Ovid. Met. l. xiii f. 2 Dante appears to have fallen into a strange anachronism. Virgil’s death did not happen till long after this period. v. 42. Adders and cerastes.] Vipereum crinem vittis innexa cruentis. Virg. Aen. l. vi. 281. —spinaque vagi torquente cerastae . . . et torrida dipsas Et gravis in geminum vergens eaput amphisbaena. Lucan. Pharsal. l. ix. 719. So Milton: Scorpion and asp, and amphisbaena dire, Cerastes horn’d, hydrus and elops drear, And dipsas. P. L. b. x. 524. v. 67. A wind.] Imitated by Berni, Orl. Inn. l. 1. e. ii. st. 6. v. 83. With his wand.] She with her rod did softly smite the raile Which straight flew ope. Spenser. F. Q. b. iv. c. iii. st. 46. v. 96. What profits at the fays to but the horn.] “Of what avail can it be to offer violence to impassive beings?” v. 97. Your Cerberus.] Cerberus is feigned to have been dragged by Hercules, bound with a three fold chain, of which, says the angel, he still bears the marks. v. 111. The plains of Arles.] In Provence. See Ariosto, Orl. Fur. c. xxxix. st. 72 v. 112. At Pola.] A city of Istria, situated near the gulf of Quarnaro, in the Adriatic sea. CANTO X v. 12. Josaphat.] It seems to have been a common opinion among the Jews, as well as among many Christians, that the general judgment will be held in the valley of Josaphat, or Jehoshaphat: “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people, and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” Joel, iii. 2. v. 32. Farinata.] Farinata degli Uberti, a noble Florentine, was the leader of the Ghibelline faction, when they obtained a signal victory over the Guelfi at Montaperto, near the river Arbia. Macchiavelli calls him “a man of exalted soul, and great military talents.” Hist. of Flor. b. ii. v. 52. A shade.] The spirit of Cavalcante Cavalcanti, a noble Florentine, of the Guelph party.