Vergil Aeneid VII.222-7 - I've lost a word!

Latin Learning Latin
1

I read this passage today, where Aeneas’ legate Ilioneus petitions King Latinus on behalf of the Trojans to allow them room to settle in Latium.

Verg. Aeneid VII.222-7 (Oxford Classical Texts)

quanta per Idaeos saevis effusa Mycenis
tempestas ierit campos, quibus actus uterque
Europae atque Asiae fatis concurrerit orbis,
audiit et si quem tellus extrema refuso
summovet Oceano et si quem extenta plagarum
quattuor in medio dirimit plaga solis iniqui.

I haven’t been able to work out what orbis is doing in 224. Can anyone explain to me how it fits into the sentence?

I understand it to be two inverted indirect questions - so audiit (1) quanta… campos, (2) quibus… orbis. And then the subject of audiit appears to be the two relative clauses et si quem… Oceano and et si quem… iniqui. I understand the second indirect question as “[even very isolated persons have heard of] the destiny by which the push of both Europe and Asia has clashed”, but orbis is left rather glum by himself. Is it a plural accusative object of concurro? Or a genitive singular which I have missed out as qualifying something else in the sentence?

Thanks in advance!

2

orbis is actually the usual nominative singular of this word, not orbs, as I too mistakenly thought before trying to respond to your post.

See the entry in Lewis and Short: http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.13:1342.lewisandshort

actus is the past participle modifying orbis, not the deverbative noun, and the interrogative quibus fatis belongs with actus.

“. . . driven by what fates both spheres – that of Europe and that of Asia – rushed together in battle”.

3

Thanks Hylander, that makes sense. Yes, I don’t know why I didn’t see orbis as being nom. sg., but altogether that is a much more cogent thought than the one I thought Vergil was expressing!

4

I stumbled over orbis too. I hope you’ll continue to post and perhaps share some of your thoughts on Vergil and others.

5

It’s because orbis sounds a lot like urbis, and so it’s almost automatic to think that the nominative singular is orbs. But not to feel bad. I think this is something that even native speakers might have missed. I think once or twice I might have mentioned “orbs terrarum” in my classes. I hope not, but I might have!

6

I was saved by Page’s notes in the red MacMillan school edition.