ofty obelisks lift their height towards heaven;
but the upper one is dedicated to the sun, the lower one to the moon:
and upon them the sacred rites of the ancients are indicated with
Chaldee signs for letters[314].

[Footnote 311: 'Ut quadrigis progredientibus, inde certamen oriretur:
ne dum semper propere conantur elidere, spectandi voluptatem
viderentur populis abrogare.' In fact, to compel the charioteers to
start fair.]

[Footnote 312: Each sign of the Zodiac was considered to have three
decani, occurring at intervals of ten days.]

[Footnote 313: 'Unde illuc delphini aequorei aquas interfluunt.' The
sentence is very obscure, but the allusion must be to the dolphins,
the figures of which were placed upon the spina.]

[Footnote 314: 'Obeliscorum quoque prolixitates ad coeli altitudinem
sublevantur: sed potior soli, inferior lunae dicatus est: ubi sacra
priscorum Chaldaicis signis, quasi litteris indicantur.']

'The _Spina_ (central wall, or backbone) represents the lot of the
unhappy captives, inasmuch as the generals of the Romans, marching
over the backs of their enemies, reaped that joy which was the reward
of their labours. The _Mappa_ (napkin), which is still seen to give
the signal at the games, came into fashion on this wise. Once when
Nero was loitering over his dinner, and the populace, as usual, was
impatient for the spectacle to begin, he ordered the napkin which he
had used for wiping his fingers to be thrown out of window, as a
signal that he gave the required permission. Hence it became a custom
that the display of a napkin gave a certain promise of future
_circenses_.

'The _Circus_ is so called from "circuitus:" _circenses_ is, as it
were, _circu-enses_, because in the rude ages of antiquity, before an
elaborate building had been prepared for the purpose, the races were
exhibited on the green grass, and the multitude were protected by the
river on one side and the swords (_enses_) of the soldiers on the
other[315].

[Footnote 315: I can extract no other meaning than the above from this
extraordinary sentence: 'Circenses, quasi circu-enses: propterea quod
apud antiquitatem rudem, quae necdum spectacula in ornatum deduxerat
fabricarum, inter _enses_ et flumina locis virentibus agerentur.']

'We observe, too, that the rule of this contest is that it be decided
in twenty-four heats[316], an equal number to that of the hours of day
and night. Nor let it be accounted meaningless that the number o