were of baked clay, manufactured in Etruria. Even the four-horse chariot
which was placed on the Capitoline temple, when first built, was of baked
clay. Niebuhr, Rom. Hist. I. 491.
208. _Levis lamina_ is employed to express more strongly the simplicity
of those days, as if the possession of even the smallest quantity of the
precious metals was a crime. Fabricius, when censor, A.U.C. 478, put out
of the senate Cornel. Rufinus, who had been twice consul and dictator,
for having ten pounds weight of wrought silver.
210. Rome would appear to be personified in this place.
212, 213. The union of luxury and avarice, Sallust Cat. 5 and 12. They
vie in gaining what they may consume, in regaining, what they have
consumed, and these very alternations (of avarice and luxury) are the
aliment (or support) of (these) vices.
215, 216. The usual comparison of avarice to the dropsy. See Hor. Carm.
II. 2. 13.
217, 218. _In pret. pret_. a play on words.--_Dat census_, etc. Hor.
Epist. I. 6.
219. _cur sit_. Heinsius, Burmann and Gierig, read _si sit_.--_Quaeris_,
means you will probably ask, or you wish to know, for the poet had not
yet asked the question.--_Ausp. utile_, a good omen.
220. _Aera vestua_, the _stips_ or _as_. was a copper coin. In the old
times, the Romans had none but copper money. See Neibuhr, Rom. Hist. I.
449 _et seq_.
223. _Nos_, we, the gods, or I, Janus.
226. The manners of each time are suited to it, and should be followed.
227. _Munitus_, acc. plur. of the substantive. Five MSS. read _manitis_.
229, 230. The old Roman coin bore on one side the figure of a ship; on
the other, a two-headed Janus.
232. The impression on the old coins was, of course, often effaced by
time and use.
234. _Falcifer_ Saturn. See Mythology, p. 465, Virg. aen. viii. 315 _et
seq_.
241. The Janiculum on the left, or Tuscan bank of the Tiber. See vv. 245,
246.
242. _Aren. Tib_. the _flavus Tib_. of Horace, Carm. I. 3.--_Radit_, like
_rodet_ and _mordet_, is very appropriately applied to a stream. See Hor.
Carm. I. 22, 8.
243. Virg. aen. viii. 314. Propert, iv. 1. Tibul. II. 5, 25. This contrast
of the former and the present state of the Seven Hills, was a favorite
theme with poets of the Augustan age.--_Incaedua_ uncut, i.e. ancient,
denoting in general a wood, which was an object of religious awe and
veneration.
245. _Arx_. The dwelling of the princes of the heroic ages was usually on
an eminence, like the castles of the feudal chiefs of the middle ages.
247, 248. In the golden age.
249, 250. See Met. I. 89, _et seq_. 150. Hesiod [Greek: herga] 195.
Mythology, 258-262.
251. Pudor, [Greek: Aidos].
257, 258. The Romans gave the name of _Jani_ to arches, like that of
Templebar, in London, under which people passed from one street into
another. They were always double, people entering by one and going out
the other, every one keeping to the right. Lenz, understands by _Jani_,
in this place, temples of Janus, of which there were three at Rome.--
_Stas_ sacratus_ have a statue. _For. duob_. the fish and the ox-market.
This temple was built by Duilius.
260. _Oebalii_, alluding to the fancied descent of the Sabines, from the
Lacedaemmonians, one of whose ancient kings Oebalus is said to have been.
_Tati_--One MS. reads _Titi_, which Heinsius and Gierig adopted. for this
story, see Met. xiv. 771 _et seq_. and Livy I 11.
261. _Levis custos_ Tarpeia.--_levis_, light-minded.
264. _Arduus clivus_, a steep path.
265. _Portam_, the Palantine gate.--_Saturnia_, Juno.
267. _Tanto numine_ Scil. Juno.
268. _Meae artis_, that is, of openings.
269. He caused streams of hot sulphurous water to gush out of the groung.
274. When after the repulse of the Sabines, the hot waters ceased to
flow, and the place became as it was before.
275, 276. This earliest temple was exceedingly small, containing nothing
but a statue of the god, five feet high. Procopius (de Bell. Goth.)
describes it. _Strue_. The _strues_--was a kind of cake.
277. The well known circumstance of the temple of Janus being open in
time of war, closed in time of peace.
279-281. For what is probably the true reason, see Niebuhr's Roman
History, I. 287, or Mythology, p. 467.
283. _Diversa tuentes_, on account of his two faces.
285, 286. This was A.U.C. 770, when on the vii. Kal. Jun. Germanicus
triumphed over the Catti, the Cherusci, and the Angivarii, Tacit. An. II.
4l.--_Fam. Rhe. aq_. the river, as was usual with the poets, put for the
people who dwelt on its banks, to denote that the Germans now obeyed
Rome.
287. _Face_, fac.--_Ministros pacis_, Tiberius and Germanicus.
288. May not he (Germ. or Tib.) who has procured this peace for the
empire, break it by resuming arms.
289, 290. The poet now ceases to discourse with Janus, and informs the
reader of what he had found in the Fasti, namely, that two temples had
been consecrated, at different times, on the Kalends of January.
291, 292. A.U.C. 462, in consequence of a plague at Rome, by the
direction of the Sybelline books, an embassy was sent to Epidaurus, and
one of the serpents sacred to Aesculapius was brought to Rome; a temple
was built to the god on the island in the Tiber. See Met. xv. 622--744.
_Ph. n_. _Cor. nat_. Aesculapius. See Mythology, p. 384.
293, 294. _In parte est_, is a sharer in the day and place. The temple of
Jupiter in the island was dedicated by C. Servilius Duumvir, some time
after the second Punic war.
295-310. Being now for the first time about to perform the other part of
his promise, namely, to note the risings and settings of the stars, he
prefaces it by the praises of the astronomers. See Introd. § 1.
299, 300. As the study of astronomy elevates the mind above the
terrestrial abode of men, so it raises, or should raise it, above all
mean and groveling pursuits and ideas.
305. They have brought the distant stars to our eyes. Gierig, following
one MS. for _nostris_, reads _terris_, a reading which Burmann approved,
though he did not adopt it.
307, 308. Alluding to the Alodïes, Otus and Ephialtes, Hom. Od. xi.
304-316. Virg. G. I. 280. Hor. Carm. III. 4, 49.
311-314. The cosmic setting of Cancer, on the morning of the 3rd January,
the third before the Nones. See Introd. §. 1.
316. The cosmic rising of Lyra, which was usually attended with rain.
317, 318. On the 9th January was celebrated the festival of Jannus, named
the Agonia or Agonalia, the origin of which name the poet now proceeds to
discuss.
319-322. One etymon was _ago_, to do, as the _popa_ or officiating
minister of the altar cried _Agone_? Shall I act? before he struck the
victim.--_Agatne_. Four of the best MSS. read _Agone_; they are followed
by Heinsius, Burmann and Gierig.
323, 324. A second from _agor_, because the victims were _led_ to the
altar. Both equally silly.
325. a third; _quasi_ Agnalia from _Agna_.
327, 328. A fourth from the Greek [Greek: agonia, agoniazein]--_In aqua_,
the vessels of water by the altar in which the knives were placed.
329, 330. A fifth from the Greek [Greek: agones] _ludi_.
331. A sixth, which the poet approves, from _Agonia_, an old name for
cattle.
333, 334. A ram was the victim offered on this day by the Rex Sacrorum.
335, 336. Two trifling etymoligies. The _victima_, he intimates, was
offered after a victory; the _hostia_, in time of peace, when there was
no enemy, _hostibus amotis_. Krebs reads _a motis_: almost all the MSS.
_a domitis_.
337-456. A long digression on the origin and causes of the various
sacrifices offered to the gods.
338. The _Mola salsa_.--_Pura_ because it purifies or keeps from decay.
340. _Hospita navis_, a foreign ship.
343. _Herbis Sabinis_. The _Savin_, called by the Greeks [Greek: brathu].
_Duorum generum est_, says Pliny, _altera tamaraci similis folio, altera
cupresso_.
344. A loud crackling of the leaves of the bay or laurel in the fire was
a good omen.
347. This was in the golden age, before animals were slain in honor of
the gods.
349. He now proceeds to explain how the altars came to be stained with
the blood of animals. This was caused chiefly by the anger of the gods,
on account of the mischief which they did.
357. [Greek: Kaen me phagaes epi rizan, omos eti karpophoraeoo Osson
epispeisai soi, trage, Ouomeno], Euenus in Anthol. Gr. T. I. p. 165,
_Jacobs_.
363. _Aristaeus_, the son of Apollo, by the nymph Cyrene. See Virg. G.
iv. 281-558. Mythology, p. 294-296. This tale, after all, gives not the
reason why the ox was offered in sacrifice.
381. Some popular legend probably assigned this silly cause.--_Verbena_,
herbs gathered in a sacred place.
385. _Persis_, Persia.--_Hyperiona_, the Persian Mithras, the presiding
deity of the Sun, identified by the Greeks with their god Helius, also
called Hyperion.
387. _Quod_, because; given by Heinsius from the best MSS. others read
_quaae.--_Trip. Dianae_, identifying her with Hecate. See above, v. 41.--
_Virgine_, Iphigenia.
389. _Sapaeos_, a people of Thrace. Herod, vii. 110. Most MSS. have
Sabaeos, or Saphaeos, but incorrectly.--_Vidi_. When Ovid was going into
exile, at Tomi, A.U.C. 763, he passed through Thrace.
391. _Custodi ruris_, Priapus. This god who was chiefly worshiped at
Lampsacus, was said to be the offspring of Bacchus and Venus. See
Mythology, p. 205.
393. _Festa_, etc. the Trieterides, celebrated once in every three
years.--_Corymbiferi_, Bacchus was frequently represented crowned with
bunches of ivy-berries. Some MSS. read _racemiferi_.--_Celebrabat_,
Heinsius, Burmann and Gierig, read _celebrabas_, on the authority of two
MSS.
395. _Di cultores Lycaei_. Scil. the Pans and Satyrs, the gods of Arcadia.
Gierig, on the authority of some of the best MSS. reads _Lyaei_. For Pan,
etc. see Mythology, p. 198-205.
398. The Naïdes and other nymphs.
400. Priapus.
403. _Parce_ is to be joined with _miscendas_.
407. That is, _succincta_.
410. _Vincula nulla_, they were barefoot. It is to be recollected that in
the heroic ages, after which the poets modelled the life of the gods, the
attendants at meals were females.
412. Pan.
414. _Nequitia_, lust.
420. She evinces her haughty contempt of him by her looks.
423. _Ultima_, the most remote.
425. _Animam_, his breath.
426. _Digitis_ scil _pedis_, his toes. A beautiful description of one
stealing on tip-toe.
436. _Omne nemus_, all the gods in the grove.
440. _Hellesp. Deo_. Priapus, the god of Lampsacus, on the Hellespont.
445. _Linguae crimen_. Still ascribing a revengeful character to the
gods, he supposes them to be pleased with the sacrifice of the birds, who
revealed their intentions to mankind.
447. _Dis ut proxima_. Flying high towards heaven. "Ye birds, That
singing up to heaven gate ascend."--Milton.
448. _Penna_, the _Praepetes_; _ore_, the _oscines_, as they were styled
in language of augury.
453. See Liv. v. 47, for this well-known story.
454. _Inachi lauta_. Isis the Egyptian deity, supposed to be the same
with Io, the daughter of the river-god, Inachus. See Met. I. 747, _et
seq_. Mythology, 367.--_Lauta_, dainty, as _lautioribus cibis utens_,
such as the livers of geese. Isis was much worshiped at Rome at this
time.
455. _Deae Nocti_. A cock was sacrificed to Night, as being odious to
her.--_Ales_, like the Greek [Greek: ornis], the _bird_ [Greek: kat
exochaen].
456. _Tepidum diem_, the dawn, warm after the chill of the night.--
_Provocat_, calls forth.
457. The cosmic rising of the Dolphin, on the ninth of January.
459. _Postera lux_, the tenth of January, which, according to the poet,
was the _bruma_, or middle of winter. Columella and Ptolemy place it on
the 4th January, the day before the Nones; Pliny, xviii. 5, makes it the
viii. Kal. Jan. or 25th December.
461. _Aurora_. Heinsius, Burmann and Gierig read _nupta_, on the
authority of seven MSS.
462. The Carmentalia, on the 10th, or III. Id. of January.--_Arcad.
deae_. Carmenta, the mother of Evander; her altar was at the Carmental
gate, at the foot of the Capitol.
463. _Turni soror_, Juturna. See Virg. aen. xii. 134, _et seq_.
464. The temple of Juturna stood in the Campus Martius, by the _Aqua
Virgo_, which Agrippa had brought thither on account of its excellence.
467. _Quae nomen_, etc. Scil. Carmenta.
496, 470. _Orta_, etc. The Arcadians called themselves [Greek:
proselaenous] as having existed before the Moon.--_Tellus_, scil.
_gens_.--_Areade_, Arcas, the son of Jupiter and Callisto. See Met. II.
401, _et seq_. Mythology, p. 387.
471. Evander was the son of Mercury and Carmenta. According to Servius,
on the aeneis, his father was Echemus, and I am inclined to think that
Ovid followed this last genealogy.
473. _aetherios ignes_, the inspiration of the god.
474. _Plena_ may be joined either with _carmina_, or with the nominative
to _dabat_.
475. _Motus_, civil discord.
475. Time verified her predictions.
478. _Parrhasium_, for Arcadian, part for the whole. Evander dwelt at
Pallantium.
490. See Met. III. _init_. Mythology, 291.
491. Iason is always a trisyllable. For Tydeus and Jason, see Mythology
under their names.
493. [Greek: Apas men aaer aieto perasimos, Apasa de chthon andri gennaio
patris]. Eurip. frag. Comp. Hor. Carm. II. 9.
494. _Vacuo_, etc. the air.
495. Hor. Carm. II. 10. 15.
498. _Hesperiam tenet_. He reaches Italy, not, as Gierig understands it,
he held his course for Italy.
500. Sailed up against the stream,--_Tuscis_, as flowing by Etruria.
501. There was a place in the Campus Martius, named Terentum, where was
an altar of Dis and Proserpine, at which secular games were celebrated. I
rather incline to think with Gierig, that the _vada Terenti_ was a part
of the river near the Terentum.
502. The abodes of the Aborigines.
503-508. The _furor divinus_ comes over her; her hair is disheveled; her
countenance becomes stern; by signs she directs the steersman to turn the
ship to the land; she is hardly restrained from jumping out of the
vessel.
510. Romulus and the Caesars--the flattery of the poet.
511. _Hospita_, stranger.
515-518. The future greatness of Rome.
519. The fleet of Aeneas. All the following events occur in the last six
books of the Aeneis.
520. _Femina_, Lavinia.
521. Pallas, the son of Evander, slain by Turnus, and avenged by Aeneas.
523, 524. The future conquest of Greece by the Romans. Virg. aen. I. 283.
525. Troy was walled by Neptune. Eight MSS. read _moenia_ for _Pergama_.
526. _Num_, etc. Are those ashes (of Troy) nevertheless not higher than
the whole world? i.e. Will not Rome spring from them?
527. A tradition, followed by Cato, Strabo, Dio Cassius, and others,
related that Anchises came to Italy. Perhaps Ovid followed the same
tradition.
528. According to Dionysius. (I. 67,) the temple of the Penates, whom
Aeneas brought from Troy, was near that of Vesta. Others (Tacit. An. xv.
41) thought that they were in the temple of that goddess.
529. Julius Caesar who was Pontifex Maximus, and was deified after his
death. Some think it is Augustus who is meant.
531. _Augustos_ seems to be equivalent to _Caesares_.
532. _Hanc domum_, scil: the Caesarian.
533. Tiberius, by adoption the son of Augustus, and grandson of Julius
Caesar, both of whom were deified. His affected reluctance to accept the
imperial dignity is well known. Tac. An. I. _init_.
534. _Pondera_, the weight of empire.
536. _Augusta Julia_. Livia, the wife of Augustus, adopted by his
testament into the Julian family. This prediction of the poet was
accomplished by the emperor Claudius, who placed Livia among the gods.
539. _Exsul_, Evander.
540. The poet had probably his own miserable place of exile in view.
542. _Arcade_, Evander.
543. Hercules, when driving the oxen of Geryon from the isle of Erythea.
See Mythology, p. 320.
545. For this adventure with Cacus, see Virg. aen. viii. 190, _et. _seq_.
Liv. I. 7.--Tegeaea, Arcadian.
553. _Pro corpore_, suited to his body.
559. _Servata male_, having ill kept, i.e. lost.
560. _Furta_, the stolen oxen.
564. _Opus_. The Greeks used their [Greek: ergon] in the same sense.
Homer says that twenty-two waggons (_juga_) would not have moved the rock
with which Polyphemus closed the mouth of his cave.
565. When he supported the heavens for Atlas. See Mythology, p. 324.
575. _Occupat_, attacks him. _Jussit quatuor admoveri, canes, qui
celeriter occupavere feram_. Curtius, ix.--_Clava trinodis_, his knotty
club. It was of the wood of the _oleaster_ ([Greek: kotinos]) or wild
olive.--_Trinodis_, a definite for an indefinite.
581, 582. The Ara Maxima of Hercules was in the Forum Boarium. According
to Virgil, it was built by Evander.
583, 584. The apotheosis of Hercules.
587, 588. The usual sacrifice to Jupiter on the Ides, was a lamb, (see
above, v. 57,) here it is a wether.
589. On the Ides of January, A.U.C. 727, Octavianus, after a speech full
of hypocritical moderation, restored to the Senate and People such of the
provinces as were in a state of tranquillity, retaining those which were
still disturbed.--The Senate, on account of this, decreed him the title
of Augustus.
591. _Generosa atria_, the halls of the different noble families at
Rome.--_Ceras_, the waxen images of their ancestors, under which were
inscribed their titles and actions.
593. _Africa_ etc. P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus.--_Isauruas_. P.
Servilius Isauricus.
594. _Cretum_. Q. Caecilius Metellus Creticus.
595. _Numidae_. another Q. Caecilius Metellus, the predecessor of Marius,
in the war against Jugurtha.--_Messana_. Claudius Caudex was sent to the
aid of the Mamertines in Messana. He relieved the town, but derived no
title from it. His statue and deeds, however, stood in the Atrium of the
Claudii.
596. _Numantina_. Scipio aemilianus.
597. _Druso_. Drusus, the brother of Tiberius, and father of Germanicus,
to whom the poem is dedicated, died in consequence of a broken leg,
caused by his horse falling on him in the summer-camp on the Rhine,
A.U.C. 745. The senate decreed the title of Germanicus to him and his
children.
598. _Quam brevis_. How shortlived! Paterculus speaks in high terms of
the virtues of Drusus. See also Hor. Car. iv. 4.
599. _Caesar_. C. Julius Caesar.
601. T. Manlius Torquatus. Liv. viii. 10.
602. M. Valerius Corvinus. Liv. vii. 26.
603. _Magne_. Cn. Pompeius Magnus.
604. C. Julius Caesar.
605, 606. When Fabius (A.U.C. 449.) divided the lower class of people
into the four tribes named the _Urbanas_ he was given the title of
Maximus, which adhered to his family.--_Nec gradus ullus_, of comparison,
playing on the _magne_ of v. 603.
608. _Hic_. Augustus.
609. The Greeks rendered Augustus by [Greek: sebastus], from [Greek:
sebo], to venerate. This name was considered beyond any human title.
610. _Sacerd. manu_. The Pontifex, when dedicating a temple, held one of
the door-posts.
611. I do not think, with Gierig, that the poet derives _augurium_ from
_augustus_. It appears to me that he deduces them both from _augeo_.
_Loca quoque religiosa et in quibus augurato quid consecratur augusta
dicantur ab auctu vel ab avium gestu gustuve_. Suet. Aug. 7.
614. An oak-leaf garland, the symbol of protection, hung over the door of
the Palatium; a laurel, the emblem of victory, stood on each side.
615. Tiberius, who bore the name of Augustus.
617-636. The Carmentalia were repeated on the 18th Kal. Feb. or the 15th
of the month.
617. _Actas_, scil. _exactas_, past.
619. _Matres_. scil. _Matronae_.--_Carpenta_, the _carpentum_, was a
covered two-wheel carriage. The etymon given by the poet is unworthy of
attention.
629. _Scortea_, things made of skin or leather.
631. _Precanti_, by any one who is praying.
633. Porrima. This goddess is so named only in this place, and by
Servius, on aen. viii. 336. Macrobius (Sat. I. 7.) calls her Antevorta.
Varro, _apud_. A. Gellius (N. A. xvi. 6.) speaking of women who had a
difficult labour, says, _hujus periculi deprecandi causa arae statutae sunt
Romae duabus Carmentibus; quarum altera Postverta nominata est, Prosa
(alii Prorsa) altera; a recti perversique partus et potestate et nomine_.
We have here the true meaning of this feast of the Carmentalia, about
which our poet has been puzzling.
634. _Nympha_, scil. Carmenta. Virg. aen. viii. 336. Thus Homer, (II. in.
130,) calls Helen a _nymph_. See Mythology, p. 206, note. For _nympha_,
in this place, eight MSS. read _diva_.
635. _Porro_, usually denotes the future; in this place, it evidently
denotes the past. Burmann knows no other instance of its occurrence in
this sense.
637. On the following day, the xvii. Kal. Feb. the most ancient of the
five temples of Concord at Rome, had been vowed, A.U.C. 386, by L. Furius
Camillus. It was repaired and dedicated anew by Tiberius, A.U.C. 762. The
temple of Juno Moneta (_Warner_) stood on the site of the house of
Manlius on the Capitol; a flight of 100 steps led from the temple of
Concord up to it.--_Candida lux_, auspicious day, as being that on which
the temple of Concord was dedicated.--_Niveo_, as being built of marble.
639. The temple being on the side of the Capitol over the Forum.
640. _Sacratae manus_ of Tiberius. Every thing belonging to the emperor
was _sacratum_ and _sanctum_.
641. _Antiquum_, scil. templum? Neapolis, I think is wrong, in taking
_antiquum_ to be used adverbially for _olim_, and joining it with _pop.
sup. Etr_. Burmann, as he enclosed it in brackets, also understood it
adverbially. _Antiquum_, which is unquestionably the right reading, is
that of only three MSS. The others read _antiquam_ or _antiquus_, or
_antiqui_ or _antiquo_.--_Populi_, etc. merely a designation of Furius,
and has nothing to do with the occasion of the vow,--_Ante_, olim.
643. On the occasion of the Licinian rogations. Niebuhr, on this subject,
prefers the authority of Ovid to that of Livy, who says, _Prope ad
secessionem.--venit_.
644. _Opes_, the Plebeians.
645. A compliment to Tiberius. The first temple was built in consequence
of civil discord; the second, in consequence of victories gained over the
most formidable foes of Rome.--_Passos_, etc. Germany (i.e. the Germans)
holds forth her dishevelled locks, vanquished by the Roman arms, under
thine auspices. _Jam tibi captivos mittet Germania crines; Culta
triumphatae munere gentis eris_, says our poet (Am. I. 14,) to a lady, as
the false hair used at Rome mostly came from Germany. Nations, when
conquered, were said _porrigere_, to surrender, those things for which
they were distinguished. Thus he says, (Trist. II. 227,) _Nunc porrigit
arcus Parthus eques timida captaque manu_, see below, V. 593. It is
therefore supposed, that a condition of the peace was the delivery of a
large quantity of hair for the use of the Roman wig-makers. There is
nothing very sublime in this.
646. _Dux_, Tiberius.
647. _Libasti_, You have offered.
648. _Quam colis ipse_, by your love of peace.
649. _Haec_. scil. templa. This place is very obscure. Some MSS. read
_hanc.--Rebus_, the commentators say, by the harmony in which she lived
with Augustus.--_Ara_, by an altar, which they suppose she placed in the
temple of Concord.
650. _Magni Jovis_, Augustus, the vicegerent of Jove on earth.
651. The passage of the sun into Aquarius, the xvi. Kal. Feb.--_Haec_.
scil. tempora. The first editions, and two MSS. read _transieris_. Two
other MSS. read _transierit_, which I should incline to prefer, and make
_haec_ refer to _dies_ or to _lux_, v. 637. Heinsius would read _Nox_, or
_Lux ubi transierit_.
653, 654. On the 10th Kal. Feb. Lyra sets heliacally.--_Oriens_, scil.
Sol.
655, 656. The following day (Jan. 24,) Regulus, the bright star in the
breast of the Lion, sets cosmically. The poet is mistaken here; according
to Colunnella, he sets on the 27th of January.