Manlius L. filius, qui patrem a vexatione tribunicia vindicaverat, ex statione ad dictatorem pergit. "iniussu tuo" inquit, "imperator, extra ordinem nunquam pugnaverim, non si certam victoriam videam. si tu permittis, volo ego illi belluæ ostendere, quando adeo ferox præsultat hostium signis, me ex ea familia ortum quæ Gallorum agmen ex rupe Tarpeia deiecit." tum dictator "macte virtute" inquit "ac pietate in patrem patriamque, T. Manli, esto. perge, et nomen Romanum invictum iuvantibus diis præsta." armant inde iuvenem æquales. pedestre scutum capit, Hispano cingitur gladio, ad propiorem habili pugnam. armatum adornatumque adversus Gallum stolide lætum et (quoniam id quoque memoria dignum antiquis visum est) linguam etiam ab irrisu exserentem producunt. recipiunt inde se ad stationem, et duo in medio armati, spectaculi magis more quam lege belli, destituuntur, nequaquam visu ac specie æstimantibus pares, corpus alteri magnitudine eximium, versicolori vesti pictisque et auro cælatis refulgens armis, media in altero militaris statura, modicaque in armis habilibus magis quam decoris species. non cantus, non exsultatio armorumque agitatio vana sed pectus animorum iræque tacitæ plenum omnem ferociam in discrimen ipsum certaminis distulerat. ubi constitere inter duas acies, tot circa mortalium animis spe metuque pendentibus, Gallus velut moles superne imminens, proiecto læva scuto, in advenientis arma hostis vanum cæsim cum ingenti sonitu ensem deiecit. Romanus mucrone subrecto, cum scuto scutum imum perculisset, totoque corpore interior periculo vulneris factus insinuasset se inter corpus armaque, uno alteroque subinde ictu ventrem atque inguina hausit, et in spatium ingens ruentem porrexit hostem. iacentis inde corpus ab omni alia vexatione intactum uno torque spoliavit; quem respersum cruore collo circumdedit suo. defixerat pavor cum admiratione Gallos. Romani alacres ab statione obviam militi progressi, gratulantes, laudantesque ad dictatorem perducunt. inter carminum prope modum incondita quædam militanter ioculantes Torquati cognomen auditum celebratum deinde posteris etiam familiæque honori fuit. dictator coronam auream addidit donum, mirisque pro concione eam pugnam laudibus tulit. 16. (Corvi auxiliaris.) A similar tale was attached to the cognomen Corvinus, which belonged to one of the families of the Gens Valeria. Thirteen years after the event described in the last note, a band of Gauls made their way into the Pomptine territory. Camillus, at that time consul, determined not to give them battle but to starve them out by preventing them from plundering. A stationary camp was therefore pitched in their vicinity to watch their movements. Ubi cum stationibus quieti tempus tererent, Gallus processit magnitudine atque armis insignis; quatiensque scutum hasta cum silentium fecisset, provocat per interpretem unum ex Romanis, qui secum ferro U decernat. M. erat Valerius tribunus militum adolescens, qui haud indigniorem eo decore se quam T. Manlium ratus, prius sciscitatus consulis voluntatem, in medium armatus processit. minus insigne certamen humanum numine interposito deorum factum. namque conserenti iam manum Romano corvus repente in galea consedit, in hostem versus. quod primo ut augurium cœlo missum lætus accepit tribunus, precatus deinde, si divus, si diva esset qui sibi præpetem misisset, volens propitius adesset, dictu mirabile, tenuit non solum ales captam semel sedem, sed quotiescunque certamen initum est, levans se alis os oculosque hostis rostro et unguibus appetiit, donec territum prodigii talis visu, oculisque simul ac mente turbatum Valerius obtruncat. corvus e conspectu elatus orientem petit. 17. (Magne.) Pompey, upon his return to Rome after the destruction of the Marian party in Sicily and Africa, was saluted by Sylla with this title. Although only a knight and a private individual, never having held any of the great offices of state, he was allowed a triumph, being the first Roman to whom such a distinction had been granted in like circumstances. 18. (Quite vicit.) Julius Cæsar at the battle of Pharsalia, B. C. 4 20. (Meritis Maxima dicta.) Compare Liv. IX. 46. (B. C. 304.) "Q. Fabius et P. Decius censores facti, et Fabius simul concordiæ causa, simul ne humillimorum in manu comitia essent, omnem forensem turbam excretam in quatuor tribus coniecit, urbanasque eas appellavit. adeoque eam rem acceptam gratis animis ferunt, ut Maximi cognomen, quod tot victoriis non pepererat, hac ordinum temperatione pareret." 17. 18. 20. Observe the play upon the words magne, maior, maximus, in these three lines. 22. (Hic.) Augustus. 23...27. A dissertation on the meaning and derivation of the word augustus, which he deduces from augeo. Compare Suet. Octav. VII. "Postea Cæsaris et deinde Augusti cognomen assumsit: alterum testamento maioris avunculi; alterum Munatii Planci sententia: quum, quibusdam censentibus, Romulum appellari oportere, quasi et ipsum conditorem urbis, prævaluisset, ut Augustus potius vocaretur, non tantum novo, sed etiam ampliore cognomine. [quod loca quoque religiosa, et in quibus augurato quid consecratur, augusta dicantur, ab auctu, vel ab avium gestu, gustuve, sicut etiam Ennius docet, scribens: Augusto augurio postquam inclyta condita Roma est.]1 ! The words within brackets are considered by all good editors to be an interpolation. So also Dion Cassius LIII. 16. πάντα γὰρ τὰ ἐντιμότατα καὶ τὰ ἱερώτατα ἄυγουστα προσαγορεύεται. 25. (Huius et, &c.,) i. e. the word augurium is derived from the same root with augustus-both being derived from augeo. This etymology of augurium, however, is by no means satisfactory. 29. (Cognominis heres.) Tiberius. OVID. TRIST. I. iii. OVID having received from the Emperor an order to quite the city and take up his residence at Tomi, on the shores of the Euxine, depicts in this poem the misery he endured in tearing himself from Rome. With regard to this banishment and the causes, see Life of Ovid, p. 37. 5. (Lux aderat.) Three MSS. have nox aderat, which is unnecessary. It appears from the whole of this elegy, that Ovid set out from Rome at day-break, (see particularly lines 71, 72,) and he would appear to be describing, although not in regular order, the events which took place during the last day spent by him in the city and during the night, towards the close of which he actually commenced his journey. 6. (Finibus extremæ Ausoniæ,) i.e. extremis finibus Ausonia. With regard to Ausonia, see note p. 420. 14. (Convaluere,) "recovered their vigour." 16. (Qui modo, &c.) "Who from many were now reduced to one or two." Compare Trist. Vix duo tresve mihi de tot superestis, amici, and Ep. ex P. II. iii. 29, addressed to Maximus. Cumque alii nolint etiam me nosse fateri, 18. (Indignas...genas.) "Her cheeks which deserved not to be disfigured with marks of woe." 19. Procul, at a distance; diversa, in an opposite direction from that in which I was about to journey. 26. (Hac facies, &c.) Compare Cic. in Verr. Act. II. Lib. iv. 23. "Quem concursum in oppido factum putatis? quem clamorem? quem porro fletum mulierum? qui viderent, equum Troianum introductum urbem captam esse dicerent." 29. (Ab hac,) i. e. Postquam hanc aspexi. The variations in the MSS. probably arose from the expression not being understood. 30. (Lari.) "To my home." 37. (Cœlesti viro.) Augustus. See note on Lares, p. 135. Error. See Life of Ovid. p. 37. 44. The extinction of the fire in the Atrium always indicated the desertion of a dwelling. 45. (Adversos,) will signify "the Penates, whose statues stood in front of her as she knelt before the hearth." Heinsius conjectured aversos "turned away in wrath," which is supported by Hor. C. III. xxiii. 19. Mollivit aversos Penates-Farre pio, et saliente mica. 48. (Axe.) Observe the different modifications in the meaning of the word axis. 1. The axle of a wheel, and hence, by synecdoche, a car or chariot. 2. The imaginary axle on which the universe appears to revolve. 3. The extremity of this axle, the poles, and especially the north pole. 4. Any quarter of the heavens, the heavens in general, the canopy of heaven, the open air. 5. A climate or region. 1. Post valido nitens sub pondere faginus axis Instrepat, et iunctos temo trahat æreus orbes. Virg. G. III. 172. Quod sit avus, radiis frontem vallatus acutis, Purpureo tepidum qui movet axe diem. Ov. Her. IV. 159. 2. Sive enim ipse mundus deus est, quid potest esse minus quietum, quam nullo puncto temporis intermisso versari circum axem cœli admirabili celeritate? Cic. N. D. I. 20. Ter sine perpetuo cœlum versetur in axe. Ov. Fast. IV. 179. 3. Te geminum Titan procedere vidit in axem. Lucan. VII. 422. Quin etiam cœli regionem in cortice signant Austrinos tulerit, quæ terga obverterit axi, Restituant ......... Virg. G. II. 269. 4. Axe sub Hesperio sunt pascua Solis equorum. Ov. Met. IV. 214. Iacet extra sidera tellus, Extra anni solisque vias, ubi cœlifer Atlas Axem humero torquet stellis ardentibus aptum. Virg. Æ. VI. 796. Progenies magnum cœli ventura sub axem. Virg. Æ. VI. 791. Edibus in mediis nudoque sub ætheris axe Ingens ara fuit, iuxtaque veterrima laurus. Virg. Æ. II. 512. 5. Æthiopidem (sc. herbam) ab exusto sideribus axe. Plin. H. N. XXVII. 1. So also polus is used to denote the whole heavens, Postera iamque dies primo surgebat Eoo, Humentemque Aurora polo dimoverat umbram. Virg. Æ. III. 588. et polo Deripere Lunam vocibus possum meis. Hor. Epod. XVII. 77. 48. (Parrhasis Arctos.) The Arcadian Bear. Parrhasis is the feminine Græco-poetic form of the adjective Parrhasius, which, as we have already seen,' is equivalent to Arcadian. The brilliant constellation known to us as the Great Bear, which never sets in European latitudes, was named by the early Greeks The Wain ("Apaža), or the Bear ("Agxros); by the Latins Plaustrum, or Septem Triones, (i. e. Seven Oxen.) Among the objects represented by the skill of Hephaestus on the shield of Achilles, we find the stars which had chiefly attracted observation at that early period, Πληιάδας θ' ' Υάδας τε τό τε σθένος Ωρίωνος, 1 Note p. 296. |