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The author, already well known for his work on Vergil—a number of articles, on a variety of topics, some in Italian, some English—here turns his attention to an entire book of the Aeneid. The text he offers agrees with N. Horsfall (Virgil, Aeneid 2: A Commentary. Mnemosyne Supplements, 299 [Leiden 2008]) against G. B. Conte's Teubner (Berlin and New York 2005) twice as often as vice versa. It is accompanied by a facing-page Italian translation and is preceded by an introduction and followed by a substantial, detailed commentary, as well as the usual indexes and bibliography of works cited. Given the translation, Casali rarely explains the grammar, but on 664–667 his note is somewhat fuller than those of R. G. Austin and Horsfall.
Austin's commentary on book 2 (Oxford 1964) is considerably shorter than Casali's and very much shorter than Horsfall's. As a result of the differing scale and also of readers' growing expectations, it now appears spotty in its coverage of relevant subjects. On the quo me vertam? topos in 69–72, Austin says nothing. In regard to the flame that plays harmlessly about Ascanius's head...