Book iii

. 1.815, that Minerva was especially venerated as the patroness of handicrafts.]

[Footnote 537: Let the boxers.--Ver. 54. Boxing was one of the earliest athletic games practised by the Greeks. Apollo and Hercules, as well as Pollux, are celebrated by the poets for excelling in this exercise. It formed a portion of the Olympic contests; while boys fought in the Nemean and Isthmian games. Concerning the 'cæstus' used by pugilists, see the Fasti,