[510] Tam Rom. for ‘iam.’ ‘Auctor’ as in Livy and Tacitus of an authority for a fact (Livy 4. 20 &c.). Ov. M. 11. 666, “non haec tibi nuntiat auctor Ambiguus” (Forb.).
[511] Tenui discrimine &c. a descriptive abl.: comp. “utramque viam leti discrimine parvo” 3. 685. ‘That his men are but a hair's breadth removed from death.’ “Leti discrimina parva” of trenches 9. 143.
[512] Versis tempus Pal., Gud., and so Ribbeck: ‘tempus versis’ Med., Rom., and two of Ribbeck's cursives. ‘Succedere’ Rom. for ‘succurrere:’ a reminiscence of v. 439 above. ‘Teucris’ a general expression: it is really only the Arcadians who are routed. ‘Tempus succurrere:’ see on G. 1. 213.
[513] Metit: comp. Hor. 4 Od. 14. 31, “Primosque et extremos metendo Stravit humum sine clade victor.” So ἀμάω Apoll. R. 3. 1188, 1382. ‘Ferit’ one of Ribbeck's cursives.
[514] Latum agrees with ‘limitem:’ comp. “haec ego vasta dabo et lato te limite ducam” 9. 323: but the ambiguity is awkward and not usual in Virg. ‘Limitem agit’ marks a line where he slaughters, as a reaper does where he reaps. “Limite acto” Tac. Germ. 29 (Heyne). Comp. Homer's ὄγμον ἐλαύνειν Il. 11. 68.
[515] In ipsis oculis before his very eyes. Πάντα ταῦτ᾽ ἐν ὄμμασιν Eur. Orestes 785 (775).
[516, 517] “Mensae quas advena adisti” v. 460 above. ‘Primus’ Rom. with some support from two of Ribbeck's cursives. ‘Primas’ is emphatic: Evander's was the first hospitality to the stranger. ‘Tunc’ marks the time as it would appear in Aeneas' thoughts at the moment. The words ‘Sulmone creatos’ seem to show that ‘Sulmo’ is here the name of a man, not of a town: so ‘Ufens’ in the next line must be not the river (7. 802) but the man mentioned 7. 745. But the choice of the name in the context may have been suggested by Il. 21. 27, ζωοὺς ἐκ ποταμοῖο δυώδεκα λέξατο κούρους.
[518] For the present ‘educat’ expressing the present effect of a past act comp. 8. 141, “(Maiam) Idem Atlas generat.” See note on E. 8. 45. The number four seems to have been a common one for sacrificial victims: see G. 4. 538, A. 6. 243.
[519, 520] “Quos mitteret umbris Inferias” 11. 81. Virg. in imitating Hom. imputes to Aeneas a barbarity which was regarded with horror in his own day: comp. the language in which Livy (7. 15) speaks of the sacrificing of Roman soldiers by the Tarquinians. The reference of ‘umbris’ is explained by the context: Aeneas could only think of one death. For the pl. of a single person's shade see on 5. 81 &c. ‘Captivoque’ &c.: for the construction comp. v. 243 note. ‘Captivo sanguine’ like “captiva vestis” 2. 765 note. “Caeso sparsurus sanguine flammas” 11. 82.
[521] The following lines are an adaptation from Hom.'s accounts of the death of Lycaon (Il. 21. 64 foll.), Adrastus (6. 47 foll.), and Dolon (10. 378 foll.). ‘Mago procul:’ comp. v. 401 above “Ilo namque procul validam direxerat hastam.” ‘Infensam’ is given by Med. with one of Ribbeck's cursives, and by Gud. as a variant in the margin. ‘Infestam’ Pal., Rom., Gud., and so Macrob. 5. 2. 16. ‘Infensam’ Heyne, and so Ribbeck, probably rightly. Virg. uses both epithets of weapons (see 9. 793., 10. 877), while in good prose this application seems to be confined to ‘infestus’ (Forc.): ‘infensus’ therefore, as the least common in such a context, would be more likely to be altered. But the words are constantly confounded. ‘Contenderat’ Pal. and Gud., and so Macrob. 1. 1. ‘contenderet’ Med. (the final ‘e’ struck out a m. s.), whence ‘cum tenderet’ in the edd. before Pierius: ‘contorserat’ Rom. Comp. 5. 520 (note), where there is the same variety.
[522] Med. first reading ‘en:’ then ‘at’ corrected into ‘ac.’ ‘Ac’ Gud. corrected, and another of Ribbeck's cursives. ‘At’ Pal., Rom., and Gud. originally. ‘Ac’ Ribbeck, against Heyne and Wagn. But ‘at’ gives the better sense. Il. 21. 64 foll. Ὁ δέ οἱ σχεδὸν ἦλθε τεθηπώς, Γούνων ἅψασθαι μεμαὼς . . . . . Ἤτοι ὁ μὲν δόρυ μακρὸν ἀνέσχετο δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς, Οὐτάμεναι μεμαώς: ὁ δ᾽ ὑπέδραμε καὶ λάβε γούνων Κύψας: ἐγχείη δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ὑπὲρ νώτου ἐνὶ γαίῃ Ἔστη, κ. τ. λ.
[523, 524] En Med. a m. p. for ‘et’ ‘Per spes’ for ‘et spes’ Gud. corrected, and so two other copies, besides the MSS. of Macrob. Sat. 3. 2. 16 and Donatus on Ter. Adelph. 2. 1. 28, who quote the line. Heins. introduced it as intrinsically better, comp. 6. 364, and so Heyne: but Wagn. rightly restored ‘et spes.’ For ‘surgentis’ Pal. has ‘heredis’ in an erasure, and so Gud., with ‘surgentis’ as a variant: a reminiscence of 4. 174, “Ascanium surgentem et spes heredis Iuli.”
[525] Il. 6. 46, Ζώγρει, Ἀτρέος υἱέ, σὺ δ᾽ ἄξια δέξαι ἄποινα: Πολλὰ δ᾽ ἐν ἀφνειοῦ πατρὸς κειμήλια κεῖται Χαλκός τε χρυσός τε πολύκμητός τε σίδηρος, and so nearly Il. 10. 378. ‘Gnatoque patrique’ for my son and father: a continuation of the appeal in the former line: comp. 12. 932 foll. The words are used differently 4. 605., 6. 116. Aeneas answers him vv. 532, 534. ‘Animam hanc’ 3. 654.
[526, 527] “Defossum aurum” G. 2. 507. ‘Celati’ Med. originally. ‘Facti’ wrought: “argenti vis ingens facto signatique” Livy 26. 16: “argentum optume factum” Cic. Verr. 4. 18.
[528, 529] Non hic vertitur does not turn on my life being taken. ‘Hic’ = “in hac re.” “In dictatore verti spes civitatis” Livy 4. 31. ‘Dabit’ in the general sense of “faciet:” see Munro on Lucr. 2.119. 4. 41. ‘Dare discrimina’ above v. 382: comp. v. 393. With the general sense Serv. comp. Lucan 3. 337, “Non pondera rerum, Non momenta sumus.”
[531, 532] Some inferior copies have ‘magna’ for ‘multa:’ a reminiscence of 9. 265. Serv. says that ‘parco’ was used with acc. by Lucilius and Ennius: but no instance is to be found in their extant fragments. Forc. gives instances from Cato R. R. 58, “Oleas tempestivas, unde minimum olei fieri poterit, eas condito, parcito” (al. “et partito”), and Plaut. Curc. 3. 1, “Qui mature quaesivit pecuniam, Nisi eam mature parsit, mature esurit.” The pl. ‘gnatis’ is rhetorical. Aeneas is answering ‘gnatoque patrique’ v. 525. In ‘belli commercia’ Virg. may have thought of Ennius' (A. 201) “cauponantes bellum,” as perhaps also of καπηλεύειν μάχην Aesch. Theb. 545, which Ennius misinterpreted. Tac. H. 3. 81 (quoted by Taubm.) alludes to Virg. “Vitellio rescriptum Sabini caede et incendio Capitolii dirempta belli commercia,” where the word is used more vaguely of negotiations as opposed to hard fighting.
[533] Ista those which you offer. ‘Illa’ Med. ‘Iam tum,’ even then, as long ago as that: see on 1. 18. ‘Pallante perempto’ defines the time indicated by ‘tum.’
[534, 535] Magus had appealed to Aeneas' tenderness for Anchises and Iulus. Aeneas undertakes to interpret their feelings. “Hoc sentit, Moriar” Hor. 1 Ep. 16. 79. Comp. 2. 552 foll. “Inplicuitque comam laeva, dextraque coruscum Extulit, ac lateri capulo tenus abdidit ensem.”
[536] Oranti Pal. originally, and one of Ribbeck's cursives: ‘orantis’ Med., Rom., Gud.: ‘oranti’ Ribbeck, against the balance of authority. ‘Adplicat’ drives home. “Quae vis inmanibus adplicat oris?” 1. 616. Some MSS. (none of Ribbeck's) have ‘abdidit’ from 2. 553.
[537] Procul = “procul est:” comp. “Ausoniae pars illa procul” 3. 479 (Wagn.). There is a son of Haemon (Maeon) in Homer (Il. 4. 394 foll.) who fought against Tydeus on the side of the Thebans.
[538] Sacro Rom. The ‘vitta’ was the band which tied the ‘infula’ or wreath of wool (Dict. A. ‘Infula’). “Lanea dum nivea circumdatur infula vitta” G. 3. 487. ‘Sacra vitta’ goes with ‘infula’ as abl. of quality, or ‘vitta’ may be abl. instr. “Vittis et sacra redimitus tempora lauro” 3. 81.
[539] Ribbeck reads ‘insignibus albis’ for ‘insignibus armis’ in deference to Serv.'s note: “‘insignibus armis:’ Asper sic legit . . . . Probus vero ‘insignibus albis’ dicit legendum, ut albas vestis accipiamus quae sacerdotibus congruae sunt: sicut Statius dicit de Amphiarao.” The passagein Statius is quoted in some copies of Serv. as Theb. 4. 217: but it is more probably Theb. 6. 323 foll. “Ipse habitu niveus: nivei dant colla iugales: Concolor est albis et cassis et infula cristis:” which certainly gives some support to Ribbeck. Comp. also Q. Curtius 4. 16. 27, “vates Aristander alba veste indutus” (at the battle of Arbela). See also Val. Fl. 1. 386, Sil. 4. 694. No important MS. gives ‘albis:’ but ‘armis’ in Pal. is by a second hand, the word given by the first hand being erased with the exception of the first and last letters (‘a . . s’). The conjunction of an epithet with ‘insigne’ could be justified by “insigne superbum” 8. 683: comp. 2. 392., 7. 657., 12. 944. Wagn. Q. V. 16. 6 numbers this among the passages which the grammarians altered by conjecture: but he does not seem to know the passage in Statius. “Huic totum insignibus armis Agmen . . . . fulgebat” above v. 170.
[540, 541] He meets him, drives him over the plain, and fells him. ‘Congressus’ 12. 342, 510. “‘Immolat’ quasi victimam ut ille consueverat” says Serv. ‘Ingenti umbra’ of death: not (as Heyne takes it) of the shadow of Aeneas' body or shield. Both explanations (with others) are mentioned by Serv. Cerda well comp. Il. 13. 425, Ἠέ τινα Τρώων ἐρεβεννῇ νυκτὶ καλύψαι. Serestus is in the camp with Mnestheus 9. 171, 779. Serv. thinks there were two; but it is more likely to be a case of oversight.
[542] Legere arma = to gather up the arms: “spolia eius legentem Galli agnovere” Livy 5. 36. “Caesorum spolia legere” ib. 39. ‘Tibi rex Gradive tropaeum:’ so 11. 7, “Mezenti ducis exuvias, tibi magne tropaeum Bellipotens:” comp. v. 423 above.
[543, 544] Instaurat Med. originally: “fortasse recte” says Ribbeck. ‘Instaurant acies’ may be either taken with Wagn. as = ‘they renew the fight’ (comp. “instaurata proelia” 2. 669, “instaurare bellum” Livy 37. 19) or (more simply with Serv. and Heyne) ‘they repair or renew the ranks.’ ‘Caeculus’ 7. 678—680: ‘Umbro’ ib. 750—760: Virg. tells us there that Umbro was killed by Aeneas, though here, in the haste of the narrative, he says nothing about his death.
[545, 546] Dardanides contra furit seems to be from Ἀτρείδης δ᾽ ἑτέρωθεν ἐμήνιε Il. 1. 247. There is no other mention of this Anxur. As elsewhere, Virg. has given a man the name of a place. Aeneas strikes off his left arm and shield, so killing him (v. 549): then (v. 550) Tarquitus comes up. “Amissam laevam cum tegmine” Lucr. 3.649. ‘Orbis clipei’ 2. 227.
