LIBRARY^
Ufivcjtsrtv of
CALIFORNIA
SAN DIEGO
OVID
RAMSAY
HENRY FROWDE
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE
AMEN CORNER, E.C.
&ms
w
/OVID
SELECTIONS FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS
WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES
AND AN APPENDIX ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR
BY
WILLIAM RAMSAY, M. A.
FORMERLY PROFESSOR OF HUMANITY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW,
AUTHOR OF 'MANUAL OF ROMAN ANTIQUITIES,' ETC.
EDITED BY
GEORGE G. RAMSAY, M. A.
TRIN. COLL. OXON.
PROFESSOR OF HUMANITY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
SECOND EDITION
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
M DCCC LXXXVI
(Jill rights reserved}
PREFACE.
THE present edition is substantially a reprint of a work
entitled 'Extracts from Tibullus and Ovid,' written some
years ago by the late Professor Ramsay, for the use of the
Latin class in the University of Glasgow. It was originally
printed privately at his own expense ; and has remained
up to this time practically unknown to the scholars and
schools of England, and almost unused beyond the limits of
this University.
Having found the work invaluable as a text-book for my
junior class, combining as it does accurate scholarship with vigor-
ous, graphic representations of ancient mythology and history,
of ancient life and literature, I suggested to the Delegates of the
Oxford Press that it would be a fitting work to insert in their
new series. The book in its original form being somewhat too
bulky, it was thought advisable to omit altogether the selections
from Tibullus which might have interfered with a selection
from the minor Roman poets shortly to be issued in the same
series and to curtail the notes in the remaining portion of the
book where possible. Such curtailment has been effected almost
entirely by the omission of original passages from classical authors,
which had been quoted in extenso in the original work and which
are merely referred to in the present edition ; and as at the same
time a number of notes have been inserted which originally
appeared in illustration of the extracts from Tibullus, the result
is that the notes of the present volume include the whole of the
vi PREFACE.
notes to the Ovid, and in an enriched rather than an impove-
rished form.
In addition to the shorter notes, a few dissertations will be
found interspersed here and there throughout the book. These
are for the most part upon matters which are imperfectly ex-
plained in ordinary works, or where the desired results could
be arrived at only by searching into and comparing a number of
different treatises. Such are the disquisitions on the Lares and
Penates (p. 67), on the Sibylline books and the different Sibyls (p.
259), on the origin of the Olympian Gods and their wars with
the Titans, Giants, &c. (p. 251), on Janus (p. 189), on Mars
(p. 204), on Faunus (p. 40), on fest'a (p. 275), the Preliminary
Remarks, and many of the Introductions to the different
Extracts.
The selection of various readings will be found to include
i . Those which are equal or nearly equal in authority to the
received text. a. Those which have been adopted by the best
editors. 3. Those which serve to illustrate the manner in which
errors gradually crept in during the process of repeated tran-
scription. 4. Those whose rejection involves some point of
delicate or curious criticism. It would be obviously undesirable,
in a school-book like the present, to enlarge upon this depart-
ment ; but none can deny that, in the hands of a skilful teacher,
various readings may be used as a powerful instrument for
exercising the judgment and improving the taste.
In addition to the annotations contained in the best editions
of the poet, of which a list has been given in p. xxix, it should be
mentioned that in all that relates to ancient mythology free use
has been made of the works of J. H. Voss 1 , K. O. Miiller 2 , and
Hartung 3 , while in the Appendix on the Roman Calendar the
excellent essay of Ideler* has been closely followed.
1 Mythologische Briefe Antisymbolik Kritische Blatter.
2 Prolegomena zu einer wissenschaftlichen Mythologie Orchomenos Die
Dorier Die Etrusker. s Die Religion der Rcimer.
* Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen Chronologic.
PREFACE. vii
In the present Edition, the only decided alteration I have
ventured to make is in the matter of orthography, as to the true
principles of which so much progress has been made by modern
scholars. In accordance with the now generally received con-
clusions of the best authorities, I have written uniformly caelum,
caelestis, caeruleus, cetera, fenus, fetus, femina, fenum, maeror,
maestus, haedus, nequiquam, quicquam, umquam, numquam, tam-
quam, etc., inserted the p in such forms as sumptus, ademptus,
etc., and made a few other unimportant changes of a similar
character. With regard to the difficult question of assimilation
I have left the orthography as it stood.
With these exceptions the work remains, both in form and
substance, absolutely unchanged.
GEORGE G. RAMSAY.
GLASGOW COLLEGE,
May 2, 1868.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
I.
Life of Ovid . . . < . .
PAGE
II.
P. Ovidii Nasonis Vita ex codice Vetusto . .
. XX
III.
Works of Ovid
. xxi
IV.
Manuscripts and Editions of Ovid . . .
. xxvii
EXTRACTS FROM OVID.
1.
Heroides, Epistola v. Oenone Parid't . .
. i
2.
Heroides, Epistola XIII. Laodamia Protesllao .
7
3.
Amores, Liber I. Elegia XV. Poeta suum studium
defendit .......
14
4.
Amores, Liber n. Elegia VI. Mors Psittaci
15
5.
Amores, Liber in. Elegia ix. Mors Tibulli
17
e.
Ars Amatoria, Liber I. 101. Raptus Sabinarum
19
7.
Ars Amatoria, Liber I. 527. Bacchus et Ariadne
21
8.
Remedia Amoris 169. Solatia Ruris
24
0.
Fasti I. i. Fastorum Dedicatio
25
10.
28
11.
Fasti I. 295. Astronomiae laus ....
29
12.
Fasti I. 469. Evander .....
ib.
13.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
14. Fasti in. i.
Romulus et Remus ....
. 36
15. Fasti II. 267.
Lupercalia .....
. 40
16. Fasti n. 381.
Lupercal .....
44
17. Fasti iv. 809.
Romae Natalis. Mors Remi
. 46
18. Fasti I. 335.
Sacra Prisca, Fictimae, etc. .
. 48
19. Fasti II. 19.
20. Fasti II. 533.
Feralia .....
52
21. Fasti v. 419.
Lemuria .....
55
22. Fasti II. 639.
56
23. Fasti iv. 901.
Robigo .....
- 59
24. Fasti iv. 721.
Pattlia
. 61
25. Fasti in. 429.
Feiovis .....
- 64
26. Fasti in. 523.
Anna Perenna ....
. 66
27. Fasti v. 129.
Lares Praestites ....
. 67
28. Fasti v. 663.
Mercurius .....
73
29. Fasti v. 183.
Flora
. 75
30. Fasti in. 809.
Minerva .....
. 77
31. Fasti vi. 419.
Palladium a ftletello servatum
80
32. Fasti in. 713.
Bacchus .....
. 85
33. Fasti iv. 179.
Cybele
. 89
34. Fasti n. 8-3.
Arion .....
. 96
35. Fasti 11. 305.
Hercules et Omphale . . .
97
36. Fasti n. 193.
Fabiorum Clades ....
. 98
37. Fasti I. 587.
Agnomina .....
. 100
38. Tristia i. 3.
Oindius Romam relinquit . .
. 102
39. Tristia in. 10
. Exsilii locus ....
1 06
40. Tristia iv. 10
. Ovidii Vita ....
. I0 9
Critical Notes .
*
H5
Notes . . .
.......
. 134
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX. ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR.
1. Julian Year 315
2. Months . 315
3. Calends, Nones, and Ides . . . . . .316
4. Roman method of computing Dates . . . .316
5. Annus Bissextus 318
6. Nundinae . . . . . . . . .319
7. Dies Fasti, Nefasti, Intercisi, Festi, Profesti, &c. . 320
8. Feriae 320
9. Dies Atri . . . . . . . . .320
10. Fasti Kalendares 321
11. Fasti Historici ........ 323
12. Year of Romulus 324
13. Year of Numa 325
14. Original signification of Calends, Nones, and Ides . 326
15. Intercalations in general 328
16. Intercalations of the Greeks 328
17. Intercalations of the Romans before the Julian
Reform . 329
18. Distribution of days in the year of 355 days . . . 331
19. Intercalations before the Julian Reform, continued . 331
20. Confusion caused by the mismanagement of Ponti-
fices . ........ 332
*i. Annus Confusionis ultimus 333
22. Gregorian year 333
23. Roman Lustrum 334
24. Roman Saeculum 336
25. The rising and setting of the fixed stars according to
Ovid and others . 337
INTRODUCTION.
I.
LIFE OF OVID.
9
THE personal history of Ovid is better known to us than that
of any other Roman poet, except Horace. We are indebted for
our information to various incidental notices scattered over his
works, but principally to a short autobiography in Elegiac verse
(Trist. 4. 10), which will be found in the present collection.
PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO was born on the 2oth of March, (the
second day of the ' Quinquatria') 43 B.C., the year in which the
battles fought against Antony under the walls of Modena proved
fatal to Hirtius and Pansa, in which the second triumvirate was
formed, and in which Cicero perished. The place of his nativity was
Sulmo (Sulmone,) a town in the cold moist hills of the Peligni,
one of the Sabine clans, situated at a short distance to the S.E. of
Corfinium, about ninety miles from Rome. His father was of an
ancient equestrian family, and Publius was the second son, his
elder brother being exactly twelve months his senior. They
were both brought up at Rome, their education was superintended
by the most distinguished masters, and at the usual period each
assumed the manly gown. The elder, a youth of great promise,
devoted himself with zeal to the study of eloquence, but his
career was short, for he died in his twenty-first year.
Publius repaired to Athens for the purpose of finishing his
studies ; at this or some subsequent period he visited, in the train
XIV INTRODUCTION.
of Macer, the gorgeous cities of Asia, and on his return home
passed nearly a year in Sicily \ From a very early period he had
displayed a decided taste for poetical composition. He soon
manifested a rooted aversion to the jarring contentions of the
forum, and, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his father,
gradually abandoned public life, and devoted himself exclusively
to the cultivation of the muses. When a very young man he
exercised the functions of triumvir, decemvir -', centum vir 3 , and
judicial arbiter, but never attempted to rise to any of the higher
offices of state, which would have entitled him to the rank and
privileges of a senator.
He was married three times. His first wife, whom he wedded
while still almost a boy, he describes as unworthy of his affection ;
his second was of blameless character, but from her also he was
soon divorced. One of these two ladies, we know not which,
belonged to the Etrurian tribe, whose chief town was Falerii *
1 ' Nee peto, quas petii quondam studiosus Athenas,
Oppida non Asiae, non loca visa prius.' Trist. I. 2, 77-
Again inE. ex P. 2. IO, addressed to Macer, at line 21
' Te duce, magnificas Asiae perspeximus urbes :
Trinacris est oculis, te duce, nota meis.
Vidimus Aetnaea caelum splendescere flamma;
Suppositus monti quam vomit ore Gigas:
Hennaeosque lacus et olentia stagna Palici,
Quaque suis Cyanen miscet Anapus aquis.
Nee procul hinc Nymphen, quae, dum fugit Elidis amnem,
Tecta sub aequorea nunc quoque currit aqua.
Hie mihi labentis pars anni magna peracta est.
Eheu, quam dispar est locus ille Getis !'
See also Fast. 6. 423.
* ' Inter bis quinos nsus honore viros." Fast. 4. 384.
' ' Nee male commissa est nobis fortuna reorum,
Lisque decem decies inspicienda viris.
Res quoque privatas statui sine crimine iudex :
Deque mea fassa est pars quoque victa fide.' Trist. 2. 93.
4 'Cum mihi pomiferis coniux foret orta Faliscis,
Moenia contigimus victa, Camille, tibi.' Amor. 3. 13, I.
INTRODUCTION. XV
(Santa Maria di Faleri). His third wife was of the noble Fabian
family 1 . To her he was deeply attached, and she remained fond
and true to the last, supporting him by her faithful affection during
the misfortunes which darkened the close of his life. His
daughter, Perilla, was married twice, and was the mother of two
children, one by each husband. His father died at the advanced
age of ninety, and the poet was soon after called upon to pay the
last rites to his mother likewise.
For a long period fortune had smiled steadily upon Ovid. He
was now upwards of fifty years old ; the greater part of this time
he had spent at Rome, in ease, tranquillity, and happiness. His
time was completely at his own disposal, and he could devote what
portion of it he pleased to his favourite pursuits : his works were
universally popular ; he was the companion and friend of all the
great political and literary characters of that brilliant epoch ; he en-
joyed the favour and patronage of the emperor himself. But he was
not destined to end his days in peace. Towards the end of A.D.
8 an order was suddenly conveyed to him from Augustus, com-
manding that he should instantly quit the metropolis, and fix his
1 In E. ex P. I. 2, 138, addressed to Fabius Maximus, he says,
'Hie ego, de vestra cui data nupta domo,'
from E. ex P. 2. II, 13, we learn that the Rufus to whom it is addressed
was her maternal uncle
' Sponte quidem, per seque mea est laudabilis uxor ;
Admonitu melior fit tamen ilia tuo.
Namque quod Hermiones Castor fuit, Hector lull,
Hoc ego te laetor coniugis esse meae ; '
and fromE. ex P. 2. 10, 10, that she was somehow connected with Macer,
to whom he writes,
'Vel mea quod coniux non aliena tibi.'
She was a widow at the time of her union with Ovid, and her daughter
by her first husband married Suillius, the intimate friend of Germanicus
Caesar. In a letter to this Suillius, E. ex P. 4. 8, 9, we find the ex-
pressions, ,
'lus aliquod faciunt affinia vincula nobis,
Quae semper maneant illabefacta precor.
Nam tibi quae coniux, eadem mihi filia paene est:
Et quae te generum, me vocat ilia virum.'
XVI INTRODUCTION.
residence at Tomi, a colony planted among the Getae, in the
midst of barbarous and hostile tribes, on the bleak shores of the
Euxine, near the mouth of the Danube. To hear was to obey.
Paralysed by grief, he tore himself from the arms of his afflicted
wife, and set forth in the dead of the winter for the place of his
destination, which he reached the following spring.
The cause of this banishment is a problem which has excited
the curiosity and exercised the ingenuity of learned men ever
since the revival of letters, but it is one which our present
sources of knowledge do not enable us to solve. The ostensible
reason was the immoral tendency of the Ars Amatoria: to
this Ovid frequently alludes, and the second book of the Tristia,
which is addressed to Augustus, contains an elaborate apology
for that poem 1 . But, even if we set aside the fact that it
was published nine years before the period of which we now
speak, we are expressly told that there was another and more
deadly offence which had roused the wrath of the prince. The
language employed in reference to this matter is ever dark and
mysterious; but the poet distinctly states that he had seen
something which ought never to have met his eye, and con-
stantly urges the plea that his transgression ought to be looked
upon as a blunder, or an inadvertence, rather than a crime.
His expressions, however, are not only always ambiguous, but
not unfrequently inconsistent with each other; at one time he
seems inclined to throw the whole blame upon his unlucky
poem; at another he insinuates, with little concealment, that
this was used merely as a pretext. It would be vain to
enumerate the various hypotheses which have been proposed,
the greater number of which are palpably absurd. The most
probable is that which supposes that he had become accidentally
acquainted with some of the intrigues of Julia, the profligate
1 The works of Ovid were at this time cast forth from the three great
public libraries of Rome ; that in the temple of Apollo Palatinus, that in
the Atrium Libertatis, and that in the Porticus Octaviae. See Trist. 3.
1, 59, et seqq.
INTRODUCTION. XVli
granddaughter of the emperor, whose well-known sensibility
in all matters affecting the honour of his family rendered him
unable to tolerate the presence of a man who had been an
eye-witness to the infamy of one of its members. The fol-
lowing are the most important passages which bear upon this
topic :
Trist. 2. 541, addressed to Augustus,
' Carminaque edideram, cum te delicta notantem
Praeterii toties iure quietus eques.
Ergo, quae iuveni mihi non nocitura putavi
Scripta parum prudens, nunc nocuere seni.
Sera redundavit veteris vindicta libelli,
Distat et a meriti tempore poena sui.'
E. ex P. 2. 15, addressed to Macer,
'Naso parum prudens, artem dum tradit amandi,
Doctrinae pretium triste magister habet.'
E. ex P. 4. 13, 41, addressed to Carus,
' Carmina nil prosunt ; nocuerunt carmina quondam :
Primaque tarn miserae causa fuere fugae.'
See also Trist. 2. 211, 239, 345, in all of which the Ars
Amatoria is represented as the source of his misfortune. But
in the following from E. ex P. 3. 3, 37, another and more
serious offence is indicated. The poet is addressing Amor, in
a vision,
' Nee satis id fuerat, stultus quoque carmina feci,
Artibus ut posses non rudis esse meis.
Pro quibus exilium misero mihi reddita merces,
Id quoque in extremis et sine pace locis.'
To which Amor replies
' Per mea tela faces, et per mea tela sagittas,
Per matrem iuro, Caesareumque caput :
Nil, nisi concessum, nos te didicisse magistro ;
Artibus et nullum crimen inesse tuis.
Vtque hoc, sic utinam defendere cetera posses !
Scis aliud quod te laeserit esse magis.
b
XVI 11 INTRODUCTION.
Quidquid id est (neque enim debet dolor ille referri)
Non potes a culpa dicere abesse tua.
Tu licet erroris sub imagine crimen obumbres ;
Non gravior merito vindicis ira fuit.'
Again in E. ex P. 2. 9, 73, addressed to the Thracian prince,
Cotys,
'Neve roges quid sit; stultam conscripsimus Artem;
Innocuas nobis haec vetat esse manus.
Ecquid praeterea peccarim, quaerere noli,
Vt lateat sola culpa sub Arte mea.
Quidquid id est, habui moderatam vindicis iram :
Qui, nisi natalem, nil mihi dempsit, humum,'
and in Trist. 2. 207
' Perdiderint cum me duo crimina, carmen et error,
Alterius facti culpa silenda mihi :
Nam non sum tanti ut renovem tua vulnera, Caesar,
Quern nimio plus est indoluisse semel.
Altera pars superest; qua turpi crimine tactus
Arguor obscaeni doctor adulterii,'
upon which he proceeds to argue that the nature and tendency
of his poem were perfectly harmless. The quotations below
declare the crime to have consisted in witnessing some hidden
deed; thus Trist. 2. 103
' Cur aliquid vidi ? cur noxia lumina feci ?
Cur imprudenti cognita culpa mihi ?
Inscius Actaeon vidit sine veste Dianam :
Praeda fuit canibus non minus ille suis,'
and Trist 3. 5, 49
'Inscia quod crimen viderunt lumina, plector:
Peccatumque oculos est habuisse meum.
Non equidem totam possum defendere culpam :
Sed partem nostri criminis error habet.'
Compare also Trist. 3. i, 49 ; 6, 25, to the same effect. Finally,
in E. ex P. i. 6, 21, addressed to Graecinus, he speaks of his
offence as a secret which it would be dangerous to disclose.
INTR OD UCTION. xix
'Nee leve, nee tutum, peccati quae sit origo,
Scribere : tractari vulnera nostra timent.
Qualicumque modo mihi sint ea facta rogare
Desine: non agites, si qua coire veils.
Quidquid id est, ut non facinus, sic culpa, vocandum,
Omnis an in magnos culpa Deos, scelus est : '
and yet, notwithstanding all this affectation of mystery, he tells
us in Trist. 4. 10, 99
'Causa meae cunctis nimium quoque nota ruinae
Indicio non est testificanda meo.'
Ninety-six poems in Elegiac verse serve as a sad chronicle of
the sufferings he endured during his journey, and while in exile.
They exhibit a melancholy picture of the mental prostration of
the gay, witty, voluptuous Roman, suddenly snatched from the
midst of the most polished society of the age, from the exciting
pleasures of the capital of the world, from the charms of a
delicious climate, and abandoned to his own resources among a
horde of rude soldier peasants, in a remote half-civilized frontier
garrison, beneath a Scythian sky. Notwithstanding the exertions
of many and powerful friends ; notwithstanding the expostula-
tions, entreaties, prayers, and servile abasement of the unfor-
tunate victim, Augustus and his successor Tiberius remained
alike inexorable, and Ovid died of a broken heart in the sixtieth
year of his age, and in the tenth of his banishment.
XX INTRODUCTION.
-
II.
P. OVIDII NASONIS VITA
EX GODICE VETVSTO.
P. Ovidius Naso a. d. XII. Kal. April. Sulmone in Pelignis
natus est ; quo anno bello Mutinensi P. Hirtius et C. Pansa Coss.
diem obiere. Honoribus Romae functus: fuit enim arbiter et
triumvir, et iudicium inter centum viros dixit. Sub Plotio
Grippo literis eruditus : deinde apud Marcellum Fuscum Rheto-
rem, cuius auditor fuit, optime declamavit. Admiratorplurimum
Porcii Latronis fuit, quern adeo studiose audivit, ut multas eius
sententias in versus suos transtulerit. Bonus declamator et
ingeniosus habitus est, et carmine et prosa licenter scripsit,
ingenii sui adeo amator, ut ex iis quae dixit, etiam pre-
cantibus amicis, nihil mutaverit. In carminibus vitia sua non
ignoravit, sed amavit. Militavit sub M. Varrone. lulio Graecino
Grammatico familiaris. Tandem cum venisset in suspicionem
Augusti, creditus sub nomine Corinnae amasse luliam, in exsilium
missus est; exsulavit Tomis, ibique decessit annum agens LX.
novissimum.
INTRODUCTION. XXI
III.
WORKS OF OVID.
The following list contains all the works usually attributed to
Ovid now extant, arranged in the order in which they were
composed, in so far as this can be ascertained. Doubts have
been entertained with regard to the three last of the series,
numbered IX, X, XI, but they are generally received as
authentic :
I. Heroid.es. A collection of twenty-one letters in Elegiac
verse, feigned to have been written by ladies or chiefs in the
Heroic age to the absent objects of their love. Doubts have
been entertained by some critics, but without good reason, of
the genuineness of the last six of these ; others confine their
suspicions to the seventeenth, nineteenth, and twenty-first;
while a third party object to the fifteenth alone. The pieces
rejected are attributed to Aulus Sabinus, a contemporary poet,
the author of several epistles in answer to those composed by
Ovid, three of which have been preserved, and are frequently
appended to complete editions of the works of the latter. We
find an allusion to both in Amor. 2. 18, 19
1 Quod licet, aut Artes teneri profitemur Amoris,
(Hei mihi ! praeceptis urgeor ipse meis,)
Aut, quod Penelopes verbis reddatur Vlyxi,
Scribimus ; aut lacrimas, Phylli relicta, tuas ;
Quod Paris, et Macareus, et quod male gratus lason,
Hippolytique parens, Hippolytusque legant :
Quodque tenens strictum Dido miserabilis ensem
Dicat, et Aeoliae Lesbis arnica lyrae.
Quam celer e toto rediit meus orbe Sabinus,
Scriptaque diversis rettulit ille locis!
Candida Penelope signum cognovit Vlixis:
Legit ab Hippolyto scripta noverca suo.
XX11 INTRODUCTION.
lam pius Aeneas miserae rescripsit Elissae:
Quodque legat Phyllis, si modo vivit, habet.
Tristis ad Hypsipylen ab lasone litera venit:
Det votam Phoebo Lesbis amata lyram.'
H. Amores, v. Libri Amomm. Forty nine elegies, chiefly
upon amatory subjects, originally divided by the poet into five
books, but subsequently reduced by himself to three, as he
informs us in the Prologue to Book i
' Qui modo Nasonis fueramus quinque libelli
Tres sumus : hoc illi praetulit Auctor opus,'
unless we suppose that, instead of a corrected edition, the
poet here refers to some separate collection of juvenile poems,
published at an earlier period, of which, however, we find no
trace.
III. Ars Amatoria. A didactic poem in Elegiac verse,
divided into three books, embodying precepts for the selection
of a mistress, for winning and for retaining her affections. It
was completed after the publication of the second edition of
the Amores, since it contains a specific reference to that work,
' Deve tribus libris, titulus quos signat Amorum,
Elige, quod docili molliter ore legas,' A. A. 3. 343,
while, on the other hand, it appears that when he wrote the
eighteenth elegy of the second Book of the Amores, quoted
above, he was occupied with the Ars Amatoria, the Epistolae
Heroidum having already been given to the world. The date
of the Ars Amatoria itself is accurately fixed by two historical
allusions.
In i. 171, the great Naumachia exhibited by Augustus, 2 B.C.,
is mentioned as a recent event
'Quid modo, cum belli navalis imagine Caesar
Persidas induxit Cecropidasque rates ?
Nempe ab utroque mari iuvenes, ab utroque puellae
Venere; atque ingens orbis in Urbe fuit.'
Again, in i. 177, the expedition of Caius Caesar into the
East is spoken of as in preparation
INTR OD UCTION. XXi ii
'Ecce parat Caesar domito quod defuit orbi
Addere. Nunc, Oriens ultime, noster eris
Auspiciis annisque patris puer arma movebis,
Et vinces annis auspiciisque patris.'
But Caius was actually in Asia in i B.C., therefore the* middle
or end of 2 B.C. may be assigned as the date of this poem.
IV. Remedia Amoris. A didactic poem in Elegiac verse,
pointing out to the unhappy lover the means by which his
sorrows may be best assuaged. It was written i B.C. or A.D.
i, for in v. 155 he speaks of the campaigns of Caius Caesar
as actually in progress,
' Ecce fugax Parthus, magni nova causa triumphi,
lam videt in campis Caesaris arma suis.'
In the exordium he refers to the Ars Amatoria as a work already
known.
V. Metamorphoseon Libri XV. An extensive collection,
In fifteen books, of the most remarkable fables of ancient mytho-
logy, which involved a transformation of shape, extending in
a continuous series from Chaos down to the death of Julius
Caesar. The metre employed is the Dactylic Hexameter.
This work had not received its last polish when its author
was driven into exile. In the bitterness of his heart he com-
mitted this and several other compositions to the flames, but
copies had fortunately been already circulated among his friends,
and their destruction was thus prevented. We have the autho-
rity of the poet himself for this statement, for in Trist. i. 7,
n, we find him addressing a friend, who had preserved a likeness
of him in a ring, in the following terms :
' Grata tua est pietas : sed carmina maior imago
Sunt mea ; quae mando qualiacumque legas :
Carmina mutatas hominum dicentia formas,
Infelix domini quod fuga rupit opus.
Haec ego discedens, sicut bene multa meorum
Ipse mea posui maestus in igne manu.
XXIV INTRODUCTION.
Vtque cremasse suum fertur sub stipite natum
. Thestias, et melior matre fuisse soror ;
Sic ego non meritos mecum peritura libellos
Imposui rapidis viscera nostra rogis ;
Vel quod eram Musas, ut crimina nostra, perosus,
Vel quod adhuc crescens et rude carmen erat.
Quae quoniam non sunt penitus sublata, sed exstant,
Pluribus exemplis scripta fuisse reor.
Nunc precor ut vivant, et non ignava legentum
Otia delectent, admoneantque rnei.
Nee tamen ilia legi poterunt patienter ab ullo,
Nesciet his summam si quis abesse manum.
Ablatum mediis opus est incudibus illud :
Defuit et scriptis ultima lima meis.
Et veniam pro laude peto : laudatus abunde,
Non fastiditus si tibi, Lector, ero.'
Again in Trist. i. i, 117
' Sunt quoque mutatae ter quinque volumina formae,
Nuper ab exsequiis carmina rapta meis.'
See also Trist. 2. 63, 555; 3. 14, 19.
VI. Fastorum Libri ~VT. An exposition in Elegiac verse
of the numerous festivals in the Roman Calendar, containing a
detailed description of the various ceremonies, together with
historical and antiquarian investigations regarding their origin.
The holy-days are enumerated, in succession, from the begin-
ning of the year, a book being devoted to each month. Of
these, six are extant, commencing with January and ending
\vith June. This was one of the compositions which was un-
finished at the time of Ovid's banishment ; he intended to have
carried it on through the whole year, although there is no
reason to believe that he ever completed his design. Opposite
conclusions, however, upon this point have been deduced from
Trist. 2. 549
' Sex ego Fastorum scripsi totidemque libellos,
Cumque suo finem mense volumen habet:
Idque tuo nuper scriptum sub nomine, Caesar,
Et tibi sacratum sors mea rupit opus.'
INTRODUCTION. XXV
"His original plan is clearly indicated, Fast. 3. 57
'Vaster honos veniet, cum Larentalia dicam
Acceptus Geniis ilia December habet.'
VII. VIII. Tristium Libri V, Epistolarum ex Ponto
Libri IV. The former a collection of fifty elegies, in five
books ; the latter of forty-six elegies, in four books. The whole
of these were produced at Tomi, with the exception of those
forming the first book of the Tristia, which appear to have
been written on the journey thither. They are entirely occu-
pied with the lamentations of the poet over his sad destiny,
a description of the sufferings he endured, and supplications for
a remission of his sentence. The Epistolae ex Ponto are ad-
dressed to different individuals, for the most part persons re-
siding at Rome, and connected with the court, who are implored
to use their good offices with the emperor and the different
members of the royal family.
We can, from intenial evidence, ascertain with tolerable pre-
cision the period at which the different books of the series
were composed, although the pieces are not in every case ar-
ranged in chronological order, as indeed we are told in Epist.
ex Pont. 3. 9, 51
'Nee liber ut fieret, sed uti sua cuique daretur
Litera, propositum curaque nostra fuit.
Postmodo collectas utcumque sine ordine iunxi,
Hoc opus electum ne mihi forte putes.'
IX. Ibis. Six hundred and forty-four lines in Elegiac verse,
consisting of a series of maledictions poured forth against an
enemy whose name is concealed, written immediately after the
banishment of the poet, as we learn from the commencement,
' Tempus ad hoc, lustris bis iam mihi quinque peractis,
Omne fuit Musae carmen inerme meae.'
It is an imitation of a lost poem by Callimachus, directed against
Apollonius of Rhodes, and bearing the same title. The origin of
the appellation is unknown.
XXVI INTRODUCTION.
X. Halieuticon Liber. A mutilated fragment, in Hexame-
ter verse, of a Natural History of Fishes. One hundred and
thirty-two lines only have been preserved.
XI. Medicamina Faciei. Another fragment, in Elegiac
verse, of a didactic poem on the composition and use of cos-
metics. Of this one hundred lines remain.
Two other pieces are frequently found in MSS. of Ovid, but
the best critics are of opinion that both must be attributed to
some other author or authors. The first of these, ' Consolatio ad
Liviam Augustam,' is a sort of dirge on the Death of Drusus,
who perished in Germany, 9 B. C. It is in Elegiac verse, and
extends to four hundred and seventy-four lines. The other,
also in Elegiac verse, and containing one hundred and eighty-two
lines, is entitled ' Nux,' and is a lamentation poured forth by a
walnut-tree on account of the indignities offered to it by travel-
lers and passers by, followed up by a declamation against the
avarice and profligacy of the age in general.
Ovid in early life cultivated dramatic literature, and, it would
seem; with marked success, for his tragedy 'Medea' is highly-
extolled by Quinctilian. To his exertions in this department he
occasionally alludes, not without some degree of pride, thus Amor.
2. 18, 12
* Sceptra tamen sumpsi : curaque Tragoedia nostra
Crevit; et huic operi quamlibet aptus eram.
Risit Amor, pallamque meam, pictosque cothurnos,
Sceptraque privata tarn bene sumpta manu.
Hinc quoque me dominae numen deduxit iniquae :
Deque cothurnato vate triumphat Amor.'
And again Trist. 2. 553
' Et dedimus tragicis scriptum regale cothurnis,
Quaeque gravis debet verba cothurnus habet.'
INTRODUCTION. XXVii
IV.
MANUSCRIPTS AND EDITIONS OF OVID.
A VAST number of MSS. of Ovid, some comprehending the
complete collection of his works, others confined to particular
portions, are scattered over the public and private libraries of
Europe. No one, however, has accomplished the herculean
task of examining, comparing, and classifying the whole of
these, in such a manner as to determine the age, accuracy,
and authority of each.
The scholar who first established the text of Ovid upon a
satisfactory basis was N. Heinsius, who published two editions
at Amsterdam, printed by the Elzevirs in 1625 and 1658-61,
in preparing which he made use of the readings of upwards of
one hundred and fifty MSS. It must be observed, however,
that Heinsius is extremely vague and indistinct in describing
his codices. Few of them were closely and accurately col-
lated ; the greater number appear to have been carelessly
turned over, and many to have been merely referred to from
time to time. He seems, moreover, to have been guided by
no fixed principles in selecting the readings, yielding some-
times to the weight of numbers, sometimes adhering to a few
which he considered most trustworthy, not unfrequently fol-
lowing the dictates of caprice, and too often introducing his own
conjectural emendations. The editions of Heinsius were fol-
lowed by that of Burmann, in four volumes, quarto, printed
at Amsterdam in 1727, which contains the most important notes
of preceding commentators, the whole of the remarks of
Heinsius with his last editions, and the collation of some fresh
MSS. This, although far from being perfect, is still considered
the standard: it can hardly be said to have been superseded
by the edition of Jahn, commenced in 1828, and of which only
XXV111 INTRODUCTION.
a portion has appeared, containing the Heroides, Ars Amatoria,
Amores, Remedia Amoris, Med. Fac., and the Metamorphoses.
The handsome and valuable Oxford edition of 1826, giving
Burmann's text, inedited notes by Bentley, as well as select
notes of the different commentators, is out of print.
Ibe best Editions of the Works of 0-vid (published separately)
for the use of the Student are the following :
HEROIDES.
1. Virus LOERS : Cologne, 1829.
2. A very useful collection of notes on the Epistles of Ovid,
by Ruhnken, published under the title 'Dav. Ruhnkenii dictata
ad Ovidii Heroidas et Albinovani elegiam.' Leipsic, 1831.
3. ARTHUR PALMER: London, 1874.
FASTI.
1. G. E. GIERIG: Leipsic, 1812.
2. Index rerum et verborum in Ovidii Fastis occurrentium
ad editionem Gierigii accommodatus. Published anonymously.
Leipsic, 1814. It contains much useful information.
3. I. P. KREBS: Wiesbaden, 1826. Chiefly valuable as a
critical edition.
4. MERKEL : Berlin, 1841.
5. F. A. PALEY, Whittaker & Co., 1854.
6. G. H. HALLAM, Macmillan's School Class-books, 1881.
ARS AMATORIA.
WERNSDORF: ed. sec. Helmstadt, 1804.
METAMORPHOSES.
1. G. E. GIERIG: ed. tert. curante JAHN : Leipsic, 1821-23.
2. LOERS : Leipsic, 1843.
3. M. HAUPT : Berlin. Completed by KORN.
4. KORN, critical edition of the Text : Berlin, 1880.
TRISTIA.
1. F. T. PLATZ: Hanover, 1825.
2. MERKEL: Berlin, 1837. Chiefly valuable as a critical edition.
3. LOERS: 1839.
EPISTOLAE EX PONTO.
0. KORN: Leipsic, 1868.
IBIS.
1. SALVAGNIUS: Lyons, 1633, 1661.
2. MERKEL: 1837, in his edition of the Tristia.
3. R. ELLIS: Oxford, 1881.
ABBREVIATIONS IN VARIOUS READINGS.
B denotes the reading in the edition of Burmann, 1727.
L Loers, 1829.
K Krebs, 1826.
M Merkelius, 1828.
H stands for Heinsius.
The statements with regard to the number of MSS. in favour
of particular readings, are taken in general from the edition
of Burmann, who, in most cases, follows Heinsius.
The text followed is that of Burmann, except where the
contrary is specified.
It is to be understood that all the various readings are derived
from MSS., except those which are distinctly stated to be con-
jectural emendations.
EX OVIDIO
SELECTA QUAEDAM.
Ille poetarum ingeniosissimus.
Senec.N.Q.III.c.27.
I.
HEROIDES, EPISTOLA V.
1. OENONE PARIDI. EP. v.
THE loves of Paris and Oenone, and the legend regarding the birth
and early history of the former, which form the groundwork of this
epistle, were unknown to Homer. What follows is the substance of the
tale as narrated by Apollodoms.
Hector was the first-born of Priam and Hecuba. When Hecuba was
about to produce a second child, she dreamed that she had given birth
to a blazing torch, which kindled a conflagration that spread over the
whole city. Priam, having been informed by her of the vision, sent for
Aesacus (his son by Arisbe, a former wife), who was skilled in the in-
terpretation of dreams, an art which he had been taught by Merops, his
maternal grandfather. Aesacus pronounced that the boy would prove
the destruction of his country, and bade them expose the babe. Priam,
as soon as it was born, gave it to one of his herdmen, named Agelaus,
to be conveyed to Ida and there abandoned. The infant, left to perish,
was nurtured for five days by a she-bear, when Agelaus, finding it thus
miraculously preserved, took it up and bore it to his dwelling, where he
reared it as his own son, under the name of Paris 1 . The child having
grown up to manhood, excelled both in comeliness and valour, and soon
received the additional appellation of Alexander 2 , because he withstood
and drove away the robbers who attacked the flocks. Not long after
he discovered his parents.
1 A fanciful derivation of Uapis is here indicated, diri rov irapf\0ftv rbv
p6pov. Vid. Schol. on Horn. II. 3. 325.
2 A similar derivation of 'A\fgat>8pos, atrb rov d\f tiv . To this we find
an allusion in the Epistle of Paris to Helen, Her. 16. 357 :
yt . ' Pene puer caesis abducta armenta recepi
Hostibus : et causain nominis inde tuli.'
2 OVIDII
While yet a shepherd in the hills \ he wedded Oenone, daughter of the
river Cebren. This nymph, having learned the art of prophecy from
Rhea a , warned Alexander not to sail in quest of Helen ; but finding that
her remonstrances were unheeded, she then enjoined him, should he be
wounded, to come to her for aid, since she alone had power to heal him.
After this Paris bore away Helen from Sparta, and being pierced, during
the war against Troy, by an arrow shot by Philoctetes from -the bow
of Hercules, he returned again to Ida to seek Oenone's aid. But she,
cherishing resentment, refused to exert her skill. Alexander was borne
back to Troy and there expired. Oenone having repented, brought
drugs to heal his wound, and finding him a corpse, hanged herself for
grief.
It will be seen that Ovid adheres, for the most part, closely to the
above tale, departing from it in one or two points only.
T)ERLEGIS ? an coniux prohibet nova? perlege; non est
J- j sta Mycenaea litera facta manu.
Pegasis Oenone, Phrygiis celeberrima silvis,
Laesa queror de te, si sinis ipse, meo.
Quis Deus opposuit nostris sua numina votis ? 5
Ne tua permaneam, quod mihi crimen obest?
Leniter, ex merito quidquid patiare, ferendum est :
Quae venit indigne poena, dolenda venit.
Nondum tantus eras, cum te contenta marito,
Edita de magno flumine Nympha fui. 10
i nunc Priamides, adsit reverentia vero,
Servus eras; servo nubere Nympha tuli.
Saepe greges inter requievimus arbore tecti;
Mistaque cum foliis praebuit herba torum.
Saepe super stramen fenoque iacentibus alto 15
Defensa est humili cana pruina casa.
1 So Ovid. The period of his marriage with Oenone is not specified by
Apollodorus.
2 Ovid says nothing of her prophetic powers ; but in this Epistle he tells
that Apollo instructed her in the healing art.
HEROIDES. V.
Quis tibi monstrabat saltus venatibus aptos,
Et tegeret catulos qua fera rupe suos ?
Retia saepe comes maculis distincta tetendi; fc ***-
Saepe citos egi per iuga summa canes. 20
Incisae servant a te mea nomina fagi :
Et legor Oenone, falce notata, tua.
Et quantum trunci, tantum mea nomina crescunt :
Crescite, et in titulos surgitejTte meos.
Populus est, memini, fluviali consita ripa, 25
Est in qua nostri litera scripta memor. utu/v
Popule, vive precor quae consita margine ripae
Hoc in rugoso cortice carmen habes :
Cum Parts Oenone poterit spirare relicta,
Ad fonlem Xanthi versa recur ret aqua. 30
Xanthe, retro propera, versaeque recurrite lymphae :
Sustinet Oenonen deseruisse Paris.
Ilia dies fatum miserae mihi dixit: ab ilia , m
T* v 1 f
Pessima mutati coepit amons hiems ; umtl
Qua Venus et luno, sumptisque decentior armis 35
Venit in arbitrium nuda Minerva tuum.
Attoniti micuere sinus, gelidusque cucurrit,
Vt mihi narrasti, dura per ossa tremor.
Consului, neque enim modice terrebar, anusque,
* Longaevosque senes : constitit esse nefas. k ^40
Caesa abies, sectaeque trabes, et, classe parata,
Caerula ceratas accipit unda rates.
Flesti discedens : hoc saltern parce negare.
Praeterito magis est iste pudendus amor.
Et flesti, et nostros vidisti flentis ocellos : 45
Miscuimus lacrimas maestus uterque suas.
Non sic appositis vincitur vitibus ulmus,
Vt tua sunt collo brachia nexa meo.
B 2
OVID 1 1
Ah! quoties, vento cum te quererere teneri,
Riserunt comites ! ille secundus erat. 50
Oscula dimissae quotas repetita dedisti !
__
Quam vix sustmuit dicere lingua, Vale
Aura levis rigido pendentia lintea malo
Suscitat; et remis eruta canet aqua.
Prosequor infelix oculis abeuntia vela, 55
Qua licet; et lacrimis humet arena meis.
Vtque celer venias, virides Nereidas oro :
Scilicet ut venias in mea damna celer.
Votis ergo meis alii rediture redisti ?
Hei mihi ! pro dira pellice blanda fui ! 4fie.*> 60
Adspicit immensum moles nativa profundum ;<t^^iA(
Mons fuit: aequoreis ilia resistit aquis.
Hinc ego vela tuae cognovi prima carinae :
Et mihi per fluctus impetus ire fuit.
Dum moror, in summa fulsit mihi purpura prora ; 65
Pertimui : cultus non erat ille tuus. J****
Fit propior, terrasque cita ratis attigit aura:
Femineas vidi corde tremente genas.
Non satis id fuerat: quid enim furiosa morabar?
Haerebat gremio turpis arnica tuo. ..&*****- 70
Tune vero rupique sinus, et pectora planxi,
Et secui madidas ungue rigente genas:
Implevique sacram querulis ululatibus Iden.
Illuc has lacrimas in mea saxa tuli.
Sic Helene doleat, desertaque coniuge ploret ; 75
Quaeque prior nobis intulit, ipsa ferat.
XT -1 4<+tta*
Nunc tibi convemunt, quae te per aperta sequantur*-^
Aequora, legitimos destituantque toros.
At cum pauper eras, armentaque pastor agebas,
Nulla, nisi Oenone, paujjeris uxor erat.
HERO IDES. V.
Non ego miror opes, nee me tua regia tangit,
Nee, de tot Priami dicar ut una nurus.
Non tamen ut Priamus Nymphae socer esse recuset ;
Aut Hecubae fuerim dissimulanda nurus.
Dignaque sum, et cupio fieri matrona potentis, 85
Sunt mihi, quas possint sceptra decere, manus.
Nee, me, faginea quod tecum fronde iacebam,
Despice: purpureo sum magis apta toro.
Denique, tutus amor meus est tibi; nulla, parantur
Bella, nee ultrices advehit unda rates. 90
Tyndaris infestis fugitiva reposcitur armis :
Hac venit in thalamos dote superba tuos.
Quae si sit Danais reddenda, vel Hectora fratrem,
Vel cum Deiphobo Polydamanta roga.
Quid gravis Antenor, Priamus quid censeat ipse, 95
Consule; quis aetas longa magistra fuit.
Turpe rudimentum, patriae praeponere raptam ;
Causa pudenda tua est : iusta vir arma movet.
Nee tibi, si sapias, fidam promitte Lacaenam,
Quae sit in amplexus tarn cito versa tuos.
Vt minor Atrides temerati foedera lecti
Clamat, et externo laesus amore dolet;
Tu quoque clamabis. Nulla reparabilis arte
Laesa pudicitia est: deperit ilia semel.
Ardet amore tui : sic et Menelaon amavit. 105
Nunc iacet in viduo credulus ille toro.
Felix Andromache, certo bene nupta marito !
Vxor ad exemplum fratris habenda fui.
Tu levior foliis, tune cum, sine pondere succi,
Mobilibus ventis arida facta volant, 1 1 o
Et minus est in te quam summa pondus arista,
Quae levis assiduis solibus usta riget.
OVID II
Hoc tua, nam recolo, quondam germana canebat,
Sic mihi diffusis vaticinata comis :
Quid facis, Oenone ? quid arenae semina mandas ? 115
- Non profecturis lUtora bobus aras. ^cT^^
Graia iuvenca venit, quae te, patriamque, dorhumque
Perdat : io prohibe ; Graia iuvenca venit.
Dum licet, obscaenam ponto, Di, mergite puppim.
Heu ! quantum Phrygii sanguinis ilia vehit. 120
Dixerat ; in cursu famulae-rapuere furentem.
At mihi flaventes diriguere comae.
Ah ! nimium vates miserae mihi vera fuisti !
Possidet en ! saltus ilia iuvenca meos.
Sit facie quamvis insignis, adultera certe est. 125
Deseruit 50,00^, hbspite capta, Deos.
Illam de patria Theseus, nisi nomine fallor,
Nescio quis Theseus, abstulit ante sua.
A iuvene et cupido credatur reddita virgo.
Vnde hoc compererim tam bene, quaeris ? amo ! 1 30
Vim licet appelles, et culpam nomine veles ;
Quae toties rapta est, praebuit ipsa rapi.
manet Oenone fallenti casta marito :
Et poteras falh legibus ipse tuis. o~*
Me Satyri celeres, silvis ego tecta latebam. 135
Quaesierunt rapido, turba proterva, pede :
Cornigerumque caput pinu praecinctus acuta
Faunus in immensis qua tumet Ida iugis.
' Me fide conspicuus Troiae munitor amavit,
Admisitque meas ad sua dona manus. 140
Quaecunque herba potens ad opem, radixque medendi
Vtilis in toto nascitur orbe, mea est.
Me miseram, quod amor non est medicabilis herbis !
Deficior prudens artis ab arte mea. ^.U
HERO IDES. Kill.. lion 7
* lu&^ fa &j*j^-4J~u>*AiS-X*] * J UJ^ 3
Ipse repertor/jogis vaccas pavisse Pheraeas 145^
Fertur, et a nostro saucius igne fuit.
Quod neque graminibus tellus fecunda creandis, /t*
Nee Deus, auxilium tu mihi ferre potes.
Et potes, et merui ; dignae miserere puellae ;
Non ego cum Danais arma cruenta fero : 150
Sed tua sum, tecumque fui puerilibus annis :
Et tua, quod superest temporis, esse precor.
2. LAODAMIA PROTESILAO. EP. xin.
THIS Epistle is supposed to be addressed by Laodamia, daughter of
Acastus, to her husband Protesilaus, who, having determined to take
part in the expedition against Troy, had repaired to Aulis in Boeotia,
which is named by Homer as having been the gathering-place of the
Grecian fleet. Later poets told that the ships were long detained in
that harbour by an adverse wind, raised by Artemis in vengeance for the
death of a Consecrated stag slain by Agamemnon, and that they were
unable to set forth till the wrath of the goddess was at length appeased
by the sacrifice of Iphigenia, daughter of the guilty chief.
Protesilaus, son of Iphiclus, son of Phylacus, is mentioned by Homer,
II. 2. 695, as the chief who led against Troy, in forty dark ships, the men
of Phylace, Pyrasus, Antron and Pteleus Thessalian towns lying ound
the Pagasaean Gulf. As he was leaping from his bark, far the foremost
of all the Achaeans, he was slain by a Dardanian warrior, leaving behind
him in Phylace a sorrowing spouse. He is named cursorily in some
other passages of the Iliad. The legend, as embellished by subsequent
poets, is briefly narrated in the compilation which bears the name of the
' Fables of Hyginus,' Fab. 103. In that account the slayer of Prote-
silaus, who, by Homer, is simply called AdpSai/os dvftp, is said to have
been Hector; and so the story is told by Ovid, when describing the
arrival of the Grecian host before Troy,
' Hostis adest, prohibent aditu, litusque tuentur
Troes, et Hectorea primus fataliter hasta,
Protesilae, cadis.' Met. 12. 66.
Different authors gave the glory to different champions, enumerated by
8 OVID II
the Scholiast on Homer, among whom we find Aeneas. The assertion
that the name borne by Protesilaus before his death was lolaus, meets
with little countenance from ancient writers.
Ausonius, indeed, derives the appellation from irparros o\(ffOat, but
takes it for granted that he bore it from his birth,
' Protesilae, tibi nomen sic fata dederunt,
Victima quod Troiae prima futurus eras.' Epig. ao.
So too in his Epitaphia Heroum, 12. Propertius alludes to that part of
the tale, according to which Protesilaus is said to have been permitted
to return to life for a brief space, that he might again behold his
widowed bride,
' Illic Phylacides iucundae coniugis heros
Non potuit caecis immemor esse locis :
Sed cupidus falsis attingere gaudia palmis,
Thessalis antiquam venerat umbra domum.' 1. 19. 7.
And Lucian, who introduces the hero in two of his Dialogues of the
Dead, represents Pluto as granting him leave of absence for a whole
day, which serves to explain Statius Silv. 2. 7, 121
' Vnum, quaeso, diem deos silentum
Exores ; solet hoc patere limen
Ad nuptas redeuntibus maritis.'
In the poem of Catullus, addressed to Manlius, much of which seems
to be imitated from some writer of the Alexandrian School, there is a
beautiful digression on the bereavement of Laodamia : it is there said
that the gods in wrath deprived her of her lord, because the nuptials had
been celebrated with impious haste, before the fitting sacrifices had been
duly offered,
' Quam ieiuna pium desideret ara cruorem
Docta est amisso Laodamia viro.'
Finally, we remark that Virgil associates Laodamia, in the realms of
Pluto, with the unhappy dames whose death was caused by love.
1\ /TITTIT, et optat amans, quo mittitur, ire, salutem
Aemonis Aemonio Laodamia viro.
Aulide te fama est vento retinente morari :
Ah ! me cum fugeres, hie ubi ventus erat ?
Turn freta debuerant vestris obsistere remis, 5
Illud erat saevis utile tempus aquis.
HEROIDES. XIII. 9
Oscula plura viro, mandataque plura, dedissem.
Et sunt, quae volui dicere, plura, tibi.
Raptus es hinc praeceps : et, qui tua vela vocaret,
Quern cuperent nautae, non ego, ventus erat. 10
Ventus erat nautis aptus, non aptus amanti.
Solvor ab amplexu, Protesilae, tuo ;
Linguaque mandantis verba imperfecta reliquit,
Vix illud potuit dicere triste Vale.
Incubuit Boreas, arreptaque vela tetendit; 15
lamque meus longe Protesilaus erat.
Dum potui spectare virum, spectare iuvabat;
Sumque tuos oculos usque secuta meis.
Vt te non poteram, poteram tua vela videre :
Vela diu vultus detinuere meos. 20
At postquam nee te, nee vela fugacia vidi;
Et quod spectarem, nil, nisi pontus, erat;
Lux quoque tecum abiit ; tenebris exsanguis obortis
Succiduo dicor procubuisse genu.
Vix socer Iphiclus, vix me grandaevus Acastus, 25
Vix mater gelida maesta refecit aqua.
Officium fecere pium, sed inutile nobis.
Indignor miserae non licuisse mori.
Vt rediit animus, pariter rediere dolores ;
Pectora legitimus casta momordit amor. 30
Nee mihi pectendos cura est praebere capillos :
Nee libet aurata corpora veste tegi.
Vt quas pampinea tetigisse Bicorniger hasta
Creditur; hue illuc, quo furor egit, eo.
Conveniunt matres Phylaceides, et mihi clamant, 35
Indue regales, Laodamia, sinus.
Scilicet ipsa geram saturatas murice vestes :
Bella sub Iliads moenibus ille geret?
10 OVIDII
Ipsa comas pectar : galea caput ille premetur ?
Ipsa novas vestes : dura vir arma feret ? 40
Qua possum, squalore tuos imitata labores
Dicar : et haec belli tempora tristis agam.
Dyspari Priamide, damno formose tuorum,
Tarn sis hostis iners, quam malus hospes eras.
Aut te Taenariae faciem culpaese maritae, 45
Aut illi vellem displicuisse tuam.
Tu, qui pro rapta nimium, Menelae, laboras,
Hei mihi ! quam multis flebilis ultor eris !
Di, precor, a nobis omen removete sinistrum :
Et sua det reduci vir meus arma lovi. 50
Sed timeo: quotiesque subit miserabile bellum,
More nivis lacrimae sole madentis eunt.
Ilion et Tenedos, Simoi'sque et Xanthus et Ide,
Nomina sunt ipso paene timenda sono.
Nee rapere ausurus, nisi se defendere posset, 55
Hospes erat: vires noverat ille suas.
Venerat, lit fama est, multo spectabilis auro,
Quique suo Phrygias corpore ferret opes;
Classe virisque potens, per quae fera bella geruntur :
Et sequitur regni pars quota quemque sui. 60
His ego te victam, censors Ledaea gemellis,
Suspicor : haec Danais posse nocere puto.
Hectora nescio quem timeo. Paris Hectora dixit
Ferrea sanguinea bella movere manu.
Hectora, quisquis is est, si sum tibi cara, caveto. 65
Signatum memori pectore nomen habe.
Hunc ubi vitaris, alios vitare memento :
Et multos illic Hectoras esse puta.
Et facito ut dicas, quoties pugnare parabis,
Parcere me iussit Laodamia sibi. 70
HEROIDES. XIII. H
Si cadere Argolico fas est sub milite Troiam;
Te quoque non ullum vulnus habente, cadat.
Pugnet, et adversos tendat Menelaus in hostes :
Vt rapiat Paridi, quam Paris ante sibi.
Irruat; et causa quern vincit, vincat et armis. 75
Hostibus e mediis nupta petenda viro est.
Causa tua est dispar: tu tantum vivere pugna,
Inque pios dominae posse redire sinus.
Parcite, Dardanidae, de tot, precor, hostibus uni :
Ne meus ex illo corpore sanguis eat. 80
Non est quern deceat nudo concurrere ferro,
Saevaque in oppositos pectora ferre viros.
Fortius ille potest multo, quam pugnat, amare.
Bella gerant alii ; Protesilaus amet.
Nunc fateor; volui revoeare; animusque fereb.at- 85
Substitit auspicii lingua timore mali.
Cum foribus velles ad Troiam exire paternis,
Pes tuus offenso limine signa dedit.
Vt vidi, ingemui ; tacitoque in pectore dixi :
Signa reversuri sint, precor, ista viri. 90
Haec tibi nunc refero, ne sis animosus in armis :
Fac meus in ventos hie timor omnis eat.
Sors quoque nescio quern fato designat iniquo,
Qui primus Danaum Troada tan gat humum.
Infelix, quae prima virum lugebit ademptum! 95
Di faciant, ne tu strenuus esse velis !
Inter mille rates tua sit millesima puppis,
lamque fatigatas ultima verset aquas.
Hoc quoque praemoneo; de nave novissimus exi.
Non est, quo properas, terra paterna tibi. ico
Cum venies, remoque move veloque carinarn ;
Inque tuo celerem littore siste gradum.
i a OVID ii
Sive latet Phoebus, seu terris altior extat;
Tu mihi luce dolor, tu mihi nocte, venis :
Nocte tamen quam luce magis, nox grata puellis, 105
Quarum suppositus colla lacertus habet.
Aucupor in lecto mendaces caelibe somnos,
Dum careo veris, gaudia falsa iuvant.
Sed tua cur nobis pallens occurrit imago ?
Cur venit a verbis multa querela tuis ? no
Excutior somno ; simulacraque noctis adoro ;
Nulla caret fumo Thessalis ara meo.
Tura damus, lacrimamque super ; qua sparsa relucet,
Vt solet adfuso surgere flamma mero.
Quando ego, te reducem cupidis amplexa lacertis, 115
Languida laetitia solvar ab ipsa mea ?
Quando erit, ut lecto mecum bene iunctus in uno
Militiae referas splendida facta tuae ?
Quae mihi dum referes, quamvis audire iuvabit,
Multa tamen capies oscula, multa dabis. 120
Semper in his apte narrantia verba resistunt,
Promptior est dulci lingua referre mora.
Sed cum Troia subit, subeunt ventique fretumque;
Spes bona sollicito victa timore cadit.
Hoc quoque, quod venti prohibent exire carinas, 125
Me movet ; invitis ire paratis aquis.
Quis velit in patriam vento prohibente reverti?
A patria pelago vela vetante datis.
Ipse suam non praebet iter Neptunus ad urbem.
Quo ruitis? vestras quisque redite domos. 130
Quo ruitis, Danai ? ventos audite vetantes,
Non subiti casus, numinis ista mora est.
Quid petitur tanto, nisi turpis adultera, bello ?
Dum licet, Inachiae vertite vela rates.
HEROIDES. XIII. 13
Sed quid ago, revocans ? omen revocantis abesto, 135
Blandaque compositas aura secundet aquas.
Troadas invideo; quae si lacrimosa suorum
Funera conspicient, nee procul hostis erit ;
Ipsa suis manibus forti nova nupta marito
Imponet galeam, barbaraque arma dabit. 140
Arma dabit : dumque arma dabit, simul oscula sumet.
Hoc genus officii dulce duobus erit.
Producetque virum ; dabit et mandata reverti :
Et dicet, Referas ista, fac, arma lovi.
Ille, ferens dominae mandata recentia secum, 145
Pugnabit caute, respicietque domum.
Exuet haec reduci clipeum, galeamque resolvet,
Excipietque suo corpora lassa sinu.
Nos sumus incertae : nos anxius omnia cogit,
Quae possunt fieri, facta putare timor. 150
Dum tamen arma geres diverso miles in orbe,
Quae referat vultus est mihi cera tuos.
Illi blanditias, illi tibi debita verba
Dicimus : amplexus accipit ilia meos.
Crede mihi; plus est quam quod videatur imago. 155
Adde sonum cerae ; Protesilaus erit.
Hanc specto, teneoque sinu, pro coniuge vero :
Et, tamquam possit verba referre, queror.
Per reditus, corpusque tuum, mea numina, iuro;
Perque pares animi coniugiique faces: 160
Perque, quod ut videam canis albere capillis,
Quod tecum possis ipse referre,, caput;
Me tibi venturam comitem, quocunque vocaris :
Sive quod heu timeo ! sive superstes eris.
Vltima mandato claudetur epistola parvo : 165
Si tibi cura mei, sit tibi cura tui.
14 OVIDII
3. POETA SVVM STVDIVM DEFEND1T. AM. I. 15.
QVID mihi, Livor edax, ignavos obiicis annos;'
Ingeniique vocas carmen inertis opus ?
Non me more patrum, dum strenua sustinet aetas,
Praemia militiae pulverulenta sequi :
Nee me verbosas leges ediscere; nee me -u^JL, ~
Ingrato vocem prostituisse foro. ^ AA,y
Mortale est, quod quaeris, opus, mihi fama perennis
Quaeritur : in toto semper ut orbe canar.
Vivet Maeonides, Tenedos dum stabit et Ide;
Dum rapidas Simois in mare volvet aquas. ic
Vivet et Ascraeus, dum mustis uva tumebit,
Dum cadet incurva falce resecta Ceres.
Battiades semper toto cantabitur orbe; d
(Juamvis ingenio non valet, arte valet.
Nulla Sophocleo veniet iactura cothurno : ^,
Cum Sole et Luna semper Aratus erit.
Dum fallax servus, durus pater, improba lena
Vivent, dum meretrix blanda, Menandros erit
Ennius arte carens, animosique Accius oris,
Casurum nullo tempore nomen habent
Varronem primamque ratem quae nesciat aetas,
Aureaque Aesonio terga petita duci ?
Carmina sublimis tune sunt peritura Lucreti,
Exitio terras cum dabit una dies.
Tityrus, et fruges, Aenei'aque arma legentur, 25
Roma, triumphati dum caput orbis eris.
Donee erunt ignes arcusque Cupidinis arma,
Discentur numeri, culte Tibulle, tui.
A MORES. II. 6. 15
Callus et Hesperiis, et Callus notus Eois,
Et sua cum Gallo nota Lycoris erit. 30
Ergo, cum silices, cum dens patientis aratri,
Depereant aevo, carmina morte carent.
Cedant carminibus reges, regumque triumph! ;
Cedat et auriferi ripa beata Tagi.
Vilia^ miretur vulgus, mihi flavus Apollo 35
Pocula Castaliae plena ministret aquae;
Sustineamque coma me&ntem frigora myrtum :
Atque a sollicito multus amante legar.
Pascitur in vivis Livor: post fata quiescit,
Cum suus ex merito quemque tuetur honos. 40
Ergo etiam, cum me supremus adederit ignis,
Vivam : parsque mei multa superstes erit.
MORS PSITTACI. AM. n.6.
T3SITTACVS, Eois imitatrix ales ab Indis,
Occidit : exsequias ite frequenter aves.
Ite, piae volucres ; et plangite pectora pennis ;
Et rigido teneras ungue notate genas.
Horrida pro maestis lanietur pluma capillis : '~-w o
Pro longa resonent carmina vestra tuba.
Quid scelus Ismarii quereris, Philomela, tyranni ?
Expleta est annis ista querela suis.
Alitis in rarae miserum devertite funus.
Magna, sed antiqui causa doloris Itys.
** j
Omnes, quae liquido libratis in acre cursus ;
Tu tamen ante alias, turtur amice, dole.
Plena fuit vobis omni concordia vita,
Et stetit ad finem longa tenaxque fides. ^^
1 6 OVIDII
Quod fuit Argolico iuvenis Phoceus Orestae, 15
Hoc tibi, dum licuit, Psittace, turtur erat.
Quid tamen ista fides ? quid rari forma coloris ?
Quid vox mutandis ingeniosa sonis?
Quid iuvat, ut datus es, nostrae placuisse puellae?
Infelix avium gloria, nempe iaces. XTj!tj 2O
Tu poteras virides pennis hebetare smaragdos,
Tincta gerens rubro Punica rostra croco.
Non fuit in terris vocum simulantior ales :
Reddebas blaeso tam bene verba sono.
Raptus es invidia, non tu fera bella movebas: * utwt ^ 25
Garrulus, et placidae pacis amator eras. y^*
Ecce ! coturnices inter sua proelia vivunt ; ***' *^ T
Forsitan et fiant inde frequenter anus.
Plenus eras minimo : nee prae sermonis amore
multos poteras ora vacare cibos. *tu* 30
Nux erat esca tibi, causaeque papavera somni :
Pellebatque sitim simplicis humor aquae.
Vivit edax vultur, ducensque per ae'ra gyros
Miliius, et pluviae graculus auctor aquae. .tt&L
Vivit et armiferae comix invisa Minervae; 3,",
Ilia quidem seclis vix moritura novem.
Occidit ille loquax, humanae vocis imago,
Psittacus, extremo munus ab orbe datum.
Optima prima fere manibus rapiuntur avaris
Implentur numeris deteriora suis.
ti
Tristia Phyllacidae Thersites funera vidit:
lamque cinis, vivis fratribus, Hector erat.
Quid referam timidae pro te pia vota puellae,
Vota procelloso per mare rapta Noto?
Septima lux aderat, non exhibitura sequentem : 45
Et stabat vacua iam tibi Parca colo.
A MORES. III. 9.
Nec tamen ignayo' stupuerunt verba palato.
Clamavit moriens lingua, Corinna, vale.
Colle sub Elysio nigra nemus ilice frondens,
Vdaque perpetuo gramine terra viret.
Si qua fides dubiis, volucrum locus ille piarum
Dicitur, obscaenae quo prohibentur aves.
Illic innocui late pascuntur olores :
Et vivax Phoenix, unica semper avis.
Explicat ipsa suas ales lunonia pennas : 55
Oscula dat cupido blanda columba. mari.
Psittacus has inter, nemorali sede receptus,
Convertit volucres in sua verba pias.
Ossa tegit tumulus : tumulus pro corpore parvus ;
Quo lapis exiguus par sibi carmen habet : 60
Colligor ex ipso dominae placuisse sepulcro, -41^
Ora fuere mihi plus am docta loqui.
5. MORS TIBVLLI. AM. in. 9
TV /T EMNONA si mater, mater ploravit Achillen,
Et tangunt magnas tristia fata Deas ;
- Flebilis indignos, Elegei'a, solve capillos :
Ah! nimis ex vero nunc tibi nomen erit!
Ille tui vates operis, tua fama, Tibullus
Ardet in exstructo, corpus inane, rogo.
Ecce ! puer Veneris fert eversamque pharetram,
Et fractos arcus, et sine luce facem.
Adspice, demissis ut eat miserabilis alis; ^ e<
Pectoraque infesta tundat aperta manu. 10
Excipiunt sparsi lacrimas per colla capilli,
Oraque singultu concutiente sonant.
Fratris in Aeneae sic ilium funere dicunt
Egressum tectis, pulcher liile, tuis.
c
1 8 OVJDII
Nee minus est confusa Venus, moriente Tibullo, 15
Quam iuveni rupit cum ferus inguen aper.
. At sacri vates, et Divum cura vocamur :
fllA*- *?tf T-^f ff
Sunt etiam, qui nos numen habere putent
Scilicet omne sacrum mors importuna profanat :
Omnibus obscuras iniicit illajnanus. 20
Quid pater Ismaridfquid mater profuit, Orpheo?
Carmine quid victas obstupuisse feras?
Aelinon in silvis idem pater, Aelinon, altis
Dicitur in vita, concinuisse lyra.
Adiice Maeoniden, a quo, ceu fonte perenni, 2-5
Vatum Pieriis ora rigantur aquis;
Hunc quoque summa dies nigro submersit Averno ;
Diffugiunt avidos carmina sola rogos.
Durat opus vatum, Troiani fama laboris,
. ,f Tardaque nocturne tela retexta dolo. 30
Sic Nemesis longum, sic Delia, nomen habebunt;
Altera, cura recens, altera, primus amor.
Quid vos sacra iuvant? quid nunc Aegyptia prosunt
Sistra? quid in vacuo secubuisse toro?
Cum rapiant mala fata bonos, ignoscite fasso, 35
SolHcjjtor nullos esse putare Deos.
<L Vive pius, moriere pius, cole sacra; colentem
Mors gravis a templis in cava busta trahet.
con fid e bonis ; iacet ecce ! Tibullus
.
Vix manet e tanto parva quod uma capit. 40
Tene, sacer Vates, flammae rapuere rogales ?
Pectoribus pasci nee timuere tuis ?
. Aurea sanctorum potuissent templa Deorum
*" " * . , Vrere, quae tantum sustinuere nefas.
Avertit vultus, Erycis quae possidet arces; 45
Sunt quoque, qui lacrimas continuisse negent.
ARS AMATORIA. I. 101.
Sed tamen hoc melius, quam si Phaeacia tellus
Ignotum vili supposuisset humo.
Hinc certe madidos fugientis pressit ocellos
Mater; et in cineres ultima dona tulit. 50
Hinc soror in partem misera cum matre doloris
Venit, inornatas dilaniata comas.
Cumque tuis sua iunxerunt Nemesisque priorque
Oscula: nee solos destituere rogos.
Delia discedens, Felicius, inquit, amata 55
Sum tibi : vixisti, dum tuus ignis eram.
Cui Nemesis, Quid ais? tibi sint mea damna dolori? T.?
Me tenuit moriens deficiente manu.
Si tamen e nobis aliquid nisi nomen et umbra
Restat, in Elysia valle Tibullus erit. 60
Obvius huic venias, hedera iuvenilia cinctus
Tempora, cum Calvo, docte Catulle, tuo.
Tu quoque, si falsum est temerati crimen amici,
Sanguinis atque animae prodige, Galle, tuae.
His comes umbra tua est ; si quid modo corporis umbra est,
Auxisti numeros, culte Tibulle, pios. 66
Vi
Ossa quieta, precor, tuta requiescite in urna:
Et sit humus cineri non onerosa tuo.
Ai
S.t-.l'.t,
6. RAPTVS SABINARVM. A. A. i. 101.
THE best illustration we can offer of this extract, and of the passage in
the Fasti 3. 187, where Ovid tells the story again in different words, is
the chapter in the First Book of Livy, which contains the formal record
of the tradition.
T)RIMVS soUicitos fecisti, Romule, ludos :
Cum iuvit viduos rapta Sabina viros.
Tune neque marmoreo pendebant vela theatro;
Nee fuerant liquido pulpita rubra croco.
C 2
20
OVID1I
Illic, quas tulerant nemorosa Palatia, frondes
Simpliciter positae; scena sine arte fuit.
In gradibus sedit populus de cespite factis,
Qualibet hirsutas fronde tegente comas.
Respiciunt, oculisque notant sibi quisque puellam,
Quam velit: et tacito pectore multa movent.
Dumque, rudem praebente modum tibicine Tusco,
Ludius aequatam ter pede pulsat humum;
In medio plausu, (plausus tune arte carebat,)
Rex populo praedae signa petenda dedit.
Protinus exsiliunt, animum clamore fatentes :
Virginibus cupidas iniiciuntque manus.
Vt fugiunt aquilas, timidissima turba, columbae,
Vtque fugit visos agna novella lupos;
Sic illae timuere viros sine more ruentes:
Constitit in nulla, qui fuit ante, color.
Nam timor unus erat; facies non una timoris.
Pars laniat crines : pars sine mente sedet :
Altera maesta silet : frustra vocat altera matrem :
Haec queritur; stupet haec: haec manet; ilia fugit.
Ducuntur raptae, genialis praeda, puellae; 25
Et potuit multas ipse decere pudor. timer
Si qua repugnarat nimium, comitemque negarat;
Sublatam cupido vir tulit ipse sinu.
Atque ita, Quid teneros lacrimis corrumpis ocellos?
Quod matri pater est, hoc tibi, dixit, ero. 30
Romule, militibus scisti dare comniojia solus :
Haec mihi si dederis commoda, miles ero.
> 10
20
ARS AMATORIA. I. 527. 21
7. BACCHVS ET ARIADNE. A. A. I. 527-
OF all the beautiful and graceful fictions of Grecian mythology, none
seems to have been dwelt upon with more pleasure by the ancients
themselves than the romantic tale of Bacchus and the forlorn Ariadne,
it was a favourite theme with the poets, as appears from oft-repeated
allusions in their works 1 , with sculptors and engravers of precious stones,
as many bas-reliefs and gems still testify, and with painters, as may be
seen in the various representations which decorate the houses of Hercu-
laneum and Pompeii 2 . We shall give that form of the legend which was
commonly current in Greece 3 .
Aegeus, king of Athens, son of Pandion, celebrated with great pomp
the games of the Panathenaic festival, in which Androgeus, son of Minos,
king of Crete, bore off the prizes from all competitors. Aegeus, jealous
of the success of a stranger, treacherously compassed his death. Minos,
eager for revenge, invaded Attica, and having laid siege to the capital,
and reduced the inhabitants to the last extremity, granted peace upon
die cruel terms that seven youths and seven maidens should be sent to
Crete at stated periods, an offering to the hideous Minotaur, the ' semi-
bovemque virum, semivirumque bovem,' the fruit of the impure passion
of Pasiphae, confined in the famous labyrinth constructed by the skill of
Daedalus. After a lapse of years, Theseus, son of Aegeus, undertook to
deliver his country from the terrible impost, and set sail for Crete, as
one of the destined victims. On his arrival he was seen and loved by
Ariadne, daughter of the king, who furnished him with a clue of thread,
by means of which he might retrace his steps with certainty, and escape
from the ' inextricabilis error" of the monster's den. Theseus slew the
Minotaur, delivered his companions, and carried off the princess ; but
having landed on the island of Dia, he was warned by Pallas in a dream
to abandon his mistress and hasten to Athens. The deserted Ariadne
1 Among the Latins, see especially Catull. 94. 52-265, Virg. Ae. 6. 14,
Ov. Met. 8. 152, Heroid. 10, Fast. 3, 462, &c.
2 Xenophon in Conv. has left us a description of a pantomimic dance or
ballet of which this story formed the groundwork.
3 The chief authorities are : Pherecydes, as quoted by the scholiast on
Horn. Od. ii. 320; Apollodorus, whose work breaks off in the middle of
the exploits of Theseus ; and Plutarch in his life of Theseus.
22 OVID 1 1
was found all disconsolate by Bacchus, who, smitten by her beauty,
chose her for his bride, and bestowed on her a golden chaplet, which
the gods, in honour of the giver, planted as a constellation in the sky
where it still beams under the title of the Cretan Crown, and guides the
course of the wandering mariner.
Ariadne is mentioned twice by Homer, in the Iliad 18. 590, where
Hephaestus is said to have represented on the shield of Achilles a dance
'Like unto that which erst in Gnossus broad
For fair-tressed Ariadne was devised
By Daedalus, '
and in the Odyssey II. 320, where she is seen by Ulysses among other
famous personages dwelling in the realms below :
' Procris I saw and Ariadne fair,
Sage Minos' daughter, her whom Theseus once
Bore off from Crete, bound for the fertile soil
Of sacred Athens, but he tasted not
The joys of full fruition, she was slain l
By Artemis, in Dia's sea-girt isle.
A god against her testimony bore,
Twas Dionysus' self.'
If this passage be genuine, which many doubt, it must refer to some
more ancient version of the tale. In Hesiod, as in later writers, Ariadne
is the partner of Bacchus, thus Theog. 947
But Dionysus of the golden locks
Made Ariadne fair his blooming bride,
Old Minos' daughter, and to her Jove gave
Life everlasting, and eternal youth. '
in ignotis amens errabat arenis,
Qua brevis aequoreis Dia feritur aquis.
Vtque erat a somno tunica velata recincta,
Nuda pedem, croceas irreligata comas;
Thesea crudelem surdas clamabat ad undas,
Indigno teneras imbre rigante genas.
1 Or ' was held,' i. e. detained, according as we read ecr^t or item.
ARS AMATORIA. I. 527. 23
Clamabat, flebatque simul; sed utrumque decebat:
Nee facta est lacrimis turpior ilia suis.
lamque iterum tundens mollissima pectora palmis,
Perfidus ille abiit: quid mihi fiet? ait. 10
Quid mihi fiet? ait. sonuerunt cymbala toto
Littore, et attonita tympana pulsa manu.
Excidit ilia metu, rupitque novissima verba:
Nullus in exanimi corpore sanguis erat.
Ecce ! Mimallonides sparsis in terga capillis : 1 5
Ecce ! leves Satyri, praevia turba Dei :
Ebrius ecce ! senex pando Silenus asello
Vix sedet; et pressas continet arte iubas.
Dum sequitur Bacchas, Bacchae fugiuntque petuntque,
Quadrupedem ferula dum malus urget eques; 20
In caput aurito cecidit .delapsus asello :
Clamarunt Satyri, Surge age, surge, pater,
lam Deus e curru, quern summum texerat uvis,
Tigribus adiunctis aurea lora dabat.
Et color, et Theseus, et vox abiere puellae, 25
Terque fugam petiit : terque retenta metu.
Horruit, ut steriles agitat quas ventus aristae ;
Vt levis in madida canna palude tremit.
Cui Deus, En ! adsum tibi cura fidelior, inquit
Pone metum; Bacchi, Gnosias, uxor eris. 30
Munus habe caelum : caelo spectabile sidus
Saepe reges dubiam Cressa Corona ratem.
Dixit; et e curru, ne tigres ilia timeret,
Desilit : imposito cessit arena pedi.
Implicitamque sinu, neque enim pugnare valebat, 35
Abstulit : ut facile est omnia posse Deo.
24 OVIDII
8. SOLATIA RVRIS. REM. AM. 169.
"DVRA quoque oblectant animos, studiumque colendi:
Quaelibet huic curae cedere cura potest.
Colla iube domitos oneri supponere tauros;
Sauciet ut duram vomer aduncus humum.
Obrue versata Cerealia semina terra, 5
Quae tibi cum multo fenore reddat ager.
Adspice curvatos pomorum pondere ramos,
Vt sua, quod peperit, vix ferat arbor onus.
Adspice iucundo labentes murmure rivos :
Adspice tondentes fertile gramen oves. 10
Ecce ! petunt rapes, praeruptaque saxa, capellae :
lam referent haedis ubera plena suis.
Pastor inaequali modulatur arundine carmen :
Nee desunt comites, sedula turba, canes.
Parte sonant alia silvae mugitibus altae, 15
Et queritur vitulum mater abesse suum.
Quid? cum suppositas fugiunt examina fumos,
Vt relevent dempti vimina torta favi ?
Poma dat autumnus ; formosa est messibus aestas :
Ver praebet flores: igne levatur hiems. 20
Temporibus certis maturam rusticus uvam
Deligit; et nudo sub pede musta fluunt.
Temporibus certis desectas alligat herbas;
Et tonsam raro pectine verrit humum.
Ipse potes riguis plantam deponere in hortis: 25
Ipse potes rivos ducere lenis aquae.
Venerit insitio : fac ramum ramus adoptet,
Stetque peregrinis arbor operta comis.
Cum semel haec animum coepit mulcere voluptas,
Debilibus pennis irritus exit Amor. 30
FASTI. 7. i. 25
Vel tu venandi studium cole : saepe recessit
Turpiter a Phoebi victa sorore Venus.
Nunc leporem pronum catulo sectare sagaci;
Nunc tua frondosis retia tende iugis.
Aut pavidos terre varia formidine cervos : 35
Aut cadat adversa cuspide fossus aper.
Nocte fatigatum somnus, non cura puellae
Excipit, et pingui membra quiete levat.
Lenius est studium, studium tamen, alite capta,
Aut lino, aut calamis praemia parva sequi. 40
Vel, quae piscis edax avido male devoret ore,
Abdere supremis aera recurva cibis.
Aut his, aut aliis, donee dediscis amare,
Ipse tibi furtim decipiendus eris.
9. FASTORVM DEDICATIO. FAS. i. i.
READ the general introduction to the Fasti in the Appendix.
T^EMPORA cum causis Latium digesta per annum, om.^^ 3 J
Lapsaque sub terras, ortaque signa, canam.
Excipe pacato, Caesar Germanice, vultu
Hoc opus, et timidae dirige navis iter;
Officioque, levem non aversatus honorem, 5
Huic tibi devoto numine dexter ades.
Sacra recognosces Annalibus eruta priscis;
i*
Et quo sit mento quaeque notata dies.
Invenies illic et festa domestica vobis :
Saepe tibi Pater est, saepe legendus Avus. 10
Quaeque ferunt illi pictos signantia fastos,
li, Tu quoque cum Druso praemia fratre feres.
WCV . ... ._,
L-aesans arma canant am ; nos Caesans aras :
Et quoscumque sacris addidit ille dies.
26 OVIDII
Annue conanti per laudes ire tuorum, ^t^/ut^ 15
Deque meo pavidos excute corde metus.
Da mihi te placidum : dederis in carmina \ires. ^mj^t
Ingenium vultu staique caditque tuo.
Pagina iudicium docti subitura movetur
Principis, ut Clario missa legenda Deo: 4*fchMl 20 ty
Quae sit enim culti facundia sensimus oris,
Civica pro trepidis cum tulit arma reis.
t**4W4*.<^ }nAScimus et, ad nostras cum se tulit impetus artes,
Ingenii currant flumina quanta tui.
Si licet, et fas est, vates rege vatis habenas: 25
Auspice te felix totus ut annus eat.
Tempora digereret cum conditor urbis, in anno
Constituit menses quinque bis esse suo.
Scilicet arma magis, quam sidera, Romule, noras :
Curaque finitimos vincere maior erat. 30
Est tamen et ratio, Caesar, quae moverit ilium :
Erroremque suum quo tueatur, habet.
Quod satis est, utero matris dum prodeat infans ;
Hoc anno statuit temporis esse satis.
Per totidem menses a funere coniugis uxor 35
in vidua tristia signa domo. v"wvw-~3
Hoc igitur vidit trabeati cura Quirini, ***^>JL J
Cum rudibus populis annua iura daret.
Martis erat primus mensis, Venerisque secundus ;
Haec generis princeps, ipsius ille pater. 40
Tertius a Senibus, luvenum de nomine quartus :
Quae sequitur, numero turba notata fuit.
At Numa nee lanum, nee avitas praeterit umbras;
Mensibus antiquis apposuitque duos. <wU^t&*wJ
Ne tamen ignores variorum iura dierum ; 45
Non habet officii Lucifer omnis idem.
FASTI. I. i.
Ille Nefastus erit, per quem tria verba silentur :
Fastus erit, per quem lege licebit agi.
Neu toto perstare die sua iura putaris ;
Qui iam Fastus erit, mane Nefastus erat. * t
Nam simul exta Deo data sunt, licet omnia fari ;
Verbaque honoratus libera Praetor habet.
Est quoque, quo populum ius est includere septis
Est quoque, qui nono semper ab orbe redit.
Vindicat Ausonias lunonis cura Kalendas: 55
Idibus alba lovi grandior agna cadit.
Nonarum tu_tela Deo caret. Omnibus istis, !*-
Ne fallare cave, proximus Ater erit.
Omen ab eventu est; illis nam Roma diebus
Damna sub adverse tristia Marte tulit. 60
Haec mihi dicta semel, totis haerentia fastis, tt ^/
Ne seriem rerum scindere cogar, erunt. "fe^i
Ecce tibi faustum, Germanice, nuntiat annum,
Inque meo primus carmine lanus adest.
lane biceps, anni tacitejabentis origo, 6;
Solus de Superis qui tua terga vides :
Dexter ades ducibus, quorum secura labore
Otia terra ferax, otia pontus agit.
Dexter ades Patribusque tuis, populoque Quirini :
Et resera nutu Candida templa tuo. 7c
Prospera lux oritur : linguisque animisque favete ;
Nunc dicenda bono sunt bona verba die.
Lite vacent aures, insanaque protinus absint
lurgia : differ opus, livida lingua, tuum.
Cernis, odoratis ut luceat ignibus aether; 75
Et sonet accensis spica Cilissa focis ?
Flamma nitore suo templorum verberat aurum,
Et tremulurn summa spargit in aede iubar.
28 OVIDII
Vestibus intactis Tarpeias itur in arces :
Et populus festo concolor ipse suo est. 80
lamque novi praeeunt fasces ; nova purpura fulget ;
Et nova conspicuum pondera sentit ebur.
Colla rudes operum praebent ferienda . iuvenci,
Quos aluit campis herba Falisca suis.
lupiter, arce sua totum cum spectet in orbem, 85
Nil nisi Romanum, quod tueatur, habet.
Salve, laeta dies, meliorque revertere semper,
A populo ierurn_ digna potente coli.
10. VER. FAS. i. 149.
THE poet introduces the following charming description, by enquiring
of Janus why the year begins in the depth of winter rather than in
spring, when all nature awakes into new life.
T~\IC, age, frigoribus quare novus incipit annus,
Qui melius per ver incipiendus erat ?
Omnia tune florent : tune est nova temporis aetas :
Et nova de gravido palmite gemma tumet.
* <Af -1n*d Et modo formatis operitur frondibus arbos ;
"
Prodit et in summum seminis herba solum :
t tepidum volucres concentibus ae'ra mulcent;
Ludit et in pratis luxuriatque pecus.
Turn blandi soles: ignotaque prodit hirundo,
t i u t eum C elsa sub trabe fingit opus. 10
Turn patitur cultus ager, et renovatur aratro :
Haec anni novitas iure vocanda fait.
FASTI. 7. 469. 29
11. ASTRONOMIAE LAVS. FAS. I. 295.
THE student will find in the Introduction to the Fasti, contained in
the Appendix, some information with regard to the calculations of the
ancients, founded upon the rising and setting of the heavenly bodies.
Ovid, when about to describe some of these phenomena, bursts forth
into an animated apostrophe to the most sublime of sciences.
QVID vetat et Stellas, ut quaeque oriturque caditque,
Dicere ? promlssi pars fuit ista mei.
Felices animos, quibus haec cognoscere primis,
Inque domos superas scandere cura fuit !
Credibile est illos pariter vitiisque locisque 5
Altius humanis exseruisse caput.
Non Venus et vinum sublimia pectora fregit,
Officiumve fori, militiaeve labor:
Nee levis ambitio, perfusaque gloria fuco,
Magnarumve fames sollicitavit opum. 10
Admovere oculis distantia sidera nostris,
Aetheraque ingenio supposuere suo.
Sic petitur caelum : non ut ferat Ossan Olympus,
Summaque Peliacus sidera tangat apex.
Nos quoque sub ducibus caelum metabimur illis, 15
Ponemusque suos ad stata signa dies.
12. EVANDER. FAS. i. 469.
THIS extract contains the history of Evander, of his arrival in Latium,
and of his founding a city on the spot where Rome afterwards stood.
Virgil has, with great skill and judgment, interwoven this tradition
with the fabric of the last six books of the Aeneid : the prosaic record
we shall give in the words of Dionysius of Halicarnassus.
' Not long after, another band of Greeks; from Palantium, a city of
Arcadia, arrived in this part of Italy, about sixty years before the Trojan
war, as the Romans themselves tell. The leader of the colony was
Evander, son of Hermes and a certain Arcadian nymph, whom the
30 OVIDII
Greeks declare to have been inspired and named Themis, while those
who have written upon Roman antiquities give her the appellation, in
their vernacular tongue, of Carmenta, which in the Greek language
would be Thespi jdos, " prophetic songstress," for the Romans call songs
" carmina :" but all agree that this woman, being divinely inspired, fore-
told in song to the people future events. This expedition was not sent
forth by the common consent of the state, but a sedition having arisen,
the party that was worsted retired voluntarily. At that time, Faunus, a
son, as they say, of Ares, had succeeded to the sovereignty of the Abor-
igines, a man at once bold and prudent, whom the Romans honour with
sacrifices and songs as one of the gods of their land. This Faunus
received the Arcadians, who were few in number, with great friendship,
and gave them as much of his territory as they wished. The Arcadians,
on the other hand, as Themis, seized with divine phrenzy, had com-
manded, chose, not far from the Tiber, a hill, which is now almost in
the very centre of the city of the Romans, and raised beside it a small
village sufficient for the crews of the two ships in which they had mi-
grated from Greece. This little town they named Palantium, after their
own mother-city in Arcadia. Now, however, the place is by the Romans
called Palatium, time having corrupted the accurate form of the word.'
Dionysius goes on to relate that Polybius and others derived the
name Palatium from a youthful hero Palas (son of Hercules and Dyna l
daughter of Evander), who was there interred, but adds that he had never
beheld any sepulchre of Palas at Rome, nor ever heard of any sacrifices
offered to his memory, although holy rites were performed every year, at
the public expense, in honour of Evander and Carmenta, and altars were
to be seen erected, one to Carmenta beside the Porta Carmentalis under
the Capitoline hill, and another to Evander at the base of the Aventine,
not far from the Porta Trigemina 2 .
prior Luna, de se si creditur ipsi,
A magno tellus Arcade nomen habet.
Hie fuit Evander : qui, quamquam clarus utroque,
Nobilior sacrae sanguine matris erat.
1 Dionysius in another place (A. R. i. 45) speaks of a daughter of Evander
named Launa, who is evidently the same as Lavinia.
2 The student will find a critical discussion on the story of Evander in
Niebuhr's Roman History.
FASTI. I. 469. 31
Quae, simul aetherios animo conceperat ignes; 5
Ore dabat vero carmina plena Dei.
Dixerat haec nato motus instare sibique,
Multaque praeterea tempore nacta fidem.
Nam iuvenis, vera nimium cum matre fugatus,
Deserit Arcadiam Parrhasiumque larem. 10
Cui genetrix flenti, Fortuna viriliter, inquit,
Siste, puer, lacrimas, ista ferenda tibi est.
Sic erat in fatis : nee te tua culpa fugavit ;
Sed Deus: offenso pulsus es urbe Deo.
Non meriti poenam pateris, sed Numinis iram: 15
Est aliquid magnis crimen abesse malis.
Conscia mens ut cuique sua est, ita concipit intra
Pectora pro facto spemque metumque suo.
Nee tamen ut primus maere mala talia passus:
Obruit ingentes ista procella viros. 20
Passus idem, Tyriis qui quondam pulsus ab oris,
Cadmus in Aonia constitit exsul humo.
Passus idem Tydeus, et idem Pagasaeus lason :
Et quos praeterea longa referre mora est.
Omne solum forti patria est; ut piscibus aequor : 25
Vt volucri, vacuo quidquid in orbe patet.
Nee fera tempestas toto tamen horret in anno :
Et tibi, crede mihi, tempora veris erunt.
Vocibus Evander firmata mente parentis
Nave secat fluctus, Hesperiamque tenet. 30
lamque ratem doctae monitu Carmentis in amnem
Egerat, et Tuscis obvius ibat aquis.
Fluminis ilia latus, cui sunt vada iuncta Terenti,
Adspicit, et sparsas per loca sola casas.
Vtque erat, immissis puppim stetit ante capillis ; 35
Continuitque manum torva regentis iter.
32 OVIDII
Et procul in dextram tendens sua brachia ripam,
Pinea non sano ter pede texta ferit.
Neve daret saltum prpperans insistere terrae,
Vix est Evandri vixque retenta manu. 40
Dique petitorum, dixit, salvete locorum,
Tuque novos caelo terra datura Decs ;
Fluminaque, et Fontes, quibus utitur hospita tellus,
Et nemorum silvae, Naiadumque chori;
Este bonis avibus visi natoque mihique, 45
Ripaque felici tacta sit ista pede.
Fallor? an hi fient ingentia moenia colles,
luraque ab hac terra cetera terra petet?
Montibus his olim totus promittitur orbis ;
Quis tantum fati credat habere locum ? 50
Et iam Dardaniae tangent haec littora pinus,
Hie quoque causa novi femina Martis erit.
Care nepos, Palla, funesta quid induis arma?
Indue : non humili vindice caesus eris.
Victa tamen vinces, eversaque Troia resurges, 55
Obruet hostiles ista ruina domos.
Vrite victrices Neptunia Pergama flammae;
Num minus hie toto est altior orbe cinis ?
Iam pius Aeneas sacra, et, sacra altera, patrem,
Afferet; Iliacos excipe, Vesta, Deos. 60
Tempus erit, cum vos orbemque tuebitur idem;
Et fient ipso sacra colente Deo;
Et penes Augustos patriae tutela manebit,
Hanc fas imperii frena tenere domum.
Inde nepos natasque Dei, licet ipse recuset, 65
Pondera caelesti mente paterna feret.
Vtque ego perpetuis olim sacrabor in aris,
Sic Augusta novum lulia numen erit.
FASTI. I. 543- 33
Talibus ut dictis nostros descendit in annos,
Substitit in medios praescia lingua sonos. 70
Puppibus egressus Latia stetit exsul in herba;
Felix, exsilium cui locus ille fuit!
Nee mora longa fuit. Stabant nova tecta : nee alter
Montibus Ausoniis Arcade maior erat.
13. HERCVLES ET CACVS. FAS. i. 543.
IN the traditions and poetry belonging to the half-civilized state of
nations, we generally find that a conspicuous place is occupied by
champions endowed with superhuman strength and valour, who dis-
tinguished themselves as the benefactors of mankind, destroying savage
beasts and monsters of every description, redressing wrongs, avenging
tyranny, and maintaining the cause of the virtuous and feeble against
the wicked and powerful. Such individuals are sometimes represented
as incarnations of divinity, sometimes as sons of a god, sometimes as
mere men favoured by heaven, who open up for themselves a path to
immortality. Examples of beings belonging to one or other of these
classes will be found in the Rama of the Hindoos, the Roostum of
the Persians, the Antar of the Bedoueens, the Odin of the Scandinavians,
the Melcart of the Phoenicians, and the Hercules of the Greeks. But to
our surprise we search the classics in vain for some notice of an Italian
national hero, and hence we are naturally led to enquire whether their
ancient records may not have recognised a personage of this description,
whose fame was hidden in later times under a foreign title.
On examining the history of the son of Zeus and Alcmena, we shall
soon discover that the Greeks, as their geographical knowledge became
extended, attributed without hesitation to their own Hercules the
exploits and adventures of the mighty ones of other lands. There can
be little doubt that the story of the servitude to Omphale arose from his
being identified with the Lydian god Sandon, and in like manner it
is certain that Hylas was invoked by the Bithynians at their fountains,
during the noontide heat of summer, long before Greek colonies were
planted on the shores of the PontuS 1 . The Phoenician Melcart, a
1 See Miiller's Dorians, vol. i. p. 457. Engl. Trans., and his essay in the
Rheinisches Museum, vol. iv. p. 22.
D
34
OVIDII
wanderer and a conqueror, had a temple at Gadeira, and thither in the
course of time Erytheia, Geryon, and his herds were transplanted 1 ;. while
Phoenician and Greek traditions were mixed up and woven together
into a complicated tissue. When it was once settled that Hercules had
marched through Spain, nothing could be more natural than that he should
return home by way of Italy and visit his countryman Evander, while at
the same time it was little likely that he could perform so long a
journey without an adventure. Accordingly, the local legend of the
destraction of the robber Cacus, the fire-breathing son of Vulcan, who
dwelt in a cavern on the Aventine, was seized upon and appropriated
without opposition, it would appear, from those to whom it belonged.
We must remark, however, that it was the practice of the Romans
when they became acquainted with a foreign god, to identify him with
some divinity of their own, whose name was retained while he was
invested with the attributes of the stranger. Thus Jupiter, Juno, Diana,
Venus, Mars, Neptunus, Mercurius, and Vulcanus, received, in addition
to their own native honours, the homage paid by the Greeks to Zeus,
Hera, Artemis, Aphrodite, Ares, Poseidon, Hermes, and Hephaestus.
Sometimes both titles were used indifferently, as in the case of Pallas
and Minerva, Bacchus and Liber pater, Pan and Faunus, Persephone and
Libera. But when a foreign appellation alone was employed, such
as Apollo, Priapus, Cybele, Isis, Serapis, and the like, it must be taken
as a proof that no homesprung deity could be found exactly analogous.
Hence we might have been disposed to conclude that this held good of
Hercules, especially since we know that he was worshipped after the
Grecian fashion ; but two fragments preserved by late writers, one of
Cassius Hemina, an early Roman annalist, the other of Verrius Flaccus,
the celebrated grammarian, whose work was abridged by Festus, go far
to prove that the destruction of Cacus was achieved by an indigenous
hero, a Latin Hercules, called ' Garanus ' or ' Recaranus,' whose place
was so successfully usurped by the Theban champion, that but few even
of his own countrymen in after ages had heard the name.
When we examine closely into the worship of Hercules among the
Romans, we discover several very marked peculiarities, from which we
may draw some inferences with regard to the nature and character of
this Recaranus. The subject has been discussed with great ingenuity by
1 Geryon and Erytheia seem originally to have belonged to Epirus. See
Miiller, vol. i. p. 435. Engl. Trans.
FASTI. I. 543- 35
Hartung, in his work ' Die Religion der Romer,' but the investigation is
too intricate, and the results too uncertain, to be introduced here.
The student will do well to compare this extract with the narrative of
Virgil, Aen. 8. 193-270, and of Propertius, Eleg. 4. 9. Dionysius of
Halicarnassus also has given the fable at full length, A. R. i. 39, 40, but
the account given by Livy i. 7 includes all that is necessary in the way
of illustration.
T^CCE boves illuc Erythei'das applicat heros
"^^ Emensus longi claviger orbis iter.
Dumque huic hospitium domus est Tegeaea, vagantur
Incustoditae laeta per arva boves.
Mane erat; excussus somno Tirynthius heros 5
De numero tauros sentit abesse duos.
Nulla videt taciti quaerens vestigia furti :
Traxerat aversos Cacus in antra ferox;
Cacus, Aventinae timor atque infamia silvae,
Non leve finitimis hospitibusque malum. 10
Dira viro fades; vires pro corpore; corpus
Grande : pater monstri Mulciber huius erat.
Proque domo longis spelunca recessibus ingens
Abdita, vix ipsis invenienda feris.
Ora super postes affixaque brachia pendent, 15
Squalidaque humanis ossibus albet humus.
Servata male parte bourn love natus abibat;
Mugitum rauco furta dedere sono.
Accipio revocamen, ait; vocemque secutus
Impia per silvas ultor ad antra venit. 20
Ille aditum fracti praestruxerat obiice mentis;
Vix iuga movissent quinque bis illud onus.
Nititur hie humeris, caelum quoque sederat illis,
Et vastum motu collabefactat onus.
Quod simul evulsum est, fragor aethera terruit ipsum; 25
Ictaque subsedit pondere molis humus.
D 2
36 OVIDI1
Prima movet Cacus collata proelia dextra,
Remque ferox saxis stipitibusque gerit.
Quis ubi nil agitur, pajrias male fortis ad artes
Confugit, et flammas ore sonante vomit. 30
Quas quoties proflat, spirare Typhoea credas,
Et rapidum Aetnaeo fulgur ab igne iaci.
Occupat Alcides : adductaque clava trinodis
Ter quater adversi sedit in ore viri.
Ille cadit, mistosque vomit cum sanguine fumos ; 35
Et lato moriens pectore plangit humum.
Immolat ex illis taurum tibi, lupiter, ununi
Victor, et Evandrum ruricolasque vocat.
Constituitque sibi, quae Maxima dicitur, aram,
Hie ubi pars Vrbis de bove nomen habet. 40
Nee tacet Evandri mater, prope tempus adesse,
Hercule quo tellus sit satis usa suo.
At felix vates, ut Dis gratissima vixit,
Possidet hunc lani sic Dea mense diem.
14. ROMVLVS ET REMVS. FAS. in. i.
THIS and the three following extracts contain a detailed exposition
of the popular traditions with regard to the birth of Romulus and
Remus, their exposure, preservation, and subsequent fortunes down to
the death of the latter. In order that the particulars of this famous tale
may be impressed upon the mind in a regular and connected form, the
student should first consult the account given in Livy i. 3. \Ve shall
here present him with a more circumstantial narrative derived from the
various legends current among the Romans, collected, arranged, and
combined by the skilful hand of Niebuhr.
The old Roman legend ran as follows : Procas, king of Alba, left two
sons. Numitor, the elder, being weak and spiritless, suffered Amulius
to wrest the government from him, and reduce him to his father's private
estates. In the possession of these he lived rich, and, as he desired
nothing more, secure : but the usurper dreaded the claims that might be
set up by heirs of a different character. He therefore caused Numitor's
FASTI. HI. i. 37
son to be murdered, and appointed Silvia, his daughter, one of the
vestal virgins.
Amulius had no children, or at least only one daughter ; so that the
race of Anchises and Aphrodite seemed on the point of expiring, when
the love of God prolonged it, in opposition to the ordinances of man,
and gave it a lustre worthy of its origin. Silvia had gone into the sacred
grove to draw water from the spring for the service of the temple : the
sun quenched its rays : the sight of a wolf made her fly into a cave 1 ;
there Mars overpowered the timid virgin, and consoled her with
the promise of noble children, as Poseidon did Tyro, the daughter of
Salmoneus. But he did not protect her against the tyrant, nor did her
protestations of her innocence save her : the condemnation of the unfor-
tunate priestess seemed to be exacted by Vesta herself; for, at the
moment of the childbirth, her image in the temple hid its eyes, her altar
trembled, and her fire died away 2 : and Amulius was allowed to com-
mand that the mother and her twin babes should be drowned in the
river 3 . In the Anio, Silvia exchanged her earthly existence for deity ;
and the river was enabled to carry the bole or cradle wherein the children
were laid, into the Tiber, which had at that time overflowed its banks,
far and wide, even to the foot of the woody hills. At the root of a wild
fig-tree, the Ficus Ruminalis, which continued to be preserved and held
sacred for many centuries at the foot of the Palatine, the cradle over-
turned. A she-wolf had come to slake her thirst in the stream; she
heard the whimpering of the children, carried them into her den hard
by 4 , made a bed for them, licked and suckled them : when they wanted
something more than milk, a woodpecker, the bird sacred to Mars,
brought them food: other birds consecrated to auguries hovered over
1 I insist in behalf of my Romans on the right of taking the poetical
features wherevtr they are to be found, when they have dropt out of the
common narrative. In the present case they are preserved by Servius on
Aen. I. 274; the eclipse by Dionysius 2. 56, and Plutarch, Romul. c. 27.
a Ovid, Fasti 3. 45.
s In poetry of this sort we have no right to ask, why she was thrown
into the river (whichever of the two it may have been), and not into the
Alban lake.
* It is remarkable how even those who did not renounce the poetry of the
narrative, endeavoured to reduce it to a minimum ; to the fostering care
of the wolf at the moment when she first found the little orphans by the
P'icus Ruminalis ; as if in this case, as well as that of S. Denis, everything
did not depend on the first step. The Lupercal itself bears witness to the
genuine form of the fiction : and the conceptions of the two poets accorded
38 OVIDII
the babes, to drive away noxious insects. This marvellous spectacle was
beheld by Faustulus the shepherd of the royal flocks : the she-wolf gave
way to him, and resigned the children to human nurture. Acca
Larentia, the shepherd's wife, became their foster-mother ; they grew up
along with her twelve sons 1 , on the Palatine hill, in straw huts which
they built themselves: that of Romulus was preserved by continual
repairs down to the time of Nero, as a sacred relic. They were the
most active of the shepherd lads, brave in fighting against wild beasts
and robbers, maintaining their right against every one by their might,
and converting might into right. Their spoils they shared with their
comrades; the adherents of Romulus were called Quinctilii; those
of Remus Fabii: and now the seeds of discord were sown. Their
wantonness engaged them in disputes with the shepherds of the wealthy
Numitor, who fed their flocks on Mount Aventine; so that here, as
in the story of Evander and Cacus, we find the quarrel between the
Palatine and the Aventine in the tales of the remotest times. Remus
was taken by a stratagem of these neighbours, and dragged to Alba as
a robber. A foreboding, the remembrance of his grandsons awakened
by hearing the story of the two brothers, restrained Xumitor from a
hasty sentence : the culprit's foster-father hurried with Romulus to the
city, and told the old man and the youths of their mutual relation. The
youths undertook to avenge their own wrong and that of their house :
with their trusty comrades, whom the danger' of Remus had sum-
moned into the city, they slew the king ; and the people of Alba became
again subject to the rule of Xumitor.
T)ELLICE, depositis clipeo paullisper et hasta,
Mars, ades, et nitidas casside solve comas.
Forsitan ipse roges, quid sit cum Marte poetae;
A te, qui canitur, nomina mensis habet.
with it. Virgil gives a description of the cave of Mayors. Ovid sings,
Fast. 3. 5.5,
* Lacte quis infantes nescit crevisse ferino,
Et picum cxpositis saepe tulisse cibos.'
Nor did the poetical feature escape Trogus ; ' cum saeplus ad parvulos
reverteretur.' The story of the woodpecker and its ^ou/ita//aTa could not
have been invented of new-born infants.
1 Masurius Sabinus in Gellius N. A. 6. 7.
FASTI. III. i. 39
Ipse vides manibus peragi fera bella Minervae ; 5
Num minus ingenuis artibus ilia vacat?
Palladis exemplo ponendae tempora sume
Cuspidis; invenies, et quod inermis agas.
Turn quoque inermis eras, quum te Romana sacerdos
Cepit, ut huic urbi semina digna dares. 10
Silvia Vestalis quid enim vetat hide moveri?
Sacra lavaturas mane petebat aquas.
Ventum erat ad molli declivem tramite ripam:
Ponitur e summa fictilis urna coma.
Fessa resedit humi, ventosque accepit aperto 15
Pectore, turbatas restituitque comas.
Dum sedet, umbrosae salices volucresque canorae
Fecerunt somnos, et leve murmur aquae.
Blanda quies victis furtim subrepit ocellis,
Et cadit a mento languida facta manus. 20
Mars videt hanc visamque cupit, potiturque cupitam,
Et sua divina furta fefellit ope.
Silvia fit mater. Vestae simulacra feruntur
Virgineas oculis opposuisse manus.
Ara deae certe tremuit, pariente ministra, 25
Et subiit cineres territa flamma suos.
Haec ubi cognovit contemptor Amulius aequi
Nam raptas fratri victor habebat opes
Amne iubet mergi geminos. Scelus unda refugit:
In sicca pueri destituuntur humo. 30
Lacte quis infantes nescit crevisse ferino,
Et picum expositis saepe tulisse cibos?
Non ego te, tantae nutrix Larentia gentis,
Nee taceam vestras, Faustule pauper, opes.
Vaster honos veniet, quum Larentalia dicam: 35
Acceptus Geniis ilia December habet.
4O OVIDIl
Martia ter senos proles adoleverat annos,
Et suberat flavae iam nova barba comae :
Omnibus agricolis armentoramque magistris
Iliadae fratres iura petita dabant. 40
Saepe domum veniunt praedonum sanguine laeti,
Et redigunt actos in sua rura boves.
Vt genus audierunt, animos pater editus auget,
Et pudet in paucis nomen habere casis:
Romuleoque cadit traiectus Amulius ense, 45
Regnaque longaevo restituuntur avo.
Moenia conduntur, quae quamvis parva fuerunt,
Non tamen expediit transiluisse Remo.
15. LVPERCALIA. FAS. n. 267.
FAUNUS was an ancient Latin rural deity, who haunted woods and
wilds, the object of peculiar adoration to the shepherd and husbandman l .
When foreign superstitions became rife, he was confounded with the
Arcadian Pan. Observe also, that while Faunus was recognised as an
individual, he gave a name to a whole class of deities who were called
' Fauni a ,' and bore a strong resemblance to the ' Satyri ' of Grecian
mythology, with whom they are generally identified in the works of the
poets. Faunus was not considered by the Romans as a purely bene-
ficent power, but as a wayward and tricky spirit, who loved to sport
with the weakness and fears of men. To him and to his train were
attributed all strange sights and sounds which terrify the lonely way-
farer, spectral forms appearing under changing shapes, frightful dreams
and nightmares,
' the thousand fantasies
Of calling shapes, and beckoning shadows dire,
1 In the writers of the Augustan age, Faunus can scarcely be distinguished
from Silvanus, concerning whom see introduction to 14.
2 As there were 'Fauni,' so there were 'Silvani,' and in like manner
among the Greeks, 'Panes' and 'Sileni.'
FASTI, II. 267. 41
And aery tongues that syllable men's names
On sands, and shores, and desert wildernesses 1 .*
' Faunus' and his sister ' Fauna' were possessed of prophetic powers
also, and in this capacity were known by the epithets ' Fatuus' and
' Fatua.' At an early period there were two oracles of this god situated
in sacred groves, one near Tibur at the sources of the Albunea, the
other on the Aventine. The former, with its ceremonies, has been fully
described by Virgil, the latter by Ovid 2 .
The festival of Faunus commenced on the Ides of February, and on
the 1 5th the solemnities of the 'Lupercalia' were celebrated, which, in
the time of Ovid, were believed to appertain to the same divinity. On
the last-mentioned day a body of priests styled ' Luperci,' divided into
two colleges, distinguished as ' Quinctilii ' and 'Fabii 3 ,' assembled at
the 'Lupercal,' a sacred inclosure on the Palatine, where a sacrifice of
goats and dogs was offered up. The Luperci then stripped themselves
naked, threw the goat-skins * over their shoulders 5 , and brandishing in
their hands thongs cut from the hides, ran through the most frequented
streets of the city smiting all whom they encountered 6 , especially married
women, who eagerly offered themselves to receive the lash, since it was
supposed to confer fertility. Thus Ov. Fast. 2. 425,
' Nupta, quid expectas ? non tu pollentibus herbis,
Nee prece, nee magico carmine mater eris.
Excipe fecunclae patienter verbera dextrae:
lam socer optati nomen habebit avi, '
and Juv. S. 2. 140,
' steriles moi iuntur, et illis
Turgida non proclest condita pyxide Lyde
Nee prodest agili palmas praebere Luperco.'
1 See Dionys. Hal. 5. 16, Plin. H. N. 25. 4, Livy 5. 50, Augustin.
8 Virg. Ae. 7. 85, Ov. Fast. 4. 649.
* Or ' Quinctiliani' and 'Fabiani,' see Festus in verbb. Julius Caesar
added a third college called after himself. See Suet. Jul. 76, Dio 44. 6.
4 The skin was called 'Februus' (Serv. Virg. Ae. 8. 343), which shows
that the sacrifice was of a purificatory nature. See notes on 19.
5 ' Hie exsultantes Salios, nudosque Lupercos.' Virg. Aen. 8. 663.
6 Marc Antony, when consul, did not scruple to exhibit himself in this
guise, and his appearance afforded an excellent theme for the satire of Cicero
(Philipp. 2. 34). It was on this occasion that he offered ' a kingly crown"
to Caesar.
42 OVIDII
<
In the two following extracts Ovid gives a description of these rites,
and endeavours, in various ways, to explain their origin. He then pro-
ceeds to enquire into die etymology of the word 'Lupercal,' and first
derives it from 'Lupus,' supposing the den of the wolf who suckled
Romulus and Remus to have been situated at this spot, which leads him
to repeat the legend of the exposure of the twins. As a second deri-
vation, we are told that we may consider 'Lupercus' a translation of
Awifos, an epithet of Pan, to whom the \vnalov opos, or Wolf Mountain
in Arcadia was sacred. This was the Greek version of the matter, and
commonly current among the Romans in the age of Virgil, as we see
from Ae. 8. 34Z :
' Hie lucum ingentem, quern Romulus acer Asylum
Rettuftt, et gelida monstrat sub rupe Lupercal,
Parrhasio dictum Panis de more Lycaei l .
Some curious details are given by Dionysius, who tells us that one of
the first acts of the colony under Evander was to consecrate a shrine
to Lycean Pan, the most ancient and honoured of the Arcadian deities,
' having found out a fitting spot which the Romans call " Lupercalium,"
but we (the Greeks) would name "Lyceum." The ground in every
direction about the sacred inclosure being now covered with buildings,
it has become difficult to form an idea of the original aspect of the place.
But there was in ancient times, as we are told, a great cave under the
hill, covered over by a dense thicket ; deep springs welled from beneath
the rocks, while the cliffs all round were shaded by numerous tall trees.
Having there erected an altar to the god, they performed, in the manner
of their country, a sacrifice which is still offered by the Romans in the
month of February, after the winter solstice, the ancient ceremonies
being performed without change.'
There can be little doubt, however, that these derivations and explan-
ations 2 are all equally futile, for we find distinct traces of an ancient
Latin god and goddess, 'Lupercus' and 'Luperca,' of whom the latter
is said to be the very wolf who suckled the twins raised to the rank of a
deity 3 . Hence the 'Luperci' would be their priests, the 'Lupercal'
1 The note of Servius is worth reading.
2 We ought not to omit a very choice one preserved by Quinctilian, I. 5,
who tells us that some persons maintained that ' Lupercal' was a triple com-
pound of the words ' luere per capram.'
3 See Justin 43. 1, Varro ap. Arnob. 4. 3, Lactant. I. 20, Hartung. 2. p. 176.
FASTI. II. 267. 43
their shrine, the ' Lupercalia ' their proper festival. Their worship was
afterwards mixed up with that of Faunus, who in his turn was identified
with Pan, thus forming one of those confused combinations so frequent
in the religion of the later Romans l .
'HPERTIA post Idus nudos Aurora Lupercos
Adspicit: et Fauni sacra bicornis eunt.
Dicite, Pierides, sacrorum quae sit origo :
Attigerint Latias unde petita domos.
Pana Deum pecoris veteres coluisse feruntur 5
Arcades; Arcadiis plurimus ille iugis.
Testis erit Pholoe, testes Stymphalides undae,
Quique citis Ladon in mare currit aquis;
Cinctaque pinetis nemoris iuga Nonacrini;
Altaque Cyllene, Parrhasiaeque nives. 10
Pan erat armenti custos, Pan numen equarum :
Munus ob incolumes ille ferebat oves.
Transtulit Evander silvestria numina secum :
Hie, ubi nunc urbs est, turn locus urbis erat.
Inde Deum colimus, devectaque sacra Pelasgis: 15
Flamen ad haec prisco more Dialis erat.
Cur igitur currant; et cur, sic currere mos est,
Nuda ferant posita corpora veste, rogas?
Ipse Deus velox discurrere gaudet in altis
Montibus, et subitas concitat ille feras. 20
Ipse Deus nudus nudos iubet ire ministros :
Nee satis ad cursum commoda vestis erat.
1 There were 'Faunalia' in December also, so that possibly Faunus may
originally have had no connection with the festivals in February. See Horace,
Ode to Faunus, Od. 3. 18 :
' Ludit herboso pecus omne campo,
Quum tibi Nonae redeunt Deceiubres ',
Festus in pratis vacat otioso
Cum bove pagus.'
44
Adde peregrinis causas, mea Musa, Latinas,
Inque suo noster pulvere currat equus.
Cornipedi Fauno caesa de more capella, 25
Venit ad exiguas turba vocata dapes;
Dumque sacerdotes verubus transsuta salignis
Exta parant, medias sole tenente vias,
Romulus et frater, pastoralisque iuventus,
Solibus et campo corpora nuda dabant. 30
Caestibus, et iaculis, et missi pondere saxi,
Brachia per lusus experienda dabant.
Pastor ab excelso, Per devia rura iuvencos,
Romule, praedones, eripe, dixit, agunt.
Longum erat armari. Diversis exit uterque 35
Partibus; accursu praeda recepta Remi.
Vt rediit, verubus stridentia detrahit exta :
Atque ait, Haec certe non nisi victor edet.
Dicta facit, Fabiique simul. Venit irritus illuc
Romulus, et mensas ossaque nuda videt. 40
Risit, et indoluit Fabios potuisse Remumque
Vincere : Quinctilios non potuisse suos.
Fama manet facti, posito velamine currant:
Et memorem famam, quod bene cessit, habet.
16. LVPERCAL. FAS. n. 381.
THE origin of the ceremonies practised at the Lnpercalia having been
discussed, the poet proceeds to investigate the etymology of the word
' Lupercal.'
T^ORSITAN et quaeras, cur sit locus ille Lupercal;
Quaeve diem tali nomine causa notet.
Ilia Vestalis caelestia semina partu
Ediderat, patruo regna tenente suo.
FASTI. II. 381. 45
Is iubet auferri parvos, et in amne necari: 5
Quid facis? ex istis Romulus alter erit.
lussa recusantes peragunt lacrimosa ministri,
Flent tamen, et geminos in loca iussa ferunt.
Albula, quern Tibrin mersus Tiberinus in unda
Reddidit, hibernis forte tumebat aquis. 10
Hie, ubi nunc Fora sunt, lintres errare videres ;
Quaque iacent valles, Maxime Circe, tuae.
Hue ubi venerunt, neque enim procedere possunt
Longius, ex illis unus et alter, ait :
At quam sunt similes ! at quam formosus uterque ! 1 5
Plus tamen ex illis iste vigoris habet.
Si genus arguitur vultu, ni fallit imago,
Nescio quern vobis suspicor esse Deum.
At si quis vestrae Deus esset originis auctor:
In tam praecipiti tempore ferret opem. 20
Ferret opem certe, si non ope mater egeret:
Quae facta est uno mater et orba die.
Nata simul, moritura simul, simul ite sub undas
Corpora. Desierat; deposuitque sinu.
Vagierunt clamore pari; sentire putares; 25
Hi redeunt udis in sua tecta genis.
Sustinet impositos summa cavus alveus unda;
Heu quantum fati parva tabella vehit !
Alveus in limo silvis appulsus opacis,
Paullatim fluvio deficiente, sedet. 30
Arbor efat : remanent vestigia : quaeque vocatur
Rumina nunc ficus, Romula ficus erat.
Venit ad expositos, mirum, lupa feta gemellos,
Quis credat pueris non nocuisse feram?
Non nocuisse parum est : prodest quoque ; quos lupa nutrit,
Perdere cognatae sustinuere manus. 36
46 OVIDII
Constitit, et cauda teneris blanditur alumnis,
Et fingit lingua corpora bina sua.
Marte satos scires ; timor abfuit. Vbera ducunt,
Nee sibi promissi Jactis aluntur ope. 40
Ilia loco nomen fecit, locus ipse Lupercis,
Magna dati nutrix praemia lactis habet.
Quid vetat Arcadio dictos a monte Lupercos ?
Faunus in Arcadia templa Lycaeus habet.
,%,17. ROMAE NATALIS. FAS. iv. 809.
MORS REMI.
OVID, when describing the festival of the Palilia, celebrated on aist
April, which was believed to be the birthday of Rome, takes occasion
to relate the circumstances attending the foundation of the city and the
tragical end of Remus.
TAM luerat poenas frater Numitoris, et omne
Pastorum gemino sub duce vulgus erat.
Contrahere agrestes, et moenia ponere utrique
Convenit. Ambigitur moenia ponat uter.
Nil opus est, dixit, certamine, Romulus, ullo : 5
Magna fides avium est, experiamur aves.
Res placet. Alter init nemorosi saxa Palati,
Alter Aventinum mane cacumen init.
Sex Remus, hie volucres bis sex videt ordine : pacto
Statur: et arbitrium Romulus urbis habet. <uu{ 10
Apta dies legitur, qua moenia signet aratro,
Sacra Palis suberant : inde movetur opus.
Fossa fit ad solidum : fruges iaciuntur in ima,
Et de vicino terra petita solo.
Fossa repletur humo, plenaeque imponitur ara
Et novus accenso fungitur igne focus.
FASTI. IV. 809.
47
Inde premens stivam designat moenia sulco :
Alba iugum niveo cum bove vacca tulit.
Vox fait haec regis, Condenti, lupiter, urbem,
Et genitor Mavors, Vestaque mater ades ;
Quosque pium est adhibere Deos, advertite cuncti :
Auspicibus vobis hoc mihi surgat opus.
Longa sit huic aetas, ^ominaeque potentia terrae:
Sitque sub hac oriens occiduusque dies.
Ille precabatur. Tonitru dedit omina laevo
lupiter : et laevo fulmina missa polo.
Augurio laeti iaciunt fundamina cives ;
Et novus exiguo tempore murus erat.
Hoc Celer urget opus, quern Romulus ipse vocarat;
Sintque, Celer, curae, dixerat, ista tuae.
Neve quis aut muros, aut factam vomere fossam
Transeat ; audentem talia dede neci.
Quod Remus ignorans, humiles contemnere muros
Coepit, et, His populus, dicere, tutus erit?
Nee mora, transsiluit. Rutro Celer qccupat ausurn,
Ille premit duram sanguinolentus humum.
Haec ubi rex didicit ; lacrimas introrsus obortas
Devorat, et clausum pectore vulnus habet.
Flere palam non vult, exemplaque fortia servat:
Sicque meos muros transeat hostis, ait.
Dat tamen exsequias : nee iam suspendere fletum
Sustinet: et pietas dissimulata patet;
Osculaque applicuit posito suprema feretro :
Atque ait, Invito, frater, adempte, vale.
Arsurosque artus unxit : fecere, quod ille,
Faustulus, et maestas Acca soluta comas,
iuvenem nondum facti Severe Quirites,
Vltima plorato subdita flamma rogo est.
20
2
30
204
45
48 OVID II
Vrbs oritur, quis tune hoc ulli credere posset?
Victorem terris impositura pedem. 50
Cuncta regas : et sis magno sub Caesare semper :
Saepe etiam plures nominis huius habe.
Et quoties steteris domito sublimis in orbe,
Omnia sint humeris inferiora tuis.
18. SACRA PRISCA, VICTIMAE, ETC. FAS. i. 335.
~\ 7ICTIMA, quae dextra cecidit victrice, vocatur;
Hostibus a motis hostia nomen habet.
Ante, Deos homini quod conciliare valeret,
Far erat, et puri lucida mica salis.
Nondum pertulerat lacrimatas cortice myrrhas 5
Acta per aequoreas hospita navis aquas.
Tura nee Euphrates, nee miserat India costum,
Nee fuerant rubri cognita fila croci.
Ara dabat fumos, herbis contenta Sabinis,
Et non exiguo laurus adusta sono. 10
Si quis erat, factis prati de flore coronis
Qui posset violas addere, dives erat.
Hie, qui nunc aperit percussi viscera tauri,
In sacris nullum culter habebat opus.
Prima Ceres avidae gavisa est sanguine porcae, 15
Vita suas merita caede nocentis opes.
Nam sata, vere novo, teneris lactentia succis,
Eruta setigerae comperit ore suis.
Sus dederat poenas. Exemplo territus huius
Palmite debueras abstinuisse, caper. 20
Quern spectans aliquis dentes in vite prementem,
Talia non tacito dicta dolore dedit:
Rode, caper, vitem: tamen hinc, cum stabis ad a: air.,
In tua quod spargi cornua possit, erit.
FASTI. 7. 335. 49
Verba fides sequitur: noxae tibi deditus hostis 25
Spargitur affuso cornua, Bacche, mero.
Culpa sui nocuit : nocuit quoque culpa capellae,
Quid bos, quid placidae commeruistis oves ?
Flebat Aristaeus, quod apes cum stirpe necatas
Viderat inceptos destituisse favos. 30
Caerula quern genetrix aegre solata dolentem,
Addidit haec dictis ultima verba suis :
Siste, puer, lacrimas : Proteus tua damna levabit ;
Quoque modo repares, quae periere, dabit.
Decipiat ne te versis tamen ille figuris ; 35
Impediant geminas vincula firma manus.
Pervenit ad vatem iuvenis : resolutaque somno
Alligat aequorei brachia capta senis.
Ille sua faciem transformis adulterat arte :
Mox domitus vinclis in sua membra redit. 40
Oraque caerulea tollens rorantia barba,
Qua, dixit, repares arte, requiris, apes ?
Obrue mactati corpus tellure iuvenci :
Quod petis a nobis, obrutus ille dabit.
lussa facit pastor. Fervent examina putri 45
De bove : mille animas una necata dedit.
Poscit ovem fatum. Verbenas improba carpsit;
Quas pia Dis ruris ferre solebat anus.
Quid tuti superest, animam cum ponat in aris
Lanigerumque pecus, ruricolaeque boves ? 50
Placat equo Persis radiis Hyperiona cinctum,
Ne detur celeri victima tarda Deo.
Quod semel est triplici pro virgine caesa Dianae,
Nunc quoque pro nulla virgine cerva cadit.
Exta canum vidi Triviae libare Sapaeos : 55
Et quicunque tuas accolit, Haeme, nives.
E
50 OVIDII
Caeditur et rigido Custodi ruris asellus,
Hellespontiaco victiraa grata Deo.
Intactae fueratis aves, solatia ruris,
Assuetum silvis, innocuumque genus; 60
Quae facitis nidos, quae plumis ova fovetis,
Et facili dukes editis ore modos.
Sed nihil ista iuvant : quia linguae crimen habetis,
Dique putant mentes vos aperire suas.
Nee tamen id falsum. Nam, Dis ut proxima quaeque,
Nunc penna veras, nunc datis ore notas. 66
Tuta diu volucrum proles, turn deniqu; caesa est,
luveruntque Deos indicis exta sui.
Ergo saepe suo coniux abducta marito
Vritur in calidis alba columba focis. 70
Nee defensa iuvant Capitolia, quo minus anser
Det iecur in lances, Inachi lauta, tuas.
Nocte Deae Nocti cristatus caeditur ales,
Quod tepidum vigili provocat ore diem.
19- FEBRVA. FAS. n. 19.
THE poet, before entering upon a description of the festivals cele-
brated during the second month of the year, discusses the meaning of
the word ' Februarius,' and adds some remarks upon the nature and use
of expiations and purifications. The following passages from Varro
and Festus will serve to illustrate the commencement of this extract.
Varro, L. L. 6. 3 : ' Rex cum ferias menstruas Nonis Februariis edicit,
hunc diem Februatum appellat. Februum Sabini purgamentum, et id
in sacris nostris verbum.' Again, after giving the etymology of the
names of the ten' months which composed the year of Romulus, he
continues, L. L. 6. 4: 'Ad hos qui additi, prior a principe Deo
lanuarius appellatus ; posterior, ut idem dicunt scriptores, ab Diis
inferis Februarius appellatus quod turn his parentetur. Ego magis
arbitror Februarium a die februato, quod turn februatur populus, id est
FASTI. II. 19. 51
Lupercis nudis lustratur antiquum oppidum Palatinutn gregibus humanis
cinctum.'
The words of Festus are to the same purpose : ' Februarius mensis
dictus, quod turn, id est, extreme mense anni, populus februaretur, id
est, lustraretur ac purgaretur. . . . Quaecumque deinde purgamenti causa
in quibusque sacrificiis adhibentur, Februa appellantur. Id vero quod
purgatur, dicitur februatum.'
T^EBRVA Romani dixere piamina patres :
Nunc quoque dant verbo plurima signa fidem.
Pontifices ab Rege petunt et Flamine lanas,
Quis veteri lingua Februa nomen erat.
Quaeque capit lictor domibus purgamina certis, 5
Torrida cum mica farra, vocantur idem.
Nomen idem ramo, qui, caesus ab arbore pura,
Casta sacerdotum tempora fronde tegit.
Jpse ego Flaminicam poscentem februa vidi :
Februa poscenti pinea virga data est. 10
Denique quodcunque est, quo pectora nostra pientur,
Hoc apud intonsos nomen habebat avos.
Mensis ab his dictus, secta quia pelle Luperci
Omne solum lustrant, idque piamen habent;
Aut quia placatis sunt tempora pura sepulchris, 15
Tune cum ferales praeteriere dies.
Omne nefas, omnemque mali purgamina causam
Credebant nostri tollere posse senes.
Graecia principium moris fuit. Ilia nocentes
Impia lustratos ponere facta putat. 20
Actoriden Peleus, ipsum quoque Pelea Phoci
Caede per Haemonias solvit Acastus aquas.
Vectam frenatis per inane draconibus Aegeus
Credulus immerita Phasida iuvit ope.
Amphiaraides Naupactoo Acheloo, 25
Solve nefas, dixit. Solvit et ille nefas.
E 2
I OVID II
Ah nimium faciles, qui tristia crimina caedis
Fluminea tolli posse putetis aqua!
Sed tamen, antiqui ne nescius ordinis erres,
Primus, ut est, lani "mensis et ante fuit. 30
Qui sequitur lanum, veteris fuit ultimus anni ;
Tu quoque sacrorum, Termine, finis eras.
Primus enim lani mensis quia ianua prima est ;
Qui sacer est imis Manibus, imus erat.
Postmodo creduntur spatio distantia longo 35
Tempora bis quini continuasse Viri.
20. FERALIA. FAS. n. 533.
MANES ' is the general denomination for the spirits of the dead. They
were believed to partake, in some degree, of the divine nature, and hence
were frequently addressed ' Di Manes V According to Apuleius 2 , all
souls separated from the body were anciently comprehended under the
term ' Lemures ;' such of these as were beneficent, and watched over the
abodes of their descendants with protecting care, were called ' Lares ; '
unhappy wandering ghosts who terrified the good were known as
' Larvae ;' while the name ' Manes' was applied to those whose condition
was uncertain 3 . These distinctions, if they ever existed in the popular
creed, were certainly not generally observed by the poets, many of whom
use the word ' Manes' for departed spirits without limitation, while
both ' Lemures ' and ' Larvae' denote spectres and hobgoblins ; thus
Hor. Ep. 2. 2, 208,
' Somnia, terrores magicos, miracula, sagas,
Nocturnos Lemures, portentaque Thessala rides?'
1 Generally expressed in sepulchral inscriptions by the abbreviation D. M.
' Dis Manibus,' or D. M. S. ' Dis Manibus Sacrum.'
2 De Deo Socratis.
3 August.de Civ. Dei, II. 9, thus expresses the opinion of Plato : ' Dicit
quidem et animas hominum daemones esse, et ex hominibus fieri Lares,
si boni meriti sunt : Lemures si mali, seu Larvas : Manes autem deos dici,
si incertum est bonorum eos, seu malorum esse meritorum.'
FASTI. II. 533- 53
Pers. 8.5.185,
' Tune nigri Lemures, ovoque pericula rupto ;'
Plaut. Aul. 4. 4, 15,
'Larvae hunc atque intemperiae insaniaeque agitant senem.'
And again, Capt. 3. 4, 66,
' lam deliramenta loquitur : Larvae stimulant virum.'
While by Ovid, as will be seen below, ' Manes' and ' Lemures' are con-
sidered synonymous.
It appears from this and the following Extract, that two festivals
were celebrated annually in honour of departed spirits ; one of these
was in February, and continued for more than a single day, the last day
of the solemnities being called the ' Feralia.' With regard to the
etymology of the word we find in line 37
' Hanc quia iusta ferunt, dixere Feralia lucem :
Vltima placandis Manibus ilia dies,'
to which we ought to add the observations of Varro and Festus : ' Feralia
ab inferis et ferendo, quod ferunt turn epulas ad sepulcrum, quibus ius
parentare V 'Feralia, Diis Manibus sacrata festa, a ferendis epulis, vel a
feriendis pecudibus appellata V
With regard to the second festival, see notes to the next Extract.
ST honor et tumulis. Animas placate -paternas,
Parvaque in exstinctas munera ferte pyras.
Parva petunt Manes. Pietas pro divite grata est
Munere. Non avidos Styx habet ima deos.
Tegula porrectis satis est velata coronis, 5
Et sparsae fruges, parcaque mica salis,
Inque mero mollita Ceres, violaeque solutae,
Haec habeat media testa relicta via.
Nee maiora veto : sed et his placabilis umbra est ;
Adde preces positis et sua verba focis. TO
Hunc morem Aeneas, pietatis idoneus auctor,
Attulit in terras, iuste Latine, tuas.
1 Varro L. L. 6. 3. 2 Festus in verb.
.54 OVIDII
Ille patris Genio sollemnia dona ferebat;
Hinc populi ritus edidicere pios.
At quondam, dum longa gerunt pugnacibus armis 15
Bella, Parentales deseruere dies.
Non impune fuit. Nam dicitur omine ab isto
Roma suburbanis incaluisse rogis.
Vix equidem credo : bustis exisse feruntur,
Et tacitae questi tempore noctis avi; 20
Perque vias urbis, Latiosque ululasse per agros
Deformes animas, vulgus 'inane, ferunt.
Post ea praeteriti tumulis redduntur honores,
Prodigiisque venit funeribusque modus.
Dum tamen haec fiunt, viduae cessate puellae : 25
Exspectet puros pinea taeda dies.
Njec tibi, quae cupidae matura videbere matri,
Comat virgineas hasta recurva comas.
Conde tuas, Hymenaee, faces, et ab ignibus atris
Aufer. Habent alias maesta sepulcra faces. 30
Di quoque~ templorum foribus celentur opertis,
Ture vacent arae, stentque sine igne foci.
Nunc animae tenues et corpora functa sepulcris
Errant : nunc posito pascitur umbra cibo.
Nee tamen haec ultra, quam tot de mense supersint 35
Luciferi, quot habent carmina nostra pedes.
Hanc, quia iusta ferunt, dixere Feralia lucem,
Vltima placandis Manibus ilia dies.
Ecce anus in mediis residens annosa puellis
Sacra facit Tacitae : vix tamen ipsa tacet ; 40
Et digitis tria tura tribus sub limine ponit,
Qua brevis occultum mus sibi fecit iter.
Turn cantata ligat cum fusco licia plumbo;
Et septem nigras versat in ore fabas;
FASTI. V. 419- 55
Quodque pice adstrinxit, quod acu traiecit ahena, 45
Obsutum maenae torret in igne caput.
Vina quoque instillat. Vini quodcumque relictum est,
Aut ipsa, aut comites, plus tamen ipsa, bibit.
Hostiles linguas inimicaque vinximus ora,
Dicit discedens, ebriaque exit anus. 50
21. LEMVRIA. FAS. v. 419.
THE second festival in honour of departed spirits was the ' Lemuria,'
celebrated on the gth, nth, and ijth of May. A description is here
given of the nocturnal spells which had for their object the expulsion of
unquiet ghosts from the dwellings of the living ; an attempt, not very
successful, is then made to discover the etymology of the word, and
some of the superstitions connected with this period are enumerated.
TTINC ubi protulerit formosa ter Hesperus ora,
Ter dederint Phoebo sidera victa locum ;
Ritus erit veteris, nocturna Lemuria, sacri ;
Inferias tacitas Manibus ilia dabunt.
Annus erat brevior ; nee adhuc pia februa norant : 5
Nee tu dux mensum, lane biformis, eras,
lam tamen exstincto cineri sua dona ferebant :
Compositique nepos busta piabat avi.
Mensis erat Maius, maiorum nomine dictus,
Qui partem prisci nunc quoque moris habet. 10
Nox ubi iam media est, somnoque silentia praebet,
Et canis, et variae conticuistis aves ;
Ille memor veteris ritus timidusque Deorum,
Surgit : habent gemini vincula nulla pedes.
Signaque dat digitis medio cum pollice iunctis; 15
Occurrat tacito ne levis umbra sibi.
56 OVIDII
Terque manus puras fontana perluit unda;
Vertitur, et nigras accipit ore fabas.
Aversusque iacit : sed dum iacit, Haec ego mitto ;
His, inquit, redimo meque meosque fabis. 20
Hoc novies dicit, nee respicit. Vmbra putatur
Colligere, et nullo terga vidente sequi.
Rursus aquam tangit, Temesaeaque concrepat aera :
Et rogat, ut tectis exeat umbra suis.
Cum dixit novies, Manes exite paterni, 25
Respicit, et pure sacra peracta putat.
Dicta sit unde dies, quae nominis extet origo,
Me fugit. Ex aliquo est invenienda deo.
*****
Mox etiam Lemures animas dixere silentum;
Hie verbi sensus, vis ea vocis erat. 30
Fana tamen veteres illis clausere diebus,
Vt nunc ferali tempore operta vides.
Nee viduae taedis eadem, nee virginis apta
Tempora. Quae nupsit, non diuturna fuit.
Hac quoque de causa, si te proverbia tangunt, 35
Mense malas Maio nubere vulgus ait.
Sed tamen haec tria sunt ab eodem tempore festa
Inter se nullo continuata die.
22. TERMINVS. FAS. n. 639.
THE ' Terminalia,' in honour of Terminus, god of boundaries, was a
festival celebrated on VII. Kal. Mart. The origin and the nature of the
worship of this deity is described by Dionysius, when treating of the
institutions of Numa, A. R. 2. 74: 'In order that every one might
be contented with his own, and not covet what belonged to others,
he laid down laws for fixing the boundaries of property. For having
FASTI. II. 639. 57
ordered each one to draw a line round his own possessions, and
to set up stones upon the limits, he consecrated these stones to
Jupiter Terminalis (opiov Atis), and commanded all, upon a fixed day
every year, to meet together 1 on the spot where they were erected
and offer sacrifices to them, and established the festival of the god
of boundaries as one of the most honoured solemnities. This the
Romans call ' Terminalia,' the word being borrowed from the Greek
with the change of a single letter 2 . If any one should conceal or
remove the landmarks, it was enacted that the person guilty of such
deed should be devoted to the god, so that any one might kill him with
impunity as sacrilegious. These institutions were not confined to the
possession of individuals only, but extended also to what belonged to
the state, in order that the gods of boundaries might separate the
territory of the Romans from that of neighbouring tribes, and public
from private property. These ordinances the Romans observe in our
own days, both from religious motives and as a memorial of the olden
time. For they consider the 'Termini* as gods, and offer sacrifices to
them ; nothing, however, that has life, for it is considered unholy to
shed blood on these stones, but cakes of flour and other first-fruits
of the earth.'
With regard to the bloodless sacrifices, although such appears to
have beeu the custom in early ages 3 , yet it certainly had fallen into
disuse before the time of Dionysius, as we see from lines 17, 18 of the
present Extract, and also from Hor. Epod. 2 . 59,
Vel agna festis caesa Terminalibus.'
It would appear also from the above account, that Jupiter was the
guardian of boundaries with the epithet ' Terminalis,' but that from the
practice of offering sacrifices at the stones used for landmarks, these
came to be considered in the popular creed as the emblems of a
distinct deity.
There is a passage in Lactantius also worth quoting*: 'Quid, qui
1 He means, of course, that those who had a common boundary were to
meet at this landmark.
3 ' Termen,' an old form of ' Terminus' (Varro L. L. 5. 4), differs by one
letter only from the Greek Tippcuv.
3 See Plutarch, Num. c. 16, and Quaest. Rom. c. 15.
4 De Falsa Religione, I. 20.
58 OVIDII
lapidem colunt informem, atque rudem, cui nomen est Terminus?. . . .
Et huic ergo publice supplicatur, quasi custodi finium Deo : qui non
tantum lapis, sed etiam stipes interdum est. Quid de iis dicam, qui
colunt talia? nisi ipsos potissimum lapides, ac stipites esse?'
"\JOX ubi transient, solito celebretur honore,
Separat indicio qui Deus arva suo.
Termine, sive lapis, sive es defossus in agro
Stipes ab antiquis, sic quoque numen habes :
Te duo diversa domini pro parte coronant; &
Binaque serta tibi, binaque liba ferunt.
Ara fit; hue ignem curto fert rustica testu
Sumptura de tepidis ipsa colona focis.
Ligna senex minuit, concisaque construit alte;
Et solida ramos figere pugnat humo. 10
Dum sicco primas irritat cortice flammas,
Stat puer, et manibus lata canistra tenet.
Inde, ubi ter fruges medios immisit in ignes,
Porrigit incisos filia parva favos.
Vina tenent alii, libantur singula flammis, 15
Spectant, et linguis Candida turba favent.
Spargitur et caeso communis Terminus agno;
Nee queritur, lactens cum sibi porca datur.
Conveniunt, celebrantque dapes vicinia supplex,
Et cantant laudes, Termine sancte, tuas. 20
Tu populos, urbesque, et regna ingentia finis,
Omnis erit sine te litigiosus ager.
Nulla tibi ambitio est : nullo corrumperis auro :
Legitima servas credita rura fide.
Si tu signasses olim Thyreatida terram, 25
Corpora non leto missa trecenta forent :
Nee foret Othryades congestis lectus in armis,
O quantum patriae sanguinis ille dedit!
FASTI. IV. 901. 59
Quid, nova cum fierent Capitolia? nempe Deorum
Cuncta lovi cessit turba, locumque dedit. 30
Terminus, ut veteres memorant, inventus in aede,
Restitit: et magno cum love templa tenet.
Nunc quoque, se supra ne quid nisi sidera cernat,
Exiguum templi tecta foramen habent.
Termine, post illud levitas tibi libera non est: 35
Qua positus fueris in statione, mane.
Nee tu vicino quicquam concede roganti;
Ne videare hominem praeposuisse lovi.
Et seu vomeribus, seu tu pulsabere rastris,
Clamato, Meus est hie ager, ille tuus. 40
Est via, quae populum Laurentes ducit in agros,
Quondam Dardanio regna petita duci.
Iliac lanigeri pecoris tibi, Termine, fibris
Sacra videt fieri sextus ab Vrbe lapis.
Gentibus est aliis tellus data limite certo: 45
Romanae spatium est Vrbis et orbis idem.
23. ROBIGO. FAS. iv. 901.
THE festival of the 'Robigalia' was celebrated on VII. Kal. Mai.
(25th April), in order to propitiate the deity Robigus or Rubigus, to
whose influence the mildew or smut in corn was attributed.
We find Robigo addressed also as a female, but this word seems to
mean properly the disease itself, while Robigus is the power which
causes it, unless indeed we suppose Robigus and Robigo to have
been a married pair, according to the fashion of the Italian deities.
The term is thus explained by Servius in his note on Virg. G. i. 151,
Mox et frumentis labor additus, ut mala culmos
Esset robigo.'
'Robigo autem genus est vitii, quo culmi pereunt, quod a rusticanis
calamitas dicitur. Hoc autem genus vitii ex nebula nasci solet, cum
60 OVIDII
nigrescunt et consumuntur frumenta. Inde et Robigus deus et sacra eius
septimo Kalendas Maias Robigalia appellantur.'
Varro, in his treatise De Re Rustica i. T, includes Robigus among
the twelve ' Dii Consentes' who were worshipped by the husbandman.
The passage is so important for the illustration of the old Latin rural
superstitions, that it deserves to be consulted. See also Id. De Ling.
Lat. 6. 3, and also Pliny H. N. 18. 29, which bears directly upon this and
Extract 29 on the Floralia, p. 75.
OEX ubi quae restant luces Aprilis habebit;
In medio cursu tempora veris erunt.
Et frustra pecudem quaeres Athamantidos Helles :
Signaque dant imbres : exoriturque Canis.
Hac mihi Nomento Romam cum luce redirem, 5
Obstitit in media Candida pompa via.
Flamen in antiquae lucum Robiginis ibat,
Exta canis flammis, exta daturus ovis.
Protinus accessi, ritus ne nescius essem,
Edidit haec Flamen verba, Quirine, tuus: 10
Aspera Robigo, parcas Cerealibus herbis,
Et tremat in summa leve cacumen humo.
Tu sata sideribus caeli nutrita secundi
Crescere, dum fiant falcibus apta, sinas.
Vis tua non levis est. Quae tu frumenta notasti, 15
Maestus in amissis ilia colonus habet.
Nee venti tantum Cereri nocuere, nee imbres,
Nee sic marmoreo pallet adusta gelu;
Quantum, si culmos Titan incalfacit udos,
Turn locus est irae, Diva timenda, tuae. 20
Farce, precor, scabrasque manus a messibus aufer ;
Neve noce cultis: posse nocere sat est.
Nee teneras segetes, sed durum contere ferrum,
Quodque potest alios perdere, perde prior.
FASTI. IV. 721. 6 1
Vtilius gladios et tela nocentia carpes, 25
Nil opus est illis : otia mundus agit.
Sarcula nunc, durusque bidens, et vomere aduncus,
Ruris opes niteant : inquinet arma situs.
Conatusque aliquis vagina ducere fewum,
Adstrictum longa sentiat esse mora. 30
At tu ne viola Cererem; semperque colonus
Absenti possit solvere vota tibi.
Dixerat. A dextra villis mantele solutis,
Cumque meri patera turis acerra fuit.
Tura focis vinumque dedit, fibrasque bidentis, 35
Turpiaque obscaenae, vidimus, exta canis.
Turn mihi, Cur detur sacris nova victima, quaeris?
Quaesieram: causam percipe, Flamen ait:
Est Canis, Icarium dicunt, quo sidere moto
Tosta sitit tellus, pfaecipiturque seges. 40
Pro cane sidereo canis hie imponitur arae :
Et, quare pereat, nil nisi nomen habet.
24. PALILIA. FAS. iv. 721.
THIS Extract contains an account of the ' Palilia,' or festival of Pales,
the deity of shepherds, which was celebrated on the 2ist of April
(XL Kal. Mai.), the day upon which, according to tradition, the
foundations of the eternal city were laid by Romulus, the ' Dies Natalis
Vrbis Romae.' The following lines, combined with Tibullus 2. 5, 87,
et seqq., afford full information with regard to the ceremonies observed,
the object of which was the purification or lustration first of the flocks,
and then of the shepherds themselves. Two points deserve attention.
i. Doubts exist as to the gender of Pales. Virgil, Tibullus, and Ovid
speak of this divinity as a female, but with Varro 1 and others 2 , Pales is
a male god.
1 Servius on Virg. G. 3. i. 8 See Arnobius adv. Gent. lib. 3. 23, 40.
62 OVIDII
2. The greatest confusion exists in ancient MSS. wherever this festival
is mentioned, with regard to the orthography. 'Parilia' is found as
often as ' Palilia,' and many of the old grammarians prefer the former,
which is to be taken, according to some, ' a partu pecoris,' according to
others, ' a partu Iliae.' There can be little doubt, however, that the true
shape is ' Palilia,' formed directly from ' Pales ; ' nothing is more common
than the interchange of / and r in the pronunciation of words, and the
corruption ' Parilia' having been once introduced, etymologists endeav-
oured to explain it by inventing a plausible derivation.
TVTOX abiit, oriturque Aurora. Palilia poscor:
Non poscor frustra; si favet alma Pales.
Alma Pales, faveas pastoria sacra canenti;
Prosequor officio si tua festa pio.
Certe ego de vitulo cinerem, stipulasque fabales, 5
Saepe tuli plena, februa casta, manu.
Certe ego transsilui positas ter in ordine flammas;
Vdaque roratas laurea misit aquas.
Mota Dea est; operique favet Navalibus exit
Puppis : habent ventos iam mea vela suos. i o
I, pete virginea, populus, suffimen ab ara;
Vesta dabit. Vestae munere purus eris.
Sanguis equi suffimen erit, vitulique favilla,
Tertia res, durae culmen inane fabae.
Pastor, oves saturas ad prima crepuscula lustra, 15
Vnda prius spargat, virgaque verrat humum.
Frondibus, et fixis decorentur ovilia ramis,
Et tegat ornatas longa corona fores.
Caerulei riant vivo de sulfure fumi,
Tactaque fumanti sulfure balet ovis. 20
Vre maris rores, taedamque, herbasque Sabinas,
Et crepet in mediis laurus adusta focis.
Libaque de milio milii fiscella sequatur,
Rustica praecipue est hoc Dea laeta cibo.
FASTI. IV. 721. 63
Adde dapes mulctramque suas : dapibusque resectis, 25
Silvicolam tepido lacte precare Palen.
Consule, die, pecori pariter pecorisque magistris,
Effugiat stabulis noxa repulsa meis.
Sive sacro pavi, sedive sub arbore sacra,
Pabulaque in bustis inscia carpsit ovis : 30
Seu nemus intravi vetitum, nostrisve fugatae
Sunt oculis Nymphae, semicaperve Deus :
Seu mea falx ramo lucum spoliavit opaco,
Vnde data est aegrae fiscina frondis ovi:
Da veniam culpae : nee, dum degrandinat, obsit 35
Agresti Fauno supposuisse pecus.
Nee noceat turbasse lacus. Ignoscite, Nymphae,
Mota quod obscuras ungula fecit aquas.
Tu, Dea, pro nobis Fontes fontanaque placa
Numina; tu sparsos per nemus omne Deos. 40
Nee Dryadas, nee nos videamus labra Dianae,
Nee Faunum, medio cum premit arva die.
Pelle procul morbos. Valeant hominesque gregesque,
Et valeant vigiles, provida turba, canes.
Neve minus multas redigam, quam mane fuerunt, 45
Neve gemam referens vellera rapta lupo.
Absit iniqua fames. Herbae, frondesque supersint,
Quaeque lavent artus, quaeque libantur, aquae.
Vbera plena premam. Referat mihi caseus aera,
Dentque viam liquido vimina rara sero. 50
Sitque salax aries, conceptaque semina coniux
Reddat, et in stabulo multa sit agna meo.
Lanaque proveniat nullas laesura puellas,
Mollis, et ad teneras quamlibet apta manus.
Quae precor, eveniant : et nos faciamus ad annum 55
Pastorum Dominae grandia liba Pali.
64 OVID 1 1
His Dea placanda est; haec tu conversus ad ortus
Die ter, et in vivo perlue rore manus.
Turn licet, apposita, veluti cratere, camella,
Lac niveum potes, purpureamque sapam. 60
Moxque per ardentes stipulae crepitantis acervos
Traiicias celeri strenua membra pede.
25. VEIOVIS. FAS. in. 429.
THE Nones of March were marked in the Calendar as the day on
which the temple of Veiovis or Vedius was consecrated. It stood in
the hollow between the Arx and the Capitolium, 'Inter duos lucos,'
as the place was called, the site of the Asylum of Romulus. The nature
of this god, and the meaning of his name, were alike matters of contro-
versy in the Augustan age. Ovid observing that the particle ' ve,' in
composition with certain words, signifies ' small, ' concludes that Veiovis
is ' Young Jove, ' an opinion supported by the appearance of the statue
which he describes.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, I. 15, when recounting the establishment
of the Asylum, confesses his ignorance on this point : ' The place between
the Capitolium and the Arx, which is now called in the Roman language
" Inter duos lucos," (ptOopiov Svoiv Spvfuav,) (at that time it received its
name from the existing state of things, for it was shadowed over by
a thick wood on both sides, where it touched the eminences,) Romulus
set apart as a sacred place of refuge for suppliants, and built a temple
upon the spot, but to what god or genius it was dedicated, I cannot
positively say.'
There is, moreover, a chapter in Aulus Gellius, 5. 12, which will serve
as a commentary upon this Extract, although he maintains that ' Veiovis '
means ' The destroyer :' ' Est aedes Veiovis Romae inter Arcem et Capi-
tolium. Cum lovem a iuvando nominassent, eum quoque contra deum,
qui non iuvandi potestatem sed vim nocendi haberet, (nam deos quosdam,
ut prodessent, celebrabant, quosdam ut ne obessent, placabant,) Veiovem
appellaverunt, dempta atque detracta iuvandi facultate. Ve enim par-
ticula, quae in aliis atque aliis vocabulis variatim, duplicem significatum
eundemque inter sese diversum capit. Nam et augendae rei et minuendae
valet, sicut aliae particulae plurimae, propter quod accidit, ut quaedam
FASTI. III. 429. 65
vocabula, quibus particula ista praeponitur ambigua sint, et utroque
versum dicantur, veluti vescum, vehement, et vegrande, de quibus alio in
loco, uberiore tractatu facto, admonuimus : vesani autem et vecordes ex
una tantum parte dicti, quae privativa est. Simulacnim igitur dei
Veiovis, quod est in aede, de qua supra dixi, sagittas tenet, quae sunt
videlicet paratae ad nocendum. Quapropter eum deum plerique Apol-
linem esse dixerunt immolaturque ritu [humano] capra : eiusque animalis
figmentum iuxta simulacrum stat. '
Others, following out the idea that Veiovis was the Destroyer, be-
lieved him to be the same with Pluto: thus Martianus Capella 2. 9,
' Vedius, id est, Pluton, quern etiam Ditem Veiovemque dixere,' which
is strongly corroborated by the Carmen Devotionis, preserved by Ma-
crobius S. 3. 9, in which the infernal gods are invoked : ' Dis pater,
Veiovis, Manes, sive vos quo alio nomine fas est nominare,' &c.
"\ 7"NA nota est Martis Nonis : sacrata quod illis
Templa putant lucos Veiovis ante duos.
Romulus ut saxo lucum circumdedit alto,
Quilibet, Hue, inquit, confuge; tutus eris.
O quam de tenui Romanus origine crevit ! 5
Turba vetus quam non invidiosa fuit !
Ne tamen ignaro novitas tibi nominis obstet;
Disce quis iste Deus, curve vocetur ita.
lupiter est iuvenis : iuveniles adspice vultus.
Adspice deinde manum : fulmina nulla tenet. 10
Fulmina, post ausos caelum affectare Gigantas,
Sumpta lovi : primo tempore inermis erat.
Ignibus Ossa novis, et Pelion altior Ossa
Arsit, et in solida fixus Olympus humo.
Stat quoque capra simul: Nymphae pavisse feruntur 15
Cretides: infanti lac dedit ilia lovi.
Nunc vocor ad nomen. Vegrandia farra coloni,
Quae male creverunt, vescaque parva vocant.
Vis ea si verbi est; cur non ego Veiovis aedem,
Aedem non magni suspicer esse lovis? 20
F
66 OVIDII
26. ANNA PERENNA. FAS. in. 523-
THE festival of ' Anna Perenna,' who, it is manifest from the name,
was the goddess of the ever-circling year, was celebrated on the Ides of
March, chiefly, it would appear, by the lower orders, who assembled
near the junction of the Anio with the Tiber, and devoted this day to
merriment and junketing. Ovid, after giving a most lively picture
of the jovial indulgences of the crowd, endeavours to connect Anna
Perenna with Anna the sister of Dido, and tells- a long story how she
wandered to Italy, after the death of the unhappy queen, and was hos-
pitably received by Aeneas; but having excited the jealous fury of
Lavinia, she was apprised of her danger in a dream, and fleeing from
the palace by night, was drowned in the Numicius. Several other vague
suppositions, with regard to the name and nature of this deity, are
afterwards detailed. The poet, however, was certainly aware of the
truth, for he states that one of the arguments to prove that the Roman
year originally commenced in March, rested upon the fact of the festival
of Anna Perenna being celebrated in that month. Fast. 3. 146,
'Nee mihi parva fides, annos hinc isse priores
Anna quod hoc coepta est mense Perenna coli.'
As a commentary on which take the words of Macrobius, S. i . 12:
'Eodem quoque mense et publice et privatirh ad Annam Perennam
sacrificatum itur : ut annare perennare commode liceat.'
TDIBVS est Annae festum geniale Perennae,
Haud procul a ripis, advena Tibri, tuis.
Plebs venit, ac virides passim disiecta per herbas
Potat, et accumbit cum pare quisque sua.
Sub love pars durat : pauci tentoria ponunt : 5
Sunt, quibus e ramis frondea facta casa est :
Pars ibi pro rigidis calamos statuere columnis :
Desuper extentas imposuere togas.
Sole tamen vinoque calent: annosque precantur
Quot sumant cyathos; ad numerumque bibunt. 10
Invenies illic, qui Nestoris ebibat annos,
Quae sit per calices facta Sibylla suos.
FASTI. V. 129. 67
Illic et cantant, quidquid didicere theatris,
Et iactant faciles ad sua verba manus :
Et ducunt posito duras cratere choreas, 15
Cultaque diffusis saltat arnica comis.
Cum redeunt,. titubant, et sunt spectacula vulgo,
Et fortunatos obvia turba vocat.
Occurri nuper: visa est mihi digna relatu
Pompa: senem potum pota trahebat anus. 20
27. LARES PRAESTITES. FAS. v. 129.
ON the Ides of May an altar had been erected to the ' Lares Praestites,'
the protectors of the city, by Curius ; but this, as well as the ancient
statues, in which they were represented as twins, with a dog at their feet,
had been destroyed by time, and the poet had sought in vain to discover
them.
The notices in common books with regard to the deities termed by
the Romans ' Lares ' and ' Penates,' are so exceedingly imperfect that it
will be useful to the student to state shortly what is known upon the
subject.
The word 'Lar' is of Tuscan origin, and in that language was a
title of honour, equivalent, apparently, to chief or prince. Thus we
read of Lar Porsenna, king of Clusium, Lar Tolumnius, king of the'
Veiientes l .
The testimony of those among the Romans who were best qualified
to form an opinion upon such a subject, is so precise that we can enter-
tain no doubt that, according to the popular belief, the deities de-
nominated 'Lares' were certain spirits of dead men who were supposed
to watch over and protect the living 2 . They were very numerous, and
1 In Livy 3. 65 we find ' Lar Herminius," as the name of a Roman Consul,
where 'Lar' would be a simple praenomen. The reading is, however,
doubtful, since Dionysius calls the same person ' Larus,' and Diodorus
'Larinus.' See also Auson. Monosyll. and Val. Max. Lib. 10.
2 See Labeo, quoted by Servius on Virg. Ae. I. 280, and Varro, quoted
by Arnobius adv. Gen. 3. 41.
P 2
68 OVID u
were ranked in classes according to the departments over which they
presided. In the first place we have the grand division into I. ' Lares
Privati,' IL ' Lares Publici l ,' of whom the former were the objects of
family worship, while the latter received the adoration of whole sections
of the community. We shall examine these separately.
I. The 'Lares Privati,' or 'Domestic!,' or 'Familiares,' were tutelary
spirits who received the homage of all the individuals residing under the
same roof. The spot peculiarly sacred to them was the ' focus,' or
hearth, situated in the principal apartment, ' atrium,' and considered the
central point of the mansion. Here stood the altar for domestic sacrifice,
and near to this there was usually a niche, containing little images of
these gods, and denominated ' lararium,' or ' aedicula,' which, in the
sumptuous palaces of later times, was not unfrequently enlarged into a
chapel, with magnificent decorations. The offerings to the Lares con-
sisted chiefly of flowers, frankincense, and wine, which were presented
from time to time, and regularly on the Kalends of each month. A
portion of the viands consumed at each meal was also placed before
them in little dishes, and victims were occasionally sacrificed. Marked
reverence was paid to the Lares at the most important periods of life ;
to them the youth dedicated his 'bulla* when he assumed the manly
gown ; to them the bride presented a piece of money when betrothed
according to the form termed ' coemptio ;' to them she made a solemn
offering on the day after her nuptials, before entering on the discharge
.of her matron duties ; to them a grateful salutation was addressed by the
master of the mansion when he returned in safety from a foreign land ;
and to them the soldier dedicated his arms when the toils and dangers
of war were over. In order to fix these details on the memory, we may
quote a few of the more important authorities. In the Aulularia of
Plautus, the Prologue is spoken by a ' Lar Familiaris,' to whose guard-
ianship the father of the actual proprietor of the house had committed a
treasure buried beneath the hearth. The spirit, after complaining of the
neglect of the son, continues thus,
' Huic filia una est : ea mihi quotidie
Aut ture, aut vino, aut aliqui semper supplicat:
Dat mihi coronas :'
Pliny H.N. 21. 3.
FASTI. V. 129. 69
in the Trinummus, i. 2. I,
'Larem corona nostrum decorari volo,
Uxor, venerare : ut nobis haec habitatio
Bona, fausta, felix, fortunataque eveniat.'
Cato, when describing the duties of a Villica, R. R. 43 : says, ' Focum
purum circumversum quotidie, priusquam cubitum eat, habeat. Kalendis,
Idibus, Nonis, festus dies cum erit, coronam in focum indat. Per
eosdem dies Lari familiari pro copia supplicet.'
In the above passage, a single Lar only is supposed to belong to the
dwelling; the plural, however, is quite common, as in Juv. S. 9. 137,
' O parvi nostrique Lares, quos ture minuto,
Aut farre, et tenui soleo exorare corona.'
Compare also S. 12. 83. Again, in Ov. Fast. 2. 633,
'Et libate dapes, ut grati pignus honoris
Nutriat incinctos missa patella Lares ;'
and Pers. S. 3. 25,
'Est tibi far modicum, purum et sine labe salinum,
Quid metuas ? cultrixque foci secura patella."
Also Hor. Od. 3. 23. 2,
, ' Nascente luna, rustica Phidyle,
Si ture placaris et horna
Fruge Lares avidaque porca.'
Compare also Tibull. i. 3. 33; i. 10. 15-27; 2. i. 59. Also Cato R.
R. 2, Ov. Trist. 4. 8. 21. Finally, we may quote Pers. S. 5. 30,
'Cum primum pavido custos mihi purpura cessit,
Bullaque succinctis Laribus donata pependit;'
and Prop. 4. I. 131,
'Mox, ubi bulla nidi dimissa est aurea collo,
Matris et ante deos libera sumpta toga.'
Consult also Macrob. S. i. 15, Nonius, p. 531.
II. We now pass on to the consideration of the ' Lares Publici,'
which will not detain us long. Of these the most important were :
1. 'Lares Rurales,' guardians of the flocks and herds, and fruits of
the earth, propitiated by sacrifices of calves and lambs. The poet
addresses these in the lines before us.
2. 'Lares Compitales,' worshipped at the spot where two or more
roads crossed each other. The 'Compitalitia' or 'Ludi Compitales'
70 OVIDII
were instituted in honour of them by Servius Tullius, according to the
legend narrated by Dionysius 1 and Pliny*. This festival was cele-
brated annually on a day fixed by the praetor, but always soon after the
Saturnalia. Augustus introduced the practice of decorating the statues
of the ' Lares Compitales' with flowers twice a-year, in spring and in
summer 3 .
3. ' Lares Viales.' Probably the same with the preceding, so called
because their images were erected in streets and highways: their pro-
tection was invoked by travellers when setting forth on a journey.
Thus Charinus, in the Mercator of Plautus, 5. 2. 23, when about to quit
his native city,
invoco
Vos, Lares Viales, ut me bene iuvetis.'
4. ' Lares Vicorum *,' guardians of the streets.
5. ' Lares Praestites,' protectors of the city. Their appearance and
festival is described by Ovid, Fast. 5. 1 29, who at the same time gives a
fantastic legend regarding their parentage.
6. ' Lares Permarini,' worshipped by mariners. A temple was
dedicated to them in the Campus Martius, 1 79 B. C., which had been
vowed eleven years before by L Aemilius Regillus, in a sea-fight against
the captains of Antiochus 5 . There can be little doubt that they are the
same with the 'Lares Marini' of Varro, as quoted by Nonius 6 .
7. 'Lares Grundules,' who stood under the 'grundae' or projecting
eaves of houses 7 .
On reviewing what has been said above with regard to the Roman
Lares, we can scarcely avoid remarking the resemblance which they bear
to the saints of the Roman Catholic Church. Like them the saints are
believed to be the spirits of dead men, to whose protection cities, streets,
roads, ships, families, and private individuals are commended : statues
1 R. A. 4. 14.
2 H. N. 36, sub fin. See also Cic. Epp. ad Alt. 6. 7, and In Pison. 4,
Macrob. Sat. I. 7, A. Gell. 10. 24, Festus in voce ' Conceptivae.'
3 Suet. Octav. 31. * Arnob. adv. Gen. 3. 41.
5 Livy 40. 52. 6 14. n. 8 and 32.
7 See Mu'ller, Die Etrusker, vol. ii. chap. 3. A very different account
of the appellation is given by Nonius 2, and by Diomedes, p. 379, ed.
Putsch. These Lares are mentioned by Arnobius. In addition to the
' Lares ' enumerated above, we find ' Lares Civitatum ' in an inscription. See
Gruter. 10. 2.
FASTI. V. 129. 71
or pictures of saints are to be found in streets, crossways, bridges, ships,
dwelling-houses, and all places of public and private resort; and these
are honoured with garlands and offerings of every description, while
lamps fed with perfumed oil burn before their shrines. Nor is this all :
the holy books of the Etruscans described certain sacred rites, by means
of which the souls of men might be changed into gods, a process some-
what analogous to canonization. These gods were called ' Di Animales, 5
as being formed from ' animae' or mortal spirits, and are considered by
Servius the same with the ' Viales ' and ' Penates V
It remains for us to say a few words on the ' Penates.'
The word 'Penates' appears to be a local adjective like 'nostras,'
' cuias," ' Casinas,' ' Arpinas,' &c., and will naturally refer to the place
where the gods so called were believed "to reside. Now, the connection
of 'penates' with 'penitus,' 'penetro,' 'penetralia,' is so clear, that even
if we had no other evidence, we should at once arrive at the conclusion
that the Penates were the deities worshipped in the ' penus 2 ' or inner-
most part of the house. But we have already pointed out, when treating
of the Lares, that the ' focus ' or hearth situated in the ' atrium ' was
considered the central part of- the dwelling, and was invested with
peculiar sanctity, and that close to it stood the altar for domestic sacri-
fices, and hence the ' compluvium' or reservoir which received the water
that entered through the 'impluvium' or hole in the roof of the atrium,
was sacred to the Penates 3 . It appears, then, that ' Penates ' is in fact
a generic term, and, in its strict sense, comprehends ' all the gods
worshipped at the hearth,' and will thus include the Lares, who are
continually mentioned in conjunction with the Penates, and frequently
in such terms as to imply that they were the same. But it is quite
certain that other gods, besides the Lares, were worshipped at the
hearth, especially Vesta, who was herself the Goddess of the Hearth,
and to these the term ' Penates ' is often applied, so as to distinguish them
from the Lares. This will be sufficiently clear from a single passage in
Plautus, Merc. 5. I. 5 :
1 Serv. on Virg. Ae. 3. 1 68 ; Miiller, Die Etrusker, vol. ii. chap. 3.
a ' Nam et ipsum penetral, penus dicitur, et hodie quoque penus Vestae
claudi vel aperiri dicitur.' Serv. on Virg. Ae. 3. 12.
3 Suet. Octav. 92 : ' Sed et ostentis praecipue movebatur. Enatam inter
iuncturas lapidum ante domum suam palmam in compluvium Deorum
Penatium transtulit : utque coalesceret, magno opere curavit.'
72 OVIDI1
' Di Penates meum parentum, familiaeque Lar pater,
Vobis mando meum parentum rem bene ut tutemini.
Ego mihi alios Deos Penates persequar, alium Larem.'
It would be vain to enquire who the Penates were, since they might be
different for every family, and the statements of ancient authors upon
this point are very contradictory. Varro, however, distinctly asserts
that the number and names of Penates were indeterminate.
In like manner as there were Public as well as Domestic Lares, so
there were Public Penates, who exercised a general influence over the
destinies of the whole Roman people. Thus Tacitus 1 tells us that
' delubrum Vestae cum Penatibus Populi Romani ' was consumed along
with other very ancient temples, in the great fire during the reign of
Nero. From which passage we may infer that the temple of Vesta
being the common hearth or central point of the city, was the propei
abode of the Public Penates. Dionysius 2 describes a temple in the
Velia 3 (that part of the Forum immediately under the Palatine) in
which were 'images of the Trojan Penates, two young men in a sitting
posture, with spears in their hands, a work of ancient art,' and adds that
he had seen many other effigies of these gods in ancient shrines, always
represented as two young men in martial equipment. These we should
naturally suppose to be the Trojan or Phrygian Penates, mentioned so
often in the Aeneid, which were rescued from the flames of Troy by
Aeneas, and, transported by him to Italy 4 , were deposited at Lavinium,
in the temple of Pallas, and refused to remove from thence to Alba 5 ,
but may perhaps have afterwards agreed to migrate to Rome '.
Those who wish to examine more deeply into the accounts given by
ancient authors of the Lares and Penates, "and the speculations of
modern scholars, may refer to Dempster, Etruria Regalis, vol. i. p. 137;
J. Miiller, De Diis Romanorum Laribus et Penatibus ; K. O. Miiller, Die
Etrusker, vol. ii. p. 90, etc. ; Jaekel, De Diis Domesticis ; Hartung, Die
Religion der Romer.
1 Ann. 15.41. 2 R. A. I. 68.
3 Livy 45. 16: ' Aedes Deorum Penatium in Velia de caelo tacta erat.'
4 Serv. Ae. 3. 148; Macrob. 3. 4.
5 See Dionys. R. A. I. 67; Val. Max. I. 8. 7; Serv. on Virg. Ae. 3. 12.
6 Consult Heyne, Excurs. on Virg. Ae. 2.
FASTI. V. 663. 73
pRAESTITIBVS Maiae Laribus videre Kalendae
Aram constitui, signaque parva Deum.
Voverat ilia quidem Curius: sed multa vetustas
Destruit, et saxo longa senecta nocet.
Causa tamen positi fuerat cognominis illis, 5
Quod praestant oculis omnia tuta suis.
Stant quoque pro nobis, et praesunt moenibus Vrbis,
Et sunt praesentes, auxiliumque ferunt.
At canis ante pedes, saxo fabricatus eodem,
Stabat. Quae standi cum Lare causa fuit? 10
Servat uterque domum, domino quoque fidus uterque,
Compita grata Deo: compita grata cani.
Exagitant et Lar et turba Diania fures :
Pervigilantque Lares: pervigilantque. canes.
Bina gemellorum quaerebam signa Deorum 15
Viribus annosae facta caduca morae :
Mille Lares, Geniumque ducis, qui tradidit illos,
Vrbs habet; et vici numina trina colunt.
28. MERCVRIVS. FAS. v. 663.
MERCURIUS, an appellation manifestly derived from the same root as
the words ' merx,' ' mercari,' ' mercator,' &c., was, as the name imports,
the Roman god of traffic and gain, the protector of merchants and
shop-keepers, the aider and abettor of all the schemes and tricks em-
ployed by them to overreach their customers 1 . In this respect he
corresponded to the Grecian Hermes ; the resemblance indeed went no
farther, but the link was enough for the poets, the two deities were at
once identified, and the parentage, attributes, exploits, and insignia of
1 Hence the Gaulish god of gain is at once called Mercurius by Caesar,
B. G. 6. 1 7 : ' Deum maxime Mercurium colunt : huius sunt plurima simulacra,
hunc omnium inventorem artium ferunt, hunc viarum atque itinerum ducem,
hunc ad quaestus pecuniae mercaturasque habere vim maximam arbitrantur.'
74 OVIDII
the knavish son of Zeus and Maia were assigned to Mercurius, who
thus comes forth as the inventor of the lyre, the patron of the gym-
nasium, the teacher of eloquence, the herald of the gods, the conductor
of departed spirits to the realms of Hades ; while in addition to the
purse, originally the proper and only symbol of his calling, he appears
invested with the broad-brimmed winged hat, ' petasus,' the winged
sandals, ' talaria,' and the ' caduceus,' or magic rod. It will be observed
that in the following Extract Ovid commences by running over the
foreign titles of the god, and then passes on to describe certain cere-
monies performed by the Roman traders for the lustration of their wares,
and certain prayers which they offered to their protector, prayers which
indicate very clearly that the honesty of the fraternity was not rated high
by their countrymen.
nepos Atlantis, ades: quern montibus olim
^" Edidit Arcadiis Pleias una lovi.
Pacis et armorum Superis imisque Deorum
Arbiter, alato qui pede carpis iter :
Laete lyrae pulsu, nitida quoque laete palaestra; 5
Quo didicit culte lingua favente loqui.
Templa tibi posuere Patres spectantia Circum
Idibus. Ex illo est haec tibi festa dies.
Te, quicunque suas profitentur vendere merces,
Ture dato, tribuas ut sibi lucra rogant. 10
Est aqua Mercurii portae vicina Capenae :
Si iuvat expertis credere, numen habet.
Hue venit incinctus tunicas mercator: et urna
Purus suffita, quam ferat, haurit aquam.
Vda fit hinc laurus : lauro sparguntur ab uda 15
Omnia, quae dominos sunt habitura novos.
Spargit et ipse suos lauro rorante capillos :
Et peragit solita fallere voce preces.
Ablue praeteriti periuria temporis, inquit,
Ablue praeterita perfida verba die. 20
FASTI. V. 183. 75
Sive ego te feci testem, falsove citavi
Non audituri numina magna lovis;
Sive Deum prudens alium Divamve fefelli;
Abstulerint celeres improba dicta Noti.
Et pereant veniente die periuria nobis : 25
Nee curent Superi, si qua locutus ero.
Da modo lucra mihi, da facto gaudia lucro;
Et face, ut emptori verba dedisse iuvet.
Talia Mercurius poscentem ridet ab alto,
Se memor Ortygias surripuisse boves. 30
29. FLORA. FAS. v. 183.
THE worship of Flora, the Goddess of Blossoms, may be said to have
been coeval with the city itself, since we are told that she was an
ancient Sabine goddess, established at Rome by Titus Tatius, the col-
league of Romulus, and that a peculiar priest or flamen was assigned to
her by Numa 1 . The games, however, called ' Floralia,' were not in-
stituted until 238 B. C. 2 , and were celebrated, it would seem, hi the
Circus Florae, which was situated at the foot of the Quirinal. There
were also dramatic exhibitions. The festival commenced on IV. Kal.
Mai. (28th of April), and continued until the 1st of May, inclusive.
A /TATER, ades, florum, ludis celebranda iocosis:
Distuleram partes mense priore tuas.
Incipis Aprili: transis in tempora Maii:
Alter te fugiens, cum venit alter habet.
Cum tua sint, cedantque tibi confinia mensum ; 5
Convenit in laudes ille vel iste tuas.
Circus in hunc exit clamataque palma theatris :
Hoc quoque cum Circi munere carmen eat.
1 Varro L. L. 5. 10; 7. 3.
8 Pliny H. N. 18. 29, referred to above, p. 60.
OVID II
Ipsa doce quae sis : hominum sententia fallax :
Optima tu proprii nominis auctor eris. 10
Sic ego, sic nostris respondit Diva rogatis ;
Dum loquitur, vernas efflat ab ore rosas.
Chloris eram, quae Flora vocor. Corrupta Latino
Nominis est nostri litera Graeca sono.
Chloris eram, Nymphe campi felicis, ubi audis, 15
Rem fortunatis ante fuisse viris.
Quae fuerit mihi forma, grave est narrare modestae :
Sed generum matri repperit ilia deum.
Ver erat: errabam: Zephyrus conspexit. Abibam:
Insequitur; fugio. Fortior ille fuit. 20
Et dederat fratri Boreas ius omne rapinae,
Ausus Erecthea praemia ferre domo.
Vim tamen emendat dando mihi nomina nuptae :
Inque meo non est ulla querela toro.
Vere fruor semper: Semper nitidissimus annus, 25
Arbor habet frondes, pabula semper humus.
Est mihi fecundus dotalibus hortus in agris,
Aura fovet; liquidae fonte rigatur aquae.
Hunc meus implevit generoso flore maritus :
Atque ait, Arbitrium tu, Dea. floris habe. 30
Saepe ego digestos volui numerare colores ;
Nee potui. Numero copia maior erat.
Roscida cum primum foliis excussa pruina est,
Et variae radiis intepuere comae;
Conveniunt pictis incinctae vestibus Horae, 35
Inque leves calathos munera nostra legunt.
Protinus accedunt Charites ; nectuntque coronas,
Sertaque, caelestes implicitura comas.
Prima per immensas sparsi nova semina gentes,
Vnius tellus ante coloris erat. 40
FASTI. III. 809. 7;
Prima Therapnaeo feci de sanguine florem :
Et manet in folio scripta querela suo.
Tu quoque nomen habes cultos, Narcisse, per hortos :
Infelix, quod non alter et alter eras !
Quid Crocon, aut Attin referam, Cinyraque creatum;
De quorum per me vulnere surgit honor? 46
Forsitan in teneris tantum mea regna coronis
Esse putes. Tangit numen et arva meum.
Si bene floruerint segetes; erit area dives.
Si bene floruerit vinea; Bacchus erit. 50
Si bene floruerint oleae, nitidissimus annus,
Pomaque proventum temporis huius habent.
Flore semel laeso pereunt viciaeque fabaeque :
Et pereunt lentes, advena Nile, tuae.
Vina quoque' in magnis operose condita cellis 55
Florent; et nebulae dolia summa tegunt.
Mella meum munus. Volucres ego mella daturas
Ad violam, et cytisos, et thyma cana voco.
Nos quoque idem facimus : tune cum iuvenilibus annis
Luxuriant animi, corporaque ipsa vigent. 60
30. MINERVA. FAS. m. 809.
MINERVA, who shared the triple temple of the Capitol with Jupiter
and Juno 1 , seems to have been an Etrurian deity 2 , although Varro 3
asserts that she was of Sabine origin. The name, derived from the
same root with ' mens,' indicates that she was the Goddess of Reason.
Hence the old verb ' promenervare ' in the songs of the Salii, signifying
1 Val. Max. 2. 1,2; Aug. De Civ. Dei 4. 10.
3 For the proofs of this see Miiller, Die Etrusker, 3. 3, 2. The name
occurs upon Etruscan ' paterae ' under the forms ' Menerfa,' ' Menfra,'
' Mnfra.' 3 L. L. 5. 10.
78 OVIDII
' to advise,' ' to warn,' and the phrases ' facere aliquid pingui Minerva,
invita Minerva, crassa Minerva,' in which Minerva denotes the intellectual
powers bestowed by nature, as Cicero explains, De Off. i. 31 : 'Nihil
decet invita, ut aiunt, Minerva, id est, adversante et repugnante natura."
Compare also Cic. Ep. Fam. 12. 25, where he puns on the expression
' Quinquatribus, frequenti senatu, causam tuam egi non invita Minerva.
Etenim eo ipso die senatus decrevit ut Minerva nostra, cwstos urbis,
quam turbo deiecerat, restitueretur,' and Hor. A. P. 385,
'Tu nihil invita dices faciesve Minerva.'
In Hor. S. 2. 2. 3,
'Rusticus abnormis sapiens crassaque Minerva,'
' crassa Minerva ' means good coarse common sense.
Minerva was mistress of the Inventive Faculty also, and thus exercised
control over literature and science in general. Mechanics and artists of
every description, musicians, poets, schoolmasters, physicians, all paid
homage to her as their patroness, and she was believed to take peculiar
interest in spinning and weaving, the most ancient and honourable of
female occupations.
The first temple of Minerva was that upon the Capitol ; there was
another upon the Aventine 1 , and a third near the Coelian, in which she
was worshipped as ' Minerva Capta 2 ,' an epithet said to have been
applied when her statue was transported from Falerii, after the capture
of that city by Camillus.
Her great_ festival was called the Quinquatrus, or Quinquatria. It
commenced on XIV. Kal. Apr. (igth March), and ended XI. Kal. Apr.
(23rd March). On all the days, except the first, there were gladiatorial
exhibitions, and on the last a ceremony was performed, called the
Tubilustrium, or purification of trumpets, the invention of wind in-
struments being attributed to the goddess. Ov. Fast. 3. 849,
' Summa dies e quinque tubas lustrare canoras
Admonet, et forti sacrificare deae.'
Another Tubilustrium was held on IX. Kal. Jun. (24th May,) in
honour of Vulcan, the fabricator of the instrument. Fast. 5. 724,
1 Ov. Fast. 6. 727 ; Fest. in verb. ' Scribas.'
2 Ib. 3. 835, where several explanations of the epithet ' Capta ' are
proposed.
FASTI. III. 809. 79
'Proxima Vulcani lux est: Tubilustria dicunt,
Lustrantur purae, quas facit ille, tubaeV
A second festival of Minerva, the Quinquatrus Minusculae, or
Quinquatria Minora, fell upon the Ides of June, and was observed
with great pomp by the Tibicines or flute players. Ov. Fast. 6. 651,
'Et iam Quinquatrus iubeor narrare minores,
Nunc ades O ! coeptis, flava Minerva, meis.
Cur vagus incedit tota tibicen in Vrbe?
Quid sibi personae, quid stola longa, volunt?'
Compare Varro L. L. 6. 3 : ' Quinquatrus Minusculae dictae luniae Idus
ab similitudine Maiorum, quod tibicines turn feriati vagantur per urbem
et conveniunt ad aedem Minervae.' And Festus : ' Minusculae Quinquatrus
appellabantur Idus luniae, quod is dies festus erat tibicinum, qui Miner-
vam colebant. Quinquatrus proprie dies festus erat Minervae, Martio
Mense.'
With regard to the Tibicines, see note, p. 176.
Observe that the later Romans identified Minerva with Pallas Athene,
both being Goddesses of Wisdom, and invested the former with all the
attributes of her Grecian sister.
A 7NA dies media est; et fiunt sacra Minervae:
Nomina quae iunctis quinque diebus habent.
Sanguine prima vacat: nee fas concurrere ferro:
Causa, quod est ilia nata Minerva die.
Altera, tresque super strata celebrantur arena:' 5
Ensibus exsertis bellica laeta Dea est.
Pallada nunc pueri, teneraeque ornate puellae :
Qui bene placarit Pallada, doctus erit.
Pallade placata, lanam mollite, puellae;
Discite iam plenas exonerare colos. 10
Ilia etiam stantes radio percurrere telas
Erudit; et rarum pectine denset opus.
1 Compare Varro L. L. 6. 3 : ' Dies Tubilustrium appellatur, quod eo die in
atro sutorio sacrorum tubae lustrantur.' And Festus : ' Tubicines etiam ii
appellantur, qui sacerdotes, viri speciosi, publice sacra faciunt tubarum lus-
trandarum gratia.' And Paulus : ' Tubilustria dies appellabant, in quibus
agna tubas lustrabant.'
8o OVIDII
Hanc cole, qui maculas laesis de vestibus aufers,
Hanc cole, velleribus quisquis aena paras.
Nee quisquam invita faciet bene vincula plantae 15
Pallade; sit Tychio doctior ille licet
Et licet antiquo manibus collatus Epeo
Sit prior; irata Pallade mancus erit.
Vos quoque, Phoebea morbos qui pellitis arte,
Munera de vestris pauca referte Deae. 20
Nee vos turba fere censu fraudata magistri,
Spernite; discipulos attrahit ilia novos.
Quique moves caelum, tabulamque coloribus uris;
Quique facis docta mollia saxa manu.
Mille Dea est operum : certe Dea carminis ilia est: 25
Si mereor, studiis adsit arnica meis.
31. PALLADIVM A METELLO FAS. vi. 419.
SERVATVM.
IN order that this Extract may be more easily understood, we shall
offer some preliminary illustrations.
I. In the first place, it will be useful to give the genealogy of the
Trojan line, according to Apollodorus 3. 12. i :
' lasion and DARDANUS were born of Jove and Electra, daughter of
Atlas. lasion having insolently attempted to gain the love of Demeter,
was struck dead by lightning for his presumption, upon which Dardanus
left Samothrace in sorrow, and passed over to the opposite continent,
which was ruled by Teucrus, son of the river Scamander and an Idaean
Nymph. Dardanus being hospitably received by the king, who gave
him his daughter Bateia in marriage, founded the city Dardanus, on the
skirts of Ida, and after the death of Teucrus, called the whole country
Dardania.
'Ilus and ERICTHONIUS were the sons of Dardanus and Bateia, of
whom the former died childless, but Ericthonius having wedded Asyoche,
daughter of the river Simois, became the father of
FASTI. VI. 419. 8l
4 TROS, who called the country after himself, Troia, and having married
Kallirrhoe, daughter of Scamander, had by her three sons,
' ILUS, ASSARACUS, GANYMEDES, and a daughter, Cleopatra. Of these,
Ganymedes was borne to heaven by the eagle of Zeus to be the celestial
cup-bearer. Assaracus, by Hieromneme, daughter of Simois, was the
father of Capys ; and Capys, by Themis, daughter of Ilus, was father of
Ancbises, the favoured lover of Aphrodite, who bore him Aeneas and
Lyrus, of whom the latter died childless.
' ILUS founded Ilium lower down in the plain than the city of Dardanus,
and married Eurydice, daughter of Adrastus. By her he had
' LAOMEDON, who married Strymo, daugter of Scamander, or, according
to others, Plakia, daughter of Atreus (or Leucippus), His children were
' Titbonus, Lamport, Klytius, Hiketaon, and Podarkes, otherwise called
PRIAMOS, while his daughters were Hesione, Killa, and Astyoche. By
the Nymph Kalybe he had Boukolion.'
This genealogy is nearly the same as that given in the Iliad (20. 215-
240), but Homer omits the females entirely, does not mention Teucrus,
never applies the appellation 'Teucri' to the Trojans, and takes no
notice of Dardanus having passed over from Samothrace. There are
numerous additions and variations in other writers, which are of no
importance for our present purpose. The student may consult Ov. Fast.
4. 31, Dionys. Hal. i. 62, Heyne Excursus 6. on Virg. Ae. 3. To
exhibit the whole at one view, according to Homer, we have
Jupiter
I
Dardanus
Ericthonius
Tros
j
Ilus Ganymedes Assaracus
Laomedon Capys
I I
i , , , , Anchises
Tithonus Priamus Lampon Klytion Hicetaoa |
| Aeneas
Hector, &c.
82 OVIDII
II. When Hus was founding the city of Ilium, he prayed to Zeus to
grant him some token of his favour. On the following day he found
lying before his tent the PALLADIUM, which had fallen from heaven.
This was a statue of Pallas, in height three cubits, with the feet close
together, holding in the right hand a spear erect, in the left a distaff and
spindle 1 . Tradition told that Aeneas bore the hallowed image from
Troy along with the Phrygian Penates, and the Romans believed that it
was treasured up in their city in the sanctuary of Vesta's temple*, a
pledge granted by fate, on whose preservation depended their existence
as a nation. Thus, when the Campanians were accused of having at-
tempted to set fire to Rome, Fulvius urged, Livy 26. 27, ' Vestae aedem
petitam, et aeternos ignes, et conditum in penetrali fatale pignus imperil
Romani.' And again, 5. 52, ' Quid de aeternis Vestae ignibus, signoque,
quod imperii pignus custodia eius templi tenetur, loquar ? '
According to another tradition, followed by Virgil (Ae. 2. 164), the
Palladium was stolen out of Troy by Diomedes and Ulysses before the
capture of that city 3 . A legend was thus rendered necessary to re-
concile the contradiction, and explain how the image that was carried off
by the Greeks might yet be in the possession of the Romans. Diomedes
having endured many hardships and misfortunes after the fall of Troy,
was warned by oracles that his troubles would never cease until he
restored the Palladium, which had remained in his keeping, to the lawful
owners. Hearing that the son of Anchises had arrived in Italy, he
hastened to obey the injunction of heaven, but arriving at a moment
when Aeneas was offering sacrifice with his head covered, he gave the
image into the hands of one of the attendants, named Nautes, and from
this circumstance Pallas became a domestic deity of the Gens Nautia.
Such was the tale recorded by Varro in his history of Trojan Families 4 ,
and to this Virgil is supposed to allude in the lines
' Turn senior Nautes, unum Tritonia Pallas
Quern docuit, multaque insignem reddidit arte,
Haec responsa dabat.' Ae. 5. 704.
1 So Apollodorus 3. 12. 3.
2 See Dionys. Hal. i. 68 ; 2. 66. Plutarch. Vit. Num. et Vit. Camill.
3 Hence many cities claimed the possession of the Palladium, the Athe-
nians (Pausan. I. 28), the Argives (Pausan. 23), and others.
* Preserved by Servius on Virg. Ae. 2. 166; 5. 74- See also Dionys.
Hal. 6. 69.
FASTI. VI. 419. 83
III. The chief subject of this Extract is the preservation of the Pal-
ladium by Lucius Caecilius Metellus 1 , Pontifex Maximus, when the
temple of Vesta was consumed by fire towards the end of the first Punic
War 2 . With regard to this event we may quote Pliny H. N. 7- 43 3;
' Metellus orbam luminibus exegit senectam, amissis incendio, cum
Palladium raperet ex aede Vestae. Tribuit ei populus Romanus quod
numquam ulli alii ab condito aevo, ut quoties in Senatum iret, curru
veheretur ad curiam. Magnum et sublime, sed pro oculis datum.' And
Juv. 3. 137,
' Da testem Romae tarn sanctum quam fuit hospes
Numinis Idaei : procedat vel Numa, vel qui
Servavit trepidam flagranti ex aede Minervam;'
and again, 6. 265,
'Dicite vos neptes Lepidi caecive Metelli.'
TV /[" OENIA Dardanides nuper nova fecerat Ilus :
Ilus adhuc Asiae dives habebat opes.
Creditur armiferae signum caeleste Minervae
Vrbis in Iliacae desiluisse iuga.
Cura videre fuit : vidi templumque locumque : 5
Hoc superest illic : Pallada Roma tenet.
Consulitur Smintheus : lucoque obscurus opaco
Hos non mentito reddidit ore sonos:
Aetheriam servate Deam ; servabitis Vrbem,
Imperium secum transferet ilia loci. 10
Servat, et inclusam summa tenet Ilus in arce :
Curaque ad heredem Laomedonta venit.
1 He was Consul 251 B. C., Magister equitum 249 B. C., and Consul a
second time 247 B. C. In 250 B. C. he celebrated a magnificent triumph
over the Carthaginians, in which thirteen generals of the enemy, and a
hundred and twenty elephants, were led in procession.
2 We read of a similar event in the reign of Commodus, and the Palladium
is said to have been removed altogether from the temple of Vesta by Helaga-
balus. See Herodian i. 45; 5. 15.
3 See also Dionys. Hal. 2. 66; Livy Epit. Lib. 19; Val. Max. I. 4. 4;
Senec. Controv. 4. 2.
G 2
84 OVIDII
Sub Priamo servata parum. Sic ipsa volebat
Ex quo iudicio forma revicta sua est.
Seu genus Adrasti, seu furtis aptus VILxes, 15
Seu plus Aeneas, eripuisse datur.
Auctor in incerto : res est Romana ; tuetur
Vesta, quod assiduo lumine cuncta videt.
Heu quantum timuere Patres, quo tempore Vesta
Arsit, et est tectis obruta paene suis! 20
Flagrabant sancti sceleratis ignibus ignes :
Mistaque erat flammae flamma profana piae.
Attonitae flebant, demisso crine, ministrae :
Abstulerat vires corporis ipse timor.
Provolat in medium, et magna, Succurrite, voce, 25
Non est auxilium flere, Metellus ait.
Pignora virgineis fatalia tollite palmis:
Non ea sunt voto, sed rapienda manu.
Me miserum! dubitatis? ait. Dubitare videbat,
Et pavidas posito procubuisse genu. 30
Haurit aquas : tollensque manus, Ignoscite, dixit,
Sacra vir intrabo non adeunda viro.
Si scelus est, in me commissi poena redundet,
Sit capitis damno Roma soluta mei.
Dixit, et irrupit : factum Dea rapta probavit; 35
Pontificisque sui munere tuta fuit.
Nunc bene lucetis sacrae sub Caesare flammae
Ignis in Iliads nunc erit, estque, focis.
Nullaque dicetur vittas temerasse sacerdos
Hoc Duce: nee viva defodietur humo. 40
Sic incesta perit: quia quam violavit, in illam
Conditur : et Tellus Vestaque numen idem est.
FASTI. III. 713. 85
32. BACCHVS. FAS. ill. 713.
THE Liberalia, the festival of Liber Pater, whom the Latins iden-
tified with the Grecian Dionysus, was celebrated on XVI. Kal. Mai.
(I7th March). It would be impossible, in a work like the present, to
enter upon an examination of the complicated mythology of Bacchus,
its wild legends, and the various extravagant and enthusiastic ceremonies
by which the worship of that god was characterised. We may repeat the
observation already made, that the more unseemly and frantic excesses
were in all probability derived from the rites of some Eastern divinity,
whose worship was incorporated by the Greeks with that of their own
native god of wine. An attempt was made to introduce the orgiastic
nocturnal festivals, which were attended with all sorts of profligacy, into
Rome, but they were considered so deleterious to public morals, that
they were repressed by a decree of the senate. The following narrative
of the history and adventures of the Grecian or Theban Bacchus will
enable us to understand all the allusions to foreign legends contained in
the Extract before us.
Semele, daughter of Harmonia and the Theban Cadmus, was beloved
of Jove, who promised to grant whatever boon she might ask. Beguiled
by the treacherous advice of jealous Juno, she requested the god to
appear before her in the same guise as when he wooed the queen of
heaven. Jupiter, unable to refuse, entered her chamber in a chariot,
amidst thunder and lightning, and launched a flaming bolt. Semele
having fallen a sacrifice to her terror, he snatched from the flames the
babe, not yet mature for the birth, and sewed it up in his thigh. When
the appointed season arrived, the threads were unloosed, and Jupiter
produced Dionysus,' who was delivered over to Hermes, who conveyed
him to his aunt Ino, and her husband Athamas, and persuaded them to
raise him as a girl. Athamas and Ino were driven mad by the in-
dignant Juno, and Jupiter then changed Dionysus into a kid, and Her-
mes bore him concealed under this shape to the Nymphs dwelling in
Asiatic Nysa, whom Jupiter afterwards transformed into stars, with the
name of Hyades. Dionysus having discovered the vine, was driven mad
by Juno, and wandered over Egypt and Syria. First of all, Proteus,
king of Egypt, received him, but forthwith he passed over to Cybela, in
86 OVIDII
Phrygia, and being there purified by Rhea, and initiated in her mys-
teries, he received from her an army, and marched with it through Thrace
against the Indians. But Lycurgus, son of Dryas, king of the Edoni,
who dwelt beside the river Strymon, insulted him and drove him forth.
Dionysus fled to the sea to Thetis, daughter of Nereus, but the Bacchae
and his attendant crowd of Satyrs were taken prisoners. The Bacchae
instantly became free, and Dionysus drove Lycurgus mad, who in his
frenzy, smote with a hatchet his son Dryas, fancying that he was cutting
a vine branch, slew him, and having hewn off his limbs, then recovered
his senses. The land became barren, and the Oracle declared that it
would yield fruit if Lycurgus were slain. The Edoni having heard this,
bore him away to the mountain Pangaeus, and bound him there,
where, according to the will of Dionysus, he perished, being torn to pieces
by horses.
Dionysus having passed through Thrace and the whole of India, and
set up pillars to commemorate his victories, came to Thebes, and com-
pelled the women to leave their houses, and to hold Bacchanalian revels
on Cithaeron. But Pentheus, son of Echion and Agave, who had suc-
ceeded Cadmus on the throne, forbade these things to be. He pro-
ceeded to Cithaeron to watch the Bacchae, and was torn limb from limb
by his mother Agave, who in her frenzy took him for a wild beast.
Having thus made his divinity manifest to the Thebans, he came to
Argos, and there too, not receiving due honours, he drove the women
mad, and in the mountains they fed upon the flesh of the babes who
hung at their breasts. Desiring to be conveyed from Icaria to Naxus,
he hired a piratical trireme belonging to the Tyrrhenians, who having
taken him on board, sailed past Naxus, and hastened towards Asia to
sell him for a slave. But the god turned the mast and the oars into
serpents, and filled the vessel with ivy and the sound of flutes, while the
mariners, becoming frantic, plunged into the sea through terror, and
were changed into dolphins. And thus men, having learned that he
was a god, paid him honour. He then led up his mother from the
realms of Hades, and giving her the title of Thyone, ascended with her
to heaven. See Apollod. 3. 4, 2, 3 ; 3. 5, i, 2.
The story of the Bacchae is detailed by Ov. Met. 3. 273, the legend
of Pentheus, Met. 3. 511, of Lycurgus, Met. 4. 22, and of the Tyrrhenian
mariners, Met. 3. 597.
FASTI. III. 713. 87
r ~PERTIA post Idus lux est celeberrima Baccho:
Bacche, fave vati, dum tua festa cano.
Nee referam Semelen : ad quam nisi fulmina secum
lupiter adferret, parvus inermis eras :
Nee, puer ut posses maturo tempore nasci, 5
Expletum patrio corpore matris onus.
Sithonas, et Scythicos longum enumerare- triumphos ;
Et domitas gentes, turifer Inde, tuas.
Tu quoque Thebanae mala praeda tacebere matris ;
Inque tuum Furiis acte, Lycurge, genu. 10
Ecce libet subitos pisces, Tyrrhenaque monstra,
Dicere. Sed non est carminis huius opus.
Carminis huius opus, causas expromere, quare
Vilis anus populos ad sua liba vocet.
Ante tuos ortus arae sine honore fuerunt, 15
Liber, et in gelidis herba reperta focis.
Te memorant, Gange totoque Oriente subacto,
Primitias magno seposuisse lovi.
Cinnama tu primus captivaque tura dedisti,
Deque triumphato viscera tosta bove. 20
Nomine ab auctoris ducunt Libamina nomen,
Libaque : quod sacris pars datur inde focis.
Liba Deo fiunt : succis quia dulcibus ille
Gaudet, et a Baccho mella reperta ferunL
Ibat arenoso Satyris comitatus ab Hebro : 25
Non habet ingratos fabula nostra iocos :
lamque erat ad Rhodopen, Pangaeaque florida ventum:
Aeriferae comitum concrepuere manus.
Ecce novae coe'unt volucres tinnitibus actae :
Quaque movent sonitus aera, sequuntur apes. 30
Colligit errantes, et in arbore claudit inani
Liber: et inventi praemia mellis habet.
88 OVIDII
Vt Satyri levisque senex tetigere saporem:
Quaerebant flavos per nemus omne favos.
Audit in exesa stridorem examinis ulmo : 35
Adspicit et ceras, dissimulatque senex :
Vtque piger pandi tergo residebat aselli :
Applicat hunc ulmo corticibusque cavis.
Constitit ipse super ramoso stipite nixus:
Atque avide trunco condita mella petit. 40
Millia crabronum coe'unt, et vertice nudo
Spicula defigunt, oraque summa notant.
Ille cadit praeceps, et calce feritur aselli;
Inclamatque suos, auxiliumque rogat.
Concurrunt Satyri, turgentiaque ora parentis 45
Rident. Percusso claudicat ille genu.
Ridet et ipse Deus : limumque inducere monstrat :
Hie paret monitis, et linit ora luto.
Melle pater fruitur : liboque infusa calenti
lure repertori Candida mella damus. 50
Femina cur praestet, non est rationis opertae,
Femineos thyrso concitat ille chores.
Cur anus hoc facial, quaeris ; vinosior aetas
Haec est, et gravidae munera vitis amans.
Cur hedera cincta est? hedera est gratissima Baccho,
Hoc quoque cur ita sit, dicere nulla mora est. 56
Nysiades Nymphae, puerum quaerente noverca,
Hanc frondem cunis opposuere novis.
Restat, ut inveniam, quare toga libera detur
Lucifero pueris, candide Bacche, tuo. 60
FASTI. IV. 179.
33. CYBELE. FAS. iv. 179.
THE poet has now arrived at the Megalesia, or festival games cele-
brated in honour of Cybele, to whom the Greeks gave the title of
peya\T] fj^rrjp Oeuiv, ' Magna Mater Deorum,' ' Great Mother of Gods.'
These solemnities, according to Ovid and the old Calendars, commenced
Prid. Non. Apr. (April 4th), although Livy, in a passage which we shall
quote below, asserts that Prid. Id. Apr. (April lath), was the original
day.
The Extract before us consists of two parts : first, we have a de-
scription and explanation of the extravagant and noisy ceremonies which
characterised the worship of the goddess : after which the history of its
introduction into Rome is circumstantially detailed. We may offer a
few remarks in illustration of each portion separately.
I. Cybele or Cybelle, or Cybebe, was an Asiatic divinity, probably
a personification of the earth and its productive powers. The chief seat
of her worship was Phrygia, whose high places were her chosen haunts,
and hence the names and epithets by which she is generally distinguished
are derived from the mountains of Cybele, Berecynthus, Dindymene
and Ida.
She was represented under the form of a matron crowned with towers,
seated in a chariot drawn by yoked lions ; her mutilated priests, called
' Galli ' or ' Corybantes,' were wont to roam about in disorderly array,
some bearing the image on their shoulders, while others were beating
drums, clashing cymbals, blowing horns and trumpets, shouting, howl-
ing, and hacking themselves with knives, like some of the fraternities of
dervishes in the East at this day.
The rites of Cybele were brought into Greece at an early period,
probably before 500 B.C. 1 , and from some real or fancied resemblance in
attributes, she was identified with Rhea, the wife of Kronus (Saturn),
while the Romans in their turn confounded her with their Ops, Tellus,
Bona Dea, Vesta, &c. 2 The explanation offered by Ovid of the noisy
solemnities depends entirely upon the supposition that Cybele was the
same as Rhea, and that the trumpets and drums were intended to re-
1 Lobeck Aglaophamus, p. 652. 2 See introduction to Extract 31.
9 OVIDII
present the din raised by the Cretan Curetes to drown the cries of the
infant Zeus 1 .
Observe, also, that this commingling of legends was greatly favoured,
if not caused, by Mount Ida in. Crete being the reputed birthplace of
Zeus, while Mount Ida in Phrygia was the abode of Cybele.
II. A circumstantial account of the events which induced the Romans
to acknowledge the Phrygian Mother, most of which are strictly his-
torical, and of the institution of the Megalesian games, is given in Livy 29.
10 and 14. Theatrical entertainments formed part of the amusements of
the Megalesia from an early period : thus in 193 B.C. we find from Livy
34. 54, ' Megalesia, ludos scenicos, C. Atilius Serranus, L. Scribonius Libo
aediles curules primi fecerunt. Horum aedilium ludos Romanos primum
senatus a populo secretus spectavit.' Again we find hi 191 B.C., Livy
36. 36, ' Per idem fere tempus aedes Matris Magnae Idaeae dedicata
est, quam deam P. Cornelius advectam ex Asia, P. Cornelio Scipione,
cui post Africano fuit cognomen, P. Licinio consulibus, in Palatium a
man detulerat. Locaverant aedem faciendam ex senatus consulto M.
Livius, C. Claudius censores, M. Cornelio, P. Sempronio consulibus ;
tredecim annis postquam locata erat, dedicavit earn M. lunius Brutus,
ludique ob dedicationem eius facti, quos primes scenicos fuisse Antias
Valerius est auctor, Megalesia appellatos.'
In later times, if not from the beginning, Circensian games formed a
part of the shows, as we find from Juv. n. 191.
Lucretius has some splendid lines descriptive of the worship of the
Magna Mater, whom he supposes to be a personification of the earth,
2. 597-627-
With regard to the collection of money by the priests, we find in
Dionys. Hal. 2. 21
' According to the institutions of the Romans, the Praetors every year
offer sacrifices and exhibit games in honour of the Idaean Mother, but
her ministers are a Phrygian man and a Phrygian woman. These go
round the city begging for the goddess, as their custom is, with images
strung round their breasts, beating drums and singing the hymns of the
Mother to the accompaniment of flutes, played by persons who follow.
1 See note, p. 242. Consult also Cic. de Harusp. Resp. 13, Pliny 7. 35,
Appian. B. H. 56, Herodian I. II, Dion Cass., Ammian. Marcell. 22. 22,
Arnob. adv. Gent. 6. 7, Silius Italicus 17. I.
FASTI. IV. 179. 91
But no native Roman either collects alms for the Mother, or marches
through the city to the sound of flutes, clad in a robe of divers colours,
nor does he worship the goddess with wild Phrygian rites. This is
ordained by a vote of the senate.'
Virgil, Ae. 3. in, supposes that Cybele came originally from Crete :
' Hinc mater cultrix Cybele, Corybantiaque aera,
Idaeumque nemus : hinc fida silentia sacris,
Et iuncti currum dominae subiere leones.'
Again, Rome surrounded by her progeny of heroes, is said to be
' Felix prole virum : qualis Berecynthia Mater
Invehitur curru Phrygias turrita per urbes,
Laeta deum paitu, centum complexa nepotes,
Omnes caelicolas, omnes supera alta tehentes.'
Ae. 6. 785.
Compare also Ae. 10. 252,
' Alma parens Idaea deum, cui Dindyma cordi,
Turrigeraeque urbes, biiugique ad frena leones.'
'"PER sine perpetuo caelum versetur in axe ;
Ter iungat Titan, terque resolvat equos ;
Protinus inflexo Berecyntia tibia cornu
Flabit, et Idaeae festa Parentis erunt.
Ibunt semimares, et inania tympana tundent : 5
Aeraque tinnitus acre repulsa dabunt.
Ipsa sedens molli comitum cervice feretur
Vrbis per medias exululata vias.
Scena sonat ludique vocant. Spectate, Quirites :
Et Fora Marte suo litigiosa vacent. 10
Quaerere multa libet : sed me sonus aeris acuti
Terret, et horrendo lotos adunca sono.
Da, Dea, quas sciter, doctas, Cybeleia, neptes.
Audit : et has curae iussit adesse meae.
Pandite, mandati memores, Heliconis alumnae, 15
Gaudeat assiduo cur Dea Magna sono.
92 OVID II
Sic ego : sic Erato : mensis Cythereius illi
Cessit ; quod teneri nomen Amoris habet :
Reddita Saturno sors haec erat ; Optime regum,
A nato sceptris excutiere tuis. 20
Ille suam metuens, ut quaeque erat edita, prolem
Devorat; immersam visceribusque tenet.
Saepe Rhea questa est toties fecunda, nee umquam
Mater ; et indoluit fertilitate sua.
lupiter ortus erat. Pro magno teste vetustas 25
Creditur. Acceptam parce movere fidem.
Veste latens saxum caelesti gutture sedit:
Sic genitor fatis decipiendus erat.
Ardua iam dudum resonat tinnitibus Ide;
Tutus ut infanti vagiat ore puer. 30
Pars clipeos rudibus, galeas pars tundit inanes:
Hoc Curetes habent, hoc Corybantes opus.
Res latuit patrem : priscique imitamina facti
Aera Deae comites raucaque terga movent.
Cymbala pro galeis, pro scutis tympana pulsant: 35
Tibia dat Phrygios, ut dedit ante, modes.
Desierat. Coepi : cur huic genus acre leonum
Praebeat insolitas ad iuga curva iubas?
Desieram. Coepit : feritas mollita per illam
Creditur. Id curru testificata suo est. 40
At cur turrita caput est ornata corona?
An primis turres urbibus ilia dedit?
Hoc quoque, dux operis, moneas precor; unde petita
Venerit ? An nostra semper in urbe fuit ?
Dindymon, et Cybelen et amoenam fontibus Iden 45
Semper, et Iliacas Mater amavit opes.
Cum Troiam Aeneas Italos portaret in agros,
Est Dea sacriferas paene secuta rates.
FASTI. IV. 179. 93
Sed nondum fatis Latio sua numina posci
Senserat: assuetis substiteratque locis. 50
Post, ut Roma potens opibus iam saecula quinque
Vidit, et edomito sustulit orbe caput:
Carminis Euboici fatalia verba sacerdos
Inspicit. Inspectum tale fuisse ferunt:
Mater abest; Matrem iubeo, Romane, requiras, 55
Cum veniet, casta est accipienda manu.
Obscurae sortis Patres ambagibus errant:
Quaeve parens absit, quove petenda loco.
Consulitur Paean; Divumque arcessite Matrem,
Inquit: in Idaeo est invenienda iugo. 60
Mittuntur proceres. Phrygiae turn sceptra tenebat
Attalus; Ausoniis rem negat ille viris.
Mira canam : longo tremuit cum murmure tellus ;
Et sic est adytis Diva locuta suis:
Ipsa peti volui : ne sit mora : mitte volentem : 65
Dignus Roma locus, quo Deus omnis eat
Ille soni terrore pavens, Proficiscere, dixit;
Nostra eris; in Phrygios Roma refertur avos.
Protinus innumerae caedunt pineta secures,
Ilia, quibus fugiens Phryx pius usus erat. 70
Mille manus coe'unt : et picta coloribus ustis
Caelestum Matrem concava puppis habet.
Ilia sui per aquas fertur tutissima nati;
Longaque Phrixeae stagna sororis adit:
Rhoeteumque rapax, Sigeaque litora transit; 75
Et Tenedum et veteres Eetionis opes.
Cyclades excipiunt, Lesbo post terga relicta;
Quaque Carysteis frangitur unda vadis.
Transit et Icarium, lapsas ubi perdidit alas
Icarus, et vastae nomina fecit aquae. 80
94 OVID n
Turn laeva Cretan, dextra Pelopeidas undas
Deserit : et Veneri sacra Cythera petit.
Hinc mare Trinacrium, candens ubi tingere ferrum
Brontes, et Steropes, Acmonidesque sclent:
Aequoraque Afra legit, Sardoaque regna sinistris 85
Prospicit a remis, Ausoniamque tenet.
Ostia contigerat, qua se Tiberinus in altum
Dividit, et campo liberiore natat.
Omnis Eques, mistaque gravis cum Plebe Senatus,
Obvius ad Tusci fluminis ora venit. 90
Procedunt pariter matres, nataeque, nurusque;
Quaeque colunt sanctos virginitate focos.
Sedula fune viri contento brachia lassant;
Vix subit adversas hospita navis aquas.
Sicca diu tellus fuerat: sitis usserat herbas : 95
Sedit limoso pressa carina vado :
Quisquis adest operi, plus quam pro parte laborat;
Adiuvat et fortes voce sonante manus.
Ilia velut medio stabilis sedet insula ponto;
Attonid monstro stantque paventque viri. 100
Claudia Quinta genus Clause referebat ab alto;
Nee facies impar nobilitate fuit.
Casta quidem ; sed non et credita. Rumor iniquus
Laeserat, et falsi criminis acta rea est.
Cultus, et ornatis varie prodisse capillis, 105
Obfuit, ad rigidos promptaque lingua senes.
Conscia mens recti famae mendacia risit :
Sed nos in vilium credula turba sumus.
Haec ubi castarum processit ab agmine matrum,
Et manibus puram fluminis hausit aquam; no
Ter caput irrorat, ter tollit in aethera palmas;
Quicunque adspiciunt, mente carere putant.
FASTI. IV. 179. 95
Submissoque genu, vultus in imagine Divae
Figit, et hos edit, crine iacente, sonos :
Supplicis, alma, tuae, genetrix fecunda Deorum, 115
Accipe sub certa conditione preces.
Casta negor. Si tu damnas ; meruisse fatebor :
Morte luam poenas iudice victa Dea.
Sed, si crimen abest, tu nostrae pignora vitae
Re dabis, et castas casta sequere manus. 120
Dixit ; et exiguo funem conamine traxit :
Mira, sed et scena testificata loquar.
Mota Dea est ; sequiturque ducem, laudatque sequendo :
Index laetitiae fertur in astra sonus.
Fluminis ad flexum veniunt: Tiberina priores 125
Ostia dixerunt, unde sinister abit.
Nox aderat: querno religant a stipite funem:
Dantque levi somno corpora functa cibo.
Lux aderat : querno solvunt a stipite funem :
Ante tamen posito tura dedere foco. 130
Ante coronatam puppim sine labe iuvencam
Mactarunt, operum coniugiique rudem.
Est locus, in Tiberin qua lubricus influit Almo,
Et nomen magno perdit ab amne minor.
Illic purpurea canus cum veste sacerdos 135
Almonis Dominam sacraque lavit aquis.
Exululant comites, furiosaque tibia flatur;
Et feriunt molles taurea terga manus.
Claudia praecedit laeto celeberrima vultu ;
Credita vix tandem teste pudica Dea. 140
Ipsa sedens plaustro porta est invecta Capena :
Sparguntur iunctae flore recente boves.
Nasica accepit : templi non perstitit auctor :
Augustus nunc est: ante Metellus erat.
96 OVID II
34. ARION. FAS. II. 83.
THE celebrated story of Arion is narrated by Herodotus I. 24.
QVOD mare non novit, quae nescit Ariona tellus?
Carmine currentes ille tenebat aquas.
Saepe sequens agnam lupus est hac voce retentus,
Saepe avidum fugiens restitit agna lupum:
Saepe canes leporesque umbra cubuere sub una; 5
Et stetit in saxo proxima cerva leae :
Et sine lite loquax cum Palladis alite cornix
Sedit; et accipitri iuncta columba fuit.
Cynthia saepe tuis fertur, vocalis Arion,
Tamquam fraternis obstupuisse modis. 10
Nomen Arionium Siculas impleverat urbes,
Captaque erat lyricis Ausonis ora sonis.
Inde domum repetens puppim conscendit Arion,
Atque ita quaesitas arte ferebat opes.
Forsitan, infelix, ventos undamque timebas, 15
At tibi nave tua tutius aequor erat.
Namque gubernator destricto constitit ense,
Ceteraque armata conscia turba manu.
Quid tibi cum gladio ? dubiam rege, navita, pinum,
Non sunt haec digitis anna tenenda tuis. 20
Ille metu pavidus, Mortem non deprecor, inquit,
Sed liceat sumpta pauca referre lyra.
Dant veniam, ridentque moram. Capit ille coronam,
Quae possit crines, Phoebe, decere tuos.
Induerat Tyrio bis tinctam murice pallam: 25
Reddidit icta suos pollice chorda sonos;
Flebilibus veluti numeris canentia dura
Traiectus penna tempora cantat olor.
FASTI. II. 305. 97
Protinus in medias ornatus desilit undas;
Spargitur impulsa caerula puppis aqua. 30
Inde, fide maius, tergo delphina recurvo
Se memorant oneri supposuisse novo.
Ille sedens citharamque tenet, pretiumque vehendi
Cantat, et aequoreas carmine mulcet aquas.
Di pia facta vident. Astris delphina recepit 35
lupiter, et Stellas iussit habere novem.
35. HERCVLES ET OMPHALE. FAS. H. 305.
THE following pretty description belongs to one of the numerous
adventures of Hercules. The hero, after the completion of his twelve
labours, became involved in a quarrel with Eurytus, lord of Oechalia,
whose son Iphitos he slew in a moment of phrenzy, although the youth
was at the time his guest. The rites necessary to wash away the stain
of blood were performed, but the wrath of heaven was not yet appeased,
for the most sacred ties had been violated, and the murderer was smitten
with a sore disease. The Pythia announced that no release would be
granted, unless he were sold and remained in slavery three years. The
sum of money received was to be given to Eurytus as the price of blood.
Accordingly he was made over by Hermes to Omphale, daughter of
lardanus, queen of the Lydians *.
T^ORTE comes dominae iuvenis Tirynthius ibat:
Vidit ab excelso Faunus utrumque iugo.
Vidit, et incaluit, Montanaque numina, dixit,
Nil mihi vobiscum est: haec meus ardor erit.
1 Apollodor. 2. 6, I. We have already stated that this fable probably
rose from Hercules being confounded with the Lydian hero Sandon. See
p. 173. Those who wish to see a discussion upon this topic, may consult
Miiller's Dorians, vol. i. p. 456, Engl. Trans., and his essay in the Rheinisches
Museum, vol. iii. p. 22.
H
98 OVIDII
Ibat odoratis humeros perfusa capillis 5
Maeonis, aurato conspicienda sinu.
Aurea pellebant rapidos umbracula soles:
Quae tamen Herculeae sustinuere manus.
lamque nemus Bacchi, Tmoli vineta, tenebat,
Hesperus et fusco roscidus ibat equo. 10
Antra subit, tophis laqueataque pumice vivo,
Garrulus in prime limine rivus erat.
Dumque parant epulas potandaque vina ministri;
Cultibus Alciden instruit ilia suis.
Dat tenues tunicas, Gaetulo murice tinctas: 15
Dat teretem zonam, qua modo cincta fuit.
Ventre minor zona est: tunicarum vincla relaxat,
Vt possit vastas exseruisse manus.
Fregerat armillas non ilia ad brachia factas,
Scindebant magni vincula parva pedes. 20
Ipsa capit clavamque gravem, spoliumque leonis,
Conditaque in pharetra tela minora sua.
Sic epulis functi, sic dant sua corpora somno ;
Et positis iuxta secubuere toris.
*36. FABIORVM GLADES. FAS. n. 193.
THE best introduction to this Extract which contains the famous
legend of the destruction of the Fabian clan, all, save one will be the
narrative of Livy 2. 48, 49.
TDIBVS agrestis fumant altaria Fauni,
Hie ubi discretas insula rumpit aquas.
Haec fuit ilia dies, in qua Veientibus arvis
Ter centum Fabii, ter cecidere duo.
Vna domus vires .et onus susceperat urbis : 5
Sumunt gentiles arma professa manus.
FASTI. II. 193. 99
Egreditur castris miles generosus ab isdem;
E quis dux fieri quilibet aptus erat.
Carmentis portae dextro via proxima lano est,
Ire per hanc noli, quisquis es; omen habet. 10
Ilia fama refert Fabios exisse trecentos,
Porta vacat culpa; sed tamen omen habet.
Vt celeri passu Cremeram tetigere rapacem;
Turbidus hibernis ille fluebat aquis;
Castra loco ponunt; destrictis ensibus ipsi 15
Tyrrhenum valido Marte per agmen eunt.
Non aliter, quam cum Libyca de rupe leones
Invadunt sparsos lata per arva greges.
Diffugiunt hostes, inhonestaque vulnera tergo
Accipiunt: Tusco sanguine terra rubet. 20
Sic iterum, sic saepe cadunt. Vbi vincere aperte
Non datur, insidias armaque caeca parant.
Campus erat : cam pi claudebant ultima colles,
Silvaque montanas occulere apta feras.
In medio paucos, armentaque rara relinquunt: 25
Cetera virgultis abdita turba latet.
Ecce velut torrens undis pluvialibus auctus,
Aut nive, quae Zephyro victa tepente fluit,
Per sata perque vias fertur, nee, ut ante solebat,
Riparum clausas margine finit aquas : 30
Sic Fabii latis vallem discursibus implent; _L
Quosque vident, sternunt : nee metus alter inest. d&jiaJ&t*-
Quo ruitis, generosa domus? male creditur hosti;
Simplex nobilitas perfida tela cave.
Fraude perit virtus. In apertos undique campos 35
PrOsiliunt hostes et latus omne tenent.
Quid faciant pauci contra tot millia fortes?
Quidve, quod in misero tempore restet, habent?
H 2
100 OVIDII
Sicut aper, silvis longe Laurentibus actus,
Fulmineo celeres dissipat ore canes, 40
Mox tamen ipse perit: sic non moriuntur inulti.
Vulneraque alterna dantque feruntque manu.
Vna dies Fabios ad bellum miserat omnes:
Ad bellum missos perdidit una dies.
Vt tamen Herculeae superessent semina gentis, 45
Credibile est ipsos consuluisse Deos.
Nam puer impubes, et adhuc non utilis armis,
Vnus de Fabia gente relictus erat :
Scilicet ut posses olim tu, Maxime, nasci;
Cui res cunctando restituenda foret. 50
37. AGNOMINA. FAS. i. 587.
THE more noble among the Romans had usually three names.
The ' Praenomen,' which stood first, marked the individual.
The 'Nomen,' which followed, marked the Gens or clan.
The ' Cognomen,' which came third, marked the Familia or family.
Thus the name Publius Cornelius Scipio indicated that the person
so called belonged to the Gens Cornelia, to the Familia of the Scipios.
one of the branches of that Gens, and that individually he was known
as Publius. Sometimes a fourth name was added, arising from the
subdivision of families, as in the case of Publius Cornelius Lentulus
Spinther.
When an adoption took place, the young man received the name of
his new father, to which was appended a gentile adjective to point out
his original clan. Thus, when the son of Lucius Aemilius Paullus was
adopted by the son of the elder Scipio, he was styled Publius Cornelius
Scipio Aemilianus, and in like manner when C. Octavius was adopted by
Julius Caesar, he became Caius lulius Caesar Octavianus.
Occasionally an individual received an epithet as a mark of honour,
which was appended to his own name, but was not transmitted to
his posterity. Such appellations were usually the reward of military
achievements, and in that case bore reference to the country where the
FASTI. I. 587. IOI
exploit was performed. In this manner Publius Cornelius Scipio, who
vanquished Hannibal at Zama, and brought the second Punic War to a
happy termination, became Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus; and
the same title was again bestowed on his grandson by adoption, who
destroyed Carthage, to which Numantinus was afterwards added upon
the capture of Numantia in Spain. Hence this celebrated personage
would write himself down, Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Afri-
canus Numantinus. An epithet, such as we have been describing, was
properly called ' Agnomen,' although sometimes included under the
general term ' Cognomen.'
In the present Extract, the poet passes rapidly in review the most
remarkable characters in Roman history who had been distinguished by
Agnomina, in order to prove that they were as much inferior in glory
to Octavianus, as their appellations were more humble than the title of
' Augustus.'
TDIBVS in magni castus lovis aede sacerdos
Semimaris flammis viscera libat ovis;
Redditaque est omnis populo provincia nostro;
Et tuus Augusto nomine dictus avus.
Perlege dispositas generosa per atria ceras; 5
Contigerunt nulli nomina tanta viro.
Africa victorem de se vocat: alter Isauras,
Aut Cretum domitas testificatur opes.
Hunc Numidae faciunt, ilium Messana superbum,
Ille Numantina traxit ab urbe notam. 10
Et mortem et nomen Druso Germania fecit;
Me miserum virtus quam brevis ilia fuit !
Si petat a victis ; tot sumat nomina Caesar,
Quot numero gentes maximus orbis habet.
Ex uno quidam celebres, aut torquis ademptae, 15
Aut corvi titulos auxiliaris habent.
Magne, tuum nomen rerum mensura tuarum est:
Sed qui te vicit, nomine maior erat.
102 OVID II
Nec gradus est ultra Fabios cognominis ullus,
Ilia domus meritis Maxima dicta suis. 20
Sed tamen humanis celebrantur honoribus omnes;
Hie socium summo cum love nomen habet.
Sancta vocant augusta patres: augusta vocantur
Templa, sacerdotum rite dicata manu.
Huius et augurium dependet origine verbi, 25
Et quodcunque sua lupiter auget ope.
Augeat imperium nostri ducis, augeat annos,
Protegat et vestras querna corona fores.
Auspicibusque Deis tanti cognominis heres
Omine suscipiat, quo Pater, orbis onus. 30
u <m.
38. NARRAT DIGRESSVM, TR. i. 3.
GEMITVS LVCTVSQUE SVORVM.
OVID having received from the Emperor an order to quit the city and
take up his residence at Tomi, on the shores of the Euxine, depicts in
this poem the misery he endured in tearing himself from Rome. With
regard to his banishment and the causes, see life of Ovid in the Intro-
duction.
subit illius tristissima noctis imago,
Qua mihi supremum tempus in Vrbe fuit :
Cum repeto noctem, qua tot mihi cara reliqui,
Labitur ex oculis mine quoque gutta meis.
lam prope lux aderat, qua me discedere Caesar
Finibus extremae iusserat Ausoniae.
Nec mens, nee spatium fuerat satis apta parandi;
Torpuerant longa pectora nostra mora.
Non mihi servorum, comitis non cura legend! :
Non aptae profugo vestis opisve fuit.
TRIST. I. 3. 103
Non aliter stupui, quam qui lovis ignibus ictus
Vivit, et est vitae nescius ipse suae.
Vt tamen hanc animi nubem dolor ipse removit,
Et tandem sensus convaluere mei;
Alloquor extremum maestos abiturus amicos, 15
Qui mo do de multis unus et alter erant.
Vxor amans flentem flens acrius ipsa tenebat ;
Imbre per indignas usque cadente genas.
Nata procul Libycis aberat diversa sub oris :
Nee poterat fati certior esse mei. 20
Quocunque adspiceres, luctus gemitusque sonabant:
Formaque non taciti funeris intus erat.
Femina virque meo, pueri quoque, funere maerent:
Inque domo lacrimas angulus omnis habet.
Si licet exemplis in parvo grandibus uti, 25
Haec facies Troiae, cum caperetur, erat.
lamque quiescebant voces hominumque canumque :
Lunaque nocturnes alta regebat equos.
Hanc ego suspiciens, et ab hac Capitolia cernens,
Quae nostro frustra iuncta fuere Lari; 30
Numina vicinis habitantia sedibus, inquam,
lamque oculis numquam templa videnda meis ;
Dique relinquendi, quos Vrbs habet alta Quirini;
Este salutati tempus in omne mihi !
Et quamquam sero clipeum post vulnera sumo ; 35
Attamen hanc odiis exonerate fugam ;
Caelestique viro, quis me deceperit error,
Dicite; pro culpa ne scelus esse putet.
Vt, quod vos scitis, poenae quoque sentiat auctor;
Placato possum non miser esse Deo. 40
Hac prece adoravi Superos ego : pluribus uxor,
Singultu medios impediente sonos.
104 OVID i i
Ilia etiam ante Lares passis prostrata capillis
Contigit exstinctos ore tremente focos:
Multaque in adversos effudit verba Penates, 45
Pro deplorato non valitura viro,
lamque morae spatium nox praecipitata negabat,
Versaque ab axe suo Parrhasis Arctos erat.
Quid facerem ? blando patriae retinebar amore :
Vltima sed iussae nox erat ilia fugae. 50
Ah queries aliquo dixi properante, Quid urges?
Vel, quo festines ire, vel unde, vide.
Ah queries certam me sum mentitus habere
Horam, propositae quae foret apta viae.
Ter limen tetigi; ter sum revocatus : et ipse 55
Indulgens animo pes mihi tardus erat.
Saepe, Vale dicto, rursus sum multa locutus ;
Et quasi discedens oscula summa dedi.
Saepe eadem mandata dedi : meque ipse fefelli,
Respiciens oculis pignora cara meis. 60
Denique, Quid propero? Scythia est, quo mittimur,
inquam :
Roma relinquenda est: utraque iusta mora est:
Vxor in aeternum vivo mihi viva negatur;
Et domus, et fidae dulcia membra domus.
Quosque ego dilexi fraterno more sodales; 65
O mihi Thesea pectora iuncta fide !
Dum licet, amplectar : numquam fortasse licebit
Amplius. In lucro est quae datur hora mihi.
Nee mora; sermonis verba imperfecta relinquo,
Complectens animo proxima quaeque meo. 70
Dum loquor, et flemus; caelo nitidissimus alto,
Stella gravis nobis, Lucifer ortus erat.
TRIST. I. 3. 105
Divider baud aliter, quam si mea membra relinquam:
Et pars abrumpi corpore visa suo est.
[Sic doluit Priamus tune cum in contraria versus 75
Vltores habuit proditionis equus.]
Turn vero exoritur clamor gemitusque meorum;
Et feriunt maestae pectora nuda manus.
Turn vero coniux humeris abeuntis inhaerens
Miscuit haec lacrimis tristia dicta meis: 80
Non potes avelli : simul ah simul ibimus, inquit :
Te sequar ; et coniux exsulis exsul ero.
Et mihi facta via est : et me capit ultima tellus :
Accedam profugae sarcina parva rati.
Te iubet e patria discedere Caesaris ira; 85
Me pietas. Pietas haec mihi Caesar erit.
Talia tentabat : sicut tentaverat ante :
Vixque dedit victas utilitate manus.
Egredior, sive illud erat sine funere ferri,
Squalidus immissis hirta per ora comis. 90
Ilia dolore amens tenebris narratur obortis
Semianimis media procubuisse domo.
Vtque resurrexit, foedatis pulvere turpi
Crinibus, et gelida membra levavit humo;
Se modo, desertos modo complorasse Penates; 95
Nomen et erepti saepe vocasse viri :
Nee gemuisse minus, quam si nataeve meumve
Vidisset structos corpus habere rogos :
Et voluisse mori : moriendo ponere sensus :
Respectuque tarn en non periisse mei. 100
Vivat: et absentem, quoniam sic fata tulerunt,
Vivat et auxilio sublevet usque suo.
106 OVIDII
39. QVA DOGET OVIDIVS TR. in. 10.
MANET ORBIS PARTE FVGATVS.
THE subject of this elegy is sufficiently explained by the title.
The town to which Ovid was banished, called by himself 1 and
Strabo ' Tomis ' (T<5/us) 2 , by Pliny, Ptolemy, and most other writers,
' Tomi ' (To/*ot), was a Milesian colony, situated on the western shores
of the Pontus Euxinus, about ninety miles 3 south of the Sacrum
Ostium, the most southern mouth of the Ister (Danube). The name*
gave rise to the legend that this was the spot where Medea, in her
flight with Jason, tore to pieces her brother Absyrtus, or, according to
others, where her father Aetes collected and buried the mangled limbs
of his son 5 . Thus Ov. Trist. 3.9.1:
' Hie quoque sunt igitur Graiae, quis crederet ? urbes,
Inter inhumanae nomina barbariae.
Hue quoque Mileto missi venere coloni
Inque Getis Graias constituere domos.
Sed vetus huic nomen, positaque antiquius urbe,
Constat ab Absyrti caede fuisse, loco.
Inde Tomis dictus locus hie : quia fertur in illo
Membra soror fratris consecuisse sui.'
The student may compare the description of a Scythian winter in
Virgil G. 3, especially the lines 349, seqq., which are almost identical in
thought, and even in expression, with many passages in the poem
before us.
quis adhuc istic meminit Nasonis adempti,
Et superest sine me nomen in Vrbe meum ;
Suppositum stellis numquam tangentibus aequor
Me sciat in media vivere barbaric.
1 E. ex P. 4. 14. 59 ; 3. 9. 35.
* But the more recent editors of Strabo, following Stephan. Byzant.,
read To/ttt/s and To/i'a in 7. 6, I, and 7. 5, 13.
3 Strabo makes the distance 750 stadia.
* Toji>s 'a cutter;' To/i^ 'the act of cutting;' To/xot ' a cut;' 1op.is
a surgical instrument,' &c.
5 Apollodor. I. 9, 24.
TRIST. III. 10. 107
Sauromatae cingunt, fera gens, Bessique, Getaeque : 5
Quam non ingenio nomina digna raeo !
Dum tamen aura tepet, medio defendimur Istro,
Ille suis liquidus bella repellit aquis.
At cum tristis hiems squalentia protulit ora,
Terraque marmoreo Candida facta gelu est: 10
[Dum patet et Boreas et nix iniecta sub Arcto ;
Turn liquet has gentes axe tremente premi.]
Nix iacet : et iactam nee Sol pluviaeve resolvunt :
Indurat Boreas, perpetuamque facit.
Ergo, ubi delicuit nondum prior, altera venit: 15
Et solet in multis bima manere locis.
Tantaque commoti vis est Aquilonis, ut altas
Aequet humo turres, tectaque rapta ferat.
Pellibus, et sutis arcent mala frigora braccis ;
Oraque de toto corpore sola patent. 20
Saepe sonant moti glacie pendente capilli,
Et nitet inducto Candida barba gelu :
Nudaque consistunt, formam servantia testae,
Vina : nee hausta meri, sed data frusta bibunt.
Quid loquar, ut vincti concrescant frigore rivi, 25
Deque lacu fragiles effodiantur aquae ?
Ipse, papyrifero qui non angustior amne
Miscetur vasto multa per ora freto,
Caeruleos ventis latices durantibus, Ister
Congelat, et tectis in mare serpit aquis. 30
Quaque rates ierant, pedibus nunc itur: et undas
Frigore concretas ungula pulsat equi.
Perque novos pontes subter labentibus undis
Ducunt Sarmatici barbara plaustra boves.
Vix equidem credar: sed cum sint praemia falsi 35
Nulla, ratam debet testis habere fidem:
108 OVIDII
Vidimus ingentem glacie consistere pontum,
Lubricaque immotas testa premebat aquas.
Nee vidisse sat est. Durum calcavimus aequor;
Vndaque non udo sub pede summa fuit. 40
Si tibi tale fretum quondam, Leandre, fuisset,
Non foret augustae mors tua crimen aquae.
Turn neque se pandi possunt delphines in auras
Tollere, conantes dura coercet hiems.
Et quamvis Boreas iactatis insonet alis, 45
Fluctus in obsesso gurgite nullus erit.
Inclusaeque gelu stabunt in marmore puppes :
Nee poterit rigidas findere remus aquas.
Vidimus in glacie pisces haerere ligatos :
Sed pars ex illis turn quoque viva fuit. 50
Sive igitur nimii Boreae vis saeva marinas,
Sive redundatas flumine cogit aquas :
Protinus, aequato siccis Aquilonibus Istro,
Invehitur celeri barbarus hostis equo :
Hostis equo pollens, longeque volante sagitta, 55
Vicinam late depopulatur humum.
Diffugiunt alii: nullisque tuentibus agros
Incustoditae diripiuntur opes:
Ruris opes parvae, pecus, et stridentia plaustra ;
Et quas divitias incola pauper habet. 60
Pars agitur vinctis post tergum capta lacertis,
Respiciens frustra rura laremque suum.
Pars cadit hamatis misere confixa sagittis:
Nam volucri ferro tinctile virus inest.
Quae nequeunt secum ferre aut abducere, perdunt : 65
Et cremat insontes hostica flamma casas.
Turn quoque, cum "pax est, trepidant formidine belli :
Nee quisquam presso vomere sulcat humum.
TRIST. IV. 10. 109
Aut videt, aut metuit locus hie, quern non videt,
hostem :
Cessat iners rigido terra relicta situ. 70
Non hie pampinea dulcis latet uva sub umbra;
Nee cumulant altos fervida musta lacus.
Poma negat regio : nee haberet Acontius, in quo
Scriberet hie dominae verba legenda suae.
Adspiceres nudos sine fronde, sine arbore, campos, 75
Heu loca felici non adeunda viro !
Ergo, tam late pateat cum maximus 'orbis,
Haec est in poenam terra reperta meam?
40. VITA POETAE. TR. iv. 10.
THE life of Ovid, given in the Introduction, will serve as a com-
mentary upon this Extract, which furnished most of the materials for
the biography in question. But few additional illustrations will be
required.
TLLE ego, qui fuerim tenerorum lusor amorum,
Quern legis, ut noris, accipe, Posteritas.
Sulmo mini patria est, gelidis uberrimus undis,
Millia qui novies distat ab Vrbe decem.
Editus hie ego sum: nee non, ut tempora noris, 5 7""^
Cum cecidit fato Consul uterque pari :
Si quid id est, usque a proavis vetus ordinis heres; |
Non modo Fortunae munere factus eques.
Nee stirps prima fui ; genito sum fratre creatus ;
Qui tribus ante quater mensibus ortus erat. 10
Lucifer amborum natalibus adfuit idem :
.
Vna celebrata est per duo liba dies.
Haec est armiferae festis de quinque Minervae,
Quae fieri pugna prima cruenta solet.
110 OVID II
Prptinus excolimur teneri, curaque parentis
Imus ad insignes Vrbis ab arte viros. oLML iu&id
Frater ad eloquium viridi tendebat ab aevo,
Portia verbosi natus ad arma Fori.
At mihi iam puero caelestia sacra placebant ;^t2u&
Inque suum furtim Musa trahebat opus. 20
Saepe pater dixit : Studium quid inutile tentas ?
Maeonides nullas ipse reliquit opes. ;/<*
Motus eram dictis : totoque Helicone relicto,
Scribere conabar verba soluta modis.
Sponte sua carmen numeros veniebat ad aptos; 25
Et, quod tentabam dicere, versus erat.
Interea, tacito passu labentibus annis,
Liberior fratri sumpta mihique toga est :
Induiturque humeros cum lato purpura clavo:
Et studium nobis, quod fuit ante, manet. 30
lamque decem vitae frater geminaverat annos,
Cum perit; et coepi parte carere mei.
Cepimus et tenerae primos aetatis honores;
Eque viris quondam pars tribus una fui.
Curia restabat; clavi mensura coacta est; ^3**"" 35
Maius erat nostris viribus illud onus.
Nee patiens corpus, nee mens fuit apta labori,
Sollicitaeque fugax ambitionis eram;
Et petere Aoniae suadebant tuta sorores
Otia iudicio semper" amata meo. 40
Temporis illius colui fovique poetas;
Quotque aderant vates, rebar adesse Decs.
Saepe suas volucres legit mihi gjanj^r aevo,- f --^J^' iv ~'^
Quaeque necet serpens, quae iuvet herba, Macer.
Saepe suos solitus recitare Propertius ignes; 45
lure sodalitio qui mihi iunctus erat.
TRIST. IV. 10. Ill
Ponticus Heroo, Bassus quoque clarus lambis,
Dulcia conviclus membra fuere mei.
Et tenuit nostras numerosus Horatius aures ;
Dum ferit Ausonia carmina culta lyra.
Virgilium vidi tantum : nee avara Tibullo
Tempus^amicitiae fata dedere meae.
Successor fuit hie tibi, Galle ; Propertius illi :
Quartus ab his serie temporis ipse fui.
Vtque ego maiores, sic me Gplugje minores : ^"55
Notaque non tarde facta Thalia mea est.
Carmina cum primum populo Juvenilia legi,
Barba resecta mihi bisve semelve fuit.
Moverat ingenium totam cantata per Vrbem
Nomine non vero dicta Corinna mihi. 60
Multa quidem scrips! : sed quae yitipsa putavi, ^^
Emendaturis ignibus ipse dedi.
Turn quoque, cum fugerem, quaedam placitura cremavi :
Iratus studio carminibusque meis.
Molle, Cupidineis nee inexpugnabile telis, 65
Cor mihi, quodque levis causa moveret, erat.
Cum tamen hoc essem, minimoque accenderer igni ;
Nomine sub nostro fabula nulla fuit. 4x^uJa
Paene mihi puero nee digna, nee utilis uxor
Est data: quae tempus perbreve nupta fuit. 70
Illi successit, quamvis^sine crjLmiae, coniuxQ
Non tamen in nostro firma N futura toro.
Vltima, quae mecum seros permansit in annos,
Sustinuit coniux exsulis esse viri.
Filia me mea bis prima fecunda iuventa, 75
Sed non ex uno coniuge, fecit avum.
Et iam complerat genitor sua fata; novemque
Addiderat lustris altera lustra novem.
112 OVIDII
Non aliter flevi, quam me fleturus adempto
Ille fuit. Matri proxima iusta tuli. 80
Felices ambo, tempestiveque sepulti,
Ante diem poenae quod periere meae;
Me quoque felicem, quod non viventibus illis
Sum miser ; et de me quod doluere nihil !
Si tamen exstinctis aliquid, nisi nomina, restat,
Et gracilis structos effugit umbra rogos ;
Fama, parentales, si vos mea contigit, umbrae,
Et sunt in Stygio crimina nostra foro,
. . .
Scite, precor, causam, nee vos mini failgje fas est,it:Wt
Errorem iussae, non scelus, esse fugae. 90
Manibus hoc satis est. Ad vos studiosa revertor
Pectora, quae vitae quaeritis acta meae.
lam mihi canities, pulsis melioribus annis,
Venerat ; antiquas miscueratque comas ;
Postque meos ortus Pisaea vinctus oliva 95
Abstulerat decies praemia victor equus :
Cum maris Euxini positos ad laeva Tomitas
Ouaerere me laesi Principis ira iubet.
wn>*
' Causa meae cunctis nimium quoque nota ruinae 4-v^^
, ? Indicio non est testificanda meo. 100
Quid referam comitumque nefas,.famulosque nocentes ?
Ipsa multa tuli non leviora fuga.
Indignata malis mens est succumbere, seque
Pjraestitit invictam viribus usa suis : /*^J
Oblitusque mei ductaeque per otia vitae, 105
Insolita cepi temporis arma manu :
Totque tuli terra casus pelagoque, quot inter
Occultum stellae conspicuumque polum.
Tacta mihi tandem longis erroribus acto
luncta pharetratis Sarmatis ora Getis. no
FASTI. IV. 10. 113
Hie ego, finitimis quamvis circumsoner armis,
Tristia, quo possum, carmine fata levo.
Quod, quamvis nemo est, cuius referatur ad aures,
Sic tamen absumo decipioque diem.
Ergo, quod vivo, durisque laboribus obsto, 115
Nee me sollicitae taedia lucis habent;
Gratia, Musa, tibi: nam tu solatia praebes;
Tu curae requies, tu medicina venis.
Tu dux et comes es : tu nos abducis ab Istro ;
In medioque mihi das Helicone locum. 120
Tu mihi, quod rarum est, vivo sublime dedisti
Nomen; ab exsequiis quod dare Fama soleL
Nee, qui detrectat praesentia, Livor iniquo
Vllum de nostris dente momordit opus.
Nam tulerint magnos cum saecula nostra poetas; 125
Non fuit ingenio Fama maligna meo.
Cumque ego praeponam multos mihi; non minor illis
Dicor: et in toto plurimus orbe legor.
Si quid habent igitur vatum praesagia veri :
Protinus ut moriar, non ero, terra, tuus. I3
Sive favore tuli, sive hanc ego carmine famam
lure tibi grates, candide lector, ago.
CRITICAL NOTES.
i.
i. 'litera scripta.' 8. 'indignae' B, 'indigno,' 'indigna.' u.
The best MSS. 'ad sit,' some 'absit,' and so L. 16. The best MSS.
have either 'Depressa' or 'Deprensa;' 'Defensa' is a conj. of Par-
rhasius, adopted by B. 20. The best MSS. ' summa ; ' many have
' longa,' and so B. 24. ' recta meos' in many MSS., and so B. 25.
Twenty-three MSS. have ' consita rivo ;' others ' conscia rivo.' 28.
Several MSS. ' numen habes.' 31. Eight MSS. ' recurrite Nymphae.'
33. Many MSS. 'mihi duxit.' 40. ' Grandaevos.' 41. Four MSS.
' classe peracta,' and so B. 45. ' et madidos vidisti.' Ib. ' flentes
ocellos.' 48. One good MS. 'vincta,' which is probably a gloss.
49. 'cum te vento' B. 53. 'Phrygio pendentia.' 59. Santenius
conj. ' Votis ecce meis.' 69. One MS. ' morabor.' 71. Two
MSS. 'Tune flevi.' 72. Two MSS. 'comas.' 73. ' Idam.' 74.
'Illic.' 'Illinc' B. 77. Many MSS. 'Nunc tecum veniunt.' 77,
78. 'sequuntur,' ' destituunt.' 78. Many MSS. 'viros,' instead of
' toros.' 85. Many MSS. omit ' et,' one has ' potenti.' 86. ' quae
possint,' ' quas possunt,' ' quae possent sceptra tenere,' ' quas deceat
sceptra tenere.' 94. Some edd. ' Pulydamanta.' 95. Most MSS.
'suadeat,' and so L. 99. 'si cupias.' in. One MS. 'leviusest
in te.' (!) 113. ' nam refero,' ' memoro,' ' memini,' ' repeto.' 116.
'bubus.' 118. 'Perdet.' 119. ' Dimergite,' 'demergite.' 121.
'incursu.' 125. One MS. ' praesignis," which is preferred by H.
126. B has ' patrios decs' against all the MSS. 128. ' arte.'
131. Many MSS. 'celes.' 136. Most MSS. ' Quaesierant.' 138.
'et immensis." 141. B reads ' medenti,' the conj. of H. 143.
Many MSS. ' sanabilis herbis.' 150. ' Destituor.' 152. 'e nostro,"
' Dicitur et nostro.'
2.
2. ' Haemonis Haemonio' L. 4. Nine MSS. 'A me.' 7. One
MS. ' plura meo.' 8. Many MSS. 'multa tibi," and so L. 13.
1 2
Il6 CRITICAL NOTES.
Many of the best MSS. ' mandatis.' Tb. 'relinquit' B. 14. 'potui'
L; others ' volui.' 15. Several good MSS. 'abrepta;' others 'erepta;'
one has 'afflata.' 23. ' tenebrisque ' L. 26. 'membra refecit.'
29. ' Vtque animus rediit.' 35. 'Phylleides' B, the conj. of H; one
MS. has ' Phylaides.' 39. ' pectam.' 38, 39, 40. ' gerat,' pre-
matur,' 'ferat,' and so B. 41. 'Quo possum' L. 43. One MS.
and one old ed. have ' Dyspari,' and one MS. ' Dispari ;' all the rest
have 'Dux Pari,' and so B and L. 49. 'omen revocate.' 51.
Almost all the MSS. ' quoties subiit.' 53. ' Ida.' 59. H conj.
' per quos.' 60. So the best MSS., others ' quotacunque,' ' quota-
quaeque,' and so B, ' quotaquamque.' 65. ' si quis is est.' Ib. ' tibi
cura.' 69. One MS. ' facito dicas,' and so B. 74, 75. These two
lines are wanting in some MSS. 83. So one MS. ; several have
'Fortius ille potest multo qui pugnat amore;' one 'cui pugnat;' H
conj. ' quum pugnat amore,' and so B. 86. Several MSS. ' Sed
stetit,' or ' Sed stetit auspiciis lingua retenta malis.' 89. Six MSS.
' Vt vidi, gemui;' one 'Et vidi et gemui;' H conj. ' Vt vidi, ut gemui,'
and so B. 90. One MS. ' recursuri.' 94. ' tanget,' ' tangit.'
100. 'properes' B. in. Three MSS. 'Excitor e somno.' 113.
The reading as it stands is a conj. of H. Almost all the MSS. have
' Tura damus lacrimasque super quae sparsa relucet.' The MS. of
Scaliger ' Tura damus lacrimamque super qui ora relucet.' Another
has ' quaesa relucet ' corrected into ' quis ara relucet.' D. Heinsius
conj. ' Tura damus lacrimasque super queis ara relucet.' The reading
of the MSS. is intelligible if we substitute ' relucent ' for ' relucet.'
114. Many MSS. 'a fuso;' others 'effuso.' 116. Several MSS. 'tristitia
solvar.' 119. H conj. ' iuvarit.' 120. Seven MSS. ' rapies.' 121.
So the best MSS. ; others ' narrantis ;' one ' narranti.' 122. 'linguae.'
Ib. 'retenta mora' B. 131. 'audite sonantes,' 'tonantes.' 135.
The MSS. are in great confusion here, and present a multitude of
different readings. The greater number have either ' Sed quid ego
revoco haec? Omen revocantis abesto,' and so B and L; or 'Sed quid
ego haec revoco ? Omen revocantis abesto.' The reading given in
the text is supported by MS. authority, and is less objectionable
than those usually adopted. 137. One MS. has 'Troas;' all the
rest have 'Troadas;' Salmasius and H conj. 'Troasin,' and so B.
144. 'face' B. 148. 'pectora' B. 151. ' geris,' 'geras.' 154.
'ilia tuos.' 165. 'claudatur.' 166. Almost all MSS. 'Sit sit,'
and so L; one has ' Si si ;' two have the reading of the text
CRITICAL NOTES. 1 17
3.
5. ' Non me non me.' 12. ' resecta seges.' 18. ' Vivet.'
21. 'nesciet.' 24. Scalig. conj. ima dies.' 25. ' et segetes."
16. Most MSS. ' erit." 28. Many MSS. ' Dicentur.' 34. Several
MSS. ' ripa benigna.' 36. Most MSS. ' Castalia aqua.' 38. 'Atque
ita." 40. ' Tune suus.' 41. 'adusserit.' 42. 'magna.'
4.
i. 'ales mini missus,' 'tibi missus,' 'nuper missus.' Ib. ' ab oris.'
2. ' exsequias ferte.' 3. ' passis plan, pen.' 9. The MSS. seem to
have ' devertite,' H conj. 'devertere.' 11. 'vibratis.' Ib. 'rannas'
pro ' cursus.' 20. One MS. 'taces.' 21. Many of the best MSS.
' poteras fragiles.' 23. ' simulacior.' 24. 'blando.' 27. 'fera
proelia.' 28. ' mint,' ' fient.' 29. ' Parcus eras potu* in one MS.
30. 'poterant.' Ib. 'ore.' Ib. 'vocase.' 33. Most MSS. 'ducitque.'
34. ' garrulus.' 36. ' decem.' 37. 'ille.' 39. 'Optima quae-
que.' 44. One MS. 'trans mare.' 46. 'non tua Parca' in one
MS. 49. 'frondet' in most MSS. 50. One MS. 'Vivida perp.'
55. 'Explicat atque,' 'spectat et ipsa.' 58. 'in pia," 'in sua vota.'
59. Most MSS. ' magnus,' which is probably correct. 60. ' nomen
habet.'
5.
I. 'si mater flevit.' 2. 'Si tangunt.' 14. ' castris.' 15.
' concussa.' 23. The greater number of MSS. have ' et Linon'
at the beginning of the line ; at the end a few have ' et Linon altis ;'
one ' Elinon ;' others ' editus altis ;' others ' abditus,' ' edidit,' ' abditum,'
'expositum,' &c. Scaliger and H emended the line, as given above.
24. ' invicta.' Ib. ' conticuisse.' 25. ' Adspice.' 30. Twelve
MSS. give ' retenta ;' eight have ' retecta.' 31. Eleven MSS. ' habebit.'
35. Many of the best MSS. ' rapiunt ;' one has 'cum mala fata bonos
perdant.' 37. The MSS. vary much in this line, a good reading is
' Vive pius moriere tamen ;' others have ' moriture pius ;' ' vive tamen
moriere pius ;' ' vive tamen moriture pius.' 38. ' Mors tamen,' ' Sors
gravis.' 40. Most MSS. ' e toto.' Ib. ' curva quod." 46. Nearly
all the MSS. ' negant.' 49. ' Hie,' ' Huic.' Ib. ' certe manibus.'
57. Most MSS. ' sunt.' 61. 'venies.' Ib. 'vinctus.' 62. 'si qua
est modo.'
e.
4. ' tincta croco.' 9, 10. Many MSS. ' notat movet.' 12. Almost
Il8 CRITICAL NOTES.
all the MSS. 'Lydius.' 13. Several MSS. 'carebanf 18. Vt
fugit invisos,' ' Vt fugit vises,' Vtque fugit rapidos.' 19. Most
MSS. ' sine lege;' some ' furentes.' 22. ' laniant.' Ib. ' mente ruit,'
'iacet,' ' manet.' 25. ' genialis turba.' 26. Many good MSS.
timor.' 27. ' repugnabat,' 'negabat' 31. Many MSS. 'munera;'
some ' praemia.'
7.
2. The latter half of this line appears in a very corrupt form in
many MSS., thus we find ' Chia,' insula fertur,' ' India fertur,' ' unda
refertur.' 6. In one MS. ' Indigno croceas ;' in another the adjective
has dropped out. 18. Heins. conj. ' prensas.' 19 One MS. ' fu-
giuntque premuntque.' 20. ' male sedit.' ai. 'caput arrepto,' one
MS. 25. ' color et sensus,' ' lam color et sensus ;' one MS. ' lam color
et timidae vires.' 27. Nine MSS. 'aristas.' 28. 'media.' 31.
Many MSS. 'caeli;' most have ' spectabere.' 32. ' Cressa puella.'
33. One MS. 'tigrides,' whence H conj. 'tigridas.' 36. 'in facili
est,' ' en facile est,' ' abstulerat facile est.'
8.
3. Good MSS. ' indomitos.' 4. One MS. ' Sentiat ut.' 5. One
MS. ' munera.' 6. One MS. ' iusto.' 9. One MS. ' liquaces ;'
another ' ludentes.' 19. Many MSS. ' Vt referant,' others ' lam
referunt.' 13. Many MSS. ' moderatur,' one 'meditatur.' 17.
One MS. ' suppositos taxes ;' another * compositos taxos,' whence
H conj. ' suppositas taxos,' and so B. 1 8. Most MSS. ' curva favi.'
23. 'colligit;' one ' aggregat.' 24. vertit" or ' versat." 25.
' deducere," ' defigere.' 26. One MS. 4 laetus.' 33. One MS.
' parvum.' Ib. One MS. ' sequaci.' 35. One MS. ' aut terre
victos.' Ib. One MS. ' vana.' 37. Seventeen MSS. ' prodest tamen."
40. Many MSS. 'Addere;' one ' Abdere sub primis.' 41. 'desistis.'
9.
5. Several good MSS. Officii,' and so B. Ib. Many MSS.
' adversatus ;' one has ' adspernatus;' five ' dedignatus.' 6. 'En
munere' in four MSS., whence H and B conj. 'In munere.' 8.
Three MSS. 'fastus.' 17. ' dederisque." Ib. Four MSS. ' carmine."
25. Many MSS. ' Scilicet ;' others ' ut fas.' 26. ' Auspicio felix,*
Aspicete,' 'Aspicito.' 27. One of the best MSS. and two others
CRITICAL NOTES. 119
'in annum.' 32. One MS. 'babe.' 44. Three MSS. 'addidit
ille duos;' others ' praeposuitque duos;' one ' postposuitque.' 46.
Eight MSS. ' officium ;' others ' officii.' 49. Many MSS. ' praestare.'
56. Six good MSS. 'cadet.' 58. Many MSS. instead of 'cave' have
'dies.' 59. Two MSS. 'Nomen.' 62. One of the best MSS.
condere ;' two have ' findere ;' one has ' fundere.' 65. ' bifrons.'
Ib. ' imago.' 70. H conj. ' condita,' which has been received by
many edd. 72. Most MSS. ' bona mine.' 73. ' longius abs.'
74. ' livida turba.' 77. Two MSS. ' verberet.' 78. One MS.
'sparget;' another ' sparsit ;' five 'surgit;' one 'tendit.' 83. Many
MSS. ' ferienda securi.' 85. Two MSS. ' spectat.'
10.
5. Nine MSS. ' amicitur vitibus,' and so B; four ' amicitur frondibus.'
6. One MS. ' graminis." 7. Two MSS. ' complent ;' one ' miscent.'
10. ' figit,' ' nectit.' 12. Two MSS. ' arando.'
11.
I. 'Quis.' 2. Very many MSS. ' promissi.' Ib. Three MSS. 'sit
et ista,' and so B. 3. Two MSS. ' promptum.' 5. ' iocisque." 10.
Eight MSS. 'furor.' u. One MS. 'Adduxere.' Ib. One MS. 'si-
dera terris.' 1 4. One MS. ' Imaque.' 1 5 . Eight MSS. ' meditabimur ;'
one ' numerabimus.' 16. Several MSS. ' vaga signa.'
12.
I. One MS. ' ulli ;' two ' ille ;' seven ' si credimus ipsis.' 3. ' Hinc.
6. Six MSS. 'pleno carmina vera.' 10. One MS. 'Arcadium,' and
so B. Ib. One MS. ' nemus.' 12. Very many MSS. ' Siste precor ;'
five ' puer.' 14. Three MSS. ' Nee tamen offense ;' three others ' Sed
tamen ;' others ' infenso.' 16. One MS. ' magni.' 19. Several MSS.
*"maeres.' 27. Several MSS. ' erat in ;' one ' et fera 1. 1. errat in anno.'
38. One MS. 'En tibi.' 29. So the best MSS.; others have ' Evander
et firmus," ' et firma ;' others 'Italiamque;' one ' Ausoniamque.' 32.
' Vexerat (rexerat?)' 33. Almost all the MSS. 'Tarenti;' a few good
ones 'Terenti.' 34. 'et solas.' 35. 'incultis,' 'intonsis.' 36.
Six MSS. 'manu ;' two 'manus.' 37. Two MSS. 'lumina.' 44.80
most of the best MSS. ; others ' nemorum,' ' Nymphae,' and so K ; three
'nemorum divae;' one 'nemora et silvae,' and so B. 46. One MS.
I2O CRITICAL NOTES.
' Istaque felici ripa sit icta pede.' 48. One of the best MSS. ' cetera turba.'
Ib. One MS. 'petent;' another 'feret.' 57. Eight MSS. 'moenia.'
58. Other MSS. 'Nunc minor;' 'Non minor;' 'Num minor;' one 'Nee
minus;' three 'Num minus; 'three 'Non minus.' 60. One MS. 'Auferet.'
62. Two MSS. 'colenda.' 63. One MS. ' manebis.' 64. One MS.
'iura.' 65. One MS. 'Inde satusque neposque.' Ib. One MS.
'licet usque.' 68. 'Livia.' 69. Some MSS. 'Talibus auspiciis;'
many ' Talibus auspiciis ad agros.' Ib. B and others ' nostros dictis '
on no good authority. Ib. Two MSS. ' ad annos,' and so K. 70.
One MS. ' medio sono.'
13.
t. One MS. ' applicat oras.' 4. So seven of the best MSS. ; others
' lata,' and so B. 5. One good MS. ' hospes,' and so B and K ; one
auctor (actor?)'; nearly all 'heros.' 8. 'Boves;' one 'feros,' and
so B. 9. One MS. 'tremor.' n. 'Dura.' 14. One of the best
MSS. ' Obdita.' Ib. Two MSS. vix ullis.' 17. One MS. ' abibas,'
and so B. 19. Many MSS. 'revocamur.' 20. 'victor.' 21. One
MS. 'strati saxi.' 22. Three MSS. 'opus,' and so B. 25. So five
MSS. ; others ' eversum.' Ib. Three MSS. ' concutit ;' one ' verberat.'
26. Others ' lactaque,' ' Laesaque,' ' Laxaque,' ' (M)otaque,' ' Actaque.'
Ib. 'mollis humus.' 30. One MS. 'tonante.' 32. Seven MSS.
' Aethereo.' 33. ' abductaque." 35. ' mixtoque ;' ' mixtasque flam-
mas.' 36. Four MSS. 'tangit;' three 'pulsat.' 44. One MS.
' Dea facta.'
14.
8. Many MSS. ' Cassidis.' 10. Three good MSS. ' digna ;' the rest
'magna.' n. One MS. 'Ilia Vestalis,' and so B. Ib. Several
'quisenim.' 15. 'humo.' 21. Two of the best 'cupitam ;' the rest
'cupita.' 23. Two MSS. 'Ilia/ 28. One MS. 'raptor.' Ib.
Many MSS. ' fratris.' 33. Two MSS. ' Larentia ;' all the rest ' Lauren-
tia.' 42. Several MSS. 'raptos.' Ib. Two MSS. 'tecta;' one ' cas-
tra;' several 'iura.' 43. Two MSS. 'audierunt;' the rest 'audierant.'
Ib. Five of the best MSS. ' pater agnitus.' 44. Fourteen good MSS.
paucis ;' the rest ' parvis.' 47. One MS. ' fuissent ;' one ' feruntur.'
15.
2. Very many MSS. ' erunt,' and so K. 9. Some MSS. ' spinetis.'
10. Several MSS. 'Troezene.' n. Many MSS. 'aquarum;' eleven
CRITICAL NOTES. 121
' equarum ;' many ' Pan erat armenti,' ' Pan illic numen aquarum.' 15,
1 6. One of the best MSS. and two others omit this couplet. 16. Five
MSS. 'ad hoc;' five 'ab hoc;' one 'ob hoc;' three 'adhuc.' 16. For
' erat' twelve have ' erit ;' two 'inest;' Burman. conj. 'devectaque sacra
Pelasgis = Fkmen adhuc pi isco more Dialis agit.' 17. ' si ' in many
MSS. 20. Six MSS. ' concipit ille fugas ;' several ' concipit ille feras,'
or ' concitat ipse feras.' 23. Three MSS. ' peregrinae,' and so B. Ib.
Two MSS. ' causam Latinam,' and so B. 27. ' transita,' ' transfixa,'
' traiecta.' 28. Four MSS. ' fovente." Ib. Two MSS. ' medium
diem,' a gloss. 31. Six MSS. 'Vectibus;' others 'Vestibus;' one
' Vtribus.' 31, 32. This couplet wanting in three MSS. 32. Five
MSS. ' ludus,' which is corrupt. Ib. Two MSS. ' expedienda ;' one ' ex-
cutienda.' 34. Four MSS. ' eripe ;' the rest ' et Reme." 36. Many
MSS. ' occursu.' Ib. Many MSS. ' retenta.' 37. ' Pendentia,' ' spi-
rantia,' 'spumantia,' 'fumantia.' Ib. Four MSS. 'detulit.' 43.
One MS. ' fama volat.' 44. Many good MSS. ' gessit.'
16.
2. locum.' Ib. Ten MSS. tanto.' 3. Several MSS. ' Silvia.'
5. Many MSS. ' pueros,' and so B and K. 8. Some good MSS. 'loca
sola.' ii. One MS. 'agitare.' Ib. Two MSS. 'solebant.' 13.
Two MSS. ' nee iam," and so B. 14. Two MSS. ' an alter,' and so B.
Almost all ' ah 1 ah !' 18. Two MSS. ' suspicer.' 23. Two MSS.
' peritura,' and so B. 24. Three MSS. 'simul.' 25. All except
three ' Vagierant.' 26. So seven MSS. ; the rest ' ambo pariter.' 28.
Five MSS. ' curva.' Ib. So three MSS. ; very many ' tulit,' and so K;
others 'dedit,' 'fuit.' 29. Eight MSS. 'impulsus.' 32. Most MSS.
transpose the words ' Rumina Romula.' 35. 'Quod' in one good
MS. 36. Two MSS. ' Proderej' and so B. 38. Three good MSS.
' lingit ;' others ' lambit.' 40. Many MSS. ' permissi ;' others ' pro-
missa.' 41. Several MSS. 'Lupercal;' one 'Lupercus.'
17.
4. Many MSS. ' nomina.' 5. One of the best MSS. and six others
'adit.' 6. 'adit' B, on no good authority. 7. Many MSS. 'facto.'
9. Seven MSS. 'quae moenia.' n. Very many MSS. ' solitum.'
13. Many MSS. 'terraeque;' one has 'plenae imponuntur arenae.' 14.
Several MSS. finditur ;' others ' funditur,' ' fingitur.' 1 7. Many MSS.
'Condentis.' 19. One MS. 'Dei.' Ib. Four MSS. 'adv. vultus;'
one ' cunctos;' one ' certi.' 20. Twelve MSS. ' Auspicibus bom's;' one
122 CRITICAL NOTES.
' Auspiciisque bonis.' Ib. One of the best MSS. ' hoc bene ;* another
' hoc breve ;' another ' hoc modo.' 2 1 . Two of the best MSS.
'domitae.' 23. Many MSS. 'omnia.' Ib. Two MSS. 'laeta;' one
' laeto ;' one ' laeva ;' others ' ' dextro," ' plena." 29. Other MSS. ' tac-
tam ;' one 'fractam;' one 'pressam;' one 'versam.' 33. 'Rutro* is
a conj. emend. The MSS. have ' Retro,' or ' Rastro," or ' Ristro,' or
' Vitro.' 40. Three MSS. ' dissiinulanda.' 45. Many MSS. ' iuvenes.'
46. B omits ' est.' 47. Three of the best MSS. ' nunc.' Ib. ' Illi.'
Ib. Many good MSS. 'possit.' 50. Two of the best MSS. 'et
semper plures.'
18.
2. So K. Two good MSS. ' amotis,' and so B ; almost all the rest
4 a domitis.' 9. Two MSS. ' contecta ;' six ' contemta,' which is
corrupt. II. Other MSS. 'fractis,' 'flexis;' one'plexis.' 17. Most
MSS. ' sulcis.' 22. Other MSS. 'verba;' seven ' digna.' 23. Five
MSS. ' hie;' one 'huic,' and so K. 25. One of the best MSS. 'noxae ;'
five have ' mox est ;' the rest ' noxa.' Ib. Many MSS. ' debitus.'
26. ' Spargit et.' Ib. Other MSS. ' effuso ;' one ' a fuso ;' one ' infuso.'
29. One MS. 'cum prole.' 30. Seven MSS. ' deseruisse." 34. One
MS. ' modum.' 36. One MS. ' geminos pedes.' 37. Two MSS.
reductaque.' 39. All the MSS. except one ' suam.' Ib. Several
MSS. ' transformat et alterat.' 47. So six good MSS. ; others have
' Pavit ovis pratum,' ' Pascit ovis pratum,' ' prato,' ' oves,' &c. 49.
Five MSS. 'run;' two ' turi.' 53. So the best MSS.; others 'quae.'
Ib. Two MSS. ' est geminae;' one 'gemina.' 54. Most MSS. ' datur;'
others 'cadit,' and so B. 55. Several MSS. 'Subaeos,' or 'Saphaeos.'
60. One MS. 'Assiduum.' 62. One MS. 'Quae facili.' Ib. Many
MSS. 'ore sonos.' 66. 'vetitas.' 69. Six MSS. 'adducta;' one
adiuncta.' 70. Six MSS. 'blanda columba." 72. 'Inache laute;'
' In. vacca,' ' bacca,' ' diva.' 73. All the MSS., except one of the
best, ' noctis.' 74. ' provocet.'
19.
i. Five MSS. 'piacula.' a. Ten MSS. 'Huic quoque.' 5. One
MS. ' cernis ;' three ' ternis ;' one ' acernis." 6. Nine MSS. ' Tur-
bida ;' one ' Turgida.' 9. ' Flamineam," ' Flaminiam.' 10. One MS.
'laurea.' li. Three MSS. 'piantur;' two 'piamur,' and so B; one
'pietur.' 13. Several MSS. ' sancta quia.' 17. Several MSS. ' pur-
CRITICAL NOTES.
gamine.' 19. ' Moris dedit.' 21. One MS. for ' Phoci' has ' fratris.
24. Several MSS. ' fovit ;' two ' solvit ;' one ' vovit.' 28. So two MSS.
all the rest ' putatis.' 33. ' Primus erat."
20.
2. Two MSS. extinc'tas;' all the rest ' exstructas.' Ib. One MS.
' ferte ;' all the rest ' ferre,' and in the preceding line ' placare.'
5. Two MSS. ' prorectis ;' one ' proiectis,' and so B. Ib. Two MSS.
' vallata.' 6. Three MSS. ' parca ;' others ' sparsa ;' others ' parva.'
8. One MS. 'reperta.' 10. One MS. 'in sua vota;' another 'et
pia verba;' B conj. 'et sua,' v. ' et pia vota.' 13. ' verba ferebat;'
one 'busta,' whence H conj. 'iusta.' 14. A few MSS. 'novos;' one
'suos.' 17. One MS. 'fertur crimine.' 18. One MS. 'focis.'
19. One MS. 'fatentur.' 21. Four MSS. 'Latiosque;' the rest 'la-
tosque,' v. ' latos ul.' 25. Several MSS. 'fient.' Ib. Two MSS.
' avidae.' 26. Five. MSS. ' Expectat ;' several 'Exoptat.' 27.
Four MSS. 'quae primum.' 31. Three MSS. ' celebrentur.' Ib.
Two MSS. 'apertis.' 34. One MS. 'imposito;' another 'nunc
parvo.' 35. Many MSS. ' quum tot,' v. ' quam quot," v. ' quam quum
supersunt." 38. Two MSS. ' Optima.' 39. One MS. 'animosa.'
40. One MS. 'Mutae.' Ib. Several MSS. 'nee tamen.' 41. Two
MSS. ' tura simul.' Ib. One MS. ' limina.' 43. Many MSS. ' tenet.'
Ib. The greater number of MSS. ' plumbo ;' one ' rhombo,' and so B ;
others ' bornbo,' v. ' bumbo,' v. ' limbo.' Ib. Instead of ' cum fusco,'
one MS. has 'consuto;' two ' cum fuso ;' three 'confuso.' 45.
' Acuta.' 46. So two MSS., very many ' obsutum menta,' v. ' mintha ;'
two ' obtusum mentae ;' two ' obsutum mentae.' 49. ' Vicimus,"
' iunximus.'
21.
3. 'celebrare Lemuria ;' one 'celebrate.' 4. 'tacitis' K. n.
' somnosque,' or ' somnumque sil. praebent.' 15. ' iuncto,' ' sumptis ;'
one 'victis.' 17. So three of the best MSS., the others 'Quumque
manus,' and so K. Ib. 'pure.' 18. Many MSS. 'ante fabas,'
and so B and K. 23. One good MS. ' aqua,' and so B. 30. Four
MSS. ' Hinc verbi ;' one ' Hie,' and so H and B. Ib. Two of the
best MSS. and two others ' verbis.' 31. Many MSS. ' tamen lemures.'
32. Very many MSS. ' vident.' 35. Two MSS. 'convivia.' 36.
All the best MSS. 'malas;' others have ' malum.' 37. One of the
best MSS. and seven others ' nomine festa.'
124 CRITICAL NOTES.
22.
4. Many MSS. 'nomen.' Ib. Most MSS. 'tu quoque.' 5. 'de
parte.' 6. ' dona ferunt." 7. ' curta,' v. ' curva testa," ' curto testo,'
v. ' texto,' v. ' tecto.' 9. One of the best MSS. ' destruit.' Ib. One
of the best MSS. ' alte ;' we find in others ' atfe,' ' arce ;' two ' apte ;'
one'arae.' 10. Eleven MSS. 'tentat.' n. All the MSS. except
one, ' turn.' 17. One MS. ' caesa agna,' and so B. 19. ' simplex '
in many MSS., and so B. 21. One MS. ' signas.' 24. Two MSS.
' iura.' 27. Very many MSS. ' coniectis ;' two have 'contextis;' all
have ' tectus,' and so B, for which the best editors have adopted ' lectus,'
a conj. founded on a line in Stat. Theb. 4. 47, ' Et Lacedaemonium
Thyre " lectura " cruorem.' 31. Five MSS. ' conventus,' and so B.
36. Very many MSS. ' fueras ' and ' manes." 40. ' tuus suus,' ' tuus
tuus, 'suus tuns.' 43. One MS. 'Iliac;' very many 'Ilia;' others
Illic.'
23.
I. The best MSS. 'restart;' the rest ' restent.' 4. One of the
best MSS. ' occidit atque ;' different critics propose ' occuliturque,'
' effugietque,' ' occideritque,' &c. 5. One MS. ' mihi nam memini.'
Ib. One MS. ' rure ; ' two ' forte.' 6. Many MSS. ' Candida turba.'
7. ' lucem ' in the ed. of B, apparently a typog. error. Ib. Very
many MSS. ' Rubiginis.' 12. Two of the best MSS. and many
others 'premat;' two 'tremet.' Ib. 'lene.' 13. secundis,' and
so K. 1 8. Ten MSS. 'si.' Ib. Four MSS. 'messis adusta.'
23. Two of the best MSS. ' contere ;' the rest ' amplectere,' and so K.
24. Very many MSS. ' prius ;' many ' precor." 28. Some of the
best MSS. 'opus.' 33. 'Ad dextram ;' one of the best and two
others 'At dextra.' 40. 'Tota.' Ib. Two of the best MSS.
' praeciditur ;' others ' praeripitur.' 42. ' quare fiat.'
24.
I. Many MSS. ' Parilia.' 4. 'tuafacta meo.' 6. Several MSS.
' tosta ;' two of the best ' fercula tosta.' 8. Heins. conj. ' Virgaque,'
and so B. Ib. ' rorantes,' ' rorales.' 9. Heins. conj. ' exi," in
consequence of two of the best MSS. having ' tua vela ' in next line,
and so B. 10. 'tua vela' B; one 'habet mea cymba ;' one 'vela
bonos.' 12. Three good MSS. and two others ' tutus ;' one ' totus ;'
one 'mundus.' 13. One of the best MSS. 'equae.' 15. Many
CRITIC A L NOTES. 1 25
good MSS. ' lustrat ;' others ' lustref 16. One of the best MSS.
' uda,' and so B. 18. One MS. 'multa corona.' 19. Many MSS.
' puro.' 20. Many MSS. 'tectaque.' 21. Many MSS. 'mares
oleas,' and so B ; others ' maris rorem.' 24. ' quo Dea laeta cibo
est' a conj. of H, and so B; one of the best MSS. 'cibo est.' 25.
The best MSS. ' resectis ' or 'refectis;' others 'relictis,' ' remotis,'
paratis,' 'refertis.' 29. 'sacra.' 31. Almost all the MSS., except
one of the best, ' si ' here and in line 33. 34. Seven MSS. ' fascina ;'
three ' fascia ;' one ' fuscina.' 36. A few MSS. ' fano,' and so B.
38. Very many MSS. ' virgula.' 39. One MS. ' montanaque.' Ib.
Two of the best MSS. ' praesta.' 40. One MS. ' sparsas Deas.'
42. Two MSS. 'premet;' one 'premat.' 43. One of the best MSS.
' precor.' Ib. One MS. ' pecudesque." 45. Three of the best
MSS. and others ' multo,' and so B ; four of the best and others
'multos.' 48. 'Levent.' 55. One MS. 'in annum.' 58. So
two of the best MSS ; almost all the rest ' Die quater et vivo.' Ib.
One MS. 'prolue,' and so B. 60. One of the best MSS. .'Lac
mistum.' 61. One good MS. ' Moxque fac.' Ib. One MS.
' stipula crepitante sacerdos.' 62. One of the best MS. 'Traiiciat
turba;' another of the best 'Traiicias turba;' two ' Transsilias.'
25.
I. 'Marti, Nonis,' &c., and so B. 2. Two MSS. 'patet;' two
' patent.' Ib. Five MSS. ' tuos ;' four ' suos.' 3. One MS. ' muros
cir.' 4. Two MSS. ' Cuilibet,' and so B. 7. One MS. ' ignoti.'
10. 'manus;' several 'deinde; manu,' &c. 13 One MS. ' Pelion
ignibus.' 14. Three MSS. ' solita.' 17. Two MSS. 'vehor;'
two ' venio.' Ib. Many good MSS. ' colono ;' eleven ' colone ' (i. e.
' colonae ') ; one ' colonae,' and so B and K.
26.
3. One MS. ' disiuncta ;' one ' dissecta ;' one ' digesta ;' one
' indigesta.' 4. Two MSS. ' quaeque suo.' 6. Heins. conj. ' ramo,'
and so B. 7. Several MSS. ' Pars sibi ; ' H conj. ' ubi,' and so B.
10. Several MSS. ' sumunt ;' one'sumas.' 15. Many MSS. ' longas ;'
others ' laetus,' 'lentus,' 'iunctas.' 16. One MS. 'Multaque,' and so
B. Ib. Two MSS. 'cantat.' 18. One of the best MSS. 'vocant,'
and so B. 19. Two of the best MSS. ' Occurri;' the rest ' Occurrit.'
126 CRITICAL NOTES.
27.
i. One MS. 'Praestit, festum.' 3. This is the reading of one of
the best MSS. Another old MS. has ' struxerat ilia q. C." while all the
rest and the early editions have ' Ara erat ilia quidem Curibus.' 7.
One MS. ' prosunt.' 12. One MS. ' lovi.' 1 6. Four MSS. ' Vsibus.'
Ib. One MS. ' caduca deae.' 17. The MSS. are in confusion here : for
' Genium ' we find ' gemitumque,' * geminumque,' ' geminique,' ' gremi-
umque,' ' geminumque decus," ' geminumque ducem.' 1 8. Two MSS.
Vrbs dabit' Ib. Six MSS. ' terna ;' two ' bina.'
28.
I. One of the best MSS. and five others ' Care.' 2. Bentl. ad Hor.
Od. I. 10. i, conj. 'uda.' 5. One MS. ' nuda-quoque.' 6. So six of
the best MSS. and two others ; the rest ' docente.' 8. Four of the best
MSS. and six others ' facta.' 9, 10. Four of the best MSS. and three
others 'profitetur rogat,' and so B. 14. 'suffita ' is a conj. of Heins.
Very many MSS. 'suffusa;' one of the best 'suffitam;' another of the
best ' suffitas,' as a var. reading ; one ' suffecta ;' three of the best
suffit aquam,' ' suffit et haurit aquam.' Ib. One of the best MSS.
'quamferit (gerit?).' 18. Many MSS. 'Incipit et.' Ib. ' solitas.'
Ib. Many MSS. 'dicere voce.' 20. Many MSS. 'verba fide.' 22.
Some MSS. 'audituri,' v. 'audituro numina vana." 25. Five of the
best MSS. and ten others ' Et pateant' Ib. Two of the best MSS.
'noctis* for ' nobis.' 26. One good MS. 'ego.' 29. Very many
MSS. ' poscentes;' three of the best ' poscenti.'
29.
i. Several MSS. celebrata.' a. Three MSS. ' laudes." 6. Many
MSS. ' ille vel ille,' and so B. 7. One of the best MSS. and three
others ' laudataque.' Ib. One of the best MSS. and two others
4 triumphis.' 8. Two of the best MSS. ' numine.' 9. Several MSS.
'scis.' 17. Many MSS. ' fuerat.' 23. Three MSS. 'praemia;' one
of the best ' numina.' Ib. ' Nymphae.' 25. One of the best MSS.
and three others ' per me nitid.' and so B ; one of the best ' vere est ; '
another of the best ' vere ;' hence Heins. conj. ' veri.' Ib. Four of the
best MSS. and two others ' tepidissimus.' 28. Three of the best MSS.
and two others ' rigantur ; ' one good MS. ' rorantur. 1 Ib. ' liquidis
aquis.' 31. Two of the best MSS. 'disiectos.' Ib. Four MSS.
'narrare.' 35. Three MSS. 'floribus.' 37. One of the best MSS.
CRITICAL NOTES. 127
' arripiunt,' and so B ; one of the best ' accipiunt ;' one of the best ' acci-
dunt.' 39. One of the best MSS. 'innumeras.' 41. 'Prima ego
Amyclaeo.' 43. One of the best MSS. ' carmen.' Ib. Many MSS.
'agros.' Ib. Two good MSS. 'tangunt,' and so B. 51. One MS.
'plantae.' 52. So three of the best MSS.; the rest ' Poma quoque
eventum." 53. ' simul.' Ib. 'vitesque.' 54. One of the best
MSS. 'Nile, deae.' 58. Four MSS. ' grata ;' seven ' summa.' 60.
One of the best MSS. and another ' virent ;' one of the best ' valent.'
30.
2. The MSS. vary much in this line, many ' Numinaque adiunctis
habet;' 'habes;' one 'muneraque adiunctis habet;' another ' nomi-
naque admotis ;' B has ' nominaque a iunctis.' 5. Seven good MSS.
' raso ;' three ' fusa ;' four ' sparsa ;' two ' plana.' 6. Very many
MSS. 'expertis.' 9, 10. So Heins., on the authority of six good
MSS.; the old reading was ' Pallade placata, lanam mollire puellae =
Discant, et plenas exonerare. colos.' 12. Several MSS. ' densat.'
15. Four MSS. 'faciat,' and so B. 18. Five of the best MSS. and
many others 'invita.' 21. This line appears under a very corrupt
form in the greater number of MSS. even of the best class. The
reading adopted by many editions is ' Nee vos turba, Deam, censu
fraudata, magistri = Spernite ;' B has 'Nee vos turba feri c. f. m.'
22. Some good MSS. 'attrahet,' and so K.
31.
3. Two of the best MSS. 4 sig. vitale,' probably a corruption of
fatale.' 6. 'illi' two of the best MSS.; almost all the rest 'illic,'
and so B and K. 13. Many MSS. 'volebas.' 14. 'reiecta;' two
MSS. ' relicta ;' one of the best ' relata tuo est.' Ib. The best MSS.
have either 'sua est' or ' suo est,' and so B. 15. Very many MSS.
' gener.' 1 6. 'datur' in one of the best MSS.; almost all the rest
' ferunt ;' one ' eripuisse earn.' 20. Two of the best MSS. ' adytis,'
and so B. 22. One of the best MSS. ' proterva.' 25. Four MSS.
'viva succ.' 26. Very many MSS. ' officium.' 27. Several MSS.
'flammis.' 29. One good MS. ' dubitatis adhuc.' 32. One of the
best MSS. Sacra ait.' 35. '.eripuit,' ' arripuit,' 'irripuit.' 41.
Many MSS. ' in ilia.'
32.
4. Some good MSS. ' erat,' and so K. Heins. conj. ' partus inermis
128 CRITICAL NOTES.
eras.' 6. Two MSS. ' femore.' Ib. Most MSS. ' opus.' 7. Many
MSS. ' Bistonas.' Ib. Very many MSS. ' longum est narrare,' and so
K. 9. Three of the best MSS. ' male.' 14. Four of the best MSS.
and three others ' Vitisator.' 16. One MS. 'calidis.' 22. 'sanctis.'
23. Very many MSS. ' dulcibus idem.' 27. ' Pang, flamina,'
' flumina," ' Gangeaque flumina." 30. Some of the best MSS. have
'Quoque'or ' Quosque.' 33. Many MSS. 'lenisque;' three 'laetus-
que;' two ' graviorque ;' one 'dulcemque.' 35. About twenty MSS.
'in excelsa;' two 'in extrema.' 36. Et celat.' 37. One MS.
' resedit ;' one ' consedit.' 39. Three of the best MSS. ' nexus.'
42. Many MSS. ' prima,' Heins. conj. ' sima.' 50. So all the best
MSS.; the rest ' splendida ;' two ' mella reperta.' 51. Three of the
best MSS. ' presset,' ' praesit,' ' pressit," ' praestat.' 58. ' Apposuere '
B ; ' Nysiadas Nymphas opposuisse ferunt ;' ' apposuisse.' 60.
So four of the best MSS. and six others ; we find also ' Luciferis pueris
tuis ;' ' Luce geri pueris tua,' &c.
33. *
3. One MS. ' tympana cornu.' 9. Many MSS. ' vacant.' Tb.
Many MSS. ' Spectare.' 13. So one good MS.; most have 'quam
scite;' three 'quern sciter;' one 'quae scitor.' 14. So four of the
best MSS. ; the rest ' Vidit.' 25. One of the best MSS. magna,'
and so B. 27. One good MS. ' viscere,' and soB; three ' gurgite.'
31. Very many MSS. 'manibus;' four good ones 'sudibus;' two of
the best ' rudibus.' 33. Seven of the best MSS. have ' Res latuit ;
priscique manent imitamina facti.' 37. Three of the best MSS. ' leones,'
and so B. 38. About forty MSS. 'Praebeat;' the rest 'Praebent.'
Ib. Many MSS. ' comas.' 41. Many MSS. 'turrifera;' two ' turrifica.'
Ib. One of the best MSS. and many others ' ornata ;' the rest ' onerata.'
42. Two of the best MSS. ' An Phrygiis,' and so B. 45. Four
MSS. 'frondibus.' 49. ' nomina,' 'munera.' 51. One MS. 'bis
saecula.' 52. Many MSS. 'e domito.' 53. One MS. 'fat. signa.'
59. K has ' et Idaeo.' 69. One MS. ' scindunt.' 70. Four MSS.
' Phryx puer.' 72. 'Caelestem.' 73. Four of the best MSS. and
two others ' iustissima ;' the same number ' cultissima.' 75. So two
of the best MSS. ; the rest ' capax.' . 76. ' Tenedum veteres,' and so
B. 79. Very many MSS. ' lassas.' 83. Two MSS. ' fingere."
84. Two of the best MSS. ' Brontesque et Steropes,' and so B. 85.
Two MSS. 'Litoraque.' 86. Some ' Respicit ;' others ' Despicit ;'
one of the best ' Adspicit.' 88. One MS. ' fluit,' a gloss. 91. The
CRITICAL NOTES. 1 29
reading in the text is a conj. of Heins. Two of the best MSS. have
' natique nurusque;' the rest 'natique virique.' 92. One of the best
MSS. 'castos;' four 'sacros.' 94. 'Vix tulit.' Ib. Two MSS.
' adversis aquis.' 96. One of the best MSS. ' arenoso.' Ib. Three
MSS. ' fessa carina.' 97. One of the best MSS. ' operis.' 98.
One MS. ' tonante.' 101. Neapolis reads ' ab Atta,' see notes.
103. So the best MSS. ; the rest ' est credita.' 106. Many MSS.
'sonos.' 107. Some of the best MSS. 'mens veri." Ib. ' ridet.'
109. One of the best MSS. ' procedit.' Ib. Two of the best MSS.
'ad agmina.' no. ' Haurit.' in. 'ad aethera.' 115. One
MS. ' facunda.' 118. One MS. 'indice.' 119. One MS. 'curae.'
Gronov. conj. ' vittae.' 120. One of the best MSS. and seven others
'reddas, et sequare ;' two ' reddes, et sequare." 126. Many MSS.
' Atria.' 131. One of the best MSS. ' coronarum ;' five ' coronatam ;'
the rest ' coronarunt.' Heins. conj. ' coronata puppi,' and so B. 133.
Seven MSS. 'Tiberi.' Ib. One MS. 'quern;' another 'quo.' 135.
Seven MSS. 'castus.' 139. One MS. 'procedit.' 143. Four of
the best MSS. and three others ' tune exstitit,' and so B ; six of the
best and others ' non perstitit ;' others have ' non exstitit,' ' non
praestitit,' ' non substitit," ' nam praestitit,' ' tune perstitit.'
34.
2. Two MSS. ' torrentes.' 3. All MSS. except one ' a voce.'
4. Five MSS. ' respicit.' 5. Very many MSS. ' iacuere ;' one ' latuere.'
6. One MS. ' infestae prox." 7. Ten MSS. ' corvus.' n. Several
MSS. ' oras.' 12. Three MSS. ' modis.' 17. One MS. 'lamque.'
19. All except two have 'puppim' or ' puppem." 21. All the MSS.
have 'pavidus;' one as a various reading gives 'vacuus,' and so B,
see note. -24. ' posset.' 25. Many MSS. ' Induit et.' Ib. One
MS. 'depictam;' some edd. 'distinctam.' 27. Three MSS. ' can-
dentia.' 28. Four MSS. ' Threicius.' 34. One MS. ' pectine."
35.
a. 'loco.' 7. Eleven MSS. 'rapidos;' the rest 'tepidos.' n.
Ten MSS. have ' laqueataque ;' the rest ' laqueata et.' 12. Two MSS.
'limite.' 17. One of the best MSS. 'vincula laxant;' three 'vincula
laxat;' one . ' claustra relaxat.' 18. All the MSS. except three
' magnas.' 20. Six MSS. ' Stringebant magnos," and so B ; one
Cingebant;' one ' Rumpebant.' 21. One MS. 'rapit.' 23. One
MS. ' pectora.'
c
130 CRITICAL NOTES.
36.
3. One MS. ' Volscentibus.' Ib. Several MSS. ' armis.' 5. One MS.
'curas.' Ib. Two MSS. ' sumite.' 9. Several MSS. 'dextra.' n,
12. These lines omitted in soine MSS. 13. Three MSS. 'tenuere.'
14. 'Turgidus.' Ib. One MS. 'tumebat.' 17. Many MSS. 'de
gente;' one ' tellure.' 22. Almost all the MSS. ' tecta parant;'
only one 'caeca;' one 'caecata;' one ' saeva.' 23. Five MSS.
' cingebant.' Ib. Two MSS. ' valles.' 24. Two MSS. ' occulit apta ;'
very many 'occulit alta;' one 'occulere alta.' 26. Three MSS.
'turma.' 28. One MS. ' Zephyro mota;' one 'monte;' two 'vere;'
one 'sole.' Ib. Many MSS. Tepente,' and so B. Ib. Three MSS.
' cadet.' 30. Three MSS. ' claudit ;' one ' fluit ;' three ' fovit ;' one
' findit;' one ' fundit.' 32. One MS. 'caedunt;' one ' feriunt;'
eight 'spernunt,' which is adopted by K and B. 38. Many MSS.
' restet, adest.' 39. ' latrantibus,' ' latratibus.' 40. One MS.
' Fulmineus.' 47. Five MSS. ' annis.'
37.
2. Two MSS. ' flammas ;' B conj. ' flamma.' 5. Six MSS.
' cinerosa ;' others ' numerosa,' ' annosa.' 6. Several MSS. ' Con-
tigerant;' others ' Contigerint ;' one only ' Contigerunt.' 13. ' sumet.'
15. ' adempti,' 'adeptae,' 'adepti.' 18. Good MSS. ' te quoque
maior.' 22. Forty MSS. ' numen.' 25. Many MSS. ' originis
urbl' 30. ' urbis onus.'
38.
2. One MS. ' Quae,' and so B ; one ' Quod.' 3. One MS. ' recolo.'
4. Some MSS. ' tune,' and so M ; one ' humida gutta.' 5. Three
MSS. ' nox aderat.' 7. A few MSS. ' fuerant,' and so B. Ib. One
MS. ' paranti,' and so B; one ' paratu.' 9. ' comites.' u.
' actus,' 'ustus.' 13. One MS. ' animo," and so B; one ' animam.'
14. ' Vt.' 17. One MS. 'movebat;' one 'dolebat;' one ' timebat.'
19. Three MSS. 'divisa;' one 'divulsa.' Ib. One MS. 'Libycas
eras.' 21. ' Quodcunque' is a misprint in B. 25. 'Scilicet.' Ib.
One MS. ' in parvos.' 29. Many MSS. ' et adhuc ;' four ' haec et ;'
four ' et ad hanc.' 34. ' meum,' ' mei.' 35. Several MSS.
' funera.' 39. Five MSS. ' Vt quod sentitis ;' one ' Vtque ea vos
scitis.' 40. Two MSS. ' possim.' 42. One MS. ' praepediente,'
CRITICAL NOTES. 131
and so B. 43. Several MSS. 'ante aras.' Ib. Very many MSS.
' sparsis.' Ib. The MSS. vary much here, we find ' prostrata,'
' abstracta," ' attracta,' ' intracta,' contracta,' ' attacta,' ' proiecta,'
' abiecta,' ' accincta,' ' ablata,' ' diffusa,' ' attrata (atrata),' &c. 44.
Eight MSS. ' aeternos ;' one ' externos ;' five ' exstructos ;' one ' antiques.'
Ib. One MS. ' ore premente," which is corrupt. 45. The MSS.
' adversos ;' H conj. ' aversos,' and so B ; one ' offenses,' a gloss. 48.
Two MSS. ' Visaque.' 49. One MS. ' tangebar.' 50. ' morae.'
52. Five good MSS. 'festines;' the rest 'festinas.' 54. Many
MSS. 'fugae.' 55. 'abipso.' 58. Ten MSS. ' oscula multa.' 61.
' quo propero,' 'quid properas." Ib. ' mittitur.' 62. 'est' is wanting
in four MSS., and so B. 65. Three MSS. ' fraterno dilexi,' and so B.
66. One MS. ' pignora.' 67. Several good MSS. ' amplector.' 68.
One MS. ' lucre quae mihi est,' and so B. 74. Very many of the
best MSS. 'meo est.' 75, 76. So this couplet appears in almost all
MSS. It is considered hopelessly corrupt. One conj. will suffice. ' Sic
doluit Mettus versos equos;' see notes. 77.78- This couplet is
wanting hi one MS. 80. Six MSS. 'suis,' and so B. 81. Many
MSS. 'simul hinc.' Ib. A few MSS. 'ibimus ambo.' 87. All the
best MSS. ' sicut ;' many others ' sic et,' and so B. 89. Two MSS.
'cum funere.' 91. One MS. 'dolore gravis,' and so B; several
' gemens ;' one ' canens ;' one ' mei.' Ib. Three MSS. ' lacrimis ' for
'tenebris.' Vid. Heroid. 13.23. 92. Two MSS. 'procubuisse via.'
94. One MS. ' e gelida ;' three ' et madida ;' one ' media.' 99. Two
MSS. ' et moriendo,' and so B ; one ' moriendoque' (!) 100. Three
MSS. ' posuisse,' and so B ; four ' voluisse.' 102. ' Vivat' is probably
corrupt. B conj. ' Servet.'
39.
6. Very many MSS. 'quae non.' 8. About twenty-seven MSS.
'liquidis.' 10. So three MSS.; others ' est Candida facta gelu,' and so
M; others altogether omit 'est.' n, 12. This couplet is by most
editors considered either spurious or hopelessly corrupt. The MSS. are
in great confusion; see notes. 15. Four MSS. 'defluxit.' Ib.
Four MSS. ' altera crevit.' 1 6. Very many MSS. ' bina manere ;' seven
' bima iacere ;' six ' brutna manere.' 19. Three good MSS. ' et satis;'
one ' hie satisque ;' one ' assutis ;' one ' hue sutis,' &c. ; upwards of thirty
' hirsutis." Ib. H conj. 'male,' and so B. 23. One MS. 'Vdaque,
and so B. 25. Nearly all the MSS. ' cuncti ;' two ' iuncti ;' one ' vincti.'
25,26. Several MSS. ' concrescunt effodiuntur ;' for ' concrescant' one
K2
132 CRITICAL NOTES.
has 'circumstant ;' one ' durantur;' one ' turn restant.' 30. Two MSS.
' et tacitis ;'"one ' et strictis.' Ib. One MS. ' repit aquis.' 33. One
MS. ' subterque latentibus ;' one ' subter latitantibus.' 36. A few MSS.
' testis debet,' and so B. 38. Fourteen MSS. ' immensas ;' one ' invictas.'
Ib. Two MSS. ' crusta premebat.' 40. One MS. ' summa fluit ' one
' flava fluit ;' one ' clausa fluit.' 45. ' Quamquam' B, a conj. emenda-
tion. 47. All the best MSS. 'inmarmore;' some of the old edd. 'ut
marmore,' and so B. 48. Four MSS. ' pendere ;' three ' scindere ;' two
'stringere;' two 'fingere;' one 'fodere;' one 'fundere.' 50. One
indifferent MS. ' Et pars,' and so B. Ib. Two MSS. tune,' and
so M. 52. Seven MSS. ' redundantes.' Ib. One MS. ' flamine.'
58. Seven MSS. 'oves.' 65. Eight MSS. ' adducere ;' one ' subducere.'
66. One MS. and many old edd. 'hostica turba.' 68. Six MSS.
'pulsat;' three 'findit;' one 'versat.' 71. One MS. 'sub ulmo.'
73. Many MSS. 'poma vetat.' 75. Two MSS. 'adspicio;' two
adspiceret ;' one ' adspicies.' 77. One MS. ' Ergo cum patuit late via
max. orb."
40.
I. One MS. 'quis.' Ib. The greater number of MSS. 'fueram.'
5. The best MSS. 'hie;' others 'hinc,' and so M. Ib. Ten MSS.
* noscas ;' one ' si temp, quaeris.' 7. The MSS. vary much ; many have
'Si quid," or ' Si quis,' or 'Si qui," followed by ' et a proavis usque est.'
8. ' Non sum,' ' Non ego.' Ib. Two MSS. ' Non modo militiae turbine.'
9. One MS. 'iam fratre,' and so B; others ' sine fratre.' n. One good
MS. 'ambobus.' 19. One MS. ' caelest. signa.' 21. Six MSS.
' carpis." 22. One MS. ' inde.' 25. Two MSS. 'numeros carmen,'
and so B. 26. The greater number of MSS. ' tentabam scribere.'
39. Two MSS. ' Ausoniae.' 44. Many MSS. ' nocet iuvat,' and so
M. 46. All the MSS. except three ' sodalitii.' Ib. Several MSS.
' quo.' 47. One MS. ' Bacchus ;' the rest ' Battus' or ' Batus.' ' Bassus'
is a conj. emend. Ib. Six MSS. ' lambo,' and so B. 50. Four
MSS. * Aonia.' H conj. ' Aeolia.' 51. Many of the best MSS. ' amara,'
and so B and M. 57. Two MSS. 'scripsi;' one'feci;' one ' lusi.'
59. Five MSS. ' totum orbem.' 61. One MS. 'nocitura.' 62.
Three MSS. ' Emendaturus.' 63. Other MSS. ' Tune,' and so M.
67. Many good MSS. ' hie,' and so M. Ib. Thirteen MSS. ' nimioque."
70. M writes 'per breve.' 71. One MS. 'quovis.' 73. One MS.
4 miseros.' 79. Almost all the best MSS. ' adempto ;' the rest ' ademp-
tum,' and so B. 80. Five MSS. ' foret' Ib. ' lusta is a conj. of
CRITICAL NOTES. 133
Cujaccius. The MSS. have 'busta,' except one, which has Musta.'
81. One MS. ' ambos.' Ib. The MSS. 'sepulti.' B has 'sepultos.'
82. Five MSS. ' quia.' 83. Five MSS. 'qui non;' one ' quia non.'
84. One MS. ' condoluere.' 85. Many of the best MSS. ' restat ;'
others ' restant,' and so M. 88. Many MSS. 'carmina.' 91. Two
MSS. 'id satis,' and so B. 92. Two MSS. 'qui,' and so B. 96.
Many of the best MSS. and others ' Abstuleram.' Ib. All the MSS.
have ' eques," and so M. Bentley (Hor. Od. 4. 1 1, 1 7) and B conj. ' equus ;'
see notes. 97. One MS- 'pos. procul orbe.' 102. So one good MS.
The great majority have ' Ipseque multa ;' one ' Ipse ego multa,' &c.
Muretus conj. 'Et quae multa.' M ' Ipsa quaeque.' . 105. One MS.
' Oblitusque togae,' and so B. 106. Scalig. conj. ' turn prius.'
Francius ' protinus.' 107. Some good MSS. ' casus terra,' and so M ;
others 'poenas terra.' 109. Three MSS. 'error, arctos.' in.
Many MSS. ' circumsonor.' 115. Two MSS. ' Ergo quidem.' 116.
Three MSS. 'noctis;' two 'mentis;' one 'vocis.' 118. 'medicina
mali' is found as a various reading in two good MSS., and so B ; two
'med. vetus;' two 'med. malis.' 119. Five MSS. ' tu comes es,' and
so B. The MSS. vary. One has 'tu requies.' 121. Two MSS. omit
est,' and so B. 123. Eight MSS. 'Nee quia.' Ib. Several MSS.
' detracted' 131. Two MSS. ' hanc quoque.' 132. ' lure tibi' B.
NOTES.
1. OENONE PARIDI. HER. EP. v.
1. In some MSS. this epistle commences with the following couplet,
which is generally considered spurious,
Nympba suo Paridi (quamvis meus esse recuses),
Mittit ab Idaeis verba legenda iugis.
2. Mycenaea manu, i. e. hostili, with reference to Agamemnon and
Menelaus, sons of Atreus, king of Mycenae.
3. Pegasis Oenone. 'Oenone the fountain nymph,' from irqyi) a
fountain. Oenone was the daughter of the river Cebren. Many ancient
writers speak of the 'Cebrenia Regio' and its capital ' Cebrene" in the
Troad. The river Cebren is mentioned, as we have seen above, in
the narrative of Apollodorus. Geographers fix the site of ' Cebrene '
near the sources of the ' Mendere ' (which some identify with the
Scamander, and others with the Simois of Homer) in Mount Ida.
Extensive ruins mark the spot, now called ' Kutchunlu-Tepe,' and a
little way above these a small stream, believed to be the ' Cebren,' falls
into the 'Mendere,' and is called the 'Kaz-daghtchai 1 .' With regard
to the epithet ' Pegasis,' we may observe that the Muses are styled
' Pegasides' by Propert. 3. I, 19
Mollia, Pegasides, vestro date serta poetae.
9. Tantus, i.e. nondum agnitus eras Priami filius R. In v. 12. he is
termed 'servus,' because he was at that time the reputed son of the
bondsman of Priam.
ii. Remark the difference of meaning according as we read adsit
or absit.
1 Cramer's Description of Asia Minor.
HERO IDES. V. 135
Adsit. 'Ita revereamur veritatem, ut earn quamvis tibi ingrata sit,
confiteamur.'
Absit. ' Ne tui reverentia nos impediat quominus verum dicamus.'
12. Tuli. i.e. non recusavi nubere. So Ov. Met. 13. 460
Scilicet out illi servire Polyxena f err em,
and ib. 1 1 . 447
Nee vult Halcyonen in parlem adbibere pencil.
15. Super stramen fenoque iacentibus. Remark the change in
the construction of ' stramen' and ' feno.' Compare the following :
His difficultatibus circumventus ubi videt neque per vim neqiie insidiis op~
primi posse bominem tarn acceptum popularibus. Sail. lug. 7.
I gitur fatalis dux ad excidium illius vrbis servandaeque patriae M. Furius
Camillus, &c. Liv. 5. 19.
Quaque licet fugio, sicnl ab boste, virum. Ov. Her: 8. no.
1 6. Defensa. 'Defendere' signifies properly 'to ward off,' so Virg.
E. 7. 47
Sohtitium pecori defendite, iam venit aestas,
and Senec. de Prov. 4
Imbrem culmo ant fronde defendunt.
The student will find other examples in Hor. Od. I. 17, 3, Sat. I. 3, 14,
Cic. de Sen. 15, &c.
19. Maculis. The knots of a net seem to be indicated by ' maculae.'
N. Heins. would understand the coloured feathers employed to scare the
beasts of chase, and drive them into the toils, as in Virg. G. 3. 372
Hos (sc. cervot) non immissis canibus, non cassibus ullis,
Puniceaeve agitant trepidos formidine pennae.
Scheller in his Lexicon says that the ' maculae ' are the ' meshes '
or 'holes' of the net 1 . The word cannot bear either of the two last
mentioned significations in the following passage from Varro, R. R. 3.
u, where he is giving directions for the construction of a vrjaaorpcxpfiov
or duck-yard; after describing the manner in which the wall is to
be built and plastered, he continues idque saeptum totum rete grandibtis
maculis integitnr ne eo involare aquila possit, neve ex eo evolare anas;
and so Columella, 8. 15, almost in the same words. In these passages
'grandibus maculis' must mean ' strong knots,' for 'large meshes' would
admit of the very evil which the farmer is here taught to guard against.
1 And so Burm. ad Nemes. Cyneget. 302.
136 NOTES, i.
24. Recta, although found in most MSS., is scarcely intelligible, since
it cannot be connected either with 'trunci' or 'nomina.' 'Rite,' which
appears in two MSS., is probably the true reading. 'Recte' was
perhaps placed in the margin as an explanation of ' rite,' and might then
find its way into the text, and finally would be changed into ' recta,'
to prevent a violation of the laws of prosody.
25. Consita. 'Sero' and its compounds are used perpetually by
Virgil and the prose writers upon agriculture, in the sense of ' to plant,'
as well as in that of ' to sow.'
30. Ad fontem. The expression of rivers running backwards seems
to have been applied proverbially, among the Greeks, to anything which
was so strange as to seem a violation of the laws of nature. So the
chorus in the Medea of Euripides, 414
"A.VU iroTa/Mav iepwv xoipovffi -nayal
Koi 8{a at iravra ird\tv
and in like manner Horace, when expressing his astonishment at the
resolution of Iccius, Od. i. 29, 10
Quis neget arduis
Pronos relabi posse rivos
Montibus, et Tiber im reverti,
and Ovid himself, complaining of the perfidy of a friend, fully illustrates
the idea,
In caput alia suum labentur db aequore retro
Flumina, ' conversis Solque recurret equis.
Terra feret Stellas, caehim findetur aratro,
Vnda dabit flammas, et dabit ignis aquas.
Omnia naturae praepostera legibus ibunt,
Parsqve suum mundi ntilla tenebit iter.
Omnia iam fient, fieri qvae posse negabam,
Et nibil est de quo non sit babenda fides.
Haec ego vaticinor, qitia sum deceptus ab illo
Laturum misero qnem mibi rebar opem. Tr. I. 8, I.
31. Lymphae. 'Et lympba et nympba pro aqua ponitur; verum ubi
poetae aquis actionem quandam humanam tribuunt, nympbam potius
quam lympbam, dicunt. Itaque Heins. e MSS. emendat nympbae ' R.
The two words, as might be expected from their resemblance both in
form and meaning, are perpetually confounded in MSS.
32. Sustinet, nearly the same as 'tuli' in v. 12, implying that a
person brings himself by an effort to do something from which he would
naturally shrink. It occurs again in v. 52. So Cic. Verr. 2. I, 4
Sustinebunt tales viri se tot botninibus boneslissimis non credidissef
HEROIDES. V. 137
33. Fatum . . . dixit. R understands ' dixit ' to be equivalent here
to ' praedixit,' which is unnecessary ' pronounced my doom ' is the
meaning.
34. Mutati, &c. ' Hiems vel tempestas de calamitate dicitur. Mutatus
amor est aliorsum versus, metaphora sumpta a vento, qui cum secundus
fuisset, mutatus et adversus est. Vulgo amoris biemem de amoris frigore
accipiunt, quod nullo modo patitur vox mutati ' R.
37. Micuere sinus. 'Mico' properly signifies 'to move rapidly
backwards and forwards ; ' thus Virgil of a high-bred horse, G. 3. 84
Stare loco nescit, micat auribus, et tremit artus,
and of a serpent darting its tongue, G. 3. 439
et linguis micat ore tristilcis.
It is often applied, as in the present passage, to mental agitation, thus
attoniti micuere sinus corda micant regis pulsantur trepidi corde micante
sinus, &c., are all Ovidian expressions.
41. Classe peraeta, the reading adopted by Burmann and approved
by Ruhnken, can scarcely be defended. ' Parare ' and ' ornare ' are the
technical words employed by the best writers with regard to the equip-
ment of a fleet, while not a single example can be produced in favour of
'peragere.' In the passages quoted from Suetonius Calig. 21, and Oth.
6, it is applied to buildings the construction of which required great
time and toil.
42. Ceratas, i.e. cera piceque oblitas, so again Ov. R. A. 447
Non satis una tenet ceratas ancora puppes.
43. Parce negare, i. e. noli negare, cave neges.
This use of the verb 'parco' is very common among the poets,
although scarcely admissible in prose composition, e. g. Hor. Od. 3.
8, 26
Parce privates nimium cavere,
and Virg. E. 3. 94
Parcite, oves, nimium procedere, non bene ripae
Creditur.
44. Praeterito, ' the love which once you bore to me, but which now
has passed away.'
45. TTostros vidisti flentis ocellos, i. e. mei flentis ocellos. This
peculiar construction, by which the possessive pronoun is substituted for
the genitive of the personal, is found occasionally in the best writers.
It may be useful to the student to give a few examples :
qwim mea nemo
Scripta legal vulgo recitare timentis. Hor. S. I. 4, 11.
138 'NOTES. 1.
Saepe mibi dices vivas bene : saepe rogabis
Vt mea defunctae molliter osaa cubent. Ov. Am. I. 8, 107.
Cut nomen meum absentis bonori fuisset, ei meas praesentis preces non
putas profuisse J Cic. Plane, i o.
Tuum bominis simplicis pectus nudum vidimus. Cic. Phil. 2.
.... gratae in vulgus leges fuere. Quas quum solus (sc. Publicold)
pertulisset, ut sua unius in bis gratia esset, turn, &c. Liv. 2.8.
In vacuum pontem Gallus processit, et, Quern nunc, inquit, Roma virum
fortissimum babet, procedat, agedum ad pugnam, ut noster duorum eventus
ostendat, utra gens bello sit melior. Liv. 7- 9-
Cogor vestram omnium vicem unus consulere. Liv. 25. 38.
The use of nostros in the passage before us, instead of meos, renders
the expression still more complicated; to this we have a parallel in
Martial. 7. 51, 7
Si tenet absentis nostros cantatque libellos.
The same idiom is found in Greek, Horn. II. 3. 180
Aar)p avr' I/ids e<7/ KwdnriSos, ti VOT' tijv 7?,
and again, Sophocl. Oedip. Col. 345
ofyu) 5' OVT' fKfivuv rapa, bvarrfvov Kaxa
vittpitovtiTov.
go. Hie secundus erat. 'Scilicet mihi amanti, quia te retinebat, nee
illo flante abire poteras ' B.
A singular misapprehension of the meaning. Oenone intends to say
that when the wind was really favourable for the voyage, Paris, unable
to tear himself from her arms, and eager to frame an excuse for delay,
complained that it was adverse, a pretext so flimsy that 'riserunt
comites.'
54. Eruta. ' Translatio ducta est ex agricultura ; nam proprie fossor
dicitur eruere terram' R. We have a double metaphor in Ov. Amor.
3- 8. 43
Non freta demissi verrebant truta rend.
59. Alii, 'est dativus commodi, ut grammatici loquuntur' R.
Votis ergo meis. This line is probably corrupt, for the final syllable
in ' ergo ' is uniformly made long by the writers of the Augustan age,
and by Ovid himself elsewhere. See the question fully discussed in
'Ramsay's Manual of Latin Prosody,' p. 58.
60. Pellice, i. e. Helena.
Blanda, i. e. supplex precibus delinivi Deas marinas.
61. Nativa, i.e. 'the work of nature,' as opposed to any bulwark
reared by the hand of man. So in the Fasti, 5. 149
HEROIDES. V. 139
Est moles nativa : loco res nomina fecit :
Appellant saxum : pars bona mantis ea est.
64. Impetus, ' impulse,' as opposed to ratio, ' a meditated plan.'
Et quod mine ratio est, impetus ante fuit. Ov. R. A. 10.
69. Morabar. ' Haec non intelligo : forte rectius morabor cum Lei-
densi codice' H. The meaning is this,
' It was not enough that I beheld with fluttering heart a woman's
cheek for had that been enough to satisfy me of your infidelity, why
did I madly linger? No, I did not believe the worst, until, upon a
nearer view, I saw an impure mistress clasped in your embrace there
was no longer any room, for doubt Tune vero rupique sinus et pectora
planxi' &c.
Heusinger and Jahn read
Non satis id fueratf quid enim furiosa morabart
but the interrogation in the first member of the clause does not suit the
'quid enim' which follows. Ruhnken, who adopts this punctuation,
understands it thus, ' Cur me non subduxi, ut Helenam ne viderem in
gremio tuo haerentem.' The explanation of Burmann is harder to
understand than the passage itself.
71. Sinus, i.e. vestes. Properly speaking, 'the folds of the gar-
ment ; ' it is used in the same general sense in Ep. 1 3, 36
Indue regales, Laodamia, sinus.
73. Idam v, Iden. A number of nouns of the first declension,
chiefly proper names, are employed by the poets, sometimes undei
their Greek, sometimes under their Latin shape, as best suits their
purpose. Thus we have ' Ida ' and ' Ide ; ' ' Leda,' ' Lede ; ' ' Helena,'
' Helene ; ' ' Creta,' ' Crete ; ' and many others. Where either form is
equally admissible, as in the present passage, we must be guided
entirely by the best MSS.
Sacram . . . Iden. ' Sacra dicitur, quod Cybeles sacra in hoc monte
celebrabantur, quae inde etiam matris Idaeae nomen habet ' R. Com-
pare Ov. Fast. 4. 249
Dindymon, et Cybelen, et amoenam fontibus Iden
Semper, et lliacas Mater amavit opes.
74. Mea saxa, ' the rocky cave which formed my abode.'
75. Desertaque coniuge, sc. a coniuge. The preposition is omitted
in like manner in Her. 12. 161
Deseror (amissis regno, patriaqtte, domoque)
Coniuge : qui nobis omnia solus erat.
77, 78. If we read ' sequuntur ' and ' destituunt,' it will make ' quae '
140 NOTES. 1.
refer to Helen alone, while the subjunctive renders the proposition
general, ' such as are ready to follow,' and this seems more appropriate.
78. Legitimos toros, i. e. legitimos viros. ' Torus poetice dicitur et
de viro et de uxore ' R. Thus Ov. Her. 8. 25
Sic quoqve eram repetenda tamen : nee turpe manto
Aspera pro caro bella tulisse toro,
and lectus in Prop. 2. 6, 23.
Felix Admeti coninx et lectus Vlyssis.
8 1. Miror opes. 'Mirari interdum est, ita suspicere aliquid et
magnum putare, ut eius particeps fieri cupias ' R.
In illustration of which, we find
Seu quis, Olympiacae miratus praemia palmae,
Pascit equos seu, &c. Virg. G. 3. 49.
82. Tot. Fifty. Priam when speaking of his sons in his most
touching address to Achilles, says
nfVTrjKovTa fioi foav or' TJ\vOov vies 'Axaiwv.
Fifty were mine when came Achaia's sons.
83. Non tamen. 'It must not be supposed, however.' 'Tamen'
is used to qualify an expression, to prevent it from being misunderstood,
or taken up too strongly. The pride of Oenone here takes alarm lest
her language should be supposed to imply a feeling of unworthiness or
unfitness for so high a station. Thus Prop. 2. 19, 9
Incipiam captare feras, et reddere pennis
Cornua, et audaces ipse monere canes.
Non tamen, ut vastos ausim tentare leones,
Atit celer agrestes cominus ire sues,
and Virg. Ae. 12. 81 1
luturnam misero, fateor, succurrere fratrl
Suasi, et pro vita maiora audere probavi;
Non ut tela tamen, non ut contenderet arcum.
84. Dissimulanda, 'disowned.'
85. Matrona is always a title of respect, ' the wedded wife,' the
mother of the family, the mistress of the house.
86. Quas possint. ' Quae possint ' is also a legitimate construction.
capit Hie coronam
Quae possit crines, Pboebe, decere tuos. Ov. Fast. 2. 106.
' Quas possint decere ' is much the same as ' quas deceant,' and this not
being understood, gave rise to conjectural emendations on the part of
the transcribers, and hence the variations in the text.
91. Fugitivus is the technical term for a runaway slave.
93. Si. ' Si ' is used for ' num,' an usage sanctioned even by prose
HERO IDES. 'V. 141
writers. Thus Caes. B. G. i. 8 Saepius noctu, si perrumpere possent,
conali.
We have the same idiom in English.
94. Deiphobo. Deiphobus, after Hector, was the best and bravest
of all the sons of Priam and Hecuba. We are told in the Odyssey, 8.
517, that his house was stormed at the capture of Troy by Ulysses and
Menelaus, and later writers represented him as having wedded Helen
after the death of Paris. This account was followed by Virgil, and the
student will do well to read the description of the interview between
Aeneas and the shade of Deiphobus, in the realms below, Ae. 6. 494.
Polydamanta. Polydamas, son of Panthoos a Delphian, who had
settled at Troy and wedded the niece of Priam, is repeatedly introduced
in the Iliad, and represented as one of the wisest, as well as the most
valiant, in the Trojan host. With regard to the orthography ' Graece
dicitur TlovXvSafMs sed Latinum Polydamas priori syllaba longa ; for-
matum est ex Aeolico nctiXvSapas ' R. Hence it is quite unnecessary to
write the name ' Pulydamas,' as some desire.
95. Anterior. Antenor, husband of Theano, the sister of Hecuba,
is characterised by Homer as an aged, wise, and eloquent counsellor,
holding the same position among the Trojans which Nestor occupied
among the Greeks. Tradition told, that having escaped from the sack
of his native city, he led a band of exiles, who wandered to the head of
the Adriatic and founded the city of Patavium. So Virgil,
Antenor potuit, mediis elapsus Achivis,
Illyricos penetrare sinus atque intima tutus
Regna Liburnorum, et fontem superare Timavi,
Vnde per ora novem vasto cum murmurs tnontis
It mare proruptum et pelago premit arva sonanti;
Hie tamen tile urbem Patavi, sedesque locavit
Teucrorum, et genti nomen dedit, armaque fixit
Troia, mine placida compostus pace quiescit. Ae. i. 242.
Of these three, Antenor alone is expressly said by Homer to have
urged the propriety of ending the war by the surrender of Helen.
II. 7- 351
AeCr' dyer' 'Apyeirjv 'E\(vrjv KO! KTrj/Md' a/j.' avry
8ii>o(ji.ev 'A.TpdSriaiv dyeiv.
Whence Horace, Ep. i. 2, 9
Antenor censet belli pr decider e causam.
Quintus Calaber makes Polydamas recommend the same policy.
Censeat. ' Censeat," taken hi conjunction with ' consule," accords
better than ' suadeat ' with the ordinary technical phraseology of the
Roman Senate, although both verbs are used.
142 NOTES, i.
97. Rudimentum. ' Proprie est, primum rudium tironum in armis
exercitium, deinde cuiusvis rei quam aggredimur initium ' R.
98. ' Causa locutio est forensis, significans viroOtaiv sive negotium de
quo in iudicio disceptatur per litem adversariorum ' Oudendorp.
101. Minor Atrides. Menelaus, the younger brother of Aga-
memnon.
104. Semel, ' once, and once for all.'
107. Certus maritus is a true and faithful husband opposed to
' incertae nuptiae,' which we find in Ter. And. 5. i, n in the sense
of unstable.
112. Solibus, ' soles poetae dicunt plurali numero pro vehement! soils
calore ' R, who quotes Ov. Met. i. 434
Ergo tibi diluvio tellus lutulenta recenti
Solibus aetberiis altoque recanduit aestti,
and Hor. Ep. I. 20, 24, where the poet describes himself as
Corporis exigtii, praecanum, solibus aptutn.
113. Becolo, i. e. in memoriam revoco, animo repeto. So Cic.
Phil. 13, 20
Quae si tecum ipse recoils, aequiore animo et maiore consolations moriere R.
The word being somewhat uncommon, gave rise to a multitude of
glosses which have crept into the text of different MSS. See various
readings.
Germana, i. e. Cassandra, the daughter of Priam and Hecuba,
who received from Apollo the gift of prophecy, to which was added
the curse that her predictions should never be believed 1 . On the
partition of the spoil of Troy, she fell to the lot of Agamemnon, and,
on his return home, shared his fate, being murdered by Clytemnestra
and her paramour Aegisthus 2 . She plays a prominent part in the
noblest production of the Grecian drama, the Agamemnon of Aeschylus.
The story of her prophetic powers is unnoticed by Homer.
114. Diffusis . . . comis. 'Quod est furentis; nam in furorem
rapiuntur vates, si vaticinantur.' The best commentary is the descrip-
tion given by Virgil of the Sibyl when possessed by the God. Ae. 6. 45
Ventum erat ad limen, quum virgo, Poscere fata
Temptts, ait ; deus, ecce deus I Cut talia fanti
Ante fores, sitbito non vulttis non color unus,
JVon comptae mansere comae : sed pectus anbelum,
Et rabie fera cor da fitment, maiorque videri,
Nee mortale sonans, afflata est numine quando
lam propiore dei.
1 Apollodor. 3. 12, 5. z Horn. Od. n. 405.
HEROIDES. V. 143
1 1 6. Litora . . . aras. A proverbial expression applied to those
who waste their toil in endeavouring to effect what can never be
accomplished. So Ov. Tr. 5. 4, 47
Plena tot ac tantis referetur gratia factis ;
Nee sinet tile tuos litus arare boves,
and Juvenal, speaking of the perseverance of unrewarded men of letters,
Nos tamen hoc agimus, tenuique in pulvere sulcos
Ducimus, et litus sterili versamus aratro. S. 7- 48.
117. Venit, i. e. veniet. This is peculiarly the style of prophets
who behold, as it were, the events they describe actually passing
before their eyes, as they pour forth the prediction. So the oracular
response of Faunus
O mea progenies, thalamis neu crede paratis,
Externi veniunt generi. Virg. Ae. 7. 98.
' Graia iuvenca ' is the type under which Cassandra shadows forth
Helen in the dark language of prophecy.
119. Obscaenam puppim. The true meaning of 'obscaenus' is
' ill-omened," and it seems certain that it is connected with ' scaevus,'
i.e. 'sinister,' a/caios; thus Virg. G. I. 470, describing the prodigies
which preceded and followed the death of Caesar,
Tempore quamquam illo tellus quoque et aequora ponti,
Obscaenique canes, importunaeque volucres
Signa dabant,
and in Ae. 12. 876 Juturna exclaims, on seeing the Dira in the shape of
a bird, which Jupiter had sent inque omen luturnae occurrere iussit,
Jam, iam linquo acies, ne me terrete timentem,
Obscaenae volucres
hence, it sometimes means simply ' loathsome,' and in that sense is
appropriated twice in Ae. 3. 241, and 262 to the Harpies.
121. In cursu, i.e. in medio cursu, in ipso furoris impetu, 'while
her frenzy was in mid career.'
' Imperaverat Priamus, ut quoties Cassandra solveret os in oracula,
toties earn famulae coercerent ut insanam. Meminit Lycophron et eius
interpres' Parrhasius. If we read ' incursu,' it will mean ' the attendants
rushing in,' or ' rushing upon her.'
126. Socios . . . deos. ' Deos coniugales intelligit ' Heins.
1 28. Nescio quis Theseus. ' Oenone, ut mulier peregrina, fingit
se non satis nosse Theseum' R. The story, as narrated by Apollo-
dorus 1 , is simply this. The fame of Helen's beauty being bruited
abroad over Greece, Theseus, assisted by Pirithous, bore her away by
1 Lib. 3. 10, 7.
144 NOTES. 1.
force and transported her to Athens. He then descended to the
infernal regions for the purpose of aiding his friend to carry off
Proserpine. Meanwhile Castor and Pollux made war against Athens,
captured the city, recovered their sister, and, in retaliation, led prisoner
to Sparta, Aethra, the mother of Theseus. The details are given at
length in Diodorus 1 and Plutarch*. Herodotus 3 also refers to the
invasion of Attica by the Tyndarids on account of Helen. Some
critics cavil at the epithet ' iuvene,' in v. 1 29, since they ingeniously
calculate that Theseus, at the period in question, must have been at
least fifty years old. Were this a grave history we might entertain
the objection ; but when urged against a poet who is celebrating a
mythical hero and a legendary tale, it is sheer nonsense.
135, 138. Satyri . . . Faunus. See notes on 7, 16, and 15.
136. Quaesierunt. See 'Manual of Latin Prosody,' p. 102.
141. Ordo. 'Quaecunque herba potens radixque utilis ad opem
medendi in toto orbe nascitur, mea est ' L.
145. Ipse repertor. The train of thought is this, 'It is little won-
derful that I, though skilled in the healing art, should be unable to
minister to my own diseased heart, since even the God of Medicine,
Apollo himself, became a shepherd and fed the herds of Admetus,
when wounded by the shafts of Love.'
Ovid here follows Callimachus and PJiianus the Thracian, hi assign-
ing love as the cause of the sojourn of Apollo upon earth in the guise
of a herdsman ; the former, when enumerating the attributes and titles
of the deity, thus sings,
Kd No^tOr KlK\TiaKO(i.(l', (fTl KftVCV
e6r' fir' 'An<f>pvoq> {(vyrjTiSas trpttytv imrovs,
fjiOtov iirr' tpwri KtKa.vjj.ivos 'AS/tjyroto.
The more common legend, as given by Euripides and Apollodorus,
told that Zeus having destroyed Aesculapius, Apollo, in vengeance, slew
the Cyclopes, or their sons, who had forged the thunderbolts, and was
sentenced by the king of heaven to serve as bondsman to a mortal for
the space of a year. He accordingly entered the service of Admetus, son
of Pheres, king of Pherae in Thessaly, and tended his cattle on the
banks of the river Amphrysus, whence Ov. A. A. 2. 239
Cyntbins Admeti vaccas pavisse Pberaeas
Dicitur, et parva delituisse casa,
1 Lib. 4. 63. a In his Life of Theseus. * Lib. 9. 73.
HERO IDES. XIII. 145
and Virgil at the beginning of the third Georgic,
Te quoque, magna Pales, et le memorande canemm
Pastor ab Ampbryso.
A third account, that of Alexandrides the Delphian, assigned the
slaughter of the Python as the cause of the punishment of Apollo.
The whole of these tales, and the authorities for them, will be found
enumerated in the Scholium on the first line of that most touching
of dramas, the Alcestis of Euripides.
146. A nostro. ' A hie ponitur pro post. Sensus est, Phoebus, post-
quam me amavit, etiam Alcestida amavit' B.
Burmann has totally mistaken the meaning of these words. Loers cor-
rectly observes that there is no hint given by any ancient author that
Apollo ever cherished a passion for Alcestis the wife of Admetus. The
preposition 'a' in this, as in many similar passages, does not signify
' after,' but indicates the ' cause ' of some effect described, e. g.
Non ego Tydides a quo tua saucia mater. Ov. R. A. ;.
Imus ad insignes Urbis ab arle viros. Ov. Tr. 4. 10, 1 6.
Languida laetitia solvar ab ipsa mea. Ov. Her. 13. 116.
Lastly, ' nostro igne' is not here equivalent to ' igne nostri.' We must
translate them not as Burmann would have it,
' And was smitten with love for Alceslis after his passion for me ;' but
'And was smitten by the same passion which now consumes me.'
2. LAODAMIA PROTESILAO. EP. xnr.
1. Ordo verborum est, ' Amans Laodamia mittit salutem viro
Aemonio, et optat eo ire quo mittitur salus, hoc est, epistola ' Micyllus.
The interpretation of Crispinus is more simple, and, in every respect, pre-
ferable : ' Amans Aemonis Laodamia mittit salutem Aemonio viro et
optat (i. e. cupit) earn salutem pervenire quo mittitur.' Compare Or. E.
ex P. 3. 2, i
Qitam legis a nobis missam tibi, Cotta, salutem,
Mista. sit ut vtre, perveniatque, precor,
also Her. 18. i
Mittit Abydenus, quam mallet f err e, salutem.
2. Aemonis Aemonio. Aemonia was an ancient name of Thessaly,
and hence Aemonius is used by the poets as equivalent to Thessaliaa.
L
146 NOISES. 2.
Thus Aemonia puppis*, Aemonius iuvenk*, Aemonium bospitium 3 , Aetno-
nitiae*, are used to indicate the ship Argo, lason, and the Argonauts ;
while Aemonius i-eros*, Aemonii equi 6 , Aemonia cuspis 7 , &c.,are periphrases
for Achilles, his horses and spear.
6. Saevis utile tempus aquis, i. e. teinpus aptum tempestatibus L.
1 2. Solvor, sc. invita, non ipsa me solvo L.
15. Boreas. Protesilaus was about to sail from Thessaly to the ren-
dezvous of the Grecian fleet at Aulis. Hence Boreas would be a fair
wind.
23, 24. Compare Ov. Met. 10. 457
lamqtie fores aperit iam ducihir inlus, at illi
Poplite succiduo genua intremuere,
also Stat. Theb. 4. 324
Poplite succiduo resupinum ac paene cadentem,
and Plaut. Curcul. 2. 3, 30
Phaed. Quid tibi 'si ? Cure. Tenebrae oborhinltir ; genua
inedia succidunt.
25. Acastus. Acastus, the father of Laodamia, is usually identified
with Acastus, son of Pelias, king of Thessaly. He was one of the Argo-
nauts, and subsequently drove lason and Medea from lolcos, after they
had compassed the death of his sire. Various other exploits of this hero
are enumerated by Apollodorus and others, but they possess no particular
interest.
29. Redit. See ' Manual of Latin Prosody,' p. 107.
30. Momordit, i. e. dolore affecit R, who quotes Ov. Amor. 2. 19, 43
Mordeat ista tuas aliquando euro medullas.
The same figure is very common in English.
33. Bicorniger. Bacchus, who is frequently represented in ancient
works of art with two horns, the emblem of power among eastern nations.
Pampinea hasta, the ' thyrsus,' the sacred ' gestamen ' of Bacchus and
his votaries. It was a long rod, like a spear-shaft, wreathed round with
ivy and vine branches, and terminated by a pine-cone. Compare Ov.
Amor. 3. 15, 17. The poet is announcing his determination to devote
himself to the drama,
Corniger increpuit /byrso grnvicre Lyaeus,
Pulsanda tst magnis area maior equis,
1 Ov. A. A. I. 6. * Met. 7. 132. 3 Prop. i. i;, 20 * Val.
Place. 4. sc6. s Ov. Amor. 2 9, 7. * Prop. 2. 8, 38. 7 2. I, 63.
Horace too speaks of Venator in ' campis nivalis = Aemoniae' Od. 19. 3, 71.
HEROIDES. XIII. 147
and Met. 3. 666
Ipse, racemiferis frontem circumdatus vvis,
Pampineis agitat velatam frondibus bastam.
Py some of the Latin writers the ' thyrsus' was considered as a spear con-
cealed in ivy, or having the point covered with a cone. Thus Catull.
64. 357
Horum pars tecta qualiebant cuspide tbyrsos,
and Seneca H. F.,
Tectam virenti ctispidem tbyrso ferens,
but this was not an idea entertained by the Greeks, nor indeed by the
Romans generally *.
35. Matres Phylaceides. ' Phylaceis' is a feminine adjective formed
from ' Phylace.' Four towns bore this name, one in Thessaly, a second
in Macedonia, a third in Epirus, and a fourth in Arcadia ; of these, the
first was the abode of Protesilaus and Laodamia. Hence the shade of
Protesilaus is called by Statius Pbylaceis umbra, Silv. 5. 3, 273
Si lux una retro Pbylaceida relulil umbram,
and Laodamia is termed by Ovid coniux Pbylaceia, Trist. 5. 14, 39
Cernis, tit Admeti cantetitr, ut Hectoris uxor,
A usaque in accensos Ipbias ire rogos f
Vt vivat fama coniux Pbylaceia, cuius
Iliacam celeri vir pede pressil bumum.
On the other hand, ' Phylacides ' is a patronymic for Protesilaus, formed
from 'Phylacus' his grandsire, e. g. Ov. A. A. 2. 355
Penelopen absens toilers torquebal Vlixes,
Pbylacides aberat, Laodamia, tuus,
and 3. 17
Respice Pbylaciden, et qnae comes isse marito
Fertur, et ante annos occubuisse suos,
and the lines from Prop. I. 19 quoted in the introduction to this epistle.
See also 4. 41.
Heinsius proposes to read in the line before us ' matres Phylleides,'
deriving ' Phylleis,' a word which is found in no Latin author, from
' Phyllus,' another Thessalian town, near lolcos, celebrated for its flocks,
Aptior armentis Midea pecorosaque Pbyllos.
Stat. Theb. 4. 45.
36. Sinus. See note on 1. 71.
1 See an interesting dissertation on the ' thyrsus ' in Donaldson's New
Cratylus, p. 397.
L 2
148 NOTES. 2.
37. Saturatas. ' Lana saepe dicitur color em bibere vel sorbere, quae
vero plene et penitus tincta est, proprio verbo dicitur satvrari ' R.
' Murex,' ' Ostrum,' ' Buccina," ' Conchylium,' ' Purpura,' are the names
of shell-fish from which the red liquor, which formed the principal ingre-
dient of the purple dye, was obtained, and hence, each of these words,
and the adjectives formed from them, are used for the dye itself.
43. Dyspari, if not the true reading, deserves to be so, being infinitely
superior to ' Dux Pari.' It is the Homeric Avanapi, i. e. O male et infelix
Pan, which occurs II. 3. 39 ; 13. 769
Avffirapt, fldos dpiart, fvva.iiJa.vts rjitepoirtvrd.,
to which the Euripidean aivoimpis is equivalent. Hec. 925
'loatov re POVTOV alvoirapiv Karapa = Si5ova'.
45. Taenariae, i. e. Laconian, from Taenarus in Laconia (C. Matapan),
the southern extremity of the Peloponnesus. .
48. jplebilis, i. e. lacrimarum causa. So Amor. 2. I, 32
Raptus et Haemoftiis flebilis Hector equU,
and Hor. Od. I. 24, 10
Nvlli flebilior qvam tibi, Virgili.'
50. Reduci, i. e. ' bringing back." So Sab. Ep. I. 78
7am reduci solvens debita vota lovi.
It is more frequently used in the sense of ' brought back ' or ' returned,'
as below, 115
Quando ego, te reducem cvpidis amplexa lacertis.
Det arrna lovi. 'Veteres artem, quam factabant, desinentes, eius
instrumenta Diis dedicabant. Et sic milites, confecto bello, quae
gesserant arma, in templis suspendebant' R, who quotes Ov. T. 4. 8, 21
Miles, ut emeritis non est satis utilis armis,
Ponit ad antiquos, quae tulit arma, Lares.
So Hor. Ep. i. I, 5, of the retired gladiator:
Veianius, armis
Herculis ad postern fixis, lafet abditus agro.
And in Od. 3. 26, when describing himself as superannuated.
53. Ilion, &c. See note on 3. 9.
57. Spectabilis, ' dignus qui spectetur, ut amabilis dignus qui
ametur.'
60. Burmann has ' quotaquaeque sui ?' i. e. ' Paris came attended
by a powerful fleet and retinue, and yet what proportion did they
bear to the whole resources of the kingdom ?' If we read, as in the
text, ' quota quemque sui ?' it makes the proposition general, ' and
yet how small a proportion of the whole force of a kingdom is wont
HEROIDES. XIII. 149
to attend a prince upon such an occasion.' R reads ' quotaquaeque
sui,' without an interrogation, and explains it ' omnes cives sui,' which
is nonsense.
61. Censors Ledaea gemellis. The 'gemelli' are Castor and
Pollux, twin sons of Leda, and brothers of Helena and Clytemnestra.
' Censors' is frequently applied by Ovid in an extended signification
to brothers and sisters. The student may consult Met. 8. 444 ; 1 3.
663 ; Her 3. 46.
65. Observe the sibilation in this line, which would seem to indicate
that the Roman ear was not very delicate in these matters.
68. Hectoras, h. e. multos viros fortes qualis Hector R. So
Sueton. Caes. I. Caesari multos Marios inesse.
In like manner, Cicero has Thucydidas, and Mart. 8. 41, 5
Sint Maecenates, non deerunt, Flacce, Marones.
It is a very common English idiom.
69. Facito ut dicas, i.e. ' Fail not to repeat.'
71. Si ... fas est. ' If it be the will of heaven.' ' Fas' properly de-
notes divine law, while human institutions are called ' iura.'
74, 75. The genuineness of these two lines has been called in
question, in consequence of their being omitted in several MSS.
Moreover, ' sibi' is startling, where we should have expected 'illi,'
but this difficulty may be explained, by supposing that the speaker puts
himself, in fancy, in the place of Menelaus ; we find the same thing in
Martial. Ep. 5. 76, 2
Profecit polo Mitbridates saepe veneno,
Toxica ne possent saeva nocere sibi.
Vt rapiat Paridi. ' Perinde ac si scripsisset a Paride ' R. So
Ov. Met. 13. 772
Terribilem Polyphemon adit, Lumenque, quod unum
Fronte geris media, rapiet tibi, dixit, Vlixes.
76. After this line we find in one MS. the following hexameters,
Hostis et invadat thalamos Helenamque reducat,
Ictibus adversis poscat sua munera fortis,
and in another the couplet,
Ictibus adversis poscat sua munera forth,
Hostibus e mediis nupta petenda viro est.
77. Vivere pugna, h. e. da operam ut vivas R. ' Pugnare'
frequently signifies ' to struggle,' ' to make an effort to attain some
object," and in this sense it is construed with the infinitive by the
poets, as in the passage before us. So again Ov. R. A. 122
Pugnat in adver^as ire natator aquas,
150 NOTES. 2.
but in Silius Pun. n. 402, with the peculiar meaning 'to struggle
against :'
Nee pudeat picto fultum iacuisse cubili,
Nee crinem Assyria perf under e pugnet amomo.
86. Substitit. ' Pro infausto enim omine accipi potuisset, si ipsa
abeuntem et valedicentem revocasset, retinere tentasset. Erant enim
veteribus verba sic temere enuntiata ominosa* L.
88. Offenso limine. No omen was considered more fatal than to
stumble over the.threshold when setting forth upon a journey, or goin^
in and out upon serious business. For this reason a bride was always
carried over the threshold, both when she left the house of her parents
and when she entered that of her husband. Thus Ov. Amor. I. 12,
3, on receiving an unpropitious answer to a billet-doux,
Omina sunt aliquid modo cum discedere vellel,
Ad limen digilos restitit icta Nape.
Missa foras iterum limen transire memen'o
Cautius ; atque alle sobria ferre pedem.
Again Trist. i. 3, 55, when describing the night he left Rome as an exile,
Ter limen tetigi: ter sum revocatus: et ipse
Indulgens animo pes mibi tardus erat.
And Tibullus i. 3, 19
O! quoties, ingressus iter, mibi tristia dixi
Ojfensum in porta signa dedisse pedem I
91. We sis animosus. ' Be not too fonvard,' ' too rash.* 'Animosus'
signifies, properly, ' full of spirit,' and therefore, ' brave,' ' intrepid ;'
so Ov. T. 4. 6, 3
Tempore paret equus lentis animosus babenis,
and Ov. Her. 8. 3
Pyrrbus Acbillides animosus imagine patris.
97. Mille, used indefinitely. The exact number given by Homer
is 1186.
98. Fatigatas, i. e. remis aliorum.
100. If we read ' properas," the meaning will be, ' the land to which
you are hastening is not your native land." If ' properes,' ' you have no
native land to which you can hasten,' as in Hor. Od. i. 45, 9
Non tibi sunt Integra lintea
Non Di, quos iterum pres^a voces malo.
The latter sense is manifestly quite inapplicable here.
104. Venis is here nearly equivalent to ' es.' ' By night and by day
alike you are a source of unceasing sorrow to me.'
1 06. ' \Yhose neck is supported by a husband's arms."
HEROIDES. XIII. 151
i
107. Aucupor . . . somnos, i. e. cum cupiclitate capto me trado
somnis L. 'Aucupor,' properly, 'to watch eagerly,' as a bird-catcher
for his prey and hence, ' to seize eagerly.'
in. Simulacra. 'I pay homage to the visions of the night,'
i. e. I offer sacrifices in order to propitiate the nocturnal deities by
whom these ill-omened dreams (described in the preceding couplet)
were sent, and so to avert the evil they threaten. This is illustrated
by Ov. Her. 9. 39
Me pecudum fibrae, simnlacraque inanla somni,
Ominaque arcana node petita movent,
and 19. 193
Nee minus heslernae confundor imagine noctis,
Quatnvis est sacris ilia piata meis.
114. Surgere. 'To blaze up.'
116. 'Mihi vix latinum videtur solvi a lae'itia pro in laetiliam, quare
ego tristitia praeferrem' B. 'A,' here, signifies in consequence of, 'faint
through joy.'
121. Warrantia verba, h. e. verba narrantis R, who quotes
Fictaque sacra facit, dicityue precatuia verba.
Ov. Her. n. 69.
129. Suam. Referring to the legend that the walls of Troy were
the work of Neptune and Apollo.
133. Turpis, ' hoc loco ad mores non ad formam refertur' Ciofanius.
1 34. Inachiae rates. Inachus, the tutelary god of the stream which
bore the same name, and his son Phoroneus, were the personages to
whom the inhabitants of Argolis considered themselves indebted for a
knowledge of the useful arts and the establishment of social order.
Hence Inachius became equivalent to Argivus and so to Graecus.
The patronymic Inachides is applied by Ovid both to Epaphus whom
lo daughter of Inachus bore to Jupiter, and also to a more remote
descendant, the hero Perseus, son of Jupiter and Danae.
135. The common reading is 'Sed qui eg5 revoco, ' &c., but R justly
remarks, ' Aureae aetatis poetae ultimam syllabam in ego aut corripiunt
aut elidunt, nunquam producunt. Quod argumento est, hunc versum
aliquid vitii traxisse. Et multum variant in eius lectione libri veteres.'
The whole question, with regard to the quantity of 'ego,' is fully
discussed in ' Manual of Latin Prosody,' p. 60.
Omen. ' Mali ominis habebatur, abeuntem aliquem ab itinere
revocare aut retinere' L.
137. Troadas invideo. Heinsius, offended by what appeared to
NOTES. 2.
him a solecism, conjectures 'Troasin' the Greek dative plural. Such
forms were undoubtedly used by the Latin poets ? for we find ' Dryasin '
and ' Hamadryasin ' in Propertius, ' Arcasin ' is recognised by Martianus
Capella, and many editors follow Heinsius in reading 'heroism' in Ov.
T. 5- 5, 43, and ' Lemniasin' in Ov. A. A. 3. 672.
Moreover, one MS. has ' Troas invideo," and we may easily account for
the ' in ' being dropped, since the next word begins with that syllable.
The only question is, whether it is necessary to have recourse to any
emendation. Such verbs as ' invideo,' ' noceo," inservio," &c., were
construed with the accusative by Attius, Pacuvius, Plautus, and
other early dramatists, but it may be fairly doubted whether the
poets of the Augustan age would allow themselves such a licence even
as an archaism. In prose it was certainly inadmissible. Cicero adverts
to this very point in Tusc. Disp. 3. 9. He is defending the use of the
word ' invidentia,' which he had coined to signify ' envy.' Ab invidendo
autem invidentia recte diet potest, ut effiigiamus ambiguum nomen invidiae :
<]nod verbum ductum e&t a nimis intuendo fortimam alterius, ut est in
Melanippa,
Quisnam florem liberum invidit meum.
Male Latine videtur : sed fraeclare Attius. Vt enim videre, sic invidere
florem rectius quam flori. Nos consuetudine probibemur : poeta ius suum
tenuit et dixit audacius.
For the information of students, we shall take this opportunity of
pointing out the different constructions of ' invideo.'
Cicero and the writers of the Augustan age use four different forms.
I . ' Invidere alicui ' (person or thing 1 ). 2. ' Invidere aliquam rem alicui."
3. Invidere virtuti, gloriae, &c. alicuius.' 4. ' Invidere alicui in
aliqua re." 5. The writers of the silver age, especially Pliny, ' invidere
alicui aliqua re." 6. Lastly Horace, imitating the Greek construction of
ipOoveiv, 'invidere alicuius rei' sc. ' alicui.' Thus,
1 . Probus aiitem invidet nernini. Cic. Frag. Plat. Tim.
lilt qui bonori inviderunt meo. Cic. cont. Rull. 2. 37.
2. Vt nobis op/imam naturam invidisse videantur, qui, &C. Cic. Tusc.
Disp. 3. 2.
Declarasti neminem alterius, qui suae confideret, virtuti invidere.
Cic. Phil. 10. 1.
3. Aliorum laudi atque gloriae maxime invidere solet. Cic. Or. 2. 51.
4. Purpuram offers Tyriam in qua tibi invideo. Cic. pro Flacc. 29 .
fecissem, inquit, nisi interdum in hoc Crasso paullum inviderem. Cic.
De Orat. 2. 56.
HEROIDES. XIII. 153
5. Quousque et tibi et nobis invidebis? tibi maxima laude: nobis voluplate,
Plin. Ep. 2. 10.
Ac ne laeta furens scelerum spectacula perdat,
Invidet igne rogi miseris, caeloque nocenti
Ingerit Emathiam. Lucan. 7. 797.
6. Quid mulla ? neque tile
Sepositi ciceris, nee longae invidit avenae.
Hor. S. 2. 6, 83.
143. Producet, i. e. honoris causa comitabitur et prosequetur extra
domum, ut recte Hubertinus B. So Val. Flacc. 5. 381
Teque renodatam pharetris ac pace fruentem
Ad sua Caucaseae producunt flumina Nymphae.
144. See note on line 50.
147. Many MSS. have galeam clipeumque resolvet, but the arrangement
which connects ' resolvet ' closely with ' galeam ' is more appropriate,
since the verb applies to the helmet which was fastened on and
unfastened again, rather than to the shield.
149. M"os, i. e. ' We, Grecian wives, who are so far from our
husbands."
151, 152. Hyginus serves as a commentary upon these lines, by
narrating the tale to which they refer, with this difference, that the
image in the fable is supposed not to have been moulded until after the
death of Protesilaus :
Laodamia, Acasti filia, amisso coniuge cum ires boras consumpsisset,
qnas a diis peterat,fletum et dolorem pati non potuit. Itaque fecit simul-
acrum aereum simile Protesilai coniugis, et in tbalamis posuit, sub simuladone
kacrorum, et eum colere coepit. Fab. 104.
155. She imagines some mysterious connection or sympathy to exist
between Protesilaus and this waxen image.
162. 'To ipse non vacat hie, quia virorum qui bello ceciderunt
cadavera in patriam ab aliis solebant referri, ut notissimum : Laodamia
vero vovet, ut ipse salvus referat caput' B.
164. Sive quod heu timeo, ' airofftunrrjcris aptissima, ne ex mortis
mentione infaustum omen fiat ' B. ' Perperam. Est haec dnoaidimjais
vehementioris expressio doloris, quae loci rationi aptissima, at verba sive
superstes eris aeque poterant esse ominosa' L.
154 NOTES. 3.
3. POETA SVVM STVDIVM DEFENDIT. AM. i. 15.
I. Liver. The proper signification of this word, as defined by
Pliny 1 , is ' a bluish black colour," such as is produced on the body by a
bruise. Figuratively it indicates 'malice,' 'envy,' and, in familiar
language, we still talk of men 'looking black.' Such expressions seem
to have originated in the peculiar hue which the complexion assumes in
persons of a certain temperament when under the influence of violent
passion.
5. Verbosas leges ediscere. 'Ediscere' signifies 'to learn thorough-
ly,' or ' to learn off by heart,' and hence, many suppose that Ovid here
refers to the laws of the twelve tables which, for several ages, the Roman
youth were obliged to commit to memory. Thus Cic. de Legg. 2. 23
Discebamus enim pueri xii. ut carmen necessarium : qiias nemo iam discit.
In that case ' verbosas* must be understood to imply that the code re-
quired ' a lengthened exposition,' or gave rise to ' lengthened pleadings,'
since we know that the laws themselves were expressed with great b:c-
vity. It is better, however, to assign to 'verbosas' its natural meaning
and translate 'to study deeply the wordy records of the laws,' since, in
later times, the framers of the Roman statutes indulged in the sane
tedious circumlocutions which characterise our own.
6. Prostituisse. The proper signification of this verb is ' to place in
front ;' hence, as here, ' to make an exhibition of anything,' and so ' to
expose for sale or hire.'
9. Maeonid.es. Homer. An opinion prevailed very generally among
the ancients that the father of Greek poetry was a native of Maeonia, or,
as it waff afterwards called 2 , Lydia. Of the seven illustrious cities which
disputed the honour of giving him birth, Smyrna, Chios, Colophon,
Salamis, Rhodos, Argos, Athenae, two were in Maeonia, and one in an
island on its coast.
Tenedos. An island off the Troad, a little to the south of the Sigean
promontory. To this, according to the authorities followed by Virgil
the Greeks retired and lay in ambush, while the wooden horse was re-
ceived within the walls of the fated city. Ae. 2. 21
Est in conspectu Tenedos, notissima fama
Insula, dives opum, Priami dum regna manebnnt,
Nunc tantum ainus, et statio male fida carinis ;
Hue se provecti deserto in litore condunt.
1 H. N. 20. 22. 3 Herod. 1.7. 7,74.
A MORES. 7. 15. 155
Ide . . . Simois. Ida is the general name given to the mountain range
which sweeps round the plain of Troy. The highest peak, which by
Homer is called Gargarus, rises to an elevation of more than five thou-
sand feet. The Simois and Scamander were the two principal streams
which watered the district, and between them lay the city. Modern geo-
graphers have found much difficulty in adjusting the localities of the Iliad,
but the great natural features remain unchanged.
ii. Ascraeus, i. e. Hesiod, so called from Ascra l , a small town of
Boeotia, on Mount Helicon, where his father took up his abode, having
migrated from Cyme in Aeolis. The poet speaks of his paternal home
as a miserable village bad in winter, oppressive in summer, and agree-
able at no season 2 . To this description Ovid refers in E. ex P. 4. 14, 31
Esset perpetj/o sua quam vitabilis Ascra
Ausa est agricolae Musa docere senis.
At fuerat terra genitus, qui scripsit, in ilia :
Intumuit vatl nee tamen Ascra suo.
The works bearing the name of Hesiod, which have descended to
modern times, are
i.'Epja Kal 'H^epat, ' Works and Days,' a didactic poem, containing
precepts for the husb.mdman, interspersed with numerous maxims relating
to education, domestic economy, and morals in general. Virgil acknow-
ledges the obligations he owed to this piece, when he declares in his
Georgics, 2. 176
Ascraeumque cano Romana per oppida carmen.
2. Qtoyovia, or ' Generation of the Gods,' a poem of great importance
in the history of Grecian Mythology.
3. 'Acrrrls 'Hpatc\tovs, ' the Shield of Hercules,' containing, among
other things, the history of the birth of the hero, and of his combat with
Cycnus, together with a description of his shield.
Of the above, the first is generally received as the composition of
Hesiod ; doubts were entertained with regard to the genuineness of the
second, as early as the time of Pausanias 3 ; the third is considered by
critics to be a mere collection of fragments, by different hands, many of
them of late date.
1 3. Battiad.es, i. e. Callimachus. He was a native of Gyrene, and
established himself at Alexandria, where he enjoyed the favour of
Ptolemy Philadelphus (256 B.C.). A voluminous author both in prose
and verse, he was chiefly celebrated as a writer of elegies, and was the
model which Catullus and Propertius proposed to themselves in that
1 Ascra is identified by Clarke with the modern Zagora. Other topo-
graphers assign different sites. 2 O. et D. 257. 3 8. ib; 9. 31.
NOTES. 3.
species of composition. Some idea of his style may be formed from the
little poem De Coma Berenices 1 , which is believed to be a very close
imitation, if not a translation, of a piece by Callimachus bearing that
title. The ' Dirae in Ibin,' usually attributed to Ovid (see his life), were
copied from the same source, as we learn from the couplet, Ib. 55
Nunc, quo Battiades inimicum devovet Ibin,
Hoc ego devoveo teque luosqve modo.
The portion of his works which has been preserved, consists of six
hymns addressed to different deities, a collection of epigrams, and a few
disjointed fragments. The patronymic Battiades is applied to Calli-
machus, either because the name of his father was Battus, which is un-
certain, or because he was a native of Cyrene, the founder of which city
was Battus, who led thither a Spartan colony from the island of Thera,
about 630 B. C. The romantic legends connected with this event are
well known to the readers of Herodotus and Pindar.
15. Sophocleo. . . cothurno. Sophocles, who, in the opinion of
many, holds the first place among the Greek Tragedians, was a native of
Attica, was born 495 B.C., and died 405 B.C., being younger than
Aeschylus and older than Euripides, with both of whom he had frequent
contests for the prize. Of his numerous dramas seven only have been
preserved, forming one of the proudest monuments of Athenian genius.
Cothurno. The ' Cothurnus ' was a thick-soled, high-heeled boot,
worn by tragic actors to give additional height and majesty to their
figures, and was a characteristic feature in their costume, just as the
soccus' or slipper distinguished the comedian. Hence, ' cothurnus' and
' soccus' are constantly employed as equivalent to ' tragedy* and ' comedy'
and in English, likewise, we talk of ' heroes of the sock and buskin.'
16. Aratus, who flourished about 260 B.C., was born at Soli
(afterwards Pompeiopolis), a sea-port town of Cilicia Campestris. He
settled at the court of Antigonus Gonnatas, king of Macedonia, under
whose patronage he is said to have composed his principal work, which
is still extant, a poem divided into two parts, entitled ^aivo^fva KOI Aioar}-
fifia, the materials for which were derived from the works of the renowned
mathematician Eudoxus of Cnidus. It contains an exposition of the
knowledge possessed by his contemporaries of astronomy and meteorology,
and was held in high esteem by the ancients. We are acquainted with no
less than three translations of it into Latin verse ; one by Cicero, of
which a few fragments remain ; another by Caesar Germanicus, a con-
1 Catull. 66.
AMORES. I. 15. 157
siderable portion of which has been preserved ; and a third by Rufus
Festus Avienus, which is entire. Virgil borrowed largely from Aratus in
those portions of his Georgics which contain references to the appearances
and movements of the heavenly bodies, and particularly in that section of
the first Georgic which is devoted to the prognostics of the weather.
This is the poem from which St. Paul quotes, in his address to the
Athenians, For in him we live, and move, and have our being ; as certain of
your own poets bave said, For we are also his offspring (rov -yap KOI -)fvos
iffft(v), part of the fifth line of the Phaenomena.
1 8. Menandros. Menander, the most distinguished anlong the au-
thors of the New Comedy, was born at Athens, 342 B. C., exhibited his
first play 321 B.C., and, after having written above a hundred dramas
and gained the prize eight times, died 291 B.C., having, as some state,
been drowned while bathing in the harbour of the Piraeus, an event to
which the author of the Ibis is supposed to allude
Comicus ut mediis periit dum nabal in undis.
The eulogium pronounced by Quinctilian, I.O. 2.1, deserves well to be
consulted.
As a commentary upon the couplet before us, in which the staple
characters of the New Comedy are enumerated, we may refer to Manilius
5. 470. Of the hundred dramas nothing remains but detached fragments ;
we may, however, form an accurate conception of his plots and general
style from Terence, all of whose plays, with the exception of the Hecyra
and the Phormio, are translations or adaptations from the works of
Menander 1 .
19. Ennius, ' noster Ennius,' ' our own Ennius,' as he was often called
by his countrymen, may justly be regarded as the founder of Roman
literature.
Ennii/s ut noster cecinit qui primus amoeno
Detulit ex Helicone perenni fronde ccronam
Per gentes Italas bominum quae clara clueret*.
lie was born 239 B.C., at Rudiae, in Calabria, whence he is styled by
Cicero homo Rudius, and Horace refers to his poetry by the title of
Calabrae Pierides. While a young man he served in the army, and came
from Sardinia in the train of M. Portius Cato 201 B. C. The remainder
of his life was passed at Rome, with the exception of the period occupied
by the campaign against the Aetolians, in which he accompanied M.
Fulvius Nobilior 189 B.C. He died 169 B.C., at the age of seventy,
1 For other authorities, with regard to Menander, see ' Theatre of the
Greeks,' fourth ed. p. 122. 2 Lucret. I. 119.
158 NOTES. 3.
and was buried in the tomb of the Scipios, having lived upon terms of
the closest intimacy with many members of that illustrious family, Ov.
A. A. 3.409
Ennitis etneruit, Calabris in montibus ortvs,
Contiguus poni, Scipio magne, tibi.
No portion of his writings has been preserved entire, but detached frag-
ments to the extent of several hundred lines have been collected from
quotations to be found in the Classics and the old Grammarians. His
principal work was composed in hexameter verse, a measure which he
!:rst introduced from the Greek, and consisted of a history of Rome in
eighteen books, commencing with the loves of Mars and Rhea, and
reaching down to his own time. It is thus described by Prop. 3. 3, 5,
when alluding to his own efforts,
Parvaque tarn magnis admoram fontibus ora,
Vnde pater sitiens Ennius ante bibit,
Et cecinit Curios fratres, et Horatia pila,
Regiaqve Aemilia vscta tropaea rate:
Vic'ricesque moras Fabii, pugnamqite sinislram
Cannensem, et versos ad pia vota deos :
Hannibalemqne Lares Romano sede fuganles,
Anseris et tvtum voce fuii-se lovem.
The subject was chosen with so much judgment, and the task executed
with so much spirit, that the success was triumphant. For a long series
of years his verses were read aloud to applauding multitudes both in the
metropolis and in the provinces, and a class of men arose who, in imita-
tion of the Homeristae, devoted themselves exclusively to the study and
recitation of the works of Ennius, from whom they were styled Ennianistae.
In the days of Cicero he was still considered the prince of Roman song *,
and even Virgil was not ashamed to borrow many of his thoughts, and,
it is said, not a few of his expressions. His language betrayed somewhat
of the rudeness of the age in which he lived, but this was fully compen-
sated by its lofty energy. The criticism of Ovid, T. 2. 259
Ennius ingenio maximus arte rudis",
may be received as temperate and just, being free from the extravagant
and unqualified praise which was lavished upon him by the antiquarians
of the Augustan age, and which seems to have provoked Horace to
speak somewhat disparagingly of his powers 3 .
1 Summus poeta nosier. Pro Balb. 22. * Compare Trist. 2. 424,
Prop. 4. i. * Compare A. P. 25^, S. 1. IO. 53. But, on the other hand,
A. P. 58.
AMORES. /. 15. 159
In addition to his Annales, Ennius was highly distinguished as a
dramatic author ; he published four books of Satirae, a translation of the
celebrated work of Euhemerus on the history of the gods, besides
Epigrams and minor pieces, the titles alone of which have been preserved.
19. Accius. Pacuvius and Accius (more accurately Attius) were the
immediate successors of Ennius in tragic composition. The former was
born 219 B.C., and died after 140 B.C.; the latter was born 170 B.C., and
died after 103 B.C. Both enjoyed a widely-extended reputation among
their contemporaries, and were spoken of with great enthusiasm even by
the critics of the Augustan age. Horace, when complaining of the
somewhat unreasonable taste for ancient compositions prevalent in his
day, tells us that the comparative merits of these two formed a common
subject of discussion, Ep. 2. i, 55
Ambigitur quoties nter utro sit prior, at/fert
Pacuvius docti famam senis, Accius alti.
It is worthy of remark, that the titles of three of the tragedies of
Accius, Brutus, Decins, Marcellus, prove that he selected the subject of his
plays from the history of his own country, an example little followed by
those who came after him, inasmuch as they generally had recourse to
Greek originals.
Animosi. Had commentators paid attention to the lines of Horace,
quoted above, they would have at once seen the true meaning of
' animosi,' regarding which there have been some disputes ; it is clearly
equivalent to ' alti,' and must be translated, ' high-souled,' ' majestic,'
' sublime.' See note on 2. 91.
21. Varronem. Publius Terentius Varro, surnamed Atacinus from
the river Atax (Aude), in Gallia Narbonensis, on the banks of which he
was born, about 82 B.C. He was the author of a translation or close
imitation of the work of Apollonius Rhodius, on the Argonautic Ex-
pedition, of a poem on the war of Caesar with the Sequani, and of
satires, elegies and epigrams. Of all these a few unimportant fragments
only remain. He is mentioned by Horace as having failed in satire,
S. i. 10, 46
Hoc erat, experto frustra Varrone Atacino,
Atque quibusdam aliis, melius quod scribere possem,
while Propertius alludes to his elegies, 2. 34, 85
Haec quoque perfecto ludebat lasone Varro,
Varro Leucadiae maxima flamma. suae,
and the following judgment is pronounced by Quintilian, 10. T
Atacinus Varro in its per quae nomen est asseculus, interpret operis alieni
1 60 NOTES. 3.
non spernendus quidem, verum ad augendam facultatem dicendi parvm
locuples.
22. Aesonio . . . duel, i. e. lason, the leader of the Argonauts, son of
Aeson, king of lolchos. \,
23. Lucreti. Lucretius, the author of the poem De Rerum Natura
which is an exposition of the physical system of Epicurus, was born
about 95 B.C., and is supposed to have died 52 B.C., in his forty-fourth
year. Of his life no particulars are known. The epithet here applied
by Ovid is well merited, for notwithstanding the abstruse and technical
discussions inseparable from his theme, he has lighted up his work with
some of the grandest bursts of poetry to be found in any language.
24. Exitio terras, &c. Ovid seems here to refer to the words of
Lucretius, 5. 93
Principio maria ac terras caelumqve tuere ;
Horum naturam triplicem, tria corpora, Memini,
Tres species tarn dissimiles, tria talia texfa,
Vna dies dabit exitio, multosque per annos
Suatentata ruet moles et macbina mundi.
25. Virgil. Bom 70 B.C.; died 19 B.C.
29, 30. Gallus Lycoris. See note on 5. 64.
34. Auriferi . . . Tagi. The Tagus and the Pactolus are constantly
celebrated by the ancient poets, on account of their golden sands. Thus
Maeonia generose domo, ubi pinguia culta
Exercentque viri, Pactolusque irrigat auro.
Virg. Ae. 10. 141.
And
Sed cuius votis modo non suffecerat aurvm
Quod Tagus et rutila volvit Padolus arena,
Frigida sufficient velantes inguina panni, Sec.
luv. S. 14. 2t,8, of the shipwrecked merchant.
36. Castaliae aquae. The vraters of the Castalian spring, the
favourite resort of Apollo, the Muses and the Nymphs, pour down
from Parnassus through a chasm of the rifted crag which rises perpen-
dicularly behind Delphi, and are received in a large square bason hewn
out of the marble rock.
38. Multua . . . legar. In this and similar expressions 'multus* is
equivalent to 'multum,' in the sense of 'frequently,' 'ever and anon.'
Compare Sail. lug. 86 Marius antea tarn infestus nobilitati, turn vero
multus atque ferox instare. And again, c. IOI In operibus, in agmine,
atque ad vigilias multus adesse.
AMORES. II. 6. l6l
39. Fata. Death, after the decrees of destiny are accomplished.
41, 42. Compare the whole of Hor. Od. 3. 30, and especially
Non omnis mortar, multaque pars met
Vitabit Libitinam.
4. MORS PSITTACI. AM. n. 6.
1. Pliny, H. N. 10. 42, gives the following account of parrots : Super
omnia bumanas voces reddunt psittaci : quidam etiam sermocinantes. India
bane avem mittit, sittacen vocat, viridem tola corpore, torque tantum miniato
in cervice distinctam. Imperatores salutat, et quae accipit verba pronuntiat, in
vino praecipue lasciva. Capiti eius duritia eadem, quae rostra. Hoc, cum
loqui discit, ferreo verberalur radio : non sentit aliier ictus. Cum devolat,
rostro se excipit, illi innilitur : levioremque se ita pedum infirmitati facit.
Statius, Silv. 2. 4, has a poem on the death of a favourite parrot,
evidently suggested by the elegy before us. Persius alludes to the
practice of teaching parrots to salute visitors
Quis expedivit psittaco suum x a V * ? Prol. Sat. I.
2-6 These lines allude to the solemn funeral procession of a noble
Roman, in which a troop of ' praeficae ' or hired mourning women
played a conspicuous part, who chaunted the praises of the dead, beating
their breasts and tearing their hair, and making every outward demon-
stration of extravagant grief. Thus in a fragment of Lucilius, we read
Mercede quae
Condnctae flent alieno in funere praeficae
Multo et capillos scindunt, et clamant magis.
A band of trumpeters also was in attendance, to which we find frequent
reference, for example Prop. 2. 13, 17
Quandocunque igitur nostros nox claudet ocellos,
Accipe quae serves funeris acta met.
Nee mea tune longa spatietur imagine pompa,
Nee tuba sit fati vana querela mei.
And Persius speaking of a death caused by gluttony, S. 3. 103
Hinc tuba, candelae, &c.
2. Exsequias ite. ' Exsequiae' properly denotes ' a funeral procession
following the bier from the mansion of the deceased to the grave or
1 A magpie was sometimes suspended over the threshold for the same
purpose, thus Petron. 28 Super limen cavea pendebat aurea, in qua pica
varia intrantes salutabat.
M
l62 NOTES. 4.
pyre;' 'ire exsequias* is to attend such a procession. Compare Terent.
Phorm. 5. 8, 37
Exsequias Cbremeti, qnibus tst commodum, ire, bem! tempus est,
and Silius 15. 395
Vos ite superbae
Exsequias animae, et cinerem donate svpremi
Muneris officio.
3. Plangite. 'Plangere' signifies i. Generally, 'to beat,' 'to strike ;'
2. Specially, 'to beat the breast, &c. in token of grief,' and is construed
either with the accusative of the object struck, or of the object of
sorrow, or absolutely without a regimen, thus
I. Plangebant alii proceris tympana palmis.
Catull. 64. a6a.
3. Adspicit Alpbenor, laniataque pectora plangens.
Ov. Met. 6. 248.
3. Nee dubium de morte ratae, Cadmeida palmis
Deplanxere domum, scissae cum veste capillos.
Ov. Met. 4. 544.
4. planxere sorores
Naides, el sectos fratri posuere capillos.
Planxere et Dryades: plangentibus adsonat Ecbo.
Ov. Met 3. 505.
7. Ismarii . . . tyranni. Tereus.
The substance of this celebrated tale, according to the account of
Apollodorus, is as follows :
Pandion, king of Athens, had two daughters, Procne and Philomela.
Being involved in war with his neighbour Labdacus, king of Thebes,
upon a boundary question, he called in to his assistance Tereus, king of
Thrace, brought the war to a happy termination through his aid, and
bestowed upon him his daughter Procne in marriage. The fruit of this
union was a son named Itys. Tereus became enamoured of Philomela,
and having gained possession of her, under the pretext that Procne was
dead, shut her up and cut out her tongue that she might be unable
to disclose his villany. However, by weaving certain characters upon a
web, she contrived to make her misfortunes known to her sister, who,
having found out her place of confinement, put Itys to death, cooked his
flesh and served it up as a repast for Tereus, and then took to flight
accompanied by Philomela. Tereus, on discovering the horrid truth,
snatched up a hatchet and pursued the fugitives, who being overtaken at
Daulias in Phocis, prayed to the gods that they might be changed into
A MORES. II. 6. 163
birds. Accordingly, Procne became a nightingale, and Philomela a
swallow; Tereus was also metamorphosed and turned into an Epops
or*Hoopoo.
There are several variations in this story as narrated by different
authors, the most important among which is that the Latin poets Virgil,
Horace, Ovid, and Statius, concur in representing that Philomela was
changed into a nightingale, and Procne into a swallow.
The most ancient form of the legend is preserved in Homer, Od.
19- 5i8
As when the daughter of Pandareos sings,
Aedon, who the greenwood boakes among
Warbles ber lay wben spring returns anew,
Perched 'mid the leafy thickness of the grove
With many a trill she pours ber long drawn notes
Wailing ber boy, ber Itylus beloved
King Zetbus' son, whom erst with brazen sword
She slew in error.
According to the scholiast, Aedon (i.e. nightingale), one of the three
daughters of Pandareos, son of Merops, a Milesian, was married to
Zethus, and bqre him a son named Itylus, but being jealous of the
superior fertility of Niobe, daughter of Tantalus, wife of her brother-in-
law Amphion, she laid a plot for the destruction of the fairest among
her children, who was named Amaleus, and was in the habit of sleeping
with his cousin Itylus. She entered the chamber of the boys by night,
to accomplish the bloody deed, but, mistaking their position, slew her
own son. Overwhelmed with grief she implored the gods that she
might cease to consort with mankind, and was accordingly transformed
into the bird which bears her name.
7. Ismarii, i.e. Thracian. Ismarus was the name of one of the
lateral branches of Rhodope, separating the valley of the Schoenos from
the lower valley of the Hebrus, and terminating in the Ismarium
Promontorium (C. Marogna). Its slopes were celebrated for the wine
which they produced, as early as the days of Homer, Odyss. I. 197, and
preserved their reputation in later times. Virg. G. 2. 37
luvat Ismara Baccbo
Conserere, atque olea magnum vestire Taburnum.
A town Ismarus is mentioned in the Odyssey, I. 40, which belonged
to the Cicones, and was taken and destroyed by Ulysses.
9. Devertite ... in funus, ' turn from your path to attend the ob-
sequies.' ' Devertere' signifies to turn aside from a road for the purpose
M 2
164 NOTES. 4.
of entering a lodging or place of public entertainment, and hence
'deversorium' means an inn, and 'deversari' to lodge with any one.
12. Turtur amice. The ancients believed that a natural friendship
existed between turtle-doves and parrots. Pliny, who devotes a chapter
to the innate sympathies and antipathies of animals, observes l , Rursus
amid pavones et columbae, tortures et psittaci, merulae et turdi,' &c. &c.
Ovid again alludes to this idea in Her. 15. 37
Et variis albae iunguntur saepe columbae :
Et niger a viridi turlur amatur ave.
15. luvenis Phoceus, i.e. Pylades, son of Strophius king of Phocis,
who married one of the sisters of Agamemnon. Orestes was placed
under the protection of his uncle, after being rescued from the mur-
derous hands of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. Pylades is represented by
the Greek Tragedians as having been the firm ally and constant com-
panion of Orestes in all his undertakings and misfortunes, and their
friendship passed into a proverb.
21. Hebetaxe. Properly ' to make blunt," here ' to dim the lustre.'
The figure is natural, since we always attach to light the idea of
something piercing and penetrating. Hence ' hebetare aciem oculorum,'
' visus,' ' sidera,' ' flammas,' are common. Similarly it is applied to
the other senses as well as to that of sight, to taste, smell, hearing, and,
finally, to the mental faculties. E.g. Ov. E. ex P. 4. i, 17
Da mibi, si quid ea est, bebelantem pectora Lelben,
i.e. ' blunting the keenness of the memory.'
Smaragdos. It appears extremely probable that the ancients gave
the name Smaragdus not merely to the precious gem which we call
an emerald, but extended the term to fluor spar, green vitrified lava
(green Icelandic agate), green jasper, and green glass. There is a
curious passage in Pliny, H.N. 37. 5, where he tells us that Nero used
to view the combats of gladiators ' in an emerald,' which is generally
understood to mean a smooth polished mirror made of some of the
above substances; although, from the peculiar phraseology employed,
others maintain that the emperor was near-sighted, and used a concave
eye-glass formed out of the gem.
22. Crocum v. Crocus, saffron, made from the spikes or filaments of
the common blue crocus, and much valued by the ancients as a dye,
a medicine, and a perfume. The colour yielded by saffron is a reddish
yellow or orange tint, and hence the epithet 'ruber' used here, ia
1 H.N. 10. 74.
A MORES. II. 6. 165
Virg. G. 4. 182, and many other passages. Also 'puniceus' in Ov.
F. 5-317
Lilia decideranf, violas arere videres,
Filaque punicei languida facta croci.
The most esteemed saffron was that yielded by Mount Corycus in
Cilicia, and hence it is termed by the poets Cilissa spica. E. g. Ov.
Fast. i. 75
Cernis odoratis ut luceat ignibus aether,
Et sonet accensis spica Cilissa fads.
24. Blaeso. ' Blaesus ' seems strictly to indicate that defect in artic-
ulation which we call ' lisping,' and thus Ovid enumerates it in his list of
female affectations, A. A. 3. 293
Quid ? cum legitima fraudatur litera voce,
Blaesaque fit iusso lingua coacia sono,
while 'balbus' means 'stammering,' as appears from the observation
of Cicero de Orat. I. 6l on Demosthenes, quumque ila balbus esset, ut eius
ipsius artis, cut studeret, pritnam literam non posset dicere, perfecit meditando,
ut nemo planius esse locutus putarelur. These two words appear, how-
ever, to be occasionally confounded with each other, as in luv. S. 15. 47
Adde, quod et facilis victoria de madidis et
Blaesis, atque mero titubantibus,
and Hor. Ep. 2. I, 126
Os tenerum pneri balbumque poeta figurat.
Drunken men stammer children lisp.
27. Coturnices, &c. It is well known to naturalists that quails are
exceedingly irritable and pugnacious. By the Romans quail-fighting
was cultivated with the same eagerness as cock-fighting by the Athe-
nians, and our own ancestors ; and even emperors themselves did not
disdain to take an interest in the combats and victories of these birds.
We are told by Plutarch that one of the circumstances which led to the
coolness between Octavianus and Antony, was the uniform success of
the former in these contests, and we find it recorded that the son of
Septimius Severus was involved in constant brawls originating in
quail- and cock-fights 1 .
29. Prae sermonis amore, ' by reason of your love of talking,"
where ' prae ' indicates an obstacle which comes ' before ' an object, and
1 Those also who may desire to investigate the antiquities of this subject,
will find the principal authorities quoted and examined in Pegge's Memoir
on Cock-fighting, contained in the Archaeologia, vol. 3, and in the Essay
of Beckmann on Cock-fighting, in the History of Inventions.
1 66 VOTES. 4.
so prevents it from being attained. So Cic. pro Plane. 41 nee loqui
prae maerore potuit, and Philipp. 13.9 Quorum Hie notnen prae metu ferre
non poterat.' Frequently, .however, ' prae ' simply denotes cause ' and
not 'impediment 1 ,' as in Plant. Rud. I. a, 85 prae timore in genua con-
cidit, in Stich. 3. 2, 13 prae laetitia lacrimae praesiliunt mibi.
34. Graculus . . . auctor aquae. ' Auctor,' i. e. ' harbinger,'
' prophet ; ' the emendation ' garrulus augur,' proposed by Heinsius,
is unnecessary, for although the faculty assigned here to the jackdaw
is attributed by Virgil and Horace to the crow,
Turn cornix plena pluviam vocat improba voce, Virg. G. I. 388,
aquae nisi fallit augur
Annosa cornix, Hor. Od. 3. 17. 12,
yet Pliny supports Ovid, and informs us that when the jackdaws return
home late from feeding it is an indication of an approaching storm,
H.N. 18.35.
35. Cornix invisa Minervae. In the Met. of Ov. a. 551, &c. the
crow, ' cornix,' in a conversation with the raven, ' corvus,' recounts her
own history, declaring that she had once been the chosen bird of Minerva,
but had lost the favour of the goddess in consequence of her chattering
and talebearing propensities.
36. Seclis . . . novem. The popular idea with regard to the
length of the crow's life is as old as Hesiod, who, in a line quoted by
Plutarch, asserts
'lS.vvia rol u(i ytveas \ayapva Kopunj.
Ausonius, Eid. 18, translates the whole fragment.
Ter binos, deciesque novem super exit in annos
lusta senescentum quos implet vita virorum.
Hos novies superat vivendo garrula cornix :
Et quater egreditur cornicis secula cervus.
Alipedem ceruum ter vincit corvus: et ilium
Multiplicat novies Phoenix, reparabilis ales.
Quam vos perpetuo decies praevertitis aevo,
Nympbae Hamadryades, quorum longissima vita est.
Observe that Ausonius here fixes the full period of the life of man
at ninety-six years, and supposes the ytvtas dv5puv, ' generations of
men," in Hesiod to denote this space complete, but according to the
usual acceptation of the term in the best writers, Greek and Latin, ' a
generation of men ' signifies only thirty years, as when Horace exclaims,
Epod. 16. I
Altera iam teritur bellis civilibus aetas.
41. Phyllacidae. Protesilaus. See pp. 108, in.
1 See Butler's Praxis on Latin Prepositions, cap. 37.
AMORES. II. 6. 167
Thersites was the son of Agrius, brother of Aeneus prince of
Aetolia, and hence was first cousin to Tydeus and Meleager, and first
cousin once removed to Diomede. Homer represents him as the most
loathsome in form and the most base in spirit of all the Grecian host
who warred against Troy.
54. Phoenix. Few animals, real or fabulous, have enjoyed the
celebrity of the Phoenix. Its- history and imaginary attributes have
afforded a theme to poets in every age, and in our own and many other
languages its name has passed into a proverb. By the fathers of the
church it was frequently brought forward as an illustration of the
doctrine of the resurrection, and it appears on the coins of several
Roman Emperors, sometimes as a symbol of their own apotheosis, some-
times as an emblem of the renovation of the world and the revival
of the golden age under their benignant sway 1 . It may be interesting
to quote some of the most important passages in the classics, which
embody the ideas generally entertained by the ancients regarding this
bird.
Our oldest authority 2 is Herodotus, who, in his description of Egypt
and its wonders, tells us that there is a sacred bird called the Phoenix,
which, however, he had never seen, except in a painting. Judging from
this, he continues, it must resemble an eagle in form and size, the wings
being partly golden coloured, partly red. According to the account of the
Heliopolitans, it visits them once in five hundred years, under the
following circumstances. Its father being dead, it forms a solid ball of
myrrh as large as it can carry, and then hollowing it out places its
father in the cavity and plasters up the hole, by which he was introduced,
1 See Spanheim, De Usu et Praestantia Numismatum, Diss. 5. c. 13.
In addition to the authors quoted below, the student may consult Aelian.
H. A. 6. 58, Athenaeus 14. 20, Mela 3. 28, Stat. S. 2. 4, 36, Claud.
Laud. Stil. 2. 417, Ep. ad Seren. 15, Aurel. Victor de Caes. 4, Solinus 33,
and notes of Salmasius. Spanheim, as above, will supply numerous references
to the Christian fathers. But every circumstance upon record, with regard
to the Phoenix, has been chronicled with the most laborious precision by the
author of the poem De Phoenice, usually attributed to Lactantius. It will
be found in the third volume of Wernsdorf s Poetae Minores, with a learned
introduction prefixed by the Editor.
3 Except Hesiod, who, in a fragment quoted above, mentions the Phoenix
as living nine times as long as the raven, or nine hundred and seventy-two
generations of men. Observe that the expression reparabilis ales in the
translation of Ausonius, has nothing to correspond to it in the Greek poet.
1 68 NOTES. 5.
with fresh myrrh. The weight of the mass is now the same as at first.
Laden with this, it wings its flight from Arabia to Egypt, and deposits
its burden in the temple of the Sun.
This story is sufficiently marvellous, and even Herodotus expresses his
incredulity, but it will be observed that nothing is said here of the young
Phoenix springing from the mouldering remains of its sire, a circum-
stance which, in later writers, forms its grand characteristic.
The account of Ovid, Met. 15. 391, is, in all probability, derived from
the later Greek writers.
Vna est, quae reparet, seque ipsa reseminet, ales;
Assyrii Phoenica vacant : non fruge, nee berbis,
Sed turis lacrimis, et svcco vivit amomi.
Haec ubi quinque suqe complevit secida vlfae,
Jlicet in ratnts, tremtdaeve cacumine palmae,
Vnguibus, et pando nidum sibi construit ore.
Quo simul ac casias, et nardi lenis aristas,
Quassaque cum fidva substravit cinnama myfrba ;
Se super imponit, finitque in odoribus aevum.
Inde ferunt, totidem qui vivere debent annos,
Corpore de patrio parvum Pboenica renasci.
Quum dedit bitic aetas vires, onerique ferendo est,
Ponderibus nidi ramos levat arboris altae,
Fertque plus cunasqiie suas, patriumque sepulcrum,
Perque leves auras Hyperionis urbe potitus.
Ante fores sacras Hyperionis aede reponit. .
We have also the description of Pliny, H. N. 10. 2, and, last of all,
we may refer to Tacitus, Annal. 6. 28, who, it will be seen, seems to
have entertained no doubts of the existence of the Phoenix.
54. Vnica semper avis. ' Vnicus ' is properly applied, as here,
to an object which stands alone, to which no parallel can be found.
Thus ' unicus films ' is ' an only son.' Archimedes is designated by
Livy, 24. 34, as unicus spectator caeli et siderum, because he stood alone,
i. e.pre-eminent, among the astronomers of his time ; and, again, in 33.
21, it is said of Attalus unicam fidem sociis praestitit.
5. MORS TIBVLLI. AM. in. 9.
i. Memnona. Tithonus, son of Laomedon, and brother of Priam,
was chosen by Eos (Aurora) as her consort. The fruit of their union
was Memiion, who came to the assistance of his kindred when Troy was
AMORES. III. 9. 169
beleaguered. He slew Antilochus, the son of Nestor 1 , and, according
to later writers, fell by the hand of Achilles. A detailed account of the
grief of Aurora, and of the honours conferred by Jove, at her request,
upon her son, will be found in Ov. Met. 13. 576.
Mater . . . Achillen. Thetis, the sea goddess, who, although
beloved of Jove, wedded the mortal Peleus,
qnot lupiter ipse
Ipse suos Divom genitor concessit amores,
and by him became the mother of Achilles.
1 6. luveni, the beautiful Adonis, the boy beloved of Venus, cut off
in the bloom of youth by a wound from the tusks of a wild boar.
He was restored to life by Proserpine, upon condition of spending one
half the year with her in the realms below. Festivals were celebrated
to commemorate his death and resurrection in many cities of Greece,
Egypt and Syria.
The legend and worship of Adonis are universally recognised as
Eastern in their origin (the very name Adon or Adonai, i. e. ' Lord,' is
Hebrew), and he is generally believed to be the same with Tammuz of
the prophet Ezekiel, the object of idolatrous services to the degenerate
Jews. The accounts respecting this personage, preserved by the
classical authors, are, as might be expected under such circumstances,
extremely obscure and contradictory. This is not the proper place to
enter upon a lengthened discussion, but the student who is desirous to
investigate this curious topic, will find the principal data in Apollodorus
3. 14, 3, in the elegy of Bion, in Ov. Met. 10. 298, et seqq., in a most
lively and amusing description of the feast of Adonis at Alexandria,
which forms the subject of the Adoniazusae of Theocritus, and of the
corresponding solemnities at Phoenician Byblos, in Lucian's treatise De
Dea Syria ; besides which, he may consult Tzetzes on Lycophron, the
scholiast on Theocritus, and the commentators on Ezekiel. The
theories of the moderns are fully developed in Dupuis' Origine de Cultes,
in Creuzer's Symbolik, and Payne Knight On the Symbolical Language
of Antiquity.
21, 24. Ovid in these lines alludes to the ancient legends with
regard to the two mythic bards, Orpheus and Linus, whom the traditions
of Greece pointed out as having first introduced civilization and the arts
of life among wild and untutored hordes, who, in the glowing language
of poetry, are said to have not only charmed savage beasts, but to have
1 Od. 4. 1 88.
170 NOTES. 5.
awakened to life and rapture even rocks and trees by the charms of
song. They were represented by some as the sons of the muse Calliope
and the Thracian monarch Oeagrus, while others assigned to them a
still loftier parentage, by naming Apollo as their sire. Virgil says that
Calliope was the mother of Orpheus, and Apollo the father of Linus,
but his words do not necessarily imply that they were brothers.
Non me carminibus vmcet nee Tbracius Orpheus
Nee Linus, buic mater quamvis atqve buic pater adsit,
Orpbei Calliopea, Lino formosus Apollo.
Hesiod made Urania the mother of Linus, others made him the son of
Apollo and Psammathe.
The death of each was tragical. Orpheus, after the loss of his wife
Eurydice, retired from the society of men into pathless wilds, and was
torn to pieces by the Bacchanalian Maenades. At the same time he is
said by Apollodorus to have invented these orgies. Linus instructed
Hercules in music, and was struck dead by a blow which his pupil, in a
moment of passion, dealt him with a lyre.
23. Aelinon, the lamentation of Apollo for the death of Linus,
(a! Aivos, 'woe is me for Linus,') and hence a dirge in general. Athen-
aeus ', however, when detailing the names of different songs and chaunts,
tell us that the ' aelinos ' sometimes bore a more cheerful character. A
song of misfortune or death was called, he says, 6\<x)>vpnds, a miller's
song I/MUOS, a marriage song vfttvaios, a song in sorrow toAc/xo*. AtVot
S( leal ai\ivos ov idivov ev -nivQtaiv clAAd KO.I tir' (vTV\ti fio\ira Kara rov
EvptiriSTjv.
26. Pieriis aquis. Pieria, the region pointed out by Greek tradi-
tion as the first seat of the Muses, was a narrow strip of land stretching
along the Thermaic gulf from the mouth of the Haliacmon to the
mouth of the Peneus, being separated from the rest of Macedonia by
the ridges of Mount Olympus. Within its limits were the towns of
Pimplea and Libethra ; the former was said to have been the birthplace
of Orpheus, at the latter they showed his tomb. Hence the titles
' Pierides,' ' Pimpleides,' ' Libethrides,' applied to the nine.
30. Tardaque, &c. Penelope's web. The details with regard to this
well-known stratagem are to be found in the Odyssey, 2. 93-110.
34. Sistra. The ' sistrum ' was a bronze instrument which the
worshippers of Isis held in their hands and rattled whilst praying and
singing hymns round the blazing altar of the goddess. It resembled in
1 14. p. 619.
A MORES. III. 9. 171
form the frame of a racket or battledore in miniature, with transverse
rods loosely fitted in, by means of which the jingling sound was
produced. It is frequently represented on ancient monuments and
pictures, and many specimens have been found in the excavations at
Pompeii and elsewhere.
45. Erycis. At the distance of about a mile to the south-east of
Drepanum (Trapani) the lofty cliffs of Mount Eryx rise abruptly from
the plain. Crowning its level summit, at an elevation of more than two
thousand feet, stood the temple of Venus Erycina, one of the most
celebrated fanes not merely of Sicily but of the whole ancient world.
Lower down, accessible only by a long and difficult path, was the
city Eryx, renowned in the annals of the first Punic war as the scene of
one of the most brilliant and daring of the exploits of Hamilcar. The
name, according to ancient legends, was derived from a Sicilian hero,
(son of Venus and a native prince Butes, or, according to others, of
Venus and Neptune,) who was vanquished and slain by Hercules in an
athletic contest. Of him Entellus speaks, when displaying his gauntlets
to Aeneas, Ae. 5. 412
Haec germanus Eryx quondam tuus arma gerebat,
Sanguine cernis adhuc fractoque infecta cerebro,
His magnum Alciden contra stetit.
Roman tradition told that the shrine was dedicated by the Trojan after
the death of Anchises, ib. 759
Turn vicina astris Erycino in vertice sedes
Fundatur Veneri Idaliae : tumuloque sacerdos
Ac lucus late sacer additur Ancbiseo,
while by other authorities it was attributed to Eryx himself. Venus
was believed to quit her temple every year for the purpose of making
an excursion to Africa, an event which was announced by the departure
of all the wild pigeons, vast numbers of which roosted in the crags.
After an absence of nine days they returned in the train of their
mistress. Two magnificent festivals were celebrated in honour of these
events, the first called 'Avajwyia, the second Karaywyia.
Mount Eryx has now become Mount St. Julian, from a Catholic Saint
who did good service on this spot in a struggle with the Saracens;
the ancient hero, however, still keeps his ground under a new form,
having been canonized as S. Quirico, and the doves still haunt the hill,
although efforts have been made to extirpate them as relics of Pagan
superstition.
It would be tedious and unprofitable to enumerate all the authors
who have made mention of this holy spot, but authority for the above
172 NOTES. 5.
statements will be found in Polybius i. 55 and 58, 2. 7, Diodorus 4. 83,
Apollonius Rhod. 4. 917, Apollodorus I and 2, Dionysius Halic. i,
Strabo 6, Aelian. V. H. I. 15, and H. A. 4. 2, Athenaeus 9. 51, Virg.
Ae. 5. 412, 759, and the notes of Servius. These and many more have
been quoted by Cluverius in his ' Sicilia Antiqua.'
47. Phaeacia tellus. After the Greeks became familiarly acquainted
with the Ionian sea and the coasts of Italy, they loved to give a local
habitation to all the places mentioned in the Odyssey, most of which we
have no reason to believe ever existed, except in the fancy of the poet,
who worked up into a web of fiction the strange tales of Phoenician
mariners and pirates about the wonders of the far west. Accordingly,
Corcyra was selected as the abode of Alcinous and the Phaeacians, but
upon no better authority than that which fixed upon the islands off the
promontory of Minerva as the haunt of the Sirens, on Formiae as the
kingdom of the monstrous Laestrygones, and on the bold headland near
Terracina as the dwelling of the enchantress Circe.
62. Licinus Calvus is spoken of with great respect by Cicero 1 as an
orator. Of his character as a poet we know little or nothing, except
that he is usually classed along with Catullus, as by Ovid in the passage
before us 3 , by Pliny the younger in his epistles 3 , and somewhat
contemptuously by Horace, S. i. 10, 19
Nil praeter Calvum et doctus cantare Catullum.
An epithalamium from his pen is mentioned by Priscian 4 . Suetonius in
his life of Caesar speaks 5 of his abusive epigrams, a part of one of which
he has preserved, levelled against the dictator, to which Cicero also
seems to refer in Ep. ad Fam. 7. 24. Servius and Probus quote four
disjointed lines from a poem called lo, but we possess only one complete
piece, a jeu d'esprit in two lines, upon Pompey scratching his head.
Caius Valerius Catullus, descended from an ancient and honourable
family, was born in the neighbourhood of Verona, perhaps in the peninsula
of Sirmio, on the Lacus Benacus (Lago di Garda), in the year 87 B. C.
Leaving his native province in early youth, he settled at Rome, where
he spent the greater part of his life, enjoying the society of Cicero,
Cornelius Nepos, and other distinguished men of that brilliant epoch.
The period of his death is uncertain. A collection of his poems has
1 Brut. 81, and Epist. ad Fam. 15. 2.
* Again in Trist. 2. 431 as an amatory and not over decent writer
Par fuit exigui similitque licentia Calvi,
Delexit variis qui sva facia modis.
* i. 16, and 4. 27. * p. 658, ed. Putsch. * 49; 73.
AMORES. III. 9. 173
been preserved, consisting of one hundred and sixteen pieces, most of
them very short, written in a great variety of metres and in many
different styles, but excellent in all. Some are lyrical, some descriptive,
some epigrammatic, some elegiac, some dithyrambic. The epithet
' doctus,' by which he is here distinguished, refers to his familiarity
with Greek literature, and the Grecian tone and spirit which pervade his
compositions.
64. C. Cornelius Gallus, who follows next to Catullus, in chro-
nological order, among the Roman Elegiac Poets, was born at Forum
Julii (Fr^jus), in the south of Gaul, in the year 66 B.C. After the
battle of Actium and the death of Cleopatra, he was appointed by
Augustus praefect of Egypt, the most important of all the imperial
provinces; but was recalled on a charge of treason, 'temerati crimen
amici,' and committed suicide in the fortieth year of his age. He was
the author of four books of Elegies, celebrating his love for a mistress
named Lycoris, and translated from the Greek the poems of Euphorion
of Chalcis. No portion of these works remain, the elegies now extant
bearing the name of Gallus being the production of Maximianus Gallus
Etruscus, who flourished under the Emperor Anastasius; other pieces
are sometimes attributed to him, but upon no good evidence. He
appears to have been the intimate friend and patron of Virgil, whose
tenth Eclogue is devoted to a description of the perfidy of Lycoris
and the misery of her lover. Honourable mention is made of him in
the sixth Eclogue also in describing the song of Silenus
Turn canit errantem Permessi ad flumina Gallum
Aonas in monies ut duxerit una sororum
Vtque viro Phoebi chorus assurrexerit omnis, &c. &c.
68. Et sit humus, &c. The Greeks and Romans entertained some
strange idea that the bodies, or, at all events, the Manes of the dead
were sensible of the weight of the earth which pressed upon their
graves. Hence we frequently find prayers such as that expressed in the
line before us, and nothing is more common in sepulchral inscriptions
than the characters S. T. T. L., i. e. Sit tibi terra levis.
The student may compare luv. S. 7. 207
Di maiorum umbris tenuem et nine pondere terram,
Spirantesque crocos, et in urna perpetuum ver,
Qui praeceptorem sancti voluere parentis
Esse loco,
and Pers. S. i. 36
Adsensere viri : nunc non cinis ille poetae
Felix? non levior cippvs nunc imprimit ossal
174 NOTES, e.
and Prop. I. 17, 23
nia mevm extremo clamasset pulvere nomen,
Vt mibi non vllo pondere terra foret,
and Eurip. Alcest. 477
Kov<pa aoi
\6uv tiravuQfv viaoi, jvvat.
6. RAPTVS SABINARVM. A. A. i. 101.
1. Sollicitos. . .ludos, i. e. ' full of anxiety,' ' the source of excite-
ment and anxiety.' This use of the word ' sollicitus ' is found even in
prose, e. g. Cic. Lael. 15 Haec est enim tyrannorum vita . . . omnia
temper suspecta et solliciia. In Ovid it is very common, and in Horace, S.
2. 6, 78, we read,
si quis nam laudet Arelli,
Sollicitas, ignamt, Q$et, sif incipil, &c.
2. Viduos, here 'unwedded.' The true meaning of 'viduus' seems
to be 'destitute of,' 'separate from.' ' Vidua' is applied i. To a
woman who has never been married. 2. To a woman who has lost her
husband. 3. To a woman whose husband or lover is absent.
So 'caelebs:' I. A man who has never been married. 2. A
widower. These words are also applied to inanimate objects, and
their signification to a certain extent interchanged. Thus Ov. Her.
13. 107
Auntpor in lecto mendaces caelibe somnos,
where leclus caelebs is the couch from which the husband is absent, and
in Ov. Her. 8. 21
Si socer ignavvs vidua sedisset in avla,
where vidua avla is the hall deserted by its mistress.
3. 4. Propertius, in describing the primitive simplicity of the Romans,
has a couplet closely resembling this, 4. i, 15
Nee sinuosa cavo ptndebant vela tbeatro ;
Pvlpita solennes non oluere crocos.
The Roman theatres and amphitheatres, from their prodigious size,
were without roofs, and hence, in order to protect the audience from
the rays of the sun, or from any sudden change of weather, it became
customary, towards the end of the republic, to stretch a vast awning
over the whole area, which was supported by poles fixed to the walls
of the building. The stone rings in which these poles were inserted
may still be seen in some parts of the Coliseum.
ARS AMATORIA. 7. 101. 175
These awnings were termed ' vela,' and there are numerous allusions
to them in the works of the poets, from Lucretius downwards.
On ' Crocum,' read note, p. 164. About the time that awnings were
introduced, it became usual to sprinkle the stage over with saffron and
other odours, ' sparsiones,' and sometimes statues were contrived which
rained perfumed showers 1 over the whole of the spectators.
Thus Martial, when describing the crowds of foreigners who flocked
to the amphitheatre :
Festinavit Arabs, festinavere Sabaei;
Et Cilices nimbis bic maduere suis, De Spec. 3, 7
and Epig. 5. 25, 7
Hoc, rogo, non melitis, quam rubro pulpita nimbo
Spargere, et effuso permaduisse croco.
And in 9. 39, 5 he alludes to the 'vela' also,
Lubrica Corycio quamvis sint pulpita nimbo,
Et rapiant celeres vela negata Noti.
Pliny when describing saffron, H. N. 21, 6 Vino mire congruit praecipue
dulci tritum ad tbeatra replenda.
To conclude, we find among the theatrical notices scrawled upon the
walls of Pompeii, the promise of ' Vela ' and ' Sparsiones ' held out as an
attraction to the public.
5. ITemorosa is emphatic. The Palatine, now covered with gorge-
ous edifices, was then a woody thicket.
6. Scena technically signifies the whole of that portion of the
theatre reserved for the actors, with all its ornaments, as opposed to
' cavea,' the name for the area occupied by the spectators.
The proper and original meaning of ' scena,' atcrjv^, is a ' leafy bower,'
and then a hut made of green branches ; it was applied to the theatre,
because originally, as here described, verdant boughs were the simple
decorations of the stage. We have an example of the first meaning
in Virg. Ae. I. 164
turn silvis scena coruscis
Desuper, borrenlirjue atrum nemus imminet umbra.
7. Gradibus . . . . de cespite, i. e. the ascending rows of seats were
of turf, not of marble, as in the sumptuous theatres of Pompey, Balbus,
and Marcellus, frequented in the days of Ovid.
8. Qualibet . . . fronde, a chaplet formed of any kind of green
leaves, not of the rare and costly exotics so much sought after for this
purpose in later times.
1 Vid. Senec. Controv. Lib. 5. praef.
176 NOTES, e.
8. Hirsutas, long shaggy locks. The Romans in early times wore
universally flowing hair and long beards. Barbers were unknown
until four hundred and fifty-four 1 years after the foundation of the city,
when they were imported frdm Sicily. It is recorded that Scipio
Africanus first set the example of shaving. With reference to this
Juvenal marks the age of wine when he says that the master of a feast,
Ipse capillato diffttsum consnle potat, S. 30. 5,
i. e. 'wine racked off in the time of a consul who wore long hair,' and
Tibullus of Messala,
Gentis Aquitanae celeber Messala triumpbis,
Et magna inlonsis gloria victor avis, 2. I, 33.
I T . Tibicine. The ' tibicines," or flute-players, were persons of
great importance in Rome. Ov. Fast. 6. 657
Temporibus veterum tibicinis usus avorum
Magnus, et in magno semper bonore fuit.
The presence of one of them was absolutely necessary at every
sacrifice and solemn rite ; it was his duty to stand by the side of the
officiating priest, and to play during the whole of the ceremony, that
no ill-omened sound might reach his ear and disturb the sanctity of the
proceedings. Hence we find an amusing account of the embarrassment
into which the city was thrown, on a certain occasion, when the whole
fraternity of the tibicines, offended by some infringement of their
privileges, retired in a body to Tibur, and positively refused to return 2 .
' Tibicines ' formed a part of every funeral procession from the earliest
times, (see Leges XII. Tabb. X. leg. 7,) and bore a part in all theatrical
exhibitions, from their first introduction. See Liv. lib. 7. I, 2 and 3,
in which they marked the time for the dances, songs, and recitations,
and perhaps played between the acts.
Tusco. A great proportion of the religious ceremonies of the
Romans having been derived from Etruria, and in particular their first
theatrical exhibitions, (see Livy as quoted above,) 'tibicines' would for
a long time belong to that nation.
12. Ludius, or ludio, is the proper Latin word for a stageplayer,
'hister* or 'histrio' being the corresponding Etrurian term. Many of
the MSS. have here ' Lydiis,' which would be equivalent to ' Etruscan,'
for according to the popular belief the Etrurians were a colony from
Lydia.
1 Varro, as quoted by Plin. H. N. 7. 59.
a See Livy 9, 30, Val. Max. 2. 5, 4, aud Ov. Fast. 6. 657.
ARS AMATORIA. I. 527. 177
Humum is emphatic. The actor danced upon the ' levelled ground,'
not on a lofty stage.
13. Plausus tune arte carebat. In later times the clapping of
hands and other marks of approbation in theatres were reduced to a
regular system, as may be seen from the following curious passage in
Sueton. Nero 20.
Captus aittem modulatis Alexandrinorum laudationibus, qui de novo
commeatu Neapolin cottfluxerant, plures Alexandria evocavil. Neque eo
segnius adolescentulos equestris ordinis, et quinque amplius millia e plebe
robusdssimae iuventutis undique elegit, qui divisi in factiones, plausuum
genera condiscerent, (bombos et imbrices, el testas vocabani) operamque
navarent cantanti sibi, insignes pinguissima coma, et excellentissimo cultu
pueri, nee sine annulo laevis : quorum duces quadragena millia sestertium
merebant. Compare Tacitus, Ann. 1 6, 4 Et plebs quidem urbis, bistrionum
quoque gestus iuvare solita, personabat certis modis, plamuque composite.
See also Dio. 61. 20.
18. Novella. 'Novellus' is applied to anything young and tender,
and is a favourite word with the writers upon rural affairs. Thus we
have novelli iuvenci, novellas gallinae, novellas sues, novellas vites, novella
prata, &c. &c.
31. Commoda were gratuities given to soldiers when discharged after
long service. The following passages from Suetonius will illustrate this
use of the word. Octav. 49 Quidquid auiem ubique militum esset, ad
certain stipendiorum praemiorumque formulam astrinxit, definitis pro gradu
cuiusque et lemporibus militiae, et commodis missionum ; ne out aetate out
inopia post missionem sollicitari ad res novas possent. Calig. 44 At in
exercilu recensendo, plerisque Centurionum maturis iam, et nonnullis ante
paucissimos, quam consummaturi essent, dies, primos pilos ademit, causatus
senium cuiusque et imbecillitatem : ceterorum increpita cupiditate, commoda
emeritae militiae ad sex millium summam recidit. Nero 32 Verum ut spes
fefellit, destitutus, atque ita iam exbaustus et egens, ut stipendia quoque
militum, et commoda veteranorum protrabi ac differri necesse esset, calum-
niis rapinisque intendit animum.
7. BACCHVS ET ARIADNE. A. A. I. 527.
i. G-nosus or Gnossus was the chief city of ancient Crete, and from
this word are formed the adjectives ' Gnosius' and ' Gnosiacus,' (which
are used as equivalent to the more general epithets Cressius,' 'Cretaeus,'
'Creticus,' ' Cretensis,') and likewise the feminine Graeco-poetic forms
ft
1 78 NOTES. 7.
'Gnosis' and ' Gnosias,' which are frequently placed absolutely, like
' Cressa,' for Ariadne, 'puella' being understood as in the line before us,
and below v. 30.
The towns next in importance to Gnosus were ' Gortys ' or ' Gortyna,'
and ' Cydonia," and hence the adjectives ' Gortynius ' and ' Cydonius ' are
equivalent to Cretan, as when Virgil names stabula Gortynia and Cydonia
tpicula. 'Cressa' is used absolutely by Propertius 1 to indicate Pasiphae
the wife of Minos, and by Ovid in one passage for Ariadne 2 , and in
another for Aerope 3 .
2. Dia, now Standia, was the name of a small island off the coast of
Crete, immediately opposite to Gnosus. Dia was also one of the apel-
lations of Naxos, the largest of the Cyclades, according to some the
birthplace of Bacchus, who was worshipped there with peculiar zeal.
The epithet 'brevis' seems to make it certain that Ovid meant to indi-
cate the former in the passage before us.
3. Vtque erat a somno, i. e. 'just as she had started from slumber,'
with hair dishevelled and disordered dress.
6. Indigno. i. e. ' unmerited.' The use of ' indignus ' in this passive
sense is not uncommon, e. g. Virg. Ae. 12. 810
Nee tu me aeria so'am nunc sede videres
Digna indigna pati,
and 6. 162
Atqite illi Misenum in littore sicco
Vt venere vident indigna morte peremptum.
II. The student should observe that most of the ceremonies which
accompanied the worship of Bacchus seem to have been introduced from
the East, and like the rites of Cybele and others derived from the same
source, belong to the class of those which have been denominated
'orgiastic,' or 'enthusiastic.' The public celebration of such festivals
was characterised by a deafening din, proceeding from the brattling of
trumpets, the rolling of drums, and the clashing of cymbals, intermingled
with the shrill notes of the fife, while the priests and devotees danced or
ran about with frantic gestures, shouting and screaming, tearing their
hair, beating their breasts, and often slashing themselves with knives,
forming in this respect a striking contrast to the solemnities indigenous
to Greece, which were all distinguished either by gentle devotion or
simple light-hearted merriment. Hence, too, the determined opposition
made by the grave and austere Romans to the introduction of the
1 4- 7> 57- ' Amor. I. 7, n. s A. A. I. 327.
ARS AMATORIA. I. 527. 179
Bacchanalian orgies; and although the worship of Cybele was natur-
alized at an early period, in accordance with the injunctions of the
Sibylline books, it seems for a considerable time to have been kept
under decent restraint.
12. Attonita. . .marm, ' the frantic hand ot tne Bacchanals.'
' Attonitus ' is properly ' thunder-struck,' and hence applied to those
who are ' struck by a god,' ' divinely inspired.' Virgil has the expression
more fully,
Turn, quorum attonitae Baccbo nemora avia malres
Insultant tbiasis, (neque enim leve nomen Amatae)
Vndique collecti coeunt, Martemque fatigant.
Ae. 7. 580.
13. Excidit. This is commonly translated 'she fell to the earth
through terror ;' perhaps it would be better to understand ' mente,' ' she
became senseless through fear.' There is frequently an ellipse of ' me-
moria' after 'excido,' e. g. Ov. T. 4. 5, 10
Excidit ben nomen quam mibi paene ttium.
Somewhat different is the expression in R. A. 348
Infelix vitiis excidet ilia SKI'S,
i e. ' the unhappy woman will fall from your favour in consequence of
her defects.'
Eupitque, 'cut short," 'broke off.' Her voice failed.
15. Mimallonid.es, female votaries of Bacchus, otherwise termed
' Maenades,' ' Thyades,' ' Evades,' ' Bacchae,' &c. ; we find also the form
' Mimallones ' in Stat. Theb. 659
Post exsultantes spolia armentalia porfant
Seminecesque lupos, scissasque Mimallones ttrsas,
and the adjective ' Mimalloneus ' in Pers. S. 1 . 99
Torva Mimalloneis implerunt cornua bombis.
The derivation of these words is uncertain. Some etymologists would
connect them with the lofty mountain range of Mimas in Ionia, the
scene of Bacchanalian rites; others with the Greek jut/xefo-flcu, because,
they imitated the gestures and actions of men, &C. 1
1 6. Satyri. The Satyrs, who are constantly represented as the at-
tendants of Bacchus, occupied the same place in Grecian as the Fauns
1 Bochart considers it a Semitic word, in which case, ' Mimallonides" might
be connected with ' Memallelan,' i.e. ' garruJae,' ' loquaculae,' or with
' Mama),' a wine-press.
N 2
l8o NOTES. 7.
did in the Italian mythology. They were rural deities who roamed
through the woods and wilds, dwelling in caves, and endeavouring to
gain the love of the Nymphs. They were usually represented with horns
and the feet of goats, and covered with long shaggy hair. The de*
rjvation of the word is uncertain; but in all probability the Doric
Tirvpos, which signifies a ' he-goat,' is only a dialectic form of Sdrupos.
16. Praevius is a poetic word applied as an epithet to any thing which
goes before another, leading the way. Ovid thus describes the shades
of Orpheus and Eurydice wandering together in the Elysian fields, Met.
9.64
Hie modo coniunctis spatiantur passibus ambo:
Nunc praecedentem sequitur, -nunc praevius anteit.
17. Silenus is another of the constant attendants upon Bacchus,
having acted as the guardian and tutor of the youthful god,
cvstos famvlusque Dei Silenus alumni. Hor. A. P. 239.
The description here given corresponds perfectly with the repre-
sentations found hi ancient works of art, in which he appears as a fat,
squat, pot-bellied, bald, snub-nosed, wide-nostrilled, half-tipsy old man ',
sometimes riding upon an ass and grasping a ferula (ya.pOr)), sometimes
staggering along or lying asleep with a huge drinking-cup in his arms.
Although the poets make him the butt and laughing-stock of the
Dionysiac troop 2 , yet they invest him with the attributes of a bard and
a philosopher also, as may be seen from the magnificent song put into his
mouth by Virgil, and the strange legends regarding his capture by king
Midas 3 .
We ought also to observe that Silenus, when taken by himself, is a
well-defined personage, but that it is difficult to distinguish the Sileni 4 ,
whom we find mentioned in the plural number as a class of deities, from
the Satyrs. In the Homeric hymn to Aphrodite they are described as
the lovers of the Nymphs, and in Catullus they are styled ' Nysigenae, 1
i. e. ' born at Nysa,' and are coupled with the Satyrs as forming part of
the train of Bacchus. The whole of the passage here alluded to (64.
251) has been imitated by Ovid, and is in itself so beautiful and spirited
that it well deserves to be remembered.
1 See also the pictures drawn by Lucian in his Concilium Deorum and his
Bacchus. a e. g. compare 32. 33-50.
3 Recorded by Theopompus, and copied from him by Aelian, V.H. 3. 18
and Servius on Virg. Eel. 6. 13, and Ae. 10. 142.
* See notes on 32, 33, &c.
REMEDIA AMORIS. 169. l8l
8. SOLATIA RVRIS. REM. AM. 169.
6. Fenore. Properly the ' interest of money,' ' that which money
produces or begets,' from the obsolete ' feo," to 'produce' or 'create,'
the root of ' fetus,' ' fecundus,' &c. Thus ' fenus ' corresponds exactly to
the Greek -r6icos. Here it is applied to the return made by the soil for
the labour bestowed upon it, and similarly by Tibull. 2. 6, 22
Spes alit agricolas ; spes sulcis credit aratis
Semina, quae magno fenore reddat ager.
The same figure is found even in prose : Pliny, describing the extreme
fertility of Mesopotamia, says that after the corn has sprung up,
Babylone tamen bis secant, tertio depascunt; alioquin folia tantwn fierent.
Sic quoque cum quinqitagesimo fenore messes reddit exilitas soli; verum
diligentioribus cum centesimo quinquagesimo H. N. 18. c. 17 where
' exilitas soli ' seems to signify ' the bare soil without manure or any
artificial stimulus.'
13. Inaequali arundine. The ovpiy or Pandean pipe. So Virg.
E. 2. 35
Est mibi disparibus septem compacta cicutis
Fistula,
and 32
Pan primus calamos cera coniungere plures
Instituit.
18. Dempti is a prolepsis (at least in one sense of the word) for
' demendi ; ' the honeycomb could not be removed until after the hive
was lifted up.
24. i. e. he rakes the ground after the grass has been cut. The
epithet ' rarus ' indicates the distance from each other at which the teeth
of a rake are fixed, it being properly applied to objects which are
separated by a considerable space. So Lucretius speaks of res molles
rarasque (I. 737), the particles of which are not in close combination;
and in Virg. Ae. I. 118 we have
Apparent rari nantes in gurgile vasto,
i. e. men scattered up and down.
27. Venerit. In this and similar expressions grammarians suppose
an ellipse of ' si.' But this is quite unnecessary, for the subjunctive
mood here indicates that the proposition is hypothetical.
182 NOTES. 8.
27. Insitio properly ' the operation of grafting;' here 'the season
for grafting.'
Adoptet. We have the same metaphor again in Ov. Medic. Fac. 5
Cult-us et in pomis succos emendat acerbos,
Fissaque adoptivas accipit arbor opes,
and in Martial 13. 46
Villa maternis fueramus praecoqua ramis,
Nunc in adoptivis persica cara sumus,
and Pliny H. N. 15. praef., speaking of fruit trees, sive illae ultra, sive ab
bomine didicere blandos sapores adoptione et connubio.
28. Stetque peregrinis, &c. The process and the effects are thus
described by Virgil, G. 2. 78
Aut rursum enodes trunci resecantur et alte
Finditur in solidum cuneis via ; deinde feraces
Plantae immittuntnr : nee longunt tempus et ingens
Exiit ad caelum ramis felicibns arbor,
Mirattirque novas frondes et non sua poma.
33. Pronum, i. e. 'flying at full speed,' not as Burm. explains it, 'celer, 1
velox.' 'Pronus' properly signifies 'stooping or bending forwards,'
which is the attitude of a man when running fast, and hence it is
applied to animals in general, and even to inanimate objects, as when
Horace says of the moon, Od. 4. 6, 39
Prosperam frugum, celeremque pronos
Volvere menses,
i. e. swift careering months.
Sagaci, ' keen scented.' The true meaning of the word is fully ex-
plained by Cic. de N. D. c. 31 Sagire, sentire acute est: ex quo sagae
anus, quia multa scire volunt, et sagaces died canes. Figuratively it is
applied to the mind, and signifies ' acute," ' endowed with keen per-
ception,' and the like.
35. Varia formidine. He refers to a method of hunting, resembling,
in some respects, what is now called a ' battue,' practised by the
ancients. A number of men surrounded a large space with ropes, to
which feathers of different colours were attached ; the beasts of chase
were scared by these, and fled from all quarters towards the point
where the nets were fixed, to which it was the object of the hunter to
drive them. Virgil, when speaking of stags entangled in a snow wreath,
Georg. 3. 371
Hos non immissis canlbnn, non cassibtis ullis,
Puniceaeve agilant pavidos formidine pennae.
40. Lino aut calamis. ' Linum ' indicates the method of ensnaring
FASTI. I. i. 183
birds by means of a noose, ' laqueus,' or springe, ' pedica,' or net, ' rete,'
which was supported by a wooden fork, 'ames ; ' thus Hor. Epod. 2. 33
Aut amite levi rara tendit retia
Turdis edacibus dolos,
and Virg. G. i. 139
Aut laqueis capture /eras out fuller e visco,
all of which are employed by fowlers, ' aucupes.' Calamis might
signify shooting them with arrows, as Virg. .3.12
Aut bic ad veteres fagos, cum Dapbnidis arcum
Fregisti el calamos,
and Hor. Od. i. 15, 17.
Hastas et calami spicula Gnosii
Vitabis,
but it is better here to understand, ' a reed smeared over with birdlime,'
('viscus.') The title of the following Epigram of Martial is 'Calami
Aucupatorii' 14. 218
Non tantum calamis, sed cantu fallitur ales,
Pallida dtim tacita crescit arundo manu.
43. Dediscis. ' Dediscere ' is to ' unlearn,' to erase from the mind
something which has been impressed upon it. So again, Ov. R. A. 503
Intrat amor mentes usu ; dediscitur usu.
9. FASTORVM DEDICATIO. FAS. 1. 1.
i. Tempora cum causis. The word ' Tempora ' here includes the
divisions into which the Roman year was portioned out, together with
the different festivals and remarkable events noted in the Calendars ;
all of which the poet proposes to describe, and, at the same time, to
explain the origin, ' causis,' of the various rites and ceremonies.
Digesta. ' Digerere ' is properly an agricultural term, and signifies
' to plant out in rows.' So Virg. G. 2. 53
Nee non et sterilis (sc. planta) quae slirpibus exit ab imis
Hoc faciet vacuos si sit digesta per agros,
and 226
Ante locum similem exquirunt, ubi prima paretur
Arbor thus seges, et quo mox digesta feratur,
and hence, generally, ' to arrange in order,' as of the Sibylline leaves in
Virg. Ae. 3. 445
Quaecunque in foliis descripsit carmina virgo,
Digerit in numerum, atque antro seclusa relinquit.
184 NOTES. 9.
2. Lapsa. The word 'labor' well expresses the gentle silent pro-
gress of the constellations through the sky, so below, line 65,
lane biceps, anni tacite labentis origo,
and Virg. G. I. 5
Vos, O clarisfima mundi
Lumina, labentem caelo quae ducitis annum.
3. Caesar Gennanice. He dedicates the work to Germanicus, the
nephew and adopted son of Tiberius. To make the allusions which
follow more intelligible, we subjoin a portion of the genealogical tree of
the Caesars.
Livia Brasilia, the third wife of Augustus, bore him no children ; but
by her former husband, Tiberius Claudius Nero, she had two sons.
I. TIBERIUS Claudius Nero, born 42 B. C., adopted by Augustus A. D.
4, became Emperor A. D. 14, died A. D. 37. He was twice married ;
his wives were i. Agrippina, daughter of M. Vipsanius Agrippa and
Caecilia the daughter of Atticus, by whom he had one son, Drusus, who
died A. D. 23, poisoned, it was believed, by Sejanus. 2. Julia, daughter
of Augustus, by whom he had a son, who died while an infant.
II. DRUSUS Claudius Nero, who died in Germany, 9 B. C., in con-
sequence of a fall from his horse. He married Antonia the younger,
daughter of M. Antonius the triumvir, by whom he had two sons and
one daughter, these were I. Caesar Germanicus, born 15 B. C., adopted
by Tiberius A. D. 4, died A. D. 19. He married Agrippina, daughter
of M. Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the daughter of Augustus, by
whom he had six children, among whom was Caius Caesar CAIJGULA,
born A. D. i a, Emperor A. D. 37, killed A. D. 41. 2. CLAUDIUS, born 10
B. C., Emperor A. D. 41, poisoned A. D. 54. 3. Livilla, s. Livia, s. Julia.
4. Navis. The poets are fond of comparing their undertakings to a
ship at sea ; thus Virg. G. 2. 39
Tuque ades, inceptumqiie una decurre laborem,
O decus, O famae merito pars maxima nostrae,
Maecenas, pelagoque volans da vela patenti.
Ades et primi lege littoris oram;
In manibus terrae :
and again, G. 4. 1 16
Atque equidem, extremo nl iam sub fine laborum
Vela trabam, et terris festinem advertere proram, &C.
to which add Ov. Fast. 4. 729. (see 24. 9)
Mota Dea est, operique favet. Navalibus exit
Puppis : babent ventos iam mea vela suos.
7. Becognosces. Germanicus being a learned prince, Ovid, with
FASTI. 7. i. 185
the politeness of a courtier, hints that the verses now presented to him
will ' recall ' to his recollection what he already knew, not impart any
fresh information.
Eruta. ' Bene eruta, in Annalibus enim ex magno rerum vanarum
acervo singula conquirenda erant. Itaque et Cicero Pro Murena 16
Ex annalium vetustate eruenda est memoria nobilitatis tuae ' G.
9. Festa domestica. Every ' gens ' and ' familia ' among the
Romans had its own peculiar sacred rites (' sacra gentilitia ; domestica,'
&c.), which were, of course, not set down in the Calendars. But the
exploits of the Julian line were now so completely identified with the
glory of the state, that their triumphs were enrolled in the public
records, and their private festivals became days of public rejoicing.
The achievements of Augustus, above all, and the honours decreed to
him, were regularly chronicled in the Fasti 1 ,
Quae cura Patrum, qnaeve Quiritium,
Plenis honorum muneribus tuas,
Augnsle, virtutes in aevum
Per titulos, memoresque fastos
Aelernet? Hor. Od. 4. 14, I.
10. Pater, i. e. Tiberius, father of Germanicus by adoption. In like
manner ' avus ' is Augustus, and in line 1 1 ' Druso fratre ' is Drusus, son
of Tiberius, and brother by adoption of Germanicus. These titles are
all included in an inscription found in Spain 2 : GERMANICO. CAESARI.
Ti. F. AUGUSTI. N. DIVI. PRON. Cos. L. TURELLIUS. L. F. GEMINUS AED.
D. S. P.
1 1 . Pictos, i. e. ' illuminated,' as we say of MSS. adorned with paint-
ings or coloured ornaments. Compare Mart. u. 4, 5
Et gut purpureis tarn tertia nontina fastis,
lane, refers Nervae, vos precor ore pio.
13. Caesaris . . aras. Understand not altars dedicated to, but raised
by, Augustus. Compare Livy 4. 20 Augustum Caesarem templorum
omnium conditorem out restitutorem.
15. Per laudes ire, i.e. ' tractare, recensere.' Compare Ov. Fast.
2. 16
At tua prosequimur studioso pec tore, Caesar,
Nomina, per titulos ingredimurque tuos,
1 See Cic. ad Brut. Ep. 16, Tacit. Ann. r. 15. See also the dissertation
on the Fasti Praenestini in Wolfe's ed. of Suetonius, vol. 4. p. 318.
2 Gruter. p. 236. 3.
1 86 NOTES. 9.
andTrist. 5. 9, 31
Sie tnea, lege data vincta clique inclvsa, Tbalia
Per titulum vetiti nominis ire cupit.
19. Movetur. ' In librum transit metus auctoris ; itaque movetur re-
verentia, tamquam legendus mitteretur Apollini* G.
20. Clario . . . Deo. Claros (Zille) on the coast of Ionia, between
Colophon and Ephesus, was the seat of a very ancient and highly cele-
brated oracle of Apollo, which maintained its reputation until the time
of Constantine. Tacitus, Ann. 2. 54, gives an account of a visit paid to
this shrine by Germanicus. Virgil also, Ae. 3. 359
Troiugena, interpres divum, qui numina Pboebi,
Qui tripodas, Clarii lauros, qui sidera sends.
21-26. Historians agree in representing Germanicus to have been a
most amiable and accomplished prince. Thus Sueton.Calig. 3 Omnes Ger-
manico carports animique virtutes, et quantas nemini cuiquam, contigisse satis
constat : formam et forlitudinem egregiam, ingenium in utroque eloquentiae
doctrinaeque genere praecellens, benevolentiam singularem, Ac. . . . oravit
causas etiam trivm.pba.lis ; atque inter cetera stvdiorum monumenta reliquit et
cornoedias Graecas. Dion Cassius speaks of him in similar terms, 57. 18,
and 56. 26. A specimen of his poetical powers has been transmitted to
us in a translation of the Meteorological Poem of Aratus.
Ovid also pays an elaborate compliment to the oratorical powers of
Germanicus in the E. ex P. 2. 5, 49.
23. Impetus, ' the impulse of poetic enthusiasm.' Compare Ov. E.
ex P. 4. 2, 25
Impetus ille sacer qui vatum pectora nutrit.
16. Auspice. Bentley, on Hor. Od. i. 7, lays it down as a canon that
' auspex ' in a figurative sense is applied to a god only, and hence pro-
poses to read, in the passage before us, ' auspicio felix, ' which is found in
some MSS. Even if the rale were certain the change would be un-
necessary here, for Ovid studiously addresses Germanicus as if he were a
divinity observe especially the solemn formula ' licet et fas est 1 in the
line above, and the expressions pacato vultu : aversatus ; annue, &c., in
lines 3, 5, 15, &c.
27-42. See introduction to the Fasti in Appendix, Section on the
Roman year.
33. It must be remembered that lunar months are here spoken of.
1 Compare Livy I. 2 quemcumque eum did ius fasque est.
FASTI. I. i. 187
?5> 36. Compare Fast. 3. 133, where treating of the institution of
Romulus, he repeats,
Adsuetos igitur nvmeros servavit in anno,
Hoc luget spatio femina maesta virum.
37- The trabea was a toga striped with purple, in ancient times one
of the insignia of royalty. Thus Livy i. 41, tells us that upon the death
of Tarquinius Priscus, Servius cum trabea et lictoribus prodit, and Pliny H. N.
8. 48 Trabeis tisos accipio reges. During the period of the republic the
' trabea ' was worn by the principal magistrates upon certain solemn oc-
casions, by the augurs, and by the knights when they paraded through
the city, on the occasion of the ' transvectio,' on the Ides of July.
Quirini. Romulus, after his deification, was commonly addressed by
this title, which was however applied to other gods also, and seems to
have signified ' Warrior, ' being derived from the Sabine word 'Quiris'
or 'Curis,' a spear.
38. Annua iura, 'laws for the regulation of the year.'
43. Avitas . . umbras. The 'Feralia' or festival in honour of the
Manes celebrated in February. See 20 and notes.
46. Officii... idem. 'Sic idem virium ; idem aetatis Tacito : idem iuris
Lucano: idem prodigii Valeric Maximo' H. G.
47. Tria verba. Do ; Dico ; ADDICO ; the three words which ex-
pressed the functions of the Praetor ; ' dabat actionem et iudices,' he gave
leave to bring the suit into court, fixed the form under which it was to
be tried, and appointed a jury ; ' dicebat ius,' he laid down the law ;
' addicebat bona,' he adjudged the property in question to the legal owner.
49, 50. The ' dies intercisi,' a portion only of which were kept holy.
52. Honoratus was the epithet applied specially to the Praetor
Vrbanus, whose edicts were termed ' Ius Honorarium.'
53. The ' dies comitiales,' on which it was lawful to hold assemblies
of the people.
Septis. The ' septa' or ' ovilia' were the enclosures in the Campus
Martius into which the centuries passed individually when about to vote.
54. The 'dies nundinales' or market days, which fell upon every
ninth day, according to the Roman method of computation, which in-
cluded both the day reckoned from, as well as the day reckoned to; or
every eighth day, according to our mode of calculation in other words,
there were seven clear days between two consecutive ' nundinae.'
57. Observe the inverted construction 'Nonarum tutela deo caret,'
instead of ' Nonae tutela Dei carent.'
58. Ater. That is, the day after the Kalends, the day after the Nones,
l88 NOTES. 9.
and the day after the Ides, were all considered as unlucky, in consequence
of disasters which had befallen the Romans upon such days. See In-
troduction to Fasti.
61. Semel, once for all.'
63. The Dedication and Introduction here terminate, and the poet
enters upon the regular business of his task by describing the various
ceremonies performed on the Kalends of January.
64. lanus. See last note on this Extract.
67. Ducibus. Augustus, Tiberius, Germanicus, and others of the
same family, by whose valour the enemies of the state had been subdued.
69. Dexter ades. &c. Be propitious to thine own Senators and thine
own Romans. ' Populus Quirini ' is common in the poets for ' Populus
Romanus,' e. g. Hor. Od. i. 2, 46
Laetus intersis Populo Quirini.
Some propose to read ' Quirine,' a title applied to Janus (see note on line
85), as in Sueton. Aug. 22 lanum Quirimim ter clausit.
74. Livida lingua, 'slandering tongue.' See note on 3. I.
76. Spica Cilissa. Saffron. See note on 6. 4.
77. Aurum. The golden fretted roof (' lacunar,' 'laquear'). Com-
pare Virg. G. 4. 385
Ter flamma ad siimmum tecti sMecta reluxit,
79. Tarpeias . . arces. The Capitol. From the year 153 B.C. the
Consuls always entered upon their office on the Kalends of January, on
which day, attended by the Senate, they marched in solemn procession to
the Capitol, where they offered up a sacrifice for the prosperity of the
republic.
80. Concolor. The day was a ' dies candidus,' the people were clad
in pure white holiday garb, and thus ' concolor festo.'
82. Ebur. The ' sella curulis, 1 the ivory chair of state.
83. Bud.es operum . . . iuvenci. The oxen intended for sacrifice
were set apart from their birth and exempted from all rural labours.
Virgil directs the farmer to separate his calves into three divisions one
portion to be reserved as a breeding stock a second to be kept holy for
the altars and a third to be employed in ploughing and other agricul-
tural toils.
84. Herba Falisca. The Falisci were an Etrurian people whose chief
town Falerii (Santa Maria di Faleri l ) is frequently mentioned in the early
1 See Sir William Cell's Rome and its Vicinity. In our Life of Ovid, we
FASTI. I. i. 189
wars of Rome. With regard to the oxen, Pliny H. N. 2. 103, remarks,
In Falisco omnis aqua pota Candidas boves facit, and it was on account of
their colour that they were preferred for sacrifice. The herds which fed
on the banks of the Clitumnus in Umbria were still more celebrated.
Thus Virg. G. 2. 146
Hinc albi, Clitumne, greges, et maxima taurus
Victima, saepe tuo perfusi flumine sacro,
Romanes ad templa deum duxere triumpbos,
and luv. S. 12. 13
Laeta sed ostendens Clilumni pasctia sanguis
Iret et a grandi cervix ferienda magistro.
85. Arce sua. ' Heaven's high citadel ' is here indicated, not the
Capitol, as some would have it.
The worship of double-visaged Janus seems to have been derived from
the Tuscans, and to have belonged so exclusively to Italian mythology
that no connection could be traced between this deity and any member
of the Grecian Pantheon.
Quern tamen esse Deum te dicam, lane biformis t
Nam tibi par nullum Graecia numen babet 1 .
He was, as the name imports 2 , the god of doors of doors, however, in
the most extended sense the warder of the gates of sea and sky, of earth
and heaven, the power at whose bidding the hinges of the universe
revolved
Quidquid ubique vides, caelum, mare, nubila, terras,
Omnia sunt nostra clausa palentque manu.
Me penes est unum vasti custodia mundi,
Et ivs vertendi cardinis omne meum est.
Praesideo foribus caeli cum mitibus Horis,
It redit officio lupiter ipse meo,
Inde vocor lanus 3 .
In token of his office, he bore in his hand a key, and was addressed as
' Claviger ' (key-bearer) ; ' Patulcius ' (opener) ; ' Clusius ' (shutter) *.
gave Civita Castellana as the modern name of Falerii, following many modern
topographers. Civita Castellana, however, seems rather to occupy the site of
the ancient Fescennium. 1 Ov. Fast. i. 89.
a The ancients at least seem to have entertained no doubt of the con-
nection between the words 'lanus' and ' lanua.' See Cic. N. D. 2. 27,
quoted below. 3 Ov. Fast. I. 117.
* Macrobius S. I. 9, and Lydus de Mens. 4 i, mention the following
titles: ' Consivius,' i.e. ' cor.siliarius ' (or, 'a conserendo,' because sowing
190 NOTES. 9.
Moreover, since the beginning of a work may be regarded as the entrance
to it, he was believed to preside over the beginning of all things, and
when we remember the extreme importance attached by the Romans to
the first step in any undertaking the close connection which they
supposed to exist between an auspicious commencement and a happy
termination 1 , we need not feel surprised that Janus was ranked among the
most honoured of divinities, and hailed in their ancient hymns as god of
gods, ' deorum deus V In every invocation he first was named, taking
precedence of even Jove himself 3 ; at every solemn sacrifice he first was
propitiated by offerings of wine, incense, mola salsa, and sweet cakes *,
lest he should bar the portals of the celestial mansions against the pray-
ers and oblations of the suppliant 5 . The first month of the year received
its name from him ; the first day of the year was his high festival ; he
shared the homage rendered to Juno on the first day of each succeeding
month, being hence termed ' lanus lunonius V and under the title of
' matutine pater ' (father of the morning 7 ) he presided over the first dawn
the seed is a first step towards harvest, or ' a propagine generis humani, quia
lano auctore conseritur") ; ' Cenulus,' i. e. ' epularis ;' ' Patricias,' i. e.
' indigenus ;' ' Pater quasi deorum deus ' (' lanuspater ' seems to have been
used as a single word like ' Diespiter,' ' Marspiter,' &c.) ; ' Clusivius,' i. e.
' viatorius ' (or, the same with ' Clusius ') ; ' lunonius,' i. e. ' aereus ;'
' Quirinus," i. e. 'propugnator ;' ' Curiatius,' i. e. ' praeses nobilium.' Others
will be given below.
1 Thus Ov. Fast. i. 177
Turn deus incumbens baculo, quern dextra gerebat,
Omina principiis, inquit, inesse solent.
Ad primam vocem timidas advertitis aures :
Et visam primum consulit augur avem.
* Macrob. S. I. 9. * Thus, for example, the devoting prayer
preserved by Livy 8. 9, begins Jane, lupiter, Marspater, Quirine, Bellona,
Lares,, Divi Novensiles, Dii Indigetes, &c.
* Cic. N. D. a. 27 Quumque in omnibus rebus vim baberent maximam
prima et extrema, principem in sacrificando laniim esse voluerunt. See also
Ov. Fast. I. 127, 171, Macrob. S. i. 9. The cake was called ' ianual,' i. e.
' ianuale libum." See Fest. in verbo. From the cakes called ' popana ' offered
to Janus on the Kalends, he was named 'Popano,' according to Varro, as
quoted by Lydus de Mens. 4. I, 2.
5 Ov. Fast. I. 173, Macrob. S. I. 9.
* Macrob. S. I. 9. According to Lydus, or at least the authors whom he
followed, the twelve Salii were instituted by Numa to hymn the praises of
Janus, according to the number of the months, and twelve altars were dedi-
cated to him. See Lydus 4. I, and Varro quoted by Macrob. S. I. 9.
7 Thus Hor. S. n. 6, 20
Matutine pater, seu lane Hbentius audis.
FASTI. I. i. 191
of every day. Several of his attributes are enumerated in the lines of
Septimius Severus l
lane pater, lane tuens, dive biceps, biformis,
O cate rerum sator, O principium deorum,
Striditla cut limina, cui cardinei tumultus,
Cut reserata mugiunt aurea claustra mundi,
Tibi vetus ara calvit Aborigineo sacello.
When called upon at the commencement or termination of a war, he was
addressed as ' lanus Quirinus ' (the warrior) ; and it is well known that
the doors of his temple were never closed except in peace, a practice the
origin of which seems to have been unknown to the ancients, since they
generally refer to a romantic legend which would appear to have been in-
vented to explain it. In a battle fought under the city walls with the
kinsmen of the Sabine virgins, so ran the tale, the Romans hastily closed
a gate towards which the enemy was approaching. As soon as it was
shut, it flew open of its own accord the miracle was repeated a second
and a third time ; at this critical moment the Roman line gave way, the
warders fled in consternation, and the victorious Sabines were about to
dash forward in the pursuit, when suddenly a torrent of water, bursting
from the temple of Janus, rushed through the archway and dispersed or
swallowed up the advancing host. Hence the gates of the temple of this
god were left open in war that he might be ever ready to lend his aid 2 .
The custom is said by Livy to have been established, along with most
of the other religious ceremonies of the Romans, by Numa, but Virgil
carries it back to an epoch much more remote, and describes in noble
verses the opening of the gates of Janus, when the people of Latinus
had resolved to assail Aeneas and the Trojan band (Aen. 7- 601). And
on the other hand, Horace in his ode to Augustus, Od. 4. 15, 8
vacuumque duellis
lanum Quirinum clusit.
The most ancient temple of Janus stood near the extremity of the
Argiletum, not far from the spot where the theatre of Marcellus was
1 Quoted by Terentianus Maurus.
2 So Macrobius S. 1.9. He says that the gate was, from this circumstance,
called the Porta lanualis, and that it was at the foot of the Viminal. He
must surely mean the Capitoline Hill. Ovid Fast. I. 259 also tells the story,
and endeavours to connect it somehow or other with the treachery of the fair
and frail Tarpeia.
192 NOTES. 9.
erected in later times l . Like all the other shrines of Janus, it consisted
merely of an open arch, the opposite sides of which could be closed
with doors 2 , and is believed by some to have been actually a gateway
connecting different quarters of the city 3 . It is certain that archways
placed at the end of streets or elsewhere were called ' lani * ;' and we
read in Livy 41. 27, that the censors Q. Fulvius Flaccus and A. Postumius
Albinus (174 B.C.) inclosed the forum with shops and porticoes, et tres
lanos faciebant. Two of these are supposed to have stood at the
opposite extremities of the forum and one in the middle, and to have
been termed respectively, ' lanus summus,' ' lanus medius,' ' lanus imus,'
of which the ' lanus medius ' was a station frequented by the money-
lenders. This will explain two passages in Horace which have given
rise to much controversy ; the first is in Ep. i. I, 54
Virtus post nummos! baec lanus summus ab imo
Prodocet: baec recinunt iuvenes dictata senesque,
i. e. such are the principles inculcated from one end of the forum to the
other; the second in S. 2. 3, 18
postquam omnis res men lanum
Ad medium fracta est, aliena negolia euro,
' after I was ruined by the usurers."
Janus was usually represented with two heads (hence 'bifrons;'
' biceps ;' ' biformis ;' ' geminus ;') looking in opposite directions, grasping
a key in his left hand and a staff in his right, the latter being, according
to Macrobius, an emblem of his power, as ' rector viarum.' The oldest
copper asses of Rome, Etruria, and perhaps some other Italian states,
bear a head of Janus upon one side, and the rude effigy of a ship's prow
on the other. We shall soon see the manner in which these devices
were interpreted. On the taking of Falerii, a figure of Janus is said
to have been discovered with four heads 5 , and he was from that time
worshipped at Rome under this form also. A temple of lanus Quadri-
frons slill remains, near the Velabrum, in tolerable preservation, con-
1 Servius on Virg. Aen. 7- 60?- The greatest confusion prevails with
regard to the situation of the different temples of Janus, as may be seen
from the researches of modern topographers.
2 Plutarch calls it a vtws SiOvpos,
3 See Niebuhr's Roman History.
4 Cicero, in the passage referred to above, N. D. 2. 27, still speaking of
Janus, adds, ex quo transitiones perviae iani, foresque in limintbus profanarutti
aedium ianuae nominantur.
6 Serv. on Virg. Aen. 7. 6:7.
FASTI. 7. t. 193
sisting of two arches intersecting each other at right angles, and thus
presenting openings upon four sides.
The ancients were much perplexed by the appearance and attributes
of this deity, and a great variety of hypotheses were broached concerning
his nature. Some, reasoning from the fact that he presided over the
beginning of all things, supposed him to be Chaos, and thus Ovid
makes him say, Fast. 1. 103
Me Chaos antiqui, nam res sum prison, vocabant.
Others believed that he was a personification of heaven, others that
he was the prince of the air, others that he was Mars, others that
he represented the united divinities of Apollo and Diana 1 .
According to the most rational theory, he was the Sun-God of the
Tuscans. In this capacity he might be said to open and to close each day
and each year, and thus to be the door-keeper of heaven. This is
strongly corroborated by the circumstance that his statues had fre-
quently the numbers CCC marked 2 on one hand, and LV on the other,
which was afterwards changed to LXV, when the Solar superseded the
Lunar year. Under this view, the double or quadruple head might
indicate the all-seeing eye of 'the sun (travoirrrjs'), which scans the
universe, and descries both the past, the present, and the future ; or the
four heads might be symbolical of the four seasons. Ovid makes
him assign two reasons for his double head; one is, that it was a
relic of the primitive disorder of Chaos; the other, which we shall
give in the poet's own words, is amusing enough
Omnis babet geminas, bine atque bine, ianua frontes ;
E quibus baec populism special; at ilia Larem.
Vtque sedens vester primi prope limina tecti
lanilor, egressus inlroitusque videt ;
Sic ego prospicio, caelestis ianitor aulae,
Eoas partes, Hesperiasque simul.
Ora vides Hecates in (res vergentia paries,
Servet ut in ternas compita see/a vias.
Et mihi, ne flexu cervicis tempora perdam,
Cernere non moto corpore bina licet. Fast. i. 135.
When the Pragmatic system, which undertook to rationalise all the
legends of mythology and reduce them to real history, became fashionable
in Rome 3 , Janus was represented as an ancient king of Italy, who
1 See Macrob. I. 9, Lydus de Mens. 4. 2.
2 Or holding that number of pebbles. See Lydus and Macrobius as above,
and Plin. H. N. 34. 7.
3 It first became generally diffused when Eimius translated the work
of Euhemerus.
194 NOTES. 10.
reigned along with a native princess Camese, from whom the district
was called ' Camasene 1 ,' while the royal city was ' laniculum." Saturnus
arrived in Italy at this period, was hospitably received, and instructed
his entertainers in agriculture and the arts of civilized life. Peace,
prosperity, and happiness were everywhere diffused under the joint sway
of Janus and Saturnus, and the latter founded Saturnia, on what was
afterwards called the Capitoline hill, immediately opposite to Janiculum.
The coins of the country were impressed on one side with a double head,
typical of the wisdom of their original monarch, which enabled him to
look forward into the future as well as back upon the past; while
the reverse bore a ship, in honour of the stranger who came from
beyond the seas 2 . Virgil alludes to this tale when he makes Evander
exclaim to Aeneas,
Haec duo praeterea disiectis oppida muris,
Reliquias veterumque vides monumenta virorttm,
Hanc lanus pater, bane Saturnus condidit arcem;
laniculum buic; illi fuerat Saturnia nomen, Aen. 8. 355.
And Ovid, more circumstantially, Fast. I. 229.
We may conclude by observing that there was another version of
the story, in which Janus was represented as being himself a foreigner,
who emigrated from Perrhaebia to the region of the west, and took
up his abode on the Janiculum. He was the inventor of chaplets, rafts,
and ships, and the first who coined brazen money ; he married his sister
Camese, and had a son Aethex and a daughter Olistene*.
10. VER. FAS. i. 149.
9. Ignota . . . hirundo. The Greek and Latin poets frequently speak
of the swallow as heralding, by its return, the approach of spring ; thus
Ov. Fast 2, 853, at the close of the month of February, exclaims,
Fallimurf an verts praenuntia venit birundo,
Et metuit, ne qua versa recurrat biemsf
1 Others make ' Camasene ' to be the name of the sister of Janus. See
Lydus 4. 2, Varro L. L. 5, 10, Macrob. S. I. 7. Creuzer, after an elaborate
investigation, proves, to his own satisfaction, that the term means 'fishwife I"
8 Macrob. S. I. 7.
* Plutarch. Q. R. 22, and Athenaeus 15. 46, who gives most of the above
particulars from a work ' On Stones,' by a certain Draco of Corcyra.
FASTI. 1. 29$. 195
and Hor. Ep. I. 7, 10
Qiiod si bruma nives Albanis illinet agrts,
Ad mare descendet votes tuns, et sibi parcel,
Contractusque leget; te, dulcis amice, reviset
Cum Zepbyris, si concedes, et birundine prima.
lo. Et luteum, &c. Compare Virg. G. 4. 305
Hoc geritur, Zepbyris primtim impellentibus vndas,
Ante novis rubeant quam prata color thus, ante
Garrula quam tignis nidum suspendat birundo.
11. ASTRONOMIAE LAVS. FAS. I. 295.
4. Inque domos superas scandere. Compare the sailor's address
to the corpse of Archytas, Hor. Od. i. 28, 4
nee quicquam tibi prodest
Aerias tentasse domos, animojue rotundum
Perctirris.se polum, morituro.
9. Perfusaque gloria fuco. ' Fucus,' properly speaking, is the
name of a marine plant which was extensively used in dyeing ; hence it is
put for paint in general, and metaphorically for anything which hides the
real appearance of an object, and hence frequently signifies a ' pretext '
or 'disguise,' and 'facere fucum alicui' is 'to deceive.' Thus Plaut.
Mostell. i. 3, 118
Vetulae, edentulae, quae villa corporis fuco occulunt.
Hor. S. i. 2, 83
Adde btic, quod mercem sine fucis gestat, aperte,
Quod venale babet, ostendit, &c.
Cic. Att. I. I Prensat unus P. Galba sine fuco etfallaciis more maiorum.
Plaut. Capt. 3. 3, 6
Nee sycopbantiis, nee fucis, tillum mantellum obviam est.
II. Admovere. One MS. has 'adduxere.' A prose writer would
certainly have said ' admovere oculos sideribus,' or ' adduxere sideia
oculis,' rather than ' admovere sidera oculis.'
13. M"on lit ferat Ossan Olympus. He alludes to the legend of
Otus and Ephialtes, sons of Aloeus, who sought to mount to heaven by
piling Ossa upon Olympus and Pelion upon Ossa. See notes on 25. u.
O 2
196 NOTES. 12.
12. EVANDER. FAS. 1. 469.
1. Orta prior Luna, &c. The desire inherent in nations as well as
individuals, of tracing up their origin to periods the most remote, is
sufficiently conspicuous, in our own times, among the Hindoos and
Chinese, whose chronology (according to their own representations)
extends back for millions of years. Influenced by a like spirit, the
Athenians gloried in the title of a.ir6xOove s, asserting that they had sprung
from the very soil on which they dwelt, and, as an emblem of their
origin, wore golden cicadas in their hair; while the Arcadians, who
were acknowledged to be among the most ancient inhabitants of Greece,
boasted that they had been in possession of their mountain-land before
the moon rolled in the sky. It would be vain to attempt to ascertain
how this wild tradition arose, but when we recollect that legends were
attached to all the principal constellations l , accounting for their origin,
and therefore supposing a period when they did not exist, we can easily
imagine that some similar tale was current among the Arcadians with
regard to their favourite deity. The epithet vpoof\r)voi is said to have
been first applied to them by Hippo of Rhegium, a writer who flourished
in the tune of Darius Hystaspes. Those who are desirous to examine
the testimonies of ancient authors upon this subject, and to criticise the
various attempts which have been made to rationalise the myth, will find
all the information they can desire in a dissertation by Heyne, published
in his Opuscula Academica, voL 2. p. 332. Ovid alludes again to the
idea in Fast. 2. 289
Ante lovem gentium terras babuis f e feruntur
Arcades: et Luna gens prior illafuit,
and in 5. 90, speaking of Mercury,
Arcades bunc, Ladonque rapax, et Maenalos ingens
Rite colunt, Luna credita terra prior.
2. Arcade. Areas, son of Jupiter and Callisto daughter of Lycaon
king of Arcadia. He was transformed into the constellation Arcto-
phylax when his mother was changed into Ursa Major. In line 74
' Arcade ' is an adjective applied as an epithet to Evander, ' the Arcadian
chief.'
1 For example, the Great Bear who was once Cali'to, daughter of Lycaon ;
Arctophylax, who was her son ; the Crown of Ariadae, Sac.
FASTI. 7. 469. 197
4. Matris. Themis or Carmenta, of whom enough has been said in
the introduction to this Extract.
7. Motus. ' Civil discord.' We have seen that, according to the
narrative of Dionysius, Evander quitted his native land in consequence
of a sedition.
8. Tempore, i. e. ' tempore et eventu fidem nactae sunt eius vaticina-
tiones, quibus statim non credebatur ' B.
9. Vera nimiuin. Compare Ov. Her. 5. 123
Ab ! nimium miser ae votes mibi vera fuisti.
10. Parrhasium larem, i.e. Arcadian home. The 'Parrhasii'
were an Arcadian tribe, and the epithet is here used generally. The
proper abode of Evander was Pallantium. In like manner, in Fast. I.
611, Carmenta is called Parrhasia dea, in 627 Tegeaea parens, and in 634
Maenalis Nympha, from the city of Tegea and the mountain Maenalus.
16. The philosophy of Ovid is better here than in some other pas-
sages, where he expresses a sentiment directly the reverse of this. Thus
Amor. 2. 7, ii
Atqne ego peccati vellem modo conscius essem :
Aequo animo poenam qui meruere ferunt,
and Her. 5. 7
Leniter, ex merifo quidquid patiare, ferendum est.
Quae venit indigne poena dolenda venit.
20. Procella. We have 'tempestas* below, v. 27, in the same sense.
Both wor^s are frequently used figuratively by the best prose writers.
22. Cadmus was the son of the Phoenician Agenor and the brother
of Europa. The latter having been carried off by Jove, Agenor com-
manded his sons to go forth and not to return until they had recovered
their sister. The search proving fruitless, Cadmus settled in Boeotia,
or Aonia, as it was otherwise called from the Aones, one of its ancient
tribes. Ovid tells the whole story in the third book of the Meta-
morphoses.
23. Tydeus was the son of Oeneus king of Calydon and half-brother
of Meleager. Having slain a man, he left his home an exile and took
icfuge in Argos with Adrastus, whose daughter Deipyle he married and
became the father of Diomede. Apollod. 1.8,5.
Pagasaeus lason. Pagasae (Volo), from which the Pagasaeus Sinus
(Gulf of Volo") derived its name, was the harbour of lolchos, the native
town of Jason, and the port from which the ship Argo sailed on the
expedition in search of the golden fleece. Jason, upon his return, per-
198 NOTES. 12.
suaded Medea to contrive the death of Pelias the usurper of his kingdom,
and was in consequence driven forth from lolchos along with Medea by
Acastus the son of Pelias. Apollod. I. 9, 28.
24. Et quos, &c. We have a long catalogue of illustrious exiles in
Ep. ex P. i. 3. 61 et seqq.
25, 26. This couplet is a translation of a fragment of Euripides,
*A.was ft(V df)p atrip irtpaat/zos,
'Avaaa 5i \6iav dvSpl yn>aicu varpit.
if. Tamen, i. e. 'although the blasts of misfortune now sweep
fiercely, yet the storm will not always rage, but tempera verts erunt'
33. Terenti. Terentus or Terentum was a place on the edge of the
Campus Martius, close to the Tiber, where there was an altar sacred to
Pluto and Proserpine buried under the earth, which was uncovered at
the celebration of the secular games only. Hence Mart. 4. i, 7
Hie colat ingenti redeuntia saecula lustro
Et qttae Romuleus sacra Terentus babet 1 .
And again, 10. 63, 3, he boasts that he had twice beheld the secular
games, these having been celebrated by Claudius and afterwards by
Domitian after an interval of forty years only
Bis mea Romano spectata est vita Terento.
Statius also, Silv. 4. i, 37, alludes to the same circumstance
mecum altera secula condes
Et tibi longaevi revocabitur ara Terenti,
and again, Silv. i. 4, 17
Nee tantwn induerint fatis nova secula crimen^
Aut instaurati peccaverit ara Terend.
Festus has the following notice : Terentum locus in Campo Afartio dictus,
quod eo loco ara Ditis patris in terra occultaretur.
There is another allusion to the same subject under the word ' Saecu-
lares,' but the passage is so mutilated that no conclusion can be drawn
from it. The 'locus classicus' is to be found in Valerius Maximus, 2.
4, 4 and 5.
35. Immissis, 'dishevelled,' 'flowing over her face and shoulders,'
after the manner of inspired women. See note on 1. 114..
38. Pinea texta, i. e. ' the planks of the ship.' Compare Ov. Met.
*4- 530
Pert ecce avidas in pinea Turnus
Texta faces.
42. Novos deos, i. e. Komulus and the Caesars.
1 There seems to have been a statue of Pau here in the time of Martial.
Vid. Ep. I. 70.
FASTI. I. 469. 199
45. Bonis avibus, i. e. happy omens, so Horace, Epod. 10. i
Mala soluta navis exit alite
Ferens olentem Maevium.
48. lura . . . petet. ' Petere iura est subiecti populi, ut dare iura
imperantis' G, who compares Virg. G. 4. 561
victorque volentes
Per populos dat iura, viamque qffectat Olympo,
and Hor. Od. 3. 3, 43
triumphatisque possit
Roma ferox dare iura Medis.
50. Tantum fati, ' loco destinatam esse a fato tan tarn dignitatem* G.
51-60. She now proceeds to prophesy the arrival of Aeneas, the
war between Aeneas and Turnus on account of Lavinia, and the death of
Pallas son of Evander, the events which form the theme of the last six
books of the Aeneid.
57. Weptunia Pergama, so called because the walls were said to
have been reared by Neptune and Apollo, so also Virg. Aen. 2. 624
Turn vero omne mihi visum considers in ignes
Ilium, et ex itno verti Neplunia Troia.
58. Num. minus, &c. ' Nihilo tamen minus ex illo cinere imperium
orietur, totum terrarum orbem occupans' G.
Minus altior. We find a similar construction in Florus 4. a, 47
' Sed nee minus admirabilior illius exitus belli,' and in like manner ' magis'
and 'potius' are sometimes joined with adjectives in the comparative
degree, and with 'malo,' 'praeopto,' and the like. Thus Livy 9. 7
Obsessos primum audierunl : tristior deinde ignominiosae pads magis, quant
perictdi, nuncius fuit; and again in Praef., Cum bonis potius ominibus
votisque ac precationibus . . libeniius inciperemus. So also Nepos, Conon 5
Neque tamen ea non pia et probanda fuerunt, quod potius patriae opes augeri,
quam regis, malicit, and Terent. Hec. 4. i, 17
Adeon' pervicaci esse animo, ut puerum praeop tares per ire,
Ex quo jirmiorem inter nos fore amicitiam posthac scires,
Potius quam adversum animi tui lubidinem esset cum illo nupta t
59. 60. In reference to Aeneas, who bore away his father on his
shoulders from the flames of Troy, and at the same time rescued the
Penates and other sacred things which were transported by him to Italy.
Hector, as seen by Aeneas in a vision on the night when Troy was
captured, thus speaks, Aen. 2. 293
Sacra suosque tibi commendat Troia Penates :
Hos cape fatorum comites, bis moenia quaere
Sic ait, et manibus vittas Vestamqne potentem
Aeternumque adytis effert penelralibus ignem.
200 MOTES. 18.
And afterwards, line 717, after they had escaped from the city, Aeneas
thus addresses his sire,
Tu, genitor, cape sacra manu, patriosqve Penates.
And again, Aen. 3. 148
Effigies sacrae divum Pbrygiique Penates
Qttos mecum a Troia mediisque ex ignibvs vrbis
Exttileram, visi ante oculos adstare iacentis, &C,
With regard to these Penates, see on Vesta, notes to 31. 18.
6 1, 62. Both Julius Caesar and Augustus held the office of Pontifex
Maximus, and as such exercised supreme jurisdiction over all things
sacred.
65. Nepos. These lines must have been inserted after the accession
of Tiberius, which took place A. D. 14, about three years before the
death of Ovid. Tiberius was the adopted son of Augustus, who was the
adopted son of Julius, and hence Tiberius is called the 'nepos' of the
latter.
Licet ipse recuset. This refers to the farce played off by the
arch dissembler, in order that the senate might be compelled to force
the empire on his acceptance. It is admirably described by Tacitus.
See especially Ann. I. 2 and 12.
68. According to the last will of Augustus, Livia In familiam Ivliam
nomenque Avgustae adwmebatur 1 . Tiberius refused to allow any addi-
tional distinction to his mother (Tac. Ann. I. 14), but her grandson
Claudius granted her divine honours. Aviae Liviae divinos bonores, et
Circensi pompa cvrrum elefbantorum A ugusteo similem decernendum curavit 3 .
72. Felix, &c. The poet in this exclamation refers by contrast to
his own dreary place of banishment,
13. HERCVLES ET CACVS. FAS. I. 543.
I. Boves . . Erytheidas. The legend of Geryon and his oxen first
appears in Hesiod, Theog. 287
Cbrysaor 3 loved (be maid Kallirboe,
Daughter of famous Ocean, and sbe bore
The triple-bodied Geryon ; but be
Was ilain in Erytbeia's sea-girt isle :
1 Tacit. Ann. I. 8. * Suet. Claud, n.
* Chrysaor was a being of great stature who sprung from the blood of
Medusa along with the horse Pegasus.
FASTI. I. 543. 201
Beside his slow-paced oxen fbere be fell
Overmastered by (be might of Hercules,
What time the hero drove the broad-browed steers
To sacred Tiryns, crossing Ocean's flood.
The ancient and famous Phoenician city which the Greeks called
' Gadeira' and the Romans ' Gades,' was built upon an island which
bore the same name. 'Erytheia' is mentioned by Herodotus 1 , in
connection with the story of Geryon, as a separate island close to
Gadeira, but, by less accurate writers, they are frequently confounded 2 .
Erytheia was celebrated on account of its great fertility, especially for
the richness of its pasture, concerning which some marvellous, tales are
related^ by Strabo, who remarks, that this circumstance probably
induced mythologists to fix upon it as the residence of the triple-bodied
king 3 . The island of Gadeira is now called St. Leon, Erytheia is
Trocadero.
3. Domus Tegeaea, i. e. The Arcadian Hall. Tegea was one of
the most ancient and powerful of the Arcadian cities ; it furnished no
less than 3000 soldiers to the confederate Grecian army at the battle of
Platea : it is spoken of as a place of importance by Thucydides and
Xenophon, and enjoyed considerable prosperity long after the subjugation
of the Peloponnesus by the Romans.
5. Excussus somno. 'Nil nisi expergefactus ' G.
Tirynthius heros, i. e. Hercules, because, although born at Thebes,
he went to dwell at Tiryns in obedience to the Delphic oracle, and
there served Eurystheus, by whose commands he undertook and ac-
complished his twelve labours. ^Apollod. 2. 4, 12.)
8. Compare Mart. 5. 65, 5
i&'ilvarumtjue tremor, tacita qui fraude solebat
Ducere nee rectas Cams in antra boves.
10. Malum. Ovid intends to make a sort of pun upon the name
' Cacus,' which written in Greek letters is taxes, i. e. ' malus.' The
quantity of the words is different, the first syllable in ' Cacus ' being
long.
1 2. Mulciber was one of the designations of Vulcanns, the Roman
God of Fire. The name is evidently formed from ' mulceo,' and may
refer to the power which he exerted in softening iron and other
refractory metals, and in thus rendering them available for the wants of
man ; or it may be a title intended to propitiate the deity, and to
1 4. 8. a e. g. Pherecydes : Apollodorus : Pliny.
8 Strabo 3. c. 5.
2O2 NOTES. 13.
induce him, when thus invoked, to manifest himself as a gentle and
beneficent, not as a furious and destroying power.
The worship of Vulcan was coeval with the infancy of the city.
According to the current tradition, his first temple was erected by
Romulus or Tatius close to the Comitium ; here these princes were
wont to meet and take counsel together, while the assemblies of the
people were held outside ; here Romulus dedicated a bronze chariot in
honour of his conquest of Cameria, in which was placed a statue of
himself crowned by Victory, with an inscription recording his exploits ;
and here he planted the lotus tree, still in existence in the time of the
elder Pliny 1 .
The chief festival of Vulcan was the ' Vulcanalia,' celebrated on the
X. Kal. Sept. (23rd August), with games in the Flaminian Circus, on
which occasion living creatures were cast into the fire as offerings 2 .
Another solemnity connected, in all probability, with the same worship,
was the ' Fornacalia' or Feast of Ovens, held on the 2 1st of February,
apparently the same with the ' Furnalia ' or ' Furinalia,' although some
ancient writers speak of 'Fornax' and ' Furina ' as two independent
goddesses 3 . In addition to the epithet ' Mulciber,' we find him ad-
dressed as 'Ignipotens*' (Lord of lire); 'Lemnius 5 ' (from Lemnos
his favourite haunt) ; and ' Lateranus 6 ' (from the bricks, ' lateres,' used
in the construction of furnaces). Macrobius quotes Cincius and Piso
to prove that Vulcan had a wife named ' Maia* or ' Maiesta,' from whom
the month of May received its appellation.
When the Romans became familiar with Grecian literature and
Grecian mythology, Vulcanus was identified with Hephaestus the
halting son of Zeus (Jupiter), and Hera (Juno 7 ), or of Hera alone 8 , who
was flung headlong from heaven and fell upon the Lemnian isle. He
was the fabricator of the thunderbolts, the general artificer of Olympus,
who constructed out of the various metals the dwellings, the chariots,
1 Dion. Hal. 2. 54 and 66 ; 6. 67, Plutarch. Vit. Rom. 24, and
Quaest. Rom. 44, Plin. H. N. 16. 44.
2 Varro L. L. 6. 3. It is generally asserted that these were fishes, the
inhabitants of the element most opposed to Fire. This is probable enouga,
but there seems to be no positive authority. What Festus says of the
' Piscatorii Ludi' cannot be applied to the Volcanalia.
3 See Ov. Fast. 2. 527, Fcst. in verb. 'Furnalia,' Varro L. L. 6. 3, Cic.
N. D. 3. 18.
* Virg. Aen. 8. 414. 5 Ibid. 454.
6 This rests upon the authority of Arnobius, Adv. Gent. 4. 6.
7 II. I. 578; 18. 396; 21. 332: Od. 8. 312. 8 Hesiod. Theog. 729.
FASTI. I. 543. 203
the weapons, and the ornaments of the Gods. In the Iliad and in
Hesiod 1 he is said to have wedded one of the Charites, but in the
Odyssey 2 , if the passage be genuine, Aphrodite (Venus) is represented as
his spouse, and this account is generally followed by the later Greeks
and by the Latin poets. He disdained not, at the request of Thetis, to
exert his skill in favour of a mortal, for he forged the armour of
Achilles, and, in the parallel passage of the Aeneid, yielding to the
blandishments of his beauteous spouse, he undertakes a similar task for
Aeneas. The favourite haunts of the God were Lemnos, Imbros, and
Aetna; in Virgil, his workshop is in Hiera, one of the Lipari Isles,
where the Cyclopes are the ministers who execute his commands.
17, 18. Servata male, i. e. ' amissa.' ' Furta,' i. e. ' boves raptae' G.
19. Accipio revocamen. ' Dictum ad formulam sollennem accipio
(agnosco) omen' G.
21. Obiice. 'Obex' from 'obiicio' signifies .'any obstruction or
obstacle;' and hence, ' a bar or bolt' for fastening a door.
Intus se vasti Proteus tegit obiice saxi. Virg. G. 4. 422.
Obiices portarum subversi. Tacit. Ann. 13. 39.
23. Caelum quoque, &c. Hercules having despatched Atlas to
procure for him the apples of the Hesperides, supported the heavens
upon his shoulders until his return. Apollod. 2. 5, n. Compare
Met. 9. 198, where Hercules exclaims,
Hac caelum cervice tuli? defessa iubendo est
Saeva lovis coniux : ego sum indefessus agenda.
24. Collabefacto signifies 'to loosen or disintegrate by successive
efforts.' It is applied by Lucretius to the effect of fire in melting
gold
Collabefaclatus rigor aurl solvitur aestu, I. 493.
31. Typhoea. With regard to Typhon or Typhoeus, see note on
25. ii, where we learn, as here, that he was crushed beneath Mount
Aetna ; so also Fasti 4. 491
Alta iacet vasti super ora Typhoeos Aetne,
while the position of the monster is more minutely described in
Met. 5. 350
Dexlra sed Ausonio manus est subiecta Peloro :
Laeva, Pachyne, tibi : Ldybaeo crura premuntur :
Degravat Aetna caput: sub qua resupinus arenas
Eiectat, flammamque fero vomit ore Typhoeus.
1 II. 18. 382, Hesiod. Theog. 945. 2 Od. 8. 269.
204 NOTES. 14.
With this representation Aeschylus agrees in the splendid description
of Typhon in the Prometheus 363 1 . Virgil, however, places him under
Inarime, connecting it in all probability, somehow or other, with the
Arima of Homer, thus Aen. 9. 716
Inarime, lovis imperils, imposta Typboeo,
and Lucan 5. 101
Conditvs Inarimes aeterna mole Typboeus.
33. Occupat, ' seizes him,' .' grapples with him.'
Adducta. Raised up and drawn back towards himself.' Compare
Trot. 4. a, 5
Candidaqve adducta colhtm percussa securi
Victima pvrpureo sanguine tingat bumum.
34. Sedit in ore, i. e. ' inflicta est ori' G.
36. Plangit, simply ' strikes.' See note on 4. 3.
39, 40. The Ara Maxima which stood in the ' Forum Boarium.'
See the conclusion of the chapter referred to from Uvy, and also the
passages in Virgil and Dionysius. ,
43, 44. The legends contained in this and the preceding extract are
introduced by Ovid when the course of his work leads him to mention
the ' Carmentalia,' a festival celebrated on the III. Id. Ian. (nth of
January), in honour, it was believed, of Carmenta the mother of
Evander.
14. ROMVLVS ET REMVS. FAS. m. i.
I. Bellice, &c. 'Mars' or ' Mavors,' who in the Sabine and Oscan
dialects was termed ' Mamers,' is usually considered identical with the
Grecian ' Ares,' and is so well known to us from the works of poets
both ancient and modern, as the God of War, that we find some
difficulty in viewing him under any other aspect. But it is certain that
some of his attributes were of a very different character, and that among
the rustic population of Latium he was regarded not merely as the
1 So also Silius 14. 196. Virgil, Ae. 3. 578, places Enceladus under
Aetna; Callimachus (Hymn, in Del. 141) assigns this punishment to
Briareus.
FASTI. III. i. 205
fierce and blood-stained Power who stalked in grim delight amid
embattled hosts, stimulating the fury of the combatants and rejoicing in
carnage and death, but as a beneficent protector who watched over the
interests of the shepherd and the husbandman, who shielded their
children and dependants from sorrow and sickness, who guarded their
flocks and herds from murrain and savage beasts, who averted blight
and storm from the cornfield, the orchard, the olive,-garden, and the vine-
yard. This will be clearly seen from the ancient form of prayer for
the lustration of a farm as given by Cato R. R. 141.
Not less remarkable is the receipt for a vow to be offered for the
health of the oxen, ib. 83. In that passage we perceive that the god
to be propitiated is called Mars SILVANUS, and we can scarcely avoid
drawing the conclusion that ' Silvanus ' was not originally a distinct
deity, as he appears in the writings of Varro, Virgil, Horace, and their
successors, but was created out of an epithet, Mars being invoked under
this title when entreated to bless the labours of the swain, and hailed as
' Gradivus,' ' Quirinus," ' Vltor,' by the soldier when armed with spear
and shield he hastened to the. fray.
Nor are these attributes so irreconcilable as they might at first
appear to be. We must bear in mind that when Italy was portioned
out among a multitude of small independent tribes, many of them
differing from each other in origin and language, forays must have been
as common among neighbouring states, as they were in the days of our
ancestors on the English border and the Highland frontier. The hus-
bandman would be compelled to grasp the sword with one hand while
he guided the plough with the other, and would be often forced to peril
life and limb to save the produce of his toil from the spoiler. In such a
state of society it is little wonderful that the Deity of the rustic should
have presented a mixed character, and have been worshipped as one who
could protect his votaries from etery form of danger to which they
were exposed.
4. This Extract is taken from the commencement of the third book of
the Fasti, which contains the festivals celebrated during the ' Mensis
Martius,' and hence he invokes the god from whom the month derived
its name.
5. Manibus, ' virtute et armis ' G.
Minervae. See Introduction to 30, p. 77.
ii. Silvia Vestalii^ It must be remembered that the scene of this
adventure is Alba Longa, where the worship of Vesta is supposed to have
2C6 NOTES. 14.
existed before the foundation of Rome. With regard to this goddess
and her ministers, see notes on 31.
u. Quid enim vetat, &c. ' Movere ' here and in other passages is
equivalent to ' incipere," ' to set a going,' ' to commence.'
1 2. Sacra. The holy utensils and other objects connected with the
shrine. The water employed for this purpose was drawn from the river
Numicius, as we learn from Serv. Virg. Aen. 7. 150 Vestae enim libare
tion nisi de boc fluvio (sc. Numicio) licebat.
13. Molli declivem tramite, 'sloping downwards with gentle
descent.'
14. So Propertius in his description of the Vestal Tarpeia,
Hinc Tarpeia deae fontem libavit, at illi
Vrgebat medium jictilis vrna caput, 4. 4, 15.
21. Potiturque cupitarn. 'Potior,' 'utor,' &c., are but rarely
construed with the accusative by the writers of the Augustan age.
Cicero admits this case after the participial forms only, as in Tuscul.
Disp. I. 37. Et ego doleam, si ad decent millia annorvm gentem aliquam
nostrum urbem potituram putem ? and in Off. 1. 15 Ea quaeutendaacceperis.
The practice of the earlier and later authors is different, thus Terent.
Adelph. 5. 4, 22
miseriam omnem ego capio, bic potihir gaudia,
and Justin. 37. i, 4 Namque Laodice ex numero sex filiorum, qiios virilis
sexus ex Ariaratbe rege susceperat, timens ne non diutinam regni administra-
tionem adultis quibusdam potiretur, quinque parricidiali veneno necavit.
22. Fefellit, i. e. ' concealed." This use of 'fallere' is by no means
common, compare Prop. 4. 5, 13
Aiidax cantafae leges imponere Lvnae,
Et sua nocturno fallere terga lupo ;
i. e. to conceal her own form under that of a wolf. In both cases,
indeed, we might suppose ' fallere ' to be a neuter verb, and attribute to
it the ordinary signification, ' to escape observation ; ' but the con-
struction ' fefellit sua furta,' ' escaped observation as to his stolen loves,'
and ' fallere sua terga lupo,' ' to escape observation as to her own form
under that of a wolf,' would be extremely harsh.
23. Vestae simulacra. Ovid here sacrifices consistency to poetical
ornament, for he tells us in Fast. 6. 295
Esse diu stultus Vestae simulacra putavi :
Mox didici curvo nulla subesse tbolo.
Ignis inextinctus templo celatur in illo,
Effigiem nullam Vesta, nee ignis, babent.
FASTI. III. i. 207
So also among the Greeks, as we learn from Pausan. Corinth. 35.
'Rv TO) rfjs 'Ear/as aya\fia pfv iffriv ovStv, ftajfj.us 5%, Kal fir' avrov
Ovovffiv 'Effria.
26. Et subiit, i. e. the flame sank beneath the ashes, and therefore
appeared to be, or actually was extinguished, the most fearful of all
prodigies.
32. Picum. Plutarch in his Quaestiones Romanae asks, ' Why do
the Latins reverence the woodpecker, and all most carefully refrain from
injuring this bird? Is it because, as the story goes, Picus was
metamorphosed by the spells of his wife, and being transformed into
a woodpecker, delivered oracles and responses to those who inquired of
him ? Or is this incredible and monstrous ? And is the other tale
more probable, that when Romulus and Remus were exposed, not only
did the she-wolf give them suck, but a certain woodpecker also visited
them and placed morsels of bread in their mouths ? .... Or is it that as
other birds are sacred to different gods, so the woodpecker to Mars ?
lor it is bold and vehement, and has a beak so strong that it rends even
the oak,' &c.
35, 36. The Larentalia were celebrated on the X. Kal. Ian. (23
December). This couplet sufficiently proves that Ovid had formed the
design of carrying on his work through all the months of the year,
although there is no reason to believe that he ever completed the task.
See Introduction.
36. Acceptus Geniis, &c. Because winter is a season of festivity
and repose. Compare Virg. G. i. 300
Frigoribus parto agricolae plerumque fruuntur,
Mutuaque inter se laeti convivia cur ant;
Invitat genialis biems curasque resolvit,
and see Diet. Biog. and Myth. s. v. Genius.
42. Actos. The oxen which have been driven off by robbers. Com-
pare Livy i. 4.
43. Audierunt. With regard to the quantity of the penultimate
syllable in this and similar words, see Manual of Latin Prosody,
p. 103.
Pater editus. The meaning of ' editus,' as Gierig correctly observes,
is here 'revealed' or 'disclosed,' not as Burmann would have it,
' publicly proclaimed and known by all."
208 NOTES. 15.
15. LVPERCALIA. FAS. n. 267.
1. Tertia post Idus. The 'Faunalia' commenced on the Ides
of February. See 36.
2. Fauni . . . bicornis. Below, line 75, we have ' Cornrpedi Fauno.'
The Fauns, however, are frequently represented in ancient works of
art without the goat hoof, and are often distinguished merely by a
short tail.
Hunt, i. e. ' proceed.' We have seen in the Introduction that the
Lupercalia were considered as forming part of the festival of Faunus.
3. Pierides. See note on 5. 26.
5. Pan was the shepherd-god of the pastoral Arcadians, and his
worship was for a long period confined to that region 1 . When Phi-
dippides, an Athenian courier, was traversing Mount Parthenius, above
Tegea, a short time before the battle of Marathon, he was encountered
by the deity, who, calling upon him by name with a loud voice,
commanded him to ask the Athenians why they paid no respect to
a power who had -ever been friendly to them, and was still willing
to promote their welfare. In consequence of this remonstrance, after
the defeat of the Persians, a temple was dedicated to Pan beneath
the Acropolis, and his favour was propitiated by annual sacrifices and
torch races 3 . He is not mentioned either by Homer or Hesiod, but in
the Homeric Hymns 3 Hermes is said to have been enamoured of the
nymph Dryops, who
Bore him a son monstrous to look upon :
Two-borned, 'goat-footed, noisy, full of glee.
The nurse sprung up and fleeing left the babe,
For she was filled with terror when she saw
His visage grim witb shaggy bair o'ergrown.
Hermes, however, proud of his boy, wrapped him up in the skin of
a mountain hare and carried him to the celestial abodes, where he
was welcomed with delight by the immortals, especially by Dionysus,
and received the name of Pan, because he pleased all.
5( fttr Ka\ifff/cor, on <f>ptva
1 Herodotus, 2. 145, says that Hercules, Dionysus, and Pan were reckoned
among the Greeks the most rectnt of the gods.
8 Heiod. 6. 105. s Hymn 17.
FASTI. II. 267. 209
According to other more recent authorities, he was the son of Zeus
and Thymbris, of Zeus and Callisto, of Penelope and Hermes transformed
into a goat, of Penelope and all her suitors, &c. 1 The name (which is
probably derived from irdcu, ' to tend flocks," ' to feed ') evidently suggested
the last of these genealogies, and led later writers 2 to assert that this
god was a symbol of the Universe or of Universal nature, an idea to
which Milton alludes in the lines
while Universal Pan
Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance,
Led on the eternal Spring.
All wild voices heard echoing through the hills, strange and unearthly
sounds of every description, and sudden inexplicable alarms 3 weie
attributed to Pan, and hence the terms Tlavtia, StifM, HaviKov, ' Panici
terrores," &c., employed by the Greek and Roman writers, from whom
the word panic has been adopted in our language 4 .
We find in Silius Italicus, 13. 326, a very minute and lively descrip-
tion of Pan, when he was despatched by Jove to save Capua from
the vengeance of the Romans.
7. Pholoe (Mauro bouni) is a mountain on the N. W. of Arcadia,
and together with the lofty range of Erymanthus (Olonos) of which
it is a continuation, forms the boundary between Arcadia and Elis.
The city Stymphalus (Kiona) and'the Stymphalis Palus (Zaracca)
were situated at the N. E. corner of Arcadia. The lake was the scene
of one of the labours of Hercules, who was required to dislodge and
drive away the countless multitudes of birds which thronged its thickly-
wooded banks 5 .
8. The Ladon which rises in the north of Arcadia, and, after a con-
siderable course, falls into the Alpheus above Olympia, is in many
respects remarkable. We are told 6 that it was the most beautiful of all
the Grecian streams, that its banks were the scene of the adventures
of Daphne, that one of its tributaries, the Arvanius, produced fishes
which sung like blackbirds 7 , and that near the town of Clitor, situated
1 Apollod. I. 4, I, Schol. Theocrit. i. 3. See also Hemsterh. ad Luciau.
t. I. p. 270.
2 Hymn. Orphic. 10.
3 See Eurip. Rhes. 36, and Schol. and Valer. Place. 3. 46.
* Compare remarks on Faunus in the Introduction to this Extract.
5 Apollod. 2. 5, 5, Pausan. 8. 22, Ov. Met. 9. 186. 6 Pausan. 8. 20.
7 Pausanias tells us gravely, however, that although he saw the fish
caught, and waited until sunset, when they were said to be most vocal, he heard
them utter no sound. Other authors assign this property to the fish of the
Ladon itself, otheis to those of the Clitor. See Athenaeus 8. 3.
210 NOTES. 15.
on another tributary of the same name, there was a fountain which
inspired all who drank of its waters with a distaste for wine. Ov.
Met. 15. 322
Clitorio quicumque sitim de fonte levarit,
Vina fugit, gaudetqve meris abstemius undis.
The Ladon is mentioned again in the Fasti, 5. 89
Arcades bvnc, Ladonque rapax, et Maenalos ingens
Rite colunt, Luna credita terra prior,
and again when narrating the transformation of Syrinx, Met. I. 702.
9. Wonacris (Naukria) was an ancient city near the sources of the
Ladon ; it was chiefly celebrated for the rivulet of Styx, which fell drop
by drop from a precipitous rock above the town. This water was said
to possess many marvellous properties ; it was a deadly poison to all
living creatures ; vessels of glass, china, or earthenware were broken by
its force ; those of horn, bone, and ordinary metals were dissolved, even
gold itself became corroded : the only substance which resisted its
power was a horse's hoof, and consequently, cups made of this were
alone capable of containing it 1 . Ovid tells us that the Naiad Syrinx was
Inter Hamadryadas celeberrima Nonacrinas,
and gives the epithet of ' Nonacrina ' to the Arcadian heroines Atalanta
and Callisto.
10. Cyllene (Zyria) which rises immediately above Stymphalus, is the
loftiest of the Arcadian mountains, and was the birthplace of Hermes J
(Mercury), so Virg. Aen. 8. 138
Vobis Mercurius pater est, quern Candida Mala
Cyllenes gelido conceptum vertice fudit.
Hence Cyllenius 3 and Cyllenia proles * for Mercury, Cyllenius ignis 6
for the star of Mercury ; and Ovid 6 gives the name of Cyllenea testudo,
to a particular manner of dressing the hair so as to resemble a lyre,
which was the instrument invented by Mercury.
The ' Parrhasii ' we have had before. See note on 12. 10.
11. It will be seen from the various readings that many MSS. have
' aquarum ' instead of ' equarum.' If we prefer the former, we may
understand either the fountains and streams of the Arcadian Highlands,
or the waters of the deep ; for Pan loved to wander on the sea-shore,
Pausan. 8. 17, 18. ! Homer. Hymn, in Merc. 3 Virg. Aen. 4. 252.
* 258. 5 G. I. 337. 6 A. A. 3. 147.
FASTI. II. 267. 211
and is hence termed d\'ur\a"fKTos by Sophocles 1 , OKTIOS by Theocritus',
while Aeschylus thus describes Psyttaleia 3 ,
An isle there is in front of Salamis
Of narrow bounds, to ships inhospitable,
Along whose sea-wash 1 'd beach dance-loving Pan
Is wont to stalk.
13. Evander. See Introduction to 12.
15. Pelasgis. By the ' Pelasgi ' we are to understand in general that
ancient and widely-diffused tribe which was the common parent of the
Greeks and of the earliest civilized inhabitants of Italy. All authors
agree in representing Arcadia as one of their principal seats, where they
long remained pure and undisturbed.
1 6. Flamen was the name given to a priest devoted to the service
of some one god ; although, as appears from this passage and from
the account of the Robigalia, p. 59, they occasionally performed
certain sacrifices in honour of other divinities. The most important
were the Flamen Dialis, who had a seat in the senate in virtue of his
office, the Flamen Martialis, and the Flamen Quirinalis. The deriva-
tion of the word is altogether uncertain. Varro and Festus agree in
connecting it with filum (quasi filameri), supposing it to refer to a
thread or band worn round the head. Thus the former, L. L. 3. 15
Flamines quod in Latio capite velato erant semper ac caput cinclum babebant
filo, Flamines dicti 4 . .
Aulus Gellius has a whole chapter (10. 15) on the Flamen Dialis, his
duties and privileges.
19. Discurrere, 'to run to and fro,' ' to separate and run in different
directions.' The word is frequently used of soldiers dispersing to
plunder, thus Livy 25. 25 Inde, signo data, milites discurrerunt, and again
cap. 3 1 in tanto tumultu, quantum capta urbs in discursu diripientium militum
ciere poterat. Virgil employs it to denote the division of the Nile into
several, branches
Et diversa ruens septem discurrit in ora, G. 4. 292.
20. Subitas . . . feras, ' the startled wild beasts springing suddenly
from their lairs.'
21. This is the first explanation of the ceremonies of the Lupercalia.
The Luperci ran naked through the streets in imitation of their patron
god, who found that clothes were an incumbrance in his rambles among
Aj. 695. 2 Idyll. 5. 14. 3 Pers. 454. See Bloomfield's note.
* See also Fest. in verb., Serv. Virg. Aen. 8. 664.
F 2
212 NOTES. 16.
the hills. The second cause assigned is, that the practice was intended
to represent the rude habits of the primitive Arcadians, who were
strangers to all the arts and usages of civilized life, who appeased their
hunger with herbs and roots, quenched their thirst by drinking the waters
of the springs out of the hollow palm of their hands, and lived beneath
the canopy of heaven without houses and without garments. The third
reason is contained in a ridiculous story connected with the amours of
Pan, and the poet having thus exhausted his foreign lore, concludes with
a home-sprung legend, which he offers as a fourth solution of the
problem.
3 1 . Caestibus. The ' caestus ' was a sort of gauntlet or boxing-
glove made of numerous strips of hide, which were bound round and
round the hands and hah way up the arms, and loaded with lead to
render the blow more crushing. Every one is familiar with the
match between Dares and Entellus (Virg. Aen. 5. 362), and descriptions
of similar contests will be found in Valerius Flaccus 4. 261, and Statius
Theb. 6. 760. The ' caestus ' does not appear to have been ever used
by the Romans, and hence many believe this couplet, which is omitted
in some MSS., to be spurious.
Missi pondere saxi. This is manifestly the same with our own
national game of ' putting the stone."
39. Fabii. See the Introductions to this Extract and the preceding
one.
16. LVPERCAL. FAS. 11. 381.
a. Diem tali nomine, &c., i. e. what circumstance gave the name
* Lupercalia ' to this festival.
3. Dia. The mother of Romulus is known by the names of ' Ilia,'
or ' Rhea,' or ' Silvia,' and frequently the last two are joined into
' Rhea Silvia.'
3, 4. Partu ediderat. Simply, ' hath brought forth.'
7. Recusantes, ' reluctant.'
9. The same tradition with regard to the Tiber has been preserved by
Livy also, I. 3 fax ita convener at ut Etruscis Latinisque Jluvius Albula,
quern nunc Tiberim vacant, finis esset, and again he enumerates among the
kings of Alba, Tiberinus qtii in traiectu Albulae amnis submenus celebre ad
potteros nomen flumini dtdil.
FASTI. II. 381. 213
11. Valles. The hollow between the Palatine and the Aventine in
which the Circus Maximus was formed, was called the ' Vallis Murtia,'
thus Claud. I. Consul. Stilich. 2. 404
Ad caelum qttoties vallis tibi Murtia dticet
Nomen, Aventino Pallanteoque recessu.
15. At 'nunc est vox admirantis. Plane sic Met. 10. 632
At quam virgineiis puerili irultus in ore ! ' G.
20. Praecipiti tempore, ' dangerous,' ' hazardous.'
25. Vagierunt. ' Vagi re ' and 'vagitus* are the 'voces signatae'
for the wailing cry of an infant. Thus Cicero, Senect. sub fin. Quod
siquis deus mibi largiatur, ut ex hac aetate repuerascam, et in cunts vagiam,
and Plin. H. N. Praef. Lib. 7 Natura homitiem nudum natali die abiicit
ad vagitus statim et ploratum, to which add Varro, quoted by Aulus
Gellius, 1 6. 17 Vagire dicitur, exprimente verbo sonum vocis recentis.
With regard to the quantity of the penultimate in ' vagierunt,' see
Manual of Latin Prosody, p. 102.
2 7. Alveus. The prevailing idea in the words ' alvus,' ' alveus,'
1 alveare,' is 'hollowness.' Hence the first signifies the hollow portion
of the body, the belly ; the second is used to denote the channel of a
river hollowed out by the current, the hollow or hold of a ship ; and,
in the line before us, ' a trough or hollow vessel of wood.'
28. Tabella. 'Tabula' signifies properly 'a plank,' and hence is
applied to anything constructed of boards, or in the formation of which
boards were originally employed.
31, 32. Ovid here attempts to show that Rumina ficus was a corrup-
tion of Romula fiats, and so Livy I. 4 Ita velut defuncti regis imperio, in
proximo alhivie, itbi mine ficus Ruminalis est (Romularem vocatam ferunt)
pueros exponunt. The true meaning of the word has been preserved in
Festus * : Ruminalis dicta est ficus, quod sub ea arbore lupa mammam dedit
Remo et Romulo : mamma autem rumis (al. rumus) dicitur : unde et rustici
appellant baedos subrummos qui adbtic sub mammis habentur. Compare
Plin. 15. 1 8 Colitur ficus arbor in foro ipso ac cotnitio Romae nata sacra
fulgiiribus ibi conditis : magisque ob memoriam eins, qnae nutrix fuit Romuli
ac Remi condiloris appella/a : qnoniam nub ea inventa est lupa infantibus
praebens rumen (ita vocabant mammam) miraculo ex aere iuxta dicato.
See also Tacitus Ann. 13. 58 Eodem anno 2 Ruminalem arborem in comitio
1 Festus, or rather Paulus Diaconus in verb. 'Ruminalis.' This mean-
ing of ' Ruminalis ' is mentioned by Plutarch also in his Quaestiones
Romanae. a A. D. 59.
214 NOTES. 16.
qvae super octingentos et quadraginta ante annos Remi Romulique infantiam
texerat, morluis ramalibus et arescente trunco deminutam prodigii loco habitus
est, donee in novos fetus reviresceret*.
33. Feta, ' having recently brought forth.' ' Fetus ' signifies
(l) ' Pregnant; ' (2) ' Having recently produced ; ' (3) ' Fruitful."
(1) scandit fatalis macbina muros
Feta armis. Virg. Aen. 2. 237.
(2) nee tibifetae,
More patrum, nivea implebunt mulctraria vaccae,
Sed iota in dulces consvment ubera natos.
Virg. 0.3.176.
(3) Nos babeat regio nee porno f eta, nee uvis.
Ov. E. ex P. i. 7, 13.
37. Cauda . . . blanditur, i. e. ' testifies her affection by wagging her
tail.'
38. Pingit. This refers to the practice universal among quadrupeds
of licking their young all over immediately after birth, which seems to
have given rise to the notion that this operation had the effect of
moulding them into their proper shape, and hence, too, arose the
vulgar error, that the cubs of the bear were unshapen lumps of flesh
until fashioned by the tongue of their dam 3 . Compare Virg. Aen. 8.
630
Fecerat et viridi fetam Mavortis in antro
Procubuisse lupam : geminos buic ubera circum
Ludere pendentes pueros, et lambere matrem
Impavidos: illam tereti cenice reflexam
Mulcere alternos et corpora Jingere lingua.
40. Nec is equivalent to ' et non.' ' Et aluntur ope lactis non pro-
missi sibi.'
41-44. Ilia, sc. ' lupa." Having thus proposed to derive ' Lupercal '
from ' lupa,' he next briefly intimates that the ' Luperci ' may have
derived their name from the \VKMOV opos in Arcadia. This idea has
been already illustrated in the Introduction to the preceding Extract.
1 See also Varro L. L. 4. 8, S. Aurel. Victor de Orig. Gentis Romanae
20, Serv. Virg. Aen. 8. 90, Plutarch. Romul. 4 and Quaest. Roman.,
Augustin. De Civ. Dei 4. II.
Nee catulus partu quern edidit ursa recenti
Sed male viva caro est, lambendo mater in artus
Ducit, et in formam qualem cupit ipsa reducit.
Ov. Met. 15. 380.
FASTI. IV. 809. 215
17. ROMAE NATALIS. FAS. iv. 809.
MORS REMI.
I. See Introduction to 14.
3, 4. Vtrique convenit, ' both agree.'
4. Axnbigitur moenia ponat uter. Many MSS. 'nomina.' This
reading is supported by Ennius ap. Cic. Divin. i. 48
Certabant urbem Romam Remoramne vocarent,
and by Livy I, 6 Quoniam gemini essent nee aetatis verecundia discrimen
facere posset, lit dii, quorum tutelae ea loca essent, auguriis legerent qui
nomen novae urbi daret, qui conditam imperio regeret, Palatium Romulus,
Remus Aventinttm ad inaugurandum templa capiunt.
10. Arbitrium, 'pendet ab eo ius ponendae urbis quocumque loco
vellet ' (G).
12. Sacra Palis. See 24 and notes.
Inde, sc. from the festival of Pales ' movetur,' i. e. 'incipitur.' See
note on 14. n.
13-18. The 'locus classicus ' with regard to the ceremonies practised
in founding cities, according to the Etrurian ritual, is to be found in
Plutarch's Life of Romulus.
Romulus buried bis brother Remus, and tben built bis city, having sent for
persons from Hetruria, who (as it is usual in sacred mysteries'), according to
staled ceremonies and written rules, were to direct bow everything was to be
done *. First, a circular ditch was dug about what is now called the Comi-
tium, and the first-fruits of everything, that is reckoned either good by use or
necessary by nature, were cast into it; and tben each bringing a small
quantity of the earth of the country whence he came, threw it in promiscuously*.
This ditch had the name of ' Mundus,' the same with that of the universe. In
the next place, they marked out the city, like a circle round this centre ; and
the founder having fitted to a plough a brasen ploughshare, and yoked a bull
and a cow, himself drew a deep furrow round the boundaries. The business
of those that followed was to turn all they raised by the plough inward to the
city, and not to allow any to remain outward. This line described the
1 Compare Festus Rituales nominantur Etruscorum libri, in quibus
perscriptum est, qi,o rilu condanlur urbes, arae, aedes sacrentur, qua sancti-
tate muri, quo iure portae, quomodo tribus, curiae, centuriae distribuantur,
exercitus constituanlur, ordinentur, ceteraque eiusmodi ad helium, ad pacem
pertinentia.
* It will be observed that Plutarch differs here from Ovid.
2 1 6" NOTES. 17.
compass of the city ; and between it and the walls is a space called by con-
traction Pomerium, as lying behind or beyond the wall. Where they
designed to have a gate, they took the ploughshare out of the ground, and
lifted up the plough, making a break for it. Hence they look upon the whole
wall as sacred, except the gateways. If they considered the gates in the same
light as the rest, it would be deemed unlawful either to receive the necessaries
of life by them, or to carry out through them what is unclean \
13. Ad solidum. The meaning seems to be that the trench was
sunk until they reached the rock, or at all events the hard subsoil, as
distinguished from the soft mould near the surface. This interpretation
is supported by Val. Max. 2. 4, 4 7s, quod eo loci nullam aram viderat,
desiderari credens, ut a se construeretur, aram emplurus in Vrbem perrexit ;
relictis qui, fundamentorum constituendorum gratia, terram ad solidum
foderent. And Columell. 4. 30 Perticae . . . panguntur eo usque dum ad
solidum demittantur.
The reading 'solitum* is found in many MSS., but seems to be a
corruption, or to have arisen from 'solidum' not being understood.
1 6. Fungitur igne. The proper meaning of ' fungi ' is ' to execute a
task,' ' to discharge a duty ; ' now the use or duty of an altar is to receive
the fire which consumes the offering, and hence the phrase ' focus fun-
gitur igne,' 'the altar does its duty by the fire.' Gierigand other editors
prefer ' finditur," ' the unseasoned altar is cracked by the fire.'
1 7. Stivam. The ' stiva ' was the lever attached to the ' buris ' or
plough-handle, by means of which the course of the share was guided.
See Virg. G. I. 174
Stivaque quae currus a (ergo torqueat imos.
25. Tonitru. . .laevo. Thunder on the left was considered by the
Romans a happy omen. Thus Plin. H. N. 2. 54 Laeva (sc. tonitrua)
frospera existimantur quoniam laeva parte mundi ortus est.
35. Butro. The ' rutrum' was an agricultural implement for turning
1 Langhorne's Translation. Compare with the above, Varro L. L. 4,
32 Oppida condebant in Latio Etrusco ritu, ut multa, id est iunctis bobus,
tauro et vacca interiore, aratro circumagebunt snlcum. Hoc faciebant
religionis causa' die auspicato ut fossa et muro essent muniti. Terram unde
exsculpserant Fossam vocabant et introrsum factam Murum. Postea qui
fiebat orbis, Vrbis principium ; qui quod erat post murum Postmoerium dictum,
eiusque ambitu auspicia urbana finiuniur. Also Isidorus Orig. 15. 2 Locus
fulurae civitalis sulco defignabatur, idett, aratro. Cato, ' Qui urbem.' injuit,
' novam condel, tauro et vacca aret ubi araverit, murum facial, ubi portam
vult esse, aratrum sustollat et portet, et Portam vocet.'
FASTI. /. 335. 217
up the earth, and is derived by Varro from ' ruere.' It would appear to
have been a kind of spade, but no description of it is to be found in
those authors who use the term.
Occupat. See note on 13. 33.
39. Exemplaque fortia servat, ' sequitur exemplum virorum fortium
in devorandis lacrimis et in dolore intus claudendo ' G.
45. Arsurosque artus unxit. See Virgil, Aen. 6. 214 sqq., where
will be found a minute account of the ceremonies connected with the
burning of a corpse. Tibull. I. 3. 5, gives an accurate description of
the manner in which the ashes of the dead were preserved.
50. Victorem, &c., ' destined to trample with victorious foot on all
lands."
53, 54. Rome is here tacitly compared to a heroine standing amid
a crowd of inferior mortals, and the poet prays that she may overtop
them all by the head and shoulders. Thus in Homer, II. 3. 227, Ajax
*oxos 'Ap-yeiW Kf)a\Tjv re Kal tvptas W/J.GVS.
O'ertops the Greeks by head and shoulders broad.
So also Musaeus, Virg. Aen. 6. 666
Quos circumfusos sic est affata Sibylla,
Musaeum ante omnes, medium nam plurima tnrba
Hunc habet, atque bumeris exstantem suspicit altis.
18. SACRA PRISCA, VICTIMAE, ETC. FAS. 1.335.
1-3. This Extract contains a history of the various offerings presented
to different gods. The poet begins by giving the etymology of the
words ' victima' and ' hostia,' deriving the former from ' victor ' or victrix,'
the latter from 'hostis.'
3. Ante, ' in days of yore.'
4. He describes the 'mola salsa,' the most simple of all offerings,
composed of meal and salt. 'Mica' is 'a glittering particle, and is
frequently used absolutely without the addition of ' sails,' e. g. Hor. Od.
3- 2 3> ! 9
Mollivit aversos Penates
Farre pio et saliente mica,
and Tibull. 3. 4, 10
Farre pio placant et saliente mica,
where the epithet ' saliens' represents the leaping of the salt as it crackles
in the fire.
21 8 NOTES. 18.
5. Myrrha, derived from pvptiv, ' to drop,' is always represented by the
ancients as a gum which exsuded in tears from the bark of an Arabian
shrub. That which dropped spontaneously before an incision was made
was called aravr-f), and was considered the most valuable. Pliny, H.X.
12. 15 and 1 6, gives a full description of myrrh and of the plant which
yields it, but it has as yet eluded the search of modem botanists.
7. Tura, 'Tus' or 'Thus,' the \t0avorros of the Greeks, is generally
believed to be the same with the ' Gum Olibanum ' of commerce, still
extensively employed in the services of the Roman Catholic church.
Euphrates. Many of the costly productions of the East were sent
down the Euphrates, and from thence transported by the Persian and
Arabian gulphs to Alexandria, the great emporium of oriental commerce
at this period. Frankincense, however, was generally believed to grow
exclusively in the land of the Sabaeans in Arabia Felix, Tura, praeter
Arabiam, nullis, ac ne Arabiae quidem universae, Sec. Plin. H. N. 12. 14.
Costum. The plant which yielded this perfume, and the substance
itself, are alike unknown. Those curious in these matters will find the
subject discussed in Doctor Vincent's Commerce and Navigation of the
Ancients. Pliny, H. N. 12.12, gives an account of 'Costum' and
* Nardus,' which, he says, were held in high estimation among the
Indians ; the former he describes as a root, the latter as a leaf which
formed the principal ingredient in Roman ' Unguenta.'
8. Croci. See note on 4. 22.
9. Herbis. . .Sabiuis. The herb called 0pa6v by the Greeks, sup-
posed to be the same as our savin. Pliny H. N. 24. II Herba Sabina
brathy appellata a Graecis ... a multis in suffitus pro ture adsumitur. So
the author of the Culex, 403
Herbaque turis opes priscis imitata Sabina.
Compare also Fast. 4. 741
Vre mares ohas, taedamque, berbasque Sabinas,
Et crepet in mediis laurus adu&ta focis.
10. The laurel was thrown into the sacred fire, both in ordinary
sacrifices and in magical incantations, and omens were drawn from the
crackling sound emitted by the leaves. So Prop. 2. 28, 35
Deficiunt magico torti sub carmine rbombi,
Et facet extincto laurus adusta foco,
and Virgil's sorceress, E. 8. 83
Dapbnis me malus writ, ego bane in Dapbnide laurum.
15. Compare Varro R. R. 2. 4 A suillo genere pecoris immolandi
FASTI. 7. 335. 219
tnitium primum sumptum videtur. Cuius vestigia quod initiis Cereris porci
immolantur et quod initiis pads, foedus cum feritur, porcus occiditur, &c.
16. Vita suas. ..opes, 'in vengeance for the injury inflicted on her
possessions.' 'Vlciscor' signifies i. 'To take vengeance upon,' fol-
lowed by the accusative of the object punished. 2. 'To take ven-
geance for,' followed by the accusative of the object or guilt, on account
of which punishment is inflicted. 3. ' To take vengeance for,' followed
by the accusative of the object on account of whose wrongs punishment
is inflicted.
(1) Odi bominem et odero : utinam ulcisci possem 1 sed ulciscentvr ilium
mores sui. Cic. Ep. Att. 9. 12.
(2) Si istius nejarium scelus Lampsaceni ulti vi manuque essent. Cic. Verr.
Act. 2. I, 27.
(3) Hoc opus, baec pietas, haec prima elementa fuerunt
Caesaris, ulcisci iusta per arma patrem. Ov. Fast. 3. 79-
23, 24. This couplet is translated by Ovid from a Greek epigram, in
which a vine thus addresses its persecutor,
Krjv fie $07775 eirl pifav, '6 pas TI
"Otrcrov trrifftrffffai aoi, rpdyf,
25. ...Noxae. . .deditus, 'given over to punishment on account of
guilt,' is a technical legal phrase. Thus Festus, Cum lex iubet noxae
dedere, pro peccato dedi iubet.
29. Ovid ought now to assign the reason why the ox was offered in
sacrifice. Instead of doing this he merely recounts the circumstances
under which it was first slain, and thus takes occasion to narrate the
story of Aristaeus and his bees, which the student will find detailed
more fully and in a most exquisite vein of poetry by Virgil, G. 4.
280-558.
Aristaeus was the son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene. Once
upon a time, the Cyclades being scourged by excessive drought and
famine, he was invited to visit Cea, and taught the inhabitants how they
might appease the wrath of Sirius : upon which the Etesian winds began
to blow, and by their coolness restored fertility to the land. Aristaeus
was worshipped by the islanders under the titles of ' lupiter Aristaeus '
and ' Apollo Nomius.' He is spoken of by Virgil as connected with
Thessaly and Arcadia, as well as Cea :
Pastor Aristaeus fugiens Peneia Tempe
Amissis, ut Jama, apibus morboque fameque, &c.
G. 4. 317.
220 NOTES. 18.
tt cvltor nemorum cut pinguia Ceae
Ter centum nivei tondent dumeta iuvenci. G. I. 14.
Tempus et Arcadii memoranda inventa magistri
Pandere. G. 4. 283.
Those who wish to examine more particularly into the history of
Aristaeus will find references below to the principal authorities l .
31. Caerula. . .genetrix. Cyrene was a water-nymph, the daughter
(or granddaughter) of the river Peneus. Her chamber beneath the
sources of the stream is described by Virg. G. 4. 333.
33. The account given here and by Virgil of the prophetic sea-god
Proteus, the guardian of the marine herds of Poseidon, is borrowed from
the fourth book of the Odyssey, where Menelaus being detained by
contrary winds in the island of Pharos, is instructed by Eidothea, the
daughter of Proteus, how her sire may be caught and compelled to
point out the means of escape.
39. Transformis, 'changing his shape.' The word is uncommon,
but is found again in Met. 8. 871
Ast vbi babere suam transformia corpora sentit.
Adulterare is ' to corrupt,' ' to falsify,' thus Cic. de Amicit. Simu-
latio tollit indicium veri, idque adulterat. So ' adulterini nummi,' ' counter-
feit money ; ' ' adulterinae claves,' ' false keys ; ' ' adulteratum laser,'
' silphium debased by admixture of foreign substances,' &c.
47. Verbena, although usually considered the same with the herb we
call vervain, seems to have been frequently used by the ancients in a wider
sense to denote the leaves and branches of any sacred tree or shrub,
such as the laurel, myrtle, olive, rosemary, or even grass, when it grew
within a holy inclosure and was applied to holy purposes. Thus Servius
on Virg. Aen. 12. 120 Verbena proprie est berba sacra, ros marinus, ut
multi volunt, id est ki&avarris, sumpta de loco sacro Capitolii, qua corona-
bantur Fetiales et Pater Patratus foedera facturi vel bella indie turi. Abusive
tamen verbenas iam vocamus omnes frondes sacratas, vt est laurus, oliva vel
myrtus. Terentius 2 'Ex ara bine stime verbenas,' nam myrtum fiiisse Menan-
der testatur, de quo Terentius transtulit 3 .
Verbena was employed, as intimated above, by the Romans, in
ratifying treaties, and those plants which grew within the citadel were
selected for this purpose. Thus in Livy I. 24, where we find the history
1 Find. Pyth. 9. 104, Schol. on Theocrit. 5. 53, Apollon. Rhod. 2. 500;
4. 1132, and his scholiast, Diodor. Sicul. 4. 8j, Justin. 13. 7.
2 Andr. 4. 3, 2.
3 See another note, much to the same purpose, on Virg. Eel. 8. 65.
FASTI. I. 335. 221
of the league concluded with the Albans after the memorable contest of
the Horatii and Curiatii : Feeder a alia aliis legibus, ceterum eodem modo
omnia Jiunt, turn ita factum accepimus nee ullius velustior foederis memoria
est; fetialis regent Tullum ita rogavit ' iubesne me, rex, cum patre patrato
populi Albanifoedusferire ? ' iubenie rege ' sagmina' inquit ' te, rex,posco,' rex
ait 'puram tollito,' fetialis ex arce graminis berbam puram attulit. . .fetialis
erat M. Valerius ; patrem patratum Sp. Fusium fecit, verbena caput capil-
losque tangens, c.
Again in Liv. 30. 43, when heralds were despatched to Africa after the
battle of Zama, we read : Fetiales cum in Africam adfoedus feriendum ire
iuberentur, tpsis postulantibus senatus consul turn in baec verba factum est, ut
privos lapides silices privasque verbenas secum ferrent : uti praetor Romanus
bis imperaret ut foedus ferirent, illi praetorem sagmina poscerent. Herbae id
genus ex arce sumptum dari fetialibus solet. Festus says, Sagmina vocantur
verbenae, id est, berbae purae. We may conclude with the words of Pliny,
H. N. 22. 2 Sagmina in remediis publicis fuere et in sacris legationibusque
Verbenae. Certe utroque nomine idem dgnificatur, hoc est, gramen ex arce
cum sua terra evulsum : ac semper et legati et cum ad bastes, clarigatumque
mitterentur, id est, res raplas dare repetitum, unus utique Verbenarius vocabatur.
51. Hyperiona. The Sun. Some confusion prevails with regard to
this word among the ancients. Observe,
(1) Hyperion, virfpioiv, is generally employed by Homer merely as an
epithet of the Sun, in the sense ' ascending on high,' or ' rolling above,'
as in II. 8. 480
OUT* avyys virtplovot 'UeXioio
Ttpvovr' OVT' avt/jioiffi l ,
and II. 19. 398
levxeoi ira/Mpaivcav, war* JJ\T<W/> virepluv.
But in Odyss. 1 . 24, imtpioiv is used absolutely for the Sun,
of ptv ovaofjifvov vtrepiovos, ol 5' OLVIOVTOS,
Hence Ovid in the line before us, in Met. 15. 406 and 407, quoted p. 168,
and Met. 8. 564
lamque duas lucis paries Hyperione menso,
considers Hyperion as ' The Sun,' and so also Stat. S. 4. 4, 27, &c.
(2) In one passage only of Homer, if the line be genuine, Helios (Sol)
is described as the son of Hyperion ("TirfptoviSTjs 3 '), Odyss. 12. 176
'HeAjov T* o.v~fr], '"CirtpioviSao avaKros.
1 Similarly in Odyss. I. 8 ; 12. 133, 263, 346, 374.
3 The hypothesis advanced by some scholars that vittpicuv, wherever it
222 NOTES. 18.
In Hesiod 1 , again, Hyperion is one of the Titans 1 who wedded his
sister Theia, by whom he had three children, Helios (Sol), Selene (Luna),
Eos (Aurora) ; and subsequent writers 3 , for the most part, adopt this
genealogy. Even Ovid, although in the passages given above he
considers Hyperion as the Sun, yet in another place, taking Hesiod as his
guide, he addresses the Sun as Hyperione nate,' Met. 4. 192
Quid nunc, Hyperione nate,
Forma, calorque tibi, radiataqne lumina prosuntt
and gives the title of Hyperionis to Aurora, Fast. 5. 159
Postera cum roseam pulsis Hyperionis astris
In mafutinis lampada tottit equis.
Statius applies the epithet Hyperionius to Phaeton.
(3) Hyperion being recognised as the Sun, and Hyperion being also,
according to other authorities, one of the Titans, the word ' Titan' is em-
pfoyed by the poets to denote the Sun. Thus Virg. Aen. 4. 118
In nemus ire par ant, ubi primes crastinus or tin
Extulerit Titan, radiisque retexerit orbem,
and Ovid. Fast. I. 617
Respiciet Titan actas ubi tertius Idus,
i. e. on the third day after the Ides.
In consequence of this connection, Circe, daughter of Helios (Sol), is
termed ' Titanis ' and ' Titania,' Colchis the kingdom of his son Aetes
' Titania Tellus,' his chamber beneath the Ocean bed ' Titania antra,' &c.
51. Persia, sc. terra. The sun was an object of worship among the
ancient Persians, as presenting a symbol of the pure fire or light, the sacred
element of Ormuzd. Xenophon in his Cyropaedia, 8. 3, 12, gives an ac-
count of a magnificent sacred procession : First of all came bulls crowned
with garlands, and after the bulls horses were led along, an offering to the
Sun. It is curious that the cause here assigned by Ovid for the sacrifice
of the horse is the same with that adduced by Herodotus in reference to
a similar rite among the Massagetae, i. 216 : The only god worshipped by
occurs in Homer, ought to be considered as a contraction for ^nfpiovianr (i.e.
Son of Hyperion), seems altogether untenable.
1 Theog. 134! 371. ion.
2 See note on 25. II. So Hymn. Cer. 25. 74. See also Apollod. I. I,
3; i. 2, 2. In the Homeric Hymn (31) to Helios, he is addressed as the
offspring of Hyperion and his sister Euryphaessa.
s Festus remarks the confusion Hyperionem alii patrem softs, alii ipsum,
quod eat supra terras, ita appellatum putabant.
FASTI. I. 335- 223
them is tbe Sun, to wbom they offer horses ; and the reason is tbis, tbey present
to tbe swiftest of tbe gods tbe swiftest of mortal creatures.
53. Triplici . . . Dianae. If we trace back Grecian mythology to its
earliest forms, we shall find that Selene (Luna) the Moon-goddess,
Artemis (Diana) the Huntress-goddess sister of Apollo, Persephone (Pros-
erpina) daughter of Demeter (Ceres) and wife of Hades or Pluto, were all
considered separate divinities, while Hecate, who by Hesiod in the Theo-
gony l and subsequent writers was represented as distinct from these, is
merely another name, or rather epithet, of Artemis. In process of time
a strange and complicated combination arose. Apollo being mixed up
with Helios the Sun-god, his sister Artemis was considered the same with
Selene the Moon-goddess ; Hecate, again, was confounded with Perse-
phone, and being, as we have seen, originally the same as Artemis,
she was worshipped as a threefold power. Again, the Latin Diana was
identified with the Greek Artemis, and hence with Hecate, who is thus
spoken of by the poets as a ' Diva triplex,' Luna in heaven, Diana on
Earth, Proserpina in the infernal regions ; thus Dido in Virgil, Aen.4. 510,
when about to die,
Ter centum tonat ore deos, Erebumque, Cbaosque,
Tergeminamque Hecaten, tria virginis or a Dianae.
And Hor. Od. 3. 22
Montium custos nemorumque, Virgo,
Quae laborantes utero puellas
Ter vocata audis, adimisque leto,
Diva triformis.
Pro virgine. Iphigenia. We have already alluded briefly to this
sad history in the Introduction to 2. According to Euripides, the sacri-
fice of the maiden was not consummated ; but at the moment when
the knife was about to be plunged into her bosom, Artemis bore her
away to Tauris, leaving in her stead a doe before the altar. The tale was
invented after the time of Homer, who merely mentions the name
' Iphianassa ' as that of one of the three daughters of Agamemnon.
55. The Sapaei were Thracians who dwelt in the mountains around
the valley of Nestus (Karasou) immediately to the north of Philippi.
Ovid passed through their country on his way to Tomi, the place of his
banishment.
56. Haemus (The Balkan) was the general name given to the whole
of the eastern portion of the great chain of mountains by which Thrace
1 409. The genuineness of the passage is more than doubtful.
224 NOTES. 18.
and Macedonia were separated from the valley of the Danube. The
range, as it extended westward, bore the names of Mons Scomius, Mons
Orbelus, Mons Scardus, Mons Bertiscus, &c.
Dogs were sacrificed at Rome also, on the Robigalia and Lupercalia.
See 23. 36, and Plutarch. Quaest. Roman.
57. 'The stern guardian of the country" is Priapus, a deity whose
statues adorned the gardens and pleasure-grounds of the Romans, but
who was a stranger to the mythology of Italy, and unknown to the
earlier Greeks. He is not mentioned either by Homer or Hesiod, nor
does his name occur in the work of Apollodorus, who flourished 140 B.C.,
while Strabo l expressly asserts that his rites were introduced at a late
period. The principal seat of his worship, from which it spread westward,
was the Mysian city of Lampsacus on the Hellespont, well known in
Athenian history 2 , and peculiarly celebrated for its vineyards, on which
account it was assigned by the Great King to Themistocles, to supply his
table with wine, in like manner as Magnesia furnished him with bread,
and Myus with pulse.
Among the Greeks and Romans, Priapus was regarded simply as a rural
deity who protected flocks and herds, and exercised an especial superin-
tendence over gardens and bees. Thus Virgil, Eel. 7. 33
Sinum lactis, et baec te liba, Priape, qvotannis
Expectare sat esl ; cttstos es pauperis borti.
Nunc te marmoreum pro tempore fecimus, at tu,
Si fetura gregem svppleverit, aureus esto,
and in G. 4. 109
Invitent (sc. apes) croceis balantes floribvs borti,
Et custos furum atque avium cum falce saligna
Hellespontiaci servet tutela Priapi,
while Ov. Trist. i. 10, 25, applies to him the general epithet ' ruricola'
Dardaniamqtie petit, auctoris nomen babentem,
Et te ruricola, Lampsace, tuta deo.
By Martial, 8. 40, he is treated with little respect, being appointed guar-
dian of a thicket kept for fire-wood, and threatened with being himself cut
up into billets should he neglect his charge. In the Anthology we find
that fishermen considered him one of their patrons. Moschus, in his la-
ment for Bion, classes Priapi (in the plural) along with Satyrs and Pans,
* Lib. 13.
2 The Lampsacenes, in later times, offered a strenuous resistance to
Antiochus, aud were received into alliance by the Romans, 1 70 B. C.
FASTI. I. 335. 225
while in Theocritus his statue is placed by shepherds near a shady spring
in company with the Nymphs.
But although in foreign lands the attributes of Priapus were thus re-
stricted, he received higher homage in his own city, the inhabitants of
which honoured him above all gods, declaring that he was the son of
Dionysus (Bacchus) and Aphrodite (Venus). According to other author-
ities his. mother was a Naiad, or Chione; while by the Roman comic
writer Afranius, he is called ' the son of a long-eared father,' which some
interpret to mean Pan, others a Satyr, others an Ass ! The last-
mentioned animal was offered to him in sacrifice, as we learn from the
passage before us.
Priapus was usually represented with a falx, or crooked gardener's
knife, in his hand, and sometimes a cudgel to drive away thieves ; his lap
was filled with all kinds of fruit. A cornucopia was placed in his arms,
and his figure was distinguished by other emblems of fruitful-
ness. Those who may wish for further information regarding this
deity will find everything of importance in Voss's Mythologische Briefe,
B. 75-
65. Dis proxima. In reference to birds flying aloft towards the
abodes of the gods.
66. T3"une penna . . . mine . . . ore. Hence in the discipline of the
augurs, birds were divided into ' praepetes ' and ' oscines ;' the former
yielded omens by their flight, the latter by their cries.
71. Defensa . . . Capitolia. See the account given in Livy 5. 47.
Plutarch tells us that, even in his time, in commemoration of this event,
there was an annual procession, in which a dog was borne along impaled
upon a stake, and a goose was carried in a litter as if in triumph.
Plin. H. N. 10, 12 Est anseri vigil euro, Capitolio testala defense, per id
tempus canum silentio proditis rebus. Quamobrem Cibaria anserum in priinis
Censores locant.
72. Inachi. lo, daughter of Inachus, who fled from Argos to avoid
the jealous fury of Juno, and upon the banks of the Nile bore Epaphus
to Jupiter. She was afterwards confounded with the Egyptian goddess
Isis, the wife of Osiris. Juvenal speaks of the goose as an offering to the
latter, S. 6. 540
Vt veniam culpae non abnuat, ansere magno
Scilicet, et tenui popano corruptus Osiris.
lecur. The ancient epicures attached peculiar importance to the liver
of the goose, and, like those of modern times, had recourse to various
226 NOTES. 10.
expedients, by means of which it became diseased and swelled to an
enormous size l . As the most dainty morsel it was offered to Isis.
74. Compare Ov. Met. n. 596, describing the abode of sleep
Non vigil ales ibi cristati cantibus oris
Evocat Attroram, nee voce silentia rumpunt
Sollicitive canes, canibusve sagacior anser.
19. FEBRVA. FAS. n. 19.
I. Piamina. The word 'piamen,' if the reading be correct, is
manifestly equivalent to 'piaculum,' and signifies an atonement or
purification of any description. ' Piamentum' occurs in Pliny in the
same sense.
3. Bege. The Rex Sacrorum,' ' Rex Sacrificiorum,' or ' Rex
Sacrificulus,' as he is variously denominated, was a priest appointed
after the expulsion of Tarquinius to superintend certain holy rites which
had always been performed by the kings in person 2 . His wife was
termed Regina, and the place where he offered sacrifice ' RegiaV
Flamine. The'Flamen Dialis,' the peculiar priest of Jupiter, who,
among other rights and privileges, was attended by a lictor (see v. 5),
and had a seat in the senate in virtue of his office. His wife, the
' Flaminica' (see v. 9), was invested with a sacred character, since her
assistance was required in performing certain ceremonies, and con-
sequently, if she died, the Flamen was obliged to abdicate his office.
The custom here mentioned is not elsewhere described, but fleeces
of wool were employed for many solemn purposes, as, for example, to
form the tufts on the summit of the priest's cap ' Apex,' to encircle the
olive-branches which formed the badges of suppliants, to wreathe the
head of the victims led forth to sacrifice, &c.
6. Mica. See note on line 4 of preceding Extract.
10. Heinsius would substitute ' spinea' for 'pinea,' because we know
from various ancient authors that the wood of the white-thorn was
believed to possess peculiar virtue. See note on v. 26 of the next
Extract.
12. Intonsos . . . avos. See note on 6. 8, and compare Tibullus
2. i, 34-
1 See Athenaeus 9. 32, Hor. S. 2. 8, 88, Plin. H. N. 10. 22, Martial
13- 58. Juvenal 5. 114.
2 Liv. 2. 2, Dionys. Hal. 4 74.
3 See Fest. in verb. ; Serv. Virg. Aen. 8. 363 ; Ascon. in Orationem pro
Milone c. 14; Macrob. S. i. 15.
FASTI. II. 19. 227
14, 15. See quotation from Festus in the Introduction to this
Extract.
1 6. Ferales . . . dies. See Introduction to the following Extract.
19-28. These lines refer to the position and treatment of a homicide
in the heroic ages. The shedder of blood, whether the deed had been
the result of passion or of accident, was obliged to flee from his
country as an outlaw, to shun the altars of the gods and all religious
assemblies, to wander an exile and an outcast, avoided by his fellow-
men as one under the ban of heaven, until he found some friend in a
foreign land willing to perform the ceremonies of expiation, and restore
him pure and holy to his former station in society. These rites were
twofold, being designed to appease the spirit of the slain and the
deities of the nether world, and also to remove the stain or pollution
contracted by the murderer. The last, the icdQapats or purification, was
effected by swine's blood and the water of a running stream. The
student will find much curious, interesting, and valuable information
upon this topic, in the Dissertations on the Eumenides of Aeschylus
by C. O. Miiller, a translation of which has been published in this
country.
2 1 . Pelea. Jupiter earned off Aegina, one of the twenty daughters
of the river Asopus, and conveyed her to the island which afterwards
bore her name, but which at that time was called Oenone. There she
gave birth to Aeacus, the most holy of men, who, after death, was
honoured by Hades, and appointed to keep the keys of the infernal
regions. Aeacus wedded Endeis, daughter of Cheiron, by whom he was
the father of Peleus and Telamon 1 , while by Psamathe, daughter of
Nereus, he had Phocus. Phocus having become preeminent in athletic
exercises, his brothers Peleus and Telamon took counsel against him,
and slew him treacherously 2 . The guilty deed having been discovered,
the murderers were driven forth from Aegina by their sire. Telamon
took refuge in Salamis with Cychreus 3 , who, dying childless, bequeathed
to him the sovereignty. He married Periboea, granddaughter of Pelops,
who bore him Ajax ; he afterwards accompanied Hercules against Troy,
1 According to Pherecydes, Telamon was not the brother but the friend
only of Peleus, being son of Actaeus and Glauce daughter of Cychreus.
2 They cast lots which should do the deed. The lot fell upon Telamon,
who killed Phocus with a ' discus ' while they were engaged together in
gymnastic exercises.
8 Cychreus was the son of Poseidon and Salamis daughter of Asopus.
Q2
228 NOTES. 10.
and by his captive Hesione, daughter of Laomedon, he became the
father of Teucrus.
Peleus, on the other hand, fled to Phthia, to Eurytion son of Actor,
by whom he was purified from the blood-stain, but having joined in the
hunt against the boar of Calydon, he slew his host unawares, with a
javelin aimed at the wild beast.
Quitting Phthia he took refuge with Acastus king of lolcus, by
whom he was purified from this fresh stain, and, after many romantic
adventures, received in marriage Thetis, daughter of Nereus. The
fruit of this union was Achilles 1 .
21. Actoriden, i. e. Patroclus. Menoetius, son of Actor 2 , was one of
the Argonauts, and father of Patroclus by Sthenele, daughter of
Acastus 3 . Patroclus, in boyhood, dwelt at Opus, where he killed
Clysonymus, son of Amphidamas, and, fleeing along with his sire, took
refuge with Peleus, where he became the chosen friend of Achilles,
whom he accompanied to Troy. From the above genealogy it will
be seen why PaUoclus is so often termed Menoetiades as well as
Actorides.
24. Phasida, i. e. Medea, daughter of Aeetes, king of Colchis on
the Phasis. Having fled with Jason to Greece, she afterwards slew
their children to avenge herself for her husband's perfidy in con-
tracting a fresh marriage with Glauce, daughter of Creon, king of
Corinth. She made her escape in a chariot drawn by winged serpents,
which she received from Helios, and directed her cou;se to Athens,
where she married Aegeus, father of Theseus 4 .
25. Amphiaraid.es, i. e. Alcmaeon. Amphiaraus, son of Argive
Oicleus, was an Argonaut, and one of the hunters of the boar of
Calydon. He married Eriphyle, daughter of Bias and Pero, and
sister of Adrastus king of Argos, by whom he had two sons, Alcmaeon
and Amphilocus. Being gifted with prophetic powers, he foresaw that
all the chiefs who should join in the war against Thebes, waged by
Polynices against his brother Eteocles, would perish, except Adrastus.
Hence he refused to take part in the expedition, and endeavoured to
1 The substance of the above narrative will be found in Apollod. 3. 12, 7.
seqq. It differs slightly from the account followed by Ovid, according to
which Acastus purified Peleus from the blood of Phocus.
* Apollod. I. 9, 16. This Actor must not be confounded with Actor,
father of Eurytion. See Heyne, Obs. on Apollod. vol. ii. p. 310.
3 The ancients differed with regard to the mother of Patroclus ; see
Apollod. 3. 13, 8. * Apollod. i. 9, 28.
FASTI. II. 19. 229
dissuade others. But Eriphyle having been gained over by the gift
of a necklace, bestowed by Polynices, entrapped her husband into
a promise, and he was compelled to go forth, charging, however,
his sons to slay their mother when they should have attained to
manhood.
Alcmaeon was the leader of the second expedition against Thebes,
called the war of the Epigoni, the leaders being the sons of those
chiefs who had been killed in the former struggle. After the fall of
Thebes, Alcmaeon, in obedience to the commands of his father,
confirmed by the oracle of Apollo, put his mother to death. He
became mad in consequence, and betook himself first to Oicleus, and
then to Phygeus of Psophis. By the latter he was purified, and
received his daughter Arsinoe in marriage ; but the land having ceased
to bear fruit, by the advice of the oracle he repaired to the fountains of
the Achelous, by whom the blood-stain was finally removed 1 .
Naupactoo Acheloo. Naupactus (called Lepanto by the Venetians,
Nepacto by the modem Greeks, and Enebatche by the Turks) was
situated on the Corinthiacus Sinus (G. of Lepanto), at the western
extremity of the territory of the Locri Ozolae. According to tradition,
it derived its name from the circumstance that the Heraclidae there
constructed the fleet (vavs, irr)yi>v/j.i) with which they invaded the
Peloponnesus. It was in the hands of the Athenians during the war
with Sparta, and was a naval station of the greatest importance.
See Thucydides passim.
The Achelous (Aspropotamo), one of the most important and
celebrated rivers in Greece, rises in the northern ridges of Mount
Pindus, and, after flowing nearly directly south for one hundred and
thirty miles, falls into the sea opposite to the cluster of little islands
called Echinades. In the latter part of its course it formed the
boundary between Acarnania and Aetolia.
It ought to be remarked that Naupactus is at least thirty miles east
from the mouth of the Achelous.
31-36. Ovid here explains his views with regard to the constitution
of the Roman year, pointing out that it originally consisted of ten
months.
This passage will be understood by referring to the general
introduction to the Fasti section on the Roman year. Ovid here
asserts, that when the months of lanuarius and Februarius were added to
1 See Apollod. 1.8, 2; I. 9, 13 and 16; 3. 6, 2 ; 3. 7, 2 and 3, &c.
230 NOTES. 20.
the original year of Romulus, lanuarius was placed at the beginning, as
being sacred to lanus, the deity presiding over the commencement of all
things; while Februarius stood at the end, containing as it did the
festivals of Terminus, the god of boundaries, and of the Manes or
Spirits of those who have finished their mortal career. He adds, that
the Decemvirs introduced the change by which Februarius was made
to follow immediately after lanuarius. This last piece of information
is to be found in no other ancient author.
20. FERALIA. FAS. n. 533.
2. Exstinctas . . . pyras. ' Pyra ' is taken here to mean the ' place of
sepulture,' and so also 'bustum' in v. 19. These sacrifices, it must be
observed, were public, and without reference to individual spirits, and
must be distinguished from the private funeral solemnities of the ' Sili-
cernium' and 'Novemdialis Cena.'
5. Porrectis . . . coronis. The verb 'porricio' is a technical word
belonging properly to the discipline of the Pontifices and Haruspices,
and signifies ' to place the entrails of the victim upon the altar ;' or in a
more general sense, ' to present an offering to the gods V Thus Plaut.
Pseud, i. 3, 31
si sacruficem summo lovi,
Atque in manibvs exta teneam, ut porriciam, inter ea loci
Si lucri quid detur, potius rem divinam deseram.
So also Livy 29, 27, when describing the impressive sacrifice offered up
when the fleet sailed under the command of Scipio to invade Africa,
Secundum eas preces crvda exta victimae, uti mos est, in mare porricil,
tubaque signum dedit proficiscendi. And Virg. Aen. 5. 236
Vobis laetus ego hoc candentem in litore tavrum
Constitvam ante aras voti revs, extaque sahcs
Porriciam in fluctus, et vina liquentia fundam.
And again 774
Ipse, caput tonsae foliis evinctus olivae,
Stans procul in prora paleram tenet, extaque salsos
Porricit in jfuctvs ac vina liquentia fvndit.
In almost all passages where this word occurs, it has been confounded
by transcribers with ' proiicio,' and hence in the line before us several
MSS. and edd. read ' proiectis . . . coronis,' which they explain, ' garlands
i See Macrob. S. 3. 2.
FASTI. II. 533. 231
that had been thrown away in the streets by persons returning home
from an entertainment.'
6. Mica sails. See note on Ov. Fast. 18. 4.
7. Ceres, i. e. corn or flour.
Violaeque solutae, ' loose,' i. e. not woven into a chaplet.
10. Sua verba, 'appropriate words;' the words belonging to such
solemnities.
13, 14. This refers to the funeral games celebrated in Sicily by Aeneas
in honour of his sire, which are described at length in the fifth book
of the Aeneid. Solernnia is here simply ' annual.'
16. Parentales . . . dies. ' Parentare,' whence are formed ' parentalis'
and ' parentalia,' signifies strictly ' to perform the funeral rites of parents
or near relations,' but is used in the general sense of ' to perform rites in
honour of the dead," ' to appease the spirits of the deceased.' Thus
Caes. B. G. 7. 17 Praestare, omnes perferre acerbitates, quam non civibus
Romanis, qtii Genabi perfidia Gallorum interissent, parentarent, and Livy
24. 21 Secundum Hieronymi caedem primo tumultuatum in Leontinis apud
milites fuerat, wciferatumque ferociter parentandum regi sanguine coniura-
torum esse. In Ovid, Trist. 4. 10, 87, we read,
Fama, pareniales, si vos mea contigit, umbrae,
Et sunt in Stygio crimina nostra foro,
where ' parentales umbrae' means simply ' shades of my parents.'
17. Omine ab isto. The evil deed is here represented poetically as
being itself the augury or token of the misfortunes which would follow.
1 8. Suburbanis. It must be remembered that the dead were always
burned or buried without the walls of the city, in obedience to the law
of the XII Tables', which enacted
' HOMINEM MORTWM IN VRBE NE SEPELITO NEVE VRITO.'
22. Deformes, i.e. 'unsightly,' 'horrible to look upon.' Compare
Virg. G. i. 476
Vox quoque per lucos vulgo exaudita silentes
Ingens, et simulacra modis pallentia miris
Visa sub obscurum noctis.
Vulgus inane, ' an airy crowd.'
25. Viduae cessate puellae, 'ye widows refrain, during this festival,
from entering into wedlock.' 'Viduae puellae' are widowed dames,
distinguished from the maiden brides of the next couplet. Compare
v. 33 of the following Extract, from which we perceive that marriage
was prohibited during the Lerpuria also. On the meaning of ' viduus '
1 Cic. de Legg. 2. 23.
NOTES. 20.
consult note to 6. 2. 'Puella' is frequently used to signify a matron,
thus Hor. Od. 3. 22, 2
Montium custos nemorumque, Virgo,
Quae laborantcs utero puellas
Ter vocata, audis, adimisque leto,
Diva triformis.
26. Pinea taeda. A Roman bride was always escorted home by
torch-light from the dwelling of her parents. Hence ' taeda iugalis,' or
' taeda ' alone, is frequently used to signify marriage, e. g. Catull. 64. 303
Nee Tbetidis taedas voluit celebrare iugales.
Ov. Her. 6. 134
Me lib!, teqiie mibi taeda pudica dedit, &C.
With regard to the epithet 'pinea,' although we know that the
fir-tree has been always extensively used for torches, on account of its
unctuous sap, yet both here, in the last Extract v. 10, in Catullus 61. 15.
and similar passages, many scholars argue, with some plausibility, that
we ought to substitute ' spinea,' on account of the peculiar virtues attri-
buted to the white- thorn by the ancients. Thus Varro, quoted by
Charisius 1 , In Asia fax ex spina alba praefertur, quod purgation's causa
adbibetur. Again, Festus in verb. ' Patrimi,' Patrimi et matrimi pveri
praetextati Ires nubentem deducunt : unus, qui facem praefert ex spina alba,
quia noctu nubebant; duo, qui tenent nubentem. And Flin. H. N. 16. 18
Spina nuptianim facibus auspicatissima , quoniam inde fecerint pastores qui
rapuerunt Sabinas, ut auctor est Masurius. See also Ov. Fast. 6. 129 and
165.
27. Cupidae. 'Cupienti accelerare filiae nuptias" G.
28. It was the custom to divide the hair of the bride, on the morning
of her nuptials, with the point of a spear, which, according to Festus,
had been thrust into the body of a gladiator: Caelibari hasta caput
nubentis comebatur, quae in corpore gladiatoris stetisset abiecti occinque
(Festus in verb. 'Caelibaris'). Plutarch 2 , in his Roman Questions,
asks : Why do they divide the bair of brides with the point of a spear ?
(aix**J7 Sopariov), and Arnobius adv. Gent. 2. 67 Nnbentium crinem caeli-
bari basta mulcefis t The best of the various reasons assigned for this
practice by Festus and Plutarch is one adduced by the former, quod
nuptiali iure imperio viri subiicttur nubens : quia basta summa armorum,
et imptrii est.
1 P. 117, ed Putsch.
* He mentions the custom in his life of Romulus also.
FASTI. IT. 533. 233
What the meaning of the epithet ' recurva ' may be it is difficult to
say, unless it refers to the position in which the spear was held. There
seem to be no grounds whatever for the idea that the instrument em-
ployed was not a real spear, but only an 'acus comatoria' or 'hair pin;'
no such conclusion can be drawn from the word Sopdnov, ' a little spear/
in Plutarch.
35> 36- These rites are not to extend beyond the period when there
are as many days remaining in the month as the measure employed
by the poet contains feet. But Ovid is here writing in Elegiac verse,
each couplet of which contains eleven feet, therefore the Feralia, the last
day of the solemnities, must have taken place on the eleventh day from
the end of the month, that is, on the iSth of February, and this
corresponds exactly with the ancient Calendars in which the festival
is set down for XII. Kal. Mart.
37. lusta ferunt. 'lusta ferre;' 'iusta facere;' 'iusta conficere;'
' iusta solvere ; ' signify technically ' to perform the last duties to the
dead ; ' ' to render to the dead their lawful dues.'
39, 40. On the same day with the Feralia certain spells and magic
rites were performed to avert the influence of evil tongues, the goddess
invoked being named ' Dea Tacita,' ' Dea Muta.' These cabalistic
ceremonies are now described.
41. Tria tura, i.e. three grains of incense. Observe that the three
grains are grasped with three fingers, and below, seven beans are turned
in the mouth ; all odd numbers, and especially the numbers three, seven,
and nine, being supposed to possess peculiar mystical virtue,
43. Cantata ... licia, 'enchanted threads,' i.e. threads over which
spells have been pronounced. The ' licia ' were of wool taken from the
extremity of the ' stamen,' being used to attach the web to the loom ;
those described in the Pharmaceutria of Virgil (73) consist each of three
plies of different colours
Terna tibi haec primum triplici diversa colors
Licia circumdo, terque bane altaria circum
Effigiem duco : numero deus impure gaudet
*****
Necte tribus nodis ternos, Amarylli, colores ;
Necte, Amarylli, mo do : et, Veneris, die, vincula necto.
Compare also the Ciris 371
Terque novena ligat triplici diversa colon
Fila ; ter in gremium mecum, inquit, detpue, virgo t
Despue ler, virgo ; numero deus impure gaudet.
234 NOTES. 20.
Pliny mentions that the licia taken from a web, when tied in seven or
nine knots, were believed to be a remedy for certain diseases : H. N.
28.4.
43. Plumbo. So the best MSS. One has ' rhombo,' a reading preferred
by many editors. The meaning will be the same whichever we adopt,
the object indicated being the magic reel (j>on&os, ' rhombus,' ' turbo '),
one of the principal implements employed by ancient sorceresses. It
was made either of lead or brass, or of more costly materials l , and, as
the name denotes, was usually four-sided, but sometimes triangular,
three being the most perfect of numbers. To this the ' licia ' were
attached, and as the witch whirled it round she was believed to sway her
victim according to her will, the spell being dissolved by reversing the
motion. When used as a love charm, a wren ('Iwyf ) was bound to the
instrument, or its entrails were twisted round the spokes, that bird, from
the constant agitation of its head and tail, being considered emblematic
of the fickle and unquiet nature of the passion. The following passages
will illustrate what we have said, and the student who wishes to
prosecute the subject farther may refer to the authorities quoted
below 2
Theocrit 2. 17
"Iwyf, t\K( TV TTJVOV IfJiov irorl Su>/j.a rov avSpa:
Wren, drag him borne, drag borne my faithless man ;
and v. 30
X' a'* Sivttd' oSf p6jj.fiot o x^ K(0 *> * 'A<ppo5iTat
*ft* rrjvos OIVOITO iroO' tftgrlftun 6vpatai :
And as tbis brazen wbeel of Love wbirls round,
So to my borne may be with whirl back bound;
Prop. 3. 28, 35
Deficivnt magico torti sub carmine rbombt,
Et tacet extincto laurus adusta foco ;
and 3. 6, 25
Non me moribus ilia, sed berbis, improba vicit,
Slaminea rbombt ducitur ille rota;
1 See Brunck. Analect. Epigramm. p. 172.
3 Schol. on Find. Pyth. 4. 381, Nem. 4. 56, Schol. on Theocrit. 2. 17, 30,
Schol. on Lycophr. 310. The notes of the different commentators on the
above passages, of Schneider on Xenoph. Mem. 3. u, 17, and Voss on Virg.
Eel. 8. 68.
FASTI. V. 419. 335
Hor. Epod. 17. 6
Canidia, parce vocibus tandem sacris,
Citumque retro solve, solve, turbinem;
Ovid, Amor. I. 8, 7
Scit bene quid gramen, quid torlo concita rbombo
Licia, quid valeat virus amantis equae;
Lucan 6. 458
quos non concordia misti
Alligat ulla tori, blandaeqne potentia formae,
Traxerunt torii magica vertigine Jili ;
Martial 9. 30, 9
Quae nunc Tbessalico lunam deducere rbombo,
Quae sciet bos illos venders lend toros f
21. LEMVRIA. FAS. v. 419.
I. Hinc ubi, &c. The last phenomenon mentioned was the setting
of the Scorpion, which happened, according to the Calendars, on the 6th
of May.
3. Nocturna, ' celebrated by night.'
4. Inferiae is the general term for all sacrifices or oblations to the
shades of the deceased. Thus Festus, Inferiae sacrificia quae Diis Manibus
fiebant.
5. Annus erat brevier. The Roman year consisted originally of
ten months, commencing with March. See Appendix on the Roman
Year.
Februa. See Introduction to 19.
6. lane biformis. See note on 9. 85.
8. Compositi, ' laid to rest in the grave.' Compare Hor. S. I. 9, 26.
Est tibi mater?
Cognati, qtieis te salvo est opus ? Hand mibi quisquam,
Omnes composui Felices ! nunc ego resto.
Busta. See note on 20. 2, and cf. v. 19.
9. Maiorum nomina. This derivation of the name of the month
Maius' will be found discussed in the Appendix on the Roman Year.
1 3. Ille, i. e. that man who is mindful of ancient ceremonies.
15. Signaque, &c. The commentators suppose this to mean 'snaps
his fingers.' Looking, however, to the exact signification of the words,
we should rather suppose that some gesticulation is here indicated, in
236 NOTES. 21.
which the thumb was laid along the palm and then grasped by the
fingers. Compare Met. 9. 299, where Lncina is represented as re-
tarding the birth of Hercules by various spells, among others by clasping
her hands,
digitis inter se pectine iunctis
Sustinuit nixns.
1 8. Pabas. We have seen in the last Extract that the old woman
who is represented as propitiating the ' Dea Tacita,' among other spells,
binds the enchanted threads to the magic wheel,
Et septem nigras versat in ore fabas.
It is somewhat difficult to understand the origin of the numerous and
very widely diffused superstitions connected with this simple vegetable.
As illustrations, we may quote Festus, Fabam nee tangere nee nominare
Diali flamini licet, quod ea pvtatur ad mortuos pertinere. Nam et
lemuralibus iacitur larvis, et parentalibits adbibetur sacrificiis, et in flore eius
luctvs literae apparere vident-ur. And Nonius Marcellus, Lemures, larvae
iioctwnae et terrificationes imaginum et bestiarum. Varro de vita populi
Romani libro primo : Quibus temporibus in sacris fabam iactant noctu
nc dicnnt se Lemiirios domo extra iamiam eiicere. Also Plin. H. N.
1 8. 12 Qnin et prisco ritu fabasta svae religionis Diis in sacro est
praevalens pulmenlari cibo, et bebetare fensus existimata, insomnia qttoqne
facere. Ob baec Pytbagorica sententia damnata : vt alii tradidere, qnomam
mortuorum anintae sint in ea. Qua de causa parentando utique adsnmitur.
Varro et ob baec Flaminem ea non vesci tradit, et quoniam in flare
eiiis literae lugubres reperiantur.
With regard to the well-known precept of Pythagoras, ACVIJMUV
ZirfXtafa', Cicero remarks, De Divin. I. 30 lubet igitur Plato, sic ad
somnunt prnficisci corporibus affectis, ut nibil sit, quod errorem animis
pertvrbationemque afferat. Ex quo etiam Pytbagoricis interdictum puta'ur,
nefaba vesceretur, qvod babet inflationem magnam is cibus, tranjuillitati
mentis vera querentis contrariam l .
19. Aversusque iacit, i. e. throws them away with his head turned
in the opposite direction, or, in other words, ' throws them behind him.'
So Virgil's sorceress commands her assistant, Eel. 8. 101
Fer cineres, A marylli, foras, rivojtie fluenti
Transque caput iace, nee respexeris, &c.
1 See also Hor. S. 2 6, 83 ; and Scholiast. Aul. Cell. 4. u; 10. 15;
Fragment of Varro De Vita Populi Romani, &c.
FASTI. V. 419. 237
to. His, &c., ' with these beans I ransom myself and mine,' i. e.
I buy off the ghost.
23. Temesaeaque . . . aera. Temese was a town in the territory of
the Bruttii, immediately south of Terina, with regard to which Strabo
says, After Laus the first town of the Bruttii is Temese, which they now call
Tempsa. It was founded by the Ausones, and then colonized by the
Aetolians under Tboas, who were expelled by the Bruttii. Both Hannibal
and the Romans ground down ibe Bruttii. This they say is the Temese
mentioned by Homer, and not Tamesus (for it is pronounced in both wayi,)
in Cyprus ; copper mines are pointed out in the neighbourhood, which now
are exhausted. The passage in Homer is Odyss. I. 184, where Pallas,
under her assumed character of Mentor, declares to Telemachus,
Now hither have I come with ship and crew,
O'er the dark main, freighted with iron bright,
Sailing to men who speak a foreign tongue,
To Temese for brass.
The place is mentioned in Livy, Cicero, and many other authors.
Ovid alludes again to its mines, Met. 15. 707
Hippotadaeque domos regis, Temesesque metalla,
and Statius S. i. i, 42
Et queis se totis Temese dedit hausta metallis.
With regard to the usage described in the lines before us, Sophron
in his Mimes 1 tells us that ghosts are scared away by the barking of a
dog, or by the tinkling of brass ; and we learn from the Scholiast on
Theocritus 2 , that brass was considered a pure metal, possessing many
virtues in removing pollutions, on which account it was sounded hi
eclipses of the moon and in matters relating to the dead.
28. Ovid, in the lines omitted, calls upon Mercury, who in the
character of ^UXOTTO/XTTOS, or conductor of the dead, might be supposed
to be acquainted with all matters appertaining to spirits, to communicate
the desired information. Mercury answers the appeal, and tells a story
how the shade of Remus appeared to his brother and demanded that
some honours should be paid to his Manes ; in consequence of which a
festival was instituted and called ' Remuria,' a term which in process of
time was corrupted into ' Lemuria.' Krebs quotes Porphyrio on Horat.
Ep. 2. 2, 209 Lemur -es dictos esse putant quasi Remures a Remo, cuius
occisi umbramf rater Romulus quum placare vellet Lemuria institiut.
33. Compare lines 25-29 of 20, and read the notes.
1 Quoted by Scholiast on Lycophron, v. 77. a Eidyll. 2. 36.
238 XOTES. 22.
35, 36. He supposes that the circumstance of the 'Lemuria' being
celebrated during May, gave rise to the idea that it was unlucky to
marry during this month, a superstition, be it remarked, which prevails
with full force in Scotland to this hour. -
37, 38. The ' Lemuria .' as we have already remarked, were celebrated
during three days, but these did not follow in succession, ' continuata,'
being the pth, the nth, and the I3th of the month.
22. TERMINVS. FAS. n. 639.
3. 4. Compare Tibullus I. I, II
Nam veneror, sen stipes babet desertus in agris,
Seu vetus in trivio fiorea serla lapis.
4. Sic quoque. Even thus, although represented by an emblem
so humble, by a stock or a stone, thou dost possess the power of a
god.
5. 6. Te duo, i. e. the two proprietors of adjoining lands pay homage
to thee, each on his own side crowning thee with a garland, each
presenting thee with a cake. ' Bina ' here, as frequently even in prose
is equivalent to 'duo.'
6. Liba. The ' libum' was a cake much used in sacrifices, the
ingredients of which were cheese, wheaten flour, and an egg. Cato R.
R. 75 gives the receipt Libum hoc mode facito. Casei P. II. bene
disterat in mortario : vbi bene distriverit, farinae siligineae libram, out si
voles tenerius esse, selibram similaginis solum eodem indito, permiscetoque
cum caseo bene : ovum I. addito, et una permiscelo bene. Inde panem
facito. Folia sitbdito : in foco caldo sub testu coqvito leniter. These
'Liba' were called Irpia. by the Greeks.
7. Curto testu, 'in a potsherd.' The epithet 'curtus' is frequently
applied to cracked or broken pottery, e. g. luvenal, S. 3. 270
Re ! pice nvnc alia ac diver sa pericula noctis,
Quod spatium tec/is sublimibus, unde cerebrum
Testa ferit, qvoties rimosa et cvrta fenestris
Vasa cadunt ; quanto percussum pondere signent
Et laedant silicem,
and Martial, 3. 82, 3
Curtaque Ledae sobrius bibat testa.
FASTI. II. 639. 239
The form testu, from the nominative 'testus,' is found here and
elsewhere in the best MSS., and is recognised by the old grammarians :
Nonius Marcellus notices also ' testum ' in the neuter gender.
9. Minuit. Cuts down the wood into small billets.
10. Et solida, &c. He forces stakes into the ground to serve as
support for the pile which he is building up. 'Pugnat' expresses
the effort required to thrust them firmly into the hard, ' solida,' earth.
11. Irritat, 'stimulates.' He endeavours to kindle the heap into a
blaze with fragments of dry bark. Compare Met. 8. 641
Inde foco tepidum cinerem dimovil, et ignes
Suscitat besternos: foliisque et cor/ice sicco
ffulrit, et ad flammas anima producit anili.
12. Canistra, or Canistri (these words are not found in the singular)
signify baskets either for domestic purposes, or for containing the
sacred utensils used in sacrifices, e. g. luv. S. 5. 74
Vin' tu consuetis, audax conviva, canistris
Impleri, panisqiie tm novisse coloremf
where 'bread-baskets' are meant.
13. 14. Compare this couplet with Tibullus, I. 10, 23
Atque aliquis voti compos liba ipse ferebat,
Postque comes purum filia parva favum.
15. Libantur. See note on 37. 2.
1 6. Candida turba. Clothed in pure white raiment, such as was
worn on holidays, or by those engaged in the service of the gods.
Linguis . . favent, ' observe a solemn silence.' The priest, before
commencing a sacrifice, commanded the crowd to be silent, that no
ill-omened sound might fall upon his ear and disturb the holy rite.
Compare Hor. Od. 3. i
Odi profanum vulgus, et arceo :
Favete linguis; carmina non prius
Audi/a Musarum sacerdos
Virginibus puerisque canto.
And so Prop. 4. 6, I
Sacra facit votes ; sint era faveniia sacris.
Lastly, Senec. Vit. Beat. 26 Quoliens mentio sacra liter arum intervenerit,
favete linguis. Hoc verbum non, tit plerique existimant, a favore trabitur :
sed imperatur silentium, ut rite peragi possit sacrum, nulla voce mala
obstrepente. The corresponding Greek expression was tvtyrjpeiTt.
23. Ambitio, from ' ambire,' properly signifies the act of going round
a constituency to solicit their votes, and hence all the feelings which
24 NOTES. 22.
stimulate a candidate, and all the artifices which he or his friends
employ to gain the end. Thus it is used in the sense of ' partizanship,'
' undue favour,' ' partiality," as in the passage before us, and also in
Tacit. Hist. I. I Sed ambieiontm scriptoris facile adverseris: obtreclatio et
livor pronis auribus accipiuntur.
25-28. The story here alluded to is to be found in Herodotus i. 82.
27. Lectus. If this be the true reading, it refers to a circumstance
not noticed by Herodotus. Nimirvm Otbryades, Lacedaemoniorum dux,
de Argivis victor, sed letalem in modum vulneraius, priusquam anitnam
exbalaret, tropaeo clipei hostilis inscripsit, digitis cruore oblilis, Kara. 'Apytiojv
'OOpvzSi)* Kal A.aK(5atp6i>iot. Rem narrant plurimi ex antiquis, Herodotus,
Plutarcbus, Strabo, Pausanias, Maximus Tyrivs, Stobaeus, Suidas, Valerius
Maximus, alii. Heinsius.
29-32. Livy i. 55 will serve as a commentary upon these lines. The
legend is repeated by Lactantius in the passage, a portion of which was
quoted in the Introduction to this Extract, and also by Servius in his
note on Virg. Aen. 9. 448
Dum domvs Aeneae Capitoli immobile xueum
Accolet.
Livy has preserved another tradition, according to which Ivventas, as
well as Terminus, refused to quit her shrine in the Capitol, for in the
speech of Camillus, 5. 54, we find Hie Capitolium est, ubi quondam capite
bumano invento responsum est, eo loco caput rerum summamque imperil fore :
bic, quum augurato liberaretur Capitolium, luventas Terminusque maxima
gaudio patrum nostrorum moveri se non passi.
33. Festus will explain this couplet: Terminus quo loco colebahtr,
super eum foramen patebat in tecto, quod nefas esse putarent, Terminum intra
tectum consistere.
The same observation is repeated nearly in the same words in the
passages in Lactantius and Servius referred to above.
35. Post illud. ' Post illam constantiam, qua in Capitolio coii-
stitisti ' G.
Levitaa ' est eius, qui facile sinit se moveri, facile cedit aliis ' G.
41. Laurentes agros. In the geography of the last six books
of the Aeneid, the ' Laurentes agri ' comprehend the low sandy tract,
where, to this day, the ' laurus ' grows in great profusion, stretching
along the coast south of the mouth of the Tiber ; the principal towa
was Laurentum (Torre di Paterno), the royal abode of Latinus ; the site
first occupied and fortified by the Trojans was the Laurens Caslrvm,
Virg. Aen. 10. 635. See also Heyne, Excursus 3 on Aen. 7.
FASTI. IV. 901. 241
42. Dardanio duel. Aeneas.
43. Fibris. According to Varro, Festus, and the old grammarians,
' fibra ' properly signifies ' the extremity of anything,' being the feminine
of the obsolete adjective ' fiber," equivalent to ' extremus.' In the
discipline of the Haruspices, the ' fibrae ' were the thread-like extremi-
ties of the entrails, and especially of the liver, ' caput iocinoris,' to which
peculiar importance was attached in the art of divination. Hence
' fibra ' is constantly used in reference to the omens derived from the
entrails of victims, so Tibull. i . 8, 3
Nee mibi sunt series, nee conscia fibra deorum,
Praecinit eventus nee mibi cantus avis,
and Virg. G. I. 483, describing the portents which preceded the death
of Caesar
nee tempore eodem
Tristibus aut exits fibrae apparere minaces
Aut puteis manare cruor cessavit.
' Fibra ' is also used for entrails collectively, as Ov. Fast. 4. 935
Tura focis vinumque dedit, fibrasque bidentis,
and for the filaments of the roots of plants, as in Cic. Tuscul. 3. 6
Non solum ramos amputare miseriarum, sed omnes radicumfibras evellere.
43, 44. Here was the ancient boundary of the Roman territory,
according to Strabo 5. 3, 1 Between the fifth and sixth milestones from
Rome there is a place called Pbestoi (<p7Jaroi). They point ibis out as
laving been the boundary of the Roman territory in the time of Romulus.
Both there and in several other places which are considered boundaries, the
priests to ibis day perform (be sacrifice which they call Ambarvalia.
23. ROBIGO. FAS. iv. 901.
2. According to Ovid, the commencement of Spring is on the V.
Id. Feb.
En etiam, si quis Borean horrere solebat,
Gaudeat: a Zephyris mollior aura venit.
Quintus ab aequoreis nitidum iubar extulit undis
Lucifer, et primi tempera veris eunt, Fast. 2. 147,
and in the line before us, the VII. Kal. Mai. is fixed upon as the middle
point. On the other hand, Columella u. 2, 15 and 36 VII. Idus Feb.
B
14* NOTES. 23.
Callisto sidus occidit ; Favonii spirare incipiunt XI. Kal. Maias ver
bipartitur, pluvia, et nonnumquam grando.
3. Pecudem . . . Athamantidos Helles, i. e. the constellation
' Aries ; ' the golden-fleeced ram, which bore away Phrixus and Helle,
the children of Athamas king of Thebes, when they fled from the
persecution of their step-mother Ino. \Ve have the whole story in Ov.
Fast. 3. 851 seqq.
4. Signaque, &c., i. e. ' the rains show themselves ; ' the showers
descend; or, 'the showers give indications of the seasons, 1 which is
better. So Fast. 1.315
Institerint Nonae ; missi tibi mibibus atris
Signa dabunt imbres, exorienfe Lyra.
Exoriturque Canis. Ovid has made a blunder here ; the Dog sets at
this season; so Columella ir. 2, 37 Pridie Kalendas Maias Canis se
vespere celat : tempestatem significat. One good MS. indeed has ' occidit
atque Canis ;' but this is probably a correction. The conjectural
emendations of different critics are given in the various readings.
5. Nomento. Nomentum (Lamentana Vecchia) was built by a
colony from Alba, in the Sabine territory, not far from the river Allia.
Hi tibi Nomentum, et Gabios, ttrbemque Fidenam,
Hi Collatinas imponent montibus arces. Virg. Aen. 6. 773-
It is frequently mentioned by Martial, who possessed an estate in the
neighbourhood, e. g. 6. 43
Me Nomentani conformant otia run's,
Et casa iugeribus non onerosa suis.
Hie mibi Baiani soles, mollisque Lticrinus ;
Hie vestrae mibi sunt, Castrice, divitiae.
See also 1. 85 ; 10. 44 ; 12. 57.
The road which led to this town from Rome, passed through the
Porta Viminalis, and was called the Via Nomentana ; it afterwards
joined the Via Salaria.
6. Candida pompa, ' a procession in pure white raiment.' See note
on 22.i6.
7. Antiquae. The worship of this deity was established, according to
Pliny, by Numa.
8. Exta cards. Columella mentions the sacrifice of the dog (a
sucking puppy), but not the sheep, 10. 342
Hinc mala Rubigo virides ne torreat berbas,
Sanguine lactentis catuli placatur et extis.
10. The officiating priest, it appears, was the Flamen Quirinalis.
FASTI. IV. 901. 243
11. Aspera, 'rough,' and so ' scabras manus ' below v. 21. So
also Virgil, when applying this word to the rust of iron, G. I. 495
Exesa inveniet scabra robigine pila.
12. Leve, i. e. ' smooth,' not roughened by ' scabra,' 'aspera robigo.'
18. Adusta. ' Vro,' 'aduro,' &c., are constantly applied to the
blighting influence of cold. Thus Cic. Tusc. 2. 17 Pernoctant venatores
in nive, in montibus uri se patiuntur, and Virg. G. I. 92
Ne tenues pluviae, rapidive potentia soils
A crior, out Boreae penetrabile frigus adurat,
and in like manner Livy 21.32 pecora iumentaque torrida frigore.
19. Titan, the Sun. See note on Hyperion, pp. 221, 222.
23. Centers expresses well the slow continued action by which rust
wears away and consumes the substance of iron. ' Carpere ' also
implies a gradual process.
2 7. Sarcula. From the manner in which the ' sarculus ' or ' sarculum '
is spoken of, it must have resembled very closely a common hoe. The
' bidens ' describes itself, and must have been the same with our drag.
28. Situs, from ' sino,' is the crust which forms upon anything which
is left untouched or neglected. Hence it is put for filth or dirt in
general, for the hard surface of land left fallow, for rust, and
metaphorically for the effect of sloth upon the mind, e. g. Ov. Amor.
I. 8, 51
A era nitent usu, vestis bona qua frit baberi,
Canescunt turpi tecta relicla situ.
Virg. G. I. 72
Et segnem patiere situ durescere campum.
Ov. Trist. 5. 12, i
Scribis, tit oblectem studio lacrimabile tempus,
Ne pereant turpi pectora nostra situ.
33. Mantele, mantelium, or mantelum, was a woollen napkin,
with a long loose pile, ' villis solutis,' which was sometimes shorn off
to make it more smooth. So Virg. Aen. I. 705
Dant famuli manibus lympbas, Cereremque canistris
Expediunt, tonsisque ferunt mantelia villis.
34. Patera, from ' pateo,' a sort of shallow ladle employed for
pouring libations to the gods.
Acerra ought to be translated ' incense-box.' The frankincense in
ancient sacrifices was generally consumed on the altar, not in a vessel
constructed for the purpose, as in the ceremonies of the Jewish religion
K 2
244 NOTES. 23.
and the Roman Catholic Church. When a censer was employed, it was
called ' turibulum.'
36. Obscaenae. See note on 1. 119.
39. Est Cards, Icarium dicunt, &c. Every constellation had a
legend attached to it. , Homer and Aratus call Sirius the dog of
Orion. The tale with regard to Procyon, which explains the epithet
' Icarius,' is as follows :
Dionysius visited Attica during the reign of Pandion, and was
hospitably entertained by Icarius, who received from him a slip of the
vine, and was instructed in the art of making wine. Eager to com-
municate to mankind the bounties of the god, he offered the new
beverage to some shepherds, who, tempted by its pleasant flavour,
drank copiously, became intoxicated, and then, supposing that they had
been poisoned, slew Icarius. Upon recovering their senses, perceiving
what they had done, they buried their victim. His daughter Erigone
discovered the dead body by the aid of a favourite dog, named Maera ;
and after bewailing the loss of her father, hung herself in grief.
Father, daughter, and dog, all became constellations. Icarius is Bootes,
Erigone is Virgo, Maera is Procyon 1 .
Compare Fast. 5: 723
Node sequente diem Cants Erigoneius exit,
and Amor. 2. 16, 4
Sol licet admoto tellurem sidere findat,
Et micet Icarii stella proierva Cants.
Sirius and Procyon are often confounded. There were two con-
stellations known to the Greek astronomers by the name of the Dog,
which were distinguished as the greater and the lesser.
The greater, or ' Canis,' rose, according to Columella, on the 26th of
July, and the bright star in its mouth was called ' Canis,' or ' Canicula,'
or ' Sirius,' the terms ' Canis ' and ' Canicula ' being used to denote
sometimes the whole constellation, and sometimes the principal star.
The lesser, or ' Procyon,' (irpoKvoiv), that is in Latin, ' Antecanis,'
Antecanis, Graio Procyon qui nomine fertur 2 ,
rose, as its title imports, before the great Dog, according to Columella
on the Ides of July. Although ' Canicula ' is usually employed with
reference to the greater Dog, yet, from its being a diminutive of ' Canis,'
1 See Apollodor. 3. 14, 7, Hygin. P. A. 2. 4, Fab. 130.
2 Arat. ap. Cic. N. D. 2. 44. Many edd. have ' Ante Canem,' connected
in construction with the line preceding it.
FASTI. IV. 901. 245
it is occasionally applied to the lesser ; and we may observe generally
that the two groups are frequently confounded by ancient writers, and
the fables proper to the one transferred to the other.
Since their rising served to mark the period of greatest heat, they
are commonly spoken of by the poets in connection with this circum-
stance. Compare Tibull. I. 7, 21; 2, i, 47; 3. 5, I, and Hor. Od.
3- 29, 17
lam clarus occultum Andromedae pater
Ostendit ignem : iam Procyon furit,
Et Stella vesani Leonis
Sole dies referente siccos 1 ,
and Od. 3. 13, 9, addressed to the Bandusian fount,
Te flagrantis atrox bora Caniculae
Nescit tangere,
and Od. I. 17, 17
Hie in reducta valle Caniculae
Vilabis aestus,
to which add Ov. A. A. 2. 231, Pers. S. 3. 5, &c. In like manner, Virg.
G. 4. 425
Iam rapidus torrens sitientes Sirius Indos
A rdebat,
and Aen. 3. 141
turn steriles exurere Sirius agros,
Arebant herbae, et vie turn seges aegra negabat.
&c. Our own familiar expression of 'The Dog-days,' is, of course,
derived from the same source.
40. Praecipitur, i.e. ' is hurried on too fast ' is parched by the heat
before it has attained to its full growth. Praecipere ' is ' to anticipate,'
' to be beforehand with.' Compare Virg. Eel. 3. 98
Cogite oves, pueri, si lac praeceperit aestus,
Vt nuper, frustra pressabimus ubera palmis.
1 According to Columella, the Sun enters Leo on the 2Oth July ; the
bright star in the heart of the Lion rises on the 29th July ; Cepheus rises
in the evening on the 9th July.
246 NOTES. 24.
24. PALILIA. FAS. iv. 721.
I. Palilia poscor, i. e. ' ordo rerum iubet me Palilia canere. Pout
verbum solenne de iis, qui canere aut dicere iubentur. Ov. Met. V. 333
Poscimur Aonides, sed forsitan otia non sunt.
Sic Hor. Od. I. 32, i, Ad Lyram,
Poscimur, si quid vacui sub umbra
Lusimus tecum.
Vid. ibi Bentl.' (6.)
5. Certe, &c. The poet here points out to the goddess that he has
merited her favour by a strict performance of all the rites enjoined in
her worship.
De vitulo cinerem. On the isth of April was a festival, named the
1 Fordicidia,' so called from the sacrifice of ' boves foi dae l ,' or pregnant
cows; the embryos were burnt by the senior Vestal Virgin, and the
ashes kept for the purifications of the Palilia.
Igne cremat vitulos, quae natu maxima, Virgo,
Luce Palis populos purget ut ille cinis.
See Ov. Fast. 4. 629-640.
6. Februa, as we have seen above, p. 50, was the general term for
all objects used in expiatory sacrifices
Februa Romani dixere piamina fatres.
7. Leaping over heaps of blazing hay and stubble was the characteristic
ceremony of the Palilia. Thus Varro, quoted by the Scholiast on
Persius, S. I. 72 Palilia tarn publica quam privata sunt; et est genus
bilaritatis et lusus apud rusticos, ut congestis cumfeno stipulis ignem magnum
transiliant, bis Palilibus se expiari credtn'es. Compare also Propert. 4.
4. 73
Vrbi festus erat ; dixere Palilia patres ;
Hie primus coepit moenibus esse dies.
Annua pastorum convivia, lusus in urbe,
Cum pagana madent fercula deliciis,
Cumque super raros few. flammantis acervos
Traiicit immundos ebria lurba pedes.
See also Tibull. 2. 5, 87, and the concluding couplet of this Extract.
1 Varro de L. L. Fordicidia a fordis bubus. Bos forda, quae fert in
venire.
FASTI. IV. 721. 247
8. Another lustration, which consisted in dipping a branch of laurel
into pure water, and sprinkling all the objects to be purified. See 28. 15
Vda jit bine laurus : lauro sparguntur ab uda
Omnia, quae dominos sunt babitura novos ;
a branch of olive might be employed, Virg. Ae. 6. 229
Idem ter socios pura circumtulit unda,
Spargens rare levi et ramo felicis olivae ;
a sort of brush used for this purpose is to be seen among sacred utensils
represented on ancient monuments ; to this the name ' aspergillum ' is
given. The word, however, does not occur in any classical author.
9. Navalibus, &c. We have already spoken of this metaphor in the
note on 9. 4.
ii. Virginea . . ara. The altar of Vesta tended by the Vestal Virgins.
Suffimen, or suffimentum, 'anything which when burnt produced
an expiatory or purifying smoke,' and hence, in general, anything used
for purification or expiation. Festus gives the following explanation of
'sufnmentum :' Suffimen ta sunt, quae faciebant ex f aba, milioque molito,
mulso sparso : Ea Diis dabantur eo iempore, quo uvae calcatae praelo.
Pliny tL N. 15. 30, speaking of the laurel, Ob has causas equidem credi-
derim, bonorem ei babitum in triumpbis potius quam quia suffimentum sit caedis
et purgalio, ut tradit Massurius. Again, Festus in verb. ' Aqua,' Funus
prosecuti, redeuntes ignem supergrediebantur aqua aspersi : quod purgationis
genus vocabant suffitionem.
The verb connected with these words is ' suffio,' to ' produce smoke,'
' to fumigate,' e. g. Virg. G. 4. 241
At suffire tbymo, cerasque redder e inanes
Quis dubilet,
and Columella 12. 18, 3 Cella quoque vlnaria omni stercore liberanda, et
bonis odoribus suffienda. Compare also Prop. 4. 8, 83. In Lucret. 2
1098, it is used in the sense of ' to warm,'
Ignibus aetberiis terras suffire feraces.
1 3. Sanguis equi. Solinus, p. 2 Et obseruatum deinceps ne qua bostia
Parilibus caederetur, ut dies iste a sanguine purus esset.
There is no contradiction here. The horse alluded to was sacrificed
in the month of October to Mars, in the Campus Martius : his tail was
cut off, and the blood that dropped from the wound was kept in the
temple of Vesta. These particulars we learn from Festus under ' Equus
October.' Propertius, 4. i, 19, alludes to the same rite, and gives the
248 NOTES. 24.
epithet 'curtus' to the horse, in consequence of the amputation de-
scribed
Annuaqiie accenso celebrare Palilla feno,
Qualia nunc curto lustra novantur eqvo,
where we find ' curvo ' for curto ' in many editions, a corruption which
arose from the former epithet not being understood.
1 8. Longa corona. The garlands from their size hung down in
festoons.
19. Vivo de sulfure. Pliny, H. N. 35. 15, describes sulphur Genera
quatuor : vivum, quod Graeci apyron, nascitur solidum, hoc est gleba.
Compare Tibull. i. 5, n
Ipseque ter circum lustravi sulfure pvro.
Sulfura viva occurs in Virg. G. 3. 449.
21, 22. See note on 18. 10.
23. Fiscella. a diminutive from ' fiscina,' a basket made of twigs.
Nunc facilis rubea texalur fiscina virga.
Virg. G. I. 266.
Tune fiscella levi detexta est vitnine iunci.
Tibull. 2. 3, 15.
25. Resectis. The MSS. are in great confusion here, as will be seen
from the various readings. Gierig conj. 'refectus,' and explains the
passage thus ' Ordo autem rituum est hie. Primum Deae cibus appo-
nitur : turn sibi dapes parant pastores. lis refecti libant lac ; mox preces
faciunt. Tandem ipsi se proluunt lacte et sapa."
25-56. ' Carmen precationis. Sequitur mugnus catalogus delictorum
quibus sacra violari Deosque offendi superstitio veterum credebat ' G.
26. Compare Tibull. I. i, 35
Hie ego pastoremque meum lustrare quotannis
Et placidam soleo spargere lacte Palen.
32. Semicaperve Deus. Pan or Faunus. Compare Fast. 5. 101
Semicaper, coleris cinctutis, Faune, Lupercis,
and Introduction to 15.
35. Degrandinat. This word occurs in no other passage of any
classical writer. Hence a doubt had arisen whether the verb signifies
to hail violently,' or ' to cease hailing,' since, according to analogy, the
compound might admit of either signification. Observe, however, that
if we adopt the latter, we must read ' degrandinet.'
36. Some MSS. have ' fano,' which will give a more general meaning
FASTI. IV. 721. 249
than ' Fauno,' which must be understood to denote ' a shrine dedicated
to Faunus.'
37-42. Nothing is more pleasing in ancient mythology than the
fanciful doctrine which peopled all earth and sea with multitudes of fair
female spirits. Every hill and dale, every grot and crystal spring, every
lake, and brook, and river, every azure plain and coral cave of ocean,
was animated and hallowed by the presence and protection of the
Nymphs. Grouped in bands they braided the flowery garland, or wove
the mystic dance, or watched the cradle of infant gods and heroes, or
followed in the train of Artemis. Sometimes they shared the love of the
Celestials sometimes they deigned to consort with favoured mortals
sometimes they coquetted with Satyrs and Sileni but more often alone
in maiden purity they would wander through glade or field, and repose
on sunny bank, or in greenwood covert, rejoicing in the beauty and
beneficence of Nature. But they loved not their haunts to be disturbed,
and if any unwary swain chanced to surprise them as they laved their
limbs in the fountain, he was seized with sudden phrenzy l .
Being dispersed through all creation, the classes into which they were
divided, and the epithets by which they were distinguished, are exceedingly
numerous. We hear most frequently of the ' Naides,' the fountain, lake,
and river Nymphs ; 'Nereides' and ' Oceanitides,' sea and ocean Nymphs;
' Oreades,' mountain Nymphs; 'Napaeae,' 'Dryades,' ' Hamadryades,'
grove and tree Nymphs.
Those last mentioned, the ' Hamadryades,' possess a peculiar interest,
because their existence was supposed 'to depend upon the oak to which
they were attached : they grew, and flourished, and pined, and withered,
and died, each with her own tree.
41. Labra. 'Labrum' properly signifies (i) a lip. (2) The edge or
rim of anything, as, for example, of a vessel. Cato, R. R. 107 quo labra
doliorum circumlinas. (3) A large vessel or vat. Virg. 2. 6 Floret ager,
plenis spumat vindemia labris. (4) A vessel for bathing in. (5) In the
passage before us, ' a natural bathing place.'
42. Premit arva, i. e. when stretched on the ground in slumber.
48. Lavent artus. Compare Virg. G. i. 272
Balantumque gregem fluvio mersare salubri,
and 3. 445
Dulcibus idcirco fluviis pecus omne magistri
Perfundunt, udisque aries in gurgite villis
Mersatur, missusque secundo defiuit amni.
1 A person under these circumstances was styled vvfiipo^wros by the
Greeks, 'lymphatus' by the Latins.
250 NOTES. 25.
Rarus ' is properly applied as an epithet to an object composed of a
number of parts which are not in close combination with each other,
and hence to any fine thin texture, or anything full of holes and pores
Thus to a sieve, a net, or, as here, to a basket into which the curd was
put, in order that the whey might be pressed out through the interstices.
Compare Ov. Met. 1 2. 435
Perque cavas nares, oculosque, auresqtie, cerebrum
Molle fluit, veluti concretum vimine querno
Lac solet, utve liquor rari sub pondere cribri
Manat, et exprimitur per densa foramina spissus,
and Tibull. 2.3, 15
Tune fiscella hvi detexta est vimine itinci
Raraque per nexus est via facta sero.
See also a note on this word, 8. 24.
59. Camella, 'a wooden bowl.' It is a rare word. Aulus Gellius,
16. 7, speaks of it as an obsolete vulgar term, introduced by Laberius in
his mimes. It Occurs three times in Petronius Arbiter ; in one passage
with the epithet ' lignea.'
60. Sapam. The unfermented juice of the grape was called
'mustum.' This, when boiled until one-third had evaporated, became
' carenum 1 ;' when one-half had evaporated, it was called ' defrutum 2 ;'
when two-thirds, ' sapa V The name of sapa is still given by the
Italians, and of sabe by the French, to similar preparations. See Hen-
derson on Wines, pp. 41, 42.
The drink formed by mixing 'sapa with milk was called ' Burranica
potio,' as we learn from Festus. Burranica potio appellatur lacte committbm
sapa, a rufo colore, quern burrum vacant.
25. VEIOVIS. FAS. m. 429.
I. Vna nota, i.e. the Nones of March are distinguished by one event.
The poet had mentioned, immediately before, the sixth of March, which
was remarkable for two reasons ; it was sacred to Vesta, and also the
day on which Augustus entered upon the office of Pontifex Maximus.
1 Pallad. in Octobr. tit. 18. a Pliny, H.N. 14. 9.
8 Plin. et Pallad. ibid. But Varr. ap. Non. c. 17. n. 14, gives the name of
'sapa 1 to must boiled down one-half. Columella, 12. 19, seems to include
all three under the general name of ' sapa.'
FASTI. III. 429. 251
3, 4. In addition to the passages given in the Introdnction, we may
quote Livy, I. 8 Deinde ne vana urbis magnitude esset, alliciendae multi-
tudinis causa locum qui nunc septus descendentibus inter duos lucos est,
asylum aperit ; and Vitruvius 4. i ttbi est Castoris (sc. templum) in Circo
Flaminio el infer duos lucos Veiovis.
6. Invidiosa, i.e. how little was the Roman people at that time an
object of envy. ' Invidiosus" signifies (i) ' full of envy;' (2) ' an object
of envy ;' (3) ' an object of hatred.'
(1) Tempus edax rerum tuque invidiosa vetustas. Ov. Met. 15. 234.
(2) Antea, quum erat a tribuno plebis mentio legis agrariae facta, continuo
qui agros publicos, out qui possessiones invidiosas tenebant, pertimescebant.
Cic. Leg. Agrar. 2. 26.
(3) Non enim debeo dubitare, iudices, quin. . .. etiam si is invidiosus, out
multis offensus mdeatur (amen absohatis. Cic. pro Cluent. 57.
n. Gigantas. The allusions in the Greek and Roman poets to the
origin of the Olympian gods, and to their wars with the Titans, the
Giants, and various monstrous enemies, are so numerous, and withal, in
many cases, appear so confused and contradictory, that it will be service-
able to the student to present him with the whole of these fables in a
connected form, as they are given by Apollodorus, find to subjoin some
remarks which may serve to elucidate the narrative.
In the beginning, Uranus (Caelus) ruled the universe, and having
wedded Gaia (Terra), he first begat the children named The Hundred-
handed, Briareus, Gyes (or Gyges), and Cottus, exceeding great and
strong, of whom each had fifty heads and a hundred hands. After
these Gaia bore him the Cyclopes, Arges, Steropes, and Brontes, of
whom each had one eye upon the forehead ; but Uranus bound these,
his sons, and cast them into Tartarus, which is the dark abyss in the
realms of Hades, as far removed from earth as earth from heaven.
Again, he begat sons on Gaia, those named the Titans, Oceanus, Koius,
Hyperion, Krius, lapetus, and, youngest of all, Kronus (Saturnus ); and
daughters, those named the Titanides, Tethys, Rhea, Themis,
Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Dione, Theia.
But Gaia, grieved for the loss of her sons who had been cast into
Tartarus, persuaded the Titans to attack Uranus, and gave to Kronus a
crooked sword of adamant. Then all save Oceanus assailed their sire,
and by Kronus he was mutilated. From the blood-drops sprung the
Erinyes (Furiae), Alecto, Tisiphone, Megaera. The Titans then gave
the supreme dominion to Kronus, and released their brethren from
Tartarus.
252 XOTES. 25.
But Kronus bound them again, and again imprisoned them in Tar-
tarus, and having wedded his sister Rhea, forasmuch as Gaia and Uranus
had prophesied to him, saying, that he would be bereft of power by his
own child, he swallowed all who were produced, Hestia (Vesta), the
firstborn, then Demeter (Ceres), then Hera (Juno), and after these Pluto
and Poseidon (Neptune). But Rhea, filled with wrath at these things,
passed over to Crete at the time when she chanced to be pregnant with
Zeus (Jupiter), and having brought him forth in a cave of Dicte, gave
him to the Curetes, and the Nymphs Adrasteia and Ide, daughters of
Melisseus, to be reared. These last nurtured the boy with the milk of
Amalthea, and the Curetes, clad in armour, watched the babe in the
grot, smiting their shields with their spears that Kronus might not hear
its cries. But Rhea rolled a stone in swaddling-clothes and gave it to
Kronus to swallow, as if it had been the new-born infant.
Now when Zeus had attained his full vigour, he took Metis (i.e.
counsel, prudence) as his assistant, who administered a drug to Kronus,
which caused him to vomit up first the stone and then the children he
had swallowed, along with whom Zeus waged war upon the Titans.
After they had fought for ten years, Gaia pronounced that the victory
would be to Zeus if^he could obtain the prisoners in Tartarus for allies,
upon which he slew Kampe, who kept watch over their bonds, and set
them free. Then the Cyclopes gave to Zeus thunder and lightning and
levin-bolts ; to Pluto a helmet, to Poseidon a trident. Thus armed they
got the mastery over the Titans, and having thus shut them up in Tar-
tarus, set over them The Hundred-handed as guards, and themselves cast
lots for dominion ; to Zeus fell the empire of heaven ; to Poseidon, of
the sea ; to Pluto, of the realms below.
But Gaia, being grieved for the Titans, bore to Uranus the Giants, in
vastness of body surpassing all, in might unconquerable ; terrible they
were to look upon ; long thick hair flowed down from chin and head,
and their feet were covered with serpent scales. They were born, as
some say, in Phlegrae ; as others, in Pallene ; and they darted blazing
oaks and rocks against heaven. Porphyrion and Alcyoneus stood forth
superior to the rest, of whom the latter was immortal in the land where
he was born: he it was that drove the cows of Helios (Sol) from
Erythea. Now it became known to the gods, from an oracle, that un-
less they were aided by a mortal, it was impossible for them to destroy
the Giants, and thus they invited Hercules to be their ally. Alcyoneus
first fell pierced by his shafts, but received new vigour when he touched
the earth, till the hero, counselled by Athene (Minerva), dragged him
FASTI. III. 429. 253
forth from his native soil, and then he perished. Porphyrion fell, smitten
by the bolts of Zeus and the arrows of Hercules. Apollo shot out the
left eye of Ephialtes, Hercules the right. Eurytus was slain by the
thyrsus of Dionysius (Bacchus) ; Clytion by red-hot lumps of iron hurled
by Hephaestus (Vulcanus) ; or, as some say, by Hecate. Athene cast
the island of Sicily upon Enceladus as he fled, and stripping off the skin
of Pallas, used it as a shield for her own body in the fight. Polybotes
was chased over the sea by Poseidon, who, tearing off a portion of Cos
(the fragment became the isle of Nisyros), overwhelmed the fugitive.
Hermes (Mercurius), wearing the helmet of Hades (Pluto), slew Hippo-
lytus ; Artemis (Diana) slew Oration ; the Moerae (Fata) slew Agrius
and Thoon, who fought with brazen clubs, the rest Zeus smote down
with his bolts, and Hercules transfixed all as they fell with his arrows.
After the gods had vanquished the Giants, Gaia, being the more en-
raged, mingled with Tartarus, and brought forth Typhon in Cilicia, in
form half man half brute. In size and might he surpassed all the progeny
of Gaia. Down to the thighs he bore the shape of man, in vastness im-
measurable, so that he overtopped all mountains, and full oft his head
grazed the stars : hands too he had, the one reaching to the east, the
other to the west, and from these issued a hundred serpent heads.
Down from the thighs rolled huge viper coils, whose wreaths being ex-
tended to the head itself, gave forth loud hisses. His whole body was
covered with wings, grisly hair streamed from head and chin, and fire
flashed from his eyes. Such was Typhon, and such he sped on with
howls and hisses, hurling blazing rocks against heaven, while stormy
billows of flame boiled from his mouth. The gods, when they saw him
rushing to the assault, fled to Egypt, and, being pursued, assumed the
form of beasts. But Zeus, having struck him with his bolts from afar,
advancing nearer, scared him with his adamantine sabre, and followed
him to the Casian mountain above Syria, but, on approaching more
closely to grapple with the wounded foe, was enveloped in the snaky
spires, borne off prisoner to Cilicia, and there confined in the Corycian
cave. Released from durance by the arts of Hermes, he suddenly ap-
peared in a chariot drawn by winged steeds ; again he smote Typhon
with his bolts, chased him to the mountain Nysa, from thence to Thra-
cian Haemus, and at last, as he was fleeing through the Sicilian sea,
crushed him beneath Aetna.
Finally, Poseidon having consorted with Iphimedeia, daughter of
Aloeus, begat two sons, Otus and Ephialtes, styled the Aloidae. These
each year waxed in breadth a cubit, and in height a fathom, until having
NOTES. 25.
attained the age of nine years, and being nine cubits in breadth and nine
fathoms in height, they look thought to war against the gods. They
piled Ossa upon Olympns, and Pelion upon Ossa, threatening that by
these they would scale the heavens ; and boasted, too, that, heaping the
sea over the mountains, they would make its bed dry land, but the land
they would make sea. Ephialtes wooed Hera (Juno), and Otus,
Artemis. They imprisoned Ares (Mars), but Hermes stole him out.
The Aloidae were destroyed in Naxos by the wiles of Artemis, who,
transforming herself into a deer, bounded between them ; but they,
thinking to take sure aim at the beast, shot each other.
In reference to these legends we may observe, that, according to the
accounts here followed, the throne of heaven was occupied by a succes-
sion of different rulers.
(i) By Uranus (Caelus), who was mutilated, dethroned, and cast into
Tartarus by his sons the Titans, headed by Kronus.
(7) By the Titans, with Kronus as their chief, who were in their turn
bereft of power, and imprisoned in Tartarus by the Kronidae (sons of
Kronus), headed by Zeus.
(3) By the Kronidae, with Zeus as their chief.
These last, supposed by the Greek poets to form the actual reigning
dynasty, were exposed, before their power was firmly established, to a
series of attacks.
(1) From the Giants.
(2) From the monster Typhon.
(3) From the Aloidae.
We must remark, however, that the above narrative is not to be found
in a connected form in any very ancient authority now extant, but was
probably compiled by Apollodorus from various poets belonging to the
Epic Cycle.
Homer makes no reference to the ancient powers Uranus and Gaia as
lords of the universe l , but he must have been acquainted with the myth of
the Titanomachia, since several allusions to the imprisonment of Kronus
and other Titans are to be found scattered over the Iliad 2 . Of the
Gigantomachia he seems to have known nothing, nor indeed is it clear
what precise meaning he attached to the term ' giant,' which occurs in
the Odyssey alone. We are there told, in the genealogy of Alcinous 3 ,
1 Unless it be in the term Ovpaviaivts 2. 5, 898, which appears to be
there used to indicate the Titans.
See II. 5. 898; 8. 499; 14. 203, 274. * Od. 7. 59, and Scholia.
FASTI. III. 439. 255
that Euryrnedon, the great-grandsire of the Phaeacian monarch, ' reigned
over the high-souled giants,' and perished along with that ' haughty
people.' Again, the ' wild tribes of giants ' are casually and obscurely
introduced in connection with the Cyclopes * : and, finally, the Laestry-
gons are described 2 as being ' like not unto men but unto giants.' In
the last passage, great stature seems to be indicated, but nowhere is a
hint given of the serpent feet, or of the rebellion against the gods.
The name of Typhon 3 occurs when we are told that as the Grecian
host advanced along the plain in battle array,
Earth groaned beneath their tread, as when the god
Who joys in thunder burls his angry bolt.
And las,hes up the soil in Arima
Around Typboeus, where his couch is spread.
The Aloids are twice mentioned ; in the Iliad, where Dione tells her
daughter how they cast Ares into a brazen dungeon, in which he pined
for thirteen months, until Hermes stole him out ; and in the Odyssey,
where Ulysses beholds them in the realms of Hades. The description
of Homer has been, in many particulars, followed by Apollodorus, but
the former does not assert that they actually piled Ossa on Olympus,
and Pelion upon Ossa, but merely that they eagerly desired (or strove)
so to do, in order that they might scale the heavens ; and they would
have accomplished their purpose had they attained to manhood, but
they were slain by Apollo * before the first down bloomed upon their
cheeks.
Virgil seems to follow Eratosthenes (see Schol. on Apollon. I.
1 Od. 7- 2 6, but the true signification of this passage cannot be satis-
factorily ascertained.
2 Od. 10. 1 20. The wife of Antiphates is said to have been 'vast as
a mountain top.'
8 The Greek authorities, with regard to Typhon, have been collected by
Jablonski, Pantheon Aegyptiorum, 5. 2, I.
4 Apollodorus, as we have seen, asserts that they were slain by Artemis,
and so Callimach. Hymn. Dian. 204. On the other hand, Apollon., 1. 484,
agrees with Homer. The story of the stag, as given by Apollodorus, is a
later form of the legend. See Schol. on Horn. Od. II. 317. Pausanias, 9.
22, says that their tombs were at Anthedon in Boeotia. He is doubly mis-
taken, when he adds that Homer and Pindar agree in representing them to
have been slain by Apollo in Naxos. Homer has not a word with regard to
the place where they perished. Pindar simply says that they died at Naxos,
Pyth. 4. 156.
2$6 NOTES. 25.
484) in making Otus and Ephialtes sons of Earth, for we read in
G. i. 278
turn partu Terra nefando
Coeumque lapelumque creat, saevumque Typboea,
Ei coniuratos caelum rescindere fratres.
Ter srml conati imponere Pelio Ossam
Scilicet, atque Ossae frondoxum involvere Olympum,
Ter pater exstructos disiecit fulmine monies,
where it is to be observed that Virgil, not following Homer, makes the
blunder of inverting the pyramid, placing Olympus, the largest of the
three mountains, at the top, and Pelion, the smallest, at the bottom of
the pile. The Aloidae appear again in Aen. 6. 580
Hie (sc. in Tartaro) genus antiquum Terrae, Titania pubes,
Fulmine deiecti, fundo volvuntur in imo.
Hie et Aloidas geminos, immania vidi
Corpora, qui manibus magnum rescindere caelum
Aggres&i, superisque lovem detrudere regnis.
These youths are mentioned also in Ov. Met. 6. 1 1 7, Lucan. 6. 410, Claud.
B. Get. 67. 73.
Hesiod gives the whole fable of Uranus and his children ; the outrage
of Kronus against his father, and his own progeny, and the struggle
between the Titans and the Kronidae 1 . He also tells of Typhoeus 2 ,
of his monstrous shape, and of his defeat by Zeus, but takes no notice
of the Gigantomachia 3 , nor of the attempt of the Aloidae*. Pindar
repeatedly alludes to the battle of the gods and Giants, and to the good
service done by Hercules 5 ; and the various parts of the above history
afforded an inexhaustible theme to the later poets, who, however, often
differ widely from each other in the details, and frequently confound the
different contests. Thus, to take examples from the Latin writers, Ovid,
when narrating the Gigantomachia, speaks of the Giants as piling Ossa
on Olympus, and Pelion upon Ossa, although Homer, Virgil, Apollonius,
1 Theog. 116-188, 453-506, 629-741.
* Theog. 821-868. There can be no doubt that Typhon, Typhos.Typhaon
and Typhoeus, are all different forms of the same name, although, as Mr.
Keightley has remarked, Hesiod (Theog. 306) seems to speak of Typhaon as
distinct from the Typhoeus afterwards mentioned.
3 In Theog. 185, it is said, that from the blood-drops of mutilated Uranus
sprung the Erinyes, the Melian Nymphs, and the giants refulgent in armour,
grasping in their bands long spears.
* They were noticed by him in some lost work. See Schol. Apollon. I.
484.
1 e.g. Nem. I. 101 ; 4. 40; 7. 132, Pyth. 8. 15.
FASTI. III. 429. 257
and Apollodovus all attribute this feat to Otus and Ephialtes. Again
Horace, when he says of Jove, Od. 3. 4, 42
Scimus ut impios
Titanas, immanemque turmam
Fulmine sustulerit caduco.'
Magnum ilia terrorem intulerat lovi
Fidens itiventus borrida bracbiis,
Fratresque tendentes opaco
Pelion imposuisse Olympo,
distinguishes the Titans from the immanent turmam, the borrida iuventus,
expressions which indicate the Giants, and from the fratres Otus and
Ephialtes, but in the very next line Typhoeus is numbered among the
Giants. In v. 39 Gyges is introduced as having provoked the wrath of
heaven ; and Virgil speaks of Aegaeon as one of those who had assailed
the gods, although these were two of The Hundred-handed, the allies
of Zeus against the Titans ; and with regard to the last, Homer has
preserved a legend of a conspiracy formed by the Olympians against
their ruler, which was quelled by Thetis, with the aid ' of him, the
Hundred-handed, whom gods called Briareus, and mortals Aegaeon.'
A long list of similar inconsistencies might easily be drawn up.
13, 14. Here, and in the Gigantomachia, Met. I. 152, et seqq., Ovid
confounds the Giants with Otus and Ephialtes, the twin sons of Aloeus.
15. Capra. The image of a goat stood beside the statue of Veiovis.
Ovid supposes that this represented the goat Amalthea, which, according
to the authors of the Epic Cycle, suckled Jupiter when he was hid in
the Cretan cave.
15. Nymphae Cretides. Adrasteia and Ide, daughters of Melisseus.
17, 1 8. Vegrandia . . . vesca. These illustrations have not been
happily selected. There can be no doubt that 've' does possess the
force of a negative in certain words, such as 'vecors' and 'vesanus;'
the former signifying ' of no intellect," or ' of little intellect,' and hence
' foolish ; ' the latter ' not sound,' or ' little sound,' and hence ' mad ; '
but 'vegrandis' and 'vescus' have been quoted by the old grammarians
as examples of words to which the particle in question communicates a
double meaning; the former being either 'not large,' or 'very large;' the
latter, either ' little eating,' 'small,' 'weak,' ' delicate,' or ' much eating.' It
may be difficult to produce any unexceptionable passage in which ' vegran-
dis' must be translated 'large;' but in the following line from Lucretius,
* 3 2 7 'vescus' must surely be rendered 'much eating,' i.e. 'corroding,'
Nee mare quae impendent vesco sale saxa peresa.
S
NOTES. 26.
The word is found twice in Virgil, in G. 3. 1 74
Interea pubi indomitae non gramina tantum
Nee vescas salicum frondes, ulvamque palustrem,
Sed frumenta manu carpes sola,
and G. 4. 131
Lilla, verbenasqtte premens vescumqne papaver.
In both passages it is usually interpreted ' edible,' but tender,' ' delicate,'
will suit the first, and ' small,' ' tiny,' the second. In Pliny H. N. 7. 20,
it undoubtedly means ' small :' Vesco cor pore sed eximiis viribtis Tritannum
in gladiatorio ludo. After all it is by no means clear that vescus' is a
compound of 've' and 'esca,' which is commonly taken for granted.
Bentley has a dissertation on the subject we have been discussing, in his
note to Hor. S. i. i, 129.
17. Coloni. We find in Varro an example of 'vegrandis' in this
sense : we are told that lambs, under certain circumstances, jftunt
vegrandes atyue imbecillae, R. R. a. 3, 13.
26. ANNA PERENNA. FAS. in. 523.
1. Geniale, 'merry,' 'jovial.' See Biog. Diet. art. ' Genius.'
2. Advena Tibri. The Tiber is called a stranger, because it was
considered an Etrurian river. Thus Virg. G. I. 498
Di patril Indigetes, et Rontule, Vestaque mater,
Quae Tuscum Tiberim et Romano palatia servos,
and again Aen. 2. 78 1
Et terram Hetperiam venies, iibi Lydlus, arva
Inter opima virum, hni fluit agmine Tibris,
to which add Hor. Od. 3. 7, 27
Nee quisquam citus aeque
Tusco denatat alveo.
4. Cum pare quisque sua, ' each with his mate.'
6. Frondea. . .casa. Such leafy huts were called ' umbrae,' as we
learn from Festus, Vmbrae vocabantur Neptunalibus casae frondeae pro
tabernaculis.
9, 10. They pray that their years may equal the number of ' cyathi '
which they quaff, and they fail not to empty them, ' ad numerum,' i. e.
up to the number of years desired ; they fail not to drink off as many
* cyathi' as they desire to live years.
FASTI. III. 523. 259
The cyathus was not, as it is often called, 'a drinking-cup,' but a
small vessel containing about one-third of a gill, used for measuring out
the wine into the ' poculum,' ' crater,' ' calix,' or whatever the goblet
might be called, in which it was mixed with water, and out of which
the draught was drained.
Hence, when we consider that the ancient wines were much weaker
than those which we are in the habit of drinking, and were, moreover,
usually diluted, there is nothing very extravagant in the exclamation
of Horace, Od. 3. 8, 1 3
Sume, Maecenas, cyatbos amid
Sospitis centum.
Compare also Od. 3. 19, 9
Da Lunae propere novae,
Da Noctis mediae, da, puer, augvris
Muraenae : tribus out novem
Miscentur cyatbis pocnla commodis.
Qui Musas amat impares
Ternos ler cyatbos adlonitus petet
Vates.
It was common, when drinking the health of a friend, to pour into the
poculum a cyathus of wine for every letter in his name. Martial, n.
36, 7, thus proposes the health of Caius Julius Proculus,
Qiiincunces, et sex cyatbos, bessemque bibamus,
Caius ut fiat, lulius, et Proculus,
i. e. let us drink five, and six, and eight cyathi, to make up the letters in
the name of Caius Julius Proculus. Cp. id. 8. 51, 21 seqq.
11. Nestor, the aged counsellor of the Grecian host, had lived
throughout three generations of men, Odyss. 3. 245
Tpls yap Sr) f^iv (paffiv ava.aa6au ytve' avSpaiv,
whence he was termed trisaeclisenex by Laevius (or Naevius,) 1 and in
Horace Od. 2. 9, 13, we read
At non ter aevo functits amabilem
Ploravit omnes Antilocbum senex
Annas.
12. Sibylla 2 . The word 2i(!v\\a is usually considered 3 as a com-
1 See Aul. Cell. 19. 7.
2 The principal authorities for the remarks which follow, are Varro
ap. Lactant. i. 6, Pausan. 10. 12, Aelian. V. H. 12. 35, Servius on Virg.
Aen. 3. 444, 445; 6. 36, 72, 321, Suidas, as above, and Salmasius,
Ex. Pliny p. 52.
3 Salmasius objects to this derivation, but it is more reasonable than
the one proposed by himself.
8 2
260 NOTES. 26.
pound of ffi6s, a dialectic form of Otot (or, perhaps, Ato*,) and &ov\r),
and will thus signify 'one who declares the counsel of the gods.'
Some authors 1 consider this appellation as common to all inspired
women ; an opinion at variance with the fact, that those who have
written upon the subject usually speak of the number of Sibyls as
definite 2 ; and Pausanias* specifies certain prophetesses who did not
receive any such title. The most important passage in the works of the
ancients now extant, with regard to Sibyls, is a quotation from Varro,
given by the Latin Father Lactantius, in the first book of his Divine
Institutions. According to the statement of the most learned of the
Romans there were ten Sibyls, viz. (i) Persica ; (2) Libyssa ; (3)
Delphica ; (4) Cumaea (of Cumae in Italy) ; (5) Erythraea, who is said
to have prophesied to the Greeks that Troy would fall, and that
Homer would write falsehoods; (6) Samia; (7) Cumana 4 , by name
Amalthea, whom others call Herophile or Demophile, who brought the
books to Tarquinius ; (8) Hellespontica, born in the Trojan territory,
in the village of Marpessus 5 , near the town of Gergithium, who is said
to have lived in the times of Solon and Cyrus ; (9) Phrygia, who
prophesied at Ancyra; (10) Tiburs, by name Albunea, worshipped at
Tibur, as a goddess, on the T>anks of the Anio, in whose stream her
image is said to have been found grasping a book. So Varro. Besides
these, we hear of a Hebrew, a Chaldaean, a Babylonian, an Egyptian, a
Sardian Sibyl, and some others.
This long catalogue may, however, be considerably curtailed. In
the first place, it seems certain that the Cumaea, the Cumana, the
Erythraea, and the Hellespontica, were one and the same. Aristotle
(in Admirandis) speaks of a subterranean cavern shown at Cumae,
in Italy, the abode of the prophetic Sibyl, who lived to a great age,
being a native of Erythrae. Servius 6 tells how Apollo promised to the
Erythraean Sibyl that she should live as many years as there were grains
in a handful of sand, provided that she quitted Erythrae and never again
beheld her native soil. But she forgot to ask for an extension of the
period of youth, and when, on retiring to Cumae, she became worn out
and decrepit, and yet could not die, her former fellow-citizens sent to
her in pity a letter sealed with the chalk of Erythrae : so soon as she
1 e. g. Varro and Serv. Virg. Aen. 3. 445.
3 Thus Varro says that there were ten ; Pausanias and Aelian recognise
four; others assign different numbers. 3 IO. 12.
* That is, of Cyme (KvfHj) in Aeolis.
5 Others read ' Mermessus.' 'Virg. Aen. 6. 321.
FASTI. III. 523. 26l
looked on this she expired. The same legend is partially narrated by
Ovid. Met. 14. 130 seqq.
lam mihl saecula septem
A eta vides : superest numeros ut pulveris aequem,
Ter centum messes, ter centum musta videre.
The identity of the Erythraea and the Cumaea is thus established,
and that of the Cumaea (Italian) and Cumana (Aeolian") needs almost
no proof, for, with the exception of Varro, they are distinguished from
each other by scarcely any ancient authority. Cumae, in Italy, was
said to have been partly colonized from Cyme (Kv/j.t]'), in Aeolis, and
the adjectives 'Cumaea' and 'Cumana' are used by the poets indif-
ferently, while Erythrae being on the borders of Aeolis, the confusion
of epithets becomes easily explained. But, according to the accounts
preserved by Pausanias, the Erythraea was the same with the Samia and
the Delphica, and manifestly with the Hellespontica also ; and, in all
probability, with the Phrygia, and the Sardiana of Aelian.
Again, Suidas informs us that the Chaldaean Sibyl was by some
called the Hebrew, and by others the Persian, while Pausanias affirms
that the Hebrew Sibyl was by some called the Babylonian, and by
others the Egyptian. According to these views, the list of Varro will
be thus reduced :
1 i ) Persica ; otherwise Hebraea, Chaldaea, Babylonia, Egyptia.
(2) Cumaea ; otherwise Cumana, Erythraea, Samia, Delphica, Hel-
lespontica, (and probably, Phrygia, Sardiana).
(3) Libyssa.
(4) Tiburs.
Nay, the process might be pushed still further, for Justin Martyr
assures us that the Cumaean and Babylonian Sibyls were the same ; and
Lactantius, that the Erythraean declared, in the preface to her oracles,
that she was born at Babylon ; hence, we might conclude that (i) and
(2) were identical, and we should thus have one Sibyl for Asia, one for
Africa, and one for Europe.'
It was generally believed among the Romans, that the Cumaean
Sibyl was the authoress of their prophetic books 1 , and Varro supposes
that she in person offered them to King Tarquin 2 . If the conclusion at
which we arrived above is correct, this will not involve any contradiction
1 Serv. Virg. Aen. 6. 36.
2 Varro, in Lactantius, expressly affirms that the Cumana brought the
books to Tarquin.
263 NOTES. 26.
to the statement, which he appears to have made elsewhere 1 , that they
were composed by the Erythraean. That they were supposed to be in
some way derived from Erythrae, seems certain from the circumstance
already mentioned, that the ambassadors, sent forth after their de-
struction for the purpose of recovering what had been lost, were
specially enjoined to visit Erythrae.
The names of these ladies are involved in almost hopeless confusion.
The most outstanding is Herophile, which, according to Pausanias, was
the appellation of the oldest of all the Sibyls 2 . He adds that there was
a second Herophile, namely, the Erythraean Sibyl, and in this he is
followed by Suidas. Herophile, in Eusebius 3 , is the Samian ; in Solinus,
the Delphian*; in Varro, the Cumana, which is an additional argument
to prove that these are all the same 5 . Varro, however, gives two other
names for the Cumana, Amalthea and Demophile. The Cumaea,
again, is, by Virgil, called Deiphobe ; by Servius, Phemonoe 6 ; by
Hyperochus himself, a native of Cumae, Demo 7 . In Suidas, the Samian
is Phyto, the Cumana both Amalthea and Herophile.
The Hebrew, Chaldaean, or Persian Sibyl is generally named Sabee,
or Sambethe, the daughter of Berosus and Erymanthe.
We may conclude this dissertation with the words of Salmasius, one
of the most learned men that ever lived : Nibil est quod aeque diverse
prodiderint antiqui scriptures quant Sibyllarum aetatem, pa.'riam, nomina.
n, 12. Compare the couplet with Ov. E. ex P. 2. 8, 41, where the
exile, when imploring the compassion of Tiberius, prays
Sic pater in Pylios, Cumaeos mater in annos
Vivant : et possis Jilius esse div.
14. Et iactant, i. e. they adapt their gesticulations to the words
which they repeat. The Italians have in all ages possessed, in an
eminent degree, the power of imparting life and feeling to dumb signs :
1 Servius twice (Aen. 6. 36, and 72) states that Varro attributed them
to the Erythraea.
3 According to the Greeks the daughter of Jupiter and Lamia, the
daughter of Neptune. See Pausan.
3 Chron. Olymp. 16.
* The editions of Solinus give ' Erythraea,' but Salmasius says that
Delphica' is in the MSS.
5 Herophile is mentioned by Clem. Alex. Strom, i. 304, 323.
6 Virg. Aen. 3. 445 on 6. 36 he calls her, along with Virgil, Deiphobe.
7 See Pausanias. Hyperochus considered Demo different from and later
than the Erythraean Herophile.
FASTI. V. 129. 263
the development of this faculty constituted the charm of the ancient
pantomime, and forms the chief attraction of the modern ballet.
15. Posito cratere. The drinking cup being laid aside, i. e. quitting
their carousal in order to join in the dance. The words can scarcely
mean, ' A cup of wine being placed on the altar as an offering, they
proceed to join in the sacred dance,' although some commentators
endeavour to wring this out of them.
27. LARES PRAESTITES. FAS. v. 129.
3. Curius. Who Curius may have been we cannot tell. The most
famous personage of this name, Manius Curius Dentatus, was Consul
three times, in 290, 275, 274, B.C., and Censor in 272. He vanquished
the Samnites, and celebrated, during his second consulship, a triumph in
honour of a victory over Pyrrhus, whom he eventually expelled from
Italy. It is certain, however, that the worship of the Public Lares was
instituted at a much earlier period, according to Varro 1 , by king Tatius,
a statement confirmed by Dionysius 2 . Hence the reading found in many
MSS. is well worthy of attention,
Ara eral ilia quidem Curibus, sed multa vetustas, &c.
5-9. The epithet ' Praestites ' is manifestly formed from ' praesto,'
but Ovid, not satisfied with a single derivation, would connect the word
with ' praesum ' and ' praesens ' also.
9-14. Plutarch, in his Roman Questions, asks, Why does a dog stand
beside those Lares, which are properly called ' Praestites,' and why are they
themselves clad in the hides of dogs f Are ' Praestites ' those ' who stand
before,' and whom it therefore becomes to guard the mansion, and to be
objects of terror to strangers, (as is the nature of dogs'), but gentle and tame
to those who dwell within ?
10. Stabat. The tense of this verb, and of 'quaerebam,' in line 15,
indicates that the statue no longer existed, and that the author had
sought without finding.
12. Compita grata Deo. Both here and in Fasti i. 579, the ' Lares
Praestites' are considered to be the same with the ' Lares Compitales,'
worshipped at the ' compita,' that is, the point from which two streets
branched off, or at which two roads crossed each other. In addition to
what has been said above, we may quote Varro, L. L. 6. 3 Compitalia,
1 L. L. 5. 10. a A. R. 4. 14.
264 NOTES. 28.
dies attributes Laribus ... idea vbi vine competent, tern in compitis
sacrificater. Quotannis is dies concipiter. Pliny, in his description of
Rome, H. N. 3. 5, informs us that there were no less than 265 compita
Larium within the city, Complexa (sc. urbs) monies septem ipsa dividiter in
regiones XIV. Compita Larium CCLXV.
13. Turba Diania. Dogs, the attendants of the 'huntress Dian.'
15. Gemellorum. Referring to the legend, according to which the
' Lares Compitales ' were the twin sons of the Nymph Lara and
Mercury. Ov. Fast. 2. 615
Fitque gravis, geminosque parit, qul compita servant,
Et vigilant nostra semper in aede Lares.
17. Geniumque duels, 'the guardian angel of our Prince.' Com-
pare Hor. Od. 4. 5, 33 (ad Augustum)
Te multa prece, te prosequiter mero
Defuso pateris : et Laribus tuum
Miscet numen, uti Graecia Castoris
Et magni memor Herculis.
Tradidit illos, sc. ' colendos.' This probably refers to a fact
recorded by Suetonius, Octav. 31 Compitales Lares ornari bis anno
institeit, vernis floribus et aestivis.
1 8. Numina trina. The twin Lares and the Genius of Augustus.
28. MERCVRIVS. FAS. v. 663.
1-6. These lines so closely resemble the words of Horace at the com-
mencement of his Ode to Mercury (Od. I. 10), that we can scarcely
believe the coincidence accidental.
Mercitri, facunde nepos Atlantis,
Qui feros cultus bominum recentum
Voce formasti cates, et decorae
More palaestrae :
Te canam, magni lovis et Deorum
Nuntium, curvaeque lyrae parentem,
Callidum, quidquid placuit, iocoso
Condere furto.
1,2. Hermes was the son of Zeus and Maia, one of the Atlan tides,
who gave birth to him on the summit of the Arcadian Cyllene. We have
already had occasion to quote Virg. Aen. 8. 138
Vobis Mercurius pater est, quern Candida Maia
Cyllenes gelido concept-urn vertice fudit.
FASTI. V. 663. 265
2. Pleias una. The Pleiads were the seven daughters of Atlas.
At the beginning of this book of the Fasti, v. 105, Mercurius is said to
have bestowed upon the month the name of his mother Maia.
At tu materno donasti nomine mensem,
Inventor curvae, furibus apte, fidis.
Nee pietas baec prima tua est : septena putaris,
Pleiadum numerum, Jila dedisse lyrae ;
again in v. 447 he is addressed ^UXOTTO/XTTOS, or conductor of spirits to
Hades.
Pleiade nate, mone, virga venerande potenti :
Saepe tibi Stygii regia visa lovis.
Venit adoratus Caducifer.
4. Arbiter, i. q. ' interpres, neairrjs, is, per quern transigitur aliquid
inter duos. Livy 2. 33 Interpreti arbitroque concordiae civium ' (C.)- It
refers particularly to his office as herald.
5. Laete lyrae pulsu. The invention of the lyre by Hermes upon
the day of his birth, is fully described in the Homeric Hymn to the god.
Hence his connection with poets, who from him are styled ' Mercuriales
viri.' Hor. Od. 2. 17, 29. See also Od. 2. 7, 13.
Nitida. This epithet refers to the shining skin of the athletes, who
were always rubbed over with oil before they commenced their exer-
cises. Compare Ov. Her. 19. n
A ut fora vos retinent, aut unctae dona palaestrae,
and Lucan 9. 66 1, who speaks of Mercury as
Arcados auctoris citharae liquidaeque palaestrae.
6. Culte . . . loqui, ' to speak with polished grace.'
7. Templa, &c. Livy 2. 21 (498 B.C.) Aedes Mercurii dedicata est
J dibits Maiis; and again 2. 27 Certamen consulibus inciderat nter dedicaret
Mercurii aedem. Senates a se rem ad populum reiecil : utri eorum dedi-
catio itissv populi data esset, eum praeesse annonae, mercatorum collegium
instituere.
The members of the corporation of merchants were called ' Mer-
curiales,' as we learn from Cic. Q. Fr. 2. 5 Mercuriales Furium de
collegia eiecerunt.
8. Ex illo, sc. ' tempore.'
Haec . . . dies. The Ides of May.
ii. Aqua Mercurii. We hear nothing of this elsewhere.
Capenae. The 'Porta Capena' was the gate at which the Via
Appia, the great south road, commenced. Its site is now marked by the
Porta S. Sebastiano.
266 NOTES. 28.
12. TyTumen. habet. Possesses a divine virtue the power of
purifying, &c.
13. Incinctus tunicas. 'Cingulo; e quo marsupium auri monetalis
propendebat. Hie vetus mercatorum habitus.' Neapolis.
14. Suffita. See note, p. 247.
Quam ferat, which he intends to carry away for the purpose of
sprinkling his wares.
1 8. Preces. The terms of the prayer, and the expression ' solita
fallere voce,' indicate very clearly that the honesty of the Roman
shopkeepers was not rated high by their countrymen. The whole of
the passage seems to be imitated from Hor. Ep. I. 16, 57
Vir bonus, omne forum quern tpectat et omne tribunal,
Quandocumque Deos vel porco vel hove placat,
Jane pater, dare, dare qiium dixit, Apollo,
Labra movet metuens audiri, Pulchra Laverna,
Da mihi Jallere, da iusto sanctoque videri,
Noctem peccatis et fraudibus obiice nubem.
22. Non audituri, ' who will turn a deaf ear.' The future participle
here expresses the hope of the merchant.
23. Prudens, ' designedly.'
24. Abstulerint . . .Woti. Compare Hor. Od. I. 26, I
Musis amicus tristitiam et metus
Tradam frolervis in mare Creticum
Portare vends,
and Tibull. i. 4, 21
Nee iurare time : Veneris perluria venti
Irrita per terras et freta summa ferunt.
25. Et pereant, i. e. ' non puniantur.' The reading 'pateant ' is well
worthy of attention, ' let new opportunities of falsehood be granted
with the coming day." We shall thus avoid the repetition of the
sentiment expressed in lines 19, 20.
28. Verba dedisse. The phrase 'dare verba' is very common in the
comic writers. It always signifies ' to cheat," properly, with fair words.
30. Ortygias boves. The cows of Apollo. Ortygia was one of
the many names of Delos, the birthplace of the god. This exploit of
Mercury is narrated at great length in the Homeric Hymn, and in
Ovid, Met. 2. 676. Horace in the Ode already quoted, alludes to the
same tale,
Te, boves olim nisi reddidisses
Per dolum amotas, puerum minaci
Voce dum ferret, viduus pbaretra
Jlisit Apollo.
FASTI. V. 183. 267
29. FLORA. FAS. v. 183.
1-4. Compare the conclusion of the fourth book of the Fasti, devoted
to the month of April, v. 945
Mille venit variis florum Dea nexa coronis ;
Scena ioci morem liberions babet.
Exit et in Maias Sacrum Florale Kalendas :
Tune repetam : nunc me grandius urget opus.
1. Ludis . . . iocosis, alluding to the peculiar licentiousness which
characterised the games of Floia.
2. Partes, when construed with a personal or possessive pronoun,
usually signifies the office, duty, or occupation of the person to whom
the pronoun applies, a meaning derived from the dramatic use of ' paries'
in the sense of the part or character assigned to an actor. Thus Cicero
Ep. ad Attic. 7. ep. ult. Sin erit bellum partes meae non desiderabuntur ;
and again Ep. Fam. u. 5 Tuum esl hoc munus, titae partes. In the
passage before us, however, ' tuas partes' must mean either 'my duty
towards you,' or ' the portion of my work which belongs to you.' The
various reading ' laudes ' is manifestly a gloss.
7. Circus in hunc exit, sc. ' mensem.' The games are continued
on to this month. They do not conclude with Apiil.
Clamataque palrna, signifies simply the rewards bestowed on fa-
vourite actors in the shape of applause.
8. 'Let my song be an offering to thee along with the shows of the
Circus.' Munus, strictly, is applicable to gladiatorial exhibitions only.
13, 14. Ovid is determined to make Flora a Grecian Nymph, and
therefore derives her name from xXupus, green.
15. Campi felicis. Ovid seems here to allude not to the Elysian Plain
of Homer ('H\iatov TreSt'op), but to the \uaKap<uv vrjcroi, Islands of the
Blest, described by Hesiod as the happy abode of the champions of the
heroic age. Op. et Dies, 169.
Pindar, in his second Olympic Ode, describes the Island of the Blest in
a magnificent strain of glowing poetry, and Horace has availed himself
of the same idea
Nos manet Oceanus circumvagus, arva, beata
Petamus arva, diviles et insulas,
Reddit ubi Cererem tellus inarata quotannis,
Et imputata floret usque vinea, &c. Epod. 16. 41.
17, 18.' Flora modestly declines to expatiate on her own beauty, but
268 NOTES. 29.
bids her auditor draw his conclusion from the fact that it gained her
mother a god for a son-in-law.
19, 20. She gives an account of her first meeting with Zephyrus,
who proved a rough wooer.
21, 22. Boreas seized and bore away Orithyia, daughter of Erechtheus
king of Attica. The principal authorities are Apollonius Rhod. i. 211,
and Scholiast, Ov. Met. 6. 678. See also notes of Heyne upon Apollo-
dorus 3. 15, 2.
24. Querela. Douza observal, allusisse poetam ad formulam in
epitaphiis obviam VIXERVNT SINE QVERELA' (G.).
25, 26. In these two lines Flora describes the happiness of her own
abode. ' I enjoy perpetual spring ; for me each season beams with
beauty; for me the trees are ever green with foliage ; for me the earth is
ever clothed with herbage.' The reading 'veri,' instead of 'semper,'
which is a conj. of Heinsius (two MSS. have 'vere'), is well worthy
of attention.
27. Dotalibus. . .agris. 'Dotalis' is the epithet applied to anything
which a wife brings to her husband as a marriage portion. So in Met.
14. 459, it is said of Diomede,
Ille quidem sub lapyge maxima Dauno
Moenia condiderat, dotaliaque arva tenebat,
and so ' Dotales aedes ' in Plaut. Mil. Glor. 4. 4, 30.
30. Arbitrium, i. e. ' power,' ' dominion.'
31. Digestos. See note on 9. i.
35. Horae. The Seasons. These allegorical personages, who are
mentioned by Homer 1 , are in Hesiod the daughters of Zeus and Themis,
three in number, JLvvofiia, Aiier), and blooming E.lpr)vjj, significant names,
'Order,' 'Justice,' 'Peace.'
37. Charites. The Graces also are noticed by Homer. Hesiod
makes them daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, three in number, 'AyXato,
Ev<ppoavvTi and lovely 0o\to; 'Splendour,' ' Gaiety,' ' Bloom.'
41, 42. Therapnaeus is here equivalent to ' Laconian,' the epithet
being derived from ' Therapnae,' a town on the Eurotas, a little to the
south of Sparta. The person alluded to is Hyacinthus, a beautiful youth
of Amyclae 2 , beloved by Apollo, by whom he was slain accidentally
with a quoit s , or, according to other accounts, the fatal 'discus' was
1 11.5. 749; 8. 393; 21.450.
2 Palaephat. 47, Claud. R. P. 2. 133. Amyclae was on the right bank of the
Eurotas, nearly opposite to Therapnae. 3 Apollod. I. 3, 3'; 3. 10, 3.
FASTI. V. 183. 269
directed by the breath of jealous Zephyrus 1 . He was buried beneath the
base of the statue of Amyclaean Apollo 2 , with whom he shared the
honours of the great national festival of the Hyacinthia 3 . A flower
sprung from his blood, on whose petals words of lamentation were
inscribed*. Ovid tells the tale at full length in Met. 10. 162, seqq.
The same flower is said by the same poet (Met. 13. 396) to have
sprung from the blood of Ajax.
Some botanists imagine that they have detected these marks on a
species of the Ranunculaceae, which they have named the ' Delphi-
nium Ajacis;' others believe the 'Lilium Martagon' to be the flower
in question. Remark that Ovid terms Hyacinthus 'Amyclides,' from
'Amyclae;' and 'Oebalides,' from a mythic hero ' Oebalus,' after
whom Laconia was named ' Oebalia.' But ' Oebalidae,' (Fast. 5. 705)
are Castor and Pollux; ' Oebalis Nympha' (Her. 16. 126) is Helen;
''Oebalides matres' (Fast. 3. 230) are the Sabine women, because the
Sabines pretended to deduce their origin from the Spartans.
43, 44. Narcissus of Thespiae, a town in Boeotia, near the foot of
Mount Helicon, was the son of Liriope and the river Cephisus; he
beheld his image in a fountain, became enamoured of his own beauty,
and pining away, fell a sacrifice to his hopeless love. The Nymphs
prepared a bier and reared a pyre, but when they came to bear his
body forth found nothing but a flower.
lamque rogum, quassasque faces, feretrumque parabant :
Nusquam corpus erat : croceum pro corpore florem
Inveniunt, foliis medium cingentibus albis.
The flower in question is easily recognised as the common ' Narcissus
poeticus ' of our gardens. The story is told at great length by Ovid,
Met. 3. 339. seqq. Pausanias gives two versions of the tale, 9. 31.
45. The loves of Crocus and the Nymph ' Smilax,' (Bindweed,) who
were both turned into flowers, are alluded to in a cursory manner by
Ovid, Met. 4. 383
Et Crocon in parvos versum cum Smilace flares
Praetereo: dulcique animos noviiate tenebo.
Atys or Attis, the beloved of the Phrygian Cybele, was, as we read
in Met. 10. 103, metamorphosed into a pine :
1 Nonnus to. 253 ; 29. 95. * Pausan. 3. 18, 91, Polyb. 5. 19.
3 The student will find some ingenious speculations on the Hyacinthia
in Miilier's Dorians, I. p. 373 of English Translation. There is also an
essay on Hyacinthus by Heyne in his Antiquarische Autsatze, P. I.
* Hence called d fpairTa vaKtvGos (' the inscribed hyacinthus'), by
Theocrit. 10. 28.
270 NOTES. 29.
Et succincta comas, birsutaque vertlce pinus,
Grata deum matri; siquidem Cybeleius Attis
Exuit bac hominem, truncoque induruit illo.
In the passage before us, however, Ovid follows a different form of the
legend, which has been preserved by Arnobius; according to which
the pomegranate tree and the violet sprung from his blood, shed on
two different occasio'ns.
45. Cinyra creatum. Adonis (see above, p. 169), from whose blood
the anemone was produced. Ov. Met. 10. 734
Nee plena longior bora
Facia mora est, quum flos de sanguine concolor ortus;
Qualem, quae lento celant sub cor lice grantim,
Punica ferre silent : brevis est tamen usus in illo ;
Namque male baerentem et nimia levitate caducum
Excutiiint idem, qid praestant nomina, venti.
47. Coronis 'posuit pro floribus' (G.).
51. Oleae 'flos non copiam tantum olei, sed omnino nitidissimum
annum portendebat, ut et flos abundans amygdali,' (G.) who refers to
Virg. G. i. 187
Contemplator item, quum se nux pltirima silvis
Induet in florem, et ramos curvabit olenfes :
Si superant fetus, pariter frumenta sequentur,
Magnaque cum magno veniet tritura calore.
52. Pomaque. 'Sensus; pomorum proventus, copia, pendet a tern-
pore quo florent' (G.).
54. Advena Nile, ' quia ex alia terra decurrit' (G.). Compare note,
p. 258.
Lentes. . .tuae. Egypt was peculiarly celebrated for the excellence
of its pulse, to which frequent allusions are made by the poets, e. g.
Virg. G. i. 228
Si vero viciamque seres, vilemque pbaselitm,
Nee Pelusiacae curam aspernabere lentis,
and Martial. Ep. 13. 9
Accipe Niliacum, Pelusiaca munera, lentem.
55. 56. Vina florent. The ' flos vini' was a technical term for a
sort of light scum which collected on the surface. Pliny H. N. 14. 21
Flos vini candidus probatur : rubens triste signum est, si non is vini colos sit.
So Columell. 12. 30 Si vinum florere incipiet, saepius curare oportebit.
FASTI. III. 809. 271
30. MINERVA. FAST. in. 809.
1. Vna dies media est, &c. The Quinquatria began on XIV.
Knl. Apr. igth March), the Liberalia, which immediately preceded
it in the Calendar, on XVI. Kal. Apr. (i7th March.)
2. Nomina, &c. The Quinquatria continued for five days; but
Ovid was mistaken in supposing that the festival received its name
from this circumstance, because, properly speaking, the first day only
was sacred to the goddess, and was called ' Quinquatrus,' because it
fell on ' the fifth day after the Ides,' such being the real meaning of the
word. In like manner, the inhabitants of Tusculum used the forms
'triatrus,' 'sexatrus,' ' septimatrus,' and the Falisci ' decimatras,' to
denote the third, sixth, seventh, and tenth days respectively, after the
Ides of any month. Thus Varro, L. L. 6 Quinquatrus : bic dies unus ab
nominis errors observatur proinde ut sint qttinque. Dictus, ut ab Tusculanis
post diem sextum Idus similiter vocatur Sexatrus, et post diem septimum
Septimatrus, sic bic quod erat post diem quint-urn Idus Quinqualrus l .
. 3. Sanguine. The blood of gladiators.
5. Altera. On the second, third, fourth, and fifth days, gladiatorial
contests were exhibited in the amphitheatre, the centre of which, the
place occupied by the combatants, was strewed with sand. Ovid
himself was born on the second day of the Quinquatria, a fact which he
records in Trist. 4. 10, 13
Haec est armiferae festis de quinque Minervae,
Quae fieri pugna prima cruenta solet.
Compare the expression ' strata arena' with Trist. 2. 282
Martia cum durum sternit arena solum.
6. Bellica Dea. Minerva might, in her proper capacity, be supposed
to take an interest in war, in so far as it was considered an art or
science, but the epithets, ' armifera,' ' armipotens,' ' bellica,' and the like,
could scarcely have been bestowed on her until she was confounded
with the Grecian Pallas.
7. Ornate. It was the custom to deck the statues of the gods with
garlands on a festal day.
7-12. Minerva, as we have seen in the Introduction, was the special
patroness of spinning and weaving, and hence the name of the goddess
is used by metonymy for the art itself. Thus Virg. Aen. 8. 407
1 See also Festus in verb. ' Qoinquatrus.' Aul. Gell. 2. 21, Millie.-,
die Etrusker. 2. 3, 2.
272 NOTES. SO.
Inde, ubi prima quies media tarn noctis abac/at
Curricula expulerat somnum, cum femina primum,
Cut tolerare colo vitam tenuique Minerva,
Impositum cinerem et sopitos suscitat ignes,
Noctem addens operi,
and Hor. Od. 3. 12, 3
Tibi qualum Cythereae puer ales, tibi telas,
Operosaeque Minervae sludium aufert, Neobule,
Liparaei nitor Hebri.
11. Stantes ... telas. The threads of the warp ('stamen') were
suspended vertically, according to the Roman usage, not placed
horizontally, as among us. ' Radius ' is the shuttle which runs through
(' percurrit ') the warp with the threads of the woof (' subtemen').
12. Pecten is the 'lay' by which the threads of the woof, loose and
at a distance from each other (' rarum opus '), are driven home and
compacted.
Denset. Observe the old form ' denseo,' instead of ' denso.' It
occurs in Horace also, Od. i. 28, 19
Mixta senum ac iuvenum densentur funera ; nullum
Saeva caput Proserpina fugit.
13. Qul maculas, &c., the 'fullones,' the scourers or renovators,
the importance of whose occupation will be easily understood when
we remember that the Romans, until a very late period, wore woollen
garments exclusively.
14. Velleribus quisquis, &c., the 'infectores' or ' tinctores,' the
dyers.
Ahenum. is the brazen caldron in which the wool was boiled
along with the dye. Compare the Epigram of Martial on a cloak
made of Andalusian wool, which was naturally of a golden yellow
colour, 14. 133
Non est lana mibi mendax, nee mutor abeno,
Sic placeaiit Tyriae me mea texit ovis;
and again 10. 16, 7
Quidquid Agenoreo Tyros improba cogit abeno.
In like manner, the poets apply the epithets ' Tyi ium,' ' Assyrium,'
' Sidonium,' ' Gaetulum,' &c. to ' ahenum,' to express a purple dye.
15. Vincula plantae. The ' vincula,' strictly speaking, would be
the straps ('amenta') which bound on the sandals ('soleae') or shoes
(' calcei').
1 6. Tychio. This is the name given by Homer to the artist who
fabricated the sevenfold shield of Ajax, being, it is said, a native of
FASTI. III. 809. , 273
Hyle, and <ruTOT<5/Mw o^' apiaros, 'far the first of leather cutters 1 .*
Pliny 2 , when enumerating the inventors of the different arts and
sciences, says briefly, ' Sutrinam Boethius,' for which we ought probably
to read ' Boeotius," for Hyle was in Boeotia.
1 7. Manibus collatus, ' compared in handicraft.'
Epeus constructed the Trojan horse. Ulysses, in Odyss. 8. 492,
thus addresses Demodicus :
Haste then, the structure of ibe wooden horse
Declare in song, which with Athena's aid
Epetus formed,
and Virgil, enumerating the warriors who issued from its womb,
Aen. 2. 264
Et Menelaus et ipse dolt fabricator Epeus.
Pliny endeavours to rationalize the tale, and to make out that this
contrivance was nothing more than a battering ram, H. N. 7. 56
Equum qui nunc Aries appellatur, in muralibus machinis Epeum ad
Troiam (sc. invenisse dicunt).
19. Phoebea.. .arte. Medicine. Apollo with the epithet ' Paeon,'
(i. e. soother, assuager,) was the patron of the healing art, and the
father of Aesculapius. In Homer, Paeon (Tlairicav) is the physician of
the gods, Aesculapius (' A.ffK\r)irib$) a mortal skilled in medicine, but
they have no connection with each other, nor with Apollo.
20. De vestris, sc. ' muneribus.' A portion of the gifts you receive.
21. It will be seen from the various readings, that the text of this
line is doubtful. Under any form it will allude to the inadequate
remuneration received by the Roman schoolmasters ; a theme upon
which Juvenal enlarges with great bitterness in his seventh Satire.
Minerva being the patroness of learning, the fee for instruction was
called ' Minerval,' and it appears from Macrobius (S. I. n) that it was
paid during this month.
22. Discipulos attrahit ilia novos. Compare luv. S. lo. 114
Eloquium et famam Demostbenis aut Ciceronis
Incipit optare et totis Quinquatribus optat,
Quisquis adhuc uno parcam colit asse Minervam,
Quern sequitur custos angustae vernula captae.
23. Moves eaelum. This expression admits of a double inter-
pretation, according to the meaning which we assign to ' eaelum.'
If we suppose it to signify 'the heaven,' then 'movere eaelum ' will
refer to the artificial spheres employed by astronomers. If, on the
1 II. 7. 221, Strabo 9. 20. a H. N. 7. 56.
T
274 NOTES. 31.
other hand, we suppose it to signify ' a burin,' or ' engraver's tool,'
whence ' caelare,' ' caelator,' ' caelatura,' then the persons addressed
will be workers in gems and the precious metals, who would be
appropriately classed along with painters and sculptors.
Tabulam coloribus uris. Painters in encaustic, an art now
lost. The 'loci classici' are in Pliny H. N. 35. n Certs pingere ac
picturam inurere qui primus excogitaverit non constat. Quidam Aristidis
inventum putant, postea consummalum a Praxitele. Sed aliquanto vetus-
tiores encaustae picturae exstitere, tit Polygnoti et Nicanoris et Arcesilai
Pariorum. Lysippus quoque Aeginae piclurae suae inscripsit ivtKavfftv,
quod profecto non /ecisset nisi encaustica inventa. And, Encausto pingendi
duofuisse antiquilvs genera constat, cera, et in ebore, cestro, id est, viriculo,
donee classes pingi coepere. Hoc tertium accessit, resolvtis igni certs
penicillo ulendi, quae pictura in navibus nee sole, nee sale, nee vento
corrumpitur.
24. Mollia saxa. Compare Virg. Aen. 6. 847
Excudent alii spirantia mollius aera
Credo equidem, vivos ducent de niarmore voltus.
31. PALLADIVM A METELLO FAS. vi. 419.
SERVATVM.
5. VidL We have seen, in the life of Ovid (Introduction), that when
a young man he visited, in the train of Macer, the cities of Asia.
Templum. He refers to the shrine of Pallas at Novum Ilium, which
was believed by many of the ancients to occupy the site of ancient Troy.
Under this impression it was visited and honoured by Xerxes and by
Alexander; Lysimachus added greatly to its size and importance, and
founded a new temple. The town was stormed and burnt by Fimbria in
the Mithridatic War, but was restored by Sulla, and again raised to
prosperity by Julius Caesar, who wished to think that it was the spot
from which his race had sprung 1 .
7. Smintlieus. Apollo was worshipped under this title at a temple
called ' Smintheum,' situated in the immediate neighbourhood of Chrysa,
on the coast of Mysia. There were other temples of the same name in
Aeolis, in Rhodes, and elsewhere. "ZpivOos signifies ' a field-mouse,' and
thus Apollo Smintheus would be adored as the destroyer of an animal so
See Herod. 7. 42, Strabo 13. 26, 27.
FASTI. VI. 419. 275
injurious to the husbandman, which is confirmed by the fact that his
statue was represented with one foot on a mouse l .
13-16. An allusion to the conflicting statements with regard to the
removal of the Palladium from Troy. In addition to those noticed in
the Introduction, we may mention the opinion maintained by some that
the statue stolen by Diomede was not the real Palladium, but a counter-
feit fabricated for the express purpose of baffling any such attempt, a
device practised by the Romans themselves with regard to the Ancilia.
14. ludicio, sc. ' Paridis,' 'from the time when her beauty was van-
quished by the decision of Paris.'
15. Genus Adrasti. Diomedes. The MSS. vary between 'genus'
and 'gener.' Either is appropriate, since we are told by Apollodorus
that Tydeus wedded Deipyle, daughter of Adrastus, king of Argos, and
that Diomede, the issue of this marriage, took to wife his mother's sister,
Aigialeia ; therefore he would be at once the descendant (' genus ') and
the son-in-law (' gener ') of Adrastus. As there are some doubts, how-
ever, with regard to the parentage of Aigialeia 2 , it is better to adopt the
reading given in the text.
1 8. Vesta. Men of simple habits, in all ages of the world, have ever
regarded the domestic hearth with affectionate veneration, and even when
society assumes its most artificial aspect this sentiment is seldom alto-
gether lost. Among the Greeks and Romans it was peculiarly strong :
the/ocirt in the atrium was the central point of the dwelling ; here stood
the altar for household sacrifice, where offerings were regularly presented
to the Lares and Penates ; here strangers were received and entertained ;
to this the suppliant fled for protection ; here, in ancient times, all who
lived under the same roof were wont to assemble when the labours of
the day were over, to partake in common of the social meal, and to
draw more closely the bonds of love and duty which united them as
members of a single family. Thus Vesta, the goddess whose abode
was the hearth, and whose symbol was the blazing fire, was worshipped
with the deepest reverence in every private mansion. But since the
whole body of the inhabitants of Rome might be considered as consti-
tuting one great family, whose welfare was guarded by the Public Lares
and Penates, so there was a public temple of Vesta which served as a
point of union to all citizens ; and the idea being still farther extended,
1 See^iiller's Dorians, p. 247 and 309, Engl. Transl., Strabo 13, Schol.
on II. 1.' 39.
a See Apollod. I. 8, 6, and notes of Heyne.
T 2
NOTES. 31.
the common hearth of the whole Roman territory was the temple of
Vesta in the mother-city of Lavinium, where blazed the eternal fire
rescued by Aeneas from Troy *.
The worship of this deity was said to have been introduced by Numa,
who built a shrine on the edge of the Forum, between the Capitoline
and Aventine hills. It was circular in form, with a dome-shaped roof;
and hence, in later times, was supposed to be emblematic of the world ;
and thus arose the idea generally current in the Augustan age, that Vesta
was a personification of the Earth. This belief is developed by Ovid,
Fast. 6. 257 2 .
In this temple there was no statue*; the goddess was represented by
the sacred fire alone which blazed unceasingly upon the altar; it was
never permitted to expire ; or if such an accident befell, through neglect,
it was considered an omen of the worst description, portending nothing
less than the extinction of the city 4 , requiring the most careful and solemn
expiations 5 . Thus Livy 28. 11 Plus omnibus out nuntiatis peregre, out
itt'w's domi prodigiis, terruit animos bominum ignis in aede Vestae extinctus.
Vesta being represented by fire, the purest of elements, her ministers,
as was fitting, were all spotless virgins, of honourable birth, and free
from any personal defect. Their number was originally four, but was
afterwards increased to six, and the period of their service extended to
thirty years, during the whole of which time they were bound by the
most solemn oaths to continue in a state of maidenhood. During the
first ten years, they were employed in learning their duties ; during the
second ten years, in discharging them ; and during the remaining ten,
they instructed the novices. At the expiration of the appointed tune,
they were free to return to the world, and even to marry, if they thought
fit : not many, however, availed themselves of this privilege. In early
times some few had formed such a connection, but their lot proved un-
happy ; and from that tune forward it was looked upon as ominous.
When a vacancy occurred in the sisterhood, it was filled up by the Pon-
tifex Maximus, to whose jurisdiction they were subject.
1 Hartung, Die Religion der Romer, 2. Ho, seqq.
2 Compare with this Dionysius Hal. 2. 64,65, 66-69, Augustine, De Civ.
Dei 7. 16, Servius on Virg. Aen. 2. 296.
3 See note, p. 205, and quotations there given : there were statues of the
goddess in public places, but none in her temple.
* apavia/j.ov rijs iroAo>s ffrjptiov Dionys. Hal. 2. 6, 7.
5 Ibid. See also Val. Max. I. 1,6, 7, and Dionysius as above, and Plutarch,
Numa, 13.
FASTI. VI. 419. 277
Their principal occupations were to sprinkle the temple each morning
with water, to guard the relics which it contained, and, above all, to tend
the holy fire, with watchful diligence, both day and night. If, through
carelessness, it was extinguished, the culprit was punished with stripes by
the Pontifex. But a more terrible fate was reserved for the unhappy
priestess who violated her vow of chastity ; she was buried alive in the
Campus Sceleratus, a spot within the city walls, hard by the Colline gate.
If the rules of the order were severe and rigidly enforced, so the
privileges enjoyed were such as to make ample amends for all restrictions.
A Vestal Virgin, from the moment of her election, became the servant
of the goddess, and of the goddess only ; her hair was shorn off, to mark
that all worldly ties were severed, that she was released from all the
bonds by which other women were confined, emancipated from the
perpetual slavery to fathers and husbands, which they were compelled
to endure. In public she was treated with the most marked distinction ;
she might go from place to place in a chariot, and a lictor was ever in
attendance to clear the way before her ; a seat of honour was reserved
for her at the public shows ; did she meet a criminal on his way to
execution, he was forthwith reprieved ; did she encounter a Praetor or a
Consul, the fasces were instantly lowered to do her reverence.
Both in name and attributes Vesta is identical with the Grecian
'Earia ; and since, in this case, we cannot suppose that the one nation
borrowed from the other, we must conclude that she was an ancient
Pelasgian Deity, whose worship was introduced into both countries,
independently, by that widely diffused tribe. The distinction between
Vesta and Vulcanus, both intimately connected with fire, seems to be
accurately stated by Augustine, De Civ. Dei 7- 16 Vestam quoqite ipsam
propterea dearum maximam putaverunt, quod ipsa sit Terra ; quamvis ignem
mundi levinrem qui pertinel ad usus homimim faciles, non violentiorem qualis
Vvlcani est, ei deputandum esse crediderunt.
Vesta being considered the same as Terra, who was worshipped under
the name of Ops, and Ops being confounded with the Grecian Rhea, the
wife of Kronos, who again was identified with Phrygian Cybele we have
Vesta, Ops, Rhea, and Cybele mingled in wild confusion. According
to Hesiod, Vesta was the firstborn of Kronos and Rhea, and hence the
e'der sister of Demeter (Ceres), Hera (Juno), Pluto, Poseidon (Nep-
tunus), and Zeus (Jupiter). This genealogy is adopted by Ovid, Fast.
6. 285
Ex Ope Itmonem memorant Cereremque creatas
Semine Saturni : tertia Vesta fuit,
although it is completely at variance with the rest of his theory.
278 NOTES. 31.
Nor does the embarrassment end here; the Italian antiquaries 1 be-
lieved Terra or Ops to be the same with Bona Dea, and with Maia, or
Stata Mater, the wife of Vulcan, from whom the month of May was
named ; and thus Vesta, or the personification of mild, gentle fire, would
be the consort of Vulcanus, the personification for fierce, consuming
fire, and identical with Maia, and Bona Dea.
Mention is frequently made in the classics of this Bona Dea, or Good-
Goddess, but we possess very little information respecting her, except
that all male creatures were jealously excluded from her rites ; and so
sacred was the rule, that Clodius, in the height of his popularity, was
well-nigh ruined by violating it 2 .
The festival of Vesta, the ' Vestalia,' was held VI. Id. Jun. (8th June\
on which day solemn sacrifice was offered by the Vestals; the mill-
stones were wreathed with garlands, and the mill-asses adorned with
flowers and necklaces made of loaves, because Vesta presided over the
fire by which the flour was rendered available for the wants of man ".
On the Kalends of March, the laurels which decorated the shrine
were renewed, and the sacred fire renovated,
Vesta quoque vt folio niteat velata recenti,
Cedit ab Iliads laurea cana focis.
Adde, quod arcana fieri novus ignis in aede
Dicitur ; et vires flamma refecta capit,
and on XVII. Kal. Jul. (i5th June), the sweepings and other filth which
had accumulated in the temple were carried forth and solemnly thrown
into the Tiber. Fast. 6. 711
Haec est ilia dies, qua tu purgamina Vestae,
Tibri, per Etruscas in mare mittis aquas.
It was thought unlucky to marry in June, until this ceremony was over.
Ovid, Fast. 6. 223.
27. Pignora. . .fatalia. Dionysius and Plutarch express themselves
with much caution and reserve on this subject. They tell us that some
persons were of opinion that the sanctuary of Vesta contained nothing
but the sacred fire ; that, according to others, it concealed the gods
carried over by Dardanus from Samothrace to Troy, and brought from
Troy to Italy by Aeneas the current belief being that the Palladium
1 See Macrob. S. I. 12.
3 See Plutarch Vit. Caes. 9, which is the 'locus classicus' with regard
to the Bona Dea. See also Macrob. S. I. 12.
8 Ovid, Fast. 6. 311.
+ FASTI. III. 713. 279
was there deposited. Both authors agree in thinking that relics of some
kind were preserved by the Vestals, but that they were hidden with
such jealous care from every eye, that no one could pretend to any
certain knowledge of their nature.
37. Sub Caesare. The Vestals, as we remarked above, were subject
to the control of the Pontifex Maximus. Lepidus succeeded to this office
upon the murder of Julius Caesar, and after the death of Lepidus, 1 2
B. C., it was assumed by Augustus 1 . The day marked in the Calendars,
as hallowed by this auspicious event, was Prid. Non. Mart. (6th March).
Ovid announces the event, Fast. 3. 415.
32. BACCHVS. FAS. m. 713.
3, 4. Commentators have failed in extracting a sense from the words
' parvus inermis eras," which will in any degree correspond with the
former part of the couplet. Neither the reading ' erat,' which is found
hi good MSS., nor ' partus,' the conjecture of Heinsius, makes the mean-
ing more intelligible.
7. Sithonas. Sithonia proper, according to Herodotus, is one of the
three long narrow peninsulas which form the termination of that portion
of Macedonia called Chalcidice, lying between the Strymonicus Sinus
(G. of Contessa) and the Thermaicus Sinus (G. of Saloniki). The most
northerly of these is formed by Mount Athos, that farthest to the south
was called Pallene, while Sithonia lay between them, being separated
from the former by the Singiticus Sinus (G. of Monte Santo), and from
the latter by the Toronaicus Sinus (G. of Cassandria). In poetic
phraseology, however, Sithonia is used to express the whole of Thrace
and the north of Macedonia.
Scytnicos. Scythia, in its widest acceptation, embraces the whole
of southern Russia in Europe, together with the vast steppes of central
Asia, the land of the Tartars and the Mongols.
9. Thebanae. . .matris. Agave, the mother of Pentheus. See In-
troduction to Extract.
10. Inque tiium . . . genu. According to one form of the legend,
Lycurgus in his frenzy cut off his own legs with a hatchet.
13, 14. Ovid having hastily passed over foreign fables, now proceeds
to consider one of the usages of the Roman Liberalia, described some-
what more distinctly by Varro, L. L. 5 Liberalia dicta, quod per totum
1 Diqn. 54. 15, Sueton. Octav. 31.
280 NOTES. 32.
oppidum eo die sedent sacerdotes Liberi, ledera coronalae anus, cum HUs
etfoculo pro emptore sacrificantes.
14. Liba. See note on 22. 6 (p. 238).
1 6. Gelidis. Grass grew upon the altars where no fire was ever
kindled for sacrifice.
17. Gange. The Ganges, the great river of India, is here put for the
countiy itself.
19. Cinnama. Cinnamon is the peculiar production of Ceylon and
the Malabar coast, and thus appropriately introduced here in reference
to the Indian conquests of Bacchus.
21. Ovid foolishly derives from 'Liber* the words libamen and
libum, which are manifestly connected with the verb ' libare ' (\fi&a>).
23. Succis dulcibus. It was the custom to pour honey over the
'libum,' as we see below, w. 49, 50, and Tibull. i. 7, 54
Liba et Mopsopio dulcia melle feram ;
and hence Ovid takes occasion to make a digression with regard to the
discovery of honey, which he attributes to Bacchus.
25. Hebro. The Hebrus (Maritza) is the great river of Thrace, and
one of the most important streams in Europe. It rises at the point
where Mount Rhodope branches off from Mount Haemus and Mount
Scomius (see above, p. 223), and after a course of nearly 300 miles, falls
into the Aegean opposite to Samothrace, one of its branches emptying
itself into the Stentoris Palus (G. of Aenos).
27. Bh.od.ope (Despoto Dagh) is a snowy mountain range, sweeping
down to the south from the great chains of Haemus and Scomius, and
sending out a number of lateral ridges which spread over the whole
of the southern and western districts of Thrace.
Mons Pangaeus v . Pangaeum (Pundhar Dagh) was the name given
to the extremity of one of the branches of Rhodope which runs along
the coast, from Amphipolis near the mouth of the river Strymon,
westward. Pangaeus was celebrated for its mines of gold and silver,
originally worked by the native tribes, and afterwards by a colony from
the island of Thasos, who formed an establishment called ' Crenides,'
which was subsequently seized by Philip of Macedon, who built on the
same site the city of Philippi. so celebrated in after times in the history
of Rome, as the scene of the final struggle of the republicans under
Brutus and Cassius against the triumvirs (42 B. C.). Philippi was the
first spot in Europe where the gospel was preached by Saint Paul.
(Acts xvi. 9.)
28. Aeriferae . . manus. Cymbals borne by the followers of Bacchus.
FASTI. IV. 179. 28l
29. Volucres, 'the bees;' novae, 'hitherto unknown;' tinnitibus
actae every one knows that bees when swarming are frequently attracted
and induced to alight upon a particular spot by a tinkling noise; nor
does Virgil omit to notice this peculiarity, G. 4. 64
Tinnilusque cie, et Matris quote cymbalo circum.
33. Levis. . .senex, ' the bald old man,' Silenus. See above, p. 180.
37. Residebat expresses the lazy slouching attitude of Silenus.
42. Ora summa, i. e. ' his bald head.'
47- Limumque inducere, 'to spread a coating of mud over his
face.' So Inducere aurum ligno Pliny H. N. 35. I, 6. Inducere parieti
ceram liquefactam 30. I, 7.
52. Thyrso. See above, note on 2. 33.
53. Hoc faciat. We may understand ' libum' to agree with hoc, and
translate, ' If you ask why an old woman bakes this cake ; ' or, more
simply, ' If you ask why an old woman does this,' i. e. offers her cakes to
passers by.
5 7. Nysiades Nymphae, ' the nymphs of Nysa.' Ancient writers
are at variance as to the position of Nysa, where Bacchus was nursed ;
many places bore the name and claimed the honour. The most famous
was the Indian city situated at the base of Mount Meros (see Quintius
Curtius, 8, 10) and this is probably indicated by Apollodorus, when he
calls Nysa 'a city of Asia.' There was, however, another in Arabia,
another in Boeotia, another in the island of Naxos ; no less than ten
being enumerated by geographers.
Noverca, i. e. Juno.
59. Restat. &c. Ovid now proceeds to enquire why youths assumed
the ' toga virilis ' on the Liberalia. He assigns four different reasons,
none of which are particularly interesting. The practice itself is alluded
to by Cicero, Ep. Att. 6. I Quinto logam puram Liberalibus cogitabam
dare : mandavit enim pater.
33. CYBELE. FAS. iv. 179.
i. Perpetuo . . . axe. The original meaning of 'perpetuus* is
continuous,' 'uninterrupted,' 'unbroken.' Thus Pliny H. N. 3. 5
Apenninus perpeluis iugis ab Alpibus tendens ad Siculum /return, i. e. ' in an
unbroken range.' Again Virg. Aen. 7. 1 76
Perpetuis soliti patres consider e mensis,
282 NOTES. 33.
i. e. a long straight table at which those who banqueted were placed in
an unbroken line, up and down not sitting round three sides after the
fashion of the ' triclinia.' Here it is equivalent to ' long ' the long
axle on which the heavens turn round. Virg. Aen. 4. 250
Vertitur interea caelum et ruit Oceano nox.
With regard to the different significations of axis, see note on 38. 48.
2. Titan, i. e. the Sun. See note on Hyperion, 18. 51.
1,2. The sense of these lines is simply ' tribus exactis diebus,' three
days having elapsed since the commencement of the month. The
Megalesia were celebrated, as we have seen in the Introduction, on the
4th of April.
3. Compare Hor. Od. I. 18, 13
.... saeva tene cum Berecyntbio
Cornu tympana ....
and Od. 4. I, 21, addressing Venus,
lllic pl-urima naribus
Duces tvra, lyraeque et Berecyntbiae
Delectabere tibiae
Mixtis carminibu*, non sine fistula.
Inflexo cornu. The Phrygian flute or flageolet consisted of two
straight tubes, of unequal length and unequal diameter, to the ends of
which was attached a crooked metallic appendage, called Ku5on>, resem-
bling the extremity of a French horn. Hence the epithet ' curvua.'
Compare Catull. 63. 23
Tibicen vbi canit Pbryx curuo grave calamo,
and Virg. Aen. 9. 617
O vere Pbrygiae, neqtie enim Pbryges! ite per alta
Dindyma, ttbi assuetis biforem dot tibia cantum,
on which Servius, Tibiae autem Serranae dicuntur, quae svnt pares, et
aequales babent cavernas ; out Pbrygiae, quae et impares svnt, et inaequales
babent cavernas.
5. Semimares, &c., the mutilated priests the 'Galli' or ' Cory-
bantes.' See Introduction.
Inania, i. e. ' hollow.'
7. Molli, ' effeminate.'
9. Scena, the theatrical exhibitions ; ludi, the games of the circus.
See Introduction.
12. Lotos. This Lotos or Faba Graeca, described by Pliny, H. N.
16. 30, and 24. 2, is a tree which must be carefully distinguished from
the lotos of the Lotophagi, the lotos or water-lily of Egypt, and the
clover lotos of Virgil. Compare Pliny H. N. 16. 36 Nunc sacrificae (sc.
FASTI. IV. 179. 283
tibiae) Tuscorum e buxo, ludicrae vero loto ossibusque asininis et argento
fiunt ; also Silius n. 432
Vt strepit assidue Pbrygiam ad Nilotica loton
Memphis,
and Mart. 8. 51, 14 j
Palladius tenero lotos ab ore sonat,
where remark the difference of gender.
13. Doctas . . . neptes, i.e. the Muses. Cybele being identified
with Rhea, and Rhea being the mother of Zeus, the Muses, who were
the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, would be the granddaughters of
Cybele.
1 7. Erato, derived from Ipcus, ' love.' The island of Cythera (Cerigo)
being a chosen resort of Aphrodite (Venus), she was thence called
Cythereia, and the month Apiilis being, according to one derivation,
named after Aphrodite, is here termed ' Mensis Cythereius.'
19-35. The legend of Kronus (Saturnus) devouring his children, the
stratagem of Rhea, by which Zeus (Jupiter) escaped, and the subsequent
expulsion of Kronus from the throne of heaven, have been already
fully detailed in the note, p. 252, the first part of which must be read
carefully, in order to enable the student to comprehend these lines.
ao. Excutiere. The idea is that of a person jolted out of a seat, as
in Met. 15. 524 Excntior curru.
26. Fidem. Belief arising from confidence in the truth of what we
have heard.
27. Saxum. This stone, we are told, was called /toiTvAoy, or
Abbadir. See Stephan. Thesaur. and Priscian. p. 647.
Gutture. Although ' viscere ' is found in only one MS-, it is
probably the true reading, since ' gutture sedit ' would imply that the
stone stuck in the throat of Kronus. If we adopt ' gurgite,' the
expression will be analogous to ' altique voragine ventris ' in Met. 8. 843.
29. Ide in Crete is here indicated, since that island was generally
accounted the birthplace of Zeus, although both Arcadia and Phrygia
claimed him as their own. See Excursus of Heyne on Aen. 3. m.
32. Curetes . . . Corybantes. As far as we can venture to pro-
nounce an opinion upon a subject, with regard to which the testimonies
of ancient writers are of the most confused and contradictory description,
it seems scarcely doubtful that the ' Curetes ' and ' Corybantes ' were
originally completely distinct from each other.
The 'Curetes' were Cretan priests, who, clad in armour, performed
the stately and graceful Pyrrhic dance, in honour of Zeus, to the music
284 NOTES. 33.
of drams and flutes, while the Corybantes ' were the mutilated
ministers of Phrygian Cybele, who with shouts, and shrieks, and
howls, and frantic gestures, attended the processions of the goddess.
The original Curetes ' were said to have watched the cradle, and by
clashing their weapons, to have drowned the cries of the infant god,
who thus escaped the jaws of the jealous sire, and hence they are repre-
sented by several ancient writers as divinities, and are classed along with
the Nymphs and Satyrs who nursed the youthful Bacchus.
We have before remarked, that when the worship of Cybele was in-
troduced into Greece, the Phrygian goddess was, from some resemblance
in her attributes, identified with Rhea, and that the double Ida in
Crete and Phrygia served to render the confusion more complete.
Hence the Phrygians claimed Zeus as their countryman, and many of
the Greeks called the attendants of Cybele ' Curetes ' and ' Corybantes '
indifferently. The Roman writers make no distinction whatever between
them, as may be seen by referring to the passages indicated at the
bottom of the page 1, and from the lines of Lucretius, 2. 628 sqq.,
which immediately follow those already referred to in the Introduction,
and are particularly valuable, from the minute and lively picture they
present.
In addition to the original ' Curetes,' the divine attendants of Zeus
on Mount Ida, and the later ' Curetes,' who in Crete performed a
martial dance on certain festivals, there were Curetes ' in Aetolia and
Acarnania who belong to history, being a tribe who dwelt near
Plruron. We hear of ' Curetes ' in Euboea also, who, from the manner
in which they are spoken of, seem to occupy the debateable land
between mythology and history.
Our great authority among the ancients for all that concerns the
' Curetes ' and ' Corybantes ' is Strabo, who has fully detailed the
various legends and the theories founded upon them, while in modern
times the whole subject has been analysed in a most masterly manner
by Lobeck in his Aglaophamus.
45. Cybele is here given as the name of a Phrygian mountain, and
so in Fast. 4. 363
Inter, ait, viridem Cybelen altasque Celaenas,
Amnis it insana, nomine Gallus, aqua,
but it is seldom mentioned by geographers.
1 Ov. Fast. 4. 210, Martial. 9. 16, Silius 17. 20, Senec. Here. Oet.
1^7?, Val. Max. 2. 4. Germanicus in his translation of Aratus renders
AiAr aiovs Koupjjro* by Dictaeos Corybantes.
FASTI, IV. 179. 385
52. Bdomito . . . orbe. There is a little anticipation here. The
event described happened, as we have seen, 205 B.C., at a period
when the Romans had not yet terminated the second Punic War,
which was to them a struggle for existence.
53. Car-minis Euboici. The prediction of the Cumaean Sibyl.
Cumae was founded by a colony from Chalcis in Eutoea, and hence is
termed 'Euboean' and 'Chalcidian' by the poets. Thus Virg. Aen. 6.1
Sic fatur lacrimans, classique immittit babenas,
Et tandem Euboicis Cumarum adlabitur oris,
and in line 16 of Daedalus,
Insuetum per iter gelidas enavit ad Arctos
Chalcidicaque hvis tandem super adstitit arce.
59. Paean. Apollo. See note, p. 273.
61. Phrygiae sceptra. The kingdom of Pergamus was one of
those created out of the wrecks of the empire of Alexander. The
fortress of Pergamus was entrusted by Lysimachus to Philetaerus, a
native of Pontus, about 283 B. C., who, taking advantage of the
misfortunes which befell his patron towards the close of his career,
made himself independent. His successors were
(1) EUMENES I (263 B. C.), son of Eumenes, a brother of Philetaerus.
(2) ATTALUS I (230 B.C.), son of Attalus, another brother of Phile-
taerus. This is the king Attalus of the passage before us.
(3) EUMENES II (197 B.C.), son of Attalus I. He was the firm
friend and ally of the Romans against Antiochus and Perseus, and
received a vast accession of territory upon the subjugation of the former.
(4) ATTALUS II (159 B. C.), brother of Eumenes II.
(5) ATTALUS III (138 B. C.), son of Eumenes II. He died 133 B. C.,
and bequeathed his kingdom to the Romans, who thus became masters of
the finest part of Asia Minor.
62. Negat. This is directly at variance with the statement of Livy,
and is probably a poetical fiction to heighten the dignity and solemnity
of the event.
68. Nostra eris, ' you will still be ours.' Since the Romans were
descendants of the Phrygian Aeneas, Attalus argues that the goddess in
migrating from Pessinus to Rome, was only passing from Phrygians to
Phrygians, and therefore would not be lost to the nation.
69. Observe that, according to the poet, she does not sail in the
Roman ship, but in a vessel built of the pines that grew upon her own
Phrygian hills.
70. Phryx pius. Aeneas.
286 NOTES. 33.
73. Caelesttun Matrem. It will be seen from the chapter of Livy
quoted in the Introduction, that this representation of the mother
of the gods was a sacred stone. It is described more particularly by
Arnobius adv. Gent. 7. 46.
73. The student will do well to trace the voyage of the goddess
upon a map, from which he will see that Ovid's ideas of the relative
position of some of the places mentioned were not perfectly accurate.
Observe, however, that according to the account here given, the
image was brought from Pessinus in Galatia, high up on the river
Sangarius, to the sea coast in the neighbourhood of Troy, where it was
embarked, and not at Perganms, as some of the commentators say,
which was at the mouth of the Caicus (Bergamo , far to the south of
the Hellespont and Tenedos, which in that case would never have
been approached.
Sui . . . nati. Cybele being identified with Rhea, would be con-
sidered as the mother of Poseidon or Neptune.
74. Longaque, &c. The Hellespont, named after Helle, sister of
Phrixus.
75. Bhoeteum and Sigeum were two promontories forming the
northern and southern horns of the bay in which lay the fleet of the
Greeks at the siege of Troy. On the former Ajax was interred, on the
latter were the tombs of Achilles, Patroclus, and Antilochus. Towns
having the same names were afterwards built in the neighbourhood
of these capes.
Rapax. This epithet must refer to the swift current of the
Hellespont. So Ov. Fast. 4. 566
loniumqiie rapax, Icariumyue legit,
aad Catull. 64. 358
Testis erit magnis virtvtibus ttnda Scamandri,
Quae passim rapido diffimditur Hellesponto.
76. Tenedum. See note on Ov. Amor. I. 15, 9, p. 154.
Eetionis opes. He means 'Thebe' in Mysia, surnamed ' Hypo-
placia,' from lying under the woody mountains of Places. At the
commencement of the Trojan war it was possessed by the Cihcians,
whose king was Eetion, the father of Andromache. It was taken and
sacked by Achilles, and never rebuilt. It is frequently mentioned by
Homer, e. g. II I. 36^; 2. 691 ; 6. 397, 416.
77. Cyclades. The name given to the circular group of islands of
which the holy Delos was considered the centre. The most important
were, Naxos, Paros, Siphnos, Melos, Seriphos, Cythnos, Andros,
FASTI. IV. 179. 287
Tenos, Myconus, Gyarus. To the two last the floating Delos was
ultimately moored. See Virg. Aen. 3. 73.
Lesbos is now called Mitelin, a corruption of Mytilene, its ancient
capital.
78. Carysteis. Carystus (Castel Rosso), was situated at the southern
extremity of Euboea (Negropont), and famed for its marbles. There
was another Carystus in Laconia, far inland on the confines of Arcadia.
79. Icarium. The Mare Icarium, if called after the son of Daedalus,
would be that portion of the Cretan sea over which the ill-fated boy
essayed to wing his flight toward Italy. The same name is given to
a part of the Aegean, off the coast of Ionia, from the island of Icarus
(Nicaria) near Samos.
81. Pelopeides undae will here mean the sea which lies to the
south of the Peloponnesus between Creta (Candia) and Cythera (Cerigo),
the passage, as it were, from the Mare Aegeum into the Mare Ionium.
83. Mare Trinacrium or ' Mare Siculum,' Sicilia being called
Trinacria from its three promontories, and sometimes Triquetra from
its triangular form. Sicilia and Sicania are names derived from the
tribes of Siceli and Sicani, by whom the island was anciently occupied.
84. The haughty-hearted Cyclops, who forged the thunderbolts
of Jove, are mentioned by Hesiod (Theog. 140) as the sons of Earth
and Heaven, three in number, Brontes, Steropes, and Arges. These
seem originally to have been quite distinct from Polyphemus and his
tribe of monsters in the Odyssey. But when Sicily became familiarly
known to the Greeks, and was fixed upon as the scene of the
adventures of Ulysses, the volcanoes of Aetna and the Lipari islands
were soon converted, by the imagination of the poets, into the work-
shops of Hephaestus, while the one-eyed Cyclopes of Hesiod and
Homer were confounded with each other, and assigned to him as
workmen. The names are derived from Ppovrr) (thunder), artpoirr)
(lightning), apyrjs (bright-flashing).
86. Ausonia. See note on 34. 13.
87. Ostia in the plural, because the river near its mouth divided
itself into two streams, and entered the sea by a double channel.
Of these, the left or southern branch seems to have been preferred in
ancient times, but it afterwards became filled up with sand and ceased
to be navigable 1 . The celebrated harbour called the ' Portus Augusti,'
commenced by Julius Caesar 2 , and completed upon a most magnificent
1 See Rutilins Itiner. I. 169, and the note of Wernsdorf.
8 i'lutarch in Vita.
288 NOTES. 33.
scale by the Emperor Claudius 1 , was upon the right branch, but must
not be confounded with the Portus Tiaiani or Centumcellae, now Civita
Vecchia, situated at some distance to the north on the Etrurian coast
The town of Ostia, said to have been founded by Ancus Martius,
was three or four miles from the mouth of the river and the harbour.
88. Dividit. Simply spreads itself out into the deep,' ' disperses its
waters.' The point where the river divides ' into two branches was at
some little distance, and is mentioned at line 125.
90. Tusci fluminis. The Tiber, whose sources are in Etruria, and
which passes through or bounds that district during the whole of its
course. See note, p. 258.
92. The Vestal Virgins who tended the sacred fire of Vesta. See
note, p. 275.
96. Pressa carina, 'deep laden.' Compare Virg. G. I. 303
Ceu pressae cum iam portum tedgere carinae.
101. Claudia. This Claudia was probably the granddaughter of
Claudius Appius Caecus, who was Consul for the second time, 296 B.C.,
in the great Etruscan and Samnite war, Livy 10. 18, 19, &c., and
afterwards, when Censor, gave his name to the famous Appian \Yay.
Clauso . . . ab alto. Livy 2. 16 Seditio inter belli pacisque auc lores
or/a in Sabinis aliquantum inde virium abstulit ad Romanos; namque
Attus Clausus, cut poslea Appio Claudia fuit Romae nonten, cum pads ipse
auctor a lurbatoribus belli premeretur, nee par Jactioni esset, ab Regillo,
magna clientium comitatus manu, Romam tramfugit. His civitas data
agerque trans A nienim ; vetus Claudia tribus, additis postea novis tribulibu*,
qui ex eo venirent agro, adpellata. Appius inter patres lectus baud ita
multo post in princlpum dignationem pervenit. Compare Virg. Aen. 7. 706
Ecce Sabinorum prisco de sanguine, magnum
Agmen agens Clausus, magnique ipse agminis instar,
Claudia nunc a quo diffunditur et tribus et gens
Per Latium, postquam in partem data Roma Sabinis.
Those who desire further information with regard to the history and
services of this most illustrious family, may read the first two chapters
of the life of Tiberius by Suetonius.
119. Pignora. ' Pignus, argumenturn, signum quo comprobatur
aliquid' (G.).
1 20. Re, ' by the issue." You will give proof of the purity of my life
by the event.
1 Sueton. Claud. 3O, Dion Cass. 60. II, Pliny 9. 6; 36. 15, lur. S.
12. 75-
FASTI. IV. 179. 289
132. It appears from this line that the exploit of Claudia had been
made the subject of some well-known, drama, exhibited, doubtless, at
the Megalesia.
124. Sonus, 'a shout.'
125. See note on line 87.
133. Almo. The Almo (Acqua Santa) is a rivulet which rises near
Rome at the head of a little valley called La Cafarella, and after a
very short course, cursuque brevissimus Almo, Ov. Met. 14. 329, passing
near the ancient Porta Capena (Porta S. Sebastiano), falls into the
Tiber. The ' lotio,' or washing of the goddess, here described, was
performed regularly every year by the Archigallus, and is the subject
of frequent allusions in the poets. See Lucan i. 600. Compare also
Silius 8. 364
Quique immite nemus Trivlae, quique ostia Tusci
Amnis amant, tepidoque fovent Almone Cybebeu,
and Martial 3. 47, i
Capena grandi porta qua pluit gutta
Pbrygiaeque matris Almo qua lavat ferrum.
Lubricus Almo, 'smoothly gliding.' So Ov. Amor. 3. 6, 81
Supposuisse manus ad pectora lubricus amnis
Dicitur,
and also lubrice Tibri in Fast. 6. 238.
136. Dominarn sacraque. The statue of Cybele and the sacred
utensils.
1 38. Molles, ' effeminate,' as in line 7, ' molli cervice.'
Taurea terga, ' the hides of bulls stretched upon drums.'
141. Porta Capena. See note, p. 265.
143. Perstitit. It will be seen from the various readings, that the
MSS. vary much here. If we retain 'perstitit,' the meaning will be,
' Nasica did not remain the only founder of a temple to Cybele,
Augustus claims a like honour.' It will be seen by referring to the
Introduction, that the first temple was actually dedicated by M. Junius
Brutus, 181 B. C.
144. Augustus nune est. We find from the Marmor Ancyranum,
that Augustus built a temple of Cybele on the Palatine,
AEDEM MATRIS MAGNAE IN PALATIO FECI.'
Metellua. We know nothing of this event, unless Ovid, supposing
Cybele and Vesta to be the same, refers to the preservation of the
Palladium, which forms the subject of Extract 31.
290 NOTES. 34.
34. ARION. FAS. II. 83.
1-8. The effects of the music of Arion are the same as those usually
attributed to the strains of Orpheus and Amphion. Compare Hor. Od.
I. 12, 5
Aut in vmbrosis Heliconis oris
Aut super Pindo, gelidove in Haemo,
Vnde vocalem temere insecutae
Orpbea silvae
Arte materna rapidos morantem
Fluminum lapsus celeresque venios,
Bland-urn, et auritas Jidibus canoris
Ducere quercus;
and Virg. G. 4. 510 (the whole passage is one of exquisite beauty)
Mulcentem tigres et agentem carmine quercus.
4. Bestitit, ' stood still,' ' stopped short in its flight.'
5, 6. There is a remarkable coincidence of expression here with the
inspired prophet Isaiah, u. 6 The wolf also sball dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard sball lie down with tbe kid; and tbe calf and the young lion
and tbe fading togetber ; and a little cbild sball lead them.
7. The owl was at enmity with the crow, because the latter was
detested by the Goddess of Wisdom on account of chattering and tale-
bearing propensities. See note on cornix invisa Minervae, p. 166.
9. Cynthia. Artemis, so called from the mountain Cynthus (Monte
Cintio) hi Delos, her native isle. Hence also Apollo is styled
' Cynthius-.'
Intonsum pueri dicite Cyntbium. Hor. Od. t. 21, i.
10. Fraternis. . jnodis. The strains of her brother Apollo, lord of
the lyre. 'Modus' is properly 'a measure,' 'a measured sound,' 'a
musical sound.'
12. Ausonis ora. The country originally called 'Ausonia* or
' Opica,' for they are synonymous, was the district around Cales and
Beneventum ; but in later times the name was applied as widely as that
of ' Italia.'
14. Ita. In this manner on board of ship.
19. Dubiam. The helm being abandoned by the steersman, the
ship would no longer be holding a steady course.
21. Pavidus. Many editors consider this inappropriate, and would
substitute ' vacuus,' which is found in one MS. only. Both Herodotus
and Aulus Gellius, however, expressly mention the terror of Arion.
FASTI. II. 83. 291
23-26. Arion here assumes the attire which minstrels were wont to
wear upon state occasions; thus Apollo, when he comes forth to
contend with Pan, is thus described, Met. n. 165
Hie caput flavum lauro Parnaside vinctus,
Verrit bumum Tyrio saturata murice palla,
Distinctamque fidem gemmis, et dentibus Indis
Sustinet a laeva : tenuit manus alter a plectrum.
Artificis status ipse fuit;
on which the words of Auct. ad Herenn. 4. 47, serve as a commentary:
Vti citbaraedus quum prodierit, opiime vestitus, palla inaurata indutus cum
Mamyde purpurea, coloribus variis intexta, et cum corona aurea magnis
fvlgentibus gemmis illuminata, citharam tenens exornatissimam, auro et
ebore distinctam, ipse praeterea forma et specie sit, et statura apposita ad
dignitatem. Compare also Tibull. 2. 5, 5-10.
25. Tyrio ... murice. The different species of shell-fish which
yielded the principal ingredient in the purple dye, were found in greatest
abundance on the coasts of Phoenicia, of Africa, and of Laconia, and
hence the epithets, Tyrius, Sidonius, Afer, Gaetulus, Laconius, Oebalius,
&c. perpetually applied to this colour by the poets. See note, p. 272.
Bis tinctam. A garment which had been twice dyed purple, and
had therefore drunk as much of the precious liquor as the wool was
capable of absorbing, was distinguished by the epithet 'dibaphus'
(5</3a<os). Thus Pliny H. N. 9. 39 Dibapha tune (i. e. in the age of
Cicero) dicebatur quae bis tincta esset, veluli magnifico impendio, qualiter
mine omnes pene commodiores purpurae tinguntur. The Roman magis-
trates and chief priests wore a robe fringed with purple, ' toga prae-
texta,' and hence ' dibaphus' is used by Cicero for a magistracy or
priesthood. Thus Ep. Fam. 2. 16 Curtius noster dibapbum cogitat,
i.e. 'is aiming at a magistracy;' and again, Ep. Att. 2. 9 Vatinii
strumam sacerdotii dtfiatyy vestiant.
26. Icta . . . pollice. The cords of the lyre were swept either
with the fingers, or with a pointed instrument, made of ivory or
metal, shaped like a finger, and called ' plectrum' (irKrjKTpov) or ' pecten. '
Virg. Aen. 6. 645
Nee non Tbreicius longa cum veste sacerdos,
Obloquitur numeris septem discrimina -uocum,
lamque eadem digitis, iam pectine puhat eburno,
Hor. Od. 1. 13, 26
Et te sonantem plenius aureo,
Alcaee, plectra.
Suos . . . sonos, ' its own proper tones,' such as it yields in the hands
of a skilful artist.
U 2
292 NOTES. 35.
37-28. The order of construction is 'Veluti olor traiectus canentia
tempora dura penna cantat flebilibus numeris,' where canentia tempora '
are the snowy temples, or head of the swan, ' penna,' the arrow with
which it is pierced.
28. Cantat olor. The strange notion, universally current among
the Greeks and Romans, that the swan poured forth melodious strains
when in the agonies of death, seems to have arisen from the circum-
stance that the Egyptians used the figure of this bird as a hieroglyphic
for a musical old man, Tepovra \wvaiKuv PovKoptvoi ar)p.r)vai, KVKVOV
^afypatpovaif ovrot yap riSvrarov ^e'Xos q5(i yrjpaffKoaf *. Hence it was
accounted sacred to Apollo, and poets are figuratively addressed as
swans. Hor. Od. 4. 2, 25
Mtilta Dircaetim levat aura cycnum.
Cicero thus reports the expressions of Socrates on this subject : Itaque
commemorat, ut cycni, qui non sine causa Apoilini dicati sint, sed quod
ab eo divinationem babere videantur, qua providentes quid in morte boni
sit, cum cantu et voluplate moriantur, sic omnibus bonis et doctis esse
faciendum, Tuscul. Disp. I. 30.
30. Spargitur, &c. Arion, by plunging suddenly into the sea,
splashes up the water upon the ship.
34. Cantat. If we understand ' carmen" after ' cantat,' then ' pretium'
will be hi opposition with ' carmen."
35. HERCVLES ET OMPHALE. FAS. n. 305.
1. Dominae is used here in the strict sense. Hercules was the slave
of Omphale.
luvenis. It is well known that this term was applied to all who
were in the vigour of manhood, to all who were fit for military service.
Tirynthius. See note, p. 201.
2. Faunus. See Introduction to 15. The Italian god, it will be
observed, is here taking a ramble in Asia.
3. Monta-naque numina, &c. 'ye nymphs of the hills.' See note, p.
249.
5. Odoratis, &c." ' with her perfumed locks flowing over the
shoulders."
1 So says Horapollo, 2. 39. See Sir Thomas Browne upon Vulgar
Errors, Book 3. c. 27.
FASTI. II. 305. 293
6. Maeonis, 'the Lydian queen.' Maeonia was the original name
of Lydia. See note on 3. 9, p. 154.
Aurato. . .sinu, 'with gold-embroidered robe.' The 'sinus' was
properly the large plait or fold formed by the 'toga' or 'palla' across
the breast, and on the skilful arrangement of this the graceful effect
of the drapery chiefly depended.
7. Eapidos soles. The epithet 'rapidus* is appropriately applied to
a swift-flashing fl^rne, or the swift-darting rays of the sun.
Aestuat ut clausis rapidus fornacibus ignis.
Virg. G. 4. 63.
Ne tenues pluviae rapidive potentia soils, &c.
Ibid. i. 92.
TJmbraculum will signify anything that affords shade, here it is
a 'parasol/ and so Ov. A. A. 2. 209
Ipse tene distenla suis umbracula virgis.
In Tibull. 2. 5, 97, it means a temporary tent, hi Virg. E. 9. 42, the
shadowy umbrage of the vines,
bic Candida populus antro
Imminet et lentae texunt umbracula vites,
and in Cicero, ' a school of philosophy,' an application of the term
derived from groves of Academe and other shady retreats where the
Athenian sages were wont to discourse to their disciples. Thus De
Legg. 3. 6, 14 Post a Tbeophrasto Pbalereus ille Demetrius mirabiliter dac-
trinam et umbraculis eruditorum, otioque, non modo in solem atqtie pulverem,
sed in ipsum discrimen aciemque produxit, and again, Brut. 9 e Theopbrasii
doctissimi bominis umbraculis.
9. Tmoli vineta. Tmolus was the name of a lofty group of hills in
the centre of Lydia, from which descend the head-waters of the Pactolus
and the Caystrus. Its slopes were celebrated for the wine which they
yielded, and hence the district is here termed ' nemus Bacchi.' Compare
Ov. Met. 6. 15
Deseruere sui Nympbae vineta Timoli,
and Virg. G. 2. 97
Stint et Amineae vites, jfirmissima vina,
Tmolius assurgit qnibus, et rex ipse Phanaeus.
The saffron also of this region was celebrated, Virg. G. i. 56
Nonne vides, croceos ut Tmolus odores,
India mittit ebur, molles sua tura Sabaeit
1 1 . Laqueata, ' fretted." ' Laquear ' and ' lacunar ' are the two
wo*ds employed to denote 'a fretted roof.' The former, derived from.
294 XOTES. 35.
' laqueus,' denotes tracery-work in the form of knots or nooses ; the latter,
from 'lacus,' the ornamented hollows or cavities which still may be
seen in the ceilings of some ancient buildings. Gothic architecture
affords examples of every variety of both kinds of ornaments.
n. Laqueataque. Observe that 'que' is here out of its proper
place; a prose writer would have said, 'laqueata tophis vivoque pumice.'
Tophis. . .pumice. The Romans gave the name of 'tophus' (or
' tofus ') to a rough, coarse-grained stone of volcanic, origin, found in
great quantities in the neighbourhood of Rome, and now called ' tufo.'
'Scaber' is the distinctive epithet applied by Virgil, to which Pliny
adds ' friabilis.' ' Pumex ' is another volcanic product, but of a much
finer texture; it has always been extensively used in the arts for
smoothing and polishing rough surfaces. In the poets both these
words are equivalent to ' native ' or ' living rock.' Thus in the exquisite
lines of Juvenal, S. 3. 1 7, on the marble decorated fountain of Egeria,
In vallem Egeriae descendimus, et speluncas
Dissimiles verts, quanta praestantius esset
Numen aquae, viridi si margine clauderet undas
Herba, nee ingenuum violarent marmora tofburu,
and Ov. Met 3. 157
Cuius in extremo antrum est nemorale recessu,
Arte laborat-um nulla; simulaverat arlem
Ingenio natura svo, nam pumice vivo,
Et levibus topbis nativum duxerat arcum.
12. Qarmlus, 'babbling.' So Horace, Od. 3. 13, 13, of the Ban-
dusian fount,
Fies nobilium to quoque fontium,
Me dicente cavis impositam ilicein
Saxis; wide loquaces
Lympbae deiiliunt titae.
15. Gaetulo murice. See note, p. 291.
17. Vincla relaxat. He bursts the strings by which the tunic was
drawn tight at the wrist.
22. The order of the words is, 'Et tela minora condita in sua
pharetra;' the arrows are called 'tela minora,' lesser weapons, in
comparison with the heavy club; 'sua pharetra,' the quiver which
belonged to them.
23. Sio. In this guise, Hercules attired in the robes of Omphale
Omphale equipped with the accoutrements of the hero.
FASTI. II. 193. 295
38. FABIORVM GLADES. FAS. n. 193.
1. Idibus. On the Ides of February the festival of Faunus was
celebrated. See Introduction to 15.
2. Insula. The 'Insula Tiberina,' which was situated near the
point where the Capitoline hill abuts upon the river, is said not to have
existed until after the expulsion of the Tarquins, and to have been
formed in the following manner: Livy, 2. 5 Ager Tarquiniorum, qui
inter urbem ac Tiberim fuit, consecratus Marti Martins deinde Campus fuit.
Forte ibi turn seges f arris dicitur fuisse matura messi, quern campi fructum
quia religiosum erat consumere, desectam cum stramento segefem magna vis
bominum simul immissa corbibus fudere in Tiberim tenui fluentem aqua, ut
ntediis caloribus solet; it a in vadis baesitantis frumenti acervos sedisse illitos
limo; insulam inde paulatim, et aliis, quaefert temere flumen, eodem invectis,
factam ; postea credo additas moles, manuque adiutum, ut tarn eminens area
Jirmaque templis quoque ac porticibus sustinendis esset.
This island contained temples of Faunus, Aesculapius, and Jupiter,
the shrines of the two last being contiguous, thus Ov. Fast. I. 21,1
Accepit Pboebo Nympbaque Coronide natum
Insula, dividua quam premit amnis aqua.
lupiter in parte est. Cepit locus unus utrumque :
lunctaque sunt magno templa nepotis avo.
Jupiter was the father of Phoebus, and therefore grandfather of
Aesculapius.
3. Veientibus arvis. The real position of the great, populous, and
wealthy city of Veil, so long the rival and deadly foe of Rome, has
been ascertained within the last few years only. The researches of Sir
William Cell have fixed the site beyond a doubt, although nothing
remains to gladden the eye of the antiquary, except a few crumbling
fragments of walls and some sepulchres hewn in the rock. It stood
upon a platform, surrounded on every side by deep hollows or ravines,
in the immediate vicinity of a spot now known as the Isola Farnese,
at a distance of little more than ten miles to the north of Rome. It
was nearly encompassed by two streams, now the Fosso dei due Fossi,
and the Fosso di Formello, which united below the citadel, and formed
the Cremera. Dionysius says that Veii, in the days of its prosperity,
was equal in extent to Athens the actual circumference of the walls
must have been upwards of five miles. After its capture by the Romans
it speedily sank into obscurity, and although colonies were planted there
296 NOTES. 36.
by Julius Caesar and Tiberius, it seems never to have revived. Pro-
pertius, 4. 10, 27, represents the place as completely desolate even in
his time, although the lines must have been written at the period when
the attempt was making to repeople the deserted walls :
Et Veil veteres et vos turn regna fuistis,
Et vestro posita est aurea sella foro.
Nunc inter tnuros pastoris buccina lend
Cantat, et in vestris ossibus arva metunt.
3. Haec fait ilia dies. This is directly contradicted by Livy, who
says that the destruction of the Fabii took place on the same day of the
year with the defeat of the Romans by the Gauls on the Allia, the
1 8th of July. Livy, 6. I Turn de diebus religiosis agitari coeptum, diemque
ante diem XV. Kalendas Sextiles, duplici clade insignem, quo die ad
Cremeram Fabii caesi, quo deinde ad Alliam cum exitio urbis foede ptig-
natum, a posteriors clade Alliensem appellarunt, insignemque rei nulli
publice privatimque agendae fecerunt.
6. Gentiles manus, ' the hands of the clansmen.' Those belonging
to the same ' gens ' were distinguished by the epithet ' gentiles.'
Arma professa. ' Quae se promiserant sumpturas.'
9. Cannentis, &c., ' the nearest way is through the right Janus of
the Carmental gate.' The meaning of these words seems to be this.
Many of the ancient gates consisted of three archways, a large one in
the middle, and a smaller one on each side l . But every archway open
at both ends, every 'pervia transitio,' was called a 'lanus*;' hence in
a gate such as we have described, the smaller archways would be called
respectively, 'Dexter lanus' and 'Sinister lanus.' Except upon extra-
ordinary occasions, the middle archway, for the sake of security, would
be kept closed, and those who went in and out, would pass through the
wickets on the right and left. We shall illustrate this line still further,
if we suppose that the same rule obtained in ancient times which is
observed on bridges and in narrow streets in many parts of the con-
tinent, viz. that each person shall keep to bis right band, which separates
the passengers going in opposite directions into two distinct streams,
which never collide. Hence those who went out of a town, would, as
a matter of course, take the Janus on their right ; the contrary must
have been the practice at the Carmental gate, and Ovid here gives
an explanation of the anomaly.
1 As we see in the triumphal arches of Severus and Constantine.
8 See p. 191.
FASTI. II. 193. 297
13. Cremeram. The Cremera (La Volca), now called in the earlier
part of its course the Fosso di Formello, is formed by a rivulet issuing
from the Lacus Sabatinus (Lago di Baccano), and some streamlets in
the immediate vicinity ; it receives, as we have seen above, a small
tributary under the citadel of Veii, and after a short course falls into
the Tiber, immediately opposite to Castel Giubileo, the ancient Fidenae.
In summer it is a small brook.
1 6. Tyrrhenum. It must be remembered that Veii was an Etrurian
city.
23. Campus, &c. Ovid here paints from fancy, for there is no
plain bounded by hills in the immediate neighbourhood of Veii. The
whole of the Roman Campagna, however, is full of deep hollows,
admirably calculated to conceal an ambushed foe.
25. Bara. Scattered up and down. See notes, p. 181, and p. 250.
31. Discursibus. See note, p. 211.
34. Simplex, ' free from guile,' ' unsuspicious.'
39. Silvis . . . Laurentibus. See note 22. 41, p. 240. The swampy
thickets on the Latian coast still abound with wild boars.
43-48. Without entering into any critical discussion with regard to
the truth or falsehood of the legend of the Fabii, it will be seen at a
single glance that the representation of Ovid is improbable. If three
hundred fighting men of the Fabian clan had marched out of Rome,
as described by the poet, they must have left behind them double that
number of old men and boys, without reckoning the females at all.
The narrative of Livy is not open to the same objection, for we are
told that the Fabii erected a fort upon the Cremera, a considerable
period before the fatal event, and to this their wives and children might
have been conveyed ; but Dionysius is still more cautious, for he ex-
pressly states that they settled upon the Cremera, accompanied by their
wives and a train of clients (9. 15), to which we may add the testimony
of Aulus Gellius, Sex et trecenti Fabii cum familiis snis circumventi
ferierunt.
45. Herculeae. . .gentis. The Fabii claimed descent from Hercules
raid a daughter of Evander.
49. Maxime. Quintus Fabius Maximus, who was chosen dictator
217 B.C., immediately after the battle of the Trasimene Lake, and for a
time checked the progress of Hannibal by his wise policy, which con-
sisted in perpetually harassing the enemy, and cutting off his supplies,
while at the same time he carefully avoided a general engagement.
From his attachment to these tactics he received the appellation of
Cunctator.'
298 NOTES. 37.
37. AGNOMINA. FAS. 1. 587.
1. Idibtts. On the Ides of January. The Extract is from the first
book of the Fasti.
2. Semimaris . . . ovis. A vervex ' or wether-sheep.
Libat. The verb ' libo,' which is the same in origin with
\t /3o>, (' fundo,' ' spargo,') assumes a number of different shades of
meaning. The most important of these we shall notice.
i. Its proper signification, from which all the others are derived,
is, ' to pour upon the ground, or place upon the altar, a small portion of
wine or any other oblation presented to a god.' Thus Virg. Aen. i. 736
of Dido,
Dixit, et in mensam laticum libavit bonorem,
Primaque, libato, summo tenus attigit ore,
and Ov. Fast. 3. 561, describing her obsequies,
Mixta bibunt molles lacrimis ttnguenta favillae,
Vertice libatas accipiuntque comas.
ii. Hence, generally, 'to consecrate' or sacrifice, both literally as in
Ov. Fast. i. 389
Ex/fi canum vtdt Trlviae libare Sapaeos,
and in Fast. I. 647, of the German spoils set apart for holy purposes by
Tiberius,
Inde triumpbatae libasti munera gentis,
Templaque fecisti, qttam colis ipse, Deae,
and also figuratively in Ov. E. ex P. i. 9, 41
lure igilur Celso lacrimas libamus adempto,
and in Prop. 4. 6, 7
Spargite me lympbis, carmenque recentibus arts
Tibia Mygdoniis libet eburna cadis.
iii. Simply, ' to pour ;' so Val. Flacc. 4. 15
Dixit, et arcana redolentem nectare rorem,
Quern penes alto, quies liquidique potentia somni,
Detulit, inque vagi libavit tempora nati.
iv. ' To take a little of anything,' and hence
(i) 'To taste,' 'drink.' (2) 'To touch lightly.' (3) 'To select.'
(4) ' To diminish,' ' consume."
I. In Virg. G. 4. 54, of bees,
Purpureosque metunt flares, et flumina libant
Sumrna lives.
FASTI. I. 587. 299
Again, Aen. 3. 354
Aulai in media libabant pocula Baccbi.
2. In Ov. Met. 10. 652, we read,
Signa tubae dederant, cum careers pronus uterque
Emicat, et summam celeri pede libat arenam,
and in Virg. Aen. i. 256, of Jupiter,
Oscvla libavit natae, debinc talia fatur.
3. In Cic. de Inv. 2. 2, we have,
Ex variis ingeniis excellentissima quaeque libavimus.
4. In Lucret. 5. 261
Ergo terra tibi libatur et aucta recrescit,
and in Prop. 4. 5, 57
Dum vernal sangjtis, dtim rtigis integer annus,
Vtere, ne quid eras libet ab ore dies.
3. Beddita . . . omnis provincia. Livy Epit. 134 Caesar rebus com-
positis et omnibus provinciis in certam formam redactis, Augustus quoque
cognominatus est.
All historians agree that the title of 'Augustus' was bestowed on
Octavianus in the year 27 B.C., upon the motion of Lucius Munatius
Plancus, but there are variations with regard to the precise day. Ovid
here fixes upon the i.^th of January, the Fasti Verriani on the i6th, and
Censorinus on the 1 7th. These may be easily reconciled, by supposing
that the proposal was made upon the first of these days, but that all
the formalities were not completed till the last.
4. Tuus. . .avus. Ovid is addressing Germanicus. See note on 9. 10,
p. 185-
. -Generosa atria, ' noble high-born halls.'
Ceras. In allusion to the waxen figures of those who had enjoyed a
curule office, which were treasured by their descendants, and ranged,
with the names attached, in wooden cases round the walls of the
' atrium,' the principal apartment of a Roman mansion.
6. Contigerunt. See Manual of Latin Prosody, p. 102.
7. Africa. This may refer either to Publius Cornelius Scipio Afri-
canus the elder, who overthrew Hannibal at Zama, 202 B.C., and thus
terminated the second Punic War, or to his grandson by adoption,
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, who captured and destroyed Car-
thage, 146 B.C.
Isauras. Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus, who was Consul 79
B.C., and in 77 B.C. was sent against the pirates of Cilicia. He re-
duced the Isauri, a mountain tribe who dwelt in the fastnesses of Taurus
300 KOTES. 37.
between Cilicia and Lycaonia, and, on his return to Rome, was honoured
with a triumph and the title of ' Isauricus.'
8. Cretum. Q. Caecilius Metellus Creticus was Consul 69 B.C.,
and the following year ravaged Crete with fire and sword, it being
suspected that the Cretans were disposed to favour Mithridates.
9. Nnrrridae. Q. Caecilius Metellus Numidicus was Consul 109
B.C., and prosecuted the war against Jugurtha during that and the
following year. In 107 B.C. he was superseded by Marius, to whom
fell the glory of carrying Jugurtha captive to Rome, 106 B.C.
Messaoia. No Roman general ever received the title ' Messanicus,'
but the person alluded to here is Appius Claudius Caudex, who was
Consul 264 B.C., and began the first Punic War by marching to the
relief of the Mamertines of Messana, who were besieged by Hiero
and the Carthaginians.
10. Numantina. The younger Scipio Africanus, who, as we ob-
served in the Introduction, received the additional title of Numantinus
upon the reduction of Numantia 133 B.C.
11. Drusus Claudius Nero, brother of the Emperor Tiberius,
(see p. 184,) who was killed, 9 B.C., by a fall from his horse, in
Germany, having previously received the title ' Germanicus,' on account
of his victories in that country. The poem entitled 'Consolatio ad
Liviam,' addressed to the mother of Drusus upon his death, has been
attributed to Ovid. See preliminary remarks.
15. Ex uno quidam, &c., 'certain persons have acquired renown
by vanquishing a single adversary.'
Torquis ademptae. The cognomen of ' Torquatus,' which belonged
to one of the families of the ' Gens Manlia,' is said to have been thus
acquired. Twenty-eight years after the capture of Rome by the Gauls,
an army of these barbarians advanced as far as the third milestone from
the city, and encamped on the right bank of the Anio. T. Quinctius
Pennus, who had been chosen dictator, went forth with a great host
to meet the enemy. The rest of the narrative should be read in the
picturesque language of Livy, 7. 9 and 10. A gigantic Gaul having
challenged the Roman army, T. Manlius was allowed to accept the
challenge, slew the Gaul and spoiled him of the ' torques ' or necklace,
the characteristic ornament of a Gaulish warrior.
16. Corvi auxiliaris. A similar tale was attached to the cognomen
' Corvinus,' which belonged to one of the families of the ' Gens Valeria.'
Thirteen years after the event described in the last note, a band of Gauls
made their way into the Pomptine territory. M. Valerius, a military
FASTI. I. 587. 301
tribune, having accepted the challenge of a Gaul to single combat, was
assisted in the encounter by a raven, (' corvus,') which alighted on his
helmet and attacked his adversary with beak and .claw.
1 7. Magne. Pompey, upon his return to Rome after the destruction
of the Marian party in Sicily and Africa, was saluted by Sulla with this
title. Although only a knight and a private Individual, never having
held any of the great offices of state, he was allowed a triumph, being
the first Roman to whom such a distinction had been granted in like
circumstances.
1 8. Q,ui te vicit. Julius Caesar at the battle of Pharsalia, 48 B.C.
20. Meritis Maxima dicta. Compare Livy, 9. 46 (304 B.C.)
Q. Fabius et P. Decius censores facti, et Fabius simul concordiae causa,
simul ne bumillimorum in manu comitia essent, omnem forensem turbam
excretam in quatuor tribus coniecit, urbanasque eas appellavit ; adeoque earn
rem acceptam gratis animis ferunt, ut Maximi cognomen, quod tot victories
non pepererat, bac ordinum temperatione pareret.
17, 1 8, 20. Observe the play upon the words magne, maior,
maximus, in these three lines.
22. Hie. Augustus.
23-27. A dissertation on the meaning and derivation of the word
augustus, which he deduces from ' augeo.' Compare Suet. Octav. 7
Postea Caesaris et deinde Augusti cognomen assumpsit : alterum testamenlo
maioris avunculi; alterum Munatii Planci sententia : quum, quibusdarn
censentibus, Romulum appellari oportere, quasi et ipsum conditorem urbis,
praevaluisset, ut Augustus points vocaretur, non tantum novo, sed etiam
ampliore cognomine. [quod loca quoque religiosa, et in quibus augurato
quid consecratur, augusta dicantur, ab auctu, vel ab avium gestu, gustuve,
sicut etiam Ennius docet, scribens :
Augusta augurio postquam inclyta condita Roma est 1 .']
So also Dion Cassius 53. 16 irdvra yap rcL (vn^uTara Kal ra Itpurara
avfovara npoaayopevtTai.
25. Huius et, &c., i.e. the word 'augurium' is derived from the
same root with 'augustus' both being derived from 'augeo.' This
etymology of 'augurium,' however, is by no means satisfactory.
Augur ' is in all probability connected with ' avis.'
29. Cognominis heres. Tiberius.
1 The words within brackets are considered by all good editors to be
an interpolation.
302 XOTES. 38.
38. NARRAT DIGRESSVM, TR. I. 3.
GEMITVS LVCTVSQVE SVORVM.
5. Ltoc aderat. Three MSS. have 4 nox aderat,' which is unne-
cessary. It appears from the whole of this elegy that Ovid set out from
Rome at daybreak, (see particularly lines 71, 72,) and he would appear
to be describing, although not in regular order, the events which took
place during the last day spent by him in the city and during the night,
towards the close of which he actually commenced his journey.
6. Finibus extremae Ausoniae, i. e. ' extremis finibus Ausoniae.'
With regard to ' Ausonia,' see note, p. 290.
14. Convaluere, recovered their vigour. 1
16. Q,Tii modo, &c, 'who from many were now reduced to one or
two.' Compare Trist. I. 5, 33
Vix duo tresve mihi de tot superestis, amid.
Cetera fortunae, non mea turba fuit,
and Ep. ex P. 2. 3, 29, addressed to Maximus,
Cumque alii nolint etiam me nosse fateri,
Vix duo proiecto tresve tulislis opem ;
Quorum tu princeps.
1 8. Indignas. . .genas, 'her cheeks, which deserved not to be dis-
figured with marks of woe.'
19. Procul, 'at a distance;' diverse, 'in an opposite direction from
that in which I was about to journey.'
26. Haec facies, &c. Compare Cic. In Verr. Act. 2. Lib. 4. 23
Quern concursum in oppido factum putatis 1 quern clamorem f quern porro
fletum mulierum f qui viderent, equum Troianum introductum vrbem
captam esse dtcerent.
29. Ab hac, i. e. ' Postquam hanc aspexi.' The variations in the
MSS. probably arose from the expression not being understood.
30. Lari, ' to my home.'
37. Caelesti viro. Augustus.
Error. See Life of Ovid.
44. The extinction of the fire in the 'atrium' always indicated the de-
sertion of a dwelling.
45. Adversos will signify ' the Penates, whose statues stood in front
of her as she knelt before the hearth." Heinsius conjectured 'aversos,'
' turned away in wrath,' which is supported by Hor. Od. 3. 23, 19
Mollivit aversos Penates
Farre pio, et saliente mica.
TRIST. I. 3. 303
48. Axe. Observe the different modifications in the meaning of the
word ' axis.'
(1) The axle of a wheel,' and hence by synecdoche, ' a car' or ' chariot.'
(2) The imaginary axle on which the universe appears to revolve.'
(.V) The extremity of this axle, 'the poles,' and especially 'the north
pole.' (4) Any quarter of the heavens, 'the heavens' in general, 'the
canopy of heaven,' ' the open air.' (5) A climate' or 'region.'
(l) Post valido nitens sub pondere faginus axis
Instrepat, et iunctos tetno trabat aereus orbes,
Virg. G. 3. 172.
Quod sit avus, radiis frontem vallatus acutis,
Purpureo tepidum qui movet axe diem.
Ov. Her. 4. 159.
(2) She enim ipse mundus dens est, quid potest esse minus quietum,
quant nullo puncto temporis intermisso versari circum axem caeli admirabili
celeritate 1 Cic. N. D. I. 20.
Ter sine perpetuo caelum versetur in axe.
Ov. Fast. 4. 179.
(3) Te geminum Titan procedere vidit in axem.
Lucan 7. 422.
Quin etiam caeli regionem in cortice signant
Vt, quo quaeque modo steterit, qua parte calores
Austrinos tulerit, quae terga obverlerit axi,
Restitnant. Virg. G. 2. 269.
(4) Axe sub Hesperio sunt pascua Solis equorum.
Ov. Met. 4. 214.
lacet extra sidera tellus,
Extra anni solisque vias, ubi caelifer Atlas
Axem bumero torquet stellis ardenlibus aptum.
Virg. Aen. 6. 796.
Progenies magnum caeli ventura sub axem.
Virg. Aen. 6. 791.
Aedibus in mediis nudoque sub aetberis axe
Ingens ara fttit, iuxtaque veterrima laurus.
Virg. Aen. a. 512.
(5) Aetbiopidem (sc. berbam) ab exusto sideribus axe.
Plin. H.N. 27.1.
So also ' polus* is used to denote ' the whole heavens,'
Postera iamque dies primo surgebat Eoo,
Humentemque Aurora polo dimoverat umbram
Virg. Aen. 3. 588.
304 NOTES. 38.
et polo
Deripere Lunam vocibus possum mels.
Hor. Epod. 17. 77.
48. Parr basis Arctos, 'the Arcadian Bear.' 'Parrhasis' is the
feminine Graeco-poetic form of the adjective ' Parrhasius,' which, as
we have already seen 1 , is equivalent to ' Arcadian.'
The brilliant constellation known to us as the Great Bear, which never
sets in European latitudes, was named by the early Greeks ' The Wain '
("Afiaa), or ' The Bear" ('Ap*Tos) ; by the Latins ' Plaustrum,' or ' Septum
Triones ' (i. e. Seven Oxen).
Among the objects represented by the skill of Hephaestus on the
shield of Achilles, Horn. II. 18. 486, we find the stars which had chiefly
attracted observation at that early period,
11X77(0805 6' 'TaSas Tf TO rt aOtvos 'npicavos,
*ApKTov , fjv xal dfjofav kit'iKXrjaiv KaKtovaiv,
TJT' aiirov arpfiptrai, Kai r' 'CLpicava Soictvti,
otr) 5' a^fJLOpus tan \ocrpSiv 'fltcfavoio.
Pleiads, and Hyads, and Orion's might,
And the she Bear, whom they the Wain loo call.
Who turning ever treads the self-same round
Watching Orion, and alone of all
Partakes not in the baths of Ocean's stream.
We may remark that the two characteristics of the Bear are here noted
it never sets, and appears to turn round a fixed point in the heavens.
From the last circumstance the name of ' Helice' ("EAwn?) was bestowed
on the group, in addition to the other appellations.
In after times it was associated with the legend of Callisto, daughter
of Lycaon, king of Arcadia. This damsel attached herself to the train
of Artemis, but was deceived and betrayed by Zeus, upon which Hera in
wrath transformed her into a bear. After wandering for many years in
this shape, she was encountered and wellnigh slain by her son Areas, but
Zeus arrested the arrow as it was quitting the bow, and to recompense
his mistress for her sufferings, planted her as a constellation in the
heavens 2 . Areas became Arctophylax ' or ' Bootes,' his dog ' The
Lesser Bear.' Hera, still burning with jealousy, begged as a boon from
1 Note, p. 197.
2 There were several different accounts of the parentage of Callisto, as
may be seen from Apollod. 3. 8, 2. According to Apollodorus she WHS
changed into a bear by Zeus, and shot by Artemis. The common version of
the story is given by Ov. Met. 2. 401, seqq. Fast. 2. 155, seqq. Apollodorus
says nothing about Areas being turned into a constellation.
TRIST. I. 3. . 305
Tethys that her rival might never be permitted to cool herself in thte
waters of the deep. Thus Ov. Fast. 2. 187
Hanc puer ignarus iaculo fixisset acuto;
Ni foret in superas raptus uterqve domus.
Signa propinqua micant. Prior est qtiam dicimus Arcton :
Arctopbylax formam terga sequentis babet.
Saevit adhuc, canamque rogat Saturnia Tetbyn
Maenaliam tactis ne lavet Arc ton aquis,
and again Met. 2. 508
Gurgite caeruleo septem probibete tr tones.
The address of Ceres, Fast. 4. 577, when in search of her lost daughter,
refers to the same phenomenon :
Parrbasides stellae, namque omnia nosse potestis,
Aequoreas numquam quutn subeatis aquas,
Persepbonem miserae natam monstrate parenti :
Dixerat. Huic Helice talia verba refert.
The ' Lesser Bear' was also termed ' Cynosura' (KVVOS ovpd.), or ' Dog's
tail.' The Grecian mariners steered their course by the Greater Bear,
while the Phoenicians, as might have been expected from their superior
skill in navigation, chose Cynosura as their guide, and probably the
Pole-star itself. Thus Ovid, when expatiating on the ignorance of
astronomy which prevailed in the age of Romulus, exclaims, Fast. 3.
i5
Quis tune out Hyadas, ant Pleiadas Atlanteas
Senserat aut geminos esse sub axe polos f
Esse duas Arctos; qnarum Cynosura petatur
Sidoniis, Helicen Grata carina notet,
and Hygin. Poet. Astron. 2. 2 Omnes qui Peloponnesum incolunt, priore
utuntur Arc to : Pboenices autem, quam a suo inventor e acceperunt, observant
Cynosuram, et bane studiosius perspiciendo diligenlius navigare existimantur.
From what has been said above, the various epithets and periphrases
employed to denote these personages will be readily understood, such
are, ' Virgo Tegeaea,' ' Virgo Nonacrina,' ' Periura Lycaoni,' ' Maenalis
Ursa,' ' Lycaoniam Arcton,' ' Gustos Ursae,' ' Gustos Erymanthidos
Ursae,' 'Parrhasiae gelido virginis axe premor,' &c.
54. Horam . . . quae foret apta. It is well known that in many
parts of the East to this day no one will set out upon a journey, or
commence any important undertaking, until ' a lucky hour' has beeu
fixed upon by an astrologer.
55. Ter limen tetigi. See note on 2. 88.
306 . NOTES. 38.
60. Pignora, pledges, pledges of love, hence children, and hence
relations and friends in general. Thus Pliny Ep. i. 12 Corellium...
babeniem . . .filiam, uxorem, nepotem, sorores, interque tot pignora, veros
amicos.
61. Scythia. The name of Scythians is quite as vague in ancient
geography, as those of Tartars and Mongols are at present. We some-
times find the name applied to a particular people, and sometimes to all
the nomad tribes who were settled throughout that immense tract of
country extending from the north of the Black and Caspian seas into the
heart of Asia. The same uncertainty prevails in the use of a name for
the country, the term Scythia being sometimes applied to the region
inhabited by Scythians properly so called, and sometimes employed as
an indefinite appellation for the modem Mongolia and Tartary. The
settlements assigned to the Scythians proper by Herodotus, extend from
the Danube to the Tanais, or Don, around which several other tribes had
their residence. The boundaries are on the south, the coast of the
Black Sea, from the mouth of the Danube to the Palus Maeotis ; on the
east, the Persian Gulf and the Don or Tanais, to its rise out of the
lake Ivan ; on the north, a line drawn from this lake to that out of
which the Tyrus (or Danaster) flows ; lastly, the western boundary was
a line from thence to the Danube. Thus the figure of Scythia is that of
an irregular oblong, which Herodotus ascribes to it l .
66. Thesea . . . fide. The friendship of Theseus and Pirithous, like
that of Orestes and Pylades (see p. 164), was proverbial. Compare Hor.
Od. 4. 7, 37
Nee Letbaea valet Theseus abrumpere caro
Vincula Piriiboo.
With regard to Pirithous and his punishment in the infernal regions see
Hor. Od. 3. 4, 80, Virgil Aen. 6. 601 and 617; also Horn. Odyss. 1 1. 650,
Apollod. 2. 5, 12, and note of Heyne.
75, 76. It will be seen from the various readings that the best MSS.
agree in presenting this couplet under the form given in the text. As it
stands it is perfectly unintelligible.
Three MSS. have 'Mettius' instead of Priamus, seven others have
' equos ;' taking these for his guides, Heinsius thus remodelled the lines,
Sic doluit Mettus, tune cum in contraria versos
Vltores babuit proditionis equos,
according to which emendation Ovid will here allude to the punishment
1 Heeren's Historical Remarks, vol. 2, p. 253, English Transl.
TRIST. III. jo. 30;
inflicted by Tullus Hostilius on Mettius Fufetius, dictator of Alba, on
account of his treachery towards the Romans in a battle with the
Fidenates, as recorded by Livy i. 27 and 28.
86. Pietas, ' dutiful affection.' This word signifies properly reverence
and affection entertained towards a superior. Hence the epithet ' pius '
so frequently bestowed upon Aeneas in consequence of his devotion to
his father. Here it denotes the love and duty of a wife to her husband.
88. Dedit . . . manus, ' submitted,' a figurative expression taken from
captives, who, in token of submission, held out their hands to be fettered.
89. Ferri. Ferre ' and ' efferre ' are the technical words employed
in reference to bearing forth bodies on the bier for interment.
39. QVA DOCET OVIDIVS TR. m. 10.
MANET ORBIS PARTE FVGATVS.
I. Istic, 'there,' i.e. at Rome.
3. Suppositum. Ovid, deceived by the severity of the winters on
the Euxine, seems never to have suspected that his new abode was but
little to the north of Rome, and that the stars which remained con-
stantly above the horizon of Tomi, were, with very few exceptions, the
same as those which never set in Italy. The latitude of Rome is 41
53' N., while Tomi is about 43 46' N., being under nearly the same
parallel with Florence.
5. The Sauromatae (Savpo/idrat), or, as they frequently were called
by Roman writers, the Sarmatae, were considered by Herodotus (4. 21)
as a race distinct from the Scythians, and occupied, in his time, the vast
steppe which extends from the Tanais (Don) as far as the Rha (Wolga),
on the north and east, and the Caucasus on the south. In after time
Sarmatia comprehended the whole tract of country contained between
the 45th and 85th meridians of E. Longitude, and stretching from the
47th parallel of N. Latitude to the confines of the known world on the
north, being thus bounded on the west by the banks of the Vistula,
on the east by the shores of the Mare Hyrcanum (Caspian Sea), on
the south by the coasts of the Euxine and the Palus Maeotis (Sea of
Azof), and divided by the Tanais into ' Sarmatia Europaea' and ' Sar-
matia Asiatica.' In Ovid the Sauromatae are classed along with the
Getae, and other barbarian hordes, who dwelt along the northern bank
of the Danube towards its mouth.
Bessique. The Bessi occupy the greater portion of Mount Haemus,
X 2
308 NOTES. 39.
and from their depredations are called robbers ; they dwell in buts, and lead
a wildlife. Strabo 7. 5, 13.
The incursions of the Bessi npon the Tomitae would be from the
south, while the attacks of the Sauromatae and Getae were from the
north. The Bessi are mentioned by Herodotus as belonging to the
great tribe of the Satrae, the only Thracian people which had never
been subdued (7. 10).
5. Getaeque. The Getae seem at this period to have been considered
identical with the Daci, and occupied the country called Dacia, which
was bounded on the south by the Danube, on the west by the Tibiscus
(Teiss), on the east by the Euxine, and on the north by the Tyras or
Danaster (Dniester), which divided it from the seats of the Bastarnae,
in European Sarmatia, thus occupying the modern Moldavia, Wallachia,
and a considerable portion of Hungary. These limits, however, varied
much from time to time, and at no period were they very accurately
denned. The Getae or Daci dwelt originally on the south of the
Danube, where they possessed the whole valley of Moesia as far as
Mount Haemus, now Servia and Bulgaria; they were driven to the
north of the Danube by Philip of Macedon and Alexander, and from
that time are generally spoken of in connection with Scythian and
Sarmatian tribes.
II, 12. Critics have hitherto failed in their attempts to explain these
words as they are exhibited in the best MSS., nor has any emendation
been proposed which can be received with confidence. The true reading
has probably not yet been discovered, but there seem no grounds for
supposing the couplet to be altogether spurious.
27. Papyrifero. . .amne ; i. e. the Nile, one of the few streams in the
world where the papyrus is found, whose inner coats were employed
by the ancients in the manufacture of paper, which derives its name
from this plant. The process is minutely described by Pliny H. N.
13. ii, 12. Compare Ov. Met. 15. 752
Scilicet aequoreos plus est domttisse Brilannos,
Perque pafyriferi septemftua jjumina fftli,
Victrices egisse rates.
a8. Vasto freto. The Euxine.
Multa per ora. The Danube is said by Ovid to have seven mouths,
Trist. 2. 189
Solus ad egressus missus septemplicis Istri,
Parrbasiae gelido virginis axe premor.
TRIST. III. 10. 309
So the Nile, Met. 5. 187
At Nileus, qui se genifum septemplice Nilo
Ementitus erat,
which in like manner is called ' septemgeminus ' by Virgil. The mouths
of the Nile are now reduced to two, while geographers reckon five as
belonging to the Danube. Of these two only are navigable.
38. Testa, which signifies properly any piece of pottery, is here used
to denote the smooth brittle crust of ice.
41. Leandre. The story of Leander, 'the young, the beautiful,
the brave,' who was wont to swim across the Hellespont by night from
Abydos, to visit his beloved Hero, the fair priestess of Aphrodite at
Sestos, and was at length drowned during a storm, is fully detailed
in the two epistles of Ovid 1 , addressed to each other by the fond pair ;
and in a Greek poem, of uncertain date, which bears the name of
Musaeus 2 . Virgil also alludes to the tale when descanting on the
force of love :
Quid invents, mngnum cut versat in ossibtts ignem
Durus amor? Nempe abruptis turbata procellis
Node natal caeca serus freta ; quern super ingens
Porta tonat caeli, et scopulis inlisa reclamant
Aequora ; nee miseri possunt revocare parentes,
Nee moritvra super crudeli funere virgo, G. 3. 258.
There can be liltle doubt that the history was founded on some local
legend: that the feat is possible has been proved by the successful
attempts of Lord Byron and Mr. Ekenhead, both of whom achieved
the task. The distance between the two castles is one mile and a
quarter, but it is almost impossible to swim straight across, in con-
sequence of the rapidity of the current.
52. The words redundatas flumine ... aquas would strictly mean
' water proceeding from the overflowing river,' as in Fast. 6. 401
Hoc, vbi mine fora stint, udae tennere paludes :
Amne redundatis fossa madebat aquis,
but in the passage before us the expression must be taken as equivalent
to ' the waters of the brimming river,' as opposed to the waters of the
sea in the line above.
55. Equo pollens. Like the Cossacks of our own day.
62. Laremque suum. Compare v. 30 of preceding Extract
63. Hamatis, ' hooked," i. e. barbed.
1 Ov. Her. 18 and 19. * Musaei Carmen de Herone ct Leandro.
310 NOTES. 40.
64. Nam refers to ' misere confixa ' in the preceding line.
Tinctile virus, ' poison in which they have been dipped.'
70. Situ. See note, p. 243.
72. Musta lacus. The 'lacus' was the large vat in which the juice
of the grape ('mustum') was received when pressed out of the 'prelum.'
73. Acontius was a youth of Cea, who having repaired to Delos
to witness certain solemn rites, became desperately enamoured of a
noble maiden Cydippe, engaged in ministering to Diana. In order to
gain his wish, he inscribed upon an apple the words ' Per Dianam iuro
me Acontii futuram coniugem.' He then threw down the fruit, which
was picked up by the damsel, who, as soon as she had pronounced the
words of the legend became bound as by a solemn oath to be the bride
of Acontius. Ovid has worked up the tale with great skill and beauty
in two epistles l , and alludes to it again A. A. i. 457
Litera Cydippen, porno perlata, fefellit,
Insciaque est verbis capta puella suis,
and in R. A. 381
Callimacbi numeris non est dicendus Achilles:
Cydippe non est oris, Homere, tut.
The last lines manifestly relate to a poem of Callimachus upon this
theme, of which disjointed fragments are still extant 2 .
40. VITA POETAE. TR. iv. 10.
8. Nearly the same couplet is found in Amor. 3. 15, 5
Si quid id est, usque a proavis vetus ordinis beres,
Non modo militiae turbine factus eques.
10. The order of the words is, ' Qui ortus erat quater tribus mensibus
ante,' who had been born four times three months before.
13. For a full account of the festival of Minerva, see Introduction
to 30.
15. Protinua, i. e. forthwith from our early years we are educated
with care.
16. Insignes ab arte viros, 'men distinguished by their ability.'
Some commentators would confine 'arte' to the Ars Grammatica, but
1 Heroid. 20 and 21.
8 There is an interesting disquisition on Cydippe and Acontius in the
Mytho'ogus of Buttmann.
TRIST. IV. 10. 311
it ought to be taken in a general sense, 'men rendered distinguished
by learning and accomplishments.' Merula understands it thus :
'After concluding our grammatical studies ('ab arte') we betake
ourselves to the distinguished men of the city,' i. e. to rhetoricians
and others.
11. Maeonides. See note on 3. 9, p. 154.
24. Verba soluta modis, ' words released from measures,' i. e. prose.
28. Liberior . . . toga. The 'toga virilis** usually assumed at the
age of seventeen.
29. Induiturque. This line and the expression below, 'clavi men-
sura coacta est," have given rise to many discussions, inasmuch as they
refer to certain arrangements with regard to. the 'Equites,' introduced
under the Empire, the nature of which is not distinctly understood.
It appears from a comparison of several passages in Dion Cassius and
Tacitus, that Augustus divided the knights into two classes; I. The
' Equites illustres,' ' splendidi,' or ' Laticlavii,' were the sons of senators,
or of persons possessing the fortunes of senators; they were thus
qualified to enjoy the great offices of state, and if they entered into
public life, were permitted to wear the ' Tunica Laticlavia ' by anticipa-
tion ; 2. The ' Equites modici,' or ' Angusticlavii,' were not the sons
of senators, and did not possess the fortune requisite for senators, and
consequently were ineligible to the chief magistracies. Ovid belonged
to the former class, and consequently so long as he was a candidate for
public distinction, appeared with the ' latus clavus," which he laid aside
as soon as he abandoned all ambitious views. See Dion Cassius 54.
3: 59- 9; 55- 2; 56. 27, Tacit. Ann. i. 73 ; i. 59; n. 4; 16. 17,
Agric. 4, and the commentators ; also Rubenius de Re Vestiaria, in the
Thesaurus of Graevius, where the question is treated at great length.
34. Eque viris . . . tribus. There were various offices at Rome,
usually filled by persons who aspired to higher magistracies, and con-
sidered as the first steps to preferment. Thus we read of the ' Triumviri
Monetales," Commissioners of the Mint; 'Triumviri Nocturni,' Com-
missioners of the Night Police ; ' Triumviri Capitales,' Commissioners
who had the charge of prisoners and attended the execution of criminals.
39. Aoniae . . . sorores. The muses who haunted the Boeotian hill
of Helicon, the fountains Aganippe and Hippocrene, and the streams
of Olmius and Permessus. Aonia was an ancient name of Bocotia.
Compare Virg. E. 6. 64
Turn canit, errantem Permessi ad flvmlna Gallutn
Aortas in monies vt duxerit una sororum,
Vt^ue viro Pboebi cborus assurrexerit omnis.
312 NOTES. 40.
47. Pontoons Heroo. Ponticus was the author of a pom on the
The ban War, and is addressed in the most flattering terms by Pro-
pertius, i. 7, i
Dvm tibi Cadmeae dicvntur, Potitice, Tbebae,
Armaque fratemae tristia militiae,
Atque (it a sim felix) pritno contendis Homero,
Sint modo fata tuis mollia carminibus.
See also Prop. I. 9.
Bassus. Of this poet we know nothing, and even the name is
uncertain, since the MSS. have Bacchus, Battus, or Batus. At all events,
he must not be confounded with Salleius Bassus *, nor with Caesius
Bassus 2 , both of whom were distinguished bards in the reign of
Vespasian.
50. The emphasis is upon Ausonia. It must be remembered that
Horace, Od. 4. 9, I, claimed the honour of having first adapted the
Lyric strains of Greece to Latin measures :
Ne forte credos in/eritura, quae
Longe sonantem natus ad Aufidum
Non ante vulgatas per artes
Verba loqitor socianda cbordis.
53. Galle. See note on 5. 64, p. 173.
Propertius was born in Umbria, on the confines of Etruria. The
precise year of his birth is not known, but since it appears from this
passage that he was older than Ovid, and younger than Tibullus, and
since the latter must have been born about 59 B.C., and the former in
43 B.C., we cannot be far wrong if we fix upon 53 B.C., the year in
which Crassus and his legions were destroyed by .the Parthians, as the
approximate date. The time of his death is absolutely unknown s .
The works of Propertius which have descended to modern times
consist of a series of compositions in elegiac verse, divided into four
books. It may be remarked that the poems in the fourth book differ
considerably in character from the rest, being chiefly -on historical
and antiquarian subjects ; and many suppose that some of these first ,
suggested to Ovid the idea of his Fasti, while the greater number of
1 See Quinctil. I. O. IO. I, 90, Dial, de cans, corrupt, eloq. 5 and 9.
8 See Quinctil. I. O. lo. I, 96, Schol. ad Pers. S. 6. i.
8 The few particulars which can be ascertained with regard to Proper-
tius are to be gathered from his own works. The chief passages are
i. 22, i ; 4. i, 61, 121 ; 2. 24, 35; 2. 34, 55; I. 6, 25; a. 20, 15; 3.
23> 23-
TRIST. IV. 10. 313
the pieces which constitute the first three books are of an amatory
description, being for the most part addressed to Cynthia, the mistress
of the bard.
57. Legi. Before printing was invented, the only way in which a
poet could make his works generally known was by reading them to
audiences collected for this purpose.
68. Fabula nulla, &c. No tale was attached to my name no
reports were ever spread injurious to my character. In other words,
I enjoyed an unblemished reputation.
78. Lustris. The 'lustrum' (from 'luo') was, properly speaking,
the purificatory sacrifice offered up for the whole body of the Roman
citizens at the end of every five years, when the census was taken.
Hence 'lustrum' is very frequently used to denote a period of five years.
The meaning of this line manifestly is, that the father of Ovid had
completed twice nine lustra, or ninety years, at the period of his death.
80. lusta. See note on 20. 37, p. 233.
90. Errorem, &c. See Life of Ovid.
95. Pisaea oliva. A wreath of Oleaster or wild Olive (K&nvos) was
the prize bestowed on the victors in the Olympian games celebrated
at Olympia in Elis, on the river Alpheus, in the immediate vicinity
of Pisa. Compare Virg. G. 3. 179
Sin ad bella magis stndium turmasqiie feroces,
Aut Alpbea rotis praelabi flumina Pisae,
Et lovis in luco currus agitare volantes.
96. Abstulerat decies, &c. It appears from this passage and from
Ep. ex P. 4. 6, 5, written soon after the death of Augustus,
In Scythia nobis quinquennis Olympias acta est,
lam tempus lu&tri transit in alterius,
that Ovid confounded the Olympiad of four years with the Roman
' lustrum ' of five. See Appendix on Calendar.
Victor equus. All the MSS. have ' eques.' Bentley and Burmann
agree in adopting the emendation ' equus,' for it seems to be certain
that in the Olympic contest the horses and not the riders or drivers
were crowned. So Hor. Od. 4. 2, 17
Sive, qitos Elea domtim rediicit
Palma caelestes, pugilemve eqwumve,
Dicit, et cent-urn potiore signis
Munere donat,
and A. P. 84
Musa dedit fidibtis Di'vos puerosqite Deorntn,
Et pugilem victorem, et eqmim certamine primutn,
Et iuvenum euros, et libera vina referre.
3H NOTES. 40.
Hence Theocritus (Eidyll. 16. 47) calls the conquering steeds ffr((j>avr)(f>6poi,
and Plutarch (Sympos. 2. 4") says that they alone of all animals shared
the rewards of victory. Bentley supposes the error to have arisen from
the false reading ' abstuleram,' found in almost all the MSS., which
makes the introduction of ' eques ' necessary.
97. Tomitas. See Introduction to 39.
106. The construction is somewhat harsh. ' Cepi arma manu insolita
temporis.' The meaning *is clearly, ' I grasped arms unsuited to my
time of life."
no. Sarmatis ora Getis. See note on 39. 5, p. 307.
122. Ab exsequiis, i. e. ' after death.'
123. Liver. See note on 3. i, p. 154.
APPENDIX.
ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR.
IN giving an account of the Roman Calendar, it will be convenient
first to explain that portion of the subject concerning which our infor-
mation is full and complete ; and then to pass on to the consideration
of those points which are comparatively doubtful and obscure. Accord-
ing to this plan, we shall commence at once with an account of the
constitution of the Julian Year l .
1. At the time when Julius Caesar attained to supreme power, the
Calendar had, from causes which will be afterwards explained, fallen
into great confusion. The dictator therefore resolved to reform the whole
system, and being himself versed in astronomy 2 , with the aid of
Sosigenes, a peripatetic philosopher of Alexandria, and Flavius, a
Roman scribe, introduced, in 45 B. C., that division of time which, with
a few modifications, is still employed among all Christian nations, and
received from its author the name of the Julian Year.
The solar year, or the period between the two vernal equinoxes, was
supposed to contain 365 days ; but, to prevent the inconvenience which
would have arisen from the use of fractional parts, three years out of
four were regarded as consisting of 365 days, while every fourth year
had 366.
2. The Roman year had from a very early period been divided into
twelve months. This number and the ancient names were retained, but
the distribution of the days was changed. By the new arrangement,
lanuarius, the first month, had 31 days; Februarius, 28 in ordinary
years, and every fourth year 29; Martins, 31 ; Aprilis, 30; Maius, 31 ;
1 The principal authorities are Plutarch, Vit. Caes. 59, Dion Cassius 43.
26, Appian. B. C. Ii, Ov. Fast. 3. 155, Sueton. Jul. 40, Plin. H. N. 18, 25,
Censerinus 20, Macrob. S. I. 14, Ammian. Marcell. 26. I.
1 See Macrob. S. i. 16.
316 APPENDIX.
lunius, 30; Quintilis, 31; Sextilis, 31; September, 30; October, 31;
November, 30; December, 31.
In the year 44 B. C., Marcus Antonius, at that time Consul, proposed
and carried a law by which the name of Quintilis was changed to lulius.
in honour of Julius Caesar, whose birthday was on the izth of that
month * ; and at a subsequent period, 8 B. C., by a similar piece of
flattery, the name Sextilis was changed to Augustus, because the
emperor had in that month entered upon his first consulship, and
achieved some remarkable victories, and celebrated three triumphs 2 .
Other princes rejected 3 or courted like distinctions. September was for
a while known as Germanicus 4 , and October as Domitianus 5 ; but while
the names of July and August still endure, the others soon reverted
to their primitive designations.
3. Julius Caesar retained also the ancient divisions of the month into
Kalendae, Nonae, and Idus. The Kalendae fell uniformly on the first
day of each month ; the Idus on the thirteenth, except in March, May,
July, and October, when they fell on the fifteenth ; the Nonae were
always eight (according to the Roman computation nine) days before
the Idus, and therefore on the fifth of ordinary months, and on the
seventh in March, May, July, and October.
4. The Roman method of dating exhibits several peculiarities.
In the first place, when an event did not happen exactly on the
Calends, Nones, or Ides of any month, they calculated the day by
reckoning backwards from the next following division of the month.
Thus, if it happened between the Calends and the Nones, it was said
to take place so many days before the Nones ; if it happened between
the Nones and Ides, it was said to take place so many days before the
Ides ; if it happened after the Ides, it was said to take place so many
days before the Calends of the ensuing month.
In the second place, in making these computations, the day from
which they reckoned was always included, as well as the day to which
they reckoned. Thus the 3rd of January was called the third day
before the Nones of January, the loth of March the sixth day before
the Ides of March, the I4th of June the eighteenth day before the
Calends of July. We observe an analogy to this practice in the Scotch
1 Macrob. S. I. 12 ; Dion. 44. 5 ; Appian. B.C. It.
8 Sueton. Octav. 31 ; Dion. 55. 6. Macrobius has preserved the decree
of the senate ; the date is given by Censorinus 22.
3 Sueton. Tib. 26. * Ib. Caius 15.
' Ib. Dom. 13; Macrob. S. I. 12.
ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR. 317
phrase, 'this day eight days,' the German, 'acht Tage," which alike
denote a space of 'seven days;' and the French, 'quinze jours,' which
stands for ' a fortnight."
The form of expression was likewise remarkable. When an event
took place on the Calends, Nones, or Ides, it was said to happen,
' Kalendis, Nonis, Idibus, lanuariis, Februariis,' &c. or ' lanuarii,
Februarii,' &c. (sc. ' mensis ') ; when it took place on the day before
one of these divisions, then it was said to happen ' Pridie Kalendas,
Nonas, Idus lanuarias, Februarias,' &c. ; but in other cases the formula
generally employed was, ' Ante diem tertium, quartum, quintum, sextum,
&c., Kalendas, Nonas, Idus lanuarias, Februarias,' &c. Thus the 3ist
of January was ' Pridie Kalendas Februarias ; ' the 6th of March,
' Pridie Nonas Martias ; ' the 1 2th of April, ' Pridie Idus Apriles ; '
the 27th* of April, 'Ante diem quintum Kalendas Maias;' the 2nd of
May, ' Ante diem sextum Nonas Maias ; ' the 6th of June, ' Ante diem
octavum Idus lunias ;' the 1 5th of August, ' Ante diem decimum octavum
Kalendas Septembres.' Sometimes, but less frequently, the preposition
is omitted, and the numeral put in the ablative. Thus we find ' Quarto
Kalendas ^eptembres ' for the 29th of August ; ' Decimo sexto Kalendas
Novembres,' the I7th of October; ' Quinto Idus Decembres,' the Qth
December, and so on. In ancient monuments and old MSS. the words
'Ante diem* are very frequently indicated by initial letters only, A. D.,
and the number by the Roman numeral thus, A. D. iv. IDUS OCTOBRES;
A. D. vi. KALENDAS DECEMBRES ; A. D. in. NONAS NOVEMBRES ; or farther
abbreviated, A. D. iv. ID. OCTOB. ; A. D. vi. KAL. DEC. ; A. D. in. NON. Nov.
The ' ante diem,' or its abbreviation, are often omitted altogether, and
the numeral stands alone iv. Id. OCTOB. : vi. KAL. DEC. ; m. NON. Nov.
Scaliger and others have altempted, with no great success, to account
for the origin of the expression ' Ante diem tertium,' &c., instead of
what would appear to be the more natural form, ' Diem tertium (or
'die tertio') ante 1 .' However the phrase may have arisen, the com-
bination ' ante diem ' appears practically to have been a formula, which
was regarded as a single word, and hence we occasionally find another
preposition prefixed to the ' ante.' Thus Cic. Phil. 3. 8, ' In ante diem
quartum Kalendas Decembres distulit,' i. e. ' He put off (the meeting of
the senate) to the 28th of November;' and again, Ep. ad Att. 3. 17
1 We have in Tacit. Ann. 12. 69, ' tertio ante Idus Octobres,' but such a
combination is rare.
318 APPENDIX.
'De Quinto fratre nuntii nobis tristes nee varii venerant ex ante diem
Non. lun. usque ad Prid. Kal. Sept,' i. e. from the Nones of June until
the day before the Calends of September. Nay, we even meet with
' ante diem ' introduced adverbially where no date is given, as in Caes.
B.. C. I. ii, 'Ante quern diem iturus sit,' for 'quo die; ' and the Greek
writers translate the phrase literally, when computing time according to
the Roman fashion. Thus Plutarch 1 tells us that Rome was founded
JjfJtfpq rfj irpo fvSfica. KaXavSuv McuW, i. e. 2ist of April 2 .
5. The day added every fourth year, as explained above, was inserted
in February, immediately after the festival of the Terminalia, which
fell VII. Kal. Mart. (23rd February, see p. 256). In such years the
sixth day before the Calends of March (VI. Kal. Mart.) was repeated
twice, from which circumstance the day inserted was termed ' Bis-
sextum Y or ' Dies Bissextus *,' and the year itself ' Annus Bissextus 5 .'
The adjective ' Bissextilis,' from whence comes the modern word ' Bis-
sextile,' is a barbarism. We find that the Roman lawyers decided that
of the two days which were called 'VI. Kal. Mart.,' the latter, or that
nearest to March, was, strictly speaking, to be considered in all con-
tracts as the inserted day ; but that, since these two days were one
in the eye of the law, any person born on the inserted day was in
ordinary years to consider the ' VI. Kal. Mart.' as his birthday, while
any person bom on the ' VI. Kal. Mart ' in an ordinary year was,
in the 'Annus Bissextus,' to consider the former of the two days called
VI. Kal. Mart.' as his birthday '.
The edict published by Julius Caesar, which explained the changes
introduced, and pointed out the steps to be followed, in order to secure
regularity for the future, seems to have been expressed ambiguously.
The Julian Era commenced on the ist of January, 45 B. C. ; Caesar
was assassinated on the Ides of March the year following, and almost
immediately after the pontifices fell into an error, and inserted a day
every third year, instead of every fourth. This was continued for thirty-
six years, in the course of which twelve days were added, instead of
nine, when the mistake was rectified by Augustus, who gave orders that
the insertion of the ' bissextum ' should be omitted for twelve years,
J Vit. Rom. 12.
2 Observe also Caes. B. C. I. 6 ' Is dies erat ante diem V. Kal. Aprilis,'
and Livy 6. 1 ' Turn de diebus religiosis agitari coeptum, diemque ante
diem XV. Kalendas Sextiles .... insignem .... fecerunt."
3 Censorin. 20, Amm. Mar. 26. i. * Ulpian. Digest. 4. 4, 3.
5 Augustin. Ep. 119. ad lanuar. c. 7. See also Macrob. S. I. 14.
6 Cels. Digest. 16, leg. 98.
ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR. 319
by which a compensation would be made for the three supernumerary
days, after which the insertion was to proceed regularly every fourth
year, according to the original intention of the author of the Calendar *.
A slight correction must on this account be applied to the dates of
events which took place within the above period of thirty-six years,
when they descend to days. Thus the battle of Actium, which we are
told was fought on the 2nd of September, 31 B.C., really happened
0:1 the 3rd.
6. From the earliest times the Romans made use of a week of eight
clays. During seven days the husbandman devoted himself to his rural
toils, and on the eighth he repaired to the city to transact business,
nnd exercise his political privileges. These market days were called
' Nundinae,' a word evidently formed from ' nonus,' because, according
to the Roman method of computation, they recurred every ninth day,
' nono quoque die.' In the year 98 B. C. a law was passed by the
Consuls Q. Caecilius Metellus and T. Didius, thence called ' Lex
Caecilia Didia,' which, among other provisions, enacted that every bill
should be exhibited for the inspection of the people for three market
clays before it was submitted to the Comitia. This space of time, which
could not be less than seventeen days, was from that time forward
called ' Trinundinum,' or ' Trinum Nundinum V The Nundinae ran
on with perfect regularity; but it was considered unlucky for them
to fall upon the first day of the year, or upon the Nones of any month s .
Such coincidences were carefully guarded against in the infancy of the
republic by the priests, who controlled the Calendar, and even so late as
40 B. C., five years after the adoption of the Julian reform, an extra-
ordinary day was inserted to prevent the ist of January in the following
year from coinciding with one of the Nundinae*, the superstition
having been revived, it would seem, by the circumstance that the war
of Lepidus (78 B. C.) broke out in a year which commenced in this
inauspicious manner.
The Jewish week of seven days ('hebdomas') was known to the
J Macrob. S. I. 14, Pliny H. N. 18. 57, Sueton. Octav. 26, Solin. Polyh. i.
2 See Cic. Phil. 5. 3, Ep. ad Att. 2. 3, Ep. ad Fam. 16. 12, Livy 3. 33.
Quintil. I. O. 2. 4, 35.
3 Macrob. S. I. 13, Dion. 48. 33. See also 40. 47. We cannot doubt
however that a day would be subsequently dropped to compensate for
this irregularity.
* 'Fastus' is derived by some from ' fas," by others from fari,' as being
the days on which the Praetor was permitted to speak the words which ex-
pressed his jurisdiction. See note on Ov. Fast. i. 47, p. 187.
320 APPENDIX.
Romans from the time of Pompey, but was not generally adopted until
after Christianity became the established religion of the state.
7. We may now proceed to explain the epithets by which the days
of the Roman year were distinguished individually, when considered
with reference to religion and the ordinary business of life.
' Dies Fasti ' were the days upon which the courts of justice were
open and legal business could be transacted before the Praetor ; the
' Dies Nefasti' were those upon which the courts were closed. Certain
days were 'Fasti' during one portion, 'Nefasti' during another 1 ; and
such were named ' Intercisi' (halved), or, according to the more ancient
form of the word, ' Endotercisi.'
All days consecrated to the worship of the gods by sacrifices, feasts
or games, were named ' Festi,' those hallowed by no such solemnities
' Profesti.'
8. The holy days ('feriae,' 'festa'), included under the general deno-
mination of ' festi dies," were divided into two classes, ' Feriae Publicae,"
and ' Feriae Privatae,' the former celebrated by the community at large,
the latter peculiar to particular clans, families, or individuals. The
' Feriae Publicae,' again, were either
' Feriae Stativae,' observed regularly every year on a fixed day, such
as the 'Terminalia' on the 23rd of Februaiy, the 'Festuin Annae
Perennae ' on the Ides of March, and many others ; or,
' Feriae Conceptivae,' observed regularly every year, but on days
fixed by the priests or magistrates for the time being. Such were the
' Feriae Latinae,' the ' Sementiva,' ' Compitalia," &c. There were also
' Feriae Imperativae," extraordinary holidays, being for the most part
days of supplication or thanksgiving, appointed by the magistrates on
occasions of national distress or triumph. We ought also to notice
' Dies Comitiales,' days on which it was lawful to hold assemblies of the
people, being for the most part such as were neither ' Fasti," nor ' Festi,'
nor ' Intercisi.'
9. Nor ought we to forget the ' Dies Atri,' on which it was thought
unlucky to undertake any business of importance. To this class be-
longed the day after the Calends, Nones, and Ides of each month, as we
are told by Ovid. Fast. 1.57; see p. 27. Macrobius gives a full account
of the origin of this superstition, and his words will fully illustrate the
lines just referred to. ' Dies autem postridianos ad omnia maiores
1 Thus Macrobius S. I. 16 'Intercisi illorum enim dierum quibusdain
horis fas est, quibusdam fas non est ius dicere, nam, cum hostia caeditur, fari
nefas est : inter caesa et porrecta fari licet ; rursus, cum adoletur, non licet.'
ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR. 331
nostri cavendos putarunt, quos etiam atros, velut infausta appellatione
damnarunt : eosdem tamen nonnulli communes velut ad emendationem
nominis vocitaverunt : horum causam Gellius annalium libro quinto-
decimo, et Cassius Hemina historiarum libro secundo referunt. Anno
'ab urbe condita trecentesimo sexagesimo tertio, tribunis militum Vir-
gilio Mallio Aemilio Postumio collegisque eorum in senatu traclatum,
quid esset propter quod totiens intra paucos annos male esset afflicta
republica ; et ex praecepto patrum L. Aquinium haruspicem in sena-
tum venire iussum religionum requirendarum gratia dixisse, Q. Sul-
picium tribunum militum, ad Aliam adversum Gallos pugnaturum. rem
divinam dimicandi gratia fecisse postridie idus Quintiles ; item apud
Cremeram multisque aliis temporibus et locis post sacrincium die postero
celebratum male cessisse conflictum : tune patres iussisse ut ad collegium
pontificum de his religionibus referretur : pontificesque statuisse postridie
omnes Kalendas, Nonas, Idus atros dies habendos ; ut hi dies, neque
proeliales, neque puri, neque comitiales essent : sed et Fabius Maximus
Servilianus pontifex in libro XII. negat oportere atro die parentare : quia
tune quoque lanum lovemque praefari necesse est, quos nominari atro
die non oportet: ante diem quoque quartum Kalendas vel Nonas vel
Idus tamquam inominalem diem plerique vitant, eius observationis an
religio ulla sit tradita quaeri solet, sed nos nihil super ea rescriptum in-
venimus : nisi quod Q. Claudius annalium quinto cladem illam vas-
tissimam pugnae Cannensis factam refert ante diem quartum nonas
Sextiles.'
To this we may add a passage from Livy 6. I, a portion of which
has been already quoted, p. 296 ' Turn de diebus religiosis agitari
coeptum : diemque ante diem XV. Kalendas Sextiles, duplici clade
insignem, quo die ad Cremeram Fabii caesi, quo deinde ad Alliam cum
exitio urbis foede pugnatum, a posteriore clade Alliensem appellarunt,
insignemque rei nulli publice privatimque agendae fecerunt : quidam,
quod postridie Idus Quintiles non litasset Sulpicius tribunus militum,
neque inventa pace deum post diem tertium obiectus hosti exercitus
Romanus esset, etiam postridie Idus rebus divinis supersederi iussum ;
inde ut postridie Kalendas quoque ac Nonas eadem religio esset, tradi-
tum putant."
10. For nearly four centuries and a half after the foundation of the city
the knowledge of the Calendar was confined to the Pontifices alone,
whose duty it was regularly to proclaim the appearance of the New
Moon, to announce to the people the days of the month on which the
Nones and Ides would fall, and to give notice of the ' Dies Festi,' ' Fasti,'
' Nefasti,' and ' Comitiales.' These secrets which might be, and doubtless
V
322 APPENDIX.
often were, employed for political ends, were at length divulged in the
year 314 B.C. by a certain Cn. Flavius, scriba to the Pontifex Maximus,
who drew up tables embracing all this carefully-treasured information,
and hung them up in the forum for the inspection of the public l . From
this time forward tables of this description were known by the name of
' Fasti,' and were exhibited for general use in various parts of the city.
They contained for the most part an enumeration of the days of the year in
regular order ; to each was attached a mark pointing out whether it was
' Fastus,' ' Nefastus,' ' Intercisus,' ' Comitialis,' * Ater,' &c. ; the position
of the Nones and Ides, and different Festivals, was also laid down, -and
sometimes a brief notice of some great victory, the dedication of a temple,
or similar event, was added, especially in later times, when in this man-
ner a compliment could be paid to the reigning prince.
These ' Fasti,' in fact, corresponded very closely to a modern almanac,
and the Fasti of Ovid may be considered as a poetical ' Year-Book,' or
' Companion to the Roman Almanac,' according to the order of the Julian
Calendar. All the more remarkable epochs are examined in succession,
the origin of the different festivals is explained, the various ceremonies
described, and such illustrations added as were likely to prove useful or
interesting to the reader.
Several specimens of ' Fasti,' or ancient almanacs, engraved on stone,
have been discovered at different times, more or less perfect, and copies
are to be found in the larger collections of Roman antiquities and
inscriptions ".
Upon a careful examination and comparison of the marks by which
the days of the year are distinguished in these monuments, we obtain the
following classification :
38 days are marked F.
63 N.
54
i
2
I
8
181
17
N. P.
F. P.
Q. REX. C. F.
Q. St. D. F.
EN.
C.
Sine Nota
1 Livy 9. 46, Val. Max. 2. 5, Macrob. S. I. 15, Cic. pro Mur. II.
a See Graevius, Thesaurus Antiqq. Romm. Vol. 8 ; Gruter, Corpus Inscrip.
Latt. ; Foggini, Fastorum Verrianorum reliquiae, &c. ; Van Vaasen, Ani-
luadverss. ad Fastos Rom. sacros, &c.
ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR. 323
F. denotes ' Fastus ;' N. ' Nefastus ;' N. P. ' Nefastus priore ' (' parte '),
that is, ' Nefastus ' in the early part of the day, and therefore, we con-
clude, ' Fastus ' in the after part ; F. P. ' Fastus priore,' the converse
of the preceding ; Q. Rex. C. F. ' Quando Rex Comitiavit Fastus,' that
is, 'Fastus' after the 'Rex Sacrificulus ' (see p. 2 26) has performed sacri-
fice in the Comitium ; this mark is attached to the 24th of March and
the 1 4th of May; Q. St. D. F. ' Quando Stercus Defertur Fastus;'
' Fastus,' after the sweepings and other filth had been carried out of
the temple of Vesta and conveyed to the Tiber ; a ceremony performed
once a year on the 15th of June, as we learn from Ovid and Varro ;
EN. ' Endotercisus ;' C. ' Comitialis.'
There is some difficulty in explaining the difference between the days
which were N. P. and those which were EN. The Ides of each month
were N. P. and most of the other days bearing this mark were sacred to
different deities, while those marked EN. do not appear to have been
hallowed by any solemnity whatever.
it. The ' Fasti ' just described have, to prevent confusion, been called
' Kalendaria,' or ' Fasti Kalendares V and must be carefully distinguished
from certain compositions also named ' Fasti ' by the ancients.
These were regular chronicles in which were recorded each year the
names of the Consuls and other magistrates, together with the re-
markable events, and the days on which they occurred. The most im-
portant were the ' Annales Maximi,' kept by the Pontifex Maximus, but
similar documents appear to have been compiled by other magistrates,
and by private individuals, and we find many allusions to works of this
description, which must have afforded valuable materials to the historian.
Of these Horace speaks in Od. 3. ij, I
' Aeli, vetusto nobilis ab Lamo,
Quando et priores hinc Lamias ferunt
Denominatos, et nepotum
Per memores genus omne fastos,
Auctore ab illo ducis originem,' &c.
and again in Od. 4. 13, 13, addressed to an old coquette,
' Nee Coae referunt iam tibi purpurae,
Nee clari lapides tempora quae semel
Notis condita fastis
Inclusit volucris dies,"
and lastly in S. i. 3, 112
1 Tempora si fastosque velis evolvere mundi.'
1 These expressions are not classical.
Y 2
3*4
APPENDIX.
In the year 1547 several fragments of marble tablets were dug up al
Rome, which were found to contain a list of Consuls, Dictators, Censors,
&c. from the foundation of the city until the age of Augustus. These
were collected and adjusted as far as possible, arid deposited by Cardinal
Alexander Farnese in the Capitol, from which circumstance they have
been styled the ' Fasti Capitolini,' and similar collections derived from
different sources have received the names of ' Fasti Consulares," ' Fasti
triumphales," and the like.
12. We may now turn our attention to the Roman Calendar as it
existed in ages more remote, and to the different forms which it assumed
before the Julian era. Every part of this subject is involved in darkness
and uncertainty, and the statements of the ancient writers, who appear
to have been themselves very ignorant in such matters, are most per-
plexing and irreconcileable.
There can be little doubt that a year was in use among the Romans
in the earliest times, thence denominated the ' Year of Romulus,' which
consisted of 304 days, divided into ten months Martius, Aprilis, Maius,
lunius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, December.
Of these, March, May, Quintilis, and October, contained thirty-one days,
the rest thirty 1 .
A great variety of etymologies have been proposed for the names of
three out of the first four ". We may feel certain that ' Martius' was
called after the god ' Mars ;' it is probable that ' Aprilis' is connected
with 'aperio,' and was originally the 'Spring-month,' when the sea is
thrown open to navigation, the earth released from the bonds of whiter,
the trees expand their leaves, and the flowers burst into blossom. In
like manner the Athenians had their dvOeffTrjpiujv, and revolutionary
France her ' Germinal ' and ' Floreal.' ' Maius' was a deity worshipped
at Tusculum, identical in attributes with Jupiter, and traces are to be
1 Among the older historians, Licinius Macer and Fenestella maintained
that the Romans from the first employed a solar year of twelve months (see
Censorin. 20), and Plutarch also (Vit. Num. 18) that the number of the months
was originally twelve, and that the number of days in each varied from twenty
to thirty-five, the sum total being 360. But on the other side we have Junius
Gracchanus, Fulrius, Varro, and others (see Censorin. as above), to whom we
may add Ov. Fast. i. 27,43; 3.99, 119, 151, A. Gell. N. A. 3. 16, Macrob.
S. i. 12, Solin. Polyh. I, all of whom speak without any doubt of the ten-
month year. The number of days in each month is given by Censorinus,
Solinus, and Macrobius.
8 The student will find a multitude of these stated and discussed in the
Fasti of Ovid, at the beginning of Bks. 4. 5. 6, and in Macrobius S. i. 12.
See also Ceusorin. 22.
ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR. 325
found in Roman mythology of a goddess ' Maia.' ' lunius' is a con-
traction for ' lunonius,' (from ' luno,') an epithet bestowed upon one of
their months by several of the neighbouring states.
'Inspice, quos habeat nemoralis Aricia Fastos,
Et populus Laurens, Lanuviumque meum.
Est illic mensis lunonius. Inspice Tibur
Et Praenestinae moenia sacra Deae.
lunonale leges tempus.' Ov. Fast. 6. 59.
That the month of March was originally the first in the year is suffi-
ciently proved by the names of those which follow June, namely,
Quintilis, or the fifth month, Sextilis, the sixth, September, the seventh,
and so on to December, the tenth. In addition, many sacred rites and
ancient customs long retained point to the same conclusion. On the ist
of March the holy fire was renewed on the altar of Vesta ; at the com-
mencement of the month the old-laurels were taken down from the Regia,
the houses of the Flamines, and the different Curiae, and replaced by fresh
branches ; sacrifices were offered to ' Anna Perenna,' the goddess of the
circling year, the salaries of instructors were paid, the taxes farmed out,
and matrons gave an entertainment to the slaves, as the masters of
families did on the Saturnalia, the object of the latter being to reward
the domestics for their industry during the year that was past, of the
former to stimulate their exertions for the future *.
The year of 304 days corresponds with the course neither of the sun
nor of the moon, and many hypotheses have been formed with regard to
its origin and import. By far the most ingenious and profound of these,
so ingenious indeed that it almost carries conviction, is the theory pro-
pounded by Niebuhr. He supposes it to have been employed along with
a lunar year for the purpose of making the solar and lunar years coincide
at certain fixed epochs. He moreover finds traces of it in history at a
period long after it is generally believed to have fallen into disuse, and
by its aid explains several of the chronological anomalies and contradic-
tions so frequent in the early annals. His calculations are too intricate
to be developed here, but well deserve the attention of all interested in
such researches 2 .
13. The year of Romulus was succeeded by a pure lunar year, intro-
duced, according to the prevailing tradition, by Numa 3 , who retained the
1 See Macrob. S. I. 12, Ov. Fast. 3. 135, seqq., Plutarch. CL R - '9-
2 Niebuhr's Roman History, Vol. I, Chapter ' On the secular cycle.'
3 Censorin. 20, Solin. J, Macrob. S. I. 13. On the other hand, Junius
Gracchanus maintained (Censorin. 1. c.) that this change was introduced by
Tarquinius (Priscus).
APPENDIX.
names of the ten months already in use, and added two more, lanuarius,
from the god lanus, and Febmarius, from Februus, the deity who presides
over expiatory rites.
The true length of a lunar month, that is, the interval between two
successive New or Full Moons, is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 2.87
seconds, and hence twelve lunar months contain 354 days, 8 hours, 48
minutes, 34.386 seconds. The Athenians made their lunar year consist
of 354 days, but Numa, influenced, it is said, by the virtue attributed to
odd numbers l , added another to make up 355.
14. Each month was divided into three periods by the Kalendae,
Nonae, and Idus. The Kalendae marked the first of the month, the
day following the evening upon which the slender crescent of the New
Moon was first visible in the sky, the Nonae the First Quarter, the
Idus the Full Moon. The origin of these terms must be explained.
Macrobius has preserved the record of the ancient practice, S. i. 15
' Priscis ergo temporibus, antequam fasti a Cn. Flavio scriba invitis
patribus in omnium notitiam proderentur, pontifici minori haec pro-
vincia delegabatur, ut novae lunae primum observaret adspectum,
vtsamque regi sacrificulo nuntiaret, itaque sacrificio a rege et minore
pontifice celebrate, idem pontifex Kalata, id est, vocata in Capitolium
plebe iuxta curiam Kalabram, quae casae Romuli proxima est, quot
numero dies a Kalendis ad Nonas superessent pronuntiabat : et quintanas
quidem dicto quinquies verbo ica\w, septimanas repetito septies prae-
dicabat, verbum autem *oAw graecum est id est, voco : et hunc diem
qui ex his diebus qui Kalarentur primus esset, placuit Kalendas vocari :
hinc et ipsi curiae, ad quam vocabantur, Kalabrae nomen datum est.
Ideo autem minor pontifex numerum dierum qui ad nonas superessent
Kalando prodebat, quod post novam lunam oportebat nonarum die
populares qui in agris essent confluere in urbem accepturos causas
feriarum a rege sacrorum, scripturosque quid esset eo mense faciendum.'
It appears from this that the Kalendae were derived from 'calo,'
the same with the Greek *aAw, because immediately after the appearance
of the New Moon the people were called together that they might be
told on what day the Nones would fall. It must be observed that
the New Moon in question was not the astronomical New Moon
or period of conjunction, but the first appearance of the crescent in the
1 Thus Virg. E. 8. 75 ' numero deus impare gaudet ;' Pliny H. N. 28. 5
' Impares numeros ad omnia vehementiores credimus ;' and Festus, ' Im-
parem uuoieium antiqui prosperiorem hominibus esse credideruut.'
ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR. 327
evening twilight. Now, according to circumstances, the New Moon is
visible sometimes on the evening after conjunction, sometimes not for
two or three days. Hence the Nones or First Quarter would fall
sometimes as early as the fifth of the month, sometimes as late as the
seventh, and thus the Ides or Full Moon would fall sometimes as early
as the thirteenth, sometimes as late as the fifteenth. The pontiffs
appear by ancient custom to have been confined to the extremes,
and hence according to the appearance of the New Moon they
proclaimed that the Nones would be on the fifth, in which case they
were called ' Quintanae,' or on the seventh ' Septimanae.' ' Idus' is
derived from an Etiuscan verb ' iduare,' signifying ' to divide,' because
the full moon divides the lunar month; 'Nonae' is the plural of
'nonus' 'the ninth,' because the Nones were always just nine days
before the Ides, according to the Roman system of computation
explained above.
January and February having been added to the ten months of
the old year, a question arises as to the order of succession then or
subsequently established.
That February was in the first instance the last month of the
year seems scarcely to admit of doubt; thus Cicero de Legg. 2. 21
' Venio nunc ad Manium iura, quae maiores nostri et sapientissime
instituerunt et religiosissime coluerunt. Februario autem mense, qui
tune extremus anni mensis erat, mortuis parentari voluerunt.' And
Varro, ' Terminalia, quod is dies anni extremus constitutus. Duodeci-
mus enim mensis fuit Februarius 1 .'
We have no satisfactory evidence to determine the epoch at which
January and February became the first and second months. Plutarch
supposes them to have been from the first the eleventh and twelfth.
According to Ovid, who supposes them to have been added by Numa,
January was placed at the beginning of the year, February at the end,
and the new arrangement, by which February was placed second, was
introduced by the Decemvirs 2 . It is perfectly clear, however, from the
various ceremonies described above, that March must have been looked
upon as the commencement of the year at the time when these rites
1 See also Festus v. ' Februarius,' and Servius on Virg. Q. i. 43.
Macrobius S. I. 12, 13, asserts that January and February were placed by
Numa as the first and second months of the year, and in the last-quoted
chapter contradicts himself downright, ' Omni intercalation! mensis Febru-
arius deputatus est, quoniam is ultimus anni erat.'
a Fast. 2. 49. See Extract, p. 52, v. 29, and notes.
328 APPENDIX.
were established. Tanuarius, therefore, was called after lanns, the deity
presiding over the beginning of all things, not because it was the
first month of the sacred or of the civil year, but because it was the
month which immediately followed the whiter solstice, when the sun
may be said to resume his career 1 . We know that from 153 B.C. the
Consuls always entered upon their office on the ist of January, but we
cannot positively assert that this day was considered the first of the
civil year before that time, although it undoubtedly was looked upon as
such ever after.
15. The lunar year of the Greeks consisted of 354 days, that of the
Romans of 355, while the length of the solar year, upon which
depends the return of the seasons, is 365^ days nearly. Hence almost
all nations who have adopted a lunar year have had recourse to
intercalations, that is, to the insertion of additional days or months
from time to time, which, if managed skilfully, will insure a cor-
respondence between the civil and natural year at fixed periods, and
prevent the dislocation of the seasons. The insertion of a day every
fourth year in the Julian Calendar, which has no reference to the moon,
is also an intercalation, the object being to compensate for the error
arising from making the solar year consist of an exact number (365) of
days, instead of 365^, and we shall see how it became afterwards
necessary to modify this intercalation to compensate for the error
arising from supposing the solar year to be exactly 365.25 days in
length, instead of 365.242264, &c., as it really is.
1 6. If we reckon the lunar month at 29^ days, and the solar year at
365^ days and the earliest astronomers did not arrive at greater
accuracy then twelve lunar months, or 354 days, will fall short of a
solar year by n-j days, which in eight lunar years will amount to
ninety days. If, therefore, in the space of eight lunar years we add
three lunar months, or, in other words, make three lunar years out of
every eight consist of thirteen lunar months instead of twelve, then at
the end of eight years there will be a difference of only one day and
a half between the solar and lunar years. This correction was at one
time employed by the Athenians, the intercalary months were added
at the end of the third, fifth, and eighth years, and the period, or
to use the technical phrase, the Cycle of eight years was termed
oicracnjpis.
1 ' Bruma novi prima est, veterisque novissima solis :
Principium capiunt Phoebus et annus idem.'
Fast. I. 163.
ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR. 329
With the progress of science a more convenient correction was
introduced. According to the most accurate calculations,
19 Solar years contain 6939.603016 days,
233 Lunar months ") . . ... , , -
, > contain 6939.68718 days,
or, 19 Lunar years & 7 months J
so that if seven lunar months are intercalated during nineteen lunar
years, or if, in other words, seven out of every nineteen lunar years
are made to consist of thirteen lunar months instead of twelve, then the
difference between the solar and lunar years at the end of that period
will amount to only .084164 of a day, and the error would be less than
one day in 200 years. This (vvfa.Ka.i8f/ta.fTrjpls or cycle of nineteen years
is usually named, from its inventor, the ' Cycle of Meton,' and came
into use at Athens on the i6th of July, 432 B.C. It was afterwards
corrected by Calippus of Cyzicus, who invented a cycle of seventy-six
years, which in its turn was corrected by Hipparchus, who invented a
cycle of 304 years.
17. It seems to be certain that the Romans for a considerable period
made use of a pure lunar year, the introduction of which, as we have
seen above, was usually ascribed to Numa, and it can scarcely be
doubted that intercalations were employed resembling some of those
described above, in order to bring about a correspondence with the
solar or natural year. On this subject however the ancient writers are
silent, with the exception of Livy, (i. 19,) but unfortunately his lan-
guage is extremely obscure, and the text of the passage disputed.
The intercalations which we do find described by Macrobius,
Censorinus, and Plutarch, and which were certainly in use at the time
of the Julian reform, belong to a system essentially different. The
scheme which they describe is r the following: The year of Numa
consisted of 355 days. The Romans having become acquainted with
the Grecian Octaeteris, according to which ninety days were to be
intercalated in a cycle of eight years, applied it thus. They intercalated
at the end of every two years a month, which consisted alternately of
twenty-two and twenty-three days, thus making up the sum of ninety
days at the end of eight years 1 . It was soon discovered however that
the year of the Greeks contained 354 days only, while their own had
1 So Censorinus 20, and Macrob. S. I. 13. Phitarch, on the. other
hand, says that Numa doubled the difference between the solar and lunar
year, and thus made a month of twenty-two days which was intercalated
every alternate year, but makes no allusion to the month of twenty-three
days.
330 APPENDIX.
355, and hence it followed that in the cycle of eight years there
was an excess of eight days. To remedy this a new cycle was invented
of twenty-four years, and in the last eight years of this, twenty-four
days were omitted, sixty-six only being intercalated instead of ninety,
thus compensating for the excess which would have taken place in the
whole period had the full number been employed.
At what time this (or any other) system of intercalation was brought
into use we cannot tell. The Roman antiquaries themselves were at
variance. Some referred the introduction of intercalations to Romulus,
some to Numa, some to Servius, some to the Decemvirs, while some
brought it down as low as the consulship of Manius Acilius Glabrio in
the Aetolian war, 191 B.C. 1 Whatever opinion we may adopt on
this matter, it is important to attend to the following consideration.
So long as we make use of a year, the months of which are regulated
by the phases of the moon, it is evident that all intercalations employed
to produce a correspondence with the solar year must be in the form of
entire lunar months. As soon as a period is inserted either longer or
shorter than one lunar month, or an exact number of entire lunar
months, from that time forward all regular connection between the
phases of the moon and the commencement of the months and years
is destroyed. Hence as soon as the Romans began to employ the
intercalary months of twenty-two and twenty-three days, from that
moment they virtually abandoned the lunar year and adopted a solar
cycle, the same in substance as that afterwards perfected by Julius
Caesar, but less accurate and less convenient. The old names of
Calends, Nones, and Ides were retained, but these would no longer
answer to the first appearance of the New Moon, to the First Quarters,
and the Full Moon, more than the first, fifth, and thirteenth of any
month at the present time. Ideler believes the change from the pure
lunar year to have taken place during the sway of the Decemvirs,
an opinion of which we find some trace in Macrobius 2 . Hence he
supposes that the Roman Calendar assumed three different shapes
before the Julian Reform. These he distinguishes as
(1) ' The year of Romulus,' of ten months and 304 days.
(2) 'The Year of Numa,' a pure lunar year of twelve lunar months
an( i 355 days, with suitable intercalations.
1 Macrob. S. I. 13. See also Cic. de Legg. 2. 12.
3 Macrob. S. I. 13. It is clear from Ov. Fast. 2. 54 (see p. 52) that
there was a tradition that the Decemvirs had made some changes in the
Calendar.
ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR. 331
(3) ' The Year of the Decemviri,' nominally a lunar year like the
former, but which, from the intercalations employed, ceased to cor-
respond with the phases of the moon.
18. We have not yet mentioned the distribution of the days among
the twelve months of the year of 355 days. It was as follows l :
lanuarius 29
Februarius . . . . 28
Martius 31
Aprilis 29
Maius 31
lunius 29
Quintilis 31
Sextilis 29
September .... 29
October 31
November .... 29
December .... 29
This arrangement, which remained in force until the Julian reform,
is usually referred to the time of Numa; but as the number of days in
the different months is inconsistent with a lunar calendar, it can scarcely
have been introduced until the intercalary months of twenty-two and
twenty-three days were employed. The position of the Calends, Nones,
and Ides, was the same as in the year of Caesar, the Calends always
marked the first of every month, the Nones and Ides the fifth and
thirteenth, except in March, May, July, and October, when they fell
upon the seventh and fifteenth. All dates in works written before
45 B. C. must of course be calculated by the above table. Thus when
Cicero, in a letter written 516. C., says that he arrived at the camp in
Lycaonia ' VII. Kal. Sept.' we must not translate this ' the 26th of
August,' as we should do had it been written after the beginning of
45 B.C., but ' the 24th of August,' because Sextilis at that time had
twenty-nine days only.
19. Plutarch names the intercalary month twice ; in the life of
Numa he calls it Mcp/nSfpos ; in the life of Caesar MfpurjSovtos. It is
remarkable that this term is not to be found in any Roman writer;
the expressions ' mensis intercalaris,' and ' mensis intercalarius,' being
alone employed by them.
The intercalations took place in the month of February, between the
' Terminalia' and the ' Regifugium ;' that is, between the twenty-third
and the twenty-fourth, at least such was the rule, although it may have
been violated at times. The remaining five days belonging to February
were added after the intercalary month, probably from some super-
stition ; but all the calculations of time in intercalary years were
founded upon the supposition that in such years February contained
twenty-three days only. Thus in ordinary years the day after the Ides
1 Macrob. I. 14, Censorin. 20.
332 APPENDIX.
of February was ' A.D. XVI. Kal. Mart.,' but in intercalary years ' A.D.
XI. Kalendas Intercalares.' The ' Terminalia ' in ordinary years fell
' A. D. VII. Kal. Mart.,' in intercalary years, ' Pridie Kalendas Inter-
calares.'
The intercalary month had its own Calends, Nones, and Ides, with the
addition of the epithet ' intercalares," the day after the Ides would be
'A.D. XV. or A.D. XVI. Kal. Mart.,' according as the month contained
twenty-two or twenty-three days, and the five remaining days of February
being added, in either case the ' Regifugium ' would always stand as
A.D. VI. Kal. Mart.'
As examples of what has just been said, we find in the Fasti Capi-
tolini C. Dinixius cos. PRIMUS NAVALEM DE SICUL. ET CLASSE POENMCAEGIT
AN. cDxcm. K. INTERKALAR. And again, L. CORNELIUS LENTULUS CAUDIXUS
cos. DE LIGURIBUS IDIB. INTER. AN. DXVI.
To which we may add Livy 37, 59, speaking of L. Scipio 'Triumph-
avit mense intercalario, pridie Kalendas Martias,' and Cicero pro Quinct.
25 ' Dici, Naevi, diem, Ante V. Kalend. intercalares. Bene agis. Quam
longe est hinc in saltum vestrum Gallicanum ? Naevi, te rogo. DCC
millia passuum. Optime. De saltu deiicitur Quintius. Quo die ?
Quid taces? Deiicitur de saltu, C. Aquilli, pridie Kalend. intercalares,
biduo post, aut ut statim de iure aliquis concurrent, non toto triduo
DCC millia passuum conficiuntur.'
20. We have seen that the whole management of the Calendar was
originally in the hands of the Pontifices, and even after Cn. Flavius had
divulged the secrets of the Fasti, they retained the privilege of adjusting
the intercalations l . This trust they shamefully betrayed, and to gratify
their private animosities, or show favour to their friends, in order that a
magistrate might remain in office for a period shorter or longer than the
law permitted, that a fanner of the taxes might be defrauded of his just
right, or obtain an unfair advantage, they curtailed or drew out the year
at pleasure, until the whole Calendar was involved in a degree of uncer-
tainty and confusion, to which we can find no parallel in the history of a
civilized people 2 . The ignorance which prevailed with regard to the
years in which the intercalations ought to take place, and the mystery
observed by the priests, is well illustrated by the expressions of Cicero.
Thus in Ep. ad Att. 5. i\, we find ' Cum scies Romae intercalatum sit,
necne, velim ad me scribas ;' again in Ep. ad Fam. 7. 2 ' Quotidie vota
1 ' Pontificum Arbitrio intercalandi ratio permissa ' Censorin. 20.
8 See Censorin. 20, Macrob. I. 14, Plutarch. Vit. Caes. 59, Ammianus
Marcellinus 26, Solinus I.
ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR. 333
facimus ne intercaletur, ut quam primum te videre possimus ;' and in Ep.
ad Att. 6. 1, we find ' Accepi tuas literas. A. D. quintum Terminalia;'
that is, on the i gth of February, this singular method of fixing the date
being employed to prevent ambiguity, since the day would be ' A. D. XI.
Kal. Mart.' in a common year, and ' A. D. VI. Kal. Intercal.' in an inter-
calary year, and Cicero knew not when he wrote whether an intercalation
had or had not taken place.
21. Accordingly, when Caesar became dictator, the year was about two
months in advance of the seasons ; the spring festivals happened in what
were nominally the summer months, and those of summer in autumn.
To take a single example. Cicero, in one of his Epistles to Atticus (10.
17), says that at the time when he was writing his journey was delayed
by the Equinox. The date affixed to this letter is XVII. Kal. lun., i. e.
1 6th of May.
In order to remedy these defects, it was found necessary to add sixty-
seven days to the year 46 B.C., which were divided into two intercalary
months, and inserted between November and December. In this year
the ordinary intercalations of twenty-three days took place in February,
so that it contained in all,
Ordinary length of year .... 355 days.
Intercalary month . . . . . 23
Two additional intercalary months . . 67
Total 445
Such was the year 46 B. C., which among modern chronologers has re-
ceived the name of ' Annus Confusionis,' although, as Ideler observes,
Macrobius has more correctly termed it ' Annus confusionis ultimus.'
Censorinus says that ninety days were added to the year, Dion Cassius
sixty-seven ; but there is no contradiction here, for the former includes
the ordinary intercalation of twenty-three days in February, which is not
taken into account by the latter l . The two additional months seem to
have been called ' Mensis intercalaris prior ' and ' Mensis intercalaris
posterior,' for we find in Cic. Ep. ad Fam. 6. 14 ' Ego idem tamen cum
A. D. V. Kalendas Intercalares priores rogatu fratrum tuorum venissem
mane ad Caesarem,' &c.
22. The Julian Calendar was founded upon the supposition that the
length of the solar or tropical year was exactly 365 days, 6 hours, or
365.25 days. Therefore
1 See Censorin. 15, Dion Cassius 43. 26, Macrob. S. I. 16, Pliny H. N. 18.
17, Ammian. Macrob. 26. i, Suet. Caesar 40, Ov. Fast. 3. 155, Appian.
B.C. 2.
334 APPENDIX.
The length of the Julian Year being S6sd. 6h.
But the true length of the Solar Year being 36sd. jh. 4m. ?i l.s.
It follows that the Julian Year is too long by nm. 8s.
This excess in lo years will amount to ih. jim. 253.
in loo ikh. 3-im. IDS.
in 1000 . 7^- ijh. 4im. 405.
To correct this accumulating error, Pope Gregory XIII. published a
bull in 1582, by which it was ordained that common years should con-
sist of 365 days, and that a day should be added every fourth year as
formerly, with this difference, that the intercalation was to be omitted in
the last year of those centuries not divisible by four ; that is, that ninety-
seven days instead of 100 should be inserted in 400 years '. The
Gregorian Calendar was almost immediately adopted in all Roman
Catholic countries, and to compensate for the error already incurred, ten
days were dropped. The change was not admitted into England until
1752, when eleven days were dropped between the 2nd and I4th of
September, from which arose the distinction between Old and New Style.
Russia and other countries which follow the Greek church still retain the
original Julian Calendar, and hence their dates are now twelve days
behind those of the rest of Europe.
According to the Gregorian scheme by which three leap years are
omitted in 400 years
Length of the Gregorian Year being 365d. 5h. 42m. i:s.
True length of the Solar Year being 3&5d. 5h. 4801. 5133.
Therefore the Gregorian Year is too long by 20^3.,
an excess which will not amount to one day in 4500 years.
If the insertion of a day be omitted each 4Oooth year
Length of year according to cycle of 4000 years
3^5d. sh. 48m. so|s.
which is too short by one second a deficiency which will not amount to
a day in 70,000 years.
23. We may now say a few words with regard to the longer divisions
of time, the ' Lustrum ' and the ' Saeculum.'
The word ' Lustrum' (see p. 313), derived from ' luo,' signified properly
the expiatory sacrifice offered up for the sins of the whole people by the
Censors at the end of every five years, the period during which these
1 Thus no intercalation takes place in the years 1900, 2100, 2200, 2300,
2500, all of which, according to the old system, would have been leap years.
ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR. 335
magistrates originally held office. Hence ' lustrum' was used to denote
' a space of five years," and the Censors in performing the sacrifice were
said, ' condere lustrum,' to bring the 'lustrum* to a close. Varro, in
explaining the term, derives it from 'lucre,' in the sense of 'to pay'
' Lustrum nominatum tempus quinquennale a luendo, id est, solvendo,
quod quinto quoque anno vectigalia et ultro tributa per censores per-
solvebantur ' L. L. 6. i.
It is to be observed here that ' quinto quoque anno,' according to the
Roman method of computation, might mean ' every fourth year,' and
' quinquennale tempus,' a term of ' four years,' just as Cicero (De Orat. 3.
32) calls the Olympic games 'maxima ilia quinquennalis celebritas
ludorum ;' but since we know from other sources that the Censors
originally held office for five years, and that the taxes were farmed out
upon five years' leases, the interpretation of the above passage is not
open to doubt. We may add, that wherever the word ' lustrum ' occurs
in the older writers, it is always in connection with the duties of the
Censors.
When we come down to the age of Ovid, a confusion seems to have
arisen, and the meaning of ' lustrum' was no longer definite ; in Amor.
3- 6, 27
' Nondum Troia fuit lustris obsessa duobus,'
it unquestionably stands for five years, and also in Fast. 3. 119, where
the ten-month year of Romulus is described,
' Ergo animi indociles et adhuc ratione carentes,
Mensibus egerunt lustra minora decem,'
i.e. the 'lustra' were too short by ten months. But with singular
inconsistency, a few lines farther on (v. 165), where he is explaining the
Julian Year, and the intercalation of the ' Dies Bissextus,'
' Hie anni modus est. In lustrum accedere debet,
Quae consummatur partibus, una dies,'
' lustrum' must as certainly denote ' four' years.
Again in Trist. 4. 10, 96, compared with the E. ex P. 4. 6, 5, (see
p. in, and notes, p. 313,) we see the Roman Lustrum identified with the
Grecian Olympiad, each being supposed equal to five years. As we come
down lower, Pliny twice in one chapter (H. N. 2. 47) calls the four-year
cycle of the Julian year a ' lustrum :' we find in inscriptions the intervals
between the successive exhibitions of the Capitoline games instituted by
Domitian, and celebrated every four years, designated as 'lustra 1 ;' and
1 Gruter. C. I. 332. 3, Censorin. 18.
336 APPENDIX.
in the third century the original force of the term seems to have been
quite forgotten, for Censorinus, in defining the ' Lustrum' or ' Annus
Magnus," seems to be quite ignorant that it ever did differ from the
Olympiad, or denote any period but four years.
This uncertainty may probably be traced to the irregularity with
which the sacrifice of the ' lustrum ' was performed. It was omitted
sometimes from superstitious motives, as when we read in Livy 3.22
' Census actus est eo anno (457 B. C.), lustrum propter Capitolium
captum, consulem occisum, condi religiosum fuit,' and often from other
causes, for upon looking over the Fasti Capitolini, in which the Censors
are registered, and the letters L. F. attached to the names of those who
completed this rite, we shall find that although the usual interval is five
years, yet not unfrequently six and seven were allowed to elapse, while
occasionally it was repeated after four only. These facts seem to account
for the inconsistencies of the later Roman writers, without going so far
as Ideler, who maintains that ' Lustrum' never was used for a fixed space
of time.
24. The duration of the ' Saeculum' was a theme of controversy
among the Romans themselves in the days of Augustus. The histo-
rians and antiquaries seem all to have agreed that the ' Saeculum' was
a period of 100 years, while the ' Quindecimviri,' the priests to whom
was intrusted the custody of the Sibylline books, reposing, it would
seem, upon the testimony of their sacred registers, asserted that
no years was the interval at which the solemn 'ludi saeculares,'
which marked the close of each* ' saeculum," had ever been and ought
to be celebrated. The ' locus classicus' on this subject is in Censor-
inus 17
' Romanorum autem saecula quidam ludis saecularibus putant distingui.
Cui rei fides si certa est, modus Romani saeculi est incertus. Temporum
enim intervalla, quibus ludi isti debeant referri, non modo quanta fuerint
retro, ignoratur, sed ne quanta quidem esse debeant, scitur. Nam ita
institutum esse, ut centesimo quoque anno fierent, id, cum Antias aliique
historic! auctores sunt, turn Varro de Scenicis Originibus libro primo ita
scriptum reliquit : Cum multa portentafierent, et murus ac turris, quae sunt
intra portam Collinam et Esquilinam, de caelo essent tacta, et idea libros
Sibyllinos X-viri adissent, renuntiarunt, uti Did palri et Proserpinae ludi
Terentini in Campo Martio fierent, el bosliae furvae immolarentur , utique ludi
centesimo quoque anno fierent. Item T. Livius libro CXXXVI : Eodetn
anno ludos saeculares Caesar ingenti adparatu fecit ; quos centesimo quoque
anno (is enim terminus saeculi) fieri mos. At contra, ut decimo centesi-
ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR. 337
moque anno repetantur, tarn Commentarii quindecimvirorum, quam D.
Augusti edicta testari videntur. Adeo ut Horatius Flaccus in carmine,
quod saecularibus ludis cantatum est, id tempus hoc modo designaverit,
Certus widenos decies per atinos
Orbis ut cantus referatqtte ludos
Ter die clara totiensque grata
Node frequenter'
The passages from Antias, Livy, and Varro, quoted above, are extracted
from lost works, but a precise testimony of the last is to be found in a
treatise still extant.
' Saeclum spatium annorum centum vocamus' Varro L. L. 6. 2, to
which add Festus,
' Saeculares Ludi apud Romanos post centum annos fiebant, quia
saeculum in centum annos extendi existimabant.'
Censorinus has preserved the conflicting statements with regard to the
actual celebration of these games from the time of their institution, and
his dates are all fixed by the Consuls in office at the time. They are as
follows :
The first Secular games were * 6 8 Antias ' ' ' A ' U - C
celebrated according to
XV-viri
second ................ {
rp, J Antias & Livy. . . 505
Thethird t The XV-viri .. . . 51!
Antias, Varro & Livy 605
Piso Gensorius, Cn.
lived at the time - 608
The XV-viri - 628
The fifth by Augustus ................ A.U.C. 737 or B.C. 17
The sixth by Claudius ................ A.U.C. 800 or A.D. 47
The seventh by Domitian .............. A.U.C. 841 or A.D. 88
The eighth by Sept. and M. A. Antoninus, A.U.C. 957 or A.D. 204
To attempt to discover the causes which led to this strange dis-
agreement would be absolute waste of time. We can scarcely hesitate
to believe that the computations of the XV-viri were trimmed to serve
an end; but it is remarkable that the period chosen by Augustus does
Z
338 APPENDIX.
not absolutely agree -with their views, since the fifth games ought
to have been held A.U.C. 738, and not 737, as they really were.
25. We may conclude with a few words upon what has been termed
the 'Astronomical Portion' of Ovid's Fasti.
A nation like the Greeks, whose delightful climate permitted them
to watch their flocks by night in the open air during a considerable
part of the year, could not fail to gaze with attention on the starry
firmament, and to remark that certain fixed stars appeared and dis-
appeared in regular succession, as the sun passed through the different
stages of his annual career. Accordingly we find, that as early as the
time of Hesiod, the changes of the seasons, and the more important
operations of agriculture, were fixed with references to the risings
and settings of Orion, the Pleiades, the Hyades, Arcturus, and Sinus.
Such observations were in the first instance extremely rude ; but after
Thales had turned the attention of his countrymen to scientific
astronomy, these celestial phenomena were determined with great care
and accuracy ; tables were drawn up in which the risings and settings
of the more brilliant stars, with reference to the sun, were fully detailed,
together with such notices touching the winds and weather to be
expected at the different epochs, as experience suggested. Copies were
engraved on stone or brass, and being nailed or hung up in the
market-places of large towns and other places of public resort, received
the name of vapmrr/yfuira. Two catalogues of this description have
been preserved, which are valuable, inasmuch as they for the most part
quote the authority of the early Greek astronomers, Melon, Euctemon,
Eudoxus, Calippus, &c. for their statements. The one was drawn
up by Geminus of Rhodes (fl. 80 B.C.), a contemporary of Sulla and
Cicero, the other by the famous Ptolemy (A.D. 140).
In the former the risings and settings of the stars are fixed accord-
ding to the passage of the sun through the signs of the Zodiac;
in the latter they were ranged under the months and years of the
Julian Calendar.
The practice commenced by Hesiod was followed by subsequent
writers upon rural economy, and we accordingly find that all the
precepts in Virgil, Columella, and Pliny are delivered with reference to
the risings and settings of the stars, forming a complete ' Kalendarium
Rusticum.' Ovid has combined the Fasti of the city with these Rural
Almanacs, and has thus gained an opportunity of enlivening his poem
by recounting the various myths attached to the constellations 1 .
1 It would appear that Caesar, when he reconstructed the Fasti of
ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR. 339
The early Grecian parapegmata were undoubtedly constructed from
actual observation in the countries where they were first exhibited, and
must therefore have completely answered the purpose for which they
were intended. But this does not by any means hold good of the
corresponding compilations of the Romans, who, being little versed in
astronomy themselves, copied blindly from others without knowledge
or discrimination.
It is essentially necessary to attend to two facts :
i. The time of the risings and settings of the fixed stars varies for the
same place at different epochs. Thus the Pleiades which at Rome
rose along with the sun on the i6th of April, 44 B.C., rose with the
sun at Rome several days earlier in the age of Meton, and do not now
rise with the sun at Rome until several days later. This is caused by
the Precession of the Equinoxes.
ii. The time of the risings and settings of the fixed stars is different
on the same day in places whose latitude is different. Thus in the
year when the Pleiades rose along with the sun at Rome on the i6th
of April, they did not rise along with the sun at Athens until the
22nd of April.
Too little attention was paid to these considerations by the Roman
writers, and consequently we not unfrequently discover that they
combined the observations of astronomers who lived at times and
places remote from them and from each other that calculations made
for the latitude of Athens, or Rhodes, or Alexandria, three hundred
years before, were adopted at once and transferred to -their calendars
without change or modification.
Another source of confusion, especially in the Latin poets, is the
want of precision with regard to the different kinds of risings and
settings, which are carefully distinguished by the scientific. These
we shall briefly explain, together with the technical terms employed.
These risings and settings may be considered under eight heads :
1. When a star rises at sunrise.
2. When a star rises at sunset.
3. When a star sets at sunrise.
4. When a star sets at sunset.
5. When a star rises shortly before sunrise, so as to be just visible
Rome, included the risings and settings of the stars, since Pliny frequently
quotes the authority of Caesar for his statements on these points. In this
case the Fasti of Ovid may be considered as a commentary upon the
Almanac in common use.
Z 2
340 APPENDIX.
at rising, before its rays are overpowered by the more brilliant
luminary.
6. When a star- rises shortly after sunset, so as to be just visible
at rising.
7. When a star sets shortly before sunrise, so as to be just risible
at setting in the morning twilight.
8. WTien a star sets shortly after sunset, so as to be just visible
at setting in evening twilight.
The names by which these are distinguished, taken in their order,
are,
1. ' Ortus matutinus verns,' or 'Ortus cosmicus.'
2. ' Ortus vespertinus verns,' or ' Ortus acronychus.'
3. ' Occasus matutinus verus,' or ' Occasus cosmicus.'
4. ' Occasus vespertinus verus,' or ' Occasus acronychus.'
{ 5. ' Ortus matutinus apparens,' or ' Ortus heliacus."
\ 6. 'Ortus vespertinus apparens.'
1 7. ' Occasus matutinus apparens.'
( 8. ' Occasus vespertinus apparens,' or ' Occasus heliacus.'
Now it is manifest that the four first are mere matters of calculation,
since the true risings and settings never can be visible to the naked eye.
These then ought always to have been, and for some time always were,
excluded from Rural Calendars intended for the use of practical men.
We find, however, from the fragments of Calippus, which have been
preserved in the parapegma of Geminus, when verified by computation *,
that this astronomer had substituted the true risings and settings for the
apparent ones which were marked in the tables of Melon, Eudoxus, and
Euctemon. Hence great caution would be indispensable. If the
rising of a star was named, it would be necessary to state whether
th true or apparent rising was indicated, and whether it was the
morning or evening rising, and to proceed in like manner for the
setting of a star. Some little attention is paid to these points by
Columella" and Pliny, but in Virgil, and especially in Ovid, everything
is vague and unsatisfactory, risings and settings of all descriptions
are thrown together at random without a clue to guide us, and blunders
of the grossest description are so thickly interspersed that it often
becomes difficult to trace the error to its source, or to discover what the
1 They are not distinguished from the others in the parapegma itself.
1 Thus we find in Columella such expressions as the following, which
are to a certain extent guarded: 'VI. Non. Mai. Sucula cvm sole exoritvr.'
' XIII. XII. Kal. Nov. solis exortu Vergiliae incipiunt occidere," &c.
ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR. 34!
author could have intended. We shall substantiate these charges by a
few examples.
There is a cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus, called
'Pleiades' by the Greeks, and 'Vergiliae' by the Latins. The
appearance and disappearance of these served from a very remote
age to mark the approach of summer and the beginning of winter. Let
us first note down the exact period of their risings and settings
calculated for the latitude of Rome and the year 44 B.C.
'Ortus matutinus verus,' 16 April.
'Ortus vespertinus verus,' 18 Oct.
' Occasus matutinus verus,' 29 Oct.
' Occasus vespertinus verus,' 26 April.
' Ortus mat. apparens s. heliacus,' 28 May.
' Ortus vesp. appar "25 Sept
'Occasus mat. appar ' 9 Nov.
'Occasus vesp. appar. s. heliacus,' 8 April.
Now look to Ovid. After describing a festival celebrated on the
1st of April, he continues, Fast. 4. 165
' Nox ubi transient, caelumque rubescere primo
Coeperit, et tactae rore querentur aves ;
Semustamque facem vigilata nocte viator
Ponet, et ad solitum rusticus ibit opus :
Pleiades incipiunt humeros relevare pa tern os
Quae septem dici, sex tamen esse, solent.'
These lines refer to the setting of the Pleiades in the morning twilight.
According to the legend the Pleiades were the daughters of Atlas,
who supported the heavens on his shoulders, and hence, when they
disappeared from the sky, might be said to remove a portion of their
father's load, ' humeros relevare paternos.' The meaning in plain prose
therefore is, 'The Pleiades set in the morning on the 2nd of April.'
But it will be seen from the table given above that the Pleiades really
set in the morning on the gth of November. They set in the evening,
however, on the 8th of April, which comes tolerably near to the date
fixed, and is clearly the phenomenon the poet intended to record, but he
blundered between the morning setting and the evening setting, which
are six months apart.
Again, in Fast. 5. 599
'Pleiades adspicies omnes, totumque sororum
Agmen, ubi ante Idus nox erit una super.
Turn mihi non dubiis auctoribus incipit aestas :
Et tepidi finem tempera veris habent.'
342
APPENDIX.
The meaning here, although not very clearly expressed, is, 'The
Pleiades rise in the morning (heliacally) on the I4th of May, marking
the end of spring and the beginning of summer.'
But it will be seen by the table, that at the time when Ovid wrote,
the Pleiades did not rise heliacally at Rome until the 28th of May, but
they did rise heliacally at Athens on the i6th, in the age of Meton.
Hence this notice was manifestly copied from a Grecian Calendar
computed for the fifth century B.C.
We have already (p. 242) adverted to an error with regard to 'the
rising of Sirius, which Ovid assigns to the last of April, the very day
on which, according to Columella, who is here perfectly correct, it
sets heliacally.
In the same passage (see Extracts, p. 60) we are told that the
constellation ' Aries ' sets on the 3oth of April. Here again we have
a mistake. The ' Occasus vespertinus apparens ' must be indicated, but
it is placed more than five weeks too late, since it actually took place
on the aoth of March, even the 'Occasus matutinus verus' was on
the 5th of April.
We have seen p. 241, that Ovid fixes upon V. Id. Feb. (gth of
February) as the commencement of sprung, and on VII. Kal. Mai.
(2jth of April) as the middle point.
He departs here from the arrangement of Caesar, who divided the
year into eight portions, according to the following scheme 1 :
Bruma,
Veris initium,
Aequinoctium vernum,
Aestatis initium,
Solstitium,
Auctumni initium,
Aequinoctium auctumni,
Hiemis initium,
The commencement of spring was marked by no celestial pheno-
menon, but announced by the soft breathings of Favonius ; the
beginning of summer was connected with the morning rising of the
Pleiades, which however took place, the true on the i6th of April, the
apparent on the 28th of May. The true evening setting of the Lyre
was on the i4th of August, the apparent on the 24th. The true
morning setting of the Pleiades was on the 2gth of October, the
apparent on the gth of November.
VIII. Kal. Jan.
VII. Id. Feb.
VIII. Kal. Ap.
VII. Kal. Mai.
VIII. Kal. Jul.
III. Id. Aug.
VIII. Kal. Oct.
III. Id. Nov.
25 Dec,
7 Feb.
25 March,
9 May,
24 June,
ii August,
24 Sept.
ii Nov.
[cipiunt.
Favonii spirare in-
[Matutinus.
Vergiliarum Ortus
[Matutinus.
Fidiculae occasus
[Matutinus.
Vergiliarum occasus
1 Cp. Varro R. R. I. 28, Pliny H. N. 18. 25, Columella, R. R. 9, 14.
ON THE ROMAN CALENDAR. 343
It may be a matter of surprise that Julius Caesar did not begin his
year with the winter solstice, which happened 46 B.C. at Rome, on the
24th of December, o h 9' A. M. He was probably induced to neglect
this natural arrangement by a superstitious desire to make the beginning
of the reformed calendar correspond with a New Moon. According to
the calculation of Ideler, the Mean New Moon fell upon the 1st of
January, B.C. 45, at sixteen minutes past six in the evening, the true
New Moon on the 2nd of January, at thirty-four minutes past one in
the morning.
It seems highly probable that Macrobius alludes to this fact, when
he observes, ' Annum civilem Caesar habitis ad lunam dimensionibus
constitutum edicto palam posito publicavit ;' for in no other way
could the Julian Year be said to have any connection with the course
of the Moon.
In this Appendix the excellent work of Ideler, entitled ' Handbuch
der mathematischen und technischen Chronologic,' has been closely
followed. The principal authorities with regard to the sidereal
astronomy of the ancients are Joannis F. Pfaff, ' Commentatio de
Ortibus et Occasibus siderum apud auctores classicos commemoratis.'
Gbtting. 1786; a paper by Ideler, 'Ueber den astronomischen Theil
der Fasti des Ovid,' in the Berlin Transactions for 1822, 1823: and
Symbolae Observationum in Ovidii Fastos,' by F. H. Gesenius,
printed at Altona in 1806.
INDEX.
Pge
Page
Abbadir
383
Amulius . .
37
Acastus
7,146
Amyclae
268
Acca Larentia
38
Anchises
81
Accius, Attius
J 59
Androgeus . .
21
Acerra .
243
Animosus .
159
Acontius
3io
Anna Perenna .
6.6
Achelous .
229
Antenor
141
Actorides
528
Aoniae sorores .
3'i
Admetus .
144
Apex . . .
226
Adonis
160
Apollo . .
144
Adoptare
182
Aqua Mercurii .
265
Adrasti genus
275
Ara Maxima
204
Adulterare .
220
Aratus . .
156
Aedon .
163
Arcadians . .
129
Aegeus .
21
Areas . . .
196
Aelinon .
170
Arges .
251
Aemonius .
145
Ariadne . .
21
Aeneas
81
Arion .
392
Aesacus
I
Arisbe .
I
Aesonius dux
1 60
Aristaeus . .
219
Africanus, Scipio
299
Arvanius
209
Agave .
86, 279
Ascraeus
155
Agnomen
100
Ashes of the dead
217
Ahenum .
272
Assaracus . .
81
Albula
212
Atrides minor .
142
Alcestis .
141
Attalus . .
285
Alcmaeon .
228
Attonitug . .
i?9
Alexander (Paris'
i
Atys .
269
AJmo .
389
Aucupes . .
183
Aloeus, Aloidae
353
Aucupor . .
151
Ambitio
39
Augustus.
301
Ames .
183
Ausonia . 287
290, 303
Amphiaraides,
228
Auspex . .
186
Amphrysus .
144
Axis .
303
346
IN DE X.
Page
Page
Bacchae
179
Cassandra . . 142, 143
Bacchus, the Theban
5
Castalia aqua . . 160
Bacchus, worship of
178
Catullus, C. Val. . . 172
Bacchus and Ariadne
121
Cebren, Cebrenia regio 134
BaiTvA.o
283
Celibaris hasta . . 232
Balbus
I6 5
Cerae .... 299
Barbers in Rome .
176
Chalcidica arx . . 285
Bassus . .
3"
Chalcidice . . . 279
Battiades
155
Charites ... 268
Berecynthus .
89
Cilissa spica . . 165,188
Bessi .
37
Cinyra . . . 270
Bicorniger .
146
Clarius Deus . . 1 86
Bird-catchers
183
Claudia Vestalis . . 288
Blaesus
165
Clausus . . . ib.
Bombi
177
Clitor . . . 209
Bona Dea
278
Clitumnus . . . 189
Briareus
5i
Cognomen . . . zoo
Brontes . .
ib.
Commoda . . . 177
Buccina
148
Compita Larium . . 264
Burning the dead .
217
Compitalia . . . ib.
Burranica potio .
5ft
Conchylium . . 148
Bustum
230
Constell. of Cretan Crown 22
Cornix . . . 1 66
Cacus . . .
33
Corvinus, Valerius . 300
Cadmus
*97
Corybantes . 89, 282, 283
Caelebs
Z 74
Costum . . . 218
Caelum, Caelare, &c.
3 73
Cothurnus . . . 156
Caelus
251
Coitus . . . 251
Caesar Germanicus
184-186
Coturnix . . . 165
Caestus
212
Cremera . . 296, 297
Calabrae Pierides .
J 57
Crenides . . . 280
Calamus
183
Creticus Metellus . 300
Calcei .
372
Crocus . 164, 218, 269
Callimachus .
1 55
Curetes . . . 283
Callisto
196
Cyathus . . . 259
Calvus Licinius .
173
Cybele, Mons . 89, 284
Camella
250
Cybele, Cybelle, Cybebe
Canis, Canicula .
3 4 2, 244
Cyclades . . . 286
Canistra, Canistri
239
Cyclopes . . 251, 287
Capillatus .
I 7 6
Cydippe . . . 310
Capys . . .
81
Cydonia . . . 178
Carenum . .
250
Cyllene . . . 210
Carmenta . .
J 97
Cynosura . . . 305
Carmentalia
204
Cynthia ... 290
Carmentis porta .
296
Cynthius ... ib.
Carystus
287
Cyrene . . . 220
INDEX.
347
Page
Page
Cythereia
283
Faba nigra . .
236
Cythereius Mensis
ib.
Fabii ....
Fabii, legend of the three
4i
hundred .
98
Daedalus .
Dardanus
. 21
80
Falisca herba .
Fallere
188
206
Defendere .
Defrutum .
Deiphobus .
Denseo
Di Manes
Dia
135
250
HI
. 272
52
178
Fatua ....
Fatuus . . .
Fauna . . .
Faunalia
Faunus . . 30, 40,
Faustulus
4 1
ib.
ib.
208
292
38
Diana Triplex
Dibaphus
Digerere
Dindymene .
Diomedes .
Discurrere .
*/"
223
291
183, 268
89
275
. 21
Februarius .
Februum . . . 5c
Fenus ....
Ferales dies .
Feralia . . 53,
Festa Domestica .
5
, 46
181
227
2<3
185
Dyspari (Avairapi)
148
Fetus ....
Fibra . .
214
241
Fingere lingua
214
Flamen Dialis . .
226
Ediscere . .
154
Flamines
211
Eetion . .
286
Flaminica . . .
226
Elysium
267
Flora ....
75
Encausto pingere .
274
Floralia . . .
ib.
Ennius
157
Flos vini
270
Epeus . .
273
Fordae boves
246
Ephialtes
253
Fordicidia
ib.
Equites Laticlavii, &c.
Equus October
Erato .
3U
247
28 3
Fornacalia, Fornax
Founding of cities according
to Etrurian ritual
2O2
2I 5
Ergo, quantity of
I 3 8
Fowlers
183
Ericthonius .
80
Fucus ....
J 95
Eriphyle
228
Fullones . . .
272
Erycina Venus
171
Fungi ....
216
Erymanthus . .
. 209
Furinalia, Furnalia,
Erytheia
34. 201
Furina . . .
202
Eryx . .
171
'Earia . . .
277
Euades
179
Gades, Gadeira . . .
201
Euboicum carmen
285
Gaetulus murex . 291,
294
Eumenes
ib.
Gaia ....
2 5'
Euphrates . .
218
Galli ... 89,
282
Evander . .
29
Callus, C. Corn. 160, 173,
312
Exsequiae . .
161
Ganges . . .
280
348
INDEX.
Page
Pago
Ganymedes . . .
81
Indignus . .
178
Garanus . . .
34
Infectores . . .
272
Genealogy of Caesars
Germanicus, Drusus .
184
Inferiae ...
Insitio . .
235
182
Claudius Nero .
300
Insula Tiberina . .
295
Geryon
Getae ....
34,3oo
308
Inter duos lucos .
Intonsus
64
176, 226
Giants ....
251
Invideo, construction of
152
Gigantomachia .
251-257
Invidiosus .
2 5'
Gnosus, Gnossus . .
177
lo
225
Gortys, Gortyna . .
Graculus . . .
178
166
Iphiclus ...
Iphigenia . .
7
7,223
Gradus de cespite .
Gyes or Gyges . .
3
Isauri ....
Isauricus, Servilius
Islands of the Blest
299
ib.
267
Ismarius ...
1^3
Haemus . . .
Hasta recurva . .
Hebrus ...
223
233
280
Ismarius tyrannus
Ister septemplex .
1 6 2
308
s
Hectores ...
149
Itys ....
IO2
TT 1 ^
ivy^
334
.riccuD**
Helen
3, 143
lusta ferre, &c. . .
233
Helice ...
Hercules
304
33
Klytion . . .
81
Hercules and Omphale
Hero ....
97
39
Kronus . .
282
Hesiod . . .
155
Hicetaon ...
81
Labrum ...
249
Hister ....
176
Lacunar ...
293
Homicide and Purifi-
Lacus . . .
3 10
cation . . .
227
Ladon . .
209
Honoratus Praetor
187
Lampon ...
81
Horae ....
268
Laodamia . . .
7, 153
Horses crowned at Olympic
games ... 313
Hyacinthus ... 268
Hyperion . . . aai
Laomedon . * .
Laquear . .
Laqueus . . .
Lararium . . .
Larentalia .
Si
293
183
68
207
Lares ... 32, 67-72
lanus . .
189-194
Lares Praestites .
67, 70
lason . . .
197
Larvae . . .
52
Icarius Canis
244
Laurel, burning the
Ida, Ide 89, 139
155, 283
leaves of . . .
218
Ilus .
81
Laurentes agri . .
240
Imbrices . .
177
Laurens castrum .
ib.
Inachis . .
225
Laurentes silvae .
29?
Inachus . .
Laurentum . .
240
INDEX.
349
Page
Page
Leander . . .
39
Mettius Fufetius .
37
Leges XII. tabb. .
154
Mica . . . 217,
226, 231
Lemures . . 52,
236
Micare
137
Lemuria ...
55
Mimallonides
179
Libare . . 280,
298
Minerva . . .
77
Liberalia . . .
85
Minerval . .
373
Liber Pater .
*.
Minos ,
31
Libri Sibyllini
261
Minotaurus .
ib.
Libum . . 238,
280
Mola salsa . . .
217
Licia cantata .
233
Mourning women
161
Linguis favere . .
239
Mulciber
20 r
Linum ....
182
Mundus .
215
Linus ....
169
Murex . .
I 4 8
Litus arare .
143
Mustum . .
350, 310
Livor, lividus . 154, 188,
3*4
Muta Dea .
233
Lotos ....
282
Myrrha . .
218
Lucretius . . .
160
Ludius 5. ludio . .
176
Narcissus . . .
269
AvKatov opos . .
42
Nativus
138
Lupercal ...
4i
Naupactus .
229
Lupercalia . .
ib.
Nautes . . * .
82
Luperci . . .
ib.
Nautia gens .
ib.
Lupercus and Luperca .
42
Navis, metaphorically .
184
Lustrum . . .
3'3
Nestor
259
Lycaon . . .
304
Nile .
370
Lycoris . .
1 60
Nomen . . .
100
Lycurgus . . .
86
Nomentum . .
243
Lympha . . .
136
Nonacris . . .
2IO
Lysimachus . . .
285
Novellus
177
Numantinus, Scipio
300
Maculae ...
135
Numidicus, Metellus
ib.
Maenades
179
Numitor . . .
38
Maeonides . . 154,
31'
Nympha
136
Maeonis
293
Nymphs
249
Magnus, Pompeius
301
Nysa .
281
Maia ....
278
Nysiades Nymphae
ib.
Manes ....
52
Nysigena
1 80
Mantele, Mantelium, &c.
243
Mars, Mavors, Mamers
204
Obscaenus .
143, 244
Maximus, Q. Fabius 297,
3 i
Occupare . * .
204
Medea . . 106,
228
Odd Numbers
*33
Megalesia .
89
Oenone
I
Memnon . . .
1 68
Olympian gods . .
351-257
Menandros .
*S7
Omphale
97
Mercurius
73
Ops . . . .
277
Metellus, L. Caecilius 83,
289
Orpheus . . .
169
350
INDEX.
Page
Page
Ortygiae boves . .
266
QfjffTOl . .
2 4 I
Oscines
225
Philetaerus .
285
Ostia .
287
Philippi
2^0
Ostrum
148
Philomela . .
162
Othryades .
240
Phoceus iuvenis .
16 4
Otus .
253
Phoebea ars
273
Otus and Ephialtes .
195
Phoenix
16 7
Pholoe
209
Pactolus . . .
1 60
Phylaceides matres
H7
Pacuvius . .
59
Phyllacides .
147, 166
Paeon, Paean .
273. 285
Phylleides matres
147
Palantium .
2 9
Phrygian Penates
199
Palatium . . .
3
Phryx pius .
285
Pales .
61
Piamen
226
Palilia
ib.
Picti Fasti .
185
Palladium . . .
81
Picus .
207
Pallas Athene
79
Pieria . .
170
Pampinea hasta . .
146
Pierides
208
Pan ....
208
Pinea taeda .
232
Pandion
162
Pisaea oliva .
3*3
Pangaeus Mons .
280
Plangere
162, 204
Papyrifer amnis .
308
Plausus
177
Parce, followed by the
Plaustrum .
34
infinitive . . .
137
Plectrum . .
291
Parentales dies . .
231
Pleiades
265
Parilia ....
62
Polus .
. 33
Paris . . ...
I
Polydamas . .
141
Parrhasius . . .
197
Ponticus
3"
Parrhasis Arctos . .
34
Porricere . .
230
Parrots
161
Porta Capena
265, 289
Patera
243
Portus Augusti .
287
Patroclus
228
Portus Traiana
288
Pecten
272
Potior, utor, &c. construc-
Pecten lyrae .
291
tion of
206
Pedica
183
Possessive pronoun
sub-
Pegasis
134
stituted for the
per-
Pelasgi . . .
211
sonal
137
Peleus
227
Praeficae . .
161
Pelopeides undae . .
287
Praenomen .
loo
Penates .
71
Praepetes
225
Pentheus
86
Priamus . .
J,8i
Pergamus
285
Priapus . .
224
Perpetuus
281
Procas . .
36
Phaeacia
*/2
Procne
162
Phasis
228
Procyon
244
Pheres, Pherae, Phqraeus
144
Pumex . .
294
INDEX.
351
Page
Page
Pronus ...
182
Sapa . . . .
250
Propertius ...
3 I2
Sapaei
223
TlpOfft\T)VOl . . .
196
Sarculum . . .
243
Protesilaus .
7
Sarmatis ora . .
3H
Proteus . . .
220
Saturata lana . .
748
Psittacus
161
Saturnus . .
251-257
Puella ....
231
Satyri .
179
Purification from a
Sauromatae . .
307
blood-stain . .
227
Scamander .
MS
Purpura
148
Sceleratus Campus
277
Pylades .
1(14
Scena .
175
Pyra ....
230
Scythia .
36, 37
Semele
85
Quinctilii . f
Quinquatrus, Quinqua-
4i
Semicaper deus .
Septem Triones .
248
34
78 70
~S.ifiv\\ci . . .
259
Quirinus
187
Sibylline books . .
C"i i
201
Sibyls .
259
Radius . .
Rapidus sol .
272
293
Sigeum . . .
Silenus
Silvia .
286
1 80, 28l
,37, 205
Rarus . . . 181, 25
o, 272
Simois . .
1 !K
Recaranus .
34
Sinus . . . .
1 53
J3Q
Regia ....
226
Sirius . . .
oy
244
Regina
ib.
Sistrum
170
Remuria . . .
237
Sithonia . . .
27Q
Remus
36-38
Situs .
* / y
243
Rete ....
Rex Sacrorum
183
226
Smaragdus .
Smilax . . .
164
269
Rhea, wife of Kronos or
Smintheus . . .
274
Saturn
277
Soleae . . .
272
Rhea Silvia . 37, 20
5- 212
Solicitus . . .
/
174
Rhodope
Rhoeteum .
Rhombus
Rivers running backwards
Robigalia
280
286
234
136
59
Sophocles .
Sparsiones .
Spina alba .
Stagna Phrixeae Sororis
Stata Mater . . .
>7
156
232
286
278
Robigus, Robigo .
Romulus and Remus
ib.
36-38
Steropes
Stiva .
251
216
Rudius homo . .
S. T. T. L. .
Ruminalis ficus . .
Rutrum . . .
213
216
Stumbling on the
threshold
15. 305
Stymphalus .
209
Sabina herba . .
218
Subtemen
272
Sagax ....
182
Suffimen, suffire .
247, 266
Sagmina . .
221
Sulfur Vivum
248
352
INDEX
Page
Pace
2Gp<7f . . . 181
Swan, song of the . 192
Trabea
Tria Verba . . .
"I
Trinacrium mare .
287
Tacita Dea . . 233
Trisaeclisenex
259
Taeda iugalis
232
Triumviri
3"
Tagus aurifer
. 160
Trojan line, genealogy of
80
Tarpeiae arces
188
Tros ....
81
Tegea .
201
Tubilustrium . .
78
Temese .
237
Turtur
164
Tenedos .
154, 286
Tus ....
Terentus .
198
Tuscum flumen . .
288
Tereus
162
Tychius
272
Terminalia .
56
Tydeus
197
Terminus
ib.
Typhon ...
253
Terra .
251
Typhon, Typhoeus
203
Testae
177
Tyrius murex
2^1
Teucrus
81
Thebe
286
Vagire, Vagitus .
2'3
Thebes, war agair
st . 228
Vallis Murtia
ib.
Therapnae .
268
Varia formido
183
Thersites
Thesea fides
167
306
Varro Atacinus . .
Vedius . . .
'8
Theseus
21, 143
Vegrandis .
257
Thespiae
269
Veii ....
295
Thetis
169
Veiovis
6 4
Thyades
179
Vela in the theatres, &c.
174
Thyrsus .
146, 28l
Verbena . . .
220
Tiberinus
212
Vescus
257
Tiberis
212, 258
Vesta ....
2/5
Tibia Phrygia
282
Vestae simulacra .
206
Tibiae sacrificae
ib.
Vestales
275
Tibicines
176
Vestalia
378
Tinctores
272
Viduae puellae
231
Tirynthius iuvenis . 292
Viduus . .
174
Tirynthius Hospes . -zoi
Virgilius . .
160
Titan (Sol) 233, 343, 282
Vlcisci
319
Titans . . . 251
Vmbraculum . .
293
Tithonus . . 81
Vmbrae . . .
258
TiVvpos . .180
Vnicus
1 68
Tmolus . .293
Vranus . . .
2*1
Tomi, Tomis . 106
Vrere, Adurere .
243
Tophus . . 294
Vulcanalia . . .
2O2
Torquatus, Manlius . 300
Vulcanus .
201
THE END.
UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
A 000676316 3