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LYCINUS She had a scroll in her hands, with both ends of it rolled up, so that she seemed to be reading the one part and to have already read the other.Lucian’s expression amounts to saying that the book was open at the middle. In reading an ancient book, one enerally held the roll in the right Sand and took the end of it in the left, rolling up in that hand the part that one was done with. — As she walked along, she was discussing something or other with one of her escorts; I do not know what it was, for she did not speak so that it could be overheard. But when she smiled, Polystratus, she disclosed such teeth! How can I tell you how white they were, how symmetrical and well matched? If you have ever seen a lovely string of very lustrous, equal pearls, that is the way they stood in row; and they were especially set off by the redness of her lips. They shone, just as Homer says, like sawn ivory.Odyssey 18, 196. Nor could you say that some of them were too broad, others misshapen, and others prominent or wide apart, as they are with most women. On the contrary, all were of equal distinction, of the selfsame whiteness, of uniform size, and similarly close together. In short, it was a great marvel; a spectacle transcending all human beauty!
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POLYSTRATUS Hold still! I perceive now quite clearly who the woman is that you describe; I recognize her by just these points and also by her country. Besides, you said that there were eunuchs in her following.
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LYCINUS Yes, and several soldiers.
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POLYSTRATUS It is the Emperor’s mistress, you simpleton —the woman who is so famous!
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LYCINUS What is her name?
