82/122 Camillus was the great Roman hero of the fourth century B.C.He was five times dictator and saved Rome from the Gauls. Virgil is referring to Caesar and Pompey. L.Mummius captured Corinth, and so ended the war with Greece, in 146 B.C., and is clearly referred to here. By 'the man who lofty Argos shall o'erthrow,' Virgil probably means Aemilius Paullus, who won the battle of Pydna in 168 B.C.against a king of Macedonia who called himself a descendant of Achilles. Cato was the famous censor of 184 B.C.who vainly tried to check the growth of luxury at Rome. |