[268] Oppetiit: 1. 96 note. ‘Subsidere’ is used with acc. of lying in wait for a person or thing Lucan 5. 227 (quoted by Serv.), Sil. 13. 221, being apparently a technical term in hunting (comp. Forc. s.v. ‘Subsessor’). This seems also to be the sense of the word in Manil. 5. 303 (speaking of Philoctetes), “Maior et armatis hostis subsederat exsul,” where “hostis” (which Wakef. wished to alter into “hosti”） may be acc. pl. And this might very well be its sense here, ‘devictam Asiam’ being understood as a bold expression for “victorem Asiae,” something like “Alpes apertas” 10. 13, which however is not an exact parallel. But it seems more probable that Virg. refers to the Greek ἔφεδροι, and means that Aegisthus took up the combat with Agamemnon when Asia was worsted. Mr. Price, formerly of St. John's Coll. Camb., acutely objects that Aegisthus would rather be called ἔφεδρος to Agamemnon than to Asia, as Philoctetes in the passage just cited is to the enemy: but if we suppose Virg. to have coined the expression, he might exercise a certain liberty in the matter, and the mention of Asia was quite necessary if the image was to be used at all: he might recollect too that ἔφεδρος is used with a gen. in the sense of successor to a person. Mr. Price's own interpretation is that Aegisthus lay at the bottom of Asia, like lees in a cask, as a further difficulty (he comp. 5. 498, Lucr. 5.497); and this view, with a little modification, would be quite reconcilable with that advocated above, and with the passage from Manilius. There is no other instance of ‘subsidere’ with an acc. in this sense: but it is only a variety of the other, both meaning to watch for; and the use of “subsidia” for reserves (comp. Varro L. L. 5. 90) would naturally lead Virg. to the employment of the verb. Cerda says that ἔφεδρος is actually used of an adulterer: but he gives no instances, nor do Lidd. and Scott notice the use. Val. Max. twice uses the words “subsessor alieni matrimonii” (2. 6. 5., 7. 2, ext. 1), apparently referring to treacherous lying in wait, and Arnob. 4. 23., 5, 20 employs “subsessor” as a synonyme for “adulter.” The difficulty of the expression has led to two remarkable varieties of reading, ‘devicta Asia,’ mentioned with preference by Serv. and found in three of Ribbeck's cursives (in two of them, including Gud., from a correction), and ‘possedit,’ Rom., Med. second reading, and a variant in Gud., perhaps from a gloss of Serv., who gives as possible explanations of ‘subsedit’ “post possedit” and “dolo possedit.” Forb. thinks ‘devictam Asiam’ is the captured wealth of Asia, which would be less forcible than either of the interpretations given above. It is in keeping with Virg.'s love of variety that he should mention Clytaemnestra alone in the preceding line, Aegisthus in this.
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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. 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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