AN UNACCOUNTABLE BLUNDER.
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��AN UNACCOUNTABLE BLUNDER.
��BY C. E. GEORGE, LL. B.
��People who write at random on sub- jects of which they are ignorant, or who willfully draw upon their imagina- tion for their facts, are liable, as might be expected, to go far astray. "Con- nu," says a reader, "why announce like an oracle what is acknowledged as an axiom ?" Because this axiom, dear reader, can not be repeated too often ; because, from neglecting to bear it in mind, many writers of re- spectable repute are continually blun- dering in matters of fact, which should be well known to every ordinary stu- dent. In all branches of human knowledge there are certain standard works which state the required facts clearly, and may, in most instances, be considered trustworthy. How comes it that these works are too often not consulted, while the soi-disant facts of inferior compilations are hastily adopt- ed? That such is the case we have abundant evidence, and much harm, no doubt, is frequently the result. The repetition of the same error, by a number of writers, will naturally im- press it on the minds of the public, or, at any rate, may mislead a large body of readers. A singular instance of the misrepresentation of a fact was lately brought under my notice, and although the error which I shall discuss inflicts no injury on the community, and may by many be regarded as ut- terly unimportant, it may perhaps be not uninteresting to notice it briefly.
Many of the readers of the Month- ly are familiar, by means of photo- graphs or engravings, with a picture by Gerome, entitled " Pollice Verso." It represents a gladiatorial contest in the Roman arena. A combatant, known as a Mirmillo, from the image of a fish upon his helmet, has van- quished a retiarius, or netter, and has him at his feet, completely at his mer- cy. The victor is looking to the Ves-
��tal Virgins and the spectators general- ly, for the sign either to kill or spare. " To be or not to be, that is the ques- tion." The thumbs of all are pointed downward, and they thus signify the unanimous decision. What is that de- cision ?
M. Gerome, if he gave the title to his own painting, evidently considers that " Pollice Verso" is to be translat- ed, " With thumbs turned down." A short time ago, while I was examining, with a friend, a photograph of the picture, he asked me to translate the motto literally. I replied that it means "with thumbs turned up," and is a quotation from a line in Juvenal, add- ing that the motto and the action of the spectators are at variance, and that either the motto should be " Pollice presso," i. e., " With thumbs turned down," to correspond with the action depicted ; or, the thumbs of the look- ers-on should be turned up to accord with the quotation. At the same time I remarked that any encyclopedia would confirm my statements. As Chambers's Cyclopedia was in the house I forthwith referred to it, and in the article on " Gladiator " read, to my astonishment, as follows : " When one of the combatants was disarmed, or on the ground, the victor looked to the Emperor, if present, or to the peo- ple, for the signal of death. If they raised their thumbs his life was spared. If they turned them down he execut- ed the fatal mandate."
Here, in a widely circulated cyclo- pedia, was a formal contradiction of what I had stated, and for the moment I felt annoyed. My friend, of course, smiled. On returning home, as I had at hand Dr. Smith's Dictionary of An- tiquities, I consulted the note on " Gladiators," written, as Lord Byron tells us, by Sir J. Cam Hobhouse to illustrate Canto VI, of Childe Harold's
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