Vergil, Aeneid VI 801-853

Manuscripts: M 801-813, 814-842, 843-853 | P 801-808, 809-831, 832-853 | R 801-810, 811-828, 829-846, 847-853

801-805: Augustus is compared to Hercules and Bacchus, who are the accepted types of heroic virtue used in the interests of mankind and rewarded with divine honors (Page). 808-825: Anchises points out to Aeneas the future kings of Rome and some of the heroes of the early Republic (Carter). Aeneas is shown others of his descendants, among whom Caesar and Pompey attract special attention (Pharr). 836-853: Other republican heroes pass in review. Anchises declares the greatness of Rome to lie not in art or science, but in war and the practice of government (Conington).

802–803: fīxerit licet, pācārit, tremefēcerit: concessive clauses with subjunctive (AG 527) in parataxis with licet (= quamvīs) (F-B): “though he pierced….” (Frieze). aeripedem cervam: the “bronze-footed deer” of Ceryneia in Arcadia (F-B). Brazen feet are attributed to horses by Homer and other poets, the notion being that of strength and endurance, and, as a consequence, swiftness (Conington). As his fourth labor, Hercules had pursued the stag for a year (F-B), wounded it and then caught it (Pharr) and brought it alive to Eurystheus (P-H). The point of comparison between Hercules and Augustus is the territory traversed in their respective journeys (Carter).

803: pācārit nemora: = syncopated form of pācā(ve)rit, “gave peace to the glades,” by killing the wild boar (Pharr). Hercules captured the boar of Erymanthus, and thus secured quiet to the woods (Frieze). This was his third labor (F-B). Lernam: a marsh near Argos, inhabited by the Hydra which Hercules slew (Carter); the second labor of Hercules (F-B). These exploits of Hercules were all within the limits of Arcadia, and so give no great notion of his wanderings (G-K). arcū: Vergil implies that the Hydra was shot to death, contrary to the common account, which represents the heads as crushed by Hercules’ club (Conington).

804: nec: supply tantum tellūris obīvit: “Nor [did] Liber [cover so much of the earth] who guides his chariot…” (F-B). pampineīs habēnīs: the reins were made of grapevine, as befitted the chariot of the god of wine (Carter). victor: refers to Bucchus’ success as a civilizer of mankind (Bennett). iuga flectit:  iuga, literally “yokes”, is poetically used for “chariot” (Bennett): “guides his chariot” (Page); “guides his team,” i.e., his “yoke” (iuga) of tigers (Frieze).

805: Līber: an old Italian god of fertility, identified, without any special cause, with the Greek Bacchus, god of wine, inspiration, and dramatic poetry. The triumphant march of Bacchus, in the fable, led him as far as India. His car was drawn by tigers (tigrēs) or lynxes (G-K). Hercules freed the world from monsters, Bacchus taught men the cultivation of wine; both thus contributed to the advance of civilization. The labors of Augustus are to be like theirs in kind, but greater in degree (Knapp). Nysae dē vertice: a legendary mountain identified with various places in Europe, Asia, and Africa (P-H), where Bacchus was said to have been born (Comstock) and from which he journeyed all over the world (F-B).

806: et dubitāmus …factīs: “and are we still (i.e., after contemplating the glory of Augustus) hesitating to make our worth known by deeds?” Anchises means that when they see the future glory of Augustus thus revealed, the Trojans need have no hesitation in entering upon their career in Italy (F-B). Et is the “and” of an indignant question. The change to the first person plural (dubitāmus) should be noticed: such a change from “you” to “we” is common where the speaker wishes to rebuke with gentleness, and here Anchises wishes to soften the reproach of “hesitation” which his words might seem to convey. At the same time it seems not improbable that the use of the first person here is to be explained by saying that Vergil is not so much thinking of Anchises and Aeneas as addressing an appeal with his own living voice to his fellow-Romans: as he recited the passage a gesture would suffice to show the real reference of his indignant words (Page). virtūtem: not merely “valor” but “worth”: virtūtem extendere factīs is to employ our powers actively, to see that they have free scope and opportunity for development; the opposite of it is “to hide our talent in a napkin,” to be sluggish and inactive. Some with good authority read virtūte extendere vīrēs, “by valor to extend our strength” (Page).

807: Ausoniā terrā: i.e., in Italy (Carter). prohibet terrā: supply tē; terrā is ablative of separation (AG 401) (Chase). consistere: to be distinguished from consīdere, with which it is sometimes confounded in MSS., the one referring to entrance or invasion, the other to subsequent settlement (Conington).

808: quis: Anchises asks himself the question, and then answers it (Carter); evidently no more than a rhetorical variety in the narrative. Anchises sees Numa in the distance (procul) and begins to recognize him (noscō) (Conington). rāmīs olīvae: a priest when sacrificing often wore a wreath of olive (Pharr), the badge of peace (Bennett); see 5.774: ipse caput tōnsae foliīs ēvīnctus olīvae (“his head bound with the leaves of trimmed olive”— of Aeneas in his role as priest) (G-K). ille: = Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome (Pharr).

809: sacra ferēns: “bearing the sacred vessels” (P-H), i.e., as priest (F-B). He is represented as sacrificing on account of the religious character of his legislation (P-H). Sacra are the sacred utensils of his priestly office (Bennett). menta: poetic plural (Pharr), being here metrically convenient (Knapp). incāna: applies to both crīnēs and menta (Comstock): “hoary hair and chin” (F-B). This picture of Numa with hoary hair and beard is seen on late coins. Servius has a story that Numa’s hair was hoary from his youth (Conington).

810: rēgis Rōmānī: = Numa Pompilius, a native of Cures in the Sabine country, whom the Romans regarded as the founder (cf. fundābit, 811) of their religious and legal institutions (Page). His reign was long and peaceful, and he devoted his chief care to the establishment of religion among his rude subjects (H-M). Hence he is represented as a venerable priest “offering sacrifice” (sacra ferēns, 809) and “decked with boughs of olive” (rāmīs olīvae, 808), which is the symbol of peace (Page).

The kings of Rome were: (F-B)
(1)  Romulus
(2)  Numa Pompilius
(3)  Tullus Hostilius
(4)  Ancus Martius
(5)  Tarquinius Priscus
(6)  Servius Tullius
(7)  Tarquinius Superbus

prīmam urbem: “infant city” (Page); “a young city” (P-H); “a rising city” (Comstock); “the city in its first beginnings” (Carter); “newly-founded city” (Knapp). lēgibus: religious rites especially are referred to (Carter).

811: fundābit: i.e., “make firm” (Comstock). As the first great lawgiver Numa was in one sense a second founder (P-H). Curibus: Numa was born at Cures, in the rugged Sabine country (F-B); ablative of place from which / source (AG 403) (Chase);

812: imperium magnum: an exaggeration as applied to Numa’s kingdom, but Anchises is thinking of the empire to be (Carter). subībit: “shall succeed” (Comstock).

813: ōtia: = pācem (Comstock). residēs: “the languid” (P-H).

814: Tullus: Tullus is incorporated with the relative, instead of being put with subībit (Bennett). Note the effective manner in which Tullus is brought late into the sentence, immediately before in arma (Conington). Tullus Hostilius, third king of Rome, destroyed Alba Longa (Page). He departed from the peaceful ways of Numa and aspired to the martial renown of Romulus (H-M).

815: iactantior: “vainglorious” (P-H); “rather boastful” (Comstock); “too vain” (Bennett); “too boastful” (Carter). Note the assonance in iactantior Ancus (F-B). Ancus: Ancus Martius, grandson of Numa (Carter) and fourth king of Rome (Page), Ancus Martius founded many colonies and conquered many tribes, among others the Latins to whom he gave the Aventine as a dwelling-place (H-M). Ancus was said to be founder of the plebs as an order in the state (G-K).

816: nunc quoque: “even then” before the Republic was founded (G-K); i.e., even as he will when he comes again to earth (Knapp). populāribus aurīs: “the breeze of popular favor” (Pharr); “too much pleased with the people’s favor” (Comstock); “even now too prone to catch the people’s favoring breath” (P-H). Popular favor is compared to a breeze because of its fickle and treacherous nature (Page).

817: vīs: from volō, 2^nd person singular (Pharr). Anchises addresses Aeneas, but does not wait for the answer (Carter). Anchises asks if he shall point out to Aeneas the later kings and Brutus (Conington). Tarquiniōs rēgēs: Tarquiniōs is here used adjectivally (Bennett). The fifth king was Tarquinius of Tarquinii in Etruria. He was succeeded by Servius Tullius (not specifically mentioned here but probably meant to be included in the term Tarquiniōs (Carter)), who married a daughter of the elder Tarquin (Bennett), and Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, who was banished in a rising headed by Brutus (510 B.C.), who thus avenged (ultōris) the outrage committed on Lucretia the wife of T. Collatinus by Sextus Tarquin, and recovered (receptōs) for the people the right of electing their own rulers, being himself elected first cōnsul with T. Collatinus (cf. 819) (Page). animam superbam: the “proud soul” of Brutus was a match for Tarquin the Proud (Page). The last Tarquin was called superbus, but he was driven out by the equally proud Brutus. Thus Vergil intentionally transfers the well-known epithet (F-B).

818: ultōris Brūtī: L. Junius Brutus, “the avenger” of Lucretia’s death (Bennett); he roused Rome to expel the Tarquins and founded the Republic (Comstock), avenging at the same time the injuries done to his family (Carter). fascēs receptōs: “the rescued ensigns of power” (Chase); “the fasces retrieved” (i.e., from the kings) (P-H). The fascēs were the symbols of the government and sovereignty (Bennett); they were bundles of rods and an axe, borne by the lictors before the highest officer, as the symbol of imperium, or supreme authority. Brutus wrested the imperium from the kings and restored it to the aristocracy (G-K). Twelve lictors preceded the kings carrying a bundle of rods (fascēs) and an axe as the token of their power to inflict scourging and death. Later the axe was only carried with the fascēs when the consul was at the head of an army in the field (Page). Receptōs seems to be used like recipere ex hoste. So at the beginning of Livy, Book 2, Brutus is made to say lībertātem recuperātam esse (Conington).

819: cōnsulis: join with both accusatives (imperium and sēcūrēs) (Knapp). hic prīmus: = Brūtus. According to tradition Brutus and Collatinus were the first co-consuls (Carter). saevās secūrēs: “ruthless axes,” i.e., sternly just; explained by nātōs…vocābit (Comstock). The secūrēs were symbolic of power, like the fascēs in which the secūrēs were carried (Bennett). Compare Lucretius 3.996: petere ā populō fascēs saevāsque sēcūrēs (“to seek of the people the fasces and the cruel axes”) (P-H).

820: nātōsque pater: juxtaposition for emphasis (Page). nova bella moventēs: “fomenting civil war”: the sons of Brutus plotted for the return of the expelled kings and were executed by their father (Pharr); the war that would inevitably have arisen had their attempt been successful (Carter). The story was that the sons of Brutus entered into a conspiracy to restore the hated Tarquins and that Brutus as consul put them to death for their crime (Bennett). Nova may either mean “sudden and unexpected” or “renewed,” because the object of the sons of Brutus was to bring back the Tarquins (Conington).

821: pulchrā prō lībertāte vocābit: “shall condemn [them] in exchange for glorious liberty” (Bennett). The use of pulchrā, combined with the alliteration and weighty rhythm of the verse, shows that Vergil is speaking with fervor on a lofty theme (F-B).

822: utcumque ferent minōrēs: “however posterity may interpret that deed” (Bennett); “however after-ages may speak of this deed.” Ferō is often used of carrying things by word of mouth (Knapp). In these words Anchises admits the cruelty of the act, but immediately excuses it on the ground of patriotism (G-K). This verse implies that in later times, perhaps in Vergil’s days, the act of Brutus had been criticized; the act of the Liberators may well have caused a reconsideration of the whole history of the Bruti (Knapp).

823: vincet amor patriae…: “his love of country will prevail”, i.e., over his feelings as a father (Bennett). laudum cupīdō: in a good sense, “desire for glory” (Bennett); here “an honorable ambition”. Hence it is not inconsistent with 822, which declares that Brutus cares nothing for fame (Knapp). Laudum is objective genitive (AG 347).

824: Deciōs: the Decii, father, son, and grandson, solemnly devoted themselves to death, each to win a doubtful battle, in the war with the Latins, with the Samnites, and with Pyrrhus respectively (G-K). P. Decius Mus was the name of two plebeian consuls who solemnly devoted themselves to death in battle, the father in 340 B.C. in a war against the Latins, the son in 295 B.C. in the battle of Sentinum against the Gauls (Page). Drūsōs: M. Drusus Salinator was a consul with C. Claudius Nero and defeated Hasdrubal at the river Metaurus in 207 B.C. The mention of Drusus is intended as a compliment to Livia Drusilla, the wife of Augustus (Page). The “Drusi,” a respectable but not eminent family, are here mentioned in compliment to Livia, wife of Augustus (G-K) and her son Drusus, of whom Augustus was very fond (F-B).

825: Torquātum: T. Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus was called “Torquatus” from slaying a gigantic Gaul (in 361 B.C.) and taking the chain (torques) he wore round his neck (Page). When consul in 340 B.C. he put his own son to death for disobeying orders in war (hence saevum secūrī, “cruel with the axe,” 824) (G-K). referentem signa: the standards captured by the Gauls from the Romans at the battle of the Allia, 387 B.C., but recovered by Camillus, who defeated the Gauls shortly thereafter (Pharr). Camillum: Furius Camillus rescued Rome from the Gauls, who had taken it under Brennus in 390 B.C. (Page). Furius Camillus (the conqueror of Veii), returning from banishment, drove back the victorious Gauls, winning back the conquered standards which had been lost (referentem signa) (G-K).

826–827: illae animae: = Iūlius Caesar et Pompēius (Carter). Pompey married Julia the daughter of Caesar, but she died in 54 B.C.; he was defeated by Caesar at Pharsalia in 48 B.C. (Pharr).

826: paribus in armīs: Pompey and Caesar, both Roman generals “in equal arms,” since their power was about equal (G-K); “in like armor,” i.e., both in Roman arms, indicating civil war (Page), in which they will both be great rival generals (Comstock). fulgere: this verb is usually of the second conjugation (fulgēre), but here the older (third conjugation) form is used for the sake of the meter (Pharr). This older form of the verb is found in Lucretius (P-H).

827: concordēs animae: Pompey and Caesar are living together peacefully enough as shades in the underworld (Carter). et: connecting nunc and dum nocte premuntur (Bennett). dum nocte premuntur: “while darkness imprisons them” (Page). Nocte is a general term for the lower world as distinguished from the world of light and sunshine (Pharr). Here premere = continēre, “to restrain” from emerging into the upper world (Conington).

828: sī: = cum, “when” (Carter). lūmina vītae: the light of life on earth contrasted with the darkness (nocte, 827) of the lower world (Carter). Lūmina is accusative (Comstock).

829: aciēs: = bella (Comstock), “battles” (F-B).

830: aggeribus Alpīnīs: the Alps are thought of as a wall barring out invaders from Italy (Knapp).The “Alpine ramparts” formed the barrier of Italy on the north (Page), the land beyond which Caesar had occupied for nine years in his Gallic campaigns (Pharr). When the Civil War began, Caesar was proconsul of Gaul; hence he is represented as “descending from the ramparts of the Alps” (Bennett). The legions with which Caesar crushed Pompey were those which had served with him in Gaul (58–50 B.C.) (Page). socer: = Caesar, Pompey’s “father-in-law” (Pharr). Caesar’s daughter Julia was the third and best beloved wife of Pompey. She died in 54 B.C. while Caesar was in Gaul (G-K). arce Monoecī: “the fortress” (P-H) or “the mountain-height of Monoecus,” modern Monoco on the French Riviera (Carter), where there was a promontory and a temple, whence arx (Conington). Monoecus is put by synecdoche for Gaul, whence Caesar passed into Italy (F-B). Caesar actually did not pass near Monoecus upon his return to Italy at the outbreak of the Civil War (Bennett), but Vergil is a poet, not a historian (P-H). Note the assonance (F-B).

831: dēscendēns: it was with his Gallic legions “coming down from the Alpine ramparts” that Caesar conquered Pompey (Knapp). gener: = Pompēius, Caesar’s “son-in-law.” Its juxtaposition with adversīs emphasizes the break-down of their familial and political relationship. adversīs īnstrūctus Eōīs: supply agminibus (F-B): “drawn up against him with eastern troops” (Bennett); “meeting him in battle with Eastern arms” (P-H); “arrayed against him with the forces of the East”; literally “with opposing Eastern [forces].” The forces of Pompey were largely drawn from the East (i.e., Greece and Asia Minor (F-B)) where he had held military command from 66 to 61 B.C. (Page).

832: puerī: “my children” (Chase); “my sons” (F-B). Anchises thinks of them as warriors in their prime and so as younger than himself. They are his “children,” too, as being his descendants (Knapp). adsuescite: “make familiar” (Comstock); the expression seems to refer to the naturally humane temper of both the rivals (G-K). nē tanta animīs adsuescite bella: “steel not your hearts to such warfare”; a case of hypallage (an interchange in the relations of words (Pharr)) for animōs adsuescite bellīs (F-B). Perhaps we may say that the inversion calls more attention to the gentleness of their natures as a positive quality from which war is made to recoil: but we must not refine needlessly (Conington).

833: validās in vīscera vertite vīrēs: the heavy beat of the repeated v is intended to express the strength of the strokes (Page).

834: tū prior: Caesar should “first refrain,” because “the more illustrious can better afford to forgive” (Comstock); “forbear.” Caesar granted an amnesty after the battle of Thapsus (F-B). genus quī dūcis Olympō: = Caesar, descendant, through Iulus, Aeneas, Anchises, and Venus, of Jupiter himself. The appeal to Caesar is a compliment; the greater can afford to take the initiative towards measures of peace (Knapp).

835: sanguis meus: “[for you are] my blood” (Comstock); nominative for vocative, which perhaps was thought too familiar and colloquial (Conington). The gēns Iūlia claimed descent from Iulus the grandson of Anchises (Page).

836: ille: deictic, “yonder hero” (Page). The conquerors of Greece are now introduced, that being naturally one of the chief achievements of Rome in the eye of a Trojan (Conington). Ille refers to L. Mummius, surnamed Achaicus (Page), who conquered and sacked Corinth in 146 B.C. (Carter). The triumph of Mummius was peculiarly famous for the splendor of the booty and works of art carried in procession (Conington). triumphātā: here transitive in the sense of “triumph over” (G-K); modifies Corinthō which, though 2^nd declension, is feminine; together they form an ablative absolute (AG 419) (Chase). Capitōlia ad alta: i.e., in triumphal procession (Comstock); plural for singular (F-B). Triumphal processions came into the city from the Campus Martius, passed around the Forum, and moved up to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus (Knapp). The temple of Jupiter on the Capitol was the goal of triumphal processions. Here were deposited the chief trophies of victory (Bennett).

837: cursum: alluding to the chariot in which a triumphant general rides in the well-known triumphal procession (G-K). caesīs īnsignis: “famous for the slaughter of” (Comstock); caesīs is ablative of respect / specification (AG 418).

838: ille: probably a reference to L. Aemilius Paullus, who in 168 B.C. conquered the Macedonian king Perseus at Pydna (Carter); it is possible that Vergil is purposely vague here (Page). Argōs Agamemnōniāsque Mycēnās: Argos and Mycenae, ancient seats of Greek power, represent Greece as a whole (F-B). Their mention here must be regarded as rhetorical amplification (Page), singled out because of their connection with the destruction of Troy (Bennett).

839: Aeacidēn: a patronymic usually applied to Pyrrhus, king of Epirus (306–272 B.C.), but here to Perseus, who, as king of Macedonia, claimed to be descended from Achilles, the grandson of Aeacus. Descendants of the Trojans, therefore, are destined to conquer the descendants of the great Greek captain (F-B). The defeat of Perseus did not, to be sure, involve the conquest of all Greece, for Corinth and the Peloponnesus were yet to be taken, but Aemilius’ victory was a very famous one, and Vergil is writing as a poet rather than with strict historical accuracy (Knapp).

840: avōs: i.e., the Trojans who had suffered at Troy (Carter). templa et temerāta Minervae: “and Minerva’s outraged shrine” (F-B). The temple was “desecrated” (Comstock) by Ajax son of Oileus, who on the night of the capture of Troy carried off from it Cassandra, who had taken refuge at the altar (cf. 2.403 ff.) (Page), and “violated” by the theft of the Palladium by the Greeks (cf. 2.165 ff.) (Carter).

841: magne Catō: old M. Porcius Cato “the Censor” (184 B.C.), who died in 149 B.C. at the age of 85; the famous opponent of Carthage (Page), and a sturdy advocate of old Roman simplicity (F-B); the hero of Cicero’s Dē Senectūte (Carter). tacitum: in a strict participial sense = quī tacētur (Conington): “untold” (Page); “unsung” (P-H); “unnoticed” (Comstock); “unmentioned” (Bennett); “unheralded.” In poetry taceō is often transitive, “to keep silence about” (Knapp). Cosse: Aulus Cornelius Cossus slew Lars Tolumnius, king of the Veii, in battle in 436 B.C. and dedicated his arms as trophies to Jupiter. Such personal trophies, taken by a Roman general from the hostile leader, were known as spolia opīma. In Roman history they had been taken only once before Cossus’ day, namely by Romulus (Bennett); the third and last time was attributed to M. Claudius Marcellus (see line 855) (P-H).

842: Gracchī genus: “the Gracchan line” (Knapp). The two most famous Gracchi were the renowned tribunes of the people (and champions of popular rights (Bennett)), Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and his brother Gaius, killed in 133 and 121 B.C. respectively. Possibly Vergil is not so much thinking of these famous reformers as of an earlier Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, twice consul (in 215 and 212 B.C.) in the Second Punic War (Page). The father of “the Gracchi” earned a triumph for victory over the Celtiberi in 178 B.C. (P-H). geminōs duo fulmina bellī: “that pair, two thunderbolts of war, the Scipios” (Comstock). P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major defeated Hannibal at Zama in 202 B.C. and died in 183 B.C.; his adopted son Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Minor (son of Aemilius Paullus) destroyed Carthage in 146 B.C. Lucretius (3.1034) has Scīpiadēs, bellī fulmen Carthāginis horror (“the Scipios, the lightning bolt of war [and] the terror of Carthage”) (Page).

843: Scīpiadās: a hybrid word employed for metrical reasons (P-H); = Scīpionēs (Pharr). clādem Libyae: Libyae = Africae (or Carthāginis (Carter)) which cannot be used in dactylic verse (F-B): “the scourge of Libya” (Comstock); “destruction of Libya,” i.e., their victories over Carthage were notable (Pharr). Libyae is objective genitive (AG 347). parvōque potentem: “strong in poverty” (F-B); “rich in poverty” (Pharr); “with little great.” The contrast is between the “greatness” of his public services and the “smallness” of his private means. Fabricius and Serranus are types of the old Roman generals, who left the ploughshare to lead an army and then returned to it again (Page).

844: Fabricium: C. Fabricius Luscinius, consul in 282 and 278 B.C., in the war against Pyrrhus was famous for the stern simplicity of his life and the firmness with which he refused the bribes of Pyrrhus (Page). Serrāne: C. Atilius Regulus Serranus, consul in 257 B.C., in the First Punic War defeated the Carthaginians off the Liparaean Islands (Page). Note the alliteration (and word play (H-M)) of sulcō Serrāne serentem, referring to the tradition that he was sowing grain when news was brought to him of his election as consul (Pharr).

845: quō Fabiī…rapitis: supply mē (Knapp). “Whither do ye whirl me, oh Fabii, wearied as I am?” (F-B); a device for cutting short a list which is growing tedious. A long array of heroes of the great Fabian gēns is supposed to claim the poet’s attention, but the poet is “weary” (fessum) and selects only him who was “the Greatest” (Maximum) (Page). tū: Anchises points to the proper shade or spirit, as he had done when he said ille (808), illae (826), ille (836, 838) (Knapp). Maximus: was a cognomen of the Fabia Gēns, first borne, according to Livy (9.46) by Q. Fabius, a general in the Samnite war of 303 B.C. The one here referred to is the celebrated Q. Fabius Maximus Cunctator (appointed dictator in 217 B.C. following Rome’s disastrous defeat at Lake Trasimene), who wore out Hannibal by his cautious tactics (P-H), by “delaying” (cūnctandō) and by continually hampering his movements while avoiding a pitched battle (Page).

846: ūnus quī nōbīs:  this line is a close reproduction of one in the Annālēs of Ennius: ūnus homō nōbīs cūnctandō restituit rem (“one man restored the state to us by delaying”) (F-B), and is clearly a famous one, being quoted also by Cicero (Page). It refers to his method of waging war, whence he was called Cūnctātor (G-K). rem: supply pūblicam, “the State” (Carter). Note the monosyllabic line ending, common in early poetry (F-B).

847: excūdent: “shall [if they wish] beat out”; the concessive future is used instead of the more usual subjunctive. Here it is more appropriate, as being the language of the prophecy (Conington). Strictly a prophecy, but used here to concede for the sake of argument something which, being still in the future is really debatable; in other words the future indicative here really has the sense of quamvīs or licet with a subjunctive (Knapp). aliī…(seq.): The reference is to the Greeks, the acknowledged masters of the Romans in the arts, sciences, oratory and literature (Pharr). spīrantia aera: bronze statues so lifelike that they seem to breathe (Pharr). mollius: supply quam tū, Rōmāne (Knapp): “with softer grace” (Bennett); “with finer touch” (Comstock). The word indicates that the lines of the statue are soft, flowing, smooth, and natural: the opposite is dūrius, which describes what is hard, still, unnatural (Page); referring to the soft, smooth lines which gives to the whole the appearance of real flesh (F-B).

848: crēdō equidem: here almost with the force of cēdō (Conington): “I doubt not” (Bennett); "I can well believe it," i.e., I admit it (Comstock). The words have a concessive force: the concession is, however, only made in order to bring out more forcibly by contrast the claim which follows in 851–853 (Page). dūcent: “shape” (Comstock). Dūcere is generally used of modelling any ductile material, such as clay; here, however, of “bringing out” the lineaments of the face from marble (Page). Dūcere applies strictly to yielding materials, like metal, clay, or wax; its use here suggests that marble itself is pliable in the hands of a consummate artist (G-K). dē marmore vultūs: i.e., portrait statues of marble. Too modest a disclaimer, since Roman artists attained great skill in portraiture (Carter).

849: ōrābunt causās melius: "plead cases better" (Comstock). This statement has perplexed commentators and critics who cannot understand why Vergil should have conceded to Greece superiority in oratory, and in some cases they insinuate that he must have been jealous of the fame of Cicero. But Vergil’s concession is made in a liberal and magnificent spirit, in order that the real fame of his countrymen as warriors and statesmen may appear greater (Conington).

849–850: caelī meātūs dēscrībent: “mark out the paths of heaven” (Comstock); "the movements of heaven" (Pharr). Caelī here by metonymy for “the heavenly bodies” (Knapp). Vergil refers to science, especially astronomy, from which he instances the tracing of the sun’s course through the zodiac, and a knowledge of the rising of the stars (F-B). radiō: “rods” or “pointers” (Knapp) with which students of geometry and astronomy drew diagrams on a sand-surface (Comstock). surgentia sīdera dīcent: dīcent = vocābunt (Pharr), with the force of praedīcent (Bennett). It seems to mean, “will fix” or “predict the risings of the stars” (Conington).

851: mementō: "make it thy task" (Comstock); a forceful substitute for the future of positive statement which would naturally follow 847–850 (Knapp). The infinitives regere, impōnere, parcere and dēbellāre are dependent on mementō. populōs: “subject nations” (Comstock). Rōmāne: the singular has a collective force (Bennett), addressed to the Roman people in general (Page).

852: hae…artēs: parenthetical; ars or artēs, is a common expression for pursuits or appliances of any kind: here however there is probably a reference to its stricter sense. “These shall be your arts,” i.e., these shall stand to you in the place of sculpture, eloquence, and astronomy (Conington). tibi: “your,” emphatic, i.e., in place of sculpture, eloquence, and astronomy (Comstock). pācīque [pācisque?] mōrem: All the best manuscripts appear to give pācī; what pācī impōnere mōrem should mean it is difficult to say. Is pācī the dative of purpose or result? Servius, reading pācis mōrem, explains it as lēgēs pācis; but lēgēs pācis means no more than the terms or conditions of peace. Pācis mōrem must mean the “law or settled custom of peace”; this the Romans are represented as imposing on the nations; in other words, as compelling the nations to live according to the rule of peace and not of war. The Pax Rōmāna is to be the law of the world. Mōrem, a “rule” or “custom,” must be carefully distinguished from mōrēs, “habits” (Conington). impōnere: supply victīs: “to impose law (= settled habit) [upon the conquered]” (Comstock), i.e., to follow conquest by civilization (Carter). Impōnere is generally used of imposing something onerous, as labor, taxes, tribute, or the like; so too lēgēs impōnere is common. This phrase, however, is almost an instance of oxymoron: what is imposed is not a burden but a blessing, not a law enforced by pressure but a “habit” or “custom” developing naturally under new and favorable conditions (Page). Vergil is thinking of the beneficent rule of Augustus, who brought peace to the world, and then to that peaceful world gave the blessings of law and order, in a word, civilization (F-B).

853: parcere subiectīs: subiectīs is dative object of parcere (AG 367). Compare Livy 30.42, where the Carthaginian ambassadors say of the Romans, plūs paene parcendō victīs quam vincendō imperium auxisse (“that their empire has grown almost more by sparing the defeated than by conquering [them]”) (Conington). dēbellāre: “crush” (Comstock).