The Eclogues and Georgics of Virgil . age of poetry as still ex-isting. 510-514. Vicina ruptis, &c. Some commentators refer this tocommotions in Etruria, but the insurrection in that quarter tookplace the year after this, and was put an end to by the tidings of thevictory over Sextus Pompeius. It is better, therefore, to makethese words contain an allusion to civil dissensions in general.—Ut, quum carceribus, &c. The carceres were the barriers in thecircus, whence the chariots started. They were vaults, closed infront by gates of open wood-work (cancelli), which were opened si-multaneously, up
The Eclogues and Georgics of Virgil . age of poetry as still ex-isting. 510-514. Vicina ruptis, &c. Some commentators refer this tocommotions in Etruria, but the insurrection in that quarter tookplace the year after this, and was put an end to by the tidings of thevictory over Sextus Pompeius. It is better, therefore, to makethese words contain an allusion to civil dissensions in general.—Ut, quum carceribus, &c. The carceres were the barriers in thecircus, whence the chariots started. They were vaults, closed infront by gates of open wood-work (cancelli), which were opened si-multaneously, upon the signal being given, by removing a rope at-tached to pilasters of the kind called Hernia, placed for that purposebetween each vault or stall ; upon which the gates were immedi-ately thrown open by a number of men. The following cut (froma marble in the British Museum) represents a set of four carceres,with their Henna and cancelli open, as left after the chariots hadstarted, in which the gates are made to open Addunt in spatia. They add round to round. Each courseor round of chariots in the circus, from one of the starting-places,or carceres, to the metce, or goal, and back again, was termed spati-um, and seven of these had to be performed by the contendingchariots before winning the race. The spatia were made aroundthe spina, or low wall, running lengthways down the course, andat each end of it were three wooden cylinders of a conical shape,resting on a base, and called metct. Around these mc/a>, at eitherend of the spina, the chariots kept turning. The language of thetext is meant to express the accomplishment of round after round,and is equivalent merely to spatia spatiis addunt. Compare theexplanation of Frcund(Worterb., L. Spr., s v. addo), fvigen Zwis-chenraume auf Zwischenraume. The following wood-cut rep- NOTES ON THE GEORGICS. BOOK I. 285 resents the ground-plan of a Roman circus, with the spina runningalong the interior. The letters E E, at the ext
Size: 2249px × 1111px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthoranth, bookauthorvirgil, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840
