la légende des siecles

Judith. There was a Judith, daughter of Beer the Hittite, one of the wives of Esau (Gen.
xxxvi. 34). Hugo may or may not have had this personage in his mind.
asphodèle. Hugo is not always accurate in his local colouring. Asphodels are not found
in Palestine.
Galgala, the form found in the Septuagint and Vulgate of the place-name Gilgal.
Les grelots des troupeaux. Here, again, Hugo is inaccurate. Sheep in Palestine do not
have bells attached to them.
Jérimadeth. The name seems to be of Hugo's own invention. It was a trick of the poet's
to make proper names suit the exigencies of rime, as in this instance, in which
'Jérimadeth rimes with' demandait.
AU LION D'ANDROCLÈS.
It is impossible to name the period to which Hugo is referring in this poem more
precisely than by saying that it is the age of Rome under the Empire. As will be seen
from the notes, the personages and events alluded to are not all contemporaneous. It was
enough for Hugo that they were typical of the Roman decadence.
Trimalcion. The festival of Trimalcion is an episode in the Satyricon of Petronius
Arbiter, the poem in which are described all the excesses of Roman luxury and
debauchery. Petronius Arbiter lived in the time of Claudius.
Lesbie. Hugo is guilty of one of his inaccuracies here. Lesbia was the lady to whom the
poems of Catullus (87-47 B.C.?) were addressed, while Delia, who is mentioned below
in connexion with Catullus, was in reality the mistress of Tibullus (54 B.C.-19 A.D.).
Crassus. Hugo no doubt refers to M. Licinius Crassus (died 53 B.C.), the Triumvir,
who, when praetor, led an army against the revolted gladiators under Spartacus. He
twice defeated them and subsequently crucified or hung, along the road from Capua to
Rome, six thousand slaves who had been taken prisoners.
Épaphrodite. Epaphroditus, a freedman and favourite of the Emperor Nero, was the
master of Epictetus, the lame slave and Stoic philosopher, who was amongst the greatest
of pagan moralists. Epaphroditus, who treated his slave with great cruelty, is said to
have been one day twisting his leg for amusement. Epictetus said, 'If you continue, you
will break my leg.' Epaphroditus went on, the leg was broken, and Epictetus only said,
'Did I not tell you that you would break it?'
Hugo seems to have in mind the short reigns of Galba (r. A.D. 68-9), Otho (r. A.D. 69),
and Vitellius (r. A.D. 69), all of whom perished by violence.
Vitellius was famous even among the later Romans for his gluttony and voracious
appetite. During the four months of his reign he is said to have spent seven millions
sterling on the pleasures of his table. When at last the people rose against him, and the