Page images
PDF
EPUB

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 asres' Virg. Ae. 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 jugeribus non onerosa suis.

Hic mihi Baiani soles, mollisque Lucrinus ;
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 virideis ne torreat herbas,
Sanguine lactentis catuli placatur et extis.'

[ocr errors]

10. The officiating priest, it appears, was the Flamen Quirinalis.

II. Aspera, 'rough,' and so 'Scabras manus' below v. 20. So also Virgil, when applying this word to the rust of iron, G. 1. 495

'Exesa inveniet scabra robigine pila.'

12. Laeve, i.e. 'smooth,' not roughened by 'scabra,' 'aspera robigo.'

18. Adusta. '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. I. 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. 203, 204. 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. I. 8, 51

'Aera nitent usu, vestis bona quaerit haberi,
Canescunt turpi tecta relicta situ.'

Virg. G. 1. 72

'Et segnem patiere situ durescere campum.' Ov. Trist. 5. 12, I

'Scribis, ut oblectem studio lacrimabile tempus,
Ne pereant turpi pectora nostra situ.'

33. Mantele, Mantelium, or Mantelum, was a woolen napkin, with a long loose pile 'villis solutis,' which was sometimes shorn off to make it more smooth. So Virg. Ae.. 1. 701

'Dant famuli manibus lymphas, Cereremque canistris Expediunt, tonsisque ferunt mantelia villis.'

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 and the Roman Catholic Church. When a censer was employed, it was called

' turibulum.'

36. Obscaenae. See note on 1. 119.

39. Est canis, Icarium dicunt, &c. Every constellation had a legend attached to it. Homer and Aratus call Sirius the dog of Orion. The tale with regard to Procyon, which explains the ephithet 'Icarius,' is as follows:

Dionysius visited Attica during the reign of Pandion, and was hospitably entertained by Icarius, who received from him a slip of the vine, and was instructed in the art of making wine. Eager to communicate to mankind the bounties of the god, he offered the new beverage to some shepherds, who, tempted by its pleasant flavour, drank copiously, became intoxicated, and then, supposing that they had been poisoned, slew Icarius. Upon recovering their senses, perceiving what they had done, they buried their victim. His daughter Erigone discovered the dead body by the aid of a favourite dog, named Maera; and after bewailing the loss of her father, hung herself in grief. Father, daughter, and dog, all became constellations. Icarius is Bootes, Erigone is Virgo, Maera is Procyon 1. Compare Fast. 5. 723

'Nocte sequente diem Canis Erigoneius exit,'

and Amor. 2. 16, 4

'Sol licet admoto tellurem sidere findat,

Et micet Icarii stella proterva Canis.'

Sirius and Procyon are often confounded. There were two constellations known to the Greek astronomers by the name of the Dog, which were distinguished as the greater and the lesser.

The greater, or 'Canis,' rose, according to Columella, on the 26th of July, and the bright star in its mouth was called

1 See Apollodor. 3. 14, 7, Hygin. P. A. 2. 4, Fab. 130.

'Canis,' or 'Canicula,' or 'Sirius,'-the terms 'Canis' and 'Canicula' being used to denote sometimes the whole constellation, and sometimes the principal star.

The lesser, or 'Procyon, (pokúwv), that is in Latin, 'Antecanis,'

'Antecanis, Graio Procyon qui nomine fertur ','

rose, as its title imports, before the great Dog, according to Columella on the Ides of July. Although 'Canicula' is usually employed with reference to the greater Dog, yet, from its being a diminutive of 'Canis,' it is occasionally applied to the lesser; and we may observe generally that the two groups are frequently confounded by ancient writers, and the fables proper to the one transferred to the other.

Since their rising served to mark the period of greatest heat, they are commonly spoken of by the poets in connection with this circumstance. Compare Tibull. 1. 7, 21; 2. I, 47; 3. 5, 1, all of which are in the Extracts, and also Hor. Od. 3. 29, 17

'Iam clarus occultum Andromedae pater = Ostendit ignem: iam Procyon furit.

Et stella vesani Leonis = Sole dies referente siccos 2, and Od. 3. 13, 9, addressed to the Bandusian fount,

'Te flagrantis atrox hora Caniculae = Nescit tangere'.... and Od. 1. 17, 17

'Hic in reducta valle Caniculae Vitabis aestus'...

to which add Ov. A. A. 2. 231, Pers. S. 3. 5, &c. In like manner, Virg. G. 4. 425

'Iam rapidus torrens sitientes Sirius Indos

Ardebat

and Ae. 3. 141

'tum steriles exurere Sirius agros, Arebant herbae, et victum seges aegra negabat.'

&c. Our own familiar expression of 'The Dog-days,' is, of course, derived from the same source.

40. Praecipitur, i. e. 'is hurried on too fast '-is parched by the heat before it has attained to its full growth. 'Prae

1 Arat. ap. Cic. N. D. 2. 44. Many edd. have 'Ante Canem' connected in construction with the line preceding it.

2 According to Columella, the Sun enters Leo on 20th July; the bright star in the heart of the Lion rises on the 29th July; Cepheus rises in the evening on the 9th July.

cipere' is 'to anticipate,' 'to be beforehand with.' Compare Virg. Ecl. 3. 98

'Cogite oves, pueri, si lac praeceperit aestus,
Vt nuper, frustra pressabimus ubera palmis.'

24.

PALILIA.

FAS. IV. 721.

THIS Extract contains an account of the 'Palilia,' or festival of 'Pales,' the deity of shepherds, which was celebrated on the 21st of April (XI. Kal. Mai.), the day upon which, according to tradition, the foundations of the eternal city were laid by Romulus, the 'Dies Natalis Vrbis Romae.' The following lines, combined with Tibullus 2. 5, 87, et seqq., afford full information with regard to the ceremonies observed, the object of which was the purification or lustration first of the flocks, and then of the shepherds themselves. Two points deserve attention.

i. Doubts exist as to the gender of Pales. Virgil, Tibullus, and Ovid, speak of this divinity as a female, but with Varro1 and others 2, Pales is a male god.

ii. The greatest confusion exists in ancient MSS. wherever this festival is mentioned, with regard to the orthography. 'Parilia' is found as often as 'Palilia,' and many of the old grammarians prefer the former, which is to be taken, according to some, 'a partu pecoris,' according to others, 'a partu Iliae.' There can be little doubt, however, that the true shape is 'Palilia,' formed directly from 'Pales;' nothing is more common than the interchange of L and R in the pronunciation of words, and the corruption 'Parilia' having been once introduced, etymologists endeavoured to explain it by inventing a plausible derivation.

1. Palilia poscor, i. e. 'ordo rerum iubet me Palilia Posci verbum solenne de iis, qui canere aut dicere iubentur. Ov. Met. V. 333

canere.

1 Servius on Virg. G. 3. 1.

2 See Arnobius adv. Gent. lib. 3. 23, 40.

« PreviousContinue »