/v/f C C

ARCHAEOLOGLSCH-HISTORLSCHE BIJDRAGEN
DEEL VI
 ALLARD PIERSON STICHTING
UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM

ARCHAEOLOGIiSCH-HISTORISCHE BIJDRAGEN
UITGEGEVEN DOOR
P ROF. D R. G. A. S. SNIJDER, P ROF. D R. D. COHEN
EN P ROF . D R . H. FRANKFORT.

VI

D R. HENRIËTTE BOAS

AENEAS' ARRIVAL IN LATIUM

OBSERVATIONS ON LEGENDS, HISTORY, RELIGION,
TOPOGRAPHY AND RELATED SUBJECTS IN VERGIL,
AENEID VII, 1-135

N.V. NOORD-HOLLANDSCHE UITGEVERS-MIJ.

AMSTERDAM
1938
 "REQUIES EA CERTA LABORUM".
Aeneas, after his arrival in Latium, sacrifices the white sow to the Penates. Relief frotn the Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome, Museo delle Terne-
16 JUW1 1938

AENEAS' ARRIVAL IN LATIUM

OBSERVATIONS ON LEGENDS, HISTORY, RELIGION,
TOPOGRAPHY AND RELATED SUBJECTS IN VERGIL,
AENEID VII, 1-135

BY

DR . HENRIËTTE BOAS

N.V. NOORD-HOLLANDSCHE UITGEVERS-MIJ.

AMSTERDAM
1938
To my patents.
 The present publication contains the thesis which I prepared for the
Literary Faculty of Amsterdam University.
By his lectures on Roman religion, and more especially by his University
course, six years ago, on the seventh book of Vergil's Aeneid, Professor
Dr. D. COHEN gave the first impulse to this study. I am moreover very
much indebted to him for the unremitting interest with which he has
followed the growth of this work.
In their quality of members of the Board of the Allard Pierson Stichting
I express my thanks to him, to Professor Dr. G. A. S. SNIJDER, and to
Professor Dr. H. FRANKFORT, in that they were willing to admit the
present treatise in the series of publications of the Allard Pierson Stichting.
I wish to acknowledge here my special gratitude to Professor SNIJDER
for the very great hospitality which he extended to me at the Archaeo-
logical-Historical Institute of Amsterdam University, the Allard Pierson
Stichting, during the time that I was engaged on this work.
All who "have been helpful to me in one way or another, especially in
correcting the English, may be convinced of my gratitude.

HENRIËTTE BOAS.
 PREFACE.

This commentary on lines 1—135 of book VII of Vergil s Aeneid

intends to examine over a limited number of lines:
a) the way in which several of the legendary persons, events and
motifs, which Vergil introducés here, originated — which implies an
explanation of some religious and folkloristic customs and views, and an
entering into the extent andcharacter of Vergil's knowledge of these things;
b ) the reasons why Vergil gave the present form to these data —
which implies an enquiry into the influences which acted upon him.
In other words: it intends to throw light on the historical and related
questions in the Aeneid, as well as on the historical background of this work.
Therefore, although for a full understanding of these lines I had to
occupy myself with questions of text, grammar, verse-technique, and style,
no remarks concerning them are inserted in this work, except in so far
as they contributed to the set purpose.
In general the modern commentators of Vergil — even the best and
most circumstantial, as e.g. Conington — have, in contrast with ancient
commentators as Servius, occupied themselves almost merely with philolog-
ical and literary questions, with the grammatical and aesthetical form of
the Aeneid, and not — as e.g. Frazer has done for the Fasti of Ovid —
with its essential contents and particulars. Yet a large number of mono-
graphies or remarks on the general ideas incorporated in the Aeneid as
well as on special subjects contained in it have been written, as well as
many general works on Vergil's Aeneid — e.g. the well-known works of
Boissier, Cauer, Heinze, Norden, Carcopino, Saunders — although most of
these works do not occupy themselves in the first place with the problems
into which is entered here.
This work has made a grateful use of many of these scattered observ-
ations on subjects dealt with in these lines, which observations have not
yet been considered in a commentary. Where the explanation of these
writers did not satisfy me, or where none existed, I have attempted an
explanation of my own, although with some hesitation and only because in
our days material has come to light, which scholars of a former generation
had not yet at their disposal.
As to a) — it need scarcely be remarked, although the success of
Vergil's Aeneid has almost made us forget this —, that the legend of
Aeneas' arrival in Latium, as well as its principal characters and events,
existed long before Vergil, many of the latter having been connected with
Aeneas for a long time, and that Vergil was compelled to introducé them
in his epos. He therefore could invent only in matters of style, composition
etc., and in details. Moreover originality was not his chief object, as it
was of none of the ancient writers.
1
 2

As to Vergil's own knowledge of the history and archaeology of ancient

taly, it is well-known, that he made profound preparatory studies for his
Aeneid, as appears from his letter to Augustus (Macr. Sat. I, 24, 11),
where he apologizes, that his work was not yet forthcoming, in the words:
cum praesertim, ut seis, alia quoque studia ad id muitoque potiora
impertiar . And it has become more and more evident that many of his
particulars actually correspond to the results of modern discoveries so that
it is always very worth while to compare them with Vergil's words-
consequently following the example of Catherine Saunders e.g. I have made
use of these results as much as possible.
The sacral data of which Vergil avails himself — and to such an extent
that he and his ancient commentators Macrobius, Servius and Servius
Danielis, have formed through the ages a mine of information on Roman
religion — deserve an explanation as well. As to their explanation — it
may be remarked here — a view which for the rest is generally accepted
nowadays — that problems of Roman religion cannot be fully understood
separately, nor separated from the other aspects of history, nor only in
companson with Greek mythology, therefore a great deal of comparative
material from the religion and folklore of other peoples. also of primitive
peoples, has been made use of, although with due caution.
Yet it is exaggerated in my opinion to assume, very like the Scholiasts
and Vergil's Mediaeval admirers, that — as Carcopino e.g. does to a
certain extent Vergil was almost omniscient, and that nearly all his
words had a more or less hidden meaning. On the contrary, in many
instances — as e.g. Rehm has demonstrated — his knowledge appears to
go no further than that of the other scholars of his time, e.g. Varro. So
we must be careful not to generalize too much, nor to enter into hazardous
speculations. For the correspondence of the results of recent archaeological
discoveries with Vergilian data may sometimes be merely casual, and need
not prove that Vergil had a knowledge of these matters.
b ) And it was not at all Vergil's chief purpose in writing the Aeneid to
furnish an exact and reliable historical study, but he had in the first place
poetical and national intentions; he collected the historical data in order to
make them subservient to his epos of the story of Aeneas, which favoured
Augustus policy of national restoration. It may often appear that
a certain detail has been given by Vergil, not so much because of its
original value which therefore might play a definite part in a given
situation, nor because of the demands of the epos, but because it contains
an allusion to Vergil's own time, and especially to the person or the
measures of Augustus. This political object — besides artistic considerat-
ions, caused Vergil to deviate considerably from the annalistic tradition,
although the latter was not at all antiquated in his days.
For, it is a well-known fact that the Aeneid was written according to
the special demands and to a certain extent in a pre-established harmony
 3

with Augustus, to support his policy. For this reason e.g. the divine
mission of the gens Julia was the principal theme of the Aeneid; and, as
Augustus attached great value to the restoration of the ancient Roman
religion and other ancient-Roman virtues and customs, the Aeneid devotes
much space to subjects of ancient-Latin history as well as to sacral data,
and is above all a religious poem.
Moreover Vergil, as we all know, bestowed very great care on his
Aeneid, even to such an extent that he cannot have written more than
about three lines a day. So we may assume that he mostly gave a special
passage a special form not by chance, but on purpose, although we must
guard against the exaggerations of Servius and Servius Danielis. So it
does not seem too far-fetched to suppose that, as the general tendency of
the Aeneid favoured this policy of Augustus, and as some passages of
this work, as e.g. the review of the heroes in VI, or the description of the
shield of Aeneas in VIII, explicitly mention Augustus, so Vergil may also
implicitly have alluded to him, and sometimes perhaps even prepared his
measures, as has been demonstrated for some other passages of the Aeneid
in the little book by Drew.
So we must never forget to contemplate "Vergil's Aeneis im Lichte
ihrer Zeit", the- way for which has been shown by Norden in his
fundamental and beautiful paper of this title.
For this way of looking at Vergil's Aeneid we have for the eighth and
twelfth books, and for book seven from 1. 601 onward, the fine comment-
aries of Warde Fowler, for the sixth the well-known and most exemplary
work of Eduard Norden. It is somewhat astonishing that on the contrary
the beginning of the seventh book, especially as far as line 192, has hitherto
not drawn the attention, although in a small compass it contains a large
quantity of traditional Latin elements.
It had been my purpose to continue this commentary up to line 192;
for want of space I was> obliged however to break it off at 1. 135, as well as
to leave out in 1. 1—135 the treatment of several greater and minor
problems. I have not added an English translation, because, as English is
not my mother-language, I did not feel capable of giving an adaequate
translation myself.
Finally: nobody can be more conscious than myself, who have attempted
to collect and elaborate the material for this commentary, how hazardous
an enterprise this is. And often I was inclined to exclaim, like Vergil when
he was engaged on his Aeneid, in his letter to Augustus: "tanta res est
inchoata ut paene vitio mentis tantum opus ingressa mihi videar!"
 AENEAS' ARRIVAL IN LATIUM.
In the books I—VI Vergil has made it clear, how Aeneas after the
sack of Troy left his native town, and how, guided by the gods, he finally
reached Italy, after long peregrinations, which are described to us. It took
seven years before the Homeric hero was able to set foot ashore in Latium.
In reality it took a much longer time. Before occupying ourselves with
the arrival of Aeneas in Latium as given by Vergil, I shall give an
exposition how Aeneas was actually connected with Latium, a topic, already
treated by many scholars, as O. Müller *), Hartung 2), Rubino 3),
Klausen4), Schwegler 5), Preller 6), Wörner 7), Mommsen 8), Ross-
bach 9), Boissier io), Cauer «), Pais J2), de Sanctis *3), and recently e.g.
Malten 14).
It may be that already in the time of the sack of Troy small groups from
Asia Minor, as Aeneas and his comrades, and other Trojans15), or
Cretans16), e.g. Daedalus17), or groups from Greece proper, as Ulysses18),
Diomedes19), EuanderSo), Telephus2i), Hercules 22), Telegonus 23),

1) Class. Journ. XXVI, (1822), p. 308—318.

2) Die Religdon der Römer, I, 83 sqq.
3) Beitrage z. Vorgesch. Italiens.
4) Aeneas und die Penaten.
3) Römische Geschichte, I, p. 279—336.
a) Römische Mythologie, II, p. 310—333.
7) Roscher, s.v. Aeneas.
8) Röm. Gesch. I, p. 467 sqq.
9) RE s.v. Aineias.
10) Nouvelles promenades archeologiques, p. 125—157.
11) De fabulis Graecis ad Roman conditam pertinentibus, Berl. Stud. I, p. 451—490;
Die römische Aeneassage von Naevius bis Vergil, Jahrb. f. Philol. Suppl. XV (1885),
12) Storia di Roma, p. 157—187.
13) Storia dei Romani, p. 194—203.
14) Aineias, Arch. f. Rel. Wiss. XXIX (1931), p. 33—59.
15) Trojans were said to have founded Siris (Aristot. and Tim. ap. Athen. XII,
p. 533; Strab. VI, p. 264), Sybaris (Solin. II, 10, Lyc. 1075 and Schol. Vet.) and
Croton (Strab. VI, p. 262); cf. Schol Theocr. IV, 24, 179; Dardani to have founded
Cora (Solin. II, 7).
16) Herod. VII, 170; cf. Antioch. ap. Diod. XII, 175, 71; Strab. VI, p. 279, 282;
cf. 273; Tim. ap. Diod. IV, 76—79; V, 78; XVI, 9.
") SA VI, 14.
18) A. W. Byvanck, De magnae Graeciae historia antiquissima, p. 22.
19) VA VIII, 9—17; SDA XI, 246; Plin. III, 120; Strab. VI, 3, 9; V, 1, 8, 9;
Lyk. Al. 615—618; Justin. XII, 2, 7; App. B. C. 2, 3, 20; Plut. Rom. 2; DH I, 72, 6.
20) VA VIII; Paus. VIII, 43; Varr. 1.1. V, 21, 3; Strab. V, 3, 2/3; DH I, 31.
-1) Tzetz. Lyk. 1242 sqq.; Steph. Byz. s-v. T«px">viov; D.H. I, 28; Suid, s.v. Aattvos;
Plut. Rom. 2; Euseb. 1. app. p. 198.
22) Byvanck, p. 23.
2S) Hygin. fab. 127; SA VIII, 479; Plut. Parall. min. 41; Prop. II, 323; Hor. Ep.
I, 29 sq., Carm. III, 29, 8; Liv. I, 49; D.H. IV, 45; Fest. p. 130 M; etc.
 5

the founders of Tibur 24) and of Ardea 25), Philoctetes 26), Telemachus 27)
the Argonauts, Achilles, Aiax, the Atridae, the Dioscuri and other
heroes 28), etc., as well as the Etruscans 29) actually sailed from the
Aegean to Italy, whether as merchantmen or to found colonies there.
For 30) gradually — especially by the excavations of Orsi 31) — evidence
is accumulating, consisting for the larger part32) in painted Mycenaean
vases 33), which tends to show that Aegean traders as early as the
neolithic period34) did venture as far West as Southern Italy and Sicily;
during the chalcolithic age these regions were in increasingly closer touch
with the more developed centres of civilization in the Aegean and elsewhere
in the Mediterranean area 35). And as there is abundant literary evidence

Solin. II, 8; Plin. XVI, 237; VA VII, 672.

25) VA VII, 410; Plin. III, 56; Solin. II, 5; SA VII, 372; Xenag. ap. DH I, 72;
Steph. Byz. s.v.
26) Byvanck, p. 19—21.
27) Kallias (ap. Fest. p. 269 M; DH I, 72, 5; Plut. Rom. 2, 3; etc.)^ SA I, 273; X, 167.
28) Epeus, Iolaus, Menelaus, Menesteus, Orestes, Sarpedon. Thoas; see Byvanck,
p. 25.
29) According to Vergil (VIII, 479, 500; X, 155; cf. II, 781), who follows the tradition
of Herod. I, 94, which was the preponderating view in Antiquity (see also Strab. V,
2, 2, p. 219; Tac. Ann. IV, 55; Tim. ap. Tertull. de speet. 5; Fest. s.v. Turannos and
Turrani, p. 484, 485 L; Plut. Rom. 2; Veil. Pat. I, 1,4; Justin. XX, 1, 7; Val. Max. II,
4, 4; SA I, 67) they had reached Italy from Asia Minor. This view is adhered to by
several modern scholars, as Randall Mc Iver, Korte, RE s.v. Etrusker; Ducati; Schacher-
meyr; von Duhn; Conway; von Skala; Feil; Vogt; Wilcken; Rose; G. Karo, Antike, I,
p. 216; Lehmann-Haupt, Klio IV, p. 394 sqq., Gercke-Norden, II, p. 102 sq., Fürtwangler,
Antike Gemmen III, p. 24 sq.; Herbig, Ebert s.v. Etrusker. The other views are a) that
the Etrurians were autochthonous in Italy (this view is adhered to in Antiquity by
Dionysius (I, 28), who may go back to Hecataeus; and in our days i.a. by Schuchardt,
Praehist. Zeitschr. XVI, 1925, p. 109 sqq.; XVII, p. 275 sqq., G. Devoto, Gli antichi
Italici; b) that they had immigrated into Italy from the North (cf. Hellanikos (FGH I,
p. 108, 4); in our days this view is adhered to e.g. by Niebuhr, Helbig, Mommsen,
L. Pareti, Beloch, Nissen, J. Sundwall, Villanova-stud. p. 112 sqq.; v. Bissing, Turscha,
Krethschmer, Glotta XX (1932), p. 129 sqq.).
30) Cath. Saunders, Vergil's primitive Italy, Ch. I.
31) Appunti 159/60; Notizie suppl. 1902, 48—50; 55/56; von Duhn, I, 57; Randall
Maclver, Iron Age p. 20617.
32) But e.g. also objects made of bone in graves of early Sicily, suggesting a similar
object from the second city of Hissarlik, and the early tombs in the same section of the
island with their Minoan forms, vases and weapons, and their beads of paste; cf. also
the liparite objects in the palace of Knossos (Saunders, p. 19; Peet, Stone Age, p. 286;
CAH II, 67, 570; J. L. Myres, CAH I, 97, 105/6; Randall Mclver, Iron Age, p. 149/50.
33) Found e.g. at Punto del Tonno at Tarent, which pottery (Saunders p. 18/19) is
much more advanced in technique and more varied in type than the pottery of Northern
Italy of the same period.
34) See e.g. Cath. Saunders p. 22/3.
35) According to some scholars, as Karo, Lehmann-Haupt, Fürtwangler, Herbig, the
Etruscans also reached Italy from Asia Minor as early as the twelfth or eleventh century.
Many other scholars, even those who assume a Minor Asiatic origin for the Etruscans,
have a different view however.
 6

for an early coming of Greek and Aegean influence to the regions of the
Campanian coast3s), we might conclude that in those ages this influence
reached as far as Campania as well.
So it is not at all impossible that a small group of the fugitives from
Troy actually reached Italy in the end 36a).
Yet this does not necessarily mean, that the legend according to which
Aeneas reached Italy from Troy reflected the memory of what had
actually happened, no more than do the similar legends of other Greek
heroes (see above).
And as even Livy (I, 3, 2), Tacitus (Ann. XII, 58), and several scholars
in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries37) for several reasons38) had
already doubted the historicity of the story of Aeneas, and for more
plausible reasons were followed by Niebuhr3»), A. W. Schlegel 40) and
the authors cited in n. 1—14, we must not follow in the tracks of Th. Ryck,
Gerlach, Bachofen, Wachsmuth, Kortuem and Rückert41), and assume
that the story of Aeneas was based on reality.
As is well-known the Romans in later times tried to add to their
antiquity and their glory, and moreover to justify their conquest of Greece
and Asia, and their domination of the world (more about this see below)
by tracing their descent to Aeneas, as for the same reason the inhabitants
of other Italian towns were supposed to have descended from other Greek
heroes42). And conversely by being connected with pre-Roman times

36) See Cath. Saunders, p. 18/19.

36«) Cf. A. W. Goinme, in E. Eyre, European civilization, p. 28 sq.:
The greatness of later Rome led poets and historians, with equal readiness, to
elaborate the story of their origin and early history in such a way, that we free to
doubt everything in their accounts, and yet remain uncertain what nucleus of truth may
be in them. For a story may be wholly invented, or a true tradition embroidered in them,
the finished products in both cases will be very similar.
It is not in the least improbable that, in the disturbed state of the Aegean after the fall
of Troy and the invasion of Greece by the Dorians, in the twelfth and eleventh
century b.C., groups of men, driven from their homes, settled in Italy, and in Latium
among other places. But it is equally likely that the whole story was a poetic fiction.
so much invented as that of Brut the Trojan who founded Britain."
Cf. Pais, Histoire Romaine, p. 41: "nous renongons, pour notre part, a déterminer si le
récit de l arrivée des Troyens contient ou non quelque allusion a une réalité historique".
37) Ph. Cluver, Italia antiqua, p. 832 sqq.; S. Bochart, Sur la question si Enée ait
jamais été en Italië, I, 1063 sqq.; Giainbattista Vico, V, 447 sqq.; 1'abbé Vatry. Mém. de
1'Ac. des inscript. XVI, 1751, p. 462 sqq.
38) See Cauer, Berl. Stud. I, p. 455 sqq.; Schwegler, p. 279 sqq.
39) RG I, p. 146 sqq.
«) XII, p. 1181 sqq.
41) Th. Ryck, de primis Italiae colonis et Aeneae adventu (Appendix on Luc. Holsten.
not. in Steph. Byz.) Bachofen. Röm. Gesch. I, p. 159 sq.; Wachsmuth, Aeltere Gesch.
röm. Staates, p. 1057; Kortuem, Röm. Gesch. p. 26/7; Rückert, Trojas Ursprung, Blüte,
Untergang und Wiedergeburt in Latium.
42) E.g. Tusculum to Telegonus (Fest. p. 130; Hygin. fab. 127; Liv. I, 49; DH IV,
45; VI, 47 etc.); Capua to Kapys (see below); Praeneste also to Telegonus (Plut. Par.
 7

Aeneas, who in Homer is only a figure of secondary importance, also

acquired greater glory.
Here a short exposition will be given as to the origin of the figure of
Aeneas and how he reached Latium.
It is true that already in Homer we find a prophecy as to the future
glory of the Aeneads, scil. XX, 308/9: vvv dè drj Alvslao fihj Tgcóeaaiv
(about this see below) ava£ei, xai naidcov naïdes, tol XEV fietómode
yévcovtai — which however must be confined to Troas only. And even
this prophecy does not correspond to Aeneas' real importance in the Trojan
war. It seems that he did not even play a part in the older layers of the
Iliad, but was only a secondary addition; this may appear from the
circumstance that although he is much glorified, his feats are not lasting,
nor do they influence the course of the action in any way afterwards. So
he was not an original figure in the Iliad, but was only inserted after the
main course of the action had been established.
The figure of Aeneas as well as the above-mentioned prophecy — which
must be only a vaticinium ex eventu (cf. Schwegler p. 293) — must have
been added — as is also remarked by de Sanctis and Rossbach e.g. —
in maiorem gloriam of the dynasty of the Aeneads, who resided in Troas
— at Gergithis, as Demetrius of Skepsis informs us 43) —, at whose court
the Homeric poems were recited by the Rhapsodes44) and whose heros
eponymos was Aineias 45).
As this dynasty of the Aeneads still existed, the tradition was formed
that Aeneas had received the above-mentioned prophecy, because the
Priamid dynasty was odious to the gods46), and that at the same time
the Aeneadic dynasty belonged to the old royal house of Troy as well
(cf. the pedigree of Aeneas II. XX, 215 sqq.) 47).
As this Aeneadic dynasty ruled in Troas for a relatively long period 48),
there was at first no necessity at all for Aeneas to leave his country in
search of a new home. If he had not ruled in Troy itself49), at least

41); Solin. II, 9; Steph. Byz. s.v. ngaCvtotos); Lanuvium to Diomedes (App. BC II, 20);
Ardea to Ardeas (DH I, 72; Steph. Byz. s.v. locft'a) or to Danae (see above), Anti urn
to Anteias DH ib.; St. Byz. s.v. 'Avrtia). Politorium to Polites, the son of Priamus, the
Veneti to Antenor. many more instances see n. 15—28 and Schwegler, I, p. 310.
43) See Strab. XIII, p. 608; cf. Herod. V, 122; VII, 43.
44) See Schwegler, p. 293/5. Boissier, p. 102.
48) "-as" is an Aeolian suffix, denoting the eponym; see Malten, p. 42; and "Aeneas"
is not related to the Greek aivós or aTvos (cf. Hymn. in Aphrod. and Et. M.;
cf. Fick, Gr. Pers. Nam. 7, 149), nor is it a Phoenician word (Movers, Phoenicier, I,
627); meaning: son of Aïvtj = Avaing cf. Wörner, Roscher s.v.. or an abbreviated form
of Aïvinnog, cf. Rossbach, RE col. 1.
46) II. XIII, 460; XX, 302; Hymn. in Aphrod. 196.
47) Cf. also Hymn. in Aphr. 197; Conon 41.
45) Strab. XIII, 1, 52, p. 607; Conon, 41; DH I, 53.
49) Cf. Akusilaus ap. Schol. Venet. Hom. II. XX, 307.
 8

he had in Troas 50), on Mount Ida 51), at Dardanus 52) or Berecynthia 53),
And the tradition that his son Ascanius, or one of his other sons, had
ruled at Skepsis 54), on Mount Ida 55) ( jn Phrygia 56) anc} on 0ther spots
in Troas and the adjacent regions 57) points in the same direction.
These Aeneads had come from Thracia, a little before or after the fall of
Troy58), as a part of a Thracian tribe who lived in Thracia and had
thence migrated to other parts of Greece and Asia Minor. This explains
why on several spots of the Thracian coast, and even in Greece, the names
Aineia, Ainos etc. are found 59).
It may be that in (some of) these other spots there existed a heros
eponymos Aineias as well. At any rate, by the epos the Trojan Aeneas,
originally not more important than the other eponymi60), was brought into
prominence, to such an extent that the others were altogether forgotten.
To explain the occurence of the names Aineia etc. outside Troas the
Trojan Aeneas now was said to have founded these other places
as well 61).
Already in Troas Aeneas had received not only a family, like all epical
heroes, a wife, Eurydike62), one or more children63), a pedigree, which
corresponded more or less with that of the Priamids, and i.a. a grandfather
Kapys, but also a mother, Aphrodite, as64) the Aeneads, dweiling near
Mount Ida, connected their heros eponymos with the Mother-Goddess of
the Ida, whom they afterwards identified with the Greek Aphrodite,
making Aeneas her son;
a father, Anchises, who 65) was originally also a heros eponymos of a
Thracian tribe, a part of which migrated to Greece (cf. the occurrence of

50) Tzetz. Lyc. 970; cf. DH I, 53; Conon 46.

51) Arktinos (Kinkel, Ep. Gr. Frg. I, p. 17); Soph. Laokoön fr. 344 N; ap. D.H. I,
48; cf. Abas ap. SA IX, 264.
52) Anaxicrates ap. Schol. Venet. Eur. Androm. 224 (FHG IV, p. 301).
53) Agathocles ap. Fest. p. 269 s.v. Romam.
54) Strab. XIII, 1. 52, p. 607.
5B) Conon 41, an autbor in DH I, 53.
5B) DH I, 47; 54.
57) DH I, 53; cf. also Steph. Byz. s.v. Aannvlu, AQitrpt,, rivrivoi.
58) See Malten, p. 38/9.
59) Malten, p. 56/57.
90) Cf. de Sanctis, p. 195.
61) Aenos at the mouth of the Hebros VA III, 18: SA III, 1; Mela II, 2, 8; Amm.
XXII, 8; Or. G. R. IX, 4; a coin Head, Hist. numm. 214; Aineia on the sinus Thermaïcus:
Lesches in the Mikra Ilias; Tzetz. Lyc. 1232, 1263; Kephalos of Gergithes and Hegesippus
(DH I, 49); Hellanikos ap. DH I, 46 sq.; DH I, 54; Strab. VII, p. 330; Schol. II. XX,
307; Conon, Narr. 46; Liv. XL, 4; Steph. Byz. s.v. Aïvtia.
62) KvnQia and 'D.ias /X I X Q U Kinkel, Ep. Fr. p. 30, fr. 19, p. 47, fr. 29.
°3) See black- and red-figured vases, Robert, 1005 3; Head, Hist. Numm. p. 214;
Hellanikos FGH I, 4; F 3, 1 (more about this see below).
04) De Sanctis, p. 196; Malten, p. 35.
CB) Malten, p. 35, 57.
 9

the name Anchises in some places there), an other to Troas; here Anchises
was in his turn connected with Aphrodite, as a figure which may be put
on a level with Attis, Adonis and other Minor Asiatic paramours of the
Magna Mater. At the same time he became the father of Aeneas. By these
circumstances the figure of Anchises was preserved, for in all other places
Anchises etc. is but an empty name;
and finally a son Ascanius (about him see below).
So Aeneas now could be connected not only with places which showed
the stem Aen-, but also with those showing the stem Anch-, Ask-,
Kap-, 66) or named Troja 6?) or having a cult of Aphrodite, and especially
a cult of Aphrodite Aineas.
(For several reasons 68) it seems unnecessary to me to assume, as several
scholars have done69) that the starting-point for the peregrinations of
Aeneas was the occurring in various spots, not of a tribe Aeneadae etc.,
or a place-name Aineia etc., but only of the cult of Aphrodite Aineias and
its gradual extension although the latter was often said to have been
instituted by Aeneas) 70).
Originally he might have founded these places before reaching Troas, or
during a temporary absence from it71). At a later stage however he was
said to have been there af ter having left Troas.
Yet these peregrinations of Aeneas outside Troas cannot be very ancient,
and most likely they were known neither to Homer nor to the Cyclic poets,

oo) Such as the town Capue (DH I, 49; Strab. XIII, 1, 53, p. 608) and the mount
Anchise (Paus. VIII, 12, 8 sq.) in Arcady, the harbour of Anchisos near Buthrotum
(Procop. B. Goth. IV, 22; DH I, 51).
6T) E.g. near Buthrotum (DH I, 51).
6S) 1. Not at all the places where Aeneas is said to have been, was there a temple
of Aphrodite (Aineias);
2. Aeneas was not said to have been at all the places where there was a temple of
Aphrodite (Aineias);
3. We first find the name Aphrodite Aineias in Dionysius (I, 50, 4; 53, 1). It is not
even certain, whether this epithet of Aphrodite is really connected with Aeneas or the
Thracian Ainos etc., or whether it was a Phoenician word (Wörner), or a Greek word,
meaning "the shining one", or whether it was actually due to her later connection with
the legend of Aeneas. So there is no reason to assume, as Uschold p. 302 does, that
"Aeneas" was originally an epithet of Aphrodite;
4. At the places where Aeneas was said to have landed, and where there existed a
cult of Aphrodite (Aeneas) this cult had not a different character from that in other places.
See also de Sanctis p. 196.
69) E.g. Preller; Schwegler, p. 301/2; cf. also Uschold, Gesch. d. trois. Krieges,
p. 301—352; Bamberger, op. cit. p. 86 sqq.
70) On Pallene (DH I, 49); Cythera; Zacynthos; near Actium, Ambracia (DH I, 50),
Leucas (ibid., SA III, 279); at Anchisos (DH I, 51); on the Eryx (DH I, 53; VA V, 759;
Diod. IV, 83; Tac. Ann. IV, 43; Mei. II, 7, 17); and on the Laurentine beach. Cf. also
Paus. III, 22, 11; VIII, 12, 8; 9.
71) Cf. the tradition, mentioned by Dionysius I, 53, 20 sq., that Aeneas luuuainGuvia
löv öxXov 'iTdXCav civcmoftiGS-iivcii rt«Atv oi'xctcft xal paOiXtvöai t»]s T(tofa$,
 10

nor even to Sophocles 72), although the Mikra Ilias 73) relates that Aeneas,
as a prisoner of war of Neoptolemos, was abducted to Thessaly, and a
coin from the Thracian Aenos74) dating from the last quarter of the
sixth century B.C., represents Aeneas, carrying on his shoulders his father
Anchises, and next to him his wife, who is carrying a child.
Apart from these isolated testimonies our oldest 75) source as to Aeneas'
peregrinations, and at the same time as to his connection with the West,
is Stesichoros. On the Tabula Iliaca76) is a representation of Aeneas, with
his little son, his old father carrying the sacra, and the trumpeter Misenus,
leaving cape Sigeum; above this scene are added the words: Aivrjag avv
tóïs tdióïg ana'iQiov els rr/v 'Eojiegiav. This scene must have been
borrowed from the Iliu Persis of Stesichoros 77).
The Sicilian poet Stesichoros may have mentioned Aeneas not only, as
Momsen says: "um die Fabelwelt seiner Geburts- und seiner Wahlheimat,
Siziliens und Italiens, durch den Gegensatz der troischen Helden gegen
die hellenischen poëtisch zu bereichern", and may have been induced to
this not only by the view, that "die italischen Barbaren den Hellenen
minder fern als die übrigen standen, und das Verhaltnis der Hellenen und
der Italiker dichterisch angemessen dem der homerischen Achaer und Troer
gleichgefasst werden konnte"78). But he may have been induced to this
by the very fact, that to him, the Sicilian poet, to whom perhaps 79) the
traditions of Ainos and Aineia were not even known, the figure of Aineas
was already familiar.
For 80) in the most Western part of Sicily resided the Elymi, who, as
modern linguistic and historical research 81) has taught us, and as was
also the tradition in Antiquity 82), had come from the North Western
part of Asia Minor before the eighth century b.C. Likewise the Aphrodite

72) Proklos Chrest. 1. 1. (Kinkel, ep. gr. fr. 1, p. 17); ib. p. 49.
73) Cf. Schol. Eur. Androm. 14.
74) Head, Hist. Numm. 214.
75) As to the date of the Iliu Persis of Stesichoros, according to Moramsen and Cauer
this Stesichoros was the poet from Himera, living from 632—552. According to W. Schur,
Klio XVII, 1921, p. 49 sqq., who follows v. Wilamowitz (Sapph. u. Sim. p. 232 sqq.;
Sitz. Ber. Berl. Ak. 1925, 16) this was the Locrian Stesichoros from the Sicilian Mataurus.
living about 485, who was also the author of the songs of Helena. Malten p. 47/8 leaves
this question open, although he is inclined to adopt the view of Schur.
76) Mancuso, Mem. dei Lincei XIV, 1911, Fase. VIII.
77) See Schwegler, p. 298/9.
7S) Cf. also Cauer, p. 462.
79) So also Cauer, p. 464.
80) See Malten, p. 42—48.
81) Krethschmer, Einl. i. d. Gr. Sprache; Gercke-Norden, Einl. I, 6, 109 sq.. Giotta,
XIV, 319.
82) Strab. XIII, 608; DH I, 47, 52 sqq.; Lyk. 951 sq., 961, 965; SA V, 73; Thuk. VI,
2; cf. Hülsen, RE V, 246/7.
 11

of the Eryx had been brought with them by the Elymi from Asia Minor 83),
and was originally identical with the mater Idaea84). "Als historisch hat
also zu gelten, dass die Elymer, die in Klein-Asien mit der Dynastie der
Aeneaden sich irgend wie berührten oder von ihnen wussten, entweder
Angehörige der Dynastie selber unter den Genossen ihrer Wanderung
gehabt haben, oder, wenn nicht dies, so doch Kunde von den Aeneaden
mit nach Sizilien nahmen" (Malten, p. 45).
As in the case with the Aeneads in Troas, so the figure of Aeneas may
also have lived on among the Elymi, and thus Stesichoros may have taken
cognizance of him. This poet, relating Aeneas' journey to the West
"dachte sich nicht etwa aus dem Nichts aus, sondern er gestaltete aus
seinem Wissen von den westsizilischen Dingen. Seine Dichtung zeichnet
die Linien der Geschichte nach Aineias ist mit der göttlichen Mutter
nach Westsizilien gewandert, dem "Westland" — auch vom Standorte
des weiter östlich beheimateten Dichters aus" (Malten, p. 47).
This seems very plausible, and for this reason I cannot agree with
Pais 85) that the legend of Aeneas' arrival among the Elymi cannot be
very ancient 86), and that the Trojan origin of the Elymi etc. was invented
by the Phocaenses 87).
However, apart from homonymies and the residence of Aeneades etc.
at certain spots 88) there were other reasons for the connection of places
with Aeneas. For this we must make it clear, that in the older traditions
we have not so many traces of Aeneas' connection with the West as of
that of other Greek heroes, as Diomedes, Philoctetes, etc., and especially
of those who returned from the Trojan war — in the first place Odysseus,
but also others (see above).
Partly 89) as in the case of Diomedes and Philoctetes, this connection
of certain places in Italy with certain (Greek) heroes — often deities —
was more or less genuine. If these heroes were not originally identical or
homonymous with the heroes who also figured in the epos, they were
afterwards identified with them. Or there may have been a genuine
ancient immigration from Greece. These cases may be compared with that
of Aeneas among the Elymi90).

83) Cf. Lyk. 472, 952, 958 and Scholia; DH I, 53; VA V, 759; SA I, 570; Hygin.
Fab. 260; Pomp. Mei. II, 119.
84) See Malten, p. 46.
85) St. d. R. I, p. 164 sqq.
86) According to Pais it must be younger than that of Hesione, who by the river
Crimisos became the mother of Acestes, Eryx and Entellus, with which legend it was
afterwards connected.
87) On the other hand Pais may be right in saying that not all particulars as to the
legend of Aeneas in Sicily are ancient, and that this legend was developed by the
Campanians who about 400 b.C. arrived in Western Sicily in considerable numbers.
88) As e.g. also at Zakynthos.
89) Cf. A. W. Byvanck, De magnae Graeciae historia antiquissima, p. 18 sqq.
90) Byvanck remarks that these places are often situated not on the coast, but inland.
 12

But these traditions may partly have originated by the circumstance that
the Greeks, navigators and colonists, or poets and scholars, wished to
recognize the traces of the Argonauts, Hercules, Odysseus etc. on their
journeys; although in many of these cases there may have been a deeper
reason as well91). The primitive naive wish to seek for an original point
of contact, to bridge over the difference between themselves and the
unknown, so that it was not so strange as it appeared at first, may have
been one of the reasons why they were not content merely to recognize
the traces of those heroes, but made them founders of cities etc. Moreover
(Pais, p. 138) the descendants of the Greek colonists in Magna Graecia,
who were no longer able to tracé their descent with historical certainty, to
compensate this availed themselves of the legendary, epical and religious
stock they had brought with them from Greece, and invented a sort of
prehistory from them, relating how Greek heroes on their journeys, after
the fa 11 of Troy or on other occasions, had been or even remained there.
Finally the Greeks wished to represent the entire barbarian world as
subdued by or originating from the Greeks 92).
At this stage — to which belongs i.a. the connection of Odysseus with
the origins of Rome (see below) — there was no great difference yet
between the Italians and the Greeks, nor had the Greeks and the Trojans
yet been differentiated as Greeks and barbarians.
At a later stage however — which "later" need not be taken in
a strictly temporary sense — by the feeling that the Italians were neither
identical with the Greeks, nor totally different from them these foundations
were ascribed not to a pure Greek hero, but to a half-Greek, the son of
a Greek hero and an indigenous woman, — as Latinus e.g. was the son of
Odysseus and Cire — as the first Greek colonists indeed may have married
indigenous women. Or, by the feeling "dass die italischen Barbaren den
Hellenen minder fern standen als die übrigen, und das Verhaltnis der
Hellenen und der Italiker dichterisch angemessen dem der homerischen
Achaer und Troer gleich gefasst werden konnte" (see above), the
indigenous were identified with the old adversaries of the Greeks, the
Trojans, and these foundations ascribed to Trojans, or to Greeks in
combination with Trojan woman.
For (see de Sanctis, p. 197) the Greeks of Sicily and Southern Italy, as
they had to wage war against the neighbouring barbarians, with the same
power of endurance as formerly their forbears against Troy, by an
ingenuous association of ideas and a spontaneous assimilation of the
present conditions with those celebrated by the epos, were prone to see
in them the descendants — or relatives — of those Trojans who had been
the adversaries of their ancestors.

81) Cf. Bethe, Homer III, 187; v. Wilamowitz, Hom. Unters. p. 169; Ilias p. 502;
Robert, Heldensage p. 1383.
82) Mommsen, p. 467.
 13

At the same time the Etruscans, who (see n. 29) cinsidered themselves
to have originated from Asia Minor and to be descendants of Telephus93)
may also have identified themselves more or less with the Trojans94)
although they do not seem to have thought of Aeneas95).
So from several places 96) we have the tradition of Trojan women who,
for fear of remaining slaves at the court of their new Greek masters and
their consorts, had set fire to the ships when they had landed at a certain
spot of the Italian coast, and had thus necessitated the Greeks to remain
there with them 97). A same tradition was also connected with the origins
of Rome98) (see below).
Other traditions, especially from towns of Magna Graecia, speak of
Trojans alone (see n. 15). As the tradition existed that Trojans or Trojan
women had come to Italy, and founded one or more towns 99) there, it
was obvious that Aeneas — who was already connected with a place in
the West — which connection now acquired a much wider notoriety from
Stesichoros — and had left Troas, was now connected with other places
in the West as well, Sometimes this may have been in combination with
the Trojan women; at any rate he succeeded in ousting them entirely.
So Aeneas could be connected with spots where there was no tradition
at all about the Aeneads etc. And in itself Stesichoros, saying that Aeneas
95) Lyk. 1242 and Schol.; DH I, 28.
94) Cf. Pais, p. 161/2: come i Troiani, secondo il mito, avevano combattuto in Oriente
contra gli eroi achei, cosi in Occidente i Tirreni caccdavano in realta dalle sponde della
Campania i coloni greci e li molestavano sino allo Stretto. Le relazioni con i Tirreni
erano ora ostili, ora amicevoli
°5) Timaeus Lyk. 1226 sqq. causes Aeneas to land in Etruria, and reach Latium with
the assistance of the Etruscan princes Tarchon and Tyrsenos. Yet he cannot be following
an ancient tradition here, as Malten p. 49/50 remarks, but must be giving the retrojection
of the strong influence of the Etruscans upon Rome in the sixth century B.C. For there
are no further testimonies of a close connection of Aeneas with Etruria; no great value
must be attached to DH I, 73, that on the Janiculus, which once formed the Etruscan
boundary, there was a place Aineia (see also Pais, p. 162); and Aineias is almost unknown
in Etruscan art (see Malten, p. 49). But cf. on the contrary Luisa A. Stella: Italia antica
sul mare, p. 146 sqq., who remarks that as Aeneas was not a well defined type in Greek
art, it is difficult to recognize him on Etruscan images; she assumes the possibility of
the legend of Aeneas having reached Rome from Etruria.
96) Caieta (Or. GR 10); Pisa (SA X, 179); Croton (Strab. VI p. 262; Schol. Theocr.
IV, 24, 179; Lyc. 921); Setaeum (Steph. Byz: s.v.; Tzetz. Lyk. 1075); Scione (Steph.
Byz. s.v.; Conon 13; Strab. VI, fr. 25); the Apulian coast (Aristot. de mir. ausc. 109.
p. 840, 68 sqq.); the Elymi (DH I, 52).
B7) According to another tradition (e.g. Fest. p. 269; SA I, 273; Polyaen. VIII, 25, 2;
Plut. de mul. virt. 1; Romul. 1) they had acted thus taedio maris; but this tradition, as
well as that of the men too being Trojans, seems to be fairly recent (Cauer, Berl. Stud. lx.,
p. 469/70).
es) See the places cited in note 97, and Solin. I, 2.
98) Schur, Klio XVII, 1921, p. 146/8 affirms — and rightly according to me — that
originally this motif was only connected with the Siritis, where it would have originated
because of the occurring of the river-name Nauaithos, and that it was thence transferred
to the other places in a relatively late period.
 14

startcd for 'Hesperia', need not have meant Western Sicily only, as
Malten supposes 10°); but, as the figure of Misenus, who is the eponym
of cape Misenum in the neighbourhood of Cumae101), on the Tabula
Iliaca suggests, he might equally well-have meant Campania 102); it would
be possible that either the isle of Aenaria 103) or the town of Capua 104)
or, as Müller supposes, Cumae and the Sibylline oracles 105) were his
starting-point, and Cumae was the end of Aeneas' journey, as is the
opinion of Müller and Schwegler e.g. 106).
But the other testimonies as to Aeneas' stay in Campania are of a
relatively recent date, and the figure of Misenus on the Tabula Iliaca —
which most probably dates only from the beginning of the Empire107) —
might have been added to the Stesichorian data merely because of Vergil's
Aeneid 108), so that it is not even at all certain, that Stesichoros caused
Aeneas to reach Campania, as he does according to de Sanctis, p. 197.
As it is moreover almost certain that in Stesichoros Aeneas did not
reach Latium 109), and as it is very improbable that, as Cauer supposes,
Stesichoros did not connect him with a definite place at all110), the end
of Aeneas' journey according to Stesichoros seems to have been Western
Sicily.
But as soon as Aeneas' journey in Italy had an end assigned to it,
this end may have been Rome. For, although many traces of Aeneas were
shown in Campania, and many places there were said to have been named
after one of his companions, it is not handed down that Aeneas himself
died or remained at any of these places. Nor is there any place except
the isle of Aenaria — which, as it is not a town, cannot have been the end
of Aeneas' peregrinations — which alludes to the name of Aeneas. And

10°) p. 42/3: "mit Hesperia ist im Sinne des Siziliers zunachst und sicher Sizilien
gemeint; ob Italiën, bleibt im Dunkeln". p. 48: "Aeneas ... ist... nach Westsizilien
gewandert, dem "Westland" auch vom Standorte des weiter östlich beheimateten Dichters
aus ... Ob dann Aineias bei Stesichoros in Sizilien starb, wie wahrscheinlich, oder nach
Italien weiterzog, entzieht sich unserer Kenntnis".
101) Also Pais p. 161.
102) Müller; Schwegler, p. 299; de Sanctis p. 198.
103) Cf. Fest. p. 20; OM XIV, 88 sq.
1M) Cf. Hecat. ap. Steph. Byz. s.v.
i°6) Op. cit. ;for his exposition see also Schwegler, p. 312 sqq.
10c) L.c.: "Kuma war von Aeneadischen Vorstellungen voll, und es ist sehr glaublich,
dass es dort eine Sage gab, nach welcher Aeneas Gründer der Stadt und des dortigen
Orakels war".
107) Schwegler, p. 298 and n. 7; Lippold, RE s.v.
108) Cf. Cauer, p: 465, who however raises some objections to this view himself.
109) Schur p. 151 remarks that this is sufficiently proved by the silence of Dionysius
— who is in search of the most ancient references to Aeneas' stay in Rome — on this
point. Moreover the Tabula Iliaca, which was made for Romans, doubtless would have
mentioned Rome in stead of the general name Hesperia, if tradition had allowed this.
110) For, as Schur p. 151 remarks, "derartige Wandersagen pflegen doch gerade um
der Reiseziele willen erfunden zu werden".
 15

the knowledge of such a tradition, if it had existed, could not have

disappeared altogether 111).
The question from where Aeneas reached Rome, from Sicily 112), from
Campania113) or from Etruria114) is not only very difficult to settle115),
but to do so also unnecessary. For Aeneas may have been connected
with Rome not by the Romans themselves, or by Sicilians, Campanians or
Etrurians etc., but by a Greek author, who was acquainted with the works
of Stesichoros, and now, to add to the glory of Rome, or to ingratiate
himself with the Romans — the more, as "gefühlsmassig" Aeneas had
gradually become a Greek116) — connected Aeneas with this city117).
Our oldest testimony as to Aeneas' arrival in Latium is from the Hiereiai
of Hellanikos 117s), ap. DH I, 72 (FGH I, Hellan. frg. 84). 'O öh rac
iegdag zag Iv "Agyu xai ra xa&' êxaoitjv noa^&tvza ovvayaycov, Aivsiav
iprjoiv êx Moloziwv eis ' hakiav èk&óvza juez' 'Odvooêcog oixiazfjv yevéo'&ai

111) So also Cauer. Only he assumes that Aeneas was connected with Rome as soon
as not only Aeneas' peregrinations in Italy had come to an end but also those in the
West in general. He therefore does not assume an old connection of Aeneas with Western
Sicily. Moreover it does not seem necessary to me that, as Cauer says: ei qui Aeneam
Siciliam et Campaniam attigisse narrabant, idem Aeneam ultra Campaniam atque in Latium
advenisse tradiderunt (cf. also Rubino, Beitrage p. 89, n. 115, p. 91/2). For if Aeneas was
said to have reached a certain place this does not include that this was assuimed to be
the end of his journey as well.
Therefore in my opinion it does not follow from Hecataeus (ap. Steph. Byz. s.v.
Kanva): and Kanvos TOV TQIOI-XOV that already (the sources of) Hecataeus connected
Aeneas with Rome, not even if this testimony can be ascribed to Hecataeus himself
(so e.g. de Sanctis, p. 198; cf. on the contrary Müller, FHG I, p. XIII; Jacoby, FGH,
Komm. I, 334; Pais, p. 159/60).
112) Cf. Cauer:
Cf. Pais p. 181; most probably by Sicilian authors; Malten, p. 50: Sizilien als
Ausgangspunkt für Rom, Syrakus als Mittlerinn; ... die Tatsache, dass eine Reihe von
Personen aus dem Aeneaskreise ... langs der Küste von Sizilien nach Rom lokalisiert
erscheinen, führt zu der Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass auf diesem Wege die Sa$e sich nach
Norden gerankt hat. Man (Christ. Sitz. Ber. Münch. Ak. 1905, 108; Schur, Klio XVII)
hat in dieser Nordverlagerung der Aineiassage wohl mit Recht einen Niederschlag von
alten Handelsverbindungen zwischen Sizilien und Latium gesehen".
113) Cf. Rossbach, and de Sanctis, p. 201, who considers the influence of the
Sibylline books.
114) So e.g. L. A. Stella (see n. 95), and Klausen p. 620, who assumes however that
Aeneas — although having a remarkable analogy with the Trojan hero of this name,
was an indigenous hero, a "Ceremonialgeist".
11B) So also Pais, p. 157.
118) Malten, p. 51: "Aeneas (war) durch die Verherrlichung bei Stesichoros griechi-
schem Empfinden selbst naher gerückt. Es gibt keine Spur, dass Aineias in Sizilien und
bei dem sizilischen Dichter noch der alte troische Feind war; gefühlsmassig gleitet der
Troer allmahlich in die Reihe der griechischen Heroen hinüber".
117) Cf. de Sanctis, p. 199, who concludes that we cannot have a tale here,
"foggiata in Roma stessa, elaborando miti Greci, ... si bene d'una favola Greca che a
Roma è stata poi importata e modificato." And Malten, p. 50: "Es ist kein Zweifel
dass Aineias als Roms Gründer den Römern aus griechischem Wollen heraus oktroyiert
worden ist".
 16

ifjq nóXecog. ' Ovofiaaai d'avii]v ano uiaq xmv ' IXiddmv Puijirjq. 1avxt)v dè
Uyei tat? óMAat? TQOMOI nagaxeksvaa/xêvrjv xoivfj fier' avtcöv lunoijam tct
oxdcprj, [}aQvvo/uÉvt]v tfj jiXavtj — where this author combined three different
motifs 117a). As Hellanikos was a contemporary of Herodotus, and died
about 400 b.C., we have a terminus ante quem for this connection of
Aeneas with Rome.
In the fragment which has come down to us from the Troica of the
same author 118) — which work he seems to have composed at an early
age — Aeneas does not come beyond Pallene, which therefore according
to Schur, Klio, XVII, 149 is the end of Aeneas' peregrinations there.
Jacoby FGH Komm. I, 444 doubts this however119), in which doubt I
agree with him120). But I would not even affirm, as Jacoby does, that
Aeneas' connection with Rome was invented by Hellanikos121) in his
Hiereiai, which he seems to have composed at the end of his life. In my
opinion Hellanikos may have taken over this combination from his sources,
as is also for several reasons 122) suggested by Cauer, p. 466/7 123). The
latter remarks moreover that it is much more probably that a Greek or
Trojan origin should be referred to at the end of the royal period, when
Rome was a very important city in Latium, and by the Tarquinii had
several connections with Greece, than about 400 b.C., when Rome was

117.) As Dionysius does not actually mention the name of Hellanikos, but only says:
ó ras tv "Aoyft xai ta xtt&' ixt'ctfrjjv nQax&ïvra Ovvayoiv some scholars as Niese
(Hennes, XXIII (1888), p. 88, n. 2), Pais p. 158/9 and 159 n. 1, cf. also Wörner l.c. and
Schwegler p. 303, for this and other reasons (see l.c.) — have expressed their doubt
whether we may attribute this testimony to this author; in that case we might draw an
argument from this testimony as to the terminus ante quem of Aeneas arival in Latium.
De Sanctis p. 198, n. 7 remarks however that as Dionysius I, 22 cites the same writing
under the name of Hellanikos (cf. also Schwegler, p. 303, n. 9), he apparently did not
want to express any doubts as to the authenticity of this work, or to say that it was a
work on the Argivan priestesses, entirely different from that of Hellanikos. Klausen
(p. 567), Mommsen, Rossbach, Jacoby (FGH, Komm. I, 457/8) and Malten too see no
reason to doubt the authorship of Hellanikos- Also according to Cauer, p. 466, n. 9 this
testimony goes back to Hellanikos himself, although in Cauer's opinion Dionysius
because of the divergence of this testimony from the Troica of Hellanikos (DH I, 47;
FGH, Hellan. fr. 31), in which Aeneas is said to have gone to Pallene doubted whether
this testimony had to be ascribed to him — as may appear from his omitting the name
of the author here.
"») DH I, 47; FGH Heil. fr. 31.
119) Because of the introducing words of Dionysius and because of Et. M. 490, 1.
12°) Cf. also the fact, to which attention has been drawn by Cauer, p. 466, n. 19.
that, as appears from the names Elymus and Aegestus, he was acquainted to a certain
extent with Sicilian traditions.
1S1) Cf. also Nissen, p. 380.
122) p. 477: Ab ipso autem Hellaniko si fabula Aeneia ficta esse dicitur ... non
intellego neque qui factum sit ut is qui narrabat quascumque de Aenea fabulas reperiebat,
earum numerum de suo augeret, neque cur Ulixeae de Roma fabulae aliam adiecerit.
123) Cf. also Schur, p. 151: noch vor Hellanikos ist Aeneas aber nach Rom übertragen
worden, wie aus der selbststandigen Fortbildung der römischen Aeneassage nach der
Mischtradition des Lesbiers hervorgeht.
 17

hard pressed from all sides, and the Greeks in Campania were worried by
the Samnites etc.
So we do not know what author was the first to connect Aeneas with
Rome124), and we must limit ourselves to the conclusion that before
400 b.C., perhaps even before 500 b.C. 125) Aeneas was connected
with Rome .
At any rate he was first connected with Rome not by the Romans
themselves, but by the Greeks 125a), as may appear i.a. from the fact, that
in the first two centuries after Stesichoros the Romans themselves developed
the legend of Romulus, which actually is in contradiction with the legend
of Aeneas.
For a considerable period however this tradition had only a meagre
existence. Although it is found already in the pupil of Hellanikos, Damastes
of Sigeum — for which reason Klausen, p. 568 remarks: dass ein auf
troischer Boden geborner Schriftsteller sich dazu verstand, diese Sage
anzuerkennen, zeigt, wie bestimmt sie bereits ausgebildet war 126) and in
aXloi xives (DH I, 72), Aristoteles still (ap. DH ibid.) relates that Greek
heroes on their return from Troy were driven by the storms els tov tónov
xovxov irjg ' Omxrjs os xciXéixai Aaxlviov ènl zm TvQQrjvixm nelayei xei/xtvoc,
where they hibernated. As the Trojan women who accompanied them as
prisoners-of-war had buried the ships for fear of becoming slaves in
Greece, the Greek heroes were forced to remain there. By this Aaxlviov
Aristoteles must have meant Latium, and a fortiori Rome.
For everything points to the Trojans — as also Aeneas — being
connected with Rome before being connected with Latium in general, or
with another town in Latium .And the oldest of our further testimonies
also point to this. For if we have no certainty about the time of Agathocles
of Cyzicus 127) no more than about Kephalon of Gergithis 128), at least
Kallias 128a) who lived about 300 b.C. — and who moreover caused
Aeneas to die in Pallene, and only one of his sons to reach Rome — must

124) So also de Sanctis, p. 198.

12B) Cf. Malten, p. 48: "during the fifth century".
125a) Cauer, d. röm. Aen. sage, Jb. f. Class. Phil. Suppl. XV p. 97 (1887).
126) Pais doubts the authenticity of this testimony; Schwegler p. 405, n. 35, saying
that the testimony of Damastes refers only to the burning of the ships by a Trojan woman,
must be wrong, as also Cauer, p. 466, n. 19 remarks.
127) Fest. p. 269 Romam: Agathocles, Cyzicenarum rerum conscripor, ait vaticinio
Heleni impulsum Aeneam, Italiam petivisse portantem suam secum neptem Ascani filiam,
nomine Rhomam, eamque, ut Italia sint Phryges potiti et his regionibus maxime, quae
nunc sunt vicdnae urbi, prima omnium consecrasse in Palatio Fidei templum.; Solin. I, 3;
cf. Plut. Rom. 2.
128) DH I, 72; cf. I, 49; Fest. p. 266 — which words most likely must be ascribed to
Hegesianax (Cauer p. 475, Schwegler, p. 302/3).
128«) DH I, 72, which has to be combined with Fest. p. 269 (Caltinus) and ibidem
(Galitas) as Mommsen (Hermes, XVI, p. 4) has demonstrated.
2
 18

have connected Aeneas with Rome rather than with another town129).
So there is no reason either to assume, as several scholars do 130) that
Aeneas was first connected in Latium with the sanctuary of Venus Frutis
between Lavinium and Ardea 131) whatever may have been its origin 132),
and with Lavinium before being connected with Rome. (So also de
Sanctis, p. 199 sqq.)
The first author who 133) may have mentioned a connection of Aeneas
with Lavinium is Timaeus (about 280—270) who (DH I, 67) Sde anocpuivu:
xrjQvxia aidrjQa xal %alxa xal xêqafiov TQCOIXOV elvai ra êv Tóïg advroig tol'g
êv Aaovivlcp xdfieva ISQOL, nv&éoftai ÓS avxög ravra naga rcöv èm/cüQitov ;
this may also appear from (Lyk.) Al. 1259 sqq.: which author may
(partly 134) be based on him 135)t at least if these lines are not a later
interpolation 136), and who relates that Aeneas, having been in Etruria,
went to Latium déifiag dè orjxóv Mvvdla ITaXXrjvldi nargmi ayalfiai êyxaroixiü
•&ea>v, a dij... avv rep yeqaiqt jzaigl nQsofieMÜoezai nênkoig 7ieQia%<bv.
Afterwards he founded Rome, the thirty Latin cities etc., and was succeeded
by Romulus and Remus.
But Timaeus may also have been acquainted with Aeneas' connection
with Rome, because137) according to him (Polyb. XII,4) the sacrifice of the
equus October preserved the memory of the capture of Troy by the wooden
horse. Moreover in my opinion from the words quoted by Dionysius it
merely appears that Timaeus — or his informants — also connected
Lavinium with Troy, not that they ascribed this connection to Aeneas.
And Schur p. 142 remarks that in Lykophron Aeneas is the colonizer of
Latium in general rather than of Lavinium.
Indeed in later times Aeneas was said to have founded Lavinium. But
this connection was rather obvious. For the outstanding feature of Aeneas
had been his pietas, which is already referred to in the Iliad and the
Cyclic poems. He is "pius" towards the gods (II. XX, 347, 298 sqq.),
towards his father, and especially towards his deities, whom he rescues 138).
129) Cf. Cauer, p. 472/5; Pais, p. 169/70.
13°) Cf. Rossbach, col. 1019, Pais, p. 173 sqq. and Wörner, whose view, although
false, is very original.
131) Cass. Hem. fr. 1 P, ap. Solin. II, 14; cf. e.g. Schwegler, and also Preller-Jordan,
I, 436 and n. 4.
132) According to some scholars, e.g. Wörner, col. 189, Pais, p. 173, this Venus was
of Greek origin, and the name "Frutis" a corruption of Aphrodite; others, e.g. de Sanctis,
p. 200, n. 1, Corssen, Aussprache II, 206, assume a connection with frutex and
frutificor.
133) As is e.g. the opinion of Schwegler, p. 304, and Mommsen, p. 467.
134) Cf. Niebuhr, KL Schr., p. 438 sqq. Skuthsch, RE VI, 1174 sqq.; Beloch, Gr.
Gesch. III, 2, p. 478 sqq.; Sudhaus, Rh. Mus. 63 (1908), p. 481 sqq., etc.
135) Wiss. Herm. XXII (1887), p. 411 sqq.; cf. Cauer, p. 482/6.
13e) As is denied by v. Wilamowitz, Ind. lect. Gryph. 1883/4 and others (see Schur,
p. 13, 2) and by Schur himself.
137) Schwegler, p. 304, n. 13.
138) And in the oldest version he transports them from Troy to his dwelling-place
 19

These gods may originally have been, as Malten p. 36 says, the

household-gods of Aeneas or Anchises, perhaps small idols of the Magna
Mater.
These naxQCo'ioi deoi of Aeneas could best be identified with the (Roman)
Penates. Moreover the mother-temple of the Roman Penates was said to
be the Lavinian temple139), and Lavinium to be the (sacral) metropolis
of Latium 14°), from where Alba Longa 141, and afterwards Rome had
been founded — which, however, probably does not correspond to
reality 142).
In view of the general tendency of the Italian cities to have a Greek or
Trojan ktistes the most obvious founder of the sacral city of Lavinium
was the pious Aeneas, who had rescued his paternal deities 143). As Rome
was said to have been founded in the middle of the eighth century, later
historians considered that Aeneas — or even one of his sons or grandsons
— could not have founded Rome. So he was transported thence to the
metropolis of Latium, and the long list of Alban kings inserted to span
the gap between Aeneas and Romulus 144).
Aeneas had in any case now arrived in Latium, and his further
adventures and their development in course of time do not belong to our
subject.
The only question to be treated here is why Aeneas' arrival in Latium,
with its previous history and its consequences, was taken by Vergil as the
subject of his epos at all.
Not very long after Timaeus the Romans began for reasons of political
utility145) to avail themselves — in diplomatic negotiations as well as in
receiving cults which had a connection with Troy — of the Trojan origin
of their city. For as Rome had become a great power among the Hellenistic
states, it sought to have an origin by which it became equal in birth with

on the Ida (cf. Hellanikos, FGH I, 4, 31 (ap. DH I, 46/47). Xen. Kyneg. I, 15 is of no

conclusive force, as it is spurious (see Malten, p. 36, n. 21). See also Lyk. l.c. and
further Heyne, Exc. IX ad VA II.
130) Varr. 1.1. V, 144: oppidum quod primum conditum stirpis Romanae in Latio;
nam ibi di Penates nostri; Plut. Coriol. 29: Aaoviviov.,., onov x«l S-twv ÜQa P(o/iaioig
natQhiüiv anéxtixo xai xov yévovq r^Oav avxots aQxai rö nQ(axi]V nóXiv i-xtivviv xxCGat
TÖV AIVFIAV. Plut Rom. 23; SA II, 296; III, 12; VIII, 664; Schol. Ver. Aen. I, 239;
Macrob. Sat. III, 4, 11; Obseq. 24; Val. Max. I, 6, 7; Liv. I, 14, 5; V, 52; DH II, 52;
Asc. in Cic. Scaur. p. 18 sq.; Strab. V, 3, 5; Lucan. VI, 396; CIL X, 717: sacra principia
pop. Rom. nominisque Latini, quae apud Laurentes coluntur.
140) DH V, 12: tig AaovCviov, xr[V nnxQÓnokiv xov Aaxiv(ov yévovg; VIII, 49; Plut.
Coriol. 29: Kal xov yévovg qfiav avxolq óiQxaï.
141) Cf. the legend in DH I, 67; Val. Max. I, 8, 7; DC fr. 4, 9 (Tzetz. Lyk. 1232);
SA I, 270; Aug. c. d. X, 16; Or. GR X, 16; cf. SA III, 12.
142) Cf. de Sanctis p. 200; Preller-J. II, 161, 322.
143) Schwegler, p. 325/6; Rossbach col. 1019.
144) De Sanctis, p. 202/3.
145) Cauer, Jahrb. p. 97 sqq.
 20

the other states i*6); afterwards the references to its Trojan origin also
had a more aggressive character, and often showed an anti-Hellenic
tendency; finally by them Rome sought to legalize its claim to world-
dominion 147).
In this they may have followed the example given by Pyrrhus148) and
by the inhabitants of Segesta 149).
Thus not long after the first Punic war we find the first traces of Rome
officially referring to its Trojan origin, scil. the Roman agreement in an
alliance with Seleukos only under the condition "si consanguineos suos
Ilienses ab omni munere immunes praestitisset 15°), and Rome's intervention
against the Aetolians, in favour of the Acarnanians, with the motivation
that only the latterisi) "quondam adversus Troianos, auctores originis
suae, auxilia Graecis non miserint", although the date of neither of these
testimonies is absolutely certain 152).
In the following decades there were many more traces 153) of Rome's
use of its Trojan origin in politicis 1&4) as well as — especially during the
second Punic war — in sacris 155); and this origin was now even aknow-

146) Cf. Malten, p. 52; Beloch Gr. Gesch. IV, 1, 663 sqq.
147) Cf. the conjecture in Hom. II. XX, 307, where T(,<óiooi in the liné vvv <ii cf,)
Aivttao ytvos Tptiffföt ava$n is changed into ndvxiooi (Schol. Ven. A. ad 1.; Schol.
Strab. XIII, 608) which was also known to Vergil (see III, 97 sq.).
14S) Who, considering himself a descendant of Achilleus, when he wanted to wage
war against Rome (Paus. I, 12, 1); nvii/iri xov IIVQQOV rijs aJjóatias iotjX&t T»7s- 'ïXCov,
xai oi xara xavxa xoiQt]c>tiv notefiovvxi, OxQaxsvtiv yaQ km Tqakov anoUovi 'AxiX-
A.£<t>S WI» anóyovoq,
149) Who had motivated their defection from Carthage in 241 b.C. bij their affinity
with the Romans (Head, Hist. Numm. 167; Cic. in Verr. IV, 33; DH I 52
150) Suet. Claud. 25.
161) Justin. XXVIII, 1, 6.
lj2) The treaty with Seleukos according to Mommsen RG I, 470 must be placed
in 282 b.C., according to Schwegler p. 306, n. 2, Droysen (Gesch. d. Heil. VII, p. 387,
n. 1), Niebuhr, RG I, 208, Cauer, Jb. p. 98 and Malten p. 52 this is Seleukos Kallinikos;
in this case the treaty must be dated before 243 b.C.; cf. Norden p. 256 and n. 3; the
intervention of Rome in favour of the Acarnanians must be placed according to Schwegler
p. 305 in one of the last years of the first Punic war; according to Malten in 232; cf. also
Norden l.c.
153) And as these testimonies have only been preserved to us by the accidents of the
annalistic tradition, there may have been many more.
154) In 205 in the treaty of peace with Philip V of Macedonia (Liv. 29, 12); in 195
by T. Flamininus who called himself and the Romans Aeneads (Plut. Flam. 12); in 190 by
L. Scipio, marching against Antiochus, in Ilium (Liv. 37, 37; Justin. 31, 8); in 188 in
the treaty of peace with Antiochus (Liv. 38, 39); cf. also DH I, 51. Even Sulla in 84
conferred benefits upon them (App. Bell. Mithr. 61).
' 'r') I*1 205 the Romans had recovered the Phrygian Magna Mater from Pessinus.
motivating their claim by their descent from the Trojans (Liv. 29, 11; Herodian. I, 11, 13);
in 213 the "vates Marcius" addressed the Romans as "Trojugenae" (Liv. 25, 12); and
much value was especially attached to the cult of Venus Erycina (in 217 the promise
of a temple was held out to her (Liv. 22, 9, 19), which was dedicated in the following
 21

ledged in literature, scil. in Naevius' Bellum Punicum, appearing about

200 b.C., which developed the story of Aeneas along national lines 156).
In all these cases the Romans in general were considered to be
descendants of the Trojans and of the Aeneads.
Yet for more than a century — roughly speaking from about 180 till
about 80 b.C. — we find hardly any traces of these official references
to the Trojan origin of the Roman State, no more than of a new elaboration
of the legend of Aeneas .This may be, because, as Nissen is?) remarks,
when there existed only one State in the civilized world, this State was
no longer in need of a mythological basis to legitimate its existence,
whereas there was even a certain "Barbarenstolz"; moreover the men who
were personally proud to be homines novi "verzichteten auch für ihr Volk
gern auf den Glanz heroischer Abkunft, von welchem ein Abglanz doch
nur auf ihre adligen Mittbürger, nicht auf sie fallen konnte".
But the Roman aristocracy did not share this attitude towards the Trojan
origin of Rome, as may appear from an oracle given to Sulla in
81 b.C. 158), and some coins 159). And now several Roman families — to
glorify their pedigree and thus to regain their lost prestige, for most
of these gentes 160) were politically powerless 161) — began to tracé
their descent to one of these Trojans. To one of Aeneas' companions, of
which fact we have nine testimonies 162), cf. DH I, 85: at the foundation
of Rome there migrated from Alba Longa to Rome: lx dè TOV TQCDTXOV TO
evytvtaiaiov ÖTJ VO/MCÓ/IEVOV, ê£ ov xal yevsal nveg en neQirjoav ecg e/IÈ,
TtevTrjxovxa fiahor' óïxoi — which may be exaggerated however, cf. also
the writings of Varro and Hyginus "de familiis Trojanis" 163) — or, as
especially the Aemilii164) and the Julii (see below) to Aeneas himself.
There might be the most different, arguments for this Trojan descent,

year (ib. 31); after the capture of Syracuse her image was transported from the Eryx
to Rome (OF IV, 875 sq.).
1B0) Fuller testimonies Schwegler, p. 305 sqqj; Cauer, Jahrb. p. 97 sqq.;
Norden, p. 256.
157) Jahns Jahrb. 91, p. 387 sqq-: see also Cauer, Jb. XV, 133, who points i.a. to the
fact that Cicero never mentions Aeneas, not even when his subject might have induced
him to do so, e.g. Verr. IV, 33, 72; de rep. I, 58.
18S) App. B.C. I, 97.
1BB) E.g. Mommsen, n. 121.
180) With the exception of the Aemilii, Caecilii and Sulpicii.
1<sl) Cf. Norden, p. 257; Schwegler, p. 334/6; Cauer, Jb. p. 142 sqq.; Münzer
RE X, 106.
102) The Caecilii (Paul. Fest. p. 44); the Cloelii (ib. p. 55); the Geganii (SA V, 117);
the Memmii (Lucr. I, 1; Mommsen, no. 153, 202, 256); the Sergii, Cluentii (VA V, 117;
SA ib.); the Junii (DH IV, 68); the Nautii (Varr. ap. SA V, 704; DH VI, 69; Paul.
Fest. p. 167; SA II, 166; III, 407); the Sulpicii (Mommsen, no. 203); cf. Friedlander,
Sittengesch. I, p. 118 sqq.
103) SA V, 704 ; 389.
184) Paul. Fest. p. 23.
 22

which arguments in most cases however 165) we are no longer able to

discover. Often it may have been a certain homonymy, as also in the case
of the Julii and their ancestor Julus, which name recalled Ilium and
Hos 166). "Die bekannte Sorglosigkeit des Altertüms gegenüber ernsthafter
Etymologie ... (machte) es leicht die Julii mit Ilos in Verbindung zu setzen,
denn Julus unterschiedt sich von Ilus nur unius litterae additione, was als
legitim galt (Norden, p. 257) 167). Moreover their descent from Ascanius
would not seem altogether improbable, since the gens Julia had originated
from Alba 168).
The relation of Julus, the (imaginary) ancestor of the Julii, to Aeneas
could be represented in different ways. There was one possibility that
Julus was an offspring of the existing son of Aeneas, Ascanius; and indeed
Julus as Ascanius eldest son is found in some authors169). Another
possibility was that Julus was a second son of Aeneas and Creusa 170)
or that he was the son of Aeneas and Lavinia i™). a third possibility
which is also adhered to by Vergil172) was to make Julus another name
of Ascanius. This had already been done by several authors before his
time, and also by many of his contemporaries *73).
1G5) In the case of the Nautii this was the gentilician cult of Minerva, and the
name Nautii.
16fl) The name of the (heros eponymos of and the) founder of Ilion, the son of Tros
and the father of Laomedon (Hom. II. XX, 232).
187) Cf. VA I, 267: puer Ascanius, cui nunc cognomen Iulo additur — Ilus erat dum
res stetit Ilia regno. This may be the reason why Vergil — who in this is followed by
Ovid and Properce, and later authors — always uses the i of Julus as a vocalic sound,
which according to Norden p. 257, n. 5 is not found earlier.
°8) The gens Julia, which in later times had preserved the centre for its gentile
cult at Bovillae (cf. CIL XIV, 238), according to old Roman tradition (cf. Liv. I, 30,
2; DH III, 29, 7) was one of the old families, migrated from Alba to Rome in the reiqn
of Tullus Hostillius.
169) DH I, 70, 4; Fest. p. 340 M; DC fr. 4, 10; XLI, 34, 2; XLIII, 43, 2; SG III, 39;
Or. GR 17, 4. According to Steuding (Roscher s.v. Julus) this separation of Julus from
Ascanius is later than their identification. In my opmion this is not necessarv at all
170) Or. GR 9, 3.
) Cf. Liv. I, 3; cf. also Cato in SA VI, 760, who Iets Ascanius die childless.
) As concerns Vergil s own use of the names Julus and Ascanius, a close examination
shows that he had no reason dictated by his subject, for using now Julus now Ascanius;
and that, as we might surmise, he neither reserved the name Julus for his own application,
nor that of the prophesying gods, whereas "Ascanius" was used in the Aeneid by Ascanius'
contemporaries. But Vergil used these names — and almost the same number of times —
(Ascanius 41 X, Julus 32 X) one for the other; e.g. IV, 274: Ascanium surgentem et
spes heredis Juli; and I, 690/1: (Amor) gressu gaudens incedit Iuli. At Venus Ascanio
placidam per membra quietem irrigat.
Hence Vergil considered — or wished people to think so — that Ascanius and Julus
were perfectly equivalent names for the same person; which names had an identical right
to be mentioned; the only reason why he sometimes preferred Julus, at other times
Ascanius, was probably a metrical one; cf. the fact, that Julus with one excepüon (XII,
185) is always used at the end of the hexameter.
173) E.g. OM XV, 610: Ascanii binominis; Her. VII, 75, 83, 137, 153; Am. III, 9, 14;
Met. XV, 767; ex Pont. II, 11, 15; Prop. IV, 1, 48.
 23

This binominality was not al all strange, because the son of Ascanius,
like the son of Hector, already had several other names, e.g. Euryleon,
Dardanus and Leontodamas 174) — which may originally have been the
names of other children of Aeneas 175) — and it was not so very difficult
to find a reason why Ascanius had been given this second name of
Julus 176).
At any rate we find the name Julus for Ascanius already used by Julius
Caesar (SA I, 267), possibly Lucius Caesar, who died about 90 b.C.177),
as we have several testimonies of the special interest of the Julii in their
descent from Aeneas and his divine mother Venus at least before
100 b.C.178), if not earlier 179).

174) DH I, 65, 1: Euryleon was Ascanius' original name, which he changed into
Ascanius on their flight, SA IV, 159; etiam Dardanus et Leontodamas dictus est, ad
exstinctorum fratrum solacium.
17B) In the Troika of Hellanikos of Lesbos (DH I, 47; FGH I, 4, 31) Aeneas has
more children; an unnamed Roman historian in Schol. Ver. A II, 717 mentions besides
Ascanius his brother Eurybates at the flight from Troy; Hegesianax mentions as his
brothers Euryleon, Romylos and Romos.
176) Like Astyanax, the son of Hector, had an additional denomination, Scamandrios,
a real Trojan name, so Askanius might have had the Trojan second denomination Ilus.
According to Julius Caesar (Servius lx.) he was named thus after he had slain Mezentius,
viz: vel quasi iopókov id est sagittandi peritum, vel a primo barbae lanugine, quae ei
tempore victoriae nascebatur. According to Aur. Vict. Or. g. R. 15, 5: igitur Latini
Ascanium ob insignem virtutem non solum Jove ortum crediderunt, sed Iolum, dein
postea Iulum appellaverunt.
At any rate, although this motivation is only a invention, this latter explanation may
be a nearer approach to the original meaning of Julus than the former. For according to
Bücheler, Rh. M. XLIII, p. 132; Jul(i)us bases himself on "iovilo" — which may mean
"belonging to Jupiter"; cf. also Solmsen (Stud. 117), Walde s.v.; Wörner, Roscher s.v.
Askanios. This is the more probable in view of the fact, that at Alba, whence the Julii
originated, the cult of Jupiter Latiaris was prominent.
Wörner lx. even supposes, that at Alba Julus was the old sacral name of the priest
of Jupiter, which later on was considered as the name of the eponym of the gens Julia.
And according to him Julus may also mean "little Jupiter", which later on was thought
to be a suitable name for the son of Aeneas, who himself had become a sort of Jupiter.
But in oy opinion it is not necessary that the Julii, in making for the reasons given above
their eponym Julus a son of Aeneas, had this derivation from Jupiter in mind; this alone
may suffice to obviate this latter argument.
177) So Cauer (Jb. p. 146). According to B. Kübler dn his edition of Caesar III, 2,
p. 221, Wörner, Roscher, s.v. Askanios and W. Kroll, Jb. kl. Phil. XXVII, suppl. 1902,
136 this Julius Caesar was the dictator. Norden p. 257, 5 denies that we are able to
make out which Julius Caesar was meant.
178) There is already a representation of Venus on coins stamped by members of
the gens Julia before 100 b.C., perhaps already in 134 b.C. (Babelon, II, 9 sqq., 11, n. 10);
about that time the gens Julia took over the protectorate of Ilion; so the version of their
descent was Consolidated about 100 b.C.
179) According to Rossbach, RE II, 161 Cato had already known the name Julus as
another name for Ascanius; but according to Malten this would reverse the entire
development of the penetration of the Aeneas-legend into Rome; cf. also SDA I, 267, and
the fact, that, as Cauer Philol. Suppl. XV, 117 remarks, Cato caused Aeneas to die
 24

The Julii may have been especially eager to possess themselves of this
Trojan origin, because, as Münzer remarks, they had to regain their lost
prestige among the noble gentes of Rome iso).
But this descent was especially stressed by Julius Caesar, the dictator,
and thus, whereas the alleged Trojan descent of other Roman families is
°nly known to us by casual antiquarian remarks, the tradition of the
Trojan origin of the Julii by their political success got a much wider
diffusion. Already in the beginning of his political career, in 68 b.C., at the
funeral of his aunt Marcia he publicly said (Suet. Caes. 6, 1); paternum
genus cum diis immortalibus coniunctum est, nam ... sunt a Venere Julii, cf.
also App. BC II, 68; and at the acme of this power he adhered to this view
and propagated it with all possible means isi).
Apart from the existent reasons of the gens Julia for this emphasizing
of its Trojan origin Caesar thus meant to strengthen his position by the
belief in a divine mission of his family and a claim to the highest nobility.
Augustus continued this policy. Already in 43 b.C. he celebrated ludi in
honour of Venus Genetrix. And he took many more measures of this
kind 182) so that during his reign this conception reached its culmina-
tion ]S3). Yet, as Norden p. 284 remarks, no clear statement of Augustus
himself is found in which he bases the legitimation of his principate on his
descent from Julus, whereas on the contrary he of ten bases it on sacral
elements. Nor is it very clear how Vergil whose indirect political aim was
to endow the monarchy of Augustus with the nimbus of legitimacy
imagined this descent, as he admits at least two traditions side by side i»*).

childless, hence he had no reason at all to call him Julus; for this reason would have
been his ancestorship of the gens Julia.
180) Münzer, RE s.v. Julius: After a first flowering from about 500 to 400 b.C. it
lived to witness its second flourishing period from about 200 b.C. onwards.
) DC XLIII, 43; he revived the ludus Trojae; on one of his earliest denarii
(Babelon, II, p. 11) Aeneas' flight is represented. See further Lucan. IX, 950 sqq.;
Strab. XIII, 594 sqq.; Cic. fam. VIII, 15, 2; Suet. Caes. 40; 79, 81; Nikol. of Caes.
FHG III, 441, More as to his stressing his relation to Venus see Klausen II 731 saa •
1068 sq.
182) Cf. Strab. XIII, 595; XIV, 657; SDA III, 501; Suet. Aug. 31; 43; cf. Plin. XXXV,
91; VG III, 36; see Norden, p. 262/5.
) Cf. Hor. Carm. IV, 15, 31 sqq. — for the rest the only place, except the
official Carmen Saeculare, where this is mentioned by him; OF IV, 39/40: nomen Iuli,
unde domus Teueros Iulia tanqit avos; Prop. IV, 1, 48.
184) Compare I, 257 sqq., where Jupiter prophesies that Ascanius-Julus will found
A'ba, where the gens Hectorea will reign for three hundred years, till a member of this
gens, Ilia, shall bear Romulus, son of Mars; from him the Romans, and in the first place
the gens Julia, take their origin (cf. also IV, 234; VIII, 628 sqq.; IX, 614), with VI.
756 sqq., where the series of the Alban kings — from whom also Ilia, Romulus, the
Romans, Caesar (Augustus), omnis Iuli progenies (1789) descend — opens with Silvius,
the posthumous son of Aeneas by Lavinia; and the oracle of Faunus VII, 98 sqq.
(cf. 268 sqq.) prophesying that the future offspring of Aeneas and Lavinia: "omnia sub
pedibus qua Sol utrumque recurrens aspicit Oceanum vertique regique videbunt".
 25

Several suppositions have been made as to the reason of this185).

In this Vergil acted entirely according to the views of Augustus himself.
For, as Norden p. 281 remarks, the latter was quite conscious of the fact,
that such genealogical legends, which were only founded on scholarly
constructions, did not meet with a response in the popular mind 186).
Hence Augustus set the more store by the sacral moment; the idea, that
his gens had held a sacral function from time immemorial, from which
circumstance it derived its sacral mission. Compare the fact, that on the
Monumentum Ancyranum he laid special stress on his taking over of the
pontificate, whereas he made scarcely any mention of his military imperium.
Hence Vergil — for the rest Horace and other Augustan poets 187) too —
mentioned the genealogie legends but in very few places, but stressed the
sacral element 188); and Aeneas' sacral mission is actually the principal
theme of the Aeneid.
These are the reason why Aeneas was chosen by Vergil, the chief

185) According to Gercke, p. 160—162 this inconsdstency of Vergil's must be ascribed

to the fact, that in the latest phase of his work on the Aeneis Vergil discarded Julus in
favour of the son of Aeneas and Lavinia, perhaps because meanwhile the genealogy of
the Silvii had been adhered to by Augustus; for the latter, who was not only a member
of the gens Julia, but in the first place the Emperor, may not have wanted the ancient
kings of Alba to be entirely ousted by private persons from the gens Julia.
Herzberg in his translation of the Aeneis also opines, that this inconsistency must be
ascribed to the fact that Vergil did not put the finishing touch to his work, and make
the figure of Julus accord with the genealogy of the Alban kings.
Kroll supposes that this must be ascribed to mere thoughtlessness of Vergil.
One of the principal reasons may have been that, as is remarked by Norden l.c., the
dynastie legitimation offered many difficulties in the end, as there were many traditions
about it, as well as other difficulties concerning.
If we set aside the oldest Roman traddtion, found in Naevius and Ennius, according to
which Ilia is a daughter of Aeneas, Romulus her son, and Ascanius or Julus is not
mentioned at all, there are the following traditions:
a ) (see Fest. p. 340 M): the Alban kings are descended from Silvius, Lavinia's and
Aeneas' son. Julus is only the founder of Alba, and had to yield to Silvius; cf. Liv. I, 2;
(cf. Cauer, p. 126); from him the Alban kings, Rhea Silvia and Romulus descend;
b ) Ascanius is the son of Aeneas and Lavinia; he founds Alba; the Alban kings are
descended from his son Silvius etc. (Liv. I, 3);
c) Ascanius-Julus, Aeneas' Trojan son, founds Alba; the Alban kings are descended
from him (VA I, 257 sqq.). Ovid (F. IV, 38 sqq.) who follows this tradition, makes
Silvius Julus' son;
d) Ascanius,Aeneas' Trojan son, founds Alba, because Silvius, the posthumous son of
Aeneas by Lavinia, had to reign in Laurolavinium, qui (Ascanius) quoniam sine liberis
periit, Silvio qui et ipse Ascanius dictus est, suum reliquit imperium. Postea omnes reges
Silvii ddeti sunt ab huius nomine (SA VI, 760— (Cato?).
Hence Vergil may have tried to find a compromise and, as Norden remarks, for this
reason he may have stressed the sacral element in Augustus' legitimacy far more than
the dynastie one.
186) Moreover even if Augustus was a direct descendant of the Trojan Julus, this
did not prove that exclusively he was entitled to be princeps.
187) Cf. Prop. IV, 1, 4, 8: felix terra tuos cepit luie deos. OF III. 417 sqq.; I, 523 sqq.
18S) E.g. XII, 189 sqq.; 830 sqq.
 26

poet of what was perhaps the most important period of the history of
Rome, the Augustan age, as the leading character of his principal work,
the Aeneid.

Thus far we have traced the complicated way in which Aeneas, the
eponymous hero of a small Thracian tribe, reached Latium and became
paramount in the legendary history of Rome.
But how did Vergil's Aeneas reach Latium?
He did not casually arrivé and stay there, because his ships were burnt,
but as the consequence of a divine mission which he had to fulfill, and in
which he was only a link in the chain of generations.
He did not arrivé there as a brilliant hero, eagerly desiring for martial
exploits, but, although if need be he was ready for forcible attempts, as a
mild and modest figure, a hero by divine grace.
Not only did Aeneas arrivé in Latium with some Minor Asiatic idols, as
perhaps in Timaeus, but he landed there having a sacral mission, which is
one of the principal themes of the Aeneid, as and "pius" in the very sense of
the word, a really religious character: his gods are uppermost in his
thoughts, as well as he is the maxima cura of the gods.
And Vergil's Aeneas arrived in Latium not only for his own sake and
that of his companions, nor for his son's sake merely, or as the ancestor of
the Alban kings or the gens Julia, but as the ancestor of the Roman people:
the end and aim of Destiny.
And so wanted Augustus to be considered to have assumed the reins of
government, not casually, of from desire for power, but because the gods
had appointed him for it; to be superior to ordinary man, not by his feats
of arms, but his "augus", which we may translate by "divine grace" as well,
whereas he himself piously carried out his duties towards the gods, and
made religion one of the foundations of his empire; and, rather than to be
the descendant of one ancient and famous gens, he wanted to be the parens
patriae of the Roman State.
We must leave Aeneas at the moment that he had set foot ashore in
Latium. He will still have to wage wars and have troubles there; but by
the prodigy of the mensae, and afterwards by that of the sus alba, he
becomes certainty that his troubles soon will have an ending, that also for
him a "requies certa laborum" was given.
And so the Augustan world, after long and violent struggles, now —
and for a large part through the intermediary of Augustus — had reached
a period of rest and peace, and was enjoying it in deep draughts.
This feeling of "requies ea certa laborum" found its expression in the
Ara Pacis Augustae. It was expressed as well in the works of Vergil, his
Bucolics, his Georgics, and above all his Aeneid, which epos could not
have been conceived and executed but in a period of content, tranquillity
and peace.
 CAIETA.
Tu quoque litoribus nostris, Aeneia nutrix,
aeternam moriens famam, Caieta, dedisti,
et nunc servat honos sedem tuus, ossaque nomen
Hesperia in magna, siqua est ea gloria, signat.
5 At pius exequiis Aeneas rite solutis
aggere composito tumuli, postquam alta quierunt
aequora, tendit iter velis portumque velinquit.

A. Caieta before Vergil.

In the environs of Cumae there were many places, which, already before
Vergil, were associated with the story of Aeneas, and were even said
to have been named after fellow-travellers of his. Thus the promontory
of Misenus after his trumpeter, Misenus 1); the promontory of Palinurus
after his pilot, Palinurus2); the island of Leucasia3) and the island of
Prochyte4) after female relatives of his; the town of Capua after the
Trojan Capys, his grandfather or cousin5); the island of Aenaria after
himself 6); and the gulf or promontory of Caieta after his nurse7).
It needs no convincing evidence, that the places had not been named after
fellow-travellers of Aeneas', but that exactly the contrary was the case.
Nor is there any need of proof, that many of these places, before being
connected with Aeneas, had a relation with the story of Odysseus. For
the story of Odysseus probably reached Italy before that of Aeneas, and
in the environs of Cumae the Greeks localized several data from the
Odysseus-story, and even data, which were not found in the official
Homeric poems; e.g. the figures of Misenus8) and Baios9). In these last

!) DH I, 53; VA VI, 234; Paul. Fest. p. 123 M s. v. Misenum; Mei. II, 4, 9; Solin. II,
13; Prop. III, 18, 3; Or. G. R. 9, 6; and perhaps Stesichoros on the Tabula Iliaca.
2) DH, Mela, Solinus 11. cc.; VA VI, 381.
3) Dionys and Solinus 11. cc.; Paul. Fest. p. 115M.
4) DH l.c.; Naev. ap. SA IX, 715; Plin. NH III, 12.
5) Hecat. FGH, 62; Etym. M. s.v.Kan^n; DH l.c.; Suet. Jul. 81; SA X, 145; Stat.
Silv. III, 5, 77.
6) Plin. l.c.; Paul. Diac. p. 20 s.v. Aenariam.
7) Dionys and Solinus 11. cc.; Or. G. Rom. (—Caesar and Sempronius) X, 35;
OM XIV, 441 sq.; Strab. V, 233; Stat. Sil. I, 3, 87; Mart. V, 1, 5; X, 30, 8.
8) Strab. I, 25, who refers to Polybius.
») Strab. V, 245.
 28

two cases however most probably no existing figures from the Odysseus-
story were localized in the neighbourhood of Cumae, but names, existing
in this region, were connected with the Odysseus-story, because of the
many other connections which already existed there.
After the story of Aeneas had been transferred to Italy, and had been
connected with the glorious history of Rome, it was more honourable for
the places, connected thusfar with Odysseus, to be connected with Aeneas,
and consequently with the oldest history of Rome, than with Odysseus,
one of the hostile Greeks. So Misenus and Baios now became fellow-
travellers of Aeneas'10).
The same may have been the case with places as Misenum. It is however
unnecessary, that the places, which were connected later on with Aeneas,
were originally associated with Odysseus; the less so, as we have no
testimonies about it. But it is also possible, that, if some places here were
already connected with Aeneas, others became connected with him as well.
A greater or lesser homonymy may have furthered this, as in the case of
Capua-Capys 11).
The reasons for this connection with the story of Odysseus, as well as
with the story of Aeneas, may have been:
a ) the fact, that the name resembled a Homeric one, e.g. Palinurus 12),
Leucasia (cf. Leucothea), and Prochyte, and also Caieta, which name may
h a v e b e e n taken f o r Kaïrjtr] 1 3 ) ;
b ) the local aspect of the place.
Nissen14) remarks, that from afar the promontory of Caieta as well as
that of Misenum give the impression of enormous tumuli. So one might
easily fancy, that these were tumuli, under which reposed men from the
time of the heroes. Because of special circumstances Misenum may have
become the tumulus of a trumpeter *5)f Caieta that of a nurse (see below):
c) the fact that a more or less independent figure existed there, whether
divine or mythological, as must also have been the connecting link in the
case of Circe (see below).
In the case of Caieta Klausen, p. 1053 sq. considers a "Geist der Felsen-
spalte". He founds this on the word Caieta, which he connects with an
idg. root -kei-, meaning "to cleave", and on the fact, that in the western
part of the rock, on which the fortress Gaeta is situated nowadays, there
is a very deeply marked cleft, in which a chapel of the Holy Trinity is now
situated. He saw a support for his thesis in the fact, that Liv. XL, 2, 4 he

10) Cf. as a parallel for this possibility also OM XIV, 157.

») Capys II. XX, 239.
12) See about him also Norden VI, p. 223.
13) Cf. also DH l.c.
14) II. p. 660.
-15) See Norden VI, p. 179, p. 184.
 29

read: "aedem Apollinis ac Caietae de caelo tactam" 16). This proof however
does not hold good, as according to Weissenborn and Madvig this "ac"
had to be emendated, so that there remains only: "the temple of Apollo at
Caieta". Setting aside the further view of Klausen as to the original
character of Caieta, which view is now absolutely antiquated, and need
not be discussed, it is not impossible, that he is right on this point.
A support for this view might also be the fact, that the place is nearly
always mentioned, not under the name of "Caieta", but under that of
portus Caietae", (cf. also VA VI, 900, where "Caietae portus" is probably
not a very obvious anachronism, — as for Aeneas this name did not yet
exist —, but the place-name in Vergil's time); this "portus Caietae" might
point to an original independence of the figure of Caieta. (But on the
contrary, as I am bound to say, the expression "portus Caietae", "harbour
of the town Caieta", might also be an explanation for a later personification
of the nurse Caieta.)
A support for the supposition of an original worship of Caieta might also
be the fact that Vergil writes here: "et nunc servat honos sedem tuus" 17).
But in this connection "honos" need not mean, that there was a cult of
Caieta here, but may only mean the honos supremus, rendered to her, which
existed in the raising of the tumulus; compare X, 493/4: honos tumuli;
cf. also Carcopino p. 646, who remarks, that "honos" in Vergil never
means simply "cult", but has always the material signification of the
expressions of this worship, given e.g. in offerings, or also, as is the case
here, in the raising of a trophy.
A support for Klausen's view, that Caieta is connected with a root,
meaning "to cleave", is, that Strabo, V, 232, derives this name from the
Laconic xaisza — xoïlov. Although probably, when using xoïXov here, he
thinks of the bend of the gulf, from VIII, 36718) it appears, that in Sparta
xaiadag, xaiatag, xcuéras was used for the name of the hollow cleft
in a rock, the precipice, formed by a steep chasm in the rocky wall19).
In this connection it is also worth mentioning, that Caieta Sil. It. VIII, 531
is associated with the Laistrygons, who in other cases are always connected
with the adjoining Formiae 20), but whose king is named Lamos, whereas
there is also a Greek word Xdfiog meaning precipice, large mouth (cf. also
the Lamia); so that there was possibly a connection of the Laistrygons
with Caieta.
This need not mean however that Caieta was a foundation of the

le) This reading has also been accepted by Conington hJ. and de Rhem, p. 31,
who concludes "die Eponyme war also offiziell anerkannt".
17) Cf. also OM XIV, 441 sq.
18) Cf. also Thuc. I, 134, 27; Paus. IV, 18, 4; Plut. Ages. 19.
ln) Cf. also Hesych. xalata ' ÓQvy/iara . i'i rn vnö GttG/iiöv x«r«(Vm;'M'ra /fuua and
Zenod. on II. II, 581; Od. IV, 1.
20) Hor. Carm. III, 17, 1—9; 16, 34; Cic. Att. II, 13, 2.
 30

Spartans, nor even that there was once Spartan influence at Caieta203).
For although the Chalcidician colonies in Campania may have had factories
in the Southern part of Latium 20b), and Amyclae 20c) and Formiae (Strab.
V, p. 233) were even said to be Spartan colonies as well as Caieta, these
testimonies are also very doubtful 20d).
But the view, that Caieta is connected with a root, meaning "to cleave",
is not positive either, as in Antiquity Caieta was often connected with the
Greek verb xaïeiv, and said to be the spot, where the fleet of the Trojans
had been burnt. So SA here, Caesar 21) and Sempronius 22), who make
Caieta the surname of the woman, who advised the Trojan women to burn
the fleet, and who in all other cases is called Rhome 23) or Beroe24).
Although this is popular etymology, a derivation of xaieiv is not altogether
excluded, as there are other Greek names in the neighbourhood, as e.g.
Prochyte, and Caieta therefore might originally mean e.g. place for burning
the dead, or making charcoal; and as finally there was a tradition, that
originally the place of the name was not Caieta, but Air/tt] 25). Although
this tradition in all probability originated from the desire to have an
additional proof for the theory of the navigation of the Argo in the
Western seas, it cannot altogether be neglected 26).
In any case the theory, that "Caieta" is originally related with the verb
"to cleave", holds good only, if we suppose, that the chasm was the spot,
which first had attracted the greatest attention. Later on however this
was certainly not the case, but the attention was centred on the gulf
qua talis.
This gulf qua talis may also have induced people to say, that Caieta was
originally a nurse. For this gulf 2? )( 0r, as we say in Dutch, the "zee­
boezem", offered one of the safest places of anchorage on the entire coast
of the Mediterranean, so that the comparison to a nurse may have been
obvious. The reasons for afterwards connecting this nurse with the legend
of Aeneas are given above. Nowhere else in ancient literature do we
hear of this nurse of Aeneas, except in connection with the portus

20a) See Pais, St. d. Sic. p. 285/6.

20b) E.g. Sinuessa, which was said to have been called formerly Sinope (Plin. III, 59).
20c) To the North of Sinuessa; Lucil. and Cic. ap. SA X, 564.
20d) They do not seem to be very ancient, but to have originated in consequence
of the friendly relations between the Tarentines and the Campanians (see Pais, I.c.) who
now availed themselves of certain greater or lesser homonymies.
21) Perhaps the consul of 90 b.C. Or. G. R. 10.
22) Probably Sempronius Asellius, who participated in the Numantine war.
23) Fest. p. 269 M; DH I, 72; Plut. QR 1, 6.
24) VA V, 620 sq.
25) So Diod. IV, 569 (—Timaeus), and Lyk. Al. 1274 (from the same source
probably), who associates this name with the mooring of the Argo there.
2e) Cf. e.g. the names Caulon and Aulon, Conington III, 553.
27) Of which Klausen p. 1053 sq. gives a detailed description — see also Nissen l.c.
 31

Caietae; Hom. Hymn. in Aphr. 256—258 it is the nymphs of the Ida, who
will attend him. But it was no anachronism to have him accompanied by a
nurse, as in the Odyssey Euryklea and Eurymedousa remain with their
charges (Odysseus (XIX, 483) and Nausikaa (VII, 1)) even after they
were grown up, although in Homeric times it was not at all the usual thing
to keep a nurse28).
In the case of Caieta the memory of some mythological person being
buried here may also have been preserved, because since 42 b.C. there was
a large tomb, a stone tumulus shaped like the well-known tomb of Caecilia
Metella on the Via Appia, and that of Lucilius Paetus just outside
Rome, of Munatius Plancus here, which still exists under the name of
Torre d'Orlando, and which still stirs the popular imagination.
B. Vergil and Caieta.
a) According to some versions Caieta was not the nurse of Aeneas,
but of Creusa, or of Ascanius. (SA here). Naturally Vergil here
chooses the version, that she is the nurse of Aeneas, because even if the
three versions had the same authority, the first two would unnecessarily
break up the epical line, as here Vergil needed the place-name only for its
connection with the story of Aeneas.
b) the reason why of all the above-mentioned places in the neigh-
bourhood of Cumae Vergil mentioned only one place next to Misenum is to
be found in a compromise between artistic and archaeological demands 28a).
(Contrast this with Dionysius.) That it was Caieta whom he chose may
be in the first place because Caieta, in contrast to the other four places,
lies about half-way on the route Cumae-Rome; in the second place, because,
also in contrast to these, Caieta had some importance of its own, as it was
a much frequented harbour29).
Because of the importance of the harbour, which has continued to the
present day (this harbour is now named Gaeta) and to which Vergil
himself alludes by using the word "portus" twice in connection with
Caieta, the figure of Caieta so modest in all other traditions may occupy
such a prominent place at the very end of the first half, and in the opening
verses of the second half of the Aeneas.
It seems perfectly superfluous to me, and even untrue, to try and find a
more symbolic meaning, as Bachofen, Der Mythos30), does, and to see in
the circumstance, that all the female members of Aeneas' family, who came
with him from Asia Minor, die before reaching Latium, a symbolization of
his gradually exchanging his Asiatic matriarchal ties for Roman
patriarchal ones.
28) Cf. II. XXII, 82; Od. XIII, 48.
28a) See Rehm p. 31.
29) Cic. de Imp. Cn. Pomp. 33: portus Caietae, celeberrimus atque plenissimus navium;
cf. also Tac. Ann. XV, 46; Plin. III, 59; Flor. I, 11.
30) p. 561/62.
 32

However there may be two additional circumstances for mentioning the

tumulus of Caieta here, scil.:
1. As has already been mentioned above since 42 b. C. there had been
at Caieta a stone tumulus of L. Munatius Plancus, originally a partisan
of Caesar's, who in 48 had made him praefectus urbi. But after the murder
of Caesar he voted for amnesty for the murderers; afterwards he became
the chief and most influential friend of Antonius; later on however, he went
over to Octavianus, and even in 27 b.C. proposed the conferring of the
name of Augustus on him. He was a man without character, with many vices,
but very rich, and with a great love of ostentation and pomp, as is shown
by his tomb. In this passage, and especially 1. 3/4: "si qua est ea gloria"
Vergil is perhaps hinting at this man, who may have wanted to have his
name connected with this poem, which could not be avoided for reasons
of state, but whom both August and Vergil detested in their inmost hearts.
2. Augustus at that time (28 b.C.) had constructed the Mausoleum,
also called "tumulus" officially, where the urns containing the ashes of
himself, his family and relatives, and of the coming dynasty, were to be
deposited. In this he adopted the type of sepulchral tumulus which was
found in Etruria, e.g. at Tarquinii, but also such Asiatic-Greek monuments
as the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, from which it even derived its official
name. As with the Romans the objection may have arisen, that such
buildings of Augustus were not strictly national 30a), he may have wanted to
justify his conduct by showing, that already his forefather Aeneas had
erected similar buildings, the tombs of Misenus and of Caieta.
Finally it need hardly be remarked that in inserting this episod of the
death of Caieta Vergil to a certain extent paid his debt to the Hellensistic
custom of giving an aetiological explanation of existing place-names,
(compare the words "et nunc servat honos sedem tuus, ossaque nomen
servant, with Ap. Rh. II, 835 sqq., especially 841: Tvfifio?. afjfia d' enean
xal öyiyóvoioiv ïdéo&aim)) although he does this almost imperceptibly,
without offending the artistic demands.

DETAILS.
Nutrix. As already said above the custom of keeping a nutrix,
although not general, is found in HomerSi), so that Vergil here commits
no anachronism.
To Vergil's Roman readers this figure was very familiar, as in the last
centuries of the Republic the keeping of a nurse not only because of the

30«) Although according to Mrs. Strong, CAH X, p. 571/2 it was characteristic

of Augustus that he chose for his family tomb the circular drum, with conical tumulus
of Italic-Etruscan origin rather than borrow from the splendours of foreign architecture.
306) Cf. also II, 911 sqq.; IV, 609 sqq.; Kali. h. V, 42; cf. Heinze, p. 373, 480.
31) As was also found among the better-situated circles in all the lands of the near
East in those ancient times.
 33

delicacy of the mother, but for convenience sake and for reasons of
fashion, was quite usual in well-to-do circles32).
This practice had been adopted from Greece where it flourished in
Homeric times33) as also afterwards 34). (In view of the possible Spartan
origin of the name Caieta (see above) it may be remarked here that
especially nurses from Sparta were in great demand 35).) In Rome however,
where family-life had been more vigorous, the good practice had prevailed
for centuries, that the mother herself nursed the children36) — she was
even forced to do this as a rule — as it was considered that the child
imbibed the vices of the bondwoman together with the milk. Also the
philosophers (cf. Cic. l.c.) and the physicians generally disapproved of this
method. Even in later centuries it was often recommended that the mother
should nurse the child herself 37).
These nurses often remained with their charges, not only during their
infancy 38), but even af ter they had grown up. This was the case
in Greece, as appears from Eurykleia in the Odyssee39), from Greek
tragedy40) and comedy and Hellenistic poetry41), as well as in Italy. In
this country the nutrix had — at least at the end of the second century A. D.
— (Inst. I, 26, 3) even a pietatis necessitudo towards the child, and as
well as the mother, grandmother and sister, she could bring charge against
unfaithful guardians. Or rather, there were now three sorts of nurses in
Italy, the cunaria42) for the first care of the child, the nutrix to nurse it43)
and the assa (nutrix) to take care of it during the following years44).
This assa often remained with her charge up to its majority, and even
afterwards, and even went with it sometimes when it married.
So it is no wonder that there often originated a real affectionate relation
between the child, when it had grown up, and its former nurse. Compare
Odysseus and Eurykleia— who may have been a model for Vergil in

32) Cic. Tusc. III, 1, 2; Lucret. V, 230; Geil. XII, 1; Catull. 64; 376/8 and Liv. III,
44, which is perhaps an anachronism, but characteristic for the mode of thoug'ht of the
time of, or before, Livy.
33) Cf. also Amalthea, who nursed Zeus, and the Nymphs nursing the little Dionysos.
34) Cf. Demosth. XLVII, 55; Plut. de lib. educ. 5.
35) Cf. Aristoph. Lys. 78 sqq.; Plut. Lyc. 16; Alcib. 1.
36) Cf. Plut. Cat. Mai. 20; cf. a representation on a sarcophage in the Louvre, Arch.
Z. 1885, fig. 14, 2.
3T) Geil. l.c.; Tac. DiaJ. 28, 6; Agric. 14.
3S) Cf. Cic., Plut., Lucret., Geil, U.cc.; Cic. ND III, 5, 12; Hor. Sat. II, 6, 77;
Mart. XI, 30.
30) Od. XV, 416/7; XIX, 386 sqq.; 483; cf. also the Niptra of the Roman tragedian
Pacuvius (Sc. Rom. fr. p. 29).
40) Cf. Kilissa in the Choephoroi, and the nurses of Medea, Phaidra and Hermione,
Stheneboia, Alcestis, Kanake, Auge, Melanippe, Deidamia, Deianira.
41) Ap. Rh. I, 668 sqq., III, 133.
42) Cf. Mart. XI, 39.
43) Cf. Geil. XX, 1, 4 sq.
44) Cf. Juven. XIV, 208 sq. and Schol. Non. p. 571; Tac. dial. 29.
3
 34

treating this subject, — and the important position of the nurse in Greek
tragedy45), where as the confidante of the heroine she becomes a standing
figure (see note 30). And on many inscriptions on tombs, in Greece46)
as well as in Italy47) it is recorded that these tombs were dedicated by
the former charges in grateful memory of their nurse.
One of these inscriptions48) is even dedicated to the nutrix Juliae
Germanici filiae. Thus it appears that they were even found in the family
of Augustus himself49).
Augustus himself, as Tacitus informs us 50), had been reared by his
own mother (which may be however only a rhetorical exaggeration of
Tacitus) — as in general female relatives of his played a not unimportant
part in his education 51); yet in the last century b.C. the practice of keeping
a nurse had been generally accepted in Rome52). So we may understand
why Vergil, notwithstanding Augustus' aspiration to restore the old-Roman
vigour, especially in the domain of family-life, allowed the somewhat
effeminate institution of the nutrix53).
Nor was it an objection to the figuring of a nutrix in the Roman epos
that she was most likely a bondwoman 54). For Augustus himself — in
spite of Roman public opinion — in 40 b.C. had honoured his former tutor
Sphaerus, who was born a slave, by a funeral at the public expense, and
he always kept his memory in grateful remembrance 55).
This last circumstance may even be one of the reasons, why a former
attendant of Aeneas figured at all in the Aeneid, and why Aeneas paid
her the last honours, and even raised a monument to her.
In this connection may be mentioned a monument which was accorded
by Augustus, not to his nutrix, but to a slave woman of his, who had given
birth to five children at once on his Laurentine estate, and died in conse-

45) And afterwards in Roman and modern classical tragedy as well.

40) E.g. CIA III, 2729, 3097, 3167, 3522, 3599, 4008, 4039, 4139, 4195, 4197, 4260;
IG II Suppl. 4284 b; III, 510, 1457 (the two latter from the Roman period).
47) CIL VI, 4352, 4457, 6323, 6324, 8941—3; Orelli—Henzen 2738, 2817, 4347, 6199,
6241, 6260, 6291, 6484.
48) CIL VI, 4352.
49) Cf. also the monuments to the nurse of Octavia, the wife of Nero (CIL XI, 8943),
and to those of Faustina (CIL VI, 8941—43).
50) Dial 28: nam pridem suus cuique filius non in cellula emptae nutricis, sed gremio
ac sinu matris educabatur... sic Corneliam Gracchornm, sic Aureliam Caesaris, sic Atiam
Augusti (matrem) praefuisse educationibus ac produxisse principes liberos accepimus.
51) Gardthausen, I, p. 47.
52) Cic., Tac. ll.cc.
58) More about the nutrix in Antdquity, her rights and duties, etc., see Gertrud
Herzog-Hauser, RE s.v., who gives also further literature.
B4) Nearly all the nurses in Antiquity were slaves by birth; in Rome she belonged
to the servi peculiares (cf. Plaut. Aul. 691; Poen. 28, 86, 88, 898).
55) DC XLVIII, 33.
 35

quence; an inscription on this monument recorded her wonderful feat of

motherhood 56).

Hesperia. Vergil uses Hesperia very often as another name for Italy.
Especially in places. where it is prophesied by a Greek or Trojan, that
Aeneas and his comrades will reach Italian soil57) and "Hesperia" may be
considered more or less as "the land in the West"; but also in other
places58). Hence it is a perfect synonym for "Italia"59) and we cannot
find a special motive, concerning the purport of the passage, why in some
cases Vergil preferred "Hesperia", in others "Italia" (which latter word
he uses more frequently 60).
Vergil is not the first to use Hesperia in this sense in Latin. In this
meaning it is already found in Ennius.
Hesperia as a matter of fact is not an original Latin denomination of
Italy, but it is derived from the Greek ëanegog; as moreover the inhabit-
ants of a certain country could not very well have denoted their own land
as "the Western land", or "the land, where the sun sets". Hence this name
was given to Italy by the Greeks.
Originally this name need not be reserved to one special country, and
was probably not applied to Italy in particular. The Greeks may have
denoted by this name the whole of the West, the land, where the sun sets,
and perhaps not even an existing country, but a fictitious country, an
island in the middle of the sea, washed by the waves, and inhabited by
superhuman beings. Cf. the Hesperides, who according to the oldest
version (found in Hesiod's Theogony) are the children of the Night, and
dweil in an island beyond the Ocean, on the Western boundary of the
Earth, where Day and Night meet.
Later on, with the extension of geographical knowledge, this Hesperia
may have been more precisely localized by the Greeks, and considered
as "the land(s) in the West".

56) Geil. NA X, 2, 2.
57) I, 530; II, 781; III, 185, 186; IV, 355; cf. III, 503.
5S) E.g. VI, 5/6; VII, 601; VIII, 543; XII, 360.
5B) Cf. III, 185: saepe Hesperiam, saepe Itala regna vocare; I, 530 sqq. and III,
163 sqq.: est locus, Hesperiam Grai cognomine dicunt.... nunc fama minores Italiam
dixisse; cf. also the connection of "Hesperia" with the Tiber (II, 781, and III, 503, where
moreover Dardanus originates from Hesperia; IV, 354 Ascanius will reign "regno
Hesperiae"; I, 569 Hesperia is more precisely determined by "Saturnia arva"; cf. also VII,
44; 543; VIII, 148, and III, 417: pontus ... Hesperium Siculo latus abscidit.
60) Carcopino p. 604, n. 3 enters into the question, what were the borders of the
country called Hesperia by Vergil. According to him we may only conclude from the
text that it stretched from the straits of Messina (III, 418) to past Cortona (III, 163 sqq.)
and the Apennines (VIII, 148/9), but no farther.
However in my opinion the putting of this problem is faulty, as it appears sufficiently
from Vergil's identification of Hesperia with Italia, that he placed these two notions
on a level, and as we cannot expect that in using a poetical word like this he was
scrupulously conscious of the extent of its meaning.
 36

The Greeks may have given this name originally to the entire Western
part of the Mediterranean, with all the adjacent countries, hence to Spain
as well as to Italy. Later on they may have sought to localize Hesperia in a
more precise way.
"Hesperia" may be considered as "the land in the far West", or
as "the land in the near West". In the first case this name was for the
Greeks most applicable to Spain, in the second to Italy.
It is possible, that the Greeks originally applied this name to Italy, but,
with the enlargement of their geographical horizon, transferred this name
from Italy to Spain. Or, on the contrary, as is the opinion of Hyginus61),
this name may have been transferred from Spain, or at any rate from
the countries to the West of Italy, to Italy.
However it is questionable, whether it was the Greeks, who gave this
name Hesperia to Spain, or whether the Romans in their turn, in imitation
of the Greeks, called the country to the West of their own Hesperia.
Anyhow, we find the name Hesperia applied to Spain as well as to Italy.
But, although Spain is sometimes simply called "Hesperia", mostly the
epithet "ultima", or "minor" is added to it62), whereas Italy is simply called
Hesperia, or, in contradistinction to Hesperia, "Hesperia magna". (Cf. I,
569 and here). Therefore "magna" here serves to enhance Caieta's glory
and to intensify the solemnity of this passage, and is at the same time a
scholarly remark.
At any rate the country nearest to the West of Greece was denoted
by this name in classical times in the first place, and Hesperia became a
name for Italy in Greek63).
But this usage was restricted for the greater part to poetical language.
For it is self-evident, that in daily life man must soon have feit the need
of a more precise denomination for Italy than "the Western land".
Originally he may have used the name of that region of Italy, which he
wanted to indicate, as Italia, Ausonia, Oenotria. Consequently these latter
names gradually comprised a larger territory, and later on their name was
taken for the whole of Italy64).
In poetry however a certain vagueness was desirable. Hence this name
persisted there. And especially Hellenistic poets must have accepted this
word gratefully 65).
From Hellenistic poetry it must have penetrated into Latin.

61) SA I, 530: Italia Hesperia dicitur a fratre Atlantis, qui Italiam, pulsus a germano,
tenuit eique nomen pristinae regionis imposuit.
82) Cf. Hor. Carm. I, 36 and Schol.; SA I, 530, II, 780, VI, 6; VII, 4; Suidas s.v.
'IOnavia; Isid. Or. XIV, 4.
83) Cf. DH I, 35: Ta <FH 7IQÓ xovxoiv (i.e. before it acquired the name Italia)
"Ei-Xyvig fiïv 'EdntQiav xal AvGovCav avxï\v t%a\ovv, oi cf' EatovQvittv,
84) See on 1. 39 and 85.
65) Cf. Agathyllos (ap. DH I, 49), who (see RE s.v.) must have been a hellenistic
poet, and Apoll. Rhod. III, 311.
 37

According to Norden66) it was Ennius, who introduced "Hesperia" into

Latin. That it was Ennius he concludes not only from the penetration of
many Greek words into Latin (at the time when he lived viz.) in the
second half of the third century b. C., and from Ennius' adoption of many
latinized Greek words in his epos, but also from the fact, that Hesperia,
as a purely poetical word, must have been introduced by a poet. It is likely
that Ennius adopted "Hesperia" moreover, because "Italia" with its three
or four short syllables, offered prosodie difficulties.
At any rate, whether Ennius introduced this word into Latin or not, he
made use of it. (Ann. 23).
Vergil, who for political reasons set great store by the use of the word
"Italia" 67), waived these prosodie difficulties by considering the first "i" of
"Italia" long. Yet he retained the name "Hesperia".
This may have been in the first place because Ennius has used it. By this
"Hesperia" had not only obtained a certain right to appear in Latin epical
language, but Vergil, who prided himself upon being considered Ennius'
successor, may have even considered it his duty to retain this Ennian usage.
This may appear from his almost literal derivation from Ennius, Ann. 23:
est locus, Hesperiam quam mortales perhibebant', in I, 530, III, 163: est
locus, Hesperiam Graii cognomine dicunt'. (Other Roman authors —
especially poets — may in their turn have imitated Vergil in this use of
Hesperia 68).)
But this may have been in the second place, because Stesichoros, who
in his Iliu Persis was the first to connect Aeneas with the West, there uses
the word "Hesperia" to designate the land for which Aeneas is bound.
Whether by this "Hesperia" Stesichoros meant Italy or — as is my opinion
— more generally the West — at any rate it was obvious that Vergil
should follow him in this denomination.

postquam alta quierunt

aequora tendit iter velis portumque relinquit.
This may be a support for Mandra's theory that Vergil made Aeneas
arrivé in Latium in the month of March.
For the storms rage especially till the beginning of March 69); and during
these winter-storms people in antiquity, especially in Italy, did not leave
the harbour, and they fled to the land as soon as a storm sprang up.
Cf. Vegetius IV, 39, who mentions that as late as the fourth century A. D.
the seas were abandoned from 11 November till 10 March70).

8a) VI, p. 116.

87) See on 1. 85.
°8) Hor. Carm. III, 6, 8; IV, 5, 38; OF I, 498; Petron. Sat. 122, 155; Sil. It. I, 4, 50;
Claudian. Carm. I, 168; V, 2, 15, *326; XX, 534; XXVI, 317; XXVIII, 34; Macrob.
Sat. I, 3, 15; etc.
69) Cf. Nissen, I, 129 sqq.; Kroll, RE s.v. Schiffahrt.
~°) But cf. Plin. II, 102, who remarks on 8 February: ver aperit navigantibus maria.
 38

This ccssation of navigation during the winter was general in

antiquity 71); cf. i.a. the history of warfare at this period. Navigation
during the winter was considered almost contrary to nature. And in general
the Ancients seem to have wasted far more time on land than on the sea;
for instead of battling against a contrary wind they remained in or fled to
a port. This is easily explicable if we consider that the rather primitive
ships in Antiquity were helpless against strong gales72).
This held good for the Greeks73), who by their geographical position
were committed to the sea, as well as for the Romans74). The Jatter, who
had not so many geographical reasons for navigation, moreover had kept
away from the sea far longer than the Greeks, and left the transmarine
traffic to the Etrurians, Cumaeans, Carthaginians and Phoenicians75),
and only developed a brisk transmarine traffic after the fall of Carthago.
Cf. Cato who76) used to say that one of the few things that he repented
of was that once he had travelled over sea where he might have reached
his aim over land. This view was still held in the Augustan times77).
(For the rest it existed in Greece as well 78).)
T1) Cf. Liv. XXXI, 47; XXXVII, 9; Hor. Od. I, 4, 2; Cic. ad. Fam. X, 33, 3.
72) Cf. Herod. IX, 114; Liv. XXXVII, 17.
73) Cf. Hesiod. op. 665; 675; Theophr. de vent. 2, 10; Thuk. IV, 27; Lys. 17, 5;
Paulus Acta 27, 5; Philo leg. ad Gai. 15; cf. Soph. Ant. 336; Philo Flacc. 125; Ps. Demosth.
XXXV, 10.
") E.g. Caes. B. G. III, 25; OTr I, 11, 37.
7B) Cf. Polyb. III, 22; Appian. Samn. 7.
76) Plut. Cat. Mai. 9, 4.
") Cf. Cic. ad Att. X, 11, 4; Hor. Od. I, 3.
Tf») Cf. Plut. qu. conv. 729 B; cf. Hom. Od. III, 159; XIII, 59.
 CIRCE.

11. 8—24.
Adspirant aurae in noctem, nee candida cursus
luna negat; splendet tremulo sub lumine pontus.
10 Pcoxima Citcaeae raduntur litora terrae,
dives inaccessos ubi Solis filia lucos
adsiduo resonat cantu tectisque superbis
urit odoratam nocturna in lumina cedrum
arguto tenuis percurrens pectine telas.
15 hinc exaudiri gemitus iraeque leonum
vincla recusantum et sera sub nocte rudentum.
saetigerique sues atque in praesepibus ursi
saevire ac formae magnorum ululare luporum,
quos hominum ex facie dea saeva potentibus herbis
20 induerat Circe in voltus ac terga [erarum.
quae ne monstra pii paterentur talia Troes
delati in portus neu litora dira subirent,
Neptunus ventis implevit vela secundis
atque fugam dedit et praeter vada fervida vexit.

Aeneas' sailing past the "Circean land" is not mentioned by Dionysius !)

and evidently not by his sources either 2).
Vergil's mention of this fact not only springs from this poets aversion
to omit a topic and a spot, so full of attraction for his class, and so obvious
to Aeneas and his comrades, as the promunturium Circeium (nowadays
Monte Circello) 3), which4) seen from afar seems to dominate the whole
surrounding country. Another reason why he dedicated some fifteen lines to
Circe and her promontory just in the beginning of the seventh book, where
he opens the history proper of Latium, may be that in early times already 5)
the frontiers of Latium surrounded the territory of Circei, although it was a
very advanced post 6). Moreover he thus had an unsought opportunity to

*) I. 53, 3.
2) Ovid in his turn, relating the voyage of Aeneas in the XlVth book of his Meta-
morphoses in imitation of Vergil gives a large place to Circe and her adventures,
although perhaps the Trojans do not really see Circe's abode (XIV, 445/46: et proeul
insidias infamataeque relinquunt tecta deae), but only hear of her by the narrative of
Macareus.
3) For a description see Nissen, II, 635 sq.; Hülsen, RE s.v. Circeius Mons.
4) Ashby, p. 213.
5) See Polyb. III, 22.
«) Cf. DH V, 61.
 40

bring somc more Homeric elements into his epos, to give it a Homeric
colour again, and thus, as Kroll 7) says: "dem Leser eine kleine literarische
Freude zu bereiten. Diese Passage dient neben anderen Zwecken der
Freude an ein literarisches Finesse."
The main reason for his mentioning her may be, that the oldest Greek
source about Latium, which probably was known to him, Hesiod Theog.
1011 sqq., names her, and even gives her an important part as the mother
of Latinus; these lines moreover immediately follow after those dedicated
to the origin of Aeneas. Lycophron also — and therefore Timaeus — the
oldest source that connected Aeneas with Latium, mentions Circaeum in
connection with Aeneas8).
These are the probable causes, why in the Aeneid Vergil mentions Circe
not less than six times, which perhaps in itself is not such a large number,
but compared to many other figures in the oldest legendary history of Italy
and Latium, not less important than Circe, it is large.
On the whole Circe plays a not unimportant part in the legendary history
of Latium. Putting aside the testimonies of Vergil's contemporaries and of
those that came after him, and who, in their frequent use of the figure of
Circe 9) may have been influenced by him 10), I shall here give an account
of the Italian testimonies on Circe, which are independent of Vergil.
Circe's effigy has repeatedly been found on pottery, mirrors and reliefs
from Etruria and also from other parts of Italy, dating back to the sixth
century b.C.11). As concerns literature, besides being mentioned in the
passage of Hesiod, cited above, she is named in connection with Italy Eur.
Troad. 437 sq.: Aiyvoti; 6' fj avcöv /uoQcpcótQia KiQxrj; Plin. N.H. XXV, 10:
Circe Itala; by Xenagoras12) who mentions Romus, Antias, and Ardeas
as her sons — this note however need not reflect an old tradition, as Bethe
supposes; Plut. Romul. 2, where Romanos, the founder of Rome, is a son
of hers and of Odysseus; by Eustathius 13), who calls Auson her son;
finally Ps. Skymn. 225 three small islands near Misenum are called
Kioxrja vfjaoi.
In connection with the promunturium Circeium she is expressly mentioned
Theophr. Hist. plant. V, 8, 3 (therefore already about 300 b.C.: Aéyeiv dk
tovg ly^mgiovc <ba evravêa rj Kigxrj xaiwxei, xal dstxvvvai xöv xov Eln-qvogog
tacpov, ov (pvoviat /avgolvai and D.H. IV, 63; Kigxaiav.. . . ëv&a Xóyoq
Kigxrjv iijv fjXiov dvyaxèga xazoixrjaat and a few other times14), and

7) Stud. z. Verstandnis d. röm. Literatur, p. 176.

8) Lyk. 1271 sqq.; see also Schol. Vat. and Tzetz. Lyk. 1276.
9) E.g. Ovid (7 times), Horace (3 times), Tibull, Properce, Martialis, Statius, Varro
(de gent. pop. Rom. fr. 17).
10) Cf. p. 65 sqq. about the form Thybris.
") See Bethe, RE XI, col. 2569.
12) DH I, 72; Steph. Byz. s.v. 'Avttlov.
18) Schol. Dion. Per. 78.
14) Plin. HN XXV, 25; Pomp. Mela II, 71; OF IV, 170.
 41

also probably Lyk. Al. 1273. And a cult of Circe by the inhabitants of
the district also appears from Strab. V, 232 Kigxaióv OQOS .... s%ei de xal
Kignrj? ISQÓV, and Cic. ND III, 19, 48: Circen coloni nostri Circeienses
religiosissimi colunt, from the discovery of a temple, dedicated to her15),
from an inscription CIL X, 6422 (213 AD), which mentions the restoration
of her ara sanctissima, and from religious practices there, which have a
connection with the Circe-cult.16).
If not at so early a period as that of the Roman kings17), or18) in the
beginning of the fifth century 19), yet at any rate since the beginning
of the fourth century20) there must have existed a place on the so-called
promunturium Circeium, named Circei or Cercei. It is not necessary to
decide here, whether this place-name took its origin from the cult or the
localization of Circe — whether this Circe was connected with the Circe
known from Greek mythology or not — or whether on the contrary Circe,
who in this case in all probability was identical with the Circe of Greek
mythology, was localized here because of the affinity of sound of her name
with a place-name, which existed here. I shall enumerate here in short
the several plausible opinions.
a. Circe connected with this spot because of the homonymy with an
existing place-name. This is the opinion of Preller21), Hülsen22), Pape-
Benseler s.v. (who, proceeding from a gloss of Hesych: Kégxal; = Ugag
interprets Kegxaïov as "mount of vultures"); of Nissen23), who starts
from Varro: cerceris: bird of swamps; Schulze p. 564 thinks that Cercei is
named after an Etrurian gens Cerciud (cf. Tarquinii, Falerii, a.s.o.), and
points to documented forms as Cercenius, Gergenius, Circius, Cercini,
Cerceius, and the cognomen Cerca. (cf. also the fact, that the tradition
connects the foundation of Circei with Tarquinius Superbus; see also the
circumstance, that this promontory was an important place, which assured
the dominion over the country at its feet; hence the Etrurians in all pro­
bability would not have omitted to occupy this spot.)
Battisti l.c. however considers these names as originally not Etruscan.
He connects Circei with place-names as Ké^co^a in the Marsian, Ceratae
in the old Volscian country, and therefore supposes a non-Etrurian origin
for Circei as well as for the above-mentioned gens-names.
A support for this opinion might be the fact, that Circe was localized

1B) See G. Lugli, Forma Italiae, I, 2, 228 sqq., N. d. sc. 1930, p. 542/3.
16) Capponi, II promontorio Circeio, p. 356.
") Liv. I, 56, 3; DH IV, 63.
18) Liv. II, 39; DH VII, 14; Plut. Coriol. 28.
19) Cf. Battisti, St. Etr. VI, p. 319, n. 1.
2°) Diod. XIV, 102; Scyl. peripl. 8; Polyb. III, 22; DH V, 61; Liv. VI, 12 sq.; see
Hülsen, RE s.v.
21) RM, p. 412.
22) RE III, 2566.
«) II, 636, 5.
 42

also in other spots on the Italian coast, e.g. on three islands near Misenum
(see above), and probably near the Etrurian harbour Luna24 ). The
testimonies of this are very scarce however compared to the great number
about Circei. This may be because by the very support of the place-name
the tradition which was connected with Circei may have gained ground on
the other traditions more and more.
b. Circe was already connected with this headland before the place-
name.
At any rate the orthography Circei, which seems to be the oldest2 5 )
does not allow us to draw the conclusion, that originally the cape was nót
named af ter the Greek Circe (nor may the inverse conclusion be drawn).
For on Etrurian mirrors26) Circe, with Odysseus and Elpenor, are
represented named Cerca, Uthste and Felpanur; therefore the form Cer-
ceius may have been derived from the Etrurian form of Circe; and later on,
when the Italians became better acquainted with the Greek form of the
name, Cercei was changed gradually into Circei. Also the "e" might have
been caused by the Volscian pronunciation of the name, because27) in
the Volscian dialect "i" and "e" stand close together, much closer than
in Latin.
Here there are also two possibilities:
1°. The Greeks have superseded the name of an Italian goddess, which
name sounded very much like Circe, by Circe. (Hülsen28)). This theory
might be sustained by the fact, that the name and figure of Circe appear
in several spots in Italy, and that she has a certain persistency in remaining.
2°. This Circe is the goddess, already known from Greek mythology.
The fact, that in Homer too 29) she evidently is supposed to reside in the
East, need in itself not be an argument against the possibility of her being
found in the West as well 30). For originally she may have been conceived
as existing in a far-off land, — which was not further defined (cf. Aia)
— on the horizon. Later on, with the extension of this horizon, this land
may have been sought in different places, i.a. in Kolchis and here. (To
which of these two localizations the priority must be given is not for me to
decide, and moreover is of no consequence here.) There is the more reason
for this presumption, because primitive man considers the earth not
geographically, but cosmographically si). A localization of Circe both in
the West and in the East is possible if she, as is the opinion of some

24) Schol. Theocr. II, 15.

26) So the best tradition in Cic. ad Att. XII, 19; Liv. II, 39> 2; Plin. II, 201; Diod.
XIV, 10; and many other places; see RE III, col. 2565, 1. 65 sq.
38) Gerhard, Etr. Spiegel, 5, 61; Taf. CDIII, 1.
87) Battisti, p. 318.
28) RE m, 2566.
29) Od. XII, 3; perhaps also X, 108; see also Apoll. Rhod. III, 200.
30) See also Apoll. Rhod. IV, 659 sq., 850; cf. III, 309.
31) See e.g. Herod. I, 2; VIII, 193, 197; Eumelos, fr. 2K; Apoll. Rhod.
 43

scholars, were connected with the sun, and also, if she was originally no
more than a witch, living in far-off regions, who was later, because of
her dwelling-place, brought into connection with the sun. (An argument
for her original connection with the sun — whether as goddess of the sun
or of the moon — may be found in her name, which according to some
scholars is connected with KIQXO<;, circle; moreover the fact that she was
a moon-goddess might be an explanation of her character as a sorceress.)
But it does not seem very well possible, that the Greek Circe happened
to be localized here without any further reason; e.g. by the Greeks of
Cumae, because, as Mommsen, RG I, p. 219 says, "in der kymaeischen
Landschaft, (wo) die fruehesten Westfahrer, jener Sagen von den Wun-
dern des Westens voll, zuerst die Fabellandschaft betraten, und die Spuren
der Marchenwelt, in der sie zu wandeln meinten, in den Sirenenfelsen und in
dem zur Unterwelt fuehrenden Aornossee zurueckliessen". In my opinion
there must have been more reasons for this identification than the fact,
that cape Circeium was not too far removed (cf. the end of Od. X and
the beginning of XI) from the lacus Avernus, which was in itself a
sufficiënt motive for it being identified with the entrance of the Hades.
Not only would it be rather naive of the Greeks, who, before they landed
at Cumae, must have seen very many coasts, to compress nearly the whole
scene of the peregrinations of Odysseus into one small region; but the
island of Circe as described in Homer (Od. XI, 195), encircled by the
immense sea, and itself a sunken plain, does not very well correspond to
the towering cape, which in some places has an altitude of more than
500 metres. In that case the three small islands of Pseudo-Skymnos offer
us a better likeness still; and it is not impossible that he has preserved an
older version for us.
Kirchhoff32) makes the journey of Odysseus af ter his departure from
Aiolos really a trip round the Black Sea, and a very late supplement
added to the Odyssey by the Milesians of about 700 b.C., thus closely
following the example of the legend of the Argonauts. In this supplement
Circe would be only a flimsy imitation of figures such as Kalypso and
Medea. If one accepts this opinion of Kirchhoff a localization of Circe at
Circei by the Greeks of Cumae is not possible.
But it is possible, if one accepts the opinion of v. Wilamowitz 33), that
the younger nostos, with the figure of Circe, is based on an older Circe-poem,
and that Circe is an original figure in Greek mythology, where she is the
prototype of a witch. (In Circe are found the same elements as in the
witches of other peoples, e.g. her living in a solitary palace, the magie
wand, the magie herbs, her changing men into animals) 34).
32) D. Hom. Odyssee, p. 287 sq., who is followed by Müllenhof, Deutsche Alt.kunde
I, p. 52, and W. Kranz, D. Irrfahrten des Odysseus. Hermes, L, p. 93 sq.
33) Hom. Unters. p. 115 sq., who is followed by Seeliger in Roscher s.v.
34) Cf. also the lines from the benediction of the potter in Hdti vita Homeri, 328,
and Theocr. II. 15; IX, 36.
 44

But in my opinion the Greek Circe may have been localized here, because
there already existed a motive for it, scil. that at cape Circeium a goddess
of a similar nature was worshipped. This might account for her connection
with Picus, which is often mentioned in Italian mythology, but has no
support in the Greek. Preller 35) on account of a later identification of
Circe with Marica, Bona Dea, Fauna and Angitia 36) supposes her to be a
goddess with healing power, a goddess practising witchcraft, a goddess of
the damp soil and of vegetation; Koch, p. 110 sqq. supposes her to be a
goddess of the sun or of the moon37): others assume that she was a
goddess of death. Even if the Greek Circe originally were no more than
a witch, — although in the Odyssee she nearly always is named dïa —,
she had enough characteristics that corresponded with everyone of the
goddesses mentioned above.
All this brings us to the question, in what relation Circe may have
come to Italy. This may be 38) jn connection with the legend of the
Argonauts; or as an absolutely independent figure; or connected in some
or other way with the story of Odysseus (cf. the localization of Trinakria,
Scylla and Charybdis, and of the rocks of the Sirens in the environs of
Sicily; the harbour of the Laistrygones at Formiae; the entrance of the
Hades at the lacus Avernus). Hesiod too already connects Circe with
Odysseus. But in my opinion — contrary to that of several scholars — we
cannot attach too much importance to Hesiod. Theog. 1011 sqq., neither
as an argument in favour of the original connection of the Italian Circe
with the story of Odysseus, nor as a terminus ante quem for the localization
of Circe on the promunturium Circeium. For the lines 1013—1015 are
handed down to us with many variations — which however are metrically
impossible 39); some of them mention Telegonos, who is an altogether
mythological figure, and is furthermore known as a son of Circe's, and in
other cases too is mentioned in connection with the West, especially with
Tusculum. Moreover Hesiod in his Theogony does not mention in any
other case eponymous heroes of non-Greek existing peoples. These lines
therefore may be an interpolation, created long after Hesiod, but introduced
in the official Alexandrian text perhaps to flatter, and in maiorem gloriam
of the Romans already powerful at that time (cf. oï naoiv TVQOÏ\VOIOIV
avaaaov with which may be compared the above-mentioned interpolation
of Homer, II. XX, 308: vvv dk drj Alveiao (iïr] jiavréaaiv (in stead of
TQCÓEOOIV) avagei, which was also inserted to ingratiate the Romans.

3S) RM 13, p. 412.

3S) E.g. Lact. I, 21, 23; SA XII, 164; Solin. II, 28; cf. Roscher, II, 1200.
37) Cf. Seeliger in Roscher.
37' ) Schol. Theocr. id. II, 15.

3S) v. Wilamowitz, Gl. d. Heil. II, 330, n. 2; Hermes, 34, p. 611; Ed. Meyer, Gesch.
d. Alt. II, 492 and Altheim, RR II, p. 84 sq.
39) See Rzach and van Lennep in this place.
 45

The other places, where Latinus is the son of Circe40), in that case all
have their origin from this passage in Hesiod.
Nor may it, in my opinion, be concluded from the fact, that on Etrurian
pottery from the sixth century b.C. onwards the comrades of Odysseus i.a.
are represented with the heads of asses, oxen, boars, geese and rams,
(hence their metamorphosis is not entirely in conformity with the text of
the Odyssey), that, as Bethe (RE) supposes, Circe came to Italy not in
connection with the Homeric Odyssey. For the representation with heads
of asses etc. may only be an artful continuantion of an existing motif.
The Homeric Circe was certainly localized at Circei about 300 b.C.,
perhaps even about 400 41), also by the Circeians themselves 42). And the
place-name Cercei doubtless existed from 400 b.C. onwards as well.
(See above.)
And at any rate it was the connection with Circe, which brought such
repute to this small town, which for the rest was never very prominent43).

DETAILS.
Proxima Circaeae raduntur litora terrae. In Vergil the Trojans do
not enter Circe's abode, as Odysseus and his comrades do in Homer and
Ovid, the Argonauts in Apollonios Rhodios. But he mentions this place
while the Trojans are sailing past it.
He may have made them sail past the Circean land, because 1) as this
spot was not mentioned in any other source about Aeneas, Vergil could
mention it, but could not make the Trojans set foot ashore there; 2) Vergil
—in contrast with Apollonios and Ovid, — and to a certain extent Homer
as well — did not want to give an account of all the interesting spots which
might be situated on the path of his hero. Aeneas had an aim, which he
now had to reach with as little delay as possible, especially here, at the
beginning of the 7th book. Still another break in the voyage would have
interrupted the line of the story unnecessarily; 3) the figure of Circe after
all was of too little weight to justify a stay with her.
But as for the above reasons Vergil wanted to mention Circe, the
artistic figure of the praetervectio 43a) offered a good way out. The sailing
past of the Trojans was in this case especially motivated by the hazardous
consequences of a stay with Circe (cf. OM XIV, 245 sqq., where Macareus

40) Ps. Skymn. 227; SA XII, 164; Steph. Byz. s.v. ngaCviGroi Hygin. fab. 127
(cf. also Fest. p. 269; and Xenagoras (DH I, 72).
41) Cf. Skyl. peripl. 8; a further proof might be that the name Caieta in the neigh-
bourhood of Circei (see above) was said by some to have been originally Aieta.
42) Cf. Theophr. l.c.
43) Cf. Strab. V, p. 232.
«a) Cf. e.g. Ap. Rh. Arg. II, 722 sqq., 936 sqq., 1242 sqq. So also III, 270—275,
551—554, 688—708. Cf. e.g. Ap. Rh. Arg. II, 347—405; 651—63, 722 sqq., 936 sqq.,
1242 sqq.
 46

warns Aeneas: fuge litora Circes), who although not ill-natured in all
respects 43b) yet would have tried to prevent the Trojans from sailing on.

litora Circaeae terrae. In the expression "the shores of the Circean

land" this land may be understood as a separate entity, an island, but
also as a lower part of the mainland. In choosing his words thus 43c)
Vergil proved to his erudite readers that he was acquainted with the
Homeric tradition, that Circe resides on an island, as well as with the
tradition — which, besides, is in accordance with the truth — that this
cape was originally an island 43d). But here, where in contrast with III,
386: "Aeaeaeque insula Circae" he insists on the local situation of Circe's
abode, Vergil avoids causing a disharmonious effect by a too plainly
professed display of erudition and by deviating too far from the situation
of his own time. Yet he does not actually contradict Homer, where Circe
resides on an island. Moreover in Vergil's days as well as in our own at
a moderate distance from the shore, where the flat lands of the marshes
sink below the horizon, the cape made the impression of an island44).

inaccessos. Lugli45) says that the site of the temple of Circe (near
San Felice Circeio) is very difficult of access. He informs us that the slope
down to the sea is wholly impassable, whereas the slope to the landside
is formed by rocks and sinuous cavities, covered with dense woods (lucos).
Vergil here may also be invoking an association with the Roman citadel
on the promunturium, which 46) was situated on an elevated spot, which
was strongly fortified, and very difficult of access.
So also tectis superbis may be something more than a mere translation
of Od, X, 252: dcójuata xa\a and point, not only to the beauty, but also
to the elevated situation of Circe's abode. For cape Circei rises steeply
from the sea and on the Western side — which is exactly the side where
Aeneas passes — it reaches an altitude of 541 metres.

lucos. Hom. Od. X, 150: dia. ÖQVfia nvxva xai vArjv; also 1. 251
ava ÖQVfia. On the promunturium Circeium there must have been dense
woods, cf. Theophr. l.c. xó ós XIQXCÜOV xaXoti fievov slvai — daoetav Sé ocpódqa,
xal ïyuv ÖQV xai öatpvrjv TtoXlrjv and Strab. 1. c. cpaal dk xai TIOXVQQL^OV
efoai (scil. tó Kigxaïóv ÖQO;).

43f>) But capable of ardent love (cf. Homer, and Ovid (Glaucus emd Picus) and
sometimes ready to help (Ap. Rh. IV, 737 sqq.).
43c) Ovid on the contrary speaks of tellus Circaea (MXB, 705) Circaea arva (XIV,
346 sqq.), litora Circes, Circaeo in litore (XIV, 245 sqq.).
43<J) Cf. SA III, 386 (-Varro): mons iste (Circeius) antehac insula fuit; paludibus
enim a continenti segregabatur; Solin. II, 22; cf. also Theophr. l.c., Strab. V, 232;
Plin. III, 57.
44) Cf. Procop. B.G. I, 11, 3; cf. Nissen l.c.
4B) N. d. sc. 1930, p. 543.
46) Lugli, Forma It. I, 1, 17; Saflund, Le mura di Roma reppublicana, p. 186.
 47

cedrum. The burning of cedar-wood has been taken from the story
of Calypso in Homer (Od. V, 59/60). But a fragrant scent did mount
from the cape, viz. of laurels and myrtles (Theophr. l.c.). (R. Mandras,
The time-element in the Aeneis of Vergil, sees in this line a support for
his hypothesis, that Vergil was always conscious of the time in the Aeneis.
For, as he says, the juniper blossoms in February, and now in the begin­
ning of March it could be placed upon the hearth. I have strong doubts
however, whether we may take this into account). For the rest another
scholar, D. L. Drew, p. 96/7 assumes that it was August when Aeneas
came to Italy, and he even ascribes a symbolical meaning to this fact (see
below).

Solis filia. Solis filia here most likely is not a mere translation
of the Homeric HeXioio (•&vydzr]g) (Od. X, 138), for in other places
too Vergil brings out the fact, that Circe is the daughter of Sol (VII,
280 sq.; XII, 161 sq.). And whereas in Greek mythology and art the
connection between Circe and Helios is not very much stressed 46a), it is
in Italy. Lugli4^) mentions a female head — for the rest dating only
from the time of the Empire —, which has been discovered on Monte
Circeo and most probably represents Circe. Her head is encircled by a
metal wreath with seven rays. Plaut. Epid. 604, mentioning Circe very
accidentally, immediately adds: Solis filia; and so does Ovid M. XIV, 10,
who also for the rest is always calling her Titanis, Titania48); and
Tertullian 49) says that she instituted the ludi circenses in honour of her
father Sol.
Whether it was purely accidental that so much stress was gradually
laid on this aspect of Circe in Italy — one author or artist may have
borrowed it from the other — or whether the Italian Circe, or at least
the Circe, localized in Circei, was of old connected with Sol, need not be
decided here. Anyhow — cf. Plautus and Ovid — this connection must
have existed already in Vergil's time.
Assiduo cantu and Arguto tenues percurrens pectine telas are borrowed
from Homer: Od. X, 221/22 and 254 (about Circe), and V, 61 (about
Kalypso). Ovid also mentions her carmina, which (XIV, 20/1, 34, 55 sqq.)
are however spells rather than songs.
As to the animals in the palace of Circe, Homer too mentions lions and
wolves 50) and boars 51). Bears however are not mentioned in this
connection, and they are not even mentioned more than once in Homer,

46") Although, e.g. also Ap. Rh. II, 311, IV, 591, 725 sqq. calls her a daughter of
Helios.
4T) L.c.
4S) XIII, 968; XIV, 14, 376, 382, 438; cf. also 9/10; 33; 346; 356.
49) De speet. 8.
B0) Od. X, 212 and 218, 434.
51) Od. X, 239/40, 243; 283; 389/90.
 48

in a passage, which without any doubt belongs to one of the latest parts 52).
(Of course this does not mean, that in Homeric times the bear was not
found in Greece53).
Vergil may mention the bear here to give a more Italian colour to this
passage. For — in contradistinction to Greece proper, where even in the time
of Xenophon they had been all but extinguished 54) — bears still prevailed
in large numbers in Italy in Vergil's time55), especially in Lucania and
Apulia 56) where they are still found in our days; and this animal, or its
teeth at any rate, must already have been known to the terramaricoli in
Upper Italy 57). (Ovid in his turn mentions wolves, lions, bears and boars
(see below).)

In praesepibus may have been mentioned especially of the bears,

because these animals, which — e.g. in the time of Pausanias 58) — were
of ten kept as tame animals59), usually lived in large cages.

Hinc exaudiri gemitus iraeque leonum ... rudentum. Homer does not
mention the roaring of these animals; even from their landing-place
Odysseus and his comrades do not hear any terrible voices but they stay
there two full days before they inquire (1. 147): eï NWG ïgya 'ïdoi/M PQOICÖV
èvonrjv re nvdoïurjv, and even when they see the palace they are not in the

52) Od. XI, 611, in the description of the sword of Heracles, where, next to lions
and wild boars, also bears are introduced.
53) Cf. the legend that Heracles exterminated the bear on Creta (Diod. Sic. IV, 17;
Plin. VIII, 228), and that Zeus as an infant was attended by a bear in the cavern on Mount
Dikte (Arat. Phaen. 31 sqq.); that Arkas was the son of Zeus and Kallisto, who was changed
into a she-bear (Callim. Hymn. in Jov. 41; OM II, 468 sqq.; Paus. VIII, 3, 6); that
Atalante (Aelian. v. h. XII, 1; Apollod. III, 9, 2) as well as Paris-Alexandros (Aelian.
v. h. XII, 42; Apollod. III, 12, 5) as infants when abandoned by their parents, were
suckled by a she-bear; cf. also the Bear-Mountains near Kyzikos, where according to
tradition the nurses of Zeus were changed into bears; cf. also the representation of
the bear on very old sculptures of Xanthos in Lycia. The bear must have prevailed in
Asia Minor in olden times, as it is still met with in some parts of it. Cf. also the bear as
a sacred animal of Artemis.
In the first Messenian war the Arcadians still fought, dressed in skins of wolves and
bears. See further Keiler, Thierwelt, p. 365 sq.
54) Cf. Xenoph. cyneg. 11, 1; Anab. V, 310. But it was found in Macedonia, Thracia,
Lydia, Epirus, Mysia, etc. (cf. the bear on a coin of Kardai in Thracia). Pausanias,
however, mentions bears found in his time on the Taygetos (III, 204), the Arcadian
mountains (VIII, 23, 9; IV, 11, 3) and the Parnassus (I, 32); and as an eye-witness he
informs us, that bear-cubs were sacrificed to Artemis Laphrai at Patrai (VII, 18, 12, 13).
But according to Keiler, Thierwelt, p. 175 sqq. his information cannot be taken seriously.
6B) Keiler, Thierwelt, p. 365 sq.
68) Cf. Hor. ep. 16, 51; carm. III, 4, 18; Varr. 1. 1. V, 100; VII, 40; Ov. hal. 58;
Sil. It. IV, 558.
57) Helbig, d. It. i. d. Po-ebene, p. 14 sq.
88) VIII, 17, 3.
B9) Keiler, Thiere, p. 112.
 49

least terrified; the lions and wolves are tame and wag their tails. And so
they do in Ovid (XIV, 45/6) 214 sqq.
According to D'Hancarville 60) Vergil came to this conception by the
local situation, since the surging of the waves on the rock of the promontory
makes a sound here that resembles the roaring of wild animals. (Cf. also
"vada fervida".) Possibly Vergil alludes to this circumstance on which
Conington remarks: the breakers on the headland of Circei.
It may also be that, because Aeneas does not enter the abode of Circe,
but only sails past it, and at a fair distance and during the night (cf. sera
sub nocte rudentum), Vergil was obliged to change the visual representation
into an auditive one. He may have done so the sooner, because he always
had a predilection for auditive painting 60a).
Besides, the words: gemitus, irae, saevire, ululare, etc. may also be
a good example of the strengthening of many old-Greek motives in
Hellenistic times, (Vergil himself in his turn has been imitated here in
an intensified way by Ovid (Met. XIV, 255), where in the palace of Circe
"mille lupi mixtaeque lupis ursaeque leaeque" are found.
In line 15—16, and especially with the words: "vincla recusantum"
Vergil may allude to the fact, that Circei, at least in the time of Augustus,
was a place of deportation. For in 36 b.C. Lepidus was banished hither by
Augustus, originally for the duration of his life61). This fact may even
have drawn the attention to this half-forgotten place afresh, and may
have been one of the reasons, why Vergil in the very beginning of the
second half of his poem gave some fifteen lines to it.
Perhaps the fact, that especially the lions' effort to break loose from
their chains is mentioned, may be an underlining of the hypothesis of
Fr. Sforza as to the hidden hostile intentions which Vergil in writing the
Aeneid had against Augustus.

sera sub nocte. By these words, as well as by "nocturna in lumina" and

by the preceding lines: "aspirant aurae in noctem, nee candida cursus luna
negat, splendet tremulo sub lumine pontus" it is stressed that it is night
when the Trojans pass Circe's abode.
It is night 1) to enhance the mysteriousness of the situation, which very
well suits Circe's character; 2) because, if the Trojans had to arrivé at
the mouth of the Tiber at early dawn, it must be night when they passed
Circaeum, which is at a distance of about 60 km.

quos hominum ex facie.... induerat Circe in voltus ac terga ferarum

Hom. Od. X, 213/4: AFIYL dé fuv Xvxoi rjaav ÖQÉOZEQOI FJDÈ Movteg, xovg

eo) Vasa Etrusca, I, p. 65.

60a) See H. Gauger, Optische und akustische Sinnesdaten in den Diohtungen des
Vergil und Horaz, Stuttgart 1930.
81) In 18 b.C. — hence after Vergil's death — in consequence of a conspiracy of his
son against Augustus he was called back to Rome.
i
 50

avrt) xaréêe^EV, ÈJZEI xay.d (pag/uax EÖCOXEV. 239/240: [ol de ovwv /uèv tyov
xecpaXag qxovfjv TÉ zqtyag ie xai óé/uag, avxuo vovg rjv Efjuieöog óg zó n&Qog JIEQ.
In Apollonios Rhodios they are not real animals, but (IV, 672 sqq.)
©fjgeg ö' ov drjQEOOiv êoixózsg (bfirjazfjaiv, ovöè jukv ovd' avÖQtaaiv ó/iov
óé/iag, IxXXo ö' aji' alXcov ov/ujuiyécg [XEXÉCÜV . .. and he even compares them
to the first indefinite products of nature: Toiovg xa! JiQozégrjg è£ llvog ê-
pXaoTrjoev xdwv avtrj /uixtoTaiv aQrjOEtiévovg fieXÉEaaiv. Ovid (I. 10) speaks
of "vanarum fererum".
Vergil may have avoided laying stress on the fact that even now they
were only half-animals, because he wanted to remain within the limits of
the probable as much as possible, and because a representation as given
by Apollonios, contrary to nature would have offended the good taste of
himself and of his public.

dea saeva: SEIVÏ] ïïeóg (Od. X, 136).

potentibus herbis. In Homer not only the powerful herbs, cpagfiaxa 62),
but also the magie wand, gafidog 63) helps to change men into animals.
Vergil however here speaks of the powerful herbs only, although in other
places he mentions the magie wand (e.g. VII, 190).
Ovid mentions a magie wand, 278 sqq., 387 combined with a magie
song, and 413: "venenata tetigit virga" the wand itself is poisonous. And
when Circe bewitches Macareus and his fellows64) as well as when
Glaucus implores her aid 65) only the herbs — which 264/70 her servants,
the Nymphs, are engaged in preparing — are mentioned.
This important place of the poisonous herbs among Circe's charms in
the Roman poets may be ascribed to the fact that on the promunturium
Circeium a very poisonous plant was found, which was even called KiQxaia
Qt£a 66). This may be the reason, that in these lines, where there are
special ties binding Circe to this place, Vergil speaks only of the powerful
herbs, and not of the magie wand, which in the Odyssey plays a still more
important part. (Cf. on the contrary VII, 190, where Circe is not bound
with local ties). Besides, this venomous plant may have contributed towards
Circe's localization here.
Quae ne monstra, etc. Perhaps Vergil alludes here to the menacing
attitude, which in a certain period this Roman colony as a propugnaculum
imperii assumed towards everyone who wanted to trespass upon Latian
soil. and emphasizes that the Trojans could only penetrate there because
they are pii, and only with divine assistance.

62) Od. X, 213, 236, 276, 287 sqq., 317, 326/7, 392/4.
63) Od. X, 237, 293, 319, 389.
64) X, 275 sqq., 292 sqq.
65) XIV, 10: herbigeros adiit colles (Glaucus; quanta sit herbarum, Titani, potentia,
nulli quam mihi cognitius; 21, 33, 43, 55 sqq., 68/9: cf. also 346 sqq., 403.
oe) Ps. Aristot. de mir. ausc. 79: Eustath. Dion. Per. 692; Schol. Apoll. Rhod. IV,
311; Apollod. III, 15, 1; Nonn. Dion. XXII, 77.
 51

Delati in portus. "Portus" is used here as distinct from "litora". In

Homer we have rather the impression of the ships being dragged ashore
on the beach (x 140). Perhaps Vergil hints here at the harbour of
Circei, a lake on the shore, 4 kilometres to the West of Circei, and now
named Lago di Paola07).
For "monstra" see on line 81.
For "lucus" see on line 82.

Neptunus. Neptunus here, as nearly always in Vergil 68), and also

with the other Augustan poets and mythographs, is none other than the
Greek Poseidon. And not only with them; in the official Roman State-cult
too the Neptunus of the Neptunalia of 23 July of the oldest calendar had at
an early date been all but replaced by Poseidon; hence whenever the public
worship of Neptune is mentioned, the Greek Poseidon is mostly meant.
This is not the place for speculations as to the origin and the original
character of the Roman Neptunus69), the less so, as there is very little
to help us in forming an opinion. For it is certainly before 399 b.C. 70)
that Poseidon took the place of Neptunus in the State-cult. The first temple
of Neptunus was built under Greek influence, and his statues 71) are all
of the Greek type, with trident and dolphin. Among the common people too
the old Neptune — who certainly was not a god of the sea originally, but
only connected with the watery element in some way or other — had been
superseded by Poseidon, as appears from inscriptions 72).
Still Vergil's use of Neptunus here may be not merely a mythological
convention, but may have a national element in it as well. In my opinion
Vergil here may wish to emphasize the help of Neptunus to Aeneas,
because Octavianus-Augustus also boasted of the special help of
Neptunus — appearing e.g. from prodigia 73) and his help to insure
victories at sea — most probably as a religious contra-propaganda against
Sextus Pompeius 74).
Augustus, after on one occasion removing the statue of Neptune from
the sacred procession, at the next Circensian games (XL) revived the
cult of Neptune, of which before and after his time we find only scarce
traces. He struck coins with the image of Neptunus75), after the victory
of Dikaearchia he sacrificed to him, after Actium he dedicated the place

67) See Nissen p. 636, n. 6.

88) Cf. Bailey p. 118.
69) For a list of the different views about him see Weinstock, RE s.v. Neptunus.
7°) Liv. V, 13, 6; DH XII, 9, 1.
71) There were in Rome statues of Neptunus by Skopas (Plin. XXXVI, 26), and
Praxiteles (XXXVI, 23) a.o.
72) E.g. Ostia, CIL XIV, 1; Antium, CIL X, 6642—6644; Formiae X, 6104.
73) Plin. XX, 55.
74) So Weinstock, l.c.
75) Babelon, II, 53, n. 117.
 52

of the encampment with the spoils of the sea to Mars and Neptune™):
the birthday of Augustus became the day of foundation of three temples,
viz. of Apollo, Mars and Neptune; Agrippa in 25 b.C. dedicated a temple
to Neptunus, because of his victories at sea over Antony and Sextus
Pompeius 77).
So, as Neptune guided Augustus in the battle of Actium and in other
battles, he also may have guided his forebear Aeneas.
And as he came forth to Aeneas' rescue in book I, to calm the storm
raised by Aeolus as well he led him here "praeter vada fervida".

Finally it may be remarked that, although here cape Circeium with its
"inaccessi luci" is the residence of the dangerous witch Circe, in the same
book 1. 799, in the catalogue of the Latin forces, it is the dwelling-place
of peasants. Rehm remarks that it is characteristic of the geographical
passages in Vergil's Aeneid that the world is much more modern there
than in the rest of the epos.

76) Suet. Aug. 18, 2.

") DC LIII, 27, 1.
 THE TIBER.

25
Iamque rubescebat radiis mare et aethere ab alto
Aurora in roseis fulgebat lutea bigis,
cum venii posuere omnisque repente resedit
flatus et in lento luctantur marmore tonsae.
Atque hic Aeneas ingentem ex aequore lucum
30 prospicit. hunc inter fluvio Tiberinus amoeno
verticibus rapidis et multa [lavus harena
in mare prorumpit. variae circumque supraque
adsuetae ripis volucres et fluminis alveo
aethera mulcebant cantu lucoque volabant.
35 flectere iter sociis terraeque advertere proras
imperat et laetus fluvio succedit opaco.

A. Vergil makes the Trojans land at the Tiber, and not at another spot
of the ager Laurens.

All the other sources make Aeneas land not at the mouth of the Tiber,
but "in agro Laurenti" or "JIEQI A(AQSVTOV" x), not far from the Numicus 2),
or at least at a fair distance from the Tiber3), and at any rate not
immediately at its mouth 4). Nor have we any reason to suppose that Cato
made them land here.
Only in authors who clearly go back to Vergil is the mouth of the Tiber
mentioned as Aeneas' landing-place 5).
Why is Vergil at variance here with all his sources, and moreover,
whereas in the version of Dionysius the Tiber is not found at all, in the

*) Liv. I, 1; App. Reg. 1; DH I, 53; 63, where the place is not further specified; cf.
also Cass. Hem. fr. 7 P; Fest. p. 367 M s.v. Troia; Varr. ap. SA IX, 8.
2) Zonar. VII, 1: TiQoOéOx* AavQévxta xctta xöv Nov/tfaiov noxa/ióv', DC fr. 3, Tzetz.
Lyc. 1232: 7I£(>I AavQivrov cfi 7iQo6<axfiXtf xö xaï XQOCCLV \xaXov/itvov, NTQÏ Nov/iixiov
noxafióv.
3) DH I, 45: xarsö%ov SIS i'TÓi' ... ov ?IQÓOb) TÜ>V TOÖ Tt(!{Qtoq which
cannot however have been very near the Tiber, cf. c. 55, where izqmtov /liv mt-
Zo/uvots- tof,- av9-Qiaitoti i'.ró <fCipris, orx t/ovros v<fa>Q to» TÓnov. Moreover they are
only about an hour's walk from Lavinium (cf. c. 56).
4) Strab. V, p. 229: xaia(>avTag tig AavQtvtov rijd nXrfiiov rwv 'SlOTtwv xat rol
TifóQfws r\ióvoq.
6) OM XIV, 447 sqq.: lucosque petunt ubi nubilus umbra in mare cum flava prorumpit
Thybris arena; Polyaen, Strat. VIII, 25, 2: Oi NTQÏ Aivtlav TQUHS <P£vyovrf$ IxaXla
nQoOéOxov, xat a/upï xatg *nfioXaZq xoü ïioxa/iov xov OvfiQufog tvavXóxow. Cf. also
Stat. Silv. V, 213 sqq., and Rutil. Namat. Itin. I, 182.
 54

Aeneid on the contrary the Tiber, corniger Hesperidum fluvius regnator

aquarum (VIII, 77), as Carcopino6) expresses it, "est partout"?
a) Thus he was in accordance with the oldest traditions as to the
arrival of Aeneas in Latiume*), which traditions connected him directly
with Rome; in this case the most obvious place for Aeneas to land was the
banks of the Tiber, where he, or "the Trojans" in general, or Trojan
women 6b) landed indeed in some of the younger authors.
b ) Reasons of probability. The mouth of the Tiber was the most
obvious spot on the entire coast of Latium, and even Etruria, where one
might come to anchor7).
c) Artistic reasons. By making the Trojans enter the Tiber and thus
implicating this river in the story, he introduced an element into it, that
was poetically far more effective and grateful than the monotonous land­
scape of the rest of the Roman Campagna was 8).
d ) The importance of the Tiber and of Ostia. The Tiber had a
great importance in Antiquity — much greater, as Nissen remarks, than

6) p. 441 sqq.: Dans le récit de Dénys qui développe cette tradition, le Tibre
n'apparaït pas. Enée aborde sur un point quelconque de la cöte, directement de la mer;
mange ses tables aussitöt, ... prépare sur la plage un sacrifice d'action de graces; donne
ordre, a eet effet, de débarquer de 1'un de ses navires une truie pleine; la laisse échapper,
la rejoint vingt-quatre stades plus loin, a 1'intérieur des terres, sur une colline solitaire oü
elle met bas trente petits, ... et fonda, en effet, — Lavinium.
Dans 1'Enéide, au contraire, le Tibre est partout. Enée entre en terre latine par le
Tibre: c'est a la banquette du fleuve qu'il a amarré sa flotte; il mange ses tables sous
les arbres qui en ombragent le cours; crée Troia au bord du fleuve; voit, en rêve, surgir
le dieu qui 1'incarne, et, dans la réalité, la truie blanche et ses trente petits grouillant sur
la rive verdoyante. Tous les prodiges — expliqués ou provoqués par le dieu du Tibre —
qui consacrent cette cité en ont eu pour théatre le territoire baigné par le Tibre.
Le dieu du Tibre n'a pas a intervenir et n'intervient pas, en effet, chez Dénys. Dans
1'Enéide, il domine 1'action, et en déclanche les principales péripéties. Etc.
Moreover II, 781 and III, 500 sqq. e.g. the Tiber is explicitly mentioned as the end of
Aeneas' peregrinations.
6") Hellanikos and Damastes of Sigeum ap. DH I, 72; cf. Agathocles ap. Fest. p. 269
s.v. Romam; Kallias ap. DH and Fest. ll.ee.; cf. also Polyaen. l.c.; Plut. de mul. virt. 1,
Rom. 1.
6i>) Aeneas: Polyaen. l.c.; "the Trojans": Plut. ll.ee.; Trojan women: Heraclides ap.
Fest. l.c., SA I, 273, Solin. I, 2.
7) Cf. Nissen, p. 567: An der einformigen Küste, die sich zwischen dem Argentaro
und Circello 200 Km. lang hinstreckt, bot der grösste Flussmündung der geeignetste
Ankerplatz.
8) Carcopino p. 725, n. 1: le site ostien devait lui plaire en soi a cause du Tibre, d'une
beauté tour a tour imposante ou charmante, Encore aujourd'hui, dans cette campagne de
Rome, d'une grandeur accablante et monotone, le Tibre est le seul a mettre oü il passé
un élément de variété et comme le mouvement de la vie. Le paysage ne s'anime que sur
ses bords. Les peintures les plus riantes des derniers livres de 1'Enéide viennent de la
couleur changeante de ses eaux, des arbres qui 1'ombragent, des oiseaux qui 1'égayent
de leurs chants.
 55

one would be prone to conclude nowadays 9) — and for the Ancients one
of the conditions of the greatness of Rome was that it should be situated
on the Tiber 10).
Moreover Ostia was the oldest harbour of Rome, and even the oldest
Roman colony; according to tradition 11) it had been founded by Ancus
Martius 12) and Romulus was said to have conquered the Salinae at the
mouth of the Tiber from the Etruscans 13), and according to Cic. de
Rep. II, 3, 5 he had even considered the possibility of establishing Rome
there. From 440 onwards Ostia is mentioned as a commercial port1*).
And with the development of Rome Ostia's importance increased as well,
especially since Rome became dependent on corn from overseas. This may
appear from the institution of the quaestor Ostiensis in 267 b.C. 15).
e) The connection of the Tiber with the oldest legendary history of
Rome. According to Servius (A I, 273) the Roman twins were thrown
into the Tiber by Amulius, together with their mother Ilia. Tum, ut quidam
dicunt, Iliam sibi Anio fecit uxorem, ut alii, inter quos Horatius (Carm.
I, 2), Tiberis. Pueri vero expositi ad vicinam ripam delati sunt, etc.16).
Several other legendary persons, as Euander (OF V, 643), Hercules
(OF V, 644), and Saturnus (cf. OF V, 229) were said to have entered
Italy by the mouth of the Tiber as well.
[) For several reasons Vergil may have considered the site of the
later Ostia a very suitable place for the prodigy of the mensae. I.a. because,
as Carcopino says, a certain sort of cakes were offered, to Summanus
the so-called Summanalia, and because as an artist he may have found it
an attractive paradox to cause the Trojans to have a deficiency of cereal
food in a place, where there was an abundance of it in later times.
g ) When Cybele, the Magna Mater of the Ida, was introduced in
Rome in 204 b.C., she arrived there by the Tiber 17) or certainly, which
perhaps is the older tradition 18) arrived at Ostia; from there she was
transported by land to Rome. For many other testimonies of this fact,

B) p. 316. Wahrend er einem oberflachlichen Reisenden nur als landschaftliche Staffage

zu dienen scheint, ist er keineswegs immer zu dieser bescheidenen Rolle verdammt gewesen.
10) Cf. Liv. V, 54, and Cic. de Rep. II, 5, 10, who praises Romulus for having elected
this spot to build Rome on.
") Ennius fr. 145 V; Fest. p. 197 M; p. 254 M; DH III, 44; Cic. de rep. II, 18, 33;
35; Liv. I, 33, 9; Flor. I, 1, 14; Aur. Vict. V, 3; SA VI, 815, Eutrop. I, 5 and others.
12) And probably according to Polybius (ap. Steph. Byz. s.v. 'StorCa) it was even
founded by Numa.
13) DH II, 55; III, 41; Amm. Mare. XXVIII, 5, 11.
14) DH XII, 1; Pol. XXXI, 20, 11; Justin. XLIII, 3, 4; Liv. XXII, 11; 37; XXIX, 14.
15) Cic. pro Sest. 39; pro Mur. 18; de har. resp. 43; Veil. II, 94; Suet. Claud. 24;
Diod. XXXVI, 12.
18) Cf. also OF II, 596.
1T) OF IV, 291 sqq.; cf. Prop. V (IV), 11, 51—52.
18) Liv. XXIX, 14.
 56

which was especially mentioned because of the miracle of Claudia, see

the note 19).
Vergil may have had this arrival of Cybele in mind here, because:
1) Cybele had a temple at Ostia, at least from the beginning of the
Empire20); 2) Cybele arrived in Rome on 4 April, and also her festival,
the Megalesia, was held from 4—10 April 21), so in the early spring, in the
same time of year as the Trojans arrived at the Tiber; 3) Augustus had a
special interest in her cult. Not only did he restore her temple when it
had been destroyed by a fire 22), but, although her cult had never become
in any real sense Roman, he worshipped her as one of the principal deities
of the Trojan home of his race23); 4) Vergil may have drawn attention
to a spot, where once a Claudia had performed a miracle, to honour
Augustus by his stepsons, who were Claudii by birth.
At any ra te, if Vergil had not in mind the arrival of Cybele, Ovid in
treating this arrival had in mind Vergil's treatment of the arrival of the
Trojans. Cf. e.g. VA VII, 105: cum Laomedontia pubes gramineo ripae
religavit ab aggere classem, then they take their meal, after which they
go to sleep — with OF IV, 329 sqq.: fluminis ad flexum veniunt nox
aderat, querno religant a stipite funem, dantque levi somno corpora functa
cibo24). And as a ship built with the timbers of the trees felled in the
forests of Mount Ida (IX, 82—121) had conducted Aeneas, so, says
Ovid, it conducted the Phrygian Magna Mater in later times25).

Moreover a company of young people from Phocaea — so from the same

country as Aeneas and his comrades — : ostio Tiberis invecta amicitiam
cum Romanis iunxit (Justin. XLIII, 3, 4).

19) Cic. de har. resp. XIII, 27; Diod. XXXIV, 33; Suet. Tib. 2; Liv. XXXIV, 1;
XXXVI, 36; Lact. inst. II, 7, 12. Cf. also Appian. Pun. VII, 9, 56; Diod. frg. 34; 35;
Sil. It. XVII, 1—47; Herodian, V, 11; Stat. Silv. I, 2, 245/6; Solin. I, 20; Aur. Vict. 46;
and a pedestal, which was found on the bank of the Tiber, now in the Capitoline Museum,
with an inscription Dessau, 4096, 4097.
20) lts foundations and inscriptions have been discovered in modern times.
21) The great festival of Cybele and Attis was also celebrated from 22—27 March.
In all probability however this did not take place before the middle of the second century
A.D. (see Wissowa, RuK, p. 321 sqq.).
22) Mon. Anc. 4, 8; OF IV, 347.
23) Cf. especially the reliefs of the Sorrentine basis (RM IV, 1889; taf. X), where
Cybele appears among the gods of the Julian house. Her röle in Vergil may also point to
this, where (Bailey, p. 174 sqq.) she is the Phrygian mother-goddess with her home on
the Ida (cf. II, 788; VI, 784; VII, 139; IX, 82; 110, 617 sqq.; X, 220, 252; G IV, 64).
and a special deity of Troy, worshipped there before its fall, and still appealed to by
Aeneas and his wandering companions (cf. II, 788; III, 111; VII, 139, IX, 82 sqq.,
X, 252; XI, 768) and a new supporter to Aeneas and his Trojans.
24) Cf. also OF IV, 249 sqq.: Dindymon et Cybelen et amoenam fontibus Iden
semper et Iliacas Mater amavit opes. Cum Troiam Aeneas Italos portarat in agros, est
dea sacriferas paene secuta rates.
26) Cf. OF IV, 293 sqq.: protinus innumeras caedunt pineta secures illa, quibus fugiens
Phryx pius usus erat.... illa sui per aquas fertur tutissima nati.
 57

It is possible that Vergil was a champion for Ostia, and opined that
this place, being the oldest harbour of Rome, had a right to remain the
most important.
Moreover Julius Caesar had wished to improve the condition of its
harbour, which was rather bad at that time26), and was even engaged
in carrying out this project27) when his sudden death put a stop to
these proceedings, and it was not before the time of Claudius that this
labour was completed 28). Augustus therefore did not continue this work,
for what reason we know not.
Therefore Vergil may have connected the landing of Aeneas with
Ostia, thus showing to his readers, that the Julii were connected with
Ostia from the beginning, and hinting to Augustus that it was part of
his duty to keep up this connection, as Julius Caesar had done.
Yet Augustus himself may have had this project as well. At any rate
Ostia must have attracted special attention in the time of Augustus,
because it was almost entirely rebuilt in that period29). According to
Carcopino p. 729 sqq. these many restorations as well as Augustus'
installing a colony of veterans here 30) are an additional proof not only
of the renovation of Ostia by Augustus, but of the fact that Augustus also
had this project, already conceived by Caesar, of digging a harbour at
Ostia; and according to him Augustus even may have started to execute
this plan31). When Vergil — who often in his epos patronized the
projects of Augustus — wrote the Aeneid, these projects (p. 744) "devaient
être la grande nouvauté du jour". So he multiplied in his epos allusions as
to the harbour at the mouth of the Tiber. "Au vaste dessein du prince,
contesté peut-être par quelque facheux, Virgile déclarait, par cette
confusion, comme un certificat d'origine".
Moreover according to Carcopino p. 755 sqq. the soil of Ostia was
especially sacred in Vergil's eyes, because an ancient f ederal La tin cult
of Vulcanus and Maia had existed there, which had become the nucleus
of the Roman pantheon, and corresponded to the principles of Vergil's

28) Cf. Strab. V, p. 232, writing about 30 b.C.:

27) Plut. Caes. 58; Suet. Claud. 58.
28) Suet. Claud. 20; Plin. X, 14; XVI, 202; Quint. III, 8, 16; Juv. XII, 75—81;
DC LX, 1.
29) See Carcopino p. 729/30. The theatre of Ostia was erected before 12 b.C., cf. CIL
XIV, 84. Cf. also the many restorations of P. Lucilius Gamala, an Ostian magistrate of
that time (CIL XV, 375).
30) Plin. III, 56; cf. III, 46.
sl) That not only Caesar, but also Augustus had formed this project, he concludes
from Porphyr. and Acro ad Hor. AP 63/5, respectively: Tiberim derivavit Augustus
qua nunc incedit, and: Tiberim derivavit Agrippa qua nunc vadit; from Chron. Min.
(Momms.) p. 45: hoe imperatore (Octaviano Augusto) navis Alexandrina primum in
portu Romano introivit; and from the fact that the name of "Portus Augusti" was given
to the new harbour at Ostia, which really was the creation of Claudius, and which had
been inaugurated by Nero. (For further information see there.)
 58

own religious and Stoic views. Starting from the view that Aeneas founded
a city here, "la nouvelle Troie", he says: "par la contiguité du Tibre, dont
elle était baignée, il donnait déja a la cité romaine, que la nouvelle Troie
récélait dans ses flancs, ... 1'élasticité et 1'ampleur qui lui permettaient un
jour de comprendre 1'univers dans son empire".
Finally, whether we agree with Carcopino that the encampment of
Aeneas on the Tiber was a real city, or not, at any rate it was a settlement.
And even for this settlement it may hold good, that, as Carcopino p. 771
sqq. says. Vergil wanted it to represent Troy in as many traits as possible.
For the Romans in general wanted a new colony etc. in its outward
appearance to remind them as much as possible of their native town; "La
cité renaissante ressuscite en quelque sort sous les traits physiques de
la cité disparue et tache a s'organiser, sous un ciel nouveau, dans un
paysage qui réproduit Tanden", as may appear from some testimonies of
Antiquity 32),
Vergil may have given the same tendency to the Trojans, as appears
e.g. from X, 158 33); jn Epirus, with Helenus and Andromache, Aeneas
recognizes successively all the traits of the topography of Troy 34).
One of the main particulars of the site of Troy had been the rivers, the
Xanthus and the Simois. So they had to be present on the new site as well,
as indeed appears from the lamentation of Beroe35), from the assurance
of the Sibyll to Aeneas 36), and from Venus' supplication to Jupiter37).
And indeed, even if we do not identify Vergil's Numicius with the
outlet of the lacus Ostiensis, as Carcopino does 38), Vergil created a greater
correspondence with the site of Troy if the Trojans landed at the Tiber,
than at any other point of the Ager Laurens. Moreover the points of
correspondence between the Xanthus and the Tiber, which Carcopino
enumerates 39)( are certainly worth mentioning, and this correspondence
was most likely also intended by Vergil himself40).

32) SA X, 60: novimus enim hanc fuisse consuetudinem, ut advenae patriae suae
imaginem sibi redderent. Cf. also Lyc. Al. 978/9: nóliv <f' ó/tolav •iXiat tfvodalpovts
rttC/mvrtg with Tzetz.: xal navxa v.tna ntu i:Oir Tgolai; inolutfav.
33) Aeneia puppis imminet Ida super, profugis gratissima Teucris.
34) III, 302 sqq., especially 349 sqq.: procedo et parvam Troiam simulataque magnis
Pergama et arentemi Xanthi cognomine rivum adgnosco Scaeaeque amplector limina portae.
3B) V, 633/4: nullane iam Troiae dicentur tnoenia, nusquam Hectoreos amnes, Xanthum
et Simoenta, videbo?
36) VI, 88/9: non Simois tibi nee Xanthus ... defuerint.
3T) X, 60/2: Xanthum et Simoenta redde, oro, miseris.
:!S) And therefore cannot agree with all the points of correspondence between the
Simoeis and the Numicius, as enumerated by Carcopino, p. 775.
39) The Xanthus-Skamandrios as well as the Albula-Tiberis both have two names;
the name Xanthus — the blond corresponds to Albula — the whdtish, whereas the water
of the Tiber is indeed yellowish, and the Tiber is often called "flavus" in Latin (see
above); and the names Thymbris and Thymbra are found in the immediate neighbourhood
of the Trojan Xanthus, the Thymbris being even a tributary stream of the Xanthus.
 59

Perhaps Vergil was the more entitled to make the Trojans land here,
because a place-name "Troja" may have existed on this spot41) and
according to tradition Aeneas when first landing in Latium, had occupied
a place called Troia42).
h) Rehm. p. 81, n. 168 considers that Vergil thus imitated Apollonios
Rhodios II, 1264/87, describing the Argonauts sailing on the river Phasis.

B. Description of nature.
The mouth of the Tiber in the Augustan age was situated about 4 km
further inland than the present mouth43), of the Fiumara as well as of the
Fiumicino 44).
Vergil must of course have imagined the Trojans as sailing into the
Fiumara, the real mouth of the Tiber, which by silting up is no longer
accessible for navigation; for the Fiumicino45) was only dug under the
Emperors Claudius and Trajanus.

"Ainsi s'établit une correspondance exacte entre la Troade et la plaine d'Ostie: le flavus
Thybris présente, dans les mots, 1'image inversée du Xanthos Thymbris.
40) See III, 497, where Aeneas addresses Helenus and Andromache: vobis parta quies ...
effiqiem Xanthi Troiamque videtis, and immediately adds in 1.500: si quando Thybrim
vicinaque Thybridis arva intraro.
41) As well as in other spots of Latium, as there were more homonymies here, e.g.
Solonium. This place-name Troia may, as Carcopino p. 405 sqq. says, originally have
had nothing to do with the Troy of Priamus, but be a pre-Latin place-name, prevalent
inside and outside Italy (for the latter cf. DH I, 51, 1—2; Liv. I, 1, 3) and probably
denoting a common aspect of nature or of the ground, either, if related with "trua", a
swampy subsidence of the ground, or, if related with "troare", a large pasture, where
the horses gallop; or, if related to the Ind.-Eur. root "truj" or "troj", a sort of passage.
42) Cf. SA I, 5: dum conderet urbem: aut Troiam aut Laurolavinium aut Romam
significat ... Troiam autem dici quam primum fecit Aeneas, et Livius in primo, et Cato
in Originibus significat. Cf. also SA VII, 158. Fest. s.v. Troia: Troja et ... et ... et
locus in agro Laurente, quo primum Italiae Aeneas cum suis constitit. So also Liv. I, 1,
4/5; DH I, 53, 3; App. Rom. I; Steph. Byz. s.v.".4p<f£«. Cf. perhaps also the "praedium
Troianum", Cic. ad Att. IX, 9, 4, and 13, 6.
43) Carcopino p. 496 sqq.: the mouth of the Augustan Tiber must be situated at
about 340 m to the East of the modern Tor Bovacciana, which is at a distance of about
4 km from the sea.
44) See also Nissen, I, p. 355 sqq. This important alluvion (cf. already Vitr. V, 12, 2;
OM XV, 262 sqq.) is a consequence of a) the constitution of the Latin coast, which is
composed of sand (more about this see Carcopino p. 497); b) of the extraordinary
alluvion of the Tiber (ibid. p. 497/8) and its mouth being exposed to the South-
Western wind.
46) At a distance of 30 km to the West of Rome the Tiber divides into:
a) the Fiumicino — a canal, 5 km in length, and at least 1.50 m in depth, which
flows past Portus, and was dug by the Emperors Claudius and Trajanus on the occasion
of the digging of the new harbour, and because the real mouth of the Tiber had become
innavigable by silting up.
b) the Fiumara — its original bed, which flows past Ostia and is 8 km in length.
lts mouth is situated 5 km to the south of the mouth of the Fiumicino. (More about this
see Carcopino, p. 495 sqq.)
 60

According to Q. Fabius Maximus Servilianus (SA I, 3): Tum Aeneas

aegre patiebatur in eum devenisse agrum, macerrimum litorissimumque,
the first impression the Trojans get of their new home is not very charming.
This description however most likely refers, not to the mouth of the
Tiber 46) but to another part of the coast of the ager Laurens; for Vergil
to our knowledge was the first to make Aeneas sail up the Tiber.
Nor is the first impression one gets nowadays — or got some years
ago — when sailing up the Tiber, very charming either, and it agrees
with Vergil's description only in a few aspects.
The waters of the Tiber, at least in its lower course 47) are still sandy 48)
and yellow (multa flavus harena) 49) nowadays50). And nowadays, as
in Antiquity51) there are still whirlpools (verticibus rapidis) 6 2 ) .
But, although according to Conington "there is still a wood in the
Isola Sacra and a great forest, Selva di Ostia, extends south along the
coast from the Stagno di Ostia", the other aspects do not agree. This may
appear from the following description of Boissier, p. 264—266:

"J'ai plus d'une fois parcouru cette cöte, oü, par une matinée de printemps, débarqua
le pieux Enée, et j'avoue que le spectacle que j'ai eu sous les yeux n'est pas tout a fait
celui que Vergile vient de dépeindre. Le Tibre continue a tourbillonner sans bruit en
rongeant ses rives et a rouler ses eaux jaunes vers la mer, mais les arbres sont rares
sur cette plage désolée et je n'ai guère entendue les oiseaux y chanter. Au lieu de ce
tableaux d'idy;lle on a devant soi un paysage monotone et silencieux, qui fait naïtre dans
1'ame une impression de tristesse et de grandeur Quand, du haut d'un de ces
tertres formés par 1'amoncellement des ruines, nous jetons les yeux autour de nous, il
nous est impossible de ne pas plaindre ce pauvre chef troyen, qui vient de quitter les
riches campagnes d'Asie, et a qui les dieux ont fait payer par tant de fatigues et de périls
la possession de quelques Jieus de sable."

Cf. also Nissen, p. 320: "Von Ostia bis Perugia hinauf gewahrt der
Tiber ununterbrochen ein Bild von Verwahrlösung und fiebervoller Öde",
and p. 315: "Man kann Tage lang auf Ponte Molle stehen ohne ein Segel
zu erspahen oder einen Ruderschlag zu vernehmen". And the Tiber is not

48) As is the opinion of Boissier, p. 264 sqq., cf. on the contrary Rehm, p. 44, n. 95.
47) After the Anio joins with it; Nissen I, p. 309.
48) The "multa harena" at the mouth of the Tiber, about which in the time of Vergil
e.g. Strabo (see note 26) camplains, was the reason for digging a new outlet, the
Fiumicino (see above).
49) The adjective flavus, which Vergil seems to have been the first to use, (here
and IX, 816), is often used of the Tiber by Augustan poets (e.g. Hor. Carm. I, 2, 13;
8: 8; II, 3, 18; Sat. II, 1, 8; III, 292; Ovid M. XIV, 448: in mare cum flavo prorumpit
Thybris harena; Tr. V, 1, 31; Ib. 140) and other writers, see RE s.v. Tiberis, col. 796.
60) Because of the parts of loam that are dissolved in them. This loamy, dirty yellow
colour according to H. Philipp, RE I.c., is however originally not inherent in the waters
of the Tiber, but appears only after the Anio joins with it, and even then mainly from
autumn to spring.
(This last peculiarity would agree very wel! with the theory of Mandra, that the
Trojans entered Latium about March.)
 61

at all a kind river, but (ibid. p. 320) the scourge of the regions it flows
through.

How came Vergil to give such a charming picture of the landscape at

the mouth of the Tiber?
a) This laughing and peaceable aspect of the Tiber and its surroundings
here is in correspondance with the Alexandrian 53) view of Nature. —
In the leisured and cultivated circles of Alexandria — in contrast with
a more primitive age, that lived in constant contact and conflict with its
sterner forces — Nature was an element of refined pleasure, offering
refreshment from objects of natural beauty, as it also was in the latter
half of the eighteenth century. "The aspects of things (Sellar, p. 410/1)
do not affect the mind with the immediate impulse which the natural man
receives from them". There is no vivid contact with the sterner voices of
Nature, and the impressions, produced by qualities of a serene and tender
beauty, are enjoyed in a state of passive contemplation. The familiar beauty
of the outward world, as it was feit by a Roman or Italian, was expressed,
as Sellar remarks, in the Latin word "amoenum", as is said also here:
fluvio Tiberinus amoeno 54).
This conception of Nature is familiar to us not only from literature, but
also from art, especially from Italian mural paintings representing
gardens54*), where "the flowers bloom, the birds sing and the butterflies
flutter, without the intrusion of any human element" 546).
As Sellar p. 47 remarks the Italians were still more susceptible to this
disinterested delight in the sights and sounds of the outward world than
the Greeks. "The Roman poets of the Augustan age and of that immedi-
ately preceding it are the truest exponents of the love of Nature in
ancient times" 55).

51) Cf. also OF VI, 496: verticibus densi Thybridis ora.

°2) These data as to the present state I have taken from Boissier and Carcopino ll.cc.
53) See Sellar, p. 46/7: This love of Nature, though not then for the first time
awakened, came into prominence in the Hellentstic age. The cause of the growth of
this sentiment must partly be sought in the rise of great cities, which by debarring men
from the free familiar contact with Nature, created a longing to escape from the heat
and confinement of these cities to the fresh sights and free air of woods and mountains.
Partly the cause must be sought in the decay of the polytheistic fancies, which, by
regarding each natural object as identified with some spiritual being, had made it an
object of awe rather than of affection and curiosity for its own sake.
At the same time the want of comfort forbade man to regard Nature otherwise than
under a pleasant aspect.
54) See especially Sellar, p. 165/66; 268 sqq.
54") E.g. the garden enclosure painted on the walls of a room in the Villa of Livia
at Prima Porta (CAH, Vol. of Plates, IV, 172a), in certain Pompeian houses, and in
columbaria.
54b) Mrs. E. Strong, CAH X, p. 566.
B5) "Though it may be that, without the originating impulse given by the Greek
 62

Yet Vergil perhaps more than any other poet of this time56) presents
this aspect of Nature in which the outward world appeared to the educated
Italian mind. He shows the greatest susceptibility to the beauty of Nature,
and especially to her freshness, the refreshment she offers to eye and
ear57), by this openness and receptivity (Sellar, p. 164) of mind, through
which all the softer and more delicate influences of the outward world
enter into and become part of his being. And at the same time he has the
greatest power to give them back in graceful forms. He often combines
this with an allusion to the earlier conditions of places that are dear to
him through personal association, and, above all, that appeal to his sentiment
of national pride, especially those situated in the environments of Rome.
I therefore, as will already have appeared from these words, cannot
agree with Heinze p. 248: "die wenigen ausführlichen landschaftlichen
Schilderungen sind Imitationen; ... vom Vorbild geht er aus, nicht von
der eigenen Anschauung".
I can better agree with Rehm l.c. that these lines of Vergil are not a mere
imitation of Apollonios' Argonautica l.c., i.a. of: daaxiov eïoeXaoavTB;
eAo?, but that, although Vergil may have used an existing motif, in
its elaboration he was entirely independent. (Ovid M. XIV, 447/8:
"lucosque petunt ubi nubilus umbra in mare cum flava prorumpit Thybris
harena" on the contrary gives a mere imitation of Vergil.)

And so I can with Heinze's remark p. 395/6 that Vergil's description of

localities often serves to give a "stimmungsvolle" background to the
action.
For, another reason why Vergil gave this pleasant description of the
Tiberlandscape may have been, that
b) The Latin country and the Tiber, receiving, though unconsciously,
their future master, must be in festal attire, as if they were glad, though
perhaps not yet knowing the origin of this gladness.
This supposition is not improbable at all. For Nature for Vergil is not
only charming; at the same time, as Sellar remarks, she has a soul and a
will58). Vergil is not far remote from the ancient-Italian view which

mind in the Alexandrian period, and perpetuated by educated Greeks living in Southern
Italy, this love of natural beauty might never have been consciously realised by thein as
a source of poetic inspiration."
BB) Cf. e.g. Hor. Ep. I, 14, 35: prope rivum somnus in herba.
B7) As to the amoenitas and freshness offered by a stream see e.g. G. I, 107—llOr
G. III, 143/45; A. VII, 494/5; as to the description of an Italian spring see G. II, 323/45;
cf. especially 328: avia tum resonant avibus virgulta canoris.
58) "The poetical element in his descriptions is not limited to the perception of
outward shows of things that gratify the eye, or the sounds which delight the ear, but
they are pervaded by the sense of a secret, unceasing, tranquil power, communicating to
outward things the grace and tendermess of human sentiment, the variety and vivacity of
human energy."
 63

attributed a "soul" to any natural object. Or rather: he sees a relation of

Man to Nature, under a Divine dispensation.
Moreover, as Sellar p. 410 sqq. remarks, Vergil seems to abstract from
the general aspects of things the characteristic sentiment which Nature
inspires in particular places and at particular times, and to see the scene
which he describes under the influence of that sentiment 59).
So, as in the fourth Georgic the new era on which the world was about
to enter is seen by his imagination like "the vision of some pastoral valley,
half hidden, half glorified through a golden haze", likewise by this
corresponding description of the Tiber at the time of Aeneas' arrival a
similar new era may be announced.
Moreover to the Trojans already the first impression of their future home
must form a contrast with the inhospitable coast of Circe in particular,
and their former landings and sufferings in general. (Compare their landing
in Africa, I, 557 sqq., where the aspect of the landing-place is partly
favourable (167 sqq.), partly unfavourable 60).
c) Vergil may have given this description, because, as has already been
remarked by Boissier (see below) mutatis mutandis it corresponded to the
aspect of this spot in his own time, when Ostia prospered more and more
by oversea trade, and rich merchants built their country-houses along the
banks of the Tiber, which, from Ostia to Rome, looked like one pleasure-
garden, as is attested by contemporary testimonies <>i); Boissier 62) and
Carcopino 63) give a lively description of this glory.

59) So in the Aeneid various human "situations" are conceived under the influence
of some sense of awe or wonder, of beauty or pathos, of local or antique association,
and the whole description is so presented as to bring this central interest into prominent
belief. ' Several instances in Sellar, p. 411 sqq.
80) Gemini minantur ... scopuli; horrentique atrum nemus imminet umbra, etc.
el) Hor. Od. II, 3; Prop. I, 14, 1—6: tu licet abiectus Tiberina molliter unda Lesbia ...
vina bibas ... et modo tam celeres mireris currere lintres et modo tam tardas funibus ire
rates, et nemus unde satas intendat vertice silvas...; Plin III, 54: (Tiberis) quamlibet
magnarwn navium ex Italo mari capax, rerum in toto orbe nascentium mercator
placidissimus, pluribus prope solus quam ceteri in omnibus terris amnes accolitur
adspiciturque villis.
) 1 Ile sacrée ... on nous dit que le sol y formait toute 1'année un véritable tapis
de verdure, quau printemps il y poussait tant de roses et de fleurs de toute sorte, que
1 air en était embaumé et qu'on lappellait le séjour de Vénus. ... Toutes les denrées du
monde commengaient a prendre le chemin d'Ostie, qui devenait de plus en plus riche et
populeuse ... Cest alors que Virgile la visitée; il a vu Ie Tibre comme 1'avaient fait ces
négociants enrichis, qui venaient chercher un peu de fraïcheur et de repos après les
fatigues de la journée. ... Aux approches de la grande ville il était bordé de jardins
délicieux, oü les grands seigneurs aimaiient réunir leurs amis des deux sexes dans des
festins joyeux pendant lesquels on s amusaft a voir les bateaux descendre et remonter
le fleuve.
03) p. 492 sqq.
Cf. also Nissen l.c.: es gab eine Zeit wo der Tiber ein verkleinertes Abbild unseres
Rheins darbot.
 64

Of course mutatis mutandis. For although the banks of the Tiber were
also wooded in the time of Vergil 64) ancj there even was at least one
lucus at Ostia 65) ( there can have been no question of a real ingens lucus
and of the river being really opacus.
But in view of the many woods in ancient Italy 66) f which also Vergil
himself often and consistently lays stresses 67) Vergil was fully justified
in adding this detail.
A reason of this transposition of the laughing aspect of the Tiber in
Vergil's own days to the time of Aeneas may have lain in his, and perhaps
still more Augustus' wish, to have ancient Italy as a foundation of Roman
life. Therefore they exerted themselves to show not only that the old
habits and conditions were good, but also that as much of the good things
of Italy of their days as possible was already found or foreshadowed in
most ancient Italy.
On the other hand: Rehm p. 71 remarks that for the Trojans in the
Aeneid, as perhaps for Vergil himself 68) the wood always retains
something awe-inspiring. And Vergil preferably gives the wood an epithet
which accentuates this 69) or certainly says that the wood is profunda
(VII, 515), immensa (VI, 186), avia (VII, 580) or, as here, ingens.
d) moreover Vergil may have been conscious that this description of
the Tiber-landscape corresponded more or less to an early reality.
For, even nowadays, as Carcopino p. 320 remarks:
les nuances changeantes ou les détours du Tibre ... la verdoyante végétation, qui
courait ses bords immédiats ... n'en a pas entièrement disparue ... Aujourd'hui encore.
dans la campagne nue de 1 Ile sacrée, les rives du Tibre jettent une note isolée de fraïcheur
et d'ombrages";
and p. 492:
le Tibre est toujours boisé, et, dans la nudité environnante, ses bords continuent

°4) See Prop. l.c., 1. 5/6.

05) The lucus Stimulae (CIL VI, 9897).
J See Nissen, p. 429 sqq. Thuc. VI, 90: S%OV6TIQ XIJS 'ITUXICC$ $I~KU aq>frova;
Athen. V, 208e; Strab. VI, 261; Plin. III, 74; XIV, 127; Theophr. Hist. plant. V, 8, 3
(speaking of Latium in particular). Also military history and the battles in the Ciminian
forest (Liv., IX, 36), of Caudium (Liv. IV, 2 sqq.) and near Beneventum (Liv. IX, 2:
Plut. Pyrrh. 25), as well as the large use of Italian timber for the building of ships
(e.g. against Carthago: Plin. XVI, 192, Polyb. 38, 6: Liv. XXVIII, 45, 21), houses and
towns (see Nissen, p. 433/4) testifies to this.
And if the woodedness of less frequented regions of Itaily in the Augustan age
impressed Greek authors as Dionysius (I, 37) and Strabo (V, 22) deeply, we may infer
how great it may have been in more primitive times.
87) VII, 745, IX, 604: in Latium: VI, 765, VII, 385, 404, 515, 580, X, 417, XI, 134,
515 sqq.; cf. especially IX, 380 sqq.; the Tiber-landscape here, VII, 491, 505, VIII, 82;
on the hills of the future Rome: VII, 659, VIII, 108, 125, 215, 305, 314; on the Campanian
coast: VI, 8, 138, 179, 186, 256; Sicily: III, 583, 590, 675; V, 149, 301, 677.
68) Cf. e.g. VI, 131, 153, 270 sqq., 443, 638, 659, 673, 679, 705.
«») E.g. horrida (VII, 172, VIII, 348), atra (VII, 565, XI, 523), aspera (XI, 902),
fallax (IX, 392).
 65

d'apparaitre, de loin, ombragés et verts. Le touriste qui se rend au bac d'Ostie croit
apercevoir, sur la droite, une haute futaie qui touche a la mer. II s'agit de quelques grands
arbres qui, parmi les lentisques et les tamaris, ont poussé sur les tumoletti ... et qui, a cette
distance, font illusion. De Capo-due-rami a la mer, la Fiumara est accompagnée, sur les
rives du fleuve, par une végétation arborescente que 1'élcrignement épaissit au point
qu'une photographie ferait croire a qui ne se serait pas promené parmi boquetaux et
boissons, qu'un grand bois s'allonge de part et d'autre du Tibre, semblable a celui qu'Enée
saluait de la haute mer.
Qu'on y ajoute, par la pensee, tous les hêtres, toutes les yeuses, tous les rouvres dont
la forêt laurentine renferme les essences, et qu'ont dü faire disparaitre, pour s'acquitter
de leurs redevances envers le Saint-Siège, les bücherons ostiens, et 1'on finira par partager
1'impression de fraïcheur silvestre que Virgile a voulu rendre."

Carcopino concludes therefore, that originally there was actually — and

not only as seen from a distance — a beautiful wood on the banks of the
Tiber, and that Vergil here reminds us of that state of affairs.
This is not impossible. For the change of the laughing banks of the
Tiber from the time of Augustus into the dreary aspect of our own days
cannot only be due to neglect — in which case we might expect that
letting nature take its own course here would produce the same conditions
as of primitive times, when no cultivation had improved the spot. It may
also be due to deliberate acts of damage and deterioration 70), which might
produce a state of conditions wholly different from that of primitive times.
Therefore — although in our days we only receive the optical illusion of
wood from a distance, about 1000 b.C. there may have been a real wood,
by which the Tiber was opacus, and in which vaciae ... volucres ...
volabant 71).

Finally Eduard Fraenkel may be quoted here, who p. 24/5 remarks:

"Neben dem Ineinander von Einst und Jetzt wirkt ... auch das Hervorheben der
Distanz als starker Reiz Bezeichnender noch ist für die Aeneis die den Elegikern
gleichfalls vertraute umgekehrte Betrachtung, wo der Unbedeutendheit und Stille des
römischen und latinischen Bodens der Urzeit das glanzvolle Treiben der Gegenwart
gegenüber gestellt wird. An der Tibermündung herrscht, als Aeneas landet, tiefste
Einsamkeit — wie spater wieder, da Dante dort die Seelen der Toten sich zur Ueberfahrt
sammeln Iasst...; zu des Dichters Zeit breitet hier Ostia sein geschaftiges Leben aus
Solche Stimmungen ... von der traumenden Vergangenheit und der gewaltig wachen
Gegenwart ... sind durchaus "unepisch"; sie kommen erst dadurch zustande dass der
Welt des mythischen Geschehens immer noch eine ganz andere gegenübergestellt wird
und mit ihr empfunden werden soll."

We have traced the different reasons which may have induced Vergil
to give this particular form to this passage. Yet his description of the Tiber-
landscape, although not leaving out any essential elements and giving a

™) E.g. deforestation, and the silting up of the mouth of the Tiber and its alluvion,
which has entirely changed the appearance of the region, increased more and more in
course of time. See Nissen, I, p. 320, p. 433 sqq., 462—4; Carcopino p. 495 sqq.
71) Cf. also VA VII, 495, VIII, 32, 92, 95/6, where is given a similar laughing and
idyllic description of the Tiber.
5
 66

very vivid impression of the scene, is rather succinct and so are his other
descriptions of Nature. In this he followed the rules of the epos of his
time, as expressed by Horace in his Ars Poëtica, 1. 14 sqq.: inceptis
gravibus plerumque et magna professis purpureus, late qui splendeat, unus
et alter assuitur pannus, cum lucus et ara Dianae et properantis aquae
per amoenos ambitus agros, aut flumen Rhenum ... describitur; sed nunc
non erat his locus.

fluvio Tiberinus amoeno.

Why does Vergil say here: "fluvio Tiberinus amoeno", and not "Tiberis
fluvio amoeno", or "Tiberis amoenus", as in general he preferred the
forms Tiberinus and Thybris to Tiberis?
This preference is clearly shown by the relative use of these words.
In the Aeneid, where the Tiber plays an important part, and is mentioned
by name 27 times, the name Tiberis is found only once (VII, 715) and in
an entirely geographical description, where this form moreover may have
been chosen because of its sound association with the immediately following
Fabaris; the other times either Tiberinus is used (8 times, of which however
four times as an adjective-form), or Thybris. (For the rest Tiberinus
is always used when Vergil himself is speaking72), and once (VI, 872/4)
in a prophecy by Anchises — Thybris always in direct speech of the
heroes 73).
Notwithstanding the long exposition of Carcopino it is not possible for
me to see that there was any really forcible reason, imposed upon Vergil
by his subject, to avoid the name Tiberis almost entirely, not only in
passages, where the heroes, but also where Vergil himself is speaking.
We therefore must put the question otherwise, scil. why Vergil's
preference for the forms Tiberinus (and Thybris) was so strong, that this
nearly involved the disappearance of the form Tiberis.
As to the different use of Tiberis, Tiberinus and Thybris Servius (VIII,
31) says: in sacris Tiberinus, in coenolexia Tiberis, in poemate Thybris.
Of course this definition is not altogether correct, as here in poetry the
name Tiberinus is used in a passage where the use of this name is not
necessarily sacral. Yet we may infer from this Servian note, that "in sacris"
the Tiber was given the name Tiberinus. This is confirmed by the fact that
where the Tiber is conceived as a divine power, he is always addressed

72) I, 13; VII, 30, 797; VIII, 31; IX, 125; X, 833; XII, 449.
73) The reason for this may be that, as Rehm p. 85/6 remarks, according to tradition
(Varr. 1.1. V, 30) the Tiber had acquired the name of Tiberinus only after the Alban king
of this name had been drowned there; and according to the rules of ancient poetry the
poet was only allowed to speak ex sua persona when he was speaking xaxa npo^ipiv
historiae (cf. Hygin. ap. Geil. X, 16).
 67

as Tiberinus, scil. in the invocations of the augures 74), thOSe of the

pontifices 75), and on the dedicatory inscriptions 76).
Vergil might have given the form "Tiberinus" here simply to enhance
the solemn sphere of this passage.
From the words 'fluvio Tiberinus amoeno" it appears however, that he
wanted the Tiber here — as well as e.g. in VIII, 31 sqq. — to be conceived
as a god, in other words, that he wanted to introducé the god of the
Tiber into his poem.
Vergil may have mentioned the god of the Tiber partly, because a
river-god was a favourite person in Greek and Hellenistic mythology and
poetry. This Hellenistic influence also appears from his description in VIII,
31 of the appearance of the Tiber-god, which corresponds to those of
Greek rivergods, in literature 77) as well as on monuments 78), as also
the monumentary representations of the Tiber 79) show him in the outward
appearance of Hellenistic river-gods, as a human being so).
Yet this may only have been the Greek elaboration of an old-Italian
datum, where Tiberinus may have been, not only a name found "in sacris",
but a god, and perhaps even a river-god.
That he was an old-Roman deity might appear 1». from the fact, that
his name is found in the invocations of the augures and the pontifices
(see above) as well as that he was considered a deity and even worshipped
in later times si); 20. from the fact that the names of rivers that are deified
under Greek influence, as e.g. the Padus, the Nilus, the Rhenus, all retain
their original form; the Tiber, conceived as a deity, on the contrary is given
a n adjectival name S 2 ) .

74) Cic. N.D. III, 52; cf. SA VIII, 72, 95.

75) SA VIII, 330.
78) CIL VI, 773; XI, 3057 from Horta, 4644 from Tuder, XIV, 376 from Ostia.
77) See already Homer.
:!> e;9' 1116 comer-figures in the Eastern front of the temple of Zeus at Olympia.

) E.g. in the Louvre, n. 593, Bruckmann Taf. 197, the counterpart of the famous
representation of the Nile in the Vatican; on the square of the Capitol (Helbig, 154), on
an altar of Ostia (Helbig, 1463), on a painting from the Esquiline in the Museum of'the
7ÏTS " 9' H54)' 3nd °n tW° reIiefs of Ae Basis Gwle in the Vatican
(Helbig, 162).
) Often as a bearded figure, with horns, sometimes with a crown of reed.
sl) Cf. fasti Amiterni, CIL I, p. 245; fasti Antiates veteres, where the offering in his
temple at Ostia is mentioned on 8 December; cf. also Sen. ap. Augusün. c.d. VI, 10 and
Augustin. c.d. IV, 23, saying that Romulus introduced the cult of Tiberinus; thé prayer
o Horatius Cocles in Liv. II, 10, 11; the legend that Tiberinus took Ilia to his wife
(Hor Carm. I, 2, 1 6 ) ; cf. also Varr. 1.1. V, 71; a fontibus et fluminibus ac ceteris aquis
dei, ut Tiberinus ab Tiberi.
82) It must be remarked however that we have no instances of other ancient-Italian
names of rivers, which have an adjectival form. And according to Schulze p. 537 the
form Tiberinus is only a later development of the form Tiberis — which in this case
however originated at an early date -, like the river which in Antiquity was called
15 n°Wadays cal!ed Esino; in that case the adjectival ending need not have a
 68

It is another question however whether Tiberinus was originally a river-

deity, a deity of the Tiber. From want of space I cannot enter more deeply
into this question.

fluvio succedit opaco.

The Trojans sail up the Tiber to a certain point, as afterwards, in VIII,
they will also sail up to Pallanteum.
This is very well possible, because, as Nissen p. 317 remarks, in Anti-
quity navigation on the Tiber as far as Rome was rather frequent 86),
and even possible, down to at least the fourth century A.D. 87) for
comparatively large ships88). The solemn entry in Rome of L. Aemilius
Paulus by the Tiber in 167 b.C. after his victory over Perseus and the
annual voyage of the Roman young men on June 24 to the temple of Fors
Fortuna may be mentioned here as one of the many testimonies of
shipsailing on the Tiber. Only large merchant-vessels were forced in the
time of Augustus to tranship (a part of) their cargo in smaller boats
before the mouth of the Tiber.
And nowadays, when the bed of the Tiber has become about a metre
higher than in Antiquity, this navigation has still not entirely died out,
not even in the summer. And it may be remarked here, that in March,
the month in which the Trojans arrivé in Latium, the Tiber has the largest
quantity of water.
We do not explicitly hear how far the Trojans sailed up the Tiber; at
any rate, as at dawn they are at the mouth of the Tiber, and the navi­
gation, together with the landing, the meal and the offerings, occupy the
whole day, they cannot have landed at its very mouth.
They must have landed on the left bank, — as appears sufficiently from
the following events — and most likely in the last bend which the Tiber
made before entering the sea, some hundred yards farther to the North of
its present bend, a little to the south of the modern village of Ostia, or at
the Rocca, the castle of Ostia. Cf. D.H. III, 44, 4: èv dè rep /j.eta£v xov
TS Jioiafiov xal trjg {hiXaoarjq ayy.öivi jióhv ó ftaoü-evg £vif;i%ioas,

cum venti posuere omnisque repente resedit flatus.

This may be understood as a kind of prodigy.
For, as the Ancients also remarked 89), the morning-winds at the borders
of the Mediterranean always rise at dawn. Here however this not only does
not happen, but the winds, which had been blowing thusfar, abate.

sacral function. (In my opinion however several objections can be made against this
supposition.)
88) See also L. A. Stella, op. cit.
s') Cf. Amm. Mare. XVII, 4, 3, 14.
8S) Cf. Plin. III, 54; quantumlibet magnarum navium ex Italo mari capax, rerum in
toto orbe nascentium mercator placidissimus. See also Nissen, I, p. 37.
8Ö) Aristot. Meteor. 2, 5; Theophr. de vent. 15; Liv. XXIX, 27; cf. also Apoll. Rhod.
Arg. 1, 519; 4, 885; Apollod. 1, 2, 4; Nonn. XXVIII, 148.
 LATINUS.

The figure of Latinus, the eponym of the Latini, is much older than his
connection with the story of Aeneas. He is already found in Hesiod.
Theog. 1011 sqq.: Klgarj d', 'HeXiov {^vyatrjo ' YnsQtovldao, ysivat' Oövaarjog
xahaoLcpQovot; êv cpilózrju "Aygiov rjds Aazlvov djxvjxovd T E XQO.TSQÓV t e . . . .
Oi y rjroi /udla tfjke fxv%cö vrjocov iegdmv naaiv TvQOrjvóïaiv ayaxkeaoïaiv avaaaov,
where he is the son of Odysseus and Kirke *), and king of the Tyrrheni 2).
Whether this testimony is unquestionable or not, at any rate there are
also other notes from which it appears that Latinus existed independently
of the Aeneas-story, as son of Telemachus and Kirke, and (or) as
father of the Roman twins3). Also the traditions that Latinus founded
Rome, which he named af ter his sister Rhome (SA I, 273), and that
Rhomos was the son of Italos and of Leukaria, the daughter of Latinus
(DH I, 72, 2) — which traditions do not yet try to efface the chronological
inaccuracies — may be mentioned here.

Latinus originally not connected with Laurentum or Lavinium.

Neither in the older Greek4) nor in the older Roman5) literature is

*) Cf. also Ps. Skymn. 227; SA XII, 164; Solin. II, 9; Steph. Byz. s. v. nQdivtriToq,
Fest. p. 269; Hygin. fab. 127; Plut. Rom. 2, where he is the son of Telemachus and Circe.
2) This last item may be due to the fact that at that time the Etrurians ruled in
Latium. It is however a problem to me — in contrast with Schur — how a notice so
greatly diverging from the truth of those days could have been received in the Hesiodeic
poem. Hence I will leave a probability that these lines were not written by Hesiod
about 600 b.C. as is the opinion of Schömann, p. 284, Müllenhof, D. Alt.kunde, I, p. 54,
but date from a later period. Or Latinus may originally be an Etrurian name. (See
above on "Latio antiquo").
3) Hygin. fab. 127; DH I, 72; Euseb. Chron. I, 45, 3 p. 208; Sync. p. 363 Dind.
4) The name of Latinus is not found in our fragments of Timaeus. Yet he may have
mentioned him. But in that case too Timaeus does not say more than that (Latinus)
was the (last) king of the BoQtCyovoi.
Dionysius — who never connects Latinus with a definite town — only mentions (I, 73)
tx naXaiiav Xó)'tav 'tv LiQaïq diXroiq ataionivoiv that Latinus was king of the Aborigines;
according to Kallias (ap. DH I, 72) also he is king of this people, and according to the
above-mentioned tradition in Servius he has even founded Rome.
Cf. also Strab. V, 229: ( Aaxlvov) . . . . TÖV imv 'Alanr/ti'uu' paGtXia, T(Oï' oïxovvXOJV TÖV
xónov ZOVTOV, 0710V VVV PÓ)/IT1 fGTLV.
5) It need not appear from Cato (SA XI, 316: Troianos a Latino accepisse agrum,
qui est inter Laurentum et castra Troiana; SA IV, 620: iuxta Laurolavinium cum Aeneae
socii praedas agerent, proelium commissum, in quo Latinus occisus est) as Vahlen assumes,
that Latinus reigned in Laurentum or Lavinium.
Servius note IX, 745: primo proelio Latinus interemptus est in arce" is no strict proof
 70

there any definite testimony of this localization. Nor does the fact that
Lavinia is his daughter point to his original connection with Lavinium,
for, when he was first connected with Aeneas 6) he was not the father of
Lavinia whom Aeneas received as his wife, but on the contrary7) Latinus
is the son-in-law of Aeneas, whose daughter Rhome he married, and by
whom he was the father of the Roman twins. Even if the combination of
Latinus and Amata was already known to Fabius Pictor8) this need
not be a proof for Latinus' original connection with Lavinium 9). And even
if Lavinium was not only considered to be10), but actually was the metro­
polis of Latium11). Latinus cannot originally have been connected
with this town, if his figure was originally not conceived by the Latins,
but by the Greeks, as will be demonstrated below.
Moreover, as Schur remarks, the later apotheosis of Latinus and his
identification with Jupiter Latiaris does not point to an ancient
connection with Lavinium, but rather to Alba Longa*3). Yet for the
above-mentioned and other14) reasons it is also unnecessary to assume
for an old local tradition of Lavinium about Latinus either. For even if we were entitled
to conclude from this place that a tomb of Latinus was shown on the hill of
Lavinium, this only proves, as Schur RE s.v. remarks, that "selbst wenn es in Cato's
Tagen gezeigt worden ware, würde sich daraus nur soviel ergeben, dass ein altes Heroen-
grab, in der Art des Romulus-grabes vor der Curie, unter dem Einfluss der voll aus-
gebildeten Aeneas-sage auf den alten König Latinus bezogen worden ist". It may further
be remarked, that moreover the reading of Cod. Paris, in arce, which had been accepted
by Thilo, is replaced by Peter by "in acie", found in Cod. Roth.
From the words of Ennius (fr. 22 V): illi respondit rex Albai Longai it might appear
that Ennius localized him at Alba Longa. Of course this rex need not be Latinus, but
may also be one of the Alban kings. (However I see no reason to share the objection of
Aust, Roscher, s.v. p. 1906, that this king cannot be Latinus, because the latter and the
legends connected with him are closely bound up with Laurentum-Lavinium.
e) According to Schur in the beginning of the third century b.C.
7) According to Kallias (cf. Mommsen, Ges. Schr. IV, 3 sqq.).
8) SA XI, 603; for objections see Aust, col. 1912.
B) See below on 1. 50.
10) Varr. 1. 1. V, 144: oppidum, quod primum conditum in Latio stirpis Romanae,
Lavinium; nam ibi di Penates nostri; DH V, 31; compare also the annual offering of the
magistrates and priests there (Macrob. Sat. III, 4, 11; SA II, 296; III, 12; VIII, 664;
Schol. Veron. Aen. I, 239; Val. Max. I, 6, 7; Liv. I, 14, 2; V, 52; DH II, 52, 3;
Plut. Rom. 23).
u) And if its cult of Vesta and the Penates were the prototype of the similar cults
all over Latium; (about this see below).
12) For further remarks on this see below.
13) "Für einen Römer, der die timaeische Tradition seinen Landleuten mundgerecht
machen wollte, lag es zweifellos am nachsten den Latinerkönig in Alba zu lokalisieren".
14) A proof for an original connection of Latinus with Alba might be Fest. p. 194:
Latinus rex, qui proelio, quod ei fuit adversus Mezentium, Caeritum regem, nusquam
apparuerit, iudicatusque sit Jupiter Latiaris.
If he really was identical with Jupiter Latiaris. he may originally have belonged to
Alba Longa, because, as is well-known, Jupiter Latiaris was worshipped on the Mons
Albanus.
This identity of Latinus with Jupiter Latiaris is assumed e.g. by Klausen (p. 835):
 71

an original connection with Alba Longa, as we might assume from the

words of Schur.
So originally Latinus may only have been a king of the Aborigines
(see note 4) and in later traditions sometimes — as also in Vergil — king of
the Latini15). Afterwards, before being connected with a definite town,
he may have been localized in "a town" in general — cf. Liv. I, 5: Latinus
rex Aboriginesque, qui tum ea tenebant loca, ex urbe atque agris concurrunt;
the name of this city is not mentioned, only some lines before it is said,
that Aeneas had landed "ad agrum Laurentum" — because, as is suggested
by Wissowa16), a later time could not imagine a political community
without an urban centre.
The most obvious place for this town of Latinus which played an
important part in the history of Latium was its metropolis.
Both Alba Longa and Lavinium laid claim to being this metropolis,
as is well-known. It may be that Latinus was connected with Alba before
being connected with Lavinium, as is the opinion of Schur 17); yet this does

Latinus ist der menschgewordene Jupiter Latiaris, der mit Jovialkraft ausgestattete Fürst,
durch menschliches Loos gebunden, bis die Zeit kommt, da er verschwindet und dem
Aeneas, mit dem er eine Zeit lang gemeinschaftlich geherrscht hat, das irdische Reich
überlasst, indem er selbst auf dem Albaner Berge thront'. (Yet Klausen supposes that
Latinus was also connected with Laurentum, where according to him he occupied a
position parallel to that on the Mons Albanus; e.g. "der auf dem Albaner Berge verehrte
Gott (Jupiter Latiaris) herrscht als Mensch in Laurentum". "Der Nationalgott, welcher
selbst als laurentischer Nationalfürst auf Erden gelebt hat". "In Laurentum geht alles
von der Ruhe des Penetrals aus, in welchem Nationalfürst und Vestalinn miteinander
vermahlt wohnen, wie der latiarische Jupiter in Gemeinschaft mit Vesta thront".
It is questionable, however, what value must be attached to this notice of Festus.
According to Preller I, 95/6 Latinus was not more or less identical with the Jupiter
of the Mons Albanus, but the "Divus Pater Latiaris", ("das heisst der verklarte König,
Held und Vater seiner Nation, der göttliche Vater und Urheber des latinischen Namens.
Cf. also p. 328: Latinus fallt, worauf er zum Divus Pater Latiaris erhöht und auf dem
Burg von Lavinium als göttlicher Stamm- und Ahnherrn der Latiner verehrt wurde")
and worshipped in the region of Lavinium as a sort of Indiges.
Although this Jatter view of Preller does not hold good in my opinion (see below), his
former statement cannot altogether be neglected, for none of the older testimonies gives
evidence of the Jupiter-character of Latinus. As to the apotheosis of Latinus Aust col. 1913
considers it entirely formed after that of Aeneas, who was identified with the (Jupiter)
Indiges of the Numicus (Cf. Cato (SA IV, 620, IX, 745) who only mentions that Aeneas
non comparuit, whereas Latinus falls in the battle.) When the scholars wished to give
a similar honour to Latinus, the latter was identified with Jupiter Latiaris, on the analogy
of the Identification of Aeneas with Jupiter Indiges.
So there is no reason to connect Latinus with the Mons Albanus either.
18) In earlier traditions the name Latini only originates after the union of the
Aborigines and the Trojans. Cato (SA I, 6): primo Italiam tenuisse quosdam qui
Aborigines appellabantur; hos postea adventu Aeneae Phrygibusque iunctos Latinos uno
nomine nuncupatos, and many other testimonies; see Aust, s.v. col. 1911, 1. 47 sqq.
16) Hennes, L, p. 21 sqq.
1T) According to Schur Roman tradition, starting from the Timaean data of a
sacral-aetiological character, made Aeneas the founder of Lavinium. At the same time
 72

not seein necessary to me18). At any rate in later traditions he is only

connected with Laurentum-Lavinium.

Did Latinus originally have a sacral character?

This has been assumed, for various reasons, by several scholars.
According to Klausen (see n. 14) he was originally identical with Jupiter
Latiaris. For this view there are no sufficiënt supports however.
According to Schwegler 19), de Sanctis20) and Preller21) the primitive
Latin religion considered Latinus as father and eponym, whereas at
a somewhat later stage he became a king and legislator.
If we leave apart minor objections which may be made against the
views of these scholars22): these authors start from the supposition that
the figure of Latinus originally belonged to the Latin people.
But although it is true that every Roman gens had its eponym, a tribe

the annalists, to fill the gap between Aeneas and Romulus, introduced the figure of
Ascanius, who now was said to have founded Alba (DH I, 72, 5). Ascanius in this way
drove away Latinus from Alba, whereas now, by a comparatively recent literary
transfer, he was connected with Lavinium. The reasons for this are according to Schur,
that Aeneas was connected with Lavinium, that hence afterwards Latinus' daughter was
named Lavinia, and that Aeneas, his son-in-law, had resided in Lavinium as his successor.
18) Although according to Aust in our indigenous tradition Latinus is always
connected with Laurentum-Lavinium, yet he does not assume that this connection was
original, but he sees in this only a consequence of the belief, already existing at the
beginning of Roman literature, that Lavinium was the metropolis of Latium. Cf. also
Preller, II, p. 320.
19) P. 217: Nach römisch-latinischer Religionsvorstellung musste die latinische
Nation als Familie im Grossen in gleicher Weise ihren Lar oder Genius haben, wie im
Kleinen jede Familie, jede gens, etc. Als solcher Genius oder Lar der latinischen Nation
wurde zunachst — nichts lag naher — der Heros Eponymos derselben, Latinus, gedacht:
ahnlich wie man sich als Stammvater und folglich als Lar der amilischen gens einen
Aemilius gedacht haben wird.
2°) P. 172.
21) I. P- 95/6, who, starting from "the tomb on the hill" (see n. 5) and Fest. p. 194
(see n. 14) (cf. also Schol. Bob. Cic. pro Planc. 9, 23, p. 256: post obitum Latini regis
ac Aeneae, quod nusquam apparuerunt) supposes that Latinus was "vermutlich auch
ein Indiges, und dem Aeneas nahe verwandt, nur dass sein Heiligtum auf dem Burg
zu Lavinium, das des Aeneas an jenem Flusse gezeigt wurde'. He further points to the
fact, that the Sabine Semo Sancus was worshipped at Reate as the first king and
"verklarter Gott seines Volkes" (cf. August, c. d. XVIII, 19).
22) It may be objected against the view of Preller, that, if the reading "in acie"
SA IX, 745 (see n. 5) is the genuine one, there is no sufficiënt reason for his view.
Moreover this same author II, p. 321 says, that Aeneas was identified with the "am
Numicus verehrten pater Indiges (der Laurenter), welcher vermutlich früher den zum
König dieser Landschaft potenzierten Flussgott Numicius bedeutet hatte", who was
worshipped there, and with whom many legends were connected; but in my opinion
in that case there would have been two patres indigetes, representatives of one and the
same region, which is very improbable.
Finally the Semo Sancus of the Sabini is not named Sabinus, and hence is not a real
eponym, but Semo Sancus, like Janus, Saturnus, and Faunus among the Latins, may have
become an eponymous king after being a national deity.
 73

like the Latini need not as Schwegler supposes, necessarily have had such
an eponym. For the Latini — even if we limit ourselves to Latium
antiquum — were not a natural unit, but were composed of several small
units, that had arrived on Latin soil successively. Moreover we have no
other instances in Roman Italy of an eponym of a rather large tribe like
the Latini. And according to Eduard Meyer 2^) even in Greece the eponyms
of tribes, countries and towns were only a younger formation, and are not
yet found in the older layers of the epos. Finally we have no convincing
proof of an indigenous legend of Latinus in early times, before his con-
nection with the story of Aeneas.
Therefore I can better agree with Aust, who says, that Latinus does
not stand on a level with the deities Janus, Saturnus, Picus and Faunus,
who in later times were believed to be ancient kings. This already appears
from the fact that the latter retained divine names even after they had
been made kings, whereas the name of Latinus was changed into Jupiter
Latiaris. Latinus ist ebenso wenig der menschgewordene Jupiter Latiaris
oder Indiges wie Romulus der menschgewordene Quirinus!"
Moreover the older Greek notices about Latinus are free from any sacral
connotations nor is any tracé of his sacral nature found in older Latin
poetry. And for the Latins themselves their heros eponymus wat but a
colourless idea, which acquired more life only by its connection with the
legend of Aeneas.
Hence we may conclude that the figure of Latinus originally did not
°we its existence to Latin religion or mythology, but was an artificial
product of Greek and Roman mythologists and antiquarians. His figuring
in Hesiod therefore must not be ascribed to the fact that he was a figure
of importance in Latium, even if he were nothing more than a Latin
eponym. But, as Aust remarks, Latinus, like most eponyms of Italian towns,
owes his existence to the Greeks, probably to the Greeks of Cumae.
Through their intermediary he may have reached the Eastern Greeks,
whereby the acquaintance with the tribe, from whose name it had been
derived, is lost by the prevalence of the mythographic over the ethnographic
interest.
At any rate, by his connection with the story of Aeneas alone the figure
of Latinus acquired more importance24).

The connection of Latinus with Aeneas.

This connection cannot have been original (see above), and it is there­
fore unnecessary to assume, as Klausen does 25), that it had an original and
deeper meaning.
23) Gesch. d. Alt. III (1937), p. 289—291.
24) Cf. Aust, col. 1912: Naoh der Tradition haben wir kein Recht zu der Annahme,
dass Latinus als einheimischer Bundesheros von Aeneas in den Schatten gedrangt wurde;
im Gegenteil, der Glanz, der den Ahnherrns Roms umstrahlte, gab auch ihm eine hellere
Beleuchtung.
) Der Nationalgott Jupiter Latiaris tritt als Nationalfürst dem Aeneas gegenüber
 74

Whether he was first connected with Aeneas by the Greeks or by the

Romans we cannot decide. According to our oldest testimony as to this
connection, Kallias26), he was not the father of Lavinia, or in general of
the girl, whom Aeneas received as his wife, but on the contrary Latinus
is the son-in-law of Aeneas, whose daughter Rhome he married, and by
her was the father of the founders of Rome27).
Dionysius (I, 73) mentions êx naXaiwv kóycov èv leoaïg Öélxoig oco£o/zévcov
that Romulus and Remus, the grandchildren of Aeneas, were given as
hostages to Latinus, the king of the Aborigines, when a treaty was made
b e t w e e n t h e T r o j a n s a n d t h e m aanaQójievov 6 ' avxovg A a x l v o v xfj i ' aXXrj
deganeiq TCEQIETIELV ev, xai èxyóvov uggevog anaida xeXevxcövxd diadó^ovg
fièQovg xivög xfjg iavxov ó-Qxfjg xaxaXuiav.
Schur — in contrast with Cauer and Aust — opines that this remark is only
a younger fiction. At any rate Aeneas and Latinus appear combined in the
younger annalists. Cf. DH ibid.: AXXoi de Xêyovoiv Alveiov xE).tvxrjo<ivxog
Aoxaviov anaaav xtjv Aaxivcov d()%r]v JtaoaXafSóvxa veijuao'&ai JIQÖ? xovg
adsXxpovs 'Pco/uvXov xs xal Pmuov; etc.
Although it is not said here that Ascanius and the Roman twins are nót
the grandchildren of Latinus, we may assume this; for otherwise the authors
would have alluded to this.
From Cassius Hemina (frg. 7 P) it is only handed down to us that
Aeneas tribusque mox annis cum Latino regnat socia potestate quingentis
iugeribus ab eo acceptis, quo defuncto summam biennio adeptus".
Only from Cato — whose representation according to Schur forms a
conclusion to the older development of the legend — have we more
detailed and coherent data about their relation. Latinus gives a piece of
land, inter Laurentum et castra Troiana, to the Trojans, 2700 iugera
great28); he consents to the marriage of his daughter Lavinia with
Aeneas29). But as the Trojans pillage Latin territory the treaty is broken;
Latinus allies himself with Turnus. Both are slain. Aeneas becomes the
ruler of the combined Trojans and Latins, who now together have assumed
the name of Latini30).
Besides in Vergil we have only one other circumstantial account of the

und nimmt ihn teils freundlich, teils feindlieh auf". "Der durch Götterzeugung in die
Menschheit herabgezogene Nationalgott hat sich beim Auftreten des Aeneas in seine
Gottheit zurückgezogen, in dem er fortan von Himmel herab über seinem Berge und
Volke waltet."
2a) In the beginning of the third century b.C. Also Timaeus may have connected him
with Aeneas, as he mentions the Bofttfyovoi, whereas Latinus according to one version
is the son of a Hyperboraean woman.
27) Cf. also Fest. p. 269: Galitas*j* scribit, cum post obitum Aeneae imperium Italiae
pervenisset ad Latinum, Telemachi Circaeque filium, hisqueex Rhome suscepisset
filios, Romum, Romulumque, etc.
28) Frg. 8 P; SA XI, 316.
2t») SA VI, 760; frg 11 P.
30) SA I, 267-frg. 9 P; SA IV, 620-frg. 10 P; cf, SA VI, 760-frg. 11 P.
 75

relation of Latinus to Aeneas, scil. in Dionysius (I, 57—60, 64), who,

basing himself mainly on Varro and Castor sums up this story, as it had
developed through the medium of the Greek historians and mythographs,
and the Roman annalists and antiquarians of the last century of the Republic.

According to him Aeneas begins to build a city — hence not on the ground of a
treaty with Latinus; the latter, who at the time was waging war against the Rutuli —
which is not found in Cato either — dashes up at the news with a large army, to prevent
this foundation; — hence it is not the pillage of Latin territory which gives the reason
for the first conflict.
At the sight of the hostile troops he decides to postpone the attack till the following
morning. In the night Xtyn imOias xaib' VJIVOV tfai/i<ov di'XTIJFRAT roii; "Ek~
Jouets tfi xüqk owohcovs it will be a great benefit to him. Aeneas has also been warned
during the night by his paternal gods not to wage war, but to try to reach an agreement.
The following day they enter into negotiations and finally make a treaty under the
following conditions: the Aborigines cede to the Trojans the land of the new foundation,
the Trojans pledge themselves to assist the Aborigines against the Rutuli, who are subdued
by their help. Aeneas finishes building his town and accepts Lavinia as his wife. This
forms the reason for a new war of Turnus who combines with the Rutuli, against
Latinus and Aeneas. He is slain, but also Latinus perishes. Aeneas as Lavinia's husband
now suceeds his father-in-law.

The same data, but in a much more succinct way, and with not so many
deviations, a r e f o u n d i n Livy, } u s t i n u s 3 1 ) , D i o C a s s i u s a n d A p p i a n u s 3 2 ) .
So Vergil is the only one who, following Cato to a certain extent, makes
the Latins together with the Rutuli wage war against the Trojans.
AH the data about Latinus, which are not mentioned above, but
are found in the Aeneid, are therefore introduced by Vergil himself: The
development of the action, so that Latinus immediately on the arrival of
an embassy from Aeneas, who ask for a seat for his men and his deities,
not only grants this request, but moreover offers the hand of his daughter
to Aeneas; and many particulars about his circumstances, his actions and
his character, his ancestors, his palace (VII, 170 sqq.), his wealth
(VII, 274 sqq.), his consulting the oracle of Faunus, etc.
As concerns his character: Latinus, as Heinze, p. 280 marks, is almost
the ideal king. He is pious, sedate, just and generous; he is only wanting
in one royal quality: constancy. In Dionysius too he is not unreasonable and
not unkind towards the Trojans.

But moreover in Vergil he is an old man: iam senior. (Cf. also VII,

31) As in Dio Latinus makes a treaty with Aeneas only after a defeat, and Latinus
and Turnus fall in single combat, in Justinus Lavinium is founded only after the death
of Latinus.
32) As to the motifs used here: Schur remarks, that the treaty between Latinus and
Aeneas, by which the kingsbip of Aeneas becomes "gottgewollt", may partly go back
to Timaeus, whereas it is partly a symbol of the foedus aequum between the Latini
and Rome. The motif of the battle may partly have been introduced by a poet, e.g.
Naevius, and partly be a symbol of the struggle between Rome and the Latins about
the hegemony of Latium, in which Rome finally got the upper hand.
 76

597/8: omnisque in limine portus funere felici spolior, and XII, 611:
(Latinus) canitiem immundo perfusam pulvere turpans.)
In Dionysius we find no traces that Latinus is iam senior. He even goes
to war himself. Nor do we find any tracé in one of the older sources,
that Latinus is a senex. There may only be two specimina of plastic art
where Latinus is represented as such 33); both testimonies are very doubtful
however, and at any rate they cannot be dated before Vergil.
As Latinus had only one child, of about 14 years — as we shall see
below — Vergil cannot have been forced by his subject to represent
Latinus as iam senior. His reasons may have been:
1. artistic. Thus in the second half too of the Aeneid, and also on the
Latin side, there was a senex — as Anchises was in the first half and
on the Trojan side — to form by his ethos34) a counterpoise to the
younger people and their pathos, an oasis of rest and wisdom in the stir,
an equivalent to Priamus in the Iliad, and partly to Nestor as well3^).
It may be remarked here that the drama — or dramatic literature in
general — prefers to represent its figures as either young or old, and not
simply as men of middle age, still in the full possession of their powers.
2. composite. a. Vergil — in contrast with his predecessors — had
to give the representation that Latinus had twice changed his mind; once
to make a treaty with Aeneas and to offer him the hand of his daughter,
the second time to allow the war against him. Latinus, who was one of the
ancestors of the Romans, could only retain the sympathy of the readers,
if he did not break his word willingly, but was represented as a powerless
old man, who had to give in to superior forces (VII, 591 sqq.).
b. Moreover from a technical point of view it would have complicated
the story unnecessarily, if Latinus himself participated in the war against
Aeneas. For thus the two ancestors of the Latini would have been real
enemies; and on the side of the Latins there would have been two chiefs,
Latinus and Turnus, to draw the attention. The best solution was that
he was too old to share in the battle.
c. Finally only if Latinus was iam senior could Vergil say that he

longa in pace regebat.

As we have seen above in Dionysius at the time of Aeneas' arrival

Latinus was waging war against the Rutuli. Vergil's representation that at
that time Latinus reigned not only "in pace" but even "longa in pace"
may be owing to

33) An ara of the lares Augusti in the Belvedere (Mus. Chiar. 3 t. 19, and a cista
from Praeneste (Brunn, A. d. I, 36 (1864), p. 356 sqq.).
34) Cf. e.g. "placido pectore" VII, 194, and "sedato corde".
3o) Cf. Boissier, p. 358: Ia figure de Latinus paraït d'abord tout a fait dessinée sur
celle de Nestor. II aime comme lui les vieilles histoires, et les raconte volontiers". As to
the difference with Nestor Boissier remarks that "on sent a certains traits que c'est un
Latin. Son caractère a quelque chose de plus honnête, plus doux, plus pacifique.
 77

1. the consideration not to complicate the story unnecessarily;

2. the prevailing romantic tendency of the Hellenistic (-Roman) age
to consider ancient times as a period of unmolested bliss;
3. the craving for peace of his own time. The men of the beginning
of the Augustan age — even if they had not actually been to the wars —
had experienced all the terror of the civil wars, with their endless bloodshed,
murder, proscriptions and robbing of property, etc.; hence they abhorred
wars and considered a longa pax as the most valuable of benefits36);
4. this "longa pax" was also the ideal of Augustus; although he did
not avoid wars altogether 37), for various reasons38) he sought to promote
peace as much as possible39). And in this he succeeded to such an extent,
that there even arose the expression "pax Augusta"40). Cf. also the Ara
Pacis Augustae, raised to him in 9 b.C.41), on which altar moreover the

36) Cf. already VB I, 6: deus nobis haec otia fecit, and especially the fourtsh
Eclogue; and in the Bucolics the "impius miles" is often spoken of.
See further the Georgics, and especially G I, 490 sqq., about the battle of Philippi.
See further e.g. Hor. Ep. II, 251 sqq., Carm. IV, 14; Tib. I, 10; 45: pax arva colat.
37) Cf. Mon. Anc. I, 3: bella terra et mari civilia externaque toto in orbe terrarura
saepe gessi; and V, 25 sqq.
38) The reasons for Augustus' policy of peace were (see Wagenvoort, Augustus)
a) personal: Augustus was not a bom warrior, but rather a statesman and organizer; if
important wars had been waged, a general's influence could have increased at the
expense of Augustus himself; b) social-economic: the many wars, which had required
a long absence from home, had disorganised family-life, and brought with them a large
decline of births and moral depravity. Moreover in Augustan Rome there were
no social-economic motives in favour of war, as there was no need of industry for
raw materials from elsewhere, or for new markets for its products; nor was there a
surplus population.
New conquests therefore could only have been inspired by an absurd craving for
power, and could not have added to the glory of Rome.
Hence it is very obvious that Augustus was a champion for peace.
38) Cf. Mon. Anc. I, 3: externas gentes, quibus tuto ignosci potui, conservare quam
excidere malui; after the civil wars he had reduced the compass of the army
considerably; cf. also Mon. Anc. II, 13: Janum Quirinum, quem clausum esse maiores
nostri voluerunt, cum per totum imperium populi Romani terra marique esset parta
victoriis pax, cum prius quam nascerer a condita urbe bis omnino clausum fuisse
proditur memoriae, ter me principe senatus claudendum esse censuit; cf. OF I, 275 sqq.;
Hor. Ep. II, 1, 255; Carm. IV, 15, 8/9.
40) Cf. Ov. ex Pont. II, 5, 18: vix hac (sc. than Tomi) invenies totum mihi crede
per orbem, quae minus Augusta pace fruatur humus: and Veil. Pat. II, 126, 3: diffusa in
orientis occidentisque tractus et quicquid meridiano aut septentrione finitur, pax Augusta
per omnis terrarum orbes singulos a latrociniorum metu servat immunes. Also inscriptions
and coins (CIL VI, 199, 4335 (Narbo); XIV, 2898 (Praeneste): cf. also the Eirene
Sebaste on Greek coins, especially from Cos and Nicomedia) bear testimony to this
connection. Cf. Wagenvoort, Pax Augusta, Jaarboek Universiteit Utrecht, 1930/1; idem,
Augustus, p. 75 sqq.
41) The Senate had resolved to its erection in 13 b.C., after Augustus' safe return
from Hispain and Gallia (Mon. Anc. II, 12). Augustus himself had erected in 11 b.C.
a statue to Pax, at the same time as to Salus and Concordia (D.C. LIV, 35).
 78

well-known Tellusrelief 42) testifies very clearly to the beneficial tran-

quillity during his reign 43). This official cult paid to him as prince of peace
however, had begun much earlier already, about 36 b.C. 44), whereas in
a less official way as well45) manifold expression was given to this
gratitude because peace had finally materialized;
5. this longa pax" was in accordance with his own character and
constitution, which inclined to a quiet mode of life, without physical
exertion, and without harming anybody.
For the last three reasons at least Vergil may have said in 1. 41: dicam
horrida bella, and thus have shown that, although by his subject he was
forced to speak of wars for more than one reason 46), he made mention
of them with reluctance only, an attitude which differs greatly from
Homer's47). Compare further the Bucolics (already I, 6: deus nobis haec
otia fecit) and the Georgics.

12) In the Uffizi in Florence (Gardthausen, II, p. 265, n. 41)

«) Augustus (Suet. Aug. 25) was in the habit of calling his soldiers not "commilitones''
as was the rule, but "milites", as the latter denomination was more in harmony with
the tranquillity of the times.
Pax was even represented on coins of Augustus' veterans (Gardthausen II, p. 265, n 42)
and one colony of them in Spain assumed the name of Pax Julia (ibid. p. 266, 'n. 44).
Pax and Eirene became the names of slaves and Iiberti, not only of the imperia'l family
but also of other distinguished families (CIL VI, 5911). Compare finally the tale, that
after the vxctory of Actium bees made their nests in the trophees, as a token of peace
(see below, p. 141).
4l) App. B.C. V, 130. It may be remarked that the oldest testimonies of the goddess
a*°n™an coins date Precisely from this period (see Toutain, DarSagl. s.v. Pax).
) Cf. beside the well-known instances from Horace and e.g. OF I, 70 the altar
of Narbo and inscriptions from Minor Asiatic towns, honouring Augustus as' prince of
r^' rSvv^;. 5 ' L3l S<ïq" fr°m Priene: NeWt0n' Haücarnass and Cnidos, II, 2,
p. 695, pl. LXXXVII, from Halicarnassos).
46) According to tradition Aeneas had waged war in Latium, and Vergil himself
wanted to give a sort of counterpart to the Iliad of Homer; moreover (Heinze, p. 193)
Aeneas was to be given the opportunity for heroic exploits, i.a. to be rehabilitated, because
he had been vanquished in Troy; finally the history of Rome was full of battles and wars,
nence its prehistory too was to contain these.
>w\AJthOU9h 1)16 latter describes a)1 the horrors of the war, we have the impression
that this was not involuntary, but that he himself, as well as his readers, had a vivid
interest and took a great delight in these battles and their details.
 LAVINIA.

50 Filius huic fato divum prolesque virilis

nulla fuit primaque oriens erepta iuventa est;
sola domum et tantas servabat filia sedes
iam matura viro, iam plenis nubilis annis.

A. The origin of the figure of Lavinia.

Lavinia is often mentioned in literature 1) as the daughter of Latinus,
whom Turnus wished to obtain for his wife, as the wife of Aeneas, after
whom the latter named Lavinium, as the mother of Silvius or Ascanius, as
woll as in connecties with the hostilities she suffered from her stepson
Ascanius, and in a few traditions of later construction 2).
The first author where we meet her, is Cato (SA VI, 760: Aeneas, ut
Cato dicit, simulac venit in Italiam, Laviniam accepit uxorem). The older
traditions of the legend of Aeneas — which are of Greek origin — connect
Aeneas directly with Rome (e.g. SA I, 273: Clinias refert Telemachi filiam,
Romen nomine, Aeneae nuptam fuisse, ex cuius vocabulo Romam appel-
latam) 3); or, they connect Latinus with Rome — without sometimes
connecting him with Aeneas — but give him another daughter than
Lavinia4), or no daughter5) at all 6).
And perhaps she did not yet figure in the version of Timaeus, as Schur,
RE s.v. Lavinia remarks. For although Timaeus knows of Aeneas'

!) Besides by Vergil also Liv. I, 1; 2; 3: SA I, 2, 259, 270; VI, 760; VII, 51, 484:
OM XV, 570: DH I, 59; 60; 70 (by whom she is called Actvva); Strab. V, 229; Dio ap.
Zon. VII, 1; Aelian. nat. anim. XI, 16; Tzetz. ad Lycophr. Alex. 1237; Steph. Byz. s.v.
Aafriviov.
2) According to Plut. Rom. 2 Aeneas and Lavinia had only a daughter, Aemilia, who
was the mother of the Roman twins; Fest. p. 266. s.v. Romam: Apollodorus in Euxenide
ait Aenea et Lavinia natos Mayllem, Mulium Romumque, atque ab Romo urbi tractum
nomen; cf. Suidas s.v. AnoXXótfatQos; in DH I. 59 Lavinia (Aavva) is the daughter of
the Delian priest-king Anios. See Schur s.v. Lavinia, who gives the way in which these
corrections originated. (For the rest the name Aavva is also mentioned as that of the
daughter of Euander, the mistress of Hercules and the mother of Pallas (DH I, 32; 42);
but see Altheim, Röm. Rel. Gesch. II, p. 80).
3) Heraclides ait Romen, nobilem captivam Troianam, huc appulisse, et taedio maris
suasisse sedem, ex cuius nomine urbem vocatam.
4) DH I, 72, 2 Latinus' daughter is Leukaria, who becomes the wife of Italos, and
the mother of Rhomos.
B) SA I, 273: * * * dicit Latinum ... de nomine sororis suae mortuae Romam civitatem
appellasse...
8) Cf. also Hygin. fab. 127; Euseb. Chron. I, 45, 3, p. 208; Synkell. p. 363 Dind.
 80

connection with Lavinium ?) this probably chiefly concerns his connection

with the cult of the Lavinian Penates (or rather Timaeus may have
identified the Penates of Lavinium with the images of the Trojan deities
that Aeneas brought with him), and with the prodigy of the sus alba;
and Aeneas in Timaeus does not found Lavinium, but the thirty towns of
the Latini 8). Hence, as Schur remarks, wird Timaios schwerlich die
Gestalt der Lavinia bereits erfunden haben, da er das Gründerverhaltnis
des Aeneas zu Lavinium, das darin seinen Ausdruck findet, noch nicht
kennt".
In my opinion, however, it is not strictly necessary, that the figure of
Lavinia came into being only as the expression of the fact that Aeneas
had founded Lavinium. She might have existed as the eponym of Lavinium,
or as the girl of Lavinium", before this town was supposed to have been
founded by Aeneas, or at least independently of this fact.

This may be the opinion of Klausen, who p. 775 sqq. says: "Wie die römischen
Zwillinge von der Vestalinn und dem Mars, so wird Lavinia von Amata und Latinus
erzeugt. Amata ist in ihrem Namen das Prototyp der Vestalinn, Latinus ist der ver-
menschlichte Jupiter Latiaris. Da die Vestalinnen das Fascinum des Herdes zu hüten haben,
wird in der laviniensischen Sage der Glaube ausgesprochen, dass die Heroine der
latinischen Bundesstadt durch Belebung des Bundesherdes mit der vom Nationalgott
ausgehenden jovialischen Kraft erzeugt ist".

But we have seen, that in the oldest traditions it was not Lavinia who
was the daughter of Latinus, but e.g. Rhome. And, as we have seen above,
Latinus was not connected with Lavinium originally — not to speak of
Klausen s identification of Latinus with Jupiter Latiaris etc.
However the figure of Lavinia might have existed at Lavinium before
she was connected with Latinus. In this case she might have been the
eponym, after which the city was supposed to be named — or a sacral
figure— (or) the girl of Lavinium kat'exochen (cf. Chryseis, the (a) girl from
Chryse, Briseis, the (a) girl from Brise, Danae, the (a) girl of the Danai).
In this case it would be obvious, that after Aeneas was connected with
Lavinium, she became Aeneas' wife.
But in none of the traditions, that mention Lavinia, has she any traits
of character, that point to an ancient closer connection with Lavinium.
Finally, the (feminine) eponym of a town is always of Greek rather
than of Latin origin (cf. Thebe, Aegina, Kyrene, Mykene; Rhome 9).
So we may conclude indeed, that the figure of Lavinia did not originate
tiH Aeneas had been connected with Lavinium, and he, soon after this

7) DH I, 67; cf. Lycophr. Alex. 1261 sqq.

8) Cf. Lyc. Alex. 1253 sqq.
) For the rest these eponyms of a town or a people are only an artificial product in
Greece as well which explains their usually colourless existence — and are not yet
found in the older strata of the epos; but they originated in the time of the supremacy of
the nobility, and are especially found in the Hesiodeic works. (See Meyer, Gesch d
Alt. II, first ed„ p. 315, § 207.)
 81

connection, was supposed to have founded this town. For he had to have
a town of his own, as the indigenous legend, which knew of Romulus
and Remus, the sons of the Vestale, did not allow him to be brought in
direct connection with Rome. The most obvious town for him was Lavinium,
with which he was already connected in a sacral way. Aeneas' connection
with the Lavinian Penates might easily lead to the view, that he had
founded Lavinium.
If he had founded it, it followed that he had given it its name. On the
analogy of the existing version of Clinias, according to which he had named
Rome after his wife Rhome, he now may have been said to have named
Lavinium after his wife Lavinia.
Merely as a consequence of this she may have become the daughter
of Latinus, who may already have been connected with Aeneas in Italy
in some way or other10) without any thought of the union of a daughter
of his with Aeneas.
Thus far there was no necessity that Aeneas should win Lavinia only
after a long struggle (cf. Cato l.c.: Aeneas, simulac venit in Italiam,
Laviniam accepit uxorem); and the war between the Trojans, and Latinus
and Turnus, must not necessarily be about Lavinia. Nor is this found in
Varro "), nor in Livy, although in the latter two authors Aeneas' ultimate
possession of Lavinia is only secured by the resulting war; this may be a
later development of the original motif however 12).
The motif, that the struggle between Aeneas and the Latini and Turnus
is really a struggle about Lavinia (cf. XI, 480: (Lavinia) causa mali tanti),
a struggle about the bride — by which the story of Aeneas was put on a
level with the Iliad and other (Greek) epopees — was introduced according
to Schur 13) in the first place for artistic reasons. For thus 14) "wurde
das dürre Gerippe einer rein geographischen Tradition, das Timaeus mit
einigen genealogischen und aetiologischen Lumpen mühsam verhüllt hatte,
in ein Stück Menschenleben voll Saft und Kraft umgesetzt. Der über-
kommenen Ueberlieferung ist eine lebendige Seele eingehaucht durch
die Einführung des poetischen Motives des Kampfes um die Braut." Etc.
In the second place this struggle for the hand of the Latin heiress
between Aeneas, the future ancestor of Rome, and Latinus (and
Turnus), the representative(s) of the Latini, which ultimately ended with

10) Soon after the beginning of the third century b.C. Kallias — as has been
demonstrated by Mommsen, Ges. Schr. IV, 3 sqq. — made Latinus the husband of Rhome,
the daughter of Aeneas. And according to Schur Timaeus may also have connected
Latinus and Aeneas. See also Aust, Roscher s.v. Latinus, col. 1905.
11) See below on Turnus.
12) For a similar tradition compare the tale, that Diomedes, having come to Italy,
immediately supported the Apulian king Daunus against the Messapians, and as a reward
received a part of his reign and the hand of his daughter (OM XIV, 457 sqq.; 510 sqq.;
OF IV, 76; Plin. III, 103; Antonin. Lib. 37).
13) RE s.v. Latinus.
") Ibid. col. 932.
 82

Aeneas' victory, was a suitable symbol of the long struggle which Rome
had conducted for the hegemony of Latium; and especially a symbol of the
resistance of the competing larger cities of Latium against this hegemony.
"So ist hier das neu eingeführte Motiv des Kampfes um die Braut zum
Symbol für eine grosse geschichtliche Entwicklung ausgestaltet" 15).
According to Schur this motif was introduced by Naevius16); at any
rate we are not able to say, what author was responsible for this version,
if it was not Naevius.

B. Lavinia s! name.
Lavinia's father is named Latinus, his daughter Lavinia. This is
not according to the Roman custom of historical times, when 17)
the name of the daughter consisted of the nomen gentile of her father,
and a praenomen. Although officially the choice of this praenomen
was not restricted, as was the case with the masculine praenomina, yet in
practice there was not much variety in the praenomina of women either.
Usually they were ordinal numbers, as Prima, Secunda, Tertia, etc., or
the feminine forms of masculine praenomina 18).
The custom of giving the girl one name, which might be entirely different
from her father's name, is Greek. And accordingly it is sometimes found
in the oldest legendary history of Rome as well, cf. e.g. Amata Rhome,
Ilia 19).
But Vergil does not mention her here by name.
This, as Heinze p. 375 remarks, may be partly in imitation of Homer.
For Homer considers the circumstances, under which the action begins, as

1B) Schur RE s.v. Lavinia.

16) Schur concludes, that this motif was introduced by Naevius, from the facts, that
a) such an epic motif would have been introduced by a poet, capable of an original, great
idea, and with a strong dramatic talent — as neither Cato nor anyone of the annalists
had — and who b) wrote as a Roman for the Romans. In Naevius' Bellum Punicum,
preceded by the exposition of the legend of Aeneas, a new form of this legend, in which
it was made clear, how the hegemony of Rome in Latium, the basis of its position as a
great power, had originated, was very apposite.
This seems not improbable to me, as Naevius (see Schanz, I, 1, p. 61 sqq.) was an
original and independent spirit, who may also have introduced Aeneas' stay with Dido.
It must be remarked however, that in Cato, who wrote his Origines later than Naevius
wrote his Bellum Punicum, it is not the bride who is the motive for Aeneas' struggle
against Latinus and Turnus, but the "invasi agri". It may be however that Cato rejected
Naevius' motive of the bride as un-Roman and unworthy to figure in the oldest history
of Rome.
17) Marquardt, Priv. Leb. p. 16/18.
18) Cf. auctor de praenom. 7: antiquarum mulierum frequenti in usu praenomina
fuerunt Rutila, Caesellia, Rodacilla, Murrula, Burra, a colore ducta. Illa praenomina a
viris tracta sunt: Gaia, Publia, Numeria.
19) As to the use of the praenomina of women, it must be remarked that in the later
times of the Republic the praenomina of women became more and more scarce, and the
gentile alone was used; but in the last decades of the Republic women used their
praenomen again.
 83

well as the persons acting, as well known. E.g. in the opening lines of the
Odyssey he speaks about Odysseus, but does not mention his name, till
— apparently in a casual way — in 1.21. So he does also with figures of
minor interest, as Arete, and Eumaios.
We find the same in Vergil. Not only as concerns Aeneas20), but also
in the case of Amata, Juturna, the Sibyll, and Lavinia. They are mentioned
by name only where they play an active part. "Es ist, als hatte der Hörer
erst dann, wenn ihm eine Person leibhaftig gegenübertritt, ein Interesse
daran, ihren Namen zu erfahren"21). And partly this was according to
Vergil s own artistic intentions, which aimed at a simplification in the
composition, a restriction of all that was not strictly necessary, to enhance
the loftiness of the epos, to retain the broad outline22).
C. Lavinia's personality in Vergil.
Moreover Vergil wanted to represent Lavinia not so much as an
individual with a personal life, but as the filia familias of ancient Rome,
the daughter of the house, who has no will of her own, nor acts
independently, but Iets her parents command her. AsHeinze p.460remarks
Lavinia must interest the reader not as an individual, but only as Latinus'
daughter, with whose hand the kingdom is given away.
Indeed Lavinia is represented by Vergil as entirely passive, as a weak
and shadowy character, whose attitude in the poem, as Dorothy Clinton
Woodworth 23) remarks, is the filial one. In VII, 71 she appears "as the
dutiful daughter, piously helping to carry out the family's religious ritual.
She does nothing, says nothing, she is the passive recipient of the
portent". Nor does she say anything on any other occasion or has she
a will of her own 24).
As a striking contrast with this we might compare the figure of Nausikaa
in the Odyssey (in bonam partem) and Medea in the Argonautica (in
malam partem).
Therefore Vergil must have had not only artistic, but also historical
motives for this treatment of Lavinia, scil. the position of the girl in ancient
Rome. She was literally "in patria potestate" and had no freedom of
20) Cf. I, 30, 38, 67, 92.
) For the rest this holds good not only with regard to their names, but ailso to
other particulars about their persons.
22) More about this see Heinze, p. 459/60.
23) Lavinia: An interpretatipn. Transactions and proceedings of the American
philological association, 61 (1930), p. 175—194.
24) Latinus offers her hand to Aeneas (VII, 268 sqq.) and considers this a second
time (XI, 213 sqq.) without asking her; she is hidden in the woods by her mother
(VII, 387 sqq.) no doubt in the same way; XI, 231 sqq. she, causa mali tanti, oculos
deiecta decoros, accompanies her mother and the other matronae to the temple of Pallas
to implore her assistance against the Trojans. Yet she may not have been really in love
with Turnus either. For the last time she appears XII, 604 — therefore before the
combat between Aeneas and Turnus, ending with the latter's exclamation: tua est Lavinia
coniunx — as filia by the dead body of her mother.
 84

choice, although for marriage — which for the rest was already confined
by several restrictions — her consent was necessary 25); and the parents
of both parties often arranged the betrothal when their children were still
infants; moreover a girl could be married when she was twelve years old.
So we can understand the ritual custom, that the Roman bride laid aside
her dolls on the evening of her wedding-day 26 )t ancj that on this day
she clung to her mother, and was torn violently from her arms by the
bridegroom 27).
Therefore Lavinia was the ideal type of the Roman girl, and would be
represented thus to Vergil's readers of the Augustan time, when morality
and submissiveness to the paternal will left much to be desired among
the girls (cf. Augustus' own daughter Julia) 28), So we may consider this
representation of Lavinia in the same light as and in connection with the
various laws of Augustus concerning morality and marriage 29).
Moreover there were reasons caused by the political situation of Vergil's
own time, and especially by Augustus' own actions, for this treatment of
Lavinia. For, as D. Cl. Woodworth remarks, the marriage of Lavinia and
Aeneas is entirely a political one. Lavinia and Aeneas had not seen each
other before; hence Aeneas could not be in love with Lavinia either. Most
likely Vergil did not mean that Aeneas' aspiring to Lavinia's hand was
another instance of the Hellenstic romantic love, but that it had a merely
political object.
These political marriages, with no personal desire on the part of either
of the participants, were usual in the last decades of the Republic from
Sulla onwards, and the first of the Empire, in general30), and in Augustus'
family in particular. Cf. the marriages for politica] reasons of Caesar's
daughter Julia to Pompeius, of Augustus' sister Octavia to Marcus
Antonius, of Augustus' daughter Julia to Marcellus, Agrippa and Tiberius
successively.
Such marriages were even regarded as the ideal arrangement, in
accordance with the fundamental Roman ethical conceptions of the State,
as the chief object of piety.
D. Cl. Woodworth supposes moreover that Augustus wanted people
to believe that in choosing Livia for his wife he had been guided by the
same principles, and not by personal passion or infatuation. For Livia
represented the very best and oldest of the old Roman aristocratie families.
Octavianus on the other hand was something of a parvenu.
She suggests therefore, that Vergil, by making Lavinia, who was

25) But originally she even had to marry in her own qens, but not a person related
to her down to the sixth degree.
2e) Pers. II, 70; Porphyr. ad Hor. Sat. I, 50.
27) Marquardt, Priv. Leb. p. 42 and note 5.
28) Cf. Marquardt, op. cit. p. 64 sqq.; Friedlander, p. 452 sqq.
29) Cf. Marquardt, op. cit. p. 73 sqq.
30) Cf. F. H. Potter, Political alliances by marriage, Am. Journ. XXIX, 9.
 85

intended for Turnus to some extent, be given to the new-comer Aeneas,

may allude to Augustus' marriage with Livia, and seek to justify the fact,
that Augustus had taken another man's wife. In other words, by letting
Lavinia — who was already (going to be) betrothed to Turnus — being
marked out for Aeneas by Destiny (cf. VII, 96 sqq.) the view may
have been favoured that Livia, who was already married to Tiberius
Claudius Nero, was destined to become the wife of Augustus 31).
For, like Lavinia s spouse, so also Livia's former husband had been
selected for her as a man of the same social status, and in fact of a related
family, by her father, under different political conditions. Now the sudden
rise to power of Octavianus — no less startling a political upheaval than
was the landing of Aeneas in Latium — made a marriage with him more
desirable. For the old aristocracy could not but profit by a union with
Octavianus. And Octavianus therefore, led by a lofty and worthy dynastie
purpose, was entirely justified in taking Livia for his wife.
Also from the name Lavinia we may draw an argument that Lavinia
here may prefigure Livia to a certain extent (so also Drew, p. 84).

DETAILS.
Filius huic fato divum prolesgue virilis
nulla fuit, primaque oriens erepta iuventa est.
By these words it is said, that Latinus had no sons, or no longer
had sons. Cf. Servius who remarks (SA VII, 51): "primaque oriens
erepta iuventa est" per transitum tangit historiam. Amata enim duo
filios, voluntate patris Aeneae spondentes Laviniam sororem, factione
interemit, unde erepta dixit, quasi per vim. hos alii caecatos a matre
dicunt, postquam amisso Xurno Lavinia Aeneae iuncta est."
This tradition of Servius we do not find in any other source, although,
as we see from his words it cannot be an invention of his, but must have
existed before him. The sources, to which he goes back here, may have
invented these details however to explain this passage of Vergil.
It seems improbable to me, that these sons of Latinus existed in the
older versions of the story of Lavinia. For beside Turnus they had no
raison d être at all. Hence these words may have been added by Vergil
on his own account.
Vergil may have added the words "primaque oriens erepta iuventa est"
because a daughter being left, after the sons had died, is a well-known
motif 32).
These potential sons may also have been added because of reasons, to be

31) Cf. also Ov. ex Pont. III, 1, 114—118; Trist. II, 161—164: Livia, quae, nisi te,
nullo coniuge digna fuit; quia si non esset caelebs te vita deceret, etc.
32) E.g. according to a tradition, found in a Hellenistic novelette (in Diodorus of
Elaia and Phylarchos, fr. 33 (Parth. 15; cf. Paus. VIII, 20, 2 sqq.) Oinomaos, the father
of Hippodameia, had had a son, Leukippos, who had met with a tragic death at an
early age.
 86

found in Roman history. Aeneas, the foreigner, becomes Latinus' successor.

And we know, that according to some traditions — which are however
not very reliable — Romulus had a son 33). Numa even four sons 34),
Ancus Martius two sons 35), Tarquinius Priscus two sons or grandsons 36);
yet they were succeeded not by them, but by a foreigner.
At any rate when tradition gave to Latinus as his successor not his son,
but his son-in-law, who moreover was a foreigner, it used a motif, often
found in the history of the time of the Roman kings. E.g. in the case of
Numa, who succeeded Titus Tatius, his father-in-law 37), Servius Tullius,
who succeeded his father-in-law Tarquinius Priscus38), and Tarquinius
Superbus, who succeeded his father-in-law Servius Tullius39). Moreover
all of them were said to be foreigners 40).
However in my opinion we cannot go further, and, following a
suggestion of Frazer, GB II, cap. XVIII, assume, that the fact that
Aeneas, the foreigner, becomes the successor of Latinus, his father-in-law,
is another proof for exogamy and matriarchy among the ancient kings
of Rome.
For according to him the kingship in Rome as well as in many other
countries was transmitted in the female line, and was held by foreigners,
who married the royal princesses:
"The political (p. 271) and religious centre of each community would be the perpetual
fire on the king's hearth, tended by the Vestal Virgins of the royal clan. The king would
be a man of another clan, perhaps of another town, or even of another race, who had
married the daughter of his predecessor, and received the kingdom with her. The children
whom he had by her would inherit their mother's name, not his; the daughters woüld
remain at home; the sons, when they grew up, would go away into the world, marry,
and settle in their wive's country, whether as kings or commoners. Of the daughters who
stayed at home some or all would be dedicated as Vestal virgins for a longer or shorter
time to the service of the fire on the hearth, and one of them would in time become the
consort of her father's successor"41).

Indeed this supposition seems attractive at first sight. For also Lavinia
is represented by Vergil — as we shall see presently on 1. 71 sq. —

33) Plut. Rom. 14.

34) Plut. Num. 21.
35) Liv. I, 35; 40; DH III, 72 sqq.; IV, 34, 3.
36) Liv. I, 46; DH IV, 6 sqq.
37) Plut. Num. 3 and 21.
38) Liv. I, 39, 4.
39) Liv. I, 42, 1; 46, 1.
40) Numa was a Sabine from Cures (Liv. I, 18; Plut. Num. 3; DH II, 58); Servius
Tullius according to the ordinary version the son of a bondwoman of Corniculum (Liv. I,
39, 5; DH IV, 1), according to another version an Etrurian; Tarquiniius Superbus the son
of Tarquinius Priscus, who was an Etrurian from Tarquinii (Liv. I, 34; Cic. de Rep. II,
19 sqq.; 34 sqq.).
41) More about this, especially about traces of matriarchy among the Aryans, and
about the retention of the female descent of the kingship in the royal family — who may
be of an other origin than the common people — see Frazer.
 87

as the king's daughter, acting as a Vestal. And Vergil's off-hand remark:

filius huic etc. might be fully clear, if he wanted to express, that it was
of no importance at all whether Latinus had sons or not, — except in so far
as they could have supported their father — because at any rate he had
to leave his kingdom to his daughter and her husband42).
Moreover the person who was esteemed worthy to marry the princess
royal had to come up to certain requirements, naturally varying according
to the country and the circumstances. He had to be the best in all respects
or in a certain respect43), of ten of course the respect which was most
valued by the people or by the king himself. Hence Latinus, who himself
was very "pius" may have wanted to have a son-in-law, who was pre-
eminently "pius" as well.
Or the future husband of the king's daughter had to be the victor in a
game, a contest, or even a life and death struggle 44). According to Frazer
the violent end of Titus Tatius, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Martius,
Tarquinius Priscus and Servius Tullius makes it probable, that the test,
by which the succession was established in Rome, was often such a life
and death struggle. Hence the struggle of Aeneas against Latinus might
be conceived as such a trial.
Hence Vergil — and to a certain degree his predecessors as well —
in giving the story of Lavinia this form, not only might have used the
same motives as in the story of Titus Tatius, Tullus Hostilius, etc., but
also might have reflected the customs of the royal period in Rome, when
the pre-Indo-European matriarchy prevailed in the royal house.
But it seems very doubtful to me, whether the matriarchy ever existed
in the royal family in Rome. See Excurs.
Therefore in my opinion we cannot go beyond saying, that Vergil in
giving this form to the story of Aeneas, Latinus and Lavinia — which story
existed before his time, and was an artificial product — availed himself
of motifs of Greek45) and Roman legendary history. Whether he was

42) Iï the theory of the matriarchy holds good, the tradition that the son(s) of the
king had met an early fate — as was e.g. said in the case of the sons of Ancus Martius
as well — naturally tried only to give an explanation of the fact, that these sons had
disappeared from the stage as concerns the succession — which was astonishing for a
later iperiod.
43) As physical strength, beauty, size, dexterity, agility, etc., see Frazer, 1. cit.
44) Many instances in Frazer.
45) Also in Greece there were many traditions about kings who were foreigners, had
married the daughter of their predecessor, and had succeeded their father-in-law. (Frazer
II, p. 278 sqq.); Kekrops and Amphiktyon (Paus. I, 2, 6); Telamon, the son of Aeacus
of Aegina, who migrated to the island of Salamis (Diod. Sic. IV, 72, 7); Telamon's son
Teucer, who in his turn migrated to Cyprus (Tzetz. Schol. Lycophr. 450; cf. Paus. II,
29, 4); Aeacus' son Peleus, who went to Phthia in Thessaily (Apollod. III, 13, 8; Hygin.
Fab. 96); Tydeus, a son of Oeneus, the king of Calydon in Aetolia, who went to Argos
(Apollod, I, 8, 5); Diomedes (see above); Pelops, the son of Tantajus of Sipylos, who
went to Pisa (Diod. IV, 73; Hygin. Fab. 82—84; SG III, 7); Menelaos, the son of
Atreus of Mycene, who went to Sparta, where he married Helena (Apollod. III, 10, 8);
 88

conscious of their original meaning — if they had any — we must

consider as highly doubtful.
sola domum et tantas servabat filia sedes.
In these words it is expressly said that Latinus not only has no sons,
but even has only one daughter.
He has this circumstance in common with many of the other heroes of the
Aeneid, for also Aeneas, and figures of minor importance as Mezentius,
Euander (who VIII, 580 addresses Pallas as "mea sola et sera voluptas),
and the mother of Euryalus, have only one child.
This is in contrast with what is generally found in Homer — where
as is well-known Priamus, Aiolos, the king of the Phaeakes, etc. etc., have
many children — only Odysseus is an exception to the rule. Also Aeetes
in the Argonautica e.g. has more children. It is also in contrast with the
tradition of ancient Rome, where the number of children was originally
large, and Cornelia for instance had borne a family of twelve46). And it
especially forms a striking contrast with the measures of Augustus
himself, who — as at the end of the Republic the number of children,
especially in the cultured circles, had very much decreased47) — to
preserve the strength of the Italian people with all means sought to
stimulate the birth-rate 48).
Therefore it seems somewhat remarkable that Latinus as well as the
other heroes of the Aeneis had only one child.
The reasons for this may be:
a) artistic. In some of these cases — as in that of Latinus — more
children than the one in question would unnecessarily divide the attention
and spoil the general effect; in others — as in that of Mezentius, Euander,
and the mother of Euryalus — the artistic motif of the parent's grief over
the loss of his beloved child — by which life itself becomes worthless to
him — might have the greatest effect if this was the only child, often
born even when its parents were already advanced in years;
b) historical. Rhea Silvia too was her parents' only child, nor do
we hear of Romulus for instance that he had many children;

cf. a similar story about Agamemnon reigning in Sparta, the country of his wife
Clytaemnestra (Schol, on Eurip. Orest. 41; Pind. Pyth. XI, 31 sq.; Paus. III, 19, 6).
4«) Plin. VII, 57.
47) Already in the Ciceronian age large families were rare, where children numbered
more than two or three; cf. Catull. 68, 124; Prop. II, 7, 14; and the many fortune-hunters
(cf. Hor. Sat. II, 5).
48) On his initiative the leges Juliae de maritandis ordinibus of 18 b.C. and the lex
Papia Poppaea of 9 b.C. were enacted, which removed unnecessary restrictions on
marriage, by the use of the law of inheritance favoured parenthood, and encouraged the
upper classes to have children by the offer of privileges in public life to the fathers of
large families (cf. DC LUI, 13, 2; Suet. Aug. 34, 1; Geil. II, 15, 4). And Augustus
recited in the Senate the speech of Metellus Macedonicus de prole augenda (Suet.
Aug. 89, 2).
4B) Cf. also the ius trium liberorum to her in 9 b.C. (DC LIV, 2, 5).
 89

c) the fact that Augustus himself had but one child, and that Livia had
but two49) — which even seems to have been one of the reasons why
the lex Julia a quarter of a century later was mitigated by the lex Papia
Poppaeae. Therefore Augustus with his only child Julia may be prefigured
by king Latinus with his only child Lavinia, which may also be indicated
by the words tantas sedes. And so this somewhat striking circumstance in
the family of the Princeps, the champion of the old-Roman vitality, may
have acquired a certain legitimation by the occurrence of the same state
of affairs in the royal house of Latinus.
iam matura viro, iam plenis nubilis annis.
Vergil, as also Servius remarks: "non iteratum, sed secundum ius dictum,
in quo et ex annorum ratione et ex habitu corporis aetas comprobatur
primum ergo ad habitum, secundum ad annos pertinet" — is not using a
pleonasm here. But, entirely in accordance with the views of Roman law
he enumerates the two things required for a Roman marriage, viz.: to be
physically mature, and to have reached a certain age.
This age was fixed by the Roman jurists for the girl at twelve years 50)
although sometimes they may have married even at ten or eleven years 51).
Usually they probably married between thirteen and sixteen years 52) and
the average age for a girl to marry was about fourteen years 53). This was
probably so in Italy as well as in the provinces 54), in Greece and
Greek Asia 55) and also in Christian times 56). And, although Tac.
Germ. 60 remarks: nee virgines festinantur, in the northern countries this
age was probably not much higher57).
Perhaps in older times this age was a little higher; cf. Ter. Eun. II, 3, 27,
where sixteen years for a girl is called: flos ipse. But this may reflect rather
Greek than Roman practice, or need not mean that usually the girls
were not married before that time.
At any rate in the time of Augustus fourteen years must also have been
the average age for a girl to marry 58).
B0) Cod. Just. 5, 4, 24; Macr. in Somn. Scip. I, 6, 71; Macr. Sat. 7, 7, 6; Tertull. de
virg. vel. 11; DG LIV, 16, 7: efeó cfcxcc yag Taë<j y.óuar^ ic> tr rov yajiov <onav tzr]
vo/iC^fxai. See Rossbach, d. Röm. Ehe, ip. 417 sqq.; cf. Mommsen, I. R. N. 1603.
51) Cf. Pomponius Dig. XXIII, 2, 4; Ulp. Dig. XXIV, 1, 32; 27; XLVIII, 15, 13, 8.
B2) More about this see Friedlander, Sittengesch. I, (1919), p. 270/1.
03) For the time of Justinianus cf. AP III, p. 68, p, 102.
54) Cf. e.g. Epict. 40; many instances of girls marrying at the age of 12—17 years
from literature as well as from the inscriptions, from Italy as well as from the provinces,
in Friedlander (—M. Bang), op. cit. IV, p. 133—141.
B5) Marquardt, Priv. Leb. p. 16—18.
sa) For this Friedlander points to canon law. which allows girls to marry when
they are 12 years old, and to the inscriptions found in the catacombs, which give the
same image; cf. August. Conf. VI, 13, 23.
57) Compare Saxon and Frisian law, the French feudal law, the same custom among
the Longobards, in mediaeval Norway, in Rumania.
55) Augustus threatened with a penalty a woman who had reached her twentieth year
without being a mother (Rossbach, op. cit. 418; cf. also DC LIV, 16, 7).
 90

Julia also, the daughter of Augustus, was married by him to Marcellus

when she was 14 years old, in 25 b.C. 59).
Therefore Vergil and his readers imagined Lavinia not older than about
14 years — which may also account for her passive and vague behaviour.
If we are inclined to consider her as about 18 years old, this is only a
consequence of our own way of living 60).

Excurs. Indeed I can agree with Frazer, that the list of Alban kings, who
succeed each other in the male line, is no proof against his theory, as this
list is only an artificial product of the annalists. And indeed the instances
given above, and the fact that Ancus Martius was said to be the son of
Numa's daughter 61) might at first sight appear to be another proof.
But in my opinion we cannot prove the existence of exogamy and
matriarchy among the Roman kings from the traditions as to the way in
which they succeeded each other. For, whereas some of the names of
these kings may be based on a genuine old tradition, the temporal
connection in which they were brought, and still more their way of
succession, may have been entirely an artificial product, no less artificial
than the list of the Alban kings and the way, in which Aeneas had become
the son-in-law of Latinus.
For, as these kings nearly all of them bore different names, and hence
could not be direct descendants of each other, the best way to legitimate
their reign — which was of course a desirable thing for these ancient
Roman kings — was to make them marry the former king's daughter,
who was invented ad hoe.
Tradition may have been supported in this by the fact, that also in
Greece there were many traditions about kings, who were foreigners,
had married the daughter of their predecessor, and had succeeded their
father-in-law on the throne (see p. 87, note 45).
But these last instances do not prove matriarchy and exogamy in Greece
either in my opinion, but they may be explained in another way 62).

69) Suet. Aug. 63; Tac. Ann. I, 3; DC LIII, 27; cf. Hor. Carm. I, 12, 45; see
Kiessling, Philol. Unters. 2, 70 A.
80) As a parallel to the words "iam plenis nubilis annis" may be quoted Augustin.
Conf. IX, 9, 19: (Monnica) ubi plenis annis nubilis facta est tradita viro servivit velut
domino — which may be a reminiscence of Vergil.
61) Cic. de Rep. II, 18, 33; Liv. I, 32, 1; DH II, 76, 5; III, 35, 3; 36, 2; Plut. Num. 21.
e2) Partly in the same way as above, partly as actually reflecting an old historical
relation between different tribes or towns, or at least royal houses, and partly as a
means to feign an artificial relation between them. (In the latter case the objection
might be raised however why it was not supposed that conversely the king or prince-
successor of a certain town was said to have married the princess of another town.)
And perhaps, although none of these traditions in itself is of sufficiënt conclusive force,
their frequency may even be a proof that in general the Greek motif of the prince who
has to leave his country to seek a new fatherland, is based on the more prevailing
practice of the matriarchy. But this question, as not really belonging to our subject, we
can leave here.
 PORTENTS.

58 sed variis portenta deum terroribus obstant.

These prodigies are not found in any of our other sources as to the
legend of Aeneas1).
In some of them they would have had no raison d'être at all, as either
Lavinia was not betrothed, or certainly promised, to Turnus 2) or Latinus
had to cede his daughter to Aeneas after he had been vanquished in
a war 3).
In other sources 4) there is indeed no sufficiënt reason why Lavinia, who
had already been betrothed, or at least promised, to Turnus, should be
given by her father to Aeneas, in admiration for his descent and character,
as Livy and Justinus say. Moreover Latinus thus would have committed
a breach of promise. (For a more circumstantial account see below, the
oracle of Faunus.
So a reason why these prodigies are inserted here by Vergil, is that by
showing that Latinus acted according to a divine command, and that the
planned union of Lavinia with Turnus was prevented by the intervention
of higher powers, Vergil absolved Latinus from his guilt towards Turnus,
and the blame of a breach of promise. For this could not be tolerated in
the eponymous hero of the Latini.
According to Gercke 4a) these prodigies do not belong to the original
plan of the Aeneid, and are rather late; this appears according to him from
the fact that there is only one allusion to them in the other books (XII,
27/8). Indeed their elaboration may be rather late, as might appear from
the allusion to the planned transfer of the cult of the Vesta publica to the
palace of Augustus (see below).
But I cannot agree with him that they did not belong to the original
plan of the Aeneid, and are only due to Vergil's altering his original plan,
where no breach of promise of Latinus was found 5). In my opinion, as the

1) Yet Cauer, p. 173 supposes that these prodigies — as well as the following oracle
of Faunus — might have been a traditional element already before Vergil.
2) E.g. Kallias, Timaeus, Strabo, perhaps Livy, I, 7, 7/8.
3) Dio ap. Zonaras and ap. Tzetzes Lyc. 1232; Liv. I, 1, 6.
4) Appianus; Liv. I, 1, 7/8; Justinus; cf. also Dionysius.
4a) p. 91 sqq., especially p. 101 sqq.
5) Gercke p. 102 sqq. says that this breach of promise was not given by tradition,
but is found for the first time in Vergil, where it is due to his altering his original plan.
This plan was that Latinus had promised his daughter to Turnus, and only yielded her to
Aeneas after having been forced to it by Aeneas' victory. Later on he changed this plan
by making Latinus offer his daughter to Aeneas of his own free will. As he had no time
to adjust books VIII—XII, in which the older version is found, with book VII, containing
 92

same inconsistency is found in Livy, Dionysius, Appianus, and Justinus —

who represent the tradition of the younger annalists — we have no reason
to ascribe them to Vergil's altering his original plan. Vergil — in contrast
with his predecessors — to explain this inconsistency and to absolve
Latinus from the blame of a breach of promise, may have inserted these
prodigies here.
Moreover Vergil may have wanted beside the traditional prodigies of
the consuming of the mensae and the sus alba, on the Trojan side, to
insert prodigies on the Latin side as well. And, whereas these former
prodigies announced to Aeneas that he had reached his destination, the
latter announced the arrival of Aeneas, the new ruler, to Latium. For not
only did these prodigies prevent the planned union of Lavinia and Turnus,
but they also announced the arrival of the new ruler.
Further Vergil thus had a good opportunity of inserting such prodigies
as contained an allusion, not only to the new legitimate ruler Aeneas, but
also to the new legitimate ruler Augustus. (More about this see below.)
And in general a reason why these prodigies pointing to Aeneas' arrival,
and at the same time to the ensuing wars, are inserted, may be that in 44
and 43 b.C., after the murder of Caesar, and before Octavianus' rise to
power, there was a large number of prodigies, consisting of extraordinary
natural phenomena. See Vergil himself (Georg. I, 464 sqq., and App.
BC IV, 4 6). Hence Vergil may have wanted the arrival of Aeneas as well
as of Augustus to be accompanied by several prodigies.
Moreover Vergil in inserting these prodigies followed the Hellenistic taste
and custom of relating all sorts of wonders and marvels 7), and at the

the younger version, the character of Latinus, originally uncomplicated and blameless,
would thus have been seriously damaged. To free him of this taint Vergil inserted these
prodigies.
6) rcyvoutvbiv rfi rovtcov, x(tiara xat Oii/ttla 'tv 'I'ui/ai nolXct xai q>o[!tQa r[v. Kvvtg rt
yciQ (OQVOVTO ó/iafcaj oïa Xvxoi, Ov/ijloXov arirféq' xai Xvxot riji> ayoQav (ftO-tov. . . 0o£s
rt fotvijv atpiixiv avfrQió.tov. Kal pptcpos aqzlxoxov itp»(y^aro. Kat röiv %oav<av ra /tiv
*lffQovf ta (fs xaï ai/ta IÓQOV avdgoiv rt ittyüXat fioal, xaï XI rrrOs onxat cf()ó[io§
ïnmav, óvx iiooi/ttvuiv, t)xovtro' a/itfi rt rdv i/Aiov Ofi/uta noM.h, xat Xt»<órft«s;
tylyvovTO vtroï, xai y.toavvol fivvtytti ia itQci xat ayai.nara 'tnimov.
7) The rhetoric historians as Timaeus, Theopcanpus and Ephorus tried to add colour
to their narratives by them (see e.g. B. Niese, Kritik d. Makk. büch. p. 34 sqq.), the
philosophers, as Poseidonios e.g., to demonstrate the existence of Providence; and even
an additional proof of the truth of Christian belief was sought by the faithful in relating
all sorts of marvels; see the many wonders etc. in the Gospels and in the lives of the
Apostles (P. Wendland, D. Hellenistisch-röm. Kultur, p. 301 sqq.). There were even
many collections of wonders, in prose as well as in verse, often called Paradoxa, Apista,
Thaumasia, etc., compiled in the Hellenistic age, especially by the Peripatetici. Here may
be mentioned that of Antigonos of Karystos, which is still extant, and those of Kallimachus
and his pupils (see Susemihl, p. 463 sqq.).
This aretalogy filling a disproportionate space in the literary production of the
Hellenistic age corresponds to the general predilection of the time for the fabulous,
romantic and adventurous, which partily spread from the lower circles of society of the
higher, and thence to literature, partly was a consequence (see Rohde, Gr. Roman,
 93

same time put himself in contrast with classical Greek literature (with the
exception of Hom er) and with the Greek custom of classical times, when
the belief in xÉQaxa had been gradually superseded by the consulting of
oracles; and thus he introduced another Roman element in his epos.
For in Rome prodigia had bulked large, and even played an important
part in State affairs, and were one of the things first noted down on the
tabula dealbata, not only in the first (cf. Liv. I, 20. 7) but also in later
centuries .Cf. Liv. XLIII, 13, 13, 1: ceterum et mihi vetustas res scribenti
nescio quo pacto anticus fit animus, et quaedam religio tenet, quae illi
prudentissimi viri publice suscipienda censuerint, ea pro dignis habere,
quae in meos annales referam.
Yet this belief in prodigies was no longer general at all in Augustan
Rome. Cf. Liv. ibid.: non sum nescius ab eadem neglegentia, quia nihil
deos portendere vulgo nunc credant, neque nuntiari admodum ulla prodigia,
neque in annales referri. Hence, as Augustus had for political reasons a
special interest in reviving the old Roman religion, Vergil — as well as
Livy ?a) — may have supported him in these efforts.
A further reason for Vergil to give so much space8) to these prodigies
may have been that Augustus not only was for many years an augur
himself, but — in contrast with Caesar, who was little subject to the
influence of prodigies 9) — he also personally attached great importance to
them, and especially to auguria oblativa. Cf. Plin. II, 24, and Suet. 92:
auspicia et omina quaedam pro certissimis observabat. Si mane sibi calceus
perperam ac sinister pro dextero induceretur, ut dirum. Cf. also Plin II,
24; 90: tonitrua et fulgura paulo infirmius expavescebat, etc.; 92: ostentis
praecipue movebatur, etc observabat et dies quosdam, ne ... etc., see
further cap. 95 sqq. (Cf. Drew, p. 80: "certain it is that of all the highly-
placed superstitious of his days he (Augustus) was facile princeps".)
Finally Vergil himself may have had a large interest in them, as he also
had in the details of ritual 10).

p. 1—21) of the Hellenistic poets having lost the real naive belief in the old myths and
legends; so they tried to supply this belief by as many marvels as possible.
(It must be remarked however that for instance in the epos of Apollonius Rhodius I
have found but three prodigies (I, 1084 sqq., 1145 sqq., III, 540 sqq.), two of which are
no real prodigies, but only auspicia oblativa ex avibus, and the third serves as an
aetiological explanation for the "Iasonic" springs near Dindymos.)
7a) who, mentioning prodigies in books I—X now and then, sums them up in books
XXI—XLV aknost every year.
) In book VII e.g. a prodigium, or one of the words: prodigium, portentum, monstrum,
is mentioned not less than 10 times.
) Suet. Jul. 59: ne religione quidem ulla a quoquam incepto absterritus unquam vel
retardatus est; 81; Obsequ. 67; OM XV, 787—798; DC XLIII, 17; App. BC II, 115—116;
Veil. II, 57, 1—3; Plut. Caes. 63; Nicol. Damasc. XXIII—XXIV; Polyaen. VIII, 23, 23.
Cf. also the fact that in his works he mentions prodigies but once (BC III, 105).
10) Mary L. Gordon, The family of Vergil, JRS XXIV (1934), p. 11/12 says that this
interest could be easily accounted for if we accept the hypothesis that his father belonged
to an Etruscan priestly family.
 94

The portenta or prodigia lx) which here prevent the speedy marriage
of Lavinia and Turnus are both natural phenomena in a certain sense.
To be terrified (c/. terroribus) at unusual natural phenomena is a
general primitive human quality. Afterwards man seeks for a justification
and therefore a reason for his fear, which was originally indefinite. So he
ascribes to these natural phenomena certain harmful influences; they are
considered the cause of certain harmful effects in themselves.
In other views — which may still be reckoned as in the domain of
magie — these phenomena are already no longer the direct cause, but
rather a symbol of an approaching calamity. Even at the religious stage
the fear of prodigia still persisted, but now they themselves were considered
no longer the direct or indirect cause of calamities, but only tokens, sent
by the gods (cf. portenta deum) as an admonition of a disaster, which was
bound to happen, unless man took his precautions by making expiations.
But prodigia need not only be tokens of an approaching calamity. Man
came to consider them as presages also because he, even without consider-
ing his terror of unusual phenomena, was inclined to attach a meaning and
importance to them, especially when they appeared when he embarked
upon new undertakings. For in this case he desired that he should not
have to rely entirely on himself, but should find a justification of his
doings, and feel strengthened by this in the execution of his designs;
so in this case he was particularly accesible to unusual phenomena, and
inclined to consider them to have reference to himself and his designs.
In this case of course a presage may be good as well as evil, and man
in such a mood is not only inclined to expect presages, but will also resolve
to summon them, if possible, by himself.
Roman augural lore has very well feit the difference between the
origins of the two dispositions of the mind, as there was always a great
difference between the auguria oblativa, which come unasked, and the
auguria impetrativa, which must be asked for.
So a portentum in itself could belong to both speres of thought, as is
also said by the antiquarians; scil. SA VII, 58: portenta: signa quae sunt
media: nam et bona et mala sunt portenta, and Fest. p. 245 M: portenta
existimarunt quidam gravia esse, ostenta bona; alii portenta quaedam bona,
ostenta quaedam tristia appellari. There the word "portentum" could have
a good as well as an evil meaning, although the latter is actually somewhat
more frequent. (So e.g. of the three times, that "portentum" is found in
Vergil, twice it has an evil, and once a probably evil meaning.) The
etymology of the word also puts Servius in the right, who says: portenta,
signa quae sunt media; for the verb "portendere" means only "to stretch

11) The words portentum, prodigium, ostentum, monstrum, although they may have
had a different origin, are in historical times essentially synonymous terms. Cf. Bouché-
Leclerq, IV, p. 77/78, and note 1, who refuses to differentiate clearly between these words.
Cf. also C. Thulin, Commentationes philologiae in honorem Johannis Paulsen.
 95

forwards", and the portentum therefore is the thing, stretched forwards,

viz. as a token of admonition or agreement.
By its etymology 12) and passive form the word portentum — in contrast
with "monstrum" (see below) — evidently belongs more to the religious
than to the magical sphere as concerns its literal origin; for there must
be someone to stretch forwards, therefore a divine being. Vergil also by
the words "portenta deum" perhaps proves, that he knows the origin of the
word portentum. For the following prodigia, and especially the prodigy
of the bees, in itself need not belong to the religious sphere, nor need
many of the other prodigia, mentioned by Vergil.

variis. The terrores are perhaps varii, because the portenta may be
considered to belong to different subdivisions of the auguria. There were
presages from animals, from trees, from lightning, from voices e.g., or as
the official Roman terminology subdivided: signa ex caelo, ex tripudiis, ex
quadripedibus, ex avibus, ex diris. The above-mentioned auguria oblativa
may be considered in some sense as signa ex caelo or ex avibus (cf.
liquidum trans aethera vectae), as well as ex diris (the flames).
It may be that Vergil mentions more than one prodigy here because
very frequently several prodigies appeared at the same time in Rome 13).
This seeing of more prodigies at the same time may be ascribed to the
fact that in times when man is especially nervous (as e.g. in the period
during and after the Hannibalic war) he is very prone to see prodigies,
even such as had not actually happened; and, if they really had happened,
to notice them.
Moreover he considered it of special value if there were several prodigies,
because in this way the truth of one prodigy could be verified by its
agreement with another. Cf. SA II, 691: non enim unum augurium vidisse
sufficit, nisi confirmatur simili.
As a matter of fact this obvious view existed in Greece as well14).
These doublé or more prodigies naturally could be for good (cf. VA II,
691: haec omina firma 15) as well as for evil16).
12) SA III, 366; Cic. ND II, 37; de Div. I, 93; Aug. c. d. XXI, 8; Isid. Etym. II, 3. 3.
13) Cf. Liv. I, 31, 3; V, 15, 1 (at the siege of Veii); VII, 28; 7; X, 23, 1; 31, 8;
XXI, 46, 1; 62 (in the winter of 218/17); XXII, 1, 8 (in the spring of 217); 9, 8; XXIV,
10 (in 215); 44 (in 213); XXV, 7, 9 (in 212); XXVII, 23 (in 208, just before the consul
Marcellus left the city to meet his death); XXIX, 14, 4; XXXV, 1, 18; 9, 4/5; 21, 2;
21, 5; XXXVI, 37, 4; XXXVII, 3, 5; XXXIX, 46, 5; 56, 6; XL, 19, 1; 59, 6;
XLI, 9, 7; XLII, 20, 6; XLIII, 13, 7; XLV, 16, 6; and many more instances, see Lutter-
bacher, p. 39 and 41, who gives testimonies of the expression "prodigiorum causa" and
others.
14) Cf. Soph. Antig. 998—1011; Arist. Rhet. 2, p. 1398 b 32 sqq., and Plut.
Apophthegm. Lacon. Ages. 10; Reg. Apophth. Ages. 7.
15) Cf. also Quint. Smyrn. XII, 55 sqq.
18) Cf. also Liv. XXII, 3, 11—13; Flor. 1, 22, 14.
 LAURUS.

Laurus erat tecti medio in penetralibus altis

60 sacra comam multosque metu servata per annos
quam pater inventam primas cum conderet arces
ipse ferebatur Phoebo sacrasse Latinus
Laurentesque ab ea nomen posuisse colonis.

Vergil's assertion that the Laurentes derived their name from the laurus
may be based on a mere etymology, invented by others or by himself.
(Vergil is the only author, except Herodianus, (I, 12), who lived in a much
later period and who may have taken this information from Vergil, to
acquaint us with this.)
The reasons for this etymology may be firstly its obviousness, and
secondly the frequent occurrence of the tradition that a tree was connected
with the origin of a town or a tribe.
It may be that the name Laurentes has nothing to do with the laurus.
According to C. Pascal1) this name is Etruscan. His arguments are very
weak however. As Pais 2) supposes it belongs to a family of toponymies
which is very frequent in primitive Ausonia, and is found even in modern
Italy, scil. toponymies beginning with Aus- and Laus-3). For as Pais
remarks one frequently finds place-names that are identical except for
the fact that the one of them begins with an 1, the other not4). And the r
in Latin between two vowels often replaces a primitive s, as is well-
known 5).
Also Carcopino hesitates to connect the Laurentes with the laurel6).
(Yet he says that it is an attractive idea to assume that whereas of the
inhabitants of Latium the Albani are the men of the mountains, the Latini
the men of the plain, of the latter the Pomptini (Pometini) are the men
of the land of the orchards, the Laurentes the men of the land of the

1) Buil. Comm. 1894, p. 346 n. 1.

2) Intorno all' estensione degli Ausoni (Ricerche storiche e geographiche suil' Italia
antica, p. 8 and 26).
3) E.g. Ausa, Auser, Osa, Osento, Ausente, Ausentiello, Lausento.
4) E.g. Lausento-Osento; Lavella-Avella; Lamone-Amone.
5) Cf. Varr. ap. Macr. S. III, 2, 8. Cf. also as Carcopino remarks, Guido p. 510 1. 15
in the edition Pindar and Parthey: Laurentum Lausentum.
6) He remarks (p. 267, n. 3) that usually the tribes denominate their country, and
not the reverse. "Les Bituriges Vivisques par exemple sont les Bituriges ayant le qui pour
emblème, et non les Bituriges du pays du qui". And even if the Laurentes have taken the
laurel as their totem, the totemistic interpretation is difficult, and even impossible, in the
case of the Pometini, Albani, and Latini.
 97

laurel.) Compare also Battisti 7), who mentions the place-names Lauro etc.
occurring in Spain, although he does not suppose a connection with the
Laurentes.
It may however also be likely that, whether casual or not, Vergil was
right in this connection. Then "Laurentes" may be either a local adjectival
attribute only 8) and mean: "the men from the region of the many laurels",
as is the opinion of Nissen ®), Philipp and Lanciani); for these shrubs
as a matter of fact abounded there in later periods 12) as they are still
found there nowadays 13), although not nearly so frequently as in
ancient times 14). Or it may be either "the men who worship the laurel"
as is the opinion of Preller-Jordan *5), or "the men who consider the
laurel their totem".
Before we decide whether one of these last suppositions is right, it is
necessary to tracé the antiquity of the laurel in Latium, since, if the laurel
were introduced into Italy in historical times, the derivation of Laurentes
from "laurus" could not be very old.
According to Theophrastus 16) the wild laurel was spread over the
entire coast of Latium 17); and we know e.g. that in the time of the early
empire there was still a laurel-grove, the Loretum 18), on the Aventin 19),
the remainder of an originally much larger wood; as even in the time of
7) St. Etr. p. 294.
8) So K. Meister (Lat. gr. Eigennamen I), who considers the ending-ens as an Oscan
equivalent for the Latin ending-enus.
9) It. Landesk. II, p. 572: der Lorbeer, der an der ganzen Kuste weit verbreitet ist,
hat dem Völkchen den Namen Laurentes verschafft.
10) RE s. v. Lavinium, col. 1009, 1. 32.
11) Mon. d. Linc. 1903, p. 142: Laurento tolse il nome forse dai lauri, che ombreggiavano
la spiaggia vicina.
12) Herodian, I.C.: ó Kó/i/UHfoO 6vn^ovXtv0dvt(ov avxifl n»ü» i'aiQthv ia rfjw AavQtvzov
i/xtyvxiOTtQOv yÜQ ó'v rö xoiQlov xal ntytóxoiq xardffxeov tfacpviirpÓQOis iiXOiGiv,
ÖSIV xai tó ovoftu RÖ> XOIQIO>.
13) See Nissen, Lanciani ll.cc.; Philipp, l.c. col. 1010, 1.2 sqq.: Hier (scil. not far
from Castel Fusano, 4 miles to the South of Ostia) fand 1906 die Königin Elena in dem
Labyrinth von Myrten, Lorbeer, Wacholder und Heidekraut zwei Villenanlagen.; Carco-
pino, p. 267, n. 3: encore de nos jours il y a de nombreux lauriers dans la Selva Laurentina;
Bonstetten, p. 162 and 167; Weiss, RE s. v. Latium, col. 943, 1. 1 sqq.; Boni, JRS 1913,
p. 243 sqq: subaerial agencies, both chemical and biological, carved the volcanic
platform of the Campagna and clothed it with.... laurels and myrtles along the sea-coast.
14) Nissen, II, p. 575: aber der Lorbeer, der ihr einst den Namen gegeben, ist selten
geworden.
16) II, p. 320: Der Name der Laurenter wird von einem heiligen Lorbeerbaum
abgeleitet, welcher nach Art der altesten Zeiten ein nationales Heiligtiun gebildet hatte,
woraus mit der Zeit der kleine Ort Laurentum entstand ursprünglich wohl nur ein
für diese latinischen Küstenbewohner ehrwürdiges Heiligtum des Mars, nach der Art
jener alteren im Gebirge, wo der heilige Vogel Specht als Prophet waltete.
le) Hist. Plant. V, 8, 3.
1T) Cf. also Plin. XV, 138: Italiam, lauriferam tellurem.
18) — where Titus Tatius was said to have been buried.
19) Varr. 1. 1. V, 152; Suet. Galb. 1; Plin. XV, 138; DH III, 43; Fest. p. 360 M.
7
 98

Commodus "Laurentum" especially was famous for its large laurel-

woods20), and as nowadays even a large part of the Roman Campagna
near to the sea-side is overgrown with evergreen macchia, consisting of
laurels, myrtles, holm-oaks, etc.
But are there still older and safer testimonies extant?
According to the views of the nineteenth century it was impossible that
the laurel was indigenous in Italy. Thus Nissen21) and Hehn22) say,
that in historical times the laurel was brought23) from Asia Minor —
where the wild laurel is very popular, even nowadays, and of a far larger
variety than the European kind — through Greece to Italy24), especially
in connection with the cult of Apollo Katharsios.
However although the cult of Apollo, in Italy as well as in Greece, may
in certain cases have contributed to the spreading of the laurel, this cannot
have been the only reason. And nowadays, on account of phyto-
geographical and philological data scholars have come to the conclusion,
that it is possible that the laurel was indigenous in Southern and South-
Western Europe, and also in Italy25).
A cult of the laurel-tree in Italy at an early date — the laurel not
considered as the holy tree of Apollo, which fact will occupy us later on —
is not improbable under certain circumstances. It is even very plausible, as
we have several testimonies of the cult of trees of different species in
Italy. This is often expressed in their being festooned with taeniae, or being
hung with votive objects.

80) Herodian. l.c.

21) It. Landesk. I, p. 424.
22) Kult. pfl. u. Haust. p. 238.
23) And this only as a templc- and garden-tree, and following on the heels of those
wandering tribes, in whose cults the laurel had a part.
24) From Asia Minor to Thessaly it was brought perhaps by Thracians, Carians and
Cretans, accompanying a lustratious cult; from Thessaly it was brought to the remaining
part of Greece, and thence by the Greeks to Italy, together with the cult of Apollo
Katharsios.
2B) Steier (RE XIII, 1431) remarks, that petrified remains of the laurel (Laurus
nobilis L.) are found in tertiary layers of travertine, e.g. near Bologna, near Firenze
and at Rome; and he, as well as Engler (in Hehn) considers it even probable, according
to the history of the extension of the laurel-tree, that the laurel in prehistorie times had
spread from Western Europe to the East. Schrader (REIA s.v. Lorbeer) agrees with this
opinion. Although the wild laurel is found nowadays only in the Eastern and North-
Eastern part of the Mediterranean territory, the centre of its extension must have been
in Western Europe.
Philological considerations encourage us to conclude, (see Ern. M. p. 504) that the
name of the laurel-tree in Italy, laurus, is not a direct or indirect derivation, as was the
opinion of Schrader (in Hehn p. 230) and Solmsen (IF XXVI, p. 107 sqq.) of the Greek
<fatfvr,, from an Indo-European root, meaning "to burn" (Leger, KZ VII, 293, cf. also
Pisani IV, p. 358, n. 13), no more than a derivation from "luo" and "lavo" (Hehn,
n. 541), but that the name of the laurel-tree was borrowed by the Indo-Europeans, in
Greece as well as in Italy, independently (cf. also Wiedemann, IF XXVI, 43, and
Bechtel, Nachr. Gött. Ges. Wiss. phil. hist. kl. p. 344), from a Mediterranean language.
 99

If we take Rome only several trees were considered holy of old 26);
the worship of all these trees, — which later were often in some way
connected with the earliest history of Rome, as is also shown by many
instances, given below, — is testified in clearly historical times.
There are also testimonies of holy trees in the surroundings of Rome 27),
and there is even a tradition, that trees were the oldest sanctuaries of the
Italians, before temples had been built28).
This feeling of veneration for certain trees was not only a petrified
remains of olden times, but was also alive in certain cases in Augustan
times and still later, although sometimes only faintly; this is proved by
VG III, 332; Tib. I, 1, 11; Plin. XII, 3: priscoque ritu etiam nunc deo
praecellentem arborem dicant29). And even in Christian times this feeling
in Italy had not altogether disappeared 30). The latest testimony about a
veritable tree-cult in Italy dates from the eleventh century 3i); cf. also the
fact, that in the lives of the saints, there is nearly always a tree that plays
a miraculous part. One is reminded too of the many Madonne dell' Albero
or della Quercia in Italy; and — what is of interest to us here — we
even know of a Madonna del Lauro 32) and of a Madonna di Fonte
Laureato 33).
This feeling of veneration for certain trees — which may find expression
in practice as well, and in several manners e.g. by anointing or festooning
the tree, or by suspending different kinds of offerings from its branches —
is spread all over the world. Not only have we testimonies from Greece34),
as there are also several testimonies of tree-cult from the Minoan
and Mycenean period, but we also have testimonies e.g. from the
28) E.g. the oak on the Capitoline Hill, where Romulus was said to have dedicated
the spolia opima (Liv. I, 10), which tree was later considered to be sacred to Jupiter
Feretrius; the ficus Ruminalis on the Palatine Hill, which later on was said to be sacred
because the Roman twins had been suckled under its branches (Liv. I, 4, 5; X, 23, 12;
Plin. XV, 77); another fig-tree on the Comitium (Fest. p. 169; DH III, 71; Tac. Ann.
XIII, 58); still another till 493 b.C. before the temple of Saturn (Plin. XV, 77); a
holm-oak on the Vatican Hill, with a dedication in Etrurian characters; a cornelian tree
on the Palatine Hill (Plut. Rom. 20); some very old lotos-trees (Plin. XVI, 235/6).
27) E.g. three holm-oaks near Tibur, under which Tiburtus was said to have received
hls consecration (Plin. XVI, 237); an oleaster, dedicated to Faunus, on the Latin coast
(VA XII, 766). See further Liv. III, 25; Lucan. I, 336; Suet. Vesp. 5.
2S) Cf. the alleged derivation of delubrum from "liber" (Paul. Fest. p. 73 M; but see
Wiss. RuK p. 469); see further Boetticher p. 11 sqq., Schrader, REIA, s.v. Tempel.
20) Cf. also Lucian, de sacrif. 10; Front, ad Ver. imp. II, 6; Apul. Flor 1; Max Tyr
Diss. VIII, 1.
) Cf. Arnob. adv. nat. I, 39; VII, 9; Cod. Theod. 1. XVI, tit. X, n. 12; and many
other testimonies, given by G. Stara-Tedde, Boll. comm. XXXV (1907), p. 132 sqq.
31) Glabri Rodulphi Hist. IV, 3.
32) Near Castellamare, Stara-Tedde, p. 160, n. 2.
33) In Calabria (Stara-Tedde l.c.).
) E.g. the famous Dodonaeic oaks; olive-trees of Athena Polias on the Acropolis
and on Delos; plane-trees of Agamemnon at Aulus, of Menelaos at Kaphyae; see further
DarSagl. s.v. arbores sacrae.
 100

Celts, where tree-cult was very frequent; from the Persians35); the
Germans 36); the Lithuanians 37); from Sweden; from the Semites 38).
And from Africa for instance Frazer39) gives us a score of testimonies.
Before we try to explain this cult, it must be mentioned here, that, as is
generally known, we have testimonies from the whole of Italy, not only of
the cult of solitary trees, but also of woods and groves (luci). E.g. from
Bruttium 40), Apulia 4i), Umbria 42): the grove of Marica near Minturnae
(see below) 43). And from Latium itself 44) we have a score of
testimonies45); — it is of special interest to us here, that we know of a
flamen lucularis of the Laurentes Lavinates 46), although we do not know,
of what kind of trees this lucus was composed,
In Rome and in its neighbourhood there were many sacred groves as
well47); cf. Plin. XVI, 15, 1: (Roma) silvarum certe distinguebatur
insignibus 48); these groves, which had largely disappeared in the time of the
Empire, were in their turn the remnants of the ancient groves, among which
Rome had been founded. Many of these groves were associated with the
earliest history of Rome, and Romulus was said to have planted many of
them49). Naturally the association of many of these groves or trees with
deities is of a later development. Originally the grove itself was the
"deity"; later on the sacred grove was said to derive its holiness from the
fact that it was the abode of a deity, or had been dedicated to him.
Perhaps we owe some of the notices about sacred groves only to the
fancy of the Roman poets* But their point of issue must have been

35) E.g. the plane-tree of the Achaemenides.

3e) E.g. a tree near Geismar, felled by Bonifacius; see also Mon. Hist. Germ. XV,
p. 741.
37) E.g. Scr. rer. Pruss. IV, 516.
38) E.g. the terebinth of Mamre, and the Paradise-tree; for many other testimonies
see Boetticher.
39) E.g., GB, the Magie Art, II, cap. IX; Fasti, III, 252.
40) Near Sila, at Croton the grove of Juno Lucina.
41) At Luceria.
42) Near the lacus Velinus near Spoletum the grove of Vacuna.
43) See further DarSagl. III, 2. 1353.
44) See also E. Ulback, Class. Journ. XXIX (1934), 9.
45) E.g. the lucus Feroniae, the groves of Pilumnus near Ardea, of Jupiter Indiges and
of Anna Perenna near Lavinium, of Juno Sospita at Lavinium, of Diana at Aricia, at
Anagnia and near Tusculum, of Tiburtus near Tibur, of Albunea, of Angitia near the
lacus Fucinus, of Juno at Falerii.
40) Henzen, 6747.
4T) The grove of the Dea Dia of the Fratres Arvales, of Egeria, of Halernus, the
Camenae, the Furrinae, the Corniscae, the Albionae, of Laverna, Vesta, Semele, of Mars on
the Campus Martius, of Robigo on the present Monte Pincio, of Diana on the Aventine,
further the lucus Fagutalis, Querquetulanus, a grove on the Esquilinus, dedicated to
several gods; further the Loretum, already mentioned, and so on (for a full account see
G. Stara-Tedde, Boll. Comm. XXXIII (1905), p. 189 sqq.).
4S) See further Varr. 1. 1. IV, 5; DH II, 50; Prop. IV, 12.
49) See e.g. Varr. VII, 36; DH II, 18 and DarSagl. s.v. lucus.
 101

authentic, for this feeling of the holiness of a grove for its own sake
existed in the time of August and later still, as is proved by testimonies
from contemporary authors 50). And moreover by the fact, that the Roman-
Catholic church often enjoined the holy woods to be destroyed, and
founded chapels there (e.g. of s. Maria de Luco) or monasteries 51), or it
left these woods intact, but replaced the pagan cult by that of S. Silvestre
or S. Silvano52). The former existence of holy woods survived also in
place-names as Lugo or Luco (Stara-Tedde gives more than 25 instances
of places of this name in Italy that were founded on the sites of former
ancient luci or in their neighbourhood).
From other countries we have testimonies about this veneration of woods
as well. So e.g. from the Germans53), the Celts54), the Lithuanians 55),
from Spain, Numidia, Egypt, Phoenicia, Armenia, Asia, Minor; many
testimonies from Greece, and so on 56).
Although these trees were mostly associated with a deity, the general
origin of this tree-cult is, that, before religious thought was more different-
iated, man already feit "awed"57) by several manifestations of nature, not
only by animals but also by rivers, sources, stones, plants, trees and woods.
For by a subconscious process of analogical thought he considered most
things surrounding him to be as much alive as he was himself; and, if these
objects for some cause or other were believed to be more powerful than
he was, he worshipped them accordingly.
So the vast woods because of their mysteriousness and darkness may
have inspired a feeling of awe. And the consideration of a wood, or rather
a tree, as a living being is very logical. For the movement of the tree with
its creaking branches and the whispering of its leaves, when fanned by the
breeze, gave a strong suggestion of personal life, the more so, as man's
consciousness of his own personality was not yet greatly developed. The
fact, that men attributed more than human power to them can be explained
by the benefits derived from them: their fruit, their shade, and occasionally
the firewood they provide.
Hence, if they originally thought the tree animated, they may only have
attributed to it certain feelings and reactions, that were more or less human,
as the Oiebways, a tribe of Red Indians, would hardly ever hew down
living trees, because they believed that they cried in the process.
50) Ov. Am. III, 1. 1; Sen. ad Lucil. XLI, 2; Plin. XII, 1, 2; Quint. X, 88; Apul
Flor. I, 1.
51) As e.g. S. Benedict did on Monte Cassino; Vita S. Benedicti, Migne, Patrol,
lat. vol. 66, col. 152.
52) Stara-Tedde, p. 153 sqq.
53) Tac. Genn. 9, 39, 40, 43; Ann. II, 12; IV, 73.
54) Cf. A. Maury, Les forêts de la France; and the common Celtic name for sanctuary:
neme-to-n, which is the same as "nemus". See Ern M. s.v.
55) E.g. Scr.rer. Pruss. IV, 239, from the XVth century.
6e) See e.g. DarSagl. l.c.; Frazer; Stara-Tedde, p. 159 sqq.
57) R. Marett, The threshold of religion.
 102

This awe may originally have been somewhat indefinite, and of a rather
friendly nature, no more than a feeling of respect towards something,
which in some aspects exceeds one's own power, and which one does not
entirely understand, but which on the other hand is not entirely different
from oneself (animatism).
It is possible that this awe was feit towards a tree, or grove, which
happened to stand inside the city, but which had nothing do to with its
foundation. Later on however, as e.g. must often have been the case in
Rome (see above), the tree, in order to emphasize its holiness, was
associated with the foundation of the city.
But the considerations, given above, may also account for the fact, that
one or more single trees may have been the motive to found a settlement
in its immediate vicinity, as we have some traditions, also from the Graeco-
Roman world, that this had happened 58). I will not however take the view
of Boetticher, p. 241 sq., and maintain, that "kein alter Fürstensitz ohne
solchen Baum in seinem Atrium zu denken sei ... wenn auch die Quellen
im Allgemeinen davon schweigen". It was only possible, not necessary.
(Cf. also the right to an asylum, which many trees and groves granted 59).)
Therefore in this case the idea of the founding of a settlement on this
spot was later than the acquaintance with the tree.
This may be what Vergil intends, if we connect the words: "primas cum
conderet arces" with 1. 62, and therefore translate: "the tree, which Latinus
had seen, and which afterwards, when he founded the town, he dedicated
to Apollo".
This view however is not possible, if we connect "primas cum conderet
arces" with the preceding line, and hence must translate: "the tree, which
he had detected, while he was engaged in founding the town, and which
afterwards he had dedicated to Apollo". In this case we need another
explanation; then this tree was sacer, as also the words "multosque metu
servata per annos" may prove, because it was dreaded.
For beside the pure animatism an attitude of fear may also exist. In this
stage, which already approaches or actually is animism, the tree is
considered not only as feeling, but also as having a will of its own, which
eventually may externalize itself and do harm. In the case of trees man
may easily have reached this view, because the rustling of their twigs
could be considered as the manifestation of their will. (In some cases this
view might develop into the conception of independent deities of the

58) See e.g. Plin. XVI, 89 about oaks at Heraclea Pontica; perhaps also 88 about
holm-oaks at Tibur, and oaks at Ilium; further Paus. III, 22, 9 about a myrtle, which
gave rise to the foundation of Boiae in Laconia: VII, 5, 1 about plane-trees at Neo-
Smyrna; Schol. Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 225 about an oak involved in the foundation of
Milet; and lastly the olive-tree on the Acropolis in Athens; cf. also Plin. XVI, 99
about Megara; cf. also Hom. Od. XXIII, 190. Cf. also Preller-Jordan II, p. 320,
quoted above.
59) E.g. Ael. VH 5, 4; see further Boetticher, p. 179 sqq.
 103

tree, but this view of separate spirits dwelling in the tree, of which they
are the possessors, is not necessary.)
Therefore the tree must not be worried, lest the power in it turn against
the malefactor 60). This is a very general primitive view found with Indo-
European as well as with other peoples. So even in modern Italy, next to
the beneficent trees, worthy of veneration, there are trees, which are the
seat of evil spirits and witches. And there is a widespread belief, that when
certain trees are cut down the feller is sure to fall ill. Often man apologizes
to the tree before feiling it, as otherwise the tree will be irate61). This
attitude of mind must also have existed in the Graeco-Roman world, as
several testimonies show 62).
Yet primitive man did not of necessity feel this awe for every tree; for
in that case, he would scarcely have been able to live, as in ancient times by
far the greater half of Europe, and also other parts of the world, were
covered with wood. And so merely to have a dwelling and warmth he was
forced to feil many trees. He therefore must have feit this awe only for
trees, which in some respect were extraordinary, because of their height 63),
their size, or other special qualities (see below, where the special qualities
of the laurel are stated). Or he perhaps had this feeling for one tree only,
or for a clump of trees, because they had been spared from a far
greater group.
For often a certain wood or grove is allowed to be cut down only on
the condition that one tree, or a group of trees, is spared 64). In my opinion
this explanation must be sought in the circumstance that all the trees of
the wood are considered to have one collective soul, which may, if need
be, be concentrated in some and even in one of them, so that, as long as
this tree is spared, their power is saved.
In a later development this tree is spared, because the spirits of the wood
or grove may at least find a refuge here.
So it is possible, that the laurel, mentioned by Vergil here, was not
00) Cf. e.g. the Spartiates sparing the trees of the Academy, when they devastated
the whole of Attica (Schol. Soph. Oed. Col. 699; Lys. de olea).
61) The Bagoga in Central Africa believe, that, if a tree has been cut down, its
spirit may cause the death of the chieftain of the tribe, to which the feller belongs, and
his family; according to the Lithuanians he, who hewed down a branch in a holy grove,
was stricken by sudden death or paralysed; old-German law threatened the man, who
peeled off the bark of a holy tree, with a horrible punishment (for these instances see
Frazer, GB, the Magie Art, ch. IX and X); Fasti III, 252 he mentions a sacred grove in
Southern Nigeria (of a god Abang Ndak) where no branch was allowed to be cut off,
nor any leaf to be torn off, under penalty of death.
62) In the sanctuary of Asclepios at Cos it was interdicted to cut down cypresses
under penalty of a very high fine; Cat. RR 139, Plin. XVII, 28, and Porphyr. de abstin.
I, 6 prove, that it was never allowed to lop, to cut down or to transplant such trees,
except if by an exauguratio they had lost their sacred character, or expiatory rites had
been acccxmplished.
63) Cf. Plin. XII, 3: praecellentem arborem simplicia rura etiam nunc deo dicant.
64) E.g. among the Gonds in British India, and among the Dajaks.
 104

"found" by Latinus when he built his town. It would moreover be very

remarkable, if in these ancient times there had been only one tree on the
desolate height (cf. Nissen, Templum, p. 175). But it may have been spared,
whereas the others were removed so that a new town might arise. Compare
also 1. 170—72, where the palace of Latinus is "horrendum silvis".
Perhaps the words "sacra comam, multosque metu servata per annos"
point rather to this latter explanation. For, although later the prevailing
meaning of "sacer" was "consecrated to a deity", or, as Warde Fowler
(JRS I, p. 57) says: "the object, to which the word sacer was applied, was
the property of a deity, taken out of the profanum by the action of the
State, and passed into that of the sacrum", — in the original definition the
words: "the property of a deity", and perhaps also "by the action of the
State", were probably lacking.
For "sacer 05) like "sanctus" is connected 66) with "sancire" which
originally signified "to circumscribe". And, like the Greek ayios, and the
Polynesian "taboo", it only means: "the thing, which is particularly
mentioned, signified, determined, because it has been (or must be)
separated from the profanum, from the human commercium of civil law" 67).
"Sacer" and "sanctus", Pfister68) says, stand in the same relation to
sancire as taboo to the verb "tapa" — to appoint. And this determination
by a special rite is made, because the sequestered object has a particularly
strong power in itself 69), which is not only awe-inspiring, but which cannot
be dealt with cautiously either. For this force, although it is originally neither
good nor evil in itself, may be beneficial or detrimental in its actions; -—
cf. the later dual meaning of "sacer", scil. "holy" and "accursed". Therefore
it has to be withdrawn from circulation. (Cf. e.g. the lucus sacer of the
Fratres Arvales70), where the most severe sanctions prohibited the
entrance of profane people; and in connection with this and with the
verb "sancire", — which must originally have meant: "tö mark off
solemnly" 71) — also the fact, that often an arbor sacra is actually with­
drawn from profane contact by a wall, barriers, or a little "sacellum"
round it 72). (See Excurs I.)

65) Which word is already known to us from the Forum-inscription and from the
Leg. XII Tab. (VIII, 21).
66) But see the objections of Kretschmer, Glotta, X, p. 155 sq.
87) Paul. Fest. p. 319 M: seclusa sacra dicebantur; and cf. the loca sacra. Wiss.
RuK, p. 468.
68) Rel. Gr. u. Röm. p. 122.
89) Whether of its own, or because of special circumstances, e.g. because it had been
struck by lightning.
™) CIL VI, 2107, 2110.
71) And not: to make sacred; not even: to put a sanction on; — the special stress on
the sanction, laid on the infringement of the sacrum seems to me, contradicting
Ganschinietz, RE s.v. sacer, not necessarily to have been connected with it originally.
72) E.g. a beech on the Fagutalis; later also by larger buildings, see DarSagl. fig. 439,
440, 445, 450, 452.
 105

Hence the distinction, often applied in later usage between sacer and
religiosus, scil. that "sacer" was strictly what is consecrated to a deity,
and is given its character of holiness by his presence or protection only,
whereas "religiosus" is anything that is awe-inspiring in itself, does not
rightly indicate the difference in force between these words either.
The distinction, made Gai. II, 4, according to which: "sacrae res sunt,
quae dis superis consecratae sunt, religiosae, quae dis Manibus relictae
sunt", is also merely artificial .And originally sacer and religiosus referred
to the same object, but from different points of view. For originally
"religiosus" indicates, that a certain object, because of its immanent power,
inspires a feeling of awe; "sacer" means, that (because of this fact) it has
been (or must be) taken out of profane circulation, and that78) there is a
sanction on its use79). Cf. e.g. VA VII, 107: Belli portae... religione
sacrae; VA VIII, 597: ingens lucus, ... religione patrum late sacer. Vergil
often uses "religio(sus)" relating to a wood or trees, e.g. II, 714: antiqua
cupressus, religione patrum muitos servata per annos; VIII, 349/50; VII,
172, in a similar connection as "sacer" is applied here and elsewhere 80).
Hence it is not even requisite, that in Vergil, as Bailey 81) says, this
sacredness is always the result of the explicit or implicit presence of, or
the relation with, a deity, although in some cases this may be so.
Another proof for the conception of sacer, as it is given here, is, that
the predicate sacer is never applied to a deity himself, but only to his
property. For, although a god has an immanent strong power and is
awe-inspiring, he cannot be taken out of profane circulation, as he was
never bound up with it.
Later however sacer, which in itself expresses a more conscious stage
of development of the human mind than religiosus, acquires a more
cumulative meaning than the latter word because with it were connected
the notions: "by the actions of the State" 82) and "consecrated to a deity" 83)
(see e.g. VA VI, 137: ramus, sacer Junoni infernae; XII, 766: sacer Fauno
foliis oleaster) 84) which circumstance even became the reason of its
holiness.
It can have acquired this change of signification only in a close
connection with that of "consecrare", or, as the older term was,

78) Gantschinietz, RE s.v. sacer.

79) See further Durkheim, p. 304 sqq.
8") E.g. V, 761; IV, 485.
81) P. 155 sqq.
88) The latter, according to Aelius Gallus, Fest. p. 321, was even a conditio sine
qua non; see also Mare. Dig. I, 8, 6, 3; Ulp. I, 8, 9; see also Macrob. II, 3, 2.
83) The difference which exists under these conditions between sacer and religiosus
may be compared to that, made Lact. I, 22, 9 between the religion of Faunus and that
of Numa.
84) See e.g. Fest. p. 321.
 106

"sacrare" 85), which term therefore is frequently found in Vergil as well,

and also in other authors of the Augustan and later periods 86). The
original meaning of (con)se(a)crare was not probably "to renounce in
favour of" , nor "to consecrate to a deity". Originally its signification was
probably identical with "sancire", viz: to place a certain object beyond
profane circulation by a certain act, because of its awe-inspiring
qualities 87). And, in my opinion, there was not even connected with it an
idea as "to sanctify an object not previously in that condition"; for it would
be an impossible conception for primitive man to have the power, be it
only on the strength of fixed rites, of sanctifying an object that had been
unholy up till then. (A further development of "consecrare" was, that it
gradually acquired the signification of "to dedicate" 88).
This stress could only be laid by the achievement of a definite action,
as it is impossible for human thought, in a primitive as well as in a more
developed stage, to perform a solemn action except expressis actis and
(or) verbis. Moreover this action had to be fixed and established, because,
if it were to be repeated, this repetition had to take place in precisely the
same manner as before. For primitive people believed in the validity of
objective actions, the technically correct performance of every act required.
Neither could this sacratio be left simply to any man, but it had to be
carried out by an authoritative person. Hence, if an object were thus
sequestered in the interest of the community, this sacratio — which, in its
original sense as well as in its connection with a deity, consisted in the
reciting of the sollemnia pontificalis carminis verba 89) and the laying on
of hands on the object that was to be consecrated 90) — had to be executed
by the authorities of the State91); therefore objects, dedicated by private
persons, even if these were members of the community, were not really
sacra 92).
Later these authorities in Rome were the magistratus cum imperio, with
the assistance 93) of one of the pontiffs for the observance of the rules of

85) Cf. Varr. 1. 1. VI, 54; Liv. II, 8, 2; V, 25, 12; SA I, 763.
88) As Ovid, Curtius, Pliny.
87) Cf. in this connection the fact that the German "weihen", Got. "weihs", originally
signifies no more than: "to set apart for religious reasons" (Pfister, RE s.v. Kultus,
col. 2139).
8S) A still later development of "to consecrate to a deity" was "to consecrate a deity",
to receive a new deity among the gods of the State (Cic. ND II, 62; de leg. II, 27, 28;
of the Emperors e.g. D.C. XLVII, 18, 4).
89) Sen. cons. ad Mare. 13, 1; which contained among others all the conditions and
an exact definition of this dedicatio (see e.g. CIL IX, 3513; Cic. de dom. 127; Wiss.
RuK p. 473/4 with notes.
90) Wiss. RuK l.c.
91) See Fest. p. 321.
92) Fest. l.c.
93) Wiss. p. 501 sqq.
 107

divine law. Vergil however was entirely justified in having this sacratio
here performed by Latinus, the rex, as doubtless the magistrates
in his time did not yet exist. According to tradition, the pontiffs had been
instituted by Numa; prior to this their task had been performed by the
rex 94). Moreover Augustus himself in 12b.C. was chosen pontifex maximus
after having been pontifex for some years.
Hence Latinus, in consecrating this tree, here too foreshadows Augustus.
And although I do not know any instance of the consecratio of a tree by
Augustus, the possibility must be left open. At any rate it is entirely in his
line, because it is well-known that he paid great attention to the revival of
the old rural cults; cf. e.g. his revival of the Fratres Arvales.
All these considerations may have induced Vergil, in employing the
word ipse, — which moreover occupies a very prominent place in 1. 62 — to
stress the fact that the tree had been dedicated by Latinus himself.

The main stress therefore in the notion "sacrare", "consecrare" —

originally mainly used in reference to immobilia as trees, groves, grounds 95)
— is probably laid on the fact, that this consecratio was performed "rite";
and it was this notion that was connected with the word "sacer" rather
than that of "the property of a deity". For, whereas the special stress laid
on this taboo-character of an object does not imply that the mind dwells on
perfectly independent spirits, this latter meaning belongs to a more
developed stage of animism, when there already existed a conception of
deities, more or less independent of the awe-inspiring object, and
humanized at least to such an extent, that they could be entrusted with
property. (This however need not imply, as is the opinion of Warde
Fowler96), that this view was not developed before the time when real
temples were built, nor that the god to whom a certain object was
consecrated, was "the divine inhabitant of the city", and therefore held by
local ties. For a tree, standing outside the city may also be considered as
the residence of a deity, and even an itinerant god may now and then
visit and enjoy the possession of a particular spot or object — which need
not of necessity be a real temple (cf. e.g. the many trees, consecrated to a
god) — without the god being verily an inhabitant of the city Perhaps
this last view however holds good for Greece rather than for Rome 97).)
The circumstance, that these objects already belonged to the ius divinum,
which made the idea of deities very suggestive, may have contributed in
Rome to the view that sacred objects were consecrated to a deity.
It is questionable however, whether, when in later times an object was

B4) Which honour, as well as the right of consecratio (Dig. I, 8, 9) afterwards was
connected with his successors as well.
9S) Later also with temples and altars, still latei* sometimes with other objects connected
with the cult as well.
»8) p. 254.
9T) Cf. Hom. Od., I, 22 sqq. and VA I, 15 sqq.
 108

said to have been consecrated to a deity, a real consecratio-to-a-deity had

taken place, or whether this was merely assumed, whereas the object
had really been consecrated in the original manner only.
For the consecratio of an object to a deity there may have been three
different reasons, partly belonging to the magie, partly to the religious
sphere.
a) the awe-inspiring object was considered to be already to a certain
extent the residence of a god; by consecrating this object officially to him
this relation was placed beyond all doubt .Thus here a tree may by prefer-
ence have been consecrated to a deity who had already a connection with
trees in general (as in Italy e.g. Silvanus), or with this tree especially;
b ) the object was taboo, and therefore might also be obnoxious. Hence
it was put under the protection and the supervision of a deity, who was
benevolent to the community 98);
c) a certain beautiful or powerful object may be dedicated to a god i.a.:
1. to enhance his strength and power, which later had the energetic
meaning of "to please him", because his strength is enhanced, to
glorify him 99).
2. to satisfy him, which later becomes: to gratify him (as sometimes in
the case of the dedication of a single, spared tree to a god 100).
3. as a means of making a connection, later on a treaty, between man
and the godhead, often after the principle do ut des; hence as it were to
allure him
One of the last three conceptions, — by which we approach to the
category of sacrifice — must have been foremost here in Vergil's mind. In
the case of trees this naturally is an inversion of the original thought, that it
was specially to a deity that man was indebted for the favour granted to
him by the tree; this idea is only possible if the religious feeling has passed
through a fairly full development, has even, to a certain extent, disappeared.
The conceptions mentioned under b ) and c), especially c) will have
prevailed at the consecratio, not only in Greece but also in Italy; a proof
for this may be the fact, that in the case of trees they could be dedicated,
not only to any deity, who need not be rural (e.g. Apollo), but even to
another deity than the one belonging to the wood, that held the tree in
question102).
This fact, somewhat surprising at first sight, is easily explained, if we

98) This accounts for the fact that in historical times, when the idea of a deity was
very often connected with sacer, its favourable meaning prevailed; for as soon as the
object had been placed under the care of a benevolent deity, its innocuousness was
ascertained.
99) Cf. the meat-offerings, as they were intended originally.
100) Cf. also the donation of first-fruits.
101) About other kinds of offerings see Pfister, RE s.v. Kultus; Robertson Smith,
D. Rel. d. Semiten, p. 180 sqq.; A. Thomsen, Arch. f. Rel. W. XII, 460 sqq.
102) See e.g. the list of sacred woods, given above.
 10'

consider that by the strong power of the stately or beautiful tree, or of

the only tree spared, any deity would be supported, glorified or satisfied.
In the case, however, of a certain species of tree being for some reason
or other103) connected104) with a special deity105) the view, mentioned
under a) will have prevailed.
It is however questionable, whether in this case a real consecratio was
always performed in Italy or merely as a rule. This not only for the
reasons, given above, but also, because the connection of a special sort of
tree with a special deity perhaps had a Greek rather than a Roman origin.
For the Greeks may have conceived the idea of some general deities, that
were everywhere subjected to the same rules and accidents, before the
Romans did.
Hence in other cases in Italy the tree had been consecrated already
for its own sake — because it was actually awe-inspiring — and only
in later times was said to be consecrated to a god 106), in which case a
consecration might have taken place or not; or it was consecrated to a
god for its own sake. In this case, however, if the consecration took place
it would be only because of the general relation of the kind with the
god — which belongs to a fairly developed stage of religious thought.
This dedication of all the trees of a definite species held good perhaps
rather in theory than in practice; and, even in the cases where the tree
really was considered to be consecrated, it is to be doubted, whether this
was ever a consecratio in our technical definition.
For in Greece the juridical side of the consecratio was not nearly
as completely developed as it was in Italy. So not only in Italy was the
consecratio in itself a formal, juridical unalterable transfer of an object
from the jurisdiction of the ius humanum into that of the ius divinum, but
usually in Italy a difference was also made between the consecratio to a
god in its pregnant sense, and the dedicatio 107), although in the popular
usage these words were interchangeable 108). The former was of much
greater importance, and therefore also liable to much more rigid
conditions 109).
Nor is it clear, whether at the consecratio in Greece a certain ceremonial
was required, although probably a priest mostly officiated. Cf. the fact,

103) E.g. because of their having similar names, coordinate qualities, or because of
intricate or casual reasons (see Pfister, RE s.v. Kultus, col. 2185).
i°4) This connection later on was explained by a legend in which both the deity and
the tree played a part as e.g. in the case of the laurel and Apollo.
105) Whose emblem it also became.
i°6) See further Plin. XII, 3; Preller-J., RM p. 108.
107) See Fest. p. 318, 321; Dig. I, 8, 6, 3.
108) Cf. Mart. III, 29, 4; V, 2, 2; IX, 101, 2; Gai. II, 4, 5; Fest. p. 318, 321.
100) The consecratio had to be executed by a magistrate or priest, with the consent
of the people, and according to fixed formulae and rites; the execution of the dedicatio
however was not laid down in hard and fast rules, and could be carried out by a private
person. Moreover the consecratio was a juridical act, whereas the dedicatio was not.
 110

that, whereas the Latin "religiosus" may be compared, because of its

etymology, with the Greek iegóg, since it originally signifies strong,
powerful110), an exact equivalent of the Latin "sacer", which especially
stresses the fact that the object to which it is applied has been put aside
by man, is absent in Greek 111).
Although strictly speaking there was originally a difference between
the expressions legog nvt ftecp and "sacer alicui deo", as the former is
much less detailed, and may have meant only: "powerful by the presence
of a god", whereas the second means "sequestered, because of its immanent
power, and therefore afterwards consecrated to a god" in later periods the
Latin expression may sometimes have acquired the meaning of the Greek,
and therefore also of "religiosus". Hence concerning the word "sacer" in
Latin, it cannot always be said, that a real consecratio had taken place.
Even when a tree really was consecrated to a god, it is often impossible
to make out from the rite, whether the homage was paid to the deity, or to
the tree; for the rite is always more conservative than the belief and the
object of the rite. Hence on the contrary, if later on it was believed, that
homage was paid to a deity, it may in reality often have been paid to the
tree only. In Italy therefore a tree must mostly have been worshipped in
reality not because it was the holy tree of a certain god; this latter
circumstance was probably only a later coincidence.
In the case of Latinus this laurel certainly will not have been dedicated
to Apollo, nor to an other deity in all probability. If this tree therefore
was "sacra comam" this cannot have been the result of its dedication
to a god. It may have been placed beyond profane intercourse only in
order to be preserved, as in profane life there could be no objection against
the cutting down of trees.
But although we have many instances of the animatistic and the more
animistic attitude towards trees in Italy, we never hear that this was a
reason for a tribe or for men in general to call themselves after it.
Therefore the name Laurentes might be a totemistic denomination.

But, if this single laurel was really "sacra comam multosque metu servata
per annos" the naming of the Laurentes after the laurus cannot have been
a real totemistic denomination, as the totem, at least generally112), was
not one definite tree or animal, but all the members of a certain species.
The name of this species had been adopted by the members of a certain
clan for their own, and its representation for their emblem, because they
wanted to have — for themselves and for others — a token of their
connection, which was easy to recognize and represent. Nor was the fear
110) See Boisacq, s.v.
111) As well as in all other Indo-European languages, and the primitive Indo-European
language; in general there is a great variety between the religious vocabulary of different
Indo-European languages. (See ErnM. s.v. sancio.)
11Z) See Durkheim, p. 141.
 111

exactly similar to that, feit in the phytolatric and zoölatric cults, at any rate
in the more animistic. For, although it was not allowed, and at any rate
dangerous, to eat from the totem-plant or animal, and sometimes also to
slay the animal or to piek the fruit, this interdiction held good only to a
certain extent; not for instance for persons who were considered as
psychically very powerful, neither in case of necessity 113); nor did the
members of the clan feel a mere awe for the totem-tree or -animal, but
they also sometimes gave themselves partly the external appearance of their
totem, and even considered themselves as invested with a sacredness that
was not very much below that of the totem.
The relation between man and his totem therefore is not merely that of
an adorer towards the object of his adoration, but that of two beings of
equal value, of consubstantiality, belonging to the same category; at the
most the totem may sometimes be of a somewhat higher degree, and the
"elder brother" or "grandfather"; but never is he the real progenitor.
Finally, if worship is paid to the totem, it is paid, not to the real plant
or animal, but to its image.
But this is not the impression that we get here. Hence, if we can rely
on Vergil's version, Laurentes will mean: the men from the region of the
laurel, i.e. the many laurels114), that were prevalent in this region (see
above), and which originally therefore may have been found on the arx too.
But there they had been cut down to make room for the future dwelling-
place, and only one laurel was left, for the reasons explained above.
It is possible too, that this laurel was not a totem, but an ancestral tree,
from which the Laurentes thought they had actually originated. In this
case the fact of its singularity offers no difficulty. This is not such an
impossible thought, as in the Graeco-Roman world there are more traces of
the view, that men originated from trees 115). Although this is often only
mythological or figurative language, at the bottom of it may have been a
true primitive thought, the more so, as there are more primitive peoples,
who consider a certain tree as their ancestor 116). This view cannot surprise
us, as in primitive thought there was no distance between man and animal,
and not even between man and plants or stones.
The reasons for considering the laurel a forefather may have been almost
identical with that, which among others made them choose the laurel as a
totem (see later on), scil. that the laurel was thought to possess a
113) Durkheim, p. 181.
114) Schrader, REIA s.v. Wald remarks, that in primitive times it is a general usage
to indicate the notion "wood" by the collective use of the name of a certain tree in the
singular.
11B) Or from rocks; e.g. Hom. Od. XIX, 163 with Scholia, cf. Plat ApoL p. 34 D;
Stat. Theb. IV, 279; and also VA VIII, 314.
lle) E.g. the Miao-Kan, a people in Southern and South-Western China (Frazer, GB,
XI ? p. 31), and the Barbaris on the Upper Niger (Frazer l.c. p. 42); or also from a stone,
as e.g. the Kagaba-Indians in Columbia thought. Cf. also Jerem. 2: 27, and A. B. Cook:
Oak and rock, Class. Rev. XV (1901); K. Beth, Rel. u. Mag. bei d. Naturvölkern, p. 174.
 112

particularly strong power, which overcame all evil influences, and which
power it extended towards its descendants in some way or other.
(Against the objection, that the laurel, like most trees in Greek and Latin,
was of the feminine gender, and therefore could not be considered as a fore-
father, it may be remarked, that with the neolithici, to whom the Laurentes
must have belonged, the matriarchy very probably was in vogue.)
However it is also possible, that not "sacra comam etc." was Vergil's
starting-point, but that this was a later addition, and that the Laurentes
originally announced themselves indeed as "the young laurels", as Picentes
may also be a totemistic denomination of Picus, Hirpini of hirpus-wolf,
and Fucentes of fucus-bee 117).
These last instances may be a support for totemism in primitive Italy.
But, strictly speaking no more than that, and not a support for totemism
among the Laurentes as well. For the Picentes etc. in all probability
belonged to the Indo-Europeans, at least their ruling classes did, and the
Laurentes to the neolithici. But the very fact, that the totem of the Picentes
was an animal, and that of the Laurentes a plant, may be another support
for totemism among the Laurentes. For, whereas the migrating tribes with
their theriomorphic ideas and representations 118) often choose for their
totem an object, that is unstable like themselves, e.g. an animal, perhaps the
more sedentary tribes chose a vegetable totem, which, analogous to them,
had taken root in the soil. Moreover as cultivators of the soil, they had
more contact with plants than with animals, unlike the migrating tribes,
who were often also hunters or cattle-breeders.
That the laurel was originally a tree of the mediterranean neolithici may
also be proved by the fact, that in Greece, e.g. at Delphi, the laurel before
the arrival of Apollo and before being connected with him had been
connected 119) with Gaia120) and further that the testimonies of tree-cult
in Greece point mainly to Creta and the Minoan world.
Also the fact that the invading Aryans, among whom a tree-cult, of the
oak and the beech especially, is often met with121), found these trees in a
sufficiënt number in Greece, so that there was no need for them to change
the object of their cult, and that the laurel was a typical mediterranean
plant, may lead us to the conclusion, that the worship of the laurel was
not Indo-European in origin. Moreover the attitude of mind of the
worshippers of the evergreen laurel may be entirely different from that of
the worshippers of the oak and beech, which in winter lost their leaves.
That the laurel was chosen by the Laurentes for their totem may have

"7) So e.g. Schulze, p. 482, and de Sanctis, p. 213 sqq.; cf. on the contrary e.g.
H. J. Rose, JRS XIX, p. 235 sqq.
«8) A. Aflföldi, AA 1931, p. 393 sqq.
u9) Cf. e.g. SA II, 513; Eur. Iph. Taur. 1254 sqq.
120) As e.g. the oak at Dodona and the kotinos at Olympia
121) Frazer, GB, the Magie Art, cap. IX.
 113

been in the first place owing to the fact that it was abundant in the
region where they lived; every group took for its emblem the animal or
vegetable, which was most popular in their region122).

There was another reason why man should choose the laurel as his
totem, viz. that in doing so he secured for himself a share in the inherent
power of this object.
For the laurel in itself was considered by several peoples to be possesed
of special gifts, especially of a lustral character. The laurel had the power
to cleanse and to heal, to ward off evil influences. So still in clearly
historical times in Greece123) and Italy laurels were planted in front of
the houses, or laurel-branches or wreaths hung at the entrance, as a
preserving power; so the laurel protected against the evil eye, against
poison and rotting, blasting and, among other things, against ghosts. Even
Tiberius124) believed, that the laurel was never struck by lightning 125).
All this therefore signifies that the power of this tree was considered
greater than all evil influences, which view man may have adopted because
of the penetrating aromatic fragrance and flavour if its evergreen leaves
and branches.
As already mentioned above, the use of the laurel, whether lustral or
otherwise, is mentioned on many occasions in Rome as well. E.g. at the
triumph 126); on other festive occasions 127); cf. also the reliefs of the Ara
Pacis, where many of the processionists wear laurel 128). In Rome a laurel-
tree stood at the entrances of the houses of several priests 129) and of
temples or public buildings130). See further RE s.v. Lorbeer.
In my opinion this usage may not cnly, as Reid 132) tries to prove, be
ascribed to an adoption from the Greek, — although in some cases this
may be so —, but it may be originally Italian. For much of what is known
to us about the conception of the use of the laurel in Rome 133) points for
me to an innate feeling of its extraordinary power, and secondly, the

122) Durkheim p. 335.

12s) Cf. Boetticher, p. 377 sqq.
124) Plin. II, 196; XV, 134; cf. XV, 30, 40.
126) For more instances of the power of the laurel see Riesz, RE s.v. Aberglauben:
Boetticher, c. XXIII; Hehn, Kult. pfl. u. Haust. p. 193.
126) Where the triumphator and the warriors, who had accompanied him, were
carrying laurels (Paul. Fest. p. 117, cf. Plin. XV, 133—135, 137).
127) Cf. Mart. VIII, 65, 56. Moreover branches of laurel or myrtle or olive were used
as a perirranterion at the Palilia (OF IV, 728).
128) Which may perhaps be a symbol of peace — cf. Plin. XV, 133: pacifera.
129) The flamines, the pontifices, the rex sacrorum (Plin. l.c.: laurus, ianitrix
pontificum).
°) The Curia, the ara publica Vestae, where it was renewed every year on the
first of March (OF l.c.; Macrob. Sat. I, 12, 6).
132) JRS II (1912), basing himself a.o. on Plin. l.c.
133) Cf. e.g. Plin. XV, 135, 2.
8
 114

Persians e.g. also knew the use of laurel-branches with certain sacred
actions134), as well as other Indo-European peoples 135).
So this use of the laurel, whether it ever was lustral or not, need not of
necessity have a Greek origin 136).
Accordingly the particular place of the laurel can be explained from
this side too. As against the supposition that the Laurentes named them-
selves after their sacral ancestor- or totem-tree it must be remarked however
that this too would be the only instance of men naming themselves after
a tree. (Cf. Plin. XV, 30, 40: (laurus) unius arborum Latina lingua nomen
imponitur viris) 137).

A reason why Vergil specially mentioned the laurel in connection with

the house of Latinus may have been, that laurels were connected with the
house of August, and with August himself; — and this is probably the
reason, why Vergil often mentions the laurel, whether simply as a tree
among many other species, as an adornment of temples, or in connection
with Phoebus. For in 27 b. C. two laurels had been planted senatusconsulto
near the gate-way of August's palace on the Palatine 138). to indicate him
as a prince of peacei39), — as also did the wreaths of laurel, which
festooned the pillars at the entrance^o) _ or perhaps rather to put
August's house on a level with the house of the rex sacrorum, the pontifices,
etc. (see above).
But personally August also set great store by the laurel-tree, and had
personal connections with it. Cf. the prodigy, mentioned by Pliny141),
that an eagle dropped a hen into Livia's lap carrying a laurel-twig in its
mouth; the haruspices ordered this twig to be planted; from it a grove
originated, from which Augustus i«) cut off the wreaths for his
triumphs143); Pliny XV, 129 mentions a species of laurel: regia, quae

W4) strab. XV, 3, 14.

135) Nowadays even in the Palatinate the new-born child, when wrapped in its
swaddling cloths is attended at every twist by a cross of the laurel-twig, which is hanging
over the bed (Stemplinger, p. 77).
136) Although 1 dare not affirm, that the original use of the laurel in Rome was
lustral, on the other hand I see no reason to consider, as Klausen, p. 644 does, the ever­
green laurel as a symbol of youthful chastity and of the prospering life of the family
and the State.
137) For the rest this need not be a conclusive objection, for other neolithic Italian
tribes may have named themselves after a tree too: but, as we like the Romans
themselves, do not know these neolithic words, we are not able to detect these tribes.
138) Mon. Anc. ed. M., p. 144, Plin. XV, 30; Mart. VIII, 1; DC LIII, 16; OM I, 562;
OF IV, 953; OTr. III, 1, 39; cf. also a coin Cohen I, 384.
139) Gardthausen, p. 960.
140) And the coronae civicae in the facade of his palace.
"i) XV, 136.
142) fhis usage came down to his successors (Plin. XV, 127), even as late as the
time of Constantine; and also to the magistrates.
143) And in its immediate neighbourhood Livia had her villa "Ad gallinas . See also
Suet. Galb. 1; DC XLVIII, 52.
 115

coepit Augusta appellari; and XV, 30 he mentions another laurel: quae ei

(Augusto) missa e caelo est, minima altitudine, folio crispo, inventu
raro 144).
Another instance is given Plin. XV, 137, whereas SA VI, 230 mentions
a laurel 145) which had sprung up on the Palatine on the same day, as that
on which August was born, and which therefore was a symbol of his
life 146).
So this was probably one of the reasons for Vergil's mentioning the laurel
in connection with the house of Latinus (and therefore also with that of
Priamus (II, 512/4) 147).

Vergil might also have placed this laurel-tree in front of Latinus' palace,
or in another place in the town. In that case the Laurentes might have
been named after this tree, which was peculiar in a way, too. Vergil
therefore must have had one or more special reasons to place this tree
inside Latinus' palace, as he also placed it inside Priamus' palace.
There was nothing strange in his placing it there as it was quite usual
to find laurels, although often in a cultivated state, not only in front of
the houses 148) but also inside them (cf. Plin XV, 137: recepta(rum) in
domos) i.e. in most cases in the peristylium.
Such a tree may however even have been standing in the compluvium.
For, although the words: tecti medio in penetralibus altis" at first sight
suggests the idea of the garden, enclosed by the peristylium — it is also
probably used in this meaning by several contemporary authors149) —,
Vergil obviously knew, that the peristylium was but an addition of
Hellenistic times, and he cannot have committed such an anachronism.
Now by: "tecti medio in penetralibus altis" Vergil may have intended to
indicate rather the atrium than the peristylium. For as for a long time the
atrium — with the exception of a few small apartments — was the only
room of the Latin house, the centre of that room was at the same time the

144) By this the same may be meant as by the palma of Suet. Aug. 92, which will be
mentioned soon afterwards, or as with the laurel-twig of the hen.
145) For a similar story of a tree — in this case a palm-tree —, which was symbol of
the life of August, see Suet. Aug. 94, 1.
146) This belief in a tree, which has a connection with the life of a man, or also of a
family, a city, a tribe or a class, is world-wide. See also Suet. Galb. 1; — cf. Suet.
Aug. 92 — and Suet. Vesp. 5; Plin. XV, 29, 36; Frazer, GB XI, p. 159—168, and Fasti II,
p. 40. The laurel in connection with the life of the king see also Shakespeare: Richard II
where it is mentioned as one of the signs that foreshadow the death or fall of kings: "the
bay-trees in our country are all withered".
147) For, as it was a lucky omen, if trees of their own accord changed their original
spot, and migrated to another, so it may have been considered fortunate, if the same
species of sacred trees were found at the old as well as at the new abode.
148) Cf. i.a. Plin. XV, 127: (laurus) gratissima domibus, ianitrix Caesarum ponti-
cumque ... ante limina.
149) E.g. Catull. 64, 289; Hor. Carm. III, 10, 5; Epist. I, 10, 22; Tibull. III, 3, 15.
 116

centre of the whole house. Of the peristylium on the contrary this could
never have been said.
Nor does the term "penetrale" preclude this explanation. For, although
later the penetrale is located in the back-building 15°) originally this term
may only have meant: the inner part of the house. So it may be used for
its innermost centre as well as for the back of the house.
Vergil uses the word "penetralia" 5 times for the innermost part of the
house, without saying, what he means exactly by itisi), and 4 times
clearly as the place of the hearth — and also sometimes of the penus, the
storeroom 152). And as both the hearth and the penus were originally
placed in the atrium 153), "penetralia" may also have been used for "atrium".
Moreover the adj. "altus" can be applied to the main room, the atrium
with its compluvium, but not to the storeroom, which must have been rather
low, nor to the entirely uncovered peristylium.
Nor did the compluvium probably exist about 900 b.C. in Latium; for
neither in the hut-urns from Alba Longa, nor in the Aedes Vestae, nor in
the Casa Romuli is it found. But at any rate it is a form, characteristic of
the Italo-Roman dwelling-house, whereas the Greek house does not
possess it. Hence Vergil's anachronism here was not half so serious.
Indeed we have other testimonies of a tree — usually no more than a
shrub154) — growing under the impluvium, whether spontaneously, or
transplanted from outside. So Liv. XLIII, 13 mentions a prodigy in the
year 163 b.C.: palmam enatam in impluvio (T. Marcii Figuli). And,
moreover, two laurels had sprung up in the Regia, in front of the sacrarium
of Mars 155). A prodigy concerning a laurel, "nata in domo" (Caesaris),
which was a symbol of his person and predicted his future victory, is also
told about Alexander Severusise). Boetticher p. 380 also considers that
the laurel-trees, which are mentioned above as being at the doors of the
Regia etc., for several reasons really stood inside the atrium.
Another reason for placing the laurel in the centre of the house of Latinus
may be, that Vergil may also have been thinking of and hinting at Athens.
For there in the uncovered inner court of the oldest royal castle, the
Erechtheion, stood the Holy tree of Pallas Athena and of Athens — as
other palaces in Greece had been built round a holy tree1") — the
olive-tree, which was connected with the oldest traditions about Athens.
So in this aspect too the history of Rome was made the equivalent of
that of Athens.

150) Blümner, Priv. Alt. p. 51.

151) G I, 379, A II, 484, 508, 665.
i«2) A II, 297, V, 660, 744, IX, 259.
«3) Cf. SA I, 726.
154) Cf. a coin of the gens Baebia, Vaillant NFR Baebia, 2.
155) Jul. Obsequ. 19; a sirailar prodigy see Liv. XXXII, 1, 12.
i«e) Hist. Aug. Al. Sev. 13, 7.
157) See Boetticher, p. 241.
 117

Vergil has here very skilfully combined at least three elements of

tradition, scil:
the only tree, left on the future site,
the holy tree of the Acropolis,
and the palm-tree in the Atrium Augusti.
He had all the more reason to take up this last tradition, as the palm-tree,
in a similar connection as is the case here, was also a symbol of
August158); and as the palm-tree, according to one tradition, was the
tree, under which Apollo was bom at Delos — whereas in all other
traditions the laurel is mentioned here — hence it was a holy tree of Apollo
as well.
For, last but not least, Vergil may have mentioned the laurel here, and
in many more instances 159), because in Greece certainly it was Apollo's
sacred tree160) by predilection 161). The reason for attributing the laurel
to Apollo especially was, according to Hehn, p. 183, that the laurel, because
of the penetrating, aromatic fragrance of its leaves and twigs, which
prevents rotting, was the tree of purification, and hence was associated
with Apollo Katharsios, and was afterwards connected with other traits of
Apollo as well.
Moreover, as is generally known, August had chosen Apollo for his
favourite protector. This god had thus far, with the exception of a revival
of his cult during the second Punic war, not occupied a prominent place
in the Roman State religion. Although officially admitted in Rome before
496 b.C.162) he had only one obsolete temple there163) and was considered
mainly a god possessed of healing power, and capable of averting
pestilence 164) and as an oracular god. But August placed him in the
centre of his State-religion, next to, or even above Jupiter Capitolinus 165).
15S) Suet. Aug. 94: Apud Mundam D. Julius, castris locum capiens, cum silvam caederet,
arborem palmae repertam (cf. quant pater inventam etc.) conservari ut omen victoriae
iussit; ex ea continuo enata suboles adeo in paucis diebus adolevit ut non aequiperaret
modo matricem, etc.... This would have been one of the main reasons for Caesar to
choose August for his successor.
189) E.g. B III, 63; VI, 83; A II, 513, III, 91, 360; V, 246, 539; VI, 658.
16°) Also other woods or trees could be sacred to him (cf. Thëdenat, DarSagl. s.v.
lucus, col. 1352/3.
181) It was present at any ceremony or feast in honour of Apollo, at his altars and
round his temples; and, as a token of Apollo it is represented on many objects, dedicated
to him (see DarSagl. s.v. Daphnephoria); so it had a prominent place in the cult of the
Pythian Apollo; cf. also the legend of Daphne; very many testimonies of this connection
of the laurel with Apollo see Boetticher, Baumkultus, p. 338 sqq.; Weniger, Altgr. Baumk.
p. 11—32; cf. also VA II, 80, 360; VB VII, 62, 64.
102) Whether directly from Cumae (Wiss. RuK. p. 293), where he was closely
connected with the Sibylline oracle, or through the intermediary of the Etruscans from
Southern Etruria (Altheim, GrGiaR p. 162 sqq.).
183) "In pratis Flaminiis".
184) Quint. Inst. Or. III, 7, 8; Aug. c. d. IV, 21.
185) It may be remarked here, that the laurel was also dedicated to Jupiter although
not so often as it was to Apollo, nor so frequently as the oak was.
 118

This is proved by the Carmen Saeculare, where Apollo (and Diana)

occupied a prominent place and also by the well-known fact, that August
in 28 b.C.166) maugurated a temple167) to Apollo on the Palatine, which
by its splendour outshone all other temples in Rome and even became a
dangerous rivall of the supreme State-sanctuary on the Capitol 168).
Not only did he give the ludi Actiaci in honour of Apollo 169), but —
in contrast with earlier times — the ludi saeculares were now given chiefly
in his honour. Apollo170) or his attributes 171) often figure on coins of
August. Cf. also Suet. Aug. 52: atque etiam argenteas statuas olim sibi
positas, conflavit omnes, exque iis aureas cortinas Apollini Palatino
dedicavit 172), and the altar of the gens Augusta at Carthage.
At first sight this is somewhat astonishing. For Apollo was not an
original Roman god, and Augustus was in the first place the restorer of
the original Roman cults. Yet it must be remarked immediately that Apollo
was one of the first Greek deities in Rome, and that August, as Suet.
Aug. 93 says: peregrinarum caeremoniarum ... veteres ac praeceptas
reverentissime coluit.
As concerns the reasons why Apollo was especially chosen by Augustus
for his patron, this may be ascribed to the fortunate coincidence that
the battle of Actium was fought near an old sanctuary of Apollo; to the
homage paid for a long time to Apollo by the gens Julia; to the fact that
one of the newly discovered sibylline oracles predicted that the golden age
would return under the reign of Apollo; to the tradition that Apollo had
been the protector of Troy, whence the Aeneads had come; to the figure

10°) Suet. Aug. 29; DC XLIX, 15; LI1I, 1, 3, Ascon. p. 80 sq.; CII I, p. 331.
l6T) After having dedicated it in 36 b. C., out of gratitude for his victory over
S. Pompeius and Antony.
168) E.g. the Sibylline books, which thus far had been kept on the Capitol, were
transferred in 12 b.C. to the temple of Apollo on the Palatine (Suet. Aug. 31; Tib. II, 5;
cf. VA VI, 72 sqq.). This is not so difficult to understand, as in the Sibylline books the
titles of the Aeneads on the sovereignty were said to be laid down. lts meaning was
however more comprehensive, as now the Palatine temple became the centre of the entire
graecus ritus. Moreover, as Wissowa, RuK p. 76 remarks, the Sibylline books, which
had repeatedly directed the management of the State, were now detached from their
connection with the supreme gods of republican Rome, and given to the new cult
Which was linked to the house of the Emperor.
Compare also the fact that the Carmen Saeculare was sung before this temple.
189) Suet. Aug. 18.
170) Cf. "Apollon sur les monnaies de César Auguste", Rev. beige de num. 1885, p. 1,
pl. 1; Gardthausen, Augustus, II, p. 203. The principal coins are: a silver coin in the
Cabinet de France, Cohen, Imp. I, n. 61, where one side represents the head of August,
the other Apollo, with his lyre; Cohen, n. 117, where the head of Apollo is represented
with the features of August; n. 343 (a silver coin of anno 738), with the war-like Apollo
(so also n. 152, 162, 164); and n. 43, 128 and 133.
1T1) E.g. his tripod (Boutkowski, n. 703, 704; Cohen Imp. I, 43, n. 12; 14; as Pascal,
II culto di Apollo in Roma, Boll. Comm. 1894, p. 70—73 remarks also the buil on coins
of Augustus (Cohen, I, p. 129, 136, 140, 152, 158 etc.) points to this relation with Apollo.
172) The same Res Gestae IV, 51 sqq.
 119

of Apollo, the ordering and pacificatory god, being well-suited for that
time; to Augustus' personal appearance and personal predilection for
Apollo; to the fact that Augustus, as a XV vir had already come into touch
with this god; and that the classic figure of Apollo was well-suited for
a counterpropaganda against Antony, as well as for Augustus policy of
(Graeco-Roman) universalism, and for expressing the ideals of the
Augustan period. (For a more circumstantial account see Excurs II, p. 130).
This prominent place of Apollo in Augustan Rome accounts for the
fact that, whereas in the older forms of the legend of Aeneas — and in
the later versions that are independent of Vergil — Apollo was not
mentioned at all194) he is frequently mentioned by Vergil, whether under
the name of Apollo or under that of Phoebus. (These two names are used
indiscriminately.) He is mentioned by Vergil oftener than any other deity
— possibly with the exception of Jupiter —, although in the Aeneid he
plays no real personal part, as Jupiter, Juno and Venus do. Therefore he
does not stand in any personal contrast to Juno or Venus here, as in
Homer. Nor is he the mouth-piece or servant of Jupiter and he is seldom
referred to as the sun-god, but mostly as an oracular deity 195) — which
at first sight seems somewhat astonishing, as Aeneas might be sufficiently
enlightened as to the future by his divine mother —, as a god of medical
craft, or in connection with the Augustan poets196). Or 197) he is fore-
shadowed as Augustus' protector 198), or (cf. III, and VI, 59 199)) is
generally mentioned as the god, by whom Aeneas was conducted 200). This
proves that Vergil, although he was aware of Apollo's essentially Greek

194) Heinze, p. 84/85.

195) Especially in books III and VI; cf. VIII, 241; he is mentioned under all his
hypostases, as the Grynean (OV, 245 sqq.), the Thymbraean (III, 93 sqq.), the Clarani
(III, 359 sq.; 395, 434), and the Cumaean Apollo (VI, 9, 56, 59, 69 sqq.; 72—101), cf. also
the oracle of Gryneion, IV, 346. Moreover the seers that enlighten Aeneas about the
future are for the greater part inspired by Apollo, as Helenus in III, the Sibyll in VI.
196) Especially in the Eclogae.
197) VI, 69; VIII, 704: Actius haec cernens arcum intendebat Apollo (cf. VII, 241,
and the actian games III, 280); VIII, 720; IX, 638; cf. also XI, 785, where Apollo is
addressed "summe deum", and G III, 36, where the Troiae Cynthius auctor is mentioned
among the ancestors of Augustus.
198) Cf. also Lersch: Antiquitates Vergilianae, p. 143: Apollo ... propterea memorabilis
quia subtili quadam erga Augustum adulatione non raro carmine intexitur, etc.
199) For a detailed survey see Bailey, p. 638 sqq.
20°) It must be remarked that in the last books of the Aeneis Apollo figures but
rarely, and mostly as an archer and helper in the war. Gercke p. 137 takes this as an
argument that these books are older, and that the frequent mention of Apollo is only a
secondary revision of Vergil, to give a certain unity to the various oracles and
prodigies (especially in III), and in accordance with the promotion of the cult of Apollo
by Augustus.
This argument however is not very strong in my opinion. For already Prop. II, 34, 61
(hence before 26 b.C.) mentions Apollo in connection with Vergil's plans to write an
epos. (Actia Vergilium custodis litora Phoebi Caesaris et fortes dicere posse rates (iuvet).
 120

character, strcssed the points in which he was connected with Rome, viz.
the Sibylline oracles, the patronage of Apollo over the Augustan poets, and
— what is especially of interest to us 'here: his relation with August himself.
This patronage of Apollo over August especially accounts for Vergil's
allowing himself to commit the anachronism of making Latinus consecrate
this tree to Apollo201). For, as Vergil must have known, Apollo was not
found among the oldest Roman deities; the more certainly must he have
been absent in Latinus' time. Nor was the line "ipse ferebatur Phoebo
sacrasse Latinus" necessary, but it might very well have been omitted,
except if Vergil had a special intention with it.
This intention may have been to foreshadow the reign of August and
his measures in the time of Aeneas, and to stress the fact that not only
were Aeneas and his Trojans patronized by Apollo (cf. VA II, 513 sqq.;
where in the palace of Priamus: aedibus in mediis nudoque sub aetheris axe
ingens ara fuit juxtaque veterrima laurus incumbens arae atque umbra
complexa Penates), but also the group which, in combination with them,
formed the substrate of the later Romans, scil. the Laurentes. And, in the
same way as in Troy the Penates had stood in the shadow of a laurel of
Apollo, so would they henceforth stand in Italy 202).
The following particulars have still to be mentioned: The temple on the
Palatine stood in the immediate neighbourhood of the palace of Augustus,
and was even connected with it2<>3). Although it was considered more or
less as a sanctuary of the State, and even became a dangerous rival of the
supreme State-sanctuary (see above), it really stood in solo privato204).
And here too the laurel of Apollo, after which the Laurentes are named,
is really standing in the house of Latinus.
In connection with the naming of the Laurentes after (the holy tree of)
Latinus it may be mentioned here that the day of foundation of the ancient
temple of Apollo coincided with the birth-day of Augustus (23 September).
Whether this coincidence was genuine, or whether the day of foundation
of the temple was later intentionally shifted to Augustus' birth-day, to
ingratiate him, in any case Augustus must have attached importance to
this coincidence. Moreover Augustus was born in the tenth month, which
was dedicated to Apollo (cf. Suet. Aug. 94). For these reasons also Vergil
may have brought the foundation of the town of the Laurentes in connection
with Apollo.

201) It must be remarked however that the anachronism is not so serious as it would
have been if Vergil had made Latinus dedicate another object than the laurel to Apollo.
For Apollo's connection with the laurel was of long standing in Italy, since long before
he was a god of the light he was a medical god in Italy, a purificatory god. (Cf. Hoffmann,
Apollo Kitharödos, Philol. 1889, p. 679 sqq.)
202) Cf. also OTr. III, 41 sqq.: domus ista (scil. Augusti) quia Leucadio semper amata
deo est; and OF IV, 951 sqq.; OM XV, 864 sqq.
203) DC XLIX, 15, 5; LIII, 1, 3; Hülsen-Jordan Top. I, 3, p. 66 sqq.
**) DC l.c.i Veil. Pat. II, 81, 3.
 121

However, by naming the Laurentes after the tree of Apollo, and not
after Apollo himself, he merely made the connection indirect. Nor did
August, as Immisch and Altheim expound, ever identify himself directly
with Apollo 205). Of course there are many instances of a more or less
close resemblance of August with Apollo, in many of the latter's qualities
and attributes 206). And not only do the Jatter often figure on coins and even
in statues of August (cf. Ps. Acr. Schol. Hor. Epist. I, 2, 17: Caesar in
Bibliotheca sibi statuam posuit habitu ac statu Apollinis; and SB IV, 10:
Augustum cui simulacrum factum est cum Apollinis cunctis insignibus).
But even the features of Augustus' face were sometimes given to
Apollo 207). Compare also the cena dcodexd&eog, mentioned by Suet.
Aug. 70, at which Octavianus participated: pro Apolline ornatus.
I see no reason to reject these last items, as Immisch does 2°8), and
to deny that August ever wanted himself to be identified with Apollo.
Therefore I can better agree with Altheim 2°9) who says, that originally
August may have aimed at a direct identification, but because of the

-05) Thus he contrasted himself with Caesar, who was directly called Jupiter Julius
(DC XLIV, 6, 4).
206) As concerns the former: the physician C. Valgius dedicated his treatise on
medicine (Plin. XXV, 2) ad divum Augustum, inchoata etiam praefatione religiosa, ut
omnibus malis humanis illius potissimum principis semper mederetur maiestas.
As concerns his attributes: cf. the augural lituus on several Augustan coins (e.g.
Boutkowski, Dict. 679: and VA IV, 376; Hor. Od. I, 2, 32: augur Apollo). It was said
that his head on his entering Rome after the death of Caesar was surrounded by an aureole
of the sun — hence a sign of Apollo. (Jul. Obs. 68 (128); Veil. Pat. II, 59, 6). Cf. also
VA VIII, 720; Ipse (Caesar) sedens niveo candentis limine Phoebi, with Hor. Od. I, 2, 30;
nube candentes humeris amictus, Augur Apollo; and Prop. IV, 6, 11 sqq. (Many of these
instances are borrowed from Pascal, op. cit.)
207) Cf. the gemma parisina, and the coin of Valerius Aciculus, Ann. d Inst
1839, p. 320.
20s) Immisch considers Ps. Acr. l.c. either falsified, or but an artistia identification, and
the story mentioned Suet. Aug. 94 a later invention. According to him there is not the
least reason to suppose that August ever wished himself to be identified with Apollo.
209) Altheim, III, p. 62 sqq. points — rightly in my opinion — to the fact that
Mercurius is also said to be immanent in Octavian (Hor. I, 2), and is represented with
his features (Röm. Mitt. 42, 163; Fürtwangler, Ant. Gemm. Taf. 38, 30), although on
private monuments only. The shape in which the god appears on the earth therefore
coincides with the outward appearance of the emperor. Therefore the notice of Pseudo-
Acro, as well as SB IV, 10, cannot be rejected without further comment. "Nur ist freilich
der diesmal zugrunde liegende Vorstellung insofern eine veranderte, als nicht der Gott auf
die Erde herabgestiegen und die Gestalt des Herrschers angenommen hat, sondem umge-
kehrt dieser bewusst ins Uebermenschliche gesteigert, der göttlichen Sphare angenahert
wird. Der scheinbar geringfügige Unterschied ist doch insofern von Bedeutung als im
zweiten Fall eine direkte Identifikation des Herrschers mit Apollo vermieden wird!"
Also the cena <f<otffxa»tos and Octavianus' appearing as Apollo may be genuine and
not a mere youthful frivolity, according to him, but have had a deeper meaning. Here
das Apollinische in Octavian may have expressed itself for the first time. And he may
have meant a direct identification with the god. But perhaps because of the protest of
Roman public opinion against the direct apotheosis of a living person August may
 122

protest of public opinion in Rome he may have formulated his identification

with Apollo in a much more prudent form.
Hence Vergil may also have acted in coordination with August's
intentions here.
This indirect connection between the laurel, Apollo and August may
also appear from a circular altar at Bononia where it is mentioned
on an inscription that a sacred laurel has been planted to Apollo and the
genius Augusti; and from a coin Coh. I, 44, n. 18, where on the one side
is represented the head of Apollo, crowned with laurel, on the other is
written: Imp. Caes. Aug. etc.
For the rest this laurel of Latinus may have been represented in the
Ara of the Lares Augusti in the Belvedere 210) where Latinus, with a roll in
his hands, is seen sitting leaning against a tree, whereas Aeneas is standing
opposite him, at his feet the sus with the 30 porei.

Hence the entire research as to the historicity of the cult of the laurus,
and its connection with the Laurentes, may be superfluous, as Vergil may
have caused the Laurentes to be named after the laurel only to remind
his readers of August.
In the first place because of August's connection with the laurel and
with Apollo. (For the rest the laurel was associated with Vergil as well211).)
In the second place because August may have possessed an estate in
the ager Laurens, — which may even have been called Laurentum 212).

henceforth have kept himself aloof and formulated his identification with Apollo in a
much more prudent form. His contact with Apollo was not denied but he was not
directly identified with him in the State-cult. At most he may have allowed —
at least not have suppressed — the view that he was Apollo's son. Cf. Suet.
Aug. 94: in Asclepiadis Mendetis SioXoyov/iivwv libris lego Atiam cum ad sollemne
Apollinis sacrum media nocte venisset ... obdormisse; draconem repente inrepsisse ad eam,
etc Augustum natum mense decimo et ob hoe Apollinis filium existimatum.
This view was not greatly at variance with the common Roman view, as Apollo was
the tutelary deity of the gens Julia.
What Octavian had once not shrunk from representing in his own person, was only
expressed in a plastic form, although he may have remained vividly convinced of his own
Apollonian character.
210) Visconti', Piocl. 6, 20; Mus. Ghiaram. 3, T. 19.
211) Cf. Don. Vit. Verg. p. 55 R.: praegnans eo mater somniavit enixam se laureum
ramum, etc.
212) This may be indicated by:
1°. the fact that Geil. X, 2, 2 mentions that after the death of an ancilla Caesaris
Augusti in agro Laurentum ... monumentique ei factum iussu Augusti in via Laurentina,
as is not altogether rejected by Dessau either.
2°. that, as Carcopino p. 246—261 remarks, in the ager Laurens there were many villas,
and during the time of the Emperors there must have been a large imperial estate on the
site of the modern Tor Paterno.
3°. the vicus Augustanus Laurentum (or the Laurentes vico Augustano) at a distance
of 7 km from Ostia, and 12 km from Pratica-Lavinium. (CIL XIV, 2040—2052, 301.
341, 347, 352, 431), which may have heen founded by August immediately outside his
 123

This last argument however I put forward only with much hesitation; for
Carcopino bases himself on suppositions rather than on arguments.

At any rate this (or these) may be the reason(s) why he mentioned the
Laurentes at all. For in none of the other sources is the people over which
Latinus reigns — and which is not yet named Latini (see above) -—- called
Laurentes. But, whereas in earlier traditions he is king of the Etrusci
(Hesiod. l.c.) or of Alba Longa and of the Latini213) or has founded
Rome (SA I, 273) in nearly all the later traditions this people is called the
Aborigines214) and only the region where Aeneas lands is called ager
Laurens or ACOQSVTOV 2 1 5 ) .
Only Augustinus216) mentions them as the tribe of Latinus, but he
owes this information no doubt to Vergil.
Vergil may have been conscious of the fact that in his sources the
"ager Laurens" or the beach was frequently found, whereas the Laurentes
did not yet figure at all in the legend of Aeneas. For of the 27 times that
he uses Laurens (and twice Laurentius) he uses it 9 times in the combinat-
ion "ager L. or the like217), or as an adjective in a combination where it

own estate for his servants and tenants, to give them a beginning of a certain admini-
strative autonomy.
4°. the fact that nowadays too this region is entirely reserved for the caccia reale.
213) Ennius fr. 22 V.
214) Even in Timaeus he very probably is king of the BoQtiyovoi (cf. Lykophr. Al.
1253); in Kallias (DH I, 72) he is king of the Aborigines. So also in Rome tx naXaiGtv
Xóyatv iv iQaïs <fiXroig otaSo/uviov (DH I. 73); Cato also (SA I, 6) says: Primo
Italiam tenuisse quosdam qui appellabantur Aborigines, hos postea adventu Aeneae
Phrygibus iunctos Latinos uno nomine nuncupatos; id. ap. Prisc. V, 12, 65; VI, 8, 41; further
Liv. I, 1, 12; Dio ap. Zon. VII, 1, 1; Tzetz. Lyk. 1254; Strab. V, p. 229; Appian. Reg. 1;
frg. 1; DH I, 9; 43; 44; 45; 57; 59; 60; 63; Juba ap. Steph. Byz. s.v. 'Afiogiyivsq.
cf. Justin. XLIII, 1, 3: Italiae cultores primi Aborigines fuere; and SalJ. Catil. 6. 1.
215) Cato (SA XI, 316: Cato enim in Originibus dicit Troianos a Latino accepisse
agrum qui est inter Laurentum et castra Troiana); Cassius Hemina (ap. Solin. II, 14:
Aeneam in agro Laurenti posuisse castra); Strab. V, p. 229: cpaol <fi Alvilav /ttxa tov
rtaiQÖs . .. •Kata.Qavraq «§ AdvQtvxov r>]s 7i"ki\Giov TÓJV 'SiGrccuv xai TOV Tiftégtfog yióvog;
Tzetz. Lyk. 1232: Aivnag t£s 'Ixaktciv xttt -larii'01-S nagayCvtxai ntQi AavQtvxov de nQoGtsiv.tiXt
tb xat Tgolav %aXovntvov; D. H. I, 45: TnGnq oi Ovv Aivtia. (iiaff vyovTij tg 'lï.iov tjfc
nóXttoq illovfii,; xciTtöxov tig i'rüi', aiyiaXöv 'A(ioQiy(v<x>v jni rtp ntXdyti
xci/itvov. 53; TtXtvrüvrts <f' urpnviövtai Ti[q 'IxaXiat; tt's AavQtvxov, 'évO-a tijs nXdvtjf ixctvoa-
/itvoi x<xQax<* '&tvxo xai xö x»>Qiov iv to vMxaOxQaxoiiMftvOavxo ixsivov Tnoia xaltcxai.
55; 63; Appian. l.c.; cf. also Ennius: quos homines quondam Laurentis terra recepit cum
vetus occubuit Priamus sub Mare Pelasgo.
210) C.d. XVIII, c. 15: exortum est regnum Laurentum, ubi Saturni filius Picus regnum
primus accepit; iatn ergo regnabant Laurentes utique in Italia, ex quibus evidentior ducitur
origo Romana post Graecos; c. 16: Latino, ex quo Latinorum regnum dici coepit
Laurentumque cessavit.
21T) X, ora L. (X, 706), solum L. (VIII, 38; XII, 547); campi L. (XII, 542); arva
L. (VII, 661; IX, 100; XII, 24); agri L. (XI, 431).
 124

might mean: "of the ager Laurens"218). And only a few times does he
really use it as a substantive to designate a tribe219).
As concerns the historicity of the Laurentes: Dionysius mentions the
Laurentes only in a later period V, 61, in the list of the members of a
league directed against Rome; this list according to Hugh Last220) is a
late invention however. Livy I, 14 221) mentions them as the tribe or town
that murdered Titus Tatius; VIII, 11, 15 he mentions that in 337 BC, after
the Latin war: extra poenam fuere Latinorum Laurentes quia non
desciverant. cum Laurentibus renovari foedus iussum. Cato ) mentions
222

in the inscription of Aricia after the populus Lanuvinus also the populus
Laurens as one of the 8 populi over which Rome's power was established
about 500 b.C. The AavQevxïvoi may also be mentioned Polyb. III, 22 in
the first treaty between Carthage as one of the mercantile ports on the
Latin coast 223).
In later periods the name Laurens is found on inscriptions from Lavinium
and its surroundings, mostly in combination with "Lavinas" 224).
As these latter testimonies are rather late, they need not prove the
existence of the Laurentes as a special tribe. Nor does the fact that the
country is named ager Laurens or Laurentum 225) prove that there existed
a tribe of the Laurentes, for "ager Laurens" may have meant not "the
ager of the Laurentes", but "the ager of the laurels".
But in view of 1°. the lists in Livy and Polybius, 2°. the fact that there is
no place — as in the case of Circei etc. — whence they may have derived
their name226) and 3°. the populus Ardeatis Rutulus 227) we may conclude
that this tribe once actually existed. This may also be the opinion of
Gelzer 228), Philipp 229), Carcopino 230), Preller 231), Nissen 232) and
Klausen.
21S) E.g. X, 709: palus L.; V, 797: 1. Thybrim; VIII, 71: L. nymphae; VII, 47:
Laurente Marica; VI, 891: L. populos.
219) Here; VII, 371; 537; 613; XII, 137; 280; 240: ipsi Laurentes mutati ipsique Latini.
22°) CAH VII, p. 488.
221) So also Varr. 1. 1. V, 16; Zonar. VII, 4 D.
222) Ap. Prisc. IV, 29 H.
223) Where he mentions the AQtvrlvoi.
224) CIL XIV, 2070—2078 (from the time of Antoninus Pius onwards); X, 797 (from
the time of Claudius): sacra principia p. RQ, quae apud Laurentes coluntur; IX, 4686;
III, 1180; 6270; V, 6357; VI, 2176; VIII, 1439, 7978; Ndsc. 1888, 236, 408. In most of
them a sacerdos Laurentum Lavinatum is mentioned; CIL X, 8348: bellum Laurentinum.
About the vicus Augustanus Laurentum see note
225) Cf. also OF II, 678: Laurentes in agros; and Strab. V, 232; Val. Max. I, 6, 7;
silva Laurentina.
220) It is not likely that a town named Laurentum existed (see below).
227) Cat. or. fr. 58; Strab. V, 232; Liv. IV, 11, 4.
228) RE s.v. Latium.
229) RE s.v. Lavinium.
230) p. 266 sqq.
ï31) II, p. 320.
M2) II, p. 571
 125

As concerns their origin: according to Klausen the Laurentes champion

the interests of — and hence are identical with — the "als Eroberer ein-
gewanderte Aboriginer" who have come from the mountains. Also
according to Carcopino p. 266 they were closely connected with the family
of Latin peoples. However he does not altogether reject the possibility of
their being Ligurians.
This may be the real state of affairs. For there are many traces in the
plains along the sea-coast of pre-indo-european toponymies, which are
proved to be not Etrurian. They have the greatest affinity with the
Ligurian language.
This may also account for the fact that the Laurentes retained a some-
what special character among the Latini233).
As concerns their territory — or at any rate the territory of the ager
Laurens — the inscriptions give us no opportunity to define it more
precisely 234).
According to the testimonies from literature it must at one time
have stretched Westwards as far as the Tiber 235), Eastwards
according to Steph. Byz. 236) as far as Antium, according to Festus 237)
even as far as the paludes Pomptinae. And Servius says: Laurentum
civitas plurimum potuit. nam omnia vicina loca eius imperio subiacuerunt.
According to Cassius Hemina238 Aeneas had accepted 500 iugera from
Latinus, according to Cato239) 2700 iugera inter Laurentum et castra
Troiana; in that case Latinus' own country must have been considerably
larger still. All this land need not have belonged however to the land of
the Laurentes. (See below.)
Therefore Carcopino p. 266 sqq. concludes that in historical times they
occupied the country between the Tiber and the ager Pomptinus, and that
"il n'y a pas lieu d'être surpris si, au moins a 1'origine, ils ont semblé se
confondre avec 1'ensemble des Latins".
In my opinion, however, the remark of Servius must be greatly
exaggerated. Moreover as the tribe of the Rutuli is situated at Ardea
the Laurentes cannot have lived beyond the Numicus, at least not when
the Rutuli lived at Ardea, as is also the opinion of Nissen l.c.; and the
extension of the ager Laurens as far as the Liris 240) may be, as Nissen

233) Cf, OF III, 93, who mentions that March is the fifth month for the Laurentes;
and Fest. p. 4 s.v. Armita: legibus enim Laurentum sanctum est ne... etc.
234) No inscriptions are found with the name of the Laurentes in Latium, except on
the site of Lavinium, and on that of the vicus Augustanus Laurentum.
235) SA VII, 661: secundum antiquum situm, ante Albam et Romam, Tiberis Laurentis
fuit territorii.
236) S.V. "Avrtia: f'Ori xaï "AVTIOV n<>).{* Ittru AoiQivtöv rijs IxaXias,
237) p. 317 M; Stura flumen in agro Laurenti est quod quidam Asturam vocant.
238) Solin. II, 14.
239) SA XI, 316.
2«) Cf. VA VII, 47; Stat. Silv. I, 3, 83.
 126

remarks, only a poetical arbitrariness. Nor must the reduction of the

territory of the Laurentes be ascribed, as Carcopino does, to their detaching
themselves from the Albani, etc. But the latter, as well as the Rutuli, who
were of another origin, may have intruded upon the Laurentine territory.
Therefore, as Philipp says, the area of the territory of the Laurentes may
have greatly varied.
At any rate in historical times the ager Laurens occupied, as Nissen
remarks, a region along the coast originally about 16, later about 14 miles
long; landwards it was confined by the ager Solonius 241).
In any case their territory probably always included Lavinium.
It may even be that the Laurentes never occupied more than this modest
territory. But by the fact that they lived on the sea-coast, and not far from
the mouth of the Tiber, their name may have reached Greek literature.
And it may be that this is also the opinion of Vergil. The Laurentes may
not be the whole people of Latinus — cf. 1. 45: rex arva Latinus et urbes ...
regebat — but only the inhabitants of one town, the residence of Latinus,
and perhaps of its immediate surroundings. (Cf. "primas cum conderet
arces" and "colonis".)
Yet perhaps we do too much honour to Vergil's exactitude in seeking
to explain away this inconsistency. For he himself is not very consistent
either. For, whereas he here says that Latinus had instituted the name
Laurentes, VII, 47 he calls Latinus' mother Laurente Marica; XII, 769 his
father Faunus is called Laurens divus, XI, 851 he speaks of king Dercennus
as "antiqui Laurentis"; and last not least, whereas Vergil here says that
the town had been founded by Latinus, after he had found the laurel here,
1. 171 he speaks of the palace of Latinus as "Laurentis regia Pici".
Finally: Vergil giving this aetiological explanation of the name of the
Laurentes 242) — whether it corresponds to reality or not — follows the
Hellenistic custom of distributing learned, and especially aetiological
remarks (Cf. the Aitia of Kallimachus). These scientific details might
concern all sorts of subjects 243), but there was i.a. a predilection for local

241) Cf. Klausen: der westlich von Laurentum gelegene Landstrich (bis zum Tiber)
kann unbedenklich, östlich aber eine nicht mit Sicherheit zu begrenzende Strecke damit
bezeichnet werden; and Carcopino p. 268/9: "du Tibre au Rio Torto, de la mer au Vle
mile a partir de Rome et aux premières pentes des Monts". He remarks that at the
beginning of the third century b.C. the territory of the Laurentes was again reduced
by the creation of the provincia Ostiensis and the ager Ostiensis, which was partly
situated in the North-Western part of the ancient ager Laurens. By this its North-Western
boundary was removed from the Tiber three kilometres southwards to the swampy estuary,
the bridge over which is mentioned CIL XIV, 126: (Carinus et Numerianus anno 284 AD)
pontem Laurentibus atque Ostiensibus olim vetustate collabsum lapideum restituerunt.
As this testimony is very late however, I consider it a dangerous practice to draw any
conclusion from it.
242) As also I, 367/8 of the name Byrsa for instance.
248) E.g. history, geography, philology, philosophy, astronomy, the rernembrance of
primitive days, etc.
 127

antiquities and curious legends of the various cities. These digressions on

subjects of local history occupied a not unimportant place in Helenistic
literature and poetry 244), where they supplied the want of new themes 245).
Yet these remarks on local history etc. are artistically selected by Vergil,
and are not only of learned interest, but often contributed to the greater
glory of his country, and are always brought into harmony with his
tale 246).

The following prodigy is not only a bee-prodigy (scil. of bees which

attach themselves to a certain object, i.c. a tree), but also a tree-prodigy
(scil. of a tree, which is subject to a certain thing, i.c. the clinging of the
bees. As will be shown below bee-prodigies were often observed in Rome.
But so were tree-prodigies 246*).
This belief in tree-prodigies is wide-spread. Above some testimonies have
already been given as to the belief in the connection between accidents
happening to a tree, and the life of a certain person, family, or city, in Rome
as well as in other countries. See further Boetticher 246fc).
pater. Latinus is called "pater" here.
This epithet may be given to him, because:
1. Latinus was deified afterwards (see above), and the epithet pater
was applied to many of the ancient gods 247) or deified kings 248),

244) Cf. e.g. Duris, and Neanthes, who combined local with general history; and see
the Atthides, especially of Philochorus, as well as similar treatises on the history of Sparta
and many cities of Asia Minor, especially by Polemon of Ilium. A list of such chronicles
in Christ-Schmid, p. 215.
245) See Erwin Rohde, Gr.Roman, p. 24—27. Hellenistic literature having lost the
interest in the old myths, chose local legends, which had no real mythical, religious or
historical background, rather than really historical subjects. For such short and minute
legends corresponded better to their poetical ability, and they took an interest in
antiquities and in subjects, not known to and treated by everybody. Moreover these local
legends contributed to the glory of certain cities and peoples, and satisfied local patriotism.
(Cf. W. W. Tarn: Hellenistic Civilization, p. 244: "Any poet who came to a city and
recited his poem on its history was liberally fêted and honoured".)
248) See Eleanor Shipley Duckett, p. 23 sqq.
246a) Cf Plin. XVIII, 38, who mentions the commentarii Epidii, and XVII 38; and
Macrob. Sat. III, 20, who quotes a fragment of the ostentarium arborarium of Tarquitius
Priscus; the Sibylline books may also have dealt with them.
2466) p 163 Sqq
247) E.g. Jupiter, Diespiter, Dispiter; cf. Lucil. ap. Lact. Inst. IV, 3: nemo sit nostrum
quin aut pater optimus divum aut Neptunus pater, Liber Saturnus pater. Mars, Janus,
Quirinus pater siet ac dicatur ad unum; Geil. N. A. V, 12; further Summanus, Vediovis
pater, divus pater Falacer, pater Curis, deus pater Subigus, pater Albensis; Terra mater,
Mater Matuta, (see further Preller-Jordan I, 56); see also SG II, 4: pater, licet generale
sit omnium deorum, etc.; Augustin. c. d. VII, 3: unde dicit ipse Varro (speaking of the
deities of the indigitamenta) quod diis quibusdam patribus et deabus matribus sicut
hominibus, ignobilitas accidisset.
248) Pater Sabinus (VA VII, 179), Reatinus, Aventinus, Tiberinus; see also several
instances in n. 247.
 128

especially to the Indigetes 249), to whom Latinus belonged to a certain

extent; and it was often joined on to the proper name.
Most likely the epithet "father" was applied to many Roman gods —
as well as to gods of many other peoples 250) — not, as Frazer251)
supposes, because this really implied paternity and maternity of the gods,
but 252) it characterized the relation of the gods to the community who
w o r s h i p p e d them, a n d which relation w a s a patriarchal o n e 5 3 ) ,
2

2. Latinus was the founder of the city of the Laurentes, and (Quint.
III, 7, 26) pro parente est conditor. Romulus was thus also called the parens
of Rome 254). For the rest this title of Romulus also emphasized the parental
relation to the State which the king had once had.
In any case, both as founder of the city and in his paternal relation to it
Latinus here prefigured Romulus. And at the same time he prefigured
Augustus. For not only was Augustus called parens of one of his
colonies 255)( but he also wanted to be considered as the refounder
of Rome.
3. The idea of the ruler in the Aeneid, as Sellar p. 376/7 remarks, is
the same as that of the "Father". "The difficulties of the problem of
government are solved in Vergil by the picture which he draws of passive
and loyal submission on the part of nobles and people to a wise, beneficent
and disinterested ruler and legislator." This tameness of Vergil's
reproduction of active political life Sellar ascribes to his apathy in
regard to it.
In my opinion, however. Vergil may have represented the rulers in the
Aeneid 256) thus because Augustus wished to be considered in the first

place as the father of his people. The latter fact appears from the title
of pater patriae being bestowed on him in 2 b.C. 257) _ which he valued
very much 5 8 ) _
2

249) According to Preller-J. I, p. 95/6 Latinus is the divus pater Latiaris, and in all
probability an Indiges as well (but see above).
2j0) Zcvj naT)](j. Ati/ttjztiif, Jtim'iTVQoi. Father Odin, Father Ahura Mazda.
251) Kingship. p. 412.
252) So Wissowa, p. 26/7; Warde Fowler, p. 155/7; Preller-J. p. 56; Bickei, p. 89;
Dieterich, Mithras, p. 142.
25S) "Die italischen Götter wurden insgemein als Vater und Mütter gedacht, im Sinne
einer patriarchalischen und einfach gemütlichen Vorstellungsweise" (Preller-J. l.c.); "the
figurative use of human relationships is surely a common practice, when addressing their
deities, of all peoples who have reached the stage of family-life. The Romans themselves
were familiar from the first with such figurative use .... as was natural to a people, in
whom the family-instinct was so strong." (Warde Fowler, RE, p. 156/57.)
~54) Liv. I, 16; V, 49, 7; Tac. Hist. I, 84; cf. Manni, Romulus e parens patriae nell'
ideologia politica e religiosa romana (Mond. Class. 1933).
255) Bononia; see CIL XI, 720; cf. also Hor. Carm. III, 24, 27.
256) Not only Latinus, but also Aeneas, Euander, Acestes, etc.
2o') Mon. Anc. 35, 1: tertium decimum consulatum cum gerebam, senatus et equester
ordo populusque Romanus universus appellavit me patrem patriae; Suet. Aug. 58; Fast.
Praen. CIL I, p. 314, 384; OF II, 127; more testimonies Gardthausen, II, p. 735, n. 32.
 129

It is not at all impossible that Augustus favoured this idea many

years before, during the life of Vergil. For although he did not receive this
title officially before 2 b.C., he had commonly been called "pater"
before 259).
He may have aspired after this title because:
a) it was in accordance with the tradition concerning Romulus (see
above), and made Augustus a second Romulus;
b ) it had already been bestowed on Caesar260) as well as on other
persons 261) who were considered to have preserved the State. So Augustus
too was considered a preserver of the Roman State;
c) at the same time he was thus designated as the head of the Roman
state-family, as its pater familias. This title "pater" emphasized the
paternal relation to the State which the king had once had, and, as Dio
(LIII, 1, 8) points out, this title, which originally was complimentary, and
was intended to promote the sense of duty and affection on either side,
at the same time gave real authority to the emperors on the analogy of
the patria potestas.

Excurs I.
This also explains the use of sacer in connection with persons in the
combination, already referred to, scil. "homo sacer" 73). For, in my opinion,
this dual meaning of "sacer" does not originate from the fact, that, as
ErnM. say: sacer désigne celui qui ne peut être touché sans être souillé,
ou sans souiller", nor does sacer in its unfavourable meaning signify: "given

258) Suet. l.c.: Cui lacrimans respondit Augustus his verbis (ipsa enim posui ...)
compos factus votorum meorum, . ..quid habeo aliud deos immortales precari quam ut
hunc consensum vestrum ad ultimum finem vitae mihi perferre liceat; Mon. Anc. l.c.:
idque in vestibulo aedium mearum inscribendum et in curia Julia et in foro Augusti etc.
259) DC LV, 10: Ka\ »/ t7i(avvfiia tj zov TTARQÖG AXGCFIMS fdóS-tj, TZQÓT(QOV YAQ aXXc og avtv
tyrwionaxos fCf. also Hor. Carm. I, 2, 50; and inscriptions and coins
(especially from Asia Minor), e.g. Dessau 96 and note, 101; Coh. I, 2, 74, n. 78;
cf. Newton, Halicarn. 2, 2. p. 695; CIL II, 2107; III suppl. 6803; IX, 5680; X, 823,
4781; XI, 3083.
2G0) DC XLIV, 4, 4; Suet. Caes. 85; Ov. a. a. I, 203 sqq.; Coh. I, p. 9, 16; cf. Cic. II,
Phil. 31, 13; 23. And Antony erected his statue on the rostra and inscribed it: parenti
optimo maximo.
291) Caimillus (Liv. V, 49; Plut. Cam. 10) and Cicero, after his execution of the
Catilinarians (App. B.C. 2, 7; Plut. Cic. 28); cf. also Plut. Suil. 34.
73) Cf. Fest. p. 321: sacer homo est, quem populus iudicavit ob maleficium; (neque
fas est eum immolari — this last addition is puzzling, as human sacrifices in Rome in all
probability did not exist in early times — see Wiss. RuK., p. 35 a.o.; Warde Fowler, Rel.
Exp. p. 33 a.o. — and perhaps must be retraced to a note, which even Festus no longer
understood); Macrob. Sat. II, 7, 3: cum cetera sacra violari nefas sit, hominem sacrum
ius fuerit occidi; and the expression, later reduced to a mere curse: sacer esto (e.g. Fest.
424, 5). (Other combinations, where sacer also has an unfavourable meaning, e.g. the
well-known: "auri sacra fames", are only imitations of this formula, or translations from
a similar expression in Greek.
9
 130

over to the infernal deities or their agents for them to dispose of", or:
"accursed and left to a deity to be avenged on, if the deity be so minded",
as Warde Fowler (JRS I, p. 57 sqq.) says; but sacer in its unfavourable
meaning signifies merely, that the so-called object has been withdrawn
from the ius humanum, therefore from the human legal customs, and also
from the human legal securities 74).
So "sacer" and "sanctus" have not only a similar meaning, but also a
similar origin. In historical times, however, there is, according to the later
difference between the act of "sancire" and that of "(con)secrare" a
distinction between them75); now sacer is that which has a direct relation
to the cult, whereas sanctus lacks this relation, but indicates in spite of
this that by the additional sanction the object, to which it is applied, has
an exceptional position. Or, as ErnM. s.v. sancio say: sacer indique un état,
sanctus le résultat d'un acte.
Later "sanctus", perhaps in imitation of the Greek UQÖS also acquired
the ethical, moral meaning of "revered, venerable, respected", which later
even became "saintly". Traces of this transition of meaning are already
met with in Cicero and Vergil76) (cf. VA XI, 158). But even then sanctus
is used with substantives, where "sacer" would also have been possible,
and vice versa. Cf. e.g. VA XI, 785: sancti custos Soracts Apollo, with
X, 230: Idaeae sacro de vertice; and VIII, 72: Tiberine, tuo cum flumine
sancto, with VII, 242: fontis vada sacra Numici. This may point perhaps
to Vergil's being acquainted with the original state of affairs77).

Excurs II.
As to the reasons why Apollo was chosen by Augustus for his patron,
some authors173) ascribe this to the fortunate coincidence that the battle

74) A man may have been placed beyond human legal securities, because, e.g. by a
secular offence against the community, he had given proof of possessing a strong power:
or, which is perhaps a still more primitive thought, underlying this fact: as for primitive
thought the "orenda" of a criminal is not essentially different from that of e.g. a great
benefactor and man set great store by the possession of the "orenda" of another,
powerful, man (cf. head-hunting, and cannibalism), but could not kill this man, if the
latter stood under the legal protection of the community, this powerful man was placed
beyond its legal security.
The meaning, attached to "homo sacer" in historical times, scil. that the person thus
named had his caput and his bona confiscated, can very well be explained from its
original meaning, and is very near it still, whereas the idea of assignment to a deity
was not connected with it till later. Cf. Macrob. l.c.
75) See Pfister, RE s.v. Kults, col. 2117.
7«) Cf. Ulp. Dig. 1, 8, 9.
77) So also Bailey, p. 73 sqq.
173) Lürsen, De templo et bibliotheca Apollinis Palatini, p. 17; Kühne, De Horatii
carmine saeculari, p. 30 sqq.; Hecker, De Apollinis apud Romanos cultu, p. 36; — this
may also be the opinion of Warde Fowler (RE p. 443): "Apollo, his (August's) own
specially protecting deity since Actium".
 131

of Actium was fought near an old sanctuary of Apollo. This made August
transfer the tutelary deity of this spot to Rome174).
Indeed Apollo ascribed his victory at Actium to Apollo Actiacus (cf. VA
VIII, 704 sqq.: Actius haec cernens arcum intendebat Apollo, etc.), in
whose honour he accordingly founded a temple175) and a town
(Nicopolis 176), and instituted games there, the ludi Actiaci177). And
henceforth he also dedicated the temple on the Palatine to Apollo who
had given him the victory at Actium *78). Of course this must have been
one of August's reasons, as is also admitted by Pascal l.s. p. 54 sqq.;
Preller-Jordan I, p. 307, and Otto Immisch179).
But there must be still other reasons. For Veil. Pat. II, 81 informs us
that Octavianus had dedicated this temple many years earlier, immediately
after his victory on Sextus Pompeius 180). Moreover, as Pascal remarks, to
honour Apollo Actiacus August had already instituted the ludi Actiaci. So
there was now no reason for him to change the character of the ludi
saeculares and to give Apollo a prominent place there.
Nor can Apollo's predominance be ascribed exclusively to the homage
paid for a long time to Apollo by the gens Julia, as Kiessling 18i) supposes.
Indeed Apollo was worshipped by the gens Julia 182), where he probably
replaced 183) an older worship of the Italian god Veiovis184). Yet this

174) As Antigonos Gonatas had ascribed his victory near Lysimacheia to Pan.
175) SA III, 274.
178) See also Suet. Aug. 18, 8.
177) SA III, 274; VA III, 280; and cf. VII, 241.
178) Prop. IV, 6: Musa, Palatini referemus Apollinis aedem Caesaris in nomen
ducuntur carmina, Caesar dum canitur, quaeso, tum pater ipse vaces, est Phoebi fugiens
Athamana ad litora portus Actia Juliae pelagus monimenta carinas cum Phoebus
astitit Augusti puppim super mox ait tempus adest, committe rates, ego
temporis auctor, ducam laurigera Julia rostra manu vincit Roma fide Phoebi
Actius hinc traxit Phoebus monimenta quod eius una decem vicit missa sagitta rates.
179) Zum antiken Herrscherkult, p. 31 sqq., in "Aus Roms Zeitwende".
18°) Kühne supposes, however, that it had been dedicated originally to Diana Victrix,
and only after the victory of Actium to Apollo. But we have no proof for this supposition.
181) Philol. Untersuchungen, 2, 92, n. 36.
182) SA XI, 316: Caesarum familia sacra retinebat Apollinis, quae et ipsa publica
videntur fuisse. Cf. also the fact mentioned abovt, that the lauretum at Livia's villa
ad Gallinas": novissimo Neronis anno silva omnis exaruit (Suet. Galb. 1). See further
Mommsen, De collegiis et sodaliciis Romanorum, p. 17 sqq.
183) Cf. CIL XIV, 2387: vediovei patrei genteiles Juliei, from Bovillae, from the time
of the Republic.
184) He may have been identified with Veiovis because of his similar attributes, moral
as well as real. For in the Apollo of the earlier centurieS of Rome the darker sides were
more stressed, as well as in Veiovis; and Veiovis too is represented with a bow and
arrows, and with a goat. Cf. Geil. V, 12: simulacrum igitur dei Veiovis quod est in aede,
de qua super dixi, sagittas tenet, quae sunt videlicet paratae ad nocendum. Quapropter
eum deum plerique Apollinem esse dixerunt, etc. OF III, 430 sqq.; SA II, 761 with Vitruv.
IV, 8, 4; and the coins in Eckhel, Doctr. Numm. V, p. 156, 219. Cf. also, as Pascal
p. 73 sqq. remarks, the lightning on a coin of August, Cohen, I, 86, n. 380 (see there).
 132

fact alone does not sufficiently explain his predominance. For Venus was
also worshipped by the gens Julia iss), but although August honoured
Venus Genetrix too, she did not occupy by any means so prominent a
place as Apollo iss). For other objections see Immisch.
Nor can this worship of Apollo be ascribed exclusively, as Hermann 18?)
does, to the fact that one of the newly discovered sibylline oracles predicted
that the golden age would return under the reign of Apollo. (Cf. Vergil's
fourth Eclogue). But Pascal remarks that strictly speaking Apollo was not
the god of the golden age, but of the tenth saeculum, after which and not
before the golden age was to return (cf. SB IV, 4).
But these and other reasons no doubt cooperated. Preller p. 307 gives
as other reasons i.a. the tradition that Apollo had been the protector of
Troy, whence the Aeneads had come, and the fact that the figure of
Apollo, the ordering and pacificatory god, was well-suited for that time.
Moreover, he says: Dieser Fürst (August) verband mit einer griechischen
Bildung eine persönliche Vorliebe für diesen Gottesdienst, welche zum
Teil auf alteren Traditionen seiner Familie beruhen mochte, bei ihm und
seinen Verehrern aber urn so mehr Einklang fand, als die Erfahrungen
seines Lebens und seine persönliche Erscheinung in mancher Hinsicht
einen besonderen Schutz des lichten Gottes zu bestatigen schienen. Schön
und jung trat er in das durch Caesar's Ermordung von neuem aufgeregte
Römerreich als Ordner und Fredensstifter, und als nun vollends der unter
den Augen des Aktischen Apollo gewonnene Seesieg. . etc."
Pascal too combines these different elements. According to him we
must distinguish in the predominance of the cult of Apollo August's
personal predilection for him and the religious consciousness of his time,
expressed in the old Sibylline oracles, that Apollo was the tutelary deity
of the age188), a belief founded on mythical as well as on philosophical
(i.a. Stoic) and astronomical ideas. Naturally these two reasons influenced
and stimulated each other (p. 56) "questo accordo di fatti, del tutto fortuito,
valse forse non poco ad Augusto per far credere voluto dei fati quel potere
che la sua astuzia gli aveva man mano conquistato".
According to Wagenvoort, Augustus, p. 62—65 it was not at all
personal considerations that turned the scale in favour of Apollo (cf. the
fact that Augustus is not mentioned at all in the Carmen Saeculare).

186) Suet. Caes. 6; App. BC II, 102.

is«) From this it may appear, that August did not attach too much value to the deities
of the gens Julia, which was, in fact, not well possible in his case as he was in reality the
son of an Octavius and an Atia.
18T) De loco Apollinis in Carm. Hor. saec. p. 14 sqq.
188) Cf. Vergil in his fourth Eclogue, 1. 10: tuus iam regnat Apollo; SB IV, 4:
Sibyllina quae Cumana fuit, et saecula per metalla divisit; dixit etiam quis quo saeculo
imperaret, et solem ultimum i.e. decimum voluit. Novimus autem eundem esse Apollinem.
etc.; SB IV, 10; Nig. Fig, ib.; Hor. Od. I, 2, 29 sqq. Suet. Aug. 94: Augustus natum esse
mense decimo et ob hoe Apollinis filium existimatum; Sen. Luct. de mort. Claud. IV, 1.
 133

Augustus in choosing Apollo as his protector and giving him a central

position in the State wanted to indicate that a new epoch in the history
of Rome had begun. The first epoch of it had commenced with the
foundation of Troy — by Apollo; the second by the foundation of Rome —
by Romulus, whose indirect successor Augustus considered himself to be in
many ways. The third epoch was bright and sunny, it was ruled by the
sun-god Apollo, and was dedicated to the works of peace, arts and
literature; it had been originated by Augustus himself, who together with
Apollo and Romulus now formed a lofty triumvirate. Romulus-Augustus
on the earth, Apollo-Augustus in heaven. This view however is not very
logical and rather arbitrary in my opinion.
Immisch l.c. sees a reason in the fact, that August, as a XV vir, had
already come into touch with Apollo. But the main reason he sees in a
counterpropaganda against Antony. Augustus contrasted the pathos of
Dionysos, whom Antony had chosen for his patron, with the ethos and lofty
sublimity of the classic figure of Apollo, the symbol of Sophrosyne and
self-restraint.
Moreover the figure of Apollo had this advantage for August that it
was very well-suited not only for his ambitions, but also for his policy of
universalism. For Apollo was not merely a deity of a small group, as
Veiovis or other regional or gentilical numina were — no more than he
was an Oriental deity — but he was the god of the whole civilized Graeco-
Roman world. Besides, he was the first Greek deity who according to
tradition had been admitted to Rome, and by whose mediation the other
Greek gods were introduced here. In this way too he formed a link between
Greece and Rome, and at the same time he also had a connection with the
Oriental world. For the god Apollo definitely recalls Asia Minor, and at
Cumae he was even introduced from this region 189).
On the other hand his character was definitely opposed to the Oriental
deities (cf. VA VIII, 704 sqq., where Apollo with his bow drives away
the Oriental deities), and hence answered to August's policy of a determin-
ed turning away from Oriental religion, towards the characteristic forms
of Greek and Roman religion. And Apollo was highly characteristic of the
classical religion of Greece (Altheim, p. 46/47; "die strahlende Gestalt des
olympischen Gottes als Verkörperung der göttlichen Hoheit, des
Masses und der vornehmen Distanz, ist Apollo wie kein anderer dazu
ausersehen die Haltung einer "klassischen" Zeit zum Ausdruck zu bringen.
Darum hat die neue augusteische Epoche gerade in ihm der wie kein
anderer Vertreter der klassischen Idee im Bereiche des Göttlichen war
den Gott der ihr eigenstes Wesen darstellte zu erkennen vermocht."
Moreover the ideas which the classical Apollo190) personified were in
188) Cf. L. Malten, op. cit. p. 37.
) Not however the Apollo of ancient Rome, in whom the darker sides were more
stressed (Altheipi, RR p. 45, after W. Oftto), and who alter the death of Augustus
gradually resumed his old place in Rome and in the provinces.
 134

a certain sense identical with the ancient Roman ideas, which Augustus
wanted to revive192). And even the ancient Roman Apollo who was
largely a medical and purificatory god, was in a certain sense not an
unsuitable deity for this period193) as well as for Augustus himself, who
wanted to be considered a prince of peace.

Primas cum conderet arces.

For want of space I was obliged to omit a survey of Latinus' residence
in other ancient writers, and a discussion of the questions why Vergil
caused Latinus to have a definite town, why he located this town on an
arx, where Vergil's town of Latinus must be located, and what was
its name.

192) See above. However this does not signify that the Palatine Apollo was interpreted
expressly in a speculative way; at any rate his cults and the Augustan poets do not give
any evidence of this.
193) As Pascal p. 55 says Apollo, as deliverer from bodily and spiritual pains in the
life of the dndividual as well as in that of the mass, might inaugurate a new epoch of
peace and tranqulllity in Rome after the calamities of the civil wars.
 THE PRODIGY OF THE BEES.

huius apes summum densae (mirabile dictu)

65 stridore ingenti liquidum trans aethera vectae
obsedere apicem, et pedibus pee mutuum nexis
examen subitum ramo [tondente pependit,
continuo vates "externum cernimus", inquit,
" adventare virum et partes petere agmen easdem
70 partibus ex isdem, et summa dominarier arce."

Bees are not only of ten mentioned in mythology *), but they have always
occupied an important place in augural lore; and their settling in a town,
an encampment, on a Standard, ships, etc., is mentioned many times
purporting a prodigy2), in general as well as in Greek and Roman
literature 3). Especially in the latter there are many testimonies of their
settling e.g. on the Roman Forum, temples and even houses in Rome, and
on the praetorium in the army4).
Hence in choosing the prodigy of the bees here Vergil chose a prodigy
which is mentioned many times in ancient and especially in Roman literature.
Homer does not mention it, although he sometimes alludes to bees
(II. II, 8. 7) and, more often, to their honey (II. XI, 631; etc.).
This prodigy of the bees may, as is also the case with the following
prodigy-of-the-flames, be accounted for in two ways, a favourable and
an unfavourable one, scil. here as a symbol of the intruding enemy (cf.
"externum virum") 5) and as a symbol of sovereignty (cf. "summa
dominarier arce").

x) Cf. e.g. the tales of Zeus, Bacchus, Aristaeus, Beroe, Meliteus, who in their
infancy were miraculously fed by bees.
2) See Hilda Ransome, The sacred bee, passim; Hopf, p. 204—208; Robert—Tornow,
De apium atque meilis apud veteres significatione, with bibliography on p. 8; Weniger
in Roscher s.v. Melissa; Gruppe, Gr. Myth. 801/2; Burs. Jahresber. 137 (1908 ) 376,
77; 186 (1921) 130/31; Cook, J.H.S, 15 (1895) p. 1—24.
Several other works are mentioned by Pease, in his Commentary on Cicero de
Divinatione, p. 220.
3) Cf. Fronto, p. 137 Naber: formiculorum et apiculorum ostentis res maximae
portenduntur; Plin. XVII, 18: tune ostenta faciunt privata ac publica, uva dependente
in domibus templisque, saepe expiata magnis eventibus.
4) Liv. XXI, 46, 2; XXIV, 10, 11; XXVII, 23, 2; Obs. XXXV, 43, 44, 70, 72; Tacit.
Ann. XII, 64; Val. Max. I, 6, 32, 103, 113; 132; D.C. XLI, 61, 2; XLII, 26, 1; XLVII, 2,
3; see Fr. Lutterbacher, Der Prodigienglauben und Prodigienstil der Romer, p. 18, n. 61.
5) Cf. Klausen, p. 779/80: „Bei der Gründing von Lavinium durch Aeneas tritt
in die Verhaltnisse des Staats von Lavinium ein neuer Bestandteil ein, der die bisherigen
 136

The idea that the bees were an unfavourable omen was the more general
in Roman literature6). They ordinarily point to an intruding foreign
element, which is going to bring disaster 7).
Their settling upon an altar was considered as the worst omen, as is the
case here too to a certain extent. But their clinging to other objects
often caused terror as well, as e.g. at the battle of the Ticinus the settling
of a swarm of bees "in arbore praetorio imminente" 8) pointed to the
invasion of Hannibal. And, to prove that this belief was still wide-spread
in the time of Augustus, we are told that at the battle of Pharsalus their
clinging to the Standard of Pompey9), at the battle of Philippi their
clinging to the Standard of Brutus10), and at the battle of Arbalo their
settling on the lance of the praefectus castrorum 11) struck the soldiers
with awe; whereas it was even accepted that the death of the Emperor
Claudius was predicted by a swarm settling in the encampment12).
In all these cases, as in ours here (cf. „summum", 1. 64), they cling to
the highest possible spots 13) as is actually their habit usually, and often, as
is also the case here to a certain extent, in the very heart of the community,
the centre of the castra, or of the town, the forum 14).
But, as has been said, the appearance of a swarm of bees may also be
a more lucky omen, although we find this more with the Greeks than with
the Romans. E.g., as in the case of the Ionian Timesias, they might indicate
the spot, where a new colony was to be founded; or they might indicate the
way to a hitherto unknown oracle, as in the case of the oracle of Lebadea15).
This omen may even point to sovereignty 16), as e.g. in the case of a
swarm of bees clinging to the mane of the horse of Dionysius of Syracuse17)
and in that of their swarming on the interior of the statues of Antoninus
Pius in Etruria18). Also in the cases of Drusus and of Claudius (see
Grundlagen storend auflockert, aber dennoch zur unzertrennlicher Gemeinschaft und fester
Ansiedlung aufgenommen wird".
However it goes without saying, that this prodigy has nothing to do, as Klausen
supposes, with Liber, who, according to Klausen, is der innerlich auflösende Gott , who
introducés this foreign element into the house or the State, and keeps it alive there.
6) Cf. Plin. XI, 55: haudquaquam perpetua haruspicum coniectura, qui dirum id
ostentum existimarunt semper; see the instances mentioned in note 4.
7) Cf. also the Greek proverb, quoted by H. Ransome, p. 109: the Siren heralds
a friend, the bee a stranger".
8) Liv. XXI, 41.
9) Dion. Nic. XL; cf. Val. Max. c. 6.
i°) Plut. Brut. 39; DC XLVII, 40.
") DC LIV, 33; Jul. Obsequ. 132; Plin. l.c.
") DC LX, 35, 1; Tac. Ann. XII, 64.
13) Cf. e.g. Tac. l.c.
") E.g. Liv. XXIV, 46; XXVII, 23: Casini examen apium in foro consedisse.
15) Paus. IX, 40, 1.
18) Cf. Artemid. Onirocr. s. 22.
") Cic. de Divin. I, 33, 73; II, 31, 67; cf. Philistios FHG, p. 48; Aelian. v. h. XLI, 46;
Plin. VIII, 158.
18) Jul. Capit. Antondn. 3.
 137

above) this prodigy, although apparently having an unfavourable meaning,

at the same time pointed to future kingship; for the legions wanted to
proclaim Drusus emperor, and Agrippina wanted to eliminate Claudius in
favour of Nero. And in general even when they apparently have an
unfavourable meaning, they yet at the same time may point to future
sovereignty (of the other party) 18a). And the tales of bees clinging to the
mouths of famous poets, when still in their infancy (e.g. of Pindar19),
Homer and Sappho 20), Plato, also of St. John the Baptist and of
St. Ambrose21), Hesiod, Hiero, Sophocles, Menander and of Vergil
himself22) which predicted their future power of mellow speech, as well
as of philosophers and other noted men, point in the same direction 22a).
As has been said above this belief in the prophetic meaning attached to the
bee prevailed not only with the Greeks and Romans, but was more general,
at any rate generally diffused among Indo-European peoples. Almost
exactly the same prodigies, and with the same interpretations, for good and
for evil, are found everywhere.
As concerns the prodigies for good: a German popular belief says, that
he, who is approached by a bee in his sleep, is fortune's favourite 23).
Most prodigies however are evil: Stemplinger, p. 32 mentions, that, when
Duke Leopold of Austria was preparing for the battle of Sempach in 1386,
the clinging of a swarm of bees to his Standard was considered an omen
of his threatening defeat, which certainly came true. Even nowadays in
Tyrol a swarm of bees clinging to a house predicts a fire, and in certain
regions of Switzerland if domesticated swarms do not return to their hives,
this predicts war 24); in German-Switzerland — an instance which applies
very well to our passage in Vergil — there is a belief in a secret tie between
the bees and the life of the pater familias, so that the clinging of a swarm
to a tree in the garden predicts his death, if he is ill (Hopf, l.c.). See
further H. Ransome. Also with the Aryans in India 25) most prodigies
were evil; e.g. if by chance a swarm entered a house, it denoted misfor-
tune 26); a dream of bees taking a rest on a building meant that some evil
would befall it, and the man who dreamt that bees entered his house would

18a) Cf. Cic. de harusp. resp. 25; Amm. Mare. XVII, 4, 11.
") Paus. IX, 23, 2.
20) AP XVI, 305.
21) Cic. de Divin. I, 78; cf. AP XVI, 305; Olympiod. Vit. Plat. 382-3; Ael. VH X, 21;
Val. Max. I. Plin. XI.
22) Phoc. 53.
22a ) por the rest these last prodigies cannot be put on a level with those that have
been mentioned before; for they are only ostenta privata, the others ostenta publica
(Plin. XI, 17, 55).
23) Cf. also the fairy-tale of the queen-bee, Grimm, no. 62.
24) Hopf, p. 207.
85) See H. Ransome, p. 51/2.
26) Which could be averted by burning some pieces of the Udunbaba-tree.
 138

either lose his life within a short time, or suffer great misfortune27).
Almost all the allusions to bees and honey in the Dream Wisdom of the
Jagadeva denote disaster, except that the man to whom a Brahman priest
presents honey will become a king. In the Rig-Veda however they may
also predict the gift of poetry.
Perhaps, but with a strong reservation, we may say that this belief is
not only Indo-European even. For Klemm, Allgem. Culturgesch. d.
Menschh. III, p. 121 mentions that the Kamtschadales, when in their dreams
they are pursuing bees, are counting on profit; also among the Arabs and
among Moroccan tribes 28) dreaming about bees had its significance; and
in some parts of China29) seeing swarms was believed to bring luck, and
especially on whatever day the bees happen to swarm this day was
an unfailingly considered lucky one. Cf. also the bee as the hieroglyph to
denote the king of Lower Egypt, and the connection of the bee with
Artemis of Ephesus, and the bee, together with the lion, being engraved
on an Etruscan gem 30). However in all this the bee may have had only
a symbolical meaning, which need not imply a real belief in its augural force.
The important place which bees occupy in the science of augury — a
predicting force is attached to them more than to any other insect (Hopf)
•— may be ascribed in the first place to the great interest which filled man
with respect to them. Primitive man took such an interest in them, because
he was materially dependent on them, honey being for thousands of years
the only sweetener known and moreover a means to make a sparkling
fermented drink — by which man came to regard honey as "a true giver of
life"; it was a product of primary necessity, and occupied the same place
as sugar in our days. It is even a question whether sugar was known at
all in Antiquity, or at least whether it was used for other than medical
purposes 30a). The wax too had various uses, whereas we often employ sub-
stitutes for this valuable material. Hence the circumstance that it is imposs-
ible to overestimate their value to man in the past, even in very remote
times, before perhaps bread and milk were known to him: cf. a rock-
painting, found in the Cuevas de la Arania in Valencia31), showing the
robbing of natural hives, and the fact that mead is older than wine and beer
— and also in later times, as may be proved by the many treatises on
apiculture 32) from Antiquity — easily explains the great interest man took
in their behaviour.
Moreover this interest was so intense, because bees were already one of
27) In the Grihya-Sutras a man is told that if bees make honey in his house he is
to fast and to make a special offering.
28) Ransome, p. 73, p. 299.
29) Ransome, p. 54.
30) Fürtwangler, Ant. Gemmen, PI. XVIII, fig, 7.
3°o) See P. d'Hérouville, Virgile apiculteur, Mus. Beige, 1926, p. 162/3.
31) H. Malcolm Fraser, Beekeeping in Antiquity, fig. 1.
32) With the Romans e.g. Varro, Vergil, Columella, Palladius, Pliny the elder, and
many others.
 139

the most admirable products of nature in themselves 32a); because of thetr

cleanliness they were generally considered invested with a special sanctity,
and moreover with a certain intelligence and independence of character;
and the community of bees reminded people in many aspects of human
society33), which made a comparison of the bee and man plausible.
The reason for ascribing predicting power to them probably was, that a),
they are, as is still the opinion of modern bee-farmers34) as well as of
authors of Antiquity35) excellent weather-prophets, especially of rain, by
which they came to be considered prophets of other events as well; b) they
often appear in a great mass, and the appearance in a great mass is often
taken for an omen36); c) the company of bees in many aspects reminds
man of human society which provided him with a comparison between
man and bee, especially as concerned his participation in the common-
wealth or his membership in family-life; whereas the queen-bee is an
obvious symbol of royalty; and hence when bees, who obey a monarchie
rule cling to a person, this is a symbol of his future rulership. (Cf. the bees
of Napoleon, and the bee as the hieroglyph to denote the king of Lower
Egypt from the first Dynasty onwards 37); on the other hand they were
often considered to be connected with the welfare of the family, with
birth and death, etc., as may appear from the wide-spread custom of
"telling the bees" of important events, connected with the family, and
especially of the death of their owner, lest they should die as well. Finally,
regarding their predicting the gift of poetry, this may be ascribed to
their product, the honey, being so mellow. (Pease. l.c. considers their
connection with prophecy a result of their being regarded as chthonic,
and as embodying the souls of the dead.) Hence this predicting value is
ascribed to them for various reasons, which are not equivalent, but which
sometimes have a relation with their character, sometimes with their way of
living, and sometimes with the casual way in which they appear (as
sometimes their appearance in a house or temple). For the appearance in
a house etc. of an animal not naturally coming indoors was often believed
to have a n ominous character. (Cf. Schol. A Hom. II. II, 308: éati deafjfia
fièv t o n a g a z ó n o v yivófj.evov, d>g / x ê h o o a i rj m r j v o i /nvQ/ut]X£g ê v o'ixq>.) 38)

32a) Cl. Plin. XI, 4, sqq.

33) Cf. e.g. Aristot. de gen. anim. III, 10, 760; Senec. de clem. I, 19, 2; cf. e.g. VG
IV, 67; 76; 107/8; 153 sqq.; Bernard de Mandeville; Linnaeus; Shakespeare's Common-
wealth of bees; Maurice Maeterlinck's: La vie des abeilles.
34) See Malcolm Fraser, op. cit.
35) So also Aristot. Hist. An. 627b, 10; Varr. III, 16, 37; VA IV, 191; Plin. XI, 20.
38) So e.g. in Belgium the very large masses of "painted ladies", a species of butter-
flies, were blamed in August 1572 and 1573 for the bad weather and the wars in these
years (Hopf, p. 233); cf. also the "Heerwurmspuk" (ibid.).
3T) However according to H. Malcolm Fraser, p. 4 the bee-sign here does not suggest
rulership, but is merely a topographical sign representing Lower Egypt, where the bee
was of very great importance.
38) Cf. Suidas s. v. oiotvidna. For other instances and literature see Pease, p. 156.
 140

That such phenomena as mentioned above made primitive man take

thcm as an omen at all, must be because he is always disturbed by unusual
occurrences, and prone to seek for a hidden causality, from the standpoint
of his own welfare. Besides being impressed by the phenomena, that are
more strictly natural, he is especially struck by the behaviour of the animals,
with whom he lived in a far closer contact than we do. (According to
Bouché—Leclerq, p. 124, the animals even drew man's attention long
before the inanimate objects.) He attributes to them a far greater
complexity of thought and feelings than they actually possess, and considers
them not only as his fellow-beings, (cf. e.g. the tales of the transformation
of a man into an animal, and vice versa), but also as his elder brothers,
gifted with a power that is superior to his own, to whom he looks for help
and guidance.
He may suppose the animals to be in the possession of this higher power,
because he is indeed dependent on them for the greater part of his
sustenance; moreover their qualities surpass his, whether physically (e.g.
by tallness, force), psychically (e.g. by courage), motorically (e.g. by
agility), or sensorially (e.g. by a greater susceptibility to sounds or
atmospheric changes). Having ascribed a greater power to them, he also
sees a superior knowledge in them. And very often that conclusion was
not entirely unjustified, as e.g. the advent of special seasons was
concluded from the movements of certain migratory birds, or from the
appearing of a great mass of animals of a certain species, evidently chased
from their abodes by some unusual event, e.g. the approach of an enemy.
Domestic animals also because of their more acute senses, may the sooner
apprehend the approaching enemy, and by their behaviour warn their
owner. Often however these conclusions were only partly justified, as
e.g. from the acts of certain animals changes of weather were predicted,
not only for the ensuing days, but for months to come. And often man,
after the principle: post hoe, ergo propter hoe, may draw an entirely
arbitrary conclusion, and consider the animals not merely as the indicators,
but as the causes of the following event.
Besides, primitive man is apt to seek for a hidden causality from the
standpoint of his own welfare, as he considers himself, as is natural at a
primitive stage of the human mind, to be the centre and the aim of
creation. So the behaviour of certain animals in certain circumstances is
not considered involuntary, or at best as a warning for their fellow-animals,
but oracular for man, hence more or less like the barking of a watch-dog.
Moreover the interpretation of the omen of a certain animal, e.g. whether
it was considered beneficial or not, depended on several accompanying
circumstances, as the time at which they appeared, and from what direction,
the greater or smaller number of them, the mentality of the lookers-on at the

This kind of divination was known by the special name of ot*oa%oxnóv. Cf. Halliday,
Greek Divination, p. 167, n. 1.
 141

moment of the omen, and many other circumstances, as we may easily see.
So e.g. with the bees the object to which they clung, the mental sphere of
the watchers, and also the direction from which they appeared, may have
provided their appearance respectively with the meaning of an invading
enemy, a fire, or of future royalty.
Hence from animals, who were considered to be the spontaneous
indicators of a coming event, man may have sought his earliest enlighten-
ment as to the future. Later on however he saw that the animals were not
guided by reason; and he could not form a clear idea of what we call
animal instinct. Hence he ascribed the acts of thq animals to the
influence of some deity, and considered them, not as indicating future
events by their own will, but as the messengers of a (the) god(s).
As remarked above Vergil has skilfully employed a prodigy, which allowed
of two explanations. And he was obliged to find such a one, as a prodigy
concerning Aeneas could hardly be merely unfavourable. In giving
us the bees for a symbol of Aeneas he certainly does not do him an
injustice, since the bees are often compared to the good and just39), and
are even a symbol of innocence and chastity — a belief found in the
Christian Church of the Middle Ages, and among some of the tribes of
India, Africa and Australia as well — and are considered holy40).
And Vergil himself says (G IV, 219—227): quidam esse apibus partem
divinae mentis et haustus aetherios dixere nee morti esse locum, sed
vivas volare sideris in numerum atque alto succedere caelo. Moreover, as
has been said above, the bee was a symbol of kingship in Egypt, and this
may have been known to the Romans, and to Augustus himself41).
The bee may even have been a symbol of Octavianus-Augustus in
particular, and a prodigy of bees may have been connected with him. And
this may have been the real reason why Vergil made a prodigy of bees
announce the advent of Aeneas — who foreshadowed Augustus.
For Anthologia Palatina VI, 236 we read the following epigram, by
Philippos of Thessalonike:

'Efijioka yalxoyhua, (pdónXoa tdyta vrjwv,

'Axuaxov jtoXé/uov xei/uevn /uagtvQia,
f/vióe, aiu.pXe.vn xrjQÓtQocpa da>Qa ueXiooö) v
êofiö) xvxXóae figiOófiEva.
Kaioagog evvofiirjg xqijotrjs X&Qiq onXa yaQ èyêocitv
xagnovs eigrjvtjs avxedldage zgérpsiv.
which, according to Léon Herrmann 42) was intended for the rostra of
Actium, that were given by Augustus to Nicopolis.

3fl) Cf. e.g. VG IV, 149 sq„ and Keiler, p. 421 sq.
40) Plat. Ion, 534; Pind. Schol. p. 100, 9b.
41) A proof of this might be G IV, 281—294.
Revue des ét. anc. 1931, p. 219 sqq.: "Le quatrième livre des Géorgiques et les
abeilles d'Acüum".
 142

From this epigram we may conclude, as Herrmann demonstrates, that

in the town that was built to perpetuate the memory of the victory over
Antony and Cleopatra, a swarm of bees had attached itself to the war-
trophies of Augustus, as a symbol of peace. "Quel ne dut être le retentisse-
ment d'un tel miracle!"
Moreover, as Herrmann remarks, although a prodigy of bees mostly
had an unfavourable meaning, and had recently predicted the defeats of
Cassius and Brutus, and of Pompey43), these prodigies thus at the same
time had announced the victory of the Caesarians, and of Octavianus.
So we may conclude that the Romans attached to this prodigy the
meaning of the happy domination of Octavianus, of the divine race of
Aeneas. Thus it was very well suited to announce the advent of Aeneas too.
(This connection of the bees with Augustus44) may even have been
the reason, as Herrmann remarks, why the entire fourth book of the
Georgics — which was dedicated to and inspired by Maecenas — is
given to apiculture, whereas all the other animals of the farm together
must content themselve with exactly the same number of lines; for this
reason Vergil may attribute a divine origin to the bees (see above),
whereas it is expressly denied to the crows45), halcyons, and birds and
cattle in general46), and -may insert the miracle of the bees of
Aristaeus47). Because the bees had proved themselves the friends of
Augustus, Vergil may insist on their enjoying the special care of Jupiter 48).
And, lastly: may not — as Herrmann suggests — the description of the
battle between the two swarms and their kings 49) serve to evoke the
memory of Octavian and Antony at the battle of Actium? And may this
not be another proof that bees are a symbol of Augustus; who "chef
unique de la ruche romaine, allait y faire régner la paix et le travail, et y
ramener 1'abondance"?
And may not — as the fourth Georgic in order to propagandize the
legitimacy of the reign of Augustus, is dominated by the memory of the
victory of Actium, and influenced by the bees of Nicopolis for Augustus'
sake, so also this prodigy — like the following prodigy of the flames

43) See p. 136 and n. 9 and 10.

44) And not aesthetical (Plessis-Lejay, p. XXXVI) or economie reasons, and the
importance of wax and honey in Antiquity (Goelzer, éd. Budé, p. 122; Billiard, L apicul­
ture dans 1'antiquité d'après les Géorgiques de Virgile, p. 16).
43) (G I, 415/6), who — as Hermann remarks — were not so loyal to the Julian
dynasty (cf. Macrob. Sat. II, 4, 29).
40) Hermann: Si Virgile insiste sur leur divinité, c'est paree qu'il fallait donner a ces
insectes un caractère sumaturel a cause de leur césarisme.
47) G IV, 317 sqq., especially 553—557, which has no symbolical meaning.
48) G IV, 149/50: naturas apibus quas Jupiter ipse addidit; cf. Lact. Inst. I, 22, 20.
49) (G IV, 88 sqq.) of which the conqueror is maculis auro squalentibus ardens,
.. melior, insignis et ore et rutilis clarus squamis; his folk: elucent .. et fulgore coruscant,
ardentes auro et paribus lita corpora guttus; haec potior suboles; but the vanquished
king is horridus desidia latamque trahens inglorius alvum; his folk: turpes horrent.
 143

(see below) — have been ultimately inserted with a view to Augustus?

Or — in other words — was it not because of this prodigy of Augustus
that Aeneas too got his prodigy of bees?
Yet there is the possibility — in which I follow the suggestion of Sforza
— of seeing in this prodigy another proof of Vergil's hidden hostility
against August.
A further possibility — or an accompanying circumstance — may be
that Vergil readily availed himself of the opportunity of mentioning a
prodigy of bees, as associations of bees and beekeeping were always a
pleasure to him; as H. Malcolm Fraser, p. 31—42, states Vergil in his
works — excluding the fourth Georgic — makes a reference to bees about
16 times, hence far more than Homer does 50); e.g. to give an illustrating
example, as in the description of the building of Carthage (A I, 430 sqq.);
in that of the blessed souls, who flit about in Elyseum (A VI, 707 709);
and in that of the warriors in Latinus' town (A XII, 587 sqq.); or in an
other connection 51); or only as concerns their honey or wax 52).
This may be explained by the special interest and even love he feit for
them — and of which the fourth Georgic bears ample testimony. (Of this
mutual love of Vergil and his bees I have found in H. Ransome p. 85
a charming little story, which may be true or not. It is said that some
soldiers tried to plunder his property; his servants rescued his valuables
and placed them among the beehives. They then made the bees swarm on
to the invaders who, attacked by the angry creatures, fled away. Vergil
watched them in silence and then cast a grateful look on his beloved bees.)
This particular love and interest, and his referring to bees more readily
and frequently than other poets, and always very appropriately, which
shows that he has a clear understanding of his subject, may partly be
ascribed to his being a nature-poet with an eye for animals and flowers,
and partly to his upbringing — his father being a bee-keeper 53) ( and he
himself as well. Probably, as Malcolm Fraser remarks, the honey-bees
were Vergil's favourites long before he ever dreamt of writing verse. This
also explains, why, according to the same author, with the exception of
two of them 54), all these references to bees are singularly free from the
taint of bookishness.
Much , he continues p. 34/5, as e.g. the loud humming of the swarm
(see 1.64/6: stridore ingenti) whilst the bees are all over the garden before
they cluster, is unmistakably described from observation. How exactly the
unexpected arrival of a swarm, which, as the country-people say, had "fled".

50) Or e.g. Apollonios Rhodios. In the Argonautica there are but two comparisons,
which refer to bees (I, 879 sqq.; II, 130 sqq).
61) Buc. I, 53/55; IV, 77; IX, 30; Georg. II, 434, 452/53.
52) Buc. IV, 30; VII, 37; Georg. I, 12k; III, 450; A IV, 486; VI, 420/21.
') Donat. Vit. Verg. Suet. ed. Reiff. p, 54; (patrem Vergilii) substantiae silvis
coemendis et apibus curandis auxisse reculam.
B4) Buc. I, 53/55, VIII, 37.
 144

is described, with its habit of settling on the top of the tree, and its speed
clustering, compared with the time taken by the swarm which settled near
the parent hive".
Compare also P. d'Hérouville55): "en chantant les abeilles Virgile
célébrait ses propres souvenirs". The latter author remarks that although
Vergil has made some mistakes as to the mode of living etc. of the bees,
the larger part by far of his remarks are absolutely true. And his mistakes
are only the general mistakes of his days.
Here mention may be made of a mistake which — although some
authors 56) had a better view — was wide-spread in Antiquity and even
in the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance57), and which was also
adopted by Vergil 58) scil. that the swarms were ruled not by a queen,
but by a king.
Thus we can better understand why bees were not only a symbol of
kingship in general, but also of princes, as here in the case of Augustus
and Aeneas.

et partes petere easdem partibus ex isdem. These words are evidently

borrowed from the terminology of the haruspices, although the word "pars"
is also, and primarily, found in the language of the augures.
"Pars" is an official word to designate the regions of the sky in augury.
Cf. Liv. I, 18, who, relating the ceremony of Numa's inauguratio, says:
(augur) dextras ad meridiem partes, laevas ad septentrionem esse dixit;
SA II, 693; sinistras autem partes septentrionales esse Augurum disciplina
consentit, etc. Cic. de Div. I, 31: ab Attio Navio per lituum regionum facta
descriptio cumque in quattuor partes vineam divisisset ; Paul. Fest.
p. 220 s.v. Posticum.
The division in augural lore of the templum of the sky into 4 regiones
or partes was used only for auguria caelestia 59) (so at least Wissowa,
p. 530 60)). But the bees, as they came "liquidum trans aethera" — but do
they ever in reality? — might perhaps be considered an augurium caeleste.
Yet the word "pars" is also used in the division of the haruspices.
Cf. Cic. de Div. II, 42: caelum in sedecim partes diviserunt Etrusci;
Plin II, 143; SA VIII, 427.
The division of the Etrusca disciplina into 16 regions according to
Wissowa 61) properly speaking holds good for lightning only. In my
opinion this is improbable however; compare the division on the bronze

55) Mus. Beige 1926, p. 161 sqq.; 1927, p. 37 sqq. *

56) Cf. Aristot. de hist. anim. V, c. 21, 553 and 29; Xen. Oecon. VII, 32.
57) d'Hérouville quotes the works of Frangois de Sales, and of Fénelon; only Swam-
merdam put an end to this erroneous view.
58) G. IV, 21; 67/8; 75; 88, 95; 106.
59) Cf. Cic. de Div. I, 106 (from Cicero's Marius): partibus intonuit caeli pater ipse
sinistris; cf. I, 18: caeli partes.
60) Cic. de leg. II, 2, which he gives as another proof, does not convince me.
61) RuK., p. 545, and n. 5, with the literature given there.
 145

liver of Piacenza. Hence the word "pars" might be borrowed here from the
terminology of the haruspices, the more so, because, as we have seen above,
in the case of a prodigy of bees the haruspices had to be consulted.
But perhaps we should not enter too deeply into this question.
Vergil probably did not want so much to keep to the strict usage of
these words here but only wanted to use a word which evoked associations
with Roman divinatory terminology, that of the augures or of the
haruspices.
arx. Vergil may have used the word "arx" partly because — as has
appeared from 1. 61 — the town of Latinus had been built on a hill, and
his palace on the summit.
But he may have used this word also:
1. because it reminded his readers of the "Arx", the north-eastern and
higher summit of the Capitoline Hill — now occupied by the church of
Aracoeli — which is often called "arx" 62);
2. as may also appear from the archaic form "dominaner" — because
this word was closely connected with the office of the augures 63).

Bees and laurel. Perhaps Vergil made the bees cling to the laurel
merely because it gave him an opportunity for mentioning the two of them,
and it is not necessary to seek for an inner connection between the bees
and the laurel, the holy tree of Latinus. However it does not exclude the
possibility, that by making the bees cling to the veritable sacral centre of
the Laurentine community he meant to indicate that the new ruler was the
legal possessor of it. He perhaps wanted to indicate, that the present ruler
was to abdicate, or to meet with his death. (Compare the Swiss belief,
mentioned above, that the settling of a swarm of bees on a tree in the
garden forebodes the death of the pater familias, if he is ill.)

vates. This vates must be a haruspex, as we have testimonies 64) that

in the case of a prodigy of bees haruspices had to be consulted.
Perhaps Vergil here uses "vates", which is less definite, in stead of
"haruspex" because according to the official version65) haruspices were
not allowed in Rome before 216 b.C.66); a haruspex in the palace of Latinus
would therefore be an anachronism. At any rate Vergil only used
"haruspex" twice67), both times when speaking or real Etruscans.

02) Cf. Fest. p. 321; Liv. I, 24, 4; Plin. XXII, 5.

68) Cf. Paul. Fest. p. 16: ... genere sacrificii, quod in arce fit ab auguribus; Varr. 1.1.
V, 47: sacra via, per quam augures ex arce profecti solent inaugurare: Liv. X, 7, 10:
... auguriumve ex arce capiet; Cic. de off. III, 16, 66: cum in arce augurium augures
acturi essent.
84) Cic. har. resp. 12, 25; Liv. XXIV, 10, 11; Plut. Brut. 39; Plin. XI, 55.
65) which to me, however, seems improbable.
«6) Cf. also Liv. I, 56, 4; IX, 36, 3.
87) VIII, 498 and XI, 739.
10
 146

lt must be remarked however that the vates was not an ancient-Roman.

nor even an old-Italian figure, no more than the haruspex.
For although Ennius (Ann. 214 V) already says: scripsere alii rem
versibus quos olim Fauni vatesque canebant, and although according to
Varro (1.1. VII, 36) antiquos poetas vates appellabant, not only the word
"vates" 68) was most likely borrowed from the Gauls69); but also the idea
of "the seer", "the inspired", the person who in an ecstasy had an
increased knowledge of the future and of divine things, most likely was
not ancient-Roman either70).
According to Bouché—Leclerq71) the Italian tribes did not have
originally the notion of a human prophet, by (divine) inspiration giving
a prophetic utterance72), but they attributed the revelation of the future
to superhuman beings directly, who gave these revelations in a clearly
intelligible way 73).
Bouché—Leclerq sees as the reason for this the aversion of the Romans
to associate divine qualities with human beings, as well as their aversion
to conceive this human being entirely — be it only temporarily — deprived
of his own will, his initiative, and to a certain extent also of his personality.
At any rate this aversion cannot reach back to a general characteristic
of the Indo-Europeans. For the figure of the seer was well-known among
them 74).
«») Marx, Beilage z. Allgem. Zeit. 1897, n. 163; Zwicker, de vocabulis ac rebiu
transpadanis apud Vergilium, Glotta II, p. 56; E. Müller-Graupa, ibid. XIX, p. 62, so
also Walde; cf. Schanz—Hosius, I, p. 14, and Ernout et Meillet.
B9) According to Ernout et Meillet s.v. "vates" meaning "the inspired", "he who is
animated by a deity, who is possessed by frenzy (cf. the Dutch woede and the
German "Wut") has an Italo-celtic origin.
70) The passages of Ennius and Varro are no objection to this. For the word vates
may have been borrowed from Gallic a century or more before Ennius' time, so that in
his time its non-Latin origin may have been forgotten. Nor has Varros notice great
value; for although in earlier Roman history there were various songs (see Schanz—
Hosius, p. 14 sqq.), these songs were a product of the popular mind, and not of a
definite poet. And when the latter made his appearance in the person' of Livius Andronicus,
his name at first was not "vates", but "scriba".
71) IV, p. 119 sqq.; so also Müller-Graupa, l.c.
72) The prophet being either the organ, through which the deity revealed his will
or the idea of the deity being more or less absent; in the latter case the seer because of the
greater sensitiveness of his sense-organs with regard to those of ordinary men was
simply considered to be more susceptible to the influences manifesting themselves in the
Universe. This latter view most likely was older.
73) Especially deities of the sources and of the water in general were considered
to possess this gift, but also semi-animal gods like Picus and Faunus, and other divine
beings. (Cf. the voice after the destruction of Alba (Liv. I, 31), the warnings from the
temple of Juno Moneta (Cic. Div. I, 45), from the temple of Mater Matuta at Satrlcum
(Liv. VI, 33), and of "Aius Locutius" (Cic. ibid.; Liv. V, 32).
74) Among the Greeks e.g. Orpheus, Musaeus, Bakis and Epimenides; Teiresias,
Kalchas and Cassandra; the Pythia and other oracle-prophets in clearly historica! times.
Among other Indo-European peoples, e.g. the Celts (Caes. BG I, 50), the Germans (Tac.
Germ. 8), the Slavs, and the Indo-Iranians, the seer also played a large part.
 147

The only ancient-Roman vates who is known to us by tradition is a

ccrtain vates Marcius75), whose carmina, containing a prediction (post
eventum) of the battle of Cannae, and an utterance advising the institution
of games in honour of Apollo, in 213 b.C. were brought to light, and in
the following year furthered the institution of the ludi Apollinares.
(It may be remarked here that, as in the greater number by far of the
instances of "vates" in Vergil (see below) these "vates" (the Sibyll,
Helenus, Cassandra) are inspired by Apollo, so also the vates of the town
of the Laurentes, which stood under Apollo's protection, may have been
inspired by him, as the ancient vates Marcius was.)
But the tradition about this Marcius in itself is anything but con­
sistent 76). Hence according to Bouché—Leclerq77) he did not correspond
to any historical reality, but was an artificial product, come into existence
under Greek-Hellenistic influence and under that of the Sibylline
oracles 78); this is also the opinion of Münzer 79).
So the facts known to us permit us no other conclusion than that vates
is not an originally Roman idea 80).
From Vergil's use of this word it might also appear that the vates was
no original Roman figure. For he uses it rather often (42 times at all), but
nearly always about figures of Greek origin81), or about predicting priests
from outside Italy proper82); three times83) in the meaning of "poet",
and once84) about the goddes Carmentis.
So this is another proof, that the "vates" is no augur here, but a

7B) Liv. XXV, 12: religio deinde nova obiecta est ex carminibus Marcianis. vates
hic Marcius inlustris fuerat; cf. also Fest. p. 165; Cic. Div. I, 40, 50; II, 113;
cf. SA VI, 70; Plin. 33, 119; Amm. XIV, 1, 7; Arnob. I, 62; Macröb. Sat. I, 7, 25 sqq.;
Zonar. IX, 1; Symm. Ep. 4, 34; Isid. Or. VI, 8, 12.
7<1) According to sorae of these authors (e.g. Servius; Cic. Div. II, 113; Symmachus)
there was not one vates Marcius, but there were two or three brothers; this pluralizing
is explained by Schanz I, 1, p. 27 as probably suggested by the two prophetic utterances
ascribed to him. And no date is assigned for his life,
T7) IV, p. 129—136.
78) As may appear from his connection with the Sibylline books and by his zeal for
the cult of Apollo.
79) RE s.v. Marcius.
80) Otto (Arch. f. Rel. Wiss. XII, 548) on the contrary mentions the word "vates"
as a proof that enthusiastic prophesying was found in ancient Latium as well. But he does
not even consider the possibility of its Celtic origin, so that his inference is none too
certain.
81) The Sibyll (III, 443, 456, VI, 65, 78, 82, 125, 161, 189, 211, 259, 372. 398, 415,
419, 562); Helenus (III, 358, 433, 463, 712); Cassandra (III, 187, V, 636); Proteus
(G IV, 387, 392, 450); Calybe-Allecto (VII, 435, 447); Calchas (II, 122); Celaeno
(III, 246); Ghloreus (XI, 774); Apollo (VI, 112), Musaeus and other divine singers
(VI, 662, 669).
82) In Carthage (IV, 65, 464), Sicily (V, 524), Greece (VIII, 626, cf. also G III.
491).
83) B VII, 28, IX, 34; A VII, 41.
M) VIII, 340.
 148

haruspex; for, although the term "vates" is not strictly applicable to the
latter either, he is at least of non-Roman origin.

Finally this haruspex may be named "vates" here, because he is the first
to give expression — and in a worthy and legal form (cf. the spondaeus in
1. 69, the archaic form "dominarier", and the repetition of the doubtless
sacral "partes") — to something which all the bystanders are vaguely
feeling.
Thus to give expression to the indistinct and confused feelings of the
mass, to that which all their fellow-men were witnessing, was also
considered as their specific task by the Augustan poets, as Vergil and
Horace (cf. the Carmen Saeculare). They feit really inspired by a higher
power to speak — and of course in a suitable and worthy form — of things,
as Altheim85) says: "die in der vorhandnen Ordnung der Welt, mochte
sie nun in der Natur, mochte sie in der Geschichte und dem Wirken der
Nation sich offenbaren, schon irgendwie beschlossen lagen, die aber noch
des Erweckers und Künders bedurften um lebendig und allen gegenwartig
darzustehen"; to be the first to put into words the general vague feelings
of the masses86). Hence they really feit a divine mission, and asserted
themselves not as profane poets, but gave their sayings in the conviction of
their being equivalent to other expressions in which the deity manifested
his will to mankind, whereas their selfrespect was increased, because they
feit themselves uplifted by the response they found in the Emperor, and
above all in the community.
This accounts for the elevated and solemn tone of these Augustan poets,
as well as for the fact that such a serious man as Vergil did not shrink
from calling himself "vates"87). For: to feel and to understand those
ideas that thrilled the masses, and to give expression to them in a clear and
dignified manner had also been characteristic of the "seer" of olden times,
as the Romans imagined him. Hence this function of the vates of Augustan
times might easily be conceived as a revival of the original.
For this reason and others 88) the Augustan poets may have taken up

85) Röm. Rel. qesch. III, p. 84.

88) These feelings were often, as Altheim p. 92 sqq. has proved, even vaguely feit
by the Emperor himself, who consequently did not act in preestablished harmony with
the poet, but sometimes allowed himself to be led — in the domain of religion as well
as in that of state-affairs — by the poets; hence their visions and admonitions were
temporarily prominent.
87) Cf. also OTr. V, 7, 55: ille ego Romanus vates.
88) The poets of the Augustan age preferred "vates" to "poeta" and "scriba" because
"poeta" (from noiita ) and "scriba" were connected with the ideas of the artisan, knowing
his craft — not only the technique of versification, but also mythology etc. — and of the
vir doctus; as indeed the Roman poets were for a long time, and practically continuously,
in the first instance docti, whereas inspiration was only a secondary requirement (cf. W.
Kroll, Stud. z. Verst. d. röm. Lit., p. 24 sqq.). On the other hand from Greece they knew
 149

this word afresh after a long ncglect, and applied it to themselves, thus
giving it a new meaning. For this denomination of the poet is not found
before Augustan times89), and was an artificial creation, a conscious
change of the natural development of this word 90).
And we may perhaps conclude, that, as Augustus is prefigured by
Aeneas in the Aeneid, likewise Vergil, the singer of the new era which
had dawned with Augustus, and who some twenty-five lines before (VII,
41) had called himself "vates", here introduced himself, like Pheidias on
the shield of Athena; the "vates" of the town of Latinus, who announces
the arrival of a new ruler, Aeneas in these words: "externum cernimus ...
adventare virum ... et summa dominarier arce", may here prefigure Vergil
celebrating the reign of Augustus—Octavianus, who had arrived from
Greece, and had his residence on the Palatine.

the inspired singer, who, because he was endowed with superhuman gifts, was considered
inspired by the deity. Hence the Roman poets, who appreciated being considered inspired
singers as well, and having a divine consecration, sought for a Latin word to express
this; the most suitable word was "vates", which, according to its Celtic origin, already
possessed the idea of divine inspiration, and in Latin had a further association with the
divine sphere as it denoted the author of religious songs; moreover the romantic tendency
prevailing in Augustan times considered that the earlier centuries held nothing but good
hence the poet of the Augustan age would wish, like the Roman poet of the past, to be
considered not "doctus" but inspired as well.
88) Vergil is the first of whom we know this use of vates. But Horace and Ovid,
as well as other poets of the Augustan time, used "vates" in the sense of "poeta" as well,
and far oftener than Vergil does, although, as Runes (Geschichte des Wortes Vates, in
Festschrift f. P. Kretschmer, p. 202 sqq.) remarks, originally always in association with
the sacral sphere. They are the real propagators of this innovation, which in later periods
of Roman literature, in prose as well as in poetry, was rather common.
90) This may be proved from its having the pejorative sense of "lying prophet" in
Lucrece, and from the fact that it is not originally found in the prosaists of the Augustan
age, who only use "vates" in the sense of "prophet" (Runes, p. 214, n. 2).
 THE TENDING OF THE FIRE.
71 Castis adolet dum altaria taedis
et iuxta genitorem adstat Lavinia virgo

What is Lavinia doing here? Is she burning faggots on a real altar? If

this is true, this must be understood as the preliminary to a burnt-offering,
or a smoke-offering, but at any rate an offering, and therefore an offering
to a god (cf. Klausen, p. 775 "beim Opfer des Latinus, der den Altar mit
keuscher Fackel anzündet").
But several circumstances render this rather doubtful:
1. The circumstance that it is a girl performing this function here. For
the camilli and camillae, assisting in the sacrifice, are well-known, as well
as the pueri et puellae ingenui patrimi matrimique in general; but a) their
task must have been to assist in other fields — e.g. they carried the prae-
fericulum x) or sang a sacred song 2) — rather than to mend the fire; cf.
OF II, 639 sqq., a description of the offering to Terminus at theTerminalia,
where, whereas (1.650) filia parva. ubi ter fruges immisit in ignes, porrigit
incisos favos, the task of building up the fire, necessary for the offering, is
given to the colona herself 3); b) Lavinia is no longer a little girl, but a virgo.
iam matura viro (1.53); and although the word virgo is used repeatedly
for puellae having a function at the offering 4) we get the impression, that
they are always half-grown, and not full-grown virgins5); c) it is not
impossible that the camillae and puellae, not acting in combination with the
pueri, but alone, functioned exclusively as assistants of the priestesses, as
the flaminica, or the Vestales, but not as hand-maidens to a priest.
2. From 1. 77: "totis Volcanum spargere tectis" we may assume that
in this case the altar was inside the house. But in contrast with this altars
for burnt-offerings were placed outside the temple as a rule, and not

!) Mon. d.Inst. IV, tav. XIII, fig. 1.

s) Macrob. Sat. I, 6, 14; see Wiss. RuK p. 496, n. 1.
3) 1. 645: Iigna senex minult, concisaque construit alte, et solida ramos figere
pugnat humo.
4) E.g. Liv. XXXVII, 3, 7; Obsequ. 40; Paul. Pest. p. 228; Macrob. Sat. I, 16, 4;
CIL VI, 32323, 1. 20.
5) Cf. Ovid. I.C.: filia parva; SA XI, 558: ministros enim et ministras impuberes
camillos et camillas in sacris vocabant.
But cf. on the other hand VA II, 228: pueri innuptaeque puellae sacra canunt, and
D.H. II, 22: %oü(jov xaï xópijVf xöv /iiv t">< ?ƒ..'?>,> vntjQtxiïv ior; itQotg, ri]v (ff XÓQTIV tioov
a» XI XQÓVOV clyvij yd/iotv. (Dionys however may have sald this only in an incorrect
analogy with the kanephoroi in Greece, in which dlrection his thoughts already
went, as appears from his next words: ix roiv /cxXyvixo'iv vóuoiv xaï rafrra iiitivtytd/uvot,
iytt> ruliyoiiai.
 151

inside 6). And for the sake of completeness we may remark, that, although,
as we have seen 1. 59, we need not necessarily assume that Vergil com-
mitted the anachronism of providing Latinus' palace with a peristylium, yet
not even in a hypaethral temple was a burnt-offering likely to have taken
place 7). Therefore this is excluded. Naturally the preparations for the
burnt-offering, the lighting of the fire on the foculus, the portable grate,
which was kept inside the temple as a matter of course, may have taken
place indoors, but the words: "castis adolet altaria taedis" do not give us
the impression that this is Lavinia's sole task here; neither could we in
this case decide why Latinus here was standing at her side.
3. Because this offering is made inside, it must have been consecrated
to a household-deity, as the Lar, the Penates, or Vesta. And their offerings
were not consecrated on a special altar, but were cast into the fire, which
was therefore considered their altar; cf. SA XI, 211: cum focus ara sit
deorum penatium.
And this explains why a burnt-offering on an altar inside the house is
out of the question.
In my opinion Vergil here does not refer to an offering, but to the
tending of the fire.
It cannot be objected against this view that Vergil does not denote the
fire by the word "focus" or "vesta", but by "altaria". For not only is
"focus"8) repeatedly used in the sense of "the altar"9), but "altaria" can
just as well be used for "focus". This latter fact probably appears from
these words being often found in juxtaposition, from the one being used
for the other to a certain extent, and from the expression "arae focique"
which comprises the entire sphere of sacra publica and privata10). (Pro­
bably the functions of altar and focus however were not identical but had
one thing in common, scil. that sacrifices were offered on both 11), although

6) Marqu. St. Verw. III, p. 158, and. n. 5.

7) Marqu. op. cit. p. 159, and n. 2.
8) As well as the Greek iaxaga and ioxia.
®) See Thesaurus s.v. focus II; this may be because the altar, on which or in whose
vicinity the fire for an offering was lit (cf. OF II, 645/6 L ara fit, huc ignem fert colona, ...
sumptum de focis, and VA XII, 119: in medioque focos et dis communibus aras; 213: in
flammam iugulant pecudes ... cumulant oneratis lancibus aras) was considered as a hearth
in a certain sense; cf. also SA XII, 181: quicquid ignem fovet focus vocatur, sive ara
sive quid aliud, in quo ignis fovetur.
10) However the word "arae" may originally have been related with the sacrificia
publica, "foei" with the sacrificia privata, as may appear from SA V, 66; SA III, 134;
178: focis, non aris, quia privatum sacrificium sequitur, nam penatibus sacrificat. From
these lines, as well as from SA XI, 211, cited above, we learn, as is already given above,
that inside the house the hearth had more or less the function of the altar inside the
temple and in the open air. Besides, this was not only the case with the Romans, but also
with other peoples, as the Indo-Iranians, the Teutonians, etc.
11) Cf. SA I, 730: quoad ea, quae de coena libata fuerant, ad focum ferrentur et igni
darentur; and OF VI, 310: (at the Vestalia) fert missos Vestae pura patella cibos.
 152

perhaps originally offerings of different kinds12), later on however these

two groups of offerings may have merged one into the other 13).
In order to allow for the possibility that "focus" cannot only be used for
altar but also viceversa "altaria" for "focus", see for an allied instance SA III,
134: amare focos: ...quidam focos lares, et per hoe domicilia tradunt. Ergo
focos pro penates posuit. At e contrario penates pro focis, and I, 704:
flammis adolere penates. And finally the ara Vestae Mon. Fast. Praen.
a. d. IV kal. Mai.: "eo die aedicula et ara Vestae in domo Caesaris Aug.
pont. max. dedicata est", which ara most likely was the hearth itself, is a
convincing proof that in the Augustan time ara-altaria could be used for
the hearth.
Moreover not only may "altaria" have been a metonymy for "focus",
but originally they may have had almost an identical significance, scil. of
"fire-place". For according both to Walde-Hofmann and to Ernout et
Meillet "altaria" is related to "adolere", the original meaning of which
apparently was "to burn" (and not, as is given by Servius and Nonius
Marcellus 14) "to increase" 15). At any rate — although this is not a strict
proof — the 4 times that Vergil uses the words "adolere" and „adultus" 16)
the meaning "to burn" is acceptable. And although according to some
etymologists 17) the original meaning of "ara" may also have been "fire-
place" 18), "altaria" may be nearer to the idea of hearth than "ara", as the
difference in use between those two originally may have been 19) that on
the altaria, in contrast with the arae, the fire originally burnt, not for the
sake of the offering, but as a fire with no additional purpose; cf. also Paul.
Fest. p. 5: altaria sunt in quibus igne adoletur, together with SA I, 704:
nam in aris non adolentur aliqua, sed cremantur. Yet perhaps these
testimonies are not quite satisfactory 20), and even if they correspond with

12) On the hearth only such as had been cooked by means of the fire originally, —
thus offerings of cooked or baked or roasted food — as a thanksgiving for the hearth's
assistance.
13) When later on the hearth was for this reason more generally considered to be
the seat of the Penates, the tutelary spirits of the house, another kind of offering may
also have been made, which had not been prepared by the instrumentality of the fire, e.g.
wine-libations; but in this case too they were reserved to this special category of gods.
This is the reason why I cannot agree with E. Saglio, in DarSagl. I, p. 347, who says:
"et d'abord chaque familie, dès qu'elle eut une demeure fixe, eut un autel, qui fut la
pierre du foyer".
w) SA VIII, 65; A I, 704; Non. Mare. 58, 20.
15) This latter significance may have been inferred per analogiam with "adolescere"
and "adultus", which however is related with "aio".
") VB VIII, 65; A I, 704; III, 547; VII, 71.
17) See Walde s.v.; Norden, Aen. VI, 177 sqq.; Bücheler, Lex It. p. V.
18) According to others (cf. e.g. Pfister, p. 120) ara means originally "the thrown up".
18) As is assumed by Guther, de iure pontif. p. 126.
20) For in literature we find "adolere" used not only for the burning of the fire for
the offering (OF III, 803, Plin. XV, 40; Suet. Cal. 13; Solin. 9, 11; Arnob. VII, 16).
This may however only be a wrong and faulty meaning.
 153

the original state of affairs, it must be considered whether Vergil was

aware of it. So we are not entitled to bring forward the use of the word
"altaria" as an additional proof that Vergil meant the hearth here. The
less so as the ancients in general did not make this difference between the
words "ara" and "altaria" (see Excurs).
Granted that we apply the name "altaria" to a fire, it leaves a possibility
that a sacrifice might be brought to it without any intention of feeding it.
But this does not require its being lighted afresh at the same time. So
here there can be question only of the usual kind of tending of the fire.
This may the sooner be assumed, as:
1. At the real sacrificium the various stages of the proceedings are
usually carefully recounted by Vergil21).
2. Although all the rites and ceremonies of the old religion had Vergil's
interest, he gave a prominent place to the morning-sacrifice to the house-
hold-gods by the rekindling of the yesterday's ashes22), the first duty
of the pious Romans, and still familiar to Vergil's contemporaries. This
explains why Vergil could give a rather succinct description of it here.
3. In the lines 71 and 72 the fact that more than ordinary purity was
required is twice emphasized, scil. by the words "castus" and "virgo". At
first sight both are superfluous so that we conclude that Vergil must have
had some special purpose in using them here.
It is common knowledge that "castitas" — denoting the English
"purity" rather than "chastity" — is required for every religious rite, both
for the persons performing it and for the objects employed in it, as the
taedae here 23).
Probably this castitas was not applicable to such an extent to the spiritual
sphere — as Cicero opines — for then it would have been unintelligible to
us that it could be used with relation to taedae and other implements;
neither did the word, as is seemingly suggested by "purae manus",
originally express the idea of "cleanliness". But in the word "castus",
which 24) is related to "careo" — as we may learn from the subst. "castus" 25)
meaning abstinence, later on more especially of food, in former periods
other things as well ~ and to the Ind.-Eur. root KAS 26) — we obviously
have the agent for expressing: separation from, not being mixed up with

21) See Bailey, p. 43 sqq. E.g. G I, 338—50; III, 468; IV, 545; A II, 132, 156, 201;
III, 20, 118; IV, 56—64; V, 745; VI 38, 153; VII, 93; VIII, 102—106; 175—83; 280—8;
641; XII, 170—74.
22) E.g. V, 743; VIII, 543; see Bailey, ibidem.
23) Cf. e.g. Hor. Carm. IV, 11: ara castis vincta verbenis; OF IV, 412; Ciris 146;
Henz. Act. fratr. Arv. p. 30; Liv. XLV, 5, 4; cum omnis praefatio sacrorum eos quibus
non sint purae manus arceat; Tib. II, 1, 11 sq.: casta placent superis, pura cum veste
venite et manibus puris sumite fontis aquam; Cic. de leg. II, 10, 23: caste iubet lex adire
ad deos, animo videJicet, in quo sunt omnia.
24) Schulze ZGLEN, p. 474, 5.
M) E.g. Naev. BP frg. 30; Varr. ap. Non. p. 197; Geil. X, 15, 1; CIL I, 813, VI, 357.
26) Pfister p. 116.
 154

profane magical miasma, which was applicable both to objects, animals and
human beings.This explains.how the adjective "castus", originally meaning
"abstaining from", assumed in later times the religious-ethical idea of
"holy" 27).
The reason why this castitas was required must originally not be looked
for in the circumstance, that: "casta placent superis", as Tibull will have
it, but, as appears from the frequent repetition of this demand with every
kind of primitive tribes 28), in the idea, that contact of a polluting sub-
stance with sacred things was sure to have injurious consequences. For,
because the former carries energy of a baneful kind, it robs the deity or
holy being of a part of their sacredness, or rather of their beneficial power.
This castitas however is most emphasized in Roman ritual in the cult
of the hearth in general (e.g. Cat. r. r. 143: (vilica) focum purum circum-
versum cotidie, priusquam cubitum eat, habeat) and of Vesta in particular.
Not only was there the ordinary requirement of purificatory measures here,
for the objects as well as for the sacrificers, who had to be casti while
they performed their sacred task, but in the service of Vesta the Vestales
had to be castae all the time of their 30 years' task; as is well-known
this demand of "castitas" implied virginity for the Vestales — and for
them exclusively of all priests and priestesses in Rome29). It was even a
far more serious offence when a virgo Vestalis, who was not absolutely
pure, approached the fire, than when this went out by sheer neglect29a).
Purity was emphatically prescribed for the utensils which the cult
required; e.g. the hearth, when extinguished, was not allowed to be relit
by a flame of profane fire 3°); every day the aedes Vestae had to be
sprinkled with water from a special well31), from 7—15 June the great
cleansing of this aedes took place, which surely had not only a practical
significance, but also one of magie and religious effect; Ovid (F VI, 310)
says, that on the Vestalia: fert missos Vestae pura patella cibos: and
according to Festus32), the mola salsa, prepared by the Vestales, was
called "casta mola".
Hence also the taedae, which kept the fire burning, — only when the

87) Further information as to the significance of 'castus" in E. Fehrle, Die kultische

Keuschheit im Altertum, p. 200 sqq.
28) Cf. Westermarck, Origin and development of moral ideas, II, p. 352 sqq.
28) For many of the other priests and priestesses, e.g. the Flamen Dialis, it was even
stipulated that they were to be raarried. (At the cult of Juno Sospita at Lanuvium however
certain religious acts could only be performed by virgins (Prop. IV, 8, 3; Ael. H.
An. XI, 16).
29a) As to the going out of the fire see DH II, 67, 5; Liv. XXVIII, 11, 6. Wiss.
(Arch. f. Rel. Wiss. XXII, 201 sqq., esp. 208) remarks that when a Vestal sinned this
was considered and treated as a prodigy, not as an ordinary sin.
3°) Cf. Fest. p. 106.
31) From a well of Egeria, before the Porta Capena, water from (conduit-) pipes wa»
never allowed; Plut. Num. 13; cf. Tacit. Hist. IV, 56.
32) S.v. casta mola: casta mola genus sacrificii, quod Vestales virgines faciebaot.
 155

fire had gone out it had to be rekindled in the primitive manner, by using
the fire-drill33) were to be "castae", free from miasma of a baneful
sort, or, which comes to the same thing, invested with beneficent power
(cf. Fest. l.c.: tabulam felicis materiae).
From a thorough examination of the remnants of charred embers of the
hearth-fire of the aedes Vestae on the Forum Boni 34) has concluded that
for the mending of this fire branches of the oak-tree were used. This
harmonizes with the castitas required, because the oak-tree is sure to have
been in the possession of this benedictory and apotropaeic power in
Rome 35).
When we try to find a motive, why castitas — as well as the perpetuity
of the burning fire 36) — was an imperative necessity in the cult of Vesta
and the tending of the fire, we find an answer in the urgent need among
primitive tribes of a fire, whereas on the other hand the making of it
was to them a matter of the greatest difficulty. This difficulty may appear
from instances, given by Frazer, GB II, p. 253 sqq. who relates, how there
are tribes, even to this day 37), who are ignorant of the art of building
fires, and consequently, if a fire were caused by natural phenomena as
lightning, the lava of volcanoes, jets of inflammable gas, they take the
utmost pains to prevent its extinction.
But even (p. 257) in those regions where the art of making a fire by
friction had been acquired, the process is so involved, that many savages
prefer to keep the fire burning to being put to the trouble of having to
rekindle it in this way; e.g. the wandering Australian aborigines before the
arrival of the whites carried bits of the bark of trees, that were still smoul-
dering, with them to kindie their camp-fires. These nomads, when settling
down, keep a fire burning in every home; this must have been the custom
with many Indo-European tribes as well. The building up and keeping
aflame of one big official fire, every precaution being taken to prevent its
going out, and every member of the community having some right to it,
was far safer than to have to entrust the care of the individual fires to
every occupant of a home. And (cf. Frazer, p. 260) what place could be
more suitable for the place of this fire than the home of the headman of
the village, who consequently was naturally considered as the responsible
person for its maintenance.

33) Fest. p. 65 M: ignis Vestae si quando exstinctus esset, virgmes .... quibus mos
erat tabulam felicis materiae tamdiu terebrare quousque exceptum ignem etc.
34) N.d.sc. 1900, p. 161, 172.
3B) This does not only follow from its being the sacred tree of Jupiter, which already
shows that it must have been thought to possess a strong benedictory power; but it
appears also from VG I, 347—350: neque ante falcem maturis quisquam apponet aristis
quam ... torta redimitus tempora quercu ...
36) Cf. Veil. Pat. II, 131: perpetuorumque custos Vesta ignium; Arnob. adv. nat. II,
67; Tib. I, 16; Mart. X, 47.
S7) E.g. the inhabitants of the Andamene islands, of the coast of Northern Guinea,
and of Central Africa.
 156

This is apparently the cause of a pcrpetual fire being kept up in or next

door to the residence of the king or chief; not only was this so with the
Greeks or Romans (cf. with a view to them the perpetual fire, kept up in
the Prytaneion), but also with quite a number of various other peoples, who
had no connection whatever with them38). Hence this fire often stamped
its protector with royal dignity or chieftainship, which may have led people
to believe that the chief's life depended on the continuance of the fire.
Hence in the king's house the most energetic measures had to be taken
to prevent the fire from going out. It is only natural that it should be
attended to by those people, who were always on the spot, hence by members
of the king's family, or by servants; now it is very unlikely, that tending
the hearthfire should have been left to servants, as they might have been
foreigners by origin, or at any rate of inferior state, so that a certain
miasma always adhered to them; it follows that only members of the king's
family are left.
And then they had to be chaste, at least for the time being. For while for
every act, that was important for the upholding of human life great purity
and even temporary chastity were required 39) this was especially the case
for the tending of the fire; this is a requirement, not only for the woman,
but also for the man in many cases 40).
For primitive man this chastity was probably required originally, not for
its ethic value41), as the Romans opined in later periods42), but only,
because it was necessary from a magical point of view at certain acts.
Hence it does not matter, whether a person is chaste or not during his
whole life. Permanent personal chastity for adults was known only in our
case of the Vestales in the course of Roman history, until the influence of
oriental religions made itself feit.
So we might add that chastity was required of the one who lighted the
fire not only at the moment itself, but also during the time leading up to
it 43). But even then chastity was no longer imperative in a later period of
3S) E.g. the Herero in South Africa, the Samoans, the Gallas, the Natchez Indians,
the inhabitants of the former kingdom of Congo, and certain tribes in Uganda.
39) Cf. still Colum. r. r. XII, 4, 2 sqq.; Frazer, G.B. II, p. 214 sqq.
40) So (Frazer G.B. II, p. 237 sqq.): with the Slavs of the Balkans, when there is an
epidemie in a village, a "living" fire is lit by making a girl and a boy, aged between
eleven and fourteen, rub two pieces of wood together; with the Germans of Halberstadt
as wel as with the Basuto's of South Africa fire was lit by one or more chaste boys on
certain solemn occasions.
41) Cf. D.H. II, 68, in the prayer of the Vestale Aemilia: 'EOxla, K fiiv óoïtai xat
rftxnfiui inixtrO.ina ooi to . . . xat il'vxii" 't'xovOa xa3-«(jüi> xai ffw/t* ayvöv.
48) This idea here, says Frazer, Fasti IV, p. 207, is "not only unknown, but
unintelligible to savages, who nevertheless observe a custom of continence in a multitude
of cases for practical purposes, where civilized man would not dream of exacting it .
Hence the supposition of Cicero (de leg. II, 29): ei (scil. Vestae) colendae virigines
praesint, uti sentiant mulieres e natura feminarum omnium castitatem peti" does not
correspond to the original ideas.
43) Cf. the reasons, given by Frazer G.B. II, p. 239.
 157

his life, and the study of different kinds of peoples, as the Incas of Peru,
and the Baganda of Central Africa 44) helps us to understand that is was
possible that the virgins, who officiated at the tending of the fire were
married after a certain number of years.
The unmarried daughter(s) of the king naturally were best suited to
combine in their persons constant presence in the house and the greatest
possible lack of every miasma. And with several peoples we see, as a matter
of fact, the task of building up the fire entrusted to these girls; e.g. with
the Herero or Damara of Damaraland in south-western Africa45).
Similarly with the Incas of Peru the fire had to be tended by virgin
priestesses, belonging to the royal family. Sometimes this tending or buil­
ding up of the fire was performed under the supervision of the king or
chief, as with the Djakuns, a savage tribe of the Malay Peninsula 46).

I suppose that it was for the above reasons that the virgin daughters of the
king were appointed to the task of tending the fire in Rome46a). I incline the
more towards this belief, because in Rome too the aedes Vestae and the
atrium Vestae, which, although adjoining the king's house, stood apart
from it, must originally have been absent; in Rome the Vestales also may
originally have officiated in the Regia, — which was originally the residence
of the king — as may appear from the tradition, that the aedes Vestae was
not erected before Numa47); it must be remarked however that also the
Vestals themselves are said not to have been introduced in Rome before
Numa 47a).
At any rate this may have been so in the surrounding pre-Roman

44) Frazer lx. p. 243, 246.

45) Whose manners and customs in other respects too are very similar to those of
the Romans; we do not consider this the right place to enter upon this subject, but lts
perusal in Frazer, op. cit. p. 211 sqq. is very interesting. (This certainly does not imply
that these two peoples were connected in the past, nor that the same origin underlay this
complex of ideas and customs.)
48) Frazer, op. cit. p. 236.
46<") It must be remarked here that not all scholars agree as to this origin of the
Roman Vestals. Closest to our view comes Mommsen, who (RG I, 168; RF I, 80; St. R.
II, 54; Str. r. 18) considers them as "gleichsam die Haustöchter des römischen Volkes",
"gleichsam die Töchter der Gemeinde" (see also Euing, Tanaquil, p. 34 sqq.), of which,
as Münzer, p. 52 remarks, the consequence is that the predecessors of the Vestals were
the king's own daughters.
Others however (as Wissowa (RuK 168, n. 7; Roscher VI, c. 260, 262), Münzer
(Adelsp. p. 106), and Deubner (Arch. f. Rel. Wiss. XXXIII, 114) consider that the
Vestals as a whole respresent the mistress of the house at the hearth of the State.
(However Münzer, Philol. 1937, p. 52 objects himself, how in this case it must be
explained that they always appear as a plurality, and yet form a unity.)
47) Fest. p. 262 M; Plut. Num. 11, 1; DH II, 64; cf. 65—66; cf. also OTr. III, 1, 30:
hic Iocus est Vestae qui Pallada servat et ignem; haec fuit antiqui regia parva Numae.
<7a) DH II, 67.
 158

communities, perhaps at Lavinium, and in any case at Alba, as may appear

from the tradition, that Rhea Silvia, the royal princess, was a Vestal48),
which tradition on the other hand may partly have induced Vergil to make
Lavinia officiate here as such. It may be remarked here that Dionysius
(I, 76) says that Rhea Silvia when she was chosen a Vestal, was èv axfijj
y&fiov and from his words Jievtaetovs d' ovx èkdrtco XQÓVOV è'dei rag Ugag
xógag ayvdg diafieïvai yaficov, aig avazé^eixat tov x aofiéoiov JIVQOO fj rpvkaxi)
we may assume that marriage was originally not interdicted to them at all
in that period. And this may also appear from the close relation of the
Pontifex Maximus, who succeeded the king in many of his sacral rights,
with the Vestales; he not only appoints the new Vestales 49), but has the
general supervision of them, and the execution of penal rights over
them 50); moreover his official residence is the Regia, situated next to the
Aedes Vestae; and of all male persons the entrance of the penus Vestae was
permitted to him aloneSi); moreover he brings several offerings or performs
certain acts together with the Vestales, or with one of them 52). Cf. further
a coin of the gens Sulpicia, with a head of Vesta on the one, the emblems
of the pontifices on the reverse side5s), and the fact, that an offering to
Vesta was made on March 6, because on that day August had become
pontifex maximus (see below) 54).
Originally the Roman Vestals too were probably allowed to enter upon
the married state after some years of service, when still young (see above).
This permission was probably withdrawn later on, when kingship had
been abolished, because the purport of this custom was no longer feit, and
therefore this custom was applied with greater severity, even beyond its
original scope. Hence it is very probable, that Lavinia too, before being
married at a rather youthful age, served as a Vestal in the house of her
father, the king.

That it was Vergil's wish to have Lavinia in some respects perform

the function of a Vestal, appears from his using the word "virgo" in this
place. For, although we are convinced from what is said in the above lines,
that Lavinia is unmarried, yet here the word "virgo" is added, and moreover
in a conspicuous place, scil. the sixth foot. Now "virgo" without any

48) Liv. I, 3, 11; PJut. Rom. 3 sqq.; DH I, 76; as Münzer, Philol. 1937, p. 52 remarks
the tradition that Rhea Silvia, the daughter of a king, officiated as a Vestal, need not
reflect a genuine reminiscence, but may have been constructed, because of the tradition
that Romulus was the son of a virgin.
48) Gel. I, 12.
50) D.H. II, 67, 3; Plut. Num. 10.
B1) OF VI, 451.
52) E.g. to Ops Consiva (Varr. 1.1. VI, 21); at the Fordicidia (OF V, 674); the
sacrifice of the Argei (DH I, 38); cf. also Hor. Carm. III, 30, 7 sqq.: dum Capitolium
scandet cum tacita virgine pontifex.
53) Riccio, tav. XLV. 4.
M) OF III, 415 sqq.
 159

addition is of ten used to denote the Vestale55). So for the intelligent

reader Vergil may have expressed by this very word, that he meant
Lavinia to act here as a Vestale. That Lavinia is alone, whereas there are
usually six Vestales, need not be an objection; for although later on there
was a greater number of Vestales, the care of the fire was entrusted to
one at a time so that there may have been originally but one. Compare the
fact that Rhea Silvia may also have been without fellow-Vestals55<").
Moreover the fact that Lavinia is here standing beside her father is not
only no objection, but may even be a supporting argument for our view.
For, although at first sight this is only explicable, if she "praeministrat
patri sacificianti", — the explanation also given by Servius here: sciendum
Latinum sacrificasse iuxta stante Lavinia —, on second thoughts it is more
plausible, that Lavinia, as a Vestale, is tending the fire under the super-
vision of her father (cf. the fact, that by the word "genitor" the relation
father-daughter is especially stressed), the king, who in this quality is a sort
of Pontifex Maximus as well; (that she is here considered the royal princess
appears from the use of the adjective "regalis" in "regales comas", and
from the fact, that a prodigy, happening to her, is at the same time destined
for the entire people).
Although neither in literature nor in art do we hear of a customary super-
vision of the pontifices over the Vestales, occupied in tending the fire,
and although probably in later periods this was not a daily custom, yet it
is very likely that originally the king may have exercized this supervision,
as we have seen from the exposition given above. And by the close con-
nection of "Lavinia virgo" with "iuxta genitorem adstat" Vergil may have
expressed this very fact. Hence the function of these words here has a
further reach than the mere indication of the prodigy touching not only
Lavinia, but also her father; the connection of the prodigy with Lavinia's
relatives is sufficiently emphasized by the fact, that the flammae "totis
Volcanum spar gunt tectis".

4. Finally a proof that Vergil meant the tending of the hearthfire here
may be found in the special interest of Augustus in the cult of Vesta,
which appears i.a. from the many honours he bestowed upon the Vestales
to make this dignity more attractive 56), and last but not least from his

56) E.g. (Preuner, p. 290, n. 2): Cic. in Cat. III, 4, 9; ad Att. I, 13; Brirt. 67, 236;
OF IV, 621; Plin. ep. VII, 19; SA VII, 153; Tacit. Ann. IV, 16; Geil. I, 12, 1; Aug.
c. d. III, 2.
55a) At any rate Numa seems to have instituted two, or even four, at the same time
(Plut. Num. 10, 1; DH II, 67, 1).
B0) I.a. a place of honour in the theatre (Suet. Aug. 31); the right to ride in a carriage
in the town; his raising their income (ibid.) and giving his testament into their keeping
(Tacit. Ann. I, 8; Suet. Aug. 101) — as also Caesar had done (Suet. Caes. 83); his
offering them the Regia for their residence to enhance their distinction, his restoring the
temple of Vesta, which had been burnt down; cf. also the Ara Pacis, where in the
procession Augustus is immediately followed by Vestales and priests.
 160

declaration, when at one time the number of candidates for the vacant place
of a Vestal was not sufficiënt, that57): si cuiusquam neptium suarum
competeret aetas, oblaturum se fuisse eam.
By this he not only declared that it was a great honour to be chosen a
Vestal, as it always had been 57a), but he also gave evidence of his personal
interest in the reviving of the cult of the Vestals. He may have had this
interest for a large part as the princeps of the State, and have acted thus
in reminiscence of the (supposed) position of the princess royal at the
court of the Roman or Alban kings 57t). But this interest was partly a
consequence of his being pontifex maximus.
As Augustus himself had become pontifex maximus after the death of
Lepidus in 12 b.C. (DC LIV, 27), Lavinia, tending the fire under the
supervision of her father may here prefigure Augustus with his grand-
daughter, or even Augustus and Livia; (if this last supposition holds good,
the parallel Lavinia—Livia would be a very attractive adstruction for our
thesis) 58).
Not only is it no objection to this supposition, that, whereas the Vestales
tended the fire in the public Regia, Latinus and Lavinia remain in their
own palace, but it my have been Vergil's intention to let them stand there
purposely.
For Augustus as pontifex maximus had to dweil in the immediate
neighbourhood of the temple of Vesta, and therefore ought to have taken
up his quarters in the Regia, the residence, officially appointed for his
office. But this he refused to do, and built a shrine of Vesta beside or
inside59) his own house on the Palatine^o). (See note following page.)

5T) Suet. Aug. 31. It is impossible to date this utterance of Augustus; see Münzer,
Philol. 1937, p. 49, n. 7; at any rate it must be placed after Vergil's death.
57a) The Vestals must always have belonged to the noblest (patrician) families, not
only in the time of Augustus and during the last century of the Republic, but also in the
earlier centuries of Rome (notwithstanding the apparent contradiction in the names of
some Vestals, which are handed down to us (see Münzer, lx.). (Cf. Niebuhr, RG I, 347,
n. 387; Mommsen, RF I, 79).
57t) Cf. Münzer, l.c.: "jene Ausserung des Augustus ... kann mit der zu vermutenden
Zustand der Vorzeit zusammengehalten werden, und da bestatigt es sich wieder einmal,
wie nahe sich Anfang und Ende der römischen Entwicklung berühren".
68) Cf. e.g. Ov. ex Pont. IV, 13, 29: esse pudicarum te Vestam, Livia, matrum.
According to some scholars Livia held this dignity only after the death of her husband.
According to others, e.g. Richmond, JRS 1914, p. 211 Livia officiated as a priestess of
Vesta in the palace of Augustus already during his life-time. And Muller, Augustus,
p. 67 (341) even opines that as Apollo was the divinized fonn of Augustus, so also was
Vesta of Livia, and that Augustus-Apollo and Livia-Vesta were united in a Unóq yd/ioa.
He evens considers that the Penates of the compluvium deorum penatium (Suet. Aug. 92)
were Vesta (-Livia) (cf. OM XV, 804), Phoebus (-Augustus) and Augustus himself.
In my opinion this would be more or less impossible however, and moreover I cannot
find any testimonies of this fact.
®8) lts location Is uncertain, as no definite traces of it have been found. (Cf. Platner-
Ashby, p. 559). Cf. DC LIV, 27: /UÉQOO X« rijs iavxoi5 'Mtritioohaotv which is none
 161

About his reasons the opinions of the scholars are divided 61).
At any rate Augustus' success was complete, and to this temple all the
rights w e r e given o f the temple o f the Forum 6 2 ) .
Although Augustus did not take this measure until 12 b.C., he may have

too clear. According to Hülsen, RM 1895, p. 28, it appears from OF IV, 949 sqq.
that this aedes Vestae was situated "not in that part of the palace which adjoined
the temple of Apollo"; according to Gardthausen, p. 960 it was situated in the northern
wing of the palace; according to Richmond, JRS 1914 it was situated in the house
of Livia, in a small open court on the level of the first floor: according to Frazer III,
p. 96 in some rooms of his palace.
<)0) OF IV, 949 sqq.; OM XV, 864 sqq.: Vestaque Caesareos inter sacrata Penates;
Fast. Praenest. a. d. IV Kal. Mai.: Feriae ex sen. cons. quod eo die aedicula et ara Vestae
in domu imp. Caesaris Aug. pont. max. dedicata est, Quirinio et Valgio css. (CIL I,
p. 213); cf. Fast. Caeret. eod. die (CIL 12, p. 236): Feriae, quod eo die signum Vestae
in domu pontificia dedicata est.
61) The reason why he refused this was according to Frazer, Fasti, IV, p. 180, that
"if he had taken up his quarters in the Regia, this would have obliged him to exchange
his high, airy and sunny abode on the top of the Palatine hill for a house in a low, damp
and comparatively sunless situation in the valley. So he preferred to stay where he was,
and instead of going down to Vesta he compelled the goddess to come up to him".
Gardthausen p. 868 however remarks, that Augustus had but very moderate demands
as concerns the comfort of his house (cf. Suet. Aug. 72); moreover he remarks, that the
Regia would not be so very uncomfortable, as Julius Caesar had resided there as well,
and as after its demolition in 36 b.C. it had been restored. According to him Augustus'
reason for not taking possession of his official residence was his dislike of its name,
Regia. Augustus wanted to avoid even the appearance of being a mere successor of the
ancient kings; his being pontifex maximus and princeps at the same time should be
considered as only a consequence of his personal qualities.
In my opinion there may have been a third reason: Augustus was desirous, that it
should still be officially accepted, that the Roman Penates were of Trojan origin, and
that they were identical with his own Penates, those of the gens Julia; for on this he
partly based his right to rule. Hence he wanted his own Penates to be worshipped as
those of the Roman State. But the cult of the Penates publici populi Romani had always
been connected with the temple of Vesta on the Forum for a large part. Hence Vesta
had to be connected with Augustus' personal residence as well (cf. the fact that according
to Weinstock, RE s.v. Penates, the compluvium deorum Penatium was situated in this
chapel of Vesta) together with which transfer the tradition originated that Vesta too
had been introduced from Troy. (cf. i.a. VA II, 296: (Hector) vittas Vestamque
potentem aeternumque adytis effert penetralibus ignem, and other Augustan poets, as
OF III, 29: Ignibus Iliacis; OM XV, 730: Troica Vesta; Prop. V (IV), 4, 69; cf. also
Lucan. IX, 990 sqq.; Stat. Silv. I, 1, 35; Sil. It. I, 542 sqq.; V, 42 sqq.).
Perhaps these three reasons coalesced.
For the rest the ancient Regia, which had been rebuilt in marble by Domitius Cal vin us
in 36 b.C., by which very fact it may have drawn fresh attention, now was not an
unworthy dwelling-place for the pontifex maximus either.
®2) Frazer, Fasti IV, 81 remarks, that not only was the Vesta, to whom Ovid prays
at the close of his Metamorphoses to spare the life of August, the Caesarean Vesta,
but that also the temple of Vesta, in which August had dedicated costly spoils of wars
(Mon. Anc. IV, 23—26) was the domestic chapel of the goddess, as appears from the
mention of the temple of Apollo, which stood on the Palatine as well, in the same
connection.
11
 162

considercd it long before; cf. the few weeks, elapsing between his being
elected pontifex maximus (6 March) and his raising this temple on the
Palatine (28 April), which consequently was one of his first official acts as
pontifex maximus. For he was determined to become pontifex maximus62")
after the death of Lepidus, who might have died many years before.
Hence many years earlier he already foresaw, that this measure would be
opposed by many of his contemporaries. And many years before he may
have called upon Vergil to prepare the people's mind for this measure of
bringing into his own house what really belonged to the State, and to
legitimate this beforehand, by demonstrating, that not only for the house
of Augustus, but also for that of Latinus held good: Phoebus habet partem,
Vestae pars altera cessit, quod superest illis tertius ipse tenet (OF IV,
949/50):
For 11. 59—60 have clearly shown us, that Vergil alluded to the palace
of Augustus on the Palatine, as moreover also in 1. 170 sqq. (see below);
and in that place especially with a view to its connection with Apollo, to
whom, giving him the name of Apollo Palatinus, Augustus had erected a
magnificent temple next to his own house, in solo privato 63).
Hence is it not very obvious, that for these two prodigies, manifesting
themselves in the palace of Latinus, Vergil, without telling us this in
explicit words, chose such as could have originated from the two deities,
under whose protection stood the house of Augustus, prefigured in the
house of Latinus: Apollo and Vesta?

So Vergil in 1. 71/72 seems to have combined the following elements:

a) the (also) Indo-European custom of the tending of the hearth-fire
by the king and his unmarried daughter(s).
Vergil may have been ready to take seize of this datum, not only because
the cult of Vesta was honoured by its antiquity in Rome, but also because
b ) Rhea Silvia had been a Vestale:
c) at Lavinium there existed an ancient cult of the hearthfire (which
may not have been of Indo-European, but of pre-Indo-European origin 64):
d ) Augustus himself was to become a pontifex maximus — and
attached great value to this dignity; — in this quality he not only would
exercize the supervision of the Vestals, but was even to cede a part of his
house to the cult of Vesta.

62a) That he set great store by the holding of this office appears from the title of
pontifex inaximus becoming a regular part of Imperial titulature, and the day of Augustus'
assumption of it becoming one of the feriae publicae, and from Mon. Anc. II, 23—28.
63) Cf. Gardthausen, p. 961 sqq.
64) Carcopino p. 368 sqq., who considers that the Vesta-cult here, before being
remodelled entirely or partly by Roman Indo-European ideas, as well as the Bacchanalia
there, was strongly tellurian. Although this may have been preserved and strengthened
under Etrurian influence (cf. Schulze, ZGLEN, p. 559) this may have been a remnant
of the neolithic population with its predominantly chthonic worship.
 163

Excurs.
The ancients in general did not make the difference made p. 152/3
between the words "ara" and "altaria" but rather did they think that the
higher altars were called altaria, the lower arae1); or they considered that
the altaria were the small separate altars, placed on top of the large one2),
and destined to hold the fire 3).
Nor does Vergil's use of the words ara and altaria prove explicitly, that
he used ara for the elevation, destined not only for burnt-offerings, but for
all sorts of offerings, altaria on the contrary for the hearth, the domestic
altar, or for smoke-offerings, in a lesser degree also for burnt-offerings, but
strictly speaking not for other sacrifices. But when using "altaria" — which
is far less frequently found than "ara" (about 16 times against 60) a
certain stress has often been laid on the circumstance that it is burning or
emitting smoke4); or it is more or less identical with the hearth in the
atrium 5), or a burnt-offering may be meant 6). But in other places 7) there
is not much reason to use "altaria" rather than "ara"8). And although
"ara" is often used in other meanings 9), it may also be used for a smoke-
altar io) or special stress is laid on the burning of the ara n), or mention
is only made of this latter fact i2), or it is even identical with the house-

а) This may appear from SB V, 66: Varro dis superis altaria, terrestribus arae
(inferis focos) dicari affirmat; cf. also Vitruv. IV, 9; and Paul. Fest. p. 29: altaria ab
altitudine dicta sunt, quod antiqui etc.; Isid. Or. XV, 4, 14: altare, quasi alta ara.
2) Lucan. III, 403/4: structae diris altaribus arae; Gloss. p. 77 Lab.; cf. DarSagl. I,
fig. 418.
3) This phrase in these latter cases may be a nearer approach to the original state of
affairs than the popular etymology- "altare" is "alta ara". For these small separate altars
may have been called "altaria" not because they were put on top of the real altar, and
thus had an elevate position, but because they contained the fire, in contrast with the
ara, which rather had the character of a sacrificial table.
4) E.g. B I, 43; VIII, 64; therefore in 1.74 and 104 the "altaria" is a smoke-altar as
well (cf. also VIII, 284/5: cumulantque oneratis lancibus aras; tum incensa altaria
circum )
б) II, 550, cf. also IV, 517, where "arae" may be the altars for the sacrifice, altaria
the domestic altar.
8) As G III, 490.
7) As IV, 145; V, 54, 93; XI, 150; XII, 174; VII, 211; and also B V, 66.
8) For the explanation that these indicate altars for the di superi may be combated
by the argument that in these cases Vergil uses "ara" as well.
®) E.g. in cases where there is a question of the killing of victims (e.g. G II, 380,
395, III, 160, 486, IV, 276; A. II, 155, 223; IX, 627, etc:);
of altars of a certain god or hero, in a temple or in the open air (I, 7; II, 351; IV, 62;
VI, 252; VII, 764; VIII, 269, 640, 718; IX, 585, etc.);
in connection with presents deposited on the altar (e.g. I, 48; VIII, 248; IX, 453).
10) E.g. I, 417: ture calent arae; IV, 453: turicremis aris.
xl) E.g. XII, 171: admovitque pecus flagrantibus aris; XII, 297: ambustum torrem
Corynaeus ab ara corripit.
12) G IV, 379: adolescunt ignibus arae; III, 231: arisque reponimus ignem; cf. also
III, 279.
 164

altar, cf. especially II, 512/5 13) and several other cases14) where altaria
and ara must have the same significance.
Hence, although "altaria" may have had an original relation to "adolere"
we may not conclude from Vergil s phrase that this was within the scope
of his knowledge15) and take up Vergil's using "altaria" instead of
"ara" here as an additional proof that Vergil meant "hearth" when he
said "altaria".
13) Aedibus in mediis nudoque sub aetheris axe ingens ara fuit iuxtaque veterrimus
laurus incumbens arae atque umbra complexa Penates; hic Hecuba et natae altaria
circum divum amplexae simulacra sedebant.
11) II, 501: Priamumque per aras sanguine foedantem quas ipse sacraverat aras; 523:
haec ara tuebitur omnes.
15) Cf. on the contrary Wissowa, RSV, p. 162 sqq.
 THE PRODIGY OF THE FLAMES.

visa (nefas) longis comprendere crinibus ignem

atque omriem ornatum [lamma crepitante cremari
75 regalesque accensa comas, accensa coronam
insignem gemmis: turn fumida lumine fulvo
involvi ac totis Volcanum spargere tectis.
id vero horrendum ac visu mirabile ferri:
namque ƒore illustrem fama fatisque canebant
80 ipsam, sed populo magnum portendere bellum.

The prodigy of flames, playing suddenly round a human head without

hurting it, is of ten mentioned 1), and most frequently in Roman history.
E.g. it is attached to the person of Servius Tullius2), L. Marcius3),
Masinissa4), a soldier of Caesar5), a shepherd6), Ascanius7), and
perhaps to Augustus8) himself9).
Passing over for the moment the case of Lavinia, we must state that in
those of Ascanius, Masinissa and L. Marcius etc. there is no further
connection with the fire, whereas in that of Servius Tullius there is, as
we shall see below. In these former cases therefore the flames may owe
their foreboding significance to the general belief10) in the predicting
force of flames, which, caused by a general electric phenomenon as e.g.
the St. Elmo's fire, suddenly appear at the top of various objects, e.g.
spearheads 11), masts12), the Standard, etc. These so-called "auspicia ex

1) Cloven tongues of fire are mentioned at the day of Pentecost (Acts 2, 3), a ball of
fire on the head of St. Martin (Sulp. Sever. Dial. 2, 2); see Pease, p. 316/17.
2) Cic. de Repub. 1, 2, 37; DH IV, 2; Plin. II, 241; XXXVI, 27, 70; OF VI, 635;
Plut. Fort. Rom. 10; Val. Max. I, 6, 1; Apul. de deo Socrat. 7; Flor. I, 1, 6, 1; Dio Cassi-
us ap. Zonar. 7, 9, 2; Auct. de vir. illustr. 7, 1—2; SA II, 683; Schol. Veron. VA II,
682; Jordanes, Roman. 1, 101.
3) Plin. II, 241, on the authority of Valerius Antias; Liv. XXV, 39, 16; Val.
Max. I, 6, 2.
4) Sil. It. XVI, 118 sq.
®) Plut. Caes. 63.
«) DC XLVIII, 33.
7) VA II, 682—84; cf. Claud. de quart. Cons. Hon. 192 sqq.
8) VA VIII, 680/81. Cf. also Val. Flacc. I, 571 sqq.
9) For this last instance see also below.
10) See Stemplinger, p. 31/32; cf. also Frazer on Paus. II, 1, 9.
11) See Tac. Ann. XII, 64; Procop. Bell. Vand. II, 2.
") Plin. II, 101.
 166

acuminibus", of which there is abundant evidence, from Antiquity 13) as

well as from modern times14) usually portended evil, but sometimes good
as well; e.g.15) in 1620 A.D. a will o' the wisp, settling down on top of
the Standard, was considered as a prediction of the victory.
In the case of L. Marcius I consider the flame-tale as being based
on this idea very probable. In other cases, as in that of Ascanius, the
flames may be the Hellenistic idea of the halo, which is of Oriental
origin 16) and in Hellenistic and Hellenistic-Roman art (e.g. on Pompeian
mural-paintings) is often found, surrounding the heads of gods, heroes
and other persons of distinction. In this last case they may also evoke an
association with the Sidus Julium16"). (See below.) According to
F. Muller166 ) these flames are an Etruscan prodigy pointing to future
kingship.
It is possible that Vergil, who is the only one to mention this prodigy, had
no intention to create any further associations with this portent about
Lavinia. But considering the fact that he mentioned Volcanus here,
although he did this only in a metonymical sense, I think this very doubtful.
This doubt is also based on some further particulars (see below), and on
the circumstance, that these flames did not arise from nowhere, but from
the hearth-fire.
This combination of the hearth-fire and of flames surrounding the head
is also known to us from the tale of the birth of Servius Tullius. According
to the well-known story, related by Ovid, Pliny, Dionys and Plutarch 11.cc.
Servius Tullius was born from Ocresia, a handmaiden of Tanaquil's, and
from a fascinum, which had appeared in the hearth-fire in the palace of
Tarquinius Priscus; according to Ovid and Pliny this was a manifestation
of the Lar Familiaris, according to Dionys of Vulcanus. So the flames
round Servius Tullius' head were meant later to prove his descent.
Of course the portent of fire round a child's head is not of necessity
a result of its being begotten by a fire-god, as we have seen from its
occurrence in the above instances. Nor is it even an accompanying sign,
as there are instances of a child owing its origin to a fire-god without

13) E.g. Liv. XXII, 1, 8; XXXIII, 26. 8; XLIII, 13, 6; Sen. QN I, 1, 14; Tac. Ann.
XV, 7; Sll. It. VIII, 626; Bell. Afr. 47, 6; DH V, 56; Plut. Suil. 7; Dio Chrysost. Or. 12,
p. 226; VA V, 525/7; Cic. ND. II, 9; Arnob. II, 67, Procop. IV, 2, 5—7. Cf. the fact, that
the Dioscuri were often associated, at least since the Hellenistic age, and probably long
before, with S. Elmo's fire. (Pease p. 224.)
14) See Pease, p. 476, from whom also the above-mentioned instances are drawn.
Also Martin, Rev. Arch. 13 (1866) p. 168—179 gives abundant illustrations; Barry in
Journ. of American Folklore 27 (1914) 68, quoted by Pease, relates, that this phenomenon
Is sometimes seen on the heads of cattle in Texas during electric disturbances.
18) Stemplinger, l.c.
16) Cf. e.g. Apoc. I, 14, and IV, 3.
16a) Cf. the fact that this prodigy is immediately followed by a de caelo lapsa stella
facem ducens (1. 693/4).
16<>) Augustus, p. 45.
 167

any mention being made of flames round its head; e.g. in the story of the
birth of Caeculus, the founder of Praeneste 17), who also is said to have
been a son of Vulcanus', and in the tale of Romulus and Remus according
to Promathion in Plut. Rom. 2 — where the name of the god-begetter is
not mentioned.
Originally there was most likely no connection between the birth of
Servius Tullius and the flames, but this connection was probably not formed
till afterwards, from obvious causes; so it is unnecessary for us to look
for its meaning. The less so in the case of Lavinia, as this connection was
most likely formed only by Vergil, for the apparent reason, that in this way
he had the opportunity of availing himself of two different data of the
Roman past in one prodigy17®).
As to the original meaning of these two data — one of them we have
gone into above. We must now take up the other, that of the maiden,
impregnated by the fire, as Lavinia is here, although in a symbolical way.
For this fire from the hearth, suddenly wrapping her round without hurting
her, is, if not the cause, at least the symbol of a new era, started by her
involuntary intermediary. Hence in my opinion indeed we may say, that
Vergil made use of this motif here (cf. once more: Lavinia virgo), although
in a way, more adjusted to his own aesthetic feelings than was the original
ruder and more primitive tale.
What were the original form and meaning of this motif?
As we have seen the god, who manifested himself in the fire and begot
a son there, is in some cases called Vulcanus, in others the Lar Familiaris,
in others still he has no name whatever.
Altheim 18) holds the view, that this fatherhood of Vulcanus has not,
as is the opinion of Wissowa19), originated from Greek influence, and
superseded the original Roman view of the Lar Familiaris' fatherhood, but
that this is the original Italian, or rather Etruscan conception, and the
nucleus of this tale. To him Vulcanus is not, as is supposed by Wissowa,
p. 229 s.q. 20), a genuinely Roman god, a deus indiges, but, although found
in Rome certainly from the sixth century — which explains his place in the
oldest Roman calendar — he is not only often worshipped in Etruria21),
but is a real Etrurian deity, which the Etrurians had taken with them from
Asia Minor; at least as concerns the idea, for the name Volcanus may be
but one of his names and may have originated in Etruria (cf. the widely
spread name Sethlans).

17) For places see RE s.v., and this commentary on line 679 sqq.
17a) Jt does not in any way seem probable to me that this prodigy of the flames
in Lavinia's hair was given by tradition, as is considered by Cauer, p. 173.
18) GrG iaR, p. 51 sqq.
19) RuK, p. 169.
20) Cf. also v. Wilamowitz, Gl. d. H. II, 330.
21) Cf. e.g. App. BC V, 49; DC XLVIII, 14,
 168

As far as this Altheim has found the approval of H. J. Rose22) and

of Luisa Banti23). But then he continues to say that this Vulcanus is in
the first instance the fire of the earth, and hence a chthonic god, in which
quality his influence is not only destructive, but also fecundating. And as
such it was analogous with the so-called Roman, but really Etrurian god
Mutinus Titinus, whereon the bride had to take her seat24); a ceremony
which in almost all its features corresponds with the tale of Ocresia.
Hence it might be inferred that all these tales are based upon an Etrurian
cultic element, to which in the case of Servius Tullius there was added
the miraculous element, that in contradiction to births being ascribed to
the human father and to the Genius, Servius Tullius, Caeculus and Romulus
had only the genius for a father.

At first sight we might think, that Altheim is right, because in the

prodigy of Lavinia Vergil too mentions Volcanus and, although only
metonymically, still on second thought this is done in a somewhat strange
way. For we might think, that, as Lavinia was standing near the hearth
here, it would be obvious that Vergil, when naming the fire metonymically,
would call it "Vesta", and not "Volcanus". Or, if "Vesta" was a less
appropriate name here, because Vesta always incorporates the beneficial
character of the fire only, and not the harmful — which Vergil meant
here — it was obvious that this metonymy was strictly to be avoided. The
word "ignis" was simply to be applied, or "incendium", or something like
that; but not Volcanus, which could only be appropriate in such cases as II,
310: iam Deiphobi dedit alta ruinam Volcano superante domus; IX, 76
and X, 407.
So we might think, that Vergil wanted to express something special with
the word Volcanus, this same special idea which Altheim wishes to
recognize in it.
But G I, 295, A V, 662 and IX, 76 Volcanus is also mentioned in
connection with "foei". Hence we might draw the following conclusion: The
Roman usage for substituting the name of a god for its element (e.g. sub
Divo; cf. also below, 1, 113: exiguam in Cererem25)) had its origin in
the old Roman animatistic conception of the unity of deity and element;
as the Roman gods did not actually anthropomorphize, this conception
lasted much longer there than it did in Greece, and for this reason this
metonymical usage is far more frequently found in Rome than it is in
Greece. Notwithstanding this the underlying idea had lost its intensity to
such a degree, that the name of the god was used not as a mere synonym of
the element, but also as a synonym for something that, although of an
outward resemblance, was in reality of a totally different origin. (However,

22) JRS 1933.

as) Stud. Etr. V, 622 sqq.
34) Tert. Apol. 25; ad nat. II, 11; Anob. IV, 7, 11; August, c.d. IV, 11; Lact. I, 20, 36.
25) See further O. Groth,
 169

we might have to reconsider the possibility, whether Vesta and Volcanus.

— or rather the fire conceived in its female and in its male aspect
respectively — had not a common-old-Italian origin, as the figure of
Volcanus was probably introduced from Etruria. (See below.)
Therefore whereas Altheim looks for the origin of the tale of Servius
Tullius in the cult of Volcanus, H. }. Rose25a) assures, that the impregnation
of a girl by a spark from the fire is a general folkloristic notion, which
need not be confined to Volcanus and his cult. And indeed, Frazer26)
gives instances of several tribes believing in the impregnation of a woman
by fire, e.g. the inhabitants of South-Slavonia, and Lincolnshire; and the
custom of leading the bride round the hearth to make her fruitful, which
exists 27), among Indo-European as well as among not Indo-European
peoples28), may also be classed with all this.
In my opinion however, although this may be true, it does not preclude
the possibility, that for a certain people this impregnating force of the
hearth-fire was linked to one or other deity (as e.g. Volcanus).
I even go so far as to consider it plausible, — which plausibility I have
already touched upon —, that in old-Italian religion the hearth-fire was the
personification of Volcanus", or rather (see above) a male principle, and
that therefore we must not seek for the origin of these tales in Asia Minor,
but in Italy. For although the combination of Vesta and Volcanus at the
lectisternium of 217 b.C. 29) and in some Augustan and post-Augustan
poets 30) may have arisen under Greek influence only, the conception of
the fire as a male principle31) may have been genuinely old-Italian, as also
its symbolization in the fascinum 32). The hearth-fire may originally have
been considered as neutral, and have become chiefly female, but in some
cases male, because it was conceived as a beneficial and hence fertilizing
power. This latter view, as Frazer thinks, may even have led in some
cases to the idea of the sacred marriage to the hearth. This male conception
of the hearth-fire however has no relation to the destructive force of the
fire in general, which Volcanus, the earth-fire, did possess. Volcanus, the
earth-fire, however, as we have seen above, also possessed this fertilizing
power, which may have contributed to the amalgamation of the two ideas,
so that here, where Lavinia is standing by the hearth, it may be said, that
she is seen totis Volcanum spargere tectis. (Cf. however on the other

25a) Mnemosyne, N.S. 53, p. 410 sqq.

26) GB II, p. 231.
27) E.g. the Hindoos, the Slavonians.
28) E.g. the Esthonians, the Wotyaks, the Herero.
2°) Liv. XXII, 10, 2.
•"•o) And CIL XII, 1676, 2940 too.
31) Cf. Plut. QR 1; Varr. 1. 1. V, 61; mas ignis, quod ibi semen.
sa) Cf. Plin. XXVIII, 39: fascinus qui deus inter sacra Romana Veatalibus
colitur; and cf. the important part it played at Lavinium (Aug. c. d. VII, 21), where there
was an important cult of Vesta as well (cf. CIL XIV, 2077; Caecilia Q. f. Phileta
virgo maior).
 170

hand OF VI, 267: Vesta eadem, quae Terra: subest vigil ignis utrique, and
some other places 33).
For the rest, although this exposition may be compatible with the truth,
for our subject it is not of such great importance here, whether the motif
in the tale of Servius Tullius etc. was originally old-Italian, or dated from
Asia Minor, or, as is supposed as a third possibility by K. Kerenyi34),
was only a parallel originally, formed on the tale of the birth of Erich-
thonios35), and the story of Demophon or Triptolemos at Eleusis, which
may have been connected with it.
At any rate its relation with the Roman past gave it sufficiënt title to be
used here. And Vergil perhaps did not give so much thought to the real
origin of this motif, but gladly availed himself of the opportunity to use
it as a prodigy here, as he was in want of one, which had both a favourable
and an unfavourable meaning, and which he was justified in applying here
as old-Italian.
The prodigy of the flames complied with these demands.
Moreover it was very apposite here, because, as we have seen above,
though such a legend is not actually reported from Lavinium, the phallos-
cult and the Vesta-cult occupied an important position there. This
circumstance may even have been Vergil's point of issue for using this
form of prodigy here, as it may have reminded him of the tale of Ocresia.
For it is proved by the following details, which point to Etruria, that
at any rate he must have had this story in mind, and may even have been
desirous to revive associations with it:
1. the longae crines of Lavinia; for the Roman girls in general dit not
wear long hair down their backs, but wore it in a knot in their necks, and
decorated it with ribbons or a hair-pin36). And 'the seni crines of the
bride37) most probably are38) six strands of hair, wound round the head.
In Etruria however long hair is very usual with women. It hung down
on either side of the face in a thick band or curl, and down the back it
originally feil in a mass as well. Later on the hair was gathered from the
shoulders and held together in a sort of decorated socket or pipe which
hung down to the heels. (Cf. also regales comas, where regalis is not
likely to be a superfluous epitheton, but will interpret the regal way of
dressing the hair to which a princess royal was entitled. But this was

33) Fest. s. v. rutundam acdcm; DH II, 66, 3 (cf. also Plut. Num. 11: SA II, 296:
August, c. d. VII, 16; Arnob. adv. nat. III, 32; SA I, 292).
34) Gnomon, X, 138.
35) See Apollod. III, 14, 6; Schol. Iliad. II, 547; TzetZ. V, 669 sqq.; August, c. d.
XVIII, 2.
36) See DarSagl. s. v.
S7) Which way of hair-dressing was imitated by the Vestal Virgins, whose hair was
shaved off, by plaited woollen threads.
38) See Dragendorff, Rh. Mus. LI (1896), p. 286 — in contrast with Jordan, Hist. u.
Phüol. Aufs. f. G. E. Curtius, p. 217 sqq.
 171

probably not the custom of the Indo-European-Italian princess royal — for

in that case the Vestales would have arranged their hair in the same way
— but of Etrurian princesses only.
(Moreover Lavinia's long hair may have had a symbolic meaning at the
same time, as it may also be conceived as loosened hair. And loosened
hair is, as is well-known, a token of mourning too; so e.g. at funerals the
women went "passis capillis" — as also according to primitive belief the
loosening of the hair — as the loosening of all ties — promoted an easy
delivery39). Therefore this loosened hair may easily have the symbolic
meaning of a new era, achieved through the intermediary of Lavinia,
and partly favouring her, whereas it suggested imminent mourning at the
same time.
And perhaps we need not even seek for a symbolical meaning of this
loosened hair, but consider that Lavinia simply wore her hair loosened,
because she was performing a religious act here; and, especially at
rogationes and supplicationes40), but also at other religious acts, the
women undid their hair, because41) binds and ties were often prohibited
at religious ceremonies42).
Or they may evoke an association with Apollo, the patron of Augustus
as well as (see 1. 62) of the town of Latinus, which dectee by Vergil
himself (IX, 633) is called crioritus42").
2. the corona insignis gemmis. As it is it seems unusual to us to
see Lavinia wearing a wreath here. For in Rome the wreath of vegetable
material, of which the use is wide — spread among primitive peoples (see
on 1.135 more about this) especially played an important part at sacrifices.
But, as we have seen above, there is no real offering here.
We might further be led into the belief, that Lavinia is wearing a wreath
here as a Vestal virgin. But these virgins did not wear a real wreath, as
may be seen from their being omitted on images 43); anyhow they did not
wear a corona made of vegetable material, nor of metal.
Moreover Lavinia is not only wearing a wreath here, but this is made
of metal, and is a corona insignis gemmis, hence a sort of crown.
Now although we might be inclined to consider a crown as a very natural
head-gear for a princess, and especially for a fairy-princess, as Lavinia is
to a certain extent, this will not have been the case for the Romans.
For the crown, as a mark of royalty, is known in Europe in general only
by the intermediary of Alexander the Great and the Diadochs, who in
their turn had borrowed this emblem from the Persian kings44), and

39) Cf. e.g. SA IV, 518; OF III, 257.

40) Cf. Appel, De Romanorura precationibus, p. 202.
41) Cf. Heckenbach, De nuditate sacrisque vinculis.
42) For the reason of this see on 1, 135.
42») Cf. e.g. Hor. Carm. I, 21,2: intonsus Apollo.
43) Ndsc. 1883, t. 18, 3; Jordan, Tempel Vesta, t. 8, 9, 10.
**) Cf. Just. Hist. Phil. XII, 3 m 8.
 172

it is not likely that it originally came down from the Persians either, but
from the Hittites, or from the Mesopotamians. And only the Roman rulers
wore it.
At first sight it seems as if Vergil not only makes Lavinia wear a wreath
unnecessarily, but also commits a serious anachronism by making her wear
a crown. But he does so only apparently. For we are acquainted with the
metal crown in Italy, not in the first place from Rome, but from Etruria.
whence it came to Rome under the name of "corona Etrusca", the only
metal crown, known there for a long time. This crown was held by a
servus publicus over the head of the triumphator — (perhaps as a remnant,
now used only temporarily, of the old royal crown of the Tarquinii) —
and was made of gold oak-leaves, studded with jewels45).
This will also account for Vergil's mentioning jewels here. For they were
probably not used in Rome at an early date in other cases; the notice of
Livy I, 15, that in Romulus' time the Sabini wore anuli gemmati does not
seem very trustworthy, since Plin. XXXVII, 85 says most explicitly,
that Scipio Africanus was the first in Rome to wear such a ring, whereas
still in his time (Plin. XXXIII, 12) at the celebration of the engagement
the bridegoom presented the bride with a "ferreus anulus sine gemma"
(in which case however the lacking of the gem perhaps may be ascribed
not so much to the fact that it was also absent in an older period, as to
the requirement that the ring, used in religious or magical ceremonies,
should be perfectly smooth).
Nor could Vergil have been forced by epic tradition into mentioning
them, since Homer does not mention them at all, and as there is not
even a special word defining them in Greek. Vergil's mention of them
here must find its foundation in their being placed in the corona Etrusca,
rather than in the Hellenistic predilection for as many valuables as possible.
(Otherwise a more frequent use of coronae aureae et gemmatae in Rome
dates only from the time of a closer contact with the Oriënt, and especially
with Asia Minor46).)
It is therefore not so strange, that Vergil, having the story of Ocresia
in mind, made Lavinia wear a jewelled crown.

For the rest although, as we have seen, this prodigy was very apposite
here for more reasons than one, and in Vergil's depicting of it was
consistent with several Roman antiquarian data, yet these data may not
have been the point of issue, why Vergil mentioned this prodigy here;

4B) Tert. de cor. 13: superferuntur illis etiam Hetruscae. Hoe vocabulum est coronarum,
quas geramis et foliis ex auro quercinis ... sumunt. cf. DH III, 62; Plin. XXXIII, 11;
see Dar Sagl. f. 1970, 1971; Dennis, I, p. 245 (crowns, hanging on the walls of the
tomba Montarozzi).
46) Cf. Plin. XXXVII, 6, who informs us, that gemmae were only imported since
the second triumph of Pompey; and XXI, 3, where he relates, that Crassus was the first
to make a present of coronae gemmatae at the ludi.
 173

this may have been the fact, that a prodigy of flames had played a part
in Augustus' life, and had even been a token of his future sovereignty.
For Suet. Aug. 95 tells us of Augustus' father Octavius: Octavio
postea, cum per secreta Thraciae exercitum duceret, in Liberi patris luco
barbara caerimonia de filio consulenti, idem (scil. filium dominum terrarum
futurum) affirmatum est a sacerdotibus, quod infuso super altaria mero
tantum flammae emicuisset, uti supergressa fastigium templi ad caelum
usque ferretur, unique Magno Alexandro apud easdem aras sacrificianti
simile provenisset ostentum.
In this story we have, as in our passage here, the combination of the
altar and the flames springing from it, which points to future mastery.
(For the rest the same prodigy is also known to us from the life of
Cicero 4 7 ) )
Augustus himself may have attached much value to this prodigy, as he
also did to the appearance of the sidus Julium48), which, according to
Pliny I, 94, interiore gaudio sibi illum (scil. cometen) natum seque in
eo nasci interpretatus est. And not only (SB IX, 46): eique (Caesari)
in Capitolio statuam super caput auream stellam habentem posuit
(Augustus); inscriptum in basi fuit: Caesari emitheo; but he had also a
star represented on his own heimet49).
Hence these flames round Lavinia's head may also evoke an association
with the star on the heimet of Augustus, and therefore with the sidus
Julium, and with the divine origin of Augustus.
Moreover these flames round Lavinia's head might also remind the
readers of the aureole of the Sun, which encircled Augustus' head when
he entered Rome after the death of Caesar 50).
All these associations with Augustus may have been a reason for Vergil
to mention the prodigy of the flames round Lavinia's head, and also to
represent Augustus VIII, 680/1 on the shield of Volcanus: "geminas cui
tempora flammas laeta vomunt, patriumque aperitur vertice sidus" (as well
as for Properce IV, 6, 27 sqq. to say that at the battle of Actium:

4T) Plut. Cic. 20; DC XXXVII, 35; SB VIII, 105: hoe uxori Ciceronis dicltur
contigisse: cum post peractum sacrificium libare vellet in cinerem, ex ipso cinere flamma
surrexit, quae flamma eodem anno consulem futurm ostendit eius maritum, sicut Cicero
in suo testatur poemate.
48) Hor. Od. I. 12, 46; Plin. II, 23; Suet. Caes. 88; OM XV, 749, 840—850; VB IX,
47; Prop. IV, 59/60; DC XLV, 7.
49) SA VIII, 681: ipse stellam in galea coepit haberi depictam; cf. Cohen. Med. Imp. I,
p. 52, n. 91 from 32 BC; ibid. n. 93.
50) Jul. Obsequ. 68: C. Octavius testamento Caesaris patris Brundisii se in Juliam
gentem ascivit. Cumque. ... Romam intraret, Sol puri ac cereni caeli orbe modico inclusus
extremae lineae circulo. qualis tendi arcus in nubibus solet, eum circumscripsit. Veil. Pat. II,
59, 6: Cui (Augusto) ... cum intraret urbem solis orbis super caput eius curvatus aequaliter
rotundatusque — in colorem arcus velut coronam tanti mox viri capiti imponens
conspectus est.
 174

... Phoebus ... adstitit Augusti puppem super et nova flamma luxit in
obliquum ter sinuata facem.)
Vergil may have applied this prodigy to Lavinia, and not e.g. to Ascanius
only (cf. II, 680 sqq.), because a prodigy of a fire suddenly leaping up
without any visible cause was already connected with Lavinium. Cf. DH I,
59: Aéyezai dè xaza zov nohafxov zov Aaovlviov arjfiela zóts TQÜJOI yevéo&ai
zoid.de: nvgós avzofidzcos avacp&êvzos êx zijg vanr)S, XVXOV jièv zq) ozófxazi xofi-
iCovza zijg £t]göis vXtjs êmfidMeiv êm zö nvg, aezdv dè JiQoanezófxevov avag-
pimCeiv zfj xtvrjosi zmv nzegvycov ztjv (pkóya, zovzoig dè zavavzia [ii]x,ava>nêvr]v
alónexa zïjv ovgav diafigo%ov ex zov noza/iov cpègovaav êmggam£eiv zó
xaiójievov nvg... zékog dé nxrjoai zovg dvo, which prodigy is favourable for
the greater part, but to a certain extent unfavourable as well. (cf. ibidem:
"Idovza dè zov Alvetav EITIEÏV COS ijii<pavr]S filv 'éozai xai êav/xaozt] xai yvcóoecog
êm Jilelozov rjxovoa f) ajioixia, èmcp&ovoo dè zots nèkag av^ofièvrj xai XvTirjga,
xgazrjOEi d' o/ucos zcöv avzingazzóvcov.
It does not belong to our subject here to tracé what was the origin of
this latter prodigy (cf. Klausen, p. 775 sqq.). At any rate even if, as
Klausen supposes, it is a symbol of the clearing of wooded countries by
fire and iron, it is absolutely improbable that this same symbolic idea
underlies in some way or the other the prodigy of the flames playing round
Lavinia's head, as Klausen supposes — at least if I understand him rightly.
This prodigy of the flames springing from the altar or the hearth-fire
generally had a favourable meaning (cf. VG IV, 384: ter liquido ardentem
perfudit nectare Vestam, ter flamma ad summum tecti subiecta reluxit, omine
quo firmans animum 51). The above prodigy happening to Augustus'

father was explained to him as favourable too; are we not entitled to look
for a motive why Vergil not only attached a favourable meaning to this
prodigy for the person primarily concerned, but also made it "populo
magnum portendere bellum" — which may be an allusion to the civil wars,
in the carrying on of which Octavianus was also implied — in his hidden
hostility towards Augustus?
Resuming, Vergil seems to have combined the following elements in
this prodigy:
a) the tale of Ocresia, the hand-maiden of the Etrurian Tanaquil, and
future mother of Servius Tullius, who was impregnated by the hearth,
for which reason later on flames suddenly appeared around the head of
Servius Tullius. This tale may either be of Etrurian-Minor-Asiatic origin,
in which case it may be a cult-tale about the genius Volcani, manifesting
himself in the hearth-fire, or it may have a more general origin, but in any
case it evokes Etrurian associations.
That Vergil had this tale in mind, as in the case of Ascanius it is
remarked by Servius (II, 683): item hoe quoque igni ad Servium Tellium
pertinet, may appear from the particulars of Lavinia's dress, which are

") Cf. also VB VIII, 105/6, and Soph. Ant. 1006.

 175

Etrurian, from the use of the word Vulcanus here, and from the fact,
that exceptionally high flames rise from the hearth-fire.
b ) the belief in prodigies of flames, leaping up suddenly from the top
of various things, and not from the hearth, without any visible cause. The
belief in the predicting power of such prodigies, the so-called auspicia ex
acuminibus — caused in reality by natural phenomena as St. Elmo's fire
e.g. — of which several instances are known in Roman history, is general.
They are usually considered as unfavourable, but sometimes favourable
as well, as most auguria oblativa are unfavourable, but sometimes favourable.
(This favourable meaning may be accounted for if we compare the omina
from trees and bushes bursting into flames and burning unconsumed 52));
c) the prodigy of the fire, suddenly arising in the wood when Aeneas
founded Lavinium;
d ) the prodigy of flames, rising from the sacrificial altar, (for this
reason "altaria" may have been used here instead of "focus" or the like),
which happened to Octavius, and foretold the future sovereignty of his son
Octavianus;
e) several other instances of a divine light on or encircling the head
of Augustus, as the star — a symbol of the sidus Julium —, or the aureole
on his arrival in Rome after the death of Caesar.
It seems unnecessary to me to seek, as Klausen p. 775 does, for a
deeper symbolic meaning in this prodigy, and to see in it an expression
of the idea, that the heroine of the central city of the Latin league had
been generated "durch Belebung des Bundesherdes mit der vom National-
gott ausgehenden Jovialischen Kraft".
Of course the poet Vergil has combined these elements in such a way,
that, whereas for the lector doctus they were clear, at the same time this
passage could be understood as it stands by ordinary readers. For it is
evident, that the flames around Lavinia's hair point to her own future fame,
whereas their spreading through the palace pointed to disastrous circum-
stances, threatening it52a).
The reason why especially this prodigy of the flames portends war for
the people of Latinus may be sought in the circumstance, that the Sidus
Julium — as well as other prodigies concerning the light of the sky —
although pointing to the future glory of Octavianus himself, were to a
certain extent portents of the civil war which followed after Caesar's
murder. This is expressly said by Vergil himself52*).

52) E.g. the burning bush of Exod. 3, 2; and perhaps the burning olive-tree of
Athen. 12, p. 524 e.
52») For the combination: namque fore illustrem ipsam, sed populo magnum
portendere bellum compare Cic. de Div. I, 59: in illa fuga, nobis gloriosa, patriae
calamitosa.
52f>) Georg. I, 464 sqq.: Ille (Sol) caecos instare tumultus saepe monet ille etiam
exstincto miseratus Caesare Romam, cum caput obscura nitidum ferrugine texit, etc.
1. 473: flammarum globos, and especially 487/8: non alias (scil. than at the time after
 176

DETAILS.
nefas. Although this word is used here in a weakened sense — for
how can a predicting prodigy really be nefas! — it will bc explained
here because it is an old Roman notion.
According to SG I, 269 "fas" is the good juridical relation, maintained
between god and man. The Ancients most probably thought of a relation
with "fari" (cf. VA I, 543), and "fatum" (cf. VA I, 205/6), as does Walde,
who says: "Fas, eigentlich Ausspruch, besonders göttlicher oder richtlicher;
daher göttliches Recht", and he supposes fas to be an old infinitive "fasi",
the active of "fari".
But Ernout et Meillet remark, that except fatum the group fari, fama,
fabula, has no really religious meaning in Latin, no more than in most
other languages. And where it has a religious meaning, it is not that of
"fas". They therefore prefer a relation with "feriae" and "fanum", and
with a root, on which may be based also.
Warde Fowler (Rel. Exp. p. 486/8) remarks, that, as originally there
was no difference between the ius divinum and the ius humanum, but the
mutual relations between men feil under the ius divinum as well, there
could originally not be two different terms for this idea. And according
to him "fas" cannot mean "ius divinum", in contrast with "ius" i.e. "ius
humanum". And Q. R. C. F., Q. St. D. F., and the formula found
C. I. L. 603,7 mean only, that certain things may be done without tres­
passing on the religious law. Fas here does not mean the law itself, but
rather, according to Warde Fowler, it is an adjective or an adverb, a
technical word of the ius divinum, meaning "that which it is lawful to do
under it". Hence nefas (originally ne fas, a nominal sentence) is a word,
pointing to a prohibition under the divine law. This he bases also on the
fact, that here there is always question of the ius divinum, augurale, fetiale,
and never of fas; and on the way in which Cicero and his predecessors
use ius and fas.
To me his argumentation seems to be conclusive.
As to Vergil's use of this word here: Kroll p. 524 sqq. remarks that
Vergil's preference for such words as "nefas", "heu" and "di", by which
the poet by an indignant exclamation breaks his reserve and draws the
reader with him in his indignation, is one of the Hellenistic effects of
style, the so-called duvcbaeio or axethaa/xoi, "die, wie sie das Gefüge
des Satzes sprengen, so auch den Gleichmut des mit objektiver Ruhe der
Erzahlung folgenden Lesers auf einen Augenblick unterbrechen sollen".

tum fumida lumine fulvo involvi.

Servius (A II, 683) speaking of the prodigy of the flames round the
head of Ascanius, remarks: sane perite lucem dixit, non ut in septimo:

Caesar's murder) caelo ceciderunt plura sereno fulgura, nee duri totiens arsere cometae.
(In the intermediate lines he mentions many more infaust prodigies of this year (see
P. 92).
 177

tum fumida lumine fulvo. Nam et illic splendor quidem est, sed cum fumo,
qui semper causa lacrimarum est. In Ascanio autem solus ostenditur
splendor.

horrendum. Naturally this accident is "horrendum" in the first place

because it is a prodigy; moreover the spreading of flames in itself was a
sufficiënt reason for terror as well. And in the Augustan age the dread
of fire must have been particularly great, especially in Rome, where in
consequence of the narrow streets and high houses there were continual
fires great and small53). This plague even grew to such proportions in
Augustus' time, that he was compelled to institute a fire brigade, 7000
strong 54), which seems, however, to have been of comparatively little use.
Hence Vergil's contemporaries could understand this "horrendum" but
too well.

The interpreters of this prodigy probably represent the haruspices:

a) because, as I have tried to prove above, the interpreter of the
prodigy of the bees, which has a similar character, is a "haruspex" as well;
b) because of the plural "canebant". For, whereas the augures are usually
mentioned in the singular, the haruspices are usually mentioned in the plural.
It is not so very curious that haruspices appear here, although they are
not mentioned explicitly. For 1) there were other Etrurian elements in
this passage; 2) gradually55) the official haruspices were no longer
considered as strangers, but were even of assistance to maintain the State
against the inroads of foreign religions 56). Moreover Augustus also made
use of them very often, and is even said to have built the temple of Apollo
on the Palatine—where, in future, a part of the Etrurian libri haruspicum 57)
were kept — according to the instructions, given by the haruspices58).
3. Servius (B IX, 47) tells us that when the cornet of 44 b.C. appeared
a certain haruspex, Vulcatius by name, proclaimed that this Julian star
betokened the end of the ninth saeculum and the beginning of the tenth.
And Appianus b.C. IV, 4, after giving a list of the prodigies of 43 b.C. says:
Eq> oïg q fxkv fiovlr] iJvzag xal /uavreig ovvfjyev ano TvQQrjviag. Kal 6 nQ£.af5vimos
avxmv, zag nakai (SaoiXdag ênavrj^eiv elnaiv, xal dovXevoetv anavtag... etc.

63) Cf. Friedlander, Sittengesch. I, p. 24.

84) DC LV, 26, 4 sq.
55) Cf. Liv. XXXIX, 16, 6.
58) See Thulin, RE s. v. haruspices.
57) Together with the Sibylline books.
B8) Suet. Aug. 20.

12
 THE ORACLE OF FAUNUS.

At rex, sollicitus monstris, oracula Fauni,

[atidici genitoris, adit lucosque sub alta
consulit Albunea, nemorum quae maxima sacto
fonte sonat saevamque exhalat opaca mephitim.
85 hinc Italae gentes omnisque Oenotria tellus
in dubiis responsa petunt; huc dona sacerdos
cum tulit et caesarum ovium sub nocte silenti
pellibus incubuit stratis somnosque petivit,
multa modis simulacra videt volitantia miris
90 et varias audit voces fruiturque deorum
colloquio atque imis Acheronta adfatur Avernis.
hic et turn pater ipse petens responsa Latinus
centum lanigeras mactabat rite bidentes
atque harum effultus tergo stratisque iacebat
95 velleribus; subita ex alto vox reddita luco est:
"ne pete conubiis natam sociare Latinis,
o mea progenies, thalamis neu crede paratis;
externi venient generi, qui sanguine nostrum
nomen in astra ferant quorumque ab stirpe nepotes
omnia sub pedibus, qua Sol utrumque recurrens
100 aspicit Oceanum, vertique regique videbunt."
haec responsa patris Fauni monitusque silenti
nocte datos non ipse suo premit ore Latinus
sed circum late volitans iam fama per urbes
Ausonias tulerat, cum Laomedontia pubes
105 gramineo ripae religavit ab aggere classem.

It is not mentioned in any of the other sources of the story of Aeneas

that Latinus consulted the oracle of Faunus, to have a revelation by an
incubation-oracle, and that thus he was told to give his daughter in
marriage, not to Turnus, but to a foreigner, Aeneas.
In some of the other versions of the legend of Aeneas, scil. Dio ap.
Tzetzes Lyc. 1232, and the version in Livy I, 1,6, there is no place even
for such an oracle; for it is clear that Latinus after having been vanquished
in war has to yield his daughter to the victor. Nor was there any need of
this oracle in Cato (SA I, 267), where Latinus and Turnus were allies
from the beginning.
In the version of Strabo (V, p. 229) it is easily explicable that Latinus
immediately offered his daughter to Aeneas without having received an
oracle or the like. For we do not hear anything about Turnus or his
 179

betrothal to Lavinia; moreover Latinus was waging war at that time

against the Rutuli, so that he was in want of an ally, and preferably of
a valiant son-in-law.
It cannot so easily be accounted for why — as is said by the version
of Livy I, 1, 7 sqq. and Justinus (XLIII, 1, 10 sqq.) — although Lavinia
had been betrothed to Turnus (Justinus l.c.): Aeneas statim bello exceptus,
cum in aciem exercitum eduxisset, ad conloquium vocatus tantam admira-
tionem eius Latino praebuit (Livy: Latinum et nobilitatem admiratum gentis
virique et animum vel bello vel paci paratum) ut et in societatem regni
reciperetur, et Lavinia in matrimonium ei data gener adscisceretur.
To emendate this improbability — which is the greater in Vergil,
where Latinus himself offers his daughter to Aeneas — and to exonerate
Latinus in his conduct against Turnus, the sources to which Dio and
Dionysius go back, as well as Vergil, may have inserted this dream-
apparition. Vergil inserted other prodigies too (see above), which however
are most likely of his own invention.
But as concerns this dream-oracle he had a starting-point in tradition.
Cf. Zonar. VII, 1, (Dio):o Öè ifjg /(ógas O.Q%(ÜV AaxTvos auieïgye xü> Aive'ia
Ttjv êv ifj lüiqa y.aêtdgvoiv xal ovfifiaXïbv fjxxaxai. elxa 61 öveiQaxmv <pavévxa>v
a/jupoZv xaxalhixxovxm, etc.')
According to Dionysius I, 57 the Trojans had built a city and pillaged
the country round it; Latinus, who at that time was waging war against the
Rutuli, but had suffered several defeats, was alarmed by the tidings of
this fact and conducted his army against the Trojans; he saw that they
were much more formidable than he had supposed and took a night's
respite to restore his troops for the battle of the ensuing day: 'Eyvcoxóxi
b' avtcp xavia Myet xig emaxag Haft' vjtvov êmxÓQio; daificov dé'/sêai xovg
"Ellrjvaq xfj %o)oa ovvoixov;: rjxeiv ya.Q avxovg fxéy' dxpélrj/ia Aaxivco, xal
xoivöv ' Afiogiyivcov aya&óv.
In the same night his jxaxgcöoi &eoi appear to Aeneas and advise him:
7zetöeiv Aaxtvov êxóvxa jragao^eïv orpioi xrjv oïxr/otv ëv A> (iovXovxai XCOQICO, etc.
(It may be remarked here that in Dio and Dionysius not only Latinus,
but also Aeneas has a revelation in a dream in Latium2). This is not
neglected by Vergil either, as is proved by the apparition of Tiberinus
VIII, 26 sqq.)
According to Schur, Aeneassage p. 4, 10, 1 sq. Dio and Dionysius may
be founding themselves on Varro here. He concludes this from SA III,

1) In my opinion as the dream does not appear till after the defeat, Zonaras may
be combining different sources here. According to Schur however Zonaras here represents
the older, genuine version of Dio.
2) Another dream-vision of Aeneas in Latium in Dionysius I, 56: "IST I Q O I rli XtyovOiv
arfrifiovovvTi T<J> avóQÏ.... avkidd-tVTi rqv vvvx' txtivriv iitiGxT[vai gisyakriv xiva xaè
O-avfiaOrriv ivvnviov x&v 3-tiöv xiv\ x&v naxQioiv tiv.a63-iï6av Ötpiv, xa l.tx&évxa niv.Q<p
nqóTiQov vTtorifhiiivïjv. (scil. to found a city on the place where the white sow would
give birth to the 30 porei), which city would be the nucleus of great future glory.
 180

148: hos deos (scil. Penates) ... Aeneas ... in Italiam transtulisse idem
Varro testatur; quos quidam dicunt ideo inductos a poeta monere per
somnum; monitu nam eorum per quietem iussum cum Latino foedus fecisse;
eorum etiam monitu Latinum Aeneae se coniunxisse. In my opinion however
we may not conclude this from the place quoted here.
But at any rate this tradition existed in Vergil's time, and this may have
induced him — together with the fact that it very well suited the economy
of his story — to give so much importance to this dream.
He may have been the more inclined to make Latinus have a revelation
in a dream here, because Augustus also set great store by dreams, and
acted on their advice. Cf. Suet. Aug. 91: somnia neque sua neque aliena
de se neglegebat; then several instances of these dreams are given, which
e.g. in the case of the battle of Philippi proved true. The people of Rome had
ample occasion to be acquainted with this belief of Augustus, for not only
"ex nocturno visu stipem quotannis die certo emendicabat a populo, cavam
manum asses porrigentibus praebens", but "cum dedicatam in Capitolio
aedem Tonanti Jovi assidue frequentaret, somniavit queri Capitolinum
Jovem cultores sibi abduci ideoque mox tintinnabulis fastigium aedis
redimiit, quod ea fere a januis dependebant".
In this last dream a god appeared to Augustus as deities often appeared
to him in his dreams. For instance he thus received advice from Juno3),
Minerva 4) and Apollo5). With this latter revelation we may compare
our revelation of Faunus here, the prophetic father of Latinus, to his son.
For Apollo was to a certain extent the fatidicus genitor of Augustus.
(See above.)
And for this reason Vergil may have caused Aeneas to act upon the
counsel of, and to have a revelation as to the future not only by a dream,
but even by the appearance of a deity in the dream 6).
It may be remarked here that in Homer the gods never appear in person
in dreams, but either send a "dream" in the shape of a friend of the

3) DC XLVIII, 14.
4) See Drew, p. 80.
5) Plin. XXXIV, 8, 58: Fecit (Myro) et Apollinem, quem a triumviro Antonio
sublatum restituit Ephesiis Divus Augustus, admonitus in quiete.
6) So the dream-vision of Hector (II, 270 sqq.) which is Aeneas' first warning to
flee from Troy; the vision of the Penates (III, 147 sqq.), who admonish him to leave
Creta, because Italy is the destination of himself and his race; of Mercurius (IV,
554—572), who warns Aeneas to start from Carthago as soon as possible: of Anchises
(V, 721—739) who advises him to leave the women-folk in Sicily, to take with him
the gallant youths to Italy, and to visit himself, Anchises, in the nether-world; of
Tiberinus (VIII, 31—67), who assures Aeneas that he has reached his destination —
a sign of which will be the prodigy of the white sow —, who informs him as to the
future of his son, and advises him to seek the aid of Euander. (Other dreams are e.g.
the apparition in a dream of Allecto to Turnus (VII, 415—458), and the dreams of
Dido (IV, 465 sqq.).)
 181

dreamer7), or a dead but unburied friend comes as a dream 8), or they

appear themselves, but not in their own shape9). Hence also their voice
is not their own voice, as here in the case of Faunus — although it is not
stated expressly here either, that it is Faunus who is speaking — but the
voice of the person represented.
A reason for Vergil to deviate from this practice may have been that,
whereas Homer had no objection at all to make the gods appear in person
to men when the latter were awake, Vergil feit that this made too great
demands upon the credulity of his readers 10). So he made them appear in
person only in those cases when it was absolutely necessary — in which
cases they moreover often disappear as soon as they have delivered their
message, and have an entirely visionary character 11). Therefore he made
them work unseen12) or in a human shape13), and limited their
personal appearance preferably to dreams. So the dream-apparitions in
Vergil are never persons very near to the dreamer, but always a deity
or at least a deceased parent. It may further be noted here, that the
character of the dream-apparition is always chosen in careful correspond-
ence with the given situation 14).
As to these dreams in Vergil, Heinze p. 313—315 remarks that they
nearly always 15) are not natural dreams, but a sort of oracle, which had
been prayed for, or at any rate desired.

"Diese Traume ... erfolgen ... dann ... wenn der Ruhende, voller Sorgen über den
Gegenstand des Traumes eingeschlafen ist, gleichsam in Gedanken eine Frage an die
Götter gestellt hat ... oder der Traum knüpft doch an die Ereignisse, die am vergangenem
Tage die Seele des Betreffenden heftig bewegt haben, so unmittelbar an, dass eben
daraus klar wird, wie jene Ereignisse auch den Schlafenden noch erfüllen. Es wird aber
auch in dem, was das Traumbild verkündet, die psychologische Wahrheit insofern
beobachtet, als das Neue, das der Traumende erfahrt, doch immer an bekanntes anknüpft,
nie völlig neu und unerwartet ist. In all diesen Weisungen ist soviel des Neuen, dass man
nicht sagen kann, der Traumende hatte bei wachem Nachdenken wohl von selbst darauf
kommen können, geflissentlich ist der Typus der übernatürlichen Eingebung festgehalten.
Aber man mache sich klar, wie ganzlich verschieden der Fall lage, wenn Aeneas etwa
das, was ihm Venus über Dido mitteilt, im Traum erführe, oder wenn Tiberinus, wie es
dann Euander tut, nach Etrurien verwiese und über die dortigen Zustande aufklarte.
llnd so unterscheidet sich denn auch das rituelle Traumorakel des Faunus von jenen

7) E.g. II. II, 5 sqq. Zeus to Agamemnon in the shape of Nestor; Od. IV, 796 sqq.
Athena to Penelope in the shape of Iphthime.
8) Patroclos to Achilles II. XXIII, 65 sqq.
9) Athena, who appears to Nausikaa as one of her own friends.
10) See Heinze, p. 311.
11) Venus II, 598—623; Mercurius IV, 222—278; Venus VIII, 608—616; Iris IX,
1—22.
12) E.g. Juno X, 633 sqq.; Venus XII, 411, 786.
13) Venus I, 305—417; Iris V, 606—658; Allecto VII, 341—419; Apollo IX, 645—659.
14) Compare the apparition of the Penates, of Hector, of Mercurius in IV, of Anchises
in V, of Tiberinus in VIII. See Heinze, p. 311.
15) The only exception are the dreams of Dido IV, 465—473.
 182

anderen Traumen: auf die externi generi und ihre erhabene Nachkommenschaft konnte
Latinus aus sich heraus unmöglich verfallen."
It may be objected to this view of Heinze's that in Vergil Latinus'
thoughts had already been drawn to a son-in-law of foreign origin by the
preceding prodigies. (Cf. especially the words: externum cernimus, inquit,
adventare virum, et summa dominarier arce; and "namque fore illustrem
fama fatisque canebant ipsam sed populo magnum portendere bellum.)
So in my opinion there must be other reasons why Vergil made Latinus
have a revelation here, not by an ordinary dream, but by incubation; the
more so, as Dio and Dionysius speak only of "a dream". So this item
was most likely introduced by Vergil himself 16).
This reason cannot have been the epic usage of Homer. For in Homer
the practice of incubatio is not found at all17). Nor have we testimonies of
incubation-dreams of Augustus. But
a) Suetonius Aug. 94 mentions among the portents accompanying
Augustus' birth etc.: In Asclepiadis Mendetis Theologoumenon libris
lego Atiam, cum ad sollemne Apollinis sacrum media nocte venisset, posita
in templo lectica, dum ceterae matronae dormirent, obdormisse; draconem
repente irrepsisse ad eam Augustum natum mense decimo et ob hoe
Apollinis filium existimatum. (Cf. also what is said above as to Augustus'
dream-vision of Apollo, and the comparison with the oracle of Faunus.)
b) Vergil as an artist may have tried to bring as much variety as
possible18) in the many dreams, portents, oracles, etc., which his subject
imposed upon him; and so he introduced an incubation-oracle too. He was
the more ready to do this, as
c) an incubation-oracle was a less manifestly Greek kind of oracle
than a mantic oracle as e.g. that of Delphi was. So if Vergil, trying to
bring more variety in the divine revelations, wanted to insert an oracle
among the portents to Latinus, he could better have recourse to incubation
than to a mantic oracle. Moreover these famous mantic oracles in Greece
by this time had decayed 19), although just before the Augustan time
they actually regained their reputation to a certain extent by means of
the visits of the Romans. On the other hand incubation-oracles were
very frequently consulted in Vergil's time, and whereas e.g. the incubation-
oracle of Trophonios had never altogether decayed, the practice of
incubation had even increased, mainly by means of the flourishing cults
of Isis and Sarapis; from the philosophical side too this belief in
16) Even Cauer p. 173 considers it doubtful whether it was found before Vergil.
1T) II, I, 63 does not point to this practice either (Rohde, Psyche, I, 37, 1), nor
XVI, 235 (cf. Eustathius).
18) Cf. Heinze, p. 459/60.
1B) Not only by the patriarchs (e.g. Euseb. pr. ev. 5, 1; Arnob. I, 1; Prud. Apoth.
435 sqq.) but also by authors as Cicero (de Div. I, 19, 37; II, 57, 117) and Strabo
(VII, p. 327; IX, p. 419; XIV, p. 642; XVI, p. 762; XVII, p. 813) it is repeatedly
stated that in the last decades of the Republic the famous oracles of Delphi, Dodona,
Apollo Clarius and Juppiter Ammon had become silent.
 183

oneiromantics and incubation was strongly supported 20) and the Stoa 21)
was its warm champion22). lts continued existence is also testified by its
wide diffusion in the Christian church of the Middle Ages and later
times23). (Of this vitality of the incubation the main probable reasons
are that a) it was based on a phenomenon which, although very common,
yet always retained something mysterious which preoccupied the human
mind; b) it created the illusion of a direct contact with the deity, without
the intermediation of a priest.)
d ) Might Vergil also have mentioned this incubation-oracle of Faunus
at the Albunea, because it really existed?
In the entire further literature we hear of this incubation-oracle of
Faunus only by Ovid, who Fasti IV, 649 sqq. Iets Numa visit it24), in
which however he gives only an imitation of Vergil 25). (Ovid in his turn
was then followed by Calpurnius 26).)

All authors who have written on this subject deny the possibility of an
original Roman incubation-oracle27) — some of them even a genuinely
20) Although Epicurism and the New Academy combated them energetically.
21) And also New-Pythagorism and New-Platonism.
22) In the fourth and fifth century A.D. the belief in incubation had even become a
kind of dogma among the advocates of Antiquity.
23) Especially in the sanctuaries of St. Michael, and of St. Cosmas and St. Damian.
24) Silva vetus nullaque diu violata securi stabat, Maenalio sacra relicta deo; ille
dabat tacitis animo responsa quieto noctibus. hic geminas rex Numa mactat oves. prima
cadit Fauno, levi cadit altera Somno: sternitur in duro vellus utrumque solo. bis caput
intonsum fontana spargitur unda, bis sua faginea tempora fronde premit. usus abest
Veneris, nee fas animalia mensis ponere, nee digitis anulus ullus inest, veste rudi tectus
supra nova vellera corpus ponit, adorato per sua verba deo. interea placidam redimita
papavere frontem nox venit et secum somnia nigra trahit. Faunus adest oviumque premens
pede vellera duro edidit a dextro talia verba toro: etc.
25) I cannot agree with the supposition of Bouché-Leclerq, p. 126, that "Virgile, en
conduisant son héros au bois que domine Albunée, n'a fait que suivre une voie déja
tracée par des fictions antérieures", mainly of Ovid, whose description Vergil would
take up, "substituant Latinus a Numa dans Ia consultation qu'il décrit, (et) transport(ant)
la scène dans la forêt de Laurente (ou) aux environs de Tibur". Indeed Ovid gives
some particulars not given by Vergil, which cannot be a mere fiction of Ovid, but must
have been authentic, for an incubation-oracle, if not for an oracle of Faunus; and even
if some particulars here are more probable in Ovid than in Vergil — e.g. the two sheep
of Ovid against the centum of Vergil — yet Ovid must have followed Vergil's tracks,
as (see Schanz) the Fasti must have been written, or at least published, much later than
the Aeneid. Also Frazer, Fasti, III, p. 318/9 admits rightly, that OF IV, 295 sqq. is
based on Vergil, which according to him may even have been a motive for Ovid not to
indicate the exact position of this oracle of Numa too plainly.
2B) Where Bucol. I, 8 sqq.: hoe ... nemus ..., ista ... antra patris Fauni, graciles ubi
pinea densat silva comas, rapidoque caput ipsa protegit et ramis errantibus implicat
umbras, and where "sacra descripta est pagina fago" by Faunus himself with his
prophecies.
27) E.g. Marquardt, III, p. 97: dream-oracles received by incubation are "eine Art
der Weissagung, die völlig unrömisch ist". Frazer, Fasti III, 318/9 also considers this mode
of consultation rather Greek than Roman.
 184

Roman oracular dream28) — and of an incubation-oracle of Faunus

in particular. According to them29) this dream-oracle of Faunus cannot
be authentic, but has been formed by Vergil entirely after a Greek model.
The most circumstantial analysis of this oracle in Vergil is given by
Heinze, and after him by Bailey, p. 24 sqq. According to them it has been
composed of two or three different elements, which originally had no
interconnection, scil.
a) the predicting nymph Albunea at Tibur; (this element however is not
assumed by all authors); b) the voice of Faunus resounding in the wood;
c) the Greek practice of incubatio.
And Bailey, p. 24 sqq., denies the possibility a) of a genuinely Roman
oracle at a definite oracular seat (like the Albunea here), b) of a genuinely
Roman vision in which the future could be revealed, either as an
independent prophetic scene, or (as here) as the direct utterance of a
divine person revealing the future, "the localization of the oracle of
Faunus in a particular spot is Greek, even though it retains an Italian
open-air form; much more so is the process of "incubation" as practised in
Greek temples, and the idea of prophecy by means of a dream-voice".
Indeed at Tibur existed the belief in a predicting nymph Albunea
(see below). But this does not exclude the name Albunea being also
found at another spot in Latium.
As to b ) the Roman deity Faunus possessed the prophetic gift, as many
testimonies show e.g. Cic. de Nat. deor. II, 6: saepe Faunorum voces
exauditi; cf. also III, 15 and de Divin. I, 101: saepe etiam in proeliis Fauni
auditi; and Dionysius V, 11 especially mentions the battle in the wood of
Arsia, in which the voice of Faunus was heard to proclaim the victory of
the Romans30); Plut. QR 20 calls Faunus — like Picus — the god of
prediction; compare also the well-known story how Numa availed himself
of the prophecy of Faunus and Picus in fixing a part of the ius divinum 31).
Fest. p. 325: versus antiquissimi, quibus Faunus fata cecinisse hominibus
videtur, Saturnii appellabantur (cf. fatidicus here; in connection with this
epitheton fatidicus compare also his surnames Fatuclus 32) and Fatuus) 33);
Ennius ap. Varr. 1.1. VII, 36: versibus quos olim Fauni vatesque canebant;
(therefore Faunus is sometimes considered as the patron of the poets34).
And even the name Faunus was derived from "fari"35). And so are
2S) W. Buchmann: De Numa regis Romanorum fabula, Diss. Leipzig 1912, p. 42 sqq.
— a book that I had not the opportunity of reading.
29) E.g. Heinze, p. 176, 2, who is followed by Wissowa, p. 211, A. 4; Lehrs, p. 90.
30) In Liv. II, 7, 2 however Silvanus is mentioned instead.
S1) Valerius Antias ap. Arnob. V, 1, 2; Plut. Num. 16; OF III, 291 sqq.
32) SA VII, 47.
33) SA VI, 775; VIII, 314; Lact. Inst. I, 22, 9; Justin. XLIII, 1, 8.
34) Cf. Hor. Carm. III, 17, 28.
35) E.g. Varr. l.c.; SA VIII, 314, VII, 81: dicti ... sunt Faunus et Fauna a vaticinando,
id est fando (cf. also VII, 47); SB VI, 775; Isid. Or. VIII, 11, 87; Corp. Gloss. V, 199,
15; cf. also Lucret. IV, 579.
 185

there many other testimonies as to the prophetic gift of Faunus from

later times36).
This Faunus need not originally have been localized in a definite spot,
nor have been connected with an incubation-oracle. Originally he may
have been only the god of the mysterious voices of nature, coming from
anywhere, or rather, heard calling now here, now there, and which
often in reality were the echoes of the wind, or the creaking of branches etc.
Or rather — originally he may have been a wolf (see above); and many
peoples ascribe a predicting significance to the howling of the wolf. This
view could easily pass into the belief that the wolf had a predicting
power37) and from this he may have become the god of the mysterious
voices of nature in general. From this god of the mysterious voices of
nature, heard e.g. especially (at battles) in wooded countries, he may
have become a predicting god in general, and then a god with a human
voice — in which quality he received the surname fatuus 38).
For this reason Bouché-Leclerq, IV, p. 119 sqq., speaking of the
character of the prophecy of Faunus, says: "Des mythographes inités
aux procédés des oracles oniromantiques de la Grèce, ont prêté a Faunus
des habitudes analogues et converti ses expansions capricieuses en oracle
Si la dévotion a Faunus prophéte avait pu se fixer en un lieu précis ... Ie

3e) E.g. Calpurn. Buc. I, 9 sqq. who mentions an oracle of Faunus (see above) and
calls him "facundus"; Nemes, ecl. 2, 73: Fauni vates. Fronto, de eloq. p. 146 N.; Prob. on
VB I, 10; Lact. Inst. I, 22, 9: Mart. Cap. 2, 167; Or. GR 4, 4; Chron. Pasch. p. 45 P.
The Middle Ages composed miraculous legends upon this prophetic gift of Faunus
(Bouché-Leclerq IV, p. 133, n. 1). In the Mirabilia Urbis (§ 28—29) it is even mentioned
that in S. Maria in Fontana — together with S. Stefano Rotondo an ancient temple of
Faunus — was a speaking statue of Faunus, which was consulted e.g. by Julianus, and
hence was a sort of oracle.
For other material as to the prophetic gift of Faunus see Bouché-Leclerq, IV, 126 sqq.;
Nettleship, Lectures and Essays, p. 50/52; Wissowa, Roscher s.v., col. 1456; Warde
Fowler, RF, p. 262; Deubner, de Incubatione p. 10.
3T) Cf. the legend that Lyko, a daughter of Dion, king of Laconia, together with
her two sisters, had received the gift of prophecy from Apollo — which power she may
originally have possessed in her own right.
38) It must be remarked here that these mysterious voices of nature, coming from
anywhere out of the wood, and with a purpose of warning or instruction, are not always
ascribed to Faunus. Cf. e.g. Liv. I, 31: devictis ... Sabinis ... visi etiam audire vocem
ingentem (monentem) ex summi cacuminis luco; VI, 33: (Satrici Matris Matutae)
templo vox horrenda edita cum tristibus minis, where it may consequently be assumed
that this voice belonged to Mater Matuta; V, 32: before the advent of the Gauls:
M. Caecidius nuntiavit ... tribunus se in nova via, ubi nunc sacellum est supra aedem
Vestae, vocem noctis silentio audisse clariorem humana, quae iuberet magistratibus
dicere Gallos adventare. It certainly is not likely that this voice was connected with
Faunus, as an altar to Aius Locutius was founded on this spot. (See also Cic. de Divin. I,
45, 101). The same may be said of a voice heard from the temple of Juno, for which
reason this Juno was surnamed Moneta (Cic. l.c.).
Or these voices are not ascribed to any definite deity; cf. DH I, 56; VG I, 476/77;
Tib. II, 5, 74; OM XV, 792/93; Lucan, I, 569/90.
 186

Latium aurait eu un oracle oniromantique comparable a ceux de la Grèce.

Mais Faunus ... et le lieu même oü il se plaït reste indécis".
As to c) according to Heinze this would be the only tracé of old-Italian
incubation, and hence it is very improbable in his opinion that this
incubation-oracle of Vergil corresponded to reality.
Indeed we must not allow unnecessary objections to stand in our way
in believing that Vergil used motifs here, that did not strictly correspond
to ancient-Roman reality. For Vergil in his treatment of prophecy —
though not neglecting Roman data 39) — yet^o) gjves e.g. no instance of
the human vates of the Italian sort; and several data in his treatment of
prophecy are entirely of Greek origin^i). (On the other hand we must
consider that, whereas all these other prophecies are destined for the
Trojan Aeneas, and hence might belong to Greek culture, this oracle of
Faunus is given to the Latin Latinus, for which reason Vergil here may
have kept himself to Italian ideas 42).
Before entering into the question whether Heinze and Bailey are right
here, we must examine what an incubation-oracle really is.
It is the practice of sleeping — or at least of passing the night — in a
special spot, in a chapel or other sacred place — e.g. under a sacred tree,
near a sacred spring or in a sacred cave — with the object of receiving
(in a dream) a divine revelation to solve one's difficulties. To achieve this
contact with the deity one or more additional rites might be performed
beforehand, as purificatory measures, prayer, sacrifice, regulation of diet,
special garb, etc.; these however were not essential 42a). Hence it differs
from ordinary dream-divination in that it implies, on the part of the
consultant, premeditation and a preparatory act43).
This practice of incubatio in its full meaning is found among the most
diverging peoples, in ancient44) as well as in later and even in modern
times 45), and e.g. also in Italy. Hence we need not tracé a special locality
for its origin.

38) E.g. VIII, 339/40; even there however he introducés a Greek element by making
Carmentis the mother of Euander according to the Euhemeristic process.
40) Bailey, p. 26/28.
41) E.g. the prophecy by Proteus (G. IV, 450 sqq.), the supremacy of Apollo in the
realm of prophecy (II, 114; III, 162, 360, 371 sqq.; VI, 12, 77 sqq.); Aeneas' dream-
visions of Hector etc.
42) However we must not emphasize this thought too much, as e.g. the dream of
Turnus, also an Italian, VII, 413 sqq., is also based on a Greek pattern.
42") A circumstantial account of these various accompanying rites is given by Deubner,
De Incubatione.
43) See Bouché-Leclerq, I, p. 282.
44) E.g. in ancient Egypt (Herod. II, 141; Strab. XVII, p. 801); among the Jews
(Jes. 65, 4; Strab. XVI, p. 761); in Sardinia (Aristot. Phys. Aus. 4, 11, p. 218); among
the Celts (Tert. de anim. 57).
45) Most frequently in Greece, but also in Italy, Austria, Ireland, in North Africa,
Australia and China (see Hamilton, Incubation, p. 182—188; Deubner, p. 56—134).
 187

Nor is a special country or people required if we consider the

psychological origin of the practice of incubation. Two starting-points may
be assumed for it46):
a) the value set on dreams by primitive man and the belief that
dreams 47) — and especially such dreams in which a god 48) appeared 49)
— had a prophetic meaning. For an explanation of this belief see the
note50). So he may not only have sought for an explanation, but also
have taken special measures to evoke these dreams; by several kathartic
measures, by magie, sacrifice and prayer, and by seeking the revelation of
a certain god in a place where man would be certain to find him, scil. in
his cave, under his tree, in his shrine, etc. 51). As to the meaning of the

46) Of the most various peoples; cf. e.g. the Biblical dreams of Jacob and Joseph.
47) All dreams were interpreted as having this prophetic meaning — at least originally,
for see the distinction between "true" dreams and "false" dreams (cf. Hom. Od. XIX,
560 sqq.; VA VI, 894).
48) Or some parent or friend as the messenger of a god.
49) This sort of dream indeed was of ten dreamt in reality, as the mind was prepared
to see it. Later on a more or less ethical explanation of the fact that the gods informed
man of their intentions when he was asleep may be accounted for by the fact that
only in his sleep is man freed from the unclean trammels of the body.
50) This belief is easily explained if we consider the mysterious character of the
dream, which makes a very vivid impression, but for which, unless by an advanced
science, realizing several psychological and physiological facts (about the phenomena of
sleep and dream see W. Wundt, Grundz. physiol. Psych.) no natural external cause can be
found, — the less so, as the organs of sense are rendered inoperative in sleep. Hence
the dreams were attributed to a supernatural inspiration. And the more so, as man knows
by experience that, when dreaming, he often sees with his mind's eye sequences of images
not corresponding to any reality and not even to any natural law; from these images
moreover he cannot free himself by an act of his own will. Hence all primitive peoples
attribute these dreams to the inspiration of a supernatural being, more powerful than
they are themselves, to a deity.
Moreover for primitive man these dreams must have a meaning, as it would appear to
him impossible and very irreligious to imagine, that the gods made him dream these
dreams without any intention. And for egocentric primitive man the only acceptable
intention of these dreams could be, that the deity wanted to speak to him, to let hdm
know the divine will, or at least to inform him about the means to prevent a not
inevitable evil.
51) For, although dreams are withdrawn from the direct will of man, yet by experience
he may have learnt, that in a certain measure they underwent the influence of the
preoccupations of the mind and of the disposition of the body. Hence he may have
prepared and facilitated these dreams — without feeling that thus he committed a
logical inconsistency. He may free himself from some coincidences of the appearance of
the dream, bring body and mind in a state in which the dream-apparitions are as
clear as possible, and also by certain measures show to the gods, that he values their
revelations. E.g. by cleansing himself by purificatory means as fasting and other forms
of abstinence; by cultic measures as sacrifice and prayer; by the use of magie objects
as magie rings; and, lastly: although in principle divine revelation in dreams might
come im almost any place, he might seek this revelation of a certain god in a place, where
he would be certain to find him. The dream was facilitated moreover because the mind
was already preoccupied and the dream a direct answer to a well-defined question;

[<
 188

practice of lying down there, on the bare ground or on the skin of a

newly slaughtered animal, see the note 52).
This belief in prophetic dreams may have existed among the Romans as
well. This we may conclude not only from general considerations 53) but
also Cicero 54) e.g. gjves several testimonies of this seeking for prophetic
dreams although he himself55) combats this view forcibly56). So they
may not only have sought for an explanation, but also have taken special
measures to invoke these dreams.
It must be remarked however that in most cases this explanation cannot
sufficiently account for the practice of incubation 57), Hence we must look
for still another idea, underlying this practice. The more so, because,
although several forms of oracle were known in Greece, in the case of
gods connected with the Earth in some way or other incubation was the
only form of oracle that was practised. This may have been:
b ) the view that by contact with the Earth 58) the physical and
i
and because the answer was given by a god to whose character and ordinary Ianguage
the questioner was already accustomed, in a somewhat conventionalized and well-under-
stood form.
52) In these sanctuaries man often sleeps on the bare ground sometimes on the skin
of a newly slaughtered animal. The bare ground here probably had no particular meaning,
but was only a consequence of the practice of primitive times and circumstances. Nor
had the lying down probably any particular meaning, but was the only thing possible.
53) This idea of the prophetic meaning of dreams is so strong, that not only primitive
man, or more or less superstitious people of a more cultivated period, believed in their
power, but even philosophers as Democritus and Aristotle, and a philosophical sect as
the Stoa.
) De Divin, I, 2, 4: nee vero somnia graviora, si quae ad rem publicam pertinere
visa sunt, a summo consilio neglecta sunt. Quin etiam memoria nostra templum Junonis
Sospitae L. Julius ... de senatus sententia refecit ex Caeciliae, Balearici filiae, somnio;
see further I, 26, 55, and II, 24, 51: P. Decius ille, Q. f., qui primus e Deciis consul
fuit ... dixit, quod exstat in annalibus, sibi in somnis visum esse, cum in mediis hostibus
versaretur, occidere cum maxima gloria, etc.
65) De Divin. II, 58, 119 sqq.
50) In my opinion this does not prove, as Marquardt III, p. 98 supposes, that the
Romans in general did not provoke phophetic dreams, and were unacquainted with the
practice of oneiromantics.
57) For, whereas every deity may manifest himself in a dream, nevertheless in the
case of a comparatively small number of them we hear of the practice of incubation in
their sanctuary. So (Henri Lechat, DarSagl. s.v. Incubatio) we know e.g. of a dream-
manifestation of Athena (to Pericles, Plut. Per. 13; Plin. XXII, 43), of Pan Luterios
(at Troizen, Paus. II, 32, 6), of Hercules (Diog. L. I, 11, 7: Tac. Ann. XII, 53, 3: CIL VI,
1449), but never of an incubation-oracle in their sanctuaries.
58) Often conceived as a very strong and powerful numen, mistress of life and death
(see Rohde, II, 58).
59) The view that the earth not only gave and deprived one of physical, but also of
mental faculties, may have been a further inducement to seek this contact under the latter
circumstances (cf. the Greek TTO; and the Latin "cerritus", which is connected
with "Ceres" according to Altheim.
 189

psychical 59) energies were strengthened 60) and ^at the Earth was
possessed of oracular power 61).
Hence this contact will be sought especially when this state left
something to be desired62).
This contact with the earth would be most effective, if
a) as great a part of the body as possible touched the earth, scil. by
lying down;
b) i t was sought in a spot, where the power of the earth was strong-
est and manifested itself most clearly, or where this contact with the earth
was more direct, as where there were apertures in the surface of the earth,
formed by caverns, springs, or vapours rising out of the depths 62a),
Of course here too — as in the contact with every deity — purificatory
or cultic measures may have been desirable, and even necessary; the lying
on a skin (of a newly slaughtered animal) may also be taken into account
here. But the contact with the earth was the main thing 63),
Therefore not sleep and dreams are most important here, but the lying
down. Of course however lying down, and for rather a long period of
several hours, in a place where there were stupefying vapours, or a
murmuring, soporific spring, or in a dark cavern, would often induce sleep
and dreams. And, as the mind was prepared for it, they may often have
had a salutary character.
(For the rest the importance attached to these dreams "arisen out of
the earth may also have been supported by the view, that, as the earth
was full of the seeds of future life, it also contained the mysteries of the
future in general, and dreams in particular; the existence of this latter view
is proved by several testimonies 64),)

®°) Cf. the Greek myth of Antaios, who by contact with the earth got new life over
and over again.
61) As to this oracular power of the Earth .w -A^V.,,1 T7 n . t. . ,
- - - — " u r 1lm x.. 1,117 T l u i O T O f i a V Z l V
raiav. Cic. de Div. I, 38: vis illa terrae.
See also the fact that several oracles in Greece are said to have been oracles of Gaia
before they became an oracle of another god, as e.g. in the case of the oracle of the
Delphic Apollo. (See Rohde, II, 58; cf. Bouché-Leclerq, II, 251—260; Farnell, p. 9 sqq.)
This state of affairs probably also found its expression in the legend of the slaying of
Python the spirit of the earth-oracle, by Apollo. See further the omens from snakes and
other chthomcal animals; from earthquakes and other movements of the ground, etc.
) as in a desperate state, or in illness. And this explains that in by far the larger
part this incubation was sought as a cure of disease.
62a) Compare the divination at sacred springs, in which the drinking of the water
bnngs about a direct relation with the chthonic power.
as 1S Proved by the fact that at many incubationoracles that certainly had a

chthonic character, this skin is not found.

84) Cf. Eur. Hec. 70 sqq.: *<i nóxvia x»iov, inkavontfQvymv /,ar,Q övtlQtav; and Iph.
aur. 1259—1269: vvXIA x»i>v TTI*v<óoaro q,DA/IAF ÓVCCQOIV. This idea cannot merely be
a poetical-mythological expression of an obvious fact, as e.g. the Hesiodeic view (Theog.
211) that dreams are the children of Night and Sleep, but it must reflect an old
reiigious connection.
 190

Originally these dreams were attributed to the inherent virtue of (a

certain locality) of the earth. Later they were no longer attributed to the
influence of the earth itself, but to a god, dwelling inside the earth; and
still later to a god to whom this seat of prophecy had been consecrated.
Probably this god mostly already had some connection with the earth,
so that from this we may explain the fact that the deities with whom it
was usual to seek contact in this way, formed a rather limited category,
all connected at least in one aspect with the earth. Where this incubation
took place with gods who were originally not chthonical deities, we
probably have to consider it as a transference of a complex of rites of
which the original meaning was no longer very well understood. This
might happen the more easily, if these rites were not autochthonic, but
were already transferred 65).
This conception of the strengthening effect of the contact with the
earth may be, though perhaps not originally Roman, yet rather old, as
(see Altheim, TM p. 124) "die verschiedenen Erscheinungsformen der
italischen Erdmutter mit der der Demeter identisch sind" 66).
c) a third possible origin of the practice of incubatio may be the
view67) that the deceased parents and heroes, dweiling in the earth,
were most useful counsellors in view of the future, because they now
shared the powers of the earth, or only, because they had been more full
of wisdom, and had taken certain secrets with them in their tombs. The
best means to get into contact with them might be to go to the place where
they had been buried 68). This idea however need not have been originally
Greek or Roman 69).

a5) In iny opinion this is not improbable in the case of Jupiter Capitolinus. (SA VII, 88:
"incubare proprie hi dicuntur qui dormiunt ad accipienda responsa, unde est: ille incubat
Jovi, id est: dormit in Capitolio, ut responsa possit accipere. For Jupiter is not in the
least a chthonical deity.
®8) Yet I would not maintain without any more, that the contrary was also true, and
that the same held good for Gaia as for Ceres and Tellus.
®7) Which is geographically wide-spread (see Rose, Hastings ERE IV, 778; cf.
Pease, p. 332).
6S) Sometimes man may only have performed a certain ritual there, cf. Od. X, 517 sqq.,
in order to evoke the deceased. But sometimes he must have lain down, which may mostly
have induced sleep, and dreaming.
Also this idea was often combined with that of the magie influence of the contact with
the earth, as we see from the fact, that this necromancy was especially associated with
places, called "Ploutoneia" (see Bouché-Leclerq III, 319; 363—368; Rohde, I, 213 n.;
214; Gruppe, Gr. Myth. 935, n. 9). In this case this idea might be accounted for by the
view that (see Bouché-Leclerq, III, p. 363/5) the deceased are supposed to reside, not
in their tomb, but in a large cavity beneath the surface of the earth; to have contact
with them one had to go to a place, where nature had opened a passage penetrating to
this residence, hence especially to the Ploutoneia.
60) For, as Pease l.c. remarks, according to the Homeric view not all the deceased
had a special knowledge of the future, but they merely retained the mantic power which
they had had in life. Only through the influence of Platonism (Bouché-Leclerq, I, p. 334/5)
 191

Of course these different ideas: incubation, dream, and the prophetic

power of a forefather (fatidici genitoris), which here too are combined
and moreover associated with a "Ploutoneion", may have mutually
influenced each other in reality as well 7<>).
So in my opinion there are no essential theoretical objections against
admitting the possibility of an originally-Latin incubation-oracle.
But even if this conclusion does not hold good, there may have existed
an old-Italian incubation-oracle at the Albunea. At least if we understand
by old-Italian" all that is found on Italian soil before a certain date.
For of incubatio in ancient Italy we have more, and unsuspected, testimonia.
So by Strabo (VI, 284) two incubation-oracles on or near the Mons
Garganus are mentioned: deixvvzai dh irjq Aavviag JIEQI lótpov a> ovo/ua AQIOV
fjQÖua, xö fxhv Kaliavxoq In ay.ga rfj xoovcprj; èvayt£ovoi d'avicö /lékava
XQIOV 01 fiavrevófievoi, eyxoL/iófievoi êv rep déofxau; tó <5ê IIoöahiQtov, etc.
That this testimonium of Strabo is not suspicious is proved by the
existence even now of a sanctuary of St. Michael in this spot, who
performs miracles there to the faithful who sleep in his temple; this
miraculous sanctuary is already mentioned in the early Middle-Ages 7:t),
so that it must go back to Antiquity. Further (Frazer, Fasti, l.c.) "in
many parts of Southern Italy it is said to be still customary to sleep in
churches for the sake of receiving revelations in dreams. At Nocera e.g.
the church of the Madonna surnamed Mater Domini is frequented for this
purpose, and its fame as an oracular seat extends far and wide". Further
we know of an incubation-temple at Terina 72) , etc< Also this latter oracle
is known to us only from this testimony.
I have mentioned these testimonia, as for the solution of the question
whether this incubation-oracle of Faunus is probable here, we must not
restrict our inquiry to the question, whether it may have been genuinely

knowledge of the secrets of creation and of the future was assigned to all the disembodied
spirits. Compare the fact that only in later authors do we find, that not only those heroes,
who had possessed this predicting power already in life, as e.g. Teiresias, Kalchas!
Mopsos, Amphiaraos and Amphilochos, but also other heroes as Odysseus, Protesilaos,
Sarpedon, Menestheus, Pasiphae, and others, after their death possessed this prophetic
power.
70) E.g. incubation — in which the main point was the strengthening effect, and in
which revelation came in a more or less direct manner, may have been combined with
dreams — where revelation came in a more or less direct way. Hence for instance,
whereas the cure of diseases was originally accomplished by the contact with the earth,
it later may have been brought about by the appearance and e.g. the imposition of hands
of the god in a dream, and still later by following the directions given by him in a
dream, either in a direct way or symbolically — for which reasons also at incubation-
oracles priests may have had the task to explain dreams.
And later revelation may have been sought by incubation on the grave of a forefather,
not merely because they were forefathers, taking an interest in their descendants, but
because of the idea that they shared the powers of the earth.
71) For testimonia see Weck, RE s.v. Garganus.
72) Plut. Consol. ad Apoll. XIV.
 192

Roman, but we must only ask, whether it may have been a practice,
testified in old days for some places in Italy with which it is not improbable
that the oracle at the Albunea was connected. For, as is shown above, the
Albunea, the seat of this oracle, was not far remote from Ardea; and, as is
shown on 1. 46, the Rutuli most likely were of Illyrian origin.
Now Stoll73) supposes that the incubation-oracle of Kalchas, given
by Strabo, in reality was not the oracle of the seer Kalchas, known to us
from Homer, but of the indigenous Daunian king Kalchos. If this is true,
the Daunii may have ascribed a prophetic power to one of their original
kings — which prophecies naturally were originally destined for his fellow-
tribesmen only — an idea, which may be parallel to the necromancy of
the Greeks.
The fact that the Daunii, who were of Illyrian origin, practised
incubation, already suggests that it was practised by the Illyrian Rutuli
as well.
And so we may even come to the conclusion that there did not only
exist an incubation-oracle at the Albunea, but that this was an incubation-
oracle of "Faunus".
For Faunus, who was strongly connected with the territory of Ardea 74)
may often have been — as I have tried to prove on 1.47 — not the Latin
Faunus, but the Illyrian divine king Daunus, or at least a combination of
these two figures. And as revelation by incubation was sought from a
(mythical?) king by the Illyrian Daunii, it may have been sought by the
Illyrian Rutili from their legendary king and forefather Daunus — who
then later was equalized to the Latin Faunus.
For the rest also the Latin god Faunus may have originated an
incubation-oracle. Above we have seen that one of the two starting-points
for the practice of incubation was the contact with the earth — so that
incubation had a chthonical character. And it is not altogether negligible
that Faunus was a chthonical deity — although this is considered impossible
by Heinze 75). For, as we have seen on 1.47, Faunus was probably a
wolf originally, and the wolf is often considered as a chthonical animal,
even in Rome76); it is unnecessary however that this original chthonical
character of the Latin Faunus was still known to Vergil.

73) Roscher, II, 1, 923. n

74) Cf. the "Castrum Inui" near Ardea; compare further the "sacer Fauno oleaster
VA XII, 766 sqq., to which in the single combat between Aeneas and Turnus the latter
applied for aid, and which may actually have existed; and the fact that Vergil X, 551
says, that one of Turnus' allies, Tarquitius, was a son of Faunus; see further Sil. It. VIII,
36, who calls the Rutuli "Faunigenae".
75) See also Wissowa in Roscher s.v.
T6) Tabeling, Mater Larum, p. 69, who gives as testimonies SA XI, 787, and an
Etruscan representation of a mundus, from which i.a. a wolf emerges. Compare further
the fact that the Lupercal was a cavern, that the Lupercalia may have had some
connection with the dead, and at the same time with fertilization.
 193

Yet it does not seem too bold to me to say, that Vergil combined here:
a) the voice of Faunus, resounding in the wood, of Faunus, who
possessed predicting power, but was the god of sudden mysterious voices,
coming e.g. out of the wood, and in a direct way, rather than the god of
dreams and revelation by contact with the earth;
b ) not only the general practice of incubation, but the Rutulian-Illyrian
incubation-oracle of Daunus-Faunus in particular.
Or, as we might say: the Faunus of the oracle of the Albunea here is
Daunus-Faunus, combined in one person.
It must be remarked here that indeed the two elements of a) the voice
of Faunus, and b) the practice of incubatio, are standing here side by
side rather incoherently.
In 1.85—91 there clearly is question of a sort of incubation-oracle, as
sleep is mentioned there (somnos petivit), further in his dream the incubant
sees all sorts of visions (1. 89), he has several hallucinations (varias audit
voces), and is in contact with several deites (fruiturque deorum colloquio).
But in 1.81 it is said, that it is the oracle of Faunus. Also in 1. 92 sqq.
it is a question of only one voice, which moreover comes from the wood,
and not imis Avernis (as may be understood to be the case in 1.91).
Moreover not only is it not expressly said that Latinus had fallen asleep —
which for poetical reasons Vergil may have found unnecessary to repeat —,
but from the words: subita ex alto vox reddita luco est we get the impression
that this was not a dream-voice, but a real one.
The many voices however Vergil may not have mentioned here because
they were usual at an incubation-oracle. For generally at these oracles
not a number of voices, but only one rather clear voice is mentioned 77).
Vergil may say that at the oracle of Faunus the incubant "multa modis
simulacra videt volitantia miris et varias audit voces" because also
Augustus, as we read in Suetonius 91: per omne ver plurima et formidulo-
sissima et vana et irrita videbat (reliquo tempore rariora et minus vana).
Compare the fact, that, as mentioned above, it was spring at the time of
Aeneas' arrival.
Further not only are the many voices and visions in contrast with the
one clear voice, but the fact hat Faunus when prophesying was only heard,
and not seen, is not usual at an incubation-oracle either, as it is not in an
ordinary dream. Cf. the fact that in Greek an ordinary expression for
"incubare" is èyxoi/uaoêaL xai ïdeiv öxpiv and èmcpaveia becomes the ordi­
nary word for miraculous healings of the gods78).
He may not have mentioned that Faunus was also seen, because the
apparition of Faunus, who in the Augustan age was represented in the
shape of the god Pan, would not have been in correspondance with his
lofty character of divine ancient king and father of Latinus.
77) See Rostowzew, Klio, 1919, p. 203 sqq.
78) E.g. Jamblich. de myster. III, 2; Plut. de gen. Socr. 22, p. 591a; Plut. Cleon, 7;
Arr. Anab. VII, 26, 2.
13
 194

Moreover he may have been induced to mention only a voice (of Faunus)
from the wood (subito ex alto vox reddita luco est) by the tradition, found
in Dionysius I„ 56, that Aeneas in the night after the prodigy of the white
sow was admonished to found a city on this spot, according to most scholars
not by a dream-vision, but: acpvco Mysicu <pcovrj Tig èx xrjg vdnrjg atpavovg
övxog lov (pfteyyo/uévov jiQooiieoÉiv.
He may have been the more inclined to stress this oral side of Faunus,
as in his time this side had become the most important, far more important
than his being a rural god. This may also account for the fact that Faunus
gives his revelations here in complete hexameters, which is a little strange
for an old Roman rural god (cf. Ennius79): versibus quos olim Fauni
vatesque canebant, which verses are Saturnians).
For the rest this is of course due to a certain extent to the demands of
Vergil's metrum, whereas moreover they may be six complete hexameters,
because dream-oracles often were given in verse 80). Moreover the Homeric
dreams in general not only speak fluently and clearly human language 81),
and do not require any particular sagacity to be understood 82), but often
in complete hexameters.
Yet it remains somewhat strange that Vergil allowed the two elements to
stand side by side rather incoherently, and did not say clearly that this
contact with Faunus is acquired by real incubation. Must we conclude
that this resulted from his consciousness that an incubation-oracle of
Faunus did not correspond to reality?
And indeed we must perhaps be satisfied to conclude, that, as Bouché-
Leclerq, IV, p. 126, speaking of this oracle of Faunus, says: "il est difficile
de faire, dans la fiction virgilienne, la part de la réalité historique".

70) Ap. Varr. 1.1. VII, 36.

80) Cf. Artemid. Onirocr. 4, 59. A large collection of them is found in Wolff's edition
of Porphyrius de Phil. ex orac. haur. 90—92.
81) E.g. II. II, 5 sqq.; XXIII, 65 sqq.
82) Although the Odyssee contains symbolical dreams as well, these too are very easy
to interpret.
 THE ALBUNEA.

82 lucosque sub alta

consulit Albunea, nemorum quae maxima sacro
fonte sonat saevamque exhalat opaca mephitim

The place where Vergil supposed the Albunea to be situated.

The name Albunea has come down to us from some other places in
ancient literature, always in connection with Tibur. Viz.:
Hor. Carm. I, 7, 12: domus Albuneae resonantis et praeceps Anio
et Tiburni lucus; and
Varro in Lact. I, 6, 12: decimam (Sibyllam) Tiburtem nomine Albunea,
quae Tiburi colitur ut dea, iuxta ripas Anienis. Cf. also Suidas, s.v.
2iftvlla: dexdrrj fj Tifiovgita, övó/uau 'Aflovvaia.
Indeed there must have been a kind of goddess at Tibur with predicting
power, a goddess of a cascade or a spring — as Egeria and Carmentis were
— although she was probably not originally a Sibyll. For Antonelli1)
mentions the discovery of a little sanctuary, a temple of the "Sibyll",
at the bank of the precipice into which the Teverone falls, at the foot of
the temple of Hercules. Cf. also Tib. II, 5, 69.
But it is not quite certain that her original name was "Albunea", or
at any rate Albunea" only. For there are several testimonies of the name
Albu/a in the environs of Tibur, on inscriptions 2) as well as in literature.
Cf. Stat. Silv. I, 3, 75, who in a context, which certainly points to Tibur
and its environs, says: illic sulfureos cupit Albula mergere crines; and
Mart. I, 12, 2: itur ad Herculeas gelidi qua Tiburis arces canaque sulphureis
Albula fumat aquis.
As however there is no sulphurous odour at the cascades of Tivoli,
these two authors probably meant by "Albula" rather the "Aquae Albulae",
— a sulphurous spring with curative powers, 5 KM to the West of
Tibur, near the Via Tiburtina 3), and even frequented in our days
although these Aquae Albulae are usually mentioned in the plural.
Hence these inscriptions, found at Tivoli, may really have been transported
thither from the Aquae Albulae, and we need not prove, that Albunea was
(also) called Albula.

!) Ndsc. 1927, 248; cf. already Jacobi, Handw.b., s.v. Albunea.

2) Compare two dedicatory inscriptions, found at Tivoli, and represented Ndsc. 1926,
p. 417, where there is found not the name Albunea, but Albula.
3) Cf. Strab. V, 238; Paus. IV, 35, 10; Suet. Aug. 82, Nero 31; Plin. XXXI, 10;
Vitruv. VIII, 3, 2; Galen. X, 536 K; CIL XXIV, 3534, 3908—3911.
 196

The fact, that already Varro and Horace in an ode, which the latter
most likely composed shortly before 30 b.C. use the name Albunea, renders
it highly improbable, that the name Albunea was connected with Tibur
merely as a consequence of Vergil's use of this name.
The plausibility of a connection of the name Albunea with Tibur
however does not preclude the possibility of it being connected with
another spot as well. The more so, as Albunea may have originally
meant something like "white spot"; cf. SA VII, 83: Albunea dicta est
ab aquae qualitate, quae in illo fonte est. Unde etiam nonnulli ipsam
Leucotheam volunt4).
Vergil's localizing Albunea near Tibur is assumed by most scholars5),
i.a. in view of SA l.c.: alta, quia est in Tiburtinis altissimis montibus.
This localization is, however, in conflict with the items given here by
Vergil. According to this description there must be — apart from the
woods, which may have disappeared in course of time —: a) a sulphurous
odour, b) resonant water, and c) perhaps somewhat sloping grounds.
Two spots in the neighbourhood of Tivoli answer at least to some of
these requirements, scil.:
a) the cascades, formed by the Anio, which, winding down from the
Sabine mountains into the plain, have a difference in altitude of 186 M. 6)
over a distance of about two kilometres, and hence, especially to the East
side of Tibur, form loudly echoing cascades.
To these cascades, or to a place in their vicinity7) may have been
applied the name Albunea, — cf. Horace l.c., and Lactantius l.c
ripas Anienis, cuius in gurgite simulacrum eius inventum esse dicatur8)
perhaps because the foaming water of the cascades is white.
The word "alta" may also be applicable here, as these cascades tumble
down from a considerable height; and even the words "sacro fonte"
may be accounted for with a certain margin.
But there is not the least tracé of a sulphurous smell, which is one of
the main features of Vergil's description here. So this place does not satisfy
us, as it cannot possibly be assumed, that Vergil gave to his readers,
many of whom will have known this region very well, a description, so
far diverging from the truth.
b) the Aquae Albulae, mentioned above, which are indeed sulphurous.
An additional argument, that Vergil might have meant these is,

4) And Corp. Gloss. II, 14, 2, 6. (See further below).

5) E.g. by Nibby, Viaggio I, p. 408; Wissowa, RE s.v. Albunea; Wörner, Roscher
s.v. Albunea; Weinstock, RE s.v. Tibur, col. 833/4, and also to a certain degree by
Preller-Jordan, I, 383, and Dessau (CIL XIV, p. 435).
®) Nissen, II, p. 610.
7) Cf. Fest. p. 352.
8) However in the inscription CIL XIV, 3911, which certainly must be connected with
the Aquae Albulae, we read "Albuleus gurges" as well.
 197

that Augustus visited these thermal waters for their curative power9),
so that Latinus here might have foreshadowed Augustus.
But these Aquae always have the name of Albu/a(e); they make no
noise; and the grounds are not in the least sloping 9a).
We might certainly leave a margin for Vergil's using "sonare" as well
as Albunea in stead of Albulae here as a poetical license; in the latter
case he might have wished to avoid Albula here, since he intended to
use this name later on (VIII, 332) as the old name for the Tiber; and
"alta" perhaps has not the meaning of "elevated", but it may refer
either to the height of the trees, or else mean "deep", being used to
describe the denseness of the forest (see below).
Or, as Weinstock l.c. says, it is also possible, that these particulars 10)
are not of such great consequence, as Vergil did not attach so much
importance to these minor things, but rather wanted "ohne genaue Kennt-
nis der Oertlichkeit eine Schilderung (zu geben), die für Traumorakel
konventionell war". According to him: "ist die Albunea daher auch un-
bedenklich unseren übrigen Zeugnissen entsprechend in Tibur anzusetzen,
auch wenn dort nicht die geringste Spur von Schwefelquellen zu ent-
decken ist".
Dessau 11) after saying, that he does not understand this passage in
Vergil very well either continues: sed cum constet significari his verbis
fontem aliquem sulfureum, sit autem in Latio notissimus fons sulfureus
Aquarum Albularum, isque non longe a Tibure, ubi ipsam illam Albuneam
pro numine fatidico cultam esse ex Varrone ap. Lact. scimus, probabile
est Vergilium aut respexisse lucum aliquem Albuneae sacrum situm ad
Aquas Albulas, aut sibi finxisse fuisse ibi aliquando talem lucum.
It is my opinion, however, that we must try to detect a spot, which
is in accordance with the particulars at our disposal, rather than assume
that it would have been immaterial to Vergil whether the particulars of
such a well-known spot were beside the truth, or that he used three items
of poetical license in this place to bring this spot in relation with Tibur;
and that the Aquae Albulae near Tibur were meant here, because they
were the most renowned sulphurous spring in Latium12), or because
Albunea is in all other cases connected with Tibur.
Moreover there may be another objection to the localization of this
oracle in the neighbourhood of Tibur, scil. Carcopino's. For, following
Bonstetten p. 209, he writes p. 339/40 that the "house-oracle" of Latinus
could not in reason lie on foreign (Sabine) territory, at a distance of
about 40 KM from Latinus' residence, near the gates of a city where
iron was wrought (cf. VII, 629/30). However, although this objection
9) Suet. Aug. 82.
9a) Nissen II, 610; Hüilsen s.v. Aquae Albulae.
10) As also the connection with Faunus, mentioned by Verqil only
") CIL XIV, p. 435.
12) Cf. also Preller-Jordan, I, 383, n. 2.
 198

holds some truth in it, we need not attach too much importance to it, since,
although this is the oracle of Faunus, the father of Latinus, also "hinc
Italae gentes omnisque Oenotria tellus in dubiis responsa petunt"; hence
it is not destined for the inhabitants of Latinus' city only. And, concerning
the objection that it would be situated in the immediate neighbourhood of
a city, where there were iron-works, this city, as also appears from VII,
629/30, is represented as being kindly disposed towards Latinus, perhaps
even somewhat dependent on him. Moreover Vergil of ten uses a fact in
a given situation, and drops it in another13).
There is another spot, satisfying all these requirements, and even
situated in the neighbourhood of Lavinium. Vitruv. VIII, 3, 2 already
points to this fact. He relates, that in the environs of Rome there were two
sulphurous waters: "uti in Tiburtina via flumen Albula et in Ardeatino(a?)
fontes frigidi eodem odore, qui sulphurati dicuntur; and Prob. ad Georg.
I, 10: oraculum eius (scil. Fauni) in Albunea, Laurentinorum silva est.
This testimony of Probus, as is suggested by Wissowa l.c., and by
Rehm p. 77, may be only an autoschediasma, formed, because the scene of
the second half of the Aeneid is laid in the neighbourhood of Lavinium.
Hence Probus may have located the oracle of Faunus here as well.
But there is no reason, why Vitruvius' remark should be beside the truth.
Several modern authors — of whom Bonstetten 14), who did not know
these testimonies from Probus and Vitruvius, but only went by the
aspect of the place, was the first in 1805 — and many others after
him15) have looked for the place of the oracle near the Zolforata
(about the exact place see below), a little sulphurous lake near the Via
Ardeatina, at a distance of about 5 kilometres to the north-east of
Lavinium. So for instance Ashby, l.c. says: "the modern road to Ardea
(called Via Laurentina) passes to the East of the farm-house of
Zolforata or Solfatara. Close to this are sulphur springs, and here is to be
sought the Albunea of Vergil, and not at Tivoli, where the water of
the Anio is not sulphurous. Here was an important road-centre in old
days, and, though there are two other roads from Rome, which lead more
directly to Lavinium, the branch, leading hence to Lavinium, is still in use,
and probably of ancient origin."
A more circumstantial description, and an attempt to define the place
of this oracle more closely has been given already by Bonstetten,
p. 206/7:
"Je vois bientöt un vallon entouré de petits rochers volcaniques ... dans le lointain de
riches coteaux, au dessous de ce majestueux Mont Albain... La forte odeur de souffreque
je sentais... Je vis bientöt des roches nues, blanches, jaunes ou rougeatres, comme j'en

13) E.g. VII, 10 sqq. the promunturium Circaeum is the abode of Circe, VII, 799
of farmers.
14) Voyage sur la scène des derniers livres de 1'Enéide, p. 205 sqq.
1B) Bormann, Altlat. Chorographie, p. 49 sq.; Nibby, Dintorni, III, 100; Ashby, The
Roman Campagna, p. 209; Bagnani, the Roman Campagna, p. 15: Carcopino; p. 338 sqq.
 199

avais vu tout au haut du Vesuve. Mais voila dans un vallon, assez étroit... un quart de
lieu plus loin... j'aper?ois un petit étang d'une eau laiteuse, d'oü sechappaient de grosses
bulles d air et dont on faisait fortement bouillonner 1'eau en la remuant. Le terrain, tout
a 1 entour, était blanc, et le bassin se trouvait placé sous un rocher volcanique, tout blanc,
presque a pic, assez élevé oü 1'on voyait, a travers des herbes, des traces de plusieurs
cascades qui devaient tomber dans le bassin, par dessus 1'entrée d'une caverne faite de
main d homme a ce qui me semblait Je la trouvai pleine de cette même eau bouillante,
dont les pétillements fréquents, et le sifflement léger produisaient dans cette voute mille
bruits bizarres. Qu'on se représente 1'antique forêt... ces arbres touffus, ce profond
silence, cette obscurité mystérieuse, cette odeur de souffre... cette eau dégageant avec du
bruit de grosses bulles d'air pétillant comme du feu."

Carcopino also, af ter his own observation in 1912, states (p. 342):
e est bien le site, dépeint par Virgile', and gives a description of which,
as he is in full accordance with Bonstetten, I will give a few particulars
only.

"Quelques grands pins subsistent seuls prés du corps de ferme de la Zolforata; des luci
oü s'engagea Latinus il ne reste plus que du maquis au long des pentes blanchatres, qui
surplombent, ici, la grotte, et la, les petits lacs. Du moins, ils s'élévent par un pli énergique
au dessus des terres voisines et méritent, par les cótes qu'elles atteignent, 1'épithéte d'alta
que Virgile accole au nom de 1'Albunea. (La carte marqué les cötes de 116 m. et de 136 m„
ce qui donne une altitude de 40 m, supérieure a celle de Prattica.)
les sources qui jaillissent dans le lac et dans la grotte n'ont point cessé de faire
entendre le petit fracas de leurs expulsions gazeuses Dans ce pays tout impregné de
crainte et de mystère, les Latins ont dü se sentir plus proches de la divinité tellurique
se persuader que le sommeil qu'ils iraient prendre au milieu de ces émanations serait
hanté de rêves d'origine infernale et de sens infaillible."

But Bertha Tillyie) who investigated this site in October 1933 after
these scholars, and gives a very circumstantial description of the entire
sulphurous region of the Zolforata, and especially of the site, recognized by
Bonstetten as that of the oracle — remarks that neither Bonstetten nor
Carcopino have investigated this site as thorougly as was desirable.
Bonstetten, as appears from his own account, conducted by his guide along
the top of the slope to the crater, identified the first acceptable spot, scil.
the cavern represented JRS, pl. II, 1, as the actual place of the oracle.
But, as Miss Tilly says, this cavern, as well as three others beside it —
which Bonstetten does not mention at all, a proof, that in his time they
did not exist — is a recent excavation. These caverns17) were hewn into
the hill-side to extract sulphuri»), but have now been disused for many
years. Thus Bonstetten and Carcopino located the oracle in what is
probably a disused sulphur-mine.
The real spot, meant by Vergil, she localizes about a quarter of a mile
further up the main valley, under the hill-side, in a natural cave,
represented pl. II, 2, and containing a sulphur spring (pl. I, 2), which
16) JRS 1934, p. 25 sqq.
17) As is already proved by the name "Zolforata", the Italian word for sulphur-mine.
18) So also Perrone, Carta idographica d'Italia, n. 26bis, p. 342; cf. Nibbv P 101
in 1837.
 200

cavern, strangely enough, is not mentioned by any writer on the Roman

Campagna whom she has consulted, and which cannot be the one, chosen
by Bonstetten and Carcopino, as its dimensions are substantially larger19),
and as there is no appearance of any artificiality anywhere, nor any crater
near it. Here follow a few lines of her description:

"There is a large cave within is a copious sulphur spring, which bubbles loudly
and hisses like a great cauldron. Reflected by the roof of the cave which acts as a natural
sounding-board, the noise can be heard plainly at a distance of nearly a hundred yards.
The overflow trickles from the entrance, making all the ground in front of it barren. This
natural cave, with its weird sounds, and mysteriously troubled waters, is by far the most
remarkable feature of the region."

And, although it is situated nowadays in a rather desolate region, which

circumstance makes it almost unknown, this most likely was not so in
Antiquity, since very close to it runs an ancient road, part of the Via
Ardeatina, connecting Ardea with Rome. This opens a probability, that
this spot was indeed well-known in Antiquity, notwithstanding the fact that
we have not so many testimonies about it as about the Aquae Albulae.
Rehm p. 76/77 however objects to this localization of Bonstetten's and
Carcopino's — as he doubtlessly would to Miss Tilly's, which had not
been published then — for the following reasons:
1. here there is not a really rippling spring.
2. nowhere in ancient literature, — except Prob. VG I, 10, which he
considers an autoschediasm (see above) is any mention made of a
dream-oracle of Faunus at the Zolforata.
As concerns 1.: although it is possible that perhaps we cannot use the
verb "ripple" concerning this spot, according to the descriptions of
Carcopino, Bonstetten and Tilly we can use the verb "sonare" to describe
the sound of this bubbling sulphur spring, which, although varying in
strength in different places, covers a rather vast area, "Sonare" need not
only be used of a cascade. Nor is it a serious objection, that there is not
a real waterspring here, since Vergil may have used the word fons here,
not because of its containing water, but because by its own force it sprang
from the earth.
As concerns 2.: we do not read in ancient literature about a dream-
oracle of Faunus in an other place — except OF IV, 649 sqq.; this oracle,
consulted by Numa, if it existed, will have been situated nearer to Rome;
in my opinion however it is highly improbable, that it ever did, as the
whole passage makes the impression of having been written in imitation
of Vergil. Thus, if an oracle of Faunus existed (see below) there is no
objection to locate it at the Zolforata.
The following objection is unfounded too, scil.: that, since Albunea is
the name of a goddess of the cascades at Tivoli, this name must indicate

19) About 9 feet high, 15 wide and 20 deep.

 201

such a goddess, or at least a waterfall, here as well; which, as there are

no fountains or the like on this spot, is out of the question.
For, as already hinted at above, "Albunea" may have been connected
with "albus"-white, and hence might have been applied to the white
foaming water of a cascade as well as to the milky-white sulphurous water
of the Aquae Albulae, and also to the white soil of a sulphurous spot20).

The question what Vergil meant with "Albunea" here.

Some of the scholars, who have treated this passage, consider Albunea
a spring, others a cascade, others a wood, others the name of the wood
with the spring in it. This last view is defended e.g. by Servius l.c.:
Sciendum sane unum nomen esse fontis et silvae.
The other commentators of Antiquity, who have given their opinion
about this place, consider it as a wood, scil Donatus: hi luci fuerunt sub
alta silva, quae diceretur Albunea, and Prob. l.c Albunea, Lauren-
tinorum silva.
Coming to modern commentators, we read in Heyne21) — who follows
Forbiger — on the contrary:
„Albunea aqua, quae sonat fonte sacro, maxima (aquarum) nemoris,
i.e. nemoris", and hence he considers Albunea a cataract, or at least a
little stream.
Also Wörner, l.c., considers it a sort of stream or cataract, for he gives
the following translation of this passage: "und die Haine unter dem Sturz
der Albunea, welche gross vor den Bachen des Waldes dahinrauscht mit
dem heiligen Wasser ihres Quelles, und aus dem Dunkel Schwefelgeruch
haucht".
Now this view of Wörner's we can leave aside, as at Tivoli or in its
neighbourhood, where he locates the Albunea, this combination of a
sulphurous smell and a cataract in close contact, is not found, and his
translation must be entirely arbitrary, influenced by the circumstance only,
that he knew about the cascades of Tivoli.
Neither can the view of Heyne pass muster. For, as Conington remarks,
to make "nemorum quae maxima" signify "quae maxima aquarum nemoris",
or certainly "quae maxima aquarum nemorum" is rather distorted; and
G II, 15/16, given by Heyne as a strict parallel, cannot stand, as this
aesculus, towering high above the other trees of the wood, hence towers
over the whole wood as a complex as well.

20) It is also possible, that it is connected with a prae-Indo-European root alb-, found
e.g. in "Alba", and "Elba". In this case it must mean "the elevated spot", and could only
be applied to the place over the cascade of Tivoli, which, as said above, falls from a
conspicuous height; but it is not applicable to our spot, as indeed any height is out of the
question here (see below). In that case our whole argumentation falls through. In view of
the Aquae Albulae, which certainly have nothing to do with any height whatever, it
seems to me very improbable, that it should be connected with this root alb-,
21) Exc. VI ad lib. VII.
 202

Wagner, following Bonstetten considers Albunea as a wood. And also

Rehm l.c. 21a) grants, that if one interprets these lines by themselves,
one must consider Albunea as a wood.
This, according to the opinion of Conington, removes only a part of
the difficulties, and leaves "lucos sub alta Albunea" to be explained. This
objection of Conington's however cannot be taken too seriously. For,
although in the neighbourhood of the Zolforata, according to the description
of Miss Tilly (p. 29) "there is no hill anywhere near that could possibly
be termed high, not even relatively, when one stands at the foot of those
with which the valley is girt, and not even by poetical exaggeration; for
the Alban mount dominates all the scene, and so to designate what are
mere hummocks in comparison would be scarcely conceivable", "alta" may
refer, as also Miss Tilly supposes, either to the height of the trees or also
mean "deep", being used to describe the denseness of the forest, and the
seclusion of the valley. And "sub" then may signify not "at the foot of a
hill , but deep within the forest"22), which, as we may see from the
photos, given by Miss Tilly, is slightly sloping.
However even then we may ask, why this wood is called "Albunea". In
my opinion the note of Servius, that Albunea was the name of the spring
as well as that of the wood, contains some truth. The Romans, as Miss
Tilly says also, may well have called this region "Albunea" from the white
appearance of the sulphur deposit, which name must have been applied
both to the spring and to the wood.
Probably this name Albunea was originally not applied in reality to
the wooded surface — as wherever there is a coat of sulphur visible in
white patches on the soil, there is no vegetation, and hence no trees either
— but to these very barren patches and to the sulphur spring(s). And, as
there were more of both of these in the grass over a fairly vast area, the
whole stretch of ground, wooded or not, in course of time took its name
Albunea from these patches; afterwards by transfer of significance this
name Albunea was applied to the wooded surface alone, in contradistinction
to the open spots caused by the sulphur.
It is possible that by "lucos" Vergil here meant these very open spots.
For the original meaning of "lucus", with which a religious idea is
always connected23), is, as still appears from the verbs "collucare, inter-
lucare, sublucare", "to make an open space in the wood" and perhaps also
from ancient etymology24) even "open space in the wood".
Yet I do not think this very probable. For the religious meaning of

21») Die Ufer faillen steil ab, und in ihre Felsen ist, anscheinend künstlich, eine Grotte
eingegraben; dies rechtfertigte den Ausdruck "sub Albunea", wenn man Albunea für den
Namen des Waldes hadte
22) Cf. also SA: sub Albunea — in Albunea; (cf. on the contrary Carcopino).
23) Cf. SA I, 310: lucus est arborum multitudo cum religione; see ErnM. and Walde s.v.
24) Isid. Or. XIV, 8; Quint. Inst. Or. I, 6, 4; Mart. Cap. IV, 360; Donat. Ars
Gramm. III, 6.
 203

"lucus" may have been due to the forest, the wooded surface, in primitive
times having been the great obstacle to man's activity; only where the soil
was treeless was any culture possible. So he venerated these open spaces
as the bearers of culture.
But those barren sulphurous patches were no great help for man's
cultural need. Hence they gave him no reason for veneration, although
they may have struck him with awe, as there were outlets from the nether-
world here. Hence, as one of the two ideas, underlying the word "lucus"
was lacking here, the word "lucus" cannot have been applied to these
barren patches.
From this I think — in contradistinction with Miss Tilly — may result,
that by lucos Vergil did not mean to designate these sulphurous barren
patches in the wood — cf. also 1.95: "ex alto vox reddita luco est", which
however cannot be strictly compared to "lucos" in 1.82, as the plural is
used here, and which may rather be equivalent to "alta Albunea". He can
not have designated even an open space in the nemus, but rather a wooded
spot in the wood (nemus), which spot (lucus) was especially consecrated
to a deity, scil. to Faunus here. For also in Vergil's further use of "lucus"
and "luci" this word in my opinion is never definitely used for an open
space, but on the contrary of ten for a wood in generale), as appears from
its often being used with the attributive adjective "altus"26), or in the
sense of "a wood, consecrated to a deity"27), as a synonym in a way of
"silva"2^), and even as a mere synonym of "nemus", e.g. VIII, 597 sqq.:
"est ingens... lucus... religione patrum late sacer; undique colles inclusere
cavi et nigra nemus abiete cingunt" 29).
As to the Italian woods in the Aeneid in general see p. 64.
Instances of woods, especially "luci", with which — as also here —
a "religio" was connected, e.g. VIII, 348 sqq., 597 sqq.; a lucus is connected
with every sanctuary, and e.g. with the Ploutoneia; further V, 761, VI, 13,
VII, 800.

Conclusion. 1. The localization of the Albunea at the Zolforata and

not at Tibur seems convincing to me, since this place, and this place
alone, answers to all the particulars, given by Vergil. Thus I follow
Carcopino 30); and in particular Miss Tilly. In face of the testimony of

25) E.g. VII, 11, 29, 34.

2e) E.g. XI, 456, 740.
27) E.g. VII, 693, 763, 778, 800; III, 681; VI, 13; IX, 86.
28) E.g. III, 681; IX, 86.
2B) Cf. also OF III, 261; Vitruv. IV, 8, 4; Plin. XXXV, 35.
30) Carcopino takes this localization even as an additional argument for placing the
city of Latinus at Lavinium. For the distance Zolforata-Lavinium is only 5 KM, and
Zolforata-Trafusina 12 KM, Zolforata-Capocotta and Zolforata-Tor Paterno 9 KM,
which according to Carcopino is too long a distance for Latinus to cover on foot.
This argument however does not take my fancy, but, as it is does not affect us, I shall
not dweil upon it.
 204

Servius' we may remark, that Servius lived in the fourth century A. D.,
at which time the oracle of Faunus, if it ever existed, or at least the name
Albunea for the Zolforata, may have been forgotten. For this part of the
Via Ardeatina may have been far less frequented than it was in Augustan
times.
2. I do not share all the objections, put forward against the conception
of Albunea as a cascade; — e.g. not Carcopino's objection, that in this
case "lucos sub alta Albunea" cannot be explained; for it may be translated
by "that part of the wood, that lies at the foot of the cascade"; nor all
those against the conception of Albunea as a spring; — e.g. not Carcopino's
objection, that the feminine Albunea cannot be used of the masculine
"fons"; for there might be added not "fons" but "aqua". Yet it seems
most probable to me, that Albunea is the name of the forest, with the
sulphurous spots and springs in it.
Hence we may translate with Miss Tilly "the groves within deep-
forested Albunea, forest without peer, which murmurs with the awesame
spring and gives forth in the shade foul vapour".
So in my opinion these various particulars given by Vergil must have
corresponded to an existing reality. And I cannot agree with Rehm,
p. 75—78, that Vergil in his description of the Albunea and of other
Ploutoneia — the lacus Avernus VI, 273 sqq., and the Ampsancti valles
VII, 563 sqq. — not only followed a fixed schema, with certain definite
traits, but "wieweit es jeweils mit der wirklichen Zustand des durch den
Namen bezeichneten Ortes übereinstimmt, ist mehr oder weniger Zufall,
dem Dichter jedenfalls gleichgültig; die poetische Schilderung allein
bestimmt Wahl und Schilderung der Szenerie".
But I agree with him that Vergil in his description of the Albunea as
well as of the other Ploutoneia followed, as well as other Latin poets 30a),
a scheme, fixed by the Hellenistic poets. We have but to compare Ap.
Rh. II, 736—44, IV, 597—600, especially 1. 597/8: FJ S'ÉTL VVV TZSQ
TQav/uaxoG al&ofiévoio fiagvr avaxrjxiev at/uöv with " saevamque exhalat
mephitim".
Yet he must have given the particulars of this description in accordance
with reality.

DETAILS.
Mephitis. Is Mephitis to be conceived here in the same way as e.g.
Volcanus in 1.77, and Ceres in 1.113, scil. as the name of a god,
metonymically used for his (her) element?
For SA VII, 84, after saying: "Mephitis proprie est terrae putor, qui de
aquis nascitur sulphuratis et est in nemoribus gravior ex densitate silvarum",
gives as another possibility:

30a) Cf. Sil. It. XII, 120 sqq. (a lake at the mouth of the Eridanus), VI, 146 sqq.
(a lake at the Bagrades in Africa); OM XI, 592 sqq. (the cave of Somnus); Lucan.
Phars. III, 399 sqq., and already Ennius Ann. VII, 260—263 V.
 205

"Alii Mephitim deum volunt Leucotheae connexum, sicut est Veneri

Adonis, Dianae Virbius, alii Mephitim Junonem volunt, quam acrem esse
constat ut sit Mephitis dea odoris gravissimi, id est grave olentis."
Now we know of a cult of Mephitis in several parts of Italy. So on the
Esquiline, the old insalubrious burial-ground of Rome 31) at the lacus
Ampsanctus in the land of the Hirpini32) from which lake poisonous
vapours arise, and which place is still called "Le Mefite" nowadays; and
from inscriptions we know of the worship of Mefitis in all sulphurous
regions of Italy from North to South 33).
Yet it seems to me, that in the case of Mefitis not the name of a deity
has been taken to indicate (one of) the element(s) in which she
manifested herself; but the deity must have arisen from the more animistic
conception of the draedful poison, which was already (religiously) feared
for its own sake, as e.g. animals were asphyxiated by it; or that at best
Mefitis as a name for the deity was not anterior to Mefitis as a name for
the vapour (cf. also SA: Mefitis proprie est terrae putor).
So here we have not the same case as e.g. with Volcanus, where the
name of the god was anterior to its metonymical use for (one of) his
element (s).

Was Mefitis an original Roman deity, or rather, was Mefitis an original

Roman word?
The word Mefitis, because of its suffix and stem is considered by Preller-
Jordan34), as being hardly Latin; and Cavagnini 35), thinks of an Oscan
origin ([cf. the family of the Maamieise Mefitaii (-Mamii Mephitaei) found
on an inscription of Pompeii] further the word is not given by Walde and
by Ernout et IVÏeillet, and hence it must have been considered by them
as not Latin).
This, together with the fact, that the same word is found also, and
especially, in Central Italy, makes it probable, that her real home was
Central Italy, where furthermore this exhalation of Mephitis must have
been found most frequently 36).
I see however no necessity to assume, as W ö r n e r 3 7 ) does, that Albunea
was the original Latin name for these sulphur springs, and has been
superseded by the Oscan word Mefitis. For although this phenomenon, as we
have seen, was also found in Latium, and hence there may have been an

31) Where she possessed a lucus (Varr. 1.1. V, 49) and an aedes (Fest. p. 351)
32) Plin. II, 208; cf. Cic. de Divin. I, 79.
•3) E.g. at Polantia in Lucania, at Beneventum in Samnium, at Atina in Campania;
at Cremona in Gallia Cispadana (cf. Tac. Hist III 33)
34) II, 144, 4.
3B) p. 344.
) Cf. Nissen, I, p. 264: in Campanien sind die vulkanischen Erscheinungen weit
reicher und mannigfaltiger als in Etrurien und Rora".
37) Roscher, s.v. Albunea.
 206

old Latin name for Mefitis, which may have been superseded by the Oscan
word Mefitis, there is no sufficiënt proof to assume, that this latin name
was Albunea.

Nemus. Like "lucus" "nemus" may also originally have had a religious
meaning; cf. the "nemus Dianae" and (Walde, ErnM. s.v.) compare the
Celtic "nemed" = "sanctuary", originally "sacred wood".
It is not here the place to decide, whether this religious meaning is
primary — so ErnM., who suppose the original meaning to be "clairière
oü se célèbre un culte" — or only secundary cf. SA I, 310, already cited
above; Fest. p. 159: nemora significant silvas amoenas; and Walde, who
derives it from an indo-europ. "nemos"-curve, vault; cf. also the Greek
véfio?, which has the meaning of "wood" without any more.
It might also be possible, that the original difference between "lucus"
and "nemus" was, that "lucus" indicates the place in the wood, where the
trees have been cut down, "nemus" on the contrary the wood formed by
the (remaining) trees.
In any case Vergil uses "nemus" here not in a religious sense, but in the
sense, given by SA I, 310 as contrasted with "lucus".
 OTHER DETAILS OF THE ORACLE OF FAUNUS.

sub nocte silenti ; monitus silenti nocte datos

Twice it is stressed that this incubatio took place in the silence of the
night. The second time it may be mainly to accentuate the mysterious
sphere. The first time however Vergil may have had a more religious aim
before him, scil. the well-known idea that to bring about the contact with
a deity absolute silence was required. Compare SA V, 71: nam in sacris
taciturnitas necessaria est; VIII, 173: faventes: ut in sacris: favete linguis
favete vocibus. This rule was prevalent in Greek ritual (evcp^Zre, ev<pW(a
earcoj, and already found in Homer i), later especially in dramatic
literature 2) _ as well as in Latin (favere (linguis)) 3); Sen. de vit. beat.
26 7: favete linguis... imperatur silentium, ut rite peragi possit nulla voce
male obstrepente 4).
Other peoples too, not only the Greeks and Romans, required this silence
during certain religious or magical actionsS). This demand for silence
during the office of religion probably not only bore reference to spoken
words, and was not based only on the fear of ill-omened words, but
vvwr?/0 f11 S°rtS °f sounds' and later even to every disturbance (cf. Plin.
XXVIII, 1).

Every sound not required by ritual, as well as every disturbance, would

mar the efftcacy of the rite of coming into direct contact with the deity;
for it would drive him away. (Compare the noise often made to drive
away demons.) Hence silence on the contrary was sometimes thought to
have the magical effect of alluring the deity 6).
Vergil may have alluded moreover to the auspicatio, which had to take
place in the silence of the night. (Cf. Fest. p. 348 M: "silentio surgere ait

) II. IX, 171 sqq. tvcpti/iijaai, ötfQa dil agiiGó/itfr'.

c ** . A' 1564; Arist°Ph- Thesm. 39 sqq., Ach. 240 sq„ Av. 959, Ran. 353;
Schol. Nub. 263; Ditt. Syll. 616, 32.
• PaUl', FeSt' P' 88 M S,V' faventia:
Praecones clamantes populum sacrificiis favere
cf. p.222 M; C,c. * Div. I, 45; 102; II, 57; 83; Ho?. C™. in tl ™ I
II, 655 1 6' Pli" XXVm' °F '' 7U

5! f°r lhe USe °f thiS expression "favete linguis" see further Appel, p. 187—189.
bee Frazer, GB, Index s.v. silence; Fahz, Arch. f. Rel. Wiss. XV.
e) It may be remarked here that ancient prayers on the contrary were usually uttered
a oud1 rafter than silent. (Cf. Sudhaus, Arch. f. Rel. Wiss. IX (1906), 185-200, Appel,
p. 0). According to Pease p. 326 silent prayers were said in the earlier period chiefly for
magical purposes or for the attainment of wishes the which the worshipper was afraid or
ashamed to mention aloud.
 208

dici qui post mediam noctem auspicandi causa ex lectulo suo silens surrexit,
et, liberatus a lecto, in solido se posuit hoe enim est proprie silentium,
omnis vitii in auspiciis vacuitas"), and where the statement that there was
silence was even a condicio sine qua non.
For thus the incubatio of Latinus, which may have made a rather Greek
impression, was in one aspect at least made to accord with the Roman
practice of auspicatio. In this way Latinus was an augur in a certain sense.
Apart from this the silence of night is often mentioned — at is well-
know — at the incubatio as well.
That Latinus made this offering during the silence of the night
corresponds to the circumstance that, as we know from the official inscript-
ion of the saeculum6") Augustus at the saeculum in 17 b.C. also made
offerings in the night7).
The expression "silentio noctis" may be a reminiscence of Ennius, who
probably used the words "silentio noctis" (Cic. de Div. II, p. 282/3 P.) 8).
Ovid also mentions this silence at the oracle of Faunus (IV, 650/1: ille
dabat tacitis animo responsa quieto noctibus). And the silence of night is
also mentioned in connection with the divine voice before the advent of
the Gauls 9).
The word "monitus" is often used of commands in dreams. Many
inscriptions were set up "ex monitu" (dei) 10).

caesarum ovium pellibus incubuit stratis;

harum effultus tergo stratisque iacebat velleribus.
The practice of lying on the skin of a newly slaughtered animal is
mentioned at many — though not at all — incubation-oracles. E.g. at the
oracle of Amphiaraos"•) (the feil of a ram); of Podaleirios *2); of
Kalchas 13) (a black ram); at the sanctuaries of Asklepios, though probably
not originally, yet perhaps in later times14); and this may also appear
from the description of the oracle of Faunus in Ovid, Fasti IV, 649 sqq.
From general considerations as to the (twofold) origin of the practice
of incubatio as well as from the fact that the feil might also be wanting 15)

6a) Dessau, 5050; CIL VI, 32.

7) On the night before June first, together with Agrippa, to the Moirae, on the
second night to Eileithyia, on the third to Tellus.
8) Cf. Skutsch, Rh. Mus. 61 (1906), 610/11; but cf. Zillinger, Gcero u. d. altröm.
Dichter, p. 115, n. 1; Pease, p. 446.
9) Liv. V, 32: se vocem noctis silentio audisse clariorem humana; etc.
10) Cf. De Marchi, II culto privato di Roma antica, I, p. 285/9.
lx) Paus. I, 34, 5.
12) Lycophr. 1050 sqq.; Tzetzes ad hoe.
") Strab. VI, 284.
14) See Hieron. in Isai. 64, 5.
15) A'.though in some cases that we have no testimonies as to its use this may be due
only to a lack of tradition, as e.g. (Pley, s.v. incubatio) at the oracle of Trophonios,
where a sacrifice of a ram is mentioned.
 209

and the incubatio hence took place on the bare ground, we see that the
feil was not essential here, although it might be helpful (see below).
a) In my opinion the meaning of this feil must be sought in the
complex of other lustratious ceremonies often found with the incubatio16);
see in this connection especially the many lustratious rites at the oracle of
Faunus as described by Ovid, Fasti IV, 655 sqq.17).
Indeed the skin had sometimes a kathartic effect18) as also the sheep
itself was sometimes considered as a lustratious animal *9) as may be
proved by its use in the suovetaurilia, and at the lustratio.
This may partly be ascribed to the lustratious effect of wool in
general20). This kathartic effect was often the reason for the use of
woollen clothes or fillets21), especially for the garments of priests, even
if only one narrow strip or wave22).
b ) As (Pley, p. 25) wool was older than linen, silk, etc., it was
originally the only possible material to use. And as man is always very
conservative in religious matters the use of wool for sacred acts or
the garments worn by those who sacrificed was always retained, without
there being a real magical power ascribed to it.
But from this very circumstance, it was probably considered as holy.
And (Pley) for this reason by "Analogiezauber" it may have been

16) E.g. at the oracle of Amphiaraos one day of fasting was required, and — as also
at the oracle of Trophonios — three days abstinence from wine; at the Asklepieion at
Athens ablutions with water from a sacred spring were required; cf. also Tertull. de an. 48:
apud oracula incubaturis ieiunium et castimonia indicitur. See further Deubner, De
incubatione, p. 149 sqq.
1T) Bis caput intonsum fontana spargitur unda, bis sua faginea tempora fronde premit;
usus abest Veneris, nee fas animalia mensis ponere, nee digitis anulus ullus inest.
18) For instance we know that a murderer in order to be purified of sin, had to sit on
the feil of a ram (Lobeck, Aglaoph. p. 183 sqq.; also the Jiós xyiftov had a kathartic
effect.
19) See Diels, Sib. Blatt. 48, 2, 9.
20) So Rohde, II, 407 among the kathartic materials to rub off miasma mentions
especially wool and fells of animals. And from Rome we know that the bride fastened
woollen fillets to the door-posts of her new home (Plut. QR 31; Donat. Ter. Hec. I, 2, 60;
Isid. Or. IX, 8; SA IV, 459; Plin. XXIX, 30); in view of the fact that doorposts are
considered as a favourite entrance for evil demons we may consider this with certainty as
an apotropaeic rite.
21) See Diels, Sib. BI. p. 69; L. Pley, "De lanae in antiquorum ritibus usu", who
gives instances from different peoples of this use of woollen clothes or fillets, whether
for personal use or to drape objects with it, for lustratious and apotropaeic purposes, in
religion and magie, at ceremonies connected with the dead, at supplications, and in
magical medicine, as is also the case here more or less.
22) Such as was fastened e.g. to the top of the pilleus of the flamen Dialis, which
he was never allowed to remove out of the house, and which has already been found in
tombs at Tarquinii; see Pley, p. 38. See also the use by the flaminica at certain ceremonies
of a sort of wreath with a fillet of white wool (see SA IV, 137; cf. also Eitrem, p. 394;
Stengel, p. 177).
14
 210

employed to render other things holy, to strengthen the mana of the

person using it23) and the effect of the act performed.
Yet in many cases the woollen clothes or fillets at religious performances
were only a convenient substitute for the fleece. This may be proved by:

1) If wool was used at the incubatio, this was originally always in the
shape of a fleece. But sometimes in later times 24) woollen clothes or fillets
had replaced it.

2) The general consideration that the use of the skin must have been
older than that of woollen fillets, clothes, etc. For it was centuries and
centuries bef ore man learnt to manufacture wool, and originally the (sheep)
skin was the only form in which he used it 25).
c) So the belief that the contact with wool, and especially with woollen
skins 26) conferred strength was probably also founded on the view, that
the wool had belonged to a skin, and that the skin itself possessed orenda,
as it had belonged to an animal; cf. for instance the fact that by eating the
flesh or drinking the blood of the animal primitive man believed that he
transferred its orenda to himself, and that for the same reason animal fat
was originally used for the holy anointment. For this reason a skin may
sometimes have been considered to have a coercive influence, constraining
the deity to come27).
Moreover the skin of the newly slaughtered animal was probably thought
to be filled with particular orenda, because, as the verbs "mactare",
"sacrificare" and "êvayiteiv" prove, it was thought that an animal was
endowed with a particular orenda by the very fact that it was slaughtered.
This may account for the fact that in many of the cases cited above it
is expressly stated that the skin is of a newly slaughtered animal, and that

23) As e.g. in the case of the garments of priests.

24) Cf. Porphyr. vit. Pyth. 17; Max. Tyr. diss. VIII, 2a; Paus. IX, 30, 5.
25) Of this custom of wearing as a garment a sheepskin, in a rough condition, obtained
by slaying an animal, we have testimonies not only from the ancient Brites (Caes. BG V,
14) but from Italy in clearly historical times (see Orth, RE s.v. lana, col. 595, 1, 14/15).
26) Cf. the fact that in Rome (and for that matter also among other peoples, as
Indians and East-Finns) newly married couples, or the bride alone, had to sit on the
feil of a newly slaughtered sheep (SA IV, 374; Fest. p. 114 M; Plut. QR 31); without
doubt a rite of fecundity, which was considered to fill the young couple with new strength.
(Or rather it probably had the doublé meaning of fecundating the bride, and at the same
time, as bride and bridegoom sat on the skin together, of uniting themj (So also Suidas s.v.
aiyiq).
Also when taking the oath the parties involved sometimes stood on a skin. And
compare the legend that Aias derived his force from being wrapped up in the skin of the
Nemean lion in his infancy, and the Ató$ xwtfeov in mystery-cults.
27) Sometimes it is believed that the rain is forced to fall by a priest shaking a
goat-skin, i.a. among Mongolian tribes (Wide, Lakon. Kulte, 27, 2; see also Gruppe,
Handb. 232; Pley, de lana etc. 22 sq.; Eitrem, 372 sqq.). And (Pfister, RE s.v. Kultus)
the Aigis, which later was the attribute of Pallas Athena, must originally have been a
goat-skin invested with such a coercive influence as well.
 211

even where no skin is found, but only wool, it is sometimes stated28) that
this wool had been taken "ex pelle hostiae caesae"2^)
d) Another reason may be, as is defended by Kroll 30)> the belief that
as by the common use of the flesh of the victim, so also by that of its
feil or its wool, man enters into a mystical-ritual communion with the
deity; the latter may be supposed to set foot on the feil of the victim in
reality (cf. OF IV, 663/4: Faunus adest, oviumque premens pede vellera
dura edidit talia verba), or only metaphorically. In other words: offering
a sheep to the god, but keeping the skin or the wool, which really belongs
to the god, is a means of obtaining an object on which most likely man and
deity will meet; for it belongs partly to the god and partly to man.
These several reasons most likely have cooperated, as these ideas often
overlap. Compare the fact that at the Lupercalia in Rome the women
were beaten with the skin of a he-goat 31) which may at the same time
have been a rite of fecundity and a kathartic rite 32); anj so it may have
been in other cases of the striking at a person with an animal skin for
religious purposes 33).
At any rate if an action was performed and the use of wool was
connected with it, man may have expected a stronger effect than if this
were done without wool. From the use of wool, from the direct contact
with it the transfer of orenda was thought to take place most efficiently,
and man expected to have a closer contact with the deity.
And this may explain the use of the fleece — or sometimes simply of
wool — at the incubatio.
If we grant that at the oracle of Faunus incubatio took place, may we
also assume that a skin was used there? In my opinion we may do this for
several reasons.
a ) If this oracle was connected with the oracle of Kalchas — as we
have assumed above — this skin may have been met with undoubtedly.
For it was also found at the oracle of Kalchas.
b) If the oracle of Faunus were genuinely Roman, there is no objection
from this side either to the use of the skin. For, as we have seen above,

28) Cf. Suet. in SA II, 683.

) Diels l.c. and Samter p. 97 sqq. think that the skin of a newly slaughtered animal
is required because the sacrifice is a substitute for the sacrifice of the sacrificer or the
incubant himself; really he had to sacrifice himself, but to meet this condition at least
halfway he sacrifices one or more sheep, and covers himself with their skin, so that he
resembles them extemally. This is to me a rather impossible idea however, as a) this
skin is found also with the newly married couple, and b) what reason could the god have
to give revelations to a dead man?
30) Alte Taufgebrauche, Arch. f. Rel. Wiss. VIII, 1905, Beih. 39.
31) Fest, p. 85; OF II, 31, V, 101 sqq.; Plut. Rom. 21.
32) For this last thought compare Fest l.c.: Lupercalia, quo die mulieres februabantur a
lupercis amiculo Junonis, id est pelle caprina.
33) E.g. the well-known usage at the festival of Artemis Orthia in Sparta, and at the
Skiereia.
 212

it was used there on several occasions, i.a. at the marriage-ceremony.

Even 33fl) in religious ceremonies and especially with the garments of the
priests in Rome the use of wool played a much larger part than in Greece.
And, as we have seen above as well, it was even used in the ritual of
the Lupercalia, which had a close connection with Faunus 34).

ovium pelles were probably used at the rite of incubatio in the first
place, because, as we have seen above, it is the wool that mainly matters,
and sheep of all animals have the largest quantity of wool — although for
instance also goats have a more or less woolly skin.
In the second place the sheep may have been mentioned here, since they
are used here for sacrificial purposes as well, and the sheep was the
"maxima hostia" in Roman cult. So e.g. it is attested for the cult of
Juppiter 35), Juno 36), Janus 37), Dea Dia, Mars 38); and in the
suovetaurilia, at the lustratio and at the Ambarvalia, further at the Vinalia
rustica, Terminalia, Robigalia, Palilia, and at the "fulgur condere" (SA
VI, 72). And we have also seen above, that the bride sits down on a pellis
ovilis (SA IV, 374).

This preferred use of sheep in sacrifice may in the first place have been
owing to the circumstance, that originally the sheep was very common in
Italy and formed the most important part of the live stock (compare the
Latin word "pecus", which at the same time means cattle and sheep, and
"pecunia"; see also the fact, that according to tradition already in the time
of Numa there was at Rome a Corporation of /Sacpeï?, tinetores 39)),
as for the rest also in Greece 40). Hence, if one wanted to make a sacrificial
offering, the sheep was the most easily procurable, obvious and not too
expensive offering.
Partly the sheep may also have been used in sacrifice because it was
considered as a lustratious animal (see above).
Hence, although in the case of Faunus we have no explicit testimonies
about sheep-offerings, it is quite possible that they were made to him too.

33a) Pley, op. cit.

34) For the connection of the wool with Faunus at the Lupercalia we must also seek
the reason in one of the moments for the use of wool, and not in Faunus' character as a
wolf. For the skin used at the Lupercalia was not of a wolf — in which case the idea
might have been that man by using this skin would have turned himself more or less
into another wolf — but is it expressly stated, that it was the skin of a goat. (Fest l.c.:
pelle caprina; Plut. l.c.: ikha ratv aiytav).
SB) The "ovis Idulis" on the Ides (Fest. p. 104; OF I, 55).
36) Af ter the new moon.
37) At the Agonalia, Varr. 1.1. VII, 2.
38) Act. fr. Arv. 143 and 144.
39) Plut. Num. 17.
40) Compare its connection in mythology with Hermes, Aphrodite, and other gods,
and in legend e.g. with Phrixos, and with Polyphemus, and its use, as also here, as a
legal tender, as may be proved by the ram's head often found on coins.
 213

This frequent use of sheep in Roman ritual may also account for Vergil's
rather frequent mention of the sheep (ovis, bidens, agnus(a), pecus, aries)
— although it is not so frequently mentioned by him as a victim as the
bovine cattle to various deities 41).
Partly however he may also have been induced to this by Homeric
usage — and the sooner as thus he was still in accordance with Roman
ritual — as Homer often mentions offerings of sheep or lambs 42) to
all sorts of deities — however not to chthonical ones, as is the case here
to a certain ex tent.

centum lanigeras mactabat bidentes.

To Homeric influence might also be ascribed the exaggeration of
Latmus' immolation of one hundred sheep. For in olden times in Latium, in
contradistinction e.g. with Southern Italy, and also with Gallia Cisalpina
later, there must have been a scarcity of sheep 43). Hence originally these
offerings can not have been very extensive.
There is the less likelihood that this large offering took place here, as
perhaps it was not so much the quantity of the offering that mattered,
but rather its quality"; and probably the offering at the incubatio
was not so much a "gift-offering", as rather a sacramental-offering,
combined perhaps with an "Analogiezauber". Now, as the real gift-
offering 44) had an euergetic-hilastic aim, scil. to strengthen the orenda,
the power, of the god(s), in order that those who, in the case of slaughtered
animals were supposed to eat those animals and thus be strengthened, might
be better able to help man — which later became: to enjoy, to propitiate
the gods it was of great moment that it was as large as possible.
But as it was the aim of the sacramental offering — which was often
the character of the meat-offering — to achieve a communion between
man and deity — by which communion in itself man was already helped
its quantity was not of so much importance as its quality, its character.
Yet I should say with some reserve, that because here we are merely
concerned with a sacramental offering this large offering would be
impossible here. For not only many offerings «), but the sheep-offering
before the incubatio in particular may have had a two- or threefold
character; scil. a) euergetic-hilastic, to induce the deity to come and give
his help; b) sacramental, to achieve the desired contact with him, and
c) kathartic (see above), as is very well possible, as these three meanings
are often found together.

f'9;"1, 57 t0JCereS' Phoebus 31111 Liber- VI, 269 to Hecate, V, 96 to Anchises,

L r? ) t0 Tempestates, VIII, 544 to Hercules. Cf. further XII, 170 VII 175
O , \ 66: XXn ' 864' 873; 0d XVm' 242' XIX- 39§; see further Orth, RE s.v.'
ochaf, col. 382/4.
43) See Orth, ibid.
**) Pfister, RE s.v. Kultus, col.
**) Cf. e.g. VA III, 369; VI, 38, 243.
 214

This may have been so in the case of the incubatio-oracle too, as may be
understood from the consideration, that a) sometimes only a gift-offering
is mentioned here, and the feil for the incubatio is lacking (see above),
and b) that sometimes a doublé offering is actually found. For instance
at the oracle of Trophonios46) as also of Amphiaraos 47) a doublé
offering was usual, in the case of Trophonios the first to him and the
other deities of the neighbourhood, and the second, which was the most
important and made in the silence of the night, destined to ascertain from
its entrails whether the person seeking advice was allowed to descend
into the cavern of the god; in other words, the second offering may in
reality have been destined to accomplish the contact between man and
deity. Vergil may have been hinting at this twofold character of the
offering here too: "huc dona sacerdos cum tulit et caesarum ovium pellibus
incubuit". For, though implicitly, it is not said explicitly that these dona
are the same as the oves.
But even if a gift-offering was also made these one hundred sheep are
very exaggerated .For the meat-offerings to most gods were at the same
time also eaten by man, as only a small part of the offering was burnt,
and the larger part eaten by man (compare Homer). Now in olden times,
as the words mactare (see below), sacrificare and èvay[£eiv prove, every
slaughtered animal was taboo, endowed with a special power, whether for
evil (as sometimes) or for good; but even in this latter case, when its flesh
was consequently allowed to be eaten, even then it was not allowed to be
removed from the sacred place where it had been slaughtered (compare
caesarum ovium) but it had to be eaten on the spot. And here this for
several reasons was certainly impossible.
Hence Ovid48) here is more reliable for old customs than Vergil; for
he mentions an offering of only two sheep, of which "prima cadit Fauno,
leni cadit altera somno" — which we may consider as a free interpretation
of the doublé offering at the incubatio-oracle, attested for us in the case
of Trophonios and Amphiaraos. And, although it will perhaps not be true
also, that the incubant lay on "utrumque vellus" (1.654), as he may
have lain only on the skin of the animal last sacrificed, yet this is less in
contravention with the truth than the "centum vellera" on which Latinus
was said to have lain.
But, as said above, these hundred sheep may have been due to Homeric
influence, where — as for the rest among other peoples 49) — great value
was attached to the possession of large flocks (of sheep) 50). And
especially this number of centum oves is probably an imitation of the

46) Paus. IX, 39, 5.

47) Paus, I, 34, 5.
48) Fasti, IV, 652/3.
49) As e.g. the Hebrews (Gen. 12: 16; 13: 2; 30; 43; Hiob. I. 3: 42).
60) See II. IX, 154, 296; XIV, 290.
 215

"hecatomb" of Homer. As also it was probably rather in imitation of this

Greek, and perhaps oriental custom, than of an old-Roman one, that in
later days Elagabalus daily sacrificed one hundred sheep on the
Palatine Hill.
However in Homer this hecatomb is not always really 100 animals, but
sometimes more, and often less, or even far less si). And so it was in later
times 52). Moreover they were often divided in three classes of animals,
which adds to the probability that they consisted of not exactly 100 animals.
That Homer calls these offerings hecatombs may be ascribed to
the predilection not only for large — but especially for "round" numbers,
which is a general tendency of the human mind.
The same explanation may account for Vergil's frequent use of these
round numbers, not only of "centum" 53)( but also e.g. of "tres" 54).
These "round" numbers however were not the same everywhere. Among
most Indo-European peoples these were especially three, and multiples
of three, as nine, twenty-seven, etc., and in a lesser degree also seven,
twelve, 40, 60, 360 55). It is especially among the Romans that we also
find the numbers 5, 10 and 100 occupying an important place 56). (This
prominent place of the numbers 5 ,10, 20 etc. in itself may be explained
by the fact that primitive man originally counted on his fingers 57) by
fives, tens and twice tens58).
This may have been a reason for others59), as well as for Vergil

51) Compare Od. III, 59, where — with 1.7 sqq. in mind — this hecatomb must have
contained only 81 animals; and II. XXIII, 146, where it contained only 50 animals.
52) In an inscription Wil. Sitz. Ber. Ak. Berl. 1904, 626 an offering of only three
animals is named hecatomb.
53) Cf. Forbiger, ad VA VII, 53.
54) Cf. C. P. Clark, Numerical Phraseology in Vergil.
5B) See ERE s.v. Numbers.
58) Cf. the lustrum of five years, the centuriae, the centuriones and decuriones, etc.;
the duoviri sacris faciundis in 367 b.C. became Xviri, as well as the tresviri epulones in
the time of Caesar; vows were sometimes offered for 5, 10 or 20 years (cf. e.g. at the
ver sacrum Liv. XXII, 10); the duration of religious festivals originally fixed at one day
tended in the case of celebrations of victory to be extended from two or three to 10, 25 or
50 days. The SC. de Bacohanalibus stipulates; deque iis rebus ... uti senatus noster
decerneret dum ne minus senatoribus C adessent. Cf. also Varr. 1.1. V, 35: centuria primum
a centum iugeribus dicta est.
For many other instances see Thesaurus s.v.
57) Of one or two hands, or the fingers of the hand and the toes of the foot.
58) The quinary system (T. Davidson, ERE, s.v. Numbers) is frequent among the
lower races, among whom we find also the vigesimal system; but the more developed
races show a preference for the more convenient intermediate decimal system. The Romans
originally probably used a quinary system too, cf. the Roman numerals I, II... V,
VI X XV, etc.
69) Cf. Cat. 64, 389; Hor. Ep. 17, 39; OM VIII, 152: vota Jovi Minos taurorum
corpora centum solvit; OTr II, 75; Liv. VII, 37, 1: consul eum (P. Decium) centum
bubus donat; 3 (P. Decius) centum boves militibus dono dedit; XXVIII, 38, 8: in 206 b.C.
cum (Scipio) centum bubus votis in Hispania Jovi sacrificaret; XLII, 51, 2; Sil. It. XII, 33.
 216

himself 60) why — although the numbers of the oldest offerings that are
known to us are much more moderate, and not even 5 or multiples of
jt 61) — they readily imitated the hekatomb of Homer, and spoke of
offerings of 100 animals. For the rest the number "centum" is often found
in Vergil (about 35 times) 62).
The relatively frequent occurrence of the number centum in Vergil and
contemporary poets may also be ascribed to the Hellenistic tendency to
exaggerate the Homeric data, and, as Kroll, Stud. z. Verst. d. röm.
Literatur says, "die Heroenzeit in eine Marchenatmosphare zu heben",
which is a proof of the realization of being an epigone as well as of the
tendency towards exaggeration, of which tendency there are other instances
in Vergil 63).
Vergil may have mentioned that Latinus sacrificed one hundred sheep
in order to emphasize his wealth, — compare the tercentum equi in his
stable VII, 275, his palace VII, 169: tectum augustum, ingens, centum
sublime columnis — which surpasses the Homeric palace by far —, his
crown of sex aurati radii; the large quantity of gold that is mentioned
among the Latins64), XI, 213 Latinus himself is called praedives (cf. also
Galaesus VII, 537 65) and thus to emphasize the wealth of ancient Latium
in general.

mactabat. Vergil often uses the verb "mactare" 66), and nearly always
in the meaning of "to slaughter" (animals), and in connection with a
sacrifice 67).
On the contrary the more usual word "immolare" — which is for
instance also used in the official inscription of the saeculum 68) — is used
00) E.g. I, 634/5: socils ad litora mittit viginti tauros, magnorum horrentia centum
terga suun, pingues centum cum matribus agnos.
61) E.g. the offering to Mars and Silvanus for the welfare of the State consisted of
3 portions each of spelt and wine, and 4J^ of lard and pulp. From the spoils of Camillus
3 golden vessels were dedicated in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus (Liv. VI, 4). Cf. also
the offering of the 27 Argei.
62) E.g. VII, 609: Belli portas ... centum aerei claudunt vectes: I, 705: centum
ministrae and centum ministri in the palace of Dido: VI, 43 and 81: the cavern of the
Sibyll, quo lati ducunt aditus centum, ostia centum: VII, 153, where Aeneas sends centum
oratores to Latinus (cf. also XI, 331). The other instances are G I, 15: II, 43; III, 18;
IV, 383; A I, 272, 295, 416, 634, 635; II, 501; III, 106, 643; IV, 199, 200, 510; VI, 47,
287, 329, 625 786; VII, 170, 275, 539, 619; VIII, 518, 716; X, 182, 565; XI, 33, often in
a mythological or poetical connection, of the Nymphs, the Nereids, the heads of the
Hydra, etc.
83) Kroll points to XII, 899, where the two men of Homer, not able to lift a stone
(II. XII, 445 sqq.) have become twelve.
84) Whereas in Homer it is not nearly so frequent.
65) Although for several of these items there may be other reasons as well.
«") II, 202, 667; III, 21, 118; IV, 57; V, 101; VI, 38; VIII, 85, 294; XI, 197; G III,
489; IV, 546.
67) The only exceptions are II, 667 and VIII, 294.
88) Dessau, 5050.
 217

only three times 69), and always for the killing of the human enemy. Hence
we cannot assume that Vergil preferred here "mactare" above "immolare"
because of the difference made between these words by SA IV, 57: olim
enim hostiae immolatae dicebantur mola salsa tactae; cum vero ictae et
aliquid ex illis in aram datum mactatae dicebantur 70), although this
difference probably corresponds to the original state of affairs; for immolare
originally means only "to sprinkle with salt", and "mactare", as we shall
see below, has reference rather to the whole act of making the offering.
But "mactare" no more than "immolare" originally had any direct reference
to slaughter; and in the case of the killing of the human enemy there can
be no question of "to sprinkle with salt". In my opinion Vergil preferred
to use "immolare" here rather than "mactare" because in the case of
shedding human blood he wanted to avoid the latter word 71), as it had a
very religious sense in itself 72).
For "mactare" is an old sacral word72a). It is a denominative of
"mactus" 73), which is found for instance in the formula: mactus sies, esto,
in the prayer accompanying an offering74), a formula, which must be
found in the libri pontificales 75), and which must have been alive not
only in the time of Cato, but still in the time of Vergil, as is proved by its
being found in the prayers that accompany the offerings of Augustus
preceding the saeculum 76).
As concerns the etymology of the form "mactus" — the etymology,
given by ancient grammarians as Festus77), and Servius (IX, 641), that
it is composed of "magis" and "auctus", is of course only popular
etymology. But the underlying thought may correspond to the truth, as
indeed "mactus" may signify "magis auctus" as it may belong to the same
root as "magis" 78), magnus, maius and maiestas; and according to

69) X, 519, 541; XII, 947.

70) Cf. also VIII, 85: mactatio post immolationem est.
71) See however II, 667, where however "mactare" as it here concerns the relatlves
of Aeneas, may be used for its euphemistic sense.
T2) Cicero however (in Vat. 6, 14: puerorum extis deos manes mactare) has no
objection to use "mactare" of human beings; here however it is a question not so much
of shedding human blood as of bringing a sacrifice to the gods.
72a) Cf. SA IV, 57: mactare, verbum sacrorum.
73) Ernout et Meillet s.v.
74) E.g. Cat. Agr. 132, 134, 139, 141: Jupiter... uti sies volens propitius mihi, mactus
hoe ferto; Jane pater, macte vino inferio esto: Jupiter, macte hac illace dape pollucenda
esto: macte hoe porco piaculo immolanda, macte hisce suovetaurilibus lactantibus
immolandis esto.
7B) See SDA, IX, 641.
78) Dessau, l.c. 1. 98/9: Moerae ... harum rerum ergo macte hac agna femina immolanda
estote fitote volentes propitiae p. r. Quiritibus, etc.; and (1.143/4): Apollo, uti te popanis
datis bonas preces precatus sum eiusdem rei ergo macte his libis libandis esto fito volens
propitius.
77) p. 125; cf. also p. 127: magmentum, magis augmentum.
78) Cf. also SA IV, 57; Varr. 1.1. V, 112; Non. p. 341.
 218

H. Nettleship 79), it is the participle of a lost verb "maco" or "mago" —

to make great, to increase — hence equivalent to "augeo", which has also
a semi-religious meaning.
From this verb "maco" "mactare" may be a frequentative, as may
appear from the fact that the form "mactatus" is found with apparently
the same meaning as mactus; for instance (Cato de Re Rust. 134, 2); fertum
Jovi obmoveto, et mactato sic, Juppiter, te hoe ferto ... precor uti sies
propitius mihi.... mactus hoe ferto", and "Jovi fertum obmoveto mactatoque
item" 80).
(Walde however does not assume any connection between "mactus"
and mactare", nor does he assume a connection of "mactus" with
"magnus". See also Ernout et Meillet.)
In the formulae of Cato and of Augustus the word "mactare" is
obviously applied to the deity, and not to the victim; hence it is the view
that the strength of the deity was increased by the offering — which need
not be a blood sacrifice — a very obvious idea for magic-religious thought.
For whether the god was supposed to eat these gifts really or rather
in a more transcendental way, in any case his orendistic power was
increased — compare the expression: macte nova virtute (VA IX, 641)
which may not only be a late poetical colloquism, but rather correspond
to early ideas (cf. also Lucil. V. 1 "macte inquam virtute simulque his viribus
esto", and Enn. frg. 301 V.: Livius inde redit magno mactatus triumpho).
And hence also his power to help his worshippers — although in principle
this additional power may have been for evil 81) as well as for good —
was increased.
A very strong means to increase this "orenda" of the god was that he
ate, or rather "enjoyed" flesh. Hence "mactus" must often have been used
in connection with the slaughtering of animals. To have the meaning
"to slaughter" of "mactare" we must go back however not to the
construction "mactare aliquem aliqua re", but to "mactare alicui aliquid".
Here we have originally not the same case as with "circumdare", "donare",
afficere , which have also this doublé construction. For in the case of
these three verbs the doublé construction is in accordance with their original
meaning; in the case of "mactare" however we must assume two different
underlying ideas.
Yet in this I see no reason also to assume a different etymological origin.
For the underlying idea in "mactare" aliquid (alicui) — with which
sacrificare aliquid (alicui) may be put on a level — may have been
parallel to the custom that the victim, before it was sacrificed to the god,
was prepared by sacred acts, as the sprinkling with salt, wine, etc., in

79) Contributions to Latin Lexicography, p. 520.

80) Walde however does not assume any connection between "mactus" and "mactare";
nor does he assume a connection of "mactus" with "magnus". See also Ernout et Meillet.
81) Enn. frg. 373: qui illum ... magno mactassent malo.
 219

order to increase its orenda, so that it in its turn could increase the
orenda of the god. (Cf. SA IX, 641: quotiens enim aut tus aut vinum
super victimam fundebatur, dicebant: mactus est taurus vino vel ture, hoe
est: cumulata est hostia et magis aucta.)
Or the underlying thought was, that, by offering a sacrifice to a
superior power, this sacrifice was brought in connection with this power,
and hence also shared in it itself. (Compare the dynamistic theory.) And
in this connection we may understand SA IV, 57, that of the victims it
was only said that they were "mactatae, cum ictae (essent) et aliquid ex
allis in aram datum (esset)"82). For only thus were they brought in
connection with this superior power 83).
The probable reasons why Vergil used "mactare" by preference thus
were, that:
a) it had a strong religious connection:
b ) it was a word, which, as shown above, Augustus also greatly
wished to revive.
bidens. As is shown by the substantive "oves" in 1. 87, and the
epitheton "lanigerae" in 1. 93, the substantive "bidentes" signifies
sheep here, as usual84). Yet other animals are also sometimes named
"bidentes" — which then sometimes is an adjective85) — and from
Plin. VIII, 206 we may perhaps conclude that according to Coruncanius
all ruminants could be named "bidentes".
Its original meaning, whatever it may have been, need not teil
against this.
According to Nigidius, who derives "bidens" from bi(d)ennis, two-year
old victims (bimae) were called bidentes: cf. also SA IV, 57; Fest. p. 4
explains bidens as "ambidens", scil. (ovis) quae superioribus et inferioribus
est dentibus", hence having teeth in both jaws — with which explanation
Marquardt86) agrees.
82) The same explanation may hold good for the sanskr. yajami — given as a
camparison by Pfister, Bursian, 229, p. 118 sqq. — which is also constructed with acc.
and abl. as well as with dat. and acc.
8S) In my opinion we cannot, as Pfister, l.c. does, equalize "mactare" entirely with
"sacrificare", and ivayXeiv and stress also in "mactare alicui aliquid" the meaning of
"to make taboo", "to take out of profane circulation", so that the original meaning of
"mactare alicui aliquid", migth be "to take anything out of profane circulation for the
benefit of a deity".
For, whereas the original meaning of ityios and "sacer" must have been "taboo",
this was not the meaning of "mactus".
Yet the ideas "to add orenda" and "to make taboo" practically come to the same
thing, and for this reason the meanings of these two verbs merged into each other.
84) E.g. Laber. in Non. 53, 20: VA IV, 57; V, 96; VIII, 544; XII, 170; OM XV, 575;
OF IV, 935; Corp. Gloss. II, 29, 37; Fest. p. 33.
®5) E.g. Fest, p. 35: bovem bidentem; Geil. XVI, 6; Macrob. VI, 9, 5; P. Nigidius
in libro quem de extis composuit bidentes appellari ait non oves solas sed omnes bimas
hostias; Pomponius (ibid.): bidenti verre.
88) p. 171, n. 6.
 220

According to Olck 87) the correct explanation, is that, given by

Hyginus 88): qui bidens est hostia oportet habeat dentes octo, sed ex his
duo ceteris altiores, per quos appareat ex minore aetate in maiorem trans-
cendisse. The same explanation, especially in relation to the sheep, is
given by Fest. p. 133 89).
Hence the animals, called bidentes, did not have only two teeth
a sort of rake (cf. VG II, 355, 400) was called bidens for that reason —
cows actually have these at birth, and sheep 8 days after it — but these
animals had more teeth 90) as is the case when they are about two
years old.
That the meaning cannot have been that the beast to be sacrificed had
to have two teeth, appears from Plin. VIII, 206: suis fetus sacrificio die
quinto purus est, pecoris die septimo, bovis tricesimo, although the cow
already had two teeth at its birth.
Nor need the preference for bidentes at offerings be ascribed to a
religious meaning of the two teeth that begin to show above the others,
but only (Olck, l.c.) to the fact that the flesh of these animals at the age
of 13^—2 years is most tender and tasty, for which reason it was most
suitable for an offering (cf. SA III, 121: in victimis etiam aetas est
consideranda). From this we understand, that the word "bidens" is mainly
used in the case of an offering, as always in Vergil.
Hence Vergil probably used the word "bidens" not so much as a
poetical^ paraphrase of the ordinary "ovis", but rather, because the word
bidens showed that all the requirements of the sacrifice had been
satisfied; as Vergil nearly always 9i), when using "bidens", has the words
"rite" or "de more" in connection with it, added to the words "lectae" or
"mactare".
And he was the more likely to use this word, as in the word "bidental"
place where the lightning had strucked the earth and had been "buried"
by the offering of the expiatory offering of bidentes 92) — it was already
connected with the Roman religious past, although the word "bidental"
perhaps originally had no connection with "bidens" — sheep, but with
"bidens" — the bifurcated lightning 9 3 ) ,

87) RE s.v. — see also Norden, VI, p. 132.

8S) In Gellius and Macrobius ll.cc.
8B) See also SA IV, 57; VI, 29; and Isid. Or. XII, 1, 9.
80) For a more circumstantial account see Olck, l.c. col. 427.
91) The only exception is XII, 170.
92) Fest. p. 33: Non. p. 53, 23; Schol. Pers. II, 27; Front, de diff. voc. II, p. 472.
93) See Wiss. RuK., p. 517, A. 2.
 THE PRODIGY OF THE CONSUMING OF THE MENSAE.

Aeneas primique duces et pulcher Iulus

corpora sub ramis deponunt arboris altae
instituuntque dapes et adorea liba per herbam
110 subiciunt epulis (sic Jupiter ipse monebat)
et Cereale solum pomis agrestibus augent.
consumptis hic forte aliis ut vertere morsus
exiguam in Cererem penuria adegit edendi
et violare manu malisque audacibus orbem
115 fatalis crusti patulis nee parcere quadris,
heus etiam mensas consumimus", inquit Iulus,
nee plura adludens. ea vox audita laborum
prima tulit finem, primamque loquentis ab ore
eripuit pater ac stupefactus numine pressit.
120 continuo "salve [atis mihi debita tellus,
vosque", ait, "o fidi Troiae salvete Penates!
hic domus, haec patria est; genitor mihi talia namque
(nunc repeto) Anchises fatorum arcana reliquit:
"cum te, nate, fames ignota ad litora vectum
125 accisis coget dapibus consumere mensas,
tum sperare domos defessus ibique memento
prima locare manu molirique aggere tecta."
haec erat illa fames; haec nos suprema manebat
exiliis positura modum."

Vergil also speaks of this III, 250 sqq., where this prodigy is predicted
by Celaeno as a punishment for the attempts of the Trojans to drive away
the Harpies from their food *) and III, 394 sqq., where this prodigy is
predicted by Helenus2).
This prodigy — with greater or lesser variations — is also mentioned
by other authors relating the legend of Aeneas. Viz. : already by

X) Accipite ergo animis atque haec mea figite dicta, quae Phoebo pater omnipotens,
mihi Phoebus Apollo praedixit, vobis Furiarum ego maxima pando: Italiam cursu petitis
portusque intrare licebit; sed non ante datam cingetis moenibus urbem quam vos dira fames
nostraeque iniuria caedis ambesas subiget malis absumere mensas.
2) Nee tu mensarum morsus horresce futuros; fata viam invenient aderitque vocatus
Apollo.
) Al. 1250 spp.: tv&a TQ&ntZav tiftdxbiv n).ort v.
TTJV VGTIQOV PQCA&TLGAV onaóv<ov,
fivi'aniv ïiai.auöv Xrji/jiTai 9-eGmGtiartov,
VXCOII öi %(x)Qav kv rónoig BoQtiyóvOJV « . . . etc.
 222

Lycophron 3), by several annalists of the second century b. C. 4), Varro 5),
Strabo 6), Dio 7), Dionysius 8), and some others 9).
So Vergil is using an existing motif here.
As several details are recorded by different authors in a different way,
we must try to gain certainty about the original form of this motif.

1. The place, where they consumed the tables.

According to Strabo this place was in the neighbourhood of Lavinium;
according to Or. GR XII, 3—4 (Domitius) in the plain to the North and
West of Lavinium; according to Dionys on the sands in the neighbourhood
of the sources of fresh water, i.e. more than an hour s walk from Lavinium.

2. The person or deity, who announced the prodigy to the Trojans.

4) Auctor Orig. Gent. Rom. X—XII mentions: Lutatius, Sempronius, Domitius and
Octavius, who, with the exception of some details, treated this scheme in a similar way
X.: ... ad eam Italiae oram, quae ... Laurens appellata est, ... pervectum cum patre
Anchise filioque et ceteris suorum in litore accubuisse consumptoque quod fuerat cibi
crustam etiam de farreis mensis, quas sacratas secum habebat, comedisse. XI. Tum
Anchisa coniciente illum esse miseriarum errorisque finem, — quippe meminerat Venerem
sibi aliquando praedixisse, cum in extremo litore esurie compulsi sacratas quoque mensas
invasissent, illum condendae sedis fatalem locum fore XII. At vero Domitius non
orbes farreos, ut supra dictum est, sed mensarum vice sumendi gratia apium, cuius maxima
erat ibidem copia, fuisse substratum, quod ipsum consumptis aliis edulibus eos comedisse ac
post subinde intellexisse, illas esse mensas, quas illos comesturos praedictum esset
At vero Domitius libro primo docet sorte Apollinis Delphici monitum Aeneam, ut Italiam
peteret, atque ubi duo maria invenisset prandiumque cum mensis comesset, ibi urbem uti
conderet. Itaque egressum in agrum Laurentum, cum paululum a litore processisset, per-
venisse ad duo stagna aquae salsae vicina inter se. Ibique cum lavisset ac defectus cibo
cum apium quoque, quod tune vice mensae substratum fuerat, consumpsisset, existimantem
proeul dubio illa esse duo maria ... mensasque, quae erant ex stramine apii, comestas,
urbem in eo loco condidisse
5) Cf. SA III, 256: ut Varro in secundo Divinarum dixit, oraculum hoe a Dodonaeo
Jove apud Epirum acceperunt; according to Schur Dionysius in many items of this prodigy
may go back to Varro.
«) XIII, p. 68.
7) Fr. 4, 5; Tzetz. ad Lyc. 1232: niQi AavQtvzov ... önov tpayóvziav t(?)v fin' avzov
tas zgaité^AS Gtkivivas ovGag, ij tx tdiv (IY.Xrti>ori(iiav inrimv zmv UQTUIV (OV YA(i tïxov zQ<X-
ni£as) .... inav»7i zijg akyztlas, tx roSro jtpoaxijxoMs.
8) I, 55: 'Entittii yciQ ÖQ/IOI xQnOdiitioi RM AMQUTW Gxr<vas imjêavzo.... dqiGzov
avzots aiQov/itvois int zov danitfov, GtXiva /iïv noXXots vntGrQoiZO, xaï n\v ravS- ÖKV.-Ifo
zQdnsia zóbv irtiG/idrtav, (ós dï (faal zivcg izQla xagnov ntnoiriufva nvQivov xa&aQióznzos
zatg rporpaïg tvtxa. 'Enil rf' ai naQazt&tiGai ZQoq>al xazavdltovzo ra» vntGzgto/Uviav
avzols tïzt GtUvoiv tïzt izQimv 'tqiayi zes. xat av&cg ÏZIQOS- tv zovzoi zvyxdvti zis tinwv
tïzt rd>r Alvtiov naidtav, a>s Myos £*", tïzt ztav ófioGxtjvoiv: "AU.' rjnlv y' ifrfij xat tj
zQdiitZa xaztdrjdtGzai". 'StG <fi zovzi rjxovGav ayiavzts avi&OQvPnGav, <ÓG zd nQÜza zov
fiavztv/iazos r/tTjj GcpCGi ztXos t'xot, 'jfw yd(t zi &iOrpazov avzoïs, (ÓG /ilv zivts MyovGiv 'tv
Aoxloivt] ytvó/ttvov, a>G tf' 't'ztQOi ygacpovGiv tv 'EQvO-Qats x«Jj(Triduo) rijs "Iflr,s 'tv»' mxn
EipvXXa imxuiQla vv/iqiri xpijtf/iwtfós ij' aizols 'tcpQaGt nl-ttv tul <fvG/i<av ijMov iios av tlG
zovzo zö ytatttov Ï/.'LTNGRI' iv xazitfovzai zds zQant^as*
9) E.g. Conon, Narr. 46.
 223

Most annalists simply locate it "in agro Laurenti". SA VII, 631, speaking of
Crustumerium, says: alii volunt a crustula panis, quam Troiani coacti fame
excdisse dicuntur, appellatam. Schol. Lyc. 1250 locates it on the spot, where
Rome was to arise; and finally Vergil places it at the mouth of the Tiber.
Dionysius following Varro (cf. SA III, 256) says, that according to some
authors this prodigy had been announced to the Trojans by Zeus at
Dodona; according to others by the Erythraean Sibyll. Or. GR XII, 3 says
that according to Domitius it was given sorte Apollinis Delphici to Aeneas;
XI, 1 it is given by Venus to Anchises, who is also present at the landing
in Latium, and there explains the prediction himself. Finally VA III it is
prophesied by Celaeno, who however is speaking in the name of Apollo,
who in his turn has been provided with this intelligence by Zeus; also
Helenus has a part in the prediction. VA VII it is said to have been
prophesied by Anchises.

3. The explanation of the prediction.

In Dionysius one of the children or one of the fellow-travellers says: now
we are eating our tables also; immediately the whole company utters joyous
cries, because the oracle in question has been fulfilled; therefore no further
explanation is needed here. Schol. Lyc. only mentions, that the loaves
were eaten, and then Aeneas understood that the prediction had come
true. Or. GR XI, 1 Anchises understands the oracle and explains it.

4. The character of the consumed tables.

According to Vergil they are adorea liba, cakes of spelt; in Dio Cassius
they are pieces of dry bread. In Strabo one large loaf seems to serve as
a substratum for the assembled company; Or. GR XII, 1 and 5 (Domitius)
it was celery; as also Or. GR XII, 4; DC fr. 4, 5 and DH 55, 3. The
latter says, that according to others the substratum was formed by liQia
XCLQJtOV 71871017}[JLÉva 71VQLVOV.

The Romans seem already to have traced what was the origin of this
tale. For some remarks of Servius seem to attempt its explanation, scil.
I, 736: (laticum libavit honorem) more sacrorum; et tangit ritum Romanum,
qui paniceas sacratasque mensas habebant, in quas libabant, ut est: heus,
etiam mensas consumimus, inquit Iulus; cf. also III, 257: (ambesas): ...
Maiores enim nostri has mensas habebant in honorem deorum, paniceas
scilicet.
Yet Servius does not give us a real explanation of this tale, and 10) in
his sources he may not have found much as to its explanation either.
But, as Deutero-Servius ad VA III, 257 remarks: mensas dicit, quae,
ex frumento confectas, diis Penatibus conservantur, and as Vergil,
immediately after Iulus' exclamation, says (1.120/1). salve, fatis mihi debita

10) As also Enk, Mnemosyne, 1913, p. 386—391 remarks.

 224

tellus, vosque, o fidi Troiac, salvete Penates, several modern scholars, as

Boissier, Schwegler, Preller-Jordan, and Wörner take as starting-point for
this tale the mensae paniceae of the Penates 11).

Boissier, treating this tale, says: '"II est vraisemblable que certains rites du culte des
Pénates lui avaient donné nadssance. II était d'usage d'offrir a ces petits dieux les prémices
du repas et on les leur présentait sur des tranches de pain qu'on appelait mensae paniceae.
Et il fallait supposer une terrible famine pour qu'on osait y toucher. Manger les paniceae
voulait donc dire simplement souffrir d'une de ces grandes disettes qui forcent a ne rien
respecter. Telle devait être 1'origine de la prédiction faite aux Troyens et qui les
effrayait tant".
Also according to Preller-Jordan: ("sind) diese Brottische die natürlichen Symbole des
latinischen und römischen Penatendienstes, in dem sie gewöhnlich als Unterlage der beim
taglichen Mahle darzubringenden Speisen dienten." Wörner states: "Die Sage bezieht sich
auf den Brauch der mensae paniceae, die bei jeder Mahlzeit den Penaten dargebracht
werden."
And Schwegler: "Wer so weit gekommen war, dass er die Brodtische angreifen
musste, der musste sich wohl in der aussersten Noth befinden Erst der Gipfel der
Heimatlosigkeit sollte der Wendepunkt des Looses dieser armen, weit und breit umherge-
triebenen Trojaner sein, welche nun aber im Begriffe standen unter dem Schutze der
Vesta und der Penaten den festen Grund einer bedeutenden politischen Zukunft zu
gewinnen."

Another scholar, Klausen, also connects the origin of this tale with the
Penates, and even involves the mensae paniceae, but he does this in a
very different way. He supposes, that the peasants, who, working in the
fields in the summer, had taken provisions with them from their homes,
considered the circumstance that they had to satisfy their hunger with dry
crusts, when the food ran short, as a token, that the summer would soon
be over, so that they would be allowed to return to their food-supplies,
their penus.
Because his supposition, although still much more arbitrary than that of
the above-cited authors, is very ingenious, Klausen's own words are
quoted in full in the note12).

11) Boissier, p. 271 sqq.; Schwegler, RG p. 324; Preller-Jordan RM, II, p. 324;
Wörner, Roscher I, p. 177, s.v. Aeneas.
12) In Latium werden von der Stadt und vom Hauptgebaude des Landguts Familien-
glieder und Knechte zur Feldarbeit nach den Meierhöfen abgeordnet: diese sind vom
Penus ausgeschlossen, weil sie von den Penaten entfernt sind, und bleiben es, bis sie an
den Tisch des Hausvaters heimkehren. Aber der Feldbauer nimmt, weil bei günstigem
Wetter die Zeit drangt und kein Weg verloren werden darf, nach latinischer Sitte
zweierlei vom Hause mit, um den Hunger und Durst vorzubeugen. Beides nicht aus dem
Penus, denn die Wintervorrate sind aufgezehrt, sondern aus dem Speisekammer, frisch-
gebackene Kuchen, frisch gerührten Krauterkase Sie sind die gewöhnliche Kost des
Landmanns, und er versieht sich mit derselben, namentlich für sein in der Entfernung vom
Herde zu vollbringendes Tagewerk.
Da man in der Regel jedesmal einen Vorrat von Fladen für mehrere Tagen backte,
ist es natürlich, dasz man Obst, welches am Felde gefunden wird, hinzunimmt, und,
je alter das Brot wird, destomehr dasselbe gegen jene Kost zurücklegt, sodasz man sich
der trocknen Scheibe zuletzt als Unterlage bedient, bis, wann die andre Kost ausgeht, der
 225

Serious objections may be made to this view however:

a ) The Penates are not mentioned in connection with this tale in any
of the other sources.
b ) Also in Vergil Aeneas says only in the second place: salvete
Penates, and first hails the Promised tellus; he therefore may address
himself to the Penates only, because his househould-deities — and therefore
he himself — would finally come to rest here.
c) Tradition is very unstable as to the nature of the mensae of Aeneas.
d ) Although spelt is mentioned in the cult of the Penates 13) the latter
grain, and even cakes made of spelt, are often mentioned in connection
with other gods as well14), and are therefore not reserved to the Penates.
Moreover we have no sufficiënt proof that, if cakes were used as a
substratum for the food-offering to the Penates, this held good only for
them, and not for other gods. For SA III, 257 says: maiores nostri habebant
has mensas in honorem deorum, paniceas scilicet, and "deorum" need not
only refer to the Penates 15).
But there is not even sufficiënt proof, that cakes of spelt were ever used
for the Penates, whether as a substratum or otherwise. For "far" in

Hunger nötigt, auch diese Reste mit der Entsagung, wie bei uns eine grobe Brotrinde,
zu essen.
Dies ist der Sinn der von Eneas verzehrten Tische. Sein Leben ist ein unstetes und
heimatloses, seit Trojen zerstöhrt, es ist das gesteigerte Bild der auf den Feldern
zerstreuten Arbeiter. Wann die Speisen ausgehen, welche die Baume des Feldes bieten,
bleibt nichts übrig, als an den trocknen Fladen oder an den Eppichblattern, die man sonst
nur als Unterlage gebraucht hat, zu kauen. Dann aber ist es Zeit, der Feldarbeit ein
Ende zu machen, das heimatliche Winterleben zu beginnen, bei den Penaten sich zu
sammeln, beim Hausvater vom Penus zu zehren. Daher begrüsst En., als das Zeichen
eingetroffen ist, die treuen Penaten Trojas, welche ihm nun die Statte der Heimat öffnen.
Nach dieser Begrüssung der Penaten sehnt sich der Feldarbeiter den ganzen Sommer über;
sie kann erst eintreten, wann die Sommerfrüchte ausgehen. Alljahrlich wird man auf dieser
Weise der Wiederkehr zum heimatlichen Winterleben froh; alljahrlich erlebt man dies
Zeichen. Vermutlich war er eine gangbare Scherzrede unter den Knaben, die den Feld-
arbeitern zur Hand gingen: jetzt kom me man zura Verzehren der Tische. Aus dem Munde
des unmündigen wird die Stimme der Gottheit vernommen und man eilt nun zum Herde
und zum wirklichen Tisch, der den Penaten heilig ist, nach Hause.
Die erste Ansiedlung der Latiner zum geordneten Staatsieben, zur Einrichtung des
Bundesstaates, zur Gründung der Penatenstadt, wird als das Urhild jener alljahrlichen
Zusammenkunft der auf den Meiereien und Feldern zerstreuten Söhne und Arbeiter zum
Hausvater gedacht. Es scheint sogar, dasz von jenem Benagen der trocknen Kuchen,
welches dabei unwillkürlich vorfallt, im Penatencultus ein Opfergebrauch hergenommen
war, Fladen dieser Art als heilige Tische (mensae paniceae) zu behandeln und darauf
zu spenden (Donat. VA III, 257, SA I, 740).
13) E.g. Hor. Carm. II, 23, 20: VA V, 745 (not explicity, but doubtless the Penates
are included in thought).
14) See below.
15) Although Servius sometimes may use "dei" for Penates. Cf. also SA I, 730: apud
Romanos sublatisque mensis primis silentium fieri solebat, quoad ea quae de coena libata
fuerant ad focum ferrentur et igni darentur ac puer deos propitios nuntiasset, ut diis honor
haberetur.
15
 226

Horace and Vergil ll.cc. may just as well or even preferably be "grain";
and even if they were cakes, they need not have been a substratum for
offerings.
The only place, where cakes, if not explicitly of spelt, at least of
"frumentum" are mentioned as "mensae" in connection with the Penates,
is Deutero-Donatus l.c. For, as Kindermann correctly remarks, not one of
the other places, cited by Schwegler and Preller-Jordan ll.cc. as a proof,
that mensae paniceae were used as a substratum for the food-offering
of the Penates 16), really proves this. All of them only say, that the food
was presented to the penates on a "patella", and even the fact, that they
all mention a patella, and not a bread-cake, seems a proof to me, that
this patella was a real dish.
Nor does Deutero-Donatus give a sufficiënt proof according to me, that
cakes were used as a substratum in the cult of the Penates, or at any rate
in their cult exclusively. For Deutero-Donatus, who in all probability lived
in the fourth century A. D., may only have attempted to paraphrase and
make clear the remark of Servius here once more, without having other
reliable data than Servius had.
(For the rest, since the Penates always received a portion of the daily
meal17) and were worshipped "farre pio" 18) — as here too the poet
speaks of "adorea liba" — and since there may even have been a mensa
Penatium19), it is easily understood why not only Servius sought the
reason for naming cakes "mensae" in the fact that the Romans
"paniceas sacratasque mensas habebant in quas libabant", or that these
cakes were the substratum for the sacred food of the gods; but also why
Donatus and many scholars after him adhered to the view that this tale
had a connection with the Penates, whether in their character of food-
numina or protectors of the store-room, or because of their mensae
paniceae.)
Yet I do not want to exclude the possibility that these "adorea liba"
here had some connection with the Penates, as Kindermann p. 166 does.
However — as is also the opinion of Enk — we may say no more than
that, if mensae paniceae of spelt were used in the cult of the Penates, they
may have been in Vergil's mind when he wrote this passage, and may
have been an additional reason for him to make these cakes of spelt.
(About other reasons see below.)
e) Yet I cannot agree with Enk, that these cakes were so closely
connected with the Penates here, that this tale of the consuming of mensae
expressed "tanta fames olim fuit Troianis ut Aeneas cum suis sociis
"mensas", id est adorea liba, diis sacra, consumere cogeretur". To support
M) Scil. Naev. BP frg. 3; Liv. XXVI, 36, 6; Plin. XXXIII, 153; Val. Max. IV, 4, 3;
Fest. s.v. Mensae and s.v. Salinum; Arnob. II, 67 and Porphyr. ad Hor. Carm. II, 16, 13.
17) SA I, 730; Pers. III, 25 and Schol, ibid.; see Wis. RuK p. 162, n. 1.
18) See above.
1B) Naev. fr. 3 BP: sacra in mensa Penatium ordine ponuntur; cf. also Arnob. II, 67.
 227

this view he points to the words of Donatus, and of the Origo, from which
it appears that these cakes were sacred, whereas also on the Tabulae
Iguvinae the "mefa" is offered to the gods.
But in my opinion it would have been very bad indeed, if the Trojans
had made use of, and eaten the offerings, destined for the gods. And even
if these cakes were not real offerings but a sort of offering-tablet, on
which the real offering 20) was presented to the gods, — for which object
a patella was often used 21), but sometimes perhaps cakes of bread, — even
then in my opinion to eat from them would have been a sort of sacrilege,
and never could have turned out well. (Cf. Cic. de fin. II, 72: asotos ita
non religiosos ut edant de patella.) And although this remark of Cicero
may only mean, that it was not allowed to eat of the food, destined for
the gods, the pious Roman may have avoided the appearance of it as well,
and considered the patella of the gods as holy. It cannot be expected,
that Vergil made the pious Aeneas commit a sacrilege like this. And if
he had committed it, it never could have had a beneficial result.
So it does not seem plausible to me that, as Enk supposes, it was an
Italian custom that these mensae, offered to the gods, afterwards were
eaten by men, and that for this reason it was said that Aeneas had
reached a land where the mensae were eaten.
(It must be remarked however that even if these mensae are not sacred
for their own sake, but are merely ordinary cakes, this prodigy might be not
altogether harmiess. For in Rome it was interdicted, not only to eat the
food without leaving any scraps22), but also to remove the table when
peoplc had not quite finished23). Might this not be another proof of
Vergil's secret hostility against Augustus?) 24).
The motif therefore will simply be, that Aeneas had received from a
god the prediction, that in the place, where he was going to consume his
tables, he would be allowed to settle. This "eating of the tables" appears
to be a quibble.
Carcopino p. 676 remarks, that this oracle and its solution are only a

20) Consisting of flour and salt (cf. Hor. Carm. III, 23, 20), of fruit and cereals
(cf. OF II, 535 sqq.), and often also of a little piece of meat (Varr. Sat. Men. 265).
21) E.g. Cic. de fin. II, 7, 62; Liv. XXVI, 36, 5; Fest. p. 329 M; Val. Max. IV, 4 3-
Arnob. II, 67; Acro ad Hor. Carm. II, 16, 14.
22) Plut. Q. R. 64: tf,« xl rijv TQantSav oix tïcov avaiQtlC,»a xtviiv, alla ndvrms nvöq
inóvros the same prescription is found i.a. among the Mongols (v. Haberland, p. 367);
with many other peoples on the contrary it is a command not to Ieave anythina
(v. Haberland, p. 363 sqq.).
2S) Cf. Plin. XXIV, 26: bibente conviva mensam vel repositorium tolli inauspicaüs-
simum iudicatur.
24) It must be remarked however that Wolters p. 88 understands by "mensa" in this
place of Pliny not the table in itself, but only the food - when it was brought in and
removed on a tray. So this place may not be conclusive for our object. Moreover he
considered that the evil omen was only sought dn the fact that the table was removed
while one of the guests was drinking.
 228

combination of two well-known Greek motifs, intended to make the

foundation of the town dependent 1° on an oracle25), which at the same
time foretold the end of a famine; a usual symbolic end of the adversities
of an erring people, and the beginning of their settlement in a new city
or land 26) and 2° upon the sudden understanding of a quibble or riddle
of the kind as that which made the Tyrrheni settle in Lyctos, and the
Spartans, led by Phalantlos, in Aithra27).
Even then however we must take into consideration what was the real
origin of this quible and therefore of this tale as well. Kindermann, p. 123
draws our attention to Athen. Deipn. IV, 49, where a festival of Vesta
is described: TiaQat'i&etai agzog xa&agói sie JiXazoq nenoLrjfxivog, lep &>
èjilxEitai agto? steQÖ? .... Y.cil xgsag veiov xai XEXIXQIOV nxioavrji T] /.CI'/JIVOV ,
he considers that Lycophron made the Trojans perform this ceremony of
the Vesta-festival here.
Although we might ask how the Alexandrian Lycophron came to
introducé this detail of the cult of Vesta into the oracle as to the settlement
of the Aeneads, this view would be more or less plausible, were it not
that there is a much more probable explanation. Scil. that28) these cakes
of spelt were named mensae here, not because they did duty as a table
(cf. D H l.c aéhva fièv noUoïg VJIÉOXQCOTO, xai rjv tavra w a n e o r Q a n e ^ a
xatv êdeo/uarcov, see also Strabo and the Origo ll.ee., and e.g. Boissier) but
because they were actually called mensa , as this word did not only
mean "table", but also — or only — "cake" or "meat" or "substratum"
originally.
About the origin and the original meaning of "mensa" adhuc grammatici certant.
According to some scholars29) it is derived from the Latin "metior", of which it is the
28) As there are many oracular utterances directing the founding of colonies; see
Class. Phil. XII (1917), where many of them are collected.
Pease, Cic. Div. p. 45 remarks that the oracles actually preserved to us are chiefly those
concocted after the event by colonists, priests or antiquarians, for sentimental, mercenary
or historical purposes respectively. If this is true our oracle here would not very much
differ from them.
26) In Rhegion (Strab. VI, 257 C) and Cyrene (Herod. IV, 150) a similar story
was told.
27) It must be remarked that already Cauer supposed that the particular conception
of the prodigy of the mensae as a token of the greatest hunger was invented by a Greek
author. According to him however the origin of this tale of the mensae must be sought
not in Greece, but in Latium.
28) As is also admitted by Enk, Mnemosyne 1913, p. 386 sqq., whose paper I read
only after having written the larger part of this theme.
28) Walde (LEb 2 s.v.) and Walde-Pokorny (II, p. 237), Curtius, p. 327; Vanigek,
p. 201; v. Planta I, p. 503; Meringer, Sitz. Ber. Wien. Ak. 144, Bd. VI, p. 8 lsqq.;
IF XVIII, 211; Brugmann, IA, XIV, 47; Conway (Gloss. the Italic Dialect, p. 633). The
last four authors give a circumstantial account of the development of the meaning of
"mensa". Meringer translates: "das Zugeteilte, Zugemessene"; according to him "esca" or
"caro" must be supplied; according to Brugmann mensa originally had an abstract
meaning; according to Conway its original meaning was "measured", "the thing made in
a definite shape".
 229

particip. fem., and it therefore means: "the thing, assigned", more especially the assigned
portion of food, more in particular the assigned portion of bread. Also Ernout et Meillet
although considering the connection of mensa with "metiri" very doubtful, say, that the
original meaning of "mensa" must have been "cake". And all scholars agree, that from
this meaning it came to mean: "eating-plate", then "dining-table", and finally all sorts
of tables.
Other scholars however 30) deny the relation to metior, and even connect it with
memf>rom, — limb, memsa31), meat, so that the original meaning of "mensa"32) would
be "meat", from which it came to mean "meat-plate", then "plate", then "dining-table",
and finally "table in general". Or — even if "mensa" originally is a part. pass. of
"metior", and originally meant: "the assigned portion of food" — this food might have
been meat rather than a cake. Or the words "mensa"-cake (or meat) and "mensa"-table
may only have been homonyms.

It is not for me here to decide in this question, — to which I shall have

to return later on —, the less so, as this is of no importance to us here.
For, whether its original meaning was "(portion of) meat", or "cake
of bread" is of no importance here, if only we are sure, that it originally
designated something, whether meat or bread, that was edible, and which
later, by katachrese, came to designate also the support for this and other
food; and that the original meaning of "mensa" gradually had fallen into
disuse, as it had disappeared in historical times for us.
But yet there may have been an antiquarian knowledge, that mensa had
once also meant "meat", or "food" or "cake", or at least something edible 33).
This knowledge may have survived e.g. in the form of a conundrum, in
which form it may have reached the ears of the Greeks, travelling all over
Latium. That this conundrum especially has reached them, may be, because
one of the first themes of table-conversation between a host and a stranger
are the table-manners and analogous items of their respective lands; and
because quibbles and other linguistic jokes were a favourite theme of
amusement at dinners 34), the quibble about "mensa" was very obvious here.
The mediator of this quibble may have been Timaeus, who, as is well-
known, travelled all over Latium, and heard many things worth knowing

See further Bücheler, Umbrica, p. 60; Enk, Mnemosyne, 1913, p. 388/9, and Kretschmer,
Glotta VII, p. 79 sqq. They point to the Umbrian Tabulae Iguvinae, VI a. 56 (Bücheler,
l.c.): Tases persnimu seuom. Surur purdouito, proseseto naratu, prosesetir mefa spefa,
ficla arsueito, aruio fetu (tacitus precator totum, item porricito, prosecta narrato, prosectis
libum sparsum (or "sponsum") offam addito, frumenta facito), where "mefa" most likely
means cake . Cf. also Muller, Altit. Wb. s.v. mensa: "vermutlich war es ein "Brotfladen",
der als Tablet für das Fleisch, für die Speise diente."
30) Speyer, Festschr. f. V. Thomsen, p. 24—28; Reichelt, KZ, 46, 312; Muller Altit.
Wb s.v. though they also, as well as the other group, take into account the Umbrian mefa
spefa, and Fest. p. 124: mensa frugibusque iurato.
31) O.i.: mamsa; toch. misa; lit. mesa.
32) Which according to Muller originally is a neutr. plur. of the collectivum mensum.
33) Perhaps later on tradition preserved only this latter fact; this certainly may account
for the tradition, given by Domitius in the Origo, that these mensae were of celery.
34) See Lucian. conv. 23; Geil. NA XVIII, 2, 9 sqq.; Plut. de tu. san. 20, p. 133 C.
 230

naga xa>v èmymglmv (DH I, 67); Lycophron may have taken it from
him 35).
Thus it may have made its way into the Greek riddle-collections, and
thence found its place among the oracular riddles. For conundrums in
general play an important part in oracles, which seemingly foretell a great
evil, which later on appears to be insignificant 36). And because — as has
been stated above — the end of a famine often is a symbol of the
foundation of a town, this oracular riddle was very suitable to foretell the
foundation of a new colony, especially in Italy.
Therefore the original Greek datum that Aeneas, his father Anchises
and among others his son Ascanius started to seek a new home for them-
selves and their gods now was connected with the oracle, that Aeneas
would have reached his destiny, when he consumed his "mensae",
his tables.
Riddles37) are a universal product of the human mind38); but they
are especially frequent among the Indo-European peoples. In Roman
literature they are not so frequent by a long way as in Greek, and, if
found, they often, especially in artistic and scholarly literature, reach back
to Greek and Hellenistic examples 39). Yet there must have been genuine
Roman riddles as well. Compare e.g. the riddle of terminus, delivered to
us — as "per hercle anticum" — by Gellius40) from Varro, and several
others 41).
This may prove that my supposition as to the tale of the mensae being
founded on a Latin riddle is plausible. It may be the more probable that
the riddle of the mensae was originally Latin, and not modelled on a
Greek pattern, because it is a riddle based on a homonymy. And of the
number of Latin riddles — in all probability popular riddles — handed
down to us — which quantity is none too large — by far the greater part
is based on such homonymies or rebuses42). The Romans especially, to

35) Cf. Kothe, Fleckeisens lahrb. 139 (1889), p. 348; Geffcken, p. 45.
36) Cf. e.g. Amm. Mare. XXIII, 3, 6, where a prediction, in reality having relation
to the fall of a horse, named Babylonius, is considered to refer to the fall of Babyion.
Cf. also Procop. Hist. Bell. 3, 2, 1, 25 and 26.
37) See W. Schultz, RE s.v. Raetsel.
38) They may have their origin (Thurnwald, Ebert s.v. Raetsel) in the fact that
when heterogeneous objects have a certain attribute in common — in the case of quibbles
a word — at the outset it has a surprising effect; in order to express this astonishment an
equally surprising form is chosen, scil. the play of question and reply.
3B) E.g. VB III, 104 sqq.; OM XIII, 397 sqq.; Quint. Inst. Or. I, 98, 4; Petron. Sat.
36, 40 sq„ 56; and Symphosius, about the fourth century A. D. the compiler of a riddle-
book; cf. in this connection the jesting circumlocutions of the new Attic comedy.
4<>) NA XII, 6.
41) Petron. Sat. 58; cf. the remark of the Grammatist Pompeius (Gramm. Lat. ed.
Keil, V, 311). See also the following note.
42) Cf. a graffito from Pompeii (CIL IV, 1877), where a "zetema" is given, being
based on the dual meaning of "similis sui"; and the well-known ruse of Numa towards
 231

whom the spoken word had such a validity of its own, certainly had a
great interest in homonymies, and a great delight in quibbles. This is
proved e.g. by their ascribing a riddle to Numa. (For the rest rebuses
and quibbles must be one of the oldest forms of riddles43).
Another proof for the origin of the riddle of the mensae on Latin soil
may be that Lycophron also mentions the story of the sus alba, which
very probably was introduced in the Aeneas-story from the Latin side 44).
It must be granted that also in Greek literature there are many instances
— although relatively fewer — of a quibble based on the dual meaning
of a word45). And especially in Hellenistic literature riddle-oracles fore-
telling the end of long peregrinations were a favourite theme46). So the
possibility is left that this quibble was formed on Greek models. But even
so it may have found its way from Italy into Greek literature, where as
an ambiguity suited to an oracle concerning an event on Latin soil it was
readily accepted into the story of Aeneas.
I therefore do not assume that this tale had a Hellenistic origin, as
Kindermann does, although according to him in Vergil's time it had
existed already for so many years that Vergil himself considered it to be a
genuine Latin tale. But in my opinion 47) it had a real Latin origin, and was
based on the Latin quibble of "mensa"48).
In course of time this tale may even have become a sort of aitia, like
other details found in the Aeneid 49). The Romans wondering why also
cakes (or something like it) were called "mensa", may have explained
this by Julus' remark. And, whereas originally his exclamation "mensas

Jupiter (OF III, 339—346; Plut. Num. 15), who, asking for a head — the head of a
man — and a soul as an offering, was satisfied by Numa by the head of an onion, halrs,
and a fish.
43) As primitive man, whose power of reflection was not yet sufficiently trained in
the analysis and construction of relation and cause, saw a mysterious significance in those
homo- and synonymies, and therefore showed a predilection for them.
44) Cf. Varr. RR II, 4, 28, who says, that in his time there were still traces of the
sus in Lavinium; and Cassius Hemina, who connects this sus with the story of Romulus
and Remus.
45) E.g. Aristoph. Ach. 396 (i'v<rov)i Paus. IV, 20, 1 (xgciyos); VIII, 11, 6
(néXayoq); A.P. XIV, 47 (<p(dg and qxag).
4e) Cf. Apoll. Rhod. IV, 1325 sqq., where the Libyan heroines predict to Iason:
Evx' av xoi 'A/i'fnnt'j); anno. JloGutfauiVOq ivxQOxov avxfaa Xv<Tjif TFÏJ Qa TÓTÏ (fqiixÉQu
ano nmxlQi xCvix' a/ioi.!/(r. o>v Jfxa/itv <fIJQÖV xaxa vqdvos v/i/tt qiiQOvda, xaC xtv i'x'
iiyaSir^V L6 'Ayatfrfa vaCixI]CH<.IXÏ.
47) As is also assumed by Enk.
48) Enk, p. 390/1 remarks that even those who do not believe this, but assume that
this tale had originated in Greece, will have to grant: Romanos fabulam quae ex Graecia
venerit sic mutasse ut non panem vel placentam epulis subiectam esse narrarent, sed
"mensam", dupJici vocabuli potestate lepide usi.
49) Cf. e.g. I, 368/9, where the origin of the name Byrsa is traced to the bull's head;
the tale of Hercules and Cacus VIII, 185—279; cf. also VII, 57 sqq. where the name
of the Laurentes is traced to the laurel of Latinus (see above).
 232

consumimus" meant no more than "we are consuming our cakes" (or the
like), and in a later period — or at the same time — these words had an
ambiguous meaning, at a still later stage when the real etymology of
"mensa" had escaped the Romans, the reason why cakes, and especially
the mensae paniceae of the Penates, (as perhaps of other deities as well)
were called "mensae" may have been sought in this exclamation of Julus.
In the same way the Ludus Troiae of Julus and his little companions was
considered to have been the origin of the Roman ludus of the same name.
Yet Vergil brings us this aitiological tale in a way, which, as Eleanor
Sh. Duckett p. 24 says, serves to stimulate rather than to annoy.

As appears from the story of the mensae being mentioned already by

Lycophron, whose data are otherwise so scanty, this part of the Aeneas-
story was too popular for Vergil to have passed it over. Therefore I
cannot agree at all — no more than Carcopino p. 673 can — with Boissier,
p. 271 sqq. The latter, polemizing against Heyne, who was indeed
scandalized by this childish story in the superior Aeneid, praises Vergil's
courage in introducing this old farmer's fable into his poem, thereby
offending the taste of many of his friends, who were really put out by its
lack of grace, in contrast with the various Greek fables 50).
Cf. also Gercke, p. 148, who remarks that this prodigy — as well as
that of the sus alba — as it had been given by tradition, had to be related
in a prominent place in the epos.
If Vergil here deserves our praise it is not because he has mentioned
this story. lts obligatory mention may have fitted in very well with Vergil's
own intentions "qu'Enée, a son premier pas dans le Latium, fut pour ainsi
dire accueilli et salué par une vieille légende latine" (Boissier, l.c.). More-
over this old farmers' tale most likely did not shock his readers, but —
which may have induced Vergil the more to mention it — may have been
in perfect accordance with the prevalent romantic tendency of rejecting
civilization, the source of all evil, and of returning to nature, e.g. by a
retrograde 51) to rural life 52), which originated under Greek and
Hellenistic influences 53), and of which there is ample evidence in Vergil
himself 54).
50) Cf. also Enk, p. 386: gratias agere debemus Vergilio maximas, quod antiquam
hanc fabulam, in ore populi sine dubio traditam, receperit in Aeneidem suam, quodque
eam non, ut Heynius olim, nimis a maiestate epica alienam duxerit. Nam praebet carmini
colorem Italicum; et tota fabula est vere Romana.
B1) More about this see below; see Wagenvoort, Varia Vita, p. 45 sqq.
52) This yearning after nature, which is already found in the Sophists and later in
the Cynic and Hellenistic philosophers, reached its acme in the large cities, as Alexandria,
where it became a fashion, whether sincerely meant or not, to glorify nature, in a
sentimental-romantic way, at the expense of the town, and the life of the simple shepherds,
fishermen and peasants (cf. e.g. Theocrit's Idylls) as a paradise of unmolested bliss.
The Stoa also contributed to this.
53) This idealization of country-life, in contradistinction to the town, and of simple
 233

And he may have yielded to this tendency not only by allowing the
introduction of such an old farmers' tale, but also by its elaboration, e.g.
by "corpora sub ramis deponunt corporis altae" (see below).
But if Vergil is deserving of our praise, it is because of the special way
in which this tale — which he may have found in Lycophron, or taken
from Varro, who, as we know, had read up Timaeus — was made use of
by him. In the first place because, as Gercke, p. 148 remarks, he made use
of it in an artistic unassuming way, which did not give too much weight to
this story. By chance, by the joke of Julus, Aeneas' attention is drawn to
this prodigy.
In the second place — and in this I cannot agree with Schur, p. 64, that
Vergil kept close to be version of Varro — because of the particulars,
by which he not only made it a miniature of Hellenistic painting, but gave
tradition, and at the same time Roman customs, of ancient times as well
as of his own days, their due.

DETAILS.
1. The place where the tables were eaten.
By making the Trojans take their meal soon af ter their landing, on the
beach, Vergil follows the Homeric example55), which is also found e.g.
Ap. Rh. I, 453 sqq.
As to the place of the meal: as we have seen, Vergil, contrary to his
sources, locates this story at the mouth of the Tiber; but here he does not
go contrary to tradition. For most of his sources only told, that this story
took place on the Latin coast, or "in agro Laurenti"; and this place on the
bank of the Tiber may still be so named. Vergil thus may even have
harmonized with the tradition, given by Or. GR XII, 3, that the Delphic
oracle had announced, that Aeneas' troubles would soon be ended "ubi
duo maria invenisset prandiumque cum mensis comedisset"; for according
to Carcopino p. 676 this was the case here, as both the Tyrrhenian sea
and the salt-marshes of the lacus Ostiensis are found here.

Carcopino p. 673 sqq. seeks Vergil's motive for choosing this particular place in the
religious traditions of the Ostian territory, where according to him a certain kind of cakes,
Summanalia56), were offered to Summanus, whom he considers the nocturnal hypostasis
of Vulcan — his deity of Ostia. His argument however, appears very weak. For,
even if Vulcan is in ancient times the principal deity of Ostia, it is not certain, that
Summanus is his nocturnal hypostasis: for other evidence renders it plausible, that he
has a closer connection with Jupiter57); and even if Summanus in some places were
a hypostatis of Vulcanus, this does not necessarily involve his existence in this form

habits in comparison with luxury, is found already in Plautus (Merc. 716 sqq.; see further
RR III, 1, 4).
S4) In the first place in the Bucolics and in the Georgics, but in the Aeneid as well.
56) Cf. Od. IX, 85 sqq.
5e) Fest. p. 349 M, 474 L: summanalia: liba farinacea in modum rotae ficta.
57) See e.g. Wiss. RuK p. 135, RE s.v. Summanus.
 /•

234

in Ostia. Moreover the name Summanalia is not in itself a convincing proof, that they
were dedicated to or connected with the god Summanus; and the word "ambesae" III, 257
in my opinion does not seem a sufficiënt proof, that, as Carcopino supposes, these cakes of
Aeneas were also "in modum rotae fictae", or certainly round.

I can find no motive for Vergil's locating this story here but the following:
Vergil wanted to connect the landing of Aeneas with Ostia, since the
name of the latter's descendant, Julius Caesar, was associated with this
place; for he had wished to improve the condition of its harbour, and was
even engaged in carrying out this project 58); his sudden death however put
a stop to these proceedings and it was not before the time of Claudius that
this labour was completed. Augustus therefore did not continue this work,
for what reason we know not, whether he found it for the moment too
expensive and onerous, or because he considered the harbour out of date,
even if it were improved59).
It is possible, that Vergil was a champion for Ostia, and opined, that
this place being the oldest harbour of Rome had a right to remain the
most important. Therefore he showed his readers, that according to
tradition the Julii were already connected with Ostia, and so hinted to
August, that it was part of his duty to keep up this connection.
Another reason may have been the importance of Ostia especially as a
harbour for corn ("Cereale solum" in 1. 111 may also refer to this
importance). Vergil as an artist may have found it an attractive paradox
to let Aeneas and his comrades have a deficiency of cereal food (cf. 1. 113:
exiguam in Cererem) in a spot, where there was an abundance of it in
later times.

2. The way, in which it becomes evident to the Trojans, that the

conditions, announced to them as being requisite [or their settlement, are
satisfied.

A) The part played by Julus.

The reasons for Vergil's giving Julus this part in the omen may
have been:
a) Julus — or rather Ascanius — may have been mentioned here
already in antiquarian tradition, as Cauer supposes. For Dionysius
says that after the tables had been consumed: rvyyjxvei rt? elnmv eïie tcov
Aivelov Tiaidcov, c&a kóyog e%ei, eïze zü>v ójuoaxr/vmv: dik' f\füv y ijdrj xaï fj
xo&jce^a xaredr/dearai.
b) Reasons of an artistic charader.
Vergil thus had a good opportunity to introducé Julus once more, to
make him win once more the affection of his readers, and last not least,

58) Plut. Caes. 58; Suet. Claud. 58.

B9) Cf. Quint. II, 21, 18; III, 8, 16.
 235

to give Julus an active part in the fulfilment of one of the oracles,

concerning the settlement of the Aeneades in Latium.
Moreover by letting Julus exclaim "etiam mensas consumimus" and not
letting Aeneas understand the oracle without any commentary, he induces
the reader to say not "fairly silly", but "very nice".
c) The admiration feit for the ingenuity in children, an admiration
not only feit in literature, but actually prevalent in the leading circles of
Rome at the time 60).
This sentimental tendency, an outcome of the romantic view that man
must return to nature, because civilization is the source of all evil, and
that the child is freest from its taints, was in the first place a product of
Hellenism, and probably originated in Alexandria. Whereas formerly the
child had hardly occupied a place in literature and fine arts, now he was
met with repeatedly in the works of the Alexandrian poets, painters and
sculptors 61); and little children were actually bought as toys for adults,
who found a sentimental delight in their babyish prattle and play, and
overfed them with dainties62).
From Alexandria this predilection for children spread to Rome, where
in that period children were called "deliciae"63), and were bought as
toys 64).
Augustus too professed this predilection of children, and it was not
only defended and recommended by his Stoic preceptor65) but Augustus
acted upon this advice. Not only did he adopt his grandchildren Gaius and
Lucius, but at meals and on his travels he constantly had them at his
side (cf. Aeneas and Julus here), and he himself taught them their letters 66).
And 67) when a child had died that he had dearly loved, he had its effigy
in the form of a winged Cupid placed in his study, and never passed it
without blowing it a kiss.
In this he may partly have based himself on the consideration that the
love of children was necessary for the maintenance of the Roman State:
compare e.g. his lex de maritandis ordinibus, his (re)organizing of the
institution of the "iuventus" 68). Moreover this love, although in a some-

80) See Wagenvoort, Varia Vita, p. 41 sqq.; Th. Birt, Aus d. Leben der Antike
p. 136—154.
61) Cf. e.g. the "boy with the goose" of Boethus, and the portrayal of the little
Cupido Ap. Rh. III, 115.
62) Cf. e.g. some novels of Louis Couperus and e.g. Cleopatra, when sailing in a
gold-decorated boat to meet Anthony, was surrounded by a bevy of such little children.
63) Whereas it is characteristic that the word for "parental love" now became
"indulgentia"
64) This sentimental idolization of the child may also appear from the images of Eros.
Cf. e.g. the frescoes of the house of the Vettii in Pompeii.
65) Athenodorus of Tharsus, in his essay rttoi OnovdijO xai naiaias.
6e) Suet. Aug. 64.
67) Suet. Aug. 83, 98.
88) See Muller, Augustus, p. 48 (322) sqq.
 236

what different form, had been one of the greatest virtues of the ancient
Romans (cf. Cato's education of his son, and Terentius' Adelphi), and
also Augustus himself took a great interest in questions of education 69).
Here we may also compare the pert child-figures on the Ara Pacis, that
bear witness to a loving observation 69a), and other Augustan represent-
ations of infancy or early childhood 70).
This Hellenistic-Roman love for the child with its prattle and love of
dainties may have been one of the reasons that in this prodigy of
consuming the cakes Julus was given the part of making a childlike remark,
— very appositely in this case, although, as Wagenvoort remarks, sometimes
the portraying of the child Julus in the Aeneis betrays, that Vergil's pen
is not yet sufficiently skilled in this art71).
d) Reasons of a religious character.
The child in Rome played a not unimportant part, in other rites, whether
magical or religious, whether domestic or belonging to the State-cult (cf.
e.g. the camilli), as well as in divination 72).
This usage is very general, even in our days, and in regions of the
world that are wide apart73), and the conditions, which these children
must satisfy, are about the same everywhere. They must be beautiful,
without any physical defect, quick-witted and ready of speech; often, at
least as concerns the acolytes, they must also be free-born and both their
parents must be alive. Julus meets all these requirements; only his mother
is no longer alive; but perhaps, as Creusa has not died in a way usual to
human beings, we may even say, that both his parents were still alive.

6B) Moreover this predilection for childish behaviour was sufficiently justified, as it
had been handed down, that men jlike Scipio Aemilianus, Laelius and Lucilius (Hor. Sat.
II, 71 sqq.) although adults and filling a very important position in the State, had
sometimes played and frolicked like children.
69a) Cf. Mrs. E. Strong, CAH X, p. 547/8, who, speaking of the art of the Augustan
age, and of the Ara Pacis in particular, says: "The child, so often admitted on sufferance
into Greek art as complement of a story, as atribute or even mere ornament, acquires
independance in Roman art, and takes its place as an integral part of the life of the
famiüy". The same author, Art in ancient Rome, I, p. 140: "In the Ara Pacis the child
makes a triumphant entry into art and attains a position from which he never has been
dislodged. He is no longer the diminutive man or woman of Greek art, nor are his charm
and grace those of the conventional Hellenistic putti, but real chfldhood in its infinite
variety is pictured here".
70) E.g. the Cupid, who rides the dolphin by the side of the Augustus of Prima Porta
(CAH, Vol. of PI. IV, 118a), the portrait of a boy in the Museo Baracco (ibid., 1706),
and the head of a laughing child in the Museum of Toulouse (E. Espérandieu, Bas-reliefs
de la gaule romaine, III, 2537). See Mrs. Strong op. cit. p. 565.
71) In my opinion this need not be a shortcoming of Vergil's, but he may have done
so with premeditation, as he may have wanted to give Julus characteristics, that were
not too markedly Hellenistic, but rather tempered by Roman traits.
72) Cf. e.g. Apul. Apql. XLII—XLIII.
73) See e.g. Frazer, Fasti II, p. 200/1.
 237

The origin of this usage is clear and will be explained in the note 74).
Hence predictions by children were usually considered important75),
and e.g. the use of a boy for the drawing of lots is wide spread 76).
Vergil may have been the more induced to give Julus this part here as:
e) There were more testimonies in Rome about infantile utterances,
which unconsciously had an ambiguous meaning, and therefore were a
(good) omen. E.g. Cic. Div. I, 46; 103—104: L. Paulus, cum bellum cum
rege Persa gereret filiola sua: Persa periit, inquit. erat autem mortuus
catellus eo nomine. And, ibidem, a similar omen, concerning a saying of a
little niece of Caecilia Metella's 77). Such chance words of children (or
their actions) in play were often considered ominous78).
f . In this connection Julus plays the part of the son of the family
in the Roman house, where (SA I, 730) coena edita sublatisque mensis
primis (cf. consumptis hic forte aliis, and 1. 133; nunc pateras libate Jovi)
silentium fieri solebat, quoad ac puer Deos propitios nuntiasset. For,
although Julus does not say in so many words, here, that the gods are
propitious, the effect is the same, as it appears from his words.
g ) Augustus wanted to revive the assistance of children in the perform­
ance of the different rites; and, especially, in those connected with the
prosperity of the State (cf. e.g. the Carmen Saeculare); as also our
prophesy in question is connected with the future Roman State.
h ) Augustus had a preference for the jokes of children at meal-times;
cf. Suet. Aug. 98: (Augustus) isdem (ephebis) etiam epulum in conspectu
suo praebuit, permissa, immo exacta iocandi licentia, diripiendique pomorum
et obsoniorum rerumque missilia (cf. the consuming of the fruits and of

74) The deity uses by preference an implement, that is as perfect as possible, lest —
probably the original thought — any defect should mar the achievement of a favourable
relation between man and a higher power. Therefore no bodily defect could be tolerated,
not even mere plainness; moreover, as ceteris paribus a sexualjy mature person was
considered to be less pure than a child, a beautiful child was the best intermediary
between man and deity.
At a later stage of development a more ethical explanation was given to this, and
the origin of this custom was sought in the innocence of the childish soul, in their
pure and virginal simplicity, which made them suitabje vehicles for the expression of
the divine will: cf. Apul. Apol. 83; Porphyr. Ep, ad. Aneb.: ó'rt tfi NDS-OG <f>»x>ïs aiT">v
RRJ<; FIAVTFIAG TS•x.FII'iQiov TO tivai (TIJ ndvxaq aXXa Rovq an'kovGxiQovq V.A\ v£ov$ KNITV\D'TIOT£QOVI
nqös amfjv. In the case of divination by children a mere rationalistic view sought the
cause In the fact, that there was no possibility of their having any experience of the
circumstances about which they were predicting, in their not being liable to any intentional
bias, whereas they were more accessible to transcendental — or, more rationalistically,
hypnotical — influences than adults.
7B) Cf. Artemid. Onirocr. 2, 69; Frazer on Paus. VII, 22; Chamberlain, The child
and childhood in Folk-thought, p. 293—300.
™) E.fl. Tibull. I, 3.
7T) Also Plut. Aem. PauJ. 10.
78) Cf. Socrat. Hist. Ecl. 1, 15; Steinhauser, d. Prodigienglauben u. d. Prodigienwesen
d. Griechen, p. 31.
 238

the cakes here); and c. 83: (Augustus) ludebat cum pueris minutis, quos
facie et garrulitate amabiles undique conquirebat.
i) Augustus had not only a predilection for children in general, but
when his grandsons Gaius and Lucius Caesar were small boys, he (Suet.
Aug. 64) neque caenavit una nisi in imo lecto assiderunt, as' has been
said above.
ƒ') Vergil may have given the part of making this witty remark to
Julus, because his offspring, Augustus, was also known as a very witty
person. Cf. Macrob. Sat. II, 3, 14: nee Augustus Caesar in huius modo
dicacitate quoquam minor fuit; and more than twenty clever repartees or
witty remarks of his are known 79). It may be remarked here that he urged
Vergil to continue the Aeneid "minacibus per iocum litteris" 79a).
An amusing saying of his, when he was a little boy, has even been
handed down, scil. (Suet. Aug. 94): cum primum fari coepisset, in avito
suburbano obstrepentis forte ranas silere iussit, (atque ex eo negantur ibi
ranae coaxare; cf. the aitiological explanation that cakes were called
"mensae" because of Julus).
Nor does his daughter Julia seem to have been lacking in ready wit,
and of her too some witty answers have been handed down »<>).
k ) Finally a prodigy of the sudden lack of bread may be mentioned
here, which concerned Augustus when he was a little boy, scil. (Suet.
Aug. 94): ad quartum lapidem Campanae viae in nemore prandenti ex
improviso aquila panem ei e manu rapuit, et cum altissime evolasset, rursus
ex improviso leniter delapsa reddidit. This may have contributed to Vergil's
having given so much prominence to this prodigy of the mensae, and also
to his involving Julus in it.

The person, who had given this oracle to Aeneas.

As we have seen Vergil does not entirely agree with any of his sources,
and even makes an allowance for an inconsistency between this story as
it is told in book III. and as it is in book VII, and in this last book does
not occupy himself in the least with the prediction given by Celaeno, and
by Helenus.
As concerns this inconsistency some authors hold, that it is due to a
mistake, which has found its way into this poem, because these two
passages were not written at the same time, but according to most authors
(i.a. Gercke and Schur) book VII many years before book III, and at
the time of his death Vergil had not yet put them in accordance.
But Carcopino p. 675 says that Vergil, as is very often the case, is only
apparently contradicting himself; on the contrary it was his very purpose to
79) Suet. Aug. 18; 40; 42; 51; 53; 87; 98; 99; Macrob. Sat. II, 4, 1-18; 5 4* 7- Plut
Apophth. reg. et tap. (Mor. II, P. 96 sgq. Bernard.); cf. Weichert, de Caesaris Augusti
apophthegmatis, iocis, strategematis.
79a) Suet. de vir. ill. 61.
80) Macrob. Sat. II, 5, 5; 6; 8; 9.
 239

show, that he was a poeta doctus, acquainted with all the traditions about
this subject. So he combined the prediction, given by Anchises (Or. GR VI, 3;
who may go back to Ennius) (see below) — perhaps in the netherworld,
where Anchises may have heard it from the Sibyll (cf. DH) — with that
given by the oracle of Delphi (Domitius in Or. GR XII, 3) and that of
the oracle of Dodona (DH I, 55) 81).
As Vergil considers this oracle — as he does all predictions — as finally
given by the will of Jupiter, the mediators are of lesser importance, so that
Vergil may have feit it possible to deviate in a minor aspect from the
existing tradition for artistic reasons. For he was a poeta.
But hereby he wanted to show that he was a poeta doctus.
Probably these artistic reasons for introducing Celaeno — who is not
found elsewhere, and may be an invention of Vergil 82) — were that Vergil
considered it out of the question for one of his lofty gods to utter such a
prediction, at the same time cruel and insipid; but it might have been given
by such a mythological being, partly a mock-being as a Harpy. (The
name Celaeno of course is chosen by Vergil in view of her cruel character
and cruel prophecy.)
But when, for artistic reasons, Celaeno had already made this prediction
to Aeneas, for these and other artistic reasons it could not be mentioned by
Anchises as well, and moreover in a circumstantial way. For it would
have stressed this motif too much, if Vergil had introduced it repeatedly.
Therefore the reader is to understand, that in an interview, at which
we are not allowed to be present — perhaps in the nether-world —
Anchises repeated this prediction to his son but did not explain it.
And this repeated assurance by his father made much more impression
upon Aeneas of course than the threat of a furious Harpy, described to us,
so that it is natural that at this serious moment he remembers the
former only.
This is the more probable because in III, 263 sqq. it was Anchises who,
deeply impressed by the cruel prediction, as the spokesman of the Trojans
turned to the gods with the prayer: Di prohebete minas, etc. Most likely
therefore he had not yet heard anything which might serve to explain this
prediction; still less could he have explained it to his son. But it may
have made a deep impression upon him, so that in the nether world he
sought to find its explanation.
According to Karsten 83) Aeneas af ter receiving an unsatisfactory
answer from Helenus afterwards questioned Anchises again.
Vergil may have given Anchises the part here of enlightening his son
81) Whereas according to Cauer the prediction given by Helenus may go back
to Varro.
82) Schur p. 63 remarks that Vergil may have been inspired to the figure of Celaeno
by the Homeric story of the flocks of Helios. According to Cauer, p. 171 the figure of
Celaeno might have been invented by a Greek author.
M) Hermes, XXXIX (1904), p. 259 sqq.
 240

about the future, because Anchises was already found in older Latin
literature predicting the future to his son. (Enn. fr. 18 V.; more about this
as well as about the figure of Anchises in general see below). Cauer p. 171
considers it even probable that this prediction of Anchises in Ennius
concerned the consuming of the tables. Therefore Vergil in giving Anchises
this part here might go back to Ennius.
According to Schur p. 64 this part of Anchises here is a rudiment of an
older project of Vergil's, in which Aeneas' mother Venus 84) and his father
Anchises85) — who had been enlightened about Fate by Venus — guided
their son through all dangers; this project was superseded later on by the
artistically more valuable motif of the gradual revelation of Fate.
Finally the revelation of the meaning of this oracle by Anchises and the
words: genitor mihi talia. ... Anchises fatorum arcana reliquit may have a
still deeper symbolical significance. Drew p. 33 remarks that if Aeneas is
Augustus in the allegory, Anchises is for allegorical purposes sometimes
Julius Caesar, as he certainly is in book V. Might therefore these words
not point to the testament of Julius Caesar, by which his (adoptive) son
Octavianus was indicated as the ruler of Italy?

4. The charader of the eaten tables.

Vergil here preferred, as we have seen, the tradition, which is also
adhered to by Dionysius and the Origo (X, 5), that these mensae were
several cakes of far, to the traditions, that they were of celery, or that
there was only one large loaf.
a) Not celery, but cakes.
He must have had a special reason to speak of cakes of spelt here.
For at first sight it would be more probable, that the Trojans, in their
shortage of food, had taken celery for "tables", which were only to be
eaten in case of emergency (cf. 1. 113/5). For wild celery grows in
abundance in damp spots near the river and small waters in the Latin
plain86); and as a plant, wild but eatable87) it is eaten e.g. by the
Dalmatian peasants, although as a rule it is not taken for human food.
Moreover, if not celery especially, at any rate herbs in general were used
together with offerings 88).
Anyhow Vergil's reason for speaking of cakes here rather than of
celery, cannot have been because this was required by the epos and cakes
were a more epic food than and superior to celery, or at least a more
suitable food for the Trojans, and one to which they were accustomed. For

84) Cf. VA I, 382: matre dea monstrante viam data secutus, and Servius (= Varro) ibid.
8B) Cf. also III, 183 and V, 751.
38) E. Mauri, Florae rom. Prodr. p. 117.
8T) R. Visani, Flor. Daim. III, p. 29.
88) Cf. e.g. OF IV, 367 sqq.; Ndsc. 1914, p. 66.
89) Lobeck, Aglaophamus, p. 1050 sqq.
 241

in Homer 89) cakes are not once mentioned, neither in connection with the
gods, nor with the meals of men either.
Vergil's motive for mentioning cakes here must therefore have been
a non-epic and a Roman one.
Now, if, as I have tried to point out, the origin of this prediction was
a riddle, based on the dual meaning of "mensa", and has no connection
with the cult of the Penates, Vergil's reasons for making these mensae cakes
of far can only have been the following:
1. These mensae were cakes already in an older Roman source, in
Ennius e.g., as Cauer p. 171 supposes.
2. To him, far more than to us, it was certain, that the other meaning
of mensa was actually cake, and that in this way only he gave this story
its full due.
3. By mentioning corn, and not a vegetable like celery, Vergil as an
artist was conscious of causing a much stronger effect; for in this way he
elicited a spontaneous contrast to the later abundance of corn in Ostia.
4. With "adorea liba" he introduced some old-Roman and cultic
association into this passage, thus creating a sphere he could not achieve
with celery, with wheat, or with one large loaf. (However, this does not
in the least prove that this story was originally really based on a cultic
old-Roman element.)
The mere mention of "cakes", and not simply "bread", as we read in
Dio Cassius, Lycophron and Strabo, brings a cultic element into this
passage. For, far more than ordinary bread 90) cakes 91) for obvious
reasons, into which I cannot enter here, occupied a not unimportant place
in Roman ritual92).
Besides, from the word "libum" here it may be concluded that he
wished to introducé a sacral element, thus evoking a cultic association.

80) As instances of bread in Roman ritual see Paul. p. 220: panibus redimibant caput
equi immolati idibus Octobribus, and OF VI, 311, 347 (at the Vestalia) pan is
dependet coronatis asellis. In ray opinion, however, this "panis" was also a sort of cake.
91) From which they are distinguished by their flatter shape (cf. the names xXaxov
and "placentum") and by their ingredients (they were made of flour of the best
quality, and made more tempting by many ingredients, as milk, eggs, honey, herbs).
92) No less than sixteen names applied to offering-cakes are known to us as the
shapes and names of ten vary according to the gods for whom they are destined; they are
mentioned at many festivals, as offerings to several gods, and on many other occasions
e.g. at the Liberalia (Varr. 1.1. VI, 14; OF III, 713 sqq.); the Matralia (Varr. 1.1. V, 106;
OF VI, 483); as an offering to Janus (Paul. Fest. p. 104 M; OF I, 127, 276; Cat. r.r. 141,
4; Varr. ap. Lyd. de mens. IV, 2); Jupiter (Cat. l.c.); Jupiter Pistor (OF VI, 350);
Pales (OF IV, 743); Priapus (VB VII, 33), Bacchus (VG II, 394), in connection with
Anna Perenna (OF III, 670). Further a spelt-cake played an important part at the
confarreatio; the Flamen Dialis was always obliged to have beside his couch a "capsula
cum strue atque ferto (Fab. Piet. ap. Geil. X, 15, 14); in a sacred grove of Juno at
Lanuvium cakes were presented to a snake (Ael. De nat. anim. XI, 16; Prop. V, 8, 3, 14);
and it seems that there were special magistrates, the fictores pontificum, to make the
offering-cakes (Marqu. R. St. III, p. 240; Varr. 1.1. VII, 44).
16
 242

and intensifying the holiness of the passage. For from its etymology
according to the ancients, who as a rule 93) connected it with Liber and
libare94) — although this etymology was evidently faulty95) — it appears
that as a rule they attached a religious meaning to it. This also appears
from the fact that96) the sacral meaning of offering-cake is nearly
always found connected with it97); and Servius in this place even says:
liba autem sunt placenta de farre, melle et oleo, sacris apta. Also the two
other times that Vergil uses "libum" 98) these liba are evidently sacrificial
cakes. (We are unable however to make the countertest, consisting in
putting on record the constant non-sacral use of "placentum" by Vergil.
For this word is never met with in this author.)
(Yet Vergil may only have wished to bring a cult element into this
passage, and not to say that these liba were really sacred cakes here. For
"sic Jupiter ipse monebat" may only mean that Jupiter inspired the Trojans
to use their cakes, their dessert, as a substratum for their other food, and
not that he inspired them to use their sacred cakes, which — although
edible — had not been destined to be eaten by the Trojans, as such
a support. And "ut vertere morsus exiguam in Cererem penuria adegit
edendi, et violare manu malisque audacibus orbem fatalis crusti, patulis
nee parcere quadris" may not say that the dearth of food was so great
that they had even to have recourse to the sacred cakes, not destined
from the very first to be eaten by them, — it moreover would be very
improbable that the Trojans had eaten all the fruits of the place where they
landed. But these words — to which purposely and in fun Vergil gives an
intimidating sound — may only mean that they now were beginning their
dessert. So the possible objections, that, if these cakes had no sacral
function here, they would have been uselessly wasted, notwithstanding
the dearth of food, does not stand either.)
Moreover Vergil introduced a Roman element into this passage, thus
contrasting with Homer, who mentions bread99), but never cakes100),
as has been stated above101).

93) Although "libum" is said by Isidorus to be synonymous with "placentum" (Or.

XX, 2, 7: placenta sunt, quae alii liba dicunt) and although this synonymity might
appear from other authors, scil. Mart. III, 77, 3; Hor. Sat. II, 7, 102; Ep. I, 10, 10.
94) Cf. OF III, 733; Varr. 1.1. VII, 43: liba, quod libandi causa fiunt; V, 106.
85) Cf. Walde, s.v. who connects it with mhg. lebekuoche, lebkuchen, and gr.
xXt'iiavo* — object for baking bread in —, and therefore accepts a non-sacral origin,
or thinks of an ural-altaic origin, with ErnM. s.v., who accepts a sacral origin, and with
Toutain, DarSagl. s.v., who connects it with a root lib- to pour out.
B0) Apart from the few testimonies. of the possible non-sacral use of liba. given above.
97) E.g. Varr. r.r. II, 8, 1; Tib. I, 7, 54; 10, 23; OF III, 735; Juv. III, 187; XVI, 38:
Ov. I, 8, 9, 4; a.a. I, 429; trist. III, 13, 18; IV, 10, 12; Mart. X. 24, 4.
8S) B. VII, 38; G. II, 394.
8B) E.g. Od. XVII, 343, XVIII, 120.
10°) See Lobeck, l.c.
101) Cakes are not mentioned in Greek literature bef ore Stesichoros and Ibykos (see
 243

b) Not one large loaf, but several small cakes.

Lycophron (perhaps) and Strabo (ccrtainly) say, that there was only
one "table"; the other sources, also including Vergil, speak of several tables.
Vergil in my opinion may not simply be accepting the prevalent opinion
here, but may also convey that it was an old custom, Trojan, but
perhaps also Latin, that at dinner not one large table, a board or a similar
object, was used for the whole company, but that everyone had his own
"table".
In Homer every guest nearly always 102) had a separate 103) table 104),
and this must have been customary not only in fashionable circles, which
Homer preferably describes, but also among the lower classes (cf. Od. XX,
257); here as a matter of fact they were plainer, and not very different
from footstools, as still found among some primitive peoples of the Balkan-
peninsula 105). Also in later times the Greeks nearly always i"6) used a
separate table for every guest, or at least a separate table for every klinè.
The Romans however according to all our historical sources 107) ate
in company at large tables, which were originally square, in later times
also round or in the form of a sigma ios); an indefinite number of people
sat round them, or, in imitation of the Etrurians or the Greeks, a more or
less definite number lay round them on triclinia on three sides. The mention
of a separate small table for every guest, as e.g. Petron. 34, is extremely
rare; it was probably rather an excess of luxury than a totally different
system, since the small tables are used here arranged beside the big
common table.

Orth, RE s.v. Kuchen). In the Greece of later periods they are however mentioned very
often (see Athenaeus and Hesychius, who have handed down scores of cake-names).
102) If is exceptional to find two guests sitting at the same table (Od. XVII, 257,

334); and II. IX, 216 a fairly large company is apparently sitting at the same table.
103) Cf. II. XI, 628; XIV, 476; Od. I, 112; V, 92; VIII, 69; XIX, 61.
) As to the character of these tables, whether they were round or square, as to
the number of legs, or the material, we are not very well informed, neither by Homer, nor
by contemporary representations or remains (cf. Helbig, d. Hom. Epos, p. 124). They
seem however to have been neither very Iow (cf. Od. XVII, 409), nor very high (cf. Od.
XXII, 19 sqq., 84), and easy to lift. The material seems to have been polished wood
as a rule.
105) Kruse, RE s.v. mensa.
) With the exception of the Arcadians, who also had a common table for all their
guests (Theophr. IV, 31).
107) See Kruse, l.c.; e.g. Varr. 1.1. V, 25 sqq.; Fest. p. 77 M.
) Of all these sorts of tables, which were of stone, marble, bronze or of an
expensive or cheaper kind of wood, several specimens have been preserved; e.g. at
Pompei (see Blümner, Priv. Alt. fig. 14 sqq.; p. 124 sqq.).
They originally may have had more legs, and been rather simple; later on, by the
import of Greek furniture (especially since the triumph of Cn. Manlius Piso in 187 b.C.,
and by Lucullus, L. Aemilius Scaurus, and Pompeius) monopodia became the vogue.
However more persons sat down at these tables.
 244

As concerns the tables mentioned at the ritual109), we cannot conclude

off-hand, whether these were large or small.
But this large, rather high table for many guests was not originally
Indo-European, as is proved by linguistical110) and ethnological1U)
evidence.
Having a small separate table for each person was probably not only a
general Indo-European, and e.g. German or Slavonian 112), but also an
old-Latin custom, as is proved by the etymology of the "mensa"1!3).
From a sacral point of view too we must arrivé at the small, separate
table in Latium 114).

i°B) Whether of the house, e.g. Naev. B. P. frg. 3 M; Fest. p. 157 M; Macrob. Sat. III,
11, 5; DH II, 28; or at the lectisternia, and at an offering to Dea Dia (Henzen, Act. fr.
Arv. p. 26), Juno Curitis (Paul. Fest. p. 64), to Jupiter (Liv. X, 23, 12; Plin. XXV, 59, 1).
no) Whereas the names for the table among the Indo-European peoples differ
greatly, on the other hand these names are applicable in the same language to the dish
as well as to the "table" (for a full account see Meringer, Sitz. Ber. Wien. Ak. phil.
hist. kl. CXLIV (1902).
111) Many Indo-European peoples were not acquainted with our kind of table for a
long time, even in historical times, until they obtained it by foreign influence. But,
following their custom of sitting on the ground. they used as a table a small separate
dish for each person, a board of wood or the like. So e.g. the Germans (Tac. Germ. 22:
"separatae singulis sedes et sua cuique mensa"); the Thracians (Xenoph. Anab. VII,
3, 21:at the banquet of Seuthes: rp/jtorfts tlci^vtyStfiav nciaiv). Earlier still they may
sometimes have used for a "table" a pot or a pan, or a little stool.
112) Cf. the Huns in the Walthari-song; from the Norse Vikings there are remains of
a sort of large wooden dishes. (Moreover e.g. the Egyptians never had a dining-table
for more than two persons, and mostly their tables served only for two persons.)
113) If "mensa" originally is a part. pass. of "metior" (see p. 228, n. 29) it originally
had to be complemented by "esca" or "caro", or a word like 'Mibum"; and in that case
it probably signified "the food, cake or meat, distributed" (hence to everyone of the
guests). From this meaning we have no immediate transition to "large table", but the
intermediate stage must have been "dish, assigned to everyone of the guests".
If the original meaning of "mensa" is "meat", this meaning does not immediately lead
to that of "large table", as the meat can rarely have occupied such a large horizontal
epace as a table; but we must suppose an intermediate stage, being: portion of meat for
one single person, who may have covered it by another sort of food (cf. Xenoph. l.c.),
and therefore it might also be a kind of little table here.
Both etymologies therefore lead to the small, separate table.
114) The food-offering was presented to the Penates on a little dish, patella (e.g. Cic.
de fin. II, 7, 62; see further p. 226, n. 16, and not on a real table, as was mostly the
case in the Greek cult — where on the contrary we never hear of dishes. Moreover,
when in Rome a sacral table is mentioned, it is mostly either in connection with the cult
of an originally non-Latin deity (e.g. Hercules (Schol. Verg. B. 4, 621, cf. in this
connection however VA VIII, 284: at the altar of Hercules "cumulant oneratis lancibus
aras"), or in a much later period (e.g. Macrob. Sat. III, 11, 6). All this proves in my
opinion, that this mensa in Latin ritual was introduced only under Greek influence,
whereas originally the food-offering was presented on a small dish, the patella. A support
for this supposition may be, that an offering could be presented on a sod. (Cf. Hor.
Carm. I, 19, 13; Stat. Silv. I, 4, 131; Ndsc. 1914, p. 466).
Hence in Rome the food-offering was originally presented on a table too; this table
 245

In my opinion however we cannot go further, and say that these small

tables among the Romans were originally a sort of bread-cake, although
this may sometimes have been the case115). Neither does the original
cake-character of the table appear from the etymology of mensa, in spite
of the attractive little essay of Kretschmer 116), and of Ernout et Meillet.
So we may not conclude, that in speaking of several small tables Vergil
was thinking of an original cake-character of the table; but we can
say, that the idea of the original small Italian table, and not only the
Homeric table, induced Vergil to prefer the several small tables to one
large one here.
c. Not celery, or cakes of wheat, but cakes of spelt.
Vergil stressed this Roman element the more by mentioning cakes
of spelt. For Homer, although mentioning spelt-flour, never mentions it
in the manufactured state of bread; and loaves in Homer are always made
of wheat-flour.
On the other hand, whereas "ador", spelt, had a special place in Roman
religion and history, wheat had not, neither had apium, celery, although
in Greece it played an important part, also in cultic aspects 117).

however was but smaill; so when larger tables became the fashion for daily use, (though for
ritual purposes they had retained their original form), this table was considered as a
dish, and often took the name of "patella". Since originally the objects, used for the
gods, must have been the same as those used for human beings, this proves that originally
the Romans must have used the small, and not the large table.
(It is not essentiailly necessary, that the small dish in Italy developed into a larger one
specially under Greek influence. For also among other peoples (see Meringer p. 82) the
dish may sometimes have become larger apart from foreign influences, so as to serve
for more persons, after which it was placed on low trestles, which were gradually raised,
and finally firmly attached to the table-leaf, which had been loose hitherto.)
11S) Cf. the Greek /ictyCs, properly "kneaded mass, cake, bread of a certain form",
wihich sometimes means "table" (e.g. Epich. 118; Cerv. 12); and a similar use from
Egypt. (Maspéro, Revue critique, 1915, II, p. 88 relates, that in Egypt certain funeral
offerings were presented on round stone dishes, "ce sont les substitutes de deux galettes
en pate de céréales, sur lesquelles on déposait tour a tour les victuailles, comme on fait
encore aujourd'hui chez les fellahs d'Egypte.")
A reason for making them of bread may sometimes have lain in the same quality, that
may have induced Vergil to say here, that the cakes were made of far, scil. the lustral
effect of bread and certain sorts of corn.
For we may not draw the conclusion, that a usage from ancient Egypt must be found in
a similar form in Rome, not even as concerns very primitive usages. In my opinion it is
moreover unnecessary to conclude from Xenoph. Anab. VII, 3, 21, as Schrader, REIA s.v.
Tisch does, that the UQTOI £V/IÏTAI NTYAHOI NQOONTNTQOVII/IÉVOI NGOG TOÏ$ XQIUGI
mentioned there really served for a sort of little table. Finally the Greek nayfc may have
been called table only, because it had a very special form, which reminded people
of a table.
"«) Glotta (1916), 79 sqq.
n7) Originally it was given in the form of a wreath at the Isthmian and Nemean
games, Linos also wore a wreath of celery. Moreover superstition attached several
forebodings to it, favourable as well as unfavourable; and nowadays popular belief in
Greece still considers it a plant that brings luck. (See Olck, RE s.v. Eppich.)
 246

In Rome spelt was, if not the oldest species of corn originally used, yet
the most important and most popular118).
lts important place in ancient Rome appears, next to the places, given in the note,
from the fact, that a special festival, the Fornacalia on the 17th of February, was
celebrated by the curiae at the toasting of the spelt119), and that, when a cereal offering
to the gods is mentioned, whether of grain, bread, porridge or cakes, this nearly always
consists in spelt120). And, as is generally known, in the strictest form of the Roman
marriage-contract, the confarreatio, a cake of far, farreus panis 121) also played
a part122).

In some of these cases the only reason for the use of far may have been
that it was the oldest species of grain in Rome, for which reason it was
originally always used, and later, by the intrinsic conservatism of ritual,
was preserved.
Possibly Vergil's only reason to make these cakes consist of ador was
that according to the general tradition it was the oldest species of corn used
in Rome. His using the word "ador" here may speak for this as well. For

118) Cf. DH II, 25, OF II, 515, VI, 180; Plin. XVIII. 62: populum Romanum farre
tantum e frumento CCC annis usum Verrius tradit; this note according to Helbig, d. It. 1. d.
Po-ebene, p. 65, is exaggerated however, as Helbig thinks it impossible, that the Latins
had been restricted for such a long time to such a coarse sort of grain, whereas in Southern
Italy and Sicily the Greek towns as early as the first half of the fifth century had a very
considerable export of wheat and barley; moreover grains of wheat were found in the
terremari, but not of spelt and barley — this last fact however need not prove that the
terremaricoli were not acquainted with spelt; as in the terremari cereals are but rarely
preserved.
The reason, why they originally preferred to grow far was, that it was hardened; that
it was proof against extremes of temperature and humidity; later on however, especially
since the beginning of the Empire, the cultivation of far decreased as that of wheat
increased; this was because the latter gave far less trouble in preparation, and was more
nourishing (cf. Galen. VI, p. 507 K), and gave greater profits.
11B) Plin. VIII, 8: farris torrendi feriae; OF II, 513—532; Fest- p. 93 M; see further
Warde Fowler RF p. 30.
120) So far is the only species of grain, given Fest. p. 253 as allowed for the merces
of the dapes for the gods; it is expressly mentioned at the animal sacrifice in Rome,
where the victim, the knife and the altar were sprinkled with it (DH II, 25, 2); at the
feriae Sementivae far, or a porca gravida respectively. was dedicated to Ceres,
respectively to Tellus (OF I, 657 sqq.); on the first of January to Janus were given:
Cereale libum farraque mixta sale (OF I, 26 sqq.); cf. also I, 276; (ara) adolet flammis
cum strue farra suis; to Summanus were offered cakes of spelt, the so-called Summanalia
(Fest. p. 348 M): to Mars and Silvanus was sacrificed, pro bubus uti valeant, besides a
certain quantity of beef, pork and wine, also a certain quantity of spelt-bread (Cat.
RR 83); -Hor. Od. III, 23, 12 the Penates are presented with "farre pio et saliente mica";
Tib. III, 4, 9—10 says: "hominum genus omina noctis farre pio placant et saliente sale";
at the Parentalia spelt was offered to the di Parentum (OF II, 533 sqq.); from the
seventh till the fourteenth of May on the odd days the Vestales collected ears of far
from the new harvest for toasting and pounding, and for making mola salsa from the
flour obtained in this way on three days of the year (the Lupercalia, the Vestalia, and
the Idus of September).
121) Gai. I, 112; Ulp. IX, 1; Plin. XVIII, 10.
122) Whether eaten by the newly married couple, or thrown into the fire.
 247

"ador" apparently was considered by the Romans123) as an old word for

"far" 124), not as a special denomination for far in its sacral use.
Nor does it indicate a special sort of spelt125), different from the
species, designated by "far". Therefore either "ador" and "far" were
originally equivalent, perhaps originating from different Italian regions, and
"ador" may have been originally really Latin, "far" originally osco-
umbrian126), but this osco-umbrian word in course of time may have got
the upper hand in Rome. Or "ador" and "far" originally indicated a slightly
different sort of grain 127).
In many cases however an explanation for the use of spelt might be
sought in its possible lustral power 128). For it is not impossible, that Vergil,
conformably to primitive belief, thought that circumstances here made
lustratious measures desirable.
For at meals very often evil influences were feared, as is proved by
many interdictions with relation to the way of eating and drinking 129) lest
m) Cf. Plin. XVIII, 19, 81: far, quod adoreum veteres appellavere; and Colum. II, 6, 3.
124) Isid. Or. XVII, 36: "ador, tritici genus" must be a mfstake.
For the rest even "far", by which denomination spelt in Latin is still oftener
designated, even when used sacrally, must be an old word; according to its formation
as well as because it is already found in Oscan and Umbrian, in the Leges XII Tab.
(p. 277, 5), and also according to the fact, that flour in Latin is called "farina"
(cf. Plin. XXIII, 68).
125) It is connected in all probability with Greek a&tlQ, aO-ripr/ (Walde, s.v.; Schrader,
REIA s.v. Spelt), and therefore must have meant originally "the hirsute (ear)".
The etymology of "far" does not point to a sacral origin either.
128) Cf. the fact that "far" is found several times in our Oscan (Conway n. 130) and
Umbrian (Tab. Iguv-) inscriptions.
127) Cf. the fact that in Homer also we translate two words by spelt, scii. ;tia and
ölvQti, and that also in German "Emmer", "Einkorn", and "Spelt" are found side
by side.
Cf. also Paul. Fest. p. 3 M: ador, farris genus; and Varr. RR I, 94: far adoreum; on
the contrary Colum. lx.: adorei.... genera quattuor: far, quod vocatur Clusinua; far
quod vocatur vennuculum, etc.
128) For not only is salt considered by various peoples (instances from Morocco,
Germany and Greece see Frazer, Fasti II, p. 143, p. 279) to be possessed of this power,
and where spelt and salt are used in combination, the Iatter to be kathartic (e.g. OF II,
24: torrida cum mica farra vocantur februa; cf. also Tib. I, 6, 14); but spelt in itself
also has this force, as may be proved by its use in many lustral acts, where other
lustratious objects are also found, e.g. at the confarreatio (at the latter there were still
many other lustral acts, see Warde Fowler, Rel. Exp. p. 83; hence the farreus panis
may also have had this lustral character in some way); and at the Palilia; or at times
which were in need of this lustral power, e.g. because of their connection with the dead.
(I think it remarkable, that the ears of far happened to be collected during the days of
the Lemuria, and that the Fornacalia feil on one of the days of the Lemuria.)
Cf. also the adjective "pius", which is often connected with it (e.g. Hor. Carm. III.
23, 20; VA V, 745; Arnob. VII, 2), cf. also Varr. in Non. Mare. de hon. et nov. Vet.
dict. p. 114: in eorum enim sacris liba cum sunt facta, inicere solent farris semina, ac
dicere se ea februare.
129) See C. Haberland, Ueber Gebrauche und Aberglauben beim Essen, Zeitschr. f.
Völkerpsychologde und Sprachwissenschaft, XVII and XVII (1887 and 1888), passim.
 248

evil in some form or other should befall man. Man may also take positive
apotropaeic-kathartic countermeasures 130), and i.a. he may make use of
certain objects with a kathartic effect, hence e.g. also of a table. For the
table was often considered to have a strong magie power, as is proved by
many instances 131).
This orenda of the table could annihilate power for evil132) as well as
undo power for good. Hence it might also counteract the evil influences,
in action during the meal.
The fear of evil influences during the meal probably existed in Rome
as well, as is proved by some notes from Pliny, one of which has already
been quoted 133). Its explanation will be attempted in the note 134).
At any rate, although these evil influences may originally have been
conceived in a somewhat vague form, later on they were often ascribed
to a definite spirit or spirits 135). Sometimes they may have been ascribed to
the earth, which was considered to have a strong orenda, for evil as well
as for good 136).
Hence it was often the primitive function of the table137) — even if

130) Ibidem, passim.

131) Ibidem, especially XVIII, p. 263—268.
132) E.g. the thunder-storm, the fire, or powers, acquired by witchcraft in general;
«f. Haberland p. 267; "ist ein Raufer durch geheime Kunst gefeit, dann braucht man ihn
nur auf einen Tisch zu werfen, und sofort ist seine unnatürliche Kraft entschwunden".
133) See further XXVIII, 25: Si mensa adsit anulum ponere translatitium videmus;
26: incendia inter epulas nominata aquis sub mensam profusis abominamur; recedente aliquo
ab epulis simul verri solum, aut bibente conviva mensam vel repositorium tolli inauspi-
catissimum iudicatur; sternumento revocari ferculum mensamve, si non postea gustatur
aliquid, inter diras habetur; 27: repente conticescere convivium adnotatum est non nisi
impari praesentium numero; cibus e manu prolapsus non reddebatur uti,que per mensas
vetabantque munditiarum causa deflare ... inter execratissima, si pontifici accidat dicis
causa epulanti, in mensa utique id reponi adolerique ad Larem piatio est.
134) The meal, and the care for obtaining food and preparing it, takes up by for the
greater part of his daily activities and interest for primitive man. Hence the meal is the
most important instance of his da>i]y rounds. On the other hand primitive man had a
constant terror of abounding perils and evil influences. Hence it was perfectly natural
that he considered that these evil influences interfered with him especially at his most
important daily activity, when hence they could be most baleful to him, scil. at the meal.
Moreover he feared these evil influences especially when apertures of his body were
opened (cf. e.g. the hand being held over the mouth in yawning).
138) perhaps accompanying the food, by the smell of which they might have been
allured moreover. H. Sjövall, Zeus im altgr. Hauskultus, p. 95 sqq., gives instances of
this belief from India, Bohemia, Mahren, etc. Cf. Porphyr. de philosoph. ex orac.
haur. 148: Cnovftiviov yiiQ Tj/imv nqoataOi (oi jrovjjpoï (faCfiovtf) x«i ttQoOiiarorat
ttü dm/nari xeti (fia TOVTO at ayvtCac,... iv' ovroi anoGx&Bt.
136) Cf. A. Dieterich, Mutter Erde; F. Altheim, Terra Mater; and L. Malten, Arch.
Jahrb. 1914, p. 184: .... wie jede Erdgottheit, gebend und nehmend, gnadig und
zürnend".
137) As well as of the altar (see Pfister, p. 120); for the rest this was only one of
the reasons, wfoy an offering was always made on an altar; about other reasons see
RGG s.v. Altar; and Reisch, RE ibid.
 249

only a wicker mat — to prevent by its orendistic lustratious intermediary

the evil influences of the earth from adhering to the food 138).
It stands to reason that this intermediary layer would have a still greater
separating effect, if it had already a lustral power in itself, apart from
the fact that it was used as a table 13»). Hence the fact that these mensae
were made of spelt might also add to their lustratious effect.
Therefore Vergil may have included in this oracle the symbolic idea,
that these lustral intermediaries were requisite only as long as the Trojans
were not sure of the soil being propitious to them; but as soon as they
should eat these lustral intermediaries, driven by a higher power, this would
be a token, that these were no longer required, because the soil was no
longer hostile towards the Trojans, but by the will of the gods was destined
for their future settlement.
But it is also possible, that the orendistic power of the spelt merely
served to enhance the sacredness of the meal.

The following details may have been added partly with a view to
Augustus:

Aeneas primique duces. "The primi duces' are present" very probably
means: nobody but them. Therefore it must be understood that the less
distinguished people were not allowed to join the company that had
assembled for the dinner.
Compare here Suet. Aug. 74, who gives the following information abouf
Augustus: convivebatur assidus (he dined in company), but: nemo unquam
libertinorum adhibebatur ab eo cenae.

corpora sub ramis deponunt arboris altae.

Compare Suet. Aug. 73: instrumenti eius parsimonia apparet etiamnunc
residuis lectis ... quorum pleraque vix privatae elegantiae sint.
Vergil may further have pleased and foreshadowed Augustus by making
the meal so sparse (Suet. ib.: cibi minimi erat), simple (ibid.: atque vulgaris
fere), as well as by its composition (ibid.: secundarium panem ... et ficos
virides maxime appetabat), and by the fortuity of time and place (ibid.:
vescebaturque et ante cenam quocumque tempore et loco, quo stomachus
desiderasset; cf. also the quotation of Augustus own words in this same
passage).

138) This may be the reason, that e.g. the Laps (v. Haberiand, p. 255) never pdaced
the food on the naked earth, but put at least a glove, and usually a mat under it. Cf. the
wicker mat, used by the Egyptians of the first dynasties, to place their offerings on
(see A. Eiman, Aegypten, p. 219). And Dionys I, 55, saying: xa»aetlórVrog rccêg
rpo<jp«rs i'rtxa instead of giving a plain rataonalistic motive, really, although perhaps
unconsciously, may be giving the right reason.
139) Cf. perhaps the ancient custom, mentioned v. Haberiand p. 271 from India, to
place the offering-dishes on the holy Kusa-grass, and the fact, that according to one
tradition the oldest altar at Delphi had been erected from branches of laurel.
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bis zum Ausgang der Antonine, 4 Bde, 9e Aufl., Leipzig 1919.
GARDTHAUSEN, V.: Augustus und seine Zeit, 2 Bnde, Leipzig 1891.
GERCKE, A.: Die Entstehung der Aeneis, Berlin 1913.
GRUPPE, O.: Griechische Mythologie und Religionsgeschichte, München, 1906.
HEHN, V.: Kulturpflanzen und Haustiere, 4e Aufl., Berlin 1883.
HEINZE, R.: Virgil's epische Technik, 3e Aufl., Leipzig und Berlin 1928 (EP).
Die Augusteische Kultur, Leipzig und Berlin 1930.
HELBIG, W.: Die Italiker in der Po-ebene, Leipig 1879.
HEYNE, CHR. G.: P. Virgilius Maro, varietate Iectionis et perpetua annotatione illustratus
a —, London, 1835.
HOMO, L.: 1'Italie primitive, Paris 1925.
Auguste, Paris 1935.
HÖNN, K.: Augustus, Wien 1938.
HOPF, L.: Thierorakel und Orakelthiere, Stuttgart 1888.
KlNDERMANN, C. H.: Quaestiones de fabulis a Vergilio in Aeneide tractatis, Leiden 1885.
KLAUSEN, R. H.: Aeneas und die Penaten, 2e Bde, Hamburg und Gotha, 1839/40.
KROLL, W.: Die Originalitat Vergils, Neue Jahrb. 1908, p. 513 sqq.
LEHR, H.: Religion und Kult in Vergils Aeneis, Giessen, 1934.
LUTTERBACHER, FR.: Der Prodigienglauben und Prodigienstil der Römer, Beilage z.
Jahresber. Gymn. Burgdorf, Burgdorf, 1880.
MACKAIL, J. W.: The Aeneid, edited with introduction and commentary by —, Oxford
1930.
MALTEN, L.: Aineias, Arch. f. Rel. wiss. XXIX (1931), p. 33—59.
MANDRA, R.: The time-element in the Aeneid of Vergil, Williamsport, Penna, 1934.
MARETT, R. R.: The threshold of religion, 2d ed., London 1914.
MARQUARDT, J.: Römische Staatsverwaltung I—III, Leipzig 1873—1878.
Das Privatleben der Römer I, II, Leipzig 1879, 1882.
MESSERSMIDT, FR.: Bronzezeit und frühe Eisenzeit in Italien, Berlin und Leipzig 1935.
MULLER, FR.: Augustus, mededeelingen der Kon. Ned. Akad. v. Wetenschappen, afd.
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NLSSEN, H.: Italische Landeskunde, 2e Bde, Berlin 1883—1902.
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P- Vergilius Maro Aeneis Buch VI, erklart von —, Leipzig 1903.
PAIS, E.: Storia di Sicilia I, Torino 1894.
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PEASE, A. S.: M. Tulli Ciceronis de Divinatione libri, the University of Illinois, 1920,
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PFISTER, FR.: Die Religion der Griechen und Römer (Burs. Jahresber. Suppl. Bd. 229),
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 252

PLATNER—ASHBY: A topographical dictionnary of ancient Rome, by Samuel Ball Platner,

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SANCTIS, G. DE: Storia dei Romani I, Torino 1907.
SAUNDERS, CATHERINE: Vergil's primitive Italy, Oxford University Press, 1930.
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(Rel. Exp.).
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Roman ideas of deity in the last century before the Christian era,
London 1914.
 253

WARDE FOWLER, W.: Virgil's gathering of the clans, 2d edition, Oxford 1918.
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1. XXVIII, 22—29, Amsterdam, 1935.

ABBREVIATIONS.
(The classical Greek and Roman authors are as a rule not mentioned here, as most
abbreviations are the usual ones. Here follows a list of those that are more uncommon,
and which I have introduced to save space.)
DC Dio Cassius
DH Dionysius of Halicarnassus
OF Ovidius, Fasti
OM Ovidius, Metamorphoses
SA Servius' commentary on Vergil's Aeneid
SDA Servius Danielis' commentary on Vergil's Aeneid
SB Servius' commentary on Vergil's Bucolics
VA Vergilius, Aeneid
VB Vergilius, Bucolics
VG Vergilius, Georgics
(Pliny without any addition always denotes the Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder.)

PERIODICALS, etc.
AA Archaologische Anzeiger
AdI Annali dell' Instituto
Arch. f. Rel. Wiss. Archiv für Religionswissenschaft
CAH Cambridge Ancient History (see Bibl.)
CJ Classical Journal
Dar Sagl. Daremberg et Saglio (see Bibl.)
ERE Encyclopaedia of religion and ethics (see Bibl.)
ErnM Ernout et Meillet (see Bibl.)
IF Indogermanische Forschungen
JRS Journal of Roman Studies
KZ Kühn's Zeitung
MondI Monumenti dell' Instituto
MondL. Monumenti dei Lincei
Ndsc Notizie degli scavi
NJahrb. Neue Jahrbücher für das klassische Altertum
RE Pauly-Wissowa's Realencyclopaedie (see Bibl.)
REIA Reallexikon der indogerm. Altertumskunde (see Bibl.)
RGG Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart (see Bibl.)
Rh.M. Rheinisches Museum
RM Römische Mitteilungen.
 CONTENTS.
Page
PREFACE

AENEAS' ARRIVAL IN LATIUM 4

Possibility of the arrival of groups from Asia Minor in Italy at
the time of the sack of Troy — ancient traditions — archaeological
material — the legend of Aeneas need not reflect the memory of this —
exposition of the various reasons which caused Aeneas to reach Latium:
Homer — Aeneads in Troas — in other places — his relatives — Stesi-
choros — Elymi — other reasons — antagonism Italians and Greeks —
Aeneas connected with Rome, before being connected with an other town
in Latium — Aeneas' connection with Lavinium — Rome avails itself
of its Trojan origin about 200 b.C. — hardly any traces of this during
the following century — several aristocratie Roman families begin to tracé
their descent to Trojan forbears, i.a. the Julii — Ascanius-Julus — this
descent especially stressed by Caesar — and Augustus — reasons for this.
— Vergils' Aeneas.

CAIETA 27
Caieta before Vergil — origin of the name, the place and the figure of
Caieta — Details: nutrix — Hesperia — navigation in Antiquity.

ClRCE 39
Aeneas' sailing past cape Circeium not mentioned before Vergil — Vergil's
reasons for mentioning it — Circe a figure of the legendary history of
Italy — the reason(s) for her connection with Italy, and with cape
Circeium — Details: correspondences with and deviations from Homer —
local colour — praetervectio — contradictions.

THE TIBER 53
Vergil, in contravention of his sources, makes the Trojans land, not "in
agro Laurenti", but at the Tiber — his reasons for this — description of
nature: contrast with the present aspect — Vergil's reasons for giving
this charming description — Tiberinus — fluvio succedit opaco.

LATINUS 69
Latinus originally existed independent of the legend of Aeneas — originally
not connected with Laurentum or Lavinium — originally he had not a
sacral character — an artificial product of Greek antiquarians — his
connection with Aeneas — Latinus in Vergil — Details: iam senior —
longa in pace regebat — pax Augusta.

LAVINIA 79
Lavinia not found in the older tradition of the legend of Aeneas —
originated only after Aeneas was said to have founded Lavinium — her
name — her personality in Vergil — Details: Latinus no sons — Latinus
only one daugh'ter — iam matura viro, iam plenis nubilis annis. Excurs:
matriarchy in Rome ?
 255

Page
PORTENTS 91
Not found in any of the other sources — Vergil's reason(s) for inserting
them — did they belong to the original plan of Vergil's Aeneid ? —
belief in prodigies in ancient Rome — in Augustan Rome — of Augustus —
explanation of this belief — portentum — varii.

LAURUS 96
Derivation of the name Laurentes from the laurus a later etymology ?
— the antiquity of the laurel in Latium — tree-cult in ancient Italy —
explanation of the veneration of trees and woods — animatism — animism
— sacra comam, muitoque metu servata per annos — sacer — sacrare
(consecrare) — consecratio — totemistic denominations — laurel con-
sidered to be possessed of special gifts by several peoples, and also in
Rome — laurels connected with the house of Augustus, and with Augustus
himself — tecti medio in penetralibus altis: trees (sh'rubs) growing in
the compluvium — penetrale — laurel the sacred tree of Apollo — Apollo
the protector of Augustus — prominence of Apollo in the Aeneid — ipse
ferebatur Phoebo sacrasse Latinus — indirect connection with Apollo —
the Laurentes not mentioned in any of the other sources — their Hlstoricity
— their territory — aitia — Details: why is Latinus called "pater" here
Excurs I: sacer; II: the reasons why Apollo was chosen by Augustus for
his patron.

THE PRODIGY OF THE BEES 135

Important place of bees in augural lore, especially in Rome — unfavourable
as well as favourable meaning — reasons — explanation of the belief in
predicting animals — bees connected with Octavianus — Actium —
Vergil and the bees — Details: partes petere agmen easdem partibus ex
isdem — arx — vates, a haruspex — vates not originally Roman — the
Augustan "vates".

THE TENDING OF THE FIRE

Lavinia does not burn faggots on a real altar, but tends the hearth-
fire — arguments — castitas, emphasized in the cult of Vesta — reasons
— a perpetual fire kept up in or next door to the residence of the king
or chief among several peoples — tending of the fire by the unmarried
daughters of the king — Lavinium — Rome, Rhea Silvia, pontifex maxi-
mus — virgo — special interest of Augustus in the cult of Vesta —
reasons — Augustus built a shrine of Vesta beside or inside his own
house on the Palatine — Vergil foreshadowing a measure of Augustus?
— Excurs: altaria and ara.

THE PRODIOY OF THE FLAMES 165

The prodigy of flames, suddenly playing round a human head, without
h'urting it, often mentioned, especially in Roman history — favourable
and unfavourable meaning — explanations — the Etruscan prodigy of
Ocresia and Servius Tullius — the maiden impregnated by the fire —
this prodigy a connection with the fire (Volcanus) or not? Several details
reviving an association with Etruria: longae crines — corona insignis
gemmis — a prodigy of flames and similar prodigies playing a part in the
life of Augustus — connected with Lavinium — Details: nefas — dread
of fire in Augustan Rome — the interpreters of this prodigy.
 256

Page
THE ORACLE OF FAUNUS 178
Latinus' consulting the oracle of Faunus not mentioned in any of the
other sources of the story of Aeneas — Vergil's reasons for inserting
it — a starting.-point for this dream-oracle in tradition — Augustus
set great store by dreams — the dreams in Vergil in comparison with
the Homeric dreams — Vergil's reasons for inserting an incubation-oracle
— possibility of an original Roman incubation-oracle ? — the voice of
Faunus resounding in the wood — the origin of practice of incubation
— other instances of incubation in ancient Italy, i.a. the oracle of the
Daunian Kalchas — incoherencies in this passage: varias audit voces —
subita ex alto vox reddita luco est.

THE ALBUNEA 195

The place where Vergil supposed the Albunea to be situated — Tibur —
Aquae Albulae — near Lavinium — Bonstetten — Carcopino — Miss
Tilly — what did Vergil mean by "Albunea" here, a cascade, a wood,
or the wood with' the spring in it ? — luci — fixed Hellenistic scheme for
describing Ploutoneia — Details: mephitis — nemus.

OTHER DETAILS OF THE DESCRIPTION OF THE ORACLE OF FAUNUS . . 207

Silence — night — monitus — the practice of lying on the skin of a newly
slaughtered animal during the incubatio — its meaning — can a skin
have been used at an incubation-oracle of Faunus ? — sheep — centum
— mactare — bidens.

THE PR0D1GY OF THE CONSUMING OF THE MENSAE 221

This prodigy also mentioned by other authors relating the story of Aeneas
— the various versions — the origin of this tale — no connection with
the Penates — its origin a quibble, based on the dual meaning of "mensa"
— the elaboration of this tale by Vergil: place where the tables were eaten
— Vergil's reasons for giving Julus this part in the omen — the person
who had given this oracle to Aeneas (inconsistency between books III
and VII ?) — the character of the tables eaten, not celery but cakes —
not one large loaf, but several small cakes — spelt.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 250

ABBREVIATIONS 253

CONTENTS 254

INDEX 257
 INDEX.
(Only the principal subjects are mentioned here).
Actium, Apollo and —, 130/131; bees and
—, 141.
adolere, 152.
ador, 246/47; see further sub "far".
aedes Vestae, 157.
Aegean trade in the Mediterranean in
neolithic and early chalcolithic times, 5.
Aeneadic dynasty in Troas, 7, in Thraci'a, 7.
Aeneasi and the Aeneads, 7; and Anchises,
8/9; and Aphrodite, 8; and Aphrodite
Aineias, 9; and Julius Caesar, 24; and
Caieta, 27/28, 31; in Campania, 14/15;
has one child only, 88; and Circe, 39
sqq.; and the Elymi, 10/11; and his gods,
18/19; and Hellanikos, 15/16; historicity
of the story of —?, 4 sqq.; in Homer, 7;
and the Julii, 22/25; and Julus, 22; in
Latium, 17/18; and Latinus, 69/70; 73/75;
86/87; and Lavinia, 78/82; 84/85; and
Lavinium, 18/19; his sacral mi'ssion,
25/26; places in the environs of Cumae
connected with him, 27; portents con-
cerning his arrival, 91 sqq.; and the
prodigy of the mensae, 221 sqq.; and
the Romans, 6, 19/21; and Roman
families, 21/22; and Rome, 14/18; and
Sicily, 10/11; and Stesichoros, 10/11, 14;
in Thracia, 8; and the Troian women,
13; in Troas, 8; and Turnus, 81/82,
178/179; and Vergil, 25/26; other versions
of the story of —, 27/28, 39, 45, 53/54,
74/75, 79/82, 91, 123, 125, 178/80,
221/223.
Aeneia, Aenos, 8.
ager Laurens, 123/24.
aitia, 32, 126/127, 231.
Alban kings, 19.
Albunea, 194 sqq.
altaria, 151/152, 163/164.
altars, place of the — for burnt-offerings,
150/151.
amoenitas, 61.
Anchises, 8/9, 38/40.
animals, importance of — for primitive
man, 140/41; in palace of Circe, 47/50.
animatism, 102.
animism, 102/103.
Aphrodite Aineias, 9.
Apollo: and Actium, 130/131; in the Aeneid,
119; and the Augustan age, 132/133;
and Augustus, 117/122; 130/134; and the
gens Julia, 131/132; and Latinus, 120;
and the laurel, 98, 117; his temple on
the Palatine, 120; in Rome, 117.
Aquae Albulae, 194/195.
ara, 151 sqq., 163/164.
Ara Pacis, 26, 77, 113, 236.
arx, 145.
Athens, 116.
atrium, 115/116.
auditive painting in Vergil, 49.
Augustus, especially as concerns his being
foreshadowed in the time of Aeneas: and
Apollo p. 117 sqq., 130 sqq.; augur
p. 93; and bees p. 141; measures to
stimulate birth-rate, p. 88; born in Sep­
tember, p. 120; sudden lack of bread,
p. 238; and children: wants to revive
their assistance in ritual, p. 237, predi-
lection of them, p. 238, preference for
their jokes at meal-times, p. 237; and
Cybele, p. 56; his daughter, p. 90; and
dreams, p. 180; his estate in the ager
Laurens, p. 122; and fire in Rome, p.
176; his food, p. 249; his female relatives,
p. 34; and the haruspices, p. 177; and
laurels: laurels connected with his palace,
p. 114, with his person, p. 114/5; his
marriage with Livia, p. 81/2; his raising
the Mausoleum, p. 32; his meals, p. 249;
nocturnal offerings at the saeculum, p.
208; and Ostia, p. 57/8; 234; his palace,
p. 114, 162; palm-tree a symbol of his
life p. 117; parens patriae, p. 128/9; and
peace, p. 77/8; pontifex maximus, p. 107,
160; prodigies: belief in —, p. 93, prod.
accompanying his birth, p. 182, prod.
before his rise to power, p. 92, prod.
of the flames, p. 173; and the Sidus
Julium, p. 173, 175; a slave woman of
his, p. 34; the Tiber in his time, p. 63/4;
his alleged Trojan origin, p. 24; his tutor,
 258
p. 34; and the vates, p. 148; and Vesta:
his interest in the cult of Vesta, p.
159/60, her shrine is his palace, p. 160/62;
and visions, p. 193; witty, p. 238.
auspicia ex acuminibus, 166, 175.
bears in Italy, 47/48.
bees: in augural lore, 135 sqq., and
Augustus 141/142; an evil omen, 136
sqq.; a good omen, 137 sqq., considered
as holy, 141; in Homer, 143; and the
laurel, 145; in mythology, 135; and poets,
137; and sovereignty, 136; and Vergil,
143.
belief in animal prodigies, 140.
belief in prodigies, 94.
bidens, 219/220.
Caesar stresses his Trojan descent, 24; and
Ostia, 57, 234.
Caieta, 27 sqq.; a deity?, 28; etymology,
29; importance of the harbour, 31; the
local aspect, 28/30; nurse of Aeneas, 31.
cakes, 240/241.
camilli, their function at the offering, 150.
castitas, 153 sqq.
castus, 153 sqq.
Celaeno, 238/240.
celery, 240.
centum, 213/216.
chastity, 153 sqq.
child, the — in the Augustan Rome, 235;
in Hellenism, 235; the only — in the
Aeneid, 88; in ritual and divination,
236/237.
Circe, in the legendary history of Latium,
40; and the promunturium Circeium,
40/41; a witch, 43.
Circei, 41; a place of deportation, 49.
Circeium, promunturiüm —, local aspect,
39, 46, 48; poisonous plant on —, 50.
consecrare, 105/110.
corn, 234, 241.
corona insignis gemmis, 171.
crown, 171/172.
Cybele, 55/56.
daughter left after the sons had died, motif,
that a —, 85; unmarried — of the king,
157.
Daunii, 191.
deinosis, 177.
Demophon, 170.
dominarier, 147.
dream-oracles given in verse, 194.
dreams: in the tradition of the story of
Aeneas, 179/80; of Augustus, 180; in
Homer, 180/181; their significance for
primitive man, 187/191; Vergil's
treatment of —, 181/2.
dream-voice, 194.
Earth, power of the —, 188/190.
Elmo, St. — 's fire, 165.
Elymi, 10 sqq.
Ennius and Vergil, 37.
eponyms, 73, 80.
Etruscans, 5, 13, 44.
Etrurian: Circei an — name?, 41; Circe
on — mirrors, 42; metal crown —, 172;
flames an — prodigy?, 166; — way of
dressing the hair of women, 170/71; harus-
pices —, 177; jewels — 172; Laurentes
an — name?, 96; Volcanus an — deity?,
167/168.
exogamy, 86 sqq., 90.
far, 225/226, 241, 245/249.
far-off lands, 42.
Faunus, a chthonical deity? 192; Illyrian
origin of —?, 192; god of the mysterious
voices of Nature, 185/186; his oracle
described by Ovid, 206; origjnality of
an ancient-Italian incubation-oracle of
—?, 183 sqq.; a prophetic god, 184/185.
filia famili'as, 83.
fire, dread of fire in Rome, 176/177; in the
king's house, 156 sqq.; maiden, impregna-
ted by the —, 167/169; among primitive
peoples, 155 sqq.
Fiumara, 59.
flames, prodigies of flames in general, 174;
round the head of Ascanius, 165/77; —
rising from the sacrificial altar, 175.
focus, 151/152.
fons, 200.
foreigner the successor of the ancient king,
86.
Fucentes, 112.
gems, 171/172.
girl in ancient Rome, 83/84.
groves, sacred —, 100/101.
hairs, 170/171.
halludnations, 193.
halo, 166.
haruspices in Rome, 145, 177.
hearth, cult of the —, 154 sqq.
hecatombs, 215.
Hellanikos, 15/16.
Hellenistic: admiration for children, 235/
236; aitia, 126/127; halo, 166; preference
for the word Hesperia, 36; marvel-
collections, 92; view of Nature, 61;
 259

nurse in — literature, 33; scheme of hearth-fi're at —, 158; prodigy at its

describing Ploutoneia, 204; riddles and foundation, 174.
riddle-orades, 230/231; river-gods; 67; libum, 241/242.
yearning towards rural life, 232; strength- liquidum trans aethera vectae, 144.
ening, of old Greek motifs, 49, 216; Livia, 84/85, 114, 160.
effects of style, deinosis, 177. longac crines, 170/171.
heroes, Greek — reaching Italy, 4/5; 11/12. lucus, 46, 60, 64, 100 sqq., 193, 202, 206.
Hesperia, 35 sqg. mactare, 216/218.
Hirpini, 112. mactus, 216/218.
Homer: Aeneas in —, 7; bees in —, 143; Marcius, 147.
cakes not nientioncd. 241, 242; the heroes marriages, political — in the Augustan
in — have many children as a rule, 88; age, 84; age at which girls married in
and Circe, 39/40; 43/51; dreams 180/181; Rome, 89/90.
his use of hundred, 213/216; no incubat- matriarchy among the Roman kings?, 88.
ion, 182; no jewels, 172; meal taken soon Mausoleum, 32.
after the landing, 233; Nausikaa, 83, meal, evil influences feared at the meal,
nurse, 33; prodigies, 93; offerings of 247.
sheep, 213; no spelt-bread, 243; table, I mensae, meaning of —, 228/229, 245.
243.
mensae paniceae of the Penates, 224.
homonymies, 230. Mephitis, 204/206.
honey and wax, 138. Misenus, 10, 14, 27/28.
honos, 29. monitus, 208.
hundred, 213/216.
Munatius Plancus, 31, 32.
inconsistenties, 193/194; 198; 214; 238/40. name not mentioned when the poet intro­
incubationt origin of the practice of —
ducés a figure of importance for the
186. first time, 82/83.
incubation-oracles, 208 sqq.; in ancient- names of girls in Rome, 82/83.
Italy, 191; in Greece in the Augustan Nature, Alexandrian view of —, 61; rules
age, 182/183; lustral ceremonies at —, for description of — in the epos, 65;
209; offerings, 213/214; originality of in Vergil, 62.
Roman —, 183/184; of Faunus?, 183/184. navigation, 38.
Italian cities said to have been founded nefas, 176.
by Greek heroes, 6. nemus, 206.
Julii, 24. Neptunus, 51.
Julus, 23, 234 sqq. night, 207/208.
Kalchas, 191.
numbers, preference for round —, 215.
Kallias, 7.
nutrix, 32 sqq.
Laistrygons, 29. Ocresia, 166, 174.
Latini, 73.
Odysseus, 4, 11/12, 27/28, 44, 69.
Latmus, 69; apotheosis, 70; character, 75; Ostia, 54, 234.
house-oracle, 213/14; localization, 69/70; pars, 144.
no sacral character originally, 72; no pater, epithet of ancient gods, 127/128;
sons, 85 sqq.; wealth, 216; son of Circe, the ruler the "pater" of his people, 128.
40, 45, 69.
pax, peace, 26, 76/78, 143.
laurel: antiquity of the — in Latium, 97; Penates, 225/226.
and Apollo, 98, 117; and Augustus, penetrale, 116.
114/115; considered to be possessed of Picentes, 112.
special gifts, 113; its use in Rome, 113. pietas, 18, 25/26, 87.
Laurentes! etymology, 96 sq.; historicity?, Ploutoneia, 204.
124; origin, 125; territory, 96 sqq., 125/ pontifex maximus and Vestals, 158.
126; a totemistic denomination?, 110 sqq., portents, 91 sqq.; Augustus' belief in —,
the — in tradition, 123.
93; explanation of the belief in —, 94;
Lavinia, 79 sqq., the filia familias, 83.
belonging to the original plan of the
Lavinium, 18 sqq.; ancient cult of the Aeneid, 91/92; not found in the other
 260

versions, 91; before Octavianus' rise to
power, 92; in ancient Rome, 93; several
— at the same time, 94/95.
portentum, 94/95.
prodigy of the bees, 135 sqq.
prodigy of the flames, 165 sqq.
prodigy of flames playing a part in the
life of Augustus, 173.
prodigy of the mensae, 221 sqq.
praetervectio, 45.
quibbles, 228.
Regia, 157.
religiosus, 105, 110.
reguireinents for the person who marries
the princess royal, 87.
Rhea Silvia, 158.
riddles, 229/230.
river-gods, 67.
Roman families, Trojan descent of —, 21.
romantic tendency of the Augustan age,
232/3, 235.
Rome's political reasons for availing itself
of its Trojan origin, 19/20; referring to
this, 20.
sacer, 104/105; 129/130.
sacrare, 106/107.
sanctus, 104.
sand of the Tiber, 60.
senex, iam senior, 75/76.
Servius Tullius, flames and —, 166 sqq.
settlements in the vicinity of sacred trees,
102.
sheep, 212/213; in Rome, ibid.
sidus Julium, 166, 173, 175.
silence, 207.
skin, practice of lying on the skin of a
newly slaughtered animal at an
incubation-oracle, 208 sqq., 210 sqq.;
origins of this practice, 209 sqq.; at the
oracle of Faunus?, 211.
Sol, 47.
son-in-law a foreigner, 86.
Spartans, at Caieta, 29/30.
spelt, see far.
Stesichoros, 10 sqq.
struggle about the bride, 81/82; on life
and death, 87.
summanalia, 233.
table, 243/245; magie power of the —, 248.
Tabula Iliaca, 14.
taedae, 154/155.
Thybris, 66.
Tiber, 53 sqq., connection with oldest
history of Rome, 55; sandy, 60, yellow,
60; in the Augustan age, 63; earlier
aspects, 64; Tiberinus, 66.
Timaeus, 18.
time in the Aeneid, 37, 47, 193.
totemism, 110—113.
tree-cult, in Rome, in Italy, in other lands,
99, 104, 107.
tree-prodigies, 127.
trees, in the peristylium or in the implu-
vium, 115/116; view, that men originated
from —, 111.
Triptolemos, 170.
Trojan women burning the ships, 13.
tumulus, 28, 32.
Turnus, 178/179.
vates, 146 sqq., origin of the word, not
an anci'ent-Roman figure, in Augustan
times, Vergil a —.
Venus Frutis, sanctuary of —, 18.
Vergil: and Aeneas, 25/26; aitia, 126; and
the Albunea, 195 sqq., 201 sqq.; and
Apollo, 119; and bees, 140, 141; and
Caieta, 31/32; and Circe, 39/40; dreams,
180/182; the dream-oracle of Faunus,
172, 183, 193/194; Hesperia, 37; Homer,
45 sqq.; Latinus, 75/76; laurel, 114, 117;
the adjective Laurens, 123/124, 126;
Laurentes, 96/97; 132; Lavinia, 83/90;
peace, 76/78; mactare, 215; large
offerings, 215/216; preference for words
as "nefas", 176; prefigured himself, 148;
preparing measures of Augustus, 128/
129; 162; and prodigies, 91/93, 95; and
prodigy bees, 135, 141; and prodigy
flames, 165/166, 170, 172/3; and prodigy
mensae, 221 sqq., 232, 237 sqq.; his
purpose and method, 1/31 his picture of
the ruler, 128; and the Tiber, 53/65; and
the tending of the fire, 158/59, 162; a
tree tecti medio, 115; his treatment of
prophecy, 186; a vates himself, 147.
Vesta, aedes, 157; cult of — at Lavinium,
158; shrine of—in the house of Augustus,
161/2; and Volcanus, 168/169; interest
of Augustus in cult of —, 159/60.
Vestal virgins, pontifex maximus and —,
158; not wearing a veritable wreath, 171.
virgo, 158.
Volcanus, 165 sqq.
woodedness of ancient Italy, 64.
wool, lustratious effect, its use for sacred
garments, 209 sqq.
wreath, 171.
Zolforata, 199.