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Defensive Living Preserving Your Personal Safety
Through Awareness Attitude and Armed Action 2nd
Edition Ed Lovette Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Ed Lovette, Dave Spaulding
ISBN(s): 9781932777093, 1932777091
Edition: 2
File Details: PDF, 15.69 MB
Year: 2005
Language: english
DEFENSIVE
LlVIl ./ingVoor
personal Satet*
II

ED L0V
 Defensive
Living
Preserving Your Personal Safety
Through
Awareness, Attitude and Armed Action

Second Edition

Ed Lovette &
Dave Spaulding

Foreword by

Bruce Siddle

^ftooseleaf
^ ^ B ^ ^ g : P^^B Law P u b l i c a t i o n s , I n c .
^ 43-08 162nd Street
Flushing, N Y 11358
(800) 647-5547
www.LooseleafLaw.com [email protected]
©2005 by Looseleaf Law Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. N o
part of this book m a y be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transcribed, in any form or by any m e a n s , electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the
prior written permission of the Copyright owner. Requests for such
permission should be addressed to Looseleaf Law Publications,
Inc., 43-08 162nd Street, Flushing, N Y 11358

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lovette, Ed, 1944-

Defensive living : preserving your personal safety through
awareness, attitude, and armed action / Ed Lovette & D a v e
Spaulding ; foreword by Bruce Siddle.-- 2nd ed.
p . cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 1-932777-09-1
1. Crime prevention. 2. Self-preservation. 3. Self-protective
behavior. 4. Survival skills. 5. Firearms—Use in crime prevention.
I. Spaulding, Dave, 1955- H. Title.
HV7431.L69 2005
613.6'6-dc22
2004024597

Printed in the United States of America

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Cover design by Sans Serif, Inc. Saline, Michigan

© 2 0 0 5 Looseleaf L a w Publications, Inc.

All right reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
 About the Authors
Mr. Lovette is a retired CIA paramilitary
operations officer. He is a former Captain in the
U.S. A r m y Special Forces and is also a ten-year
law enforcement veteran, in which capacity he
served as a patrol officer, sheriffs deputy and as
the senior firearms and tactics instructor for the
N e w Mexico Law Enforcement Academy.
Since retiring, Mr. Lovette has been involved with a variety of
programs designed to enhance the security of our U . S . Embassies
overseas. H e has also been a presenter to police firearms
instructors at the annual conferences for the American Society for
Law Enforcement Training and for the International Association
of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors. In addition to co-
authoring Defensive Living with Dave Spaulding, he is the author
of Snubby: The ECQ, Backup and Concealed Carry Standard.
Mr. Lovette currently writes the Survival Savvy column for
"Combat H a n d g u n s " magazine.

D a v e Spaulding retired after 28 years as

a lieutenant with the Montgomery County,
Ohio, S h e r i f f s Office in Dayton, Ohio.
During his career he has worked in all facets
of law enforcement to include communica-
tions, corrections, court security, patrol,
evidence, investigations, undercover opera-
tions and S W A T . A frequent instructor at all
of the major police training conferences, he has attended most of
the nationally recognized firearms schools. Additionally, he has
authored more than 600 articles for various police trade journals
and firearms periodicals. H e is a m e m b e r of IALEFI, A S L E T , the
International Association of Counter-Terrorism and Security
Professionals and is the past president of the Ohio Tactical
Officers Association. H e is also the author of the well-received
Handgun Combatives. H e lives outside Dayton, Ohio, with his
wife Diane and their three children.
 In accordance with the policy of the Central Intelligence
Agency, which requires its employees, past and present, to submit
specific types of written material to them prior to publication, the
manuscript for this book was sent to the A g e n c y ' s Publication
Review Board. Their approval of this manuscript for publication
does not constitute their endorsement of any of the procedures or
techniques contained herein.

Additionally, none of the material contained herein should be

considered policy or procedure of the Montgomery County (Ohio)
Sheriffs Office. Unless otherwise credited, the views expressed are
solely those of the authors.

Ed Lovette
Dave Spaulding

Personal security is a working blend of

awareness, attitude and training which
allows us to confidently go about
the daily business of living.
 Dedications

To Barbara, my bride of 30-some years. Great wife, super

mom, world-class grandma. Faithful companion... my best friend
... my heart...
To our three daughters, Melissa, Melinda and Melanie, who
grew up thinking everyone spent their summer vacations in
Paulden, Arizona. You have helped us grow from proud parents
to proud grandparents...
To my father, Lt. Col. L.E. Lovette, attack pilot, USMC.
Veteran of three wars, who taught me how to be survival-minded.
An officer and a gentleman... a professional warrior ... the best
father a boy could have had ... my personal hero...
To the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy and the
peace officers of the great state of New Mexico, who encouraged
me, supported me, and certainly taught me much more than I
taught them...
To the dedicated men and women of the Central Intelligence
Agency and specifically to the Directorate of Operations, who
are, as then-President Reagan said, "...those who serve abroad,
often at great personal risk, as the tripwire in America's defense."
To Jeff Cooper, another Marine who has had a tremendous
influence on me and who is still the clearest voice in the business
today...
To my peers, Massad Ayoob, John Farnam, Evan Marshall
and Clint Smith. This is small thanks for always finding time in
your busy schedules to share your knowledge and experience
with me. You're all a constant reminder that I still have a lot to
learn...
To Harry Kane, my editor at Combat Handguns and a good
personal friend. You kept after me to write until I finally ran out
of excuses. Thanks...
And finally, to my good buddy, Lt. Dave Spaulding. A lot of
our friends told us that co-authoring a book would be a real test
of our friendship. Looking at the finished product, I know my
initial decision to seek your help on this project was a sound one.
Thanks, partner...
Ed Lovette
 To my wife Diane, who stayed at home and raised three
wonderful children while I was off trying to find the "answers"
to personal survival.
To Amber, Misty and Thomas, the three best children that
any father could possibly ask the Lord for.
To Mom and Dad - 1 hope you are proud.
To my bosses at the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office
in Dayton, Ohio. Sheriff Gary Haines, Major Ron Casey,
Major Roland Cox (retired) and Major Sam Mains (retired)
who allowed me to seek training and knowledge and supported
me every step of the way.
To my former SWAT partner, Lt. Dan Pierron (retired).
We went through more than a few doors together. Sgt. Jack
Yahle and Sgt. Pete Snyder for teaching side-by-side with me
through the years.
To Dennis Anderson, Tom Aveni, Massad Ayoob, Mike
Beckley, John Benner, Mike Boyle, Bert DuVernay, Sam
Faulkner, John Farnam, Bill Groce, Dave Grossi, Ken
Hackathorn, Dave Harris, Chuck Humes, Mark Kunnath, Tom
Long, Evan Marshall, Dennis Martin, Tom Marx, John Meyer,
Vince O'Neill, Scott Ralston, Chuck Remsberg, Larry Scott,
John Shaw, Chris Shepperd, Clint Smith, Karl Sokol, Marcus
Wynne, John Zamrock and Gene Zink. A cadre of instructors
who have deeply impacted my life as well as saving the lives of
many, many others.
To Lou Alessi, Dan Donahue, Kim Fiedler, Don Hume,
Tony Kanaly, Greg Kramer and Mitch Rosen for making the
holsters that save lives.
And finally, to my partner Ed Lovette. Our long distance
conversations mean more to me than you will ever know.

Dave Spaulding
Table of Contents

Foreword iii

Introduction vii

Chapter 1
Is Y o u r Mind Putting Y o u r Body at Risk? 1

Chapter 2
Increasing Y o u r Awareness 7

Chapter 3
C o o p e r ' s Color Code 13

Chapter 4
Danger Signs 19

Chapter 5
The Use of Force Continuum 23

Chapter 6
Survival Stress and the Conditioned Response 29

Chapter 7
Willingness 35

Chapter 8
Legalities 41

Chapter 9
Medical Self-help 45

i
 Table of Contents

Chapter 10
You and Y o u r Vehicle 51

Chapter 11
Behind the W h e e l 57

Chapter 12
Living With Terrorism 63

Chapter 13
What Can I Do? 69

Chapter 14
The Personal Defense Handgun 75

Chapter 15
Confrontation Tactics 95

Chapter 16

H o m e Defense 101

Final Thoughts 105

Index 107

ii
Foreword
by Bruce Siddle

Those of us w h o study combat performance as a science,

recognize that threat recognition and fear management are funda-
mental principles leading to survival. Both topics always precede
any serious training on close quarter combat, firearms training or
evasive driving. Yet, the literature on both topics is rare, and what
has been written is often esoteric and of little practical value.
This is w h y I found Ed Lovette and Dave Spaulding's book so
refreshing. As a student of the effects of the sympathetic nervous
system on combat performance, I study the relationship between
survival stress and deteriorating performance, w h e n one is con-
fronted with an "unexpected and spontaneous" deadly force threat.
This relationship centers around three c o m m o n variables in
combat; threat recognition, the available time to process the threat,
and the time to initiate a survival response. But, the key to survival
is "increasing the available t i m e " to select an appropriate response.
Here is why:
M a n ' s survival as a species is connected to the Autonomic
Nervous System (ANS). This system controls all of the voluntary
and involuntary functions of the body, and is divided into
parasympathetic and sympathetic systems. The parasympathetic
nervous system (PNS) is dominant in non-stress environments
where an individual perceives he or she is safe. The P N S controls
a number of critical survival functions, such as visual acuity,
cognitive processing and fine or complex motor skill execution.
However, anytime the brain perceives an imminent deadly force
threat, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is activated,
resulting in an immediate discharge of stress hormones.
The SNS is recognized as the "fight or flight" system. The
release of stress hormones by the S N S increases arterial pressure
and blood flow to large muscle mass (resulting in enhanced gross
motor skill and strength capabilities), vasoconstriction of minor
blood vessels at the end of appendages, pupil dilation and
cessation of the digestive process.

iii
 Foreword

The combination of these physiological changes helped early

m a n run d o w n his next meal, or avoid becoming a meal for another
predator. However, today, survival evolves around fundamental
skills such as close quarter combatives, firearms and evasive
driving. These skills are based on hand/eye coordination, high
levels of acuity or accuracy, and a higher level of cognitive
processing. For these skills to w o r k optimally, the P N S must be
dominant. Unfortunately, activation of the S N S automatically and
uncontrollably inhibits the P N S .
The implication of SNS dominance is sequentially catastrophic
to three systems; vision, cognitive processing and fine or complex
motor skill performance. The first phase of SNS activation, then,
will cause the loss of near vision, disrupt depth perception and
collapse the peripheral field by 7 0 % . N o w consider that vision is
the mother of all senses, and is the primary sensory source on
which the brain relies in combat. However, if the visual system is
feeding impaired information back to the brain during combat,
threat recognition and processing skills will be flawed.
The second phase of survival is cognitive threat processing.
This phase starts by identifying a threat from the perceptual senses.
Once the threat is identified, the brain searches for the appropriate
response, which is then prepared (formatted) in the form of a
neural motor program.
Cognitive processing is extremely efficient and lightening fast
in non-stress situations ( P N S dominance). It is a process, which is
normally managed by the cerebral cortex and higher brain
functions. But S N S activation inhibits higher brain functions
centered in the cerebral cortex, resulting in a deterioration of threat
recognition, response selection and ability to communicate
complex thoughts. The result is a dramatic increase in survival
reaction time.
The final phase of survival is the execution of a motor skill.
Typically, survival skills can be segmented into three categories;
gross, fine and complex. Almost one hundred years of research has
demonstrated that under SNS excitement, only gross motor skills
are performed optimally. Fine motor skills such as precision
iv
Foreword

shooting, and complex motor skills like evasive driving, all

deteriorate when the SNS is activated.
The S N S research finally helps us understand that success in
combat is linked to controlling the S N S . But the key to controlling
the SNS lies in understanding that it is primarily activated under
two conditions; when w e perceive an imminent deadly force threat,
and when the time to respond to the threat is minimal. Therefore,
a man walking toward us with a knife from a distance of 500 yards
will probably not activate the S N S . But being surprised by the
same threat from a distance of 10 feet, will almost certainly
activate the S N S .
The key to survival is 'increasing the available time' to control
the SNS and select an appropriate response.
The gift of this text is the shared research of Dave and Ed. Lt.
Dave Spaulding is a police officer w h o has spent a career studying
victims of crimes and learning h o w to profile what victims did to
decrease their survival. Ed Lovette is a retired CIA operations
officer w h o spent the latter part of his career researching,
developing and teaching street survival skills for CIA personnel
going to high-threat environments. By combining their knowledge,
they have identified the process which will give you the skills to
see things develop at a distance, increase your time to avoid or
evade the threat, and control the S N S .
A s a student of survival stress physiology, I have been
painfully aware of the lack of literature that focuses on the survival
mindset. But when I received the draft of this text, m y first
response w a s "finally." For example, Chapter T w o examines the
basics of scanning for situational awareness. Chapter Three
explores the relationship between having a prepared plan and how
it will increase your reaction time. Chapter Four targets the process
of identifying danger cues, and Chapter Five focuses on the
survival mindset. Alone, these four chapters provide us with the
insights to control the S N S . But w h e n combined with the final
chapters which explore the physical side of survival, this text
becomes a stand alone reference to survival.

v
 Foreword

vi
Introduction

P E R S O N A L S E C U R I T Y IS A W O R K I N G B L E N D O F
AWARENESS, ATTITUDE AND TRAINING WHICH
ALLOWS US TO CONFIDENTLY GO ABOUT THE DAILY
B U S I N E S S O F LIFE A N D LIVING.

I was discussing this book the other day with several buddies
of mine who had done m e the favor of going over a rough draft of
it. I explained to them that w e wanted to lend a helping hand to the
growing number of legally armed private citizens w h o will be
mostly self-educated on personal security matters. The "just plain
folks" whose stories you read in the "This H a p p e n e d to M e "
columns in the gun magazines. The courageous citizens whose
stories w e see all too frequently in our local newspapers and on the
nightly news. Most, if not all, of what these individuals learn about
protecting themselves and their families, they will learn on their
own. They will gain this knowledge from family m e m b e r s , friends,
programs put on by their local police and s h e r i f f s departments,
their local gun clubs and from life experience. W e wanted to
provide this group with some good basic information, especially
intended for those w h o were thinking about their own personal
security for the first time, and to also pass on some commercially
available sources of relevant information that D a v e and I had
found both beneficial and practical. O n e of m y friends looked
thoughtful for a while. W h e n he spoke, he s u m m e d up what, in the
final analysis, Dave and I would like this book to be. It is the book
you would w a n t a family member, or anyone close to you w h o m
you care about, to read if you were concerned about their safety.
Because that's w h o w e ' r e writing this for.
Dave and I also agreed that w e wanted to keep the emphasis of
the book on the individual. As you can see from our definition, w e
believe that awareness and attitude are the keys to personal
security. Training and equipment are useless if y o u ' r e not
"switched o n " and willing to do what you have to do. As an
example, I have a friend w h o teaches a modular package he

vii
 Introduction

developed for people working in areas with a high terrorist threat.

O n e module deals with situational awareness and attack
recognition. The other involves hands-on driver training in evasive
maneuvers. This m a n is the single most knowledgeable individual
on terrorist methods of operation and how to avoid them that I
know. He has been teaching this program for about a decade with
excellent results. H e always tells his clients, if they can only afford
the time and money to attend one module, they should select the
one on situational awareness. Overtime, those students of his w h o
only had this four-hour block of instruction, have performed better
during critical incidents than those who opted solely for the driving
instruction.

M o r e definitions:

S I T U A T I O N A L A W A R E N E S S IS D E F I N E D A S A S T A T E
OF GENERAL ALERTNESS W H I C H ALLOWS Y O U TO
TAKE THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE A W A Y FROM THE
THREAT.

T H E " S U R V I V O R ' S A T T I T U D E " IS T H E W I L L I N G N E S S

T O D O W H A T Y O U H A V E T O D O ; R E F U S I N G IN A D V A N C E
T O B E C O M E A V I C T I M ; N E V E R , E V E R , GPVTNG U P .

THREAT M A N A G E M E N T TRAINING FOCUSES ON

T H O S E SKILLS W H I C H GIVE A L O N E I N D I V I D U A L T H E
HIGHEST CHANCE OF SUCCESS TO AVOID, EVADE OR
COUNTER A N D SAFELY ESCAPE F R O M A CRIMINAL
A S S A U L T O N T H E S T R E E T , IN T H E V E H I C L E A N D IN T H E
HOME.

During one of the infrequent times Dave and I actually got to

sit down together and discuss the writing of this book, Barbara, m y
bride of thirty-some years, joined us as w e kicked around the title.
Finally she said, " W h y d o n ' t you guys call it something like
'Living Defensively?' " This with the air of finality of a grand-
viii
Introduction

mother w h o was almost forced to shoot a rock-wielding rioter

once-upon-a-time. Her only thought as he approached the car was
should she roll the w i n d o w d o w n or just shoot through the glass.
I suspect what saved his life at the last m o m e n t w a s the sudden
realization that he was on the receiving end of "The Look," that
awesome weapon of mass destruction unique to the female of the
species. Dave and I agreed rapidly and in unison that hers w a s a
most excellent suggestion.
To put it simply, then, w e are going to share with you here a
street-proven methodology designed to respond to those situations
in which your attacker(s) has "the ability and the opportunity to
place you and/or yours in jeopardy." W e are going to look at how
you can take advantage of your strongest personal security
weapons, Awareness, Attitude and Training in order to Detect-
Assess-Avoid-Evade-Counter and Safely Escape from those w h o
would do you harm.
Since Defensive Living was first published w e have suffered
the unthinkable, a major terrorist attack on U . S . soil. A s a result of
that attack w e have declared war on the terrorists. A s I write this
in October of 2004 there is a terrorist threat advisory warning of
the possibility of yet another attack in America prior to the
N o v e m b e r presidential elections. The intelligence suggests that
something might happen but what might happen, where it will
happen, w h e n it will happen and who the bad guys are, are all
questions with no answers.
This is where you c o m e in. In the chapter entitled " W h a t Can
I D o ? " I'll explain in detail w h y "Uncle Sam N e e d s Y o u . " The
short version is that terrorist activities are very tough to conduct in
a country where the citizens pay attention to what is going on
around them and quickly report suspicious activities to the local
authorities.
And finally, it will be quickly apparent to the reader that while
D a v e ' s and m y n a m e appear on the cover of this book, a lot of
other people actually wrote it. Thank you is inadequate. Sometimes
the only w a y you can repay a debt of gratitude is by passing on that
which was given to you. W e are hopeful that our many "coauthors"
ix
 Introduction

will therefore appreciate the true measure of our respect for all that
they have given to us.

x
 1

Chapter 1

Is Your Mind Putting Your Body at Risk?

W h e n Dave and I outlined the chapters for this book, I

suggested that w e needed to open with a security survey. That way
the reader could either start to develop or reinforce his or her own
security plan from the outset. Dave let m e get to about reason
number eight as to why I thought w e should do things this way. At
which point he asked m e if I really wanted to do a full-blown
security survey or something more along the lines of a personal
risk assessment. That stopped m e . The more I thought about it the
more I realized he was exactly right. It's easy to see w h y his
department made him a lieutenant and I never got past patrolman.
A risk assessment is your personal threat assessment
superimposed over your personal lifestyle survey. Threat
assessment is exactly what it says. D o you have a specific problem,
such as a stalker, or are you concerned about the welfare of your
family? W e can certainly all make the case that w e are generally
at risk from random violence. Just pick up your local newspaper
or watch the nightly news. The lifestyle survey is h o w and where
you and your family live, work, play and travel.
What w e really want you to do is to take a look at yourself with
the intention of raising your security consciousness, heightening
your personal awareness. While deadbolts, good lighting and
where you park your car are considerations, the only part of the
process you always have control over is you. You can spend a lot
of your earnings on making your h o m e a fortress, but what do you
do if you're a college student living in a dorm. Or your j o b requires
frequent travel and you spend a lot of time in motels. M a y b e your
j o b requires you to work late at night or you must drive through a
rough section of town to get there. Perhaps your sister thinks that
she is being stalked by her ex-boyfriend and she wants you to
spend a few days with her.
W h e n you start to assess your personal security risk, it is
helpful to begin with what you k n o w about yourself. D o you
2 Is Your Mind Putting Your Body at Risk?

unknowingly do things which draw attention to yourself or that

m a k e you vulnerable? D o you give off signals that m a k e the
predators salivate? D o you provide the opportunity for a crime of
opportunity? D o n ' t be surprised if your answer to all the above is,
"I d o n ' t k n o w . "
I frequently encountered this response during the time I w a s an
instructor for m y agency's personal security training programs
which our officers attended in preparation for their overseas
assignments. In the classroom everyone would nod " y e s " w h e n
asked if they understood what w e were talking about. They filled
in the blanks correctly on the test. But there were always several
students in each class w h o couldn't pass the simplest of the street
awareness practical exercises. They would c o m e away from the
training frustrated and I would c o m e away confused. Quite by
accident I got the first glimpse into what might be contributing to
their/my dilemma while reading a book published b y the Institute
for the Study of Diplomacy entitled, Overseas Security: Our
People are the Key. A study in the book notes that certain
personality types are what the Meyers-Briggs psychological test
describes as "conceptualizers." "Conceptualizers by nature have
trouble noticing such details as whether they're under surveillance
or whether there's something unusual about their houses w h e n
they go h o m e at night." Bingo!
After a little trial-and-error w e found a w a y to help those
students achieve better results in class. Obviously, what w e wanted
for them was a positive learning experience which would facilitate
their long-term retention of the necessary skills. At the beginning
of the awareness sessions w e would discuss the fact that some
people have trouble concentrating on details and then w e ' d ask the
class a few simple questions. "Does your spouse constantly remind
you that you never notice anything?" "Have you ever arrived at
work only to suddenly realize that you d o n ' t r e m e m b e r large parts
of the d r i v e ? " " D o you not r e m e m b e r because you were
daydreaming or maybe mentally drawing u p the blueprint for the
n e w addition for your h o m e ? " This helped the student identify a
specific problem area he or she would have to work on a little
harder to overcome. As Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch,
tells his classes, "This d o n ' t m a k e it bad. It j u s t m a k e s it real."
Chapter 1 3
( W e ' d early on decided against asking for a show of hands since
it would have included too many of the instructors!)
At about the same time w e discovered this w e started s o m e
group exercises designed to address a separate issue. Quite by
accident w e found out that our "conceptualizers" caught on much
quicker w h e n they saw through the eyes of others. So w e all
learned that some people have natural inhibitors which w o r k
against their awareness of what is going on around them. But
unless someone talks to them about this possibility and h o w to
deal with it they will continue to nod " y e s " w h e n appropriate, fill
in the right blanks and flunk Street Awareness 101. To simply tell
these folks to be aware of their immediate environment is not good
enough. You must also show them how.

Several of the ladies in the office decided to have a

dinner party featuring popular local dishes. The recipes
for this meal required a visit to a market in a less than
desirable section of town so one Saturday morning,
counting on strength in numbers, three of them made the
trip. During their stroll through the market they often had
to walk in single file due to the crowds. Spices in hand,
they returned to the home of one of the secretaries at
which time she discovered that her money was gone.
Someone had sliced through the left front pocket of her
jeans and extracted her cash.

When I talked with her about the incident, she could r e m e m b e r

nothing unusual during their time at the market except that at one
point they had walked through a cloud of some sort of dust. A s she
described this to m e she raised both hands and animatedly fanned
an imaginary dust cloud away from her face. (This w a s a c o m m o n
tactic employed by pickpockets in South America. The dust,
shaving cream or water w a s used to distract both the attention and
the hands of their intended target). H o w c o m e they picked this
particular w o m a n of the three? H o w long had they watched these
w o m e n to learn where they carried their money? (None of them
were carrying purses). A s w e continued talking, she told m e that
something like this had happened to her on every one of her
4 Is Your Mind Putting Your Body at Risk?

overseas assignments. It also became painfully apparent during our

conversation that she was oblivious to what went on around her.
So these ladies knew they were going into a seedy part of town
and elected to go as a group. They went during the day and left
their purses at home. While they'd all had previous overseas
assignments in high crime cities, none of them saw anyone w h o
might have been interested in the three. But in that sea of humanity
s w a m a predator w h o , like the great white shark, located his prey,
identified the weakest m e m b e r of the group, and in broad daylight
separated her from her money, undetected.
As an inveterate people-watcher I am constantly amused and
amazed. The other day I w a s sitting in a hotel lobby waiting for
some friends I was supposed to meet. From where I sat I could
watch the parking lot in front of the hotel. Pretty soon an attractive
middle-aged w o m a n pulled up. As she opened the car door to get
out, I noticed that she tossed something onto the pavement. She
fussed around in the car with the door open for some time before
stepping out of the car. There was still snow on the ground so you
can imagine m y surprise on seeing that this well-dressed lady w a s
bare footed. W h a t I'd seen her throw out of the car were her shoes.
She took her o w n sweet time getting them on. You tell m e . H o w
vulnerable w a s she and for how long? H o w m a n y times had she
done this in the very same spot? A m a z i n g h o w the simplest of
habits can set us up. H o w well can you run or fight bare footed?
So because w e ' r e human and because of the way our minds
work, w e can unknowingly, unthinkingly raise our risk profile. T o
counter this w e must not lose sight of the fact that most street
crimes are crimes of opportunity. Y o u can provide this opportunity
by appearing to be an easy target. The way you walk; if you appear
distracted, uncertain, aimless, confused; your age, sex and physical
condition. One study claims that it takes a predator about seven
seconds to assess you as prey. And the actual attack will happen
very quickly and in some cases will be unspeakably brutal.
Which brings us to our next point. Gratuitous violence that
catches us unawares can be stunning. T h a t ' s w h y some people
freeze during an attack. Fight or flight never b e c o m e
considerations. The majority of m y students in recent years have
never even been in a schoolyard fistfight. However, since
Chapter 1 5

childhood they m a y have witnessed thousands of violent acts

delivered to them with the sterile packaging of supermarket
chicken courtesy of television and movies. It is not real. It does not
touch them. Through no fault of their own, violence is at best an
intellectual concept. It is something that only happens to others.
This presents an enormous challenge to them during personal
security training because they often have no frame of reference for
what the instructor is saying. They hear the explanations for why
they should or should not do something. They are able to perform
the indicated exercise to the appropriate level during the training.
But they m a y not take very much of what they learn with them
when they complete the training if the instructor h a s n ' t done his
homework.
Contrast this with their potential attacker. Unlike them, he is
no stranger to physical violence. H e has no conscience and no
remorse, hence no hesitation. H e does not fear the police or the
courts. H e is probably younger and physically stronger than you.
Chances are good that he is under the influence of alcohol and/or
narcotics. He already has a plan. Are you mentally prepared to face
this individual and use whatever level of force, u p to and including
lethal force, which may be required to stop him?

The driver sat paralyzed behind the wheel of her new

car and watched as the gunman, armed with an AK-47,
walked toward her. He stopped at the driver's window and
stared at her for a moment, then turned and shot the male
driver of the car in the lane next to her. As the gunman
stood with his back to her firing into the car she could
have reached out and touched him. All this time her mind,
refusing to accept what she was seeing, kept repeating
over and over, "I hope he doesn t scratch the finish on my
new car."
The gunman continued walking between the lines of
cars shooting only males, sparing the women. A high-
ranking political official drove by the scene and remarked
to his driver that it looked like someone was making a
movie. Also in the double lane of traffic stopped at the
light was an intelligence officer who had recently returned
6 Is Your Mind Putting Your Body at Risk?

to the U.S. from a lengthy overseas tour. During this

assignment he had been actively targeted by a terrorist
organization which claimed responsibility for the deaths of
three Americans. He had the heater turned up against the
deep winter cold of late January and was listening to his
favorite radio station. An eruption of glass fragments
caught his eye as the AK rounds chewed through the
windshield of a vehicle several car lengths ahead of his.
From his position he could neither see the gunman nor
hear the gunfire but habits fireformed into his psyche by
four years of living under the gun took over. Quickly he
turned the radio off and was starting to roll the window
down when he heard the AK. Without hesitation he
cranked the steering wheel hard to the left, mashed the
accelerator and fishtailed across the frozen median in a
giant U-turn. The tires picked up traction as they grabbed
the pavement and he sped away from the scene.
A fourth individual, who had recently completed his
certification as a volunteer paramedic, also saw the flying
glass and instantly thought, "Christ, there's been an
accident!" By the time he'd grabbed his trauma kit and
run up to the lead vehicle the gunman had jumped into a
waiting car and fled.

Same incident. Four different people. Four totally different

reactions. Each saw approximately the same scene and processed
what they were seeing and hearing based on their level of
involvement, training, background and life experiences.
W e ' l l conclude this chapter the same way w e started. Only by
now, hopefully, you have a better understanding of the point w e ' r e
trying to m a k e w h e n w e say that personal security starts with you
and what you know about yourself. Is your mind putting your b o d y
at risk?
Chapter 2

Increasing Your Awareness

The woman was not sure whether to be concerned or

to admit to herself that she was over-reacting because of
the class. The wife of a senior U.S. military officer
stationed in Europe, a few days earlier she and her
husband had attended a briefing on the growing terrorist
threat in their area which reviewed several recent
incidents and some precautions they should take. The
young man had been standing on the street corner across
from the house for about an hour as if he were waiting for
someone. From time to time he would walk up and down
the street. "Probably trying to stay warm, " she thought to
herself. The evening chill set in quickly as the sun dropped
below the mountains behind her house.
She busied herself with supper checking the window
from time to time to see if he was still there. Just as she
was about to turn back to putting the finishing touches on
the salad a car pulled up alongside the young man.
Without getting out of the car the driver of the vehicle
handed the man a jacket and drove away. She noted the
license number and, telling herself not to panic, shakily
dialed her husband's work number. No answer. Carphone.
No answer. She had just pushed the "redial" button when
she heard the sound of the iron gate as it slid open. He
always drove himself home, refusing the driver his rank
entitled him to. He'd get out of the car, open the gate,
drive the car into the big driveway in front of the house,
then get out of the car again to close the gate. She grabbed
his arm, told him to forget the car and hurried him into the
house with her. She told him what she'd seen and he
immediately called base security. The arrest of the young
man and the license number she'd hastily copied provided
8 Increasing Your Awareness

officials with the necessary information to begin an

investigation that ultimately disrupted a terrorist operation
which planned to kidnap the senior officer.

As w e said in the first chapter, simply telling someone to be

alert, be aware is not sufficient. ("Be alert. W h y ? Because the
country is looking for a few good lerts.") Excuse me? So let's take
a look at some things w e can do to heighten our awareness. Mental
awareness is the end result, the third step, of a three-step process.
Failure to do steps one and two explains w h y a lot of folks never
get very good at step three. The first step is mental preparation,
perhaps best described as some bridges you need to cross. These
are the stretching exercises for step two. The second step, mental
conditioning, is an ongoing process which helps you get into shape
and stay in shape from the neck up.
First, mental preparation. This is part of your commitment to
personal security. A self-test which requires you to deal with s o m e
critical issues before the battle, not during it. It helps you put these
issues in perspective even if your honest answer is, " I ' m not sure,
but I think s o . " Consider then:

1) Doing a reality check. Getting your head out of the sand. This
is an acceptance of the fact that w e live in an increasingly
violent world and that one day w e might be confronted by this
violence. T h a t ' s the bad news. The good news is w e can do
something about it.
2) Doing an attitude check. The defeatist attitude is a self-
fulfilling prophecy. It is most often identified by the phrase, "If
they want m e , they're gonna' get m e . " If you honestly believe
that, close this book and pass it on to someone else. W e c a n ' t
help you. More to the point, you can't help yourself.
3) Making an agreement with yourself that w h e n (not if) your day
comes, you will not give U P . Even if you have to give IN.
4) Asking yourself if y o u ' r e ready for the responsibility that
comes with having a firearm for self-defense.
Chapter 2 9

He was an agent for the U.S. Drug Enforcement

Administration who had been temporarily assigned to one
of his agency's offices abroad. He was doing some last
minute shopping before catching a flight home the next
day. He had hailed a cab, got in and sat down on the back
seat and closed the door when the driver of the cab turned
around and stuck a gun in his face and demanded money.
The agent was wearing a pair of handmade elephant hide
boots which he had just picked up. He had his Glock 19
stuffed in one boot and a large sum of cash stashed in the
other. He reached for neither. He had learned a long time
ago to carry a little money, mostly small bills, separate
from the bulk of his cash. Reaching into his shirt pocket, he
handed the driver this "chump change, " telling him in the
local language that was all he had. As he was talking, the
agent opened the cab door. He stepped out and walked
away. His agency commended his level-headed response
to this incident.

Mental conditioning, as the term implies, helps you develop

your awareness skills and then keep them sharp. In m y studies of
the subject I have found two people w h o take a very c o m m o n
sense user-friendly approach to helping you both understand what
mental conditioning is and h o w best to practice it. The first is Jeff
Cooper, the father of modern pistolcraft. T h e r e ' s no sense in m e
trying to explain what Jeff Cooper has already said best. I
especially like the simplicity of his two part approach. One part is
called the " W h a t if?" exercise. The other is " X ' s and O ' s , " a
practical exercise. W e ' l l c o m e back to him in a minute.
M o r e recently, in preparation for this book in fact, I read an
excellent presentation on the subject in an article Marcus W y n n e
did for Combat Handguns, entitled, "Living in Condition Yellow."
Marcus is a private consultant w h o has done an enormous amount
of research into how to improve your performance under stress.
His thoughts on mental conditioning dovetail nicely with
Cooper's. I especially like them because they include the other
senses in addition to vision and his "five minutes a day" approach
10 Increasing Your Awareness

should prove comfortable to anyone w h o is seeing this for the first

time. It is also a good w a r m u p for the " X ' s and O ' s . "
Cooper: " W h a t i f ? " poses a tactical problem you must resolve.
Unfortunately, your local newspapers and the nightly T V news are
usually chock full of all sorts of horrible things that have happened
during the day. Just ask yourself h o w you would have handled
these situations. Could they have been avoided? If not, w h a t
options could you have used to evade or counter and safely extract
yourself from the incident. Movies are another good source of
situations. While they tend to stretch your imagination somewhat,
you can count on the hero to do everything wrong, at least from a
real-world perspective. A n d you will see s o m e truly awful
technique and absolutely frightful gun handling, guaranteed.
Wynne: " W e need to get out of our own w a y and relearn trust
in that intuitive processing. W e need to pay attention to it . . . W e
can consciously train this ability, five minutes at a time, by asking
ourselves, ' W h a t am I seeing around m e right n o w ? ' and
enumerating the trees, people, cars that are in our visual field.
' W h a t am I hearing right n o w ? ' and carefully listening to the birds,
the voices of the people walking by, the planes passing overhead,
the sound of car doors slamming. B y asking, ' W h a t am I feeling
right n o w ? ' and noticing the twinges in our stomach, the tightness
in our shoulders, the tension in our foreheads. By asking, ' W h a t do
I k n o w right n o w ? ' and paying attention to the messages w e get
from the sixth sense of intuition. W e can learn to do this, before
w e need to use it, by practicing situational awareness in five
minute blocks throughout the day."
Cooper: The " X ' s and O ' s " is a street awareness test. In
C o o p e r ' s Principles of Personal Defense he describes it as
follows: " M a k e it a game. Keep a chart. Every time anyone is able
to approach you from behind without your knowledge, m a r k d o w n
an X. Every time you see anyone you k n o w before he sees you,
mark d o w n an O. Keep the O ' s in front of the X ' s . A m o n t h with
no X ' s establishes the formation of correct habits."
Mental preparation + Mental conditioning = Mental awareness.
In the introduction we defined mental (situational) awareness as a
state of general alertness which allows you to take the element of
Chapter 2 11

surprise away from the threat. Many of you will recognize this as
Cooper's definition of Condition Yellow. (We'll discuss the Color
Code in the next chapter). Awareness has also been described as
being totally conscious of your immediate environment.
While w e ' r e on definitions, for reasons which w e ' l l go into in
the next few lines, w e consider your immediate environment to be
217360°. This is your ideal personal safety zone, whether you are
on foot, in a car, or seated in a public place. Obviously, as soon as
you get into an elevator or ride the subway this area shrinks.
Pedestrian traffic in a big city m a y also m a k e these limits seem
overly ambitious. But as w e get into W H A T to look for you'll see
examples of h o w to pick people out of a crowd whose actions are
out of place. They d o n ' t fit into the picture. Their m o v e m e n t
patterns disrupt the rhythm of the street.
There are two reasons for the 2 1 ' safety zone. O n e is reaction
time, which w e ' l l discuss in detail in a subsequent chapter. The
other is what m a y be called "critical distance." For n o w consider,
as an example which nearly everyone has heard of, the "21 foot"
rule in dealing with edged weapons. This is the lasting contribution
to armed encounters provided by Lt. Dennis Tueller of the Salt
Lake City Police Department. It is based on the action vs. reaction
principle. A n individual w h o threatens you with an edged w e a p o n
can cover 21 feet in 1.5 seconds or less. Just about the time it takes
you to draw and fire one hastily aimed shot. Here w e must also
take into account that it is not easy to stop a determined assailant
instantly with accurate handgun fire, even with multiple hits; and
that a person shot squarely through the heart can continue to fight
for ten to fifteen seconds. Thus if you are threatened by an
individual armed with an edged weapon, you m a y appropriately
defend yourself at seven yards rather than waiting until he is within
a r m ' s length. Reducing our defensive space to less than seven
yards drastically reduces our reaction time in worst case scenarios.
Critical distance is 2 1 ' to contact. Most of the types of violent
encounters (critical incidents) w e discuss in this book take place
within this distance. Most police officers are killed within this
distance. You may hear it referred to as the "danger z o n e " or "the
hole." W e have learned from John Farnam of Defense Training
12 Increasing Your Awareness

International that beyond seven yards your chances of surviving an

armed confrontation go up dramatically.
The 360° requirement reminds us that w e h u m a n s are m o s t
vulnerable from behind. Not being able to see to the rear is a chink
in our natural defenses. So where w e sit, h o w w e stand, h o w w e
use shadows and reflections, h o w w e use our hearing, constantly
scanning our rearview mirrors w h e n w e ' r e in a vehicle- all must be
employed to protect our back.
W e ' l l end this chapter with something for you to consider.
There is a lot of good personal security info available to us today.
To be honest, I ' m a little overwhelmed by it, especially the check-
lists of what to do for each specific type of problem. I ' m always
afraid I'll get the rules for elevator behavior confused with w h a t
I ' m supposed to do at the A T M . For m e it is easier (for which read
about all I can handle) to concentrate on increasing m y awareness,
being especially attuned to everything going on in m y little
217360° safety bubble, and using large doses of c o m m o n sense.

If personal weapons are part of your defensive plan, a quality handgun, a holster for
same, a folding knife and a small flashlight are a good start. Shown here is the
Heckler and Koch USP Compact in .40 caliber, an Alessi CQC belt holster, a
Masters of Defense "Keating" folding knife and a Sure Fire 3P combat light.
 13

Chapter 3

Cooper's Color Code

The purpose of increasing our awareness is, best case, to see

the problem before the problem sees us or, second best, at least at
about the same time. The sooner w e see the problem the more time
w e have. (Time that m a y be measured in heartbeats so w e cannot
afford to waste it.) The m o r e time w e have the more options w e
have. The more options w e have the better w e are able to develop
a plan (albeit a hasty one!) which will give us the best chance for
achieving the desired outcome of choice, i.e., confrontation
avoidance. Seeing the problem too late = less time = fewer options
= incomplete/no plan = high chance of a less than desirable
outcome. A s long as w e are reacting to whatever the bad guy
chooses to do to us w e are not in charge of the situation. W e are
responding defensively. A n d the longer w e are on the defensive the
harder it becomes to achieve tactical dominance of the situation.
Not good.
So anything that allows us to buy time gives us an edge. If w e
use this time to select our response before the games begin, w e can
possibly turn them off (avoid). If forced to respond w e can react
quicker, more aggressively, more decisively (evade, counter). Our
mind naturally goes through various levels of alert/alarm w h e n
confronted by anything it perceives as a threat. If w e k n o w this and
understand how it affects us both mentally and physically w e can
make it work to our advantage. ( W e ' l l deal with this in detail in
the chapter on Survival Stress and the Conditioned Response).
Kudos again must go to Jeff Cooper w h o recognized the
importance of controlling this process and devised what he calls
the "Color C o d e " to deal with it. The Color C o d e has been in
continuous use n o w for the last two decades. It m a y well be the
best example w e have of a simple solution to a complex problem.
In his book Fireworks Cooper explained the Color Code thusly:
14 Cooper's Color Code

I have devised a simple color code which is used to

enable the student to assume a state of mind
appropriate to the various stages of readiness he
may need. A man cannot live constantly looking
down his sights with his finger on the trigger . . .
BUT YOU CAN, WITH A BIT OF PRACTICE,
LEARN TO SWITCH YOUR MIND INTO A MORE
ADVANCED STATE OF READINESS, IN WHICH
CERTAIN PRESET DECISIONS ARE EASIER TO
MAKE. You do this naturally, but usually by means
of an infinitely variable gradation. The Color Code
makes it easier, by means of definite, pre-
considered steps.

H e defines them as follows:

1) Condition White- a normal non-combative state of mind

2) Condition Yellow- a state of relaxed alertness
3) Condition Orange- state of alarm
4) Condition Red- defensive combat

While these definitions are still fresh in your mind let's

amplify them a bit. There is probably a fancy n a m e for these but I
call them mental pegs. They help you decide which rung of the
alertness ladder you need to be on, as one friend of m i n e puts it.
Condition White is the state of mind of the victim. Totally
UNconscious of their immediate environment. Cooper reminds us
that w e go into Condition Yellow ( G E N E R A L L Y conscious of
your immediate environment) any time w e strap on our sidearm.
Anytime you leave your comfort zone, i.e., you m a y go from a
known environment to an u n k n o w n environment (home to street),
or from a k n o w n situation to an u n k n o w n situation (you're
watching T V and someone knocks at the front door), you should
go into Condition Yellow. A n y time you pick up a firearm to
defend yourself, to check out that strange noise in the kitchen,
anytime you see two or more of the danger signs, you should be in
Condition Orange ( S P E C I F I C A L L Y conscious of your immediate
Chapter 3 15

environment). Condition Red is where you need to be during any

armed confrontation in progress. This includes the full range of
possibilities. Shots m a y have been exchanged and/or you are
holding the subject at gunpoint.
If you buy into the Color Code, once y o u ' v e internalized it, you
can forget about trying to memorize the usual lists you often see on
things to do to avoid becoming a victim. Y o u r c o m m o n sense and
your awareness will do this for you. Never again will you casually
answer the doorbell in your home. Y o u will automatically pay
more attention to where you sit in a restaurant, h o w you check out
that strange noise downstairs, w h y the dogs are barking, whose
footsteps those are behind you in the parking garage, w h o ' s around
you at the A T M . The Detect-Assess phase if you will. But h o w
does it work for us in those instances w h e n the use of force is
unavoidable. W h e n w e must Counter.
It will work as well as w e let it. Actually Cooper designed the
Color Code to assist you w h e n you must react under the effects of
survival stress. The trick is you must practice it under those
conditions. If you do not learn the application of the technique in
scenarios designed to induce survival stress, it will not be there for
you when you need it. For example, as Cooper explains it, people
in a high state of readiness (Condition Red) will fire at noise or
movement U N L E S S P R O P E R L Y P R O G R A M M E D . In Condition
Red, then, you M U S T P R O G R A M O N S O M E T H I N G SPECIFIC
B E F O R E Y O U R E A C T . This is w h y training on managing
potentially lethal confrontations places such heavy emphasis on
controlling and watching the hands. Failing to do this is w h y police
officers shoot each other during building searches or one family
member shoots another mistaking them for a burglar. Time and
again I've watched students during a scenario shoot then
immediately wince, shake their head and mutter something
unprintable. Their trigger finger got ahead of the signal their eyes
were sending to the brain. Afterwards they would usually say that
even as they were pulling the trigger they k n e w they shouldn't be.
Once they let the process w o r k and got confidence in their ability
to use it the results were phenomenal. They could tell you not only
16 Cooper's Color Code

that the "assailant" had a beer can in his hand but what brand it
was!

As often happens, what had started out as a routine

arrest turned into a hostage situation. The subject, armed
with a lock blade folding knife, was holed up in a motel
room with his girlfriend. Every few minutes he would come
to the door and talk to the negotiator while holding the
knife at the girl's throat. The tactical team had decided to
grab the girl the next time he came to the door. The plan
was for one officer to grab her and pivot away from the
doorway leaving a clear shot, if one presented itself. The
officer knelt beside the door for what seemed like hours
and then it slowly opened. He had to wait until the girl
took one more step and then he moved. What they hadn't
counted on was the speed of her boyfriend, the hostage-
taker. As the officer pivoted away from the door with one
arm around the girl's waist, the boyfriend instantly
launched himself at the officer's exposed back and began
to repeatedly stab him with forceful "icepick " style blows.
He stabbed the officer at least three times before being
shot. Frantic officers quickly checked their brother officer
to see if the knife had penetrated the body armor he was
wearing. The armor was not scratched. They could find no
knife marks anywhere. For that matter, they couldn'tfind
the knife either. A search subsequently located it behind
the motel. The boyfriend had thrown it out of the bathroom
window before he came to the door the last time.

This incident took place about 20 years ago. The available

lighting w a s good. The stopping shot w a s fired with a shotgun
from about 15 feet. As armchair quarterbacks it is easy to ask h o w
this could happen. It is probably a better bet to assume that there
but for the grace of God go I when you consider the dynamics. The
suspect had been seen several times with a knife at his girlfriend's
throat. The situation drags on for hours. The plan to resolve the
incident is gutsy and depends on split-second timing on the part of
Chapter 3 17

the rescuing officer and the officer covering him with the shotgun.
In this compressed time frame w h e n the subject strikes the officer
he does so in a manner consistent with someone holding a knife.
The officers on this tactical team had never heard of the Color
Code. A coroner's jury ruled the shooting justifiable. H o w do you
think the courts would rule today in your area? W H A T IF w e used
a little imagination to come u p with a scenario using pieces of this
incident which turned it into a problem which suddenly confronts
a private citizen w h o is legally armed . . .
Clint Smith, w h o must be at least as quotable as Will Rogers,
sums this chapter up best. He tells his students, in his best Marine
Corps Drill Instructor's voice, "Get the best training you can
afford. But train with the understanding that most firearm's
practice is about 7 5 % physical and 2 5 % mental. A gunfight is
about 7 5 % mental and about 2 5 % physical."
18 Cooper's Color Code
 19

Chapter 4

Danger Signs

U p to this point w e ' v e talked about the importance of being

aware, alert, "tuned in." What w e need to address n o w are those
things specifically that w e should be aware of, alert for, "tuned in"
to. In the interest of simplicity w e are going to call these danger
signs, a generic n a m e for anything that warns us w e m a y have a
problem. Danger signs are cues that m a y be subtle (easy to miss)
or not so subtle (impossible to ignore). They are most often visual
but may include the other senses as well. Different threats have
different cues. A w o m a n walking to her car in the parking lot of a
shopping mail, an officer making a vehicle stop and a businessman
concerned about the possibility of a terrorist kidnapping are all
looking for different danger signs. Those that w e will deal within
this chapter will be the obvious ones most often encountered by
victims of street crimes. They will be visual, auditory, intuitive and
situational.
Visual indicators are what the w o m a n walking to her car in the
parking lot of the shopping mall is looking for. W e have extracted
them from two different sources. The first is Surviving in the Age
of Fear. I consider this book to be the premier text on street crime
awareness. The author, Bill Langlois, was mugged 256 times as a
decoy for the San Francisco Police D e p a r t m e n t ' s street crime unit.
The second source is the Sexual Harassment Assault Rape
Prevention training program designed by Bruce Siddle. Siddle is
the Executive Director of P P C T Management Systems, Inc. He is
the foremost researcher in the field today on the design of training
systems that permit an officer to perform at his highest potential
while under the stress induced by a lethal confrontation.
These are the danger signs Langlois identified as the ones he
was most likely to see just prior to being mugged:
20 Danger Signs

1) Excessive or prolonged eye contact. A n oldie but a goodie. The

bad guys will tell you that the only people w h o will look you
in the eye on the street are other bad guys or cops. There is at
least one documented case in which m e m b e r s of a hit team
were trained to avoid this natural predatory response. They
concentrated on developing their vision by reading newspapers
held several feet from the side of their head. They never looked
directly at their intended victim until they were right on top of
him and drawing their weapon. People trained in this technique
develop a curious stilted gait because they are trying to keep
their head m o v e m e n t to a m i n i m u m in order to see better. This
manner of walking is very easy to spot once y o u ' v e seen it. So,
in essence, they trade one danger sign for another.
2) People w h o appear to approach you deliberately. This is one of
the fastest ways to spot problems in crowds. Everybody is
going with the flow but this guy.
3) People w h o move (with you) when you do.
4) Predatory m o v e m e n t s . Circling, splitting up, trying to get
behind you.
5) Distractions. This may be verbal. "Gotta light?" Or it m a y be
physical as in someone b u m p i n g into you.

Siddle has studied danger signs extensively as part of his

continuing research into stimulus-based responses which can
enhance performance during critical incidents. His observations
closely parallel those of Langlois:

1) He (the predator) will establish ideal hunting grounds and find

a casual-looking surveillance point.
2) He will begin following you if you are in a public environment
to ascertain whether you would be an easy target. H e ' s already
determined that y o u ' r e vulnerable. H e is following you to find
location and opportunity, (see 5 below)
3) An assailant will follow you by matching your walking speed.
4) Before he makes contact, he will look around for witnesses.
5) H e will look for a point to ambush you with low visibility to
avoid unexpected witnesses.
Chapter 4 21

6) Immediately before the attack, he will quickly enter your

personal safe zone.

Auditory danger signs are probably the second most c o m m o n

type of cue. Shouts, verbal threats, footsteps, heavy breathing,
someone trying to force entry into your h o m e are all examples of
auditory danger signs. Probably the worst case I have of this is one
in which a couple, unarmed, decided to investigate the sounds of
someone downstairs at about 2:00 A.M.. In the kitchen they
encountered three individuals armed with AK-47's. They held the
husband at gunpoint while taking rums with his wife.
On a more upbeat note, one of m y favorite examples came
from a crusty old N e w York police sergeant, now retired. He was
explaining to m e h o w he and his partner spotted armed
individuals. H o w people (who are carrying a concealed handgun)
walk, how they react to the presence of a police officer, and how
they pat or tug at their clothing are s o m e of the indicators street
crime units nationwide use in high crime areas to get unauthorized
firearms and their users off the street. H e said that they took
hundreds of guns off the street each year and thought they k n e w all
of the telltale signs. In his thick Brooklyn accent he continued,
"Just goes to show you that Murphy has a sense of humor. M y
partner and I were sitting in a booth in a small diner eating, when
a man came in and sat d o w n in the booth in front of ours. As he
did so w e heard the unmistakable ' c l u n k ' the concealed handgun
made as it banged into the back of the w o o d e n booth. Easiest gun
collar w e ever m a d e , " he chuckled.
Intuitive danger signs have to do with what w e often refer to as
the "sixth sense." Police officers learn early-on to trust these
feelings. "I knew the guy w a s dirty before he ever opened his
mouth." W e may say to ourselves, "Something d o e s n ' t feel right
about this," or " W h a t ' s wrong with this picture?" Gavin De Becker
describes intuition as "knowing without knowing w h y " in his
book, The Gift of Fear. This book is probably the most practical
and useful treatment of the subject of the role of intuition in
personal protection available today. The first seven chapters of the
book alone m a k e it worth the price. "Trust your instincts." " G o
22 Danger Signs

with your gut." W e ' v e heard it so often w e m a y fail to treat such

advice seriously. But D e Becker reminds us "that intuition heeded
is far more valuable than simple k n o w l e d g e . "

The woman was shopping in a mall near her home

when she thought she heard her name announced on the
public address system. Sure enough, there it was. "Would
the owner of the blue Honda Accord bearing Florida
license number ABC-123 please report to the parking lot?
Your vehicle has been involved in an accident. " Something
she could not define made her suspicious. She found a
security guard and asked him to verify the message for her.
It turned out to be a hoax.

Situational danger signs are best described by the popular

phrase, " Y o u d o n ' t want to go there." Y o u are pushed into a car,
the person forces his w a y into your h o m e , they want you to lie
down on the floor, they want to tie you up, gag and blindfold you,
they want to search you (and y o u ' r e carrying a concealed weapon).
In incident after incident these actions have proven themselves as
reliable indicators that the situation is about to b e c o m e violent. A
decision has been m a d e for you. If you can't run, this m a y be the
only chance you will have to, literally, fight for your life.
 23

Chapter 5
The Use of Force Continuum

It is easy to distinguish those w h o understand this concept from

those w h o don't. The ones w h o d o n ' t are the same folks that bring
a knife to a gunfight. The use of force continuum is a scale which
graphically shows what your response options are depending on
the level of threat which confronts you. It is the " H o w t o " of Avoid
- Evade - Counter. It will encourage you to bring a gun to a knife
fight. As a simple analogy, if w e consider the gun a tool which can
lawfully be used w h e n w e are threatened with lethal violence, then
w e need some other tools which w e can use w h e n the situation
requires a less-than-lethal response. If w e can only talk to our
assailant or shoot him our tool box m a y charitably be said to be
inadequate. W e need to understand that the progression of the
force continuum is m u c h like that of a confrontation. The incident
may start with words and escalate into a fist fight. The situation
may erupt so quickly that there is no time to consider other options
(or they are inappropriate) and w e are forced to immediately resort
to deadly force. W e need to be able to articulate this to our
attorney. The force continuum helps guide us through this process.
So on one end of the scale you have the limited no-contact
responses (presence, eye contact, verbal warnings). In the middle
are the less-than lethal options. I found an excellent explanation of
w h e n these tools are to be used in a publication entitled The
Pepper Spray Evaluation Project which w e will discuss in detail
shortly. The report states that you are justified in using less-than-
lethal force, "if verbal c o m m a n d s are ineffective or inappropriate,
and you reasonably believe you will b e c o m e engaged in a fight,
i.e., the subject is m o v i n g toward you and you reasonably perceive,
based on the individual's demeanor and/or words, that he is going
to engage you in a fight."
A n d on the other end is lethal force, which can only be used
under very specific circumstances. Massad Ayoob tells his
24 The Use of Force Continuum

LFI students that you can legally use deadly force to defend
yourself only when you are in "imminent and O T H E R W I S E
U N A V O I D A B L E danger of death or serious bodily h a r m . " Thus
if you can avoid the use of lethal force or the situation does not
warrant its use, you need some other options (tools).
There are two schools of thought on how many tools you really
need. One is "the more the merrier." The other is that "less is best."
Siddle's research indicates that the fewer responses you have for a
specific threat, the quicker you can respond. And the simpler these
threat-specific response options are the more likely they are to work
for you when the chips are down. Ideally, you should have a tool for
each level of difficulty, but that is probably impractical for many of
us. Let's take a look at the force continuum and then you can decide
for yourself what tools you need.

1) Presence
2) Leave
3) Eye contact
4) Verbal warnings
5) Unarmed countermeasures
6) Oleoresin capsicum
7) Impact weapons
8) Firearms or vehicle

Presence: This generally refers to uniformed police whose

mere presence is often enough to discourage trouble. However,
Y O U R presence may be enough to change the balance of p o w e r in
the eyes of a predator.

Leave: The military calls this a strategic withdrawal. W e might

refer to it as "putting our knees in the breeze." The best evaluation
I ever heard of this option w a s h o w would you rather be
remembered? "Old Evan sure can run w h e n he puts his mind to it"
or "He certainly looks natural lying there like that."

Eye contact: Once you m a k e eye contact you have also m a d e

a statement. " T h e y " are no longer invisible. You are aware of
them. And you are ready for them. They are just about to " m a k e
Chapter 5 2

your day." In some circumstances this m a y be k n o w n as "walking

tall when you're feeling small." But they d o n ' t know that!

Verbal warnings: Coupled with eye contact this can be a

powerful dissuader. It is startling. It attracts unwanted attention. It
puts you in charge. But you need to practice what you're going to
say in role play scenarios. It is very difficult for some folks to talk
"at v o l u m e " to another h u m a n being. The best example I have is
a bad joke. The one about the nervous robber holding up his first
"Stop and R o b . " H e sticks his pistol in the cashier's face and
stammers, " O K —M-M-Mothersticker, t-t-t-this is a f- - - u p ! "

U n a r m e d counter measures: Bill Rogers, the Director of the

Institute of Advanced Weaponscraft, sums it up best for us. Rogers
claims that for a bad guy to be successful he must have motivation
and consciousness. Short circuit one or the other and y o u ' v e just
solved your immediate problem. So for starters your fighting skills
need to give you the ability to quickly de-motivate your attacker
and at least stun him long enough for you to escape safely (stun
and run). Whatever you learn must also be capable of being
applied very aggressively. Part of this is a time/endurance problem.
You have at best 60 seconds to be all you can be. T h a t ' s about as
long as any of us can physically exert ourselves at full power. But
the essential requirement for a combatives system is to put you in
control of the situation. Dr. Paul Whitesell, a psychologist at the
Ft. Wayne, Indiana Police A c a d e m y says it best in a research paper
he prepared entitled, The Psychology of Intimidation and Physical
Conflict in the Police Profession. "There are basically two types
of attack: predatory and defensive. Predatory attack is very
purposeful or directed. It is pronounced, offensive, dedicated,
committed. Defensive aggression is frantic and wild."
So, for our hand-to-hand system, to meet these requirements it
must be simple, effective, easy to learn, easy to retain. W e must
have confidence in our ability to apply it quickly, aggressively and
offensively (in every sense of the word) under pressure. The
techniques that w e use must be designed to m a x i m i z e our ability
to quickly overwhelm (de-motivate and/or stun) our assailant. For
my money, the embodiment of this concept is the " S E A L blitz," a
 The Use of Force Continuum

e developed for the U . S . N a v y S E A L ' S by Paul Vunak. If

you took C o o p e r ' s dictum that the best response to an attack on
your person is an explosive violent counterattack and combined it
with the Special Operations tactical principle of speed and
violence of action, you n o w have a word picture of "the S E A L
blitz." It is the most in-your-face right now, aggressive, "not today,
you son-of-a-bitch!" technique I've ever seen. This is a purebred
fighting animal. Every m o v e is purposeful. Even in practice it
looks like fighting, not dojo ballet. It w a s designed by a martial
artist for non-martial artists. It was designed to give the little guy
or gal a fighting chance against a larger and stronger opponent.
Paul V u n a k demonstrates it on his video, entitled "Street Safe,"
available from Threat Response Solutions, 2945 South M o o n e y
Blvd., Visalia, California 93277 (1-800-899-81 53). Rick Faye,
w h o heads the Minnesota Kali Group also demonstrates it on one
of his videos. Y o u can reach Rick at the Minnesota Kali Group,
328 East Hennepin A v e n u e , Suite 200, Minneapolis, Minnesota
55414(612-331-6440).

Oleoresin capsicum ( O . C . or "pepper" spray): O.C. spray

is one of the best tools available to us today. The latest study that
I ' m aware of on O.C. is the Pepper Spray Evaluation Project
report dated 21 June 1995. It w a s a cooperative effort between the
International Association of C h i e f s of Police and the Baltimore
County (Maryland) Police Department under a grant funded by the
National Institute of Justice. During this nine-month study the
department had a total of 194 incidents in which O.C. w a s used.
There were 174 incidents involving persons resisting arrest and 20
incidents involving dog attacks. A successful incident with a
resisting subject was defined as one in which he or she w a s
sufficiently incapacitated after a single spray to be placed under
arrest. Using this guideline the spray w a s successful in 156 of the
174 incidents involving resisting subjects and in each of the
incidents involving dogs. This produced an overall success ratio of
91%.
Some of the other findings of this study which are of interest
to us:
Chapter 5 27

• Generally, if a suspect w a s sprayed with a one to three second

burst from a distance of four to six feet he b e c a m e submissive
(if the spray is used at a closer distance it takes more time to
work because the carrier concentration is heavier, the carrier is
the type of liquid in your cannister)
• There is no indication that spraying more is better if the subj ect
is properly sprayed the first time
• Proper use of the spray reduces the chance of injury to both the
user and the attacker (because it minimizes contact while the
subject is aggressive)
• Individuals w h o are heavily intoxicated, drugged and/or
mentally ill m a y not be affected by O.C. spray and in fact m a y
b e c o m e more aggressive
• Y o u need to have a b a c k u p option instantly available if the
spray does not work
O.C. spray is not a substitute for deadly force
O.C. spray does not fit into a category or classification that would
place it under the jurisdiction of any federal regulatory agency

O.C. spray is an excellent tool but because of the lack of

product standards it is very brand specific. If you b u y a brand that
has no track record you m a y be disappointed in the results. The
product used in this study w a s Bodyguard O.C. spray. The brand
k n o w n as Capstun also appears to be quite effective. There are
doubtless others. Just be sure you can obtain some usage data from
an authoritative source. And m a k e the effort to get trained in its
use. O.C. spray has drawbacks just like anything else and you need
to be aware of them. I suspect that for most of us this "karate in a
can" will be the tool of choice in the less-than-lethal category to
the exclusion of unarmed countermeasures and impact weapons so
a good training course is a sound investment.

Impact w e a p o n s : Today this tool category includes the

flashlight, the collapsible baton and the Kubotan. O f these I have
found the flashlight to be the m o s t useful (for me). I like the
MagLite C (not D) cell style with a four-battery capacity. Before
there was MagLite I carried a Safariland Kel-Light. The switch on
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
 The epithet furcifer (rascal) is of singular derivation; and, though
it was an appellation of great reproach in the times of Terence, yet,
in later ages of the Roman Republic, it bore a very different
signification. The name of furcifer, which was originally given to
slaves, took its rise from the Roman custom of punishing a slave
who had committed any flagrant offence, by fastening round his
neck a heavy piece of wood, in the shape of a fork, and thence
called furca; this occasioned the delinquent to be afterwards called
furcifer, (furcam ferre.) Three modes of punishment by the furca
were practised at Rome: 1. ignominious, 2. penal, 3. capital. In the
first, the criminal merely carried the furca on his shoulders for a
short period; in the second, he wore the furca, and was whipped
round the Forum; in the third, after having been tied to a large
furca, somewhat like a modern gallows, he was beaten to death.
Slaves were treated more severely by the Romans than by the
Athenians, who were celebrated for their mild and gentle behaviour
to that class of persons. The furca was afterwards employed in a
very different manner; and, from a badge of disgrace, was changed
to a serviceable implement. Caius Marius, nearly a hundred years
after Terence composed this play, introduced the use of the furca
among his soldiers. It was employed to carry baggage and other
requisites; and, in use, somewhat resembled a modern porter’s knot,
hence, the word furculum or ferculum, became an expression to
signify a burden, or any thing carried in the hand: and sometimes,
also, the various courses brought to table, as in Horace,
“Multaque de magnâ superessent fercula cœnâ,
Quæ procul extructis inerant hesterna canistris?”
B. II. Sat. 6.

NOTE 157.

Ah! how foolishly have I relied on you, who, out of a perfect calm,
have raised this storm.
 Hem quo fretu siem
Qui me hodie ex tranquillissima re conjecisti in nuptias.
“My father reads this passage thus, en quo fretus sum, that is,
the rascal on whom I relied,” &c.
Madame Dacier.
If an error has been insinuated into the text in this passage, it
can scarcely be of sufficient importance to render an alteration
essential: the correction suggested by Madame Dacier, is not so
decidedly superior to the usual mode of reading the lines, as to
compensate for the inconvenience which must be occasioned by a
general variation of the text.

NOTE 158.

Pam.—What do you deserve?

This alludes to the Athenian custom of questioning supposed
criminals, either before sentence was passed, or while they were
under the torture, to the following effect: What have you deserved?
and, according to the tenor of the reply, they augmented or
diminished the punishment: vide Nonni. Miscel., B. 2. It was also
customary, at Athens, when the punishment was not fixed by the
laws, but was left to the discretion of the judges, that the
condemned person was required to state what injury he thought his
adversary had suffered from him; and the answer, when delivered
upon oath, was called διαμοσία; by which the final sentence was in
some measure regulated.

NOTE 159.

Char. (alone.) Is this credible, or to be mentioned as a truth?

“Hoccine credibile est, aut memorabile,
Tanta vecordia innata cuiquam ut siet,
 Ut malis gaudeat alienis, atque ex incommodis
Alterius, sua ut comparet commoda? ah!
Idne est verum? Imo id genus est hominum pessimum
In denegando modo queis pudor est paululum:
Post ubi jam tempus est promissa perfici,
Tum coacti necessario se aperiunt et timent,
Et tamen res cogit eos denegare. Ibi
Tum impudentissima eorum oratio est:
Quis tu es? quis mihi es? cur meam tibi? heus;
Proximus sum egomet mihi.”
Terence, in the composition of these lines, has admirably
succeeded in expressing the sense by the sounds and measure of his
verse, and the very lines seem as angry (if I may be allowed to use
such an expression) as Charinus, who is to speak them, is supposed
to be. The whole speech is written with a great deal of fire and
spirit; and represents, in a very lively manner, the impatient bursts
of indignation, and the broken periods which issue from the mouth
of an enraged and disappointed person, during the first transports of
his anger. The ancients particularly studied this poetical beauty; and
many of them have reached a degree of excellence scarcely inferior
to that of the moderns. Terence has as eminently distinguished
himself by his success in this ornament to composition as he has by
his other excellencies: as familiar verse, his compositions are
extremely harmonious.
Mr. Pope has described the poetical embellishment before
mentioned in a most inimitable poem, which at once explains and
exemplifies his meaning.
“’Tis not enough no harshness gives offence,
The sound must seem an echo to the sense:
Soft is the strain when zephyr gently blows,
And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows;
But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,
The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar:
When Ajax strives some rock’s vast weight to throw,
 The line too labours, and the words move slow;
Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain,
Flies o’er th’ unbending corn, and skims along the main.”
Virgil was particularly successful in his endeavours to impart this
ornament to his composition. The following lines are reckoned by
the critics to be a beautiful specimen of his ability in this species of
verse.

“Ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam

Scilicet, atque Ossæ frondosum involvere Olympum.”
Georg., B. I. V. 281.

Sternitur exanimisque tremens procumbit humi bos.

Æneis, B. 5.

NOTE 160.
Those men have characters of the very worst description, who make
a scruple to deny a favour; and are ashamed, or unwilling to give
a downright refusal at first; but who, when the time arrives. &c.
This is one of those beautiful passages which prove Terence to
have been so able a delineator of character. How faithful a picture
does he here draw of this particular species of weakness! A man is
asked a favour which he knows it is out of his power to compass,
and yet feels a repugnance to candidly avow it: he cannot bear to
witness the uneasiness of the disappointed person, and, from a kind
of false shame, he misleads him with a promise which he cannot
perform. To detect those lurking impulses which almost escape
observation, though they influence the actions: to describe with
force and elegance, and convince the mind of a feeling of which it
was before scarcely conscious, is an effort of genius worthy of a
Terence.
 NOTE 161.
If any one tell me, that no advantage will result from it: I answer
this, that I shall poison his joy: and even that will yield me some
satisfaction.
Ingeram mala multa: atque aliquis dicat; Nihil promoveris.
Multum; molestus certè ei fuero, atque animo morem gessero.
This sentiment has been imitated by the first of dramatists in his
Othello: he has expanded it into a greater number of lines, which
are extremely beautiful.
Iago. Call up her father,
Rouse him, make after him, poison his delight.
Proclaim him in the streets, incense her kinsmen.
And tho’ he in a fertile climate dwell,
Plague him with flies: tho’ that his joy be joy,
Yet throw such changes of vexation on’t,
As it may lose some colour.—
Shakspeare’s Othello, A. 1. S. 1.
The soliloquy of Charinus, (of which the lines I have cited in the
commencement of this Note form a part,) is one of the best written
in the plays of our author: it is exactly of the kind recommended by
the Duke of Buckingham.
“Soliloquies had need be very few,
Extremely short, and spoke in passion too.
Our lovers, talking to themselves, for want
Of others, make the pit their confidant:
Nor is the matter mended yet, if thus
They trust a friend only to tell it us.”
A soliloquy is introduced with most success, when the speaker of
it is supposed to be deliberating with himself on doubtful subjects:
but, when narration is to be introduced, it is brought forward with
more advantage in the shape of a dialogue between the speaker and
his confidant. But a skilful dramatist can often employ a preferable
method to either of those I have just named, for the disposition of
narration. Papias lays it down as an absolute rule for the composition
of soliloquies, that they must be deliberations only.

NOTE 162.

Well, take her.

Sir R. Steele, in his play, called the Conscious Lovers, does not
represent Myrtle as comporting himself in his disappointment with
the moderation observed by Charinus. He challenges Bevil: though
the duel is afterwards prevented by the patience and forbearance of
the latter, who communicates to his angry friend a letter which he
had received from Lucinda, expressive of her favourable thoughts of
Myrtle. The ingenious author of the Conscious Lovers imagined, no
doubt, that to an English audience, Charinus’s easy resignation of his
mistress to Pamphilus would appear tame and unnatural. In nothing
do the manners of the ancients and the moderns differ more widely
than in their respective behaviour in cases of private injury, real or
imagined. Among the ancient Greeks and Romans, duelling was
totally unknown. Alexander and Pyrrhus, Themistocles, Leonidas,
and Epaminondas, the Scipios and Hannibal, Cæsar and Pompey, all
men whose fame will never be surpassed, and a countless number
of the heroes of antiquity, would have scorned to draw their swords
in a private quarrel. It was reserved for Christians, to introduce and
countenance this barbarous practice; which ought to be the shame
of civilized humanity. Barbarous, however, it can scarcely with justice
be called: for those nations whose unpolished manners caused them
to be termed barbarians, were never known to have adopted it; nor
has a single instance occurred, where men, in a state of uncultivated
nature, have been known to sacrifice a brother’s life in the mortal
arbitration of a private quarrel. Duelling was originally practised
among northern nations. Those who wish to entertain just ideas on
this subject cannot do better than to consult A Discourse on
Duelling, by the Rev. Thomas Jones, A.M., Trinity College,
Cambridge.

NOTE 163.

Pam.—Why do you vex me thus?

Cur me enicas.
Eneco and enico are thought by some critics to have been exactly
similar in signification; but eneco generally means to kill, as in
Plautus angues enecavit: whereas enico signifies only to teaze, or to
torment; as in the passage in Terence before mentioned. Vide
Horace Ep., B. I. Ep. 7. L. 87.

NOTE 164.
Davus.—Hist! Glycera’s door opens.
Hem’! st, mane, crepuit a Glycerio ostium.
Literally, a noise is made on the inside of Glycera’s door. As all the
street-doors in Athens opened towards the street, it was customary
to knock loudly on the inside, before the door was thrown open, lest,
by a sudden and violent swing, the heavy barrier should injure any
of the passengers. The Greeks called this ceremony ψοφεῖν θυραν.
All the doors of the Romans opened inwards, unless (which rarely
happened) a law was passed to allow any particular person to open
his door towards the street. This was considered a very great
honour, and never conferred but as a reward for very eminent
services.
In Sparta, a law prevailed that no instrument but a kind of saw
should be employed in making the doors of the houses; this
regulation was intended to prevent luxury, and wasteful expense.
Both in Athens and Rome, the first room within the door was made
extremely large, and highly ornamented. This room was called aula
by the Romans, and, by the Greeks αὐλὴ. Here were placed the
trophies gained by the master of the house, and by his family. In
later and more luxurious ages, the doors were made of more costly
materials, sometimes they formed them of metal, either iron or
brass; sometimes also ivory was used for this purpose, or scarce and
curious kinds of wood.

NOTE 165.
Mysis. (speaking to Glycera within.) I will directly, Madam; wherever
he may be, I’ll take care to find your dear Pamphilus, and bring
him to you: only, my love, let me beg you not to make yourself so
wretched.
Sir R. Steele and Monsieur Baron have brought both Glycera and
Philumena on the stage; but, in the Latin drama, the principal female
characters (if they appear at all) are generally mutes. It is a
circumstance worthy of our attention, that (except in one instance)
Terence never brings on the stage any female character of rank and
consideration: the women who take a part in the dialogue are
generally either attendants, or professional people, as nurses,
midwives, &c. But this exclusion, (though our author has been
compelled to sacrifice to it all those embellishments which the
portraiture of the Athenian ladies must have added to his scenes,) is
in strict conformity with the manners of the Greeks. Grecian women
of rank seldom appeared in company, and closely confined
themselves within doors, occupying the most remote parts of the
house. Unmarried women were scarcely allowed to quit the rooms
they inhabited, without giving previous notice to their protectors.
Terence was instructed clearly in this point, by his great original
Menander; who expressly says, that the door of the αὐλὴ, or hall,
was a place where even a married woman ought never to be seen.
Women, among the Greeks, seldom inhabited the same apartment
with the men: their rooms were always kept as retired as possible,
usually in the loftiest part of the house. Vide Hom. Il., γʹ v. 423; their
apartments were called Gynæceum, (γυναικεῖον). Vide Terence’s
Phormio, Act 5. S. 6, where he says,
“Ubi in Gynæceum ire occipio, puer ad me accurrit Mida.”
These rooms were sometimes called ὦα, which signifies also
eggs; it is supposed that the fable of Castor, Pollux, Helen, and
Clytemnestra, being hatched from eggs, took its rise from the double
signification of the word ὦα.

NOTE 166.
Pam.—The oracles of Apollo are not more true: I wish that, if
possible, my father may not think that I throw any impediments in
the way of the marriage: if not, I will do what will be easily done,
tell him frankly that I cannot marry Chremes’ daughter.
Among the Greeks, no oracles were either so numerous or so
highly esteemed as those of Apollo. The first place among them is
assigned to the oracle at Delphi, near mount Parnassus, which
excelled the others in magnificence, and claimed the precedence in
point of antiquity. Next to this, ranks the oracle in the island of
Delos, the birthplace of Apollo and Diana. It is situated in the north
part of Mare Ægeum, or Archipelago, not far from the Isle of Andros,
and between Myconus and Rhene. The Athenians reverenced this
oracle above all others, and its answers were held to be infallible.
Theseus, the most celebrated of the Athenian heroes, instituted a
solemn procession to Delos, in honour of Apollo. A certain number of
Athenian citizens were chosen, who were called Θεωροὶ, who made
the voyage in a sacred ship; the same in which Theseus and his
companions were said to have sailed to Crete. This ship was
denominated ἀειζώοντα, on account of its great age: it was
preserved till the time of Demetrius Phalereus. No criminal was ever
put to death during the absence of the sacred ship.
 NOTE 167.

Char. (to Pamphilus.) But you are constant and courageous.

P. Quis videor?
C. Miser æque atque ego.
D. Consilium quæro.
C. Fortis.
Critics have differed considerably respecting this passage. Some
think the word fortis should be understood as addressed to Davus.
I have adopted the interpretation which M. le Fevre, Madame
Dacier’s father, has given of this passage. Pamphilus, after
expressing his resolution to remain faithful to Glycera, turns to
Charinus, expecting a compliment on his behaviour. After a jest on
his friend’s having reduced himself to such a forlorn situation, by
following the advice of Davus, Charinus, by the word fortis, pays him
the compliment his handsome conduct deserved.

NOTE 168.

Pam. (to Davus.) I know what you would attempt.

Pamphilus, in this speech, alludes to his jest upon Davus in the
previous scene, where he says, “I have no doubt, that if that wise
head of yours goes to work,” &c., vide p. 67, l. 8. Pamphilus means,
I imagine, when he says, “I know what you would attempt,” I
suppose you are going to provide the two wives I was speaking of.
He could not mean that he really knew Davus’s plan: because he
asks him afterwards, page 70, line 10, what he intended to do.

NOTE 169.

Pam.—What are you going to do? tell me.

 The Davus of M. Baron, instead of laying the child at Simo’s door,
makes a false report to Mysis, that Pamphilus intends to desert
Glycera, and to espouse Philumena: Mysis communicates this to her
mistress, who, in her distress, throws herself at Chremes’ feet, and
shews him the contract of her marriage with Pamphilus. This induces
Chremes to favour Glycera, and to break off the intended marriage.

NOTE 170.

Hitherto, he has been to her a source of more evil than good.

“As I never was able to make any sense of facile hic plus est
quam illic boni, I choose to give the passage a turn, though contrary
to all the readings which I have seen, which makes that proper, with
the omission of one word, which was not before intelligible. The
usual construction of the words, as they stand in all editions, is this,
—there is more ill in his sorrow, or trouble, (some read dolorem,
some laborem,) than there is good in his love: see, particularly,
Camus’s edition for the use of the Dauphin, which is not only a poor
meaning, and unworthy Terence, but inconsistent with what Mysis
had said before in the preceding scenes: I therefore choose to be
singular and intelligible, rather than to go with all the editors and
translators of our poet, and be obscure.”—Cooke.

NOTE 171.

Davus.—Take the child from me directly, and lay him down at our
door.
 Accipe à me hunc ocius,
Atque ante nostram januam appone.
Some commentators read vestram januam, appone, lay him down
before your door. But Davus tells Simo, A. III. S. II., (page 51, line
13,) that Glycera intends to have a child laid at his door. It could
have answered no purpose, moreover, to have placed Glycera’s child
at her own door. We must rather suppose that Davus wished Simo to
think that Glycera had sent the infant to Pamphilus as its father. Vide
Note 174.

NOTE 172.
Davus.—You may take some of the herbs from that altar, and strew
them under him.
“Altar, Altare, Ara, a place or pile whereon to offer sacrifice to
some deity. Among the Romans, the altar was a kind of pedestal,
either square, round, or triangular; adorned with sculpture, with
basso-relievos, and inscriptions, whereon were burnt the victims
sacrificed to idols. According to Servius, those altars set apart for the
honour of the celestial gods, and gods of the higher class, were
placed on some pretty tall pile of building; and, for that reason, were
called altaria, from the word alta and ara, a high elevated altar.
Those appointed for the terrestrial gods, were laid on the surface of
the earth, and called aræ. And, on the contrary, they dug into the
earth, and opened a pit for those of the infernal gods which were
called βοθροι λακκοι, scrobiculi. But this distinction is not every-
where observed: the best authors frequently use ara as a general
word, under which are included the altars of the celestial and
infernal, as well as those of the terrestrial gods. Witness Virgil, Ecl.
5.
——En quatuor aras,
where aræ plainly includes altaria; for whatever we make of
Daphnis, Phœbus was certainly a celestial god. So Cicero, pro Quint.
Aras delubraque Hecates in Græcia vidimus. The Greeks, also,
distinguish two sorts of altars; that whereon they sacrificed to the
gods was called βωμος, and was a real altar, different from the
other, whereon they sacrificed to the heroes, which was smaller, and
called εσχαρα. Pollux makes this distinction of altars in his
Onomasticon: he adds, however, that some poets used the word
εσχαρα, for the altar whereon sacrifice was offered to the gods. The
Septuagint version does sometimes also use the word εσχαρα, for a
sort of little low altar, which may be expressed in Latin by craticula,
being a hearth, rather than an altar.”—Chambers’ Cyclopædia.
Scaliger thinks that the altar mentioned by Terence was the altar
usually placed on the stage of a theatre during representation, and
consecrated to Bacchus in tragedy, and to Apollo in comedy. It is
most probable, that one of the ἐσχάραι is alluded to by our author in
this passage. The ἐσχάραι were low altars which stood before the
doors in Athens: they were dedicated to the ancient heroes.

NOTE 173.
Davus.—That if my master should require me to swear that I did not
do it, I may take the oath with a safe conscience.
The Greeks paid very great regard to oaths. They divided them
into two classes. The first kind was the μέγας ὅρκος, or great oath,
when the swearer called the gods to witness his truth; the second
was the μικρὸς ὅρκος, when the swearer called on other creatures.
They usually, when falsely accused of any crime, took an oath to
clear themselves. This oath was sometimes administered in a very
singular manner: the oath of exculpation was written on a tablet,
and hung round the neck, and rested on the breast of the accused,
who was then compelled to wade into the sea about knee-deep: if
the oath was true, the water remained stationary; but, if false, it
instantly rose up, and covered the tablet, that so dreadful a sight as
a false oath might be concealed from the view of mankind. The
Athenians were proverbial for their sincere regard for truth. Vide
Velleius Paterculus, B. 1. C. 4., also, in B. 2. C. 23: we are told
 “Adeò enim certa Atheniensum in Romanos fides fuit, ut semper
et in omni re, quicquid sincerâ fide generetur, id Romani Atticâ fieri,
prædicarent.”—Marcus Velleius Paterculus, B. 2. C. 23. L. 18.
The Athenians behaved with so much good faith and inviolable
honour in all their treaties with the Romans, that it became a custom
at Rome, when a person was affirmed to be just and honourable, to
say, he is as faithful as an Athenian.

NOTE 174.
Davus. (to himself.) The father of the bride is coming this way; I
abandon my first design.
Mysis.—I don’t understand this.
Davus’s first design was (we are to suppose) to go to Simo as
soon as Mysis had placed the child at the door, and acquaint him
that Glycera had sent him Pamphilus’s child. This would have
compelled Simo to suspend the marriage until he had ascertained
the real nature of Glycera’s claims on his son. Though Davus’s
speech is not usually read aside, we cannot suppose that Mysis
heard him say, that Chremes, the bride’s father, approached,
because, in the ninth scene of the same act, (vide p. 78, l.
preantepen,) he tells her, “that was the bride’s father,” and she
replies, “you should have given me notice then.”

NOTE 175.
Mysis. (aside to Davus.)—Are you mad to ask me such a question?
Davus.—Whom should I ask? I can see no one else here.
This certainly seems a little over-acted on the part of Davus,
considering that he knew Chremes to be so very near him. If we
conclude that Davus acted his part with the proper gestures, and
accompanied the above words with the very natural action of looking
round him, to see if any other person was visible near Simo’s door; it
appears extremely improbable that he should not have seen
Chremes, who was near enough to hear all that passed between
Davus and Mysis. Davus intended that what passed between Mysis
and himself should be overheard by Chremes, whom he knew to be
but a very few yards distant. It seems extraordinary, therefore, that
Davus should make use of an expression which compelled him to
run the risk of being obliged to recognise Chremes if he looked
round, and, if he did not, of raising a suspicion in his mind, that
Davus knew him to be there: either circumstance must effectually
have spoiled the stratagem, to deter Chremes from the match. To
solve this apparent inconsistency, we must suppose that Chremes,
wishing, for obvious reasons, to overhear what passed between
Mysis and Davus, had, at the entrance of the latter, withdrawn
himself behind a row of pillars, or into a portico, or cloister, (which
were common in the streets of Athens, and were also built upon the
Roman stage,) lest his presence, which Mysis knew of, as he had
questioned her, should be a check upon their conversation; from
which he, of course, expected to learn the truth respecting the child
at Simo’s door, as he knew that Mysis was the servant of Glycera,
and Davus the servant of Pamphilus.

NOTE 176.

Mysis.—The deuce take you, fellow, for terrifying me in this manner.

Dii te eradicent, ita me miseram territas.

Literally, May the gods root you up. An ingenious French critic
informs us, that the Romans borrowed this expression from the
Greeks, who say, “to destroy a man to the very root:” and, that the
Greeks borrowed it from the eastern nations. We have a similar
expression in English, to destroy root and branch.

NOTE 177.
 Chremes. (aside.) I acted wisely in avoiding the match.
Recte ego fugio has nuptias.
The general way of reading this line is as follows:
Recte ego semper fugi has nuptias.
I acted wisely in always avoiding the match.
This reading must be erroneous, because, so far from having
always avoided the match, Chremes himself originally proposed it to
Simo, (vide p. 15, l. 18.) and afterwards renewed his consent to it.
(Vide p. 58. l. 24.)

NOTE 178.

Davus.—’Tis true, I saw old Canthara, with something under her

cloak.
There is great ingenuity displayed in the conduct of this scene.
Davus affirms this, as Donatus observes, “Hoc dicit ut leviter
redarguat Mysis, non ut vincatur,” that Mysis may easily confute him;
and prove that it is the child of Pamphilus which must terrify
Chremes. He contradicts her, that she may (in Chremes’ hearing)
enter into the proof of what she says. Instead of Cantharam,
Nonnius thinks that Terence meant cantharum, a large jug; and that
he intended Davus to say, that the child was brought to Glycera’s
house in a large cantharus. Vide Nonnius’s Miscell., B. 1, and his
remarks on the whole of this scene.

NOTE 179ᴬ.
Mysis.—Thank Heaven, that there were some free-women present
when my mistress was delivered.
No person could appear as a witness in the Athenian courts of
justice, who was not free-born, and also possessed of a fair
character. Those who were ἄτιμοι, infamous, were not permitted to
give testimony. In particular cases, strangers and freedmen were
admitted as witnesses. Every person who was appealed to as a
witness, was compelled either to state what he knew of the affair, or
to swear that he was ignorant of all the circumstances of it: if he
refused to give any answer whatever, he incurred a heavy fine.

NOTE 179ᴮ.

Mysis.—By Pollux, fellow, you are drunk.

To accuse a person of intoxication was considered in Athens and
Sparta as one of the greatest affronts that could possibly be
committed. Very severe laws were framed in Greece for the
punishment of those who were seen in a state of intoxication. The
Athenian archons suffered death, if detected in this vice. The Greeks
accused the Scythians of having taught them habits of drunkenness.
The Spartans affirm, that Cleomenes became first drunk, and
afterwards mad, by his associating and drinking with them.
Σκυθησι, δε ὁμιλησαντά μιν ακρηποτην και εκ τουτου μανῆναι.
Herodotus.

NOTE 180.
Davus.—One falsehood brings on another: I hear it whispered about
that she is a citizen of Athens.
The citizens of Athens were called γηγενεῖς, or sons of the earth,
and ἀστοὶ. They were called also τεττιγες, or τεττιγοφορους,
wearers of grasshoppers; this appellation, authors have derived
differently. Tretzes thinks it was to designate them as fluent orators.
Lucian considers it merely as a distinction to divide them from the
slaves: and others say, it was because they thought that
grasshoppers sprung from the earth; and therefore chose them for
the symbol of a people who pretended to the same origin: vide Note
154. The Athenians were called also πολίται. The citizens were
divided by Cecrops into four tribes, (vide Poll., B. 3. 64,) each tribe
was divided into three classes, and each class into thirty families.
The names of the tribes were, 1. Κεκροπὶς, 2. Αὐτόχθων, 3. Ἀκταία,
4. Παραλιά. These names were afterwards changed by Cranaus,
(vide Plut. in Solon,) and also by Ericthonius and Erectheus. When
the number of the inhabitants increased, new tribes were added. To
obtain the Athenian citizenship was deemed so glorious, that
foreigners of the very first rank eagerly sought this distinction; which
it was extremely difficult to gain: as the Athenians would never
admit any persons but those who had signalized themselves by their
virtue and bravery.

NOTE 181.

Davus.—And that he will be compelled to marry her.

The Athenian laws did not allow of polygamy: if Glycera,
therefore, had been proved to be a citizen, her marriage with
Pamphilus would have been valid; and Philumena, if married to him,
must have been divorced. We are to suppose, that the apprehension
of this circumstance induces Chremes to break off the marriage.

NOTE 182.

Davus. (half aloud.)—He has heard all: what an accident.

——Audistin’ obsecro?
These words are usually read as addressed directly to Chremes;
but it appears more probable that Terence intended Davus to speak
them as if he meant no one to hear what he said, and yet contrive
to raise his voice loud enough for Chremes to overhear him pretend
to be alarmed, lest what Mysis had been saying should do any
mischief. This feigned consternation was calculated to strengthen
Chremes’ belief of the genuineness of the previous scene.
 NOTE 183.

This impudent wench ought to be taken hence and punished.

——Hanc jam oportet in cruciatum abripi.
The usual reading is cruciatum hinc abripi; but hinc cannot be
necessary to the sense, and spoils moreover the harmony of the
line. Neither of the two ancient manuscripts of Terence, in the royal
library at Paris, have hinc. There are a great many disputed readings
in the plays of Terence, which, by a reference to the various ancient
MSS. of our author now extant, might probably be determined. An
edition of the plays, regulated by the authority of these MSS., would
doubtless be highly serviceable. The most learned woman of her
age, Madame Dacier, whose translation of Terence is alone sufficient
to perpetuate his name and her own, in her preface to that
inestimable work, speaks at length, and in very high terms, of the
MSS. of Terence, in the library of his most Christian Majesty. She
expresses herself as follows: “I found in them (the MSS.) several
things which gave me the greatest pleasure, and which satisfactorily
prove the correctness of the most important alterations which I have
made in the text, as to the division of the acts, which is of great
consequence.” Madame D. reckons the MSS. to be eight or nine
hundred years old. Vide Madame Dacier’s Translation of Terence,
Edition of Rotterdam, 1717, Preface, page 38. Among the books
which his holiness Pope Sixtus V. caused to be removed to the
Bibliotheca Vaticana, which he placed in the old Vatican palace, or
the Palazzo Vecchio, there was a very curious MS. of the comedies of
Terence, which was particularly valued for the representation which
it contained of the personæ, or masks, worn by the ancient actors.
It was also extremely curious in other respects. Those who enjoy an
opportunity of consulting this MS. might derive much and very
profitable amusement from a perusal of it. If it still remain in Rome,
it may be seen, on application to the chief librarian, who is generally
a member of the sacred college. A very curious MS. of Virgil, of the
fourth century, written in the Literæ unciales, and Henry VIII.’s MS.
de Septem Sacramentis, were formerly shewn to strangers with the
before-mentioned MS. of Terence.

NOTE 184.
Davus.—That’s the bride’s father: I wished him to know all this; and
there was no other way to acquaint him with it.
Terence here (say the critics) obliquely praises himself, and the
art which he has displayed in this scene. The only scenes of a similar
nature, (I mean where the plot is carried on by a concerted
conversation intended to be overheard by some person who thinks it
genuine,) which are equal to this scene in the Andrian, are the ninth
scene of the second act, and the first scene of the third act of
Shakspeare’s comedy of Much Ado about Nothing.
The before-mentioned scene from the Andrian has been wholly
omitted by Sir R. Steele. Sealand does not renew his consent to the
marriage till the end of the fifth act.
M. Baron has introduced Crito earlier than he appears in the Latin
play, and closes the fourth act with Glycera’s appeal to Chremes; and
two subsequent scenes between Glycera, Mysis, Pamphilus, and
Davus. Glycera’s appeal to Chremes is extremely pathetic. It
concludes with the following lines:—
“Vous en qui je crois voir un protecteur, un père
Ne m’abandonnez pas à toute ma misère
En m’ôtant mon époux, vous me donnez la mort.
Vous pouvez d’un seul mot faire changer mon sort.
C’est donc entre vos mains qu’aujourd’hui je confie
Mon repos, mon honneur, ma fortune, et ma vie.”
Andrienne, A. IV. S. VIII.

NOTE 185.
Davus.—Do you think that a thing of this sort can be done as well by
premeditating and studying, as by acting according to the natural
impulse of the moment?
“It is an observation of Voltaire’s, in the Preface to his comedy of
L’Enfant Prodigue, that although there are various kinds of
pleasantry that excite mirth, yet universal bursts of laughter are
seldom produced, unless by a scene of mistake or æquivoque. A
thousand instances might be given to prove the truth of this
judicious observation. There is scarce any writer of comedy who has
not drawn from this source of humour. A scene, founded on a
misunderstanding between the parties, where the characters are all
at cross-purposes with each other, never fails to set the audience in
a roar; nor, indeed, can there be a happier incident in a comedy, if
produced naturally, and managed judiciously.
“The scenes in this act, occasioned by the artifice of Davus
concerning the child, do not fall directly under the observation of
Voltaire; but are, however, so much of the same colour, that, if
represented on the stage, they would, I doubt not, have the like
effect, and be the best means of confuting those infidel critics who
maintain that Terence has no humour. I do not remember a scene in
any comedy where there is such a natural complication of pleasant
circumstances. Davus’s sudden change of his intentions on seeing
Chremes, without having time to explain himself to Mysis; her
confusion and comical distress, together with the genuine simplicity
of her answers; and the conclusion drawn by Chremes from the
supposed quarrel; are all finely imagined, and directly calculated for
the purposes of exciting the highest mirth in the spectators. The
words of Davus to Mysis in this speech, “Is there then,” &c., have
the air of an oblique praise of this scene from the poet himself,
shewing with what art it is introduced, and how naturally it is
sustained. Sir Richard Steele had deviated so much from Terence in
the original construction of his fable, that he had no opportunity of
working this scene into it. Baron, who, I suppose, was afraid to
hazard it on the French theatre, fills up the chasm by bringing
Glycerium on the stage. She, amused by Davus with a forged tale of
the falsehood of Pamphilus, throws herself at the feet of Chremes,
and prevails on him once more to break off the intended match with
Philumena. In consequence of this alteration, the most lively part of
the comedy in Terence becomes the gravest in Baron: the artifice of
Davus is carried on with the most starch formality, and the whole
incident, as conducted in the French imitation, loses all that air of
ease and pleasantry, which it wears in the original.”—Colman.

NOTE 186.

A. IV. S. 10.—Crito. (to himself.) I am told, &c.

Crito is what Scaliger calls a catastatic character, because he is
the chief personage of the catastasis, (καταστασις,) vide Note 144,
and introduced for the purpose of leading the way to the
catastrophe of the piece.

NOTE 187.

Rather than live in honest poverty in her own country.

Quæ se inhonestè optavit parare hîc divitias
Potius, quàm in patriâ honestè pauper vivere
Some editors (vide Joan. Riveus) read this passage differently,
Quæ se inhonestè optavit parere hîc divitias
Potius, quàm in patriâ honestè paupera vivere.
Others, instead of Quæ se read Quæ sese: this is a very elegant
pleonasm.

NOTE 188.

That wealth, however, now devolves to me.

 The inhabitants of the island of Andros were subject to the
Athenian laws, which prohibited women from bequeathing by will
more than the value of a medimnum (μεδιμνον) of barley. The
medimnum was equal to four English pecks and a half. Therefore, as
Chrysis had not the power of bequeathing her property, Crito
claimed it as heir at law. The Athenian laws relating to wills were
very numerous, and very strict in guarding against an improper
appropriation of property. Slaves, foreigners, minors, and adopted
persons, as well as those who had male heirs, were, by the laws of
Solon, rendered incapable of making a will.
Those persons who had no offspring of their own, frequently
adopted the children of others, who inherited their estates.
Sometimes foreigners were adopted, after having received the
freedom of the city. A person who succeeded to the property of
another, as heir at law, was bound, under a heavy penalty, to take
care, (if on the spot,) that funeral honours were paid to the
deceased. This was reckoned a point of great importance: the
Greeks were willing to proceed to any extremity rather than suffer
their friends to want the rites of sepulture, as we see in Lucretius,
who describes the outrageous actions to which the people were
driven during a plague; when they committed acts of the greatest
violence, rather than permit their friends to want funeral honours.
“Multaque vis subita, et paupertas horrida suasit;
Namque suos consanguineos aliena rogorum,
Insuper instructa ingenti clamore locabant:
Subdebantque faces, multo cum sanguine sæpe
Rixantes, potiùs quam corpora deserentur.”
Lucretius.

Compelled by poverty to desperate deeds,

Their rage another’s funeral pile invades:
With furious shouts they rend his corse away,
Then to the pile their own dead friends convey.
They guard the spot, until the rising flames}
 Consume the load the lofty pile sustains,}
And fight, and bleed, and die, ere quit their loved remains.}

NOTE 189.

Mysis.—Bless me! whom do I see? Is not this Crito, the kinsman of

Chrysis? It is.

Quem video? estne hic Crito, sobrinus Chrysidis.

Sobrinus means literally a mother’s sister’s child, or what we call
in English, a maternal cousin-german: but this particularity is not
admissible in a translation.

NOTE 190.

Crito.—Alas! poor Chrysis is then gone.

Here is an additional instance of Terence’s infinite attention to
manners, and of his success in presenting to his readers a perfect
copy of the customs and habits of the Greeks. Crito, though he
alludes to the death of Chrysis, avoids any mention of death; and
breaks off in a manner which is infinitely more expressive than
words could have been. Some of the ancients, the Greeks in
particular, studiously avoided, as much as possible, any direct
mention of death, which they accounted to be ominous of evil; and
always spoke of human mortality, (when compelled to mention it,) in
soft and gentle expressions. They were even averse to write
θανατος, death, at full length; and not unfrequently expressed it by
the first letter θ; thus, if they wished to write down the circumstance
of any person’s decease, they wrote the name of the deceased, and
affixed to it the letter θ, vide Note 113, also Isidor. Hispal. Orig. B. 1.
C. 23. In breviculis, quibus militum nomina continebantur, propria
nota erat apud veteres, quæ respiceretur, quanti ex militibus
superessent, quanti in bello excidissent, τ in capite versiculi posita
superstitem designabat, θ verò ad unius cujusque defuncti nomen
adponebatur.

NOTE 191.
And the example of others will teach me what ease, redress, and
profit, I have to expect from a suit at law: besides, I suppose by
this time, she has some lover to espouse her cause.
Madame Dacier, in a brilliant and acute critique, has explained this
passage in a most perspicuous and comprehensive manner.
——Nunc me hospitem
Lites sequi, quam hîc mihi sit facile atque utile,
Aliorum exempla commonent.
“Présentement qu’un étranger comme moi aille entreprendre des
procès, les exemples des autres me font voir combien cela serait
difficile dans une ville comme celle-ci.”
“I have found, in a copy of Terence’s plays, a marginal note, in
my father’s hand-writing, to the following effect: Hunc locum non
satis potest intelligere qui librum Xenophontis περὶ Ἀθηναίων
πολιτείας non legerit. He who has not read the short treatise of
Xenophon on the civil government of the Athenians, can never
perfectly comprehend the full force of this passage. I profited by this
information: I have read this short treatise, and have been
extremely pleased with it: the trouble the perusal cost me has been
amply repaid, as I have ascertained by reading this treatise, that the
inhabitants of those cities and islands which were subject to the
Athenian government were obliged, when they had a suit at law
pending, to plead it in Athens, before the people: it could be decided
no where else. Crito, therefore, could not have expected impartial
judgment from that tribunal, which would certainly have favoured
Glycera, the reputed sister of Chrysis, who had settled in Athens, in
preference to a stranger like Crito. So much for the success of the
affair: next the delays are to be considered, which, to a stranger, are
so doubly annoying. For law-suits at Athens were protracted to an
almost endless length: the Athenians were such a very litigious
people, and had so many law-suits of their own, and celebrated so
many festivals, that they had very few days to spare, and the suits
of strangers were so lengthened out, and deferred from time to
time, that they were almost endless. In addition, moreover, to the
uncertainty, and the delay, there was a third inconvenience, still
more disagreeable than either of the others, which was, that in a
case of that kind, it became necessary to pay court to the people at
a great expense. Crito, therefore, had sufficient reason to feel
repugnant to engage in a process which might be so protracted and
so expensive, the event of which (to say no worse) was extremely
precarious. I hope I have rendered this passage perfectly clear.”—
Madame Dacier.

NOTE 192.
Chremes.—Cease your entreaties, Simo; enough, and more than
enough, have I already shewn my friendship towards you: enough
have I risked for you.
Monsieur Baron, in his Andrienne, has given a literal translation of
this scene between Simo and Chremes, which, from its serious cast,
appears, perhaps, with more dignity in a poetical dress, than it
would have received from prose. A learned translator of Terence,
who was also an ingenious critic and a successful dramatist, speaks
of Baron’s play in the following terms: “Its extreme elegance, and
great superiority to the prose translation of Dacier, is a strong proof
of the superior excellence and propriety of a poetical translation of
this author:” (Terence.) Colman’s Notes on Terence’s Plays.
The celebrated writer, who made this remark, has himself
employed verse throughout the whole of his translation of our
author’s plays: and, in the preface to that work, has delivered his
opinion very strongly in favour of the composition of comedy in
verse, even in the most comic scenes: and argues, that as Terence
wrote in verse, a translation of his plays ought to be in verse also.
I must observe that though the comedies of Terence certainly are
not prose, yet they are a species of verse so nearly approaching to
prose, that many eminent critics have denied that they were written
with any regard to measure: they are, therefore, as well calculated,
perhaps, as prose, for comic expression. But we have in English no
measure at all similar to that used by Terence, nor have we, in my
opinion, any measure of verse whatever, in which the most
humorous passages in comedy can be so forcibly expressed as they
may be in prose. The practice of modern dramatists entirely favours
this opinion. Our great Shakspeare, even in tragedy, changes from
verse to prose, when he introduces a comic scene, as we see in
Hamlet, A. 5. S. 1, 4., Coriolanus, A. 2. S. 1., Antony and Cleopatra,
A. 2. S. 6, 7, Othello, A. 2. S. 11, A. 3. S. 1. Could the wit of
Congreve, Farquhar, Cibber, Sheridan, and many other eminent
English dramatists (among whom I may number Mr. Colman
himself,) have been measured out into verse without a diminution of
the poignancy of its expression? If the answer to this question be, as
I think it must, in the negative, it must surely be decisive against the
general introduction of verse into comedies; a species of writing, in
which the ridiculous, according to Aristotle, ought to claim a principal
share.

NOTE 193.

A citizen of Athens.
Athens, the most celebrated city of Greece, was the capital of that
part of Achaia, which, lying towards the sea-shore, (ἀκτὴ,) was
called Attica. It was called Athens after Minerva, (vide Note 94,)
Cecropia after Cecrops, and Ionia after Ion. The circumference of
this city, at the time of its greatest prosperity, is computed at
twenty-three English miles. A much greater space was enclosed
within the walls than was required by the usual inhabitants of the
city, because, in time of war, the country people were compelled to
take refuge within the walls. Aristophanes tells us, (in his Knights,)
that these country people, in time of war, dwelt in huts, resembling
bee-hives in shape, which were erected in the squares, and other
open places.
This accounts for the magnitude of the city, so disproportionate to
the usual number of inhabitants in time of peace, when they did not
amount to a hundred thousand persons. Athens was governed by
kings for the space of 460 years: by magistrates, chosen for life,
during about 300 years more: after that time, their rulers were
allowed to hold their offices for ten years only; and, at last, for no
longer than one. The citadel, or upper city, which was called the
Ἀκρόπολις, was ornamented with the most magnificent temples,
monuments, and statues. It contained the temples of Minerva,
Neptune, Aglauros, Venus, and Jupiter. Dicearchus tells us, that the
enormous disproportion in the size of the temples which were
magnificent, and of the houses which were low and small,
considerably diminished the beauty of the city. Athens was
sometimes called the academy of the Roman empire, and the
fountain of learning: learned men, and philosophers of different
countries, resorted to this celebrated city in great numbers. The
Romans scarcely considered a liberal education as completed,
without the student received his final polish at Athens. (Vide Horace
Sat., B. 2. S. 7. L. 13., Pliny, 7. E. 56.) After a career of glory, which
must render the name of Athens immortal, that city sunk beneath
the all-conquering power of the Romans, B. C. 85; and the Athenians
never regained their importance in the scale of nations.
Athens is now called Setines; Dr. Chandler gives it the name of
Athini. It contains 15,000 inhabitants, and is the see of a Greek
archbishop.

NOTE 194.

There is a grave severity in his countenance; and he speaks with

 boldness.

Tristis severitas inest in voltu.

Gravity, among the ancient philosophers, was recommended as
one of the greatest ornaments of old age.
“Lætitia juvenem, frons decet tristis senem.”
Seneca. Hip., A. II. S. II.
Graceful is gaiety in youth: in age
Gravity most becomes us.
Old men, among the Greeks, sometimes affected the manners
and exercises of youth: a species of weakness which the literary
men of their age reprobated with very poignant ridicule.
Theophrastus admirably exposes people of this sort in his portraiture
of those who begin to learn in old age. (Vide Theoph. Moral
Characters.)

NOTE 195.

Simo.—Seize this rascal directly, and take him away.

——Sublimem hunc intrò rape quantum potes.

There is a sort of pun here upon the word sublimem. Terence
alludes to the prisons where slaves were confined, which, in Athens,
were usually in the loftiest part of the house: so that Simo says, take
him up, and also take him up to the top of the house: this is the
force of the word sublimem in this passage.
Slaves, in Greece, were treated with great indulgence, and never
chained but for some heinous fault, or when they were brought into
the slave-market, (vide Plautus’s Captives, A. 1. S. 2,) and then they
were only worn for a short time. As Simo here commands that
Davus should be put into chains, we are to suppose him to be
exasperated to the utmost, which naturally leads ad finem epitaseos,
to the end of the epitasis. The anger of Simo, the distress of
Pamphilus and Glycera, the imprisonment of Davus, and the anxious
suspense of Charinus, are what Scaliger (Poet, B. 1. C. 9.) calls the
negotia exagitata, or the confused and disturbed state of affairs,
which the catastrophe is to reduce in tranquillitatem non
expectatam, into a sudden and unexpected tranquillity.

NOTE 196.
Simo.—I’ll not hear a single word. I’ll ruffle you now, rascal, I will.
Davus.—For all that, what I say is true.
Simo.—For all that, Dromo, take care to keep him bound.
S. Nihil audio. Ego jam te commotum reddam.

D. Tamen etsi hoc verum est.

S. Tamen. Cura adservandum vinctum.
The word commotum seems to have been imperfectly understood
by Donatus and some other commentators, who have interpreted it
as signifying motion; and would translate the line thus, “I’ll make
you caper! I’ll make you dance to some tune, sirrah!” which is
extremely foreign to its true meaning. Simo uses the phrase
commotum reddam instead of commovebo, for the sake of a pun
which Terence makes with the word reddam: which cannot be
perfectly preserved in English.
In the seventh scene of the second act, Davus jests upon the
empty larder, and says,
Indeed, Sir, I think you are too frugal: it is not well timed.
Simo is quite nettled at this severe joke, which leads him to think
his stratagem discovered, and he cries out Tace: hold your tongue;
upon which, Davus, delighted with his success in tormenting his
master, says to himself Commovi, I’ve ruffled him now. Simo
accidentally overhears this, and most severely retorts on him his
own expression,
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