[204] Virg. is here perhaps thinking of Hesiod, Ἔργα κ. Ἡ. 188 (of the golden age) οἱ δ᾽ ἐθελημοὶ Ἥσυχοι ἔργ᾽ ἐνέμοντο. ‘Se tenentem,’ that keeps itself from wrong, i. q. “se continentem.” There is perhaps an allusion to the common phrase “lege teneri.” ‘Veteris dei more,’ the rule of the golden age when Saturn reigned. Saturn is called ‘veteris’ as the god of the olden time. Comp. “Quis neque mos neque cultus erat” 8. 316, of the state of Italy before Saturn. It is not said that the Latins had no laws, which would be inconsistent with 8. 322, but that they were not virtuous for fear of law. But it may be better to acknowledge some inconsistency in the poet. With the whole passage comp. Livy's description of the time of Numa, 1. 21: “ut fides ac ius iurandum proximo (pro obnoxio Madv.) legum ac poenarum metu civitatem regerent.”
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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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