lum_--Livy tells us that in order to increase the
population, Romulus offered a refuge at Rome to all comers from the
neighbouring towns. The _Lupercal_ was the sanctuary of Lupercus
('wolf-repeller'), an old Roman shepherd god. The _Capitol_ is
referred to as 'now golden,' because in Virgil's time the roof of
the temple of Jupiter Capitotinus was gilded.

L. Thetis, the mother of Achilles, persuaded Vulcan to make arms for
her son, and so had Aurora, the goddess of dawn, 'Tithonus' spouse,'
when her son Memnon went to Troy to fight against the Greeks.

LV. The island here referred to is Hiera, one of the Aeolian isles,
north-east of Sicily. It is now called Volcano. The _Cyclops_ were
originally gigantic one-eyed cannibals who lived a pastoral life
near Mount Aetna. In later legends they are described as the
assistants of Vulcan.

LVI. These three names are Greek and mean 'Fire-anvil,' 'Thunder,'
and 'Lightning,' respectively.

LXXIV. _Erulus_ is not mentioned by any other ancient writer, so we
cannot explain the allusion. _Feronia_ was a Campanian goddess.

LXXVIII. _Lucifer_, 'the light bringer,' was the name of the morning
star, which, rising just before the sun, seemed to bring the
daylight.

LXXX. The Pelasgians were a very ancient race, of whom only traces
existed in Greece in historic times. They were said to be very
wide-spread, but the tales connecting them with Italy are all
unhistoric. _Silvanus_ was an ancient Latin woodland deity.

LXXXIV. The story, as related by Livy, is that the Romans being in
want of wives, Romulus instituted games in honour of Neptune. At a
given signal, the Romans seized and carried off the Sabine maidens
who had come to see the games.

LXXXV. _Mettus_, dictator of Alba, had been called in to assist the
Romans under Tullus Hostilius. He came, but withdrew his troops in
the middle of the battle. For this treachery he was punished in the
way Virgil describes. _Horatius Cocles_ was the hero who guarded the
Tiber bridge against Porsenna of Clusium. _Cloelia_ was a Roman maiden
who had been sent as a hostage to Porsenna. She escaped by swimming
across the Tiber.

LXXXVI. The event here referred to is the invasion of Rome by the
Gauls in 390 B.C. They captured the whole of the city, except the
Capitol, which was successfully defended by Manlius, who had been
put on the alert by the cackling of a flock of geese.

LXXXVII. See note on stanza xxxviii. The _Luperci_ were the prie