[166] Massicus a name taken from a mountain, as “Sulmo,” “Clarus,” and “Anxur” from towns (9. 412., 10. 126, 545), “Ufens” from a river 7. 745. ‘Princeps’ as leader of the squadron: see on v. 254 below. The tiger is the parasemon or figure-head at the prow from which the ship received its name: these parasema were often figures of animals and monsters: see 5. 116—123, where the ships that race for the prize are called respectively Pristis, Chimaera, Centaur, and Scylla: and comp. below vv. 195, 209. Serv.'s note “solent naves vocabula accipere a pictura tutelarum” confuses the “parasemon” and “tutela:” which in Roman ships, if not in Greek (see Acts 28. 11), appear to have been distinct. The ‘tutela’ was a figure of the god that protected the ship, and was generally placed in the stern: see Ov. 1 Trist. 10. 1. Heroid. 16. 112. Pers. 6. 30. On the whole subject see a paper by Enschede “De Tutelis et insignibus navium” inserted in Ruhnken's Opuscula, anno 1770.
[167] About Clusium and its old alliance with Rome see Livy 5. 35 (Heyne, Excursus ad h. 1.). Serv. oddly enough places Clusium near Mount Massicus in his zeal to account for the name of the leader v. 166. Another prince from Clusium, Osinius, is mentioned v. 655 below.
[168] Qui—liquere like “quique Cales linquunt” 7. 728: comp. the κάλλιπον and προλιπών of Apoll. Rhodius' catalogue. Homer's formula is generally οἳ δ᾽ εἶχον or ἐνέμοντο. Tac. A. 3. 39 and (according to Serv.) Sallust (Hist. 1. 51 Dietsch) write ‘Cosa,’ not ‘Cosae.’ Pal. originally gives ‘Cosam’ here: the rest ‘Cosas’ or ‘Cossas.’ Strabo 5. p. 225 mentions Cosae as a small city over the sea, overhanging the harbour of Hercules.
[169] The Greek word γώρυτος in Homer (Od. 21. 54) means a bow-case: the Latin poets generally use it in the sense of a quiver. Ovid (5 Trist. 7. 15) speaks of ‘goryti’ worn by the Sarmatians and Getae (Cerda). “Fatifer arcus” 9. 631, where Pal., Gud. &c. have “letifer.”
[170, 171] Torvus agreeing with his character below v. 428, where Virg. calls him “pugnae nodumque moramque.” There is an Abas in Homer (Il. 5. 148), and one in A. 1. 121: see also on 3. 286. Apollo is the guardian god of the ship, and ‘puppis’ must be taken literally of the stern: see on v. 166.
[172, 173] Populonia mater differently from “Aricia mater” 7. 762. ‘Expertus’ does not seem to be commonly used with the gen. But Tac. Hist. 4. 76 has “expertum belli:” and Livy (24. 22) “servitudinis indignitatisque expertos” according to the MSS.: but this is altered in Madvig's edition. One inferior MS. has ‘bello’ here. Ilva and Populonia are mentioned together by Strabo (5. p. 223), who says of the former τοῦτο δὲ δὴ παράδοξον ἡ νῆσος ἔχει, καὶ τὸ τὰ ὀρύγματα ἀναπληροῦσθαι πάλιν τῷ χρόνῳ τὰ μεταλλευθέντα.
[174] Inexhaustis inexhaustible, as “inaccessos” (7. 11) = inaccessible: ‘Chalybes’ G. 1. 58. ‘Generosus’ here seems = “ferax,” “multum generans:” see Forc.
[175] Ille explained by what follows vv. 176-7. ‘Interpres divom’ of Helenus the seer 3. 359 (where the following lines are parallel to the context here): so Cic. Phil. 13. 5 (Forc.) calls the augurs “interpretes et internuntii” of Jupiter: comp. ib. Legg. 2. 8. 20. Here the addition of ‘hominum’ brings out the true sense of the word, a medium between two parties. See on 4. 608.
[176] Fibrae G. 1. 484 note. We might be tempted to take ‘pareo’ here with Serv. as = ‘adpareo,’ a sense which it bears in Suet. Aug. 95, “immolanti omnium victimarum iecinora replicata intrinsecus ab ima fibra paruerunt” (Wagn.): comp. Martial 12. 29. 18, Stat. 2 Silv. 2. 76, and other instances given in the lexicons. But the ordinary meaning ‘to obey’ suits this passage better: the augur being regarded as master of the stars that speak to him, as a musician might be of his instrument.
[177] The Etruscan soothsayers were, as is well known, skilful in divination from lightning: comp. Pliny 2. 54. “Caelestem fulminis ignem” Lucr. 2.384.
[178] Rapit 7. 724. ‘Armis’ Pal., Gud. (with ‘hastis’ as a variant), and another of Ribbeck's cursives.
[179] Alphea ab origine Med., supported by Priscian 587 P., and Gud. corrected, and so Heins. ‘Alpheae ab origine’ Pal., Rom., and Gud. originally, and so rightly Heyne and the subsequent edd. ‘Alpheae ab origine Pisae’ is like “Idaeae sacro de vertice pinus” below v. 230 note, while there is also a contrast with ‘Etrusca solo.’ Ribbeck leaving out the ‘ab’ reads ‘Alpheae origine,’ solely in deference to Lachmann's rule about the elision of diphthongs after long vowels (Lucr. p. 160), which has been discussed in the note on 6. 505. Serv. gives no less than seven legends about the foundation of Pisa. Its supposed Elean origin was not improbably a fiction due to the similarity of names (Heyne, Excursus ad h. l.). ‘Pisae’ plur. as in an inscription in the Corpus Inscr. Lat. 1. 559: comp. Rutilius 1. 573.
[180, 181] Solo in its position. Comp. the legal use of the word in Paul. Dig. 13. 7. 21 (cited by Forc.) for the ground on which a building stands, “ius soli sequitur aedificium.” The repetition of the name Astyr is like that of Aegle E. 6. 20, and Lausus A. 7. 649. Virg. was probably thinking of the lines about Nireus Il. 2. 671: comp. those about Amphimachus ib. 871. With ‘versicoloribus armis’ comp. ποικίλα τεύχεα Il. 3. 327., 6. 504, αἰόλα τεύχεα Il. 5. 295.
[182] Mens una in antithesis to the number of places which send them. ΙΙάντες ἕνα φρεσὶ θυμὸν ἔχοντες Il. 13. 487. A thousand had already gone from Caere with Lausus (7. 652). “Mens omnibus una” G. 4. 212.
[183] The story of the “hospitium” between Rome and Caere is given in Livy 5. 50. ‘Caerete domo’ like “unde domo” 8. 114 (Cerda). The Minio (not the same as the “Caeritis amnis” 8. 597) is mentioned by Rutilius 1. 279, “paulisper fugimus litus Minione vadosum.”
[184] Pyrgi and ‘Graviscae’ Strabo 5. p. 225, ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν Κοσσῶν εἰς Ὠστίαν παραπλέουσι πολίχνιά ἐστι Γραυίσκοι καὶ ΙΙύργοι. He goes on to say that Pyrgi had a temple of Eilythuia built by the Pelasgi: a tradition which may explain the epithet ‘veteres.’ The place was in ancient times a noted stronghold of the Etruscan pirates (Serv.). ‘Intempestae’ unhealthy: reminding us of “intemperies:” but Forcgives no other instance of this use. The name ‘Graviscae’ was given to the place “quod gravem aerem sustinent” (Cato, quoted by Serv.). Comp. Rutilius 1. 281.
[185-214] Next are described Cinyras, leader of the Ligurians, and Cupavo: the latter has a crest of swan's feathers as an emblem of his father's transformation. Then comes Ocnus the founder of Mantus. and Aulestes.
