[166] Massicus a name taken from a mountain, as “Sulmo,” “Clarus,” and “Anxur” from towns (9. 412., 10. 126, 545), “Ufens” from a river 7. 745. ‘Princeps’ as leader of the squadron: see on v. 254 below. The tiger is the parasemon or figure-head at the prow from which the ship received its name: these parasema were often figures of animals and monsters: see 5. 116—123, where the ships that race for the prize are called respectively Pristis, Chimaera, Centaur, and Scylla: and comp. below vv. 195, 209. Serv.'s note “solent naves vocabula accipere a pictura tutelarum” confuses the “parasemon” and “tutela:” which in Roman ships, if not in Greek (see Acts 28. 11), appear to have been distinct. The ‘tutela’ was a figure of the god that protected the ship, and was generally placed in the stern: see Ov. 1 Trist. 10. 1. Heroid. 16. 112. Pers. 6. 30. On the whole subject see a paper by Enschede “De Tutelis et insignibus navium” inserted in Ruhnken's Opuscula, anno 1770.
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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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