was there deposited. Both authors agree in thinking that relics of some kind were preserved by the Vestals, but that they were hidden with such jealous care from every eye, that no one could pretend to any certain knowledge of their nature. 37. Sub Caesare. The Vestals, as we remarked above, were subject to the control of the Pontifex Maximus. Lepidus succeeded to this office upon the murder of Julius Caesar, and after the death of Lepidus, 12 B. C., it was assumed by Augustus1. The day marked in the Calendars, as hallowed by this auspicious event, was Prid. Non. Mart. (6th March). Ovid announces the event, Fast. 3. 415. 32. BACCHVS. FAS. III. 713. 3, 4. Commentators have failed in extracting a sense from the words 'parvus inermis eras,' which will in any degree correspond with the former part of the couplet. Neither the reading 'erat,' which is found in good MSS., nor 'partus,' the conjecture of Heinsius, make the meaning more intelligible. 7. Sithonas. Sithonia proper, according to Herodotus, is one of the three long narrow peninsulas which form the termination of that portion of Macedonia called Chalcidice, lying between the Strymonicus Sinus (G. of Contessa) and the Thermaicus Sinus (G. of Saloniki). The most northerly of these is formed by Mount Athos, that farthest to the south was called Pallene, while Sithonia lay between them, being separated from the former by the Singiticus Sinus (G. of Monte Santo), and from the latter by the Toronaicus Sinus (G. of Cassandria). In poetic phraseology, however, Sithonia is used to express the whole of Thrace and the north of Macedonia. Scythicos. Scythia, in its widest acceptation, embraces the whole of southern Russia in Europe, together with the vast steppes of central Asia, the land of the Tartars and the Mongols. 9. Thebanae...matris. Agave, the mother of Pentheus. See Introduction to Extract. ... . 10. Inque tuum genu. According to one form of the legend, Lycurgus in his frenzy cut off his own legs with a hatchet. 13, 14. Ovid having hastily passed over foreign fables, now proceeds to consider one of the usages of the Roman Liberalia, described somewhat more distinctly by Varro, L. L. 5 Liberalia dicta, quod per totum 1 Dion. 54. 15, Sueton. Octav. 31. oppidum eo die sedent sacerdotes Liberi, bedera coronatae anus, et foculo pro emptore sacrificantes. 14. Liba. See note on 22. 6 (p. 238). cum libis 16. Gelidis. Grass grew upon the altars where no fire was ever kindled for sacrifice. 17. Gange. The Ganges, the great river of India, is here put for the country itself. 19. Cinnama. Cinnamon is the peculiar production of Ceylon and the Malabar coast, and thus appropriately introduced here in reference to the Indian conquests of Bacchus. 21. Ovid foolishly derives from 'Liber' the words libamen and libum, which are manifestly connected with the verb ‘libare' (λeißw). 23. Succis dulcibus. It was the custom to pour honey over the 'libum,' as we see below, vv. 49, 50, and Tibull. 1. 7, 54 Liba et Mopsopio dulcia melle feram; and hence Ovid takes occasion to make a digression with regard to the discovery of honey, which he attributes to Bacchus. 25. Hebro. The Hebrus (Maritza) is the great river of Thrace, and one of the most important streams in Europe. It rises at the point where Mount Rhodope branches off from Mount Haemus and Mount Scomius (see above, p. 223), and after a course of nearly 300 miles, falls into the Aegean opposite to Samothrace, one of its branches emptying itself into the Stentoris Palus (G. of Aenos). 27. Rhodope (Despoto Dagh) is a snowy mountain range, sweeping down to the south from the great chains of Haemus and Scomius, and sending out a number of lateral ridges which spread over the whole of the southern and western districts of Thrace. Mons Pangaeus v. Pangaeum (Pundhar Dagh) was the name given to the extremity of one of the branches of Rhodope which runs along the coast, from Amphipolis near the mouth of the river Strymon, westward. Pangaeus was celebrated for its mines of gold and silver, originally worked by the native tribes, and afterwards by a colony from the island of Thasos, who formed an establishment called 'Crenides,' which was subsequently seized by Philip of Macedon, who built on the same site the city of Philippi, so celebrated in after times in the history of Rome, as the scene of the final struggle of the republicans under Brutus and Cassius against the triumvirs (42 B. C.). Philippi was the first spot in Europe where the gospel was preached by Saint Paul. (Acts xvi. 9.) 28. Aeriferae.. manus. Cymbals borne by the followers of Bacchus. 29. Volucres, 'the bees;' novae, hitherto unknown;' tinnitibus actae-every one knows that bees when swarming are frequently attracted and induced to alight upon a particular spot by a tinkling noise; nor does Virgil omit to notice this peculiarity, G. 4. 64 Tinnitusque cie, et Matris quate cymbala circum. 33. Levis...senex, 'the bald old man,' Silenus. See above, p. 180. 37. Residebat expresses the lazy slouching attitude of Silenus. 42. Ora summa, i. e. 'his bald head.' 47. Limumque inducere, 'to spread a coating of mud over his face.' So Inducere aurum ligno Pliny H. N. 35. 1, 6. Inducere parieti ceram liquefactam 30. 1, 7. 52. Thyrso. See above, note on 2. 33. 53. Hoc faciat. We may understand 'libum' to agree with hoc, and translate, 'If you ask why an old woman bakes this cake;' or, more simply, 'If you ask why an old woman does this,' i. e. offers her cakes to passers by. 57. Nysiades Nymphae, 'the nymphs of Nysa.' Ancient writers are at variance as to the position of Nysa, where Bacchus was nursed; many places bore the name and claimed the honour. The most famous was the Indian city situated at the base of Mount Meros (see Quintius Curtius, 8, 10) and this is probably indicated by Apollodorus, when he calls Nysa 'a city of Asia.' There was, however, another in Arabia, another in Boeotia, another in the island of Naxos; no less than ten being enumerated by geographers. Noverca, i. e. Juno. 59. Restat, &c. Ovid now proceeds to enquire why youths assumed the 'toga virilis' on the Liberalia. He assigns four different reasons, none of which are particularly interesting. The practice itself is alluded to by Cicero, Ep. Att. 6. 1 Quinto togam puram Liberalibus cogitabam dare: mandavit enim pater. CYBELE. FAS. IV. 179. 33. 1. Perpetuo... axe. The original meaning of 'perpetuus' is 'continuous,' 'uninterrupted,' 'unbroken.' Thus Pliny H. N. 3. 5 Apenninus perpetuis iugis ab Alpibus tendens ad Siculum fretum, i. e. ‘in an unbroken range.' Again Virg. Aen. 7. 176 Perpetuis soliti patres considere mensis, i. e. a long straight table at which those who banqueted were placed in an unbroken line, up and down-not sitting round three sides after the fashion of the 'triclinia.' Here it is equivalent to 'long'-the long axle on which the heavens turn round. Virg. Aen. 4. 250 Vertitur interea caelum et ruit Oceano nox. With regard to the different significations of axis, see note on 38. 48. 2. Titan, i. e. the Sun. See note on Hyperion, 18. 51. 1, 2. The sense of these lines is simply tribus exactis diebus,' three days having elapsed since the commencement of the month. The Megalesia were celebrated, as we have seen in the Introduction, on the 4th of April. 3. Compare Hor. Od. 1. 18, 13 saeva tene cum Berecynthio Cornu tympana. and Od. 4. I, 21, addressing Venus, ... Illic plurima naribus Duces tura, lyraeque et Berecynthiae Mixtis carminibus, non sine fistula. Inflexo cornu. The Phrygian flute or flageolet consisted of two straight tubes, of unequal length and unequal diameter, to the ends of which was attached a crooked metallic appendage, called kάdwv, resembling the extremity of a French horn. Hence the epithet 'curvus.' Compare Catull. 63. 22 Tibicen ubi canit Phryx curvo grave calamo, and Virg. Aen. 9. 617 O vere Phrygiae, neque enim Phryges! ite per alta on which Servius, Tibiae autem Serranae dicuntur, quae sunt pares, et aequales habent cavernas; aut Phrygiae, quae et impares sunt, et inaequales babent cavernas. 5. Semimares, &c., the mutilated priests-the Galli' or 'Corybantes.' See Introduction. Inania, i. e.' hollow.' 7. Molli, effeminate.' 9. Scena, the theatrical exhibitions; ludi, the games of the circus. See Introduction. 12. Lotos. This Lotos or Faba Graeca, described by Pliny, H. N. 16. 30, and 24. 2, is a tree which must be carefully distinguished from the lotos of the Lotophagi, the lotos or water-lily of Egypt, and the clover lotos of Virgil. Compare Pliny H. N. 16. 36 Nunc sacrificae (sc. tibiae) Tuscorum e buxo, ludicrae vero loto ossibusque asininis et argento fiunt; also Silius II. 432 Vt strepit assidue Phrygiam ad Nilotica loton and Mart. 8. 51, 14 Palladius tenero lotos ab ore sonat, where remark the difference of gender. 13. Doctas... neptes, i.e. the Muses. Cybele being identified with Rhea, and Rhea being the mother of Zeus, the Muses, who were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, would be the granddaughters of Cybele. 17. Erato, derived from epws, 'love.' The island of Cythera (Cerigo) being a chosen resort of Aphrodite (Venus), she was thence called Cythereia, and the month Aprilis being, according to one derivation, named after Aphrodite, is here termed Mensis Cythereius.' 19-35. The legend of Kronus (Saturnus) devouring his children, the stratagem of Rhea, by which Zeus (Jupiter) escaped, and the subsequent expulsion of Kronus from the throne of heaven, have been already fully detailed in the note, p. 252, the first part of which must be read carefully, in order to enable the student to comprehend these lines. 20. Excutiere. The idea is that of a person jolted out of a seat, as in Met. 15. 524 Excutior curru. 26. Fidem. Belief arising from confidence in the truth of what we have heard. 27. Saxum. This stone, we are told, was called Bairvλos, or Abbadir. See Stephan. Thesaur. and Priscian. p. 647. Gutture. Although viscere' is found in only one MS., it is probably the true reading, since 'gutture sedit' would imply that the stone stuck in the throat of Kronus. If we adopt 'gurgite,' the expression will be analogous to 'altique voragine ventris' in Met. 8. 843. 29. Ide in Crete is here indicated, since that island was generally accounted the birthplace of Zeus, although both Arcadia and Phrygia claimed him as their own. See Excursus of Heyne on Aen. 3. III. 32. Curetes... Corybantes. As far as we can venture to pronounce an opinion upon a subject, with regard to which the testimonies of ancient writers are of the most confused and contradictory description, it seems scarcely doubtful that the 'Curetes' and 'Corybantes' were originally completely distinct from each other. The 'Curetes' were Cretan priests, who, clad in armour, performed the stately and graceful Pyrrhic dance, in honour of Zeus, to the music |