interpretation: "and the hills were left behind by their cry,” i. e. their cry passed beyond, or over the hills, and reached the cave of Cacus. 217. Reddidit vocem. "Returned the cry."

220. Arma roburque. "His arms and club." A species of poetic pleonasm for robur alone.-221. Ardua. "The summit." Supply loca.-223. Turbatumque oculis. "And betraying his agitation by his look."

225. Ruptis immane catenis, &c. A large stone hung suspended over the entrance by iron chains, and, when lowered by means of these, closed the mouth of the cave. Cacus, in his alarm, does not wait to lower the stone, but breaks the chains, and lets it fall at once. -226. Ferro. Referring to the iron chains.—Arte paterná. By the art of his father Vulcan.-227. Fultos. To be connected with objice in construction. So Ovid (4. A. ii. 244), "apposita janua fulta será." Compare also Heyne and Wunderlich ad Tibull. i. 2. 6.227. Objice. Referring to the barrier afforded by the stone after it had fallen. Heyne: "objice, i. e. saxo illo objecto pro objice."

228. Tyrinthius. Consult note on vii. 662.-231. Ter saxea tentat, &c., i. e. thrice to no purpose does he endeavour to force an entrance into the cave.-233. Acuta silex. "A sharp and flinty cliff.' Silex is feminine here, but elsewhere it is usually masculine.-Præcisis undique saxis. "With the rocks cut away all around," i. e. steep on all sides.-234. Spelunca dorso insurgens. "Rising up as a back for the cave," i. e. it formed a back to the cavern, and at the same time rose to a great height.

236. Ut prona jugo, &c. "As, bending forward with its top, it overhung the river on the left," i. e. it had the Tiber on its left, and hung over this stream. Hercules, therefore, placed himself on the right of the rock, and by a powerful effort tumbled it into the river. -237. Dexter in advorsum nitens. "Striving full against it on the right. 240. Dissultant ripa. "The banks leap asunder," i. e. the mass of rock falls partly on the bank, and causes this to split and break up.-242. Penitus. "To their inmost recesses."-245. Dis invisa. "Hated by the very gods." Compare the Homeric tá te otvyέovol Θεοί περ. (ΙΙ. xx. 65.)

248. Insueta. "After a strange manner."-249. Omniaque arma advocat. "And calls to his aid weapons of all kinds."-250. Vastisque molaribus. "And vast stones." Heyne: "Molaribus simpliciter pro grandibus saxis."–252. Faucibus ingentem fumum, &c. This he does as the son of the fire-god.

256. Animis. "In his wrath."-Qua plurimus undam, &c. A beautiful poetic circumlocution, to express "where the smoke was thickest."-260. Corripit in nodum complexus, &c. "He seizes Cacus, grasping him like a knot, and, holding on, keeps choking him until his eyes project from their sockets, and his throat is dry of blood." Some commentators make Hercules to have doubled up Cacus, as it were; but some mention would then have been made by the poet of the broken spine. Others suppose that he grasped Cacus around the middle, as he had done the Nemean lion and Antæus. Neither opinion is correct. In nodum appears to be equivalent merely to in similitudinem nodi.

Angit inhærens, &c. Propertius (iv. 9. 15) and Ovid (Fast. i. 576) make Hercules to have slain Cacus with his club. In details of this kind, the poets, of course, very seldom agree.

262. Foribus revulsis, i. e. the stone that blocked up the front

entrance being removed.-263. Abjuratæque rapina. "And the abjured plunder," i. e. the plunder, the possession of which he had denied with an oath. This circumstance is not mentioned elsewhere by the poet, but still it is easy to be conceived as having taken place.

268. Celebratus honos. "The honours (of the hero) have been celebrated by us," i. e. these annual honours have been rendered to the hero.-Latique minores, &c. "And posterity, with grateful joy, have observed this day." Læti equivalent to læti beneficio, i. e. grati.-269. Primusque Potitius auctor, &c. "And Potitius (was) the first observer, and the Pinarian house (were) the guardians of these rites sacred unto Hercules." The expression primus auctor is explained by the narrative of Livy (i. 7), where it is said that the Potitii came to these rites when first established sooner than the Pinarii.-270. Domus Pinaria. The priesthood for these rites remained in the Pinarian and Potitian houses, although Livy speaks only of the latter, and Virgil of the former. The Potitian family continued till the censorship of Appius Claudius, A.U.C. 448; the latter till a much later period, but the time of its extinction is not precisely ascertained.

271. Statuit. "(The hero himself) erected." We have placed, like Heyne, a full stop at the end of verse 270, making the nominative to statuit to be supplied from verse 260. So Ovid also makes Hercules to have erected this altar unto himself: "Constituitque sibi, quæ Maxima dicitur, aram." (Fast. i. 581.)—272. Maxima. The ara Maxima of Hercules was in the Forum Boarium at Rome. Heyne regards verses 271 and 272 as spurious.

273. Tantarum in munere laudum. "In honour of an exploit so glorious." So Heyne. Wagner, however, and some other editors, give munere here the force of sacrificio, i. e. "in sacrificio Herculi ob egregium illud facinus instituto.”—-274. Porgite. Old form for porrigite. The reference is, not to the stretching out of the cup in pledging one another, nor for the purpose of having it replenished by the attendants, but in order to perform a libation.-275. Date vina. "Make libations."

276. Herculeâ bicolor quum populus, &c. The poplar was sacred to Hercules; hence the epithet "Herculeâ." The leaves, moreover, on the upper and under side are of a different colour; hence the term bicolor.

280. Devexo Olympo. "The diurnal hemisphere declining.” In the revolution of the heavens, the diurnal hemisphere was now setting.-282. Pellibus in morem cincti. Evidently in imitation of the costume of Hercules.-Flammas. "Blazing torches."-283. Instaurant epulas, &c. Heyne regards this and the succeeding line as spurious, but they are ably defended by Weichert (De Vers. injur. susp. p. 98, seqq.), and more especially by Wagner. This last-mentioned writer refers instaurant epulas to the evening repast, the other having taken place at midday; while he regards the mensa grata secundæ dona as pointing to the libations made after supper, and the subsequent circulation of the wine.

285. Tum Salii. Weichert is offended at this mention of the Salii, aud proposes Tunc alii. But the Salii would appear to have been an early Italian priesthood, whom Numa subsequently restricted to the worship of Mars. As the flame ascended, the Salii danced and sung. -287. Hic juvenum chorus, &c. The band of Salii here meant con

sisted, as appears from the poet, of young and old.-288. Ut prima novercæ, &c. Monstra and angues both refer to the same things, namely, the snakes which the infant Hercules crushed in the cradle. 292. Fatis Junonis iniqua. "By the fated commands of unfriendly Juno." It was fated that Hercules should undergo so many labours in order to satisfy the wrath of Juno, and that not even Jove should be able to free him from the same.-293. Tu nubigenas, invicte, &c. 66 Thou, unconquered one, dost subdue with thy hand the cloudborn (Centaurs), of double-form." By giving mactas here the general meaning of "to subdue," we are saved the trouble of having recourse to a zeugma; for the Cresia prodigia was brought alive to Eurystheus. -294. Cresia prodigia. "The monstrous boar of Crete." Observe the force of the plural.

296. Te Stygii tremuere lacus. Referring to the time when Hercules descended to the lower world in qnest of Cerberus.-Janitor Orci. Cerberus.-298. Typhoeus. Here, observes Valpy, the same Hercules, who was contemporary with Eurystheus and Theseus, is made to have taken part in the wars between the gods and the giants. Not so by any means. Hercules merely encounters the shade of Typhoeus in the lower world, as Æneas (vi. 287) does the shades of the Lernean Hydra, of the Chimera, &c. Consult note on vi. 285.-299. Rationis egentem. "Deprived (by this) of thy presence of mind."-302. Pede secundo. "With favouring omens.'

307. Obsitus ævo. "Oppressed with age." So Terence (Eun. ii. 2. 5), "annis pannisque obsitus;" and Plautus (Menæchm., v. 2. 4), "consitus sum senectute."-310. Faciles oculos. "His eyes quickly glancing."-312. Virúm monumenta priorum. Referring particularly to the ruins of earlier cities. Compare verse 355, seqq.

313. Romanæ conditor arcis. Euander is called here "the founder of the Roman citadel" merely in allusion to his having founded the ancient city of Pallanteum on the Palatine Hill. Compare verse 54. -314. Indigence Fauni Nymphoque. "Native Fauns and Nymphs," i. e. produced in the very land itself. Indigena is analogous here to avróxloves. The early Italians were termed by the Romans of a later day Aborigines, since no tradition existed of their having wandered into the land from foreign parts. A similarly indigenous origin, therefore, is here assigned to their sylvan divinities.-315. Truncis et duro robore nata. "Sprung from the trunks of trees and the stubborn oak," i. e. from the trunk of the stubborn oak. An old and proverbial form of speech, to indicate a rude and simple race. So the Greek expression ἀπὸ δρυὸς ἢ ἀπὸ πέτρης είναι. (Hom. Od. xix. 163, with the note of Crusius). The country around the Tiber appears to have been covered with forests at an early period, in which a wild and untutored race wandered. These the poet, on account of their uncivilized and primitive habits, makes to have sprung from the very trees themselves.

316. Neque mos, neque cultus. "Neither any settled mode of life, nor culture." Mos here denotes those settled habits unto which men attain only through the influence of early culture.-Jungere tauros, i. e. to turn their attention to agriculture.

318. Asper victu, venatus. "Hunting, a rugged source of sustenance." Literally, "rugged in the sustenance (it afforded)." So Heyne.-319. Primus ab aetherio, &c. The old tradition of the dethronement of Saturn by his son Jupiter, and his consequent settle. ment in Latium, which was followed by the golden age.-323.

Quoniam latuisset tutus. "Since he had lurked secure." Observe the use of the subjunctive in indicating a tradition: "he had lurked, as is said." The derivation of Latium from lateo is utterly worthless. The poets make Saturn to have lain hid here, because he feared lest his son Jupiter might retaliate upon him for having devoured his brethren.

324. Aurea quæ perhibent, &c. "Under that king was what they call the golden age." Construe, sub illo rege fuere sæcula quæ perhibent (fuisse) aurea (sæcula).-326. Deterior ac decolor ætas. 'A degenerate age, and one of inferior hue." The reference is first to the silver age, and then to those of brass and iron. They are all, including even the silver, regarded as degenerate.

329. Posuit. "Changed." Literally, "laid aside," i. e. laid aside one name and took another, according as some invading tribe, according to Virgil, imposed a new appellation upon it.-330. Tum reges. "Then (came) kings," i. e. a succession of kings to rule over the land.-Asperque Thybris. " And (among these) the fierce Thybris." A Tuscan king, who fell in battle near the river Albula, and caused its name to be changed to that of Tiber (Thybris, Tiberis). So, at least, says the old legend.-332. Vetus Albula. "The ancient Albula." Albula, the old name of the Tiber. Mannert considers Albula, the Latin, and Thybris, or Tiberis, the Etrurian name of the stream, which last became, in the course of time, the prevailing one.

333. Pulsum patriâ. An accidental murder compelled him to leave Arcadia.-Extrema. "A remote part." The early Greeks regarded the western regions of the world as comparatively remote and unknown.-335. Matrisque egere tremenda, &c. "And the awe-inspiring admonitions of my mother, the nymph Carmentis, and the god Apollo as the author (of the step), have impelled me (to this course)." 338. Carmentalem Romani nomine portam, &c. "And the gate which the Romans (now) call Carmental by name." We have adopted Romani, with Wagner, in place of the common reading, Romano.-339. Priscum honorem. "Ancient honorary memorial."–341. Et nobile Pallanteum. "And that the Pallanteum would become ennobled." On its site, in after days, the Palatium was erected.

343. Retulit. "Called." Equivalent merely to appellarit. Wagner remarks, in explanation of this meaning: "Verba enim sunt notæ, quibus res quasi referimus, seu exprimimus.”—Gelidâ sub rupe. The Lupercal was a cave sacred to Pan, at the foot of the Palatine Hill. It was said to have been consecrated to the god by Euander.-344. Parrhasio dictum Panos, &c. "According to the Arcadian custom, named after the Lycean Pan." The cave was called Lupercal, from lupus, just as, in Arcadia, Pan was styled Avкalog, from λúкoç. This Greek etymology, however, is of no value. The appellation Avkałog was given originally to Pan from Mount Lycæus in Arcadia.-Parrhasio. Equivalent to Arcadico. The name is derived from the Parrhasii, a people of Arcadia near the Laconian frontier.

345. Nec non et sacri, &c., i. e. the grove of Argiletum, sacred to Argus. This Argus was an Argive, and a guest of Euander's, who conspired against that monarch, and was slain, in consequence, by the followers of the latter, though without his knowledge.-Argileti. The Argiletum was here a grove, and the name was said to have been derived from Argi letum, i. e. the " death of Argus." Others, however, deduce the term from argilla, " clay," &c., a large quantity

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of which is found in that vicinity. At a later day, Argiletum was a street at Rome, which led from the Vicus Tuscus to the Forum Olitorium and Tiber.-346. Testaturque locum, &c. "And he calls the place to witness (his innocence), and informs (Æneas) of the death of his guest Argus," i. e. states to him all the particulars of the story.

347. Tarpeiam. The poet here indulges in an anachronism. The Tarpeian Rock received its name, according to the common account, in the reign of Romulus.-Capitolia. For Capitolium. The Capitoline heights only are meant here. At a later day they were crowned with splendid buildings, especially the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.-348. Aurea. Alluding partly to the splendor of the edifice itself, partly to the immense treasures which it possessed in works of art, &c.

349. Jam tum religio, &c. To enthrone, remarks Symmons, from the remotest times, on the summit of the Capitoline Hill, a visible divinity, arrayed in all the terrors of the monarch of the gods, was a sublime idea, which has been executed as nobly as it was conceived. -350. Silvam saxumque. "The forest and the rock itself." The former of these refers to the woods which then covered the Capitoline heights; the latter, to the rocky heights themselves.—352. Quis deus, incertum est, &c. "A god inhabits; what god is uncertain." 353. Quum sæpe nigrantem, &c. Jupiter, according to this legend, presented himself to the view in his most fearful form; holding the ægis in his right hand and the thunderbolt in his left.

Egida nigrantem. The darkness, observes Symmons, with which Virgil has in this place surrounded the majesty of the god, and has described as emanating from his ægis, is productive of the most sublime effect. According to ancient mythology, the ægis worn by Jupiter was the hide of the goat Amalthea, which had suckled him in his infancy.

Dextra. We have adopted the punctuation of Wagner, placing a comma after dextrâ, and thus connecting it with what precedes.

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355. Hæc duo oppida. Janiculum and Saturnia.-367. Hanc arcem. This stronghold." Pointing to one of the two ruined towns. The common text has urbem, which comes in very awkwardly after oppida.-360. Passimque armenta videbant, &c. Euander's cattle were pasturing in what was at a later day the very heart of Rome.

361. Carinis. The Carinæ formed a street at Rome, in a hollow between the Cælian, Esquiline, and Palatine Hills, whence its name. It contained some of the most splendid private structures in the city, and was the residence of many of the principal Romans.

362. Sedes. "The monarch's abode."-364. Et te quoque dignum finge deo, &c. "And mould thyself also (into a frame of mind) worthy of the god, nor come fastidious unto our scanty affairs," i. e. make thyself to resemble Hercules in a contempt for mere external splendor, and despise not our humble hospitality.-368. Libystidis. For Libyca, from the Greek Λιβυστίς, gen. ίδος.

369. Nox ruit. Consult note on ii. 250.-372. Vulcanum alloquitur, &c. Imitated from Homer (Il. xix. 294, seqq.), where Juno succeeds in influencing the monarch of Olympus. The epithet aureo here indicates the workmanship of a god, namely, Vulcan himself.— 373. Et dictis divinum, &c. "And breathes divine love into her words." Some render dictis, "by her words," and understand illi as the object. This, however, is inferior.-375. Debita. "Due (to them