e throne was pressed upon him by
the desire of both the Roman and the Sabine nations.]

[Footnote 54: _City of Pittheus._--Ver. 506. Pittheus was the son
of Pelops, and the father of AEthra, the mother of Theseus;
consequently he was the great-grandfather of Hippolytus.]

[Footnote 55: _Phlegethon._--Ver. 532. This was said to be one of
the rivers of the Infernal Regions, and to be flowing with fire
and brimstone.]

[Footnote 56: _Paeonian aid._--Ver. 536. Paeon was a skilful
physician, mentioned by Homer, in the Fifth Book of the Iliad.
Eustathius thinks that Apollo is meant under that name.]

[Footnote 57: _Virbius._--Ver. 544. This name is formed from the
words 'vir' and 'bis,' twice a man.]

[Footnote 58: _Am I devoted._--Ver. 546. In the same relation to
her as Adonis was to Venus, Ericthonius to Minerva, and Atys to
Cybele.]

[Footnote 59: _Son of the Amazon._--Ver. 552. Hippolytus was the
son either of the Amazon Hippolyta, or Antiope.]

[Footnote 60: _Slender pine._--Ver. 603-4. The words 'succinctis
pinetis' are rendered by Clarke, 'the neat pine-groves.']

EXPLANATION.

Ovid, following the notion that was generally entertained of the
wisdom of Numa, pretends that before he was elected to the
sovereignty he went to Crotona, for the purpose of studying under
Pythagoras; but he is guilty of a considerable anachronism in this
instance, as Pythagoras was not born till very many years after the
time of Numa. According to Livy, Pythagoras flourished in the time
of Servius Tullius, the sixth Roman king, about one hundred and
fifty years after Numa. Modern authors are of opinion that upwards
of two hundred years intervened between the days of Numa and
Pythagoras. Besides, Dionysius of Halicarnassus distinctly asserts
that the city of Crotona was only built in the fourth year of the
reign of Numa Pompilius.

Numa is said to have been in the habit of retiring to the Arician
grove, to consult the Nymph Egeria upon the laws which he was about
to promulgate for the benefit of his subjects. It is probable, that
to ensure their observance the more effectually, he wished the
people to believe that his enactments were compiled under the
inspection of one who partook of the immortal nature, and that in so
doing he followed the example of previous lawgivers. Zamolxis
pretended that the laws which he g