[sect. 3]
Protogeni: the slave who read aloud to Marius.
ne tu: cf. ne, Ep. XVI [.2 n.
Graecos aut Oscos ludos: comedy and tragedy were essentially of Greek origin, and Cicero speaks of them therefore as ludi Graeci in distinction from the fobulae Atellanae (ludi Osci), which were indigenous to Italian soil. These Atellan farces were comic representations of life with fixed characters. They were cast in dialogue form, varied by occasional songs. The action was lively, and the language the vulgar Latin. After the conquest of Campania, in 211 B.C.
, these farces were introduced into Rome, given in course of time a more distinctly dramatic form, and used as afterpieces on the stage. Cf. Ep. LXI. 7; also Ribbeck, Rm. Dichtung, 1.207-217.
in senatu vestro: Marius would seem to have been a decurio, or member of the town council, probably in Pompeii, and in the deliberations of his Oscan colleagues upon petty matters of town government, he could find all the elements of an 'Oscan burlesque' without taking the trouble to come to Rome for them.
via Graeca: perhaps a road leading to his villa which Marius did not use; but the point of the jest is obscure to us.
athletas: a term applied properly to those who took part in the five contestsrunning, wrestling, boxing, the pentathlum (made up of five distinct games), the pancratium (boxing and wrestling). As we may infer from the text, in quibus, etc., the Roman people showed little enthusiasm for these Greek games, and this continued to be the case until they gained an artificial stimulus by receiving the approval of certain emperors. Nero in particular was very fond of them (Tac. Ann. 14.20).
gladiatores: on Cicero's own distaste for gladiatorial contests, cf. Att. 2.1.1 Kal. Iunus eunti mihi Antium et gladiatores M. Metelli cupide relinquenti, etc.
operam et oleum perdidisse: a proverbial expression probably applied originally to an article spoiled in cooking; cf. tum pol ego et oleum et operant perdidi, Plaut. Poen. 332. The use of alliteration in such everyday expressions in all languages is well known. Cf. Intr. 93, 102.
venationes: from the introduction of the venatio at Rome in 186 B.C.
, it was a favorite form of amusement with the people, and was carried to an almost incredible pitch of extravagance and barbarism by the later emperors.
venabulo: the elephants were attacked with javelins by the Gaetulians (Plin. N. H. 8.20).
misericordia: cf. introd. note.
