Agmen agens equitum et florentis aere catervas, 804.] Agmen et catervas' ev dià dvoîv. 'Florentes aere on the analogy of [xpuroû] avoos Theogn. 452, as Lucr.'s "florentia lumina flammis" (4. 450) is on the analogy of the Homeric Tupòs aveos. The line occurs 11. 433. 805.] Bellatrix' placed as 1.493, where it follows a line consisting of a participial clause. Non illa:' see on 6. 593. If there is any contrast here, it is between Camilla and other maidens, implied also in 'femineas.' Colo calathisve Minervae:' Cerda points out that this is an imitation of Apoll. R. 1. 627 foll.: τῇσι δὲ βουκολίαι τε βοῶν χάλκειά τε δύνειν τεύχεα, πυροφόρους τε διατμήξασθαι ἀρούρας ῥηΐτερον πάσῃσιν Αθηναίης πέλεν ἔργων, οἷς αἰεὶ τὸ πάροιθεν ὁμίλεον. For the expression comp. Hor. 3 Od. 12. 4 foll. "tibi qualum Cythereae puer ales, tibi telas operosaeque Minervae studium aufert" &c. It matters little whether colo' as well as 'calathis' goes with 'Minervae.' For 'calathis' comp. Catull. 64 (66). 318 "ante pedes autem candentis mollia lanae Vellera virgati custodibant calathisci." 806.] Virgo' in strong contrast to 'proelia dura pati:' comp. 1. 493 "audetque viris concurrere virgo." From 11. 584 foll. it would seem as if this were Camilla's first experience of war; so that we must either suppose Virg. to be inconsistent with himself, or understand 'proelia' of encounters with wild beasts, which is scarcely natural. 807.] "Libeat dum proelia Turno Nostra pati" 12. 570. 'Cursuque' &c., a sufficiently common image: see 5. 319 &c. 808.] The thought may have been suggested by πυροφόρους ἀρούρας in Apoll. R. cited on v. 805: but the four lines are imitated from Il. 20. 226 foll., of the horses of Erichthonius, where the wonder is VOL. III, 805 810 spoken of as a fact, not as a possibility. Gossrau notices a characteristic exaggeration by Stat. Theb. 6. 561, where a runner is said to be able "emissum cursu deprendere telum." Intactae' does not mean untouched by her feet, so that there is no occasion for Wakef.'s otherwise questionable conj. 'infractae,' but untouched by the sickle, standing corn. Comp. its application to unfelled woods and untrodden glades G. 3. 41. So Ov. M. 10. 654," Posse putes illos sicco freta radere passu Et segetis canae stantis percurrere aristas," comp. by Heyne. Some early critics, mentioned by Pier. and others, seem to have rejected the four lines on aesthetical grounds. In G. 3. 195 Virg. expresses himself somewhat less hyperbolically. Volaret, is potential, πέτοιτο ἄν. 809.] Gramina' of corn, like "herba," here however denoting not the blade but the full grown ear. Comp. its use of plants, 12. 415 &c. Cursu' may be either instr. or modal. Laesisset' is wrongly understood by Wagn. as i. q. "laesura esset," a notion to which such passages as 2.94 lend no colour. Virg. has chosen the pluperf. here for variety's sake, regarding the crushing of the ears as having taken place while the action indicated by 'volaret' was still going on; as we might say "she might fly over standing corn and not leave the ears crushed behind her." 810.] Suspensa' kept from touching the ground, as in the phrase "suspenso gradu:" see E. 2. 66. Equi Pelopis illi Neptunii, qui per undas cursus suspensos rapuisse dicuntur" Cic. Tusc. 2. 27. 811.]Ferret iter,' a mixture of "ferret se" and "tenderet iter." The image 'celeris-plantas' is from Apoll. R. 1. 183, οὐδὲ θεοὺς βάπτεν πόδας, ἀλλ ̓ ὅσον ἄκροις Ixveσ Teyyóμevos, which is a little less bold. 'Plantas' as elsewhere, the soles of the feet. 812.] Perhaps from Od. 2. 13, тdv δ' ἄρα πάντες λαοὶ ἐπερχόμενον θηεῦντο. 82 P. VERGILI MARONIS AENEID. LIB. VII. Turbaque miratur matrum et prospectat euntem, Virg. may also have thought of Il. 15. 682. 813.] Prospectat,' follow her with their eyes, perhaps with a notion of stretching forward to look. 814.] Pal. and Gud. have attonitis haesere animis,' from 5. 529, the latter with 'inhians' as a variant. The following lines, though grammatically dependent on 'prospectat' or 'inhians,' may be said to represent the talk of the people to each other comp. 2. 121, 652. 'Ostro' with 'velet.' 'Royal honour clothes her shoulders with purple' is equivalent to saying that the honour of royal purple clothes her shoulders. "Purpura regum G. 2. 495. A scarf ("chlamys ") is here meant. 815.] Honos' is used in connexion with a purple robe 11. 76, of funeral decoration. Levis humeros' like "levia pectora "above v. 349. 'Fibula,' probably not the "acus discriminalis," but an actual clasp, like the Athenian téttig. 815 816.] 'Auro' like ostro,' the clasp being of gold. Comp. 4. 138. For Lycian bows and arrows comp. 8. 166 &c. Ipsa,' distinguished from her shoulders and her hair: comp. G. 2. 297., 4. 274. The object of attraction is not the way in which she carries the quiver and the javelin, but the quiver and the javelin themselves. 817.] It is not clear whether a pike of myrtle-wood was a pastoral weapon, or whether the meaning is that the pastoral staff (E. 8. 16 note) was pointed with iron for the occasion, to make it available for war. Stat. Theb. 4. 300 (quoted by Forb.), "hi Paphias myrtos a stirpe recurvant Et pastorali meditantur praelia trunco," leaves the question open. Camilla has been trained to the use of javelins, 11. 574. For the use of myrtle for spear-shafts see G. 2. 447, and comp. above 3. 23. Elsewhere 'praefixus' is used of the shaft to which the head is attached, 5. 557., 10. 479., 12. 489. P. VERGILI MARONIS AENEIDOS LIBER OCTAVUS. THE Trojans having become embroiled with the inhabitants of Latium, and a confederacy having been made against them, it was natural that Virgil should wish to provide Aeneas with Italian allies. The legend of Evander offered itself opportunely to meet the want. He was supposed to have settled in Italy about sixty years before the Trojan war, so that it was possible that his old age should have coincided with the arrival of Aeneas: while the traditional character of the Arcadian prince, the mythical introducer of a foreign civilization, pointed him out as the friend rather than the enemy of the pious hero of Troy. It was reasonable too that Aeneas should be sent to visit Evander in his own home, that home being on the spot which was afterwards to be made illustrious by the foundation of the Eternal City. The narrative of Hercules and Cacus and the description of Roman topography follow as a matter of course. In giving Evander a son, Pallas, Virgil appears to have followed one of the versions of the legend (see Servius' note on v. 51 of this Book), at the same time that he retains the name of the elder Pallas, the founder of the Arcadian Pallantium and the eponym of the town on the Palatine. The thought of making Pallas accompany Aeneas may have been suggested by Apollonius, who makes Lycus send his son Dascylus along with Jason: Ovid however, in telling the story of Evander in the First Book of the Fasti, connects Pallas with Aeneas, so that there may have been some legendary authority for the association. Mezentius is known to have figured in legend as an oppressor dreaded by his neighbours, who were delivered from him on one occasion by Aeneas or Ascanius: and this may have given the hint for Aeneas' alliance with the tyrant's revolted subjects. The request of Venus to Vulcan and the making of the shield are easily traceable to their Homeric sources: the details of the workmanship are doubtless the poet's own, though, as has been said in the General Introduction, a hint may have been taken from Jason's scarf in Apollonius; and they accord well with the character and purpose of the great Roman epic. Ur belli signum Laurenti Turnus ab arce Extulit, et rauco strepuerunt cornua cantu, 3.] Concussit,' roused them; but probably there is also an allusion to the phrase "concutere habenas equis" 5. 147., 6. 101. Inpulit arma' clashed his arms by way of exciting the ardour of his followers. Comp. 12. 332, "Sanguineus Mavors clipeo increpat, atque furentis Bella movens inmittit equos;" Sil. 12. 683 (comp. by Gossrau), "Rursus in arma vocat trepidos, clipeoque tremendum Increpat, atque armis imitatur murmura caeli" (of Hannibal). Comp. also Val. F. 6. 6, referred to by Cerda. Whether this was an official act performed by the general does not appear. Serv. thinks there is an allusion to a custom at Rome, according to which the general ("qui belli susceperat curam") entered the temple of Mars and shook first the ancilia and then the spear of the god, saying "Mars vigila." 4.] "Conversi animi" 2. 73. It is a question whether simul' acts as a connecting particle between the two clauses (Heyne), or strengthens omne' and 'coniurat' (Wagn.): but the latter seems better. 'Tumultu' here expresses the rising of Latium, the abl. being a modal 'Coniurat' denotes a general rising. "De S. C. certior factus ut omnes iuniores Italiae coniurarent" Caes. B. G. 7. 1. one. 5 10 ducendo cultores vastos et desertos efficiunt" Serv., rightly, as is shown by parallel instances quoted in Forc., Hirt. (?) B. G. 8. 24, "finis eius vastare civibus, aedificiis, pecore," Stat. Theb. 3. 576, "agrosque viris annosaque vastant Oppida," though in the former passage 'vastant' has its more usual sense, meaning not only to dispeople but to ravage. The construction is not altogether easy to analyze : but it seems best to take it 'dispeople them in respect of their cultivators. We may comp. the constructions of "viduo " and "vacuo," "viduus" and "vacuus" being more or less parallel to "vastus." Vastare' of simple dispeopling occurs again Stat. Theb. 4. 297. 9.] Et:' besides all the Latin forces, they send for foreign aid. Venulus is a Tiburtine (11. 742, 757), and as Tibur, according to the legends, was an Argive colony, he is a proper ambassador to Diomede. The city of Diomede was Argyripa (afterwards Arpi) in Apulia ; and the legend that Diomede had founded it after the Trojan war very likely arose from the similarity of the name Argyripa to Argos. "Magna Diomedis ab urbe " 11. 226, where there is another reading 'magni.' 10.] Pal. (in an erasure) and Gud. have 'considere,' as in 6. 67: but 'consistere' is more appropriate here: see on 6. 807. 11.] Advectum' may be "advectum esse," but it seems better taken as a participle, 'que-et' coupling the two grounds of complaint against Aeneas. "Victosque Penatis ” 1. 68. Here ‘victos' is meant to tell upon Diomede. 12.] "Inferretque deos Latio" 1. 6. Fatis posci,' v. 477 below, 7. 272. 13.] Multasque viro se adiungere gentis' is a diplomatic exaggeration, even though Dardanio, et late Latio increbrescere nomen : Quam Turno regi, aut regi adparere Latino. 15 Talia per Latium. Quae Laomedontius heros Cuncta videns magno curarum fluctuat aestu; Atque animum nunc huc celerem, nunc dividit illuc, 20 In partisque rapit varias perque omnia versat: Sicut aquae tremulum labris ubi lumen aenis Sole repercussum aut radiantis imagine Lunae 16.] Pugnae' for "belli:" comp. 7.611: so that the meaning is, what he hopes to get by the war. Ipsi' is generally, and perhaps rightly, taken of Diomede, the insinuation being that he is more likely to be threatened as an old enemy of Troy than Turnus or Latinus. But ipsi' may be Aeneas, as we should say "what he means by this he knows best," without meaning to imply that we were really ignorant. Comp. 5. 788, "Caussas tanti sciat illa furoris." 17.] 'Regi-regi' seems meant to be in keeping with the formal tone of the communication to Diomede, which altogether is more in the style of prose than of verse. There seems to be the same formality in 9. 369, "Turno regi responsa ferebant," 11. 294, "Et responsa simul quae sint, rex optume, regis Audisti." 18-35.]Meantime Aeneas, distracted with care, lies down to sleep, when the god of the Tiber appears to him.' 18.] Talia per Latium,' a brief expression suited to the later epic narrative, like "Vix ea" 12. 154, "Hoc tantum Ascanius" 9. 636. So Pope has "thus they" &c. Hom. is more explicit, generally expressing himself in full, and oc cupying a whole line. Serv. says admiringly "Gerebantur' subaudis: et est formosa ellipsis." Peerlkamp removes the stop, so as to connect 'talia' with 'quae cuncta,' which is less likely. Laomedontius,' 7. 105. 19.] "Magno fluctuat aestu" 4. 532. Cerda comp. Lucr. 6. 34, “Volvere curarum tristis in pectore fluctus," Catull. 62 (64). 62, " Prospicit et magnis curarum fluctuat undis." Serv. remarks that the metaphor anticipates the following simile. 20, 21 are repeated from 4. 285, 286; where see note. Here there seems to be no variety of reading, except that two inferior MSS. and the Schol. on Hor. 2 Od. 16. 11 have "celerem nunc buc." 22.] This simile is taken from Apoll. R. 3. 756 foll. In the original, the water is fresh poured (rò dù véov hè λéßnti 'Hé που ἐν γαυλῷ κέχυται), which accounts for its motion. Virg. had also probably in his mind Lucr. 4. 209 foll. It must be owned that the comparison is more pleasing when applied, as it is by Apollonius, to the fluttering heart of Medea, than to the fluctuating mind of Aeneas. • Aquae' with 'lumen,' like "splendor aquai " Lucr. 1. c. Labris,' 12. 417, G. 2. 6. The abl. here seems to be local. 23.] 'Sole repercussum' is another instance of Virg.'s recondite use of words. The natural phrase would have been "sole repercusso." Perhaps the notion of reciprocal action between the sun and the water may help to justify the variation, the conception apparently being that the light glances from the water to the sun and is sent back. In the rest of the verse he changes the notion, making the light sent back not by the moon but by the reflection of the moon. Heyne attempts to harmonize the image by taking 'imagine lunae' of the moon herself that causes the reflection: but Virg. evidently |