[35] Serv. raises a question between ‘excelso’ and ‘ex celso.’ The former has been generally preferred: but Wagn. and Forb. adopt the latter, on the ground that ‘vertice’ without a preposition could only mean ‘on the top.’ ‘Vertice’ however appears to mean ‘from the top’ 1. 403, and perhaps 4. 168, both of which in different ways are parallel to the present passage. On the other hand it does not seem likely that Virg. should have written ‘ex celso,’ thus creating an ambiguity which he might easily have avoided by writing ‘e celso,’ itself the reading of one or two MSS., recommended by Bentley. The choice then seems to lie between ‘excelso’ and ‘e celso,’ and the weight of external evidence is decisive for the former. With this pregnant use of ‘miratus’ comp. v. 727 below, “caelo miseratus ab alto est.”
[36] Adventum sociasque rates, hendiadys.
[37] Wagn. rightly joins ‘horridus in iaculis,’ following the earlier editors against Heyne. The expression is unusual, but not unexampled. Ruhkopf (cited by Wagn.) comp. Stat. Theb. 4. 221, “gravi metuendus in hasta.” Serv. comp. Enn. A. inc. 46, “levesque sequuntur in hastis.” Wagn. now (ed. 3) comp. Aesch. Prom. 424, “ὀξυπρώροισι βρέμων ἐν αἰχμαῖς”. ‘Libystis’ is an adj. peculiar to Virg., here and 8. 368, where the half line recurs. Pliny 8. 83 denies that there are bears in Africa: but they are mentioned by Herodotus and Solinus: Virg. too is followed by Martial and Juvenal, the latter perhaps an independent authority. They do not appear to have been found there by modern travellers.
[38] ‘Crimiso’ is the reading of only one MS., the great majority giving ‘Criniso.’ But the Greek name of the river was Κρίμισος or Κρίμισσος. The story as told by Serv. on 1. 550 is that Poseidon in punishment of Laomedon's fraud sent a sea-monster to ravage the Troad, that Trojan maidens were ordered to be given to it, that fathers in consequence sent their daughters away, that one Hippotas put his daughter Segesta or Egesta on board a ship which carried her to Sicily, and that there a union took place between Segesta and the river-god Crimisus, the fruit of which was Egestus or Acestes. It should be mentioned that Serv. there says Virg. calls Crimisus Crinisus by poetic licence. The common construction is ‘concipere de’ or ‘ex aliquo.’ Pliny 8. 16 has “conceptus leone.”
[39] Veterum parentum, his mother's Trojan ancestry.
[40] No authority is quoted for this construction of ‘gratatur’ with an acc. Perhaps it is best to understand ‘esse.’ Comp. Tac. A. 6. 21, “Conplexus eum Tiberius praescium periculorum et incolumem fore gratatur,” where the sense is ‘congratulates him on his foresight and on the safety which will be his in consequence.’ ‘Gaza’ is a Persian word transferred into Greek and Latin, and signifying ‘royal treasure;’ so that with the epithet ‘agresti’ it produces a kind of oxymoron, like “dapibus inemptis” G. 4. 133.
[41] Amicos, as might be expected, is the reading of a few MSS.
[42-71] ‘The next day Aeneas summons his comrades, reminds them that it is the anniversary of Anchises' funeral, a day which he always intends to observe, orders festivities and announces games for the occasion to take place nine days after.’
