[215] The commentators suppose this to be the same night as that of v. 147: but it is more probably a fresh one, the events in the Trojan camp being passed over altogether, while those of the voyage are assumed to be accounted for by the enumeration of the troops on board the vessels. The sea-voyage then will have lasted two nights and a day in all: the river-voyage from the camp to Pallanteum seems to have lasted a night and part of two days. This mode of description is quite in accordance with Virg.'s usual love of variety; while on any other supposition ‘dies caelo concesserat’ mentioned after the “media nocte” of v. 147 presents a difficulty.
[216] Pulsabat Olympum, doubtless from Ennius' “Musae quae pedibus magnum pulsatis Olympum:” comp. Ciris 37, “sidera caeruleis orbem pulsantia bigis.”
[217] “Nec placidam membris dat cura quietem” 4. 5. The form of this line is partly from 1. 643.
[218] “Ipse ratem conto subigit, velisque ministrat,” 6. 302 note. With ‘ipse’ comp. 5. 175, “Ipse gubernaclo rector subit, ipse magister;” ib. 868, “ipse ratem nocturnis rexit in undis.”
[219] Atque: see note on E. 7. 7. ‘Medio in spatio,’ in the middle of his course: comp. “spatio extremo,” at the end of the course, 5. 327.
[220] For the fact see 9. 107. Two of Ribbeck's cursives have ‘Cybele:’ but Virg. always shortens the middle syllable of this word: see 3. 111., 11. 768.
[221] Nomen Pal., and Gud. originally. See on 4. 94., 5. 768. ‘Numen habere maris,’ to have divine power in or over the sea: “numen habes,” “thou hast divine power,” of Terminus Ov. F. 2. 642, and so Juv. 10. 365. ‘E,’ like the Greek ἐξ, expressing change of condition: comp. “recoctus Scriba e quinqueviro” Hor. 2 S. 5. 55.
[222] Pariter in regular order, as of rowing 3. 560., 5. 142.
[223] See on 9. 122, where the common texts repeat this line. For ‘quot’ Pal. corrected has ‘quae’ and Rom. ‘quod:’ Med. ‘quod’ corrected from ‘quo.’ ‘Puppes’ Med. first reading, perhaps a reminiscence of 3. 277., 6. 901. “Te lustrare choro” 7. 391 note.
[225] Quae fandi doctissima is very weak: Markland (on Statius 2 Silv. 2. 19) wished to read ‘nandi,’ which would hardly be an improvement. “Stultissimum est,” says Serv., “quod quidam ait, Ilionei navem fuisse, et ideo eam esse doctissimam fandi.” ‘Cymodoce’ G. 4. 338, A. 5. 826. The line is modelled on 1. 72.
[226] Ipsa, of her body, as opposed to her hand: similarly 7. 815, “ut fibula crinem Auro internectat, Lyciam ut gerat ipsa pharetram,” “ipsa” is opposed to “crinis.” Comp. G. 4. 274 note.
[227] ‘At’ Med. originally for ‘ac.’ ‘Tacitus’ would in simpler writing have been applied to the hand, not to the water: comp. “tacitis incumbere remis” 8. 108.
[228] Ignarus, of one astonished: comp. “stupet inscius” 2. 307., 7. 381, v. 249 below. Rom. has ‘ignavum.’ ‘Vigilasne, deum gens’ &c.: “Verba sunt sacrorum: nam virgines Vestae certa die ibant ad regem sacrorum, et dicebant ‘Vigilasne, rex, vigila.’ Quod Vergilius iure dat Aeneae, quasi et regi et quem ubique Pontificem et sacrorum inducit peritum,” Serv. The form of the sentence recalls Homer's Εὕδεις, Ἀτρέος υἱὲ . . . οὐ χρὴ παννύχιον εὕδειν βουληφόρον ἄνδρα &c. (Il. 2. 24). ‘Deum gens’ note on 6. 322.
[229] “Inmittere funis” 8. 708; see note on 6. 1. ‘Rudentis:’ 3. 267 note.
[230] Nos sumus, it is we: see on 8. 62. ‘Idaeae sacro de vertice pinus,’ a hypallage like Eur. Rhes. 651, τῆς ὑμνοποιοῦ παῖδα Θρῄκιον θεᾶς: comp. “Alpheae ab origine Pisae” v. 179, and see 5. 373., 6. 2., 7. 207, 209. “Peliaco quondam prognatae vertice pinus” Catull. 62 (64). 1 (Cerda).
[231] Perfidus, because of the breach of treaty. Turnus of course could not be fairly charged with this, as far as the Trojans were concerned: but the imputation is quite in keeping with the exaggerations in Venus' speech at the beginning of the book, and may remind us also of the fondness of the Romans for accusing their adversaries of treachery, Hannibal e. g. Schrader's conj. ‘fervidus’ (comp. 9. 72) is ingenious, but unnecessary.
[232] Praecipitis premebat proleptic, like “praecipitem agere” 3. 682., 5. 456.
[233, 234] ‘Rumpimus’ some of Pierius' copies, with the MSS. of Serv. and Nonius (382. 17), for ‘rupimus.’ ‘Hanc faciem refecit,’ gave us this new form: ‘facies’ as in 9. 121, “virgineae . . . Reddunt se totidem facies.”
[235] Dedit esse deas constr. like “inmotamque coli dedit” 3. 77. “Aevum agitabant” Enn. A. 9. fr. 4: see on G. 2. 527.
[237] Horrentis Med. and Rom.: ‘ardentis’ (conj. by Schrader) Pal. and originally Gud., and so Ribbeck. But ‘horrentis Marte’ is quite as Virgilian an expression as ‘ardentis Marte,’ more poetical, and therefore more likely to have been altered.
[238] Tenent Med. and apparently Verona fragm.: and so Heyne, followed by Ribbeck. ‘Tenet’ Pal., Rom., Gud., and two other of Ribbeck's cursives: so Wagn. There is a similar variation 5. 825 (note). Aeneas' general dispositions are told us 8. 547 foll., but no mention is made of the sending of this Arcadian cavalry: we are therefore driven to suppose that Virg., as is not uncommon with him, is giving notice afterwards of a fact which he previously omitted. But the omission here is remarkable, and probably an evidence of the unfinished state of the poem. ‘Loca iussa’ like “iussos sapores” G. 4. 62, “iussos honores” A. 3. 547. ‘Etrusco’ for “Etruscis” Madv. § 50, obs. 5.
[239] “Arcadas, insuetos acies inferre pedestris” below v. 364. ‘Medius’ as in 1. 682., 10. 402. ‘Illi’ Med. originally for ‘illis.’
[240] ‘Iungo’ for “iungo se” is bold: but Virg., like Lucretius (see Munro on Lucr. 3.502), is fond of using active verbs in a middle sense. Comp. 2. 267., 4. 142.
[241] She seems to assume that Aeneas is aware that he is near the end of his voyage, as in fact he appears to be, vv. 258 foll.
[242, 243] Primus iube = be early in bidding. ‘Igni’ for ‘ipse’ Verona fragm., while two of Ribbeck's cursives give ‘ingens.’ The words ‘atque oras ambiit auro’ (= “oras ambiens auro”) are not, as Heyne thought, otiose. The rim of the shield was an important thing, not only for beauty's sake, but for purposes of defence: blows being frequently aimed at it, as the metal there was generally thinner than in other parts: see Il. 20. 275, Ἄντυγ᾽ ὕπο πρώτην, ᾗ λεπτότατος θέε χαλκός, and Heyne's own remarks on Il. 18. 480. Comp. too Aesch. Theb. 43, μελάνδετον σάκος (where Paley seems similarly mistaken in supposing the latter part of the compound to be unimportant), and ib. 160 χαλκοδέτων σακέων. It is just possible that ‘invictum dedit’ may = “invictum fecit,” on the analogy of “vasta dabo” 9. 323, “depexum dabo” Ter. Heaut. 5. 1. 77.
[245] Spectabit (Rom., Gud., and two other of Ribbeck's cursives) has the support of Serv., who however mentions ‘spectabis,’ the reading of Med. and Pal., giving three possible interpretations: to supply “veniat” after ‘lux,’ to understand ‘crastina lux’ as a vocative, which he rightly says “non procedit,” and (regardless of the quantity of ‘crastina’) to take ‘lux’ “more antiquo” as = “luce,” for which he quotes a line of Lucilius (Sat. 3. 22 Müller), “hinc media remis Palinurum provenio nox,” where “nox” apparently = “nocte.” ‘Spectabis,’ as Wagn. remarks, was probably due to ‘ingentis’ and ‘caedis.’ “Confusaeque ingentem caedis acervum” 11. 207. ‘Rutulae caedis’ like “curae mortalis” G. 3. 319.
[246] Inpulit 5. 241, “Et pater ipse manu magna Portunus euntem Inpulit.”
[247] Modi, the right measure of force. The expression seems strange, but we must remember the importance which the ancients attached to doing things in right measure, as shown in such passages as Aesch. Ag. 786, μήθ᾽ ὑπεράρας μήθ᾽ ὑποκάμψας Καιρὸν χάριτος, ib. 1010 βαλὼν Σφενδόνας ἀπ᾽ εὐμέτρου, and the Latin expression “bono modo facere aliquid.” Serv. quaintly says, “inpulit navem libramento peritiae et moderationis, quippe quae navis fuerat.”
[248] Perhaps from Hor. 2 Od. 16. 23, “Ocior cervis et agente nimbos Ocior Euro.”
[249, 250] Aliae is taken by Serv. of the other Nymphs, who propel the other ships as Cymodocea had propelled that of Aeneas. But it is perhaps simpler to understand it with Heyne of the other ships (‘aliae’ distinguished from ‘illa’), which would naturally quicken their pace when they saw the general's ship move faster (comp. 3. 561 foll., 5. 833 foll.) at the same time that we may suppose that they also received a supernatural impulse. ‘Stupet inscius’ 2. 307., 7. 381. With ‘animos omine tollit’ comp. G. 4. 386, “Omine quo firmans animum,” though the words there are probably to be understood of reassuring another.
[251-275] ‘Aeneas prays Cybele to prosper the omen to him, orders his men to prepare for battle, and makes with his fleet for the shore.’
[251] Super Pal., Verona fragm., and originally Med. ‘Supera’ Rom. and Med. corrected. ‘Super’ Ribbeck: but see on 6. 241, 750.
[252, 253] “Matris Idaeae” 9. 619. ‘Dindyma’ 9. 618. “Muralique caput summum cinxere corona, Eximiis munita locis quia sustinet urbes” (of Cybele) Lucr. 2.606, 607, where see Munro. ‘Biiugi leones’ is from the same passage v. 601. With ‘biiugi ad frena leones’ comp. 9. 648, “fidusque ad limina custos” (Heyne).
[254] Pugnae princeps not πρόμαχος (as Heyne says), for πρόμαχος is generally applied to a man fighting in the front; but ‘guide or leader in the fight:’ comp. Cic. ad Att. 2. 1. 7, “te signifero et principe:” ib. Verr. 5. 16, “ducem te principemque praebere.” In Phil. 2. 29 Cicero calls Antonius “belli princeps” to Caesar. ‘Rite’ 3. 36, “Rite secundarent visus, omenque levarent.” With ‘propinques augurium’ we may perhaps comp. “Adsis o tantum et propiustua numina firmes” 8. 78: the notion apparently being ‘bring the omen near,’ i. e. ‘make it prosperous to us.’ ‘Propinquo’ here seems to have a shade of that meaning of “prope” which appears in its derivative “propitius:” comp. the use of “adsum” and “praesens” of an assisting deity. ‘Propinquo’ is generally intransitive (Forc.): Sil. 2. 281 uses it actively as here. With the general sense of the passage compare Diomed's prayer to Athene Il. 10. 284 foll.
[255] 8. 302, “Et nos et tua dexter adi pede sacra secundo.” ‘Phrygibus’ appropriate in an address to Cybele.
[256] Wagn. and later editors put a full stop after ‘effatus,’ connecting ‘et interea—fugarat’ closely with what follows, so as to make the sense ‘fuebat dies cum edicit:’ see on 2. 134. But v. 877 below, 6. 547, are in favour of supposing that ‘et’ connects ‘ruebat—fugarat’ with ‘effatus.’ It seems best then to restore the comma or semicolon after ‘effatus,’ the period after ‘fugarat.’ Pal. corrected has ‘rubebat,’ which may also have originally been the reading of Gud. Pal. originally, Rom. and Serv. ‘ruebat,’ Med. ‘ruebant.’ Ribbeck adopts ‘rubebat:’ but ‘ruebat’ is quite appropriate in the sense of hurrying up from Ocean, especially in connexion with ‘revoluta:’ comp. “Vertitur interea caelum et ruit Oceano Nox” 2. 250, “nox ruit, Aenea” 6. 539, of the approach of night.
[257] “Cum primo stellas Oriente fugarat Clara dies” 5. 42.
[258] Edico, often of military commands: comp. 3. 234, “Sociis tune, arma capessant, Edico,” and see 11. 463. ‘Signa sequi,’ ‘to obey the word of command’ (comp. the Homeric use of σημάντωρ = a commander). So perhaps Sallust Jug. 80, “paulatim adsuefacit ordines habere, signa sequi”: Livy 30. 35, “quorum impetus . . . signa sequi et servare ordines . . . Romanos prohiberent:” comp. Q. Curtius 3. 2. 13, “ad nutum monentis intenti sequi signa, ordines servare didicerunt.” Mr. Long however thinks ‘signa sequi’ in this and all passages means ‘to follow the standards.’
[259] “Aptat se pugnae” 10. 588. With the thought comp. Xen. Hell. 7. 5. 22, “τὴν ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς πρὸς μάχην παρασκευήν”. Cic. Phil. 7. 9. 26, “armati animis iam esse debemus.”
