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237. _Gram. Campi_. Compare Hor. Car III. 7. 26. iv. 1. 39. A. P. 162.

239. _Piscatorii ludi vocantur, qui quotannis mense Junio trans Tiberim
fieri solent a Praetore urbano pro piscatoribus Tiberinis: quorum quaestus
non in macellum pervenit sed fere in aream Volcani; quod id genus
pisciculorwm vivorum datur ei deo pro animis humanis_. Festus.

241-248. After the defeat of the Roman army by Hannibal at the Trasimene
lake, in which the consul C. Flaminius was slain, A.U.C. 537, the
Sibylline books were consulted, according to custom, and by their
direction, _Ludi magni_ were vowed to Jupiter, and temples to Venus
Erycina, and to Mars. Liv. xxii. 9. Does not this tend to confirm what I
have observed above (see on IV. 874.) respecting the Phoenician origin of
Venus Erycina? Every one knows the Roman custom of endeavouring to gain
over the deities of their enemies.

247. _Adspicit_, etc. "Inter illam diem, qua vota soluta sunt, et Idus
interjacent sex luces. Falso Neap. putabat Ovidiam hoc disticho, VI. Id.
exprimere voluisse." Gierig. I think however Neapolis is right, for the
setting of Arctophylax was on the VII. Id. unless we suppose that the
temple of Mens was dedicated on that day, and in that case, where was the
necessity for vv. 247, 248?

249-460. On the V. Id. were the Vestalia. The poet goes at great length
into this subject. See I. 528. III. 417, _et seq_. 697. _et seq_. IV.
949.

253. _Non vidi_. Perhaps he means to intimate, that Vesta as the
principle of fire, had no visible anthropomorphic form, like the other
deities. Compare v. 298.--_Valeant_, etc. away with, adieu to. Compare
Hor. Ep. II. 1. 80. Ter. Andr. iv. 2. 13. The Greeks used their [Greek:
chairo], in the same sense.-_Mendacia_, fictions. See Hor. A. P. 151.

257. _Dena quater_, etc. The temple of Vesta was built by Numa, [Greek:
Autos protos hieron idrusamenos Romaiois Hestias, kai parthenous
apodeixas autae Ouaepolous]. Dionys. II. 65. See also Plut. Num. 9 and
11. Liv. I. 20.--_Palilia_. See on IV. 721.

258. _Flammae custos_, scil. Vesta, Vell. Paterc. II. 131. The deities
were called the guardians (_custodes_) of the objects over which they
presided. Compare II. 277.

259. _Meluentius_, etc. Compare Met. I. 322.

261. _Quae nunc_, etc. Compare I. 199, _et seq_. III. 183, A. A. III. 118.

263. _Hic locus_, etc. [Greek: Edeimato plaesion tou taes Hestias hierou
taen kaloumenaen Rhaegian oion te basileion oikaema]. Plut. Num. 14.
_Habitabat propter aedem Vestae_. Solin. 2. As Lipsius justly observed,
Ovid confounds the _Regia_ and the _Atrium Vestae_. The Vestals dwelt in
the Atrium. _Virgines quum vi morbi Atrio Vestae coguntur excedere,
matronarum curae custodiaeque mandantur_. Plin. Ep. vii. 19, 2. Correct by
this the note on II. 69.

264. _Intonsi_. See on II. 30.--_Magna_, scil, for those times.

265. The temple of Vesta was round, [Greek: hieron enkuklion--
apomimoumenos to schaema tou sympantos kosmou] Plut. Num. 14. _Rotundam
aedem Vestae Numa consecravit, quod eandem esse terram credebat, eamque
pilae forma esse, ut sui simili templo dea coleretur_. Festus. "Neque
Noster sibi constat; namque hic et vs. 460, Vestam facit _terram_, vs.
291, _vivam flammam_." Gierig.

267. [Greek: Kai Gaia maeter Hestian de s' oi sophoi Broton kalousin,
haemenaen en aitheri]. Eurip. Frag. 178.--_Et Terra_. Three MSS. read
_quae Terra_.

268. _Focus_, ignis.

269. 270. Compare Met. I. 12.

271-276. These six verses are wanting in all the MSS. but seven, only one
of which is of the first order. In one they come after v. 280. "Videntur
mihi spurii esse, namque l. quo referes vs. 273, _locata?_ Ad terram, vs.
269? At alia subjecta interposita sunt, _volubilitas_ et _angulus_. Non
ita negligenter Ovidius scribit. 2. Sententia inest inepta; cum in medio
mundo sit, non esset in medio, nisi convexa foret. 3. Eadem sententia sed
melius expressa legitur, vs. 279, _et seq_." Gierig. I think he is right,
and that these lines should be rejected.--_Ipsa volubilitas_, etc. The
_orbis rotundus_ is evidently the world, (_mundus_) and not the earth.
_Mundi volubilitas, quae nisi in globosa forma esse non potest_. Cic. N.
D. II. 19. Yet, from the connexion, it is of the volubility of the earth
that the poet speaks, and he would thus appear to inculcate the
Pythagorean or Copernican system, which he surely did not hold.--_Qui_,
etc. it (scil. the earth) has no saliant angles to press the matter
(_partes_) external to it, i. e. the air.

277. The celebrated sphere of Archimedes, which represented the motions
of the sun, moon, and five planets around the earth. It was enclosed in a
glass-case, hence he says, _aëre clauso_, and it appears from this
passage of Ovid, and from Cicero, Rep. I. 14, and Athen. v. 11, that it
was preserved at Syracuse in their time. See Cic. Tusc. I. 25, Claudian.
Epigr. 68.--_Arce_, is the reading of three MSS. all the rest have
_arte.--Syracosio_. All the MSS. read _Syracusio_, which is repugnant to
the metre. Heinsius corrected it. The Greeks used [Greek: Syrakosios], as
well as [Greek: Syrakousios]. Compare Virg. Ec. vi. 1.

282. _Tholus_, a dome, round roof. "Tholi forma est [Greek:
ouranoeides]." Neapolis.

285. [Greek: Reia--Krono teke phaidima tekna, Istiaen, Daemaetra kai
Haeraen chrosopedilon]. Hes. Th. 453. Observe how all the names are
changed into Latin ones!

288. _Impatiens viri_, unmarried. Compare Met. I. 478. See Mythology, p.
72. Ovid assigns two reasons for her having virgin-priestesses. 1.
Because she was a virgin herself. 2. Because she was the principle of
fire, which produces nothing. Cicero (Leg. II. 12.) gives two more.
_Vestae colendae virgines praesunt, ut advigiletur facilius ad custodiam
ignis, et sentiant mulieres in natura feminarum omnem castitatem pati_.

299, 300. Vesta a _vi stando_! Well might Gierig say, "mira est haec
etymologia." The Greeks derived [Greek: Hestia] from [Greek: histaemi].
_Terram nonnulli Vestam esse pronuntiant, quod in mundo stet sola,
caeteris ejus partibus mobilitate perpetua constitutis_. Arnob. adv. Gen.
III. p. 119. [Greek: Menei Hestia en theon oiko monae]. Plat. Phaedrus.

301. _Quod fovet. Focus a fovendo id est calefaciendo_. Festus--another
equally sound piece of etymology!

302. _Prim. aed_. the porch or entrance of the house.

303. _Vestibulum_. "De etymo hujus voculae aliud sentit Nonius, aliud
Varro, hoc Ovidianum nemo. Servius: _Vestibulum ut Varro docet,
etymologiae non habet proprietatem, sed fit pro captu ingenii_."
Neapolis.

304. _Affamur_, etc. We say O Vesta! who etc. _Vestae nomen a Graecis
est; ea est enim quae ab illis [Greek: Hestia] dicitur. Vis autem ejus ad
aras et focos pertinet. Itaque in ea dea, quae est verum custos
intimarum, omnis et praecatio et sacrificatio extrema, est_. Cic. N. D.
II. 27. [Greek: Tais thusiais oi Hellaenes apo taes protaes te autaes
(Hestias) haerchonto kai es eschataen autaen katepauon]. Cornut. N. D.
28. See the Homeridian hymn to Hestia, or Mythology, p. 73. The reading
of this line is very different in the MSS. some have _Quae famur Vesta_,
others _Quae famur vestra est_, or _Quae f. Vestam_; one _Quaeramus
Vestam_, another _Quaeramur_, another _Dicimus O Vesta_, which Ciofanus
and Neapolis preferred; the present reading is that of three MSS. and
was adopted by Heinsius.

305. _Ante focos_. before the altars. Compare Virg. aen. vii. 175.

306. _Mensae credere_, etc. See Hom. Od. vii. 201.

307, 308. _Nunc quoque_, etc. These verses are parenthetic. He shews, by
instancing one case of its use at the present day, the antiquity of the
custom of sitting at the sacrifical feast.--_Vacunae_. See Hor. Ep. I.
10. 49. _Vacuna ap. Sabinos plurimum colitur. Quidam Dianam, nonnulli
Cererem esse dixerunt, alii Venerem, alii Victoriam, deam vacationis,
quod faciat vacare a curis. Sed Varro primo rer. divin. Minervam dicit,
quod ea maxime hi gaudent qui sapientiae vacant_. Schol. Cruq. _in loc_.

309. _More vetusto_, scil, of offering to Vesta at the sacrifices to the
other gods. Gierig, I think is wrong, in understanding it of the custom
of sitting before the altars.

310. _Missos cibos_. Some portion of the sacred food was sent on a clean
plate to the temple of Vesta. Was it from the sacrifices in general, or
only from those to Vacuna?

311. _Ecce_, etc. It was usual on festivals and holidays, to put garlands
on such animals as had a share in them, or were in any way sacred to the
deity, in whose honour they were held. See I. 663. V. 52. Tibull II. 1.
8. Wernsdorf. Exc. VII. to Grat. Cyneg. in the Poetae Minores, Tom. I. p.
261. At the Vestalia, the mills stopped working, the mill-stones were
wreathed with garlands, and the asses were likewise crowned, and had
bread hung about their necks. See on v. 347. _Vesta coronatis pauper
gaudebat asellis_, says Propertius (iv. l. 21.) speaking of ancient
times.

313. See II. 525.

315-316. _Panem primo cinis calidus et fervens testa percoxit; deinde
furni paullatim reperti sunt et alia genera_. Seneca Ep. 90. _Panem
testicium sic facito_.--_Ubi bene subegeris defingito coquitoque sub
testa_. Cato R. R. 74. _Testuatium, quod in testu caldo coquebatur_.
Varro L. L. IV. The poet's description agrees rather with that of Seneca,
and is nearly the common mode of baking cakes at the present day.

317. This is the true reason, why the millers and bakers kept the
Vestalia. There was no reason, but his inability to resist the
temptation, for telling the following story.

320. Compare I. 391 _et seq_.

320. _Quamvis_, etc. "Silenus creditus musca dialium eonviviorum."
Neapolis.

325. _Nec licet_. "Respicit Tantali fabulam, qui epulis admotus, cum ibi
acta narrasset, poenam sensit." Burmann.

327. _Vallibus_. Most MSS. read _collibus_.

329. _Brachia nectit_, scil. in the dance. Compare Hor. Car. II. 12. 17.
In both these places _brachia_ is, I should think, equivalent to manus.
They did not waltz in those days.

330. Compare Hor. Car. I. 37, 1, III. 18. iv. 1, 27.

338. See I. 433.

345, 346. Heinsius, and, after him, Krebs, regarded this distich as an
interpolation. But, if we take away these two verses, the relative to
_quem_ (v. 347,) is _ille_, (v. 344) which, though Krebs asks, "Asinus an
Priapus?" is, beyond question, the latter; unless, with Neapolis, we read
_illa_, and then the antecedent would be the _ille_ of v. 342. I can see
no objection to v. 345; there is a difficulty, and, I should suspect, a
corruption, in the following verse. It would seem from it that, as
Neapolis observes, "hujus (_asini_) exta quotannis oblata arae Vestali,"
a practice, of the existence of which we have no other proof, and which
would be at variance with the whole of the poet's narrative, the object
of which is, to give a reason for Vesta's favour to the ass. "An unquam a
Romanis asinus Priapo mactatus sit, dubito; nec umquam Vestae asini exta
oblata sunt." Krebs. The whole difficulty might be removed if we were to
read _jacit_, or some such word, governed of Lampsacos, for _damus_. It
is evident that these verses were in the copy of Ovid's Fasti, used by
Lactantius, for he manifestly (Inst. I. 21,) takes the story from him.
_Lampsaceni asellum Priapo quasi in ultionem mactare consueverunt; cum
enim hic deus Vestae dormienti vim inferre conaretur, asinus intempestivo
clamore eam excitavit. Hinc libido insidiatoris detecta. Apud Romanos
eundem asellum Vestalibus sacris in honorem pudicitiae corservatae
panibus coronant_.

347. _Diva memor_. See end of preceding note. The zealous Father adds,
_Quid turpius? quid flagitiosius quam si Vesta beneficio asini virgo
est?--De pan. monil_. "Quod attinet ad formam panis--in modum coronas
fuisse existimo. Hae coronae sunt quae Valentinianus et Valens in Lege De
annonis civicis et pane gradili vocant _buccellas_. Soli Siculi hanc
vocem hodie retinent qui materna lingua hujusmodi panes dicunt
_buccellatos_; Castellani vocant _rosquillas_." Neapolis. I imagine these
are nothing more than those cakes or loaves made in the shape of a ring,
which are so commonly to be met with even in France. It is probable that
a number of these were strung together, and hung about the necks of the
mill-asses. Perhaps, as Neapolis observes, this will be illustrated by
the following passage in the Plutus of Aristophanes, [Greek: Kago g'
anadaesai boulomai Euangelia s' en kribanoton ormatho Toiaut
apangeilanta].

349. He makes a digression here, as he is on the subject of bread, to
relate the origin of the altar on the Capitol to Jupiter Pistor.--_Nom.
quam pret. celeb_. The altar was small, and of little account. "Jovem
Pistorem nemo novit praeter Nostrum et Lactantium Inst. I. 20, qui sua ex
Ovidio omnia deprompsit." Krebs.

350. _Dicam Pistoris_. Some MSS. read _Discant_, or _Dicant Pistores_.

351. For the account of the capture of Rome by the Gauls, A.U.C. 364, see
Liv. v. 32, _et seq_. Plutarch, Camillas, and study Niebuhr's masterly
examination of the whole story. Hom. Hist. II. 528, _et seq_.

359. Compare Virg. aen. I. 257.

361. _Suburbanos_. See on III. 668.

363, 364. So the matter is related by Livy and Florus; according to
Plutarch, they were slain in the Forum.--_aerata atria. "In quibus statuae
aeneae; dispositae." Gierig. I do not recollect to have read anywhere that
the statues of their ancestors in the Atria of the Roman nobles, in the
olden time, were of bronze. In our poets' days, there were even golden
figures in them, but of a different kind. See Lucret. II. 24. _aerata_,
like _aurata_, which is the reading of two MSS. may mean simply adorned
with brass. Lipsius proposed _cerata_; Heinsius _reserata_, which agrees
with the _patentia atria_ of Livy, the _patentes domos_ of Florus, and
the _apertas januas of Val. Max. III. ll7.--_Picta Veste_. The triumphal
robe of purple and gold.

365. The Eternal Fire, and other sacred things, were conveyed from Rome
to Caere.

366. _Putant_, etc. It is plain they believe the gods to have some power.
In the editions, prior to that of Gierig, there was a note of
interrogation after _deos_, which gave a wrong sense.

367. _Qua vos_, etc. The Capitol. _Jupiter, Junoque Regina ac Minerva,
ceterique Dii Deaeque qui Capitolium arcemque incolitis_. Liv. VI. 16.

375. _Lituo_. The _lituus_ was the staff with a curved top, used by the
augurs, its form has been retained in the bishops' crosier. Compare Virg.
aen. vii. 187.

377. _Publica cura_. It is a public matter, it concerns us all. He
transfers to the gods the phraseology of the Roman republic. Liv. II, 41.
III. 48.

381. _Cereris_. Ceres is frequently used for bread. Compare Virg. aen. I.
177.

383. _Sat. virgo_. Vesta. See on v. 285.

391. _Ceres_. See on v. 381.

395. The poet was, or feigns he was, once during the Vestalia, coming
along the street, named the Via Nova, which led into the Forum, when he
saw a lady (_matrona_) coming down it barefoot. An old woman of the
neighbourhood observing his surprise, gave him, as he says, the following
explanation. As Vesta had a temple near the Via Nova, (Liv. v. 32.) it
was probably thither that the lady was going to worship.

401. Before the Cloacae were constructed, the valleys between the hills of
Rome were little better than marshes, in consequence of the frequent
inundations of the Tiber. _Locus palustris tum fuit_ Lacus Curtius, _in
foro, antequam cloacae sunt factae_. Varro, L. L. IV.

403. _Curtius Lacus_. For the supposed origin of this name, see Liv. I.
13. vii. 6. It retained its name, like so many places in London, and
other cities, after its nature had been totally changed.--_Siccas aras_,
as the place was now drained. _Forum Romanum. Ara Saturni in lacu
Curtio_. P. Victor, Reg. VIII. Ovid may have meant this altar alone, or
it and others which were in that place.

405-408. _At qua Velabri regio patet ire solebat Exiguus pulsa per vada
linter aqua_. Tibull. II. 6, 33. _Qua Velabra suo stagnabant flumine,
quaque Nauta per urbanas velificabat aquas_. Propert. iv. 9, 5.
_Aventinum montem maxime puto dictum ab advectu; nam olim paludibus mons
erat ab reliquis disclusus. Itaque eo ex urbe qui advehebantur ratibus
quadrantem solvebant; cujus vestigia, quod ea, qua tum itur, Velabrum, et
unde adscendebant ad Rumam, Nova Via: lucus et sacellum Larum. Velabrum
dicitur a vehendo; velaturam facere etiam nunc dicuntur, qui id mercede
faciunt_. Varro, L. L. IV.--_Pampas_, scil. _Circenses_.--_Cantat_, etc.
In this place, the present tense must be used for the past, as she is
speaking of the state of the Velabrum in former times.

409, 410. The Tuscan street, in which there stood a statue of Vertumnus,
was here. _In vico Tusco Vortumnus stat deus Etruriae_. Varro, L. L. IV.
_Tuscus ego_ (Vertumnus) _et Tuscis orior_.--_Romanum satis est posse
videre forum. Hac quondam Tiberinus iter faciebat, et aiunt Remorum
auditos per vada pulsa sonos. At postquam ille suis tantum concessit
alumnis, Vertumnus verso dicor ab amne deus_. Propert, iv. 2. For
Vertumnus, see Mythology, p. 474.

411. _Hic_, in this place i. e. the Via Nova.--_Lucus_, a sacred grove,
as the word scarcely ever occurs in any other sense. It may have been
undergrown with reeds and rushes.

412. _Pede velato_, with a shod foot--an unusual employment of _velo_.

415. _Causam_. "Causam positi calcei censet ex antiqua necessitate in eos
annos perdurasse, non ex numinis reverentia: ad quem respexit etiam apud
antiquos nudipedis incessus." Neapolis. The rejected cause is however
much more likely to be the true one. _Etiam_ in this note contains an
allusion to the barefoot processions in Catholic countries.

417. _Cetera_, etc. All that remains to be told about Vesta, he had heard
when a boy, perhaps been taught at school, and he supposes the case may
have been the same with others.

419. For this account of the Palladium, see, Apollodorus, III. 12. or
Mythology, p. 437.

423. _Cura_, etc. From Trist. I. 2. 77. and Ep. ex Pont. II. 10. 21. it
appears that Ovid had at one time travelled for pleasure and information
through Greece, Asia Minor, and Sicily.

427. _Aetheriam deam_, the [Greek: Diopetes], the heaven-fallen
Palladium.

432. See v. 15.

433. _Genus Adrasti_, Diomedes the son of Tydeus by Deipyle, the daughter
of Adrastus, king of Argos.

434. _Datur_. This is the reading of only one MS. all the rest have
_ferunt_.

436. The reason why the Palladium was kept in the temple of Vesta.

437. This conflagration took place in the time of the second Punic war.
L. Caecilius Metellus, a consular, was Pontifex Maximus. See Dion. Hal.
II. 66. Liv. Epit. 19. Val. Max. I. 4, Plin. H. N. vii. 43.

454. Metellus lost his eyes in the flames. To compensate him, in some
measure, the senate made a decree, allowing him to come to the
senate-house in a chariot, an honour never before bestowed on any one.

457-460. See on III. 30.

461. On the day of the Vestalia, A.U.C. 619. D. Junius Brutus acquired
the title of Callaïcus, by a victory over the Callaeci or Gallaeci, the
people of that part of Spain still called Gallicia.

465. On the same day Crassus was defeated and slain. See V. 580, _et
seq_.

469-472. On the IV. Id. the Dolphin rises in the evening.--_Viola_, the
garlands of flowers, v. 311, with which the mill-asses were decorated.

473-562. On the III. Id, as tradition related, the temple of Mater Matuta
was dedicated, and the festival of the Matralia instituted in her honour,
by Servius Tullius. For an account of this goddess, see below on v. 550.

474. _Equis_. This is the reading of sixteen MSS. three of which are of
the best quality, all the rest read _aquis_, which is the reading of
Heinsius and Gierig, and which, though less picturesque, is more probably
the right one. In favour of _equis_, may be quoted Met. xv. 189, _quumque
albo Lucifer exit Clarus equo_; for _aquis_: _Qualis ab Eois Lucifer
ortus_ (or _exit) aquis_. Ep. ex Pont. II. 5, 50.

476. _Theb. deae_. Mater Matuta was identified with Ino, the daughter of
Cadmus, made a goddess under the name of Leucothea. Hom. Od. v. 333.--
_Liba_. See v. 537.

478. _Area_, etc. The Forum Boarium, in which stood a brazen image of a
bull, which had been brought from Greece. Tacit. An. xii. 24. Plin. H. N.
xxxiv. 2. Livy also (xxxiii. 27.) mentions the temple of Matuta in this
forum.

480. This temple was repaired by Camillus after the capture of Veii,
A.U.C. 359. Liv. v. 19, Plut. Camill. 5.

481. See on v. 551.

484. _Vatis opus_. Two of the best MSS. read _navis iter_, which Heinsius
and Gierig have received; one has _vatis iter_. Ovid, no doubt,
frequently employs this metaphor, (see on IV. 729,) but it does not
please me in this place.

485. Sec III. 715, 769. Met. III. 313.

490. See Met. iv. 516.

491. Compare V. 451. _Animamgue sepulcro Condimus_. Virg. aen. III. 67; on
which Servius says, _Insepultorum animae vagae sunt; rite reddita
legitima sepultura, redit anima ad quietem_. See also Hor. Car. I. 28,
23.

495. The Isthmus of Corinth.

498. _In alta_, scil. _maria_.

499. _Panope_, etc. the Nereïdes.

501. _Nond, Leuc_. etc. See v. 545.

502. The Nereïdes conveyed them to the mouth of the Tiber.

503. _Semelae Stimulae_. The latter, or something like it, was, I have no
doubt, the original name, and its resemblance to Semele, gave occasion to
the change. _Saera Bacchanalia condemnata sunt, quum probatum esset
Senatui, honestissimas feminas ad Stimulae lucum faede adulterari_.
Schol. Juven. II. 3. Augustine also mentions a goddess, Stimula. In Liv.
xxxix. 12, it is _lucus Similae_. Neapolis and Heinsius think that it is
the grove of Fauna Fatua, or the Bona Dea, which Ovid means, as Macrobius
(I. 12,) when speaking of Maia, or the Bona Dea, says, _Boeoti Semelam
credunt, nec non eandem Fauni filiam dicunt.

507. _Dissim. deam_, by assuming the form of some particular woman.--
_Saturnia_, Juno.

508. _Instimulat_, alluding, perhaps, to the _Stimula_ of v. 503.

509. _Captae_. See on v. 204.

511. The ancients were very solicitous to keep the knowledge of their
sacred rites from strangers, fearing that their gods might be induced to
withdraw their protection from them. See Mythology, p. 142.

512. _Pignus_, scil. her child.

518. _Oetaeus_, proleptically. Hercules burned himself on Mt. Oeta.

524. _Numen_. Juno.

526. _Continet_, restrains, prevents her from telling.--_In scelus_, by
attempting to destroy herself and her child. See v. 497.

528. Compare Virg. aen. iv. 174.

532-534. The cause of cakes being offered at the Matralia. _Libum, quod
libaretur, ut erat, priusquam esset coctum. Testuatium quod in testu
caldo coquelatur, ut etiam nunc Matralibus id faciunt matronae_. Varro,
L. L. IV.

537-540. Compare Virg. aen. vi. 47.

547. _Ut Portunus a portu, sic Neptunus a nando_, Cic. N. D. II. 26.

549. _Annuerant_. They granted her request.--_Promissa_, i. e. _promissa
est_.--_Fides_, Faithful performance.

550. _Hic deus, etc. We may now enquire who Mater Matuta and Portunus
were, and how they came to be identified with the Leucothea and Palaemon
of the Greeks. Mater Matuta was worshiped, as we see, at Rome by the
matrons: she was also adored at Satricum, a town of the Volscians (Liv.
vi. 33. vii. 27. xxviii. 2.) perhaps the goddess, whose rich temple near
Caere was, according to Diodorus (xv. 14.), plundered by Dionysius of
Syracuse, was Mater Matuta. From all that we can learn of her, there
appears no reason whatever for regarding her as a marine deity. On the
other hand, Lucretius, (v. 655.) says, _Tempore item certo roseam Matuta
per oras Aetheris Auroram defert et lumina pandit_; and I think those
critics are right who take _Aurora_ in this place, like _aura_, Virg. aen.
vi. 204, for a common substantive, the dawning light, and Matuta for the
goddess who brings it forth, and spreads it over heaven. Matuta would
then exactly correspond with the [Greek: Haeos] of the Greeks. Her name,
also, leads to this conclusion. _Manum dixere clarum, unde etiam mane
post tenebras diei prima pars; inde Matuta quae Graecis Leucothea_.
Nonius. _Matuta significat Auroram. Matutinum tempus inde dici vix
monendum est_. Priscian, II. p. 591. IF Matuta is thus the _Clara Dea_,
how easy was the identification of her with the Leucothea (_White
Goddess_) of the Greeks, at a time when the Romans had lost the true
sense of their ancient religion, and wished to derive all their manners
and institutions from Greece! The worship by the Roman matrons of Mater
Matuta, the dispenser of light, was as natural as that of Juno Lucina;
and it is probable, (see on v. 559,) that originally they prayed to her
for the preservation of their children. A slight resemblance of name, and
a similarity of office, may also have produced the identification of
Palaemon and Portunus or Portumnus. I need hardly repeat that the old
Italian religion did not recognise the marriages and births of deities,
or the deification of mortals. Before I quit this subject, I will attempt
to elucidate a passage of Milton's Paradise Lost. In B. xi. v. 133, we
read, "Meanwhile, To resalute the world with sacred light Leucothea
wakes." As Eos is never called by this name, I was long of opinion that
this was a slip of the poet's memory; but I now think that he may have
derived it from the passage of Nonius quoted above, or have deduced it
from those verses of Lucretius.

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