Nec non Ausonii, Troia gens missa, coloni oiled skin of the he-goat which had been 385.] This and the following lines appear to refer to the 'Fescennina licentia' (Hor. 2 Ep. 1. 140) after the vintage, and not to the Liberalia at Rome on the 13th of March. It is not necessary to take v. 390 as referring to a particular year. 'Troia gens missa is a foreshadowing of the Aeneid, at the same time that it intimates here that the Italian festivities are not borrowed from Greece. 386.] Versibus incomptis,' perhaps the "horridus ille Saturnius numerus of Horace, 2 Ep. 1. 157, which, whatever may have been its precise nature, a question about which there is a very great variety of opinion, too great to be even glanced at here, appears to have been the national metre of Italy before the introduction of the metres of Greece; though even this is disputed by some, who maintain that no one kind of metre was designated by the epithet, which they consider to have been a term of as vague and general application as incomptus here, as we should say 'old world.' 387.] Corticibus cavatis' is the ablative of the material. Comp. 1. 262, 66 cavat arbore lintres." "Os' for the mask, like πρόσωπον. 388.] Per carmina laeta' may be either in the course of,' 'as they sing glad hymns,' or 'invoke you by glad hymns.' 389.] Oscilla (dim. of 'os' through osculum') were faces of Bacchus which were hung on trees that they might turn every way with the wind in order to spread fertility every way. See Dict. Ant. 'Oscillum,' where a representation of the 'oscilla' is given from an ancient gem. Serv. mentions various opinions, one of them connecting oscilla' with the Attic apa (Dict. A.), a festival which seems to have been οὐδὲν πρὸς Διόνυσον, another of a 385 390 more mystic nature, which supposes the 391.] Conplentur,' 'teem.' Lucretius uses the word of the conception of women. There seems no sufficient reason to restrict the description in this line to vineyards, though such a restriction would accord with vv. 4 foll., which are somewhat parallel. 395 Et ductus cornu stabit sacer hircus ad aram, of the national measure: see on v. 386. 395.] Ductus,' implying that the animal was led, not dragged, which was unlucky, and 'stabit' (comp. 'statuo,' 'constituo") are words appropriate to sacrifice, though we need not suppose with the commentators that their use here necessarily denotes that the offering would be propitious. 'Sacer,' 'devoted.' 396.] Colurnis:' Serv. says that hazel spits were used because the hazel was injurious to the vine. Comp. v. 299. 397-419.] The dressing of the vine is an interminable labour: the ground has constantly to be broken up: when the leaves are shed the work of pruning begins: fastenings have to be provided: and when pruning and tying up are over, you have still to use the hoe, and still live in dread of storms.' 397.] Curandis:' this word is used by Cato, R. R. 33, for all the operations subsequent to planting- dressing.' 'Alter' must refer to what has just gone before, 'Terendae sepes etiam,' &c. With the first words of the line comp. 3. 425. 398.] Exhausti' the participle is construed like a substantive. As Serv. says, 'exhausti'='exhaustionis.' Comp. such usages as Prius quam incipias consulto; et ubi consulueris mature facto opus est," Sall. Cat. 1. In prose we might have had 'cuius numquam satis exhaustum est.' But here, apparently for the sake of poetic variation, the participle instead of being the predicate is made the genitive, while the labour is in a manner personified and made the exacting power. 'Which is never satisfied by exhaustion.' 6 Namque' is used here in a sense approaching that of its cognate 'nempe.' So yάp is used after a pronoun in Greek. Wund. comp. Thuc. 1. 3, dŋλoï dé μοι καὶ τόδε . . . πρὸ γὰρ κ.τ.λ. 399.] It seems doubtful whether both these clauses are to be understood of the 'bidens,' the prongs of which are used to loosen the ground, the back, 'versis,' to break the clods so turned up, or whether a distinction is intended between ploughing and hoeing, the former of which processes is to be frequently repeated, the latter never intermitted. Supposing the distinction to be meant, Virgil will be speaking of the two kinds of vineyards, calculated respectively for ploughing and digging: see on v. 355. 'Scindere' is commonly used of the plough, 1. 50., 3. 160. Col. 4. 4 says that the number of times the soil ought to be loosened cannot be defined-the more the better. 401.] Nemus' like 'silvis,' v. 404, and perhaps umbra,' v. 410, seems to be used of the supporting trees in the 'arbustum,' as in v. 308 above. It may be doubted whether labor actus' is to be taken with Heyne and others of past labour, the same tasks recurring yearly, or ' actus' connected with in orbem,' 'moving in a ring.' In vv. 516 foll. we have the other side of the picture, the constant succession of the fruits of the husbandman's toil. 402] Atque' this is one of those instances where the copulative is employed in the place of a conjunction denoting a more special connexion. Perhaps the largest number of these instances is where the relation intended is that of time, 'et' or 'atque' standing in the place of 'cum.' Here it is that of accordance, atque' having the force of even as.' Comp. the use of 'atque' in comparisons, and in such expressions as 'simul atque.' The usage is one which belongs to the ante-logical period of language, whence it is naturally adopted by the poets. Here we may say that the sense is as though the clauses had been inverted,- The year rolls round and the husbandman's labours come round again with it.' Comp. the Greek viavrós, as explained by Plato (Crat. p. 410 d), and the less questionable expla Ac iam olim seras posuit cum vinea frondes nation of 'annus' as originally meaning a 403.] 'Iam olim :' the choice seems to lie between taking' iam olim ' together as equivalent to 'iamdudum' and to 'iam tum' below (comp. áλai), and connecting 'olim' with 'cum,' in the sense of illo tempore cum,' as in Plaut. Trin. 2. 4. 122, " Primum omnium, olim terra quom proscinditur In quinto quoque sulco moriuntur boves," and like "olim ubi," A. 5. 125. Each way seems open to some objection. Olim' for 'dudum' is apparently post-Augustan; while 'olim cum' appears to be used for indefinite, not for definite occurrences. Comp. howcum olim,' 3. 302. Posuit,' 'has Comp. 3. 437, "positis novus ex ever shed.' uviis." 406.] For 'rusticus' Rom. has 'agricola.' 'Curvo Saturni dente:' Saturn was regularly represented with a pruning-knife in his hand. Juv. 13. 39 represents him as assuming it after his expulsion from his throne. 'Dens' is used of any curved implement. See Forcellini. 'Relictam ' may be either 'stripped of its foliage' (for which however it is difficult to find an exact parallel), or, as Serv. takes it, the vine which he has left, in other words 'he returns to the vine.' 407.] Persequitur likeinsectabere' of exterminating weeds, 1. 155, 'insequitur' of following up sowing by levelling the soil, ib. 105. It is conceivable however that Virgil may have wished to imitate the Greek use of diareλeiv with a participle. Fingitque putando:' comp. A. 6. 80, " fingitque premendo," 'moulds it to his will.' The word is specially used of clay moulded by the potter. Comp. Pers. 3. 24, "Nunc, nunc properandus et acri Fingendus sine fine rota," and the word 'figulus.' 'Pu ; 405 410 tando: Col. (4. 4) includes under this term the 'ablaqueatio,' which consisted in laying open the roots and cutting away all within a foot and a half of the surface. Cerda however understands 'attondens' here of ' ablaqueatio.' 408.] Digging was constantly to go on, so that he that began first would do best: carting away and burning the branches is an occupation which suits no one time more than other, and so the sooner it is done the better; the vine-poles, if allowed to remain out, would suffer from the weather. Taubm. quotes Cato 5, who lays down as a general rule "Opera omnia mature conficias face: nam res rustica sic est: si unam rem sero feceris, opera omnia sero feceris." On the other hand, the more thoroughly ripe the grapes, as Keightley says, the better the wine. 409.]Sarmenta,' the prunings of the vine. Festus derives the word from an ancient verb 'sarpo,'' to prune,' probably connected with apn. In a secondary sense it is used simply for the branches of the vine. Devecta,' as in v. 207. 'Vallos,' 'the vine-poles.' Varro, R. R. 1. 8, “Ibi dominus simul ac vidit occipitium vindemiatoris furcillas reducit hibernatum in tecta, ut sine sumptu earum opera altero anno uti possit." It would seem at first sight that 'vallos' must refer to espalier vines. But comp. vv. 358-361, where 'sudes' is convertible with 'vallos.' 410.] Metito,' of vines, like 'seges,' serere,' ''semina.' Heyne. Comp. 4. 231, where' messis' is used of collecting honey. 'Bis' in spring and autumn. 'Umbra' may refer to the shade of the elm or other supporting tree. Col. 4. 27 however uses 'umbras conpescere,' speaking of the foliage of the vine. 411.] Segetem,' 'the vineyard,' or perhaps the vines. 'Obducunt' is rather for the former. 'Sentibus,' 'briars.' 'Herbae' must be used in a wide sense, as in Cic. De Div. 1. 34, " Herbae asperae et agrestes." The weeding (runcatio') Durus uterque labor: laudato ingentia rura, appears to have taken place at the same times as the pruning. 412.] Uterque labor:' not the double labour in spring and autumn, but the double labour of 'pampinatio' and 'runcatio.' 'Laudato... colito:' the form of the expression is evidently taken from Hesiod, Works 643, Nñ' bλiyny aiveiv, μεγάλη δ' ἐνὶ φορτία θέσθαι, where it is not easy to see the point of the epigram. Here the point is obvious, the larger estate being 'prima facie' the best, and large estates being the fashion in Italy, as we learn from Pliny 18. 6, who complains that in his time the 'latifundia had ruined Italy. 'Laudato' does not itself mean 'reiicito;' if it did there would be no force in the antithesis. Still the same feeling is at the root of this use of the word and that of naiveiv in Gr. singly for to decline, the feeling, namely, which appears in our use of the word compliment.' The connexion here is that as the work is so exacting, a small estate is better than a large one. Col. 1. 3, §§ 8 foll., after quoting these words of Virgil, says, "Quippe acutissimam gentem Poenos dixisse convenit, imbecilliorem agrum quam agricolam esse debere, quoniam, cum sit colluctandum cum eo, si fundus praevaleat, allidi dominum. Nec dubium quin minus reddat laxus ager non recte cultus, quam angustus eximie." He speaks of the old Roman feeling against dividing conquered lands among a few, "nec magis quia superbum videbatur tantum loci detinere, quam quia flagitiosum, quos hostis profugiendo desolasset agros, novo more civem Romanum supra vires patrimonii possidendo deserere ;" and contrasts the modern practice, " praepotentium, qui possident finis gentium, quos ne circumire equis quidem valent, sed proculcandos pecudibus, et vastandos ac populandos feris derelinquunt, aut occupatos nexu civium et ergastulis tenent." 413.] Rusci,' butchers' broom. Butchers' broom, reeds, and willows are to be cut for tying up the vine. 415 415.] Salicti:' comp. 1. 265, “Aut Amerina parat lentae retinacula viti." "Inculti' would seem to show that the 'cura' can be only that of cutting them : but they also required pruning, Pliny 17. 20. 416.] Reponunt' 'reponi sinunt.' The language passes from precept to the liveliness of narrative. us. 417.] This is the reading of Rom. and Med. restored by Wagn. Heyne, with all the edd. after the Aldine, gives 'extremos effoetus,' which is apparently found in Pal. The MSS. exhibit great variety, ringing changes on the order of the words, on 'effoetus' and 'effectus,' and on the terminations 'os' and It is not clear whether antes' means lines' or 'plots.' That it denotes some regular order appears from Cato, De Re Militari, quoted by Philarg., " Pedites quatuor agminibus equites duobus antibus duces." Effectos,' 'completed.' So Quinct. 10. 5 opposes ' materia effecta' to inchoata.' The rows are said to be completed because the vine-dresser has been through all and done what is necessary for each. Extremus,' 'the last.' Comp. v. 410, "Postremus metito." The vine-dresser sings like the frondator,' E. 1. 57. 418.] Tamen :' 'after all this work is done you will still have to stir the ground,' &c. The 'pulveratio' appears to have been a distinct process founded on the belief that dust was beneficial to vines. Palladius (Mart. 7) says that the process requires repeating at the beginning of every month from March till October. Pliny (17. 22) says, “Fossione pulverem excitatum contra soles nebulasque prodesse." Comp. also Col. Arb. 12. This notion may be referred to in the next line, as metuendus' of course implies that precautions must be taken. 419.] It may be doubted whether 'metuendus uvis' here, like 'apibus metuenda,' 4. 37, means 'an object of terror to the grapes,' or 'an object of terror [to the vine-dresser] for the grapes.' Contra non ulla est oleis cultura; neque illae Poma quoque, ut primum truncos sensere valentis 420-425.] 'Olives on the contrary want no tending, when once fairly started. Plough the ground, and it will do all for them.' 420.]Non ulla' is a rhetorical exaggeration. They do not need the same constant attention as the vine. 420 425 430 this only,'' this will be enough,' especially as 'pinguem et placitam Paci' seem to express the effect of nutritor' ("nutritor ut pinguis sit," &c. E. 6. 4 note). 'Do this, and rear the olive to the fatness which makes it Peace's darling.' 'Nutritor:' a solitary instance of the deponent nu 421.] 'Tenacis,'' tearing up the ground,' trior,' which however Priscian 8. 798 like the bidens.' 422.] Haeserunt arvis:' when they have been once transplanted from the seminarium,' Heyne. ‘Aurasque tulerunt:' so "contemnere ventos," v. 360. Comp. also vv. 332-335. The meaning here is when they are strong enough to weather the breezes. 423.] Satis,' the dat. of 'sata,' put for olives, as for vines above, v. 350. There seems no ground for making a distinction between 'dente unco' and 'vomere.' 'Dens' may stand for 'vomer,' as we have "vomeris dentem," 1. 262. Comp. dentale.' 424.] Cum vomere :''cum' seems here to express close connexion not so much of time as of causation, a sense which may be illustrated by the opposite 'sine.' We might say as sure as the ploughshare is put in the ground.' Some read 'quum vomere,' sc. recluditur,' making an antithesis betweendente unco,' which they interpret 'bidente' and 'vomere.' But this is very flat, and no opposition can be imagined between humorem' and 'gravidas fruges.' Col. (5. 9, § 12) however recommends the use both of the plough and of the 'bidens.' In the same chapter he gives a precept (§ 15), "Nam veteris proverbii meminisse convenit; eum, qui aret olivetum, rogare fructum ; qui stercoret, exorare; qui caedat (putet) cogere." 425.] Hoc' is generally taken on this account,' like 7 in Homer, a usage found in Lucretius and Horace; but I greatly prefer understanding it with Benson and Martyn, by this,' sc. 'arando,' 'with this and declares to have been in use among the older writers. 426-428.] Fruit trees too, when they have got their strength, take care of themselves.' 426.] The metaphor seems to be from an adult man feeling his limbs strong under him. It is carried on through the rest of the sentence. 427.] Raptim' 'rapide.' See on 1. 409. With the sense comp. vv. 80 foll. 428.] Que' couples the adverbial substantive with the adverbial adjective. Comp. A. 6. 640, "Largior hic campos aether et lumine vestit Purpureo." 'Que' is however omitted by some MSS., including Rom. 429-457.] The forest trees have their uses too, the small as well as the great, so that men may well take heart and cultivate them-nay, they are even worthier than the vine, which may be a curse as well as a blessing.' 429.] 'Nec minus' equally with the trees that have been named. 'Interea,' while man is occupied with other things; so in the next line inculta' is emphatic. There seems to be no reference to the 'arbustum' in 'nemus,' as we might be tempted to suppose from vv. 308, 323, 401. The word appears to be used generally of the trees of the forest in their natural unculti vated state, as man is afterwards recommended to give them the benefit of culture. Fetu... gravescit :' imitated from Lucr. 1. 253, "crescunt ipsae fetuque gravantur." 430.] Aviaria,' properly an artificial |