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883. extremus, only the extremity.

885. per fata, with the permission of the fates.

886. avitas, of his grandsire, the river god Symæthus.

[METAM.

894. cornua: horns were the regular attributes of river gods : they were symbols of strength.

XXI. THE WISDOM OF KING NUMA.

XV. 3. veri, the truth.

5. habet, holds

=

considers.

8. urbem, i. e. Croton, which was named from a certain Croton, a guest-friend of Hercules.

60. vir, Pythagoras, born at Samos, about B. C. 580.

61. dominos: Samos was ruled by the cruel tyrant Polycrates; Pythagoras therefore left his native land, and passed the rest of his life in Magna Græcia, principally at Croton: he died at Metapontum, about B. C. 504.

66. in medium dabat, made public.

73. arguit, censured.

89. congesto, swallowed.

93. referre, repeat.

95. mōrati, verbal from mōres, character.

99. mōvēre, perfect: the infinitive would be mŏvēre.

104. invidit, took a distaste to.

109. salva pietate, without violation of duty.

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ut . . . sic (although

116. tuendos, i. e. with wool and milk.

122. immemor, ungrateful, relates to qui, etc.

· yet).

124. ruricolam, sc. bovem.— trita agrees with illa and colla. 128. inscripsere: it was customary on indictments to write the

name of the accused by the side of the crime.

134. fruges, subj. of imponi; it refers to the mola salsa, parched barley meal mixed with salt, which was sprinkled on the head of the victim.

135. in unda: the bucket of water, in which the officiating priest washed his hands to purify them, before the sacrifice. 137. inspiciunt: this inspection of the entrails, to learn the wish of the gods, was usually performed by the haruspices.

142. colonos, citizens [inhabitants, from colo]: this word is perhaps chosen because the address was delivered in the Greek

XV. 1-470.] XXI. The Wisdom of King Numa. 253

colony of Croton.

The assertion here made belongs to the doc

trine of metempsychosis.

143. movet, i. e. to eloquence.

144. Delphos, as being the treasure-house of oracles.

149. Atlantis: because heaven rested upon his shoulders. 155. materiem vatum the material of fables, sung by poets. 157. posse has for subj. ea understood, referring to corpora. putetis, you should believe.

162. minoris Atridæ, Menelaus.

164. Abanteis: Abas was one of the mythical heroes of Argos. 173. pietas, i. e. because these animals are of kin to us.

176. magno æquore, referring to the immensity of his topic. 191. Pallantiăs, Aurora, descendant of Pallas.

192. dei clipeus, the disc of the sun.

200. ætatis, life.

205. virtus, vigor.

222. ritu, after the manner of.

229. Milon, a celebrated athlete of Croton.

230. illos agrees with lacertos.

233. Tyndaris, Helen: she was carried away not only by Paris, but before that by Theseus.

239. genitalia, producing, i. e. elementary.

245. resoluta, when dissolved.

258. summā, in their essence, or on the whole.

260. ad ferrum, etc.: referring to the succession of Ages, —

Golden, Silver, Bronze, Iron.

261. fortuna, lot or condition.

272. excæcata, becoming unseen.

[For the verses omitted, see Argument of this Book.]

453. tendere depends on oblitis.

459. corpora, object of sinamus and subject of esse (v. 46). 460. aliquo fædere, construed with junctorum.

461. certe, at any rate.

462. Thyesteis : Thyestes feasted unwittingly upon the body of his own son, placed before him by his brother Atreus: hence any unnatural and horrible feast was called a Thyestean banquet. 463. male consuescit. accustoms himself to ill= himself.

=

hardens

467. ēdentem, uttering (from ēdo; ědo, to eat has short ě). 468. istis, i. e. the slaughter of innocent beasts.

469. paratur, is brought about.

470. imputet, charge against, i. e. these alone.

254

Notes: Ovid.

[METAM.

474. viscata virga, limed twig: small birds were caught by smearing the twigs on which they perched with a sort of vegetable glue (viscum).

475. formidatis pennis: bright feathers were attached to cords put about the space in which the deer were, and the deer were afraid to pass them.

480. ultro, i. e. without presenting himself as a candidate.

482. conjuge: his wife was the nymph Egeria, from whom he was thought to receive maxims of wisdom: she was one of the Camena, nymphs of prophetic song, identified with the Grecian Muses.

XXII. THE WORSHIP OF ESCULAPIUS.

XV. 622. præsentia, helpful.

624. Coroniden: Esculapius was son of Apollo and the nymph Coronis.

625. insula: the island of the Tiber was the seat of the worship of Esculapius (see v. 739). — sacris asciverit, enrolled among the sacred rites.

629. nihil posse, have no power.

630. mediam orbis humum: the oracle at Delphi was held to be the middle point (omphalos) of the earth.

634. et locus, etc.: the usual description of the circumstances attending the utterance of oracles.

637. propiore loco: Epidaurus, the chief seat of the worship of Esculapius, was nearer by sea to Rome than was Delphi. 640. avibus, auspices, because the chief auspices were by the flight or song of birds.

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654. sed qualis, etc., i. e. in contrast to his assumption of a snake's form the next day. Esculapius is represented in art as an old man with a staff about which a serpent is twined (see v. 659).

660. nŏtā, imperative.

667. operosa, constructed with labor (see i. 258).

XV. 474-727.] XXII. The Worship of Esculapius. 255

669. cristis altis limits aureus.

670. in serpente deus, the god incarnate in the serpent.

677. animis, etc., a common formula for commanding a reverential silence.

681. referunt geminata, repeat.

682. Æneada: the two syllables eă are contracted into one in scanning.

683. rata, authenticating.

691. suum, of his attendants.

692. officium, reverent service. 696. coronatæ : ships were festooned with flowers on sailing. 700. Pallantidos, Aurora.

701. Lacinia: the Lacinian promontory, where was a temple of Juno: Scylaceum was a little further south-west.

703. Iapygiam; this was the south-eastern promontory of Italy, which came in due course before Lacinium: the three names that follow cannot be identified.

705. Caulona, a city of Bruttium. — Naryciam: this name was given to Locri Epizephyrii, as being a colony of the Locrian Narycus.

706. fretum angustaque-fretum angustum.

707. Hippotadæ, Æolus, son of Hippotes, king of the Winds: his home is the Æolian islands. Temeses: Tempsa, famed for

copper mines.

708. Leucosiam, a promontory, south of Pæstum, now, as then, famed for its roses.

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709. Minervæ, the promontory opposite the island of Capri; then come Surrentum, Herculaneum, Stabiæ, Neapolis (whose ancient name was Parthenope), and Cumæ, the abode of the Sibyl.

713. calidi fontes, Baiæ, a fashionable watering-place in Ovid's time. Liternum lay between here and the mouth of the Volturnus. The other names are of well-known towns.

716. graves, unhealthy, by reason of the swamps. — quam, etc., Cajeta, where Æneas built a sepulchre to his nurse Cajeta. 717. Antiphatæ domus: Formiæ, where Antiphates was king. - Trache was another name for Tarracina, situated near the Pomptine Marshes.

718. tellus Circæa, Circeii. — spissi, with deep sand.

721. per sinus, etc., i. e. making, &c.

722. parentis, Apollo.

725. moderamine, the rudder.

727. Castrum, sc. Inui, a town midway between Antium and the mouth of the Tiber; the ancient town of Lavinium was near by.

256

Notes: Ovid.

[METAM.

730. Troica agrees with Vesta: the worship of Vesta and the Penates was fabled to have been brought by Æneas from Troy.

732. per adversas undas, up the stream.

734. sonant, crackle.

737. mālo, mast (mălus, bad, has short ǎ).

740. laterum e parte duorum, on the two sides.

743. cæleste, a poetic form of the ablative.

XXIII. THE APOTHEOSIS OF CÆSAR.

XV. 745. hic, Esculapius.

746. marte togaque, war and peace, the toga being the distinctive garb of peace.

747. magis, construed with quam, v. 750.

748. properata, speedily now. - rerum, deeds.

749. sidus, see v. 850.

750. progenies, the emperor Augustus, his adopted son.

752. domuisse: Tacitus, more modestly, says: potest videri ostendisse posteris, non tradidisse.

Agr. 13.

753. septemflua : there were seven principal mouths of the Nile. 755. Jubam: Juba, king of Numidia, fought against Cæsar at Thapsus (B. c. 46).

756. Pontum : Cæsar overthrew Pharnaces, son of king Mithridates, B. C. 47.- Quirini: Quirinus, an ancient god of the Romans, was identified by them with their eponymous hero, Romulus.

757. egisse: the word regularly used for triumphal processions. 758. quo, etc., in his administering affairs.

762. genetrix, Venus.

763. pontifici: Cæsar held the office of pontifex maximus, the head of the state religion. The word is used here, in order to fasten upon his murder the character of sacrilege.

767. Iulo: Iulus, son of Æneas, was the alleged ancestor of the Julian gens.

768. justis curis, well-grounded fears.

769. Calydonia: Diomedes, son of Tydeus, of Calydon, had wounded Venus at the siege of Troy, when she was interfering in behalf of the Trojans. — vulneret, and the following subjunctives (§ 320. e), seeing that, &c.: the relatives refer to the subject of ero, v. 768.

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