626. Pars leves clypeos, &c. The reference, strictly speaking, is to the removal of spots and stains by means of unctuous substances.-Tergent. More correct, according to Servius, than tergunt; and also, as Wagner states in opposition to Heyne, favoured by a larger number of good MSS.-627. Arvinâ. “Lard." The allusion to this substance, as well as to the whetstone, is condemned by some critics, but defended by Heyne and Wagner.

629. Adeo. "Nay, what is more," i. e. not only do the Latins themselves prepare actively for war, but five large neighbouring cities arm in their behalf. Of these five cities, Antemnæ, Crustumerium, and Tibur were on the northern confines of Latium, in the country of the Sabines; Atina was in the territories of the Volsci; Ardea was the capital of the Rutuli.-630. The epithet superbum refers not only to the wealth and magnificence of Tibur, but also to its lofty situation. -631. Crustumeri. The name of the people put for that of the city. Crustumerium could not well find place in an hexameter verse.

632. Tegmina tuta carant, &c., i. e. they forge helmets. Equivalent to cudunt galeas.-Flectuntque salignas, &c. "And bend willow osiers for the frames of shields." Literally, "the osier frames of bosses," the boss, or umbo, being taken for the whole shield. The allusion is to shields of wicker-work, covered with hides, and these still further secured by plates of iron. The willow was selected for this purpose on account of its lightness.

634. Leves ocreas. A pair of greaves was one of the six articles of armour which formed the complete equipment of a Greek or Etruscan warrior, and likewise of a Roman soldier as fixed by Servius Tullius. They were made of bronze, brass, tin, silver, or gold, with a lining, probably, of leather, felt, or cloth, and were of light construction. As they were fitted with great exactness to the leg, they probably required in many cases no other fastening than their own elasticity. Often, nevertheless, they were further secured by two straps behind, or by rings around the ankles.

635. Vomeris huc et falcis honos, &c. "To this the honour (once) rendered unto the share and scythe, to this all love of the plough has yielded; and they forge anew in the furnaces their fathers' swords," i. e. they forge the sword anew out of the iron implements of agriculture. So Heyne.-637. Classica. "The trumpets." The classicum, which originally meant a signal rather than the musical instrument which gave the signal, was usually sounded with the cornu.-It bello tessera signum. "The word goes forth, the signal for war." Tessera, properly means anything of a square form. From the application of this term to tokens of various kinds, it was transferred to the word used as a token among soldiers, and the same with the ovvonua of the Greeks. Before joining battle, it was given out and passed through the ranks, as a method by which the soldiers might be able to distinguish friends from foes.

638. Trepidus. "In eager haste."-639. Ad juga. Chariots were then used in war by all distinguished leaders.-Auroque trilicem, &c. Consult note on iii. 467.

641. Pandite nunc Helicona, &c. The Muses are here invoked to open Helicon, their sanctuary, and pour forth upon the bard that inspiration of song which is demanded by the scenes he is about to describe. An imitation of Homer's call upon the deities of Helicon (Π. ii. 484, seqq.): ἔσπετε νῦν μοί Μοῦσαι, κ. τ. λ.642. Eaciti. "Were summoned forth." Consult note on iii. 676.-643. Jam tum.

"Even in those early days."-644. Quibus arserit armis, i. e. what warriors it then armed for battle. Ardere is beautifully employed to denote the blaze of arms in the battle-field. Compare Homer (Il. ii. 780): Οἳ δ' ἄρ ἴσαν, ὡσεί τε πυρὶ χθὼν πᾶσα νέμοιτο.

645. Et meministis, &c. Virgil here almost literally translates the language of Homer (Il. ii. 485, seqq.):

ὑμεῖς γὰρ θεαί ἐστε, πάρεστέ τε, ἴστε τε πάντα,

ἡμεῖς δὲ κλέος οἶον ἀκούομεν, οὐδέ τι ἴδμεν.

The poet now enters upon an enumeration of the Latin forces, after the manner of Homer in his " Catalogue of the Ships." This recital occupies the remainder of the book.-646. Ad nos, &c. i. e. we mortals, otherwise, hear but the feeble voice of tradition.

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647. The epithet asper, 66 66 fierce," or cruel," as well as the expression contemtor divûm," sufficiently characterize this leader.— 650. Excepto Laurentis corpore Turni. "The person of the Laurentian Turnus (alone) excepted." Corpore Turni is a species of Hellenism for Turno. The poets always make their chief heroes (as Turnus here is on the side of the Latins) superior to every other. This is natural enough, since otherwise the interest would be diminished; and, moreover, they bring the good qualities of others to light in order to elevate still more highly the chief heroes of their strains by the force of comparison.

651. Debellatorque ferarum. A common ground of praise in the ancient warrior, and referring to the manly exercise of the hunt.— 652. Agyllinâ ex urbe. "From the city of Agylla." Afterward called Care.-Nequidquam. Because they could not save him from death.-653. Dignus patriis qui latior esset, &c. "Worthy to have taken more delight in (obeying) a father's commands, and to whom Mezentius should not have been a father," i. e. worthy to have had a father whom a son could have obeyed with more satisfaction: therefore worthy of a better father.

655. Insignem palmá. "Distinguished for the prize." It had gained the prize in a chariot-race. Some commentators make the text refer to an emblem of victory, a branch, namely, of bay or palm, attached to the chariot. This, however, as Heyne remarks, suits better the custom of a later age.-657. Pulcher. "Of heroic mien." This epithet, as applied here to Aventius and his sire, especially the latter, seems to be imitated from Ennius, who, in speaking of Romulus, calls him "Romulu” polcer.”

Insigne paternum. "His paternal emblem," i. e. a symbol of his father's prowess. This custom of bearing devices on the shield is imitated by Virgil from the tragic writers. Compare Eurip. Phon. 1142, seqq., where the same device is assigned to Adrastus, king of Argos.-658. Centum angues, &c. Elegantly expressed instead of the more usual form, hydram centum serpentibus cinctam.-659. Collis Aventini silvâ. One of the hills on which Rome was afterward built. -660. Furtivum partu edidit. Brought forth as her furtive offspring." Furtivum is here a much more elegant reading than furtivo, as given by several MSS.-Oras. Heyne thinks that this has very probably been altered, in the lapse of time, from auras. Wagner, however, states that oras is the reading of the best and greatest number of MSS.

66

661. Mixta deo mulier. "A mortal female united unto a god." So the Greek, μıyɛĩoa Jeų.–662. Geryone exstincto. Hercules was

now on his return from Spain, with the oxen of Geryon, whom he had slain. Hercules is called Tirynthius, because the crown of Tiryns belonged to him by inheritance, through his mother Alcmena, who was daughter of Electryon, king of that city.-663. Boves Iberas. "His Spanish cattle." Alluding, as above remarked, to the oxen of Geryon.

664. Savosque dolones. "And cruel pikes." The dolo was a very long pole, with a short iron head. So Varro.-665. Tereti mucrone, veruque Sabello. "With tapering sword, and Sabine spit-shaped dart." By teres mucro is meant a narrow sword, tapering off to a point. By veru Sabellum, a species of dart, otherwise called verutum, the shaft of which was 3 feet long, and its point five inches. It was particularly used by the Samnites and Volsci, and was adopted from them by the Roman light infantry. Virgil calls it here a Sabine weapon, probably because it was of Sabine origin, since the Samnites themselves were of Sabine descent.

666. Ipse pedes. Heyne supplies pugnat; but Wagner, with far more propriety, makes ipse the nominative to subibat.-Torquens. "Shaking." This term appears to carry with it here the idea of a covering depending from the shoulders, and moving to and fro as the wearer walks along.-667. Impexum. "Shaggy."-Cum dentibus albis,

&c.

"A covering with its white teeth for the head," i. e. that part of the hide which corresponded to the head of the animal was stretched, with the teeth attached to it, as a covering over the head of the warrior. We have avoided the wrangling of the commentators respecting this passage, by regarding indutus, with Heinrich, as a plural noun in apposition with tegumen. If indutus be taken as a participle, it remains to be shown how capiti, for caput, can be Virgilian Latinity. -668. Sic. The adverb comes in here with great force, as a kind of general summary.-669. Herculeoque, &c., i. e. and having the attire of Hercules attached to his shoulders. Hercules is commonly represented as attired in the skin of the Nemean lion.

671. Fratris Tiburti, &c. Catillus, Coras, and Tiburtus were three brothers, said by some to have been the sons of Amphiaraus. They migrated from Greece, and founded Tibur, calling it after the name of Tiburtus, the eldest of the three. According to others, they were the grandsons of Amphiaraus. There is no historical evidence that these three brothers were contemporary with Eneas and Latinus ; the anachronism, however, is a pardonable one in a poet.-Gentem. Equivalent to urbem.-672. Argiva juventus. Alluding to the supposed descent from Amphiaraus, the Argive soothsayer.

674. Nubigence. "Cloud-born." The Centaurs were the fabled offspring of Ixion and the cloud. They were famed for their swiftness, and Catillus and Coras are compared with them in this respect, swiftness of foot being regarded as a distinguishing quality in an ancient hero. So in Homer, we have the swift-footed Achilles.”— 675. Homolen Othrymque. Homole and Othrys were two mountains of Thessaly, and this same country was the native region of the Centaurs.-676. Dat euntibus ingens, &c. Virgil has been blamed by some critics for passing from the greater to the less, and making mention of the virgulta after ingens silva. But ingens here merely refers to the density of the forest, and silca dat locum to the projecting branches which are broken as the Centaurs rush through, while the expression virgulta cedunt alludes to the underwood that is trampled down beneath their hoofs.

678. Prænestinæ urbis. "Of the city of Præneste."-679. Vulcano genitum, &c. The order is, (Rex) Cœculus, quem regem omnis atas credidit genitum (fuisse) Vulcano, &c. Bryant and Heyne suspect that verses 679 and 680 are spurious, especially as omnes quem credidit atas appears to them to come in so languidly. Wagner defends the latter clause by referring to the mode in which Cæculus removed the doubts of the multitude as to his divine origin. And hence he thinks that omnis quem credidit atas is introduced as if to point to the removal of all doubts on the subject.

681. Late. "From all the country around."-682. Quique, &c. "Both they who inhabit," &c. Imitated from Homer, oi d'eixov, ναῖον, . Évéμovтo.-Altum. Præneste stood on the brow of a lofty hill.-Arca Gabino Junonis. Referring to Gabii and its territory. Juno was particularly worshipped at Gabii, and her rites came to Italy with the Pelasgi.-684. Hernica saxa. The Hernici are said to have derived their name from the rocky nature of their country, herna, in the Sabine language, signifying a rock.-Pascit. So Wagner, in place of pascis. It makes the change of person more striking in quos, Amasene pater. Consult note on ii. 56.

686. Sonant. "Rattle." More poetical than sunt.—Glandes liventis plumbi spargit. "Scatter balls of living lead," i. e. from slings. The plummets mentioned in the text were of a form between acorns and almonds, and were cast in moulds.

689. Vestigia nuda sinistri, &c. "They plant the sole of the left foot naked on the ground; a low boot of untanned hide protects the other." The left foot advanced was protected by the shield, and therefore needed no covering. This fashion of protecting merely one foot or leg is frequently seen on ancient monuments.-690. Pero. A low boot of untanned hide, worn by ploughmen, shepherds, &c. It had a strong sole, and was adapted to the foot with great exactness. It was also called ηλoráriç on account of its adaptation for walking through clay or mire. This convenient clothing for the foot, however, was not confined exclusively to the laborious and the poor. the Greek mythology, Perseus was represented wearing boots of this description with wings attached to them. Diana wore them when accoutred for the chase.

In

692. Fas. "Allowed by the fates." Messapus, observes Symmons, is not represented as absolutely invulnerable; and nothing more is affirmed in this passage respecting him, than that it was not permitted to wound him. To the introduction, in this place, of an invulnerable hero, we should strongly have objected, as more suitable to the romance of Ovid than to the epic propriety of Virgil, and as not adapted to the station assigned to this particular chief. In the presence of an invulnerable hero, even Turnus and Æneas would have been of inferior consequence. But Messapus was defended from wounds only; with less good fortune, he might have been wounded.

695. Æquosque Faliscos. "And Æqui Falisci." There is no allusion here to the story of Camillus and the schoolmaster (Liv. v. 27), as some suppose; neither does the text refer to the Falisci, and speak of them as a branch or part of the Æqui, as Niebuhr endeavours to show; but Virgil merely alludes to the town of Falisci, which was called Equi, because situate in a plain. Compare the name Equimelium. (Müller, Etrusker, vol. i. p. 110.)

698. Æquati numero. "In equal ranks." Santen (ad Ter. Maur.

p. 176) thinks that the reference here is not to ranks, but to the rude numbers in which they sang the praises of their king. This, however, is too refined an interpretation.-701. Amnis. "The Cayster."-Asia palus. "The Asian marsh." The first syllable of Asia is here long; when signifying a region, it is short.-703. Nec quisquam æratas, &c. "Nor would any one (afar) have thought," &c. -705. Volucrum raucarum. Under the head of "rauca volucres," which fly from the sea to the land, the cranes are particularly meant, since in the beginning of winter they come over the sea in search of milder regions.

707. Magnique ipse agminis instar. "And himself equal to a mighty host." Consult note on vi. 865.-708. Claudia et tribus et gens. "Both the Claudian tribe and house." Virgil does not allude here, in fact, to the origin of the Claudian family, as Heyne supposes, but rather to the origin of the name. And even then, as Niebuhr remarks, he is only seeking for an eponym. Clausus was no more the progenitor of the Claudian tribe than he was of the Claudian house.-709. In partem data. "Had been shared."

710. Ingens Amiterna, &c. The situation of the places that now begin to be enumerated shows that Virgil makes the Sabine territory somewhat more extensive than it appears in Strabo and Pliny. The poet has an earlier age in view.-Prisci Quirites. The inhabitants of Cures, called prisci to distinguish them from the Romans of a later day.-712. Rosea rura Velini. "The dewy fields of the Velinus." The valley of the Velinus was so delightful as to merit the appellation of Tempe (Cic. ad Att. iv. 15), and, from its dewy freshness, its meads obtained the name of Rosei Campi.-715. Tiberim. So Wagner, in place of the common Thybrim.-716. Hortina classes. "And the classes of Horta," i. e. the forces draughted from the different classes. The arrangement here alluded to is similar to that made by Servius Tullius of the Roman people.-Populique Latini. "And the Latin communities," i. e. the Latin colonies established in the territory of the Sabines."

717. Quosque secans infaustum, &c. The name of the Allia is termed infaustum, on account of the total defeat of the Romans by Brennus, upon the banks of this river, B.C. 389.-718. As regards the use of marmor for æquor, consult note on vii. 28. Before quam multi supply tam multi incedunt.-719. Savus ubi Orion, &c. The setting of Orion, which was in the beginning of spring, was accompanied by heavy

storms.

The

720. Vel quum sole novo, &c. Jahn thinks that the ellipsis which, according to him, exists at vel quum, ought to be supplied as follows: quam multi volvuntur fluctus, alluding to the waves formed by the wind among the ripe grain. This, however, is quite unnecessary. poet intended to say, vel quam multæ sunt aristo; but he has inverted the construction, and made it what we see in the text, the idea of a large number being sufficiently implied in dense.-722. Conterrita. Supply est. We have followed the punctuation of Wagner, placing a

comma after sonant.

723. Hinc. "After these."-Agamemnonius Halasus. "The Agamemnonian Halæsus." According to some, he was the son of Agamemnon. This, however, is incorrect, since his father is mentioned in ix. 417. He was, more probably, a member of the same line, or else had been a companion of the Grecian hero's.-724. Turnoque, rapit, &o. "And hurries to the aid of Turnus." Rapit is equivalent