seed was sown, but sometimes even after it. Very frequently, however, where the soil was more dense and heavy than usual, four ploughings were deemed requisite, viz. 1, towards the end of autumn; 2, in the following spring; 3, in the summer; 4, in the succeeding autumn. This was done, to use the words of Theophrastus (Causs. Plant. iii. 25), ὅπως χειμασθῇ και ἡλιωθῇ ἡ γῆ; i. e. that the soil might be rendered mellow and friable by exposure to the cold and heat. That both practices prevailed among the Greeks may be inferred from Theocr. xxv. 25: τριπόλοις σπόρον ἐν νειοῖσιν Εσθ ̓ ὅτε βάλλοντες, καὶ τετραπόλοισιν ὁμοίως. It is to the latter practice that Virgil evidently alludes; for by this means the land bis frigora sensit, viz. in the first and fourth ploughing, and bis solem sensit, viz. in the second and third. We have also the authority of Pliny (xviii. 20) for thus interpreting the passage: QUARTO seri SULCO (i. e. quartâ aratione), Virgilius existimatur voluisse, cum dixit optimam esse segetem, quæ bis solem, bis frigora sensit. Some commentators contend that Virgil's recommendation is, that the land should be allowed to lie fallow for two whole years; but it is not of fallows he is speaking here, but of the operation of "ploughing." 49. Illius, scil. segetis, "of that land," as is plain from the anaphora, ILLA seges...ILLIUS immensæ, &c.-FORB. Many refer illius to agricolæ. Ruperunt, dopiσTIKŵs, for rumpere solent, or rumpunt. Compare Geo. i. 287, ii. 494, iv. 212. 50-59. Before attempting the tillage of land, we should make ourselves acquainted with the climate of the district, the nature of the soil, and its habitual cultivation. 50. Ac prius, &c., "and before we cut with the share a soil whose nature is unknown." The poet speaks of land "recently" purchased, or otherwise acquired. If Gibbon's conjecture-that the Georgics were written principally for the purpose of reconciling the turbulent spirits of the newly-settled veterans (see note on Geo. ii. 198) to the calm and peaceful pursuits of agriculture-be kept in view while reading the poem, the propriety of many terms and precepts will become more manifest. Equor, any plane surface, Geo. i. 97, ii. 105; Æn. v. 456, &c. 51. Ventos, &c., "let it be our care to acquire a previous knowledge of (prædiscere) the winds and the diverse temperatures of the atmosphere." Ventos; i. e. the winds prevalent in the district. Varium; i. e. "varying in different places." Cœli morem; i. e. aëris naturam, temperiem.-HEYNE. Two-thirds of Italy consist of hills and mountains. Owing to this circumstance, from its internal lakes and marshes, and from its being nearly surrounded by sea, no country, for the extent, was more subject to various and inconstant climature. Hence the importance of the precept given in the text.-STAWELL. 52. Ac patrios cultusque habitusque locorum, "and the modes of culture and the peculiarities of that soil which has fallen to your lot." -WAGN. The usual translation refers patrios to cultus only; but thus the reading should be patrios cultus habitusque locorum, which, in fact, is found in several MSS., and approved of by Heyne. All MSS. of the highest authority, however, sanction the reading in the text, which, by the repetition of que, shows that patrios belongs both to habitus and cultus; and therefore Wagner and Forbiger regard the construction as poetic for cultusque habitusque locorum patriorum, considering locorum patriorum equivalent to locorum, quæ quisque colenda accepit: an in stance of an adjective not agreeing with the noun with which it is in sense connected. Compare Ecl. ix. 46: Daphni, quid ANTIQUOS SIGNORUM suspicis ortus. See also Geo. i. 211, iv. 267; En. i. 169, iii. 411, v. 375, and xii. 190. This usage of patrios, however, is artificial and unsatisfactory. PATRIOS cultusQUE habitusQUE locorum is evidently equivalent to ET PATRIOS cultus ET PATRIOS habitus locorum; and by patrios cultus the poet meant "the system of cultivation peculiar to each country or district," and by patrios habitus "the qualities and capabilities of soil peculiar to each country or district," cultus being=colendi rationem and habitus ingenium agri. The sentence may be rendered thus: "and both the systems of cultivation and the capabilities of soil peculiar to the land." Voss, with the old editors, explains patrios cultus as meaning "the mode of culture handed down from our ancestors;" but this interpretation is justly condemned by Wagner, since Virgil does not hereafter make the slightest allusion to the agriculture of preceding ages, unless to censure it. Wagner remarks the ὕστερον πρότερον in cultusque habitusque, since it is a knowledge of the peculiar properties and capabilities of soils (habitus) that enables us to ascertain the mode of culture (cultus) suited to each. 53. Quid quæque ferat regio, either, "what each region may pro. duce," HEYNE and FORB.; or, "what mode of culture each region may endure." Compare Plin. xviii. 20, 47: In omni quidem parte cultura...valet oraculum id: 'quid quæque regio PATIATUR.'-Quid quæque recuset, scil. ferre. 54. Veniunt for proveniunt, crescunt, "grow;" comp. Geo. ii. 11. 55. Arborei fetus; lit. "the produce of trees," poet. for arbores. Compare Geo. ii. 69, nucis...fetu, for nuce; and Geo. ii. 3, prolem... olive, for oleam. Fetus. This is the correct orthography, the root of the word being the obsolete feo, i. q. púw. Hence we should always write fetus, effetus, fenus, fecundus, femina, &c., and not, as formerly, foetus, effuetus, foenus, fœcundus, fœmina, &c. Atque, scil. alibi, which is to be supplied from the preceding clause; "and elsewhere grasses, unbidden, spring in verdure," alluding to natural pastures. Compare Géo. ii. 219. Injussa; i. e. sponte. 56. Nonne vides, (6 see you not?" In prose, videre ut is always followed by the Subjunctive mood, but in poetry the Indicative is admissible, as in the present instance. Compare Geo. iii. 250; Ecl. v. 6. -FORB. Croceos......odores, "saffron odours," poet. for crocum odoratum, "the odoriferous saffron." Compare Geo. iv. 264. Tmolus (hod. Bouz-dagh), a mountain of “LYDIA," in Asia Minor, famed for its wine (vid. Geo. ii. 98), its walnuts, chestnuts, citrons (Theophr. Hist. Plant. iv. 6), and also for its saffron, as appears from this passage, and from Colum. iii. 8, 4. But the ancients obtained their best saffron from the Corycian promontory (see note on Geo. iv. 127) in Cilicia; and hence, by a common error, Tmolus is placed in Cilicia. The mountain is placed here for the country. 57. India mittit ebur, because abounding in elephants. Mittit; i. e. exportat, "exports." Molles, åßpoí, “ effeminate,” the constant epithet of the Asiatics. Compare Dionys. Perieg. 968: åßpußíwv ’Apáßwv yévos. Sua tura, “their own frankincense;" i. e. the frankincense peculiar to their soil. The ancients believed that frankincense was produced only in Arabia Felix; hence Geo. ii. 117, solis est turea virga Sabais. Tus or thus, Ouds, "frankincense," the resin of a tree or shrub that grows chiefly in Arabia. Sabai; i. e. the inhabitants of Saba, a district and sea-port of Arabia Felix=YEMEN. 58. Chalybes, Xáλußes, a people in Pontus, in Asia Minor, inhabiting the eastern and southern shore of the Euxine Sea, above Armenia, and in the neighbourhood of the river Thermōdon. They were celebrated among the ancients as manufacturers of steel and workers in iron. Vid. Xen. Anab. iv. 7, 15; and compare Eschyl. Pr. 17, of σionpoτέκτονες Χάλυβες. Some critics contend that the name of this people was derived from xáλv (chalybs), "steel;" but it is much more probable that that preparation of iron obtained its name from the country whence it was exported. Nudi; i. e. xol, "lightly clad," as suited those engaged in the laborious employment of forging iron. Compare En. viii. 425, nudus membra Pyracmon. The molles Sabæi are contrasted with the nudi Chalybes: the former epithet indicating a luxurious and effeminate people; the latter, a laborious and hardy Pontus, a country of Asia Minor, south of the Euxine Sea, and famous for producing drugs of great efficacy. Compare Ecl. viii. 95: race. Has herbas, atque hæc Ponto mihi lecta venena Virosa; i. e. graveolentia, “strong-smelling," ""offensive."-HEYNE. 60-63. That different lands should require different modes of culture, and should yield different products, was originally ordained by nature. 60. Continuo has leges, &c., "these laws and everlasting covenants nature originally imposed upon certain lands, even when Deucalion first cast over the unpeopled world the stones, whence men were generated, a hard-working race." Continuo; i. e. statim a rerum initio, "originally," "from the very outset." Jahn and Forbiger contend that continuo is to be connected with quo tempore in the next verse; so that the sense should be statim illo tempore, quo, &c., or eo ipso tempore, quo, &c., "at the very time, when, &c." Has leges, "these laws;" i. e. the laws implied in the preceding verses; viz. that particular lands should yield particular products, and consequently require particular modes of culture. Has leges æternaque fœdera, for has leges et HEC fu dera æterna. Foedera; i. e. conditiones. Comp. Æn. i. 62. 61. Deucalion.-According to the Greek legend, the whole world having been covered by the waters of a deluge, Deucalion (the son of Prometheus and king of Thessaly), and his wife Pyrrha were the only two of the human race saved. Having applied to the oracle at Delphi for advice as to how the world might be repeopled, they were directed to throw behind them the bones of their mother; that is, the stones of the earth, the common mother of all. This having been done, the stones thrown by Deucalion became men, and those by Pyrrha, women. Hence the play upon words in the Greek derivation of Aads, "people," from Aaas, "a stone." Vacuum, "empty," "unpeopled," the world having been depopulated by the deluge. 62. Durum genus; i. e. a race born for hard toil, as having been generated from the hard stones. Compare Pindar. ix. 71, λίθινον γόνον, and Ovid. Met. i. 414: Inde genus durum sumus, experiensque laborum; The durities generis humani is differently accounted for in Æn. viii. 315. 63-70. Rich, heavy soils should be ploughed deep, and in the very commencement of the year; but poor, thin soils should be ploughed lightly, and not until the rising of Arcturus; that is the beginning of September. 63. Ergo age, &c.-The poet, after a parenthesis, here resumes the subject which he commenced in verse 43 sqq. 64. Pingue solum, "the soil if rich." Pingue is the emphatic word in the sentence. Primis extemplo a mensibus anni, "beginning at once with the first months of the year;" the sanie as vere novo in verse 43. 65. Fortes invertant, &c.-The spondaic feet of this verse seem to have been purposely employed to describe the labour of the oxen in ploughing the rich and heavy soil.-Voss. Glabasque jacentes, &c., "and let the dusty summer bake with its mature sunbeams the upturned clods." 66. Maturis solibus.-The reference is to the heat of midsummer, when the sun may be said to be maturus; i. e. to have attained his greatest power:-MATURI soles, quasi ADULTI, åkμášovteS.—WAGN. Compare the expression of Petronius, solis ADULTI. Facciolati explains maturis here as used in the sense of maturantibus. Solibus. The plural implies great intensity of heat, as umbræ denotes " 'a dense shade" in Ecl. x. 76.-FORB. See postea, verse 393. 67. At si non fuerit tellus fecunda, "but if the land should not be rich ;" i. e. if it be a poor thin soil. The particle at serves to mark the opposition between this verse and verse 64. Vid. Quæst. Virg. Xxxiv. § 1. Sub ipsum Arcturum, "just before the rising of Arcturus itself;" i. e. even so late as the rising of Arcturus, which, according to Columella, took place on the Nones (i. e, the 5th) of September. Respecting Arcturus see note on ver. 204. 68. Tenui sat erit suspendere sulco, "it will be sufficient to raise it up with a light furrow." Suspendere, scil. aratrum, opposed to deprimere aratrum (verse 45), and therefore leviter proscindere. = Offi 69. Illic, "in the former case;" i. e. in pingui solo, ver. 64. ciant lætis ne frugibus herbæ. Compare Geo. ii. 251. Herbæ used absolutely for herbæ inutiles; i. e. "weeds." A 70. Hic, "in the latter case; " i. e. in tellure non fecundâ, ver. 67. poor thin soil must be ploughed lightly, and late in the year, because if it were ploughed deeply, and in the spring, it would be too much parched by the heat of the summer sun. Exiguus...humor, "the scanty moisture," the little moisture it naturally possesses. Sterilem ...arenam, "the sterile, sandy soil."-FORB. But it may be a prolepsis for exiguus ne deserat humor arenam, ita ut sterilis fiat. See notes on verse 44, and Geor. ii. 219. 71-93. The land should be renovated, either (1) by suffering it to lie fallow every second year, verses 71, 72; or (2) by an alternation of crops, and an unsparing application of manure, verses 73-83; or (3) by burning the stubble, verses 84-93. 71. Alternis, scil. vicibus or annis. Compare verse 79. Idem... patiere; i. e. porro patiere, you will also suffer."-HEYNE. Tonsas; i. e. demessas," after having been reaped;" i. e. after having produced their crop. Compare verse 290. Cessare, "to lie fallow." Novales, scil. terras. The word is properly an adjective, but generally the neuter novale (scil. arvum), or the masculine novalis (scil. ager), is used. Three significations are attached to the term. It denotes, 1st, Fallow land; i. e, land allowed to remain idle (cessare) every second year, that it may thus be renewed or refreshed. This is the original and proper signification. Compare Plin. xviii. 49, 2, Novale est, quod alternis annis seritur. 2nd, Land ploughed for the first time after being cleared of trees; such land as is described in Geor. ii. 207-211. Heyne states this to be the original meaning of the word, but erroneously. 3rd, Cultivated land in general, as in Ecl. i. 71, Impius hæc tam culta novalia miles habebit? i. e. hos tam cultos AGROS. Compare also Juv. Sat. xiv. 148. Of these meanings the last appears to be the most suitable to the present passage, which may therefore be translated thus: "You will also permit your lands, after having produced their crop, to lie idle every second year;" i. e. to lie fallow. The first meaning, however, is here assigned to the word by some commentators; but thus the phrase must be regarded as a prolepsis (Geor. ii. 219, note); for it is from the circumstance of being suffered to lie idle every second year that lands are constituted novales. 72. Segnem...campum, "the exhausted ground;" i. e. weakened by the previous crop. Situ, "by repose," =otio, cessatione. Durescere for requiescere,-the effect for the cause. As durus may mean "hardy," "strong," durescere may signify "to become hardy," "6 acquire strength." to 73 sqq. Aut ibi, &c., "or, the season being changed (mutato sidere),. you will sow the yellow corn in that land from which (ibi unde) you shall have previously removed the prolific pulse with rattling pods, or the tiny produce of the vetch, and the brittle stem and rustling crop |