24
Proverb. Cf. Horace, "Oleum adde camino," ii. "Sat." iii. 321.
25
See Æsop's Fables, No. 121. Halme. Δραπέτης is the title. All readers of Plautus and Terence know what a bugbear to slaves the threat of being sent to the mill was. They would have to turn it instead of horses, or other cattle.
26
That is, Yoking oxen for the plough.
27
Procreation of children was among the ancients frequently called Ploughing and Sowing. Hence the allusions in this paragraph. So, too, Shakspere, "Measure for Measure," Act i. Sc. iv. 41-44.
28
The reference is to the rites of Cybele. See Lucretius, ii. 618.