tēque adeō decus hoc aevī, tē cōnsule, inībit,
Polliō, et incipient māgnī prōcēdere mēnsēs;
tē duce, sī qua manent sceleris vestīgia nostrī,
inrita perpetuā solvent formīdine terrās.
ille deum vītam accipiet dīvīsque vidēbit 15
permixtōs hērōas et ipse vidēbitur illīs,
pācātumque reget patriīs virtūtibus orbem.
notes
11–17 Under the consul Pollio’s leadership the new age will begin, the remaining marks of the civil wars will be erased, the age of heroes will return, and the boy will rule a peaceful world with his father’s virtue.
11 tēque: ablative anticipating the ablative absolute tē consule (AG 419); refers to Polliō in the next verse.
11 adeō: Vergil tends to place adeō second in a sentence to emphasize the preceding word, which here is already emphatic (Page, Clausen).
11 inībit: the future-tense and in-prefix verb stresses the initial stage of the Golden Age.
12 decus hoc aevī: subject of inībit; two meanings are possible: 1. decus hoc could refer to the boy (“this glory of the age”) and the genitive aevī shows possession (so Page); 2. or to the age itself (“this glorious age”) with the genitive aevī limiting decus hoc as a noun describing another noun in apposition (AG 343d) (so Conington, Clausen, and Cucchiarelli).
12 tē cōnsule: ablative absolute expressing time when (AG 424g) and giving the circumstances that enable the action of the main clause to take place (AG 419). Repetition of all kinds—verbal, metrical, syntactic—is an important stylistic feature of this eclogue that elevates the tone of the poem to that of a prophecy or religious incantation.
12 Polliō: vocative. Gaius Asinius Pollio was one of the prominent personalities during the transition from the Republic to the Principate, and a friend and patron of Vergil. His importance to ushering in this Golden Age is signified by enjambment and placement at the start of the verse, creating a parallel with tēque adeō and tē duce in verses 11 and 13.
12 magnī … mēnsēs: the months are called "great" because they are parts of the Great Year, which, according to the Sibylline Books, is to see the return of the golden age (Gould).
13 tē duce: ablative absolute; see tē cōnsule in verse 12.
13 qua … vestigia: = aliqua vestigia (AG 310a-b); this phrase is modified by the genitive phrase sceleris … nostrī, referring to the recent civil wars, a motif returned to and expanded upon in verse 31.
14 inrita: "nullified," "of no effect," referring to vestigia. Subject of solvent. Once the last vestiges of the crimes of the civil wars are erased, Rome will be freed from the constant fear of civil war that gripped it for a generation.
14 perpetuā … formidine: ablative of separation after solvent (AG 401).
15 ille: the boy from verse 8.
15 deum: = deōrum (AG 49g).
15–16 dīvīsque … / permixtōs heroās: heroās is a Greek accusative plural (AG 44) modified by permixtōs; dīvīsque, ablative of accompaniment (AG 413a), explains with whom the heroes were interacting.
16 illīs: dative of agent (AG 375a) referring to the gods and heroes of the previous verse.
17 pācātum: “made peaceful”; refers to the recent Treaty of Brundisium and perhaps Antony’s military conquests.
17 patriīs virtūtibus: ablative of means after pācātum. The identity of the father in question is left unclear.
vocabulary
ineō īnīre iniī/inīvī initus: begin
Polliō –ōnis m.: C. Asinius Pollio
mēnsis mēnsis m.: month
irritus –a –um: nullified, of no effect
formīdō formīdinis f.: fear
permisceō –ēre –miscuī –mixtus: to mix, mingle
hērōs –ōis m.: demigod; hero
pācātus –a –um: pacified, made peaceful
patrius –a –um: father's, paternal