Romans, the time at which young men first shaved the
beard was marked with particular ceremony. It was usually in their
twenty-first year, but the period varied. Caligula (c. x.) first shaved
at twenty; Augustus at twenty-five.

[574] A.U.C. 819. See afterwards, c. xxx.

[575] A.U.C. 808, 810, 811, 813.

[576] The Sportulae were small wicker baskets, in which victuals or
money were carried. The word was in consequence applied to the public
entertainments at which food was distributed, or money given in lieu of
it.

[577] "Superstitionis novae et maleficae," are the words of Suetonius;
the latter conveying the idea of witchcraft or enchantment. Suidas
relates that a certain martyr cried out from his dungeon--"Ye have loaded
me with fetters as a sorcerer and profane person." Tacitus calls the
Christian religion "a foreign and deadly [exitiabilis] superstition,"
Annal. xiii. 32; Pliny, in his celebrated letter to Trajan, "a depraved,
wicked (or prava), and outrageous superstition." Epist. x. 97.

Tacitus also describes the excruciating torments inflicted on the Roman
Christians by Nero. He says that they were subjected to the derision of
the people; dressed in the skins of wild beasts, and exposed to be torn
to pieces by dogs in the public games, that they were crucified, or
condemned to be burnt; and at night-fall served in place of lamps to
lighten the darkness, Nero's own gardens being used for the spectacle.
Annal. xv. 44.

Traditions of the church place the martyrdoms of SS. Peter and Paul at
Rome, under the reign of Nero. The legends are given by Ordericus
Vitalis. See vol. i. of the edition in the Antiq. Lib. pp. 206, etc.,
with the notes and reference to the apocryphal works on which they are
founded.

[578] Claudius had received the submission of some of the British
tribes. See c. xvii. of his Life. In the reign of Nero, his general,
Suetonius Paulinus, attacked Mona or Anglesey, the chief seat of the
Druids, and extirpated them with great cruelty. The successes of
Boadicea, queen of the Iceni, who inhabited Derbyshire, were probably the
cause of Nero's wishing to withdraw the legions; she having reduced
London, Colchester, and Verulam, and put to death seventy thousand of the
Romans and their British allies. She was, however, at length defeated by
Suetonius Paulinus, who was recalled for his severities. See Tacit.
Agric. xv. 1, xvi. 1; and Annal. xiv. 29.

[579] The dominions of Cott