The Bronze of Juno’s Carthaginian Temple (Verg. Aen. 1.448–9): An Allusion to Hes. Op. 150–1

Building on Servius’ note on Aen. 1.448, this article argues that Virgil’s lines emphasizing the bronze details of Juno’s temple in Carthage ( Aen. 1.448–9) allude to Hes. Op. 150–1, which belong to the description of the Bronze Race in Hesiod’s ‘Myth of the Races’. Because in Hesiod’s Works and Days the Bronze Race stands out for its violence, this allusion stirs a sense of lingering threat, setting the stage for the upcoming ekphrasis portraying the massacre of the Trojans (1.453–93) and counterbalancing Carthage’s Golden-Age traits. In this way, it contributes to Virgil’s ambiguous presentation of Rome’s most famous enemy and plays into the broader question of the ‘epochal’ setting of the Trojans’ arrival in Italy.