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[4-6]

Chapter 1
The Greshams of Greshamsbury

Duke of Omnium
With "Omnium" translated from the Latin, his name becomes "Duke of All."  Since the duke is first introduced as a sort of generic character rather than a developed one, it is fitting that his name reflects the one thing we know about him:  his high status and power.  [JC]

Fate
Trollope names both Fate and the Duke of Wellington as the two beings most responsible for the passage of the Reform Bill (1832), which divided his fictional Barsetshire into two separate counties: East and West Barsetshire.  The personification of Fate here, though not extended, is classically rooted.  Classical literature often portrays Fate, Rumor, Strife and other such phenomena as minor deities with a great deal of control over humans and, sometimes, even over the major deities.  This is similar to the way in which Fate (aided by the Duke of Wellington, of course) is able to split Barsetshire into two separate counties.  [JC]

Halcyon days
In describing the history of Francis Gresham Sr., Trollope uses the phrase "halcyon days" to refer to the period before his financial troubles had begun, when his father was still alive, his son had just been born, and he still served as the member for Barsetshire.  The phrase itself, used to refer to a period of tranquility, has a very interesting classical heritage.  Myth (for instance, Ovid's Metamorphoses Book 11) recounts that when Ceyx, husband of Alcyone drowned to death, his wife was so distraught that she jumped into the ocean to drown herself as well.  The gods took pity on her and instead of letting her die, turned the couple into a pair of kingfishers (alkyōn in Greek).  The gods also stopped the winds for a fortnight over the winter solstice, which is the kingfisher's breeding time.  As a result, any period of joyful calm can be referred to as "halcyon days." 
Columbia Encyclopedia, 6^th ed.  [JC]

Gresham's classical daughters
Of Mr. Gresham's six named daughters, five have names with classical roots: Selina, Helena, Sophy, Beatrice, and Augusta.  Selina comes from the Greek Selene, which was the name of the moon goddess.  Helena is the Latinate form of Helen, the name of the mythological character whose abduction started the Trojan War.  Sophy is a shortened form of the name Sophia, which comes from the Greek word for "wisdom."  Beatrice is the Italian form of the Latin name Beatrix which is an altered form of the name Viatrix, meaning "voyager."  Augusta is a feminine form of the name held by the first Roman emperor and means "venerable."  While most of the girls' names seems to be rather arbitrary, Augusta's does seem to have been chosen to suit her personality.  She seems to have more of her mother's De Courcy blood than any of her other siblings, and certainly has an idea that her blood entitles her to respect.  She also has a very Roman attitude towards her engagement with Mr. Moffat, agreeing to it in order to do her duty to her family although she has no particular fondness for her fiancé.  Mike Campbell, 
http://www.behindthename.com  [JC]

Venus and Apollo
Trollope is discussing the lack of beauty in the De Courcy family.  He describes the family as people who are almost above being plain, but who are in possession of no great beauty, either.  As Venus and Apollo are the two deities most associated with beauty in women and men, respectively, he makes his point by noting that these two deities have had no hand in shaping whatever features the De Courcys have.  [JC]

Savages with clubs
The guardians of the Gresham estate seem to be figures based on images of Heracles, if they are not meant to be Heracles himself.  The mythical hero was often portrayed with a club, and, having existed in a time before Christianity could be thought of as a pagan or "savage."  [JC]

Doric columns
Doric is an order of columns found in early Greek temples.  The design was very simple, a column topped with a rectangular piece of stone where it connected to the roof of the temple.  Greek-style columns were (and still are, to some degree) a popular ornament for upper-class homes (as well as government buildings), so it is not surprising that the portal to the Gresham estate would include them.  It is significant, however, that they chose to use the simplest style as opposed to the significantly more ornate Ionic or Corinthian columns which one would probably expect to see on the De Courcy estate. 
See Doctor Thorne Chapter 19 for the Ionic columns of Gatherum Castle.  [JC]

Chapter 2
Long, Long Ago

Galen
Galen was an ancient physician from Pergamum.  He was born in 129 C.E. and likely died in the year 199 C.E.  He was well educated.  He studied in Smyrna and Alexandria before returning to practice medicine in Pergamum.  He settled in Rome around the year 161.  He served four emperors and wrote numerous treatises on medicine.  His knowledge acted as the foundation for subsequent medical learning in the Middle Ages.  Galen was a distinguished physician during his time.  Dr. Thorne is referred to as a Galen in a somewhat mocking but affectionate way by Trollope.  He is no Galen in truth but only a modest country doctor.
Encarta Electronic Encyclopedia 2006
OCD  [TH]

Ichor 
Ichor is the blood of the gods in Greek mythology.  (It is mentioned in Book 5 of Homer's Iliad when Aphrodite is wounded in the wrist by Diomedes while she rescues her son, Aeneas.)  Dr. Thorne has noble blood; his heritage sets him apart from others.  For this reason Trollope uses the word ichor in describing his blood.  Ichor is also used in reference to the blood of the Ullathorne Thornes in Barchester Towers Chapter 22. 
Encarta Electronic Encyclopedia 2006
OED  [TH]

Omnium family
Dr. Thorne is described as having a purer ichor than the Omnium family.  Omnium means "of all people."  If we understand "omnium" in its literal Latin sense, Trollope could be covertly saying that Dr. Thorne's blood is purer than everyone else's.  [TH]

Scatcherd, his sister, and Henry Thorne
When Mary Scatcherd was supposedly engaged to a respectable tradesman, Roger Scatcherd bragged to his drinking companion, Henry Thorne, that his sister was beautiful and that the marriage suited his ambitions.  After such remarks about Mary Scatcherd, Henry Thorne decided to pursue her and even offered marriage.  In the end he left her pregnant and without a husband.  In revenge for her being so publicly dishonored, Roger Scatcherd killed Henry Thorne.  This story follows a familiar pattern.  In Book 1 of his history of Rome, Livy gives an account of Lucretia, the wife of Collatinus, who was dishonored by Sextus Tarquinius.  One night while at a party Collatinus bragged before the assemblage that his wife was more virtuous than all the rest.  The men set out to see if this were true.  While the other wives the assembled men were found engaged in parties with acquaintances, Lucretia was found with wool work and her maids assembled around her.  Sextus Tarquinius later returns to Lucretia and through coercion sleeps with her.  She kills herself in front of her husband and family after explaining that Tarquin had forced her to have sex with him.  In addition she exacts a pledge from those present that they take revenge for her on Sextus Tarquinius.  Like Lucretia, Mary Scatcherd is dishonored through dishonest means after her quality was established in the presence of a corrupt but prominent man.  Both women are then publicly placed in a position of dishonor which leads members of their families to take revenge upon the offending man.  Unlike Lucretia, though, Mary is not actually raped but is seduced by promises of marriage.  Mary, also, does not go to the extreme of killing herself when faced with potential shame nor does she desire her brother to take out revenge.  Instead, Roger Scatcherd does so on his own, and Mary Thorne moves to America.  [TH]

Chapter 3
Dr. Thorne

Sons of Aesculapius
Latin form of the name Asklepios, a Greek hero later revered as a god of medicine and healing.  He was the son of Apollo and a mortal woman named Coronis, but became immortal himself after being killed by Zeus for reviving the dead with his medicinal skill, something only a god should have been able to do.  Trollope refers to Dr. Thorne's fellow doctors as the "children of Aesculapius."
Cassell's Dictionary of Classical Mythology; the Meridian Handbook of Classical Mythology  [JM]

Materia medica
Latin, "medical material."  Dr. Thorne earns the disdain of his medical colleagues by actually making medicine rather than just experimenting with materia medica; he is seen as being more concerned with money than with the intellectual side of his career.  [JM]

Toga of silence
Trollope uses the quintessential garment of the Roman citizen to symbolize a dignified resistance to public attack.  Dr. Fillgrave, however, is unable to stayed wrapped in a toga of silence, and he engages in a public struggle with Dr. Thorne, conducted through newspaper letters.  [JM & RR]

Genius
A genius for a Roman would have been a minor divinity charged with the guardianship of a person or place.  Mary Thorne is to be the genius of Dr. Thorne's home, newly and pleasantly refurbished in preparation of her coming.  [JM]

Drops falling, if they fall constantly, will bore through a stone
In Latin:  Gutta cavat lapidem (Ovid, Epistulae Ex Ponto 4.10.5)Mr. Gresham and Dr. Thorne are fast friends, despite Lady Arabella's disdain for the doctor; but over time she manages to weaken their relationship, as drops hollow stone.  [JM]

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