Chapter II: Part 2

If we examine into the works of St. Hierom, St. Austin, Pope Gregory the Great, and other Latin Fathers, we shall find that they also understood, that St. Paul had expressed himself in a figurative manner. And it is only by misquotations, or arts of the like kind, that Father Gretzer, Cardinal Demian, and others, have attempted to prove that self-flagellations were in use so early as the time of St. Paul among Christians.

FOOTNOTES:

[14] As the disputes concerning religious flagellations have been carried on with great warmth on both sides, the two parties have ransacked the Scriptures for passages that might support their respective opinions; and the supporters of flagellations have been particularly happy in the discovery of the passage of David, mentioned in the preceding Chapter; and that of St. Paul which is recited here. By the former passage, the supporters of flagellations pretend to shew, that they were in use so early as the time of David; and that the Prophet underwent a flagellation every morning: by the latter passage, they endeavour to prove that self-scourgings were practised by St. Paul, and of course by the first Christians. As the literal meaning of the above two passages is wholly on the side of the supporters of flagellations, this, as it always happens in controversies of that kind, has given them a great advantage over their opponents, who have been reduced, either to plead that the expressions urged against them were only to be understood in a figurative sense, or to endeavour, by altering the original passage, to substitute others in their stead. The latter is the expedient on which our Author has chiefly relied in this chapter, and he strives to substitute another word, to the word ὑπωπιάζω, used by St. Paul when he said, he _chastised_ his _flesh_; which is to be found in all the common Editions of the Greek New Testament. And indeed it must be confessed, that the above word is of itself extremely favourable to the promoters of self-flagellation; little less so than the words of Asaph, _fui flagellatus_ (_I have been whipped_) mentioned in the foregoing Chapter; its precise meaning being the same as _I bruise or discolour with blows_: it comes from the word ὐπώπιον, which signifies a livid mark left under the eye by a blow: on which the Reader may observe (which, no doubt, will be matter of agreeable surprise to him) that what is called in plain English a _black-eye_, was expressed in Greek by the word ὑπώπιον. Besides trying to substitute another word to that attributed to St. Paul in the common Greek Editions of the New Testament, our Author produces several passages from Greek and Latin Fathers, to shew that they thought that St. Paul meant no more than to speak of his great labours, abstinence, continence, &c.

The principal end of this Chapter is, therefore, to discuss the interesting question, whether St. Paul used to flagellate himself: and I have preferred to give the above compendious account of the contest on the subject, rather than introduce the long discussion of Greek words, and use the whole string of passages from Greek and Latin Fathers, contained in the Abbé Boileau’s Book. By that means, the present Chapter has, for the sake of the Reader, been shortened to ten pages, instead of thirty, it must otherwise have contained.

[15] “And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge and to crucify him.” St. _Matth._ c. xx. v. 19.... “Then Pilate took Jesus, and scourged him.” St. _John_, c. xix. ver. 1.

[16] _Hoc implebat_ Paulus, _qui servitutis suæ titulos sic scribebat._ Lividum facio corpus meum, & servituti subjicio. _Præbebat vindictam bonus servus, qui se usque ad livorem, sic agens, jugiter verberabat._

CHAP. IV.

_The use of Flagellations was known among the ancient Heathens.
Several facts and observations on that subject._

It is not to be doubted, that flagellations had been invented, and were become, in early times, a common method of punishment in the Pagan world. Even before the foundation of Rome, we meet with instances which prove that it was the usual punishment inflicted on Slaves. Justin, in his Epitome of Trogus Pompeius, relates that the Scythians more easily overcame their rebellious Slaves with scourges and whips, than with their swords. ‘The Scythians being returned (says Justin) from their third expedition in Asia, after having been absent eight years from their Wives and Children, found they now had a war to wage at home against their own Slaves. For, their Wives, tired with such long fruitless expectation of their Husbands, and concluding that they were no longer detained by war, but had been destroyed, married the Slaves who had been left to take care of the cattle; which latter attempted to use their Masters, who returned victorious, like Strangers, and hinder them, by force of arms, from entering the Country. The war having been supported, for a while, with success pretty nearly equal on both sides, the Scythians were advised to change their manner of carrying it on, remembering that it was not with enemies, but with their own Slaves, that they had to fight; that they were to conquer by dint, not of arms, but of their right as Masters; that instead of weapons, they ought to bring lashes into the field, and, setting iron aside, to supply themselves with rods, scourges, and such like instruments of slavish fear. Having approved this counsel, the Scythians armed themselves as they were advised to do; and had no sooner come up with their enemies, than they exhibited on a sudden their new weapons, and thereby struck such a terror into their minds, that those who could not be conquered by arms, were subdued by the dread of the stripes, and betook themselves to flight, not like a vanquished enemy, but like fugitive slaves.’

Among the antient Persians, the punishment of whipping was also in use: it was even frequently inflicted on the Grandees of the Kingdom by order of the King, as we find in _Stobæus_, who moreover relates in his forty-second Discourse, ‘That when one of them had been flagellated by order of the King, it was an established custom, that he should give him thanks as for an excellent favour he had received, and a token that the King remembered him.’ This custom of the Persians was however in subsequent times altered: they began to set some more value on the skin of Men; and we find in Plutarch’s _Apophthegms of Kings_, ‘That Artaxerxes, son of Xerxes, sirnamed the _Longhanded_, was the first who ordered that the Grandees of his kingdom should no longer be exposed to the former method of punishment; but that, when they should have been guilty of some offence, instead of their backs, only their clothes should be whipped, after they had been stripped of them.’

We also find, that it was a custom in antient times, for Generals and Conquerors, to flog the Captives they had taken in war; and that they moreover took delight in inflicting that punishment with their own hands on the most considerable of those Captives. We meet, among others, with a very remarkable proof of this practice, in the Tragedy of Sophocles, called _Ajax Scourgebearer_ (Μαστιγοφόρος): in a Scene of this Tragedy Ajax is introduced as having the following conversation with Minerva.

MINERVA.

‘What kind of severity do you prepare for that miserable man?’

AJAX.

‘I propose to lash his back with a scourge till he dies.’

MINERVA.

‘Nay, do not whip the poor Wretch so cruelly.’

AJAX.

‘Give me leave, Minerva, to gratify, on this occasion, my own
fancy; he shall have it, I do assure you, and I prepare no other
punishment for him.’

The punishment of flagellation was also much in vogue among the Romans; and it was the common chastisement which Judges inflicted upon Offenders, especially upon those of a servile condition. Surrounded by an apparatus of whips, scourges, and leather-straps, they terrified Offenders, and brought them to a sense of their duty.

Judges, among the Romans, as has been just now mentioned, used a great variety of instruments for inflicting the punishment of whipping. Some consisted of a flat strap of leather, and were called _Ferulæ_; and to be lashed with these _Ferulæ_, was considered as the mildest degree of punishment. Others were made of a number of cords of twisted parchment, and were called _Scuticæ_. These _Scuticæ_ were considered as being a degree higher in point of severity than the _ferulæ_, but were much inferior, in that respect, to that kind of scourge which was called _Flagellum_, and sometimes _the terrible Flagellum_, which was made of thongs of ox-leather, the same as those which Carmen used for their Horses. We find in the third Satyr of the first Book of _Horace_, a clear and pretty singular account of the gradation in point of severity that obtained between the above-mentioned instruments of whipping. In this Satyr, Horace lays down the rules which he thinks a Judge ought to follow in the discharge of his office; and he addressed himself, somewhat ironically, to certain persons who, adopting the principles of the Stoics, affected much severity in their opinions, and pretended that all crimes whatever being equal, ought to be punished in the same manner. ‘Make such a rule of conduct to yourself (says Horace) that you may always proportion the chastisement you inflict to the magnitude of the offence; and when the Offender only deserves to be chastised with the whip of twisted parchment, do not expose him to the lash of the horrid leather scourge; for, that you should only inflict the punishment of the flat strap on him who deserves a more severe lashing, is what I am by no means afraid of[17].’

The choice between these different kinds of instruments, was, as we may conclude from the above passage, left to the Judge, who ordered that to be used which he was pleased to name; and the number of blows was likewise left to his discretion; which sometimes were as many as the Executioner could give. ‘He (says Horace in one of his Odes) who has been lashed by order of the Triumvirs, till the Executioner was spent[18].’

Besides this extensive power of whipping exercised by Judges among the Romans, over persons of a servile condition, over Aliens, and those who were the subjects of the Republic, Masters were possessed of an unbounded one with regard to their Slaves, over whose life and death they had moreover an absolute power. Hence a great number of instruments of flagellation, besides those above-mentioned, were successively brought into use for punishing Slaves. Among those were particular kinds of cords manufactured in Spain, as we learn from a passage in an Ode of Horace, the same that has just been quoted, and was addressed to one _Menas_, a freed-man, who had found means to acquire a great fortune, and was grown very insolent. ‘Thou (says Horace) whose sides are still discoloured (or burnt) with the stripes of the Spanish cords[19].’

A number of other instances of this practice of whipping Slaves, as well as other different names of instruments used for that purpose, may be found in the antient Latin Writers, such as Plautus, Terence, Horace, Martial, &c. So prevalent had the above practice become, that Slaves were frequently denominated from that particular kind of flagellation which they were most commonly made to undergo. Some were called _Restiones_, because they were used to be lashed with cords; others were called _Bucædæ_, because they were usually lashed with thongs of ox-leather; and it is in consequence of this custom, that a Man is made to say in one of Plautus’s Plays, ‘They shall be _Bucædæ_ (that is to say, scourged with leather-thongs) whether they will or no, before I consent to be _Restio_,’ or so much as beaten with cords[20]. And Tertullian, meaning in one of his Writings to express Slaves in general, uses words which simply signify ‘those who are used to be beaten, or to be discoloured with blows[21].’

Nay, so generally were whipping and lashing considered among the Romans, as being the lot of Slaves, that a whip, or a scourge, was become among them the emblem of their condition. Of this we have an instance in the singular custom mentioned by _Camerarius_, which prevailed among them, of placing in the triumphal car, behind the Triumpher, a man with a whip in his hand; the meaning of which was to shew, that it was no impossible thing for a Man to fall from the highest pitch of glory into the most abject condition, even into that of a Slave.

Suetonius also relates a fact which affords another remarkable instance of this notion of the Romans, of looking upon a whip as a characteristic mark of dominion on the one hand, and of slavery on the other. ‘Cicero (says Suetonius, in the life of Augustus) having accompanied Cæsar to the Capitol, related to a few friends whom he met there, a dream which he had had the night before. It seemed to him, he said, that a graceful Boy came down from Heaven, suspended by a golden chain; that he stopped before the gate of the Capitol, and that Jupiter gave him a whip (_flagellum_). Having afterwards suddenly seen Augustus, whom (as he was still personally unknown to several of his near relations) Cæsar had sent for and brought along with him to be present at the ceremony, he assured his friends that he was the very person whose figure he had seen during his sleep.’ Juvenal likewise, in one of his Satyrs, has spoken of Augustus conformably to the above notion of the Romans. ‘The same (says he) who, after conquering the Romans, has subjected them to his whip[22].’

But, besides all those instruments of flagellation used for punishing Slaves, which have been mentioned above, and as if the terrible _flagellum_ had not been of itself sufficiently so, new contrivances were used to make the latter a still more cruel weapon; and the thongs with which that kind of scourge was made, were frequently armed with nails, or small hard bones. They also would sometimes fasten to those thongs small leaden weights: hence scourges were sometimes called _Astragala_, as Hesychius relates, from the name of those kinds of weights which the Ancients used to wear hanging about their shoes. Under the tortures which those different instruments inflicted, it was no wonder that Slaves should die: indeed this was a frequent case; and the cruelty, especially of Mistresses towards their female Slaves, grew at last to such a pitch, that a provision was made in the Council of Elvira to restrain it; and it was ordained, that if any Mistress should cause her Slave to be whipped with so much cruelty as that she should die, the Mistress should be suspended from Communion for a certain number of years. The following are the terms of the above Ordinance, in the fifth Canon. “If a Mistress, in a fit of anger and madness, shall lash her female Slave, or cause her to be lashed, in such a manner that she expires before the third day, by reason of the torture she has undergone; inasmuch as it is doubtful whether it has designedly happened, or by chance; if it has designedly happened, the Mistress shall be excommunicated for seven years; if by chance, she shall be excommunicated for five years only; though, if she shall fall into sickness, she may receive the Communion[23].”

FOOTNOTES:

[17]

---- _Adsit
Regula peccatis quæ pœnas irroget æquas,
Nec Scuticâ dignum horribili sectere Flagello;
Nam, ut Ferulâ cædas meritum majora subire
Verbera, non vereor._
Lib. I. Sat. I. v. 117.

[18]

_Sectus flagellis hic Triumviralibus
Præconis ad fastidium._
Lib. V. Ode IV. v. 11, 12.

[19]

_Ibericis peruste funibus latus._
Lib. V. Ode IV. v. 3.

[20]

_Erunt Bucædæ invitò, potius quàm ego sim Restio._
Mostell. Act. IV. Sc. II.

[21] _Verberones_, _Subverbustos_.--The latter word literally signifies, _burnt with blows_: a figurative expression commonly used among the Romans, when they spoke of flagellations: thus, the words _flagrum_ and _flagellum_, had been derived from the word _flagrare_, which signifies _to burn_, and Horace, in a passage that will be quoted in page 66, says, _to be burnt_ with rods (_virgis uri_) for, _to be lashed_.

[22]

_Ad sua qui domitos deduxit flagra Quirites._
Juv. Sat. X. v. 99.

This notion of the Romans, of looking upon a scourge as a characteristic appendage of dominion, was so general among them, as is observed above, that they moreover supposed the gods themselves to be supplied with whips; and even Venus had also been thought to be furnished with one. In consequence of this supposition, Horace, who, as we may conclude from thence, had cause to be dissatisfied with some trick his Mistress had played him, or perhaps only with her impertinence in general, desires Venus to chastise her with her whip, “Do, Queen, (says he, addressing Venus) do, for once, give arrogant Chloe a touch with your sublime whip.”

_Regina, sublimi flagello
Tange Chloën semel arrogantem._
Od. 26. Lib. III. ad Ven.

[23] The absolute dominion possessed by Masters over the persons of their slaves, led them to use a singular severity in the government of them. So frequently were flagellations the lot of the latter, that appellations and words of reproach drawn from that kind of punishment, were, as hath been above observed, commonly used to denominate them; and expressions of this kind occur in the politest writers: thus, we find in the Plays of Terence, an Author particularly celebrated for his politeness and strict observance of decorum, Slaves frequently called by the words _Verberones_, _Flagriones_, or others to the same effect.

As for Plautus, who had been the Servant of a Baker, and who was much acquainted with every thing that related to Slaves, and their flagellations in particular, he has filled his scenes with nicknames of Slaves, drawn from this latter circumstance; and they are almost continually called in his Plays, _flagritribæ_ (a verbis, _flagrum_ & _terere_) _plagipatidæ_, _ulmitribæ_, &c. besides the appellations of _Bucædæ_ and _Restiones_, above-mentioned.

Sometimes the flagellations of Slaves, or the fear they entertained of incurring them, served Plautus as incidents for the conduct of his plots; thus, in his _Epidicus_, a Slave who is the principal character in the Play, concludes upon a certain occasion, that his Master has discovered his whole scheme, because he has spied him, in the morning, purchasing a new scourge at the shop in which they were sold. The same flagellations in general, have moreover been an inexhaustible fund of pleasantry for Plautus. In one place, for instance, a Slave, intending to laugh at a fellow-slave, asks him how much he thinks he weighs, when he is suspended naked, by his hands, to the beam, with an hundred weight (_centupondium_) tied to his feet; which was a precaution taken, as Commentators inform us, in order to prevent the Slave who was flagellated from kicking the Man (_Virgator_) whose office it was to perform the operation. And in another place, Plautus, alluding to the thongs of ox-leather with which whips were commonly made, introduces a Slave engaged in deep reflection on the surprizing circumstance of “dead bullocks, that make incursions upon living Men.”

_Vivos homines mortui incursant boves!_

But it was not always upon their Slaves only that Masters, among the Romans, inflicted the punishment of flagellation: they sometimes found means to serve in the same manner the young Men of free condition, who insinuated themselves into their houses, with a design to court their Wives. As the most favourable disguise on such occasions, was to be dressed in Slaves clothes, because a Man thus habited was enabled to get into the house, and go up and down without being noticed, Rakes engaged in amorous pursuits, usually chose to make use of it; but, when the Husband either happened to discover them, or had had previous information of the appointment given by his faithful Spouse, he feigned to mistake the Man for a run-away Slave, or some strange Slave who had got into his house to commit theft, and treated him accordingly. Indeed the opportunity was a most favourable one for revenge; and if to this consideration we add that of the severe temper of the Romans, and the jealous disposition that has always prevailed in that country, we shall easily conclude that such an opportunity, when obtained, was seldom suffered to escape, and that many a Roman Spark, caught in the above disguise, and engaged in the laudable pursuit of seducing his neighbour’s wife, has, with a _centupondium_ to his feet, been sadly rewarded for his ingenuity. A misfortune of that kind actually befell Sallust the Historian. He was caught in a familiar intercourse with Faustina, wife to Milo, and daughter of the Dictator Sylla. The husband caused him to be soundly lashed (_loris bene cæsum_); nor did he release him till he had made him pay a considerable sum of money. The fact is related by Aulus Gellius, who had extracted it from Varro. To it was very probably owing the violent part which Sallust afterwards took against Milo, while the latter was under prosecution for slaying the Tribune Clodius, and the tumult he raised on that occasion, which prevented Cicero from delivering the speech he had prepared.

An allusion is made to the above practices in one of Horace’s Satyrs. He supposes in it, that his Slave, availing himself of the opportunity of the _Saturnalia_, to speak his mind freely to him, gives him a lecture on the bad courses in which he thinks him engaged, and uses, among others, the following arguments.

‘When you have stripped off the marks of your dignity, your equestrian ring, and your whole Roman dress, and from a Man invested with the office of Judge, shew yourself at once under the appearance of the Slave Dama; disgraced as you are, and hiding your perfumed head under your cloak, you are not the Man whom you feign to be: you are at least introduced full of terror, and your whole frame shakes through the struggles of two opposite passions. In fact, what advantage is it to you, whether you are cut to pieces with rods, or slaughtered with iron weapons?’

_Tu cum projectis insignibus, annulo Equestri
Romanoque habitu, prodis ex judice Dama,
Turpis, odoratum caput obscurante lacernâ
Non es quod simulas; metuens induceris, atque
Altercante libidinibus tremis ossa pavore.
Quid refert uri virgis, ferroque necari?_
Lib. II. Sat. 7.

The above uncontrouled power of inflicting punishments on their Slaves, enjoyed by Masters in Rome, was at last abused by them to the greatest degree. The smallest faults committed in their families by Slaves, such as breaking glasses, seasoning dishes too much, or the like, exposed them to grievous punishments; and it even was no unusual thing for Masters (as we may judge from the description of _Trimalcion’s_ entertainment in the Satire of Petronius) to order such of their Slaves as had been guilty of faults of the above kind, to be stripped, and whipped in the presence of their guests, when they happened to entertain any at their houses.

Women in particular seem to have abused this power of flagellation in a strange manner; which caused express provisions to be made, at different times, in order to restrain them; of which the Canon above-quoted is an instance. It was often sufficient, to induce the Roman Ladies to cause their Slaves to be whipped, that they were dissatisfied with the present state of their own charms; or, as Juvenal expresses it, that their nose displeased them: and when they happened to fancy themselves neglected by their husbands, then indeed their Slaves fared badly. This latter observation of Juvenal, Dryden, in his translation of that Author’s Satires, has expressed by the following lines:

‘For, if over night the husband has been slack, }
Or counterfeited sleep, or turn’d his back, }
Next day, be sure, the servants go to wrack.’ }

Here follows the literal translation of the passage of Juvenal, in which he describes in a very lively manner, the havock which an incensed Woman usually made on the above occasion. “If her husband has, the night before, turned his back on her, woe to her waiting Woman; the dressing Maids lay down their tunicks; the errand Slave is charged with having returned too late; the straps break on the back of some; others redden under the lash of the leather scourge, and others, of the twisted parchment.”

_Si nocte maritus
Aversus jacuit, periit Libraria; ponunt
Cosmetæ tunicas; tardè venisse Liburnus
Dicitur; hic frangit ferulas; rubet ille flagellis,
Hic scuticâ._
Juv. Sat. VI.

The wantonness of power was carried still farther by the Roman Ladies, if we may credit the same Juvenal. It was a customary thing with several among them, when they proposed to have their hair dressed both with nicety and expedition, to have the dressing Maid who was charged with that care, stripped naked to the waist, ready for flagellation, in case she became guilty of any fault or mistake, in performing her task. The following is the passage in Juvenal on that subject. “For, if she has determined to be dressed more nicely than usual, and is in haste, being expected in the public gardens, the unfortunate Psechas then dresses her head, with her own hair in the utmost disorder, and her shoulders and breasts bare. Why is that ringlet too high?--The leather-thongs instantly punish the crime of a hair, and an ill-shaped curl.”

_Nam si constituit solitoque decentiùs optat
Ornari & properat, jamque expectatur in hortis,
Componit crinem, laceratis ipsa capillis,
Nuda humeros, Psechas infœlix, nudisque mamillis:
Altior hic quare cicinnus? taurea punit
Continuò flexi crimen, facinusque capilli._

These abuses which Masters, in Rome, made of the power they possessed over their Slaves, were at last carried by them to such a pitch, either by making them wantonly suffer death, or torturing them in numberless different ways, that, in the beginning of the reign of the Emperors, it was found necessary to restrain their licence.

Under the reign of Claudius (for it is not clear whether any provision to that effect was made under Augustus) it was ordained, that Masters who forsook their Slaves when sick, should lose all right over them, in case they recovered; and that those who deliberately put them to death, should be banished from Rome.

Under the Emperor Adrian, the cruelties exercised by _Umbricia_, a Roman Lady, over her female Slaves, caused new laws to be made on that subject, as well as the former ones to be put in force, and Umbricia was, by a _rescript_ of the Emperor, banished for five years. (_l. 2. in fine_, Dig. _L. I. t. 6._)

New laws to the same ends were likewise made under the following Emperors, among which Civilians make particular mention of a _constitution_ of Antonius Pius (_Divus Pius_); and in subsequent times, the Church also employed its authority to prevent the like excesses, as we may see from the Canon above-recited (_Si quæ domina_, &c.) which was framed in the Council held at Elvira, a small Town in Spain, that has been since destroyed. But the disorder was of such a nature as was not to be cured so long as the custom itself of slavery was allowed to subsist; and it has been remedied at last, only by the thorough abolition of an usage which was a continual insult on Humanity: an advantage which (to be, once at least, very serious in the course of this learned and useful Work) we are indebted for, to the establishment of Christianity, whatever other evils certain Writers may reproach it with having occasioned.

CHAP. V.

_The subject continued._

The punishment of flagellation was thought among the Antient Heathens, as we have just seen, to possess great efficacy to mend the morals of persons convicted of offences, and insure the honesty and diligence of Slaves. Nor were Schoolmasters behindhand either with Judges or Masters, in regard to whipping those persons who were subjected to their authority.

Of this we have an undoubted proof in one of the Epistles of Horace; and it moreover appears that he had had, when at school, the bad luck of being himself under the tuition of one who had strong inclination to inflict that kind of chastisement[24]. ‘I remember (says he) that the flogging _Orbilius_, who when I was a boy, used to dictate to us the verses of Livius Andronicus--.’

Quintilian has also mentioned this practice of Schoolmasters of whipping their Disciples; and the severity which they used, as well as other considerations, induced him to disapprove of it intirely. The following are his expressions on that subject. ‘With respect to whipping School-boys, though it be an established practice, and Chrysippus is not averse to it, yet I do not in any degree approve it. First, it is a base and slavish treatment; and certainly if it were not for the youth of those who are made to suffer, it might be deemed an injury that might call for redress. Besides, if a Disciple is of such a mean disposition that he is not mended by censures, he will, like a bad Slave, grow equally insensible to blows. Lastly, if Masters acted as they ought, there would be no occasion for chastisement; but the negligence of Teachers is now so great, that, instead of causing their Disciples to do what they ought, they content themselves with punishing them for not having done it. Besides, though you may compel the obedience of a Boy, by using the rod, what will you do with a young Man, to whom motives of a quite different nature must be proposed? Not to add, that several dangerous accidents which are not fit to be named, may be occasioned either by the fear or the pain attending such punishments. Indeed, if great care is not taken in choosing Teachers of proper dispositions, I am ashamed to say to what degree they will sometimes abuse their power of lashing: but I shall dwell no longer on that subject, concerning which the Public knows already too much[25].’

After these dismal accounts of Disciples flogged by their Teachers, and of the cruel severity used by the latter, the Reader will not certainly be displeased to read instances of Teachers who were flogged by their Disciples.

A very remarkable instance of this kind occurs in the case of that Schoolmaster of the Town of _Falerii_, who is mentioned in the fifth Book of the Decad of Livy. The Town of _Falerii_ being besieged by the Romans, under the command of the Dictator Camillus, a Schoolmaster in that Town, thinking he would be splendidly rewarded for his service, one day led, by treachery, and under pretence of making them take a short walk out of the gates of the Town, the children of the most considerable families, who had been entrusted to his care, to the Roman camp, and delivered them up to the Dictator. But the latter, incensed at his perfidy, ordered him to be stripped naked, with his hands tied behind his back, and having supplied the children with rods, gave the Schoolmaster up to them, to drive him back in that condition to their Town[26].

Another instance of the like kind is also to be met with in more modern times. The Tutor’s name was _Sadragesillus_, and his Disciple was _Dagobert_, son of _Clotaire_, King of France, who reigned about the year of Jesus Christ, 526. The transaction is related in the following manner by _Robert Gaguin_, in his History of France. ‘Dagobert (says he) having received from his Father a Tutor who was to instruct him in the worldly sciences, and whom the King had made Duke of Aquitain, the young Man, who did not want parts for one of his years, soon perceived that _Sadragesillus_ (such was the Pedagogue’s name) was much elated with pride on account of his newly-acquired dignity, so that he began to fail in the respect he owed to him, and grew remiss in the discharge of his duty. The Prince having once invited him to dine with him, and Sadragesillus having not only placed himself at table opposite the Prince, but also offered to take the cup from him as if he had been his companion, the Prince ordered him to be soundly whipped with rods, and caused his beard, which he wore very long, to be cut off.’ The above fact is also related by _Tilly_, Scrivener of the Parliament of Paris, in his _Chronicles_ of the Kings of France.

In fine, to the passages above produced concerning the Flagellations of Children, from which we find that very great men have much differed in their opinions in regard to them, we may add, that King Solomon, that Oracle of Wisdom, has, without reserve, declared in favour of that mode of correction. ‘He that spareth the rod, hateth his son; but he that loves him, chastises him betimes.’ The Greek Philosopher Chrysippus has afterwards manifested the same opinion. And Petrarch, who may be called here a modern Author, has also adopted the opinion of King Solomon; and, notwithstanding Quintilian’s arguments on the subject, has sided with the antient Moralist and Sage: “Correct your son (says Petrarch) in his tender years, nor spare the rod: a branch, when young, may easily be bent at your pleasure[27].”

FOOTNOTES:

[24]

... _Memini quæ plagosum mihi parvo
Orbilium dictare._--Lib. II. Ep. i. v. 70.

[25] ... “_Jam si minor in diligendis custodum & præceptorum moribus fuit cura, pudet dicere in qua proba nefandi homines isto jure cædendi abutantur; non morabor in parte hac, nimium est quod intelligitur._”--Institut. Orat. Lib. I. Cap. 3.

[26] “_Denudari deindè, Ludi-magistrum jussit, eumque pueris tradidit reducendum Falerios, manibus post tergum illigatis; virgas quoque eis dedit, quibus proditorem agerent in urbem verberantes._”

The inhabitants of _Falerii_ were so struck with the just conduct of the Dictator (Livy adds) that a total change of their dispositions towards the Romans was the consequence; and the Senate having been assembled thereupon by the Magistrates, they came to the resolution of opening their gates, and surrendering to the Romans; which was soon after effected.

[27] From the above-mentioned passages of king Solomon, Livy, and other antient authors, down to Petrarch, we may safely conclude that the practice of flagellating children has been followed in the world during a number of successive centuries; and we know from undoubted authorities, that the same practice continues in our days to prevail, especially among Schoolmasters. Nay more, very respectable Writers inform us, that Schoolmasters still possess the same strong inclination to exert their authority that way, as they did in the times of Horace and Quintilian.

Thus, Mr. _Henry Fielding_, a Writer who, better than most others, knew the manners of Men, in his _History of a Foundling_, represents _Thwackum_ the Schoolmaster, as having, upon every occasion, recourse to his rod, and describes him to us as a true successor of the _plagosus Orbilius_.

Mr. Gay, another writer, who, too, was deeply versed in the knowledge of Mankind, expresses himself with still more precision on that head, and lays it down as an undoubted maxim, that the delight of a Schoolmaster is to use his whip. The opinion of that Author on the subject is contained in a song written by him: this song was composed in honour of _Molly Mog_, an Innkeeper’s daughter, at Oakingham in Berkshire: the verses are fifteen in all; and the name of _Molly Mog_ is to be found in each of them, with a rhyme to it.

The School-boy’s desire is a play-day,
The Schoolmaster’s joy is to flog,
The milk-maid’s delights are on May-day;
But mine are in sweet Molly Mog.

However, the researches of our Author on the present deep subject, as well as mine in my humble capacity of Commentator, can bear no comparison, I think, in point of sagaciousness, with the discovery made by Thomas Perez, the Uncle of Diego, who relates his own history in the third volume of the Adventures of Gil Blas, and who takes that occasion to mention the great abilities of his Uncle as an Antiquary. “If it had not been for him (says he) we should still be ignorant that children, in Athens, cried when their Mothers whipped them.”

CHAP. VI.

_Flagellations of a religious and voluntary kind were practised
among the ancient Heathens._

We have hitherto only treated of involuntary Flagellations, and such as were in all cases inflicted by force on those who suffered them. But besides Flagellations of this kind, there were others of a voluntary sort among the Heathens, to which those who underwent them, freely and willingly submitted, and which may indeed create our surprise in a much greater degree than the former.

Thus, at Lacedæmon, there was a celebrated Festival, which was kept annually, and was named the _Day of Flagellations_, on account of the ceremony that was performed in it, of whipping before the altar of Diana a number of Boys, who freely submitted to that painful treatment; and this Festival has been mentioned by a great number of Authors.

Plutarch, for instance, in his Book of the _Customs of the Lacedæmonians_, relates, that he had been an eye-witness of the celebration of the solemnity we speak of. ‘Boys (says he) are whipped for a whole day, often to death, before the altar of Diana the Orthian; and they suffer it with chearfulness, and even joy: nay, they strive with each other for victory; and he who bears up the longest time, and has been able to endure the greatest number of stripes, carries the day. This solemnity is called _The Contest_ (or race) _of Flagellations_; and is celebrated every year.’

Cicero, in his Tusculana, has also mentioned this custom of the Lacedæmonians. ‘Boys (says he) at Sparta are lashed before the Altar in so severe a manner, that the blood issues from their body. While I was there, I several times heard it said that Boys had been whipped to death; none of whom ever uttered the least complaint, or so much as groaned.’ And in another place Cicero likewise says, ‘Boys, at Sparta, utter no complaint, though lacerated by repeated lashes.’ Nay more; Mozonius, in _Stobæus_, relates that the Spartan Boys were rather pleased with these flagellating solemnities. ‘The sons of the Lacedæmonians make it very evident (says Mozonius) that stripes do not appear to them either shameful or hard to be borne, since they allow themselves to be whipped in public, and take a pride in it.’

The Scholiast or Commentator of Thucydides relates the same things of the Lacedæmonian young men; and says that those among them who could bear the greatest number of lashes, acquired much glory by it. ‘And indeed (says he) the _Flagellations_ are performed at particular times during a certain number of days; and those who receive the greatest number of stripes, are accounted the most manly.’

The Parents of the young men who were thus publickly whipped, were commonly present during the performance of the ceremony; and so far were they from discouraging their Sons from going through it, that, as Lucian relates, they deemed it a shameful piece of cowardice in them, if they seemed to yield to the violence of the lashes, and in consequence of this notion they exhorted them to go stoutly through the whole trial. ‘Indeed (continues Lucian) a number of them frequently died in the _conflict_, thinking it was unworthy of them, so long as they continued to live, to yield to blows and bodily pain, in sight of their friends and relations.’ ‘And to those who die upon those occasions, Statues, as you will see, are erected at Sparta, in the public places.’

Seneca, in his Treatise upon _Providence_, has also mentioned those singular _Flagellations_ which took place at Lacedæmon, as well as the conduct of the Lacedæmonian Fathers on those occasions. ‘Do not you think (says he) that the Lacedæmonians hate their children, who try their tempers by having them lashed publickly? Their very Fathers exhort them firmly to bear the lashes of the whips; and intreat them, when torn to pieces and half dead, still to continue to offer their wounds to other wounds.’

In fine, with so much solemnity were the flagellating ceremonies and trials we mention performed, that a Priestess, as Silenus of Chios relates, constantly presided over them, holding up a small statue of the Goddess in her hand while the young Men were lashed; and, to crown all, Priests were established to inspect the stripes and marks of the blows, and draw omens from them. ‘I am witness (says Lucian) that there are Priests appointed to inspect the lashes and stripes[28].’ To this it maybe added, that these extraordinary ceremonies of the Lacedæmonians, which are here described, were preserved among them, notwithstanding the numerous revolutions which their Republic underwent, to very late times; and Tertullian mentions them as continuing, in his days, to be regularly celebrated every year. ‘For (says that Author) the Festival of _The Flagellations_ is still in these days looked upon as a very great solemnity at Lacedæmon. Every body knows in what Temple all the young Men of the best families are lashed in the presence of their Relations and friends, who exhort them to bear to the last this cruel ceremony[29].’

Even Philosophers among the Greeks, I mean particular sects of them, had adopted the practice of voluntary Flagellation. Lucian relates in one of his Dialogues, that there were Philosophers in his time, ‘who trained young Men to endure labour, pain, and want; and who made the practice of virtue consist in these austerities. A number of them would bind themselves; others whipped themselves; and those who were the most tender, flead their outer skin with instruments of iron made for that purpose.’

However, austerities of this kind were only practised by particular Sects of Philosophers, as hath been above observed; and the generality of them were so far from adopting such practices, that a great many ridiculed them. Of this we have an instance in the Book of the _Life of Apollonius Tyanæus_, written by Philostrates. In this Book, Apollonius is said to have spoken in the following manner to _Thespesion_. ‘Flagellations are practised before the altar of Diana Scythia, because the Oracles have ordered it so; now, I think that it would be folly to resist the will of the Gods. If so (Thespesion answers) you shew, O Apollonius, that the Gods of the Greeks possess but little wisdom, since they prescribe to Men who think they are free, to lash themselves with whips.’

Nor was the practice of those Flagellations to which the persons who underwent them willingly submitted, confined to the Nations of Greece; but the same had also been adopted in other Countries. It obtained among the Thracians, as we find in Artemidorus. ‘The young Men of noble families among the Thracians (says that Author) are on certain occasions cruelly lashed.’

Voluntary Flagellations were also in use among the Egyptians. It even seems that this practice took its origin among them; and they used them as a method of atoning for their sins, and appeasing the incensed Deity. Herodotus has left us an account of the manner in which they commonly performed their flagellations, in the account he has given of the Festival which they celebrated in honour of the great Goddess. ‘After preparing themselves by fasting (he says) they begin to offer Sacrifices, and they mutually beat each other during the time that the offerings are burning on the Altar: this done, the viands which remain after the sacrifice is accomplished, are placed upon tables before those who compose the Assembly.’

The same Herodotus says on another occasion, ‘I have already related in what manner the Festival of Isis is celebrated in the city of Busiris. While the Sacrifice is performing, the whole Assembly, amounting to several thousands of both Men and Women, beat one another.’ To this Herodotus adds, that ‘he is not allowed to mention the reason why those beatings were performed[30].’

Among the Syrians, we likewise find that the use of voluntary Flagellations had been adopted; and their Priests practised them upon themselves with astonishing severity. Apuleius, in his _Metamorphosis_ of the Golden Ass, relates the manner in which these Priests both made incisions in their own flesh, and lashed themselves voluntarily.

‘In fine, they dissect their own arms with two-edged knives, which they use constantly to carry about them. In the mean while, one of them begins to rave and sigh, and seems to draw his breath from his very bowels. He at last feigns to fall into a kind of phrenetic fit, pretending that he is replete with the spirit of the Goddess; as if the presence of the Gods ought not to make Men better, instead of rendering them disordered and weak. But now, behold what kind of favour the Divine Will is going to bestow upon him. He begins to vociferate, and, by purposely contrived lies, to upbraid and accuse himself in the same manner as if he had been guilty of having entertained bad designs against the mysteries of their holy Religion. He then proceeds to award a sentence of punishment against himself; and at the same time grasping his scourge, an instrument which those Priests constantly wear about them, and which is made of twisted woollen cords armed with small bones, he lashes himself with repeated blows; all the while manifesting a wonderful, though affected firmness, notwithstanding the violence and number of the stripes.’ From all that is above related, it is pretty evident that those Syrian Priests used (or seemed to use) themselves, in this cruel manner, only with a view to raise admiration in the minds of weak and superstitious persons by this extraordinary affectation of superior sanctity, and thereby to cheat them out of their money. At least this is the conjecture made by Philippus Beroaldus, in his Commentaries on the _Metamorphosis_ of the Golden Ass, who says, that those Priests were no better than Jugglers, or rather Cheats, who only aimed at catching the money of the Fools who gazed at them[31].

Nay, the opinion of the merit of voluntary or religious Flagellations, was in antient times grown so universal, that we find them to have also been practised among the Romans, who had adopted notions on that subject of the same kind with those of the Syrians and the Egyptians, and thought that the Gods were, upon particular occasions, to be appeased by using scourges and whips. An instance of this notion or practice is to be met with in the Satyricon of Petronius, in which _Encolpus_ relates, that, being upon the sea, the people of the ship flagellated him, in order, as they thought, to prevent a storm. ‘It was resolved (he says) among the Mariners, to give us each forty stripes, in order to appease the tutelar Deity of the ship. No time accordingly is lost; the furious Mariners set upon us with cords in their hands, and endeavour to appease the Deity by the effusion of the meanest blood: as to me, I received three lashes, which I endured with Spartan magnanimity[32].’

But the most curious instance of religious Flagellations, among the Romans, and indeed among all other Nations, is that of the ceremony which the Romans called _Lupercalia_; a ceremony which was performed in honour of the God Pan, and had been contrived in Arcadia, where it was in use so early as the times of King Evander, and whence it was afterwards brought over to Italy. In this Festival, a number of Men used to dance naked, as Virgil informs us: ‘Here (says he) the dancing _Salii_, and naked _Luperci_[33].’ And Servius, in his Commentary upon this verse of Virgil, explains to us who these _Luperci_ were. They were (he says) Men who, upon particular solemnities, used to strip themselves stark naked; in this situation they ran about the streets, carrying straps of leather in their hands, with which they struck the Women they met in their way. Nor did those Women run away from them; on the contrary, they willingly presented the palms of their hands to them, in order to receive their blows; imagining, through a superstitious notion received among the Romans, that these blows, whether applied to their hands or to their belly, had the power of rendering them fruitful, or procuring them an easy delivery.

The same facts are also alluded to, by Juvenal, who says in his second Satire, ‘Nor is it of any service to her, to offer the palms of her hands to a nimble _Lupercus_[34].’ And the antient Scholiast on Juvenal observes on this verse, that barren Women, in Rome, used to throw themselves into the way of the _Luperci_ when become furious, and were beaten by them with straps[35].

Other Authors, besides those above, have mentioned this festival of the Lupercalia. Among others, _Festus_, in his Book on the _Signification of words_, informs us, that the _Luperci_ were also sometimes called _Crepi_, on account of the kind of noise (_crepitus_) which they made with their straps, when they struck the Women with them: ‘For it is a custom among the Romans (continues the same Author) for Men to run about naked during the festival of the Lupercalia, and to strike all the Women they meet, with _straps_.’

Prudentius, I find, has also mentioned the same festival in his Roman Martyr: ‘What is the meaning (says he) of this shameful ceremony? By thus running about the streets under the shape of Luperci, you show that you are persons of low condition. Would you not deem a Man to be the meanest of Slaves, who would run naked about the public streets, and amuse himself with striking the young Women[36]?’

All the Flagellations we have abovementioned were performed in public Solemnities, or with religious views of some kind or other; but there were other instances of voluntary fustigations (as we learn from the ancient Authors) in which those who performed them were actuated by no such laudable motives; or at least, had no precise intention that has been made known to us. Such were the Flagellations mentioned by St. Jerom, in his Observations on the Epitaph of the Widow _Marcella_. In these Observations St. Jerom informs us, that there were Men in Rome silly enough to lay their posteriors bare in the public Markets, or open Streets, and to suffer themselves to be lashed by a pretended Conjuror. ‘It is no wonder (says he) that a false Diviner lashes the buttocks of those blockheads in the middle of the Streets, and in the Market-place[37].’

And these Conjurors not only lashed the persons who desired them to do so, but they, at other times, would also lash themselves, as we learn from Plautus, though an early Writer; for those Flagellations we mention were, it seems, an old practice among the vulgar in Rome. ‘Pray, is it not (says an Actor in one of this Author’s Plays) is it not the Conjuror who lashes himself[38]?’

Another proof of the practice of those both active and passive flagellations which prevailed among the People in Rome, is also to be drawn from the above-mentioned Book of Festus, on the _Signification of words_. Festus, explaining in that Book the signification of the word _Flagratores_, says, that this word signified ‘those who allowed themselves to be whipped for money.’ And M. Dacier, a person of consummate learning in all that relates to Antiquity, says, in his Notes on the above Author, that the word _Flagratores_ signified likewise ‘those who whipped others:’ he adds, that this was the more common acceptation of the word[39].

Besides the flagellations just mentioned, which perhaps were also owing to some superstitious notion or other in those persons who practised them, we find, in antient Authors, instances of lashings and whippings performed in a way perfectly jocular, and as a kind of innocent pastime. None is more remarkable than that which is related by Lucian of the Philosopher Peregrinus. This Peregrinus (Lucian observes) was a Cynic Philosopher of a very impudent disposition. He lived in the time of the Emperor Trajan: after having embraced the Christian Religion, he returned to his former Sect: and then used frequently to lash himself in public in rather an indecent manner. ‘Surrounded by a croud of Spectators, he handled his _pudendum_ (αἰδοῖον) which he exhibited as a thing, he said, of no value. He afterwards both gave himself, and received from the Bystanders, lashes upon his posteriors, and performed a number of other juvenile tricks equally surprizing as these.’

We also find in Suetonius another instance of sportive lashings or slappings among the Ancients; and these, too, practiced upon no less a person than a Roman Emperor. The Emperor here alluded to, was the Emperor Claudius. ‘When he happened (says Suetonius) to fall asleep after his dinner, which was a customary thing with him, they threw stones of olives or of dates at him, in order to awaken him; or sometimes the Court Buffoons would rouse him, by striking him, in a jocular way, with a strap or a scourge[40].’