Virgil (70-19 B.C.), a poet of exceptional talent, had the good fortune of being appreciated as an accomplished literary artist by his own contemporaries. Later, he was immortalized in the schoolboy curricula of ancient Rome, Renaissance Europe, Erasmian England, and early America, where his ten Eclogues and four Georgics, pastoral and buccolic poems which are considered his minor works, were studied for their mastery of poetic expression and metrical facility. His major work, the Aeneid, a twelve book epic describing the founding of Rome, was nearly complete at the time of his death. Recent scholarship has unfolded several new and rather sophisticated layers of Augustan political propaganda contained in the Aeneid. The Founding Fathers of the young American nation, amidst very delicate and precarious political times two hundred years ago, had discovered many of these same themes, albeit in a much more simplistic manner as schoolboys from New Hampshire to North Carolina analyzed it for its moralistic content and nationalistic messages during the eighteenth century in America.

        The following text selections include the fourth Eclogue from John Pine's Publii Virgilii Maronis Opera, Vol. I, printed in London in 1755, and lines 1-200 of the second book of the Aeneid from a delightful, but compactly diminutive (3" x 5") edition, anonymously authored, of Pub. Virgilii Maronis Opera, printed in London in 1616.

        Sicelides Musae, paullo majora canamus.
        Non omnis arbusta juvant, humilesque myricae.
        Si canimus sylvas, sylvae sint Consule dignae.
        Ultima Cumaei venit jam carminis aetas:
        Magnus ab integro seclorum nascitur ordo.                                5
        Jam redit et Virgo: redeunt Saturnia regna:
        Jam nova progenies coelo demittitur alto.
        Tu modo nascenti puero, quo ferrea primum
        Desinet, ac toto surget gens aurea mundo,
        Casta fave Lucina: tuus iam regnat Apollo.                               10
        Teque adeo decus hoc aevi, te Consule, inibit
        Pollio: et incipient magni procedere menses.
        Te duce, si qua manent, sceleris vestigia nostri
        Irrita perpetua solvent formidine terras.
        Ille deum vitam accipiet, divisque videbit                                15
        Permixtos heroas, et ipse videbitur illis,
        Pacatumque reget patriis virtutibus orbem.
        At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu,
        Errantis ederas passim cum baccare tellus,
        Mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho.                               20
        Ipsae lacte domum referent distenta capellae
        Ubera: nec magnos metuent armenta leones.
        Ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores,
        Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni
        Occidet: Assyrium vulgo nascetur amomum.                             25
        At simul heroum laudes, et facta parentis
        Jam legere, et quae sit poteris cognoscere virtus;
        Molli paullatim flavescet campus arista,
        Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva:
        Et durae quercus sudabunt roscida mella.                                  30
        Pauca tamen suberunt priscae vestigia fraudis,
        Quae tentare Thetim ratibus, quae cingere muris
        Oppida, quae jubeant telluri infindere sulcos.
        Alter erit tum Tiphys, et altera quae vehat Argo
        Delectos heroas: erunt etiam altera bella:                                  35
        Atque iterum ad Trojam magnus mittetur Achilles.
        Hinc, ubi jam firmata virum te fecerit aetas,
        Cedet et ipse mari vector; nec nautica pinus
        Mutabit merces: omnis feret omnia tellus.
        Non rastros patietur humus, non vinea falcem:                          40
        Robustus quoque jam tauris juga solvet arator:
        Nec varios discet mentiri lana colores.
        Ipse sed in pratis aries jam suave rubenti
        Murice, jam croceo mutabit vellera luto:
        Sponte sua sandyx pascentis vestiet agnos.                               45
        Talia secla, suis dixerunt, currite, fusis
        Concordes stabili fatorum numine Parcae.
        Aggredere o magnos (aderit jam tempus) honores,
        Cara deum suboles, magnum Jovis incrementum!
        Aspice convexo nutantem pondere mundum,                            50
        Terrasque, tractusque maris, coelumque profundum:
        Aspice, venturo laetentur ut omnia seclo.
        0 mihi tum longae maneat pars ultima vitae,
        Spiritus et, quantum sat erit tua dicere facta!
        Non me carminibus vincet nec Thracius Orpheus,                    55
        Nec Linus: huic mater quamvis, atque huic pater adsit:
        Orphei Calliopea, Lino formosus Apollo.
        Pan etiam, Arcadia mecum se judice certet,
        Pan etiam Arcadia dicat se judice victum.
        Incipe, parve puer, risu cognoscere matrem:                            60
        Matri longa decem tulerunt fastidia menses.
        Incipe, parve puer: cui non risere parentes,
        Nec Deus hunc mensa, Dea nec dignata cubili est.
 

B. Virgil: Aeneid 2. 1-200:

        Conticuere omnes, intentique ora tenebant:
        Inde toro pater Aeneas sic orsus ab alto:
        Infandum regina iubes renovare dolorem:
        Troianas ut opes, et lamentabile regnum
        Eruerint Danai: quaeque ipse miserrima vidi:                            5
        Et quorum pars magna fui. quis talia fando
        Myrmidonum, Dolopumve, aut duri miles Ulyssi,
        Temperet a lacrymis? et iam nox humida coelo
        Praecipitat, suadentque cadentia sydera somnos.
        Sed si tantus amor casus cognoscere nostros,                           10
        Et breviter Troiae supremum audire laborem:
        Quanquam animus meminisse horret, luctuque refugit,
        Incipiam. Fracti bello, fatisque repulsi
        Ductores Danaum tot iam labentibus annis,
        Instar montis equum, divina Palladis arte                                 15
        Aedificant, sectaque intexunt abiete costas.
        Votum pro reditu simulant, ea fama vagatur.
        Huc delecta virum sortiti corpora furtim
        Includunt caeco lateri, penitusque cavernas
        Ingentes, uterumque armato milite complent.                            20
        Est in conspectu Tenedos, notissima fama
        lnsula, dives opum, Priami dum regna manebant,
        Nunc tantum sinus, et statio malefida carinis.
        Huc se provecti deserto in litore condunt:
        Nos abiisse rati, et vento petiisse Mycenas.                             25
        Ergo omnis longo solvit se Teucria luctu:
        Panduntur portae: iuvat ire, et Dorica castra,
        Desertosque videre locos, littusque relictum.
        Hic Dolopum manus, hic saevus tendebat Achilles,
        Classibus hic locus, hic acies certare solebant,                        30
        Pars stupet innuptae donum exitiale Minervae
        Et molem mirantur equi, primusque Timoetes
        Duci intra muros hortatur, et arce locari:
        Sive dolo, seu iam Troiae sic fata ferebant.
        At Capys, et quorum melior sententia menti,                             35
        Aut pelago Danaum insidias suspectaque dona
        Praecipitare jubent, subjectisque urere flammis:
        Aut terebrare cavas uteri et tentare latebras.
        Scinditur incertum studia in contraria vuigus.
        Primus ibi ante omnes magna comitante caterva,                      40
        Laocoon ardens summa decurrit ab arce:
        Et procul, 0 miseri, quae tanta insania, cives?
        Creditis avectos hostes? Aut ulla putatis
        Dona carere dolis Danaum? sic notus Ulysses?
        Aut hoc inclusi ligno occultantur Achivi:                                  45
        Aut in haec nostros fabricate est machina muros,
        Inspectura domos, venturaque desuper urbi:
        Aut aliquis latet error. Equo ne credite Teucri.
        Quicquid id est, timeo Danaos, et dona ferentes.
        Sic fatus, validis ingentem viribus hastam                                 50
        In latus, inque feri curvam compagibus alvum
        Contorsit: stetit illa tremens uteroque recusso
        Insonuere cavae gemitumque dedere cavernae.
        Et si fata Deum, si mens non laeva fuisset,
        Impulerat ferro Argolicas foedare latebras:                              55
        Troiaque nunc stares, Priamique arx alta maneres.
        Ecce manus iuvenem interea post terga revinctum
        Pastores magno ad regem clamore trahebant
        Dardanidae: qui se ignotum venientibus ultro,
        Hoc ipsum ut strueret, Troiamque aperiret Achivis,                  60
        Obtulerat, fidens animi, atque in utrumque paratus,
        Seu versare dolos, seu certae occumbere morti.
        Undique visendi studio Troiana juventus
        Circumfusa ruit: certantque illudere capto.
        Accipe nunc Danaum insidias, et crimine ab uno                       65
        Disce omnes.
        Namque ut conspectu in medio turbatus inermis
        Constitit, atque oculis Phrygia agmina circumspexit,
        Heu quae nunc tellus, inquit, quae me aequora possunt
        Accipere? aut quid iam misero mihi denique restat?                  70
        Cui neque apud Danaos usquam locus, insuper ipsi
        Dardanidae infensi poenas cum sanguine poscunt.
        Quo gemitu conversi animi, compressus et omnis
        Impetus: hortamur fari: quo sanguine cretus,
        Quidve ferat memoret, quae sit fiducia capto.                            75
        Ille haec deposita tandem formidine fatur:
        Cuncta equidem tibi rex fuerint quaecunque, fatebor;
        Vera, inquit: neque me Argolica de gente negabo.
        Hoc primum: nec, si miserum fortuna Sinonem
        Finxit, vanum etiam mendacemque improba finget.                    80
        Fando aliquid si forte tuas pervenit ad aures
        Belidae nomen Palamedis, et inclyta famae
        Gloria: quem falsa sub proditione Pelasgi
        Insontem, infando indicio, quia bella vetabat,
        Demisere neci, nunc cassum lumine lugent.                                85
        Illi me comitem, et consanguinitate propinquum,
        Pauper in arma pater primis huc misit ab annis:
        Dum stabat regno incolumis, regnumque vigebat
        Consiliis, et nos aliquod nomenque decusque
        Gessimus: invidia postquam pellacis Ulyssi                               90
        (Haud ignota loquor) superis concessit ab oris,
        Afflictus vitam in tenebris luctuque trahebam,
        Et casum insontis mecum indignabar amici.
        Nec tacui demens: et me fors si qua tulisset,
        Si patrios unquam remeassem victor ad Argos,                           95
        Promisi ultorem, et verbis odia aspera movi.
        Hinc mihi prima mali labes: hinc semper Ulysses
        Criminibus terrere novis: hinc spargere voces
        In vulgum ambiguas, et quaerere conscius arma.
        Nec requievit enim, donec Calchante ministro                          100
        Sed quid ego haec autem nequicquam ingrata revolvo?
        Quidve moror? si omnes uno ordine habetis Achivos,
        Idque audire sat est: iam dudum sumite poenas.
        Hoc Ithacus velit, et magno mercentur Atridae.
        Tum vero ardemus scitari, et quaerere causas,                          105
        Ignari scelerum tantorum, artisque Pelasgae.
        Prosequitur pavitans, et ficto pectore fatur:
        Saepe fugam Danai Troia cupiere relicta
        Moliri, et longo fessi discedere bello,
        Fecissentque utinam: saepe illos aspera ponti                           110
        Interclusit hyems, et terruit auster euntes.
        Praecipue, cum iam hic trabibus contextus acernis
        Staret equus, toto sonuerunt aethere nimbi.
        Suspensi Eurypylum, scitatum oracula Phoebi,
        Mittimus, isque adytis haec tristia dicta reportat:                      115
        Sanguine placastis ventos, et virgine caesa,
        Cum primum Iliacas Danai venistis ad oras,
        Sanguine quaerendi reditus, animaque litandum
        Argolica vulgi quae vox ut venit ad aures,
        Obstupuere animi, gelidusque per ima cucurrit                          120
        Ossa tremor: cui fata parent, quem poscat Apollo.
        Hic Ithacus vatem magno Calchanta tumultu
        Protrahit in medios, quae sint ea numina Divum,
        Flagitat, et mihi iam multi crudele canebant
        Artificis seelus, et taciti ventura videbant.                                  125
        Bis quinos silet ille dies, tectusque recusat
        Prodere voce sua quenquam aut opponere morti.
        Vix tandem magnis Ithaci clamoribus actus,
        Composito rumpit vocem, et me desinat arae.
        Assensere omnes: et quae sibi quisque timebat,                         130
        Unius in miseri exitium conversa tulere.
        Iamque dies infanda aderat, mihi sacra parari,
        Et salsae fruges, et circum tempora vittae.
        Eripui (fateor) letho me, et vincula rupi,
        Limosoque lacu per noctem obscurus in ulva                             135
        Delitui, dum vela darent: si forte dedissent.
        Nec mihi iam patriam antiquam spes ulla videndi,
        Nec dulces natos, exoptatumque parentem:
        Quos illi fors ad poenas ob nostra reposcent
        Effugia, et culpam hanc miserorum morte piabunt.                     140
        Quod te, per superos, et conscia numina veri,
        Per, si qua est, quae restat adhuc mortalibus usquam
        Intemerata fides oro, miserere laborum
        Tantorum, miserere animi non digna ferentis.
        His lacrymis vitam damus, et miserescimus ultro.                      145
        Ipse viro primus manicas, atque arcta levari
        Vincla iubet Priamus, dictisque ita fatur amicis:
        Quisquis es, amissos hinc jam obliviscere Graios:
        Noster eris: mihique haec edissere vera roganti:
        Quo molem hanc immanis equi statuere? quis auctor?                150
        Quidve petunt? quae relligio? aut quae machina belli?
        Dixerat. Ille, dolis instructus et arte Pelasga,
        Sustulit exutas vinclis ad sidera palmas,
        Vos aeterni ignes, et non violabile vestrum
        Testor numen, ait vos arae ensesque nefandi,                             155
        Quos fugi, vittaeque Deum quas hostia gessi:
        Fas mihi Graiorum sacrata resolvere iura:
        Fas odisse viros, atque omnia ferre sub auras,
        Si qua tegunt: teneor patria nec legibus ullis.
        Tu modo promissis maneas, servataque serves                           160
        Troia fidem, si vera feram, si magna rependam.
        Omnis spes Danaum, et coepti fiducia belli,
        Palladis auxiliis semper stetit: impius ex quo
        Tydides, sed enim scelerumque inventor Ulysses,
        Fatale aggressi sacrato avellere templo                                      165
        Palladium, caesis summae custodibus arcis,
        Corripuere sacram effigiem, manibusque cruentis
        Virgineas ausi Divae contingere vittas:
        Ex illo fluere ac retro sublapsa referri
        Spes Danaum, fractae vires: aversa Deae mens,                        170
        Nec dubiis ea signa dedit Tritonia monstris.
        Vix positum castris simulacrum, arsere coruscae
        Luminibus flammae arrectis, salsusque per artus
        Sudor iit, terque ipsa solo (mirabile dictu)
        Emicuit, parmamque ferens, hastamque trementem.                   175
        Extemplo tentanda fuga canit aequora Calchas:
        Nec posse Argolicis exscindi Pergama telis,
        Omina ni repetant Argis, numenque reducant,
        Quod pelago, et curvis secum advexere carinis.
        Et nunc, quod patrias vento petiere Mycenas,                            180
        Arma, deosque parant comites, pelagoque remenso
        Improvisi aderunt: ita digerit omnia Calchas.
        Hanc pro Palladio moniti, pro numine laeso,
        Effigiem statuere, nefas quae triste piaret.
        Hanc tamen immensam Calchas attollere molem                        185
        Roboribus textis, coeloque educere iussit,
        Ne recipi portis, aut duci in moenia possit,
        Neu populum antiqua sub relligione tueri.
        Nam si vestra manus violasset dona Minervae,
        Tum magnum exitium (quod Dii prius omen in ipsum                 190
        Convertant) Priami imperio Phrygibusque futurum.
        Sin manibus vestris vestram ascendisset in urbem,
        Ultro Asiam magno Pelopeia ad moenia bello
        Venturam, et nostros ea fata manere nepotes.
        Talibus insidiis, perjurique arte Sinonis                                     195
        Credita res, captique dolis, lacrymisque coactis,
        Quos neque Tydides, nec Larissaeus Achilles,
        Non anni domuere decem, non mille carinae.
        Hic aliud maius miseris, multoque tremendum
        Obiicitur magis, atque improvida pectora turbat.                       200

   Selection A: the meter is dactylic hexameter; the date of the poem is 40 B.C. The peace of Brundisium had just
                        been concluded between Octavius Caesar and Antony.

 L.1 canamus, hortative subjunctive.

 L.2 Omnis = omnes, accusative plural

 L.3 Consule, the poem is dedicated to Asinius Pollio, Virgills patron, who in 40 B.C.
                            became consul and had a son born to him during the same year.

 L.4 Cumaei carminis, the Sibyl who resided at Cumae in Italy and who gave oracular
                            responses in verse. These verses apparently included two traditions of time: (1) that
                            there are successive cycles of time expressed in ages of metal, e.g., gold, silver, etc.,
                            with the last being that of the Sun god, Apollo, and (2) that there will occur a great
                            year, a magnus annus, or here, a magnus seclorum ordo, which is divided into ten
                            segments, over the last of which Apollo reigns.

 L.5 ab integro, "anew;" seclorum nascitur ordo, see inscription at the base of the
                            pyramid on a one dollar bill, United States currency.
 
 L.6 Virgo, a reference to Astraea, the goddess of justice; Saturnia regna, Saturn was
                            the king of Latium during the 'golden age. John Adams certainly had this verse in mind
                            when he wrote to Jefferson on 25 February 1825: "I look back with rapture to those
                            golden days when Virginia and Massachusetts lived and acted together like a band
                            of brothers and I hope it will not be long before they say redeunt saturnia regna."¹

 L.8 modo, adverb, "only"; quo, "under whom," ablative of cause; primum, adverb, with
                            the force of "not till now," i.e., "at last."

 L.10 Lucina = Diana, sister of Apollo and goddess of childbirth.

 L.11 Teque, te Consule, "in your consulship, yours." te is repeated for emphasis.

 L.14 irrita, modifies vestigia.

 L.15 ille, a reference to the puer of line 8; deum = deorum.

 L.16 heroas, Greek accusative plural.

 L.18 prima munuscula, in apposition with [h]ederas and colocasia; nullo cultu,
                            ablative of manner.

 L.21 ipsae, "of their own accord" or "voluntarily."

 L.24 occidet, the "I" is short, "will perish"; veneni, genitive of quality, with herba,
                            ‘poisonous plant.'

 L.25 vulgo, adverb, "everywhere."

 L.28 arista, ablative singular.

 L.32 tentare = temptare.

 L.33 quae..... jubeant, "which will bid", subjunctive of characteristic.

 L.34 Tiphys, helmsman of the Argo; quae, antecedent is Argo; vehat, subjunctive
                            of characteristic.

 L..37 hinc, "afterwards."

 L.38 cedet et ipse mari vector, "even the passenger (here, merchant) will withdraw
                            from the sea."

 L.41 tauris, ablative of separation.

 L.42 mentiri, "to pretend to."

 L.43 suave, modifies murice.

 L.46f. the word order is: Parcae, concordes stabili numine fatorum, dixerunt suis fusis,
                            "currite talia secla;" translate, "the Parcae, in harmony with the fixed will of destiny,
                            spoke to their spindles, 'run through such ages."' The Parcae are the agents who
                            execute the orders of destiny.

 L.48 aggredere, present imperative.

 L.49 note the very unusual spondaic line; deum = deorum; incrementum, "progeny."

 L.50 aspice, also governs terras, tractus and coelum.

 L.52 in modern texts, the indicative, laetantur, is usually read in this line; ut, "how."

 L.54 spiritus, "inspiration"; dicere, by poetical license, the usual Latin idiom would be
                            ut dicam or ad dicenda.

 L.55 carminibus, "in song," ablative of specification; Orpheus, pronounced as a dissyllable
                            for metrical purposes.

 L.57 the word order is: (quamvis) Calliopea (adsit) Orphei, (quamvis) formosus Apollo
                            (adsit) Lino.

 L.58 Arcadia judice, ablative absolute, with the verb "to be" understood.

 L.60f. the remaining lines are a prayer for the speedy and auspicious appearance of
                            the new child. There is much conjecture about the exact identification of this new
                            child. The three plausible possibilities are (1) the son born to Pollio about this time;
                            (2) the child born to Antony and Octavia; (3) the child born of the union between
                            Augustus and Octavia, but who happened to be a girl (the notorious Julia).

 L.62 risere = riserunt.

 L.63 mensa, ablative singular, governed by dignata est.
 

 Selection B: the meter is dactylic hexameter; the first book of the Aeneid relates the shipwreck of Aeneas and his crew on the Carthaginian coastline. He eventually visits the palace of the Carthaginian queen, Dido, where at the beginning of Book 2 he describes the treachery and guile of the Greeks in- their construction of the Trojan Horse.

 L.1 conticuere .conticuerunt, the perfect tense of the verb indicates a single and
                            completed act; ora tenebant, "they were holding their gaze (upon Aeneas)," the
                            imperfect tense indicates a continuing state of action.

 L.2 orsus, est and sunt are frequently omitted in poetry; understand a verb of speaking
                            at the close of this verse.

 L.3 understand me as the subject accusative of renovare.

 L.4 ut, "how."

 L.5 eruerint, perfect subjunctive, indirect question explaining dolorem.

 L.6 talia fando, "in telling such events."

 L.7 the Myrmidons were the followers of Achilles, Troy's arch enemy; Ulyssi, genitive singular.

 L.8f. nox coelo praecipitat, think of the night as setting or "rising," as the movement of the
                            sun is described today .

 L10 est is understood; cognoscere, the infinitive following a noun is a common poetical idiom.

 L14 Danaum = Danaorum, a contracted genitive plural, Danaus was the founder of Argos;
                            here translate simply as "Greeks."

 L.15 instar montis, in apposition with equum, "as large as a mountain"; Pallas was
                            the patroness of handicrafts.

 L.16 sectaque intexunt abiete costas, "and they interweave the ribs (of the horse) with cut
                            (i.e., planks) firwood."

 L.17 votum, predicate accusative with eum (understood) equum; ea fama, i.e., that the horse
                            is a votive offering.

 L.18 virum = virorum, literally "chosen bodies of men, it or selected heroes."

 L.21 Tenedos is an island four miles from Troy; notissima, because of the presence of a
                            temple of Apollo on the island.

 L.22 Priami; Priam was the king of Troy.

 L.25 understand eos as subject accusative of abisse and petiisse; rati + sumus (understood),
                            see note for 1.2.

 L.27 open city gates are a sign of peace and tranquility; iuvat (nos) ire.

 L.28 littus = litus.

 L.29 tendebat, "stretch ed his tents," i.e., had his living quarters.

 L.32f. stupet...mirantur; note the change in the number of the verb, "a part marvels.....
                            others (understood) gaze in wonderment." Timoetes, a Trojan who disliked Priam
                            because the latter killed his son in order to appease an oracle, is motivated by revenge.

 L.33 understand eum = equum as subject accusative of the passive infinitives duci and locari.

 L.34 ferebant, translate "were tending."

 L.35 understand ei (those) as the antecedent of quorum.

 L.36 pelago = in pelagus (neuter noun); Danaum = Danaorum.

 L.39 in contraria studia, "into opposite views," i.e., the suggestions of Timoetes or Capys.

 L.42 the verb is omitted, understand a verb such as clamat.

 L.43 creditis hostes avectos (esse).

 L.44 Ulysses' reputation was one of cunning and deceit.

 L.47 inspectura and ventura, future participles denoting purpose; urbi = in urbem,
                            similar to pelago of L.36.

 L.48 error, in the sense of "trick."

 L.49 et, "even"; this line has become proverbial.

 L51 ingue feri curvam compagibus alvum, "against the wild beast's belly which
                            is curved at the joints."

 L.52 uteroque recusso, ablative absolute or also can be taken as an ablative of source.

 L.53 insonuere and dedere, both third person plural, perfect indicative active.

 L.54 deum = deorum; laeva, "unfavorable," "perverse," or "pernicious."

 L.55 impulerat, note the change in the apodosis of the condition to the indicative, thus
                            denoting greater vividness than the subjunctive. "He would have driven (us)"

 L.57 manus, a Greek accusative, indicating the part affected,sometimes called an
                            accusative of specification.

 L.60 hoc ipsum, "this very thing," i.e., aperiret Troiam Archivis.

 L.61 fidens animi, "confident in spirit," animi is locative; utrum is explained by L.62.

 L.64 ruit and certant, change from singular to plural verb is a logical one because of
                            the collective sense of the subject, iuventus; illudere, infinitive with the verb,
                            certant, to complete or explain the verb, an epexegetic infinitive.

 L.66 omnes, Sinon's act of treachery is characteristic of the entire Greek race.

 L.67 turbatus, Sinon's bewilderment was pretended.

 L.68 spondaic line in which the slowness of the measure coincides with Sinon's
                            cautious movements.

 L.71 insuper, "besides" or "moreover."

 L.72 with poscunt understand a quo.

 L.73 compressus (est).

 L.77 fuerint quaecunque, "whatever shall have come of it,"i.e.,whatever the result,"
                                    the future perfect indicates an event which will likely occur after some other
                            future event.

 L.78 me, subject accusative of an understood esse.

 L.81 fando, "by report" or "in talk."

 L.82 Belidae nomen Palamedis, "name of Palamedes, son of Beleus," Palamedes
                            was the son of Nauplius, king of Euboea, who was descended from Beleus, king
                            of Egypt.
 
 L.83 gloria, also a subject of pervenit; falsa sub proditione, "on a false charge of
                            treason.." The Greek leaders, including Agamemnon and Ulysses, were envious of
                            Palamedes and hid in his tent a letter supposedly written by Priam, king.of the
                            Trojans, but actually written by Ulysses.

 L.85 neci, translate as if ad necem; note the two contrasted clauses placed next to each
                            other without the benefit of any conjunction. This construction is called adversative
                            asyndeton.

 L.86 illi, emphatically placed.

 L.87 primis ab annis, "in my earliest years."

 L.88 subject of stabat and vigebat is Palamedes; regno, ablative of specification
                            with incolumis,  "safe in power." regnum, modern texts read regum.

 L.89 et nos, "I also."

 L.90 invidia, ablative of cause.

 L.91 haud ignota loquor, Ulysses' guile and deceitfulness (pellacis) were common
                            knowledge; concessit ab superis oris = mortuus est.

 L.93 mecum, "in my heart."

 L.94 me is object of promisi. qua = quae.

 L.96 odia aspera, "bitter hatred" of Ulysses.

 L.97 hinc, "from this time" or "from this cause," perhaps both meanings here.

 L.98 terrere, spargere, and quaerere, historical infinitives, understand me as the
                            direct object of terrere.

 L.99 vulgum, here masculine, usually neuter; arma, the weapons of Ulysses were
                            guile and deceit.

 L.100 Calchante ministro, ablative absolute.

 L.103 audire, "to be called that" (a Greek); audire here is the equivalent of vocari, a
                            common meaning of the verb.

 L.104 magno, "greatly" or "dearly."

 L.108 fugam and Troia relicta are identical thoughts.

 L.111 euntes, perhaps with a conative force, "attempting to go."

 L.114 scitatum, supine, "to consult."

 L.116 sanguine and virgine, the Greek fleet which was assembled at Aulis before sailing
                            to Troy was delayed by strong headwinds until, at Calchas' bidding, the commander
                            of the Greek fleet, Agamemnon, sacrificed his own daughter, Iphigenia, to secure
                            favorable winds.

 L.118 reditus quaerendi (sunt) sanguine and litandum (est) anima (ablative) Argolica
                            (ablative).

 L.123 quae sint ea numina Divum, "what is the will of the gods."

 L.124 canebant, "were forecasting."

 L.125 ventura, future participle used as a substantive, "what was in store (for me)."

 L.129 composito, adverb, "according to an agreement."

 L.131 tulere = tulerunt, the direct object is ea (understood) , the antecedent of quae,
                            "what each man feared for himself, they endured those things when turned to the
                            destruction of one miserable man."
 

  L.132 parari, historical infinitive.

 L.133 Sinon claims to have been prepared like an animal for sacrifice--with fillets and with a
                            salted meal.

 L.136 darent and dedissent (vela), subjunctives, as if subordinate clauses in indirect discourse.

 L.139 illi = "the Greeks;" modern texts read et instead of ad, then reposcent would take its
                            usual double accusative construction, one of the person (quos), the other of the thing
                            (poenas).

 L.140 hanc = meam.

 L.141 quod, "as to which thing," i.e., "wherefore"; te, direct object of oro, below; conscia
                            numina veri, "the powers that know the truth."

 L.142f.Per, si qua est, quae, literally, "by an inviolate pledge (intemerata fides is attracted
                            into the case of the indefinte qua, rather than remaining in the accusative governed by
                            per) if any there be, which still exists anywhere among mortals.

 L.143 laborum, verbs of feeling, including those of pity, govern the genitive of the object which
                            causes the feeling.

 L.144 animi, same as laborum.

 L.146 viro, dative of reference signifying possession, as if eius.

 L.148 obliviscere, imperative; also edissere in next verse.

 L.149 vera, predicate accusative, "these things as true" or "truly."

 L.150 quo, "for what purpose."

 L155 arae ensesque in apposition with vos.

 L.157 fas and iura, a deliberate contrast between divine law (fas) and human law (ius);
                            Sinon is claiming here that some divine law sanctions his breach of the oath which he
                            swore to the Greeks; but recall that his entire tale is fictitious.

 L.158 omnia ferre sub auras, "to openly disclose all."

 L.160 servata modifies Troia, subject of serves.

 L.162 Sinon here begins to tell the Greek motive for building the "Trojan Horse."

 L.163 ex quo, temporal, "from when."

 L.164 Tydides, "son of Tydeus" = Diomedes.

 L.165 avellere, infinitive of purpose.

 L.166 Palladium, a sacred image of Pallas Athena located on the Trojan acropolis, which,
                            if it remained in place, guaranteed Troy's security from hostile attack. Ulysses and
                            Diomedes, however, stole the Palladium from the Trojan citadel and brought it back
                            to the Greek camp.

 L.168 virgineas Divae vittas, for virgineae Divae vittas.

 L.169 ex illo, temporal, "from that day;" fluere and referri, historical infinitives.

 L.171 ea signa, "those signs," i.e., the aversa deae mens.

 L.172 note the asyndeton to emphasize the suddenness of the event.

 L.173 luminibus arrectis, "from the staring eyes."

 L174 ipsa, "she, the image of Pallas."

 L.176 with tentanda, understand esse.

 L.178 numen, the Palladium; Calchas proclaims that the Greeks should give the Palladium
                            back to Troy and return to Greece to obtain favorable auspices for their campaign
                            against Troy.

 L.179 pelago, "on the sea;" advexere = advexerunt.

 L.180 vento, ablative of means.

 L.182 digerit, literally "arranges," here best translated by "interprets" or "explains."

 L.183 moniti, modifies "they" the contained subject of statuere = statuerunt; hanc
                            effigiem, the horse.

 L.184 quae piaret, relative clause of purpose; nefas, the theft of the Palladium.

 L.186 coelo, "skyward."

 L.188 antiqua sub religione, "in accord with ancient worship," i.e., the protection
                            the Trojans received from the worship of the Palladium.

 L.189 violasset, subjunctive, subordinate clause in indirect discourse of which the main verb,
                            futurum (esse), follows.

 L.190 ipsum, Calchas.

 L.194 ea fata, i.e., the magnum exitium.

 L.196 captique, modifies nos understood; coactis, "forced" or '"unreal."

        Throughout his life Thomas Jefferson was often requested to recommend books and authors who would be most helpful in the educational formation of a young Virginian. Without fail, Virgil was always includeded on his list. It is only natural that Jefferson mentioned Virgil in these lists since he, as all other young grammar school students in the northern and southern colonies, became very familiar with the Virgilian text at an early ag He also, undoubtedly, was required to memorize whole passages from the Aeneid, some of which he remembered verbatim in rather casual circumstances long after his early school days were concluded. For example, in a rather light-hearted letter which he wrote to his friend, John Page, on Christmas Day 1762, Jefferson recalls line 274 of Book 2 of the Aeneid when he describes the damage done to his pocket-watch by rain water:

                                                                                    …quis talia fando,
                                  Myrmidonum, Dolopumve, aut duri miles Ulyssei,
                                  Temperet a lacrimis

Just as Aeneas could not refrain from tears in recalling the sad events of the destruction of Troy, so also Dr. Warren implies that his Boston audience should have difficulty in holding back its tears as it recalled the tragic events of the Boston Massacre.

        In the same address, or at least in the written version of it which was published very shortly afterwards, Dr. Warren also calls upon his Boston audience to remember the heroism of its ancestors by reinforcing his exhortation to courage and bravery with a reference to Virgil:

        Dr. Warren's use of the Virgilian text for such explicit political purposes might seem somewhat shocking, or at least foreign, to the twentieth-century student of Virgil. This use, however, would not have been shocking to the American of the eighteenth century since he had been schooled to consider not only the moral themes but also the political implications of Virgil, especially those found in his Aeneid.⁷ Such attitudes are candidly stated in the introduction to Christopher Pitt's 1753 text and translation of The Works of Virgil, printed in London, where he writes:

                              On the purpose of epic poetry: one may define epic poetry to be, a fable related
                               in verse, to inspire an admiration and love of virtue, in representing to us the action
                               of an hero, favoured and assisted by heaven, who executes some grand design,
                               notwithstanding all the obstacles that oppose him.

                              On the political purpose of the Aeneid: The Romans having lost the virtue and
                              honesty of their ancestors, liberty could not in the nature of things long survive.
                              They began to be profligate, and to be slaves. As they had not virtue enough to be
                              free, and since they must needs have fallen into the hands of one governor, the
                              happiest circumstance they could meet with, was undoubtedly that this one governor
                              should be a mild one, and bind their chains with a tender hand. To reconcile his
                              countrymen to this almost necessary change of government, to wean them gradually
                              from an inveterate hatred to monarchy, and to evince that all revolutions in states are
                              brought about by the interposition of heaven, these were the motives which induced
                              Virgil to undertake the Aeneid.

                              On the moral character of Aeneas: He intended to delineate in the person of
                              Aeneas, the character of a wise lawgiver and a just monarch; and artfully threw
                              several features into the piece, that induced his readers to apply this amiable portrait
                              to Augustus. For this reason he represented his hero endued with great piety to the
                              gods, with mildness and clemency, and an affectionate concern for his country.⁸

        With biases such as these deeply engrained in the eighteenth-century American audience, it is no wonder that Dr. Joseph Warren called upon Virgil to illuminate his fiery Boston Massacre orations, or that Thomas Jefferson recommended Virgil to every young student in Virginia, or, finally, that John Quincy Adams made careful translations of the first five Ecloques and included a bronze bust of Virgil in his home as a "household god."⁹

^{2. Julian P. Boyd, ed., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson 1 Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1950), p. 4. Shortly after his graduation from Princeton, James Madison was also wont to quote Virgil in his letters. One of his more notable quotations can be found in a letter written to his college friend, William Bradford on 19 June 1775: "We have a report here that Bland one of our delegates has turned traitor and fled from Philada. I hope it is not true tho’ some unfavorable Hints have been thrown out of late to his prejudice. Virgil certainly gave a great proof of his knowledge of human nature when he exclaimed 'Quid non mortalia pectora cogis auri sacra fama?"' Madison was confident that Bradford would immediately recognize that he was quoting Virgil’s Aeneid 3.56-57, and did not bother to include this reference. See William T. Hutchinson and William M. E. Rachal, eds., The Papers of James Madison 1 (Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press, 1962), pp. 151-154.}

^{3. See L. H. Butterfield, ed., The Earliest Diary of John Adams (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1966), p. 68.}

4. See The Earliest Diary of John Adams pp. 72-73 and p. 78

^{5.  From 1812 to their deaths in 1826, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson engaged in a steady flow of extraordinary correspondence in their retirement from public office. Its richness of expression, its profundity of thought, its variety of subject matter, and its numerous references to classical authors, among whom Horace, Juvenal, Theocritus and Virgil are especially prominent, are virtually without challenge in the annals of early American literature. In this correspondence, Adams twice quotes the Latin of Virgil’s Fourth Eclogue. On 29 May 1813 he quotes from the opening line "Paulo Multo majora canamus," and on 25 February 1825 he quotes from the sixth line. On 14 November 1813, he makes a more general reference to the Fourth Eclogue when he states "By Virgil’s Pollio we may conjecture, there was Prophecy, as well as Sublimity." In the same letter, Adams also quotes, in Latin, part of Bk. 2.57 of the Aeneid. Jefferson certainly was not to be upstaged by his pen pal from Quincy and he displayed his knowledge of Virgil in a letter of 22 August 1813 in which he quotes Aeneid 8.485. In May 1814, he relies again on his Virgil and quotes Aeneid 2.521-22: "non tali auxilio nec defensoribus istis /Tempus eget." Finally, Jefferson also shows his familiarity with Virgil’s Eclogues when on 18 April 1816 he quotes part of line 108 from the Third Eclogue: "tantas componere litas." See Cappon, The Adams-Jefferson Letters 2, pp. 325-326, 367-370, 394-397, 430-434, 466-469, 609-610.}

^{6  For additional information about the life of Dr. Warren, see John Cary's, Joseph Warren: Physician, Politician, Patriot (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1961).}

^{7. Meyer Reinhold takes a more somber view of the degree to which Virgil was appreciated in early America in his Classica Americana (Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press, 1984), pp. 221-249 where he provides many citations of Virgil studied for the sake of grammatical mastery and not for literary appreciation.}

^{8. See John M. Jennings, The Library of the College of William and Mary in Virginia, 1693-1793 (Charlottesville, Virginia: The University of Virginia Press, 1968), p. 47 for the purchase of Pitt's Aeneid by the College of William and Mary.}

^{9.  See Reinhold, Classica Americana, pp. 238-239.}