[597] Gossrau rightly remarks against Heyne that ‘manus Troiana’ denotes the cavalry, which, though mostly Etruscan, is called ‘Troiana’ as part of Aeneas' army. In the next line they are distinguished as commanders and followers.
[598] Etruscique duces: the leaders would be Etruscans, Aeneas being behind with the infantry. Serv. mentions another reading ‘Etruri,’ which is found in some MSS., and supported by Pal. and one of Ribbeck's cursives, where the letters ‘sc’ are in an erasure. He says, “Trans Tiberim enim Etruriam dicebant” (referring to a derivation ἑτερουρία), “homines Etruros, quos nunc Etruscos.” ‘Exercitus omnis’ 2. 415., 5. 824, above v. 171, in which places, as here, it comes at the end of an enumeration.
[599] “‘Conpositi numero,’ i. e. aequati numero, rationabiliter” Serv., ‘conpositi’ denoting their adjustment with reference to each other, like “conpositis sideribus” Cic. De Div. 2. 47 for the relative position of the stars at the moment of birth. Comp. 7. 698, “Ibant aequati numero.” The words however need mean no more than ‘arranged in companies.’
[600] With the sing. ‘sonipes,’ one taken in a description as a type of many, comp. “natat uncta carina” 4. 398. There is still room to question whether ‘aequore toto’ refers to the plungings of a single steed, or of the whole number, but the latter is more likely. ‘Sonipes’ 4. 135 note. ‘Premere habenas’ 1. 63 note. ‘Pugnat habenis’ is the πρὸς ἡνίας μάχει of Aesch. Prom. 1010. For the construction comp. 4. 38, “pugnabis amori.”
[601] Obversus Rom. and two of Ribbeck's cursives, ‘conversus’ Med., Pal. Gud. has ‘conversus’ in the text, ‘obversus’ as a variant in the margin. ‘Obversus’ seems at once less common and more appropriate, so that it is perhaps safest to retain it. The horse keeps swerving and facing this way and that. Wagn. Suggests that ‘conversus’ may have arisen from the last letter of ‘huc.’ ‘Ferreus—ager:’ comp. 7. 526 note. Serv., after explaining ‘horret’ by “terribilis est,” goes on to say, “Est autem versus Ennianus vituperatus a Lucilio dicente per irrisionem, eum debuisse dicere ‘horret et alget,’” referring doubtless to Enn. Sat. 3, fr. 6, “Sparsis hastis longis campus splendet et horret,” a line which Gossrau bids his reader compare “ut quantum antiquis Vergilius semper, si non sententiarum pondere, tamen forma praestet intellegas.”
[602] For ‘armis’ Pal. and Gud. have ‘hastis,’ the latter having ‘armis’ in the margin. Conceivably this might point to a reading ‘armis Horret ager, campique hastis’ &c.; but it is more probably a simple oversight. ‘Sublimibus’ probably refers not merely to spears, but to drawn swords (comp. 12. 663) brandished in the air. With ‘campi armis ardent’ Serv. comp. Eur. Phoen. 109, κατάχαλκον ἅπαν τεδίον ἀστράπτει.
[603] In ‘celeres’ Serv. finds an allusion to the three hundred horsemen of Romulus.
[604] Et cum fratre Coras above v. 465 note. ‘Ala Camillae’ v. 868 below.
[605] Med. a m. p. has ‘reductas,’ an error of the same kind as Pal.'s, which has ‘hastis’ originally. “Reducta hasta” might be cited from 10. 552; but here the epithet would cause an incongruity with ‘protendunt.’ “Reducta dextra” 5. 478.
[606] Vibrant, shake them preparatory to throwing, Hom.'s σείοντ᾽ ἐγχείας (Il. 3. 345). Schrader needlessly conj. ‘librant.’
[607] Heyne finds a difficulty in ‘adventus virum ardescit,’ and Ribbeck actually brackets the line, as a reminiscence of v. 911 below. It is really most characteristic of Virg.: ‘ardescit fremitus’ refers to the hot breath of the steeds, ‘ardescit adventus’ gives a picture of the approach of the cavalry as if it were a fire wafted nearer and nearer, the sound, the glare, the heat, the motion, and the impetuosity of the warriors combining to make up the image. Not unlike is Milton's celebrated “Far off his coming shone” (Par. Lost, book 6. 768).
[608] Serv. says, “Enniana est ista omnis ambitiosa descriptio.”
[609] Wagn. reads ‘constiterat’ from Med. first reading: but all Ribbeck's other MSS. and apparently most others support ‘substiterat.’ They halt and get into order, as Gossrau remarks, before they make their final onset. Wagn. thinks ‘substiterat’ came from ‘subito.’ There is still a question between ‘-rat’ and ‘-rant.’ The latter, which is found in Rom., Med. a m. p., and one of Ribbeck's cursives, also a m. p., might stand (Madv. § 215 a); but it does not seem worth while to make the change. ‘Erumpunt,’ dash forward, 10. 890. ‘Furentisque,’ which is found in all Ribbeck's MSS., was restored by Wagn. for ‘frementisque.’ It matters little whether we make ‘furentis’ proleptic or not. There is the same doubt in 12. 332, “furentis—inmittit equos.”
[610] Exhortari and ‘hortari’ are used of putting animals in motion, Ov. M. 5. 403, 421 of horses, 7. 35 of bulls, Her. 4. 42 of dogs. Comp. G. 3. 164, where it is applied to breaking calves in to field work.
[611] Volleys of stones and darts are compared to snow Il. 12. 156 foll. ‘Caelumque obtexitur umbra:’ Taubm. comp. the story of the Spartan Dieneces, who on being told that the darts of the Persians would darken the sun, said, ‘Then we shall fight in the shade,’ Hdt. 7. 226. “Caelum subtexere fumo” 3. 582. “Obumbrant aethera telis” 12. 578.
[612] Tyrrhenus is a proper name, not, as Cerda thinks, the same as Ornytus v. 686. With the rhythm comp. 12. 661, “Messapus et acer Atinas.” ‘Adversi’ Pal. corrected, Med., Rom., Gud., a formidable combination: but ‘adversis’ is much neater, and the MSS. are apt to vary in such cases: comp. 5. 584 note.
[613] ‘Connixi’ of a charge with lances, as 9. 769 of the sweep of a sword. ‘Ruinam—ingenti:’ there are three possible readings of these words, all found in MSS., ‘ruinam dant sonitu ingenti’ Rom., Gud. corrected, and two other of Ribbeck's cursives, ‘ruina dant sonitum ingentem’ Pal. corrected, and ‘ruina dant sonitum ingenti’ two copies not in Ribbeck's list, known as the 2nd and 4th Moretan. Med. has ‘ruinam—sonitum ingenti,’ Pal. and Gud. originally ‘ruinam—sonitum ingentem.’ A fourth possible reading, ‘ruinam dant sonitu ingentem,’ does not seem to be quoted from any copy. ‘Dare ruinam’ and ‘dare sonitum’ are both Virgilian (2. 310, above v. 458 &c.); but the former, as more forcible, is more appropriate here, besides its superior authority. Ribbeck however reads ‘ruina—sonitum ingenti.’ Varieties of reading from the interchange of cases are common enough: see e. g. 9. 455, 456, so that we need not speculate whether ‘ruina’ is more likely to have arisen from ‘ruinã’ or ‘sonitu’ from ‘sonitũ.’ For the reading of Pal. we might quote G. 2. 306, “Ingentem caelo sonitum dedit;” while ‘ruinam dat sonitu ingentem’ might be supported from 5. 215, “plausum—Dat tecto ingentem.”
[614] ‘Perfracta rumpunt’ i. q. “perfringunt et rumpunt:” comp. 1. 29, 69. ‘Quadrupedantum’ 8. 596 note.
[615] Both horses are killed by the shock: Tyrrhenus apparently escapes, as Gossrau remarks, while Aconteus is flung to a distance and dies. ‘Excutere’ of a horse throwing its rider 6. 79.
[616] Fulminis in morem: comp. 9. 706 “Fulminis acta modo,” of the “falarica.” ‘Tormento ponderis acti,’ a stone thrown by a balista (Dict. A. ‘Tormentum’). Comp. 12. 921, “Murali concita numquam Tormento sic saxa fremunt.” Med. a m. p. gives ‘tormenti,’ Pal. and Gud. ‘actus,’ readings which might make sense if combined, but hardly otherwise. Gud. has ‘acti’ in the margin, and Ribbeck thinks the original reading of Pal. may have been ‘actis.’
[617] Praecipitat intrans., 2. 9. ‘Vitam dispergit in auras’ seems at first sight to mean that Aconteus was dead before he reached the ground (comp. 5. 517): this however would perhaps be too strong a hyperbole, as we have no right to assume that he was wounded, as Heyne suggests, though the combined shock and fall might well have killed him. Sil. 9. 167 has “In vacuas senior vitam disperserat auras” of an ordinary death in battle; and so 4. 705 of Dido's death (both quoted by Gossrau). Gud. originally had ‘dispersit.’
