4.210–218

The bees show exceptional loyalty to their “king.” 

Bees are more devoted to their “king” than other king-loving nations, such as the Egyptians, Lydians, Parthians and Medes. The entire hive strives to preserve the king’s safety. If they lose him, they lose heart and dismantle the hive. He protects them, and they, in turn, admire and support him, lifting him on the shoulders in war and offering their lives for him. 

210-212  Praetereā…observant: Vergil names a series of kingdoms known for their reverence to their monarchs as the subjects of observant, “not to such an extent (sīc) did Egypt and vast Lydia… revere….” His examples of Egypt, Lydia, the Parthians, and the Medes are meant to evoke traditional notions of excessive eastern subservience to kings. 

210  ingēns: this may not refer so much to the size of Lydia as to the enormity of its wealth. 

211  Mēdus Hydaspēs: “The Median Hydaspes,” a river in the Punjab (now the Jhelum River) where Alexander the Great fought and won a decisive battle, which Vergil uses as a metonym for the Median empire. 

212  Rēge incolumī: ablative absolute (without a participle) (AG 419a).

212  omnibus: dative of possession; when their monarch is in control all the bees are of one mind (AG 373).

213  āmissō: supply rēge, another ablative absolute (AG 419).

213  rūpēre: 3rd person plural perfect active indicative, along with dīripuēre and solvēre in line 214 (AG 163a). The perfect tense suggests either the instantaneous nature of the dissolution of the hive, or it shows habitual action—what always happens in this situation (gnomic perfect) (AG 475).  

214  crātēs: this seems to refer to the similarity in appearance of the honeycomb to wickerwork. Vergil’s bees are not merely lost without their monarch, but they actively dismantle the hive. In reality, bees will attempt to preserve the hive, though it is indeed doomed without the introduction of a new queen.

215  Ille…illum: the “king” bee, whose job is to safeguard the work of the hive, and who is admired and supported by his “citizens.” Vergil’s bee king and his faithful community are personified throughout.

216  circumstant…frequentēs: this behavior is frequently seen—though perhaps not for the reasons Vergil suggests—especially in the winter months, as a way of keeping the hive warm and protecting it. Indeed, the queen is typically found in the center of the cluster of bees. 

216  fremitū dēnsō: ablative of manner, showing the attendant circumstance (AG 412).

217-218  et saepe…mortem: needless to say, Vergil here again personifies the bees. While honeybees will actively protect the hive (including the queen), we perhaps should not think of them as bearing the monarch on their nonexistent shoulders, throwing their bodies into harm’s way or pursuing a beautiful death.

217  attollunt: supply rēgem. 

217  umerīs: ablative of means (AG 409).

217  bellō: dative of indirect object with a compound verb (AG 370.a n.1).

218  per: “in the midst of” or “in the course of.”