oughfare which
functioned
as the agora or marketplace.
A-Companion-to-the-Cantos-of-Ezra-Pound-II
B, 2?
notes].
The rates changed over time and according to the use of the money: "Basil I forbade interest to be asked or taken .
.
.
Leo III .
.
.
made the max
care whether you're white or black? " [Catul? Ius, Carmen, 93 has the words reversedJ. The 3 men in these several lines all stood for justice against the injustice of the state.
267. Tully: Cicero.
268. no such blue: Lake Garda's blue water. The villa to which Catullus was banished was at Sirmio on this lake.
269. Ocelle Veronensis: L, "the eye of Ve? rona. " Description of the blue of the water.
270. Leo: 1. the Sixth, known as "the Wise," Byzantine emperor (866? 912). He modernized the works on the law done UD- der Justinian 1.
271. ElIAPXIKON . . . : H, The Eparch's Book: The great legal document uttered by Leo the Wise, 866? 912, to provide some measure of justice in the marketplace. The Byzantine-Greek version was discovered in 1891 by Professor Jules Nicole ref. 187 above], who transcribed it into modern Greek and made both Latin and French translations, published in 1893 as Le Livre du Pn! fet. [The original ms and the Greek and Latin versions are reproduced in Pai, 2? 2, 245? 311. J The book has 22 short chap? ters each devoted to one part of the market? place, including money, banking, food, clothing, and construction. The rules were designed to prevent one part of the public from victimizing another. This is the earliest
known document to deal with such matters in specific detail. The eparchy was an admin? istrative district reaching 100 miles in all directions from Constantinople. The book opens with a formulary preamble saying the work was done by direction of "the Serene Emepror following the examples of God for the good of all subjects, the tranquiIlity of the state. "
272. "I""l1v6711" H, "tranquil. " The for? mula includes "to stop one man from tread- ing on another. "
273. rrOAtTtK. Wll aW}lCl:. Te[wll: H, "Political Bodies. " Part of the title of the Greek ms.
274. "les arrhes du marche": F, "earnest-
249. J1CXAfX. K (XTfY. p Wl:
H, "softeners. "
257. Komi . . . \WWv): H, "for the quality of animals. " Refers to a chapter concerned with butchers [Ep. B, 15? 2J.
258. X"rpE . . . : H, "Goodbye to the sun. "
259. Clarore: L, "brightness. " The system of defending the public by laws to maintain "the just price" and the integrity of the coinage was beginning to disintegrate.
250. ~vpao1Iowi: H, not in Liddell and Scott; but ~vpao is "leather" and '1To~6t is the plural of 7TOLOC; "of a certain kind. "
251. MCv. "IK(1I? C H, not in Liddell and Scott, but related forms indicate, "a place run for cookery. " The "four" is F for "oven. "
252. No yugo? slav . . . : Not in The Eparch's Book but prob. a contemporary example of rules made to prevent foreigners from be- coming citizens and competing in trade, which the work deals with in detail, especial? ly in chap. 2, "Dealers in Bullion and Money? lenders" and Chap. 20, "Deputy of the Eparch," whose business it was to keep track of "any persons arriving in Constanti- nople. " Any traders who stayed beyond their permitted time were punished: "they shall be flogged, shaved, their goods shall be conflscated and they shall be expelled from the city" [Ep. B, 20? 2J.
253. Ronnie: Prob. Ronald Duncan, a major poet in the Pound Tradition and a life? long farmer in North Devon, who had a lengthy correspondence with Pound during the St. Elizabeths years [OPJ .
260. And in the sixth . . . : Pound's
tion of part of the long quote from the Patr%giae Latina [cf. 165 aboveJ.
official loan . . .
rate 4 per cent 12%," etc.
p. a. . . .
maritime
261. iustitiae . . . : L, "Justice . . .
more ancient. " Part of quote from Cicero's De Officiis [86/565J.
262. "Honest feathers": Dante [pur. I, 42J describes Cato asking a question while "mo- vendo queUe oneste piume" ("moving those dignified plumes"). Pound gives the last two
words thus.
263. "Quid oecidere? ": L, "What about murder? " Cato asked this [86:77J.
264. Pascere satis: L, "Raise [cattleJ well. " In Cicero's De Officiis Cato the elder an? swered the first question about how to run an estate profltably by these words.
265. humiles . . . improbi: L, "AlI humble people are not dishonest" [Cicero, De Offi? ciis, 2. 7IJ.
266. An ater, an albus: L, "Or black, or white. " Catullus said to Julius Caesar: "Do I
rendi?
nothing
96/664-667
607
money for trade," or "option money. " Ni- cole's annoyance seems to have been caused by the difficulty of finding words for Greek goods and processes no longer in existence.
275. ~"a'"Eva, A? wv: H, "King Leo. "
276. notary: Chap. One concerns the qualifi?
cations needed for and the duties of "tabu- laries," whose functions were similar to those of notaries.
277. ni cuivre . . . lin: L, "neither copper nor linen textiles. " From chap. 2, "Bullion and Moneylenders. " They are required by the notary to deal in silver and to keep out of other businessmen's business. The Source reads: "It is forbidden to hoard these com- modities so as to selI them at a period of dearth, or to exact an undue profit above what is fair when they are scarce. "
278. KlXTCX b6110v . . . : H, "cheat through increasing. "
279. "romaine": Prob. the name of a Ro? man scale.
280. ergastorios: H, "premises. "
281. Manuale: Manualis Legis, L, "Book of Law. "
282. Basiliks: A modernization of the Code of Justinian done by Leo the Wise.
283.
284. ence
285. 286.
287. off. "
Handschrift: G, "handwriting. "
eV}l[ex}lex ? . ? : H, "incense in the pres- of the Lord. "
au Mi}v X,,)v<ilV: H, "and not copper. " i;[ Tt~: H, "anyone. "
xerpOK01IEiu8w: H, "let a hand be cut
'0 bOllov '" : [changeJ the nature [of 289. Ell . . . Tr,e; MEa77~: H, "on the main
[businessJ street. " A particular circular thor?
oughfare which functioned as the agora or marketplace.
2~0. ei. 8i}oewc; . . . : H, "the knowing assent of the Eparch. " The source has these words
288.
goldJ by cunning adulterate.
? ? 608
96/667
97/668
609
preceded by "avEv," "without. " Nicole's eyesight seems to have been better than Pound's here. Aveu: F, "consent, avowal. " The Greek v is similar to the Roman v, and the source of this pun.
291. Palace . . . castello: From Nicole's note describing the area of the agora.
292. 80VAOV: H, "slave. "
293. KaTG:A. A&KTTi<' ? . . : H, "The coinmea~
surer [must guard against] counterfeit[s].
294. Habdimelich: [ef. 161 above]. The af? fair concerned the coinage. The Islamic ruler wanted to settle debts with his own coinage.
But the ruler of the Byzantine Empire could not accept it for two reasons: (1) only the emperor had the authority to issue money; and (2) acceptance of the coins implied as? sent that Allah was the one God. All tradi? tion demanded that "Gold was of the Ponti? fex" [89:79; cf. 166 above]. The point is basic to Pound's economics: the state not only can but should issue money. More than that, no other agency should be allowed to do it.
295. Anno . . . : L, "Year six of the rule. " 296. "pacem": L, "peace. "
Exegeses
Eastman, Ezra Pound's Cantos: The Story of the Text, Orono,
Me. , 1979; DD, Sculptor, 239? 240; BK and TCDE, Pai, 9? 3, 505. 507; EH, Pai, 4? 1, 182? 185; Peck, Pai, 1? 1, 27? 28; CB? R, ZBC, 198; FR, P/! , 273; MB, Trace, 365; B de R, in EH, Ap? proaches, 187? 188; HK, Pai, 2? 3, 488; Peck, Pai, 2? 2,212; EH,
CANTO XCVII Sources.
Alexander Del Mar, History ofMonetary Systems, Chicago, 1896 [HMS] ;John Hamill, The Strange Case ofMr. Hoover Under Two Flags, New York, 1931; Dante, Par. XIX, Pur. XXXIII, XXVI, In! . VII; Homer, Od. X; William Carlos Williams, Paterson (au? thor's note); Lucilius and Laws o f XII Tables, in Remains o f Old Latin, ed. and trans. E. H. Warmington (Loeb) [Lucilius]; J. P. Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 95 [Migne, col. no. ] ; Philostratus, The Life o f Apollonius o f Tyana, trans. F. C. Conybeare, 2 vols. ,
Harvard University Press [P ,Life].
Background
EP, SR, 176; SP, 179, 184,307? 309, 311, 319, 325, 339? 341, 429-432, 448; PD, 6; Imp, 39; JIM, 113; CON, 27, 75, 248; Constance Head, Justinian II of Byzantium, Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1972; Theodor Mommsen, History o f Rome, New York, Scribner, 1895; Herbert Finer, Dulles over Suez, Chicago, 1964; John Robinson Beal, John Foster Dulles, Harper Bros. , New York, 1957; Alexander Del Mar, The Science ofMoney, 1885, rpt. 196'7 [Science]; Wyndham Lewis, ed. , Blast I, 1914 (rpt. 1981); James A. Barnes, John G. Carlisle, Financial Statesman, Peter Smith, 1967 [Carlisle]; James G. Frazer, The Golden Bough, ed. Gaster, Criterion, 1959;H. J. Rose, trans. , The Roman Questions o fPlutarch, Oxford, 1924 [Roman Questions].
that her exemplary life of public service would not suggest a concern for money. The source of the quotation is unknown.
S. Spew Deal: The "New Deal" of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
6. one billion . . . : Del Mar speculated on why abd? el? Melik went to 61/2 and finds it was to make money. He concludes the sup- posed train of thought thus: "Judging from the proportions of the metallic spoil thus far captured, we shall secure about twenty times as much (in weight of) silver as gold, and assuming that we eventually secure 100,000,000 marks of silver, and coin it at the Indian ration, our fund will amount to
1,120,000,000 dinars" [HMS, 137].
7. Gothic 8: "The ratio of 8 to 1 is Gothic"
[HMS,137].
8. barleycorn . . . mithcal: The source has: "In the earliest Moslem system (period of Mahomet) the mithcal [or dinar] was di? vided into 96 parts . . . : 96 barleycorns = 48 habbeh = 24 tussuj = 6 danik = 1 mithcal"
[HMS,141].
9. Shafy and Hanbal: A footnote [ibid. ] reads: "Esh Shafy and Ibn Hanbal both af? firm that the ratio was 12 in the time of the Prophet. " This was the ratio adapted from the practice of the Romans.
10. Roman Christers: The Roman emperors and/or people after the conversion to Chris- tianity.
11. devlish ingenuity: Prob. the long, inge? nious argument Del Mar assigned to Abd-el- Melik which led him to the 61/2. 12 ratio
Pai, 8? 1, 53? 54.
1. Melik: Abd? el? Melik [96:92].
2. Edward: Edward III, king of England, 1327? 1377. The source says that in A. D. 692 Abd-el-Melik, "determined to assert his inde- pendence from Rome . . . struck gold coins with his own effigy, holding a drawn sword, as afterwards did Edward III when he reo nounced the same dread authority. Abd? el? Melik's dinars [ancient Moslem gold coin] bore this challenging legend: 'The Servant of God, Abd-el-Melik, Emir-el-Mournenim'" [HMS,134].
3. six and . . . people: The ratio of silver to gold used by Moslems, because after their conquests they owned most of the silver mines and planned [HMS, 134? 140] to spread their empire to India, where the ratio had for centuries been 6 or 7 to 1. The Romans had fixed the ratio at 12 to 1 be? cause it could then get "twice as much gold for silver in India as it paid for it in Europe" [HMS, 136]. The source says that the Mos? lem ratio "may have been due to the fact that in all the western countries conquered by the Moslem, silver was chiefly in the hands of the people, whilst gold was in those of their rulers; and the great alteration which was made in their relative value was a covert bribe to gain the suffrages of the former and reconcile them to Moslem government and religion" [HMS, 135].
4. (princess A. ): "Princess Alice" is a mar- ginal note in DP's annotated copy of The Cantos lOP]. Pass. the 3d child and 2d daughter of Queen Victoria, Alice Maud Mary (1843? 1878), who later became the grand-duchesse of Hesse-Darmstadt, except
Glossary
? ? 610
97/668-669
97/669
611
[HMS, 137-138]. He concludes in part: "As we have driven the Romans from the Medi- terranean, and will soon control the com- merce of Maritime Europe, whither could our gold dinars go outside of the influence of our own trade? Answer-Nowhere"
[HMS, 138].
12. ut supra: L, "as [mentioned] above. " 13. Paulus: [96:10].
14. Theophanus: Theophanes the Confes- sor, ca. 758-818, a monk and scholar of the Eastern church. He is the source of the story that Justinian was highly offended that Abd-el-Melik wanted to pay his tribute in Arab coins, thus leading to the war
[96: 165]. Recent scholars believe the story is legendary [Head,Justinian II, 47-50].
15. & went decimal: Abd-el-Melik created a new system: "the mitheal was divided into 100 parts. . . . Both the Roman binary weights and the Roman ratio of silver to gold were now dropped. the weights became decimal" [HMS, 141-142].
16. the Prophet . . . : The source says: "The dinar was valued at 10 dirhems-a valuation derived from the ordinances of the Prophet, and one which it would have been sacreli- gious to alter. The law of the Prophet levies a title on all possessions of the precious metals" [HMS, 142].
17. "NOUCH KHOR" . . . : A, "Feast in health!
care whether you're white or black? " [Catul? Ius, Carmen, 93 has the words reversedJ. The 3 men in these several lines all stood for justice against the injustice of the state.
267. Tully: Cicero.
268. no such blue: Lake Garda's blue water. The villa to which Catullus was banished was at Sirmio on this lake.
269. Ocelle Veronensis: L, "the eye of Ve? rona. " Description of the blue of the water.
270. Leo: 1. the Sixth, known as "the Wise," Byzantine emperor (866? 912). He modernized the works on the law done UD- der Justinian 1.
271. ElIAPXIKON . . . : H, The Eparch's Book: The great legal document uttered by Leo the Wise, 866? 912, to provide some measure of justice in the marketplace. The Byzantine-Greek version was discovered in 1891 by Professor Jules Nicole ref. 187 above], who transcribed it into modern Greek and made both Latin and French translations, published in 1893 as Le Livre du Pn! fet. [The original ms and the Greek and Latin versions are reproduced in Pai, 2? 2, 245? 311. J The book has 22 short chap? ters each devoted to one part of the market? place, including money, banking, food, clothing, and construction. The rules were designed to prevent one part of the public from victimizing another. This is the earliest
known document to deal with such matters in specific detail. The eparchy was an admin? istrative district reaching 100 miles in all directions from Constantinople. The book opens with a formulary preamble saying the work was done by direction of "the Serene Emepror following the examples of God for the good of all subjects, the tranquiIlity of the state. "
272. "I""l1v6711" H, "tranquil. " The for? mula includes "to stop one man from tread- ing on another. "
273. rrOAtTtK. Wll aW}lCl:. Te[wll: H, "Political Bodies. " Part of the title of the Greek ms.
274. "les arrhes du marche": F, "earnest-
249. J1CXAfX. K (XTfY. p Wl:
H, "softeners. "
257. Komi . . . \WWv): H, "for the quality of animals. " Refers to a chapter concerned with butchers [Ep. B, 15? 2J.
258. X"rpE . . . : H, "Goodbye to the sun. "
259. Clarore: L, "brightness. " The system of defending the public by laws to maintain "the just price" and the integrity of the coinage was beginning to disintegrate.
250. ~vpao1Iowi: H, not in Liddell and Scott; but ~vpao is "leather" and '1To~6t is the plural of 7TOLOC; "of a certain kind. "
251. MCv. "IK(1I? C H, not in Liddell and Scott, but related forms indicate, "a place run for cookery. " The "four" is F for "oven. "
252. No yugo? slav . . . : Not in The Eparch's Book but prob. a contemporary example of rules made to prevent foreigners from be- coming citizens and competing in trade, which the work deals with in detail, especial? ly in chap. 2, "Dealers in Bullion and Money? lenders" and Chap. 20, "Deputy of the Eparch," whose business it was to keep track of "any persons arriving in Constanti- nople. " Any traders who stayed beyond their permitted time were punished: "they shall be flogged, shaved, their goods shall be conflscated and they shall be expelled from the city" [Ep. B, 20? 2J.
253. Ronnie: Prob. Ronald Duncan, a major poet in the Pound Tradition and a life? long farmer in North Devon, who had a lengthy correspondence with Pound during the St. Elizabeths years [OPJ .
260. And in the sixth . . . : Pound's
tion of part of the long quote from the Patr%giae Latina [cf. 165 aboveJ.
official loan . . .
rate 4 per cent 12%," etc.
p. a. . . .
maritime
261. iustitiae . . . : L, "Justice . . .
more ancient. " Part of quote from Cicero's De Officiis [86/565J.
262. "Honest feathers": Dante [pur. I, 42J describes Cato asking a question while "mo- vendo queUe oneste piume" ("moving those dignified plumes"). Pound gives the last two
words thus.
263. "Quid oecidere? ": L, "What about murder? " Cato asked this [86:77J.
264. Pascere satis: L, "Raise [cattleJ well. " In Cicero's De Officiis Cato the elder an? swered the first question about how to run an estate profltably by these words.
265. humiles . . . improbi: L, "AlI humble people are not dishonest" [Cicero, De Offi? ciis, 2. 7IJ.
266. An ater, an albus: L, "Or black, or white. " Catullus said to Julius Caesar: "Do I
rendi?
nothing
96/664-667
607
money for trade," or "option money. " Ni- cole's annoyance seems to have been caused by the difficulty of finding words for Greek goods and processes no longer in existence.
275. ~"a'"Eva, A? wv: H, "King Leo. "
276. notary: Chap. One concerns the qualifi?
cations needed for and the duties of "tabu- laries," whose functions were similar to those of notaries.
277. ni cuivre . . . lin: L, "neither copper nor linen textiles. " From chap. 2, "Bullion and Moneylenders. " They are required by the notary to deal in silver and to keep out of other businessmen's business. The Source reads: "It is forbidden to hoard these com- modities so as to selI them at a period of dearth, or to exact an undue profit above what is fair when they are scarce. "
278. KlXTCX b6110v . . . : H, "cheat through increasing. "
279. "romaine": Prob. the name of a Ro? man scale.
280. ergastorios: H, "premises. "
281. Manuale: Manualis Legis, L, "Book of Law. "
282. Basiliks: A modernization of the Code of Justinian done by Leo the Wise.
283.
284. ence
285. 286.
287. off. "
Handschrift: G, "handwriting. "
eV}l[ex}lex ? . ? : H, "incense in the pres- of the Lord. "
au Mi}v X,,)v<ilV: H, "and not copper. " i;[ Tt~: H, "anyone. "
xerpOK01IEiu8w: H, "let a hand be cut
'0 bOllov '" : [changeJ the nature [of 289. Ell . . . Tr,e; MEa77~: H, "on the main
[businessJ street. " A particular circular thor?
oughfare which functioned as the agora or marketplace.
2~0. ei. 8i}oewc; . . . : H, "the knowing assent of the Eparch. " The source has these words
288.
goldJ by cunning adulterate.
? ? 608
96/667
97/668
609
preceded by "avEv," "without. " Nicole's eyesight seems to have been better than Pound's here. Aveu: F, "consent, avowal. " The Greek v is similar to the Roman v, and the source of this pun.
291. Palace . . . castello: From Nicole's note describing the area of the agora.
292. 80VAOV: H, "slave. "
293. KaTG:A. A&KTTi<' ? . . : H, "The coinmea~
surer [must guard against] counterfeit[s].
294. Habdimelich: [ef. 161 above]. The af? fair concerned the coinage. The Islamic ruler wanted to settle debts with his own coinage.
But the ruler of the Byzantine Empire could not accept it for two reasons: (1) only the emperor had the authority to issue money; and (2) acceptance of the coins implied as? sent that Allah was the one God. All tradi? tion demanded that "Gold was of the Ponti? fex" [89:79; cf. 166 above]. The point is basic to Pound's economics: the state not only can but should issue money. More than that, no other agency should be allowed to do it.
295. Anno . . . : L, "Year six of the rule. " 296. "pacem": L, "peace. "
Exegeses
Eastman, Ezra Pound's Cantos: The Story of the Text, Orono,
Me. , 1979; DD, Sculptor, 239? 240; BK and TCDE, Pai, 9? 3, 505. 507; EH, Pai, 4? 1, 182? 185; Peck, Pai, 1? 1, 27? 28; CB? R, ZBC, 198; FR, P/! , 273; MB, Trace, 365; B de R, in EH, Ap? proaches, 187? 188; HK, Pai, 2? 3, 488; Peck, Pai, 2? 2,212; EH,
CANTO XCVII Sources.
Alexander Del Mar, History ofMonetary Systems, Chicago, 1896 [HMS] ;John Hamill, The Strange Case ofMr. Hoover Under Two Flags, New York, 1931; Dante, Par. XIX, Pur. XXXIII, XXVI, In! . VII; Homer, Od. X; William Carlos Williams, Paterson (au? thor's note); Lucilius and Laws o f XII Tables, in Remains o f Old Latin, ed. and trans. E. H. Warmington (Loeb) [Lucilius]; J. P. Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 95 [Migne, col. no. ] ; Philostratus, The Life o f Apollonius o f Tyana, trans. F. C. Conybeare, 2 vols. ,
Harvard University Press [P ,Life].
Background
EP, SR, 176; SP, 179, 184,307? 309, 311, 319, 325, 339? 341, 429-432, 448; PD, 6; Imp, 39; JIM, 113; CON, 27, 75, 248; Constance Head, Justinian II of Byzantium, Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1972; Theodor Mommsen, History o f Rome, New York, Scribner, 1895; Herbert Finer, Dulles over Suez, Chicago, 1964; John Robinson Beal, John Foster Dulles, Harper Bros. , New York, 1957; Alexander Del Mar, The Science ofMoney, 1885, rpt. 196'7 [Science]; Wyndham Lewis, ed. , Blast I, 1914 (rpt. 1981); James A. Barnes, John G. Carlisle, Financial Statesman, Peter Smith, 1967 [Carlisle]; James G. Frazer, The Golden Bough, ed. Gaster, Criterion, 1959;H. J. Rose, trans. , The Roman Questions o fPlutarch, Oxford, 1924 [Roman Questions].
that her exemplary life of public service would not suggest a concern for money. The source of the quotation is unknown.
S. Spew Deal: The "New Deal" of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
6. one billion . . . : Del Mar speculated on why abd? el? Melik went to 61/2 and finds it was to make money. He concludes the sup- posed train of thought thus: "Judging from the proportions of the metallic spoil thus far captured, we shall secure about twenty times as much (in weight of) silver as gold, and assuming that we eventually secure 100,000,000 marks of silver, and coin it at the Indian ration, our fund will amount to
1,120,000,000 dinars" [HMS, 137].
7. Gothic 8: "The ratio of 8 to 1 is Gothic"
[HMS,137].
8. barleycorn . . . mithcal: The source has: "In the earliest Moslem system (period of Mahomet) the mithcal [or dinar] was di? vided into 96 parts . . . : 96 barleycorns = 48 habbeh = 24 tussuj = 6 danik = 1 mithcal"
[HMS,141].
9. Shafy and Hanbal: A footnote [ibid. ] reads: "Esh Shafy and Ibn Hanbal both af? firm that the ratio was 12 in the time of the Prophet. " This was the ratio adapted from the practice of the Romans.
10. Roman Christers: The Roman emperors and/or people after the conversion to Chris- tianity.
11. devlish ingenuity: Prob. the long, inge? nious argument Del Mar assigned to Abd-el- Melik which led him to the 61/2. 12 ratio
Pai, 8? 1, 53? 54.
1. Melik: Abd? el? Melik [96:92].
2. Edward: Edward III, king of England, 1327? 1377. The source says that in A. D. 692 Abd-el-Melik, "determined to assert his inde- pendence from Rome . . . struck gold coins with his own effigy, holding a drawn sword, as afterwards did Edward III when he reo nounced the same dread authority. Abd? el? Melik's dinars [ancient Moslem gold coin] bore this challenging legend: 'The Servant of God, Abd-el-Melik, Emir-el-Mournenim'" [HMS,134].
3. six and . . . people: The ratio of silver to gold used by Moslems, because after their conquests they owned most of the silver mines and planned [HMS, 134? 140] to spread their empire to India, where the ratio had for centuries been 6 or 7 to 1. The Romans had fixed the ratio at 12 to 1 be? cause it could then get "twice as much gold for silver in India as it paid for it in Europe" [HMS, 136]. The source says that the Mos? lem ratio "may have been due to the fact that in all the western countries conquered by the Moslem, silver was chiefly in the hands of the people, whilst gold was in those of their rulers; and the great alteration which was made in their relative value was a covert bribe to gain the suffrages of the former and reconcile them to Moslem government and religion" [HMS, 135].
4. (princess A. ): "Princess Alice" is a mar- ginal note in DP's annotated copy of The Cantos lOP]. Pass. the 3d child and 2d daughter of Queen Victoria, Alice Maud Mary (1843? 1878), who later became the grand-duchesse of Hesse-Darmstadt, except
Glossary
? ? 610
97/668-669
97/669
611
[HMS, 137-138]. He concludes in part: "As we have driven the Romans from the Medi- terranean, and will soon control the com- merce of Maritime Europe, whither could our gold dinars go outside of the influence of our own trade? Answer-Nowhere"
[HMS, 138].
12. ut supra: L, "as [mentioned] above. " 13. Paulus: [96:10].
14. Theophanus: Theophanes the Confes- sor, ca. 758-818, a monk and scholar of the Eastern church. He is the source of the story that Justinian was highly offended that Abd-el-Melik wanted to pay his tribute in Arab coins, thus leading to the war
[96: 165]. Recent scholars believe the story is legendary [Head,Justinian II, 47-50].
15. & went decimal: Abd-el-Melik created a new system: "the mitheal was divided into 100 parts. . . . Both the Roman binary weights and the Roman ratio of silver to gold were now dropped. the weights became decimal" [HMS, 141-142].
16. the Prophet . . . : The source says: "The dinar was valued at 10 dirhems-a valuation derived from the ordinances of the Prophet, and one which it would have been sacreli- gious to alter. The law of the Prophet levies a title on all possessions of the precious metals" [HMS, 142].
17. "NOUCH KHOR" . . . : A, "Feast in health!
