XLII.-XLVIII. Evander shows the town to Aeneas, tells him of the former state of Latium, and points out to him the chief places of interest. _Asylum_--Livy tells us that in order to increase the population, Romulus offered a refuge at Rome to all comers from the neighbouring towns. The _Lupercal_ was the sanctuary of Lupercus ('wolf-repeller'), an old Roman shepherd god. The _Capitol_ is referred to as 'now golden,' because in Virgil's time the roof of the temple of Jupiter Capitotinus was gilded. L. Thetis, the mother of Achilles, persuaded Vulcan to make arms for her son, and so had Aurora, the goddess of dawn, 'Tithonus' spouse,' when her son Memnon went to Troy to fight against the Greeks. LV. The island here referred to is Hiera, one of the Aeolian isles, north-east of Sicily. It is now called Volcano. The _Cyclops_ were originally gigantic one-eyed cannibals who lived a pastoral life near Mount Aetna. In later legends they are described as the assistants of Vulcan. LVI. These three names are Greek and mean 'Fire-anvil,' 'Thunder,' and 'Lightning,' respectively. LXXIV. _Erulus_ is not mentioned by any other ancient writer, so we cannot explain the allusion. _Feronia_ was a Campanian goddess. LXXVIII. _Lucifer_, 'the light bringer,' was the name of the morning star, which, rising just before the sun, seemed to bring the daylight. LXXX. The Pelasgians were a very ancient race, of whom only traces existed in Greece in historic times. They were said to be very wide-spread, but the tales connecting them with Italy are all unhistoric. _Silvanus_ was an ancient Latin woodland deity. LXXXIV. The story, as related by Livy, is that the Romans being in want of wives, Romulus instituted games in honour of Neptune. At a given signal, the Romans seized and carried off the Sabine maidens who had come to see the games. LXXXV. _Mettus_, dictator of Alba, had been called in to assist the Romans under Tullus Hostilius. He came, but withdrew his troops in the middle of the battle. For this treachery he was punished in the way Virgil describes. _Horatius Cocles_ was the hero who guarded the Tiber bridge against Porsenna of Clusium. _Cloelia_ was a Roman maiden who had been sent as a hostage to Porsenna. She escaped by swimming across the Tiber. LXXXVI. The event here referred to is the invasion of Rome by the Gauls in 390 B.C. They captured the whole of the city, except the Capitol, which was successfully defended by Manlius, who had been put on the alert by the cackling of a flock of geese. LXXXVII. See note on stanza xxxviii. The _Luperci_ were the priests of Lupercus. _Catiline_ was the author of the conspiracy of B.C. 63. Cicero, the famous orator, was consul for that year and frustrated the plot. _Cato_ the younger died at Utica in 49 B.C. In the Roman writers Catiline is always the proverbial scoundrel and Cato is always taken as the model of rigid and exalted virtue.