[865] Qui, which was restored by Heins., but removed by Wagn., is found in Pal., fragm. Vat. a m. pr., ‘quis’ in Med., Rom. Sense as well as euphony seems to be in favour of ‘qui,’ as it is not an interrogation that is wanted, but an exclamation. ‘Comitum,’ the shades of young Marcellus' future contemporaries crowd round him admiring and applauding. Heyne comp. Eur. Phoen. 148, ὡς ὄχλος νιν ὑστέρῳ ποδὶ ΙΙάνοπλος ἀμφέπει, where Antigone is asking the names of the invading generals, and commenting on them as she sees them, and the imitation of Virg. in Sil. 13. 782 (speaking of the shade of Homer) “multaeque sequuntur Mirantes animae, et laeto clamore frequentant.” Henry has a note on ‘instar,’ in which he attempts to prove that the word never means any thing but ‘amount.’ He appears to be right in regarding it as to some extent parallel with ‘modus,’ comparing Ammian. 15. 1, “Ambitus terrae. . . ad magnitudinem universitatis instar brevis obtinet puncti,” with Macrob. Somn. Scip. 1. 16, “Physici terram ad magnitudinem circi per quem volvitur sol puncti modum obtinere docuere,” just as Gell. 2. 6 virtually explains it by ‘finis,’ “Inculpatus autem instar est absolutae virtutis: inlaudatus quoque igitur finis est extremae malitiae.” But the same word may have many shades of meaning, as might be shown in the case of ‘modus’ itself, though all of course flow from a single notion. In the case of ‘instar’ it seems probable from the appearance of the word that the original notion was something like ‘standard.’ This will explain all the instances where it is used with the gen. in the sense of resemblance (comp. “ad modum”). There seems no doubt that in some passages (e.g. Suet. Caes. 61, “cuius etiam instar pro aede Veneris genetricis dedicavit”) it means a representation, but it does not appear that there is any trace of this earlier than Livy, so that we need not assume it to be the original notion of the word, at the same time that we can quite account for it as a meaning that may have been attached to it in subsequent usage. Here then it might possibly be taken with Serv. &c. in the sense of ‘similitudo.’ It is to be observed however that Virg. elsewhere uses the word in connexion with size (2. 15., 3. 637., 7. 707), so that I would rather suppose the meaning to be, with Heyne, ‘how commanding is his presence,’ which is besides suggested by the context. ‘Ipso’ is evidently meant to distinguish him from those about him, so that we should expect some attribute of distinction to be predicated of him, not simple similarity to his ancestor. Heyne edited ‘ipso est,’ the reading before Heins., but all the best MSS. omit the verb subst.
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John Conington. P. Vergili Maronis opera. P. Vergili Maronis Opera. The works of Virgil, with a Commentary by John Conington, M.A. Late Corpus Professor of Latin in the University of Oxford. London. Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane. 1876.
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