Greeks. manu, i.e. mea, by my deeds, regarding such a death as the reward of valor. On this line compare St. Beuve, Nouv. Corresp. p. 356

et seq.

434. caderem (§ 331, a; G. 546; H. 498, i.).

436. Ulixi (genitive, § 43, a; G. 72; H. 68), given by Ulysses. 437. protinus, (farther) on. - vocati, agreeing with the subject of divellimur, summoned.

438. hic vero, compare tum vero, v. 105 and note.

of cernimus. ceu...

pugnam, obj.

.. forent, as if there were no fighting elsewhere (§ 312; G. 604; H. 513, ii.). Compared with this the others were not fights at all.

441. acta testudine, the regular way of assault on a fortified place: compare Cæsar, B. G. ii. 6. There are two distinct attacks, one to scale the walls and one to burst in the gates. One of these is represented in Fig. 68. - ruentis refers to the scaling party, testudine to the other. The defence to the former is in v. 445, etc., to the latter in v. 449; compare v. 479 et seq.

442. haerent, cling, by hooks (crows) at the end: scaling-ladders were really an invention of later time. - parietibus (§ 227, e; G. 346, R.2; H. 385, 4).-postis sub ipsos, close at the very gateway, instead of being repulsed from afar.- an advantage they have gained.

443. gradibus, steps or rounds of the ladders (abl. of means). 444. protecti, shielding themselves; fastigia, battlements, or (more accurately) the projecting top of the wall.

445. tota culmina, whole masses of roof.

446. his telis, with these as missiles.- quando, and therefore there was no use in sparing the house.

448. decora alta, etc., those high adornments of our fathers.

449. alii, opposed to those in v. 445. — imas = below, in contrast to the fight at the battlements.

450. obsedere fores, i.e. the defenders stand so as to block the great doors which open inward. See § 228, a.

451. instaurati animi, our courage is refreshed (at the sight of this resistance).- succurrere, depending on the idea of admonition or suggestion in instaurati, etc. (§ 331, g; G. 424, R.4; H. 535, iv.).

Fig. 69.

453. pervius usus tectorum= usitata via per tecta, a well-worn passage: a rear way, by which Æneas goes up. inter se, i.e. connecting them with each other.

mus.

458. evado, I pass up and out. 460. turrim, obj. of convelliin praecipiti, i.e. at the very edge of the wall. - summis tectis, from the top of the roof. We may imagine it raised from the wall, and flush with the front, as in the machicolated tower of a palace at Florence. (See Fig. 69.)

463. adgressi ferro, i.e. with crowbars and other tools of iron. In this and the following verses, to v. 467, the spondees and dactyls may well represent, first, the slow effort, then the sudden toppling over and swift fall of the turret.

summa tabulata,

the upper flooring (compare Cæsar, B. G. vi. 29) showed weak fastenings to apply the leverage, i.e. where the tower and the roof join.

464. altis, i.e. on the wall.

465. ruinam trahit, falls in ruin; properly, carries with it a mass of ruins.

Compare Hote to v. 310.

469. Pyrrhus, or Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, who was sent for after his father's death. The Scyria pubes (v. 477) are the youth of Scyros, the kingdom of his grandfather Lycomedes, where he has been in retirement. Here begins the detailed account of the attack on the door, though it is interrupted by the action of Periphas (v. 476).

471. in lucem, construed with convolvit terga, rolls forth his slimy body to the light (compare a similar image in Il. xxii. 93-95; Bry. 118). — mala gramina pastus: poisonous plants would be more rank and po tent in early spring.

472. tumidum, swelling with venom.

473. positis exuviis, having shed his old skin: an image of renewing one's youth which often occurred to ancient fancy.

475. arduus ad solem, raising his head to the sunshine.

478. succedunt tecto, come up to the house and try to set fire, while Pyrrhus attacks the door itself.

479. correpta bipenni, grasping a battle-axe. 480. perrumpit, vellit, is trying to burst and wrench, by repeated efforts (descriptive); cavavit, dedit (perf. definite, taking a new point of view), has cut through the beams and made a vast orifice. — postis, the frame of the door. - cardine: we must imagine a pivot-hinge let into the upper and lower casing. (See Fig. 70.)

482. robora, the wood of the door itself. An

Fig. 70.

entrance, however, is not yet effected, but only an aperture made. · (abl. of quality).

ore

483. atria longa: in this description, the general arrangements of a Roman house are apparently kept in view. (See Fig. 71, and compare the Grecian house, Fig. 72.)

485. vident, i.e. the invaders can now see the defenders (armatos). - in limine primo, i.e. those nearest the outside.

487. plangoribus femineis ululant, echo with the shrieks of women (§ 190; G. 360, R.1). — plangoribus properly refers to the beating of the breast, but is also used of other sounds of grief as well.- - cavae aedes, i.e. the interior, where were apartments, apparently for the women, ranged like cloisters about an open court, probably the second one (peristyle).

490. postis, pillars. -- oscula, kisses of farewell (cf. Lucr. i. 316).

2

3

5

9

491. patria, of his father (§ 190). - claustra, bolts and bars, material obstructions. - custodes, human defenders.

492. ariete (three syllables), battering-ram: i.e. the assailants are bursting open the door with a heavy beam. crebro, not many rams, but repeated blows of one.

480.

493. cardine, compare note to v.

494. fit via, i.e. the door yields. rumpunt, they force.

495. milite, cf. v. 20.

496. non sic, i.e. not so violently. amnis: compare the description in Lucr. i. 281.

497. moles, dikes, etc.

500. caede (abl. of manner).

501. centum nurus, used indefinitely of Priam's daughters, and the wives of his fifty sons (see Introd. P. 34). Priamum, his death is here only stated in general, inasmuch as Virgil gives the details later,

v. 506.

503. illi, see § 102, b; G. 292, 2; H. 450, 4; but the literal translation will give the same idea. - thalami, chambers.

504. barbarico, i.e. of the East. Æneas here speaks from a Roman point of view. Comp. ope barbarica, used by Ennius of the same palace. 506. forsitan, etc., compare G. ii. 288. - requiras (§ 311, a; G. 250; H. 485): this particular construction with forsitan (fors-sit-an) is properly an indirect question, but its origin had probably been forgotten, so that it may best be represented by the English potential.

507. casum, downfall.

508. limina, doors.

medium, more lively than mediis, as agree

ing with hostem, but it is required also by the metre.

510. circumdat umeris (dat., § 225, d), binds upon his shoulders. - ferrum (§ 240, c, N.; G. 332, R.; II. 377).

511. cingitur (§ 111, N.'; G. 209; H. 465).

512. nudo sub aetheris axe, under the open canopy of heaven (see v. 487): in a Roman house, the Penates were kept by the family hearth and altar, in the atrium, or principal hall, but not in the open air; here, however, is apparently meant a great hall or court, which had a larger opening than the atrium, and contained a garden, or at least a tree or two. (See Fig. 71.) Virgil could hardly have in mind a Roman atrium, for the open part was occupied by a sort of cistern, impluvium, and could not be occupied by the Penates; nor could he exactly mean the front court of a Greek house, in the centre of which was the altar of ZɛÙÇ EpεLog; but probably had in his mind a vague mixture of the two, something like the Roman peristyle. There was a legend, however, that Pyrrhus was slain on the altar at Delphi because he had himself violated the altar of Zeug by the murder of Priam.

515. nequiquam, vainly: it was no defence.

516. tempestate, ablative of means depending on the idea of "driven" contained in praecipites (driven headlong).

518. ipsum, even him (aged as he was).

519. mens tam dira, so dreadful a thought.

520. cingi, reflexive; see note, v. 511.

521. non tali auxilio: i.e. prayers, not arms, must be our refuge. 522. non si, no, not if, etc., sc. egeret, see § 308; G. 599; H. 510. 523. tandem, pray : a word of entreaty or impatience, used here as in questions.

528. porticibus longis, through the long colonnades. The fight had occurred at the door, and Polites flies towards the back of the house. infesto volnere, threatening to wound him.

530. iam iamque tenet, is just about to grasp, and closes on him