22. avo] sc. Numitor, who, according to the legend, was restored by his grandson Romulus to the throne from which he had been unjustly ousted by his brother Amulius. comitem ally.' 23. Assaricus] great-grandfather of Aeneas. 24-25. geminae cristae] 'the double crest,' like those on the helmet of his father Mars. superum signat 'marks him out as god that is to be,' i.e. by thus decorating him with his own distinctive emblem, marks him out for future deification. 26-27. hujus auspiciis 'with him as her founder.' Romulus obtained the honour of founding and naming the new city of Rome by the omen of the twelve vultures. incluta [clueo, KλUTÓS, Kλúш] 'much heard of,' 'famous.' animos ‘pride.' 28. septem arces] i.e. the seven hills. 29-32. Rome is to be the mother of great men, as Cybelè is the mother of the gods. There is a special reference to the deified line of the Julian Gens. Cybele is called Berecyntia from Berecyntus a mountain in Phrygia. turrita 'towercrowned.' Cybele is always represented with a crown in the shape of a battlemented tower. Lucretius (2,606) gives the reason. Muralique caput summum cinxere corona supera alta tenentes] i.e. all in heaven as gods. 33-34. gentem] i.e. the Gens Julia. Caesar i.e. Julius Caesar. magnum...axem 'destined to rise to the great dome of heaven,' i.e. to be deified. Divus is 37. divi genus of the family of a deified hero,' i.e. son (by adoption) and nephew by blood of Julius Caesar. the official title of the Caesars when deified after death. 37-39. For the new era to be introduced by Augustus see introduction to 2. 6 condet shall inaugurate.' condere is technically said of the Censor when he made the sacrifice after taking the census, etc. at the end of five years thus condere lustrum may mean either to close one period,' or 'inaugurate a new period.' Saturno cp. 2, 3. Dat. of agent; L.P. §107, ii. 13, for the passive regnata 'reigned over,' for the passive of this intr. verb cp. 30, 26. 48 39. super] ‘beyond.' The Garamantes were a people of Libya south of the Syrtes. The extent of the empire is exaggerated in compliment to Augustus. Indos represents vaguely the extreme east. The Garamantes were conquered in B.C. 18. 40-42 tellus] ie. Ethiopia. extra sidera 'beyond the Zodiac.' If the sun made an arch over the earth by its course, the other side to that of the speaker might be called extra sidera, the anni solisque vias is only a further description of the same, i.e. the Zodiac. axem cp. supr. 35. aptum 'studded.' [apo or apio, aw, apiscor, apex] This land, Vergil infers, is to be a part of the Roman Empire. Ethiopia was overrun in B.C. 21 (C.). 43–45. hujus] i.e. of Augustus. For this alleged feeling of general expectation see introd. to 2. turbant are in agitation,' used intransitively, cp. the use of verto, pono, etc. Cp. 6, 4; 21, 3 and index. Maeotia tellus i.e. near the palus Maeotis, sea of Azor. 46. Alcides obivit] 'nor did Hercules traverse so wide a tract of country.' Referring to the iter orbis of Hercules, when he journeyed to Atlas. Cp. Ov. F. 1, 544, emensus longi claviger orbis iter. 47-48. Three of the labours of Hercules, performed in Arcadia, the shooting (fixerit) the brazen-footed stag, the boar in Erymanthus, and the hydra in Lerna. Augustus is compared to Hercules in putting down barbarous enemies as the latter destroyed monsters. fixerit] subj. after licet. pacarit = = pacaverit. 49-50. Referring to the fabled conquest of India by Bacchus. juga his team of tigers. pampineis 'wreathed with vine-tendrils.' agens driving.' Nysae Mt. Nysa is connected with the worship of Bacchus, but it is not known what mountain is intended by it. 51-52. Seeing the future glory of our line to be realised in Augustus (says Anchises) can we Trojans hesitate to continue our enterprise and settle in Italy? factis by our deeds.' virtutem extendere 'to give our valour fuller scope.' 53-57. This is Numa Pompilius, the reputed founder of 49 the religious worship of Rome. 'He exists simply as an explanation of certain religious usages; his very name Numa seems to mean lawgiver,' [Seely Liv. p. 40]. He is decorated with a wreath of olive as a sacrificial ornament. incanaque menta 'his hoary hair and beard.' Numa is thus represented as a mark of his venerable age and office. crines 56. Curibus parvis] 'from the little (Sabine) town of Cures' [mod. Correse], about twenty-four miles from Rome, and in Vergil's time sunk to a mere village. From it came Tatius and Numa. The Roman worship and ritual was always said to be of Sabine origin. imperium magnum rather refers to what Rome became afterwards, than to what it was under the kings. 57-59. subibit] 'will succeed.' Tullus 'the notion that Tullus (Hostilius) was a warlike king, was possibly suggested by his name, though in the early Latin it probably only meant son of a foreigner, (Seely, p. 41). resides [the nom. resěs does not occur] 'inactive,' 'quiet,' from resideo. 66 60. Ancus] The principal event in the reign of Ancus Marcius was the settlement of the Latins on the Aventine. This was the Plebeian quarter of the town, and the creation of it was possibly attributed to this king on account of his name Ancus, which is connected with ancilla and means "servant,' [Seely, p. 44]. Hence the idea that he flattered the lower orders. jactantior 'over boastful,' as a grandson of Numa. He is represented as showing even before his birth (nunc quoque) the qualities he displayed in the upper world. popularibus auris the breath of popular favour.' The metaphor is that of a favourable gale, but there is also allusion to the breath i.e. the voices of the people. "The sweet breath of flattery,' as Shakespeare says. Cp. also Coriol. 2, 1, 225, 'showing his wounds to the people buy their stinking breaths.' 62-63. Tarquinios reges] the two Tarquins, Priscus and Superbus. ultoris the avenger,' i. e. of Lucretia. fasces receptos 'the restoration of the consulship.' The fasces or rods carried before the Consuls are put for the office. Vergil chooses to speak of their recovery,' as though the kingly office had been a usurpation of rights once possessed by republican officers, which has no historical justification. K 64. saevas secures] 'the axes of severity.' The axes carried in the fasces. The axes were the symbol of the power of life and death possessed by the magistrates who had imperium. They are mentioned here in reference to the story of the execution of Brutus' sons, for their conspiracy to restore the Tarquins. 67-68. ferent] 'shall speak of,' or 'estimate.' Vincet 'will prove superior to all other considerations.' 70-71. quin] [qui non] 'nay more.' Decios Decius Mus the elder, Cons. B.C. 340, devoted himself to death to save the Roman army in the great Latin war, and his son did the same at the battle of Sentinum B. C. 295. Drusos the most distinguished of the Drusi (a family of the Gens Livia) was M. Livius Drusus, who was tribune in B.C. 122 with C. Gracchus ; he is probably referred to by Vergil because he was an ancestor of Livia, the wife of Augustus. Saevumque securi Torquati Manlius Torquatus with his pitiless axe' (lit. pitiless with his axe) referring like saevas secures in verse 64, to the execution of his son Manlius for disobedience to orders in fighting a single combat with a Latin, just before the battle of Vesuvius B. C. 340. Camillum the reputed saviour of Rome from the Gauls who captured it after the battle of the Allia B.C. 390. referentem signa 'restoring the stands,' which the Gauls had taken. 72-81. The next spirits are those of Julius Caesar and Pompeius and these lines refer to the civil war in which they were the heads of the two parties. 73. nocte] by the shades of the lower world.' 76-77. gener...socer] Pompey married Julia the daughter of Julius Caesar, a marriage which preserved the peace of the world for some time. After Julia's death Pompey and Caesar soon became estranged. Vergil represents Caesar as descending upon Italy from his province of Gaul, and would seem to indicate that he entered Liguria by the Riviera as arx Monoeci is the modern Monaco. He entered Italy proper on the east coast by Ariminum. adversis instructus Eois 'with an army composed of Eastern troops to meet him.' The Eastern troops' are not composed of Eastern natives, or not mainly so, but of Roman legions serving in the East. 50 78-81 assuescite] 'familiarise.' qui genus ducis Olympo who deduce your descent from Heaven.' Julius Caesar claimed a descent through Aeneas from Venus, as belonging to the Gens Julia supposed to be named from Iulus, son of Aeneas. sanguis meus 'my son.' The incompleteness of the line is perhaps meant to express the horror of Anchises as the vision of the events of the civil war rise before his eyes; or it may possibly have been left to be finished on the revision of the work which was prevented by Vergil's death. 82-86. The conquerors of Greece come next. ille in 82 is Mummius who sacked Corinth B.C. 146. triumphata 'triumphed over.' See on 30, 26. Capitolia ad alta sc. to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus to which the triumphal processions went by the Via Sacra. ille in 84 is Aemilius Paulus who defeated Perses King of Macedonia B.c. 168, who is called Aeacides and genus Achilli because he claimed descent from Achilles [others have thought that Mummius was intended in both cases]. Argos and Mycenae became part of the Roman province of Archaia on the conquest of the Achaean league by Metellus B. C. 147-6. 86. 'Thus avenging his ancestors of Troy and the desecrated temple of Minerva.' Referring to the supposed Trojan descent of the Romans, and to the transference of the Palladium to Rome, and to the insult inflicted on Pallas by Ajax, in offering violence to Cassandra furias Ajacis Oïlei (Aen. 1, 41). 87. Cato] the Censor b. B.C. 234. Cossus Servius Cornelius Cossus cons. B.C. 428, who killed the king of Veii and won the Spolia opima. 88. Gracchi genus] the two brothers Tiberius and Caius Gracchus, Trib. Pl. in B.C. 133 and 123-1 respectively. Both were assassinated by the party of the nobles. Other members of the family had also been distinguished. 87-88 The two Scipios are the elder and younger Scipio Africanus. The latter was the adopted son of the former. The elder Scipio was the hero of the Spanish campaigns in the 2nd Punic war and commanded at the battle of Zama B. C. 202. The younger among many other military services took and destroyed Carthage in B.c. 146. Scipiades is a patronymic Sons of Scipio,' used in poetry for the unrhythmical plural or oblique cases of Scipio. fulmina belli seems to be taken from Lucretius [3, 1034] Scipiadas, belli fulmen, Carthaginis horror. cladem Libyae 'the destroyer of Africa.' |