[461] We need hardly connect this line with the preceding, so as to conceive of Aurora as pouring the sun upon the earth. It is safer to say that as in the preceding lines we have had the extreme of personification, here we have the other extreme, the sun being regarded not as an agent but as a thing. ‘Rebus luce retectis:’ comp. 4. 119, “radiisque retexerit orbem” (note), 6. 272, “rebus nox abstulit atra colorem.”
[462] “Tullus in arma viros” 6. 814. “Arma circumdat humeris” 2. 510.
[463] “Aeratas acies” 7. 703.
[464] Suas Med., ‘suos’ Ribbeck's other MSS. and Serv. Wagn. Q. V. 16 remarks that ‘suos’ would rather require ‘cogunt,’ which does not appear to be read by any MS. Κέλευε δὲ οἷσιν ἕκαστος Ἡγεμόνων Il. 4. 428. ‘Rumoribus’ are doubtless stories of the events of the past night. Comp. Soph. Aj. 141, “ὡς καὶ τῆς νῦν φθιμένης νυκτὸς Μεγάλοι θόρυβοι κατέχουσ᾽ ἡμᾶς κ.τ.λ.” Those who take ‘rumoribus’ of the encouragements of the captains to their men may comp. 8. 90. “Magnisque acuunt stridoribus iras” 12. 590.
[465] Med. originally and some others have ‘mirabile.’
[466] Multo clamore sequuntur seems to be a parenthetical clause, as if it had been “multo clamore secuti,” ‘capita’ going only with ‘praefigunt.’ This, which is natural enough, has led to a suspicion of the integrity of the text, Heyne and others thinking the hemistich v. 467 spurious. The names however are obviously wanted.
[468] Duri of standing resistance. Rom. omits ‘in.’
[469] Rom. and originally Med. and Gud. have ‘dextra,’ but ‘dextera’ (pars) is clearly right. Pal. has “amnis.” Serv. has a grammatical note: “‘Amne’ debuit dicere: nunquam enim bene in ‘i’ exeunt, nisi quae communis sunt generis, ut ‘docilis,’ ‘agilis:’ sed ideo ausus est ita ponere ablativum, quia, ut supra diximus, apod maiores ‘hic’ et ‘haec amnis’ dicebatur.” In some copies it is added “Verumtamen quae duas habent consonantes ante ‘is’ in ‘i’ et ‘e’ ablativum mittunt, ut ‘ignis’ ‘igne’ vel ‘igni:’ sic ‘vectis’ ‘vecte’ vel ‘vecti:’ Terentius in Eunucho” [4. 7. 4] “‘Cum vecti Donax.’”
[470] Tenent, they man the trenches. “Miseri stant turribus altis” 10. 121.
[471] They are ‘maesti’ on account of the absence of Aeneas and their own danger, which accounts for ‘simul.’ Pal., Gud., and another of Ribbeck's cursives have ‘videbant,’ which was the reading before Heins.; but it seems to have originated from a misunderstanding of ‘simul.’
