The form testu, from the nominative 'testus,' is found here and elsewhere in the best MSS., and is recognised by the old grammarians: Nonius Marcellus notices also 'testum' in the neuter gender. 9. Minuit. Cuts down the wood into small billets. 10. Et solida, &c. He forces stakes into the ground to serve as support for the pile which he is building up. Pugnat' expresses the effort required to thrust them firmly into the hard, solida,' earth. 11. Irritat, stimulates.' He endeavours to kindle the heap into a blaze with fragments of dry bark. Compare Met. 8. 641 Inde foco tepidum cinerem dimovit, et ignes 12. Canistra, or Canistri (these words are not found in the singular) signify baskets either for domestic purposes, or for containing the sacred utensils used in sacrifices, e. g. Iuv. S. 5. 74 Vin' tu consuetis, audax conviva, canistris where bread-baskets' are meant. 13, 14. Compare this couplet with Tibullus, 1. 10, 23 Atque aliquis voti compos liba ipse ferebat, Postque comes purum filia parva favum. 15. Libantur. See note on 37. 2. 16. Candida turba. Clothed in pure white raiment, such as was worn on holidays, or by those engaged in the service of the gods. Linguis. . favent, ‘observe a solemn silence.' The priest, before commencing a sacrifice, commanded the crowd to be silent, that no ill-omened sound might fall upon his ear and disturb the holy rite. Compare Hor. Od. 3. 1 Odi profanum vulgus, et arceo: Virginibus puerisque canto. And so Prop. 4. 6, I Sacra facit vates; sint cra faventia sacris. Lastly, Senec. Vit. Beat. 26 Quotiens mentio sacra literarum intervenerit, favete linguis. Hoc verbum non, ut plerique existimant, a favore trabitur : sed imperatur silentium, ut rite peragi possit sacrum, nulla voce mala obstrepente. The corresponding Greek expression was evonμeîte. 23. Ambitio, from ' ambire,' properly signifies the act of going round a constituency to solicit their votes, and hence all the feelings which stimulate a candidate, and all the artifices which he or his friends employ to gain the end. Thus it is used in the sense of 'partizanship,' 'undue favour,' 'partiality,' as in the passage before us, and also in Tacit. Hist. I. I Sed ambitionem scriptoris facile adverseris: obtrectatio et livor pronis auribus accipiuntur. 25-28. The story here alluded to is to be found in Herodotus 1. 82. 27. Lectus. If this be the true reading, it refers to a circumstance not noticed by Herodotus. Nimirum Othryades, Lacedaemoniorum dux, de Argivis victor, sed letalem in modum vulneratus, priusquam animam exhalaret, tropaeo clipei hostilis inscripsit, digitis cruore oblitis, karà 'Apyeíwv 'Olρvádηs kai Aakedaiμóvio. Rem narrant plurimi ex antiquis, Herodotus, Plutarchus, Strabo, Pausanias, Maximus Tyrius, Stobaeus, Suidas, Valerius Maximus, alii. Heinsius. 29–32. Livy 1. 55 will serve as a commentary upon these lines. The legend is repeated by Lactantius in the passage, a portion of which was quoted in the Introduction to this Extract, and also by Servius in his note on Virg. Aen. 9. 448 Dum domus Aeneae Capitoli immobile saxum Accolet. Livy has preserved another tradition, according to which Iuventas, as well as Terminus, refused to quit her shrine in the Capitol, for in the speech of Camillus, 5. 54, we find Hic Capitolium est, ubi quondam capite bumano invento responsum est, eo loco caput rerum summamque imperii fore: bic, quum augurato liberaretur Capitolium, Iuventas Terminusque maximo gaudio patrum nostrorum moveri se non passi. 33. Festus will explain this couplet: Terminus quo loco colebatur, super eum foramen patebat in tecto, quod nefas esse putarent, Terminum intra tectum consistere. The same observation is repeated nearly in the same words in the passages in Lactantius and Servius referred to above. 35. Post illud. Post illam constantiam, qua in Capitolio constitisti' G. Levitas est eius, qui facile sinit se moveri, facile cedit aliis' G. 41. Laurentes agros. In the geography of the six last books of the Aeneid, the Laurentes agri' comprehend the low sandy tract, where, to this day, the 'laurus' grows in great profusion, stretching along the coast south of the mouth of the Tiber; the principal town was Laurentum (Torre di Paterno), the royal abode of Latinus; the site first occupied and fortified by the Trojans was the Laurens Castrum. Virg. Aen. 10. 635. See also Heyne, Excursus 3 on Aen. 7. 42. Dardanio duci. Aeneas. 43. Fibris. According to Varro, Festus, and the old grammarians, 'fibra' properly signifies the extremity of anything,' being the feminine of the obsolete adjective fiber,' equivalent to 'extremus.' In the discipline of the Haruspices, the fibrae' were the thread-like extremities of the entrails, and especially of the liver, caput iocinoris,' to which peculiar importance was attached in the art of divination. Hence 'fibra' is constantly used in reference to the omens derived from the entrails of victims, so Tibull. 1. 8, 3 Nec mihi sunt sortes, nec conscia fibra deorum, and Virg. G. 1. 483, describing the portents which preceded the death of Caesar nec tempore eodem Tristibus aut extis fibrae apparere minaces Aut puteis manare cruor cessavit. 'Fibra' is also used for entrails collectively, as Ov. Fast. 4. 935 Tura focis vinumque dedit, fibrasque bidentis, and for the filaments of the roots of plants, as in Cic. Tuscul. 3. 6 Non solum ramos amputare miseriarum, sed omnes radicum fibras evellere. 43, 44. Here was the ancient boundary of the Roman territory, according to Strabo 5. 3, 2 Between the fifth and sixth milestones from Rome there is a place called Phestoi (pĥoтo). They point this out as baving been the boundary of the Roman territory in the time of Romulus. Both there and in several other places which are considered boundaries, the priests to this day perform the sacrifice which they call Ambarvalia. 23. ROBIGO. FAS. IV. 901. 2. According to Ovid, the commencement of Spring is on the V. Id. Feb. En etiam, si quis Borean borrere solebat, Gaudeat: a Zephyris mollior aura venit. Lucifer, et primi tempora veris eunt, Fast. 2. 147, and in the line before us, the VII. Kal. Mai. is fixed upon as the middle point. On the other hand, Columella 11. 2, 15 and 36 VII. Idus Feb. R ...... Callisto sidus occidit; Favonii spirare incipiunt . . . . . . XI. Kal. Maias ver bipartitur, pluvia, et nonnumquam grando. 3. Pecudem... Athamantidos Helles, i. e. the constellation 'Aries;' the golden-fleeced ram, which bore away Phrixus and Helle, the children of Athamas king of Thebes, when they fled from the persecution of their step-mother Ino. We have the whole story in Ov. Fast. 3. 851 seqq. 4. Signaque, &c., i. e. the rains show themselves;' the showers descend; or, the showers give indications of the seasons,' which is better. So Fast. 1. 315 Institerint Nonae; missi tibi nubibus atris Signa dabunt imbres, exoriente Lyra. Exoriturque Canis. Ovid has made a blunder here; the Dog sets at this season; so Columella 11. 2, 37 Pridie Kalendas Maias Canis se vespere celat: tempestatem significat. One good MS. indeed has occidit atque Canis;' but this is probably a correction. The conjectural emendations of different critics are given in the various readings. 5. Nomento. Nomentum (Lamentana Vecchia) was built by a colony from Alba, in the Sabine territory, not far from the river Allia. Hi tibi Nomentum, et Gabios, urbemque Fidenam, Hi Collatinas imponent montibus arces. Virg. Aen. 6. 773. It is frequently mentioned by Martial, who possessed an estate in the neighbourhood, e. g. 6. 43 Me Nomentani confirmant otia ruris, Et casa iugeribus non onerosa suis. Hic vestrae mihi sunt, Castrice, divitiae. See also 1. 85; 10. 44; 12. 57. The road which led to this town from Rome, passed through the Porta Viminalis, and was called the Via Nomentana; it afterwards joined the Via Salaria. 6. Candida pompa, a procession in pure white raiment.' See note on 22.16. 7. Antiquae. The worship of this deity was established, according to Pliny, by Numa. 8. Exta canis. Columella mentions the sacrifice of the dog (a sucking puppy), but not the sheep, 10. 342 Hinc mala Rubigo virides ne torreat herbas, Sanguine lactentis catuli placatur et extis. 10. The officiating priest, it appears, was the Flamen Quirinalis. 11. Aspera, rough,' and so 'scabras manus also Virgil, when applying this word to the rust of iron, G. 1. 495 Exesa inveniet scabra robigine pila. 12. Leve, i. e. 18. Adusta. smooth,' not roughened by 'scabra,' 'aspera robigo.' Vro,' 'aduro,' &c., are constantly applied to the blighting influence of cold. Thus Cic. Tusc. 2. 17 Pernoctant venatores in nive, in montibus uri se patiuntur, and Virg. G. 1. 92 Ne tenues pluviae, rapidive potentia solis Acrior, aut Boreae penetrabile frigus adurat, and in like manner Livy 21. 32 pecora iumentaque torrida frigore. 19. Titan, the Sun. See note on Hyperion, pp. 221, 222. 23. Contere expresses well the slow continued action by which rust wears away and consumes the substance of iron. Carpere' also implies a gradual process. 27. Sarcula. From the manner in which the 'sarculus ' or 'sarculum' is spoken of, it must have resembled very closely a common boe. The 'bidens' describes itself, and must have been the same with our drag. 28. Situs, from 'sino,' is the crust which forms upon anything which is left untouched or neglected. Hence it is put for filth or dirt in general, for the hard surface of land left fallow, for rust, and metaphorically for the effect of sloth upon the mind, e. g. Ov. Amor, 1. 8, 51 Aera nitent usu, vestis bona quaerit baberi, Virg. G. 1. 72 Et segnem patiere situ durescere campum, Ov. Trist. 5. 12, I Scribis, ut oblectem studio lacrimabile tempus, 33. Mantele, mantelium, or mantelum, was a woollen napkin, with a long loose pile, villis solutis,' which was sometimes shorn off to make it more smooth. So Virg. Aen. 1. 705 Dant famuli manibus lymphas, Cereremque canistris 34. Patera, from 'pateo,' a sort of shallow ladle employed for pouring libations to the gods. Acerra ought to be translated 'incense-box.' The frankincense in ancient sacrifices was generally consumed on the altar, not in a vessel constructed for the purpose, as in the ceremonies of the Jewish religion |