[15] The language is like that of the inscription in 3. 288, “Aeneas haec de Danais victoribus arma.” ‘De rege superbo’ is of course from Mezentius, not, as Serv. thought, from Turnus. The meaning is not, these are the first-fruits from the king, as if there were more to come, but these first-fruits of the war are from the king. Macrob. S. 3. 5 says that Virg. alludes to the story (told by Cato in Book 1 of his “Origines”) that Mezentius compelled his subjects to offer to him the first-fruits due to the gods.
This text is part of:
John Conington. P. Vergili Maronis opera. P. Vergili Maronis Opera. The works of. Virgil. , with a Commentary by John Conington, M.A. and Henry Nettleship, M.A. London. Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane;. George Bell and Sons, York Street, Covent Garden. 1876.
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