He did not like to depend on statesmen's promises, which are proverbially uncertain of fulfilment; he as little liked to retrench; and he was wearied of parliament, where he had never given any but silent votes.
But, although the legend is first told in Alexandrian times, the "cry of Hylas" occurs long before as the "Mysian cry" in Aeschylus (Persae, 1054), and in Aristophanes (Plutus, 1127) "to cry Hylas" is used proverbially of seeking something in vain.
But the phrase "Campanian arrogance" seems to have been used proverbially for "gasconade"; and, as there was a plebeian gens Naevia in Rome, it is quite as probable that he was by birth a Roman citizen.
Brewing is an industry of exceptional vigour, Edinburgh ale being proverbially good.
On the other hand the lack of good harbours hindered its maritime development; and the Boeotian nation, although it produced great men like Pindar, Epaminondas, Pelopidas and Plutarch, was proverbially as dull as its native air.