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Virgil, in his Eclogue, imitates Theocritus, a Sicilian Poet.

The name of the Rural Muse.

Varus—A great Favourite of Augustus, the same that was kill'd in Germany, and lost the Roman Legions.

Some Interpreters think these were young Satyrs, others will have them Shepherds: I rather take them for Satyrs, because of their Names, which are never used for Shepherds, or any where (that I remember) but here.

Proteus, Pan, and Silenus would never tell what was desired, till they were bound.

The Latin word for a Water-Nymph.

The Colour that Pan and Silenus lov'd best.

Minerva delighted with the Art and Industry of Prometheus (who had made an Image of Clay so perfect that it wanted nothing but Life,) carried him up to Heav'n, where he lighted a Wand at the Chariot of the Sun, with which Fire he animated his Image. Ovid. 2. M.

Favourite of Hercules, who was drown'd in a Well, which made the Poets say that a Nymph had stole him away. I use the word resounds (in the present Tense) because Strabo (who lived at the same time as Virgil) seems to intimate, that the Prusians continued then their annual Rites to his Memory, repeating his Name with loud Cries.

Daughters of Prætis King of Argus, who presum'd so much upon their Beauty, that they preferr'd it to Juno's, who in revenge struck them with such Madness that they thought themselves Cows. They were at last cured by Melampodes with Helebore, and for that reason, black Helebore is called Melampodion.

An excellent Poet and great Friend of Virgil, he was afterwards Prætor of Ægypt, and being accused of some Conspiracy, or rather called upon for some Monies, of which he could give no good account, he kill'd himself. It is the same Gallus you read of in the last Eclogue: And Suidas says, that Virgil means him by Aristæus, in the divine Conclusion of his Georgicks.

Linus, Son of Apollo and Calliope.

Consecrated to Apollo; by this he means some Poem writ upon that Subject by Gallus.

Sylla, Daughter of Nisus King of Megara, who falling in Love with Minos, betrayed her Father and Country to him, but he abhorring her Treason, rejected her.

Another Sylla, Daughter of Phorcis, whose lower Parts were turned into Dogs by Circe; and she, in despair, flung her self into the Sea.

Ulysse's Ships were not lost, though Scylla devoured several of his Men.

a River in Greece whose Banks were shaded with Laurels; Apollo retired thither to lament the Death of his dear Hyacinthus, whom he had accidentally killed.

Delicta majorum immeritus lues. The Pagans had discover'd this Truth, That Posterity might suffer for a Crime of their Ancestors; and that 'till such Crime was aton'd for, the Children of the Offenders were liable to the Punishment due to their Crime.

Diis te minorem quod geris imperas. Christians themselves could not have given better Instructions to Princes: You are no longer Kings than you own a God above you, and trust in his Power. This Horace writ not so much for the Roman People, as for Augustus; of whom, Book I. Ode XII. speaking to Jupiter, he says,

He will ever own you to be above him; he will content himself with the Government of the World.

Hinc omne principium. He says we should begin all our Works with Prayer to the Gods, and end them with Thanksgivings. This he recommends as a seasonable Precept, after so much Misery which had follow'd upon the Contempt of Religion.

Renidet. γελα, he laughs. So Catullus, Ode XXXVI.

Egnatius is always laughing, because he has white Teeth.

Delevit urbem Dacus & Æthiops. This is not to be understood of two several times, as though the Dacians and Ethiopians had like to have taken Rome one after another: Horace speaks here of the Forces of Antony and Cleopatra, who had a design on the City, as he says, Book I. Ode XXXVII.

While the mad Queen threaten'd final Destruction to the Capitol and Empire. It must be noted that the Ethiopians and Dacians composed a great part of Antony's Troops.

Æthiops. The Troops of Cleopatra, Ethiopians and Egyptians; for Egypt was comprehended under the general Name of Ethiopia.

Ille missilibus melior sagittis. This is the Dacian. The Northern People were generally good Archers; and Strabo says their Arms were Sword, Buckler, Bow and Quiver.

De tenero meditatur ungui. This is a Greek Proverb, εξ απαλων των ονυχων, de tenero ungui, de teneris unguiculis, from ones tender Age. Tully in an Epistle to Lentulus, says: Sed præsta te eum qui mihi à teneris, ut Græci dicunt, unguiculis es cognitus. Let me find you the same Man as I have always known you to be ever since you was a little Child. Observe here how Horace uses the Preposition de instead of à.

Inter mariti vina. A Passage of Ovid may explain this, in his first Book de arte.

When you are at the Table with your Mistress, and she sits upon the same Couch with you, &c.

Gaudia. This word must not be chang'd. Ovid has it in the same sense, de arte Lib. III.

Seu navis Hispanæ magister. Magister navis sometimes signifies the chief Man in the Ship, or the Pilot: But here Horace puts it for the Owner of the Vessel, the trading Merchant. Now there was great Trade betweem Italy and Spain: the Spaniards furnish'd Rome with Wine, and carried back Goods from thence in exchange.

Dedecorum pretiosus emptor. The Word pretiosus here is a very ingenious, pertinent Epithet: for it signifies one who buys dear, who spares for nothing; much the same as damnosus. Horace handsomely describes the Avarice of the Women in his Time, who preferr'd Merchants and Ship-Masters for their Gallants, only because they paid better than others.

Ingentem Antiochum. Antiochus was King of Syria. Æmilius Regillus beat him by Sea, and L. Scipio by Land: At last he was slain by his own People, in the Year of Rome DLXVII.

Sed rusticorum mascula militum. The Roman Troops were composed of Rusticks, Countrymen, such as they raised for the most part in the Territory of the Marsians, in Apulia, and among the Samnites. Varoo has a fine Remark upon this, in the beginning of his Book of Husbandry. Viri magni nostri majores non sine causâ præponebant rusticos Romanos urbanis; ut ruri enim qui in villâ vivunt ignavlores quam qui in agro versantur in aliquo opere faciundo: Sic qui in oppido sederent, quam qui rura colerent, desidiores putabant. It is not without Reason that those great Men, our Ancestors, preferr'd the Romans in the Country before those in the City; for as in the Country itself, those whose Business lies within Doors are lazier than those who stir abroad and work in the Field; so they reckon'd that those who led a sedentary Life in the City, were not so fit for Service as those that follow'd Husbandry. The same Author has something fuller yet, in the beginning of his IIId Book. Itaque non sine causà majores nostri ex urbe in agris redigebant cives suos, quod & in pace à rusticis Romanis alebantur, & in bello ab his tutabantur. Our Forefathers were in the right, to send Citizens abroad and settle them in Country places; because the Romans in the Country furnish'd the City with Provisions in time of Peace, and defended it in War.

Severæ matris ad arbitrium. This is a good Description of a painful Mother who makes her Children work, and will not be pleased if they don't bring home good Loads of Fuel at Night. He has the same Thought again, Book V. Ode II. The Samnite Women were so industrious, that they managed the Farms for their Husbands, and left them Nothing to do. See Columella's Preface to his XIth Book, where he opposes the pains-taking Women of the first Times, to the fine, lazy, voluptuous Dames of his own Age.

Sol ubi montium mutaret umbras. This mutare of Horace, is the same with Virgil's duplicare. It may be explain'd of the changing of Place. For when the Sun sets, the Shadow is not in the same place where it was three Hours before.

Et juga demeret bobus. The Greeks have happily exprest this by one Word βουλυσις or βουλυτος, which Tully uses in his XXVIIth Epistle to Atticus, Book XV. Adventabat autem βουλυσ[] cœnantibus nobis. He came in the Evening as we were at Supper, about the time of unyoking the Oxen. See the IId Ode of the Vth Book.

Amicus tempus. He calls the Evening a Friend to Labourers, because it puts an end to their Days Work.

Ætas parentum. Here I admire the Poet's Art, who has said so much of four Generations in three short Verses. If it be true that he has imitated the Verses of Aratus, as Lambin and Muretus tell us, the Copy may be said to excel the Original.

As your Fathers left Children not so good as themselves, so you will leave those that are worse than you are. Muretus says farther, that both these Poets have borrow'd the Thought from Homer, who writes that few Children are like their Father; that he observed a great many to be worse, but rarely found one better. But it well deserves to be noted, that Horace grounded his Remark upon true History of the Times for the three first Generations, and that he prophesied truly of the fourth, as is easie to prove, by comparing the Reign of Tiberius with that of Augustus .