ABSTRACT
Thus is the text presented in most editions. Eduard Norden, who was hard on those who passed too lightly over the many problems in this apparently 'easy' poet,2 raised some interesting points in his comment on the above passage, especially on the enigmatic expression animam superbam and the character of Brutus.3 This leads one to ask: What particular view on Brutus does Vergil wish to impart concerning this crucial figure in the history of the nation? There is indeed a cluster of questions in our passage more or less relevant to this issue. Austin, making the observation (on 817) that Vergil has transferred to Brutus the superbia of the second Tarquin, reminds us at the same time that the poet often uses the adjective superbus in bonam partem (as 'proud' can be used in English as well).4 On balance he finds both negative and positive implications in the expression; accordingly the adjective superbus is found to convey a mind (i.e. Vergil's) "torn between admiration of the proud spirit of the man who gloried in the overthrow of a tyrant, and horror at the unbending spirit of the father who has his own sons executed".5 This acute interpretation is prima facie appealing, but does it hit the nail on the head?
