Virgil: AENEID

Oceanum interea surgens Aurora reliquit:
Aeneas, quamquam et sociis dare tempus humandis
praecipitant curae turbataque funere mens est,
vota deum primo victor solvebat Eoo.
ingentem quercum decisis undique ramis               5
constituit tumulo fulgentiaque induit arma,
Mezenti ducis exuvias, tibi magne tropaeum
bellipotens; aptat rorantis sanguine cristas
telaque trunca viri, et bis sex thoraca petitum
perfossumque locis, clipeumque ex aere sinistrae               10
subligat atque ensem collo suspendit eburnum.
tum socios (namque omnis eum stipata tegebat
turba ducum) sic incipiens hortatur ovantis:
'maxima res effecta, viri; timor omnis abesto,
quod superest; haec sunt spolia et de rege superbo               15

Meanwhile Dawn, rising, left the Ocean:
Aeneas, although cares both press on to give time for burying his comrades
and his mind is troubled by the funeral, as victor he was paying vows to the gods at first Eastern light.
A huge oak, its branches cut away on every side,               5
he set up on a mound and he put upon it gleaming arms,
the spoils of the leader Mezentius, a trophy to you, great Bellipotent in war;
he fits on crests dripping with blood
and the man’s broken weapons, and a cuirass attacked
and pierced in twelve places, and to the left hand he fastens a shield of bronze,               10
and he hangs an ivory-hilted sword from the neck.
Then his comrades (for every throng of leaders, packed around, was shielding him)
beginning thus he urges on, exultant:
“The greatest deed has been accomplished, men; let all fear be absent
from what remains; these are the spoils, and from the proud king               15

primitiae manibusque meis Mezentius hic est.
nunc iter ad regem nobis murosque Latinos.
arma parate, animis et spe praesumite bellum,
ne qua mora ignaros, ubi primum vellere signa
adnuerint superi pubemque educere castris, 20
impediat segnisve metu sententia tardet.

Here is Mezentius, the first-fruits, by my own hands.
Now the march for us is to the king and the Latin walls.
Prepare arms, and with your spirits and hope anticipate the war,
lest any delay catch us unawares, when first the gods above have nodded to pluck up the standards
and to lead the youth out from the camp, 20
may impede us, or a sluggish resolve delay us through fear.

interea socios inhumataque corpora terrae
mandemus, qui solus honos Acheronte sub imo est.
ite,' ait 'egregias animas, quae sanguine nobis
hanc patriam peperere suo, decorate supremis 25
muneribus, maestamque Evandri primus ad urbem
mittatur Pallas, quem non virtutis egentem
abstulit atra dies et funere mersit acerbo.'

meanwhile let us commit to earth our comrades and the unburied bodies,
which is the sole honor beneath deepest Acheron.
“go,” he says, “adorn with final gifts the distinguished souls
who with their own blood have procured for us this fatherland, 25
and let Pallas be sent first to Evander’s sorrowful city,
whom, not lacking in virtue, the black day has taken away
and has plunged in bitter funeral.”

Sic ait inlacrimans, recipitque ad limina gressum
corpus ubi exanimi positum Pallantis Acoetes               30
servabat senior, qui Parrhasio Evandro
armiger ante fuit, sed non felicibus aeque
tum comes auspiciis caro datus ibat alumno.
circum omnis famulumque manus Troianaque turba
et maestum Iliades crinem de more solutae.               35
ut vero Aeneas foribus sese intulit altis
ingentem gemitum tunsis ad sidera tollunt
pectoribus, maestoque immugit regia luctu.
ipse caput nivei fultum Pallantis et ora
ut vidit levique patens in pectore vulnus               40

Thus he speaks, weeping, and takes back his step to the threshold,
where Acoetes, an elder, was keeping watch over the laid-out body of exanimate Pallas,               30
who formerly had been armiger to Parrhasian Evander, but then,
assigned as companion, he went under not equally felicitous auspices to his dear ward.
Around stood all the band of servants and the Trojan throng,
and the Trojan women (Iliades), their sorrowful hair loosened according to custom.               35
But when Aeneas himself entered through the high doorways,
they lift a vast groan to the stars, their breasts beaten,
and the royal house bellows with mournful grief.
He, when he saw the head and face of snow-white Pallas propped up,
and the wound lying open on his smooth breast,               40

cuspidis Ausoniae, lacrimis ita fatur obortis:
'tene,' inquit 'miserande puer, cum laeta veniret,
invidit Fortuna mihi, ne regna videres
nostra neque ad sedes victor veherere paternas?
non haec Evandro de te promissa parenti 45
discedens dederam, cum me complexus euntem
mitteret in magnum imperium metuensque moneret
acris esse viros, cum dura proelia gente.
et nunc ille quidem spe multum captus inani
fors et vota facit cumulatque altaria donis, 50
nos iuvenem exanimum et nil iam caelestibus ullis
debentem vano maesti comitamur honore.

of an Ausonian spear-point, with tears thus welling up he speaks:
'was it you,' he says, 'piteous boy, that Fortune begrudged to me, when gladness was coming,
lest you might see our realms, nor be borne as victor to your paternal seats?
not these promises had I given, departing, to Evander your parent 45
when, embracing me as I went, he sent me to great empire and, in fear, warned
that the men were fierce, that the battles were with a hard people.
and now he indeed, much captured by empty hope,
perhaps even makes vows and heaps the altars with gifts, 50
while we, sad, accompany a lifeless youth, owing nothing now to any celestials,
with vain honor.'

infelix, nati funus crudele videbis!
hi nostri reditus exspectatique triumphi?
haec mea magna fides?

unhappy one, you will behold the cruel funeral of your son!
are these our returns and long-expected triumphs?
is this my great pledge?

at non, Evandre, pudendis 55

but not, Evander, with shameful 55

vulneribus pulsum aspicies, nec sospite dirum
optabis nato funus pater. ei mihi quantum
praesidium, Ausonia, et quantum tu perdis, Iule!'

you will behold me repulsed by wounds, nor, with your son safe, father, will you opt for a dire
funeral. Ah me, how great a bulwark, Ausonia, and how much you lose, Iulus!'

Haec ubi deflevit, tolli miserabile corpus
imperat, et toto lectos ex agmine mittit               60
mille viros qui supremum comitentur honorem
intersintque patris lacrimis, solacia luctus
exigua ingentis, misero sed debita patri.
haud segnes alii cratis et molle feretrum
arbuteis texunt virgis et vimine querno               65
exstructosque toros obtentu frondis inumbrant.
hic iuvenem agresti sublimem stramine ponunt:
qualem virgineo demessum pollice florem
seu mollis violae seu languentis hyacinthi,
cui neque fulgor adhuc nec dum sua forma recessit,               70

When he had wept these things, he commands the pitiable body to be lifted, and from the whole battle-line he sends               60
a thousand chosen men to accompany the supreme honor and to be present at the father’s tears—small solaces of a vast grief, yet owed to the wretched father.
Not slothful, others weave wickerwork and a soft bier with arbutus twigs and with oak withies, and they shadow the heaped couches with a covering of foliage.               65
Here they place the youth high upon rustic straw:
like a flower reaped by a maiden’s thumb, whether of the soft violet or of the languishing hyacinth, from which neither the brilliance as yet nor yet its own form has receded.               70

non iam mater alit tellus virisque ministrat.
tum geminas vestis auroque ostroque rigentis
extulit Aeneas, quas illi laeta laborum
ipsa suis quondam manibus Sidonia Dido
fecerat et tenui telas discreverat auro.               75
harum unam iuveni supremum maestus honorem
induit arsurasque comas obnubit amictu,
multaque praeterea Laurentis praemia pugnae
aggerat et longo praedam iubet ordine duci;
addit equos et tela quibus spoliaverat hostem.               80
vinxerat et post terga manus, quos mitteret umbris
inferias, caeso sparsurus sanguine flammas,
indutosque iubet truncos hostilibus armis
ipsos ferre duces inimicaque nomina figi.
ducitur infelix aevo confectus Acoetes,               85

no longer does mother earth nourish nor minister strength.
then Aeneas brought forth twin garments stiff with gold and purple,
which for him, rejoicing in his labors, Sidonian Dido herself once
had made with her own hands and had distinguished the webs with fine gold.               75
of these, sorrowing, he puts one on the youth as a final honor
and veils the hair that is to burn with a mantle,
and, moreover, he heaps up many prizes of the Laurentian battle
and orders the booty to be led in a long procession;
he adds the horses and weapons with which he had despoiled the foe.               80
and he had bound hands behind their backs, those whom he would send to the shades
as funereal offerings, intending to sprinkle the flames with the blood of the slain,
and he bids that trunks clothed with enemy arms
be carried by the leaders themselves and that hostile names be affixed.
is led the ill-fated Acoetes, worn out with age,               85

pectora nunc foedans pugnis, nunc unguibus ora,
sternitur et toto proiectus corpore terrae;
ducunt et Rutulo perfusos sanguine currus.
post bellator equus positis insignibus Aethon
it lacrimans guttisque umectat grandibus ora. 90
hastam alii galeamque ferunt, nam cetera Turnus
victor habet. tum maesta phalanx Teucrique sequuntur
Tyrrhenique omnes et versis Arcades armis.

now defiling his breasts with fists, now his face with nails,
he is laid low and cast with his whole body upon the earth;
and they lead the chariots drenched with Rutulian blood.
afterward the war-horse Aethon, his insignia set aside,
goes weeping and moistens his face with great drops. 90
others bear the spear and the helmet, for the rest Turnus
the victor has. then the mournful phalanx and the Teucrians follow,
and all the Tyrrhenians and the Arcadians with arms reversed.

postquam omnis longe comitum praecesserat ordo,
substitit Aeneas gemituque haec addidit alto: 95
'nos alias hinc ad lacrimas eadem horrida belli
fata vocant: salve aeternum mihi, maxime Palla,
aeternumque vale.' nec plura effatus ad altos
tendebat muros gressumque in castra ferebat.

after the whole order of companions had gone far ahead,
Aeneas halted and with a deep groan added these things: 95
'us the same horrid fates of war call from here to other tears:
hail eternally to me, most great Pallas,
and eternally farewell.' and, having spoken no more, toward the high
walls he stretched and bore his step into the camp.

Iamque oratores aderant ex urbe Latina               100
velati ramis oleae veniamque rogantes:
corpora, per campos ferro quae fusa iacebant,
redderet ac tumulo sineret succedere terrae;
nullum cum victis certamen et aethere cassis;
parceret hospitibus quondam socerisque vocatis.               105
quos bonus Aeneas haud aspernanda precantis
prosequitur venia et verbis haec insuper addit:
'quaenam vos tanto fortuna indigna, Latini,
implicuit bello, qui nos fugiatis amicos?
pacem me exanimis et Martis sorte peremptis               110

And now ambassadors were present from the Latin city               100
veiled with branches of olive and asking for pardon:
that the bodies, which lay poured out by iron across the fields,
he would hand back and allow to go beneath a mound into the earth;
no contest with the conquered and with those bereft of the ether;
let him spare men once guests and once called fathers-in-law.               105
whom good Aeneas, as they prayed for things not to be spurned,
grants leave and moreover adds these words besides:
‘what unworthy fortune, Latins,
has entangled you in so great a war, that you flee us, your friends?
peace from me for the lifeless and for those slain by the lot of Mars               110

oratis? equidem et vivis concedere vellem.
nec veni, nisi fata locum sedemque dedissent,
nec bellum cum gente gero; rex nostra reliquit
hospitia et Turni potius se credidit armis.

do you implore? indeed I would wish to concede even to the living.
nor would I have come, had not the Fates granted a place and a seat,
nor do I wage war with the nation; the king abandoned our hospitality
and entrusted himself rather to the arms of Turnus.

aequius huic Turnum fuerat se opponere morti. 115
si bellum finire manu, si pellere Teucros
apparat, his mecum decuit concurrere telis:
vixet cui vitam deus aut sua dextra dedisset.
nunc ite et miseris supponite civibus ignem.'
dixerat Aeneas. illi obstipuere silentes 120
conversique oculos inter se atque ora tenebant.

it would have been more equitable for Turnus to oppose this death himself. 115
if he prepares to finish the war by hand, if to drive out the Teucrians,
it was fitting to engage with me with these weapons:
he would have lived, to whom a god or his own right hand had given life.
now go and lay fire beneath your wretched citizens.'
Aeneas had spoken. they were astounded, silent, 120
and, turning their eyes upon one another, they kept their lips closed.

Tum senior semperque odiis et crimine Drances
infensus iuveni Turno sic ore vicissim
orsa refert: 'o fama ingens, ingentior armis,
vir Troiane, quibus caelo te laudibus aequem? 125
iustitiaene prius mirer belline laborum?
nos vero haec patriam grati referemus ad urbem
et te, si qua viam dederit Fortuna, Latino
iungemus regi. quaerat sibi foedera Turnus.

Then the elder Drances, always with hatreds and accusation hostile to the young Turnus, thus in turn with his speech begins and replies: 'O great fame, greater in arms, Trojan man, with what praises may I equal you to heaven? 125
shall I marvel first at your justice, or at the labors of war?
we indeed, grateful, will carry back these things to our fatherland city,
and you, if Fortune shall give any way, we will join to King Latinus.
let Turnus seek covenants for himself.'

quin et fatalis murorum attollere moles 130
saxaque subvectare umeris Troiana iuvabit.'
dixerat haec unoque omnes eadem ore fremebant.
bis senos pepigere dies, et pace sequestra
per silvas Teucri mixtique impune Latini
erravere iugis. ferro sonat alta bipenni 135

nay, even to raise up the fated mass of walls, 130
and to haul Trojan stones upon their shoulders will be a delight.'
He had said these things, and all with one mouth were murmuring the same.
they bargained for twelve days, and with peace as surety
through the forests the Teucrians and, mingled with them, the Latins
wandered unpunished along the ridges. the high wood rings with the iron double-axe 135

fraxinus, evertunt actas ad sidera pinus,
robora nec cuneis et olentem scindere cedrum
nec plaustris cessant vectare gementibus ornos.

the ash, they overturn pines upreared to the stars,
nor do they cease with wedges to cleave the oak timbers and the odorous cedar
nor with groaning wagons to convey the manna-ashes.

Et iam Fama volans, tanti praenuntia luctus,
Evandrum Evandrique domos et moenia replet, 140
quae modo victorem Latio Pallanta ferebat.
Arcades ad portas ruere et de more vetusto
funereas rapuere faces; lucet via longo
ordine flammarum et late discriminat agros.
contra turba Phrygum veniens plangentia iungit 145
agmina.

And now Rumor flying, the harbinger of so great a mourning,
fills Evander and the houses and walls of Evander, she who just now was bearing Pallas as victor to Latium. 140
the Arcadians rush to the gates and, according to the time-honored custom,
seize funerary torches; the way shines with a long order of flames
and far and wide discriminates the fields.
in turn the throng of the Phrygians, coming to meet them, joins the plangent 145
ranks.

quae postquam matres succedere tectis
viderunt, maestam incendunt clamoribus urbem.
at non Evandrum potis est vis ulla tenere,
sed venit in medios. feretro Pallante reposto
procubuit super atque haeret lacrimansque gemensque, 150

which, after the mothers saw them come beneath the roofs,
they set the sorrowful city ablaze with clamors.
but no force is able to hold Evander,
but he comes into the midst. with Pallas laid down from the bier,
he fell forward upon him and clings, both weeping and groaning, 150

et via vix tandem voci laxata dolore est:
'non haec, o Palla, dederas promissa parenti,
cautius ut saevo velles te credere Marti.
haud ignarus eram quantum nova gloria in armis
et praedulce decus primo certamine posset. 155
primitiae iuvenis miserae bellique propinqui
dura rudimenta, et nulli exaudita deorum
vota precesque meae! tuque, o sanctissima coniunx,
felix morte tua neque in hunc servata dolorem!

and at last the way was scarcely loosened to his voice by grief:
'not these, O Pallas, were the promises you had given to your parent,
that you would wish to entrust yourself more cautiously to cruel Mars.
I was not unaware how much new glory in arms
and the very-sweet honor at a first contest might avail. 155
the wretched first-fruits of a youth and of the near war,
the hard rudiments, and my vows and prayers heard by none of the gods!
and you too, O most holy spouse,
happy in your death and not kept for this grief!

contra ego vivendo vici mea fata, superstes 160
restarem ut genitor. Troum socia arma secutum
obruerent Rutuli telis! animam ipse dedissem
atque haec pompa domum me, non Pallanta, referret!

by contrast I, by living, have vanquished my fates, so that, surviving, I should remain as father. 160
would that the Rutulians had overwhelmed with weapons one who had followed the allied arms of the Trojans!
would that I myself had given up my spirit, and that this procession bore home me, not Pallas!

nec vos arguerim, Teucri, nec foedera nec quas
iunximus hospitio dextras: sors ista senectae 165

nor would I accuse you, Teucrians, nor the treaties nor the right hands which we joined in hospitality: such is the lot of old age 165

debita erat nostrae. quod si immatura manebat
mors gnatum, caesis Volscorum milibus ante
ducentem in Latium Teucros cecidisse iuvabit.
quin ego non alio digner te funere, Palla,
quam pius Aeneas et quam magni Phryges et quam 170
Tyrrhenique duces, Tyrrhenum exercitus omnis.

it was owed to my old age. But if an untimely death was awaiting
my begotten son, it will be a comfort that, with thousands of Volscians cut down beforehand,
he fell while leading the Teucrians into Latium. Nay, I would not deem you worthy of any other
funeral, Pallas, than such as pious Aeneas, and the great Phrygians, and the 170
Tyrrhenian leaders, the whole Tyrrhenian army, [deem you worthy].

magna tropaea ferunt quos dat tua dextera leto;
tu quoque nunc stares immanis truncus in arvis,
esset par aetas et idem si robur ab annis,
Turne. sed infelix Teucros quid demoror armis? 175
vadite et haec memores regi mandata referte:
quod vitam moror invisam Pallante perempto
dextera causa tua est, Turnum gnatoque patrique
quam debere vides. meritis vacat hic tibi solus
fortunaeque locus.

great trophies are borne by those whom your right hand gives to death;
you too now would stand a monstrous trunk in the fields,
if age were equal and the same strength from years,
Turnus. But unhappy, why do I delay the Teucrians from arms? 175
go, and mindful, report these mandates to the king:
that I prolong a life hateful with Pallas slain,
the cause is your right hand, that I owe Turnus to both son and father,
as you see. This alone is vacant to you for merits and for fortune.

non vitae gaudia quaero, 180

I do not seek the joys of life, 180

nec fas, sed gnato manis perferre sub imos.'

nor is it lawful, but to bear it to my son down to the lowest Manes.'

Aurora interea miseris mortalibus almam
extulerat lucem referens opera atque labores:
iam pater Aeneas, iam curvo in litore Tarchon
constituere pyras. huc corpora quisque suorum 185
more tulere patrum, subiectisque ignibus atris
conditur in tenebras altum caligine caelum.
ter circum accensos cincti fulgentibus armis
decurrere rogos, ter maestum funeris ignem
lustravere in equis ululatusque ore dedere. 190
spargitur et tellus lacrimis, sparguntur et arma,
it caelo clamorque virum clangorque tubarum.

Meanwhile Dawn had lifted up the fostering light for wretched mortals, bringing back works and labors:
now father Aeneas, now Tarchon on the curved shore set up the pyres.
hither each bore the bodies of their own in the custom of the fathers, and with black fires set beneath
the high heaven is buried into shadows with murk.
thrice around the kindled pyres, girded with gleaming arms,
they ran down, thrice they encompassed on horses the mournful fire of the funeral
and gave ululations from their mouth. 185
both the earth is sprinkled with tears, and the arms are sprinkled,
and to the sky goes the clamor of men and the clangor of trumpets.

hic alii spolia occisis derepta Latinis
coniciunt igni, galeas ensisque decoros
frenaque ferventisque rotas; pars munera nota, 195

Here others hurl to the fire the spoils stripped from the slain Latins,
helmets and decorous swords and bridles and the seething wheels; part the familiar offerings, 195

ipsorum clipeos et non felicia tela.
multa boum circa mactantur corpora Morti,
saetigerosque sues raptasque ex omnibus agris
in flammam iugulant pecudes. tum litore toto
ardentis spectant socios semustaque servant 200
busta, neque avelli possunt, nox umida donec
invertit caelum stellis ardentibus aptum.

their own shields and ill‑fated weapons.
many bodies of oxen round about are sacrificed to Death,
and bristle‑bearing swine and flocks snatched from all the fields
they slaughter into the flame. then along the whole shore
they watch their comrades burning and keep the half‑burnt pyres 200
nor can they be torn away, until dewy night
turns the sky fitted with burning stars.

Nec minus et miseri diversa in parte Latini
innumeras struxere pyras, et corpora partim
multa virum terrae infodiunt, avectaque partim 205
finitimos tollunt in agros urbique remittunt.
cetera confusaeque ingentem caedis acervum
nec numero nec honore cremant; tunc undique vasti
certatim crebris conlucent ignibus agri.
tertia lux gelidam caelo dimoverat umbram: 210
maerentes altum cinerem et confusa ruebant
ossa focis tepidoque onerabant aggere terrae.

No less too did the wretched Latins, in a different quarter,
build innumerable pyres, and some of the many bodies
of men they in-earth, and some, carried away, 205
they bear to neighboring fields and remit to the city.
The rest, and the immense heap of mingled slaughter,
they burn without number and without honor; then on every side the vast
fields, vying, shine with frequent fires.
The third light had removed the gelid shadow from the sky: 210
grieving, they were raking together the deep ash and the mingled
bones into the hearths, and they loaded them with a warm mound of earth.

iam vero in tectis, praedivitis urbe Latini,
praecipuus fragor et longi pars maxima luctus.
hic matres miseraeque nurus, hic cara sororum 215

now indeed in the dwellings, in the city of the very-wealthy Latinus,
the chief clamor and the greatest part of the long mourning.
here mothers and wretched daughters-in-law, here the dear sisters 215

pectora maerentum puerique parentibus orbi
dirum exsecrantur bellum Turnique hymenaeos;
ipsum armis ipsumque iubent decernere ferro,
qui regnum Italiae et primos sibi poscat honores.
ingravat haec saevus Drances solumque vocari 220
testatur, solum posci in certamina Turnum.
multa simul contra variis sententia dictis
pro Turno, et magnum reginae nomen obumbrat,
multa virum meritis sustentat fama tropaeis.

the hearts of the mourners and boys bereft of parents
curse the dire war and the hymeneals of Turnus;
they bid that he himself decide it by arms, he himself by steel,
he who claims for himself the kingdom of Italy and the foremost honors.
savage Drances aggravates these things and testifies that Turnus alone is called 220
that Turnus alone is demanded into the contests.
yet at the same time, on the contrary, opinion with varied sayings speaks much
for Turnus, and the great name of the queen overshadows him,
and much fame of trophies sustains the man by his merits.

Hos inter motus, medio in flagrante tumultu,               225
ecce super maesti magna Diomedis ab urbe
legati responsa ferunt: nihil omnibus actum
tantorum impensis operum, nil dona neque aurum
nec magnas valuisse preces, alia arma Latinis
quaerenda, aut pacem Troiano ab rege petendum.               230
deficit ingenti luctu rex ipse Latinus:
fatalem Aenean manifesto numine ferri
admonet ira deum tumulique ante ora recentes.
ergo concilium magnum primosque suorum
imperio accitos alta intra limina cogit.               235

Amid these motions, in the midst of the blazing tumult,               225
behold moreover from the great city of Diomedes the sorrowful envoys bring back answers: nothing has been accomplished, for all the expenditures of such works, nor have gifts or gold or great prayers availed; other arms must be sought for the Latins, or peace must be sought from the Trojan king.               230
King Latinus himself fails with immense mourning: he points out that fated Aeneas is being borne by manifest numen; the wrath of the gods and the fresh barrows before their faces give warning. Therefore a great council and the foremost of his men, summoned by his command, he gathers within the high thresholds.               235

olli convenere fluuntque ad regia plenis
tecta viis. sedet in mediis et maximus aevo
et primus sceptris haud laeta fronte Latinus.
atque hic legatos Aetola ex urbe remissos
quae referant fari iubet, et responsa reposcit 240
ordine cuncta suo. tum facta silentia linguis,
et Venulus dicto parens ita farier infit:

to them they gathered, and they stream to the royal halls with the ways full.
he sits in their midst, both greatest in age
and foremost in scepters, Latinus, with a not happy brow.
and here he bids the envoys sent back from the Aetolian city
to speak what they report, and he demands the answers 240
all in their proper order. then silence was made for tongues,
and Venulus, obeying the word, thus begins to speak:

'Vidimus, o cives, Diomedem Argivaque castra,
atque iter emensi casus superavimus omnis,
contigimusque manum qua concidit Ilia tellus.               245
ille urbem Argyripam patriae cognomine gentis
victor Gargani condebat Iapygis agris.
postquam introgressi et coram data copia fandi,
munera praeferimus, nomen patriamque docemus,
qui bellum intulerint, quae causa attraxerit Arpos.               250
auditis ille haec placido sic reddidit ore:
"o fortunatae gentes, Saturnia regna,
antiqui Ausonii, quae vos fortuna quietos
sollicitat suadetque ignota lacessere bella?
quicumque Iliacos ferro violavimus agros               255

'We have seen, O citizens, Diomedes and the Argive camp,
and, having measured the journey, we have overcome all misfortunes,
and we touched the hand by which the Ilian land fell.               245
he was founding the city Argyripa, with the cognomen of his fatherland’s nation,
a victor over Garganus, in the Iapygian fields.
after we entered and, face-to-face, an opportunity of speaking was given,
we present gifts, we declare our name and fatherland,
who have brought war, what cause has drawn us to Arpi.               250
after hearing these things he thus replied with a placid countenance:
"O fortunate peoples, Saturnian realms,
ancient Ausonians, what fortune, you being at rest,
disturbs you and persuades you to provoke unknown wars?
whoever of us have violated with iron the Iliac fields               255

(mitto ea quae muris bellando exhausta sub altis,
quos Simois premat ille viros) infanda per orbem
supplicia et scelerum poenas expendimus omnes,
vel Priamo miseranda manus; scit triste Minervae
sidus et Euboicae cautes ultorque Caphereus. 260
militia ex illa diversum ad litus abacti
Atrides Protei Menelaus adusque columnas
exsulat, Aetnaeos vidit Cyclopas Ulixes.
regna Neoptolemi referam versosque penatis
Idomenei? Libycone habitantis litore Locros? 265
ipse Mycenaeus magnorum ductor Achivum
coniugis infandae prima inter limina dextra
oppetiit, devictam Asiam subsedit adulter.

(I pass over those things which by warring were exhausted beneath the high walls, the men whom the Simois presses) we paid unspeakable punishments and the penalties of our crimes all through the orb, a band pitiable even to Priam; grim knows the star of Minerva and the Euboean crags and the avenger Caphereus. 260
from that military service driven to a different shore, the Atreid Menelaus is exiled to the very columns of Proteus, and Ulysses saw the Aetnaean Cyclopes.
shall I recount the realms of Neoptolemus and the household gods of Idomeneus overturned? the Locrians dwelling on the Libyan-ward shore?265
the Mycenaean himself, leader of the great Achaeans, met his end by the right hand of his unspeakable spouse between the very thresholds; the adulterer sat down upon conquered Asia.

invidisse deos, patriis ut redditus aris
coniugium optatum et pulchram Calydona viderem? 270

have the gods begrudged, that, restored to my ancestral altars,
I might see the longed-for marriage and fair Calydon? 270

nunc etiam horribili visu portenta sequuntur
et socii amissi petierunt aethera pennis
fluminibusque vagantur aves (heu, dira meorum
supplicia!) et scopulos lacrimosis vocibus implent.
haec adeo ex illo mihi iam speranda fuerunt 275
tempore cum ferro caelestia corpora demens
appetii et Veneris violavi vulnere dextram.
ne vero, ne me ad talis impellite pugnas.

now too portents, horrible to behold, follow
and my lost comrades have sought the aether with wings
and as birds they wander the rivers (alas, dire punishments of my men!)
and they fill the rocks with lacrimose voices.
these things indeed from that time already were to be expected by me 275
when in madness I assailed with iron the celestial bodies
and violated with a wound the right hand of Venus.
nay indeed, do not, do not drive me to such combats.

nec mihi cum Teucris ullum post eruta bellum
Pergama nec veterum memini laetorve malorum. 280
munera quae patriis ad me portatis ab oris
vertite ad Aenean. stetimus tela aspera contra
contulimusque manus: experto credite quantus
in clipeum adsurgat, quo turbine torqueat hastam.
si duo praeterea talis Idaea tulisset 285

nor is there for me any war with the Teucrians after Pergama was uprooted,
nor do I remember or take joy in the ancient wrongs. 280
turn the gifts which you have carried to me from your fatherland’s shores
toward Aeneas. we stood against rough weapons
and we closed hand-to-hand: believe one who has experienced how mighty
he rises against the shield, with what turbine he hurls the spear.
if besides, the Idaean land had borne two such men 285

terra viros, ultro Inachias venisset ad urbes
Dardanus, et versis lugeret Graecia fatis.
quidquid apud durae cessatum est moenia Troiae,
Hectoris Aeneaeque manu victoria Graium
haesit et in decimum vestigia rettulit annum. 290
ambo animis, ambo insignes praestantibus armis,
hic pietate prior. coeant in foedera dextrae,
qua datur; ast armis concurrant arma cavete."
et responsa simul quae sint, rex optime, regis
audisti et quae sit magno sententia bello.' 295

the land would have borne the men; Dardanus would have come unbidden to the Inachian cities
and Greece would be mourning with fates reversed.
whatever delay there was before the walls of hardy Troy,
by the hand of Hector and Aeneas the victory of the Greeks
stuck fast and drew back its footsteps into the tenth year. 290
both in spirit, both distinguished by outstanding arms,
this one is prior in piety. let right hands join in treaties,
where it is granted; but beware that arms clash with arms."
and at the same time, best king, what the king’s responses are
you have heard, and what the opinion is about the great war.'

Vix ea legati, variusque per ora cucurrit
Ausonidum turbata fremor, ceu saxa morantur
cum rapidos amnis, fit clauso gurgite murmur
vicinaeque fremunt ripae crepitantibus undis.
ut primum placati animi et trepida ora quierunt, 300
praefatus divos solio rex infit ab alto:

Hardly had the envoys [spoken] these things, and a varied, troubled roar ran over the faces of the Ausonians, as rocks delay
swift rivers, a murmur arises in a closed-in whirlpool
and the neighboring banks roar with crackling waves.
As soon as minds were appeased and the trembling faces grew quiet, 300
after a preface to the gods, from his high throne the king begins:

'Ante equidem summa de re statuisse, Latini,
et vellem et fuerat melius, non tempore tali
cogere concilium, cum muros adsidet hostis.
bellum importunum, cives, cum gente deorum 305
invictisque viris gerimus, quos nulla fatigant
proelia nec victi possunt absistere ferro.
spem si quam ascitis Aetolum habuistis in armis,
ponite.

'Previously indeed I had decided about the supreme matter, Latins,
and I both would wish it and it would have been better, not at such a time
to convene a council, when the enemy sits at the walls.
an importunate war, citizens, we wage with a race of the gods 305
and with unconquered men, whom no battles fatigue
nor, conquered, can they desist from the sword.
if you have had any hope, with the Aetolians enlisted in arms,
put it down.

spes sibi quisque; sed haec quam angusta videtis.
cetera qua rerum iaceant perculsa ruina, 310
ante oculos interque manus sunt omnia vestras.
nec quemquam incuso: potuit quae plurima virtus
esse, fuit; toto certatum est corpore regni.

Each man his own hope; but how narrow these are you see.
The rest—how the affairs lie, stricken by ruin— 310
are all before your eyes and in your very hands.
Nor do I accuse anyone: whatever valor could be at the utmost
was, it was; there has been contention with the whole body of the kingdom.

nunc adeo quae sit dubiae sententia menti,
expediam et paucis (animos adhibete) docebo. 315

Now then what the opinion of my doubtful mind is,
I will set forth and in a few words (apply your minds) I will teach. 315

est antiquus ager Tusco mihi proximus amni,
longus in occasum, finis super usque Sicanos;
Aurunci Rutulique serunt, et vomere duros
exercent collis atque horum asperrima pascunt.
haec omnis regio et celsi plaga pinea montis               320
cedat amicitiae Teucrorum, et foederis aequas
dicamus leges sociosque in regna vocemus:
considant, si tantus amor, et moenia condant.
sin alios finis aliamque capessere gentem
est animus possuntque solo decedere nostro,               325
bis denas Italo texamus robore navis;
seu pluris complere valent, iacet omnis ad undam
materies: ipsi numerumque modumque carinis
praecipiant, nos aera, manus, naualia demus.
praeterea, qui dicta ferant et foedera firment               330

there is an ancient field next to me by the Tuscan river,
long toward the setting, its boundary stretching up even to the Sicanians;
the Aurunci and the Rutuli sow, and with the ploughshare they exercise the hard
hills and pasture the roughest parts of these.
let this whole region and the piney tract of the lofty mountain               320
yield to the amity of the Teucrians, and let us declare the equal laws of the treaty
and call them as allies into our realms:
let them settle, if so great the desire, and found walls.
but if their mind is to take up other bounds and another people
and they can depart from our soil,               325
let us weave twenty ships with Italian oak;
or if they have the strength to make more complete, all the timber lies at the wave:
let them themselves prescribe the number and the measure for the hulls,
we will supply bronze, hands, and naval yards.
moreover, men to carry the words and to make the treaties firm               330

centum oratores prima de gente Latinos
ire placet pacisque manu praetendere ramos,
munera portantis aurique eborisque talenta
et sellam regni trabeamque insignia nostri.
consulite in medium et rebus succurrite fessis.' 335

it pleases that a hundred Latin orators from the foremost stock
go and with the hand of peace hold forth branches,
carrying gifts and talents of gold and ivory,
and the seat of kingship and the trabea, insignia of our rule.
take counsel for the common good and succor exhausted affairs.' 335

Tum Drances idem infensus, quem gloria Turni
obliqua invidia stimulisque agitabat amaris,
largus opum et lingua melior, sed frigida bello
dextera, consiliis habitus non futtilis auctor,
seditione potens (genus huic materna superbum               340
nobilitas dabat, incertum de patre ferebat),
surgit et his onerat dictis atque aggerat iras:
'rem nulli obscuram nostrae nec vocis egentem
consulis, o bone rex: cuncti se scire fatentur
quid fortuna ferat populi, sed dicere mussant.               345
det libertatem fandi flatusque remittat,
cuius ob auspicium infaustum moresque sinistros
(dicam equidem, licet arma mihi mortemque minetur)
lumina tot cecidisse ducum totamque videmus
consedisse urbem luctu, dum Troia temptat               350

Then Drances, the same man inimical, whom the glory of Turnus drove with oblique envy and with bitter goads, lavish of wealth and better in tongue, but with a right hand cold in war, held in counsels as no futile author, powerful in sedition (to this man his mother’s nobility gave a proud lineage, about his father it was reported as uncertain), rises and with these words loads on and heaps up angers:
'You consult, O good king, about a matter obscure to no one of ours nor needing our voice: all confess that they know what fortune brings for the people, but they whisper to speak. 340
let him grant liberty of speaking and relax the blasts,
on account of whose ill-omened auspice and sinister manners
(I will indeed say it, though he threaten me with arms and death)
we see so many lights of leaders have fallen and the whole city
has sat down in mourning, while Troy attempts 345

castra fugae fidens et caelum territat armis.
unum etiam donis istis, quae plurima mitti
Dardanidis dicique iubes, unum, optime regum,
adicias, nec te ullius violentia vincat
quin natam egregio genero dignisque hymenaeis 355
des pater, et pacem hanc aeterno foedere iungas.
quod si tantus habet mentes et pectora terror,
ipsum obtestemur veniamque oremus ab ipso:
cedat, ius proprium regi patriaeque remittat.

he makes a camp relying on flight and terrifies the sky with arms.
add one thing also to those gifts, which you bid, very many, to be sent and declared to the Dardanids—one thing, best of kings—
add, and let not the violence of anyone conquer you, but give your daughter to a distinguished son‑in‑law and with worthy hymeneals, 355
father, and yoke this peace with an eternal pact.
but if so great a terror holds minds and hearts,
let us adjure him himself and ask pardon from him himself:
let him yield, remit his proper right to the king and to his fatherland.

quid miseros totiens in aperta pericula civis 360
proicis, o Latio caput horum et causa malorum?
nulla salus bello, pacem te poscimus omnes,
Turne, simul pacis solum inviolabile pignus.
primus ego, invisum quem tu tibi fingis (et esse
nil moror), en supplex venio.

why do you cast forth the wretched citizens so often into open perils 360
O head for Latium and cause of these evils?
there is no safety in war; we all demand peace of you,
Turnus, together with the only inviolable pledge of peace.
I first, whom you imagine hateful to yourself (and to be so
I care nothing), lo, I come as a suppliant.

miserere tuorum, 365

have mercy on your own, 365

pone animos et pulsus abi. sat funera fusi
vidimus ingentis et desolavimus agros.
aut, si fama movet, si tantum pectore robur
concipis et si adeo dotalis regia cordi est,
aude atque adversum fidens fer pectus in hostem. 370
scilicet ut Turno contingat regia coniunx,
nos animae viles, inhumata infletaque turba,
sternamur campis.

put aside your passions and depart, repulsed. Enough huge funerals
have we seen spread out, and we have desolated the fields.
or, if fame moves you, if you conceive such strength in your breast,
and if to such a degree the royal dowry is dear to your heart,
dare, and trusting, bear your breast against the enemy. 370
doubtless, so that a royal spouse may befall Turnus,
we, vile souls, an unburied and unwept throng,
let us be strewn on the plains.

etiam tu, si qua tibi vis,
si patrii quid Martis habes, illum aspice contra
qui vocat.' 375

you too, if you have any force,
if you have anything of ancestral Mars, look upon that one opposite
who calls you.' 375

Talibus exarsit dictis violentia Turni.
dat gemitum rumpitque has imo pectore voces:
'larga quidem semper, Drance, tibi copia fandi
tum cum bella manus poscunt, patribusque vocatis
primus ades. sed non replenda est curia verbis, 380
quae tuto tibi magna volant, dum distinet hostem
agger murorum nec inundant sanguine fossae.

At such words the violence of Turnus blazed up.
he gives a groan and breaks forth these voices from his inmost chest:
'indeed, Drances, a bountiful supply of speaking is always yours,
then when wars demand hands, and with the Fathers called
you are first present. But the Curia is not to be filled with words, 380
which safely fly grand for you, while the rampart of the walls keeps off the enemy
and the ditches are not inundated with blood.

proinde tona eloquio (solitum tibi) meque timoris
argue tu, Drance, quando tot stragis acervos
Teucrorum tua dextra dedit, passimque tropaeis 385
insignis agros. possit quid vivida virtus
experiare licet, nec longe scilicet hostes
quaerendi nobis; circumstant undique muros.
imus in adversos—quid cessas?

Therefore thunder with eloquence (as is your wont), and charge me with fear,
you, Drances, since your right hand has given so many heaps of slaughter
of the Teucrians, and far and wide with trophies 385
has marked the fields. You are free to try what lively prowess
can accomplish, nor, of course, need the enemies be sought far
by us; they hem the walls on every side.
Let us go against our adversaries—why do you delay?

an tibi Mavors
ventosa in lingua pedibusque fugacibus istis 390

Or is Mavors for you
in a windy tongue and in those fugacious feet 390

semper erit?
pulsus ego? aut quisquam merito, foedissime, pulsum
arguet, Iliaco tumidum qui crescere Thybrim
sanguine et Evandri totam cum stirpe videbit
procubuisse domum atque exutos Arcadas armis? 395
haud ita me experti Bitias et Pandarus ingens
et quos mille die victor sub Tartara misi,
inclusus muris hostilique aggere saeptus.

will it always be?
beaten, I? or will anyone with justice, most foul one, allege me as beaten,
who will see the Tiber swelling to grow with Iliac blood and the whole house of Evander with its stock laid low,
and the Arcadians stripped of arms? 395
not so did Bitias and mighty Pandarus find me,
and those whom, a thousand in a day, as victor I sent beneath Tartarus,
though enclosed by walls and hemmed in by a hostile rampart.

nulla salus bello? capiti cane talia, demens,
Dardanio rebusque tuis. proinde omnia magno 400
ne cessa turbare metu atque extollere viris
gentis bis victae, contra premere arma Latini.

No salvation in war? Sing such things to the Dardanian head, madman, and to your own affairs.
Therefore do not cease to perturb everything with great fear and to extol the men of a twice‑defeated race, 400
while, on the contrary, pressing down the arms of Latinus.

nunc et Myrmidonum proceres Phrygia arma tremescunt,
nunc et Tydides et Larisaeus Achilles,
amnis et Hadriacas retro fugit Aufidus undas. 405

now even the chieftains of the Myrmidons tremble at Phrygian arms,
now even the Tydides and Larisaean Achilles,
and the river Aufidus flees backward its Adriatic waves. 405

vel cum se pavidum contra mea iurgia fingit,
artificis scelus, et formidine crimen acerbat.
numquam animam talem dextra hac (absiste moveri)
amittes: habitet tecum et sit pectore in isto.
nunc ad te et tua magna, pater, consulta revertor. 410
si nullam nostris ultra spem ponis in armis,
si tam deserti sumus et semel agmine verso
funditus occidimus neque habet Fortuna regressum,
oremus pacem et dextras tendamus inertis.

or when he fashions himself timorous in answer to my reproaches,
the crime of an artificer, and he aggravates the charge by fear.
never will you lose such a soul by this right hand (cease to be moved):
let it dwell with you and be in that breast.
now to you and your great counsels, father, I return. 410
if you place no further hope in our arms,
if we are so abandoned and, once the battle-line has been turned,
we have perished utterly and Fortune has no return,
let us beg for peace and stretch forth the right hands of the inactive.

quamquam o si solitae quicquam virtutis adesset! 415
ille mihi ante alios fortunatusque laborum
egregiusque animi, qui, ne quid tale videret,
procubuit moriens et humum semel ore momordit.
sin et opes nobis et adhuc intacta iuventus
auxilioque urbes Italae populique supersunt, 420

although, O if anything of the accustomed virtue were present! 415
he to me before others both fortunate in labors and outstanding in spirit,
who, so that he might not see anything such,
fell prostrate dying and bit the earth once with his mouth.
but if both resources are ours and a still intact youth,
and for aid the Italian cities and peoples remain, 420

sin et Troianis cum multo gloria venit
sanguine (sunt illis sua funera, parque per omnis
tempestas), cur indecores in limine primo
deficimus? cur ante tubam tremor occupat artus?
multa dies variique labor mutabilis aevi 425
rettulit in melius, multos alterna revisens
lusit et in solido rursus Fortuna locavit.

but if also to the Trojans glory has come
with much blood (they have their own funerals, and the tempest is equal through all),
why do we fail ingloriously at the very first threshold?
why does trembling seize our limbs before the trumpet?
many a day and the manifold labor of mutable age 425
has brought things back for the better; Fortune, revisiting many in alternation,
has sported with them and has once more set them on solid ground.

non erit auxilio nobis Aetolus et Arpi:
at Messapus erit felixque Tolumnius et quos
tot populi misere duces, nec parva sequetur 430
gloria delectos Latio et Laurentibus agris.
est et Volscorum egregia de gente Camilla
agmen agens equitum et florentis aere catervas.
quod si me solum Teucri in certamina poscunt
idque placet tantumque bonis communibus obsto, 435

the Aetolian and Arpi will not be a help to us:
but Messapus and fortunate Tolumnius will be, and those
whom so many peoples have sent as leaders, and no small will follow 430
glory to those chosen from Latium and the Laurentine fields.
and there is Camilla too, outstanding from the nation of the Volsci,
leading a column of horsemen and squadrons flourishing with bronze.
but if the Teucrians demand me alone for the combats
and that pleases, and I so greatly obstruct the common good, 435

non adeo has exosa manus Victoria fugit
ut tanta quicquam pro spe temptare recusem.
ibo animis contra, vel magnum praestet Achillem
factaque Volcani manibus paria induat arma
ille licet. vobis animam hanc soceroque Latino 440
Turnus ego, haud ulli veterum virtute secundus,
devovi.

Victory has not so loathed these hands as to flee, that I should refuse to attempt anything for so great a hope.
I will go against them with courage, even if he should present a great Achilles and put on arms equal to those made by Vulcan’s hands—let him.
To you and to my father-in-law Latinus I, Turnus, second to none of the ancients in virtue, have devoted this life. 440

solum Aeneas vocat? et vocet oro;
nec Drances potius, sive est haec ira deorum,
morte luat, sive est virtus et gloria, tollat.'

does Aeneas call for me alone? and let him call, I pray;
and not Drances rather—if this is the wrath of the gods,
let him atone by death, or if it is virtue and glory, let him take it.'

Illi haec inter se dubiis de rebus agebant 445
certantes: castra Aeneas aciemque movebat.
nuntius ingenti per regia tecta tumultu
ecce ruit magnisque urbem terroribus implet:
instructos acie Tiberino a flumine Teucros
Tyrrhenamque manum totis descendere campis. 450
extemplo turbati animi concussaque vulgi
pectora et arrectae stimulis haud mollibus irae.
arma manu trepidi poscunt, fremit arma iuventus,
flent maesti mussantque patres.

They were dealing among themselves with these matters about doubtful things, contending, 445
while Aeneas was moving the camp and the battle line.
behold, a messenger with enormous tumult rushes through the regal roofs
and fills the city with great terrors: that the Teucrians, drawn up in battle array, from the Tiber river,
and the Tyrrhenian band, are descending upon all the plains. 450
at once spirits are disturbed and the hearts of the crowd shaken,
and angers raised by goads not gentle.
fearful they demand arms with hand, the youth roars for arms,
the sorrowful fathers weep and mutter.

hic undique clamor
dissensu vario magnus se tollit in auras, 455

here on every side a great clamor
with various dissension raises itself into the airs, 455

haud secus atque alto in luco cum forte catervae
consedere avium, piscosove amne Padusae
dant sonitum rauci per stagna loquacia cycni.
'immo,' ait 'o cives,' arrepto tempore Turnus,
'cogite concilium et pacem laudate sedentes; 460
illi armis in regna ruunt.' nec plura locutus
corripuit sese et tectis citus extulit altis.
'tu, Voluse, armari Volscorum edice maniplis,
duc' ait 'et Rutulos.

not otherwise than as, in a deep grove, when by chance cohorts of birds
have settled, or on the fish-rich river of the Po
the hoarse swans give sound through the loquacious pools. 'Nay rather,' says Turnus, seizing the moment,
'O citizens, summon a council and praise peace while sitting; 460
they rush with arms upon realms.' And speaking no more,
he snatched himself up and swiftly went forth from the high roofs. 'You, Volusus, order the maniples of the Volsci to be armed,'
'lead,' he says, 'and the Rutulians.

equitem Messapus in armis,
et cum fratre Coras latis diffundite campis. 465
pars aditus urbis firment turrisque capessant;
cetera, qua iusso, mecum manus inferat arma.'

let Messapus set the cavalry under arms,
and you, Coras, with your brother, spread out over the broad plains. 465
let part strengthen the approaches of the city and seize the towers;
the rest, where I order, let a band bring arms to bear with me.'

Ilicet in muros tota discurritur urbe.
concilium ipse pater et magna incepta Latinus
deserit ac tristi turbatus tempore differt, 470
multaque se incusat qui non acceperit ultro
Dardanium Aenean generumque asciverit urbi.
praefodiunt alii portas aut saxa sudesque
subvectant.

Straightway there is rushing onto the walls through the whole city.
Father Latinus himself abandons the council and great undertakings
and, disturbed by the grim time, defers them, 470
and he greatly accuses himself for not having accepted of his own accord
the Dardanian Aeneas and enrolled him as son-in-law for the city.
Others dig out trenches before the gates or carry up stones and stakes.

bello dat signum rauca cruentum
bucina. tum muros varia cinxere corona 475
matronae puerique, vocat labor ultimus omnis.
nec non ad templum summasque ad Palladis arces
subvehitur magna matrum regina caterva
dona ferens, iuxtaque comes Lavinia virgo,
causa mali tanti, oculos deiecta decoros. 480

for war the hoarse, bloody trumpet gives the signal.
then around the walls they wreathed a varied crown 475
matrons and boys; the ultimate labor calls all.
and likewise to the temple and to Pallas’s highest citadels
the queen is borne up with a great troop of mothers,
bearing gifts, and beside her as companion the maiden Lavinia,
the cause of so great an evil, her decorous eyes cast down. 480

succedunt matres et templum ture vaporant
et maestas alto fundunt de limine voces:
'armipotens, praeses belli, Tritonia virgo,
frange manu telum Phrygii praedonis, et ipsum
pronum sterne solo portisque effunde sub altis.'               485
cingitur ipse furens certatim in proelia Turnus.
iamque adeo rutilum thoraca indutus aenis
horrebat squamis surasque incluserat auro,
tempora nudus adhuc, laterique accinxerat ensem,
fulgebatque alta decurrens aureus arce               490
exsultatque animis et spe iam praecipit hostem:
qualis ubi abruptis fugit praesepia vinclis
tandem liber equus, campoque potitus aperto
aut ille in pastus armentaque tendit equarum
aut adsuetus aquae perfundi flumine noto               495

the mothers advance and make the temple steam with incense,
and from the high threshold they pour out mournful voices:
'mighty-in-arms, presider of war, Tritonian maiden,
break with your hand the weapon of the Phrygian brigand, and lay him himself
prone on the soil and pour him out beneath the lofty gates.'               485
Turnus himself, raging, girds for battle in emulous haste.
and now indeed, his cuirass ruddy with bronzes put on,
it bristled with scales, and he had enclosed his calves with gold,
his temples still bare, and he had girt a sword to his side,
and golden he gleamed, running down from the high citadel,               490
he exults in spirit and already by hope precipitates the foe:
like when, the fastenings of the stall broken, a horse at last
free flees, and having gained the open plain,
either he makes for the pastures and the herds of mares,
or, accustomed to be drenched with water, to a familiar river.               495

emicat, arrectisque fremit cervicibus alte
luxurians luduntque iubae per colla, per armos.

he darts forth, and with neck uplifted he neighs on high,
luxuriating, and the manes play over the neck, over the shoulders.

Obvia cui Volscorum acie comitante Camilla
occurrit portisque ab equo regina sub ipsis
desiluit, quam tota cohors imitata relictis               500
ad terram defluxit equis; tum talia fatur:
'Turne, sui merito si qua est fiducia forti,
audeo et Aeneadum promitto occurrere turmae
solaque Tyrrhenos equites ire obvia contra.
me sine prima manu temptare pericula belli,               505
tu pedes ad muros subsiste et moenia serva.'
Turnus ad haec oculos horrenda in virgine fixus:
'o decus Italiae virgo, quas dicere grates
quasve referre parem? sed nunc, est omnia quando
iste animus supra, mecum partire laborem.               510

To meet whom Camilla, with the battle-line of the Volsci escorting, ran up, and at the very gates the queen leapt down from her horse; her the whole cohort, imitating, with their horses left behind, slid down to the ground; then she speaks such words:
'Turnus, if there is any confidence, deservedly, of the brave in their own strength, I dare and I promise to run to meet a troop of the Aeneadae and I alone to go to meet the Tyrrhenian cavalry in counter-charge.
allow me to test with the foremost hand the dangers of war; you, on foot, take your stand at the walls and guard the ramparts.' 500
Turnus to these things, his eyes fixed on the awe-inspiring maiden:
'O maiden, glory of Italy, what thanks could I say or what return could I make as equal? But now, since that spirit stands above all things, share the labor with me.' 505

Aeneas, ut fama fidem missique reportant
exploratores, equitum levia improbus arma
praemisit, quaterent campos; ipse ardua montis
per deserta iugo superans adventat ad urbem.
furta paro belli conuexo in tramite silvae, 515
ut bivias armato obsidam milite fauces.
tu Tyrrhenum equitem conlatis excipe signis;
tecum acer Messapus erit turmaeque Latinae
Tiburtique manus, ducis et tu concipe curam.'
sic ait, et paribus Messapum in proelia dictis 520
hortatur sociosque duces et pergit in hostem.

Aeneas, as report gives credence and the dispatched scouts bring back, has sent ahead, ruthless, the light arms of the cavalry, to make the plains quake; he himself, surmounting the mountain’s steep places along the ridge through the wastes, advances toward the city. I prepare furtive stratagems of war on the sloping path in the forest, 515
so that I may beset the two-way defiles with armed soldiery. You meet the Tyrrhenian cavalry with standards engaged; with you will be keen Messapus and the Latin squadrons and the Tiburtine band, and do you also take on the care of a leader.' Thus he speaks, and with like words he urges Messapus to the battles and his allied leaders, and advances against the foe. 520

Est curvo anfractu valles, accommoda fraudi
armorumque dolis, quam densis frondibus atrum
urget utrimque latus, tenuis quo semita ducit
angustaeque ferunt fauces aditusque maligni. 525
hanc super in speculis summoque in vertice montis
planities ignota iacet tutique receptus,
seu dextra laevaque velis occurrere pugnae
sive instare iugis et grandia volvere saxa.
huc iuvenis nota fertur regione viarum 530
arripuitque locum et silvis insedit iniquis.

There is a valley with a curved winding, suitable for ambush and for the stratagems of arms,
which on both sides the flank presses dark with dense foliage,
where a slender path leads, and narrow throats and malign approaches conduct. 525
Above this, on the lookouts and on the topmost summit of the mountain
there lies an unknown plain and a safe place of reception,
whether you should wish to meet the fight on right and left,
or to press the ridges and roll down massive rocks.
Hither the young man is borne by a region of roads he knew, 530
and he seized the place and took position in the hostile woods.

Velocem interea superis in sedibus Opim,
unam ex virginibus sociis sacraque caterva,
compellabat et has tristis Latonia voces
ore dabat: 'graditur bellum ad crudele Camilla,               535
o virgo, et nostris nequiquam cingitur armis,
cara mihi ante alias. neque enim novus iste Dianae
venit amor subitaque animum dulcedine movit.
pulsus ob invidiam regno virisque superbas
Priverno antiqua Metabus cum excederet urbe,               540
infantem fugiens media inter proelia belli
sustulit exsilio comitem, matrisque vocavit
nomine Casmillae mutata parte Camillam.
ipse sinu prae se portans iuga longa petebat
solorum nemorum: tela undique saeva premebant               545

Meanwhile she was addressing swift Opis in the heavenly seats,
one of the companion maidens and sacred company,
and the Leto-born, sad, was uttering these words
from her mouth: 'Camilla goes to cruel war, O maiden,               535
and is girded in vain with our arms,
dear to me before others. For this is not a new love that has come to Diana,
nor has it moved her spirit with sudden sweetness.
When Metabus, driven on account of envy from his kingdom and the proud men,
was departing from the ancient city Privernum,               540
fleeing amid the very battles of war he took up the infant
as a companion for exile, and he named her by her mother’s name,
Casmilla, with a part changed, Camilla.
He himself, carrying her before him in his bosom, was seeking the long ridges
of solitary woods: savage weapons were pressing him on every side.               545

et circumfuso volitabant milite Volsci.
ecce fugae medio summis Amasenus abundans
spumabat ripis, tantus se nubibus imber
ruperat. ille innare parans infantis amore
tardatur caroque oneri timet.

and with the soldiery circumfused around, the Volsci were flitting.
lo, in the midst of flight the Amasenus, overflowing its topmost banks,
was foaming, so great a rain-shower had burst from the clouds.
he, preparing to swim in, is delayed by love of the infant
and fears for the dear burden.

omnia secum               550
versanti subito vix haec sententia sedit:
telum immane manu valida quod forte gerebat
bellator, solidum nodis et robore cocto,
huic natam libro et silvestri subere clausam
implicat atque habilem mediae circumligat hastae;               555
quam dextra ingenti librans ita ad aethera fatur:
"alma, tibi hanc, nemorum cultrix, Latonia virgo,
ipse pater famulam voveo; tua prima per auras
tela tenens supplex hostem fugit. accipe, testor,
diva tuam, quae nunc dubiis committitur auris."               560

while he was turning everything over with himself,               550
suddenly this decision with difficulty settled: a monstrous spear, which by chance the warrior was bearing in his strong hand, solid with knots and with oak fire-hardened, he to this entwines his daughter, enclosed with inner bark and woodland cork, and he binds her, made handy, to the middle of the spear-shaft;               555
which, poising with his vast right hand, thus he speaks to the upper air: "nourishing one, to you, cultress of the groves, Latonian virgin, I myself the father vow this handmaid; holding your missiles first through the airs, as a suppliant she flees the foe. Receive, I attest, goddess, your own, whom now she is entrusted to doubtful breezes."               560

dixit, et adducto contortum hastile lacerto
immittit: sonuere undae, rapidum super amnem
infelix fugit in iaculo stridente Camilla.
at Metabus magna propius iam urgente caterva
dat sese fluvio, atque hastam cum virgine victor 565
gramineo, donum Triviae, de caespite vellit.
non illum tectis ullae, non moenibus urbes
accepere (neque ipse manus feritate dedisset),
pastorum et solis exegit montibus aevum.

he spoke, and with his arm drawn back he launched the whirled spear-shaft:
the waves resounded; over the rushing river
unhappy Camilla flees upon the hissing javelin.
but Metabus, with a great troop now pressing nearer,
gives himself to the river, and, victor, the spear with the maiden, a gift to Trivia, 565
from the grassy turf he plucks. no cities received him with roofs, nor with walls
(neither would he himself have given up his hands in his fierceness),
he spent his age among shepherds and on solitary mountains.

hic natam in dumis interque horrentia lustra 570
armentalis equae mammis et lacte ferino
nutribat teneris immulgens ubera labris.
utque pedum primis infans vestigia plantis
institerat, iaculo palmas armavit acuto
spiculaque ex umero parvae suspendit et arcum. 575

here he was nourishing his daughter in the thickets and among bristling lairs 570
at the teats of a herd-mare and with feral milk,
milking the udders to her tender lips. and when, as an infant, with the first
soles of her feet she had pressed footprints, he armed her palms with a sharp javelin
and from the shoulder of the little one he hung little darts and a bow. 575

pro crinali auro, pro longae tegmine pallae
tigridis exuviae per dorsum a vertice pendent.
tela manu iam tum tenera puerilia torsit
et fundam tereti circum caput egit habena
Strymoniamque gruem aut album deiecit olorem. 580
multae illam frustra Tyrrhena per oppida matres
optavere nurum; sola contenta Diana
aeternum telorum et virginitatis amorem
intemerata colit. vellem haud correpta fuisset
militia tali conata lacessere Teucros: 585
cara mihi comitumque foret nunc una mearum.

in place of hair-ornament gold, in place of the covering of a long mantle
the spoils of a tigress hang down over her back from her crown.
already then she hurled boyish missiles with her tender hand
and drove the sling around her head with a smooth thong
and brought down a Strymonian crane or a white swan. 580
many mothers throughout Tyrrhenian towns desired her in vain as a daughter-in-law;
alone, content with Diana,
undefiled she cherishes the eternal love of weapons and of virginity.
I would that she had not been seized by such warfare, attempting to provoke the Teucrians: 585
she would now be dear to me and one of my companions.

verum age, quandoquidem fatis urgetur acerbis,
labere, nympha, polo finisque invise Latinos,
tristis ubi infausto committitur omine pugna.
haec cape et ultricem pharetra deprome sagittam: 590

But come, since he is pressed by bitter fates,
glide down, nymph, from the sky and visit the Latin borders,
where a grim battle is joined under an ill omen.
take these and draw forth from the quiver the avenging arrow: 590

hac, quicumque sacrum violarit vulnere corpus,
Tros Italusque, mihi pariter det sanguine poenas.
post ego nube cava miserandae corpus et arma
inspoliata feram tumulo patriaeque reponam.'
dixit, at illa levis caeli delapsa per auras 595
insonuit nigro circumdata turbine corpus.

‘with this, whoever shall have violated the sacred body with a wound,
Trojan and Italian alike, let him pay me penalties with blood.
Afterward I will carry in a hollow cloud the body and arms of the pitiable one,
unspoiled, to a tomb and will restore them to her fatherland.’
she said, but that one, light, having glided down through the airs of heaven, 595
resounded, her body surrounded with a black whirlwind.

At manus interea muris Troiana propinquat,
Etruscique duces equitumque exercitus omnis
compositi numero in turmas. fremit aequore toto
insultans sonipes et pressis pugnat habenis               600
huc conversus et huc; tum late ferreus hastis
horret ager campique armis sublimibus ardent.
nec non Messapus contra celeresque Latini
et cum fratre Coras et virginis ala Camillae
adversi campo apparent, hastasque reductis               605
protendunt longe dextris et spicula vibrant,
adventusque virum fremitusque ardescit equorum.
iamque intra iactum teli progressus uterque
substiterat: subito erumpunt clamore furentisque
exhortantur equos, fundunt simul undique tela               610

But meanwhile the Trojan band draws near to the walls,
and the Etruscan leaders and the entire army of horsemen,
arrayed by number into troops. Over the whole level the prancing
steed resounds, and with tightened reins he fights, turned here               600
and there; then far and wide the field bristles iron with spears,
and the plains burn with uplifted arms.
Nor indeed do Messapus and the swift Latins, and Coras with his
brother, and the maiden Camilla’s wing, fail to appear opposed
on the field; they stretch their spears far with right hands drawn               605
back and they brandish their darts,
and the approach of the men and the roaring of the horses kindles.
And now each side, having advanced within the cast of a missile,
had halted: suddenly they burst forth with a clamor and urge on
their frenzied horses, and at once from every side they pour missiles.               610

crebra nivis ritu, caelumque obtexitur umbra.
continuo adversis Tyrrhenus et acer Aconteus
conixi incurrunt hastis primique ruinam
dant sonitu ingenti perfractaque quadripedantum
pectora pectoribus rumpunt; excussus Aconteus 615
fulminis in morem aut tormento ponderis acti
praecipitat longe et vitam dispergit in auras.

thick in the manner of snow, and the sky is covered with shadow.
immediately, Tyrrhenus and keen Aconteus, facing one another,
having braced themselves, charge with spears and, the first, deal ruin
with a vast crash, and, chest to chest, they burst the smashed chests of the quadrupeds;
Aconteus, shaken off 615
in the manner of a thunderbolt or of a weight shot by an engine,
plunges headlong far and scatters his life into the airs.

Extemplo turbatae acies, versique Latini
reiciunt parmas et equos ad moenia vertunt;
Troes agunt, princeps turmas inducit Asilas.               620
iamque propinquabant portis rursusque Latini
clamorem tollunt et mollia colla reflectunt;
hi fugiunt penitusque datis referuntur habenis.
qualis ubi alterno procurrens gurgite pontus
nunc ruit ad terram scopulosque superiacit unda               625
spumeus extremamque sinu perfundit harenam,
nunc rapidus retro atque aestu revoluta resorbens
saxa fugit litusque vado labente relinquit:
bis Tusci Rutulos egere ad moenia versos,
bis reiecti armis respectant terga tegentes.               630

At once the battle-lines are thrown into confusion, and the Latins, turned about,
throw back their parmas and turn their horses toward the walls;
the Trojans press on; Asilas, as chief, brings in the squadrons.               620
and now they were drawing near the gates, and again the Latins
raise a clamor and turn back the supple necks;
these flee, and with the reins given are carried back deep within.
just as when the sea, running forward with alternating surge,
now rushes to the land, and the foamy wave throws itself over the rocks               625
and with its fold drenches the farthest sand,
now swift backward, and sucking back the stones as the tide is rolled back,
flees and leaves the shore with the shallows sliding away:
twice the Tuscans drove the Rutulians, turned toward the walls,
twice, thrown back by arms, they look back, covering their backs.               630

tertia sed postquam congressi in proelia totas
implicuere inter se acies legitque virum vir,
tum vero et gemitus morientum et sanguine in alto
armaque corporaque et permixti caede virorum
semianimes volvuntur equi, pugna aspera surgit.               635
Orsilochus Remuli, quando ipsum horrebat adire,
hastam intorsit equo ferrumque sub aure reliquit;
quo sonipes ictu furit arduus altaque iactat
vulneris impatiens arrecto pectore crura,
volvitur ille excussus humi. Catillus Iollan               640
ingentemque animis, ingentem corpore et armis
deicit Herminium, nudo cui vertice fulva
caesaries nudique umeri nec vulnera terrent;
tantus in arma patet. latos huic hasta per armos
acta tremit duplicatque virum transfixa dolore.               645

but when for the third time, having met in battles, the whole battle-lines entwined among themselves and man chose man,
then indeed both the groans of the dying and, in deep blood,
arms and bodies, and half-alive horses roll, commingled with the slaughter of men;
a harsh fight surges.               635
Orsilochus, of Remulus—since he shuddered to approach him himself—
hurled a spear at the horse and left the steel beneath its ear;
at which blow the high charger rages and, impatient of the wound,
with chest reared, flings his legs high; he is cast off and rolls on the ground. Catillus [fells] Iollas
and casts down Herminius, huge in spirit, huge in body and arms,               640
whose tawny hair on a bare crown, and bare shoulders, nor do wounds terrify him;
so vast he lies exposed to weapons. For him a spear, driven through broad shoulders,
quivers, and, transfixed, doubles the man with pain.               645

funditur ater ubique cruor; dant funera ferro
certantes pulchramque petunt per vulnera mortem.

black gore is poured out everywhere; contending they deal out deaths by iron and seek a fair death through wounds.

At medias inter caedes exsultat Amazon
unum exserta latus pugnae, pharetrata Camilla,
et nunc lenta manu spargens hastilia denset,               650
nunc validam dextra rapit indefessa bipennem;
aureus ex umero sonat arcus et arma Dianae.
illa etiam, si quando in tergum pulsa recessit,
spicula converso fugientia derigit arcu.
at circum lectae comites, Larinaque virgo               655
Tullaque et aeratam quatiens Tarpeia securim,
Italides, quas ipsa decus sibi dia Camilla
delegit pacisque bonas bellique ministras:
quales Threiciae cum flumina Thermodontis
pulsant et pictis bellantur Amazones armis,               660

But amid the midmost slaughters exults the Amazon,
Camilla the quivered, with one flank bared to the battle,
and now, sprinkling pliant javelins with her hand, she packs them thick,               650
now with her right, indefatigable, she snatches the stout two-edged axe;
the golden bow resounds from her shoulder, and the arms of Diana.
She too, if ever driven back she has withdrawn in retreat,
with reversed bow directs the darts while fleeing.
But around are chosen companions, Larina the maiden,               655
and Tulla, and Tarpeia brandishing the bronze-clad hatchet,
Italian maidens, whom divine Camilla herself chose as an ornament to herself,
good ministers of peace and of war:
such as when the Thracian Amazons lash the streams of Thermodon
and do battle with painted arms,               660

seu circum Hippolyten seu cum se Martia curru
Penthesilea refert, magnoque ululante tumultu
feminea exsultant lunatis agmina peltis.

whether around Hippolyta or when martial Penthesilea returns in her chariot
and with a great ululating tumult
the feminine ranks exult with crescent shields.

Quem telo primum, quem postremum, aspera virgo,
deicis? aut quot humi morientia corpora fundis? 665
Eunaeum Clytio primum patre, cuius apertum
adversi longa transverberat abiete pectus.
sanguinis ille vomens rivos cadit atque cruentam
mandit humum moriensque suo se in vulnere versat.

Whom with your weapon first, whom last, fierce virgin,
do you cast down? or how many dying bodies upon the earth do you pour out? 665
Eunaeus, with Clytius as father, first, whose open
breast as he faces her she transfixes with a long fir-spear.
he, spewing streams of blood, falls and bites the bloody
ground, and dying he turns himself upon his own wound.

tum Lirim Pagasumque super, quorum alter habenas 670
suffuso revolutus equo dum colligit, alter
dum subit ac dextram labenti tendit inermem,
praecipites pariterque ruunt. his addit Amastrum
Hippotaden, sequiturque incumbens eminus hasta
Tereaque Harpalycumque et Demophoonta Chromimque; 675

then besides Liris and Pagasus, of whom the one, rolled as his horse sank, while he gathers the reins, 670
the other, while he comes up and stretches his unarmed right hand to the slipping man,
headlong they fall and rush down together. to these she adds Amastrus,
Hippotades’ son, and, leaning in, pursues from afar with her spear
Terea and Harpalycus and Demophoon and Chromis; 675

quotque emissa manu contorsit spicula virgo,
tot Phrygii cecidere viri. procul Ornytus armis
ignotis et equo venator Iapyge fertur,
cui pellis latos umeros erepta iuvenco
pugnatori operit, caput ingens oris hiatus 680
et malae texere lupi cum dentibus albis,
agrestisque manus armat sparus; ipse catervis
vertitur in mediis et toto vertice supra est.
hunc illa exceptum (neque enim labor agmine verso)
traicit et super haec inimico pectore fatur: 685
'silvis te, Tyrrhene, feras agitare putasti?

and as many little darts as the maiden, sent forth by hand, whirled,
so many Phrygian men fell. Far off Ornytus, with unknown arms,
a hunter, is borne on an Iapygian horse,
for whom a hide, torn from a bullock, covers his broad shoulders
as a fighter; and a wolf’s huge head—its gape of mouth and jaws with white teeth—covered his head, 680
and a rustic sparus arms his hand; he himself wheels
in the midst of the companies and stands a whole head above.
Her, having intercepted him (for it is no toil with the column in rout),
she transfixes, and over him she speaks these things from a hostile breast: 685
“Did you think, Tyrrhenian, to chase wild beasts in the woods?”

advenit qui vestra dies muliebribus armis
verba redargueret. nomen tamen haud leve patrum
manibus hoc referes, telo cecidisse Camillae.'

the day has come to refute your words with womanly arms;
yet you will bring back no light name to the Manes of your fathers—
this: that you fell by the weapon of Camilla.'

Protinus Orsilochum et Buten, duo maxima Teucrum                690
corpora, sed Buten aversum cuspide fixit
loricam galeamque inter, qua colla sedentis
lucent et laevo dependet parma lacerto;
Orsilochum fugiens magnumque agitata per orbem
eludit gyro interior sequiturque sequentem;               695
tum validam perque arma viro perque ossa securim
altior exsurgens oranti et multa precanti
congeminat; vulnus calido rigat ora cerebro.
incidit huic subitoque aspectu territus haesit
Appenninicolae bellator filius Auni,               700

Straightway Orsilochus and Butes, two very mighty bodies of the Teucrians,               690
but she fixed Butes, turned away, with the spearpoint,
between cuirass and helmet, where the neck of the rider
gleams and the parma hangs from the left upper arm;
fleeing Orsilochus and, driven around a great circle,
she slips him in an inner gyre and pursues the pursuer;               695
then, rising higher, she redoubles the strong axe-stroke
through the man’s armor and through his bones, upon him as he begs
and entreats many things; the wound bathes his face with hot brain.
Upon her there fell, and at the sudden sight, terrified, stood fast,
the warrior son of Aunus, an Apennine-dweller,               700

haud Ligurum extremus, dum fallere fata sinebant.
isque ubi se nullo iam cursu evadere pugnae
posse neque instantem reginam avertere cernit,
consilio versare dolos ingressus et astu
incipit haec: 'quid tam egregium, si femina forti 705
fidis equo? dimitte fugam et te comminus aequo
mecum crede solo pugnaeque accinge pedestri:
iam nosces ventosa ferat cui gloria fraudem.'
dixit, at illa furens acrique accensa dolore
tradit equum comiti paribusque resistit in armis 710
ense pedes nudo puraque interrita parma.

by no means the least of the Ligurians, while the Fates allowed deceiving.
and when he sees that now by no running he can escape the battle nor turn aside the pressing queen,
he, having entered upon plying deceits by counsel and craft,
begins thus: ‘what is so exceptional, if a female trusts in a brave
horse? quit flight and commit yourself at close quarters with me on level
ground, and gird yourself for a pedestrian fight: now you shall learn for whom windy glory bears fraud.’ 705
he spoke, but she, frenzied and kindled with keen dolor,
hands over her horse to a comrade and stands to resist with equal arms,
on foot with naked sword and with a polished, unterrified small shield. 710

at iuvenis vicisse dolo ratus avolat ipse
(haud mora), conversisque fugax aufertur habenis
quadripedemque citum ferrata calce fatigat.
'vane Ligus frustraque animis elate superbis, 715

but the youth, thinking he had conquered by trickery, flies off himself
(no delay), and, fugitive, is borne away with the reins turned,
and he fatigues the swift quadruped with his iron-shod heel.
'vain Ligurian, and lifted in vain with proud spirits, 715

nequiquam patrias temptasti lubricus artis,
nec fraus te incolumem fallaci perferet Auno.'
haec fatur virgo, et pernicibus ignea plantis
transit equum cursu frenisque adversa prehensis
congreditur poenasque inimico ex sanguine sumit: 720
quam facile accipiter saxo sacer ales ab alto
consequitur pennis sublimem in nube columbam
comprensamque tenet pedibusque eviscerat uncis;
tum cruor et vulsae labuntur ab aethere plumae.

"in vain you have tried your native arts, slick in craft,
nor will fraud carry you unharmed to your deceitful Aunus."
So speaks the maiden, and fiery on nimble soles
she passes the horse at a run and, facing him, with the reins seized,
she closes in and exacts penalties from hostile blood: 720
how easily the hawk, the sacred bird, from a high crag
with wings overtakes a dove aloft in a cloud
and, once seized, holds her and eviscerates with hooked feet;
then gore and the plucked feathers slip down from the ether.

At non haec nullis hominum sator atque deorum 725
observans oculis summo sedet altus Olympo.
Tyrrhenum genitor Tarchonem in proelia saeva
suscitat et stimulis haud mollibus inicit iras.
ergo inter caedes cedentiaque agmina Tarchon
fertur equo variisque instigat vocibus alas 730
nomine quemque vocans, reficitque in proelia pulsos.

But not unobservant of these things with his eyes, the Sower of men and of gods 725
sits lofty on highest Olympus, observing. The Father rouses the Tyrrhenian Tarchon to savage battles
and with no gentle goads instills angers. Therefore amid slaughters and the yielding battle-lines Tarchon
is borne on his horse and instigates the wings with various voices, 730
calling each by name, and he restores the beaten into the battles.

'quis metus, o numquam dolituri, o semper inertes
Tyrrheni, quae tanta animis ignavia venit?
femina palantis agit atque haec agmina vertit!
quo ferrum quidve haec gerimus tela inrita dextris? 735

'what fear, O you who will never smart, O always inert Tyrrhenians, what so great sloth has come upon your spirits?
a woman drives the stragglers and turns these ranks!
to what end the steel, and why do we bear these weapons in vain in our right hands? 735

at non in Venerem segnes nocturnaque bella,
aut ubi curva choros indixit tibia Bacchi.
exspectate dapes et plenae pocula mensae
(hic amor, hoc studium) dum sacra secundus haruspex
nuntiet ac lucos vocet hostia pinguis in altos!' 740
haec effatus equum in medios moriturus et ipse
concitat, et Venulo adversum se turbidus infert
dereptumque ab equo dextra complectitur hostem
et gremium ante suum multa vi concitus aufert.
tollitur in caelum clamor cunctique Latini 745
convertere oculos.

but not sluggish for Venus and nocturnal wars,
or when the curved pipe of Bacchus has proclaimed dances.
wait for feasts and the cups of a full table
(this is your love, this your zeal) until the favorable haruspex
announces the rites and the fat victim calls to the high groves!' 740
having spoken these things, he too, about to die, urges his horse into the midst,
and, turbulent, he rushes against Venulus
and with his right hand embraces the foe torn from his horse
and, impetuous, carries him off before his own bosom with great force.
a shout is lifted to heaven and all the Latins 745
turned their eyes.

volat igneus aequore Tarchon
arma virumque ferens; tum summa ipsius ab hasta
defringit ferrum et partis rimatur apertas,
qua vulnus letale ferat; contra ille repugnans
sustinet a iugulo dextram et vim viribus exit. 750

fiery Tarchon flies over the level plain,
bearing arms and the man; then from the top of his spear
he breaks off the iron, and probes for open parts,
where he might deliver a lethal wound; in turn he, resisting,
keeps the right hand from his throat and with his strength wards off the force. 750

utque volans alte raptum cum fulva draconem
fert aquila implicuitque pedes atque unguibus haesit,
saucius at serpens sinuosa volumina versat
arrectisque horret squamis et sibilat ore
arduus insurgens, illa haud minus urget obunco 755
luctantem rostro, simul aethera verberat alis:
haud aliter praedam Tiburtum ex agmine Tarchon
portat ovans. ducis exemplum eventumque secuti
Maeonidae incurrunt. tum fatis debitus Arruns
velocem iaculo et multa prior arte Camillam 760
circuit, et quae sit fortuna facillima temptat.

As, flying high, when a tawny eagle carries a dragon it has snatched
and has entwined its feet and has clung with its talons,
but the wounded serpent turns its sinuous coils
and with scales erect it bristles and hisses from its mouth,
rising on high; that one nevertheless presses with a hooked 755
beak the struggling one, at the same time it lashes the ether with its wings:
not otherwise does Tarchon bear his prey out of the column of the Tiburtines,
exulting. Following the leader’s example and event
the Maeonids charge. Then Arruns, owed to the fates,
with his javelin and, first with much art, circles the swift Camilla, 760
and tries what fortune may be the most facile.

qua se cumque furens medio tulit agmine virgo,
hac Arruns subit et tacitus vestigia lustrat;
qua victrix redit illa pedemque ex hoste reportat,
hac iuvenis furtim celeris detorquet habenas. 765

wherever the virgin, raging, bore herself in the midst of the battle line,
there Arruns comes up and silently surveys her footsteps;
wherever she, a victress, returns and brings back her step from the foe,
there the youth stealthily twists aside the swift reins. 765

hos aditus iamque hos aditus omnemque pererrat
undique circuitum et certam quatit improbus hastam.

he explores these approaches and now those approaches and traverses the whole circuit on every side,
and the shameless man brandishes a sure spear.

Forte sacer Cybelo Chloreus olimque sacerdos
insignis longe Phrygiis fulgebat in armis
spumantemque agitabat equum, quem pellis aenis               770
in plumam squamis auro conserta tegebat.
ipse peregrina ferrugine clarus et ostro
spicula torquebat Lycio Gortynia cornu;
aureus ex umeris erat arcus et aurea vati
cassida; tum croceam chlamydemque sinusque crepantis               775
carbaseos fulvo in nodum collegerat auro
pictus acu tunicas et barbara tegmina crurum.
hunc virgo, sive ut templis praefigeret arma
Troia, captivo sive ut se ferret in auro
venatrix, unum ex omni certamine pugnae               780

By chance Chloreus, sacred to Cybele and once a priest,
conspicuous from afar was shining in Phrygian arms,
and he was urging a foaming horse, which a hide, with bronze               770
scales worked into plumage and interlaced with gold, covered.
He himself, renowned in foreign ferruginous dye and purple,
was whirling Gortynian darts with a Lycian bow;
a golden bow hung from his shoulders, and golden was the seer’s
helmet; then his saffron chlamys and the rustling folds of linen               775
he had gathered into a knot with tawny gold,
his tunics embroidered with the needle and barbarian coverings of the legs.
This man the maiden—whether so that she might affix Trojan arms
in temples, or that, huntress, she might carry herself in captive gold—
singled out alone from the whole contention of the fight.               780

caeca sequebatur totumque incauta per agmen
femineo praedae et spoliorum ardebat amore,
telum ex insidiis cum tandem tempore capto
concitat et superos Arruns sic voce precatur:
'summe deum, sancti custos Soractis Apollo, 785
quem primi colimus, cui pineus ardor acervo
pascitur, et medium freti pietate per ignem
cultores multa premimus vestigia pruna,
da, pater, hoc nostris aboleri dedecus armis,
omnipotens. non exuvias pulsaeve tropaeum 790
virginis aut spolia ulla peto, mihi cetera laudem
facta ferent; haec dira meo dum vulnere pestis
pulsa cadat, patrias remeabo inglorius urbes.'

blindly she was following and, incautious, through the whole battle-line, and she was burning with a feminine love of booty and spoils,
when at last, the moment seized, he rouses and hurls his weapon from ambush, and Arruns thus with his voice prays to the gods above:
'highest of the gods, Apollo, guardian of holy Soracte, 785
whom we foremost worship, for whom the pine-wood blaze is fed on a heap,
and we, worshipers, relying on piety, press many footprints through the midst of the fire upon the coals,
grant, father, that this disgrace be abolished by our arms,
omnipotent one. I seek not the spoils or a trophy of the routed maiden 790
nor any plunder; the other deeds will bring me praise;
provided that this dire pest, driven by my wound, falls, I shall return inglorious to my fatherland’s cities.'

Audiit et voti Phoebus succedere partem
mente dedit, partem volucris dispersit in auras:               795
sterneret ut subita turbatam morte Camillam
adnuit oranti; reducem ut patria alta videret
non dedit, inque Notos vocem vertere procellae.
ergo ut missa manu sonitum dedit hasta per auras,
convertere animos acris oculosque tulere               800
cuncti ad reginam Volsci. nihil ipsa nec aurae
nec sonitus memor aut venientis ab aethere teli,
hasta sub exsertam donec perlata papillam
haesit virgineumque alte bibit acta cruorem.
concurrunt trepidae comites dominamque ruentem               805

Phoebus heard and gave in mind that part of the vow should succeed, and part he scattered, winged, into the airs:               795
that he should strew Camilla, thrown into turmoil by sudden death, he nodded to the one praying; that his high fatherland should see him returning he did not grant, and the blasts turned his voice to the South Winds.
therefore when the spear, sent from the hand, gave a sound through the airs,
their spirits were turned keenly and all the Volsci bore their eyes               800
to the queen. She herself was mindful neither of the breeze nor of the sound nor of the weapon coming from the aether, until the spear, borne beneath the bared nipple,
stuck fast and, driven deep, drank the virginal blood.
her trembling companions run together, and their mistress rushing down               805

suscipiunt. fugit ante omnis exterritus Arruns
laetitia mixtoque metu, nec iam amplius hastae
credere nec telis occurrere virginis audet.
ac velut ille, prius quam tela inimica sequantur,
continuo in montis sese avius abdidit altos 810
occiso pastore lupus magnove iuvenco,
conscius audacis facti, caudamque remulcens
subiecit pavitantem utero silvasque petivit:
haud secus ex oculis se turbidus abstulit Arruns
contentusque fuga mediis se immiscuit armis. 815
illa manu moriens telum trahit, ossa sed inter
ferreus ad costas alto stat vulnere mucro.

they take her up. Arruns flees before all, terror‑stricken
with joy and mixed fear, nor any longer to his spear
does he dare to trust, nor to face the maiden’s weapons.
And just as that one, before hostile weapons pursue,
straightway hides himself, pathless, in the high mountains 810
a wolf, with a shepherd slain or a great bullock,
conscious of the audacious deed, and drawing back his tail,
tucks the quivering tail under his belly and seeks the woods:
no otherwise Arruns, in turmoil, withdrew himself from sight
and, content with flight, mingled himself into the midst of the battle. 815
she, dying, with her hand draws the spear, but among the bones
the iron blade stands fast by the ribs in a deep wound.

labitur exsanguis, labuntur frigida leto
lumina, purpureus quondam color ora reliquit.
tum sic exspirans Accam ex aequalibus unam 820

she slips down bloodless, her eyes, cold with death, are sinking;
the once-purple color has left her face.
then thus expiring, she called Acca, one from among her equals 820

adloquitur, fida ante alias quae sola Camillae
quicum partiri curas, atque haec ita fatur:
'hactenus, Acca soror, potui: nunc vulnus acerbum
conficit, et tenebris nigrescunt omnia circum.
effuge et haec Turno mandata novissima perfer: 825
succedat pugnae Troianosque arceat urbe.
iamque vale.' simul his dictis linquebat habenas
ad terram non sponte fluens.

she addresses her—who, before the others, alone was faithful to Camilla, with whom to partition cares—and thus speaks: 'thus far, sister Acca, I have been able: now the bitter wound does me in, and all things around blacken with shadows. flee, and carry through these very last mandates to Turnus: 825
let him succeed to the battle and keep the Trojans from the city. and now farewell.' at once, with these words, she was leaving the reins,
flowing down to the earth not of her own will.

tum frigida toto
paulatim exsoluit se corpore, lentaque colla
et captum leto posuit caput, arma relinquens, 830
vitaque cum gemitu fugit indignata sub umbras.
tum vero immensus surgens ferit aurea clamor
sidera: deiecta crudescit pugna Camilla;
incurrunt densi simul omnis copia Teucrum
Tyrrhenique duces Evandrique Arcades alae. 835

then, cold, she gradually exsolved herself from the whole body, and laid down her pliant neck
and her head captured by death, relinquishing arms, 830
and life with a groan fled, indignant, beneath the shades.
then indeed an immense clamor, rising, smites the golden
stars: with Camilla cast down, the battle grows savage;
in they charge, in dense array, the whole force of the Teucrians at once,
and the Tyrrhenian leaders and Evander’s Arcadian wings. 835

At Triviae custos iamdudum in montibus Opis
alta sedet summis spectatque interrita pugnas.
utque procul medio iuvenum in clamore furentum
prospexit tristi mulcatam morte Camillam,
ingemuitque deditque has imo pectore voces: 840
'heu nimium, virgo, nimium crudele luisti
supplicium Teucros conata lacessere bello!
nec tibi desertae in dumis coluisse Dianam
profuit aut nostras umero gessisse pharetras.

But Opis, the guardian of Trivia, long now on the mountains,
sits on the high summits and, un-terrified, watches the battles.
And when from afar, amid the shouting of raging youths,
she looked out and saw Camilla mulcted by grim death,
she groaned and gave these words from her inmost breast: 840
'Alas too much, maiden, too cruel a penalty you have paid,
for having tried to provoke the Teucrians to war!
Nor did it profit you, in the deserted thickets, to have cultivated Diana,
or to have borne our quivers upon your shoulder.

non tamen indecorem tua te regina reliquit 845
extrema iam in morte, neque hoc sine nomine letum
per gentis erit aut famam patieris inultae.
nam quicumque tuum violavit vulnere corpus
morte luet merita.' fuit ingens monte sub alto
regis Dercenni terreno ex aggere bustum 850

yet your queen has not left you dishonored, now at the last in death, 845
nor will this death be without a name among the peoples, nor will you suffer the fame of being unavenged.
for whoever has violated your body with a wound will pay with merited death.' There was a vast tomb beneath a high mountain,
the earthen mound of King Dercennus 850

antiqui Laurentis opacaque ilice tectum;
hic dea se primum rapido pulcherrima nisu
sistit et Arruntem tumulo speculatur ab alto.
ut vidit fulgentem armis ac vana tumentem,
'cur' inquit 'diversus abis? huc derige gressum, 855
huc periture veni, capias ut digna Camillae
praemia.

covered with the shady holm-oak of ancient Laurentum;
here the goddess, most beautiful, first halts in a swift leap
and watches Arruns from the high mound. When she saw him
shining in arms and swelling with vain things, she said: 'why do you go off in a different direction?
direct your step here, 855
come here, destined-to-perish, that you may take rewards worthy of Camilla.'

tune etiam telis moriere Dianae?'
dixit, et aurata volucrem Threissa sagittam
deprompsit pharetra cornuque infensa tetendit
et duxit longe, donec curvata coirent 860
inter se capita et manibus iam tangeret aequis,
laeva aciem ferri, dextra nervoque papillam.
extemplo teli stridorem aurasque sonantis
audiit una Arruns haesitque in corpore ferrum.
illum exspirantem socii atque extrema gementem 865

‘Will you then even die by Diana’s weapons?’ she said, and from her gilded quiver she drew forth a winged Thracian arrow and stretched the hostile bow and drew it long, until the curved tips came together with each other 860
and now with even hands she touched— with the left the edge of the steel, with the right and with the string her nipple. At once Arruns heard the stridor of the missile and the sounding airs, and the iron stuck fast in his body. Him, as he breathed out and groaned his last, 865

obliti ignoto camporum in pulvere linquunt;
Opis ad aetherium pennis aufertur Olympum.

forgetful, they leave him in the unknown dust of the plains;
Opis is borne away on wings to aetherial Olympus.

Prima fugit domina amissa levis ala Camillae,
turbati fugiunt Rutuli, fugit acer Atinas,
disiectique duces desolatique manipli               870
tuta petunt et equis aversi ad moenia tendunt.
nec quisquam instantis Teucros letumque ferentis
sustentare valet telis aut sistere contra,
sed laxos referunt umeris languentibus arcus,
quadripedumque putrem cursu quatit ungula campum.               875
volvitur ad muros caligine turbidus atra
pulvis, et e speculis percussae pectora matres
femineum clamorem ad caeli sidera tollunt.
qui cursu portas primi inrupere patentis,
hos inimica super mixto premit agmine turba,               880

First flees, with their mistress lost, the light wing of Camilla; the Rutulians, thrown into confusion, flee; keen Atinas flees; and the leaders scattered and the maniples desolate seek safeties and, turned about on their horses, aim toward the walls.               870
nor can anyone with weapons sustain the pressing Teucrians bearing death or stand to face them, but they carry back slack bows on languishing shoulders, and the hoof of the quadrupeds shakes the crumbling field in their course.               875
to the walls rolls a turbid dust in black murk, and from the watchtowers the mothers, their breasts smitten, lift a feminine clamor to the stars of heaven.
those who first by running burst into the gates standing patent, upon these a hostile crowd presses over with a mingled array.               880

nec miseram effugiunt mortem, sed limine in ipso,
moenibus in patriis atque inter tuta domorum
confixi exspirant animas. pars claudere portas,
nec sociis aperire viam nec moenibus audent
accipere orantis, oriturque miserrima caedes               885
defendentum armis aditus inque arma ruentum.
exclusi ante oculos lacrimantumque ora parentum
pars in praecipitis fossas urgente ruina
volvitur, immissis pars caeca et concita frenis
arietat in portas et duros obice postis.               890
ipsae de muris summo certamine matres
(monstrat amor verus patriae, ut videre Camillam)
tela manu trepidae iaciunt ac robore duro
stipitibus ferrum sudibusque imitantur obustis
praecipites, primaeque mori pro moenibus ardent.               895

nor do they escape wretched death, but on the very threshold,
within their fatherland’s walls and amid the safeties of their homes,
pierced through they breathe out their souls. part shut the gates,
nor dare to open a way for their allies nor to receive the beggars into the walls,
and a most miserable massacre arises—of those defending with arms the approaches and of those rushing in arms.               885
shut out before the eyes and the weeping faces of their parents,
part are rolled into headlong ditches as the collapse presses,
part, with loosened reins, blind and driven, batter-ram against the gates
and the doorposts hardened by a bar.               890
the mothers themselves from the walls, in the utmost contest
(true love of country shows itself, since they saw Camilla),
trembling, hurl missiles with the hand and, with hard oak-timber,
with logs they imitate iron and with charred stakes,
headlong, and they burn to be first to die for the walls.               895

Interea Turnum in silvis saevissimus implet
nuntius et iuveni ingentem fert Acca tumultum:
deletas Volscorum acies, cecidisse Camillam,
ingruere infensos hostis et Marte secundo
omnia corripuisse, metum iam ad moenia ferri.               900
ille furens (et saeva Iovis sic numina poscunt)
deserit obsessos collis, nemora aspera linquit.
vix e conspectu exierat campumque tenebat,
cum pater Aeneas saltus ingressus apertos
exsuperatque iugum silvaque evadit opaca.               905
sic ambo ad muros rapidi totoque feruntur
agmine nec longis inter se passibus absunt;
ac simul Aeneas fumantis pulvere campos
prospexit longe Laurentiaque agmina vidit,
et saevum Aenean agnovit Turnus in armis               910

Meanwhile a most savage message fills Turnus in the woods,
and Acca bears to the youth a huge tumult:
that the battle-lines of the Volscians are destroyed, that Camilla has fallen,
that hostile enemies are pressing on and, with Mars favorable,
have seized everything, that fear is now being carried to the walls.               900
he, raging (and thus do the savage numina of Jove demand),
abandons the besieged hills, leaves the rough groves.
Hardly had he gone out of sight and was holding the plain,
when father Aeneas, having entered the open glades,
surmounts the ridge and escapes the shadowed forest.               905
thus both, swift, are borne to the walls with their whole column,
nor are they at a long interval of paces between themselves;
and at once Aeneas far off looked out on fields smoking with dust
and saw the Laurentine ranks,
and Turnus recognized savage Aeneas in arms.               910

adventumque pedum flatusque audivit equorum.
continuoque ineant pugnas et proelia temptent,
ni roseus fessos iam gurgite Phoebus Hibero
tingat equos noctemque die labente reducat.
considunt castris ante urbem et moenia vallant.

and he heard the advent of feet and the breaths of the horses.
and straightway they would enter combats and try the battles,
unless rosy Phoebus now were dipping his weary horses in the Iberian flood
and were bringing back night as the day glided down.
they take position in camp before the city and gird the walls with a rampart.