[Footnote 001: Were five books.--Ver. 1. From this it is clear, that
the first edition which Ovid gave to the public of his 'Amores' was
in five Books; but that on revising his work, he preferred (praetulit)
these three books to the former five. It is supposed that he rejected
many of those Elegies which were of too free a nature and were likely to
embroil him with the authorities, by reason of their licentiousness.]
[Footnote 002: Though it should.--Ver. 3. Burmann has rightly observed,
that 'ut jam,' in this line, has exactly the force of 'quamvis,'
'although.']
[Footnote 003: In serious numbers.--Ver. 1. By the 'graves numeri,' he
means Heroic or Hexameter verses. It is supposed that he alludes to the
battle of the Giants or the Titans, on which subject he had begun to
write an heroic poem. In these lines Ovid seems to have had in view the
commencement of the first Ode of Anacreon.]
[Footnote 004: Suited to the measure.--Ver. 2. The subject being of a
grave character, and, as such, suited to Heroic measure.]
[Footnote 005: Abstracted one foot.--Ver. 4. He says that every second
line (as is the case in Heroic verse) had as many feet as the first,
namely, six : but that Cupid stole a foot from the Hexameter, and
reduced it to a Pentameter, whereby the Poet was forced to recur to the
Elegiac measure.]
[Footnote 008: Diminish my energies.--Ver. 18. See the Note to the
fourth line.]
[Footnote 009: His quiver loosened.--Ver. 21. The 'pharetra,' or
quiver, filled with arrows, was used by most of the nations that
excelled in archery, among whom were the Scythians, Persians, Lycians,
Thracians, and Cretans. It was made of leather, and was sometimes
adorned with gold or painting. It had a lid, and was suspended by a belt
from the right shoulder. Its usual position was on the left hip, and it
was thus worn by the Scythians and Egyptians. The Cretans, however,
wore it behind the back, and Diana, in her statues, is represented as so
doing. This must have been the method in which Cupid is intended in the
present instance to wear it, as he has to unloose the quiver before he
takes out the arrow. Some Commentators, however, would have 'solutâ' to
refer simply to the act of opening the quiver.]
[Footnote 010: In six feet.--Ver. 27. He says that he must henceforth
write in Hexameters and Pentameters, or, in other words, in the Elegiac
measure.]
[Footnote 011: My Muse.--Ver. 30. The Muse addressed by him would be
Erato, under whose protection were those Poets whose theme was Love. He
bids her wreathe her hair with myrtle, because it was sacred to Venus;
while, on the other hand, laurels would be better adapted to the Heroic
Muse. The myrtle is said to love the moisture and coolness of the
sea-shore.]
[Footnote 014: Thy step-father.--Ver. 24. He calls Mars the step-father
of Cupid, in consequence of his intrigue with Venus.]
[Footnote 015: Birds so yoked.--Ver. 26. These are the doves which were
sacred to Venus and Cupid. By yoking them to the chariot of Mars, the
Poe* wishes to show the skill and power of Cupid.]
[Footnote 016: Io triumphe.--Ver. 25. 'Clamare triumphum,' means 'to
shout Io triumphe,' as the procession moves along. Lactantius speaks
of a poem called 'the Triumph of Cupid,' in which Jupiter and the other
Gods were represented as following him in the triumphal procession.]
[Footnote 017: Thyself with gold.--Ver. 42. The poet Mosehus represents
Cupid as having wings of gold.]
[Footnote 018: The Gangetic land.--Ver. 47. He alludes to the Indian
triumphs of Bacchus, which extended to the river Ganges.]
[Footnote 019: Thy kinsman Cæsar--Ver. 51. Because Augustus, as the
adopted son of Julius Cæsar, was said to be descended from Venus,
through the line of Æneas.]
[Footnote 020: Shield the conquered.--Ver. 52. Although Augustus
had many faults, it must be admitted that he was, like Julius, a most
merciful conqueror, and was generally averse to bloodshed.]
[Footnote 021: Founder of my family. --Ver. 8. See the Life of Ovid
prefixed to the Fasti; and the Second Book of the Tristia.]
[Footnote 022: Each of my parents.--Ver. 10. From this it appears that
this Elegy was composed during the life-time of both of his parents, and
while, probably, he was still dependent on his father.]
[Footnote 023: No rover in affection.--Ver. 15. 'Desuitor,' literally
means 'one who leaps off.' The figure is derived from those equestrians
who rode upon several horses, or guided several chariots, passing from
the one to the other. This sport was very frequently exhibited in
the Roman Circus. Among the Romans, the 'desuitor' generally wore a
'pileus,' or cap of felt. The Numidian, Scythian, and Armenian soldiers,
were said to have been skilled in the same art.]
[Footnote 024: Of the bird.--Ver. 22. He alludes to Leda and Europa.]
[Footnote 026: The same banquet.--Ver. 1. He says that they are about
to meet at 'coena,' at the house of a common friend.]
[Footnote 027: The last meal.--Ver. 2. The 'coena' of the Romans is
usually translated by the word 'supper'; but as being the chief meal of
the day, and being in general, (at least during the Augustan age) taken
at about three o'clock, it really corresponds to our 'dinner.']
[Footnote 028: Warm the bosom of another.--Ver. 5. As each guest while
reclining on the couch at the entertainment, mostly leaned on his left
elbow during the meal, and as two or more persons lay on the same couch,
the head of one person reached to the breast of him who lay above him,
and the lower person was said to lie on the bosom of the other. Among
the Romans, the usual number of persons occupying each couch was three.
Sometimes, however, four occupied one couch; while, among the Greeks,
only two reclined upon it. In this instance, he describes the lady as
occupying the place below her husband, and consequently warming his
breast with her head. For a considerable time after the fashion of
reclining at meals had been introduced into Rome, the Roman ladies sat
at meals while the other sex was recumbent. Indeed, it was generally
considered more becoming for females to be seated, especially if it was
a party where many persons were present. Juvenal, however, represents a
bride as reclining at the marriage supper on the bosom of her husband.
On the present occasion, it is not very likely that the ladies
were particular about the more rigid rules of etiquette. It must be
remembered that before lying down, the shoes or sandals were taken off.]
[Footnote 029: Damsel of Atrax.--Ver. 8. He alludes to the marriage
of Hippodamia to Pirithous, and the battle between the Centaurs and the
Lapithæ, described in the Twelfth-. Book of the Metamorphoses.]
[Footnote 031: Do come first.--Ver. 14. He hardly knows why he asks her
to do so, but still she must come before her husband; perhaps, that
he may have the pleasure of gazing upon her without the chance of
detection; the more especially as she would not recline till her husband
had arrived, and would, till then, probably be seated.]
[Footnote 032: Touch my foot.--Ver. 16. This would show that she had
safely received his letter.]
[Footnote 033: My secret signs.--Ver. 18. See the Note in this Volume,
to the 90th line of the 17th Epistle.]
[Footnote 034: By my eye-brows.--Ver. 19. See the 82nd line of the 17th
Epistle.]
[Footnote 035: Traced in the wine.--Ver. 20. See the 88th line of the
17th Epistle.]
[Footnote 036: Your blooming cheeks.--Ver. 22. Probably by way of check
to his want of caution.]
[Footnote 037: Twisted on your fingers.--Ver. 26. The Sabines were the
first to introduce the practice of wearing rings among the Romans. The
Romans generally wore one ring, at least, and mostly upon the fourth
finger of the left hand. Down to the latest period of the Republic, the
rings were mostly of iron, and answered the'purpose of a signet.
The right of wearing a gold ring remained for several centuries the
exclusive privilege of Senators, Magistrates, and Knights. The emperors
were not very scrupulous on whom they conferred the privilege of wearing
the gold ring, and Severus and Aurelian gave the right to all Roman
soldiers. Vain persons who had the privilege, literally covered their
fingers with rings, so much so, that Quintilian thinks it necessary to
warn the orator not to have them above the middle joint of the fingers.
The rings and the gems set in them, were often of extreme beauty and
value. From Juvenal and Martial we learn that the coxcombs of the
day had rings for both winter and summer wear. They were kept in
'dactyliothecæ,' or ring boxes, where they were ranged in a row.]
[Footnote 038: Who are in prayer.--Ver. 27. It was the custom to
hold the altar while the suppliant was praying to the Deities; he here
directs her, while she is mentally uttering imprecations against her
husband, to fancy that the table is the altar, and to take hold of it
accordingly.]
[Footnote 039: If you are discreet.--Ver. 29. Sapias' is put for 'si
sapias,' 'if you are discreet,' 'if you would act sensibly.']
[Footnote 041: Ask the servant.--Ver. 30. This would be the slave,
whose office it was to mix the wine and water to the taste of the
guests. He was called [oivôxooç] by the Greeks, 'pincerna' by the
Romans.]
[Footnote 042: Which you have put down.--Ver. 31. That is, which she
either puts upon the table, or gives back to the servant, when she has
drunk.]
[Footnote 043: Touched by his mouth.--Ver. 34. This would appear to
refer to some choice morsel picked out of the husband's plate, which, as
a mark of attention, he might present to her.]
[Footnote 044: On his unsightly breast.--Ver. 36. This, from her
position, if she reclined below her husband, she would be almost obliged
to do.]
[Footnote 045: So close at hand.--Ver. 37. A breach of these
injunctions would imply either a very lax state of etiquette at the
Reman parties, or, what is more probable, that the present company was
not of a very select character.]
[Footnote 048: Beneath the cloth.--Ver. 48. 'Vestis' means a covering,
or clothing for anything, as for a couch, or for tapestry. Let us
charitably suppose it here to mean the table cloth; as the passage will
not admit of further examination, and has of necessity been somewhat
modified in the translation.]
[Footnote 049: The conscious covering.--Ver. 50. The 'pallia,' here
mentioned, are clearly the coverlets of the couch which he has before
mentioned in the 41st line; and from this it is evident, that during the
repast the guests were covered with them.]
[Footnote 050: Add wine by stealth.--Ver. 52. To make him fall asleep
the sooner]
[Footnote 051: 'Twas summer time.--Ver. 1. In all hot climates it is
the custom to repose in the middle of the day. This the Spaniards call
the 'siesta.']
[Footnote 053: A part of the window.--Ver. 3. On the 'fenestræ,' or
windows of the ancients, see the Notes to the Pontic Epistles, Book iii.
Ep. iii. 1. 5, and to the Metamorphoses, Book xiv. 1. 752. He means that
one leaf of the window was open, and one shut.]
[Footnote 054: Corinna.--Ver. 9. In the Fourth Book of the Tristia,
Elegy x. 1. GO, he says, 'Corinna, (so called by a fictitious name) the
subject of song through the whole city, had imparted a stimulus to my
geuius.' It has been supposed by some Commentators, that under this name
he meant Julia, either the daughter or the grand-daughter of the emperor
Augustus, but there seems really to be no ground for such a belief;
indeed, the daughter of Augustus had passed middle age, when Ovid was
still in boyhood. It is most probable that Corinna was ouly an ideal
personage, existing in the imagination of the Poet; and that he intended
the name to apply to his favourite mistress for the time being, as,
though he occasionally denies it, still, at other times, he admits that
his passion was of the roving kind. There are two females mentioned in
history of the name of Coriuna. One was a Theban poetess, who excelled
in Lyric composition, and was said to have vanquished Pindar himself in
a Lyric contest; while the other was a native of Thespiæ, in Bceotia.
'The former, who was famous for both her personal charms and her mental
endowments, is supposed to have suggested the use of the name to Ovid.]
[Footnote 055: Clothed in a tunic.--Ver. 9. 'Tunica' was the name of
the under-garment with both sexes among the Romans. When the wearer was
out of doors, or away from home, it was fastened round the waist with a
belt or girdle, but when at home and wishing to be entirely at ease, it
was, as in the present instance, loose or ungirded. Both sexes usually
wore two tunics. In female dress, Varro seems to call the outer tunic
'subucula,' and the 'interior tunica' by the name also of 'indusium.'
The outer tunic was also called 'stola,' and, with the 'palla' completed
the female dress. The 'tunica interior,' or what is here called tunica,'
was a simple shift, and in early times had no sleeves. According to
Nonius, it fitted loosely on the body, and was not girded when the
'stola' or outer tunic was put on. Poor people, who could not afford
to purchase a 'toga,' wore the tunic alone; whence we find the lower
classes called by the name of 'tunicati.']
[Footnote 056: Her flowing hair.--Ver. 10. 'Dividuis,' here means, that
her hair was scattered, flowing over her shoulders and not arranged on
the head in a knot.]
[Footnote 057: Semiramis.--Ver. 11. Semiramis was the wife of Ninus,
king of Babylon, and was famous for her extreme beauty, and the talent
which she displayed as a ruler. She was also as unscrupulous in her
morals as the fair one whom the Poet is now describing.]
[Footnote 058: And Lais.--Ver. 12. There are generally supposed to have
beén two famous courtesans of the name of Lais. The first was carried
captive, when a child, from Sicily, in the second year of the 91st
Olympiad, and being taken to Corinth, became famous throughout Greece
for her extreme beauty, and the high price she put upon her favours.
Many of the richest and most learned men resorted to her, and became
smitten by her charms. The second Lais was the daughter of Alcibiades,
by his mistress, Timandra. When Demosthenes applied for a share of her
favours, she made the extravagant demand of ten thousand drachmae, upon
which, regaining his wisdom (which had certainly forsaken him for a
time) he said that he would not purchase repentance at so high a price.]
[Footnote 059: In its thinness.--Ver. 13. Possibly it was made of Coan
cloth, if Corinna was as extravagant as she was vicious.]
[Footnote 060: The cruel fetter--Ver. 1. Among the Romans, the porter
was frequently bound by a chain to his post, that he might not forsake
it.]
[Footnote 062: Watches of the keepers.--Ver. 7. Properly, the 'excubiæ'
were the military watches that were kept on guard, either by night or
day, while the term 'vigiliæ,' was only applied to the watch by night.
He here alludes to the watch kept by jealous men over their wives.]
[Footnote 063: Spectres that flit by night.--Ver. 13. The dread of the
ghosts of the departed entered largely among the Roman superstitions.
See an account of the Ceremony, in the Fifth Book of the Fasti, 1. 422,
et seq., for driving the ghosts, or Lemures, from the house.]
[Footnote 064: Ready for the whip--Ver. 19. See the Note to the 81st
line of the Epistle of De'ianira to Hercules. Ovid says, that he has
often pleaded for him to his mistress; indeed, the Roman ladies often
showed more cruelty to the slaves, both male and female, than the men
did to the male slaves.]
[Footnote 065: As you wish.--Ver. 28. Of course it would be the
porter's wish that the night should pass quickly on, as he would be
relieved in the morning, and was probably forbidden to sleep during the
night.]
[Footnote 066: Hours of the night pass on.--Ver. 24. This is an
intercalary line, being repeated after each seventh one.]
[Footnote 067: From the door-post.--Ver. 24. The fastenings of the
Roman doors consisted of a bolt placed at the bottom of eacn 'foris,' or
wing of the door, which fell into a socket made in the sill. By way of
additional precaution, at night, the front door was secured by a bar of
wood or iron, here called 'sera,' which ran across, and was inserted in
sockets on each side of the doorway. Hence it was necessary to remove or
strike away the bar, 'excutere seram,' before the door could be opened.]
[Footnote 068: Water of the slave.--Ver. 26. Water was the principal
beverage of the Roman slaves, but they were allowed a small quantity of
wiue, which was increased on the Saturnalia. 'Far,' or 'spelt,' formed
their general sustenance, of which they received one 'libra' daily.
Salt and oil were also allowed them, and sometimes fruit, but seldom
vegetables. Flesh meat seems not to have been given to them.]
[Footnote 069: About my temples.--Ver. 37. 'Circa mea tempora,'
literally, 'around my temples' This-expression is used, because it was
supposed that the vapours of excessive wine affect the brain. He says
that he has only taken a moderate quantity of wine, although the chaplet
falling from off his hair would seem to bespeak the contrary.]
[Footnote 073: Otherwise I myself!--Ver. 57. Heinsius thinks that this
and the following line are spurious.]
[Footnote 074: Holding in my torch--Ver. 58. Torches were usually
carried by the Romans, for their guidance after sunset, and were
generally made of wooden staves or twigs, bound by a rope around them,
in a spiral form, or else by circular bands at equal distances. The
inside of the torch was filled with flax, tow, or dead vegetable
matter, impregnated with pitch, wax, rosin, oil, or other inflammable
substances.]
[Footnote 075: Love and wine.--Ver. 59. He seems, by this, to admit
that he has taken more than a moderate quantity of wine, 'modicum
vinum,' as he says above.]
[Footnote 076: Anxieties of the prison.--Ver. 64. He alludes to the
'ergastulum,' or prison for slaves, that was attached to most of the
Roman farms, whither the refractory slaves were sent from the City to
work in chains. It was mostly under ground, and, was lighted with narrow
windows, too high from the ground to be touched with the hand.
Slaves who had displeased their masters were usually sent there for a
punishment, and those of uncouth habits were kept there. Plutarch says
that they were established, on the conquest of Italy, in consequence
of the number of foreign slaves imported for the cultivation of
the conquered territory. They were finally abolished by the Emperor
Hadrian.]
[Footnote 077: Bird is arousing.--Ver. 66. The cock, whom the poets
universally consider as 'the harbinger of morn.']
[Footnote 078: Equally slaves.--Ver. 74. He called the doors, which
were bivalve or folding-doors, his 'conservæ,' or 'fellow' slaves,' from
the fact of their being obedient to the will of a slave. Plautuâ, in
the Asinaria, act. ii sc. 3, has a similar expression:--'Nolo ego
fores, conservas meas a te verberarier.' 'I won't have my door, my
fellow-slave, thumped by you.']
[Footnote 080: Did not Ajax too.--Ver. 7. Ajax Telamon, on being
refused the arms of Achilles, became mad, and slaughtered a flock
of sheep, fancying that they were the sons of Atreus, and his enemy
Ulysses. His shield, formed of seven ox hides, is celebrated by Homer.]
[Footnote 081: Mystic Goddesses.--Ver. 10. Orestes avenged the death of
his father, Agamemnon, by slaying his own mother, Clytemnestra, together
with her paramour, Ægistheus. He also attempted to attack the Furies,
when they haunted him for the murder of his mother.]
[Footnote 082: Daughter of Schceneus.--Ver. 13. Atalanta, the Arcadian,
or Mae-nalian, was the daughter of Iasius, and was famous for her skill
in the chase. Atalanta, the Boeotian, was the daughter of Schceneus,
and was renowned for her swiftness, and for the race in which she was
outstripped by Hippomenes. The Poet has here mistaken the one for the
other, calling the Arcadian one the daughter of Schoeneus. The story of
the Arcadian Atalanta is told in the Eighth Book of the Metamorphoses,
and that of the daughter of Schceneus, at the end of the Tenth Book of
the same work.]
[Footnote 083: The Cretan damsel.--Ver. 16. Ariadne, the daughter of
Minos, when deserted on the island of Naxos or Cea.]
[Footnote 084: Cassandra.--Ver. 17. Cassandra being a priestess, would
wear the sacred fillets, 'vittse.' She was ravished by Ajax Oileus, in
the temple of Minerva.]
[Footnote 085: The humblest Roman.--Ver. 29. It was not lawful to
strike a freeborn human citizen. See Acts, c. xxii. v. 25. 'And as they
hound him with thongs, Paul said unto the Centurion that stood by, Is it
lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemncd?' This
privilege does not seem to have extended to Roman women of free birth.]
[Footnote 086: Strike a Goddess.--Ver. 32. He alludes to the wound
inflicted by Diomedes upon Venus, while protecting her son Æneas.]
[Footnote 087: Her hurt cheeks--Ver. 40. He implies by this, to his
disgrace which has made her cheeks black and blue by his violence.]
[Footnote 089: At the middle.--Ver. 48. He says that he ought to have
been satisfied with tearing her tunic down to the waist, where the
girdle should have stopped short the rent; whereas, in all probability,
he had torn it from the top to the bottom.]
[Footnote 090: Her free-born cheeks.--Ver. 50. It was a common practice
with many of the Romans, to tear and scratch their Slaves on the least
provocation.]
[Footnote 091: The Parian mountains.--Ver. 52. The marble of Paros
was greatly esteemed for its extreme whiteness. Paros was one of the
Cyclades, situate about eighteen miles from the island of Delos.]
[Footnote 092: Their proper order. --Ver 68. 'In statione,' was
originally a military phrase, signifying 'on guard'; from which It came
to be applied to any thing in its place or in proper order.]
[Footnote 094: Does she derive.--Ver. 3. He says that her name,
'Dipsas,' is derived from reality, meaning thereby that she is so called
from the Greek verb [êtxpâui], 'to thirst'; because she was always
thirsty, and never rose sober in the morning.]
[Footnote 095: The charms of Ææa.--Ver. 5. He alludes to the charms of
Circe and Medea. According to Eustathius, Ææa was a city of Colchis.]
[Footnote 096: Turns back to its source.--Ver. 6. This the magicians of
ancient times generally professed to do.]
[Footnote 097: Spinning wheel.--Ver. 8. 'Rhombus,' means a
parallelogram with equal sides, but not having right angles, and hence,
from the resemblance, a spinning wheel, or winder. The 'licia' were the
cords or thrums of the old warp, or the threads of the old web to which
the threads of the new warp were joined. Here, however, the word seems
to mean the threads alone. The spinning-wheel was much used in magical
incantations, not only among the Romans, but among the people of
Northern and Western Europe. It is not improbable that the practice was
founded on the so-called threads of destiny, and it was the province of
the wizard, or sorceress, by his or her charms, to lengthen or shorten
those threads, according as their customers might desire. Indeed, in
some parts of Europe, at the present day, charms, in the shape of forms
of words, are said to exist, which have power over the human life at any
distance from the spot where they are uttered; a kind of superstition
which dispenses with the more cumbrous paraphernalia of the
spinning-wheel. Some Commentators think that the use of the 'licia'
implied that the minds of individuals were to be influenced at the will
of the enchanter, in the same way as the old thrums of the warp are
caught up and held fast by the new threads; this view, however, seems
to dispense with the province of the wheel in the incantation. See
the Second Book of the Fasti, 1. 572. The old woman there mentioned
as performing the rites of the Goddess, Tacita, among her other
proceedings, 'binds the enchantea threads on the dark-coloured
spinning-wheel.']
[Footnote 098: Venomous exudation.--Ver. 8. This was the substance
called 'hippomanes,' which was said to flow from mares when in a
prurient state. Hesiod says, that 'hippomanes' was a herb which produced
madness in the horses that ate of it. Pliny, in his Eighth Book, says
that it is a poisonous excrescence of the size of a fig, and of a black
colour, which grows on the head of the mare, and which the foal at its
birth is in the habit of biting off, which, if it neglects to do, it is
not allowed by its mother to suck. This fictitious substance was said to
be especially used in philtres.]
[Footnote 099: Moon was empurpled.--Ver. 12. If such a thing as a fog
ever exists in Italy, he may very possibly have seen the moon of a deep
red colour.]
[Footnote 101: That she, transformed.--Ver. 13. 'Versam,'
'transformed,' seems here to be a preferable reading to 'vivam,'
'alive.' Burmann, however, thinks that the 'striges' were the ghosts of
dead sorcerers and wizards, and that the Poet means here, that Dipsas
had the power of transforming herself into a 'strix' even while living,
and that consequently 'vivam' is the proper reading. The 'strix' was
a fabulous bird of the owl kind, which was said to suck the blood of
children in the cradle. Seethe Sixth Book of the Fasti, 1. 141, and the
Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 102: A double pupil, too.--Ver. 15. The pupil, or apple
of the eye, is that part through which light is conveyed to the optic
nerve. Some persons, especially females, were said by the ancients to
have a double pupil, which constituted what was called 'the evil eye.'
Pliny the Elder says, in his Seventh Book, that 'all women injure by
their glances, who have a double pupil.' The grammarian, Haephestion,
tells us, in his Fifth Book, that the wife of Candaulcs, king of Lydia,
had a double pupil. Heinsius suggests, that this was possibly the
case with the Ialysian Telchines, mentioned in the Seventh Book of the
Metamorphoses, 1. 365, 'whose eyes corrupting all things by the very
looking upon them, Jupiter, utterly hating, thrust them beneath the
waves of his brother.']
[Footnote 103: And their grandsires.--Ver. 17. One hypercritical
Commentator here makes this remark: 'As though it were any more
difficult to summon forth from the tomb those who have long been dead,
than those who are iust deceased.' He forgot that Ovid had to make up
his line, and that 'antiquis proavos atavosque' made three good feet,
and two-thirds of another.]
[Footnote 105: The twofold doors.--Ver. 20. The doors used by the
ancients were mostly bivalve, or folding doors.]
[Footnote 106: Mars in opposition.--Ver. 29. She is dabbling here in
astrology, and the adverse and favourable aspects of the stars. We
are to suppose that she is the agent of the young man who has seen the
damsel, and she is telling her that the rising star of Venus is about to
bring her good luck.]
[Footnote 107: Makes it his care.--Ver. 32. Burmann thinks that this
line, as it stands at present, is not pure Latin; and, indeed, 'curæ
habet,' 'makes it his care,' seems a very unusual mode of expression.
He suggests another reading--'et, cultæ quod tibi défit, habet,' 'and
he possesses that which is wanting for your being well-dressed,' namely,
money.]
[Footnote 108: The damsel blushed.--Ver. 35. He says that his mistress
blusned at the remark of the old hag, that the young man was worthy to
be purchased by her, if he had not been the first to make an offer. We
must suppose that here the Poet peeped through a chink of the door, as
he was on the other side, listening to the discourse; or he may have
reasonably guessed that she did so, from the remark made in the same
line by the old woman.]
[Footnote 109: Your eyes cast down.--Ver. 37. The old woman seems to be
advising her to pretend modesty, by looking down on her lap, so as not
to give away even a look, until she has seen what is deposited there,
and then only to give gracious glances in proportion to her present. It
was the custom for the young simpletons who lavished their money on the
Roman courtesans, to place their presents in the lap or bosom.]
[Footnote 111: Sabine females.--Ver. 39. The Sabines were noted for
their domestic virtues. The hag hints, that the chastity of the Sabine
women was only the result of their want of good breeding. 'Tatio
régnante' seems to point to the good old times, in the same way as our
old songsters have it, 'When good king Arthur reigned.' Tatius
reigned jointly at Rome with Romulus. See the Fourteenth Book of the
Metamorphoses, 1. 804.]
[Footnote 112: In foreign warfare.--Ver. 41. She says, that they are
now in a more civilized state, than when they were fighting just without
the walls of Rome; now they are solely engaged in foreign conquests, and
Venus reigns in the city of the descendants of her son, Æneas.]
[Footnote 113: Dispel these frowns.--Ver. 45. The damsel has, probably,
frowned here at her last remark, on which she tells her she must
learn to dispense with these frowns, and that when she dispels
them, 'excutit,' so many faults which might otherwise prove to her
disadvantage, will be well got rid of.]
[Footnote 114: Penelope used to try.--Ver. 47. Penelope, in order that
she might escape the importunity of the suitors, proposed that they
should try to bend the bow of Ulysses, promising her hand to him who
should prove successful. The hag, however, says that, with all her
pretended chastity, Penelope only wanted to find out who was the most
stalwart man among her lovers, in order that she might choose him for a
husbaud.]
[Footnote 116: Graceful in his mantle.--Ver. 59. The 'palla' was
especially worn by musicians. She is supposed to refer to the statue
of Apollo, which was erected on the Palatine Hill by Augustus; and
her design seems to be, to shew that poetry and riches are not so
incompatible as the girl may, from her lover's poverty, be led to
imagine.]
[Footnote 117: At a price for his person.--Ver. 63. That is to say,
some rich slave who has bought his own liberty. As many of the Roman
slaves were skilful at various trades and handicrafts, and were probably
allowed the profits of their work after certain hours in the day, it
would be no uncommon thing for a slave, with his earnings, to purchase
his liberty. Some of the slaves practised as physicians, while others
followed the occupation of literary men.]
[Footnote 118: Rubbed with chalk.--Ver. 64. It was the custom to mark
with chalk, 'gypsum,' the feet of such slaves as were newly imported for
sale.]
[Footnote 119: Busts about the halls.--Ver. 65. Instead of
'quinquatria,' which is evidently a corrupt reading, 'circum atria' has
been adopted. She is advising the girl not to be led away by notions
of nobility, founded on the number of 'ceræ,' or waxen busts of their
ancestors, that adorned the 'atria,' or halls of her admirers. See the
Fasti, Book i. line 591, and the Note to the passage; also the Epistle
of Laodamia to Protesilaus, line 152.]
[Footnote 120: Nay, more, should.--Ver. 67. 'Quin' seems to be a
preferable reading to-'quid?']
[Footnote 121: There will be Isis.--Ver. 74. The Roman women celebrated
the festival of Isis for several successive days, and during that period
they care-fully abstained from the society of men.]
[Footnote 127: By your censure.--Ver. 80. When she has offended she is
to pretend a counter grievance, so as to outweigh her faults.]
[Footnote 128: A deaf hearing.--Ver. 86. Literally, 'deaf Godhead.']
[Footnote 129: A crafty handmaid.--Ver. 87. The comedies of Plautus and
Terence show the part which the intriguing slaves and handmaids acted on
such occasions.]
[Footnote 130: A little of many.--Ver. 89. 'Multos,' as suggested by
Heinsius, is preferable to 'multi,' which does not suit the sense.]
[Footnote 131: Heap from the gleanings--Ver. 90. 'Stipula' here means
'gleanings.' She says, that each of the servants must ask for a little,
and those little sums put together will make a decent amount collected
from her lovers. No doubt her meaning is, that the mistress should
pocket the presents thus made to the slaves.]
[Footnote 132: With a cake.--Ver. 94. The old woman tells how, when
she has exhausted all other excuses for getting a present, to have the
birth-day cake by her, and to pretend that it is her birth-day; in
order that her lover may take the hint, and present her with a gift. The
birth-day cake, according to Servius, was made of flour and honey; and
being set on tabic before the guests, the person whose birth-day it was,
ate the first slice, after which the others partook of it, and wished
him happiness and prosperity. Presents, too, were generally made on
birth-days.]
[Footnote 133: The Sacred Street."--Ver. 100. The 'via sacra,'
or' Sacred Street, from the old Senate house at Rome towards the
Amphitheatre, and up the Capitoline hill. For the sale of all kinds of
luxuries, it seems to have had the same rank in Rome that Regent Street
holds in London. The procuress tells her, that if her admirer makes no
presents, she must turn the conversation to the 'Via Sacra;' of course,
asking him such questions as, What is to be bought there? What is the
price of such and such a thing? And then she is to say, that she is in
want of this or that, but unfortunately she has no money, &c.]
[Footnote 134: Conceal your thoughts.--Ver. 103. This expression
resembles the famous one attributed to Machiavelli, that 'speech was
made for the concealment of the thoughts.']
[Footnote 134: Prove his ruin.--Ver. 103. 'Let your lips utter kind
things, but let it be your intention to ruin him outright by your
extravagance.']
[Footnote 135: Grant thee both no home--Ver. 113. The 'Lares,' being
the household Gods, 'nullos Lares,' implies 'no home.']
[Footnote 136: Everlasting thirst.--Ver. 114. In allusion to her
thirsty name; see the Note to the second line.]
[Footnote 138: Atticus.--Ver. 2. It is supposed that this Atticus was
the same person to whom Ovid addresses the Fourth and Seventh Pontic
Epistle in the Second Book. It certainly was not Pomponius Atticus, the
friend of Cicero, who died when the Poet was in his eleventh year.]
[Footnote 139: The years which."--Ver. 5. The age for serving in the
Roman armies, was from the seventeenth up to the forty-sixth year.]
[Footnote 140: Of his general.--Ver. 8. He alludes to the four
night-watches of the Roman army, which succeeded each other every three
hours. Each guard, or watch, consisted of four men, of whom one acted as
sentry, while the others were in readiness, in case of alarm.]
[Footnote 142: The othert doors.--Ver. 20. From the writings of Terence
and Plautus, as well as those of Ovid, we find that the youths of Rome
were not very scrupulous about kicking down the door of an obdurate
mistress.]
[Footnote 143: Thracian Rhesits.--Ver. 23. See the preceding Epistle of
Pénélope to Ulysses, and the speech of Ulysses in the Thirteenth Book of
the Metamorphoses.]
[Footnote 144: Cease to love.--Ver. 32. It is hard to say whether the
word 'Desinat' means 'Let him leave off saying so,' or 'Let him cease to
love': perhaps the latter is the preferable mode of rendering it.]
[Footnote 146: The raving prophetess.--Ver. 38. 'Mænas' literally means
'a raving female,' from the Greek word paivopai, 'to be mad.' He alludes
to Cassandra when inspired with the prophetic spirit.]
[Footnote 147: At the forge.--Ver. 39. When he was detected by means of
the iron net, as related in the Fourth Book of the Metamorphoses.]
[Footnote 148: A lazy inactivity.--Ver. 41. When persons wished to
be at ease in their leisure moments at home, they were in the habit of
loosening the girdle which fastened the tunic; from this circumstance,
the term 'dis-cinctus' is peculiarly applied to a state of indolence.]
[Footnote 149: Couch and the shade.--Ver. 42. 'Lectus et umbra' means
'lying in bed and reclining in the shade.' The shade of foliage would
have peculiar attractions in the cloudless climate of Italy, especially
for persons naturally inclined to be idle.]
[Footnote 150: To serve.--Ver. 44. 'Æra merere' has the same meaning
as 'stipendum merere,' 'to earn the pay of a soldier,' whence it came to
signify 'to sene as a soldier.' The ancient accounts differ materially
as to the pay which the Roman soldiers received.]
[Footnote 151: The Eurotas.--Ver. 1. The Eurotas was the river which
flowed past the walls of Sparta. He is alluding to Helen.]
[Footnote 152: Amymone.--Ver. 5. She was one of the Danaides, and
was carrying water, when she was attacked by a Satyr, and rescued by
Neptune. See the Epistle of Hero to Leander, 1. 131, and the Note to the
passage.]
[Footnote 153: Fold in his dress.--Ver. 18. The 'sinhs' of the 'toga,'
among the men, and of the 'palla,' among the women, which extended in
folds across the breast, was used as a pocket, in which they carried
money, purses, letters, and other articles. When the party was seated,
the 'sinus' would almost correspond in meaning with our word 'lap.']
[Footnote 154: Avaricious procurer.--Ver. 23. 'Leno' was a person who
kept a house for the purposes of prostitution, and who generally robbed
his victims of the profits of their unfortunate calling. This was called
'lenocinium,' and the trade was not forbidden, though the 'lenones' were
considered 'infames,' or 'disgraced,' and thereby lost certain political
rights.]
[Footnote 155: By compulsion.--Ver. 24. Being probably the slave of the
'leno,' he would use force to make her comply with his commands.]
[Footnote 156: Hired dishonestly.--Ver. 37. The evidence of witnesses
was taken by the Praetor, and was called 'jusjurandum in judicio,'
whereas the evidence of parties themselves was termed 'jusjurandum in
jure.' It was given on oath by such as the Praetor or other judge chose
to call, or as either party might propose for examination.]
[Footnote 157: The chest.--Ver. 38. The 'area' here means the strong
box, or chest, in which the Romans were accustomed to place their money;
they were generally made of, or bound with, iron or other metal.]
[Footnote 158: Commissioned judge.--Ver. 38. The 'judices selecti' were
the 'cen-tumviri,' a body of one hundred and five officers, whose duty
it was to assist the Praetor in questions where the right to property
was litigated. In the Second Book of the Tristia, 1. 93, we are informed
that the Poet himself filled the office of a 'judex selectus.']
[Footnote 159: That is purchased.--Ver. 39. Among the Romans, the
'patroni' defended their 'clientes' gratuitously, and it would have been
deemed disgraceful for them to take a fee or present.]
[Footnote 160: He who hires.--Ver. 45. The 'conductor' was properly the
person who hired the services, or the property of another, for a fixed
price. The word sometimes means 'a contractor,' or the person with
whom the bargain by the former party is made. See the public contract
mentioned in the Fasti, Book v. 1. 293.]
[Footnote 161: The Sabine bracelets.--Ver. 49. He alludes to the fate
of the Vestal virgin Tarpeia. See the Fasti, Book i. 1. 261, and Note;
also the Translation of the Metamorphoses, p. 516.]
[Footnote 163: The son pierced.--Ver. 52. Alcmæon killed his mother
Eriphyle, for having betrayed his father Amphiaraus. See the Second Book
of the Fasti, 1. 43, and the Third Book of the Pontic Epistles, Ep. i.
1. 52, and the Notes to the passages.]
[Footnote 164: A simple necklace.--Ver. 52. See the Epistle of Deianira
to Hercules, and the Tenth Book of the Metamorphoses 1. 113, with the
Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 165: Soil of Alcinoiis.--Ver. 56. The fertile gardens
of Alcinoiis, king of the Phæacians, are celebrated by Homer in the
Odyssey.]
[Footnote 166: The straggling locks.--Ver. 1. The duty of dressing
the hair of the Roman ladies was divided among several slaves, who were
called by the general terms of 'cosmetæ,' and 'omatrices.' It was the
province of one to curl the hair with a hot iron, called 'calamistrum,'
which was hollow, and was heated in wood ashes by a slave who, from
'cinis,' 'ashes,' was called 'ciniflo.' The duty of the 'psecas' came
next, whose place it was to anoint the hair. Then came that of the
'ornatrix,' who parted the curls with a comb or bodkin; this seems to
have been the province of Napè.]
[Footnote 167: To be reckoned.--Ver. 2. The Nymphs of the groves were
called [Footnote vanâtai ]; and perhaps from them Nape received her
name, as it is evidently of Greek origin. One of the dogs of Actæon is
called by the same name, in the Metamorphoses, Book iii. 1. 214.]
[Footnote 168: Giving the signale.--Ver. 4. 'Notis' may mean here,
either 'hints,]
'signs,' 'signals.' or 'letters.' In Nizard's French translation it is
rendered 'missives.']
[Footnote 169: Carry these tablets.--Ver. 7. On the wax tablets,
see the Note to the Pontic Epistles, Book ii. El. 9.1. 69, and the
Metamorphoses, Book ix. 1. 521, with the Note.]
[Footnote 170: So well filled.--Ver. 7. 'Peraratas' literally means
'ploughed over'; which term is properly applied to the action of the
'stylus,' in ploughing through the wax upon the tablets. Suetonius
relates that Julius Caesar, when he was murdered in the Senate House,
pierced the arm af the assassin Cassius with his 'stylus.']
[Footnote 172: A long answer.--Ver. 19. She is to write at once, on
having read his letter through. This she could do the more readily, as
she could use the same tablets, smoothing the wax with the broad end of
the 'graphium,' or 'stylus.']
[Footnote 175: Holding the pen.--Ver. 23. 'Graphium' was the Greek name
for the 'stylus,' or pen used for writing on the wax tablets. It was
generally of iron or copper, but sometimes of gold. The case in which it
was kept was called 'graphiarium,' or 'graphiaria theca.']
[Footnote 176: Of worthless maple.--Ver. 28. He calls the wood of the
tablets 'vile,' in comparison with their great services to him: for,
according to Pliny, Book xvi. c. 15, maple was the most valued wood
for tablets, next to 'citrus,' cedar, or citron wood. It was also more
useful than citron, because it could be cut into leaves, or laminae, of
a larger size than citron would admit of.]
[Footnote 178: Struck her foot.--Ver. 4. This is mentioned as a bad
omen by Laodamia, in her Epistle to Protesilaüs, 1. 88. So in the Tenth
Book of the Metamorphoses, in the shocking story of Cinyras and Myrrha;
Three times was she recalled by the presage of her foot stumbling.']
[Footnote 180: The Corsican lee.--Ver. 10. From Pliny, Book xvi., we
learn that the honey of Corsica was of a bitter taste, in consequence of
the box-trees and yews, with which the isle abounded, and which latter,
according to him, were poisonous. From Diodorus Siculus we learn that
there were many turpentine trees on the island; this would not tend to
improve the flavour of the honey.]
[Footnote 181: Dyed in vermilion.--Ver. 11. 'Minium,' 'red lead,'
or 'vermilion,' was discovered by Callias, an Athenian, according to
Theophrastus. It was sometimes mixed with the wax used for tablets:
probably not the best, but that which was naturally of a bad colour.
This censure of the tablets is a good illustration of the grapes being
sour. In the last Elegy, before he has received his repulse, he declares
the wax to be 'splen-dida,' 'of brilliaut whiteness through bleaching;'
now, on the other hand, he finds, most ominously, that it is as red as
blood.]
[Footnote 182: Dreadful crosses.--Ver. 18. See the First Book of the
Pontic Epistlea, Ep. vi. 1. 38, and the Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 183: The screech-owl.--Ver. 20. 'Strix' here means a
screech-owl; and not the fabulous bird referred to under that name, in
the Sixth Book of the Fasti, and the thirteenth line of the Eighth Elegy
of this Book.]
[Footnote 184: The prosy summons.--Ver. 23. 'Vadimonium legere'
probably means, 'to call a man on his bail' or 'recognizances.' When the
Praetor had granted an action, the plaintiff required the defendant to
give security for his appearance on the day named. The defendant, on
finding a surety, was said 'vades dare,' or 'vadimonium facere': and the
'vas,' or surety, was said 'spondere.' The plaintiff, if satisfied with
the surety, was said 'vadari reum,' 'to let the defendant go on his
sureties.']
[Footnote 185: Some judge.--Ver. 24. Some Commentators think that
the word 'cognitor' here means, the attorney, or procurator of the
plaintiff, who might, in his absence, carry on the cause for him. In
that case they would translate 'duro,' 'shameless,' or 'impudent.' But
another meaning of the word 'cognitor' is 'a judge,' or 'commissioner,'
and such seems to be the meaning here, in which case 'duras' will mean
'severe,' or 'sour;' 'as,' according to one Commentator, 'judges are
wont to be.' Much better would they lie amid diaries and day-books, [186]
over which the avaricious huncks might lament his squandered substance.
And have I then in reality as well as in name found you full of
duplicity? [187] The very number _of you_ was not one of good omen. What,
in my anger, ought I to pray, but that an old age of rottenness may
consume you, and that your wax may be white with nasty mould?]
[Footnote 186: And day-books.--Ver. 25. Seneca, at the end of his 19th
Epistle, calls a Calendar by the name of 'Ephemeris,' while a day-book
is meant by the term as used by Ausonius. The word here seems to mean
a 'diary;' while 'tabula' is perhaps a 'day-book,' in which current
expenses are set down, and over which the miser weeps, as the record of
past extravagance.]
[Footnote 187: Full of duplicity.--Ver. 27. The word 'duplex' means
either 'double,' or 'deceitful,' according to the context. He plays on
this twofold meaning, and says that double though they might be, still
truly deceitful they were; and that the two leaves of the tablets were
of no good omen to him. Two-leaved tablets were technically called
'diptycha.']
[Footnote 189: Honour the shades.--Ver. 4. 'Parento' means 'to
celebrate the funeral obsequies of one's parents.' Both the Romans and
the Greeks were accustomed to visit the tombs of their relatives
at certain times, and to offer sacrifices, called 'inferiæ,' or
'parentalia.' The souls of the departed were regarded by the Romans as
Gods, and the oblations to them consisted of milk, wine, victims, or
wreaths of flowers. The Poet here refers to the birds which arose from
the funeral pile of Memnon, and wera said to revisit it annually. See
the Thirteenth Book of the Metamorphoses.]
[Footnote 190: Moisture is cooling.--Ver. 7. 'Humor' seems to mean the
dew, or the dampness of the night, which would tend, in a hot climate,
to modify the sultriness of the atmosphere. One Commentator thinks that
the word means the humours of the brain.]
[Footnote 192: To their masters.--Ver. 17. The schools at Rome were
mostly kept by manumitted slaves; and we learn from the Fasti, Book iii.
1. 829, that people were not very particular about paying them.]
[Footnote 193: The cruel stripes.--Ver. 18. The punishment here
mentioned was generally inflicted on the hands of the Roman school-boys,
with a 'ferula,' or stalk of giant-fennel, as we learn from Juvenal,
Satire 1.]
[Footnote 194: The attorney.--Ver. 19. The business of the
'jurisconsultus' was to expound and give opinions on the law, much like
the chamber counsel of the present day. They were also known by the name
of 'juris periti,' or 'consulti' only. Cicero gives this definition of
the duty of a 'consultus.']
'He is à person who has such a knowledge of the laws and customs which
prevail in a state, as to be able to advise, and secure a person in
his dealings. They advised their clients gratuitously, either in public
places, or at their own houses. They also drew up wills and contracts,
as in the present instance.]
[Footnote 195: To become bail.--Ver. 19. This passage has given much
trouble to the Commentators, but it has been well explained by Burmann,
whose ideas on the subject are here adopted. The word 'sponsum' has
been generally looked upon here as a noun substantive, whereas it is the
active supine of the verb 'spondeo,' 'to become bail' or 'security.' The
meaning then is, that some rise early, that they may go and become bail
for a friend, and thereby incur risk and inconvenience, through uttering
a single word, 'spondeo,' 'I become security,' which was the formula
used. The obligation was coutracted orally, and for the purpose of
evidencing it, witnesses were necessary; for this reason the
undertaking was given, as in the present instance, in the presence of a
'jurisconsultus.']
[Footnote 198: To the pleader.--Ver. 21. 'Causidicus' was the person
who pleads the cause of his client in court before the Prætor or other
judges.]
[Footnote 199: What if.--Ver. 33. Heinsius and other Commentators think
that this line and the next are spurious. The story of Cephalus
and Procris is related at the close of the Seventh Book of the
Metamorphoses.]
[Footnote 201: The Moon gave.--Ver. 43. Ovid says that Diana sent the
sleep upon Endymion, whereas it was Jupiter who did so, as a punishment
for his passion for Juno; he alludes to the youthfulness of the favorite
of Diana, antithetically to the old age of Tithonus, the husband of
Aurora.]
[Footnote 202: Two nights together.--Ver. 46. When he slept with
Acmena, under the form of her husband Amphion.]
[Footnote 203: Doctoring your hair.--Ver. 1. Among the ancient Greeks,
black hair was the most frequent, but that of a blonde colour was most
valued. It was not uncommon with them to dye it when turning grey, so as
to make it a black or blonde colour, according to the requirement of the
case. Blonde hair was much esteemed by the Romans, and the ladies were
in the habit of washing their hair with a composition to make it of this
colour. This was called 'spuma caustica,' or, 'caustic soap,' wich was
first used by the Gauls and Germans; from its name, it was probably the
substance which had been used inthe present instance.]
[Footnote 204: So far as ever.--Ver. 4. By this he means as low as her
ancles.]
[Footnote 205: Afraid to dress.--Ver. 5. He means to say, that it was
so fine that she did not dare to curl it, for fear of injuring it.]
[Footnote 206: Just like the veils.--Ver. 6. Burmann thinks that
'fila,' 'threads,' is better here than 'vela,' and that it is the
correct reading. The swarthy Seres here mentioned, were perhaps the
Chinese, who probably began to import their silks into Rome about this
period. The mode of producing silk does not seem to have been known to
Virgil, who speaks, in the Second Book of the Georgies, of the Seres
combing it off the leaves of trees. Pliny also, in his Sixth Book, gives
the same account. Ovid, however, seems to refer to silkworms under the
name of 'agrestes tineæ,' in the Fifteenth Book of the Metamorphoses, 1.
372.]
[Footnote 208: Neither the bodkin.--Ver. 15. This was the
'discerniculum,' a 'bodkin,' which was used in parting the hair.]
[Footnote 210: Bid the bodkin.--Ver. 18. The 'acus' here mentioned, was
probably the 'discemicirium,' and not the 'crinale,' or hair-pin that
was worn in the hair; as the latter was worn when the hair was bound up
at the back of the head; whereas, judging from the length of the hair
of his mistress, she most probably wore it in ringlets. He says that
he never saw her snatch up the bodkin and stick it in the arm of the
'ornatrix.']
[Footnote 211: Iron and the fire.--Ver. 25. He alludes to the
unnecessary application of the curling-iron to hair which naturally
curled so well.]
[Footnote 212: The very locks instruct.--Ver. 30. Because they
naturally assume as advantageous an appearance as the bodkin could
possibly give them, when arranged with the utmost skill.]
[Footnote 213: Dione is painted.--Ver. 34. Pliny, book xxxv. c. 4,
mentions a painting, by Apelles, in which Venus was represented as
rising from the sea. It was placed, by Augustus, in the temple of Julius
Caesar; and the lower part having become decayed, no one could be found
of sufficient ability to repair it.]
[Footnote 214: Lay down the mirror.--Ver. 16. The mirror was usually
held by the 'ornatrix,' while her mistress arranged her hair.]
[Footnote 215: Herbs of a rival.--Ver. 39. No person would be more
likely than the 'pellex,' or concubine, to resort to charms and drugs,
for the purpose of destroying the good looks of the married woman whose
husband she wishes to retain.]
[Footnote 216: All bad omens.--Ver. 41. So superstitious were the
Romans, that the very mention of death, or disease, was deemed ominous
of ill.]
[Footnote 217: Germany will be sending.--Ver 45. Germany having been
lately conquered by the arms of Augustus, he says that she must wear
false hair, taken from the German captives. It was the custom to cut
short the locks of the captives, and the German women were famed for the
beauty of their hair.]
[Footnote 218: Sygambrian girl.--Ver. 49. The Sygambri were a people of
Ger many, living on the banks of the rivers Lippe and Weser.]
[Footnote 219: For that spot.--Ver. 53. She carries a lock of the hair,
which had fallen off, in her bosom.]
[Footnote 221: My tongue for hire.--Ver. 6. Although the 'patronus
pleaded the cause of the 'cliens,' without reward, still, by the use of
the word 'pros-tituisse,' Ovid implies that the services of the advocate
were often sold at a price. It must be remembered, that Ovid had been
educated for the Roman bar, which he had left in disgust.]
[Footnote 222: Mæonian bard.--Ver. 9. Strabo says, that Homer was a
native of Smyrna, which was a city of Maeonia, a province of Phrygia.
But Plutarch says, that he was called 'Maeonius,' from Maeon, a king of
Lydia, who adopted him as his son.]
[Footnote 223: Tenedos and Ida.--Ver. 10. Tenedos, Ida, and Simois,
were the scenes of some portions of the Homeric narrative. The first was
near Troy, in sight of it, as Virgil says--'est in conspectu Tenedos.']
[Footnote 224: The Ascræan, tool--Ver. 11. Hesiod of Ascræa, in
Boeotia, wrote chieflv upon agricultural subjects. See the Pontic
Epistles, Book iv. ep. xiv. 1. 38.]
[Footnote 225: With its juices.--Ver. 11. The 'mustum' was the pure
jidcc of the grape before it was boiled down and became 'sapa,'
or 'defrutum.' See the Fasti, Book iv. 1. 779, and the Note to the
passage.]
[Footnote 226: The son of Battus.--Ver. 13. As to the poet Callimachus,
the son of Battus, see the Tristia, Book ii. 1. 367, and the Ibis, 1.
55.]
[Footnote 227: To the tragic buskin.--Ver. 15. On the 'cothurnus,' or
'buskin,' see the Tristia, Book ii. 1. 393, and the Note to the passage.
Sophocles was one of the most famous of the Athenian Tragedians. He is
supposed to have composed more than one hundred and twenty tragedies, of
which only seven are remaining.]
[Footnote 228: Aratus.--Ver. 16. Aratus was a Greek poet, a native of
Cilicia, in Asia Minor. He wrote some astronomical poems, of which one,
called 'Phænomena,' still exists. His style is condemned by Quintilian,
although it is here praised by Ovid. His 'Phænomena' was translated into
Latin by Cicero, Germanicus Caesar, and Sextus Avienus.]
[Footnote 229: The deceitful slave.--Ver. 17. Although the plays of
Menander have perished, we can judge from Terence and Plautus, how well
he depicted the craftiness of the slave, the severity of the father, the
dishonesty of the procuress, and the wheedling ways of the courtesan.
Four of the plays of Terence are translations from Menander. See the
Tristia, Book ii. 1. 369, and the Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 230: Ennius.--Ver. 19. Quintus Ennius was a Latin poet, a
Calabrian by birth. He flourished about 408 years before Christ. The
few fragments of his works that remain, show the ruggedness and uncouth
nature of his style. He wrote the Annals of Italy in heroic verse.]
[Footnote 231: Accius.--Ver. 19. See the Second Book of the Tristia, 1.
359, and the Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 232: Of Varro.--Ver. 21. He refers to Publius Terentius Varro
Attacinus, who wrote on the Argonautic expedition. See the Tristia, Book
ii. 1. 439, and the Pontic Epistles, Book iv. Ep. xvi. 1. 21.]
[Footnote 233: Lucretius.--Ver. 23. Titus Lucretius Carus is referred
to, whose noble poem on the Epicurean philosophy is still in existence
(translated in Bohn's Classical Library). See the Tristia, Book ii. 1.
261 and 426, and the Notes to those passages.]
[Footnote 234: Tityrus.--Ver. 25. Under this name he alludes to Virgil,
who introduces himself under the name of Tityrus, in his first Eclogue,
See the Pontic Epistles, *Boek iv. Ep. xvi. 1. 33.]
[Footnote 235: So long as thou, Rome.--Ver. 26. His prophecy has been
surpassed by the event. Rome is no longer the 'caput urbis,' but the
works of Virgil are still read by all civilized nations.]
[Footnote 236: Polished Tibullus.--Ver. 28. Albius Tibullus was a Roman
poet of Equestrian rank, famous for the beauty of his compositions.
He was born in the same year as Ovid, but died at an early age. Ovid
mentions him in the Tristia, Book ii. 1. 447 and 463, Book iv. Ep. x.
1. 52, and Book v. Ep. i. 1. 18. In the Third Book of the Amores, El. 9,
will be found his Lament on the death of Tibullus.]
[Footnote 237: Gallus --Ver. 29. Cornelius Gallus was a Roman poet of
considerable merit. See the Tristia, Book ii 1. 445, and the Note to the
passage, and the Amores, Book iii. El. 1.]
[Footnote 238: By the East.--Ver. 29. Gallus was the Roman governor of
Egypt, which was an Eastern province of Rome.]
[Footnote 239: The golden Tagus.--Ver. 34. Pliny and other authors
make mention of the golden sands of the Tagus, which flowed through the
province of Lusitania, now Portugal.]
[Footnote 240: The closing fire.--Ver. 41. Pliny says that the ancient
Romans buried the dead; but in consequence of the bones being disturbed
by continual warfare, they adopted the system of burning them.]