Aut metus Ausonia prohibet consistere terra? from other passages, as in 5. 843, G. 2. 513 (see also on 1. 364., 4. 564, where the case is not so clear): but Serv. of course has an independent weight. On the whole, however, I have with Ribbeck preferred the reading of Rom. and Pal., as I see no plausible hypothesis on which its introduction can be accounted for, an argument which has similarly determined my judgment in the two passages just referred to. 807.] Consistere terra' 1. 541., 10. 75, to be distinguished from considere,' with which it is sometimes confounded in MSS., the one referring to entrance or invasion, the other to subsequent settlement, 808-835.] The kings of Rome are seen in order, and the worthies of the commonwealth, especially Pompey and Caesar, the heroes of the civil war.' 808.] Ribbeck here inserts vv. 826-835 without authority, and with no sufficient reason. The order has been already disturbed in honour of Augustus, and the mention of Caesar after his successor does not restore it, while the tone in which the civil wars are spoken of is very different from that which celebrates the return of the golden age. With the latter Anchises identifies himself cordially: of the former he speaks with regret, and so naturally mentions it merely as one of the events of Roman history. Wagn. thought the question 'Quis' &c. was put by Aeneas, but it is evidently no more than a rhetorical variety in the narrative. Anchises sees Numa in the distance (procul '), and begins to recognize him (nosco '). Gossrau well remarks that no worse compliment could have been paid to Augustus than to make Aeneas interrupt the praises of his great descendant by a question about a figure in the distance. 809.] Numa, as the great author of the Roman worship, is naturally represented as a sacrificing priest. Incanaque menta' G. 3. 311. This picture of Numa with hoary hair and beard is seen on late coins. Serv. has a story that Numa's 810 hair was hoary from his youth. Rom. gives 'noscor.' 810.] 'Primam' is the reading of the great majority of MSS.: 'primus' however, though very inferior in authority (it is found in one MS. of the 15th century, and in a quotation by Serv. on 1. 1), took possession of the early editions, and was recalled by Burm. and Heyne. Primam' is much more in Virg.'s manner: comp. G. 1. 12, "cui prima frementem Fudit equum tellus." Legibus fundabit' seems virtually to designate Numa as the second founder of the city, as having been its first great lawgiver. Legibus' then is emphatic, as showing in what sense the city was founded by Numa. Henry well comp. Justin 2. 7, "Sed civitati nullae tunc leges erant, quia libido regum pro legibus habebatur. Legitur itaque Solon... qui velut novam civitatem legibus conderet." دو 812.] "Mitteret in magnum inperium' 11. 47. With "Curibus parvis missus" comp. G. 2. 385, "Troia gens missa." For cui' Ribbeck restores quoi,' the reading according to Pier. of some old copies, supported by 'qui' the first reading of Med. and quid' Rom. ('d' from deinde'): Pal. however has cui,' and the archaism is not one which Virg. can be proved to have affected, though there are a few passages where, as here, it is found in some MSS. 813.] Otia rumpere ' like 'silentia rumpere," "somnum rumpere." 'Resides' joined with 'desueta' as in 1. 722., 7. 693, where the expression resembles this, ": resides populos desuetaque bello Agmina in arma vocat." We might have expected vocabit' or 'ciebit' here: but the poet seems to have chosen a word which would especially suit 'resides,' at the same time that it might remind a reader of the expression "movere bellum," and so prepare him for in arma." 814.] Henry remarks the effective manmer in which Tullus' is brought late into the sentence, immediately before 'in arma.' Agmina. Quem iuxta sequitur iactantior Ancus, ac For et iam desueta' Rom. has 'magnum deinde,' a strange aberration, not counted for by Ribbeck's supposition that the transcriber thought of "magui magnum decus esse triumphi," Elegy to Messala, v. 3. 815.] The character here given to Ancus does not agree with the accounts of the historians, such as Livy and Dionysius: Pomponius Sabinus however has preserved a notice which says that Ancus valued himself on his birth as Numa's grandson, and courted the favour of the people in the hopes of destroying Tullus. 816.] Nunc quoque,' even in this lower world, the ruling passion being strong even before birth. Various attempts have been made to alter this line so as to understand it of Servius Tullius, "the commons' king," but Pomponius is doubtless right in supposing him to be included in "Tarquinios reges." One inferior and interpolated MS. gives 'hunc.' Popularis aura' is found in Cic., Livy, and Hor. (see Freund) the former also has "ventus popularis" Cluent. 47. The voice of the people is naturally spoken of as breath, as readers of Shakspere's Julius Caesar will remember, and this makes the metaphor of a favouring gale at sea more obvious. 817.] Anchises asks if he shall point out to Aeneas the later kings and Brutus. Virg. has not chosen to call Tarquin 'superbus,' but has transferred the epithet to Brutus, the majestic and inflexible founder of Roman liberty, doubtless intentionally, so that there is no ground to suspect the text with Peerlkamp and Ribbeck. 818.] Receptos' seems to be used like "recipere ex hoste." So at the beginning of Livy Book 2 Brutus is made to say "libertatem recuperatam esse." 819.] Saevasque secures Lucr. 3. 996., 5. 1234. 820.] Nova' may either mean sudden 815 820 and unexpected (comp. 2. 228., 8. 637), or renewed, because the object of the sons of Brutus was to bring back the Tarquins. 821.] Ad poenam vocabit' like "ad supplicium reposcunt" 8. 495. 822.] Macrob. Sat. 4. 6 and Augustine De Civitate Dei 3. 16 connect 'utcumque' &c. with 'infelix,' the latter paraphrasing the line "quomodo libet ea facta posteri ferant, id est, post ferant et extollant, qui filios occidit infelix est." Heyne's interpretation however is evidently the right one, "In quamcunque partem hoc factum interpretaturi sint posteri, ipse in sumendo a filiis supplicio sequetur id quod patriae amor et gloriae cupiditas suadebunt." He remarks that probably Brutus' action was condemned by some in Virg.'s time, a very possible supposition, as the exploit of the younger Brutus would naturally provoke animadversion on the character of his sup posed ancestor. For the use of 'ferre' where praise is not intended comp. 7. 78, "Id vero horrendum ac visu mirabile ferri." 'Fata' the reading of some MSS., was the common one before Heins. (see on 4. 596), and 'nepotes,' the reading of one MS., is supported by Macrob. Voss, with some ingenuity but little probability, understood 'minores' of the younger generation in Brutus' own day. 823.] At first sight there may seem some incongruity between Brutus' indifference to the opinion of posterity and his unmeasured thirst of fame: but the meaning apparently is that he will risk being called cruel by posterity, so long as he forces them to acknowledge that he is great. "Laudumque arrecta cupido" 5. 138. 824.] The Drusi are doubtless introduced out of compliment to Livia, as Heyne remarks, though Livius the conqueror of Hasdrubal was sufficiently remarkable on his own account. 'Saevum securi' refers Aspice Torquatum et referentem signa Camillum. of course to Torquatus beheading his son. Torquatus is doubtless represented with the axe, as Camillus with the recovered standards. 825.] Signa,' captured by the Gauls at the battle of the Allia, and recovered by Camillus when he conquered the enemy, according to the Roman account, on their leaving Rome. 826.] "Agmine partito fulgent paribusque magistris" 5. 562. 'Paribus armis:' they are represented as armed in the same manner, partly to show their natural concord, as mentioned in the next line, partly to point out that the war which they are hereafter to wage is a civil war (Cerda comp. G. 1. 489, "paribus telis"). There may also be a notion of their equality as great generals. Fulgere,' the antique third conjugation, found in Lucr. 5. 1095 &c. So "effulgere" 8. 677. 827.] Premuntur' Med., Gud., Pal. a m. s., prementur Rom., Pal. a m. p. Either might stand, the sense being virtually the same, as 'prementur' would mean so long as they shall remain in darkness,' during the time that yet remains for them to be in darkness.' See also on 4. 336. On the whole I have preferred 'premuntur' with Wagn. and subsequent editors, as Virg. is likely to have used his tenses so as to bring out the distinction between the present and the immediate future on the one hand, and the ultimate future (ciebunt') on the other. With 'nocte premuntur' Gossrau comp. Hor. 1 Od. 4. 16, "Iam te premet nox fabulaeque Manes." Here 'premere' ='continere,' restrain from emerging into the upper world. Serv. refers the words to the time before Caesar and Pompey were famous, reading 'prementur.' 'Nox' is used loosely, as Wagn. remarks, as we have been told v. 641 that the Elysian fields have a sun of their own. 825 830 828.] "Bella cient" 1. 541. Lumina vitae ' 7. 771, and several times in Lucr. Here it is contrasted with 'nocte.' Some inferior MSS. give 'limina,' which Wakef. adopts. 830.] "Aggeribus Alpinis: a munimentis Alpium: haec enim Italiae murorum exhibent vicem," Serv. 'Socer' is of course Caesar, whose daughter Julia Pompey married. Monoeci,' the port of Hercules Monoecus, the modern Monaco, where was a promontory and a temple, whence arx,' as in 3. 531. There is a difficulty in this specification of the place, as this is not otherwise known to have been the way by which Caesar entered Italy. The most natural supposition seems to be that Virg. wrote as a poet, not as a historian. 831.]Arrayed against him with an Eastern army, referring to the composition of Pompey's forces. 832.] Probably from II. 7. 279, μnkéti, παῖδε φίλω, πολεμίζετε, μηδὲ μάχεσθον, where Idaeus is addressing Ajax and Hector. Pueri' with reference to the difference in age between them and Anchises. Animis adsuescite bella,' a variety for "adsuescite animos bellis " ("bellis assuetus" 9. 201). Perhaps we may say that the inversion calls more attention to the gentleness of their natures as a positive quality from which war is made to recoil: but we must not refine needlessly. 833.] Comp. Lucan 1. 2, "populumque potentem In sua victrici conversum viscera dextra," an imitation of this passage, Hor. Epod. 16. 2, "Suis et ipsa Roma viribus ruit," which show that 'patriae' goes both with 'viris' and with 'viscera.' Similarly Livy, Praef. "iam pridem praevalentis populi vires se ipsae conficiunt." By the position of 'patriae' Virg. has avoided the awkwardness of using 'suas' or 'sua.' For the alliteration see on 2. 494. 834.] The more illustrious can better Proiice tela manu, sanguis meus!- 835 afford to forgive. "Unde genus ducis" 835.] Germ. quotes Caesar B. C. 3. 98, "Cum plures arma proiicerent, ac fugae simile iter videretur." "Meus nom. for voc., which perhaps was thought too familiar and colloquial. It gives a slight difference to the meaning, as Forb. remarks, making the words parallel to ' genus qui ducis Olympo,' and assigning a reason for forbearance. Rufinianus 265 R, citing the passage, reads 'sanguis pius,' which Heyne rather approves. One MS., the first Hamburg, supplements the line with the words esse memento.' 836-853.] Other republican heroes pass in review. Anchises declares the greatness of Rome to lie not in art or science, but in war and the practice of government.' pleads for Mummius, contending with considerable ingenuity that Anchises in the preceding couplet has expressed himself in Roman imagery, and now repeats his meaning in words more intelligible to Aeneas, who knew nothing of Corinth or the Capitol, and would only conceive of the conquest of Greece as a victory over the descendants of Achilles or the destruc tion of the empire of Agamemnon. But Anchises is not elsewhere so considerate to his son's ignorance, referring as he does throughout to Roman exploits in Roman language: nor is it credible that 'ipsum Aeaciden' should have been used not for an individual but for the descendants of Achilles generally. The argument that if 'ultus' &c. v. 840 be referred to any one but Mummius, Virg. virtually denies that Mummius did execute this revenge, needs no refutation. So far as the language is concerned, it would certainly seem that the second 'ille' denotes a different person from the first. The most probable candidate for this honour appears to be L. Aemilius Paullus, the conqueror of Macedon, v. 839 being understood of his victory over Perseus, who is said by Prop. 5. 11. 39, Sil. 15. 291 (speaking of his father Philip) to have been a descendant of Achilles; though there still remains a difficulty, as Paullus was not the destroyer of Argos and Mycenae. We must suppose then that Virg. has written loosely, perhaps conceiving that the indefinite ille-ille' exempted him from the need of strict accuracy. Heyne suggests that 'ipsum Aeaciden' may refer to Paullus' cruel destruction of the Epirots, supposed to be represented by their ancestor Pyrrhus (agreeably to the well-known line of Ennius, "Aio te, Aeacida, Romanos vincere posse," Ann. 6. fr. 7): but this is far less likely. Others have suggested that the person meant by 'ille' may be Q. Caecilius Metellus, surnamed Macedonicus, who conquered the pseudo-Philip, and began the war with the Achaeans which Mummius finished. 836.] The conquerors of Greece are now introduced, that being naturally one of the chief achievements of Rome in the eye of a Trojan. Comp. 1. 283 foll. The victor of Corinth is of course L. Mummius (Dict. Biog.), who had the surname of Achaicus. Triumphata Corintho' like "triumphatas gentes" G. 3. 33. The use of the past participle is not strictly consistent with the order of time, the expression being in fact a mixture of devicta Corintho aget currum,' and 'triumphans de Corintho aget currum.' The triumph of Mummius was peculiarly famous for the splendour of the booty carried in procession. Horace uses it as a synonym for a stage pageant, 2 Ep. 1. 193, "Captivum portatur ebur, captiva Corinthus." 837.] With the expression 'victor aget currum' comp. G. 3. 17. 838.] This second 'ille' has been variously identified. Hyginus, quoted by Gell. 10. 16, assumed that Mummius was still intended, and accused Virg. of confounding two distinct events, Mummius' campaign and the war with Pyrrhus, whom he supposes to be intended by 'Aeaciden,' his conclusion being that Virg. would doubtless have altered the passage had he lived, and that if v. 839 were excluded, all would be right. Gossrau still 839.] Eruet' is transferred in a modi. fied sense to 'Aeaciden.' Ultus avos Troiae, templa et temerata Minervae. 840.] Templa et temerata Minervae' 841.] Cato,' the censor. Cosse,' A. Cornelius Cossus, the winner of the 'spolia opima.' 'Tacitum' is used in its strict participial sense, 'qui tacetur.' So Cic. Ep. 3. 8, "Prima duo capita epistolae tuae tacita mihi quodammodo relinquenda sunt." 842.] 'Gracchi genus' probably refers not only to the two brothers, but to their ancestor who distinguished himself in the Spanish wars. 'Geminos Scipiadas' is explained by Serv. of the two Scipios who fell in Spain, an interpretation supported, as Cerda remarks, by Cic. pro Balbo 15, "Cum duo fulmina nostri inperii subito in Hispania, Cn. et P. Scipiones, exstincti occidissent," though there lumina' would seem a more probable reading (comp. 11. 349, "Lumina tot cecidisse ducum"). Cerda himself however and the later commentators have rightly seen that the reference must be to the elder and younger Africanus, who alone could be called cladem Libyae.' The elder Africanus is evidently referred to by Lucr. 3. 1034, whom Virg. imitated, "Scipiades, belli fulmen, Carthaginis horror, Ossa dedit terrae, proinde ac famul infimus esset." 843.] Scipiadas' G. 2. 170 note. Parvo potentem' is rightly taken by Forb. as virtually = "parvo opulentum," -a sense of potens' for which he refers to Hor. 2 Oa. 18. 12 "nec potentem amicum Largiora flagito," Phaed. 1. 24. 1 Inops potentem dum vult imitari, perit." Comp. 12. 519. Cerda well refers to the language of Valerius Maximus 4. 3 about Fabricius, "Continentiae suae beneficio sine pecunia praedives, sine usu familiae abunde comitatus; quia locupletem illum faciebat non multa possidere sed modica desiderare." For the construction comp. 7. 56, "Turnus avis atavisque potens." 840 845 844.] "Serranus was originally an agnomen of C. Atilius Regulus, consul B.C. 257, but afterwards became the name of a distinct family of the Atilia gens. The origin of the name is uncertain. Most of the ancient writers derive it from serere, and relate that Regulus received the surname of Serranus because he was engaged in sowing when the news was brought him of his elevation to the consulship ("serentem invenerunt dati honores Serranum, unde cognomen," Pliny 18. 3, Cic. pro Sext. Rosc. 18, Val. Max. 4. 4, § 5). It appears however from coins that Saranus is the proper form of the name, and Perizonius (Animadv. Hist. c. 1) thinks that it is derived from Saranum, a town of Umbria." Dict. Biog. Serranus. We may wonder that Virg. did not rather think of Cincinnatus, who seems to have been the more famous of these heroes of the plough. Sulco serentem' like "conducta tellure serebat" 12. 520,-words immediately following the use of potens' cited in the last note, and noticeable as showing how Virg. in reproducing himself or others is apt to take words from the same context, even when they have no special connexion. See on 1. 375, &c. For the rhyme comp. 4. 189, 190, 256, 257. 845.] Alluding to the numbers and exploits of the Fabii (Dict. B. ‘Vibulanus '), which tire the narrator who tries to count them. Comp. Johnson's celebrated line, "And panting Time toiled after him in vain." Rom. has gressum rapitis," which, as Pierius remarked, might be understood as an address to the Fabii, supposed to be seen by Anchises in the act of undertaking their ill-omened expedition to the Cremera. 'Maxumus:' Virg. follows the story which made Q. Fabius surnamed Cunctator, the dictator in the second Punic war, the first to bear the name Maxumus. Others said that it was originally given to his great-grandfather, the general in the Samnite war. See Dict. B. Maximus.' You are the true Maxumus, greatest of your race.' 846.] Taken almost verbally from the |