Qass T/Akfl Q4 
 Book -Az 
 
V^JL*** % 
 
 THE 
 
 BUCOLICS AND GEORGICS 
 
 OF 
 
 VIRGIL; 
 
 NOTES, 
 
 EXCURSUS, TERMS OF HUSBANDRY, AND 
 A FLORA VIRGILIANA, 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS KEIGHTLEY, 
 
 AUTHOR OF THE MYTHOLOGY OF ANCIENT GREECE AND ITALY, ETC. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 WHITTAKER AND CO., AVE MARIA LANE. 
 
 1847. 
 
?n< 
 
 40* 
 
 PRINTED BY RICHARD AND JOHN' E. TAYLOR. 
 RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. 
 
^ 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 I HAVE written this commentary on the rural poetry 
 of Virgil, because, however inferior in other respects, I 
 conceive myself to possess two important advantages 
 over the preceding commentators on these poems : I 
 h; ve resided m Italy, where none of them appear ever 
 to have been, and thence am tolerably familiar with the 
 physical features and other properties of that country ; 
 and further, having spent the first twenty years of my 
 life almost entirely in the country, where I witnessed all 
 the operations of agriculture as then practised, and be- 
 ing similarly situated at present, I may claim a practi- 
 cal acquaintance with the various branches of rural eco- 
 nomy and husbandry. They, on the contrary, have 
 passed their days in schools and universities, and appear 
 to have seen no agriculture, and hardly to know one im- 
 plement from another. 
 
 Some may think I should except Martyn ; but I do 
 not. He knew botany, as it was then known, and nothing 
 more : he was ignorant of agriculture and of natural 
 history. I will however except Mr. Hoblyn, who pub- 
 lished in 1825 a translation of the first book of the 
 Georgics, with notes, in which he exhibited a practical 
 acquaintance with agriculture and a competent know- 
 ledge of natural history. 
 
 a2 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 Beside the commentators, I have made use of The 
 Husbandry of the Ancients of the Rev. Adam Dickson, 
 a minister of the Church of Scotland, who certainly un- 
 derstood Pliny and the Scriptores Rei Rusticae better 
 than any writer I have met with, and to whom conse- 
 quently I am under much obligation. I have also had 
 the Saggio di Nuove Illustrazioni filologico-rustiche 
 sulle Egloghe e Georgiche di Virgilio, of Carlo Fea, the 
 celebrated Roman antiquary and topographer, and some 
 modern Italian works on agriculture. 
 
 Though not a professed botanist, yet not totally a 
 stranger in that region, I have ventured to add a Flora ; 
 for I think it is a real advantage to the reader of Vir- 
 gil to be enabled to form a definite idea of the plants 
 which the poet mentions. My authorities here have 
 been, beside Martyn, the Flore de Virgile, Flore de 
 Theocrite, and Commentaires sur la Botanique et la 
 Matiere Medicale de Pline of Dr. A. L. A. Fee, the 
 professor of botany at Strasbourg, from whom, on my 
 passage through that city, I received both attention 
 and information. The Cav. M. Tenore, director of the 
 Botanic Garden at Naples, though not personally ac- 
 quainted with me, very kindly presented me, through a 
 common friend, with his Osservazioni on the two Floras 
 of Dr. Fee. I may therefore hope that my Flora will 
 be found tolerably correct. 
 
 I have added what I denominate Terms of Hus- 
 bandry, because it was necessary to describe the im- 
 plements and operations of husbandry at some length, 
 and I did not wish to make the notes disproportionate. 
 With respect to the implements, little information can 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 be derived from dictionaries, except the excellent one 
 of Forcellini, as the compilers of them knew nothing of 
 such matters. 
 
 In the Excursus I have tried to develope two or three 
 rather remarkable peculiarities of the Latin language, 
 which did not appear to have been sufficiently noticed 
 by grammarians. The Biographical Notices prefixed to 
 the Notes seemed to me to be requisite for the perfect 
 understanding of the Bucolics : it will be seen at once 
 that they are only intended to be sketches, not com- 
 plete biographies. It was my intention to have prefixed 
 also Views of Bucolic and Didactic Poetry ; but I after- 
 wards thought that it would be only increasing the size 
 of the book needlessly, as few of its readers would pro- 
 bably much care about the political bucolics of Petrarca 
 and Boccaccio, for instance, or the pastoral drama and 
 romance of Italy and Spain. The View of Bucolic Poetry 
 has been referred to in the Observations on the fifth 
 eclogue, as I had not altered my plan when that part of 
 the work was printed. 
 
 The Notes are written in English, as it is only in a 
 modern language that the Georgics could be fully ex- 
 plained. There is no text, for every one may be sup- 
 posed to possess a Virgil, and I have always found it 
 more convenient to have the text in one and the com- 
 mentary in another, than one at the beginning and the 
 other at the end of the same volume, or the text and 
 notes bearing the same proportion and relation to one 
 another as the cornice and wall in architecture. 
 
 In illustrating the meaning of particular words and 
 phrases, the plan which I have adopted is, to quote the 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 elder poets an\l the contemporaries of Virgil, and but 
 rarely his successors. For the works of Virgil were so 
 universally read and learned by heart, that it is always 
 likely that Ovid or Statius, for example, only gives us 
 a repetition of the Virgilian phrase, and not an inde- 
 pendent instance of its employment. 
 
 I could wish that the Bucolics were not read so early 
 in schools as they generally are ; for, excepting Horace, 
 I know no portion of the Latin poetry read at school so 
 difficult to understand. They might be read after the 
 Aeneis, and perhaps in conjunction with some Idylls of 
 Theocritus. 
 
 In writing a commentary one should endeavour to 
 avoid giving too much explanation, and be careful to 
 omit nothing requisite. On the last point I believe 
 myself to be tolerably secure ; but I greatly fear that, 
 not being in the habit of teaching or lecturing, I may 
 have erred on the other side. It is however the safe 
 side. 
 
 Even in this work I have a moral object. I am not 
 without hope that young men, from reading and under- 
 standing the rural poetry of Virgil, and learning some- 
 thing of the agriculture of the ancients, may have their 
 curiosity excited about that of the present day, and thus 
 be led to acquire a taste for rural life and husbandry ; 
 and that afterwards, as landlords, as private gentlemen, 
 or as professional men, they may take a lively interest 
 in our British agriculture, and seek to promote the 
 welfare and to elevate the character of those engaged 
 in it. 
 
 Before concluding, I will justify my mode of spelling 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 a word which I use in this as in all my other writings. 
 From the Greek julvOos I have made the word mythe, in 
 which however no one has followed me, the form gene- 
 rally adopted being myth. Now if there is anything 
 like a general rule in the English language it is this, 
 that words formed from Greek and Latin dissyllables in 
 09 and us, whether the penultimate vowel be long or 
 short, are monosyllables made long by a final e. Thus 
 /SwXo? makes bole, 7ro\o?, pole. I believe that a single 
 instance to the contrary, except myth, cannot be ad- 
 duced ; for plinth and the like are not such, the vowel 
 in them being made short by the two consonants. I 
 am not simple enough to expect to alter the usual prac- 
 tice, I only want to show that analogy is on my side. 
 
 In conclusion, as my work cannot possibly be ex- 
 empt from error, and must be capable of much improve- 
 ment, I shall feel really thankful for any communica- 
 tions on the subject, and promise to give them all due 
 attention. 
 
 T. K. 
 
 Binfield, Berks, Feb. 25, 1846. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 
 
 OF 
 
 VIRGIL, ASINIUS POLLIO, AND CORNELIUS 
 GALLUS. 
 
 It is always a matter of regret, when in reading the works of 
 men of genius we find ourselves destitute of the means of 
 knowing something of their private history, their ordinary 
 occupations, their mode of life, and their familiar conversa- 
 tion. As a proof of this feeling, we may observe the great 
 avidity with which any anecdote of such men is received 
 whenever it presents itself from any unexpected quarter. In 
 the case of modern writers this is not felt so much ; yet who 
 would not fain know more of even Milton ? and how much is 
 it not to be deplored that we know so little of Dante, Shake- 
 speare, Spenser and Cervantes ! But imperfect as our know- 
 ledge is of the history of these great men, it is actually copious 
 when compared with what we can learn of that of the an- 
 cients. Of these, with the exception of Cicero, Horace, and 
 Ovid (whom circumstances led to speak of themselves, their 
 habits and feelings), we know almost nothing ; for what can 
 be more jejune than the notices of them transmitted to us by 
 scholiasts and grammarians ! 
 
 Virgil has shared the common fate : nearly all our infor- 
 mation respecting him is derived from a Life, purporting to be 
 written by Donatus, a grammarian who flourished in the fourth 
 century, and which, though it is probably founded on earlier and 
 more authentic narratives*, presents in its actual form a farrago 
 
 * Especially the work of Asconius Pedianus, Contra detractores Virgiliu 
 In our Notes (pp. 44, 59), we inadvertently followed Servius in terming him 
 Virgil's contemporary, for he was not born till some years after the death 
 of the poet. 
 
 a 5 
 
X BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 of puerile fictions, many of them apparently the inventions of 
 the marvel-loving monks of the middle ages. Their origin 
 can often be easily traced in the history and works of the poet 
 himself. Thus he was skilled in magic, because his mother's 
 name was Magia ; and he was a clever horse-doctor, and was 
 in that capacity, before he exhibited his poetic talents, em- 
 ployed in the stables of the emperor Augustus, because he 
 treats in the Georgics of the diseases of cattle. 
 
 We will here endeavour to relate all that seems to bear the 
 semblance of truth in Donatus' Life of this poet, and add the 
 little that is known of the history of his friends Pollio and 
 Gallus, as it tends to illustrate the Bucolics. 
 
 P. VIRGILIUS MARO. 
 
 Publius Virgilius luaro was born on the Ides (15th^of Oc- 
 y tober, 682— 4^ in the first consulate of Pompeius and Crassus*. 
 The place of his birth is said to have been Andes, a village 
 within three miles of Mantua, in Cisalpine Gaulf, where his 
 father had a property in land, probably of moderate extent. 
 The name of his mother was Maia, or rather Magia, as there 
 was a family of this name in the adjacent district of Cremona J 
 to which she may have belonged. Among the figments of 
 the grammarians we may reckon the following : viz. his father 
 was a potter or brickmaker (Jigulus), — Virgil we know made 
 (Jingebai) verses, — or he was a hired servant of one Magius, 
 who afterwards gave him his daughter in marriage ; and when 
 
 * Virgilius Maro, in pago qui Andes dicilv.r, haud proeul a Mantua, 
 nascitur, Pompeio et Crasso Coss. Hieronym. in Chron. Euseb. — X.B. Here 
 
 (and elsewhere we give the years of Rome according to the Catonian and 
 the Varronian a?ra. 
 
 f It was the established belief even in the time of Dante (Purg. C. win. 
 st. 28), that Andes was the present Pietola; but this village is only two 
 miles from Mantua. 
 
 % Cn. Magius, Cremona, praefectus fahrum Cn. Pompeii. Caes. Bell. 
 Civ. i. 2i. 
 
P. VIRGILIUS MARO. XI 
 
 his father-in-law gave him charge of his cattle and farming 
 (i. e. made him his villicus), he increased his little property 
 by purchasing woods and by keeping bees, — a fiction to account 
 for the origin of the Georgics. They also tell, that his mother 
 dreamed that she was delivered of a branch of bay, which grew 
 at once to be a tree laden with various fruits and flowers, and 
 that early next morning, as she was accompanying her hus- 
 band into the country, she was seized with the pains of labour 
 on the road, and gave birth to her celebrated son in a ditch, 
 who, unlike other newborn babes, never uttered a cry, and 
 displayed a countenance of the utmost placidity. 
 
 The early years of the future poet were probably spent in 
 the seclusion of his father's villa, where he may have been 
 taught the elements of literature by some educated slave, or 
 possibly at a school in the village*. In 694-96, when he 
 was twelve years old, he was sent for his education to Cremona, 
 where, as we have supposed, he may have had maternal rela- 
 tives. He probably remained there till he assumed the virile 
 toga, which he is said to have done in the second consulate of 
 Pompeius and Crassus, 697-99, in his sixteenth year. He 
 then went to Milan, for instruction of a higher order, and 
 thence, we are told, to Rome, or, as Donatus says, first to Naples 
 and then to Rome. Whether at this early age he visited 
 these two capitals or not, is a matter of the utmost uncertainty ; 
 in all probability the grammarians sent him thither in order 
 to place him on a level with Horace and others. At all events 
 it seems plain, from the account of his early years, that his 
 father could not have been in mean circumstances, or he could 
 not have bestowed such an education on his son. 
 
 Virgil is said to have been taught Greek by Partheniusf, at 
 Naples, and to have attended the lectures of Syro, an Epicu- 
 rean philosopher, at Rome, where his fellow-pupil was Varus, 
 to whom he afterwards inscribed his sixth eclogue. But he 
 must surely have been taught Greek long before he could 
 have gone to Naples, and he might easily have learned the 
 Epicurean system in the writings of Epicurus himself, or rather 
 
 * Comp. Hor. S. i. 6, 72. f See Life of Gallus. 
 
XU BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 in the poem of Lucretius, which had lately appeared, and 
 which exercised such influence on the rising generation of the 
 Latin poets. 
 
 It is uncertain how long Virgil may have been from home. 
 As his constitution was delicate, it is probable that he early 
 sought the tranquil retirement of the paternal villa, and, with- 
 out taking much concern in the occupations of the farm, 
 devoted himself to literature. The rural poetry of Theocritus 
 would seem to have had a peculiar charm for his gentle and 
 placid mind, and it is not unlikely that he may have tried to 
 imitate, or rather have translated, parts of it. We know that 
 at this time he composed a poem named the Culex, of which 
 the subject was the death of a gnat, killed by a shepherd whom 
 she had stung, to warn him against the approach of a serpent. 
 He is also said to have written at this time epigrams, Priapeia, 
 Dirae, the Moretum,the Copa, etc. All these poems, and with 
 them one named Ciris, have comedown to us; and though some 
 of them may be of the Augustan age, and are not unworthy of 
 Virgil, we feel confident that none of them are his composition. 
 One of the best of these is the Moretum, which, it is said, he 
 translated from the Greek of Parthenius ; but its aspect is 
 much more Italian than Greek, and it contains a minuteness 
 and accuracy of description which is foreign to the genius 
 of Virgil. To us it seems to be the work of one who was 
 familiar with the poems of Virgil, and even with those of 
 Horace. The same is the case with the Copa ; it is not Vir- 
 gilian, but it contains Virgilian terms and expressions. The 
 Culex which we have is a wretched production, evidently the 
 work of some one who sought to replace the real, but lost, 
 Culex of Virgil. 
 
 After the Culex Virgil wrote his Bucolics, of which there 
 can be no doubt that the first written was that which stands 
 the second in order, — the Alexis. Those who infer from Ec. 
 v. 52, that Virgil was personally known to the Dictator, place 
 it in 707-9 ; those who from Ec. viii. 11, that he wrote his 
 Bucolics at the desire of Pollio, in 709-11 or 710-12. The 
 first hypothesis is quite inadmissible ; and with respect to the 
 second, all that legitimately follows from that passage is, that 
 
P. VIRGILIUS MARO. X1H 
 
 at the desire of Pollio, our poet took up again the subject of 
 unrequited love, and was perhaps required to imitate the Phar- 
 maceutria of Theocritus. The real case would seem to be, 
 that when in 709-11 Pollio, who was himself a man of 
 letters and a poet, was appointed to the government of Cisal- 
 pine Gaul, he became acquainted with the Culex, the Alexis, 
 and perhaps some other pieces of the young poet of Mantua, 
 and gave him his patronage and his friendship. 
 
 The third eclogue was Virgil's next production. This was 
 most probably written in 710-12, or 711-13, after he had 
 obtained the friendship of Pollio. We should be inclined to 
 say in the former year ; for the place in which he makes men- 
 tion of his patron (vv. 84-89), seems to express the warmth 
 of recent gratitude. In this poem, probably to gratify Pollio, 
 who was of a satirical turn, he made a wanton attack on two, 
 as we may suppose, bad versifiers, named Bavius and Maevius. 
 Of these men we know little or nothing, but it is difficult to 
 conceive that they could have given the young provincial any 
 cause of enmity, for they appear to have lived at Rome, 
 while he, like another Burns, did not at this time look for 
 fame beyond his native province. In this very eclogue there 
 is a passage (v. 105) which could have been understood only 
 at Mantua. 
 
 The fifth eclogue was probably the next he wrote. In it 
 he alludes to the second and third ; and whether, as is the 
 general opinion, it is allegorical, and Daphnis is Julius Caesar, 
 or the contrary, we see no reason for placing it earlier or later 
 than 710-12. 
 
 We are inclined to assign one of these years also as the date 
 of the seventh eclogue. It contains no chronological marks, 
 and those who place it in 714?— 16, own that they have no 
 proofs to offer. On the other hand, we may observe (sup- 
 posing our opinion respecting the fifth to be correct) that the 
 three preceding eclogues (notwithstanding the compliment to 
 Pollio in the third) are purely bucolic, and that such also is 
 the seventh, while the remaining six all relate to the poet him- 
 self or his friends and patrons, and are therefore of a diffe- 
 rent character. Further, the seventh was evidently written at 
 
XIV BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 Andes, and we shall see reason to doubt if the poet ever 
 resided much there after he recovered his lands in 712-14-. 
 
 The year 711-13 was that of the division of the lands of 
 various Italian towns among the legions of the Triumvirs. 
 Among these devoted towns was Cremona, and it would appear 
 that the insolent soldiery, who dictated to their masters, insisted 
 on a portion of the adjoining district of Mantua being included 
 in the grant. Andes, which therefore could hardly be so near to 
 Mantua as is said, was probably in the confiscated portion; and 
 Pollio, anxious to save the young poet's property, may have ex- 
 erted his influence in his favour with Maecenas, the friend and 
 adviser of Caesar, to whom the task of rewarding their joint 
 legions had been committed by Antonius. Virgil visited 
 Rome, now probably for the first time, furnished with letters 
 from Pollio. He was fortunate enough to win the favour of 
 both Maecenas and Caesar; and to testify his gratitude, he wrote 
 h\s first eclogue, either at Rome or after his return to Andes. 
 
 The distribution of the lands was stopped by the breaking 
 out of the Perusian war. When that was terminated, in 712- 
 14, Caesar sent Alfenus Varus to replace Pollio in the com- 
 mand in Cisalpine Gaul, and Cornelius Gallus to levy contri- 
 butions on the towns whose lands had been spared. It is 
 possible that Virgil had been recommended to these men by 
 Maecenas or Pollio ; but the rude soldiery had little regard 
 for letters, and an officer named Arrius or Claudius, who had 
 seized on his lands, drew his sword on him when he asserted 
 his claim to them, and he narrowly escaped with his life. It 
 is not perhaps necessary to suppose that he had to return to 
 Rome on this occasion ; for as his right to the retention of his 
 lands was clear, Varus could easily do him justice. It was 
 probably while he was making application to Varus that he 
 wrote his ninth eclogue. From a passage in this it would 
 seem, that when at Rome he had made the acquaintance of 
 the two most distinguished poets of that time, C. Helvius 
 Cinna, the friend of Catullus and author of the Smyrna, a 
 poem on which, though short, he had laboured for nine years ; 
 and L. Varius, then known by his poem De Morte, written 
 on the death of Julius Caesar, and afterwards renowned bv his 
 
P. VIRGILIUS MARO. XV 
 
 tragedy of Thyestes. With this last he formed an intimacy 
 which remained unbroken till the hour of his death. 
 
 It was probably also in this year, and to prove his gratitude, 
 that he wrote his sixth eclogue, which he dedicated to Varus, 
 and in which he made honourable mention of Cornelius Gal- 
 lus. Toward the end of this year also he composed his fourth 
 eclogue, to celebrate the blessings that were to result to the 
 Roman world from the peace of Brundisium. 
 
 It seems not improbable that Virgil, whose health was deli- 
 cate and who was devoted to literature, seeing that he was 
 likely to have rude and encroaching neighbours in the soldiers 
 that were settled about him, resolved to sell his property at 
 Andes, and settle at Rome or in the south of Italy*. We cer- 
 tainly never hear of his living again at Andes, and it is not 
 likely that he would continue to hold a small estate which he 
 would never visit, and which would therefore be entirely at 
 the mercy of his bailiff. It would seem to have been in this 
 year that he introduced Horace to the notice of Maecenas ; 
 and it apparently results from this, that he was then residing 
 at Rome. To this period we may, we think, refer what Do- 
 natus tells us of his having a house in that city near the gar- 
 dens of Maecenas, whose gift to him it probably was. 
 
 In the month of September, 713-15, Virgil commenced his 
 eighth eclogue, at the desire of Pollio, who was then returning 
 from his Illyrian campaign. This is the last mention of his 
 earliest patron in our poet's works ; but as Pollio at this time 
 settled for life at Rome, there is every reason to suppose that 
 their intimacy was not interrupted. 
 
 It is a disputed point in what year the journey of Maecenas 
 to Brundisium, celebrated by Horace, took place. We incline 
 to the opinion of those who place it in the spring of 715-17 ; 
 and as Virgil was one of the party, which he joined at Sinuessa, 
 he would seem to have come from Cumae or Baiae, which 
 might indicate that even then he had fixed his abode in Cam- 
 pania f. 
 
 * He may have bought a property in Campania : see on Geor. ii. 224. 
 f It was probably at this time that he saw the garden of the old Cory- 
 cian near Tarentum, which he celebrates in the Georgics, iv. 125 seg. 
 
XVI BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 Toward the end of 714-16 Agrippa had led an army into 
 Gaul, and in the spring of 715-17 he reached the banks of 
 the Rhine. As Lycoris, the mistress of his friend Gallus, had 
 deserted him and accompanied that army, Virgil wrote his 
 tenth and last eclogue to console him for the loss of the faith- 
 less fair one. The bucolic labours of our poet thus extend 
 over a period of six or seven years, — a proof perhaps of the 
 slowness with which he composed. 
 
 In this year the venerable M. Terentius Varro, then in his 
 eightieth year, as he tells us, commenced his work De Re 
 Rustica. As he was a ready writer, he probably published it 
 in this or early in the succeeding year, and from his established 
 reputation it must have attracted general attention. The poem 
 too in which Lucretius had shown the superiority of the Latin 
 over the Grecian Muse in didactic poetry was then the object 
 of universal admiration. It seems then to have occurred to 
 Maecenas, as a statesman and a man of elegant mind, that a 
 work combining the practical knowledge of the one with the 
 poetic charms of the other might be likely to revive in some 
 degree the taste for agriculture, which had declined so much 
 on account of the civil commotions and the increase of luxury. 
 To one who has present to his mind the British farmer, igno- 
 rant or careless of science and polite literature, as it is to be 
 regretted he so generally is, this may seem to argue great sim- 
 plicity in the ancient statesman ; but we must recollect that in 
 ancient Italy the tenant-farmer was rare, and that the nobles 
 and gentry cultivated their own estates. It was these then, a 
 most highly educated class, that Maecenas had in view, and 
 it was on their love of literature that he hoped to operate. 
 
 He proposed the task to Virgil, who undertook it, though 
 aware of the difficulty. We have stated that it does not ap- 
 pear that he was a practical farmer ; but he must have had at 
 least some general knowledge of agriculture, and he had the 
 work of Varro and those of Ma?o and the Greeks to furnish 
 
 Horace terminates his narrative of the journey at Brundisium, but Caesar 
 and his friends afterwards went to Tarentum to visit Antonius. See Hist, 
 of Rome, p. 471. 
 
P. VIRGILIUS MARO. XV11 
 
 him with information. He probably did not commence his 
 poem till some time in 716-18, and he completed it in 725-27, 
 a period of nine years, thus giving a year to about every two 
 hundred and fifty verses, — another proof perhaps of his slow- 
 ness. There is every reason to suppose that he composed it 
 at Naples, where he had fixed his permanent abode on account 
 of the delicious climate*. 
 
 There is a curious circumstance connected with the Geor- 
 gics. Servius and Donatus both positively assert, that the 
 latter half of the fourth book was devoted to the praises of 
 Cornelius Gallus, after whose death the poet, by command of 
 Augustus, substituted for them tfre story of Aristaeus. As 
 this last is evidently an integrant part of the poem, and it 
 seems impossible to conceive how such a long panegyric could 
 have accorded with a poem on agriculture, modern critics have 
 without hesitation rejected the whole account as a baseless 
 fable. We do not think that they are justified in acting in 
 this off-hand manner, for notices of this kind have generally 
 some foundation in truth. We further think that the poem 
 did in fact originally contain the praises of Gallus, and that 
 we can even point out the place in which they may have stood, 
 and from which they were ejected after the death of Gallus at 
 the desire of Augustus, or rather by the judgement of the poet 
 himself. 
 
 Exactly in the middle of that book, when about to de- 
 scribe the mode of obtaining a new stock of bees after they 
 had been lost, he mentions Egypt as the country in which this 
 mode was most in use. Now in the very year in which he was 
 writing this part of his poem, his friend Cornelius Gallus was 
 appointed to the government of that country; and what could 
 have been more natural for the poet than, after the description 
 of the region about Alexandria (vv, 287-9), to introduce a few 
 lines in praise of his friend the new governor ? Will not the 
 taking out of these lines, and the endeavour to substitute 
 
 * In fact the whole aspect of the poem is Campanian, there being only 
 one mention of his native province (ii. 198) ; for that in iii. 10 is of a dif- 
 ferent character. It is for this reason that in our Notes on the Georgics 
 we have had Campania chiefly in view. 
 
XV1U BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 something else in their stead, give an adequate solution of the 
 difficulty with which this place of the poem is encumbered ? 
 We of course can only give this as a hypothesis, but it seems 
 to us by no means an improbable one. 
 
 We cannot help suspecting also that during the composition 
 of the Georgics, or in the two or three succeeding years, Virgil 
 may have made a visit to Greece. The well-known ode of 
 Horace (i. 3) is addressed to the ship in which Virgil had 
 embarked, probably at Puteoli, to go, by long sea as we term 
 it, to Athens (v. 6). The commentators unanimously refer 
 this to 733-35, the last year of Virgil's life ; but as we think 
 it could be proved that this book contains no odes that had 
 not been composed previous to 725-27, the year in which the 
 title of Augustus was conferred on Caesar by the Senate, we 
 feel disposed to assert that it is of an earlier voyage of his 
 friend that Horace treats. This also, we need not say, is a 
 mere hypothesis. 
 
 Virgil seems now to have devoted himself wholly to the 
 composition of his epic poem the iEneis. He would appear 
 to have meditated a poem of this kind from an early period, 
 for he gives plain hints of such a design in both the Bucolics 
 and the Georgics*. As he probably began it in 723-25, and 
 wrought at it till his death in 733-35, he must have produced 
 about a thousand verses a year, in consequence no doubt of 
 the greater facility with which narrative verse can be written 
 than any other kind. During this period he probably resided 
 almost exclusively at Naples ; for Ovid, who lived pretty con- 
 stantly at Rome, and who was five-and-twenty at the time of 
 Virgil's death, says, Virgilium vidi tantum, which however 
 may only mean that he had not, owing to that poet's death, 
 the opportunity of cultivating his acquaintance. 
 
 In 735 Virgil went over to Greece, with the intention, we 
 are told, of remaining three years abroad, occupied in polish- 
 ing his poem. At Athens however he met Augustus, on his 
 return from the East, and he was induced to accompany him 
 
 * See Ec. vi. 3 seq. ; Geor. iii. 46. He may, like Milton, have long had 
 the design without having fixed on a subject. 
 
P. VIRGILIUS MARO. XIX 
 
 back to Italy. He fell sick at Megara, his disorder increased 
 on the voyage, and he breathed his last at Brundisium on x. 
 Kal. Octobr. (Sept. 22) in the fifty-second year of his age. 
 His bones (i. e. probably his ashes) were conveyed to Naples 
 and deposited in a sepulchre about two miles from that city 
 on the road to Puteoli*. He is said to have composed the 
 following epitaph, which was placed on his tomb : — 
 
 Mantua me genuit, Calabri rapuere, tenet nunc 
 Parthenope : cecini pascua, rura, duces. 
 
 In his person Virgil was tall and large, of a brown com- 
 plexion, and somewhat clownish in his appearance. He suf- 
 fered much from indigestion, being constantly afflicted with 
 pains of the head and stomach, and he often threw up blood. 
 He was temperate in his diet, and chaste in his person. As- 
 conius asserted that he had often heard Plotia Hieria, the 
 widow of L. Varius, and then an old woman, say, that her 
 husband (with the usual indelicacy of the Romans on the 
 subject) had offered to share her embraces with Virgil, but 
 that he refused in the most decided terms. This, we think, 
 should suffice to confute the story of the poet's intimacy with 
 her, and his giving her the tragedy of Thyestes which Varius 
 afterwards published as his own. The genius of Virgil was 
 not dramatic ; but had he attempted the drama, he would pro- 
 bably have selected the subject of Medea or Phaedra rather 
 than that of Thyestes. 
 
 We learn from the same authority that Virgil was of a kind 
 and amiable disposition, totally devoid of envy and malignity. 
 His library was open to all men of letters, the ra rwv (piXoju 
 Koivh. of Euripides was constantly in his mouth. All the emi- 
 nent men of the time were his friends. He was not however 
 without opponents, among whom the poet Cornificius is par- 
 ticularly mentioned. His first and third eclogue were paro- 
 died : the parody of the first began thus, — 
 
 Tityre si toga calda tibi est, quo tegmine fagi ? 
 
 * Consequently beyond the Grotta di Posilipo. The tomb shown now 
 as his is over the entrance of the Grotta on the side toward Naples. 
 
XX BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 the other thus, — 
 
 Die mihi, Damaete, cujum pecus, anne Latinum ? 
 Non : verum Aegonis nostri sic rura loquuntur. 
 
 When he used the word hordea, Geor. i. 210, one made this 
 
 verse, — 
 
 Hordea qui dixit, superest ut tritica dicat. 
 
 Another thus completed, — 
 
 Nudus ara, sere nudus — habebis frigora, febrem. 
 
 Carvilius Pictor wrote an Aeneidomastix, but this of course 
 
 was after the poet's death. 
 
 Virgil was slow in the composition of verse : he likened 
 himself to the bear, that licks her young into shape. Donatus 
 tells us it was a tradition, that when writing the Georgics 
 he used every morning to dictate a number of verses, and then 
 work on them through the day till he had reduced them to a 
 very few. He also says that he wrote the Aeneis first in 
 prose, which is not unlikely ; for Racine, who resembled him 
 in many points, is said to have done the same with his trage- 
 dies. A further proof of the slowness and difficulty with 
 which Virgil composed is furnished by the fact of there being 
 such a number of imperfect verses in the Aeneis. This is 
 peculiar to him ; for though Ovid, Lucan, Valerius Flaccus, 
 Statius and Claudian also left unfinished poems, a single in- 
 complete verse does not occur in any one of these remains. 
 
 Virgil borrowed freely, not only from the Greeks, but from 
 the elder Latin poets, and even his contemporaries. We are 
 told that one day, when he was seen with an Ennius in his 
 hand, and was asked what he was doing with it, he replied 
 that he was gathering gold out of Ennius' dunghill, — no very 
 generous language to that fine old poet, if the story be au- 
 thentic. 
 
 No poet however was more fortunate than Virgil in the ac- 
 quisition of fame ; for from his own time, down almost to the 
 present day, he has been generally placed in the very first rank 
 of poets. Notwithstanding, we are not afraid to confess our 
 belief that other Latin poets equalled him, and that Ovid sur- 
 passed him in true poetic genius. But he was fortunate in 
 having had national subjects to work on, and thus to become 
 
P. VIRGILIUS MARO. XXI 
 
 at once the national poet, while in every kind of poetry that 
 he tried he was inferior to his model. 
 
 No one, we should hope, would prefer the elaborate elegance 
 of the Bucolics to the charming simplicity, the sweetness, the 
 grace, the redolence of rural life and manners of the pastoral 
 Idylls of Theocritus. In the Georgics his real model is Lu- 
 cretius, not Hesiod ; and here fortune eminently befriended 
 him, for the most attractive and most manageable of all sub- 
 jects for didactic poetry beyond doubt is agriculture; while 
 the difficulties presented by that selected by Lucretius could 
 only be overcome by genius of a high order. Hence then 
 the Georgics is a far more agreeable poem to read than the 
 De Rerum Natura, while Virgil could never have struggled 
 with the difficulty of the subject in the manner in which Lu- 
 cretius had done. In those places where the latter has been 
 able to give the reins to his genius, we discover a natural 
 vigour, a sweetness, and a sense for the picturesque, which 
 Virgil did not possess. In a word, as in the case of the Bu- 
 colics before and the Aeneis afterwards, the model-poet is the 
 poet of nature, the imitator the poet of art and labour. Yet in 
 the Georgics also there is much to admire : the language, 
 though wanting in simplicity, is uniformly elegant; the ar- 
 rangement is good on the whole ; the system of personification 
 which he adopted animates all nature, and diffuses life and 
 energy throughout the poem. Its principal fault is the arti- 
 ficial character of the style, especially the contortions caused 
 by the too frequent employment of the figure of rhetoric 
 named Hypallage, which however has been generally admired 
 as making the language more exquisite, as it is termed by the 
 critics*. 
 
 The expectations raised by Virgil's promise of an epic poem 
 on a national subject were extremely high ; and if we can take 
 Propertius as the organ of public opinion, it was hoped that it 
 would vie with, or even surpass, the Iliasf. Augustus was so 
 
 * See Excursus V. 
 
 f " Cedite Romani scriptores. cedite Graii ; 
 
 Nescio quid majus nascitur Iliade." — Prop. ii. 25, 65. 
 
XX11 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 anxious to see at least some part of it, that he wrote from 
 Spain to the poet in the most pressing terms, requesting him 
 to send him, if no more, the first sketch of it, or even a single 
 paragraph. This however Virgil declined doing ; but some 
 time after he read to him the second, fourth and sixth books. 
 The emperor's sister Octavia, who was present, fainted away 
 when the lines dedicated to the memory of her son Marcellus, 
 toward the close of this last book, were read ; and on recover- 
 ing, presented the poet with ten sestertia* for each of those 
 verses. The poem, as is well known, was not completed when 
 Virgil died. Such was his natural modesty, or so conscious 
 was he of its imperfections, that when on his death-bed he 
 repeatedly and earnestly called for the writing-desk which 
 contained it, in order that he might commit it to the flames ; 
 and when he could not induce those about him to comply with 
 his wishes, he left express directions to that effect in his testa- 
 ment. Augustus however forbade that part of the will to be 
 executed, and committed the Aeneis to the poet's friends 
 Varius and Plotius Tucca, with directions to revise and emend, 
 but to make no additions whatever to itf. It is this emended 
 edition of the poem which we possess at present. 
 
 The Aeneis then never received the finishing hand of its 
 author, and is therefore to be judged with lenity. Making 
 however all due allowance, we cannot concede that, even had 
 he brought it to the highest point of perfection which he was 
 capable of attaining, it could claim to be placed in the first 
 rank of epic poetry. Virgil's genius was not epic ; it wanted 
 variety and facility, and he had little skill in the delineation 
 of character. While all the personages in Homer and Tasso 
 are definite and distinct, each with his peculiar mode of think- 
 ing, speaking and acting, and even Milton in his limited sphere 
 of character has been able to mark distinctly each of his good 
 and evil angels, — in Virgil, with the exception of Dido, all is 
 sameness ; one warrior is like another, and the Pius Aeneas is 
 
 * That is about £80 ; as there are twenty-five of these verses, the whole 
 sum was about £2000. 
 
 f Donatus, 14; Phn. N. H. vii. 30; Gellius, xrii. 10. 
 
P. VIRGILIUS MARO. XX111 
 
 as uninteresting a character as need be desired. This want 
 of distinctiveness pervades all his poetry ; hence the difficulty 
 of understanding so many places of the Georgics. In his de- 
 scriptions and similes there is usually something vague and 
 hazy ; they do not present a clear, distinct picture to the mind 
 of the artist ; while those of Homer, of Dante, of Ovid, for 
 example, are as definite to the mental eye as if they were 
 actually on the canvass*; and this we look upon as one of the 
 tests of the true poet. We would then, placing such poets as 
 Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Milton and some others in the 
 first rank, assign Virgil a place, and not the highest one, in 
 the second ; for we regard Tasso, Ariosto, Ovid (the ancient 
 Ariosto) and Spenser as his superiors in original native ge- 
 nius, in the quick and ready conception of poetic forms, and 
 in the spontaneous effusion of poetic expression f. 
 
 It is surprising how little of originality there is in the 
 AeneisJ. At every step in it we are reminded of the Ilias or 
 the Odyssey ; elsewhere we meet with Apollonius Rhodius ; 
 and had the old poem of Naevius on the first Punic war come 
 down to us, we should in all probability have found the source 
 of much that now appears original. Thus we have every rea- 
 son to suppose that it was after him that he brought Aeneas 
 to Carthage and made him be acquainted with Dido ; in 
 
 * See, for example, in Homer the simile, II. iv. 422 ; in Ovid that Met. 
 iii. Ill ; in Dante that Purg. C. iii. st. 27. 
 
 t Virgil nor Lucan, no nor Tasso more 
 Than hoth. — Careiv, Poems, p. 100. 
 
 The late Robert Souther rated Statius hefore Virgil in original genius. 
 We demur to this decision, for our opinion of Statius is not very high. 
 Had he said Valerius Flaccus we might not have disagreed much with him, 
 for this was a poet of true original genius. In his Argonautics, though 
 treating of the same subject with Apollonius Rhodius, he never imitates 
 him, and he has contrived to give to the voyage of Jason a degree of no- 
 velty that is surprising. We cannot account for the neglect with which 
 he has always been treated ; we know he is not deserving of it. 
 
 X " If you take from Virgil his diction and metre, what do you leave 
 him?" — Coleridge, Table-talk, p. 29; see also p. 183, 1st edit. 
 
 " Take from him what is in Homer, what do you leave him ? " — Johnson 
 in Bosivell, ix. 310, edit. 1835. 
 
XXIV BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 Naevius, Aeneas consults the Sibyl at Cumae, and he probably- 
 had narrated the whole voyage of the founder of the Roman 
 dominion which Virgil adorned from the Odyssey. Again 
 we repeat that Virgil was fortunate in his choice of a subject ; 
 while other poets were transplanting the mythic tales of 
 Greece, and thus making their poems exotics in Latiuni, he 
 selected the only national subject that was capable of the em- 
 bellishments of poetry, and thus became the national poet, the 
 Latin poet car' e^oxW' 
 
 We have given it as oar opinion that Dido is the only cha- 
 racter in the Aeneis that shows the hand of a master. It is a 
 curious fact, when we consider Virgil's disposition, mode of 
 life and character, that disappointed affection is his favourite 
 subject, and that of which he excels in the delineation. In 
 the Bucolics we have that of Corydon, of Damon, and of 
 Gallus ; in the Georgics we may say that of Orpheus ; and in 
 the Aeneis, his masterpiece, that of Dido, and slightly that 
 of Turnus. Yet Virgil could hardly have had personal expe- 
 rience of the pangs of slighted love; he must have derived his 
 knowledge of them from Euripides * and other poets, and, 
 owing to some natural aptitude of mind for the task, have 
 succeeded in producing the fine pictures of these mental tor- 
 ments w r hich adorn his poems. The same was the case with 
 the French poet Racine ; he has created the Hermione, the 
 Roxane, the Phedre, and other characters of this nature, and 
 yet we know that he never felt a strong attachment, was per- 
 haps incapable of feeling it, for any woman whatever. 
 
 We have thus sketched a Life of Virgil, expressing our 
 opinions and our conjectures, well aware that some will be 
 contested and some rejected, but still hoping that we have 
 elucidated it in some small degree. 
 
 * In page 138 we inadvertently named Apollonius Rhodius instead of 
 Euripides. 
 
C. ASINIUS POLLIO. XXV 
 
 C. ASINIUS POLLIO. 
 
 The Asinian gens originally belonged to Teate, the chief town 
 of the Marrucinians, one of the peoples of the Marsian con- 
 federation*. Cn. Asinius settled at Rome where his son Caius 
 (surnamed Pollio) was born in the year 677-79. His father 
 being a man of property, and his own inclination leading him 
 to literature, the young Pollio appears to have received an 
 excellent education. In the one-and-twentieth year of his 
 age (698-700) he made his first appearance in public life as 
 the accuser of C. Cato for having violated the laws in his tri- 
 bunate of the preceding year ; but the influence of Pompeius 
 was exerted in favour of the accused, and he was of course 
 acquitted. 
 
 Pollio probably remained at Rome till the breaking out of 
 the civil war. It was doubtless at this time that Catullus 
 wrote the verses to Pollio's brother Asinius, in which he praises 
 the honourable character of Pollio, and terms him leporum 
 Disertus puer ac facetiarum\. Pollio deplored the civil com- 
 motions about to ensue ; but finding, as he himself says J, that 
 he must take a part, as he had great enemies on both sides, he 
 shunned, he adds, the camp, in which he could not be secure 
 against his enemy (probably Pompeius), and joined that of 
 Caesar, by whom of course his talents and his literary pursuits 
 were duly appreciated, and who instantly took him into his 
 confidence. 
 
 Pollio was one of those with whom Caesar deliberated pre- 
 vious to the passage of the Rubicon. He held a command in 
 the army sent under Curio to reduce Sicily and Africa ; after 
 whose defeat and death he took the chief command, and 
 effected his escape from Africa, though with loss and difficulty. 
 He was present at Pharsalia. On his return thence to Rome 
 he was probably made one of the tribunes of the people, and 
 was active in opposing the measures of Dolabella for an abo- 
 lition of debts. He accompanied Caesar to Africa and Spain, 
 
 * Catull. xii. 1 ; Sil. Pun. xvii. 453 ; Liv. Epit. 73. 
 f Catull. xii. 8. % Cic. ad Fam. x. 31. 
 
 b 
 
XXVI BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 and fought at Munda ; and it would appear that he was one 
 of the fourteen praetors made by Caesar on his return to Rome. 
 As Sex. Pompeius was soon again in arms, Caesar committed 
 to Pollio the government of Ulterior Spain. In his campaign 
 against Sex. Pompeius he met with a defeat ; for the country- 
 was in favour of his opponent, and his father's veterans who 
 were in his army burned to efface the disgrace of Munda. 
 He would probably not have been able to maintain himself in 
 his province, had not peace been made with Pompeius after the 
 murder of the Dictator. 
 
 During the eventful period that succeeded, Pollio remained 
 in his province. In his extant letters to Cicero* he expresses 
 much zeal for the republic, but pleads want of instructions and 
 the difficulty of marching an army through the province of 
 Lepidus without his consent as an excuse for his inaction. In 
 September 709-11, after the coalition of Caesar with Antonius 
 and Lepidus (deeming perhaps the cause of the republic hope- 
 less), he joined them with his three legions, and induced Mu- 
 natius Plancus to follow his example. He was at the meeting 
 near Bononia (not of course in the island), and the name of 
 his father-in-law was the third on the tables of proscription, 
 probably with his consent. He was one of those designated 
 by the triumvirs for the consulate. 
 
 The government of the country beyond the Po was now 
 committed by Antonius to Pollio as his legate. On the break- 
 ing out of the Perusian war, Pollio marched his troops out of 
 his province, ostensively with the intention of supporting L. 
 Antonius, but he remained again inactive. At the end of that 
 war Caesar sent Alfenus Varus to supersede him in his pro- 
 vince. Pollio kept his troops on the coast, in order to favour 
 the landing of M. Antonius ; and he gained over to his side 
 Domitius, who was cruising in the Adriatic. He was one of 
 the negociators of the peace of Brundisium, after which he 
 went to Rome and entered on the consulate, for which he had 
 been designated in 709-11. In the following year he go- 
 verned for Antonius, as pro-consul and legate, the province of 
 
 * Cic. ad Fam. x. 31-33. 
 
C. CORNELIUS GALLUS. XXV11 
 
 Illyria ; and when the Parthinians and some other tribes rose 
 in rebellion, he subdued them and took the town of Salona by 
 storm. He triumphed on his return to Rome, after which he 
 retired from public life, devoting himself to literature. When 
 Caesar asked him to accompany him to Actium, his reply was 
 " My deserts toward Antonius are too great, his benefits to 
 me too well known ; I will therefore keep aloof from your 
 contest and be the booty of the victor." Pollio continued to 
 cultivate literature to the end of his life. He founded, out of 
 the spoils of his Illyrian war, a public library in the Atrium 
 Libertatis, which he adorned with the busts of those most 
 distinguished in literature. He did not however totally with- 
 draw from public life ; he gave his attendance in the senate, 
 and was on terms of intimacy with Augustus. He died at his 
 villa near Tusculum in 756-58. 
 
 Pollio was distinguished as an orator, a historian and a poet. 
 In his oratory he is said to have shown both vigour and wit ; 
 but he was bitter and sarcastic, and his action was wanting in 
 grace. His history of the civil wars displayed candour and a 
 love of truth and liberty, without passing the limits of discre- 
 tion. His poetry was dramatic and of course imitated from 
 the Greek ; it is praised by both Virgil and Horace. 
 
 C. CORNELIUS GALLUS. 
 
 C. Cornelius Gallus was born at Forum Julii (Frejas'), m 
 Narbonese Gaul*, in the year 686-88. He is said to have 
 been of humble origin f, but this perhaps only means that his 
 family was not noble. Of the events of his early life nothing 
 is known. It seems probable that, like the people of the 
 Gauls in general, he took the side of Caesar in the civil war ; 
 for w T e find him on terms of great intimacy with Asinius Pollio 
 previous to 709-11 ; in which year Pollio, writing to Cicero X, 
 
 * Suet. Oct. 66. f Id. ib. X Cic. ad Fam. x. 31. 
 
 b2 
 
XXV111 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 tells him, if he wishes to read a play which he mentions, to 
 get it from his friend Cornelius Gallus. As Gallus could not 
 have been more than one-and-twenty at that time, and Pollio 
 probably was not much in Rome after the breaking out of the 
 war, their intimacy, it is likely, commenced in the camp of 
 Caesar. It is also likely that Gallus attached himself to the 
 party of the younger Caesar, for we are told* that in 711-13, 
 when the confiscations to reward the veterans began to be put 
 into effect, he was assigned the task of collecting money from 
 those towns beyond the Po of which the lands were to be 
 spared. As Mantua was one of these, his intimacy with Virgil 
 may have commenced on this occasion. We hear nothing 
 more of Gallus till after the battle of Actium, when we find 
 him in command of a division of Caesar's army, taking the 
 town of Paraetonium in the west of Egypt, and defending it 
 against Antonius with success. When Caesar was leaving 
 Egypt after the death of Antonius, 722-24, he committed the 
 government of it to Cornelius Gallus. The people of two 
 of the Egyptian cities having risen in arms, to resist the tribute 
 imposed on them, Gallus suppressed the revolt without diffi- 
 culty ; but elated with prosperity, he lost sight of prudence, 
 and gave the enemies, whom a man like him was sure not to 
 want, an opportunity of injuring him in the mind of the sus- 
 picious Augustus, by causing statues of himself to be erected 
 in various parts of Egypt, and his deeds to be engraved on 
 the Pyramids f. By a late writer X we are also told that he 
 was charged with pillaging his province ; but for this charge 
 there does not seem to be any foundation. In consequence 
 of these charges he was removed from his government, and 
 on his return to Rome Augustus forbade him his presence and 
 prohibited him from entering his provinces §. When it be- 
 came manifest that he had lost the favour of the prince, new 
 accusers appeared and new charges were made against him, 
 and the Senate decreed that he should be banished and his 
 property be seized to the use of Augustus. Gallus, unable to 
 
 * Serv. on Ec. vi. 64. + Dion. Cass. liii. 23, 24. 
 
 X Ammian. Mar. xvii. 4. § Sueton. ut sup. 
 
C. CORNELIUS GALLUS. XXIX 
 
 bear this misfortune, put a termination to his life (726-28) : 
 he was in the fortieth year of his age at the time. Augustus 
 praised the dutiful conduct of the Senate, but shed tears for 
 Gallus, and complained that to him alone it was not permitted 
 to be as angry as he pleased with his friend *. 
 
 Gallus, like Pollio, beside being a statesman and a warrior, 
 was an orator, a poet and a patron of learned men. His 
 friendship for and patronage of Virgil have given him endu- 
 ring fame. The extant work of Parthenius of Nicaea, nept 
 epioriKMv TraQrifiaTuv, is addressed to him, and was apparently 
 compiled at his desire. The grammarian Q. Caecilius Epirota, 
 the freedman of Atticus, when dismissed on account of a sus- 
 picion of too great intimacy with the daughter of his patron, 
 the wife of Agrippa, whom he was engaged to instruct in lite- 
 rature, betook himself to Gallus, who retained him on terms of 
 the greatest intimacy ; and this is stated to have been one of 
 the heaviest charges made against Gallus by Augustus f. The 
 poems of Gallus are said J to have consisted of translations 
 from Euphorion and of four books of elegies, of which the sub- 
 ject was his mistress Lycoris. This is said to have been Volum- 
 nia, the freedwoman of a senator named Volumnius, with 
 whom Gallus had a connexion, similar to that of Tibullus 
 with his Delia, and Propertius with his Cynthia. She is ge- 
 nerally supposed to be the Mima Cytheris who had been the 
 mistress of M. Antonius, but of this there is no certainty. 
 When in 715-17 Agrippa led an army into Gaul and crossed 
 the Rhine §, Lycoris, with the faithlessness common to her 
 kind, deserted Gallus and accompanied some officer in that 
 army. Gallus, who it would appear had a command in the 
 army which Caesar was assembling in the south of Italy, to 
 act against Sex. Pompeius, was much affected by her perfidy ; 
 and [his friend Virgil, who, as we have reason to suppose, was 
 then residing in Naples or its vicinity, wrote his tenth eclogue 
 to console him. He had already introduced his praises into 
 
 * Sueton. ut sup. f Sueton. De 111. Gram. 16. 
 
 % Serv. on Ec. x. § Id. ib. 
 
XXX BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 
 
 his sixth eclogue, and at a later period he inserted them in his 
 Georgics *. 
 
 As a poet, Gallus is described by Quintilian as being some- 
 what rugged (durior) ; his poems are all lost, but, according 
 to Servius, Virgil has inserted a few of his verses in the tenth 
 eclogue. 
 
 * See Life of Virgil, p. xvii. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 Notes on the Bucolics. Page 
 
 Eclogue 1 1 
 
 Observations 13 
 
 Eclogue II 16 
 
 Observations 26 
 
 Eclogue III 29 
 
 Observations 46 
 
 Eclogue IV 49 
 
 Observations 58 
 
 Eclogue V 62 
 
 Observations 72 
 
 Eclogue VI 76 
 
 Observations 88 
 
 Eclogue VII 90 
 
 Observations 101 
 
 Eclogue VIII 102 
 
 Observations 118 
 
 Eclogue IX 119 
 
 Observations , 128 
 
 Eclogue X 129 
 
 Observations 138 
 
 Notes on the Georgics. 
 
 Book I 139 
 
 Book II 206 
 
 Book III 250 
 
 Book IV 293 
 
XXX11 CONTENTS. 
 
 Excursus. Page 
 
 I. The River Oaxes 327 
 
 II. Latin Participials 330 
 
 III. Latin Middle Voice, etc 332 
 
 IV. The Sibyl and the Return of the Golden Age 334 
 
 V. Peculiarities of Virgil's Style 336 
 
 VI. Corvus and Cornix 338 
 
 VII. Abstract for Concrete 340 
 
 VIII. On Geor. III. 400 340 
 
 IX. Latin Contractions 342 
 
 X. On Geor. IV. 287 346 
 
 Terms of Husbandry 348 
 
 Flora Virgiliana 374 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 2, line 9, dele oaten. 
 
 — 25, — 7, for ttoXios read 7ro\ids. 
 
 — 154, — 7 from bottom, for re read eo. 
 
 — 178, — 17, for sultemen read subtemen. 
 
 — 328, — 3, for 7re\iddos read UrjXetdcos. 
 
 — 356, — 8 from bottom, for fodere read podere. 
 
 Geor. ii. 350 seq. We fear that we have not given the true sense of this 
 passage. The stone or tile it would appear was to be in the earth, but 
 above the root of the plant, not about it, like the stones and shells pre- 
 viously mentioned; see Colum. hi. 11. 
 
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 BUCOLICS AND GEORGICS OF VIRGIL. 
 
 Since this work was written, reading and reflection have 
 furnished the following Illustrations, which I think bring it 
 as near to perfection as / am able to carry it. It might cer- 
 tainly have been made more correct by removing the minor 
 imperfections which I have let remain, but I did not deem it 
 necessary. At all events these are my ultima curce. 
 Feb. 1, 1850. T. K. 
 
 Page xv. line 17, after bailiff add unless, as Columella advises in such 
 cases, he were to let it to a tenant. After this add or 
 rather in the following. 
 
 — xvii. — 2, read in 723-5, a period of seven years, thus giving a 
 
 year to about every three hundred verses. 
 
 — xix. — 4, dele the parenthesis. 
 
 — xxviii. — 2, for one read two. 
 
 Ec. i. ver. 45, for When we consider, &c. read \t is however i. q. pri- 
 mum, but (like quamprimum) in the sense of, first of all, 
 at once, immediately. Compare Mr\. ii. 32, 422 ; 
 v. 497 ; vii. 118, 503 ; x. 242, 427 ; xi. 26. Like me- 
 dius and some other adjectives, primus is used for the 
 adverb ; altior, Geor. ii. 290, for example, is i. q. altius. 
 
 — i. — 46, after in general add The poet's meaning then is, Keep up 
 
 your stock of plough- and draught-cattle. See Geor. 
 iii. 70. 
 
 — i. — 70, add We should be inclined to read vv. 80-82 thus : — 
 
 Post... ? aliquot, mea regna videns, mirabor aristas. 
 Inpius hsec tarn culta novalia miles habebit, 
 Barbarus has segetes. 
 
XXxiv ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Virgil uses the figure aposiopesis much more frequently 
 than the critics seem to have perceived. They only 
 notice it in JEn. i. 135 ; ii. 100 ; v. 195 ; but we think 
 it is equally to be discerned in Ec. vii. 16 ; Mn. ii. 133, 
 427, 522; iv. 329(?), 419; xi. 270,415; to which 
 perhaps we may add, though, unlike those, it occurs in 
 
 the poet's own narrative, Castra inimica petunt 
 
 multis tamen antefuturi Exitio, iEn. ix. 315. With Jahn 
 we reject the interrogations. We suppose Melibceus to 
 stop at Post, and with a melancholy sigh to name what 
 he shall see, and assign the cause, nam being under- 
 stood with Inpius. See on Hor. Sat., ii. 6, 18. 
 Ec. i. ver. 78, for but this, &c. read but carpo (v. 79) signifies in general 
 to browse, to graze, though Virgil uses it once (Geor. iii. 
 296) for, to feed on. 
 
 — ii. — 24, after 'ApaicvvBu) add Adeem may then perhaps be taken 
 
 in its simple sense of, littoral, on the shore sc. of Acar- 
 nania. Compare Lethceo, Geor. i. 78, where we do not 
 think there is any allusion to the river. 
 
 — ii. — 25, add But perhaps he meant to give an idea of his huge 
 
 size. 
 
 — ii. — 30, /or always females read usually females. 
 
 — ii. — 53, after colour add It is however a fact that what is called 
 
 the bloom on plums is wax ; but we doubt if the ancients 
 were aware of this fact. 
 
 — ii. — 63, for we are also, &c. read " "When the wolf snuffs the smell 
 
 of a lion,heflies and runsinterror away." Antar, ch. xix. 
 
 — iii. — 30, for We content ourselves, &c. read This we would explain 
 
 by supposing that Damoetas may have been keeping his 
 master's cattle, and that his friend -Egon, who was a 
 shepherd, had requested him to mind his sheep for him 
 a little while. 
 
 — iii. — 76, add: 
 
 Mitte ad me, sodes, hodie Adelphasium tuam, 
 Die festo celebri nobilique, Aphrodisiis. 
 
 Plaut., Pcen. iii. 5, 12. 
 
 — iii. — 91, for the pail read a sieve for him. 
 
 — iii. — 104,/or Servius, &c. read Philargyrius tells us that Cornifi- 
 
 cius said that he, &c. 
 
 — iv. — 49, after 503 add to which may be added ii. 60 ; Geor. ii. 
 
 303 ; vEn. xii. 876 ; Ov. Met. i. 235 ; and other places 
 of the poets. We even meet with it in prose, as Quod 
 is in provinciam poetas (i. e. Ennium) diuisset. Cic. 
 Tusc. i. 2. It occurs also in Greek : see II. xxL 499 ; 
 Od. xvi. 232; Lycurg. in Leocr. §§20, 21, 33 ; and 
 
 
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. XXXV 
 
 even perhaps in Hebrew : see Judges, xii. 7. We use 
 it ourselves in familiar language. 
 Ec. v. ver. 6, for succedimus, Sec. read umbras sc. harum arborum con- 
 sidimus. It is usual however to understand succedimus 
 from the following verse, which would thus govern an 
 ace. with a prep, (sub umbras), and then a dat. (antro). 
 
 — v. — 65, after in this place add The aras of Mu. v. 86 are altaria 
 
 in v. 93. Compare Tac. Hist. ii. 3. 
 
 — v. — 66, for his...Maevius read some one. 
 
 — vi. — 17, for The cantharus, &c. read The exact form of the cantha- 
 
 rus is not known. It would seem however to have been 
 somewhat like oxxr jug, and to have had but one handle. 
 Such at least is the form of the vessel which Bacchus 
 usually bears. See Drak. on Sil. Ital. vii. 197. 
 
 — v i. — 40, for no person of taste, &c. read Ignaros may be active, 
 
 and the mountains thus be personified, or, as Voss 
 takes it, passive, and i. q. ignotos. Compare Mn. x. 
 706 ; Ov. Met. vii. 704 ; Sail. Jug. xviii. 6, where see 
 our note. 
 
 — vi. — 67, for and Gallus are shepherds read (Theog. 23) is repre- 
 
 sented as such. 
 
 — vi. — 71, for cups shaped, &c. read See Terms of Husb. s. v. 
 
 — vii. — 1, dele Perhaps Cf. v. 3. 
 
 — vii. — 2, add i. e. sub ilice. We are to suppose that there was a 
 
 grove or clump of these trees, for two flocks could no 
 find room under one. Compare Geor. iii. 331 et seq. 
 
 — vii. — 14, after witnessed add If we suppose an aposiopesis or break 
 
 in the sense at magnum, v. 16, we shall probably best 
 give the poet's meaning. See on i. 70. 
 
 — viii. — 26, for See on metuo read or even to fear. Compare 
 
 Mn. i. 543 ; iv. 419 ; Ter. And. ii. 3, 21. 
 
 — viii. — 60, after make you add or rather perhaps, Let her have, &c. 
 
 — ix. — 52, after Lucr. iii. 1103 add " Squilla di lontano Che paia il 
 
 giorno pianger che si more." Dante, Purg. viii. terz. 2. 
 Page 128, last line, for surrounded by read and a grove or rows of. 
 Ec. x. ver. 17, dele As... shepherd. 
 
 — x. — 71, Compare i. 32 ; ^En. i. 5 ; ii. 88 ; vi. 608 ; x. 424 ; Hor. 
 
 Carm. i. 37, 6 ; Ov. Fast. i. 199 ; Zumpt, § 507. Vir- 
 gil, however, in using the present tense, only follows 
 an ordinary practice of the language. 
 Geor. i. ver. 53, for natural grass. ..v. 15, read some produce natural grass. 
 
 — i. — 58, after v. 22) add and even it is said in Wales. See Dray- 
 
 ton's Poly-Olb. vi. with Selden's notes. 
 
 — i. — 63, after pulverized add In warm latitudes the heat of sum- 
 
 mer has the same effect in pulverizing the soil, as the 
 
XXXVI ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 frosts of winter have in this country. The system 
 therefore of which the poet speaks is practised in our 
 Australasian colonies. 
 Geor. i. ver. 83, after Pangcea add and Lucan (i. 28.) multos inarataper 
 annos Hesperia est. After fallow add — interea, i. e. dum 
 hoc facts. The meaning of interea is rather indefinite. 
 See iEn. xi. 1. 
 
 — i. — 152, after v. 76 add The Greeks used i'\?; for weeds even in 
 
 prose. See Xen. (Ec. xiv. 13 et seq. 
 
 — i. — 155, for Heyne, &c. read i. e. ob quod, a frequent mode of 
 
 using this relative in Lncretius, ex. gr. i. 222, 235 ; 
 ii. 46 ; vi. 473. It is the o, i. q. li o of the Greeks. 
 See II. ix. 534 ; x. 142 ; Od. xviii. 391, 410; Ap. Rh. 
 i. 1303 ; iv. 651, et alibi. 
 
 — i. — 169, for Flexa nature read As fiexus (comp. iv. 123 ; ALn. 
 
 v. 500), like other participles (see on Sail. Jug. ii. 3), 
 has sometimes the sense of the adj. in bilis, flexa ulmus 
 may mean the elm to which a curvature can be given. 
 
 — i. — 211, for in the rest of Italy read in the south of Italy, where 
 
 Virgil wrote his poem. 
 
 — i. — 226, add Some MSS., which Voss follows, read avenis, and 
 
 Pliny tells us (xviii. 17) that some people believed that 
 if the seed of corn lay too long in the ground, it turned 
 to wild oats. There is some foundation in nature for 
 this notion. 
 
 — i. — 251, q/iter nightfall add As Shakspeare says, Night's candles 
 
 are burnt out. Rom. and Jul. hi. 5. 
 
 — i. — 271, for and we must notice it read but among the things 
 
 which Cato (R. R. 2) says might be done per ferias we 
 find vepres mw?j,whichmayincludethe burningof them. 
 
 — 290, for nodes. ..deficit read nodes (sc. nam), i. e. per nodes. 
 Comp. iv. 514. 
 
 — 304, for There seems... v. 301 read By making v. 302 paren- 
 thetic, the apparent difficulty of this place is removed. 
 
 — 389, add The ravens may often be seen thus engaged on the 
 coast of Wicklow in Ireland. 
 
 — 416, for some join, &c. read Heyne, with whom we agree, 
 
 joins rerum with prudent ia. Prudentia rerum is then 
 a preknowledge of what is to happen ; major sc. quam 
 ho?ni?iibus; fato, i. q. dicinitus, QeoQev, v. 415. 
 _ i. — 424, add: 
 
 Her desire 
 Is to be quicked and lighted of your (Phoebus') fire, 
 For which shefolloiveth you full besily. 
 
 Chaucer Cant. Tales, v. 11361. 
 
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 XXXVll 
 
 — 1. 
 
 — i. 
 
 — 505, 
 
 — 514, 
 
 124, 
 
 — ii. — 131, 
 
 Geor.i. ver.491, after in Thrace add for which sense of bis, see iii. 33, 
 and comp. Mn. ii. 218. 
 
 insert Quippe, &c. i. e. this is not to he wondered at, &c. 
 
 after restive horse add Statius has even (Theb. v. 512) 
 clavum audi re negantem proram. Comp. JEsc. Sup. 
 716 et seq. 
 
 after in India add This mode of comparison, which is 
 peculiar to this place, may have had an oriental source, 
 and have been derived from Ctesias, Megasthenes, or 
 some other Greek who had lived in the East. In the 
 Shah-nameh it is said of the booty piled up after a vic- 
 tory, that it formed a mountain which no archer could 
 shoot over. 
 
 dele The smell leaves. 
 
 — 136, for silvae, &c. read silvce ditissima. This construction 
 was first given by Reiske, and has been generally 
 adopted. Comp. Ec. ii. 20; ^En. i. 343, 441. Et 
 molles Arabes, silvarum ditia regna. Manil. iv. 752. 
 The elder editors placed terra in apposition with silvce. 
 
 — 187, for huc.&t it read Hue, in, or into, this. Comp. v. 243 ; 
 Mn. ii. 24 ; vii. 635 ; x. 656. Hue is merely a con- 
 traction of huie. Comp. Hor. Sat. i. 2, 83. 
 
 — 243, for We might, &c. read see on v. 187. 
 
 — 351, read super, i. e. higher up, above the root, not about it, 
 like the stones and shells, v. 348. See Colum. iii. 11. 
 Dele or perhaps... plant. 
 
 — 425, after formula add Comp. JEn. ii. 664 ; v. 94. It is the 
 Attic ravra. See jEsch. Pers. 114, 159, 165; Ari- 
 stoph. Nub. 319, 353; Av. 120; Plat. Protag. §5; 
 Xen. Cyrop. i. 4, 27. 
 
 , add sanctipatres may he wpright, honest old men. See on 
 Sail. Jug. lxxxv. 40. 
 
 add These verses were probably written and inserted in 
 the poem while Caesar was in the East. 
 
 dele or Britons. 
 
 for but it, &c. read see on Ec. i. 45. 
 
 add Perque fabam repunt (grues) et mollia crura 
 reponunt. Enn. ap. Serv. in loc. 
 
 We can offer no explanation of the fit of oblivion which 
 seems to have come over us in this place. 
 
 dele and employ work. For The only instance, &c. 
 
 read In all these passages abdo is followed by the men- 
 tion of the place in which the persons were ; but the 
 place from which is indicated in Corpora mirande sub 
 terras abdita calo, Lucr. iv. 420; Animus quas ab 
 
 ii. — 47: 
 
 26, 
 
 iii. 
 
 — 
 
 33, 
 
 iii. 
 
 — 
 
 64, 
 
 iii. 
 
 — 
 
 76, 
 
 — 81. 
 
 95. 
 
XXXVlll ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 se protenus abdit; Id. iv. 469 ; and Sin vero hcec cura 
 est melior ne forte necetur Abdaturve dorno, catu- 
 losque probare voluntas (of young puppies). Nemes. 
 Cyneg. 141. We should therefore feel inclined to ren- 
 der domo here from home. 
 Geor. iii. ver. 101, for nor perhaps, &c. read May not these words signify 
 the preceding foals gotten hy the sire or borne by tbe 
 dam ? 
 
 — iii. — 116, read The Latin eques, like the Greek KeXrj?, was either 
 
 the riding-horse or the rider. At non quadrupedex 
 equites, Enn. vii. 22 (ed. Spang.). Denique vi magna 
 quadrupes eques atque elefanti Projiciunt sese. Id. 
 ib. 82. Eques sonante verberabit ungula. Hor. Epod. 
 16, 12. This also seems to be the meaning of eques in 
 Massylique ruunt equites et odora canum vis, &n. iv. 
 132 ; for the riders are mentioned in v. 130. These 
 Massylian horses are what we now call Barbs — 
 sub armis, i. e. with the armed rider on his back. 
 The Persian poet Ferdousee says of the horse of the 
 hero Roostem, " In the battle a roe, he carried corselet 
 and helm and mace along with the rider/' 
 
 — iii. — 158, for we confess, &c. read comp. .En. iii. 444. The mean- 
 
 ing of the poet seems to be that a different mark should 
 be put on each kind (gent is, i. q. generis) that they 
 might not be confounded. Both horses and oxen were 
 branded on the skin. 
 
 — iii. — 166, add This is still the practice in the south of France, 
 
 where calves may be seen thus learning to step together. 
 -*- iii. — 238, add Yet it may be the true one, for Lucretius (vi. 700, 
 
 of a volcano), has Saxaque subjectare et arena toU 
 
 lere nimbos ; but Virgil may have sought to improve on 
 
 this verse. 
 ■>- iii. — 322, add cestas however is inclusive of spring, summer and 
 
 autumn. 
 
 — iii. — 336, dele evening; not. For see v. 324 read comp. i. 251, 
 
 Ec. vi. 86. 
 
 — iii. — 339, instead of this note see Sail. Excurs. V. 
 
 -. — iii. — 351, for bends, &c. read trends, stretches away. See our 
 Horace, Excurs. IV. 
 
 ^ — iii. — 458, for The verb, &c. read Comp. £a. ii. 215 ; v. 93. It is 
 reflective, and governs an ace. with per understood, 
 like the simple pascor. Comp. v. 162. 
 
 — iii. — 527, dele but though case. Add at end See our Horace, 
 
 Excurs. IV. 
 
 — iv. — 144, for thorns read plums. 
 
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. XXXIX 
 
 Geor. iv. ver. 236, add This verse joins in sense with v. 230, as a reason for 
 the precept there given; vv. 231-5 being parenthetic. 
 It is not unlikely that these verses, like 203-5, are an 
 addition made after the poem was published, and they 
 may have been intended to follow v. 238. 
 
 — iv. — 243, for sc... blaltae read the young blattce. .For deposited 
 
 number read crowded together. Dele The meaning 
 
 adedit. For They are moths read See Illustrations 
 
 of Horace at the end of our Sallust, in which on Sat. ii. 
 2, 60, add, " the repotia which Avidienus celebrated 
 must have been those of his daughters." 
 
 — iv. — 277, after cropt add or sc.falcibus, mown. See i. 290. 
 
 — iv. — 289, add the same may be seen on the rivers of India. 
 
 — iv. — 506, add It however is not unlikely that, like some other 
 
 verses, it may have been written in the margin by the 
 poet, and that its proper place is after v. 503. 
 Page 328, hue 16, for than read in this word than for him and Horace 
 (iEn. iv. 52 ; x. 763 ; Epod. 15, 7) to do it in Orion and. 
 
 — 332, — 6, add and perhaps blandus, i. e. blanidus, from possibly an 
 
 obs. verb akin to TrXavdu). 
 
 — 333, — 24, for In Plautus, &c. read In Plautus we meet with cingor 
 
 (Amph. i. 1, 155), ornor (Mil. ii. 2, 98) and contineor 
 (Rud. iv. 4, 27) ; in Terence, accingor (Eun. v. 8, 30) 
 and contineor (Hec. iv. 3, 9). Vertor is a middle voice 
 in prose as well as in verse. 
 
 — 335, — 25, add&nd Aristophanes has (Pax, 1095) ov yap ravr' ei-rrt 
 
 St/3wX\a. 
 
 — 336. Add This mode of multiplication does not appear to 
 
 have been confined to the Sibyl, for the scholiast on 
 Aristoph. (Aves, 963) mentions three persons of the 
 name of Bacis. 
 
 — 360, — 18, for the batillum 36; and readThe batillum we have 
 
 elsewhere shown to be a trough, and of course oblong 
 in form. See Illustrations of Horace at the end of our 
 Sallust. 
 
 — 375, — 27, for the Shittim read the Shitta (pi. Shittim). 
 
 — 387, — 28, dele though Colocasium. 
 
 — 388, — 32, for pulse read plant. 
 
 — 389, — 19, after nectary add yellow. This, in some varieties, it is 
 
 said. 
 
 — 391, for Pomum Medicum read Medicum Malum, and add, 
 
 Theophrastus, who was probably Virgil's authority, 
 thus describes it : — " The country of Media and Persia 
 has several other plants, especially that which is called 
 the Persic or Medic apple (/xfjXov). The leaf of this 
 
xl ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 tree resembles, and is of nearly the same size as, that 
 of the bay [the arbutus and the walnut] ; it has thorns 
 like those of the pear or sharp-thorn (6£vdicav0bs 
 Barberry ?), smooth, but very sharp and strong. The 
 fruit is not eaten, but both it and the leaves are very 
 fragrant ; and if put among clothes, it preserves them 
 from injury from insects. It is also useful in cases 
 where poison has been drunk, for given in wine it acts 
 on the bowels and drives it off ; and likewise for sweet- 
 ening the breath, for if the pulp is boiled in a liquid, 
 and pressed in the mouth and swallowed, it renders the 
 
 breath sweet It bears fruit all the year round, some 
 
 falling, some flowering, some ripening. Such of the 
 flowers as have a pistil (KaQa-xep rfKaKarnv) in their 
 centre are productive, such as have not are barren." 
 Hist. PI. iv. 4 ad fin. ; Athen. hi. 26. Pliny says tbat 
 it would only grow in its native soil ; but in the time 
 of Palladius (iv. 10) it was cultivated in Italy. 
 Page 395. Viola. Transpose the two last sentences, and add, The 
 
 fact is, white violets are common in our own fields and 
 gardens also ; and it may be worth noticing, that Tasso 
 in his Rime constantly joins the viola with the giglio 
 and the ligustro, terming it Candida, bianca, pallida : 
 Ove son bianchi gigli 
 Colle bianche viole 
 E con bianchi ligustri e fior vermigli. 
 
 Rime Amorose Madrig. 261, ediz. Pis. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 28, last line but one, for as read a. 
 
 — 138, line 24, for 714-16 read 715-17. 
 
 — 332, — 21, for fluvius read pluvius. 
 
 — 333, — 13, for perusta read peruste. 
 
 — 378, — 6, for Ericacioe read Ericinia. 
 
 — 383, — 14, for felea read felce. 
 
P. V1RGILII MARONIS 
 
 B U C O L I C A. 
 
 TITYRUS. 
 
 ECLOGA I. 
 
 MELIBOEUS. TITYRUS. 
 
 Me. Tityre, tu patulae recubans sub tegmine fagi 
 Silvestrem tenui ^lusam meditaris avena : 
 Nos patriae fines et dulcia linquimus arva ; 
 Nos patriam fugimus : tu, Tityre, lentus in umbra 
 Formosam resonare doces Amaryllida silvas. 5 
 
 Ti. Meliboee, deus nobis haec otia fecit. 
 
 Namque erit ille mihi semper deus ; illius aram 
 
 Saepe tener nostris ab ovilibus imbuet agnus. 
 
 Ille meas errare boves, ut cernis, et ipsum 
 
 Ludere, quae vellem, calamo permisit agrestic 10 
 
 Me. Non equidem in video ; miror magis : undique tqtis 
 Usque adeo turbatur agris. En, ipse capellas 
 Protenus aeger ago ; banc etiam vix, Tityre, duco. 
 Hie inter densas eorulos modo namque gemellos, 
 Spem gregis, ab ! silice in nuda connixa reliquit. 15 
 Saepe malum boc nobis, si mens non laeva fuisset, 
 De caelo tactas memini praedicere quercus. 
 -— [Saepe sinistra cava praedixit ab ilice cornix.] - 
 Sed tamen, iste deus qui sit, da, Tityre, nobis, 
 
 Ti. Urbem, quam dicunt Romam, Meliboee, putavi 20 
 Stultus ego buic nostrae similem, quo saepe solemus 
 Pastores ovium teneros depellere fetus. 
 
P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Sic canibus catulos similes, sic matribus haedos 
 Noram; sicparvis componere magna solebam. 
 Verum haeh tantum alias inter caput extulit urbes, 25 
 Quantum lenta solent inter viburna cupressi. 
 
 ilie.Et quae tanta fuit Romam tibi caussa videnda? 
 
 Ti. Libertas : quae sera, tamen respexit inertem, 
 Candidior postquam tondenti barba cadebat ; 
 Respexit tamen, et longo post tempore venit, 30 
 
 Postquam nos Amaryllis habet, Galatea reliquit. 
 Namque, fatebor enim, dum me Galatea tenebat, 
 Nee spes libertatis erat, nee cura peculi. 
 Quamvis multa meis exiret victima saeptis, 
 Pinguis et ingratae premeretur caseus urbi, 35 
 
 Non unquam gravis aere domum mihi dextra redibat. 
 
 Me. Mirabar, quid maesta deos, Amarylli, vocares ; 
 Cui pendere sua patereris'in arbore poma. 
 Tityrus hinc aberat. Ipsae te, Tityre, pinus, 
 Ipsi te fontes, ipsa haec arbusta vocabant. 40 
 
 Ti. Quid facerem ? Neque servitio me exire licebat 
 Nee tarn praesentes alibi cognoscere divos. 
 Hie ilium vidi juvenem, Meliboee, quotannis 
 Bis senos cui nostra dies altaria fumant. 
 Hie mini responsum primus dedit ille petenti: 45 
 
 Pascite^ut ante boves, pueri; siibniittite tauros. 
 
 Me. Fortunate senex, ergo tua rma manebunt ! 
 
 Et tibi magna satis ; quamvis lapis omnia nudus 
 Limosoque palus obducat pascua junco. 
 Non insueta graves tentabunt pabula fetas, 50 
 
 Nee mala vicini pecoris contagia laedent. 
 Fortunate senex, hie, inter flumina not a 
 Et fontes sacros, frigus captabis opacum ! 
 Hinc tibi, quae semper, vicino ab limite saepes, 
 Hyblaeis apibus norem depasta salicti, 55 
 
 Saepe levi somnum suadebit inire susurro. 
 Hinc alta sub rupe canet frondator ad auras ; 
 Nee tamen interea raucae, tua cui'a, palumbes, 
 Nee gemere aeria cessabit turtur ab ulmo. 
 
 Ti. Ante leves ergo pascentur in aethere cervi, 60 
 
 Et freta destituent nudos in litore pisces ; 
 Ante, pererratis amborum finibis, exsul 
 
BUCOLICA. ECLOGA II. 6 
 
 Aut Ararim Parthus bibet, aut Germania Tigrini, 
 Quam nostro illius labatur pectore vultus. 
 
 Me. At nos hinc alii sitientes ibimus Afros; 65 
 
 Pars Scythiam et rapidum cretae veniemus Oaxen ; 
 Et penitus toto divisos orbe Britannos. 
 Enj unquam patrios longo post tempore fines, 
 Pauperis et tuguri congestum cespite culmen, 
 Post aliquot, mea regna, videns mirabor aristas ? 70 
 Impius haec tarn culta novalia miles habebit ? 
 Barbarus has segetes ? En, quo discordia cives 
 Produxit miseros ! en, quis consevimus agros ! 
 Insere nunc, Meliboee, piros, pone ordine vites. 
 Ite meae, felix quondam pecus, ite capellae. 75 
 
 Non ego vos posthac, viridi projectus in antro, 
 Dumosa pendere procul de rupe videbo ; 
 Carmina nulla canam ; non, me pascente, capellae, 
 Florentem cytisum et salices carpetis amaras. 
 
 Ti. Hie tamen hanc mecum poteras requiescere noctem 80 
 Fronde super viridi. Sunt nobis mitia poma, 
 Castaneae molles, et pressi copia lactis ; 
 Et jam summa procul villarum culmina fumant, 
 Majoresque cadunt altis de montibus umbrae. 
 
 ALEXIS. 
 
 ECLOGA II. 
 
 Formosum pastor Corydon ardebat Alexim, 
 Delicias domini ; nee quid speraret babebat. 
 Tantum inter densas, umbrosa cacumina, fagos 
 Assidue veniebat : ibi haec incondita solus 
 Montibus et silvis studio jactabat inani : 5 
 
 O crudelis Alexi, nihil mea carmina curas ? 
 Nil nostri miserere ? Mori me denique coges. 
 Nunc etiam pecudes umbras et frigora captant ; 
 Nunc virides etiam occultant spineta lacertos ; 
 Thestylis et rapido fessis messoribus aestu 10 
 
 b2 
 
P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Allia serpyllumque herbas contundit olentes ; 
 
 At mecimi raucis, tua dum vestigia lustro, 
 
 Sole sub ardenti resonant arbusta cicadis. 
 
 Nonne' fuit satius, tristes Amaryllidis iras 
 
 Atque superba -pati fastidia? nonne Menalcan, 15 
 
 Quamvis ille niger, quamvis tu candidus esses ? 
 
 formose puer, nimiuni ne crede colori ! 
 
 Alba ligustra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntur. 
 
 Despectus tibi suni, nee, qui sirm quaeris, Alexi ; 
 
 Quam dives pecoris, nivei qnam lactis abundans. 20 
 
 i\Iille meae Siculis errant in montibus agnae. 
 
 Lac milii non aestate novum, non irigore defit. 
 
 Canto, quae solitus, si quando armenta vocabat, 
 
 Ampbion Dircaeus in Actaeo Aracyntho. 
 
 Nee sum adeo informis : nuper me in litore vidi, 25 
 
 Quuni placidum ventis staret mare. Non ego Dapbnini 
 
 Judice te nietuanx, si nunquam fallat imago. 
 
 O tantum libeat mecum tibi sordida rura 
 
 Atque bumiles babitare casas, et figere cervos, 
 
 Haedorumque gregem vii'idi compellere bibisco ! 30 
 
 Mecum una in silvis imitabere Pana canendo. 
 
 Pan primus calamos cera conjungere plures 
 
 Instituit : Pan curat oves oviumque magistros. 
 
 Nee te poeniteat calamo trivisse labellum : 
 
 Haec eadem ut sciret, quid non faciebat Amyntas? 35 
 
 Est mibi disparibus septem compacta cicutis 
 
 Fistula, Damoetas dono mihi quam dedit olim, 
 
 Et dixit moriens : Te nunc babet ista secundum. 
 
 Dixit Damoetas; invidit stultus Amyntas. 
 
 Praeterea duo, nee tuta mibi valle reperti, 40 
 
 Capreoli, sparsis etiani nunc pellibus albo, 
 
 Bina die siccant ovis ubera; quos tibi servo. 
 
 Jam pridem a me illos abducere Tbestylis orat ; 
 
 Et faciei, quoniam sordent tibi munera nostra. 
 
 Hue ades, o formose puer : tibi lilia plenis 45 
 
 Ecce ferunt Nympbae calatbis ; tibi Candida Nais, 
 
 Pallentes violas et summa papavera carpens, 
 
 Narcissum et florem jungit bene olentis anetbi ; 
 
 Turn, casia atque aliis intexens suavibus herbis, 
 
 Mollia luteola pingit vaccinia caltha. 50 
 
BUCOLICA. ECLOGA III. 5 
 
 Ipse ego cana legam tenera lanugine mala, 
 
 Castaneasque nuces, mea quas Amaryllis amabat ; 
 
 Addam cerea pruna ; lionos erit huic quoque pomp ; 
 
 Et vos, o lauri, carpam, et te, proxima myrte : 
 
 Sic positae quoniam suaves miscetis odores. 55 
 
 Rusticus es, Corydon ; nee munera curat Alexis ; 
 
 Nee, si muneribus certes, concedat Iollas. 
 
 Heu, heu, quid volui misero mihi ? floribus Austrum 
 
 Perditus, et liquidis immisi fontibus apros. 
 
 Quemfugis, ah demens ? Habitarunt di quoque silvas, 60 
 
 Dardaniusque Paris. Pallas, quas condidit, arces - 
 
 Ipsa colat ; nobis placeant ante omnia silvae. 
 
 Torva leaena lupum sequitur ; lupus ipse capellam ; 
 
 Flor-entem cytisum sequitur lasciva capella ; 
 
 Te Corydon, o Alexi : trabit sua quemque voluptas. 65 
 
 Aspice, aratra jugo referunt suspensa juvenci, 
 
 Et sol crescentes decedens duplicat umbras : 
 
 Me tamen urit amor ; quis enim modus adsit amori ? 
 
 Ah Corydon, Corydon, quae te dementia cepit ! 
 
 Semiputata tibi frondosa vitis in ulmo est. 70 
 
 Quin tu aliquid saltern potius, quorum indiget usus, 
 
 Viminibus mollique paras detexere junco ? 
 
 Invenies alium, si te hie fastidit, Alexim. 
 
 PALAEMON. 
 
 ECLOGA III. 
 
 MENALCAS. DAMOETAS. PALAEMON. 
 
 Me.T)ic mihi, Damoeta, cujum pecus? an Meliboei? 
 
 Da. Non, verum Aegonis. Nuper mihi tradidit Aegon. 
 
 Me. Infelix o semper, oves, pecus ! Ipse Neaeram 
 Dum fovet, ac, ne me sibi praeferat ilia, veretur, 
 Hie alienus oves custos bis mulget in hora, 5 
 
 Et sucus pecori, et lac subducitur agnis. 
 
 Da. Parcius ista viris tamen objicienda memento. 
 
O P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Novimus et qui te, transversa tuentibus hircis, 
 Et quo — sed faciles Nymphae risere — sacello. 
 
 Me.Tum, credo, cum me arbustum videre Miconis 10 
 
 Atque mala vites incidere falce novellas. 
 
 Da. Aut hie, ad veteres fagos, cum Daphnidis arcum 
 Fregisti et calamos : quae tu, perverse Menalca, 
 Et, quum vidisti puero donata, dolebas ; 
 Et, si non aliqua nocuisses, mortuus esses. 15 
 
 Me. Quid domini faciant, audent cum talia fores ? 
 Non ego te vidi Damonis, pessime, caprum 
 Excipere insidiis, multum latrante Lycisca ? 
 Et cum clamarem : Quo nunc se proripit ille ? 
 Tityre, coge pecus ; tu post carecta latebas. 20 
 
 Da. An mihi cantando victus non redderet ille, 
 
 Quern mea carminibus meruisset fistula, caprum ? 
 Si nescis, meus ille caper fuit : et mihi Damon 
 Ipse fatebatur, sed reddere posse negabat. 
 
 Me. Cantando tu ilium ? aut unquam tibi fistula cera 25 
 Juncta fuit ? Non tu in triviis, indocte, solebas 
 Stridenti miserum stipula disperdere carmen ? 
 
 Da.Yis ergo, inter nos, quid possit uterque, vicissim 
 Experiamur ? Ego hanc vitulam — ne forte recuses, 
 Bis venit ad mulctram, binos alit ubere fetus — 30 
 Depono : tu die, mecum quo pignore certes. 
 
 Me.De grege non ausim quidquam deponere tecum : 
 Est mihi namque domi pater, est injusta noverca ; 
 Bisque die numerant ambo pecus, alter et haedos. 
 Verum, id quod multo tute ipse fatebere majus — 35 
 Insanire libet quoniam tibi — pocula ponam 
 Fagina, caelatum divini opus Alcimedontis : 
 Lenta quibus torno facili superaddita vitis 
 Diffusos hedera vestit pallente corynibos. 
 In medio duo signa, Conon, et — quis fuit alter, 40 
 Descripsit radio totum qui gentibus orbem, 
 Tempora quae messor, quae curvus arator haberet ? 
 Necdum iflis labra admovi, sed condita servo. 
 
 J)«.Et nobis idem Alcimedon duo pocula fecit, 
 
 Et molli circum est ansas amplexus acantho ; 45 
 
 Orpheaque in medio posuit, silvasque sequentes. 
 Necdum illis labra admovi, sed condita servo. 
 
BI7C0LTCA. ECLOGA III. 7 
 
 Si ad vitulam spectas, nihil est, quod pocula laudes. 
 Me.Nunquam hodie effugies; veniam, quocunque vocaris. 
 
 Audiat haec tantum — vel qui venit, ecce, Palaemon : 
 
 Efficiam, posthac ne quemquam voce lacessas. 51 
 
 Da. Quin age, si quid habes ; in me mora non erit ulla ; 
 
 Nee quemquam fugio : tantum, vicine Palaemon, 
 
 Sensibus haec imis, res est non parva, reponas. 
 Pa.Dicite, quandoquidem in molli consedimus herba : 55 
 
 Et nunc omnis ager, nunc omnis parturit arbor ; 
 
 Nunc frondent silvae; nunc formosissimus annus. 
 
 Incipe, Damoeta ; tu deinde sequere, Menalca. 
 
 Alternis dicetis ; amant alterna Camenae. 
 Da. Ah Jove principium Musae; Jovis omnia plena. 60 
 
 Ille colit terras ; illi mea carmina curae. 
 Me. Et me Phoebus amat; Phoebo sua semper apud me 
 
 Munera sunt, lauri et suave rubens hyacinthus. 
 Da.Malo me Galatea petit, lasciva puella; 
 
 Et fugit ad salices, et se cupit ante videri. 65 
 
 Me. At mihi sese offert ultro, meus ignis, Amyntas ; 
 
 Notior ut jam sit canibus non Delia nostris. 
 Dfl.Parta meae Veneri sunt munera : namque notavi 
 
 Ipse locum, aeriae quo congessere palumbes. 
 Me. Quod potui, puero silvestri ex arbore lecta 70 
 
 Aurea mala decern misi; eras altera mitt am. 
 Da. quoties et quae nobis Galatea locuta est ! 
 
 Partem aliquam, venti, divum referatis ad aures. 
 Me. Quid prodest, quod me ipse animo non spernis, Amynta, 
 
 Si, dum tu sectaris apros, ego retia servo ? 75 
 
 Z)«.Phyllida mitte mihi; meus est natalis, Iolla; 
 
 Quum faciam vitula pro frugibus, ipse venito. 
 Me. Phyllida amo ante alias ; nam me discedere nevit, 
 
 Et longum Formose, vale, vale, inquit, Iolla. 
 Da.Triste lupus stabulis, maturis frugibus imbres, 80 
 
 Arboribus venti, nobis Amaryllidis irae. 
 Me.Dvlce satis humor, depulsis arbutus haedis, 
 
 Lenta salix feto pecori, mihi solus Amyntas. 
 Dfl.Pollio amat nostram, quamvis est rustica, Musam : 
 
 Pierides, vitulam lectori pascite vestro. 85 
 
 ifcfe. Pollio et ipse facit nova carmina : pascite taurum. 
 
 Jam cornu petat et pedibus qui spargat arenam. 
 
8 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Da. Qui te, PolHo, amat, veniat, quo te quoque gaudet; 
 
 Mella fluant illi, ferat et rubus asper amomum. 
 Me. Qui Bavium non odit, amet tua carmina, Maevi, 90 
 
 Atque idem jungat vulpes, et mulgeat bircos. 
 Da. Qui legitis flores et bumi nascentia fraga, 
 
 Frigidus, o pueri, fugite bine, latet anguis in herba. 
 Me. Parcite, oves, nimium procedere : non bene ripae 
 
 Creditur ; ipse aries etiam nunc vellera siccat. 95 
 
 -Da.Tityre, pascentes a fluorine reice capellas : 
 
 Ipse, ubi tempus erit, omnes in fonte lavabo. 
 Me. Cogite oves, pueri ; si lac praeceperit aestus, 
 
 Ut nuper, frustra pressabimus ubera palnris. 
 Da.Heu, heu, quam pinguimacerestmibi taurus in ervo! 100 
 
 Idem amor exitium pecori pecorisque magistro. 
 Me. His certe neque amor caussa est; vix ossibus baerent. 
 
 Nescio quis teneros oculus mibi fascinat agnos. 
 .Dtf.Dic, quibus in terris, et eris mibi magnus Apollo, 
 
 Tres pateat caeb spatium non amplius ulnas. 105 
 
 Me. Die, quibus in terris inscripti nomina regum 
 
 Nascantur flores, et Pbyllida solus babeto. 
 Pa. Non nostrum inter vos tantas componere lites. 
 
 Et vitula tu dignus, et bic, et quisquis amores 
 
 Aut metuet dulces, aut experietur amaros. 110 
 
 Claudite jam rivos, pueri : sat prata biberunt. 
 
 POLL IO. 
 
 ECLOGA IV. 
 
 Sicebdes Musae, paullo majora canamus. 
 
 Non omnes arbusta juvant humilesque myricae. 
 
 Si canimus silvas, silvae sint Consule dignae. 
 
 Ultima Cumaei venit jam carminis aetas ; 
 Magnus ab integro saeclorum uascitur ordo. 
 Jam redit et Virgo ; redeunt Saturnia regna ; 
 Jam nova progenies caelo demittitur alto. 
 Tu modo nascenti puero, quo ferrea primum 
 
BUCOLICA. ECLOGA IV. 9 
 
 Desinet ac toto surget gens aurea mundo, 
 Casta fave Lucina; tuus jam regnat Apollo. 10 
 
 Teque adeo decus hoc aevi, te Consule, inibit, 
 Pollio ; et incipient magni procedere menses. 
 Te duce, si qua manent sceleris vestigia nostri, 
 Irrita perpetua solvent formidine terras. 
 Ille deum vitam accipiet, divisque videbit 15 
 
 Permixtos heroas, et ipse videbitur illis, 
 Pacatumque reget patriis virtutibus orbem. 
 At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu, 
 Errantes ederas passim cum baccare tellus 
 Mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho. 20 
 
 Ipsae lacte domum referent distenta capellae 
 Ubera ; nee magnos metuent armenta leones. 
 Ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores. 
 Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni 
 Occidet ; Assyrium vulgo nascetur amomum. 25 
 
 At simul heroum laudes et facta parentis 
 Jam legere, et quae sit poteris cognoscere virtus ; 
 Molli paullatim flavescet campus arista, 
 Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva ; 
 Et durae quercus sudabunt roscida mella. 30 
 
 Pauca tamen suberunt priscae vestigia fraudis, 
 Quae tentare Thetim ratibus, quae cingere muris 
 Oppida, quae jubeant telluri innndere sulcos. 
 Alter erit turn Tiphys, et altera quae vehat Argo 
 Delectos heroas ; erunt etiam altera bella ; 35 
 
 Atque iterum ad Trojam magnus mittetur Achilles. 
 Hinc, ubi jam firmata virum te fecerit aetas, 
 Cedet et ipse mari vector ; nee nautica pinus 
 Mutabit merces ; omnis feret omnia tellus. 
 Non rastros patietur humus, non vinea falcem ; 40 
 
 Robustus quoque jam tauris juga solvet arator. 
 Nee varios discet mentiri lana colores, 
 Ipse sed in pratis aries jam suave rubenti 
 Murice, jam croceo mutabit vellera luto ; 
 Sponte sua sandyx pascentes vestiet agnos. 45 
 
 Talia saecla, suis dixerunt, currite, fusis 
 Concordes stabili fatorum numine Parcae. 
 Adgredere o magnos — aderit jam tempus — honores, 
 
 b5 
 
10 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Cara deura suboles, magnum Jovis incrementum ! 
 
 Aspice convexo nutantem pondere mundum, 50 
 
 Terrasque, tractusque maris, caelumque profundum ; 
 
 Aspice, venturo laetantur ut omnia saeclo. 
 
 mihi tarn longae maneat pars ultima vitae, 
 
 Spiritus et, quantum sat erit tua dicere facta. 
 
 Non me carminibus vincet nee Thracius Orpheus, 55 
 
 Nee Linus ; huie mater quamvis atque huic pater adsit, 
 
 Orpnei Calliopea, Lino formosus Apollo. 
 
 Pan etiam, Arcadia meeum si judice certet, 
 
 Pan etiam Arcadia dicat se judice victum. 
 
 Incipe, parve puer, risu cognoscere matrem : 60 
 
 Matri longa decern tulerunt fastidia menses. 
 
 Incipe, parve puer : cui non risere parentes, 
 
 Nee deus hunc mensa, dea nee dignata cubili est. 
 
 DAPHNIS. 
 
 ECLOGA V. 
 
 MENALCAS. MOPSUS. 
 
 Me. Cur non, Mopse, boni quoniam convenimus ambo 
 Tu calamos innare leves, ego dicere versus, 
 Hie corulis mixtas inter considimus umios ? 
 
 Mo.Tu major; tibi me est aequum parere, Menalca : 
 
 Sive sub incertas Zepbyris motantibus umbras, 5 
 
 Sive antro potius succedimus. Aspice, ut antrum 
 Silvestris raris sparsit labrusca racemis. 
 
 Me. Montibus in nostris solus tibi certet Amyntas. 
 
 Mo. Quid, si idem certet Phcebum superare canendo ? 
 
 Jfe.Incipe, Mopse, prior: si quos aut Phyllidis ignes, 10 
 Aut xilconis habes laudes, aut jurgia Codii. 
 Incipe ; pascentes servabit Tityrus haedos. 
 
 ^o.Inio haec, in viridi nuper quae cortice fagi 
 Carmina descripsi et modulans alterna notavi, 
 Experiar. Tu deinde jubeto certet Amyntas. 15 
 
BUCOLICA. ECLOGA V. 11 
 
 Me. Lenta salix quantum pallenti cedit olivae, 
 Puniceis humilis quantum saliunca rosetis : 
 Judicio nostro tantum tibi cedit Amyntas. 
 
 Mo. Sed tu desine plura, puer ; successimus antro. 
 
 Exstinctum Nymphae crudeli funere Dapbnim 20 
 
 Flebant : vos coruli testes et flumina Nymphis : 
 
 Cum, complexa sui corpus miserabile gnati, 
 
 Atque deos atque astra vocat crudelia mater. 
 
 Non ulli pastos illis egere diebus 
 
 Frigida, Daphni, boves ad flumina ; nulla neque 
 
 amnem 25 
 
 Libavit quadrupes, nee graminis attigit herbam. 
 Daphni, tuum Poenos etiam ingemuisse leones 
 Interitum montesque feri silvaeque loquuntur. 
 Daplmis et Armenias curru subjungere tigres 
 Instituit, Daplmis thiasos inducere Bacchi, 30 
 
 Et foliis lentas intexere mollibus hastas. 
 Vitis ut arboribus decori est, ut vitibus uvae, 
 Ut gregibus tauri, segetes ut pinguibus arvis : 
 Tu decus omne tuis. Postquam te fata tulerunt, 
 Ipsa Pales agros atque ipse reliquit Apollo. 35 
 
 Grandia saepe quibus mandavimus hordea sulcis, 
 Infelix lolium et steriles nascuntur avenae. 
 Pro molli viola, pro purpureo narcisso, 
 Carduus et spinis surgit paliurus acutis. 
 Spargite humuni foliis ; inducite fontibus umbras, 40 
 Pastores ; mandat fieri sibi talia Daphnis ; 
 Et tumulum facite, et tumulo superaddite carmen : 
 Daphnisego in silvis,hinc usque ad stdera NOTl s, 
 
 FORMOSI PECORIS CUSTOS, FORMOSIOR IPSE. 
 
 Me. Tale tuum carmen nobis, divine poeta, 45 
 
 Quale sopor fessis in gramme, quale per aestum 
 Dulcis aquae saliente sitim restinguere rivo. 
 Nee calamis solum aequiparas, sed voce magistrum. 
 Fortunate puer, tu nunc eris alter ab illo. 
 Nos tamen haec quocunque modo tibi nostra vicissim 50 
 Dicemus, Dapbnimque tuum tollemus ad astra ; 
 Dapbnin ad astra feremus : amavit nos quoque 
 Dapbnis. 
 
 Mo. An quidquam nobis tali sit munere majus? 
 
12 P. VIRGTLII MARONIS 
 
 Et puer ipse fuit cantari dignus, et ista 
 
 Jam pridem Stimicon laudavit carmina nobis. 55 
 
 Me. Candidus insuetum miratur limen Olympic 
 Sub pedibusque videt nubes et sidera Daphnis. 
 Ergo alacris silvas et cetera rura voluntas 
 Panaque pastoresque tenet Dryadasque puellas. 
 Nee lupus insidias pecori, nee retia cervis 60 
 
 Ulla dolum meditantur : amat bonus otia Daphnis. 
 Ipsi laetitia voces ad sidera jactant 
 Intonsi montes ; ipsae jam carmina rupes, 
 Ipsa sonant arbusta; deus, deus ille, Menalca. 
 Sis bonus o felixque tuis ! En quatuor aras, 65 
 
 Ecce duas tibi, Daphni, duas altaria Phoebo. 
 Pocula bina novo spumantia lacte quotannis, 
 Craterasque duo statuam tibi pinguis olivi ; 
 Et multo in primis hilarans convivia Baccho, 
 Ante focurn, si frigus erit, si niessis, in umbra, 70 
 
 Vina novum fundam calathis Ariusia nectar. 
 Cantabunt mihi Damoetas et Lyctius Aegon ; 
 Saltantes Satyros imitabitur Alphesiboeus. 
 Haec tibi semper erunt, et cum solennia vota 
 Reddemus Nymphis, et cum lustrabimus agros. 75 
 Dum juga montis aper, fluvios dum piscis amabit, 
 Dumque thymo pascentur apes, dum rore cicadae, 
 Semper honos nomenque tuum laudesque manebunt. 
 Ut Baccho Cererique, tibi sic vota quotannis 
 Agricolae facient ; damnabis tu quoque votis. 80 
 
 Mo. Quae tibi, quae tali reddam pro carmine dona ? 
 Nam neque me tantum venientis sibilus austri, 
 Nee percussa juvant fluctu tam litora, nee quae 
 Saxosas inter decurrunt rlumina valles. 
 
 M^.Hac te nos fragili donabimus ante cicuta. 85 
 
 Haec nos, Formosum Corydon ardebat Alexim ; 
 Haec eadem docuit, Cujum pecus ? an Aleliboei ': 
 
 Mo. At tu sume pedum, quod, me cum saepe rogaret, 
 Non tulit Antigenes — et erat turn dignus amari — 
 Formosum paribus nodis at que aere, Menalca. 90 
 
BUCOLICA. ECLOGA VI. 13 
 
 S I L E N U S. 
 
 ECLOGA VL 
 
 Prima Syracosio dignata est ludere versu 
 Nostra, nee erubuit silvas habitare, Thalia. 
 Quum canerem reges et proelia, Cynthius aurem 
 Vellit, et admonuit : Pastorem, Tityre, pingues 
 Pascere oportet oves, deductum dicere carmen. 5 
 
 Nunc ego — namque super tibi erunt, qui dicere laudes, 
 Vare, tuas cupiant, et tristia condere bella — 
 Agrestem tenui meditabor arundine Musam. 
 Non injussa cano. Si quis tamen haec quoque, si quis 
 Captus amore legat : te nostrae, Vare, myricae, 10 
 Te nemus omne canet ; nee Phoebo gratior ulla est, 
 Quam sibi quae Vari praescripsit pagina nomen. 
 
 Pergite, Pierides. Cbromis et Mnasylos in antro 
 Silenum pueri somno videre jacentem, 
 Tnflatum hesterno venas, ut semper, Iaccho. 15 
 
 Serta procul, tantum capiti delapsa, jacebant; 
 Et gravis attrita pendebat cantharus ansa. 
 Adgressi — nam saepe senex spe carminis ambo 
 Luserat — injiciunt ipsis ex vincula sertis. 
 Addit se sociam timidisque supervenit Aegle, 20 
 
 Aegle, Naiadum pulcberrima ; jamque videnti 
 Sanguineis frontem moris et tempora pingit. 
 Ille dolum ridens, Quo vincula nectitis ? inquit. 
 Solvite me, pueri ; satis est potuisse videri. 
 Carmina, quae vultis, cognoscite ; carmina vobis, 25 
 Huic aliud mercedis erit ; simul incipit ipse. 
 Turn vero in numerum Faunosque ferasque videres 
 Ludere, turn rigidas motare cacumina quercus. 
 Nee tantum Phoebo gaudet Parnasia rupes ; 
 Nee tantum Rhodope mirantur et Ismarus Orphea. .'30 
 Namque canebat, uti magnum per inane coacta 
 Semina terrarumque animaeque marisque fuissent, 
 Et liquidi simul ignis ; ut his exordia primis 
 
14 P. VIRGILIl MA.RONIS 
 
 Omnia, et ipse tener mundi concreverit orbis ; 
 
 Turn durare solum et discludere Nerea ponto 35 
 
 Coeperit, et rerum paullatim sumere formas ; 
 
 Jamque novum terrae stupeant lucescere solem, 
 
 Altius atque cadant summotis nubibus imbres ; 
 
 Incipiant silvae cum primum surgere, cumque 
 
 Rara per ignaros errent animalia montes. 40 
 
 Hinc lapides Pyrrhae jactos, Saturnia regna, 
 
 Caucasiasque refert volucres, furtumque Promethei. 
 
 His adjungit, Hylan naatae quo fonte relictum 
 
 Clamassent, ut litus, Hyla, Hyla, omne sonaret. 
 
 Et fortunatam, si nunquam armenta fuissent, 45 
 
 Pasipbaen nivei solatur amore juvenci. 
 
 Ab, virgo infelix, quae te dementia cepit ! 
 
 Proetides implerunt falsis mugitibus agros : 
 
 At non tarn turpes pecudum tamen ulla secuta est 
 
 Concubitus, quamvis collo timuisset aratrum, 50 
 
 Et saepe in laevi quaesisset cornua fronte. 
 
 Ab, virgo infelix, tu nunc in montibus erras : 
 
 Ille, latus niveum molli fultus byacintbo, 
 
 Ilice sub nigra pallentes ruminat berbas ; 
 
 Aut aliquam in magno sequitur grege. Claudite, 
 
 Nympbae, 55 
 
 Dictaeae Nympbae, nemorum jam claudite saltus, 
 Si qua forte ferant oculis sese obvia nostris 
 Errabunda bovis vestigia : forsitan ilium, 
 Aut berba captum viridi, aut armenta secutuin, 
 Perducant aliquae stabula ad Gortynia vaccae. 60 
 
 Turn canit Hesperidum miratam mala puellam ; 
 Turn Pbaetbontiadas musco circumdat amarae 
 Corticis, atque solo proceras erigit alnos. 
 Turn canit, errantem Permessi ad ilumina Galium 
 Aonas in montes ut duxerit una sororum ; 65 
 
 Utque viro Pboebi chorus adsurrexerit omnis ; 
 Ut Linus baec illi divino carmine pastor, 
 Floribus atque apio crines ornatus amaro, 
 Dixerit : Hos tibi dant calamos, en accipe, Musae, 
 Ascraeo quos ante seni ; quibus ille solebat 70 
 
 Cantando rigidas deducere montibus ornos. 
 His tibi Grynei nemoris dicatur origo : 
 
BUCOLICA. ECLOGA VII. 15 
 
 Ne quis sit lucus, quo se plus jactet Apollo. 
 
 Quid loquar, ut Scyllam Nisi, quam fama secuta est 
 
 Candida succinctam latrantibus inguina monstris 75 
 
 Dulichias vexasse rates, et gurgite in alto 
 
 Ah ! timidos nautas canibus lacerasse marinis ; 
 
 Aut ut mutatos Terei narraverit artus, 
 
 Quas illi Philomela dapes, quae dona pararit, 
 
 Quo cursu deserta petiverit, et quibus ante 80 
 
 Infelix sua tecta supervolitaverit alis ? 
 
 Omnia, quae, Phoebo quondam meditante, beatus 
 
 Audiit Eurotas, jussitque ediscere lauros, 
 
 Ille canit ; pulsae referunt ad sidera valles ; 
 
 Cogere donee oves stabulis numerumque referre 85 
 
 Jussit, et invito processit Vesper Olympo. 
 
 MELIBOEUS. 
 
 ECLOGA VII. 
 
 MELIBOEUS. CORYDON. THYRSIS. 
 
 Me. Forte sub arguta consederat ilice Daphnis, 
 
 Compulerantque greges Corydon et Thyrsis in unum, 
 Thyrsis oves, Corydon distentas lacte capellas; 
 Ambo norentes aetatibus, Arcades ambo, 
 Et cantare pares, et respondere parati. 5 
 
 Hue mihi, dum teneras defendo a frigore myrtos, 
 Vir gregis ipse caper deerraverat. Atque ego Daphnim 
 Aspicio ; ille ubi me contra videt : Ocius, inquit, 
 Hue ades, o Meliboee ; caper tibi salvus et haedi : 
 Et, si quid cessare potes, requiesce sub umbra. 10 
 
 Hue ipsi potum venient per prata juvenci, 
 Hie virides tenera praetexit arundine rjpas 
 Mincius, eque sacra resonant examina quercu. 
 Quid facerem ? JNeque ego Alcippen nee Phyllida 
 
 habebam, 
 Depulsos a lacte domi quae clauderet agnos ; 15 
 
16 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Et certamen erat, Corydon cum Thyrside, magnum. 
 
 Posthabui tarn en illorum mea seria ludo. 
 
 Alternis igitur contendere versibus ambo 
 
 Coepere : alternos, Musae, meminisse volebant. 
 
 Hos Cory don, illos referebat in ordine Thyrsis. 20 
 
 Co. Nymphae, noster amor, Libethrides, aut mihi carmen, 
 Quale meo Codro, concedite ; proxima Phoebi 
 Versibus ille facit ; aut, si non possumus omnes, 
 Hie arguta sacra pendebit fistula pinu. 
 
 Th. Pastores, hedera crescentem ornate poetani, 25 
 
 Arcades, invidia rumpantur ut ilia Codro ; 
 Aut, si ultra placitum laudarit, baccare frontem 
 Cingite, ne vati noceat mala lingua futuro. 
 
 Co. Setosi caput hoc apri tibi, Delia, parvus 
 
 Et ramosa Micon vivacis cornua cervi. 30 
 
 Si proprium boc fuerit, levi de marmore tota 
 Puniceo stabis suras evincta cothurno. 
 
 Th. Sinum lactis et baec te liba, Priape, quotannis 
 Exspectare sat est : custos es pauperis horti. 
 Nunc te marmoreum pro tempore fecimus ; at tu, '65 
 Si fetura gregem suppleverit, aureus esto. 
 
 Co. Nerine Galatea, thynio mihi dulcior Hyblae, 
 Candidior eyenis, hedera formosior alba : 
 Cum primum pasti repetent praesepia tauri, 
 Si qua tin Corydonis habet te cura, venito. 40 
 
 Th. Imo ego Sardois videar tibi amarior herbis, 
 Horridior rusco, projecta vilior alga, 
 Si mihi non haec lux toto jam longior anno est. 
 Ite domum pasti, si quis pudor, ite juvenci. 
 
 Co. Muscosi fontes, et somno molhor herba, 45 
 
 Et quae vos rara viridis tegit arbutus umbra, 
 Solstitium pecori defendite ; jam venit aestas 
 Torrida, jam laeto turgent in palmite gemmae. 
 
 Th. Hie focus et taedae pingues, hie plurimus ignis 
 
 Semper, et assidua postes fuligine nigri. 50 
 
 Hie tantum Boreae cm*amus frigora, quantum 
 . Aut numerum lupus, aut torrentia flumina ripas. 
 
 Co. Stant et juniperi, et castaneae hirsutae ; 
 
 Strata jacent passim sua quaeque sub arbore pom a ; 
 Omnia nunc rident : at si formosus Alexis 55 
 
BUCOLICA. ECLOGA VIII. 17 
 
 Montibus his abeat, videas et fmmina sicca. 
 
 Th. Aret ager ; vitio moriens sitit aeris herba ; 
 Liber pampineas invidit collibus umbras : 
 Phyllidis adventu nostrae nemus omne virebit ; 
 Jupiter et laeto descendet plurimus inibri. 60 
 
 Co. Populus Alcidae gratissima, vitis Iaccho, 
 Formosae myrtus Veneri, sua laurea Phoebo : 
 Phyllis amat corulos ; illas dum Phyllis amabit, 
 Nee myrtus vincet corulos, nee laurea Phoebi. 
 
 Th. Fraxinus in silvis pulcherrima, pinus in hortis, 65 
 
 Populus in fluviis, abies in montibus altis : 
 Saepius at si me, Lycida formose, revisas, 
 Fraxinus in silvis cedat tibi, pinus in hortis. 
 
 Me.Haec memini, et victum frustra contendere Thyi'sin. 
 Ex illo Corydon Corydon est tempore nobis. 70 
 
 PHARMACEUTRIA. 
 
 ECLOGA VIII. 
 
 DAMON. ALPHESIB0EUS. 
 
 Pastorum Musam Damonis et Alphesiboei, 
 
 Immemor herbarum quos est mirata juvenca 
 
 Cert antes, quorum stupefactae carmine lynces, 
 
 Et mutata suos requierunt flumina cursus -, 
 
 Damonis Musam dicemus et Alphesiboei. 5 
 
 Tu mihi, seu magni superas jam saxa Timavi, 
 Sive oram Illyrici legis aequoris ; en erit unquam 
 Ille dies, mihi cum liceat tua dicere facta ? 
 En erit, ut liceat totum mihi ferre per orbem 
 Sola Sophocleo tua carmina digna cothurno ? 10 
 
 A te principium ; tibi desinet : accipe jussis 
 Carmina coepta tuis, atque hanc sine tempora circum 
 Inter victrices hederam tibi serpere lauros. 
 
 Frigida vix caelo noctis decesserat umbra, 
 Cum ros in tenera pecori gratissimus herba; 15 
 
 Incumbens tereti Damon sic coepit olivae : 
 
18 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Da. Nascere, praeque diem veniens age, Lucifer, almum, 
 Conjugis indigno Nisae deceptus amore 
 Dum queror, et divos, quamquam nil testibus illis 
 Profeci, extrema moriens tamen alloquor hora. 20 
 
 Incipe Maenalios mecum, mea tibia, versus. 
 Maenalus argutumque nemus pinosque loquentes 
 Semper babet ; semper pastorum ille audit amores, 
 Panaque, qui primus calamos non passus inertes. 
 Incipe Maenalios mecum, mea tibia, versus. 25 
 
 Mopso Nisa datur : quid non speremus amantes ? 
 Jungentur jam gryphes equis; aevoque sequenti 
 Cum canibus timidi venient ad pocula damae. 
 Mopse, novas incide faces : tibi ducitur uxor. 
 Sparge, marite, nuces : tibi deserit Hesperus Oetam. 30 
 Incipe Maenalios mecum, mea tibia, versus. 
 O digno conjuncta viro ! dum despicis omnes, 
 Dumque tibi est odio mea fistula, dumque capellae, 
 Hirsutumque supercilium, promissaque barba ; 
 Nee curare deum credis mortalia quemquam. 35 
 
 Incipe Maenalios mecum, mea tibia, versus. 
 Saepibus in nostris parvam te roscida mala — 
 Dux ego vester eram — vidi cum matre legentem. 
 Alter ab undecimo turn me jam ceperat annus; 
 Jam fragiles pot eram a terra contingere ramos. 40 
 
 Ut vidi, ut perii ! ut me malus abstulit error ! 
 Incipe Maenalios mecum, mea tibia, versus. 
 Nunc scio, quid sit Amor : duris in cotibus ilium 
 Aut Tmaros, aut Rhodope, aut extremi Garamantes, 
 Nee generis nostri puerum nee sanguinis, edunt. 45 
 Incipe Maenalios mecum, mea tibia, versus. 
 Saevus Amor docuit gnatorum sanguine matrem 
 Commaculare manus ; crudelis tu quoque, mater ; 
 Crudelis mater magis, an puer improbus ille ? 
 Improbus ille puer ; crudelis tu quoque, mater. 50 
 
 Incipe Maenalios mecum, mea tibia, versus. 
 Nunc et oves ultro fugiat lupus ; am'ea durae 
 Mala ferant quercus ; narcisso floreat alnus ; 
 Pinguia corticibus sudent electra myricae ; 
 Certent et eyenis ululae ; sit Tityrus Orpbeus, bo 
 
 Orpheus in silvis, inter Delpbinas Arion. 
 
BUCOLICA. ECLOGA VIII. 19 
 
 Incipe Maenalios mecum, mea tibia, versus. 
 
 Omnia vel medium fiant mare. Vivite silvae. 
 
 Praeceps aerii specula de montis in undas 
 
 Deferar ; extremum hoc munus morientis habeto. 60 
 
 Desine Maenalios, jam desine, tibia, versus. 
 
 Haec Damon : vos, quae respondent Alphesiboeus, 
 Dicite, Pierides ; non omnia possumus omnes. 
 Al. Effer aquam, et molli cinge haec altaria vitta ; 
 
 Verbenasque adole pingues et mascula tura : 65 
 
 Conjugis ut magicis sanos avertere sacris 
 Experiar sensus ; nihil hie nisi Carolina desunt. 
 Ducite ab urbe do mum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim. 
 Carmina vel coelo possunt deducere Lunam ; 
 Carminibus Circe socios mutavit Ulixi ; 70 
 
 Frigidus in pratis cantando rumpitur anguis. 
 Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim. 
 Terna tibi haec primum triplici diversa colore 
 Licia circumdo, terque haec altaria circum 
 Effigiem duco : numero deus impare gaudet. 75 
 
 Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim. 
 Necte tribus nodis ternos, Amarylli, color es : 
 Necte, Amarylli, modo, et, Veneris, die, vincula necto. 
 Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim. 
 Limus ut hie durescit, et haec ut cera liquescit 80 
 
 Uno eodemque igni : sic nostro Daphnis amore. 
 Sparge molam, et fragiles incende bitumine lauros. 
 Daphnis me malus urit, ego hanc in Daphnide laurum. 
 Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim. 
 Talis amor Daphnim, qualis cum fessa juvencum 85 
 Per nemora atque altos quaerendo bucula lucos 
 Propter aquae rivum viridi procumbit in ulva 
 Perdita, nee serae meminit decedere nocti, 
 Talis amor teneat, nee sit mihi cura mederi. 89 
 
 Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim. 
 Has olim exuvias mihi perfidus ille reliquit, 
 Pignora car a sui : quae nunc ego limine in ipso, 
 Terra, tibi mando ; debent haec pignora Daphnim. 
 Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim. 
 Has herbas atque haec Ponto mihi lecta venena 95 
 Ipse dedit Moeris ; nascuntur plurima Ponto. 
 
20 P. VIRGILII MAROXIS 
 
 His ego saepe lupum fieri et se condere silvis 
 Moerin, saepe animas iniis excire sepulcris, 
 Atque satas alio vidi traducere messes. 99 
 
 Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim. 
 Fer cineres, Amarylli, foras, rivoque fluenti 
 Transque caput jace, nee respexeris. His ego Daphnim 
 Adgrediar; nihil ille deos, nil carniina curat. 
 - Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daplmim. 
 Aspice, corripuit tremulis altaria flammis 105 
 
 Sponte sua, dum ferre nioror, cinis ipse. Bonum sit ! 
 Nescio quid certe esl^; et Hylax in limine latrat. 
 Credimus ? an, qui amant, ipsi sibi somnia fingunt ? 
 Parcite, ab urbe venit, jam parcite carmina, Daphnis. 
 
 MOERIS. 
 
 ECLOGA IX. 
 
 LYCIDAS. MOERIS. 
 
 Ly. Quo te, Moeri, pedes ? An, quo via ducit, in urbeni ? 
 
 Moe. Lycida, vivi pervenimus, advena nostri, 
 Quod nunquam veriti sumus, ut possessor agelli 
 Diceret : Haec mea sunt ; veteres migrate coloni. 
 Nunc victi, tristes, quoniam Fors omnia versar, 5 
 
 Hos illi — quod nee vertat bene — mittimus haedos. 
 
 Ly. Certe equidem audieram, qua se subducere colles 
 Tncipiunt, mollique jugum demittere clivo, 
 Usque ad aquam et veteres, jam fracta cacumina, fagos, 
 Omnia carminibus vestrum servasse Menalcan. 10 
 
 Moe. Audieras ; et fama fuit : sed carmina tantum 
 Nostra valent, Lycida, tela inter Martia, quantum 
 Cbaonias dicunt, aquila veniente, columbas. 
 Quod nisi me quacunque novas incidere lites 
 Ante sinistra cava monuisset ab ilice comix, 15 
 
 Nee tuus hie Moeris, nee viveret ipse Menalcas. 
 
 Ly. Heul cadit in quemquam tantum scelus? heu, tua nobis 
 
BUCOLICA. ECLOGA IX. 21 
 
 Paene simul tecum solatia rapta, Menalca ! 
 Quis caneret Nymphas ? quis humum florentibus herbis 
 Spargeret ? aut viridi fontes induceret umbra ? 20 
 
 Vel quae sublegi tacitus tibi carmina nuper, 
 Cum te ad delicias ferres, Auiaryllida, nostras ? 
 Tityre, dum redeo — brevis est via — pasce capellas : 
 Et potum pastas age, Tityre ; et inter agendum 
 Occursare capro — cornu ferit ille — caveto. 25 
 
 Moe. Imo haec, quae Varo necdum perfecta canebat. 
 Vare, tuum nomen — superet modo Mantua nobis, 
 Mantua vae miserae nimium vicina Cremonae ! — 
 Cantantes sublime ferent ad sidera cycni. 
 
 Ly. Sic tua Cyrneas fugiant examina taxos ; 30 
 
 Sic cytiso pastae distendant ubera vaccae : 
 Incipe, si quid habes. Et me fecere poetam 
 Pierides ; sunt et ruihi carmina ; me quoque dicunt 
 Vatem pastores ; sed non ego credulus illis. 
 Nam neque adhuc Vario videor nee dicere Cinna 35 
 Digna, sed argutos inter strepere anser olores. 
 
 Moe. Id quidem ago, et tacitus, Lycida, mecum ipse voluto, 
 Si valeam meminisse ; neque est ignobile carmen. 
 Hue ades, o Galatea ; quis est nam ludus in undis ? 
 Hie ver purpureum ; varios hie flumina circum 40 
 
 Fundit humus nores ; hie Candida populus antro 
 Imminet, et lentae texunt umbracula vites. 
 Hue ades ; insani feriaut sine htora fluctus. 
 
 Ly. Quid, quae te pura solum sub nocte canentem 
 
 Audieram ? Numeros memini, si verba tenerem. 45 
 
 Moe. Daphni, quid antiquos signorum suspicis ortus ? 
 Ecce Dionaei processit Caesaris astrum, 
 A strum, quo segetes gauderent frugibus, et quo 
 Duceret apricis in collibus uva colorem. 
 Insere, Daphni, piros ; carpent tua poma nepotes. 50 
 Omnia fert aetas, animum quoque. Saepe ego longos 
 Cantando puerum memini me condere soles. 
 Nunc oblita mihi tot carmina ; vox quoque Moerin 
 Jam fugit ipsa : lupi Moerin videre priores. 
 Sed tamen ista satis referet tibi saepe Menalcas. 55 
 
 Ly. Caussando nostros in longum ducis amores 
 
 Et nunc omne tibi stratum silet aequor, et omnes, 
 
22 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Aspice, ventosi ceciderunt murmuris aurae. 
 Hinc adeo media est nobis via; namque sepulcrum 
 Incipit apparere Bianoris. Hie, ubi densas 60 
 
 Agricolae stringunt frondes, hie, Moeri, canamus : 
 Hie haedos depone, tamen veniemns in urbem. 
 Aut si, nox pluviam ne colligat ante, veremur, 
 Cantantes licet nsque — minus via laedet — eamus. 
 Cantantes ut eamus, ego hoc te fasce levabo. 65 
 
 Moe. Desine plura, puer ; et, quod nunc instat, agamus. 
 Carmina turn melius, cum venerit ipse, canemus. 
 
 GALL US. 
 
 ECLOGA X. 
 
 Extremum hunc, Arethusa, mini concede laborem. 
 Pauca meo Gallo, sed quae legat ipsa Lycoris, 
 Carmina sunt dicenda. Neget quis carmina Gallo ! 
 Sic tibi, cum nuctus subterlabere Sicanos, 
 Doris amara suam non intermisceat undam. 5 
 
 Incipe; sollicitos Galli dicamus amores, 
 Dum tenera attondent simae virgulta capellae. 
 Non canimus surdis ; respondent omnia silvae. 
 
 Quae nemora aut qui vos saltus habuere, puellae 
 Naides, indigno cum Gallus amore periret ? 10 
 
 Nam neque Parnasi vobis juga, nam neque Pindi 
 Ulla moram fecere, neque Aonie Aganippe. 
 Ilium etiam lauri — etiam nevere myricae ; 
 Pinifer ilium etiam sola sub rupe jacentem 
 Maenalus, et gelidi fleverunt saxa Lycaei. 15 
 
 Stant et oves circum — nostri nee poenitet illas, 
 Nee te poeniteat pecoris, divine poeta ; 
 Et formosus oves ad flumina pavit Adonis — 
 Venit et opilio ; tardi venere subulci ; 
 Uvidus hiberna venit de glande Menalcas. 20 
 
 Omnes, unde amor iste, rogant, tibi ? Yenit xlpollo : 
 Galle, quid insanis ? inquit, tua cura Lycoris 
 
BUCOLICA. ECLOGA X. 23 
 
 Perque nives alium perque horrida castra secuta est. 
 
 Venit et agresti capitis Silvanus honore, 
 
 Florentes ferulas et graudia lilia quassans. 25 
 
 Pan deus Arcadiae venit, quern vidimus ipsi 
 
 Sanguineis ebuli baccis minioque rubentem. 
 
 Ecquis erit modus ? inquit. Amor non talia curat. 
 
 Nee lacrimis crudelis Amor, nee gramina rivis, 
 
 Nee cytiso saturantur apes, nee fronde capellae. 30 
 
 Tristis at ille : Tamen cantabitis, Arcades, inquit, 
 
 Montibus haec vestris ; soli cantare periti 
 
 Arcades. mini turn quam molliter ossa quiescant, 
 
 Vestra meos olim si fistula dicat amores ! 
 
 Atque utinam ex vobis unus, vestrique fuissem 35 
 
 Aut custos gregis, aut maturae vinitor uvae ! 
 
 Certe sive mihi Phyllis, sive esset Amyntas, 
 
 Seu quicunque furor — quid turn, si fuscus Amyntas ? 
 
 Et nigrae violae, sunt et vaccinia nigra — 
 
 Mecum inter salices lenta sub vite jaceret ; 40 
 
 Serta mihi Phyllis legeret, cantaret Amyntas. 
 
 Hie gelidi fontes, hie mollia prata, Lycori, 
 
 Hie nemus : his ipso tecum consumerer aevo. 
 
 Nunc insanus amor duri me Martis in armis 
 
 Tela inter media atque adversos detinet hostes. 45 
 
 Tu procul a patria — nee sit mihi credere tantum ! — 
 
 Alpinas, ah dura, nives et frigora Rheni 
 
 Me sine sola vides. Ah te ne frigora laedant ! 
 
 Ah tibi ne teneras glacies secet aspera plantas ! 
 
 Ibo, et, Chalcidico quae sunt mihi condita versu 50 
 
 Carmina, pastoris Siculi modulabor avena. 
 
 Certum est in silvis, inter spelaea ferarum 
 
 Malle pati, tenerisque meos incidere amores 
 
 Arboribus : crescent illae ; crescetis, amores. 
 
 Interea mixtis lustrabo Maenala Nymphis, 55 
 
 Aut acres venabor apros. Non me ulla vetabunt 
 
 Frigora Parthenios canibus circumdare saltus. 
 
 Jam mihi per rupes videor lucosque sonantes 
 
 Ire ; libet Partho torquere Cydonia cornu 
 
 Spicula; — tanquam haec sint nostri medicina furoris, 60 
 
 Aut deus ille malis hominum mitescere discat ! 
 
 Jam neque Hamadryades rursum nee carmina nobis 
 
24 P. VIRGILII MAROXIS 
 
 Ipsa placent ; ipsae rursum concedite silvae. 
 
 Non ilium nostri possunt mutare labores ; 
 
 Nee si frigoribus mediis Hebrumque bibamus, 65 
 
 Sithoniasque nives hiemis subeamus aquosae, 
 
 Nee si, cum moriens alta liber aret in ulmo, 
 
 Aethiopum versemus oves sub sidere Cancri. 
 
 Omnia vincit Amor ; et nos cedamus Amori. 
 
 Haec sat erit, divae, vestrum cecinisse poetam, 70 
 Dum sedet, et gracili fiscellam texit hibisco, 
 Pierides ; vos haec facietis maxima Gallo, 
 Gallo, cujus amor tantum mihi crescit in boras. 
 Quantum vere novo viridis se subjicit alnus. 
 Surgamus : solet esse gravis cantantibus umbra. 75 
 Juniperi gravis umbra; nocent et fVugibus umbrae. 
 Ite domum saturae, venit Hesperus, ite capellae. 
 
25 
 
 P. V1RGILII MARONIS 
 
 GEOBGIOA. 
 
 LIBER PRIMUS. 
 
 Quid faciat laetas segetes, quo sidere terrain - 
 
 Vertere, Maecenas, uhnisque adjungere vites 
 
 Conveniat, quae cura bourn, qui cultus habendo 
 
 Sit pecori, apibus quanta experientia parcis, 
 
 Hinc canere incipiam. Vos, o clarissima mundi ■- 5 
 
 Lumina, labentem coelo quae ducitis annum ; 
 
 Liber et alma Ceres, vestro si munere tellus 
 
 Chaoniam pingrd glandem mutavit arista, 
 
 Poculaque inventis Acbeloia miscuit liVis ; 
 
 Et vos, agrestum praesentia numina,_Fauni, 10 
 
 Ferte simul Faunique pedem Dryadesque puellae : 
 
 Munera vestra cano. Tuque o, cui prima frementem 
 
 Fudit equum magno tellus percussa tridente, 
 
 Neptune ; et cultor nemorum, cui pinguia Ceae 
 
 Ter centum nivei ton dent dumeta juvenci; 15 
 
 Ipse nemus linquens patrium saltusque Lycaei, 
 
 Pan, oviuin custos, tua si tibi Maenala curae, 
 
 Adsis, o Tegeaee, favens ; oleaeque Minerva 
 
 Inventrix ; uncique puer monstrator aratri ; 
 
 Et teneram ab radice ferens, Silvane, cupressum : 20 
 
 Dique deaeque omnes, studium quibus arva tueri, 
 
 Quique novas alitis non ullo semine fruges, 
 
 Quique satis largum caelo demittitis imbrem. 
 
 Tuque adeo, quern mox quae sint habitura deorum 
 
 Concilia, incertum est, urbesne invisere, Caesar, 25 
 
 Terrarumque velis curam, et te maximus, orbis 
 
 G 
 
26 
 
 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Auctorem frugum tempestatuinque potentem 
 Accipiat, cingens materna tempora myi'to ; _ 
 An deus immensi venias maris, ac tua nautae 
 Numina sola colant, tibi serviat ultima Thule, 
 Teque sibi generum Tethys emat omnibus undis ; 
 Anne novum tardis sidus te mensibus addas, 
 Qua locus Erigonen inter Chelasque sequentes 
 Panditur : ipse tibi jam brachia contrahit ardens 
 Scbrpios, et caeli justa plus parte relinquit. 
 Quidquid eris, — nam te nee sperent Tartara regem, 
 Nee tibi regnandi veniat tarn dira cupido ; 
 Quamvis Elysios miretur Graecia campb's, 
 Nee repetita sequi curet Proserpina matrem — 
 Da facilem cursum, atque audacibus adnue coeptis, 
 Ignarosque viae mecum miseratus agrestes . 
 Tngredere, et votis jam nunc adsuesce vocari. 
 
 Vere novo, gelidus canis cum montibus humor 
 Liquitur, et Zephyro putris se gleba resolvit, 
 Depresso incipiat jam turn mihi taurus aratro 
 Ingemere, et sulco attritus splendescere vomer. 
 Ilia seges demum votis respondet avari 
 Agricolae, bis quae solem, bis frigora sensit ; 
 Illius immensae ruperunt borrea messes. 
 
 At prius, ignotum ferro quam scindimus aequor, 
 Ventos et varium caeli praediscere morem 
 Cura sit, ac patrios cultusque habitusque locorum ; 
 Et quid quaeque ferat regio, et quid quaeque recuset. 
 Hie segetes, illic veniunt felicius uvae ; 
 Arborei fetus alibi atque injussa virescunt 
 Gramina. Nonne vides, croceos ut Tmolus odores, 
 India mittit ebur, molles sua tura Sabaei, 
 At Chalybes nudi ferrum, virosaque Pontus 
 Castorea, Eliadum palmas Epiros equarum ? 
 Continuo bas leges aeternaque foedera certis 
 Imposuit Natura locis, quo tempore primum 
 Deucalion vacuum lapides jactavit in orbem, 
 Unde homines nati, durum genus. Ergo age, terrae 
 Pingue solum primis extemplo a mensibus anni 
 Eortes invertant tauri, glebasque jacentes 
 Pulverulenta coquat maturis solibus aetas. 
 
 30 
 
 35 
 
 40 
 
 45 
 
 50 
 
 55 
 
 60 
 
 65 
 
GEORGICON LIB. I. 27 
 
 At si non fuerit tellus fecunda, -sub ipsum 
 
 Arcturum tenui sat erit suspendere sulco : 
 
 Illic, officiant laetis ne frugibus herbae ; 
 
 Hie, sterilem exiguus ne deserat humor arenam. 70 
 
 Alternis idem tonsas cessare novales, 
 Et segnem patiere situ durescere campum : 
 Aut ibi flava seres, mutato sidere, farra, 
 Unde prius laetum siliqua quassante legumen, 
 Aut tenuis fetus viciae tristisque lupini 75 
 
 Sustuleris fragiles calamos silvamque sonantem. 
 Urit enim lini campum seges, urit avenae, 
 Urunt Lethaeo perfusa papavera somno. 
 Sed tamen alternis facilis labor : arida tantum 
 Ne saturare fimo pingui pudeat sola, neve 80 
 
 Effetos cinerem immundum jactare per agros. 
 Sic quoque mutatis requiescunt fetibus arva ; 
 Nee nulla interea est inaratae gratia terrae. 
 Saepe etiam steriles incendere profuit agros, 
 Atque levem stipulam crepitantibus urere flammis : 85 
 
 Sive inde occultas vires et pabula terrae 
 Pinguia concipiunt ; sive illis omne per ignem 
 Excoquitur vitium, atque exsudat inutilis bumor ; 
 Seu plures calor ille vias et caeca relaxat 
 Spir amenta, novas veniat qua sucus in herbas ; 90 
 
 Seu durat magis et venas adstringit hiantes, 
 Ne tenues pluviae rapidive potentia solis 
 Acrior aut Boreae penetrabile frigus adurat. 
 
 Multum adeo, rastris glebas qui frangit inertes 
 Vimineasque trabit crates, juvat arva ; neque-illum 95 
 
 Flava Ceres alto nequidquam spectat Olympo ; 
 Et qui, proscisso quae suseitat aequore terga, 
 Rursus in obliquum verso perrumpit aratro, 
 Exercetque fre^uens tellurem, atque imperat arvis* 
 
 Humida solstitia atque hiemes orate serenas, 100 
 
 Agricolae ; biberno laetissima pulvere farra, 
 Laetus ager. Nullo tantum se Mysia cultu 
 Jactat, et ipsa suas mirantur Gargara messes. 
 Quid dicam, jacto qui semine comminus arva 
 Insequitur, cumulosque ruit male pinguis arenae, 105 
 
 Deinde satis fluvium inducit rivosque sequentes, 
 
 c2 
 
28 
 
 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Et, cum exustus ager morientibus aestuat herbis, 
 
 Ecce supercilio clivosi tramitis undam 
 
 Elicit ? Ilia cadens raucum per laevia murmur 
 
 Saxa ciet, scatebrisque arentia temperat arva. 
 
 Quid, qui, ne gravidis procumbat culmus aristis, 
 
 Luxuriem segetum tenera depascit in herba, 
 
 Cum primum sulcos aequant sata, quique paludis 
 
 Collectum humorem bibula deducit arena ? 
 
 Praesertim incertis si mensibus amnis abundans 115 
 
 Exit, et obducto late tenet omnia limo, 
 
 Unde cavae tepido sudant humore lacunae. 
 
 Nee tamen, baec cum sint hominumque boumque 
 labores 
 Versando terrain experti, nihil improbus anser 
 Strymoniaeque grues et amaris intuba fibris 120 
 
 Officiunt, aut umbra nocet. Pater ipse colendi 
 Haud facilem esse viam voluit, primusque per artem 
 Movit agros, curis acuens mortalia corda ; 
 Nee torpere gravi passus sua regna veterno. 
 Ante Jovem nulli subigebant arva coloni; 125 
 
 Nee signare quidem aut partiri limite campum 
 Pas erat ; in medium quaerebant, ipsaque tellus 
 Omnia liberius, nullo poscente, ferebat. 
 Ille malum virus serpentibus addidit atris, 
 Praedarique lupos jussit, pontumque moveri, 130 
 
 Mellaque decussit foliis, ignemque removit, 
 Et passim rivis currentia vina repressit : 
 Ut varias usus meditando extunderet artes 
 Paullatim, et suleis frumenti quaereret berbam, 
 Ut silicis venis abstrusum excuderet ignem. 135 
 
 Tunc alnos primum fluvii sensere cavatas ; 
 Navita turn stellis numeros et nomina fecit, 
 Plei'adas, Hyadas, claramque Lycaonis Arcton. 
 Turn laqueis captare feras et fallere visco 
 Inventum, et Diagnos canibus circumdare saltus. 140 
 
 Atque alius latum funda jam verberat amnem, 
 Alta petens, pelagoque alius trahit humida lina. 
 Turn ferri rigor, atque argutae lamina serrae, — 
 Nam primi cuneis scindebant fissile lignum — 
 Turn variae venere artes. Labor omnia vicit 145 
 
 
GEORGICON LIB. I. 29 
 
 Improbus et duris urgens in rebus egestas. 
 
 Prima Ceres ferro mortales vertere terram 
 
 Instituit, cum jam glandes atque arbuta sacrae* 
 
 Deficerent silvae, et victum Dodona negaret. 
 
 Mox et frumentis labor additus : ut mala eulmos 150 
 
 Esset robigo, segnisque horreret in arvis 
 
 Carduus ; intereunt segetes, subit aspera silva, 
 
 Lappaeque tribulique, interque nitentia culta 
 
 Infelix lolium et steriles dominantur avenae. 
 
 Quod nisi et assiduis terram insectabere rastris, 155 
 
 Et sonitu terrebis aves, et ruris opaci 
 
 Falce premes umbras, votisque vocaveris imbrem, 
 
 Heu, magnum alterius frustra spectabis acervum, 
 
 Concussaque famem in silvis solabere quercu. 
 
 Dicendum et, quae sint duris agrestibus arma, 160 
 
 Quis sine nee potuere seri nee surgere messes. 
 Vomis, et inflexi primum grave robur aratri, 
 Tardaque Eleusinae matris volventia plaustra, 
 Tribulaque, traheaeque, et iniquo pondere rastri, 
 Virgea praeterea Celei vilisque supellex, 165 
 
 Arbuteae crates et mystica vannus Iacchi : 
 Omnia quae multo ante memor provisa repones, 
 Si te digna manet divini gloria ruris. 
 Continuo in silvis magna vi flexa domatur 
 In burim, et curvi formam accipit ulmus aratri : 170 
 
 Huic a stirpe pedes temo protentus in octo, 
 Binae aures, duplici aptantur dentalia dorso. 
 Caeditur et tilia ante jugo levis, altaque fagus 
 Stivaque, quae currus a tergo torqueat imos ; 
 Et suspensa focis explorat robora fumus. 175 
 
 Possum multa tibi veterum praecepta referre, 
 Ni refugis tenuesque piget cognoscere curas. 
 Area cum primis ingenti aequanda cylindro, 
 Et vertenda manu, et creta solidanda tenaci, 
 Ne subeant herbae, neu pulvere victa fatiscat; 180 
 
 Ti^m variae illudant pestes ; saepe exiguus mus 
 Sub terris posuitque domos atque horrea fecit ; 
 Aut oculis capti fodere cubilia talpae ; 
 Inventusque cavis bufo, et quae plurima terrae 
 Monstra ferunt ; populatque ingentem f arris acervum 185 
 
30 
 
 >. VIRGILII MARONTS 
 
 Curculio, atque inopi metuens formica senectae. 
 Contemplator item, cum se nux plurima silvis 
 Induet in florem et ramos curvabit olentes : 
 Si superant fetus, pariter frumenta sequentur, 
 Magnaque cum magno veniet tritura calore ; 
 At si luxuria foliorum exuberat umbra, 
 Nequidquam pingues palea teret area culmos. 
 Semina vidi equidem multos medicare serentes, 
 Et nitro prius et nigra perfundere amurca, 
 Grandior ut fetus siliquis fallacibus esset, 
 Et, quamvis igni exiguo, properata maderent. 
 Vidi lecta diu, et multo spectata labore, 
 Degenerare tamen, ni vis humana quotannis 
 Maxima quaeque manu legeret. Sic omnia fatis 
 In pejus mere, ac retro sublapsa referri ; 
 Non aliter, quam qui adverso vix numine lembum 
 Remigiis subigit, si brachia forte remisit, 
 Atque ilium in praeceps prono rapit alveus amni. 
 
 Praeterea tarn sunt Arcturi sidera nobis 
 Haedorumque dies servandi, et lucidus Anguis, 
 Quam quibus in patriam ventosa per aequora vectis 
 •Pontus et ostriferi fauces tentantur Abydi. 
 Libra die somnique pares ubi fecerit horas, 
 Et medium luci atque umbris jam dividit orbem, 
 Exercete, viri, tauros, serite hordea campis, 
 Usque sub extremum brumae intractabilis imbrem. 
 Nee non et lini segetem et Cereale papaver 
 Tempus humo tegere, et jamdudiun incumbere aratris, 
 Dum sicca tellure licet, dum nubila pendent. 
 Vere fabis satio ; turn te quoque, Medica, putres 
 Accipiunt sulci, et milio venit annua cura, 
 Candidus auratis aperit cum cornibus annum 
 Taurus, et adverso cedens Canis occidit astro. 
 At si triticeam in messem robustaque farra 
 Exercebis humum, solisque instabis aristis, 
 ,Ante tibi Eoae Atlantides abscondantur, 
 Gnosiaque ardentis decedat stella Coronae, 
 Debita quam sulcis committas semina, guamque 
 Invitae properes anni epem credere terrae. 
 Multi ante occasum Maiae coepere ; sed illos 
 
 19(1 
 
 195 
 
 200 
 
 205 
 
 210 
 
 215 
 
 220 
 
 225 
 
GEORGICON LIB. I. 31 
 
 Exspectata seges vanis elusit avenis. 
 
 Si vero viciamque seres vilemque faselum, 
 
 Nee Pelusiacae curam aspernabere lentis, 
 
 Haud obscura cadens mittet tibi signa Bootes ; 
 
 Incipe, et ad medias sementem extende pruinas. - 230 
 
 Iotcirco certis dimensum partibus orbem 
 Per duodena regit mundi Sol aureus astra. 
 Quinque tenent caelum zonae, quarum una corusco 
 Semper sole rubens et torrida semper ab igni ; 
 Quam circiim extremae dextra laevaque trahuntur, 235 
 
 Caerulea glacie concretae atque imbribus atris. 
 Has inter mediamque duae mortalibus aegris 
 Munere concessae divom ; et via secta per ambas, 
 -Obliquus qua se signorum verteret -or do. 
 Mundus, ut ad Scythiam Rhipaeasque arduus arces 240 
 
 Consurgit, premitur Libyae devexus in austros. 
 Hie vertex nobis semper sublimis ; at ilium 
 Sub pedibus Styx atra videt Manesque profundi. 
 Maximus hie flexu sinuoso elabitur Anguis 
 Circum, perque duas in morem fluminis Arctos, 245 
 
 Arctos -Oceani metuentes-aequore tingi. 
 Illic, ut perbibent, aut intempesta silet nox, 
 Semper et obtenta densentur nocte tenebrae ; 
 Aut redit a nobis Aurora, diemque reducit ; 
 Nosque ubi primus equis Oriens afflavit anhelis, 250 
 
 Illic sera rubens accendit lumina Vesper. 
 Hinc tempestates dubio praediscere caelo 
 Possumus, bine messisque diem tempusque serendi ; 
 Et quando infidum remis impellere marmor 
 Conveniat ; quando armatas deducere classes, 255 
 
 Aut tempestivam silvis evertere pinum. 
 
 Nee frustra signorum obitus speculamur et ortus, 
 Temporibusque parem diversis quatuor annum. 
 Frigidus agricolam si quando continet imber, 
 Mult a, forent quae mox caelo properanda sereno, 260 
 
 Maturare datur : durum procudit arator 
 Vomeris obtusi dentem ; cavat arbore lintres ; 
 Aut pecori signum, aut numeros impressit acervis. 
 Exacuunt alii vallos furcasque bicornes, 
 Atque Amerina parant lentae retinacula viti. 265 
 
32 
 
 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Nunc facilis rubea texatur fiscina virga ; 
 Nunc torrete igni fruges, nunc frangite saxo. 
 Quippe etiani festis quaedam exercere diebus 
 Fas et jura sinunt. Rivos deducere nulla 
 Relligio vetuit, segeti praetendere sepem, 
 Insidias avibus moliri, incendere vepres, 
 Balantumque gregeni fluvio mersare salubri. 
 Saepe oleo tardi costas agitator aselli 
 Vilibus aut onerat pomis ; lapidemque revertens 
 Incusum aut atrae massam picis urbe reportat. 
 
 Ipsa dies alias alio dedit ordine Luna 
 Felices operum. Quintam fuge ; pallidus Orcus 
 Eunienidesque satae ; turn partu Terra nefando 
 Coeumque Iapetumque creat, saevumque Typhoea, 
 Et conjuratos caelum rescinderej'ratres. 
 Ter sunt conat?imponere Pelio'lOssam 
 Scilicet, atque Ossae frondosum involvere OJympum ; 
 Ter Pater exstructos disjecit fulniine montes. 
 Septinia post decimam felix, et ponere vitem, 
 Et prensos domitare boves, et licia telae 
 Addere. Nona fugae melior, contraria furtis. 
 
 Multa adeo gelida melius se nocte dedere, 
 Aut cum sole novo terras irrorat Eous. 
 Nocte leves melius stipulae, nocte arida prata 
 Tondentur; noctes lentus non deficit humor. 
 Et quidam seros hiberni ad luminis ignes 
 Pervigilat, ferroque faces inspicat acuto. 
 Interea, longum cantu solata laborem, 
 Arguto conjux percurrit pectine telas ; 
 Aut dulcis musti Vulcano decoquit humorem, 
 Et foliis undam trepidi despumat aeni. 
 At rubicunda Ceres medio succiditur aestu ; 
 Et medio tostas aestu terit area fruges. 
 Nudus ara, sere nudus ; hiems ignava colono. 
 Frigoribus par to agricolae plerumque fruuntur, 
 Mutuaque inter se laeti convivia curant. 
 Invitat -genialis hiems curasque resolvit : 
 Ceu, pressae cum jam portum tetigere carinae, 
 Puppibus et laeti nautae imposuere coronas. 
 Sea tamen et quernas glandes turn stringere tempus, 305 
 
 270 
 
 275 
 
 280 
 
 285 
 
 290 
 
 295 
 
 30(1 
 
GEORGICON LIB. I. 33 
 
 Et lauri bacas, oleamque, cruentaque myrta ; 
 
 Turn gruibus pedicas et retia ponere cervis, 
 
 Auritosque sequi lepores ; turn figere damas, 
 
 Stuppea torquentem Balearis verbera fundae : 
 
 Cum nix alta jacet, glaciem cum flumina trudunt. 3J# 
 
 Quid tempestates auctumni et sidera dicam ? 
 Atque, ubi jam breviorque dies, et mollior aestas, 
 Quae vigilanda viris ? vel cum ruit imbriferum ver ; 
 Spicea jam campis cum messis inhorruit, et cum 
 Frumenta in viridi stipula lactentia turgent ? 315 
 
 Saepe ego, cum navis messorem induceret arvis 
 Agricola, et fragili jam stringeret bordea culmo, 
 Omnia ventorum concurrere proelia vidi, 
 Quae gravidam late segetem ab radicibus imis 
 SubHme expulsam eruerent ; ita turbine nigro 320 
 
 Ferret biems culmumque levem stipulasque volantes. 
 Saepe etiam immensum caelo venit agmen aquarum, 
 Et foedam glomerant tempestatem imbribus atris 
 Collectae ex alto nubes ; ruit arduus aether, 
 Et pluvia ingenti sata laeta boumque labores 325 
 
 Diluit ; implentur fossae, et cava flumina crescunt 
 Cum sonitu, fervetque fretis spirantibus aequor. 
 Ipse Pater, media nimborum in nocte, corusca 
 Fulmina molitur dextra ; quo maxima motu 
 Terra tremit ; fugere ferae ; et mortalia corda 330 
 
 Per gentes bumilis stravit pavor : ille flagranti 
 Aut Atbo, aut Rbodopen, aut alta Ceraunia telo 
 Dejicit; ingeminant austri et densissimus imber; 
 Nunc nemora ingenti vento, nunc Jitora plangunt. 
 Hoc metuens, caeli menses et sidera serva ; 335 
 
 Frigida Saturni sese quo stella receptet ; 
 Quos ignis caeli Cyllenius erret in orbes. 
 Inprimis venerare deos, atque annua magnae 
 Sacra refer Cereri laetis operatus in berbis, 
 Extremae sub casum biemis, jam vere sereno.' 340 
 
 Tunc pingues agni, et tunc mollissima vina ; 
 Tunc somni dulces, densaeque in montibus umbrae. 
 Cuncta tibi Cererem pubes agrestis adoret ; 
 Cui tu lacte favos et miti dilue Baccbo, 
 Terque novas circum felix eat bostia fruges ; 345 
 
 N c 5 
 
34 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Omnis quam chorus et socii comitentur ovantes, 
 
 Et Cererem clamore vocent in tecta. Neque ante 
 
 Falcem maturis quisquam supponat aristis, 
 
 Quam Cereri, torta redimitus tenipora quercu, 
 
 Det motus incompositos, et carmina dicat. 350 
 
 Atque haec ut certis possimus discere signis, 
 Aestusque, pluviasque, et agentes frigora ventos, 
 Ipse Pater statuit, quid menstrua Luna moneret ; 
 Quo signo caderent austri; quid saepe videntes / 
 
 Agricolae propius stabulis armenta tenerent. 355 
 
 Continuo, ventis^surgentibus, aut freta ponti 
 Incipiunt agitata tumescere x et aridus altis 
 Montibus audiri fragor ; aut resonantia longe 
 Litora misceri, et nemorum increbrescere murmur. 
 Jam-sibi turn curvis male temperat unda carinis, 360 
 
 Cum medio celeres revolant ex aequore mergi, 
 Clamoremque ferunt ad litora ; cumque marinae 
 In sicco ludunt fulicae ; notasque paludes 
 Deserit, atque altam supra volat ardea nubem. 
 Saepe etiam stellas, vento impendente, videbis 365 
 
 Praecipites caelo labi, noctisque per umbram 
 Flammarum longos a tergo albescere tractus ; 
 Saepe levem paleam et frondes volitare caducas, 
 Aut summa nantes in aqua colludere plumas. 
 At Boreae de parte trucis cum fulminat, et cum 370 
 
 Eurique Zephyrique tonat domus, omnia plenis 
 Rura natant fossis, atque omnis navita ponto 
 Humida vela legit. Nunquam imprudentibus imber 
 Obfuit. Aut ilium surgentem vallibus imis 
 Aeriae fugere grues ; aut bucula caelum 375 
 
 Suspiciens patulis captavit naribus auras ; 
 Aut arguta lacus circumvolitavit hirundo ; 
 Et veterem in limo ranae cecinere querelam. 
 Saepius et tectis penetralibus extulit ova 
 Angustum formica terens iter; et bibit ingens 
 Arcus ; et e pastu decedens agmine magno 
 Corvorum increpuit densis exercitus alis. 
 Jam varias pelagi volucres, et quae Asia circum 
 Dulcibus in stagnis rimantur prata Cajfstrl, 
 Certatim iargos humeris infundere-rores, 385 
 
GEORGICON LIB. I. 35 
 
 Nunc caput objectare fretis, nunc currere in undas, 
 
 Et studio incassum videas gestire lavandi. 
 
 Turn cornix plena pluviam vOcat improba voce, 
 
 Et sola in sicca secum spatiatur arena. 
 
 Nee nocturna quidem carpentes pensa puellae 390 
 
 Nescivere biemem, testa cum ardente viderent 
 
 Scintillare oleum et putres concrescere fungos. 
 
 Nee minus ex imbri soles et aperta serena 
 Prospicere et certis poteris cognoscere signis : 
 Nam neque turn stellis acies obtusa videtur 395 
 
 Nee fratris radiis obnoxia surgere, Luna, 
 Tenuia nee lanae-per caelum vellera ferri ; 
 Non tepidum ad solem pennas in litore pandunt 
 Dilectae Thetidi alcyones ; non ore solutos 
 Immundi meminere sues jactare maniplos. 400 
 
 At nebulae magis ima petunt campoque recumbunt ; 
 Solis et occasum servans de culmine summo 
 Nequidquam seros exercet noctua cantus ; 
 Apparet liquido sublimis in aere Nisus, 
 Et pro purpureo poenas dat Scylla capillo. 405 
 
 Quacunque ilia levem fugiens secat aetbera pennis, 
 Ecce inimicus, atrox, magno stridore per auras 
 Insequitur Nisus ; qua se fert Nisus ad auras, 
 Ilia levem fugiens raptim secat aetbera pennis. 
 Turn liquidas corvi presso ter gutture voces 410 
 
 Aut quater ingeminant ; et saepe cubilibus altis, 
 Nescio qua praeter solitum dulcedine laeti, 
 Inter se foliis strepitant ; juvat imbribus actis 
 Progeniem parvam dulcesque revisere nidos. 
 Haud equidem credo, quia sit divinitus illis 415 
 
 Ingenium, aut rerum fato prudentia major : 
 Verum, ubi tempestas et caeli mobilis bumor 
 Mutavere vias, et Jupiter uvidus austris 
 Densat, erant quae rara modo, et, quae densa, relaxat ; 
 Vertuntur species animorum, et pectora motus 420 
 
 Nunc alios, alios, dum nubila ventus agebat, 
 Concipiunt. Hinc ille avium concentus in agris, 
 Et laetae pecudes, et ovantes gutture corvi. 
 
 Si vero solem ad rapidum lunasque, sequentes 
 Ordine, respicies, nunquam te crastina fallet 425 
 
36 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Hora, neque insidiis noctis capiere serenae. 
 
 Luna, revertentes cum primum colligit ignes, 
 
 Si nigrum obscuro comprenderit aera cornu, 
 
 Maximus agricolis pelagoque parabitur imber. 
 
 At si virgineum suffuderit ore ruborem, 430 
 
 Ventus erit ; vento semper rubet aurea Phoebe. 
 
 Sin ortu quarto — namque is certissimus auctor — 
 
 Pura neque obtusis per caelum cornibus ibit, 
 
 Totus et ille dies, et qui nascentur ab illo 
 
 Exactum ad mensem, pluvia ventisque carebunt, 435 
 
 Votaque servati solvent in litore nautae 
 
 Glauco et Panqpeae-^et Incld Melipertae. 
 
 Sol quoque et exoriens, et cum se condet in undas, 
 
 Signa dabit ; solem certissima signa sequuntur, 
 
 Et quae mane refert, et quae surgentibus astris. 440 
 
 Ille ubi nascentem maculis variaverit ortum 
 
 Conditus in nubem, medioque refugerit orbe, 
 
 Suspecti tibi sint imbres ; namque urget ab alto 
 
 Arboribusque satisque Notus pecorique sinister. 
 
 Aut ubi sub lucem densa inter nubila sese 445 
 
 Diversi rumpent radii, aut ubi pallida surget 
 
 Tithoni croceum linquens Aurora cubile ; 
 
 Heu, male turn mites defendet pampinus uvas : 
 
 Tarn multa in tectis crepitans salit norrida grando. 
 
 Hoc etiam, emenso cum jam decedet Olympo, 450 
 
 Profuerit meminisse magis ; nam saepe 'videmus 
 
 Ipsius in vultu varios errare colores : 
 
 Caeruleus pluviam denunciat, igneus Euros ; 
 
 Sin maculae incipient rutilo immiscerier igni, 
 
 Omnia tunc pariter vento nimbisque videbis 455 
 
 Eervere. Non ilia quisquam me nocte per altum 
 
 Ire, neque a terra moneat convellere funem. 
 
 At si, cum referetque diem condetque relatum, 
 
 Lucidus orbis erit ; frustra terrebere nimbis, 
 
 Et claro silvas cernes Aquilone moveri. 460 
 
 Denique, quid vesper serus vehat, unde serenas 
 
 Ventus agat nubes, quid cogitet humidus Auster, 
 
 Sol tibi signa dabit. Solem quis dicere falsum 
 
 Audeat ? Ille etiam caecos instare tumultus 
 
 Saepe monet, fraudemque et operta tumescere bella. 465 
 
GEORGICON LIB. I. 37 
 
 Ille etiarn exstincto miseratus Caesare Romam, 
 
 Cum caput obscura uitidum ferrugine texit, 
 
 Impiaque aeternam timuerunt saecula noctem. 
 
 Tempore quamquam illo tellus quoque, et aequora ponti, 
 
 Obscoenaeque canes, importunaeque volucres 470 
 
 Signa dabant. Quoties Cyclopum effervere in agros 
 
 Vidimus undantem ruptis fornacibus Aetnam, 
 
 Plammarumque globos liquefactaque volvere saxa ! 
 
 Armorum sonitum toto Germania caelo 
 
 Audiit ; insolitis tremuerunt motibus Alpes. 475 
 
 Vox quoque per lucos vulgo exaudita silentes 
 
 Ingens ; et simulacra modis pallentia miris 
 
 Visa sub obscurum noctis ; pecudesque locutae, 
 
 Infandum ! sistunt anmes, terraeque dehiscunt, 
 
 Et maestum illacrimat templis ebur, aeraque sudant. 480 
 
 Proluit insano contorquens vertice silvas 
 
 Fluviorum rex Eridanus, camposque per omnes 
 
 Cum stabulis armenta tulit. Nee tempore eodem 
 
 Tristibus aut extis fibrae apparere minaces, 
 
 Aut puteis manare cruor cessavit, et altae 485 
 
 Per noctem resonare, lupis ululantibus, urbes. 
 
 Non alias caelo ceciderunt plura sereno 
 
 Fulgura ; nee diri toties arsere cometae. 
 
 Ergo inter sese paribus concurrere telis 
 
 Romanas acies iterum videre Philippi ; 490 
 
 Nee fuit indignum superis, bis sanguine nostro 
 
 Emathiam et latos Haemi pinguescere campos. 
 
 Scilicet et tempus veniet, cum finibus illis 
 
 Agricola, incurvo terrain molitus aratro, 
 
 Exesa inveniet scabra robigine pila, 495 
 
 Aut gravibus rastris galeas pulsabit inanes, 
 
 Grandiaque effossis mirabitur ossa sepulcris. 
 
 Di patrii lndigetes, et Romule, Vestaque mater, 
 
 Quae Tuscum Tiberim et Romana Palatia servas, 
 
 Hunc saltern ever so juvenem succurrere saeclo 600 
 
 Ne pronibete. Satis jam pridem sanguine nostro 
 
 Laomedonteae luimus perjuria Trojae. 
 
 Jam pridem nobis caeli te regia, Caesar, 
 
 Invidet, atqueJaominum queritur curare triumphos : 
 
 Quipperabi fas versum atque nefas, tot bella per orbem, 505 
 
38 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Tarn multae scelerum facies ; non ullus aratro 
 
 Dignus honos ; squalent abductis arva colonis, 
 
 Et curvae rigidum falces conflantur in ensem. 
 
 Hinc movet Euphrates, illinc Germania bellum ; 
 
 Vicinae ruptis inter se legibus urbes 510 
 
 Arma ferunt ; saevit toto Mars impius orbe. 
 
 Ut, cum carceribus sese effudere quadrigae, 
 
 Addunt in spatia, et frustra retinacula tendens 
 
 Fertur equis auriga, neque-uudit currus habenas. 
 
 LIBER SECUNDUS. 
 
 Hactenus arvorum cultus et sidera caeli, 
 
 Nunc te, Bacche, canarn, nee non silvestria tecum 
 
 Virgulta, et prolem tarde crescentis olivae. 
 
 Hue, pater o Lenaee ; tuis hie omnia plena 
 
 Muneribus ; tibi pampineo gravidus auctumno 5 
 
 Floret ager, spiimat plenis vindemia labris; 
 
 Hue, pater o Lenaee, veni, nudataque musto 
 
 Tinge novo mecum direptis crura cothurnis. 
 
 Principio arboribus varia est natura creandis. 
 Nam que aliae, nullis hominum cogentibus, ipsae 10 
 
 Sponte sua veniunt, camposque et numina late 
 Curva tenent : ut molle siler, lentaeque genestae, 
 Populus, et glauca canentia fronde salicta. 
 Pars autem posito surgunt de semiue : ut altae 
 Castaneae, nemorumque Jovi quae maxima frondet 15 
 
 Aesculus, atque habitae Graiis oracula quercus. 
 Pullulat ab radice aliis densissima silva : 
 Ut cerasis ulmisque ; etiam Parnasia laurus 
 Parva sub ingenti matris se subjicit umbra. 
 Hos Natura modos primum dedit ; his genus omne 21 » 
 Sil varum fruticumque viret nemorunique sacrorum. 
 
 Sunt alii, quos ipse via sibi repperit usus. 
 Hie plantas tenero abscindens de corpore matrum 
 Deposuit sulcis ; hie stirpes obruit arvo, 
 Quadrifidasque sudes, et acuto robore vallos ; 25 
 
GEORGICON LIB. II. 39 
 
 Silvarumque aliae pressos propaginis arcus 
 
 Exspectant, et viva sua plantaria terra. 
 
 Nil radicis egent aliae ; summumque putator 
 
 Haud dubitat terrae referens mandare cacumen. 
 
 Quin et caudicibus sectis, mirabile dictu ! 30 
 
 Truditur e sicco radix oleagina ligno. 
 
 Et saepe alterius ramos impune videmus 
 
 Vertere in alterius ; mutatumque insita mala 
 
 Eerre pirum, et prunis lapidosa rubescere coma. 
 
 Quare agite o, proprios generatim discite cultus, 35 
 
 Agricolae, fructusque feros mollite colendo, 
 Neu segnes jaceant terrae. Juvat Ismara Baccho 
 Conserere, atque olea magnum vestire Taburnum. 
 Tuque ades, inceptumque una decurre laborem, 
 decus, o famae merito pars maxima nostrae, 40 
 
 Maecenas, pelagoque volens da vela patenti. 
 Non ego cuncta meis amplecti versibus opto : 
 Non, mihi si linguae centum sint, oraque centum, 
 Eerrea vox. Ades, et primi lege litoris oram ; 
 In manibus terrae ; non bic te carmine ficto 45 
 
 Atque per ambages et longa exorsa tenebo. 
 
 Sponte sua quae se tollunt in luminis oras, 
 Infecunda quidem, sed laeta et fortia surgunt : 
 Quippe solo natura subest. Tamen baec quoque si quis 
 Inserat, aut scrobibus mandet mutata subactis, 50 
 
 Exuerint silvestrem animum, cultuque frequenti 
 In quascunque voces artes baud tarda sequentur. 
 Nee non et sterilis, quae stirpibus exit ab imis, 
 Hoc faciet; vacuos si sit digesta per agros : 
 Nunc altae frondes et rami matris opacant, 55 
 
 Crescentique adimunt fetus, uruntque ferentem. 
 Jam, quae seminibus jactis se sustulit arbos, 
 Tarda venit, seris factura nepotibus umbram ; 
 Pomaque degenerant sucos oblita priores, 
 Et turpes avibus praedam fert uva racemos. 60 
 
 Scilicet omnibus est labor impendendus, et omnes 
 Cogendae in sulcum, ac multa mercede domandae. 
 Sed truncis oleae melius, propagine vites 
 Respondent, solido Papbiae de robore myrtus ; 
 Plantis et durae coruli nascuntur, et ingens 65 
 
40 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Fraxinus, Herculeaeque arbos umbrosa coronae, 
 
 Chaoniique patris glandes ; etiam ardua palma 
 
 Nascitur, et casus abies visura marinos. 
 
 Inseritur vero et nucis arbutus borrida fetu, 
 
 Et steriles platani malos gessere valentes ; 70 
 
 Castaueae fagus, ornusque incanuit albo 
 
 Flore piri, glandemque sues fregere sub ulmis. 
 
 Nee modus inserere atque oculos imponere simplex. 
 Nam, qua se medio trudunt de cortice gemmae, 
 Et tenues rumpunt tunicas, angustus in ipso Jo 
 
 Fit nodo sinus : hue aliena ex arbore germen 
 Includunt, udoque docent inolescere libro. 
 Aut rursum enodes trunci resecantur, et alte 
 Finditur in solidum cuneis via ; deinde feraces 
 Plantae immittuntur : nee longum tempus, et ingens 80 
 Exiit ad caelum ramis felicibus arbos, 
 Miraturque novas frondes et non sua poma. 
 
 Praeterea genus haud unum, nee fortibus ulmis, 
 Nee salici, lotoque, neque Idaeis cyparissis. 
 Nee pingues unam in faciem nascuntur olivae, S5 
 
 Orcbades, et radii, et amara pausia baca, 
 Pomaque, et Alcinoi silvae ; nee surculus idem 
 Crustumiis Syriisque piris, gravibusque volemis. 
 Non eadem arboribus pendet vindemia nostris, 
 Quam Metnymnaeo carpit de palmite Lesbos ; 90 
 
 Sunt Tbasiae vites, sunt et Mareotides albae, 
 Pinguibus bae terris habiles, levioribus illae ; 
 Et passo Psithia utilior, tenuisque Lageos, 
 Tentatura pedes olim, vincturaque linguam ; 
 Purpureae, preciaeque ; et quo te carmine dicam, 95 
 
 Rbaetica ? nee cellis ideo contende Falernis. 
 Sunt et Aminaeae vites, firmissima vina ; 
 Tmolius assurgit quibus, et rex ipse Pbanaeus ; 
 Argitisque minor, cui non certaverit ulla, 
 Aut tantum fluere, aut totidem durare per annos. 100 
 
 Non ego te, dis et mensis accepta secundis, 
 Transierim, Rbodia, et tumidis, Bumaste, racemis. 
 Sed neque, quam multae species, nee nomina quae sint, 
 Est numerus ; neque enim numero comprendere refert : 
 Quern qui scire velit, Libyci velit aequoris idem 105 
 
GEORGICON LIB. II. 41 
 
 Discere quam multae Zephyro turbentur arenae, 
 Aut, ubi navigiis violentior incidit Eurus, 
 Nosse, quot Ionii veniant ad litora fluctus. 
 
 Nee vero terrae ferre omnes omnia possunt. 
 Fluminibus salices, crassisque paludibus alni 110 
 
 Nascuntur ; steriles saxosis montibus orni ; 
 Litora myrtetis laetissima ; denique apertos 
 Bacchus amat colles, aquilonem et frigora taxi. 
 Aspice et extremis domitum cultoribus orbem, 
 Eoasque domos Arabum, pictosque Gelonos : 115 
 
 Divisae arboribus patriae. Sola India nigrum 
 Fert ebenum ; solis est turea virga Sabaeis. 
 Quid tibi odorato referam sudantia ligno 
 Balsamaque, et bacas semper frondentis acanthi ? 
 Quid nemora Aethiopum, molli canentia lana ? 120 
 
 Velleraque ut foliis depectant tenuia Seres ? 
 Aut quos Oceano propior gerit India lucos, 
 Extremi sinus orbis, ubi aera vincere summum 
 Arboris haud ullae jactu potuere sagittae ? 
 Et gens ilia quidem sumtis non tarda pharetris. 125 
 
 Media fert tristes sucos tardumque saporem 
 Felicis mali ; quo non praesentius ullum, 
 Pocula si quando saevae infecere novercae, 
 [Miscueruntque herbas et non innoxia verba,] 
 Auxilium venit, ac membris agit atra venena. 130 
 
 Ipsa ingens arbos, faciemque simillima lauro ; 
 Et, si non alium late jactaret odorem, 
 Laurus erat ; folia haud ullis labentia ventis ; 
 Flos ad prima tenax ; animas et olentia Medi 
 Ora fovent illo, et senibus medicantur anhelis. 135 
 
 Sed neque Medorum, silvae ditissima, terra, 
 Nee pulcher Ganges, atque auro turbidus Hermus, 
 Laudibus Italiae certent, non Bactra, neque Indi, 
 Totaque turiferis Panchaia pinguis arenis. 
 Haec loca non tauri spirantes naribus ignem 140 
 
 Invertere satis immanis dentibus hydri; 
 Nee galeis densisque virum seges horruit hastis : 
 Sed gravidae fruges et Baechi Massicus humor 
 Implevere ; tenent oleae armentaque laeta. 
 Hinc bellator equus campo sese arduus infert ; 145 
 
42 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Hinc albi, Clitumne, greges, et maxima taurus 
 
 Yictima saepe, tuo perfusi flumine sacro, 
 
 Romanos ad templa deum duxere triumphos. 
 
 Hie ver assiduum, atque alienis mensibus aestas ; 
 
 Bis gravidae pecudes, bis pomis utilis arbos. 150 
 
 At rabidae tigres absunt et saeva leonum 
 
 Semina ; nee miseros fallunt aconita legentes ; 
 
 Nee rapit immensos orbes per humum ; neque tanto 
 
 Squameus iu spiram tractu se colligit anguis. 
 
 Adde tot egregias urbes, operumque laborem, 155 
 
 Tot congesta manu praeruptis oppida saxis, 
 
 Fluminaque antiquos subterlabentia muros. 
 
 An mare, quod supra, memorem, quodque alluit infra ? 
 
 Anne lacus tantos ? te, Lari maxime, teque, 
 
 Fluctibus et fremitu assurgens Benace marino ? 160 
 
 An memorem portus, Lucrinoque addita claustra ; 
 
 Atque indignatum magnis stridoribus aequor, 
 
 Julia qua ponto longe sonat unda refuso, 
 
 Tyrrhenusque fretis immittitur aestus Avernis ? 
 
 Haec eadem argenti rivos aerisque metalla 165 
 
 Ostendit venis, atque auro plurima nuxit. 
 
 Haec genus acre virum, Marsos, pubemque Sabellam, 
 
 Adsuetumque malo Ligurem, Volscosque verutos 
 
 Extulit ; haec Decios, Marios, magnosque Camillos, 
 
 Scipiadas duros bello, et te, maxime Caesar, 1/0 
 
 Qui nunc extremis Asiae jam victor in oris 
 
 Imbellem avertis Romanis arcibus Indiun. 
 
 Salve magna parens frugum, Saturnia tellus, 
 
 Magna virum : tibi res antiquae laudis et artis 
 
 Ingredior, sanctos ausus recludere fontes, 175 
 
 Ascraeumque cano Romana per oppida carmen. 
 
 Nunc locus arvorum ingeniis : quae robora cuique, 
 Quis color, et quae sit rebus natura ferendis. 
 Difficiles primum terrae, collesque maligni, 
 Tenuis ubi argilla, et dumosis calculus arvis, 180 
 
 Palladia gaudent silva vivacis olivae. 
 Indicio est, tractu surgens oleaster eodem 
 Plurimus, et strati bacis silvestribus agri. 
 At quae pinguis humus, dulcique uligine laeta, 
 Quique frequens berbis et fertilis ubere campus — 1S5 
 
GEORGICON LIB. II. 43 
 
 Qualem saepe cava montis convalle solemus 
 
 Despicere : hue sumniis liquuntur rupibus amnes, 
 
 Felicemque trahunt limum — quique editus Austro, 
 
 Et filicem curvis invisam pascit aratris ; 
 
 Hie tibi praevalidas olim multoque fluentes 190 
 
 Sufficiet Baccho vites ; hie fertilis uvae, 
 
 Hie laticis, qualem pateris libamus et auro, 
 
 Inflavit cum pinguis ebur Tyrrhenus ad aras, 
 
 Lancibus et pandis fumantia reddimus exta. 
 
 Sin armenta magis studium vitulosque tueri, 195 
 
 Aut fetus ovium, aut urentes culta capellas : 
 
 Saltus, et saturi petito longinqua Tarenti, 
 
 Et qualem infelix amisit Mantua campum, 
 
 Pascentem niveos herboso numine eyenos. 
 
 Non liquidi gregibus fontes, non gramina deerunt ; 200 
 
 Et quantum longis carpent armenta diebus, 
 
 Exigua tantum gelidus ros nocte reponet. 
 
 Nigra fere et presso pinguis sub vomere terra, 
 
 Et cui putre solum — namque hoc imitamur arando — 
 
 Optima frumentis ; non ullo ex aequore cernes 205 
 
 Plura domum tardis decedere plaustra juvencis : 
 
 Aut unde iratus silvam devexit arator, 
 
 Et nemora evertit multos ignava per annos, 
 
 Antiquasque domos avium cum stirpibus imis 
 
 Eruit : illae altum nidis petiere relictis ; 210 
 
 At rudis enituit impulso vomere campus. 
 
 Nam jejuna quidem clivosi glarea ruris 
 
 Vix bumiles apibus casias roremque ministrat ; 
 
 Et tophus scaber et nigris exesa chelydris 
 
 Creta negant alios aeque serpentibus agros 215 
 
 Dulcem ferre cibum, et curvas praebere latebras. 
 
 Quae tenuem exhalat nebulam fumosque volucres, 
 
 Et bibit humorem, et, cum vult, ex se ipsa remittit ; 
 
 Quaeque suo viridi semper se gramme vestit, 
 
 Nee scabie et salsa laedit robigine ferrum : 220 
 
 Ilia tibi laetis intexet vitibus ulmos ; 
 
 Ilia ferax oleo est ; illam experiere colendo 
 
 Et facilem pecori et patientem vomeris unci. 
 
 Talem dives arat Capua, et vicina Vesevo 
 
 Ora jugo, et vacuis Clanius non aequus Acerris. 225 
 
Nunc, quo quamque modo possis cognoscere, dicam 
 Rara sit an supra morem si densa requires, 
 Altera frumentis quoniam favet, altera Baccho, 
 Densa magis Cereri, rarissima quaeque Lyaeo : 
 Ante locum capies oculis, alteque jubebis 230 
 
 In solido puteum deinitti, omnemque repones 
 Rursus humum, et pedibus summas aequabis- arenas. 
 Si deerunt, rarum pecorique et vitibus aim is 
 Aptius uber erit ; sin in sua posse negabunt 
 Ire loca, et scrobibus superabit terra repletis, 235 
 
 Spissus ager ; glebas cunctantes crassaque terga 
 Exspecta, et validis terram proscinde juvencis. 
 Salsa autem tellus, et quae perhibetur amara — ■■ 
 Frugibus infelix ea, nee mansuescit arando, 
 Nee Baccho genus, aut pomis sua nomina servat — 240 
 Tale dabit specimen : tu spisso vimine qualos 
 Colaque prelorum fumosis deripe tectis ; 
 Hue ager ille malus, dulcesque a fontibus undae 
 Ad plenum calcentur : aqua eluctabitur omnis 
 Scilicet, et grandes ibunt per vimina guttae ; 245 
 
 At sapor indicium faciet, manifestus et ora 
 Tristia tentantum sensu torquebit amaror. 
 Pinguis item quae sit tellus, hoc denique pacto 
 Discimus : haud unquam manibus jactata fatiscit, 
 Sed picis in morem ad digitos lentescit habendo. 250 
 
 Humida majores herbas alit, ipsaque justo 
 Laetior. Ah nimium ne sit mihi fertilis ilia, 
 Neu se praevalidam primis ostendat aristis ! 
 Quae gravis est, ipso tacitam se pondere prodit, 
 Quaeque levis. Promtum est oculis praediscere nigi'am, 255 
 Et quis cui color. At sceleratum exquirere frigus 
 Difficile est : piceae tantum, taxique nocentes 
 Interdum, aut ederae pandunt vestigia nigrae. 
 
 His animadversis, terram multo ante memento 
 Excoquere, et magnos scrobibus concidere montes, 260 
 Ante supinatas Aquiloni ostendere glebas, 
 Quam laetum infodias vitis genus. Optima putri 
 Arva solo : id venti curant, gelidaeque pruinae, 
 Et labefacta movens robustus jugera fossor. 
 At, si quos haud ulla \ii'OS vigilantia fugit, 265 
 
GEORGICON LIB. II. 45 
 
 Ante locum similem exquirunt, ubi prima paretur 
 
 Arboribus seges, et quo mox digesta feratur; 
 
 Mutatam ignorent subito ne semina mati'em. 
 
 Quin etiam caeli regionem in cortice signant : 
 
 Ut, quo quaeque modo steterit, qua parte calores 2/0 
 
 Austrinos tulerit, quae terga obverterit axi, 
 
 Restituant : adeo in teneris consuescere multum est. 
 
 Collibus an piano melius sit ponere vitem, 
 Quaere prius. Si pinguis agros metabere campi, 
 Densa sere ; in denso non segnior ubere Bacchus : 2/5 
 Sin tumulis acclive solum collesque supinos, 
 Indulge ordinibus ; nee secius omnis in unguem 
 Arboribus positis secto via limite quadret. 
 Ut saepe, ingenti bello cum longa cohortes 
 Explicuit legio, et campo stetit agmen aperto, 280 
 
 Directaeque acies, ac late tluctuat omnis 
 Aere renidenti tellus, necdum horrida miscent 
 Proelia, sed dubius mediis Mars errat in armis : 
 Omnia sint paribus numeris dimensa viarum ; 
 Non animum modo uti pascat prospectus inanem, 285 
 
 Sed quia non aliter vires dabit omnibus aequas 
 Terra, neque in vacuum poterunt se extendere rami. 
 
 For sit an et scrobibus quae sint fastigia quaeras. 
 Ausim vel tenui vitem committere sulco. 
 Altior ac penitus terrae defigitur arbos ; 290 
 
 Aesculus in primis, quae, quantum vertice ad auras 
 Aetherias, tantum radice in Tartara tendit. 
 Ergo non hiemes illam, non flabra, neque imbres 
 Convellunt ; immota manet, multosque nepotes, 
 Multa virum volvens durando saecula vincit ; 295 
 
 Turn fortes late ramos et bracbia tendens 
 Hue illuc, media ipsa ingentem sustinet umbram. 
 
 Neve tibi ad solem vergant vineta cadentem ; 
 Neve inter vites corulum sere ; neve nagella 
 Summa pete, aut summa destringe ex arbore plantas ; 300 
 Tantus amor terrae ; neu ferro laede retuso 
 Semina ; neve olea silvestres insere truncos : 
 Nam saepe incautis pastoribus excidit ignis, 
 Qui, furtim pingui primum sub cortice tectus, 
 Robora comprendit, frondesque elapsus in altas 305 
 
46 P. VIRGTLII MARONIS 
 
 Ingentem caelo sonitum dedit; inde secutus 
 
 Per ramos victor, perque alta cacumina, regnat, 
 
 Et totum involvit flammis nemus, et ruit atram 
 
 Ad caelum picea crassus caligine nubeui ; 
 
 Praesertim si tempestas a vertice silvis 310 
 
 Incubuit, glomeratque ferens incendia ventus. 
 
 Hoc nbi, non a stirpe valent caesaeque reverti 
 
 Possunt atque ima similes revirescere terra ; 
 
 Infelix superat foliis oleaster amaris. 
 
 Nee tibi tarn prudens quisquam persuadeat auctor, 315 
 Tellurem Borea rigidam spirante movere. 
 Rura gelu turn claudit hi ems ; nee semine jacto 
 Concretam patitur radicem affigere terrae. 
 Optima vinetis satio, cum vere rubenti 
 Candida venit avis, longis invisa colubris ; 320 
 
 Prima vel auctumni sub frigora, cum rapidus Sol 
 Nondum hiemem contingit equis, jam praeterit aestas: 
 Ver adeo frondi nemorum, ver utile silvis ; 
 Vere tument terrae et genitalia semina poscunt. 
 Turn pater omnipotens fecundis imbribus Aether 325 
 
 Conjugis in gremium laetae descendit, et omnes 
 Magnus alit, magno commixtus corpore, fetus. 
 Avia turn resonant avibus virgulta canoris, 
 Et Venerem certis repetunt armenta diebus ; 
 Parturit almus ager, Zephyrique tepentibus auris 330 
 
 Laxant arva sinus ; superat tener omnibus humor ; 
 Inque novos soles audent se germina tuto 
 Credere ; nee metuit surgentes pampinus austros, 
 Aut actum caelo magnis aquilonibus imbrem, 
 Sed trudit gemmas, et frondes explicat omnes. 335 
 
 Non alios prima crescentis origine mundi 
 Illuxisse dies, aliumve habuisse tenorem 
 Crediderim : ver illud erat ; ver magnus agebat 
 Orbis, et hibernis parcebant flatibus Euri : 
 Cum primae lucem pecudes hausere, \-ii'umque 340 
 
 Terrea progenies duris caput extulit arvis, 
 Immissaeque ferae silvis, et sidera caelo. 
 Nee res hunc tenerae possent perferre laborem, 
 Si non tanta quies iret frigusque caloremque 
 Inter, et exciperet caeli indulgentia terras. 345 
 
GEORGICON LIB. II. 47 
 
 Quod superest, quaecunque premes virgulta per agros, 
 Sparge fimo pingui, et multa memor occule terra ; 
 Aut lapidem bibulum, aut squalentes infode conchas : 
 Inter enim labentur aquae, tenuisque subibit 
 Halitus, atque animos tollent sata. Jamque reperti, 350 
 Qui saxo super, atque ingentis pondere testae, 
 Urgerent ; hoc effusos munimen ad imbres, 
 Hoc, ubi hiulca siti findit canis aestifer arva. 
 
 Seminibus positis, superest diducere terrain 
 Saepius ad capita, et duros jactare bidentes ; 355 
 
 Aut presso exercere solum sub vomere, et ipsa 
 Plectere luctantes inter vineta juvencos ; 
 Turn leves calamos, et rasae hastilia virgae, 
 Praxineasque aptare sudes, furcasque valentes, 
 Viribus eniti quarum et contemnere ventos 360 
 
 Adsuescant, summasque sequi tabulata per ulmos. 
 
 Ac, dum prima novis adolescit frondibus aetas, 
 Parcendum teneris ; et dum se laetus ad auras 
 Palmes agit, laxis per purum immissus habenis, 
 Ipsa acie nondum falcis tentanda, sed uncis 365 
 
 Carpendae manibus frondes, interque legendae. 
 Inde ubi jam validis amplexae stirpibus ulmos 
 Exierint, turn stringe comas, turn brachia tonde : — 
 Ante reformidant ferrum — turn denique dura 
 Exerce imperia, et ramos compesce fluentes. 3/0 
 
 Texendae sepes etiam, et pecus omne tenendum, 
 Praecipue dum frons tenera imprudensque laborum : 
 Cui, super indignas hiemes solemque potentem, 
 Silvestres uri assidue capraeque sequaces 
 Illudunt, pascuntur oves avidaeque juvencae. 375 
 
 Frigora nee tantum cana concreta pruina, 
 Aut gravis incumbens scopulis arentibus aestas, 
 Quantum illi nocuere greges, durique venenum 
 Dentis, et admorso signata in stirpe cicatrix. 
 Non aliam ob culpam Baccho caper omnibus aris 380 
 
 Caeditur ; et veteres ineunt proscenia ludi, 
 Praemiaque ingeniis pagos et compita circum 
 Thesidae posuere, atque inter pocula laeti 
 Mollibus in pratis unctos saluere per utres. 
 Nee non Ausonii, Troja gens missa, coloni 385 
 
48 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Versibus incomtis ludunt risuque soluto, 
 
 Oraque corticibus sumunt borrenda cavatis, 
 
 Et te, Baccbe, vocant per carmina laeta, tibique 
 
 Oscilla ex alta suspendunt mollia pinu. 
 
 Hinc omnis largo pubescit vinea fetu, 390 
 
 Complentur vallesque cavae saltusque profundi, 
 
 Et quocunque deus circum caput egit bonestum. 
 
 Ergo rite suum Baccho dicemus honorem 
 
 Carminibus patriis, lancesque et liba feremus, 
 
 Et ductus cornu stabit sacer bircus ad aram, 395 
 
 Pinguiaque in veribus torrebimus exta colurnis. 
 
 Est etiam ille labor curandis vitibus alter, 
 Cui nunquam exbausti satis est : namque omne quotannis 
 Terque quaterque solum scindendum, glebaque versis 
 Aeternum frangenda bidentibus ; omne levandum 400 
 
 Eronde nemus. Redit agricolis labor actus in orbem, 
 Atque in se sua per vestigia volvitur annus. 
 Ac jam olim, seras posuit cum vinea frondes, 
 Erigidus et silvis Aquilo decussit bonorem ; 
 Jam turn acer curas venientem extendit in annum 405 
 
 Rusticus, et curvo Saturni dente relictam 
 Persequitur vitem attondens, fingitque putando. 
 Primus bumum fodito, primus devecta cremato 
 Sarmenta, et vallos primus sub tecta referto ; 
 Postremus metito. Bis vitibus ingruit umbra; 410 
 
 Bis segetem densis obducunt sentibus berbae. 
 Durus uterque labor. Laudato ingentia rura, 
 Exiguum colito. Nee non etiam aspera rusci 
 Vimina per silvam, et ripis fluvialis arundo 
 Caeditur, incultique exercet cura sabcti. 415 
 
 Jam vinctae vites; jam falcem arbusta reponunt ; 
 Jam canit effectos extremus vinitor antes : 
 Sollicitanda tamen tellus, pulvisque movendus, 
 Et jam matm'is metuendus Juppiter uvis. 
 
 Contra non ulla est oleis cultura ; neque illae 420 
 
 Procurvam exspectant falcem rastrosque tenaces, 
 Cum semel baeserunt arvis aurasque tulerunt. 
 Ipsa satis tellus, cum dente recluditur unco, 
 Sufficit bumorem, et gravidas, cum vomere, fruges. 
 Hoc pinguem et placitam Paci nutritor olivam. 425 
 
GEORGICON LIB. II. 
 
 Poma quoque, ut primum truncos sensere valentes, 
 Et vires habuere suas, ad sidera raptim 
 Vi propria nituntur, opisque haud indiga nostrae. 
 Nee minus interea fetu nemus omne gravescit, 
 Sanguineisque inculta rubent aviaria bacis. 430 
 
 Tondentur cytisi, taedas silva alta ministrat, 
 Pascunturque ignes nocturni et lumina fundunt. 
 Et dubitant homines serere atque impendere curam ? 
 Quid majora sequar ? Salices humilesque genestae, 
 Aut illae pecori frondem, aut pastoribus umbras 435 
 
 Sufficiunt, saepemque satis, et pabula melli. 
 Et juvat undantem buxo spectare Cytorum, 
 Naiyciaeque picis lucos ; juvat arva videre 
 Non rastris, hominum non ulli obnoxia curae. 
 Ipsae Caucasio steriles in vertice silvae, 440 
 
 Quas animosi Euri assidue franguntque feruntque, 
 Dant alios aliae fetus ; dant utile lignum 
 Navigiis pinos, domibus cedrosque cupressosque. 
 Hinc radios trivere rotis, bine tympana plaustris 
 Agricolae, et pandas ratibus posuere carinas. 445 
 
 Viminibus salices fecundae, frondibus ulmi ; 
 At myrtus validis hastilibus, et bona bello 
 Cornus ; Ituraeos taxi torquentur in arcus. 
 Nee tiliae leves aut torno rasile buxum 
 Non formam accipiunt, ferroque cavantur acuto. 450 
 
 Nee non et torrentem undam levis innatat alnus, 
 Missa Pado ; nee non et apes examina condunt 
 Corticibusque cavis vitiosaeque ilicis alveo. 
 Quid memorandum aeque Baccbei'a dona tulerunt ? 
 Bacchus et ad culpain caussas dedit ; ille furentes 455 
 
 Centauros leto domuit, Rhoetumque Pholumque 
 Et magno Hylaeum Lapithis cratere minantem. 
 
 fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint, 
 Agricolas ! quibus ipsa, procul discordibus armis, 
 Fundit humo facilem victum justissima tellus. 460 
 
 Si non ingentem foribus domus alta superbis 
 Mane salutantum totis vomit aedibus undam ; 
 Nee varios inhiant pulchra testudine postes, 
 Illusasque auro vestes, Ephyreiaque aera; 
 Alba neque Assyrio fucatur lana veneno, 465 
 
 D 
 
50 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Nee casia liquidi corrumpitur usus olivi : 
 
 At secura quies, et nescia fallere vita, 
 
 Dives opum variarum ; at latis otia fundis, 
 
 Speluncae, vivique lacus ; at frigida Tempe, 
 
 Mugitusque bourn, mollesque sub arbore somni 470 
 
 Nou absunt ; illic saltus ac lustra ferarum ; 
 
 Et patiens operum exiguoque adsueta juventus ; 
 
 Sacra deum, sanctique patres ; extrema per illos 
 
 Justitia excedens terris vestigia fecit. 
 
 Me vero primum dulces ante omnia Musae, 475 
 
 Quarum sacra fero ingenti percussus amore, 
 Accipiant ; caelique vias et sidera monstrent, 
 Defectus solis varios, lunaeque labores ; 
 Unde tremor terris ; qua vi maria alta tumescant 
 Objicibus ruptis, rursusque in se ipsa residant ; 480 
 
 Quid tantum Oceano properent se tingere soles 
 Hiberni, vel quae tardis mora noctibus obstet. 
 Sin, has ne possim naturae accedere partes, 
 Frigidus pbstiterit circum praecordia sanguis, 
 Rura mihi et rigui placeant in vallibus amnes ; 485 
 
 Flumina amem silvasque inglorius. 0, ubi campi, 
 Spercheosque, et virginibus bacchata Lacaenis 
 Taygeta, o, qui me gelidis in vallibus Haemi 
 Sistat, et ingenti ramorum protegat umbra ! 
 Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere caussas, 490 
 
 Atque metus omnes et inexorabile fatum 
 Subjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari ! 
 Fortunatus et ille, deos qui novit agrestes, 
 Panaqne, Silvanumque senem, Nymphasque sorores ! 
 Ilium non populi fasces, non purpura regum 495 
 
 Flexit, et infidos agitans discordia fratres ; 
 Aut conjurato descendens Dacus ab Istro ; 
 Non res Romanae, perituraque regna ; neque ille 
 Aut doluit miserans inopem, aut invidit babenti. 
 Quos rami fructus, quos ipsa volentia rura 500 
 
 Sponte tulere sua, carp sit ; nee ferrea jura, 
 Insanumque forum, aut populi tabularia vidit. 
 Sollicitant alii remis freta caeca, ruuntque 
 In ferrum, penetrant aulas et limina regum. 
 Hie petit excidiis urbem miserosque Penates, 505 
 
GEORGTCON LIB. II. 51 
 
 Ut gemma bibat, et Sarrano dormiat ostro. 
 
 Condit opes alius, defossoque incubat auro. 
 
 Hie stupet attonitus Rostris ; hunc plausus biantem 
 
 Per cuneos — geminatus enim plebisque patrumque — 
 
 Corripuit. Gaudent perfusi sanguine fratrum, 510 
 
 Exsilioque domos et dulcia limina mutant, 
 
 Atque alio patriam quaerunt sub sole jacentem. 
 
 Agricola incurvo terram dimovit aratro : 
 
 Hie anni labor ; bine patriam parvosque nepotes 
 
 Sustinet ; bine armenta bourn, meritosque juvencos. 515 
 
 Nee requies, quin aut pomis exuberet annus, 
 
 Aut fetu pecorum, aut Cerealis mergite culmi, 
 
 Proventuque oneret sulcos, atque borrea vincat. 
 
 Venit biems : teritur Sicyonia baca trapetis ; 
 
 Glande sues laeti redeunt ; dant arbuta silvae ; 520 
 
 Et varios ponit fetus autumnus ; et alte 
 
 Mitis in apricis coquitur vindemia saxis. 
 
 Interea dulces pendent circum oscula nati ; 
 
 Casta pudicitiam servat domus ; ubera vaccae 
 
 Lactea demittunt ; pinguesque in gramme laeto 525 
 
 Inter se adversis luctantur cornibus baedi. 
 
 Ipse dies agitat festos ; fususque per berbam, 
 
 Ignis ubi in medio, et socii cratera coronant, 
 
 Te, libans, Lenaee, vocat ; pecorisque magistris 
 
 Velocis jaculi certamina ponit in ulmo ; 530 
 
 Corporaque agresti nudant praedura palaestra. 
 
 Hanc olim veteres vitam coluere Sabini ; 
 
 Hanc Remus et frater ; sic fortis Etruria crevit 
 
 Scibcet, et rerum facta est pulcberrima Roma, 
 
 Septemque una sibi muro circumdedit arces. 535 
 
 Ante etiam sceptrum Dictaei regis, et ante 
 
 Impia quam caesis gens est epulata juvencis, 
 
 Aureus banc vitam in terris Saturnus agebat. 
 
 Necdum etiam audierant inflari classica, necdum 
 
 Impositos duris crepitare incudibus enses. 540 
 
 Sed nos immensum spatiis confecimus aequor ; 
 Et jam tempus equum fumantia solvere colla. 
 
 d2 
 
52 
 
 LIBER TERTIUS. 
 
 Te quoque, magna Pales, et te memorande canemus 
 
 Pastor ab Amphryso ; vos, silvae amnesque Lycaei. 
 
 Cetera, quae vacuas tenuissent carmine mentes, 
 
 Omnia jam vulgata. Quis aut Eurysthea durum, 
 
 Aut illaudati nescit Busiridis aras ? 5 
 
 Cui non dictus Hylas puer, et Latonia Delos, 
 
 Hippodameque, humeroque Pelops insignis eburno, 
 
 Acer equis ? Tentanda via est, qua me quoque possim 
 
 Tollere humo, victorque virum volitare per ora. 
 
 Primus ego in patriam mecum, modo vita super sit, 10 
 
 Aonio rediens deducam vertice Musas ; 
 
 Primus Idumaeas referam tibi, Mantua, palmas ; 
 
 Et viridi in campo templum de marmore ponam 
 
 Propter aquam, tardis ingens ubi flexibus errat 
 
 Mincius, et tenera praetexit arundine ripas. 15 
 
 In medio mihi Caesar erit, tempi umque tenebit. 
 
 Illi victor ego, et Tyrio conspectus in ostro, 
 
 Centum quadrijugos agitabo ad flumina currus. 
 
 Cuncta mihi, Alpheum linquens lucosque Molorcbi, 
 
 Cursibus et crudo decernet Graecia caestu. 20 
 
 Ipse, caput tonsae foliis ornatus olivae, 
 
 Dona feram ; jam nunc solemnes ducere pompas 
 
 Ad delubra juvat, caesosque videre juvencos; 
 
 Vel scena ut versis discedat frontibus, utque 
 
 Purpurea intexti tollant aulaea Britanni. 25 
 
 In foribus pugnam ex auro solidoque elephanto 
 
 Gangaridum faciam, victorisque arma Quirini ; 
 
 Atque bine undantem bello magnumque fluentem 
 
 Nilum, ac navali surgentes aere columnas. 
 
 Addam urbes Asiae domitas, pulsumque Niphaten, 30 
 
 Fidentemque fuga Parthum versisque sagittis, 
 
 Et duo rapta manu diverso ex hoste tropaea, 
 
 Bisque triumphatas utroque ab litore gentes. 
 
 Stabunt et Parii lapides, spirantia signa, 
 
 Assaraci proles, demissaeque ab Jove gentis 35 
 
GEORGICON LIB. III. 53 
 
 Nomina, Trosque parens, et Troiae Cynthius auctor. 
 
 Invidia infelix Furias amnemque severum 
 
 Cocyti metuet, tortosque Ixionis angues, 
 
 Immanemque rotam, et non exsuperabile saxum. 
 
 Interea Dryadum silvas saltusque sequamur 40 
 
 Intactos, tua, Maecenas, haud mollia jussa. 
 
 Te sine nil altum mens inchoat. En age, segnes 
 
 Rumpe moras ; vocat ingenti clamore Cithaeron, 
 
 Taygetique canes, domitrixque Epidaurus equorum ; 
 
 Et vox adsensu nemorum ingeminata remugit. 45 
 
 Mox tamen ardentes accingar dicere pugnas 
 
 Caesaris, et nomen fama tot ferre per annos, 
 
 Tithoni prima quot abest ab origine Caesar. 
 
 Seu quis, Olympiacae miratus praemia palmae, 
 Pascit equos ; seu quis fortes ad aratra juvencos : 50 
 
 Corpora praecipue matrum legat. Optima torvae 
 Forma bovis, cui turpe caput, cui plurima cervix, 
 Et crurum tenus a mento palearia pendent ; 
 Turn longo nullus lateri modus ; omnia magna, 
 Pes etiam ; et camuris hirtae sub cornibus aures. 55 
 
 Nee mihi displiceat maculis insignis et albo, 
 Aut juga detrectans ; interdumque aspera cornu, 
 Et faciem tauro propior ; quaeque ardua tota, 
 Et gradiens ima verrit vestigia cauda. 
 Aetas Lucinam justosque pati hymenaeos 60 
 
 Desinit ante decern, post quatuor incipit annos : 
 Cetera nee feturae habilis, nee fortis aratris. 
 Interea, superat gregibus dum laeta juventas, 
 Solve mares ; mitte in Venerem pecuaria primus, 
 Atque aliam ex alia generando suffice prolem. 65 
 
 Optima quaeque dies miseris mortalibus aevi 
 Prima fugit ; subeunt morbi tristisque senectus ; 
 Et labor et durae rapit inclementia mortis. 
 Semper erunt, quarum mutari corpora malis : 
 Semper enim refice, ac, ne post amissa requiras, 70 
 
 Anteveni, et subolem armento sortire quotannis. 
 
 Nee non et pecori est idem delectus equino. 
 Tu modo, quos in spem statues submittere gentis, 
 Praecipuum jam inde a teneris impende laborem. 
 Continuo pecoris generosi pullus in arvis lb 
 
54 P. VIRGTLII MARONIS 
 
 Altius ingreditur, et mollia crura reponit ; 
 
 Primus et ire viam, et fluvios tentare minaces 
 
 Audet, et ignoto sese committere ponti ; 
 
 Nee vanos horret strepitus. Illi ardua cervix, 
 
 Argutumque caput, brevis alvus, obesaque terga, 80 
 
 Luxuriatque toris auimosum pectus. Honesti 
 
 Spadices, glaucique; color deterrimus albis, 
 
 Et gilvo. Turn, si qua sonum procul arma dedere, 
 
 Stare loco nescit ; micat auribus, et tremit artus ; 
 
 Collectumque fremens volvit sub naribus ignem. 85 
 
 Densa juba, et dextro j aetata recumbit in armo; 
 
 At duplex agitur per lumbos spina ; cavatque 
 
 Tellurem, et solido graviter sonat ungula cornu. 
 
 Talis Amyclaei domitus Pollucis habenis 
 
 Cyllarus, et, quorum Graii meminere poetae, 90 
 
 Martis equi bijuges, et magni currus Achilli. 
 
 Talis et ipse jubam cervice effudit equina 
 
 Conjugis adventu pernix Saturnus, et altum 
 
 Pelion hinnitu fugiens implevit acuto. 
 
 Hunc quoque, ubi aut morbo gravis, aut jam segnior 
 annis 95 
 
 Deficit, abde domo ; nee turpi ignosce senectae. 
 Prigidus in Venerem senior, frustraque laborem 
 Ingratum tranit ; et, si quando ad proelia ventum est, 
 Ut quondam in stipulis magnus sine viribus ignis, 
 Incassum furit. Ergo animos aevumque notabis 100 
 
 Praecipue ; nine alias artes, prolemque parentum, 
 Et quis cuique dolor victo, quae gloria palmae. 
 Nonne vides, cum praecipiti certamine campum 
 Corripuere, ruuntque effusi carcere currus, 
 Cum spes arrectae juvenum, exultantiaque haurit 105 
 
 Corda pavor pulsans : illi instant verbere torto, 
 Et proni dant lora, volat vi fervidus axis ; 
 Jamque bumiles, jamque elati sublime videntur 
 Aera per vacuum ferri, atque assurgere in auras ; 
 Nee mora, nee requies ; at fulvae nimbus arenae 110 
 
 Tollitur ; humescunt spumis flatuque sequentum : 
 Tantus amor laudum, tantae est victoria curae. 
 Primus Ericbthonius currus et quatuor ausus 
 Jungere equos, rapidusque rotis insistere victor. 
 
GEORGICON LIB. III. 55 
 
 Frena Pelethronii Lapithae gyrosque dedere, 115 
 
 Impositi dorso, atque equitem docuere sub armis 
 Insultare solo, et gressus glomerare superbos. 
 Aequus uterque labor; aeque juvenemque magistri 
 Exquirunt, calidumque animis et cursibus acrem ; 
 Quamvis saepe fuga versos ille egerit hostes, 120 
 
 Et patriam Epirum referat, fortesque Mycenas, 
 Neptunique ipsa deducat origine gentem. 
 
 His animadversis instant sub tempus, et omnes 
 Impendunt curas denso distendere pingui, 
 Quern legere ducem, et pecori dixere maritum ; 125 
 
 Pubentesque secant berbas, fluviosque ministrant, 
 Farraque, ne blando nequeat superesse labori, 
 lnvalidique patrum referant jejunia nati. 
 Ipsa autem macie tenuant armenta volentes, 
 Atque, ubi concubitus primos jam nota voluptas 130 
 
 SolKcitat, frondesque negant, et fontibus arcent. 
 Saepe etiam cursu quatiunt, et sole fatigant, 
 Cum graviter tunsis gemit area frugibus, et cum 
 Surgentem ad Zepbyrum paleae jactantur inanes. 
 Hoc faciunt, nimio ne luxu obtusior usus 135 
 
 Sit genitali arvo, et sulcos oblimet inertes ; 
 Sed rapiat sitiens Venerem, interiusque recondat. 
 
 Rursus cura patrum cadere, et succedere matrum 
 Incipit. Exactis gravidae cum mensibus errant, 
 Non illas gravibus quisquam juga ducere plaustris, 140 
 Non saltu superare viam sit passus, et acri 
 Carpere prata fuga, fluviosque innare rapaces. 
 Saltibus in vacuis pascant, et plena secundum 
 Flumina, muscus ubi, et viridissima gramme ripa, 
 Speluncaeque tegant, et saxea procubet umbra. 145 
 
 Est lucos Silari circa ilicibusque virentem 
 Plurimus Alburnum volitans, cui nomen asilo 
 Romanum est, oestrum Graii vertere vocantes ; 
 Asper, acerba sonans ; quo tota exterrita silvis 
 Diffugiunt armenta; furit mugitibus aetber 150 
 
 Concussus, silvaeque, et sicci ripa Tanagri. 
 Hoc quondam monstro borribiles exercuit iras 
 Inacbiae Juno pestem meditata juvencae. 
 Hunc quoque — nam mediis fervoribus acrior instat — 
 
56 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Arcebis gravido pecori, armentaque pasces 155 
 
 Sole recens orto, aut noctem ducentibus astris. 
 
 Post partum cura in vitulos traducitur omnis ; 
 Continuoque notas et nomina gentis inurunt, 
 Et quos aut pecori malint submittere babendo, 
 Aut aris servare sacros, aut scindere terrain, 160 
 
 Et campum borrentem fractis invertere glebis : 
 Cetera pascuntur virides armenta per herbas. 
 Tu quos ad studium atque usum formabis agrestem, 
 Jam vitulos bortare, viamque insiste domandi, 
 Dum faciles animi juvenum, dum mobilis aetas. 165 
 
 Ac primum laxos tenui de vimine circlos 
 Cervici subnecte; dehinc, ubi libera colla 
 Servitio adsuerint, ipsis e torquibus aptos 
 Junge pares, et coge gradum conferre juvencos ; 
 Atque illis jam saepe rotae ducantur inanes 170 
 
 Per t err am, et summo vestigia pulvere signent. 
 Post valido nitens sub pondere faginus axis 
 Instrepat, et junctos temo trabat aereus orbes. 
 Interea pubi indomitae non gramina tantum, 
 Nee vescas salicum frondes, ulvamque palustrem, 175 
 
 Sed frumenta manu carpes sata ; nee tibi fetae, 
 More patrum, nivea implebunt mulctraria vaccae, 
 Sed tota in dulces consument ubera natos. 
 
 Sin ad bella magis studium, turmasque feroces, 
 Aut Alphea rotis praelabi flumina Pisae, 180 
 
 Et Jovis in luco currus agitare volantes : 
 Primus equi labor est, animos atque arma videre 
 Bellantum, lituosque pati, tractuque gementem 
 Ferre rotam, et stabulo frenos audire sonantes ; 
 Turn magis atque magis blandis gaudere magistri 1S5 
 
 Laudibus, et plausae sonitum cervicis amare. 
 Atque baec jam primo depulsus ab ubere matris 
 Audeat, inque vicem det mollibus ora capistris 
 Invalidus, etiamque tremens, etiam inscius aevi. 
 At, tribus exactis ubi quarta accesserit aestas, 190 
 
 Carpere mox gyrum incipiat, gradibusque sonare 
 Compositis, sinuetque alterna volumina crui*um, 
 Sitque laboranti similis ; turn cursibus auras, 
 Tarn vocet, ac per aperta volans, ceu liber babenis, 
 
GEORGICON LIB. III. 57 
 
 Aequora, vix summa vestigia ponat arena : 195 
 
 Qualis Hyperboreis Aquilo cum densus ab oris 
 
 Incubuit, Scythiaeque hiemes atque arida differt 
 
 Nubila; turn segetes altae campique natantes 
 
 Lenibus horrescunt nabris, summaeque sonorem 
 
 Dant silvae, longique urgent ad litora fluctus : 200 
 
 Ille volat, simul arva fuga, simul aequora verrens. 
 
 Hie vel ad Elei metas et maxima campi 
 
 Sudabit spatia, et spumas aget ore cruentas ; 
 
 Belgica vel molli melius feret esseda collo. 
 
 Turn demum crassa magnum farragine corpus 205 
 
 Crescere jam domitis sinito : namque ante domandum 
 
 Ingentes tollent animos, prensique negabunt 
 
 Verbera lenta pati, et duris parere lupatis. 
 
 Sed non ulla magis vires industria firmat, 
 Quam Venerem et caeci stimulos avertere amoris, 210 
 
 Sive bourn sive est cui gratior usus equorum. 
 Atque ideo tauros procul atque in sola relegant 
 Pascua, post montem oppositum, et trans flumina lata, 
 Aut intus clausos satura ad praesepia servant. 
 Carpit enim vires paullatim uritque videndo 215 
 
 Femina ; nee nemorum patitur meminisse, nee herbae. 
 Dulcibus ilia quidem illecebris et saepe superbos 
 Cornibus inter se subigit decernere amantes. 
 *Pascitur in magna Sila formosa juvenca : 
 Illi alternantes multa vi proelia miscent 220 
 
 Vulneribus crebris ; lavit ater corpora sanguis : 
 Versaque in obnixos urgentur cornua vasto 
 Cum gemitu; reboant silvaeque et longus Olympus. 
 Nee mos bellantes una stabulare : sed alter 
 Victus abit, longeque ignotis exsulat oris, 225 
 
 Multa gemens ignominiam plagasque superbi 
 Victoris, turn, quos amisit inultus, amores ; 
 Et stabula adspectans regnis excessit avitis. 
 Ergo omni cura vires exercet, et inter 
 Dura jacet pernox instrato saxa cubili, 230 
 
 FronoQbus nirsutis et carice pastus acuta ; 
 Et tentat sese, atque irasci in cornua discit 
 Arboris obnixus trunco, ventosque lacessit 
 Ictibus, et sparsa ad pugnam proludit arena. 
 
 d 5 
 
58 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Post, ubi collectum robur viresque refectae, 235 
 
 Signa movet, praecepsque oblitum fertur in hostem ; 
 
 Fluctus uti, medio coepit cum albescere ponto, 
 
 Longius, ex altoque sinum trahit : utque volutus 
 
 Ad terras, immane sonat per saxa, neque ipso 
 
 Monte minor procumbit ; at ima exaestuat unda 240 
 
 Verticibus, nigramque alte subvectat arenam. 
 
 Omne adeo genus in terris hominumque ferarumque, 
 Et genus aequoreum, pecudes, pictaeque volucres, 
 In furias ignemque ruunt. Amor omnibus idem. 
 Tempore non alio catulorum oblita leaena 245 
 
 Saevior erravit campis ; nee funera vulgo 
 Tarn multa informes ursi stragemque dedere 
 Per silvas. Turn saevus aper, turn pessima tigris. 
 Heu ! male turn Libyae solis erratur in agris. 
 Nonne vides, ut tota tremor pertentet equorum 250 
 
 Corpora, si tantum notas odor attulit auras ? 
 Ac neque eos jam frena virum, neque verbera saeva, 
 Non scopuli, rupesque cavae, atque objecta retardant 
 Flumina, correptosque unda torquentia montes. 
 Ispe ruit dentesque Sabellicus exacuit sus, 255 
 
 Et pede prosubigit terram, fricat arbore costas 
 Atque bine atque illinc, humerosque ad vulnera durat. 
 Quid juvenis, magnum cui versat in ossibus ignem 
 Durus amor ? Nempe abruptis turbata procellis 
 Nocte natat caeca serus freta : quern super ingens 260 
 Porta tonat caeli, et scopulis illisa reclamant 
 Aequora ; nee miseri possunt revocare parentes, 
 Nee moritura super crudeli funere virgo. 
 Quid lynces Bacchi variae, et genus acre luporum, 
 Atque canum ? quid, quae inbelles dant proelia cervi ? 265 
 Scilicet ante omnes furor est insignis equarum ; 
 Et mentem Venus ipsa dedit, quo tempore Glauci 
 Potniades malis membra absumsere quadrigae. 
 Illas ducit amor trans Gargara, transque sonantem 
 Ascanium ; superant montes, et ilumina tranant. 270 
 
 Continuoque, avidis ubi subdita namnia medullis^ — 
 Vere magis, quia vere calor redit ossibus — illae 
 Ora omnes versae in Zephyrum stant rupibus altis, 
 Exceptantque leves auras ; et saepe sine ullis 
 
 
 
GEORGICON LIB. III. 59 
 
 Conjugiis vento gravidae — mirabile dictu — 2/5 
 
 Saxa per et scopulos et depressas convalles 
 Diffugiunt ; non, Eure, tuos, neque Solis ad ortus ; 
 In Borean Caurumque, aut unde nigerrimus Auster 
 Nascitur et pluvio contristat frigore caelum. 
 Hie demum, hippomanes vero quod nomine dicunt 280 
 Pastores, lentum destillat ab inguine virus : 
 Hippomanes, quod saepe malae legere novercae, 
 Miscueruntque herbas et non innoxia verba. 
 
 Sed fugit interea, fugit irreparabile tempus, 
 Singula dum capti circumvectamur amore. 285 
 
 Hoc satis armentis. Superat pars altera curae, 
 Lanigeros agitare greges hirtasque capellas. 
 Hie labor ; hinc laudem fortes sperate coloni. 
 Nee sum animi dubius, verbis ea vincere magnum 
 Quam sit, et angustis hune addere rebus bonorem. 290 
 Sed me Parnasi deserta per ardua dulcis 
 Eaptat amor ; juvat ire jugis, qua nulla priorum 
 Castaliam molli devertitur orbita clivo. 
 Nunc, veneranda Pales, magno nunc ore sonandum. 
 
 Incipiens stabulis edico in mollibus herbam 295 
 
 Carpere oves, dum mox frondosa reducitur aestas ; 
 Et multa duram stipula filicumque maniplis 
 Sternere subter bumum, glacies ne frigida laedat 
 Molle pecus, ^cabiemque ferat turpesque podagras. 
 Post bine digressus jubeo frondentia capris 300 
 
 Arbuta sufficere, et nuvios praebere recentes, 
 Et stabula a ventis hiberno opponere soli 
 Ad medium conversa diem, cum frigidus olim 
 Jam cadit, extremoque irrorat Aquarius anno. 
 Hae quoque non cura nobis leviore tuendae ; 305 
 
 Nee minor usus erit : quamvis Milesia magno 
 Vellera mutentur Tyrios incocta rubores. 
 Densior bine suboles ; hinc largi copia lactis ; 
 Quam magis exbausto spumaverit ubere mulctra, 
 Laeta magis pressis manabunt numina mammis. 310 
 
 Nee minus interea barbas incanaque menta 
 Cinypbii tondent hirci, setasque comantes, 
 Usum in castrorum, et miseris velamina nautis. 
 Pascuntur vero silvas, et summa Lycaei, 
 
60 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Horrentesque rubos, et amantes ardua dumos. 315 
 
 Atque ipsae memores redeunt in tecta, suosque 
 
 Ducunt, et gravido superant vix ubere limen. 
 
 Ergo omni studio glaciem ventosque nivales, 
 
 Quo minor est illis curae mortalis egestas, 
 
 Avertes ; victumque feres, et virgea laetus 320 
 
 Pabula ; nee tota claudes faenilia bruma. 
 
 At vero, Zephyris cum laeta voeantibus aestas 
 
 In saltus utrumque gregem atque in pascua mittet : 
 
 Luciferi primo cum sidere frigida rura 
 
 Carpamus, dum mane novum, dum gramina canent, 325 
 
 Et ros in tenera pecori gratissimus herba. 
 
 Inde, ubi quarta sitim caeli collegerit hora, 
 
 Et cantu querulae rumpent arbusta cicadae ; 
 
 Ad puteos aut alta greges ad stagna jubeto 
 
 Currentem ilignis potare canalibus undam ; 330 
 
 Aestibus at mediis umbrosam exquirere vallem, 
 
 Sicubi magna Jovis antiquo robore quercus 
 
 Ingentes tendat ramos, aut sicubi nigrum 
 
 Ilicibus crebris sacra nemus accubet umbra ; 
 
 Turn tenues dare rursus aquas, et pascere rui'sus 335 
 
 Solis ad occasum, cum frigidus aera vesper 
 
 Temperat, et saltus reficit jam roscida luna, 
 
 Litoraque alcyonen resonant, acalanthida dumi. 
 
 Quid tibi pastores Libyae, quid pascua versu 
 Prosequar, et raris liabitata mapalia tectis ? 340 
 
 Saepe diem noctemque, et totum ex ordine mensem 
 Pascitur itque pecus longa in deserta sine ullis 
 Hospitiis : tantum campi jacet. Omnia secum 
 Armentarius Afer agit, tectumque, laremque, 
 Armaque, Amyclaeumque canem, Cressamque pharetram ; 
 Non secus ac patriis acer Romanus in armis 346 
 
 Injusto sub fasce viam cum carpit, et hosti 
 Ante exspectatum positis stat in agmine castris. 
 
 At non, qua Scythiae gentes, Maeotiaque unda, 
 Turbidus et torquens flaventes Ister arenas, 350 
 
 Quaque redit medium Rhodope porrecta sub axem ; 
 Illic clausa tenent stabulis armenta ; neque ullae 
 Aut lierbae campo apparent aut arbore frondes : 
 Sed jacet aggeribus niveis informis et alto 
 
 
GEORGICON LIB. III. 61 
 
 Terra gelu late, septemque assurgit in ulnas ; 355 
 
 Semper hiems, semper spirantes frigora Cauri. 
 
 Turn sol pallentes haud unquam discutit umbras, 
 
 Nee cum invectus equis altum petit aethera, nee cum 
 
 Praecipitem Oceani rubro lavit aequore currum. 
 
 Concrescunt subitae currenti in numine crustae, 360 
 
 Undaque jam tergo ferratos sustinet orbes : 
 
 Puppibus ilia prius, patulis nunc hospita plaustris. 
 
 Aeraque dissiliunt vulgo, vestesque rigescunt 
 
 Indutae, caeduntque securibus humida vina, 
 
 Et totae solidam in glaciem vertere lacunae, 365 
 
 Stiriaque impexis induruit horrida barbis. 
 
 Interea toto non secius aere ninguit : 
 
 Intereunt pecudes, stant circumfusa pruinis 
 
 Corpora magna bourn ; confertoque agmine cervi 
 
 Torpent mole nova, et summis vix cornibus exstant. 3/0 
 
 Hos non immissis canibus, non cassibus ullis, 
 
 Puniceaeve agitant pavidos formidine pinnae : 
 
 Sed frustra oppositum trudentes pectore montem 
 
 Comminus obtruncant ferro, graviterque rudentes 
 
 Caedunt, et magno laeti clamore reportant. 3/5 
 
 Ipsi in defossis specubus secura sub alta 
 
 Otia agunt terra, congestaque robora, totasque 
 
 Advolvere focis ulmos, ignique dedere. 
 
 Hie noctem ludo ducunt, et pocula laeti 
 
 Fermento atque acidis imitantur vitea sorbis. 380 
 
 Talis Hyperboreo Septem subjecta trioni 
 
 Gens efirena virum Rhipaeo tunditur Euro, 
 
 Et pecudum fulvis velantur corpora setis. 
 
 Si tibi lanitium curae : primum aspera silva 
 Lappaeque tribulique absint ; fuge pabula laeta ; 385 
 
 Continuoque greges villis lege mollibus albos. 
 Ilium autem, quamvis aries sit candidus ipse, 
 Nigra subest udo tantum cui lingua palato, 
 Rejice, ne maculis infuscet vellera pullis 
 Nascentum; plenoque alium circumspice campo. 390 
 
 Munere sic niveo lanae, si credere dignum est, 
 Pan deus Arcadiae captam te, Luna, fefellit, 
 In nemora alta vocans; nee tu aspernata vocantem. 
 
 At, cui lactis amor, cytisum lotosque frequentes 
 
62 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Ipse maim salsasque ferat praesepibus herbas. 395 
 
 Hinc et amant fluvios magis, ac magis ubera tendunt, 
 Et salis occultum referunt in lacte saporem. 
 Multi jam excretos prohibent a matribus haedos, 
 Primaque ferratis praefigunt ora capistris. 
 Quod surgente die mulsere horisque diurnis, 400 
 
 Nocte premunt ; quod jam tenebris et sole cadente, 
 Sub lucem : exportans calathis adit oppida pastor ; 
 Aut parco sale contingunt, hiemique reponunt. 
 
 Nee tibi cura canum fuerit postrema : sed una 
 Veloces Spartae catulos acremque Molossum 405 
 
 Pasce sero pingui. Nunquam custodibus illis 
 Nocturnum stabulis furem incursusque luporum 
 Aut impacatos a tergo horrebis Iberos. 
 Saepe etiam cursu timidos agitabis onagros, 
 Et canibus leporem, canibus venabere damas ; 410 
 
 Saepe volutabris pulsos silvestribus apros 
 Latratu turbabis agens, montesque per altos 
 Ingentem clamore premes ad retia cervum. 
 
 Disce et odoratam stabulis accendere cedrum, 
 Galbaneoque agitare graves nidore chelydros. 415 
 
 Saepe sub immotis praesepibus aut mala tactu 
 Vipera delituit, .caelumque exterrita fugit ; 
 Aut tecto adsuetus coluber succedere et umbrae, 
 Pestis acerba bourn, pecorique adspergere virus, 
 Fovit humum. Cape saxa manu, cape robora, pastor, 420 
 Tollentemque minas et sibila colla tumentem 
 Dejice. Jamque fuga timidum caput abdidit alte, 
 Cum medii nexus extremaeque agmina caudae 
 Solvuntur, tardosque trahit sinus ultimus orbes. 
 Est etiam ille malus Calabris in saltibus anguis, 425 
 
 Squamea convolvens sublato pectore terga, 
 Atque notis longam maculosus grandibus ahum : 
 Qui, dum amnes ulli rumpuntur fontibus, et dum 
 Vere madent udo terrae ac pluvialibus austris, 
 Stagna colit ; ripisque habitans, hie piscibus atram 430 
 Improbus ingluviem ranisque loquacibus explet ; 
 Postquam exusta palus, terraeque ardore dehiscunt, 
 Exsilit in siccum, et nammantia lumina torquens 
 Saevit agris, asperque siti atque exterritus aestu. 
 
GEORGICON LIB. III. 63 
 
 Nec mihi turn molles sub divo carpere somnos, 435 
 
 Neu dorso nemoris libeat jacuisse per herbas, 
 Cum positis novus exuviis nitidusque juventa 
 Volvitur, aut catulos tectis aut ova relinquens, 
 Arduus ad solem et Unguis micat ore trisulcis. 
 
 Morborum quoque te caussas et signa docebo. 440 
 
 Turpis oves tentat scabies, ubi frigidus imber 
 Altius ad vivum persedit et horrida cano 
 Bruma gelu ; vel cum tonsis illotus adhaesit 
 Sudor, et hirsuti secuerunt corpora vepres. 
 Dulcibus idcirco nuviis pecus omne magistri 445 
 
 Perfundunt, udisque aries in gurgite villis 
 Mersatur, missusque secundo denuit amni ; 
 Aut tonsum tristi contingunt corpus amurca, 
 Et spurn as miscent argenti, vivaque sulfura, 
 Idaeasque pices, et pingues unguine ceras, 450 
 
 Scillamque, elleborosque graves, nigrumque bitumen. 
 Non tamen ulla magis praesens fortuna laborum est, » 
 Quam si quis ferro potuit rescindere summum 
 Ulceris os. Alitur vitium, vivitque tegendo, 
 Dum medicas adhibere manus aa\ vulnera pastor 455 
 
 Abnegat, aut meliora deos sedet omina poscens. 
 Quin etiam, ima dolor balantum lapsus ad ossa 
 Cum furit, atque artus depascitur arida febris, 
 Profuit incensos aestus avertere, et inter 
 Ima ferire pedis salientem sanguine venam : 460 
 
 Bisaltae quo more solent, acerque Gelonus, 
 Cum fugit in Rhodopen atque in deserta Getarum, 
 Et lac concretum cum sanguine potat equino. 
 Quam procul aut molli succedere saepius umbrae 
 Videris, aut summas carpentem ignavius herbas, 465 
 
 Extremamque sequi, aut medio procumbere campo 
 Pascentem, et serae solam decedere nocti : 
 Continuo culpam ferro compesce, prius quam 
 Dira per incautum serpant contagia vulgus. 
 Non tarn creber agens hiemem ruit aequore turbo, 470 
 Quam multae pecudum pestes. Nec singula morbi 
 Corpora corripiunt ; sed tota aestiva repente, 
 Spemque gregemque simul, cunctamque ab origine gentem. 
 Turn sciat, aerias Alpes et Norica si quis 
 
64 P. VIRGILII MARONTS 
 
 Castella in tumulis, et Iapydis arva Timavi, 4/5 
 
 Nunc quoque post tanto videat, desertaque regna 
 Pastorum, et longe saltus lateque vacantes. 
 
 Hie quondam morbo caeli miseranda coorta est 
 Tempestas, totoque autumni incanduit aestu, 
 Et genus omne neci pecudum dedit, omne ferarum ; 480 
 Corrupitque lacus ; infecit pabula tabo. 
 Nee via mortis erat simplex ; sed ubi ignea venis 
 Omnibus acta sitis miseros adduxerat artus, 
 Uursus abundabat nuidus liquor, omniaque in se 
 Ossa minutatim morbo collapsa trahebat. 485 
 
 Saepe in honore deum medio stans bostia ad aram, 
 Lanea dum nivea circumdatur infula vitta, 
 Inter cunctantes cecidit moribunda ministros ; 
 Aut si quam ferro mactaverat ante sacerdos, 
 Inde neque impositis ardent altaria fibris, 490 
 
 Nee responsa potest consultus reddere vates, 
 Ac vix suppositi tinguntur sanguine cultri, 
 Summaque jejuna sanie infuscatur arena. 
 Hinc laetis vituli vulgo moriuntur in herbis, 
 Et dulces animas plena ad praesepia reddunt. 495 
 
 Hinc canibus blandis rabies venit, et quatit aegros 
 Tussis anhela sues, ac faucibus an git obesis. 
 Labitur infelix, studiorum atque immemor herbae, 
 Victor equus, fontesque avertitur, et pede terram 
 Crebra ferit ; demissae aures ; incertus ibidem 500 
 
 Sudor ; et ille quidem morituris frigidus ; aret 
 Pellis, et ad tactum tractanti dura resistit. 
 Haec ante exitium primis dant signa diebus. 
 Sin in processu coepit crudescere morbus : 
 Turn vero ardentes oculi, atque attractus ab alto 5^5 
 
 Spiritus, inter dum gemitu gravis ; imaque longo 
 Ilia singultu tendunt ; it naribus ater 
 Sanguis, et obsessas fauces premit aspera lingua. 
 Profuit inserto latices infundere cornu 
 Lenaeos : ea visa salus morientibus una. 510 
 
 ]\Iox erat hoc ipsum exitio, fui'iisque refecti 
 Ardebant, ipsique suos, jam morte sub aegra, — 
 Di meliora piis, erroremque hostibus ilium ! — 
 Discissos nudis laniabant dentibus artus. 
 
GEORGICON LIB. III. 65 
 
 Ecce autem duro funians sub vomere taurus 515 
 
 Concidit, et mixtum spumis vomit ore cruorem, 
 
 Extremosque ciet gemitus. It tristis arator, 
 
 Moerentem abjungens fraterna morte juvencum, 
 
 Atque opere in medio defixa relinquit aratra. 
 
 Non umbrae altorum nemorum, non mollia possunt 520 
 
 Prata movere animum, non, qui per saxa volutus 
 
 Purior electro campum petit amnis ; at ima 
 
 Solvuntur latera, atque oculos stupor urget inertes, 
 
 Ad terramque nuit devexo pondere cervix. 
 
 Quid labor aut benefacta juvant ? quid vomere terras 525 
 
 Invertisse graves ? Atqui non Massica Bacchi 
 
 Munera, non illis epulae nocuere repostae : 
 
 Frondibus et victu pascuntur simplicis herbae ; 
 
 Pocula sunt fontes liquidi, atque exercita cursu 
 
 Flumina; nee somnos abrumpit cura salubres. 530 
 
 Tempore non alio dicunt regionibus illis 
 
 Quaesitas ad sacra boves Junonis, et uris 
 
 Imparibus ductos alta ad donaria currus. 
 
 Ergo aegre rastris terram rimantur, et ipsis 
 
 Unguibus infodiunt fruges, montesque per altos 535 
 
 Contenta cervice trabunt stridentia plaustra. 
 
 Non lupus insidias explorat ovilia circum, 
 
 Nee gregibus nocturnus obambulat ; acrior ilium 
 
 Cura domat ; timidi damae cervique fugaces 
 
 Nunc interque canes et circum tecta vagantur. 540 
 
 Jam maris immensi prolem, et genus omne natantum, 
 
 Litore in extremo, ceu naufraga corpora, fluctus 
 
 Proluit ; insolitae fugiunt in flumina phocae. 
 
 Interit et curvis frustra defensa latebris 
 
 Vipera, et attoniti squamis adstantibus bydri. 545 
 
 Ipsis est aer avibus non aequus, et illae 
 
 Praecipites alta vitam sub nube relinquunt. 
 
 Praeterea jam nee mutari pabula refert, 
 
 Quaesitaeque nocent artes ; cessere magistri, 
 
 Phillyi'ides Chiron, Amythaoniusque Melampus. 550 
 
 Saevit, et in lucem Stygiis emissa tenebris 
 
 Pallida Tisiphone Morbos agit ante Metumque, 
 
 Inque dies avidum surgens caput altius effert. 
 
 Balatu pecorum et crebris mugitibus amnes 
 
66 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Arentesque sonant ripae, collesque supini. 555 
 
 Jam que cater vatim dat stragem, atque aggerat ipsis 
 
 In stabulis turpi dilapsa cadavera tabo : 
 
 Donee humo tegere ae foveis abscondere discunt. 
 
 Nam neque erat coriis us us ; nee viscera quisquam 
 
 Aut undis abolere potest, aut vincere flamma. 560 
 
 Nee tondere quidem morbo illuvieque peresa 
 
 Vellera, nee telas possunt attingere putres 
 
 Verum etiam invisos si quis tentarat amictus, 
 
 Ardentes papulae atque immundus olentia sudor 
 
 Membra sequebatur ; nee longo deinde moranti 565 
 
 Tempore contactos artus sacer ignis edebat. 
 
 LIBER QUARTUS. 
 
 Protenus aerii mellis caelestia dona 
 
 Exsequar. Hanc etiam, Maecenas, adspice partem. 
 
 Admiranda tibi levium spectacula rerum, 
 
 Magnanimosque duces, totiusque ordine gentis 
 
 Mores, et studia, et populos, et proelia dicam. 5 
 
 In tenui labor ; at tenuis non gloria, si quern 
 
 Numina laeva sinunt, auditque vocatus Apollo. 
 
 Principio sedes apibus statioque petenda, 
 Quo neque sit ventis aditus, — nam pabula venti 
 Ferre domum prohibent, — neque oves haedique petulci 10 
 Floribus insultent, aut errans bucula campo 
 Decutiat rorem, et surgentes atterat berbas. 
 Absint et picti squalentia terga lacerti 
 Pinguibus a stabulis, meropesque, aliaeque volucres, 
 Et manibus Procne pectus signata cruentis. 15 
 
 Omnia nam late vast ant, ipsasque volantes 
 Ore ferunt dukem nidis immitibus escam. 
 At liquidi fontes et stagna virentia musco 
 Adsint, et tenuis, fugiens per gramina, rivus ; 
 Palmaque vestibulum aut ingens oleaster inumbret, 20 
 Ut, cum prima novi ducent examina reges 
 Vere suo, ludetque favis emissa juventus, 
 
GEORGICON LIB. IV. 67 
 
 Vicina invitet decedere ripa calori, 
 Obviaque liospitiis teneat.frondentibus arbos. 
 In medium, seu stabit iners, seu profluet; humor, 25 
 
 Transversas salices et grandia conjice saxa : 
 Pontibus ut crebris possint consistere, et alas 
 Pandere ad aestivum solem, si forte morantes 
 Sparserit aut praeceps Neptuno immerserit Eurus. 
 Haec circum casiae virides, et olentia late 30 
 
 Serpylla, et graviter spirantis copia thymbrae 
 Floreat, irriguumque bibant violaria fontem. 
 ^ Ipsa autem, seu corticibus tibi suta cavatis, 
 Seu lento fuerint alvearia vimine texta, 
 Angustos habeant aditus : nam frigore mella 35 
 
 Cogit hiems, eademque calor liquefacta remittit. 
 Utraque vis apibus pariter metuenda ; neque illae 
 Nequidquam in tectis certatim tenuia cera 
 Spiramenta linunt, fucoque et floribus oras 
 Explent, collectumque haec ipsa ad munera gluten 40 
 
 Et visco et Phrygiae servant pice lentius Idae. 
 Saepe etiam effossis, si vera est fama, latebris 
 Sub terra fovere larem, penitusque repertae 
 Pumicibusquecavis, exesaeque arboris antro. 
 Tu tamen et levi rimosa cubilia limo 45 
 
 Unge fovens circum, et raras super injice frondes. 
 Neu propius tectis taxum sine, neve rubentes 
 Ure foco cancros ; altae neu crede paludi, 
 Aut ubi odor coeni gravis, aut ubi concava pulsu 
 Saxa sonant, vocisque offensa resultat imago. 50 
 
 Quod superest, ubi pulsam hiemem Sol aureus egit 
 Sub terras, caelumque aestiva luce reclusit, 
 lllae continuo saltus silvasque peragrant, 
 Purpureosque metunt flores, et numina libant 
 Summa leves. Hinc nescio qua dulcedine laetae 55 
 
 Progeniem nidosque fovent ; hinc arte recentes 
 Excudunt ceras, et mella tenacia fingunt., 
 Hinc ubi jam emissum caveis ad sidera caeli 
 Nare per aestatem liquidam suspexeris agmen, 
 Obscuramque trahi vento mirabere nubem, 60 
 
 Contemplator ; aquas dulces et frondea semper 
 Tecta petunt. Hue tu jussos adsperge sapores, 
 
68 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Trita melisphylla, et cerinthae ignobile grarnen ; 
 Tinnitusque cie, et Matris quate cymbala circum. 
 Ipsae consident medicatis sedibus ; ipsae 65 
 
 Intima more suo sese in cunabula condent. 
 
 Sin autem ad pugnam exierint — nam saepe duobus 
 Regibus incessit magno discordia motu, 
 Continnoque animos vulgi et trepidantia bello 
 Corda licet longe praesciscere ; namque morantes 70 
 
 Martius ille aeris ranci canor increpat, et vox 
 Auditur fractos sonitus imitata tubarum. 
 Turn trepidae inter se coeunt, pennisque coruscant, 
 Spiculaque exacunnt rostris, aptantque lacertos, 
 Et circa regem atque ipsa ad praetoria densae 75 
 
 Miscentur, magnisque vocant clamoribus hostem. 
 Ergo ubi ver nactae sudum camposque patentes, 
 Erumpunt portis ; concurritur ; aethere in alto 
 Fit sonitus, magnum mixtae glomerantur in orbem, 
 Praecipitesque cadunt. Non densior aere grando, 80 
 
 Nee de concussa tantum pluit ilice glandis. 
 Ipsi per medias acies, insignibus alis, 
 Ingentes animos angusto in pectore versant, 
 Usque adeo obnixi non cedere, dum gravis aut hos 
 Aut hos versa fuga victor dare terga subegit. 85 
 
 Hi motus animorum atque haec certamina tanta 
 Pulveris exigui jactu compressa quiescunt. 
 
 Verum ubi ductores acie revocaveris ambo : 
 Deterior qui visus, eum, ne prodigus obsit, 
 Dede neci ; melior vacua sine regnet in aula. 90 
 
 Alter erit maculis auro squalentibus ardens ; 
 Nam duo sunt genera ; hie melior ; insignis et ore, 
 Et rutilis clarus squamis : ille horridus alter 
 Desidia, latamque trahens inglorius alvum. 
 Ut binae regum fades, ita corpora plebis. 95 
 
 Namque aliae turpes horrent, ceu pulvere ab alto 
 Cum venit, et sicco terrain spuit ore viator 
 Aridus : elucent aliae, et fulgore coruscant 
 Ardentes auro, et paribus lita corpora guttis. 
 Haec potior suboles ; hinc caeli tempore certo 100 
 
 Dulcia mella premes ; nee tantum dulcia, quantum 
 Et liquida et durum Bacchi domitura saporem. 
 
GEORGICON LIB. IV. W 
 
 At cum incerta volant, caeloque examina ludunt, 
 
 Contemnuntque favos, et frigida tecta relinquunt : 
 
 Instabiles animos ludo prohibebis inani. 105 
 
 Nee magnus prohibere labor. Tu regibus alas 
 
 Eripe. Non illis quisquam cunctantibus altum 
 
 Ire iter, aut castris audebit vellere signa. 
 
 Invitent croceis balantes floribus horti, 
 
 Et custos furum atque avium cum falce saligna 110 
 
 Hellespontiaci servet tutela Priapi. 
 
 Ipse tnymum pinosque ferens de montibus altis, 
 
 Tecta serat late circum, cui talia curae ; 
 
 Ipse labore manum duro terat ; ipse feraces 
 
 Figat humo plantas et ^micos irriget imbres. ■ — 115 
 
 Atque equidem, extifemo ni jam sub fine laborum 
 
 Vela traham, et terris festinem advertere proram, 
 
 Forsitan et, pingues hortos quae cura colendi 
 
 Ornaret, canerem, biferique rosaria Paesti ; 
 
 Quoque modo potis gauderent intuba rivis ; ,120 
 
 Et virides apio ripae, tortusque per herbam 
 
 Cresceret in ventrem cucumis ; nee sera comantem 
 Narcissum, aut flexi tacuissem vimen acanthi, 
 
 Pallentesque ederas, et amantes litora myrtos. 
 
 Namque sub Oebaliae memini me turribus altis, 125 
 
 Qua niger humectat flaventia culta Galaesus, 
 
 Corycium vidisse senem, cui pauca relicti 
 
 Jugera ruris erant ; nee fertilis ilia juvencis, 
 
 Nee pecori opportuna seges, nee commoda Baccho. 
 
 Hie rarum tamen in dumis olus albaque circum 130 
 
 Lilia verbenasque premens vescumque papaver, 
 
 Regum^aequabat opes animis ; seraque revertens 
 
 Nocte domum dapibus mensas onerabat inemtis. 
 
 Primus vere rosam atque autumno carpere poma ; 
 
 Et cum tristis hiems etiamnum frigore saxa 135 
 
 Rumperet, et glacie cursus frenaret aquarum, 
 
 Ille comam mollis jam tondebat hyacinthi, 
 
 Aestatem increpitans seram zephyrosque morantes. 
 
 Ergo apibus fetis idem atque examine multo 
 
 Primus abundare, et spumantia cogere pressis 140 
 
 Mella favis ; illi tiliae, atque uberrima pinus ; 
 
 Quotque in iiore novo pomis se fertilis arbos 
 
70 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Induerat, totidem autumno matura tenebat. 
 
 Ille etiam seras in versum distulit ulmos, 
 
 Eduramque pirum, et spinos jam pruna ferentes, 145 
 
 Jamque ministrantem platanum potantibus umbras. 
 
 Verum haec ipse equidem spatiis exclusus iniquis 
 
 Praetereo, atque aliis post me memoranda relinquo. 
 
 Nunc age, naturas apibus quas Juppiter ipse 
 Addidit, expediam ; pro qua mercede, canoros 150 
 
 Curetum sonitus crepitantiaque aera secutae, 
 Dictaeo caeli regem pavere sub antro. 
 Solae communes natos consortia tecta 
 Urbis habent, magnisque agitant sub legibus aevum; 
 Et patriam solae et certos novere penates; 155 
 
 Venturaeque hiemis memores aestate laborem 
 Experiuntur, et in medium quaesita reponunt. 
 Namque aliae victu invigilant, et foedere pacto 
 Exercentur agris; pars intra saepta domorum 
 Narcissi lacrimam, et lentum de cortice gluten 160 
 
 Prima favis ponunt fundamina ; deinde tenaces 
 Suspendunt ceras ; aliae, spem gentis, adultos 
 Educunt fetus ; aliae ptu'issima mella 
 Stipant et liquido distendunt nectare cellas. 
 Sunt, quibus ad portas cecidit custodia sorti; 165 
 
 Inque vicem speculantur aquas et nubila caeli ; 
 Aut onera accipiunt venientum, aut agmine facto 
 Ignavum, fucos, pecus a praesepibus arcent. 
 Fervet opus, redolentque thymo fragrantia mella 
 Ac veluti, lentis Cyclopes fulmina massis 170 
 
 Cum properant, alii taurinis follibus auras 
 Accipiunt redduntque, alii stridentia tinguunt 
 Aera lacu ; gemit impositis incudibus Aetna ; 
 Illi inter sese magna vi brachia tollunt 
 In numerum, versantque tenaci forcipe ferrum : 1 'b 
 
 Non aliter, si parva licet componere magnis, 
 Cecropias innatus apes amor urget babendi, 
 Munere quamque suo. Grandaevis oppida curae, 
 Et munire favos, et daedala fingere tecta. 
 At fessae multa referunt se nocte minores, ISO 
 
 Crura thymo plenae : pascuntur et arbuta passim, 
 Et glaucas salices, casiamque, crocumque rubentem, 
 
GEORGICON LIB. IV. 71 
 
 Et pinguem tiliam, et ferrugineos hyacinthos. 
 
 Omnibus una quies operum, labor omnibus unus. 
 
 Mane ruunt portis ; nusquam mora; rursus easdem 185 
 
 Vesper ubi e pastu tandem decedere campis 
 
 Admonuit, turn tecta petunt, turn corpora curant. 
 
 Fit sonitus, mussantque oras et limina circum. 
 
 Post, ubi jam thalamis se composuere, siletur 
 
 In noctem, fessosque sopor suus occupat artus. 190 
 
 Nee vero a stabulis pluvia impendente recedunt 
 
 Longius, aut credunt caelo adventantibus Euris ; 
 
 Sed circum tutae sub moenibus urbis aquantur, 
 
 Excursusque breves tentant, et saepe lapillos, 
 
 Ut cymbae instabiles fluctu jactante saburram, 196 
 
 Tollunt ; his sese per inania nubila librant. 
 
 Ilium adeo placuisse apibus mirabere morem, 
 
 Quod nee concubitu indulgent, nee corpora segnes 
 
 In Venerem solvunt, aut fetus nixibus edunt : 
 
 Verum ipsae e foliis natos et suavibus herbis 200 
 
 Ore legunt ; ipsae regem parvosque Quirites 
 
 Sufficiunt, aulasque et cerea regna refingunt ; 
 
 *Saepe etiam duris errando in cotibus alas 
 
 *Attrivere, ultroque animam sub fasce dedere. 
 
 *Tantus amor norum, et generandi gloria mellis. 205 
 
 Ergo ipsas quamvis angusti terminus aevi 
 
 Excipiat : neque enim plus septima ducitur aestas ; 
 
 At genus immortale manet, multosque per annos 
 
 Stat Fortuna domus, et avi numerantur avorum. 
 
 Praeterea regem non sic Aegyptos, et ingens 210 
 
 Lydia, nee populi Parthorum, aut Medus Hydaspes, 
 
 Observant. Rege incolumi mens omnibus una est ; 
 
 Amisso rupere fidem ; constructaque mella 
 
 Diripuere ipsae, et crates solvere favorum. 
 
 Ille operum custos; ilium admirantur, et omnes 215 
 
 Circumstant fremitu denso, stipantque frequentes ; 
 
 Et saepe attollunt humeris, et corpora bello 
 
 Objectant, pulchramque petunt per vulnera mortem. 
 
 His quidam signis atque haec exempla secuti, 
 Esse apibus partem divinae mentis, et haustus 220 
 
 Aetberios dixere. Deum namque ire per omnes 
 Terrasque, tractusque maris, caelumque profundum 
 
72 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Hinc pecudes, armenta, viros, genus onine ferarum 
 Quemque sibi tenues nascentem arcessere vitas ; 
 Scilicet hue reddi deinde ac resoluta referri 225 
 
 Omnia ; nee morti esse locum, sed viva volare 
 Sideris in numerum, atque alto succedere caelo. 
 Si quando sedem augustam servataque mella 
 Thesauris relines : prius haustu sparsus aquarum 
 Ora fove, fumosque manu praetende sequaces. 230 
 
 Bis gravidos cogunt fetus, duo tempora messis, 
 Taygete simul os terris ostendit honestum 
 Plias, et Oceani spretos pede repulit amnes ; 
 Aut eadem sidus fugiens ubi Piscis aquosi 
 Tristior hibernas caelo descendit in undas. 235 
 
 Illis ira modum supra est, laesaeque venenum 
 Morsibus inspirant, et spicula caeca relinquunt 
 Affixae venis, animasque in vulnere ponunt. 
 Sin, duram metues hiemem, parcesque futuro, 
 Contusosque animos et res miserabere fractas : 240 
 
 At suffire thymo, cerasque recidere inanes, 
 Quis dubitet ? Nam saepe favos ignotus adedit 
 Stellio, et lucifugis congesta cubilia blattis ; 
 Immunisque sedens aliena ad pabula fucus ; 
 
 Aut asper crabro imparibus se immiscuit armis ; 245 
 
 Aut dirum, tineae, genus, aut invisa Minervae 
 
 Laxos in foribus suspendit aranea casses. 
 
 Quo magis exbaustae fuerint, boc acrius omnes 
 
 Incumbent generis lapsi sarcire ruinas, 
 
 Complebuntque foros, et floribus horrea texent. 250 
 
 Si vero, quoniam casus apibus quoque nostros 
 
 Vita tulit, tristi languebunt corpora morbo ; 
 
 Quod jam non dubiis poteris cognoscere signis : 
 
 Continuo est aegris alius color ; borrida vultum 
 
 Deformat macies ; turn corpora luce carentum 255 
 
 Exportant tectis, et tristia funera ducunt ; 
 
 Aut illae pedibus connexae ad limina pendent, 
 
 Aut intus clausis cunctantur in aedibus omnes, 
 
 Ignavaeque fame et contracto frigore pigrae. 
 
 Turn sonus auditur gravior, tractimque susuiTant : 260 
 
 Frigidus ut quondam silvis immurmurat Auster ; 
 
 Ut mare sollicitum stridet refluentibus undis ; 
 
GEORGICON LIB. IV. 73 
 
 Aestuat ut clausis rapidus fornacibus ignis. 
 
 Hie jam galbaneos suadebo incendere odores, 
 
 Mellaque arundineis inferre canalibus, ultro 265 
 
 Hortantem et fessas ad pabula nota vocantem. 
 
 Proderit et tunsum gallae admiscere saporem, 
 
 Arentesque rosas, aut igni pinguia multo 
 
 Defruta, vel Psitbia passos de vite racemos, 
 
 Cecropiumque tbymum, et grave olentia centaurea. 270 
 
 Est etiam flos in pratis, cui nomen amello 
 
 Fecere agricolae, facilis quaerentibus berba : 
 
 Namque uno ingentem tollit de cespite silvam, 
 
 Aureus ipse ; sed in foliis, quae plurima circum 
 
 Funduntur, violae sublucet purpura nigrae j 275 
 
 *Saepe deum nexis ornatae torquibus arae ; 
 
 Asper in ore sapor ; tonsis in vallibus ilium 
 
 Pastores et curva legunt prope flumina Mellae. 
 
 Hujus odorato radices incoque Baccbo, 
 
 Pabulaque in foribus plenis appone canistris. 280 
 
 Sed, si quern proles subito defecerit omnis, 
 Nee, genus unde novae stirpis revocetur babebit, 
 Tempus, et Arcadii memoranda inventa magistri 
 Pandere, quoque modo caesis jam saepe juvencis 
 Insincerus apes tulerit cruor. Altius omnem 285 
 
 Expediam prima repetens ab origine famam. 
 Nam qua Pellaei gens fortunata Canopi 
 Accolit effuso stagnantem flumine Nilum, 
 Et circum pictis vebitur sua rura faselis ; 
 *Quaque pbaretratae vicinia Persidis urget, 290 
 
 *Et diversa ruens septem discurrit in ora 
 *Usque coloratis amnis devexus ab Indis, 
 *Et viridem Aegyptum nigra fecundat arena, 
 Omnis in bac certain regio jacit arte salutem. 
 Exiguus primum, atque ipsos contractus ad usus, 295 
 
 Eligitur locus. Hunc angustique imbrice tecti 
 Parietibusque premunt artis, et quatuor addunt, 
 Quatuor a ventis, obliqua luce fenestras. 
 Turn vitulus, bima curvans jam cornua fronte, 
 Quaeritur : buic geminae nares et spiritus oris 300 
 
 Multa reluctanti obstruitur, plagisque peremto 
 Tunsa per integram solvuntur viscera pellem. 
 
 E 
 
74 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Sic positum in clauso linquunt, et ramea costis 
 
 Subjiciunt fragmenta, thymum, casiasque recentes. 
 
 Hoc geritur, zephyris primum impellentibus undas, 305 
 
 Ante novis rubeant quam prata coloribus, ante 
 
 Garrula quam tignis nidum suspendat hirundo. 
 
 Interea teneris tepefactus in ossibus humor 
 
 Aestuat, et visenda modis animalia miris, 
 
 Trunca pedum primo, mox et stridentia pennis, 310 
 
 Miscentur, tenuemque magis magis aera carpunt : 
 
 Donee, ut aestivis effusus nubibus imber, 
 
 Erupere ; aut ut, nervo pulsante, sagittae, 
 
 Prima leves ineunt si quando proelia Parthi. 
 
 Quis deus banc, Musae, quis nobis extudit artem? 315 
 Unde nova ingressus bominum experientia cepit ? 
 Pastor Aristaeus fugiens Peneia Tempe, 
 Amissis, ut fama, apibus morboque fameque, 
 Tristis ad extremi sacrum caput adstitit amnis, 
 Multa querens, atque bac affatus voce parentem : 320 
 
 Mater Cyrene, mater, quae gurgitis bujus 
 Ima tenes, quid me praeclara stirpe deorum — 
 Si modo, quern perhibes, pater est Tbymbraeus Apollo — 
 Invisum fatis genuisti ? aut quo tibi nostri 
 Pulsus amor ? quid me caelum sperare jubebas ? 325 
 
 En etiam hunc ipsum vitae mortalis honorem, 
 Quern mibi vix frugum et pecudum custodia sollers 
 Omnia tentanti extuderat, te matre, relinquo. 
 Quin age, et ipsa manu felices erue silvas ; 
 Fer stabulis inimicum ignem, atque intei*fice messes ; 330 
 Ure sata, et validam in vites molire bipennem ; 
 Tanta meae si te ceperunt taedia laudis. 
 At mater sonitum tbalamo sub fluminis alti 
 Sensit. Earn circum Milesia vellera Nympbae 
 Carpebant, byali saturo fucata colore ; 335 
 
 Drymoque, Xantboque, Ligeaque, Phyllodoceque, 
 Caesariem effusae nitidam per Candida colla ; 
 [Nesaee, Spioque, Thaliaque, Cymodoceque,] 
 Cydippeque, et nava Lycorias ; altera virgo, 
 Altera turn primos Lucinae experta labores ; 340 
 
 Clioque et Beroe soror, Oceanitides ambae, 
 Ambae auro, pictis incinctae pellibus ambae ; 
 
 
GEORGICON LIB. IV. 75 
 
 Atque Ephyre, atque Opis, et Asia Deiopea ; 
 Et tandem positis velox Arethusa sagittis. 
 Inter quas curam Clymene narrabat inanem 345 
 
 Vulcani, Martisque dolos et dulcia furta; 
 Atque Chao densos divum numerabat amores. 
 Carmine quo captae dum fusis mollia pensa 
 Devolvunt, iterum maternas impulit aures 
 Luctus Aristaei, vitreisque sedilibus omnes 350 
 
 Obstupuere ; sed ante alias Arethusa sorores 
 Prospiciens, summa flavum caput extulit unda, 
 Et procul : gemitu non frustra exterrita tanto, 
 Cyrene soror, ipse tibi, tua maxima cura, 
 Tristis A.ristaeus Penei genitoris ad undam 355 
 
 Stat lacrimans, et te crudelem nomine dicit. 
 Huic percussa nova mentem formidine mater, 
 Due, age, due ad nos ; fas illi limina divum 
 Tangere, ait. Simul alta jubet discedere late 
 Flumina, qua juvenis gressus inferret. At ilium 360 
 
 Curvata in montis faciem circumstetit unda, 
 Accepitque sinu vasto, misitque sub amnem. 
 Jamque domum mirans genetricis, et humida regna, 
 Speluncisque lacus clausos, lucosque sonantes, 
 Ibat, et ingenti motu stupefactus aquarum, 365 
 
 Omnia sub magna labentia numina terra 
 Spectabat diversa locis, Phasinque, Lycumque, 
 Et caput, unde altus primum se erumpit Enipeus, 
 Unde pater Tiberinus, et unde Aniena fluenta, 
 Saxosumque sonans Hypanis, Mysusque Caicus, 370 
 
 Et gemina auratus taurino cornua vultu 
 Eridanus : quo non alius per pinguia culta 
 In mare purpureum violentior effluit amnis. 
 Postquam est in thalami pendentia pumice tecta 
 Perventum, et nati fletus cognovit inanes 375 
 
 Cyrene : manibus liquidos dant ordine fontes 
 Germanae, tonsisque ferunt mantelia villis. 
 Pars epulis onerant mensas, et plena reponunt 
 Pocula; Pancbaeis adolescunt ignibus arae. 
 Et mater, Cape Maeonii carehesia Bacchi ; 380 
 
 Oceano libemus, ait. Simul ipsa precatur 
 Oceanumque patrem rerum, Nympbasque sorores, 
 
 e2 
 
76 P. VIRGILII MARONIS 
 
 Centum quae silvas, centum quae flumina servant. 
 
 Ter liquido ardentem perfudit nectare Vestam, 
 
 Ter namma ad summum tecti subjecta reluxit. 385 
 
 Omine quo firmans animum, sic incipit ipsa : 
 
 Est in Carpathio Neptuni gurgite vates 
 Caeruleus Proteus, magnum qui piscibus aequor 
 Et juncto bipedum curru metitur equorum. 
 Hie nunc Emathiae portus patriamque revisit 390 
 
 Pallenen. Hunc et Nymphae veneramur, et ipse 
 Grandaevus Nereus ; novit namque omnia vates, 
 Quae sint, quae fuerint, quae mox ventura trahantur. 
 Quippe ita Neptuno visum est, immania cujus 
 Armenta et turpes pascit sub gurgite pbocas. 395 
 
 Hie tibi, nate, prius vinclis capiundus, ut omnem 
 Expediat morbi caussam, eventusque secundet. 
 Nam sine vi non ulla dabit praecepta, neque ilium 
 Orando flectes : vim duram et vincula capto 
 Tende ; doli circum haec demum frangentur inanes. 400 
 Ipsa ego te, medios cum sol accenderit aestus, 
 Cum sitiunt herbae, et pecori jam gratior umbra est, 
 In secreta senis ducam, quo fessus ab undis 
 Se recipit; facile ut somno aggrediare jacentem. 
 Verum, ubi correptum manibus vinclisque tenebis, 405 
 Turn variae eludent species atque ora ferarum. 
 Fiet enim subito sus horridus, atraque tigris, 
 Squamosusque draco, et fulva cervice leaena, 
 Aut acrem nammae sonitum dabit, atque ita vinclis 
 Excidet, aut in aquas tenues dilapsus abibit. 410 
 
 Sed, quanto ille magis formas se vertet in omnes, 
 Tanto, nate, magis contende tenacia vincla, 
 Donee talis erit mutato corpore, qualem 
 Videris, incepto tegeret cum limiina somno. 
 
 Haec ait, et liquidum ambrosiae diffundit odorem, 415 
 Quo totum nati corpus perduxit ; at illi 
 Dulcis compositis spiravit crinibus aura, 
 Atque habilis membris venit vigor. Est specus ingens 
 Exesi latere in montis, quo plurinia vento 
 Cogitui' inque sinus scindit sese unda reductos, 420 
 
 Deprensis olim statio tutissima nautis ; 
 Intus se vasti Proteus tegit objice saxi. 
 
 
GEORGICON LIB. IV. 77 
 
 Hie juvenem in latebris aversum a lumine Nympha 
 
 Collocat ; ipsa procul nebulis obscura resistit. 
 
 Jam rapidus torrens sitientes Sirius Indos 425 
 
 Ardebat ; caelo et medium sol igneus orbem 
 
 Hauserat ; arebant herbae, et cava numina siccis 
 
 Faucibus ad limum radii tepefacta coquebant : 
 
 Cum Proteus consueta petens e nuctibus antra 
 
 Ibat. Eum vasti circum gens humida ponti 430 
 
 Exsultans rorem late dispersit amarum. 
 
 Sternunt se somno diversae in litore phocae ; 
 
 Ipse, velut stabuli custos in montibus olim, 
 
 Vesper ubi e pastu vitulos ad tecta reducit, 
 
 Auditisque lupos acuunt balatibus agni, 435 
 
 Considit scopulo medius, numerumque recenset. 
 
 Cujus Aristaeo quoniam est oblata facultas, 
 
 Vix defessa senem passus componere membra, 
 
 Cum clamore ruit magno, manicisque jacentem 
 
 Occupat. Hie suae contra non immemor artis, 440 
 
 Omnia transformat sese in miracula rerum, 
 
 Ignemque, borribilemque feram, nuviumque liquentem. 
 
 Verum, ubi nulla fugam reperit fallacia, victus 
 
 In sese redit, atque hominis tandem ore locutus : 
 
 Nam quis te, juvenum confidentissime, nostras 445 
 
 Jussit adire domus ? quidve hinc petis ? inquit. At ille : 
 
 Scis, Proteu, scis ipse ; neque est te fallere quidquam ; 
 
 Sed tu desine velle. Deum praecepta secuti 
 
 Venimus, hinc lap sis quaesitum oracula rebus. 
 
 Tantum effatus. Ad haec vates vi denique multa 450 
 
 Ardentes oculos intorsit lumine glauco, 
 
 Et graviter frendens, sic fatis ora resolvit : 
 
 Non te nullius exercent numinis irae ; 
 Magna luis commissa : tibi has miserabilis Orpheus 
 Haud quaquam ob meritum poenas, ni fata resistant, 455 
 Suscitat ; et rapta graviter pro conjuge saevit. 
 Ilia quidem, dum te fugeret per numina praeceps, 
 Immanem ante pedes hydrum moritura puella 
 Servantem ripas alta non vidit in herba. 
 At chorus aequalis Dryadum clamore supremos 460 
 
 Implerunt montes ; flerunt Rhodopeiae arces, 
 Altaque Pangaea, et Ehesi Mavortia tellus, 
 
78 P. VIRGILIl MA.RONIS 
 
 Atque Getae, atque Hebrus, et Actias Orithyia. 
 
 Ipse, cava solans aegrum testudine amorem, 
 
 Te, dulcis conjux, te solo in litore secum, 465 
 
 Te veniente die, te decedente canebat. 
 
 Taenarias etiam fauces, alta ostia Ditis, 
 
 Et caligantem nigra formidine lucum 
 
 Ingressus, Manesque adiit, regemque tremendum, 
 
 Nesciaque humanis precibus mansnescere corda. 4/0 
 
 At cantu commotae Erebi de sedibus imis 
 
 Umbrae ibant tenues, simulacraque luce carentum ; 
 
 Quam multa in foliis avium se millia condunt, 
 
 Vesper ubi aut bibernus agit de montibus imber : 
 
 Matres, atque viri, defunctaque corpora vita 4 "5 
 
 Magnanimum heroum, pueri, innuptaeque puellae, 
 
 Impositique rogis juvenes ante ora parentum : 
 
 Quos circum limus niger, et deformis arundo 
 
 Cocyti tardaque palus inamabilis unda 
 
 Alligat, et no vies Styx interfusa coercet. 480 
 
 Quin ipsae stupuere domus atque intima Lethi 
 
 Tartara, caeruleosque implexae crinibus angues 
 
 Eumenides, tenuitque inbians tria Cerberus ora, 
 
 Atque Ixionii vento rota constitit orbis. 
 
 Jamque pedem referens casus evaserat omnes, 485 
 
 Redditaque Eurydice superas veniebat ad auras, 
 
 Pone sequens ; namque banc dederat Proserpina legem ; 
 
 Cum subita incautum dementia cepit amantem, 
 
 Ignoscenda quidem, scirent si ignoscere Manes ; 
 
 Restitit, Eurydicenque suam jam luce sub ipsa 490 
 
 Immemor, heu ! victusque animi respexit. Ibi omnis 
 
 Efiusus labor, atque immitis rupta tyi'anni 
 
 Foedera, terque fragor stagnis auditus Avernis. 
 
 Ilia, Quis.et me, inquit, miseram et te perdidit, Orpheu, 
 
 Quis tantus furor ? En iteruni crudelia retro 495 
 
 Fata vocant, conditque natantia lumina somnus. 
 
 Jamque vale. Feror ingenti circumdata nocte, 
 
 Invalidasque tibi ten dens, beu ! non tua, palm as ! 
 
 Dixit, et ex oculis subito, ceu fumus in am*as 
 
 Commixtus tenues, fugit diversa ; neque ilium, 500 
 
 Prensantem nequidquam umbras, et multa volentem 
 
 Dicere, praeterea vidit ; nee portitor Orci 
 
GEORGICON LIB. IV. 79 
 
 Amplius objectam passus transire paludem. 
 
 Quid faceret ? quo se rapta bis conjuge ferret ? 
 
 Quo fletu Manes, qua Numina voce moveret ? 505 
 
 Ilia quidem Stygia nabat jam frigida cymba. 
 
 Septem ilium totos perhibent ex ordine menses 
 
 Kupe sub aeria deserti ad Strymonis undam 
 
 Flevisse, et gelidis haec evolvisse sub antris, 
 
 Mulcentem tigres, et agentem carmine quercus : 510 
 
 Qualis populea maerens pbilomela sub umbra 
 
 Amissos queritur fetus, quos durus arator 
 
 Observans nido implumes detraxit ; at ilia 
 
 Flet noctem, ramoque sedens miserabile carmen 
 
 Integrat, et maestis late loca questibus implet. 515 
 
 Nulla Venus, non ulli animum flexere hymenaei. 
 
 Solus Hyperboreas glacies, Tanaimque nivalem, 
 
 Arvaque Rhipaeis nunquam viduata pruinis 
 
 Lustrabat, raptam Eurydicen, atque irrita Ditis 
 
 Dona querens : spretae Ciconum quo munere matres, 520 
 
 Inter sacra deum nocturnique orgia Bacchi, 
 
 Discerptum latos juvenem sparsere per agros. 
 
 Turn quoque, marmorea caput a cervice revulsum 
 
 Gurgite cum medio portans Oeagrius Hebrus 
 
 Volveret, Eurydicen vox ipsa et frigida lingua, 525 
 
 Ah miseram Eurydicen ! anima fugiente vocabat ; 
 
 Eurydicen toto referebant numine ripae. 
 
 Haec Proteus ; et se jactu dedit aequor in altum ; 
 Quaque dedit, spumantem undam sub vertice tor sit. 
 At non Cyrene ; namque ultro affata timentem : 530 
 
 Nate, licet tristes animo deponere curas. 
 Haec omnis morbi caussa ; hinc miserabile Nymphae, 
 Cum quibus ilia choros lucis agitabat in altis, 
 Exitium misere apibus. Tu munera supplex 
 Tende, petens pacem, et faciles venerare Napaeas. 535 
 
 Namque dabunt veniam votis, irasque remittent. 
 Sed, modus orandi qui sit, prius ordine dicam. 
 Quatuor eximios praestanti corpore tauros, 
 Qui tibi nunc viridis depascunt summa Lycaei, 
 Delige, et intacta totidem cervice juvencas. 540 
 
 Quatuor his aras alta ad delubra dearum 
 Constitue et sacrum jugulis demitte cruorem ; 
 
80 P. VIRGILII MARONIS GEORGICON LIB. IV. 
 
 Corporaque ipsa bourn frondoso desere lnco. 
 
 Post, ubi nona suos Aurora ostenderit ortus, 
 
 Inferias Orphei Lethaea papavera mittes, 545 
 
 Et nigram mactabis ovem, lucumque revises. 
 
 *Placatam Eurydicen vitula venerabere caesa. 
 
 Haud mora ; continuo matris praecepta facessit. 
 Ad delubra venit ; monstratas excitat aras ; 
 Quatuor eximios praestanti corpore tauros 550 
 
 Ducit, et intacta totidem cervice juvencas. 
 Post, ubi nona suos Aurora induxerat ortus, 
 Inferias Orphei mittit, lucumque revisit. 
 Hie vero subitum ac dictu mirabile monstrum 
 Adspiciunt, liquefacta bourn per viscera toto 555 
 
 Stridere apes utero, et ruptis effervere costis j 
 Immensasque trahi nubes; jamque arbore summa 
 Connuere, et lentis uvam demittere ramis. 
 
 Haec super arvorum cultu pecorumque canebam, 
 Et super arboribus, Caesar dum magnus ad altum 560 
 
 Fulminat Euphraten bello, victorque volentes 
 Per populos dat jura, viamque affectat Olympo. 
 Illo Virgilium me tempore dulcis alebat 
 Parthenope, studiis florentem ignobilis oti : 
 Carmina qui lusi pastorum, audaxque juventa, 565 
 
 Tityre, te patulae cecini sub tegmine fagi. 
 
NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 THE BUCOLICS. 
 
 Eclogue I. — Tityrus. 
 
 Argument. 
 
 A shepherd named Tityrus, while seated beneath a spread- 
 ing beech-tree, where he is amusing himself with playing on 
 his pipe and singing the praises of his mistress Amaryllis, is 
 accosted by a neighbouring swain named Meliboeus, who 
 having been turned out of his lands, is driving his flock of 
 goats before him, uncertain whither to direct his course. 
 He inquires of Tityrus how he had been able to escape the 
 general calamity, and when informed, congratulates him on 
 his good fortune, contrasting with his felicity his own hapless 
 condition. Evening comes on, and Tityrus invites Meliboeus 
 to stop for the night with him in his cottage. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 1-5. patulae. As we shall show hereafter, this, like most 
 words of the same termination, is a participial. It therefore 
 differs little from patens. Servius however makes a distinc- 
 tion, saying that the former was used of things which spread 
 naturally, as nares, arbor, crux ; the latter, of such as opened 
 and shut, as ostium, oculi. Statius seems not to have known 
 this distinction, for he says (Theb. i. 588),patulo caelum ore 
 trahentem, and (iv. 792) patulo trahit ore diem, speaking in 
 
 B 
 
2 BUCOLICS. 
 
 both places of a child. — tegmine, a contraction of tegimine, or 
 tegumine. Virgil in the employment of this word follows Lu- 
 cretius, who uses it more than once, as sub eodem tegmine 
 caeli, ii. 66 l.—fagus, the beech-tree. For this and the names 
 of all other plants and flowers, see the Flora at the end of this 
 volume. — 2. Silvestrem musam, woodland or rural muse, i. e. 
 song ; the Muse, like Ceres and Bacchus for example, being 
 put for the thing over which she presided. — tenui avena, slen- 
 der oaten pipe. In the picture in the celebrated Vatican MS., 
 which is supposed to be of the fifth century, and the pictures 
 in which are probably copied from still older ones, Tityrus is 
 represented as playing on an instrument resembling the Cen- 
 namella of the modern Italian peasantry, which we shall de- 
 scribe in our Observations on the third Eclogue. It is how- 
 ever probably the Jistula, or Pandean pipes, the usual instru- 
 ment of the ancient shepherds, that the poet means in this 
 place. Avena is here apparently merely used as equivalent to 
 calamus, the proper term for the reed of which the Jistula was 
 made, and which the poet uses v. 10. (Cf. vi. 8.) Ovid also 
 (Met. ii. 677. viii. 191) uses it for the tubes of the Jistula. 
 Voss however, who takes all things in the most literal and nar- 
 row sense, understands by arena the corn-pipe of straw, such 
 as young children amuse themselves with, not considering the 
 ridiculous picture which a grey-headed man blowing a corn- 
 pipe presents. — meditaris, practise. Shnulque ad cursuram 
 meditabor me ad ludos Olympiae. Plaut. Stich. ii. 2, 33. Me- 
 ditor is the Greek ^eXeruw: for it is a curious fact, that though 
 d and I are not letters of the same organ, or even of the same 
 class, they are commutable; as Zdxpvor, lacrima; cicada, cicala 
 (Ital.), cigale (Fr.); hedera, ellera (Ital.), lierre (Fr.). In the 
 Sicilian dialect the Italian // is uniformly represented by dd. 
 — 3. Nos, i. q. ego, in the usual Latin manner. — et. This conj. 
 is frequently used by Virgil to connect words which are epexe- 
 getic or explanatory of what precedes. It then answers to 
 even in our translation of the Bible. — ^.fugimus. There is an 
 ascending gradation here from the preceding linquimus; I 
 not merely quit my country, I fly, as it were, from it, such is 
 the violence used toward me. — lentus, stretched, reclined. Bv 
 
ECLOGUE I. 1-12. 3 
 
 a principle of the Latin language, hereafter to be explained, it 
 is the same as lenitus, and is the part, of lenio, to relax or 
 soften. Its primary meaning therefore is relaxed, from which 
 those of flexible, slow, tough, etc. are easily deduced. — 5. reso- 
 nare, to give back or echo, iiyeiv. Cf. Geor. iii. 338. — Ama- 
 ryllida, the name or praises of his mistress Amaryllis. 
 
 6-10. deus. He calls the person to whom he was indebted 
 for his present felicity (otia) a god. There is no doubt that 
 the person meant was Caesar Octavianus. As it was the gene- 
 ral belief of at least the educated classes at that time at Rome, 
 that the gods of the popular creed were merely deified men, 
 there was little or nothing of impiety in giving to a man while 
 living the divine honours which he was sure to obtain after 
 his death. Cf. Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 15. Tityrus means that he 
 would worship Caesar (or probably his Genius) along with his 
 Lars or household-gods, as it sometime after became the gene- 
 ral custom to do. See Hor. C. iv. 5, 34. — ?• Hints. Virgil here 
 and elsewhere shortens the penult, in this word. Cf. Geor. i. 
 4?9; Aen. i. 16. etc. He takes, like other poets, the same liberty 
 with ipsius, alius and solius. — 8. nostris. The same as meos in 
 next verse. — inbuet, sc. sanguine. — agnus. Some offered a pig, 
 others a lamb, others a calf to their Lar, according to their cir- 
 cumstances or their piety. See Tibull. i. 1, 21. — 9. ipsum i. e. 
 meipsum. — 10. ludere. This verb is not to be taken in the 
 modern sense of the word play, as when we speak of playing 
 the flute : it was used to express any employment that was 
 not of a serious nature. Cf. vi. 1. 
 
 11-18. magis i. q. potius. See Lucr. ii. 385, 428, 868; 
 Catull. lxviii. 30. — 12. Usque adeo, to such a degree. This 
 is a common Lucretian phrase. With respect to adeo, where 
 ad is apparently joined with an abl. we may notice the fol- 
 lowing observation of Priscian (De xii. vers. Aen. xii. 200) : 
 " Solent componi ablativi cum praepositionibus quae etiam 
 accusativo separatim solent conjungi, quapropter, quocirca, 
 praeterea ; sic etiam interea." Adeo, antea, postea, antehac 
 and posthac would seem to have escaped his observation. 
 This theory is however disputed at the present day, and in 
 fact we do not see how the ea in interea, for instance, could be 
 
 b2 
 
4 BUCOLICS. 
 
 an ablative. — turbatur, there is such distraction and confusion 
 all through the country. — ipse, I myself, a sharer in the com- 
 mon calamity. — 13. Protenus i. q. protinus, i. e. according to 
 the critics, porro tenus, on, onwards. We however rather 
 think that pro is taken here in the same sense as the Greek 
 7Tjoo, and as in projicio, progredior. — aeger, sick at heart. This 
 adj. is used of the mind as well as the body. Cf. Aen. i. 208, 
 351, etc. — vix duco, I lead with difficulty, she is so weak. — 
 15. Spem gregis, the hope of my flock, i. e. the means of keep- 
 ing it up. Cf. Geor. iii. 73. — silice in nuda, on the bare rock 
 or stones. Possibly it means the road, as the Roman roads 
 were paved with silex. We cannot see, with Heyne, an allusion 
 to the practice of putting straw or fern under the sheep in the 
 stalls. Geor. iii. 297. In all countries sheep and goats yean in 
 the fields, in Italy frequently on the roads as they are driven 
 along them. — connixa. This is the only instance of the em- 
 ployment of this word in the sense of bringing forth. Ser- 
 vius says it is used for enixa to avoid a hiatus ; but we rather 
 think, with La Cerda and Fea, that the poet selected it to ex- 
 press the pain and difficulty of the goat's labour. — reliquit. 
 This would seem to intimate that the kids were born dead, or 
 died soon after their birth ; for kids and lambs can walk as 
 soon as they are born, and Meliboeus would probably have 
 carried them sooner than leave, them to die of hunger. — 16. 
 laeva, stupid, as dexter is quick, expert. The idea is taken 
 from the hands. — 17. De caelo tactas sc. fulmine, struck with 
 lightning. This is a common expression in Livy and other 
 prose writers. — praedicere i. e. praedixisse. The inf. pres. for 
 the inf. past. — quercus. The striking of the oak Pomponius 
 tells us indicated exile. The verse Saepe, etc. which follows 
 here in some editions is wanting in all the good \TSS. It 
 occurs in its proper place Ec. ix. 15, and was probably written 
 in the margin of some ancient copy by way of illustration, 
 and was thence taken into the text, — a common practice. — 
 18. da, i. e. die, as accipe is i. q. audi. Cf. Aen. ii. 65. vi. 136, 
 etc. Sed da mild nunc : satisne probas ? Cic. Acad. i. 3, 10. 
 Aeneas eripuisse datur. Ovid. Fast. vi. 43±. 
 
 20-26. The following roundabout narrative was probably 
 
ECLOGUE I. 12-28. 5 
 
 intended for an imitation of the mode of narration of the 
 peasantry. — 21. huic nostrae, this town of ours. He nowhere 
 mentions its name. — 22. depellere fetus. The usual sense of 
 this is to wean, and it is so understood by Servius, who is fol- 
 lowed by Burmann and Fea ; but La Cerda, Ruaeus, Heyne, 
 and all the late editors render it to drive, in favour of which 
 they quote In inferas partes depelli (succum), Plin. N. H. ii. 
 78, and Silicem quern montibus altis Depulerat torrens, Sil. ix. 
 396, neither of which appears to us to be to the purpose. 
 They also refer to the relative situation of Virgil's farm on an 
 eminence at Andes, and Mantua lying in the plain. But see 
 the Observations on this eclogue. In favour of the first in- 
 terpretation it may be observed, that young lambs and kids are 
 never driven to market in any country. The Roman shep- 
 herds of the present day, Fea says, carry to market in panniers 
 on horses their young lambs, which they call abacchi (i. e. 
 dbacti ?) ; and Columella tells us (vii. 3), that the shepherds 
 who lived near towns sold their lambs when very young to the 
 butchers, in order that they might have the entire profit of 
 the milk, a valuable article in hot countries. Horace seems 
 to speak (Ep. i. 15, 35) of lamb's flesh as a cheap and inferior 
 kind of food, and at the present day the lamb to be bought in 
 Rome and other Italian towns is miserably small. It is ob- 
 jected, that if this be the sense of depellere in this place, we 
 must, with Burmann, change quo in v. 21 into quoi, the ancient 
 dative. But there is no necessity for this ; for the adverb quo, 
 whither, is, it would seem, a dative (contr. of quoi) signifying 
 to which ; and the only difference is, that it would be for in- 
 stead of to which. Perhaps the whole difficulty arises from 
 Virgil, who was not a practical farmer, not being always strictly 
 correct in his use of rural terms. — 25. urbis. Here and in v. 
 20 we must render urbs, town, for Tityrus knew nothing of 
 cities. — 26. cupressi. There is a violation of poetic propriety 
 here, for the cypress is not one of the indigenous trees of Italy, 
 and so could hardly be familiar to shepherds. 
 
 27. tanta, so great, that could take you so long a journey. 
 28-36. Libertas, liberty, the desire of obtaining my free- 
 dom. Tityrus, like nearly all other farm-servants at that time 
 
6 BUCOLICS. 
 
 in Italy, was a slave, and his master is represented as residing 
 at Rome. Meliboeus, on the contrary, might seem to be a 
 proprietor, unless he is to be supposed as removing his master's 
 flock. — sera, i. e. quanquam sera. — respexit, looked back on. 
 Liberty is to be conceived as preceding and looking back on 
 him, as if inviting him to join her. — i?iertem, inert, making no 
 effort to obtain his freedom. — 29. Candidior, etc. The comp. 
 here expresses some degree of. When my beard began to 
 turn gray. — SO. Heyne was inclined to reject this verse as un- 
 worthy of the poet ; but it is in all the MSS. and may easily 
 be defended when we consider the character of the speaker. 
 Cf. iv. 60, 62. According to Cicero (Phil.viii.il) a thrifty 
 slave ought to make the price of his freedom in five or six 
 years. — 31. Postquam, etc. It was the custom of the Romans 
 to give their slaves companions of the other sex ; their union 
 was named contubernium. A similar practice prevailed in our 
 own colonies during the existence of slavery in them. Galatea 
 and Amaryllis were the successive contubemales of Tityrus. 
 — habet, has had. Our idiom differs from the Latin. — reliqirit, 
 deserted me ; perhaps died. 32. Namque, etc. Galatea being 
 probably of a vain, extravagant temper, all Tityrus' savings 
 and earnings went in buying her dresses and ornaments. — 
 33. peculi. The peculium (from pecus) was the cattle which 
 a Roman allowed his son or his slave to possess as his own 
 property and to pasture on his lands. Varro, R. R. 1, 2. — 34. 
 multa victima, many a victim, i. e. a beast in such good con- 
 dition as to be fit for sacrificing ; for which purpose the fattest 
 and best were selected. Multus and plurimns (especially the 
 latter) are frequently used thus in the sing. — saeptis (from 
 saepio), i. e. ovilibus. Saeptum was originally any inclosure, 
 whence the Saepta or voting-place of the tribes at Rome. — 
 
 35. pinguis, rich. — ingratae. He uses this term with a jocose 
 peevishness, as if the town, and not Galatea, were in fault. — 
 
 36. gravis aere, heavy with (i. e. full of) money. He had laid 
 it all out in the town, buying gauds for Galatea. 
 
 37-40. I now comprehend, what I was wondering at, why 
 Amaryllis was so sad, and why, what was unsuited to her 
 thrifty character, she left the fruit hanging, each on its own 
 
 
ECLOGUE I. 28-46. 7 
 
 tree. — 39. Ipsae te, etc. The very trees and founts sympa- 
 thised with her grief and implored your return. Voss and 
 Wunderlich understand them as merely re-echoing her ex- 
 clamations, as in v. 5, but this is very prosaic. — 4-0. arbusta, 
 the trees, i. e. the silvas of v. 5. See Terms of Husbandry, 
 s. v. 
 
 41-46. Quid facerem? etc. What was I to do? Even 
 though she did thus grieve, it was only by going to Rome, 
 where my master was residing, that I could obtain my free- 
 dom. — servitio exire, sc. alibi, from v. 42. Aere alieno exire, 
 Cic. Phil. xi. 6. Ex aerumna exire, Lucil. ap. Non. — 42. prae- 
 sentes, favourable, for those who are present can give most 
 effectual aid. Cf. Geor. i. 10 ; Aen. ix. 404 ; Hor. S. ii. 3, 68. 
 — 43. Hie, etc. Here, beside seeing my master and obtaining 
 my freedom, I saw that young man (Caesar, now three-and- 
 twenty), whom, as I told you (v. 7), I worship as a household 
 god. — 44. Bis senos. The Lars were worshiped once in every 
 month, on the Kalends, Nones or Ides. Cato R. R. 143. — 
 nostra i. q. mea—fumant. Because he had begun the practice 
 and would continue it. We need not therefore, with Heyne, 
 explain fumant by fumabunt. — 45. Hie, as in v. 43. — primus. 
 Wagner considers primus to be equivalent here to primum, 
 and to signify demum, tandem, but the passages which he ad- 
 duces in proof of it (Aen. ii. 375 and vii. 118) are not suffi- 
 ciently to the purpose. Voss says primus is i. q. princeps. 
 When we consider the involved style which Virgil afterwards 
 employed in the Georgics, it appears not unlikely that the 
 meaning is : He first relieved my mind from anxiety by re- 
 plying, etc. The words responsum and petenti are terms used 
 of the consulting an oracle. Cf. Aen. vii. 86. They are em- 
 ployed here of Caesar as of a deity. — 46. pueri, my lads. 
 Puer was the appellation of a slave, no matter what his age 
 might be. — submittite. The critics here encounter the same 
 difficulties as in depellere, v. 21, and they give us three inter- 
 pretations of submittite tauros : viz. 1 . Yoke your oxen. 2. 
 Give your cows the bull. 3. Breed young oxen. In favour 
 of the first, which is that of Servius, who is followed by 
 Ruaeus, Wagner and Forbiger, it is alleged that the object 
 
8 BUCOLICS. 
 
 of the poet here is to indicate the two rural occupations of 
 pasturage and tillage, the first by pascite, the second by sub- 
 mittite, sc.jugo. But the only instance which they give of 
 this sense of submitto, namely, Submiltant trepidi perfida 
 colla Getae, Rutil. Itin. i. 142, it will be easily seen is not to 
 the purpose. The second occurs only, we believe, in Palla- 
 dius (ex. gr. submittendae tauris vaccae, iv. 13), a late writer, 
 and who possibly may have misunderstood this very place of 
 Virgil. The third is the sense in which submitto is invariably 
 used by Varro and Columella, and in which it is used by our 
 poet himself, Geor. iii. 73, 159. Columella even employs it 
 when speaking of rearing and training the young shoots of 
 the vine. It is in this last sense that Heyne, Voss, Fea and 
 Jahn (with whom we agree) understand it. The original 
 sense of submitto being to put under, it was used of putting 
 the young to suck their mothers, and thence came to signify 
 to rear in general. — tauros i. e. vitulos. Cf. iii. 86, 87- It was 
 probably the metre that obliged him to use this word, the 
 ambiguity of which has given rise to all the disputes about 
 the meaning of submittite. 
 
 47-59. Tityrus probably intended to go on and relate more 
 of what befell him at Rome ; but Meliboeus, struck with the 
 prospect of his happiness, interrupts him by an exclamation, 
 and then gives vent to his feelings of admiration in a descrip- 
 tion of Tityrus' land, and his occupations on it. This is highly 
 natural and poetical. — senex, see v. 29. — tua. Wagner would 
 explain this from the legal formula meum est, as Ec. ix. 4. 
 He adds, that the emphasis should therefore, be on tua, and 
 not on manebunt. But this was not possible to a Roman, for 
 tua here (like mea, ix. 4) is in the thesis of a dactyl. — 4S. Et 
 tibi, etc. And for your contented mind your land is quite 
 enough, though the pasture-land is mere rock and marsh, o'er- 
 grown with rushes. Your cattle will not, like mine, be ex- 
 posed to disease or infection by change of pasture. — 50. graves, 
 i. q. aegras, Cf. Geor. iii. 95 ; Aen. iv. 688. Gravi Malvae 
 salubres corpori, Hor. Epod. 2, 57. — tentabunt, will try, i. e. 
 afflict. A Lucretian term, v. 347. vi. 1135.— -fetas. As this 
 is the part, of an obsolete verb feo, akin to Jio, fuo and 
 
ECLOGUE I. 46-57. 9 
 
 <pvh), it should be written with an e and not oe. Fetus (subst.) 
 signifies the offspring (v. 21.); feta is used of the mother 
 either before or after parturition. The latter gives the best 
 sense in this place. Cf. Aen. viii. 630 ; Hor. C. iii. 27, 4 ; Ovid 
 Fast. ii. 413. — 52. Hie, etc. Meliboeus goes on picturing to 
 himself the happy lot of Tityrus, stretched at his ease beneath 
 a tree, enjoying the cool shade near the well-known streams 
 and the founts sacred to the nymphs.— -flumina, streams. Voss 
 says the Mincius and the Po, not considering the distance of 
 the latter from Andes. Wagner, referring to Aen. xi. 659, 
 xii. 331, the Mincius alone, and he endeavours to show that 
 inter refers to the trees on its banks. Flumina for flumen has, 
 we believe, always the name of the river subjoined, or at least 
 (as Geor. iii. 18) it is clearly understood from having been 
 previously mentioned. When Virgil uses the word flumina 
 thus alone, it is generally best rendered by our word streams. 
 — 53. frigus opacum, the shady cool, i. e. the cool shade. — 
 captabis. Capto is the freq. of capio, See on ii. 8. — 54. Hinc 
 tibi. We are to suppose Meliboeus pointing out the objects 
 as he names them. On this side is the meering or boundary- 
 hedge of sallows between you and your next neighbour, on the 
 blossoms of which feed the bees, whose humming will invite 
 you to sleep. The constr. is Hinc, a vicino limite, saepes, quae 
 semper Hyblaeis apibus (quoad) florem salicti depasta (est) 
 saepe tibi levi (apum) susurro suadebit somnum inire. How 
 very remote from the graceful simplicity of Theocritus ! — ab 
 limite, like ab ovilibus, v. 8, and pastor abAmphryso, Geor. iii. 2. 
 It is in the same kind of apposition with hinc as ad veteresfagos 
 with hie, iii. 12. — semper. Not all through the year, of course, 
 but whenever the sallows are in blossom. — 55. Hyblaeis. Mount 
 Hybla, in Sicily, was famous for honey. We may here note a 
 favourite practice of the Latin poets, namely, when they men- 
 tioned any practice, implement, natural product, etc., to join 
 with it an adj. of a people or place most famed for it. Virgil 
 makes great use of this practice, of which we meet no ex- 
 amples in Lucretius or the other earlier poets. Cf. v. 27, 29. 
 ix. 30. x. 59 ; Geor. iii. 345, 526. iv. 270, eta— depasta. See 
 on vi. 15. — 57. Hinc. Pointing to the rocky boundary at the 
 
 b5 
 
10 BUCOLICS. 
 
 other side of the land — alta sub rupe, at the foot of the high 
 rock. Burmann says that sub rupe is i. q. in rupe. — -frondator, 
 the leaves-gatherer. Cf. ix. 61. Pliny (H. N. xviii. 31.) says he 
 was required to fill four baskets in the day. In Italy the leaves 
 were, and still are, stripped off the trees as food for cattle, or for 
 beds for them, or even for the peasants themselves. Cf. v. 80. 
 There is no need of restricting frondator, with Heyne and Voss, 
 to the vine-dresser. — ad auras, aloud. Cf. Aen. vi. 561. — 58. 
 raacae palumbes, the hoarse wood-pigeons, in allusion to their 
 note. — tua cura, your favourites, the objects of your affection. 
 Cf. x. 22 ; Geor. iv. 354? ; Aen. i.682. iii. 476, etc. — 59. gemere. 
 This is the peculiar term for the cooing of the dove and pigeon. 
 — aeria, aereal, i. e. rising high into the air. Virgil uses it of 
 trees, rocks, mountains, etc. Cf. iii. 69 ; Geor. i. 375. iii. 474. 
 iv. 508 ; Aen. iii, 680, etc. 
 
 59-64. Sooner therefore, says Tityrus, shall impossible or 
 most unlikely things occur than the image of my benefactor 
 be effaced from my bosom. — Ante leves, etc. The nimble deer 
 shall browze up in the sky. We take leves as an ordinary 
 epithet of the deer, and not, as some critics seem to do, to 
 denote their flying like birds. — 61. Etfreta, etc. The meaning 
 would seem to be that the fish shall dwell on the land : but in 
 that case it is very awkwardly expressed. As for the sea's 
 throwing the fish up on the shore, there would be nothing so 
 very wonderful in it.— -freta, straits, i. e. maria, part for whole. 
 Cf. Geor. ii. 503 ; Aen. i. 61 1. iii. 127, etc. — 62. Ante, etc. The 
 Germans and Parthians were at this time the only peoples of 
 any account that were not subject to the Romans. As their 
 names must have been in every one's mouth, it was not perhaps 
 out of character to make a shepherd speak of them, though 
 Theocritus would hardly have done so. In making the Arar 
 or Saone a river of Germany, the poet commits a geographical 
 error. Some say he did so on purpose, as shepherds are sup- 
 posed to be ignorant in such matters. Wagner thinks the 
 solution lies in pererratis jinibus ; for when the Parthian had 
 passed the western frontier of Germany, he would come to the 
 Arar in Gaul ; but in this case Tityrus should have named the 
 Indus, and not the Tigris, as being the river beyond the east- 
 
ECLOGUE I. 57-70. 1 1 
 
 em frontier of Parthia. But the true solution seems to be the 
 poet's ignorance or negligence. — exsul is one who has volun- 
 tarily quitted his country. See Hist, of Rome, p. 83. — 63. 
 Germanic/,, the country put for the people, perhaps for the 
 sake of the metre ; but at all events, it shows that the poet 
 means a general migration of each people (like that of the 
 Helvetians a few years before), and its occupying the seats of 
 the other. 
 
 65-78. Meliboeus, struck by the idea of migration and 
 change of country suggested by the latter words of Tityrus, 
 paints the distant regions beyond the bounds of the Roman 
 empire, to which himself and his companions in calamity will, 
 he supposes, be obliged to travel in search of a settlement. 
 Some of us, says he, will have to go southwards among the 
 Africans, others northwards to Scythia, and the region through 
 which the Oxus, laden with clay, rolls its turbid waters ; others 
 to the nearly unknown isle of Britain. — sitientes, thirsting, i.e. 
 parched by the heat of the sun, the Gaetulians and other peoples 
 toward the interior of Africa. — 66. rapidum cretaeOaxem. See 
 Excursus I. — 67. Et penitus, etc. The ancients (see Mytho- 
 logy, p. 32) regarded the earth (orbis terrarwn) as a circular 
 disk round which the Ocean flowed. Britain therefore, lying in 
 the ocean, was no part of the orbis terrarwn. In a similar 
 sense Horace says (C.i. 35, 29.), Ultimos orbis Britannos. — 
 68. En. This word is used here to call attention to the ex- 
 pression of his feelings, just as the modern Italians use their 
 ecco (ecce) so frequently in the heat of conversation. It was 
 an unlucky supposition of Servius, followed by Heinsius and 
 Heyne, that En unquam here is i. q. unquamne. — patrios fines, 
 see v. 3. — longo post tempore, i. e. say the commentators, longo 
 tempore post. Post is here then, i. q.postkac, yet from this verse 
 and v. 29, and Aen. vi. 409, one might almost be led to think 
 that it occasionally governs the abl. — 69. tuguri. The tugu- 
 rium or hut was one of the humblest kind of dwellings, often 
 roofed merely with sods (caespites). As Sallust uses this word 
 for the abode of a slave (Jug. 12), perhaps we might hence 
 infer that such was the condition of Meliboeus, with whom 
 Tityrus seems to be quite on an equality. — 70. Post, i. e. 
 
12 BUCOLICS. 
 
 posthac, repeated from v. 68. — mea regna, i. e. the patrios fines ', 
 and tugurium of the preceding verses. Cf. Geor. iii. 476. Pro- 
 pert, iv. 7, 6. — aliquot mirabor aristas. I shall see with surprise 
 and indignation, owing to the bad culture of the new possessor, 
 only a few straggling ears of corn in the fields, which used to 
 be so well tilled. Servius joins post with aliquot aristas, as 
 being i. q. post multa tempora, adding, " et quasi rusticus per 
 aristas numerat annos," and this would appear to have been a 
 current interpretation in antiquity, for Claudian has decimas 
 emensus aristas, De IV. Cons. Hon. 372. — 71. Impius* This 
 word is the opposite of pius, which expresses the affectionate 
 and dutiful feeling toward superiors, from whom we have re- 
 ceived benefits, as the gods, one's parents, one's country. It 
 is thus, for his dutiful conduct to his father, that the hero of 
 the Aeneis is termed pius, as Metellus had been, Hist, of Rome, 
 p. 329; and as the emperor Antoninus afterwards was, Hist, of 
 Rom. Emp., p. 179. The soldier is here called impius, pro- 
 bably in reference to the civil wars in which he had been en- 
 gaged. Cf. Aen. vi. 612, 833. — novalia and segetes here sim- 
 ply signify cornfields. For their exact import see the Terms 
 of Husbandry, s. v. — 72. Barbarus, i.e. one who was neither 
 a Greek nor an Italian, alluding probably to the Gallic soldiers 
 at that time in the Roman armies. Bapfiapos, barbarus, did 
 not suggest the same ideas as our Barbarian. Jahn, with whom 
 we are disposed to agree, places a comma after habebit, and a 
 colon after segetes. — 73. Produxit is the reading of the best 
 MSS. Others read perduxit — quis, i. q. quibus, for whom 
 (for a barbarian soldiery). — 74. Insere piros, graft your pears, 
 i. e. your fruit-trees, one kind for all. This and what follows 
 is spoken in bitter irony. — ordine. The vines, as we shall see 
 in the Georgics, were planted in regular rows. — 76. viridipro- 
 jectus, etc., lying at ease in a cavern overgrown with wild 
 plants. Cf. vi. 6 : projectus expresses the act of the shepherd 
 throwing himself carelessly on the ground. — 77. Dumosa de 
 rupe, from the bushy rock, i. e. the rocky side of a mountain 
 which is overgrown with bushes. Cf. Geor. iii. 314. — pendere, 
 for goats in such situations appear to hang from the rocks. — 
 78. mepascente, under my care, I feeding you. Martyn under- 
 
ECLOGUE I. 70-83. 13 
 
 stands it of his feeding them out of his hand ; but this is proved 
 to be incorrect by carpetis in the following verse, which is 
 always used of browsing or grazing. As the cytisus and the 
 sallows are plants of the plain, we may suppose that a different 
 rural scene from the former is indicated. 
 
 80-84. Meliboeus now turns to go away and pursue his 
 melancholy journey, but Tityrus invites him to stop and spend 
 the night with him. — poteras, you might, i. e. you have the 
 power. There is no doubt, etc. expressed, and therefore he 
 uses the indie, poteras, and not the subj. posses. Attamen et 
 justum poteras et scribere fortem. Hor. S. ii. 1, 16. See 
 Zumpt's Lat. Gram, by Schmitz, § 518. Some MSS. read 
 poteris and also hac node. — 8 1 . Sunt nobis, I have. — mitia, ripe. 
 — poma, fruits, as apples, pears, etc. Pomum expressed every 
 kind of fruit that grew on trees, but not in bunches like grapes. 
 Ovid (Met. iv. 51) uses it of the mulberry. — 82. molles. 
 Servius makes this to be i. q. the mitia of preceding verse. 
 But Spohn more justly renders it sweet, as in mollissima vina, 
 Geor. i. 341 ; molle merum, Hor. C. i. 7. 19; mollia fraga, 
 Ov. Met. xiii. 86. Fee says that the Italians preserve the 
 chestnuts from one year to another by drying and peeling 
 them, and that when they want to eat them they soften them in 
 the vapour of boiling water. " Voila bien," he adds, "casta- 
 neae molles" (CommentairesurlaBotaniquedePline,i.p.259.) 
 As the chestnuts ripen in October and November, the critics 
 place this eclogue in these months ; but see Observations. 
 — pressi lactis, i. e. cheese. — 83. Etjam, etc. The smoke rising 
 from the roofs of the farm-houses shows that they were pre- 
 paring supper in them, and the lengthening shadows of the 
 mountains warn us of the approach of sunset. 
 
 Observations. 
 
 Date. — As the division of the lands among the legions of 
 the Triumvirs took place in the year 711-13, we cannot assign 
 
 V. 79 seq. "Adiov ev rujvTpy Trap' efiiv tclv vvktci diaJZeTs. 
 'EvtI £a<t)vai rrjvei, evri padtvai KVTrapiiyuoi, 
 'Evrl jueXas Kiavcs, evr afnreXos a y\vKi>Ka.p7ro$. 
 
 Theocr. xi. 44. 
 
14 BUCOLICS. 
 
 an earlier date, and need not assign a later, to this eclogue, 
 which, though first in place, is probably fourth in order of 
 composition among the eclogues. — See Life of Virgil. 
 
 Subject. — The subject of this eclogue is the favour that was 
 shown to Virgil by Octavianus, in exempting his lands from 
 the general confiscation that was taking place in Cisalpine 
 Gaul. The poet exerts all his talent in magnifying the gene- 
 rosity of his benefactor; and it is one of his most original 
 productions, as hardly a trace of imitation appears in it. 
 
 Characters. — Instead of appearing personally in this eclogue 
 as the object of Caesar's generosity, the poet has chosen to 
 represent his Tityrus, in whose mouth he places the praises 
 of Caesar, as an old slave, the shepherd, or rather the villicus, 
 of the proprietor of the land, and who at the same time was 
 emancipated by his master, who we are to suppose was re- 
 siding at Rome, whither Tityrus went in order to obtain his 
 freedom by paying the regulated price for it ; and Tityrus, 
 when become a freedman, continues in his former occupa- 
 tion. To modern ideas this may appear a strange kind of 
 poetic economy ; but, as we shall show in our Observations on 
 the following eclogue, the ancients had hardly any peasantry 
 but slaves, and such are all the characters in their bucolic 
 poetry. Meliboeus, the goatherd, the other interlocutor in 
 this piece, must also, from analogy, be regarded as a slave, 
 who is driving away the flock of goats of which he has charge, 
 but which are the property of his master whose lands have 
 been seized. That these two slaves should speak of their 
 master's lands and property as their own is only conformable 
 to the practice of servants in all countries, and may be wit- 
 nessed every day in England, where a shepherd may be heard 
 speaking of his ewes and lambs, a carter of his horses, etc. 
 The females Galatea and Amaryllis are also slaves. We may 
 mention, but only to reject, the absurd idea of some critics, 
 that these are allegorical personages, the former representing 
 Mantua, the latter Rome ; a notion long since sufficiently re- 
 futed by Ruaeus. On the subject of allegory, see the Obser- 
 vations on the fifth eclogue. 
 
 Scenery. — As the characters are ideal, we shall find the 
 
ECLOGUE I. 15 
 
 scenery of this eclogue to be equally devoid of reality. The 
 scenery which it presents is that of a country with mountains 
 (v. 83), caverns (75), rocks (15, 47, 56, 76), fountains (54), 
 streams (51), and marshes (48), and containing beeches (1), 
 oaks (17), elms (58), vines and fruit-trees (73), chestnuts (81), 
 sallows and reeds (48, 54). This, we are assured by Voss and 
 Jahn, is an accurate description of the district of Andes and 
 of Virgil's farm there, within three miles of Mantua. 
 
 Such, as we have said, is the assertion of those who have 
 never seen Italy, and who seem to have deemed it needless 
 to make any inquiry in what appeared to be so plain a case. 
 But surely the face of the country in Lombardy has undergone 
 little change since the days of Virgil ; and at the present day, 
 any one who will ascend the lofty Torre della Gabbia, which 
 stands in the centre of the city of Mantua, and look around 
 him, will discern nothing but a plain the most level and un- 
 broken that can be conceived, bounded to the north by the 
 distant Alps beyond Verona, and to the south by the still more 
 distant Apennines beyond Parma and Placentia. Here then 
 are no mountains or even hills to cast their shades around 
 Mantua (v. 83), no rocks or caverns, and, we may add, no 
 chestnut-trees or beeches, for we saw neither in Lombardy. 
 The former, we believe, do not usually grow in the plain; 
 and Castelvetro (see Observations on Ec. vii.) asserts positively 
 that they do not grow in the country round Mantua, where 
 also he observes there are no goats kept. With respect to the 
 beech, Holdsworth in his Letters on Italy, quoted by Heyne, 
 makes the same remark as ourselves. We saw it growing 
 spontaneously only in the mountains ; and Allamanni, in his 
 poem ' La Coltivazione,' terms it alpestre in that sense. But 
 Wagner sapiently replies, that eighteen centuries have elapsed 
 since the time of Virgil, and that only a small wood of cedars 
 is now to be seen on Lebanon, where they formerly abounded. 
 Perhaps then the same lapse of time will account for the dis- 
 appearance of the mountains, rocks and caverns in the vicinity 
 of Mantua. 
 
 The fact is, no one who has ever visited Mantua can for a 
 moment believe that Virgil designed the scenery of this eclogue 
 
16 BUCOLICS. 
 
 for that of his own farm and the country about it. Virgil was 
 not one of those poets who write from their own inspiration. 
 In his Bucolics he drew his inspiration chiefly from Theocritus, 
 as afterwards in the Aeneis from Homer ; and finding in the 
 Grecian poet the mountains and vales, the caverns, the springs 
 and streams which Sicily presented, he with great judgement 
 transferred them to his own poems, instead of giving them the 
 tame features of the level plain of Lombardy. The scenery 
 therefore, we repeat it, of the Bucolics is purely ideal, and 
 those who endeavour to make it otherwise detract in reality 
 from the merits of the poet. 
 
 Eclogue II. — Corydox. 
 
 Argument. 
 Corydon, a shepherd, has an extreme but hopeless affection 
 for Alexis, the favourite of their common master. He used 
 frequently to retire to the solitary woods, and there pour forth 
 his complaints. The poet here gives us a specimen of the 
 effusions of the mourning swain. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 1-5. pastor. The pastor on a Roman farm was the person 
 who had charge of the sheep or goats, and therefore answered 
 to our shepherd : he was of course a slave. See Terms of 
 Husbandry, s. v. — ardebat, sc. propter, he burned for, i. e. 
 ardently loved. It more frequently takes an abl., see Hor. 
 C. ii. 4, 7. iii. 9, 5, sometimes with in, Ov. Her. iv. 99; 
 Met. viii. 50. — 2. Delicias, the pet or favourite. Passer de- 
 liciae meae puellae. Catull. iii. 3. Urbanus scurra, delicice 
 
 V. 1 seq. 'Avrjp n$ Tro\v<pi\Tpos aTryveos ypar e0a/3a», 
 
 Tdv p,op<pav ayaQu), rbv £e toottov ovk e9' 6/io/w. 
 MiVei rbv (piKeovra, kcli ovcev ev afiepov el^ev. 
 
 Theocr. xxiii. 1 seq. 
 
ECLOGUE II. 1-12. 17 
 
 populi. Plaut. Most. i. 1, 14. — quid speraret, any ground of 
 hope. There is a difference, Wagner says, between quid and 
 quod in this construction, the latter denoting a greater degree 
 of certainty ; habeo quod sperem, being, I have a certain defi- 
 nite hope, habeo quid sperem, I might have some hope. We 
 are not however certain that this distinction is well-founded. 
 — 3. Tantum, only. It was all he could do, or his only con- 
 solation. — umbrosa cacumina. This is apparently in paren- 
 thesis, or in apposition with densas fagos, to express the shade 
 caused by the close-growing* beeches. Cf. ix. 9. Spohn and 
 Jahn, however, regard it in both places as what is called the 
 Greek ace, or aec. of the remoter object with secundum un- 
 derstood, and therefore take away the commas. — 4. incondita, 
 unpremeditated, extemporaneous, av-ocxe^ta. — 5. studio inani, 
 with bootless labour. Studium, airovh), is diligence, eagerness 
 in pursuit, love of. Studio fallente laborem. Hor. S. ii. 2, 12. 
 —jactabat, he used to throw out, to utter ; on account of the 
 preceding incondita. 
 
 6-13. He commences with a complaint of Alexis' want of 
 feeling. — 8. Nunc etiam, etc. The heat is now so intense that 
 the sheep and goats seek the shade, the lizards that delight in 
 warmth hide themselves from it in the brakes, the reapers have 
 left the fields, I and the cicada alone face the burning sun ; 
 i. e. it is now the noon of a summer's day. — umbras etfrigora 
 i. q.frigidas umbras ; a hendyadis, i. e. ev Biit duotv, a common 
 figure. — captant. This and occultant in the next verse are 
 freq. verbs to denote that the flocks and the lizards are 
 everywhere seeking shelter. 1 0. Thestylis. The name of a 
 female slave. — rapido aestu. See Excursus II. — 11. Allia, etc. 
 She was making for them the mess called moretum. which is 
 described in a poem of that name attributed to our poet. It 
 ivas composed of flour, cheese, salt, oil and various herbs 
 [herbas olentes) brayed together in a mortar. — 12. At mecum, 
 
 V. 6. "Q XevKu TaXdreia, rt rbv (ptkeovT a.7ro(3aX\y ; — Theoc. xi. 19. 
 
 tiv S' ov fieXei, ov, fid Ai' ovftev. — Id. xi. 29. 
 
 V. 7 cnrayZcHjQai fie 7roiT](je.7s. — Id. iii. 9. 
 
 V. 9. 'Avwea drj teal <ravpos e<p' aifiaaiaioi KaQevdei. — Id. vii. 22. 
 
18 BUCOLICS. 
 
 etc. The woods resound with me and the cicadae, i. e. with 
 my singing and their chirping. Cf. Geor. i. 41. ii. 8. Aen. i. 
 675. Voss renders mecum round about me, referring to Aen. 
 i. 572. iv. 115. v. 716 — tua vestigia. This either means that 
 Alexis had gone that way, and that Corydon was following 
 him ; or, which is more probable, that Corydon was going over 
 the different places once trodden by Alexis. — 13. cicadis. 
 The cicada {cicala, Ital., cigale, Fr.) is of the cricket tribe. 
 It sits on the trees in summer, where it chirps away the whole 
 day long. Its note is like that of the common cricket : no- 
 thing can be more wearisome than to listen to its ceaseless 
 monotony. It is probably to this that the epithet raucis re- 
 fers, for its note is clear, resembling that of our house-cricket. 
 Cf. i. 58. 
 
 14—18. We are not sure that we are, with Voss, to suppose 
 that Corydon plays on his fistula in the manner hereafter to 
 be described, when he has finished one subject and is think- 
 ing on another ; but we are certainly to suppose a pause, and 
 it is to be observed that there is either no connexion, or a very 
 slight one, between the successive parts of these extemporary 
 songs. — -fuit, i. e.fuisset. — tristes iras, the morose violent tem- 
 per. See iii. 80. — 15. superba fastidia, the proud disdain. — 
 16. niger, swarthy, dark, by exposure to the rays of the sun, 
 in opposition to Alexis, who was a verna, and was therefore 
 mostly in the house. — 18. ligustra, vaccinia. See the Flora. 
 
 19-27. His thoughts now turn to the advantages which he 
 himself can boast. He is over large flocks, he plays skilfully 
 on the fistula, he is not deficient in personal beauty. — De- 
 spectus, etc. I am looked down on by you ; you do not even J 
 deign to inquire who or what I am. If you did, you would - 
 find that it is in my power to give you handsome presents. — 
 
 V. 18. Kai to lov fieXav fori, Kai a ypcnrra vclkivQos. — Theoc. x. 10. 
 
 Kai to podov KaXov evTi Kai 6 xpovos clvto fiapalrei' 
 Kai to lov kciXov sgtiv ev elapi, Kai Taxi) y»?pa. 
 AevKov to Kpivov ecri, papaLveTai, aviKa vriTTjT 
 'A $6 X 1 ^'' Xcvkcl, Kai TaK6~ai, av'iKa 7Ta\By' 
 Kai »cdXXos koXov eon to TrawiKov, d\X' oXiyov Zy. 
 
 Id. xxiii. 28 seq. 
 
ECLOGUE II. 12-24*. 19 
 
 20. dives pecoris. We are not to understand by this that 
 the flocks were Corydon's own : it only means that they were 
 under his charge, and that he could consequently make use 
 of as much of their milk, etc. as he pleased. See Observations. 
 — nivei lactis. Servius, Marty n and Voss join nivei with peco- 
 ris, but the present construction seems more agreeable to the 
 genius of the Latin language. — 21 . Mille. A def. for an indef. 
 number. — agnae. If he has so many lambs, he must have 
 more than half that number of ewes ; and therefore, as he adds, 
 he was never without milk. — 22. lac novum, new milk ; not 
 biestings (colostra), as Servius understood it. — -frigore, in the 
 cold weather, i. e. winter. — 23. Canto. This verb, like cano t 
 of which it is the freq., signifies either to sing or to play on 
 an instrument. The latter is its sense here. Cf. vi. 71. — soli- 
 tus, sc. erat, cantare. — si quando, whenever. — armenta vocabat, 
 i. e. revocabat or avocabat, sc. a pastu. It was the custom, 
 and still is in many places, to collect the cattle by the blowing 
 of a horn or some other musical sounds. The shepherd, at 
 least, then preceded his charge, as may still be witnessed. 
 £2s Vottot aypavXoio tear iyvia aruAavTrjpos M.vpta jjrjX' e$e- 
 ttovtoli cidrjv iceKOprjfxeva tcoitjs Et's avXtv, 6 he r eicn 7rapos avpiyyi 
 Xiyety KaAa fxeXi^ofxevos vojiiov fieXos, Ap. Rh. i. 575. Mar- 
 tyn refers to various places of Scripture, where the custom of 
 the shepherd's preceding his flock is alluded to, as Ps. xxiii. 2. ; 
 lxxvii. 20.; John x. 3, 4. — 24. Amphion, the son of Jupiter 
 and brother of Zethus. See Mythology, p. 335 seq. — Dir- 
 caeus, Theban ; from the fount of Dirce at Thebes. There 
 is however perhaps an allusion to Dirce, who was slain by 
 Amphion and his brother. — Actaeo Aracyniho. There is a great 
 difficulty here. Actaeus is i. q. Atticus (ab cuct))), and the 
 only mountain of the name of Aracynthus that is known was 
 in Acarnania, far away from Attica. In the mythe the early 
 
 V. 20-23. 'AW ujvtos, toiovtos kuv, /3ora x i ^ ia jSo'c/cw, 
 
 Kai tovtwv to Kparitrrov dp.eXyop.evos yaXa irivii)' 
 Typos 8' ov Xe'nrei fx' ovt' kv Oepei ovt kv 67rdjp<x, 
 Ov ^PijuaJvos ccKpui' rapcroi d' vTrepax@ees aie't. 
 Tvpiacev S' ws ovns errio'Tapai aide Kwk\w7twv. 
 
 Theoc. xi. 34 seq. 
 
20 BUCOLICS. 
 
 days of the brothers were spent on Mt. Cithaeron. As Ste- 
 phanus Byzantinus has 'ApawvOos, opos Boiwrias, it may have 
 been a part of Parnes or Cithaeron. Propertius (who may 
 however be only following this place of Virgil) says (iii. 13, 
 41), victor que canebat Paeana Amphion rupe, Aracyntke, 
 tua. Heyne thinks that Virgil was only translating a Greek 
 verse, 'A/mcpluv Atpfccuos kv '-Aktcu'w 'ApctKvvda). The o in Ac- 
 taeo is not elided as being in arsis. — 25. informis. This dif- 
 fers from deformis; the former being the original want of 
 beauty, the latter the privation of it. — in litore, i. e. standing 
 on the shore he saw himself in the water. Our poet here 
 follows Theocritus, and neither poet is perfectly true to nature ; 
 for as Seneca (Q. N. v. 1.) and Servius observed, and every 
 one may observe, the waters of the sea, even of the tranquil 
 Mediterranean, never are still, and so never could form a 
 mirror, even for the Cyclops. In one respect the Greek poet 
 is more incorrect than the Latin, for he makes the water 
 reflect the whiteness of the Cyclops' teeth, while water does 
 not reflect colour except in large masses. — 26. placidum ven- 
 tis, i. e. a ventis, says Spohn, as in nam incendio fere tuta est 
 Alexandria. Hirt. Bell. Alex. c. 1. Wunderlich compares pla- 
 cidi straverunt aequora vend, Aen. v. 763., and says it is i. q. 
 ventis sopitis or cum venti quievere. This last opinion may be 
 correct; for it was Virgil's practice, of- which we shall find 
 many examples in the Georgics, to join with one subst. the adj. 
 properly belonging to the other. For the proper meaning of 
 placidus, see on v. 10. — staret. The verb sto, as in the Italian 
 and Spanish languages, often took the place of su??i ; but the 
 idea of steadiness or immobility was always included. — Daph- 
 mm. This is probably the name of some other swain, who was 
 known to be handsome, and was also an admirer of Alexis. 
 Servius thinks it was the celebrated Sicilian Daphnis, the son 
 
 V. 25. Kat yap Br\v ov& eldos e%w kcikov, ws pe Xeyovn' 
 T H yap irpav es ttovtov eaefiXeTrov (^s oe yaXdva), 
 Kai Kakd pev Tti yeveia, naXd ce poi a pia icwpa 
 ('Qs 7rap' epiv tcetcpirai) /careda'tvero' tujv ce t o^ovtlov 
 AevicoTepav avydv Uapius vire&aive XiOoio. — Theoc. vi. 34 seq. 
 
ECLOGUE II. 24-34. 21 
 
 of Mercury and a nymph, for whom see Obs. on Ec. v. — 
 27- si nunquam, etc. i. e. if the image given by reflection from 
 water may be relied on. 
 
 28-39. After another pause Corydon passes to another sub- 
 ject. Elated, it would seem, with the idea of his wealth, 
 musical skill and beauty, he now ventures to hope that Alexis 
 will come and live with him. — O tantum, etc. O would you only, 
 etc. Tibi is to be joined with libeat> and not, as Servius says, 
 with sordida. — sordida rura, the rude country (i. e. the hills 
 where he pastured his flocks), as opposed to the elegance of 
 the town or possibly of the villa. — 29. casas. The casa or 
 hut was formed of forked pillars which supported a sloping 
 roof of sedge or straw ; its sides were woven with rods and 
 daubed with clay. See Sen. Ep. 90. It differed little from 
 the tugurium, but was perhaps of a slighter structure.— -figere 
 cervos, shoot the deer. Cf. Geor. i. 308. Aen. v. 516. Servius 
 notices and rejects another interpretation, namely, build the 
 huts, the posts which supported them being named cervi, as 
 being forked like antlers. — 30. compellere hybisco, to drive the 
 goats to the hybiscus, on which they were to feed. The dat. 
 is often thus used for the ace. with ad or in, as, it clamor 
 caelo. Aen. v. 451. Cf. v. 5. viii. 101. It is thus Servius, who 
 is generally followed, interprets it. La Cerda, Trapp and 
 Martyn take hybisco in the abl., and suppose the shepherd to 
 have a rod of it in his hand ; but that seems contrary to the 
 nature of this plant. See Flora, s. v. Voss observes that com- 
 pellere always signifies to drive to. Cf. Hor. C. i. 24, 18. — 31. 
 canendo, in playing on the fistula, of which, he tells us in the 
 next verse, Pan was the inventor. See the well-known mythe 
 of Syrinx. Ov. Met. i. 689 seq. Mythology, p. 232. — 33. ovium 
 magistros, i. q. pastor es. Cf. iii. 101. Geor. ii. 529. — 34. Nee 
 te, etc., nor should you disdain, think it beneath you. — trivisse 
 
 V. 28. Hoifiaivev d' eOiXois avv efxiv, ilfia Kal yd\' dfieXyev, 
 
 Kai rvpbv 7ra£ai, tcljimjov dpifieiav kveica. — Theoc. xi. 65. 
 
 V. 30. Tvpicrdev d' aJs ovtis k"KiaTa\iai wde KvK\<o7nov, 
 Tiv, to (pikov yXvicvfiaXov, dp.d K^fxavrov deidojv 
 JloWaKi vvktos du>pi. — Id. xi. 38. 
 
22 BUCOLICS. 
 
 labellum. Because, as is well known, in playing the fistula 
 or Pandean pipes the under-lip is rubbed backwards and for- 
 wards against the reeds. Trivisse is, we think, i. q. terere, for 
 the Latin poets seem to have tried to imitate the varieties of 
 the Greek inf. Cf. i. 17, viii. 69. Hor. Ep. ii. 1,71; A.P. 325, 
 326. Propert. i. 1, 15 ; ii. 23, 78. Labellum, a dim., your tender 
 little lip. — 35. Haec eadem, sc. carmina, which I play in imi- 
 tation of Pan. Cf. v.23. The anteced. is contained in canendo, 
 v. 31. — quid non faciebat, i.e. he laboured hard. Amyntas 
 and Corydon seem to have been fellow-pupils in learning to 
 play on the fistula from Damoetas. — 36. Estmihi, etc. I have 
 a fistula which belonged to my master Damoetas, and which 
 he gave me on his death-bed as being his ablest pupil, and 
 which I will give you. Cf.t\ 42. The <rvpiy£ or fistula was 
 what we call the Pandean pipes. It was made of pipes of dif- 
 ferent lengths, gradually diminishing. Their number was from 
 seven to one-and-twenty. Count Stolberg says he heard at 
 Terni, the ancient Interamna in Umbria, one of twenty-six 
 pipes. Ovid (Met.xiii. 784), by a pleasing exaggeration, gives 
 his Cyclops one of one hundred pipes. The ancients joined 
 the pipes together with wax ; but wax alone, we should think, 
 would not suffice to keep them together. — cicutis, hemlock- 
 stalks. It is here used for calamis. — 38. secundum, sc. domi- 
 num. — 39. stultus, as thinking himself equal to Corydon. 
 
 4,0-44. After another pause, Corydon, having thought on 
 what other present he could make Alexis, mentions two young 
 roes, which he had found one day, and which he was rearing 
 on one of his ewes. — nee tuta valle. " Commendat a difficul- 
 tate," says Servius, as if it had been hazardous for Corydon to 
 venture into it. It would perhaps be better to understand it 
 as unsafe for the roes, as being, when in it, exposed to their 
 enemy the wolf. — 41. Capreoli, the kids of the caprea or wild 
 
 V. 40 seq Tpe0o) ^e rot evSeica. vefipws, 
 
 Udaas pavi>o<pdpu)S, Kai GKvpvios reaaapas dpKTO). 
 
 Theoc. xi. 40. 
 ''H pdv toi XevKav SiOvparoKOv alya <pv\d<r<ru), 
 Tdv pe Kai d Meppvcovos 'EpiOaKis a peXavoxpus 
 Atrsc* Kai duxjio oi, eirei <jv poi evcia9pv7rry. — Id. iii. 34. 
 
ECLOGUE II. 34-47. 23 
 
 goat; roes. — sparsis, etc. Servius tells us, and Wunderlich 
 says that the truth of the observation is confirmed by hunters 
 at the present day, that young roes have white spots on their 
 skins for the first six months, which then disappear. Bjetiam 
 nunc Corydon then would intimate that they were not yet six 
 months old. — 42. Bina die, etc. Voss understands by this 
 that each of them consumed the milk of two ewes, but this is 
 contrary to experience, for if their own mother could have 
 reared two of them, one ewe might surely do the same. 
 When we consider Virgil's practice with respect to the adj. 
 (see on v. 26) we are inclined to think that bina refers to the 
 two kids (a?nbo), or rather to the two times of feeding them, 
 viz. morning and evening (bis). See Varro, R. R. ii. 2. — sic- 
 cant, i. e. sugunt. Distenta siccant ubera, Hor. Epod. 2, 46. — 
 ubera. It is difficult to distinguish between uber and mamma. 
 Gellius (xii. 1) says, Puer ubera mammarum insomnis lac- 
 tantia quaerit, whence it might appear that uber was the nip- 
 ple or teat, mamma the breast. But Cicero (N. D. ii. 51) says, 
 Quae multiplices fetus procreant, ut sues, ut canes, his mam- 
 marum data est midtitudo, where mamma is the dug or teat. 
 — 43. Thestylis. See v. 10. — abducere orat, i. e. orat ut liceat 
 abducere. A very unusual construction. — 44. Et faciei. And 
 she will do so, it will come to that, though I do not wish it, 
 in consequence of your contempt of me. — sordent, are dirty 
 (i. e. of no value) in your eyes. Cunctane prae Campo et 
 Tiberino flumine s or dent 1 Hor. Ep. i. 1 1, 4. 
 
 45-55. He now thinks on further presents, and he repre- 
 sents the very Nymphs themselves, struck with Alexis' beauty, 
 as bringing him baskets full of flowers. — 46. calaihis. The 
 calathus Was a round basket, of the shape of the calyx or cup 
 of the lily. " Calathus Graecum est, nam Latine quasillum di- 
 citur," Servius. — Candida, fair, of a dazzling white. The idea 
 of lustre is always included in this participial. — 47. Pallentes 
 i. q. pallidas. This word is used of yellow and green as well as 
 white. Saxum quoque palluit auro. Ov. Met. xi. 100. Pal" 
 lens Cy torus (sc. buxo), Val. Flac. v. 106. Gemma e viridi 
 pollens, Plin. xxxvii. 8. Martyn justly observes, that the 
 paleness of the swarthy inhabitants of the South is rather a 
 
24 
 
 BUCOLICS. 
 
 yellow than a white, and he notices the derivation of the yel- 
 low substance ochre (&xP a ) ^ rom <^XP 0S ' ^ e ma y ac *d that 
 the Greeks had two compound adjectives, d>xpo\evKos and 
 a>x/od/*e\as. — summa papavera, the poppy-tops or flowers. — 
 48. jungit. While other Nymphs are bringing baskets full of 
 lilies, one of them is twining a garland for him of various 
 flowers : see next verse. — 50. pingit, sets off or adorns, its 
 yellow contrasting with the dark colour of the vaccinia. — 51. 
 Ipse ego, etc. While the Nymphs are bringing you flowers, i" 
 will gather downy mala (see Flora v. malum) and other fruits 
 for you. — 52. Amaryllis. See v. 14. This however would 
 seem to be a different person of the same name. Cf. Theocr. 
 iv. 38. — 53. Cerea, waxen, i. e. of a pale yellow colour. The 
 a in pruna is not elided on account of the stop after it. — 
 porno. See on i. 81. He does not mention what kind of fruit 
 it was. It will be honoured by being selected on this occasion. 
 — 54. proxima, placed next the bays. 
 
 56-59. He now recollects himself, and awaking from his 
 dream of bliss cries, " You are a mere clown, Corydon, Alexis 
 cares not for your country-presents," etc. — 51. coiicedat, would 
 yield. — Iollas. " Vel ditior amator vel ejus dominus," Servius. 
 The critics appear to be unanimous in adopting the latter 
 sense, but they seem not to be aware that Corydon is a slave, 
 and therefore could never dream of putting himself in com- 
 petition with his master. We adopt the former without he- 
 sitation. — 58. Hen, heu, etc. Alas, what am I about? I am 
 destroying myself with this foolish passion. As we say in the 
 country, I have let the south wind get at the flowers and the 
 wild boars at the springs. The Scirocco, or south-west wind, 
 which blows in Italy, is most depressing to the spirits of man, 
 and it destroys the buds and blossoms of the plants ; the boars, 
 by wallowing in the springs, make them foul and muddy. — 
 59. Perditus, sc. amore. 
 
 60-68. His better thoughts now leave him and he returns 
 to his passion. He is not to be despised because he passes his 
 days in the woods. The gods (i. e. Apollo when serving Ad- 
 metus) and Paris have dwelt in the woods. — 61. Dardanius 
 Paris. This son of Priam, king of Troy, was exposed when 
 
eclogue ii. 52-66. 25 
 
 a babe, and he was found and reared by herdsmen, among 
 whom he spent his early days. He is probably mentioned 
 here because he was chosen as judge of beauty among the 
 goddesses Juno, Pallas and Venus. — Pallas, etc. The mention 
 of Paris bringing this goddess to his mind, he says, " Let her 
 frequent the towns which she founded, I will prefer the woods." 
 Pallas-Athene was named ttoXlos and ttoXiovxos, but chiefly 
 in reference to her own city of Athens. In her mythology 
 she is nowhere spoken of as the founder of towns and citadels. 
 — 62. Ipsa. She herself, not I ; with a kind of contempt for 
 them. — colat, i. q. incolat. It was a common practice of the 
 Latin poets to use the simple in the sense of the compound 
 verb, but never, we believe, the reverse. — nobis, me ; perhaps 
 us, i. e. himself and Alexis. Everything, he goes on to say, 
 has its favourite object, She likes the town, / the country, the 
 lioness follows the wolf, the wolf the goat, and so forth. — 63. 
 Torva leaena, the stern lioness. We should rather have ex- 
 pected leo, but perhaps here, as in Geor. iv. 408, the metre 
 was in fault. We may here observe, by the way, that whether 
 the scene is in Italy or Sicily, there were no lions in either 
 country. The poet had, however, the authority of Theocritus, 
 i. 72. We are also not aware that the lion hunts the wolf. — 
 65. Alexi. For the prosody see on v. 53. 
 
 66-68. While Corydon is thus telling his woes to the 
 woods, the fiovXvros, or time for unyoking the oxen from the 
 plough in the evening, arrives. — Adspice, sc. o Corydon ! — 
 aratra, etc. The plough, it would seem, instead of being left 
 in the field at night, as is now the custom in Italy as well as 
 in this country, was brought home every evening. Videre 
 fessos vomerem inversum boves Collo trahentes languido, Hor. 
 Epod. 2, 63. — suspensa, attached to. It suggests the idea of 
 the lightness of the draught. The plough was not inverted, 
 or turned over, it was merely inclined on one side, so that the 
 point of the share should not touch the ground. Our plough- 
 men do the same thing when moving their ploughs from one 
 
 V. 63. 'A cu£ top kvthjov, 6 Xvkos tclv alya diwjcet, 
 
 'A yepavos rutporpov eyw d' eiri riv fiendvriixai. — Theoc. x. 30. 
 
 C 
 
26 BUCOLICS. 
 
 field to another. — 67. duplicat, doubles, i. e. lengthens ; def. 
 for indef. — 68. Me tamen, etc. The fervour of the sun is mi- 
 tigated ; all nature is enjoying the cool of eve. I still am 
 scorched as ever by the flame of love. 
 
 69-73. He bethinks him again of his folly, and calls to 
 mind the work he has to do, and which he has left un- 
 done. — 70. Semiputata, etc. You have left a vine only half 
 pruned on the elm, which itself requires to have its super- 
 fluous foliage stript off. Servius says that there was a super- 
 stitious belief that any one who in sacrificing used wine made 
 from unpruned vines was seized with madness. There was 
 also a law of Numa, Diis ex imputata vite ne libanto. Voss 
 hence regards v. 70 as a rural proverb to express madness. 
 We cannot agree with him. — 71. Quin. It is best to take this 
 interrogatively, in its original sense qui ne — quorum indiget 
 usus, which my business requires, such as baskets for holding 
 cheese, etc., which were made of twigs or rushes. — 72. detexere. 
 This is more than the simple texere. It signifies to plait out, 
 i. e. to finish. Quae inter decern annos nequisti unam togam 
 detexere^ Titin. ap. Non. i. 3. — 73. Alium Alexim. Another 
 as fair as Alexis. 
 
 Observations. 
 
 Date As we have observed in the Life of Virgil, the exact 
 
 date of this eclogue cannot be fixed with certainty. All that 
 can be asserted is that it is anterior in date to the fifth, and 
 probably to the third. In assigning its composition to the 
 year 709-1 1 we shall perhaps not be far from the true date. 
 
 Subject. — The subject is the hopeless love of a shepherd for 
 a handsome youth, the favourite of his master. Virgil here 
 imitates two beautiful Idylls of Theocritus, namely, the third, 
 
 V. 68 Oeppbsydp epios avrio pe KaraiQei. — Theoc. vii. 56. 
 
 V. 69 seq. T Q KukXom//, KvkXu)-^, nq. tcls (ppivas eKire— oraoai ; 
 Aik evOoJV TaXapus re TrXexoi?, icai BaXXbv apavas 
 Tats apveaai (pepoi?, r&xct xev to\v p.aXXov e^ots vovv. 
 lav 7rapeoTaav apeXye" ri rov (pevyoi'Tct diioiceis; 
 Ei'prjaeis TaXareiav lews kciI koXXiov' dXXai'. — Id. xi. 72. 
 
ECLOGUE II. 27 
 
 in which a slighted lover pours forth his amorous complaints 
 before the cave of his mistress ; and the eleventh, in which 
 the Cyclops Polyphemus, seated on a rock looking over the 
 sea, solaces in song the love-torments inflicted on him by 
 the disdain of the sea-nymph Galatea. 
 
 There would not seem to be any reason for going beyond 
 this, or supposing the poet to have any other object in view 
 than that of a trial of skill with his master in bucolic poesy. 
 An opinion however prevailed, as early at least as the second 
 century of our sera, that this eclogue was founded in reality. 
 Martial asserts (vii. 29, viii. 56) that Alexis was a slave be- 
 longing to Maecenas, who acted as his cup-bearer, and whom 
 he made a present of to our poet when he saw that he wished 
 to possess him. On the other hand, Servius, Donatus and 
 Apuleius ( Apol. p. 279) tell us that under the person of Alexis 
 is concealed that of Alexander, the cup-bearer of Asinius 
 Pollio, who gave him to the poet when he saw that he was 
 taken with his beauty, as he attended at a dinner to which he 
 had invited him. If Martial's account be true, we may ob- 
 serve that it puts a complete end to the usual theory of the 
 early date of this poem, for Virgil certainly was not known to 
 Maecenas in 709-11. The other account might then seem 
 to be devised by those who saw this difficulty. But Martial 
 is not remarkable for accuracy, and Pollio is the name in 
 Apuleius, who lived not long after Martial. According to an- 
 other account, mentioned by Servius, Caesar himself was the 
 Alexis of this eclogue ; but this hypothesis is too absurd to 
 merit a confutation. The reader must judge for himself on 
 this subject ; for our own part we entirely agree with those 
 who, like Martyn, Heyne and Voss, see in this poem nothing 
 more than an imitation of Theocritus. 
 
 Characters. — Corydon, Alexis, and the other names which 
 occur in this eclogue are plainly those of slaves. The use of 
 the word dominus (v. 2) proves it in the case of Alexis, about 
 whose condition in fact there never has been any doubt ; but 
 that of the word pastor (v. 1) must have proved to a Roman 
 reader with equal force that the same was the condition of 
 Corydon ; whence in our opinion it follows, by natural con- 
 
 c2 
 
Z» BUCOLICS. 
 
 sequence, that Iollas (v. 57) was also a slave, and not the 
 master of Alexis; for surely it would have been in the eyes of 
 a Roman the very height of madness in a slave to think of 
 vying with his master. The verses (19-21) in which Corydon 
 dilates on his wealth may perhaps be explained on the prin- 
 ciple noticed above (p. 14), but we rather think that they owe 
 their origin, like the following vv. 25, 26, to the injudicious 
 imitation of Theocritus, in the mouth of whose Cyclops they 
 are beautifully appropriate and characteristic, while they are 
 evidently unsuitable in that of a mere shepherd. With this 
 exception, there is nothing in the eclogue which does not ac- 
 cord with the station which we assign to Corydon. With re- 
 spect to the mention of the vine in v. 70, it may be observed 
 that slaves, though shepherds, had occasionally either gardens 
 of their own, or the charge of those of their masters, like 
 Tityrus in the first eclogue, or Lamon and others in the 
 Daphnis and Chloe of Longus. In this romance Daphnis, 
 when urging his suit to Dryas, the reputed father of Chloe, 
 says, " Give me Chloe to wife. I know how to play well on the 
 syrinx and prune a vine and set plants. I also know how to 
 plough and to winnow corn ; and how I feed a flock, Chloe can 
 tell." We will here observe that, while we quote this work of 
 Longus as an authority, we find in it some things which seem 
 to be in contradiction with the slave relations of antiquity. 
 Such is the very circumstance mentioned here of Daphnis 
 seeking in marriage Chloe, who was apparently the daughter 
 of one who was himself the slave of a different master from 
 that of Daphnis. We doubt if any other instance of such a 
 practice could be produced. 
 
 Scenery. — The scene of this eclogue is laid in Sicily, as is 
 plain from v. 21. where the needless introduction of the word 
 Siculis, would seem to evince an anxiety on the part of the 
 poet to convince the reader that it was only as fancy-piece, 
 wrought in imitation of his master. 
 
29 
 
 Eclogue III. — Palaemon. 
 
 Argument. 
 
 Two swains, the one keeping his father's goats, the other the 
 sheep of a neighbour, meet on the common pasture. After 
 some rustic sparrings of wit, they challenge each other to a 
 trial at extemporaneous song. A swain who is at hand is 
 chosen as judge, who, after the contest has been carried on 
 for some time with equal spirit, declares his inability to decide 
 between the rival singers. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 1-9. cujum, whose. The pronoun cujus -a -urn, which was 
 frequently used by Plautus and Terence, had gone nearly out 
 of use in Virgil's time, and only remained in the dialect of the 
 peasantry : see Life of Virgil. — 2. nuper, just now. — 3. In- 
 felix, etc. The construction is o oves s. i. p. Cf. i. 75. Geor. 
 iv. 168. He calls the sheep always unhappy, says Voss, be- 
 cause their master, thinking only of his love, neglected them 
 himself and then committed them to a dishonest keeper. — 
 4. fovet, is courting. The original meaning of the verb foveo 
 is to keep warm, hence to nourish, cherish, etc. Cf. Aen. i. 
 718, iv. 686, viii. 387. — 5. alienus custos, a strange keeper. 
 This does not say whether Damoetas was a hireling, or merely 
 a neighbour who had taken charge of them. From v. 29 it 
 might appear that the latter was the case. — bis mulget, etc. 
 It is an exaggeration to say that he milked the ewes twice an 
 
 V. 1. B. EiVe juoi, w Kopvdojv, t'ivos ax /3oes ; r\ pa QiXojvda ; 
 K. Ovk, d\V Aiywvos* fiovicev de fioi avras eduicev. 
 
 Theocr. iv. 1. 
 V. 3. AeiXaiai yavrai, rbv (3ojko\ov ois kcikov evpov. 
 
 Id. iv. 13. 
 
30 BUCOLICS. 
 
 hour. The meaning is that he was constantly milking them, 
 so that they had little left to give their lambs in the evening. 
 It was usual with dishonest shepherds to milk their master's 
 cattle secretly and to sell the milk. — 6. sucus, not succus, from 
 sugo, is the juice of either plants or animals. Here it is the 
 very substance as it were of the ewes. — subducitur. The idea 
 of secrecy and theft is probably intended to be conveyed, 
 but such is not the usual sense of this verb. — 7. Parcius, etc. 
 If I am a thief, as you say, I am at least a man, not an effemi- 
 nate like you. I know who was with you the other day, and 
 in what grotto sacred to the Nymphs, though these good- 
 natured goddesses only laughed. — 8. transversa, same as 
 transverse, adj. for adv. Cf. Aen. v. 194?. also Geor. iii. 149, 
 500, iv. 122. Aen. vi. 288, etc. 
 
 10, 11. — If they laughed, replies Menalcas, it was when 
 they saw me injuring Micon's vines. He is speaking ironically, 
 for he means that it was in reality Damoetas who had done it. 
 — malafalce, with a secret, mischievous hook : Burmann says 
 with a blunt, rusty hook, but the former is the more simple 
 and natural sense. — arbustum, see i. 39. As the grown vines 
 were united to the elms and poplars, Spohn thinks that by 
 arbustum and vites novellas it is intended to intimate that he 
 had cut both the old and the young vines of Micon. 
 
 12-15. Or, rejoins Damoetas, when they saw you here at 
 the old beeches, breaking Daphnis' bow and arrows ; for you 
 were annoyed when you saw them given to him, and you had 
 died if you had not done him some injury. The shepherds, 
 being also hunters, had bows and arrows and hunting-spears, 
 which they likewise required against the beasts of prey. — 
 calamos, arrows, literally reeds, of which the arrows were made. 
 Calami spicula Gnossi, Hor. C. i. 15, 17. — perverse, malig- 
 nant, Liv. xxi. 33. 
 
 V. 14. To KpoKvXos noi ecuice, to ttoiklXov, clv'ik eOvce 
 
 Tats Nt'ytc&ais rdv cuya' tv 8', w jcace, nai tok eTaicev 
 Bacncaiviov, Kai vvv \ie ra XoicrBia yvfivov eBrjica?. 
 
 Theoc. v. 11. 
 
ECLOGUE III. 5-24. 31 
 
 16-20. Quid domini, etc. Wagner thus explains this diffi- 
 cult line. What are the masters of such thievish slaves as 
 you to do, whom I myself saw stealing from strangers ? how 
 much more will they rob their own masters ? Voss and Spohn 
 say that the sense is : When this thieving hireling dares to 
 treat me in such a manner, what will not his master do in the 
 affair of Neaera, to whom we both are suitors ? The former 
 interpretation seems to us the more natural.— -fares. Slaves 
 are so called in the comic poets, but never seriously. Tun\ 
 trium literarum homo (i. e.fur), me vituperas ? Plaut, Aul. ii. 
 
 4, 46. Ubi centurio 'st Sanga et manipulus furum ? Ter. Eun. 
 iv. 9, 6. — 17. pessime, Horace uses this word to a slave, 
 
 5. ii. 9, 22. — 18. Excipereinsidiis. The verb excipere denotes 
 a covert attack. Orestes Excipit incautum (Pyrrhum) patri- 
 asque obtruncat ad aras, Aen. iii. 332. — Lycisca. Dogs, as 
 Pliny says (N. H. viii. 40), often bred with wolves, as 
 they do with foxes, and hence perhaps this dog was so named. 
 But Lycisca was probably a common name for a dog, owing, it 
 may be, to that circumstance, or from the dog's likeness to a 
 wolf. — 19. se proripit Me, is that fellow hurrying off. — 20. 
 Tityre, Damon's servant. — coge, i. e. co-age drive your flock all 
 together.— carecta, i. e. carectum, a place full of carex or sedge. 
 
 21-24. Damoetas does not deny the taking of the goat, 
 but says that he was only seizing his own property, as he had 
 won it in a contest on the fistida or syrinx with Damon, who 
 did not deny that it was fairly won, but said that he could not 
 give it to him ; lest he should thereby publicly acknowledge 
 himself overcome, says Servius, who is followed by Heyne, 
 Voss and Spohn. But might not his reason have been the 
 same as that given by Menalcas, v. 32, namely, fear of his 
 father and mother ? 
 
 25-27. Cantando tu ilium, sc. vicisti, v. 21. You beat him> 
 playing and singing ! Had you ever a syrinx, or did anything 
 
 V. 25. Tav Troiav avpiyya ; rv yap 7roKa, cuu\e 2vj3apTa, 
 'Ekt&gu) avpiyya ; ri 8' ow/eert ciiv Kopvdcovi 
 'ApiceT toi KaX&fjuis avXbv TroTnrvcrdev exovn ; 
 
 Theoc. v. 5. 
 
32 BUCOLICS. 
 
 more than blow a corn-pipe at the cross-roads ? " And when 
 they list their lean and flashy songs Grate on their scrannel 
 pipes of wretched straw," is Milton's imitation of this passage, 
 Lycidas 123. — 26. triviis. The trivium, different from the 
 quadrivium or cross-road (such, we believe, is not common 
 in Italy), was the point of union of three roads, of which two 
 branched off from the third in the form of the letter Y ; the 
 rpiolos of the Greeks. — indocte, untaught, who never had 
 learned to play, answering perhaps to the Greek auovaos. — 
 27. Stridently " Pro stridula" says Spohn, " non quae nunc 
 stridet sed quae omnino; participium hoc loco vim induit 
 adjectivi. Nam participia ablativum non in i mittunt sed in 
 e. Vid. Bentl. ad Horat. Od. I. 2, 31 ; 25, 17." See Excursus on 
 ii. 10. — stipula. Aristotle (quoted by Voss) describes the corn- 
 pipe as a hollow reed with a thin skin or membrane over the 
 opening, pretty much the same as our children make for 
 themselves of the green wh eaten or oaten straws. — miserum 
 carmen, some wretched ill-composed tune or attempt at a tune. 
 Spohn will have it that it is a tune good in itself, but ruined 
 by his mode of playing it, and therefore wretched or to be 
 pitied. But this supposes that a tune could be played on 
 the corn-pipe. — Disperdere : " est male perdere" says Spohn ; 
 " ut dispeream i.q. male peream, Propert. ii. 33, 10, 'duro per- 
 dere verba sono.' " The meaning is, that, poor and trivial as 
 is the tune you attempt to play, you make it still worse, you 
 quite destroy it, by your utter want of skill even on the corn- 
 pipe. The verse, by the repetition of the letters r and s, 
 seems intended to be imitative. 
 
 28-31. We are now approaching the real business of the 
 
 V. 28. M. Xpyaoeis ujv kaideiv, xpy'o^eis KaraQelvai deQXov ; 
 A. Xpy'tr^w tovt ecrideiv, \pyacuj KaraQelvai aeQXov. 
 M. 'AXXd ri QrjcrevpeaQ' o icev aplv apKiov eirj ; 
 A. Motrxov eyw 9r](Tu>' tv de Oes y laofiaropa dpvov. 
 M. Ov Qt](jCj Troica apvov, ewei x a ^ e ^os 9' 6 Trarijp pev 
 
 X' a paTijp' to, de pa\a 7ro6e(nrepa ttclvt dpiOpevvTi. — 
 
 Theoc. viii. 11. 
 "A, dv exoicr' epi^ws, Tro-apeKEerai es Ivo jreXXas. — Id. i. 26. 
 
eclogue in. 25-34. 33 
 
 pastoral. Damoetas, stung by the sneers of Menalcas, chal- 
 lenges him to a trial of skill in alternate responsive song ; each, 
 in the usual manner, to stake something of value on the issue. 
 — Vis ergo : " Visne et vin' tit interrogat tantum, sed vis et 
 vis tu excitat :" Spohn, approved of by Wagner and Jahn. — 
 
 vicissim, by turns, in amcebaeic song 29. vitulam, a heifer or 
 
 young cow ; as puer is used for a youth, virgo for a young 
 married woman, Ec. vi. 47. Heifers even in this country 
 often (though it is a bad practice, as it stops their growth) 
 have calves before they are two years old. 30. Bis venit ad 
 mulctram, she can be milked twice a day, beside suckling her 
 twin calves. It is not usual for cows to have twins, but Pliny 
 (N. H. viii. 45) says it sometimes happened, and this we 
 can confirm of our own knowledge, for we knew a cow that 
 always had twins. It is remarkable that the twins of a cow 
 are, we believe, always females, and, from a defect in their 
 physical structure, barren : Free Martins is the name given 
 to them in England. Virgil was probably led to this state- 
 ment by his imitation of Theocritus, who however was speak- 
 ing of goats, not cows. — 31. pignore stake. 
 
 32-43. I dare not wager any part of my flock, says Me- 
 nalcas, on account of my father and my stepmother ; but I 
 will lay what is much more valuable. There is a difficulty 
 here which has escaped the critics. Damoetas, who is repre- 
 sented as a hireling and who is keeping another's flock of 
 sheep, wagers a heifer, which heifer, as we may see, was there 
 present. We content ourselves with pointing out this diffi- 
 culty, of which we can give no solution, save that which 
 explains so many other difficulties in the Bucolics, namely 
 Virgil's slavish imitation of his Greek original. — grege, flock 
 of sheep or goats ; in this place the latter : see v. 34. — tecum, 
 with you, i. e. against you. — 33. Est mihi, etc. Voss, Wagner, 
 Jahn and Forbiger place a comma, instead of, like Heyne, a 
 semicolon, after pater, as the adj. injusta refers to the father 
 as well as the mother. — injusta, like iniqua, signifies unkind, 
 severe, as aequus and Justus often mean kind or favourable. — 
 34. Bisque die : they are so rigorous that they count his flock 
 not only when he brings it home in the evening, but also when 
 c5 
 
34 BUCOLICS. 
 
 he is driving it out in the morning ; and, not content with 
 this one or other of them (alter), counts the kids separately. 
 It was therefore utterly impossible for him to escape discovery 
 if he should lose a kid or a goat. — 35. However, continues he, 
 though I cannot risk any of my father's property, I will stake, 
 since you are mad enough to contend with me (insanire libet 
 quoniam tibi), what you yourself will confess to be of far 
 greater value than your heifer, namely a pair of new beechen 
 cups. — 36. pocula. Voss observes (referring to Hor. Sat. i. 
 6, 117, and Cic. Verr. iv. 14) that the cups of the ancients 
 were usually in pairs, made after the same fashion; so we 
 ourselves used to have pairs of silver cups. — 37. caelatum 
 opus, a carved work, not engraven, for the figures on works of 
 this kind were in relief. — divini Ahimedontis. This divine 
 (i. e. excellent) artist was probably no real personage, the name 
 being merely employed as a euphonious one. — 38. Lenta, etc 
 These two lines are to be thus rendered : On which the 
 flexible vine put over, i. e. laid on, by the easy-moving graver 
 covers the bunches diffused from the pale ivy. It would 
 hence seem that ivy-leaves and clusters went all round the 
 upper part of the cups, and that vines rose probably under 
 each handle (v. 45), and united their leaves above with those 
 of the ivy, forming thus two fields, as we call them, on 
 the sides of the cups, to receive the figures about to be men- 
 tioned. — torno. The tGrnus is properly the chisel of the lathe, 
 but, as Ruaeus observes, it was used to express any graving 
 tool. — 39. pallente. For the hedera pollens, see the Flora, s. v. 
 — 40. In medio, in the fields, the spaces inclosed by the vine 
 and ivy. — duo signa, figures (probably, as Voss says, half- 
 lengths) of two celebrated astronomers, one on each side of 
 the cup. — Conon. He lived in the time of Ptolemy Euergetes, 
 king of Egypt, the hair of whose queen Berenice he placed 
 
 V. 36. Kai (3a9v kktcvj3lov, KeK\vap,evov adei Kcipy, 
 'Afi(f>o)€?, veorevxes, en y\v<pdvoio ttotoocov 
 Tw Trepl [lev %ei\?/ p,apverai inp69i kmtgcs, 
 Khtgos eXixpvvif) KeKOVKTi-ievos' a ce kclt avTov 
 Ka/07r<£ eX*| elXelrai dyaWojtiei'a KpoKoevn. — Theoc. i. 27. 
 
eclogue in. 34-44. 35 
 
 among the stars, by naming a constellation after it. — quisfuit 
 alter? The poet makes his shepherd, in the spirit of rural 
 ignorance, unable to recollect the name of the other sage 
 represented on his cups. As he has not told the name of 
 this astronomer, the critics, both ancient and modern, of 
 course suggest a variety of names : some say Hesiod, others 
 Aratus, others Archimedes, others Anaximander. It was most 
 probably, as Voss asserts, after Servius, Eudoxus, whose Phae- 
 nomena, as appears from Columella (ix. 14), was much fol- 
 lowed by the Italian farmers. — 41. Descripsit radio, marked 
 out by his scientific rod, i. e. compiled a table. The ancient 
 mathematicians used for their calculations a table (abacus), 
 over which was smoothly strewn green glass-dust, which was 
 too heavy to be stirred by the air, on which they drew their 
 figures with a small rod (radius). — totum orbem, the whole 
 circular vault of heaven. — gentibus, for the peoples. — 42. 
 tempora, sc. anni, that is to say the seasons for reaping and 
 ploughing, designated by the rising and setting of certain 
 constellations. — curvus, i. q. curvatus, bent over the plough. 
 The ploughman, says Varro (see Geopon. ii. 2), should be 
 tall, that he may be able to press heavily on the handle of 
 the plough and so keep the share well in the ground. Ara- 
 tor nisi incurvus prcevaricatur, Plin. N. H. xviii. 19. The 
 ancient plough was very light and with only one handle. — 
 43. JVecdum, etc. They are quite new, I have never used 
 them, but keep them safe laid by ; they are what the Greeks 
 would call Keifj.{]\ia. 
 
 44-48. As to that, replies Damoetas, I too have a pair of 
 cups made by the same artist, which are superior to yours in 
 design ; for, instead of simple figures like yours, they exhibit 
 Orpheus playing on his lyre, and the trees of the forest moving 
 to his strains. — molli acantlio, the vypus aKavdos of Theocritus. 
 The adj. denotes the nature of the plant : see Flora. — ansas : 
 
 V. 43. Ovde ri ira ttoti %et\os kp,bv QLyev, a'W en Kelrai 
 "AxpavTOv. — Theoc. i. 59. 
 
 V. 45. Tlavra 8' a/i0i deiras TrepiTrenraTai vypbs aicavOos. 
 
 Id. i. 55. 
 
3b BUCOLICS. 
 
 these cups also had handles, round which the acanthus went, 
 as also, it would appear, round the edge of the cups. Damoetas, 
 who seems somewhat impatient, mentions the subject of only 
 one of the fields of his cups. — 47. Necdum, etc. He repeats 
 Menalcas' words, perhaps, as Voss says, with somewhat of 
 mockery. — 48. Si ad vitulam, etc. Your cups, you may see, 
 are not to be compared in value with my heifer ! the stake 
 would therefore not be equal. It may be asked, why he did 
 not offer to lay his cups against those of Menalcas ; to which 
 it might perhaps be replied, that one pair of cups was enough 
 for one person, and that he did not care to win what he did not 
 want. 
 
 49-51. Menalcas, nettled by the real or supposed insinua- 
 tion in the last words of Damoetas, replies, You shall not get 
 off; I will run all risks, and stake anything you like, even a 
 part of my father's flock (v. 109). — 50. Audiat haec tantum, 
 with a pause. He was going on to say, some fit or proper 
 judge, when he sees a swain named Palaemon approaching. 
 His words therefore run thus : Let there only hear (i. e. judge) 
 these songs, — as well as any other Palaemon who is coming up. 
 — ecce. See on i. 67. — 51. posthac. This word belongs to la- 
 cessas, and not to efficiam, as in Heyne's text. It should not 
 therefore have a comma after it. Lacessere voce is probably 
 ' challenge to sing.' 
 
 52-54!. Come on, then, if you have any power of song ; I 
 will not balk you, nor do I fear any judge. All I ask of you, 
 neighbour Palaemon, is, that you will give the deepest atten- 
 tion, as the affair is no trifle. — 53. Nee quenquam fugio. Cf. 
 Liv. ix. 1. Voss, followed by Wagner, interprets, I fly neither 
 you nor any one else. — 54. res est non parva, either the mat- 
 ter is very important, namely, the determining which of us is 
 the better singer, or the stake, the heifer, is of no small value. 
 
 V. 50. A. aWd ris a/u/te 
 
 Tt's KpiveT ; aW evQoi tto9' 6 (3u>ko\os u>?e Avkuttos. 
 K. Oudev eya> ttjvoj TroTiFevofiai' aWd rbi> av£pa 
 At Xys tov dpvTOfiov (3u)(rrpi]<TO[xe?, o$ rets epeiizas 
 Tijvas ras •rapd t\v tyXoyicceraC evri de Mopawv. 
 
 Theoc. v. 61. 
 
 
ECLOGUE III. 47-60. 37 
 
 — reponas, the conditional for the imperative in the usual 
 manner. 
 
 55-59. We may suppose that the whole party sought out 
 a shady grassy spot, where they might sit and sing at their 
 ease. When they were settled there, Palaemon desired them 
 to begin, making a brief but pleasing description of the place 
 and the season. Though the rule seems to have been that the 
 challenged should have the first word, he desires Damoetas to 
 begin, perhaps because he himself had been selected as judge 
 by Menalcas. — 59. Alternis, in amcebaeic or responsive strains, 
 which, he says, the Muses love, perhaps because, being extem- 
 porary, they exhibit more readiness of the poetic faculty than 
 more formal compositions. See Observations. — dicetis, for di- 
 cite, the fut. for the imper. — amant alterna Camenae. Movaduiv 
 0' at aeihov afioifjonevai oVt K<x\r}. Horn. II. i. 604. The Ca- 
 menae were the Italian deities answering to the Greek Muses. 
 See Mythology of Greece and Italy, p. 532. 
 
 60-63. After a prelude on his fistula, during which he 
 composes the verses with which he is to commence, Damoetas 
 praises Jupiter and makes him the patron of his song. — Jovis 
 omnia plena. This is the philosophic doctrine of the Stoics, 
 answering to the Jewish and Christian one of the omnipresence 
 of the Deity. It was perhaps rather too refined a notion to be 
 put in the mouth of a shepherd of those days ; but Virgil, as 
 we may frequently observe, did not attend to these matters. 
 — Ille colit terras. Colit, says Servius, is amat, as Aen. i. 1 5, 
 
 V. 60. 'Ek Aids apxibfieaOa, tov ov8e ttot av8pes eiofxev 
 'ApprjroV fxecrrai 8e Aids Ttaaai p,ev dyviai, 
 Hacrai 8' dvQpwTrwv dyopa'i, p.eaTr\ 8e ddXaaaa, 
 Kat Xt/zeVes' itavT-q 8e Aibs Ke\pi]p,eQa rravres' 
 Tov yap ical yevos ecrjuev. Arat. Phaen. 1. 
 
 'Ek Aios apxwfieaQa, Kal es Aia Xijyere Molcat. 
 
 Theoc. xvii. 1. 
 
 K. Tat Mwerai /.te cpiXevvTi tto\v irXeov ij tov doidbv 
 Aafyviv' eyoj 8' avrals xifiapus 8vo tcpav tvok eQvaa, 
 
 A. Kat yap ep,' 'QiroWwv <pi\iei fxeya' tcai koXov avrqi 
 Kpibv eyd) (Sogku). rd 8e Kdpvea mi 8-rj etyepirei. 
 
 Id. v. 80. 
 
3b BUCOLICS. 
 
 ZJnamposthabita coluisse Samo. Hence Damoetas infers that, 
 as Jupiter loves the country, the songs of swains must be agree- 
 able to him. Menalcas, after an air on his pipe, replies, If 
 Jupiter regards your song, I too enjoy the favour of a god. 
 Phoebus Apollo, the god of poets, loves me as well as others 
 (et). I always keep laurels and hyacinths, the plants that are 
 sacred to him. — 62. sua, "i. e. propria, quae conveniunt" 
 Spohn. Perhaps his gifts to the earth, as it was he first gave 
 existence to these plants. For the changes of Daphne and 
 Hyacinthus, see Mythology. — 63. lauri. The i is not elided, 
 as there is a stop after it. — suave rubens, sweetly blushing. 
 
 64-67. Damoetas now changes his theme, and begins to 
 sing in the character of the lover of a slightly coquetish rustic 
 damsel. — Malo me petit, flings an apple or some such solid fruit 
 at me. The ancients used malum as a generic term, inclusive of 
 all fruits containing pips, as apples, pears, quinces, oranges, 
 lemons, etc. The mala were sacred to Venus — 65. ad salices, 
 i. q. ad salicetum. But still she takes care that I shall see her 
 before she hides herself, in order that I may follow and find her. 
 But the youth to whom I am attached (meus ignis), replies 
 Menalcas, has none of these artifices. He comes of himself to 
 me, so that my dogs know him as well as they do Delia her- 
 self, a maiden who has long been in the habit of visiting me. 
 Cf. vii. 40. Perhaps however those are right who take Delia in 
 its proper sense as an epithet of Diana. Though Tibullus calls 
 his mistress Delia, a shepherd would hardly venture to do so. 
 
 68-70. The subject is now the presents made to the loved 
 ones. I have decided on a gift or offering to my goddess 
 Venus, i. e. Galatea, says Damoetas, for I have myself marked 
 a nest of the wood-pigeons, from which I will take the young 
 in due season. — 69. aeriae, not sky-coloured, as Servius es- 
 
 V. 64. K. BaWei ical fiaXoicri rbv a'nroXov a KXeapicra, 
 
 Tas alyas TrapeXevvra, jcai adv ti TTOinrvXidaiei. 
 A. JLrjfie yap 6 KpariOas tqv —oifxeva Xetos uTravTutv 
 'Etyiatvei' Xnrapd de Trap' avx^va ae'ier eQeipa. 
 
 Theoc. v. 88. 
 V. 68. TLr/yu) fiev Scjguj rq, TrapQevy avriKCi Qdcraav, 
 
 'Ek ras apKevBw KaOeXdJv rrjvel yap efitrdeu Id. v. 96. 
 
eclogue in. 62-75. 39 
 
 plains it, but building in lofty trees (see on i. 58.), whence he 
 would seem to insinuate a proof of the strength of his love, 
 which would induce him to encounter the danger of climbing 
 so high. — palumbes : see i. 57. — congessere, sc. nidum. I, 
 replies Menalcas, have already done all I could ; I have sent 
 Amyntas ten golden apples which I gathered in the wood, and 
 tomorrow I will send him ten more. — 70. Quod potui, the cri- 
 tics think, refers to the labour he had in climbing the tree to 
 get them ; but none of the trees bearing mala are ever very 
 high. — aurea mala. By these Heyne and Voss understand 
 quinces, the mala Cydonia ; Martyn, pomegranates, mala Pu- 
 nica. These last however, as Spohn observes, are never of a 
 golden hue. It seems much simpler, with this last critic, to 
 suppose them to be common wild apples tinged yellow by the 
 heat of the sun. 
 
 72-75. Damoetas now celebrates the kind language of the 
 fair one to him, which he holds to be worthy of the ears of 
 the gods themselves, and which he therefore wishes the winds 
 to waft to them. So Servius justly understood the passage ; 
 but Castelvetro, Ruaeus and others, who are followed by Heyne 
 and Voss, see in it a reference to the falsehood of woman, and 
 a prayer that the gods will make her perform some part of her 
 promises. Menalcas declares himself to be less fortunate, for 
 when they were hunting together, Amyntas left him to watch 
 the toils they had pitched, while he himself followed the game. 
 — 74. Quid prodest, what avails it to me that you do not re- 
 ject me, i. e. that you love me, when I have no opportunity of 
 conversing with you ? There is no contradiction between this 
 and v. 66, because each set of amcebeeic verses is independent 
 of the others. — 75. servo, i. q. observo. The Xivottttjs >} 6 to. 
 efXTriTTTovra drjpia airooKOTrovfxevos was a necessary member of 
 a hunting-party. See Pollux and Hesychius. The complaint 
 would therefore seem to be, that this part was selected on pur- 
 pose for him. 
 
 V. 70. 'RvLde rot deica fxaXa (pepw ri]vu)9e Ka6el\ov, 
 
 T Q p e/ce\eu KaQekeTv tv' Kcri avpiov aWa rot oiaoj. 
 
 Theoc. iii. 10. 
 
40 BUCOLICS. 
 
 76-79. Another subject and another damsel now appear on 
 the scene. Damoetas addresses an imaginary person named 
 Iollas, and asks him to send Phyllis (Iollas' mistress, as it would 
 seem) to him, as he was going to celebrate his birthday, telling 
 him he will invite himself to the ensuing feast of the Ambarvalia. 
 — natalis, sc. dies. Servius however says, " Sane natalis apud 
 maj ores plenum nomen erat,posteritas natalis dies dicere coepit." 
 This is not quite correct, for we find natalis dies in Tibullus, iv. 
 9, 3. Nouns of this kind are in reality adjectives, as every one 
 knows nowadays. We may here observe, that elsewhere in 
 Tibullus (ii.2. iv. 5, 19.) the substantive understood is deus, and 
 Natalis is equivalent to Genius. Servius (who is followed 
 by Voss) further remarks, that Damoetas asks Iollas to send 
 him Phyllis, who was their common mistress (amicam com- 
 munem), as it was only on their birthday festival that " licebat 
 voluptatibus operam dare ;" for in all others, such as that to 
 which he invites Iollas himself, chastity was to be observed. 
 This appears to us a little strained, and we cannot recollect any 
 other authority for this distinction. — 77. Cum faciam. The 
 ~La.tmfacio, like the Greek pe^co (joe£cu vxep Aarawv, II. i. 444.), 
 was used to express the act of sacrificing, sacra perhaps being 
 understood. — vitula. This is the reading of some of the best 
 MSS. ; others read vitulam ; and though it is equally correct 
 to use the ace. as the abl*. after facere in this sense (see Dra- 
 kenborch on Liv. i. 45, x. 42.), yet euphony alone, as Voss saw, 
 decides for the latter, for the ictus metricus falls on the last 
 syllable of both faciam and vitula. — pro frugibus, sc, at the 
 Ambarvalia, a festival of Ceres celebrated by the country- 
 folk previous to harvest. See Geor. i. 345. Menalcas replies, 
 apparently in the character of Iollas : I cannot part with Phyl- 
 lis, whom I love above all others, and she too loves me, as she 
 testified by her grief when one time I was leaving her. Heyne 
 and Voss think that Menalcas himself is the favoured lover, 
 and that Phyllis quits Iollas for him. But Wagner justly asks, 
 if she was quitting Iollas for him, why did she weep at Me- 
 nalcas' departure ? and why, if Iollas was so handsome as she 
 says, did she leave him ? and why did she take so tender an 
 adieu of him, and employ what was a usual term of affection ? 
 
ECLOGUE III. 76-82. 41 
 
 We therefore hold our interpretation to be the true one. — 
 78. me discedere, a Hellenism, i.q. me discedente. — 79- longum, 
 etc. All the commentators, except H. Stephens, Wagner and 
 Forbiger, follow Servius in taking longum adverbially and join- 
 ing it to vale. The sense of the passage thus taken is, ' Fare- 
 well for a long time, beautiful Iollas !' In the other way it is, 
 'she uttered a long Farewell, farewell, my beautiful Iollas.' 
 This last interpretation we greatly prefer. The employment 
 of longum here, Wagner observes, corresponds with that in 
 longos ciere Jletus and such-like phrases, and with supremum 
 vale. Longum should therefore begin with a small, Formose 
 with a capital, letter. — vale, vale. The e of the second vale, 
 which is not elided, is short on account of the following 
 vowel. 
 
 80-83. In the person of another shepherd, as it would seem, 
 Damoetas declares that the anger of his mistress Amaryllis 
 was as dreadful to him as the wolf to the flocks, the rain to 
 the ripened corn, and the winds to the trees. — Triste, a dismal 
 thing. The Romans seem to have borrowed this form from 
 the Greeks, with whom the noun understood (irpayiia, yj>i)}xa) 
 is in the neuter gender, whereas the Latin res is feminine, and 
 negotium is a word of a different signification. — stabidis, i. e. 
 flocks, the container for the contained. The stabida here 
 seem to correspond with the ovilia of Geor. iii. 537, and to 
 be the pens in which the sheep and goats were shut up at 
 night for protection, and into which, as they were not covered 
 over, the wolves used sometimes to leap. — imbres. Pliny (xviii. 
 44) observes that rains did great injury to the ripe corn. Of 
 this we have abundant experience in our own country. — 81. 
 Arboribus venti, namely when they are in blossom or in fruit. 
 As Damoetas had compared the anger of a maiden with things 
 of a destructive nature, Menalcas on the contrary compares 
 the kindness of a youth with nutritive objects. — 82. Didce, 
 like triste, v. 80. — satis. Saturn was anything that was sown 
 
 V. 80. Aevcpecrt p.ev %ei/xwv <poj3epov kcikov, vdaai d' av%/zos, 
 "Opviaiv d' v<JTi\ayZ„ ayporepois 8e Xiva' 
 'Avdpi ce TrapQeviKas cnraXas ttoQos. — Theoc. viii. 57. 
 
42 BUCOLICS. 
 
 or planted, corn or trees. — depulsis, weaned, see on i. 21. — 
 lenta, flexible : see on i. 4. This is here merely an epitheton 
 ornans, as it was only the leaves that were used as fodder.— -feto 
 pecori, the goats that had yeaned. See on i. 49. 
 
 84-87. The poet, in his anxiety to pay court to his patron, 
 loses sight here of the simplicity belonging to bucolic poetry ; 
 for, in spite of the ingenious arguments of Voss, shepherds 
 could know but little of the critical or poetical powers of 
 Asinius Pollio. For Pollio, and his connexion with our poet, 
 see the Life of Virgil and that of Pollio. — nostram Musam, 
 my Muse, i. e. my poetry, though it is only unaspiring bu- 
 colic. — 85. Pierides, the Muses, as born in Pieria. See My- 
 thology, p. 186. — pascite, feed, cause to fatten the heifer 
 which I intend to offer in sacrifice for his welfare. — lectori 
 vestro, for your reader, i. e. Pollio, who reads my verses which 
 are dictated by you. Menalcas enlarges on the praises of 
 Damoetas, for he adds : Not only is Pollio an admirer of poetry, 
 he is an excellent poet himself. — 86. nova, new, that is ex- 
 cellent, exhibiting all the charms of novelty ; not as Voss un- 
 derstands it, containing new subjects. The carmina here 
 meant are Pollio's tragedies. — iaurum. As Damoetas declares 
 he will offer a heifer, Menalcas promises a young bull who is 
 just beginning to grow pugnacious. Cf. Hor. C. iii. 13, 3, seq. 
 
 88-91. Damoetas continues the praises of Pollio, but his 
 meaning is somewhat obscure. It seems to be : May he obtain 
 the same degree of poetic inspiration — quo, to where, i. e. 
 to the same height of poetic excellence, or to the same height 
 of fortune. — gaudet, sc. pervenisse. — 89. Mella, etc., may his 
 inspiration be such that in imagination he may see the golden 
 age renewed, when the trees dropped honey and the common 
 briars bore the fragrant products of the East. See the fol- 
 lowing Eclogue. There may be an allusion to some chorus 
 in Pollio's tragedies, perhaps in one founded on the Bacchae 
 of Euripides, where see v. 142 seq. Menalcas replies by a 
 contrary case. As his rival had sung the felicity of admiring 
 a good poet, he notes the infelicity of admiring a bad one ; 
 namely, that he who does so will, by a sort of retribution, be 
 led to admire one as bad if not worse, and will thus, if no 
 
ECLOGUE III. 84-100. 43 
 
 more, spend his time and labour in vain. For Bavius and 
 Maevius, see the Life of Virgil. We need not observe how 
 anti-bucolic the introduction of such a subject is. — 91. jungat 
 vulpes, sc. ad arandum, a proverbial expression like the fol- 
 lowing, mulgeat hircos. The philosopher Demonax, seeing two 
 would-be philosophers arguing one day most absurdly, said to 
 the bystanders, "Don't you think, my friends, that one of 
 these is milking a he-goat and the other holding the pail? " 
 Lucian, Vita Demon. 28. 
 
 92-95. Damoetas now resumes the pastoral strain ; he calls, 
 as it were, to warn those who are gathering flowers and straw- 
 berries of a snake that is lying in the grass. Perturbation and 
 anxiety are expressed in the position of the words of the second 
 line, and in its being wholly composed of dactyls. — Frigidus 
 anguis, the \pvxpbs ocpis of Theocritus xv. 58. The snake seems 
 to be termed cold, as being such to the touch. Thus we say, 
 'As cold as a frog.' Menalcas, in the character of a shepherd, 
 calls out to his sheep not to go too near the edge of a stream. — 
 non bene creditor, as Horace says (Sat. ii.4, 21), a/m(fungis) 
 male creditor. The impersonal corresponds to the Italian verb 
 with si, as si crede, and the French on, as on se Jie. — 95. 
 ipse aries, etc. You see the ram himself, who is your guide, 
 has tumbled in and is now drying his fleece. 
 
 96-99. In the character of a goatherd Damoetas calls to 
 his underling to drive the she-goats away from the river. — 
 reice, i. q. rejice, drive them back, sc. by flinging his crook at 
 them. Cf. Horn. II. xxiii. 845. Theocr. iv. 44. Menalcas, 
 who all along seems to confine himself more to one subject 
 than his rival, cries out to the shepherds to get the sheep into 
 the shade, or else all the milk will be lost. — Cogite, sc. in um- 
 bram, Geor. iii. 331. — praeceperit, sc. by drying up the dugs. 
 
 100-103. Damoetas, as a neat-herd, cries out that his bull 
 
 V. 94. "Eitt airo ras kotivoj, red firjicddes' aide vefxeaOe, 
 
 'Qs to KctTavTes tovto yewkotyov, ai re [ivplKai. — Theoc. v. 100. 
 
 V. 96. Alyes e/xai OapceiTe Kepov)(i§es' avpwv v/xfie 
 
 liaaas eya> XovffCj 2v/3apm£os evSoQi Kpdvas. — Id. v. 145. 
 
 V. 100. AeiTTos fxctv %u) ravpos b 7rvppixos. — Id. ix. 20. 
 
44 BUCOLICS. 
 
 is grown thin in the midst of food, and ascribes it to love, from 
 which he suffers himself. Menalcas, as a shepherd, replies, 
 My lambs too have fallen away to nothing, and as it cannot 
 be love, they are so young, it must be fascination of an evil 
 eye. — His, sc. agnis. — neque is, as Voss observes, i. q. ne qui- 
 dem. — vix ossibus haerent, as we say ; they are mere skin and 
 bone : their skins hang loose, hardly sticking to their bones. 
 103. Nescio quis oculas, i.q. aliquis oculus. There should not 
 be a comma after quis, as in Heyne's edition. — -fascinat. The 
 ancients had a great superstition about the power of what was 
 esteemed the evil eye, and this superstition still prevails in 
 the East, in Greece and Italy, and elsewhere. 
 
 104-107. Damoetas concludes the contest by making a rid- 
 dle, of which he does not however seem to require a solution. 
 — Apollo, as being the god of soothsaying. — 105. Tres pateat 
 caeli, etc. Servius and Philargyrius tell us that Asconius 
 Pedianus and Cornificius both said that they had it from 
 Virgil's own lips, that his intention in this place was to give 
 the critics a puzzle (se crucem Jixisse), and that he meant a 
 well-known Mantuan named Caelius, who squandered away 
 his whole property, with the exception of as much land as 
 would serve him for a sepulchre. As Voss remarks, this was 
 perhaps a common joke in Mantua at the time. There is no 
 reason whatever to suspect the genuineness of this tradition ; 
 but both ancient and modern critics, not content with it, have 
 devised various other solutions. Some said it was a well at 
 Syene, over which the sun was vertical when in the tropic ; 
 others, that it was any deep well ; others, that it was a cavern 
 in Sicily ; while some, still more profound, said it was the 
 Homeric shield of Achilles. One modern makes it the grotto 
 of Posilipo near Naples, and another the opening in the roof 
 of the Pantheon, though that temple was not built at the time. 
 Menalcas gives as his riddle a well-known poetic fiction, the 
 origin of flowers from the blood of princes. — regum, sc. of 
 Hyacinthus and Ajax, both the sons of kings, and therefore 
 
 V. 102. Tijvas [lev £?'/ rot rcis iropnos avra XeXenrrai 
 
 TiotTTea. fn) TrpwKas oi-iZ,e-ai, utairep 6 rerrit ; — Theoc. iv. 15. 
 
ECLOGUE III. 103-111. 45 
 
 princes, as Ariadne is called a queen, regina. JEn. vi. 28. — 
 inscripti nomina. On the hyacinthus some saw an at, the 
 first letters of A'ias ; others a Y, the first letter of 'Yaicivdos. 
 For the form inscripti nomina, see Excursus III. — etPhyllida, 
 etc., in the person, it would seem, of Iollas, above, vv. 76, 79. 
 108-111. The contest being concluded by the two riddles, 
 Palaemon declares himself unable to decide between the two 
 rival singers. — 109. etvitula. See vv. 29, 48. — ethic, sc. dignus 
 poculis. A bold ellipsis ! But perhaps Menalcas had had the 
 courage to stake some part of his flock, or possibly another 
 heifer. — et quisquis amoves, etc. This passage has been a 
 complete crux to the critics. Heyne rejects vv. 109, 110, as 
 interpolations, but this is not a safe proceeding with Virgil, 
 who is the most free from interpolation of all the Latin poets. 
 Voss reads : At quisquis amores aut metuat dulcis aut expert- 
 etur amaros ! and renders it : But let every one shun secret 
 love, or he will find it bitter in the end. Wagner reads : Et 
 quisquis amores Ha u t metuet, dulcis aut experietur amaros : 
 i. e. And every one will experience either sweet or bitter love. 
 " Haud metuit amores," says he, "qui eos non fugit, non sper- 
 nit." Perhaps, after all, Jahn is right in saying that Servius 
 gives the true sense of the passage : " ' Et tu et hie digni estis 
 vitula et quicunque similis vestri est : ' scilicet Damoetas in 
 superioribus amoris amaritudinem conquestus est (vv. 64, 68, 
 72, 76). Menalcas amores sprevit, adeoque puellam amatam 
 Damoetae cedere voluit (vv. 66, 70, 74, 78, 106). Haec igitur 
 respiciens Palaemon pro simplici et quisque sic, uti vos, amores 
 canet, divisim dicit et quisquis aut amores dulces, sicut Damoetas, 
 metuet aut, sicut Menalcas, amaros experietur." — 1 1 1 . Claudite, 
 etc. Palaemon calls out to some workmen, whom he directs 
 to close the sluices, as the meadows were now sufficiently ir- 
 rigated. " Aut certe allegorice hoc dicit," says Servius. " Jam 
 cantare desinite satiati enim audiendo sumus ; " an interpre- 
 tation not altogether to be despised. 
 
46 BUCOLICS. 
 
 Observations. 
 
 Date. — This eclogue was probably composed after the 
 second, as the poet mentions it after that eclogue. See v. 86, 
 87. It was certainly composed after he had become known 
 to Pollio. 
 
 Subject. — The subject is a contest in amcebaeic song be- 
 tween two swains, after some previous sparring. He imitates, 
 as in the second eclogue, some of the Idylls of Theocritus, 
 particularly the fourth and fifth. 
 
 In the second eclogue Virgil gave an example of moncedic 
 extempore verse. He here gives one of the amcebaeic kind. 
 The principle of these amcebaeic contests was, that one of the 
 parties, generally he who was challenged, should commence in 
 any measure and with any number of verses he chose, and the 
 other was bound to follow him in the same measure and with 
 the same number of verses on the same or a similar subject. 
 The first then, still keeping to the same measure and number 
 of verses, either continued the same subject or changed to 
 another, and his rival was bound to follow him; and they thus 
 went on till they either stopped of themselves or were desired 
 to stop by the person whom they had selected as judge. 
 
 It is not easy to say whether Theocritus, or the mimogra- 
 phers whom he followed, have given us in these compositions a 
 transcript from nature, and that such rural contests were 
 common among the shepherds of Sicily at that time. We be- 
 lieve that we may assert with confidence that no such prac- 
 tice prevails at the present day in either Greece or Italy ; but 
 Riedesel, a German traveller quoted by Voss (on v. 58), tells 
 us that the Sicilian shepherds still, as in the days of Theocri- 
 tus, contend with one another in improvised song, and that 
 the prize is a scrip or a staff. A learned Italian friend, who 
 was born and spent the greater part of his life in the kingdom 
 of Naples, and who is himself a poet of no mean order, told 
 us, when we consulted him on the subject, that he had often 
 heard that the shepherds in Sicily, and even in Tuscany, did 
 thus contend in extemporary strains, but that he had never 
 witnessed any of these contests. He once, he says, was pre- 
 
ECLOGUE III. 47 
 
 sent on the Mole at Naples, at a contest in verse between two 
 of the popular poets. They accompanied their strains with 
 the guitar, and gave them out for improvised, but in his opi- 
 nion they had previously arranged them. We are also told *, 
 on the authority of an English traveller named Cleghorn, that 
 these extemporary poetic contests might be witnessed among 
 the peasantry of the island of Minorca. We must however 
 confess that this evidence does not quite satisfy us. If the 
 practice was so common, we should probably have heard more 
 about it ; and it is very remarkable that nothing of this kind 
 occurs in the writings of Meli, the modern bucolic poet of Si- 
 cily, who, if such contests were of frequent occurrence among 
 the shepherds of his native isle, could hardly have failed to 
 give a specimen of them in his eclogues and idylls. 
 
 The custom of playing and singing together, as given by 
 Theocritus and Virgil, may be illustrated by the following 
 usage of the present day. In the cities of Rome and Naples, 
 and other towns, may be seen, from the end of November till 
 Christmas, persons who go about playing and singing before 
 the images of the Virgin and Child.f These are peasants from 
 the Apennines, who from motives of piety or profit make these 
 annual descents. They always go in pairs : one plays on the 
 zampogna or bagpipes, which resembles the Highland pipes, 
 and is like them filled with the mouth, but does not scream, 
 being of a graver tone ; the other plays on the cennamella, a 
 rustic clarionet of moderate compass. They stop before an 
 image in the street, or sometimes in a house, and after a pre- 
 lude on both instruments, the player on the cennamella stops 
 and sings a devout stanza to the Virgin, accompanied by the 
 zampogna. He then resumes his instrument, and the two 
 perform the prelude to the next stanza, and so on. But their 
 verses are not extemporary ; they are all popular ones, which 
 the singer has learned by heart. Setting aside the zampog?ia, 
 
 * Sulzer, Allgem. Theorie der Schonen Kunste, ii. 58 ; quoted by Harles 
 on Theocr. v. 80. 
 
 f Miss Taylor, in her very elegant " Letters from Italy " (i. 218), no- 
 tices this practice. 
 
48 
 
 BUCOLICS. 
 
 we have here a parallel to the manner in which the shepherds 
 in Theocritus and Virgil play and sing. 
 
 Characters. — The Lacon and Cometas of Theocritus' fifth 
 idyll, which our poet here chiefly follows, are, as we are ex- 
 pressly informed, both slaves. We may therefore safely as- 
 sume such to be the condition of the Damoetas and Menalcas 
 of Virgil. The former, like the latter, stake members of their 
 flocks on the issue of the contest, and this seems to be in 
 unison with the usages of the ancients. In Longus' pastoral 
 Lamon, the reputed father of Daphnis, is only a slave, and yet 
 Daphnis appears to have unlimited power of making presents 
 and offering sacrifices out of the flock of goats of which he 
 has the charge. It seems only to have been required of the 
 goatherd (and the same was of course the case with the shep- 
 herd), that his flock should increase at a reasonable rate. In 
 making shepherds and goatherds lay calves for a wager, the 
 poet we think errs against propriety. He was probably led 
 into this error by keeping too close to his original, for we have 
 a neatherd only in Theocritus' third, and a neatherd and shep- 
 herd in his eighth idyll. It may be here remarked that we 
 meet with no neatherds in the Bucolics. The simple reason 
 perhaps is, that armentarius, the Latin term answering to the 
 Greek f3ovi:6\os, could only be used in the nominative in verse, 
 as in Geor. iii. 344-, and was besides too long and ponderous 
 a word. 
 
 Scenery. — The scene is laid in a region where there are 
 beech-trees (v. 12), vineyards (10), marshes (20), streams 
 and meads (111). It is probably ideal. We must observe, 
 that the various rural objects mentioned in the amcebaeic 
 verses give no aid in determining the scene of the contest ; for 
 these verses are to be regarded as the spontaneous creations 
 of the imagination of the contending swains. It may however 
 be supposed that they took their images from the scenery 
 with which they were surrounded. 
 
49 
 
 Eclogue IV. — Pollio. 
 
 Argument. 
 In this Eclogue the poet assumes a higher strain and sings 
 the return of the Golden Age, which he makes to take place 
 in his own days. See the Observations. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 1-3. Sicelides Musae, i.e. pastoral or bucolic Muses, namely 
 those who inspired the Sicilian Theocritus, or as Voss thinks 
 the pastoral poets who preceded him in that island. Sicelides 
 is a Greek form from HineXla, the Greek name answering to 
 the Latin Sicilia. — paulo major a, sc. carmina, somewhat greater 
 than those I have hitherto made. — 2. Non omnes, etc. Pas- 
 toral poetry is not to the taste of every one. — arbusta, simply 
 trees : see on i. 40. Voss as usual would restrict this word to 
 the trees that supported the vines. — myricae. The Greek my- 
 rica is the Latin tamarix, the tamarisk. — 3. Si canimus, etc. 
 if we do sing the woods (if we keep to pastoral poetry), let it 
 be in such elevated strains as may be worthy of a consul* s ear. 
 Voss makes an over-refined distinction between the arbusta 
 and myricae and the silvas, making the former signify the 
 humble, the latter the elevated style of pastoral poetry. He 
 therefore adopts the reading of sunt for sint in v. 3. — Consule, 
 sc. Pollio, see v. 12. 
 
 4-7. Ultima, etc. The last age of the world (i. e. the 
 Iron) sung in the verses of the Cumaean Sibyl has come and 
 is drawing to its conclusion, and a new circuit of the ages 
 of the world is about to commence. For the Sibyls and 
 the Ages of the World see Excursus IV. — 5. Magnus sae- 
 clorum ordo, i. e. the Magnus Annus. Saeclum answers to 
 the yevos of Hesiod ; Lucretius often uses it in this sense. 
 — integro. The second syllable is long, as in juvat integros 
 accedere fontes, Lucr. i. 926 ; integris opibus, Hor. S. ii. 2, 
 
 D 
 
50 BUCOLICS. 
 
 113. — 6. Jam redit, etc. The Golden Age is now returning, 
 when Saturn reigned, and the Virgin Justice abode among 
 men. — 7. Jam nova, etc. He has here perhaps in view the 
 Platonic notion of the descent of souls from heaven to animate 
 bodies on earth. In the Hesiodic narrative it is simply said 
 that the gods made each successive generation. — demittitur, 
 like redit, in the present tense to denote the immediate future. 
 
 8-10. nascenti puero, sc. the son of Pollio. — quo, with 
 whom or in whom, that is, at whose birth. — primum, first, be- 
 cause, as we shall see, the renewed Golden Age was to come 
 on gradually. — 9. gens aurea, the golden race of men, the 
 ypvoeov yevos of Hesiod. — mundo. The Latin mundus, like 
 our equivalent term world, sometimes signified the complex 
 of earth, air and sky, (compare Milton, P. L. ii. 1052.) 
 sometimes merely the earth, as here. See Hor. C. iii. 3, 53 : 
 Ov. Trist. iv. 4, 83 ; Lucan, i. 160. — 10. Lucina. The Roman 
 Juno Lucina, who presided over birth, was a totally distinct 
 deity from the moon-goddess Diana, for the Italian religion does 
 not seem to have held a connexion between the moon and 
 birth. As the Greeks had united Artemis and Ilithyia, or 
 rather perhaps as they were originally identical, the Latin 
 poets gave to their Diana (i. e. Artemis) the office of Lucina. 
 Apollo was the brother of Artemis, that is of Diana, and he 
 was at this time held to be the same as the Sun. There is 
 considerable difficulty about this reign of Apollo. As regnat 
 is in the present tense, it should, like the preceding nascitur 
 and redit, denote the immediate future, and refer to the Golden 
 Age about to commence. But Saturn, according to Hesiod, 
 was then to reign. Nigidius (De Diis), as quoted by Servius, 
 says, " Quidam deos et eorum genera temporibus et aetatibus 
 Csc.assignant), inter quos et Orpheus, primum regnum Saturni, 
 deinde Jovis, turn Neptuni, inde Plutonis ; nonnulli etiam, ut 
 magi, aiunt Apollinis fore regnum." Servius then adds, that 
 the Sibyl declared the last age to be that of the Sun. He also 
 supposes an allusion to Augustus, whose likeness to and re- 
 gard for Apollo is known, but which last he does not appear 
 to have shown at the time when this eclogue was written. 
 
 11-14. Decus hoc aevi, i. q. hoc decorum (praeclarum) 
 
ECLOGUE IV. 6-17. 51 
 
 aevum, sc. this Golden Age. It is wrong to suppose, with 
 some of the ancients, that it is the puer or Augustus that is 
 meant. — inibit, sc. cursum, the future of ineo. i. q. ingredior. 
 Burmann observes, that there is no instance of ineo taken 
 thus absolutely, but Heyne justly refers to the participle 
 iniens thus taken, as in ineunte anno, mense. — -12. magni 
 menses, illustrious (as we use the word great), as belonging to 
 the Golden Age. Voss understands by it long months, that is, 
 the ten parts into which the Sibyl divided the Magnus Annus. 
 A remarkable proof of how ill the ancients sometimes com- 
 prehended their own writers is, that, as we learn from Servius, 
 Asconius, the contemporary of Virgil, understood by these 
 great months July and August, called after Caesar and Au- 
 gustus, though this latter title was not known till some years 
 later ; and at all events, as Spohn observes, Pollio did not 
 enter on his consulate till October, and went out of office in 
 December. — 13. Te, sc. Pollio. — sceleris nostri, sc. of the civil 
 wars, which were regarded as a scelus; Cui dabit partes scelus 
 expiandi Jupiter ! says Horace when speaking of them, C. i. 
 2, 29, and again (Epod. 6, 1) he cries to the Romans, Quo 
 quo scelesti ruitis? — 14. Irrita, i.e. in-rata, abolished. — per- 
 petua formidine, continued fear of the recurrence of similar 
 evils. — terras, i. q. orbis terrarum. 
 
 15-17. Hie, sc. puer, v. 8., the son of Pollio. — deum vitam 
 accipiet, i. e. he will become a partaker of the blessings of the 
 Golden Age, when, as Hesiod expresses it, men wore Oeol £' 
 c£(*iov aKrj^ea Ovjjidv eypvTes. — divisque, etc. He here seems to 
 allude to the opinion that the gods then mingled familiarly 
 with men, at least with the higher class of them, the heroes. — 
 
 16. ipse videbitur, that is, he will himself be one of them. — 
 
 17. Pacatumque reget orbem. As consul or chief magistrate of 
 the reformed and virtuous Roman republic, he will rule the 
 civilised world, now reduced to peace.— patriis virtutibus, with 
 the noble qualities which he had derived from his father ; a 
 high compliment to Pollio ! We must not here omit to notice 
 that Jahn maintains that ille refers to Caesar, and the patriis 
 to the Dictator his adoptive father. For this employment of 
 ilk he refers to i. 7, 42, 44, and to Ovid, Her. ii. 20, and iv> 
 
 d2 
 
52 BUCOLICS. 
 
 14, but none of these passages bear him out. Critics do not 
 seem sufficiently to recollect that at the time when this eclogue 
 was written Caesar was not of the importance to which he after- 
 wards attained, and that the triumvirs had engaged to restore 
 the republic at the end of their term of five years, which was 
 not yet expired. 
 
 18-25. The poet now proceeds to describe the gradual ad- 
 vance of the Golden Age, according to the childhood, youth 
 and manhood of the young Pollio. — At. This word merely 
 denotes transition to another subject, and not opposition, as 
 Jahn maintains in support of his interpretation of Me in the 
 preceding paragraph. — mumiscula, small gifts of flowers and 
 such like suited to a child. — nullo cultu in both Hesiod and 
 Ovid; it is a character of the Golden Age that plants grow 
 without culture. — 19. errantes passim. These words are to 
 be taken together, as characteristic of the ivy. — 20. ridenti, 
 joyous, fair, flowering, like the yeXdv of the Greeks. — 21. 
 Ipsae, etc. Another mark of the Golden Age, the goats will 
 require no keeper (perhaps, as Voss says, because the wolves 
 were grown harmless), but will come home of themselves 
 (ipsae) to be milked. — 22. nee magnos, etc. The meaning 
 perhaps is, that the same would be the case with the kine, 
 which would no longer have reason to fear the lions. We 
 may here remind the reader that the poet, when describing 
 these blessings, had the whole earth in his view, and not 
 merely Italy, in which it is well known there never were any 
 lions. — 23. Ipsa tibi blandos, etc. Flowers will spring up 
 everywhere in such profusion, that your very cradle will be 
 filled with them. Blandos, grateful, from their colour and 
 smell. It would perhaps have been better if the poet had put 
 this verse, or one of similar import, before the two preceding 
 verses. — 24. Occidet, etc. Poisonous reptiles and plants will 
 cease to exist. Voss reads this passage thus : Occidet et ser- 
 pens, et fallax herba veneni, Occidet ! comparing it with the 
 Cedes coemptis saltibus et domo, Villaque, flavus quam Tiberis 
 lavit : Cedes, of Horace ; C. ii. 3, 17. It however seems more 
 simple to let herba govern the second occidet.— fallax, decei- 
 ving, sc. those that were culling simples, as Nee miseros fallunt 
 
ECLOGUE IV. 17-31. 53 
 
 aconita legentes, Geor. ii. 152. — herba veneni, i. q. herba vene- 
 nata, a Graecism. — 25. vulgo, i. e. passim. — amomum. The 
 ainomum will no longer be confined to the East, it will grow 
 everywhere. 
 
 26-30. When the new-born child shall have arrived at a 
 sufficient age to study the deeds of heroes, the condition of 
 external nature will make a further step in its progress to- 
 ward perfect bliss ; corn, wine and honey will be produced 
 without the care of man, and in the greatest abundance. — 
 heroum laudes, the praiseworthy deeds of the ancient heroes, 
 the K-Xea avdptov yjpojiov of Homer, II. xxii. 520.— -facta parentis, 
 sc. Pollionis. — legere, to read, in Homer and the other poets,, 
 and in the historians. — 27. quae sit virtus. Thence learn what 
 civil and military virtues are, and be able to acquire them.- — 
 28. Molli arista. It is doubted by the critics whether the 
 poet takes arista in its proper sense as the beard of the wheat 
 or for the whole ear. The latter seems to us the true sense, 
 as he speaks of its turning yellow (jiavescet). Molli again is 
 by some rendered smooth, by others tender. There is another 
 and the original sense of this word as the contraction of mo- 
 bilis (see on Geor. ii. 389.), which would give a beautiful 
 and very poetic image, namely that of the yellow corn waving 
 in the gentle breeze of the perpetual spring. — 29. rubens uva, 
 the ruddy (i. e. ripe) bunch of grapes. — Incultis sentibus, 
 from the wild bushes, which instead of blackberries would 
 bear grapes. — 30. roscida mella. It was the opinion of the 
 ancients, that honey was a dew which fell from the sky on 
 the leaves and flowers of plants, whence it was collected by 
 the bees. Elsewhere (Geor. iv. 1.) he calls it aerii mellis 
 caelestia dona. Honey, he says, would now be so abundant 
 on the trees, that the oaks, as it were, would sweat it forth, 
 and the men of the Golden Age would obtain it without the 
 intervention of the bees or any necessity of attending to these 
 little animals. 
 
 31-36. The blessings of the Golden Age will not, however, 
 come all at once ; in this stage of the transition there will still 
 be war, commerce and navigation. — veteris fraudis, of the evils 
 which had grown up in the preceding ages ; iovfraus is some- 
 
54 
 
 BUCOLICS. 
 
 times i. q. scelus. Hepubl. violanda fraudem inexpiabilem con- 
 cipere, Cic. Tusc. i. 30. Fraudem capitalem admitfere, Id. Rab. 
 Perd. 9. It may perhaps be taken in its original sense with 
 a reference to the theft of Prometheus.— vestigia. There 
 would however be only traces of them, namely, some of the 
 arts of which they had caused the invention. — 32. Quae, sc. 
 vestigia. — Thetin. The sea-nymph, the mother of Achilles, 
 put in the usual manner for the sea. — tentare ratibus (sc. 
 jubeant), to try (navigate) with ships, a periphrasis for navi- 
 gare. Ratis is properly a raft, but it is used for a ship in 
 general. — cingere, etc., fortify towns. — 33. jubeant, sc. homines. 
 — telluri infindere sulcos, to plough the ground. Voss adopts 
 the reading of one Roman MS. tellurem findere sidco, and 
 Wakefield that of a Vatican, stdcis. — 34. Alter erit, etc. He 
 now, as it were, proceeds to particulars. There will be an- 
 other Argonautic expedition, that is, voyages in search of pro- 
 fit and full of enterprise, similar to that renowned voyage will 
 still be undertaken. For this voyage, in which Tiphys was 
 the pilot, see Mythology, p. 468 seq. — 35. erunt altera bella, 
 etc. There will still be wars, and Achilles will be again sent 
 to Troy. We would not reject the supposition that there is 
 an allusion here to the Parthians, the most formidable enemies 
 of Rome, and that the meaning is, that, as the son of Thetis 
 was sent to the East to war against Troy, so a Roman Achilles 
 would be sent by the restored republic to the East to over- 
 throw the Parthian power. 
 
 37-45. When the youth shall have attained to manhood 
 the Golden Age will come in completely. Commerce and 
 agriculture (much more war) will cease, and all blessings will 
 be equally diffused. — 38. vector (from ve/io) : " tam is qui ve- 
 hitur quam qui vehit dicitur." Servius. Its most usual sig- 
 nification is the former, i. e. the merchant or passenger. Etiam 
 summi gubernatores in magnis tempestatibus a vectoribus 
 admoneri solent, Cic. Phil. vii. 9. — 39. mutabit merces, because 
 trade was originally carried on chiefly by barter. Hie mu- 
 tat merces surgente a sole ad eum quo Vespertina tepet 
 regio, Hor. S. i. 4, 29. — Omnis feret, etc. The reason why 
 trade would cease, there would be no need of an exchange of 
 
eclogue iv. 32-47. 55 
 
 productions. — 40. Non rastros, etc. Agriculture also would 
 cease, as everything would grow spontaneously. For the ras- 
 trum and the falx, see Terms of Husbandry, s. v. — 41 . Hobustus, 
 etc. The vigorous ploughman will now take the yoke off his 
 oxen, that is, he will cease to work them. Forbiger, following 
 two MSS., reads robustis tauris. Cf. Geor. ii. 237. He and 
 Wagner also take tauris as a dat. instead of an abl. — 42. Nee 
 varios, etc. The mechanical arts, especially that of the dyer, 
 will go out of use. Wool will no longer learn to assume 
 (nientiri) various hues, for the fleeces on the backs of the 
 sheep will become purple, yellow and scarlet of themselves. — 
 suave, sweetly, i. e. beautifully, agreeably. Cf. iii. 63. This 
 transference of terms of one sense to another is common to 
 most languages. Dante, ex. gr. says, Dolce color a" oriental 
 zaffiro, Purg. i. st. 5., and we ourselves talk of sweet colours 
 and sweet sounds. Cf. ii. 49, 55. — 44. Murice. The murex was 
 one of those sea-snails found on the coasts of the Mediter- 
 ranean, which in a white vein held a fluid which gave a blue 
 or purple die to wool and other substances. Plin. ix. 36. — ■ 
 luto, woad. — sandyx, vermilion or scarlet. Pliny (xxxv. 6.) 
 describes the sandyx as a mineral substance. Voss tries in 
 vain, after Servius, to show that it was a plant. Like murex 
 and lutum, it in reality only denotes the colour. They are 
 quite mistaken who fancy the poet to mean that it was by 
 feeding on particular plants the sheep of the Golden Age 
 would change their hue. The ordinary laws of nature were 
 then to be all changed. 
 
 46-47. Talia saecla, etc. This may be, ' Such happy times 
 roll off! said the Parcae to their spindles/ as Heyne renders 
 it, apparently* taking talia saecla as a voc. ; but it seems 
 simpler with La Cerda and others, and more in accordance 
 with the passage of Catullus, which he had in view, to in- 
 terpret it, " O fusi, currite per talia saecla V'—fusi, spindles, 
 from fundo. — 47. stabili ?iumine, in the fixed, unchangeable 
 power.— -fatorum, of the divine decrees. — Parcae. This name 
 corresponds with the Greek MoTjoat. See Mythology, p. 194. Its 
 origin is unknown. There do not seem to have been in the Ita- 
 lian religion any deities answering to the Moerae of the Greeks. 
 
56 
 
 BUCOLICS. 
 
 48-52. He continues in the same strain to address the son 
 of Pollio. The language is, we may observe, greatly inverted, 
 o being separated from cara suboles, and aderit jam tempus 
 introduced parenthetically. — magnos honor -es, the great ho- 
 nours destined for thee. Voss says they are the offices of 
 importance in the Roman republic, leading up to the consu- 
 late. — 49. deum suboles. It is difficult to understand why the 
 son of Pollio should be so styled. Pomponius said that the 
 Pollios, led by the similitude of their name to his, derived 
 their lineage from Apollo, and possibly the poet may allude 
 to this. Voss says it is because he would be the first of the 
 aurea gens sent down from heaven. — deum. Wagner says 
 that the plural was thus employed to signify some one of, as 
 Externos opiate duces, etc. Aen. viii. 503. — Jovis incrementum, 
 diorpecprjs, the nurseling or favourite of Jupiter. — 50. Adspice, 
 etc. The whole world is moved and thrilled with joy at the 
 coming events. Adspice, like en ! ecce ! (Cf. ii. 66.) calls the 
 attention of the hearer or reader to what the poet beholds in 
 his fit of inspiration. — mundum is either the world, or more 
 probably here the solid arched heaven which contains the sky, 
 earth and water. See the Mythic Cosmology in the Mythology. 
 — convexo pondere, with its arched solidity. The Latins fre- 
 quently used convexus to denote concavity.— nutantem. Nuto 
 is used of quiet, gentle motion, as nutantem platanum, Catull. 
 lxiv. 291 ; nutat sidus, Calpurn. i. 79. — caelum profundum, 
 the depths of the sky, the " azure deep of air " of Gray. This 
 verse is repeated, Geor. iv. 222. — 52. Adspice ! Again the poet 
 calls our attention. — omnia, sc. mundus, terra, etc. 
 
 53-59. The poet, who, we must recollect, had now reached 
 his thirtieth year, wishes that he may live long Enough to ce- 
 lebrate the exploits of the young Pollio in his years of man- 
 hood. — longaepars ultima vitae, that he may reach the last part 
 of a long life, i. e. that he may live long enough. — 54-. Spi- 
 ritus, etc., and that his poetic spirit nay not be exhausted by 
 that time, but he may retain enough of it to be able to cele- 
 brate the great events that would occur. Maneat is to be re- 
 peated with spiritus. — 55. Non me, etc. Then neither Or- 
 pheus nor Linus, the two great poets of the heroic age, would 
 
 
eclogue iv. 48-63. 57 
 
 excel me in song, even though his mother, the muse Calliope, 
 should aid the former, and his father, Apollo, the god of song, 
 the latter. — 58. Pan etiam, etc. Nay, Pan himself, the god 
 of Arcadia, if he were to contend with me in the bucolic 
 strains which I should employ, would acknowledge himself 
 conquered ; the Arcadians, his votaries, being themselves the 
 judges. 
 
 60-63. In conclusion, the poet returns to the child and 
 calls on him to recognise his mother, in token of his fitness to 
 belong to the Golden Age. — risu cognoscere matrem. There 
 is great difference here between the critics; some, as Julius 
 Sabinus, Ruaeus, Martyn, Heyne and Voss, saying that the 
 infant recognises the mother by her smiling ; others, as Ser- 
 vius, Jahn, Wagner and Forbiger, by smiling on her himself. 
 The latter seems to be more true to nature and to agree better 
 with the context. Wagner thus gives the sense : " Incipe ma- 
 trem risu agnoscere. Digna est enim quam risu tuo exhi- 
 lares, quippe cui decern menses longa tulerint fastidia. In- 
 cipe ergo tuo risu parentes ad mutuam arrisionem provocare. 
 Magnum hoc nam cui non arrisere parentes ;" etc. and cognos- 
 cere, he says, is used for what a prose writer would express 
 by agnoscere, and cognoscente risu is i. q. risu agnoscere. — 61 . 
 decern menses, the ten lunar months of gestation, parturition 
 taking place in the tenth month.— -fastidia, the qualms of preg- 
 nant women. — 62. Incipe, repeated like the adspice of v. 52 
 
 risere parentes, smiled on in return ; for a child whom his pa- 
 rents regarded with dislike was not destined to honour and 
 happiness. — 63. Nee deus, etc. The ancients saw in this a 
 reference to the god Hephaestos or Vulcan, whom his mother 
 rejected, his father flung out of heaven, and Minerva fled from 
 when he became her wooer. Ruaeus thought the allusion was 
 to Hercules, who was admitted to the table of the gods (see 
 Hor. C. iv. 8, 30) and married to the goddess Hebe. But 
 surely he never smiled on his mother or she on him. Servius 
 and Philargyrius tell us that when a male infant of noble fa- 
 mily was born, a couch was placed in the atrium of the house 
 for Juno, and a table for Hercules. It may be to this that 
 the poet alludes, but perhaps it is more simple to understand 
 
 J>5 
 
58 BUCOLICS. 
 
 it of the society of the gods which the child was to enjoy (r. 
 15), and which is expressed by admission to the table of Ju- 
 piter and marriage with a goddess. 
 
 Observations. 
 
 Date. — There is little dispute about the date of this Eclogue, 
 for the critics are unanimous in referring it to the latter part 
 of the year 712-14, when peace had been made between 
 Caesar and Antonius. 
 
 Subject. — The conclusion of the peace of Bruudisium, a.u. 
 712-14, in which Pollio was one of the most active agents 
 (see Life of Pollio, and Hist, of Rome, p. 468), which pro- 
 mised future tranquillity to the Roman world, caused general 
 joy and satisfaction. Virgil, grateful to Pollio for his past 
 favours, and to Caesar and Maecenas for the restoration of 
 his lands, resolved to celebrate this happy event in poetry, 
 and suitably to the kind in which alone he had hitherto exer- 
 cised himself, to manage his subject so as that he might be 
 able to adorn it chiefly with images drawn from the country. 
 The verses ascribed to the prophetic women named Sibyls, and 
 which were preserved with so much care at Rome, are said 
 to have spoken of a renewal of the golden and following ages 
 through which the world had passed ; the astrologers and phi- 
 losophers had also their mundane year, to which they assigned 
 different periods (some of immense length), at the end of 
 which the constellations would return to the position which 
 they had occupied at its commencement, and the whole course 
 of nature and series of events which had taken place in it be 
 repeated, as they all depended on the stars. Further, the au- 
 gural books of the Tuscans said that there were successive 
 secies or ages assigned to states and empires, the commence- 
 ment of each of which was marked by some celestial appear- 
 ance; and Augustus himself related, in the memoirs which he 
 wrote of his own life, that the aruspex Yulcatius declared 
 openly in the Forum that the bright star which appeared after 
 Caesar's death, and which he himself would have to be re- 
 garded as the soul of his adoptive father, was in reality a comet, 
 which signified the end of the ninth and the commencement of 
 
 
ECLOGUE IV. 59 
 
 the tenth secle, adding that, as he had thus made known the 
 secrets of the gods against their will, he would die forthwith, 
 and while he was yet speaking he dropped down dead. From 
 all this we think we may collect, that a belief in a great change 
 for the better in the condition of the world was at that time 
 sufficiently prevalent to authorise a poet to foretell the return 
 of the Golden Age, or rather of a golden race of men on earth. 
 This was the plan which Virgil adopted, and, commencing 
 with the birth of a child, he traces the gradual melioration 
 of nature and of man as the heaven-sent child advances to 
 maturity. 
 
 Characters. — The only character in the poem is this my- 
 sterious child, concerning whom there seems to have been 
 little or no difference of opinion among the ancients ; while 
 the moderns, affecting superior penetration in this as in so 
 many other cases, have gone into a variety of hypotheses. 
 
 Servius tells us that Asconius Pedianus had left it on re- 
 cord, that he had heard Asinius Gallus, the son of Asinius 
 Pollio, often say, that he himself was the person in whose ho- 
 nour this eclogue had been composed. In the commentary 
 of Servius, another son of Pollio, named Saloninus, from the 
 town of Salona in Dalmatia, which his father had just taken, 
 and who died in his infancy, is named as the subject of this 
 eclogue. Voss supposes that Gallus and Saloninus were the 
 same person, who, during the consulate of his father, was born 
 at Ravenna in Cisalpine Gaul, and hence named Gallus ; and 
 then (as Lipsius, he says, also thinks), when his father in the 
 following year conquered Dalmatia, was named, from its prin- 
 cipal town, Saloninus ; as was afterwards done in the case of 
 Germanicus and Britannicus. (See Hist. Rom. Empire, pp. 
 16, 82.) Whether this be correct or not is a matter of little 
 importance : we have the undoubted fact, that from the time 
 of the poet down (for Asconius was a contemporary), the an- 
 cients never thought of any other child than a son of Asinius 
 Pollio for this eclogue. 
 
 When we speak of the ancients we mean only the heathens ; 
 for the Christians, at least some of them, saw in this eclogue 
 a very different child. It is well known how early the maxim 
 
60 
 
 BUCOLICS. 
 
 of the end sanctioning the means began to prevail in the 
 ancient Church, and hence how it abounded in forged wri- 
 tings; some under the names of the Apostles, others of 
 those who were regarded as prophets by the heathen. Among 
 these last, none were more famous than the Sibyls ; and hence, 
 even in the second century, verses prophetic of our Lord 
 were forged in the name of a Sibyl, which imposed on that 
 good but weak and credulous man, Justin Martyr. They 
 are quoted also by the emperor Constantine in a Concio 
 ad Clerum, which is preserved by Eusebius ; he certainly with 
 much candour acknowledges that many regarded them as the 
 forgery of some over-zealous Christian, but he asserts his own 
 belief in their genuineness, and adds that they had been trans- 
 lated into Latin by Cicero, who was dead long before Christ 
 was born. The emperor, in the course of his harangue, further 
 gives it as his opinion that our poet in the whole of this eclogue 
 speaks of the Messiah, and he quotes a Greek version of it. St. 
 Augustine, in his commentary on the Romans, says that he 
 should not lightly have believed that the Sibyl had prophesied 
 of Christ, if Virgil, " antequam diceret ea de innovatione 
 saeculi, quae in Domini nostri Jesu Christi regnum satis con- 
 cinere et convenire videantur," had not prefixed this verse, — 
 Ultima Cumaei jam venit carminis aetas. 
 In his City of God he speaks of the same prophecy as the 
 emperor, and gives a Latin translation of it which he had met 
 with. Lactantius also has faith in the Sibylline oracles, and re- 
 gards this eclogue as founded on them and as prophetic of the 
 Saviour. The emperor in his speech has luckily preserved this 
 famous oracle, as St. Augustine has the translation. Both are in 
 acrostics, and a more palpable forgery is nowhere to be found : 
 but even had they been lost, the very circumstance mentioned 
 by the emperor, of some having regarded them as being forged, 
 would be enough to assure us that they were so ; for the early 
 Christians in general were devoid of critical skill, and we may 
 be assured that the sceptics were the men of greatest knowledge 
 and sagacity. It may seem strange, yet it is a fact, that the Pro- 
 testant divines of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, 
 (for example, Cudworth, Whiston and Chandler,) saw in this 
 
ECLOGUE IV. 61 
 
 eclogue a prophecy of the Messiah. Marty n too asserts that 
 " the child was without doubt our blessed Saviour ;" and 
 he quotes the Latin version of the Sibylline oracle as a 
 true record. Ill would it fare with our holy religion if 
 it had to rest for its authority in any degree on such proofs 
 as this ! The solution probably of the whole matter is simply 
 this. The prophet Isaiah and the poet Virgil, when describing 
 an approaching state of bliss, of necessity, as we may say, from 
 the nature of the human mind, used similar images taken 
 from the physical world. This of course was at once per- 
 ceived ; and the true cause not being within the philosophy of 
 that time, the resemblance was accounted for by supposing 
 the poet to have taken his imagery from the Sibyl, who, like 
 the prophet, was inspired. As for the translation of the sibyl- 
 line oracle by Cicero, we may search in vain for it in that 
 orator's extant writings. In fact his testimony is all the other 
 way, for (Div. ii. 54.) he holds the circumstance of an oracle 
 being in acrostics as a decisive proof of its being a forgery. 
 
 The Jesuits seem on this point to have been less credu- 
 lous than the Protestants. Ruaeus, one of the most rational 
 and judicious among them, is decidedly in favour of Asinius 
 Gallus ; the Journal de Trevoux says it was Drusus the son 
 of Livia, of whom she was pregnant when Caesar married her ; 
 and Catrou maintains that it was Marcellus, the son of Cae- 
 sar's sister Octavia by her first husband. 
 
 The second hypothesis is easily disposed of. The eclogue 
 was written while Pollio was consul, and Caesar did not marry 
 Livia till the year 714-16. The third offers just as little 
 difficulty: Marcellus died in 729-31, in the twentieth year 
 of his age, according to the contemporary poet Propertius 
 (iii. 18), and he must therefore have been born before 712- 
 14. Martyn and Voss discuss this point at considerable 
 length, but we deem the fact just noticed to be quite de- 
 cisive. 
 
 There still remains a hypothesis started by Boulacre in the 
 Bibliotheque Francaise, vol. xxviii. p. 243, and adopted by 
 Nauze in the Mem. de l'Acad. des Inscriptions, vol. xxxi, 
 and by S. Henley, an English writer of the last century. This 
 
62 
 
 BUCOLICS. 
 
 is, that it is a son of Caesar by Scribonia, whom he had just 
 married, and who bore him Julia, his only child. No doubt 
 this hypothesis is not, like the other two, at variance with 
 chronology ; but when we consider the circumstances of the 
 time, and Pollio's being of the party of Antonius, we shall see 
 little cause to adopt it, and thus the ancient hypothesis re- 
 mains the only one that is tenable. 
 
 Scenery. As this eclogue speaks of the whole earth, it can 
 have no particular scenery. 
 
 Eclogue V. — Daphnis. 
 
 Argument. 
 Two shepherds, Menalcas and Mopsus, having met on the 
 mountain-pastures, the former proposes that they should pass 
 some of their leisure in singing. They enter a shady cavern, 
 and Mopsus there sings the death of a shepherd named Daph- 
 nis, whose praises and apotheosis are then sung by Menalcas. 
 In conclusion they bestow presents on each other. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 1 3. boni, inflare, etc., as the Greeks would say, ayadol 
 ovpi^eiv, ketheiv, or ourselves good at playing, etc. Virgil, as 
 Jahn shows, frequently thus unites an adjective and an infini- 
 tive mood. Cf. Ec. vii. 5. x. 32. — convenimus, sc. in unum lo- 
 cum. — 2. calamos injlare, to play on the syrinx. — dicere, i. q. 
 canere. Dianam tenerae dicite virgines, Hor. C. i. 21. — 3. con- 
 sidimus, sc. ad canendum. It does not seem to be the mean- 
 ing of the poet, that Mopsus was to play on his syrinx while 
 Menalcas was singing, but that each was in the usual manner 
 to play and sing, for Mopsus is the first who sings, v. 20. 
 
 V. 2. "AfKpb) Tvpiaoev cecarjfievu), cifupu deicev. — Theocr. viii. 4. 
 
ECLOGUE V. 1-10. 63 
 
 4-7. Tu major, sc. natu, like maximus, Aen. vii. 532. — 5. 
 motantibus, sc. arbor es or eas. This is the reading of Servius 
 and of most of the MSS. ; others, which are followed by 
 Heyne, read mutantibus. The meaning is, the shadows on 
 the chequered ground are unsteady, in consequence of the 
 western breezes moving the trees. From this, and the men- 
 tion of the shady cavern as a preferable retreat, it is plain 
 that the poet meant to intimate that it was now the height 
 of summer. — 6. succedimus. We may observe that this verb 
 is followed, first by an accusative with a preposition {sub 
 umbras), and then by a dative (antro). — 7. labrusca, the wild 
 vine. — raris racemis, with wide, open bunches ; descriptive 
 of the nature of the plant. For racemus, see the Flora, v. 
 Vitis. 
 
 8-9. Montibus, etc. This, with the preceding verses, shows 
 that the scene of this eclogue, like that of the first, is laid 
 among the mountains. — certat, and not certet, as Heyne reads. 
 The meaning is, So far am / from venturing to contend 
 with you in song, that in all our mountains there is no one 
 who can do it except Amyntas, i. e. in his own opinion. Me- 
 nalcas evidently means to express his contempt for that self- 
 sufficient swain. — 9. Quid, si, etc. Oh, says Mopsus in the 
 same strain, we need not wonder at that, for he will venture 
 to contend with Phoebus himself. " Quid si c. conjunct." 
 says Wagner, " de eo dicitur quod non est, non fit, non esse 
 putatur aut fieri non potest: Terent. Heaut. iv. 3, 41, Quid 
 si nunc caelum ruat?" etc. 
 
 10-12. As they are still among the trees, on their way to the 
 cavern, Menalcas calls on Mopsus to begin, mentioning to him 
 a variety of rural themes, such as the love of Phyllis, the praises 
 of Alcon, and the quarrels of Codrus. These were of course 
 all imaginary persons, but Servius says that Phyllis was the 
 Thracian princess of that name who hung herself for the love 
 of Demophoon, the son of Theseus ; Alcon, a Cretan archer, 
 the companion of Hercules, who (superior to William Tell) 
 could send an arrow through a ring on the head of a man, cut 
 
 V. 9. QavTi viv 'HpaKkrji fiir}v Kai KapTos epiadev. — Theocr. iv. 8. 
 
64 
 
 BUCOLICS. 
 
 a hair in two with an arrow, or cleave blunt arrows on the 
 points of swords or lances ; Codrus, the celebrated Attic king, 
 who in disguise picked a quarrel with a Spartan soldier, and 
 thus died for his country. There was also at this time a bad 
 poet named Codrus, an enemy of Virgil's (Ec. vii. 26), who, 
 Spohn thinks, may be meant. But why should only one of 
 the three be a real person ? — 12. Incipe, repeated as in iv. 62. 
 — Tityrus, another herdsman, perhaps a servant of one of the 
 others. 
 
 13-15. Immo haec, etc. No, says Mopsus, I will rather try 
 some verses which I have lately composed. — viridi cortice, on 
 the green bark. He carved them on the bark of the beech, 
 as it stood, not on a piece of stript bark, as Voss thinks. The 
 bark of the beech is better suited to this purpose than that of 
 almost any other tree, on account of its smoothness. It may 
 also be termed green, without much of a catachresis. — 14. mo- 
 dulans alterna notavi, that is, as he carved them he composed 
 the air to which he would sing them. Alterna, i. q. alternatim. 
 — tu deinde, etc., scoffingly : ' When I shall have sung these, 
 then tell Amyntas to sing against me.' 
 
 16-18. Menalcas would intimate that it was only in jest 
 that he had compared Amyntas with Mopsus. Fully to un- 
 derstand the following comparisons, we must recollect that 
 the leaves of the willow and the olive are of the same form, 
 and of the same pale green colour, while the difference in 
 value of the trees is immense. The saliunca, or Celtic nard 
 (see the Flora), in like manner resembles the rose in odour, 
 but is so brittle that it could not be woven into garlands, the 
 great use made of the rose by the ancients. — pattens, i. q. pal- 
 lidus. See on ii. 10. 
 
 19-23. While Menalcas was speaking, they had reached 
 the cavern and entered it. Mopsus then, after the usual pre- 
 lude on his syrinx, commences his song on the death of Daph- 
 nis. — plura, sc. dicere. — puer. See on i. 45. — 20. funere i. q. 
 morte. From the employment of the terms crudeli funere, it 
 
 V. 16. 'A\X' ov av^fSXijr' evrl Kwocfiaros ovS' dve/iwva 
 
 Upbs poda, tiZv dvdtjpa ~ap aiuaaidiai iretyvKi]. — Theocr. v. 92. 
 
ECLOGUE v. 12-28. 65 
 
 would seem that Daphnis had met with a violent death — 21. 
 flebant, the imperfect is here used to show the continuance of 
 their grief. — vos — Nymphis. These words are parenthetic. In 
 the usual poetic manner the trees and streams are animated 
 and made capable of expression. — 22. Cum complexa, etc. 
 In most editions there is a comma placed after cum. Wun- 
 derlich, who is followed by Jahn and Wagner, saw that this 
 gave a wrong sense, as complexa is then a participle, instead 
 of a perfect tense, est being understood, as is frequently the 
 case in Virgil. — 23. deos, sc. crudeles. The adj. is expressed 
 with the following subst. — astra, because the stars were be- 
 lieved to have so much influence on the lives of men. — vocal, 
 instead of vocavit, as so often in Lucretius. Heyne, without 
 any authority, says that vocat here signifies incusat. 
 
 24-28. He now addresses the departed Daphnis himself, 
 and tells him how universally his fate was deplored. — Non 
 ulli, etc. The herdsmen were so absorbed in grief, that they 
 did not, as was usual, drive their oxen after feeding to the 
 streams to drink. — Mis diebus, the days succeeding the death 
 of Daphnis. — 25. nidla nee amnem, etc. The cattle themselves 
 grieved so that they did not taste of the water or grass. — 26. 
 quadrupes, cattle in general. — graminis kerbam, says Voss, is 
 the young springing grass, like frumenti herba, Geor. i. 134. 
 — 27. tuum, etc. ' Nay, the woods and mountains tell (see 
 v. 21) that the very lions of the wild lamented thy fate.' — 
 JPoenos leones. There were, we know, no lions in Europe, but 
 Virgil was here imitating Theocritus, and the ancient poets 
 did not aim at accuracy in these matters. Poenos is what is 
 termed an epitheton ornans, a thing of which the poets of the 
 Augustan age were very fond : see on i. 54. — 28. loquuntur. 
 Heyne thinks it rather bold in the poet to give speech to the 
 woods and mountains, but this is a boldness of which poets 
 have always claimed the use. 
 
 29-31. He now celebrates Daphnis as the introducer of 
 the rites of Bacchus. Wagner thinks that all that is intended 
 
 V. 27. Tfjvov fiav 0a>es, tyivov Xvkoi bjpvvavTO, 
 
 Trjvov %w 'k dpvfioio \e<ov aveizkavae davovra. — Theocr. i. 71. 
 
66 BUCOLICS. 
 
 to be expressed in this passage is, that Daphnis introduced 
 the culture of the vine. — curru subjungere, etc. Tigers were 
 always the team of this god himself, but we do not hear of 
 their being employed in his festivals either in Greece or Italy. 
 — Armenias, an epitheton ornans. — curru, the old dative. — 30. 
 inducere, Heyne says, is for the simple ducere ; but though 
 simples were used for compounds, the reverse, as we have 
 already observed, was not the case. — thiasos Bacchi. A ihiasus 
 (diaaros) was a choir, or a number of persons that assembled, 
 went in procession, and sung, danced and feasted in honour 
 of a god — 31. Et foliis, etc. A description of the thyrsus, 
 which was a pointless spear, or any similar piece of wood, 
 twined with vine-leaves. 
 
 32-34-. * As the vine is the ornament of the elm-trees on 
 which it is trained, as the bunches of grapes are of the vine, 
 the bulls of the herds, the growing corn of the fertile fields, 
 so you were the pride of your fellow-swains.' All images pro- 
 perly selected from the country and country life. Cf. ii. 63. 
 
 34—39. When you were gone, the rural deities deserted the 
 fields, and in consequence rank crops of weeds and noxious 
 plants sprang up in them. — Ipsa Pales, etc. The poet here 
 confounds Grecian and Roman religion, which he should not 
 have done ; for as the Greeks had no deity answering to Pales, 
 if the scene of the eclogue is in Sicily he should not have in- 
 troduced this Italian goddess ; while, if it is in Italy, Apollo 
 was not a rural deity in the creed of the Italians, to whose re- 
 ligion he in reality did not belong. But, as we have already 
 observed, the ancient poets did not attend to minutiae of this 
 kind. Pales seems to have presided over all the parts of rural 
 life, and not merely over cattle, for her image bears a pruning- 
 hook. See Mythology, p. 538. Apollo is here Apollo Nomios, 
 Ibid. p. 127. — 36. mandavimus, we have committed, given in 
 charge. Perhaps this is too swelling a term for bucolic sim- 
 plicity. — Grandia hordea either expresses, as Voss thinks, the 
 large grains selected for seed, or more simply merely indi- 
 
 V. 32. Tq. fipvt rai (3a\avoi KOGfios, rq. jxaXitt jxaka' 
 
 T$ j3ot d' a fiooxo?, r<£ /3wKo'\y a'i jSoes avrai. — Theocr. Tiii. 79. 
 
eclogue v. 30-42. 67 
 
 cates the size of the grains of barley, compared with those of 
 the weeds which grew in its stead. It was an opinion of the 
 ancients, that wheat and barley used to turn into folium and 
 wild-oats ; but the simple meaning of this passage is, that the 
 corn did not and the weeds did grow. As Virgil seems to 
 have been the first who used the plural of hordeum, his ene- 
 mies Bavius and Macvius made the following verse on him: 
 Hordea qui dixit, superest ut tritica dicat. — 37. Infelix. 
 He terms the folium infelix, unlucky or mischievous, accord- 
 ing to Voss and Spohn, because it makes those who eat it 
 stagger as if drunk or even blind, as Servius says. We how- 
 ever agree with Heyne and Wagner in regarding infelix as 
 equivalent to infecundus (felix answering to fecundus) ; and 
 the sense is, that when they sowed edible and nutritive 
 grain, the crop could not be converted to the use of man. 
 In Aen. iii. 549. wild berries are termed an infelix victus. 
 Cf. also Geor. ii. 81. 239. 314. — nascuntur. When the poet 
 repeated this line in the Georgics (i. 154), he with good taste 
 substituted for this word dominantur, as suited to the higher 
 character of that poem. — 38. molli viola. From the fields he 
 passes to the garden. The viola is termed mollis, like other 
 flowers (ii. 50. vi. 53), on account of the softness and ten- 
 derness of its petals. — purpureo narcisso. The narcissus is so 
 termed, we are told, on account of the purple calyx of one of 
 its species. But perhaps purpureus is here to be taken in its 
 ordinary sense of bright, and would thus apply to the white 
 petals of the flower. — 39. Carduus, etc. We may observe a 
 contrast with the flowers mentioned in v. 38. 
 
 40-44. In conclusion, he calls on the shepherds to raise a 
 tomb to Daphnis by a spring, and to plant trees about it. 
 There appears to be here what is called a hysteron-proteron, 
 as the tomb should have been the first mentioned. — Spargite, 
 etc. It was the custom to strew leaves and flowers, as in 
 modern times in some countries flowers, on the tombs of the 
 departed. — inducite, etc., sc. by planting trees about it.— fonti- 
 bus, for fonte: plur. for sing, in the usual manner. — 41. mandat, 
 sc. per me. — 42. carmen, a poetic inscription (namely, the 
 following) on a cippus or stone pillar, placed on the summit 
 
68 BUCOLICS. 
 
 of the mound. — 43. in silvis, 6 kv rfj v\rj, qui in silvis degebat, 
 not "notus jn silvis," as Servius understood it. — usque ad 
 sidera, whose fame had reached the skies. See Aen. i. 379. 
 The expression is better suited to epic than bucolic poetry. 
 
 45-52. Menalcas, enraptured with the beauty of Mopsus' 
 song, describes its effect on him by comparing it with two of the 
 greatest enjoyments a southern climate affords, namely, sleep 
 when one is weary on the soft cool grass (under the shade, of 
 course, of trees. Geor. i. 34-2, ii. 470), and quenching the thirst 
 in the heat of summer (aestus) at a running stream (aquae 
 rivo). — 48. Nee calamis, etc. ' I praised your skill on the 
 pipes : I now add, that not only in music but in the compo- 
 sition and singing of verses you fully equal your master, whose 
 successor in fame you now will be. / however will also sing 
 something for you (of whatever sort it may be), and I will 
 exalt the fame of your Daphnis, for he loved me too.' — 51. 
 tollemus ad astra. It is perhaps more simple, with Heyne, to 
 understand this of praising Daphnis : compare v. 43. and ix. 
 49. Servius says it means, sing his apotheosis. 
 
 53-55. Nothing, says Mopsus, could be more agreeable to 
 me. Besides, Daphnis was worthy of praise, and I have heard 
 a good judge speak highly of the verses that you made on him. 
 — 54. puer, the swain, sc. Daphnis. See i. 45. — 55. Stimi- 
 con, the name of an ideal shepherd. 
 
 56-64. Menalcas having preluded, according to custom, 
 on the pipes, commences his song of the apotheosis of Daph- 
 nis, which, agreeably to the principle of balance and harmony, 
 in which the ancients so much delighted, contains exactly the 
 same number of verses as that of Mopsus, namely twenty- 
 five. — Candidus, i. q. candens (see on ii. 10,), differs from albus 
 as always including the idea of brightness, in white usually, 
 but sometimes in other colours, ex. gr. rubro ubi cocco Tincta 
 super lectos canderet vestis eburnos, Hor. S. ii. 6, 103. In this 
 
 V. 43. Admins eywv oce -fjvos, 6 rds floas aice vofievwv, 
 
 Ad<pvis 6 rws ravpws /ecu — oprias uSe ttot'htSiov. — Theoc. i. 120. 
 
 V. 45. 'Adv n to ardfia roi, ical ecpifiepos, at Aarpvi, <pu>vd' 
 
 KpeacTOv neXTTOfievu) rev aKovepev i] /xeXt Xeixev. — Id. viii. 82. 
 
eclogue v. 43-64. 69 
 
 place candidus seems to refer to the bright white of the body 
 of the glorified Daphnis, similar to that of the gods : Nube 
 candentes humeros amictus Augur Apollo, Hor. C. i. 2, 31. 
 Spohn says it means cheerful, unclouded by sorrow or pain. 
 — Olympi. The hill of this name in Thessaly was the abode 
 of the Homeric gods ; but in the course of time, and the pro- 
 gress of knowledge, their dwelling was removed to the summit 
 of the starry heaven : see Mythology, p. 37. This is the 
 Olympus of this passage, and Daphnis, as being a stranger, is 
 represented as viewing with some surprise the magnificence 
 of the palace of the gods, on the threshold of which he stands 
 about to enter. At the same time, looking back on the way 
 by which he had ascended, he beholds beneath him not merely 
 the clouds of the air, but the stars of the aether. — 58. Ergo, 
 therefore, i.e. because he is become a god like Hercules, 
 Castor and Pollux, and others. — alacris, etc. All rural nature 
 rejoices, the woods, the fields, the herdsmen, and the rustic 
 deities, Pan and the wood-nymphs. — 60. Nee lupus, etc. With 
 this joy is united a sense of security, for the milder animals have 
 nothing to fear from their usual enemies. The wolf no longer 
 plans the destruction of the sheep, the hunter no more sets his 
 toils for the deer. — 61. amat bonus, etc. The reason is, the 
 deified Daphnis loves peace and tranquillity : bonus exactly 
 answers to our good. The ancients, as we do, applied it to 
 the deity : see v. 65, and Vos o mihi Manes, Este boni, Aen. 
 xii. 647. — otia, properly leisure. Perhaps there is something 
 intensive in the use of the plural in this place. — 62. Ipsi lae- 
 titia, etc. Not merely the plain and cultivated country re- 
 joices, the very mountains with their rocks and trees send forth 
 a voice of song to celebrate his deification. — Intonsi, unshorn, 
 whose woods are uncut. — 64. arbusta: see on ii. 13. Voss, 
 as usual, restricts it to the trees on which vines were trained. 
 — deus, deus ille, Menalca. The poet, in his inspiration, fancies 
 he hears the rocks and woods thus calling out to him. 
 
 65-73. Sis bonus ofelixque tuis ! Being, as it were, cer- 
 
 V. 60. "Ecrrai drf tout' afxap, OTraviKa veflpbv ev evvq. 
 
 KapxapoSwv aiveaQai idejv Xvkos ovk eOeXrjaei. — Theoc. xxiv. 84. 
 
70 BUCOLICS. 
 
 tified by the voice of nature of the divine power of Daphnis, 
 Menalcas prays to him. For bonus, see on v. 61. Felix, pro- 
 pitious : Sis felix nostrumque leves quaecunque laborem, Aen. 
 i. 330. — en quatuor aras, etc. The shepherds raise altars to 
 Daphnis, along with those of Apollo Nomios, as having be- 
 come a rural deity. But, say the critics, as victims were 
 offered to the latter, his altars were the larger kind named 
 altaria, on which burnt offerings were consumed, while those 
 of Daphnis, to whom only bloodless offerings were to be made 
 as a hero, were the smaller kind, named simple arae. We 
 however doubt of this nice distinction in this place. Each 
 is to have two altars, a circumstance of which we know not 
 the reason. Voss and Spohn say, that more victims might be 
 slain or more sacrifices offered. Cf. Geor. iv. 541. — 67. Pocula 
 bina? etc. He tells the offerings that will be annually made at 
 the altars of Daphnis, namely, at each two cups of new milk, 
 and two craters or large bowls of olive-oil, or, it may be, one 
 of each at each altar. We know not why Spohn interpreted 
 it two cups and one crater at each. — olivi, i. q. olei, a poetic 
 word used by Lucretius, ex. gr. ii. 849. — 69. Et multo, etc. 
 At the banquet, which as usual will succeed the sacrifice, 
 plenty of wine will be drunk ; before the fire, if it should be in 
 the cold season ; in the shade, if in summer, the harvest time. 
 — 71. vina Ariusia, sc. the best of wine, the produce of the 
 Ariusian district in^the isle of Chios. Voss takes some pains 
 
 V. 67. Srao-w Oe KpaTrjpa /xeyav XevKolo yaXaKTOs 
 
 Tais Nuju^ais* oracai de Kai dSeos dXXov eXaiu>. — Theoc. v. 53. 
 
 Sracai d' oktuj pev yavXws r<£ Havl yaXaicros, 
 
 'Oktu> 8e (TKCHpidas fieXiros 7rXea Kt]pi' fyo'icas. — Id. v. 58. 
 
 V. 69. K^yw, tt)vo Kar' aiiap, clvtjtivov, ?) poSoevra, 
 
 *H /cat XevKoiwv aricpavov 7rept Kpari (pvXaaGbJV 
 
 Tbv UreXeariKov olvov cnrb Kparrjpos a0u£aJ, 
 
 Hap TTvpl KeK\i[xevos' Kvapov 8e tis ev Trvpi <ppv%et, 
 
 X'a orijSds eerceirai TreirvKaaiteva ear eiri iraxvv 
 
 JLvvZp r aatyodeXijj re TroXvyvdfnrT^ re treXij/y. 
 
 Kai zrio^ai juaXaKcJs, Liep.vi]}ievos ' AyedvaKvos, 
 
 Avralaiv KvXiKeaai Kai es rpvya ^etXos epeiduiv. 
 
 AvXr\aevvri de pot dvo TTOL/xeves' eh iiev, 'Axapvevs' 
 
 Els de, AuKO)7riras* 6 £e Tirvpos eyyvOev q.ae1. — Id. vii. 63. 
 
ECLOGUE v. 61-80. 71 
 
 to show that Chian wine was at this time so common at Rome, 
 that the Mantuan swains might easily have procured some of 
 it for their solemn festivals. It is perhaps more simple to re- 
 gard Ariusia as merely an epitheton ornans. — novum nectar, 
 like nova carmina, iii. 86. — calathis, cups shaped like the calyx 
 of the narcissus. — 72. Cantabunt, etc. The feast will, as usual, 
 be accompanied by singing and dancing. — Lyctius, from Lycta 
 in Crete. The proper names here do not indicate any real 
 persons. — Saltantes Satyros, etc. He will dance the Satyr (Cf. 
 Hor. S. i. 5, 63), i. e. imitate the rude dancing of the Satyrs. 
 
 74-80. Haec tibi semper erunt, etc. It would hence ap- 
 pear that the worship of Daphnis was to be celebrated twice 
 a year, viz. at the festival of the Nymphs and at the Ambar- 
 valia. Respecting the latter there is no difficulty : it was a 
 festival of Ceres celebrated in the end of April, Geor. i. 338. 
 The former presents some difficulty, for the Italian religion 
 did not recognise the Dryads and other Nymphs of the Gre- 
 cian mythology. Voss and others therefore suppose it to 
 denote the autumnal Vinalia, which without any authority 
 they choose to denominate Liberalia, as a festival of Bacchus, 
 instead of one of Jupiter and Venus (see Mythology, p. 516), 
 and transfer it from August to October or November in order 
 to explain the ante focum of v. 70. We, with Heyne, place 
 the scene of the eclogue in Sicily; and we suppose the poet 
 to have been little solicitous about the dates of festivals, and 
 .therefore to have felt no hesitation about making Sicilian 
 swains celebrate the Latin Ambarvalia. — 76. Dumjuga montis 
 aper, etc., i. e. as long as the present course of nature will re- 
 main ; expressed by images taken from rural objects : while 
 the wild-boar haunts the mountains, the fishes the streams, the 
 bees the gardens, and the cicadae the trees. — 77. ihymo, thyme, 
 the favourite plant of the bees. — rore. It was an opinion of 
 the ancients that the cicada lived on dew. Mfj 7rpa)Kas aiTta- 
 Serai wcrxep 6 t€ttl£, ; Theocr. iv. 16. For the cicada, see on 
 ii. 13. — 79. Ut Baccho, etc. Thy festivals shall as surely be 
 celebrated as those of Bacchus and Ceres. We do not think 
 that it follows from this that his festivals were to coincide with 
 theirs. — 80. damnabis votis, you will constrain them to pay 
 
72 BUCOLICS. 
 
 their vows to thee by granting them the things for which they 
 prayed. 
 
 81-84-. Mopsus, after, as we may suppose, a pause of de- 
 light, cries out that he never can reward him sufficiently for 
 such a song, more delightful to his senses than the most 
 agreeable sounds of nature in the heat of summer. These 
 are the whispering in the trees of the soft south when it begins 
 to blow ; the gentle breaking of the waves on the shore of the 
 sea (the Mediterranean, we must remember) ; and the sound 
 of streams as they run over their stony beds in the valleys. 
 This, we may observe, harmonises more with such a country 
 as Sicily than with the wide level plain of Lombardy. Voss 
 spoils the whole imagery by referring the litora and fiuctu of 
 v. 83 to lake Benacus, for a lake never has waves unless there 
 is a strong wind blowing. 
 
 85-87. Before you give me anything, says Menalcas (who 
 seems here to represent the poet himself), I must present you 
 with the syrinx on which I composed two of my best poems, 
 namely the second and third Eclogues. — cicuta. See on ii. 36. 
 — 87. docuit. As they played on the syrinx when composing 
 their verses, it is said to teach them. 
 
 88-90. In return, says Mopsus, I give you my handsome 
 crook, which I refused to Antigenes (a feigned name), amiable 
 as he was. — Formosum, etc. The crook (in Greek K<i\avpo\b 
 and XaywfioXos) was usually made of olive-wood, which was 
 knotty, and was often adorned with brass rings or studs. — 
 89. tulit, i. e. abstulit, sc. secum. 
 
 Observations. 
 
 Date. — Of the date of this poem we can only assert with 
 certainty that it is posterior to those of the second and third. 
 It was probably composed in 710-12- 
 
 V. 83. "ASiov, u> TiOt/xav, to rebv fie\os, // to Karay^s 
 
 Trjv' cltto Tcis Tre.Tpas Kara\e£/3e-ai v\p6Qev vciop. — Theoe. i. 7. 
 
 V. 85. Xw fiev r%» vvpiyy', 6 fie r<£ tcaXoi' aukbv ecuKev. — Id.vi. 43. 
 
 V. 88. Tav toi, ecpa, Kopvvav ScjpvTTopai, ovpgbct* eaal 
 
 Huv err' dXaOela rre-Xaauevov £k Aids epvos. — Id. vii. 43. 
 
ECLOGUE V. 73 
 
 Subject. — Supposing, as is probable, this to be one of Vir- 
 gil's earliest eclogues, and written when, as the second and 
 third show, he was thoroughly imbued with the Theocritean 
 poetry, we might naturally expect that its subject would be 
 of a kindred character to some of those of the Idylls of his 
 master. Now of all the Idylls of Theocritus none seems to 
 have made a stronger impression on our poet's mind than the 
 first, the chief subject of which is the death of Daphnis, the 
 celebrated Sicilian shepherd, the son of the rural deity Hermes 
 by a Nymph, and consequently a Hero according to the ideas 
 of the later times. What, therefore, could be more natural 
 than that he should again take the opportunity of measuring 
 himself with his master, and as he had sung the death of 
 Daphnis and its cause, to make the theme of his muse the 
 general grief for that death and the apotheosis of the hero? 
 The whole structure of the eclogue agrees fully with this hy- 
 pothesis. In Theocritus one shepherd asks another to sing, 
 and offers him a reward for so doing ; in Virgil it is the same, 
 but slightly varied, for each sings and each gives the other a 
 present. As usual, however, the management of the subject 
 is less skilful than in the Greek poet. In the respective songs 
 the expressions employed all accord with Daphnis. His death 
 is termed a crudele funus, for he is the victim of the vengeance 
 of Venus : the Nymphs lament him, as he is of their kindred, 
 tov Mwo-cits <pi\ov ai'tipa, tov vv NifjU^a law aire"xQrj (Idyll i. 
 141). The Punic lions, our poet says, lamented Daphnis 
 when dead, and the same beast wept for him when dying 
 (Idyll i. 71). As to what Virgil adds about Daphnis having 
 introduced the rites of Bacchus, he had no warrant for it 
 in his Greek original; and he seems here, as so frequently 
 elsewhere, to have erred against bucolic simplicity and the 
 rules of taste. In the song of the apotheosis everything, 
 in like manner, accords with Daphnis. Like Hercules and 
 other heroes, he is admitted to the abode of the gods in 
 the celestial Olympus; but he becomes a rural deity, and 
 extends his protecting care to, and holds dominion over, the 
 dwellers of the country. We thus see how this eclogue con- 
 nects itself with the Idyll of Theocritus, of which in effect it 
 
 E 
 
74 BUCOLICS. 
 
 is a second part, taking up the story of Daphnis where the 
 Greek poet had left it. 
 
 One might think that this simple and natural view of this 
 eclogue was the true one, and in effect it was the one generally 
 received in antiquity. " Multi" says Servius, "dicunt sim- 
 pliciter hoc loco defleri Daphnim quendam pastorem." He 
 then relates the story of the Sicilian Daphnis. There how- 
 ever, he adds, were others whom this simple sense did not 
 satisfy, and who saw in Daphnis some real person of our poet's 
 own time ; his brother Flaccus, according to some ; his rela- 
 tive Quintilius (on the occasion of whose death Horace is 
 supposed to have addressed to our poet the twenty-fourth ode 
 of his first book), according to others. But the more preva- 
 lent opinion was, that by Daphnis was meant the dictator, 
 Julius Caesar ; the crudele funus signifying his assassination, 
 the mater being Venus, from whom the Julian gens derived 
 its origin ; the lions and tigers, the peoples whom he had 
 subdued ; the formosum pecus, the Roman people ; the tkiasos, 
 the sacred rites which as Pontifex Maximus he had instituted, 
 especially those of Bacchus, which (though history is silent 
 on the point) Servius asserts as a fact he first introduced into 
 Rome. 
 
 This last is the opinion almost universally adopted by the 
 moderns ; Heyne, we believe, alone taking the same view as 
 ourselves. Perhaps we might add Martyn. That it could 
 not be Quintilius is clear, for his death occurred in 730, long 
 after the eclogues had been published ; and though the ancient 
 author of the Life of Virgil says that he mourned the death 
 of his brother Flaccus under the name of Daphnis, and there 
 is remaining the following distich of an uncertain poet, — 
 
 " Tristia fata tui dura fles in Daphnide Flacci, 
 Docte Maro, fratrem dis immortalibus aequas ;" 
 
 this opinion has only found favour in the eyes of the elder 
 Scaliger and of Catrou. 
 
 The argument in favour of Caesar being the Daphnis of this 
 eclogue is stated to this effect by Spohn. Shortly after the 
 death of Caesar, in 708-10, Octavianus celebrated games in 
 
ECLOGUE V. 75 
 
 honour of Venus Genetrix; about which time a comet ap- 
 peared, which the people held to be the soul of Caesar, who 
 had been received among the gods ; and Octavianus placed a 
 statue of him in the temple of Venus Genetrix, with a star on 
 his head, inscribed Kaiaapi ;/p0e«, and the month Quinctilis 
 was named Julius from him. In 710-12, the Triumvirs bound 
 themselves by oath to ratify all Caesar's acts ; his image, as 
 that of a god, was carried with the others in the Circensian 
 pomp ; a chapel was raised to him in the Forum, where his 
 body had been burned, and it was granted the rights of an 
 asylum ; all were commanded, under severe penalties, to keep 
 his birthday as a holyday ; but as he was born on the day of 
 the Ludi Apollinares, and the Sibylline books forbade any god 
 but Apollo to be honoured on that day, his festival was held 
 on the preceding day. This festival was celebrated more joy- 
 ously in Cisalpine Gaul than elsewhere, first, because after the 
 end of the Mutinensian war there were strong hopes of better 
 times, and then, because when Caesar had held the govern- 
 ment of that region he had bestowed many favours on its in- 
 habitants. Virgil, therefore, as a partaker in the common 
 feeling and in the common joy, and perhaps by the advice of 
 Pollio, took this occasion of celebrating the late dictator ; and, 
 partly to avoid giving offence to the friends and admirers of 
 the old republic, and partly to give his strains more of a poetic 
 air, he adopted the bucolic form and sung the death and apo- 
 theosis of Caesar as those of the shepherd Daphnis. 
 
 The reader will see that this is all a gratuitous hypothesis. 
 We are here required to believe that Virgil, who was per- 
 haps the least original poet of antiquity, was the inventor of a 
 new species of poetry ; for none of the critics has given any 
 instance of it in any preceding poet, and the allegory, of which 
 Horace is supposed to present an example (Carm. i. 14.), is of 
 quite a different nature. We think, on the contrary, that it 
 was the progress of Christianity and the doctrine of the typical 
 character of the personages and narratives of the Old Testa- 
 ment that led the heathens to look for something similar in 
 their own literature. Virgil, then, as the poet of highest re- 
 pute among the Latins, and perhaps as offering the greatest 
 
 e2 
 
76 BUCOLICS. 
 
 facilities for this mode of interpretation, was the one to whom 
 it was chiefly applied ; and to what an extent it was carried, we 
 have shown in our View of Bucolic Poetry. It is needless 
 therefore to expatiate on it here ; and Servius, in effect, else- 
 where (on iii. 20) seems to give us the opinions of the more 
 judicious critics, when he says, " Melius simpliciter accipimus. 
 Refutandae enim sunt allegoriae in bucolico carmine; nisi 
 cum, ut supra diximus, ex aliqua agrorum perditorum neces- 
 sitate descendunt ;" of course meaning the first and ninth 
 eclogues. 
 
 Characters. — According to the hypothesis which we follow, 
 Mopsus, Menalcas, and the other characters are Sicilian shep- 
 herds. Servius tells us, that Menalcas is Virgil himself, Mop- 
 sus his friend, Aemilius Macer a Veronese poet, and Stimicon 
 Maecenas. Catrou says that Mopsus was Alexander (the 
 Alexis of the second eclogue), and Amyntas Cebes another 
 supposed slave and pupil of our poet. 
 
 Scenery. — The scene, as in the first eclogue, is in an ideal 
 region of mountains (y. 8), valleys and streams (7;. 84), in 
 which there are caverns (v. 6) and beech-trees (v. 13), elms 
 (i>. 3), and other trees and plants (v. 7), and which is near the 
 sea (v. 83). It accords perfectly well with Sicily, as described 
 in Theocritus, and hardly at all with the plain of Lombardy. 
 
 Eclogue VI. — Silenus. 
 
 Argument. 
 
 The god Silenus had often tantalised two satyrs, or shepherds, 
 with a promise of a song. At length one day they seized and 
 bound him while he was sleeping under the influence of wine. 
 Being unable to escape, he commenced, and sung the origin 
 of the world and some of the most remarkable events of the 
 mythic ages of Greece. 
 
eclogue vi. 1-5. 77 
 
 Notes. 
 
 1-12. Prima, etc. * My Muse first deigned, or thought fit, 
 to sing in pastoral verse, and blushed not to dwell in the woods.' 
 By prima most interpreters understand the poet to mean that 
 he was the first Latin bucolic poet. But it is perhaps better 
 to suppose, with Heyne and Wagner, his meaning to be, 
 that it was in pastoral poetry his muse made her first essay. 
 This corresponds better with the modesty of this introduction. 
 — Syracosio, Theocritean or bucolic. Instead of the Latin 
 Syracusio, the poet (probably on account of the metre) em- 
 ploys the Greek Supajcoc/w. — dignata est. This does not per- 
 haps mean condescended, for the poet is speaking in a humble 
 tone, but rather she thought fit, thought suited to her powers. 
 — ludere, see on i. 10. — 2. Thalia may be merely equivalent 
 with Musa ; but, owing to her name (from ddWu, vireo,) this 
 Muse was held to preside over the growth of plants. See Plut. 
 Symp. ix. 14. Sch. Apol. Rh. iii. 1. — 3. Cum canerem, etc. It 
 would seem from this that Virgil had commenced, or at least 
 meditated, something in the epic strain on the exploits of Varus. 
 See Ec. ix. 26. But perhaps it is only a part of his fiction in 
 this place. — reges. If the civil wars in which Varus had been 
 engaged had been his proposed theme, the reges were probably 
 the rival chiefs. Perhaps reges et proelia is merely a hendy- 
 adis, the wars of kings, the usual theme of epic poetry. It is 
 said that Virgil had commenced a poem on the deeds of the 
 kings of Alba, but gave it up, deterred by the harshness of 
 their names. Their names however are not harsh, and the 
 whole fiction is no doubt indebted to this verse for its origin. — 
 Cynthius, a name of Apollo, from Mount Cynthos in Delos. — 
 aurem vellit. The ear was regarded as the seat of knowledge, 
 because knowledge among the ancients was chiefly attained 
 by means of it : the ear was pulled to awaken the attention. 
 See Hor. S. i. 9,77 ; Plin. xi. 103.— 4. Tityre, a general name 
 for a shepherd : it has nothing to do with the Tityrus of the first 
 eclogue.— pinguis, "ut pinguiscant," Servius, to feed them 
 fat. — 5. Pascere, etc., ' the only business of a shepherd should 
 be to feed his flocks and to make slight rustic songs.' — de- 
 
78 BUCOLICS. 
 
 ductum carmen, a drawn-out (i. e. thin, slight) song, as opposed 
 to the firm solid epic. The metaphor is taken from spinning, 
 where the thin thread was drawn down from the wool on the 
 distaff. Horace (Ep. ii. 1, 225) says tenui deducta poemata 
 filo, of poems which had been composed with great care and 
 skill, as the thinner the thread the greater the skill of the 
 spinster. Quintilian (viii. 2, 9) says, that Virgil was the first 
 to hazard the expression deductum carmen. Macrobius (vi. 4) 
 shows that deducta voce had been used by the poets Afranius 
 and Cornificius. — 6. super tibi erunt, i. e. supererunt tibi ; a 
 tmesis. — 7. Vare. See the Observations. — tristia bella, i.e. the 
 civil wars. — 8. Agrestem, etc. See i. 2. — 9. Non injussa, be- 
 cause Apollo had desired him, v. 5. — Si quis, etc. ' If any who 
 love rural poetry, or who like verses of which you are the sub- 
 ject, will read these rustic strains as well as those epic lays 
 (y. 6) in your honour, then also the woods and plains will re- 
 sound your praises/ — ] 1. nee Phoebo, etc. ' Nor is there any 
 poem in which Phoebus more delights than one which bears 
 on its title the name of Varus.' — 12. pagina is the page of a 
 book: it is here for charta. Perhaps, though the poet is 
 speaking in his own person, there is a slight departure from 
 bucolic simplicity. — Vari praescripsit nomen. It would seem 
 from this that the true title of the eclogue was Varus, and not 
 Silenus. 
 
 13-17. Pergite, Pierides. He now begins the narrative. 
 The Muses were called Pierides from Pieria, where they were 
 born or first worshiped. See iii. 85. — Chromis et Mnasylos, 
 two young satyrs, say the critics, following Servius. Yet it 
 may be doubted if the pueri of the next line would be used 
 of deities, even though of a low order. See Observations. 
 — 14. jacentem somno, exactly answering to our, lying asleep, 
 i.e. in sleep. — 15. Inflatum venas, the Greek accusative. — 
 ut semper, for he was always, according to the poets, wholly 
 or half-drunk. — 16. Serta procul, etc. His garland, which 
 had just fallen from his head, was lying at a (little) di- 
 stance. There should be a comma after procid. Tantum is 
 here equivalent to modo, and was so understood by Servius. 
 Valerius Flaccus says (viii. 289), Quaeque die fuerat raptim 
 
ECLOGUE VI. 7-23. 79 
 
 formata sub lino, Et tan turn dejecta suis a montibus arbm\ 
 — 17. Et gravis, etc. The cantharus, probably so named from 
 its resemblance in form to the body of a beetle, was a large 
 drinking-vessel with handles. The poet perhaps conceived 
 Silenus to have fallen asleep while sitting drinking, otherwise 
 it is not easy to see why he would say that the cantharus was 
 hanging by its well-worn handle. He represents the god as 
 still holding it, though drunk. 
 
 18-22. Having him thus at their mercy, they lay hold on 
 him and bind him while asleep. The binding, as it was effected 
 with his own garland of flowers, must have been slight indeed ; 
 perhaps the poet, as the tone is sportive here, meant that it 
 should be so understood. The idea of binding the god in order 
 to make him speak was doubtless taken from the adventure of 
 Menelaus with Proteus in the Odyssey. There was however 
 a story (said by Servius to have been related by the historian 
 Theopompus) of Silenus having been taken when drunk and 
 bound by some Phrygian shepherds, who led him to king 
 Midas, to whose questions respecting the origin of things and 
 the events of former days he gave responses. The poet may 
 have had this tale in his mind. We may observe that Ovid, 
 when relating the capture of Silenus (Met. xi. 90), describes 
 him as vinctum coro?iis, having no doubt this place of Virgil 
 in view. — 20. timidis supervenit Aegle. While they were he- 
 sitating from fear, the nymph Aegle, who we may suppose 
 suggested the stratagem, comes to their aid and encourages 
 them. Aegle answers to the Eidothea of the Odyssey, and to 
 the Cyrene of Geor. iv. 315, etc. — timidis, i. q. timentibus, see 
 on ii. 10. — 21. jam videnti, as he was wakening. — 22. Sangui- 
 nis, etc. Out of sport she presses blackberries on his forehead, 
 and stains it red with their juice. The ancients, we may re- 
 collect, used to paint their rural deities of a red hue : Ec. x. 25. 
 
 23-30. Laughing at their plot, he says, < What are you 
 binding me for, my lads ? let me go ; it is quite enough that 
 you seem to be able to bind me.' It is thus that the modern 
 commentators, after Servius, understand the latter part of 
 this passage. Servius however also explains it thus : " suf- 
 ficit enim quia potui a vobis, qui estis homines, videri ;" for he 
 
80 BUCOLICS. 
 
 adds, " the semigods could only be seen when they pleased." If 
 this be the true interpretation, it tends to show that the two 
 youths were men, which is confirmed by the timidis of v. 20, 
 and the analogy that, in all the cases related of seizing gods, 
 the agents were men, as Menelaus, Peleus, Aristaeus, Numa. — 
 26. Huic aliud, etc., ' I'll pay her in another way.' — 27. Turn 
 vero in numerum, etc. The power of his song affects all nature. 
 The rural gods and the wild animals dance in rythmic mea- 
 sure (in numerum), and the trees wave their heads in cadence. 
 Mount Parnassus and the beasts of its woods did not rejoice 
 so much in the music of Phoebus Apollo, nor the Thracian 
 mountains Ismarus and Rhodope in that of Orpheus. For the 
 effect of music on nature, under another sky and another sy- 
 stem of manners and religion, see the Swedish ballads of Sir 
 Thynne and Little Kersten in the Fairy Mythology. 
 
 31-40. Virgil was probably a follower of the Epicurean 
 philosophy, then so much in vogue at Rome, and which had 
 not long before been clothed in verse, of no common merit, 
 by Lucretius. He naturally therefore put that system into the 
 mouth of Silenus, when about to make him sing the creation. 
 According to Epicurus, the universe consisted of an immense 
 space, in which were in incessant motion countless solid par- 
 ticles, which, from their minuteness and solidity, being inca- 
 pable of section, he termed atoms (arofxoi). By their continual 
 motion numbers of these atoms were brought into conjunction 
 and formed various masses, but it was only when similar atoms 
 happened to come together that anything permanent was pro- 
 duced. Hence, according to this philosopher, gradually arose 
 the world. The system was ingenious, and to a certain extent 
 true, but it had the great and incurable defect of excluding a 
 
 V. 31. "Reidev d' ws yala nai ovpavbs fide QdXaoca' 
 
 To Trplv e7r' dXX-fjXoun fiiy (TvvaprjpoTa fioptpy, 
 Neuceos e£ oXooio dieicpiQev ap.<pis eKccora* 
 'Ho" ws e^ireCov alev ev alQkpi reic/mo ex ovaiv 
 Aorpa treXyjvaiT} re kcli t)e\ioio KeXevOoi' 
 Ovpea 6' otis dvireiXe, nai a>s Trorapol KeXdcovres 
 Avryaiv ~Nvfi<py<ri Kai epireTa. Trdvra yevovTO. 
 
 Apoll. Rh. i. 496. 
 
eclogue \i. 26-36. 81 
 
 presiding and ordering Mind, and ascribing all to blind chance: 
 hence it was justly regarded as atheism. — 31. magnum inane, 
 the Chaos or great void of the Epicurean theory. — coacta, 
 brought together by their internal power, not by any external 
 force. — 32. Semina, the seeds, i. e. the constituting atoms. — 
 animae, of the air. — maris, of the water, a principal part being 
 put for the whole. — 33. liquidi ignis, fire, particularly the aether, 
 the region above the air, for it was thence that the earth de- 
 rived its light and flame. Liquidus is i. q. liquens, flowing ; 
 the aether being conceived to consist of pure fire, as the sea of 
 water. We are here to observe, that these are all Lucretian 
 terms: thus we meet magnum inane, i. 1096; semina rerum, 
 i. 177 ; anima for air, i. 716; liquidus ignis, vi. 204. — ut his 
 exordia primis Omnia, etc. From these primary elements, i. e. 
 atoms, arose all things, namely, as he had just said, the four 
 constituting elements, and the containing hollow orb of the 
 world within which they lay. The world of the ancients only 
 contained the solar system. Such also is the world of Milton in 
 the Paradise Lost. See the Mythology, p. 41. — 34. tener, ten- 
 der, soft, as being newly formed. — concreverit, grew together, 
 in allusion to the gradual formation by the concourse of atoms. 
 — 35. Turn durare solum, etc. ( Ut is to be understood before 
 turn, sc. Cecinit ut turn, not as Heyne gives it, Cecinit turn ut.) 
 ' How then the earth or ground (solum) began to harden and 
 press out the water which was then collected in the bed which 
 had sunk for it.' — discludere seems to contain in it the idea of 
 excluding, separating (dis), and shutting up (cludere). It also 
 is a Lucretian term, as v. 439. — Nerea. The sea-god Nereus 
 is in the usual manner taken for the object over which he 
 presided, namely the sea, i. e. the Mediterranean.— ponto. By 
 pontus we must here understand the bed of the sea. In He- 
 siod's Theogony, v. 233, Nereus is the son of Pontus, that is, 
 perhaps, the sea arises out of its bed. — 36. et rerum, etc. And 
 gradually the earth (solum) began to assume the forms of 
 things, namely, says Voss, to form strands, hills, vales, rivers, 
 etc., but without plants or animals. Heyne says, it is " et 
 paullatim herbis arboribusque vestiri ;" and perhaps, though 
 the growth of the woods is mentioned afterwards, this is the 
 
 e 5 
 
82 BUCOLICS. 
 
 best way to understand it. — 37. Jamque novum terrae, etc. 
 * And how now the solid land gazes with astonishment on the 
 new-formed sun, and the rain or moisture falls on it from a 
 greater height, the clouds being now elevated.' Virgil here 
 shows his talent for judicious personification, by which he di- 
 stinguishes himself so much in the Georgics. The idea to be 
 conveyed is, that the sun, when formed, shone with full vigour 
 on the earth, and drew up and made clouds of the water which 
 lay in the form of vapour on its surface. Hence, he says, that 
 the rain came from a greater height, not meaning that rain 
 had fallen before, but simply that the moisture lay at a greater 
 distance. Wunderlich, improperly we think, joins altius with 
 submotis. — 39. Incipiant, etc. He next sings how the trees 
 and shrubs began to clothe the face of the earth, and how men 
 and other animals began to appear on it. — cum primum seems 
 to be here equivalent to the simple primum, for ut is under- 
 stood before incipiant. In like manner primum is to be un- 
 derstood after the second cum. — 40. animalia. Men are in- 
 cluded, for, according to Epicurus, they were originally little 
 superior to the brutes. — ignaros. This, which is the reading of 
 a Vatican and a Medicean MS., is adopted by Voss, Jahn, Wag- 
 ner and Forbiger, and approved of by Heyne, though he has 
 the vulgar one ignotos in his text. No person of taste, we 
 think, can hesitate between the two. The former is perfectly 
 Virgilian, personifying the mountains as knowing not their 
 new inhabitants. Voss spoils the passage by translating igna- 
 ros passively unknown. 
 
 41, 42. Hinc lapides, etc. Passing thence, namely from 
 the creation, he sings various events of the mythic ages. The 
 ancient poets (and sometimes even the historians) did not in 
 their narratives confine themselves to the strict order of 
 events, attending more to the harmony of the verse. The 
 mythic events which he here selects are the restoration of the 
 human race after the Flood, by Deucalion and Pyrrha, by 
 means of the stones, which in obedience to the oracle they 
 flung behind them ; the golden age under Saturn ; the theft 
 of fire by Prometheus, and his consequent punishment. Those 
 versed in mythic lore must know, that of these events the first 
 
ECLOGUE VI. 37-47. 83 
 
 was the last in order of time, and that the theft of Prometheus 
 must have preceded his punishment : this last hysteroproteron 
 by the way is exactly of the same kind with that in Aen. vi. 
 567, Castigat auditque dolos. Wagner suspects the words 
 Saturnia regna, which, because there is no enclitic, appear to 
 be in apposition with lapides Pyrrhae, and he is therefore in- 
 clined to read Titania for Saturnia, as Pyrrha is called Titania 
 by Ovid. But Jahn shows that there is no ground for his 
 suspicion. All the mythes touched on here, and in the re- 
 maining verses of the eclogue, are in general well-known and 
 will be found in the author's Mythology. 
 
 43-4-6. He then sings the tale of Kylas, who, having ac- 
 companied Hercules in the Argonautic expedition, was stolen 
 by the nymphs of a fountain ; and that of Pasiphae, wife of 
 Minos king of Crete, who fell in love with a bull. — His ad- 
 jungit, etc. To these he adds in what fountain Hylas being 
 left, the seamen shouted Hylas till the whole coast resounded 
 Hylas ! Hylas ! Relictum intimates that their labour was in 
 vain, as they had to go away without him. In the construc- 
 tion of v. 44 he follows the Greek mode, not cutting off the 
 final vowel of Hyla before a following vowel, litus Hyla Hyla 
 omne sonaret. — 45. Et fortunatam, etc. 'And he consoles, in 
 her love of the snow-white bull, Pasiphae happy if herds had 
 never been.' That is, he sings the love of Pasiphae. — 46. ju- 
 venci, to denote that the bull was young. Voss conjectures 
 that; this legend was roguishly introduced by Silenus, on ac- 
 count of the presence of Aegle. But this is refining too much ; 
 the poet probably selected it merely on account of its admit- 
 tance of pastoral imagery. 
 
 47—51. Silenus addresses Pasiphae as if she was before 
 him, wandering through the mountains in quest of her beloved 
 bull. ' What madness possesses thee?' says he, 'for the daugh- 
 ters of Proetus, king of Argos, when, smitten with insanity 
 by Juno, they roamed about fancying themselves changed 
 into cows, did not like you seek the embraces of the herd.' — 
 
 Vv. 47. 52. " Ah virgo infelix, herbis pasceris amaris." — 
 
 Calvus. Io, ap. Senium. 
 
84? BUCOLICS. 
 
 virgo infelix. The Latins used their virgo (contracted from 
 virago) and puella, as the Greeks their irapQevos and Kopu, to 
 denote a young woman whether married or single. — 48. falsis 
 mugitibus, because they only fancied themselves to be cows. — 
 50. timuisset aratrum. The ancients ploughed with heifers as 
 well as oxen. — 51. levi, smooth, as not having horns, which 
 she used to put up her hands expecting to find there. 
 
 52-60. Ah virgo infelix, repeated from v. 47, a practice 
 in which our poet delighted. — 53. Ille latus niveum, etc. We 
 have here a beautiful piece of rural imagery, a snow-white 
 bull lying on a bank of flowers beneath the dense shade of 
 the dark-green holm-oak, and there quietly chewing the cud. 
 — -fultus hyacintho. The poet, we may observe, ventures on 
 giving the h in hyacintho the power of a consonant, and thus 
 makes the us in fultus long. He does the same in Geor. iv. 137. 
 —54-. pallentis, Heyne says, is yXupds, green, but the passages 
 to which he refers (ii. 47, iii- 39, v. 16) do not bear him out. 
 Perhaps the poet means, as Servius explains it, to express the 
 change in the colour of the grass caused by mastication. — 
 55. Claudite, Nymphae, etc. In the person of Pasiphae, fearing 
 a rival among the kine, he cries out to the nymphs to prevent 
 the escape of the bull from the wood in which he was pas- 
 turing. — 56. nemorum saltus. Saltus, akin to aXaos, is, we 
 believe, in this place a wooded glen. We would therefore, 
 instead of with Heyne and Voss, taking the saltus to be 
 merely the entrance to the nemus, suppose a hendyadis for 
 nemorosos saltus, or saltuosa nemora. — 57. Si qua forte, etc. 
 If I may chance to find some traces of the rambling steer. — 
 bovis, i. q. tauri. — 58. forsitan, etc. Mayhap he is gone, en- 
 ticed by some kine to one of the cotes in the mountains. — 
 60. stabula, see on iii. 80. — Gortynia. Gortyna or Gortys Mas 
 the nearest city of Crete to Cnossus, the residence of Minos. 
 Some therefore suppose an opposition here, as if he was to 
 leave the herds of Cnossus and join those of Gortyna ; but 
 it is more simple and more Virgilian to take Gortynian as 
 equivalent to Cretan, a kind of epitheton ornans. 
 
 61-34. Then he sings how Atalanta, running after the 
 apples of the Hesperides which Hippomenes flung before her, 
 
eclogue vi. 4-8-67- 85 
 
 was vanquished by him in the race. Then he relates the story 
 of Phaethon, and the transformation of his sisters into trees 
 on the banks of the Eridanus, poetically expressed by saying 
 that he covers them with mossy bark and raises them as tall 
 trees on the bank of the river. — 62. musco amarae corticis, 
 with the moss of (i. e. that grew on) the bitter bark of the 
 trees. The ancients remarked that he here makes cortex 
 (which is always masculine) of the feminine gender. — 63. 
 alnos, alders. Virgil elsewhere (A en. x. 190) says, in ac- 
 cordance with the common account, that they were changed 
 into poplars. 
 
 64^73. Though the eclogue is dedicated to Varus, the 
 poet artfully takes the occasion of paying a handsome com- 
 pliment to Cornelius Gallus, another of his friends and pro- 
 tectors, who was himself a poet, and who had translated 
 sundry pieces of the Greek poet Euphorion, among others 
 probably one on the origin of the sacred grove of Apollo at 
 Grynium in Aeolis. He supposes that as Gallus was roaming 
 along the banks of the Permessus, a stream which flows from 
 Mount Helicon, he was met by one of the Muses, who led him 
 to the summit of the hill, where her sisters and the poet Linus 
 were assembled. — 65. Aonas in monies. Among the Aonian 
 (i.e. Boeotian) mountains, that is one of these mountains, 
 namely Helicon, the principal of them. Aonas for Aonias, 
 like Medus Hydaspes, the name of the people being employed 
 for the adjective derived from it. — sororum, sc. Musarum. The 
 Muses are often thus called. — 66. viro, to Gallus. — chorus, 
 the Muses. — 67. Linus. Linus was the son of the Muse 
 Urania (Hes. fr. 97, Goetl.). It was said that he was killed 
 by Apollo, who was jealous of his fame as a musician. The 
 Greeks had a melancholy strain which they named from him 
 Linus and Ailinus. See Hesiod as above, and Homer II. 
 xviii. 570. Pausanias (ix. 29, 6.) tells us, that as one ascended 
 to the grove of the Muses on Helicon, he would come to a 
 statue of Linus in a niche cut into a little rock, and that every 
 year, previous to the sacrifice to the Muses, they made offer- 
 ings of the dead before it. We thus see why the poet asso- 
 ciates Linus with the Muses. Another reason is that Gallus 
 
86 BUCOLICS. 
 
 was a writer of elegies, and therefore Linus was his suitable 
 patron. — divino carmine, with a divine song, i. e. who sang 
 divinely.— pastor. There is no tradition of Linus being a 
 shepherd ; but as the poem is bucolic, and Hesiod and Gallus 
 are shepherds, it was no great licence to make Linus one also. 
 — 68. apio amaro, parsley. Victors at the Nemeaean games, 
 which were instituted to commemorate the death of Arche- 
 morus, were crowned with this plant, which therefore formed 
 a suitable garland for Linus. — 70. Ascraeo seni. Hesiod, a 
 native of the Boeotian village of Ascra at the foot of Helicon. 
 He calls him old, not on account of his years, but of the length 
 of time that had elapsed since he flourished. Thus Horace 
 uses senex of Lucilius (S. ii. 1, 34), and of Pacuvius and 
 Accius (or perhaps Euripides and Sophocles), Ep. ii. 1 , 56. 
 — 71. rigidas deducere ornos. Like Orpheus, but Hesiod 
 himself boasts not of any such power. — 72. His tibi, etc. 
 With these you will sing the legend of the origin of the 
 Gryneian grove in so high a strain, that there will be no one 
 of his sacred groves in which Apollo will take such pride. 
 The legend, Servius says, was the slaying of a serpent by the 
 god ; perhaps similar to the legend of Delphi. 
 
 74—81. Quid loquar. These are the words of the poet, not 
 of Silenus. — ut, sc. narraverit, from v. 78. It was a common 
 practice with the ancient poets to suspend the sense in this 
 maimer. Thus in Hor. S. i. 4, 63, the nominative to sit is hoc 
 genus scribendi in v. 65. The Med. MS. for ut reads aut. — 
 Scyllam Nisi. In Grecian mythology we meet with two 
 persons of the name of Scylla, the one the daughter of Xisus 
 king of Megara, who falling in love with Minos, king of 
 Crete, cut off her father's golden lock of hair, on which the 
 safety of himself and his. realm depended. When Minos, in 
 abhorrence of her treachery, threw her into the sea, she was 
 changed into the bird named Ciris. The other Scylla was a 
 monster described by Homer in the Odyssey, which took six 
 of the crew out of Ulysses' ship as it was passing under her 
 den. We may observe that Virgil here confounds the two. 
 The same, as the critics observe, was done by some other 
 Latin writers, for the Greek mythology being to them a sub- 
 
eclogue vi. 68-83. 87 
 
 ject of which they had their knowledge only from books, it 
 was natural enough that they should fall sometimes into the 
 error of supposing persons with the same name to be identical. 
 We are to recollect that they had no classical dictionaries 
 or such-like assistants. — 75. Candida, etc. The Homeric 
 Scylla ( Whelp} was so named as her tones were like those of 
 a whelp (<TK\v\a£) ; she had six heads and twelve arms. Later 
 poets (whom Virgil seems here to follow) fabled that she had 
 been a beautiful maiden, whose lower extremities Circe, by 
 her magic arts, changed into those of a fish, with the heads of 
 sea-dogs round her waist. — 76. Dulichias vexasse rates. Voss 
 observes that there are two mistakes here ; for Ulysses did not 
 rule overDulichium, which was one of the Echinades, and he 
 had but one ship when he passed by Scylla. — 78. Aut id mu- 
 tates, etc. He also sung the transformation of Tereus, Procne, 
 and Philomela. According to, we believe, all Greek autho- 
 rities, Procne, the wife of Tereus, was changed into a night- 
 ingale ; and Philomela her sister, whose tongue had been cut 
 out, into the twittering swallow ; but the Latins, perhaps on 
 account of the name Philomela (song-loving}, made the latter 
 the nightingale. In the Georgics (iv. 511,) Virgil follows this 
 view ; here he speaks only of the transformation of Tereus. — 
 79. Quas, etc., sc. the flesh of his son Itys. According to the 
 story, it was Procne, not Philomela, that served him up that 
 food. Perhaps Virgil makes Philomela the wife. — 80. deserta 
 petiverit, sc. Tereus. — ante, sc. before he sought the desert. 
 The position of ante does not allow of its being joined with 
 tecta. 
 
 82-86. In short, says the poet, Silenus sang all the legends 
 that Phoebus used to sing on the banks of the Eurotas in 
 Laconia for his favourite Hyacinthus. In the usual poetic 
 manner, animating all nature, he says that the Eurotas heard 
 the strains and desired the bay-trees that grew on his banks 
 to commit them to memory, in order that he might hear them 
 again whenever he pleased. — meditante, see on i. 2. — beatus, 
 blessed, happy, in hearing the strains of the god. — 83. laurus. 
 This is the reading of the Medicean MS., and adopted by 
 Voss, Wagner and Forbiger. The ordinary reading is lauros, 
 
88 BUCOLICS. 
 
 which Jahn retains. — 84?. pulsae, etc., the vales re-echo to the 
 skies the song of Silenus. — 85. Cogere donee, etc. He sung on 
 till the evening star warned the two shepherds that it was time 
 for them to drive their sheep home to the cotes and count them. 
 The critics, who suppose Chromis and Mnasylos to be satyrs, 
 understand joasfores in general after jussit. — 86. invito Olympo, 
 the sky itself was unwilling to lose the strains of Silenus. 
 
 Observations. 
 
 Date. — The date of this eclogue also is uncertain, but proba- 
 bility is in favour of that of 712-14. 
 
 Subject. — The narrative of the historian Theopompus, 
 which we have noticed above (on v. 18), was probably known 
 to our poet, and the idea may have presented itself that a 
 pleasing poem might be formed by putting into verse the 
 supposed responses of the god, and, as the more poetic and 
 agreeable mode, he resolved to give them a continuous form. 
 He had an example of this kind of poetic song in that of 
 Orpheus in the Argonautics, which he afterwards imitated in 
 his Aeneis ; and the taking and binding of Proteus when 
 asleep by Menelaus, in the Odyssey, which he imitated in the 
 Georgics, suggested to him the mode in which he conducts 
 the action of the piece. It is commonly supposed that he 
 meant it to be a kind of exposition of the Epicurean system 
 of cosmology, of which sect himself and the Varus to whom 
 it is dedicated were followers ; but to us there seems no ne- 
 cessity for this supposition. The poet, as we have said, had 
 the song of Orpheus in view, from which his account of cre- 
 ation only differs by his employment of the Epicurean terms 
 which he derived from his constant perusal of the poem of 
 Lucretius. That Virgil himself was a follower of that philo- 
 sophy is made probable by some passages of the Georgics. 
 
 Characters. — Chromis and Mnasylos answer to Menelaus 
 and his companion, and Aegle to the sea-goddess Eidothea 
 of the Odyssey. Analogy would therefore lead us to suppose 
 that those were two shepherds, in agreement with the narra- 
 tive in Theopompus. They are throughout called pueri, the 
 usual term for swains (i. 46. iii. Ill), and v. 85 may much 
 
ECLOGUE VI. 89 
 
 more naturally be referred to them than to shepherds in ge- 
 neral. Martyn, following Lord Roscommon, is of this opinion, 
 and he very sensibly observes on v. 20, " They were rather 
 young shepherds than satyrs ; for if they were satyrs, they 
 would not have been so much afraid of Silenus ;" and on v. 24, 
 " According to Servius the demigods were visible only when 
 they thought fit. If this be the case, Chromis and Mnasylos 
 must have been shepherds ; for surely Silenus was always 
 visible to the satyrs." We may here be allowed to observe, 
 that we had adopted this view long before we read Martyn's 
 notes. Heyne and all the succeeding commentators adopt the 
 opinion of Servius, that they were two young satyrs. He 
 adds, that they represented Virgil himself and Varus, while 
 Silenus was their master Syro ; " quibus ideo," he adds, " eon- 
 jungit puellam, ut ostendat plenam sectam Epicuream, quae 
 nihil sine voluptate vult esse perfectum." 
 
 Of Cornelius Gallus we have spoken in his Life. It is very 
 doubtful who Varus was. He is only mentioned in this place 
 and in the ninth eclogue, from which it appears that he was a 
 person of influence and was employed in the service of the 
 Triumvirs in Cisalpine Gaul, and favourably disposed to our 
 poet. The most probable supposition is that he was Alfenus 
 Varus, who, as Servius tells us, was set over Cisalpine Gaul by 
 Octavianus, when Pollio had been driven out of it during the 
 Perusian war. For the fact of his having been our poet's 
 fellow -student, see Life of Virgil. 
 
 Scenery. — From the mention of the cavern (v. 1 3) we may 
 infer that we have here the same ideal scenery as in most of 
 the other eclogues. 
 
90 BUCOLICS. 
 
 Eclogue VII. — Meliboeus. 
 
 Argument. 
 
 While the shepherd Meliboeus was occupied in securing his 
 myrtles from the cold, his goats strayed away. As he was 
 going in search of them he saw three shepherds, Daphnis, 
 Corydon and Thyrsis, sitting under a tree ; and Daphnis, call- 
 ing to him, told him his flock was safe, and asked him to come 
 and witness a musical contest between Corydon and Thyrsis. 
 Though, as he says, he bad more serious business to occupy 
 him, he complied, and he here relates the contest of the swains. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 1-5. arguta ilice> the whispering holm-oak, whose leaves 
 and branches emitted a light sound when gently moved by the 
 breeze. Thus we have argutum nemus, viii. 22. This cir- 
 cumstance (if arguta be not merely an epitheton ornans) seems 
 to indicate that it was the spring-time. — consederat, and not 
 considerate is the reading of all the good MSS. Perhaps in 
 using this word the poet may have meant to indicate that 
 Corydon and Thyrsis were sitting with Daphnis. Cf. v. 3. — 
 Daphnis. It is quite ridiculous to suppose, with Servius, that 
 this is the Daphnis of the fifth eclogue. — 2. in mium, sc. lo- 
 cum. — 3. distentas, sc. ubera. — 4. aetatibus, for the singular 
 aetate. The Latins had great pleasure in thus employing the 
 plural for the singular of abstract nouns. See Zumpt, § 92. — 
 
 V. 1. Aafioiras teal Adcpvis 6 /3wk6Xos els eva x^P 0V 
 
 Tdv ayeXav iron', "Apare, avvdyayov, fjs d' 6 /xev avrwv 
 Hvppos, 6 d' t)fiiyeveios' e7r£ Kpdvav de tlv dp<pio 
 'Ecrddfievoi Qepeos /ieovp apart roidc deuov. — Theocr. vi. 1. 
 
 Ad<pvidi 7<p x a P ieVTl cvvfivrero (3idko\£ovti 
 
 MaXa vefiuv, ws (pavri, Ka~' uipea fiaicpd ~Mevd\Ka$. 
 
 *A[i(j>u) Twy' i]Ti)v 7ri'pporpi'x w > «P0 W ai-a/Sw, 
 
 "An<pu) rvpicdev Fedatmevio, dp.<pu> ae'dev. — Id.ym. 1. 
 
ECLOGUE VII. 1-6. 91 
 
 Arcades ambo. When the scene of the eclogue is laid, as it 
 apparently is, in Cisalpine Gaul (see v. 13), it seems very- 
 strange that the poet should call these two shepherds Arca- 
 dians. Voss, who will everywhere in poetry find historic ac- 
 curacy, supposes that the Arcadians, who were themselves so 
 fond of music, taught it to their slaves also, and that some of 
 these slaves being sold to the Romans thus carried their art 
 into Italy. Or he thinks (though history is silent on it) that 
 Mummius on the taking of Corinth sold Arcadians as well as 
 Corinthians, and that our two swains were of their descendants. 
 We rather think, in consequence of the celebrated passage 
 in Polybius (iv. 20) describing the. law of Arcadia for the 
 cultivation of music and its softening and humanising effects 
 on the manners of the people, that among the educated classes 
 at Rome, for whom alone Virgil wrote, the term Arcadian may 
 have been in use to signify one skilled in song, or rather per- 
 haps in extemporary versification like the modern improvisa- 
 tori. We need hardly add that this is all mere conjecture. 
 It would seem as if it was this place and the tenth eclogue 
 that gave origin to the modern ideas of Arcadian bucolic life 
 and manners, so like the golden age, so unlike the Arcadia 
 of history and reality. Sannazzaro, in his prose romance of the 
 Arcadia, seems to have been the immediate origin of these 
 modern notions. — 5. Et cantare, etc., skilled in amcebaeic 
 song. Possibly cantare is used to express the singing of the 
 first in a contest of this kind ; and respondere, the response of 
 the second. 
 
 6-13. Hue, hitherwards, in the direction of the tree under 
 which the three swains were sitting — dnm defendo, whilst I 
 am engaged in securing my myrtles against the cold by put- 
 ting straw about them. See Plin. xvii. 2. This also indicates 
 the spring, as it was then that the myrtles were in danger of 
 being nipt by the night-frosts ; unless we suppose Virgil in his 
 eclogues to have been heedless of the order of nature. The 
 difficulty which Servius and many of the moderns have seen 
 in this passage, and which they have endeavoured to get rid 
 of by alteration of the text or by strained interpretations, arose 
 from their confounding this introduction with the following 
 
92 BUCOLICS. 
 
 amcebseic song, forgetting that in songs of this kind the 
 singers drew from their imagination, and sung the charms or 
 the occupations of any season they pleased without any regard 
 to the actual one. The poet has defendo in the present, in- 
 stead of defendebam, to make the narrative more vivid. See 
 Zumpt, § 506. — 7. Vir, i. e. maritus. *£! rpdye rav \evxdv 
 alyuiv avep, Theoc. viii. 4*9. Cf. Hor. C. i. 17, 7. — ipse, the 
 buck himself, to whom I had given the flock, as it were, in 
 charge, had strayed and led with him the rest : see v. 9. — 
 deerraverat, the first syllable is contracted, as in Lucretius (iii. 
 873), Deerrarunt passim motus ab sensibus omnes, and else- 
 where. A similar contraction is the common one of deerat. — 
 atque, sc. when he is going in search of his flock. — 8. Hie ubi 
 me, etc. It would appear that Daphnis, who knew that Meli- 
 boeus' goats had strayed, guessed when he saw him what his 
 errand was. — 9. caper et liaedi. See on v. 7. — 10. quid, i. e. 
 aliquid tempus. — cessare, i.e.otiari. — 11. Hue ipsi potum, etc., 
 ' the cattle will come hither of themselves to water.' These 
 could hardly have been those of Daphnis, as Voss asserts ; 
 neither is there any reason for supposing them to have be- 
 longed to Meliboeus. It seems most simple, with Forbiger, 
 to suppose the coming of the cattle to drink to be an agree- 
 able sight in the eyes of shepherds, and therefore used as an 
 inducement by Daphnis. If a painter were making a picture 
 of the scene of this eclogue, he certainly would not omit the 
 cattle. — 12. Hie viridis, etc. We think that the critics are 
 right in making viridis agree with 3Ii?ieius, and not with ripas, 
 as giving a much more novel and picturesque image. It is 
 like the rio verde, rio verde, of the Spanish ballad. — tenera } 
 tender, weak, that yields to the impulse of every breeze, and 
 can be bruised by any slight force. — 13. Mincius, the river 
 which flowing from the Alps forms a lake round Mantua, and 
 then passes on to join the Po. — sacra quercu. The oak was 
 sacred, as every one knows, to Jupiter: it cannot be the same 
 with the ilex under which they were sitting, and it therefore 
 forms another feature in the landscape. — examina, swarms, 
 
 V. 13. T Q£e kclXov fiofifievvTi ttoti efidveuGi piXicffai. — Theoc. v. 46. 
 
ECLOGUE VII. 7-21. 93 
 
 quasi exagmina, as being driven or led out of the hives. This 
 also indicates springtime. 
 
 14-20. Quid facerem? etc. ' What was I to do in this case? 
 I had no one to attend to my business at home, and yet there 
 was a contest here such as may not often be witnessed.' — 
 Alcippen neque Phyllida. Forbiger, following Servius, says 
 that these were the mistresses of Corydon and Thyrsis, who 
 attended to affairs at home, and thus gave them leisure to 
 amuse themselves ; and therefore Meliboeus means he had no 
 one like them to attend to his affairs. Voss thinks that they 
 were slaves belonging to Meliboeus. Perhaps they were his 
 fellow-servants, and his meaning is that, unaware of this con- 
 test, he had not given them any directions about the lambs. — 
 
 15. Depulsos a lacte. See on i. 22. iii. 82 : a lacte, i. q. a ma- 
 tribus. The ewes in Italy usually yeaned in November and 
 December (see Palladius, xii. 13), and the lambs were weaned 
 when four months old : another indication of the spring. — 
 
 16. Et certamen, etc. And there was a great contest, even 
 that of Corydon with Thyrsis, two such distinguished singers. 
 — 17. ludo. See on i. 10. — 19. alternos, Musae, meminisse vo- 
 lebant. There is much difficulty about this passage, of which 
 even in the time of Servius there were two readings, some 
 copies having volebant, others volebam. Voss, who adopts the 
 latter, says that volebam is for vellem, as in i. 80, poteras is for 
 posses ; to which Wagner objects that vellem denotes the wish 
 for what one has not, whereas Meliboeus seems to have re- 
 membered a good deal. Adopting the reading of voleba?il, 
 which is undoubtedly the right one, Wunderlich says that 
 meminisse is i. q. aggredi tractare, like the Greek fxefjLVTJcrdai, 
 The most simple explanation seems to be that of Heyne, that 
 as the poets represented themselves as taught by the Muses, 
 they might justly say that they remembered what they had 
 been taught. Me is therefore to be understood after memi- 
 nisse, — 20. in ordine, in the established amcebaeic order. 
 
 21-28. Corydon commences the contest by an invocation 
 of the Muses, whom he terms the Libethrian nymphs, from 
 the fountain Libethrum on Mount Helicon, or from a more 
 ancient fountain of the same name in Pieria. For the proofs 
 
94 BUCOLICS. 
 
 of the Muses being anciently regarded as water-nymphs, see 
 Mythology, p. 189. — noster amor, my love, i. e. the objects of 
 my love. Cf. i. 57. ii. 65. x. 22. — 22. Codro. This is probably 
 here, as in v. 11, simply the name of a shepherd. But see on 
 v. 26. — proximo,, sc. carmina, from the preceding carmen. 
 Thus Aen. viii. 4<27> Fulmen erat toto Genitor quae plu- 
 rima caelo Deficit. Burmann, as Forbiger here observes, has 
 shown on Quinctilian, ix. 2. that the plural often refers to a 
 preceding singular. It is thus that Servius, followed by most 
 interpreters, understands the passage. Heyne and Wagner, 
 however, suppose proxima to be taken absolutely for the adv. 
 proxime. We think the former interpretation much to be pre- 
 ferred. — 23. Versibus, a dat. — si non possumus omnes, if we 
 all cannot make such verses as Codrus. — 24. Hie, etc. I will 
 resign my art. It was customary for those who retired from 
 the exercise of any art or profession to hang up the instru- 
 ments belonging to it in the temple of the deity who presided 
 over it. See Hor. Carm. iii. 26, 3. Ep. i. 1, 5. — arguta pinu. 
 See on v. 1. The pine was sacred to Cybele, but it was also 
 sacred to Pan. Ov. Met. i. 699. Mythology, p. 232. It is 
 evidently the latter deity that is meant here. — 25. Thyrsis, 
 instead of invoking some other deity, as would seem to have 
 been the usual custom (see iii. 62), calls on his fellow-swains 
 to crown him as the superior of Codrus. — nascentem poetam, 
 the rising poet, he who has just begun to make verses, i. e. 
 Thyrsis himself. Nascentem is the reading of Servius and of 
 the Med. MS. a priore manu, and is adopted by Voss, Wagner 
 and Forbiger. The ordinary reading, crescentem (which has the 
 air of a gloss), is followed by Heyne and Jahn. — hedera : poets 
 as being followers of Bacchus were crowned with ivy. See 
 Hor. C. i. 1, 29. Ov. Met. v. 338. Fast v. 79.-26. Arcades: 
 see on v. 4. — rumpantur ut ilia Codro, that Codrus may burst 
 with envy. We have the corresponding expression, burst the 
 sides, but we use it only of laughter. From the mention of 
 the envy of Codrus it has been attempted to identify him with 
 a real person ; for Dousa in his Auctorium to Cruquius's 
 Commentary on Horace, p. 694, when speaking of the Hiar- 
 bita, who, the poet says (Ep. i. 19, 15) burst with envy or 
 
eclogue vii. 22-33. 95 
 
 emulation of Timagenes, observes, "Nam hie Hiarbita Maurus 
 regione fuit Cordus qui," etc.; and hence Weichert (Poet. 
 Lat. Reliq., p. 402) infers that Cordus was, like Bavius and 
 Maevius, an enemy of our poet, who has here a blow at him 
 even though he was then dead. We do not by any means 
 adopt this opinion. — 27. ultra placitum, that is, beyond what 
 pleases him, beyond what he really thinks I merit. Excessive 
 praise was considered to be a kind of fascination. — bacchare : 
 see iv. 19. This plant was held to be efficacious against 
 witchcraft and fascination. — 28. vatifuturo, the poeta nascens 
 of v. 25. 
 
 29-37. The rival bards now try their skill in the com- 
 position of epigrams, or inscriptions for the statues of gods. 
 Corydon commences with one to Diana, in the person of a 
 young hunter named Micon, who offers to her, or hangs up 
 in her honour, the head of a wild-boar and the antlers of a 
 stag. — Delia, as being born with her brother Apollo in the 
 isle of Delos. — parvus, probably on account of his youth. — 
 30. vivacis. The stag was considered by the ancients to be 
 peculiarly long-lived. — 31. Si proprium hocfuerit. By hoc is 
 meant his success in hunting, which was, by a common prac- 
 tice of the ancients, understood to be implied in what pre- 
 cedes ; proprium signifies lasting, so as to become as it were 
 one's own property. Propria haec si dona fuissent, Aen. vi. 
 872. — levi de marmore, etc. I will have a statue of smooth or 
 polished marble made of you, on which the buskins, which as 
 the huntress-goddess she wore, would be coloured red. It 
 was a common practice of the ancients to colour parts even 
 of marble statues. — 32. evincta, to denote the tight lacing of 
 the well-fitting buskin. — 33. Thyrsis, in reply, makes an epi- 
 gram for a statue of Priapus, the god and keeper of gardens. 
 — Sinum. The sinus was a large wine-bowl, so called, says 
 Varro (L. L. v. 123), " a sinu quod majorem cavationem quam 
 pocula habebant." Sinus or sinum is derived from sinuo, to 
 bend, to hollow, and originally signified anything hollowed : 
 hence we meet the sinus of the toga. — liba. The libum was a 
 cake made of flour, cheese and eggs. Cato (R. R. 75) gives 
 the following receipt for making it : " Bray two pounds of 
 
96 BUCOLICS. 
 
 cheese well in a mortar ; when it is well brayed, add a pound 
 of spelt-flour, or if you wish it to be lighter, only half-a- 
 pound: mix it well with the cheese: add an egg, and mix 
 them well together ; then make the bread : put leaves under 
 it : bake it gently on the hot hearth under an earthen pot." 
 Athenaeus' account of the libum is as follows (iii. p. 125) : 
 JIXaKOvs etc yaXciKTOs Irplwv re kxu fxeXiros 6v 'Pwjjlcuoi Xifiov 
 koXovctl. As Irpia (pi.) was a kind of cake, it perhaps stands 
 here for the flour and cheese in Cato's receipt. In the liba 
 that were offered to Liber on the Liberalia (Ov. Fast. iii. 735), 
 there either was honey, or they were smeared with it (Id. ibid. 
 761). Libum (prob. i. q. libalum,) comes from the verb libo, 
 as being used in the service of the gods. — 35. marmoreum. 
 Thyrsis is resolved to exceed his rival, who makes his Micon 
 only promise Diana a marble statue. His Priapus, a god who 
 in general was made only in a coarse way out of wood, is 
 already marble, and will be gold if he gives increase to the 
 flock. — 36. Si fetura, etc. If the ewes yean well, so that the 
 lambs will, as it were, form a new flock. Priapus is here re« 
 garded as presiding over flocks. See Mythology, p. 236. — 
 aureus esto, i. e. eris, the imperat. for the fut., which, vice 
 versa, is often used for the imperat. 
 
 37-44. Corydon now, in the character of a Sicilian herds- 
 man, and as the lover of the sea-nymph Galatea, calls on her to 
 come and visit him in the evening. One might have expected 
 to meet here Polyphemus instead of Corydon (see ix. 39), 
 but we may recollect that the Corydon of the second eclogue 
 is a Sicilian, and that the language and sentiments of the 
 Theocritean Polyphemus are given to him. This may have 
 secretly operated on the poet's mind when composing these 
 lines. — Nerine, for Nereis, a Greek form, which only occurs 
 in this place. Galatea was one of the Nereides. — Hyblae. 
 
 See on i. 55 38. hedera alba. Cf. iii. 39. — 39. Cum pri- 
 
 mum, etc., i. e. in the evening. — 40. habet, i. q. tenet. Omnis 
 
 V. 37. T Q XevKct FaXdreta, ri rbv (piXiovr' aVo/3d\Xy ; 
 AevKOTepa Trcucrds TroTidrjv, a7raXti>repa dpvos, 
 M6gx<>> yavporipa, ^tapwrepa op.<pa.Kos w/ias.— Theoc. xL 19. 
 
eclogue vii. 35-48. 97 
 
 simul ardor habet, Aen. iv. 581. Custodies somnus habebat, 
 Ov. Met. vii. 329. — venito, like esto, v. 36, imperat. for fut. 
 See Zumpt, § 583. — 4*1. Thyrsis also addresses Galatea. — Sar- 
 doniis herbis. This was a kind of crowfoot. See the Flora, s. v. 
 —42. projecta, that is, torn by the waves from the rocks and 
 flung on the shore. — 43. Si mihi, etc. As we say the live-long 
 (i. e. life-long) day, to express a feeling of the great apparent 
 length of a day, the shepherd here compares to the duration 
 of a year the time that intervenes before he can meet his be- 
 loved nymph in the evening. — 44. Ite domum, etc. As even- 
 ing was indicated by the oxen leaving the fields and going 
 home to the stalls, in his amorous delirium he thinks, as it 
 were, to hasten its approach, by inducing the oxen to go home. 
 — si quis pudor, if you have any shame ; a common expres- 
 sion (see Juv. iii. 154. Mart. ii. 37, 10. Ov. Am. iii. 2, 23), as 
 much as to say : You ought to be ashamed of yourselves to 
 keep me so long from my love. 
 
 45-52. Corydon now gives a picture of a shady retreat 
 from the mid-day heat of summer. — Muscosi fontes, ye mossy 
 springs, i. e. ye springs that issue from the moss-grown rock : 
 see Hor. Ep. i. 10, 7. ; Catul. lxviii. 68. The plural fontes 
 is perhaps used here for the singular, as arbutus (v. 46) ap- 
 pears to be used for the plural. — somno mollior. It is imitated 
 from the inrvco /ictXa/cwrepa of Theocritus (v. 51); the compa- 
 rison is taken from the gentle soothing caused by sleep, and 
 by the soft velvety grass that grows beside a spring. — 46. 
 rara umbra. See on v. 7. — 47. Solstitium, the heat of summer. 
 There is no necessity for restricting it to the solstice, which 
 causes difficulty and is contrary to the freedom of poetry. — 
 defendite. See on v. 6. Though he uses the plural, it was of 
 course only the arbutus that could keep off the rays of the sun, 
 but the water and the moss would help to keep the flock cool. 
 — venit, the burning summer is coming. — 48. Jam turgent, etc, 
 It is now the month of May, the time when the buds appear on 
 the vine-branches. — laeto, joyful, a term poetically applied to 
 plants when full of sap and verdure. As the vine puts forth its 
 buds before its leaves, and laetus does not seem to him appli- 
 cable in that state, Wagner is inclined to adopt the correction 
 
98 BUCOLICS. 
 
 of the Med. MS. lento\ but this is being somewhat hypercritical. 
 — 49. Thyrsis changes the scene, and, as a pendent to the 
 Claude Lorraine summer landscape of his rival, draws a pic- 
 ture in the Dutch style of the comforts of the shepherd's home 
 in the winter. — Hie focus, etc. Here is a fire-place and plenty 
 of pine-wood for firing, and the door-posts are black with 
 the smoke, we keep up such continual fires. — taedae. See the 
 Flora. — 50. posies nigri. The ancients had no chimneys in 
 their houses, and the smoke escaped through a hole in the 
 roof or out of the doors ; the former chiefly in the atria of 
 the rich, the latter in the tuguria of the peasantry. As Thyr- 
 sis had described his fir-wood as being unctuous (pingues), it 
 of course produced more soot than other kinds of wood, which 
 adhered to the door-posts. — 51. Hie, etc. We here set the 
 north-wind at defiance. — 52. numerum. The wolf when going 
 to attack the sheep cares not how many there be, he fears 
 them not. 
 
 53-60. Corydon now, in accordance with that law of our 
 nature by which the mind gives its own colouring to external 
 objects (see Crabbe's poem of The Lover's Journey), describes 
 the effect of the presence of a beautiful youth, Alexis, on the 
 rural landscape, or rather on the mind of himself. — Stant, i. q. 
 sunt, says Heyne : see on ii.26. But Wagner sees a wider mean- 
 ing in it, and holds it to indicate that the trees were laden 
 with their fruits, and suspects an opposition to the strata poma 
 
 V. 49. 'Evri dpvbs %v\a juot, teal virb airoci^ aKafiarov irvp. 
 
 Theocr. xi. 51. 
 
 V. 51 eX w ^ T0L °vd' ogov lopav 
 
 Xeifiaros, rj vcodbs icapvwv, ctfivXoio -jrdpovTOS. — Id. ix. 20. 
 
 V. 53. M. Uavra eap, iravra 8e vofioi, Travra Se yd\aKTOs 
 OvOara TrXrjdovaiv, Kal to. via rpicperai, 
 *EvQ' a Ka\a ttcus kiriviaaeTai' ai S' av a<pipTry, 
 Xw Troifidv %rjpbs rijv69i t %' ai fioravai. 
 A. *Ev9' bis, ev9' alyes didvfiaroKoi, ev6a p.iXicaai 
 Sfiavea itX^povaiv, Kal dpves v-^irepai, 
 *Ev9' b KaXos MiXwv fiaivei ttogiv' ai ff av d<pipiry, 
 Xw ras j3ws fSoamov, \ ai (36es avorepai. 
 
 Id. viii. 41. 
 
eclogue vii. 49-58. 99 
 
 of the next line. Sto, when thus used for sum (whence the 
 Italian stare, to be), always denotes a certain degree of fixity, 
 as in this place and ii. 26, Aen. i. 650. x. 467, and elsewhere. 
 So also stant lumina flamma, Aen. vi. 300, is, ' his eyes are 
 flaming'; the idea of rigidity and sternness being included: 
 the same is the case with the stat sentibu fundus of Lucilius. 
 — The final vowels of juniperi and casfaneae on which the 
 arsis falls, we may observe are not elided. This is in imita- 
 tion of the Greeks. — 54. sua quaeque. This is the reading of 
 all the MSS. and of Nonius. Heinsius, Gronovius (ad Liv. 
 iii. 22) and Bentley (ad Manil. ii. 253) proposed sua quaque, 
 which reading is adopted by Heyne, Wagner and Forbiger, 
 while Voss and Jahn retain that of the MSS. If this is the 
 true reading, sua is an ablative case contracted by the figure 
 synizesis after the example of Ennius (see Festus, v. sos) and 
 Lucretius. Thus the former says, Postquam lumina sis 
 (suis) oculis bonus Ancus reliquit, which line slightly altered 
 the latter has adopted (iii. 1038). Lucretius also (i. 1021) 
 has Ordine se suo quaeque sagaci mente locarunt. When we 
 recollect that Virgil was a great student of these two poets, 
 and was fond of archaisms, we need not be surprised at his 
 employing a synizesis here. Forbiger, who is not adverse to 
 this reading, gives the following instances of the employment 
 of the synizesis and the episynaloepha by our poet ; Buc. iii. 
 96 ; vi. 30 ; viii. 81 ; Geor. i. 482 ; iv. 34, 350 ; Aen. i. 726 ; vi. 
 33 ; vii. 190 ; x. 487. — 55. rident. See on iv. 20.— 56. Monti- 
 bus his. This proves, if it were necessary, that the scenery of 
 the alternate songs has no relation to that of the place where 
 the shepherds are singing. — et Jiumina, the very streams 
 themselves, not merely the trees, will be dried up. — 57. Thyr- 
 sis pursues the subject, taking the opposite side of the picture. 
 — Aret ager, the land is burnt up with the heat of summer. 
 — vitio aeris, like morbo caeli, Geor. iii. 479 : it here seems 
 only to denote extreme drought. — 58. Liber, the Italian god, 
 answering to the Dionysus or Bacchus of the Greeks. — invi- 
 dit, the Greek (pdovel, in the sense of denying, refusing, with 
 a bad or malignant motive understood. Liber refuses the 
 
 f2 
 
100 BUCOLICS. 
 
 vine-shades to the hills ; that is, the vines are without foliage 
 in consequence of the drought. — 60. Juppiter, etc. Jupiter is 
 used here for the heaven or sky, as in the line of Ennius, 
 Aspice hoc sublime candens quern invocant omnes Jovem. Cf. 
 Geor. i. 418 ; ii. 419 ; Hor. Carm. i. 1, 25 ; 22, 19 ; Ov. Met. 
 iv. 260 ; Fast. ii. 299. Theocritus says (iv. 43), X' w Zevs 
 iiWotca fiev 7reXei a'Ldpios, uWoku S' vei. — plurimus, very abun- 
 dant. The Greek and Latin and most other languages use 
 the superlative thus, without any immediate comparison. 
 Elsewhere our poet has nux plurima, Geor.i. 187; Italia plu- 
 rima, ii. 166 ; plurimus oleaster, ii. 1 82 ; plurima unda, iv.419. 
 — laeto, joyous, joy-giving, from the effect. 
 
 61-69. Cory don now enumerates some of the trees sacred 
 to the gods, and declares the hazel, because the favourite of 
 Phyllis, to be equal to any of them. The white poplar was 
 sacred to Alcides or Hercules, because, when he descended 
 to Hades to fetch up the dog Cerberus, he bound his brows 
 with this plant. Iacchus or Bacchus of course loved the vine ; 
 Venus, as sprung from the sea, the myrtle, which flourishes 
 best on its shores ; Phoebus the bay, into which his Daphne 
 had been changed. — 65. Thyrsis as before continues the train 
 of thought ; and as, when Corydon had spoken of a favourite 
 youth, he celebrated a maiden, so he now reverses it. From 
 the nature of amcebaeic poetry we may see that the Phyllis 
 of Corydon is different from the Phyllis of Thyrsis, v. 59, and 
 this does away with the apparent necessity for the transpo- 
 sition of stanzas which some critics thought they saw. — 66. 
 iujluviis, on the banks of the streams ; for adfluvios. Surgat 
 et in solis formosius arbutus antris, Propert. i. 2, 11. — 68. tibi. 
 As Voss justly observes, we might have expected the compa- 
 rison to be with his favourite tree, and not with himself. 
 Though Heyne says he cannot perceive it, we think the cri- 
 tics are right who suppose the poet to have intended to make 
 Thyrsis throughout inferior to Corydon. 
 
 69, 70. Meliboeus concludes by mentioning that Corydon 
 was the victor. — 70. Ex illo (sc. die) etc. Voss says this is, 
 * Henceforth Corydon is Corydon for me,' i. e. a capital poet. 
 
ECLOGUE VII. 
 
 101 
 
 Wagner, •' Henceforth Corydon, Corydon is ray man ' (as we 
 commonly say, ' the man for my money ') : we rather prefer 
 this last interpretation. 
 
 Observations. 
 
 Date. This eclogue offering no internal evidence, its date 
 can be only conjectural. The spring of the year 714—16 is 
 the date assigned to it by the critics. 
 
 Subject. — As Theocritus had made the poetic contests of 
 swains the subject of more than one Idyll, Virgil would vie 
 with him in this also. He seems to have had that poet's 
 eighth Idyll chiefly in view, but the circumstance of making 
 the person who witnessed the contest be the narrator of it 
 appears to have been suggested by the ninth Idyll. The 
 eclogue is, taken altogether, a very pleasing composition, and 
 the parts of the contending swains are well sustained. 
 
 Characters. — The actors in this little piece being all repre- 
 sented as shepherds or goatherds, they must, as we have shown 
 in our Observations on the first eclogue, have been slaves. 
 
 Scenery. — The mention of the river Mincius, in v. 13 would 
 seem to place the scene in Virgil's native country ; while on 
 the opposite side Castelvetro, a critic of the 16th century 
 (Opere Critiche, p. 151), asserts that neither the ikx (v. 1.), 
 the chestnut (53), nor the pine (24), is to be seen in the terri- 
 tory of Mantua, and he adds that the same is the case with 
 respect to flocks of goats, which are not kept in that country. 
 This testimony is of the more weight as this writer was a native 
 of Modena. We ourselves saw, when there, no goats and none 
 of those trees. Martyn however replies, that Virgil could not 
 be ignorant of the trees that grew in his own neighbourhood. 
 He then quotes Ray, whose authority in this case, he says, 
 is worth that of a hundred grammarians, to prove that the 
 ilex is common in most of the provinces of Italy. Ray's words 
 are : " In Hetruria aliisque Italiae provinciis praesertim ad 
 mare inferum, in que Gallia Narbonensi et Hispania in silvis 
 collibus et campestribus maritimis, passim et copiose provenit 
 (ilex)." From the words which we have put in italics, he 
 would seem to have intended to exclude the plain of the Po. 
 
102 BUCOLICS. 
 
 Martyn further quotes Ray to prove that the pine and the 
 chestnut abound in Italy, and no one doubts it ; but Ray does 
 not say that they grow in Lombardy. He also quotes Mat- 
 tioli, an Italian botanist, to prove that the juniper is common 
 in Italy, but the place that writer mentions is Tuscany, espe- 
 cially Siena. 
 
 The simple fact seems to be, that the scenery here as else- 
 where is ideal, though the poet, for some reason of which we 
 are ignorant, chose to introduce the Mincius by name, just as 
 he chooses to call his swains Arcadians. As for the trees 
 named in their amcebaeic strains, see the Observations on the 
 third eclogue. 
 
 Eclogue VIII. — Pharmaceutria, 
 
 Argument. 
 
 The poet relates the songs of two contending shepherds, 
 Damon and Alphesiboeus. The former sings the last com- 
 plaint and the voluntary death of a jilted shepherd ; the latter 
 the magic arts to which a deserted fair one has recourse in 
 order to win back her fickle lover. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 1-5. Musam, the song : see i. 2. — 2. juvenca, the heifer, 
 sing, for plur., in the usual manner of the poets, owing gene- 
 rally to the constraint of the verse. — 3. stupefactae, the Greek 
 dafifiovaai. — carmine. Some MSS. have carmina, whence, as 
 stupefactus always takes the ablative, Wagner conjectures the 
 original reading to have been ad carmina. But as there is 
 no trace of ad in any MS., and the sense is very good as it is, 
 we cannot adopt this reading. — lynces. The lynx was unknown 
 in Italy, but Xenophon (De Yen. xi.) says it was to be found 
 in Mount Pindus, and there is some reason for thinking that 
 the scene of this eclogue is in Thessaly. The poets however, 
 
ECLOGUE VIII. [-6. 103 
 
 as we have already observed, did not attend to these minutiae : 
 see on ii. 63. The lynxes here stand for wild beasts in ge- 
 neral. — Et mutata suos, etc. The meaning of this verse 
 seems to be : 'and the streams changing (their nature) checked 
 their currents (to listen).' The Venetian edition reads mirata, 
 and Wagner proposes morata for mutata ; but there is no neces- 
 sity for any change. It is also disputed whether requierunt is 
 transitive or intransitive. The former we believe, for both 
 Calpurnius and the author of the Ciris seem to have so under- 
 stood it. The latter says, v. 232, Rapidos.. .requierunt flumina 
 cursus : the former thus imitates it (ii. 15), Ettenuere suos pro- 
 perantia flumina cursus. Jacobs (on Propert. iii. 15) under- 
 stands by flumina the river-gods, who brought their streams 
 nearer to the place where the singers were, and there rested on 
 their urns enraptured with the song. This is altogether fan- 
 ciful, and we doubt if the neuter noun flumen ever stands for 
 the river-god. With respect to the whole of the effects here 
 ascribed to song, we think the poet has been rather bold in 
 assigning them to the lays of simple swains ; though to gods, 
 such as Apollo and Silenus, or the sons of gods as Orpheus 
 and Amphion, they are suitable enough. — 5. Damonis Musam, 
 etc. The repetition here of the first verse is very happy. 
 
 6-13. Tu, sc. Asinius Pollio. It is somewhat remarkable 
 that the poet does not mention the name of the person to whom 
 the eclogue is dedicated ; for it was the usual practice of the 
 poets, instead of putting the name of the person to whom they 
 addressed their works at the head of them, to introduce them 
 somewhere in the body of the piece. We may instance the 
 odes of Horace, each of which contains the name of the per- 
 son to whom it is addressed. The inscriptions, as they are 
 called, are not the work of the poet, but belong to ancient 
 critics and editors. Virgil probably considered that the fol- 
 lowing verses so plainly indicated Pollio, that it was needless 
 to insert his name. — mihi. This is what is termed the ethic 
 dative, which denotes the interest the person who uses it has 
 or takes in the matter of which he is speaking. Heyne, Voss 
 and others would connect it with accipe in v. 1 1 ; but Wagner 
 thinks this too remote, and therefore would join it with 
 
104 BUCOLICS. 
 
 superas. Heyne, in his earlier editions, followed the usual 
 practice of placing a comma after mild, and we know not if 
 this is not the better principle, supposing the poet to have 
 meant to employ some other verb, and then to have been 
 carried away by his enthusiasm and to have neglected it. — 
 seu magni, etc. 'Whether you are now passing the mouth of 
 the Timavus (i. e. sailing by it) or have not come so far yet, 
 but are still going along the coast of Illyria.' See the Life 
 of Pollio. — superas. This may be understood of passing the 
 river by land ; but as there is no reason to suppose that Pollio 
 would land his troops at such a distance from Rome and send 
 his ships away empty, it is better to understand superare, as 
 in Aen. i. 244-, and Li v. xxx. 39, of sailing past it. — saxa 
 Timavi: see Aen. i. 244-. Heyne thus describes the Timavo at 
 the present day: "In Carnorum finibus (Carniola) inter 
 Aquileiam et Tergeste (Trieste), qui tractus totus saxeus et 
 scopulosus est, apud vicum S. Joannis, non longe a castello 
 Duino (Tywebi), complures (modo septem modo novem nu- 
 merantur) ingentesque inter rupium antra aquarum fontes pro- 
 siliunt, qui post brevem cursum in unum flumen coeunt, 
 quod vix mille passuum viam emensum latum altumque uno 
 ostio in mare exit." — 7« en erit unquam: see on i. 68. — 8. facia, 
 your military exploits. — 10. carmina, the tragedies which 
 Pollio had composed, which he here compares with those of 
 Sophocles. The poet is merely expressing a wish or hope 
 that at some future period he might be able to devote his 
 powers to the celebratioh of the deeds and the literary pro- 
 ductions of Pollio. It is perhaps only a compliment, for he 
 does not appear to have formed any serious design of doing 
 so. — cothurno, the tragic buskin, put for tragedy. — 11. A te 
 principium, sc. sumit Musa mea. This omission is a poetic 
 artifice, expressing eagerness and commotion of mind. — ¥2. 
 Carmina coepta. This either means that Pollio had required 
 him to write bucolic poetry in general, or had given him the 
 subject of this particular eclogue. The latter is the more 
 probable, as poems were usually sent separately to the persons 
 to whom they were addressed.— -jussis. The verb jubeo is used 
 to express all degrees of causing a thing to be done, from 
 
ECLOGUE VIII. 6-16. 105 
 
 simply asking up to commanding : in this place tua jussa 
 mean only ' your desire.' — 13. Inter victrices, etc. Let this 
 branch of poetic ivy creep through the laurels with which 
 victory has wreathed your brows. — hedera : see on vii. 25. — 
 serpere. This verb is frequently used, even in prose, of plants 
 like the ivy, that advance gradually along the ground or up 
 the stems of other plants. 
 
 14—16. A description of the time of the day and of the atti- 
 tude of the shepherd when he begins his song. — Frigida, etc., 
 the early morn, the twilight, just before the rising of the 
 sun (see v. 17), not after sunrise, as Heyne says. — umbra, 
 Virgil frequently uses this word to express the gloom of night. 
 Perhaps the adjective frigida (like gelida, Aen. xi. 210), is 
 here added to indicate the great coldness of the air just before 
 sunrise. — 15. Cum ros, etc. This beautiful verse was pro- 
 bably a favourite with our poet, for he repeats it, Geor, iii. 
 326. As it was the custom to drive the cattle out to pasture 
 before sunrise (see Geor. iii. 322 seq.), we are to suppose the 
 shepherd Damon, after driving his flock afield, to have stood 
 by them resting on his crook and meditating on the subject 
 of his song. — ]6. tereti olivae, his smooth or polished crook 
 of olive-wood. J. Warton, in his translation of this eclogue, 
 says, "Against an olive's trunk reclined;" and Marty n, " lean- 
 ing against a round olive tree." The words may no doubt 
 thus be rendered, but surely no one who had ever looked 
 on an olive with its rugged gnarled stem, would dream of ap- 
 plying the epithet teres to it. It would also, we apprehend, 
 not be easy to find an olive against which one could recline 
 commodiously. On the other hand, the shepherd's crook was 
 frequently made of the wild olive. Apollonius Rhodius (ii. 
 34), describing one, says it was made opirpotyeos kutivoio, and 
 Theocritus (vii. 18) says of a shepherd poLicdv & e-^ev aypiekauo 
 keUrepq. Kopvvav. In Ovid's description of the pastoral attire 
 of Apollo (Met. ii. 680), the reading of the best MSS. is 
 onusquefuit dextrae silvestris oliva. We need hardly mention 
 that oliva, like pinus, abies, ferrum, and other names of sub- 
 stances, is used for the thing made from it. The custom of 
 shepherds resting on their crook is thus alluded to by Ovid 
 
 f5 
 
106 BUCOLICS. 
 
 (Ex Pont. i. 8, 52), Ipse velim baculo pascere nixus ores ; 
 and by the author of the Culex, v. 97, Talibus in studiis 
 baculo dum nixus apricas Pastor agit curas. Teres (from tero) 
 is smooth, polished, but the idea of length and rotundity is 
 usually included in it. Horace (S. ii. 7, 86) joins it with 
 rotundas, and apparently as speaking of a globe. 
 
 17-21. Damon now, in the person of the despairing shep- 
 herd, commences his extemporary song. It is divided into 
 parts or stanzas of unequal length, each terminated by an •in- 
 tercalary verse or burden, after which we are led to suppose 
 (see above p. 46) that the singer plays a voluntary on his pipe 
 while he is thinking on the stanza that is to succeed. In in- 
 troducing the burden, Virgil imitates Theocritus in his two 
 first Idylls. — Nascere, arise. This employment of the verb, 
 properly belonging to the birth or origin of organised beings, 
 to the celestial luminaries or phenomena, is not uncommon. 
 Elsewhere (Geor. i. 441) he applies it to the sun, and Horace 
 (C. iii. 23, 2) to the moon. — praeque, etc. (a tmesis), i. e.prae- 
 veniensque age diem, ' and coming before lead on the day ;' as 
 Milton (Son. i.) says, "While the jolly Hours lead on propi- 
 tious May." We are aware that the usual sense of ago is to 
 drive on before ; but in this case Lucifer, the morning-star, 
 must precede the day. Cf. Aen. v. 833. — almum. Almus 
 (from alo) is whatever nourishes, gives vigour to anything. 
 We thus meet alma lux, Aen. i. 306, and we find this adjec- 
 tive employed as an epithet of the deities, Sol, Ceres, Venus, 
 Cybele, Phoebe and Juturna, all beings that gave increase. — 
 
 18. Conjugis, i.e. of her who was to have been, or whom he 
 had expected to be, his bride. Maritus and gener are also 
 used in this anticipative sense. — indigno amore. The love 
 here is the pretended love of the faithless maid, which was 
 unworthy of the true and sincere affection of the shepherd. — 
 
 19. testibus Mis, whom Nisa had so often taken to witness of 
 her truth. — 20. extrema hora, sc. vitae, before he terminates 
 his existence, as he is resolved to do. — 21. JMaenalios, Arca- 
 dian (from Mount Maenalus), or simply rural. 
 
 V. 21. "Ajo%€r6 /3a»KoXifC«s, IMwcai <pl\ai, apxer doucis. — Theoc. i. 64. 
 
eclogue viii. 17-27. 107 
 
 22-25. This stanza arises from the word Maenalios in the 
 burden. The mind of the singer is thereby carried to Arcadia 
 and its woods and mountains. — argutum. See on vii. 1.— jtw- 
 nos loquentes. This may be understood in two ways, either 
 as referring to the whispering of the wind in the trees, and 
 therefore nearly a repetition (but not an unusual one) of the 
 preceding argutum nemus ; or, vocal with the songs of shep- 
 herds, in which sense it is understood by Servius and by Heyne, 
 Voss, and the later critics : and in Aen. xi. 458, our poet uses 
 stagna loquacia, where it means, the pools made vocal by the 
 melody of the swans that haunted them. We feel rather in- 
 clined to adopt the first interpretation, and suppose an oppo- 
 sition between the natural melody of the woods (the warbling 
 of the birds being perhaps included) and that of Pan and the 
 shepherds. The pine, it has been observed, does not grow in 
 Arcadia, but that is a matter of no consequence. It grows in 
 general, we believe, alone or in small groups, and is not at all 
 calculated to re-echo the music of swains. — 24. qui primus, etc., 
 alluding to his invention of the syrinx : see Mythology, p. 232. 
 
 26-31. datur, sc. nuptum, by her parents. — quid non spe- 
 remits amantes. The verb sperare, like the Greek eX-n-eadai, is 
 not merely to hope, but to expect in general: see on iii. 110, 
 for the corresponding use of metuo. The sense is, ' What may 
 not we lovers expect? the most extraordinary unions take 
 place.' — 27. Jungentur, etc. He goes on to say, ' We shall soon 
 see the griffons submitting to be yoked along with the horses, 
 and the next generation will see the deer and the dogs coming 
 together to be fed.' We entirely approve of the interpretation 
 ofjmigo here, as of yoking to a car, given by Voss and adopted 
 by Wagner and Forbiger. Servius, who adopts that of union 
 in matrimony, though he mentions the other interpretation, 
 has been followed by interpreters in genevsX.—gryphes. The 
 griffons (mentioned by Herodotus, iii. 116) were fabulous ani- 
 mals that abode in the Rhipaean mountains, where they kept 
 watch over treasures of gold : they had the body of a lion, 
 and the head and wings of an eagle. The poet commits his 
 usual fault in putting the mention of them into the mouth of 
 a shepherd. — 28. ad pocida, i. e. ad potum. Pocula sunt 
 
108 BUCOLICS. 
 
 fontes liquidi, Geor. iii. 5-29. — damae. This word, which 
 is usually feminine, Virgil here makes masculine, as he does 
 talpa, Geor. i. 183. Quintilian (ix. 3, 6) remarks this license 
 of our poet. — 29. novas incide faces, i. e. cut wood to form 
 torches, which were, according to custom, to be carried before 
 the bride. We do not think, with Heyne, that novas is a mere 
 epitheton ornans: everything relating to a marriage was to 
 be of the best and newest description. Incide, as Geor. i. 292, 
 faces inspicat. — tibi ducitur uxor, 'Your wife is about to be 
 brought home to you.' Perhaps with a bitter feeling and irony : 
 ' You are now a married man ; you have triumphed over me.' — 
 30. Sparge, marite, nuces, scatter your walnuts (see Plin. xv. 
 22) ; according to the custom at Roman marriages of throwing 
 walnuts to the boys who were in the street when the bride was 
 led home. — tibi deserit Hesperus Oetam. The tibi here, as in 
 the preceding verse, means simply for thee. Wagner says it is 
 tibi cupienti, and refers to Geor. ii. 242; iv. 354? ; Aen. i. 156, 
 and other places, where he says the dative indicates an affec- 
 tion of the mind. From the mention of Mount Oeta, Voss 
 infers that the scene of the song is laid in Thessaly. This, 
 though not unlikely, is by no means certain, for, as we have 
 often observed, the poets did not attend to matters of this 
 kind. It is possible, as Heyne conjectures, that he may be 
 following some Greek poet who lived in Thessaly, and who in 
 singing, it may be the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, described 
 the evening-star as rising over Oeta ; but his immediate au- 
 thority seems to have been the beautiful Carmen Nuptiale of 
 Catullus (lxii.), in which, when the chorus of youths has com- 
 menced Vesper adest,juvencs., consurgite, Vesper Olympo Ex- 
 pectata diu vix tandem lumina tollit, etc., that of the maidens 
 replies, Cernitis, innuptae, juvenes ? consurgite contra, Nimi- 
 rum Oetaeos ostendit Noctifer ignes, etc. In the re- 
 mainder of the poem this star is called, as in Virgil, Hesperus. 
 It is strange how inobservant of nature the ancient poets 
 frequently were. Almost every one, we should suppose, is 
 aware that Venus is never an evening and a morning star in 
 the same part of the year ; yet here our poet has in v. 17. Lu- 
 cifer, and in this place Hesperus, speaking evidently of the 
 
ECLOGUE VIII. 28-41. 109 
 
 one day. Catullus, addressing Hesperus in the poem cited, 
 says (v. 34), Nocte latent fares quos idem saepe revertens, Hes- 
 pere, mutato comprendis nomine eosdem. Cinna, in his Smyrna 
 said, Te matutinus Jlentem conspexit Eous, Et flentem paulo 
 vidit post Hesperus idem. Horace has (C. ii. 9, 10), Nee tibi 
 Vespero Surgente decedunt amores, Nee rapidumfagiente Solem 
 See also Statius, Th. vi. 238 ; Seneca, Hippol. 748 ; Oed. 740. 
 — deserit, leaves, i. e. sinks behind it after the sun ; not as Voss 
 says, rises over it. 
 
 32-36. O digno, etc. This is said with bitter irony : 
 1 Thou, who art united to a precious husband, to one worthy 
 of a perjured maid like thee.' — 35. Nee curare, etc. * Do not 
 believe that the gods punish perjury.' 
 
 37-42. From reflecting on her perfidy, he is led now to 
 go back to the origin of his passion, which had commencea 
 even in his boyhood. — Saepibus in nostris, etc., 'I first saw 
 you, when a little girl, with my mother in our garden gather- 
 ing apples.' Saepes seems to be put for the garden which it 
 enclosed. — roscida, having the dew-drops upon them : it was 
 therefore early in the morning. — 38. vester, i. e. you and my 
 mother. — matre, my (not thy) mother : see the corresponding 
 place in Theocritus. — 39. Alter ab undecimo, etc., ' I was then 
 only in my twelfth year :' see v. 49. Servius says thirteenth, as 
 alter, he says, means the second. — acceperat, the year is very 
 naturally said to receive those that enter into it. — 41. Ut vidi, 
 
 V. 33. Tivuhjku), xapiecrcra Kopa, rivos ovveiza 0evyeis* 
 Ovveica fioi \amct \iev 6<ppvs kni Travri //erw7ry 
 
 'E£ OJTOS TeTCtTCtl TTOTl QctTCpOV WS [Aid [XaKpd. 
 
 Theocr. xi. 30. 
 V. 37. 'Kpa<j9r]v p:ev eya>ya reovs, Kopa, aviKa Trpdrov 
 T Hv6>es efxq, avv /xarpi, 9e\oi<j' vaicivQiva <pv\\a 
 'E£ opeos dpiipaaQcu' eyto 8' bdbv ayefiovevov. 
 
 Jd. xi. 25. 
 V. 41. 'Qs d' "idev, ws fiiv epws irvKivds <ppevas dfi^iKaXvxpev. 
 
 Horn. II. xiv. 294. 
 X' ws Idov, o»s endvrjv, ws fiev irepl 9v[xos id(p9rj 
 AetXaias. Theoc. ii. S2. 
 
 'Qs Idev, ibs efxavrj, ws es 6a9vv aWer epwra. — Id. iii. 42. 
 
110 BUCOLICS. 
 
 etc. The first ut, says Voss, after Servius (to whom Wagner 
 and Forbiger assent), is an adverb of time, when, the other 
 two of exclamation, how. The last i in peril is not elided on 
 account of the pause and the arsis. — malus error, the madness 
 of love. Love is regarded as an aberration of the intellect. 
 
 43-46. I am now awaked from my delusion, and I know 
 the true nature of Love. He is an unfeeling monster, and not 
 the gentle being I supposed him to be. — cotibus, same as cau- 
 tibus, of which it is an ancient or rustic form, as plostrum for 
 plaustrum. — ilium, with emphasis, tliat, used in either a good 
 or a bad sense: see on iv. 15. — 44. Tmaros, or Tomaros, a 
 mountain of Epirus, at the foot of which lay Dodona. — Rho- 
 dope, a mountain-range of Thrace. — Garamantes, the people 
 inhabiting what the ancients regarded as the most remote part 
 of Africa beyond the Gaetulians. — 45. Nee noslri, etc., of 
 neither our kin nor blood, i. e. totally devoid of humanity. — 
 edunt, for ediderunt, a usual substitution of the present for the 
 past, to give animation to the narrative. 
 
 47-51. From a consideration of the perverse nature of Love, 
 he passes to the thought of one of the crimes to which that 
 deity had incited mortals, and selects the murder of her chil- 
 dren by Medea, a consequence of injured love. — 48. Crudelis 
 tu quoque mater, etc. Though he throws the principal part of 
 the blame on Love, who urged the deed, he will not acquit 
 Medea, who executed it : if he was wicked, she was cruel. He 
 then puts the question, which was greater in its respective de- 
 gree, his wickedness or her cruelty, and does not venture to 
 solve the problem, contenting himself with again asserting 
 that he was wicked and she cruel. 
 
 V. 43. TSvv eyvu)v r6v"Epojra' fiapis 6eos' lj pa XeaiVas 
 ~Mclgg6v eG)']\a%ev, cpvf&(p re piv erpacpe fidrijp. 
 • Theoc. iii. 15. 
 
 yXavK)) £e ere rixre 6d\aercra, 
 
 Herpai r r\ki$aroi' on roi voos eerriv cnrTjvrjs. 
 
 Horn. II. xvi. 3-4. 
 
 V. 44. *H "Ado), Tj 'Po^oVa^, ?) ILavKaaov ecr^arowvra. 
 
 Theoc. to. 77. 
 
ECLOGUE VIII. 42-58. Ill 
 
 52-57. He now proceeds, from reflecting on the nature and 
 power of Love, and the way the world is thrown into confusion 
 by him, and also remembering that he is himself about to leave 
 it, to assert, that he does not care what changes may occur in 
 nature. Or he rather intimates that they may be expected to 
 take place, since so unnatural a thing as the rejection of him- 
 self and the acceptance of Mopsus by Nisa has occurred. — 
 52. Ultra. This expresses, that the terror of the wolf would 
 be such, that at the very sight, as it were, of the sheep he 
 would take to flight. — aurea mala. See on iii. 71. — 54. Pin- 
 guia electra. The ftXenrpov, in Latin succinum, amber, was, 
 according to the popular belief, a gum which exuded from the 
 trees on the banks of the Eridanus, into which the sisters of 
 Phaethon had been changed. See on vi. 62. The word pin- 
 guis is used of any fluid that is of a thick, unctuous nature ; 
 sudo is also an appropriate and graphic expression. Cf. iv. 30. 
 Voss regards the use of the plural electra as one of Virgil's 
 licences. — 55. Certent, sc. in cantu. — sit Tityrus Orpheus. A 
 stroke of rustic satire. Tityrus is of course a shepherd, who 
 made but indifferent music on his syrinx. He shall rival Or- 
 pheus in the power of his melody over the beasts of the wood, 
 or Arion in his over the fishes of the sea. The story of Arion 
 is well known. See Herod, i. 23 ; Ovid, Fast. ii. 80, seq. 
 
 58-61. Omnia vel, etc. From the thought of Arion among 
 the porpoises in the sea, he goes on to say : * As for me, I have 
 no more to do with earth, and the sea, for me, may cover the 
 whole of it.' — medium, that is, deep, as the sea is out in its 
 
 V. 52. IHvv 'la fiev cpopeoire fiaroi, cpopeoiTe 8' aicavOat, 
 'A §e Ka\a vapKicaos kir' dptzevBoiai KOfxaaai' 
 JIdvra 8' evaXXa ycvoivro, Kal d 7rirvs S^vas eve'iKai, 
 Adcpvis eirei BvdvKei' Kal rds Kvvas u>\a<pos eX/cot, 
 Kj}£ opecjv rot 07cui7res dr]86ai yapvaaivro. 
 
 Theoc. i. 132. 
 
 V. 58. T £2 \vkoi, J Owes, J dv wpea 0a>Xcr'£es ap/croi, 
 
 XaipeO'* 6 /3wko\os vfifiiv eyw Adtpins ovk er' dv v\av, 
 Ouk er dvd dpvfxus, ovk dXaea. x ai Pi 'A-peOoiaa, 
 Kal TTOTapol, rol %elre ko\6v Kara Qv^fSpidos vdwp. 
 
 Id. i. 115. 
 
112 BUCOLICS. 
 
 middest point. — Vivite, i. q.valete, with which it is often joined. 
 — 59. specula, any lofty point, from which there is an exten- 
 sive view. — aerii montis : see on i. 58. — 60. extremum hoc, etc. 
 i Receive, Nisa, this my death as the last present I can make 
 you.' Munus is evidently his death, not his song, as Heyne 
 understands it. 
 
 62-63. The poet having himself given the song of Damon, 
 calls on the Muses to proceed with]that of Alphesiboeus, which 
 required more knowledge. This was a compliment for Pollio, 
 if, as Voss asserts, he had given him this subject. — non omnia, 
 etc., a proverbial expression. 
 
 64—68. A maiden in the country, whom her lover had de- 
 serted, has recourse to magic arts in order to recover him. 
 Like Theocritus, whom he imitates, our poet hurries at once 
 in medias res, and introduces the enchantress, calling to her 
 attendant to bring her the things requisite for the rites. The 
 action takes place probably in the inner-court, the impluvium, 
 of a house (as Aen. iv. 504): see v. 107. Voss supposes this 
 scene also to be laid in Thessaly. — Effer aquam, etc. The 
 altar which she is to use stands ready ; the lustral water is to 
 be brought out, the altar to be bound round with a fillet, and 
 incense and herbs to be burnt on it. — molli, because the vitta 
 was made of wool. — 65. Verbenas. "Verbenae," says Donatus 
 (on Ter. Andr. iv. 3, 1 1), " sunt omnes herbae frondesque fes- 
 tae ad aras coronandas, vel omnes herbae frondesque ex aliquo 
 loco puro decerptae : verbenae autem dictae quasi herbenae." 
 — pingues, juicy, see on v. 54. — adole. The original meaning 
 of the verb oleo seems to have been to heap up, augment. It 
 was used for the piling of the offerings on the altar, and, as 
 they were then burnt, it gradually, like so many other verbs, 
 got its secondary and more usual sense. — mascula tura. The 
 better kind of frankincense, which was white and round, was 
 
 V. 59. Tav (3alrav aTroct's e$ KVfjLara rrjvCj akevfiai, 
 
 ^Qrrep rws Qvvvujs GK07nd(JceTai"0\7ris 6 ypnrevs. 
 
 Theoc. iii. 25. 
 V. 61. A7;yere (3o)Ko\iicds, Mujcrai, Ire, X/jyer' doica?. — Id. i. 12/. 
 V. 64. Sre^cv rav KeXefiav Qoiviiceio oibs ato-ip. — Id. ii. 2. 
 
ECLOGUE VIII. 59-71. 113 
 
 so called, according to Dioscorides, (i. 82) and Pliny (xii. 14, 
 32). See the Flora, s. v. — 66. Conjugis, see on v. 18. — sanos 
 sensus, i. e. * That I may make him mad with love ; ' destroy 
 the present sanity or indifference of his mind. — 67. Carmina, 
 charms, magic strains or forms : see Aen. iv. 487 ; Hor. S. i. 
 8, 19. 
 
 69-72. She now enumerates some of the principal effects 
 
 of charms deducere Lunam. This was one of the most 
 
 ordinary feats of the ancient sorceresses, especially of those of 
 Thessaly : it is not known how it was performed : Ovid, 
 Tibullus and other poets make frequent mention of it. — 70. 
 Circe, etc. For the change of the companions of Ulysses by 
 Circe, see Horn. Od. x. 203 seq. — Ulixi. The Latin language, 
 having no letter answering to the Greek v (which was pro- 
 nounced like the French u or the German ii), frequently used 
 for it, in words from the Greek, the i as the sound approach- 
 ing nearest to it, just as we ourselves have done at times, as 
 in brisk, from the French brusque. In like manner the Greek 
 ev (probably the French eu, German o) became e. Hence we 
 might have expected that 'Ohvaaevs would have become Odis- 
 ses, but by one of those freaks of language for which we can- 
 not account it became Ulixes ; for d and I, strange as it may 
 seem, are commutable (see on i. 2) and x is akin to ss. The 
 form Ulysses is not to be found in any good MS. of Virgil or 
 Ovid: see Burmann on Ov. Her. i. 1. Ulixi is the genitive, 
 contracted from Ulixei, according to some critics ; but Wag- 
 ner on Aen. i. 30. shows that in Greek proper names in evs, 
 terminating in Latin in es, as Ulixes, Achilles, the genitive is 
 made in i and the accusative in en ; while in those which retain 
 the evs, as Tereus, Nereus, Ilioneus, the genitive ends in ei, 
 the accusative in ea. On the Latin forms of Greek names, see 
 Mythology, p. 553. — 71. Frigidus, etc., 'the cold snake is 
 burst asunder by charms.' That this is the sense of rumpo in 
 this place is proved by the following passages: Carmine dis~ 
 siliunt, abruptis faucibus, angues, Ov. Am. ii. 1,25. Vipereas 
 rumpo verbis et carmine fauces, Ov. Met. vii. 203. Jam dis- 
 
 V. 68. *Iir/£, eX/ce rv rrjvov eftbv ttoti Sio/xa tov avdpa. — Theoc. ii. 17. 
 
114 BUCOLICS. 
 
 rumpetur mediusjam ut Marsu colubras Disrumpit cantu, venas 
 cum extenderit omnes, Lucil. xx. 5. Compare Hor. Ep. i. 19, 
 15. The other interpretation of rumpo by Gessner and Voss 
 is that of checking, controlling, depriving of power. On fri- 
 gidus, as an epithet of the snake, see on iii. 93. 
 
 73-76. She holds an image which she has made of Daphnis 
 in her hand as the subject of her charms. — Terna, for tria. 
 This employment of the distributive for the cardinal number 
 was not unusual with the poets : see Geor. i. 231 ; Aen. v. 85. 
 560 ; Zumpt, § 119. — tibi circumdo, I wind round thee, i. e. the 
 image that represents thee. — triplici, etc., three threads, each 
 of a different colour. Servius, who is followed by Voss, says 
 nine threads, three of each colour ; but Wunderlich doubts if 
 the Latin language will admit of this sense : it seems how- 
 ever to have been so understood by the author of the Ciris, 
 v. 371. — 74. haec. This is the reading of all the MSS. save 
 one (the Longobardic), which has hanc, agreeing with effigiem, 
 in v. 74, and which is followed by Wakefield, Voss, Wagner, 
 and Forbiger. Wagner is so positive that han-c is the proper 
 word, that he says that it should be admitted on conjecture 
 even if it were to be found in no MS., while Jahn asserts that 
 it mars the sense of the passage. Effigiem, he says, answers 
 to tibi in v. 73, and is merely te, and hanc effigiem is therefore 
 hunc te. — 75. duco, I carry. Cf. Aen. x. 206. — deus, a deity in 
 general, or perhaps Hecate in particular : see Aen. ii. 632. — 
 numero impure. A peculiar sanctity and dignity was given to 
 the odd numbers, because they could not be divided so as to 
 make even parts. Three was the most sacred, as having be- 
 ginning, middle and end. 
 
 77-79. She calls on her attendant Amaryllis, and directs 
 her to take three threads of different colours, and tie a knot 
 on each, saying, as she tied them, ' I tie the bonds of Venus.' 
 This was expected by sympathy to bind the mind of the ob- 
 ject in the chains as it were of love and desire for her who 
 employed the charm. 
 
 V. 73. 'Es rpts a.7ro<j7revdu), Ka\ rpls -dee, Trorvta, (pkovQ. — Theoc. ii. 43. 
 
ECLOGUE VIII. 73-82. 115 
 
 80-84. The commentators, following Servius, suppose that, 
 in addition, as it would seem, to the one mentioned in v. 75, 
 she had two images of Daphnis, the one of clay, the other of 
 wax. Their chief reason for doing so seems to be, that in 
 Horace (S. i. 8, 30) Canidia makes two images, one of wool, 
 the other of wax, both of which Forbiger very strangely sup- 
 poses to be of the same person ; and but for which passage and 
 the note of Servius, he says, .we should be under no need of 
 supposing two images in this place ; as the waxen one might 
 be in a case made of clay, or the body of the image might be 
 of clay, the head and perhaps the limbs of wax. We confess 
 we see no necessity for supposing any images at all. She 
 might have put a piece of clay and a piece of wax into the fire, 
 just as she puts the sprigs of bay, the mola and the bitumen. 
 — Limus ut hie, etc., ' As in one and the same fire the clay 
 hardens and the wax melts, so, under the influence of one and 
 the same charm, may the heart of Daphnis harden with re- 
 spect to other women, soften with respect to me.' In the jingle 
 of durescit and liquescit there is apparently an imitation of 
 something similar in magic rites. — 81. nostro amore only refers 
 to liquescit, the reference to the other verb is understood. — 
 82. Sparge molam, etc. Another symbolic magic art. The 
 mola (or mixture of far and salt) and sprigs or leaves of bay 
 are thrown into the fire, that as they burn and crackle so may 
 Daphnis burn.— fragilis, crackling, as it were, breakable. 
 
 Carbasus intenta theatris .fr agile s sonitus chartarum 
 
 commeditatur, Lucr. vi. 109 seq. — bitumine, with bitumen or 
 mineral-pitch, of which the fire was probably made. It is quite 
 
 V. 80. 'Qs toI'TOv tov Kapbv eyw ovv Saifiovi tcLkix), 
 
 "Qs tclkoiO' vn' epoJTOso Mvvdios avriKa AeX^is. — Theoc. ii. 28. 
 
 V. 82. 'A\0ira roi irpurov 7rvpl raKerac d\\' e7ri7racrcre, 
 
 ********** 
 Haw' a/xa Kai Xeye ravra' rd AeXcpiSos ocrrea ttclogu). 
 
 Id. ii. 18. 
 
 V. 83. Ae\<pis e/x' dviaaev eyw d' eiri Aektpidi 8d<pvav 
 A'lOoj' x ^s avrd XafceT jtteya Kcnnrvp'tGaaa, 
 Krjlairivas a(p9r], Kovde airodbv ei^o/xes auras" 
 Ovro) toi Kai Ae\<pi$ evi <p\oyi cdpK d[iaQvvoi. — Id. ii. 23. 
 
116 BUCOLICS. 
 
 absurd in Heyne to say, that the bay-leaves were daubed with 
 bitumen, which is a hard substance. — 83. in Daphnide, i. e. 
 (says Jahn, following Servius) " enl katyvi^i super Daphnidis 
 effigiem." Voss and Forbiger understand it in the same man- 
 ner ; but as this goes on the supposition of the limus and cera of 
 v. 80 being images, we feel inclined with Wagner to take in 
 Daphnide as equivalent to propter Daphnidem. At all events 
 it is to be understood as the enl AeXcp^i in the corresponding 
 place of Theocritus. 
 
 85-90. She now describes the violence of the love which 
 she wishes the preceding charms to infuse into Daphnis. — 
 Talis amor, sc. teneat: see v. 89. — 86. bucula, heifer, a dimi- 
 nutive of bos it is said. We doubt however if ulus, ula, was 
 a diminutive in the ancient language. Romulus was appa- 
 rently the same as Romus, Catulus as Catus, Brutulus as 
 Brutus. — 87- Propter aquae rivum, beside a stream of water. 
 — 88. Perdiia, an epiphonema, like the Homeric vt)7tit], and 
 should therefore be enclosed in commas. — decedere nocti, as if 
 ordered by night to depart. — 89. nee sit mihi, etc. The usual 
 language of lovers, who declare they will never forgive a slight, 
 yet never can keep their resolution. Comp. Ter. Eun. i. 1. 
 In the whole of this stanza we may observe the perturbation 
 of the speaker: carried away by her passion, she omits in 
 the commencement the verb after amor; and then after 
 qualis, instead of saying tenet bucidam, she says cum bucula 
 fessa procumbit, and does not think of the verb teneo till she 
 comes to the end, where she is obliged to repeat talis amor. 
 
 91-94. Another charm is that of burying under the threshold 
 of her door such articles belonging to Daphnis as she possessed. 
 
 V. 87. Propter aquae rivum, sub ramis arboris altae. — Lucr. ii. 30. 
 
 V. 88. Perdita, uec serae meminit decedere nocti. 
 
 Varius, ap. Macrob. vi. 2. 
 
 V. 91. Tout citto rcis xXaivas to KpaoireFov wXece AeXdis, 
 "Q 'yio vuv riWoicra kclt' aypiip ep Trvpi /3aXXa». 
 ********** 
 GeoruXi, vvv Sk \a(3o7<ra rv ~a Opova ravB' v—6p.a^,ov 
 Tds t)')vlo <f)\ias KaQvireprepov. — Theoc. ii. 53. 
 
ECLOGUE VIII. 83-101. 117 
 
 This was supposed to exercise a magic power of attraction. 
 See Aen. iv. 495 seq. — exuvias, whatever one put off (exuit) 
 was an exuvia, clothes, arms, etc. The word was chiefly 
 used of the skins of animals. — 93. debent (sc. ducere, from 
 next verse) mihi. They ought, according to magic rules, to 
 attract him. 
 
 95-100. Has herbas atque haec venena, a hendyadis for has 
 herbas venenatas. See on ii. 8. — Ponto, i. e. in Colchis, the 
 country of Medea. — 96. Ipse. In this word, as often in our 
 own himself, there is implied an expression of dignity or su- 
 periority : Moeris himself, the great Moeris. — 97. His, with 
 these, by the power of these. The three following were usual 
 feats of magicians, and are frequently mentioned by Tibullus 
 and the other Latin poets. The change into a wolf is what 
 in the middle ages was called becoming a icar-icolf, the su- 
 perstition having probably come down from the ancients. 
 The earliest mention of it is the Arcadian legend of the change 
 of Lycaon. Petronius (62) describes the process of becoming 
 a war-wolf. The story of Saul and the witch of Endor is the 
 earliest notice of the evocation of the dead. There was a 
 special law in the Twelve Tables against charming away other 
 people's crops of corn. Our own unfortunate witches were 
 accused of charming away the butter out of the churn. — 
 99. alio, to another place. This word is given in the diction- 
 aries as an adverb, but improperly, for it is plainly a dative of 
 alius. As this word, beside its ordinary gen. alius, made also 
 one in i and ae, as aliae pecudis, Cic, aliae partis, Liv., so it 
 also made a dat. in o and ae, of which the latter occurs in 
 Plautus and Gellius. — messes, i. q.frumenta. " Sata in futu- 
 ram messem." — Heyne. 
 
 101-104. All her charms hitherto employed having proved 
 unavailing, she has recourse to one which seems to have been 
 thought of the greatest efficacy, that of throwing ashes into 
 a running stream with the head averted. The reason of this 
 
 V. 101. T Hpi 8e <rv\\e%a<ja koviv rrvpbs dixcpnroXcjv ris 
 
 'Pi-^dru) ev jiaXa iraaav vrrep Trora.fx.o'io (pepoicra, 
 'PwyaSas es Tterpas, virepovpiov' a\p Se veeaOai 
 "AoT|067rros. — Theoc. xxiv. 91. 
 
118 BUCOLICS. 
 
 charm, like that of so many others, is unknown. — rivo, the 
 dat. for in rivum, see on ii. 30. — 102. Trans caput, the Greek 
 V7re|0 KecpaXriv. — nee respexeris. This was an essential part of 
 such charms, lest the operator should be terrified or injured 
 by whatever might appear. Cave respexis,fuge et operi caput, 
 Plaut. Most. ii. 2, 88. Hoc novies dicit nee respicit, Ov. 
 Fast. v. 4*39. — 103. nihil Me deos, etc., ' He cares not for the 
 gods that witnessed his perjury, and my previous charms have 
 had no effect on him.' 
 
 105-109. When she goes to the altar to take up the ashes 
 for her last charm, a spontaneous flame springs up from among 
 them ; and while she is pondering on this favourable sign, the 
 watch-dog begins to bark, announcing the approach of some 
 one, who proves to be Daphnis. — 106. dumferre moror, while 
 I have delayed taking them away. — Bonum sit, may it prove 
 a good omen. — 107. Nescio quid certe est, it is something 
 certainly, though I know not what. Doering would punctuate 
 this verse thus, Nescio quid, — Certe est et, etc., i. e. nescio quid, 
 sc. audio. Certe est, sc. Daphnis. We prefer the former, as 
 more simple and natural. — Hylax, barker, from v\acre«* — 
 108. Credimus? do I believe? is it a reality? — an qui amant: 
 see on ii. 53. — somnia Jingunt, form dreams for themselves, i.e. 
 take their hopes and wishes for realities. — 109. Parcite, etc., 'it 
 is not so ; he is really coming ; no more charms are required/ 
 
 Observations. 
 
 Date. — There can be little dispute about the date of this 
 eclogue ; for Pollio, to whom it is dedicated, led his army into 
 Dalmatia toward the end of the year 7 12-1 4, and he was 
 evidently on his return after his victories when the eclogue 
 was composed. The date therefore is 713-15. 
 
 Subject. — This eclogue contains the songs of two shepherds, 
 each on a different subject. It thus differs from the fifth, while, 
 in not being amcebseic, it is distinguished from the third and 
 seventh. It was perhaps the two songs in the seventh Idyll of 
 Theocritus that suggested this construction. The first song 
 has no prototype in Theocritus, but it contains some imita- 
 tions of him ; the second is a plain, but inferior, copy of his 
 second Idyll. 
 
ECLOGUE IX. 1. 119 
 
 Characters. — It is merely said that the two swains were 
 shepherds. In their songs, of course, they each assume a 
 character. 
 
 Scenery. — There is nothing to indicate the scenery of the 
 place where the two shepherds sang. That of the first song 
 seems to be our poet's usual ideal one, as we find mountains 
 (30, 59) and the sea in it (59). The scene of the second 
 seems to be, as we have observed, the impluvium or inner- 
 court of a house. 
 
 Eclogue IX. — Moeris. 
 
 Argument. 
 
 Moeris, the steward or bailiff of a proprietor named Menal- 
 cas, who was a poet, as he is on his way to the town where 
 the person who had gotten possession of Menalcas' lands 
 resided, with some kids to his new master, is overtaken by a 
 neighbouring swain named Lycidas, to whom he relates the 
 misfortunes of himself and his former master. As they pro- 
 ceed, they sing various fragments of Menalcas' poetry. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 1. Quo te pedes? sc. ducunt, as appears by the following 
 ducit. Ad diaetam tuam ipsi me... pedes ducunt, Plin. Ep. vii. 5. 
 When one verb is, as it were, thus contained in another, the 
 more usual way is to omit the verb in the second member. 
 Spohn gives from Horace the two following as examples of 
 the process in the text. Saepe velut qui currebat fugiens 
 hostem (S. i. 3, 9), i. e. saepe velut qui hostem fugiens currebat, 
 currebat Me, and Qui mercenarius agrum Ilium ipsum mer- 
 catus aravit (S. ii. 6, 12), i. e. ilium ipsum mercatus erat. — 
 urbem, the town, as in i. 20, without any mention of its name. 
 The critics, as there, supply Mantua, but with as little reason. 
 
120 BUCOLICS. 
 
 2-6. The perturbation of Moeris, caused by his grief and 
 indignation, is finely marked by the abrupt and involved man- 
 ner in which he commences his reply. He gives no direct 
 answer to the question of Lycidas, but utters at once what lay 
 heavy on his mind. — vivi pervenimus, I have lived to see. 
 Literally, I have come alive to, etc. — advena, a stranger. — 
 3. quo, to where, to that condition. It is an old dat. of qui, 
 and is governed of pervenimus. Cf. i. 72. The reading of 
 most MSS. is quod, which is adopted by Heyne, Voss and 
 Jahn. Wagner and Forbiger prefer quo, which is that of 
 three, or rather four, MSS. The sense of the w r hole passage 
 is this : ' O Lycidas, I have lived to come to that state w T hich I 
 never apprehended, that a stranger should get possession of 
 my land and turn me out of it.' Wagner thinks that vivi is 
 used, because the usual way in which soldiers got possession 
 of lands was by slaying the owners or driving them out by the 
 rig*ht of war, whereas this was a new mode, namely that of 
 seizing the lands of quiet inoffensive people. But surely this 
 is refining too much. — nostri agelli, of our (i. e. my) land. 
 The first person plural is here, as usual, used for the singular, 
 as appears by pervenimus. The slaves then, as old servants 
 do now, spoke of their master's property as their own. — i. Haec 
 mea sunt. This was the legal form of asserting one's right to 
 a thing : see on i. 47. — colojii, owners. The original meaning 
 of colonics is cultivator, farmer. Cic. de Or. ii. 71. — 5. vied, 
 tristes, overcome, obliged to yield, to force, and therefore obey- 
 ing with a sorrowful heart. The asyndeton here is very 
 effective. — Fors, i. e. Fortuna, though these words are not 
 exactly equivalent ; for Donatus (on Ter. Phorm. v. 6, 1) says, 
 Aliud Fortuna est, aliud Fors Fortuna. See Ov. Fast. vi. 773, 
 with our note. — 6. quod nee vertat bene: as we would say, 
 1 Mav it be his poison ! may it choke him !' Quod, with some 
 lost neuter noun answering to the Greek xP^ a understood, 
 mav, as here, be used after a plural. Vertat bene, instead of 
 the common reading bene vertat, is the reading of the Medi- 
 cean and three other MSS. Terence says, Quae res tibi vor- 
 tat male, Adelph. ii. 1, 37, and Quae quidem illi vortat male, 
 Phorm. iv. 3, 73. The other reading Wagner thinks arose 
 
ECLOGUE IX. 2-15. 121 
 
 from the common formula, quod bene vertat. — mittimus, 'I send 
 from the farm' ; though he happens to be bringing them him- 
 self. As the slaves in these cases usually went with the land, 
 Moeris was continued in his office of villicus. 
 
 7-10. ' But I had heard that Menalcas had by means of his 
 poetry saved all his land, which extends from the ridge of the 
 hill down to the water's edge and the old beech-trees.' — sub- 
 ducere, to let down, decline gradually. — colles, i. q. collis, plur. 
 for sing, as usual. — 8. molli, etc. Nearly the same as subdu- 
 cere, literally to send the ridge down by a gentle declivity. — 
 9. jam fr acta cacumina, in apposition with veteres fagos. See 
 on ii. 3. They were broken by time and the weather, as is 
 indicated by jam. Voss says that they marked the boundary 
 of the land, as Horace says (Ep. ii. 2, 170), qua populus ad- 
 sita certis Limitibus vicina refugit jurgia. But this is not so 
 certain as it seems to him and his followers. — 10. vestrum, for 
 Moeris had spoken in the first person plural. 
 
 11-16. 'No doubt you may have heard so, for so it was re- 
 ported ; but 'tis little our poetry avails against the arms of the 
 soldiery.' — 12. Nostra. See on v. 2. — 13. Chaonias columbas, 
 simply pigeons, but the poet in the usual manner (see on i. 54) 
 adds an epithet from the name of a country. Chaonia was 
 that part of Epirus in which lay Dodona, where the oracle was 
 founded by a pigeon. See Herod, ii. 55. — 14. Quod nisi, etc. 
 1 But if I had not been warned by a bird of augury to get out 
 of this new subject of dispute as best I could, neither I nor my 
 master would be now alive.' — me. We may suppose that it 
 was Moeris who first observed the prophetic bird, and that he 
 then informed Menalcas of what it portended. — quacunque, 
 sc. via, ratione. — incidere. This verb signifies to break off a 
 thing that had been begun. Incidere ludum, Hor. Ep. i. 14. 36; 
 incidere sermonem, Liv. xxxii. 37, 5. — litis, plur. for sing. — 
 15. cornix, a raven : see on Geor. i. 382. Sinistra. Comix sinis- 
 tra facit ratum, Cic. Div. i. 39, 85 ; laeva cornici omina (data), 
 Phaedr. iii. 18, 12. 
 
 V. 13 Tremeretque per auras 
 
 Aeris accipiter fugiens, veniente columba. — Lucret. iii. 751. 
 
122 BUCOLICS. 
 
 17-25. Cadit in quemquam, etc. ' Could any one be capable 
 of such a crime ! ' Cadere in signifies fall to, attach to, as 
 Non cadit in liunc hominem ista suspicio, Cic. Sull. 27, 75. — 
 18. solatia, i. e. carmina, which were a joy and a solace to all 
 who heard them. — Menalca. He apostrophises the absent 
 poet. — 19. Qiris caneret JYymphas? etc. In these two verses 
 there is a reference to the fifth eclogue. — 20. quis spargeret 
 aut induceret. See v. 40. 'Who would in his song direct the 
 swains to scatter,' etc. The poet here says, fontis induceret 
 umbra, and v. 20, inducite fontibus umbras ; on which Bur- 
 mann observes, " Sunt quaedam locutiones quae duplicem 
 constructionem habentes idem significant : sic dicimus spar- 
 ger e liumum herbis et herbas spargere humo. Vid. Heins. ad 
 Ov. Ep. xiii. 103. Simile vidimus Ec. iii. 43. labra admovere 
 poculis etpocula labris." — 21. Vel quae, i. e. Vel quis caneret 
 ea quae. — tacitus sublegi, I silently picked up. — tibi, from you ; 
 an ordinary use of the dat. From you, i. e. Moeris, to whom 
 he now turns his discourse. It is thus understood by the 
 critics, but in our opinion he still continues to address the 
 absent Menalcas. — 22. Cum te, etc. 'Which I heard you sing- 
 ing when you were going to visit my favourite Amaryllis.' 
 It is uncertain if Amaryllis was the object of affection to both 
 swains, or to Lycidas only. The latter is the more probable, 
 as Moeris (if he is the person addressed) was now growing 
 old, v. 51. Deliciae always means an object of love. We are 
 to suppose that Moeris, or rather Menalcas, as he went along 
 amused himself with singing one of his master's or of his own 
 songs. — 23. Tityre, etc. This seems to be the commencement 
 of a translation which Virgil had made of the third Idyll of 
 Theocritus, but which he never published, as he used that 
 idyll in the composition of his second eclogue. — dum redeo, 
 till I return. Delibera haec dum ego redeo, Ter. Ad. ii. 1 , 42 ; 
 expectabo dum venit, Ter. Phor. v. 7, 89 ; caussasque innecte 
 morandi Dum pelago desaevit hiems, Aen. iv. 51 . See on vii. 5. 
 — potum, to drink ; the supine, as in vii. 11. 
 
 V. 23. Tirvp', ej.iiv to xakov TrediXapeve, /3o'oxe tcls ah/as, 
 Kai ttoti rav koclvclv dye, Tirvpe' Kai rov evopxav 
 Tov AijSvKov Kva.KU)va (pvXaaaeo, fiq tv icopv^y. — Theoc. iii. 3. 
 
ECLOGUE IX. 17-35. 123 
 
 26-29. Immo haec, sc. quis caneret, i nay, rather who would 
 have completed the more important poem which he had com- 
 menced in praise of Varus, who was to have saved his lands 
 for him, and of which I remember the following passage.' — 
 27. superet, etc. If Mantua remain to us, if the Mantuan 
 district escape the rapacious soldiery. Supero is often equiva- 
 lent to supersum. Solus superabat Acestes, Aen. v. 519 ; sex 
 superant versus, Prop. iv. 2, 57 ; quid igitur super at quod pur - 
 gemus, Liv. xlv. 58. — 28. nimium vicina, too near, though 
 these towns are forty miles asunder. The soldiers to whom 
 the lands of Cremona had been assigned, not thinking them 
 sufficient, obtained also those of the adjoining Mantuan 
 district. — 29. Cantantes, etc. ' If you do this, the swans, those 
 melodious birds, that frequent the Mincius (Geor. ii. 198), 
 will bear thy name aloft to the very stars.' With the known 
 licence of a poet he gives sense and reason to the birds as he 
 does elsewhere (i. 39. v. 27) to beasts and plants. — cycni, the 
 Greek kvkvoi. The proper Latin name of this bird is olor. 
 
 30-36. Lycidas, anxious to hear more of the verses of Me- 
 nalcas, conjures Moeris by what is most to be desired by a 
 farmer to go on with what he can recollect of them. — Sic, so. 
 In Dante and the elder Italian poets, the sic of the Latins be- 
 came se. 
 
 " Se non t'invidii il ciel si dolce stato." (Tasso, G. L. vii. 15.) 
 
 — Cyrneas taxos, the yews. As this tree abounded in Corsica 
 (called by the Greeks Kvpvos), the ornant adjective is added in 
 the usual manner. In the Georgics (iv. 47) the poet directs 
 
 that there should be no yews near the bee-hives examina. 
 
 See on vii. 1 3. — 32. si quid habes. See iii. 52. v. 10. — Pierides. 
 See on iii. 85. — et me fecere poetam, etc. The reason why he 
 is so anxious to hear more of Menalcas' verses, being himself 
 a brother as it were of the poetic guild. — 34. Vatem, i. q. 
 poetam. — non ego credulus Mis, I am not believing to them, 
 i. e. I do not believe them. See Excursus on ii. 10. — 35. nee 
 
 V. 32. Kat yap eyw Moiadv Kcnrvpbv cro/xa, Krip.e XeyovTi 
 Ilavres aoiSov apiarov' eyoj Se ris ov ra%v7rei0j>7S, 
 Oil Adv ov yap 7rw, /car' ep,ov voov, ovre rov evQXbv 
 SiKeXt^av viKijfii rov e« 2d/zw, ovre $i\r)Tav, 
 'Aeidcov, jGa'rpaxos £e ttot aicpLdas ws ris epiafoj. — Theoc. vii. 37. 
 
 g2 
 
124 BUCOLICS. 
 
 videor. This may be taken either passively, ' nor am I seen/ 
 sc. by others ; or reflectively, ' nor am I seen by myself,' i. e. 
 ' nor do I appear to myself.' — Vario. All the MSS. read Varo, 
 but Servius and Cruquius' scholiast on Hor. C. i. 6. read Vario, 
 which is undoubtedly the true reading. It was the previous 
 mention of Varus that led the copyists into error. For Varius 
 and Cinna, two poets of the time, see Life of Virgil. — 36. sed 
 argutos, etc. These words present a simple and natural sense, 
 beyond which we needed not to go, were it not that we know 
 (see iii. 90) that Virgil introduced traits of personal satire into 
 his bucolics, and that there was actually at the time a poet 
 named Anser who had written a poem in praise of M.Anton ius, 
 which was rewarded by a grant of land in the Falernian district, 
 to whom Cicero thus alludes (Phil. xiii. 5),De Falerno Anseres 
 depellenlur. Anser is mentioned along with Cinna by Ovid, Tr. 
 ii. 435. 
 
 37-43. Id quidem ago, etc. 'That indeed is what I am doing : 
 I am turning in my mind, trying to recollect another of his 
 poems, which is by no means contemptible,' i. e. is excellent. 
 — mecum ipse, i. q. mecum ipso. — 38. neque est ignobile, that 
 is, as we have said, it is excellent. This was a form of praise 
 used by the ancients, from whom we have adopted it. Thus 
 Livy terms Polybius scriptorem haud spernendum, which 
 some critics have ignorantly taken for a phrase of disparage- 
 ment. — 39. Hue ades : see vii. 9. We have here another frag- 
 ment of translation from Theocritus, namely the eleventh 
 Idyll, which he afterwards used in the second eclogue. It is 
 part of the address of Polyphemus the Cyclops to the sea- 
 nymph Galatea. — quis est nam, a tmesis for quis nam est. — 40. 
 verpurpureum, bright brilliant spring. Our poet Gray ren- 
 dered it literally, but incorrectly, purple spring. Purpureus 
 is the Greek Trcptyvpeos (a reduplication from irvp) and signi- 
 
 V. 39. 'AM' a<piKev rv ttoQ' ape, teal e£ets ovSev eXaao-oV 
 Tdv yXavicdv 8e OdXaacrav ea ttotI x^P gov opexGTiJ'. 
 "Adiov kv Tiovrpif) Trap' hfiiv rdv vvktcl hazels. 
 'Evti da<pvai ~t]ve'i, kvrl pacival Kvrrdpicro-oi, 
 'Evri piXas kmtgos, evr dprreXos d yXvKVKCtpTros, 
 'Evri ipvxpov v£u>p, to pot a rroXv£iv?peos Alrva 
 Aei/Kus ck %ioj/os, ttotov dpj3p6<riov 7rpoii]Ti. 
 lis Kav riovde QdXacraav exeiv ?") KvpaO' eXoiro ; — Theoc. xi. 42. 
 
eclogue ix. 35-4*8. 125 
 
 fies bright. Thus we meet in Horace (C. iv. 1, 10) purpurei 
 olores ; in Albinovanus (ii. 62), brachia purpurea candidiora 
 nive; in Valerius Flaccus (iii. 178), en frigidus orbes (oculos) 
 Purpureos jam somnus obit. See Forbiger in loco. — circum, 
 about. — 41. hie Candida, etc., ' here by my cave grow the 
 white poplars, and the vines which are trained on them form 
 an agreeable shade.' Populus is evidently put for populi. — 
 42. lentae, flexible, see on i. 4. — 43. insani, senseless, that act 
 without any reason. Insani vend, Tibull. ii. 4, 9. — -feriant 
 sine, i. q. sine ut feriant. 
 
 44-45. 'What if you were to sing those verses which I once 
 heard you singing when you were alone one fine night ?' — 
 pura sub node, in a cloudless night. Purus is free from, un- 
 encumbered b} r , anything : thus purus ager or campus is land 
 free from trees. See Aen. xii. 771, and Heinsius on Ov. Fast, 
 iii. 582. — numeros, the tune. 
 
 46-55. Moeris now sings a piece of a poem which Virgil 
 had either really made, or of which he had composed these 
 lines as a specimen. The subject is the comet which ap- 
 peared at the time when Octavianus was giving games, the 
 year after his uncle's death, on the occasion of dedicating the 
 temple of Venus Genetrix commenced by the Dictator. The 
 popular belief was that that star was the deified soul of 
 Caesar. — Daphni. The poet, in the character of a shepherd, 
 addresses a fellow-swain. — antiquos signorum ortus, i. q. anti- 
 quorum signorum ortus. — signorum, of the constellations or 
 more remarkable stars, by whose rising and setting the seasons 
 and other matters relating to husbandry were determined. — 
 47. Dionaei. The Julian gens at Rome claimed as their epony- 
 mus lulus the son of Aeneas, the son of Venus, the daughter 
 of Jupiter and Dione. See Mythology, p. 139. — astrum, the 
 Greek aarpov. Horace (C. i. 12, 47) calls it the Julium sidus. 
 — processit, i. e. orta est. See vi. 86. — 48. segetes, the corn- 
 fields. This is the original and proper meaning of seges. 
 Cato (36, 37) uses it as opposed to pratum and hortum. 
 Attius (ap. Cic. Tusc. ii. 5) says, Probae, etsi in segetem sunt 
 deteriorem datae, Fruges tamen ipsae suapte natura enitent. 
 Horace also says (Ep. i. 7, 21), Haec seges ingratos tulit et 
 
126 BUCOLICS. 
 
 feret omnibus annis, where the latter part of the verse proves 
 this to be the meaning of seges. Such is also its meaning in 
 the same poet, C. i. 31, 3 ; iii. 16, 30 ; and probably Ep. i. 7, 
 87; ii. 2, 160. — gauderent. The employment of the imperf. subj. 
 here and in the next verse, where we should have expected a 
 fut. is rather unusual. — 4-9. duceret colorem, would derive co- 
 lour, would grow dark, from the influence of the new star. 
 It is not unlikely that the summer of the year 711 was in reality 
 very hot and dry, for such is the usual effect of comets on the 
 weather. — -50. Insere, Daphni, piros, etc. See on i. 74. ' You 
 may now safely graft your fruit-trees ; the new star will give 
 them fertility, and the rule of the new prince will assure us of 
 peace and tranquillity, so that you can transmit your lands to 
 your posterity.' Piros is merely the species for the genus. — 51. 
 fert, i. q. aufert. — animum, the mental powers. — 52. puerum, 
 in my younger days. — condere, i, e. condidisse. — longos soles, 
 long summer days. By a very natural metaphor people were 
 said to bury the day, the sun, etc, when they saw it to its 
 close. Thus we say, ' I shall bury such a one,' meaning ' I shall 
 outlive him.' 'EfxvijGdTjv c'ocradtcis ctfuporepoi "HXiov ev Aeo-Yjj 
 KaTehvcra.fj.ev, Callim. Epigr. ii. 3 ; condit quisque diem eolli- 
 bus in suis, Hor. C. iv. 5, 29 ; licet quoties vivendo condere 
 secla, Lucr. iii. 1103. — 53. oblita, forgotten; in a passive 
 sense : see on iii. 106. — 54. lupi, etc. This alludes to a cu- 
 rious superstition of the ancients, namely a notion that if any 
 one was seen by a wolf before he saw the wolf he lost the use 
 of his voice. " I think," says Socrates in Plato (Rep. i. p. 
 336), speaking of the fierce sophist Thrasymachus, " I think 
 if I had not seen him before he saw me, I should have been 
 struck dumb ; " evidently alluding to this notion. Pliny 
 (N. H. viii. 34) and Solinus (ii. 35) speak of it as a supersti- 
 tion peculiar to Italy ; but beside Plato, Theocritus (xiv. 22) 
 notices it thus : Ov (pdeyErj ; Xi/kov eldes (e7rati;e ris) ws aoybs 
 elirev : on which the scholiast remarks, that they who were 
 seen first by a wolf became speechless. Avtof eues must 
 therefore be equivalent to, ' You have met a wolf,' the hearers 
 from their knowledge of the proverb inferring the rest. Ser- 
 vius says that the proverb lupus in fabula was used " quo- 
 
eclogue ix. 49-60. 127 
 
 tiens supervenit ille de quo loquimur et nobis sua prudentia 
 (praesentia?) amputat facultatem loquendi." 
 
 56-65. Causando, by making excuses which he elsewhere 
 (Aen. ix. 219) expresses by nectere causas. — in longum ducis, 
 sc spatium, you increase, draw out. — amoves, desire. Si 
 tantus amor casus cognoscere nostros, Aen. ii. 10. — 57. tibi, 
 for you. — stratum, laid smooth and level. Sterno answers to 
 the Greek oro/oew, as earopeaev Se deos fxeyaKrjrea ttovtov, Od. 
 iii. 158. ^akKvoves GTopevevvri rd KVfxciTa, Theocr. vii. 57. — 
 aequor, sc. campi, says Servius ; but that is plainly a mistake. 
 " Intellige lacum," says Heyne, " in quern non longe a Man- 
 tua fl. Mincius diffunditur." The only lake however is that 
 which surrounds the city of Mantua. Voss understands it of 
 the surface of the " wide, swampy " Mincius. We doubt how- 
 ever if the word aequor is ever used of the surface of a lake 
 or stream. In the passage of Theocritus which our poet ap- 
 pears to have had in view, the word corresponding to aequor 
 is irov-Qs. — 58. Adspice, behold, sc. the surface of the water, 
 referring to what he had just described. The ancients how- 
 ever often confounded the verbs of seeing and hearing, as in 
 the well-known ktvttov Sedoptca of Aeschylus. When a verb 
 of seeing is used instead of one of hearing, it usually has for 
 its object the person from whom the sound proceeds. — ventosi, 
 etc. The breezes of windy murmur have fallen, i. e. there is 
 no wind at all on land, and the water is at rest. We say our- 
 selves the wind has fallen. Aurae zephyri, Geor. ii. 330. — 
 59. Hinc adeo, etc., 'just from this spot is half-way to the town.' 
 Adeo gives force to the conjunction of time or place with 
 which it is joined. — 60. Bianoris. Servius on this place, and 
 on Aen. x. 198, says that Bianor was a name of Ocnus the 
 founder of Mantua. This statement however, Heyne says, is 
 destitute of authority. The name is plainly of Greek, not 
 Tuscan, origin. Cato, as quoted by Cerda, says that the 
 founder of Mantua was Ocnus Bianorus, a Tuscan prince, 
 which would make much in favour of the localities of this 
 
 V. 57. 'Kvide oiyq, fiev ttovtos, oiywvri d' ar\rai. — Theoc. ii. 38. 
 V. 59. Kov7T(o rav fieaarav 686v avv/xes, ovde to crajwa 
 'Ajluv raJ BpavLXa ica.Te<paiv6TO. — Id. vii. 10. 
 
128 BUCOLICS. 
 
 eclogue. — Hie ubi densas, etc., ' let us stop and sing here, 
 where the country people are stripping the leaves off the trees.' 
 This was either in the arbusta, and therefore done on account 
 of the vines, or more probably from the trees in general, which, 
 as Columella tells us (xi. 2), were stripped of their leaves in the 
 months of July and August for fodder for the cattle. This 
 was done, he adds, " antelucanis et vespertinis temporibus." — 
 62. tamen veniemus, etc., ' even though we do stop, we shall 
 reach the town betimes.' An odd expression, by the way, if 
 they were within a mile and a half of Mantua. — 64-. usque 
 eamns, we may still be going on. — 65. hoc fasce, "haedoruin 
 quos portat onere," Heyne after Servius. Might not Moeris 
 be carrying something else beside the kids, and Lycidas be 
 merely offering to divide the burden with him ? There is no 
 other instance, we believe, offascis being applied to animals. 
 66, 67. plura, sc. dicere ovflagitare. — puer, young man, my 
 lad. The last syllable is long, as being in arsis. — et quod in- 
 state sc. to bring the kids to my new master. — ipse, sc. Menal- 
 cas, the author of them. 
 
 Observations. 
 
 J)ate. — The probable date of this eclogue is 712-14. See 
 the Life of Virgil. 
 
 Subject. — We must also refer the reader to the Life of Virgil 
 for the subject of this eclogue, which relates exclusively to the 
 poet's personal affairs. 
 
 Characters. — Under the person of Menalcas the poet him- 
 self is certainly concealed, and Moeris is his villicus or bailiff, 
 and consequently a slave or freedman. The condition of Ly- 
 cidas is not so easy to determine ; for in v. 22 he seems to 
 place himself on a level with Menalcas ; while, from the whole 
 tenor of the dialogue, he would not appear to be of a rank 
 superior to that of his companion. 
 
 Scenery. — The scene is on the road to a town, apparently 
 on the margin cf the sea (v. 57), where there is an ancient 
 tomb surrounded by trees (60). The farm of Menalcas is 
 
 V. 64. 'AW' aye £?j (£vvd yap 6?os, %vvd £e Kai diis) 
 
 BoiKoXiaa^wj-iecrOa' rax wrepos dWov ovaaei. — Theoc. vii. 35. 
 
ECLOGUE X. 1-3. 129 
 
 situated on the side of a hill, going down to the edge of a 
 stream (7), and on or near it there grew the beech (9), the 
 ilex (15), the yew (30). We have already shown that there 
 are no hills in the neighbourhood of Mantua, and that the 
 ilex does not grow there, and indeed we are not sure that the 
 same is not the case with the beech and the yew. We have 
 also shown that aequor is never used of a lake or a river. 
 It therefore, we think, follows, that the scene is here as ideal 
 as in the first eclogue. 
 
 Eclogue X. — Gallus. 
 
 Argument. 
 
 In this last of his eclogues, Virgil, in the character of a shep- 
 herd, sings, as he is seated on a bank watching his goats at 
 feed, and weaving a basket, the unhappy love of his friend Cor- 
 nelius Gallus. He supposes Gallus to be in Arcadia, where the 
 rural deities and the swains try, but in vain, to console him. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 1-8. He commences by invoking the fountain-nymph Are- 
 thusa to aid him in this his last pastoral song. His reason 
 for addressing her is, that she, as belonging to Sicily, may be 
 regarded as the inspirer of Theocritus, who was his model, 
 and whom he imitates in this very piece. For the connexion 
 between the Muses and the water-nymphs, see on vii. 21. The 
 story of Arethusa and her flight under the sea from Elis, fol- 
 lowed by the river-god Alpheus, till she rose as a fountain in 
 the island at Syracuse, is well-known. For an explanation of 
 the legend, see Mythology, p. 132. — 2. meo Gallo, for my 
 friend Gallus. — Lycoris. The name of his faithless mistress, 
 — quae legal ipsa, which from their novelty may attract her 
 attention and induce her to read them, and may therefore 
 make her grieve for and repent her treatment of so faithful a 
 lover. — 3. neget quis, etc., 'Who will (i. e. can) refuse to make 
 
 g5 
 
130 BUCOLICS. 
 
 verses for Gallus ? ' The interpretation of Wagner here is best, 
 who places a colon and not a period after dicenda, thus making 
 the first three lines one sentence, which adds much to the force 
 of the passage. — 4% Sic tibi. See on ix. 30. — Sicanos, i. q. Si' 
 culos. Virgil would appear to have introduced this adjective 
 into Latin poetry. By the Sicilian waves is meant the Ionian 
 sea, between Greece and Sicily. — 5. Doris amara, the bitter 
 salt-sea. Doris, the wife of Nereus, is used for the sea, like 
 Tethys and Amphitrite. — 6. sollicitos, which caused solicitude 
 or anxiety. — 7. simae, fiat-nosed ; the Greek aifxus ; Theocritus 
 has aijjLal epicpoi. This word, whether taken from the Greek or 
 derived from the common original of the two languages, was 
 used, it is said, by Xaevius (ap. Nonium), Lascivum Nerei 
 simum pecus. But this, which seems to be part of a hexameter, 
 belongs more probably to Laevius, who is so often confounded 
 with the elder poet. — 8. respondent, i. e. re-echo. 
 
 9-12. Ndides. Ye nymphs, i. e. the natural protectors of 
 poets, of whom Gallus was one. The Naides were properly 
 water-nymphs, but the poets used the names of the various 
 classes indifferently for the general term Nymphs. Thus Ovid 
 (Met. i. 690) says, Liter Hamadryadas celeberrima Nonacrinas 
 Naias tmafuit. — 10. indigno, unworthy of him, such as he 
 did not deserve to meet with. — cum peribaL This is the cor- 
 rected reading of the Medicean MS.; it is also found in 
 two others, and is adopted by Voss, Wagner, Jahn and For- 
 biger ; the common reading is periret. Cum with the indie, 
 expresses simply the time of an event ; with the subj., the time 
 with an indication of the cause. — 1 1 . Nam neque Parnassi, 
 etc., ' for you were not on Mount Parnassus or Pindus, or at 
 the fount of Aganippe on Helicon, your usual haunts.' As 
 these were all places frequented by the Muses, it would seem 
 that the poet employs the term Xa'ides for these goddesses. 
 It does not appear how the goddesses, by being in any of these 
 distant places, could have aided Gallus, who was in Arcadia ; 
 
 V. 9. Jlq, -kok dp r}d', okcl Adtyvis era.Ke-o, 7ra ttokci, yi'jMpai ; 
 "H Kara UrjveLib Ka\d reprrea, ?) Kara Hivcu; 
 Ov yap ci) 7T07ap,u> ye jikyav poov ei^er' 'Avdrroj, 
 OucT AiTvas OKOiridv, ovc "Akicos lepbv vewp. — Theoc. i. 66. 
 
ECLOGUE X. 4-19. 131 
 
 and the whole passage looks like a bad imitation of Theo- 
 critus, in whom everything is natural and consonant. Could 
 it be that he meant to hint that the poetic spirit had deserted 
 Gallus along with Lycoris? — 12. moramfecere 7 detained you, 
 answering to the habuere of v. 9. — Aonie, the Greek 'Aovirj. 
 Aonia was an ancient or poetic name of Boeotia. For the 
 hiatus, see on ii. 24. 
 
 13-18. All nature mourned the undeserved fate of Gallus, 
 the plants, the wood-clad mountains, the animals. — etiam, 
 even, the very. — lauri. The final i is not elided, as being the 
 arsis; seeiii.6. — 15. Maenalus and Lycaeus, well-known moun- 
 tains of Arcadia. — 16. Stant et oves circum. The sheep lea- 
 ving to feed stand gazing at and pitying Gallus as he lies 
 stretched under his solitary rock. — nostri nee, etc., they are not 
 ashamed of us ; on the contrary, they feel for our afflictions. 
 Paenitere is used to indicate contempt. Perhaps we are to 
 understand Galli, or it may be poetae, from next verse with 
 nostri. See Bentley on Hor. S. ii. 6, 48, where however, in- 
 stead of making noster i. q. nos, we would understand a subst. 
 with it, as also in the verse from Plautus (Epid. i. 2, 44.). 
 — nee te, etc., 'nor should you, though a divine poet, be 
 ashamed of the sheep, or scorn to be represented as lying 
 among them ; for the lovely Adonis himself fed a flock.' As 
 the Daphnis of Theocritus is a neatherd, Virgil might appear to 
 give Gallus the character of a shepherd. The shepherd-life 
 of Adonis occurs only in Theocritus. 
 
 19-21. upilio, shepherd, instead of opilio, for the sake of 
 the metre. — tardi subulci. This is the reading of all the MSS. 
 and of Servius and the older editions, and is adopted by Wag- 
 ner, Jahn and Forbiger. The common reading, bubulci, has 
 only in its favour two places of Apuleius, in which he speaks 
 of Virgil's opiliones and bubsequas. It is objected that tardus 
 agrees better with the neatherd than the swineherd ; but all 
 
 V. 13. Trjvov fidv Qojes, t?]vov \vkoi ojpvcravTO, 
 
 Tfjvov %wk Spvfioio Xeojv dveic\av<re Qavovra. — Theoc. i. 71. 
 
 V. 18. 'Qpaios %'"Qowvts, e7rei icai fiaXa vofievei, 
 
 Kai tttuuccis (3d\\ei, Kai Qrjpia TtdvTa Siaxei. — Id. i, 109. 
 
132 BUCOLICS. 
 
 who are in the habit of following cattle acquire a slow, loiter- 
 ing gait. Nunc intra muros pastoris buccina lenti Canted. 
 Prop. iv. 10, 29. It is also said that Menalcas, in the follow- 
 ing verse, is the swineherd, but the poet says no such thing ; 
 he merely says that he had been gathering acorns ; and, as 
 Varro and Columella inform us, acorns were given to oxen as 
 well as to swine : in fact all kinds of cattle feed on acorns. 
 We may further observe that Arcadia was famous for breed- 
 ing swine, and this may have led the poet to mention the 
 swineherds. Finally, the critics seem not to be aware that 
 bubulcus is a ploughman, and not a neatherd, and that the 
 poetic Arcadia is not a tillage country. — 20. Uvidus, dripping. 
 The acorns do not fall till toward winter, or rather in the 
 winter, in the south, so that the persons that gather them are 
 not unfrequently drenched with rain. We regard as a very 
 forced interpretation, that of making Menalcas be wet from 
 having been engaged in steeping acorns in water for the cattle. 
 21-30. The rural deities Apollo Nomios, Silvanus and Pan 
 now come to console him. — 22. cura, the object of your care, 
 your mistress. — 23. Perqae ?iives, etc. See Life of Gallus. — 
 24. Venit et agresti, etc. Silvanus comes with the rural honour 
 of his head (sc. the wreath of fennel and lilies), shaking the 
 flowery fennel and the large lilies (of which it was composed). 
 Silvanus being an Italian, not a Grecian, rural god, should not 
 have been in Arcadia, did the Latin poets (what they surely 
 did not) aim at the correctness of costume, etc. of the modern 
 German poets. See on viii. 36. As the fennel and the lily are 
 both very tall plants (see the Flora), perhaps we are to con- 
 ceive Silvanus as bearing them in his hands, and not on his 
 head. Cf. Aen. v. 855; vi. 587 ; ix. 521. For Silvanus, see 
 Mythology, p. 536. — 26. deus Arcadiae, the god of Arcadia, 
 the deity principally worshiped there. — quern vidimus ipsi, etc. 
 Voss interprets this, 'whom we ourselves (sc. I and Gallus) 
 saw ruddy,' etc. The other interpreters seem to understand 
 
 V. 19. ^HvOov rot /3uirai, rot Troifieves, ^JttoAoi ijvQov. 
 
 Havres dvijpojrevv t'i TcdOoi kolkov. rjvQ' 6 Ilpii]7ros 
 
 Kj}<pa, Aa<pvi raXav, t'i rv rdiceai ; a ce re Ku>pa 
 
 Ilaaas dvd Rpdvas, Trdvr' d\<rea ttoggi tyopeiTai. — Theoc. i. 80. 
 
ECLOGUE x. 19-33. 133 
 
 it as, i whom (i. e. whose statue) I myself have seen ruddy,' 
 etc. Voss however refers us to passages where Horace and 
 other poets speak of the statue of Priapus as being painted 
 red, as also those of Bacchus and the Satyrs. He moreover 
 notices the statue of Jupiter on the Capitol, which was painted 
 red, and the custom of the Roman generals, when triumphing 
 and attired as Jupiter, to have their faces tinged with minium. 
 The only place however in which Pan is red is Silius, xiii. 332, 
 Ac parva erumpunt rubicunda cornua fronte, where it is evi- 
 dently the natural ruddiness of the god that is noticed. For 
 Pan, see Mythology- — 27. ebuli, of the dwarf elder. — minio. 
 The Latin minium was the sulphate of mercury, the Greek 
 Kiwafiapi, our cinnabar or vermilion. It came chiefly from 
 Spain, whose quicksilver mines of Almaden are still prolific. 
 It was said to be a Spanish word, and to have given name to 
 the river Minius (Jblinho). This however is rather dubious, 
 as the mines were and are in Andalusia, and the river is 
 in Gallicia. — 28. Ecquis erit modus ? sc. tuis lacrimis et sus- 
 piriis. Cf. Aen. iv. 98. — Amor, i. e. the god (not the passion) 
 who aypia Traiahi, as the poet Moschus says, Idyll i. 11. 
 
 Sl-S^. at. This word indicates that what the gods had 
 said had not removed his grief. — Ta??ien, etc., 'nevertheless, 
 though I have derived no consolation from what the gods 
 have said to me, I find some in the reflection that my woes 
 may become the subject of your songs, ye Arcadians!' For 
 the Arcadian song and music, see on vii. 5. Servius observes 
 that some (with whom he did not agree) joined tamen ille. 
 At and tamen would thus be attamen divided by tmesis, and 
 Jalm says, " Utrum poetae placuerit, in tali verborum struc- 
 tura, vix quisquam dicet." — 33. O mihi turn, etc., according 
 with the well-known formula Sit tibi terra levis. This arises 
 from the difficulty which mankind in general feel in separating 
 the idea of the soul from that of the body. Thus we ourselves 
 say, ' Such a one would not rest in his grave if he knew so 
 and so,' and similar expressions. According to Plato (Phaed. 
 p. 1 1 5), Socrates jested on this notion, in his usual manner, 
 the last day of his life ; for when Crito asked him how he 
 would wish to be buried, "Just as you please," replied he, 
 
134 BUCOLICS. 
 
 " provided you can catch me and I don't escape you." Then 
 giving a quiet laugh, and turning to his friends, he added, " I 
 cannot persuade Crito that I that am now conversing with 
 you, and arranging all parts of the discourse, am Socrates ; but 
 he thinks that which he will presently see dead to be me," 
 etc. Among the ancient Scandinavians (see our Popular Fic- 
 tions, p. 278.) it was a belief that the tears of the surviving 
 relatives fell on the breast of the deceased and caused them pain. 
 This was a salutary superstition, as it served to check immode- 
 rate grief. — quiescant. He uses the prses. subj. because he can 
 only express a hope or a wish. Some MSS. read quiescunt. 
 
 35-41. From reflecting on the pastoral life of the Arcadians, 
 he is led to wish that he had been one of them, or even 
 (as Voss perhaps rightly understands it) one of their slaves. 
 Heyne (with whom Forbiger agrees) finds fault here with the 
 poet, for making Gallus, whom he had represented in the cha- 
 racter of a shepherd, reveal that he was not one. He excuses 
 him by his youth, and his desire to gratify his powerful pro- 
 tectors. But the poet stands in need of no such apology, 
 for he had nowhere represented Gallus as a shepherd, he had 
 only placed him lying under a rock in Arcadia. — 36. vinitor. 
 " Aut custos aut cultor vinearum." Servius. — 38. furor, love ; 
 like cura, ignis, Jiamma. — 39. Et nigrae, etc. See on ii. 16. — 
 
 40. Mecum inter salices, etc. We would, with Voss and Jahn, 
 put a comma after salices, and understand aut after it. Willows 
 and vines are, we believe, rarely found growing together. — 
 
 41. serta, sc. flowers to form garlands. 
 
 42, 43. With the true inconsistency of a distracted lover, 
 he passes to Lycoris, and wishes her to be the companion of 
 his rustic state. He enumerates the rural objects that might 
 give her pleasure, and passionately declares that he could pass 
 his whole life with her here. — ipso aevo, by old-age itself, to 
 denote the durability of his love. Ibat rex obsitus aevo, Aen. 
 viii. 307 ; aevo confectus Acoetes, xi. 85. 
 
 44-49. From this dream of Arcadian bliss his mind now 
 returns to the real state of their affairs, namely, that he is en- 
 
 V. 39. Kai to iov [xeXav evri, rat a ypaTrra vdicivOos. — Theoc. x. 28. 
 
ECLOGUE X. 33-52. 135 
 
 gaged in military service in one quarter, while she is the com- 
 panion of one who is serving in another. Heyne adopted a 
 reading proposed by a critic named Heumann, viz. te instead 
 of me, the reading of all the MSS., but he has found no fol- 
 lowers. In fact his objection to me only rests on the false 
 supposition which we have noticed above, that Gallus was re- 
 presented as an inhabitant, and not merely a visitor, of the 
 Arcadian mountains. But surely there is no absurdity in sup- 
 posing Gallus, though engaged in military service, to have 
 made, or to be feigned to have made, an excursion into Ar- 
 cadia. What if, at this very time, he should have been, as we 
 term it, quartered in Greece or in the south of Italy? — Nunc, 
 but now. — insanus amor, mad love, i. e. love that ruaketh 
 mad ; the cause for the effect. — detinet, keeps me, sc. far from 
 Lycoris. — 46. nee sit mihi credere, ' let me not believe.' By a 
 common construction the infin. mood with the words it governs 
 is the nom. to the verb. Thus Tibull. i. 7, 24, Tunc mihi non 
 oculis sit timuisse meis, and Propert. i. 20, 13, Nee mihi sit 
 duros monies etfrigida saxa Adire. — tantum, sc. nefas. Quid 
 meus Aeneas in te committere tantum, quid Troes potuere ? 
 Aen. i. 231. Some join tantum with the preceding procul. 
 Servius observes on this verse, " Hi autem oinnes versus Galli 
 sunt, de ipsius translati carminibus." But he does not tell us 
 which they are, or how many there are of them ; perhaps 44 
 -49. — 47. Alpinas, etc., because she had gone with the army 
 to Gaul. — 48. sola, alone, separated from me. Like dura in 
 the preceding verse, it qualifies Lycoris, and not frigora. 
 
 50-54. He now declares that, as a remedy for his love, he 
 will devote himself to poetry and music. — Ibo, et, etc., ' I will 
 go hence and form into pastorals the verses that I have made 
 from Euphorion.' This was a poet born at Chalcis in Euboea 
 in the Alexandrian period. He was librarian to Antiochus 
 the Great, king of Syria, and he made comedies, elegies, and 
 a work in five books called Mo^o?rta (i. e. Attica), consisting 
 of mythic narratives. His style was harsh and obscure. 
 Gallus would seem to have adopted his matter, not his manner. 
 — 51. pastoris Siculi, Theocritus. — modulabor, see on v. 14. 
 —52. spelaea, i. q. spelunca, the Greek <nrr]\cua. — pati, sc. 
 
136 BUCOLICS. 
 
 meos amoves. — 53. incidere, see on v. 14. — amores, perhaps 
 i. q. amorem, and it may be the name of Lycoris, or of some 
 other fair one ; or love verses. — 54. Crescent illae, etc. " Hoc 
 vero, si quid aliud, Virgiliana elegantia dignum," Heyne. 
 
 55-61. Amidst these more tranquil occupations I will at 
 times take the more stirring exercise of the chase. Interea is 
 here i. q. inter ea. — mixtis Nymphis, i. q. permixtus Nymphis. 
 Thus Prop. ii. 25, 57, Ut regnam mixtas inter conviva puellas. 
 — lustrabo, I will range. Voss interprets this of joining in 
 the dances of the nymphs, and no doubt lustra?^ is used of 
 dancing (Aen. vii. 391 ; x. 224) ; but the former interpreta- 
 tion is we think to be preferred. — 56. acres, spirited, fierce, 
 Qovpeovs, dvjAuSeis. — 51. Parthenios. Mount Parthenius lay 
 on the confines of Arcadia and Argolis. — 58. Jam mild, etc. 
 In imagination he now follows the chase, with the huntress- 
 nymphs, over rocks and through woods, sending the arrows 
 from his bow at the flying game. — lucos sonantes, sc. with the 
 baying of the dogs and the shouts of the hunters. Perhaps how- 
 ever it is only a poetic epithet of woods, which yield a sound 
 when agitated by the wind. — 59. Partho, etc. Parthian and 
 Cydonian are merely epitheta ornantia, as the Parthians and 
 Cretans were the nations most famed for archery. Cydonia 
 was one of the principal towns of Crete. — cornu, from the 
 bow. The most ancient bows were made of the horns of 
 goats : see II. iv. 105. — 60. tanquam, etc., 'I am planning these 
 things as if they, or anything else, were a remedy for my love.' 
 — 61. deus ille, etc, ' that god (i. e. Love) would ever learn pity 
 from the evils which he sees men suffering through his means.' 
 
 62-69. ' Now again I see no use in employing myself in 
 poetry or in hunting ; for nothing, as I said, will change the 
 relentless nature of that deity.' — Hamadryades, nymphs in ge- 
 neral. See on v. 10. — ipsa, verses themselves, from which I 
 expected more than from anything else — 63. concedite, give 
 way, retire, as it were, ye avail nothing. — 64. Norn ilium, etc. 
 * No toils that I may endure, hunting or keeping cattle, even in 
 the most adverse regions of the earth, will avail to drive the 
 love of Lycoris from my bosom.' — 65. Nee si, etc., 'not if, 
 as a hunter or herdsman, I endure all the rigours of a Thracian 
 
eclogue x. 53-73. 137 
 
 winter.' The Hebrus is a river of Thrace, which was also 
 called Sithonia, from the town of Sithone — 66. aquosae. 
 This is merely a usual epithet of hiems, which the poet uses 
 without reflecting that it does not accord with nives. — 67. 
 liber, the inner bark, here taken for the bark in general. — aret, 
 is quite dried, burnt up with the great heat in the region be- 
 yond the equinoctial line. — 68. Aethiopum versemus ovis, ' I 
 should keep the flocks of the Aethiopians.' Versare is the Greek 
 TroXeZV (whence ai-n-oXos oto7ro\os) to drive, to pasture. — sub 
 sidere Cancri, i. e. under the northern tropic. — Omnia, etc. 
 He sagely concludes : *' Since Love conquers everything, there 
 is no use in struggling any more ; I may as well yield to him.' 
 70-77. The poet concludes in his own person. Forgetting, 
 as it were, that it was the nymph Arethusa that he had in- 
 voked in the commencement, he now addresses the Muses in 
 general. — 71. Dum sedet. " Praesens interpositum pertinet 
 ad cecinisse, ut Aen. x. 55-58." Wunderlich. See on vii. 6. 
 We might have expected the imperf. of sedeo, but the neces- 
 sities of the metre often induced the poets to take liberties 
 with the tenses of verbs, and the numbers of both verbs and 
 nouns, which prose writers could not allow themselves, and 
 which critics employ useless ingenuity in explaining and de- 
 fending. In the same way the poets of modern Italy and the 
 Spanish peninsula frequently employ the imperf. instead of 
 the perf. tense of verbs, for the sake of rime, as is proved by 
 these inaccuracies occurring only at the end of lines. To the 
 same cause (the necessities of the verse) may be ascribed the 
 mixtures of past and present tenses by our own ipoets.—Jiscel- 
 lam* The Jiscella was a basket of rushes, or as here of hi- 
 biscus, used for making cheese. Colum. vii. 8, 3. — hibisco. See 
 ii. 30. It is called gracilis, slender, as the rods of it which 
 he was using were such. — 72. maxima, of very great value in 
 the eyes of. — 73. cujus amor, etc., < for whom my love in- 
 
 V. 65. E177S 8' 'Kdwviov fiev tv wpe<n •%eip.a7i p.kaa(f} 
 
 "E(3pov Trap Trorafxov rerpaju/zej/os eyyvOev aptcTu, 
 
 'Ev 8e Bepei Ttvp:droiai nap' KlQioireaai vofxevois, 
 
 Jlerpa virb B\e[xvu)v, oQev ovk ert NelXos oparos. — Theoc.vii.lll. 
 
138 
 
 BUCOLICS. 
 
 creases hourly, as the green alder grows in the early spring.' 
 1 — 74. se subjicit, grows up, throws itself up from beneath, 
 from the ground. Cf. Geor. iv. 385 ; Aen. xii. 288. — 75. Sur- 
 gamus, the first pers. plur. of the imper. though he speaks only 
 of one person ; for there is no first pers. sing. But perhaps he 
 means himself and the Muses. — solet esse, etc. He probably 
 had in view these lines of Lucretius vi. 783 : Arbor ibus pri- 
 mum certis gravis umbra tributa Usque adeo capitis faciant 
 ut saepe dolores. — cantantibus. If the shade was injurious 
 in general, it must have been so to singers : the poet only 
 therefore gives a particular instance of a general effect. — 76. 
 Juniperi. He would seem to intimate that there was some- 
 thing particularly noxious in the shade of the juniper, and at 
 the same time, that he was sitting under or near one of these 
 trees. Martyn however says that the smell of the juniper is 
 considered to be rather wholesome. — nocent umbrae. We be- 
 lieve there is no other reason for the use of the plural here 
 than the one assigned above. Every farmer knows how in- 
 jurious trees are to corn, and what a pest the close hedge- 
 rows of elm are in this country. — Ite domum, etc. See vii.44. 
 — venit Hesperus, the evening star is appearing, the sun is 
 setting. 
 
 Observations. 
 
 Date. — The date of this last of our author's bucolic poems 
 is probably 714-16. See Life of Gallus. 
 
 Subject. — The subject is the love of the poet's friend Gal- 
 lus for a mistress who had deserted him. See Life of Gallus. 
 In order to give his composition a greater degree of poetic 
 ornament, and to be able to imitate some passages of his fa- 
 vourite first idyll of Theocritus, he adopted the bucolic form, 
 and laid the scene in Arcadia. It is one of his best eclogues, 
 for it is on a subject in the description of which he excels, 
 having studied it carefully, perhaps in Apollonius Rhodius. 
 
 Characters and Scenery. — On these points we have here no 
 remarks to make. 
 
NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 THE GEORGICS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Argument. 
 
 L roposition, 1-5. Invocation, 6-42. Ploughing, 43-70. 
 Fallowing, rotation, etc. 71-99. Irrigating, 100-117. Di- 
 gression on the Golden and succeeding Age, 118-146. Ene- 
 mies of the corn, 147-159. Implements, 160-175. Thresh- 
 ing-floor, 176-186. Signs of a good or bad harvest, 187-192. 
 Preparing the seed, 193-203. Proper times for sowing dif- 
 ferent kinds of grain, 204-230. Description of the celestial 
 sphere, the zones, etc. 231-256- Work to be done on rainy- 
 days and holidays;, 257-275 ; on certain days of the month, 
 276-286 ; at night, by day, in summer, in winter, 287-310. 
 Description of a summer-storm, 311-334. Remedies against 
 it, worship of Ceres, 335-350. Signs of an approaching 
 storm, 351-392. Signs of fine weather, 393-423. Signs in 
 the moon, 424-437. Signs in the sun, 438-463. Prodigies 
 that followed the death of Julius Caesar, 464-488. Civil war, 
 489-497. Prayer for Caesar Octavianus, 498-514. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 1-5. Quid faciat, etc. In these opening lines the poet 
 briefly gives the subject of the four books of his poem, 
 namely tillage, planting, grazing, and the keeping of bees. 
 The gradation, as has been observed, is very natural and cor- 
 
140 GEORGICS. 
 
 rect, from grasses and leguminous plants to trees, thence to 
 animals, and terminating with those social insects which ap- 
 proach nearest to man in their instinct.— faciat, may make. 
 The potential is the best suited to a didactic work, as the pre- 
 cepts are somewhat hypothetic. — laetas segeies, joyous (i. e. 
 fruitful) cornfields. Laetas segetes etiam rustici dicunt, Cic. 
 De Or. iii. 38 ; ager crassus et laetus, Cato R. R. 6; and per- 
 haps (as luetamen is manure) the original sense of this adj. 
 may have been fruitful, abundant. For seges, see Terms of 
 Husbandry, s. v. — quo sidere, at what time, at the rising or 
 setting of what constellation. As we shall see, the rural la- 
 bours of the ancients were regulated by the times of the rising 
 and setting of the Pleiades and other constellations. — terram 
 vertere, sc. aratro : see Hor. S. i. 1 , 28 ; or with the bidens, 
 Coll.iv.5. It is the plough that is intended here. — 2. 3/aecenas. 
 The celebrated C. Cilnius Maecenas, at whose desire he wrote 
 the poem : see Life of Virgil, and Hist, of Roman Empire, 
 p. 17. — ulrnis, etc. See on Ec. iii. 10. — 3.cultus, attention, care. 
 It is merely a variation of the expression, being nearly equi- 
 valent to the preceding cura. Quae quidem (oves) neque ali 
 neque sustentari neque ullum fructum edere ex se sine cultu 
 hominum et curatione potuissent, Cic. de N. D. ii. 63. — 
 habendo pecori, for keeping small cattle : not as Heyne ex- 
 plains it, " pecoris quod quis possidet s. alit." Habendo is the 
 dat. of the gerund : see Zumpt, § 664. For pecori, see Terms 
 of Husbandry, s. v. — 4-. experientia, experience, sc. of the bee- 
 master, habendis being understood with apibus. It is little 
 more than another variation of the cura of v. 3. Cf. iv. 316. — 
 parcis. Some MSS. read parvis, one paucis, joining it with 
 the following words. With Servius and Voss we regard par- 
 cis as an adjective qualifying apibus, and signifying thrifty, 
 frugal. Pliny (xi. 19, 21) says of bees, Caetero perparcae et 
 quae alioqui prodigas atque edaces non secus ac pigras atque 
 ignavas proturbent. Wagner however (with whom Forbiger 
 as usual agrees,) says that parcus is not here (pet^ofieros, 
 sparing, but a-avios, scanty, few (see iii. 403) ; and that it 
 expresses the difficulty of keeping up, and still more of in- 
 creasing, the stocks of bees ; a difficulty of which, even in 
 
BOOK I. 1-9. 141 
 
 this country, we are not aware. He adds, that it would not 
 be appropriate, in a brief argument of this kind, to use an 
 epithet taken from the nature of the insect. Hoblyn (refer- 
 ring to iii. 239) applies parcis to the bee-masters in the sense 
 of protecting. — 5. Hinc, i. e. ex his, horum partem, tQv ctfiodev 
 (Od. i. 10), a form indicating modesty. Cf. ii. 444 ; iii. 308 ; 
 Hor. S. i. 4, 6 ; Ov. Fast. v. 509. 
 
 5-24. Having proposed the argument of his poem, he now 
 proceeds to invoke the deities who presided over the subjects 
 of his work. — 5. Vos, o clarissima, etc., sc. Sol and Luna. — 
 6. labentem, gliding, to denote the noiseless pace of time. — 7. 
 Liber et alma Ceres. These two deities are invoked together, 
 because they were joint givers of increase to the earth, and had 
 a common temple at Rome. See Mythology, p. 517. It is a 
 very erroneous notion of some critics, that they are the lumina 
 of the preceding verse, and are therefore Sun and Moon ; for 
 if in some mysteries the Grecian Bacchus (with whom Liber 
 was identified) was regarded as the Sun, we are yet to learn 
 that Demeter, or the Roman Ceres, was anywhere held to be 
 the Moon. It was, we believe, her daughter Persephone that 
 was united with Bacchus in this manner. At all events, as 
 "Voss sensibly observes, Virgil would hardly commence a poem 
 intended to be popular with a dogma of the Mysteries, which 
 could be known to very few of his readers. Varro, in the 
 opening of his prose work (and perhaps Virgil was following 
 him), invokes, after Jupiter and Tellus, Sol and Luna, and 
 then Ceres and Liber. For the absence of the copula be- 
 tween annum and Liber, see on v. 498. Cf. ii. 6 ; iv. 243, 546. 
 — alma. See on Ec. viii. 17. — vestro, etc., i. e. 'by your gifts 
 (i. e. the knowledge of tillage and of the culture of the vine, 
 of which you were the inventors,) men exchanged mast and 
 acorns for corn, as their food, and water for wine and water, as 
 their drink.' — si, causal, i. q. cum or quod. — 8. Chaoniam glan- 
 dem, Chaonian mast, such as grew in the woods of Epirus : 
 see on Ec. ix. 13. For glans, see the Flora, s. v. — pingui 
 arista, large rich grains of corn. Thus Ps. lxxxi. 1 7, we meet 
 with " the fat of wheat." Arista, the awn or beard, is put for 
 the grain or the ear. — 9. Pocida Acheloia, their cups of water. 
 
142 GEORGICS. 
 
 Achelous, the river flowing between Aetolia and Acarnania 
 in Greece, is frequently used by the poets for water in gene- 
 ral, for which practice we have seen no just cause assigned. 
 — uvis, sc. vino, the producer for the produced. Donee eras 
 mixtus nullis, Acheloe, racemis, Ov. Fast. v. 343, is a similar 
 mode of expression. — praesentia numina. See on Ec. i. 42. — 
 10. Fauni, etc. The Italian Fauns are here joined with the 
 Grecian Dryads in the usual manner. For Faunus, see Mytho- 
 logy, p. 537. One MS. for Fauni in v. 1 1 reads Satyri, and 
 Heyne was inclined to approve of it, considering the repeti- 
 tion to be somewhat frigid : but it is in reality quite the con- 
 trary; for, as Wagner justly observes, it makes the passage 
 more vivid. — 11. Fertepedem, sc. hue, come hither. Abite Illuc 
 unde malum pedem tulistis, Catull. xiv. 21 ; pedem intro non 
 feres, Plant. Men. iv. 3, 18. Our nautical phrase, bear-a-hand, 
 i. e. come help, is analogous. — 12. Munera vestra. Here vestra 
 refers to all the deities whom he had named. The gifts of 
 the Fauns and Wood-nymphs seem to be the trees and their 
 fruits. 
 
 12. Tuque, etc. He now proceeds to the deities presiding 
 over the subjects of his two last books. The assigning the 
 production of the horse to Neptune has no reference, as has 
 been erroneously supposed, to his contest with Minerva for 
 the naming of Athens. It rather refers to the legend of his 
 producing the first horse, Scyphios, by a stroke of his trident 
 in Thessaly. See Mythology, p. 86. — prima iellus i. q. tellus 
 primum. " Prima tellus est ea quae antea equum nondum 
 viderat et turn primum protulit," Jahn. See on Ec. i. 45. — 
 13. Fudit, poured forth, teemed, as Milton expresses it, Par. 
 Lost, vii. 454. Tempore quo primum tellus animalia fudit, 
 Lucr. v. 915, which verse Virgil had probably in view. — 14. 
 cultor nemorum, dweller of the woods. Aristaeus, the son of 
 Apollo and the nymph Cyrene, the inventor of the art of 
 keeping bees. See iv. 315 ; Mythology, p. 329. — cui, through 
 whom, through whose. — pinguia dumeta. Dumetum (dumus, 
 briar, bramble) is a thicket, and the epithet pinguia refers to 
 the luxuriant herbage that grew among the bushes. Thus we 
 have pingues horti, iv. 118. In like manner tondent, shear, 
 
book i. 9-24. 143 
 
 (i. e. browse, crop) refers also to the grass. — Ceae, of the isle of 
 Cea or Ceos, one of the Cyclades in the Aegean sea, where 
 Aristaeus was greatly honoured. — 15. Ter centum, a def. for 
 an indef. number. — 16. Ipse, thou thyself, as being of greater 
 importance than Aristaeus. See on Ec.v. 72. Pan was the great 
 god of Arcadia, in which were the mountains Lycaeus and 
 Maenalus and the town of Tegea, from which he is here named. 
 For Maenala, see on Ec. x. .55. — 17- tua si tibi, etc., if (see on 
 v. 7) thou care for thy Maenalus, i. e. its pastures and the sheep 
 that graze them. — 18. oleaeque, etc. From Arcadia he passes 
 to Attica, whose patron goddess gave mankind the olive, and 
 whence Triptolemus spread the art of tillage. — 1 9. unci, crooked. 
 The reason of this epithet may be seen in the Terms of Hus- 
 bandry, s. v. aratrum. — puer. In the legend he is represented 
 as quite a youth. See Mythology, p. 176. — 20. Et teneram, etc. 
 The Italian god Silvanus, the guardian of cattle and bounda- 
 ries, was usually represented bearing a young cypress plant. 
 See Mythology, p. 536, and Plate XII. — ab radice, i. e. radi- 
 citus, plucked up with the root, root and all. Forbiger would 
 connect ab radice with teneram, and understand it all tender, 
 root and all. We prefer the former more obvious interpreta- 
 tion : see Ec. i. 54. — 21. Dique, deaeque omnes, etc. Under 
 this head he groups the host of deities that, according to the 
 Roman religion, presided over the country and the operations 
 of agriculture, such as Occator Sarritor, Collina Seia, etc. 
 See Mythology, p. 540. — novas fruges, the new (i. e. young) 
 plants. As it is only some kinds of trees that he says (ii. 10) 
 grow without seed, it must be them that he means here. — 
 22. non ullo semine, without any seed, spontaneous: see ii. 10 
 seq. Mulcebant zephyri natos sine semine jiores, Ov. Met. i. 
 108. — 23. largum imbrem, copious showers of rain on the 
 corn-fields. 
 
 24-42. " Post deos agrestes, ex notissima Romanorum adu- 
 latione, Caesarem invocat tanquam deum mox futurum." 
 Heyne. He should have observed that this is the very first 
 instance of that species of adulation. On this deification of 
 Caesar, see on Ec. i. 6. — 24. deorum concilia. Concilium (from 
 con-calo, to call together, Festus) is i. q. coetus, congregatio. 
 
144 GEORGICS. 
 
 Cicero uses the expression concilium deorum or caeleslium 
 The poet supposes an assembly or deliberative society of each 
 class of deities. He employs the plural for the singular with 
 the usual poetic licence. — 25.urbis?ie invisere,to inspect, to have 
 the care of. We may observe that veils governs both invisere 
 and curam. Forbiger refers to Ec. v. 46, 47 ; vi. 74 ; Aen. i. 
 124; vii. 421. — 26. maximus orbis, sc. terrarum, the entire 
 earth. In a usual sense of the superlative (see on Ec. vii. 49) 
 maximus is i. q. permagnus. — 27. tempestatum potentem, the 
 ruler of the weather, the author of the changes of the atmo- 
 sphere ; not merely of the winds or seasons, which however are 
 included. It may be here observed that tempestas was originally 
 i. q. tempus. See Varro, L, L. vii. 51 ; Sail. Cat. 17. It then 
 came to signify a portion of time, as a year, etc., Sail. Cat. 57; 
 Jug. 101 ; Liv. i. 5 : in Horace postera tempestas (S. i. 5. 96) 
 seems to be the next day. It was next the weather or state of 
 the atmosphere : Cum tempestas adridet, Lucr. ii. 32 ; liqui- 
 dissima caeli tempestas, Id. iv. 170. It finally signified storm, 
 tempest, mala or adversa being understood as in the parallel 
 case of valetudo. There should be a comma after frugum, for 
 auctorem and potentem are both to be regarded as substantives. 
 — 28. cingens, sc. orbis, a fine image, representing the whole 
 human race as uniting to crown Caesar with a myrtle-wreath 
 in acknowledgment of his descent from the goddess to whom 
 the myrtle was sacred. — materna. The Julian gens claimed a 
 descent from Venus. — 29. An deus, etc. If you will not be a 
 terrestrial deity, but prefer to rule over the sea, Tethys will 
 give you one of the Ocean-Nymphs, her daughters, in marriage, 
 and transfer to you her whole dominion. — ve?iias, i. e.futurus 
 sis, you will be. Venio sometimes occurs in the sense of sum, 
 as Aen. v. 344 ; hence it is that the modern Italians use their 
 verb venire for essere. — 30. Nwnina, i. q. numen, like concilia, 
 v. 25. — sola, i. e. praecipue, quasi sola. — ultima Thule. The 
 Zetland islands. Tac. Agric. 10. It was probably, like Hes- 
 peria, Eridanus, and so many others, originally an indefinite 
 name, which was finally restricted to these islands. — 31. emat, 
 purchase. In the heroic times the wooer purchased his wife 
 in some measure by giving large presents to herself and her 
 
book i. 25-4-1. 145 
 
 family. Among the Greeks of later times and the Romans, 
 the wife brought a dower. — Anne, etc., • Or if, scorning alike 
 land and sea, you will be a celestial deitj^, you may become 
 one of the signs of the zodiac' It was an old opinion that the 
 souls of men became stars : see Aristoph. Pax, 832. — tardis, 
 slow, i. e. the summer-months, when the days are longest, and 
 therefore the course of the sun apparently slowest. This is 
 clear from the position which he assigns him. — Qua locus, etc. 
 In Virgil's time the space between the sign of Virgo (named 
 Erigone, from the daughter of Icarus), or Astraea, and that 
 of ihefolloiving Scorpion, now occupied by Libra, was vacant, 
 or only occupied by the chelas or claws of this last. As Astraea 
 was Dike or Justice, there is a delicate flattery of Caesar in 
 assigning him that position. — Chelas, i. e. x*A« s > by which the 
 Greeks expressed cloven feet as well as claws — ardens, bright. 
 —justa plus parte, i. e. 'more than you have a strict right to' ; 
 in token of reverence for the new deity. — 36. nam te nee, < for 
 let not Tartarus expect you as its ruler, let not such a dire 
 love of sway possess your mind.' — nee, i. q. non. — Tartara. 
 This was originally the prison of the Titans beneath the earth, 
 but it gradually was confounded with Erebus, the abode of 
 departed men, and then became that portion of it in which 
 the wicked were punished. See Mythology, pp. 39, 91. We 
 may observe that Virgil uses it here in a large sense as synony- 
 mous with Erebus. — sperent. Some MSS., which are followed 
 by Wagner and Forbiger, read sperant. — dira cupido. Lu- 
 cretius has dira libido (iv. 1040) and dira cuppidine (iv. 1084). 
 — miretur, admire, i. e. celebrate, extol. — repetita, recalled, 
 asked to leave it: see Aen. vii. 241. Filium istinc tuum te 
 melius est repetere, Plaut. True. iv. 3, 72. — sequi curat, cares 
 to follow, i. e. will not follow. We use our verb care exactly 
 in this sense-, — Proserpina. The rape of this goddess by Pluto 
 
 is a well-known legend: see Mythology, p, 171 Dafacilem 
 
 cursum, 'give an easy or prosperous course'; a metaphor 
 taken from navigation. — audacibus, etc., ' favour my daring 
 enterprise,' namely, that of being the first to write a poem on 
 agriculture in the Latin language: see ii. 175. — 41. Ignaros 
 viae. He calls the husbandmen so, either in a general way as all 
 
 H 
 
146 GEORGICS. 
 
 those to whom precepts are given are supposed to have been 
 previously ignorant of them ; or, as the commentators say, be- 
 cause, on account of the civil wars, the proscriptions and the 
 confiscations of the lands, the rural population had been di- 
 minished and agriculture neglected. — mecum. This is to be 
 taken with miseratus, not with ignaros. — Ingredere, proceed, 
 advance. Cf. Aen. viii. 513. — assuesce, sc. te. 
 
 43-49. The poet commences his precepts with the spring- 
 ploughing of the land. — Vere novo, in the beginning of the 
 spring (eapos veov Icrra/jh oio, Od. xix. 519), that is, in the 
 month of February. The Roman spring began between the 
 nones and ides of this month, when the west-wind Favonius 
 or Zephyrus began to blow, and it ended toward the middle 
 of May. Columella xi.2. — canis, hoary, i. e. covered with snow. 
 — Liquitur, flows. — Zephyro, to the west-wind, under its in- 
 fluence : a dat. case.— putris gleba, the mellow, crumbly, 
 friable soil. This is probably not to be understood of lea or 
 fresh land, but cf land which had been cultivated the pre- 
 ceding year : see ii. 202. Such land, after having been ex- 
 posed to the frosts of the winter, becomes friable in the spring. 
 — -jam turn, then, emphatic ; now then, immediately, without 
 any delay. Cf. ii. 405 ; Aen. vii. 643; viii. 349; x. 52>3.—?nihi : 
 see on Ec. viii. 6. — Depresso aratro, pressed down, sc. by the 
 ploughman pressing with his whole might on the stiva or 
 handle. — taurus. As in Ec. i. 46. he uses tauros for vitulos, 
 so here and all through this book he employs taurus for bos 
 or juvencus. The ancients never ploughed with bulls. — sulco, 
 by the furrow, not in the furrow. — splendescere. Old Cato in 
 his address to his son (ap. Servium) said, Vir bonus est, mi 
 Jili, colendi peritus, cujus ferramenta splendent, i. e. who keeps 
 the plough constantly going. — 47. seges, corn-field. Ec. ix. 48. 
 — avari, i. e. avidi (Cf. Proem, to Aen. v. 3), eager, desirous. 
 The poet of course could only have meant it in a good sense. 
 — bis quae solem, etc., i. e. ' which has been fallowed.' The 
 poet, from his ignorance of practical agriculture, seems to 
 have expressed himself somewhat ambiguously here; for Piiny 
 (xviii. 49), referring to this place, says, Quarto seri sulco (i. e. 
 aratione) Virgilius existimatur voluisse. The usual course of 
 
book I. 41-52. 147 
 
 fallowing among the ancients, as with ourselves, was to plough 
 the ground deep in the spring, give it a cross ploughing in the 
 summer, and a third ploughing in the autumn, with which 
 they sometimes sowed it, or like us gave it an additional seed- 
 ploughing. The crop of wheat, which is the grain sown on 
 fallows, had therefore to pay the expenses of two years ; and 
 consequently the land might be said to feel two summers and 
 two winters, and this was probably all that the poet meant. 
 We however learn from Mr. Simond (Travels in Italy and 
 Sicily, p. 476), that at the present day in some places (he is 
 speaking of Sciacca on the south coast of Sicily) a much 
 longer time elapses between the crops. " When the land," 
 says he, " is manured, which is rarely the case, it yields corn 
 every year, otherwise once in three years : thus, first year 
 corn (fromento) ; second year fallow, and the weeds mowed 
 for hay ; third, ploughing several times, and sowing for the 
 fourth year." He adds (which illustrates v. 73 seq.), " some 
 farmers alternate with beans." It is, we think, a just remark 
 of Wagner, that vv. 47-49 are among those which the poet 
 inserted in his poem after it was finished, for they are quite 
 parenthetic. — Illius, sc. segetis. — ruperunt horrea, burst the 
 granaries. The perfect tense is used, like the Greek aorist, 
 to express the frequency of an action. This is correct and 
 philosophic ; for when a thing has happened once or more 
 times, it may reasonably be inferred that it will happen again. 
 50-56. Ac prius, etc. This follows the subject of v. 46. 
 The common reading is at, but this was evidently an emenda- 
 tion of those who did not perceive the close connexion with 
 that verse. * Before,' says he, 'we commence tilling land 
 with which we have not been previously acquainted, we should 
 learn its nature.'—; ferro scindimus, we plough. — aequor. This 
 word, which is chiefly and perhaps was originally used of the 
 sea, is also employed to express plains. Aegyptii etBabylonii 
 in camporum patentium aequoribus habitantes, Cic. Div. i. 42. 
 It is here used for campus or ager. — ventos et caeli, etc., the 
 prevailing winds and the climate or nature of the air, whether 
 dry or moist, etc. — 52. ac patrios, etc., and the original (inhe- 
 rited as it were) nature of the soil, and mode of cultivating it. 
 
 h2 
 
14-8 GEORGICS. 
 
 There is a hysteron-proteron in cultus and habitus, occasioned 
 no doubt by the strain of the metre. Wagner says that pa- 
 trios properly belongs to locorum. — Et quid, etc. Having 
 ascertained all these points, the next is to see what plants are 
 best suited to the soil. Some soils, for example, are adapted 
 to corn, others to vines ; some to trees and natural grass grow- 
 ing among them : see v. 15. — 53. recuset. The poet animates 
 everything, even the land. — veniunt, i. e.proveniunt. — Arborei 
 fetus, the growth of trees. Fetus is used of anything, animal 
 or vegetable, that grows. — injussa,\. e. sponte. — virescunt. This 
 verb is governed of both fetus and gramina. Wagner and 
 Forbiger put a semicolon after alibi ; incorrectly, we think. 
 
 56-63. Nonne vides. He adopted this expression, which 
 makes the verse more animated, from Lucretius, who fre- 
 quently uses it, as ii. 196, 207. — Tmolos, a mountain of Lydia, 
 at the foot of which the city of Sardis lay. Virgil is the 
 earliest extant writer who says that it produced saffron, and 
 he may have confounded it with Mount Corycus in Cilicia, 
 which was famous for that plant ; for, as we have before ob- 
 served, we must not look for great geographical accuracy in 
 the ancient poets. As to the testimony of Columella (iii. 8), 
 Solinus (53), and Martianus Capella (6), it is not of so much 
 weight, as they probably only followed Virgil. — croceos odores, 
 i. q. crocum odorum. — India mittit ebur, India exports, sends 
 us ivory. This country has been always remarkable for its 
 elephants. — molles Sabaei. The Sabaeans were a people of 
 Arabia Felix, whence the fragrant gum named thus or fran- 
 kincense came; the Sheba of Scripture. They are called 
 molles, soft or effeminate, for the Greeks and Romans con- 
 sidered all the Orientals to be so, ascribing this effect to the 
 extreme heat of the climate. — sua, which is peculiar to them, 
 only is produced in their country. — Chalybes, a people to the 
 north of Armenia on the coast of the Euxine. Their country 
 was famed for its iron-mines. It was probably from their 
 name that the Greeks formed their -^aXv^, steel, though it 
 may have been the reverse. — nudi, because the men employed 
 in forges and iron-works throw off their upper garments, 
 which is all that is meant by nudus : see v. 299 : A en. viii. 425. 
 
book i. 53-66. 149 
 
 — Pontics, the country on the south coast of the Euxine. — 
 virosa castorea, the strong-smelling castoreum. This is a fluid 
 secreted by a gland near the testicles of the castor (caorwp) 
 or beaver: see Plin. viii. 30, 47; xxxii. 3, 13. The Pontic 
 was considered the best, the Spanish of an inferior quality : 
 Strabo iii. p. 163. It is remarkable that in the time of Virgil 
 the beaver was an inhabitant of Spain and Asia Minor ; in 
 the middle ages it was still in Germany (Dante, Inf. C. xvii. 
 v. 22), while at the present day it is not to be met with in 
 Europe. — Eliadum, etc. Epirus sends the mares that win the 
 plates at the Olympic games. Epirus, as abounding in fine 
 pastures, was celebrated for its breed of horses. Hence the 
 Greeks called evurnos, einrioXos. Mares, it is Avell-known, 
 are fleeter than horses, though they have not the same strength. 
 — Palma, the palm-branch the token of victory, thence the 
 victory itself, and finally, as here, the victor : tertia palma 
 Diores, Aen. v. 339. The construction in the text is a cu- 
 rious hypallage; the natural one would be, Epiros equas, 
 palmas Eliadum, sc. certaminum. See Excursus V. — 60. Con- 
 tinuo, directly, immediately from. It is to be taken with tem- 
 pore in the next line. — has leges, etc. Aeternas is to be under- 
 stood with leges, and haec with foedera. See on Ec. iii. 33. 
 1 These laws and conditions,' sc. that each country should have 
 its peculiar products. — quo tempore, etc. The well-known 
 legend of the restoration of the human race by Deucalion and 
 Pyrrha flinging stones behind their backs : see Ov. Met. i. 253 ; 
 Mythology, p. 298. — durum genus. Cf. Lucr. v. 923. 
 
 63-70. Ergo age, etc. He returns from the preceding di- 
 gression, and resumes the subject of ploughing from v. 46. 
 A strong soil, he says, should get a deep ploughing with 
 stout oxen early in the year, and be left exposed to the hot 
 suns of summer, that it might be dried and pulverised. — glebas 
 jacentes, the sods that were turned up (not turned over) and lay 
 exposed. — 66. Pidvemdenta aestas, the dusty summer, i. e. the 
 summer that pulverises. — coquat. The verb coquo is to cook, 
 to dress, to make or prepare with fire. It is used of meat, of 
 bread, of bricks or lime. To bake seems to express it best in 
 this place, for bread is baked by the action of the fire expel- 
 
150 GEORGICS. 
 
 ling the moisture from it, as that of the sun does from the 
 land, which however it does not harden. — maturis solibus, with 
 mature, ripe suns, that have attained their full strength, i. e. 
 those of midsummer. — 67. At si, etc., ' but if the land is not 
 of this strong loamy description, you should not till it in this 
 manner : in that case you should only give it a light plough- 
 ing just in the beginning of September/— -fecunda, i. q. pin- 
 guis, v. 64. — sub ipsum Arcturum, This star, the brightest in 
 the sign of Bootes or Arctophylax, rises, according to Colu- 
 mella (xi. 2), on the nones (5th) of September. — tenui sus- 
 pendere sulco, to raise it with a light furrow, i. e. to give it a 
 shallow ploughing; the ploughman, as it were, instead of 
 pressing down his plough (v. 45), keeping it up, suspending 
 it. Lucretius (iii. 197) uses suspensa in the sense of light. — 
 Illic, etc. The former mode is in order that the weeds may 
 be destroyed ; the latter, lest all the moisture should be drawn 
 out of the ground. — kerbae, grass, weeds, anything else beside 
 the corn. Cf. ii. 251. — arenam, i.e. terrain, solum : see on 
 v. 105. 
 
 71-83. Having described the novalis, or fallow system of 
 culture, he now passes to the restibilis or rotation system, with 
 dunging and top-dressing.— 71. Alter nis, sc. vicibus or annis. 
 — idem, you, the same farmer, will practise the two modes of 
 culture, cultivating some of your land on the one, some on the 
 other system. — to?isas novates, the reaped fields. Reaping is 
 called shearing in Scotland and the north of England. — ces- 
 sare, etc. It can hardly be meant that the land was to be let lie 
 idle an entire year, for in that case there would only be one 
 crop in three years. What he means is that, after the corn 
 had been cut in the summer, the land was to be let to lie and 
 get a scurf of weeds on it till the following spring, when they 
 were to be ploughed in. This is expressed by segnem situ 
 durescere campum ; the segnem denoting the rest, the situ the 
 scurf, and the durescere the hardening, the forming of an in- 
 cipient sward. This plain meaning of duresco is, we think, 
 more in accordance with nature than that of acquiring vigour 
 by rest. — Aut, etc. Or else on the rotation system, of which 
 the following is an example. On the land where you have 
 
book i. 67-79. 151 
 
 sowed a crop of leguminous plants in the spring, you may sow 
 a crop of corn in the following autumn. — mutato sidere, i. e. 
 in another part of the year ; as Voss rightly understood it, not 
 of the next year, like Jahn and Forbiger. Heyne, by sidus, 
 understood the sun, but it seems more simple to take it as a 
 sign or constellation which is said to be changed when one 
 comes in place of another ; Arcturus, for example, in that of 
 the Pleiades. — -farra. We may take this, with Servius and 
 Forbiger, for bread-corn in general. — legumen. Pliny (xvii. 9 ; 
 xviii. 21) understands by this the bean (faba), but it probably 
 includes the pea. He terms it laetum, luxuriant, abundant, as 
 is indicated by the quantity of its pods (siliquae), which when 
 ripe shake and rattle with every passing breeze. — quassante. 
 This exactly answers to our shaking. — tenuis viciae. The tare 
 or vetch is called slight because its halm is so slender and its 
 seed so small, compared with those of the bean or pea. — tristis- 
 que lupini, the bitter lupine. For this sense of tristis, see ii. 
 126. Ennius has triste sinapi; Ovid (Ex P. iii. 1, 23) tristia 
 absinthia. The que here is equivalent to ve : see Excursus V. 
 — -fragiles calamos, etc. The halm of leguminous plants, as 
 every one knows, is very brittle as compared with straw, and 
 their seeds rattle in the pods. — silvam. He uses this term, 
 with a poet's licence, to denote the density and vigour of the 
 crop. — Urit enim, etc. Those are the crops I would recom- 
 mend you to sow previous to bread-corn, and not, as some do, 
 flax, oats, or poppies, for these exhaust the land too much. 
 The primary sense of uro is to burn, but it is used to express 
 any effect analogous to burning ; thus frigor urit, calceus urit, 
 because they produce a sore similar to a burn. It is employed 
 here because these plants take the substance out of the land, 
 as fire does out of what it lays hold of. — avenae, sc. seges. — 
 Lethaeo, etc. Poppies, from their narcotic quality, are poeti- 
 cally said to be sprinkled with sleep, which is further called 
 Lethsean, from Lethe (AriOr)), the River of Oblivion. In the 
 use of the term perfusa there may be an allusion to the Roman 
 custom of eating poppy-seeds sprinkled on cakes. — 79. Sed 
 tamen, etc., ' but still you may sow these injurious crops alter- 
 nately with your corn-crops, provided you use manure.' — 
 
152 GEORGICS. 
 
 alternis, sc. vicibus.—facilis labor, sc. campi, from v. 77? the 
 land will easily bear it. " Labor tribuitur agro, quemadmo- 
 dum defatigari, refoveri, recreari, ilia dicitur." Heyne. Cf. 
 v. 150. — arida, as being exhausted by the flax, etc. — Effetos, 
 effete, exhausted. — cinerem. The cineres of ancient as of mo- 
 dern Italy, we must recollect were wood-ashes. They were 
 usually sprinkled, as a top-dressing, on the growing corn. — 
 Sic quoque, etc. Thus the land may be said to rest in this 
 way also ; under a rotation of crops as well as by fallowing, 
 the manure supplying the place of the latter. — Nee nulla, etc. 
 This is an extremely perplexing verse. The only sense in 
 which the verb inaro is used by Cato, Varro, Columella and 
 Pliny, is that of ploughing in; for we may observe that these 
 writers never employ the verbs compounded with in, as inocco, 
 infodio, insero, etc. in a negative sense ; in or on is always a 
 part of their signification. On the other hand, Horace (Epod. 
 16, 43) has tellus inarata, uncultivated land, and Ovid (Met. 
 i. 109) uses the same phrase in the same sense. Statius also, 
 a great imitator of our poet, has (Th. x. 512) inarata diu 
 Pangaea. We are further to observe, that it is not the land 
 itself that is ploughed in, but the dung or whatever else is on 
 it. In one place in Pliny (xviii. 14-) inaro seems to be i. q. 
 aro ; but though he says solum inarari, he means the remain- 
 ing halms and roots of the lupines which had been fed off. 
 We therefore think that Virgil uses inaro in the name sense as 
 Horace and Ovid. The verse is to be taken in connexion 
 with the preceding one as a further proof of the advantage of 
 manuring, and means, ' nor will there be the disadvantage of 
 letting the land lie idle in fallow.' 
 
 84-93. Another mode of manuring land was to set fire to 
 the long stubble that had been left on it when the corn was 
 cut. — steriles agros, the lands from which the corn had been 
 carried, and which therefore have nothing but the stubble on 
 them. — Atque, etc. The critics observe that this line is com- 
 posed of dactyls, to express the rapidity of the flames, as v. 65 
 is of spondees for an opposite reason. — Sive, etc. The various 
 ways in which this process was supposed to act on the soil : 
 it either gave it a new vigour, and supplied it with mauure 
 
book i. 79-97. !53 
 
 (the true one), or it took away its ill qualities, and drove off 
 the superabundant moisture ; or it loosened it ; or it hardened 
 it. — inutilis humor, the pernicious moisture ; as usual by the 
 figure litotes. — caeca spiramenta, the secret pores. Caecus is 
 frequently used for occultus : see Aen. ii. 453 ; Lucr. iii. 317 ; 
 Hor. C. ii. 13, 16. — venas, i. q. vias and spiramenta in the 
 preceding lines. — Ne tenues, etc. When the soil is thus some- 
 what condensed by the action of the fire, it suffers less from 
 the effects of heavy rains, of hot suns, or of frost. Tenues, 
 thin, is an epithet taken from the nature of rain. It may seem 
 not suitable in this place, but the poets used their epithets 
 without any very anxious discrimination. — rapidi solis. See on 
 Ec. ii. 10. — adurat. See on v. 77. 
 
 94-99. Being about to quit the subject of ploughing, he 
 adds a few words respecting the pulverising of the land under 
 the fallowing system. — rastris, etc. Our way, after breaking 
 a field, is to give it a good tearing up with a heavy harrow 
 with iron teeth, drawn by two or more horses. The ancients, 
 who were unacquainted with the harrow, and who did not 
 employ horses in their agriculture, used to break the clods by 
 manual labour with an implement called a rastrum or a sarcu- 
 lum (see Terms of Husbandry, s. v.) ; and then, to pulverise 
 it, the men drew over it bush-harrows, nearly the same as 
 we use, though of course lighter, as ours are drawn by horses. 
 According to Holdsworth, this mode of tillage prevailed in 
 Italy in the last century, and in some places it does so still. — 
 glebas inertes, the inactive clods, namely those which had been 
 turned up in the proscission, or breaking, and which of course 
 were now lying unproductive. — vimineas crates, bush-harrows, 
 as being made of bushes twisted together. See Terms of Hus- 
 bandry. — Flava Ceres. The Eavdr\ ^rjfjLtjTrjp of Homer. — ne- 
 quicquam spectat. A litotes as usual, meaning that she regards 
 him with great favour, and gives him an abundant crop. — 97. 
 Et qui. The qui here (it may not be needless to observe) is not 
 different from the qui of v. 94, for it must be the same farmer 
 who breaks the land and who cross-ploughs it. The process 
 of which he now speaks is that of cross-ploughing, or cutting 
 the land at right angles to the first ploughing. — proscisso 
 
 n5 
 
154? GEORGICS. 
 
 aequore, in the broken field. The Romans used the verb 
 proscindo, where we- employ break. — quae suscitat (instead of 
 suscitavit), which he has thrown up, sc. with the plough in the 
 proscission. — terga. The tergum is the gleba, the sod which 
 the plough raises in its progress : see Terms of Husbandry, 
 v. aratio. — in obliqumn, across, at right angles. — Exercet, tills 
 by ploughing or otherwise. Cf. i. 220 ; Aen. vii. 798 ; x. 14-2. 
 Paterna rura bubus exercet siiis, Hor. Epod. 2, 3. — imperat, 
 acts like a master, makes his land obey him. 
 
 100-117. Having completed his precepts respecting the 
 previous tillage of the land, and supposing the corn to be 
 sown, he goes on to tell what is further to be done, and be- 
 gins with the kind of weather that the husbandman should 
 pray for. This, he says, should be moderate rains in summer 
 and a winter dry on the whole. He here gives the substance 
 of an old agricultural verse, said by Macrobius (v. 20) to be 
 contained in a book of old poems far more ancient than any of 
 the works of the Latin poets; it runs thus: Hiberno pulvere, 
 verno luto- grandia farra y Camille, metes. — Humida solstitia, a 
 dripping summer: plur. for sing. When solstitium is used 
 alone, it always denotes the summer-solstice ; that of winter is 
 called bruma. Solstitium is used for aestas, like carina for 
 navis, etc. : see on Ec. vii. 47. Even in these northern regions 
 the farmer wishes for a " dripping May ;" and, what corre- 
 sponds to the other part of the precept, we have a proverb, 
 " A peck of March dust is worth a king's ransom." — nullo, 
 etc., there is no kind of culture under which the rich corn- 
 countries will yield such crops as under this genial influence 
 of the skies. — sejactat, evxerai. — Jfysia, a most fertile region 
 of Asia Minor on the Hellespont, at the foot of the range of 
 which Mount Gargarus was the most conspicuous point. — 
 104. Quid dicem, sc.de re, meaning 'I commend'. — jacto qui, 
 etc., who, as soon as he has sown his seed, goes over his field 
 and breaks all the remaining clods. — cominus, immediately, 
 without any delay. — Insequitur, pursues, follows. The image 
 which seems to have been in the poet's mind was that of the 
 Roman soldier throwing his pilum, and then pursuing and 
 cutting down the flying foes. — ruit, throws down, levels. The 
 
book 1.97-111. 155 
 
 verb is here transitive. Cf. Aen. i. 35 ; xi. 211. — male pinguis 
 arenae, of the too abundant clay. Male, when joined with an 
 adjective, often denotes excess, with injury arising from it. 
 Thus, Hor. C. i. 7, 25, male dispar; S. i. 3, 31, male laxus; 
 S. i. 4, 66, male raucus. Arena is used for any kind of earthy- 
 matter : cf. iv. 291. Some interpret male pinguis, non pinguis, 
 sterilis ; for male expresses deficiency as well as excess, as in 
 male sanus and male parvus, Hor. S. i. 3, 46. — Deinde, etc. 
 Next (that is, if there should come no rain,) he irrigates his corn- 
 fields artificially. — satis inducit, etc., leads the stream (whose 
 waters follow as he opens the trench) on his fields. We cannot 
 conceive what induced Forbiger to take satis as an adverb. — 
 Et cum, etc. It would seem that he wished to indicate two 
 modes of irrigating ; the one, for fields in the level country, 
 where, by means of a dam, the water of a stream is brought 
 in over them ; the other, for fields on a declivity, where the 
 water is brought down on them from the springs near the 
 summit. It may be, that his imitation of Homer caused him 
 to make some confusion. — aestuat, 'is quite in a heat', as if it 
 were an animated being. — supercilio, etc., from the brow of 
 the hilly path (sc. of the water), i. e. from the brow of the hill 
 whence the water runs. " Tramites sunt convalles, quae de 
 lateribus utrinque perviae limitant montes, quae solent etiam 
 saltus nuncupuri." Servius. We have never met frames in 
 this sense. — Elicit, entices. " In aliquibus provinciis Elices 
 appellantur sulci ampliores ad siccandos agros ducti." Ser- 
 vius. — scatebris, with water. Scatebra is properly the gush- 
 ing or bubbling of water : it is therefore a very appropriate 
 term in this place. — 1 1 1 . Quid, sc. dicam de eo. Another prac- 
 tice, to let the cattle in to eat down the corn which is growing 
 
 V. 108. 'Qs d' or dvTjp 6xer?/y6g dirb Kpfivrjs peXavvdpov 
 "A[i (pvrct Kal icf]7rovs v'daros poov riyepiovevei 
 Xepci fiaiceWav ex (OV > dfidprjs d' k% expara (3d\\(i)h-' 
 Too fxev re irpopeovros, vtto i^^ides uttclgoli 
 'OxkevvTcu' to de r w/ca Kareifiofievov KekapvZci 
 XwjO^j evi TrpoaXel, <p9dvei t)e re Kal tqv dyovra. 
 
 Horn. Il.xxi.257. 
 
156 
 
 GEORGICS. 
 
 too fast ; not too thick, for the effect of depasturing is to make 
 it grow more densely. — ne gravidis procumbat, etc. The rea- 
 son here assigned seems to be, lest it should come too early 
 into ear, " lest the stalk should be bent too soon {procumbat) 
 by the heavy ear." — Cum primum, etc., as soon as the corn 
 is sufficiently grown to make the surface of the ridges even. 
 This seems to be the sense in which sulcus is here employed. 
 — quique, sc. quid dicam de eo. Another process, that of 
 draining the stagnant water off the corn-fields, by clearing out 
 the furrows and opening drains. — paludis, of the pool, sing. 
 for plur., the water lying in the furrows. — bibula arena, from 
 the absorbing clay, sc. of the corn-fields : see on v. 105. — 
 incertis mensibus, the spring months, when the weather is most 
 uncertain. — Exit, overflows, goes out of its bed. — Unde, etc., 
 whence, if the water is not drawn off before the sun begins to 
 act on it, it might rot the plants. — sudant, as the w r ater would 
 be drawn up by the heat of the sun. — lacunae : these were 
 what we call the furrows, i. e. the spaces between the ridges. 
 
 118-124. But those operations will not suffice to procure 
 an abundant crop : the fields must be kept free from birds 
 and other mischievous things. From the consideration of the 
 constant care and toil to which the husbandman is thus con- 
 demned, the poet is naturally led to speak of the Golden Age, 
 when such toil was not. — hominumque boumque labores, i. q. 
 homines bovesque laborantes. — nihil. This is to be taken with 
 nee of the preceding verse. Nee nihil, very much, greatly. — 
 improbus. This word is probably a translation by the poets of 
 the Greek avaih)s, which in Homer has a similar sense. Pro- 
 bus (probably, i. q. probatus) is what is approved, the ground 
 of approbation being moderation, modesty, justice; improbus 
 is its contrary, and is therefore immoderate, unjust, destruc- 
 tive, and what is not approved. Cf. iii. 430 ; Aen. ii. 356 ; ix. 
 62 ; x. 727- Hence, in this place, bnprobus anser is the mis- 
 chievous, destructive goose anser. We see no reason to sup- 
 pose, with Voss and Forbiger, that it is the wild goose of 
 which he is speaking. Surely no one ever saw wild-geese in a 
 corn-field. The domestic goose, on the other hand, is really 
 very injurious, and for exactly the reasons given by Palladius 
 
book i. 111-125. 157 
 
 in the passage (i. 30), which Voss quotes from him, and in 
 which the critic might have seen that he was speaking of the 
 tame goose. Anser locis consitis inimicus est, quia sata et morsu 
 laedit et stercore. This notion of their dung being injurious 
 is, as Martyn justly observes, a vulgar error. — Strymoniae 
 grues. Cranes also injure the growing corn ; though such is 
 not, we believe, the case in this country. Strymoniae is an 
 epithet, ornans, as they abounded about the river Strymon in 
 Thrace. — intuba. The intubum is what we call chicory, or 
 succory : see the Flora : its roots (Jibrae) are very bitter. It 
 is a favourite food of geese (Colum. viii. 14), and hence per- 
 haps it is that the poet calls it injurious, as the geese in search- 
 ing for it pull up the corn. But probably he gives it merely 
 as an example, to show the necessity of weeding, of which he 
 had not yet spoken. — umbra, sc. arborum. Cf. Ec. x. 76. — 
 Pater ipse. Pater rar e&xnv is Jupiter. See below, vv. 283, 
 328, 353. For ipse, see on Ec. viii. 96. The Silver Age, in 
 which toil began, was under Jupiter. For the Ages of the 
 World, see Hesiod, Works, 109, seq. ; Ovid, Met. i. 89, seq.-, 
 Mythology, p. 282. — Movit, moved, i. e. caused to be moved, 
 as in all languages a person is said to do the thing that he 
 causes to be done ; as a farmer (to take an example from the 
 matter in hand) will say, ' I will plough up, or I have ploughed 
 up, scich or such a field,' though he had only directed it to be 
 done. Nay we have heard a man say he had eaten so many 
 quarters of oats, meaning that he had given them to his horses 
 to eat. — curis, with or by care, with anxiety. The anxiety of 
 a farmer is well known. — acuens, etc., the same metaphor as 
 toe use when we speak of sharpening the intellect. Lucretius, 
 whom Virgil so constantly follows, frequently speaks of the 
 heart as the seat of thought, ex. gr. iv. 51 ; v. 1105. — torpere 
 veterno, to grow torpid with sloth. Veternus (from vetus) de- 
 notes the inactivity and neglect, and hence the filth, often 
 produced by old-age. — sua regna, mankind, over whom he 
 ruled. It may perhaps mean the earth, which, if not tilled, 
 would be covered with weeds and filth. 
 
 125-146. Ante Jovem, sc. in the time of Saturn, the Golden 
 Age. — signare, to mark out the fields by boundary-stones, 
 
158 GEORGICS. 
 
 trees, etc. — limite, by a boundary-line or fence. — Fas erat, 
 was it the practice, custom. — in medium quaerebant, they 
 brought everything into the common stock, there was no 
 private property. Cf. iv. 157; Aen. xi. 335. — liberius, more 
 liberally, or more freely, sc. than now. — nullo poscente, i. e. 
 cogente. The lands without culture produced more then, than 
 with it now. — 129. Ille, etc., he gave, i. e. caused to have. 
 Addo is simply to give to — atris. Some kinds of serpents, 
 such as the viper, are dark- coloured ; but it is better to un- 
 derstand it, with Jacobs, diris, like atra tigris, iv. 407. The 
 poet intimates, that in the Golden Age all beasts of prey and 
 venomous reptiles had been innocuous. Milton thus repre- 
 sents them in Paradise. — pontum moveri, sc. a vends, not by 
 oars, etc., as the commencement of navigation is noticed be- 
 low, v. 136. — Mellaque, etc. It was the opinion of the ancients 
 that honey was a kind of dew (see on iv. 1), and that the bees 
 gathered it off the leaves on which it lay. It was supposed to 
 be so abundant in the golden time, that men gathered it as it 
 dropped from the leaves ; hence Jupiter is said to shake it 
 down, so that they could get it no more in this manner. — ignem 
 removit, alluding to the story of Prometheus. — Et passim, etc. 
 In the Golden Age, it was believed, wine, milk, and oil ran in 
 streams like water. Wine is mentioned here as an instance. — 
 repressit, stopped, sc. in their founts ; did not let them run 
 any longer. — Ut varias, etc. The reason assigned, which is a 
 benevolent one, is that the human mind, by being thrown on 
 its own resources, might develope its powers. — nsus, practice. 
 — meditando, by meditating, planning ; or by exercising itself. 
 See on Ec. i. 2. — extunderet, might hammer out, as we say. — 
 et sulcis, etc., and by (not in) furrows (i. e. by ploughing) 
 might seek to have corn. One might have expected ut, but 
 all the MSS. read et, which may here mean for example. — 
 frumenti herbam, i. q.frumentariam herbam : see on Ec. v. 26. 
 — Ut silicis, etc., 'might strike out of stones the fire that lay 
 concealed in them,' was as it were thrust out of the way into 
 them. We do not think, with the critics, that there is any re- 
 ference here to v. 131. — Tunc alnos, etc., navigation then 
 commenced in the formation of canoes for crossing rivers, 
 
book i. 126-142. 159 
 
 made out of the alders that grew on their banks. — Navita, etc. 
 The further progress of navigation, when men ventured on 
 the open sea and guided their course by the stars, to which 
 they were necessarily led to give more attention. They there- 
 fore counted them, divided them into constellations, and gave 
 them names, such as the following. — Pleiadas, etc. In imita- 
 tion of Hesiod, he makes this word of four syllables ; the last 
 is long by arsis. The Pleiades are in the neck of Taurus, the 
 Hyades in his hinder part : see Mythology, p. 464. Arctos 
 is the Bear, into which Callisto, the daughter of Lycaon, was 
 changed. lb. p. 425. — Turn laqueis, etc., hunting and fowl- 
 ing were then invented: laqueis, in nets.— -fallere, sc. aves, 
 — visco, with bird-lime, which was made from the juice of the 
 viscus, or mistletoe. — et magnos, etc. : see on Ec. x. 57- — At- 
 que alius, etc., fishing was also invented, and was practised 
 first in the rivers, and then in the se&.—funda. This was 
 probably the net which may be seen still employed in the 
 rivers and harbours of France and Italy : it is in form like 
 a large landing-net, and has lead at the bottom to sink it ; it 
 is suspended from a pole, which is set at an angle of 45 de- 
 grees or less, in the stern of a boat, which is moored in one of 
 the deepest parts of the river. The net is provided with bait, 
 lowered into the water by means of a pulley-wheel at the end 
 of the pole and let sink to the bottom ; and after remaining 
 there for some time (a quarter of an hour perhaps), it is slowly 
 drawn up by pulling the cord that goes over the pulley. — 
 verberat. This expresses the plash which the net makes when 
 let fall on the water. — 142. Alta petens, seeking the depths; 
 because, as we have just observed, the net was used in the 
 middle of the stream. In joining alta petens with the pre- 
 ceding verse, we have, with Voss, Wunderlich and Jahn, fol- 
 lowed the punctuation of the Medicean MS. and the natural 
 order of the words. There is however another interpretation, 
 mentioned by Servius, and adopted by Heyne and Forbiger, 
 which puts a stop after amnem, and joins alta petens with pe- 
 lagoque, etc. Wagner, who in his text had given the former, 
 in the Quaest. "Virg. xxxiv. 2. adopts the latter, giving a num- 
 ber of instances of what he considers a similar construction, 
 
160 
 
 GEORGICS. 
 
 such as Aen. v. 442 ; xii. 508. : he therefore regards pefogo 
 as being added by way of epexegesis. But Jahn observes, 
 that in that case it should be pelagus. For the employment of 
 alius in the sense of profundus, applied to a river, see iv. 333 ; 
 Ov. Met. v. 385 ; Tr. i. 8, 1 ; and in prose Caesar says (Bell. 
 Civ. iii. 77) altissimis fluminibus. — 142. Una, the drag-net, 
 which is very long ; or simply the fishing-lines. — 143. Turn, 
 sc. venit in usum, v. 145. — ferri rigor, i. q. rigidum ferrum ; 
 Lucretius has (i. 493) auri rigorem. — atque, and particularly. 
 He gives a single instance of the implements that were then 
 invented. This, as we shall see, is a frequent practice with 
 our poet. — argutae, etc., the blade of the shrill saw. — primi, 
 sc. homines, the men of the Golden Age ; or rather, before that 
 time : see on Ec. i. 46. — Improbus, persevering : see on v. 119. 
 — egestas, want, especially of food. This leads the poet back 
 to his subject. 
 
 147-159. Prima Ceres. The invention of agriculture was 
 universally ascribed to this goddess.— ferro, i. e. vomere, rastro, 
 ligone. etc. — instituit, taught. — cum jam glandes, etc. When 
 the mast and arbutus-berries of the sacred wood (i. e. woods) 
 began to fail. Heyne makes silvae the nom., and glandes and 
 arbuta the ace us., with quoad understood. The other inter- 
 pretation seems far preferable. Woods were called sacred, as 
 being dedicated to gods. — Dodona, i. e. the oaks of Dodona. 
 — labor, annoyance, injury. Cf. v. 79, and ii. 343, 372. — 151. 
 Esset, the imperf. subj. of edo. — robigo, the blight or mildew. 
 The Romans worshiped a deity named Robigus or Robigo, in 
 order to avert it : see Ovid, Fast. iv. 905, seq. with our notes. 
 — segnis carduus, the worthless, unproductive (sc. of food) 
 thistle. — horreret, i would bristle up', very descriptive of the 
 thistle. The original meaning of horreo seems to have been 
 to bristle, to stand on end; and, as the hair rises in terror, it 
 came to signify to fear. Virgil often employs it in its original 
 sense : see ii. 69, 142 ; Aen. xi. 602. — segetes, the corn. — subit, 
 comes up in its stead. — silva. See on v. 76. — nitentia cidta, 
 answering to the nitidae fruges of Lucretius, i. 253. — Infelix, 
 etc.: see on Ec. v. 37. — 155. Quod. Fleyne and Voss say this 
 is propter quod, referring to ii. 425, where hoc is thus used ; 
 
book i. 142-164. 161 
 
 but see on Ec. ix. 14. — herbam, the weeds : see v. 69. This is 
 the reading of all the best MSS. ; Heyne and Voss prefer the 
 common one of terram, but Heyne manifestly misunderstood 
 the poet in this place. — insectabere, as if they were noxious 
 reptiles. — ruris opaci, of the shady trees. — Falce premes, cut 
 away with the pruning-hook. Premant Calena falce vitem, 
 Hor. C. i. 31, 9.— -umbram, i. e. the branches that make the 
 shade. Umbram is the reading of the Medicean and some of 
 the best MSS., and of some of those of Servius. Heyne and 
 Voss, to avoid the rime with imbrem, prefer the reading of 
 umbras. We may however observe, that the arsis falls on the 
 last syllable of umbram and the first of imbrem, so that there 
 is no jingle : an attention to this circumstance will remove 
 nearly all the supposed jingles from the Latin poets.— -frustra, 
 to no purpose, as you will have no corn of your own. — Con~ 
 cussaque, etc. ' you will be obliged to live on the acorns which 
 you will shake from the trees in the woods.' 
 
 160-175. Having brought the culture of corn thus far, he 
 now stops to notice the principal implements with which the 
 husbandman should provide himself. — arma, implements : see 
 Aen. i. 1 77 ; v. 15 ; vi. 355. — > Quis sine, i. q. sine quibus. Quis 
 or queis is an old form of the dat. and abl. : see Ec. i. 73 ; Aen. i. 
 95; v. 511 ; vii. 570, and elsewhere. The preposition is fre- 
 quently placed after the relative pronoun, —potuere, i. e. pos- 
 sunt: see on v. 49. — Vomis, etc., first of all the plough, wag- 
 gons, etc. — robur aratri, i. e. robustum aratrum, like rigor ferri, 
 v. 143. Here also he follows Lucretius, who has robore saxi 
 (i. 881), and roboraferri (ii. 449). — Tarda, i. q. tarde, the adj. 
 for the adv. in the usual manner. — Elevsinae matris, i. e. of 
 Demeter or Ceres, who was chiefly worshiped at Eleusis in 
 Attica. She is called Mater, either in allusion to her name 
 Demeter, i. e. Mother Earth, or because Mater in the Roman 
 religion was equivalent to goddess : see Mythology, p. 507. — 
 164. Tribidaque traheaeque, implements for threshing out the 
 corn. — iniquo, i. e. non aequo, not moderate, i. e. very heavy. 
 The Romans used aequus said Justus in the sense of moderation, 
 as applied to material things ; for what is moderate is just. For 
 the description of all these implements and of the plough, which 
 
162 GEORGICS. 
 
 we meet in ?;. 171, seq., see Terms of Husbandry, s. v. — 165. 
 Virgea, etc. The baskets, etc. made of osier and other plants, 
 which were of little cost or value as compared with the prece- 
 ding implements. He calls them supellex, because they were kept 
 in the farmhouse. — Celei, of Celeus, who entertained Ceres at 
 Eleusis, and whom she taught agriculture. — crates, the bush- 
 harrows : see v. 95. It appears from this that they were usu- 
 ally made of arbutus-boughs. — mystica vannus lacchi, the fan 
 used in the winnowing of corn. He calls it mystic because it 
 was carried in the procession of the Eleusinian mysteries, in 
 which Iacchus was the -n-apecpos of the goddess. He is not to 
 be confounded with Bacchus, though Virgil seems to do it 
 (Ec. vi. 15; vii. 51), for he was the son of Ceres; whence 
 Lucretius says (iv. 1162), At gemina et mammosa Ceres est 
 ipsa ab laccko, i. e. after having given birth to Iacchus. — 
 digna, deserved, merited. Cf. Ec. v.-ii; x. 10. — divini. The 
 Greek llos, the old Latin dius, in the sense of noble, excellent. 
 Some say divine, as being the abode of the rural gods. 
 
 169. Continuo, first of all : see on v. 60. The first thing to 
 be done in making a plough is to select a proper piece of elm 
 for forming the curved part of it, named the buris. The poet 
 would seem to say, that the elm as it grew was to be bent by 
 main force into the requisite form, and possibly, ignorant as he 
 practically was of agriculture, such may have been his mean- 
 ing. But the thing is physically impossible ; the utmost the 
 ancient carpenter could have done was, as shipwrights do 
 with regard to the timbers, as they are called, in a ship, to look 
 out for a piece of wood which nature had brought as nearly 
 as possible to the required form. Flexa may then signify 
 bent by nature, and magna vi merely denote the labour of the 
 carpenter in sawing and turning it into shape. — curvi aratri, 
 of the curved part of the plough, i. e. the buris. — Huic, sc* 
 buri. — a stirpe, from its upper end.— protentus, sc. est. This, 
 we think, is simpler than, as is usually done, to supply aptatur ; 
 for the temo is not fitted on like the awes and dentalia. — aures, 
 sc. aptantur. — Caeditur, etc. Here we have another difficulty : 
 he seems to speak of cutting a piece of lime-wood for the 
 yoke, of beech for we know not what, and a plough-handle of 
 
book i. 165-178. 163 
 
 we know not what wood. Martyn, who is followed by Voss, 
 Manso, Wunderlich and Forbiger, would read stivae for stiva- 
 que, supposing the handle to be of beech ; but this is contrary 
 to all the MSS. Wagner, taking the meaning to be the same, 
 regards fagus stivaque as a hendyadis ; Jahn, who asserts this 
 to be almost a solecism, agrees with those who, like Ruaeus, 
 think that the meaning is, that the yoke is to be either lime or 
 beech, and the handle of some other wood. With these we 
 agree, and think that the poet, who so frequently uses que in 
 the sense of ve, may have done the. same in this place, and 
 hence all the difficulty.-— -currus imos, the bottom or under- 
 part of the plough. He terms the plough currus, because it 
 runs (currif), for the same reason that a carriage was so called. 
 Wagner, following two MSS., reads cursus, but nothing would 
 be gained by the change. Servius says, " Currus dixit prop- 
 ter morem provinciae suae in qua aratra habent rotas quibus 
 juvantur." Pliny (xviii. 1 8) says that the Gauls (Galliae) had 
 added two little w T heels to the plough ; and it is the wheel- 
 plough that is chiefly used in Lombardy at the present day. 
 Still we think that the poet had only the ordinary plough in 
 view. — a tergo, behind. — torqueat, may turn, i. e. incline to 
 either side. — Etsuspensa, etc. When the wood for making the 
 plough had been cut, it was to be hung up in the farm- 
 kitchen, where the smoke would have access to it, to season it 
 before it was used. In this description of the plough, etc. Virgil 
 evidently had Hesiod in view, whose plough we shall notice in 
 the Terms of Husbandry. 
 
 176, 177- 'I can give you (i. e. Maecenas, or rather farmer,) 
 many precepts handed down from our forefathers, if you do 
 not think them beneath your attention.' The following are 
 examples. 
 
 178-186. Area, the threshing-floor, which was a part of the 
 
 field prepared for the purpose : see Varro, R. R. i. 51 cum 
 
 primis, sc. rebus, 'it is a matter of the greatest importance that,' 
 etc. — ingenti, etc., is to be levelled with a heavy rolling-stone. 
 — Et vertenda, etc., 'it is to be formed of tenacious clay, which 
 must be well-kneaded in the hand.' This is a hysteron-prote- 
 ron, as the floor must be made before it is rolled. — creta, chalk, 
 
164 GEORGICS. 
 
 used for argilla or potter's clay, like arena, v. 105. — 180. Ne 
 subeant, etc. The reason why it is to be made thus solid is, that 
 grass may not grow in it, and that it may not crack. — pulvere 
 victa, overcome by the dust, i. e. by the heat of summer that 
 makes dust. — Turn, i. e. et turn, and then (i. e. if the area 
 cracks) mice and ether vermin will settle in the fissures. — 
 illudant, may play in, i. e. destroy ; for what is sport to them 
 is destructive to the farmei ; see ii. 375. — Saepe exiguus mus, 
 etc. ' Thus, for example, the little mouse (exiguus, epith. or- 
 nans) often makes her nest and collects her stock of grain 
 under the floor.' The perf. is used here as an aorist. — oculis 
 capti, blind, litt. taken in the eyes, like mente captus. The 
 eyes of the mole are very small (like pinholes), their only use 
 being to warn him of his coming into the light. The ancients 
 therefore, who were not the most accurate of observers, re- 
 garded him as being totally blind. Talpa is here masc, like 
 dama, iii. 539 ; Ec. viii. 28. — bufo, the toad : this word occurs 
 nowhere else in the classics. — et quae plurima, old re ttoXXo. 
 — Curculio, the weevil. This larva is well-known to be very 
 destructive to corn and flour, but only in the granary. Even 
 with us corn is not left long enough on the barn-floor to be 
 attacked by it.— populat, ravages, it is so destructive. — -farris, 
 of far, i. e. of grain in general. — inopi senectae, for its needy 
 old-age. By the old-age of the ant he can only mean the 
 winter. Cf. Aen. iv.403 ; Hor. S. i. 1, 33 seq. Aelian (X. A. 
 ii. 25) gives a minute description of the manner in which the 
 ants plunder the corn from the area, and he adds that they 
 bore through the grains that they may not germinate. It is 
 however all an error ; the ants are carnivorous rather than gra- 
 nivorous: they have no store-houses, like bees; their chief 
 food is the honey-dew, i. e. the sweet substance secreted by 
 the insects named aphides or blighters, which they draw from 
 the bodies of the insects themselves, which are therefore called 
 their cows : they also extract the fluids from dead insects, 
 lizards, etc., and from ripe fruit : they are torpid during the 
 greater part of the winter. 
 
 187-192. The signs by which the goodness or badness of 
 the future harvest may be prognosticated. — Contemplator item, 
 
book i. 180-193. 165 
 
 Observe. A formula taken as usual from Lucretius, who has, 
 eontemplator enim cum solis lumina, etc., ii. 113, and contem- 
 plator enim cum-...nubila, etc., vi. 189. — nux, the almond, as 
 Servius and the commentators in general understand it. This, 
 as is well-known, is one of the earliest trees in flower, and it 
 is entirely covered with blossoms. But nux alone always sig- 
 nifies the walnut, and the leaves of that tree are fragrant ; we 
 therefore think with Martyn that nux here also is the walnut. 
 — plurima. This agrees with nux, and is not the plural of 
 plurimum taken adverbially : see on Ec. vii. 60. — Induet in 
 jiorem, ' will be covered with blossom/ litt. will give itself into 
 blossom. Induo is in-do. The prose-writers on agriculture 
 say, perhaps less correctly, induere se jiore ; for which form 
 see iv. 142. — etramos, etc., 'and will bend its fragrant boughs'; 
 apoeticway of saying (as Wagner observes) 'its curved boughs 
 will be fragrant.' A bough is never bent by the weight of its 
 leaves or blossoms. — Si superant fetus, ' if it makes a great 
 show of fruit,' i. e. if a great number of the blossoms set, as 
 the gardeners term it. There is no comparison instituted, 
 " nam proprie superant abundant est." Servius. — Magnaque, 
 etc., ' there will be a very hot summer and a great threshing,' 
 i. e. an abundant harvest. According to Hoblyn, they say in 
 the west of England, " When the nut sets well the corn kerns 
 (fills) well." In the north they say, " A haw year is a braw 
 year," from the hawthorn. — At si luxuria, etc., but should the 
 tree, instead of fruit, only show leaves, the harvest will be a bad 
 one. — umbra, the shade of the tree, which is denser (exuberat) 
 the more leaves there are on it. — Nequicquam, etc., ' you will 
 thresh to little purpose the stalks, which have only chaff, not 
 corn.' — pinguis palea, like pinguia crura luto, Juv. iii. 247*; 
 see also Hor. C. ii. 1, 29. — teret area culmos, i. q. culmi terentur 
 in area. 
 
 193-196. Directions for macerating or steeping the seeds 
 of the leguminous plants before they are sown : see Varro i. 
 57. — Semina, etc., 'I have seen many farmers pickle their 
 seed.' — nitro, the virpov (from vi£io),nitrum, of the ancients, was 
 not our nitre ; it was a mineral alkali, and was therefore used 
 in washing. — amurca, apopyrj: see Terms of Husbandry, s.v. 
 — 195. Grandior utfetus, etc The reasons why the seeds were 
 
166 GEORGICS. 
 
 pickled, namely that the produce might be greater, and that 
 it might be more easily cooked. Grandis is perhaps to be 
 taken here in the sense of abundant, as Columella seems to 
 have understood it; for when quoting this passage (ii. 10) he 
 substitutes laetior for grandior. — siliquisfallacibus, in the de- 
 ceptive pods ; for the pod is of the same size, whether the fruit 
 be large or small. — 196. proper ata, sc. semina. Instead of the 
 adverb properato, propere, he uses the participle : but perhaps 
 propero is to be taken in the sense of preparing, getting ready, 
 with the idea of speed included : see on iv. 171.— maderent, 
 with ut understood from v. 195, ' they might be cooked.' Thus 
 Plautus (Men. ii. 2, 51), Jam ergo haec madebunt faxo, 
 and (lb. i. 3, 29) madida, i. q. cocta. Two writers in the 
 Geoponics, Didymus (ii. 35) and Democritus (ii. 41), expressly 
 direct that beans, etc. should be steeped for a day before they 
 were sown in a solution of nitron in water, in order that they 
 might be cooked more easily (tVa ko\o\ wpos rriv e^riaiv w<n) : 
 see also Theophrast. Hist. PI. ii. 5. and Palladius, xii. 1. 
 
 197-203. But pickling the seed and selecting it one time 
 will not suffice : the farmer must select his seed every year. — 
 spectata, etc., examined with great labour and care. — vis hu- 
 mana, i. q. homo ; a Grsecism after Lucretius v. 208. — Maxuma 
 quaeque, sc. semina. — sic omnia fatis, etc. From this slight 
 matter the poet rises into a general reflection on how every- 
 thing tends to decay, and requires constant care. — ruere, 
 referri. These, the critics say, are the historic inf. ; or, as 
 Wagner terms it, the inf. absolute : see his Quaest. Virg. xxx. 
 We think however that though prose-writers, as Sallust and 
 Livy, may use the inf. for the imperf. indie, the same is not the 
 case with poets, and that sum, videor, incipio, soleo, or some 
 other verb is to be understood before these infinitives as in 
 this place and Aen. iv. 422; xi. 821, soleo; so in Horace 
 (C.iii. 16, 8), fore enim tutum iter et patens, sc. norant, as the 
 scholiast observes) : cf. Aen. i. 444. — subigit, urges up : cf. 
 Aen. vi. 302; Lucr. ii. 193. — Atque, i. q. statim, say Gellius 
 (x. 29) and Servius. We think they are nearly right. The 
 signification of atque in this construction seems to be and 
 forthwith, with at times, as here, a kind of pause before it. 
 Si in jus vocat atque cat XII. Tables; Ille atque praectps 
 
book i. 195-208. 167 
 
 cam armis procidit ante proram, Liv. xxvi. 39; At que Mud 
 prono praeceps agitur decursu, Catull. lxv. 23, which place 
 our poet evidently had in view. Cf. Ec. vii. 7 ; Aen. iv. 663 ; 
 vi. 160; vii. 29. We should make a pause after remisit, and 
 understand, 'all his labour is undone,' or something of that 
 kind. Wunderlich understands by ilium the boat; alveus, 
 the current. 
 
 204-207. The husbandman must attend to the rising and 
 setting of the constellations as much as the sailor : he gives 
 three of them as examples. — Arcturi. The principal star in 
 Bootes, put here for the entire sign : see on v. 68. — Haedorum. 
 The Kids are two stars in the arm of Auriga. This constel- 
 lation, Pliny says (xviii. 28 and 31), rises on the 25th of April 
 and 27th of September, and brings stormy weather. — servandi, 
 i. q. observandi. — Anguis. This sign is situated between the 
 two Bears near the north pole. — in patriam, i. e. in Italiam. — 
 vectis, i. e. qui vehuntur in navibus. — Pontus, sc. Euxinus. 
 This sea was very stormy, especially in the spring and autumn, 
 the time when the above-named constellations rose,-— -fauces 
 Abydi, the strait of the Hellespont. He calls it ostriferous, 
 as it abounded with oysters. Ennius (following Archestratus, 
 a Greek poet) says, Mures suntAeni,ast aspra ostrea plurima 
 Abydi. Cf. Catull. xviii. 4* Oysters are still to be found there. 
 — tcntantur, are tried : see on Ec. i. 50. 
 
 208-230. The poet now specifies the times of sowing the 
 various kinds of seeds. — Libra, the Balance, as the space be- 
 tween the signs of the Scorpion and the Virgin was named : 
 see on v. 33. — die for diet, an old form of the gen. and dat. of 
 the fifth declension : see Plaut. Amph. i. 1, 120 ; Poen. iv. 2, 
 68 ; Hor. C. iii. 7, 4 ; Ov. Met. iii. 341 ; vi. 506 ; vii. 728 ; 
 Cic. Rose. Amer. 45, 131 ; Sail. Jug. 21, 2 ; 52, 3 ; Tac. Ann. 
 iii. 34. Gellius (ix. 14) says, that in a copy of this poem 
 which was said to be Virgil's own autograph the reading was 
 dies ; and Wagner is inclined to regard this as the true read- 
 ing, only taking it as an ace. plur., not a gen. sing. The final 
 s, he says, may have been absorbed in consequence of the 
 next word beginning with that letter. — somni, i. e. noctis, the 
 effect for the cause. — pares horas. At the equinoxes (and he 
 
168 GEORGICS. 
 
 here means the autumnal one) the day and night are each of 
 twelve hours. — 209. Et medium, etc., and equally divides the 
 circle between light and shade, i. e. while the sun is passing 
 through one half of his diurnal course (orbem) it is day, while 
 through the other it is night. — 210. Exercete tauros, i. e. plough 
 the land for seed. Tauros, i. q. boves. — hordea : see on Ec. v. 
 36. — Usque, etc., until toward mid-winter. It is only in the 
 Apennines that there is frost and snow in the early part of the 
 winter ; in the rest of Italy it is only the rain that impedes 
 the husbandman. He calls the bruma intractabilis, because 
 field-work cannot be done in it. By bruma we are to under- 
 stand (like solstitium, v. 100) the time before and after the 
 bruma. Barley here (like spelt, v. 101) seems to stand for all 
 kinds of grain, for the agricultural writers direct far and wheat 
 to be sown at this time. At the present day in Italy, barley 
 is sown in the spring. — extremum. The difficulty which this 
 term presented to Marty n may be perhaps best obviated by 
 supposing that in Virgil's usual manner, though joined with 
 imbrem, it really belongs to brumae, merely denoting that the 
 bruma was at the end of the year. Pliny says expressly. Hor- 
 deum nisi sit siccum ne serito. The meaning of the poet then 
 is, that barley might be sown even in December. — Necnon, 
 etc., it is also time to sow flax- and poppy-seed. Seges is here 
 used, with the ordinary poetic licence, for the seed. He calls 
 the poppy Cei^eal as being sacred to the goddess Ceres, as she 
 was said to have calmed her grief for the loss of her daughter 
 by eating its seeds.— -jamdudum, already, intimating haste. — 
 nubila pendent, the clouds are suspended, do not yet come 
 down in rain. The flax was sown all through October and 
 November, the poppy in September and October. We sow 
 flax only in the spring. The reason why we sow it and barley 
 and beans so much later than is directed here, is on account 
 of the severity of our winter, which only wheat, rye, and one 
 kind of vetch can stand. Hence, as Martyn observes, may 
 be explained Exod. ix. 31, 32 : " And the flax and the barley 
 was smitten, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was 
 boiled (in blossom). But the wheat and the spelt (not rye) 
 were not smitten, for they were not grown up (were not yet 
 
book i. 208-220. 169 
 
 in ear)." — 215. Vere fabis satio, etc., spring is the time for 
 sowing beans, lucerne and millet. Varro and the other writers 
 on agriculture say that beans should be sown in October or 
 November. — Medica, sc. herba, ij Mi^m) (noa), lucerne or 
 Burgundy trefoil: it was so called as having been brought 
 into Greece from Media, or rather the East. Columella (ii. 11) 
 directs that it should be sown in April on land that had been 
 ploughed up in the beginning of October, and left fallow all 
 through the winter : hence the poet says putres sulci. It lasted 
 ten years in the ground. — 216. milio venit annua cura, ' an- 
 nual care comes to the millet'; because, contrary to the lucerne, 
 it required to be sown every year. — Candidus, etc. The time 
 for sowing millet is when the sun enters Taurus, i. e. in April ; 
 but how beautifully is this expressed ! " When the gleaming 
 bull with his gilded horns opens the year." There are two 
 allusions here, the latter of which has escaped the critics : 
 the one is to a derivation of the name of the month in aperit 
 annum ; the other to the Roman Triumph in which milk-white 
 oxen with gilded horns, which were afterwards offered in sa- 
 crifice to Jupiter on the Capitol, opened the procession : see 
 Plut. Aemil. Paulus, 33. — Canis, Sirius, the dog-star. This 
 star sets heliacally, i. e. is lost in the effulgence of the sun, a 
 few days after he has entered Taurus. It is therefore said to 
 give way (cedere) to this sign. — adverso astro, sc. Tauro, a 
 dat. ; for Taurus, from his position on the sphere, directs his 
 horns, as it were, against Sirius. The poet here too had an 
 image before his mind, namely that of a bull keeping off a 
 dog. — 219. At si, etc., 'But if you till your ground with a view 
 to wheat and spelt, your sowing should take place somewhat 
 later.' — robusta, hardy. — soils aristis, bearded grain alone (i. e. 
 wheat and spelt), as opposed to the beans, etc. of the preceding 
 verses. — Ante tibi, etc., ' Do not sow till the Pleiades and the 
 Crown of Ariadne have set,' i. e. not till after, the middle of 
 November. Pliny (ii. 47) and Didymus (Geopon. ii. 14) give 
 the 11th of November (III Id.) as the time of the cosmic or 
 morning setting of the Pleiades. According to Democritus 
 and Didymus (Geopon. ut sup.), Ptolemy and Aetius, the 
 Crown sets from the 15th of November to the 19th of Decern- 
 
170 GEORGICS. 
 
 ber. As however Columella (xi. 2, 73), Pliny (xviii. 74) and 
 Hyginus (Astron. 5) say that it rises in the beginning of Oc- 
 tober, it was considered by some that the poet had fallen here 
 into an error, which they proposed to emend by making dece- 
 dat signify depart from, sc. the sun, and thus mean rise. But 
 this is contrary to the poet's usual employment of this verb: see 
 vA50; iv. 466 ; Ec. ii. 67. — 222. Gnosia Stella. Ariadne, whose 
 crown was placed in the skies by Bacchus, was the daughter 
 of Minos, king of Cnossus, in Crete. Stella is here i. q. sidus. 
 The Crown is named ardens, or burning, on account of the 
 brightness of the stars composing it, one of which is of the 
 second magnitude. — Invitae terrae, to the earth unwilling, as 
 it were, to receive it, as conscious that she could not do it 
 justice, as being sown too soon. — properes credere, for credas, 
 to express more strongly his condemnation of the practice. — 
 225. Multi, etc., * Many, no doubt, have begun (i. e. do begin, 
 aoristice) their sowing before that time; but what has been 
 the consequence ? ' Columella says (xi. 2, 80), Vetus est agri- 
 colarum proverbium, Maturam sationem saepe decipere solere, 
 seram nunquam quin mala sit. Hoblyn notices an English 
 adage, " It is better to sow out of temper than out of season." 
 — Maiae, i. e. Pleiadum, of whom Maia was one. — vanis aris- 
 tis, with false lying ears; as containing no grains or small 
 ones. For this sense of vanus, see Aen. i. 392. — Si vero, etc. 
 But if you cultivate vetches, kidney-beans and lentils, you 
 should begin when Bootes (Arcturus, v. 204) sets achronyc- 
 ally, i. e. from the 29th of October to the 2nd of November, 
 and continue your sowing even after the frosts have begun. — 
 vilem, cheap ; on account of their abundance. — Pelusiacae, 
 i. e. Egyptian. Pelusium was a town at the mouth of the 
 most eastern branch of the Nile. Egypt was famed for its 
 lentils. — sementem, your sowing ; ace. of sementis. 
 
 231-256. The poet, from the consideration of the uses of 
 the celestial signs in directing the labours of the husbandman, 
 is led to a splendid digression on the zodiac, the zones, and 
 other subjects of astronomy. — Idcirco, etc. 'Therefore, for this 
 reason (i. e. the direction of the husbandman,) the golden 
 sun governs his annual path, which is measured out into parts, 
 
book i. 222-236. 171 
 
 through twelve signs of the heavens.' — orbem, sc. annuum. See 
 v. 209. Annuus exactis completur mensibus orbis, Aen. v. 46. 
 — duodena, i. e. duodecem. Cf. Ec. viii. 73. — mundi. The Ro- 
 mans named the vault of heaven mundus : see Ec. iv. 9, 50. 
 It may here be joined either with orbem or astra, or even with 
 sol : the construction with astra seems the most natural. — au- 
 reus sol. Ennius (Ann. i. 109. ed. Spang.) has simul aureus exo- 
 ritur sol. — 233. Quinque, etc. The ancient geographers divided 
 the meridian semicircle of the earth from north to south into 
 30 equal parts (each of 6 of our degrees), of which 15 were on 
 each side of the equator, and these they again divided into 
 three portions of unequal magnitude, thus forming five zones 
 or belts. For 4 parts, or 24 degrees on each side of the Line 
 (8 in all), formed what was named the Torrid Zone ; while the 
 succeeding 5 parts, or 30 degrees, i. e. from 24 to 54, com- 
 mencing at the Tropic, formed a zone on each side of the Torrid 
 Zone, which was called a Temperate Zone ; and 6 parts, or 36 
 degrees, that is, from this zone to the Pole, formed a zone 
 named Frigid. It was believed that the Temperate Zones 
 alone were habitable ; and as the progress of discovery led 
 men northward of the 54th degree, two parts were taken from 
 the Frigid and added to the Temperate Zones, which thus 
 ► contained 7 parts, and extended to the 66th degree of lati- 
 tude. — rube?is, red. Voss thinks that he may have used ru~ 
 bens of the Torrid, and caeruleus of the Frigid Zones, because 
 they were marked by these colours in the geographical tables, 
 which he fancies is intimated by Claudian De R. P. i. 257. 
 But Claudian most probably had this place of Virgil in view, 
 and it seems more likely that these colours were suggested to 
 the poet by nature. — 235. Quam circum extrema, etc. These 
 are the Frigid Zones, which he therefore calls extreme, or dis- 
 tant. The use of the word circum is not quite correct here, as 
 the zones are parallel, not concentric, circles. — trahuntur, are 
 drawn ; taken perhaps from the act of describing a circle. — 
 Caerulea glacie, with blue ice. Caeruleus is i. q. caeluleus 
 (from caelum), the first I for euphony being changed into r. 
 Its proper meaning is therefore azure, but it gradually came 
 to signify all shades of blue : see Aen. v. 10. — concretae. This 
 
 i2 
 
172 GEORGICS. 
 
 refers properly only to glacie, and not to imbribus, but liber- 
 ties of this kind must be conceded to a poet. Again, as it is 
 zones of heaven that he is speaking of (y. 233), the mention 
 of ice is not quite appropriate. — atris. Rains are so called, as 
 darkening the sky. — 237- mediam, sc. zonam. The torrid zone. 
 — mortalibus aegris, to wretched men, SeiXotai fiporolfft. Cf. 
 Aen. ii. 268. Primae frugiferos fetus mortalibus aegris 
 Dididerunt quondam praeclaro nomine Athenae, Lucr. vi. 1. — 
 238. via secta per ambas, sc. zonas temperatas, i. e. the Eclip- 
 tic, in which the earth really, the sun apparently, passes every 
 year. Per ambas is between both ; for as these zones begin 
 at the Tropics, the sun can never enter them. Per has the 
 same signification in v. 245. Via secta is, as usual, from Lu- 
 cretius, who says (v. 273), Qua via secta semel liquido pede 
 detulit undas. — 239. Obliquus, etc. In which the oblique order 
 of the signs might revolve. By obliquus is indicated the ob- 
 liquity of the ecliptic, which cuts the equator at an angle of 
 23^ degrees : but as the circle is immoveable, it is the sun, 
 and not the signs, that revolves in it. — Mundus, the celestial 
 vault, the visible heaven. — Scythiam. The whole North was 
 thus denominated : see on Ec. i. 66. — Rhipaeas arces, the Rhi- 
 paean mountains. Arx signifies any elevated point, as Rho-^~ 
 dopeiae arces, iv. 461 ; Parnasi arx, Ov. Met. i. 467. Th^l 
 Rhipaean mountains were supposed to be far away in the 
 north ; the Hyperboreans dwelt behind them : see Mytho- 
 logy, p. 34. — arduus consurgit, rises high, is elevated in the 
 northern hemisphere. — 241. premitur, is pressed down, sinks. 
 — devexus (from deveho), carried down, inclined. — Libyae in 
 austros, toward the south regions of Libya, i. e. in the south- 
 ern hemisphere. — 242. Hie vertex, this pole, sc. the northern. 
 TioXos (a 7roXew), or vertex (a verto), is that which revolves, 
 or that on which anything revolves. — semper sublimis, is al- 
 ways elevated, always over us, and therefore visible. — at ilium, 
 the other, the southern pole. — Sub pedibus, etc. According 
 to the cosmology of the ancients (see Mythology, p. 90), 
 the abode of the dead was within the earth: the southern 
 hemisphere therefore, if below us, was below them. Styx, 
 one of the rivers of Erebus, is put for the whole region. 
 
book i. 237-250. 173 
 
 Mams, in the Roman religion, were the departed spirits of 
 men : he terms them profundi from their abode, which was 
 deep within the earth. Wagner says that sub pedibus is sub 
 ped. nostris, referring to Aen. iv. 491 ; vi. 256, but we think 
 he is in error. Sub pedibus is merely below, under ; he was 
 led to employ this phrase by the personality of the Manes. — 
 244. Maximus hie, etc. Here the huge Snake with sinuous 
 bend glides along, like a river, around and between the two 
 Bears. He says around and between the Bears, because it 
 goes round the Lesser, and the Greater lies outside of it. — 
 metuentes tingi, i. e. non tinguntur, they never set. Thus Ho- 
 race has (C. ii. 2, 7), penna metuente solvi, i. e. non solvenda. 
 — ut perhibent, as they say ; for the southern hemisphere was 
 unknown to the ancients. Virgil frequently uses this phrase. 
 Cf. ii. 238 ; iv. 323, 507 ; Aen. iv. 179 ; viii. 135, 324.— intem- 
 pesta nox, dark night, in which nothing can be done. Varro 
 (L. L. vi. 7) says, "Inter vesperuginem (vesperum) et jubar 
 (phosphorum) dicta nox intempesta, ut in Bruto Cassii 
 quod dicebat Lucretia: Nocte intempesta no s tram de- 
 venit domum. Intempestam Aelius dicebat quom tempus 
 agendi est nullum, quod alii concubium appellarunt, quod 
 omnes fere tunc cubarunt ; alii ab eo quod sileretur, silen- 
 tium noctisr — 248. Semper, etc. 'And the darkness is always 
 rendered dense by the night being drawn over it.' This is little 
 more than a repetition of the preceding verse, and would seem 
 indebted for its origin to the necessity of introducing sem- 
 per. — Aut, etc. The other and the true hypothesis is, that 
 there was the same vicissitude of day and night there as here. 
 — Oriens, sc. Sol. Cf. Aen. v. 739. — adjlavit, has breathed, 
 i. e. breathes. The light airs that precede the rising of the 
 
 V. 244. Tds de di dfKporepas, o'ir) 7TOTafio7o d.7roppu)%, 
 
 EiXetroti, fieya Oavfia, dpaKuv, Trepi t afupi r eaycos 
 
 Mvpios' al d' apa 01 (nreiprjs eKarepQe tyvovrat 
 
 "Apicroi Kvaveov 7T€(pv\ay[X6vai uHceavoTo. — Arat. Phaen. 45. 
 
 V. 249. Illi cum videant solem, nos sidera noctis 
 
 Cernere, et alternis nobiscum tempora caeli 
 
 Dividere et noctes pariles agitare diesque. — Lucr. i. 1064. 
 
174? GEORGICS. 
 
 sun are poetically ascribed to the breathing of his horses. 
 Perhaps he calls them panting (anhelis), as they had had no 
 rest, but were coming up-hill from the Antipodes. On the cha- 
 riot and horses of the Sun, see Mythology, p. 53. — 251. Ulic 
 sera, etc. ' There the ruddy evening kindles its late lights,' i. e. 
 the stars. The image appears to be taken from the lighting 
 of lamps in a house at nightfall. In v. 461 we have vesper 
 serus for the evening. Vesper here however may be, as some 
 think, the evening-star, and lumina its own light ; rubens is 
 hardly an appropriate epithet for that brilliant star. — 252. 
 Hinc, etc. ' From this regular progress of the sun through the 
 zodiac we can foresee what kind of weather we are likely to 
 have, and regulate the operations of agriculture and naviga- 
 tion'. — tempestates. We would not, with Heyne, understand 
 this term of the four seasons, nor, with others, render it storms : 
 it is rather the various kinds of weather, as is intimated by the 
 following dubio caelo, in the changeable sky : see on v. 27. — 
 infidum marmor, the treacherous sea. From its shining be- 
 neath the rays of the sun, like polished marble, Homer named 
 the sea d\a fjiappapeqv. Ennius (xiv. 5. Spang.) and Lucre- 
 tius (ii. 766) both used marmor for the sea. — armatas, w/rXt- 
 apevas, rigged, fitted out. — deducere, to launch. The ancients 
 drew their vessels up on the shore during the winter. Cf. Hor. 
 C. i. 4, 1. — Ant, etc., 'or to cut down timber in the woods.' 
 The pine, though much used in shipbuilding, seems here to 
 mean timber in general. Instead of the adverb tempestive, in 
 proper season, he uses the adjective agreeing with the sub- 
 stantive. — 257. Necfrustra, etc. ' This observation of the rising 
 and setting of the signs and of the changes of the seasons is 
 therefore not to no purpose,' i. e. is very useful. — Temporibns, 
 the seasons. — par em. He joins this adjective, in his usual man- 
 ner, with annum, instead of temporibns ; for it is the seasons, 
 not the year, that are equal. 
 
 259-267. He now tells the husbandman how he may em- 
 ploy himself usefully in broken weather. — Frigidus imber, 
 cold rain. The epithet seems to belong to rain in general, 
 and not merely to that of winter, as is intimated by si quando, 
 if at any time. — properanda, 'which should be hurried through,' 
 
book i. 251-270. 175 
 
 and therefore probably be badly done. — Maturare, to prepare 
 in time. For this difference between properare and maturare, 
 see Gell. x. 11. — datur, sc. occasio, licet, you may. — durum, etc. 
 For example, the ploughman takes his worn share to the 
 forge and gets it pointed. — procudit, he hammers out, i. e. 
 causes to be hammered out. — cavat, etc. Another hollows out 
 troughs or bowls from the trunks of trees. The lintres were 
 used in the vintage, Cato 1 1 ; Tibull. i. 5, 23. Or perhaps lin- 
 tres may be taken in its original sense of canoes. — 263. Autpe- 
 cori, etc., 'or marks his sheep,' which was done as with us, by 
 putting on the owner's name with hot pitch : Colum. xi. 2, 14? 
 and 38 ; Calpurn. v. 84. — numeros, etc., 'puts (as Servius ex- 
 plains it) tablets on the sacks or vessels which contain his 
 corn, etc.,' indicating the quantity contained in them. The 
 verb impressit, we may observe, properly refers to pecori sig- 
 num. — Exacuunt alii, etc., ■ others point stakes and forks ', to 
 support their vines : see ii. 359 ; Colum. xi. 2. — Atque, etc., 
 <and prepare willows for tying the vines'. — Amerina, epith. or- 
 nans. Ameria in Umbria, near the Tiber, was famous for its 
 willows. — Nunc, etc., ' now too is the time for making baskets 
 of briars.' The adjective facilis properly belongs to virga : 
 see on v. 258.— -Jiscina. This was a basket into which the 
 grapes were gathered : Cato 26. Quod tu, mi gnate, qnaeso ut 
 in pectus tuum demittas, tanquam vindemiator in Jiscinam 
 Naevius in Andromache. — Nunc torrete, etc. This roasting, 
 or rather drying, of corn was probably equivalent to our kiln- 
 drying, previous to grinding : it was used chiefly with spelt, 
 millet, and panic, which, says Servius, " moli, nisi ante fue- 
 rint tosta, non possunt." Even in a great part of England 
 wheat is not kiln-dried. — frangite saxo, grind it : see Aen. i. 
 179; Lucr.i. 881. 
 
 268-275. Quippe etiam, etc. The connexion seems to be, 
 * You should not be idle on wet days, for even on holidays 
 some kinds of work are permitted.' — Fas et jura, divine and 
 human laws, according to Servius. — rivos deducere, to draw- 
 off the water which had been let in (inducta) on meadows for 
 the sake of irrigation. — Religio, i. e. religious scruple. — vetuit, 
 an aorist. — segeti, etc., repair, stop up gaps in, the hedges or 
 
176 GEORGICS. 
 
 fences of the corn-fields. " Pontifices negant" says Columella 
 (ii. 22), " segetem feriis saepiri debere." Saepire therefore 
 means, i make a new fence ; ' as it was the pontifical rule that 
 nothing new should be commenced on a holiday. " Ea die 
 festo sine piaculo dicunt posse fieri quae supra terram sunt, 
 vel quae omissa nocent, vel quae ad honorem deorum perti- 
 nent, et quidquid fieri sine institutione novi operis potest." 
 Servius. See a list of things that might be done in Colu- 
 mella, ut supra. — 271. avibus, for birds of prey, or for those 
 that injured the corn. — incendere vepres. This is not among the 
 cases given by Columella, and we must confess that we cannot 
 see the reason of it. The commentators do not notice it. 
 Perhaps the following remedy against blight in the vines given 
 by Pliny (xviii. 29) may explain it : Sarmenta out palearum 
 acervos, et evulsas herbas fruticesque per vineas camposque, cum 
 timebis, incendito ; fumus medebitur. — Balantum, etc. Pon- 
 tifices vetant quoque lanarum causa lavari oves ?iisi propter 
 medicinam, Colum. ut sup. Hence the poet adds Jiuvio sa- 
 lubriy to show that it was only this last case that he meant. 
 JBalantes, the bleaters, was an onomatopoeic name of sheep, 
 already employed by Lucretius ii. 379; vi. 1130. The poet 
 in using it here may, as Forbiger thinks, have alluded to the 
 loud bleating of sheep when they are washed. — Saepe oleo, etc. 
 Markets were also held on holidays (as they are still on Sun- 
 days in the south of Europe), at which the country-people 
 could sell the produce of their farms or gardens. — agitator 
 aselli, not the asinarius or ass-driver, but the peasant who 
 thus employs his ass to carry his oil or his apples, pears, etc., 
 to market. — vilibus, cheap or common. Cf. v. 227. — lapidem 
 incusum, a mill-stone in which grooves are cut, that it may 
 crush the corn more quickly and better. There is no autho- 
 rity for taking, as Heyne does, incusus as non cusus, rudis, 
 asper : see above on v. 83. — massam picis, a lump of pitch, for 
 marking his sheep, repairing his wooden vessels, etc. 
 
 276-286. Ipsa dies, etc. The days of the month, too, are, 
 like those of the year, divided into two classes, as there are 
 some of them on which it is not lucky to do any work. In 
 this place the poet no doubt had Hesiod in view, but Pliny 
 
book 1.271-281. 177 
 
 (xviii. 32, 75) says he rather followed Democritus. — alios. 
 This is masculine, though we have presently quintam, septuma, 
 nona. Sosip. Charisius (i. p. 18) says, " Sciamus pluraliter 
 feminine hae dies et has dies non oportere nos dicere." See 
 Zumpt, § 86. Wunderlich aptly quotes Tibul. iii. 6, 62. Venit 
 post multos una serena dies. — dedit, aorist — 277. Felices ope- 
 rum, i. e. lucky (or rather not unlucky) days. — pallidus Orcus, 
 sc. satus est. Orcus is the Latin word answering to the Hades 
 or Pluto of the Greeks, and is always a person, never a place. 
 See Mythology, p. 551. He is called pale on account of the 
 paleness of death. — Eamenides, the Furies. How strangely 
 the poet seems to have misunderstood the passage of Hesiod 
 which he was imitating ! He actually confounds the Greek 
 "Opxos (oath) with the Latin Orcus, and makes the Eumenides 
 also be born on this day ! — Coeum lapetumque, the Titans, a 
 part for the whole. — creat, i. e. creavit. Cf. Ec. vi. 30 ; viii. 45 ; 
 Aen. ix. 266. This contraction of the praet. is frequent in 
 Lucretius. — Typhoea. The two last syllables are contracted 
 into one, like Orphea, Ec. vi. 30; see also Aen. vi. 33; x. 116. 
 Typhoeus (Tvcpwevs) was a monster with a hundred heads, the 
 offspring of Earth and Tartarus, who was struck with a thun- 
 derbolt by Jupiter and buried under Mount iEtna. — 280. Et 
 conjuratos, etc. Though what the poet here tells was related 
 by Homer (Od. xi. 304 seq.) of the Abides, Otus and Ephialtes, 
 we think it is the Giants he means, who were the children of 
 Earth, while Neptune and Iphimedia were the parents of the 
 Aloides. Elsewhere (Aen. vi. 582) he relates this act of the 
 Aloides, and his memory may have played him false on the 
 present occasion. We doubt if conjurati would have been 
 used of only two. — rescindere, to tear down, as it were, the 
 rampart of; as Aen. ix. 524. — 281. Ter sunt, etc. The slow- 
 
 V. 277. TLefi7rras o' e%a\eaaQai eirel xa\67rai re icai alvai. 
 'Bv Treprrry yap <f>a<riv 'Epivvas apcpmoXeveiv 
 "Opkov yeivopevov tov "Epis reice 7rf?// e7rtopfcois. 
 
 Hes. "Epy. 802. 
 V. 281. "Oauav en Ov\vp,7T(j) fxe/xacrav Qefxev, aurdp ex' 'Ocrtry 
 JlrjXiov eivo<Ti<pv\\ov 'iv ovpavbs d/z/5ar6s elrj. 
 
 Horn. Od. xi. 314. 
 I 5 
 
178 GEORGICS. 
 
 ness of the movement in this and the preceding line is evi- 
 dently intentional, in order to express the efforts of the brethren. 
 The feet of v. 280 are, all but one, spondees, and in this verse 
 the i in conati is not elided before imponere, and is long as being 
 in arsis, while the o in Pelio is not elided, but is short, being 
 in thesis. — 282. Scilicet in this place, like En ! is intended 
 to arouse the attention of the reader. — Pater, Jupiter : see on 
 v. 121. — Septuma post decimam. This may either mean, the 
 tenth is lucky and next to it the seventh, and Hesiod has them 
 both among his lucky days ; or simply the seventeenth. We 
 agree with Voss in taking it in the latter sense. He quotes 
 Manilius, iv. 462, Septima post decimam luctum et vicesima 
 portat, and v. 449, Similis quoque tertia pars est Post decimam. 
 — 285. prensos, caught, as they had been previously in some 
 measure wild. Cf. iii. 207. — licia telae addere, to put threads 
 on the loom, to commence weaving. The tela is the loom, the 
 licia the stamina, sultemen or woof. — nona- fugae melior, etc. 
 The reason of this is not very plain. The ninth, it is said, 
 because there is then some moonlight, is advantageous for a 
 runaway-slave, as he can then see where he is going ; while 
 the dark would suit a thief muc^ better. 
 
 287-296. But it is not merely in the d^y-une that the 
 farmer has occupation ; there are many things that are best 
 done in the night. — adeo. This word, Forbiger says, like the 
 Greek particle ye, adds emphasis to the word to which it is 
 joined : but see on Ec. i. 12. — gelida, cold, as opposed to the 
 day. — se dedere, aorist, allow themselves to be done, i. e. may 
 be done. — sole novo, just as the sun is rising. — Eous, ku>os, sc. 
 atrrijp, Lucifer, the morning-star ; see Aen. iii. 588. Te ma- 
 tutinus jlentem conspexit Eous, Et jleniem paullo vidit post 
 Hesperus idem, Cinna in Smyrna. — stipulae. The ancients in 
 their reaping usually only cut off the heads of the corn, leaving 
 the straw to be cut afterwards. See Terms of Husbandry.' — 
 
 V. 284 Kovpy ce re rerpds 
 
 Me<70ifc T/j ce re }xr)\a Kai ei\i7rocas eXiKas /3oi>s, 
 Kai kvi'ci tcapxapocovra Kai ovpfjas raXaepyovs 
 Hpi)vveiv errl x e ^P a TiOeis, — Hes. "Epy. 79-1. 
 
book i. 282-297. 179 
 
 289. arida prata, upland meadows, as opposed to irriguous 
 ones. The reason for this and the preceding precept is, that 
 the dews of night and morn make the straw and grass resist the 
 scythe. Our gardeners usually mow the short grass on plea- 
 sure-grounds early in the morning or in the evening for this 
 reason. — nodes, the ace. plur. governed of deficit. Some read 
 nociis, others node. — lenlus, tough, i. e. that makes tough. — 
 Et quidam, etc. The foregoing are the occupations of the 
 summer-nights ; the following belong to winter-nights. — seros, 
 etc., sits up late by the light of the fire in winter. So we 
 would understand it (and not by the light of the lamp), taking 
 ad luminis ignes to be i. q. ad lumen ignis. We doubt if 
 ignes is ever used of the flame of a lamp. Cf. ii. 432. — 292. 
 faces inspicat, points torches, i. e. makes them, as they were 
 always brought to a point. — Interea, etc. While he is thus 
 engaged, his wife is occupied with her loom ; spinning and 
 weaving being the chief occupations of domestic females in 
 ancient times. — cantu, with singing. See Aen. vii. 12; Horn. 
 Od. x. 221. — solata, i. q. solans : see on Ec. iii. 106. — Arguto, 
 etc. He repeats this verse slightly altered, Aen. vii. 14. The 
 pecten in a loom is the comb, or that part which drives up the 
 warp or transverse thread every time the shuttle is thrown. 
 As it makes a noise in the operation he calls it arguius — Aut 
 dulcis, etc. Or else he boils down the must or new wine to the 
 consistence of sapa or defrutum (see on iv. 268), skimming it 
 with vine-leaves. This verse is hypermetric, the em in humo- 
 rem being elided by the vowel with which the next commences. 
 — Vulcano, fire : see Aen. vii. 77. — tindam trepidi aheni, i. e. 
 tindam trepidam akeni, by the usual transposition. 
 
 297-310. He now passes to the day-time and the work to 
 be done in it, namely, in summer-time, reaping and threshing. 
 — rubicunda Ceres, the corn (i. e. wheat) that is growing 
 brown. Antequam ex toto grana indurescant, cum rubicun- 
 dum colorem traxerunt messis facienda est, Colum. ii. 21, 2. 
 Ceres is put for corn, like Vulcanus for fire, v. 295. — succidi- 
 tur, because in general only the heads were cut off. — medio 
 aestu. These words have perplexed the commentators : their 
 natural sense is in the mid-day heat of summer ; but that is 
 
180 GEORGICS. 
 
 not the time for reaping, though it is for threshing. Wagner 
 says, " Hoc praecipi videtur a poeta, ut messio fiat non ipso 
 quideni medio die, ubi quiescebant messores, sed per totum 
 diem reliquum." Voss and Forbiger understand it in the 
 same manner ; yet it seems a strange way of saying that mid- 
 day is not mid-day. We could almost suspect the poet of 
 some inaccuracy of language in assigning the same time of 
 the day to reaping and threshing. The precept in Theocritus 
 (x. 50) is directly contrary to that of our poet : " Ap^eaQai (sc 
 eel) cifnovras eyeipofxevot KopvSaWuj, Kat A//yeiv eucWros* e\i- 
 vvaai Ik to Kavp.a, i. e. to work in the morning and evening, 
 and rest in the heat of the day. Perhaps Virgil had in his 
 mind the following passage of Catullus (lxiv. 355), Namque 
 velut densas prosternens cultor aristas Sole sub ardenti 
 flaventia demetit arva. — 298. Et medio, etc. Here the precept 
 is quite correct, for Theocritus (ib. 48) says, 'Zi-ov aXoiwvras 
 <f>evyev to fxeffafxfjpivov inrroV 'E/c KaXcifxas ayypov TeXedei ra- 
 fxoace fidXioTa. This is still the practice in the South. Sis- 
 mondi (Essai sur 1' Agriculture Toscane, c. 12) tells us that 
 " the country-people do not begin to thresh the corn till the 
 sun is burning hot, that is, at that time -of the year between 
 seven and eight o'clock; and they complain greatly if he 
 happens to be obscured by a cloud ; for the hotter his rays, the 
 easier is their work ; the grain is rendered thereby more elastic, 
 and detaches itself more freely from the hull." — tostas, dried, 
 on account of the heat. — terit area friiges, i. e.fruges teruntur 
 in area. Cf. v. 192. — Nudus ara, etc. The meaning of this is, 
 6 Plough and sow in the spring and autumn, when you can go 
 without your upper garments.' Thus the envoys of the Senate 
 found Cincinnatus nudum arantem. — hiems ignava colono. 
 The winter is the farmer's idle time. By hiems was under- 
 stood the rainy season, of about a fortnight before and a fort- 
 night after the bruma. — Frigoribus, i. e. hiemc. — -parto. what 
 they have gained by their toil through the rest of the year. — 
 convivia curant, they devote themselves to feasting. — getiialis 
 
 V. 299 yvfivbv (nreipeiv, yvfivbv ce {3ou)Te1v, 
 
 Tv[xvbv 6' ajiaav. — Hes. "Epy. 391. 
 
book 1.298-308. 181 
 
 hiems. According to the Italian theology every man had his 
 guardian spirit or Genius, which it is difficult to distinguish 
 from himself. When therefore he indulged himself in feast- 
 ing, etc., he was said to indulge his Genius, and whatever was 
 connected with this indulgence was termed genial. See My- 
 thology, p. 4*25. — 303. pressae, deeply laden : Tibul. i. 3, 40. — 
 imposuere coronas. It was the custom of the ancient sailors to 
 put garlands on the poops of their ships when they came into 
 port, especially after a long and hazardous voyage. This verse 
 occurs again, Aen. iv. 418, where, as Probus very justly ob- 
 served, it would be better away. There seems to be some- 
 thing wanting here ; for in a comparison beginning with As 
 when, we expect, after hearing what they have done, to hear 
 what they do. Perhaps we are to understand convivia cur ant 
 from v. 301. — 305. Sed tamen, etc. Some work however may 
 be done in the winter, such as gathering acorns and other 
 mast and berries.— stringere, to gather. ( Olearuni) quae manu 
 stricta, melior ea quae digitis nudis legitur quam ilia quae 
 cum digitalibus, Varro, R. R. i. 55, Multi nigram vel albam 
 myrti baccam destringunt, Colum. xii. 38, 7. Forbiger says 
 there is a difference between the construction with an inf. and 
 that with the gen. of the gerund. " Constat enim in ilia infi- 
 nitivum subjecti, verbum esse merae copulae, substantivum 
 denique praedicati munere fungi ; in hoc vero substantivum 
 esse subjectum sententiae, a quo pendeat genitivus objecti, et 
 verbum esse continere praedicatum, ut v. c. tempus est facere 
 significat : facere est tempestivum (i. e. this is the proper time 
 to do) ; sed tempus estfaciendi (sc. tempus faciendi-est)=sup- 
 petit tempus ad faciendum." — 306. oleam: see on ii. 519. — 
 cruenta myrta, myrtle-berries with blood-red juice. — 307. Turn 
 gruibus pedicas. The crane was an article of luxury with the 
 ancients, as with our ancestors of the middle-ages. These 
 birds came to Italy in the winter, and were taken by means 
 of spring-traps set in the water. Thus birds of prey are 
 often taken in this country by means of the common rat-trap. 
 — 308. Auritos, long-eared, as is evident from the context. In 
 Plautus it is simply having ears ; but Afranius (ap. Macrob. 
 vi. 5) used it either of an ass, or, as Macrobius seems to inti- 
 
182 GEORGICS. 
 
 mate, of a hare. In the prologue to one of his plays he in- 
 troduced Priapus saying, Nam quod vulgo praedicant, Aurito 
 me parente natum, non ita est.—figere damas. Cf. Ec. ii. 29 ; 
 viii. 28. — 309. Stvppea verbera, the tow-thong, according to 
 Voss. Heyne takes verbera in its ordinary sense of blows, and 
 makes stuppea verbera f undue merely a paraphrasis of funda. 
 Balearis 'n' t an epith. orn., as the people of the Balearic isles 
 were famous for the use of the sling. — 310. glaciem, etc. When 
 the streams drive the masses of ice along to the sea, say the 
 critics ; but this only takes place in the thaw, which is surely 
 not the time for hunting. Trudo, however, is simply to push 
 against. Cf. iii. 373. 
 
 311-321. After summer and winter he goes on to speak of 
 the weather in autumn and spring. Cf. Lucret. vi. 356. — tem- 
 pestates, the storms of wind and rain. — sidera, the constella- 
 tions, such as he had already noticed (v. 204), and whose 
 rising and setting were regarded as the causes or indexes of 
 these changes. Perhaps temp, et sid. is a hendyadis for tem- 
 pestates siderum.—brevior dies, i. e. autumn, when the days 
 begin to shorten. — mollior aestas, when the summer-heat is 
 moderated. — vel cum ruit, etc., when spring comes down in 
 rain, which he expresses by ' the rain-bearing spring comes 
 down.' This is the proper sense of the verb ruo. Cf. v. 324? ; 
 iii. 470; Aen. ii. 250; v. 695; viii. 52t, etc. Voss renders 
 ruit, < is ending'; and Wunderlich, ' is hastening.' — 314. Spicea 
 jam campis, etc. That is, when the corn is shot out, as we say, 
 and stands bristling in the fields: see on v. 151. We are to 
 understand vigilanda viris. — et cum, etc. The next stage, after 
 the ear has emerged from the sheath, is the formation of the 
 grains in it, which at first are soft and milky (Jactentia), and 
 gradually swell (turge?it) and grow solid. — in viridi stipula, 
 on the green stalk; as in Capitolio, in Livy, is on (not in) the 
 Capitol. — 316. Saepe ego, etc. But these showers and storms 
 of spring and autumn are nothing to what often occurs in the 
 midst of summer itself, when reaping has commenced. — et 
 fragili, etc., ' and was reaping his barley,' of which the straw 
 is so brittle. For stringere, see on v. 305. — Omnia vetitorum, 
 etc., the winds rush into conflict from all quarters of the 
 
book i. 309-322. 183 
 
 heavens. In these cases the wind veers about so suddenly, 
 that it seems as if it were blowing from several points at once. 
 Omnia, as usual, belongs to ventorum. — 319. gravidam, heavy, 
 as being ripe ; so gravida femina. — expulsam eruerent, i. q. ex- 
 pellerent erutam, by a figure of which the poet makes frequent 
 use. Wagner says that if "gravidam segetem sublimem expul- 
 sam cui horridiora videbuntur, is, si meminerit rem horri- 
 dam et asperam h. 1. describi, artem potius poetae laudabit 
 quam nitorem desiderabit." But all this criticism falls away, 
 when we observe that it is only in gravidam that the final m 
 is pronounced by any one who reads Latin verse correctly. — 
 ita turbine nigro, etc. In this place hiems is the storm, in 
 general, turbo the whirlwind, which formed part of it ; and 
 the epithet niger, which belongs to the whole as indicating the 
 gloom and darkness which attends it, is in the usual manner 
 joined with turbo. Wagner says that ita is the Greek el-a, 
 turn. Of this use of it Forbiger gives the following examples : 
 Dico, ilium adolescentem, cum...sibi non pepercisset, aliquot 
 dies aegrotasse, et ita esse mortuum, Cic. Cluent. 60. Ubi prima 
 impedimenta nostri exercitus visa sunt, ita...subito omnibus 
 
 copiis provolaverunt, Caes. B. G. ii. 19 culmum stipulasque. 
 
 We cannot see any difference between these words ; they both 
 denote the barley-straw, and the metre is the probable cause 
 of their being both employed. 
 
 322-334. But it is not merely wind that the husbandman 
 has to dread in summer. There often come storms of rain and 
 thunder also at that season. — agmen aquarum. He had per- 
 haps in his mind the idea of an army on its march, which 
 clouds charged with rain naturally suggest, as they come march- 
 ing, as it were, up the sky. Caelo is a dat. — foedam tempes- 
 
 V. 322. 'Qs §' vtto XaiXarn iracja nekaivr) (3e(3pi9e \Q(jjv 
 "Rfjiar oTTWjOtv^u, ore XafipoTarov %eet vdiop 
 
 Zevs 
 
 Twv £e re iravre? [lev 7rorafiol 7rXf)0ovcn peovres, 
 TLoXXds de kXitvs tot a.7i07iir)yov<n xapafipai, 
 'Es d' u\a 7rop(pvper)v fxeyaXa crrevaxovcri peovcrai 
 'E| bpkix)v eTri Kap' (iivvOei 8e re epy avOpwiruv. 
 
 Horn. II. xvi. 384. 
 
184 GEORGICS. 
 
 tatem, a state of the atmosphere foul (with dark rain). — 323. 
 glomerant, roll together, as clouds do previous to a storm. — 
 Collectm ex alto nubes. By ex alto we would, with Voss, under- 
 stand/rom the deep, i. e. the sea ; for the clouds which bear rain 
 always ascend from the horizon. If, with Heyne, we take ex 
 alto to be i. q. ex caelo, we can only say that the poet was not 
 a very accurate observer of nature. — ruit, etc., the sky comes 
 down, i. e. the rain descends in torrents: see on v. 313. The 
 aether is the higher region of the sky. — bourn labores, epya 
 fiouiv, Hes."Ejoy. 46, the ploughed lands.— -fossae, the ditches 
 of the corn-fields. — cava flumina. During the summer months 
 in Italy there is very little water in the beds of most of the 
 rivers, so that their channels may justly be called hollow, for 
 they resemble a road running between two high banks. — 327. 
 Cum sonitu. As every one knows, who has witnessed the sudden 
 rise of a stream from a heavy fall of rain.— -fretis spirantibus. 
 We must here take freta to be the inlets of the sea, where it 
 rushes into the land. By spiro the poet understands (Cf. Aen.x. 
 291) the foaming and boiling-up of the water when driven 
 against the land or the rocks. It differs little from ferveo, with 
 which he here joins it ; only it is more figurative, being taken 
 
 from the hard breathing of a man when using great force 
 
 328. Ipse Pater, Jupiter himself: see v. 121. — media, etc. 
 Amid the night (i. e. the gloom) of those dark, heavy masses 
 of clouds. — corusca. This adjective may be joined either with 
 fulmina or with dextra. We agree with the critics, who con- 
 nect it with the former. — molitur, plies. There is always an 
 idea of effort, of difficulty to be overcome, implied in this 
 verb. — quo motu, with which commotion of the atmosphere. 
 Of this construction, in which a substantive, the idea of which 
 is included in the antecedent, is joined with the relative, For- 
 biger gives the following instances from Sallust : Statilius et 
 Gabinius opportuna loca urbis incenderent, quo tumultu faci- 
 lior aditus ad Consulem fieret, Cat. 43. Per idem tempus ad- 
 versum Gallos male pugnatum ; quo metu Italia omnis con- 
 tremuerat, Jug. 114. — 329. maxuma terra, yala TreXuprj, Hes. 
 Theog. 173. — tremit, etc. W T ith the present are joined aorists 
 in the usual manner. — humilis pavor. From the effect, that 
 
book i. 323-338. 185 
 
 makes humble. — 332. Aut Atkon, etc. Naming particular 
 mountains, to make the description more picturesque. Athos 
 is a mountain of Thrace, which advances into the Mgsesm sea ; 
 Rhodope, a range in the same country ; the Ceraunian moun- 
 tains are in Epirus near the Adriatic. All the MSS. read Aihon ; 
 the common reading is Atho. — Deficit, casts down, i. e. a rock 
 or fragment of them. — ingeminant, redouble, increase. — Nunc 
 nemora, etc. The construction seems to be to this effect. The 
 south winds (or rather the winds in general), which are at- 
 tended by heavy rain, lash the woods and shores with furious 
 gusts. We meet venti plangunt in Lucretius vi. 114. There 
 is no authority for understanding, with Martyn and Heyne, 
 plangunt as plangorem edu?it, resonant. 
 
 335-350. The modes in which injuries of this kind may be 
 averted, namely an accurate observation of the state of the 
 weather and the motion of the planets, and a strict attention to 
 the worship of the rural deities. — menses et sidera, a hendyadis 
 for mensium sidera, i. e. sidera regentia menses, i. e. the signs 
 of the zodiac, through which the sun passes, thus forming the 
 months of the year. This means, ' Attend to the calendars,' 
 which indicate the kind of weather to be expected in each 
 month. — serva, i. q. observa. — Frigida, etc., ' Attend also to 
 the motion of the planets,' to which great efficacy was ascribed 
 in Virgil's time, and almost down to our own days. He names, 
 by way of example, two of the planets, that nearest to the sun, 
 and that most remote from him. Saturn, on account of his 
 distance and his consequent paleness, was regarded as cold 
 and malignant. — sese receptet, betake himself to, or return to ; 
 as he always pursues the same course in the sky. — ignis Cylle- 
 nius, Mercury. Cyllene in Arcadia was the birthplace of this 
 god. — erret. Mercury, from his proximity to the sun, appears, 
 as seen from the earth, to be peculiarly erratic in his course. 
 — 338, atque, and in particular. — annua sacra refer, ' celebrate 
 the festival of the Ambarvalia in honour of great Ceres :' (he 
 also calls Pales magna, iii. 1). This festival was annua, as it 
 returned every year ; he therefore says refer, not fer. — operatus, 
 i. e. operans. Operari is i. q. sacrum, facere : see on Ec. iii. 77. 
 —sub casum, i. e. statim post casum. The praep. sub applied 
 
186 GEORGICS. 
 
 in this way to time, denotes immediately before or after. Cf. iii. 
 402 ; A en. v. 394-. The phrase is however not to be taken too 
 strictly here, as what follows shows. This festival, in effect, did 
 not take place till the end of April. — 34-1. mollissima, mellow. 
 The wine of course was that of the preceding year, which had 
 grown mellow in the winter. — Turn somni, etc. This is another 
 case of hendyadis ; the meaning is* that it is then pleasant 
 to sleep under the dense shades of the trees in the mountains. 
 — 343. Cuncta, etc. This is a description of the manner of 
 celebrating the Ambarvalia.— -favos, i. q. mella. This mixture 
 of milk, honey and wine was probably poured on the flame of 
 the altar. — -felix hostia, i. e. a pure and proper victim, one ac- 
 ceptable to the gods ; here probably a lamb, a calf, or a suck- 
 ing-pig. It was led three times round the fields previous to 
 being sacrificed. — chorus et socii, i. e. chorus sociorum. — vocent 
 in tecta, pray her to come to their villa, and thus evince her 
 favour by her presence. Cf. Hor. C. i. 30, 3. — Neque ante, etc. 
 The critics all regard this as a description of another festival 
 previous to harvest, noticed by Cato (134), in which a young 
 pig was offered to Ceres, and incense and wine to Janus, Ju- 
 piter and Juno. We are however inclined to regard it simply 
 as a continuation of the account of the Ambarvalia, the poet 
 merely saying, ' let no one cut his corn without having (i. e. 
 till he has, antequam) celebrated that festival.' — motus incom- 
 positos, rude, awkward country-dancing : see Hor. C. iii. 6, 21 ; 
 Liv. vii. 2, 4. 
 
 351-355. Signs of the weather. In what follows, Virgil, 
 as the reader w r ill see, is under great obligation to Aratus; 
 perhaps also to Theophrastus, who has left a work on this 
 subject. — haec, sc. the things that follow, heat, rain and wind. 
 — Aestusque. See on Ec. iv. 51. — agentis, bringing with them : 
 see on Ec. viii. 17. — menstrua, that marks out the months, or 
 that performs her course in a month. — caderent, fall, i. e. cease 
 to blow. — austri, winds in general, one being placed for all. — 
 quid, sc. signum the critics say; we however think that he 
 means the various tokens of an approaching storm, which he 
 proceeds to enumerate, such as the flights of birds, etc., which 
 men learned by experience, saepe videntes. — propius stabulis. 
 
book i. 341-361. 187 
 
 in order that they might be able to drive them in quickly 
 when the storm came on. 
 
 356-369. Continue*, avrixa, immediately.— -freta ponti, the 
 surface of the sea : see on Ec. i. 61 ; it here means, the part 
 more distant from the land. — aridus fragor, a dry crashing, 
 produced by the breaking of dry withered boughs by the wind. 
 Homer has avov avaev, II. xiii. 441, and tcapcpaXeov cticrev, ib. 
 409 ; and Lucretius (vi. Ill), aridus sonus. — Montibus, The 
 idea of the forests that clothe the mountains is included. — aut. 
 By this disjunctive, which he uses frequently in this paragraph, 
 we are not to understand an opposition, as if in the present 
 case it were, either the more distant part of the sea will swell, 
 or the billows will dash on the beach. The meaning is, that all 
 these signs will occur, but that all may not happen to be ob- 
 served. Thus, he means, you will see the sea swell, or, if 
 you should not remark that, you w r ill see the billow r s rolling to 
 the shore. — resonantia longe, far-resounding, that may be heard 
 at a great distance. — misceri, be mingled, sc. with the sea : 
 for when the weaves rush with force up on the shore, they mingle 
 with the sand, shingle, weeds, and everything else that com- 
 pose it. Cf. Aen. i. 124. — 360. Jam sibi, etc. This is a difficult 
 verse; the reading of the far greater part of the MSS. is 
 turn curvis ; but Wagner, Jahn and Forbiger prefer to- follow 
 those that read turn a curvis, saying that there is no example 
 of tempero being followed by an abl. without a praep. If this 
 be so, the structure of the verse is precisely parallel to the 
 following passage of the Auct. ad Heren. iv. 18 : Qui in ser- 
 monibus et in conventu amicorum verum dixerit nunquam, eum 
 sibi in concionibus credis a mendacio temperaturum? The 
 meaning then is, ' The waves then hardly refrain from injuring 
 the ships,' i. e. the ships run great risk of being wrecked. — 
 mergi. These are evidently the aWvLat of Aratus (v. 187); 
 
 V. 356. 2^jwa £e rot avefxoio tcai oldaivovaa BaXaaua 
 YiyveoQw icai fiaKpbv ev' alyiaXoi fioouivTes, 
 'Aktou t eivaXioi, otto-' evdioi r)xv e v< Tat 
 Tiyvovrai, Kopvtyal re (Sou>fjLevaL ovpeos aicpa.i. 
 
 Arat. Diosem. 177. 
 
188 GEORGICS. 
 
 for so Pliny (x. 32) renders this word in Aristotle (H. A. v. 9). 
 Martyn renders mergus ' cormorant,' and Voss, ' diver ;' but 
 neither of these birds, we believe, fly thus to land before a storm. 
 The only bird to which this description will. properly apply is 
 the sea-gull (Larus fuscus, L.), which builds among rocks and 
 on trees, as Aristotle (1. c.) and Pliny (1. c.) say, and haunts 
 pools and marshes, as Ovid (Met. viii. 625) asserts. It how- 
 ever has not the long neck which this poet (ib. xi. 794) gives 
 the mergus. — 362. Clamoremque ferunt, i. e. clamore seferunt. 
 The screaming of the gulls, as they fly to the land to escape 
 the storm, is a familiar sound to any one who has lived on the 
 sea-coast. — marinae fulicce. The coots, according to Martvn, 
 who is followed by most interpreters. Hoblyn says, the fu- 
 lica is the shag (Pelicanus Carbo, L.) or cormorant, and we 
 think he is right ; for Pliny (xi. 37, 44) says that the fulica 
 has a crest, which is true of the cormorant, but not of the coot. 
 — In sicco ludunt, sport on the beach, namely, they say, by 
 flapping their wings to dry them. — paludes, the marshes. The 
 
 poet now quits the coast, and the signs which it presents 
 
 364. ardea, the heron. Aratus (y. 181) relates of the heron 
 (epojcios) what Virgil tells of the mergus. The palm of accuracy 
 must here be given to the Latin poet ; for Aristotle says ex- 
 pressly (H. A. viii. 3) that the haunts of the heron are -jrepl 
 rds Xl/jvas rat tovs Trorojuovs, and, though it seeks the beach in 
 search of food, it does not go out to sea. With perhaps 
 the exception of Ovid, the ancient poets were however not 
 very solicitous about accuracy in these matters. — 365. Saepe 
 
 V. 361. Kai c av eirl Hrjpijv or' epufiibs ov Kara Kotrpov 
 'E5 dXbs epxrjrai, $u>vy Trepl TroXXd XeXrjKCJs, 
 Kivvpevov K6 QaXaaaav v—ep<popeoi-' dvefioio. 
 Kai 7T0T6 Kat Ke-Kipoi, ottoV evdioi 7roTeh)vrai, 
 'AvTia pevovTiov dvipcjv eiXr)£d (pipovTai. 
 rioXXaKi S' dypiddes vTjaaai, ?/ eiv dXi clvai 
 AlQviai x e P aa ~ LCl Tivdaoovrai Trrepvyeoaiv. 
 
 Arat. Diosem. 181. 
 
 V. 365. Kai Cid vvktol peXaivav St aorepes diaffuxTi 
 
 Taptpea, toi d' 07TiQev pvpoi v7roXevicaiviovTai, 
 AeidexQcu urei'vots avrrfv b£bv ep\opevoio 
 Hvevparos. Id. ib. 194. 
 
book i. 361-374. 189 
 
 etiam Stellas, etc. Another sign of wind ; what are called shoot- 
 ing stars, well-known meteors. — 367. a tergo, behind them. For 
 the motion of these meteors is so rapid, that the trace of their 
 light remains on the retina of the eye after they have left the 
 place whence it proceeded, and thus we see a line of light, in- 
 stead of a succession of lucid points. — -Saepe levem, etc. An- 
 other sign is, the seeing chaff and leaves dancing as they are 
 whirled about by the gusts that precede the storm. — caducas, 
 fallen : see Aen. vi. 481 ; Hor. C. iii. 4, 44. It also expresses 
 about to fall : Aen. x. 622. — Aut summa, etc, Or the feathers 
 that have dropped from the ducks and other water-fowl sport 
 and play together, as it were, on the surface of the water. 
 
 370-392. The signs of approaching rain. — At Boreae, etc. 
 Thunder, from whatever quarter of the heavens it comes, an- 
 nounces rain to a certainty. He names three winds for all, as 
 Aen. i. 85, and elsewhere. — Eurique. See on Ec. iv. 51. This 
 and the following que are i. q. ve. — omnia plenis, etc. All the 
 fields swim (i. e. are flooded), the ditches being full, and there- 
 fore unable to carry off the water. Flumina abundare ut face- 
 rent camposque natare, Lucr. vi. 266. — atque omnis navita, etc. 
 i And every seaman on the deep takes in his dripping sails ;' 
 probably because the rain was accompanied by wind, for other- 
 wise there would be no necessity for it. — Nunquam impru- 
 dentibus, etc. Rain never takes people unawares, such a va- 
 riety of signs announce it. Prudens is i. q. providens. — 374. 
 Aut ilium, etc. For example the cranes, when they perceive it 
 coming, betake themselves for shelter to the valleys. — Aeriae, 
 flying high in the air, yepeai, Horn. II. iii. 7. Aristotle (Hist. 
 An. ix. 10) says that they fly high in order to have a wide 
 prospect, and if they see clouds and storms coming, they de- 
 
 V. 368. "H£r/ Kai Trainroi, \evKr)$ yrjpeiov aKavdrjs, 
 
 "Zrifx,' eyevovr avefiov, K(txpr]s dXbs OTnrore ttoXXol 
 "Aicpoi e7ri7rXetw(Ti, rd fihv 7rdpos, dXXa 8' OTriGGw. 
 
 Arat. Diosem. 189. 
 
 V. 370. Avrdp or e£ evpoio Kai eic votov darpaTTTiqaiv, 
 "AXXore 8' eic Z,€<pvpoio f Kai aWore Trap j3opeao, 
 Arj Tore ris TreXdyei evi 8el8ie vavriXos dvijp, 
 Mr) fiiv ry fier e%y ireXayos, ry 8' e/c Aids v8wp.-r-Id. ib. 201. 
 
190 GEORGICS. 
 
 scend and keep quiet. Theophrastus also says, that if they keep 
 on the wing it denotes fair weather, as they never do so unless 
 they see that it will be fair. — 375. aut bucula, etc. ' or the 
 heifer, looking up to the sky, snuffs in the air.' Bucula 
 (metri gr.~) is i. q. bos. Et boves caelum olfactantes, Plin. xviii. 
 35. — Aut arauta, etc. ' or the twittering swallow flies about 
 the pools/ The swallow is always observed to fly low before 
 rain, because the flies and other insects, on which she feeds, 
 keep at that time near the surface of the ground and the water. 
 — 378. Et veterem, etc. 'and the frogs in the mud sing their 
 old tune.' Voss observes, that by using the verb cecinere, (pro- 
 nounced by the Romans kekinere) the poet wished to imitate 
 the note of the frog, fipexetceiceZ kocL£, icodl, as Aristophanes 
 gives it. In veterem querelam most critics see an allusion to 
 the change of the Lycian clowns into frogs by Latona ; and 
 Ovid, who relates that transformation (Met. vi. 316, seq.), says 
 (376), Quamvis sunt sub aqua sub aqua maledicere tentant. 
 Servius sees an allusion to iEsop's fable of the frogs wanting 
 a king. Vetus seems here to us to be just like our old, what 
 is repeated in the same unvarying manner, as we speak of a 
 person's old story, old tune, etc. The original sense of queror 
 
 V. 375. Ou8' v\f/ov ■yepdvtjv ficucpal crrr'xes avra Ke\ev9a 
 Teivovrai' arpcxpades de TaXifnreTes anroviovrai. 
 
 Arat. Diosem. 299. 
 Kal (36es i}dr] roi irapos vdaros kvcioio, 
 Ovpavbv eicavidovres, air' aiOepos w<T<ppi)<javTO. — Id. ib. 222. 
 
 Vv. 375-387. Turn liceat pelagi volucres tardaeque paludis 
 Cernere inexpleto studio cert are lavandi ; 
 Et velut insolitum pennis infundere rorem; 
 Aut arguta lacus circumvolitavit hirundo ; 
 Et bos suspiciens caelum, mirabile visu, 
 Naribus aerium patuMs decerpsit odorem ; 
 Nee tenuis formica cavis non extulit ova. 
 
 Yarro, Atacinus ap. Senium. 
 
 V. 377. *H \i}i.vi]v irepi cqOd ^eXtcores diaaovrai, 
 Taarepi rvTrrovaai avrajs eiXvfiivov iifiiop 
 *H fiaXXov dei\al yeveal, vcpoiaiv oveiap, 
 kvroQev e£ vdaTo?, Trarepes (3o6u)ffi yvpivuv. 
 
 Arat. Diosem. 212. 
 
book 1.375-381. 191 
 
 (whence querulus and querela) is not to lament, but to repeat 
 over and over again in the same manner. Hence the Scholiast 
 on this verse of Horace (Epod. 2, 26), Queruntur in silvis 
 aves, says, Veteres omnium animalium voces praeterquam homi- 
 nis, querelam dicebant. — 379. Saepius, etc. Naturalists ob- 
 serve that it is the habit of the ants to bring out their eggs 
 and lay them in the sun, and to take them in again at the ap- 
 proach of rain. Here however the very contrary seems to be 
 asserted. Aratus and Varro Atacinus, as we may see, both 
 give the same view, namely that the ant brings out her eggs at 
 the 'approach of rain. — tectis penetralibus, her covered cham- 
 ber. — Angustum terens iter. This, we think, can only be justly 
 understood of the one narrow path in which the ants all pass 
 backwards and forwards between their hole and any place 
 whither they go : see Aen. iv.402, seq. This may be observed 
 in this country ; in Italy we have often long stood gazing at the 
 nigrum agmen as it moved in its narrow path, and thought of 
 Virgil. It is however quite incongruous in the poet to repre- 
 sent (as we think he plainly does) the ants carrying their 
 eggs to a distance from their home. — bibit arcus. It was the 
 vulgar opinion in ancient times that the rainbow drew up 
 water at its two extremities, which afterwards fell in rain. 
 In Plautus (Cure. i. 2, 41), the slave, when he sees an old 
 woman taking a long and hearty draught of wine, cries out, 
 Ecce autem bibit arcus ! pluet, Credo, hercle hodie. — e pastti, 
 etc. Another sign of the approach of rain was the rooks re- 
 turning early from feeding : see Excursus VI. — agmine magno. 
 By using this word and exercitus in the next verse, he shows 
 
 V. 379. Kal Koikes fivpfirjices 6%^s e£ wea navra 
 
 Qaaaov avqveyicavTo. Arat. Diosem. 224. 
 
 V. 380. "H difivfir] eZaxxe did jieyav ovpavbv Tpis. — Id. ib. 208. 
 
 V. 381. Arj 7T0T6 Kal yeveal KopaKOJV, Kal (j>v\a kcXciuv, 
 "YSaros epxofievoio Aibs irapd arjp,' eyevovro, 
 <&aivopevai aye\i]£d, Kal \pr]Kecr<riv bp.olov 
 <&Qey%ap,6voi' Kai irov KopaKes Siovs vraXaynovs 
 <b<ovy efiip,{]<Tavro avv vcaros epxopevoio' 
 *H 7T0T6 Kal Kpu£,avTe j3apei?j SiocaKi (ph)v?j 
 MaKpov 6irippoiZ,ov<ji riva^afievot Trrepd ttvkvu. — Id.ib. 231. 
 
192 GEORGICS. 
 
 the great number of the rooks, and the closeness and order 
 that they maintain in going from and returning to their camp 
 in the trees. — 382. increpuit densis alis. This expresses very 
 accurately the noise that may be heard from the motion of the 
 wings of the rooks as they fly along. This noise is termed by 
 Coleridge creaking, from its sound. — 383. Jam, etc. Another 
 sign, the water-fowl washing themselves. The MSS. differ 
 here; the Medicean and some others of the best reading 
 variae, and this, it is evident from Servius, is the original 
 reading, though he says varias is the true one, which alone, 
 he adds, makes sense. Wagner however, followed by Forbiger, 
 reads variae, which he says is a nom. absol., referring for 
 examples to Corte on Sail. Jug. 30. The other reading he 
 ascribes to Servius, or to some critic whom Servius followed. 
 If we read variae, we must understand eas with videas in 
 v. 387. — quae Asia, etc. The swans and other freshwater 
 fowl. He names the Asian meads and the Cayster in imita- 
 tion of Homer. The Asian mead is a tract of land in Lydia, 
 on the banks of the Cayster, by whose waters it is often over- 
 flowed. Hence the poet says dulcia stagna, as its waters were 
 fresh, in opposition to those of the sea in the preceding verse. 
 The word Asia has the first vowel long, while in Asia, the 
 name of a quarter of the world, it is short. — rimantur, search 
 for their food. It is very exactly expressed by our word rum- 
 mage. — Certatim, etc., vie with one another in flinging the 
 water up over their heads and shoulders. — rores, like the 
 Greek cpooos and kepo jj, for water. — 386. Nunc caput, etc. Now 
 holding their head to receive the coming wave. Caput objectare 
 
 V. 383. Yi.oWa.KL Xipvalai ij eivdXiai opvi.9es 
 
 "AttXtjcttov KKv^ovrai eviifievai vcdrecraiv. 
 
 Arat. Diosem. 210. 
 
 'AaUt) ev Xeipwvi, Kavcrrpiov dfxcpl peeOpa. — Horn. II. ii. 461. 
 
 V. 386. *H Tvov Kal XaKepv^a Trap' ifiovi Trpovxovay 
 JLeiparos apxonevov x^P a V v~eKv\pe Koptov?]' 
 "Httov Kal TVOTapoto efid-baro pexP 1 7Ta P' aicpovs 
 "Qpovs ejc KecpaXijs' ij ical pa\a Traoa Ko\vfij3a~, 
 *H ttoXX)) Grpefyerai Trap' vccop Trax^a Kpw'^ovaa. 
 
 Arat. Diosem. 217. 
 
book i. 382-393. 193 
 
 periclis, Aen. ii. 751. — 386. nunc currere, etc. Now running to 
 meet the waves. It is evidently of the sea- fowl he is speaking in 
 this place. — incassum. All to no purpose, as it were ; for they 
 are no sooner out of the water than they are in it again. — 
 388. Turn comix improba, the pertinacious raven: see on 
 v.l 19. — plena voce, with deep, hoarse voice. She calls the rain, 
 as it were, to come. — Et sicca, etc., ' and slowly paces alone by 
 herself along the dry beach,' in expectation, as it were, of the 
 food which the storm will bring in to her. Kai al Kopuivai tie 
 
 VefJLOVTUL (SC. 7T€pl TYJV QakaTTCLv) cnTTOfJievaL 7h)V eKirLTTTOVTWV 
 
 £d)ii)v, Aristot. H. A. viii. 3. Spatiatur expresses the stately, 
 leisurely pace of the raven : see Aen. iv. 62. The alliteration 
 in this verse is to be observed. — 390. Nee, etc. Signs in the 
 lamps. — nocturna carpentes pensa, spinning at night. A cer- 
 tain quantity of wool or flax was weighed out to each woman, 
 which she was to spin in the day. Carpentes, because they 
 drew it gradually from the distaff as they formed the thread. 
 — hiemem, the storm of rain. — testa ardente, in the burning 
 lamp. The ordinary lamps of the ancients (of which so many 
 may be seen in collections) were made of potters' earth. — Scin- 
 tillate, sputter. — putres fungos, the thick snuff which gathers 
 on the wick in consequence of the dampness of the surround- 
 ing air. 
 
 393-400. He now gives the signs of approaching fine 
 weather, first negatively and then affirmatively. Following 
 Aratus, as usual, by way of variety he notices the absence of 
 the signs whose presence that poet makes indicative of foul 
 weather. — ex imbri, after rain. Martyn adopted the reading 
 of some inferior MSS., eximbres, an adjective which is nowhere 
 to be met. — soles, sunny days. Si numeres anno soles et nubila 
 
 V. 388 Cornicum ut saecla vetusta 
 
 Corvorumque greges ubi aquam dicuntur et imbres 
 Poscere, et interdum ventos aurasque vocare. — Lucr. v. 1083. 
 
 V. 392. *H \vj(yoio fivK7}T6s ayeipoivrai irepi jj.v%av, 
 
 Nv/cra Kara (TKOTirjv, p,rjd' r\v virb %e/juaros topy, 
 Avkviov uXko-e fiev re (pdos Kara k6g[iov bpupy, 
 "AWore d' atacruHnv ai:b <f>\6yes, rjvre Koxxpai 
 UofKpoXvyes. Arat. Diosem. 244. 
 
 K 
 
194 GEORGICS. 
 
 toto, Ov. Tr. v. 8, 31. — serena, serene skies. Thus Lucretius, 
 i. 1089, caerula caeli. — 395. acies. The acies is the edge, as 
 one may say, of the star, which appears sharp and not blunt; 
 for the air being free from vapour, it twinkles brightly. — Nee 
 fratris, etc, ' nor is the moon seen to rise beholden to her 
 brother's rays'. Cf. ii. 439. Sed fades aderat nullis obnoxia 
 gemmis, Prop. i. % 21. Though the ablest natural philoso- 
 phers followed Anaxagoras, in holding that the moon derived 
 her light from the sun, there were others who maintained that 
 she shone by her own light. Lucretius, whom our poet loved so 
 much to follow, expresses himself in the following undecided 
 terms (v. 575) : Lunaque sive nothofertur loca lumine lustrans, 
 Sive suam proprio jactat de ccrpore lucent. Virgil may have 
 meant to express this last opinion, or rather to have united the 
 two, supposing her to shine partly with native, partly with bor- 
 rowed light, and the former to be the more brilliant. One how- 
 ever would have expected the light produced by the combined 
 powers to have given greater lustre. Perhaps, as aureus was 
 an epithet of the sun, his light may have been supposed to give 
 a yellow tinge to the pure silvery rays of the moon. Wagner 
 says, " Occidentis solis radii rutilant ; hinc ita fratri obnoxia 
 interdum est Luna ut ipsa rutilet." Heyne says, " Luna quae 
 fratris radiis obnoxia est" as Aratus makes the brightness of 
 the moon a cause, of the blunting of the stars. But this 
 interpretation is quite inadmissible. The sun and moon, 
 whether Apollo and Diana or not, were regarded as brother 
 and sister. — 397. Tenuia, etc. These are light, thin clouds, 
 white and glittering like fleeces of wool : we call them mares'- 
 tails, and they announce rain. Tenuia is a proceleusmaticus, 
 and it becomes a dactyl by giving the u its consonant sound 
 (which was w rather than v). In like manner ariete becomes 
 a dactyl, by pronouncing the ■ as y. — Xon tepidum> etc. * The 
 halcyons, or kingfishers, do not sit drying their wings on the 
 rocks.' — Dilectae Thetidi, beloved of the sea-goddess Thetis ; 
 
 V. 397. IIoXXdKi £' epxop.evu)V veruiv vetpea TrpoTrdpoiQev, 
 Ola fidXiGTa ttokoigiv eoiKora iv£d\\oi>7ai. 
 
 Arat. Diosem. 206. 
 
book i. 395-406. 195 
 
 in allusion to the opinion of their hatching their young on the 
 surface of the sea, which remained calm at that time. For the 
 story of Ceyx and Haley one, who were changed into these birds, 
 see Ovid, Met. xi. 268, seq. ; and Mythology, p. 319. — 399- 
 — non ore solutos, etc. Another sign of approaching storm is, 
 to see the pigs carrying straw in their mouths in order to make 
 a warm bed for themselves : as they toss the bundles about 
 when getting the straw, he uses the verb jactare. He terms 
 them immundi, from their love of wallowing in mire. 
 
 401-423. Having given the negative, he now proceeds to 
 the positive signs of fine weather. — At nebulae, etc. The va- 
 pours leave the summits of the hills clear and visible, and fall 
 down to the lower grounds. Nebulae, e montibus descwdentes, 
 aut caelo cadentes, vel in vallibus sidentes, serenitatem promit- 
 tunt, Plin. xviii. 35, 88. — Solis et occasum, etc. The owl, 
 whose hooting is usually represented as ominous of ill, now 
 hoots in vain : no one minds her, when there are so many signs 
 of fair weather. Perhaps it might be better to understand 
 nequicquam simply as non, not at all. — 404. Apparet, etc. 
 Another sign is, the seeing the birds at their accustomed avo- 
 cations in the air : he gives as an instance, the Haliaeetus or 
 sea-eagle pursuing the Ciris, which he selects on account of 
 its mythic origin : see on Ec. vi. 74. — liquido a'ere, the clear 
 sky: see Excursus on Ec. ii. 10. — 406. Quacunque ilia. The 
 chase of a small bird by a bird of prey is very well depicted in 
 these lines. In the last, that part of the chase is described 
 where the greater bird, having missed his pounce, is obliged to 
 soar into the air in order to make a second, and meantime the 
 
 V. 399. 'AXicvoves yXaviccus N^pr/ici rax re /xa'Xierra 
 
 'Opvix<>>v e<pi\aOev. Theoc. vii. 59. 
 
 V. 401. Et ye fiev rfepoeaca irdpe% opeos fieydXoio 
 
 UvOfxeva reivrjTai vecpeXr], aspou de KoXa>vai 
 $aiv(t)VTai KaQapai, [xdXa Kev t69' vTrevdios eijjs. 
 
 Arat. Diosem. 256. 
 
 V. 402 teal vvKrepir) yXaiiZ 
 
 '~S.gv\ov deidovaa p-apaivofievov xet/wa>j/os 
 TiveaQu) toi ffrjfia. Id. ib. 267. 
 
 k2 
 
196 GEORGICS. 
 
 smaller one escapes as fast as it can.— 410. Turn liquidas corvi, 
 etc. As the rooks, by hurrying home, announced rain, so their 
 remaining at home, cawing and flying about their nests, is a 
 sign of serene weather. — liquidas voces, clear notes. — presso 
 gutture, because the compression of the larynx or windpipe 
 causes the sound to be less deep and hollow. — Inter se foliis 
 strepitant, ' they make a rustle and a noise with one another 
 amidst the leaves/ Every one who has lived in the country 
 must have observed this. — revisere, to review, to examine 
 what state they are in after the storm ; not to revisit, for they 
 had, as Shakespeare says, " made wing to the rooky wood" be- 
 fore it began. — 4?15. Hand equidem credo, etc. The poet now, 
 in opposition to the Stoics, who held that there was a portion 
 of the divine mind in all animated beings, attempts to explain 
 these appearances on the principles of the Epicureans, who 
 allowed only of matter and its modifications. — aut rerum fato, 
 etc. ' or a degree of foresight beyond the fate of nature,' and 
 which can therefore control it, as it were. Some join rerum 
 with prudentia, and render fato, by fate. — Verum, etc. But the 
 real fact is, that, as the atmosphere is condensed or rarefied, the 
 organs and powers of animals are variously affected ; in fine 
 weather they become cheerful, in bad weather the reverse. — 
 tempestas, the weather in general. — mobilis humor, the varying 
 moisture. — Juppiter uvidus, etc. This is rendered, ' Juppi- 
 ter dripping with the south wind,' as if he was affected by it. 
 Might we not render it better, * the dripping Jupiter (i. e.Jup. 
 Pluvius) condenses with the south wind (or with the wind in 
 general) what had previously been rare; and then again he(Jup, 
 but not uvidus) relaxes what was dense (but not by the south 
 
 V. 410. Kat Kopdices fiovvoi [xev, eprjfidloL floowvres 
 
 Auradicis. avrdp eVeira fieraOpoa KGK\i)yov-es' 
 nXeidrepot 8' dyeXrjdbv eirrjv koitoio fiiSiovrai, 
 3>a>v/}s e/i7rXeiot, xaipeiv kg. tis wicrcroiTO, 
 Ota rd /j-eVf fioowci, Xiyaivofievoi<nv bfioia. 
 HoXXd de devdpeioio Trepi f\6ov, aWor kir avrov, 
 'Hxi re Keiovaiv real viroTpoTtoi dirrepvovTai. 
 
 Arat. Diosem. 271. 
 
book i. 410-428. 197 
 
 wind).' It is very frequent with Virgil to join with a noun an 
 adj. which applies to one of the verbs it governs, but not to 
 another. — 420. species, the habits, disposition. — nunc, sc. dum 
 relaxat. — alios dum nubila ventus agebat. As the verb is in the 
 imperf., this is, we think, to be taken as a parenthesis, and re- 
 fers to the previous condensation of the air, and confirms our 
 interpretation of the passage. — Me, ' that,' i. e. that well-known, 
 for he himself had not noticed it. — ovantes gutture : see v.410. 
 
 424-437- The weather may also be predicted from the 
 appearance of the sun and moon. He treats of the latter in 
 the first place : he had in view Aratus Diosem. 46 seq. — 
 solem rapidum: see on Ec. ii. 10. — lunas sequentes ordine, 
 i. e., says Heyne, the phases of the moon which succeed one 
 another regularly. The simpler interpretation seems to be, 
 1 the moons that regularly follow ' (sc. the sun in the ecliptic). 
 — crastina hora, the next day. Hora, i. q. dies, part for whole. 
 — insidiis noctis, etc. The critics do not seem to have noticed 
 the metaphor here : it appears to us to be as follows : when 
 an ambush was laid in war, all care was taken to remove objects 
 of suspicion, that the enemy might be induced to enter it, and 
 thus be taken. So the night is often in the early part clear 
 and serene, but terminates in rain. — 427. revertentes, etc. 
 1 When she begins (primum) to collect her returning light/ 
 i. e. when she begins to fill anew. He means the first three 
 
 days of the moon 428. Si nigrum, etc. * If she encloses 
 
 dark air between her obscure horns (cornu for cornibus), there 
 will be very heavy rain both on the land and the sea.' The 
 moon, as is well known, derives her light from the sun, and 
 the further she recedes from him the more of it she receives : 
 hence as she recedes she fills. But beside the illuminated 
 portion, the remainder of her disc also receives some of the 
 solar rays from the earth, and when the air is quite free from 
 vapour, the whole of it may be seen, though very faintly 
 illuminated, while when there is vapour in the air precursive 
 of rain, only the strongly illuminated portion is visible, and 
 the smaller part of that, the tips of the horns, is obscure. 
 The appearance of the new moon in a sky free from vapour, 
 
198 GEORGICS. 
 
 such as we have just described, is thus graphically depicted 
 in the old Scottish ballad of Sir Patrick Spence : — 
 
 " I saw the new moon late yestreen, 
 WT the auld moon in her arm." 
 
 Niger, we may observe, is merely dark. — 430. At si virgi- 
 neum, etc. * but if she pours a virgin blush over her coun- 
 tenance.' Virgineum is an allusion to the virginity of Diana. 
 — suffuderit. Because a blush is caused by the blood rushing 
 from below to the surface of the skin. — ore, i. e. in ore. See iii. 
 
 4-39. — vento, from or with wind, when wind is near Phoebe, 
 
 the moon. The Latin poets made this feminine, from Phoebus, 
 a name of Apollo, which they gave to the sun. We do not 
 think that they took it from the Titaness, the mother of La- 
 tona. He calls her aurea, probably in reference to the rubor, 
 Horace (C. ii. 11, 10) and Propertius (i. 10, 8) use rubra 
 of the moon simply in the sense of bright. — ortu quarto, ■ on 
 the fourth day of her age.' — auctor, authority, what foretells 
 or directs. Cf. Aen. v. 17. — Pura. This may refer to the sign 
 of wind, and what follows to that of rain. — exactum ad men- 
 sem, i to the end of the month.' — Votaque, etc. It was the 
 custom in ancient times, as it still is in Roman Catholic coun- 
 tries, for sailors when in danger to vow offerings, in the former 
 to the gods, in the latter to the saints, if they should escape 
 and reach the shore in safety : see Aen. xii. 764 ; Hor. C. i. 
 5, 13. — Glauco, etc. This verse, as we are informed by Gel- 
 lius (xiii. 26), and Macrobius (v. 17), is from the Greek of 
 Parthenius, TXavico) ecu Nrjpei kcli 'Iviou MeXtKepry. He has 
 followed the metre of the original with its hiatus and diph- 
 thong short before a vowel. Glauco \ et Pand^peae et \ Ino. 
 For these sea-deities, see Mythology, pp. 248, 249. Panopea 
 or Panope was one of the Nereides. 
 
 438-449. The sun, both when rising and setting, will give 
 
 "V. 438. 'HeXioio ce roi fieXeTU) eKarepOev iovros' 
 'HeXt'^j Kai jxaXKov eoiKora (rfffiara KeiTai, 
 'A}i<p6TF.pov dvvovn Kai Ik irepdri-js aviovri' 
 M17 01 7Toikl\Xolto veov fiaWovTos, dpovpais 
 
book i. 430-447. 199 
 
 signs of the weather : see Arat. Diosem. 90 seq. — quae mane 
 refert, t those which he brings with him in the morning ' when 
 he comes back to illuminate the world : hence he says refert. 
 With the second quae we are to understand only the simple 
 fert. — 441. Me ubi nasceniem, etc. 'when shrouded in a 
 cloud he has varied his rising with spots,' i. e. when he rises 
 through clouds, portions of which appear on his disc. Nas~ 
 centem ortum is so very unusual an expression, that some 
 would read orbem here, and ortu in the next verse. But such 
 is the reading of all the MSS. It is i. q. se in ortu nascentem. 
 — medioque refugerit orbe. This expresses the ko~i\os of Ara- 
 tus ; the concavus (sol) oriens of Pliny (xviii. 35, 78), when 
 the centre of the disc is covered by the clouds and only its 
 edge appears. — urget, i. e. instat, ingruit. — ab alto. As no 
 one, we believe, ever perceived a wind to come down from the 
 zenith, but always to blow from one of the lateral points, and 
 as the south wind (Notus) comes over the sea to Italy, we are 
 inclined to agree with those who render ab alto, 'from the deep,' 
 like per altum, v. 456. At the same time we must recollect 
 that our poet was not the most accurate of observers, and that 
 he has elsewhere ( Aen. i. 297) used ab alio for * from on high/ 
 — sinister, pernicious. Cf. Aen. x. 110. — 445. sub lucem, i.e. 
 before sunrise. — Diver si, scattered. — sese rumpent, i. e. erum- 
 pent, Cf. iv. 368 ; Aen. xi. 548. — 447. Tithoni, etc. Perhaps 
 a little too epic for this place. The story of Tithonus, son of 
 Laomedon king of Troy, whom this goddess carried off, must 
 be known to every one : see Mythology, p. 63 — croceum cubile, 
 on account of the yellow or orange colour of the eastern part 
 of the horizon before sunrise in southern latitudes : " L'aurora 
 gia di vermiglia cominciava, appressandosi il sole, a divenir 
 
 KukXos, ot evdiov K€%(0///ievos ypiaros e'irjs, 
 M.T]di ri arjfxa tyepoi, (paivoiro de Xiros cnravrr}. 
 
 'AXX' oi>x o7T7rore koTXos eeidofievos 7T€piTeX\jj, 
 Ovd' oTTiroT CLKrivutv, cu \ikv votov, at 8e fiopria 
 2xi£ojue*/ai (3d\\(i)(n, ra d' av irepi fieaaa tyae'ivy, 
 'A\Xd froy i] vstoTo Siepxerai fj dvefioio. 
 
 Arat. Diosem. 87. 
 
200 GEORGICS. 
 
 rancia," says Boccaccio. — 4-48. male, hardly : see on v. 360. — 
 pampinus, the foliage of the vine : see the Flora, s. v. Vitis. — 
 Tarn rnulta, etc. * there will be such a tremendous shower of 
 hail, as will appear by its rattling on the roofs of the houses.' 
 It is well known what mischief hail does to a vineyard. Voss 
 calls attention to the imitative harmony of the line. — 450. 
 Hoc, sc. ' what I am now going to tell you.' — decedet, sc. sol. 
 —Profuerit magis, ' it will avail you more.' Aratus says the 
 signs in the evening are more to be relied on than those in the 
 morning. Perhaps the meaning is, It will avail more to attend 
 to the following signs, as you can guard against the evils 
 which they portend, than to those portending hail, against 
 which there is no defence -nam — colores. This is a paren- 
 thesis, though, as is frequently the case, it contains the sub- 
 stantive which the following adjectives qualify. — errare, as 
 they fleet and vary. — Caeruleus, a dark leaden colour : see on 
 v. 236. — Euros, wind in general. — 45 4. Sin maculae, etc. 
 ' But if, while it is thus glowing, dark spots should begin to 
 mingle themselves with the red, then there will be a universal 
 tempest of rain and wind.' — inmiscerier, a paragogic infin.pass. 
 after the manner of Lucretius, like accingier, Aen. iv, 493, and 
 farier, Aen. xi. 242.— -fervere, be in commotion, from fervo, i. q. 
 ferveo. — per altum ire, to go to sea. To make the picture 
 more vivid, he subjoins a part of the preparation for putting 
 to sea, the loosening of the rope by which the vessel was held. 
 —458. referetque, etc. ' when he brings back the day, and 
 buries it after he has brought it back,' i.e. at his rising and 
 
 V. 450. 'Ecrirepiois Kai fidXXov dXijOea reKfit]paio m 
 
 'EanqpoOev yap 6/uu)s aqfiaiverai efifxeves alei. — 
 
 Arat. Diosem. 158. 
 
 V. 453. Ei ri ttov ij tzai epevOos eKi-pi^ei, 61a re iroXXd 
 'E\KO/zevo>v ve<pi(i)v epvOpaive-ai dXXoQev dWa' 
 "H eiirov fiekavel, ical aoi to. fiev vdaros eorw 
 ^rj/xara fieXXovros' rd d' epevOia ttclvt avtyioto. 
 Ei ye fiev dfityoTepois dfivdis Kexpuvpevos elij, 
 Kai Kev vdtjp (popeoi, icai v7TT]ve[xios ravvoiro. — Id. ib. 102. 
 
 V. 458. Ei d' avTcos naOapov \iiv ex 01 fiovXvcrios wpij, 
 
 Avvoi d' dvecpeXos jj,aXaKrjv vTroceieXos alyXtjv, 
 Kai fiev eirepxofievTjs tjovs e&' v7revcios e'ltj. — Id. ib. 93. 
 
book i. 448-466. 201 
 
 setting: see on vv. 52 and 11 8.— -frustra terrebere, 'you need 
 not fear ;' or, ' your fear will be idle or vain.' — claro aquilone, 
 * by the clear bright north-wind,' i. e. that makes the skies clear 
 and bright, aWprjyevrjs : see Mythologj', p. 549. Or clarus 
 may be clear-sounding, loud, Xiyus. — 461. Denique, etc. In 
 fine, the sun will tell what weather the close of eve brings 
 with it, from what quarter of the sky the wind will chase the 
 clouds, what rain the south-wind may be preparing. — serenas 
 nubes, instead of ser. ventus or ser. caelo, is certainly a very 
 bold expression. — cogitet Auster, ' Auster (the wind-god) may 
 be meditating.'— -falsum, i. e. vanum,fallacem,fallentem. Voss, 
 we think with some reason, regards falsus as the past part, of 
 the vevhfallor in the middle voice, in which case it may be 
 used for the part, praes. We are to recollect that it is Sol, the 
 sun-god, of whom the poet is speaking. — caecos, dark, secret. 
 Thus caecae fores, Aen. ii. 453. It is probably in this sense 
 that we call a blind alley one that is not pervious. — tumultus. 
 By this word the Romans understood a war in Italy, that is 
 a Cisalpine war ; hence tumultus Gallicus.—fraudem, treason, 
 treachery : see Aen. vi. 609. — tumescere, to swell, to begin to 
 heave. The metaphor is taken from the sea, which swells as 
 the wind increases before the storm : see ii. 479. — 466. Ule 
 etiam, etc. ' Not only does he so in general, but he gave a 
 particular proof when, after the murder of Caesar, he became 
 so dark that the world feared an eternal night.' It would 
 seem from the prodigies about to be enumerated, that in the 
 year of Caesar's death there were volcanic eruptions and 
 earthquakes similar to those which devastated Calabria in 
 1783, and which caused obscurity in the atmosphere of the 
 whole of Europe for the greater part of that year. Modern 
 astronomers, Wunderlich tells us, assert that there was an 
 eclipse of the sun in the November of the year that Caesar 
 was slain : this however is a matter of no importance ; aii 
 eclipse, which is over in a few hours, would never account 
 for the effects which not only poets but historians narrate : see 
 Dion xlv. 17. Plutarch (Jul. Caes. 69) describes the pheno- 
 mena of the atmosphere at that time in exact accordance with 
 those of 1783.— -ferrugine. This colour, according to Nonius, 
 
 k5 
 
202 GEORGICS. 
 
 is our iron grey, that of iron free from rust (rubigo), and 
 hence it signifies dark-blue. Plautus (Mil. iv. 4, 42, 43,) 
 gives this as the colour of a sailor's clothes, which seems there- 
 fore not to have varied from that time down to the present 
 day. Elsewhere Virgil uses it to express the violet hue of 
 the hyacinthus (iv. 183), and of a variety of purple (Aen. ix. 
 582 ; xi. 772). He also uses it of Charon's boat (Aen. vi. 303) 
 in the sense of dark. — 468. Impia saecula, the impious race, 
 that perpetrated or witnessed the murder of Caesar. Or per- 
 haps the expression is to be taken more generally. Saecula, 
 or saecla, is a favourite term with Lucretius, ex. gr. i. 21 ; ii. 77 ; 
 iii. 753. Our poet uses it again, v. 500, and Aen. i. 291. 
 
 469-488. He now enters on a splendid digression on the 
 prodigies and wars which attended that fatal event, and, con- 
 necting them finely with his subject, he thus concludes the book 
 on tillage. * Though indeed,' says he, ■ not only the sun, but 
 all the other parts of nature, animate and inanimate, bore 
 witness to the atrocity of that direful deed.' — aequora ponti : 
 see v. 246. — Obscoenae canes. This is the reading of the 
 Medicean MS. ; the common reading is obscoeni canes. Virgil 
 uses the fem. of this word also Aen. vi. 257 ; vii. 493. " So- 
 lent enim poetae in nominibus epicoenis femininum genus 
 usurpare ; v. Heins. ad Ov. Met. iii. 140." Jahn. The literal 
 meaning of obscoenus (from coenuni) is filthy, begrimed icith 
 mire. It may here be taken in this sense, but it is better to 
 understand it as inauspicious, of ill omen, on account of im- 
 portunae which follows. — importunae, " quae in alienum s. non 
 opportunism tempus ruebant." Servius ; the owls and other 
 nocturnal birds appearing in the daytime. — 471. Cyclopum 
 in agros. The Cyclopes of Homer had been localised at the 
 foot of Aetna in Sicily. — effervere, to boil out. — in agros, over 
 the fields. — undantem, bubbling up, like a pot of water on the 
 ftfQ.—fornacibus, i. e. the crater. — liquefacta saxa, the lava. — 
 474. Armorum sonitwn, etc. The appearance of the northern 
 lights, which are often attended with a crackling sound. — m- 
 solitis, etc. This may refer to the falling of avalanches ; for 
 the Alps are not subject to earthquakes. — 476. Vox quoque, 
 etc. This prodigy occurs more than once in the Roman 
 
book i. 468-489. 203 
 
 history, ex. gr. before the city was taken by the Gauls : Hist, 
 of Rome, p. 1 15. — 477. simulacra, etc. The shades of the de- 
 parted. Sed quaedam simulacra modis pallentia miris, Lucr. 
 i. 124. — sub obscurum noctis, before the night became quite 
 dark. — pecudes locutae, etc. This and the following prodigies 
 occur continually in Livy : the sweating of the ivory and brass 
 was of course owing to the moisture of the air. — 481 . Proluit, 
 etc. The Po too overflowed its banks and deluged the sur- 
 rounding plains. Proluit, washed away. — vertice, i. q. vortice, 
 whirl. — Fluviorum. The anapaest here becomes a spondee 
 by pronouncing i as y: see on v. 397. — Tristibus, etc. The 
 ancients, as is well known, used to derive auguries of the 
 future from the appearance of the exta (i. e. the viscera, the 
 heart, lungs and liver) of the victim. The Jibrae are said by 
 Servius to be "venas aliquas, quae si forte apparerent in 
 visceribus, malum omen erat." — Aut puteis, etc. Of this 
 prodigy we have met no mention anywhere else. Showers of 
 blood are often related to have fallen. — et altae. This also 
 was an ordinary prodigy. — 487. Non alias, etc. Lightning 
 or thunder in a clear sky was considered to be a prodigy : see 
 Hor. C. i. 2, 3 ; 34, 5. — Cometae: see on Ec. ix.46. Comets 
 were even in modern times held to portend commotions in 
 states. It is however probable that by cometae the poet meant 
 meteors in general, for comets do not usually appear in 
 numbers. 
 
 489-497. Ergo, l therefore,' for these signs could not be 
 without effect. — paribus telis, with like weapons, or, as Lucan 
 expresses it (i. 6), ififestis obvia signis Sigiiti, pares aquilas et 
 pila minantia pills. ,-^-iterum. We would join this word with 
 concurrere, not with videre, as many have done. In reading 
 v. 490, it is better to place the caesura after iterum than after 
 acies. — indignum superis, unworthy of the gods, unsuitable to 
 their scheme of governing the world. Voss explains it, ' nor 
 was it in the eyes of the gods unworthy of our guilt.' — Ema- 
 thiam. By this name we think Virgil here means Thessaly, as 
 Lucan (i. 1) calls the scene of the battle of Pharsalia Ema- 
 thios campos. Livy (xl. 3) says that Emathia was the an- 
 cient name of Paeonia. It came then to signify Macedonia, 
 
204? GEOKGICS. 
 
 and, as the ancient poets were by no means accurate or careful 
 in their dealings with geography, we find it, as here, extended 
 to Thessaly, which in its turn Lucan (x. 449) extends so as to 
 include Mount Haemus. What Virgil means to express, we 
 think, is this : ' the earth was fattened with our blood twice, 
 once in Thessaly and again in Thrace.' At the same time we 
 will not by any means pledge ourselves for the geographical 
 accuracy of the poet's views. — Haemi, now called the Balkan. 
 The plains of Haemus can only be a periphrasis for Thrace, 
 as Philippi is far distant from that range. — 493. Scilicet, etc. 
 ' yea and there will come a time.' He thus connects this di- 
 gression with his subject. — molitits, i. q. moliens : see on v. 206. 
 Here however it may be taken in its proper sense, for he must 
 have turned up the earth before he could see what it contained. 
 —pila, the well-known weapons of the Roman legions : see 
 Hist, of Rome, p. 171. — Aut gravibus, etc. ' Or, as he is break- 
 ing the ground with his heavy iron rake, he will strike it 
 against the empty helm of some long since fallen warrior.' — 
 Grandia, etc. 'And when with his plough or spade he opens 
 the ground where some warrior lay, he will view the size of 
 his bones with wonder.' It was the opinion of the ancients, at 
 least of the poets, that the human race became of smaller di- 
 mensions in each succeeding age. See Horn. II. i. 262 ; Hes. 
 "Ejoy. 129 ; Aen. xii. 899. The poet here intimates that these 
 discoveries would be made by a generation to whom the men 
 of his own time would be as heroes in dimensions. 
 
 498-514. He concludes with prayers to the tutelar deities 
 of Rome, that the younger Caesar may be enabled to avert the 
 ruin of the empire, and give it both external and internal 
 tranquillity. — Dipatrii, Indigetes. We agree with those who 
 think that by these two separate classes of gods are meant, the 
 copula being omitted as in v. 6. The dipatrii (7rarpwoi) are 
 the protecting gods of the state, the Di magni as the Penates 
 and Vesta; the Indigetes are the Oeol tyxupwi, Lares, deified 
 mortals, such as Aeneas and Romulus. He then, by a peculiar 
 kind of epexegesis, names one of each class, viz. Vesta and 
 Quirinus. In these cases the first of the single particular in- 
 stances is alwaysjoined by a copula to the general denomination. 
 
book i. 493-512. 205 
 
 Cf. Aen. v. 240 ; vi. 831 ; viii. 698, etc. — Tuscum. The Tiber 
 was called the Tuscan river, because it bounded Etruria from 
 its source to its mouth. — Palatia. The Palatine hill, at the 
 foot of which was the temple of Vesta, and on which Caesar 
 resided. — Hunc saltern, etc., 'this younger Caesar, at least;' for 
 the dictator had been murdered. — saeclo: see on v. 468. — 
 Satis, etc. It was an opinion universally established in anti- 
 quity that the sins of the parents were visited on the children. 
 This transmitted guilt, named ayos, piaculum, could only be 
 removed by peculiar sacred rites performed by a man of pre- 
 eminent sanctity. It seems further to be a condition that this 
 person should not be one of the descendants of him who had 
 sinned ; and the Julian house, whom the poet wished to flatter, 
 derived their lineage from Anchises, not from Laomedon. 
 Laomedonteae is an adjective denoting guilt ; as Laomedon, by 
 defrauding Hercules of the horses which he had promised him 
 for delivering his daughter Hesione from the sea-monster, com- 
 menced the series of perjury which brought the divine wrath 
 on Troy. — Jam pridem, etc. : see v. 24 ; Cf. Hor. C. i. 2, 45. 
 — triumphos, i. e. honours ; for he had not yet celebrated a 
 triumph. — 505. ubi, " i. e. apud quos" Heyne. Adverbs of 
 place are frequently thus employed : it may however be taken 
 as an adverb of time, when, and est be understood after ullus 
 in v. 506.—versum, i. e. confusum. — tot bella, etc. He means, 
 perhaps, the expeditions of Antonius against the Parthians, 
 and of Caesar, by himself or his general Agrippa, against the 
 Germans and Illyrians.— -fades, forms, kinds. — dignus, suit- 
 able. — squalent, are gone to weeds. — abductis, taken away to 
 serve as soldiers. — rigidum, straight, as opposed to curvae. — 
 conflantur, are beaten into. Flare and conflare properly sig- 
 nify to melt metals, from the blowing of the bellows. — Eu- 
 phrates, the Parthians : see Ec. i. 63. — Vicinae, etc. This is 
 thought to refer to some commotions in Etruria, while Caesar 
 was carrying on the war against Sex. Pompeius in Sicily ; but 
 perhaps it only means civil commotions in general. — impius, 
 cruel, a usual sense of the word: see on Ec. i. 71. — 512. Ut 
 cum, etc. He illustrates this breaking loose, as it were, of the 
 whole world by a simile taken from the chariot-races of the 
 
206 GEORGICS. 
 
 Circus. — 512. carceribus, the barriers, behind which the cha- 
 riots stood ready to start as soon as they were let fall. The 
 horses in the races during the Carnival at Rome at the present 
 day are started in much the same manner. — Addunt in spatia. 
 Addunt, 'they give themselves to.' Sese is to be repeated from 
 the preceding line. The seven circuits of the Circus which 
 the chariots were to make were termed spatia. Agitatorum 
 laetitia cum septimo spatio palmae adpropinquant, Sen. Ep. 
 SO, 11. The meaning therefore would seem to be, ' they rush 
 along the prescribed course, increasing in speed as they go.' 
 There is a variety of readings here, such as in spatio, se in 
 
 spatia. — retinacula, i. e. habenas audit, obeys. To hear, for 
 
 to obey, is found in many languages, in the Hebrew for ex- 
 ample. Equifrenato est auris in ore, says Horace (Ep. i. 15, 
 13), when describing a restive horse. — currus, i. e. equi: Cf. 
 iii. 91. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Argument. 
 
 Proposition and invocation, 1-8. Natural origin of trees, 
 9-12. Artificial modes of producing them, 22-34. Call to 
 the husbandmen and to Maecenas, 35-46. Remarks on na- 
 tural trees, 47-60. Modes of propagating trees, 61—72. In- 
 oculation and grafting, 73-82. Various kinds of trees, par- 
 ticularly vines, 83-108. Different soils and regions suited to 
 different trees, 109-135. Praises of Italy, 136-176. Various 
 kinds of soils, 177-235. Modes of ascertaining the quality of 
 the soil, 236-258. Mode of preparing a vineyard, 259-272. 
 Mode of planting the vines, 273-287. Depth at which trees 
 should be planted, 288-297. Miscellaneous precepts on plant- 
 ing, 288-314. Time of planting; eulogy of the Spring, 315- 
 345. Further directions about planting, 346-353. Care of 
 
book ir. 1-6. 207 
 
 the young vines, 354-370. Protection of the vines. Festival 
 of Bacchus, 371-396. Culture of the vineyard, 397-419. 
 Culture of the olive, 4-20-425. Culture and uses of other 
 trees, 426-456. Advantages and praises of a country life, 
 456 to the end. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 1-8. The proposition, with the invocation of Bacchus. — 
 Uactenus, sc. cecini. — Bacche, i. e. the culture of the vine, 
 over which Bacchus presided. We are perfectly aware (see 
 Mythology, p. 217) that the domain of this god extended 
 beyond the vineyard ; but we think that Virgil in this place 
 limited him to it. — silvestria virgulta, the woodland plants, 
 such as forest-trees. — prolem, the offspring ; perhaps because 
 he intends to treat of the propagation of the olive. — tarde 
 crescentis, slow-growing ; for such the olive really is, particu- 
 larly when raised from seed. Hesiod, as Pliny tells us (xv.l), 
 said that he that planted an olive rarely lived to gather its 
 fruit ; but this is an exaggeration. — Hue, sc. veni ; from v. 7. 
 The poet conceives himself to be in a region abounding in 
 vines, and where the operations of the vintage are going on. 
 — -pater : see on i. 121. The notes of the commentators here 
 and elsewhere show how little they understood the meaning 
 of pater in the Roman theology. — 4. Lenaee. The Greeks 
 gave this god the epithet of Xyvaios, from Xrjvos, torcular, 
 the vinepress, or vat in which they trod the grapes. — tibi, 
 for thee. — pampineo auctumno, with the viny autumn, i. e. 
 with the grapes which autumn is yielding. — gravidus, like 
 proles, v. 3 ; the metaphor being taken from the production 
 of mankind. The final us is long, though before a vowel, as 
 being in arsis. — 6. Floret, blooms, in allusion to the various 
 hues of the grapes and other fruits. — vindemia, the vintage, 
 i. e. the expressed juice of the grapes. — plenis labris, in the 
 full vessels. The labra were the vessels which received the 
 liquor as it ran from the wine- or olive-press: see Cato 10; 
 Colum. xii. 50, 10, 11. — nudata, etc. The poet, in his enthu- 
 siasm, represents himself and the god as entering the wine- 
 press together and treading out the grapes. In the East (see 
 
208 GEORGICS. 
 
 Isaiah, lxiii. 1-3), and in Greece and Italy, the grapes were 
 trodden out by men with bare feet. In the Geoponics (vi.ll.) 
 very minute directions are given about their keeping their feet 
 clean. The practice still prevails in many parts of the south 
 of Europe. — 8. dereptis. This emendation of Heinsius, for 
 which he had the support* of a few MSS., has been received 
 by Heyne, Wagner and Forbiger. Voss and Jahn retain the 
 common reading, direptis : the latter has a note of five pages 
 on the subject. — cothurnis. Bacchus was usually represented 
 wearing the cothurni or hunting-buskins. 
 
 9-21. Some trees are produced by nature alone, others by 
 the aid of human art.- — Principio, to begin. — Natura. Here, 
 as in v. 20, we would suppose a personification of nature. 
 Heyne gives the sense thus: "arborum nascentium natura, 
 ratio, est varia." — nullis, etc. The gen. of homo is here used 
 instead of the abl. Thus Tacitus (Germ. 43), nullo hostium 
 sustinente. — Sponte sua, avrofxarios. This is opposed to what 
 follows of trees produced by large seeds ; those of the plants 
 here enumerated being small and hardly visible : see Varro, 
 K. R. i. 40. — campos, etc., i. e. they grow on the plains and 
 on the banks of rivers. — molle, flexible ; equivalent to the fol- 
 lowing lentae. — glauca, etc. : descriptive of the pale green of 
 the leaves of the sallow. For all these plants, see the Flora. 
 — salicta, i. e. saliceta, for salices. — I&.posito, i. q. deposito, i. e. 
 deciso, fallen. For this sense of ponere, see vv. 403, 521. — 
 nemorum, of trees ; like silvarum, v. 26. — Jovi, for Jupiter, 
 that is, sacred to him. — habitae oracula, held to be oracles, sc. 
 at Dodona. For these trees also, see the Flora. — 17. Pidlulat, 
 etc., ' a dense crop of suckers grows up.' This is the case 
 when, as in the trees here mentioned, the roots instead of 
 going down run along the ground near the surface. These 
 are of course the most injurious to the soil, and nothing there- 
 fore can be worse than the planting thick hedge-rows of elms, 
 as is done in many parts of England. Cato (51) calls suckers 
 pulli, and Pliny (xvii. 10) pulluli, likening them to the young 
 of animals. — Parnasia laurus, the Parnasian bay, either as 
 sacred to Apollo, or because, as Pliny says (xv. 30), it attains 
 to great perfection on Mount Parnasus. — se subjicit : see Ec. 
 
book ii. 8-31. 209 
 
 x. 74. — 20. Hos Natura, etc., ' these (viz. sponte, by seed, by- 
 suckers) are the ways given by Nature,' i. e. the natural ones. 
 In these ways the shrubs and the forest-trees propagate them- 
 selves and flourish. 
 
 22-34. The artificial modes of propagation. For these, see 
 Terms of Husbandry. — Sunt alii, sc. modi, v. 20. — usus, ex- 
 perience : cf. i. 133. — via, on its way, as it advanced. — Hie 
 plantas, etc., propagation by planting out the suckers. — ab- 
 scindens, i. q. avellens. Some MSS. read abscidens, but that 
 would give quite an erroneous idea, for scidere is to cut with 
 a knife, etc., and suckers are pulled up, while scindere is 
 merely to separate anything forcibly. — tenero de corpore. 
 Either the poet here, as elsewhere, takes the liberty of joining 
 the adj. with the subst., to which it does not properly belong, 
 or he means the root in opposition to the trunk, which was 
 hardened by exposure to the air. — sulcis, the holes or trenches 
 dug to receive them. — hie stirpes, etc. A second mode, that 
 of planting pieces cut off the trees. It was chiefly the olive 
 that was propagated in this manner. Stirpes, sudes and valli 
 all mean the same thing, the pieces cut from the parent 
 stock. — Quadrifidas, cleft in four. — acuto robore, with its end 
 pointed.-^26. Silvarum, etc. A third method, by layers. 
 Silvae, trees : see v. 15. — plantaria, i. q. plantas. — sua terra, in 
 their own soil, i. e. that in which the parent plant is growing. 
 — 28. Nil radicis, etc. The fourth method, by cuttings. These, 
 unlike the first and third kind, require no root. — putator, the 
 pruner or gardener. It may be simply the person who makes 
 the cuttings.- — referens, bringing home with him : see i. 275. 
 Heyne takes referens mandare to be simply mandare. — sum- 
 mum cacumen, a shoot taken from the upper part of the tree, 
 i. e. its branches. There is probably an opposition intended 
 to the suckers of v. 23. — 30. Quin et, etc. A fifth method, by 
 planting merely cleft pieces of the trunk, as in the case of 
 olives, myrtles, mulberries and others. — 31. Truditur, pushes 
 itself, a mid. voice : it may however be taken passively. — e sicco 
 ligno, from the dry wood. Pliny (xvi. 84) tells us that olive- 
 wood wrought and made into hinges for doors has been known 
 to sprout when left some time without being moved. Voss, 
 
210 GEORGICS. 
 
 by siccum lignum, would understand the trunk as opposed to 
 the root and branches. — 32. Et saepe, etc. The sixth and last 
 method, that of grafting. — impune, without detriment. — Ver- 
 tere, sc. se. — mutatam, changing its nature. — prunis, etc. It 
 is doubtful whether he means here that the cornel was grafted 
 on the plum, or the plum on the cornel. Marty n, followed 
 by Jahn and Forbiger, maintains the former ; but to this it is 
 objected, that our poet himself ( Aen. iii. 649) speaks with con- 
 tempt of the cornel, which Homer (Od. v. 241) and Columella 
 (x. 15) describe as only food for swine; and it is therefore 
 hardly likely that the Romans, however capricious their taste 
 might be, would go to the trouble of grafting it. The only 
 objection to the other interpretation is, that corna would be 
 used for cornos ; but, as Wunderlich observes, the poet a little 
 further on (v. 426) uses poma for pomi. We adopt this in- 
 terpretation. — lapidosa, as having a large stone. — rubescere. 
 This term may be used in speaking of the purple plum, which 
 is red before it ripens. 
 
 35-46. Since then art can do so much, there is every in- 
 ducement for country-gentlemen to pay their attention to the 
 cultivation of trees. He calls on them in general, and on 
 Maecenas in particular, to attend to his precepts. — generatim, 
 according to their kinds. — terrae, the lands. — Jurat, etc. Even 
 mountains may be made productive. Ismarus in Thrace bears 
 vines, and Taburnus in Samnium is famed for its olives. Ju~ 
 vat, it is profitable. — Ismarus : see Ec. vi. 30. — 39. decurre. 
 The metaphor here is taken from navigation, and not from 
 the chariot-races of the Circus. — laborem, course or task. — 
 volans, running before the wind. Some MSS. read volens. — 
 pelago (dat.), on the sea, — da vela, set sail, as Aen. ii. 136; 
 not " fave canenti," as Heyne explains it. — 42. cuncta, the 
 whole science of the planting and cultivation of trees. — opto, 
 L e. voh: cf. Aen. i. 76. — primi litoris, the first part (i. e. the 
 edge) of the shore. The adj. seems properly to belong to 
 
 V. 42. U\t]9vv 8' ovk av eya> fiv9i]<J0[iai, ou£' bvofiyvw' 
 
 Ovd" ei fioi deica fiev yXwtxacu, deKa 8e GTopar elev, 
 
 $wj^ d' appriKTOs, xdXtceov ce fxoi vrop eveii]. — Horn. II. iL 488. 
 
 
book ii. 32-59. 211 
 
 oram. This, by the way, hardly accords with the bold course 
 intimated in v. 41. — In manibus terrae, 'the shore is at hand'; 
 we shall run no risk. — carmine jicto, by a poem on a mythic 
 subject, such as were then in vogue : see iii. 4. — -per ambages 
 et longa exorsa. He thus designates the length of those poems 
 and the involution of their plots. 
 
 47-60. He treats here of the culture of the trees and plants 
 above noticed as growing spontaneously. — in luminis oras. So 
 the Medicean MS. reads, and the phrase is of frequent occur- 
 rence in Ennius and Lucretius. The common reading is in 
 luminis auras, which is every way inferior. In luminis oras is 
 1 into the confines of light,' and is most properly used of a child 
 issuing from the womb, or a plant from the ground. — laeta> 
 healthy: see on i. 1. — natura, natural power and energy. — 
 subest, is under, is in. — Tamen, etc. ' these however may be 
 improved and made to bear by grafting or by transplanting/ 
 — mutata, removed. — subactis, well-dug, in which the earth is 
 loosened and, as it were, subdued. — artis, uses, whether to 
 bear or to yield foliage or timber. The former is effected by 
 grafting, the latter by transplanting. — voces sequentur. Ani- 
 mating as usual, he makes the trees hear the voice of their 
 master and follow him whither he calls them. — 53. sterilis, sc. 
 arbos, from v. 57. We have already had occasion to notice 
 this practice of understanding with an adj. or pron. the subst. 
 which follows at some distance. — stirpibus ab imis, from the 
 ground about the bottom of the trunk. It is a sucker. — di- 
 gesta, planted out. In this case the plants were set in regular 
 order ; hence he says digesta. — altae. It is, we think, better 
 to join this adj. with matris than with frondes. — Crescenti, etc. 
 They prevent it from bearing as it grows, and when it does 
 begin to bear they deprive its fruit of nourishment. By fetus 
 perhaps he understands shoots and leaves. — urunt : see on i. 
 77. — 57. Jam, etc. Trees, he says, which come from seed 
 grow more slowly than those propagated in the other man- 
 ners. He however exaggerates when he makes such a differ- 
 ence. We may observe that he has changed the order from 
 that jn v. 10 seq., where these occupy the second place. — 59. 
 Poma degenerant. This gardeners know to be true, and they 
 
212 GEORGICS. 
 
 therefore always graft. — 60. uva, i. e. vitis, according to Ser- 
 vius ; but as the racemus is part of the uva (see Flora, v. Vitis), 
 we think uva may be taken here in its natural sense. 
 
 61-72. Scilicet, etc. ' In fact it results from all that we have 
 said, that labour must be bestowed on all kinds of trees.'— 
 Cogendae in sulcum, etc. This metaphorical language seems 
 to be taken from the breaking-in of oxen to the plough or 
 cart (see iii. 163 seq.); in sulcum being like in jugum. The 
 sulcus was the trench in which the young trees were set at 
 regular intervals. — multa mercede, with much expense, on ac- 
 count of the wages paid to the workmen, or, what was the 
 same thing, the support of the slaves. — 63. Sed, etc. Some 
 however are propagated better in one way, some in another ; 
 as, for example, olives answer (respondent) best from truncheons 
 (v. 30), vines from layers (v. 26), myrtles from the solid wood 
 (v. 30), the hazel, the ash, etc. from suckers. — Paphiae. The 
 myrtle was so called as being sacred to Venus, who was wor- 
 shiped at Paphos in Cyprus. — Herculeae, etc., the white pop- 
 lar, w r ith which it w r as said Hercules bound his brows when he 
 descended to Erebus. Hence the under part of the leaf, as 
 being next his head, is white, while the upper was made dark 
 by the gloom of that region. — 67. Chaonii patris. Jupiter of 
 Dodona in Chaonia: see Ec. ix. 13. Thus we have (Aen. 
 viii. 554?) Lemnius pater for Vulcan : see on i. 121. — glandes, 
 the fruit for the tree : see v. 60. — ardua. The palm is called 
 tall, because it grows in one tall stem with all its foliage at 
 the top. — Nascitur, sc. plantis. — et casus, etc. Because the fir 
 was much used in ship-building. — 69. Inseritur, etc. The 
 walnut is grafted on the arbutus, the apple on the plane, the 
 chestnut on the beech, the pear on the ornus, the oak on the 
 elm. Modern naturalists however assert that these grafts are 
 impossible, as it is only plants of the same family that can be 
 grafted on each other. — horrida, rough ; meant either of the 
 rind or the berry. — nucis fetu, with a shoot of the walnut. 
 The more usual expression would be, nux inseritur arbuto 
 (dat.), but he adopts the less usual form, arbutus inseritur 
 nuce (abl.). Most MSS. read et fetu ?iucis arbutus horrida, 
 making a very disagreeable hypermetric verse ; but the pre- 
 
book ii. 60-83. 213 
 
 sent one, arbutus horrida fetu, is the correction in the Medi- 
 cean, and is to be found in other good MSS. — steriles. The 
 plane bears no edible fruit. — Castaneae, sc. fiore.—fagus, a 
 nom. : the us is long as being in arsis, see on v. 5 ; or it may- 
 be a nom. plur. of the fourth declension.— -fregere, crunch. An 
 aorist, like the preceding gessere and incanuit. 
 
 73-82. A description of the processes named inoculation 
 and grafting. — Nee modus, etc. Servius thus explains this 
 place : " Non est simplex et fortuita ratio, sed ea quae ingenti 
 labore colligitur." He gives a second interpretation : " Non 
 est idem inserere quod et oculos imponere" Heyne, who is 
 followed by Voss and others, says it is, i. q. sunt varii modi, 
 referring to iii. 482, where however simplex, as we shall show, 
 has not this sense. We think the second interpretation of 
 Servius is the true one, for the proper signification of simplex 
 is one, single : see Lucr. v. 613, 619. Simplex quae ex argu- 
 mento facta est duplici, Ter. Heaut. Pr. 6 ; Dejecit acer plus 
 vice simplici, Hor. C. iv. 14?, 13. For the form modus inserere, 
 see on i. 305. — Nam, for inoculation is performed in this man- 
 ner : in the nodus, or part of the bark where the bud breaks 
 out, a narrow slit is made, and a bud from another tree is in- 
 serted in it, and the whole is bound up. — medio de cortice, from 
 the midst of the bark. — tunicas, the liber or interior bark. — 
 udo, moist, as that is the most juicy part of the bark. — inv- 
 lescere, to coalesce or grow into it. — 78. Aut rursum, or again. 
 He thus passes to the grafting. — enodes trunci. By truncus 
 was understood either the trunk itself or a thick bough. 
 Enodes, smooth, or free from knots. — alte, etc. It was to be 
 split at the end, and kept open with a wedge until the shoot 
 taken from another tree was put into it : the wedge was then 
 withdrawn, and it was let to close on it. — resecantur, are cut 
 off at their upper end. — in solidum, sc. lignum.— fer aces, fruit- 
 ful, from a bearing tree. — Exiit ad caelum, grows up into the 
 air. Exiit, a,or\st.—felicibus, i. q.feracibus. — miratur, sc. the 
 tree on which the graft has been made. — non sua : see on Ec. 
 i. 38. See Terms of Husbandry, vv. Inoculatio, Insertio. 
 
 83-108. There are great varieties in every species of plant, 
 as for example in the elm, the willow, the lotus, and the cy- 
 
214 GEORGICS. 
 
 press. — 84. que, i. q. ve : see on i. 75. — Idaeis, Idaean ; from 
 Mount Ida in Crete, whence the cypress was said to have been 
 brought into Italy. — cyparissis. The Greek form Kvirdptoaos, 
 instead of the Latin cupressus : see Aen. iii. 680. — pingues, 
 unctuous. — Orchades. There are, for example, the three fol- 
 lowing kinds. — Pomaque, etc. This is a hendyadis for poma 
 Alcinoi silvarum. Que, i. q. ve. as in v. 84. — silvae, i. q. ar- 
 bores : see v. 26. The garden, or rather orchard, of Alcinous 
 king of the Phasacians is described in the Odyssey, vii. 112 
 seq. — surculus, a shoot, used for any part of the tree, or even 
 for the tree itself. — Crustumiis, so called from the Crustumine 
 region, on the other side of the Anio from Rome. — volemis, 
 so named from their size, it is said, as they would fill the vola 
 or hollow of the hand. — 89. Non eadem, etc. He now enu- 
 merates a great number of the varieties of the vine. The 
 reader must be aware that it is utterly impossible to identify 
 them with the different kinds now cultivated in wine-growing 
 countries. — vindemia, i. q. uva. — nostris, our, the Italian vines. 
 — Lesbos. This island, of which Methymna was one of the 
 principal towns, was famous for its vines. — Thasiae, from the 
 isle of Thasos on the coast of Thrace- — Mareotides, from the 
 borders of lake Mareotis, near Alexandria in Egypt. These 
 grapes were green (albae). — hae, the former ; Mae, the latter : 
 see Zumpt, § 700. — habiles, adapted to. — passo, sc. vino, 
 raisin-wine : see Colum. xii. 39 ; Plin. xiv. 9, 14. — tenuis, 
 small. Servius renders it " penetrabilis, cujus vinum cito de- 
 scendit ad venas." Others say it is thin, meaning the juice. — 
 94. Tentatura, etc., i.e. make people drunk, of which staggering 
 and stammering are consequences.— purpureae, purple grapes. 
 — preciae, i. q. praecoquae, according to Servius, grapes that 
 ripened early. — Rhaetica, sc. iritis, Rhaetia was a region of 
 the Alps, the Tyrol, but it was considered to extend into Cis- 
 alpine Gaul, and it was in the neighbourhood of Verona that 
 the grapes grew which the poet here praises : see Pliny, xiv. 
 6, who informs us that the younger Caesar was fond of them : 
 hence perhaps Virgil's praise ; for Catullus, who was a native 
 of Verona, spoke very disparagingly of them according to 
 Servius. — Falernis. The wine of the Falernian district, in Cam- 
 
book ii. 84-107. 215 
 
 pania, enjoyed the highest reputation in ancient times : the 
 wines grown there now have no great character. — 97. Ami- 
 naeae. These vines, Philargyrius tells us from Aristotle, were 
 transplanted by the Aminaeans from Thessaly to Italy, viz. to 
 Salernum on the gulf of Paestum, as would appear from Ma- 
 crobius, ii. \6.—Jirmissima, very strong. Plin. xiv. 2. — Tmo- 
 lius, sc. mons. Mount Tmolus in Lydia, celebrated for its 
 vines. — rex ipse Phanaeus. This was a promontory of the 
 isle of Chios which produced the celebrated Ariusian wine 
 (see Ec. v. 71), and which he therefore entitles the king of 
 vine-bearing hills, as he calls the Eridanus the king of rivers, 
 i. 482. — adsurgit, rises up to the Aminaean vine, out of re- 
 spect, as people do at the approach of a superior. — Argitisque 
 minor. This vine, of which there were two kinds, a major and 
 a minor (so named from the size of the grapes), is said to de- 
 rive its name from apyos, white. — cui non, etc. No other will 
 yield so much wine, and the wine of no other will keep so 
 many years. — dis et mensis secundis. Grateful to the gods as 
 poured out in libations to them, and used by the wealthy in 
 the second courses at their entertainments. Thus Horace 
 (C. iii. 11, 6) calls the lyre divitum mensis et arnica templis. 
 It is probably in a similar sense that it is said of wine in the 
 book of Judges (ix. 13), that it "cheereth God and man." — 
 JBumaste, fiovfjiaGTos, large-breasted, from its size ; also named 
 bumamma and duracina. — 103. Sed neque, etc. Dr. Fee (Note 
 sur Pline, xiv. 4) remarks that Cato had noticed fifty-eight 
 kinds of vines, Pliny about eighty ; while in modern times a 
 Spanish naturalist has described a hundred and twenty varie- 
 ties in the single province of Andalusia, M. Audibert in his 
 nurseries near Tarrascon had two hundred and seventy kinds, 
 and M. Bosc had collected fourteen hundred in the garden of 
 the Luxembourg, and was of opinion that it is not more than 
 the half of those cultivated in France alone. — Est numerus, ' is 
 there a number,' that is, can they be numbered. — refert, need 
 we, is it necessary. — Libyci aequoris, the sandy plain or desert 
 of Libya. — 107. Aut ubi, etc. Or when the east-wind blows, 
 how many waves of the Ionian sea come to the shores of Italy 
 and Sicily. — violentior, more violent than usual. 
 
216 GEORGICS. 
 
 109-135. Every tree is not equally well-adapted to every 
 kind of soil. Sallows grow best on the banks of streams, 
 alders in marshes, the ornus on mountains, myrtles on the 
 sea- shore, vines on open sunny hills, yews in a northern 
 aspect. — Fluminibus : see on Ec. vii. 66. — steriles : see on v. 70. 
 — 112. Litora, etc. The adj. here properly belongs to myrtetis. 
 — apertos, i. q. apricos. — Bacchus, i. e. vitis. — Aquilonem, etc. 
 A hendyadis. — 114. extremis domitum, etc. A poetic mode of 
 expressing the most distant regions of the earth in which men 
 were to be found. In his usual manner he gives two exam- 
 ples, viz. the Arabs and the Gelonians. — pictos Gelonos (like 
 picti Agathyrsi, Aen. iv. 146), the tattooed Gelonians. Mem- 
 braque quiferro gaudet pinxisse Gelonus, Claud, in Ruf. i. 313. 
 The operation which Claudian here very exactly indicates is 
 well known, and is in great use among the islanders of the 
 south seas. The Gelonians were a nomadic people of the 
 modern Ukraine. — arboribus, a dat. 
 
 116. Sola India, etc. See the Flora for all the plants here 
 mentioned. — turea virga, the Thus. — sudantia bahama. "Ex- 
 sudat arbor balsamum, aut illud desudat de arbore." Heyne. 
 Sudantia, simp, for comp. — baccas, the pods. The word 
 bacca was used in a general way to express the fruit of any 
 kind of tree. — molli lana, with the soft cotton. See the Flora, 
 v. Lana Aethiopum. — Velleraqae, etc. It was the general belief 
 in Virgil's time that the silk which was brought to Europe 
 from the East grew on the leaves of trees in the country of the 
 Seres, a people whose abode was supposed to lie between India 
 and Scythia : see the Flora, v. Vellera Serum. — quos lucos, 
 what lofty trees. — propior, nearer (sc. than Serica) to the 
 ocean. The ancients held that the whole earth was encom- 
 passed by the Ocean : see on Ec. i. 66. — Extremi sinus orbis. 
 He calls India so, as forming the extreme bend or curvature 
 of the oblong habitable earth (ol^ou/iev 77) at the ocean in the 
 East. Horace, speaking of the opposite end, says (Epod. 1.13), 
 Vel occidentis usque ad ultimum sinum. See Tac. Ann. iv. 5 ; 
 Germ. 29 ; Plin. vi. 8, 8. — aera summum, the topmost air, i. e. 
 the air at the top of the tree, i. e. the top of the tree in the 
 air. Arrows, when shot (jactu), cannot go over those trees- 
 
book it. 109-136. 217 
 
 they are so lofty. This however is an exaggeration ; there are 
 no trees of such altitude in India. — 125. Et gens ilia, etc., ' and 
 yet that people are not inexpert (i. e. they are very expert) in 
 the use of the bow.' The Indians were regarded by the an- 
 cients as very superior archers : those in the army of Xerxes 
 were all bowmen, armed with bows and arrows of cane. Herod, 
 vii. 65. — 126. tristes, bitter, or acid. — tardum, lasting, that re- 
 mains a long time on the tongue and palate. — Felicis mali, 
 the citron : see the Flora, v. Malum Medicum : he calls \tfelix 
 on account of its salubrious qualities. — praesentius, more 
 ready, more efficacious : see on Ec. i. 42. — infecere, have in- 
 fected, have poisoned. — novercae. It was very common in 
 those times for a second wife to remove by poison the chil- 
 dren of her husband by his former marriage, in order that the 
 whole property might go to her own children. Stepmothers 
 have been in ill-odour in all ages of the world. — Miscuerunt, 
 €tc. This verse is evidently an interpolation from iii. 282, 
 where it is in its proper place, while here it is quite needless, 
 the sense being perfect without it: see on Ec. i. 17. It is 
 not in the text of the Med. MS., but at the bottom of the 
 page. — agit, i. q. abagit, drives away. — 131. ingens, large, re- 
 ferring perhaps rather to the spreading of its branches than 
 to its height. — -faciem, etc. ' in appearance extremely like the 
 bay, and, were it not that its odour is quite different, it would 
 be a bay.' The smell of the citron is in its flower, not its 
 leaves. — -folia, etc. It is an evergreen. — ad prima, extremely; 
 like in primis, cum primis, apprime. — tenax, tenacious, per- 
 sisting. — animas, etc. A hendyadis for animas olentium orium 
 or olentes animas orium, Olentia is male olentia : see on i. 27. 
 — -fovent, Oepcnrevovm, curant, the same as the following verb, 
 but used to vary the phrase. — senibus anhelis (dat.), their 
 asthmatic old men. 
 
 136-176. A digression containing the praises of Italy: he 
 took the idea probably from Varro, R. R. i. 2. — silvae, i.e. 
 arbores, sc. the citron-trees. — ditissima terra. The idea of 
 the country Media is included in the preceding name of the 
 people Medorum. The wealth of the East was proverbial, 
 but he may have had in view only the citrons. — Ganges, 
 
 L 
 
218 GEORGICS. 
 
 India, of which the Ganges is the principal river. — 137. atque, 
 i. q. aut : see on i. 75. — Hermus, Lydia, in which the Hermus 
 rolls its golden sands. — Laudibus, merits, as deserving praise ; a 
 common meaning of this word: see Aen. i. 461. — Bactra, 
 the capital of Bactria, put for the country. Bactria was the 
 northern part of the Persian empire : it is now called Kho- 
 rassan. — Totaque, etc.: 'or (que i. q. ve) all Panchaia, rich 
 in incense-bearing soil : ' see on i. 70. For the fabulous isle 
 of Panchaia, see Mythology, p. 22. Virgil seems here to 
 mean Arabia Felix. — 140. Haec loca, etc. This country is 
 not like Colchis, where Jason yoked the fire-breathing oxen 
 of Aeetes and sowed the serpent's teeth, whence rose a crop of 
 armed men : see Mythology, p. 472. — satis dentibus. Perhaps a 
 dat., for Jason ploughed before he sowed : see Ap. Rh. iii. 
 1336. — virum seges, a crop of men. — horruit, bristled up: see 
 on i. 151. It is in his locis, not haec loca, that we are to 
 supply after horruit. — gravidae fruges, heavy corn, and there- 
 fore rich and good: see on i. 319.— Massicus humor, the 
 Massic juice. The wine of the Massic hills in Campania was 
 in great repute. — oleae. The ae is not elided, as being in arsis. 
 — laeta armenta, large and stately herds of oxen. According 
 to the historian Timaeus, Italy derived its name from ira\os 
 (vitulus), an ox, on account of its superior oxen. — 145. Hinc. 
 The use of this term here and in the next verse would seem 
 to be inferential from the rich pastures understood in the pre- 
 ceding armenta laeta. — bellatcr equus, the war-horse. Sub- 
 stantives in tor and trix were probably adjectives in their 
 origin : hence they are joined with other substantives : see 
 Zumpt, § 102. — sese infert, advances, as if against an enemy. 
 — albi greges. The oxen of that part of Umbria through 
 which the Clitumnus flows were (and still in a great measure 
 are) white ; a quality which the ancients, in their usual in- 
 exact way, ascribed to the waters of that stream : see Pliny, 
 ii. 103, 106. — et. This particle here, as often elsewhere in 
 our poet, has the sense of especially, what follows being really 
 contained in what precedes. — maxima victima. As being the 
 largest victim offered, or as being offered on the occasion of 
 a triumph.— -perfusi. Alluding probably to the notion of their 
 
book ii. 137-158. 219 
 
 colour being produced by the water of the stream. — 147. sacro. 
 The god Clitumnus had a temple at the head of the stream. 
 Plin. Ep. viii. 8. — ad templa, to the Capitol. — duxere, because 
 the victims were led before the triumphal car : see on i. 217. 
 — ver assiduum, etc, ' constant spring and summer in months 
 not its own," i. e. the climate of Italy is so mild that the year 
 seems to consist only of spring and summer. — Bis gravidae. 
 The sheep yean twice in the year : see Colum. vii. 2. — bis 
 pomis, etc. The fruit-trees also bear twice a-year. Varro, 
 from whom Virgil probably took this circumstance, says (R. 
 R. i. 7)> that in the district of Consentia, in Bruttium, the 
 apple-trees bore twice. — utilis, useful for, i. e. productive of: 
 see v. 323. — 151. semina, yevrj, the race. Lucretius as 
 (iii. 741) triste leonum Seminium, which Virgil had no doubt 
 in view. — nee miseros, etc. 'nor does the poisonous aconite 
 deceive the unhappy gatherers of herbs or plants,' i. e. they do 
 not, when collecting plants for food, by mistake gather aconite 
 and thus poison themselves ; whence he calls them unhappy 
 from the effect. The poet either uses here aconita as a general 
 term for poisonous plants, or else he shows his ignorance of bo- 
 tany ; for Dioscorides says expressly (iv. 78), that the aconite 
 (Wolfsbane) grew abundantly in Italy in the Vestinian moun- 
 tains of the Apennines. Servius also says it was to be found in 
 Italy. — Nee rapit, etc., 'nor are the serpents of Italy of the great 
 magnitude that they are elsewhere,' ex. gr. in Asia and Africa. 
 — rapit. On account of their quick motion. — tanto tractu, in so 
 great a space. — in spiram, i. e. in orbem, Cf. Aen. ii. 217. 
 
 155. Adde, etc. To those blessings of nature already enu- 
 merated add the works of man and the men themselves. — 
 urbis. Aelian (V. H. ix. 16) says that there were 1197 towns 
 in Italy ; but it is only of the greater ones, as Rome, Naples, 
 Mantua, etc. that Virgil speaks here, and of which there were 
 more in Italy than anywhere else. — operum laborem^ the labour 
 of the workmen employed in raising them. — congesta manu? 
 etc, piled by the hand of man on steep rocks. This was the 
 site of many of the ancient Italian towns. — Fhimina, etc., the 
 ancient towns built on the banks of streams. — 158. An mare, etc. 
 The Mare Superum or Adriatic, the Mare Inferum or Tyr- 
 
 l2 
 
220 GEORGICS. 
 
 rhene sea. — 159. lacus tantos, etc., such large lakes, as for ex- 
 ample the Larius,or Lago di Como ; and the Benacus, or Lago 
 di Garda. The former is near Milan, the latter near Verona. 
 — Fluctibus et fremitu marino. The adj. is to be understood 
 with the first subst. also. Marinus, like the sea. — 161 . portus. 
 The Portus Julius in the bay of Baiae, made by repairing the 
 breaches which the sea had made in the belt of land between 
 the sea and the Lucrine lake (which tradition said Hercules 
 had formed for a passage for the oxen of Geryon), leaving an 
 entrance for ships into the lake, and cutting a passage from it 
 into lake Avernus : see Strabo, v. p. 244 ; Hist, of Rome, 
 p. 470. — claustra, mound or dyke, by strengthening the belt 
 of land between it and the sea. — indignatum, expressing its 
 indignation at being excluded. — Julia qua, etc. The meaning 
 of this seems to be, that the sea rushed against and was flung 
 back by the dyke, and that the sound was heard all over the 
 new-formed port. — Tyrrhenus, etc. On account of the pas- 
 sage made into lake Avernus.— -fretis (dat.), i. e. lacu. — Haec 
 eadem, etc. This happy land also abounds in mines of the 
 more valuable metals. — mot, streams, i. e. abundance. — me- 
 talla, mines. — plurima fluxit, abounds in. The quantity of 
 copper that Italy produced is well known ; the gold and silver 
 mines were only matter of conjecture. Pliny tells us (iii. 20.) 
 that the Senate forbade the working of mines in Italy, perhaps 
 to prevent people from wasting their fortunes in mining spe- 
 culations. — 167. genus acre, a bold and hardy race. For the 
 peoples and warriors here enumerated, see the Hist, of Rome. 
 Adsuetum malo, as living among barren mountains. — verutos, 
 armed with the veru, a kind of spear: see Aen. vii. 665 — 
 Scipiadas. The elder Scipio Africanus, whom Lucilius, and 
 after him Lucretius and Horace, thus named. Here, as in 
 the two preceding names, though the plural is used, only one 
 person is meant. — duros bello, Heyne says, is " induratos ad 
 bellum." We rather think it is a variation of the belli fubnen 
 of Lucretius. With respect to the preceding note, we must 
 observe, that when our poet uses the very words of Lucretius 
 (Aen. vi. 84-2), he speaks of the two Scipios. — Qui nunc ex- 
 tremis, etc. This must have been inserted in the poem A. D. 
 
book ii. 159-184. 221 
 
 724-6, when Caesar, after the death of Antonius, remained in 
 Asia, regulating the foreign relations of the state : see Hist, 
 of Rom. Empire, p. 3. — oris. The frontiers of a country, in 
 the Latin poets, are often put for the country itself. In the 
 exaggeration of flattery, the poet represents Caesar as having 
 penetrated even to India, the eastern limit of Asia : see v. 122. 
 — Imbellem Indum, like molles Sabaei, i. 57. The epithet 
 seems very ill-chosen in this place. — Romanis arcibus, i. e. 
 from Rome itself, built on the seven hills : see Aen. iv. 234- 
 — 173. Saturnia tellus: see on Ec. iv. 6. — tibi, for thee, for 
 thy benefit. — res antiqua, etc., sc. agriculture, which had been 
 practised and held in honour from the most ancient times. — 
 sanctos, which had hitherto been regarded with a kind of 
 religious awe and which none dared to approach. — Ascraeum 
 carmen, a poem on agriculture, of which Hesiod of Ascra 
 gave the first example. 
 
 177-194. The various kinds of soil and their uses. — Nunc. 
 This is the proper place for treating of soils, their strength, 
 their colour, and their natural qualities of production. — Diffi- 
 ciles. It is not easy to ascertain the exact meaning of this 
 word here : it is the opposite of faciles, which the critics 
 say is i. q.fertiles, in which case it hardly differs from the 
 following maligni. This is however the best interpretation, 
 for it does not appear to mean ' hard to work.' — maligni, 
 stingy, grudging. Cf. Aen. vi. 270; Hor. S. i. 5, 4. — Tenuis 
 argilla, meagre, unproductive marl : Colum. De Arb. 17 ; Pallad. 
 iii. 18. — calculus, i.q.glarea, gravel. — dumosis arvis, in the 
 bushy soil, i. e. the hills overgrown with bushes, which must 
 be cleared away. — Palladia, as sacred to the goddess Pallas- 
 Athene. — vivacis, as the olive is remarkably long-lived.—. 
 oleaster, the wild olive. — Plurimus: see on Ec. vii. 60. — 
 baccis, i.e. those of the oleaster. — 184. At quae, etc. Such 
 land as has been just described is adapted for olives, but if 
 you want to cultivate the vine, the following is the kind of 
 land you must look for. — pinguis humus, a rich soil. — dulci 
 uligine, with a natural moisture of sweet water. IJligo, Ser- 
 vius says, is " terrae humor naturalis, ex ea nunquam rece- 
 dens." — ubere. Uber is properly ovdap, udder, and hence 
 
222 GEORGICS. 
 
 fertility ; the ground yielding its products in abundance, as the 
 udder does milk. — 185. campus, i. e. terra, land.— Qualem .... 
 limum : a parenthesis. — cava montis convalle. In order that 
 the epithet cava may not appear idle, we must recollect that 
 the poet conceives himself on the summit of the hills enclosing 
 the valley, whence the idea of the hollowness is what strikes 
 one most forcibly. — Despicere, to look down on ; not dispicere, 
 to look about for, as Heyne reads, following Heinsius, and 
 a few MSS. — hue, not quo ; for the poet conceives himself 
 and the reader to be looking at it. The land of which he 
 speaks may be as well on the side of the hill as in the bottom 
 of the valley. — Felicem, fertilising. — 188. quique editus austro, 
 sc. campus, from v. 185. This is perhaps only a continuation 
 of the description of the land given in the preceding verses, 
 or it is that of the elevated land suited to the vine. It should 
 face the south. This was the opinion of Saserna and of Tre- 
 mellius Scrofa: see Colum. iii. 12; but the aspect depended 
 on local circumstances.— -jilicem, the fern. He says the 
 ploughs dislike it because its long roots impede them. — Hie 
 tibi, etc., 'this soil will produce you strong healthy vines, 
 abounding in juicy bunches; this will yield abundance of 
 clusters of grapes and wine fit to be used at the festivals of 
 the gods.' The poet uses every expression he can find to 
 sound the praises of superior vineyards. — pateris et auro : a 
 hendyadis. — Inflavit: aorist. At Rome a flute-player always 
 performed at the offering of a sacrifice : see Liv. ix. 30. Ov. 
 Fast. vi. 653, seq. The flute-players were, it would appear, 
 mostly from Etruria, — pinguis. Aut pastus Umber aut obesus 
 Etruscus, Catull. xxxix. 11. Servius thinks the epithet is to 
 be restricted to the flute-player, as fattened with good-living 
 at the altar. — ebur, the flute, either made of, or adorned with, 
 ivory. — pandis, curved, hollow.— fumantia, as being just taken 
 out of the victim ; or, as Servius says, boiled. — reddimus. 
 The sacrificial term, because we, as it were, pay the gods a 
 debt, or give them back what is their own. 
 
 195-202. Good pasture-lands.— armen ta vitulosque. This 
 is either a hendyadis, or que is, especially : see on v. 146. — 
 studium,sc. est tibi, you wish. — tueri,to keep —fetus ovium, i. q. 
 
book ii. 185-211. 223 
 
 ores. — 196. urentis culta : see i. 77. The ancients had an erro- 
 neous notion that there was something poisonous to a plant in 
 the saliva of the goat : see Varro, R. R. i. 2, 1 8, 19. — culta, the 
 cultivated trees, viz. vines and olives. — Saltus, etc. 'In that 
 case you must repair to the wooded vales, and the rich fields of 
 Tarentum, or the well-watered plain of Mantua.' — saluri, i. q- 
 saturati, saturated as it were with fertility and abundance* 
 Cf. iii. 214. Rus saturum, Pers. i. 71. Satur Auctumnus, 
 Colum. x. 43. locos ob humidam caeli naturam saturos et 
 redundantes, Sen. Q. N. v. 9. For the fertility of Tarentum, 
 see iv. 126 ; Hor. C. ii. 6. — longinqua, sc. arva, far away from 
 
 Rome. — Et qualem, etc. : see on Ec. vii. 12 200. Non liquidi, 
 
 etc. ' In those districts your cattle will want for neither water 
 nor grass.' — -fontes, i. e. aqua. — deerunt, a spondee by synizesis. 
 — Et. The particle seems here to take the place of nam. — 
 quantum, etc. 'As much as the cattle eat in the long days of 
 summer, the dew will replace in the short nights of that 
 season.' There is exaggeration in this of course ; Varro how- 
 ever says (R. R. i. 7), Caesar Vopiscus aedilicius, causam 
 cum ageret apud censores, campos Roseae [ad lacum Velinum] 
 Italiae dixit esse sumen, in quo relicta pertica postridie non 
 appareret propter herbam. The pole of course was left lying 
 on the ground, not standing in it. 
 
 202-216. Land fit for corn, and the reverse.- -Nigra et 
 pinguis. ' The soil that, as you plough it, turns up dark and 
 rich, and that is loose and crumbty, is the best adapted for 
 corn.' Nigra, the pulla of Cato and Columella. This is the 
 colour of the land in Campania, and indicates the presence of 
 decayed animal and vegetable matter. — imitamur arando. The 
 object of ploughing is to loosen the soil, so that the atmospheric 
 air may get to the roots of the plants. — aequore, i. q. campo, 
 terra : see on i. 50.—domum decedere, to go home. — 207. Aut, 
 etc. Another kind of good corn-land is that from which timber 
 has been cleared away. — iratus, angry at its occupying so much 
 good land. — devexit, as he supposes the land to lie somewhat 
 high. — arator, the tillage- farmer. There is a hysteron-proteron 
 here, as evertit and emit signify acts that must precede that ex- 
 pressed by devexit. — 208. ignava. The cause of the farmer's- 
 
224? GEORGICS. 
 
 anger; v. 290 merely varies v, 208. — 211. rudis campus, the 
 rough (i.e. hitherto uncultivated) ground. — enituit, looks fresh. 
 The verb niteo and its derivatives are frequently used of corn 
 and corn-land. All the verbs used here, it will be observed, are 
 aorists. — 212. Nam, etc. The connexion here is : ' This is the 
 proper soil for corn, for others are bad ;' and then, in his usual 
 manner, he gives instances of the worst kind of soils.— -jejuna, 
 etc., ' the hungry gravel of a hilly region,' i. e. hills composed 
 of gravel. — rorem, sc. marinum, rosemary : so it is properly 
 explained by Servius. Heyne however renders it dew, or the 
 flowers on which the dew lies ; because, he says, he has no- 
 where met with ros by itself signifying rosemary. Voss how- 
 ever quotes from Pliny (xxiv. 11, 60) Haec quae ex Rore 
 supra dicto nascitur; and its being joined with casias leads us 
 to expect a plant. — Et tophus, etc. ' And the rugged tufa and 
 the marl eaten by black snakes assert that no lands yield such 
 good food and shelter to serpents as themselves.' Here, as so 
 often elsewhere, the poet gives life and reason to inanimate ob- 
 jects. — tophus, tufa litoides, a volcanic product which abounds 
 in the hills on which Rome was built: see Hist, of Rome, 
 p. 4?88. — chelydris. The clielydrus (from y^kvs and vlpa) was 
 a kind of snake whose scales were hard like those of the tor- 
 toise. — exesa creta. Creta here is i. q. argilla, potters' clay. 
 The poet certainly means to say that the serpents ate it, and 
 this seems to have been a prevalent opinion. The author of 
 the Geoponics, when recommending to put argilla in the wines 
 as a means of improving their flavour (vii. 12), adds, eon yap 
 ykvKeia. ra yovv r« yet^wvi alrr/v aiTOvp.eva ciayirerai, i. e. 
 serpents, scorpions, etc. See Bochart, Hieroz. i. 4. Silius 
 Italicus (xvii. 449) describes a serpent as ferventi pastus arena. 
 — alios agros. It appears to us, that by tophus and creta the 
 poet meant to describe two different kinds of soil which agreed 
 in harbouring serpents, and which differed in toto from the 
 gravelly soil which yielded food to the bees. 
 
 217-225. The best kind of land, equally adapted to all pur- 
 poses. — nebulamfumosque, the light mist which the heat of the 
 atmosphere draws up from lands which contain moisture ; it 
 is, we are told, particularly to be observed in the district of 
 
book ii. 212-226. 225 
 
 which the poet is about to speak. — 218. Et bibit, etc. ' it draws 
 the moisture from the atmosphere at one time, and sends it back 
 to it at another.' — vult. There is a personification as usual. — 
 Quaeque suo, etc. t and which, ever green, clothes itself with 
 its own grass,' i. e. which is always covered with natural grass, 
 an undoubted sign of a good soil. With Voss, Bothe, Wagner 
 and Forbiger, we adopt the emendation of Faber, who, for the 
 reading of the MSS. viridi, gave viridis, as more Virgilian, 
 supposing the s to have been dropt by a copyist on account of 
 the following se. This emendation is confirmed by one MS. 
 The common reading is viridi semper ; but the Medicean and 
 the other good MSS. read semper viridi. Semper viridis is 
 like the semper jiorens of Lucretius (i. 125), and the semper 
 udus of Horace (C.iii. 29,6), and may be regarded as a com- 
 pound, like our evergreen. — salsa. The ancients ascribed the 
 rusting of the ploughshare and other implements to the saline 
 quality of the soil, and we know that salt greatly aids the 
 oxidation of iron. — intexet, will weave into, will, as it were, 
 embroider the elms with vines. — oleo, in o\\.—facilem pecori, 
 adapted for cattle, yielding them abundance of food, i. e. good 
 grazing-land. He then adds, that it is good tillage-land ; and 
 he had just said that it was adapted to vines and olives. — 
 224. Talem, etc. He now tells where this valuable land may be 
 
 found, namely south of the Vulturnus in Campania Vesevo. 
 
 He uses the form Vesevus for Vesuvius, in imitation of Lucre- 
 tius (vi. 74*7). The great eruption of Vesuvius, the first on 
 record, and which destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii, did 
 not take place till more than a century after the writing of the 
 Georgics, and the country about it was then one of the most 
 charming in Italy. — Ora, the country. Gellius tells us (vii. 20) 
 that the poet wrote originally Nola, but when the people of 
 that town refused to let him turn the water on some land which 
 he possessed in that neighbourhood, to punish them he changed 
 Nola into ora. — 225. Clanius. This stream runs through Cam- 
 pania and enters the sea at Linternum, where the great Scipio 
 ended his days : it passes by the town of Acerrae, which it often 
 injured by its inundations. The river is put for the people, as 
 in i. 509 — vacuis, thinly peopled. Cumae vacuae, Juv. iii. 2. 
 
 l5 
 
226 GEORGICS. 
 
 226-237. Modes of ascertaining the nature of the soil. 
 Whether dense or rare. — quamque, sc. terram ; from v. 203. — 
 supra morem, i.q. supra modum, extremely. — Altera .. ..Lyaeo : 
 a parenthesis. — 230. Ante locum, etc. 'you will mark out a 
 spot with your eye.' — puteum, a hole, properly a well. — pedi- 
 bus, etc. 'you will trample it down.' — arenas, the clay: see on 
 i. 105. — Si deerunt, ' if the clay does not fill it up.' Deerunt : 
 see on Ec. vii. 7. — uber, the land ; the idea of fertility being 
 included : see on v. \85.~negabunt, sc. arenae personified. — 
 scrobibus, i. e. scrobe (the puteus of v. 231), plur. for sing. — 
 terga, i. e.porcas : see Terms of Husbandry. — proscinde, break, 
 give it the first ploughing. 
 
 238-247. Bitter, salt land.— perhibetur, is called: see i. 
 247. — Frugibus .... servat. We agree with Wakefield and Jahn 
 in commencing the parenthesis at frugibus, instead of at ea. — 
 arando, by being ploughed (passive). — sua nomina, their own 
 names, qualities ; i. e. they degenerate. — specimen, deiy^ia, 
 proof, as in Lucretius iv. 209. — tu. The pers. pron. here gives 
 force and calls the attention, as in Horace (S. i. 4, 85), Hunc 
 tu Homane caveto: cf. iii. 73, 163; iv. 45. — spisso vimine 
 qualos, ' baskets with close rods,' i. e. closely-woven baskets. — 
 colosque, and strainers, which were also of wicker-work. In 
 this place probably que is i. q. ve, and the plur. is used for the 
 sing. ; for one basket or one strainer would be quite enough. — 
 fumosis, etc. Baskets, etc., when not in use, were hung up in 
 the kitchen of the farm-house. — 243. Hue. We might, as there 
 is no verb of motion, have expected hie, but portentur is un- 
 derstood : see on Ec. ii. 45. — ager ille malus, i. e. some of the 
 clay of that land which is suspected to be bad. — dulces, etc., 
 spring- water. — Ad plenum, Heyne says, is " plene, ut colum 
 plenum sit." We rather think, with Forbiger, that it is " usque 
 ad plenum, i. e. affatim, copiose," our to the full, perfectly. 
 Cf. Hor. C. i. 17, 15. Ad plenum fuerint eruditi, Veget 
 iii. 9. Scientiam ad plenum adeptus, Eutrop. viii. 10. — cal- 
 csntur, be trampled ; more probably be kneaded, as it might 
 be done with the hands. — eluctabitur, will struggle out ; a very 
 expressive term ! — Scilicet, forthwith. — At, etc. It is best in 
 this verse to place the comma after faciei. — manifestus, etc. 
 
book ii. 226-259. 227 
 
 * The manifest bitterness will, by the sensation, twist the writhing 
 faces of those that taste it.' Manifestus is here perhaps i.q.mani- 
 festatus : see on iii. 434. Heyne thought that the adj. tristis pro- 
 perly belonged to sensu; but Wagner justly observes, " Saepe 
 in actione objectis adjunguntur epitheta quae iis tantisper dum 
 actio durat conveniunt. Ita expedies Aen. iv. 102; vii. 343; 
 et infra, v. 352." — amaror, a term adopted from Lucretius, in 
 whom alone (iv. 225) this word occurs, and who was remark- 
 ably fond of nouns ending in or. — 249. jactata, worked, like 
 paste, putty, etc.— -fatiscit, cracks, opens : see i. 180. — lentescit, 
 it sticks. The idea of flexibility is included in all the deriva- 
 tives of lenio : see on Ec. i. 5. — habendo, in handling, when 
 being handled; passive. — 251. Humida, etc. The commen- 
 tators do not appear to have understood this rightly, for they 
 look upon the second part of the verse as being little more 
 than a repetition of the first. The meaning of the poet seems 
 to be this : ' Moist land produces rank grass and weeds ; by 
 that sign you may know it ; and if you proceed to cultivate it, 
 you will to your cost find it to be too productive.' To this he 
 subjoins a wish : ' Ah, may that over-fertile land never be mine 
 (sc. to till), nor, as mine, exhibit its excessive power of pro- 
 duction by sending the corn up too luxuriantly.' In i. 112 he 
 gives the remedy. He should have added here, that this land 
 should be reserved for meadow and pasture. — aristis. He uses 
 this term of corn in all its stages of growth. — tacitam. He puts 
 this in the ace, instead of the nom., probably from the neces- 
 sity of the metre. — Promptum est, it is easy. — 256. Etquis cut 
 color, i and in general what the colour of any soil is.' — scelera- 
 tum, cursed, pernicious. Thus there was in Rome the Vicus 
 Sceleratus and the Campus Sceleratus. The word is not to be 
 found in any extant author anterior to or contemporary with 
 Virgil. — pandunt vestigia, 'give traces of it,' i.e. are signs of it. 
 
 259-272. The preparation of the ground for a vineyard, 
 and the rearing of the plants. — His animadversis. Having 
 given due attention to all that has been said about the choice 
 of soil, and selected the site of your vineyard, you are thus to 
 proceed. — Excoquere, to bake, i. e. to let lie exposed to the 
 sun and weather. There is a hysteron-proteron here, for the 
 
228 GEORGICS. 
 
 trenching, which he mentions next, must precede. — 260. mag- 
 nos. Martyn and Heyne would prefer to read magnis, as it 
 would appear to be rather large trenches than large hills that 
 were meant; but Wagner says, "Bene magnos. Quam late 
 pateat mons, totum scrobibus concidendum praecipit poeta, nee 
 parcendum labori." It may however be one of those cases in 
 which the adj. agrees with one noun in construction and with 
 another in sense. — Ante. Heyne here also would in preference 
 read atque, without any necessity : see v. 6. — supinatas, turned 
 up (literally, laid on their backs) by the spades. — aquiloni, the 
 north wind, used for wind in general, or for cold, in opposition 
 to the heat of the sun intimated in excoquere, v. 260. — laetum, 
 joyous, probably with reference to the effects of wine. — curant, 
 i. q. procuranl, provide for, i. e. effect : see Lucr. iv. 820. — 
 labefacta, loosened, literally made to move or separate.— -ju- 
 gera, i. e. solum, terram. — 265. At si quos, etc., ' but those who 
 are very particular.' — locum similem, a piece of ground in which 
 the soil is similar to that of the future vineyard. — prima seges, 
 the plants, cuttings, or seedlings. — quo, i. e. a quo. — digesta 
 feratur. This is one of those strange constructions which are 
 so frequent in the ancient poets ; it is in fact a hysteron-pro- 
 teron, for it is i. ({.feratur ut degeratur. — sernina, the plants. — 
 matrem, their mother, i. e. the earth that gave them nutriment. 
 — Quin etiam, etc. They even go so far as to mark on the bark 
 of the plant the position in which it stood with respect to the 
 cardinal points ; putting a mark, for instance, on the side facing 
 the north or south, in order that they may give it the same 
 position when transplanted : see Colum. v. 20. — axi, to the 
 north pole. Cf. iii. 351 ; Lucr. vi. 720. — Adeo, etc.: a general 
 maxim. — in teneris consuescere, ' to accustom while they are yet 
 young.' 
 
 273-287. Planting the vineyard. — Collibus, etc. 'First as- 
 certain, from the nature of your land, whether you had better 
 make your vineyard on the hills or on the level ground.' — Si 
 pinguis, etc. ' If you fix on the latter, plant your vines thick.' 
 —densa, i. q. dense. — in denso ubere, ' in thickly-planted land.' 
 
 For uber, see v. 234 non segnior, not more sluggish, i. e. is 
 
 not less prolific, i. e. is more prolific than if planted otherwise. 
 
book ii. 260-284. 229 
 
 — Sin tumulis, etc. i But if you plant on ground sloping with 
 hills,' i. e. on the sloping soil of hills. — Indulge ordinibus, ' in- 
 dulge your rows, give them greater liberty,' i. e. plant at 
 greater intervals. — nee secius. This place has greatly per- 
 plexed the commentators, and perhaps needlessly : its mean- 
 ing appears to be as follows : Fearing that, from the precept 
 indulge ordinibus, he might be supposed to recommend negli- 
 gence and irregularity in laying out the vineyard, he adds nee 
 secius, nevertheless, no less here than in the plain, all the in- 
 tervals between the rows (viae) must meet the alleys that cross 
 them at right angles. — in unguem, i. q. ad unguem, exactly, 
 as in Horace (S. i. 5, 32) ad unguem factus homo. The me- 
 taphor, Servius says, is taken from the practice of sculptors, 
 who tried the joinings in their works by passing their nail over 
 them. — secto limite, i. e. semita. The vineyard was divided 
 into horti, or plots, each containing about one hundred vines, 
 by semitae, or alleys : Col. iv. 1 8. — 279. Ut saepe, etc. He 
 illustrates the mode of planting the vineyard by the battle 
 array of the Roman legion, which was what was termed in 
 quincunx, or like the five of playing-cards : see Hist, of Rome, 
 p. 172. Hence the critics infer that he directs the vineyard 
 to be planted in this manner, which was reckoned the best 
 (see Varro, i. 7; Plin. xvii. 11); but this does not by any 
 means necessarily result from the text; and Martyn thinks 
 that it is in equal rows that he directs the vines to be planted. 
 — ingenti bello (dat.), for a great battle, or in a great war. We 
 prefer the former. Ennius said (iv. 15), bellum Aequis de ma- 
 nibus nox intempesta diremit ; and Lucretius (ii. 40), legiones 
 per loca campi Fervere cum videas belli simulacra cientes, which 
 last passage he had probably in view. In both, bellum is i. q. 
 proelium. — Explicuit, has unfolded ; as we say, using the 
 French term, has deployed. — agmen, the line of march, as op- 
 posed to acies, the line of battle.— -fluctuat, waves, the gleam of 
 the arms, now striking the eye of the spectator, now vanishing. 
 — 284. Omnia sint, i.e. Sic omnia sint. There should not be a 
 full stop at the end of v. 283. — Omnia viarum, i. q. omnes viae, 
 — paribus numeris, with equal spaces. — animum inanem, an 
 empty mind, that looks only to the gratification of the eye 
 
230 GEORGICS. 
 
 pascere, feed, gratify. Oculos quipascere possunt, Lucr. ii. 419. 
 — in vacuum. Heyne says " in aerem ;" but it rather is " in 
 vacuum locum." into a space that is not already occupied by 
 the branches of other vines. 
 
 288-297. The depths at which different trees should be 
 planted. — -fastigia, depth. This word, like alius, is used of 
 depth as well as height : see Varro, R. R. i. 14, 2 ; 20, 5. — 
 vel tenui, even to a shallow hole. The least depth at which 
 the vine was planted was a foot and a half. — terrae, i. q. in 
 terra: see Aen. v. 48; xi. 204. — arbos, a tree. Heyne says, 
 " arbores quibus vites jungantur ;" but surely the Aesculus was 
 not one of these trees. — quae quantum, etc. : a poetic exag- 
 geration. — multos nepotes, many generations of men. — multa 
 virum saecula. This is a mere variation of the preceding 
 words. — volvens, rolling away, i. e. seeing roll away : " Homo 
 per aliquod tempus vivens, annos menses dies secum agere 
 rapere volvere videtur. Ilia imago h. 1. ad arbores translata 
 est." Wunderlich. Multaque vivendo vitalia volvere saecla, 
 Lucr. i. 203. — durando, by (or in) lasting. — ipsa, as opposed 
 to the arms and boughs. 
 
 298-314. Miscellaneous precepts on planting. — Neve tibi, 
 etc. 'Let not your vineyard have a western aspect.' The 
 aspect of the vineyard was a matter of dispute. Columella 
 very sensibly advises to be guided by circumstances, as no one 
 aspect was universally the best. — corulum. Pliny says (xvii. 
 24) that the vine grows sick and melancholy if the hazel is 
 near it This may be one of the absurd notions with which 
 this author abounds ; or the hazel may, by the number and ex- 
 tent of its roots, really do injury. — neve flagella, etc. 'Nor, 
 when you are going to set cuttings of the vine or other trees, 
 take the upper ones.' — aut summa, etc. This seems to be 
 merely a repetition of the preceding precept, at least if arbor 
 is the vine. But Wagner maintains that arbor is a fruit-tree 
 in general, and that the precept that had been given with 
 respect to the vine is now extended to the other trees. Martyn, 
 and perhaps with reason, says that by summa flagella is meant 
 the upper part of the shoot, which gardeners advise not to use, 
 and summa arbore, from the top of the tree. The difficulty 
 
book ii. 288-315. 231 
 
 lies in the word pete, which seems inappropriate. — Tantiis 
 amor terrae. The plants are so fond of the earth, that those 
 are best which are nearest to it. — neu ferro, etc. * Nor prune 
 with a blunt knife.' This precept is still attended to by gar- 
 deners. — 302. Neve oleae, etc. He passes now to the olive- 
 grounds, and directs that grafts should not be made on wild 
 olives, as they were so apt to take fire. — pastoribus, plur. for 
 sing. : it is here used in a general sense, and means a person 
 employed in the olive-ground. — JRobora, the solid wood of the 
 olive.— 306. caelo, i.q. ad caelum, v. 309. — nemus, i.e. olivetum. 
 — ruit, drives. — tempestas, i. q. ventus, v. 311. — a vertice, from 
 the north. Cf. i. 24-2 ; Aen. i. 114. — silvis, i. q. nemus, v. 308. 
 — glomerat, rolls, whirls. — Hoc ubi, sc. accidit. — non a stirpe 
 valent, they have no strength or power in the trunk to produce 
 olives ; because it is burned below the graft. — caesaeque, etc., 
 * nor, if they are cut down, will they become again productive/ 
 Que, i. q. ve : see on v. 87. — atque ima, etc., * or good suckers 
 grow up.' — 314. Infelix. etc. * The unfruitful oleaster alone 
 remains ;' and therefore says the poet, tacitly, you should graft 
 on the cultivated olive, and not on the wild one. We must 
 here inform the reader, that in understanding the whole of 
 this passage (302-314) of an olive-ground, we have followed 
 Wagner ; the critics in general understanding it of a vineyard. 
 There is, we believe, no proof that vines and olives were ever 
 planted together ; for Colum. iii. 11. is not such, and vv. 312— 
 314. quite contradict that supposition. On the other hand, we 
 know from Pliny (xvii. 18) and Palladius (v. 2) that the olive 
 used to be grafted on the oleaster ; and the latter directs, in 
 order to obviate the danger of which Virgil here speaks, that 
 the graft should be made so as to be under the clay when the 
 tree was earthed up. Finally, it is only the first two verses of 
 this paragraph that properly relate to the vineyard. 
 
 315-322. Time of planting. — Nee tibi, etc. 'Let no one, 
 how skilful soever he may appear to be.' — Tellurem movere, 
 to stir the ground, i. e. to dig it, in order to put in the young 
 plants. — Borea spirante. From what follows, it appears that 
 he means the winter, in which season the north is the prevalent 
 wind. — seminejacto, when the plant is set. In v. 268 we have 
 
232 GEORGICS. 
 
 already seen semen used for surculum ; and here we have also 
 jacio for sero. The poet, as abundant instances show, employs 
 the terms of agriculture in the most arbitrary manner. — 318. 
 Conor etam radicem, the frozen root : see i. 236. — adfigere sc. 
 se, adhere to, catch hold on, so as to draw nutriment from it. 
 — 319. Optima satio, the best time of planting. — rubente, glow- 
 ing, sc. with flowers and blossoms ; or perhaps with the light of 
 the sun, as in i. 234-. — Candida avis, the stork, ciconia, a bird 
 of passage and that feeds on serpents : see Juv. xiv. 74. — 
 Prima, etc., toward the end of autumn, as the cold of winter 
 is commencing. Columella (iii. 14) says that the autumnal 
 planting of vines is from the middle of October till December. 
 — rapidus Sol. See on Ec. ii. 10. — hiemem, i. e. the winter- 
 signs of the ecliptic, in this place Capricorn.— -jam, etc., sum- 
 mer is past. One might have expected the ace, but the metre 
 forbade it. In a general way the poet divides the year into 
 aestas and hiems. 
 
 323-345. The praises of the Spring. — adeo. See on Ec. i. 
 12. — nemorum silvis. By the former of these words he may 
 mean plantations of trees, as vineyards, etc. ; by the latter, the 
 natural woods. — tument, opywai, swell, as the breasts of fe- 
 males when come to maturity. — genitalia, productive, fecun- 
 dating. — Turn pater, etc. The union of heaven and earth in 
 the spring, which produces vegetation, and which the Greeks 
 expressed by the mythic marriage of Zeus and Hera : see My- 
 thology, p. 102. — 328. Avia, the remote or lonely. — certis, fixed, 
 as only occurring at this time of the year : it is however only 
 true of horses, of which he uses the term armenta, iii. 129. — 
 Parturit, etc. See Ec. iii. 56. — tepentibus auris : a dat. — supe- 
 rat, abounds, teems, overflows. — humor, the nutritive juices. — 
 novos soles, new suns, i. e. new to them, which were only now 
 coming into existence. — germina, the shoots, the new wood, 
 sc. of the vine. — explicat, unfolds : see v. 280. 
 
 336. Non alios, etc. From what the spring is at present, 
 viz. the season of new life and production, he is led to infer 
 that it was in this season the world was created, or that the 
 series of the seasons in the beginning commenced with spring. 
 He had here in viewLucr. v. 815. — tenorem, tenor, condition. 
 
book ii. 318-350. 233 
 
 Cf. Aen. x. 340. It is a Lucretian term : see v. 509. — 338. 
 illud, sc. tempus. — magnus orbis, sc. ter varum. — ver agebat, 
 like agere festum. Septem egerat auctumnos, Ov. Met. iii. 327. 
 — hibernis parcebant flatibus, refrained from wintry (i. e. cold 
 and wet) blasts. — JEuri. The east wind was regarded as very 
 pernicious, and Horace (Epod. 16, 54) says of the Isles of the 
 Blest, Ut neque largis Aquosus Eurus arva radat imbribus. 
 Probably however JEuri here is the winds in general. — lucem 
 hausere, drank light ; for light was, poetically at least, viewed 
 as a fluid (see Ec. vi. 33), of which Lucretius (iv. 203) uses 
 the terms caelum rigare. — Terrea progenies, the earth-sprung 
 race. The ordinary reading is ferrea, iron, hardy; but terrea 
 is the correction in the Medicean MS.: it is the reading of one 
 MS. and of Philargyrius and Lactantius (ii. 10), and has been 
 received by Voss, Jahn, Wagner and Forbiger. — duris arvis, as 
 opposed to beds, the ordinary birthplace of mankind. — sidera. 
 The stars were regarded by many as animated beings. Cf. Aen. 
 i. 608. — Nee res, etc. ' Nor in fact could tender, new-formed 
 beings (sc. plants and animals) ever come to be able to endure 
 the present vicissitude of seasons.' — hunc laborem, this hard- 
 ship, that men now experience from the extremes of heat and 
 cold. — Inter. In logical correctness it should be ante — exci- 
 peret, would receive, as the nurse does, the new-born babe. 
 Throughout all this digression the idea of female parturition 
 was present to the poet's mind. 
 
 346-353. Further directions about planting. — Quod super- 
 est. A usual form of transition with Lucretius. — quaecunque, 
 etc., ' whenever you are planting out.' — premes : because the 
 plants were pressed down in the loose clay in which they were 
 set ; or rather it was pressed about them. — virgulta, i. e. sur- 
 culi, flagella, etc. — Sparge, etc., ' mind to dung them well, 
 and to put plenty of clay about them.' — aut lapidem, etc. It 
 would seem necessary to suppose a connecting particle here ; 
 for the poet surely cannot mean the stones to be a substitute 
 for dung and clay. — lapidem bibulum, pieces of sandstone that 
 will imbibe the water. — squalentes conchas, rugged sea-shells, 
 as those of the muscle, oyster, etc. — Halitus, air. — animos 
 tollent, will take courage, i. e. will thrive — S50.jamque reperti, 
 
234 
 
 GEORGICS. 
 
 < there are some.' An aorist as usual. — 351. saxo, with a large 
 stone ; not however laid flat, but set at an angle on the ground 
 close to the plant. — atque, i. q. aut. — ingentis, etc., with a heavy- 
 piece of tile, or perhaps with an earthen pot laid over the 
 plant. — hoc, Roc, this, i. e. either the stone or the tile ; 
 they both apply to the one object. — munimen, i. q. munimen- 
 tum. Virgil is the earliest extant writer in whom this word 
 occurs. Ovid adopted it from him, Met. iv. 773 ; xiii. 212. — 
 ad, against. — Hoc, sc. munimen. — hiulca, gaping, proleptically : 
 see on i. 320. — siti, with thirst. We would join this with hiulca, 
 not with. Jindit. — canis, i. e. Sirius. Arentes cumfindit Sirius 
 agros, Tibul. i. 7, 21 . 
 
 354-361. Digging about and propping the young vines. — 
 diducere, to loosen, literally to draw asunder. This is the read- 
 ing of the Roman and four other MSS., and is adopted by Voss, 
 Jahn, Wagner and Forbiger. The Medicean and the others 
 read deducere — ad capita, about or next to the plants. Circum 
 capita addito stercus ; circum capita sarito, Cat. R. R. 33. — 
 duros, etc., to work up the ground with the bidens : see Terms 
 of Husbandry, s.v. — exercere solum. See on i. 99. — levis cala- 
 mos, etc., as supports for the vines. — rasae hastilia virgae, 
 straight, peeled rods, like the shaft of a spear. — summasque, 
 etc., and at length to climb the stages on the elms. See Terms 
 of Husbandry, v. Arbustum. 
 
 362-370. Pruning. — Ac dum prima, etc. He recommends 
 not to use the pruning-knife with the young vines, but to take 
 away the superfluous shoots with the hand. Cato (33) gives 
 the same precept, but Columella (iv. 11) says that experience 
 had proved it to be incorrect. — ad auras. See on Be v. 61. — 
 laxis habenis, a figure taken from horses. Cf. Aen. i. 63 ; 
 v. 662 ; vi. 1. Arboribusque datum est variis exindeper a u ras 
 Crescendi magnum im?nissis certamen habenis, Lucr. v. 784. 
 — per purum, i. q. per aerem, as v. 287, in vacuum. — Ipsa, sc. 
 vitis, for this was in his mind all along. — acie. This is the read- 
 ing of the best MSS. : others have acies. — amplexae, sc. rites. — 
 validis stirpibus, with strong well-grown stems. — Exierint, they 
 have grown up, have gone out of their tender age : see r. SI. 
 — turn stringe comas, etc., c then prune away without fear ; 
 
book ii. 351-380. 235 
 
 take away leaves and branches.' For stringe, see on i. 317. — 
 Exerce imperia : see i. 99.— -fluentes, straggling. 
 
 371-379. Fencing the vineyard. — Texendae, etc. ' The 
 hedges must be frequently repaired,' i. e. they must be kept 
 close and unbroken. — tenendum, i. e. abstinendum, or arcen- 
 dum. — Praecipue, etc., ' especially in the spring, while the 
 leaves are tender.' — imprudens laborum, unacquainted with 
 hardship. Cf. v. 34-3. Imprudens harum rerum, Ter. Eun. i. 
 % 56 ; imprudentes legis, Cic. Inv. ii. 31, 95. — indignas, such 
 as it does not deserve, i. e. rough, severe. Cf. Ec. x. 10. — uri. 
 The urus is described by Caesar (B. G. vi. 28) as a native of 
 the Hercynian forest in Germany. It was, he says, almost as 
 large as an elephant, but of the shape and colour of a bull ; of 
 great strength, velocity and fierceness. It does not appear 
 that it was to be found anywhere else ; and its name may be, 
 as is said, a corruption of the German Urochs (i. e. Great-ox). 
 Its name too may have become so familiar at Rome at that 
 time, that Virgil might venture, as he has done, to use it for 
 the wild oxen or buffaloes of Italy, which is the only sense in 
 which it can be taken here. In iii. 552 he seems to use it in 
 its proper sense. — caprae. This is the reading of the Medi- 
 cean, Roman, and other good MSS., and is adopted by Wag- 
 ner and Forbiger. The common reading is capreae, roes, 
 which is supported by the following line of Horace (S. ii. 4,43), 
 Vinea submittit capreas non semper edules. But, as Wagner 
 observes, it would be strange if the poet were to omit the most 
 pernicious animal of all, and afterwards introduce it in an in- 
 cidental kind of way. The reading capreae seems to owe its 
 origin to an idea that a wild animal should be joined with uri. 
 — sequaces, following, persecuting (Cf. iv. 230), from the rest- 
 less nature of the goat, that goes up and down selecting the 
 green leaves and shoots. — Illudunt, waste, destroy : see i. 181. 
 incumbens scopulis, lying on the rocks, and therefore heating 
 them thoroughly. Vineyards were often planted on rocky 
 hills. — nocuere, sc. vitibus. — venenum, the saliva of cattle, espe- 
 cially of the goat, was thought to be poisonous to plants: 
 see v. 196. 
 
 380-396. A digression on the festivals of Bacchus in Greece 
 
236 GEORGICS. 
 
 and in Italy. — 380. Non aliam, etc. 'It was for this and no other 
 offence that the Athenians used to sacrifice the goat to Bac- 
 chus, to which the drama is indebted for its origin.' The verbs 
 caeditur and ineunt are to be understood in a past sense, in 
 order to accord with those that follow. — veteres ludi, the old 
 dramas, the first rude attempts at the drama. — proscenia. The 
 proscenium was the stage, the part before the scena. — ingeniis, 
 for men of talent; as in Horace (Ep. ii. 2, 81), Ingenium sibi 
 quod vacuus desumpsit Aihenas. See Excursus VII. The 
 common reading is ingentes.—pagos, etc., in the villages and at 
 the crossroads round the country. — Tkesidae, the people of 
 Attica. This word, naming the people from their prince, is 
 peculiar to Virgil : he formed it probably in imitation of 
 the Aeneadae, (i. 1) and Romulidae (iv. 687) of Lucretius. — 
 Praemia posuere, offered rewards. The festival was the rural 
 Dionysia (rd kcit aypoits), and the reward was a buck-goat 
 (rpdyos), whence tragedy is said to have derived its name : see 
 Hor. A. P. 275. seq. — unctos saluere, etc. The 'AaicwXiaafios, 
 or play of hopping on inflated goatskin bags which were 
 smeared with oil : the numerous falls of course excited the 
 merriment of the spectators. Saluere is the reading of the 
 best MSS. : others have salierc — 385. Ausonii. Properly 
 the Italians, but used here for the people of Latium, who 
 were supposed to be indebted in part for their origin to the 
 Trojan companions of Aeneas. — Versibus incomptis, with 
 rude unpolished verses. These were extemporaneous, and 
 were probably originally in the Saturn ian measure. The po- 
 pular extempore verse in our poet's time would seem to have 
 been the trochaic tetram. catal.: see Suetonius, Jul. 49, 51, 
 80 ; Galba, 6 ; Veil. Pat. ii. 67 ; Schol. Juv. v. S.— Ora, etc., 
 ' they put on them frightful masks made of cork.' — Et te Bac~ 
 che, etc., ' they sing hymns to Bacchus,' or rather to Liber, 
 the proper Italian deity. — Oscilla. These were small images 
 of the god that were, as here described, hung from the trees, 
 and as they were moved by the air, and so turned their faces 
 in different directions, they were held to indicate the favour- 
 able regards of the deity on the plants in that direction. — 
 mollia, i. e. ynobilia, from which it is contracted. It is a Lu- 
 
book ii. S80-399. 237 
 
 cretian word : see iv. 977 ; v. 1063 ; Hor. Sat. i. 9, 25. Virgil 
 uses it again, Aen. viii. 666. — pinn. This tree was probably 
 selected because its branches are all at the top, so that nothing 
 would impede the free motion of the oscillum. — 390. Com- 
 plentur, etc. As the vineyards are mentioned in the preceding 
 verse, we may suppose that by the vales and woods he means the 
 cornels and other fruits and berries that grew wild in them. — 
 valles cavae : cf. v. 186. Pindar (Isth. iii. 19) has koiXci vcnry, 
 and Livy (xxviii. 2) ibi in cava valle, atque ob id occulta^ 
 considere militem jubet. The cava vallis would seem to an- 
 swer to our restricted sense of the word glen, as opposed to 
 the wide, spreading vale. — profundi, deep, spreading far into 
 the mountains. — Et quocunque, etc. : see on ?;. 389. — hones- 
 turn, handsome. Cf. Aen. x. 133. Honestus is the Greek kuXos, 
 and is used of the mind as well as of the person. — 393. suum 
 honorem, his due praises. — patriis, that have been handed 
 down to us from our forefathers. — lances, dishes or plates on 
 which the offerings to the god were presented : see on v. 194. 
 — Uba, cakes smeared with honey : see on Ec. vii. 63. These 
 were used at the festival of the Liberalia: see Ov. F. iii. 761, 
 and the passage from Varro in our note there on v. 726. — 
 ductus cornu. This was the way in which the goat was usually 
 led to the altar. — exta, the joints. Such parts of the carcass 
 as were not consumed on the altar were feasted on by the 
 worshipers. The adj. pinguia shows that it is not of the heart, 
 liver, etc. that he is speaking. Exta is here probably, as Aen. 
 vi. 254, i. q. viscera, that is, says Servius, " quicquid inter 
 ossa et cutem est." — colurnis, hazel ; this tree being, like the 
 goat, hostile to the vine : see v. 299. From corulus was formed 
 the adj. corulinus, contracted to corulnus, and then, for the 
 sake of euphony, by metathesis made columns. 
 
 398-419. Incessant labour about, and attention to, the vines. 
 — ille labor, that toil. Ille is emphatic, to call the attention of 
 the reader. — Cui numquam exhausti satis est, i. q. qui numquam 
 satis exhauritur. In thus using the part, for a subst., he followed 
 the example of Lucretius. — namque, i. e. nempe. — 399. Terque, 
 etc., several times. — scindendum, is to be broken, loosened, 
 stirred up, sc. with the bidentes. — gkba, etc. * When that has 
 
238 GEORGICS. 
 
 been done, you must break the clods with the other side of 
 
 the bidens.' — 400. Aeternum, evermore, without ceasing. See 
 
 Aen. vi. 400, 617 ; Hor. Ep. i. 10, 41. — levandum, etc. ' the 
 
 leaves must be stripped off all the vines,' the pampinatio. — ne- 
 
 mus : see v. 308. — redit labor actus in orbem. Heyne says the 
 
 construction is, "Labor qui actus erat redit in orbem." It would 
 
 however seem to be a metaphor taken from the races of the 
 
 Circus, in which the chariots were driven round and round. — 
 
 Atque in se, etc., ' and the year rolls itself on itself along its 
 
 own traces.' Probably an allusion to its Greek name. Varius, 
 
 the poet's contemporary, also spoke of the year as sua se vol- 
 
 ventis in vestigia. — 403. jam olim, i. q.jam turn, v. 405. Olim 
 
 is used of the future as well as of the past. Cf. Aen. v. 125; 
 
 Hor. S. ii. 3, 60. — Frigidus, etc. This verse, Servius says, was 
 
 taken from Varro Atacinus. — silvis, from the woods in general. 
 
 — honorem, the leaves, which are the ornament or honour of 
 
 the trees. — acer rusticus, the active diligent farmer. — curvo 
 
 Saturni dente, the pruning-hook, the emblem of Saturn. — re- 
 
 lictam vitem, the vine abandoned, as it were, of its fruit and 
 
 foliage, and left deserted. — Persequitur. He, as it were, takes 
 
 advantage of its desolate condition, and persecutes it.— Jingit- 
 
 que putando, forms it, brings it into proper condition by 
 
 pruning. Perhaps it is a metaphor from breaking horses, of 
 
 which he says (Aen. vi. 8Q),jingitquepremendo. 
 
 408. Primus kumum, etc. ' Be the first to dig and prune 
 your vineyard, but be the last to gather your grapes ; for the 
 more thoroughly ripe they are the better will be your wine.' — 
 Sarmenta, the branches that were cut off in pruning. — vallos, 
 the stakes or poles that supported the vines. They were taken 
 up and put under covert at the end of the vintage, like our 
 hop-poles and pea-stakes. — metito, literally reap ; an instance 
 of the interchange of the terms of husbandry in this poem. 
 Elsewhere (iv. 231) he uses messis of honey. — Bis vitibas, etc. 
 The vines require to have the leaves stript off them twice a 
 year, in spring and autumn. — Bis segetem, etc. The vineyard 
 must also be weeded twice a-year. — segetem, i. e. viueam. — 
 sentibus, with their thorns, i. e. their noxious growth. — uterque 
 labor, sc. of pampination and of weeding. — Laudato, etc. Ergo 
 
book ii. 400-424.. 239 
 
 is understood. ' You may therefore praise large farms, but take 
 my advice and cultivate a moderate-sized one, which you may 
 expect to be able to manage well.' — 413. Nee non, etc. A 
 further labour of the vine-dresser is to cut ruscus in the woods, 
 and reeds on the sides of rivers, and willows in the osiery for 
 tying his vines, etc. — inculti, because it requires little or no 
 culture. — cura, viz. that of cutting and preparing the rods. — 
 arbusta, i. e. vineae. — 41 7. Jam canit, etc. The vine-dresser has 
 tied up and pruned all his vines, singing, as was usual, at his 
 work. — effectos extremus. This is the reading of the Med. and 
 Rom. MSS. and others, adopted by Wagner, Jahn and For- 
 biger. Others read effetos extremus or effetus extremus, etc. 
 All the editions, from that of Aldus down (those of Heyne 
 and Voss included), have extremos effetus ; but, as Wagner 
 very justly observes, effetus cannot properly be applied to the 
 vine-dresser, who has merely finished his labour, but is by no 
 means exhausted by it. He is termed extremus, as having 
 come to the end of the vines ; or, as in so many instances al- 
 ready noticed, this adj. properly belongs to antes, which are 
 termed effectos as being finished. — antes, plots. Ad is under- 
 stood. — Sollicitanda, etc. Still his labour and anxiety are not 
 at an end ; the soil must be stirred up with the plough or the 
 bidens, and hail and rain are to be dreaded. — pulvis movendus. 
 The surface of the soil, when dug or ploughed, is to be pulve- 
 rised by breaking the clods : or pulvis may be merely i. q. 
 tellus. — Juppiter, i. e. Jup. Pluvius, the god being put for the 
 sky or weather over which he presides, as in Hor. C. i. 22, 19. 
 Nebulae malusque Juppiter urget. 
 
 420-425. Culture of the olive. — non idla cultura. That is 
 in comparison with the vines, for they require some culture.- — 
 Cum semel, etc. When they have once struck root. — auras 
 tulerunt, have stood the weather : see v. 332 seq. — satis, to the 
 plants. Cf. v. 267 and v. 436. Some however, among whom is 
 Jahn, take satis as an adv.— dente unco, i. e. with the bidens. — 
 424. humorem, the requisite moisture. — vomere, sc. recluditur. 
 Servius (who is followed by Wagner) takes cum as a preposi- 
 
 V. 412. THrj oXiyrjv alvelv, fieydXy d' kvl (popria 6ea9ai. — Hes/'Epy. G43. 
 
240 GEORGICS. 
 
 tion in this place, adding that it is superfluous, as in this line of 
 Ennius, Effundil voces proprio cumpectore sancto. — ¥l^.fruges^ 
 fruit, i. q.fructus. Columella (ix. 1) has fruges roburnei for 
 acorns. The same writer, when treating of the culture of the 
 olive, says (v. 9, 15), Nam veteris proverbii rneminisse convenit : 
 eum qui aret olivetum rogare fructum ; qui stercoret exorare ; 
 qui caedat (i. e. putet) cogere. — Hoc, i. e. propter hoc ; a Lu- 
 cretian formula ; or perhaps hoc in modo. — Pari, to the god- 
 dess Peace. The olive, it is well known, was the symbol of 
 peace: see Aen. vii. 154; xi. 101. — nutritor. The imperat. 
 of nutrior, anciently used for nutrio : see Prise, viii. 5, 26. 
 
 426-453. The culture of other kinds of trees. — Poma, i. q. 
 pomi (see v. 34), fruit-trees, apples, pears, cherries, etc. — 
 quoque, i. e. like the olive. — ut primum, etc., as soon as they 
 get strength. Cf. v. 422. — nituntur, shoot up, struggle up. — 
 429. interea, i. e. while we are cultivating the vine, olive, etc. 
 — -fetu, i. e. with wildings. — aviaria, the haunts of birds, i. e. 
 the thickets. An aviarium was properly a part of the farm- 
 buildings, in which thrushes and other birds were shut up and 
 fattened. The present is the only instance of its employment 
 in any other sense. — Sanguineis baccis: see Ec. x. 27. — Ton- 
 dentur, are browsed by the goats, i. e. afford them food. — 
 taedas, firewood of fir. — Pascuntur, etc. With which we keep 
 up fires at night, by whose light we can work. — Et dubitant, 
 etc. When such is the utility of these trees, will any one hesi- 
 tate about planting them and bestowing on them the little care 
 they may require ? It is remarkable that this verse is wanting 
 in the Med. MS. — 434. Quid majora sequar ? The fut. sequar 
 can hardly refer to what has preceded ; a critic therefore pro- 
 posed to read sequor in opposition to all the MSS. But Wag- 
 ner says the reference is in reality to v. 437. For the force 
 of et in that verse, see Aen. v. 109 seq.; 839 seq.; ix. 176 seq. 
 — Mae, even they, emphatic. — umbras, sc. in the heat of sum- 
 mer. — satis, for the corn-fields, plantations of vines, etc. — 
 melli, i. e.apibus. — Cytorum, a mountain of Paphlagonia near 
 Amastris, famous for its box-wood. Cytore buxifer, Catull. iv. 
 13. He applies the part, undans, waving, which properly be- 
 longs to the trees, to the hill on which they grew. — Naryciae 
 
book ii. 424-454. 241 
 
 picis. Naryx or Narycum was a town in Opuntian Locris, in 
 Greece. The poet uses Narycian for Locrian in general ; for a 
 Locrian colony settled in the south of Italy (see Aen. iii. S99) ; 
 and it is of the pix Bruttia,often mentioned by ancient writers, 
 that he is speaking.- - 138. arva, i. q. tractus, terras. — rastris, a 
 dat. — ibnoxia, under obligation to : see on i. 396. — 440. Ipsae, 
 etc. ' For example, those very barren woods on the summit of 
 Caucasus.' — steriles, i.e. comparatively so, with respect to fruit- 
 trees. — Euri, winds in general. — -ferunt, carry away, sc. the 
 branches they have broken off.— aliae, sc. silvae in v. 440. — 
 fetus, products, i. e. different kinds of timber. — dant utile, etc. 
 i They furnish, for example, pines, a timber useful in ship- 
 building, and cedars and cypresses that are used in the con- 
 struction of houses.' — 444. Hinc, from these woods, i. e. from 
 other trees that grow in them, ash for example. — radios, spokes. 
 — trivere, because they are partly rounded. This verb and the 
 following posuere are aorists.- — tympana, drums, i. e. wheels 
 made solid or all in one piece. They are still used in some 
 remote parts of Ireland. — pandas, curved. It is probably the 
 ship-builders, and not the agricolae, that is to be understood 
 with posuere. — 446. Viminibus, in withes, for tying up vines. 
 He now quits the woods of "Caucasus.— -frondibus, in leaves, 
 for foddering cattle. — hastilibus, in shafts of spears : see iii. 23 ; 
 vii. 817. — bona bello, good for war, i. e. for making spears, 
 darts, etc. See Aen. ix. 698. — Ituraeos. Ituraea was the re- 
 gion beyond the Jordan : the Arabs who dwelt in it were, 
 like the Orientals, in general held to be famous archers. The 
 adj. is here an epithet, ornans. — Nee tiliae, etc. The lime and 
 the box are both good woods for the use of the turner. Nee 
 ...non, i. e. necnon.—ferro acuto, i. e. torno. — f^rrentem, the 
 rushing, foaming. — missa, i. e. immissa, launched. — Pado, on 
 the Po, i. e. on any river. — Corticibus, etc. The commentators 
 say that two kinds of beehives are meant here, that of bark, 
 Var. R. R. iii. 16, and that ex arbore cava, Id. ib. Perhaps 
 the poet only means that the bees settle of themselves in the 
 holes of decaying trees. 
 
 454-4*57. These are the advantages of the timber-trees, and 
 what has the vine about the culture of which we are so solici- 
 
 M 
 
242 GEORGICS. 
 
 tous to compare with them ? On the contrary it has given oc- 
 casion to crime. — 455. Bacchus, i.e. vinum. — illefurentis, etc. 
 As an example he cites the battle of the Centaurs and Lapiths 
 at the marriage of Pirithoiis, caused by the excess in wine of 
 the former. — Rhoetumque, etc. : particularly the following. — 
 cratere. The crater was the large vessel in which, at an enter- 
 tainment, the wine stood mixed with the requisite quantity of 
 water, and whence it was drawn in the pocula and handed to 
 the guests. The modern punch-bowl and glasses answer to 
 the ancient crater and pocula. 
 
 458-4-74. The remainder of this book is devoted to the 
 praises of a country life. The poet seems to have wrought it 
 con amore, and in the whole of his works there is nothing su- 
 perior to it in poetic beauty. Compare the second Epode of 
 Horace. — -fortunatos nimium, i. e.fortunatissimos. Nimius is 
 frequently i. q. permagnus, and nimium i.q. valde. Homo nimia 
 pulchritudine, Plaut. Mil. iv. 2, 8. Lacteus hie nimio fulgens 
 candore notatur, Cic. Arat. v. 249. Qui nimia levitate cadunt, 
 Lucr. iii. 338. Hue nimium felix aeterno nomine Lesbos, 
 Lucan, viii. 139. — ipsa, aur>), avro/uaros, volens. — discordibus 
 armis. An allusion to the civil wars. — humo, from its soil, its 
 surface. — -facilem, easy to be procured, to be had without much 
 labour. — -justissima, most just, as returning with abundant in- 
 terest whatever has been committed to her ; or, i.q. aequissima, 
 most kind. — 461. Si non, etc. ' If they have not the pomp and 
 pride of wealth, clients crowding in the morning to salute 
 them, and rich furniture,' etc. — -foribus, through the doors. In 
 ancient as in modern Italy, the doors, as well as gates, were 
 double, or what is called folding. — Mane salutantum. The 
 clients repaired at break of day to the house of their patron 
 to pay him their respects. Prima salutantes atque altera con- 
 tinet hora, Mart. iv. 8, 1. In Virgil's time it would seem to 
 have been still earlier ; for Q. Cicero, writing to his brother 
 (De Pet. Con. 15), speaks of it as being multa node, i. e. to- 
 ward the end of night ; and Catiline's associates, constituere ea 
 node paido post cum armatis hominibus, sicuti salutatum, in- 
 troire ad Ciceronem, and murder him, Sail. Cat. 28. — vomit. 
 Hence the entrances into theatres and amphitheatres were 
 
book ii. 455-474. 243 
 
 called vomitoria, as pouring in and out the crowds of spectators. 
 — 462. totis aedihus, into the whole house. Aedes is the same 
 as domus in the preceding verse, according to the usual prac- 
 tice of Latin poetry. — varios, i. q. variatos, variegated. — in- 
 hiant, gape at, i. e. admire. — postes, apparently i. q. fores. It 
 was usual to adorn the leaves of the doors, as well as the 
 couches and other furniture, with tortoiseshell, ivory, etc. 
 Et svffixa manu foribus testudinis Indae Terga sedent, Lu- 
 can, x. 120. — Illusas auro vestis. Vestis is here the couch- 
 covers : see Lucr. ii. 35 ; Hor. S. ii. 6, 102 ; Ov. M. viii. 657. 
 They had figures worked into them with gold-thread, i. e. were 
 embroidered with gold : they were usually red or purple : 
 see Aen. i. 700. — Ephy relet aera, vessels made of the metal 
 called Corinthian brass, which were of great value. Ephyra 
 was the ancient name of Corinth. — 465. Assyrio, i. q. Syrio, 
 i. e. Oriental. — veneno, dye, i. e. the Phoenician or purple dye. 
 Venerium ... .eo nomine omne continetur quod adhibitum ejus 
 naturam, cui adhibitum est, mutat, Caius Dig. L. 16, 236. It 
 is of dress that the poet is now speaking. — casia, cassia, the 
 fragrant bark, like cinnamon : see the Flora — liquidi, clear, 
 as so often. — usus olivi, i. e. oleum quo utuntur. Cf. iii. 135; 
 Hor. C. iii. 1, 42. — 467. secura, i. e. sine cura. In old Latin 
 se was i. q. sine. — nescia fallere (a Grsecism), that knows not 
 to (i. e. will not) deceive or disappoint of the advantages which 
 it promises, like that of the people of wealth and power who 
 were exposed to proscriptions and other dangers. — latisfundis. 
 Not the latifundia, but estates having variety of surface, con- 
 taining spreading hills, caverns, etc — vivi lacus, ponds consist- 
 ing of running perennial water.—; frigida Tempe, cool valleys. 
 Te//7rea or Tefxirrj (a re/z^o*?) signified a valley in general, and 
 was not peculiar to the celebrated one in Thessaly : see Ovid. 
 Fast. iv. 477 ; A. A. i. 15 ; Stat. Th. i. 485.— 471. lustra fera- 
 rum, the haunts of game, i.e. hunting is there. — patiens operum, 
 etc., able to bear work and living moderately ; opposed to the 
 town population. — Sacra deum, etc. The sacred rites of the 
 gods are there performed with more devotion, and parents are 
 held in greater respect. — 474. extremaper illos. i Justice, when 
 quitting the earth, in the brazen age of the world, abandoned 
 
 m 2 
 
244 GEORGICS. 
 
 the country the last ;' i. e. there remain in the country some 
 vestiges of primeval innocence and virtue. 
 
 475-489. He gives the preference to a life devoted to lite- 
 rature and philosophy ; but if he cannot attain to that, he will 
 adopt a rural life before any other. — dulces ante omnia. We 
 agree with the critics who take these words together, and as 
 equivalent to dulcissimae. Thus Ec. iii. 6 1 , Nobis placent ante 
 omnia silvae. Compare the expressions optime rerum, dulcis- 
 sime rerum. Aratus (Phaen. 16) has fiovaat fieiXixiat. — sacra 
 fero, i whose sacred emblems I bear.' The allusion is to the 
 rites of Bacchus, as appears from the passage of Lucretius 
 which he had in view. It is to that author's poem, and not to 
 those of Empedocles and other ancient philosophers, that he 
 alludes in the following verses, and which he fain would emu- 
 late. — caeli vias et sidera, i. e. vias siderum in caelo. — Defectus 
 solis, the changes in the appearance of the sun. He may have 
 had in his mind its appearance after the death of Caesar : see 
 i. 457. — Lunae labores, the eclipses of the moon. He varies 
 the phrase from Lucretius, as it is the eclipse, not the change 
 from old to new, that he wishes to express. Labor is toil or 
 suffering : see i. 1 50. — Unde tremor terris, the causes of earth- 
 quakes. — qua vi, etc., those of the flow and ebb of the tide. 
 He of course means the tides of the ocean, as they are hardly 
 perceptible in the Mediterranean. — Obicibus ruptis. As if 
 they were restrained or held down by some material barriers. 
 For the metre, see on i. 482. — Quid tantum, etc. Why the 
 days are so short and the nights so long in winter. — iS3. Sin, 
 has ne possim, etc. ' But if the cold blood about my heart pre- 
 vents me from attaining this knowledge of nature.' It was the 
 opinion of some of the ancient philosophers that the blood 
 about the heart was the seat of thought, and as that was warm 
 or the reverse the mental powers were vigorous or obtuse. 
 
 V. 475 sed acri 
 
 Percussit thyrso laudis spes magna meum cor, 
 Et simul incussit suavem mi in pectus amorem 
 Musarum. — Lucr. i. 921. 
 
 V. 478. Solis item quoque defectus lunaeque latebras. 
 
 Pluribus e causis fieri tibi posse putandum 'st. — Id. ib. v. 750. 
 
book ii. 475-494. 245 
 
 Aifxa yap avdpu)7rots TrepiKa.pci.6v eari rori/Jia. Empedocles in 
 Et. Mag. v. ulfjia. Lucretius makes the heart the abode of 
 the animus. — 485. rigui amnes, the rivers that flow through or 
 water. — in vallibus. This should be connected with placeant. 
 — inglorius, without attaining to fame or honour by philosophy, 
 or arms, or eloquence. Cf. iv. 94 ; Aen. ix. 548 ; x. 52 ; xi. 793 ; 
 xii. 397. — O ubi, etc., sc. qui me sistat, from the following 
 verses. We agree with Heyne and Voss in following Ascen- 
 sius in this mode of supplying the ellipse : it is certainly the 
 more Virgilian. Jahn and Forbiger follow Ruaeus in under- 
 standing sunt. Qui sistat is opt., not interrogative. — campi 
 Spercheosque, the plains of Spercheos, a river of Thessaly. — 
 Taygeta, sc. juga, oprj. — bacchata (passive), on which they 
 celebrated the rites of Bacchus, a temple to whom, only to be 
 approached by women, stood at the foot of that mountain. 
 Paus. iii. 20. Lucretius however (v. 822) uses bacchor simply 
 for to range. — O qui me, etc., i. e. O ubi est qui, etc. — prote- 
 gat, cover me over. It is more than the simple tegat. 
 
 490-502. Felix, etc. The philosopher is happy in the pos- 
 session of knowledge, but so also is the dweller of the country 
 in his exemption from ambition and all its cares and dangers. 
 — metus omnis, etc. The great object of the ancient philoso- 
 phers, especially the Epicureans, was to overcome the dread 
 of death and the terrors of a future state. Here particularly 
 the poet has his eye on several places of Lucretius. — strepitum, 
 the din, the noise that was made about the abode of the dead ; 
 not the roaring of the waves of the river Acheron. — Acherontis 
 atari, the insatiable Acheron ; like avarum mare, Hor. C. iii. 
 29, 61. Acheron is here i. q. Erebus. See Mythology, p. 552. 
 — Me qui novit, etc., i. e. agricola. — 494. Pana, etc., namely 
 
 V. 491. Quare Relligio pedibus subjecta vicissim 
 Obteritur. — Lucr. i. 79. 
 
 Diffugiunt animi terrores, moenia mundi 
 Discedunt. — Id. iii. 16. 
 
 At contra nusquam apparent Acherusia templa. — Id. i. 25. 
 Et metus ille foras praeceps Acheruntis agendus 
 Funditus, humanam qui vitam turbat ab imo. — Id. i. 37. 
 
246 GEORGICS. 
 
 Pan, etc. See on i. 138. — 495. populi fasces, the consulate at 
 Rome. — purpura regum, the purple robes of kings, in Parthia 
 and the countries not subject to Rome. — Flexit, i. e. flectit, 
 i. q. movet. Aen. vii. 252. All the verbs from v. 490 are 
 aorists. — et, i. q. aut- -injidos agitans, etc. The allusion is 
 said to be to the contest for the Parthian throne between 
 Phraates and Tiridates (see Hor. C. i. 26, 3 seq. ; Justin, xlii. 
 5); but these were not brothers. It is therefore probably 
 merely a general one to the contests between brothers and 
 cousins for the thrones of the East, which continue down to 
 our own days. — Aut conjurato, etc. The part, properly be- 
 longs to Dacus. The Dacians dwelt in the mountains of 
 Transylvania beyond the Danube or Hister ; hence probably 
 they are said to descend. At this time they were beginning 
 to make incursions into some of the frontier Roman provinces. 
 — Nee res Bomanae, etc. Nor does he concern himself about 
 the public affairs of Rome, or those of kingdoms destined to 
 fall by her arms or by those of each other. This is pure Epi- 
 curean philosophy ; but we must recollect that it is of the 
 agricola in general, and not of the Italian in particular, that he 
 is speaking. — perituraque. Here the que is probably i. q. ve. — 
 499. Aut doluit miserans, etc. Because, living in the country, 
 where all is abundance, there is no distress to cause him pain ; 
 and having enough, and not witnessing any great display of 
 wealth, he feels no emy. — liabenti, i. e. diviti, a frequent 
 meaning of habere.— ferrea jura, iron laws, on account of their 
 rigour. — Insanum forum. On account of the violent contests 
 both in public and private affairs of which it was so often the 
 scene. — tabularia, i. q. tabularium. The Tabularium was the 
 place in which the archives of the state were kept. As the 
 contracts with the Publicans, or farmers of the revenue, were 
 among these, the critics think the meaning of this place is that 
 the agricola does not farm taxes. 
 
 503-512. The pursuits of ambition and avarice. — 503. Sol- 
 licitant...regum. Voss and Heyne, as it would appear, under- 
 stood here three modes of obtaining wealth, viz. trade, war, 
 and the favour of the great; Wagner thinks the whole refers 
 to one subject, namely foreign war, as opposed to civil war, 
 
book ii. 495-508. 247 
 
 v. 505. This latter is perhaps the better mode of interpreta- 
 tion, ut gemma bibant, etc. being understood from v. 506 after 
 regum. — 503. caeca, dark, dangerous, as being full of shoals 
 and sunken rocks. — niunt in ferrum, rush to battle. — pene- 
 trant, etc., storm cities and plunder the palaces which they 
 contain ; or merely enter palaces as courtiers. — aulas et limina 
 is a hendyadis. — petit excidiis, attacks in order to destroy, like 
 petere bello. — urbem, sc. Ro.nanam, Rome. — miseros Penates, 
 the houses of his unhappy fellow-citizens ; or perhaps the Pe- 
 nates or guardian gods of Rome. — Ut gemma, etc. The reason 
 why men engage in foreign and civil wars is that they may 
 acquire wealth, so as to possess costly drinking-cups made of 
 single gems, such as onyx, or set with others of greater value, 
 as was the custom at Rome, and have purple couch-covers : 
 see v. 464. — Sarrano, Tyrian ; from Sarra, a name of Tyre 
 (formed like it from the Phoenician name Tsor^), as Poenus 
 Sarra oriundus in Ennius. — Condit opes, etc. Another, in- 
 stead of spending his wealth in luxury, stores it up and broods 
 over it. Cf. Aen. vi. 610. — 508. Hie stupet, etc. Another is 
 lost in admiration of popular eloquence, as poured forth by a 
 Cicero or other great orator from the Rostra in the Forum, 
 and longs to acquire the same power. — hunc plausus hiantem. 
 Another, hearing the repeated shouting and clapping of hands 
 of people of all ranks in the theatre at the presence of a Pom- 
 peius, a Cicero, a Maecenas (Hor. C. ii. 17, 25), is ambitious 
 of the same applause. Cf. Lucan, i. 133.— cuneos. In the 
 ancient theatres and amphitheatres, as the part where the 
 spectators sat was an arc of a circle, the rows of seats also 
 formed arcs, which increased in compass as they receded from 
 the front. Passages for the spectators to enter and reach their 
 seats ran from back to front, intersecting the rows, and thus 
 dividing them into separate portions, which, as they were broad 
 above and narrow below, were named cunei or wedges. Each 
 spectator's tessera designated the cuneus and row in which he 
 was to sit. The amphitheatre at Verona and the theatre at 
 Pompeii exhibit the cunei clearly. — enim, i. q. sane, utique, fa). 
 Cf. Aen. ii. 100; viii. 84. See on iii. 70. This power of enim 
 appears very plainly in enimvero and sed enim. Voss and Jahn 
 
248 GEORGICS. 
 
 agree with those who make a parenthesis of geminatus enim. — 
 509. palrumque....gaudent perfusi, etc. His mind reverting to 
 the evils of civil commotions, he represents the victors as re- 
 joicing, though, as was so often the case, sprinkled with the blood 
 of their own near relations. Fratres,we must recollect, included 
 cousins. Gaudent perfusi is a Graecism: cf. Aen. ii. 377 ; x. 
 426, 500 ; xii. 6, 702. — Exsilioque, etc. Others, i. e. the van- 
 quished (que, i. q. aut), quit their country and seek foreign 
 lands : exsilio, the place of exile. — Atque alio, etc. Horace 
 says (C. ii. 16, 18), Quid terras alio calentes sole mutamus? — 
 513. Agricola, etc. The opposite advantages of the country. 
 — anni labor, the toil of the year, i. e. the produce of that toil. 
 — meritos, deserving of their support, as having merited it by 
 ploughing. — Nee requies. There is no cessation of production. 
 — exuberet, abounds. This verb seems to be only another form 
 of exsupero, exupero, and not to be derived from uber. — mer- 
 gite. " Manipulos spicarum mergites dicimus." Servius. The 
 word only occurs in this place in this sense. The mergis seems 
 to have been a heap of corn collected with the mergae or 
 pitchforks. — oneret sulcos, i. e. when growing or when cut. — 
 atque horrea vincat, i. e. when carried: see i. 49. — 519. Venit 
 Jiiems ; teritur, etc., i. e. cum venit, etc. In the winter the 
 olives, for which Sicyon was famous, were pressed. Trapetus, 
 trapetum, pi. trapetes (jp<nrr]T))s a rpa-Kew, calco), the olive- 
 press. — Glande sues laeti. The construction is sues laeti 
 glande. Laeti is here perhaps sleek, fattened. — Et varios, etc. 
 Autumn too yields its produce. He goes back, we may see, 
 to another season. — ponit, i. q. deponit, lays down, yields. — et 
 alte, etc. The grapes ripen on the rocky hills. — 523. oscula, 
 i. e. ora or labra: Aen. i. 256. — Casta pudicitiam, etc., i. e. 
 pudica est mulier. — ubera, etc., i they let down their milky 
 udders,' i. e. their udders are large and full. — agitat, freq. of 
 ago. — Ignis, i. e. ara. — crater a coronant. It was the custom 
 
 V. 510. Sanguine civili rem conflant, divitiasque 
 
 Condupiicant avidi, caedem caedi accumulantes. 
 
 Crudeles gaudent in tristi funere fratris, 
 
 Et consanguineum mensas odere timentque. — Lucr. iii, 70. 
 
book ii. 509-541. 249 
 
 to bind the craters with wreaths of flowers : see Aen. i. 726 ; 
 iii. 525. pecoris magistris, the herdsmen : see Ec. ii. 33. — 
 certamina, i. e. ddXa, the prizes of the contest : see Aen. v. 66. 
 Wagner however thinks that certamen ponere can only signify 
 cert, instituere, ay<Sva irporidevai ; but this will ill accord with 
 in ulmo, unless we suppose that they were to cast their darts 
 at a mark on the elm. — nudant, sc. pecoris magistri. The 
 common reading is nudat. — agresti palaestrae, for the rustic 
 ring, as we may say. 
 
 532-540. This was the mode of life in the good old times 
 of Italy. — -fortis Etruria crevit, Etruria grew powerful. In 
 the early days of Rome the Tuscans were powerful both by 
 sea and land. — Scilicet, sane, h). We would, with Forbiger, 
 join this word with what precedes, and place a comma after it. 
 — rerum pulcherrima, greatest and most illustrious of states, 
 XPW a KaWiarov. The word res is inclusive of persons singly 
 or collectively, as well as of things ; thus pulcherrime rerum is 
 said of a man : Ov. Met. viii. 89 ; Her. iv. 125. Pidchcr in 
 the sense of flourishing occurs in Florus ii. 19, pulcherrimus 
 populus, and iv. 1, pulcherrimum imperium. — Septem arces, 
 the seven hills. — una muro, that of Servius Tullius. — Ante 
 etiam, etc. This also was the life of the men of the golden 
 age. — Dictaei regis, of Jupiter, who was said to have been 
 reared in a cavern of Mount Dicte in Crete. — Impia. This 
 word is to be taken rather in the sense of unkind, ungrateful, 
 than of impious ; for there does not appear to be any impiety 
 in eating animal food, while to slaughter the labouring ox, the 
 companion of the husbandman's toil, was regarded as an un- 
 feeling, cruel act. — Aureus, as ruling over the golden race of 
 men. — classica, sc. signa, the charge, which was given with 
 trumpets and horns. — enses, i. e. the iron from which they were 
 to be formed. 
 
 541, 542. It is time to conclude this book. The metaphor 
 is taken from travelling. — spatiis, in stages : see i. 512. — 
 
 V. 537. Oi TTputroi KctKoepyov exaXicevvavTo iid\aipav 
 Eivodir/v, xpwroi de fiouv kirdaavT' dporripiov. 
 
 Arat. Phaen. 131. 
 M 5 
 
250 GEORGICS. 
 
 aequor, a plain : see i. 50.—fumantia. Some good MSS. read 
 spumantia ; but that will not agree with colla. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Argument. 
 
 Invocation, 1, 2. Novelty of the subject and triumph of 
 the poet, 3-39. Call to Maecenas, 40-48. Choice of cows 
 and breeding, 49-71. Choice of a stallion, 72-94. Subject 
 continued, 95-122. Care of the sire, 123-137. Care of the 
 mothers, 138-156. Care of the calves, 157-178. Care of 
 foals, 179-203. Effects of desire in bulls, 204-241. In other 
 animals, 242-285. Care of sheep and goats, 286-294. In 
 the winter, 295-321. In the summer, 322-338. The African 
 herdsman, 339-348. The Scythian winter, 349-383. Of 
 wool; choice of a ram, 384-393. Of milk, 394-403. Of 
 dogs, 404-413. Warnings against serpents, 414^39. Dis- 
 eases of sheep and their remedies, 440-463. Directions to 
 avert contagion, 464-477- Description of a pestilence among 
 cattle, 478 to end. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 1-9. The present book being devoted to the subject of 
 cattle, he commences with the mention of the principal deities 
 presiding over them. — magna Pales : see on i. 339. For 
 Pales, see Mythology, p. 538. — pastor ab Amphryso, sc. Apollo 
 Nomios, who fed the flocks of Admetus on the banks of the 
 Amphrysus in Thessaly. Ab Amphryso, Wpfypvaridev. Pas- 
 tores a Pergamide, Varro, R. R. ii. 2. — siluae, etc. The haunts 
 of Pan are here put for that deity himself. — Cetera, etc., all 
 other subjects of poetry have been repeated even to satiety. 
 — vacuas mentes, unoccupied, idle minds.— carmine. Many 
 
BOOK III. 1-10. 251 
 
 MSS. read carmina, and it is by no means certain which is 
 the true reading. — 4. vulgata, made common, known to all. — 
 Quis aut Eurysthea, etc. Who, for example, is ignorant of 
 the whole history of Hercules, with his hard task-master Eu- 
 rystheus, the Egyptian tyrant Busiris, who offered strangers 
 in sacrifice, and the youth Hylas whom the water-nymphs 
 carried off? — illaudati, i. q. detestandi, by litotes, a figure 
 common with our poet. " Illaudatus est quasi illaudabilis, 
 qui neque mentione aut memoria ulla dignus neque unquam 
 nominandus est." Gell. ii. 6. Neither Gellius nor the critic 
 to whom he was replying appears. to have seen the full force 
 of words of this kind. — Cut, sc. a quo poeta. — Latonia Delos> 
 i. e. the wanderings of Latona and the birth of Apollo and 
 Diana in the isle of Delos have also been the theme of poets. 
 See the Hymns of Callimachus. — Hippodame, etc. Poets 
 also have celebrated the adventures of Pelops with his ivory 
 shoulder, and his winning Hippodame, the daughter of Oeno- 
 maus, in the chariot-race. We may here observe, that it must 
 have been the Greek poets that he had in view, for none of 
 these subjects seem to have been treated of by any Roman 
 poet of that time. — acer equis, Seivos 'nnreveiv. Acer is i. q. 
 strenuus, and is used poetically with an abl. case. — 8. Ten- 
 tanda via est, etc., ' I must try some other way, by which I, 
 like the poets I have alluded to, may rise into the air and fly 
 aloft in the view of men/ Poets and poems were often thus 
 compared to birds, especially to swans : see Theognis 237 seq. ; 
 Hor. C. ii. 20. — victor, i, e. having accomplished what I pro- 
 posed : see Lucr. i. 76. — virum volitare per ora. " Ornatius 
 quam ferri per ora, in ore omnium esse." Heyne. We prefer 
 the interpretation given above, as more poetic and more in 
 accordance with what precedes. The expression is used in a 
 similar way Aen. xii. 535, to which we may add the following 
 instances. Incedunt per ora vestra magnifici, Sail. Jug. 31 ; 
 nitidus qua quisque per ora Cederet, Hor. S. ii. 1, 64. 
 
 10-25. He will be the first poet that Mantua has produced, 
 and when he returns to dwell there he will raise a temple in 
 honour of Caesar, and celebrate games like those of Greece. 
 This is all expressed with the exaggeration permitted to poetry, 
 
252 GEORGICS. 
 
 and has its origin in the practice of the victors at the Olympic 
 and other games raising in their native towns chapels or altars 
 to their patron deities in commemoration of their success. — 
 11. rediens. We must recollect that he wrote this poem at 
 Naples. — Aonio vertice, i. e. from Helicon, as in Lucretius ; 
 but perhaps with a reference to Hesiod. — deducam, I will lead 
 down, sc. from their sacred hill. — Idumaeas palmas. Palms 
 were the ornaments and emblem of victory ; Idumaeas, i. e. 
 Edomite or Judaean, an epith. orn., Judasa being celebrated 
 for its palm-trees. — templum ponam, I will raise a temple ; like 
 the Greek ridrifxi. — Propter aquam. A Lucretian form : see 
 Ec. viii. 87. — tardis ingens, etc. The idea in tardis properly 
 belongs to errat. On the Mincius, see on Ec. vii. 12. — 16. 
 In medio, sc. templi. — Caesar, i. e. statua Caesaris. — Uli (dat.), 
 to or for him, in his honour. — victor-, see v. 9. — Tyrio con- 
 spectus in ostro, seen clad in purple, as the director of the 
 games, like the praetor at Rome. — agitabo currus, I will drive, 
 i.e. I will cause to be driven, by giving the games. — Centum. 
 This is probably a def. for an indef. The critics give the 
 following examples of this employment of centum. Aen. i. 417 ; 
 iv. 199 ; Catull. lxiv. 390 ; Tibull. i. 7, 49 ; Hor. C. iii. 8, 13. 
 — adflumina, along the banks of the river, sc. the Mincius. — 
 Cuncta mihi, etc. His games would be so magnificent that 
 they would attract to them all the athletes, etc. of Greece. — 
 Alpheum, Olympia in Elis, on the banks of the Alpheus. — 
 lucos Molorchi, Nemea, where the shepherd Molorchus en- 
 tertained Hercules when he was going to attack the Nemeaean 
 lion. — crudo caestu. The caestus, or boxing-glove, was made 
 of raw hide and iron. — 21. tonsae olivae. We frankly confess 
 that we do not know what is meant by this expression, which 
 occurs again Aen. v. 556 and 774. Servius says that tonsae 
 is " minutis foliis compositae ;" and Wagner supposes that, in 
 making the garland, the larger leaves were plucked away and 
 only the smaller ones left, lest it should shade the forehead too 
 
 10. Ennius ut noster cecinit, qui primus amoeno 
 Detulit ex Helicone perenni fronde coronam 
 Per gentes Italas homiuum quae clara clueret. — Lucr. i. 118. 
 
book in. 11-27. 253 
 
 much. Perhaps the olive was termed tonsa on account of the 
 trim, stiff form of its leaves, as opposed to those of the vine, 
 the other great object of culture. — 22. Donaferam, I will offer 
 sacrifices : see Aen. v. 10L — Jam nunc juvat, it delights me 
 even now, sc. in imagination. — sollemnis pompas, the solemn 
 or regular processions. — Vel scena, etc., he will also give dra- 
 matic entertainments. In the ancient theatres the proscenium 
 or stage was very narrow, as the number of actors that ap- 
 peared at the same time seldom exceeded four. The scena 
 was the back of it, and was of wood, of a triangular form 
 having three fronts. It revolved on a pivot, so that any one 
 of the fronts could be made to form the scena of the piece 
 that was represented. Hence the poet says, ' the scene de- 
 parts (i. e. is changed), its fronts (or sides) being turned.' — 
 Purpurea intexti, etc. The aulaeum, or curtain which hung 
 before the proscenium in the Roman theatre, instead of rising, 
 as with us, descended when the piece was to begin, and rose 
 when it was concluded. There were various figures woven 
 into it, and, as it would seem, after the invasion of Britain by 
 Julius Caesar, the wild-looking tattooed Britons were often 
 thus represented. As they rose gradually with the curtain, 
 they might be said to raise it. Ovid (Met. iii. Ill) thus illus- 
 trates the rising of the warriors when Cadmus had sown the 
 serpent's teeth : Sic, ubi tolluntur festis aulaea theatris, Sur- 
 gere signa solent ; primumque ostendere vultum, Cetera paul- 
 latim, placidoque educta te?wre Tota patent, imoque pedes in 
 wargine ponunt. — 26. In foribus, etc. He returns to the 
 temple, to describe its ornaments, particularly the sculpture 
 in gold and ivory on its doors : see on ii. 463. — pugnam Gan- 
 garidum, the battle with the Indians who dwelt on the banks 
 of the Ganges. The imagination of the Romans had long 
 been occupied with the idea of the conquest of the East, for 
 which Julius Caesar had been making preparations when he 
 perished. Our poet, in flattery of the younger Caesar, here 
 supposes that he will achieve that conquest, and penetrate fur- 
 ther than the great Alexander, reaching even the banks of the 
 Ganges. — 27. Quirini, i. e. Caesaris. He gives him this title 
 as being a second deified founder of Rome. — hie, on the other 
 
254 GEORGICS. 
 
 valve of the door. — 28. undantem bello, etc. The conquest 
 of Egypt. The Nile is put for the country and its population, 
 and is described as swelling and increasing its waves for war 
 (bello, dat). — magnum fluentem, ttoXv peovra. — navali surgen- 
 tis, etc., a rostrated column, in commemoration of a naval 
 victory. — Addam, etc. There will also be there cities con- 
 quered in Asia, and victories gained over the Armenians (in- 
 dicated by their mountain Niphates) and the Parthians. — 
 Fidentem fuga, etc. Alluding to the well-known practice of 
 the Parthian cavalry to fly, and as they went at full speed to 
 shower arrows on their pursuers. " How quick they wheel'd, 
 and flying behind them shot Sharp sleet of arrowy showers." 
 Milton, P. R. iii. 323. — Et duo, etc. In the spirit of prophecy 
 he sees the extreme West, as well as the extreme East, subdued 
 by Caesar. — rapta manu, seized by dint of fighting. He uses 
 the verb rapio to denote the speed with which Caesar would 
 conquer. — tropaea, victories; the sign being used for the 
 thing signified. — Bisque triumphatas. This does not mean 
 that each people was twice triumphed over, but that he 
 triumphed twice, once for each. — utroque ab litore, from 
 either shore, sc. of the Ocean, i. e. the Indians on the east, 
 the Cantabrians or Britons on the west shore of the circum- 
 ambient Ocean. The interpreters however, in their anxiety 
 to reduce all to historic accuracy, say both the shores of the 
 Mediterranean and of the Ocean, referring one to Dalmatia 
 or Egypt, the other to Cantabria. — 34. Stabunt, etc. He will 
 place in the porticoes of this temple statues of Parian marble 
 of the Trojan ancestors of the deified prince to whom it is 
 dedicated. — spirantia signa, statues that are so well executed 
 that they seem to breathe and live. — Assaraci proles, etc. As- 
 saracus, son of Tros king of Troy, was grandfather of Anchises, 
 the father of Aeneas, from whom the Julian gens at Rome 
 claimed to be descended. — demissae ab Jove, sent down (i. e. 
 derived) from Jove, who was the father of Dardanus, the 
 founder of the royal line of Troy. — Trojae Cynthius auctor. 
 Apollo (called Cynthius from Mount Cynthus in Delos) had, 
 in conjunction with Neptune, built the walls of Troy. The 
 poet introduces him here because he was regarded as his 
 
book in. 28-46. 255 
 
 tutelar god by Caesar, who was even reported to be his son. 
 Suet. Aug. 94 ; Cf. Aen. viii. 704- — 37. Invidia, etc. Another 
 part of the ornaments of this temple (probably, as Voss thinks, 
 a painting) would be the figure of Envy consigned to Tartarus, 
 and witnessing there, and shuddering at, the torments of the 
 various mythic criminals. — severum, awful, dreadful ; like tris- 
 tis, saevus. Lucretius (v. 36) has pelageque severa and severa 
 silentia noctis (iv. 462), and noctis signa severa (v. 1189). The 
 original meaning of severus would seem to be grave, solemn, — 
 Cocyti, the river of lamentation ; from kojkvclp : see Horn. 
 
 Od. x. 514 ; Hes. Th. 740, 807 metuet, will dread, i. e. will 
 
 tremble to behold. — tortosque Ixionis anguis, etc. Ixion, for 
 attempting the chastity of Juno, was hurled to Erebus, and 
 there fixed on an ever-revolving wheel; but Virgil, in this 
 place, is our only authority for his being bound on it with 
 snakes. — non exsuperabile saxum, sc. Sisyphi, which he was 
 not able to get to the top of the hill, up which he rolled it. 
 See Horn. Od. xi. 592. 
 
 40-48. * Such will be my future occupation ; meantime I 
 will continue my poem, and sing of cattle.' — silvas saltusque, 
 the woods and the lawns which they contain. — Intactos, un- 
 touched, hitherto unsung by any Greek or Latin poet. — haud 
 mollia. i.e. dura, difficilia. Cf. Aen. ix. 805. — Te sine, etc., 
 ' All my power and inspiration comes from your advice and 
 encouragement.' — En age, etc. ' Come along, fling away all 
 delay ; the dogs are baying, the horses neighing, and the woods 
 re-echoing with the joyous clamour.' We agree with those who 
 take these words to be addressed by the poet to himself. The 
 critics say, that by Cithaeron is meant cattle, herds of which 
 pastured on that mountain, by Taygetus the dogs, and by 
 Epidaurus the horses. We doubt, with Heyne, if ingenti cla- 
 mor e could be used of oxen. — Epidaurus. Strabo alone, we 
 believe, beside our poet, mentions the horses of Epidaurus: 
 he classes them (viii. c. 8) with those of Argos and Arcadia. 
 — 46. Mox, etc. i I now sing of cattle, but I soon will venture 
 to celebrate and transmit to posterity the warlike deeds of 
 Caesar. — accingar, I will gird myself up, as the ancients did 
 when about to engage in any action that required great ex- 
 
256 
 
 GEORGICS. 
 
 ertion.' — dicere, i. q. ut dicam. — 48 . Tithoni, etc. Tithonus, who 
 was the son of Laomedon, was not in the direct line from which 
 the Julii derived themselves : his name is therefore used here 
 probably only for the sake of variety. — prima ab origine, from 
 the early or remote origin or birth. Cf. iv. 286. Lucretius has 
 (v. 549) prima... ab origine mundi. 
 
 49-59. Choice of a cow for breeding : see Varro, R. R. ii. 5. 
 — Seuquis, etc. General direction with respect to the breed- 
 ing of horses and oxen, to attend chiefly to the qualities of the 
 mother. This rule is still observed. — Olympiacae. Admiring 
 the prizes at the Olympic games, i. e. being fond of chariot- 
 races. — pascit, feeds, i. e. breeds. The praes. is here for the 
 fut. — ad aratra, sc. trahenda. — optima, etc. He begins with 
 the oxen. — torvae, stem-looking. — cui turpe caput, who has an 
 ugly head, namely having a broad forehead, compressed cheeks, 
 wide nostrils, etc. — plurima cervix, a great deal of neck, i. e. 
 having it both long and thick. — Et crurum tenus, etc., and 
 dewlaps hanging down from the chin to the legs ; i. e. the dew- 
 laps, or skin that hangs down from the neck of a cow should 
 be both long and deep. — 54. Turn longo, etc., ' there should be 
 no limit to the length of her sides ;' for the greater length a 
 cow has, the more room she will have for her calf to grow in. 
 — omnia magna, etc. ' every part about her in fact should be 
 large, even the foot.' — camuris, crooked, curved. " Peregrinum 
 verbum est, id est, in se redeuntibus," Macrob. vi.4. — 56. Jla- 
 culis et albo. A hendyadis ; with white spots : for working 
 oxen the ancients preferred dark colours. The poet means 
 therefore, ' though I know the entirely dark to be the best, 
 I should not however object to those that have some spots of 
 white.' — Autjuga, etc. Neither is it a bad sign if she at times 
 refuses to go quietly under the yoke, and buts now and then 
 with her horns ; for it shows spirit, which she will probably 
 transmit to her offspring. — quaeque ardua tota, etc., ■ which is 
 tall and long in all dimensions, even to the tail, which should 
 sweep the ground.' 
 
 60-71. The age for breeding: in both bulls and cows it 
 extends from the age of four to that of ten years. This is far 
 better than the practice in some parts of England of breeding 
 
book in. 48-80. 257 
 
 from yearling heifers, as it completely checks their growth : 
 two years is a usual and far better age. — 60. Lucinam, i. e. 
 partum. The goddess, as usual, is put for what she presides 
 over. — Cetera., sc. aetas, i. e. before four and after ten years. 
 — 63. Interea, in the intervening six years. — superat, abounds, 
 is exuberant in. — pecuaria, i. q.pecora : see Pers. iii. 9. .Pe- 
 cuarium is usually the place w T here the pecora are. — primus, 
 " i. e. quampriinum," says Heyne ; but it rather means, ' be 
 the first to.' Cf. ii. 408. — Atque aliam, etc., ' keep up your 
 stock by breeding.' — Optuma, etc. He is led here by his 
 subject (as in i. 199) to make a general reflection on the flight 
 of time carrying away the days of youth, which, by the gener?l 
 consent of mankind, are our best and happiest. — labor. See i. 
 150. — Semper erunt, etc. He returns to the subject of breed- 
 ing, by observing that in a man's stock there will always be 
 some that he does not like, and for which he would wish to 
 substitute others.— juarum corpora, i. q. quas. — Semper enim 
 refice, ' always then replace them.' Enim is the Greek yap, 
 which frequently has the sense of then, as a^ere yap avrov, 
 Soph. Phil. 1054. — amissa, sc. corpora.— et subolem, etc., 'add 
 select calves to your stock.' 
 
 72-94. On the breeding of horses. Here however it is 
 the sire, not the dam, that he describes, led probably by his 
 poetic feeling, as he thus has an ampler field for description. 
 In reality the choice of the dam is as necessary in horses as in 
 any other animals. — pecori equino, i. e. equis. — quos in spem, 
 etc. (its understood,), i. e. those which you have resolved to 
 breed up as stallions in order to keep up your stock. — a tene- 
 ris, sc. annis. — Continuo, i. q. statim, from the very first. — 
 mollia, i. e. mobilia, lithe : see ii. 389. — reponit, puts down 
 again and again as he speeds along. — Primus et ire viam, etc. 
 He shows courage ; he leads the others, along roads, through 
 rivers, over bridges. These were of course wooden bridges, 
 which are often in a dangerous state. — vanos, idle, in which 
 there is no real terror. — 80. Argutum caput, a small, thin, 
 well-proportioned head, the breve caput of Horace, S. i. 2, 
 89. Palladius, probably borrowing the word from Virgil, has 
 (iv. 13, 2) aures breves et argutas, and (ib. 8) musculosa et 
 
258 GEORGICS. 
 
 arguta corpora, speaking of horses. Argutus is the part, of 
 arguo, to make clear, and it is chiefly used of sound, answer- 
 ing to the Greek Xtyvs. — brevis alvus, i. e. venter substrictus, 
 round in the body. — obesa terga, the haunches or loins fleshy. — 
 81. Luxuriat, etc., * let his spirited breast abound in muscles/ 
 i. e. let his chest be broad and full. He uses the term animo- 
 sus, as he presupposes such to be the character of the horse he 
 is describing. — Honesti, sc. equi, the handsome horses : see ii. 
 392. — Spadices, chestnut and bay. This colour, called also by 
 the Greeks cpoiviicov, says Gellius (ii. 26), " exuberantiam 
 splendoremque significat ruboris ; quales sunt fructus palmae 
 arboris (i. e. dates), non admodum sole incocti, unde spadicis 
 et phoenicei nomen est. Spadica enim Dorici vocant avulsam 
 a palma termitem cum fructu." In like manner the Italian 
 baio (whence Bajardo, Rinaldo's horse, in the romances) and 
 our bay come from fiaiov, pais a palm-branch. — glauci, grey, 
 particularly the blue-grey. — albis et gilvo, the white and dun. 
 The latter colour is known to be bad, but the former is not so, 
 and was not considered so by the ancients. The horses of 
 Rhesus were (II. x. 437) XevKorepoi -^iovos, deietv & dvefiotaiv 
 6/jlo'iol; so also those of Turnus (Aen. xii. 84); and see Hor. 
 S. i. 7. 8. The critics try to make an idle distinction between 
 albus and candidus as applied to a horse ; making the former 
 i. q. pallidas, the latter i. q. nitens, as if there could be any 
 kind of white but one in a horse, except the case of an old 
 grey horse, which the poet could never have meant. The 
 best explanation is, that it is of the stallion the poet is speak- 
 ing, for whom white is not a good colour. — 83. Turn si qua, 
 etc. A further proof of the spirit of the horse, that if he 
 hears the sound of arms in the distance, he becomes eager and 
 impatient to join in the fray. This applies only to the trained 
 war-horse, not to the young colt, as above. — micat auribus, 
 he pricks up his ears, and lets them fall back again repeatedly. 
 Mico is to move quickly and frequently ; hence to glitter, as 
 the gleam goes and comes. The prose form here would be 
 micant aures. — tremit artus. a Greek accusative for trement 
 artus. — Collectum ignem. When a horse is in this state of ex- 
 citement, his nostrils dilate and show the red of the interior, 
 
book in. 81-95. 259 
 
 and the breath is expelled with violence, as if there was an 
 internal fire.— fremens. This is the reading of the best MSS., 
 and is the word in the passage of Lucretius that he had in 
 view. The other reading, premens, seems however to be as 
 old as the time of Seneca, who gives it when quoting this 
 passage, Ep. 95. — 86. densa juba. A thick mane denotes a 
 thick crest. — et dextro, etc. This is more an indication of 
 beauty than anything else, as it has nothing to do with the 
 goodness of a horse. — At duplex, etc. This means, that the 
 muscles should rise at each side of the spine, so as to form 
 a double ridge. — cavatque tellurem, etc. The hoof must be 
 strong and solid, and make an impression on the ground 
 indicative of the strength and fleetness of the horse. — 89. 
 Talis, etc. Such was Cyllarus, the horse of Pollux, of Amy- 
 clae in Laconia (it is Castor whom Homer and the Greek 
 poets celebrate for horsemanship), and the steeds given by 
 Greek poets to Mars, and those of Achilles described by 
 Homer. — currus. See i. 514. — Talis et ipse, etc. The Greek 
 legend of the birth of the Centaur Chiron says that he was 
 the offspring of the nymph Phillyra and of Kronos, who, on 
 the approach of his wife Rhea, turned the nymph into a mare, 
 and himself into a horse. See Mythology, p. 69. — pernix, swift, 
 from per-nito, to make a great effort. — Pelion. Because the 
 north of Thessaly, where Mount Pelion lay, was the scene of 
 this adventure. 
 
 95-102. The stallion, when affected by disease or old-age, 
 is no longer to be employed. — abde domo. There are two in- 
 terpretations of this passage, viz. keep him at home, away 
 from the mares, and employ him at various kinds of work ; or, 
 send him from home, from your farm, i. e. sell him. The 
 verb ab-do literally means to give or put away, and hence its 
 usual signification is to hide or conceal. Horace (Ep. i. 1, 5) 
 says of the retired gladiator Veianius, latet abditus agro, which 
 is very like the present passage : indeed, he would seem to 
 have had it in his mind, for he subjoins (v. 8) Solve smescen- 
 tem mature sanus equum. Elsewhere he says of Caesar (C. iii. 
 4, 38) Fessas cohortes abdidit oppidis. Suetonius (Tib. 12) 
 says of Tiberius, when at Rhodes, that he was meditcrraneis 
 
GEORGICS. 
 
 terris abditus. The only instance of abdo in the sense of 
 giving away is the following of Nemesian (Cyneg. 141), 
 where, speaking of new-born puppies, he says, Sin vero kaec 
 cura est melior ne forte necetur, Abdaturve domo, catulosque 
 probare voluntas. Voss however contends that here also the 
 phrase signifies keep at home, instead of breeding for the chace. 
 With this we cannot agree. Nemesian may have misunder- 
 stood our poet in this place, or, as the later writers so fre- 
 quently did, he may have given to the compound a meaning 
 deduced from its elements, though contrary to usage: we there- 
 fore prefer the former interpretation. — 96. nee turpi ignosce 
 senectne. This passage also has perplexed the critics, ancient 
 as well as modern (for Servius notices the two ways of under- 
 standing it) ; as nee may be joined either with turpi or with 
 ignosce : the latter is, we think, to be preferred. Voss rightly 
 explains it : ' Do not, out of compassion and regard for him, 
 leave him with the mares when he is become past use through 
 age.' Turpis is here probably merely an epithet of oid-age, 
 from which all beauty has departed. — ad proelia, sc. Veneris. 
 — 99. Ut quondam, etc. ' His vigour is, like that of the flame of 
 stubble when set on fire, devoid of all force and permanence.' 
 — alias artes, other qualities. — prolem parentum. Parit autem, 
 si est generosa proles, frequenter duos, Colum. vii. 6, 7 ; hence 
 it is plain that proles is equivalent to our breed, strain. Wag- 
 ner therefore by proles parentum understands what we would 
 call the horse' s pedigree, the breed of his sire and dam, a sense 
 in which Servius seems also to have taken it. Voss and Jahn 
 think it means the foals he has previously got ; but this does 
 not accord with the plural pare?itum, nor perhaps with the cus- 
 toms of the ancients, who usually bred all their own cattle. 
 — 102. Et quis, etc. It was also to be observed how they 
 were affected by victory, or the reverse, in the chariot-race. It 
 is well known that hunters and racers take great interest in the 
 chace and the course. 
 
 103-112. A description of a chariot-race. — Nonne vides. 
 
 V. 103. Ol d' lifia iravres ecf "nnroiiv fiacTiyas deipav, 
 TI.67r\i]y6v 9' ificiaiv, ofioKXijaav r e~iecr<nv, 
 
book in. 96-115. 261 
 
 See i. 56. — praecipiti certamine, in the headlong contest. — 
 effusi carcere. See i. 512. — exultantia, bounding, palpitating. 
 — pavor, anxiety. The primary idea of fear is included, as 
 anxiety is caused by fear of defeat. — verbere, i. q. flagello. — 
 proni dant lora, ' bending forward give their horses the reins.' 
 — vi, tyi. This should be taken with volat.- — Jamque humiles, 
 etc., ' the chariots bounding, as it were, along the ground.' — 
 sublime, adj. for adv. Cf. Ec. ix.29; Aen.x. 664; Lucr. vi. 97. 
 — humescunt, sc. aurigae. — Tantus amor, etc., sc. in the breast 
 of the horses : see v. 102. 
 
 113-122. The invention of horsemanship. — Erichthonius, 
 one of the mythic kings of Attica: he was said to have had 
 serpents *br feet, and therefore to have first used chariots. 
 See Mythology, pp. 378, 394. — insistere. Because the ancient 
 charioteers drove standing. — victor, sc. in the chariot-race. — 
 1 15. Frena, etc. The Lapiths, who frequented the Pelethronian 
 wood on Mount Pelion (Strabo vii. p. 299), are here said to 
 have been the first who rode on single horses. This art is by 
 modern mythologists ascribed to their rivals the Centaurs, but 
 it would have been absurd in the eyes of poets, who viewed 
 these last as half horses themselves, to have supposed them 
 mounted on horses. It was the circumstance of Thessaly 
 having always been renowned for its cavalry that led the 
 Greeks to ascribe the invention of horsemanship to a portion 
 of its mythic inhabitants. See Mythology, p. 316. — gyros, 
 yvpovs, rings. The ancients, like ourselves, rung their horses 
 when breaking them, with this difference, that they mounted 
 the horse and rode him round and round, while we put him at 
 the end of a cord, which a man holds in the centre of the ring, 
 and make him trot round and round. — equitem. There is 
 
 'Eacrvfievojs' ol d' wkci cieTrpt]a(Tov 7redioio, 
 
 No'<70i vetljv, rax^s' vtto Se arepvoicn Kovit] 
 
 "Igtcit deipofxevr], wore ve<pos r}e OveWa' 
 
 XaTrai d' eppwovTO fxerd irvoiys dvepow 
 
 "Apfxara d' aWore fiev xQovi irikvaro 7rovXoj3oT€ipy, 
 
 "A\\ot6 d' di%a<JK6 nerrjopa' toI d' eXarripes 
 
 "Earaaav hv Sitypoici' Trdraaae ds Ovfibs bkcigtov 
 
 Nik/]s lefievojv. Horn. II. xxiii. 362. 
 
262 GEORGICS. 
 
 some difficulty here ; for according to Gellius (xviii. 5), and 
 Macrobius (vi. 9), and Philargyrius on this place, Ennius 
 used eques for equus in the following verse of his Annals, 
 Denique vi magna quadrupes eques atque elefanti Projiciunt 
 sese. Horace also has (Epod. 16, 12) Eques sonante verbera- 
 bit ungula. The only objection to this interpretation is, that 
 sub armis may not seem to accord with a horse: see however 
 v. 347. — gressus glomerare superbos, to canter, to go along 
 doubling his forelegs under him, as may be seen in the Lon- 
 don parks. — 118. Aequus uterque labor, etc. By uterque some 
 (among whom is Voss) understand riding and driving ; others, 
 with more reason, these two as one, and breeding for a stallion, 
 which Heyne says the order of ideas in v. 95 requires. — aeque, 
 etc. For both uses they look to the youth and consequent 
 spirit and vigour of the horse, and care not what his pedigree 
 or former exploits may have been, for if he is aged they reject 
 him. — Epirum fortisque Mycenas. Epirus and Argolis were 
 both famous for horses. Mycenae (one of its chief towns) is 
 put for the latter. — Neptuni, etc. Though he may be descended 
 from Arion, the offspring of Neptune and Ceres (see Mytho- 
 logy, p. 178) ; it can hardly be the first horse mentioned i. 12, 
 as all horses were alike descended from him. In this verse 
 ipsa, in our poet's usual manner, refers rather to Neptuni. 
 The meaning is, ' though he be descended from the steed to 
 whom Neptune himself gave origin.' 
 
 123-137. Preparation of the horse and mare for breeding. 
 He would seem also to include the bull and cow. — instant, sc. 
 magistri, #. 118. — sub tempus, sc. admittendi. — denso pingui, 
 with solid fat, i. e. flesh ; " non laxo quod quibusdam potioni- 
 bus per fraudem agasones facere consueverunt." Servius. 
 Pinguis, like our adj. fat, is used as a subst. Pinguedo and 
 pinguetudo, Servius says, are not Latin. — pecori, the stud or 
 herd. — maritum. See Ec. vii. 7. — Florentis. This is the read- 
 ing of all the good MSS. and of Gellius (i. 22) : others have 
 pubentis, as in Aen. iv. 514. Florentis is not merely in flower ; 
 it means in their best and most nutritious staXe.—Jluvios, i. q. 
 aquam fluvatilem. — superesse, i. e. be sufficient for.— patrum, 
 i. q. patris.—jejunia, the fasting, i.e. the want of feeding, whence 
 
book in. 118-146. 263 
 
 want of vigour. — 129. Ipsa armenta, i.e. ipsas equas et vaccas. 
 Armenta (i. e. armentum) is the pecus of v. 125. — volentes, on 
 purpose. — concubitus primos. Our poet frequently, instead of 
 the adv. primum, uses the adj. primus joined with a subst. Cf. 
 Ec. i. 41. Such seems to be the case here. — nota vohtptas, 
 the well-known sense of pleasure or instinct. Notas Virginum 
 poena*, Hor. C. iii. 1 1, 25. This is, we think, the most natural 
 sense ; others understand, known from previous experience. — 
 132. cursu quatiunt, shake them by galloping, i. e. gallop them 
 hard. This only applies to the mares. — sole fatigant, tire them 
 in the sun. Perhaps he means this of the cows, and directs 
 that they should be put under the threshing-machines; for 
 mares are given the horse in spring, long before the corn is 
 cut and threshed. We would not however vouch for the ac- 
 curacy of the poet's information. — Cum graviter, etc. When 
 the corn is threshed and winnowed. — 135. Hoc faciunt, etc. 
 He gives the physical reason of this practice in a figurative 
 form: experience still proves the practice to be a good one. 
 
 138-156. Care of the mothers after conception. — Rursus, 
 again, on the other hand : it is merely a word of transition. — 
 exactis mensibus, when some months are past, when they are 
 heavy in foal or calf. — Mas, sc. vaccas. — gravibus, etc., ' pull 
 the yokes for the loaded wains.' — Non saltu, etc. He now 
 passes to the mares. Saltu super are viam is, says Servius, 
 " quod solet fieri cum pascunt pedibus impeditis." This can 
 hardly be the meaning ; it is rather, • they bound off the road 
 along which they were going.' The following et and que 
 seem to be disjunctive. — rapaces, i. q. rapidos. — 143. vacuis, 
 quiet, tranquil, where there are only themselves ; or, as Ser- 
 vius renders it, u apertis." — pascunt, sc. magistri. Most MSS., 
 but not the best, read pascant. See Ec. i. 54. — plena flumina. 
 That they might get sufficient water without any difficulty. 
 — muscus ubi, sc. sit. As moss does not usually grow on the 
 banks of streams, he perhaps means to indicate here the mus- 
 cosi fontes (Ec. vii. 45) and the streams from them. These 
 were often in the neighbourhood of caverns. — tegant, may 
 shelter them. — saxea umbra, i. e. the shade of a rock. — procu- 
 bet, lies, extends itself. — 146. Est lucos, etc. A caution about 
 
264 GEORGICS. 
 
 }he time of feeding cattle, on account of the gadfly. — Silari. 
 The Silarus is a river of Lucania, which empties itself into the 
 gulf of Paestum. Mount Alburnus lies to the south of it. 
 Plurimus. See on Ec. vii. 49. — volitans, i. q. volans. It is here 
 a subst. Cf. iv. 16. — cui, a monosyllable here. — oestrum. The 
 Greeks called olarpos the insect which the Latins named asi- 
 lus. This is all that the poet can mean. Vertere vocantes is 
 i. q. versum vocant- -acerba, i. e. acerbe, shrilly. Lucretius 
 also uses this adj. as an adv., acerba tuens, v. 34: see also 
 Aen. ix. 794. — -furit, rebellows, the furor of the oxen being 
 transferred to the sky. — sicci Tanagri. The Tanager, which 
 runs to the east of Mount Alburnus, is a feeder of the Silarus. 
 The smaller streams of Italy are nearly dry in the heats of 
 summer. — 152. Hoc monstro, with this portent, this noxious 
 animal. — Inachiae juvencae, i. e. of Io, the daughter of Ina- 
 chus, whom Jupiter turned into a heifer, and Juno sent a 
 gadfly to torment her. See Mythology, p. 406. — pestem, tor- 
 ment or destruction. — meditata, may be L q. meditans, as the 
 verb is deponent; but it may be taken here in the past; 
 having meditated or designed.- -Hunc quoque .... Arcebis, 
 1 you shall keep him also from your cattle.' Arcebis, for arce, 
 a fut. for an imperat., as in most languages. — nam mediis, etc. 
 * it is in the middle of the day that he is most virulent.' — pecori. 
 For the hiatus here, see on Ec. iii. 6. — armenta, i. q. the pre- 
 ceding pecus. — Sole recens orto, etc. ' In order to avoid him, 
 pasture your kine early in the morning or late in the eveniug.' 
 — lucentibus astris. Here the stars are said to lead on the 
 night ; elsewhere they are made to follow her. 
 
 157-178. Rearing of calves. — Postpartum, etc. When the 
 cows have calved, the care of them ceases, and is transferred 
 to the calves. — Continuo, etc. The first thing to be done is 
 to brand them : see i. 263. — notas et nomina gentis inurunt. 
 We confess we do not clearly understand these words. Xotas 
 
 V. 149. Ol £' etpefiovTO fiera p.eyapov, jSoes ws dyeXdiai, 
 Tds fiev T aidXos olurpos e<popfit]9els ecovi]crev 
 'Qpy ev eiapivy, ore r' ijfxara fiaKpd —eXovrai. 
 
 Horn. Od. xxii. 299. 
 
book in. 146-174. 265 
 
 et nomina seems to be a hendyadis, as Aen. iii. 444, for notas 
 nominum : but what is gentis ? We should have expected do- 
 mini ; for we nowhere read that it was the practice to mark 
 cattle with their breed or pedigree. — 155. inurunt, as the 
 marks were made with a hot iron. — Et quos, etc. The critics 
 observe that there is no verb to which et may be joined. We 
 think, with Jahn, that the poet mentally supplied signant, 
 which expresses the sense of the preceding verse. — submittere : 
 see v. 73 ; and Ec. i. 45. — habendo : see i. 3. — aris servare 
 sacros, those that should be reared for sale to those who 
 wished to offer them in sacrifice. We do not think, with 
 Heyne, that it is only a more decorous way of saying, * sell 
 them to the butcher.' — aut scindere, etc. The other, and prin- 
 cipal use for which oxen were reared, namely drawing the 
 plough, and of course the cart : v. 170, seq. — horrentem fractis 
 glebis, ' bristling up with broken sods.' — 161. Cetera, etc., * let 
 all the rest be left to feed at liberty ; but begin at once to handle 
 those that you intend for draught.' — pascuntur. He uses the 
 praes. indie, as he merely wishes to indicate the usual prac- 
 tice. — studium atque usum agrestem, i. e. studium usus agres- 
 tis. — viam insiste, begin, set about. Insisto, with the ace. ; also 
 Aen. vi. 563 ; vii. 689 ; xi. 573. — -faciles, sc. ad domandum : 
 see i. 266. — mobilis, flexible, before they have acquired any 
 fixed habits. — 166. circlos, i.e. circulos, like periclum, vinclum, 
 saeclwn. This contraction chiefly takes place in neuters. — 
 torquibus, that is, the circlos of v. 166. — aptos, i. e. aptatos, 
 matched. — gradum conferre, to step together, as they will 
 have to do in draught. — Mis, by them. — rotae inanes, empty 
 carts. Rotae for currus, Aen. xii. 671 . — summo, etc., 'just leave 
 their trace on the ground,' as being so light. — Post, etc., < then 
 let them be put under loaded carts.' — instrepat, creak, as wooden 
 axles do. — temo aereus, the pole, which was plated and fast- 
 ened with iron, in ancient times with copper. — orbis, the 
 wheels. — 174. pubi indomitae, the calves before they are 
 broken in. — vescas, small, meagre, as in Ovid, Fast. iii. 446, 
 vescaqueparva vocant. Cf. iv. 131 ; and see Bentley on Hor. 
 S. i. 2, 129. Doederlein (Synon. iv. p. 168) says, that as vascus 
 comes from vacare, so vescus comes from vagari, and that it 
 
266 GEORGICS. 
 
 signifies weak, vacillating, moved by every breath of air.— fru~ 
 menta sata, i. e. growing corn. — 176. nee tibi fetae, etc. * Nor, 
 as our forefathers used to do, rnilk your cows after they have 
 calved, for domestic purposes, but let the whole of the milk go 
 to the calves.' 
 
 179-208. The rearing and training of horses. — Sin ad Bella, 
 etc. The ancients did not use horses for agricultural purposes, 
 or for ordinary draught ; they either rode them, or put them 
 under carriages, both which uses are here indicated by the 
 highest and most honourable of each kind. — bella turmasque, 
 for the cavalry-service in war. Turma is a troop. — studium, 
 sc. est tibi. — Aut Alphea, etc., or for the chariot-races of the 
 Circus and other public places, indicated by the Olympic 
 games, the most celebrated of all : see v. 1 9. The races were 
 there run in the Altis or sacred grove of Jupiter. — 182. labor, 
 task, as implying some degree of toil and effort. — animos, etc., 
 * to witness what we might term parades and reviews, not actual 
 conflicts ;' to grow accustomed to the shouts of the troops, the 
 glitter of arms, and the sound of clarions and trumpets. — trac- 
 tuque, etc. The que here is equivalent to aut ; for it is of an- 
 other horse, namely the carriage-horse, that he is speaking. 
 — gementem, creaking, in the draught (tractu), like instrepat, 
 v . 173. — -ferre, to bear, to stand, as we say.— frenos audire, to 
 hear (without starting) the rattling and ringing of bridles, 
 which were usually hung with little bells. — plausce sonitum, 
 to delight in being clapped on the neck.— primo, sc. tempore. 
 — 188. Audeat. This is the original reading of the Med., and 
 is also that of other good MSS. ; the common reading is au- 
 
 diat : it is for faciat, with the idea of courage included in 
 
 vicem, from time to time. — det ora, etc., ' let him suffer soft 
 halters to be put on his head.' — Invalidus, i. e. dum est inva- 
 lidus. — inscius aevi, ignorant by reason of his youth. — At, 
 etc., ' but when he has completed three years, and is entering 
 on his fourth: — accesserit. Jahn and Wagner prefer acceperit, 
 which is the reading of the Rom. and one other MS. — Carpere 
 gyrum, etc.: see v. 115. He was then to be broken and 
 taught his paces. — Compositis, regular. — sinuet, etc. This ex- 
 presses the manner in which a horse bends and gathers up his 
 
book in. 176-199. 267 
 
 forelegs in the manege, — 193. Sit laboranti similis. Though 
 the rider does not press or distress him, yet he appears to 
 labour a little. — turn cursibus. After some time he may be 
 put to his full speed, challenging as it were the wind itself 
 to contend with him. — Turn vocet, i. e. provocet. This is the 
 reading of the Med. and other good MSS. — ceu liber habenis. 
 Though the rider is on his back, he will go with as great ve- 
 locity as if he carried no weight. — 196. Qualis, etc. He 
 flies along the plain, hardly leaving his footprints on it, with 
 the same velocity as the north-wind. — Hyperboreis. For this 
 fabled people, who dwelt in the extreme North, see Mytho- 
 logy, p. 34. — densus, strong, with all his force, as it were, con- 
 densed and concentrated. — Scythiae hiemes, etc. He first meets 
 Scythia, where he disperses its wintry clouds. — arida. He calls 
 the clouds of the Scythian winter thus, because they shower 
 snow, not rain. — turn segetes, etc. As he advances further 
 south, and comes to the cultivated regions, the corn-fields, etc. 
 feel his influence. — campi natantes. In Lucretius, from whom 
 (v. 489 ; vi. 404, 1140) he has taken these words, they always 
 signify the sea ; and though Virgil (ii.437) uses undans as we 
 do our waving, we cannot agree with Heyne, that campi na- 
 tantes is here " segetes undantes et fluctuantes, a similitudine 
 maris fluctus volventis ;" for that effect is to be produced by 
 the wind. Moreover, readers of that day were probably too 
 familiar with the verses of Lucretius to allow of one of his pecu- 
 liar phrases being diverted from its original meaning. If critics 
 therefore, on account of v. 200, will not allow it to be the sea, 
 we may suppose it to denote the lakes. They seem however 
 not to be aware that the poet had two conjoint similes of 
 Homer in view. — 199. Lenibus jiabris. With gentle blasts, 
 i.e. those which come first (for the wind does not rush with all 
 its force at once), and which suffice to bend the standing corn 
 
 V. 196. KivrjOr) 8' ayopri, ws KVfiara juaKpd 6a\a<rc?]s 
 TLovtov 'licapioio, rd \ikv Eupo's re No'ros re 
 "Qpop', e7rai%as 7rarpbs Aids €K vecpf.XdoJV. 
 \Qs 8' ore tcivrjcrei ZeQvpos fiaQi) Xrjiov eXOutv, 
 Aa'/3po?, eTraiyLZojv, eiri r r^ivei daraxveaatv. 
 
 Horn. II. ii. 144. 
 n2 
 
268 GEORGICS. 
 
 and crisp the surface of the water. — 199. horrescunt, they begin 
 to be roughened. — summaeque. We would understand here a 
 second turn ; that, as the wind increases in force, it agitates 
 the trees of the forest, and raises billows on the sea, and 
 drives them to the shore. — sonorem. A Lucretian word, i. q. 
 sonus, sonitus. — urgent, sc. se. — longi fiuctus, long waves ; 
 which denotes the force of the winds : not as Heyne renders 
 it, " qui longe, e longinquo, veniunt." — Hie sc. Aquilo.—fuga, 
 in his flight, i. e. as he flies : see v. 142. — 202. Hie, sc. equus. 
 The horse, such as has been just described. — vel ad Elei, etc., 
 will make a running horse, who may contend in the chariot- 
 race at the Olympic games in Elis, and of course at any other 
 race-ground. — spatia : see i. 513. — spumas cruentas. This de- 
 notes the spirit of the horse, who pulls so hard, that his mouth 
 is cut by the bit in the efforts of the driver to hold him in. — 
 Belgica vel molli, etc. The essedum was a war- chariot used 
 by the Britons ; it is only when speaking of them that Caesar 
 mentions it. After his invasion of the island, the essedum was 
 introduced at Rome, where, from its lightness and speed, it 
 became quite fashionable and was even driven by ladies : see 
 Cic. Phil. ii. 24 ; Ad Att. vi. 1 ; Prop. ii. 1, 86 ; 23, 43 ; Ov. 
 Am. ii. 16, 49; Ex Pont. ii. 10, 34. As we drive thorough-bred 
 horses under our carriages, so the Romans might have driven 
 their high-bred horses under the esseda ; and this is probably 
 the simple meaning of this passage. The critics however say 
 that it is the Belgic war-chariot that is meant, for which this 
 horse would, from his spirit and fleetness, be as fit as for the 
 running-chariot. — molli, i. q. mobili, says Philargyrius (Cf. ii. 
 389), yielding, docile ; to denote that he is easy to manage. — 
 205. Turn demum, etc. ' When they are broken, feed them well 
 and get them into condition.' — crassa, thick, strong ; not, as 
 Heyne says, " quae crassos reddit."— -farragine. It was the 
 custom of the ancients to sow altogether spelt, barley, vetches, 
 etc., which they cut and gave to their cattle : it was called 
 farrago, as the far or spelt predominated in it : see Festus, 
 s.v. Varro,R.R.i.315; Colum.ii. 11,8; Plin.xviii. 16, 41.— 
 ante domandum, i. e. si sinis ante domajidum, before they are 
 broken : see Zumpt, § 666.—prensi } When taken into hands. 
 
book in. 199-220. 269 
 
 Cf. i. 285. — Verbera lenta, etc., ' they will neither bear the 
 flexible whip nor obey the bit.' 
 
 209-241. Horses and bulls should be kept apart from the 
 females, on account of the ill effects of desire. — caeci, secret. 
 This adj. properly belongs to stimulos. — Atque ideo tauros, etc. 
 He confines himself here to the bulls, omitting the horses en- 
 tirely. — r elegant, sc. magistri. Relego is a term of Roman 
 law, signifying to banish ; that is, to assign a particular place 
 of abode, or to name a distance from the city within which 
 the banished should not come. See Cic. in Vat. 33. — sola, i. e. 
 in which there are no kine. — oppositum, opposed between him 
 and the kine. — et, i. q. aut. — lata. That he may not be able 
 to cross it. — Aut intus, etc. If they cannot remove him in 
 that manner, they keep him shut up at home. — satura, i. q. 
 saturata. Heyne says, "plena, quae saturant." — 215. Carpit 
 enim vires, etc. ' For the female gradually consumes their 
 strength and wastes them away by being in their sight.' — 
 urit. Love and desire are always compared with fire and 
 flame. Urit me Glycerae nitor, Hor. C. i. 19, 5. — videndo 
 (pass.), by being seen : see ii. 239, 250. — et saepe, often too. 
 — subigit, incites, sc. secretly and gradually. — 219. Pascitur, 
 etc. The heifer feeds unconcerned, as it were, in the wood. 
 Heyne and Wagner think this line idle and superfluous, and 
 that it had better be away. Our view of it is totally opposite, 
 as it appears to us to add greatly to the picture : it is besides 
 in every MS. — Sila. All the MSS. have silva, but in the 
 Med. there is a dot over the v which is equivalent to our dele. 
 Servius also says that some read Sila. Heyne therefore, whom 
 all the later editors have followed, has admitted it into the 
 text. We however are inclined to think that silva is the true 
 reading, and that Sila has been introduced from Aen. xii. 715. 
 There is no reason why any particular place should be named 
 here. — Uli. Cf. Aen. xii. 720 seq. — 220. alternantes, sc. vices, 
 i. e. vicissim. — lavit, bathes, which we use in exactly the same 
 sense. — obnixos, i. q. obnitentes, pushing against. — longus. 
 This is the reading of the Med. MS. and of Macrobius (vi. 4) ; 
 the common reading is magnus, as in Aen. x. 437. Longus 
 seems here to be nearly i. q. longinquus, distant, i. e. lofty. 
 
270 GEORGICS. 
 
 Ex aethere longo, Aen. vii. 288. — 224. Nee mos, etc. ' Nor is 
 it usual for these rivals to herd together.' — stabulare, instead 
 of the more usual stabulari, as Aen. vi. 286. — exsulat, goes 
 into exile. This (like relego, v. 212) is a legal term. Exile 
 was a voluntary act, by which a man abandoned his civic 
 rights, quitting his country and becoming a subject of another 
 state ; and the poet, we may observe, is accurate in his em- 
 ployment of the two terms here and in v. 212. — ignominiam, 
 sc. suam. — amoves, sc. juvencam. — excessit, he has departed 
 from. The whole of this passage brings to our view Camillus 
 or some other old Roman going into exile, galled at the suc- 
 cess of his enemy or competitor, and looking back on the 
 Capitol as he departed. In all probability the poet had some 
 such picture in his mind. — 229. inter Dura, etc. The con- 
 struction is, jacet pernox cubili instrato inter dura saxa. — per- 
 nox. This is the reading of the Palat. and three other MSS. 
 of the 2nd and 3rd Aldine editions, and of the Schol. on Juv. 
 vii. 10. It is also noticed in the Dresden Servius. The read- 
 ing of all the other MSS. is pernix, which has been retained 
 by Voss and Jahn. "Pernix," says the latter, "est is qui 
 pernititur ad scopum propositum et in consilio assequendo 
 pertinax est." — instrato, " h. 1. non strato, cubili in nudo solo." 
 Heyne. But Wakefield (on Lucr. v. 985) observes that it is 
 the part, of i?isternere, and never signifies non stratus ; he 
 therefore thinks, and we agree with him, that it should be 
 understood here as in that place of Lucretius, i. e. as ' spread 
 on.' He joins with it the following frondibus hirsutis, in which 
 he is clearly wrong. — tentat sese, makes trials of himself. — 
 irasci in cornua discit. These words, which have perplexed 
 the critics, are not perhaps very difficult of solution : the 
 cause of their perplexity is that they suppose the horns to be 
 his own, whereas they are those of his rival, against which he 
 learns to direct his auger and force (see ®. 222), by practising 
 against the trunk of a tree. The words which they quote 
 from Aen. x. 725, surgentem in cornua cervum, have a dif- 
 ferent sense, as they express that the deer is growing up, 
 growing as it were into horns. It is possible that the poet 
 may have had in view the palus against which gladiators and 
 
book in. 224-250. 271 
 
 young soldiers were made to exercise their weapons, in order 
 to acquire skill in the use of them. See Juv. vi. 247 ; Vege- 
 tius i. 11. — 233. ventos, etc. He rushes with his head down 
 and at full speed against the empty air, as if his rival were be- 
 fore him. — sparsa, etc., ' and throws up the sand with his heels,' 
 as if he was actually preparing to engage. — Signa movet, he 
 marches : a well-known Roman military term. — oblitum, who 
 has forgotten him, and is therefore taken by surprise. — 238. 
 ex alto, from the deep ; for the further from the shore, the 
 deeper. — sinum, a curved, bellying wave. — ipso Monte, a (not 
 the) mountain itself. — subvectat, heaves up. This is the read- 
 ing of the Med., Rom., and other of the best MSS., and is 
 adopted by Jahn : the common reading, subjectat, is far less 
 forceable. 
 
 242-283. Description of the rage and fury of desire in va- 
 rious animals. — adeo, in fact: see Ec. i. 12,—pecudes, cattle, 
 tame animals, as opposed to the ferarum of the preceding 
 verse.— -pictae, variegated, speckled ; the variae of Lucretius. 
 Virgil would seem to be the first who applied this epithet to 
 birds : he repeats it, Aen. iv. 425. — erravit. An aorist, as 
 also dedere, v. 247- — informes, shapeless, ugly : see Ec. ii. 25. 
 — 249. male : see i. 448. — erratur, one wanders, one rambles. 
 An impers. — 250. Nonne vides. A common Lucretian form. 
 — pertentet, thrills. — si notas odor, etc. According to Heyne, 
 i. q. si aurae odorem atttdere. This however is so very violent 
 a hypallage, that we rather think that aura has here the same 
 meaning as in Hor. C. ii. 8, 24, namely the smell which pro- 
 ceeds from female animals when in a state of desire- Odor 
 might be the smell, the sense of smelling which conveys its 
 impressions to the mind. We confess that we can give no 
 instance of odor used in this sense.— -jam, when they are in that 
 
 V. 237. 'Qs d' or ev aiyiaXy 7roXy?;%t'i KVjxa 9a\dtr<rr]s 
 "Opvvr kiraocjvTepov ZeQvpov vTtOKivr]aavTos' 
 JlovTij) fiev ra TrpioTa KopvcGerai, avrap eireira 
 Xepvq) prjyvvfievov fieydXa (3pep,ei, dfitpi Si t dicpas 
 TLvpTOV ebv Kopvtiovrai, diroTrrvei S' dXos dxvrjv. 
 
 Horn. II. iv. 422. 
 
272 GEORGICS. 
 
 state. — 252. verbera saeva. By this perhaps is meant beating 
 the horse in the stable in order to terrify him and make him 
 remain quiet. No one would ever dream of beating a run- 
 away horse in order to stop him, unless he wished to knock 
 him down. — objecta, opposed in his way. — conreptos, etc. In 
 all the MSS. but one the reading is conreptosque, which Voss, 
 Wakefield and Jahn adopt. The Aldine and other early edi- 
 tions omit the que, as also do Heyne, Wagner and Forbiger. 
 Jahn says that the poet wished to express two kinds of streams, 
 namely those that merely opposed their depth and breadth, and 
 those that also opposed their force and impetuosity. This 
 however is somewhat too refined. — unda, in their current ; or 
 perhaps, by their waters. — monies, large masses of earth. — 
 255. Sabellicus : an epith. ornans. Samnium, as being moun- 
 tainous and woody, abounded in all kinds of wild beasts. — 
 prosubigit, prelusively tramples and kneads the ground with 
 his fore-feet. — -fricat arbor e costas, he rubs his sides with a 
 tree, instead of against a tree ; the metre obliging him to use 
 the abl. for the dat. — ad vulnera, against wounds. — 258. Quid 
 juvenis, etc., sc. facit. He refers to the story of Hero and 
 Leander, to prove the power of love over mankind. — Nocte 
 caeca, in the dense darkness of night. — serus, i. e. sero. — Porta 
 caeli, the gate of heaven, i. e. heaven. As the thunder and 
 lightning were regarded by the poets as the weapons of Ju- 
 piter, whose abode was the heaven, they represented them as 
 issuing out of the gate of his palace. — reclamant, rebellow. — 
 miser i par entes, i. e. the idea of his parents ; for we are not to 
 suppose that they were standing on the Hellespont while he 
 was swimming across. — Nee, etc. Nor the idea of Hero. — 
 super, after him, in consequence of his death. — crudeli funere, 
 by a bitter untimely death. This is a favourite phrase with 
 our 'poet : see Ec. v. 20 ; Aen. iv. 308, and elsewhere. — 264. 
 lynces Bacchi variae, the spotted lynxes which were fabled 
 to draw the car of Bacchus. — quid, sc. faciunt. — 266. Scilicet. 
 This word is best rendered here by our emphatic but. — ante 
 omnis, sc. furores. — mentem, i. e. hanc mentem, this disposition. 
 — quo tempore Glauci, etc. Glaucus, the son of Sisyphus, 
 who dwelt at Potniae in Boeotia, kept his mares from the 
 
book in. 252-278. 273 
 
 horses in order that they might be in proper condition for run- 
 ning. Venus, to punish him, filled them with such fury that 
 they tore him to pieces. Hygin. 250. — 268. malis, with their 
 jaws, i. e. with their teeth. — quadrigae, i. e. equae. — trans 
 Gargara, etc. It is, as we have often observed, the practice 
 of our poet first to state a thing generally, and then to give 
 particular instances : here however he reverses the practice. 
 Gargara is a part of the range of Mount Ida in Asia Minor : 
 see on i. 103. The Ascanius is a river issuing from the lake 
 of that name in Bithynia. — 271. Continuoque, and they then, 
 after they have thus run themselves out of wind. The poet 
 gives now a strange opinion of the ancients, that mares were 
 occasionally impregnated by the wind. Homer appears to 
 allude to it, II. xvi. 150 ; xx. 222. Aristotle (H. A. vi. 18) 
 says it used to happen in Crete, Varro (R. R. i. 19) in Spain, 
 and Columella, who was a native of that country, speaks of it 
 (vi. 27) as an undoubted fact. So general was the belief in 
 it, that Lactantius (iv. 12) employs it as an illustration of the 
 miraculous conception of the Virgin Mary. — 276. depressas 
 convallis. The three spondees terminating the verse seem to 
 contradict the rule of the sound being an echo to the sense. 
 -non, Eure, tuos, etc. The neque would appear to be con- 
 junctive, with the idea of negation continued from the non. 
 The sense is, ' not to thy rising and that of the sun.' — In Bo- 
 rean, etc., but to the north or the south. — Caurum. Flabit ab 
 occasulsolstitiali et occidentali latere septentrionis, a Graecis 
 dictus Argestes, Pliu. xviii. 34, 77. " Caurum pro Corum f 
 sicut saurex pro sorex, caulis pro colis" Servius. The form 
 with the diphthong is however probably the elder, for Claudius 
 is older than Clodius. — pluvio frigore, i. q. frigida pluvia* — 
 278. Hie demum, here in fine, i. e. at this time, when the mare 
 is horsing. Hie is the reading of the best MSS. ; others have 
 hinc. — hippomanes, horse-rage ; the pale yellow fluid which 
 passes from a mare at that season (Cf. Tibul. ii. 4-, 58), of 
 which the smell (aura, v, 251) incites the horse. — vero nomine. 
 Because the bit of flesh which was said to be on the forehead 
 of the new-born foal, and which the mare was supposed to 
 swallow, was called by the same name (see Aen. iv. 515), and 
 
 nS 
 
274 GEORGICS. 
 
 also a plant in Arcadia : Theocr. ii. 48. With respect to the 
 former Hippomanes, Pliny, who detailed truth and falsehood 
 with equal faith, says (viii. 42) that it grows on the foal's 
 forehead, is of the size of a dried fig (carica) and of a black 
 colour, and that if the mare does not swallow it immediately 
 she will not let the foal suck her. Aristotle (H. A. viii. 24) 
 says this is merely an old-wives' tale : he mentions however 
 the TrwXtov, or bit of livid flesh which we call the Foal's Bit, 
 and which he says the mare ejects before the foal. — Miscue- 
 runt, sc. cum eo. 
 
 284-294. A transition to the subject of sheep and goats. 
 — circumvectamur, I go round and inspect. This verb would 
 seem to be used properly of a proprietor riding round and 
 inspecting his grounds and stock. Non ego circum Me Sa- 
 turniano vectari rura caballo...narro, Hor. S. i. 6, 58. — armen- 
 tis, for large cattle. — Superat, i. q. superest : see on Ec. ix. 27. 
 — curae, sc. pastoris. — agitare, to manage. He uses the fre- 
 quentative to express the variety of the shepherd's cares. — 
 Hie labor, sc. est. Cf. Aen. vi. 129.— fortes, stout; an ordinary 
 epithet of husbandmen, — Nee sum, etc. ' nor does the difficulty 
 of the task which I have undertaken escape me.' — ea, these 
 matters. There is no antecedent to this pronoun, but it may 
 be considered as included in v. 287. — verbis vincere, to over- 
 come them (i. e. the difficulties which they present) by words 
 or language. — magnum, great, i. e. difficult. — hunc honor em, 
 this honour, i. e. the grace and splendour of poetry. — 291. de- 
 serta. He seems to use this word merely as a variation of the 
 Lucretian avia. — qua nulla, etc. As being the first, at least 
 
 V. 286. Nunc age, quod superest cognosce, et clarius audi. 
 Nee me animi fallit, quam sint obscura, sed acri 
 Percussit thyrso laudis spes magna meum cor, 
 Et simul incussit suavem mi in pectus amorem 
 Musarum, quo nunc instinctus, mente vigente 
 Avia Pieridum peragro loca, nullius ante 
 Trita solo ; jurat integros accedere fontes 
 Atque haurire ; juvatque novos decerpere flores. 
 Insignemque meo capiti petere inde coronam, 
 Unde prius nulli velarint tempora Musae. — Lucr. i. 920. 
 
book in. 284-305. 275 
 
 Latin, poet who wrote on the subject of agriculture. — Casta- 
 Ham, i. e. ad Castaliam, the fount on Helicon. — molli clivo, on 
 the gentle declivity : see Ec. ix. 8. — devertitur (verb, reflect.), 
 turns aside, out of the beaten track. — Nunc, etc. He incites 
 himself, calling on the goddess of shepherds to aid : see ii. 4. 
 295-321. The treatment of sheep and goats during the 
 winter. — Incipiens edico. As he has said magno ore sonan- 
 dum, he now adopts the language of authority, and issues his 
 edict like the praetor at Rome. Cf. Hor. Ep. i. 19, 10. — molli- 
 bus, soft, i. e. warm. — carpere ovis, that the sheep should feed, 
 i. e. be fed. — dum mox frondosa, etc. until the warm weather, 
 which brings leaves and grass, comes back. The general divi- 
 sion of the year into aestas and hiems has been noticed. Mox 
 seems to denote that they will not have to remain long in the 
 sheds. The cold weather, we must recollect, does not begin 
 in Italy till toward the end of December. — Sternere, i. e. te 
 sterner e, to bed them well with straw and (or) fern. — glades, 
 i. e. gelu. The adj. frigida is idle and superfluous. — scabi- 
 em, the scab, which was caused by the wet and cold, v. 441. 
 — podagras, i. e. clavos, a disease of the feet. Tlodaypa, though 
 usually restricted to gout, signifies any disease of the feet; 
 for a sheep could not have the gout, properly speaking. — - 
 300. hinc digressus, going hence ; quitting the sheepcotes and 
 going to those of the goats, as if he was inspecting his farm : 
 see Cato, R. R. %—jubeo, I desire or direct. — Arbuta, branches 
 and leaves of the arbutus.— -fluvios recentes, i.e. "aquam statim 
 haustam," Servius, fresh water : see v. 126. — Et stabula, etc., 
 and let their cotes face the south, that they may have the sun 
 and be protected against the cold northern blasts. — cum fri- 
 gidus olim, etc. ' This, I say, is to be done especially in the 
 month of February, when the sun is in Aquarius and the 
 rains prevail.' — extremo anno. The Roman year anciently 
 began in March, whence January and February were vulgarly- 
 regarded as the end of the year, as they really are with respect 
 to the seasons. — 305. Hae, sc. capellae. — leviore, sc. quam oves. 
 — usus erit, sc. earum, they are not less useful. — quamvis, 
 etc., ' although the sheep's wool takes a rich purple die, and 
 therefore fetches a large price.' — magno, sc. pretio. — mutetitur, 
 
276 GEORGICS. 
 
 sc. permutentur, vendantur. Lactens porcus aere mutandus 
 est, Colum. vii. 9. — 308. Densior hinc soboles. The advantages 
 of the goats. In the first place they more frequently bear twins. 
 —hinc, i. q. ab his. — largi copia lactis. The adj. properly 
 belongs to copia. — Quam magis....(tam) magis, etc. 'The 
 more the milkpail foams when the udder has been exhausted, 
 the more the joyous streams will flow from the pressed teats ;' 
 i. e. the supply of milk will be constant, they will always yield 
 the same quantity. — Nee minus interea, etc. Besides the long 
 beards and hair of the buck-goats are used for cloaks, bed- 
 clothes and other coverings for soldiers and sailors. — tondent t 
 sc. pastores. — Cinyphii. Epith. orn. The Cinyps was a river 
 of Libya in the district of Tripolis : goats abounded on its 
 banks. — 315. Pascuntur, etc. Further, they are kept with 
 little expense, for they browse in the woods and on the hills, 
 and they come home of themselves. Pascuntur silvas. The 
 object is put in the accus. as in the Greek: see iv. 181. — 
 Lycaei. A particular for a general term : see on Ec. x. 15. — 
 rubos : see Ec. iii. 89. — dumos : see Ec. i. 77. — suos, sc. par- 
 vos. — et gravido, etc., i. e. they also bring home plenty of milk. 
 — Ergo, etc. 'As then they are so very profitable, you should 
 not grudge the little care that they may occasionally require.* 
 — Quo minor, etc. By so much as they have in general less 
 need than sheep, for instance, of the herdsman's care. — curae 
 mortalis, of the care of men. — illis egestas, i. e. egent. — virgea 
 pabula, i. e. arbuta, v. 300. — nee tota, etc., and give them as 
 much hay as they may require during the winter. 
 
 322-338. Treatment of sheep and goats in the summer. — 
 aestas, the warm weather. That it is the spring that is meant 
 is plain from the mention of the west-winds. — utrumque gre- 
 gem, i. e. the sheep and goats. — mittet. This is the original 
 reading of the Med. and of the MSS. used by Ursinus ; all 
 the rest have mittes. In this last case aderit must be under- 
 stood after aestas. — Luciferi, etc., at dawn, before sunrise. — 
 Carpamus, i. e. carpere faciamus greges. Some understand it 
 Carpamus viam ad rura ; but, as Wagner observes, in this 
 case the subst. should be expressed after carpere. — canent, sc. 
 tore. There is no tautology in the next line, for the whole 
 
book in. 308-339. 277 
 
 passage is i. q. gramina canent rore qui est, etc — 327. Inde, 
 then. — quarta hora, i. e. about nine or ten o'clock, according 
 to our mode of reckoning. The Romans divided the space 
 between sunrise and sunset into twelve civil hours. In April 
 therefore the fourth hour answered to our ten, later to nine, 
 and so on. — sitim collegerit, will have caused the flocks to 
 thirst. — querulae: see on i. 378. — rumpent, burst them, as it 
 were: see i. 49. Et assiduo rupiae lectore columnae, Juv. 
 i. 13. — arbusta, the trees in general : see Ec. i. 39. Pliny 
 (xi. 27, 32) says the cicadae are nee in campis nee in frigidis 
 aut umbrosis nemoribus, where by campis he must mean the 
 open country without trees, for we have often heard them in 
 the trees in Lombardy.— ; jubeto, desire them, as if they had 
 sense and reason, or rather perhaps their keepers. — Currentem 
 ilignis canalibus. These words should be joined, for it was 
 the custom in Italy (as in the East, see Gen. xxx. 38) for the 
 shepherds to draw the water and pour it out into wooden or 
 stone troughs for their flocks. — 331. Aestibus mediis, in the 
 noontide heat. — exquirere. Either jubeto is to be understood, 
 as we think is the case, or this infin. and the following dare 
 are to be taken in the Greek manner as imperatives, a thing 
 of which we believe there is no other example in the Latin 
 language ; for the apparent infinitives in Aen. ii. 707 ; iii. 405, 
 are imperatives of reflected verbs. This might induce us to 
 regard with some complacency Wakefield's correction of ju- 
 bebo for jubeto, v. 329. — antique- robore, with antique, old 
 timber : see Flora. — sacra umbra, with a sacred shade. — 
 accubet, like procubet, v. 145. There the verb is used of the 
 shade, here of the wood. — tenuis aquas : see i. 92.— dare : see 
 on v. 330. — vesper, evening ; not the evening-star : see v. 324. 
 
 roscida luna. The moon was regarded as the origin of dew : 
 
 see Mythology, p. 61. — alcyonen: see i. 398. — acalanthida. 
 Supposed to be the same as the Acanthis or Carduelis, the 
 goldfinch. The birds, we may observe, are put for their 
 song. 
 
 339-348. A description of the mode of life of the African 
 herdsman. — raris habitata, etc. Heyne explains this passage 
 thus : " dixit pro tectis mapalium raris, sparsis passim per 
 
278 GEORGICS. 
 
 agros, non in vicis collectis." Perhaps there is no necessity 
 for supposing the poet to have expressed himself in so artificial 
 a manner : he may have only meant to intimate that the ma- 
 palia were (as they are) tents, whose covering is thin as com- 
 pared with that of houses. The mapalia were, according to 
 Cato (ap. Fest. s. v.) 9 quasi cohortes rotundae, and he terms 
 them casae. Sallust (Jug. 18) says, aedificia Numidarum 
 agrestium, quae mapalia illi vocant, oblonga, incurvis lateribus 
 tecta, quasi navium carinae sunt. It is however quite appa- 
 rent that it is of the moveable mapalia or tents that Virgil is 
 speaking ; and at the present day, as Mr. Drummond Hay in- 
 forms us (Western Barbary, p. 25), "the form of the tents is 
 somewhat similar to that of a boat with its keel upwards." 
 Mapalia is the same as magalia, Aen. i. 421 ; iv. 259, though 
 the quantity of the first syllable is different. They are pro- 
 bably derived from the Hebrew or Phoenician magur, which 
 seems properly to signify a tent. Shaw (Trav. in Barb. i. 220) 
 says that at the present day the mapalium is called Beit-esh- 
 Shar, 'house-of-skins.' — o^l.exordine, i. e. day after day. — in, 
 into, i. e. advancing further and further every day. — hospitiis, 
 fixed abodes, where they might be entertained. — Armentarius, 
 herdsman, properly neatherd, jjovkoXos. — agit. Et fert is un- 
 derstood. Pliny says (v. 3) that they put their tents on carts. 
 — Larem, the househcld-god ; here perhaps it stands for the 
 household stuff and utensils. — Amyclaeum. — Cressami epith. 
 orn : see v. 89. Cressam is i. q. Cressiam, Cretensem. Cressa 
 corona, Ov. A. A. i. 758. — 346. patriis armis, his national 
 arms, i. e. such as the Roman soldiers always used. — injusto, 
 i. q. iniquo, very great, excessive: see i. 164. The Roman 
 soldier had to carry sixty pounds weight beside his arms, and 
 march at the rate of four miles an hour. Veget. i. 1 9 ; see also 
 Cic Tusc. ii. 16. — Ante exspectatwn, sc. est, before it is ex- 
 pected by the enemy. — in agmine, in line of battle, properly 
 in acie. — positis castris. " Xam cum agmen hosti se ostendet, 
 a tergo vallum fit." Heyxe. We do not think this is the 
 meaning of the poet : he simply wishes to say that he arrives, 
 encamps and stands in array quicker than was expected. 
 349-383. A description of the northern winter. — At non, 
 
 
book in. 339-363. 279 
 
 sc. ita Jit, this is not the kind of life that is led. — Turbidus 
 el torquens. " Eo ipso quod arenas flaventes torquet." Heyne. 
 " Ordo est : Et turbidus torquens." Wagner. But perhaps 
 here, as in so many other places, turbidus is active : see on Ec. 
 ii. 10. Virgil often omits the conj. : cf. ii.6. — 351. redit, bends 
 itself, winds. The poet cannot, as Heyne thinks, have used it 
 for the simple it. — medium axem, the middle of the pole, the 
 very pole : see ii. 271. — JRhodope. This range, which is pro- 
 perly in Thrace, is, with poetic licence and perhaps ignorance 
 of geography, made to extend to the remotest north. — 352. 
 clausa tenent armenta, i. e. during the winter season. — neque 
 ullae. Nam is understood. — i?iformis, here i. q. deformis. — 
 adsurgit, sc. nix, from niveis aggeribus in the preceding verse; 
 or rather, as Wagner says, gelu (which may be any case) : 
 " Alterum verbum finitum per copulam adjectum pro parti- 
 cipio positum est (vid. ad Ec. vi. 20 ; viii. 97 ; Geor. ii. 56, 
 207, etc.), ut sensus sit : Terra jacet informis gelu assurgente 
 in altitudinem septem ulnaram." — Semper hiems, it is always 
 winter, i. e. there do not occur those mild bright days that 
 interrupt the rigour of winter in Italy. — Cauri, north-west 
 winds (v. 278) ; here for north winds in general. — 357. pal- 
 lentes, i. q. pallidas. — Nee cum, etc., neither when he rises 
 nor when he sets, i. e. in no part of his course. For the horses 
 and chariot and course of the Sun, see Mythology, p. 53. — 
 rubro aequore, the deep reddened by the rays of the setting 
 sun. — crustae, i. e. glacies.—ferratos orbes, wheels shod with 
 iron. — patulis, wide, open. W T akefield would join it with pup~ 
 pibus instead of plaustris, but a good ear will easily perceive 
 that the caesura of the verse is after prius. — kospita, hospita- 
 ble, the entertainer of ; animating as usual. — 363. Aera, brazen 
 vessels. They burst, as our leaden pipes do, in consequence 
 of the expansion of the fluid in them when it is congealed.-— 
 humida, fluid, i. e. whose natural state is fluidity. — vertere, sc. 
 se.— lacunae, lakes or pools : see i. 117. Wunderlich says it 
 is i. q. lagenae, and that it is explanatory of the preceding 
 verse ; but this, as Jahn says, is refuted by the adj. totae. The 
 line however is out of place, and, if we had any authority for 
 it, we should be inclined to read it immediately after v. 362. — 
 
280 GEORGICS. 
 
 Stiria (from trretpos?), icicle. — 367. non secius, i.e. the snow 
 in the density and constancy of its fall vies with the intensity of 
 the frost. — Intereunt pecudes, etc., sc. those that are not housed 
 before the snow begins to fall. — pruinis, i. q. nive, with snow- 
 drifts. — Corpora bourn, i. e. boves ; a usual circumlocution. 
 Cf. Aen. i. 193; ii. 18; ix. 272. — mole nova, in the new- 
 formed drift. — 372. formidine. The formido, fxi]pivQos, was a 
 cord with red feathers fastened along it which the hunters 
 stretched in open places in the woods : the deer, when roused 
 and driven toward it, terrified by the motion of the feathers, 
 turned aside and thus rushed into the nets (casses) that were 
 stretched to receive them. Cum maximos ferarum greges 
 tinea pennis distincta contineat et in insidias agat ; ab ipso 
 effectu dicta for mi do, Sen. de Ira, ii. 12. We still use the 
 formido in our gardens to scare away the birds. Formidine 
 may however be here simply, ' by the terror.' — montem, i. e. 
 molem, v. 370. — 376. Ipsi, the people of the North them- 
 selves. — in defossis specubus, etc. This underground mode of 
 life is ascribed to the Germans by Tacitus (Germ. 16), to the 
 Sarmatians by Mela (ii. 1), and Xenophon (Anab. iv. 5) ac- 
 curately describes it as he witnessed it in Armenia. — robora, 
 oaks. — noctem ducunt, they draw out (i. e. spend) the night. 
 Cf. Aen. iv. 560. — ludoi see Ec. i. 10. — pocula vitea, viny 
 cups, i. e. wine. — Fermento, i. e. cerevisia, beer. Potui humor 
 ex hordeo aut frumento in quandam similitudinem vini cor- 
 ruptus. Tac. Germ. 23. See also Plin. xiv. 22 ; xxii. 25. — 
 sorbis. The fruit of the service-tree is acidulous : the liquor 
 made from it must have been a kind of cyder, for Palladius 
 says (ii. 15, 4), Item ex sorbis maturis, sicut ex piris, vinum 
 fieri traditar et acetum. — Septem Trioni : a tmesis. The Ursa 
 Major was named by the Romans Septemtrio or Septem Tiio- 
 nis, i. e. Seven Oxen. See Varro, L. L. vii. 74. — effrena, un- 
 bridled, i. e. wild, savage. — Euro. He probably means that 
 most piercing wind the north-east. — setis, with the hairs, i. e. 
 with skins with the hair left on them. 
 
 384-393. The breeding of sheep for the sake of their wool. 
 — lanitium, i. q. lana. — aspera silva, etc.: see i. 153.—fuge 
 pabida laeta. Sheep fed on short grass have always finer wool 
 
book in. 367-398. 281 
 
 than those fed on rich pastures : thus the South-down wool 
 bears the highest price of any English wool. — Ilium, sc. arie- 
 tem. The subst. is placed in the parenthetic member of the 
 sentence. — Nigra, etc. This is an opinion held by all the 
 ancient writers on the subject. — Nascentum : see on Ec. iv. 8. 
 — circumspice, look out for. — 391. Munere, etc. This legend, 
 Macrobius tells us (v. 22), was borrowed by our poet from 
 Nicander. Munus is used here for attraction, display, or ex- 
 hibition ; as the shows given to the Roman people u-ere called 
 munera. — si credere, etc., if the tale may be credited. — asper- 
 nata, sc. es. 
 
 394-403. At ciii lactis, etc. Those who wish to have milk 
 and cheese take care to give their sheep and goats plenty of 
 lotus-grass and cytisus in their cotes, and salt what they give 
 them in order to increase their milk and flavour it.— frequentis, 
 i. e. in abundance. — salsas, salted, i. e. mixed with salt ; not 
 naturally salt. Aristotle (Hist. An. viii. 10) strongly recom- 
 mends the giving salt to sheep, and for the same reasons as 
 our poet. So also do Columella (vii. 3) and Palladius (xii. 13). 
 They say that in summer the salt should be put in wooden 
 troughs, that the sheep might lick it as they returned from 
 pasture.— -fluvios, water ; the particular for the general. — 
 —libera tendunt, stretch their udders, i. e. give more milk. — 
 Et satis, etc., give a sweet flavour of the salt to their milk. 
 This effect is doubtful. We may observe that in these islands 
 (owing to the moisture of the climate and the succulence of 
 the herbage) sheep never drink unless when diseased : the 
 only exception, we believe, is the South-downs — 398. Multi, 
 etc. Those who wish to reserve the milk for sale take mea- 
 sures to prevent the young ones from sucking their mothers. 
 —jam excretos, as soon as they are separated, Conf. v. 187. 
 Excretus comes from excerno, and not from excresco, from 
 which Servius seems to derive it, explaining excretos by vali- 
 diores, which however will accord equally well with the other 
 derivation. Columella (viii. 4) has furfures modice a farina 
 excreti. He also (ib. 8) uses excreta tritici for what we call 
 tailings or small corn, i. e. what is separated in the winnowing. 
 Lactantius is the earliest writer who uses excretus as the part. 
 
282 GEORGICS. 
 
 ofexcresco. — prohibent, keep them away altogether. — 399. Pri- 
 maque, etc. In this place, as elsewhere, que is i. q. aut : the 
 meaning is : If the shepherd does not or cannot separate the 
 young ones totally from their dams, he prevents them from 
 sucking by putting on them muzzles with short iron spikes in 
 them, which prick the mother when the young one goes to 
 suck her, and makes her drive him away. — Quod surgente, etc. 
 Then when they have all the milk to dispose of, they press at 
 night what they milked in the forenoon, and what they milk 
 in the evening they press before daylight and carry to town, 
 or else salt the cheese they make of it and lay it up for winter. 
 For the full examination of this difficult passage, see Excur- 
 sus VIII. — exportans. The reading of all the MSS., of Pris- 
 cian (xiv. 50), of Servius (on Ec. iii. 5, and Geor. i. 67), and 
 of the Scholiast on Horace (C. i. 25 ; S. i. 7, 33), is exportant, 
 which is adopted by Jahn and Forbiger. The present reading 
 is the emendation of Scaliger on Catull. lxii. : see the Excur- 
 sus.— parco, i. e. modico, with a small quantity of: see Colum. 
 vii. 8. — contingunt, touch, season ; from tango, not from tingo. 
 Quae contacta sale modico sunt, Celsus de Med. ii. 24. 
 
 404— 4-13. On dogs. — Nee tibi cura, etc. By a usual litotes : 
 ' take good care of your dogs.' — Velocis Spartae catulos, i. e. 
 the swift Spartan dogs that were used for the chase : see v. 345. 
 — acrem Molossum. The Molossian dogs were chiefly valued 
 as sheep- and watch-dogs : see Aristot. Hist. An. ix. 1 ; Hor. 
 Ep. vi. 5 ; S. ii. 6, 1 14. — sero pingui. The serum is the whey 
 that runs out when the cheese is pressed. Colum. vii. 8. It is 
 the Greek opos (Od. xvii. 225) or oppos, which Dioscorides 
 says (i. 80) is very nutritive for dogs : hence perhaps Virgil 
 terms it pinguis. Barley-meal, however, was usually mixed 
 with it for them. — Aut impacatos, etc. The meaning is: 
 These dogs will drive off, or at least give notice of the ap- 
 proach of, those who, like the restless, unsubdued tribes of 
 Spain (we may add the Highlanders and Borderers of Scot- 
 land in former days), used to drive off cattle in the open day. 
 The critics say that Hiberos (sic in Med.) is here used as a 
 general term for robber (as Suisse for a porter, Savoyard for 
 a chimney-sweep in France) ; but perhaps our poet, who, as it 
 
book in. 399-423. 283 
 
 appears from the following verse, did not confine his observa- 
 tions to Italy, and who appears to have read Varro (see Varr. 
 i. 16), may have extended his view to Spain. There was, we 
 believe, no wholesale robbery of this kind carried on in Italy 
 at that time. — a tergo, from behind. He had probably the 
 Lusitanians, of whom Varro expressly speaks, in his mind ; as 
 their country lay behind, i. e. to the west of, the civilised part 
 of Spain. — 409. onagros. The onager or wild ass was never 
 found in Europe : it was not to be seen nearer than Asia 
 Minor and the north of Africa. Varro ii. 6 ; Plin. viii. 44, 66. 
 — volutabris, their lairs or wallowing-places in the woods. — 
 agens, driving ; as in the ballad of Chevy Chase, " To drive 
 the deer with hound and horn." Cf. Aen. i. 191 ; iv. 70. — 
 premes ad retia : see v. 371. 
 
 414-439. Directions for banishing and destroying serpents. 
 — Disce, etc., * burn cedar-wood and galbanum (see Flora) in 
 your cattle-sheds.' — agitare, to drive away. — gravis, i. q. gra- 
 volentes. Cf. Hor. Ep. xii. 5. — chelydros: see ii. 214. — immo- 
 tis praesepibus, sheds and stalls that have not been cleaned 
 out. — mala tactu, dangerous to touch ; tactic for tactni. Omnia 
 item bona sensibus etmala tactu, Lucr. ii. 408. — caelum, the 
 light of day. Aen, vi. 896. — exterrita, frightened, i. e. dread- 
 ing the heat : see v. 434. — 41 8. Aut tecto, etc. The construc- 
 tion is, Aut coluber, pestis acerba bourn, adsuetus succedere 
 tecto et umbrae que adspergere virus pecori, fovit humum. — tecto 
 et umbrae, i. q. umbrae tecti ; a hendyadis. — coluber. This is 
 supposed to be the Coluber Natrix, a harmless kind of snake, 
 but which was accused of sucking the cows. — Fovit humum, 
 keeps close to the ground. Cf. iv. 43; Aen. ix. 57. — Tollen- 
 tem, etc. While he is raising himself in a threatening posture 
 and swelling his neck with hissings. — Dejice, knock him 
 down ; an account of tollentem in the preceding verse.— -jam- 
 quefuga, etc. When he sees the shepherd preparing to attack 
 him, he takes to flight and gets into some hole or crack in the 
 ground as fast as he can. — alte, deep in the ground. — 423. 
 Cum medii nexus, etc., ' while his middle rings and his tail 
 relax themselves, and his last bend draws its slow orbs along:' 
 a very accurate description of the manner in which a snake, 
 
284- GEORGICS. 
 
 when pursued, gets into the ground.— 425. ille malus. that 
 dangerous. The serpent here meant is the Chersydrus dry- 
 inus or dryina, a species of the hydra or water-snake. — 
 Squamea, etc., i. e. his back is scaly and his belly has large 
 spots on it. V. 4-26 is repeated, slightly altered, Aen. ii. 4?74. 
 — rumpuntur (mid. voice), break themselves (i. e. burst) from. 
 — atram ingluviem, his dark (or direful) maw. Columella 
 (viii. 5) uses ingluvies for the crop of a fowl. — Improbus : see 
 i. 119. — 432. dehiscunt, gape or crack. — siccum, sc. solum. — 
 asper, i. q. asperatus. See Excursus IX. — exterritus, as in 
 v. 41 7? appalled, beside himself. — sub divo, in the open air. It 
 is literally ' under the god,' sc. Jupiter, who was regarded as the 
 sky or air, as in this verse of Ennius : Aspice hoc sublime can- 
 dens quern invocant omnes Jovem. — dorso nemoris. As dorsum 
 is properly used of mountains, of which it signifies sometimes 
 the ridge, sometimes the side (Liv. i. 3), Heyne thinks that it 
 is a wood on the side of a mountain that is here meant, as in 
 Horace (S. ii. 6, 91), praerupti nemoris... dor so. Burmann 
 supposes it to signify a bank or eminence in a wood ; but for 
 this he is unable to give any authority. — positis exuviis, having 
 cast his slough or old skin ; a thing the snakes do every spring, 
 and thus, as it were, renew their youth. Hence he uses the 
 terms novus and nitidus juventa. — volvitur, he rolls himself : 
 mid. voice. — aut catulos, etc. Wagner says this is one of the 
 places in which our poet may be caught napping ; for snakes 
 take no care of their young, merely depositing their eggs in 
 dunghills or such like places in the autumn, where they are 
 hatched by the heat of the dung, and the young ones come 
 forth in the spring. Virgil, he thinks, transferred to serpents 
 the habits of quadrupeds, which, it is well known, are most 
 fierce when they have young. Perhaps the poet may be de- 
 fended to a certain extent in the following manner. Aristotle 
 (Hist. An. viii. 17) says expressly that the serpents cast the 
 slough twice in each year, viz. in the spring (i. e. when the 
 young ones, catuli, come forth) and in the autumn (i. e. when 
 they deposit their eggs) ; and the poet may have designed to 
 express these two seasons. If so however he erred in saying 
 catulos relinquens, for the snake knows nothing about its young 
 
book in. 425-448. 285 
 
 ones. At any rate we will not vouch for Virgil's knowledge 
 of natural history. — 438. catulos. This is used abusively, for its 
 proper signification is whelps. — Arduus, raised. — Unguis micat, 
 etc., litt. ' darts from his mouth with his triple tongue,' i. e. darts 
 his triple tongue from his mouth. The reading ova given by 
 Heyne and Voss is to be found in no MS., and in reality does 
 not make sense. The ancients imagined the tongue of the 
 snake (which is very long, and which it darts out with great 
 rapidity) to be cleft into three. Tresque vibrant linguae, tri~ 
 plici stant ordine denies, says Ovid (Met. iii. 34), who was a 
 much more accurate observer of nature than our poet. It is 
 to be observed that vv. 437? 439 occur again, Aen. ii. 473, 475. 
 — trisulcis, i. e. trisulcatis, cleft in three. 
 
 440-463. The diseases of sheep. — Turpis scabies, the foul 
 scab. — tentat, attacks : see Ec. i. 49. — Aldus ad vivum, down 
 to the quick, i. e. has penetrated through the wool and reached 
 the skin. — et, i.q. vel — vel cum tonsis, etc., or if they have been 
 shorn without having been previously washed. — et, i.q. vel, as in 
 v. 442. — hirsuti, in Med. et Rom. hirsutis, which, it is plain 
 from Columella (vii. 5), cannot be the true reading. Wagpier 
 says the error was caused by the s in the beginning of the fol- 
 lowing word: see i. 125. — 445. Dulcibus idcirco, etc. As a 
 remedy against the former evil, shepherds plunge and wash 
 their flocks carefully in running water before they shear them ; 
 see i. 272. — udisque aries, etc. This is probably added to show 
 that it was in running, not stagnant water, that he would have 
 the sheep to be washed. — secundo amni, i. e. with or down the 
 stream. — 448. Aut tonsum, etc. or else they rub them all over, 
 after they have been shorn, with the following composition, 
 namely amurca, litharge of silver, native sulphur, tar, wax, 
 squills, hellebore and bitumen. Like nearly all the receipts to 
 be met with in ancient writers, and those among ignorant people 
 with ourselves, it contains a number of needless ingredients. 
 Varro (ii. 11) merely recommends a mixture of wine and oil, to 
 which some, he says, used to add white wax and hogs'-lard. — 
 spumas argenti. The oxide or scum that forms on the surface 
 of silver, or of lead containing silver, when in fusion : see Plin. 
 xxxiii. 6. — sulfura viva, virgin or native sulphur, as it is found 
 
286 GEORGICS. 
 
 in Sicily and the Lipari isles. This is the reading of the Medi* 
 cean, the Roman and other good MSS.; the common read- 
 ing is vivaque sulfura, making the verse hypermetric. — 450. 
 Idaeas, epith. ornans : it is the liquid pitch or tar of course 
 that is meant : see Plin. xxxiv. 7- — pingues unguine, rich in 
 unction, i. e. soft and yielding. Wax can only be rendered so 
 by the addition of oil. — gravis, i. e. gravohntes : see v. 415. — 
 452. praesens : see Ec. i. 42.—; fortuna, i. e. remedium, in which 
 of course there is always somewhat of chance. — laborum, of 
 the disease. — potuit, is able, i. e. has the skill ; an aorist. — te- 
 gendo, by being covered or concealed : see ii. 239. — Abnegat, 
 utterly refuses, out of indolence or despair. — aut meliora, etc., 
 or merely sits calling on the gods for aid ; the fable of the 
 countryman and Hercules. — omina, signs, as a proof of the 
 divine favour. This is the reading of the best MSS. ; others 
 have omnia. — 457. dolor, the disease. — depascitur. The verb 
 depascor governs the ace, though pascor does not : see Aen. 
 ii. 215. — incensos aestus, the inflamed (i. e. the violent) heat. 
 The phrase is similar to nascentem ortum, i. 441. — et inter, etc., 
 and to bleed (i. e. by bleeding) in the foot : this is the usual 
 place for bleeding a sheep, as, on account of the wool, the 
 neck cannot be got at. The sheep is also bled in the face or 
 ear. — Bisaltae quo more solent, as the Bisaltae are used to do 
 to their horses. He does not mean that they bleed their 
 horses in the foot, but simply that they bleed them. The 
 Bisaltae dwelt in Thrace, about the river Strymon. This 
 practice is nowhere else ascribed to the Thracians. — Gelonus. 
 The Geloni were Scythians, who dwelt on the Borysthenus. 
 —fugit. He uses this word because they were horsemen, and 
 therefore moved from place to place with rapidity. — in JRho- 
 dopen : see v. 351. — atque. The Med. has aut, which is cer- 
 tainly the sense of the particle in this place. — deserta Getarum, 
 i. e. the country between the Danube and the Dniester, part 
 of the present Moldavia. Wagner says, that the poet means 
 that the Bisaltae went to Rhodope, the Gelcnian to the country 
 of the Getae. But there is no need for this refinement, for 
 the negligence and uncertainty of the ancient poets in matters 
 of geography is well-known. We have just seen our poet 
 
book in. 450-475. 287 
 
 ascribe to the Thracians a practice that was peculiar to the 
 Sarmatians. Plin.xviii. 10. — Et lac, etc., ' and drinks milk (i.e. 
 mare's milk) thickened with horse's blood.' This is another 
 mistake of the poet. Pliny (ut sup.) says that the Sarmatians 
 used to live sometimes on equine milk or blood thickened 
 with millet-meal: he adds, probably induced by this very 
 passage, that the blood was taken from the horse's legs ! 
 
 464-477. Signs of, and remedy for, disease in sheep. Lan- 
 guor and sickness were to be inferred when one of the sheep 
 was observed to get frequently into the shade, to crop lazily 
 and negligently the tops of the grass, to loiter behind when 
 the flock was in motion, to lie down when grazing in the 
 middle of the field, and to linger behind when the rest of the 
 sheep were going home at night. — Continuo culpam, etc., 
 1 check the disease at once with steel,' i. e. kill the diseased 
 animal. — incautum vulgus. This is either, the throng (i. e. 
 flock) which takes no care of itself; or rather, the throng 
 which is neglected, of which the shepherd takes no proper 
 care, as is indicated by his leaving the diseased one among 
 them. Hepente incautos agros invasit, Sail. H. inc. 122. Vul- 
 gus. Vol gum turbamque animantum, Lucr. ii. 919. * Not so 
 frequent does the whirlwind, bringing rain with it, rush down 
 on the sea, as', etc. ; i. e. the diseases of sheep are as numerous 
 and violent as the whirlwinds that agitate the main. — aestiva, 
 summer-camps ; a military term, applied to the flocks of sheep 
 as they were moved to distant pastures in the summer, as is still 
 the practice in Italy and Spain. — Spem, i.e. the lambs : see Ec. 
 i. 15. — cunctamque, etc. This is merely exegetic of what pre- 
 cedes. — Turn sciat, etc. He who has any doubt of this, may 
 convince himself of the truth of it by viewing the present con- 
 dition of a district in which the cattle were attacked by an 
 epidemic. — aerias, lofty : see Ec. viii. 59. — Norica castella. 
 Noricum was on the northern declivity of the Alps, the pre- 
 sent Salzburg, Styria and Carinthia. The word castella seems 
 appropriate, as Livy (xxi. 33) describes the Alpine peoples 
 who opposed Hannibal as issuing from their castella or forts. 
 Cf. Aen. v. 440. — 475. Iapydis Timavi. The Timavus (see Ec. 
 viii. 6) was sojiamed from the Iapydes, an Illyrian people who 
 
288 GEORGICS. 
 
 dwelt near it. The scene of this pestilence was therefore the 
 whole country to the east of the Alps, and the calamity was 
 probably well-known to all the people of Lombardy. — post 
 tanto, sc. tempore. See Ec. i. 29. — regna. See Ec. i. 70. 
 
 478-497. The remainder of the book is devoted to the de- 
 scription of the epidemic, and its effects on the various animals. 
 First, its general effects. — morbo caeli, an infected state of the 
 atmosphere. — miseranda tempestas, a dreadful season. — toto 
 aestu, with the whole heat of autumn, i. e. with a most sultry 
 autumn. — incanduit, glowed. — Corrupit lacus. The greater 
 part of the water in pools and ponds being drawn off by the 
 heat, the remainder became putrid. — infecit pabula tabo. The 
 juices of the grass and other plants being extracted by the 
 heat, and they being thus deprived of their nutritious power, 
 the effect was the same as if the blood in the animal body was 
 corrupted and converted into tabum ; hence he uses the latter 
 word. — via mortis, the mode or course of death. — simplex, one, 
 the same: see ii. 73; or perhaps, simple, without change, 
 which seems to accord best with what follows. — ignea sitis, 
 fiery fever-heat. He names it sitis from its usual effect. — 
 acta, driven through or into. — adduxerat, had contracted, 
 compressed, or reduced in bulk.— fluidus liquor, the tabus or 
 corrupted blood. — minutatim, reduced to small particles, or 
 gradually. — morbo collapsa, wasted down by the disease. — in se 
 tra/iebat, made part of itself: they became fluid, and a part of 
 the tabus. — 4<86. in honore deum medio, in the midst of a sacri- 
 fice. This is the usual sense of this phrase : Aen. i. 636 ; iii. 
 118. — Lanea dum nivea, etc. The infula appears to have 
 been a broad woollen band, that was put round the head of 
 the victim ; the vitta would seem to have been a narrower band, 
 which fastened the infula on. — inter cunctantis, among the de- 
 laying, i. e. while they delayed, sc. to kill him. — ante, before it 
 dropped down dead. — Inde, thence, from it : see on i. 5. — nee 
 i?npositis, etc., ' the altars neither burn when the fibres are 
 placed on them.' This Heyne calls " exquisitius dictum," for, 
 ' the fibres did not burn on the altars.' We must confess that 
 we wish the poet both here and elsewhere had expressed 
 himself naturally.— -fibris. The Jibra was the lobe of the 
 
book in. 478-509. 289 
 
 liver or the lung. — Nee responsa potest, etc. The exta were in 
 so diseased a state, that the parts by which they used to di- 
 vine were either wanting or quite altered. — Ac vix, etc. There 
 was hardly any blood in him, and what there was was mere 
 gore.— jejuna, thin. Such is the effect of fasting : hence he 
 uses the term jejunus. Cf. ii. 212. Corpora succo jejuna, Lucr. 
 ii. 844-. 
 
 494-514. Hinc, hence, from this disease. — vulgo, com- 
 monly, everywhere. — blandis, fawning. — Tussis anhela, etc 
 The disease of swine called the angina, vayxn, fipayyos. See 
 Aristot. Hist. An. viii. 21. — obesis, as the swine is usually fat. 
 — infelix studiorum, whom his pursuits (i. e. his racing, etc.) 
 avail not now. Cf. i. 277 ; Aen. iv. 529. Heyne would join stu- 
 diorum with herbae, and have both governed of immemor ; but 
 this is harsh. — Victor, sc. in the race. — avertitur fontes, turns 
 away from the water, curoa-pe^eTai to vdiop. It is therefore a 
 Graecism. Forbiger says he knows no other instance of this 
 verb used as a deponent ; but surely it is here rather a reflected 
 verb or the middle voice : see on Ec. iii. 106. — Crebra, i. e. 
 crebro. — incertus sudor, i. e. that breaks out irregularly — ibi- 
 dem, there, i. e. about the ears. He adds that it is cold, and 
 cold ears, it is well known, are a symptom of disease in horses. 
 — aretpellis, the skin is dry and hot : another well-known sym- 
 ptom, as is also the following, viz. his being hidebound. — 503. 
 ante exitium, before their death. He seems to mean (and it 
 is not always that his meaning can be discovered with cer- 
 tainty), that these are the first symptoms that appear in a 
 horse that has a deadly attack of this distemper. Sin in the 
 following verse would therefore appear to mean but when. — 
 crudescere, to increase in virulence, lit*, to grow more raw. — 
 attractus ab alto Spiritus, deep heavings. — gemitu gravis, heavy 
 with groaning, denoting greater pain. — imaque longo, etc., 
 they stretch their flanks with prolonged heavy panting. He 
 terms the flanks ima, either on account of their distance from 
 the head, or to indicate the force of the panting, which sends 
 them in so far. — aspera lingua. The tongue is rough and thick 
 on account of the inflammation. — 509. Profuit, etc. It was 
 found of advantage to drench them with wine. — morientibus, 
 
 o 
 
290 GEORGICS. 
 
 for those that seemed likely to die ; i. e. against their dying. — 
 Mox erat, etc. ; but this very thing soon proved to be inju- 
 rious, as it was found to increase the fever, and they even, just 
 before they died, tore their own limbs with their teeth. — 513. 
 Dii meliora, sc. dent. — errorem, i. e.furorem : see Ec. viii. 41. — 
 nudis, i. e. nudalis, naked, exposed by drawing back the lips. 
 
 515-536. The effect of the pestilence on oxen.— fumans, sc. 
 sudore: see ii. 542. — abjungens, sc. ajugo, cnro£evEas, having 
 unyoked. The Latin poets, as their language had no part, an- 
 swering to that of the aorist in Greek, ventured sometimes to 
 use the praes. part, in a past sense. — -fraterna morte, at the 
 death of his brother, i. e. comrade. The ancients usually 
 ploughed with a single pair of oxen. — relinquit. This is the 
 reading of all the best MSS. Voss and Heyne follow those 
 that read reliquit, regarding it as exquisitius. — 521. Mover e 
 animum, attract them, sc. the oxen in general, who were af- 
 fected by the disease ; not merely, as some suppose, the jut-en- 
 cus of v. 518. — Purior electro, brighter, clearer than electrum. 
 The critics say that it is the metal electrum, composed of four 
 parts gold and one part silver (Plin. xxxiii. 4) that is meant. 
 But surely it may be amber ; as clear as amber is a common 
 phrase of our own when commending liquors. — at, on the 
 contrary. — imai see v. 506. — Solvuntur, etc. All signs of 
 weakness and disease. — Quid labor, etc. It was of this and 
 the following five lines that Scaliger said (Poet. v. 11) that he 
 would rather be the author of them than have Croesus or 
 Cyrus at his command. They are no doubt beautiful, but not 
 of such very extraordinary merit ; and we confess that we pre- 
 fer to them Lucretius' description of the cow seeking her calf, 
 ii. 355, seq. — epulae repostae, luxurious banquets. This is, as 
 all agree, the general meaning of the passage ; but critics differ 
 as to the exact sense. Heyne will have repostae to be i. q.positae : 
 but though the simple is used frequently for the compound, 
 the converse, as we have before remarked, is not the case. 
 Voss and Wakefield say that it is dainties sought for far and 
 near, and then carefully laid up in pantries and storerooms. 
 Wagner, comparing the use of reponere with that of instaurare 
 in our noet, supooses the reference to be to the sacrificial 
 
book in. 513-541. 291 
 
 banquets, which were noted for their luxury. Plaut. Men. i. 
 1, 25 ; Hor. C. ii. 14, 28 ; Mart. xii. 48, 12. Gessner (v. repos- 
 tus, in Thesaur. L. L.) says, " Puto inprimis significari binas 
 eodem die epulas, bis in die saturum fieri, quod in Siculis Dio- 
 nysii coenis displicebat Platoni: Cic. Tusc. v. 35, 100." — 
 Pocula, i. e. potio. — exercita cursu, exercised with running ; 
 in opposition to standing water. — 532. Quaesitas, sought for, 
 i. e. not to be had. — ad sacra, for the sacred rites. We think 
 that Servius, and those who follow him, are right in sup- 
 posing that there is an allusion here to the sacred rites of 
 Juno at Argos, which Herodotus has rendered memorable by 
 the story of Cleobis and Biton (i. 31). Indeed it is so un- 
 likely that the people of Noricum should have worshiped 
 the Argive goddess in the Argive mode, that one might 
 suspect the poet of transferring to them the Grecian custom, 
 were it not that the car of the German goddess Hertha 
 (Earth, same as the Argive Hera,) was drawn by kine. Tac. 
 Germ. 40. Strabo (v. p. 215) however says that there was a 
 grove (aXcrus) of the Argive Hera in the Venetian territory. 
 — uris. See ii. 374. — Imparibus, that were not matches ; per- 
 haps it is, unfit for the office. — donaria, i. e. templum ; as the 
 place where the dona, i. e. sacrifices, etc. were offered. — Ergo, 
 etc. Having thus no draft-cattle, they were obliged to give 
 up the use of the plough and cultivate their corn with the 
 spade, hoe, etc. He uses rastra for implements in general. — 
 rimantur, dig : see on i. 384. — ipsis unguibus, with their own 
 hands ; unguis for manus. The ancients usually sowed under 
 the plough ; hence he says infodiunt. — Contenta cervice, with 
 a strained neck. Contentus in this sense is a favourite term 
 with Lucretius. 
 
 537-547. The wild animals, the fish and the serpents also 
 suffered from it. — insidias, i. e. locum aut opportunitatem insi- 
 diis. Cf. Aen. ix. 59. — gregibus obambulat, i. e. goes up to the 
 field-pens, in which the sheep are kept at night. — Cura, sc. of 
 his own disease. — timidi damae, etc. They lose all terror in 
 their indifference to life. — 541. et, even. Cf. v. 473. — natantum^ 
 fish. Like volantes, bees, iv. 16 ; birds, Aen. vi. 190, 239 ; ba- 
 lantes, sheep, i. 272. Lucretius has (ii. 342) natantes squam- 
 
 o2 
 
292 GEORGICS. 
 
 migerum pecudes ; but Virgil first used natantes alone. Ari- 
 stotle (Hist. An. viii. 19), whom Pliny follows (ix.49), asserts 
 that fish are never affected by an epidemic. In this, and what 
 he says of the serpents, the poet therefore states, for the sake 
 of effect, what is not correct. — 543. Proluit. Wagner says that 
 here one might rather expect projicit, or some such verb. But 
 this is not the view of the poet ; he supposes the fish thrown like 
 the bodies of drowned sailors up on the beach, where they are 
 washed by each succeeding wave. — insolitae, unused to do so. 
 Cur prudentissimas feminas in tantum virorum conventum in~ 
 solitas invitasque prodire cogis? Cic. Verr. iii. 37. Heyne is 
 wrong in explaining it insolito more. — phocae, the seals. — 544. 
 frusfra, because the pestilential air penetrates into it. — attoniti, 
 like exterriti, is applied to the serpents to express the high de- 
 gree of uneasiness which they feel. — non aequus, i. e. perni- 
 cious : see ii. 225. — et illae. Et seems here used in a causative 
 sense as nam. 
 
 548 to the end. — Praeterea, etc. ' It is of no avail to change 
 their food.' — Quaesitae artes, the remedies sought. We how- 
 ever rather think it is, the masters of art or skilful persons 
 (i. e. doctors) to whom recourse was had; the act for the 
 agent: see on ii. 382. — nocent, hurt rather than serve, i. e. 
 are of no use. — Phillyrides, etc. He uses Chiron and Me- 
 lampus in order to express that the most skilful doctors, even 
 though equal to these two mythic surgeons, could effect 
 nothing. Chiron was the son of Saturn and the nymph Phil- 
 lyra : Melampus was the son of Amythaon : see Mythology, 
 p. 436. — Saevit, etc. ' Tisiphone sent out into the light of day 
 rages, and drives Disease and Death before her ; and rising 
 every day more and more, raises higher her craving head.' A 
 noble poetic expression of the increasing ravages of the pes- 
 tilence. — colles supini, the sloping hill. — 558. Donee, etc. The 
 only remedy was to bury them as fast as possible, that the 
 effluvia from their bodies might not increase the venom of the 
 atmosphere. — neque erat, etc. That was to be done because 
 their skins and their flesh Avere equally useless. — viscera, their 
 flesh. The viscera, according to Servius, are all that is beneath 
 the skin. — undis dbolere^ to wash, or rather boil in water, and 
 
book in. 543-566. 293 
 
 thus take out the venom. — vincere flamma, roast. It is thus 
 that Servius explains the passage. Heyne says that it means 
 the quantity was too great to be consumed either by water or 
 by fire, and therefore they were buried. The former explana- 
 tion is, we think, greatly to be preferred.— telas, i. e. if they 
 did shear them and manufacture the wool. — invisos amictus, 
 i. e. garments made of that infected wool. — papulae, pimples, 
 pustules. — moranti, to him delaying ; though it did not imme- 
 diately attack him. — sacer ignis. It is not known exactly what 
 disease this was ; it resembled the erysipelas, from which how- 
 ever Celsus (v. 28, 4) distinguishes it. Voss thinks it might 
 have been St. Antony's fire. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Argument. 
 
 Proposition, 1-7. Situation for the hives, 8-32. Hives, 
 33-50. Swarming, 51-66. Battles of the bees, 67-87. Dif- 
 ferent kinds of bees, 88-102. Mode of keeping them from 
 wandering, 103-115. Digression on gardens, 116-148. Man- 
 ners and customs of the bees, 149-218. Opinion respecting 
 their nature, 219-227- Mode of taking the honey, 228-250. 
 Diseases of the bees and their cure, 251-280. Mode of ob- 
 taining new stocks when they have died off, 281-314. Story 
 of Aristaeus, and of Orpheus and Eurydice, 315-558. Con- 
 clusion of the poem, 559 to the end. 
 
 Notes. 
 
 1-7. Protenus, forthwith, in continuation : see on Ec. i. 13. 
 —aerii, etc. It was the general belief of the ancients that 
 honey was a dew that fell from the sky, and that the bees 
 merely collected it. MeAi c)e to ttItttov Ik tov aepos says Ari- 
 stotle (H. A. v. 22) ; and as a proof of it he adds, that bee- 
 
294? GEORGICS. 
 
 * 
 
 masters often find their hives filled in one or two days ; and 
 that in the autumn, if the honey is taken out of the hives, 
 they are not replenished, though there is plenty of flowers. 
 It is therefore not from them, which only yield wax, that they 
 extract it. It falls chiefly, he says, at the rising of the con- 
 stellations (never before that of the Pleiades), and when there 
 is a rainbow. Pliny (xi. 12) says it is then found on the 
 leaves of the trees, and that if one goes out early in the morn- 
 ing he will find his hair and clothes covered with it. He 
 doubts whether it be the sweat of the sky, or a certain spittle 
 of the stars, or the juice of the air which is purging itself. In 
 Arabia and the neighbouring regions, after a kind of mist in 
 the months of July and August, a sweet substance is found on 
 the leaves of the palm and other trees ; and in this country 
 the leaves of the lime and other trees are often covered with a 
 similar substance, which is known to be produced by aphides 
 and other insects. It was this probably that led the ancients 
 to their erroneous theory of the origin of honey. 
 
 4. ordine, in due order. Most MSS. read ex ordine. — 5. po- 
 pulos, the peoples, i. e. the different communities, hives or 
 stocks into which the gens or race is divided. Cf. Aen. x. 202. 
 — 7. Numina laeva, propitious deities, according to Servius, 
 who is followed by the commentators in general ; while Gel- 
 lius (v. 12) and Burmann understand by it adverse deities. In 
 favour of the former it is said that, as the Romans in taking 
 auguries faced the south, the east was on the left, and signs 
 from that quarter were regarded as the favourable ones ; and 
 our poet uses laevum in this sense, Aen. ii. 693; ix. 630. See 
 also Plin. ii. 52, 55 ; Ovid. Fast. iv. 833 ; Liv. i. 18 ; Phaedr. 
 iii. 18. As the Greeks looked to the north, the east was on 
 their right, which therefore was their lucky side. The critics 
 however seem not to have observed, that in all the passages 
 to which they refer for laevus in the sense of favourable, it is 
 always thunder, etc. that is meant. We are therefore inclined 
 to think, that as Virgil elsewhere uses laeva in a bad sense 
 (see Ec. i. 16), and sinistra in like manner (Ec. ix. 15), he 
 does the same here, and that Gellius understood the pas- 
 sage rightly. The verb sinunt would be more properly used 
 
book iv. 1-18. 295 
 
 of adverse than of favouring deities. — auditque, etc., if they 
 do not prevent, and if Apollo aids. Vocatus audio is a usual 
 form of expression respecting a deity. Cf. Hor. C. ii. 18, 40; 
 iii. 22, 3. It is probably Apollo Nomios that he means. It 
 may be here observed, that the poet seems to have derived 
 his account of the bees from Aristotle (H. A. ix. 40) and 
 Varro iii. 16. 
 
 8-32. Choice of a situation for the hive ; what is to be 
 avoided, 8-17; what is to be sought for, 18-32. It is to be 
 sheltered from winds, and placed where no cattle can come 
 near it, also out of the way of lizards and some kinds of birds. 
 10. haedi petulci i. e. playful kids. Lucretius (ii. 368) has 
 agni petulci. — 1 1 . insultent, bound on. As sheep are not apt 
 to do so, he probably by oves means lambs, and que is dis- 
 junctive as usual. — campo, in the field. — 13. picti squalentia, 
 etc., the rough back of the speckled lizard, i. e. the stellio, 
 v. 243. In a similar sense he uses picti of birds, iii. 243 ; Aen. 
 iv. 525. — 14. Pinguibus a stabulis, from the rich hives. — me- 
 ropes. The Merops apiaster L., or Bee-eater, a bird of pas- 
 sage in the south of Europe, which makes its nest as deep as 
 four ells underground. Voss describes it as being of the size 
 of a starling, but formed like a stork, blue and red on the 
 head, green and red on the neck and shoulders, golden-yellow 
 on the throat, blue-green ending in yellow from the breast 
 downwards, and the long tail-feathers blue and brown. — 15. 
 Et, especially. — Procne, the swallow: see on Ec. vi. 78. — 
 signata. We do not agree with Voss in taking this as a Mid. 
 voice. — 16. Omnia nam, etc. Like a plundering army thej r 
 spread their ravages far and near. — volantes, the (flying) bees. 
 Cf. i. 272; iii. 147. — 17. nidis, i. q. pullis. In the sacred 
 poetry of the Hebrews the nest was also used for the nestlings 
 or the young birds which it contained : see Deut. xxxii. 11. 
 
 18. At, etc. What should be there. Et in these two verses 
 is evidently disjunctive; see v. 25. — stagna virentia musco, 
 pools with green moss growing around them. — tenuis rivus, a 
 shallow rivulet. Varro (iii. 16) says it should not be more than 
 two or three inches deep. The same applies to the preceding 
 stagna, of which Heyne must have had an erroneous concep- 
 
296 GEORGICS. 
 
 tion when he spoke of rocks covered with moss rising out of 
 them. — 20. vestibulum, the vestibule or outer part of the hive, 
 which is of course included, as the shade of a tree could not 
 cover the one without the other. — 22. Vere suo, in their own 
 spring, i. e. in that part of the spring in which they swarm. — 
 ludet, sports. This refers to the incessant flying backwards 
 and forwards of the bees previous to the rising of the swarm. 
 — 23. Vicina ripa, sc. of the pool or stream. — decedere calori, 
 retire from the heat. Cf. iii. 467. — 24. Obviaque, etc., ' or the 
 tree which is at hand (obvia) detain them in its leafy bower.' 
 The figure seems to be taken from the practice of the Romans 
 of receiving their friends when on a journey at their country- 
 seats. It is an object with bee-masters to get the swarm to 
 settle as soon as possible. — 25. In medium, i. e. in it. — seu 
 stabit iners, whether it stand inert, i. e. be a pool, v. 18. — seu 
 projluet, or run, v. 19. — 26. Transversa^, etc., May willows 
 across the stream, and put large stones into the pool.' — 27. 
 Pontibus, bridges, i. e. resting-places. — aestivum, warm. — 
 29. Sparserit, sc .imbre, " nam spargere pro irrigare, irrorare 
 usurpatur." Wunderlich. It may however be simply scat- 
 tered, and, being fatigued, they might not be able to cross the 
 water if they had not these halting-places. — Neptuno, in the 
 water. — Eurus, simply the wind. — 30. Haec circum, etc. 
 8 About these (founts, ponds or streams, v. 18,) let grow casta, 
 serpyllum, and plenty of strong-smelling thymbra, and let vio- 
 let-plantations imbibe the water.' — 31 . graviter spirantis. Gra- 
 vis here is used in a more agreeable sense than in iii. 415, 451. 
 — 32. irriguum, i. e. irrigatum: see Cato, 151. — -fontem, i. e. 
 aquam. 
 
 33-50. Directions about the hives. — corticibus suta cavatis, 
 put together (i. e. formed) of hollow cork-wood, the cortex 
 suberis, Colum. ix. 6. — 34. Seu lento, etc., or, if they are 
 woven, of flexible twigs. Virgil only mentions these two 
 kinds of hives ; but Columella (1. c.) notices also those made 
 of the ferula, which, he says, are next best to those of cork- 
 wood ; those of a hollowed piece of timber or of boards ; those 
 of potters' ware, which he looks on as by far the worst ; and 
 finally, those made of cow-dung or bricks. The ancients do 
 
book iv. 20-45. 297 
 
 not seem to have known the straw-hive. — alvearia. The e is 
 elided in this word, otherwise it could not be admitted into 
 a dactylic verse : see ii. 453. — 35. Angustos habeant aditus, 
 etc. The reason which he gives here for making the en- 
 trances narrow would almost lead one to think that he mis- 
 understood his authorities. The true reason of making the 
 entrance narrow was, as Columella tells us (ix. 7), — though 
 out of respect to the poet he glances at the reason given by 
 him, — to keep out lizards, beetles, moths, etc., while hives 
 of cork are commended, because they exclude the heat in 
 summer and the cold in winter; and those of earthenware 
 condemned for the opposite reason. — 37. neque illae, etc- It 
 is for this reason that the bees themselves are so careful to 
 stop up every chink and cranny in the walls of their hives. 
 — 39. Spiramenta : see i. 90. — -fuco etfloribus, i. q. fuco flo- 
 rium, with the pollen of the flowers. — oras, the entrance of 
 the hive. — 40. gluten. This is the propolis, a substance col- 
 lected from the vines and poplars: Plin. xi. 7. — 41. visco: 
 see i. 139. — pice Idae: see iii. 460. — 42. Saepe etiam, etc. 
 So anxious are the bees to have protection against the ex- 
 tremes of heat and cold, that they are known of themselves 
 to make their combs in holes in the ground, in rocks, and in 
 decaying trees. — effossis latebris, in places in the ground hol- 
 lowed out by nature or by the hand of man, not, as Servius 
 seems to think, by the bees themselves. He adds, " if the re- 
 port be true," because he probably knew this only on the au- 
 thority of Aristotle, who (v. 22) relates it of the bees at 
 Themiscyra, on the Thermodon in Asia. — 43. fovere larem, 
 cherish their household-god, i. e. keep at home. Some MSS. 
 (the Med. included) read fodere. We shall find the poet 
 throughout applying to the bees the customs and ideas of 
 men. — 44. Pumicibus. By the pumex here is meant any kind 
 of rock, ex. gr. sand- or lime-stone, that had holes or fissures in 
 it. — antro, the hollow or cavity. — 45. Tu tamen, etc. ' You 
 then, beemaster, do not leave the bees to do all for themselves, 
 but plaster the outside of their hives, if they are not quite 
 close, with smooth mud, and spread leaves over them.' Simi- 
 lar to this last precept is our practice of putting a thatch of 
 
 o5 
 
298 GEORGICS. 
 
 straw over the hives. Wagner says he should have expected 
 densas instead of raras, but the poet knew that leaves do not 
 
 lie close together when spread on anything tectis, the hives. 
 
 — 47. taxum. See on Ec. ix. 30. — neve rubentis, etc. This pre- 
 cept, of not burning crabs near hives, is also given by Colu- 
 mella (ix. 5), following our poet. The ancients used to burn 
 crabs as a remedy against sundry diseases of trees. The di- 
 rection here is, not to do so in the neighbourhood of the 
 hives. He says rubentis, reddening, because, as is well known, 
 crabs turn red under the influence of heat. — 48. altae neu 
 crede, etc. ' Do not place your hives near a marsh, or in any 
 place where there is a smell of mud, or where there is an echo.' 
 — 50. vocis imago, or imago simply, is the proper Latin ex- 
 pression for the Greek ?/^o>, our echo: see Hor. C. i. 12, 3; 
 20, 6 ; Val. Flae. iii. 596 ; Sil. Ital. xiv. 365. 
 
 51-66. The swarming of the bees. — Quod superest : see on 
 ii. 346. — 52. aestiva luce, the light of summer. The division 
 of the year into summer and winter is usual to Virgil. — re- 
 clusit, sc. nubibus disjectis. — 54. purpureos, bright, beautiful. 
 — metunt. Meto is to reap ; and as in reaping, the ears, or part 
 containing the corn, were cut and carried away, so, as the bees 
 carried off the pollen of the flowers, he uses this verb here. — 
 flumina libant, they sip the water ; for water is necessary for 
 bees. — leves, light, i. e. on the wing. — 55. Hinc, with these, 
 the flowers and water. Idoneos adfetum decerpunt jlores atque 
 intra tectum comportant, Colum. ix. 14. It is curious to see 
 how the practical husbandman here follows the poet in his lan- 
 guage, for be must surely have known that the bees did not 
 carry home the flowers themselves. Columella seems to have 
 had v. 200 in view. — nescio qua, etc. See i. 412. — -fovent, they 
 rear. — hinc arte, etc. 'Out of this they ingeniously make 
 (litt. beat out) new wax and form the clammy honey.' — 58. 
 Hinc, hence, on this account; sc. their love of shade and 
 water, v. 61. — ubijam, etc., when they swarm. — carets, from 
 the hives. — Nare, fly. Nare and volare, each denoting the 
 passage of a solid body through a fluid, are used interchange- 
 ably by the poets. " And float amid the liquid noon." Gray, 
 Ode to Spring. — aestatem liquidam, the clear summer-sky. — 
 
book iv. 47-83. 
 
 suspexeris, looking up you will see. — Obscurant nubem, i. e. 
 the swarm. — mirabere. Miror seems to be used here for the 
 simple video, to vary the phrase ; but the idea of admiration 
 is included. — 61. Contemplator, watch : see i. 287. — aquas dul- 
 ces, etc., for they will be sure to make for the water or the 
 trees. — 62. Hue, in this place, for which you see them making. 
 — -jussos, 'the following, which I direct you to use.' — 63. Trita, 
 pounded. — ignobile, common. — 64-. Tinnitus cie, etc. Make a 
 noise by clattering for example the cymbals used in the wor- 
 ship of Cybele, the Mother of the Gods. — Ipsae, of them- 
 selves, without any further labour on your part. — 66. cuna- 
 bula, the rearing-place of their future progeny, i. e. the hive. 
 This is the mode of hiving bees at the present day. 
 
 67-87. Battles of the bees — Sin autem ad pugnam, etc. 
 * But if, instead of swarming, it is to battle that they issue 
 forth in a body.' — 68. Regibus. The ancients, who were not 
 so familiar as we are with the economy of the bees., regarded 
 the queen-bees as of the masculine gender. — trepidantia bello, 
 hastening, preparing for war. — 71. tile aeris rauci canor y that 
 well-known sound resembling the hoarse note of the trumpet. 
 — 72.fractos, interrupted, not continuous. — 73. inter se coeunt, 
 they assemble. — pennis coruscant, i. q. cor.pe?inas, they vibrate 
 with their wings, i. e. they vibrate or move their wings quickly. 
 Penna pro ala, as the bird's wing is composed of feathers. 
 — 74. rostris. They use their bills (i. e. mouths) by way of 
 whetstones for their darts, i. e. stings. This is not true. Cf. iii. 
 c 255. — aptant lacertos, like boxers : see Aen. v. 376. — 75. ipsa, 
 the very. — praetoria. The praetorium was the general's quar- 
 ters in a Roman camp. — 77. ver sudum, a cloudless spring- 
 day. — nactae, sc. sunt. — campos, sc. aeris. — 78. Erumpunt, etc. 
 The asyndetons in this and the following verse give animation 
 to the scene : all the terms employed, it will be seen, are the 
 Roman military ones. — concurritur (impers.),the battle begins: 
 see Hor. S. i. 1, 7. — 79. glomerantur ; a Mid. voice. — tantum 
 glandis, so many acorns. — 82. Ipsi, sc. reges. — insignibus alis. 
 If they were human warriors we might have had insign. armis. 
 He seems to have mentioned the wings of the bees as being 
 the part most likely to attract notice. — 83. angusto, small. — 
 
300 GEORGICS. 
 
 84. obnixiy i. q. obnitentes, struggling, i. e. determined. — 86. Hi 
 motus, etc. ' All this turmoil and contention may be put an 
 end to by flinging a handful of sand or dust among the com- 
 batants.' 
 
 88-102. The different kinds of kings and of common bees. 
 — acie, from the battle. — 91. maculis auro, etc., bright with 
 rough gold spots. — ore, his look, his general appearance.— 93 
 Et rutilis, etc. A variation of v. 91. — horridus, i. q. horrens, 
 his bristles standing on end. — 94. Desidia, in consequence of 
 his sloth. — inglorius, without reputation or desert. — 95. cor- 
 pora. This is merely a variation of phrase after fades. — tur- 
 pes, ugly, the opposite offormosus. — 96. ceu pulvere, etc. 'Like 
 the arid traveller when he emerges from a cloud of dust and 
 spits it out of his dry mouth.' — terram, i.e. pulverem. — 99. Ar- 
 terites auro, glowing (i. e. shining) as to their bodies marked 
 with regular drops of gold, i. e. their bodies marked, etc. — 
 lita, litt. daubed, smeared. — 100. suboles, breed. — hinc, from 
 these. — caeli. He uses caelum here for the year, as elsewhere 
 (iii. 327) for the day. — 101. nee tantum dulcia, etc. ' Not so 
 sweet as thin (or clear), and therefore able to overcome the 
 harsh taste of wine.' He seems to mean, that the clearer and 
 thinner the honey, the more readily it would blend with the 
 wine. The liquor thus composed was called mulsum ; it con- 
 sisted of two parts wine and one part honey : strong old wine, 
 such as Falernian, was preferred for making it. Plin. xi. 15. 
 
 103-115. How to keep the newly-hived swarm from un- 
 steady rambling. — 104. Contemnunt, i. e. do not set about 
 making.— -frigida tecta, their abodes cold by reason of their 
 not occupying them. — 106. regibus. Because he had said ex- 
 amina, v. 103. — altum iter, sc. in the air. — 108. relieve signa, 
 to pluck up the standards. He here, as before, employs mili- 
 tary terms. — 109. Tnvitent, etc. Another way to keep them 
 at home is to have a good flower-garden near them. — halantes, 
 breathing, i. e. emitting an odour. — croceis Jloribus, yellow 
 flowers, i. e. coloured flowers, the def. for the indef. — 110. Et 
 custos, etc. These two verses seem to be little more than or- 
 namental ; but see Pausanias, ix. 31 ; Mythology, p. 236 — cus- 
 tos, the guardian against, the keeper-away of. We call the boy 
 
book iv. 84-126. 301 
 
 who keeps birds from the corn a bird-keeper. How Priapus 
 kept away the thieves we never could clearly see, unless it was 
 that the sight of his image reminded them of him, and made 
 them dread his power and vengeance. — falce saligna. A hook 
 made of willow was usually placed in his right hand. — 111. 
 Hellespontiaci. He was a god of Lampsacus on the Hellespont. 
 — tutela Priapi, i. e. Priapus, a Graecism. — 112. pinos : see 
 v. 141 ; Ec. vii. 65. — cui talia curae, i. e. the bee-master — 
 114. labore duro, i. e. digging and planting. — imbris, water. 
 He uses this term, because in watering plants we rain on 
 them as it were. It would appear from this place, and from 
 Colum. x. 147, that the ancient watering-pots had roses like 
 our own. Cf. v. 32. 
 
 116-148. Digression on gardens. — traham, i.e. contraham, 
 take in, shorten. Virgil seems to have been the first of the 
 Latin poets who used this metaphor, taken from navigation, 
 which afterwards became so common. Cf. ii. 44. — cura co- 
 lendi, culture. The idea of care and attention is included. — 
 biferi rosaria Paesti. Here, as usual, the adj. belongs pro- 
 perly to the first subst. Paestum, called by its Grecian 
 founders Posidonia, lay south of Naples on the gulf of its own 
 name ( Golfo di Salerno) ; it was celebrated for its roses : see 
 Flora, v. Rosa. — 120. potis rivis, i. e. being watered. For the 
 plants here named, see the Flora. — 122. in ventrem, into belly, 
 i. e. would swell. Crescere in ungues, Ov. Met. ii. 479 ; crescere 
 in caput, Id. ib. v. 547. — sera comantem, late-flowering. Theo- 
 phrastus (H. PI. vi. 6) says that the narcissus flowered very 
 late, after the rising of Arcturus, and about the autumnal 
 equinox. Coma is metaphorically the flower: see v. 137. — 
 125. Namque. He gives an instance that he had seen of the 
 profitable nature of a garden. — Oebaliae, sc. urbis, i. e. Ta- 
 rentum, which was said to have been founded by a colony 
 from Laconia, of which country Oebalus was one of the my- 
 thic kings. — 126. niger Galaesus. The Galaesus was the 
 stream that watered the territory of Tarentum: though its 
 course is short, it is of some depth (see Hist, of Rome, p. 471), 
 and its waters are clear : hence he calls it dark, in opposition 
 probably to the Jlavas Tibris and other rivers of Italy which 
 
302 GEORGICS. 
 
 were usually turbid.— -fiaventia culta, the yellow fields of corn. 
 — 127. Corycium senem. An old man from Corycus in Cilicia, 
 famous for its cultivation of saffron. It is doubted whether 
 this man was a freedman, or one of the Cilician pirates, whom, 
 as Servius tells us on the authority of Suetonius, Pompeius 
 Magnus, after his victory over them, settled in Calabria. (Hist, 
 of Rome, p. 364.) — relied ruris, of neglected land ; either, as 
 is most probable, on account of its worthlessness, or as being 
 subcessive, i. e. left out by the surveyors when measuring out 
 lands to colonists. — 128. necfertilis, etc. 'That land {ilia seges) 
 would neither feed oxen nor sheep, nor yield wine.' Tarentum 
 was famous for its sheep ; and the wine of its Aulon (Av\u>p), — 
 probably the vale of the Galaesus, — in the opinion of Horace 
 (C. ii. 6, 18) did not yield to that of Falernum itself. — 130. in 
 dumis, amid the bushes and briars with which the land was 
 overgrown, or perhaps in the ground which had been covered 
 with them. — rarurn olus. Olus is the garden-plants that were 
 used for food, garden- stuff in the language of our peasantry : 
 rarum is interpreted, 'planted in rows or drills/ — 131 . premens, 
 cultivating, planting : see ii. 346. — vescum, small, sc. with re- 
 spect to its seeds: see on iii. 175. — animo, in his (contented) 
 mind. Most MSS. read animis. — revertens domum, coming in 
 from his work in his garden. — inemptis, unbought ; the pro- 
 duce of his garden. — 134. Primus carpere, i. e. carpebat, inf. 
 hist.; or, as we rather think, primus fuit carpere. — 135. Et 
 cum, etc. ' And even when winter was splitting the rocks with 
 frost.' This power of the frost is well known. — 137. comam, 
 the flower: v. 122. — tondebat. The last syllable is made long 
 as being in arsis. — increpitans, mocking, deriding, as having 
 beaten them. For this sense of the verb, see Caes. B. G. ii. 15 ; 
 Liv. i. 7 ; Flor. i. 1 : or it may be, chide for their delay, as 
 Aen. iii. 455. — 139. Ergo, etc. In consequence of the nume- 
 rous and early flowers which he had, he of course had plenty 
 of bees and honey, and his bees were the first to swarm. — 
 
 141. tiliae. This is the reading of all the MSS. except the 
 Med., which has tilia. The fondness of the bees for the blos- 
 som of the lime-tree is well known. — pinusi see v. 112. — 
 
 142. Quotque injlore, etc. This is expressed in that round- 
 
book iv. 127-154. 303 
 
 about way to which our poet was but too much inclined. The 
 meaning is, that whatever promise of fruit the tree made when 
 in blossom in the spring, was always sure to be verified in the 
 autumn. He uses poma for the fruitful blossoms, those that 
 promise fruit. — 144. Hie etiam seras, etc. 'He also planted 
 elms in rows, and pears and thorns and planes.' Seras, slow- 
 growing, according to Wagner and others; but that is not the 
 character of the elm. Heyne and Voss say ' full-grown,' and 
 that it is of transplantation he speaks : this however does not 
 seem probable ; we rather think that serus here expresses 
 durability. — 145. Eduram, very hard. E in composition is 
 frequently intensive ; ex. gr. equidem, ecastor, edico, edoceo, 
 ementior. — 146. Jamque ministrantem, etc., even now large 
 enough to yield a shade to those that sat drinking beneath it : 
 
 see ii. 70 148. atque aliis, etc. Columella attempted in his 
 
 tenth book to complete the subject, but with no great suc- 
 cess. 
 
 149-218. Manners and customs of the bees. — pro qua mer- 
 cede, for which reward. He makes the bees, like men (with 
 whom all through he assimilates them), to labour with a view 
 to the reward, instead of the reward being a thing of which 
 they had no previous conception, and which was given in con- 
 sequence of their labours. — 151. Curetum sonitus, etc. The 
 well-known story of the infancy of Jupiter : see Callim. Hymn, 
 in Jovem ; Mythology, p. 79. — pavere. The poet would seem 
 to intimate that they then merely collected the honey and 
 carried it to the mouth of the infant deity, who afterwards 
 gave them the art of laying it up. — 153. Solae communes 
 natos, etc. The reward he gave them was this, that they 
 alone of all animals, beside man, should live in the social state, 
 dwell as it were in the one town, and, foreseeing the future, 
 lay up provisions for it. The poet, in his zeal to exalt the 
 bees, seems to have forgotten the ants, who, except in the 
 construction of combs, must in the opinion of the ancients 
 fully have equalled the bees in knowledge and industry : see 
 i. 186. — consortia. A variation of the preceding communes. 
 They have their young and their dwellings in common. — 
 154. agitant, i. e. agunt. — magnis legibus. By 'great laws' he 
 
304? GEORGICS. 
 
 may mean higher laws than those which other animals were 
 under. Magnis is however more probably merely an enno- 
 bling epithet of legibus. — certos Penates, a fixed abode : cf. 
 Aen. viii. 39. Lar certus, Hor. Ep. i. 7, 58. — 157. Experiun- 
 tur, i. e. sustinent. — in medium quaesita : see i. 127. — 158. 
 Namque aliae, etc. He now proceeds to the details of their 
 policy. He repeats much of this, Aen. i. 430. — victu, i. e. 
 victui, to the victualling of their town.— -foedere pacto. Like 
 men, they had made a regular agreement and division of la- 
 bour. — 159. Exercentur, Mid. voice. — agris, in the fields. 
 These are the farmers and country-people. — pars intra, etc., 
 the builders. — 160. Narcissi lacrimam. The narcissus is used 
 for lilies in general. We know not exactly what is meant by 
 the tear of the flowers : it cannot be, as Heyne explains it, 
 " guttam, nectar, hurnorem melleum, seu dulcem, quern imus 
 florum calyx exsudat," for that would rather be the honey. 
 Theophrastus tells us (De Caus. PI. i. 4) that the lilies were 
 propagated by means of their tears (Idicpva), which appears 
 to have been a kind of gum or resin which exuded from them. 
 — de cortice, sc. of the willows, elms, and other suitable trees. 
 — gluten : see v. 40. — 162. aliae, the nurses, tutors, and such 
 like. — spem gentis, the young : see Ec. i. 15. — educunt, lead 
 out, teach to fly, to gather honey, etc. It can hardly be, as 
 Heyne understands it, to lead out swarms. — aliae, etc., an- 
 other class stow up the honey in the cells. — 165. Sunt quibus, 
 etc., to another portion is allotted the task of mounting guard 
 at the gates. These have besides the charge of watching the 
 state of the weather, easing those that arrive of their burdens, 
 and driving away the lazy drones — sorti, an abl., like ruri, 
 luci, vesperi, parti : see Forbiger on Lucr. i. 977. 
 
 170. Ac veluti, etc. He compares the division and fervour 
 of labour in the beehive to that of the Cyclopes in the caverns 
 of Aetna when forging the thunderbolts. — massis, sc. metalli. 
 — properant, sc. facere. Propero and festino are frequently 
 thus used with an ace. of the object. — taurinis follibus, in 
 bellows made of ox-hide. All the operations in a forge are 
 here very accurately enumerated. — 173. gemit, sc. with the 
 blows on the anvils. — impositis, sc. on the blocks ; h aKfioderu), 
 
 
book iv. 157-203. 305 
 
 Horn. II. xviii. 476. It is an abl. abs. — In numerum, in har- 
 mony, Kara pvdpov : see Ec. vi. 27. — 178. Munere quamque 
 suo, each in his appointed sphere. — munire, i. e.Jingere, edifi- 
 cari. — daedala tecta, their ingeniously-constructed abodes. 
 Daedalus (from haiZdWw, whence the artist Daedalus) is one 
 of the words for which he is indebted to Lucretius. — 180. 
 multa node, late in the night ; properly, in the evening (see v. 
 186), as all animals hasten home before it is dark. — pascun- 
 tur: cf. ii. 375; iii. 314. He here enumerates the principal 
 plants on which they fed. — pinguem. Probably on account of 
 the honey-dew that lay on it.— ferrugineos : see on i. 467. — 
 187. corpora curant, refresh themselves by taking food : cf. 
 Aen. iii. 511 ; viii. 607. — mussant, i. e. fremunt: cf. Aen. xi. 
 454. — in noctem, for the night : cf. Aen. vii. 7« — sopor suus, 
 sleep adapted to them, sleep of the bees : cf. Aen. v. 832 ; 
 vi. 641. 
 
 191. stabidis. This word, like praesepibus, v. 168, in our 
 opinion spoils the harmony of the imagery. In the very next 
 verse but one we have moenia nrbis ! — credunt caelo, trust to 
 the skies, say the interpreters. We would rather understand 
 se after credunt, as Nee dubio se credere caelo, Quint. Decl. xiii. 
 17. — Euris, high winds : see ii. 339. — 195. saburram, ballast 
 — inania nubila (like arida nubila, iii. 198), wind and clou 
 without rain. — 198. Quod neque concubitu, etc. This was the 
 prevalent opinion among the ancients. — in Venerem & 
 Xvovgl els aQpoGieia : see iii. 97. — 201. ipsae, of th 
 each alone. — Quirites, citizens. — aidasque et cere(> 
 fingunt, ' they re-form (i.e. continually form) their pa 
 and waxen realms.' The meaning seems to be, a 
 from v. 206 seq., that the succession of the race is thu ~>r 
 ever kept up, and consequently new abodes form. iem. 
 
 — 203. Saepe eiiam, etc. These three verses, 203-- J, it is 
 plain, do not cohere with v. 202, while v. 206 unites with it 
 closely. Wagner is of opinion that Virgil wrote them in the 
 margin after the poem was finished, whence they were after- 
 wards taken into the text : he does not however seem to 
 think that they were intended to form part of the poem. We 
 think however with Heyne, that they come in very well after 
 
306 GEORGICS. 
 
 v. 196 ; and it is probable that the poet intended them for that 
 place, but that the copyist mistook his mark. On this sup- 
 position it must have been only in a corrected copy which 
 was found after his death that these verses first occurred. — 
 207. Excipiat, receives them, i. e. they have. Cf. ii. 345 ; Aen. 
 i. 276 ; iii. 318. — septima aestas. It is now the prevalent opi- 
 nion, we believe, that bees do not live more than a year. — 
 Stat fortuna domus, the prosperity of the house (i. e. the race) 
 remains. 
 
 210. Praeterea regem, etc. The eminent loyalty of the bees. 
 — et, i. e. aut. — 211. Lydia, sc. when it had kings, before the 
 time of Cyrus. — Medus Hydaspes. The river, as usual, put 
 for the people. The Hydaspes, however, is a river of India, 
 not of Media ; and we agree with Wagner in regarding this 
 as one of the places where Virgil was napping. — 213. rupere 
 Jidem (an aorist), they break their faith. The allusion here 
 is to an Eastern army, who, if their leader falls, disband and 
 plunder their own camp. — crates favorum, the wickers of their 
 combs; alluding to their artificial structure. — 215. admirantur, 
 look up to with reverence. — belh, i. e. to the weapons of the 
 enemies. 
 
 219-222. Opinion that the bees partake of the divine na- 
 ire. — His signis, sc. ducti. Seme take this as an abl. abs — 
 wpla, proofs. — haustus Aetherios, aethereal draughts. The 
 of the world or divine mind, of which the poet here 
 was by the Pythagoreans and other philosophers re- 
 ! aether or the highest and purest flame ; and as this 
 i be of a liquid nature, animate beings were sup- 
 k it in. — Terras, etc. : see Ec. iv. 51 . — 223. Hinc 
 T he construction is : Hinc pecudes, etc., arces- 
 St s vitas; quemque nascentem being parenthetic. — 
 
 hue .nc, v. 223), into this divine mind, this aethereal sub- 
 
 stance. — 226. Omnia, sc. animalia. — nee morti esse locum, nor 
 is there room for death, i. e. there is no death. Cf. Aen. iv. 
 319. — in numerum, into the number, i. e. to go among. — alto, 
 etc. This is merely explanatory of the preceding words. 
 
 228-250. Manner of taking the honey. — Si quando, etc. 
 The commencement of this paragraph is very obscure, and 
 
book iv. 207-228. 307 
 
 has caused great perplexity to the commentators ; partly owing 
 to the variety of readings, partly, in our opinion, to the poet's 
 system of artificial expression. First, the reading of the Med. 
 and of Servius in v. 228 is augustam, which is followed by 
 Heyne and Voss, who see in it a reference to the regal state 
 given by the poet to his bees. The Rom. and most other 
 MSS. read angustam, which is adopted by Wagner and Jahn, 
 who regard augustam as being too splendid an epithet for a 
 beehive. We are not of their opinion, and augustam is in 
 our mind confirmed by the following thesauris. Secondly, in 
 v. 229, some MSS. read haustus, as Servius appears to have 
 done, but the most and best have haustu. Thirdly, in v. 230 
 the general reading is orafove ; but Servius tells us that there 
 was another reading, ore fave, which seems to have been the 
 only one known to Philargyrius, who quotes as explanatory 
 of it the following verses of Ennius (xvi. 30) : Insidiantes hie 
 vigilant, partim requiescunt, Contecti gladiis, sub scutis, ore 
 faventes. Ore fave, he says, is " cum religione ac silentio ac- 
 cede," which agrees tolerably well with augustam. Wagner 
 says that this reading originated in the wrong reading, haustus, 
 which caused ora to be changed into ore, and that then the 
 common expression ore fave suggested itself at once to tY 
 minds of the copyists. With respect to the interpretation 
 think the difficulty in v. 228 is entirely owing to the ( 
 not recollecting the practice of the poets to omit the 
 governing the first subst. We may therefore supr 
 to be governed by invado, appropinquor, or sr rb of 
 
 similar import. Relino is properly to take off t ] 
 pitch, gypsum, etc., with which the ancients sto 
 of the vessels in which they kept their wine. A the cells in 
 the comb which contain the honey are always care. A, 
 
 the poet may have regarded them as a number of ai„ x >;■■ wae, 
 dolia, or cadi, in a cellar, and he therefore employs the term 
 thesauris, treasure- or store-houses. The constr. is relines 
 mella servata thesauris. The interpretation of what follows 
 is much more difficult, and the only explanation we can offer 
 is as follows. The construction is Prius sparsus (mid. verb) 
 fove ora haustu aquarum, i. e. he was to sprinkle himself and 
 
OUS GEORGICS. 
 
 to gargle his mouth with water. Columella says (ix. 14): 
 Verum maxime custodiendum est curatori cum alvos tractare 
 debebit, utpridie castus sit ab rebus venereis, neve temide?itus, nee 
 nisi lotus ad eas aecedat, abstineatque redolentibus esculentis, 
 ut sunt salsamenta et eorum omnia eliquamina, item que foe- 
 tentibus acrimoniis allii vel ceparum ceterarumque rerum simi- 
 lium. Here we have the washing expressly mentioned, and the 
 gargling at least implied. — 230.fumos sequaces, the persecuting 
 smoke, the smoke that will drive them away. The ancients 
 did not smother their bees, as we so needlessly and barbarously 
 do ; they only drove them back in the hive or set them asleep 
 with smoke, while they took away a part of the combs.— prae- 
 tende> hold out before you. 
 
 231. Bis gravidos, etc. This is another of our poet's con- 
 torted expressions ; the simple meaning of which is, that the 
 bee-masters take the honey twice a-year. Fetus is the pro- 
 duction, sc. of the bees, i. e. the honey which the bee-masters 
 cogunt, gather or take. The remainder of the verse tells the 
 same thing in simpler language. — 232. Taygete, etc. A very 
 beautiful and poetic mode of saying, ' when the Pleiades (of 
 vhom Taygete was one) rose,' i. e. in the end of April or be- 
 ning of May. — Plias for Pleias is the reading of the Med. 
 and other good MSS. : the latter is usually a trisyllable. — 
 o the earth. — honestum, handsome: see iii. 81. — et 
 fcc. He represents her as bounding, like a huntress 
 or a from the surface of the Ocean, which, in con- 
 
 formity with Homer, he views as a river: see Mythology, 
 I n, etc., or when the same constellation sets, 
 
 i. e. .ining of November : see i. 221. He says that 
 
 the Pi ies from the Fishes, because in the tables of the 
 
 celestial .signs which the ancient astronomers constructed, the 
 hinder part of Taurus (in which the Pleiades are situated) is 
 turned toward Aries, after which comes Pisces. — 235. Tristior, 
 sc. Taygete, having lost her former joyousness. — 236. IUis 
 ira, etc. A warning to the person who is taking the honey to 
 be on his guard against the stings of the bees. They are, he 
 says, excessively irritable by nature. — laesae, when provoked. 
 — Morsibus, in their bites, i. e. stings. — spicula caeca, invisible 
 
book iv. 230-248. 309 
 
 darts. — 238. Adfixae (mid. verb), when they attach them- 
 selves. — in vulnere, in the act of wounding. The bees were 
 supposed to die when they lost their stings: Plin. xi. 18. — 
 239. Sin duram metues, etc. ' If you apprehend the severity 
 of winter, etc. (i. e. if you wish to preserve the stock through 
 the winter), you will take pity on their broken spirit and their 
 ruined affairs.' — 241. At, but, i. e. at least. At comes thus 
 frequently after si : cf. Aen. i. 542. Si Mi sunt virgae ruri 
 at mihi tergwn domi est, Plaut. Bac. ii. 3, 131. Sin collega 
 quid aliud malit at sibi darent L. Volumnium adjutorem, Liv, 
 x. 26. — suffire thymo, sc. alvearia, to fumigate with thyme. 
 As Columella (ix. 14) and Pliny (xi. 15) recommend cow- 
 dung for this purpose, it has been proposed to read Jimo for 
 thymo ; but the present reading may be defended from iElian 
 (N. A. i. 58) and the Geoponics (xv. 2, 37). 
 
 242. Nam saepe, etc. ' For if you leave these empty combs, 
 they will become places of shelter for the following pests.' — 
 ignotus, unperceived. — 243. Stellio : see v. 1 3. The i is here 
 ay on account of the metre. — cubilia. This is properly the 
 lying- or sleeping-place, but it is here (like nidos, v. 17) used 
 for the occupants, sc. the larvae of the blattae. — congesta, be- 
 cause they are deposited in a great number in the same place. 
 The meaning of the passage is this : the larvae, heaped up by 
 the light-shunning blattae, devour the combs ; adedere being 
 understood from the preceding adedit. — blattis. From Pliny's 
 description of the blatta (xi. 28), which he says is a kind of 
 scarabaeus, it might appear to be the black beetle. — Immunis, 
 free from tax or duty ; a term of the Roman law. — crabro, the 
 hornet. — imparibus, unequal, as being much superior to those 
 of the bees. — se immiscuit, gets into the empty combs (v. 239), 
 and thus mixes with the bees. — 246. tineae, sc. hie sunt. Ver- 
 miculi qui tineae vocantur, Colum. ix. 14. Horace (S. ii. 3, 
 119) joins the blattae and tineae together as destroyers of 
 couch-covers, etc. They are probably two kinds of moths. — 
 invisa Minervae. Alluding to the well-known transformation 
 of Arachne into a spider : Ov. Met. vi. init. — 248. Quo magis, 
 etc. A direction to the bee-master, on the other hand, not to 
 leave them too much honey, as it only makes them lazy. — 
 
310 GEORGICS. 
 
 250.foros, the cells. Fori is properly a flat surface with divi- 
 sions on it : hence it is used of the seats in a theatre, the beds 
 in a garden, the deck or rowers' benches in a ship.— -Jloribus, 
 i. e. with the pollen or produce of the flowers : see v. 54. — 
 horrea, the granaries, i. e. the combs. 
 
 251-280. Diseases of bees and their cure. — quoniam, etc., 
 as life brings casualties to bees as well as men. Nostros casus 
 is ' chances such as we experience.' — 253. Quod jam, etc. 
 Verses 253-263 are parenthetic. — alius color, a different co- 
 lour. — voltum. Perhaps here, the whole body. — luce caren- 
 tum, i. e. mortuorum. — 257. pedibus connexae. Elsewhere 
 (Aen. vii. 6Q) y when describing a swarm of bees that had set- 
 tled, he says, pedibus per mutua nexis ; but as this is never 
 the case with sickly bees, sooner than charge the poet with 
 gross ignorance, it is better to say with Wagner, " Cape haec 
 de suis cujusque apis pedibus inflexis et inter se nexis, ut in 
 morientibus insectis videre licet." — -fame, sc. inedia. — 259. 
 contracto f rigor e pigrae. The simple meaning of this would 
 seem to be : ' idle from the cold they had taken.' The critics 
 however think that it means, contracted with the cold, as 
 Mori contractam cum te cogunt frigora, Phaedr. iv. 24, 20 ; 
 Contractusque leget, Hor. Ep. i. 7, 12. In this case the 
 poet would, in his usual manner, have joined the part, to the 
 subst. to which it does not belong. — 260. tractim, i. e.jugiter, 
 continuo. A term adopted from Lucretius, who has (iii. 529) 
 per artus Ire alios tractim, gelidi vestigia mortis. — 262. solli- 
 citum, i. e. sollicitatwn, opivofxevov. — stridit, sounds. We have 
 no word which will accurately give the sense of strido in this 
 place : it means the sound which the waves of the sea make 
 when running back after having rushed up on the beach. — 
 Aestuat, roars.— for nacibus, in the oven or furnace. It cannot 
 be the limekiln, as Voss thinks, for that makes no noise. 
 
 264. Hie jam, etc. He now comes at length to the reme- 
 dies. — galbaneos odores, i. e. strong-scented galbanum : cf. i. 
 56. — arundineis canalibus, troughs made of reeds.— fessas, sc. 
 morbo, i. e. aegras. — tunsum gallae saporem, pounded galls. — 
 admiscere, sc. melli. — 269. Defruta. Wine boiled down till it 
 becomes thick and sweet : see on i. 295. — Psithia : see ii. 93. 
 
book iv. 250-287. 311 
 
 — passos racemos, raisins. — Cecropium, Attic, as it abounds 
 on Mount Hymettus. — 271. amello: see the Flora.— uno de 
 cespite, from one sod, i. e. in the one spot, from the one root ; 
 expressed in our poet's usual manner. — silvam. He uses this 
 word to express the number of its leaves or stalks : cf. i. 76. — 
 274-. Aureus ipse, etc. The centre of the flower (i. e. the 
 disc) is yellow ; its numerous petals are of a dark blue, like 
 those of the violet. Croceum pro corpore florem, Inveniunt, 
 foliis medium cingentibus albis, Ovid, Met. iii. 509, of Narcis- 
 sus. — 276. Saepe deum, etc., the altars of the gods are often 
 adorned with festoons formed of it. Though this verse is in 
 all the MSS., an acute critic (Weichert, De vers, injur, sus- 
 pect, p. 63) suspects it to be an interpolation : he notes its 
 needlessness, its languor, the change of tense, and doubts if 
 the word torques could be properly used of garlands of flowers. 
 Jahn and Forbiger agree with Weichert, whose opinion ap- 
 pears to us also to be highly probable. Wagner defends the 
 verse. — tonsis, sc. ovibus, cropt. — 278. Mellae. This river, 
 which rises in the Alps, flows by the city of Brixia (Brescia) 
 and joins the Po. — odorato, fragrant. 
 
 281-294. Mode of restoring stocks of bees when totally 
 lost. — proles, sc. apium. — genus, etc., i. e. nova stirps generis. 
 — 283. Arcadii magistri, sc. apium, fieXirrovpyos/i.e. Aristaeus, 
 whom some made a native of Arcadia : see Mythology, p. 329. 
 — Pandere : a Lucretian term. — 285. Insincerus, corrupted; as 
 we say, unsound for rotten. — tulerit, i. q. protulerit.—famam, 
 the memorable thing. — 287. fortunata, evdaifxujv, opulent. — 
 Pellaei Canopi, i. e. of Alexandria and its vicinity, which 
 city was founded near the Canobic mouth of the Nile by 
 Alexander the Great, who was born at Pella in Macedonia. — 
 stagnantem, sc. when it has overflowed. — pictis faselis, in their 
 painted or ornamented boats. The faselus, probably so named 
 from its resemblance to the bean of that name (i. 227), was a 
 small boat : in Egypt it was made of potter's earth, and the 
 people in the time of the inundation used to pass in these 
 boats from one town to another: Strab. xvii. p. 788. Juvenal 
 (xv. 127) says of the Egyptians in his time, Parvida Jietilibus 
 solitum dare vela faselis, Et brevibus pictae remis incumbere 
 
312 GEORGICS. 
 
 testae. Savary, duke of Rovigo, tells us in his Memoirs (c. 8), 
 that when the French were in Egypt under Buonaparte, they 
 often saw coming down the Nile whole rafts, as it were, com- 
 posed of earthen pots ingeniously joined together with their 
 mouths turned down, so that the included air kept them afloat. 
 They were covered with mats for the people to lie on, and the 
 raft had a rudder fixed to it. — 290. urguet, presses on, sc. 
 Egypt or Syria. — 293. coloratis, i. e. dark-coloured ; as we call 
 the negroes, men of colour.— jacit salutem, repose their hope 
 of safety, i. e. of having bees. For the critical examination 
 of this paragraph, see Excursus X. 
 
 295-314. Description of the mode of obtaining bees. — 
 Exiguus, etc. The simple meaning of the three following 
 verses is: they build a chamber, just large enough to contain 
 the carcass of a young bullock and the men who are to kill 
 him. Florentinus, who (Geop. xv. 2) gives a full description 
 of the mode of proceeding, says that the place should be ten 
 cubits high, and its length and apparently its breadth of ten 
 cubits also. — ipsos ad usus, for that very purpose. — contractus, 
 drawn in, made narrow. — 296. angusti imbrice tecti, with the 
 tiling of a narrow roof. — obliqua luce, letting in light obliquely. 
 He would seem to say that they were to be so constructed as 
 to exclude the wind. Florentinus merely says there was to 
 be a window in each side : he also mentions the door, and 
 says that all of them were to be closely luted, when the bullock 
 had been killed, so as to exclude the air and wind. — 299. bima 
 fronte, on his two-year-old brow. Florentinus says he should 
 be thirty months old. — hide gemmae, etc. The poet seems to 
 have made a mistake here ; for Florentinus says, that when he 
 is brought into the house, a number of young men get round 
 him, and beat him with sticks till they have broken all his 
 bones and killed him, and that then they close up his mouth, 
 nostrils, etc. with pitched cloths, and so leave him. — spiritus 
 oris, his mouth, his breath.-- plagis, with blows of the sticks. 
 — per integrum pellem. The skin was to be broken on no ac- 
 count, Florentinus tells us. — 303. ramea costis. They were to 
 lay under the carcass boughs of trees and fresh thyme and 
 casia, the favourite plants of the bees — 305. Hoc geritur, etc. 
 
book iv. 290-327. 313 
 
 This is done in the beginning of the spring. — rubeant, blush, 
 are bright. — 308. Interea, etc. Florentinus says that in the 
 third week the door and windows are to be opened (except 
 the window facing the wind, if there should be a strong wind 
 blowing) ; and when the animal matter appears to have become 
 animated they are to be closed again, and on the eleventh day 
 the place will be found full of bees. This clears the whole 
 mystery, for we now see how the queen-bee could get in and 
 deposit her eggs in the putrid flesh. — Aestuat, ferments. — 310. 
 Trunca pedum, wanting the feet ; the orba pedum of Lucre- 
 tius (v. 835). Truncus and orbus take a gen, after them, on 
 the same principle as pauper, inops, egens, etc. do. — stridentia 
 pennis, whizzing with wings. — 311. Miscentur, they mingle 
 together: mid. voice. — aera carpunt, like viam carpunt. — sa- 
 gittae, sc. erumpunt. — 314. Parthi. These people, as is well 
 known, were famed for archery : he calls them leves, as they 
 fought on horseback. 
 
 315-332. Quis, etc. He had already told who it was, v. 283. 
 — extudit, hammered out, i. e. invented. — experientia, disco- 
 very. — ingressus cepit, began. — 317 .fugiens, flying, i. e. leaving 
 in haste, in consequence of misfortune: cf. Ec. i.4. — 319. ca- 
 put, the head or origin of the stream. Burmann says it is i. q. 
 ostium, the mouth of the river ; but though capita is i. q. ostia, 
 Caes. B. G. iv. 10 ; Liv. xxxiii. 41, we have met no instance 
 of this sense of the sing. noun. The epithet sacrum also 
 seems to refer to the fount. — extremi. This adj. properly be- 
 longs to fans. — amnis. The Peneus, v. 317. — 320. adfatus, sc. 
 est. Wagner says however that it is used for the obsolete part. 
 adfans. — 321. Cyrene. The daughter of the Peneus and mo- 
 ther of Aristaeus by Apollo, who was called Thymbraeus, from 
 the river Thymbrius in the Troas, on the banks of which he 
 had a temple. — 324. Invisum fatis, an object of enmity or dis- 
 like to the fates, i. e. unlucky — 326. En etiam, etc. ' So far 
 from your obtaining heaven for me, I lose what was my glory 
 in this mortal life.' — 327. Quern mihi, etc. ' Which, while pur- 
 suing tillage and pasturage, I discovered by making a variety 
 of experiments;' i. e. the art of keeping bees. — te matre, 'though 
 you, a goddess, are my mother.' — relinquo, I abandon, i. e. am 
 
 p 
 
314 GEORGICS. 
 
 forced to abandon. — 329. felices silvas, orchards, etc. — inter- 
 /ice, destroy : a Lucretian term (iii. 885) — molire, wield. — 
 332. laudis, i. q. honoris, v. 326. 
 
 333—356. thalamo sub jluminis alii. The meaning of this 
 seems to be : ' in her chamber beneath the deep river ;' for 
 thalamus could not, we believe, be used of the abode of the 
 river-god. If this is the sense, it is very ill expressed. — 335. 
 Carpebant, were spinning : i. 390. — hyali colore, with the 
 colour of glass, i. e. caerulean or sea-green, the colour worn 
 by the water-nymphs. — saturo. This adj. properly belongs to 
 vellera. — 336. Drymoque, etc. He gives a string of the names 
 of the nymphs, in imitation of Homer and Hesiod, in which 
 practice he was followed by Ovid. The object of both poets 
 was probably to exhibit their learning ; but these names may 
 have had a charm for their readers who understood Greek. — 
 338. Nesaee, etc. This verse is wanting in all the good MSS. 
 — -flava, fair-haired, blond. — Ambae auro, sc. ornatae. — 343. 
 Ephyre. The final e is in arsis, and is not to be elided. — Asia. 
 From the Asia palus, i. 383. — 344. Arethusa : see Ec. x. 1. 
 One might feel surprised to find her here who was not a 
 water-nymph, but Cyrene herself was hunting when Apollo 
 fell in love with her. — 345. curam inanein Vulcani. The story 
 told by Homer (Od. viii. 266 seq.) of Vulcan catching Mars 
 and Venus in adultery ; but why he should call it cura inanis 
 we do not see, unless he means to insinuate that they renewed 
 their intercourse. — 347. Chao, down from Chaos, i. e. from 
 the beginning of the world. — densos, numerous. — 350. ritreis, 
 glassy, i. e. bright ; or it may refer to the colour, v. 335. — 
 353. procid, from afar. This is used to give an idea of the 
 distance of the abode of Cyrene from the surface of the river. 
 — 355. genitoris, of thy sire. Though Pater is applied to the 
 river-gods as well as all other gods of the Roman religion (see 
 on i. 121), the same is not the case with Genitor. — Penei. A 
 dissyllable, from Urjreos for liTjveios. 
 
 357-373. nova, new, additional ; for she had been already 
 startled, v. 350. — Mi. As being the son of a god, and to be a 
 god himself. — 361. Curvata, etc. He represents the river as 
 parting its waters and forming an arched passage, along which 
 
book iv. 329-376. 315 
 
 Aristaeus went down into the subterranean region in which 
 all the rivers of the earth had their origin. — misit, i. q. trans- 
 misit. — 364. Speluncis, etc. Each river would hence appear 
 to have its origin in a deep pool contained in a cavern, and 
 thence to pursue its course between banks overgrown with 
 trees. Heyne thinks that he must have had before him some 
 elder (i. e. Greek) poet, who had sung how Oceanus was the 
 origin of all things. But he says nothing of the Ocean here, 
 and we are but too ready to deny originality to the Latin 
 poets, who are in fact much more original than we seem to 
 think. — 367. Phasim, Lycum. The former is in Colchis, the 
 latter in Pontus, both flowing into the Euxine. — caput, the 
 head or fount: see v. 319. — Enipeus. A river of Thessaly. — 
 se erumpit, bursts forth : see i. 445. — 369. pater Tiberinus. 
 He gives here to the Tiber alone the honorific title of Pater, 
 having perhaps Ennius in view. — Auiena Jiuenta, the stream 
 of the Anio. Tiberina Jiuenta, Aen. xii. 35 ; cf. Aen. iv. 143 ; 
 vi. 327. — 370. Saxosusque sonans, stony-sounding, i. e. sound- 
 ing by running over stones. The Hypanis {Bog) is a river 
 of Sarmatia in Europe. — 31ysus Ca'icus, the Cai'cus of 
 Mysia in Asia Minor. — 371. Et gemina, etc. The river-gods 
 were usually represented with horns ; he says those of the 
 Eridanus were gilded, probably to denote the fertility of the 
 region through which it ran: cf. i. 217. — mare purpureum. 
 This adj. expresses brightness, glow of colour: see on Ec. ix. 
 40. The allusion here may be to the bright, phosphorescent 
 appearance of the Mediterranean when agitated by the wind 
 or by oars. Spiritus Eurorum virides cum purpurat undas, 
 Furius ap. Gell. xviii. 1 1 . Mare, Favonio nascente, purpureum 
 videtur, Cic. Acad. ii. 33. He however had Od. xi. 242 in 
 view. — violentior : cf. ii. 452. This is not the character of the 
 Po at the present day, perhaps in consequence of the elevation 
 of its bed, its velocity being diminished. — 374. pendentia, 
 etc. The chamber whose hanging-roof was formed of sand- 
 stone, i. e. the chamber in the rock. — inanis. Because she 
 knew she could remedy them. — 376. manibus, etc. She en- 
 
 V. 361. Tlopcpvpeov §' apa Kvp,a TrspiaraQr) ovpe'i low. — Od. xi. 242. 
 
 p2 
 
316 GEORGICS. 
 
 tertains him after the fashion of the heroic age. — ordine, in 
 due order.— fontis, water. — Germanae, her sister-nymph. — 
 tonsis, etc., towels made of wool, which were close-shorn so 
 as to be smooth : cf. Aen. i. 702. — reponunt, serve up again 
 and again. — 379. Panchaeis, etc., ' the altar burns with Pan- 
 chaean fires,' i. e. frankincense burns in the fire on the altar ; ex- 
 pressed in our author's usual contorted manner. For Panchaia, 
 see ii. 139. — adolescunt: see Ec.viii. 65. — 380. Jlaeonii Bac- 
 chi, of Lydian (i. e. Tmolian, ii. 98) wine. — carckesia. The 
 carchesium was an oblong vessel with handles at either end : 
 see Athen. xi. p. 474 ; Macrob. v. 21. — Nymplms sorores, i. e. 
 the Dryades, Napaeae and Naiades, who had destroyed his bees. 
 — 383. Centum : a def. for an indef. — Vestam, the fire on the 
 hearth, or on the altar. 
 
 387-414. Mode of obtaining a response from the sea-god 
 Proteus. The whole of this adventure is imitated from the 
 Odyssey, iv. 364, seq. — Carpathio, etc. Homer makes the 
 sea adjacent to Egypt to be the haunt of Proteus. We can- 
 not tell what authority our poet had for transferring it to the 
 Carpathian sea, which is between Rhodes and Crete, unless 
 he intended by it the whole eastern part of the Mediterranean. 
 — Neptuni. We would join Neptuni with rates, and not with 
 gurgite. — 388. Caeruleus. This is the usual colour of the sea- 
 deities. — magnum, etc. ' Who traverses the sea in his chariot 
 drawn by sea-horses, who have only the fore feet,' as they ter- 
 minate in a fish.This seems to be what he wished to express. 
 — metitur. This is a Homeric expression, ireXayos fieya fie-pi'i- 
 aavres and fxerpa KeXevBov. Vir mare metitur magnum, se fluc- 
 tibus tradit, Lucil. ap. Nonium ; Cf. Hor. Epod. iv. 7. — 390. 
 Emathiae, of Macedonia. He uses this in the enlarged sense 
 which it bore in his own time ; see i. 492. — patriam Pal- 
 lenen. W T e know not what authority he had for making the 
 peninsula of Pallene the birthplace of Proteus. — 392. Grand- 
 aevus. Homer styles Nereus a\ios yeptov. — Quippe, etc. 
 
 V. 387. UwXeTrai ns cevpo yipwv liXios vqpeprrjs, 
 
 'AOdvaros Hpwrevs Atyvvnas, oare flaXaccr/js 
 
 nd(T/js fievQea o!£e Hoaeiconovos vTrocpus. — Od, iv. 3S5. 
 
book iv. 379-415. 317 
 
 ' Neptune has thought fit to give him this power.' — et, even ; 
 exegetic of what precedes. — 395. turpis, ugly, unsightly. — 397. 
 eventus secundet, i. e. det eventus secundos. — 400. Tende. This 
 verb would seem properly to belong only to the first subst. 
 and injice to be understood with the second. — circum kaec, 
 ajx(p\ ravra, against these. — medios aestus, the noontide heat. — 
 403. In secreta, sc. loca. He represents the god, like men in 
 the south, as taking his siesta or afternoon-sleep. — illudent. sc. 
 te. — species, appearances. — 408. leaena. In Homer it is more 
 correctly Xeioy. It was probably the constraint of the verse 
 that made the poet here, and in the preceding line, employ 
 the feminine. In giving a mane to the lioness, he shows his 
 ignorance of natural history. — Aut acrem, etc. ' he will turn 
 himself into fire and water.' — 410. Excidet, he will fall out of; 
 i. e. he will appear so ; for he will still be in them. Abibit is 
 to be understood in a similar manner. — 412. contende, straiten, 
 draw tight. — incepto, etc. In plain language, 'when sleep began 
 to cover his eyes.' Somnus tegeret quiete ocellos, Catull. 1.10. 
 
 415-424. liquidum ambrosiae odor em, the smell of liquid 
 ambrosia; the adj., as usual, being joined to the wrong subst. 
 This ambrosia is not the solid substance which was the food 
 of the gods, but rather ambrosial oil, similar to that with 
 which Juno anoints herself in Homer, II. xiv. 171 : see My- 
 
 V. 393. "Os ydr] to, t kovTa, ra t kcraofxeva, irpo r eovra. 
 
 Il.i.70. 
 
 V. 396. Tovy' el ttojs ov dvvaio XoY^cd/ievos XeXafieaQai, 
 "Os Key toi eiiryaiv bdbv Kai fierpa iceXevQov, 
 Noorov 9' ws e7ri ttovtov eXeuceai ix9voevTa. — Od. iv. 388. 
 
 V. 405. Kai tot eireiT vfuv jueXerw K&pTos te (3iij re, 
 
 Av9i 5' e%eiv /xe/iawra Kai eacrvfievov irep dXv^ai. 
 TLavTa be ytyv6[ievos TreiptjaeTai, ooa' eiri yalav 
 'E(07rerd yivovTai, Kai vdtjp, Kai 9eff7ribaes izvp' 
 'Yfieis b' acTTenQews exefiev, fiaXXov T6 7neZ,eiv. 
 'AXX ore Kev brj a' avTos aveipijTai eTreeoGi, 
 Totos ewv, olov Ke KaTevvr\9evTa "iby<j9e, 
 Kai tote br) <Txecr0ai re /3ujs, Xvoa'i re yepovTa. 
 
 Od. iv. 415. 
 
 V. 415. 'Afifipoffirjv vtto piva e/caor^ 9?iKe <pepov<ra 
 'Rbv judXa 7rveiov<rav. — Od. iv. 445. 
 
318 GEORGICS. 
 
 thology, p. 550.— 416. perduxit, anointed. The simple ex- 
 pression would have been, quern (or rather quarri) perduxit 
 toto corpori. — compositis, set in order, arranged. — aura, i. q. 
 odor, v. 415. — habilis, active, aptus ad habendum. Adjec- 
 tives in -ills usually denote aptitude, fitness for the act ex- 
 pressed by the verb from which they are derived, ex. gr. agilis, 
 ductilis, facilis, Jissilis, flexilis, fragilis, etc. — 419. Exesi, sc. 
 Jluctibus. — quo, where, i. e. in the cove, at the end of which is 
 the cavern. Cf. Aen. i. 159, seq. Here also he expresses him- 
 self with his usual ambiguity, for the natural anteced. of quo 
 is specus. — 420. in sinus reductos. It is very difficult to de- 
 termine the exact meaning of these words here and in Aen. i. 
 161. Reductus is, drawn or brought back; reducta vallis (in 
 Aen. vi. 703; viii. 609; and Hor. C. i. 17, 17) is a retired 
 valley ; and this is the only figurative employment of reductus. 
 Heyne understands sinus of the recesses of the cavern, and 
 then the sense is plain enough ; but in the passage of the 
 Aeneis he understands it of the waves. We own we cannot 
 make a definite sense of it, and we are inclined to think that 
 the image of the waves striking against a rock or islet out in 
 the sea, and thus dividing themselves, which he might have 
 seen in the bay of Baiae, and which he afterwards described 
 in the Aeneis, may have been in his mind. Reductos sinus 
 would then signify curved billows, the waves forming seg- 
 ments of a circle, the upper part of the curve coming first to 
 the shore. — 421. Deprensis, sc. in tempestate. Cf. Aen. v. 52. 
 In patenti Prensus Aegaeo, Hor. C. ii. 16, 1. — objice, i. e. ob- 
 jectu. He lay behind a rock, to be out of the light. — 424. 
 procul, at a little distance. Cf. Ec.vi. 16. — nebulis, "h. e. in 
 nebula ex aequore surgere solita." Heyne. We rather think 
 it was a miraculous nebula, like that by which Venus rendered 
 Aeneas invisible (Aen. i. 412), and that he had the same pas- 
 sage of the Odyssey (vii. 15, 41) before him in both places. — 
 obscura, i. e. obscurata. 
 
 425-452. Jam rapidus, etc. It was now midsummer, when 
 
 V. 425. t Hjuos $ ?}e\ios jie<rov ovpavbv dfi<pi[3e[3)]Ket, 
 Ti)jj.os dp 7 h% d\bs el<n yepwv aXios vruieprrjs, 
 
book iv. 416-448. 319 
 
 the Dogstar is in the nocturnal sk3 r , and the heat which he 
 brings scorches the thirsty Indians, the people most exposed to 
 it : see on v. 293. Rapidus : see Ec. ii. 1 0. — 426. caelo, etc., and 
 it was noon, the hottest time of the day. — medium orbem, the 
 middle of his path, of the portion of the celestial circle which 
 he traverses in the day. — 427. Hauserat, u q. exhauserat, had 
 exhausted, i. e. had accomplished. Cf. ii. 398 ; Aen. iv. 383; 
 ix. 356. Quam incredibiles hausit calamitates. Cic. Tusc. i. 
 35. Exhauri mea mandata, Id. ad Att. v. 13. — siccis, i. e. 
 siccdtis.—faucibus, i. e. ostiis, or alveis. — coquebant, were ma- 
 king boil up. — 432. diversae, scattered, here and there. — 
 plwcae, the seals. — Ipse, sc. Proteus. — acuunt, whet the ap- 
 petites of. — 439. clamore magno. He keeps close to Homer 
 here ; but silence would seem to have been the surer way. — 
 Occupat. To denote the celerity with which he did it. Cf. Aen. 
 vi. 424, 635. — miracula rerum, Lq. miras res. — 445. Nam quis, 
 i. q. quisnam, ' who then,' rls yap. — neque est. A Grascism, ovic 
 ecr-t, i. e. ov hvvarov eort. Cf. Aen. vi. 595. Quod versu dicere 
 non est, Hor. S. i. 5, 87. — 448. velle, sc. fallere. — oracula, a 
 
 Hvoty vtco Z,e<pvpoio, peXaivy (t>piicy icaXvfyOeAs, 
 'Ek S' eXQwv Koiparai vird airecfGi yXacpvpoiuiv. 
 'A/upl oe [Xlv (pioicai, veirodes KaXrjs 'AXogv8v7)s, 
 'AQpoai evdovcriv 7ro\i??s dXbs e^avadvcrca. — Od. iv. 400. 
 
 V. 433. <E>a»Kas fxev toi Trpwrov dpiOpfaei, icai eireiaiv' 
 Avrap eirrjv irdcras —ep-doaerai, tjde 'iSrjrai, 
 Ai^erai ev peaayvi, vopevs a>s 7rwe(7i prjXiov. — Od. iv. 411. 
 
 V. 438 eVeira de Xckto kcii auros. 
 
 'HpeTs d' altp' idxovres, enreaovpeQ'' dp<pi de %<?Tpas 
 TSdXXopev ovo' 6 yepojv SoXiys emXrjOero r&xvrjs' 
 'AXX' iiroi irpwricrra Xiiov ykver rjvyevews, 
 Avrap tTreiTCL dpctKwv, ical irdpdaXis, ijdk peyas ads' 
 Tivero S' vypov v8u>p, ical SevSpeov vipnrerrjXov' 
 'Kpels 8' a(T-ep<pi(i)s exopev re-Xrjori 9vpdl' 
 'A\\' ore drj p' dviaZ,' 6 yepwv, oXo^io'ia eiSu)?, 
 Kai rore cVj p' erceeacnv dveipopevos rrpoaeenre' 
 
 Tis vv rot, 'Arpeos vie, 6eu)v crvptypdaaero fiovXds, 
 "0<ppa p! eXois deicovra Xoxt]<jdfievos ; reo <re XPV ; 
 
 "Qs e<par, avrap eyai piv dpeifiopevos rrpocreenrov 
 OlaQa yepov t'i pe ravra rcaparpoireuv epeeiveis ; 
 
 Od. iv. 453. 
 
320 GEORGICS. 
 
 response, i. e. a remedy. — lapsis rebus, my calamity, the loss 
 of my bees. — vi multa, strongly, with great effort. — Ardentis, 
 etc, * he twisted his flaming, green eyes.' — -frendens, gnashing 
 his teeth.— -fatis, for the fates, i. e. to announce the cause and 
 remedy of Aristaeus' misfortunes. 
 
 453-498. He now relates the celebrated tale of the descent 
 of Orpheus to Erebus, in order to bring back his wife Eury- 
 dice. Virgil is the only extant author who ascribes her death 
 to Aristaeus. — 453. Non te nullius, etc. ' Your misfortune is 
 not a mere casualty, it results from the anger of a deity,' sc. 
 the Nymphs. — exercent, harass, torment. Cf.i. 99; ii. 356; Aen. 
 iv. 623 ; v. 779, etc. — Magna luis, etc., ' you suffer for a great 
 offence.' Cf.i. 502; Aen. xi. 841. — Hand quaquam ob meritum, 
 not deservedly made wretched ; for Orpheus had done nothing 
 to merit such misery. — nifata resistant, i which you will con- 
 tinue to suffer unless fate (v. 452) stand in the way,' i. e. point 
 out a mode of expiation. — rapta, sc. a morte : see v. 504 ; or 
 rapta a te, i. e. in intention. — 457 '. per jiumina, along the banks 
 of the river. — moritura, fated to die: see iii. 501. — puella. 
 See on Ec. vi. 47. — Servantem, watching, guarding as it were. 
 — 460. aequalis, companion, i. e. who were young like herself. 
 — supremos, i. q. summos, the tops of; taken from Lucretius, 
 i. 27 5.—flerunt, sc. mortem ejus. — Rhodope'iae, etc. Rhodope 
 and Pangaeus are mountains of Thrace, which he calls the 
 land of Rhesus, who had ruled in it. The Getae, who dwelt 
 beyond the Danube (see on iii. 462) are, with the usual dis- 
 regard to geographic accuracy, placed here in Thrace. — Ac- 
 tias Orithyia. The Athenian princess Orithyia, whom the 
 wind-god Boreas carried off to Thrace : see Mythology, p. 383. 
 
 464. Ipse, sc. Orpheus. — cava testadine, i. e. lyra ; which 
 Mercury is said to have first formed out of the shell of a tor- 
 toise. — Te, sc. Eurydice. While fully acknowledging the pa- 
 thos of the repetition of te in this place, and the poetic beauty 
 of the subsequent narrative, we cannot help thinking that it is 
 too highly wrought for what we are to suppose to be an extem- 
 poraneous narration. Were it told in the person of the poet 
 himself it would be liable to little objection, for in that case 
 time and labour are presupposed. — 467. Taenarias, etc. A 
 
book iv. 453-483. 321 
 
 cavern on Mount Taenaron in Laconia was supposed to yield 
 a passage down to Erebus. — Ditis, of Dis, Orcus or Pluto, the 
 god of the underworld. Orcus, in the classics, is always a 
 person, never a place : see Mythology, p. 551. — caligantem, sc. 
 se, shrowding itself. — ; formidine, gloom ; effect for cause. — 
 Manis, the ghosts or shades of the departed. — 470. Nesciaque, 
 etc. ; a periphrasis of the dfieiXixos 'Aidrjs of Homer. Corda 
 is i. q. cor, and que is even. — 472. ibant, sc. ad eum. — que, 
 even. — agit, sc. eas. — imber, i. q. kiems, ^eifiwy, a storm. — 
 475. Matres, etc. These three verses are repeated, Aen. vi. 
 306-8, where they are much more in place. — corpora he- 
 roum, i. e. heroes : Cf. iii. 369. — circum, sc. est. The region 
 where they are now is flowed round by the river of Cocytus, 
 filled with black mud and unsightly reeds. He calls it a 
 palus, on account of its sluggishness and its spreading itself 
 widely. — inamabilis, hateful, by a usual euphemism. Cf. iii. 5. 
 — interfusa. This seems to mean 'flowing about'; but it is 
 impossible to get a clear idea from this description, which is 
 repeated, Aen. vi. 479. — 481. Quin ipsae, etc. Not merely the 
 dead, who might be supposed to retain a recollection of what 
 used to delight them on earth, but the house and inner Tar- 
 tarus of Death (i. e. the dwellers of them), were entranced by 
 the strains of Orpheus. — intima Tartara. Tartarus, w T here 
 the wicked were tormented, is described in the Aeneis (vi. 
 577) as lying much lower than the rest of Erebus. — Letu We 
 might have expected Orci or Ditis. This gives some coun- 
 tenance to our opinion, that the Latin Orcus was Death : see 
 Additions to Mythology, p. xii.* — 483. Eumenides, scstupu- 
 ere. — inhians, sc. in Orpheum, gaping with wonder and de- 
 light. — vento, i. e. a vento. It was no longer whirled round by 
 
 V. 472. "EvOa re vaiovai ipvxal, eUuXa Kafiovrw. — Od. xxiv. 14. 
 Simulacraque luce carentum. — Lucr. iv. 39. 
 
 V. 475 ax d' dyepovro 
 
 "tyvxai vtt' e£ 'Ejoe/3evs veicvojv KaraTeOvewrojv, 
 ~NvH<pai t, rfWeoi re, 7ro\vr\r}Toi re yepovres, 
 HapOevucai r draXal, veorcevQea Qvpov exovaai. 
 
 Od. xi. 36. 
 p5 
 
322 GEORGICS. 
 
 the wind, which had itself been hushed to repose by the strains 
 of Orpheus. — Ixionii rota orbis, the wheel of the lxionian orb ; 
 another of our poet's usual contortions of language, for the 
 simple Ixion's wheel. Conip. Hor. C. iii. 11, 15 seq. 
 
 485. Jamque, etc. He supposes the story to be so familiar 
 to the reader, that he never tells why Orpheus had descended 
 to Erebus, and we now only learn it from his success. — 4-89. 
 Manes. Here used for the rulers of Erebus, Pluto and Pro- 
 serpine. — luce sub ipsa, on the very verge of light. — 4-91. 
 victus animi, his mind being overcome, sc. with longing. 
 This use of the gen. where we might expect an abl. absol. 
 or a Greek ace. is not unfrequent. Cf. truncus pedum, v. 310., 
 amens animi, Aen. iv. 203. — tyranni, of the monarch : it is 
 used here in its original Greek sense, as it also is Aen. vii. 266. 
 — 493. terque fragor, etc. Probably the signal of return to Eu- 
 rydice. Virgil perhaps had in view the signal given to Oedipus 
 in Sophocles, Oed. Col. 1606. — 496. natantia, swimming. We 
 use this word in the same sense. — non tua, sc. Eurydice or 
 uxor. — 500. diversa, i. e. in diversam partem. — praeterea, any 
 longer, ever again. — portitor Orci, Orcus' ferryman, i. e. 
 Charon, — passus, sc. est ilium, or perhaps illam. — 506. Ula 
 quidem, etc. This verse has so little apparent connexion with 
 what precedes, that Heyne, Wagner, and others have doubted 
 of its genuineness. Voss and Jahn think that an opposition 
 is intended between her in this, and him in the following verse ; 
 but to this W 7 agner justly replies, that in such case it would 
 be hunc and not ilium in v. 507. To this we may add, that 
 the space of seven months does not well accord with this view. 
 The interpretation of Forbiger seems to be the most simple, 
 supposing it to be a reply to Quidfaceret, etc. ' What could 
 he do ?' etc., ' Nothing, for she was,' etc. Quidem is there- 
 fore i. q. nempe ; still the verse is useless, and were better 
 away. — 507. ex ordine, xaOetirjs, running, uninterrupted. A 
 Lucretian phrase, ex. gr. i. 4-99. v. 419. — deserti, deserted, i.e. 
 lonely. — haec, these events which I have just related. — 509. 
 evolvisse, to have unrolled or unfolded, i. e. gone over, sc. in 
 his songs. — tigris. There are no tigers in Thrace, but that 
 was nothing to an ancient poet. Our own Shakespeare has a 
 
book iv. 485-531. 323 
 
 lioness in the forest of Ardennes in France. — agentem, i. q. du- 
 centem. Cf.Ec. viii. 17. Aen. v. 833. — 513. Observans,d6K€vaas f 
 having marked or discovered: an aorist part. — noctem, i.e. 
 per noctem, the whole night \ong.—I?itegrat, i. q. iterat, repeats. 
 — 517. Solus, i. e. caelebs, sine uxore; or perhaps simply 
 alone. — Hyperboreas, etc. All these names of places far to 
 the north of Thrace are only mentioned by way of ornament, 
 and to increase our idea of the grief of Orpheus. — Tanaim> 
 the Don in Sarmatia or southern Russia. — Rhipaeis. An 
 imaginary mountain-range in the extreme north : see i. 240. 
 —520. spretae, despised, rejected, or deeming themselves to 
 be so.— quo munere. This is a very obscure expression, and 
 it has of course perplexed the commentators: perhaps the 
 best interpretation is to take, with Heyne, munus as equivalent 
 to officium, and expressing the pious duty of Orpheus to the 
 memory of his wife. If there were sufficient authority for 
 the reading spreto, it would remove all the difficulty, as munere 
 would then refer to v. 516. — Ciconum matres, the Thracian 
 women. Cf. v. 475 ; Aen. ii. 489, etc. — que, even, that is to 
 Sdij.—juvenem, i. e. membra juvenis. — marmorea, i. e. white as 
 marble: a Lucretian term. — Oeagrius, Thracian ; from king 
 Oeagrus, the father of Orpheus. 
 
 528-530. jactu, with a bound or plunge. — se dedit, gave, 
 (i.e. flung) himself. Cf. Aen. ix. 56, 816. — sub vertice, in an 
 eddy or small whirlpool. It appears awkwardly expressed, but 
 it means that the water whirled round and round in the spot 
 where Proteus had plunged into it. — At non Cyrene, but 
 Cyrene did not do so, i. e. she did not abandon her son. 
 
 531-547. Proteus having told the cause of the loss of the 
 
 V. 511. — 'Qs d' ore TLavdapeov Kovpr], ^Xwprjis drjdojv, 
 KaXov delSyciv, eapos veov iGTap,kvoio, 
 AevSpeuv ev ireraKoKn Ka6eZ,op.evi] TrvKivoTcnv, 
 'Hre Oct/ia TpioTruxja %eei 7roXu»/%ea (pcjvrjv, 
 Ilalo' biio<}>vpoiievri"lTv\ov <pl\ov. — Horn. Od. xix. 518. 
 KXalov de Xiyews, dSivurepov i] r olo)vol, 
 &fjvai, ?y alyviriol ya/ui//wj/i^e§, olcri tf. reKva 
 'Ayporai e^eiXovro, 7rdpo$ 7rereeiva yeveoQau — 
 
 Id. ib. xvi. 216. 
 
324? GEORGICS. 
 
 bees, Cyrene supplies the mode of recovering them. — vhoros 
 agitabat, used to dance.— 535. Tende, hold forth, i. e. offer ; 
 from the mode of presenting gifts.— pacem, i. e. veniam, fa- 
 vour, forgiveness.— facilis, easy, placable. Cf. Ec. iii. 9. — 
 Napaeas, the nymphs of the vairri or saltus. He names them 
 Dryades, v. 460. — ordine, in due order.— 538. eximios, litt. 
 selected (from eximo), especially for sacrifice.-- praestanti cor- 
 pore, of superior beauty. He often uses this expression : see 
 Aen. i. 75 ; vii. 783, etc. — Lycaei. A mountain of Arcadia, 
 of which country he makes Aristaeus an inhabitant. We are 
 to suppose from this, that he had come to Thessaly to consult 
 his mother, and that he now returns home; but (v. 317) 
 Thessaly would seem to be his abode. The poets however 
 had such a love for introducing proper names, that they were 
 careless of accuracy. — intacta cervice, i. e. that had never been 
 yoked. — ad, at or before. — 545. Lethaea, Lethaean, causing 
 oblivion. — Placatam, etc. Heyne, Jacobs, and Wagner are 
 inclined to regard this verse as spurious, but it is found in all 
 the MSS. Jahn explains it, " Praeterea Eurydicen vitula 
 caesa placabis." 
 
 548-558. Hand mora, sc. Jit. — excitat, i. e. erigit. E lapide 
 
 excitari (sepulchrum) Cic. Legg. ii. 27 554. monstrum, a 
 
 prodigy, a wonder. — effervere, to boil up, to burst forth from. 
 Cf. i. 471. Vermesque effervere, Lucr. ii. 927. — 557. nubes, 
 sc. opium. — uvam, fioTpvlov ; the cluster, resembling a bunch 
 of grapes, which the bees form when they settle in a swarm. 
 
 559 to the end. The graceful and elegant conclusion of the 
 poem, the first example of such a thing, we believe, in anti- 
 quity. Heyne was however for this very reason disposed to 
 regard it as being the work, not of Virgil, but of some gram- 
 marian. Brunck and Schrader, he says, were of the same opi- 
 nion, and Bryant rejected the four last verses. This conclu- 
 sion however (unlike the four verses prefixed to the Aeneis) 
 is to be found in all the MSS., and in all the ancient annota- 
 tors ; the verses are every way worthy of Virgil, and, as 
 Weichert very well observes, the use of the gen. oti, instead of 
 otii, in v. 564, proves them to have been written before the later 
 years of Augustus. — 559. super cultu, i. q. de cultu. Cf. Aen. 
 
book iv. 535-566. 325 
 
 i. 750; iii. 348 ; vii. 344 ; x. 839. — Ccesar, etc. : see Life of 
 Virgil. — 562. viam adfectat, treads the path. Hi gladiatorio 
 animo ad me affect ant viam, Ter. Phor. v. 8, 71. Qui ad 
 dominas affectant viam, Ter. Heaut. ii. 3, 59. Quod iter 
 affect at videtis, Cic. Rose. Amer. 49. — Olympo, i. q. ad Olym- 
 pum. Cf. ii. 306 ; Ec. ii. 30. — Parthenope, Naples, so named 
 from a Siren of that name, whose tomb was there.— florentem, 
 flourishing, enjoying, being happy in ; taken from plants which 
 flourish in a genial soil. — studiis, in the occupation : see on 
 Ec. ii. 5. — ignobilis, without honour, as compared with the 
 fame and honour acquired by military and legislative acts, 
 such as Caesar was engaged in at the time. 
 
EXCURSUS. 
 
 EXCURSUS I. 
 
 THE RIVER OAXES. 
 
 Pars Scythiam et rapidum cretae veniemus Oaxem. — Ec. i. 65. 
 
 The note on rapidum cretae in this verse in Servius is as follows : 
 " Hoc est lutulentum, quod rapit cretam. Cretam terrain albam 
 dixit ; nam Oaxis fluvius est Mesopotamiae qui velocitate sua rapiens 
 albam terram lutulentus efficitur. Vel Oaxis fluvius Scythiae ; in 
 Creta insula non est : sed aqua cretei coloris est. Oaxem, Phili- 
 sthenes ait Apollinis et Anchilenae filium ; hunc Oaxem in Creta 
 oppidum condidisse, quod suo nomine nominavit ut Varro ait : Quos 
 magno Anchiale partus adducta dolore, Et geminis capiens tellurem 
 Oeaxida palmis Scindere dicta." 
 
 This was evidently the prevalent mode of interpreting this passage 
 in antiquity ; we might say the only one, were it not that the asser- 
 tion in Creta insula non est might seem to point at one similar to 
 that now prevalent. As to the latter part of the note, and the ex- 
 tract from Varro Atacinus, whose translation of the Argonautics it 
 is taken from, we may safely regard it as nothing more than a dis- 
 play of the annotator's learning, for it proves nothing one way or 
 the other. 
 
 Vibius Sequester says that in the isle of Crete there was a stream 
 named Oaxes : his only authority however was, in Heyne's opinion, 
 this verse of Virgil. Politian held Cretae in this verse to be a proper 
 name, and he has been followed so generally by the commentators, 
 that it looks like presumption in any one now to maintain the old 
 interpretation. It has however been done by Salmasius, Duker, 
 Voss, Fea, and a few other critics, with whom we cordially agree. 
 
 The Mesopotamia of Servius in this place is not that between the 
 Euphrates and the Tigris, but Sogdiana, the Mawer-en-naher of 
 
328 EXCURSUS 1. 
 
 the Orientals, the region between the Oxus and the Jaxartes, to the 
 north of Bactria, so named from its lying between rivers like the 
 former. Of the Oxus Polybius says (x. 48, 4), (peperai Bid ireXidBos 
 X<*>pas, 7roXA(5 kou OoXepcp pevfiari. We will observe by the way 
 that Virgil seems to have been a reader of Polybius ; see on Ec. vii. 4. 
 Arrian (De Exp. Alex. iii. 29) says among other things of the Oxus, 
 fiddos Be ovBe npos Xoyov tov evpeos dXXd noXv Be rt fiadvrepos <al 
 ^appd>Br]s ; and Curtius (vii. 10), Hie quia limum vehit turbidus 
 semper. We may here observe, that the Latin word creta denoted 
 any kind of marly substance. The name of this river in Polybius is 
 "O^os, in Arrian and Strabo s Q£os. The change by Virgil into Oaxes 
 presents a difficulty ; but in Callimachus (who is followed by Ca- 
 tullus) we have 'Qaplcov for 'Qpioov with the penult, short. Wagner 
 no doubt objects that though a may be inserted after co, it cannot 
 after o. We know not on what grounds he makes this assertion, 
 but surely it w T as no greater licence in Virgil to shorten the co than 
 in Callimachus to shorten the long I of 'Qplcov. The change of 
 termination is also a difficulty, but possibly Virgil wrote Oaxum, 
 and the copyists changed it on account of the analog}' with Jaxar- 
 tes, Araxes, Hydaspes, Euphrates, and so many rivers of the East ; 
 or the poet himself might have made the change for the same rea- 
 son. But Wagner further says, " rapidus sollemne est fluviorum 
 epitheton celeritatem indicans, sed ejusmodi epitheta non facile ad 
 alium sensum detorta videas. Denique docendura erat rapidus idem 
 significare quod rapax, et adjunctum sibi habere genitivum." 
 
 In all probability it was this wrong conception of the original 
 meaning of rapidus that caused the current interpretation of this 
 place of Virgil. It is thought to be the same as its derivatives 
 rapido It., rapide Fr., rapid. We will endeavour to show that this 
 is by no means the case ; but we will previously ask a question or 
 two of the critics, namely, Can you give a single instance from a 
 classic author of such a construction as Oaxes Cretae: Could any 
 one in writing Latin say Tiberis Italiae, Rkodanus Galliae, Albis Ger- 
 maniaet Must not amnis or fluvius always be added ? 
 
 In the following Excursus we will show that adjectives in -idus 
 and -ax are properly participials of the present tense, and govern a 
 genitive case. Rapidus (from rapio) would therefore appear to be 
 nearly equivalent to rapiens andrapax, and to signify carrying aicay, 
 and hence consuming. Thus we find our poet unites it with Sol, 
 Sirius, ignis, and aestus, and it is only in this sense that we can 
 understand it in Aen. i. 59. Lucretius speaks of the rapidi leones 
 (iv. 714), and of the rapidi canes that begirt Scylla (v. S93) ; Ovid 
 
THE RIVER OAXES. 329 
 
 has rapidis rogis (Tr. i. 7, 20) ; and many other instances might be 
 given. That rapidus is i. q. rapax might be thus inferred. Ennius 
 says (ii. 46), Europam Libyamque rapax ubi dividit unda; which 
 verse Lucretius thus imitates (i. 721), Angustoque fretu rapidum 
 mare dividit undis. This poet also, having said (i. 15) Et rapidos 
 tranant amnes, has only three lines after fiuviosque rap aces, evi- 
 dently for the sake of varying the phrase. Ovid applies the term 
 apax to the Ionian sea (Fast. iv. 567) and to the river Ladon 
 (i'b. v. 89), and Lucan (iv. 21) to the Cinga. We certainly cannot 
 give any instance of rapidus governing a genitive except that in 
 the text, but we may notice the rapax virtutis of Seneca (Ep. 97, 35). 
 We have timidus deorum (Ov. Met. v. 100) and timidus lucis (Sen. 
 B.V. 21), gravidus metalli (Ov. Met. x. 531), and gravidas mellis 
 (Sil. ii. 220), etc. We therefore see no difficulty in assuming that 
 Virgil, following analogy, ventured on such an expression as rapidus 
 cretae. 
 
 Jahn argues as follows : " Sed neque Araxes neque Oxus illo tem- 
 pore (anno 712) ad imperium Romanum pertinebant, atque Itali 
 fugitivi exsulesque, quamvis ad extremos imperii fines perfugerent, 
 tamen intra fines imperii remanserunt. Apparet autem poetam ex- 
 tremas imperii partes nominare voluisse, unde Libyae (parti occi- 
 dentali) opponit Scythiam (quam Orientis terram Romani in Ponto 
 attingebant), atque Cretam insulam meridionalem Britanniae, insulae 
 septentrionali. Fuit vero Creta versus meridiem extrema tellus, 
 cum Aegyptus nondum in formam provinciae redacta esset. Bri- 
 tannia autem, quamquam inter bella civilia a Romanis relicta esset, 
 tamen a quo tempore Julius Caesar earn invaserat et expugnasse 
 credebatur, pro imperii parte haberi coepta est." 
 
 To this we only reply, that the poet does not say that the exiles 
 were to remain within the bounds of the empire, for he very plainly 
 intimates the contrary ; that we nowhere find Libya placed to the 
 west and Scythia to the east of the Roman empire ; and that Ho- 
 race, in odes written after this eclogue (i. 21, 15; 35, 30; iii. 5, 30), 
 speaks of the Britons with the Persians as a people yet to be con- 
 quered. 
 
330 EXCURSUS II. 
 
 EXCURSUS II. 
 
 t LATIN PARTICIPIALS. 
 Thestylis et rapido fessis messoribus aestu, etc. — Ec. ii. 10. 
 
 In the preceding Excursus we ventured to assert that rapidus, in- 
 stead of being an adjective and signifying swift, was properly a pre- 
 sent participial of rapio, and therefore nearly identical with rapiens. 
 The proofs will be seen in that Excursus : here we will endeavour 
 to extend the principle, and show that this is the real nature of all 
 the supposed adjectives in- idus> and that they are actives, and not 
 passives, like the greater part of the words derived from them in 
 modern languages. 
 
 The first we will select is aridus, which is usually understood 
 passively and equivalent to our arid, dry. Our proof will be the 
 fact that the part, arens is frequently employed in the sense of 
 aridus where we should have expected that word ; ex. gr. — 
 
 Scatebrisque arentia temperat arva, Geor. i. 110; Pergama et 
 arentem Xanthi cognomine rivum, Aen. iii. 350; Arentem in 
 silvam, Aen. xii. 522 ; Arentesque rosas, Geor. iv. 268 ; Arentes 
 arenas, Hor. C. iii. 4, 31 ; Arenti ramo, Ov. M. vii. 276; Arenti 
 avena, Tibull. ii. 1, 53. 
 
 That areo is active would appear from its being joined with sitis, 
 Ov. Her. iv. 174; Tibul. i. 4, 36. We therefore think that in 
 arens and aridus the ancients had in view the effect of, or sensation 
 caused by, the object to which they united them. 
 
 In like manner we shall find that candidus (unlike albus) was re- 
 garded as producing an effect or sensation, as candens so frequently 
 takes its place. Candentis vaccae, Aen. iv, 61 ; candentem tau- 
 rum, ib. 236; candenti elephanto, ib. vi. 896. Candens lacteus 
 humor, Lucr. i. 259; candenti marmore, ib. ii. 7^> Candentes 
 humeros, Hor. C. i. 2,31. Candentia lilia, Ov. Met. xii. 411. We 
 believe however that we may assert that the idea of gleaming, emit- 
 ting splendour, is always included in candidus. 
 
 Calidus is, giving out heat ; for we meet with calentem fauillam, 
 Hor. C. ii. 6, 22. We may notice the Spanish agua caliente, hot 
 water. 
 
 Timidus is i. q. time?is in the following places. Quidnamst quod sic 
 video timidum et properantem Getam ? Ter. Adelph. iii. 2, ~. Nam- 
 que modo me intro id corripui timidus, Ter. Hec. iii. 3, 5. Codrus 
 pro patria non timidus mori, Hor. C. iii. 19, 2. Quid referam. 
 
LATIN PARTICIPIALS. 331 
 
 timidae pro te pia vota puellae, Ov. Amor. ii. 6, 43. We also meet 
 timens governing a gen. like timidus in Lucr. vi. 1237. 
 
 Pattens often takes the place of pallidus, as Pallenti hedera, Ec. 
 iii. 39- Pallentes violas, Ec. ii. 47. Pallenti olivae,\. 16. See 
 also Ec. vi. 55. Geor. i. 478 ; iii. 357 ; iv. 124. Aen. iv. 26, 243. 
 vi. 275, 480. In Aen. i. 354 we have ora modis attollens pallida 
 miris' y and in x. 822, ora modis Anchisiades pallentia miris. 
 
 Liquidus is i. q. liquens. Vina liquentia fundit, Aen. v. 77Q ; 
 Liquentes humorum guttas, Lucr. ii. 991. Liquentibus stagnis, 
 Catull. xxxi. 2. Here we may see why liquidus is joined with aether, 
 a'er, lumen, aestas, ignis, nubes, vox, etc. 
 
 Humidus, i.q.humens. Humentem umbram, Aen. iii. 589. Hu~ 
 menti tellure, Ov. Met. i. 604. Humentes oculos, Id. xi. 464. 
 Humente capillo, Id. ib. 69 1. 
 
 Madidus, i. q. madens. Madid as a tempestate cohortes, Juv. vii. 
 164. Lina madentia, Ov. Met. xiii. 931. 
 
 Tumidus, i. q. tumens. Tumidoque wjlatus carbasus austro, Aen. 
 iii. 357. Crescentem tumidis infia sermonibus utrem, Hot. S. ii. 5, 
 98. Perque pedes trajectus lora tumentes, Aen. ii. 273. Fluctu sus- 
 pensa tumenti, vii. 810. Thybris ea fiuvium, quam longa est, node 
 tumentem, Leniit. viii. 86. 
 
 Lividus, i. q. livens. Liventis plumbi, Aen. vii. 687- Nigro 
 liventia succo, Ov. Met. xiii. 817- 
 
 Squalidus, i. q. squalens. Squalentes conchas, Geor. ii. 348. 
 Tunicam squalentem auro, Aen. x. 314. 
 
 Turbidus, i. q. turbans. Seu turbidus imber Proluit, Aen. xii. 
 685. Incendi turbidus ardor, Lucr. vi. 673. Anima'i turbida sit 
 vis, Id. ib. 693. Turbida rapacior procella, Catull. xxv. 4. Vocant 
 enim ira&os, id est morbum, quicunque est motus in animo turbidus, 
 Cic. Tusc. iii. 10. 
 
 From the following list it will appear that the far greater part of 
 these participials in -idus are derived from neuter verbs of the 2nd 
 conj. So few indeed are those derived from verbs of the others, that 
 we might be led to suspect that they are in reality derived from verbs 
 of the 2nd conj. which had gone out of use : — 
 
 From the 1st conj. come fumidus, gelidus, labidus, turbidus. 
 3rd conj . jluidus, rabidus, rapidus, vividus. 4th conj . cupidus, sapid/us. 
 
 From the second come the following : acidus, albidus, algidus, 
 avidus, calidus, callidus, candidus, fervidus, flaccidus, jlavidus, jlori- 
 dus,foetidus,fr acidus, herbidus, horridus, humidus, languidus, liquidus, 
 lividus, lucidus, madidus, marcidus, morbidus, nitidus, olidus, pallidus, 
 pavidus, putidus, putridus, rancidus, rigidus, roridus, rubidus, sor- 
 
332 EXCURSUS III. 
 
 didus, splendidus, squalidus, stolidus, stupidus, sucidus, tabidus, tepi- 
 dus, timidus, torpidus, torridus, trepidus, timidus, turgidus, uvidus, 
 validus, vanidus. 
 
 To these are to be added the following, which have no verbs, and 
 the list we believe will be complete : gravidus, hispidus, lepidus, lim- 
 pidus, luridus, paedidus, ravidus, roscidus, solidus, vapidus, viscidus. 
 
 Adjectives in ulus are, we think, in like manner active participles : 
 such are bibulus, credulus, garrulus, gemulus, patulus, pendulus, que- 
 rulus, sedulus, stridulus, tremulus, vagulus. In some cases these are 
 merely the same as the praes. part., in others they give intensity to 
 its meaning. Thus pendulus is i. q. pendens. Pendulum collum, 
 Hor. C. iii. 27, 58 ; pendula palearea, Ov. Met. vii. 117 ; putator 
 pendulus arbustis, Colum. x. 229- — Tremulus, i. q. tremens. Tre- 
 mulus parens, Catull. lxi. 51 ; tremulis sub pondere ramis, Sil. 
 Pun. vii. 6/1. In Aen. xii. 267 we have stridula cornus, and 
 shortly after (v. 319) stridens sagitta. 
 
 It is the same with adjectives in -bundus. Few, for example, could 
 distinguish between moriens and moribundus. So also with those in 
 -ax. In pugnacemque tenet, Ov. Met. iv. 358, we might substitute 
 the part, without any change of the sense. 
 
 There are also adjectives in -ius (as consciiis, nescius, noxius.fiuvius, 
 anxius) and in -uus (assiduus, congruus, nocuus, caeduus) which are 
 rather of the nature of participles ; to which we may add anhelus, 
 festinus, coruscus, personus, sibilus, caducus, nubilus, etc. 
 
 EXCURSUS III. 
 
 LATIN MIDDLE VOICE, etc 
 
 Die quibus in terris inscripti nomina regum 
 Nascanturjlores. — Ec. iii. 106. 
 
 That very eminent critic Heindorf, in his note on fractus membra 
 in Horace (S. i. 1, 5), says, "A structure borrowed from the Greeks, 
 with whom the perf. pass, is so often the perf. med., with a reflected, 
 or at least a transitive, meaning. We should therefore cease at length 
 from supplying to this accusative in Latin a totally un-Latin se- 
 cundum, in Greek a Kara, which is for the most part quite as un-Greek." 
 
 This assertion is no doubt true to some extent, for there are 
 many instances in both languages of a passive verb being thus em- 
 ployed ; but still we think there are many cases where the Kara and 
 
LATIN MIDDLE VOICE, ETC. 333 
 
 the secundum, or something of the kind, must be understood. We 
 will confine our observations to the Latin. 
 
 Though fractus membra, when speaking of a man, may be ren- 
 dered having worn out his limbs, inscripti nomi na, when used of flowers, 
 can hardly be having inscribed the names. So also in the following 
 instances we think the verbs can only be understood passively : — 
 
 Turn vero ancipiti mentem formidine pressus Obstupui, Aen. ii. 
 47. Tristi turbatus pectora bello, viii. 29. Magnoque animum 
 labef actus amore, iv. 395. Quis innexa pedem malo pendebat 
 ab alto, v. 511. Perfusus sanie vittas atroqne veneno, ii. 221. 
 Maculisque trementes Interfusa genas, iv. 644. Percussa nova 
 mentem formidine mater, Geor. iv. 357. Lacte mero mentes per- 
 cussa novellas, Lucr. i. 262. Iberibus perusta funibus latus, 
 Hor. Epod. 4, 3. We could easily extend this list were we to have 
 recourse to Ovid and later poets. 
 
 The Latin language, as is well known, has no middle voice, and 
 its legitimate mode of making a reflected verb is to add se to a trans- 
 itive. The poets however (and Virgil was the first to do so to any 
 extent) gradually began to use passive as middle voices, particularly 
 in verbs expressing to dress, to adorn, and such like. Nor was there 
 anything very strained in this, for the middle is really a passive 
 restricted to a particular agent. Thus Tw-ro/icu (pass.) is I am beaten 
 (by any one), rvnTo^at (midd.) I am beaten (by myself). 
 
 In Plautus (Amph. i. 1, 155) we meet with cingitur, he is girding 
 himself up. The same poet in his Pseudolus (v. 1, 38-40) uses vertor 
 in the sense of turning oneself round. 
 
 Lucretius uses accingor (ii. 1042), vertor (v. 1198), versor (ii. 112; 
 vi. 199), volvor (vi. 978), sinuor (vi. 354), erumpor (vi. 582). 
 
 In the early writings of Horace there is no instance of a middle 
 voice ; and in his later ones the only decided one is moveor, to dance 
 (Ep. ii. 2, 125 ; A. P. 232), to which we may perhaps add revertor 
 (Ep. i. 15, 24) and induor (ib. 17, 20). 
 
 The following list will show the claim of Virgil to the fame of 
 introducing a middle voice into the Latin language. It will be ob- 
 served that it was in the Aeneis he did it almost exclusively : — 
 
 Feror (Ec. viii. 60. Aen. ii. 511 ; iv. 545 ; vii. 673), volvor (Geor. 
 iii. 438. Aen. ix. 414 ; xi. 889), cingor (Geor. iii. 46. Aen. ii. 511, 
 520 ; iv. 493 ; vi. 188), exerceor (Geor. iv. 157; Aen. vii. 163), vertor 
 (i. 158 ; vii. 784), induor (vii. 640), reddor (vi. 545), tollor (vii. 408), 
 agor (xii. 336), tegor (ii. 227), aperior (iii. 275), condor (ii. 401; vii. 
 802), sternor (ii. 722 ; iii. 509), velor (iii. 405, 545; v. 134), impleor 
 (i. 215), lustror (iii. 279), armor, moveor (vii. 429), fundor (ii. 383). 
 
334 EXCURSUS IV. 
 
 Virgil also uses the following passives as deponents : to which 
 observation we may add, that he and other poets also use the past 
 part, of deponents at times in a passive sense, as in Ec. ix. 53. 
 
 Scindor (Aen. iv. 590 ; ix. 478), percutior (iv. 589 ; vii. 503 ; xi. 
 877), induor (ii. 275),fundor (iv. 509 ; x. 838), circumdor (ii. 219 ; 
 iv. 137 ; xii. 416), lanior (xii. 606),figor (vi. 156), demittor (i. 56l), 
 mutor (i. 658), premor (iv. 659), jungor (x. 157), exseror (x. 649), 
 subnitor (iv. 217), saturor (v. 608), solvor (iii. 65 ; xi. 35). 
 
 There is another class of expressions which will hardly come 
 under any of these heads ; that, namely, in which the part. pass, 
 and the ace. case take the place of the abl. absolute. It is to this 
 class that the verse at the head of this article seems properly to be- 
 long. Such also are the following : picti scuta Labici, i. e. L.pictis 
 scutis, Aen. vii. 796; Pictus acu chlamydem, ix. 582; Delphinum 
 caudas utero commissa luporum, iii. 428. 
 
 The Laevo suspensi loculos tabulamque lacerto of Horace (S. i. 6, 
 74 ; Ep. i. 1, 56), which is plainly an imitation of the Greek (as in 
 6 ttjv 7TT)pav e^rjpTtjfievos, Luc. Vit. Auc. 7), comes under the head of 
 passives used as deponents. 
 
 EXCURSUS IV. 
 
 THE SIBYL AND THE RETURN OF THE GOLDEN AGE. 
 
 Ultima Cumaei venit jam carminis aetas. — Ec. iv. 4. 
 
 The first question which arises here is what is the Cumaeum carmen} 
 Probus (on this place) says it is the poem of Hesiod, whose father 
 came to Ascra from Cyme in Aeolis, and who, in his account of the 
 successive Ages, appears to intimate that after the Iron Age, the last 
 and worst, there would be a return to a better state of things. This 
 opinion, which was adopted by Fabricius and Graevius, has also 
 been embraced by Goettling (on Hes. *Epy. 109), but it does not 
 seem to be tenable ; for, setting aside the circumstance that Hesiod 
 is nowhere called a Cumaean, Virgil could hardly say of the age, in 
 which Hesiod said that he himself was living, jam venit. The other 
 hypothesis is that of Servius, according to which the Cumaeum car- 
 men is the prophetic verses of the Cumaean Sibyl. This is the hy- 
 pothesis generally adopted, and it does not seem possible to find 
 
THE SIBYL AND THE RETURN OF THE GOLDEN AGE. 335 
 
 any better, though it is not free from difficulty. In the first place 
 we have only the testimony of Servius himself (for he does not quote 
 any authority) that there were such Sibylline verses : then it may 
 be asked in what collection were they ? for, according to Varro (ap. 
 Serv. Aen. vi. 36), the original oracles preserved at Rome were those 
 of the Erythraean Sibyl (it is the Cumaean in Lactantius) ; and Nie- 
 buhr (i. 496) asserts *"hat these were not prophetic, that they only 
 gave directions what was to be done in particular cases. Were they 
 then in the new collection made in the time of Sulla ? or in those nu- 
 merous ones that were in common circulation after that time ? Pos- 
 sibly, as some ill-judging Christians did afterwards (see p. 60), so 
 the Jews or their proselytes might have forged Sibylline verses 
 prophetic of the coming of the Messiah and of the blessings of his 
 reign. Still it is difficult to believe that these verses could have 
 obtained sufficient credit to be used in the public and solemn manner 
 in which they are employed by Virgil. 
 
 The question of who or what the Sibyls were seems involved in 
 impenetrable obscurity. The first mention of the Sibyl occurs in 
 the fragments of the philosopher Heraclitus, who says (Frag. p. 332), 
 2t'/3f AAa iv TToXkois kcu tovto icppao-Q-q 
 
 'E£ 'laSos X^PV 5 V^ €tv o~o(pbv 'iraAiSaicrt, 
 
 evidently meaning Pythagoras. Plato also (Phaedr. p. 244) men- 
 tions the Sibyl : his words are, Kcu iav §e Xeycopev 2t/3t>AAaz/ re <al 
 aXkovs, ocroi, pavriKrj ^pco/xei/oi ivQia, tvoWcl 8r) 7ro\Xois TrpoXeyovres 
 els to fiiXXov copOaxrav, prjicvvoipev av drjXa navrl Xeyovres. We may 
 observe that Plato, like Heraclitus, uses the name without an ar- 
 ticle, which seems to prove that Sibylla, like Musaeus, Bacis, and 
 other similar names, was the proper name of a real or supposed 
 individual. Little stress, we think, can be laid on the ordinary de- 
 rivation from aids (debs Dor.) and (SovXrj. 
 
 Varro (ap. Lact. i. 6) and the Scholiast on Plato enumerate ten 
 Sibyls : the Persian, Libyan, Delphic, Cumaean or Cimmerian (in 
 Italy), Erythraean, Samian, Cuman (in Aeolis), Hellespontic, Phry- 
 gian and Tiburtian. Of these one-half, we may observe, belong to 
 the colonies of Asia Minor, and it is probable that this was the sup- 
 posed abode of the one original Sibyl. The Persian and Libyan (if 
 there was such a one, for the reference of Varro to the Lamia of 
 Euripides seems dubious) are later fictions ; and the Albunea of 
 Tibur, though perhaps similar to the Sibyl, was an independent 
 personage. The resemblance to the Pythia may have given origin 
 to a Delphic Sibyl; and if it was to the Cuman or Erythraean 
 
336 EXCURSUS V. 
 
 Sibyl that the verses preserved at Rome were ascribed, the simi- 
 larity of name may have led to the creation of a Cumaean Sibyl. 
 This must however have taken place before the sixth century of 
 Rome; forNaevius, according toVarro (utsup.), in his poem on the 
 Punic War, made Aeneas consult her ; in which, as is well known, 
 he was imitated by Virgil. 
 
 EXCURSUS V. 
 
 PECULIARITIES OF VIRGIL'S STYLE. 
 Eliadum palmas Epiros equarumt — Geor. i. 59. 
 
 In the Life of Virgil we have observed that in the Georgics he 
 adopted some peculiarities of style. We do not mean to say that 
 these were entire novelties ; but though they may be found in pre- 
 ceding Greek or Latin poets, they are so much more numerous in 
 the Georgics, that they give a peculiar character to that poem. 
 
 The first which we will notice is that of which the examples are 
 most numerous, namely, — the use of que for ve, atque for aut, etc., i.e. 
 the copulative for the disjunctive. This practice, which is unknown to 
 modern languages, prevailed more or less in the Hebrew, the Greek, 
 and the Latin. 
 
 In the first, though Gesenius asserts the contrary, the copulative, 
 ve, is frequently disjunctive, at least must be so rendered in transla- 
 tion ; for though ingenuity may succeed in some cases in making it 
 out to be still copulative, in others such efforts are fruitless. Such 
 for example is, Either (ve) he is talking, or (ve) he is pursuing, or (ve) 
 he is in a journey, 1 Kings, xviii. 27. 
 
 In Homer we have observed the two following instances : — 
 
 777-01 6 peu TTpwTrjai teal voraTirjcri [Soecrcnv 
 alev 6fj.ocmx^ l > ° °*e r iv peo-crrjo-iv opovcras 
 j3ovv eSec— II. xv. 634. 
 
 irpiv y or av ivdeKarr] re dvcodeKarr] re yevqrai. — Od. ii. 37-1. 
 
 The most usual way in which the copulative thus became dis- 
 junctive was when it was mixed up, as we may term it, with disjunc- 
 tives. Examples of this may be seen in Apoll. Rh. iii. 1240— A. 
 Catull. xi. 5-8. Hor. C. iii. 1, 42-44 ; 4, 53-56. Epod. 16, 3-8. 
 
 In the following verses of Lucretius the copulative may be re- 
 garded as disjunctive: Et veluti manus atque oculus, naresve seor- 
 sum, Secreta ab nobis, nequeunt sentire neque esse, iii. 550. Aut 
 
PECULIARITIES OF VIRGIL'S STYLE. 337 
 
 subiti perimunt imbres gelidaeque pruinae, Flabraque ventorum vio- 
 lento turbine vexant, v. 217. So also in Catullus : Quare quicquid 
 habes boni malique Die nobis, vi. 15. See also Hor. C. iii. 1, 20, 
 23, 30. 
 
 Bentley, though, as it would appear, he did not recognise this 
 principle in the Latin language, saw so clearly that in some cases 
 que was disjunctive, that he would without hesitation substitute ve 
 for it : see his notes on Hor. Carm. iii. 1, 43 ; Epod. 16, 6 ; Lucan, 
 i. 252; ii. 199. 
 
 The following are the places in which, in our opinion, Virgil uses 
 the copulative disjunctively : Buc. i. 66. Geor. i. 75, 120, 173, 371, 
 442, 485; ii. 84, 87, 102, 121, 137, 139, 242, 276, 312, 351, 421, 
 436, 450, 464, 496, 498, 502, 511 ; iii. 121, 122, 141, 142, 175, 213, 
 253, 254, 278, 399, 405, 407, 466 ; iv. 10, 18, 19, 24, 124, 210, 244, 
 268, 270, 407, 408. Aen. ii. 37 ; v. 595 ; vii. 675 ; viii. 88 ; x. 320. 
 In some of these places the copulative may be rendered by and, but 
 we believe that in all of them or will best give the sense of the poet. 
 We may observe that this use of the copulative is almost peculiar to 
 the Creorgics. 
 
 In the Georgics also the copulative is sometimes omitted before 
 the last member of the sentence, as in i. 102 ; ii. 6. We also find 
 an instance in Ec. iv. 45. 
 
 But the most remarkable feature perhaps of VirgiFs poetry is his 
 frequent use of the figure called Hypallage, by which words are put 
 in a construction contrary to their natural sense : as in Si tantum 
 notas odor attulit auras, Geor. iii. 251 ; Dare classibus Austros, Aen. 
 iii. 61. How any one can, like Heyne, admire such slights of lan- 
 guage is, we confess, a matter of wonder to us. 
 
 Lucretius and Horace both use this figure occasionally, but with 
 much more moderation than Virgil, merely joining an adjective with 
 a substantive, to which in strictness it does not belong. Thus the 
 former has impia rationis elementa, i. 82 ; anhela sitis de corpore 
 nostro abluitur, iv. 876 ; e salso moraine ponti, vi. 474 ; nigra virum 
 percocto secla colore, vi. 1108. The latter has Regina dementes ruinas 
 parabat. C. i. 37, 7 ; Nee purpurarum sidere clarior Delenit usus, iii. 
 1, 42; iratos regum apices, 21, 19; to which we may perhaps add 
 Premant Catena f alee vitem, i. 31, 9. 
 
 The hypallage occurs in the following places in Virgil : Ec. x. 55. 
 Geor. i. 59, 211, 258, 266, 296, 318, 360; ii. 101, 251, 260, 497; 
 iii. 490 ; iv. 119, 238, 335, 415. Aen. i. 361 ; ii. 387, 508 ; iii. 61, 
 362 ; iv. 385, 506 ; v. 458, 480, 589 ; viii. 73, 542, 654 ; ix. 455 ; 
 x. 660; xi. 18, 212; xii. 187, 219, 621, 739, 859. 
 
 Q 
 
338 EXCURSUS VI. 
 
 Virgil also made frequent use of the figure named Catachresis. 
 In the Georgics he continually employs arena instead of terra, and 
 Jluvius, fons, ros and imber for aqua. 
 
 EXCURSUS VT. 
 
 CORVUS AND CORN1X. 
 
 E pastu decedens agmine magno 
 
 Corvorum increpuit densis exercitus alls. — Geor. i. 381. 
 
 Ornithologists will, we believe, allow that we are right in render- 
 ing corvus, here and in v. 410, by rook, and comix (v. 308) by raven 
 or crow. Yet, strange as it may seem, it is only ourselves and 
 Hoblyn that thus employ these terms. Martyn, Voss, and all the 
 other commentators and translators of the Georgics, make corvus 
 raven and comix crow. In all dictionaries it is the same ; so also 
 in all the languages derived from the Latin. Corvo It., cuervo Sp., 
 corbeau Fr., is raven ; cornacchia It., comeja Sp., comeille Fr., is 
 rook or crow. We trust that we shall be able to prove that this is 
 all incorrect. 
 
 The Latin corvus is the Greek Kopa.%, our crow, including under 
 that name the rook (C.frugilegusL.), the carrion-crow (C. coro- 
 na L.), the Royston crow (C. comix L.), and, as we shall have some 
 reason to suppose, the jackdaw (C. monedula L.). The Latin cor- 
 nix is the Greek Kopavq, which, if it is not, as perhaps is the case, 
 to be restricted to the raven (C. corax L.), at least includes him; 
 otherwise he will be without a name in the Greek and Latin 
 languages. 
 
 Corvus, the rook, occurs in these places in Virgil, and in the cor- 
 responding places in Aratus ; for it is only the rooks that fly in 
 troops and have their nests all in the same place in the trees. The 
 daws no doubt do the former, but not the latter. Virgil, however, 
 may have included in his corvi both the Kopaices and the koXoioi of 
 Aratus. When Persius (S. iii. 61) says 
 
 An passim sequeris corvos testaque htoque 
 Securus quo pes ferat atque ex tempore vivis? 
 
 it is plain to every one that it must be the rooks he means, as it is 
 these birds that children thus pursue. 
 
 In all other places of the classics corvus is, we believe, the carrion- 
 
CORVUS AND CORNIX. 339 
 
 crow. Thus when Horace (Ep. i, 16, 46) says, Non pasces in cruce 
 cor v os, it can be only this crow he means, for the rook is not car- 
 nivorous. It is also probably this crow of which he speaks else- 
 where (C. hi. 27, 11. S. i. 8, 38; ii. 5, 56). In the Dat veniam 
 corvis, vexat censura columbas of Juvenal (ii. 63) it is probably the 
 crows that are meant ; though it may be the rooks, and the sense of 
 the passage be : ' the rooks are let to feed on the corn, while the 
 pigeons are driven away.' In the 
 
 Atque ideo postquam ad Cimbros stragemque volabant 
 Qui nunquam attigerant majora cadavera corvi 
 
 of the same poet (viii. 252) they are beyond doubt the carrion-crows. 
 In all the places in Aristotle and iElian where the Kopa^ is mentioned 
 it seems to be this crow. To this also belong the ordinary expres- 
 sions is KopaKas, (may , (3d\X es Kopanas, meaning, to leave the body 
 unburied. 
 
 Pliny (x. 43) tells a story of a corvus thus : — " Tiberio Principe 
 ex fetu supra Castorum aedem genito pullus (sc. corvinus) in oppo- 
 sitam sutrinam devolavit, etiam religione commendatus officinae 
 domino. Is mature sermoni assuefactus, omnibus matutinis evo- 
 lans in Rostra, forum versus, Tiberium, dein Germanicum et Drusum 
 Caesares nominatim, mox transeuntem populum Rom. salutabat, 
 postea ad tabernam remeans, plurium annorum assiduo officio mi- 
 rus." Now this wonderful corvus, we have no doubt, was a mone- 
 dula, or jackdaw, ^or of the crow-kind there are only the daw, the 
 raven, and the magpie, that can be taught to speak, and these two 
 last never build in towns or on houses. 
 
 We come now to the comix or nopcovq, and we confess that we 
 cannot show as satisfactorily that it is, as that the corvus is not, the 
 raven. In fact nearly all the places in which it is mentioned will 
 apply as well to the carrion-crow. We can, however, offer some 
 proofs. Thus Aristotle constantly distinguishes between the Kopa>- 
 vt) and the Kopat;, though he makes them both carnivorous. Of the 
 former he says, nap-cpdyov yap io-riv (H. A. viii. 3 : see on Geor. i. 
 389) ; and of the latter he tells us (ix. 31) that when the Medes were 
 slain in Pharsalus, the Kopaices flocked thither in such numbers that 
 Attica and the Peloponnese were quite deserted by them. If then the 
 KopaivT] is not the Royston crow, it must be the raven. What iElian 
 tells (De N. A. iii. 9) of the conjugal fidelity of the Kopavai, also ap- 
 plies best to the ravens. Pliny further tells us that the comix breaks 
 the shells of walnuts by letting them fall from a height on stones or 
 tiles ; but as modern naturalists tell the same thing of the carrion- 
 
 Q2 
 
340 EXCURSUS VII-VIII. 
 
 crow in the matter of shell-fish, we can make no use of this case. 
 We therefore cannot venture to assert that the comix is the raven 
 and the raven alone. 
 
 EXCURSUS VII. 
 
 ABSTRACT FOR CONCRETE. 
 
 Praemiaque ingeniis pagos et compita circum 
 Thesidae posuere. — Geor. ii. 382. 
 
 This we believe to be an instance of a practice in which the Latin 
 language indulged more than any other, — that of using abstract for 
 concrete nouns, or acts for agents. The Greek, it is true, did the 
 same, but only, we believe, in the higher poetry ; while the Latin 
 used these terms in the prose of history and the language of common 
 life. The Euphuism of England, and the Precieux of France, in the 
 17th century, seem to have been derived from this principle of the 
 Latin language. Drakenborch (on Liv. iii. 15, and on Sil. viii. 33 ; 
 xv. 748 ; xvi. 504) has given some instances of this practice, as also 
 has Zumpt (§ 675), and the following list may hot prove unaccept- 
 able to scholars : — 
 
 Servitium and opera, for servus and operarius, are of common occur- 
 rence. So also is auxilia. Plautus and Terence use scelus and salus 
 frequently, and the latter career (Ph. ii. 3, 26). Sallust uses flagitia 
 and facinora (Cat. 14) ; Livy, mors (ii. 7 ; Cf. Cic. Mil. 32) ; Taci- 
 tus, crimina (Ann. i. 55), amicitia (ii. 77) ; Seneca, custodia (Ep. s. 6) ; 
 Ovid, helium (Met. xii. 25 ; Cf. Flor. ii. 2, 17 ; Plin. Pan. 12), dam- 
 num, (ib. 16), furtum (Fast. iii. 846), cura (Her. i. 104); Juvenal, 
 vitia (ii. 34), potestas (ix. 100; x. 100), officia (x. 45), spectacula (viii. 
 205), honor (i. 1 10, 1 17) ; Catullus, stupor (xvii. 21); Propertius, amor 
 (ii. 19, 57), conjugium (iii. 11, 20) ; Horace, artes (Ep. ii. 1, 13), in- 
 genium (ib. 2, 81), culpas (C. iii. 11, 29). 
 
 EXCURSUS VIII. 
 
 Quod surgente die, etc. — Geor. iii. 400. 
 
 Fea has, we think, in a very simple and elegant manner removed 
 the difficulty from this passage, by merely a change of punctuation. 
 He reads it thus : — 
 
ON GEOR. III. 400. 341 
 
 " Quod surgente die mulsere, horisque diurnis 
 Nocte premunt ; quod jam tenebris et sole cadente 
 Sub lucem : exportans calathis adit oppida pastor ; 
 Aut parco sale contingunt hiemique reponunt." 
 
 He understands premunt with sub lucem, thus giving an equal space 
 of time to the morning and to the evening milking before coagula- 
 tion. The shepherd then either puts into baskets the new cheese, 
 and carries it to the towns for sale, or it gets an additional quantity 
 of salt and is laid up for the winter. This, he says, is what the 
 shepherds in the neighbourhood of Rome actually do at the present 
 day. He adds, that of this new-made cheese there are two kinds ; 
 the one properly called cheese (formaggio) , the other ricotta, as being 
 made from what remains in the pan (caldaja) after the formaggio 
 has been made, and is procured by reheating, whence comes its 
 name. Fea further thinks that by pi'essi copia lactis (Ec. i. 81), is 
 meant a ricotta rather than cheese, as it is what the shepherds of 
 the present day would be likely to give on such an occasion. Or, 
 he says, it may mean the various products of milk, as cheese, ri- 
 cotta, giuncata (junkets or curds), for the Italians at the present day 
 say copia di latti, uso di latti, latticing, for milk and its products. — 
 See Terms of Husbandry, v. Caseus. 
 
 Instead of exportans, in v. 402, Fea would read et portans ; but 
 though he shows that et and ex are sometimes confounded in the 
 MSS., we see no necessity for the alteration. 
 
 It is somewhat strange that Fea seems not to have been aware 
 that the reading of all the MSS. is exportant, and that exportans 
 is the emendation of Scaliger. This emendation has, however, 
 been adopted by every editor but Jahn and Forbiger ; and if the 
 above explanation of the passage is correct, there can be no doubt 
 of its being the word that Virgil wrote. Wagner shows very 
 satisfactorily how exportant might have arisen from the preceding 
 mulsere and premunt and the following contingunt. 
 
 In conclusion, it is to be observed that, though Fea alone has 
 offered proof of this interpretation, ^it was seen long ago by Wadel 
 (see Burmann in loc.) that mulsere and premunt might be understood 
 with sub lucem. We ourselves have no doubt whatever of this being 
 the true interpretation of the passage. 
 
342 EXCURSUS IX. 
 
 EXCURSUS IX. 
 
 LATIN CONTRACTIONS. 
 Saevit agris asperque siti atque exterritus aestu. — Geor. iii.435. 
 
 In our Tales and Popular Fictions, when tracing the origin of the 
 Italian word Fata, a fairy, we said that it was una donna fata, 
 i. e. fatata ; fato being the contraction offatato, the part, oifatare ; 
 for the Italian language frequently thus contracts the past part, of 
 verbs in -are : as, adorno, from adornato ; guasto, from guastato ; col- 
 mo, from colmato, etc. 
 
 We there (p. 341) expressed an opinion that the Italian might 
 have derived this singular practice of eliding an accented syllable 
 from its Latin mother, and we gave a list of Latin words which pre- 
 sented this appearance. We afterwards met with the following 
 passage in Priscian (vi. 15, 79)' 
 
 " Nee mirum in nominibus hoc fieri cum etiam ipsa participia 
 inveniuntur quando per syncopam prolata, ut potus pro potatus, 
 cretus pro creatus, dictus pro dictatus, saucius pro sauciatus, truncus 
 pro truncatus, lassus pro lassatus." Elsewhere he says, " a lacera- 
 tus, lacerus vel lace?\" 
 
 On further reflection it appeared to us that this syncope was not 
 confined to particips. of the 1st conj.,butwas a general principle of the 
 language; and that the vowels e,i, o were elided in the same manner 
 as a, though not to the same extent. We will here give examples 
 of the elision of these vowels when accented. 
 
 E. — Virguletum makes virgultum ; salicetum, salictum ; filicetum, 
 filictum; fruticetum, frutectum; caricetum (obs.), carectum. To these 
 we may perhaps venture to add arousium, from aruorehm (see Gell. 
 xvii. 2), r being changed into s for the sake of euphony. Priscian 
 (ix. 10) says : "Adultus pro adoletus prolatum est." 
 
 I. — Audit, petii, etc., from audivi, petivi, etc. ; traxe, dixe, etc., 
 from traxisse, dixisse, etc. ; amasse, etc., from amavisse, etc. To 
 these may be added the case where the syncope is not of the ac- 
 cented, but its effect is to throw the accent back from that syllable. 
 This, as Forbiger has observed (on Lucr. i. 71), takes place in the 
 contraction of the third pers. sing, of the perf. of the first conj., as 
 in irritat for irritavit, Lucr. i. 71 ; peritat, hi. 710; conturlat, v. 
 443 ; disturbat, vi. 587 : and in Virgil, vocat, Ec. v. 23 ; creat, Geor. 
 i. 279. This principle appears to us to be more simple than that of 
 supposing a press, used for a perf. 
 
 In the following places sanctus is evidently the same as sancitus, 
 
LATIN CONTRACTIONS. 343 
 
 and therefore may justly be regarded as a contraction of it. Le- 
 gem tulit diligentius sane tarn, Liv. x. 9. In his rebus multa videmus 
 ita sancta esse legibus, Cic. Verr. ii. 1, 42. Quaeque ita composita 
 sanctaque essent, Cic. Legg. ii. 5. Lege sanctum est, Cic. ib. 24. 
 Hence we may infer that vinctus and amictus are i. q. vincitus and 
 amicitus. We find lentus used by Virgil as a part. (Ec. i. <± ; Aen. 
 xi. 829) ; it therefore is probably lenitus contracted. So also aper- 
 ius, opertus, expertus, were originally aperitus, etc. Quaestor is 
 evidently quaesitor. Ficulnus and hornus must have been at first 
 ficulinus and horinus, and possibly ivfernus, supernus, and alternus, 
 were inferinus, etc. 
 
 O. — Under this letter we have divilm, virim, etc., for divorum, 
 virorum, etc. See Priscian, vii. 6. 
 
 We will commence our view of those which we regard as con- 
 tracted participles of verbs in -are, by giving a few instances of the 
 use of them with undoubted participles. 
 
 " Atque hie Priamiden laniatum corpore toto 
 Deiphobum videt, et lacerum crudeliter ora, 
 Ora manusque ambas, populataque tempora raptis 
 Auribus, et truncas inhonesto vulnere nares." — Aen. vi. 494. 
 
 " exsectum jam matre perempta 
 
 Et tibi, Phoebe, sacrum." — Ib. x. 315. 
 ** Orba pedum partim, manuum viduata vicissim." — Lucr. v. 838. 
 ** Exanimis pueris super exanimata parentum 
 
 Corpora."— Id. vi. 1255. (Cf. v. 1272.) 
 *' Statque latus praefixa veru, stat saucia pectus." — Tibull. i.7,55. 
 "Vulnere tardus equi, fessusque senilibus annis." — 
 
 Ov. Met. xiii. 65. 
 
 " Congressum, profugum, captum, vox nuntiat una." — 
 
 Claud. Bell. Gild. 12. 
 " Funeraque orba rogis, neglectaque membra relinquunt. 
 Tunc inhonora cohors laceris insignibus aegris 
 Secernunt acies." — Stat. Th. x. 7- 
 " Namque orbam nato simul etprivatam viro." — Phaedr. iii.10,45. 
 " Ut es homo/ac/i6s ad persuadendum concinnus, perfectus, poll- 
 
 tus e schola." — Cic. Pis. 25. 
 ** Scriba damnatus, ordo totus alienus." — Id. Mur. 20. 
 We will now examine some words, and endeavour to show that 
 they are real participles, and conclude with a list of the words of 
 this kind which we have met with. 
 
344 EXCURSUS IX. 
 
 Orbus. — Puerique parentibus orbi, Aen. xi. 216. Forumque Li- 
 tibus orbum, Hor. C. iv. 2, 43. 
 
 Viduus. — Viduus pJiaretra JRisit Apollo, Hor. C. i. 10, 11, 
 (Porphyr. in loc). 
 
 Maritus. — Pollueritque novo sacra marita toro, Prop. iii. 19, 16. 
 Haecne marita fides, Id. iv. 3, 11. 
 
 Partus. — Part a mea sunt Veneri munera, Ec. iii. 68. Regia conjux 
 parta tibi, Aen. ii. 783. Nam mihi part a quies, vii. 598. Amicitias 
 comparare, quibus partis confirmatur animus, Cic. Fin. i. 20. 
 
 Cruentus. — Arma cruenta cerebro, Aen.ix. 753. Cf. tela cruentat, 
 x. 731. Virgil frequently thus uses cruentus. Cruentus sanguine 
 fraterno, Hor. S. ii. 5, 15. 
 
 Aptus. — Quibus e sumus uniter apti, Lucr. iii. 851. Crescebani 
 uteri terrae radicibus apti, Id. v. 806. Ipsis e torquibus aptos Junge 
 pares, Geor. iii. 168. Pilaque feminea turpiter apt a manu, Prop.iv. 
 6, 22 ; (" apta hie velit aptata ; ut saepe alias apud optimos scrip- 
 tores." Broukhuis, in loc). We also think that this is the simplest 
 mode of understanding the caelum stellis fulgentibus aptum, which 
 Virgil has adopted from Ennius. 
 
 Decorus. — Ductores auro volitant ostroque decor i, Aen. xii. 126. 
 Merita decorus fronde, Hori C. iv. 2, 35. 
 
 Vastus. — Haec ego vast a dabo, Aen. ix. 323. Vastam urbemfuga 
 ei caedibus, Sail. Hist. i. 15. Vasta Italia rapinis, fuga, caedibus, 
 Id. ib.inc. 139. 
 
 Concinnus. — Concinnus amicis Postulat ut videatur, Hor. S. i. 3, 
 50. At sermo lingua concinnus utraque Suavior, Id. ib. 10, 23 ; Cf. 
 Ep. i. 17, 29 ; 18, 6. Reditus ad rem aptus et concinnus, Cic. Or. 
 iii. 53. 
 
 Uncus. — Uncae manus, Aen. iii. 217. Et supera calamos unco 
 percurrere labro, Lucr. v. 1406. 
 
 Mutilus. — Sic mutilus minitaris, Hor. S. i. 5, 60. Litteras truncas 
 atque mutilas reddebat, Gell. xvii. 9. 
 
 Honestus. — Honestus Fascibus et sellis, Hor. S. i. 6, 96. Neque 
 eo tuti aut magis honesti sunt, Sail. Jug. 3. Qui eum Qionorem) sen- 
 tentiis, qui snffragiis adeptus est, is mihi et honestus et honor atus 
 videtur, Cic. Brut. 81. 
 
 Profugus. — Fato profugus, Aen. i. 2. Quos illi bello profugos 
 egere superbo, viii. 118. Quamque potes profugo, nam potes, affer 
 opem, Ov. Ex P. ii. 9> 6 . Alloquio profugi credis inesse metum? Id. 
 ib. iii. 6, 40. Qui saepe regni ejus potitus dein profugus, Tac. Ann. 
 xiii. 6. 
 Funestus. — Mortuum ejusfilium esse, funestaque familia dedicare 
 
LATIN CONTRACTIONS. 34-5 
 
 eum templum non posse, Liv. ii. 8. Jam funesta domus est nee an- 
 nuntiatum malum, Sen. de Vit. Beat. 28. Funestus reddidit agros, 
 Lucr. vi. 1136. 
 
 Opacus. — Cujus umbra opaca see?esem£,Liv.iii.25. Draken. inloc. 
 
 Siccus. — Eque paludosa siccis humus aret arenis, Ov. Met. xv. 
 268. Post haec carbasiis humorem tollere velis Atque in marmorea 
 ponere sicca (ossa) domo, Tibull. iii. 2, 21. Ut ferrum Marte cru- 
 entum Siccum pace /eras, Claud. Pr. Cons. Stil. ii. 15. 
 
 Alienus. — Jamprimum ilium alieno animo a nobis esse,Ter. Adelph. 
 iii. 2. 40. Alienus est ab nostra familia, Id. ib. 28. Sed, ut fit, post- 
 quam liunc alienum ab sese videt, Id. Hec. 1, 2,83. Nulla sit ut 
 placeas alienae cura puellae, Ov. Rem. Am. 681. Burmann in loc. 
 
 Nudus. — Nudum remigio latus, Hor. C. i. 14,4. Nudus agris, 
 nudus nummis, insane, paternis, Id. S. ii. 3, 184. Cf. Ep. i. 3, 20. 
 
 Liber, i. e. liberus. — Colonos Romanos expulit liberamque earn 
 urbem Volscis tradidit, Liv. ii. 39. Turn libera fatis, Aen. x. 154. 
 
 Luxus. — Lux urn si quod est hoc cautione sanum fiet, Cat. 160. 
 Luxo pede, Sail. H. inc. 163. 
 
 Satur, i.e. saturus. — Quam satur ac plenus possis discedere re- 
 rum, Lucr. iii. 973. Qui non editis saturi fite fabulis, Plaut. Poen. 
 Prol. 8. Libet et Tyrio saturas ostro Rumpere vestes, Sen. Thyest. 
 955. 
 
 We do not mean to assert that all these words are always contracted 
 participles, for there may be merely a coincidence of form. Thus 
 from alienus may come a verb alienor, whose contr. part, is alienus. 
 The same may be the case with siccus, uncus, etc. We will add the 
 following, which may also be contracted terms, and many of which 
 we have no doubt are such : — 
 
 Sectus, /rictus, nectus, cremus, mulctus, jutus, lautus, lotus, laxus, 
 lassus, assus, quassus, pulsus, probus, obstipus, delirus, soporus, odo- 
 rus, cavus, curvus, sacer, macer, asper, aegrotus, spissus, mutuus, 
 vacuus, salvus, sanus, reciprocus, socius, privus, putus, opinus, mani- 
 festus, infestus, crispus, perjurus, obscurus, tardus, properus, molestus, 
 humectus, densus, firmus, etc. 
 
 Lucrum is probably lucratum, donum donatum, segmen secamen, 
 sector secator, lictor ligator, libertus liberatus ; carptim, tractim, exul- 
 tim, are carpatim, etc. 
 
 Singultim, in Horace (S. i. 6, 56), is evidently singulatim, and is 
 rightly explained by the scholiasts : cum intervallo, interruptis 
 verbis. 
 
 In the following places virago appears to be i. q. virgo. Corpore 
 Tartarino prognata pallida virago (Minerva), Ennius, i. 24. Ego 
 
 q5 
 
346 EXCURSUS X. 
 
 emero tnatri tuae ancillam viraginem aliquam^ Plaut. Merc. ii. 3, 
 77- Juturna virago, Aen. xii. 468 (Heyne in loc). Ades en comiti 
 diva virago (Diana), Sen. Hip. 54. 
 
 Riguus and irriguus are everywhere, one place excepted, passive, 
 and so may be the past part, of an obsolete verb riguo, i. q. rigo. 
 In that one place (Geor. ii. 485) there may possibly be a hypallage, 
 or the poet may have written riguis. 
 
 EXCURSUS X. 
 
 Nam qua Pellaei gens fori una t a Canopi, etc. — Geor. iv. 287- 
 
 There is no passage in Virgil which has given critics more trouble 
 than this, on account of vv. 291-293, which, though they occur in 
 all the MSS., are arranged in three different manners. The reading 
 of most MSS. is 
 
 " Et viridem Aegyptum nigra fecundat arena 
 Et diversa ruens septem discurrit in ora 
 Usque coloratis amnis devexus ab Indis." 
 
 The Med. and five others have these verses in this order : Et di- 
 versa ruens — Et viridem Aegyptum — Usque coloratis. 
 
 The Rom. and one other read, Et diversa ruens — Usque coloratis 
 — Et viridem Aegyptum. This, which gives the best sense, is the 
 reading followed by Voss, Jahn, and Forbiger. 
 
 Let us now examine the whole passage. Virgil, having (vv. 287- 
 289) given an accurate description of the country about the Canobic 
 branch of the Nile, on the west side of Egypt, adds (v. 290) Quaque 
 pharetratae vicinia Pe7~sidis urguet, where, from the repetition of the 
 qua from v. 287, one might be led to expect the mention of another 
 country in which the same practice was to be found. Then follow 
 the three perplexing verses, in which the poet seems to speak of the 
 Nile again, and to restrict the whole description to Egypt. The 
 critics who maintain the genuineness of these lines say, that by 
 Per sis is meant all that part of Asia which was beyond the bounds 
 of the Roman empire to the east or to the south. In this, says 
 Jahn (referring to Geor. ii. 120 seq. and 171), Arabia was certainly 
 included ; and, as the Roman Syria was not at that time contermi- 
 nous to Egypt, the poet could hardly say that eastern Egypt was 
 conterminous to any other country than Persis. 
 
 This, to our apprehension, is very inconclusive reasoning. There 
 is not the shadow of a proof that the Romans ever gave such exten- 
 
ON GEOR. IV. 287. 347 
 
 sion to the term Persis ; for surely the places of our poet referred to 
 are no proof of it. Further, when it is said that the river flows down 
 coloratis ah Indis, we are required to believe on the mere word of 
 the critics that these Indians are the Aethiopians ; for most assuredly 
 Geor. ii. 116, which is the only place referred to, does not prove it. 
 Jacob Bryant was of opinion that it was the Ganges that the poet 
 meant, as he elsewhere (Aen. ix. 30) notices the seven mouths of 
 that river ; but India was not sufficiently known to the Romans at 
 that time perhaps to allow of this interpretation, though we know 
 of no river but it or the Indus that by Virgil or any one else could 
 be said to flow from the country of the Indians. 
 
 Heyne was of opinion that w. 291, 292 were written by Virgil 
 himself in the margin of his copy, when he had not made up his 
 mind as to which he would insert in the text ; or one or other of 
 them might have been put there from some good poet by a gram- 
 marian. Wagner extends this to vv. 291-293, and thinks they 
 might have been written in the margin by Virgil himself, or copied 
 there by some critic from some lost poem of Virgil's. He holds that 
 it is Syria that is meant in v. 290 ; Persis being the Parthian empire, 
 which was divided from the Roman by the Euphrates. To this in- 
 terpretation, which alone makes sense of the passage, we make no 
 objection. We will only observe, that the want of an object or go- 
 verned case to the verb urguet might lead us to doubt of the genuine- 
 ness of v. 290 also ; and to suspect that the whole four lines indicate 
 an attempt on the part of the poet, or of some one else, to enlarge or 
 to add to the beautiful and picturesque description contained in 
 vv. 287-239- For a hypothesis on this subject see Life of Virgil. 
 
348 
 
 TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 
 
 Ablaqueatio, yvpaxns (v. ablaqueo, yvpoco). An operation per- 
 formed on the vines and olives. It consisted in digging round the tree 
 and exposing all its roots, of which those that grew in the depth of a 
 foot and a half from the surface were to be cut away, in order that 
 the remainder might acquire greater vigour. This was to be done 
 in the beginning of October, and the hole thus made was to be left 
 open till some time in December, according to the weather, when it 
 was to be filled up, dung being sometimes put about the roots. 
 Colum. iv. 8. 
 
 Amurca, dixopyr), morchia It. A fluid contained in the olive along 
 with the oil, which must be carefully separated from it. The amurca 
 is a watery fluid of a dark colour and of greater specific gravity than 
 the oil. The uses made of it were, to mix with the clay for forming 
 the area, and with the plaister for the walls and floors of granaries, 
 as it was held to banish insects and vermin, for which reason chests 
 containing clothes were rubbed with it. It served also to oil leather 
 and iron, and it was used in some diseases of trees and cattle. Plin. 
 xv. 18. 
 
 Antes, pi. This word seems to signify properly a square or 
 parallelogram. Columella (x. 376) uses it of the beds in a garden, 
 and Cato (ap. Serv.) of the troops of horse on the wings of infantry 
 on their march. In Virgil it seems to signify the horti of the vine- 
 yards : see on Geor. ii. 278. 
 
 Aratio, aporos (v. aro, dpoco), ploughing, tilling land in general. 
 The following was the Roman mode of tillage. As they almost 
 always fallowed, the land, after the corn had been cut and carried, 
 which took place in the summer, was let to lie idle in general till the 
 following February, but in some cases only till about the middle of 
 January. They then broke it, or gave it a first ploughing (proscissio) , 
 and so it was let to lie till midsummer, when they gave it a cross- 
 ploughing (iteratio), i. e. one at right angles to the former. The 
 verb expressing this process is offringo. In the beginning of Sep- 
 tember it got a third ploughing (tertiatio), of course at right angles 
 with the cross-ploughing. After this ploughing, if it required it, it 
 got a harrowing (occatio) with rakes or hurdles. Plin. xviii. 20. 
 The seed was then sown under the plough, or the ground was 
 ploughed into ridges (liras), and the seed sown on it and then har- 
 rowed in : see Sementis. Sometimes the land got only the two first 
 
TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 349 
 
 ploughings, and was sown with the third. Varr. i. 29 ; Plin. ut sup. 
 When the corn was growing, it was hoed and weeded : see Sarritio, 
 Runcatio. 
 
 The Roman plough having neither coulter nor mouldboard, the 
 mode of ploughing differed materially from ours. Instead of making 
 a furrow and then another at some feet distant, and ploughing the 
 intermediate space alternately to one side and the other, the ancient 
 ploughman went and returned in the same track. The length of 
 this was not to exceed 120 feet (that of the actus or half-juger) ; and 
 as he went up it he inclined his plough to the right, so that the 
 share formed an angle with the soil, and cutting it obliquely turned 
 up the sod. As he returned he came down the same furrow, but 
 this time he held the plough straight, so that the share took up the 
 earth which in going up it had left in the left-hand side of the furrow. 
 Colum. ii. 4. Lazy ploughmen sometimes neglected to do this, thus 
 leaving what was called a scamnum or balk, that is a ridge or strip 
 of untilled land. In order to detect this, the farmer was directed to 
 run a pole into the ploughed land in various places, as the scamnum 
 would be detected by its resistance. A consequence of this mode of 
 ploughing was that the furrows did not appear ; hence Pliny (xviii. 
 19) gives it as the test of land being well-tilled, that one should not 
 be able to tell which way the plough had gone. 
 
 The number of ploughings which land got in general was, as we 
 have seen, three or four ; but Pliny (ut sup.) says that strong rich 
 land was the better for getting five, and adds that in Tuscany the 
 strong land required nine, — a thing quite contrary to the practice in 
 that country at the present day. On the other hand, the light poor 
 soils got only one tilling some time between midsummer and the 
 autumnal equinox (Geor. i. 6/ ; Plin. ib. 19), and the seed-ploughing 
 at the usual time. 
 
 The usual mode of ploughing was with a pair of oxen yoked 
 abreast by means of the jugum, by which they drew : see Jugum. 
 Pliny (ib. 18) speaks of eight oxen being yoked to one plough as a 
 thing not uncommon in Italy. In that case they must have drawn 
 by means of whipple-trees, traces and collars, things of which we 
 find no mention in the rural writers. It does not appear whether 
 the ploughman had reins or not. Columella (ii. 2) says he should 
 urge on his cattle with the voice rather than by blows ; he strongly 
 condemns the use of the goad (stimulus), as it tended to make the 
 oxen vicious, but says that the whip (fiagellum) might be used oc- 
 casionally. It is to be here observed that the ancient ploughman 
 was not far from his cattle ; for the siiva was upright in the buris, 
 
350 TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 
 
 of which there could hardly be more than two or three feet before 
 it ; while of the eight-foot pole, five feet must have been between the 
 oxen, so that the distance between them and the ploughman could 
 not have been more than five or six feet. At the end of the furrow 
 the ploughman was to stop his oxen and let them rest awhile, 
 raising the yoke from off their necks, to let them cool, and to pre- 
 vent their being chafed. Mules and asses were sometimes used for 
 ploughing, but never horses. The ploughman carried a paddle 
 (ralla) for cleaning the lower part of his plough, and when working 
 in vineyards or olive-grounds a small axe (securicula, Plin.) or mat- 
 tock (dolabra, Colum.), to cut away the upper roots of the trees 
 from before his plough. 
 
 Arator, dpoTTjp, oapovv, i. q. bubulcus, which see. This term was 
 also used in opposition to pastor, and equivalent to agricola, for the 
 tillage-farmer. Colum. vi. praef. 
 
 Aratrum, aporpov, the plough. It is remarkable that the rural 
 writers have left us no description of this most important implement. 
 Varro, in another work (De L. L. v. 135), has given us the names 
 of the different parts of which it was composed, as also has Virgil 
 (Geor. i. 169 seq), and Hesiod fEpy. 427) has left us a slight sketch 
 of the ancient Grecian plough. The parts of the plough which they 
 mention are the buris, temo, stiva, manicula, dentcle, and vomis, which 
 belonged to all ploughs, and the aures, which were put on in sow- 
 ing-time : see each of these terms. 
 
 In the absence of descriptions, we must have recourse to ancient 
 medals and to the ploughs still in use in the south of Europe. 
 Voss has given us figures of no less than fourteen Italian and Sici- 
 lian and one Provencal plough, Martyn of one used in Lombardy, 
 and Loudon of one from the south of France and another from Va- 
 lencia in Spain. On viewing these ploughs, we may observe, that, 
 excepting in Martyn's Lombard plough, there is no coulter, and, with 
 two exceptions, there is only one handle. Their general structure 
 is the buris or beam, which is usually curved, with its convex side 
 uppermost ; to the upper end of it is fastened by means of a pin or 
 cord the temo or pole which goes between the oxen, having at its 
 end the jugum or yoke to which they are attached; the temo forms 
 an angle with the ground, instead of running horizontally. The 
 other end of the buris turns down to the ground, and has fastened 
 to it horizontally the dentate, a part of the dentale going on each 
 side of it. The dentale runs to a point ; in the ruder ploughs it is 
 without any covering, in others it is plated with iron, in others it is 
 fitted with a moveable share. The stiva or handle is generally mor- 
 
TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 351 
 
 ticed into the hurts either vertically or at a small angle ; in some 
 cases it and the buris are ail one piece, and the temo is morticed into 
 or fastened to it. At the upper end of the stiva is a short cross-bar 
 (manicula) by means of which the ploughman directs his plough. 
 
 Simond (Travels in Italy, &c, p. 477) thus describes the plough 
 which he saw at Sciarra on the south coast of Sicily (and it exactly 
 resembles that which Voss gives from Palagonia in the central part 
 of that island) : — " It consists of a shaft eleven feet in length, to 
 which the oxen are fastened by means of an awkward collar, while 
 the other end is morticed obliquely into another piece of timber five 
 feet long ; one end sharp, scratching the ground, and the other end 
 held by the ploughman, who, on account of the shortness of it, bends 
 almost double while at work. The end in the ground is often, but 
 not always, shod with iron ; it has neither coulter nor mouldboard. 
 This instrument scarcely penetrates deeper than a hog with his snout, 
 and is not kept straight without great difficulty." 
 
 From what precedes we think that a tolerably clear idea may be 
 formed of the plough w T hich Virgil describes. That of Hesiod is 
 evidently of the same kind : — 
 
 (pepeLV 8e yvrjv, or av euprjs, 
 els o'ikov, Kar opos Siffipevos rj kclt apovpav, 
 Tvpivivov' os yap (3o-u<rlv dpcvv oxypaTaros eo-nv, 
 evT av ' 'A8r)vair)s bptoos, ev i\vp.a.Ti irrj^as, 
 yoptpoiortv irekdcras Trpocraprjperai Ic-rofioTJ'i. — -'Epya, 427. 
 
 or av aKpov e^erX^? 
 ^eipt Aa/3o>z> opiTTjKa (3oa>v enl vcora tKrjai 
 evbpvov ektcovrctiv p,eo~d(3cp. — lb. 467. 
 
 Here the yvys is the buris, the eXv/xa the dentale, the lo-rofioevs the 
 temo, the exerXr) the stiva of Virgil's plough. The three remaining 
 terms are more difficult to explain : the opirqf; might be a part of the 
 ex^rXr) (probably therefore the manicula), and so Goettling would 
 seem to understand it, as he joins it with aKpov ; while others take 
 it to be the goad. We think the former is right, and that eVt vara 
 iKTjai means that he reaches to the oxen, with the whip or goad un- 
 derstood. The evdpvov would seem to be the same with the laro- 
 fioeiis, or possibly the whole plough ; and as Callimachus has fxea-- 
 crafia ftovs v7ro8vs, it would appear that the pLeaafiov was the yoke, 
 though some render it the thong that fastened the yoke to the 
 pole. 
 
 The following lines of an Italian poet of the last century will show 
 
352 TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 
 
 how little the mode of ploughing had altered from the time of Virgil 
 and Columella: — 
 
 " II robusto aratore 
 Stava al arso terreno 
 Col vomere tagliente aprendo il seno ; 
 Acceso in volto, di sudor bagnato, 
 Col crine scompigliato, 
 Curvo le spalle, il cigolante aratro 
 Con una man premea, 
 Che col chino ginocchio accompagnava ; 
 E coir altra stringea 
 Pungolo acuto, e colla rozza voce 
 E coi colpi frequenti 
 Affrettava de' bovi i passi lenti." 
 
 Pignotti, Favole, fav. 18. 
 
 Arbustum, i. e. arboretum (see p. 342), a place full of trees, a 
 wood. Cato, 7. Lucretius continually uses the plural arbusta for 
 arbores, and Virgil, except in two places (Ec. iii. 10 ; Geor. ii. 416), 
 follows his example. In the rural writers, however, arbustum is a 
 plantation of trees in regular rows, in order that vines might be 
 trained on them, and is opposed to the vinea in which they were 
 trained on espaliers or in other modes. The trees used to form the 
 arbustum were the elm, the poplar, the ash, the fig, the olive, etc. 
 They were planted in rows, forty feet asunder, if the land between 
 them was to be tilled for corn (as was usually done), otherwise 
 twenty feet ; the distance between the trees in the row was to be 
 twenty feet. The trees, as they grew, were to be pruned, so that 
 the first seven or eight feet of their stem might be free from branches. 
 Above that height the branches on each side were to be formed into 
 tabulata or stories, three feet asunder, and not in the same plane, 
 on which the vines might be trained. The vine was to be planted 
 a foot and a half from the tree. Colum. v. 7 ; Id. De Arb. 16 ; 
 Plin. xvii. 23. 
 
 Area, akco, the threshing-floor. In the East, and in the south of 
 Europe, corn is threshed in the open air, not, as with us, in the 
 covered barn. The rural writers give the following directions for 
 forming an area or threshing-floor. An elevated spot, to which the 
 wind would have free access, was to be selected, but care was to be 
 taken that it should not be on the side from which the wind usually 
 blew on the house and garden, as the chaff was injurious to trees 
 and vegetables. It was to be circular in form, and elevated a little 
 
TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 353 
 
 in the centre, so that the rain might not lie on it. It was sometimes 
 flagged, but was more usually formed of argilla, with which chaff 
 and amurca were well mixed. It was then made solid and level with 
 rammers or a rolling-stone, in order that it might not crack, and so 
 give harbour to mice, ants, or any other vermin, and that grass 
 might not grow on it. Beside the area was a building named nu- 
 bilarium, into which the corn was carried when there appeared any 
 danger of rain or storm. See Cato, 91, 129 ; Varro, i. 51 ; Colum. 
 ii. 20. 
 
 Argilla, apyiWos, potter's clay. Creta qua utuntur figuli, Colum. 
 iii. 11. 
 
 Armentarius, (BovkoXos, neatherd. The armentarius was the 
 man who had charge of the oxen when grazing in a herd. Lucre- 
 tius thus distinguishes the armentarius from the pastor and the 
 bubulcus : — 
 
 " Praeterea jam pastor et armentarius omnis 
 Et robustus item curvi moderator aratri." — vi. 1250. 
 Armentum, dyeXrj, a herd of oxen, horses or asses. This word 
 seems to have originally belonged to oxen alone, whence Varro's 
 derivation of it (L. L. v. 96), as being i. q. arimentum, from aro, is 
 not an unlikely one. 
 
 Arvum, apovpa, tillage-land. Quod aratum necdum satum est, 
 Varro, i. 29. 
 
 Auris, a mould-board. When the plough was prepared for 
 seed- sowing, the aures were put to it, so that it then resembled our 
 strike-furrow plough. Pliny (xviii. 20) would seem to speak of only 
 one auris, but his words are perhaps not to be taken strictly. 
 
 Bidens, 8UeXXa. This implement, which is still used in Italy, 
 is a large, heavy hoe (the head of it weighing about ten pounds) ; it 
 has two teeth or prongs, whence its name. If we conceive a hoe, 
 with its iron head long, broad and heavy, and a piece cut out of it 
 in the middle, so as to leave two prongs, we shall have a tolerably 
 clear idea of the bidens. It is chiefly used for moving the earth to 
 the distance of a foot and a half round the vines, as it does not cut 
 the roots like the spade. It is also used for breaking up land that 
 is too hard to be wrought by the plough or the spade. It is of course 
 employed more in the manner of a pickaxe than of a hoe ; hence 
 Virgil says, duros j act are bidentes, Geor. ii. 355 ; and he elsewhere 
 says (ib. 400), that the clods were to be broken, versis bidentibus, 
 i. e. by striking them with the back of the heavy bidens. Its weight 
 is intimated in these words of Lucretius (v. 209), valido consueta 
 bidenti ingemere. The Italians call this implement bidente, the 
 French hoyau orfossoir. 
 
354; TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 
 
 Bipalium. This was a large kind of spade, of which the exact 
 form is not known. Its iron was usually about two feet in length. 
 Some say it is i. q. bis-pala, as being twice the size of the pala. 
 
 Bubulcus, i.q. orator, 6 apovv, the ploughman; in Italian, bifolco. 
 The word carter, as it is employed in a great part of England, cor- 
 responds pretty nearly with the Latin bubulcus, for his office was to 
 attend to the draught-oxen, whence his name (« tubus), and which 
 he drove in the cart as well as in the plough. Nothing can be 
 more incorrect than rendering (as is so often done) bubulcus neat- 
 herd. The bubulcus, Columella says (i. 9), should be tall, so that, 
 without stooping, he might lean on the stiva, and so keep the plough 
 in the ground ; he should also have a loud voice, in order to terrify 
 his oxen. 
 
 Buris, also Urvum, yv-qs, the ploughbeam. We have nothing in 
 our plough exactly answering to the buris. It was a piece of strong 
 wood, naturally or artificially curved, to one end of which was 
 affixed the pole, to the other the dentate, and into it was morticed 
 the stiva. It therefore formed the body of the plough, which, from 
 its shape, is termed by Lucretius curvum, and by Virgil and Ovid 
 aduncum. In Virgil's plough the buris is of elm, while in that of 
 Hesiod it is of ilex (jrpivos) : see Aratrum. 
 
 Calathus, Kakados. The proper Latin name, Servius tells us 
 (Ec. ii. 45), is quasillum. This was a basket of wicker-work, nar- 
 row at the bottom, and widening as it went up. It may be seen on 
 the capitals of the Corinthian columns, if we abstract the acanthus- 
 leaves : see Vitruvius, iv. 1. Women used it for holding the wool 
 when they were spinning, for gathering flowers in, etc. New 
 cheese and various other things were also put into calathi. 
 
 Caxistrum, Kavao-rpov. This was another kind of basket, used 
 chiefly for holding bread : it was mostly woven of willow-rods. 
 Pallad. xii. 17. 
 
 Caprarius, al-rroXos, the goatherd. 
 
 Caseus, rvpos. The ancient, like the modern Italians, made 
 cheese from the milk of the cow, the sheep, and the goat. They 
 coagulated it with the rennet of the hare, the goat, or the lamb ; 
 the last being the least esteemed (Varro, ii. 11) ; also with the milky- 
 juice of the fig-tree, with the flower of the wild thistle, and with 
 other vegetable substances. They do not seem to have used the 
 rennet of the calf. The milk was to be placed within a moderate 
 distance of the fire, that it might have the requisite degree of heat ; 
 and as soon as it coagulated, it was to be put into baskets (fiscellae 
 or calathi), or into moulds (formae), in order that the whey (serum) 
 might separate and drain off. When the curd was grown somewhat 
 
TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 355 
 
 solid, they put weights on it to force out the remainder of the whey. 
 They then took the cheeses out of the baskets or shapes, and laid 
 them on clean boards, in a cool and shady place, and sprinkled them 
 with salt to extract the remainder of the whey ; and then, when 
 they had hardened, they pressed them again, and sprinkled them 
 with hot salt, and gave them another pressing. At the end uf nine 
 days from the commencement they washed the cheeses with fresh 
 water, and laid them to dry on hurdles, in a cool place, taking care 
 not to let them touch one another. Thence they were removed and 
 stored on shelves, in a close dry room, where they remained for use. 
 There was another kind of cheese made for immediate consumption. 
 This, as soon as it was taken out of the baskets, was plunged into 
 salt or brine, and then was let to dry gradually in the sun. There 
 was a third kind, made by putting pine-nuts into the pail, and 
 milking down on them, which made the milk coagulate at once. It 
 was then transferred to box-wood moulds, and pressed with the 
 hand. The cheese was coloured by exposing it to the smoke of 
 wood or straw. Colum. vii. 8. None of these, we may observe, 
 answers exactly to the Italian ricotta : see above, p. 341. 
 
 Colliquiae, or Colliciae. The water-cuts or drains which 
 carried the water out of the furrows or elices into the ditches. 
 
 Corbis, a large basket for holding or carrying grain or ears of 
 corn in. Varr. i. 52. 
 
 Crates (whence our crate), a hurdle. It was sometimes a kind 
 of open mat, being made of straw, fern, sedge, or flags. Colum. xii. 
 15. These however seem rather to have been so named from ana- 
 logy ; their use was by being placed at an angle (like a roof) over 
 the figs when set to dry, to protect them from the night-dew or the 
 rain. The ordinary crates was used for harrowing the ground after 
 ploughing or after sowing, for which purpose it was frequently 
 toothed (dentata), that is, furnished with wooden or iron teeth or 
 pins. Plin. xviii. 20. It was drawn by men, for the ancients did 
 not harrow their ploughed land with horses or oxen. From the 
 mention of the teeth-we may infer that it was like our bush-harrow, 
 a frame of wood with bushes or branches twined through it. 
 These were, it would appear, usually arbutus-boughs. Geor. i. 166. 
 Culter. See Vomer. 
 
 Dentale, or Dens, e'Xu/na, the share-beam or share-head : a piece 
 of wood fixed horizontally on the lower end of the buris, and to 
 which the share was fitted. In some cases the dentale was itself 
 shod with iron. It is not certain whether it was one solid piece of 
 timber, with a space to admit the end of the buris, or two pieces 
 
356 TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 
 
 fastened on each side of it and running to a point ; the former seems 
 the more probable, and the duplici dorso of Virgil may only allude to 
 its position as on each side of the buris, and its support of the two 
 aures. The plural dentalia is used by this poet in speaking of one 
 plough, but it is probably nothing more than a usual poetic licence. 
 Hesiod directs the dentale to be made of oak. 
 
 Dolabra. This implement was apparently somewhat like our 
 mattock ; for it was used in cutting the roots of trees and in digging 
 the ground or levelling walls, etc. Afros cum dolabris ad subruendum 
 ab imo murum mittit, Liv. xxi. 11. Glebae omnes do labris dissipandae 
 sunt, Pallad. ii. 3. Nee minus dolabra qtcam vomere bubulcus utatur 
 (i. e. for grubbing and for cutting away roots). Colum. ii. 11. 
 
 Falx, bpenavov, hook. Under this word were included all kinds 
 of cutting implements of the hook-form, from the sithe to the pru- 
 ning-hook. The reaping-hook was called in Campania secula (whence 
 our sickle). Varro, L. L. v. 137. 
 
 The falx vinitoria, as described by Columella (iv. 25), is just the 
 same as the one used at the present day in Tuscany, being much of 
 the form of our bill-hook, having like it the back formed into a small 
 hatchet, but in a half-moon ; those that we saw at Albano, near 
 Rome, were precisely like that in the hand of the image of the god 
 Saturn. Columella says that the straight part next the handle was 
 named culter, the curved part sinus, that next it scalprurn., and the 
 hooked extremity rostrum : the apex of the half-moon hatchet was 
 called mucro. Each of these parts had its separate and distinct use 
 in the work of pruning. 
 
 Fiscella, Fiscei.lus, Fiscinus, raXapos, TaXapicKos : a small 
 basket, formed sometimes of willows, sometimes of rushes, or such 
 like ; the former was used for carrying grapes, the latter for making 
 cheese. Time fiscella levi detexta est vimine junci, Baroque per 
 nexus est via facta sero : Tibull. ii. 3, 15. Baskets put on the oxen 
 when ploughing, by way of muzzles, were also named fiscellae : 
 Cato, 54. 
 
 Fundus, farm, estate. The Roman fundus (like the Italian 
 fodei-e) was a quantity of land with a house and farm-buildings on 
 it, and which was a man's own estate. If there were no buildings 
 on it, it was an ager. Florentinus Dig. leg. 211. 
 
 Ixoculatio, or Emplastratio, evocpBaXiapLos. This process, 
 which our gardeners call inoculation or budding, was performed in 
 the following manner by the ancients. Having selected a bud on a 
 clean and healthy bough of the tree from which they wished to pro- 
 pagate, they raised off two square inches of the bark round it, so that 
 
TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 357 
 
 the bud should be exactly in the centre. They then took off an equal 
 space of the bark from a healthy bough of the tree, which they had 
 selected for inoculation, and put in its place the bark containing the 
 bud, taking care that the edges of the two barks should join and fit 
 accurately to each other. When this was done, they bound the 
 whole, leaving the bud free, covered the binding with moist clay and 
 left it so for three weeks. They also cut away the shoots and branch 
 above the bud, that they might not draw away the sap. Cato, 42 ; 
 Colum.v. 11. Our gardeners bud nearly in the same way, but in a 
 simpler manner. It was chiefly the olive and the fig that the ancients 
 budded. Pliny (xvii. 14) speaks of a more ancient kind of inocula- 
 tion, by opening a bud with an instrument like a shoemaker's awl, 
 and inserting a semen (bud ?) taken from another tree with the same 
 implement. 
 
 Insitio, eficfivreia, grafting. The ancients employed the two 
 modes of grafting which we term crown- and cleft-grafting. In 
 performing the former, they sawed off the head of the plant on 
 which they were to make the graft, taking care not to injure the 
 bark, and then with a sharp knife made the sawn place quite smooth 
 and even. They then inserted a thin wedge of iron or bone to the 
 depth of three fingers between the bark and the wood. Having 
 done this, they took the shoot which they wished to insert and 
 pared it down on one side to the length of three fingers, taking care 
 not to injure the pith or the bark on the other side. They then 
 drew out the wedge and put the shoot in its place, keeping the bark 
 outside. The process was repeated for as many shoots as they 
 wished to insert ; the whole was then bound up and covered with 
 moist clay. Sometimes they made cuts with a saw in the trunk, 
 and having made them perfectly smooth with a small knife, inserted 
 the shoots in them. In cleft -grafting they cut a young tree down 
 to within a foot and a half of the ground, and having smoothed the 
 surface as before, they cleft it to the depth of three fingers and put 
 a wedge into it. They then pared down two shoots in a wedge- 
 form to the length of three fingers, taking care not to jag or break 
 the bark on the sides ; and having put them in, one at each end of 
 the cleft, with their outer bark corresponding with that of the tree, 
 they drew out the wedge and bound up the tree and heaped the 
 earth about it as high as the graft. Cato, 41 ; Colum. v. 11. There 
 was another mode of grafting vines, namely by boring a hole 
 obliquely in them with an auger, and fixing in it a branch from 
 another vine. Cato, 41 ; Colum. iv. 29 ; Plin. xvii. 15. Cato also di- 
 rects to take the shoot's of two contiguous vines, and to cut the ends 
 
358 TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 
 
 off them obliquely and then to splice them as it were together, and 
 when they had coalesced to cut off the one which was to be grafted 
 on the other. 
 
 Columella (ut supra) says that the old agriculturists maintained 
 that it was only trees that had a similar bark and fruit that could 
 be grafted on each other, and the universal experience of the mo- 
 derns is to the same effect. Yet he asserts that this is an error, and 
 that every kind of shoot can be grafted on every kind of tree, and he 
 gives as an example a method of grafting an olive on a fig-tree. 
 Palladius in like manner, in his poetic fourteenth book De Insi- 
 tione, enumerates a number of strange grafts, passing the skill of 
 any modern gardener. As however the ancients had no mode of 
 grafting which is not well known to the moderns, and as trees can- 
 not have changed their nature, we must reject these accounts. Nei- 
 ther Columella nor Palladius says that he had seen any of these 
 extraordinary grafts performed. 
 
 Irpex, apirayq. Varro (L. L. v. 136) and Festus (s. v.) describe 
 this implement as a kind of iron rake, or a board or bar (regula) 
 with some teeth in it, which was drawn by oxen for the purpose of 
 eradicating weeds in land. The Italian term for harrow (erpice) is 
 derived from it ; but it is plain that it did not correspond with the 
 modern harrow, as it does not seem to have been employed in tilling 
 the land with the plough. It was used perhaps, as we use our 
 harrow on meadow-land, to eradicate moss, etc. 
 
 Iteratio, repetition. It is used of aratio, occatio, and sarritio, 
 to express the repetition of these operations. 
 
 Jugum, (yyos, yoke. This was a piece of wood, straight in the 
 middle and curved toward the ends, which was attached to the end 
 of the pole of the plough or cart, and went over the necks of the 
 oxen, which drew by means of it. It was by the neck the oxen 
 drew : see Aratio. The yoke is still employed by our Sussex farmers. 
 The ancients also used the yoke in carriages drawn by horses or 
 mules, but the draught must have been by traces, and the yoke 
 have only served to keep them close to the pole. According to 
 Virgil (Geor. i. 173) the jugum was made of the wood of the lime- 
 tree, or perhaps of beech. Jugum was also used to express the 
 cross-pieces in the vine-espaliers. 
 
 Lab rum, a pan. It was made of potter's clay, sometimes of 
 stone. Columella (xii. 15) says that figs were sometimes trodden 
 like dough in labris before they were packed in jars. 
 
 Li go. The ancients have left us no description of this imple- 
 ment It is only therefore by examining the passages of the classics 
 
TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 359 
 
 in which it occurs, that we may expect to be able to form an idea 
 of it :— 
 
 " Nee dubitem longis purgare ligonibus arva." — Ov. Ex P. i. 8, 59. 
 
 " Cum benejWafipulsarant arva ligones." — Id. Am. iii. 10, 31. 
 
 '* Abacta nulla Veia conscientia 
 Ligonibus duris humum 
 Exhauriebat, ingemens laboribus, 
 
 Quo posset infossus puer," etc. — Hor. Epod. 5, 29. 
 
 " et tamen urgues 
 
 Jampridem non tacta ligonibus arva." — Hor. S. i. 14, 26. 
 
 " jam fakes avidis et aratra caminis 
 
 Rastraque et incurvi saevum rubuere ligones." — 
 
 Stat. Th. iii. 588. 
 " Centeno gelidum ligone Tibur 
 Vel Praeneste domata." — Martial, iv. 64, 32. 
 
 "Mox bene cum glebis vivacem cespitis herbam 
 
 Contundat marrae velfracti dente ligonis." — Colum. x. 88. 
 
 The ligo was therefore an implement with a long handle, a curved 
 blade {dens), and it was raised and struck into the ground. It was 
 used in breaking the surface of the soil, and many were employed 
 for that purpose at the same time, and also for making holes in the 
 ground. It therefore must have been a kind of pickaxe, and was 
 probably the same as the Italian marrone. Columella, as we see, 
 directs the gardener to use a ligo of which the blade was broken for 
 crushing the clods. 
 
 Lira. See Porca. 
 
 Malleolus, a cutting or shoot employed for propagating the vine. 
 Columella (iii. 6) says it is a young shoot grown from a shoot of the 
 preceding year. When taking it, the old shoot was cut, and a por- 
 tion of it left at each side of the bottom of the young shoot, which 
 thus presented the appearance of a little hammer, whence its name. 
 
 Marra. The marra used by the Italian peasantry of the present 
 day is a kind of pickaxe or mattock, and in the Italian language the 
 flukes of an anchor are called marre. This was therefore most pro- 
 bably the form of the ancient marra. Columella (x. 72) calls it 
 broad (lata), and (v. 89) he directs it to be used for breaking clods. 
 Pliny (xviii. 16) speaks of cutting lucerne when three years old close 
 to the ground marris, and in another almost unintelligible place 
 (xvii. 21) he mentions it as used with other implements in making 
 trenches in a vinevard. 
 
360 TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 
 
 Merga. See Messis. 
 
 Merges. " Mergites fasces culmorurn spicas habentium, quas 
 raetentes brachiis sinistris complectuntur ; quidam cavos vocant." 
 Phylarg. on Geor. ii. 517- Fasces is here i. q. manipulos (Spdy- 
 fiara) : see the place of Varro quoted v. Messis, and the place of 
 Eustathius, ibid, ad fin. 
 
 Messis, 6epi<rfi6s (v. Meto, afxaco, Bepifa), reaping, harvest. 
 Varro says (i. 50) that they reaped in three ways in Italy. One 
 was to cut the straw close to the ground with a hook or sickle, and 
 then to go over what had been cut down, and taking off the heads, 
 put them into a basket and send them to the area, leaving the straw 
 to be gathered to the acervus. This was the mode in Umbria. In the 
 vicinity of Rome they used to cut the straw in the same manner, but 
 in the middle, and put the ears, with the straw that was attached 
 to them, into the basket. The third mode he describes thus : — 
 " Ligneum habent incurvum batillum in quo sit extremo serrula fer- 
 rea. Haec cum comprehendit fascem spicarum desecat et stramenta 
 stantia in segete relinquit." The batillum was properly an iron pan 
 used for carrying live coal and other hot things : see Hor. S. i. 5, 36 ; 
 and the implement which Varro describes must have been of the 
 same form, its use being to receive the ears of corn as they were cut 
 off by the serrula. This we must conceive to have had a number of 
 long teeth, in form like those of an eel-spear, and turning back a 
 little so as to throw the ears, as they were cut, into the batillum. 
 The reaper pushed the implement before him, against the standing 
 corn, and when the batillum was full he emptied it into the basket. 
 Pliny (ut sup.) and Palladius (vii. 2) describe an implement on the 
 same principle, but on a much larger scale, which was used in the 
 Gauls. It was mounted on two wheels, and was propelled by an 
 ox, who was yoked in a pair of shafts behind ; the reaper regulated 
 the machine, elevating or lowering it according to the height of the 
 corn. Columella, after mentioning the cutting with a hook (ii. 21), 
 adds, "Multi mergis alii pectinibus spicam ipsam legunt;" and 
 Pliny (ut sup.) says, " Stipulae alibi mediae falce praeciduntur, 
 atque inter duas mergites spica distringitur." 
 
 No one has yet succeeded in explaining these passages. The 
 merga and the merges are supposed to be the same, and Festus de- 
 fines the merga to be a fork used for raising the handfuls of cut 
 corn. Pliny says the pecten was used for gathering the pods of 
 panic or millet, the halm of which, he says, was of little or no use. 
 
 It is remarkable that, both in the East and in Greece, the corn 
 was bound in sheaves (dp.6Xkai), as with us. Sheaves are often 
 
TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 361 
 
 spoken of in the Bible, ex. gr. Gen. xxxvii. 7 ; and in Homer we meet 
 the following reaping-scene : — 
 
 'Ei/ 6' iridet refievos (SaOvkrjiov' ev6a 8' epiOoi 
 
 rjpcov, 6£eias hpeirdvas iv xep(rii> e'xovres. 
 
 dpdypara 6° aWa per oypov e7rr)Tpifj.a ttltttov epa£e, 
 
 aXXa 8' dpaWoderrjpes iv iWedavoiai deovro. 
 
 rpets 8' ap dpaWoderripes icpeoraaav' avrap omcrOe 
 
 7rai8es dpaypevovres, iv dyKaXidecrcri (pipovres, 
 
 dcnrepxes irdpexov. — II. xviii. 550. 
 
 On this Eustathius notes : dpaWrj, to vtt dyKaXrj crvpnUapa tcdv 
 dpaypdrcov' dpdXkiov 8e, vypiviov co ras dpdWas, o eVrt to. dpdypara 
 tg>v araxvcov, idecrpovv' dpaXkoberrjpes Se, ol ras dpdXXas t&v dpay- 
 ftarcov decrpovvres. 
 
 Novalis ager, or Novale. By this we find two kinds of land 
 indicated. The one was unbroken grass-land. Cum agricola quam 
 maxime subacto et puro solo gaudeat, pastor novali graminosoque, 
 Colum. vi. praef. Tale fere est in novalibus caesa veterisilva, Plin. 
 xvii. 5. The other, land that was tilled and let to rest alternately. 
 Qui intermittitur, a novando novalis, Varr. L. L. v. 39. Novale est 
 quod alternis amis seritur, Plin. xviii. 19. 
 
 Nubilarium. This was a shed or building erected close to the 
 area. Its use was for protecting the corn, previous to its being 
 threshed, from the weather (Colum. ii. 21); or, if during the threshing 
 rain or storm came on, to receive the threshed or unthreshed corn. 
 Varr. i. 13 ; Colum. i. 6 ; Pall. i. 36. 
 
 Occatio, (v.occo) covering in (Pall.vi.4) or breaking. The occatio 
 of the Romans was nearly equivalent to our harrowing, but it was 
 done by hand, either with the hurdle or the rake. Pliny (xviii. 20) 
 says that after the cross-ploughing, the land, if it required it, should 
 get an occation with the hurdle or rake ; though Columella (ii. 4) 
 says that the Romans of the old time held that land to be badly 
 tilled that required it. An occation after the seed was sown was 
 given in a particular case : see SEMENTrs. The proper meaning of 
 occo seems to be to pulverise or break up ; hence Varro (i. 21) says 
 it is i. q. occido ; but Cicero (De Sen. 15), regarding it as covering 
 in, makes it i. q. occaeco. 
 
 Olea, or Oliva, iXaia, the olive-tree. Oletum, or Olivetum, 
 iXaiaiv, an olive-ground. The ancients cultivated the olive in the 
 following manner. They dug well to the depth of three feet 
 the place intended for the seminarium or nursery ; they then took 
 clean healthy branches of their olive-trees, about as thick as could 
 
 R 
 
362 TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 
 
 "be grasped in the hand, and sawed them into truncheons or lengths, 
 (taleas, truncos) of about eighteen inches each, taking care not 
 to injure the bark, and paring the ends smooth and marking them 
 in order that the lower end might be put into the ground. This 
 end was then daubed with a mixture of dung and wood-ashes, and 
 the pieces were set at a depth of four fingers, i. e. three inches, in the 
 ground. During the first two years the land was kept constantly 
 hoed, but the plants were not touched ; in the third year all the 
 "branches but two were cut off; in the fourth year the weaker of 
 these two was removed ; in the fifth year they were transplanted 
 into the future olive-ground, and set in holes which had been dug 
 the year before. The rows in which they were set were to run east 
 and west, that the healthy west-wind might have free access to them. 
 If the land was rich and was intended for tillage, they were to be 
 sixty feet asunder, and the spaces between the plants forty feet. If 
 the land was poor and unfit for corn, the rows were only twenty or 
 five-and-twenty feet apart. Grains of barley were spread under the 
 plants in the holes, and gravel mixed with clay and a little dung was 
 put about them. The ground was to be ploughed at least twice a 
 year, and the soil about the plants to be stirred with the bidens. 
 After the autumnal equinox they were to be ablaqueated like the 
 vines. Every third year they were to be dunged, and after some 
 years (generally the eighth) to be pruned; for there was an old saying, 
 to wit, eicm qui aret olivetiini rogare fructum ; qui stercoret exorare ; 
 qui caedat cogere. It was also necessary to keep the trees clean and 
 free from moss, and to dress them occasionally with amurca and 
 urine; Colum. v. 9. Pall, ill - IS. Columella enumerates ten different 
 kinds of olives, of which three are mentioned by Virgil, Geor. ii. 86. 
 
 Oleum, Tkaiov, oil. The ancients made their oil in the following 
 manner. The olives were to be gathered if possible with the hand, 
 and with the bare hand in preference to with gloves. Those that 
 could not be come at with the hand were to be beaten down, but 
 ■with reeds rather than with poles, as being less likely to injure the 
 tree : the beaters were to avoid striking the fruit. The time of 
 gathering the olives was when they began to turn black ; usually 
 about the beginning of December. They were to be put into the 
 press as soon as possible ; meanwhile they were to be laid up in sepa- 
 rate compartments of a repository in a kind of baskets, so that some 
 portion of the amurca might disengage itself and run off. The olives 
 were to be put in new baskets (fiscinis), and so to be put into the 
 press and pressed gently. What ran off was to be received in a 
 round pan (labrum), whence it was to be transferred to earthen vessels. 
 
TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 363 
 
 The olives were then to be pressed a second time, and with more 
 force, and what ran off to be received in a second set of vessels ; and 
 then a third time, and the fluid received in other vessels. Great 
 care was to be taken that the vessels and everything connected with 
 the operation should have been well-washed and scoured, and should 
 be perfectly clean. It was also of great importance not to break 
 the stones (nuclei) of the olives, as this would give the oil a bad taste. 
 Columella directs that there should be thirty vessels in each set for 
 the transference of the oil from one to the other, in order to free it 
 from the amurca. If in consequence of the cold the oil did not 
 readily separate from the amurca, they added salt or nitron, which 
 combined with and precipitated the latter without affecting the oil. 
 The vessels in which the oil, when perfectly purified, was kept were 
 to be either of glass or of potter's ware, varnished with wax or gum 
 that the oil might not exude. 
 
 Opilio (quasi Ovilio ; in the poets upilio, with the u long for the 
 sake of the metre), Troi\ir\v, shepherd. Under the term pastor were 
 included the opilio and the caprarius. 
 
 Pala. This implement appears to have been a spade and shovel 
 combined, for it was strong like the former for digging, and broad 
 like the latter for throwing up the earth. Its head was of course 
 iron: Colum. x. 45. Cato (c. 11) mentions palas ligneas. These were 
 probably wooden shovels, like those used in our mills and granaries, 
 and employed in winnowing the corn ; for Tertullian (De Prae- 
 script. 3) renders the tttvov of the Gospel (Mat. hi. 12) by pala. 
 
 Palea (whence paglia It., paille Fr.), chaff. This term was in- 
 clusive, not merely of the integument of the grain, but also of the 
 short straw that was cut with the ear. 
 
 Pampinatio, /3AacrroXoyta, the clearing away of the young shoots 
 (pampini) and leaves of the vines in the summer-time. 
 
 Pastinatio (v. pastino), the act of digging the land with a spade, 
 etc., especially land destined for the formation of a vineyard. 
 
 Pastinum, a dibble. It was of iron and forked, and chiefly used 
 for setting the malleoli of vines. 
 
 Pastor, 7TOL[xrj^, vojievs, shepherd. The pastor of the Romans was 
 the person who had charge of the sheep and goats belonging to 
 the farm. As the word signifies feeder, Varro (iii. 6) has pastor 
 pavonum and (iii. 7) p- columbarius. Pastor was also used like our 
 word grazier, as opposed to the arator or tillage-farmer. Varr. ii. 1 ; 
 Colum. vi. praef. 
 
 Pecus, -oris, andPECiis, -udis. It is not easy to distinguish between 
 these words ; but the former seems rather, like our word cattle, to 
 
 r2 
 
364? TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 
 
 include a number of the same kind, — the latter, like our beast, to 
 signify the individual ; but this distinction is little attended to by- 
 ancient writers. Pecus is most frequently used of small cattle, sheep, 
 goats and swine, and armentum of large cattle, oxen, horses and asses. 
 
 Plaustrum, or Plostrum, afiaga, cart or wagon. It was drawn 
 by a yoke or pair of oxen, mules or asses : Cato 62. It must have 
 been four-wheeled, as the cattle were always yoked abreast. Its 
 wheels, as would appear from Virgil (Geor. ii. 444), were solid, not 
 spoked. 
 
 Porca, or Lira, a ridge or drill. Quod est inter duos sulcos, elata 
 terra, dicitur porca, Varr. i. 29. For the breadth of the porca, 
 see Sementis. 
 
 Pratum (quasi paratum, Varr. i. 7), Xeifiav, meadow. The pratum 
 was more usually laid-down land, than land with natural grass. 
 Colum. ii. 17- 
 
 Propagatio, propagation by layers (propagines). This was used 
 in a great variety of trees and shrubs (Cato 51, 133), but chiefly in 
 the vine. Columella (De Arb. 7) directs it to be done in the follow- 
 ing manner. A hole four feet every way was to be dug close to the 
 parent plant, in order that no roots of any other might interfere with 
 the layer. A shoot was then to be bent down into this hole ; in the 
 part of it that was to be covered with earth four buds were left to 
 throw out roots, and all those on the part between this and the parent 
 were taken off. The end of the shoot, with two or at most three 
 buds, was left above-ground. In the third year it was separated 
 from the parent plant. Another method was to lay an entire vine. 
 For this purpose it was requisite to dig carefully all round the root 
 of the vine, so as to loosen without injuring it. A trench was then 
 to be dug of the length of the vine, in which it was laid down, and 
 smaller cuts made at each side to receive its branches. The whole 
 was then covered with clay, the ends of the branches being, we may 
 suppose, left overground. Cato mentions another ordinary- mode 
 of propagation, namely passing a shoot up through a basket or a 
 pot, whose bottom was perforated (like our flowerpots), and then 
 filling the vessel with clay and leaving it on the tree. After two 
 years the shoot having struck in the pot, it might be separated from 
 the parent by cutting it below the pot and be planted out. 
 
 Propago, a layer. 
 
 Rastelltjm, dim. of Rastrum. This answered more nearly to our 
 rake. Varro (i. 49) desires what hay remained on the meadow to 
 be gathered rastellis and added to the mow. On the other hand, 
 Suetonius (Ner. 19), when describing how Nero commenced the 
 
TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 365 
 
 canal across the Isthmus of Corinth, says, Primus rastello humum 
 effodit, et corbulae congestion humeris extulit. But the rastrum and 
 the rastellum are frequently confounded. 
 
 Rastrum, a rake. The Roman rastrum seems to have been an 
 implement of somewhat similar nature with the bidms, for its teeth 
 were of iron and it was used in turning up the soil, if the language 
 of poets may be relied on ; see Virgil, J£n. vii. 725 ; ix. 608. Seneca 
 (De Ira ii. 25) says, Cum vidisset fodientem et altius rastrum alle- 
 vantem. Cato speaks of rastra with four teeth, and that was pro- 
 bably the usual number. It must have been heavy, or Virgil could 
 not have said (Geor. i. 164) iniquo pondere rastri. There were also 
 wooden rakes, for Columella (ii. 11) directs such to be used for 
 covering lucerne. 
 
 Restibilis ager, land that was sown every year. Ager restibi- 
 lis qui restituittcr et reseritur quotquot annis, Varr. L. L. v. 39. 
 
 Runcatio, fioravio-fAos, iroao-pos (v. runco, ^oravi^co, Trodfa), 
 weeding, extirpating weeds, briars, etc. This was done in some cases 
 with the hand, in others with the hoe or other implements, ac- 
 cording to circumstances. 
 
 Rutrum, o-Kandw], dim. Rutellum. This implement seems to 
 come nearer to our shovel than any other that we find mentioned 
 by the ancients. It was used for mixing mortar (Vitruv. vii. 3), 
 and for stirring various kinds of mixtures and composts. Cato, 37, 
 128 ; Plin. xxxvi. 23. It was also used for digging, and probably, 
 like the pala, answered for both spade and shovel. Varro's deriva- 
 tion of it from ruo seems probable. 
 
 Sarculum, o-KaWs, fACLKeWa, a hoe. There can be little doubt 
 as to this implement, as everything said about it corresponds with 
 our hoe. We make it synonymous with the Greek [xdiceXXa (i. e. 
 fiia-KeWa, from KeXXo), because Hesiod C'Epy. 469 seq.) describes 
 it as used for occating or covering in the seed after the plough : — 
 
 6 be tvtOos 0Txi<jBev 
 
 dfiwos eyjj&v fiaKeXrjv ttovov opviOeaai TiQzir], 
 aneppa KaTaKpimrcov. 
 
 Homer (II. xxi. 259) has a peasant opening a channel for water 
 to his garden with the pdiceWa, in which case we should use a 
 spade, but the ancients used their large hoe for this purpose. 
 
 The dUeWa has evidently the same relation to it that the bidens 
 has to the sarculum. This last implement is called in Italian zappa 
 when large, zappetta when small. 
 
366 TERMS OP HUSBANDRY. 
 
 Sarritio, o-Ka\eia, aicaXevo-is, k.t.A. (v. sarrio, cricaXkco), hoeing, 
 in order to remove weeds and put earth up to plants. 
 
 Scamnum, a balk or part of the earth left untouched in plough- 
 ing : see Aratio. 
 
 Scrobs, a hole, dug to receive vines or other plants when they 
 were to be put out. 
 
 Seges, corn-land or corn-field, also the growing corn. 1. Seges 
 dicitur quod aratum satum est, Varr. i. 29. Stramenta relinquunt in 
 segete, Id. i. 50. Segetes agricolae subigunt aratris multo ante quam 
 serant, Cic. ap. Nonium. Virg. Geor. i. 47 ; ii. 267 ; iv. 129. 2. Si in 
 articulum seges ire coeperit runcare ne herbae vincant, Colum. ii. 12. 
 Quae seges grandissima atque optima fuerit, seorsim in aream secerni 
 oportet spicas, ut semen optimum habeat, Varr. i. 52. See on Ec. ix. 
 48. Seges may come from seco. 
 
 Sementis, o-Ttopos, sowing. It differs from satio, which is the 
 general term, inclusive of planting. The Romans sowed their corn 
 in the following manner :--The land having been ploughed two or 
 three times, and laid quite level, and the lumps, if any, broken with 
 the crates or the rostrum, the seed was sown over it with the hand, 
 out of a basket, just as we do. The aures, or mould-boards, were 
 then put to the plough, and the ploughman opened the first furrow. 
 At the end of it he put the plough again into the ground, but at 
 such a distance as that one of the oxen might walk in the furrow 
 already made, while the other was on the sown land. By this 
 means what we may term a two-sod ridge was formed between the 
 two furrows, containing all the seed sown on the land occupied by 
 itself and by one half of each furrow. The process was continued 
 till the whole field had been ridged and all the corn covered. This 
 is called sowing under the plough ; and at the present day it is con- 
 sidered one of the best modes of sowing corn. The Romans chiefly 
 used it in their moist lands, while if the land was dry they preferred 
 sowing in the furrow. In this mode they ridged the land first in 
 the manner just described, and then sowed the seed, which of course 
 fell into the furrows, or on the sides of the ridges. The clay 
 from the tops of the ridges was then brought down on it with rakes, 
 or by drawing hurdles across them. The corn therefore grew in 
 the furrow, and had the advantage of all the moisture caused by 
 rain or irrigation. It is plainly of this mode of covering the seed 
 that Virgil speaks, Geor. i. 104. Mr. Dickson, who alone seems to 
 have understood this passage rightly, observes (i. 518), that Colu- 
 mella (ii. 4) uses cumulus for the crown or top of the ridge. 
 
TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 367 
 
 Seminarium, a nursery, a place where young plants were 
 reared. 
 
 Stiva, ixerXrj, the plough-tail or handle. The stiva was usually 
 morticed into the buris, but it sometimes formed one piece with it. 
 It had a cross-piece named manicula, by which the ploughman held 
 and directed the plough. Varr. L. L. v. 135 : see Aratrum. The 
 plough with the stiva, or single handle, may still be seen in this 
 country, namely in Norfolk and Huntingdonshire. 
 
 Stolo, a sucker, or shoot growing up from the roots of a tree. 
 The extirpation of the stolones was a point of good husbandry. The 
 first of the family of the Stolones, in the Licinian gens, was said to 
 have derived his cognomen from his diligence in this respect. Varr. 
 i. 2. 
 
 Sulc t js, avXa£, oXkos, a furrow. Qua aratrum vomere lacunam 
 striamfacit sulcus vocatur, Varr. i. 29. Virgil and the rural writers 
 use sulcus for a trench ; Pliny (xix. 4) also for the alleys in a gar- 
 den. Sulcus aquarius, in Columella (ii. 8), is a water-cut. Sulcus 
 is also used for aratio. Semina quae quarto sulco seruntur, Colum. 
 ii. 13. Spissius solum quint o sulco seri melius est, in Tuscisvero nono, 
 Plin. xviii. 20. 
 
 Surculus (dim. of surus), a shoot, a sucker. It was chiefly 
 used of the shoots that were taken for grafting. 
 
 Talea, a truncheon, i. e. a branch, of which the two ends were 
 cut off and it then was planted out. The olive, myrtle, willow and 
 mulberry were thus propagated. Plin. xvii. 17 ; Colum. iv. 31. 
 
 Temo, pv/xos, the pole. The temo was a part of the plough, as 
 well as of a cart or carriage. The yoke was fastened to the end of 
 it, and by means of it the oxen drew. According to Virgil the temo 
 of a plough was to be eight feet long ; and Hesiod C'Epy. 435) says 
 it should be of elm or bay. See Aratrum. 
 
 Tjraha, or Trahea, an implement for threshing out corn. It 
 seems to have differed but little from the tribulum. 
 
 Tribulum, to. rpifioXa, a threshing-sledge. Fit e tabula lapidi- 
 bus aut ferro asperata, quo imposito auriga aut ponder e grandi tralii- 
 tur jumentis junctis ut discutiat e spica grana, Varr. i. 52. This 
 writer then mentions another kind made ex assibus dentatis cum or- 
 biculis, quod vocant plostellum poenicum. One of these was perhaps 
 the traha. The tribulum {trebbio, It., trillo, Sp.) is still used in the 
 East, in Spain, and in the south of Italy. See Tritura. 
 
 Tritura, dXorjo-Ls (v. tero, dXoidco), threshing. The ancients 
 had different methods of threshing their grain. We must previously 
 observe that they did not, like us, bring the straw also to the 
 
368 TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 
 
 threshing-floor, but only the ears, or the ears and a small portion 
 of the straw : see Messis. One mode was to put their mares or 
 oxen in on the area, and driving them round and round over the 
 ears of corn that were spread on it, thus by their trampling separate 
 the grain from the hull. When they had not a sufficient number of 
 cattle for this purpose, they yoked some of those they had to the 
 implements named tribula and trahae, and thus threshed the corn 
 by driving round and round. In some cases they beat out the corn 
 baculis or fustibus (Colum. ii. 21) ; but whether these were the same 
 as our flails, or were only sticks, we cannot determine. In the two 
 former modes we should suppose that the corn must have been 
 greatly bruised ; for even the iron-shod shoes of our peasantry do 
 so to some extent. The threshing was performed in the heat of the 
 day ; see on Geor. i. 298. 
 
 Truncus, i. q. Talea : see Colum. De Arb. 17- 
 Vanga. This word signifies a spade in the language of modern, 
 and therefore probably of ancient, Italy. Palladius alone mentions 
 it (i. 43). 
 
 Vannus (whence our fan, and perhaps winnow), XiKfios, \Lkvov, an 
 implement used in winnowing corn. Servius (Geor. i. 166) calls it 
 cribrwm areale, and Apuleius says (Met. 11), Vannos onustas aromatis 
 et hujusmodi suppliciis certatim congerunt : it therefore was plainly 
 some kind of sieve or basket. If there has been no wind for several 
 days, says Columella (ii. 21), vannis expurgentur (frumenta) ne post 
 nimiam ventorum segnitiem vasta tempestas irritum faciat totius anni 
 laborem. This could only have been done when there was no wind, 
 "by agitating the corn in a sieve or basket, in which the chaff would 
 collect on the surface, whence it might be removed by the hand. 
 Columella also says (ib.), Ipsae autem spicae melius fustibus tun- 
 duntur, vannisque expurgantur, which shows that in ordinary cases it 
 was only when there was no straw mixed with the corn that the 
 vannus was used. 
 
 Vellera serum, Geor. ii. 121. It is generally believed that by 
 this is meant the silk which was brought from the remote East 
 to Rome, and which the ancients in their ignorance supposed to be 
 a vegetable production, as is very plainly expressed in this verse of 
 Virgil. Pliny also saj^s (vi. 17), "Seres lanicio silvarum nobiles, 
 perfusam aqua depectentes frondium canitiem ; unde geminus feminis 
 nostris labor, redordiendi fila rursumque texendi ; " by which last 
 words he is thought to mean, that when the thick silken cloths of 
 the East were brought to Europe, the threads which composed them 
 were untwisted and the silk woven over again into thinner webs. 
 
TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 369 
 
 Solinus, who always follows Pliny, says (ch. 53), " Qui aquarum 
 aspergine inundatis frondibus vellera arborum adminiculo depectant 
 liquoris, et Ianuginis teneram subtilitatem humore domant ad obse- 
 quium." Ammianus Marcellinus, speaking of the Seres, says (xxiii. 6), 
 " et abunde silvae sublucidae ; a quibus arborum fetus, aquarum 
 asperginibus crebris, velut quaedam vellera molientes, ex lanugine et 
 liquore mistam subtilitatem tenerrimam pectunt, nentesque subte- 
 mina conficiunt Sericum." At the present day some dip the cocoons, 
 as they are called, of the silk-worm into warm water, in order to 
 wind off the silk with greater ease. The Seres would seem to have 
 been the Chinese (at least to have included them), for Mela (i. 2) 
 describes their country as lying in the extreme East between Scythia 
 and India, consequently on the eastern part of the Ocean, where 
 they are also placed by Dionysius. The mildness of manners and 
 aversion to strangers, which these writers ascribe to the Seres, also 
 accord with the Chinese. From what precedes it might appear that 
 the ancients had no idea of the real nature of silk, but such is not 
 the case ; for Pausanias (vi. 26) says that the threads (jutrot) of 
 which the Seres made garments were formed by a little animal 
 (£a>v<piov) which was larger than the largest beetle, but resembled 
 the spiders that spin their webs in the trees, and having eight legs 
 like them. These, he says, the Seres kept winter and summer in 
 boxes, feeding them on a kind of grain which he names eXvpos. 
 The thread which these animals span was found about their feet, 
 whence it was removed. At the end of four years they put them to 
 death. 
 
 The ancients were not totally unacquainted with the silkworm. 
 Aristotle, when treating of moths and butterflies (H. A. v. 19), says, 
 Ek fie twos o~ko>\t]KOS peydXov, os e^et olov Kepara Kai diacpepei raw 
 aXkav, yiverai npcoTOV p.eu perafHakovTOS tov (TKcSKrjK.09 Kaprnq, erreira 
 fSopfivkios, iit fie tovtov veKvdakos* iv e£ fie prjal /zera/3d\Xet ravras 
 Tas p.opcpas iracras. £k fie tovtov tov £coov kcu to. [SopfivKia dvakvovcri 
 tg)V yvvcuKoyv Tives avcnrqvi.£6p,evcu, KaVetra vcpaivovcriv' rrpaiTrj fie Ae- 
 yeTai vcpr)vai Iv Ka> HapcpiKt] EEXareco 6vya.Tr\p. This account is full 
 of difficulty ; for the caterpillar {Kapivrj) comes from an egg laid by 
 a moth ; its first change is into a chrysalis (xpvcrakls, veKvdaXos), 
 from which another moth (^^17) proceeds. Dalechamp therefore 
 proposed to make (SopfivXios and veKvdaXos change places, but that 
 is contrary to the MSS. Again, when our author elsewhere uses 
 PopftvKLa (v. 24), they are a kind of wasp or hornet, while here they 
 would seem to be the silkworms' webs. At all events it is plain 
 that the women of Cos obtained some kind of silk from insects. 
 
 R5 
 
370 TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 
 
 Pliny, when following this place of Aristotle (xi. 22), goes on thus 
 after necydalus : " Ex hoc in sex mensibus bombyx. Telas araneorum 
 modo texunt ad vestem luxumque feminarum, quae bombycina ap- 
 pellatur. Prima eas redordiri rursusque texere invenit Ceo (f. Coo), 
 mulier Pamphila Latoi filia;" for the greater part of which he had 
 little authority in his original. In his following chapter he proceeds 
 thus : " Bombycas et in Co insula nasci tradunt, cupressi, tere- 
 binthi, fraxini, quercus florem imbribus decussum terrae halitu ani- 
 mante. Fieri autem primo papiliones parvos nudosque, mox frigorum 
 impatientia villis inhorrescere et adversum hiemera tunicas sibi in- 
 staurare densas, pedum asperitate radentes foliorum lanuginem vel- 
 lere. Hanc ab his cogi unguium carminatione, mox trahi inter 
 ramos, tenuari ceu pectine. Postea apprehensam corpori involvi 
 nido volubili. Turn ab homine tolli fictilibusque vasis tepore et 
 furfurum esca nutriri, atque ita subnasci sui generis plumas [i. e. 
 alas], quibus vestitos ad alia pensa dimitti. Quae vero coepta sunt 
 lanificia humore lentescere, mox in fila tenuari junceo fuso." From 
 all that precedes (though the accounts are full of errors) it seems 
 plain, as we said above, that the ancients were not ignorant of silk 
 being an animal substance. It was probably a better kind of silk- 
 worm (the kind now reared), and the knowledge of the mulberry- 
 leaves being its proper food, that the monks brought from China in 
 the time of Justinian. 
 
 Ventilabrum, tttvov, a winnowing-shovel. Tertullian, as we have 
 seen (above p. 363), rendered tttvov by pala ; and Columella, when di- 
 recting how to winnow a heap of beans, says (ii. x.) paullatim ex eo 
 ventilabris per longius spatium jactetur. The ventilabrum was 
 therefore some kind of shovel, and that the tttvov was the same will 
 thus appear. Theocritus says (vii. 155) as eVi acopa Avdis iy&v 
 ira^aijxL fxcya tttvov, on which the scholiast observes, otov 8e Xinpatv- 
 rai kcu crcopevovaL t6v irvpov, Kara, peaov Trrjyvvovcri to tttvov, which 
 could only be true of a shovel or some such implement. The mode 
 of winnowing was by throwing the corn up into the air across the 
 wind with the ventilabrum, so that the wind might blow off the chaff. 
 Varro, i. 52 ; Schol. II. xiii. 588. Homer has two similes taken from 
 the operation of winnowing corn, which show that the mode was the 
 same in his days and in those of Varro and Columella : — 
 
 *Qs 6° avejxos a)(yas cpopeei lepas ko.t akcods, 
 dv8pa>v \iKpa>vrcov, ore re £av6rj Arjp.r]TT}p 
 Kpivei, iireiyopevcov dvep-cov, Kaprrov re kcu axvas* 
 al §' VTToXevKaivovTcii dxvppiai. — II. v. 499- 
 
TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 371 
 
 £Ls 6° or dnb nXareos Trrvocpiv peyaX-qv /car dXccfjv 
 6pdxTKco(Ti Kva/j.01 fxeXavoxpoes r) ipefiivOoi, 
 7rvoifj vtto Xiyvpfj kcu XcKprjrrjpos epcofj- — H. xiii. 58S. 
 
 Vervactum, fallowed land, land that was occasionally allowed 
 to rest. Varr. i. 44. Quod vere semel aratum est a temporis argu- 
 mento vervactum vocatur, Plin. xviii. 19. 
 
 Villicus, a bailiff or steward. The villiciis was usually a slave, 
 in whom his master had great confidence, and whom prudent mas- 
 ters always took care to have well-instructed in all branches of 
 agriculture. He was the locum-tenens and representative of the 
 master in the villa, whence his name. The whole management of 
 the farm was committed to him, as all the domestic economy was 
 to the villica, his contubernalis. See Cato, 5, 142 ; Colum. i. 8 ; 
 xi. 1; xii. 1. 
 
 Vindemia, Tpvyrjros (v. vindemio, rpvydco), the vintage. The 
 ancients had different modes of ascertaining when the grapes were 
 fit to gather. They sometimes plucked a single grape out of a 
 bunch, and if, after a day or two, its place remained unaltered, it 
 was a proof that the grapes had attained their full size and were fit 
 to be gathered. Or they squeezed a grape, and if the stones sprang 
 out of it clean, without any of the flesh adhering to them, the 
 grapes were ripe. But the best mode of judging was by the colour 
 of the stones, for if they were black the grapes were fit to gather. 
 The vintagers were then set to work, who pulled the grapes and 
 carried them in baskets to the wine- press : — 
 
 Trap0€VLKai 8e /ecu rjffleoi, araXct (ppoveovres, 
 
 ttXcktois iv raXdpoMTL cpepov peXirjSea Kapirov. — II. xviii. 56/*- 
 
 At the press the grapes were examined, and all the leaves and the 
 withered and the unripe bunches were carefully picked out. They 
 were then thrown into the press, into which the treaders went and 
 trod them till every grape was broken. The feet and legs of these 
 men were bare but clean ; and in addition to their ordinary clothing 
 they wore drawers, that their perspiration might not mix with the 
 juice of the grapes. This juice (niustum, yXevKos) was then put into 
 jars (dolia, tt'iOoi) to ferment. These jars were made of potter's clay, 
 and they seem to have been of nearly the form of the Spanish grape- 
 jars ; they were pitched inside, i. e. rubbed with a mixture of pitch, 
 wax, vetch- or wheat-meal, thus, and other substances. When, 
 placed in the wine-cellar, they were sunk to half their height in the 
 earth. The skins and stones (yinacea, <TTep.<pvXa) were put into 
 
372 TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 
 
 jars with water and pressed and squeezed, and the liquor that ran 
 from them (lor a, 6a\xva) was given to the slaves in lieu of wine ; 
 they were then thrown to the cattle, or put about the roots of the 
 vines. 
 
 Vinea, a/i7reXo>i>, the vineyard. The word is also used of the 
 single vine. Vines were planted either in a vinea or an arbustum : 
 of the former there were three kinds ; those in which the vines were 
 let to run along the ground, the branches when laden with fruit 
 being supported by little forked sticks ; those in which the vines 
 stood like trees without any support ; and those in which they were 
 supported and trained on espaliers. In these the upright pieces 
 (pedamenta) were from four to seven feet in height ; they were either 
 poles (pali), or clefts (ridicae), these last of oak or juniper; the 
 cross-pieces (juga) were either other poles (periicae), or reeds, or 
 ropes (restes). The branches and shoots of the vine were fastened 
 to these with rushes, broom, willows, etc. 
 
 When a vineyard was to be made, the ground was either all well 
 dug (pastinatum) , or a deep trench (sulcus) was made in which the 
 rows were to be set. The cuttings (malleoli) were reared in a 
 nursery (seminarium), and when they had struck well, i. e. were vi- 
 viradices, they were planted out in the vineyard in rows from five to 
 seven feet asunder. These rows and intervals were crossed at right- 
 angles by alleys, so that the w T hole vineyard was divided into plots 
 (horti, or hortuli, Virgil's antes), of each one hundred vines. The 
 ground immediately about the vines was cultivated with the bidens. 
 While the plants were 3-oung it was dug once a month from March 
 till October, care being taken to remove the weeds and grass. After 
 it had begun to bear, three diggings were thought sufficient ; one 
 before the vines budded, another before they blossomed, and a third 
 while the fruit was ripening. The intervals between the rows were 
 sometimes tilled with the plough. 
 
 Vomer, or Vomis, vwis, vvis, the ploughshare. This was made 
 of iron, and was fixed on the dentale. Pliny (xviii. 18) describes 
 four kinds of shares. The first, he says, was called culter, or knife ; it 
 was used in breaking strong land. His words are, " Culter vocatur 
 praedensam, prius quam proscindatur, terram secans, futurisque 
 sulcis vestigia praescribens incisuris, quas resupinus in arando mor- 
 deat vomer." Dickson (i. 385) thinks that this is a coulter similar to 
 our own, but Pliny expressly says it is a kind of share ; and as no 
 mention whatever of a coulter occurs in the ancient writers, and 
 there is none in the plough now in use (see Aratrum), we think that 
 the culter was a share with an upright knife rising from its point, 
 
TERMS OF HUSBANDRY. 373 
 
 which cut the sod which then the flat part of the share turned over. 
 This kind of share may be seen in some of our draining-ploughs. A 
 second kind, he says, was the " vulgare rostrati vectis," — that is, 
 was long and beaked, or pointed. The third, used in a light soil, 
 he says, did not stretch along the whole of the dentale, but " exigua 
 cuspide in rostro," sc. dentalis. He then describes a fourth kind, 
 somewhat like the first, lately invented, he says, in Raetia, and to 
 which the Gauls added two little wheels. 
 
 Urvum, i. q. Bums. It was so named, says Varro (L. L. v. 135) 
 from its curvature, a curvo. 
 
374 
 
 FLORA VIRGILIANA. 
 
 *** L. Linnaeus ; N. 0. Natural Order, in the system of Jussieu and 
 other botanists ; I. Italian ; F. French ; G. German. 
 
 Abies. (Abies L. ; Coniferae N. O.) 'EXott; ; Abete I. ; Sap in F. ; 
 Tanne G. Fir. This tree, with its dark-green leaves, like those of 
 the yew, though not one of our indigenous trees, is common in our 
 plantations. Virgil (Ec. ii. 66) describes it as growing on the 
 mountains. 
 
 Acanthus. — I. (1. A. spinosits, 2. A. mollis L. ; Acanthaceae 
 N. O.) "AicavOos ; Brancorsina I.; Acanthe branc-ursine F. ; Bae- 
 renklau G» Brank-ursine or Bear's-foot. — II. (Acacia Kilotica L. ; 
 Leguminosae N. O.). Acacia, in all modern languages. 
 
 The first, or brank-ursine, is spoken of by Virgil more than once. 
 He calls it mollis, Ec. iii. 45 ; ridens, iv. 20 ; flexus, Geor. iv. 123 ; 
 and croceus, Aen. i. 649. The word acanthus signifies thorn-bearing 
 or thorny (clkt), point, and avOos, flower), and hence we find it used 
 of plants which otherwise have not the slightest affinity. The 
 brank-ursine (so named by the Italians from the resemblance of its 
 leaves to a bear's foot) is thus correctly described by Dioscorides : 
 " It grows in pleasure-grounds (7rapa8eio-ois) and in stony and 
 moist places. Its leaves are much longer and broader than those of 
 the lettuce, and cleft like those of the rocket, blackish, smooth, and 
 soft. Its stem is two cubits long, smooth, and of the thickness of 
 one's finger, surrounded at intervals near the top with small, 
 longish, prickly leaves, from which rises the flower, which is white." 
 This is generally supposed to be the plant in its wild state (A. spi- 
 nosus L.), from which that of the gardens, without prickles (A. mol- 
 lis L.), has been derived by cultivation. This last was cultivated 
 by the Romans in their pleasure-grounds (Plin. xxii. 22), and Pliny 
 
FLORA VIRGILIANA. 375 
 
 the younger, when speaking of it as it grew in those of his Tuscan 
 villa (Ep. v. 6) terms it lubricus et flexuosus, and mollis et pene liqui- 
 dus, epithets according with those of Virgil. Flexus and flexuosus, 
 we may here observe, are not flexible ; they mean bent, and such is 
 the form of the acanthus-leaf, which hangs with a graceful bend. 
 In the same manner we are to understand the vimen acanthi of our 
 poet, Geor. iv. 123. 
 
 The second acanthus is thus mentioned by Virgil (Geor. ii. 119) 
 in conjunction with trees that are all natives of the East : baccas 
 semper frondentis acanthi. Theophrastus (Hist. PI. iv. 3) thus de- 
 scribes this acanthus : " It is so named because the whole tree, with 
 the exception of the trunk, is prickly ; for it has thorns on its shoots 
 and its leaves. It is of good size, for roofing-timber of twelve cu- 
 bits in length is cut out of it. There are two kinds of it, one white 
 and another black : the former is weak and liable to rot, the latter 
 is stronger and less inclined to decay ; hence they use it in the 
 dock-yards for the ships' timbers. The tree does not grow very 
 straight : its seeds are in a pod, like pulse, and the natives use 
 them for tanning leather, instead of galls : its flower is both beau- 
 tiful in appearance, so that they make garlands of it, and medicinal, 
 on which account the physicians gather it. The gum also comes 
 from this tree, and it flows both when it is wounded and also spon- 
 taneously without any cutting." Dioscorides (j. 133) speaks of 
 the same tree, but terms it Acacia (Aicaicta, from ukt)). He says 
 that its flower is white, and its seeds in pods like those of the lupine. 
 In this tree then may be recognized at once the Acacia or Mimosa 
 Nilotica, the Sunt of the Arabs, the Shittim of the Bible, the tree 
 that yields the Gum Arabic. By the baccas we think Virgil must 
 have meant the pods, and not the globules of gum ; for we know 
 how careless he was in the use of terms, and in all probability he 
 had never seen the tree. Mr. Yates, in a valuable essay on the 
 subject, in the Philological Museum, No. VII., is of opinion that 
 Virgil speaks of a third kind of Acanthus (of the genus Spartiuni), 
 the ao-irakaOos of the Greeks, a kind of prickly broom or furze. He 
 thinks that it is only thus that the term vimen is applicable, and in 
 Geor. iv. 123, he adopts the reading acanthi instead of hyacinthi, 
 and interprets tondebat as clipping or shearing a hedge ; but see the 
 note on that place. He also thinks that croceus in Aen. i. 649. 
 could not be properly used of the brank-ursine. It is however the 
 form only, and that of the leaf, not the flower, that the poet means 
 when he uses the term acanthus ; the colouring depended on the 
 taste of the embroiderer. 
 
376 FLORA VIRGILIANA. 
 
 Acer. — 1. (A. pseudo-platanus L. ; Acerineae N. O.) ^ivbafivos. 
 Sicomero I. ; Sycomore, E'rable blanc F. The Sycamore. — 2. {A. 
 monspessulanum L. ; Acerineae N. O.) TXlpov. Acero I. ; E'rable 
 F. ; iAora G. Maple. 
 
 The first of these is the tree which we erroneously call sycamore, 
 which, though not indigenous, is common in England. The second 
 is the maple, of which Pliny enumerates four or five kinds. He 
 notices the beauty of its wavy veins. It was in great estimation for 
 making tables ; Cf. Hor. S„ ii. 8, 10. Virgil names it only in the 
 Aeneis, where he mentions it (ii. 112) as used in framing the Trojan 
 horse and (viii. 178) as forming the throne of Evander. It is doubt- 
 ful of what kind he speaks. 
 
 Acon'Itum. (A. Napellus L. ; Ranunculaceae N '. O.) 'Akovitov; 
 Aconito I. ; Aconit, Naj)el F. ; Wolfswurz G. Wolfsbane, Monks- 
 hood. It is probable, as Fee observes, that under the name of Aco- 
 nite the ancients included a variety of deleterious plants. 
 
 Ador. See Far. 
 
 Aesculus, orEscuLus. (Quercus AesculusL.; AmentaceaelS.O.) 
 $>T]y6s. Ischio I. ; Chene esculus F. ; Wintereiche G. A kind of 
 Oak. This is the current synonomy of the Aescylus of Pliny ; but 
 as this is one of the smallest species of the oak, and as Pliny regards 
 it as being rather rare in Italy, while Virgil (Geor. ii. 15) terms it 
 maxima, and elsewhere (lb. 291) speaks of it as one of the very 
 largest of trees, and Horace (C. i. 22, 14) speaks of woods composed 
 of it in Daunia, it becomes a matter of doubt if the Aesculus of the 
 poets was not different from that of the naturalist. Tenore expresses 
 himself on the subject in the following terms : — " Being for many 
 years occupied with the species of Oaks of our Flora, I have had 
 occasion to convince myself that in reality the Aesculus of Virgil 
 and of Horace does not at all correspond with the Q. Aesculus of 
 Linnaeus, and that it is therefore a very different plant from the 
 Aesculus of Pliny, to which we refer the Phagus of Theophrastus 
 and the other Greek writers. The existence of the true Q. Aesculus 
 is still problematic for the Flora of the regions which we inhabit, 
 while the Virgilian Aesculus grows most abundantly in our w r oods 
 and is easily distinguished from all the other oaks by its colossal 
 bulk and by the character of its very broad leaves, so well expressed 
 by the phrase quae maxima frondet. This tree is beyond doubt 
 the variety latifolia of the Q. robur of Linnaeus, to which are referred 
 the Q. latifolia of Pliny, the Q. platyphyllos Idec-rum et Maurorum 
 of Theophrastus, and the Q. platyphyllos mas of Dalechamp. The 
 acorns of this tree are sweet and good to eat, whence it is that our 
 
FLORA VIRGILIANA. 377 
 
 peasantry eat them roasted like the chestnuts, and on this account 
 call the tree that produces them querela castagnara. It appears then 
 to me that reducing to certainty what has been hinted doubtingly by 
 M. Fe'e, at the same time the double sense of the Aescuhis of the 
 ancients is recognised and the text of the divine Mantuan illustrated. 
 M. Fee notices in the same place with surprise the strange idea of 
 those who have deemed that the Aesculus of Virgil might be referred 
 to the chestnut ; but if we reflect on the uniformity of the uses made 
 of the fruits of these two trees, and even of the vulgar name of the 
 former, that notion will perhaps appear less strange." 
 
 Alga. Bpvov dakaacriov ; Aliga, Alga I.; Algue F. ; Meergras 
 G. Seaweed, Seawrack. Under the name of alga the ancients in- 
 cluded all the various kinds of marine plants that the sea throws up 
 on the shore. It is only of late years that these have been classified. 
 Allium. (A. sativum L. ; Liliaceae N. O.) 2/copoSoi/; Aglio I. ; 
 Ail F. ; Knoblauch G. Garlic. 
 
 Alnus. (A. glutinosa L. ; Amentaceae N. O.) KKrjBpr], Kkrjdpos ; 
 Alno I. ; Aune F. ; Erie G. The Alder. This tree is common ; 
 it grows best in moist situations, as on the banks of streams. 
 
 Amaracus. {Origanum Majoranoides L. ; Labiatae N. O.) 5 A/ua- 
 paicos, 2dp,\JAvxov. This plant, as Fee informs us, does not grow na- 
 turally in either Italy or Greece. It is supposed, he says, to be a 
 native of Barbary. It is akin to the Majorana I. ; Marjolaire F. ; 
 Marjoram of our gardens. 
 
 Amellus. (Aster Amellus L.; CorymbiferaeN.O.) 'AoTT^'AraKo?, 
 Bovfiaviov. This Aster, which is so accurately described by our poet, 
 is found in no part of Italy but the north. It grows also in the 
 vicinity of Athens. 
 
 Amomum. All we know of this plant is that it grew in the East, 
 and that it yielded a fragrant spice. It occurs also in the com- 
 pounds Cinnamomum and Cardamomum. Fee thinks it is the Amomum 
 racemosum L. of the moderns. 
 
 Anethus. {A. graveolens L. ; Ombelliferae N. 0.)"kvr]6ov ; Aneto 
 I. ; Aneth a odeur forte F. Dille G. Dill. This aromatic plant, 
 which is akin to the fennel, is cultivated in our gardens : it is not 
 indigenous in this country. 
 
 Apium. (A. petroselinumL. ; Ombelliferae N . O .) "2e\ivov ; Apio 
 I.; Persil F. ; Petersilie G. Parsley. By Virgil this plant is 
 termed amarum (Ec. vi. 68) and viride (Geor. iv. 121), and he says 
 (ibid) that it grows on the banks of streams. Horace (C. i. 36, 16) 
 calls it vivax and udus (C. ii. 7, 23), and speaks of it as forming 
 garlands for drinkers with the myrtle and the ivy. These all accord 
 
378 FLORA VIRGILIANA. 
 
 with our cultivated or garden parsley. Fee, in his notes on Pliny, 
 inclines to think that this is the apium of these poets : he however 
 does not deny that, as Martyn and others hold, it was the 'EXeioae- 
 \lvov of Theophrastus, Ache F. ; our Smaliage, of which celery is a 
 variety. 
 
 Arbutus. {A. unedo L. ; Ericaceae N. O.) Kd/xapos- ; Corbezzolo 
 I. ; Arbousier, Fraisier en arbre F. ; Erdbeerbaum G. Arbutus, or 
 Strawberry-tree. Virgil terms it viridis (Ec. vii. 46) and horrida 
 (Geor. ii. 69). It is indigenous at the Lakes of Killarney and other 
 places in Ireland, and is common in pleasure-grounds. 
 
 Arundo. — 1. (A, phragmites L. ; Gramineae N. O.) KaXapos 
 (ppayiiiTrjs ; Canna I. ; Roseau a balais F. ; Rohr, Binse G. Reed, 
 Rush. — 2. (A. dojiaxL.; Gramineae N .0 .) Aovag; Canna I.; Roseau 
 a quenouilles ; Rohr G. Cane. Virgil names the former tenera 
 (Ec.vii. 12 ; Geor. iii. 16) , fluvialis (Geor. ii.414), and glauca (Aen. 
 x. 205). It is apparently of the latter kind that he speaks, Ec. vi. 8. 
 This last was used for making pipes and the shafts of arrows. 
 Tenore mentions a third kind to be found in Italy, the A. Rhenana ; 
 Canna del Reno, so named because it grows on the Reno, which 
 flows near Bologna. 
 
 Avena. — 1. (A. sativa L. ; Gramineae N. O.) Bp&fios; Avena, 
 Venal.-, AvoineY.; HaberG. Oat. — 2. (A. fatua L. ; Gramineae 
 N.O.) AlytXayjr ; Arena, Venal.; Avoine-ires-elevee, Fromental F. ; 
 Wilde Haber, Flughaber G. Wild Oat. The former, our cultivated 
 oat, is mentioned Geor. i. 77 ; the other, our wild oat, Ec. v. 37 ; 
 Geor. i. 154. In both places it is termed sterilis. 
 
 Baccar. Ba.K<apLs. This plant, which Virgil mentions along 
 with the ivy (Ec. iv. 19), and gives, when bound round the head, as 
 a protection against the evil tongue (vii. 27), has hitherto perplexed 
 naturalists. Dioscorides describes it as fragrant, and used for gar- 
 lands, with rough leaves. Its stem, he says, is angular, about a 
 cubit long and somewhat rough ; its flowers, purple shaded with 
 white, and fragrant ; its roots, like those of the black hellebore, re- 
 sembling in smell the cinnamomum. Fee maintains that it is the 
 Digitalis purpurea L. (Solaneae N. O.) ; Digitale pourpree F ; the 
 Foxglove, one of our indigenous plants. Sprengel held it to be the 
 Valeriana Celtica L. ; but to this Fee objects that that plant is rare, 
 lives only among rocks, and could hardly have attracted the atten- 
 tion of the ancients. On the other hand, Tenore objects to Fee that 
 the Digitalis is not to be found at all in the south of Italy, and in 
 the north only on Monte Baldo at its very extremity. He holds 
 the Baccar of the ancients to be the Asarum (A. Europaeum L. ; 
 
FLORA VIRGILIANA. 379 
 
 Aristolochieae N. O.) "Aaapov; Asaro I.; Asaret F. Asarabacca. 
 This plant, he says, is common on the shaded sides of the hills in 
 Italy ; its leaves are somewhat similar to those of the ivy, and it 
 creeps like that plant. Its stem however is short, and hence it 
 accords not with the description in Dioscorides. The question 
 therefore is still undecided. 
 
 Balsamum. (Amyris apobalsamum L. ; Terebinthaceae Tsl. O.) 
 BaXtra/xoi/ ; Balsamo I. ; Baume F. ; Balsam G. Balm of Gilead. 
 This gum is produced by two shrubs which grow in Arabia. Ac- 
 cording to Bruce these shrubs are so common along the south coast 
 of the strait of Babelmandeb, that the inhabitants use no other wood 
 for firing. Theophrastus (H. P. ix. 6) asserts that the Balsam grew 
 nowhere wild, and was only to be found in two gardens in the Avion, 
 or Vale of Syria, i. e. the Ghor, or valley of the Jordan. Diodorus 
 (ii. 48) says the same. Dioscorides (i. 18) says it grew in Judaea 
 and in Egypt; Strabo (xvi. 2, 4) in the vale of Jericho and on the 
 coast of the Sabaean country. Pliny (xii. 25) confines it to Judaea, 
 whither, Josephus says (B. J. viii. 6) it was brought by the queen 
 of Sheba. 
 
 Buxus. (B. sempervirens L. ; Euphorbiaceae N. O.) Ilvgos ; 
 Bosso I. ; Buis F. ; Buxbaum G. The Box-tree. It is indigenous 
 in the south of England, particularly on Box-hill, near Dorking in 
 Surrey. 
 
 Caltha. The name of this flower does not occur in Greek, un- 
 less it be the x^X/cas which Dioscorides (iv. 54) gives as a synonyme 
 of xpvvavdeiiov or ^ov(b6a\pov. Virgil (Ec. ii. 50) terms it luteola ; 
 and Columella has (x. 97) fiaventia lumina calthae, and (v. 307) 
 he styles it flammeola. Pliny (xxi. 6) would seem to place it among 
 the violets, and he says it has a strong smell. Ovid (Ex Pont. ii. 
 4, 28) mentions among other impossible things Calthaque Paestanas 
 vincit odore rosas, whence also it appears that its smell was strong 
 and disagreeable. The general opinion is that it is the Fiorrancio I. ; 
 Souci F. ; Ringelblume G ; Marigold. 
 
 Carduus. Cardo I. ; Chardon F. ; JDistel G. Thistle. The car- 
 dmts of Virgil is supposed by Martyn to be the C. solstitialis or St. 
 Barnaby's thistle/ which according to Ray grows abundantly in the 
 cornfields in Italy. 
 
 Carex. Virgil (Geor. iii. 231) terms the carex acuta, and he 
 speaks (Ec. iii. 20) of places overgrown with it. Catullus (xix. 2) 
 mentions it as growing near marshes, and used with bulrushes for 
 thatching cottages. Palladius (i. 22) speaks of it or broom as a 
 thatch. Columella (xi. 2) directs it and the fern to be extirpated in 
 
380 FLORA VIRGILIANA. 
 
 the month of August. According to Martyn, Anguillara says that in 
 the neighbourhood of Padua and Vicenza a kind of rush is called 
 carese. The carex is therefore probably our sedge, or hard rush, 
 of which there are about sixty varieties in this country. 
 
 Casia. — 1. {Daphne Gnidium L. ; Thymaleae N. O.) Kvecopov, Xa- 
 fieXaia, Qvpekala ; Garon poivre de montagne F. ; Zetland G. Spurge- 
 flax or Mountain Widow-wail. — 2. {Laurus- Cassia L. ; Laurineae 
 N. O.) Kaaid ; Cassia I. ; Laurier casia lignea F. ; Mutterziemt G. ; 
 Cassia lignea. The first of these is a plant that grows common in 
 the south of Europe. It is aromatic, hence its name cneoron (a wea, 
 pungo), and its leaves are shaped like those of the olive ; hence its 
 other Greek names. The second (Geor. ii. 466) is our well-known 
 Eastern aromatic of the name ; it is the bark of a tree that grows to 
 the height of about twenty-five feet. 
 
 Castanea. (Fagus Castanea L. ; Amentaceae N. O.) Aios BaXavos 
 Evfioiicr} ; Castagno I. ; Chdtaignier F. ; Kastanienbaum G. The 
 Chestnut. 
 
 Cedrus. {Pinus CedrusL.; Coniferae N. 0.)Ke8pos; Cedro I. ; 
 Cedre F. ; Ceder G. The Cedar. Beside the cedar of Lebanon, 
 with which they were acquainted, the ancients seem to have given 
 this name to several of the coniferous plants, especially the junipers. 
 
 Centaurea. {Centaurea L. ; Cynaracephalae N. O.) Kevravpls, 
 Kevravpiov ; Centauria I.; Centauree F. ; Tausendgiildenkraut G. ; 
 The Centaury or Knapweed. A well-known variety of this plant is 
 the Bluebottle, that grows so commonly in our fields. Its name is 
 derived from the Centaur Chiron, who healed with it the wound he 
 had received from the arrow of Hercules. 
 
 Cerasus. {Cerasus L. ; Rosaceae N. O.) Kepaaos ; Ciliegio I.; 
 Cerisier F. ; Kirschbaum G. The Cherry. This tree was first brought 
 to Italy from Cerasuntum in Pontus, by Lucullus. Theophrastus 
 however knew it by its name Cerasus. 
 
 Cerinthe. This plant is usually supposed to be the C. Major 
 L. ; Grand Melinet F. Honey wort. But Tenore asserts that it 
 does not grow at least in the south of Italy. He therefore thinks it 
 is the C. aspera or C. maculosa, the first of which is common in the 
 meadows, the second on the hills of southern Italy. He however 
 rather supposes that the Cerinthe of Virgil, who calls it ignobile gra- 
 men, is the Satureia TJiymbra or S. capitata, both of which are indi- 
 genous in Italy, are aromatic, and like the former have those white 
 spots like wax on their leaves which gave origin to the Greek name 
 Krjpivdov. 
 
 Colocasia. {Arum Colocasia L. ; Aro'ideaeN. 0.)*Apov KvpTjvai- 
 
FLORA VIRGILIANA. 381 
 
 kov ; Colocasia I. ; Colocase F. ; Aegyptische Bohne G. The Egyp- 
 tian Bean, called by the Arabs Kxilkas. This plant is cultivated in 
 marshy land in Egypt : it has a long stalk, and bears fruit of the 
 form of beans in cells on its summit : it has very large leaves, and 
 its roots, which are tuberous, are used for food. It was introduced 
 from Egypt into Italy. 
 
 Cornus. (C. mash. ; CaprifoliaceaeN.O.) Kpaveia; Corniolol.; 
 Cornouiller F. ; Komelbaum G. The Cornel or Dog-wood. This 
 plant, with its dark-purple fruit shaped like olives, and like them 
 with a large stone, may be seen in our hedges and woods. It is said 
 to have derived its name (a cornu) from the hardness of its wood. 
 
 Corulus. (C. Avellana L. ; Amentaceae N. O.) Kapva Baaaia rj 
 tvovtikt) ; Nocciuolo I. ; Coudrier, Noisetier F. ; Hasel G. The Hazel. 
 Crocus. (C.sativus L. ; Irideae N. O.) KpoKos ; Croco ; Zafferano I. ; 
 Safran F. ; Safran G. The Crocus. Several varieties of this plant 
 grow wild and in the gardens in England. It is the stigmata of that 
 named the Saffron Crocus that are the saffron of the shops. 
 
 Cucumis. (C. sativus L. ; Cucurbitaceae N. O.) 2lkvos rj 2i<vs 
 rjfiepos; Cetriuolo I. ; Concombre F. ; Gurke G. The Cucumber. 
 Tenore thinks that it is not this, the common cucumber, that Virgil 
 means (Geor. iv. 122) when he describes it as tortus and says that 
 crescit in ventrem ; but rather what is now called in Italy Cocomero 
 serpentino, which is twice the length of the common cucumber, has a 
 crooked neck, a swollen belly, and tastes like the melon. Its original 
 country, he says, was Egypt. 
 
 Cupressus. (C. semper-virensh.; ConiferaeN.O.) Kvirapiao-os ; 
 Cipresso I. ; Cypres F.; Cypr 'esse G. The Cypress. This well-known 
 tree is not indigenous in Italy : it was brought into that country, 
 as Pliny informs us, from Crete, where it grew abundantly on 
 Mount Ida. It has been diffused from Italy over the rest of Europe, 
 and is now common in our shrubberies. 
 
 Cytisus. By this name botanists are disposed to understand 
 two different plants of the natural order Leguminosae : — 1. C. Labur- 
 num L. ; Aubours, Faux-ebhiier F. The Laburnum. — 2. Medicago 
 arborea L. ; Luzerne arborescente F. The reason of this distinc- 
 tion is that Theophrastus and Pliny say that the wood of the Cytisus 
 is black, while all the ancients say that its leaves and flowers yielded 
 a most grateful food to cattle, goats, and bees. Now, though the 
 first of these plants grows abundantly in Italy, it is observed that 
 the bees do not settle on its flowers, and it is not found at all in 
 Greece. The second grows in both Greece and Italy ; the bees are 
 very fond of it, and cows and goats eat its leaves with avidity. 
 
382 FLORA VIRGILIANA. 
 
 There can therefore be little doubt that this Arborescent Lucerne is 
 the Cytisus florens of Virgil. A physician of Candia, named Onorio 
 Belli Vicentini, was the first who fixed on this plant for Virgil's 
 cytisus, and his opinion has been generally adopted. 
 
 Dictamnum. {Origanum Dictamnus L. ; Labiatae N. O.) AUrapou 
 KprjTiKov. This celebrated labiate plant, akin to our Marjoram, grew 
 abundantly in Crete, but was not peculiar to that island. Virgil 
 derived his account of the goats using it when wounded probably 
 from Theophrastus. 
 
 Ebenum. It is probable that by this name (Heb. and probably 
 Phoen. Habni, i. e. stone-wood, from its hardness) the ancients un- 
 derstood various woods of the genus Diospyros which grow in the 
 East, and whose wood is hard and black. 
 
 Ebulum. (Sambucus Ebulus L. ; Caprifoliaceae N. O.) ^Akttj ; 
 Ebulo, Ebbiol.; Hieble, YebleY.; Attich G. The Dwarf-elder, 
 Wall-wort, or Dane-wort. This plant, which very much resembles 
 the common Elder, grows to the height of about three feet. It bears 
 clusters of black juicy berries, and is to be found in woods, hedges, 
 and churchyards. Martyn says that it was fabled to have sprung 
 from the blood of the Danes when they were massacred by the 
 English. 
 
 Elleborus. (E. orientalis L. ; Ranunculaceae N. O.) 'EWefiopos 
 p.e\as ; Elleboro I. ; Ellebore F. ; Niesewurz G. The Hellebore* 
 The ancients had another kind called in Latin Veratrum, but it is of 
 the former that Virgil speaks. 
 
 Ervum. (E. Ervilla L. ; Leguminosae N. O.) *Opofios ; Veggiolo I. ; 
 Ers F. ; Erve G. A species of Tare ; probably the Hairy Tare that 
 grows in our fields and hedges. 
 
 Faba. (F. vulgaris Moench. ; Leguminosae N. O.) Kvapos ; 
 Faval.; Five de Marais F. ; Bolme G. The Horse-bean. The bean 
 is not indigenous in this country. 
 
 Fagus. (Fagus L.; JmentaceaeN.O.) '0£ua; Faggiol.; HetreF.; 
 Buclibaum G. The Beech. We must be careful not to confound the 
 fagus of the Latins with the (prjyos of the Greeks. The latter was 
 an oak, while that the former was the beech is clear from the fol- 
 lowing words of Pliny: Fagi glans, nucleis similis, triangula cute in- 
 cluditur. 
 
 Far. ( Triticum dicoccum Schub.; Gramineae N . O.) Zeia, Zea ; 
 Farro I.; E'peautre a deux rangees F. ; DiinJcel G. Spelt. The far, 
 also called ador, was the principal food of the Romans in the early 
 times of the Republic, and hence it continued to be used in sacrifices, 
 etc. They chiefly ate it in porridge, as the modern Italians do the 
 
FLORA VIRGILIANA. 383 
 
 maize or Indian corn. Far contains less nutritious matter than 
 wheat, but it will grow on an inferior soil. The glume adheres to 
 the seed like that of barley. 
 
 Faselus. (Faseohis vulgaris L. ; Leguminosae N. O.) ^dor/Xos ; 
 Faggiuolo I. ; Haricot F. ; Schminkbohne G. The Kidney-bean. 
 Pliny tells us that the Romans ate them just as we do. 
 
 Ferula. (F. communis L. ; Ombelliferae N. O.) Ndpdrjg; Ferula I. ; 
 Ferule F. ; Ferulstaude G. Fennel-giant. This is a large species of 
 our common fennel (Finocchio I.; Fenouil F. ; Fenchel G.). It . ,i<,-\ye- 
 grows to the height of about six feet. It is common in Apulia, p^^r 
 where the shepherds make walking-staffs of it, which of course are 
 extremely light. The Roman schoolmasters used it for correcting 
 their boys. Juv. i. 15 ; Mart. x. 62, 10 ; xiv. 80. 
 
 Filix. (Polypodium L. ; Filices'N. O.) Urepis ; Felea I. ; FougereY. ; '/-/^/ 
 FarnJcraut G. Fern. The ancients understood by filix all the dif- 
 ferent kinds of fern. 
 
 Fraga. Fragole I. ; Fraises F. ; Erdbeeren G. Strawberries. 
 The singular of this word does not occur, neither does the name of 
 the plant. It is the Fragaria L., Rosaceae N. O. This fruit is un- 
 mentioned by the Greeks, and we know not how they named it. 
 The modern Greeks call it cppayovXt. 
 
 Fraxinus. (Fraxinus L. ; Jasmineae N. O.) MeAta ; Frassino I. ; 
 Frene F. ; Eschenbaum G. The Ash. 
 
 Galbanum. (Bubon Galbanum L. ; Ombelliferae N. O.) TaXfBdvr). 
 It goes by its Latin name in the modern languages. This word has 
 been formed from Helbenah, its Hebrew name. This gum (for gal- 
 banum is the gum, not the plant) is of a strong, disagreeable odour. 
 
 Genesta. (Genesta juncea L. ; Leguminosae N. O.) 'ZirdpTov, 
 Ginestral.; Genet d'EspagneF. ; Genster G. Spanish Broom. This 
 plant, with its pretty yellow blossoms, so loved by the bees, is com- 
 mon in this country. In the south of Europe they make cordage 
 and weave baskets of it. 
 
 Glans. BaXavos. By these words the ancients understood not 
 merely the acorns of the various species of the oak, but also the 
 beech-mast, etc. 
 
 Hedera vel Edera. (H. Helix L. ; Caprifoliaceae N. O.) Klcrcros ; 
 Ellera I. ; Lierre F. ; Epheu G. The Ivy. The hedera alba of Virgil 
 (Ec. vii. 38) is, according to Fee, the kind whose leaves are marked 
 with white. Tenore is inclined to think that it is an extinct species. 
 
 Hibiscus. (Malva silvestris L. ; Malvaceae N. O.) 'AXdaia 
 'Ij8t o-kos ; Altea I. ; Guimauve F. ; Eibisch G. The Marsh-mallow. 
 The only authorities for the identification of the Hibiscus and the 
 
384< FLORA VIRGILIANA. 
 
 akOa'ia, or mallow, are Dioscorides and Palladius, of whom the 
 former says, 'A\6aia, evioi de 'I/3i'o-koi> KaXovai, fiaXaxV* iariv dypias 
 eidos ; he proceeds to say that its leaves are downy and round like 
 those of the cyclamen, its flower like a rose, and the height of its 
 stalk three feet. Palladius says, Althaeae, hoc est Ibisci, folia et 
 radices. On the other hand Pliny says expressly that the Hibiscus is 
 like a parsnip. Virgil says that the goats are driven to it to feed 
 on it, or else driven with a rod of it (Ec. ii. 30), and that baskets 
 are made of it (x. 71). Now neither the mallow nor the parsnip is 
 adapted for this last purpose, and we know not that goats were ever 
 put to feed on marsh-mallows, or that a mallow-stalk would answer 
 for driving them. We could almost suspect that Virgil's hibiscus 
 was some species of willow. At all events we are willing, with Mar- 
 tyn, to confess our ignorance of it. 
 
 Hordeum. (H. sativum L. ; Gramineae N. O.) Kpidrj ; Orzo I. ; 
 Orge F. ; Gerste G. Barley. 
 
 Hyacinthus. (Lilium Martagon L. ; Liliaceae N. O.) 'YclklvOos; 
 Giacinto ? I. ; Lis Martagon F. ; TurJcische Bund G. Martagon, or 
 Turk's-cap Lily. This flower, which accords with the description 
 of the hyacinthus given by Dioscorides (iv. 63), and which is easily 
 known by its petals being turned back, is held by Martyn and Fee 
 to be the hyacinthus of the poets. Salmasius and Sprengel main- 
 tained that it was the Blue Iris or Corn-flag ; Glaieul F. ; Schwert 
 lilie G. {Gladiolus communis L. ; Irideae N. O.). Tenore thinks it 
 probable that Virgil applied the term hyacinthus to both ; to the 
 latter when he terms itsuave rubens (Ec. iii. 64), to the former when 
 (Geor. iv. 183) he styles the hyacinths ferrugineos, or dark-blue ; 
 for the Martagon, he says, being always of a brown colour could not 
 be termed rubens, while there is a Gladiolus, named by Sibthorp 
 G. byzantinus, which grows abundantly in the fields of the Levant 
 and Italy, and which both in the colour of the petals and in the 
 spots on them, which form the at ai of the poets, agrees with their 
 description. There is, we know, little stress to be laid on the colours 
 named by the ancient poets ; but Ovid, who, as we have often ob- 
 served, was a more accurate observer than Virgil, when speaking of 
 the transformation of Hyacinthus, says (Met. x. 211), Tyrioque ni- 
 tentior ostro Flos oritur formamque capit quam lilia, si non Purpu- 
 reus color huic, argenteus esset in illis. Hence we think it may be 
 safely inferred that the hyacinthus was shaped like a lily and was of 
 a reddish hue, which is true of the Martagon. Virgil probably used 
 the term ferrugineus in an improper sense, as perhaps he has done 
 also Aen. ix. 582 ; xi. 772. 
 
FLORA VIRGILIANA. 385 
 
 Ilex. (Quercus Ilex L. ; Amentaceae N. O.). Tlpivos ; Elce, Lec- 
 tio I. ; Yeuse, Chene vert F. ; Stecheiche, Steineiche G. The Ever- 
 green-oak. This tree, which is not a native of this country, is very- 
 abundant in the south of Europe : it resembles the oak in nothing 
 but in its bearing acorns (to which indeed the Greeks gave a different 
 name, a/cvXos) ; its dark-green leaves (whence Horace calls it niger) 
 are lanceolate. 
 
 Intuba. — 1. (Cichorium Intybus L. ; Compositae N. O.) Kix&piov, 
 JlcKpls, 2epis dypia; Cicoreal.; Chicoree F. ; Cichorie, Wegewart G. 
 The Succory. — 2. (C Endivia L.) Septs KYjirevrr] ; Endivia I. ; Chi- 
 coree-endive F. ; Endivie G. The Endive. It is of the former, the 
 wild plant, that Virgil speaks, Geor. i. 120 ; it grows commonly 
 in our fields. He means the second or cultivated kind, Geor. 
 iv. 120. 
 
 Juncus. (J. acutus L. ; Junceae N. O.) S^ou/os 1 ; Giunco I.; 
 Jonc F. ; Binse G. Rush. The various kinds of rushes. 
 
 Juniperus. (/. communis L. ; Coniferae N. O.) "KpKevdos ; Gi~ 
 nepro I. ; Genevrier F. ; Wacholder G. The Juniper. 
 
 Labrusca. (Vitis vinifera L. ; Sarmentaceae N. O.) "A/z7reXos 
 aypia ; Lambrusca, Vite salvatica I. ; Labrusque, Vigne sauvage F. ; 
 Klaretterube G. The Wild Vine. The flowers of this plant, named 
 olvdvdrj, were gathered and dried, and used to season honey and oil 
 and wine. 
 
 Lana Aethiopum. Geor. ii. 120. (1. Gossypium arboreum, 2. 
 G. herbaceum L. ; Malvaceae N. O.) Aevdpov epiocpopov. The Ara- 
 bic name is Kotn, whence all the names in modern languages are 
 derived. It is also probably the Shesh of the Bible. This plant, 
 of which, as we may see, there are two principal kinds, was known 
 to the ancients as growing abundantly in Egypt and in India. The 
 Greeks named the cotton-wool fivao-os (in Hebrew it is butz), and 
 the cloth made from it civdSv. Theophr. H. P. iv. 9. The wool is 
 contained in a capsule of the size of an apple. The cotton-plant is 
 now cultivated in Greece, Malta, and Sicily, and to a prodigious ex- 
 tent in the southern states of the North American Union, where it 
 has been introduced by the European colonists. 
 
 Lappa. (Galium Sparine L. ; Rubiaceae N. O.) 'Knaplin^ 
 Gratteron, Galier-gratteron F. ; Klebekraut G. Cleavers, Clivers, 
 Goose-grass. In some places (particularly in Ireland) it is called 
 Robin-run-the-hedge. 
 
 Laurus. (L. nobilis L. ; Laurineae N. O.) Ad(pvr] ; Alloro I. ; 
 Laurier F. ; Lorbeer G. The Bay. We must be careful not to con- 
 found this plant, whose leaves have such an agreeable odour, with 
 
 s 
 
386 FLORA VIRGILIANA. 
 
 the various laurels of our gardens, which are inodorous, and were 
 not brought into Europe till modern times. 
 
 Legumen. "Ocnrpiov ; Legume, Civaja I. ; Legume F. ; Hiihen- 
 frucht G. Pulse. The ancients so named all the plants which bore 
 their fruit in pods, as the bean, pea, vetch, lupine, etc. : they even 
 included barley. 
 
 Lens. (Ervum Lens L. ; Leguminosae'N.O.) Qaubs, 3>a/cj? ; Lente 
 Lenticchia I. ; Lentille F. ; Linse G. The Lentil. This species of 
 pulse was cultivated to a great extent in Egypt, whence large quanti- 
 ties of it were exported. 
 
 Ligustrum. (L. vulgare L. ; Jasmineae N. O.) Kv-rrpos ? Ligustro, 
 Conostrella I. ; Trobxe F. ; Hartriegel Rainweide G. The Privet, 
 Prim or Print. This is the synonomy usually received, but some 
 maintaW that the ligustrum of the classics is the Convolvulus (C.sae- 
 piuta L.) or Bindweed ; Liseron F. ; Winde G., a weed so well-known 
 in our gardens and hedges. 
 
 The question is a very difficult one. Virgil mentions the ligustrum 
 only once (Ec. ii. 18) and terms it white; Ovid (Met. xiii. 789) 
 terms it niveus; Martial has (i. 116) Tota candidior puella cygno, 
 Argento, nive, lilio, ligustro. Hence it would appear that the flower 
 of the ligustrum was a pure white. On the other hand, Columella 
 (x. 300), if the reading be correct, having in view this very eclogue of 
 Virgil, has nigra ligustra. The berries of this plant we know are 
 black ; but Columella in this place joins it with fragrant plants, and 
 neither the leaves nor the berries are such, and the latter are bitter 
 and nauseous to the taste. The flower moreover, though very fragrant, 
 is a cream colour and not a pure white. The privet is exceedingly 
 common in Italy at the present day ; we saw it for example in 
 abundance in the neighbourhood of Mantua, and dare ligustra colono 
 in Martial (ix. 27) is equivalent to our sending coals to Newcastle. 
 Further, that it was a tree or shrub is proved by the following pass- 
 ages of Pliny. When speaking of the Cypros of Egypt (xii. 24) he 
 says, Quidam hanc esse dicunt arhorem quae in Italia Ligustrum 
 vocatur. The Cypros, we may here observe is the Al-henna of the 
 Arabs (Laicsonia inermis L.), the Kopker of the Hebrews (Cant. i. 14), 
 with a paste made of the leaves of which the women of the East dye 
 their nails red. Again Pliny says (xxiv. 10), Ligustrum eadem arbor 
 est quae in oriente Cypros. These may answer to the privet, but we 
 further meet (xvi. 18), Non nisi in aquosis proveniunt salices, aim, 
 populi, siler, ligustra tesseris utilissima ; and here, if the reading 
 be correct (of which there is little reason to doubt) and Pliny made 
 no mistake, we are completely at fault; for it is in dry, not wet, situa- 
 
FLORA VIRGILIANA. 387 
 
 tions that the privet grows. But neither does the bindweed grow 
 in such places, and Pliny could never have called it an arbor. The 
 derivation of ligustrum from ligo, would agree well with this last, and 
 possibly the same name might in this, as in so many other cases, be 
 given to two different plants, and the poets have spoken of one and 
 the naturalist of another. 
 
 Lilium. (L. candidum L. ; Liliaceae N. O.) Kpivov, Aeipioz/ ; 
 Giglio I. ; Lis blanc F. ; Lilie G. The White Lily. Pliny describes 
 it as attaining to the height of four feet and a half. 
 
 Linum. (L. usitatissimumL.; LineaeN.O.)Alvov; Linol.; Lin 
 F. ; Flacks G. Flax. 
 
 Lolium. (L. temulentum L. ; Gramineae N. O.) Alpa, Qvapos ; 
 Loglio I. ; Ivraie F. ; Lolch G. Darnel. This weed used to grow 
 commonly with the wheat and barley in ill-tilled lands. Its seed is 
 small and has a beard : if it is ground with wheat, the bread made 
 of its meal will, it is said, affect the head with giddiness : hence 
 Ovid says (Fast. i. 691), Et careant loliis oculos vitiantibus agri ; hence 
 too its French name (from ivre, drunk), from which comes that of 
 Ivergrass, by which it is called in the west of England, and Rivery 
 its name in Ireland. 
 
 Lotus. Fee in a long disquisition on the subject, first in his Flore 
 de Virgile and then in his Commentaire sur Pline, has shown that 
 the ancients applied the term lotus to eleven different plants, of which 
 five are arborescent, three aquatic, and two terrestrial and herbaceous. 
 The lotus of Virgil in one place (Geor. ii. 84) belongs to the first 
 class ; in another (Geor. iii. 394) to the third. The poet does not 
 notice, under the name lotus, the second, which contains the various 
 Nymphaeae or Water-lilies of the Nile, though he does mention one 
 of them under its name Colocasium. The Lotus-tree grows on the 
 north coast of Africa : it is described by Theophrastus and Polybius : 
 it is a tree of moderate altitude, bearing small fruits, which are sweet, 
 resembling the date in flavour. Of the herbaceous lotus the ancients 
 mentioned two kinds, the Acoros- rjpepos and the A. aypios or Aifivov. 
 The former is the Melilotus officinalis L. ; the latter, the M . caerulea 
 L. They are both plants of the papilionaceous or leguminose order : 
 the latter is a great favourite with the bees. 
 
 Lupinus. {L. hirsutus and pilosusL.; Leguminosae ~N.O.) Qeppos ; 
 Lupino I. ; Lupin F. ; Feigbohne G. The Lupine. This plant, which. 
 we only cultivate for ornament in our gardens, was, and still is, 
 sown in large quantities in Italy for fodder for cattle, or to be 
 ploughed into the land in spring by way of manure. The seeds are 
 very bitter ; hence Virgil terms it tristis. 
 
 s2 
 
388 FLORA VIRGILIANA. 
 
 Lutum, Luteum, or Lutea. {Reseda lutea L. ; Resedaceae N. 
 O.) 'Io-arty; Guadoh; GuedeF.; Waid G.; Wild Woad, Dyers' 
 Weed, Yellow Weed. This is one of our indigenous plants : it 
 grows abundantly in waste places and on ditches and walls ; its stalks 
 are from two to three feet in height ; it bears numerous small flowers, 
 and yields a beautiful yellow dye. 
 
 Malus. (Pirus Mains L. ; Rosaceae N. O.) Mrjkea ; Melo I. ; 
 Pomier F. ; Apfelbaum G. The Apple-tree. Fee, from Pliny and 
 others, enumerates twenty-four kinds of apples known to the an- 
 cients, and he endeavours, with more or less of success, to identify 
 them with the modern varieties. The term malus was not how- 
 ever restricted by the ancients to the apple ; they had for example 
 the jj.rjXea Kvdcovia, Malus cotonia, and various others. The fruit of 
 this tree (Cotogno I. ; Coignier F. ; Quittebaum G. The Quince) 
 is generally supposed to be the cana tenera lanugine mala of Virgil 
 (Ec. ii. 51), for the quince, as is well known, is downy. Martyn 
 however very properly objects that its taste is austere, and that there- 
 fore it is ill-suited for a present to a favourite youth. He thinks it 
 may have been some kind of peach ; but that must have been rather 
 a rare fruit and cultivated only in gardens in Virgil's time, while all 
 the other fruits which Corydon mentions grew wild. 
 
 Medica (herba). (Medicago sativa L. ; LeguminosaeN.O.) M77- 
 Siktj fiordm] ; Medica erba I. ; Luzerne F. ; Lucerne, Burgundescher 
 Klee G. Lucerne. This plant is said to have been brought by the 
 Persians into Greece in the time of Darius, whence its name ; but 
 this probably indicates no more than that it came from the East. 
 Its flower is blue or violet. In this country it is cultivated only in 
 Kent and a few other places. Columella praises it greatly, and says 
 it lasted ten years in the ground, and might be cut three or four 
 times a year. 
 
 Milium. (Panicum Italicum L. ; Gramineae N. O.) Keyxpos; 
 Miglio I. ; Millet F. ; Hirse G. Millet. This pulse is not culti- 
 vated at all in this country, and very little we believe on the 
 continent. 
 
 Morum. By this word the ancients understood, (1) the fruit of 
 the mulberry-tree (M. nigra L. ; Urtaceae N. O. ; Svicdfiivos ; Moro 
 I. ; Murier F. ; Maulbeerbaum G.), i. e. Mulberries ; (2) the berries 
 of the Bramble (see Rubus), i. e. Blackberries. It is of the latter that 
 our poet speaks Ec. vi. 22 : see also Ovid, Met. i. 105. 
 
 Muscus. Bpvov; Musco I. ; Mousse F. ; Moos G. Moss. This 
 cryptogam ous plant is too well known to require any description. 
 
 Myrice. (Tamarix Gallica L. ; Temariscineae N. O.) Mvptiaj ; 
 
FLORA VIRGILIANA. 389 
 
 Tamarisco I. ; Tamarisc F. ; Tamarisk G. Tamarisk. The proper 
 Latin name of this plant is Tamariscus : it grows naturally on rocks 
 in the south of England ; has numerous red, shining branches, and 
 clusters of white or reddish blossoms. In the South it grows also 
 on the banks of streams, and is a shrub very agreeable to the eye. 
 
 Myrrha. (Balsamodendron Myrrha Nees v. Esenbeck ; Terebin- 
 thaceae N. O.) 2pvpva, Mvppa. The modern names are all derived 
 from the Greek and Latin ones, which themselves come from Mor, 
 the Hebrew name of this gum, derived from marar, to flow or to be 
 bitter. It is only within the present century that the true Myrrh- 
 plant has become known to botanists. 
 
 Myrtus. (M. communis L. ; Myrteae N. O.) Mvpo-lvrj, Mvpros; 
 Mirto I.; Myrte F. ; Myrte G. The Myrtle. This beautiful and 
 fragrant shrub grows abundantly in the warm regions of the South : 
 it particularly loves the vicinity of the sea-shore. 
 
 Narcissus. (N. poeticus L. ; Liliaceae N.- O.) Ndpiao-cros ; Nar- 
 ciso I. ; Narcisse F. ; Narcisse G. The Narcissus. This beautiful 
 flower may be found growing wild in this country, but it is probably 
 not indigenous. Its petals are white, and its nectary is edged with, 
 crimson, whence it is thought that Virgil named, it purpureus (Ec. 
 v. 38) ; but this is very uncertain, for, as we have shown above 
 (p. 124), the poets used that term for any bright colour, even for 
 white. The Arabs call this flower Nirjis, the Persians NirJcis, and, 
 as it is indigenous in the East, it is just as likely that the name 
 came thence to Greece as the reverse. The Greek derivation from 
 vapKeoa, to make torpid, is not, we think, sufficiently borne out by 
 the nature and effects of the plant to induce us to receive it. Virgil 
 (Geor. iv. 122) also applies the epithet sera comatis, late-flowering, 
 to the Narcissus ; andTenore says that there is a late- flowering kind 
 (N. serotinus L.) which grows abundantly in the kingdom of Naples* 
 
 Nux. (Juglans regia L. ; Juglandeae N. O.) Kapva ; Noce I. ; 
 Noyer F. ; Wallnuss G. The Walnut. This word nux is also used 
 of the almond, chestnut, filbert, etc., but always, we believe, in such, 
 cases is accompanied by the adjectives amygdala, castanea, etc. 
 When alone, it is the juglans, or walnut. The wordjnglans was said 
 by the ancients to be formed from Jovis glans, but it more probably 
 was from juga, (i. e.jugata) or juncta glans, as its shell divides into 
 two equal parts. 
 
 Olea or Oliva. (0. europaea L.; Jasmineae N. O.) 'EAaia; 
 Ulivo I.;' Olivier F. ; Oelbaum G. The Olive. On the culture of 
 the olive and the mode of extracting the oil, see Terms of Husbandry, 
 v. Oleum. According to Pliny (xv. 4), the fruit of the olive con- 
 
390 FLORA VIRGILIANA. 
 
 sisted of four parts : the stone or kernel (nucleus), the flesh, the oil, 
 and the amurca. 
 
 Oleaster. 'Aypiekala; Olivastro, Olivoselvaggiol. ; Olivier sau- 
 vage F. The Wild Olive. Tenore says, that the olive grows wild in 
 the woods in the kingdom of Naples, and attains the size of a tree, 
 This he thinks is the oleaster of the ancients. 
 
 Ornus. It is very uncertain what tree this is : the usual opi- 
 nion is that it is the Sorbus aucuparia, our Quicken or Mountain- 
 Ash. As this, however, is quite a different tree from the ash, and 
 Columella (De Arb. 16) calls the ornus a fraxinus silvestris, distin- 
 guished from the other ashes by having broader leaves, botanists are 
 now inclined to think it is the Fraxinus rotundifolia of Lamarck, the 
 Manna-tree, or tree that yields the manna, of Calabria. 
 
 Paliurus. (Rhamnus Paliurus L. ; Rhamneae N. 0.)U.dXiovpos ; 
 Paliureporte-chapeauF.; Christdorn,JudendornG. Christ's Thorn. 
 This is a prickly shrub common in the south of Italy : Columella 
 (xi. 3) recommends it for making quickset hedges, aDd (vii. 9) he 
 classes it with those plants whose fruits and berries were good feed- 
 ing for swine. 
 
 Palma. (Phoenix dactylifera L. ; Palmeae N. O.) 3>oii/t£ ; Palma 
 I. ; Palmier- dattier F. ; Palme G. The Palm or Date-tree. This 
 tree grows abundantly in the East and on the north coast of Africa, 
 and also in Spain and Italy. Its fruit, now well-known in our 
 grocers' shops, was called by the Greeks 8o.ktvXos, or finger, from its 
 form, whence our word date. 
 
 Papaver. (P. somniferum L. ; Papaveraceae N. O.) Mj^kcoz/ ; 
 Papavero I. ; Pavot F. ; Mohn G. The Poppy, both the cultivated 
 and the wild. Of the former the ancients had two kinds, named 
 from the colour of their seeds, white and black. They used to eat 
 the seeds roasted, as is done still in some places, for the seeds do 
 not partake of the narcotic nature of their capsule. 
 
 Pice a. Uitvs: From the description which Pliny gives of this 
 tree (xvi. ]0), it appears to have been like, if not the same with, the 
 fir, which is used so much by us in joiners' work. 
 
 Pinus. (P. Phiea L. ; Coniferi X. O.) IlevKT] rjpepos; Pino I. ; 
 Pin pinier F. ; Pinjole G. The Pine. This very handsome tree, 
 which the ancients were fond of cultivating in their gardens, grows to 
 a great height, and throws out all its branches from the top. The 
 kernels of its cones are eaten. 
 
 Pirus. (P. malus L. ; RosaceaeN. 0.)*Amov', Pero I. ; PoirierF.; 
 Birnbaum G. The Pear. Fee enumerates thirty- eight kinds of pears 
 mentioned by Columella, Pliny, and others. 
 
 
FLORA VIRGILIANA. 391 
 
 Platanus. (P. orientalis L. ; Amentaceae N. O.) UXdravos ; 
 Platano I. ; Platane F. ; Platane G. The Plane-tree. This mag- 
 nificent tree is a native of the East, but it grows well in our planta- 
 tions. The ancients remarked the resemblance between the form of 
 its leaf and that of the Peloponnese, and it is not by any means 
 fanciful. 
 
 Pomum Medicum. (Citrus Medica L. ; Aurantiae N. O.) Cedro 
 I. ; Citronnier F. ; Zitrone G. The Citron. There can be little 
 doubt that this is the fruit which Virgil calls Pomum Medicum. 
 
 Populus. (P. alba and P. nigra L. ; Amentaceae N. O.) 'A^e- 
 fxots and A'lyeipos; Pioppo I. ; Peuplier F.; Pappel G. The Poplar. 
 Both the white and black poplar (so named from the colour of their 
 bark and leaves) are indigenous in this country. 
 
 Prunus. (P. domestical^. ; Rosaceae N. O.) Kokkv^Xos; Prugno, 
 Susino I. ; Prunier F. ; Pjlaumenbaum G. The Plum. Pliny reckons 
 eleven kinds of plum. One of the best known was the /3pa/3uAoi>, or 
 Prunum damascenum, or Damascus plum. 
 
 Quercus. (Quercus L. ; Amentaceae N. O.) Apvs ; Quercia I. ; 
 Chene F. ; Eiche G. The Oak. The Latin quercus, like the Greek 
 8pvs, was a genus including various species, as the aesculus, the 
 cerrus, the robur, etc. This last is supposed to be the Q. sessiliflora, 
 or Sessile-fruited oak, which is indigenous in this country, and which 
 Fee says is called in some parts of France rouvre. We have heard 
 the ilex called in Italy quercia, and the common oak rovere. 
 
 Rosa. (Rosa L. ; Rosaceae N. O.) c P6dov ; Rosa I. ; Rose F. ; 
 Rose G. The Rose. The ancients had several kinds of roses, which 
 they used for garlands, etc. The R. centifolia was then, as now, 
 the most fragrant and most esteemed. On the twice-blowing roses 
 of Paestum (Geor. iv. 119), which Fee asserts must belong to the 
 R. Eglanteria, Tenore observes, " In the various rambles which I 
 have made in all the country around Paestum, I have never chanced 
 to meet with the R. Eglanteria, or any other biferous rose. Instead 
 of these I have always got the R. arvensis and the R. saepium, with 
 neither of which accords the epithet given by the poet. I therefore 
 think that, as Virgil was treating of extensive plantations of roses, 
 he on this occasion speaks rather of cultivated roses, among which 
 is to be found the species bifera, quite common, at the present day, 
 in our gardens." 
 
 Rosmarinus. (R. officinalis L. ; Labiatae N. O.) Aifiavcoris ; 
 Rosmarino I. ; Romarin F. ; Rosmarin G. The Rosemary. It was 
 so named from its growing on the sea-shore. 
 
 Rubus. (R. fruticosus L. j Rosaceae N. O.) Bdros ; Rogo, Rovo 
 
392 FLORA VIRGILIANA. 
 
 I. ; Ronce F. ; Brombeerstrauch G. The Bramble, Briar, or Black- 
 berry-bush. Under this term various kinds are included. The fruit 
 was called in Latin morum, blackberry. 
 
 Ruscus. (R. aculeatus L. ; Asparageae N . O.) Mvppivrj dypia ; 
 Brusca, Spruneggio, Pungitopol. ; Brusc, Housson,Petit-houx, Houx- 
 fragon F. ; Brusch, Mausdorn G. The Butcher's-broom. This plant 
 is indigenous in England. 
 
 Saliunca. (Valeriana Celtica L. ; Valerianeae N. O.) ~Sdp8os 
 KeXriicr). This plant, a species of Valerian, which our writers call 
 French spikenard, is described by Dioscorides and Pliny as growing 
 in various parts of the Alps and their vicinity. It is a low plant 
 with a fragrant smell, but it is too brittle to allow of its being formed 
 into garlands as the ancients did with the rose ; hence Virgil speaks 
 of it as iuferior to that flower. Dioscorides says that the vdpbos 
 KeXriKTj, the plant which he describes, was called in the Ligurian 
 Alps akiovyyia, and the people of the Tyrol are said to call it at the 
 present day Seliunk. 
 
 Salix. (Salix L. ; Amentaceae N. O.) 'irea ; Salcio, Salce I. ; 
 Saule F. ; Weide G. The Willow, or Sallow. The species of this 
 plant are very numerous, not less than sixty-four being indigenous 
 in this country. 
 
 Sardoa herba. {Ranunculus Sardous Crantz; Ranunculaceae 
 N. O.) Barpaxiov yycooSeWepoi'. This plant, celebrated for its bitter- 
 ness and its contractile force on the visages of those that chew 
 it, is found not only in Sardinia (whence it is named), but in Italy 
 and France, where, according to Fee, it grows in the fields or by the 
 roadsides, and especially near marshes. As Dioscorides compares 
 its leaves to those of the celery, it is probably the Celery-leaved 
 Crowfoot, one of our indigenous plants, and which is of so acrid a 
 nature that the beggars use it to produce artificial sores. 
 
 Scilla. (S. maritima L. ; Liliaceae N. O.) SxtXXa, ^xivos ; 
 Squilla I. ; Settle maritime F. ; Meerzwiebel G. The Squill, or Sea- 
 leek. This bulbous plant, which grows in sandy tracts by the sea- 
 shore, is indigenous in these countries. It is very abundant on both 
 sides of the bay of Dublin, and on the coast of Wales. A syrup is 
 made from it well-known in medicine. 
 
 Serpyllum. (JHiymus Serpyllum L. ; Labiatae X. O.) ff Ep7rrXXo? ; 
 Sermollino, Serpollo I. ; Serpolet F. ; Quendel G. Wild Thyme. This 
 fragrant plant grows common in this country. Bees are fond of it, 
 and when sheep feed on it it is said to give a fine flavour to the 
 mutton. 
 
 Siler. Botanists and commentators are quite at variance with 
 
FLORA V1RGILIANA. 393 
 
 each other about this plant. All that we know of it is that it grew 
 in moist places, that its seeds were used in medicine, and that the 
 rustics bore staves made of it as a protection against serpents, which 
 fled from it. Plin. xvi. 18 ; xxiv. 10. Virgil (Geor. ii. 12) gives it 
 the epithet mollis. Martyn and Fee think it likely that it is the 
 osier. 
 
 Sorbus. (S. domestica L. ; Rosaceae N. 0.)"Oa, ova; Sorbo I. ; 
 Sorbier F. ; Sperberbaum G. Service-tree. The fruit of this tree 
 resembles a brown-red pear, and it tastes like a medlar. 
 
 Taeda. Pliny enumerates the taeda among the pines; but as 
 Fee observes, it is probably an error, the proper sense of the word 
 being torch, for the making of which the pine wood was em- 
 ployed. 
 
 Taxus. (T. baccata L. ; Coniferae N. O.) 2/iTXos ; Tasso I. ; 
 JfY. ; EibenbaumG. The Yew. 
 
 Terebinthus. (Pistacia Terebinthus L. ; Terebinthaceae N. O.) 
 TepfxivBos ; Terebinto I. ; Terebinthe F. ; Terpentinbaum G. Tere- 
 binth, or Turpentine-tree. This tree, whose wood is of a dark 
 colour (Aen. x. 136), grew in Epirus and Macedonia, but did not 
 there attain to the size it did in Syria. Plin. xiii. 6. It is the 
 Hebrew Elah, usually rendered oak, as Gen. xxxv. 4 ; Judges vi. 1 1. 
 
 Thus. Aiftavos. It is not known exactly what tree produced t>'s 
 gum, but it appears that it was of the terebinthine, and not of the - * 
 coniferous family. The best thus comes from India, and its name 
 is said to be turuzca in Sanscrit. 
 
 Thymbra. (Satureia thymbra L. ; Labiatae N. O.) Qvfxfipa ; 
 Sarriette Fr. ; Saturei G. Savory. The thymbra, though a kind of 
 Satureia, was different from it, for Columella has (x. 233) Et sa- 
 tureia thymi referens thymbraeque saporem. It may be that the 
 thymbra is the wild, the Satureia the cultivated plant. The savory, 
 though cultivated in our gardens, is not one of our indigenous 
 plants- 
 
 Thymus. (Thymus vulgaris L. ; Labiatae N. O.) Gv/xos ; Timo I.; 
 Thym F. ; Thymian G. Thyme. Fee thinks that under the term 
 thymus the ancients included several of the labiate plants, among 
 others the common thyme. Bauhin, who is followed by Martyn 
 and Sprengel, maintained that the thymus as described by Diosco- 
 rides was not our common thyme, but a labiate which he names 
 T. capitatus, on account of its flowers growing in a head or tuft, 
 and which is common in the south of Europe, especially in Attica. 
 Martyn adds that it is known among us by the name of the tree 
 Thyme of the ancients. 
 
394; FLORA VIRGILIANA. 
 
 Triticum. (T. hibernum, L. Gramineae N. O.) ILvpos ; Grano I. ; 
 Fromeni F. ; Waize G. Wheat. To judge by medals, etc., as 
 Martyn observes, the ancients knew only the bearded varieties of 
 wheat. 
 
 Vaccinium. There are two opinions respecting this plant, some 
 regarding it as a shrub, others as a flower. The former, among 
 whom is Fee, say it is the V. Myrtillus L. ; Vaciet Fr. ; the Whor- 
 tleberry. Their chief argument seems to be the resemblance be- 
 tween vaccinium and vaciet, and the supposition that, ligustrum 
 being the privet, Virgil must naturally (Ec. i. 30) have opposed one 
 shrub to another. But as it appears to be the berries of the one 
 and the flower of the other that they regard as opposed, there thence 
 arises as great a difficulty on their side ; besides, in Ec. x. 39, the 
 vaccinium is mentioned with the viola as being similar in colour. 
 The verse just referred to is in effect the translation of a verse of 
 Theocritus, in which the vditivOos is joined with the lov, and vacci- 
 nium may, without any violation of the rules of etymology, be de- 
 rived from vdicivOos. Moreover, Dioscorides describes the vaccinium 
 as having a bulbous root, and being full of purple flowers. We 
 therefore incline to those who hold the last opinion. We must 
 at the same time observe, that according to Pliny the vaccinium was 
 IPCfl in dying, and that, as Fee tells us, the whortleberries are still 
 Msed for that purpose in Sweden. 
 • Vellera Serum. See page 36S. 
 
 Yerbexa. By this word the ancients understood in general any 
 herbs or plants that were used for sacred purposes. It was used 
 therefore of the olive, the bay, the myrtle, etc. Pliny (xxv. 9) men- 
 tions a particular plant named Verbenaca {Verbena officinalis L. ; 
 Pyrenaceae X. O.) 'lepa. fioTavn, Uepioreptav ; Verbena I. ; Verveine 
 F. Vervain. It grew, he says, in moist places, and its leaves were 
 shaped like those of the oak. 
 
 Viburnum. (V. Lantaaa L. ; Caprifoliaceae N. O.) Greek name 
 unknown ; Viburno I. ; Viorne F. ; Schlingbaum, JVegeschlinge, 
 Mehlbaum G. Wayfaring-tree, Mealy Guelder-rose. This shrub, 
 with mealy branches and numerous white flowers, is found occa- 
 sionally in our woods and hedges. Tenore says that the Viburnum 
 of Virgil is not the V. Lantana, but the V. Tinus, which is called by 
 the Italians at the present day Lentaggine, as the Viburnum was 
 named by the ancients Lent ago. 
 
 Vicia. (V.sativaL.; Leguminosae X. O.) 'AcpaK^ ; Veccia I. ; 
 Vesce F. ; TVicJce G. The Vetch. There are two kinds of it indi- 
 genous in this country. 
 
FLORA VIRGILIANA. 395 
 
 Viola. (V.odorataL.; Violareae N. O.) "lov ; Viola, Violetta,!.; 
 Violette F. ; Veilchen G. The Violet, including the various kinds 
 of pansy. This also is one of our indigenous flowers : it grows 
 wild in the woods and fields in most countries ; it abounds in the 
 neighbourhood of Rome. Virgil mentions (Ec. ii. 38) a flower 
 which he calls viola pattens, and Pliny a mola alba. They are pro- 
 bably the same. Some make it the Snowflake (Leucoium vernum), 
 others the Wallflower (Cheiranthus Cheiri), others the Primrose 
 (Primula), others the Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis), but none ac- 
 cords with Pliny's description. Matthioli says there is a white 
 species of violet which grows abundantly in Italy in low moist 
 situations, and this may be Virgil's flower. Tenore informs us that 
 on the hills and the coast of Sicily grows the Leucoium autumnale, 
 which flowers in the end of the summer, and whose white blossoms 
 greatly resemble the Buca-neve or Snowdrop. 
 
 Viscum. (V. album L. ; Lorantheae~N.O.) 'Igia, l£6s ; Vischio, 
 Visco I. ; Gui F. ; Vogelleim G. Birdlime. This parasitic plant 
 grows on a great variety of trees, such as limes, elms, ashes, hazels, 
 quinces, apples, pears, plums, etc'. : it grows also on the oak, but 
 very rarely, and it is said that this is the reason why this kind was 
 so much prized by the Druids. From its berries, which are of a 
 yellow or golden colour, the birdlime is made. 
 
 Vitis. (V. vinifera L. ; Sarmentaceae N. O.) "AfnreXos ; Vite I. ; 
 Vigne F. ; Weinrebe G. The Vine. This plant and its delicious 
 fruit are too well known to require any description : it is indige- 
 nous in Europe, but only to the south of the great chain of moun- 
 tains which divides it from west to east. It may be of use here to 
 notice the ancient names of the different parts of the vine and its 
 fruit. From the root rose the stock, truncus, areXexos ; from the 
 stock the branches or arms, brachia ; on which came the buds, 
 gemmae or oculi, o<p6a\poi ; from these grew the shoots, which 
 while young and tender were called pampini, ^Xao-rai ; when they 
 began to bear they were named palmites and palmae, and when they 
 were getting dry and hard sarmenta. The Greeks had but the one 
 name Kkrjpara for the palmites and the sarmenta, and the Latins 
 (even the rustic writers) use them and pampinus without much dis- 
 crimination. The vine had also tendrils, capreoli, eXuces, by which 
 it clung to its supports. The bunch of grapes, uva, aracpvKr}, /3o- 
 rpvs, hung by its stalk, pediculus, from the palmes ; the minor 
 bunches of which it consisted were named racemi (fiorpves ? the 
 Greeks seem to make no difference between fiorpvs and aracpvKy)), 
 
396 FLORA VIRGI LIANA. 
 
 and their stalks scopi, scopiones. On the scopus grew the single 
 grapes, acini -a, grana, payes, kokkoi : — 
 
 " Tempus ut extentis tumeat facit uva racem is 
 
 Vixque merum capiant grana quod intus habent." 
 
 Ovid. Tr. iv. 6, 9. 
 The acinus held in its skin, folliculus, the juice and the stones 
 vinacei -ae and -a, ylyapra. The stalks, skins and stones, after 
 being trodden and pressed, were also named vinacei -ae -a, ylyapra, 
 and also o-repcpvXa by the Greeks. 
 
 Ulmus. (V. campestris L. ; Amentaceae N. O.) LTreAea; Olmo I.; 
 Orme, Ormeau F. ; Ulmbaum G. The Elm. This tree is indigenous 
 in all parts of Europe, 
 
 Ulva. (Festuca fiuitans L. ; Graminaceae N. O.) Tl(pt]. Fee 
 thinks that this plant, which he says is called L'Herle a la Manne, 
 which grows in marshes, and whose heads when boiled in milk re- 
 semble sago and are a good aliment, is the ulva palustris of Virgil, 
 Geor. iii. 175. Tenore says it abounds in the kingdom of Naples. 
 Fee further thinks that the ordinary ulva of Ovid and the other poets 
 is some kind of scirpus, probably the S. lacustris L. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 PRINTED BY RICHARD AXD JOHN E. TAYLOR, 
 RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.