“ It is objected that in the 79th letter of Seneca, which is the chief authority on the question, he apparently asks that Lucilius should introduce the hackneyed theme of Aetna merely as an episode in his contemplated poem, not make it the subject of separate treatment. The sources of the Aetna are Posidonius of Apamea, and perhaps the pseudo-Aristotelian De Mundo, while there are many reminiscences of Lucretius. It has come down in a very corrupt state, and its difficulties are increased by the unpoetical nature of the subject, the straining after conciseness, and the obtrusive use of metaphor. ”

“ Editions by J. Scaliger (1595) , F. Jacob (1826) , H. A. J. Munro (1867) , M. Haupt (in his edition of Virgil, 1873) , E. Bährens (in Poetae latini minores, ii) , S. Sudhaus (1898) , R. Ellis (1901, containing a bibliography of the subject) ”