Virgil: AENEID

Turnus ut infractos adverso Marte Latinos
defecisse videt, sua nunc promissa reposci,
se signari oculis, ultro implacabilis ardet
attollitque animos. Poenorum qualis in arvis
saucius ille gravi venantum vulnere pectus 5
tum demum movet arma leo, gaudetque comantis
excutiens cervice toros fixumque latronis
impavidus frangit telum et fremit ore cruento:
haud secus accenso gliscit violentia Turno.
tum sic adfatur regem atque ita turbidus infit: 10
'nulla mora in Turno; nihil est quod dicta retractent
ignavi Aeneadae, nec quae pepigere recusent:
congredior.

As Turnus sees that the Latins, broken with Mars adverse, have lost heart,
that his own promises are now being demanded back,
that he is being marked out by the eyes, he, unprovoked, implacable, burns
and lifts his spirit. Such as on the Punic fields
the lion, that one wounded in the breast by the hunters’ heavy wound, 5
then at last stirs to arms, and rejoices, shaking from his maned
neck the thick locks, and, undaunted, breaks the brigand’s
fixed weapon and roars with bloody mouth:
no otherwise does violence swell in kindled Turnus.
then thus he addresses the king and so, in turmoil, begins: 10
“There is no delay with Turnus; there is nothing that the coward Aeneads should retract
in words, nor refuse what they have pledged:
I meet him in combat.

fer sacra, pater, et concipe foedus.
aut hac Dardanium dextra sub Tartara mittam
desertorem Asiae (sedeant spectentque Latini), 15

bring the sacred implements, father, and conclude the covenant.
or by this right hand I will send the Dardanian down beneath Tartarus,
the deserter of Asia (let the Latins sit and watch), 15

et solus ferro crimen commune refellam,
aut habeat victos, cedat Lavinia coniunx.'

and I alone by iron will refute the common accusation,
or let him have the vanquished; let Lavinia yield as consort.'

Olli sedato respondit corde Latinus:
'o praestans animi iuvenis, quantum ipse feroci
virtute exsuperas, tanto me impensius aequum est               20
consulere atque omnis metuentem expendere casus.
sunt tibi regna patris Dauni, sunt oppida capta
multa manu, nec non aurumque animusque Latino est;
sunt aliae innuptae Latio et Laurentibus arvis
nec genus indecores. sine me haec haud mollia fatu                25
sublatis aperire dolis, simul hoc animo hauri:
me natam nulli veterum sociare procorum
fas erat, idque omnes divique hominesque canebant.
victus amore tui, cognato sanguine victus
coniugis et maestae lacrimis, vincla omnia rupi;               30

To him, with his heart calmed, Latinus replied:
‘O outstanding in spirit, young man, by as much as you yourself surpass in ferocious
virtue, by so much the more it is equitable for me to take counsel and, in fear, to weigh all chances.               20
You have the realms of your father Daunus, you have many towns captured
by hand, and Latinus too has both gold and spirit;
there are other unmarried women in Latium and in the Laurentine fields,
nor are they of inglorious lineage. Allow me to disclose these things, not easy to speak,
with deceits removed; at the same time drink this into your mind:               25
it was not right to join my daughter to any of the former suitors—
and this both gods and men proclaimed.
Overcome by love of you, overcome by the kindred blood
of my spouse and by the tears of the sorrowing one, I broke all bonds;               30

promissam eripui genero, arma impia sumpsi.
ex illo qui me casus, quae, Turne, sequantur
bella, vides, quantos primus patiare labores.
bis magna victi pugna vix urbe tuemur
spes Italas; recalent nostro Thybrina fluenta 35
sanguine adhuc campique ingentes ossibus albent.

I snatched the promised bride from my son-in-law, I took up impious arms.
From that time what disasters, what wars, Turnus, follow me,
you see—how great labors you, as foremost, suffer.
Twice, defeated in great battle, we scarcely defend within the city
Italian hopes; the Tiberine streams still grow warm with our blood, 35
and the vast plains whiten with bones.

quo referor totiens? quae mentem insania mutat?
si Turno exstincto socios sum ascire paratus,
cur non incolumi potius certamina tollo?

Whither am I carried back so often? What insanity changes my mind?
If, with Turnus extinct, I am prepared to enroll allies,
why do I not rather remove the contests while he is unharmed?

quid consanguinei Rutuli, quid cetera dicet 40
Italia, ad mortem si te (fors dicta refutet!)
prodiderim, natam et conubia nostra petentem?
respice res bello varias, miserere parentis
longaevi, quem nunc maestum patria Ardea longe
dividit.' haudquaquam dictis violentia Turni 45

what will the consanguine Rutulians say, what will the rest of Italy say, 40
if I shall have betrayed you to death (may chance refute the words!),
you who seek my daughter and our connubial union? Look back at the various fortunes in war, pity the aged
parent, whom now his native Ardea far
separates, sorrowful.' By no means at all by his words was the vehemence of Turnus 45

flectitur; exsuperat magis aegrescitque medendo.
ut primum fari potuit, sic institit ore:
'quam pro me curam geris, hanc precor, optime, pro me
deponas letumque sinas pro laude pacisci.
et nos tela, pater, ferrumque haud debile dextra 50
spargimus, et nostro sequitur de vulnere sanguis.

it is bent; it prevails the more and grows sick by the healing.
as soon as he was able to speak, thus he pressed on with his speech:
'the care which you bear for me, this I pray, best of men, that you lay aside for me,
and allow me to strike a bargain with death for praise.
we too, father, scatter missiles and steel not feeble with the right hand 50
and from our wound blood follows.

longe illi dea mater erit, quae nube fugacem
feminea tegat et vanis sese occulat umbris.'

far away for him will be his goddess-mother, who with a feminine cloud covers the fugitive and hides herself in vain shades.'

At regina nova pugnae conterrita sorte
flebat et ardentem generum moritura tenebat:               55
'Turne, per has ego te lacrimas, per si quis Amatae
tangit honos animum: spes tu nunc una, senectae
tu requies miserae, decus imperiumque Latini
te penes, in te omnis domus inclinata recumbit.
unum oro: desiste manum committere Teucris.               60
qui te cumque manent isto certamine casus
et me, Turne, manent; simul haec invisa relinquam
lumina nec generum Aenean captiva videbo.'
accepit vocem lacrimis Lavinia matris
flagrantis perfusa genas, cui plurimus ignem               65

But the queen, terrified by the new lot of the battle,
was weeping and, about to die, held her ardent son-in-law:               55
'Turnus, by these tears I entreat you, by—if any honor of Amata
touches your spirit: you are now the one hope, you the rest of my wretched old age,
the honor and imperial power of Latinus are in your keeping,
upon you the whole house, bowed down, reclines.
One thing I beg: cease to join hand in combat with the Teucrians.               60
Whatever fortunes await you in that contest
await me also, Turnus; at the same time I will leave these hateful lights,
nor as a captive will I see Aeneas as a son-in-law.'
Lavinia received her mother’s voice,
her burning cheeks suffused with tears, to whom a very great fire               65

subiecit rubor et calefacta per ora cucurrit.
Indum sanguineo veluti violaverit ostro
si quis ebur, aut mixta rubent ubi lilia multa
alba rosa, talis virgo dabat ore colores.
illum turbat amor figitque in virgine vultus; 70
ardet in arma magis paucisque adfatur Amatam:
'ne, quaeso, ne me lacrimis neve omine tanto
prosequere in duri certamina Martis euntem,
o mater; neque enim Turno mora libera mortis.

She put on a blush and, warmed, it ran over her face.
Just as if someone had violated Indian ivory with blood-red purple,
or where, with many lilies mingled, a white rose reddens,
such colors the maiden was giving in her face.
love disturbs him and fixes his looks on the maiden; 70
he burns the more for arms and addresses Amata in a few words:
'do not, I beg, do not attend me with tears nor with so great an omen
as I go into the contests of harsh Mars, O mother; for indeed for Turnus there is no free delay from death.

nuntius haec, Idmon, Phrygio mea dicta tyranno 75
haud placitura refer. cum primum crastina caelo
puniceis invecta rotis Aurora rubebit,
non Teucros agat in Rutulos, Teucrum arma quiescant
et Rutuli; nostro dirimamus sanguine bellum,
illo quaeratur coniunx Lavinia campo.' 80

Messenger, Idmon, carry back these my words to the Phrygian tyrant—not likely to be pleasing: 75
when first tomorrow Aurora, borne on her puniceous wheels, will redden in the sky,
let him not drive the Teucrians against the Rutulians; let the arms of the Teucrians
and the Rutulians rest; let us sever the war with our own blood—
on that field let the spouse Lavinia be sought. 80

Haec ubi dicta dedit rapidusque in tecta recessit,
poscit equos gaudetque tuens ante ora frementis,
Pilumno quos ipsa decus dedit Orithyia,
qui candore nives anteirent, cursibus auras.
circumstant properi aurigae manibusque lacessunt               85
pectora plausa cavis et colla comantia pectunt.
ipse dehinc auro squalentem alboque orichalco
circumdat loricam umeris, simul aptat habendo
ensemque clipeumque et rubrae cornua cristae,
ensem quem Dauno ignipotens deus ipse parenti                90
fecerat et Stygia candentem tinxerat unda.
exim quae mediis ingenti adnixa columnae
aedibus astabat, validam vi corripit hastam,
Actoris Aurunci spolium, quassatque trementem
vociferans: 'nunc, o numquam frustrata vocatus               95

When he had given these words and swift withdrew into the house,
he calls for his horses and rejoices, gazing at them neighing before his face,
which Orithyia herself, as an honor, gave to Pilumnus,
who would surpass snows in whiteness, breezes in their courses.
eager charioteers stand around and with their hands they challenge               85
the chests with hollow-clapped palms and comb the maned necks.
he himself then girds about his shoulders a cuirass rough with gold and with white orichalc,
at the same time fits for wearing both sword and shield and the horns of the red crest,
a sword which the fire-powerful god himself had made for his father Daunus               90
and had dipped, glowing white-hot, in the Stygian wave.
then he snatches with force the stout spear which, leaning on a mighty column,
was standing in the midst of the halls, the spoil of Actor the Auruncan,
and he shakes it, trembling, vociferating: 'now, O never frustrated when called               95

hasta meos, nunc tempus adest: te maximus Actor,
te Turni nunc dextra gerit; da sternere corpus
loricamque manu valida lacerare revulsam
semiviri Phrygis et foedare in pulvere crinis
vibratos calido ferro murraque madentis.' 100
his agitur furiis, totoque ardentis ab ore
scintillae absistunt, oculis micat acribus ignis,
mugitus veluti cum prima in proelia taurus
terrificos ciet aut irasci in cornua temptat
arboris obnixus trunco, ventosque lacessit 105
ictibus aut sparsa ad pugnam proludit harena.

spear of mine, now the time is at hand: you the mighty Actor,
you now the right hand of Turnus bears; grant to strew the body
and to lacerate with a strong hand the cuirass wrenched off
of the half-man Phrygian, and to defile in the dust the locks
waved by the hot iron and dripping with myrrh.' 100
by these furies he is driven, and from his whole blazing face
sparks fly off, a fire flashes in his keen eyes,
as when a bull at the first into battles
rouses terrific bellowings, or tries to grow wrathful upon his horns,
bracing against the trunk of a tree, and provokes the winds 105
with blows, or with scattered sand rehearses for the fight.

Nec minus interea maternis saevus in armis
Aeneas acuit Martem et se suscitat ira,
oblato gaudens componi foedere bellum.
tum socios maestique metum solatur Iuli 110
fata docens, regique iubet responsa Latino
certa referre viros et pacis dicere leges.

No less meanwhile, savage in his maternal arms,
Aeneas whets Mars and rouses himself with wrath,
rejoicing that the war is to be composed by a proffered treaty.
Then he consoles his allies and the fear of sorrowful Iulus, 110
teaching the fates, and he bids men to carry back sure responses to King Latinus
and to declare the laws of peace.

Postera vix summos spargebat lumine montis
orta dies, cum primum alto se gurgite tollunt
Solis equi lucemque elatis naribus efflant: 115
campum ad certamen magnae sub moenibus urbis
dimensi Rutulique viri Teucrique parabant
in medioque focos et dis communibus aras
gramineas. alii fontemque ignemque ferebant
velati limo et verbena tempora vincti. 120
procedit legio Ausonidum, pilataque plenis
agmina se fundunt portis.

The next day, scarcely had the risen day strewn the mountain-tops with light,
when first the Horses of the Sun lift themselves from the deep surge
and with raised nostrils breathe out the light: 115
to the field for the contest beneath the walls of the great city
the Rutulian men and the Teucrians, having measured it out, were preparing,
and in the middle grassy hearths and altars to the gods in common;
others were bearing water and fire,
veiled with mud and with their temples bound with vervain. 120
the legion of the Ausonids advances, and the javelin-armed
ranks pour themselves forth from the flung-wide gates.

hinc Troius omnis
Tyrrhenusque ruit variis exercitus armis,
haud secus instructi ferro quam si aspera Martis
pugna vocet. nec non mediis in milibus ipsi 125

thence all the Trojan host and the Tyrrhenian army rush with various arms,
no otherwise arrayed with iron than if the rough battle of Mars should call;
and likewise they themselves in the midst of the thousands 125

ductores auro volitant ostroque superbi,
et genus Assaraci Mnestheus et fortis Asilas
et Messapus equum domitor, Neptunia proles;
utque dato signo spatia in sua quisque recessit,
defigunt tellure hastas et scuta reclinant. 130
tum studio effusae matres et vulgus inermum
invalidique senes turris ac tecta domorum
obsedere, alii portis sublimibus astant.

the leaders, proud, gleaming with gold and purple,
and Mnestheus of the race of Assaracus, and brave Asilas,
and Messapus, tamer of horses, Neptune-born;
and when the signal was given each withdrew into his own spaces,
they fix their spears in the earth and lean back their shields. 130
then mothers poured out in zeal and the unarmed crowd
and feeble old men occupy the towers and the roofs of the houses,
others stand by the lofty gates.

At Iuno ex summo (qui nunc Albanus habetur;
tum neque nomen erat neque honos aut gloria monti)               135
prospiciens tumulo campum aspectabat et ambas
Laurentum Troumque acies urbemque Latini.
extemplo Turni sic est adfata sororem
diva deam, stagnis quae fluminibusque sonoris
praesidet (hunc illi rex aetheris altus honorem               140
Iuppiter erepta pro virginitate sacravit):
'nympha, decus fluviorum, animo gratissima nostro,
scis ut te cunctis unam, quaecumque Latinae
magnanimi Iovis ingratum ascendere cubile,
praetulerim caelique libens in parte locarim:               145

But Juno, from the summit (which now is held Alban;
then neither name nor honor nor glory was to the mountain)               135
looking out from the mound was surveying the field and both
the Laurentine and the Trojan battle-lines, and the city of Latinus.
Straightway thus did the goddess address the sister of Turnus—
a goddess, who presides over pools and resounding rivers
(this honor to her the lofty king of aether, Jupiter, consecrated               140
in exchange for her ravished virginity):
'nymph, ornament of rivers, most pleasing to our spirit,
you know how I, you alone before all, whatever women of Latium
mounted the thankless couch of magnanimous Jove,
would have preferred, and gladly have placed you in a part of the sky.'               145

disce tuum, ne me incuses, Iuturna, dolorem.
qua visa est Fortuna pati Parcaeque sinebant
cedere res Latio, Turnum et tua moenia texi;
nunc iuvenem imparibus video concurrere fatis,
Parcarumque dies et vis inimica propinquat. 150
non pugnam aspicere hanc oculis, non foedera possum.
tu pro germano si quid praesentius audes,
perge; decet.

Learn your own grief, do not accuse me, Juturna.
When Fortune seemed willing and the Fates allowed
the affair to yield to Latium, I sheltered Turnus and your walls;
now I see the youth engaging with unequal fates,
and the day and hostile force of the Fates draws near. 150
I cannot look upon this battle with my eyes, nor the covenants.
You, for your brother, if you dare anything more immediate and effectual,
proceed; it is fitting.

forsan miseros meliora sequentur.'
vix ea, cum lacrimas oculis Iuturna profundit
terque quaterque manu pectus percussit honestum. 155
'non lacrimis hoc tempus' ait Saturnia Iuno:
'accelera et fratrem, si quis modus, eripe morti;
aut tu bella cie conceptumque excute foedus.
auctor ego audendi.' sic exhortata reliquit
incertam et tristi turbatam vulnere mentis. 160

'perhaps better things will follow the wretched.'
scarcely had she said this, when Juturna poured tears from her eyes
and thrice and four times with her hand struck her honorable breast. 155
'this is not a time for tears,' said Saturnian Juno:
'make haste and, if there is any measure, snatch your brother from death;
or do you rouse wars and shake off the contracted treaty.
I am the author of daring.' thus having exhorted her she left
her uncertain and troubled by the sad wound of her mind. 160

Interea reges ingenti mole Latinus
quadriiugo vehitur curru (cui tempora circum
aurati bis sex radii fulgentia cingunt,
Solis avi specimen), bigis it Turnus in albis,
bina manu lato crispans hastilia ferro. 165
hinc pater Aeneas, Romanae stirpis origo,
sidereo flagrans clipeo et caelestibus armis
et iuxta Ascanius, magnae spes altera Romae,
procedunt castris, puraque in veste sacerdos
saetigeri fetum suis intonsamque bidentem 170
attulit admovitque pecus flagrantibus aris.
illi ad surgentem conversi lumina solem
dant fruges manibus salsas et tempora ferro
summa notant pecudum, paterisque altaria libant.

Meanwhile the kings, with enormous mass, Latinus
is borne in a four-yoked chariot (about whose temples
twice six shining golden rays encircle, a specimen of his grandsire the Sun),
Turnus goes in white two-horse car, brandishing with his hand two spear-shafts with broad iron. 165
On this side father Aeneas, the origin of the Roman stock,
flaming with a sidereal shield and celestial arms,
and next Ascanius, the second hope of great Rome,
advance from the camp, and a priest in pure garment
brought the offspring of a bristly sow and an unshorn two-toothed sheep, 170
and brought the cattle up to the blazing altars.
They, turning their eyes to the rising sun,
give salted grains with their hands and with iron mark
the highest brows of the beasts, and with bowls they pour libations upon the altars.

Tum pius Aeneas stricto sic ense precatur:               175
'esto nunc Sol testis et haec mihi terra vocanti,
quam propter tantos potui perferre labores,
et pater omnipotens et tu Saturnia coniunx
(iam melior, iam, diva, precor), tuque inclute Mavors,
cuncta tuo qui bella, pater, sub numine torques;               180
fontisque fluviosque voco, quaeque aetheris alti
religio et quae caeruleo sunt numina ponto:
cesserit Ausonio si fors victoria Turno,
convenit Evandri victos discedere ad urbem,
cedet Iulus agris, nec post arma ulla rebelles               185

Then dutiful Aeneas, with sword drawn, thus prays:               175
'let the Sun now be witness and this land to me calling,
on account of which I was able to bear through such great labors,
and the omnipotent father and you, Saturnian spouse
(now kinder, now, goddess, I pray), and you, illustrious Mavors,
you who, father, under your numen turn all wars;               180
I call upon fountains and rivers, and whatever sanctity of the high aether
and whatever numina are in the cerulean sea:
if by chance victory should fall to Ausonian Turnus,
it is agreed that the vanquished withdraw to Evander’s city,
Iulus will cede the fields, nor thereafter will rebels take up any arms               185

Aeneadae referent ferrove haec regna lacessent.
sin nostrum adnuerit nobis victoria Martem
(ut potius reor et potius di numine firment),
non ego nec Teucris Italos parere iubebo
nec mihi regna peto: paribus se legibus ambae 190
invictae gentes aeterna in foedera mittant.
sacra deosque dabo; socer arma Latinus habeto,
imperium sollemne socer; mihi moenia Teucri
constituent urbique dabit Lavinia nomen.'

Aeneads will withdraw, or with iron will challenge these realms.
but if victory shall have nodded, granting Mars to our side
(as I rather think, and rather may the gods by divine will confirm),
I will neither bid Italians to obey the Teucrians nor do I seek realms for myself:
let both unconquered peoples, under equal laws, enter into eternal treaties. 190
I will grant sacred rites and gods; let Latinus, as father-in-law, have the arms,
the customary sovereignty as father-in-law; the Teucrians will set up walls for me
and Lavinia will give her name to the city.

Sic prior Aeneas, sequitur sic deinde Latinus               195
suspiciens caelum, tenditque ad sidera dextram:
'haec eadem, Aenea, terram, mare, sidera, iuro
Latonaeque genus duplex Ianumque bifrontem,
vimque deum infernam et duri sacraria Ditis;
audiat haec genitor qui foedera fulmine sancit.               200
tango aras, medios ignis et numina testor:
nulla dies pacem hanc Italis nec foedera rumpet,
quo res cumque cadent; nec me vis ulla volentem
avertet, non, si tellurem effundat in undas
diluvio miscens caelumque in Tartara solvat,               205

Thus first Aeneas; thus then Latinus follows, looking up to heaven, and he stretches his right hand to the stars:               195
'By these same things, Aeneas—earth, sea, and stars—I swear,
and by Latona’s twofold offspring and two-faced Janus,
and the infernal might of the gods and the sanctuaries of unyielding Dis;
let the Father hear these things, who with the thunderbolt sanctifies treaties.               200
I touch the altars, and I call to witness the fires in their midst and the numina:
no day will break this peace for the Italians nor these treaties,
however matters may fall; nor will any force, I being willing,
turn me aside—not even if he should pour the earth into the waves,
mixing it by deluge, and should dissolve the sky into Tartarus,'               205

ut sceptrum hoc' (dextra sceptrum nam forte gerebat)
'numquam fronde levi fundet virgulta nec umbras,
cum semel in silvis imo de stirpe recisum
matre caret posuitque comas et bracchia ferro,
olim arbos, nunc artificis manus aere decoro 210
inclusit patribusque dedit gestare Latinis.'
talibus inter se firmabant foedera dictis
conspectu in medio procerum. tum rite sacratas
in flammam iugulant pecudes et viscera vivis
eripiunt, cumulantque oneratis lancibus aras. 215

‘as this scepter’ (for by chance he was bearing a scepter in his right hand) ‘will never pour forth with light frond its shoots nor shades,
when once in the woods cut from the lowest stock,
it lacks its mother and has laid down its foliage and its branches by iron—
once a tree, now the hand of the artificer has enclosed it with decorous bronze 210
and has given it to the Latin fathers to bear.’
With such words among themselves they were confirming the covenants
in the very sight of the chiefs. Then, duly consecrated,
they slit the throats of the beasts into the flame and tear the entrails from the living,
and they heap the altars with trays laden to the brim. 215

At vero Rutulis impar ea pugna videri
iamdudum et vario misceri pectora motu,
tum magis ut propius cernunt non viribus aequos.
adiuvat incessu tacito progressus et aram
suppliciter venerans demisso lumine Turnus               220
pubentesque genae et iuvenali in corpore pallor.
quem simul ac Iuturna soror crebrescere vidit
sermonem et vulgi variare labantia corda,
in medias acies formam adsimulata Camerti,
cui genus a proavis ingens clarumque paternae               225
nomen erat virtutis, et ipse acerrimus armis,
in medias dat sese acies haud nescia rerum
rumoresque serit varios ac talia fatur:
'non pudet, o Rutuli, pro cunctis talibus unam
obiectare animam? numerone an viribus aequi               230

But indeed to the Rutulians that battle had long seemed unequal,
and their hearts were being mixed with variegated motion;
then more so as they see at closer range that they are not equal in strengths.
Turnus, too, furthers it by a silent gait advancing and by reverencing the altar
in supplication with downcast glance, and by the downy cheeks and the pallor in a youthful body.               220
As soon as his sister Juturna saw the talk growing frequent
and the hearts of the crowd wavering in change,
disguised in the form of Camers she goes into the midst of the battle-lines—
he whose lineage from forefathers was mighty and whose name was famed for paternal
virtue, and he himself was most keen in arms—,               225
she thrusts herself into the midst of the battle-lines, not unknowing of things,
and sows various rumors and speaks such words:
‘Are you not ashamed, O Rutulians, on behalf of all such to expose a single
life? Equal in number or in strength are you?’               230

non sumus? en, omnes et Troes et Arcades hi sunt,
fatalisque manus, infensa Etruria Turno:
vix hostem, alterni si congrediamur, habemus.
ille quidem ad superos, quorum se devovet aris,
succedet fama vivusque per ora feretur; 235
nos patria amissa dominis parere superbis
cogemur, qui nunc lenti consedimus arvis.'

are we not? See, all these are Trojans and Arcadians,
and the fated band, and Etruria hostile to Turnus:
we scarcely have an enemy, if we should meet them by turns.
he indeed to the gods above, at whose altars he devotes himself,
will advance in renown, and alive will be borne from mouth to mouth; 235
we, with our fatherland lost, will be compelled to obey haughty masters
we who now, sluggish, sit in the fields.'

Talibus incensa est iuvenum sententia dictis
iam magis atque magis, serpitque per agmina murmur:
ipsi Laurentes mutati ipsique Latini.               240
qui sibi iam requiem pugnae rebusque salutem
sperabant, nunc arma volunt foedusque precantur
infectum et Turni sortem miserantur iniquam.
his aliud maius Iuturna adiungit et alto
dat signum caelo, quo non praesentius ullum                245
turbavit mentes Italas monstroque fefellit.
namque volans rubra fulvus Iovis ales in aethra
litoreas agitabat avis turbamque sonantem
agminis aligeri, subito cum lapsus ad undas
cycnum excellentem pedibus rapit improbus uncis.               250

By such words the sentiment of the youths was inflamed
now more and more, and a murmur creeps through the ranks:
the Laurentians themselves are changed, and the Latins themselves.               240
who already were hoping for rest from battle and safety for their affairs,
now they want arms and pray that the pact be undone,
and they commiserate Turnus’s unfair lot.
To these things Juturna adds another, greater, and from the high
sky gives a sign, than which none more immediate               245
disturbed Italian minds and with a monster-portent deceived them.
For the tawny bird of Jove, flying in the ruddy aether,
was driving the shore-birds and the sounding crowd
of the winged column, when suddenly, having swooped to the waves,
he, shameless, with hooked feet snatches a conspicuous swan.               250

arrexere animos Itali, cunctaeque volucres
convertunt clamore fugam (mirabile visu),
aetheraque obscurant pennis hostemque per auras
facta nube premunt, donec vi victus et ipso
pondere defecit praedamque ex unguibus ales 255
proiecit fluvio, penitusque in nubila fugit.

the Italians raised their spirits, and all the birds
with a clamor turn their flight (marvelous to see),
and they obscure the aether with wings and, the enemy through the airs,
press him, a cloud having been made, until, overcome by force and by his very
weight he failed, and the winged one 255
cast the prey from his talons into the river, and fled deep into the clouds.

Tum vero augurium Rutuli clamore salutant
expediuntque manus, primusque Tolumnius augur
'hoc erat, hoc votis' inquit 'quod saepe petivi.
accipio agnoscoque deos; me, me duce ferrum 260
corripite, o miseri, quos improbus advena bello
territat invalidas ut avis, et litora vestra
vi populat. petet ille fugam penitusque profundo
vela dabit.

Then indeed the Rutulians hail the augury with a shout
and they ready their hands, and Tolumnius the augur is first
"this it was, this by my vows," he says, "which I have often sought.
I accept and I recognize the gods; with me, with me as leader, seize the steel 260
O wretches, whom a wicked newcomer with war
terrifies like weak birds, and your shores
he depopulates by force. He will seek flight and far within the deep
he will give his sails.

vos unanimi densete catervas
et regem vobis pugna defendite raptum.' 265
dixit, et adversos telum contorsit in hostis
procurrens; sonitum dat stridula cornus et auras
certa secat. simul hoc, simul ingens clamor et omnes
turbati cunei calefactaque corda tumultu.
hasta volans, ut forte novem pulcherrima fratrum 270

you, unanimous, thicken the ranks
and by battle defend your king snatched from you.' 265
he said, and hurled a missile at the facing foes
running forward; the shrilling cornel-spear gives a sound and cuts
the airs unerring. at once with this, at once a huge clamor, and all
the wedges are thrown into disorder and hearts heated by the tumult.
the spear flying, as by chance the nine most beautiful of brothers 270

corpora constiterant contra, quos fida crearat
una tot Arcadio coniunx Tyrrhena Gylippo,
horum unum ad medium, teritur qua sutilis aluo
balteus et laterum iuncturas fibula mordet,
egregium forma iuvenem et fulgentibus armis, 275
transadigit costas fulvaque effundit harena.
at fratres, animosa phalanx accensaque luctu,
pars gladios stringunt manibus, pars missile ferrum
corripiunt caecique ruunt. quos agmina contra
procurrunt Laurentum, hinc densi rursus inundant 280
Troes Agyllinique et pictis Arcades armis:
sic omnis amor unus habet decernere ferro.

the bodies had stood opposite, whom one faithful Tyrrhenian wife had borne all at one birth to Arcadian Gylippus,
one of these, at the middle, where the stitched belt is worn on the belly
and the clasp bites the joints of the sides,
a youth outstanding in form and with gleaming arms, 275
he drives the spear through the ribs and he spills on the tawny sand.
but the brothers, a high-spirited phalanx and kindled with grief,
part draw their swords in their hands, part seize the missile steel
and rush in blindly. against them the ranks of the Laurentians
run forward, from this side in dense mass again flood in 280
the Trojans and the Agyllians and the Arcadians with painted arms:
thus one single zeal holds all to decide it by iron.

diripuere aras, it toto turbida caelo
tempestas telorum ac ferreus ingruit imber,
craterasque focosque ferunt. fugit ipse Latinus 285

they plundered the altars, and through the whole sky goes a turbid tempest
of missiles, and an iron rain rushes on; they carry off mixing-bowls and hearths.
Latinus himself flees 285

pulsatos referens infecto foedere divos.
infrenant alii currus aut corpora saltu
subiciunt in equos et strictis ensibus adsunt.
Messapus regem regisque insigne gerentem
Tyrrhenum Aulesten, avidus confundere foedus, 290
adverso proterret equo; ruit ille recedens
et miser oppositis a tergo involvitur aris
in caput inque umeros.

bringing back to the smitten gods the pact undone.
others bridle chariots, or by a leap they thrust their bodies
onto horses, and are at hand with swords drawn.
Messapus the Tyrrhenian Aulestes, a king and bearing the king’s insignia,
eager to confound the pact, 290
with a confronting horse bears him down; he, retreating, rushes headlong
and, wretched, upon the altars set behind is rolled
onto his head and onto his shoulders.

at fervidus advolat hasta
Messapus teloque orantem multa trabali
desuper altus equo graviter ferit atque ita fatur: 295
'hoc habet, haec melior magnis data victima divis.'
concurrunt Itali spoliantque calentia membra.
obvius ambustum torrem Corynaeus ab ara
corripit et venienti Ebyso plagamque ferenti
occupat os flammis: olli ingens barba reluxit 300

but fiery Messapus flies in with a spear,
and with a beam-like weapon he heavily smites from above, high on his horse, the one praying many prayers,
and thus he speaks: 295
'He has it; this better victim is given to the great gods.'
the Italians run together and despoil the still-warm limbs.
meeting him, Corynaeus snatches a charred brand from the altar
and, at Ebusus coming and delivering a blow,
he seizes his face with flames: to him the huge beard flared back 300

nidoremque ambusta dedit. super ipse secutus
caesariem laeva turbati corripit hostis
impressoque genu nitens terrae applicat ipsum;
sic rigido latus ense ferit. Podalirius Alsum
pastorem primaque acie per tela ruentem 305
ense sequens nudo superimminet; ille securi
adversi frontem mediam mentumque reducta
dissicit et sparso late rigat arma cruore.

and the scorched beard gave off a reek of singeing. Moreover he himself, following up, with his left hand seizes the locks of the shaken foe, and bracing with his planted knee he presses him to the earth; thus with a rigid sword he strikes his flank. Podalirius overhangs Alsus, a shepherd, rushing through the missiles in the front line, 305
pursuing with a naked sword; but he, with his axe drawn back, cleaves the middle of his adversary’s brow and chin, and, the blood widely spattered, he drenches the arms.

olli dura quies oculos et ferreus urget
somnus, in aeternam conduntur lumina noctem. 310

to him hard repose presses upon his eyes and iron sleep,
his lights are buried in eternal night. 310

At pius Aeneas dextram tendebat inermem
nudato capite atque suos clamore vocabat:
'quo ruitis? quaeve ista repens discordia surgit?
o cohibete iras!

But pious Aeneas was stretching out his unarmed right hand,
with his head bared, and was calling his own with a shout:
'Where are you rushing? And what sudden discord is arising?
O hold back your rages!

ictum iam foedus et omnes
compositae leges. mihi ius concurrere soli; 315
me sinite atque auferte metus. ego foedera faxo
firma manu; Turnum debent haec iam mihi sacra.'
has inter voces, media inter talia verba
ecce viro stridens alis adlapsa sagitta est,
incertum qua pulsa manu, quo turbine adacta, 320
quis tantam Rutulis laudem, casusne deusne,
attulerit; pressa est insignis gloria facti,
nec sese Aeneae iactavit vulnere quisquam.

The treaty has already been struck and all the laws settled. to me alone is the right to engage; 315
allow me and take away your fears. I will make the treaties firm with my hand; these sacred rites now owe me Turnus.'
amid these voices, in the very midst of such words,
lo, upon the man a shrilling arrow, gliding on wings, swooped,
uncertain by what hand driven, by what whirlwind impelled, 320
who brought such great praise to the Rutulians, whether chance or a god;
the conspicuous glory of the deed was suppressed,
nor did anyone boast himself of Aeneas’s wound.

Turnus ut Aenean cedentem ex agmine vidit
turbatosque duces, subita spe fervidus ardet; 325

As Turnus saw Aeneas withdrawing from the battle-line
and the leaders troubled, fervid, he burns with sudden hope; 325

poscit equos atque arma simul, saltuque superbus
emicat in currum et manibus molitur habenas.
multa virum volitans dat fortia corpora leto.
seminecis volvit multos: aut agmina curru
proterit aut raptas fugientibus ingerit hastas.               330
qualis apud gelidi cum flumina concitus Hebri
sanguineus Mavors clipeo increpat atque furentis
bella movens immittit equos, illi aequore aperto
ante Notos Zephyrumque volant, gemit ultima pulsu
Thraca pedum circumque atrae Formidinis ora               335
Iraeque Insidiaeque, dei comitatus, aguntur:
talis equos alacer media inter proelia Turnus
fumantis sudore quatit, miserabile caesis
hostibus insultans; spargit rapida ungula rores
sanguineos mixtaque cruor calcatur harena.               340

he calls for horses and arms at once, and, proud with a leap,
he flashes into the chariot and with his hands works the reins.
flying about he gives many brave bodies of men to death.
he rolls many half-slain: either ranks he crushes with the chariot,
or he thrusts spears, snatched up, into the fleeing.               330
just as, by the streams of the icy Hebrus when blood-red Mavors,
clashing on his shield and setting raging wars in motion,
lets loose his horses, they over the open plain fly
before Notus and Zephyrus; far Thrace groans at the pounding
of their feet, and around are driven the black face of Dread               335
and the Wraths and the Treacheries, the god’s retinue:
so Turnus, brisk, amid the battles shakes his horses
smoking with sweat, pitiful as he exults over the slain
enemies; the swift hoof scatters bloody dews,
and mingled gore is trampled into the sand.               340

iamque neci Sthenelumque dedit Thamyrumque Pholumque,
hunc congressus et hunc, illum eminus; eminus ambo
Imbrasidas, Glaucum atque Laden, quos Imbrasus ipse
nutrierat Lycia paribusque ornaverat armis
vel conferre manum vel equo praevertere ventos. 345

and now he gave Sthenelus too to death, and Thamyrus and Pholus,
this one in close encounter and this one, that one from afar; from afar both
the Imbrasids, Glaucus and Laden, whom Imbrasus himself
had nurtured in Lycia and had adorned with equal arms,
either to join hand to hand or with a horse to outrun the winds. 345

Parte alia media Eumedes in proelia fertur,
antiqui proles bello praeclara Dolonis,
nomine avum referens, animo manibusque parentem,
qui quondam, castra ut Danaum speculator adiret,
ausus Pelidae pretium sibi poscere currus;               350
illum Tydides alio pro talibus ausis
adfecit pretio nec equis aspirat Achilli.
hunc procul ut campo Turnus prospexit aperto,
ante levi iaculo longum per inane secutus
sistit equos biiugis et curru desilit atque               355
semianimi lapsoque supervenit, et pede collo
impresso dextrae mucronem extorquet et alto
fulgentem tingit iugulo atque haec insuper addit:
'en agros et, quam bello, Troiane, petisti,
Hesperiam metire iacens: haec praemia, qui me               360

In another part amid the middle, Eumedes is borne into the battles,
offspring of ancient Dolon, illustrious in war,
recalling his grandsire in name, his sire in spirit and hands,
who once, that he might go as a speculator to the camp of the Danaans,
dared to demand for himself as a price the chariot of the son of Peleus;               350
him the son of Tydeus awarded another price for such daring,
nor does he attain the horses of Achilles.
Him, when Turnus spied from afar on the open plain,
having followed beforehand with a light javelin through the long void,
he halts his two‑yoked horses and leaps from the chariot and               355
comes upon him half‑alive and fallen, and with his foot pressed on his neck
he wrenches out the point for his right hand and stains the gleaming steel in the high
throat, and adds these words besides:
‘Lo, the fields and Hesperia, which you sought by war,
Trojan, measure them lying down: these are the prizes for those who               360

ferro ausi temptare, ferunt, sic moenia condunt.'
huic comitem Asbyten coniecta cuspide mittit
Chloreaque Sybarimque Daretaque Thersilochumque
et sternacis equi lapsum cervice Thymoeten.
ac velut Edoni Boreae cum spiritus alto               365
insonat Aegaeo sequiturque ad litora fluctus,
qua venti incubuere, fugam dant nubila caelo:
sic Turno, quacumque viam secat, agmina cedunt
conversaeque ruunt acies; fert impetus ipsum
et cristam adverso curru quatit aura volantem.               370
non tulit instantem Phegeus animisque frementem
obiecit sese ad currum et spumantia frenis
ora citatorum dextra detorsit equorum.
dum trahitur pendetque iugis, hunc lata retectum
lancea consequitur rumpitque infixa bilicem               375

'they say, those who dared to try with iron—thus they found walls.'
to him he sends as companion Asbytes with a hurled spear,
and Chloreus and Sybaris and Dares and Thersilochus,
and Thymoetes, thrown headlong from the neck of his stumbling horse.
and just as when the breath of Boreas of the Edoni on the high               365
Aegean resounds and the wave follows to the shores,
where the winds have brooded, the clouds give flight from the sky:
thus, wherever he cuts a way, to Turnus the battalions yield
and the ranks, turned, rush; impetus bears him
and the breeze before the chariot shakes his flying crest.               370
Phegeus did not bear him pressing on and roaring in spirit
he threw himself before the chariot and with his right hand twisted back by the reins
the foaming mouths of the urged-on horses.
while he is dragged and hangs from the yokes, him, exposed broad,
a lance overtakes and, fixed in, rends the double-woven corselet.               375

loricam et summum degustat vulnere corpus.
ille tamen clipeo obiecto conversus in hostem
ibat et auxilium ducto mucrone petebat,
cum rota praecipitem et procursu concitus axis
impulit effunditque solo, Turnusque secutus 380
imam inter galeam summi thoracis et oras
abstulit ense caput truncumque reliquit harenae.

and with a wound it grazes the corselet and the top of his body.
He, however, with his shield thrown before him, turned toward the foe
advanced and sought aid with his drawn blade,
when the wheel and the axle, hastened by the forward rush,
struck him headlong and spilled him on the ground, and Turnus, following, 380
between the helmet and the borders of the upper thorax
took off the head with his sword and left the headless trunk to the sand.

Atque ea dum campis victor dat funera Turnus,
interea Aenean Mnestheus et fidus Achates
Ascaniusque comes castris statuere cruentum               385
alternos longa nitentem cuspide gressus.
saevit et infracta luctatur harundine telum
eripere auxilioque viam, quae proxima, poscit:
ense secent lato vulnus telique latebram
rescindant penitus, seseque in bella remittant.               390
iamque aderat Phoebo ante alios dilectus Iapyx
Iasides, acri quondam cui captus amore
ipse suas artis, sua munera, laetus Apollo
augurium citharamque dabat celerisque sagittas.
ille, ut depositi proferret fata parentis,               395

And while Turnus as victor deals out funerals upon the plains,
meanwhile Mnestheus and faithful Achates and Ascanius as companion set Aeneas bloodied within the camp,               385
leaning on the long spear for alternating steps.
He rages and with the broken reed-shaft struggles to tear out the weapon,
and he demands help and the way that is nearest: that with a broad sword they cut the wound and the weapon’s hiding-place
and cut it out utterly, and send him back into wars.               390
And now there was present Iapyx, most beloved of Phoebus above others,
the son of Iasius, for whom once, captured by keen love,
Apollo himself gladly was granting his own arts, his own gifts—
augury and the cithara and the swift arrows.
He, in order that he might prolong the fates of his laid-aside father,               395

scire potestates herbarum usumque medendi
maluit et mutas agitare inglorius artis.
stabat acerba fremens ingentem nixus in hastam
Aeneas magno iuvenum et maerentis Iuli
concursu, lacrimis immobilis. ille retorto 400
Paeonium in morem senior succinctus amictu
multa manu medica Phoebique potentibus herbis
nequiquam trepidat, nequiquam spicula dextra
sollicitat prensatque tenaci forcipe ferrum.

to know the powers of herbs and the use of healing
he preferred, and to ply, inglorious, the mute arts.
Aeneas stood, bitterly roaring, leaning on his huge spear,
with a great concourse of youths and of grieving Iulus,
motionless at tears. He, the elder, girt with a twisted cloak in Paeonian fashion, 400
in vain flutters with a physician’s hand and with Phoebus’s potent herbs,
in vain with his right hand he works at the barbs and with a tenacious forceps
grasps the iron.

nulla viam Fortuna regit, nihil auctor Apollo 405
subvenit, et saevus campis magis ac magis horror
crebrescit propiusque malum est. iam pulvere caelum
stare vident: subeunt equites et spicula castris
densa cadunt mediis. it tristis ad aethera clamor
bellantum iuvenum et duro sub Marte cadentum. 410

Fortune governs no way, author Apollo 405
brings no help, and a savage horror on the plains
grows more and more, and the evil is nearer. Now they see the sky
stand with dust: horsemen come up and missiles
fall thick into the middle of the camp. A sad clamor goes to the aether
of the youths warring and falling beneath harsh Mars. 410

Hic Venus indigno nati concussa dolore
dictamnum genetrix Cretaea carpit ab Ida,
puberibus caulem foliis et flore comantem
purpureo; non illa feris incognita capris
gramina, cum tergo volucres haesere sagittae. 415
hoc Venus obscuro faciem circumdata nimbo
detulit, hoc fusum labris splendentibus amnem
inficit occulte medicans, spargitque salubris
ambrosiae sucos et odoriferam panaceam.
fovit ea vulnus lympha longaevus Iapyx 420
ignorans, subitoque omnis de corpore fugit
quippe dolor, omnis stetit imo vulnere sanguis.
iamque secuta manum nullo cogente sagitta
excidit, atque novae rediere in pristina vires.

Here Venus, shaken by the undeserved pain of her son,
the Cretan Genetrix plucks dittany from Ida,
a stalk tufted with pubescent leaves and with a
purple flower; not unknown to wild goats
are those grasses, when winged arrows have stuck in the back. 415
with this Venus, her face encompassed with a dusky cloud,
brought it; with this she, secretly medicating, tinges the poured stream
at his shining lips, and she sprinkles the healthful
juices of ambrosia and odoriferous panacea.
with that water the long-lived Iapyx bathed the wound,420
unknowing; and straightway all pain fled from the body,
indeed all the blood stood still in the deepest wound.
and now the arrow, following the hand, with no one compelling,
fell out, and fresh powers returned to pristine vigor.

'arma citi properate viro! quid statis?' Iapyx 425

'Arms, quickly, bring arms to the man! Why do you stand?' Iapyx 425

conclamat primusque animos accendit in hostem.
'non haec humanis opibus, non arte magistra
proveniunt, neque te, Aenea, mea dextera servat:
maior agit deus atque opera ad maiora remittit.'
ille avidus pugnae suras incluserat auro 430
hinc atque hinc oditque moras hastamque coruscat.
postquam habilis lateri clipeus loricaque tergo est,
Ascanium fusis circum complectitur armis
summaque per galeam delibans oscula fatur:
'disce, puer, virtutem ex me verumque laborem, 435
fortunam ex aliis.

he cries aloud and is the first to inflame hearts against the enemy.
'not by human resources, not by Art as instructress
do these things come forth, nor does my right hand save you, Aeneas:
a greater god drives, and assigns the tasks to greater undertakings.'
he, eager for battle, had sheathed his calves in gold 430
on this side and that he hates delays and brandishes his spear.
after the shield is fitted to his side and the cuirass to his back,
he enfolds Ascanius all around with his relaxed arms
and, grazing kisses on the top of his helmet, he speaks:
'learn, boy, virtue from me and true labor, 435
fortune from others.

nunc te mea dextera bello
defensum dabit et magna inter praemia ducet.
tu facito, mox cum matura adoleverit aetas,
sis memor et te animo repetentem exempla tuorum
et pater Aeneas et avunculus excitet Hector.' 440

now my right hand will protect you in war and will lead you amid great prizes.
do you see to it that, soon, when mature age has grown up,
you be mindful, and, recalling in spirit the examples of your kin,
both your father Aeneas and your uncle Hector may rouse you.' 440

Haec ubi dicta dedit, portis sese extulit ingens
telum immane manu quatiens; simul agmine denso
Antheusque Mnestheusque ruunt, omnisque relictis
turba fluit castris. tum caeco pulvere campus
miscetur pulsuque pedum tremit excita tellus.               445
vidit ab adverso venientis aggere Turnus,
videre Ausonii, gelidusque per ima cucurrit
ossa tremor; prima ante omnis Iuturna Latinos
audiit agnovitque sonum et tremefacta refugit.
ille volat campoque atrum rapit agmen aperto.               450
qualis ubi ad terras abrupto sidere nimbus
it mare per medium (miseris, heu, praescia longe
horrescunt corda agricolis: dabit ille ruinas
arboribus stragemque satis, ruet omnia late),
ante volant sonitumque ferunt ad litora venti:               455

After he gave these words, he, immense, bore himself forth from the gates,
brandishing an enormous spear in his hand; at once, in a dense column,
Antheus and Mnestheus rush, and all the crowd streams from the abandoned
camp. Then the plain is mingled with blind dust and the roused earth trembles
with the beat of feet.               445
Turnus saw them coming from the opposite rampart,
the Ausonians saw, and an icy shiver ran through their inmost
bones; Juturna, first before all, among the Latins heard
and recognized the sound and, shaken, fled back.
He flies and sweeps a black column along the open field.               450
Just as when, with a star torn away, a storm-cloud
goes through the midst of the sea toward the lands (far off, alas, prescient,
the hearts of the wretched farmers shudder: it will deal ruin
to trees and slaughter to the crops, it will cast down all things far and wide),
ahead the winds fly and bear the sound to the shores:               455

talis in adversos ductor Rhoeteius hostis
agmen agit, densi cuneis se quisque coactis
adglomerant. ferit ense gravem Thymbraeus Osirim,
Arcetium Mnestheus, Epulonem obtruncat Achates
Ufentemque Gyas; cadit ipse Tolumnius augur, 460
primus in adversos telum qui torserat hostis.
tollitur in caelum clamor, versique vicissim
pulverulenta fuga Rutuli dant terga per agros.

Such, against opposing enemies, the Rhoetean leader drives the battle-line; dense, with wedges compacted, each one masses together. Thymbraeus strikes with his sword the massive Osiris, Mnestheus [slays] Arcetius, Achates hews down Epulo, and Gyas [kills] Ufens; the augur Tolumnius himself falls, 460
who had been the first to hurl a weapon at the opposing enemy. A shout is lifted to heaven, and turned in turn, the Rutulians in dusty flight show their backs through the fields.

ipse neque aversos dignatur sternere morti
nec pede congressos aequo nec tela ferentis 465
insequitur: solum densa in caligine Turnum
vestigat lustrans, solum in certamina poscit.

He himself neither deigns to strew the turned-away to death,
nor does he pursue those who have met him with equal step, nor those bearing missiles: 465
Turnus alone he tracks, scanning through the dense gloom; Turnus alone he calls to the contests.

Hoc concussa metu mentem Iuturna virago
aurigam Turni media inter lora Metiscum
excutit et longe lapsum temone reliquit;               470
ipsa subit manibusque undantis flectit habenas
cuncta gerens, vocemque et corpus et arma Metisci.
nigra velut magnas domini cum divitis aedes
pervolat et pennis alta atria lustrat hirundo
pabula parva legens nidisque loquacibus escas,               475
et nunc porticibus vacuis, nunc umida circum
stagna sonat: similis medios Iuturna per hostis
fertur equis rapidoque volans obit omnia curru,
iamque hic germanum iamque hic ostentat ovantem
nec conferre manum patitur, volat avia longe.               480

At this, Juturna the virago, her mind shaken by fear,
casts out Metiscus, Turnus’s charioteer, from amidst the reins
and left him, slid far away, from the chariot-pole;               470
she herself takes his place and with her hands bends the undulating reins,
bearing everything—the voice and the body and the arms of Metiscus.
Black as when a swallow flies through the great house
of a rich master and with her wings surveys the high atria,
picking small morsels and foods for the talkative nests,               475
and now makes sound in empty porticoes, now around the damp
pools: just so Juturna is borne through the midst of the enemies with the horses
and, flying in the rapid chariot, goes over everything,
and now here she shows her brother, now there exultant,
nor does she allow him to bring hand to hand; she flies far by trackless ways.               480

haud minus Aeneas tortos legit obvius orbis,
vestigatque virum et disiecta per agmina magna
voce vocat. quotiens oculos coniecit in hostem
alipedumque fugam cursu temptavit equorum,
aversos totiens currus Iuturna retorsit. 485
heu, quid agat? vario nequiquam fluctuat aestu,
diversaeque vocant animum in contraria curae.

no less Aeneas, confronting them, traces twisted orbits,
and he tracks the man and through the scattered battle-lines
calls with a great voice. as often as he cast his eyes upon the foe
and with his running attempted the flight of the wing-footed horses,
so often Juturna wheeled the chariot aside, turned away. 485
alas, what is he to do? in vain he fluctuates with a shifting tide,
and diverse cares call his spirit to contrary things.

huic Messapus, uti laeva duo forte gerebat
lenta, levis cursu, praefixa hastilia ferro,
horum unum certo contorquens derigit ictu. 490
substitit Aeneas et se collegit in arma
poplite subsidens; apicem tamen incita summum
hasta tulit summasque excussit vertice cristas.
tum vero adsurgunt irae, insidiisque subactus,
diversos ubi sensit equos currumque referri, 495

to him Messapus, as by chance he was carrying in his left hand two pliant spear-shafts, light for the course, tipped with iron,
whirling one of these he directs it with a sure blow. 490
Aeneas halted and gathered himself into his arms,
sinking on his knee; yet the speeding spear carried off the topmost apex
and shook the crests from the crown of his head.
then indeed angers rise, and, overborne by insidious stratagems,
when he perceived the horses diverging and the chariot being borne back, 495

multa Iovem et laesi testatus foederis aras
iam tandem invadit medios et Marte secundo
terribilis saevam nullo discrimine caedem
suscitat, irarumque omnis effundit habenas.

with many appeals calling Jupiter and the altars of the violated treaty to witness,
now at last he charges into the midst, and with Mars favorable,
terrible, he rouses a savage slaughter with no distinction,
and he lets loose all the reins of his wrath.

Quis mihi nunc tot acerba deus, quis carmine caedes               500
diversas obitumque ducum, quos aequore toto
inque vicem nunc Turnus agit, nunc Troius heros,
expediat? tanton placuit concurrere motu,
Iuppiter, aeterna gentis in pace futuras?
Aeneas Rutulum Sucronem (ea prima ruentis               505
pugna loco statuit Teucros) haud multa morantem
excipit in latus et, qua fata celerrima, crudum
transadigit costas et cratis pectoris ensem.
Turnus equo deiectum Amycum fratremque Dioren,
congressus pedes, hunc venientem cuspide longa,               510

What god now will unfold for me so many bitter things, who in song will set forth the slaughters diverse and the death of leaders, whom over the whole level aether now Turnus, now the Trojan hero, drives in turn? did it so please, Jupiter, to clash with such commotion, the nations destined for eternal peace? Aeneas the Rutulian Sucron—(this first fight set the Teucrians in position at that spot as they were rushing)—catching him in the flank, not lingering much, where the fates are swiftest, drives the sword through ribs and the lattices of the breast. Turnus, having met on foot, Amycus thrown from his horse and his brother Diorēs, this one as he came on with a long spear,               500
over the whole plain and in turn now Turnus drives, now the Trojan hero,               505
through ribs and the latticework of the chest.
Turnus, Amycus thrown from his horse and his brother Diorēs,
meeting on foot, this one coming on with a long spear,               510

hunc mucrone ferit, curruque abscisa duorum
suspendit capita et rorantia sanguine portat.
ille Talon Tanaimque neci fortemque Cethegum,
tris uno congressu, et maestum mittit Oniten,
nomen Echionium matrisque genus Peridiae;               515
hic fratres Lycia missos et Apollinis agris
et iuvenem exosum nequiquam bella Menoeten,
Arcada, piscosae cui circum flumina Lernae
ars fuerat pauperque domus nec nota potentum
munera, conductaque pater tellure serebat.               520
ac velut immissi diversis partibus ignes
arentem in silvam et virgulta sonantia lauro,
aut ubi decursu rapido de montibus altis
dant sonitum spumosi amnes et in aequora currunt
quisque suum populatus iter: non segnius ambo               525

him he strikes with the blade, and on his chariot the cut-off heads of two
he hangs and carries them dripping with blood.
that one sends Talon and Tanaim to death and brave Cethegus,
three in one encounter, and sends mournful Onites,
Echionian by name and of the mother Peridia’s lineage;               515
this one the brothers sent from Lycia and from Apollo’s fields,
and the youth Menoetes, hating wars in vain,
an Arcadian, for whom around the fish-rich streams of Lerna
his craft had been, and a poor house, and the gifts of the mighty were unknown,
and his father on hired land would sow.               520
and just as fires, let in from different quarters, [seize] a parched forest
and thickets resounding with laurel,
or when in rapid downrush from lofty mountains
foaming rivers give a roar and run to the level waters,
each devastating its own course: no less briskly both               525

Aeneas Turnusque ruunt per proelia; nunc, nunc
fluctuat ira intus, rumpuntur nescia vinci
pectora, nunc totis in vulnera viribus itur.

Aeneas and Turnus rush through the battles; now, now the ire fluctuates within, the chests unknowing to be conquered are burst, now with all their forces they go into wounds.

Murranum hic, atavos et avorum antiqua sonantem
nomina per regesque actum genus omne Latinos,               530
praecipitem scopulo atque ingentis turbine saxi
excutit effunditque solo; hunc lora et iuga subter
provolvere rotae, crebro super ungula pulsu
incita nec domini memorum proculcat equorum.
ille ruenti Hyllo animisque immane frementi               535
occurrit telumque aurata ad tempora torquet:
olli per galeam fixo stetit hasta cerebro.
dextera nec tua te, Graium fortissime Cretheu,
eripuit Turno, nec di texere Cupencum
Aenea veniente sui: dedit obvia ferro               540

Here Murranus, sounding the ancient names of his great-great-grandfathers and of his grandfathers, and his whole race traced through the Latin kings,               530
he shakes headlong from a crag and by the whirlwind of a huge rock and pours him out on the ground; him the wheels roll forward beneath the reins and yoke, and the hooves, incited by frequent pounding, trample him, forgetful of their master.
He meets the rushing Hyllus, roaring immensely in spirit, and he hurls a weapon toward his gilded temples:               535
to that one the spear stood fast through the helmet, with the brain transfixed.
Nor did your right hand, bravest of the Greeks, Cretheus, snatch you from Turnus, nor did his own gods weave-cover Cupencus with Aeneas coming: he gave himself, meeting the steel.               540

pectora, nec misero clipei mora profuit aerei.
te quoque Laurentes viderunt, Aeole, campi
oppetere et late terram consternere tergo.
occidis, Argivae quem non potuere phalanges
sternere nec Priami regnorum eversor Achilles; 545
hic tibi mortis erant metae, domus alta sub Ida,
Lyrnesi domus alta, solo Laurente sepulcrum.

breasts, nor did the delay of the bronze shield profit the wretch.
you too the Laurentine fields saw, Aeolus, to meet death and to strew the earth widely with your back.
you fall—whom the Argive phalanxes were not able to lay low, nor Achilles, the overturner of Priam’s realms; 545
here were for you the metes of death: a lofty house beneath Ida,
a lofty house at Lyrnesus, and in Laurentine soil a tomb.

totae adeo conversae acies omnesque Latini,
omnes Dardanidae, Mnestheus acerque Serestus
et Messapus equum domitor et fortis Asilas 550
Tuscorumque phalanx Evandrique Arcades alae,
pro se quisque viri summa nituntur opum vi;
nec mora nec requies, vasto certamine tendunt.

so completely the battle-lines are wheeled, and all the Latins,
all the Dardanids, Mnestheus and keen Serestus,
and Messapus the tamer of horses and brave Asilas 550
and the phalanx of the Tuscans and Evander’s Arcadian wings,
each man strives for his own side with the utmost force of his resources;
neither delay nor rest; they press on in a vast contest.

Hic mentem Aeneae genetrix pulcherrima misit
iret ut ad muros urbique adverteret agmen               555
ocius et subita turbaret clade Latinos.
ille ut vestigans diversa per agmina Turnum
huc atque huc acies circumtulit, aspicit urbem
immunem tanti belli atque impune quietam.
continuo pugnae accendit maioris imago:               560
Mnesthea Sergestumque vocat fortemque Serestum
ductores, tumulumque capit quo cetera Teucrum
concurrit legio, nec scuta aut spicula densi
deponunt. celso medius stans aggere fatur:
'ne qua meis esto dictis mora, Iuppiter hac stat,               565

Here the most beautiful mother sent a thought into Aeneas’s mind
that he should go to the walls and turn his column toward the city more swiftly,               555
and throw the Latins into turmoil with sudden disaster.
He, as he was tracking Turnus through the scattered battle-lines
and bore his ranks here and there, sees the city
untouched by so great a war and at ease with impunity.
Immediately the image of a greater fight inflames him:               560
he calls Mnestheus and Sergestus and brave Serestus,
the leaders, and takes a mound to which the rest of the Teucrians’
legion runs together, nor do the close-packed men lay down shields or spears.
Standing in the middle on the lofty embankment he speaks:
“Let there be no delay at all to my words; Jupiter stands with this plan,               565

neu quis ob inceptum subitum mihi segnior ito.
urbem hodie, causam belli, regna ipsa Latini,
ni frenum accipere et victi parere fatentur,
eruam et aequa solo fumantia culmina ponam.
scilicet exspectem libeat dum proelia Turno 570
nostra pati rursusque velit concurrere victus?

nor let anyone go the slower on account of the sudden enterprise I have undertaken.
today the city, the cause of the war, the very kingdoms of Latinus,
unless they admit to receive the bridle and, conquered, to obey,
I will tear out and set its smoking rooftops level with the ground.
am I indeed to wait until it is pleasing to Turnus to suffer our battles 570
and, vanquished, to wish to clash again?

hoc caput, o cives, haec belli summa nefandi.
ferte faces propere foedusque reposcite flammis.'
dixerat, atque animis pariter certantibus omnes
dant cuneum densaque ad muros mole feruntur; 575
scalae improviso subitusque apparuit ignis.
discurrunt alii ad portas primosque trucidant,
ferrum alii torquent et obumbrant aethera telis.

this is the head, O citizens, this the sum of the nefarious war.
bring torches quickly and demand back the treaty with flames.'
he had spoken, and with spirits equally contending they all
form a wedge and are borne in a dense mass to the walls; 575
ladders appeared unexpectedly and a sudden fire appeared.
some run about to the gates and butcher the foremost,
others whirl the iron and overshadow the ether with missiles.

ipse inter primos dextram sub moenia tendit
Aeneas, magnaque incusat voce Latinum 580

Aeneas himself among the foremost stretches his right hand to the walls
and with a great voice accuses Latinus 580

testaturque deos iterum se ad proelia cogi,
bis iam Italos hostis, haec altera foedera rumpi.
exoritur trepidos inter discordia civis:
urbem alii reserare iubent et pandere portas
Dardanidis ipsumque trahunt in moenia regem; 585
arma ferunt alii et pergunt defendere muros,
inclusas ut cum latebroso in pumice pastor
vestigavit apes fumoque implevit amaro;
illae intus trepidae rerum per cerea castra
discurrunt magnisque acuunt stridoribus iras; 590
volvitur ater odor tectis, tum murmure caeco
intus saxa sonant, vacuas it fumus ad auras.

and he calls the gods to witness that again he is being compelled to battles,
that now twice the Italians face a foe, that these second treaties are being broken.
Discord arises among the alarmed citizens:
some bid to unbar the city and to throw open the gates
to the Dardanian, and they drag the king himself within the walls; 585
others bring arms and go on to defend the walls,
as when a shepherd in hiding-holed pumice has tracked
bees shut in and has filled it with bitter smoke;
they within, alarmed at the crisis, run through their waxen camps
and with great stridors whet their angers; 590
black odor rolls through the roofs, then with blind murmur
within the rocks sound, the smoke goes off to the empty airs.

Accidit haec fessis etiam fortuna Latinis,
quae totam luctu concussit funditus urbem.
regina ut tectis venientem prospicit hostem,               595
incessi muros, ignis ad tecta volare,
nusquam acies contra Rutulas, nulla agmina Turni,
infelix pugnae iuvenem in certamine credit
exstinctum et subito mentem turbata dolore
se causam clamat crimenque caputque malorum,               600
multaque per maestum demens effata furorem
purpureos moritura manu discindit amictus
et nodum informis leti trabe nectit ab alta.
quam cladem miserae postquam accepere Latinae,
filia prima manu flavos Lavinia crinis               605

This fortune also befell the weary Latins,
which shook the whole city to its depth with mourning.
as the queen from the roofs espies the foe coming,               595
the walls assaulted, fires flying to the roofs,
nowhere a battle-line against the Rutulians, no columns of Turnus,
the unhappy one believes the youth extinguished in the contest of battle
and, her mind suddenly troubled by grief,
she cries that she herself is the cause, the crime, and the head of the evils,               600
and, mad, having uttered many things through mournful fury,
about to die she rends with her hand her purple garments
and ties a knot of formless death to a high beam.
when the wretched Latin women received this disaster,
the daughter first, Lavinia, with her hand her blond tresses               605

et roseas laniata genas, tum cetera circum
turba furit, resonant late plangoribus aedes.
hinc totam infelix vulgatur fama per urbem:
demittunt mentes, it scissa veste Latinus
coniugis attonitus fatis urbisque ruina, 610
canitiem immundo perfusam pulvere turpans.

and, having torn her rosy cheeks, then all the rest around
the crowd raves; the halls resound far and wide with lamentations.
From here the ill-fated rumor is broadcast through the whole city:
their spirits sink; Latinus goes with garment rent,
thunderstruck at the fates of his consort and the ruin of the city, 610
defiling his gray hair, drenched with unclean dust.

Interea extremo bellator in aequore Turnus 614
palantis sequitur paucos iam segnior atque
iam minus atque minus successu laetus equorum.
attulit hunc illi caecis terroribus aura
commixtum clamorem, arrectasque impulit auris
confusae sonus urbis et inlaetabile murmur.
'ei mihi!

Meanwhile on the farthest level plain the warrior Turnus 614
follows the few stragglers, now more sluggish, and
now less and less glad at the success of his horses.
The breeze brought to him that clamor commingled
with blind terrors, and the sound of a confused city and a joyless murmur
struck his pricked-up ears.
'ah me!

quid tanto turbantur moenia luctu? 620
quisve ruit tantus diversa clamor ab urbe?'
sic ait, adductisque amens subsistit habenis.
atque huic, in faciem soror ut conversa Metisci
aurigae currumque et equos et lora regebat,
talibus occurrit dictis: 'hac, Turne, sequamur 625

'Why are the walls disturbed by so great lamentation? 620
or what so great a clamor rushes from the city on the far side?'
thus he speaks, and, with the reins drawn tight, distraught he halts.
And to him—his sister, turned into the likeness of Metiscus the charioteer and guiding the chariot and the horses and the reins—
meets with such words: 'by this way, Turnus, let us pursue 625

Troiugenas, qua prima viam victoria pandit;
sunt alii qui tecta manu defendere possint.
ingruit Aeneas Italis et proelia miscet,
et nos saeva manu mittamus funera Teucris.
nec numero inferior pugnae neque honore recedes.' 630
Turnus ad haec:
'o soror, et dudum agnovi, cum prima per artem
foedera turbasti teque haec in bella dedisti,
et nunc nequiquam fallis dea.

The Trojan-born, where first victory opens a way;
there are others who can defend the roofs with their hands.
Aeneas swoops upon the Italians and mingles the battles,
and let us too with a savage hand send funerals to the Teucrians.
nor will you withdraw inferior either in number for the fight or in honor.' 630
Turnus to this:
'o sister, I recognized you long since as well, when first by art you disturbed the treaties and committed yourself to these wars, and now in vain you deceive, goddess.

sed quis Olympo
demissam tantos volvit te ferre labores? 635
an fratris miseri letum ut crudele videres?
nam quid ago? aut quae iam spondet Fortuna salutem?

but who from Olympus has willed you, sent down, to bear such great labors? 635
or that you might see the cruel death of your wretched brother?
For what am I to do? or what Fortune now pledges safety?

vidi oculos ante ipse meos me voce vocantem
Murranum, quo non superat mihi carior alter,
oppetere ingentem atque ingenti vulnere victum. 640

I saw before my very eyes, calling me with his voice,
Murranus, than whom no other is dearer to me,
meet his end, mighty, and vanquished by a mighty wound. 640

occidit infelix ne nostrum dedecus Ufens
aspiceret; Teucri potiuntur corpore et armis.
exscindine domos (id rebus defuit unum)
perpetiar, dextra nec Drancis dicta refellam?
terga dabo et Turnum fugientem haec terra videbit? 645
usque adeone mori miserum est?

The unlucky Ufens has fallen, lest he behold our disgrace; the Teucrians gain possession of his body and arms.
Shall I endure that homes be exscinded (that one thing was lacking to our affairs), and with my right hand shall I not refute Drances’ words?
Shall I give my back, and will this land see Turnus fleeing? 645
Is it really to such an extent wretched to die?

vos o mihi, Manes,
este boni, quoniam superis aversa voluntas.
sancta ad vos anima atque istius inscia culpae
descendam magnorum haud umquam indignus avorum.'

you, O Manes,
be good to me, since the will of the gods above is averse.
I, a holy soul and unaware of that one's fault,
shall descend to you, never unworthy of my great ancestors.'

Vix ea fatus erat: medios volat ecce per hostis 650
vectus equo spumante Saces, adversa sagitta
saucius ora, ruitque implorans nomine Turnum:
'Turne, in te suprema salus, miserere tuorum.
fulminat Aeneas armis summasque minatur
deiecturum arces Italum excidioque daturum, 655
iamque faces ad tecta volant. in te ora Latini,
in te oculos referunt; mussat rex ipse Latinus
quos generos vocet aut quae sese ad foedera flectat.

Hardly had he spoken these things: lo, Saces flies through the midst of the foes, 650
borne on a foaming horse, wounded full in the face by an opposing arrow,
and he rushes, imploring Turnus by name:
'Turnus, in you is the final salvation; have pity on your own.
Aeneas thunders with arms and threatens to cast down the highest
citadels of the Italians and to give them to destruction, 655
and now the torches fly to the roofs. To you the Latins turn their faces,
to you they refix their eyes; King Latinus himself murmurs in uncertainty
whom to call sons-in-law, or to what treaties he should bend himself.'

praeterea regina, tui fidissima, dextra
occidit ipsa sua lucemque exterrita fugit. 660

Moreover the queen, most faithful to you, by her own right hand
has perished, and, terrified, fled the light. 660

soli pro portis Messapus et acer Atinas
sustentant acies. circum hos utrimque phalanges
stant densae strictisque seges mucronibus horret
ferrea; tu currum deserto in gramine versas.'
obstipuit varia confusus imagine rerum 665
Turnus et obtutu tacito stetit; aestuat ingens
uno in corde pudor mixtoque insania luctu
et furiis agitatus amor et conscia virtus.
ut primum discussae umbrae et lux reddita menti,
ardentis oculorum orbis ad moenia torsit 670
turbidus eque rotis magnam respexit ad urbem.

alone before the gates Messapus and keen Atinas
sustain the battle-lines. around them on both sides the phalanxes
stand dense, and an iron harvest bristles with drawn sword-points;
and you are turning your chariot on the deserted grass.'
Turnus was astounded, confused by the varied image of affairs, 665
and stood with a silent gaze; a mighty seething
of shame within a single heart, and madness with mingled grief,
and love agitated by furies, and conscious valor. as soon as the shadows
were shaken off and light restored to his mind,
he turned the burning circles of his eyes toward the walls, 670
troubled, and from the wheels looked back toward the great city.

Ecce autem flammis inter tabulata volutus
ad caelum undabat vertex turrimque tenebat,
turrim compactis trabibus quam eduxerat ipse
subdideratque rotas pontisque instraverat altos. 675
'iam iam fata, soror, superant, absiste morari;
quo deus et quo dura vocat Fortuna sequamur.
stat conferre manum Aeneae, stat, quidquid acerbi est,
morte pati, neque me indecorem, germana, videbis
amplius. hunc, oro, sine me furere ante furorem.' 680
dixit, et e curru saltum dedit ocius arvis
perque hostis, per tela ruit maestamque sororem
deserit ac rapido cursu media agmina rumpit.

Behold moreover, a vortex, rolled by flames between the stories,
was billowing to the sky and was gripping the tower,
the tower with compacted beams which he himself had raised
and had set wheels beneath and had strewn with high bridges. 675
'Now, now the fates, sister, prevail; cease to delay;
whither god and whither harsh Fortune calls, let us follow.
It stands fixed to join hand in combat with Aeneas, it stands fixed, whatever is bitter,
to suffer by death; nor will you see me, sister, disgraceful
any longer. This fury, I beg, allow me to rage before the frenzy.' 680
He spoke, and from the chariot he gave a leap more swiftly to the fields
and through foes, through weapons he rushes and leaves his sorrowful sister
and with rapid course he bursts through the middle ranks.

ac veluti montis saxum de vertice praeceps
cum ruit avulsum vento, seu turbidus imber 685

and just as a mountain’s rock from the summit, headlong,
when it rushes down, torn away by wind, or a turbid rainstorm 685

proluit aut annis soluit sublapsa vetustas;
fertur in abruptum magno mons improbus actu
exsultatque solo, silvas armenta virosque
involvens secum: disiecta per agmina Turnus
sic urbis ruit ad muros, ubi plurima fuso 690
sanguine terra madet striduntque hastilibus aurae,
significatque manu et magno simul incipit ore:
'parcite iam, Rutuli, et vos tela inhibete, Latini.
quaecumque est fortuna, mea est; me verius unum
pro vobis foedus luere et decernere ferro.' 695
discessere omnes medii spatiumque dedere.

has washed it out, or undermining old age has loosened it through the years;
a relentless mass is borne with great impetus into the steep
and bounds over the ground, rolling with it forests, herds, and men;
even so through the scattered ranks Turnus
rushes to the walls of the city, where the earth is drenched with much-spilled 690
blood and the breezes shriek with spear-shafts,
and he signals with his hand and at once begins with a great voice:
'Spare now, Rutulians, and you Latins, inhibit your weapons.
Whatever the fortune is, it is mine; more truly it is for me alone
to pay the compact on your behalf and to decide it by steel.' 695
All in the middle withdrew and gave space.

At pater Aeneas audito nomine Turni
deserit et muros et summas deserit arces
praecipitatque moras omnis, opera omnia rumpit
laetitia exsultans horrendumque intonat armis:               700
quantus Athos aut quantus Eryx aut ipse coruscis
cum fremit ilicibus quantus gaudetque nivali
vertice se attollens pater Appenninus ad auras.
iam vero et Rutuli certatim et Troes et omnes
convertere oculos Itali, quique alta tenebant               705
moenia quique imos pulsabant ariete muros,
armaque deposuere umeris. stupet ipse Latinus
ingentis, genitos diversis partibus orbis,
inter se coiisse viros et cernere ferro.
atque illi, ut vacuo patuerunt aequore campi,               710

But father Aeneas, the name of Turnus heard,
both deserts the walls and deserts the highest citadels,
and he precipitates all delays, breaks off all works,
exulting with joy and he thunders dreadfully with his arms:               700
as great as Athos, or as great as Eryx, or Father Apenninus himself
when he roars with quivering holm-oaks and rejoices,
lifting himself with snowy summit to the breezes.
Now indeed both the Rutulians eagerly and the Trojans and all
the Italians turned their eyes, both they who were holding the high               705
walls and they who were pounding the lowest walls with the ram,
and they laid down their arms from their shoulders. Latinus himself is amazed
that huge men, born in different parts of the world,
have come together among themselves and to decide by iron.
And they, as the fields lay open with the plain empty,               710

procursu rapido coniectis eminus hastis
invadunt Martem clipeis atque aere sonoro.
dat gemitum tellus; tum crebros ensibus ictus
congeminant, fors et virtus miscetur in unum.
ac velut ingenti Sila summove Taburno               715
cum duo conversis inimica in proelia tauri
frontibus incurrunt, pavidi cessere magistri,
stat pecus omne metu mutum, mussantque iuvencae
quis nemori imperitet, quem tota armenta sequantur;
illi inter sese multa vi vulnera miscent               720
cornuaque obnixi infigunt et sanguine largo
colla armosque lavant, gemitu nemus omne remugit:
non aliter Tros Aeneas et Daunius heros
concurrunt clipeis, ingens fragor aethera complet.
Iuppiter ipse duas aequato examine lances               725

with rapid onset, having hurled their spears from afar
they invade the fray of Mars with shields and resounding bronze.
the earth gives a groan; then with swords they redouble frequent blows,
and chance and valor are mingled into one.
and as on mighty Sila or on the summit of Taburnus,               715
when two bulls with foreheads turned to hostile battle
rush together, the frightened masters have withdrawn;
all the herd stands mute with fear, and the heifers whisper
who may rule the grove, whom all the herds should follow;
they between themselves with much force exchange wounds,               720
and, bracing, drive in their horns and with copious blood
bathe necks and shoulders; the whole woodland bellows back with a groan:
no otherwise Trojan Aeneas and the Daunian hero
clash with shields; a vast crash fills the aether.
Jupiter himself with even balance the two scale-pans...               725

sustinet et fata imponit diversa duorum,
quem damnet labor et quo vergat pondere letum.

he sustains and imposes the divergent fates of the two,
whom toil condemns and by what weight death inclines.

Emicat hic impune putans et corpore toto
alte sublatum consurgit Turnus in ensem
et ferit; exclamant Troes trepidique Latini,               730
arrectaeque amborum acies. at perfidus ensis
frangitur in medioque ardentem deserit ictu,
ni fuga subsidio subeat. fugit ocior Euro
ut capulum ignotum dextramque aspexit inermem.
fama est praecipitem, cum prima in proelia iunctos               735
conscendebat equos, patrio mucrone relicto,
dum trepidat, ferrum aurigae rapuisse Metisci;
idque diu, dum terga dabant palantia Teucri,
suffecit; postquam arma dei ad Volcania ventum est,
mortalis mucro glacies ceu futtilis ictu               740

Here he darts forth, thinking it without penalty, and with his whole body
Turnus rises upon his sword lifted high and strikes; the Trojans and the trembling Latins cry out,               730
and the battle-lines of both are bristled up. But the treacherous sword
breaks, and in mid-blow deserts him blazing with zeal,
unless flight should come in as a help. He flees swifter than Eurus
when he saw an unknown hilt and his right hand unarmed.
It is the rumor that, headlong, when he was mounting the horses yoked together for the first battles,               735
his paternal blade having been left behind, while he was in a flurry, he snatched the steel of the charioteer Metiscus;
and this for a long time, while the wavering Teucrians were giving their backs,
sufficed; after it came to the Vulcanian arms of the god,
the mortal edge, like brittle ice, at the blow               740

dissiluit, fulva resplendent fragmina harena.
ergo amens diversa fuga petit aequora Turnus
et nunc huc, inde huc incertos implicat orbis;
undique enim densa Teucri inclusere corona
atque hinc vasta palus, hinc ardua moenia cingunt. 745

it burst asunder; the fragments glitter in the tawny sand.
therefore, out of his mind, Turnus seeks in flight diverse open plains
and now here, then there, he entwines uncertain circles;
for on every side the Teucrians have enclosed him with a dense ring,
and on this side a vast marsh, on that side steep walls encircle. 745

Nec minus Aeneas, quamquam tardata sagitta
interdum genua impediunt cursumque recusant,
insequitur trepidique pedem pede fervidus urget:
inclusum veluti si quando flumine nactus
cervum aut puniceae saeptum formidine pennae               750
venator cursu canis et latratibus instat;
ille autem insidiis et ripa territus alta
mille fugit refugitque vias, at vividus Umber
haeret hians, iam iamque tenet similisque tenenti
increpuit malis morsuque elusus inani est;               755
tum vero exoritur clamor ripaeque lacusque
responsant circa et caelum tonat omne tumultu.
ille simul fugiens Rutulos simul increpat omnis
nomine quemque vocans notumque efflagitat ensem.
Aeneas mortem contra praesensque minatur               760

No less Aeneas, although his knees, delayed by the arrow,
sometimes impede and refuse the course,
pursues and, fervid, presses foot with foot upon the trembling man:
as when, having got a stag enclosed by a river or hedged in by fear of the crimson feather,               750
the hunter’s dog presses on with running and with barkings;
but he, terrified by the ambushes and the high bank,
flees and reflees a thousand ways, while the lively Umbrian
clings, gaping, now now he has him and, like one holding,
he snapped with his jaws and is foiled by an empty bite;               755
then indeed a clamor arises, and the banks and the lake
resound around, and all the sky thunders with tumult.
He, fleeing at once, scolds all the Rutulians at once,
calling each by name and demands his familiar sword.
Aeneas, by contrast, threatens death, himself at hand.               760

exitium, si quisquam adeat, terretque trementis
excisurum urbem minitans et saucius instat.
quinque orbis explent cursu totidemque retexunt
huc illuc; neque enim levia aut ludicra petuntur
praemia, sed Turni de vita et sanguine certant. 765

he threatens death and present destruction, if anyone should approach, and he terrifies the trembling, menacing that he will raze the city, and though wounded he presses on.
they complete five circles at a run and unwind as many, here and there;
for no light or ludicrous prizes are sought, but they contend for the life and blood of Turnus. 765

Forte sacer Fauno foliis oleaster amaris
hic steterat, nautis olim venerabile lignum,
servati ex undis ubi figere dona solebant
Laurenti divo et votas suspendere vestis;
sed stirpem Teucri nullo discrimine sacrum 770
sustulerant, puro ut possent concurrere campo.
hic hasta Aeneae stabat, huc impetus illam
detulerat fixam et lenta radice tenebat.
incubuit volvitque manu convellere ferrum
Dardanides, teloque sequi quem prendere cursu 775
non poterat.

By chance a wild-olive, sacred to Faunus, with bitter leaves,
had stood here, a wood venerable to sailors of old,
where, saved from the waves, they were wont to fasten gifts
to the Laurentine god and to suspend vowed garments;
but the Teucrians had removed the sacred trunk without any distinction, 770
so that they might be able to clash on an open plain.
Here Aeneas’s spear was standing; hither its impetus
had borne it, fixed, and a tough root was holding it.
He bent over it and with his hand sought to wrench out the iron,
the Dardanian, and with the weapon to pursue him whom he could not seize by running. 775
not by running.

tum vero amens formidine Turnus
'Faune, precor, miserere' inquit 'tuque optima ferrum
Terra tene, colui vestros si semper honores,
quos contra Aeneadae bello fecere profanos.'
dixit, opemque dei non cassa in vota vocavit. 780

then indeed, out of his wits with fear, Turnus
says, 'Faunus, I pray, have mercy, and you too, best Earth,
hold the iron, if I have ever cultivated your honors,
which the Aeneadae have made profane in war.'
he spoke, and he invoked the god’s help in vows not empty. 780

namque diu luctans lentoque in stirpe moratus
viribus haud ullis valuit discludere morsus
roboris Aeneas. dum nititur acer et instat,
rursus in aurigae faciem mutata Metisci
procurrit fratrique ensem dea Daunia reddit. 785
quod Venus audaci nymphae indignata licere
accessit telumque alta ab radice revellit.
olli sublimes armis animisque refecti,
hic gladio fidens, hic acer et arduus hasta,
adsistunt contra certamina Martis anheli. 790

For indeed, struggling long and delayed upon the sluggish stump,
by no forces was he able to pry open the bite
of the oak-wood, Aeneas. While he, keen, strives and presses on,
again, transformed into the face of the charioteer Metiscus,
the Daunian goddess runs forward and gives back the sword to her brother. 785
which thing Venus, indignant that it be permitted to the audacious nymph,
approached and wrenched the spear from the deep root.
they, aloft, restored in arms and in spirits,
this one trusting in the sword, that one fierce and towering with the spear,
stand up against the panting contests of Mars. 790

Iunonem interea rex omnipotentis Olympi
adloquitur fulva pugnas de nube tuentem:
'quae iam finis erit, coniunx? quid denique restat?
indigetem Aenean scis ipsa et scire fateris
deberi caelo fatisque ad sidera tolli. 795
quid struis?

Meanwhile the king of omnipotent Olympus addresses Juno, watching the battles from a tawny cloud:
'what end will there now be, spouse? what at last remains?
you yourself know Aeneas an indigete, and you confess you know
that he is owed to heaven and by the fates to be lifted to the stars. 795
what are you contriving?

aut qua spe gelidis in nubibus haeres?
mortalin decuit violari vulnere divum?
aut ensem (quid enim sine te Iuturna valeret?)
ereptum reddi Turno et vim crescere victis?

or with what hope do you cling in chill clouds?
was it fitting that a god be violated by a mortal wound?
or that the sword (for what, indeed, would he have availed without you, Juturna?)
snatched away be returned to Turnus, and power increase for the conquered?

desine iam tandem precibusque inflectere nostris, 800
ni te tantus edit tacitam dolor et mihi curae
saepe tuo dulci tristes ex ore recursent.
ventum ad supremum est. terris agitare vel undis
Troianos potuisti, infandum accendere bellum,
deformare domum et luctu miscere hymenaeos: 805

Cease now at last, and be swayed by my prayers, 800
unless so great grief consume you, silent, and my cares
often recur, sad, from your sweet mouth. We have come to the utmost. Over lands or on the waves
you have been able to drive the Trojans, to inflame an unspeakable war,
to disfigure a household and to commingle the hymeneals with mourning: 805

ulterius temptare veto.' sic Iuppiter orsus;
sic dea summisso contra Saturnia vultu:
'ista quidem quia nota mihi tua, magne, voluntas,
Iuppiter, et Turnum et terras invita reliqui;
nec tu me aeria solam nunc sede videres 810
digna indigna pati, sed flammis cincta sub ipsa
starem acie traheremque inimica in proelia Teucros.
Iuturnam misero (fateor) succurrere fratri
suasi et pro vita maiora audere probavi,
non ut tela tamen, non ut contenderet arcum; 815
adiuro Stygii caput implacabile fontis,
una superstitio superis quae reddita divis.
et nunc cedo equidem pugnasque exosa relinquo.

'I forbid trying further.' Thus Jupiter began;
thus the Saturnian goddess in reply, with countenance lowered:
'indeed, since your will, great Jupiter, is known to me,
I, unwilling, have left both Turnus and the lands;
nor would you see me now alone in my airy seat 810
enduring things worthy and unworthy, but girdled with flames beneath the battle-line itself
I would stand and would drag the Teucrians, my enemies, into battles.
I urged Juturna (I confess) to succor her wretched brother
and I approved her daring greater things for his life,
not, however, that she should hurl missiles, not that she should string the bow; 815
I swear by the implacable head of the Stygian font,
the one superstition which has been rendered back to the gods above.
and now indeed I yield and, loathing the combats, I leave them.

illud te, nulla fati quod lege tenetur,
pro Latio obtestor, pro maiestate tuorum: 820

this I adjure of you, which is held by no law of fate,
on behalf of Latium, on behalf of the majesty of your own: 820

cum iam conubiis pacem felicibus (esto)
component, cum iam leges et foedera iungent,
ne vetus indigenas nomen mutare Latinos
neu Troas fieri iubeas Teucrosque vocari
aut vocem mutare viros aut vertere vestem.               825
sit Latium, sint Albani per saecula reges,
sit Romana potens Itala virtute propago:
occidit, occideritque sinas cum nomine Troia.'
olli subridens hominum rerumque repertor:
'es germana Iovis Saturnique altera proles,               830
irarum tantos volvis sub pectore fluctus.
verum age et inceptum frustra summitte furorem:
do quod vis, et me victusque volensque remitto.
sermonem Ausonii patrium moresque tenebunt,
utque est nomen erit; commixti corpore tantum               835

when now by happy connubial bonds they shall compose peace (let it be so),
when now they shall join laws and treaties,
do not bid the native Latins to change their ancient name
nor to become Trojans and be called Teucrians,
nor to change their voice nor to turn their vesture.               825
let it be Latium, let there be Alban kings through the ages,
let the Roman stock be powerful by Italian valor:
Troy has fallen, and allow it to have fallen with its name.'
to her, smiling, the begetter of men and of things [replied]:
'you are the sister of Jove and the other progeny of Saturn,               830
you roll such great waves of wraths beneath your breast.
but come, and lower the fury undertaken in vain:
I grant what you wish, and I yield myself both conquered and willing.
the Ausonians shall hold their ancestral speech and customs,
and as the name is, so shall it be; commingled only in body               835

subsident Teucri. morem ritusque sacrorum
adiciam faciamque omnis uno ore Latinos.
hinc genus Ausonio mixtum quod sanguine surget,
supra homines, supra ire deos pietate videbis,
nec gens ulla tuos aeque celebrabit honores.' 840
adnuit his Iuno et mentem laetata retorsit;
interea excedit caelo nubemque relinquit.

The Teucrians will subside. I will add the custom and rites of the sacred, and I will make them all Latins with one voice.
From here a race, mixed with Ausonian blood, will rise,
you will see it go above men, above the gods in piety,
nor will any nation equally celebrate your honors.' 840
To these things Juno nodded assent and, gladdened, turned back her mind;
meanwhile she departs from heaven and leaves the cloud.

His actis aliud genitor secum ipse volutat
Iuturnamque parat fratris dimittere ab armis.
dicuntur geminae pestes cognomine Dirae, 845
quas et Tartaream Nox intempesta Megaeram
uno eodemque tulit partu, paribusque revinxit
serpentum spiris ventosasque addidit alas.
hae Iovis ad solium saevique in limine regis
apparent acuuntque metum mortalibus aegris, 850
si quando letum horrificum morbosque deum rex
molitur, meritas aut bello territat urbes.

With these things done the Father himself turns over with himself another plan,
and prepares to dismiss Juturna from her brother’s arms.
there are said to be twin plagues by the by-name the Dirae, 845
whom Night untimely bore, and Tartarean Megaera,
in one and the same birth, and bound with equal coils
of serpents, and added windy wings.
these at Jove’s throne and on the threshold of the savage king
appear and whet fear for ailing mortals, 850
whenever the king of the gods contrives horrific death and diseases,
or frightens with war the cities that have deserved it.

harum unam celerem demisit ab aethere summo
Iuppiter inque omen Iuturnae occurrere iussit:
illa volat celerique ad terram turbine fertur. 855

of these Jupiter sent down one, swift, from the highest aether, and ordered it to meet Juturna as an omen:
she flies and is borne toward the earth by a swift whirlwind. 855

non secus ac nervo per nubem impulsa sagitta,
armatam saevi Parthus quam felle veneni,
Parthus sive Cydon, telum immedicabile, torsit,
stridens et celeris incognita transilit umbras:
talis se sata Nocte tulit terrasque petivit. 860
postquam acies videt Iliacas atque agmina Turni,
alitis in parvae subitam collecta figuram,
quae quondam in bustis aut culminibus desertis
nocte sedens serum canit importuna per umbras—
hanc versa in faciem Turni se pestis ob ora 865
fertque refertque sonans clipeumque everberat alis.
illi membra novus soluit formidine torpor,
arrectaeque horrore comae et vox faucibus haesit.

not otherwise than an arrow driven by a bowstring through a cloud,
which a Parthian, armed with the gall of savage venom, whether Parthian or Cydonian,
has hurled, a shaft immedicable, hissing, and unseen it leaps across the swift shadows:
such did she, begotten of Night, bear herself and sought the lands. 860
after she sees the Trojan battle-lines and the ranks of Turnus,
gathered suddenly into the figure of a small bird,
which at times on tombs or on deserted rooftops,
sitting by night, sings late, importunate, through the shadows—
into this turned appearance the pest bears herself before the face of Turnus 865
and goes to and fro with a whirr and buffets the shield with her wings.
on him a new torpor loosened his limbs with fear,
and his hair stood up with horror and his voice stuck in his throat.

At procul ut Dirae stridorem agnovit et alas,
infelix crinis scindit Iuturna solutos 870
unguibus ora soror foedans et pectora pugnis:
'quid nunc te tua, Turne, potest germana iuvare?
aut quid iam durae superat mihi? qua tibi lucem
arte morer?

But as from afar she recognized the screech and the wings of the Dirae,
unhappy Juturna rends her loosened hair 870
the sister, defiling her face with her nails and her breast with her fists:
'what now can your own sister help you, Turnus? or what hardihood now remains for me? by what art can I delay the light for you?

talin possum me opponere monstro?
iam iam linquo acies. ne me terrete timentem, 875
obscenae volucres: alarum verbera nosco
letalemque sonum, nec fallunt iussa superba
magnanimi Iovis.

With such a portent can I oppose myself to the monster?
Now, now I leave the battle-lines. Do not terrify me, trembling as I am, obscene birds: 875
I recognize the lashings of wings
and the lethal sound, nor do the proud commands
of magnanimous Jove escape me.

haec pro virginitate reponit?
quo vitam dedit aeternam? cur mortis adempta est
condicio?

Is this repaid in exchange for virginity?
For what end did he give life eternal? Why has of death been taken away
the condition?

possem tantos finire dolores 880

I could finish such great pains 880

nunc certe, et misero fratri comes ire per umbras!
immortalis ego? aut quicquam mihi dulce meorum
te sine, frater, erit?

now surely, even to go as companion to my wretched brother through the shades!
am I immortal? or will anything of mine be sweet to me
without you, brother?

o quae satis ima dehiscat
terra mihi, Manisque deam demittat ad imos?'
tantum effata caput glauco contexit amictu 885
multa gemens et se fluvio dea condidit alto.

o that the earth might gape deep enough for me,
and send the goddess down to the lowest Manes?'
having spoken only so much, she veiled her head with a glaucous mantle 885
groaning much, and the goddess hid herself in the deep river.

Aeneas instat contra telumque coruscat
ingens arboreum, et saevo sic pectore fatur:
'quae nunc deinde mora est? aut quid iam, Turne, retractas?
non cursu, saevis certandum est comminus armis. 890
verte omnis tete in facies et contrahe quidquid
sive animis sive arte vales; opta ardua pennis
astra sequi clausumque cava te condere terra.'
ille caput quassans: 'non me tua fervida terrent
dicta, ferox; di me terrent et Iuppiter hostis.' 895
nec plura effatus saxum circumspicit ingens,
saxum antiquum ingens, campo quod forte iacebat,
limes agro positus litem ut discerneret arvis.

Aeneas presses on opposite and brandishes a huge tree-like spear, and with savage breast he speaks thus:
'What delay then is now? or what now, Turnus, do you draw back? not by running; at hand-to-hand combat must it be contended with savage arms. 890
turn yourself into every guise and draw together whatever
whether by spirit or by art you are strong for; choose to follow with wings the steep
stars and to hide yourself, enclosed, in the hollow earth.'
He, shaking his head: 'Your burning words do not terrify me, fierce one; the gods terrify me, and Jupiter as an enemy.' 895
and saying no more he looks around for a huge rock,
an ancient huge rock, which by chance lay on the plain,
a boundary set in the field, to decide a lawsuit for the fields.

vix illum lecti bis sex cervice subirent,
qualia nunc hominum producit corpora tellus; 900

scarcely would twice six chosen men go under it with their necks,
such bodies of men as the earth now produces; 900

ille manu raptum trepida torquebat in hostem
altior insurgens et cursu concitus heros.
sed neque currentem se nec cognoscit euntem
tollentemve manu saxumve immane moventem;
genua labant, gelidus concrevit frigore sanguis. 905
tum lapis ipse viri vacuum per inane volutus
nec spatium evasit totum neque pertulit ictum.
ac velut in somnis, oculos ubi languida pressit
nocte quies, nequiquam avidos extendere cursus
velle videmur et in mediis conatibus aegri 910
succidimus; non lingua valet, non corpore notae
sufficiunt vires nec vox aut verba sequuntur:
sic Turno, quacumque viam virtute petivit,
successum dea dira negat.

he, with a trembling hand, was hurling the snatched-up stone at the enemy,
the hero rising higher and incited by his running.
but neither does he recognize himself as running nor as going,
nor as lifting with his hand or moving the immense stone;
his knees waver, his gelid blood has congealed with cold. 905
then the stone itself, rolled through empty void,
neither cleared the whole span nor carried home the stroke.
and just as in dreams, when languid rest has pressed
the eyes by night, we seem in vain to wish to stretch out eager courses
and in the midst of our attempts, weak, we sink down; 910
the tongue has no power, nor do the familiar forces in the body
suffice, nor do voice or words follow:
so to Turnus, by whatever way he sought a path with virtue,
the dire goddess denies success.

tum pectore sensus
vertuntur varii; Rutulos aspectat et urbem 915

then in his breast various feelings are turned;
he looks upon the Rutulians and the city 915

cunctaturque metu letumque instare tremescit,
nec quo se eripiat, nec qua vi tendat in hostem,
nec currus usquam videt aurigamve sororem.

and he hesitates in fear and shudders that death presses close,
nor where he might snatch himself away, nor with what force he should aim at the enemy,
nor anywhere does he see his chariot or his sister the charioteer.

Cunctanti telum Aeneas fatale coruscat,
sortitus fortunam oculis, et corpore toto 920
eminus intorquet. murali concita numquam
tormento sic saxa fremunt nec fulmine tanti
dissultant crepitus. volat atri turbinis instar
exitium dirum hasta ferens orasque recludit
loricae et clipei extremos septemplicis orbis; 925
per medium stridens transit femur.

Aeneas brandishes the fatal missile at the hesitating one,
having chosen fortune with his eyes, and with his whole body 920
from afar he hurls it. stones set in motion by a mural
engine never roar thus, nor do such great crashes leap from a thunderbolt.
it flies like a black whirlwind, the spear bearing dire destruction,
and it unseals the edges of the lorica and the outermost ring of the sevenfold orb of the shield; 925
whistling, it passes through the middle of the thigh.

incidit ictus
ingens ad terram duplicato poplite Turnus.
consurgunt gemitu Rutuli totusque remugit
mons circum et vocem late nemora alta remittunt.
ille humilis supplex oculos dextramque precantem 930

Struck, he falls
huge Turnus to the earth with knee doubled.
The Rutulians rise with a groan, and the whole mountain around bellows back,
and the high groves send back the voice far and wide.
he, humble, a suppliant, his eyes and right hand beseeching 930

protendens 'equidem merui nec deprecor' inquit;
'utere sorte tua. miseri te si qua parentis
tangere cura potest, oro (fuit et tibi talis
Anchises genitor) Dauni miserere senectae
et me, seu corpus spoliatum lumine mavis, 935
redde meis. vicisti et victum tendere palmas
Ausonii videre; tua est Lavinia coniunx,
ulterius ne tende odiis.' stetit acer in armis
Aeneas volvens oculos dextramque repressit;
et iam iamque magis cunctantem flectere sermo 940
coeperat, infelix umero cum apparuit alto
balteus et notis fulserunt cingula bullis
Pallantis pueri, victum quem vulnere Turnus
straverat atque umeris inimicum insigne gerebat.

stretching forth, he says, 'Indeed I have deserved it and I do not deprecate;'
'use your lot. If any care of a wretched parent
can touch you, I beg (and such a father Anchises was to you as well),
have pity on the old age of Daunus,
and render me—or, if you prefer, the body stripped of light—back to my people. 935
you have conquered, and the Ausonians have seen the conquered stretch out their palms;
Lavinia is your spouse; do not extend further in hatreds.' Aeneas stood keen in arms,
rolling his eyes, and checked his right hand;
and already and again the speech had begun to bend him as he hesitated more, 940
when upon his high shoulder the unhappy baldric appeared, and the belt shone with its familiar bosses
of the boy Pallas, whom Turnus had laid low with a wound and was bearing upon his shoulders the hostile insignia.

ille, oculis postquam saevi monimenta doloris 945

he, after his eyes had seen the monuments of savage grief 945

exuviasque hausit, furiis accensus et ira
terribilis: 'tune hinc spoliis indute meorum
eripiare mihi? Pallas te hoc vulnere, Pallas
immolat et poenam scelerato ex sanguine sumit.'
hoc dicens ferrum adverso sub pectore condit 950
fervidus; ast illi solvuntur frigore membra
vitaque cum gemitu fugit indignata sub umbras.

and he drank in the spoils, inflamed by furies and terrible in anger: 'Are you then from here, clad in the spoils of mine,
to be snatched from me? Pallas with this wound—Pallas
immolates you and exacts the penalty from your criminal blood.'
Saying this, hot he buries the iron full beneath the opposing breast; 950
but his limbs are loosened with cold, and life with a groan fled indignant beneath the shades.