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Lupercal,' or what reason marks the day with a similar name. The Vestal Ilia had given birth to her heavenly progeny, while her uncle held the sovereign sway. He orders the children to be taken away and to be drowned in the river. What art thou doing? one or other of these will be Romulus hereafter. His servants with reluctance perform his cruel commands: they weep and bear the twins to the commanded place. Albula, that stream, whose name, Tiberinus drowned in its waters, changed into that of Tiber, by chance was swollen by the floods of winter. Here, where the market-places" now are, you might see boats wandering about; where, too, thy valley now lies, O Circus Maximus.78 When they had come hither, and could advance no further, first one and then the other of them says, "And see how like they are! and how lovely is each! yet of the two that one has more life in him. If origin is to be indicated by looks, if the likeness deceives me not, I suspect some God (whom, I know not) to be your father.

The vestal Ilia.--Ver. 383. Ilia, or Rhea Silvia, whose story is told more at length in the next book, was the daughter of Numitor, king of Alba Longa. In order that she might not, by becoming a mother, endanger the sovereignty of Amulius, her uncle, who had usurped the throne and banished his brother, he devoted her to the service of Vesta, and, in consequence, to perpetual chastity. Mars having become enamoured of her, she conceived twins by him, whose history is here told, and is repeated in the next book. She was buried alive; the punishment invariably inflicted on Vestal virgins when convicted of a violation of their vow of chastity.

76 Albula.]-Ver. 389. This was anciently the name of the Tiber. 'Albus' is the Latin for 'white,' and the river was so called from the whiteness of its waters. It was called Tiber after Tiberinus Sylvius, the successor of Capetius, king of Alba, and who was drowned in its stream.

77 Market-places.]-Ver. 391. There were two kinds of 'fora' at Rome-the 'forum' for litigation and process at law, and the forum,' or "market-place,' such as the 'forum boarum,' or 'cattle-market; ' 'piscarium,' or 'fish-market;' 'olitorium,' or 'herb-market;' 'suarium,' or 'pig-market.' 78 O Circus Maximus.]—Ver. 392. This, 'the Greatest Circus,' was originally built by Tarquinius Priscus, and was situate in a prolonged valley between the Palatine and Aventine Hills. It was a mile in circumference, and received great improvements from Julius Cæsar. It was able to contain at least 150,000 persons; Pliny says 250,000; perhaps the former number when sitting, the latter when standing. There the public games and shews were celebrated, which formed the favourite recreation of the Romans of all classes. It was called Maximus,' 'greatest,' because there were several other circi' at Rome, as the Circus Flaminius, Circus Vaticanus, and others were built in later times by Nero, Caracalla, and other emperors.

But if any God really was the author of your birth, he would surely bring you aid at so perilous a moment. Your mother for certain would bring you aid, were she not herself in need of help, who in one day has become a mother and has been made childless. Babes! born together, together to die! sink together beneath the waters." He had ceased speaking, and laid them down, having first taken them from his bosom. The infants screamed with a similar cry; you would imagine that they were conscious of their fate. With tearful cheeks the servants return to their homes. A hollowed ark78 bears them placed therein on the surface of the stream, Ah! what a weight of aestiny did that one slight plank.support! The ark driven by the breeze into the shady woods settles in the slime as the river subsides by degrees. There was a tree, the remains of n are still in existence; and that which is now called the Ruminal,79 was once the Romulan fig-tree. Wondrous to relate, a she-wolf that had just brought forth came to the twins thus exposed; who would believe that the wild beast did not hurt the babes? To do them no injury is not enough for her, she even aids them; and those, whom a she-wolf is nourishing, the hands of a relation could brook to destroy. She stands still, and with her tail she fawns upon her tender fosterlings, and with her tongue forms their two bodies into shape. You might know that they were begotten by Mars; they have no fear; they draw her udder, and are nourished by the aid of milk not destined for them by nature. She gave a name to the place—the place to the Luperci. The nurse has a high

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78 A hollowed ark.]-Ver. 407. Alveus' is 'a hollow wooden vessel,' or 'a tub.' It may here mean an ark which the servant had provided for the purpose; or more probably the wooden cradle in which the children had been laid, and which, with the view of giving them a chance of safety, he purposely set afloat, instead of drowning them, as he had been ordered. 79 Ruminal.]-Ver. 412. The author supposes this word to be a corruption from Romula,' which derivation is unworthy of attention. It is, with much more probability, supposed to have been so named from 'rumis,' or 'ruma,' the ancient name for the breast, from the infants having been there suckled by the wolf. According to some, it took its name from 'rumen,' the throat,' because under this tree the cattle used to chew the cud, or ruminate. Tacitus tells us that the tree, in his time, was still standing in the Comitium. Others say that the tree referred to by him was planted by Attius Nævius. Perhaps it was propagated from the one under which the infants were said to have been found.

30 The place.]-Ver. 421. The Lupercal, where Pan was worshipped,

reward for the milk she gave. What prevents that the Luperci should derive their name from the Arcadian mountain? The Lycæan Faunus has his temple in Arcadia. Bride newly made, what dost thou await? not by potent herbs, not by prayers, not by the magic incantation-wilt thou become a mother; with patience await the blows of the right hand that fructifies; soon shall thy father-in-law have the wished-for epithet of grandfather. For it was that period, when by a cruel fate the matrons were affording but few pledges of their fruitfulness. 'What avails it me," exclaimed Romulus, "to have carried off the Sabine women (this took place while he held the sceptre) if my violence has produced for me, not strength, but only war in return; it had been better for me to have had no daughters-in-law at such a price. At the base of the Esquilian hill, there was a grove, uncut for many a year, and called by the name of the mighty Juno. When they came thither, both the matrons and the men with bent knees prostrated themselves in supplication. Then lo! suddenly the tops of the shaken wood trembled, and the Goddess uttered these wondrous words through her sacred grove, "Let a sacred he-goat have access to the Italian matrons." The multitude, alarmed by this ambiguous oracle, was confounded. There was an augur, whose name has been lost in the lengthened lapse of years; he had lately come an exile from the Etrurian soil. 82 He sacrifices a he-goat. The matrons at his bidding submitted their backs to be smitten by the hide that had been cut into thongs. The moon was resuming her new horns

the author here says was so called from lupa,' a she-wolf,' and gave its name to the 'Luperci,' the priests of Pan. It was a cave in the Palatine Hill, and is said to have been consecrated to the worship of Pan by Evander. He also suggests that the Lupercal may have been so called from the name Lycæus,' which Pan derived from Mount Lycæum, in Arcadia, which name being Aúkatov, meaning 'of,' or 'infested by wolves,' would be rendered in Latin by Lupercum,' a word of similar import. Perhaps the festival was so called from the words 'luo,' to sacrifice or 'expiate,' and 'caper,' a 'he-goat,' as a goat was sacrificed to Pan on this occasion. 81 Grandfather.]-Ver. 427-8. Gower's version of these lines is

'Take patiently stripes from the fruitful hand;

Thy father then shall be a father grand.'

The Etrurian soil.]-Ver. 444. Etruria was the country which supplied Rome both with rites and priests in the earlier ages, and was espe cially renowned for its skill in the arts of augury and divination.

F

in her tenth course from that time, and suddenly the husband became a father, the wife a mother. Thanks were given to Lucina; this epithet the grove gave to thee, O Goddess; or it was because thou hast under thy care our introduction to the light. Spare, I pray, gentle Lucina, the pregnant females, and without pain bring forth from the womb its matured burden.

The next day has now dawned; do thou cease to rely on the winds; the gales at this season of the year are not to be trusted. 'The breezes are unsteady; and for six days the loosened gate of the prison of Eolus all unbolted stands wide open.

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Now, lightened of his burden, the Waterbearer has sunk on his knee, with his urn obliquely sloped; be thou, the Fish, the next to receive the heavenly steeds. They say that thou and thy brother (for ye glitter as contiguous constellations) bore on your backs two gods. Once on a time, Dione 6 flying from the frightful Typhon, at that period when Jupiter bore arms in defence of heaven, accompanied by the infant Cupid, came to the Euphrates, and sat on the margin of the river of Palestine.87 The poplar and the reeds clothed the top of the banks, and the willows afforded a hope that

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83 Lucina.]-Ver. 449. A title of Diana, as presiding over the birth of mortals, derived from the Latin lux,' lucis, light,' or from 'lucus,' 'a grove,' the place of her worship, as the poet explains in this and the next line.

94 Prison of Eolus.]-Ver. 456. Eolus was the son of Jupiter and Acesta, or Sergesta, daughter of Hippotas, a Trojan. He was king of Lipara and the adjacent islands (called from him Æolian), near Italy and Sicily. Strongyle, now Stromboli, was one of these. It was a volcanic mountain, and, as it was believed that the inhabitants could tell from its smoke, three days before, what wind would blow, the fable became current that Æolus was the god of the winds, and that he held them imprisoned in his dominions.

85 Thy brother.]-Ver. 458. The one looking towards the north was called 'Boreus,' and was situated under the arm of Andromeda. The cne looking towards the south was called 'Notius,' and was below the shoulder of the constellation Equus.

86 Diane.]-Ver. 461. According to Homer, this goddess was the mother of Venus; but the poet, by here introducing her in company with Cupid, evidently confounds her with that goddess. Typhon, or Typhæus, has been noticed in the note to line 523 of the first book. According to Hyginus, Typhon did present himself, whereon Venus and her son were turned into fishes.

87 Palestine.]-Ver. 464. Palestine was only a small portion of Syria, of which the river Euphrates formed the eastern boundary.

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by them they might be concealed. While she is in her place of concealment, the grove roars with the blast; she turns pale with terror, and fancies that the forces of the enemy are at hand. And as she clasps her son to her bosom, she says, Assist, ye nymphs, and give aid to us two Divinities." Immediately, she plunged into the stream. Two fishes bore them up; for which they now have Constellations as a merited reward. In consequence, the superstitious Syrians deem it impious to place this kind of animal on their tables, nor do they profane their lips with fish.89

The next day is without any mark of distinction; but the one after it has been consecrated to Quirinus. He who now bears this name was formerly Romulus; either because by the ancient Sabines a spear was called 'curis' (from his spear the warrior God came to the stars), or because the Quirites gave their own name to their king, or because he had joined the Curians to the Roman people. For his father that bears sway over all arms, after he beheld the new walls, and many a war finished by the hand of Romulus, said, "O Jupiter, the Roman power has strength of its own, and needs not the service of my offspring. Restore the son to the father; though one is cut off, he that remains shall be to me in place of Remus and himself. Thou didst tell me that there shall be one, whom thou wilt raise to the azure vault of heaven: let the words of Jove be fulfilled." Jupiter nodded assent;

88 Forces of the enemy.]—Ver. 468. Hostiles manus' may mean either the troops or forces of the giants, who were aiding their kinsman in the giant war, or 'the hands of her enemy' himself. In the latter case the translation would be, 'fancies that the hands of her enemy are even now upon her.'

89 Profane their lips.]—Ver. 473-4. The Syrians had a notion that swelling of the body and ulceration would be the consequence of eating fish, and this was perhaps the true reason of their abstinence from that diet. They offered either fish or representations of them in metal to the goddess, Atergatis, who was their deity corresponding to Venus. Gower thus translates these lines

'Hence Syrians hate to eat that kind of fishes;
Nor is it fit to make their gods their dishes.'

90 The Curians.]-Ver. 480. When Romulus agreed with Tatius, king of the town of Cures, to incorporate his subjects into the Roman state, it was settled that the Romans should be called Curites,' or 'Quirites,' in honour of their new associates, the Curites or Curians, as well as 'Romani,' from the name of Romulus.