Nec violent lacrimis numina nostra suis.
Tura ferant, placentque novum pia turba Quirinum,
Et patrias artes militiamque colant.
Jussit, et in tenues oculis evanuit auras.
Convocat hic populos, jussaque verba refert. 510
Templa deo fiunt. Collis quoque dictus ab illo,
Et referunt certi sacra paterna dies.
Lux quoque cur eadem Stultorum festa vocetur,
Accipe: parva quidem causa, sed apta subest.
Non habuit tellus doctos antiqua colonos: 515
Lassabant agiles aspera bella viros.
Plus erat in gladio, quam curvo laudis aratro:
Neglectus domino pauca ferebat ager.
Farra tamen veteres jaciebant, farra metebant,
Primitias Cereri farra resecta dabant. 520
Usibus admoniti flammis torrenda dederunt,
Multaque peccato damna tulere suo.
Nam modo verrebant nigras pro farre favillas;
Nunc ipsas ignes corripuere casas.
Facta dea est Fornax: laeti Fornace coloni 525
Orant, ut fruges temperet illa suas.
Curio legitimis nunc Fornacalia verbis
Maximus indicit, nec stata sacra facit;
Inque Foro, multa circum pendente tabella,
Signatur certa Curia quaeque nota; 530
Stultaque pars populi, quae sit sua Curia, nescit:
Sed facit extrema sacra relata die.
Est honor et tumulis. Animas placate paternas,
Parvaque in exstinctas munera ferte pyras,
Parva petunt Manes. Pietas pro divite grata est 535
Munere. Non avidos Styx habet ima deos.
Tegula porrectis satis est velata coronis,
Et sparsae fruges, parcaque mica salis,
Inque mero mollita Ceres, violaeque solutae.
Haec habeat media testa relicta via. 540
Nec majora veto: sed et his placabilis umbra est.
Adde preces positis et sua verba focis.
Hunc morem aeneas, pietatis idoneus auctor,
Attulit in terras, juste Latine, tuas.
Ille patris Genio sollemnia dona ferebat; 545
Hinc populi ritus edidicere pios.
At quondam, dum longa gerunt pugnacibus armis
Bella, Parentales deseruere dies.
Non impune fuit. Nam dicitur omine ab isto
Roma suburbanis incaluisse rogis. 550
Vix equidem credo: bustis exisse feruntur,
Et tacitae questi tempore noctis avi;
Perque vias urbis, Latiosque ululasse per agros
Deformes animas, vulgus inane, ferunt.
Post ea praeteriti tumulis redduntur honores, 555
Prodigiisque venit funeribusque modus.
Dum tamen haec fiunt, viduae cessate puellae:
Exspectet puros pinea taeda dies.
Nec tibi, quae cupidae matura videbere matri,
Comat virgineas hasta recurva comas. 560
Conde tuas, Hymenaee, faces, et ab ignibus atris
Aufer. Habent alias maesta sepulcra faces.
Di quoque templorum foribus celentur opertis,
Ture vacent arae, stentque sine igne foci.
Nunc animae tenues et corpora functa sepulcris 565
Errant: nunc posito pascitur umbra cibo.
Nec tamen haec ultra, quam, tot de mense supersint
Luciferi, quot habent carmina nostra pedes.
Hanc, quia justa ferunt, dixere _Feralia_ lucem.
Ultima placandis Manibus illa dies. 570
Ecce anus in mediis residens annosa puellis
Sacra facit Tacitae: vix tamen ipsa tacet;
Et digitis tria tura tribus sub limine ponit,
Qua brevis occultum mus sibi fecit iter.
Tumn cantata ligat cum fusco licia plumbo; 575
Et septem nigras versat in ore fabas;
Quodque pice adstrinxit, quod acu trajecit ahena,
Obsutum maenae torret in igne caput:
Vina quoque instillat. Vini quodcumque relictum est,
Aut ipsa, aut comites, plus tamen ipsa, bibit. 580
Hostiles linguas inimicaque vinximus ora,
Dicit discedens, ebriaque exit anus.
Protinus a nobis, quae sit dea Muta, requires.
Disce, per antiquos quae mihi nota senes.
Jupiter indomito Juturnae captus amore 585
Multa tulit, tanto non patienda deo.
Illa modo in silvis inter coryleta jacebat:
Nunc in cognatas desiliebat aquas.
Convocat hic Nymphas, Latium quaecumque tenebant,
Et jacit in medio talia verba choro: 590
Invidet ipsa vitatque, quod expedit illi,
Vestra soror summo jungere membra deo.
Consulite ambobus: nam quae est mea magna voluptas,
Utilitas vestra magna sororis erit.
Vos illi in prima fugienti obsistite ripa, 595
Ne sua fluminea corpora mergat aqua.
Dixerat: annuerunt nymphae Tiberinides omnes,
Quaeque colunt thalamos, Illa diva, tuos.
Forte fuit Nais, Lara nomine: prima sed illi
Dicta bis antiquum syllaba nomen erat, 600
Ex vitio positum. Saepe illi dixerat Almo,
Nata, tene linguam: nec tamen illa tenet.
Quae, simul ac tetigit Juturnae stagna sororis,
Effuge, ait, ripas: dicta refertque Jovis.
Illa etiam Junonem adiit, miserataque nuptam, 605
Naida Juturnam vir tuus, inquit, amat.
Jupiter intumuit: quaque est non usa modeste,
Eripuit linguam, Mercuriumque monet,
Duc hanc ad Manes: locus ille silentibus aptus.
Nympha, sed infernae Nympha paludis, erit. 610
Jussa Jovis fiunt. Accepit lucus euntes.
Dicitur illa duci placuisse deo.
Vim parat hic: vultu pro verbis illa precatur,
Et frustra muto nititur ore loqui.
Fitque gravis, geminosque parit, qui compita servant, 615
Et vigilant nostra semper in aede, Lares.
Proxima cognati dixere Caristia cari,
Et venit ad socias turba propinqua dapes.
Scilicet a tumulis, et, qui periere, propinquis
Protinus ad vivos ora referre juvat, 620
Postque tot amissos, quidquid de sanguine restat,
Adspicere, et generis dinumerare gradus.
Innocui veniant: procul hinc, procul impius esto
Frater, et in partus mater acerba suos;
Cui pater est vivax, qui matris digerit annos, 625
Quae premit invisam socrus iniqua nurum.
Tantalidae fratres absint, et Iasonis uxor,
Et quae ruricolis semina tosta dedit:
Et soror, et Progne, Tereusque duabus iniquus,
Et quicumque suas per scelus auget opes. 630
Dis generis date tura bonis; Concordia fertur
Illa praecipue mitis adesse die;
Et libate dapes, ut grati pignus honoris
Nutriat incinctos missa patella Lares,
Jamque ubi suadebit placidos nox ultima somnos, 635
Larga precaturi sumite vina manu,
Et, Bene nos, Patriae, bene te, Pater, optime Caesar!
Dicite suffuso per sacra verba mero.
Nox ubi transierit, solito celebretur honore,
Separat indicio qui deus arva suo. 640
Termine, sive lapis, sive es defossus in agro
Stipes ab antiquis, sic quoque numen habes.
Te duo diversa domini pro parte coronant,
Binaque serta tibi, binaque liba ferunt.
Ara fit: huc ignem curto fert rustica testu 645
Sumptum de tepidis ipsa colona focis.
Ligna senex minuit, concisaque construit alte,
Et solida ramos figere pugnat humo.
Dum sicco primas irritat cortice flammas,
Stat puer, et manibus lata canistra tenet. 650
Inde, ubi ter fruges medios immisit in ignes,
Porrigit incisos filia parva favos.
Vina tenent alii: libantur singula flammis.
Spectant et linguis Candida turba favent.
Spargitur et caeso communis Terminus agno: 655
Nec queritur, lactens quum sibi porca datur.
Conveniunt celebrantque dapes vicinia supplex,
Et cantant laudes, Termine sancte, tuas.
Tu populos, urbesque, et regna ingentia finis:
Omnis erit sine te litigiosus ager. 660
Nulla tibi ambitio est: nullo corrumperis auro:
Legitima servas credita rura fide:
Si tu signasses olim Thyreatida terram,
Corpora non leto missa trecenta forent,
Nec foret Othryades congestis lectus in armis. 665
O quantum patriae sanguinis ille dedit!
Quid, nova quum fierent Capitolia? nempe deorum
Cuncta Jovi cessit turba, locumque dedit.
Terminus--ut veteres memorant--inventus in aede
Restitit, et magno cum Jove templa tenet. 670
Nunc quoque, se supra ne quid nisi sidera cernat,
Exiguum templi tecta foramen habent.
Termine, post illud levitas tibi libera non est,
Qua positus fueris in statione, mane.
Nec tu vicino quidquam concede roganti, 675
Ne videare hominem praeposuisse Jovi;
Et seu vomeribus, seu tu pulsabere rastris,
Clamato, Meus est hic ager, ille tuus.
Est via, quae populum Laurentes ducit in agros,
Quondam Dardanio regna petita duci. 680
Illac lanigeri pecoris tibi, Termine, fibris
Sacra videt fieri sextus ab urbe lapis.
Gentibus est aliis tellus data limite certo;
Romanae spatium est urbis et orbis idem.
Nunc mihi dicenda est Regis fuga. Traxit ab illa 685
Sextus ab extremo nomina mense dies.
Ultima Tarquinius Romanae gentis habebat
Regna, vir injustus, fortis ad arma tamen.
Ceperat hic alias, alias everterat urbes,
Et Gabios turpi fecerat arte suos. 690
Namque trium minimus, proles manifesta Superbi,
In medios hostes nocte silente venit.
Nudarant gladios: Occidite, dixit, inermem!
Hoc cupiant fratres, Tarquiniusque pater,
Qui mea crudeli laceravit verbere terga! 695
--Dicere ut hoc posset, verbera passus erat--
Luna fuit. Spectant juvenem, gladiosque recondunt,
Tergaque, deducta veste, notata vident.
Flent quoque, et, ut secum tueatur bella, precantur.
Callidus ignaris annuit ille viris. 700
Jamque potens misso genitorem appellat amico,
Prodendi Gabios quod sibi monstret iter,
Hortus odoratis suberat cultissimus herbis,
Sectus humum rivo lene sonantis aquae.
Illic Tarquinius mandata latentia nati 705
Accipit, et virga lilia summa metit.
Nuntius ut rediit, decussaque lilia dixit,
Filius, Agnosco jussa parentis, ait.
Nec mora: principibus caesis ex urbe Gabina,
Traduntur ducibus moenia nuda suis. 710
Ecce--nefas visu--mediis altaribus anguis
Exit, et exstinctis ignibus exta rapit.
Consulitur Phoebus. Sors est ita reddita: Matri
Qui dederit princeps oscula, victor erit.
Oscula quisque suae matri properata tulerunt, 715
Non intellecto credula turba deo.
Brutus erat stulti sapiens imitator, ut esset
Tutus ab insidiis, dire Superbe, tuis.
Ille jacens pronus matri dedit oscula Terrae,
Creditus offenso procubuisse pede. 720
Cingitur interea Romanis Ardea signis,
Et patitur lentas obsidione moras.
Dum vacat, et metuunt hostes committere pugnam,
Luditur in castris: otia miles agit.
Tarquinius juvenis socios dapibusque meroque 725
Accipit, atque illis rege creatus ait:
Dum nos difficilis pigro tenet Ardea bello,
Nec sinit ad patrios arma referre deos;
Ecquid in officio torus est socialis? et ecquid
Conjugibus nostris mutua cura sumus? 730
Quisque suam laudant. Studiis certamina crescunt,
Et fervent multo linguaque corque mero.
Surgit, cui clarum dederat Collatia nomen;
Non opus est verbis, credite rebus, ait.
Nox superest: tollamur equis, urbemque petamus. 735
Dicta placent: frenis impediuntur equi.
Pertulerant dominos. Regalia protinus illi
Tecta petunt: custos in fore nullus erat.
Ecce nurum regis fusis per colla coronis
Inveniunt posito pervigilare mero. 740
Inde cito passu petitur Lucretia. Nebat;
Ante torum calathi lanaque mollis erant.
Lumen ad exiguum famulae data pensa trahebant,
Inter quas tenui sic ait ipsa sono:
Mittenda est domino--nunc, nunc properate, puellae-- 745
Quamprimum nostra facta lacerna manu.
Quid tamen audistis?--nam plura audire potestis--
Quantum de bello dicitur esse super?
Postmodo victa cades, melioribus, Ardea, restas,
Improba, quae nostros cogis abesse viros. 750
Sint tantum reduces. Sed enim temerarius ille
Est meus, et stricto quolibet ense ruit.
Mens abit, et morior, quoties pugnantis imago.
Me subit, et gelidum pectora frigus habet.
Desinit in lacrimas, intentaque fila remittit, 755
In gremio vultum deposuitque suum.
Hoc ipsum decuit: lacrimae decuere pudicam,
Et facies animo dignaque parque fuit.
Pone metum, venio, conjux ait. Illa revixit,
Deque viri collo dulce pependit onus. 760
Interea juvenis furiales regius ignes
Concipit, et caeco raptus amore furit.
Forma placet, niveusque color, flavique capilli,
Quique aderat nulla factus ab arte decor.
Verba placent, et vox, et quod corrumpere non est: 765
Quoque minor spes est, hoc magis ille cupit.
Jam dederat cantum lucis praenuntius ales,
Quum referunt juvenes in sua castra pedem.
Carpitur attonitos absentis imagine sensus
Ille: recordanti plura magisque placent. 770
Sic sedit, sic culta fuit, sic stamina nevit,
Neglectae collo sic jacuere comae,
Hos habuit vultus, haec illi verba fuere,
Hic decor, haec facies, hic color oris erat.
Ut solet a magno fluctus languescere flatu, 775
Sed tamen a vento, qui fuit, unda tumet:
Sic, quamvis aberat placitae praesentia formae,
Quem dederat praesens forma, manebat amor.
Ardet, et injusti stimulis agitatus amoris
Comparat indigno vimque dolumque toro. 780
Exitus in dubio est. Audebimus ultima, dixit.
Viderit, audentes forsne deusne juvet.
Cepimus audendo Gabios quoque. Talia fatus
Ense latus cinxit, tergaque pressit equi.
Accipit aerata juvenem Collatia porta, 785
Condere jam vultus sole parante suos.
Hostis, ut hospes, init penetralia Collatini:
Comiter excipitur: sanguine junctus erat.
Quantum animis erroris inest! parat inscia rerum
Infelix epulas hostibus illa suis. 790
Functus erat dapibus: poscunt sua tempora somni.
Nox erat, et tota lumina nulla domo.
Surgit, et auratum vagina liberat ensem,
Et venit in thalamos, nupta pudica, tuos,
Utque torum pressit, Ferrum, Lucretia, mecum est, 795
Natus, ait, regis, Tarquiniusque loquor.
Illa nihil: neque enim vocem viresque loquendi,
Aut aliquid toto pectore mentis habet.
Sed tremit, ut quondam stabulis deprensa relictis
Parva sub infesto quum jacet agna lupo. 800
Quid faciat? pugnet? vincetur femina pugna.
Clamet? at in dextra, qui necet, ensis adest.
Effugiat? positis urgentur pectora palmis;
Tune primum externa pectora tacta manu.
Instat amans hostis precibus, pretioque, minisque: 805
Nec prece, nec pretio, nec movet ille minis.
Nil agis; eripiam, dixit, pro crimine vitam:
Falsus adulterii testis adulter erit.
Interimam famulum, cum quo deprensa fereris.
Succubuit famae victa puella metu. 810
Quid, victor, gaudes? haec te victoria perdet.
Heu quanto regnis nox stetit una tuis!
Jamque erat orta dies: passis sedet illa capillis,
Ut solet ad nati mater itura rogum;
Grandaevumque patrem fido cum conjuge castris 815
Evocat: et posita venit uterque mora.
Utque vident habitum, quae luctus causa, requirunt,
Cui paret exsequias, quove sit icta malo.
Illa diu reticet, pudibundaque celat amictu
Ora. Fluunt lacrimae more perennis aquae. 820
Hinc pater, hinc conjux lacrimas solantur, et orant,
Indicet: et caeco flentque paventque metu.
Ter conata loqui, ter destitit, ausaque quarto.
Non oculos adeo sustulit illa suos.
Hoc quoque Tarquinio debebimus? eloquar, inquit, 825
Eloquar infelix dedecus ipsa meum.
Quaeque potest narrat. Restabant ultima; flevit,
Et matronales erubuere genae.
Dant veniam facto genitor conjuxque coactae.
Quam, dixit, veniam vos datis, ipsa nego. 830
Nec mora; celato figit sua pectora ferro,
Et cadit in patrios sanguinolenta pedes.
Tunc quoque jam moriens, ne non procumbat honeste,
Respicit. Haec etiam cura cadentis erat.
Ecce super corpus communia damna gementes, 835
Obliti decoris, virque paterque jacent.
Brutus adest, tandemque animo sua nomina fallit,
Fixaque semanimi corpore tela rapit;
Stillantemqne tenens generoso sanguine cultrum,
Edidit impavidos ore minante sonos: 840
Per tibi ego hunc juro fortem castumque cruorem,
Perque tuos Manes, qui mihi numen erunt,
Tarquinium poenas profuga cum stirpe daturum.
Jam satis est virtus dissimulata diu.
Illa jacens ad verba oculos sine lumine movit, 845
Visaque concussa dicta probare coma.
Fertur in exsequias animi matrona virilis,
Et secum lacrimas invidiamque trahit.
Vulnus inane patet. Brutus clamore Quirites
Concitat, et regis facta nefanda refert. 850
Tarquinius cum prole fugit. Capit annua Consul
Jura. Dies regnis illa suprema fuit.
Fallimur? an veris praenuntia venit hirundo,
Et metuit, ne qua versa recurrat hiems?
Saepe tamen, Progne, nimium properasse quereris, 855
Virque tuo Tereus frigore laetus erit.
Jamque duae restant noctes de mense secundo,
Marsque citos junctis curribus urget equos.
Ex vero positum permansit Equiria nomen,
Quae deus in campo prospicit ipse suo. 860
Jure venis, Gradive; locum tua tempora poscunt,
Signatusque tuo nomine mensis adest.
Venimus in portum libro cum mense peracto.
Naviget hinc alia jam mihi linter aqua.
NOTES:
1. _Crescit_. Some MSS. read _crescat_.
2. _Ut hinc_. Most MSS. read _ut hic;_ three of the best _ut it_. The
present reading is the conjecture of Heinsius.
3, 4. The Elegiac measure which is employed in this poem, was usually
appropriated to subjects which had not much dignity in them. Such had
been his preceding compositions in this species of verse.
5. Alluding to his Amores, Ars Amandi, etc.--_Faciles_, ready, compliant.
6. When my early youth sported in numbers adapted to it.
7, 8. I now sing the festivals, etc. Would any one think that idle
love-verses would have led the way to such a theme?
9, 10. _Militia, dextra, munere_, all words relating to military service.
See Hor. Car. iv. l.--_Ferimus_, most MSS. read _gerimus_.--_Vacat_.
Seven have _caret_.
14. _Habilis_, fit. Any one can be a soldier.
16. _Nomina_, i. e. deeds of name.--Titulos, is employed in the same
manner.
17, 18. He continues the adulatory style in which he at first addressed
him.
19. The poet now begins an inquiry into the origin of the name of the
second month.--_Februum: Sabinis purgamentum et in sacris nostris
verbum_. Varro de L. L. V.--_Piamina_, the [Greek: katharmoi] of the
Greeks, whatever was used in purification, and in removing the [Greek:
agos], or piacular guilt. Five MSS. read _piacula_, which signifies the
same thing.
20. Scil. the word is still frequently used in this sense.
21. _Rege_, the Rex Sacrorum.--_Flamine_, the Flamen Dialis.--_Lanas_. As
Clemens Alexandrinus enumerates the [Greek: eria pyrrha] among the
articles used by the Gentiles in purification Neapolis conjectures that
this wool was _red_.
23. _Lictor_, of the Flamen Dialis.--_Sertis_, one MS. _cernis_, three
_ternis_, one _acernis_. Heinsius proposes _tersis_.--_Domibus_, the
house of the Flamen.
24. The _Mola Salsa_.
25. _Arbore pura_, the pine, as making pure.
27. _Flaminicam_, the wife of the Flamen Dialis. Some MSS. read
_Flaminiam_ or _Flamineam_.
30. _Intonsos_, i.e. _priscos, antiquos_. _Intonsus Numa_, below V. 264.
_Intonsus Cato_. Hor. Car. II. 15. There were no barbers at Rome, till
A.U.C. 454.
31. See below, v. 267. _et seq_.
33. See below, v. 433, _et seq_.--_Tempora pura_, because the guilt and
evil had been removed.
37. In the mode usual in his time, Ovid assigns a Grecian origin to this
opinion. It was however common to Greece, Italy, and the East, and was a
part of the Law of Moses. Homer makes mention of it more than once. Thus
when Ulysses had slain the suitors, he says to Euryclea, [Greek: Oide
theeion graeu kakon akos, oise de moi pur, Ophra theeioso megaron].
According to the legend, (See Mythology, p. 94.) Apollo himself required
purification for having slain the Python.
39. _Actoriden_, Menoetius the father of Patroclus who had slain by
accident Clesonymus or aeanes.--_Pelea_. Telamon and Peleus slew their
brother Phocus. Peleus fled to Thessaly to Actor, or to Eurytion, the son
of Actor, by whom he was purified, and having had the misfortune to kill
his benefactor, he was purified by Acastus. The poet evidently makes a
mistake here. See Mythology, pp. 279 and 414.
41. Aegeus received Medea when she fled after the murder of her children.
--_Credulus_, too easily believing.--_Phasida_, Colchian. See Mythology,
279, 352.
43. _Amphiaraides_. Alemaeon, the son of Amphiaraus, put his mother
Eriphyle to death. Mythology, p. 434.--_Naupactoo_ scil. aetolian.
Naupactus is in aetolia, but not near the Achelous.
45. _Faciles_, credulous.
47-54. This passage is hard to understand. If in the year of Numa
Pompilius, which is the one spoken of, January was the first month, how
could February be the last? Perhaps, though this is at variance with v.
48, the poet here, as in I. 43, 44, only means that Numa added two months
to the Romulian year, in which case February would be the last. See
Introd. § 2.--_Tu quoque_, etc. The intercalation was made after the
Terminalia, that is, the 23d of February.--_Postmodo_, etc. this
regulation of the Decemvirs, is spoken of no where else.--_Tempora
continuasse_. "Effecisse ut hi duo menses, nullo interposito, se
exciperent, cum antea _distarent longo spatio_ decem ipsis mensibus
interjectis," Gierig. As the year is a circle, must not the two ends have
joined?
55. The poet here catches at the opportunity of praising Tiberius. The
temple of Juno Sospita, near that of the Mother of the Gods on the
Palatine hill, had been dedicated on the Kalends of February, but was now
fallen.
62. This is going the utmost length of flattery.
66. _Man. in stat_. Keep guard. A military phrase.
67. Romulus opened the Asylum on the Kalends of February, that is, on the
day of his year corresponding thereto.
69. _Penetrale Numae_. The temple of Vesta, in the Atrium of which, called
the Regia, Numa resided.
70. The Capitolium and the Arx were two parts of the same hill. Liv. III.
18, V. 47.
74. _Purpureis_, bright. This is a usual sense of this word.
76. The cosmic setting of Lyra.
77. The acronych setting of Leo.
79. On the third of February, the Dolphin sets heliacally.--Caelatum, set
or embossed.
81. Alluding to the aid which the Dolphin gave Neptune in his courtship
of Amphitrite.
82. This story of Arion is told by Herodotus, I. 23.
84. _Et seq_. comparing him to Orpheus.
91. _Cynthia_. Diana, the moon.
101, 102. An exclamation of the poet.
107. A long trailing robe of the richest purple, the _dibaphe_.
109, 110. This distich was justly suspected by Heinsius. There is a
corruption in it, which it is now, perhaps, impossible to cure. Burmann
understands by _penna_, an arrow; others think it denotes a hard feather
which the swan gets when old.--_Trajectus_. Four MSS. read _Threicius_.
112. Describing the effect of his plunge into the sea.
115. _Pretium vehendi_, Scil. carmen.
119. See Hom. Il. II. 488. Virg. Geor. II. 42. aen, vi. 625.--_Quo_.
scil. _pectore_.
121. _Alterno carmine_ in hexameters et pentameters; the _versibus
impariter junctis_ of Horace, A. P. 75. The common reading is _pectine.--
Sacras Nonas_, on account of the honours decreed to Augustus.
126. _Heroi pedis_. Hexameters.
127. On the nones of February, A.U.C. 752, Valerius Messala addressed
Augustus in the senate-house in these words, _Senatus te consentiens cum
Pop. Rom. consulutat Patrem Patriae_. Sact. Aug. 58.
128. _Eques_. Ovid was of the equestrian order.
132. The [Greek: pataer andron te theon te] of Homer, the _Divum pater
atque hominum rex_ of Virgil.
134. Comparing the paltry defences erected by the first founder of Rome,
with the strength of the city under its second founder, as Augustus was
styled.
135, 136. See Livy, I. Romulus was only formidable to the little states
around his town; Augustus reduced both the East and the West under the
sway of Rome.
139. The rape of the Sabines is opposed to the laws against adultery,
etc. of Augustus.--_Duce se_, by his own example.
140. The Asylum opposed to the vigorous administration of justice by
Augustus.
142. The favourite title of Augustus and of Tiberius was Princeps. scil.
Senatus; [Greek: deopotaes men ton doulon, autokrator de ton stratioton,
ton de dae loipon prokritus] (Princeps) [Greek: eimi], was a usual saying
of Tiberius.
143. There may be an allusion here to Augustus' forgiveness of Cinna and
others.
144. Mars and Julius Caesar.
145. The cosmic rising of Aquarius.--_Puer. Idaeus_, Ganymedes, son of
Tros, king of Troy, fabled in aftertimes to have been made this
constellation.
146. _Liquidas_, means clear and not liquid.--_Nectare_, as being
cupbearer of the gods.
149. Spring began on the 9th of February, the V. Idus.
153. On the III. Idus Arctophylax, or Bootes, rises acronychally.
155-192. The poet had already told this tale. Met. II, 401-530. See also
Mythology, p. 387.
193. The Faunalia were celebrated on the Ides. The island in the Tiber
contained the temple of Faunus, as well as those of Aesculapius and
Jupiter. It was built by the Aediles with the money arising from fines,
and dedicated A.U.C. 509. There was another Faunalia on the nones of
December. Hor. Car. III. 18. For Faunus, see Mythology, p. 477.
195. See Niebuhr's Roman History, II. 192-195, and 200-203. It is his
opinion that the Fabian Creus, disgusted with the obstinate refusal of
their order to grant the just claims of the Plebeians, retired with their
clients, and a part of the Plebeians, to the number of 4,500, as related
by Dionysius, and founded a colony on the banks of the Cremera, in
Etruria. They left Rome on the Ides of February, A.U.C. 275, and were cut
off by the Tuscans on the 18th of the following Quinctilis, the very day
on which the defeat was sustained at the Allia some years afterwards. The
poet has evidently fallen into a great error here.
196. The number of the Fabii is always given as being 306.
198. _Arma professa_, which they had promised.
199. _Castris_. From the context, this must have been the abodes of the
family at Rome. He may, perhaps, mean their settlement on the Cremera, v.
207.
201. They went out at the Carmental gate. The Roman gates, as has been
already observed, were double. People went out by one, and came in by the
other. Ever after this day, no one went through the gate by which the
Fabii had passed. The way was named _Via Scelerata_ or _Infelix.--Jano_,
that is, probably, simply the gate through which they passed.
203, 204. These lines are wanting in some of the best MSS. Gierig, though
unsatisfied with them, thinks they are necessary to the narration. It
does not seem so to me. We have only to understand the poet thus: they
went out, etc. v. 199, the way _by which they went_ is next etc. v. 201,
to have a very good sense.
206. _Hibernis_, produced by the melting of the snow. It was now the
spring. See note on v. 390.
214. _Parant_, scil. the Tuscans.
225, 226. The poet, as if present, calls out to them.--_Simplex_,
incautious, unsuspicious of guile.
237. _Herculeae gentis_. It was the tradition of the Fabian family that
they derived their origin from Hercules, by a daughter of Evander.
239. Niebuhr _ut supra_, shews that the Fabius who remained at Rome, must
have been then a grown man. He thinks the cause of his staying behind was
his differing in politics from the rest of the family.
241. The celebrated Fabius Maximas Cunctator, the man who shewed how to
vanquish Hannibal.
243. The day after the Ides these three signs, which lie close together,
rise acronychally.
247. The inferior gods offered sacrifices to the superior. See below, iv.
423. aeschyl. Prom. 526, _et seq_.
254. _Eam_, the tree for the fruit.
255. Figs ripen very fast (Pliny, xv. 19,) so that this is not badly
invented.
260. _Tenuit_ is used here in a double sense.
263. _Lactens_, that is, full of juice. It was peculiarly used of the
fig.
264. _De nullo_, etc. It was an opinion of the ancients, that for sixty
days before the figs ripened, the ravens were affected by a looseness of
bowels, which obliged them to abstain from every thing humid. Pliny, X.
12. aelian. V. Il. II. 5.
267. The Lupercalia were celebrated on the 15th February, the xv. Kal.
Mart. The poet here, according to the custom of the Latin poets,
confounds the ancient Italian deity, Faunus, with the Pan of the
Arcadians. On these occasions, a theory or a legend was always devised to
explain the manner in which the worship had been introduced. For Pan, see
Mythology, p. 198.
272. He most haunts the Arcadian mountains, or, he is most worshiped
there.
273. _Pholoe_, the mountain of that name.
274. This is an error, the Ladom falls into the Alpheus.
277. _Equarum_. Several MSS. read _aquarum_, which reading Burmann
defends, as Pan is called [Greek: aktios] by Theocritus. Idyll. V. 14.
278. Instead of _Pan ovium custos_.
280. That is, there was no town there at the time.
281. The Arcadians were always regarded as of the Pelasgian race.
282. The Flamen Dialis always bore a part in the Lupercalia.
285. The _first_ reason; they imitated the god himself.
289. The _second_; they commemorated the ancient mode of life in Arcadia.
It was said that Jupiter was born in this country. Callim. H. I.
290. See above, I. 469.
291. _Feris_. One MS. reads _ferae_; another _fere_; another _et fere.--
Usus_, occupations.
292. _Erat_. One MS. reads _erant_, which is adopted by Heinsius, Burmann
and Gierig.
299. _Sub Jove_, same as _sub dio_, in the open air.
301. _Detecti_, scil. the _naked_ Luperci.
302. _Opes_, that is, the want of wealth.
303. The _third_ reason for the nudity of the Luperci.--_Faunus_, scil.
Pan.
305. _Dominae_, Omphale, queen of Lydia, to whom Hercules was sold by
Mercury.
310. _Aurato sinu_. Her robe had threads of gold woven into it, or was
embroidered.
311. _Umbracula_, the _skiadia_, the modern umbrella--_Rapidos_. This is
the reading of eleven MSS. the rest have _tepidos_, which is very tame.
_Rapidos_ well expresses the consuming power of fire.
313. _Tenebat_, scil. Omphale, thus _subit_, v. 315. Some MSS. read
_tenebant_.
314. Hesperus is beautifully styled _roscidus_, as the dews of evening
accompany his appearance in the summer-season. The poet gives him a
dark-coloured horse, as the sky is then becoming every moment darker;
for the opposite reason, a white horse is given to Lucifer. "Hesperus,
that led The starry host, _rode_ brightest." Milton.
321. _Vincla_, either the wrists or the arm-holes of the tunic, which
would appear to have had running-strings in them.
324. _Scindebant_. Seven MSS. read _stringebant_.
326. _Tela minora_, the arrows opposed to the club.
329. Previous to a sacrifice, _a Venere abstinebant.--Pia sacra_, like
_pia tura, pium far_.
337. _Captata_, felt by groping, One MS. reads _tractata_.
359. A _fourth_ reason for this custom.--_Peregrinis causas Latinas_.
Three MSS. read peregrinae; two read _causam_. Perhaps the best reading
would be _peregrinis causam Latinam_.
360. _Suo pulvere_, in his own common (i.e. Italian) course.
361. Scil. at the Lupercalia.
363. _Transsuta_, Others read _transfixa, transita_, or _trajecta_.
367, 368. These lines are wanting in three MSS. and are probably
spurious.--_Caestibus_. Six MSS. read _vectibus_, which Heinius prefers,
as the caestus was unknown to the old Romans, and pitching bar(_vectis_)
was a common exercise of the Roman soldiery. The poets, however, troubled
themselves little about minutiae of this kind. Some MMS. have _vestibus_.
375-378. Fabius, says the legend, was over the comrades of Remus, and
Quinctilius over those of Romulus; and those under them were named from
them. The truth is, the Fabian family were of the Sabine, the
Quinctilian, of the Roman part of the nation.
380. _Quod bene cessit_. Several of the best MSS. read _gessit_. Some
_qui lene gesset_.
381. He now proceeds to inquire into the origin of the names _Lupercal_
and _Lupercalia_, and takes this occasion of relating the early history
of the founders of Rome.
383. _Ilia_. Most MSS. read _Silvia_.
385. _Pueros_. The reading of most MSS. is _parvos_. Burmann observes,
that the ancients did not use _parvos_ without a substantive for
children.
387. _Recusantes_, unwillingly; refusing as far as they dared. Burmann
proposes _reluctantes_ or _repugnantes_.
389. _Albula_. This was an ancient name of the Tiber. The Romans, aping
the Greeks in this, as in every thing else, deduced the name Tiber, from
that of a fabled king.
390. _Hibernis_. Neapolis would infer from this, that Romulus and Remus
were born in the winter. This is pressing poetic language too close; the
Latin poets used _Hiems_, and its kindred adjectives, as the Greeks did
[Greek: cheimon], and the terms derived from it. The meaning is, the
river was swoln by the rains which had lately fallen. If we wished
regularly to confute Neapolis, we might refer him to v. 413, as the wolf
does not bring forth in winter.
391, 392. The different Fora or markets at Rome, were in the valleys
between the hills. The Circus Maximus was three stadia and a half long,
and one broad. It is probably to express its magnitude that he uses
_valles_ in the plural, as the measure imposed no necessity.
393. According to the account given by Dionysius from Fabius Pictor, they
came down with the babes from the summit of the Palatine hill, and laid
them in the water, which now washed its foot.
394. _Et_. Two MSS. read _an_, which Heinsius adopts and justifies by a
number of examples, and which is certainly the more elegant.
396. _Iste_, scil. Romulus. |
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