"White with sulphureous waters." The waters of the Nar, now Nera, were of a whitish hue, on account of their sulphureous character, and Eustace still applies to the modern stream the epithet of milky." Servius says that nar meant "sulphur" in the language of the Sabines. The Nar separated Umbria from the Sabine territory, and emptied into the Tiber after receiving the waters of the Velinus. -Fontesque Velini. The Velinus, now Velino, was in the Sabine country, and one of the tributaries of the Nar.

519. Buccina. "The horn." Equivalent here to cornu. The buccina, strictly speaking, was a kind of horn trumpet, anciently made out of a shell. It nearly resembled in shape the shell buccinum.

521. Indomiti. "Hardy." Equivalent merely to duri; or, as Heyne explains it, “qui atteri nequeunt aut frangi ac fatigari laboribus et ærumnis."-523. Direxere acies. "They have marshalled their (respective) lines." The perfect indicates rapidity of action.-525. Sed ferro ancipiti decernunt. "But they contend with the doubtful steel." So Wagner, who refers the words ferro ancipiti to the equality of arms on both sides, and the doubtful conflict thence resulting.Atraque late horrescit, &c. "And far and wide a deadly crop of drawn swords begins to bristle on the view."

528. Primo vento. "With the rising wind."-530. Consurgit. "It towers aloft." Literally, "it rises with all its energy." Observe the force of cum in composition.

532. Tyrrhei. To be pronounced as a dissyllable, instead of Tyrrhěi from a nominative Tyrrheus, which is not to be confounded with the form Tyrrheus, occurring in line 485, and which makes the genitive in eos.-Maximus. "The oldest." Supply natu.-Almo. A rarer form than Almon, as given in the common text. Sosipater, the grammarian, says that no Latin word terminates in on.-533. Vulnus. "The wound-inflicting shaft.”—Et udæ vocis iter, &c. "And choked with blood the passage of the humid voice, and the slender-breathings of life." The epithet udo is applied to the voice, in allusion to the humid passage along which the voice travels. The ordinary form of expression would be udum vocis iter.

535. Corpora multa. Supply sternuntur.-Seniorque Galasus. Supply sternitur.-536. Dum paci se medium offert. While he offers himself as a mediator for peace."-Justissimus unus. Consult note on ii. 426.—538. Balantum. Supply ovium.-Quina. For quinque. The poets often use the distributives for the common numerals.— Redibant. "Returned home from the pasture," i. e. were wont to return day after day.

540. Equo marte, i. e. with equal fortune, neither side as yet proving superior to the other. These words apply merely to the early stage of the fight, at which period Alecto takes her departure, having sufficiently embroiled the combatants, and sown the seeds of war. There is no need, therefore, of Markland's emendation, savo marte, as suggested by him in his comments on Statius (Silv. v. ii. 21).-541. Promissi facta potens. "Having fulfilled her promise." Literally, "having become mistress of what had been promised (by her).” So the Greek: ἐγκρατής γενομένη ὧν ὑπέσχετο.—542. Imbuit. "Had imbued." The aorist to be rendered as a pluperfect in our idiom. Compare v. 554.

Et prima commisit funera pugnæ. "And had brought about the carnage of the first fight," i. e. and had caused a carnage-stained conflict to be joined. Commisit gets its meaning in the text from the

"Turned away

idea of joining battle.-543. Cœli conversa per auras. through the air." We have followed here, with Wagner, the first reading of the Medicean manuscript (conversa), instead of convexa, as given by Heyne and others. The latter critic regards convexa coeli as in apposition with auras, and supplies erecta. He thinks it probable, however, that the original reading was cœlique erecta per auras. Servius, on the other hand, says that per is to be repeated: per coli convexa et per auras. Neither of these opinions is of much value; the true reading is, beyond doubt, the one which we have given in the text.

548. Hoc etiam his addam. "The following also will I add unto these things (which I have already done).' "-Tua certa coluntas. "Thy sure assent. 550. Insani Martis amore. "With a desire for maddening Mars." Cunningham conjectures insano, but the form of expression in the text is more poetical.

554. Quæ fors prima dedit, &c. "Recent blood hath drenched the arms which chance first gave."-555. Conjugia. We have given this reading in place of connubia, as having much stronger manuscript authority in its favour, and as being also the more appropriate term of the two in the present instance.-556. Egregium. Ironical.-557. Te super æthereas, &c. "That thou wander with any further freedom in the upper air."-559. Cede locis. "Retire from these places."Ego, si qua super, &c. "If any labours, resulting from coming events, remain to be performed, I will direct them in person." Literally, "if any fortune of toils remains over." Super and est are separated by tmesis, for superest.

561. Stridentes anguibus. "Hissing with serpents." A new feature in the description of the winged Fury.-562. Supera ardua. "The world above."

563. Italiæ medio. "In the centre of Italy," i. e. at equal distance between the two seas, namely, the Adriatic and the Tyrrhenian or Lower Sea. The spot referred to was in the country of the Hirpini. -565. Amsancti valles. "The vale of Amsanctus." The ancient Latins believed that they saw here one of the entrances to the lower world, and therefore called the spot Amsanctus, from am and sanctus, equivalent to ab omni parte sanctus. Some antiquaries have confounded this spot with the Lake of Cutiliæ, near Rieti, but Servius distinctly tells us that it was situated in the country of the Hirpini, which is also confirmed by Cicero. Pliny (H. N. ii. 93) mentions a temple consecrated to the goddess Mephitis, in this quarter, the vestiges of which were discovered by the Abbé Fortis. (Saggi scientifici e letterari dell' Academia di Padova, vol. ii. p. 146.) The vale of Amsanctus is at the present day the valley of Fricento, and the name of the neighbouring village Mufiti is derived from the ancient term Mephitis.

566. Fragosus torrens. Virgil merely speaks here of a torrent, running through the middle of the valley, and surrounded by trees; and in the immediate vicinity is a gloomy cave, out of which a noisome, sulphureous vapour proceeded. This cave was regarded as one of the avenues to the lower world, and through it the Fury descended. More modern authorities speak of a lake in this quarter, which still exists, so that the natural features of the place must have altered somewhat since the poet's time, a circumstance very likely to occur in a volcanic country. One reason why the site of the valley of Amsanctus has given rise to discussion, is because openings like the one

here described are found in several quarters of Italy. The ancients used to call them scrobes Charoneæ, or spiracula.

568. Sævi spiracula Ditis. "And the vents of cruel Pluto," i. e. breathing-places. The allusion is to the mephitic vapour proceeding from the cave.-569. Ruptoque ingens, &c. "And a vast ingulphing abyss, the barriers of the lower world being broken through (by it), opens its pestilential jaws," i. e. the abyss leads downward to the lower world, and a noxious vapour rises from it.-570. Pestiferas. Modern travellers describe the spot as still unwholesome.-571. Levabat. "Relieved of her presence."

572. Extremam bello imponit manum. "Puts the finishing hand to the war," i. e. arouses the war to its full extent.

577. Medioque in crimine. "And in the midst of their charges against the Trojans." Some render this, "and in the midst of the crime," i. e. while the bodies yet remained exposed to view of the two persons who had been slain by the Trojans.-Cadis et ignis terrorem ingeminat. "Redoubles the terror of fire and sword," i. e. gives rise to a new source of alarm, namely, lest he and his incensed followers lay waste the city with fire and sword, on account of the broken faith of Latinus.-578. Teucros in regna vocari, &c. "(Complaining) that the Trojans are called in to share the kingdom; that a Phrygian race are being blended (with the Latin); that he himself is driven from the palace-threshold."

580. Tum, quorum, &c. "Then they, whose mothers, possessed by Bacchus, bound along in wild dances through the thick woods," &c. Thiasus is a wild dance in honour of Bacchus.-581. Nomen. "The influence," i. e. the authority of the queen is all-powerful with them. This refers, not to the matres, but to their sons, and comes in properly as a parenthesis after coëunt.-582. Martemque fatigant. "And are importunate for war."-583. Contra omina. Compare verse 64, seqq. -584. Contra fata deúm. Alluding to the oracular response of Faunus. Compare verse 81, seqq.-Perverso numine. "Under an adverse influence." Equivalent to infesto numine, as explained by Crevier (ad Liv. xxi. 33, 4). Servius makes perverso the same here as irato, which accords well with Crevier's view.

587. Ut pelagi rupes, &c. Heinsius thinks that either this or the previous verse is spurious. Pierius and Ursinus, on the other hand, regard the repetition of pelagi rupes as an elegance rather than a blemish. Heyne, however, thinks that the purposes of elegance would be better subserved by a different arrangement of the words. The same critic is of opinion that the lines in question both proceeded from the pen of Virgil, but that they missed the final revision in consequence of his death. Wagner extends Heyne's remark to the whole passage, namely, from verse 587 to v. 590, inclusive; while he regards v. 586 as a very good one, the rejection of which would materially injure the connexion. Valckenaer condemns the 587th verse in his remarks on the Fragments of Callimachus (p. 275), and Weichert defends it. (De Vers. injur. susp. p. 92, seqq.) The latter part of it, magno veniente fragore," certainly differs very little in meaning from "multis circum latrantibus undis" in the next line. For other objections, consult the remarks of Wagner.

66

Magno veniente fragore. "When a loud uproar (of the billows) is coming on."-588. Quæ sese multis, &c. "Which supports itself by its own mass, notwithstanding many surges howl around."-589. Scopuli nequidquam, &c. This certainly has very little to do with the

spirit of the comparison. And besides, how very tamely the conclusion of verse 590 reads, "laterique illisa refunditur alga."—592. Nutu, i. e. in full conformity with the wish and settled purpose.— 595. Ipsi has sacrilego, &c. "You yourselves, O ye miserable ones, shall render full atonement for this with your sacrilegious blood." Literally, "shall pay these penalties," i. e. the penalty due for this act of wickedness, in so openly resisting the manifest will of the gods. The term sacrilego indicates their impious warfare against heaven. 596. Nefas. "Wicked one!" Equivalent to sceleste.-598. Omnisque in limine portus. "And the haven (of security) is wholly at hand," i. e. is close at hand. Such appears to be the simplest explanation of this much-contested passage. So Servius. Heyne's interpretation of the text is as follows: "Totus sum in aditu portus." Ruhkopf, Jahn, Wagner, and others, explain it thus: "omnis portus est in limine," i. e. omne auxilium mihi ante pedes et paratum est seni.

599. Funere felici spolior. “I am only deprived of a happy death." Funus is put for mors, and has no relation, as some think, merely to funeral ceremonies.

601. The epithet "Hesperian," here applied to Latium, is meant to designate it as a land lying to the west of Greece. So, also, we find Hesperia Italia. The term Hesperia, indeed, though in reality only an adjective, became at length, by long use, converted into a second appellation for Italy itself. The custom of opening the gates of Janus in war, and closing them in time of peace, was only established in the reign of Numa. In assigning to it here, however, a more ancient origin, the poet avails himself of his usual privilege; and this fiction of his has a twofold object in view, to impart, namely, additional interest to the poem, and to flatter the pride of the Romans.

Quem protenus urbes, &c. "Which the Alban cities all along held sacred," i. e. the thirty colonies established by Alba Longa in Latium and the adjacent territories.-602. Nunc, maxima rerum, &c. "(And which) at the present day, Rome, the mistress of the world, religiously observes." Maxima rerum means, literally, "greatest of things," i. e. Rome, than which nothing throughout the world is greater or more powerful.-603. Morent Martem. Commonly referred to the Roman custom of striking the sacred ancilia suspended in the temple of Mars, whenever war was proclaimed. Heyne, however, rejects this explanation, and makes Martem equivalent to arma.

604. Getis. This mention of the Geta points to the boundaries of the Roman Empire along the Danube. The other names have a similar reference to the eastern frontier. A striking idea is thus formed of the greatness of the Roman empire. The Getæ were conquered in the reign of Augustus, A.U.C. 726, by the pro-consul Licinius Crassus.—605. Hyrcanis, Arabiste, &c. Augustus, in A.U.C. 732, made great preparations against the Parthians (among whom the Hyrcani, Arabians, and Indi are here loosely numbered by the poet), and it is to these preparations that Virgil alludes in the text. Augustus marched against the Parthians, A.U.C. 734, and recovered from them the Roman standards that had been taken in the disastrous overthrow of Crassus. These standards he regained, not by fighting, but by the mere terror of his arms. Virgil died the following year, having flattered his imperial master to the last.-Arabis. From the more unusual nominative Arabi, instead of Arabes.

606. Auroramque sequi. "To pursue the morning," i. e. to penetrate to the utmost bounds of the East.-Parthosque reposcere signa. No A a

event in the whole reign of Augustus was deemed more glorious than the recovery of the Roman standards from the Parthians, and it was frequently made a subject of eulogy with the poets of the day. Coins were also struck in commemoration of it.

607. Sunt geminæ Belli porta. War is here personified as a deity. The two gates appear to contain an allusion to the double visage of Janus, and to have been placed, one in front, and the other in the rear, the temple itself being what the Greeks called ȧμpiπpóσrvλos. The Roman custom of opening the temple of Janus in war, and keeping it closed during peace, the poet here carries back to the time of Æneas. Instead of the temple of Janus, however, he calls it the temple of War, and makes Janus sit as guardian on the threshold. Numa erected the temple of Janus at Rome, and introduced the appropriate ceremonies, but it is very probable that the custom was one of early Latin origin, and that Virgil is merely following here an old tradition.

608. Religione sacræ, &c. "Awe-inspiring by reason of religious associations, and the dread of cruel Mars." So Servius. These same gates are called tristes in verse 617.-Martis. The poet supposes War and Mars to be fettered within until egress is allowed them by the opening of the temple gates. Janus sits on the threshold as a guard over them.

611. Has. "These gates." Supply portas. The words stridentia limina are generally considered as in apposition with has (portas), and are construed immediately after. It is much better, however, to regard the passage as an instance of anacoluthon; that is, the poet commenced the sentence with has (portas), but when he reached reserat he supplied a new accusative, stridentia limina, in place of the former. -Ubi certa sedet, &c., i. e. when the Roman Senate have resolved on

war.

612. Ipse Quirinali trabeâ, &c. "The consul in person, arrayed in his Quirinal trabea and Gabine cincture, unbars the grating thresholds; he, in person, summons forth conflicts," i. e. calls forth War and Mars to their cruel work.-Trabea. The trabea is here called “Quirinal," i. e. Romulean," because worn by Romulus as well as the other early kings. Consult note on line 188.—Cinctuque Gabino. The "Gabine cincture was a peculiar mode of wearing the toga. It consisted in forming a part of the toga itself into a girdle, by drawing its outer edge round the body, and tying it in a knot in front, and at the same time covering the head with another portion of the garment. Its origin was Etruscan, as the name implies. (Müller, Etrusker, i. 266.)—615. Æreaque assensu, &c. A blast of trumpets accompanied the ceremony.

616. Jubebatur, i. e. was desired by his excited subjects.-617. Tristes portas. "The gloomy portals." Compare note on verse 608. -621. Impulit ipsa manu. The doors must be supposed to have opened inward.-622. Belli ferratos rumpit, &c. Imitated from Ennius: Postquam Discordia tetra

Belli ferratos postes portasque refregit.

623. Inexcita atque immobilis ante. The poet has already referred to the deep repose which Latium had previously enjoyed. Compare verse 45, seqq.-624. Pars. Standing here successively for quidam,

alii, alii, and taking not only the plural as a noun of multitude, but the gender, also, which is implied in the leading idea.