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| Toynbee "Sìlvio" |
Silvius, posthumous son of Aeneas by Lavinia, daughter of Latinus,
king of Latium; according to the account given by Servius (on
{Aen. vi. 760}) Lavinia, being left with child at the death of
Aeneas, took refuge in the woods for fear of Ascanius (Aeneas' son
by Creusa), and there gave birth to Silvius; it was then arranged
that Lavinia should have Lavinium, while Ascanius founded Alba, in
which kingdom he was eventually succeeded by Silvius.
D. refers to Aeneas as di Silvio lo parente,
[Inf. ii. 13]
[Enea]; and follows Virgil in making Silvius the son, not
of Ascanius as some do (e.g.
{Livy i. 4}), but of Aeneas:
Silvius, Albanum nomen, tua postuma proles,
quem tibi longaevo serum Lavinia coniunx
educet silvis regem regumque parentem,
unde genus Longa nostrum dominabitur Alba.
({Aen. vi. 763-766})
©Oxford University Press 1968. From A Dictionary of Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante by Paget Toynbee
(1968) by permission of Oxford University Press