Jampridem hanc prolem cupio enumerare meorum, 720 'O pater, anne aliquas ad coelum hinc ire putandum est 725 730 Seminibus, quantum non noxia corpora tardant Terrenique hebetant artus moribundaque membra. Hinc metuunt cupiuntque, dolent gaudentque, neque auras Quin et supremo cum lumine vita reliquit, 735 Non tamen omne malum miseris nec funditus omnes Corporeae excedunt pestes, penitusque necesse est Ergo exercentur poenis, veterumque malorum Quisque suos patimur Manis; exinde per amplum 740 717. Jampridem cupio influences both lines, and the repetition, hanc, is equivalent to et.-719. Ire sublimis, ascendere. Coelum means simply the upper world.-724, &c. See at 679. The spiritus, principle of life (4vxǹ), and mens of intelligence (vous), together constituting the anima mundi, are the source of life and activity.-725. Titania astra, the sun and other heavenly bodies. See at iv. 119.728. Inde, &c. From the spiritus and mens Froceed the principles of life and activity of animals; 730. Ollis (see at j. 254) seminibus, referring to these principles. 731. These principles manifest their heavenly source, so far as they are not impeded by corporeal bodies injuring their efficacy (noxia).-733. Hinc. From their connection with body. Neque dispiciunt, their clear view is impeded, because clausae in the prison-house of the body.-734. Clausae animae.-735. Even after death, the soul is not wholly freed from the base passions which the contact of earthly bodies produces.--739. As in the rites of purification preparatory to admission into the sacred mysteries, so souls are represented as undergoing various modes of purification by air, water, and fire.-743, &c. As these lines stand, the meaning seems to be, that even after this purification, a long residence in Elysium is required wholly to cleanse the Mittimur Elysium-et pauci laeta arva tenemus- Dixerat Anchises, natumque unaque Sibyllam 745 750 755 'Nunc age, Dardaniam prolem quae deinde sequatur Gloria, qui maneant Itala de gente nepotes, Illustris animas nostrumque in nomen ituras, 760 765 Expediam dictis, et te tua fata docebo. Ille-vides?-pura juvenis qui nititur hasta, Proxima sorte tenet lucis loca, primus ad auras Aetherias Italo commixtus sanguine surget, Silvius, Albanum nomen, tua postuma proles, Quem tibi longaevo serum Lavinia conjunx Educet silvis, regem regumque parentem, Unde genus Longa nostrum dominabitur Alba. Proximus ille Procas, Trojanae gloria gentis, soul. Quisque - Manis. A difficult expression. 'We suffer each his own Manes.' Probably suos Manis means the peculiar mode of purification which each one required, from his peculiar impurities, when he descended to the Manes.-747. Auraï. See at iii. 354.-748. Has omnis, as contrasted with pauci, &c., seems to mean that a few, among whom was Anchises, are permitted to remain in the enjoyment (tenere) of Elysium, which the rest ascend. Rotam volvere, to roll round the wheel of time.' 752. Dixerat. See at ii. 621.753. Sonantem. See 709.. 756. A passage admirably conceived to gratify the Romans, and especially Augustus. Deinde, post te.-760. Virgil, following the traditions that ascribe the race of Alban kings to the descendants of Aeneas by Lavinia (see p. 123, line 10), enumerates a few of them. Ille. See at 326. Vides, parenthetical. Pura hasta, a spear without the iron head, either a reward for prowess in war, or simply a sceptre.-761. The ordinary construction would require luci. 763. Silvius, a child of Aeneas by Lavinia, and born in the woods, Aeneas having first died, an old man, was to be the first of the race of shades that was to ascend to the upper world, and to reign in Alba, his name being common to all the subsequent kings of Alba (Albanum nomen), Liv. i. 3. —766. For the construction Longa Alba, the adjective in prose being accompanied with the preposition in, see Zumpt, § 399. Unless, indeed, it mean, from Alba Longa.-767. Reckoning Ascanius as the first king of Alba Longa (i. 271), and following the order of Livy, Procas Et Capys, et Numitor, et qui te nomine reddet Egregius, si umquam regnandam acceperit Albam. 770 Laude pudicitia celebris, addentque superbos 775 Romulus, Assaraci quem sanguinis Ilia mater Educet. Viden,' ut geminae stant vertice cristae, 780 785 790 is the thirteenth, Capys the seventh, Numitor (grandfather of Romulus) the fourteenth, and Aeneas the third. Proximus, then, means simply, 'standing next Silvius.'-768. Numitor by the arsis. — 770. Si, &c. According to Servius, he with difficulty escaped the treacherous designs of his guardian. Regnandam. See at iii. 14.-772. The corona civilis (or, more commonly, civica) of oak leaves was given to him who had saved the life of a citizen.-773. Of these towns, which Virgil represents as colonised from Alba, Nomentum and Fidenae (Virgil uses the rarer singular form) were, in aftertimes, in the territories of the Sabines, the rest in Latium in its widest sense.-775. This line is probably spurious.-776. Pometios, Suessa Pometia. Inui, identified with the Greek Pan.-778. Romulus, son of Mavors, Mars (Mavortius), is associated with Numitor, father of his mother Ilia.-779. Assaraci. See at 648.780. Viden'. See at iii. 319.-785. Rome, with its numerous heroes, is compared to Cybele (Berecyntia, from Berecyntos, a mountain in Phrygia, where she was worshipped), who is identified here with Rhea or Terra, the mother of the gods. Cybele is generally represented as crowned with towers (turrita).-790. Julius Caesar. Iuli. See at i. 267.-792. A splendid compliment to Octavianus Caesar, who received the cognomen of Augustus, B. C. 27, eight years before Virgil's death.-793. Genus. See at iv. 12. Saecula qui rursus Latio, regnata per arva 795 800 805 810 795. Saturno. See viii. 319, &c. Garamantas. See at Ecl. viii. 44. Indos. These words are not to be construed in their strict meaning. Here Indos probably alludes generally to Eastern nations, as the Parthians.-796. Virgil, by a strong exaggeration, extends the Roman arms, under Augustus, beyond the northern hemisphere (extra sidera), and south of the zodiac (extra anni, &c.).—797. Atlas. See at i. 741, iv. 247.-798. See iv. 482.799. Virgil represents as even then trembling at the prospect of the advent of Augustus, the inhabitants of the shores of the Caspian sea-the Hyrcanians and Bactrians; the inhabitants of the shores of the Palus Maeotis, the sea of Asoph-the Scythians; and the Egyptians on the banks of the Nile with its seven mouths.-801. Observe turbant, used intransitively. See at v. 234.-802. Virgil prefers the expeditions of Augustus to those of Hercules (Alcides, see at 392), and Bacchus (Liber, compare with Lyaeus, i. 686).—803. The journeys and exploits of Hercules are well known. Traditions of him are found connected with all countries, from India to the Straits of Gibraltar, and the Germans and Celts had their Hercules. Cervam. The third labour of Hercules was to catch the brazen-footed stag of Ceryneia in Arcadia. He wounded it with an arrow (fixerit), and brought it alive to Mycenae. Erymanthi. See at v. 448. To bring alive to Mycenae the boar of Erymanthus, was his fourth labour. 804. Lernam. See at 286. 806. The later traditions ascribed to Bacchus a wide extent of conquest, from India to Spain. Persecuted by Juno, he was sheltered in the cave of Mount Nisa in Thrace. He is often represented as drawn by tigers. See Ecl. v. 29.808. Ausonia. See p. 180, line 5. - 809. Quis-ferens, either a question put by Aeneas, or an exclamation of doubt from Anchises himself.-811. Regis, Numa.-812. Cures, a town of the Sabines, whence, according to some accounts, the name given to the Romans -- Missus in imperium magnum. Cui deinde subibit, 815 820 825 830 835 of Quirites. See vii. 710.-815. Tullus Hostilius, the third king of Rome. -816. Ancus Martius, the fourth king of Rome.—818. In mentioning the Tarquinii, Priscus and Superbus, he may include the sixth king, Servius Tullius, as the son-in-law of the former, and his heir.-819. Bruti, the first Brutus, who was one of the principal agents in gaining for the people the power indicated by the fasces the bundle of rods carried before the chief rulers of the state, and which originally, even in the time of the consuls, had the secures (820) attached to them. -821. Alluding to the well-known condemnation to death of the sons of Brutus, by Brutus himself. 825. Two of the Decii, father and son, devoted themselves in battle. Of the Drusi, there were many celebrated, but they are mentioned here probably as a compliment to Livia, the second wife of Augustus, who was of the family. -826. Torquatus, as is well known, put to death his son, for engaging (though successfully) in single combat contrary to his orders. Camillum. The reference is to the victory of Camillus over the Gauls.-827. Illae, &c. Pompey and Julius Caesar. 830. Observe attigerint, ciebunt. Their reaching the light of life, is to precede their bloody provocation. 831. Socer. Caesar's daughter, Julia, was married to Pompey. As is well known, Caesar's troops were composed of those veterans who had fought with him in Gaul; hence aggeribus (montibus) Alpinis, and arce Monoeci Herculis, a promontory, with a temple of Hercules Monoecus, at the foot of the Maritime Alps: while the forces of Pompey were principally from the east (Eoïs, see at ii. 417). |