"Thy grateful land shall say 'tis nobly done,
If thou bring'st up to public use thy son;
Fit for the various tasks allotted men,
A warlike chief, a prudent citizen." Hodgson.
[954] Serpente. Pliny (H. N., x., 23) alludes to the same circumstance with regard to storks. "Illis in Thessaliâ tantus honos serpentum exitio habitus est, ut ciconiam occidere capitale sit, eadem legibus pœna, quâ in homicidas."
"Her progeny the stork with serpents feeds,
And finds them lizards in the devious meads:
The little storklings, when their wings are grown,
Look out for snakes and lizards of their own." Badham.
[955] Famulæ Jovis. Æsch., Prom. V., 1057, Διὸς πτηνὸς κύων, δαφοινὸς ἀετός. Hor., iv., Od. iv., 1, "Qualem ministrum fulminis alitem," etc.
[956] Leporem. Virg., Æn., ix., 563, seq., "Qualis ubi aut leporem aut candenti corpora cycnum Sustulit alta petens pedibus Jovis armiger uncis."
"While Jove's own eagle, bird of noble blood,
Scours the wide champaign for untainted food,
Bears the swift hare, or swifter fawn away,
And feeds her nestlings with the generous prey." Gifford.
[957] Caietæ, now "Mola di Gaeta," called from Æneas's nurse. Virg., Æn., vii., 1, "Tu quoque littoribus nostris, Æneia nutrix, Æternam moriens famam Caieta dedisti. Et nunc servat honos sedem tuus."
[958] Tibur, now "Tivoli," on the Anio, built on a steep acclivity. Hence "supinum," Hor., iii., Od. iv., 23. Cf. iii., 192, "aut proni Tiburis arce."
[959] Præneste, now "Palestrina," said to have been founded by Cæculus, son of Vulcan. Vid. Virg., Æn., vii., 678.
[960] Græcis. Cf. Stat. Sylv., III., i., 5, "Sed nitidos postes Graiisque effulta metallis culmina." The green marble of Tænarus was very highly prized. Vid. Plin., H. N. xxxvi., 7. Prop., III., ii., 9, "Quod non Tænariis domus est mihi fulta columnis." Tibull., III., iii., 13, "Quidve domus prodest Phrygiis innixa columnis, Tænare sive tuis, sive Caryste tuis." Among other foreign marbles, Pliny mentions the Egyptian, Naxian, Armenian, Parian, Chian, Sicyonian, Synnadic, Numidian. Augustus introduced the use of marble in public buildings, and many edifices of his time were constructed of solid marble. All the columns of the temple of Mars Ultor are of marble. (Vid. Niebuhr's Lectures, vol. iii., p. 299. Sat. xi., 182, "Longis Numidarum fulta columnis." Hor., ii., Od. xviii., 4, "Columnas ultimâ recisas Africâ." Lucian, Hipp., p. 507, ed. Bened.) But the more general use of it did not begin till the reign of Nero, when Greek architecture became prevalent.