: a defence of armour-plate over the shoulders. l. 909, _Gesi_ or Jesi: a city in the Italian province of Ancona. It was the birthplace of Frederick II. in 1194. l. 943, _Valsugan_: a town on the Brenta, on the road from Trent to Venice. l. 970 _Torriani_: a faction of Valsassina of Lombardy, contending with the _Visconti_ (l. 971): Otho Visconti, Archbishop of Milan (1262), founded the house of Visconti. The Torriani were democrats, the Visconti aristocrats. l. 1065, "_Trent upon Apulia_": _i.e._, Northern upon Southern Italy. l. 1071, _Cunizza_: called Palma throughout the poem (see p. 123). l. 1090, _Squarcialupo_: not historical.