[XX.] The Daunian race means the Rutulians. Daunus was the father of Turnus. Cf. [Book XII. stanza iii.]
[XXVII.] Alcides is one of the names given to Hercules. The killing of Geryon, the three-bodied monster who was king in Spain, and the driving off of his cattle, was one of the famous 'twelve labours' of Hercules.
[XXXVI.] The gens Potitia and the gens Pinaria were the two tribes to which the care of the worship of Hercules was entrusted.
[XXXVIII.-IX.] In historic times, the Salians were the twelve priests of Mars who kept the twelve sacred shields in the temple of that god on the Palatine hill. Their priesthood was one of the oldest Roman institutions, and their festival was held on March 1, the first day of the old Roman year.
'His stepdame's hate' refers to the story that Juno, being jealous of Alcmena, the mother of Hercules, sent two snakes to destroy the latter as he lay in his cradle, but the infant hero strangled them. Eurystheus was the king of Tiryns, whom Hercules had to serve for twelve years, and at whose command he performed his famous twelve labours. Pholus and Hylaeus were two Centaurs; they were called 'cloud-born' because they were the offspring of Ixion and a Cloud. The Cretan monster is the mad bull sent by Neptune to destroy the land; Hercules came to the rescue and carried it away on his shoulders. There is no other mention in ancient literature of the fight between Hercules and Typhoeus. The latter was a hundred-headed fire-breathing monster, who fought against the gods, and was buried beneath Mount Aetna.