hunc saltem everso iuvenem succurrere saeclo 500 500. 'Hunc saltem : ' as the gods had 505. 'Ubi' = ‘apud quos,' sc. 'hosnatched away Caesar. * Saeculum' an- mines.' swers exactly to the age.' Quippe’assigns the reason why heaven ['Iuvenem :' he was only nineteen grudges Caesar to so thankless a sphere. when he began his career in 44 B.C., as he Versum,' inverted, not overturned. observes himself, Mon. Ancyr. I, and his Comp. Hor. Epod. v 87, 88. Venena youth is emphasized by Cicero('adulescens magnum fas nefasque non valent Conver. vel puer potius,' etc.) and Virgil E. I 43, tere humanam vicem,' [Ov. M. Vi 585, writing not long after. Later writers con- fasque nefasque confusura ruit.'-H. N.] tinue the idea, as Virgil here, Horace Od. 506. 'Aratro’is probably dative. “The 1 ii 41 (probably B.c. 29): a hieroglyphic plough has none of its due honour.' inscr. at Philae, dated B.C. 29, calls him * Honos erit huic quoque pomo,' E. II 53. 'the beautiful youth,' and his youthful But it might possibly be the abl. “The head appears on his coins after 27 B.C. plough is thought worthy of no honour.' Contrast Shakespeare's 'peevish school- The language is like A. VII 635, “Vo. boy.') meris huc et falcis honos, huc omnis 502. Hor. (Od. 11 iii 21) indulges in aratri Cessit amor.' Here and in the two the same affectation of antiquarian super following lines the subject of the Georgics stition, a spirit to which it must be allowed is kept before the eye. that the Aeneid itself ministers. [But 507. ‘Squalent,' [grow hard and rough Hor., as Mommsen has shown, concealed for want of ploughing.] ‘Abductis,'taken a political meaning under the antiquarian- away to serve as soldiers. Keightley, ism of Od. 11 3; Virgil's allusion here to 508. “Curvae' and 'rigidum' seem to Troy seems purely learned and literary.] be opposed, and 'rigidum' to refer to the The line itself is nearly repeated A. IV 541. straight Roman sword. 504. This was written probably before [ Formantur' for 'conflantur' Nonius Octavian had enjoyed his triple triumph in p. 380, and Servius on A. XII 304, both B.C. 29, though he had had more than one in a note on the word 'rigidus.'-H. N.] ovation. But Virg. speaks to him, as 509. [It is doubtful if this refers to any Forb. remarks, as if to live on earth were particular wars. The Parthian frontier synonymous with to triumph. Yet there was continuously unquiet from 40 to 31; is something strange in the expression in the West, Agrippa crossed the Rhine human triumphs,' unless we suppose the in 38, and Carrinas repulsed the Suebi at poet to intend some still more extravagant an unknown date between (probably) 37 compliment. Perhaps the feeling may be and 30 (Dio LI 21). Most edd. suppose that the human victor was all but a god Virg. here to allude to 38: Mr. Nettleship (“Res gerere et captos ostendere civibus preferred 32, to which ciate he conjecturally hostis Attingit solium Iovis et caelestia assigned the success of Carrinas, and Ribtemptat,' Hor. Ep. I xvii 33), but that beck (Prol. p. 16) took a similar view. But Caesar might rise higher. Hor. treads the events of the year, a Parthian foray closely in the steps of Virg. 'Hic magnos and (if we admit it) the victory of Carrinas potius triumphos, Hic ames dici pater were unimportant. The wording of the atque princeps' (Od. I ii 49). line resembles E. 1 62, and the meaning 510 vicinae ruptis inter se legibus urbes 6 probably is (as Serv. says) ‘undique bellum (omitting in '), Gud., the Berne scholia, movetur.' Vv. 510-511 might refer to the Bamberg and Munich MSS. of QuinAntony, who began to arm against Oc- tilian viii iii 78, the Vaticanus of Serv., tavian in 32, but the language is vague. and Sil. xvi 373 (imitating this line) If the lines were meant to refer to definite “Iamque fere medium evecti certamine events of about 32, we should have ex- campum In spatio addebant.' The Berne pected Dacia (11 497) rather than Ger- scholia explain thus : ‘propria vox circi, mania.] equi enim cursus spatio addere dicuntur: 510. Vicinae urbes : ' [Dio L 6 clearly (H. N.). Rom. has addunt spatia;' implies that some Italian cities, esp. those Med. late corr. and most MSS. of in which veterans of Antony were settled, Serv. 'addunt in spatia,' and so Ribgave trouble to Octavian: such a city was beck, Conington, and most edd. since Bononia.-H. N. The words, however, Burmann, who explain it as = 'addunt need be no more than the antithesis of the (se) in spatia,' throw themselves on the preceding line.] Ruptis inter se legibus,' course, or .addunt (gradum)' or 'addunt breaking the laws which bound them to- (spatia) in spatia. The ellipse, which gether. * Legibus,' the laws of civil must be assumed with either reading society. Forb. comp. A. VIII 540, ‘Pos- (“spatio 'or ‘spatia’), seems unparalleled.] cant acies et foedera rumpant. 514. “Fertur equis,' like äotopoi tūlo 511. 'Impius' is emphatic; most of Bię pépovoiv, Soph. El. 725. Comp. A. the wars of the time were connected 1 476. For 'audit' comp. Hor. Ep. I directly or indirectly with the civil con- XV 13, 'equi frenato est auris in ore;' flict. and for 'currus ( = equus) audit,' Pind. 512. Carceribus :' the 'carceres' were Pyth. II 21, üpuara Teloixálva, and below stalls at the end of the circus, with gates III 91. Serv. suggests that the charioteer of open woodwork, which were opened si- hurried on by the furious horses is Octavian, multaneously to allow the chariots to start. who cannot bridle the evils of the age; 513. [Addunt in spatio :' so Med. but this hardly agrees with v. 500. 6 6 LIBER SECUNDUS. The subject of this book is the culture of trees, especially of the vine, but there is no great regularity in the mode of treatment. Virgil opens with an enumeration of the different ways of propagating trees, natural and artificial, so as to indicate the magnitude of the theme; then he show how art can improve upon nature, and recurs to the manifoldness of his subject, dwelling especially on the innumerable varieties of vines. Without much relevancy he talks of trees indigenous to different countries, and is thence drawn into an eulogy (vv. 136-176) of Italy, which he does not fit with any practical application. The question of the aptitudes of various soils (vv. 177 foll.) is treated more widely than the subject of the book requires, embracing the choice of corn and pasture land as well as of ground for planting trees. For the next 160 lines (vv. 259420) the poet seems to be thinking exclusively of the vine or of trees planted in the 'arbustum'as its supporters. He does not distinguish between the different modes of rearing the vine, but appears to assume that the 'arbustum' will be adopted. He speaks of the vine and its supporters almost indifferently, as objects more or less of the same culture, so that, while keeping the former prominently before him, he feels himself at liberty to use general language, or even to confine his language to the latter, as metrical convenience or poetical variety may suggest ; a manner of speaking which renders this part of the book peculiarly difficult, at least to an unprofessional commentator. The olive, which was put forward prominently in the programme of the book, is disposed of in a very few lines (vv. 420-425), as requiring hardly any culture. The other fruit-trees (vv. 426-457) are dismissed even more briefly, and the remaining trees receive a very hasty recommendation to the cultivator, backed with an assurance that they are even more useful to man than the vine. In the celebrated digression (vv. 458 foll.) which concludes the book, the laborious aspect of a country life, elsewhere so prominent, is kept out of sight, and we hear only of ease, enjoyment, and plenty. Its interest as bearing on the tastes of the poet himself has been noticed in the general Introduction to the Georgics. The beauties of this book have always been admired, and deservedly so. They are most conspicuous in the digressions ; but the more strictly didactic part contains innumerable felicities of expression, though it may be doubted whether in general they do not obscure the practical meaning as much as they illustrate it-whether in fact they do not constitute the strongest condemnation of that school of poetry of which they are so illustrious an example. [The debt of Virgil to Lucretius is perhaps even greater in this book than in the other Georgics : examples are quoted by Mr. Munro on Lucr. 178, III 449.] As in the case of Book 1, we can say nothing of the date. Vv. 171, 172 seem to have been written just after Actium ; but the passage to which they belong is precisely one which may have been introduced after the bulk of the poem was composed. [Vv. 497 foll., 505 foll., may allude to the events of 33-32 B.C.-H. N.] HACTENUS arvorum cultus et sidera caeli; Principio arboribus varia est natura creandis. I. 1-8. “Thus far of tillage and seasons : Ianu', Quirinu' pater, siet ac dicatur ad now of the vine, the trees of the planta- unum,' Lactant. IV 3. Compare the tion, and the olive. May the patron of equally general application of ávať to the the vine assist me, helping the poet as he gods of Greece. Virg., while showing helps the vine-dresser. his ritual learning and giving the invoca* Arvorum cultus' is the general tion an air of pontifical solemnity, doubtsubject of Book 1 ; 'sidera caeli’reiers less thought of Bacchus as patron of men to vv. 204-258, and perhaps to the prog- and giver of increase to the fruits of the nostics which occupy the latter part of earth. that book. * Tuis hic omnia plena :' Virg. fancies ‘Hactenus,'sc. 'cecini.' Comp. Aesch. himself surrounded by the gifts of autumn, Cho. 143, yuiv uèv xúxàs ráoče, toiç of which he is going to sing. To conceive εναντίοις Λέγω, κτλ. of him as meaning that he actually writes Rom. is wanting from this line to v. 215, in autumn would be less natural. A and till v. 138 Med. is the only extant modern poet (Keats at the opening of first-class MS. (except Ver. 92-117). Endymion is an instance) might introduce 2. “Virgulta : ' Voss and Wagn. rightly such a personal specification. observe that the forest-trees are intro- 5. “Tibi’ seems to express the acknowduced principally as forming the supporters ledgment of nature to its author and of the vine, so that there may be a special sustainer ; see i 14 and v. 15 below. propriety in 'tecum.' [Virgulta pro in- * Autumno' may be temporal or confelicibus arboribus posuit, quibus in Italia structed with 'gravidus' in the sense of vites cohaerent.' Berne schol. and Serv. the fruits of autumn, like orupa. -H. N.] Virgulta,' a number of twigs, 8. “Mecum :' comp. “Ignarosque viae hence applied to bushes and low or young mecum miseratus agrestis,' I 41, and trees, which here seem to be taken as una,' v. 39 below. the type of such trees as the husbandman Med. has direptis ;' see i 269. cultivates. • Coturnis:' Vell. P. 11 82, of Antonius, ‘Silvestria’seems to be used vaguely. •Cum redimitus hedera coronaque velatus 3. Hesiod, as reported by Pliny XV 3, aurea et thyrsum tenens coturnisque sucsaid that the 'sator' (perhaps the sower) cinctus curru velut Liber pater vectus esset of an olive never saw its fruit. Theophr. Alexandriae.' Bacchus was represented De Caus. Plant. 19 called the olive ovo- with hunting buskins, which would natuav&ng contrasting it with the vine. Hence rally form part of his fawn-skin dress. Varro i 41 recommends that it should not Virg., prosessing to write with a view to be raised from seed (see below, vv. 56 foll.). practice, identifies the poet with the 4. 'Huc' may be elliptical, like dɛūpo: husbandman, and invokes Bacchus at the but 'veni,' v. 7, smooths over the ellipse, opening of his subject, as if the aid he which is at least unusual. required were in the vine-dresser's occu* Pater :' • Omnem deum necesse est pation. inter sollemnis ritus patrem nuncupari ; 9-34. • Trees are propagated in various quod Lucilius in deorum concilio inridet ways, some natural, some artificial.' (Sat. 19, Müller): Nemo ut sit nostrum, 9. “Varia est natura' includes all the quin aut pater optumu' divum, Aut Nep- modes by which trees are generated, down tunu' pater, Liber, Saturnu' pater, Mars, to v. 34. Of these modes there are two 6 6 6 10 namque aliae, nullis hominum cogentibus, ipsae divisions. The first division (vv. 10-21), tioned in the mention of dropped seed, generation without the help of man, is and not worth particularizing separately, subdivided into spontaneous generation being the lowest form of human co-opera(vv. 10-13), generation by seed (vv. 14- tion with nature. 16), and generation by suckers (vv. 17- 15. “Nemorum' is probably partitive, 19). Nullis hominum cogentibus 'really maxima nemorum' being equivalent to specifies the first division, though it nomi- maxima arborum nemorensium.' See v. nally belongs only to its first subdivision. 534 below. Arboribus creandis,' like 'habendo ['Nemorum': Isid. xvii vii 6, ‘sunt nepecori,' ! 3. The law of the production mora arbores maiores ; ' Stat. Silv. v i 49, of trees is various.' vitem Ulmus amat miscetque nemus; · Natura : 'note on v. 20. Lucan ini 395, ‘procumbunt nemora. 10. Virg. is supposed by Heyne and H. N.] others to refer here to production by in- *Iovi,' like “tibi,' v. 5. visible as distinguished from visible seeds, 16. “Quercus,' Dodona. The oracles agreeably to a distinction made by Varro were drawn either from the murmuring of I 40. But from v. 49 it seems as if he the foliage or from the notes of the believed in strictly spontaneous genera- pigeons (E. IX 13). tion. 17. Pullulat ab radice,' etc. : propaga11. “Ipsae' and 'sponte sua,' in spite tion by natural suckers, called 'pulli’by of a subtle distinction attempted by Voss, Cato Li, pulluli' by Pliny XVII 65. are a tautology. Veniunt,' I 54. 19. Se subicit,' E. x 74. 12. "Curva'calls attention to the bends 20. ‘Primum,' before man had tried of the river, and shows that the trees experiments. grow along its side. The scanty notices Natura’seems used strictly, opposed of the “siler' do not enable us to identify to 'usus,' not generally, as in v. 9 where it: it is conjectured to be the osier. See it means the natural principle of growth, Keightley, Flora Virg. [and Bubani, p. whether assisted by cultivation or not. Or 105, who enumerates various identifica- we may lay stress on 'dedit,' and contrast tions but accepts none.) what is asked or extorted from nature 13. “Salicta’ is for salices.' with what she gives unsolicited. Lucr. 14. Posito de semine,' deposited (v 1361 foll.) speaks similarly, though in casually, dropping from The less detail, of sowing and planting as words themselves, like 'seminibus iactis,' suggested by nature. v. 57, might refer to any kind of sowing, 'His,' by these modes. * To these they but in each case they are determined by owe their verdure.' the context. At the same time, as Virg. 21. ('Silvarum,' bushes, I 76 note.] says nothing in the rest of this passage ‘Fruticum,' shrubs, trees without trunks. about sowing by the hand, we may sup- 'Nemorumque sacrorum' denotes merely pose that he regarded it as virtually men- a poetical division. 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