[33] Servius on Virgil, Aen. vi. 136, “Licet de hoc ramo hi qui de sacris Proserpinae scripsisse dicuntur, quiddam esse mysticum adfirment, publica tamen opinio hoc habet. Orestes post occisum regem Thoantem,” etc.; id. on Virgil, Aen. ii. 116; Valerius Flaccus, Argonaut. ii. 304 sq.; Strabo, v. 3. 12; Pausanias, ii. 27. 4; Solinus, ii. 11; Suetonius, Caligula, 35. The custom of breaking the branch, and its supposed connexion with the Golden Bough of Virgil, are recorded by Servius alone (on Virgil, Aen. vi. 136). For the title “King of the Wood” see Suetonius, l.c.; and compare Statius, Sylv. iii. 1. 55 sq.—
“Jamque dies aderat, profugis cum regibus aptum
Fumat Aricinum Triviae nemus”;
Ovid, Fasti, iii. 271 sq.—
“Regna tenent fortesque manu, pedibusque fugaces;
Et perit exemplo postmodo quisque suo”;
id., Ars am. i. 259 sq.—
“Ecce suburbanae templum nemorale Dianae,
Partaque per gladios regna nocente manu”;
Valerius Flaccus, Argon. ii. 304 sq.—