instead of the _stola_ (_longa vestis_) worn by women of character.
_Scripsimus haec illis, quarum nec vitta pudicas Attingit crines, nec
stola longa pedes_. Ep. ex. Pont. III. 3, 54.
135. These washings of the statues of the gods were common among the
Greeks and Romans, There is a hymn of Callimachus on the washing of that
of Pallas. See Spanheim's notes on it.--_Redimicula_, the strings or
ribbons which tied on the cap or bonnet. Virg. aen. ix. 616.
139. _Sub myrto_. That is crowned with myrtle, as is manifest from
Plutarch Numa, 19, and Laur. Lydus de Mens, p. 19.
145. The temple of Fortuna Virilis or Fors Fortuna, was built by Servius
Tullius outside of the city on the banks of the Tiber, Dionys. iv. 27.
Varro L. L. V.
146. See v. l39.--_Calida_. This is the reading of fifteen MSS. the rest
have _gelida_.
151. None of the commentators make any remark on this custom. The poet
accounts for it in the usual way by a legend.
157-160. A.U.C. 639, as a Roman knight named Elvius was returning to
Apulia from the plays at Rome with his daughter Elvia, the maiden who was
on horseback was struck with lightning in such a manner, that her clothes
were thrown up, and her tongue forced out, the trappings of the horse
were also scattered. The Vates being consulted, declared that it
portended infamy to the Vestals and to the knights. Enquiry was made, and
three Vestals, Aemilia, Licinia and Martia, were found to have been
carrying on an illicit intercourse with some of the knights. The
Sibylline books directed that two Greeks and two Gauls should be buried
alive, to appease some strange gods, and a statue raised to Venus
Verticordia, that she might turn the hearts of the women from iniquity.
The statue was dedicated by Sulpicia, the wife of Fulvius Flaccus, as she
bore the highest character for chastity and purity of manners. See
Plutarch Quaest. Rom. Plin. H. N. viii. 35. Val. Max. viii. 15. Jul.
Obsequens, c. 97.
163. The Scorpion set cosmically on the Kalends of April.--_Elatae_, etc.
An accurate description of the Scorpion.
165. The IV. Non. the Pleiades (called by the Romans _Vergiliae_,) set
heliacally according to Neapolis, acronychally according to Taubner, who
maintains that the heliac setting was not till three days afterwards. See
Introd. § 1.
166. _Queruntur_. Queror is used of the song of birds. See Hor. Epod. 2.
20. Lucretius (iv. 588.) and Horace (Car. in. 7. 30.) employ it to
express the soft and sweet tones of the pipe.
167. See II. 500. Met. i. 493.
169. _Pliades_. It is thus spelt here and elsewhere in all the MSS.--
_Humeros_, etc. The Pleiades or seven stars in the back of the Bull, were
said to be the daughters of Atlas who supported the heavens, consequently
when they set, their father's shoulders were eased of a portion of their
burden. When a constellation is added to heaven, the weight is encreased.
Met. ix. 273.
171-179. Reasons why, though the Pleiades were seven, but six could be
seen.
179-372. On the 4th of the month, Prid. Non. began the great festival of
the Megalensia or Megalesia, celebrated in honor of the mother of the
gods, the Phrygian Cybele, whose worship was introduced into Rome, A.U.C.
547. See Livy xxix. 14, (where it is _pridie Idus_) Lucret. ii. 598-623.
Virg. aen. in. 104. vi. 785. x. 252, Mythology, p. 191.
180. _Titan_, the Sun, who is frequently so called by the Latin poets.
See on IV. 919. Ovid also calls the Moon, Titania.
181. _Berecynthia_, i. e. Phrygian, from Mt. Berecynthus.
181. _Idaeae_. Cybele, was so named, from Mt. Ida.
183. _Semimares_. The Galli, or priests of Cybele.--_Tympana_,
tambourins.
184. _Aera_, etc. cymbals.
185. The statue of the goddess was carried through the streets by a
Phrygian man and woman.
187. Stage-plays were always performed at the Megalesia, Livy, _ut
supra_, and xxxvi. 36. See also the inscriptions of Terence's comedies.
188. The days of the Megalesia were Nefasti. See Introd. § 3.
190. _Lotos_. The wood of the Lybian lotos was chiefly employed for the
manufacture of pipes.--Theophr. Hist, plant, iv. 3. Plin. H.N. xiii. 17,
32.
191. _Cyleleïa_. Cybelean, from Mt. Cybele.--_Neptes_, grand-daughters,
the Muses. As the Greeks identified the Phrygian Mother of the Gods, with
their Rhea, the spouse of Kronus, and mother of the Kronides or
Olympians, Cybele, of course, became the grandmother of the Muses. The
Ops of the Italians, with whom the Romans identified her, resembled
Cybele much more nearly than Rhea did, who appears to have been an
allegorical personnage. See Mythology, p. 50.
195. _Erato_. Our poet invokes this muse for the same reason, A. A. II.
16. Apollonius Rhodius calls on Erato, when about to relate the loves of
Jason and Medea, and Virgil (aen. vii. 37,) addresses her when he is going
to tell of the war between Turnus and aeneas, for the sake of Lavinia,
whom the former hero loved.
197. _Reddita_, etc. scil. by Heaven and Earth. The whole story is told
by Hesiod Theog. 464, _et seq_. Mythology, p. 42.
204. _Parce_, forbear.--Fidem, the tradition, as the cause of belief.
205. _Gutture_. One of the best MSS. reads _viscere_, which is followed
by Heinsius and Gierig. Three have _gurgite_.
208. _Ardua Ide_, would seem here to be the Phrygian Ida, but Hesiod, and
the general tradition, made the Cretan Ida to be the scene of the infancy
of the god.--_Jamdudum_, forth with. Virg. aen. II. 103.
209, _Rudibus_. Most MSS. read _manibus_; two of the best _rudibus_, four
of the best _sudibus_, which is also the reading of Lactantius, in his
quotation of this verse. Inst. I. 21. In the Greek narratives, the word
is [Greek: encheiridia, ziphea], and [Greek: dorata], with which the
_rudes_, foils or blunt swords, best agree. Lobeck proposes _tudibus_.
210. The Curetes are those who, in the Cretan legend, danced their
[Greek: pyrrhichaen] or armed dance, about the cradle of Jupiter; the
Corybantes were regarded as the attendants of the Mother of the Gods. The
poet here evidently alludes to the resemblance between their name and
[Greek: korus], a helmet.
215-218. See her figure. Mythology, Plate ix. 1.
219. Compare Virg. aen. vi. 785. Lucret. II. 607.
220. The poet and the muse are not quite right here. Cybele, as the
symbol of the earth, was very naturally crowned with towers. _Quod autem
turritam gestat coronam, ostendit superpositas esse terrae civitates, quas
insignitas turribus constat_. Servius on aen. iii. 113. But the fact is,
Ovid was entangled in the Euhemeric or anthropomorphising system, which
prevailed so much in his time. See Mythology, pp. 19, 20, 442.
221. _Secandi_, scil. by the Galli.
223. For the story of Attis, as told somewhat differently by Diodorus,
see Mythology, p. 192; see also Catullus, LXIII. and the notes of
Doering.
225. _Tueri_, to be the _aedituus_ of her temple.
226. _Puer esse_, to be a virgin, if the term may be used.
231. Ovid frequently uses Naïs as synonymous with Nympha. He is
peculiarly incorrect here, for the nymph in question, as the daughter of
the god of the river Sagaris, must have been a real Naïs, and yet he
makes her a Hamadryad. For the Nymphs, see Mythology, p. 206.
233. _Credens_, etc. His madness thus commenced.
236. _Palaestinas deas_. As the whips and torches are mentioned, there
can be no doubt that these were the Furies, but why they were thus
called, none of the commentators can say. Marsus shews, from an old MS.
of Caesar's Commentaries, that Palaestae was a town of Epirus, in which
country the Furies had a temple. This, though bad, is the only
explanation we have. One MS. reads _Palestrinas_, another _Palatinas_.
247. Now comes the narrative of the introduction of the worship of the
Magna Mater into Rome, A.U.C. 547. See Livy, xxix. 10, 11, l4. xxxvi. 36.
Valer. Max. viii. 15, 3. Silius. Ital. xvii. init. Compare Met. xv.
622-744.
249, 250. _Dindymon_, etc. Mountains of Phrygia.--_Amoen_. font [Greek:
polypidax] Homer,--_H. op_. Troy.
252. _Sacriferas_, as bearing the Penates and the Eternal Fire.--_Paene
secuta_, I think there is an allusion here to the legend in Virg. aen. ix.
120.
257. _Carminis_, etc. The Sibylline books.
265. _Proceres_, scil. Valerius Laevinus, a consular; M. Caecilius
Metellus, a former praetor; Sulpicius Galba, who had been an aedile, and
two who had served the office of quaestor.
266. _Negat_. This was not the case according to Livy.
272. Rome derived her origin from Phrygia.
276. From the following description of it, given by Arnobius, (Adv. Gen.
vii. p. 285,) it is quite evident that this symbol of the Mother of the
Gods was an aërolithe. _Ex Phrygia nihil quidem aliud scribitur missum
rege ab Attalo, nisi lapis quidem non magnus ferri manu hominis sine ulla
impressione qui posset, coloris furvi atque atri, angellis prominentibus
inaequalis_. A more accurate description of the external appearance of an
aërolithe could not easily be given.
277. _Nati_, Neptune. Let the reader trace this voyage on the map.
280. _Vet. Eët. op_. Thebes, near Adramyttium, the residence of Eëtion,
the father of Andromache, See Hom. II. I. 366, vi. 395, xxii. 480.
282. The coast of Euboea.
283, 284. See Met. viii. 195, _et seq_.--_Lapsas_. Most MSS. read
_lassas_.
292. _Dividit_, spreads itself: perhaps simply divides, as the Tiber had
two mouths.
294. _Obvius_, to meet it.
300. The river was shallow in consequence of the drought.
301. _Plus quam pro parte_, beyond his strength.
302. Just as sailors and others do at the present day in all countries.
305. The _Eponymus_, or reputed head of the Claudian family, was a hero
named Clausus. Virg. aen. vii. 706. Attus Clausus was the name of the
Sabine chief, who, with his _gens_ and their clients, came to Rome, where
they were received among the Patricians, and became famous in Roman story
under the name of Claudii. Livy, II. 16. This Claudia Quinta was the
grand-daughter of Appius Claudius Caecus.
308. _Acta rea_, was charged with. A law term.
310. _Ad rigidos_. "Apud severos," Gierig. I think he is wrong, and that
the meaning is, she was too free of her tongue _against_ the old men,
perhaps ridiculing them, and despising their admonitions.--_Senes_.
Several MSS. read _sonos_.
312. As true of the present day as of the time of Ovid.
326. Was there a play acted at the Megalesia, of which this was the
subject?
329, 330. This would appear to indicate the spot where the river divided.
See on v. 292.
335. _Coronatam_. The custom of adorning the poops of vessels with
garlands, must be familiar to every reader of the classics. See Virg. G.
I. 304, aen. iv. 418.
339. _Canus sacerdos_, the Archigallus, or chief priest of Cybele, as
Neapolis thinks.
340. It was the custom to wash the image of the goddess and her chariot
every year in the Almo. _Qui lotam parvo revocant_ (renovant) _Almone
Cybeben_. Lucan. I. 600.
346. _Boves_. The car of Cybele was drawn by heifers.
347. The sacred stone was committed to the care of P. Corn. Scipio
Nasica, the son of Cneius, who had fallen in Spain, as being the most
virtuous man in Rome, It was brought into the temple of Victory, which
was on the Palatium. The temple was not finished until thirteen years
after, and the stage-plays acted on that occasion were, according to
Valerius Antias, the first ever performed at Rome.--_Non perstitit_. This
is the reading of six of the best and of other MSS. and of the old
editions; four of the best, and three others have _tunc extitit_, which
is the reading adopted by Heinsius and Gierig. I think the present
reading gives the more Ovidian sense, scil. the name of the author did
not remain unchanged; it _was_ Metellus, it _is_ Augustus. See v. 351.
350. The Phrygian man and woman who carried the goddess about, collected
small pieces of money. This, by the Greeks, was called [Greek:
maetragyrtein]. The poet gives a cause, and a wrong one for it.
353. It was the custom for the principal persons at Rome to give _mutual_
entertainments, at the time of the Megalesia. This was called _mutitare_.
_Quam ob causam Patricii Megalensibus mutitare soliti sint, Plebs
Cerealibus?_ Gellius, xviii. 2.
354. _Indictas_. "Proprie de non vocatis, sed qui sponte veniunt ad
epulas. Suet. Ner. 27. Vitell. 13. Male interpretes a sacerdotibus
indictas capiunt." Burmann.
355. _Bene mutarit_. Having exchanged her obscure Phrygian abode for the
capital of the world. This reason is too trifling to be noticed.
357. _Institeram_. "Institueram, quaerere volebam," Gierig.--_Primi_. See
on v. 347, or is it first in point of dignity, or first in order in the
year?
359. See Virg. aen. vi. 787.
361. _Qui se_, etc. The Galli or priests of Cybele were voluntary
eunuchs.
363. _Vir. Cyb_. Cybele was a mountain of Phrygia.--_Alt. Cel_. Celaenae,
a mountain and town, at one time the chief place in Phrygia; the river
Maeander rose on its summit, and the Marsyas not far from it.
364. _Am. nom. Gal. Gallus in Phrygia, unde qui bibit insanit more
fanatico_, Vibius Sequester de Flumin. Pliny, (H. N. xxxi. 2. 5,)
following Callimachus, enumerates the Gallus among those whose waters
were good for persons afflicted with the stone, and adds, _Sed ibi in
potando necessarius modus, ne lymphatos agat_. As, however, no river ever
had this quality, we may be allowed to doubt the correctness of this
etymology.
367. _Herbosum moretum_. The _moretum_ called by the Greeks [Greek:
muttonton] or [Greek: trimma] was a mess composed of garlic, parsley,
rue, coriander, onions, cheese, oil and vinegar pounded up together. See
the description of the mode of making it in the poem called Moretum,
ascribed to Virgil.--_Herbosum_, an account of the parsley, etc.
371. _Elisae_, bruised or pounded, the part, of _elido_; most MSS. read
_elixae_.
373-376. The temple of Fortuna Publica on the Quirinal hill, was
dedicated on the Nones of April--_Motis_ scil. _amotis_.--_Pallantias_,
Aurora, as being daughter to the Titan Pallas. This genealogy, as far as
my knowledge extends, is peculiar to the Latin poets. In Hesiod, Eos or
Aurora is the daughter of the Titan Hyperion and niece to Pallas--
_Levarit_. "Jugo solverit," Gierig.--_Niv. eq_. Such were suited to the
_candida Luna_. In an epigram ascribed to Ovid, her car is drawn _niveis
juvencis_. The fiction was caused by the _horned_ moon. Nonnus and
Claudian gives her the same.--_Fort. Pub_. This temple was vowed, A.U.C.
549, by the consul Sempronius on the eve of a battle with Hannibal. It
was dedicated ten years afterwards by Q. Martius, Ralla created Decemvir
for the purpose.
377. _Tertia lux_, scil. _Megalesium_, the day after the Nones.--_Ludis_.
The plays were acted on this day.
380. _Perfida_. After the usual fashion of the Romans, to call rebels and
traitors all who opposed them, or the victorious party among them. It was
thus that Napoleon used to style the Spaniards rebels and insurgents. I
need hardly observe that Juba king of Mauritania was most faithful to the
cause of Pompey and the republic. He and Scipio put an end to their lives
after their defeat by Caesar, hence the poet applies to him the term
_magnanimus_, which denotes courage, as the Romans greatly approved of
those who escaped from disgrace and insult by voluntary death. Compare
Hor. Car. I. 37. 21. The victory was gained, A.U.C. 708. See Hirtius
Bell. Afric. 94. Florus iv. 2. 69.--_Contudit_. Virg. aen. I. 264.
381. _Meruisse_, to have served.
383, 384. _Sedem_, scil. in the orchestra, where Ovid sat, as having been
a Decemvir; not the fourteen rows where he might have sat of right, as
belonging to the equestrian order, but to a seat on which the tribune
could have no claim. The Vigintiviratus was an office, through which men
rose to the senate. Of the Vigintiviri, three had charge of the execution
of capital punishments, three of the mint, four of the roads, ten (the
Decemvirs) of assembling the Centumvirs, and presiding when they sat for
the trial of causes.
385. _Imbre_. The Roman theatres were not roofed. There was usually an
awning drawn across to keep off the sun. See Lucret. IV. 73.
386. _Pendula Libra_. On the day after the Nones, the VIII. Id. Libra was
in the sky all through the night, and was usually attended by rain.
_Pendula_ is a very appropriate term for Libra.
388. _Ensifer_. The better MSS. read _ensiger_.
389. The following day (IV. Idus.) began the Ludi Circenses or Cereales,
in honour of Ceres. Tac. An. xv. 53, 74.--_Inspexerit_, looked down on.
391. On the first day of the festival, a _pomp_ or procession, led by the
principal men of the state, moved from the Capitol through the Forum to
the Circus. The procession vas closed by the images of several gods
carried on men's shoulders. This pomp is described by our poet. Am. III.
2. 43, and by Dionysius, vii. 72. Some critics maintain that the Cereales
were but a part of the Ludi Circenses, which last were a festival of all
the gods. See Suet. Jul. 76. Tacitus certainly, in the passage first
referred to above, says, _Circensium ludorum die, qui Cereri celebratur_,
but Ovid seems to make no distinction.
392. _Ventosis_, swift as the wind, [Greek: theiein anemoisin homoioi],
Hom. II. x. 437, of the horses of Rhesus, [Greek: podaenemos], is an
epithet of Iris.
395. According to the Epicurean system of philosophy, in vogue in his
days, the poet regards the original condition of man, as similar to that
of the beasts that graze.
398. _Ten. fron. cac_. "Tenerae frondes arborum," Gierig. The shoot or
tender bough, with its fresh juicy leaves.--_Erant_. Most MSS. _erat_.
401. Compare Amor. III. 10. Met. v. 342. Virg. G. I. 147. Lucret. v. 937.
405. [Greek: Chalko d' ergazonto melas d' ouk eske sidaeros]. Hesiod.
[Greek: Erga], l50.--_Chalybeïa massa_, iron, from the Chalybes who
manufactured it.
406-408. This longing for the continuance of peace, and aversion to war,
is to be found in all the poets of the Augustan age. It may have been
partly flattery to Augustus, but I rather think it arose from the
previous state of war which had lasted so long, and caused so much ruin
and misery. Something of the same kind may be observed in Europe at the
present moment.
412. _Casta_, pure, offered with a pure mind.
414. See I. 349.
417. He had already related this tale at considerable length, Met. V.
Compare Claudian de Rap. Pros, and the Homeridian hymn to Demeter. See
Mythology, p. 133.
422. Henna or Enna, was an elevated valley-plain, nearly in the centre of
Sicily. Cicero, Verr. iv. 48.
423. Arethusa, the nymph of the fount in the island at Syracuse.
436. "_Gremium_ et _sinus_, ut Grammatici docent, ita differunt ut
_sinus_ sit inter pectoris et brachorium, gremium inter femorum
complexum." Gierig.
439. _Amarante_. Two of the best MSS. read _Narcisse_.
440. _Rorem, scil. _marinum, rosemary_, Virg. Ec. II. 49, G. II. 213. Two
of the best MMS. read _casiam_, which Heinsius and Gierig have received;
one _violas_, three _rosas_, several _rores_ most _rorem_.--_Meliloton_,
also called _Sertula Campana_, grows abundantly in Campania. It resembles
the _saffron_ in colour and in smell.
445. _Patruus_. Pluto, the brother of Jupiter and Ceres.
466. _Sues_. "Melius poëta omississet in hac narratione," Gierig. It is
probable that this was a reason given for swine being offered to Ceres.
See v. 414.
467-480. See all these places on the map, and compare Virg. aen. iii. 687,
_et seq_. The poet, we may observe, follows no regular topographical
order in enumerating them.
470. The Gelas, at whose mouth Gela was built, was a very rapid eddying
stream.
470. Megara or Megaris, formerly called Hybla, was near Syracuse. Pangie
or Pantagiae, was a small stream near Leontini.
473. Compare Virg. aen. viii. 418.
474. Messana, was anciently called Zancle, which, in the Sicilian
language, signified a sickle, which the place resembled in form. Thuc.
vi. 4.
477. _Heloria tempe_. The Helorus entered the sea near Pachynus. The
Greeks called all those long narrow wooded glens, through which a river
ran, [Greek: tempea] or [Greek: tempae].
482. See the story of Progne and Tereus. Met. vi. 620. _et seq_.
Mythology, p. 341.
491. See Mythology, p. 239.
495. "_Pumex_, omnis lapis aut rupes excavata," Gierig.
497. Ceres, therefore, kept her 'dragon yoke' in this cavern.
499, 500. Ovid, in this place, agrees with Virgil and Apollonius Rhodius,
in placing Scylla on the Italian, Charybdis on the Sicilian side of the
strait. In the Metamorphoses, xiv. he reverses the positions. Here too,
like Virgil, Ec. vi. 74, he confounds this Scylla with the daughter of
Nisus.
504. _Triste_, [Greek: agelastos petra], was the Greek name.
507. _Eleusin_. This is the reading of the best MSS.
521. _Neq. lac. deor. est_. [Greek: Horo kat osson d' ou themis balein
dakru], says Diana, Eurip. Hip. 1396; for Apollo see Met. II. 621.
527. _Qua cogere posses_, scil. by mentioning her daughter, v. 525.
535, 536. This circumstance of the legend was invented to account for the
_mystae_, or persons just initiated, not taking food till the evening.
[Greek: Oi ta mystaeria paralambanontes legontai en archae men mustai met
eniauton de epoptai kai ephoroi]. Suidas.
550. _Triptolemum_. He is called Demophoon in the Homeridian hymn. I
would recommend the reader to compare that hymn, or the analysis of it in
my Mythology, with this narrative of Ovid.
563. The poet here sets out on another excursion with the goddess, in
which he is as negligent of order as ever. For example, coming from
Eleusis, she must have passed the Piraeus, on her way to Sunion.
567. _Ionium rapax_. The Ionian sea was to the west of Greece. As I
cannot suspect the poet of making such wilful confusion, I assent to
those who suppose he meant by it the sea on the coast of Ionia in Asia.
569. _Turilegos Arabas. Tura praeter Arabiam nullis ac ne Arabiae quidem
universae; pagus Sabaeorum regio turifera_. Pliny, H. N. xii. 14.
571. _Hesperios_, scil_.fluvios_. The Nile was in the poet's mind.
580. _Helice_. See on III. 108.
593. _Victore Gyge_, scil. in the Giant-war. Gyges was one of the
Hundred-handed, the allies of Jupiter in the Titan-war. Hes. Th. 149.
600. _Inane Chaos_. Chaos, with the usual confusion of the later poets,
is here put for Erebus, the proper name for Pluto's realm.
620. On this account, in seasons of public mourning, the Cerealia were
not celebrated, as the mourning matrons could not appear at them.
620-624. A.U.C. 457. Q. Fabius Maximus, when advancing against the camp
of the Samnites, Liv. x. 29. The temple of Liberty was dedicated on Mt.
Aventine, vowed a temple to Jupiter Victor, in the time of the second
Punic war, by the father of Tiberius Gracchus. Liv. xxiv. 16. The Atrium
Libertatis was repaired A.U.C. 559, by the censors Paetus and Cornelius
Cethegus.
625. _Luce secutura_. The XVIII. Kal. Maii. There was frequently hail and
rain at this time. Columella, xi. 2.
627. _Scilicet, ut fuerit_, be this as it may. This reading was formed by
Heinsius. Eight MSS. read _scilicet et fuerit_, eleven _sit licet ut
fuerit_, the remainder have _sit licet et fuerit_, which Gierig prefers,
and explains thus: "Sit ita, ut eo die interdum grando cadat, _et fuerit_
ita et olim."--_Mutinensia arma_. The battle of Mutina was fought A.U.C.
710, against Antony, by the consuls Hirtius and Pansa, and the propraetor,
Octavianus Caesar. One of the consuls was severely wounded, and the other
slain in the action; and as Octavianus either would not, or knew not how
to use the victory, Antony escaped to Liguria. The flattery of the poet,
therefore, goes a little too far.
629. _Veneris_, scil. _mensis Veneris_.
630. The Fordicidia were on the 15th April. _Fordicidia a fordis bubus.
Bos forda quae fert in ventre; quod eo die publice immolantur boves
praegnantes in curiis complures. A fordis caedendis Fordicidia dicta_,
Varro, L. L. V. He also (R. R. II. 5, 6,) names the festival _Hordicidia_
and _Hordicalia_, and the adjective _Hordus_, which was the Sabine word.
635. _Curia_. The singular for the plural. See last note and II. 527.
637. _Ministri_, the _popae_, or _Victimarii_.
639. _Virgo_. The eldest of the Vestals. The ashes were reserved to
purify the people on the Palilia at the end of the month.
641. Now comes a legend as usual, to explain the origin of this practice.