[614] “Revocandum in animum quod Turnum Iuturna ad extremos ordines deduxerat: sup. 483 sqq.” Heyne. ‘Bellator’ almost = “bellans:” a use of the verbal in —tor which is not uncommon in Virg. and in later Latin: comp. 11. 680, where “pugnatori” seems = “pugnanti:” ib. 788, where “cultores” = “colentes.” Sen. Herc. Oet. 553 has “rapidum mare Taurus puellae vector Assyriae scidit” (deus): Quintus Curtius 3. 4. 5, “Retro ipse concessit, populator terrae, quam a populationibus vindicare debebat:” 4. 9. 12, “omnis periculi et maximae multitudinis contemptor undecimis castris ad Euphraten pervenit.”
[616] Successu equorum would in prose be “successu pugnae equestris:” Virgil's phrase suggests the speed of the horses on which their success depended.
[617] Caecis implies both that the fears were blind and confused in themselves, and that Turnus did not know their cause. ‘Caesi’ Pal. originally. ‘Caecis illi’ originally Rom.
[618] Inpulit, so G. 4. 349, “iterum maternas inpulit auris Luctus Aristaei.” “Sensus inpellere” Lucr. 1.303.
[619] In the words ‘confusae sonus urbis’ Virg. probably meant to suggest the confusion of the sound as well as the tumult of the city: comp. Lucr. 4.613, “Vox obtunditur atque aures confusa penetrat.” The metaphorical use of ‘confundere’ does not seem to be earlier than Livy: see Forc. ‘Inlaetabilis’ is only used by Virg. here and 3. 707, “Drepani inlaetabilis ora.”
[621] Diversa, distant: comp. Ov. 1 Trist. 3. 19, “Nata procul Libycis aberat diversa sub oris.” In such passages ‘diversus’ seems to have the idea of distance as well as of separation. Comp. “locis tam longinquis tamque diversis” Cic. Leg. Man. 16; “locis disiunctissimis maximeque diversis” ib. 21. Mr. Munro remarks that this use of ‘diversus’ is common in the Annals, but the Annals only, of Tacitus: e. g. 3. 2, “etiam quorum diversa oppida, tamen obvii:” 4. 46, “fore ut in diversas terras traherentur.” Serv. suggests two explanations, neither of which is so simple: “Hypallage, diversus clamor: aut ex variis partibus civitatis.”
[622] Amens, as in 2. 314, “Arma amens capio, nec sat rationis in armis.”
[623] Hic Gud. originally for ‘huic.’ For the facts see v. 468 above. For ‘huic’ followed by ‘ut,’ see v. 488.
[624] For ‘regebat’ Pal. has ‘gerebat,’ and so Gud., with ‘regebat’ as a variant in the margin.
[625] Dictis abl., not dat. ‘Occurrit,’ meets his thought.
[626] “‘Prima’ . . . id est primum” Serv., but the words may be taken simply: ‘where victory stands nearest to open a way.’
[627] “Ideo quia scit Turnum de urbe maxime esse sollicitum” Serv. The words are like Il. 13. 312, Νηυσὶ μὲν ἐν μέσσῃσιν ἀμύνειν εἰσὶ καὶ ἄλλοι (Heyne). ‘Possunt’ Pal., with some support from one of Ribbeck's cursives.
[628] Ingruit, as 11. 899, “Ingruere infensos hostis, et Marte secundo Omnia corripuisse,” where the present passage is quoted in the MSS. of Serv. as ‘ingruit Aeneas armis.’ The use of ‘ingruo’ with dat. for ‘in’ with acc. seems a late one: see Forc. ‘Miscere proelia,’ ‘to join battle,’ G. 2. 282., 3. 220, A. 10. 23.
[629] Mittamus for “inmittamus:” comp. “exitium misere apibus,” G. 4. 534; so in 10. 77 (note) he uses “vim ferre” for “vim inferre.” To avoid this explanation, Heyne strangely takes ‘funera Teucris’ as = “corpora Teucrorum,” and ‘mittamus’ as = “mittamus ad Orcum.”
[630] Pugnae goes with ‘honore:’ “nec pauciores interimis (interimes?), nec minor te quam Aeneam comitabitur gloria” Serv., who adds happily, “sane sciendum Iuturnam, in hac omni oratione, occurrere quaestionibus tacitis.”
[631] The Leyden MS. adds “humili respondet talia voce.”
[632] Γιγνώσκω σε, θεά, θυγατὴρ Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο, says Diomed to Athene, Il. 5. 815. There is nothing in the preceding narrative to contradict the idea that Turnus had recognized his sister in spite of her disguise: though Virg. after his fashion has omitted to say so till later. It is perhaps better to take ‘prima’ as neut. pl. agreeing with ‘foedera’ (= “cum primum turbasti foedera”), than as fem. sing. agreeing with ‘soror:’ Virg. is fond of this use of ‘primus;’ see on v. 103 above.
[633] Teque haec in bella dedisti, recalling “in medias dat sese acies,” of Iuturna above v. 227.
[634] Et nunc, opposed to ‘dudum’ above. ‘Nequiquam fallis’ = “nequiquam vis fallere:” comp. Hor. 1 Ep. 3. 32, “an male sarta Gratia nequiquam coit (= coire conatur) et rescinditur.” ‘Fallis dea’ = λανθάνεις θεὸς οὖσα: like Horace's “fallit sorte beatior;” the construction in Latin prose does not seem to be older than Livy: see Forc.
[635] Rom. has ‘tantosque’ and ‘te perferre.’ ‘Olympo demissam,’ &c., to leave the quiet life of the gods and come to toil with us. Turnus speaks with the tenderness of a brother.
[637] Quid ago? 4. 534 note. ‘Spondit’ Pal., and originally Gud.
[638] Again Virg. tells us something which he had omitted in the course of his narrative (above 529 foll.). But “oppetere ingentem atque ingenti volnere victum” quite tallies with his description of Murranus' death, “scopulo atque ingentis turbine saxi Excutit” &c. Serv., who notices the omission, suggests that the voice was heard and the sight seen, as an omen of death, by Turnus' fancy alone: quoting the case of Dido, 4. 460 foll., “Hinc exaudiri voces et verba vocantis Visa viri:” an ingenious but unnecessary hypothesis. The order ‘oculos ante ipse meos’ (see on v. 583) is apparently determined by the rhetorical advantage of placing ‘meos’ close after ‘ipse.’
[639] Murranus was of royal blood (above v. 529). ‘Fuerat’ for ‘superat’ Med. a m. p., and so Minoraug. and some inferior copies. ‘Superat’ is confirmed by Serv.
[640] See on 10. 842, whence this line is almost repeated.
[641] Ne nostrum Med., Rom., and Gud., with two other of Ribbeck's cursives; so Heyne and Wagn.: ‘nostrum ne’ Pal. perhaps with better rhythmical effect; and so Ribbeck. Ufens (leader of the Aequi, 7. 745) was killed by Gyas (v. 460 above), among the first who fell in the last battles. “‘Infelix’ in hoc bello contra illud (7. 745) ‘insignem fama et felicibus armis,’” Serv.
[642] Corpore: i. e. “etiam sepultura caruit.” Serv.
[643] Exscindere in Virg. is almost always used of destroying a race, city, or nation. His friends were dead: the ruin was now coming upon his own house. ‘Rebus,’ my evil fortune: ‘res’ is generally to be explained by the context. Forb. quotes an imitation by Val. F. (3. 294), ‘Exstinguine mea (fatis hoc defuit unum) Speravi te posse manu?’
[644] Comp. v. 16 above, “Et solus ferro crimen commune refellam.” There is a thought of Hector's words, Πουλυδάμας μοι πρῶτος ἐλεγχείην ἀναθήσει Il. 22. 100.
[645] Haec terra, the land he had been fighting for.
[646, 647] The thought is, ‘Is death so bitter? No: its bitterness is past if it be bravely met: for so I can gain at least the favour of the dead below—To them therefore I turn.’ The idea of sympathy of this kind between the dead and the living is un-Homeric: but we have it, as Professor Jowett has remarked to the editor, in Sophocles: e. g. Ant. 75, ἐπεὶ πλείων χρόνος Ὃν δεῖ μ᾽ ἀρέσκειν τοῖς κάτω τῶν ἐνθάδε. Dido's “magna mei sub terras ibit imago” is in the same spirit. For ‘aversa’ Med. and Gud., with another of Ribbeck's cursives, have ‘adversa.’ There is a similar variation 2. 170.
[648] Sanctus, which seems to have the notion of stainless honour, of the noble dead, as in 5. 80, “Salve sancte parens iterum,” and 11. 158, “tuque, o sanctissima coniunx.” In his use of the word in this connexion, Virg. may have had in his mind that of the Greek ἁγνός in such expressions as ἁγνὴ Περσεφόνεια, Od. 11. 386, and χθόνιοι δαίμονες ἁγνοί, Aesch. Pers. 626. All the better MSS., with the copies of Macrob. Sat. 3. 3. 6, give “Sancta ad vos anima, atque istius inscia culpae,” involving the necessity of lengthening the last syllable, either of ‘anima’ before a vowel, or of ‘istius’ in thesis: either of which is a metrical licence unparalleled in Virg. or in any other Latin poet. Two cursives, the second Menagianus and the third Gotha MS., give ‘nescia:’ an easy correction adopted by Ribbeck, which is certainly preferable to Lachmann's tasteless emendation (Lucr. p. 76), “Sancta ad vos anima atque anima istius inscia culpae.” Mr. Munro would read “Sancta ad vos anima, a! atque istius inscia culpae,” comparing for the interjection Horace's “A te meae si partem animae rapit” &c. (2 Od. 17. 5), and for its elision Tibullus 3. 4. 82, “A ego ne possim tanta videre mala,” and Hor. Epod. 5. 71, “A, a solutus ambulat” &c. “The position of a in the verse would,” he says, “resemble its position in Prop. 1. 11. 5, ‘Nostri cura subit memores, a, ducere noctes’: comp. Sen. Med. 1009 (1017), where the best MS., the Florentine, has ‘Si posset una caede satiari, a, manus,’ and Ov. 3 Am. 7. 55, where Lucian Müller in his text of 1861 reads ‘Sed puto non blanda, a, non optima perdidit in me Oscula,’ for ‘non blanda non optima’ of MSS.” In favour of the MS. reading it may be urged that Virg. is not averse to a hiatus between a polysyllable and a clause beginning with atque or et: comp. “Munera sunt lauri et suave rubens hyacinthus:” “Et sucus pecori et lac subducitur agnis:” “Atque Ephyre atque Opis” (Med. “Ephyra”): “Atque Getae atque Hebrus” (E. 3. 63, 3, G. 4. 343, 463). Wagn. Q. V. 11. 3, in treating of hiatus defends the MS. reading on the ground that the identity of the final vowel of ‘anima’ with the initial vowel of ‘atque’ may have necessitated a pause on the former. Whether this be the true explanation or no, it would be hazardous to alter the text in face of such MS. authority. It is possible that Virg., who was freer in allowing himself metrical licences than either Lucretius or Catullus, may have wished to imitate such hiatus as φίλε_ ἑκυρέ, δεινός τε, ἡ δ᾽ ἀνδρὶ ἰκέλη in Hom. It is shown in the Excursus to this book that he renewed some of the apparent irregularities of Hom. and Enn., not because he understood their etymological justification, where there was one, but for the sake of giving his verse occasionally an antiquarian flavour. The fragments of Enn. offer no instance of such a hiatus as the present, though they furnish one of the lengthening of the final a of the nom. first declension: “et densis aquilā pennis obnixa volabat” (A. 148). ‘Istius culpae,’ the fault which you hate, cowardice.
[649] Indignus avorum, a construction hard to parallel. ‘Dignus’ with gen. in Balbus' letter to Cicero, Att. 8. 15 A, “Suscipe curam et cogitationem dignissimam tuae virtutis:” comp. Ov. 4 Trist. 357, “Utque probae dignum est omni tibi dote placebam:” where Heins. quotes other instances from Ov.
[650-696] ‘Saces brings to Turnus the news that the city is surrounded, and its ruin close at hand. Turnus hurries to meet Aeneas.’
