Virgil: AENEID

Ut belli signum Laurenti Turnus ab arce
extulit et rauco strepuerunt cornua cantu,
utque acris concussit equos utque impulit arma,
extemplo turbati animi, simul omne tumultu
coniurat trepido Latium saevitque iuventus               5
effera. ductores primi Messapus et Ufens
contemptorque deum Mezentius undique cogunt
auxilia et latos vastant cultoribus agros.
mittitur et magni Venulus Diomedis ad urbem
qui petat auxilium, et Latio consistere Teucros,               10
advectum Aenean classi victosque penatis
inferre et fatis regem se dicere posci
edoceat, multasque viro se adiungere gentis
Dardanio et late Latio increbrescere nomen:
quid struat his coeptis, quem, si fortuna sequatur,               15

As Laurentine Turnus raised the signal of war from the citadel,
and the horns clattered with raucous song,
and as he shook his fierce horses and as he set the arms in motion,
immediately their spirits were disturbed, and at once all Latium in trembling tumult
bands together, and the wild youth rages savage.               5
The leaders first, Messapus and Ufens,
and Mezentius, despiser of the gods, gather auxiliaries from every side
and devastate the broad fields with their cultivators.
And Venulus is sent to the city of great Diomedes
to seek aid, and to inform that the Teucrians have taken their stand in Latium,               10
that Aeneas, conveyed by a fleet, has arrived, and that he brings in
his conquered Penates, and declares that by the fates he is called for as king,
and that many nations join themselves to the Dardanian man,
and that his name is growing wide-spread throughout Latium:
what he is contriving by these undertakings, whom, if fortune should follow,               15

eventum pugnae cupiat, manifestius ipsi
quam Turno regi aut regi apparere Latino.

he may desire the outcome of the battle to appear more manifest to himself than to King Turnus or to King Latinus.

Talia per Latium. quae Laomedontius heros
cuncta videns magno curarum fluctuat aestu,
atque animum nunc huc celerem nunc dividit illuc               20
in partisque rapit varias perque omnia versat,
sicut aquae tremulum labris ubi lumen aenis
sole repercussum aut radiantis imagine lunae
omnia pervolitat late loca, iamque sub auras
erigitur summique ferit laquearia tecti.               25
nox erat et terras animalia fessa per omnis
alituum pecudumque genus sopor altus habebat,
cum pater in ripa gelidique sub aetheris axe
Aeneas, tristi turbatus pectora bello,
procubuit seramque dedit per membra quietem.               30

Such things throughout Latium. which the Laomedontian hero,
seeing all, fluctuates in a great tide of cares,
and divides his swift mind now here, now there,               20
snatches it into diverse parts and turns it through everything;
just as the wavering light of water on bronze rims,
when reflected by the sun or by the image of the radiant moon,
flies through places far and wide, and now is lifted up beneath the airs
and strikes the panelled coffers of the highest roof.               25
it was night, and deep sleep held the weary creatures over all the lands,
the kind of birds and of flocks, when father Aeneas upon the bank
and beneath the axle of the chilly ether, his breast troubled by grim war,
lay prone and granted late rest through his limbs.               30

huic deus ipse loci fluvio Tiberinus amoeno
populeas inter senior se attollere frondes
visus (eum tenuis glauco velabat amictu
carbasus, et crinis umbrosa tegebat harundo),
tum sic adfari et curas his demere dictis: 35

to him the god himself of the place, Tiberinus of the pleasant river,
the elder seemed to raise himself among poplar fronds,
( a fine carbasus linen in a glaucous mantle was veiling him,
and a shadowy reed was covering his hair ),
then thus to address him and with these words to remove his cares: 35

'O sate gente deum, Troianam ex hostibus urbem
qui revehis nobis aeternaque Pergama servas,
exspectate solo Laurenti arvisque Latinis,
hic tibi certa domus, certi (ne absiste) penates.
neu belli terrere minis; tumor omnis et irae 40
concessere deum.
iamque tibi, ne vana putes haec fingere somnum,
litoreis ingens inventa sub ilicibus sus
triginta capitum fetus enixa iacebit,
alba solo recubans, albi circum ubera nati. 45
[hic locus urbis erit, requies ea certa laborum,]
ex quo ter denis urbem redeuntibus annis
Ascanius clari condet cognominis Albam.

'O you sprung from the race of the gods, who bring back for us the Trojan city from enemies and preserve eternal Pergama, long-awaited on the Laurentine soil and the Latin fields, here for you is a sure home, sure Penates (do not desist). nor let the threats of war terrify you; all swelling and the wraths of the gods have withdrawn. 40
and now for you, lest you think slumber is feigning these things in vain, a huge sow, found beneath the shore-oaks, having borne a litter of thirty heads, will lie, white, reclining on the ground, her offspring white around her teats. 45
[here will be the place of the city, that a sure repose of labors,] from which, when 30 years have come round, Ascanius will found Alba of illustrious name.

haud incerta cano. nunc qua ratione quod instat
expedias victor, paucis (adverte) docebo. 50

I do not sing uncertain things. Now by what reason you, as victor, may expedite what is at hand, in few words (advert) I will teach. 50

Arcades his oris, genus a Pallante profectum,
qui regem Evandrum comites, qui signa secuti,
delegere locum et posuere in montibus urbem
Pallantis proavi de nomine Pallanteum.
hi bellum adsidue ducunt cum gente Latina; 55
hos castris adhibe socios et foedera iunge.
ipse ego te ripis et recto flumine ducam,
adversum remis superes subvectus ut amnem.

Arcadians of these shores, a race sprung from Pallas,
who, companions of King Evander, who having followed the standards,
selected a place and set a city on the hills,
Pallanteum from the name of Pallas their forefather.
these wage war continually with the Latin race; 55
bring these to the camp as allies and join treaties.
I myself will lead you along the banks and by the straight river,
so that, borne upstream, you may overcome the opposing river with oars.

surge age, nate dea, primisque cadentibus astris
Iunoni fer rite preces, iramque minasque 60
supplicibus supera votis. mihi victor honorem
persolves. ego sum pleno quem flumine cernis
stringentem ripas et pinguia culta secantem,
caeruleus Thybris, caelo gratissimus amnis.

Rise, come, son of the goddess, and with the first stars falling
bear duly prayers to Juno, and her wrath and threats 60
overcome with suppliant vows. To me, when victorious, you will render honor.
I am he whom you see with full flood
grazing the banks and cutting through rich tilled fields,
the cerulean Thybris, a river most pleasing to heaven.

hic mihi magna domus, celsis caput urbibus exit.' 65

Here for me is a great home; as capital for lofty cities it emerges.' 65

Dixit, deinde lacu fluvius se condidit alto
ima petens; nox Aenean somnusque reliquit.
surgit et aetherii spectans orientia solis
lumina rite cavis undam de flumine palmis
sustinet ac talis effundit ad aethera voces: 70
'Nymphae, Laurentes Nymphae, genus amnibus unde est,
tuque, o Thybri tuo genitor cum flumine sancto,
accipite Aenean et tandem arcete periclis.
quo te cumque lacus miserantem incommoda nostra
fonte tenent, quocumque solo pulcherrimus exis, 75
semper honore meo, semper celebrabere donis
corniger Hesperidum fluvius regnator aquarum.

He spoke, then the river hid itself in the deep lake
seeking the lowest depths; night and sleep left Aeneas.
he rises and, beholding the rising lights of the aetherial sun,
duly he holds water from the river in hollow palms
and pours forth such words to the aether: 70
'Nymphs, Laurentine Nymphs, whose lineage is from the rivers,
and you too, O Tiber, begetter with your holy stream,
receive Aeneas and at last ward off the perils.
wherever the lakes hold you, pitying our troubles,
at the source, on whatever soil you, most beautiful, come forth, 75
you will always be celebrated by my honor, always by gifts,
horn-bearing river of the Hesperians, ruler of the waters.

adsis o tantum et propius tua numina firmes.'
sic memorat, geminasque legit de classe biremis
remigioque aptat, socios simul instruit armis. 80

be present only, O, and more nearly make firm your numina.'
thus he speaks, and he chooses twin biremes from the fleet
and fits them with a rowing-crew, at the same time equips his comrades with arms. 80

Ecce autem subitum atque oculis mirabile monstrum,
candida per silvam cum fetu concolor albo
procubuit viridique in litore conspicitur sus;
quam pius Aeneas tibi enim, tibi, maxima Iuno,
mactat sacra ferens et cum grege sistit ad aram.               85
Thybris ea fluvium, quam longa est, nocte tumentem
leniit, et tacita refluens ita substitit unda,
mitis ut in morem stagni placidaeque paludis
sterneret aequor aquis, remo ut luctamen abesset.
ergo iter inceptum celerant rumore secundo:               90
labitur uncta vadis abies; mirantur et undae,
miratur nemus insuetum fulgentia longe
scuta virum fluvio pictasque innare carinas.
olli remigio noctemque diemque fatigant
et longos superant flexus, variisque teguntur               95

But behold a sudden prodigy, marvelous to the eyes,
white through the wood, with her litter of the same white hue,
a sow has lain down and is seen on the green shore;
whom pious Aeneas—for to you, to you, greatest Juno—
sacrifices, bearing sacred offerings, and with her brood sets at the altar.               85
The Tiber soothed the river, swelling for all the long night,
and, flowing back in silence, the wave thus stood still,
so gentle, in the manner of a pool and of a placid marsh,
that it spread the surface with waters, so that struggle for the oar was absent.
Therefore they hasten the begun journey with favorable rumor:               90
the oiled fir-ship glides over the shallows; and the waves marvel as well,
the grove, unaccustomed, marvels at the gleaming far off
shields of men and the painted hulls floating on the river.
They, with rowing, tire out both night and day,
and they overcome the long bends, and are covered with various               95

arboribus, viridisque secant placido aequore silvas.
sol medium caeli conscenderat igneus orbem
cum muros arcemque procul ac rara domorum
tecta vident, quae nunc Romana potentia caelo
aequavit, tum res inopes Evandrus habebat. 100
ocius advertunt proras urbique propinquant.

with trees, and they cleave the green woods on the placid level of the water.
the fiery orb had ascended the middle circle of the sky
when at a distance they see walls and a citadel and the sparse roofs
of houses, which now Roman potency has made equal to the sky,
then Evander possessed needy resources. 100
more swiftly they turn their prows and draw near to the city.

Forte die sollemnem illo rex Arcas honorem
Amphitryoniadae magno divisque ferebat
ante urbem in luco. Pallas huic filius una,
una omnes iuvenum primi pauperque senatus 105
tura dabant, tepidusque cruor fumabat ad aras.
ut celsas videre rates atque inter opacum
adlabi nemus et tacitos incumbere remis,
terrentur visu subito cunctique relictis
consurgunt mensis.

By chance on that day the Arcadian king was offering a solemn honor to the great Amphitryoniad and to the gods before the city in a grove.
Pallas, his son, along with him, together all the foremost of the youths and the poor senate 105
were giving incense, and warm gore was smoking at the altars.
when they saw the towering ships and, amid the shady grove, glide in and lean upon the silent oars,
they are frightened by the sudden sight, and all, their tables left, rise up.

audax quos rumpere Pallas 110
sacra vetat raptoque volat telo obvius ipse,
et procul e tumulo: 'iuvenes, quae causa subegit
ignotas temptare vias? quo tenditis?' inquit.
'qui genus?

bold Pallas forbids them to break the sacred rites 110
and with a snatched weapon he himself flies to meet them,
and from afar from a mound: 'young men, what cause has compelled
you to try unknown ways? whither do you tend?' he says.
'of what race?

unde domo? pacemne huc fertis an arma?'
tum pater Aeneas puppi sic fatur ab alta 115

from what home? do you bring peace hither or arms?'
then father Aeneas thus speaks from the high stern 115

paciferaeque manu ramum praetendit olivae:
'Troiugenas ac tela vides inimica Latinis,
quos illi bello profugos egere superbo.
Evandrum petimus. ferte haec et dicite lectos
Dardaniae venisse duces socia arma rogantis.' 120
obstipuit tanto percussus nomine Pallas:
'egredere o quicumque es' ait 'coramque parentem
adloquere ac nostris succede penatibus hospes.'
excepitque manu dextramque amplexus inhaesit;
progressi subeunt luco fluviumque relinquunt. 125

and with his hand he held forth a branch of peace-bearing olive:
'You see Trojan-born men and arms inimical to the Latins,
whom those have driven as exiles by proud war.
We seek Evander. Bear these words and say that chosen
leaders of Dardania have come asking for allied arms.' 120
Pallas stood agape, smitten by so great a name:
'Come forth, O whoever you are,' he says, 'and address my parent
face-to-face, and come under our Penates as a guest.'
and he received him by the hand, and, embracing the right hand, held fast;
having advanced, they enter the grove and leave the river behind. 125

Tum regem Aeneas dictis adfatur amicis:
'optime Graiugenum, cui me Fortuna precari
et vitta comptos voluit praetendere ramos,
non equidem extimui Danaum quod ductor et Arcas
quodque a stirpe fores geminis coniunctus Atridis;               130
sed mea me virtus et sancta oracula divum
cognatique patres, tua terris didita fama,
coniunxere tibi et fatis egere volentem.
Dardanus, Iliacae primus pater urbis et auctor,
Electra, ut Grai perhibent, Atlantide cretus,               135
advehitur Teucros; Electram maximus Atlas
edidit, aetherios umero qui sustinet orbis.
vobis Mercurius pater est, quem candida Maia
Cyllenae gelido conceptum vertice fudit;
at Maiam, auditis si quicquam credimus, Atlas,               140

Then Aeneas addresses the king with friendly words:
'best of the Graian race, to whom Fortune willed that I should pray and present branches wreathed with fillet,
I did not indeed fear because you are a leader of the Danaans and an Arcadian, and because by stock you would be joined to the twin Atreidae;               130
but my valor and the holy oracles of the gods
and our kindred fathers, your fame spread through the lands,
have joined me to you and have driven me by the fates, willing.
Dardanus, the first father and founder of the Iliac city,
begotten of Electra, as the Grai attest, an Atlantid,               135
comes to the Teucrians; Electra the greatest Atlas
begot, he who sustains the aethereal orbs upon his shoulder.
for you Mercury is father, whom bright Maia,
conceived on the icy peak of Cyllene, bore;
but Maia—if we trust anything to what we have heard—Atlas,               140

idem Atlas generat caeli qui sidera tollit.
sic genus amborum scindit se sanguine ab uno.
his fretus non legatos neque prima per artem
temptamenta tui pepigi; me, me ipse meumque
obieci caput et supplex ad limina veni. 145
gens eadem, quae te, crudeli Daunia bello
insequitur; nos si pellant nihil afore credunt
quin omnem Hesperiam penitus sua sub iuga mittant,
et mare quod supra teneant quodque adluit infra.

that same Atlas begets, he who lifts the stars of heaven.
thus the stock of both splits itself from one blood.
relying on these, I did not send envoys nor arrange initial approaches toward you by art;
me, me myself and my own head I cast forward, and as a suppliant I came to your thresholds. 145
the same nation that pursues you, with cruel Daunian war,
if they drive us off, they believe nothing will be lacking but that they will send all Hesperia utterly under their yokes,
and the sea which lies above they will hold, and that which bathes below.

accipe daque fidem. sunt nobis fortia bello 150
pectora, sunt animi et rebus spectata iuventus.'

receive and give faith. we have brave in war 150
hearts, we have spirits and a youth proven in affairs.'

Dixerat Aeneas. ille os oculosque loquentis
iamdudum et totum lustrabat lumine corpus.
tum sic pauca refert: 'ut te, fortissime Teucrum,
accipio agnoscoque libens!

Aeneas had spoken. He was already for a long time scanning the face and eyes of the speaker
and with his light (gaze) the whole body.
then thus he speaks a few words: 'How gladly I receive and acknowledge you, bravest of the Teucrians,
I receive and acknowledge you gladly!

ut verba parentis 155
et vocem Anchisae magni vultumque recordor!
nam memini Hesionae visentem regna sororis
Laomedontiaden Priamum Salamina petentem
protinus Arcadiae gelidos invisere finis.
tum mihi prima genas vestibat flore iuventas, 160
mirabarque duces Teucros, mirabar et ipsum
Laomedontiaden; sed cunctis altior ibat
Anchises.

how I recall the words of your parent 155
and the voice and visage of great Anchises!
for I remember Priam, the Laomedontiad, visiting the realms of his sister Hesione,
seeking Salamis, and straightway to visit the gelid borders of Arcadia.
then my earliest youth was clothing my cheeks with its bloom, 160
and I marveled at the Teucrian leaders, and I marveled at the Laomedontiad himself;
but taller than all went Anchises.

mihi mens iuvenali ardebat amore
compellare virum et dextrae coniungere dextram;
accessi et cupidus Phenei sub moenia duxi. 165

my mind was burning with youthful ardor
to accost the man and to join right hand to right hand;
I approached and, eager, I led him beneath the walls of Pheneus. 165

ille mihi insignem pharetram Lyciasque sagittas
discedens chlamydemque auro dedit intertextam,
frenaque bina meus quae nunc habet aurea Pallas.
ergo et quam petitis iuncta est mihi foedere dextra,
et lux cum primum terris se crastina reddet, 170
auxilio laetos dimittam opibusque iuvabo.
interea sacra haec, quando huc venistis amici,
annua, quae differre nefas, celebrate faventes
nobiscum, et iam nunc sociorum adsuescite mensis.'

he, departing, gave to me a distinguished quiver and Lycian arrows,
and a chlamys interwoven with gold, and a pair of golden bridles which my Pallas now holds.
therefore both the right hand which you seek has been joined to me by covenant,
and when first the morrow’s light returns itself to the lands, 170
I will send you forth joyful with aid and I will help with resources.
meanwhile these sacred rites, since you have come hither as friends,
the annual ones, which it is impious to defer, celebrate favorably with us,
and even now grow accustomed to the tables of allies.'

Haec ubi dicta, dapes iubet et sublata reponi 175
pocula gramineoque viros locat ipse sedili,
praecipuumque toro et villosi pelle leonis
accipit Aenean solioque invitat acerno.
tum lecti iuvenes certatim araeque sacerdos
viscera tosta ferunt taurorum, onerantque canistris 180
dona laboratae Cereris, Bacchumque ministrant.
uescitur Aeneas simul et Troiana iuventus
perpetui tergo bovis et lustralibus extis.

When these things were said, he orders the banquets and the cups, once removed, to be set back 175
and he himself sets the cups and seats the men on a grassy bench,
and he receives Aeneas as the foremost with a couch and the pelt of a shaggy lion,
and invites him to a maple-wood throne.
Then chosen youths, and the priest of the altar, vying with one another,
bring the roasted entrails of the bulls, and they load in baskets 180
the gifts of hard-won Ceres, and they serve Bacchus.
Aeneas and the Trojan youth alike feast on the entire chine of an ox and on the lustral entrails.

Postquam exempta fames et amor compressus edendi,
rex Evandrus ait: 'non haec sollemnia nobis,                185
has ex more dapes, hanc tanti numinis aram
vana superstitio veterumque ignara deorum
imposuit: saevis, hospes Troiane, periclis
servati facimus meritosque novamus honores.
iam primum saxis suspensam hanc aspice rupem,               190
disiectae procul ut moles desertaque montis
stat domus et scopuli ingentem traxere ruinam.
hic spelunca fuit vasto summota recessu,
semihominis Caci facies quam dira tenebat
solis inaccessam radiis; semperque recenti               195

After hunger was removed and the desire of eating repressed,
King Evander says: 'It is not that a vain superstition, ignorant of the ancient gods,               185
has imposed upon us these solemnities, these feasts according to custom, this altar of so great a divinity:
saved from savage perils, Trojan guest, we perform and renew the deserved honors.
Now first look upon this cliff hanging with rocks,               190
how far off the masses lie scattered, and the deserted house of the mountain stands,
and the crags have dragged along a huge ruin.
Here there was a cave set back in a vast recess,
which the dread visage of the half-man Cacus possessed,
inaccessible to the sun’s rays; and always with fresh               195

caede tepebat humus, foribusque adfixa superbis
ora virum tristi pendebant pallida tabo.
huic monstro Volcanus erat pater: illius atros
ore vomens ignis magna se mole ferebat.
attulit et nobis aliquando optantibus aetas 200
auxilium adventumque dei.

the ground was warm with slaughter, and the heads of men, affixed to his proud doors,
hung pale with grim gore.
to this monster Vulcan was father: belching black fires
from his mouth, he bore himself with great mass.
and at last time brought for us, as we were desiring, 200
the aid and advent of the god.

nam maximus ultor
tergemini nece Geryonae spoliisque superbus
Alcides aderat taurosque hac victor agebat
ingentis, vallemque boves amnemque tenebant.
at furis Caci mens effera, ne quid inausum 205
aut intractatum scelerisve dolive fuisset,
quattuor a stabulis praestanti corpore tauros
avertit, totidem forma superante iuvencas.
atque hos, ne qua forent pedibus vestigia rectis,
cauda in speluncam tractos versisque viarum 210

for the greatest avenger, proud with the slaughter of the three-bodied Geryon and with the spoils,
Alcides was present, and as victor he was driving along this way the huge bulls,
and the cattle were holding the valley and the river.
but the savage mind of the thief Cacus, lest anything be undared 205
or unattempted, whether of crime or of craft,
turned aside from the stalls four bulls of outstanding build
and just as many heifers with surpassing form.
and these, lest there be any tracks with feet set straight forward,
dragged by the tail into the cave, and with the courses of the ways reversed, 210

indiciis raptor saxo occultabat opaco;
quaerenti nulla ad speluncam signa ferebant.
interea, cum iam stabulis saturata moveret
Amphitryoniades armenta abitumque pararet,
discessu mugire boves atque omne querelis 215
impleri nemus et colles clamore relinqui.
reddidit una boum vocem vastoque sub antro
mugiit et Caci spem custodita fefellit.

with the tracks the plunderer was hiding in a dark rock;
for one searching, no signs led to the cavern.
meanwhile, when now from the stalls the satiated Amphitryonid
was moving the herds and was preparing departure,
at their departure the cows began to low and the whole grove to be filled with complaints 215
and the hills to be left by the clamor.
one of the cattle gave back a voice and lowed beneath the vast cavern
and, though kept guarded, foiled Cacus’s hope.

hic vero Alcidae furiis exarserat atro
felle dolor: rapit arma manu nodisque gravatum 220
robur, et aerii cursu petit ardua montis.
tum primum nostri Cacum videre timentem
turbatumque oculis; fugit ilicet ocior Euro
speluncamque petit, pedibus timor addidit alas.
ut sese inclusit ruptisque immane catenis 225

Here indeed in Alcides grief had blazed, with black bile and furies: he snatches up arms in his hand and the oak-wood weighted with knots, 220
and at a run he seeks the steep heights of the airy mountain.
then for the first time our men saw Cacus afraid
and his eyes confounded; straightway he flees, swifter than Eurus,
and seeks the cavern; fear added wings to his feet.
as he shut himself in, and the monstrous chains having been broken, 225

deiecit saxum, ferro quod et arte paterna
pendebat, fultosque emuniit obice postis,
ecce furens animis aderat Tirynthius omnemque
accessum lustrans huc ora ferebat et illuc,
dentibus infrendens. ter totum fervidus ira               230
lustrat Aventini montem, ter saxea temptat
limina nequiquam, ter fessus valle resedit.
stabat acuta silex praecisis undique saxis
speluncae dorso insurgens, altissima visu,
dirarum nidis domus opportuna volucrum.               235
hanc, ut prona iugo laevum incumbebat ad amnem,
dexter in adversum nitens concussit et imis
avulsam solvit radicibus, inde repente
impulit; impulsu quo maximus intonat aether,
dissultant ripae refluitque exterritus amnis.               240

he cast down the rock, which by iron and paternal art was hanging, and he fortified the propped doorposts with a barrier; behold, the Tirynthian, raging in spirit, was present and, surveying every access, he turned his face here and there, gnashing with his teeth. thrice, fervid with wrath, he circles the whole Aventine mount, thrice he tries the rocky thresholds in vain, thrice, weary, he settled in the valley. 230
there stood a sharp flint, with rocks cut sheer on every side, rising from the cave’s back, loftiest to the view, a home opportune for the nests of dire birds. this, as it leaned forward from the ridge, to the left toward the river, he, on the right, striving against the opposite, shook and, torn from its deepest roots, loosed it; then suddenly he drove it: at the impact of which the mighty aether thunders, the banks leap apart and the terrified river flows backward. 235

at specus et Caci detecta apparuit ingens
regia, et umbrosae penitus patuere cavernae,
non secus ac si qua penitus vi terra dehiscens
infernas reseret sedes et regna recludat
pallida, dis invisa, superque immane barathrum               245
cernatur, trepident immisso lumine Manes.
ergo insperata deprensum luce repente
inclusumque cavo saxo atque insueta rudentem
desuper Alcides telis premit, omniaque arma
advocat et ramis vastisque molaribus instat.               250
ille autem, neque enim fuga iam super ulla pericli,
faucibus ingentem fumum (mirabile dictu)
evomit involvitque domum caligine caeca
prospectum eripiens oculis, glomeratque sub antro
fumiferam noctem commixtis igne tenebris.               255

but the cave and Cacus’s uncovered appeared, a vast
royal house, and the shaded caverns lay open deep within,
just as if the earth, gaping deep by some force, should unbolt
the infernal seats and unclose the pallid realms,
hateful to the gods, and an immense barathrum above be seen,               245
and the Manes should quake at the light let in.
Therefore, him caught by the unlooked-for light suddenly
and shut in by the hollow rock and bellowing with unwonted cries,
from above Alcides presses with missiles, and he summons
all his arms and presses on with branches and vast millstones.               250
But he, for indeed no flight now remained from peril,
from his jaws an immense smoke (marvelous to say)
he vomits forth and wraps the house in blind murk,
snatching sight from the eyes, and he piles beneath the cavern
a smoke-bearing night, with darkness commingled with fire.               255

non tulit Alcides animis, seque ipse per ignem
praecipiti iecit saltu, qua plurimus undam
fumus agit nebulaque ingens specus aestuat atra.
hic Cacum in tenebris incendia vana vomentem
corripit in nodum complexus, et angit inhaerens 260
elisos oculos et siccum sanguine guttur.
panditur extemplo foribus domus atra revulsis
abstractaeque boves abiurataeque rapinae
caelo ostenduntur, pedibusque informe cadaver
protrahitur.

Alcides did not endure it in his spirit, and he himself through the fire
with a headlong leap hurled himself, where the smoke in greatest volume drives a billow
and the vast cave seethes with black mist. Here, Cacus in the darkness, spewing futile fires,
he seizes, having entwined him into a knot, and throttles him, clinging fast 260
eyes squeezed out and throat drained of blood.
forthwith the black house is laid open with the doors torn away
and the cattle carried off and the forsworn plunder
are displayed to the sky, and the shapeless cadaver by the feet
is dragged forth.

nequeunt expleri corda tuendo 265
terribilis oculos, vultum villosaque saetis
pectora semiferi atque exstinctos faucibus ignis.
ex illo celebratus honos laetique minores
servavere diem, primusque Potitius auctor
et domus Herculei custos Pinaria sacri 270

their hearts cannot be sated by beholding 265
the terrible eyes, the visage, and the chest shaggy with bristles
of the semi-beast, and the fires extinguished in his throat.
From that time the honor has been celebrated, and joyous posterity
have kept the day, and Potitius, the first author,
and the house of the Pinarii, guardian of the Herculean sacred rite 270

hanc aram luco statuit, quae maxima semper
dicetur nobis et erit quae maxima semper.
quare agite, o iuvenes, tantarum in munere laudum
cingite fronde comas et pocula porgite dextris,
communemque vocate deum et date vina volentes.' 275
dixerat, Herculea bicolor cum populus umbra
velavitque comas foliisque innexa pependit,
et sacer implevit dextram scyphus. ocius omnes
in mensam laeti libant divosque precantur.

he set up this altar in the grove, which among us will always be called the greatest, and will be the greatest forever.
therefore come, O youths, in requital of such great lauds,
gird your hair with foliage and proffer cups with your right hands,
and call the god common to all and give wines willingly.' 275
he had spoken, when the bicolored poplar with Herculean shade
veiled their hair and, intertwined with leaves, hung down,
and the sacred scyphus filled the right hand. more swiftly, all
joyful, libate upon the table and pray to the gods.

Devexo interea propior fit Vesper Olympo.               280
iamque sacerdotes primusque Potitius ibant
pellibus in morem cincti, flammasque ferebant.
instaurant epulas et mensae grata secundae
dona ferunt cumulantque oneratis lancibus aras.
tum Salii ad cantus incensa altaria circum               285
populeis adsunt evincti tempora ramis,
hic iuvenum chorus, ille senum, qui carmine laudes
Herculeas et facta ferunt: ut prima novercae
monstra manu geminosque premens eliserit anguis,
ut bello egregias idem disiecerit urbes,               290

Meanwhile, as the sky slopes down, Vesper becomes nearer to Olympus.               280
and now the priests, and Potitius first, were going,
girt in skins according to custom, and they were bearing flames.
they renew the banquets and bring the pleasing gifts of the second table
and heap the altars with loaded platters.
then the Salii, at the songs around the kindled altars,               285
are present, their temples bound with poplar branches,
here a chorus of youths, there of old men, who with song bear forth
the Herculean praises and deeds: how first the monsters of his stepmother
he crushed with his hand, pressing the twin serpents,
how likewise in war he tore apart distinguished cities.               290

Troiamque Oechaliamque, ut duros mille labores
rege sub Eurystheo fatis Iunonis iniquae
pertulerit. 'tu nubigenas, invicte, bimembris
Hylaeumque Pholumque manu, tu Cresia mactas
prodigia et vastum Nemeae sub rupe leonem.               295
te Stygii tremuere lacus, te ianitor Orci
ossa super recubans antro semesa cruento;
nec te ullae facies, non terruit ipse Typhoeus
arduus arma tenens; non te rationis egentem
Lernaeus turba capitum circumstetit anguis.               300
salve, vera Iovis proles, decus addite divis,
et nos et tua dexter adi pede sacra secundo.'
talia carminibus celebrant; super omnia Caci
speluncam adiciunt spirantemque ignibus ipsum.
consonat omne nemus strepitu collesque resultant.               305

And Troy and Oechalia, how under King Eurystheus, by the fates of Juno unfair, he endured a thousand hard labors. 'You, unconquered one, the cloud-born, biform Hylaeus and Pholus you slay with your hand; you slaughter the Cretan prodigies and the vast lion of Nemea beneath the crag.               295
at you the Stygian lakes trembled, at you the janitor of Orcus, reclining upon bones in the blood-stained cavern; nor did any apparitions, nor did Typhoeus himself, towering, holding arms, terrify you; nor did the Lernaean snake, a throng of heads, lacking reason, hem you in.               300
hail, true offspring of Jove, an ornament added to the gods, both us and your rites aid with a right and favorable step.'
such things they celebrate in songs; above all they add the cave of Cacus and himself breathing with fires. the whole grove resounds with noise and the hills rebound in echo.               305

Exim se cuncti divinis rebus ad urbem
perfectis referunt. ibat rex obsitus aevo,
et comitem Aenean iuxta natumque tenebat
ingrediens varioque viam sermone levabat.
miratur facilisque oculos fert omnia circum 310
Aeneas, capiturque locis et singula laetus
exquiritque auditque virum monimenta priorum.

Then all together, the divine rites completed, they return to the city.
the king went, clothed in age,
and he held Aeneas as companion at his side, and his son,
as he strode he lightened the way with varied speech.
Aeneas marvels, and readily casts his eyes around at everything 310
and he is captivated by the places and, joyful,
both inquires into and hears about the monuments of prior men.

tum rex Evandrus Romanae conditor arcis:
'haec nemora indigenae Fauni Nymphaeque tenebant
gensque virum truncis et duro robore nata, 315
quis neque mos neque cultus erat, nec iungere tauros
aut componere opes norant aut parcere parto,
sed rami atque asper victu venatus alebat.
primus ab aetherio venit Saturnus Olympo
arma Iovis fugiens et regnis exsul ademptis. 320

then King Evander, founder of the Roman citadel:
'these groves the indigenous Fauns and Nymphs held,
and a race of men born from trunks and from hard timber, 315
for whom there was neither custom nor culture, nor did they know how to yoke bulls
or to compose wealth or to spare what had been gotten,
but branches and the hunt, with harsh fare, sustained them.
Saturn first came from ethereal Olympus,
fleeing the arms of Jove and an exile with his realms taken away. 320

is genus indocile ac dispersum montibus altis
composuit legesque dedit, Latiumque vocari
maluit, his quoniam latuisset tutus in oris.
aurea quae perhibent illo sub rege fuere
saecula: sic placida populos in pace regebat,               325
deterior donec paulatim ac decolor aetas
et belli rabies et amor successit habendi.
tum manus Ausonia et gentes venere Sicanae,
saepius et nomen posuit Saturnia tellus;
tum reges asperque immani corpore Thybris,               330
a quo post Itali fluvium cognomine Thybrim
diximus; amisit verum vetus Albula nomen.
me pulsum patria pelagique extrema sequentem
Fortuna omnipotens et ineluctabile fatum
his posuere locis, matrisque egere tremenda               335

that race, untaught and scattered on high mountains
he brought together and gave laws, and he preferred that it be called
Latium, since on these shores he had lain hidden safe.
the ages which they report were golden were under that king:
thus he ruled the peoples in placid peace,               325
until little by little a worse and color-faded age
and the rabies of war and the love of having succeeded.
then a band from Ausonia and Sicanian peoples came,
and more than once the Saturnian land set down its name;
then kings, and Thybris harsh, with body immense,               330
from whom thereafter we Italians have called the river by the cognomen Tiber;
it lost its true ancient name Albula.
me, driven from my fatherland and following the farthest reaches of the sea,
Almighty Fortune and ineluctable Fate
placed in these places, and the tremendous urgings of my mother drove me               335

Carmentis nymphae monita et deus auctor Apollo.'

'the monitions of the nymph Carmentis and the god Apollo as author.'

Vix ea dicta, dehinc progressus monstrat et aram
et Carmentalem Romani nomine portam
quam memorant, nymphae priscum Carmentis honorem,
vatis fatidicae, cecinit quae prima futuros 340
Aeneadas magnos et nobile Pallanteum.
hinc lucum ingentem, quem Romulus acer asylum
rettulit, et gelida monstrat sub rupe Lupercal
Parrhasio dictum Panos de more Lycaei.
nec non et sacri monstrat nemus Argileti 345
testaturque locum et letum docet hospitis Argi.

Scarcely were these things said; then, advancing, he shows both the altar
and the Carmental Gate by Roman name,
which they commemorate, the ancient honor of the nymph Carmentis,
a fatidical prophetess, who first sang of the future 340
great Aeneads and noble Pallanteum.
from here a vast grove, which eager Romulus designated as an asylum,
and beneath a gelid rock he shows the Lupercal,
called Parrhasian after the custom of Lycaean Pan.
and likewise he shows the sacred grove of the Argiletum, 345
and he attests the place and tells of the death of the guest Argus.

hinc ad Tarpeiam sedem et Capitolia ducit
aurea nunc, olim silvestribus horrida dumis.
iam tum religio pavidos terrebat agrestis
dira loci, iam tum silvam saxumque tremebant. 350

from here he leads to the Tarpeian seat and the Capitolia,
golden now, once rough with woodland brambles.
even then religion was terrifying the timid rustics
with the dire awe of the place; even then they were trembling at the wood and the rock. 350

'hoc nemus, hunc' inquit 'frondoso vertice collem
(quis deus incertum est) habitat deus; Arcades ipsum
credunt se vidisse Iovem, cum saepe nigrantem
aegida concuteret dextra nimbosque cieret.
haec duo praeterea disiectis oppida muris, 355
reliquias veterumque vides monimenta virorum.
hanc Ianus pater, hanc Saturnus condidit arcem;
Ianiculum huic, illi fuerat Saturnia nomen.'
talibus inter se dictis ad tecta subibant
pauperis Evandri, passimque armenta videbant 360
Romanoque foro et lautis mugire Carinis.

'this grove, this hill with leafy summit,' he says, 'a god inhabits (which god is uncertain); the Arcadians believe that they themselves have seen Jove, when he would often shake the darkening aegis with his right hand and stir the nimbus-clouds to arise.
besides, these two towns with their walls cast down, 355
you see the relics and monuments of men of old. this citadel Father Janus founded, that Saturn founded;
to this the name was Janiculum, to that Saturnia.'
with such words exchanged between them they were going up to the roofs of poor Evander,
and they saw herds everywhere bellowing in the Roman Forum and in the splendid Carinae. 360

ut ventum ad sedes, 'haec' inquit 'limina victor
Alcides subiit, haec illum regia cepit.
aude, hospes, contemnere opes et te quoque dignum
finge deo, rebusque veni non asper egenis.' 365

when they came to the dwelling, 'these thresholds,' he says, 'the victor Alcides entered,
this royal palace received him.
dare, guest, to contemn wealth and fashion yourself also worthy of a god,
and come not harsh to needy means.' 365

dixit, et angusti subter fastigia tecti
ingentem Aenean duxit stratisque locavit
effultum foliis et pelle Libystidis ursae:
nox ruit et fuscis tellurem amplectitur alis.

He said, and beneath the gables of the narrow roof
he led mighty Aeneas and placed him on bedding,
propped with leaves and the pelt of a Libyan she-bear:
night rushes down and embraces the earth with dusky wings.

At Venus haud animo nequiquam exterrita mater               370
Laurentumque minis et duro mota tumultu
Volcanum adloquitur, thalamoque haec coniugis aureo
incipit et dictis divinum aspirat amorem:
'dum bello Argolici vastabant Pergama reges
debita casurasque inimicis ignibus arces,               375
non ullum auxilium miseris, non arma rogavi
artis opisque tuae, nec te, carissime coniunx,
incassumve tuos volui exercere labores,
quamvis et Priami deberem plurima natis,
et durum Aeneae flevissem saepe laborem.               380

But Venus, the mother, not idly alarmed in her spirit,               370
and moved by the threats against the Laurentes and the hard tumult,
addresses Vulcan, and in the golden bedchamber of her consort
she begins thus and with her words breathes a divine love:
'while in war the Argolic kings were laying waste Pergama
and the strongholds owed to, and destined to fall to, inimical fires,               375
I asked no aid for the wretched, no arms of your art and power,
nor, dearest consort, did I wish to employ you and your labors in vain,
although I owed very many things to the sons of Priam,
and I had often wept for Aeneas’s hard labor.'               380

nunc Iovis imperiis Rutulorum constitit oris:
ergo eadem supplex venio et sanctum mihi numen
arma rogo, genetrix nato. te filia Nerei,
te potuit lacrimis Tithonia flectere coniunx.
aspice qui coeant populi, quae moenia clausis 385
ferrum acuant portis in me excidiumque meorum.'
dixerat et niveis hinc atque hinc diva lacertis
cunctantem amplexu molli fovet.

now by the commands of Jove he has stood at the Rutulian shores:
therefore the same as a suppliant I come and I ask as a sacred numen
arms, a genetrix for her son. You the daughter of Nereus,
you the Tithonian spouse was able to bend with tears.
look what peoples are gathering, what walls with the gates shut 385
are sharpening iron against me and the destruction of my people.'

ille repente
accepit solitam flammam, notusque medullas
intravit calor et labefacta per ossa cucurrit, 390
non secus atque olim tonitru cum rupta corusco
ignea rima micans percurrit lumine nimbos;
sensit laeta dolis et formae conscia coniunx.
tum pater aeterno fatur devinctus amore:
'quid causas petis ex alto? fiducia cessit 395

he suddenly
received the accustomed flame, and the familiar heat
entered his marrow and ran through his loosened bones, 390
no otherwise than when, by coruscant thunder rent,
a fiery rift, flashing, runs with light through the rain-clouds;
his spouse, glad at her wiles and conscious of her beauty, perceived it.
then the father, bound fast by eternal love, speaks:
'why do you seek causes from the deep? confidence has yielded 395

quo tibi, diva, mei? similis si cura fuisset,
tum quoque fas nobis Teucros armare fuisset;
nec pater omnipotens Troiam nec fata vetabant
stare decemque alios Priamum superesse per annos.
et nunc, si bellare paras atque haec tibi mens est, 400
quidquid in arte mea possum promittere curae,
quod fieri ferro liquidove potest electro,
quantum ignes animaeque valent, absiste precando
viribus indubitare tuis.' ea verba locutus
optatos dedit amplexus placidumque petivit 405
coniugis infusus gremio per membra soporem.

to what end, goddess, do you need me? if a similar care had been before,
then too it would have been right for us to arm the Teucrians;
nor would the omnipotent father nor the fates have forbidden
Troy to stand and Priam to survive for ten other years.
and now, if you prepare to wage war and this is your mind, 400
whatever in my craft I can promise to your concern,
whatever can be made by steel or by liquid electrum,
so far as fires and spirits avail, cease, by praying,
to doubt your own powers.' having spoken these words,
he gave the longed-for embraces and sought placid sleep, poured 405
through his limbs in the lap of his spouse.

Inde ubi prima quies medio iam noctis abactae
curriculo expulerat somnum, cum femina primum,
cui tolerare colo vitam tenuique Minerva
impositum, cinerem et sopitos suscitat ignis               410
noctem addens operi, famulasque ad lumina longo
exercet penso, castum ut servare cubile
coniugis et possit parvos educere natos:
haud secus ignipotens nec tempore segnior illo
mollibus e stratis opera ad fabrilia surgit.               415
insula Sicanium iuxta latus Aeoliamque
erigitur Liparen fumantibus ardua saxis,
quam subter specus et Cyclopum exesa caminis
antra Aetnaea tonant, validique incudibus ictus
auditi referunt gemitus, striduntque cavernis               420

Thence when first repose, now at the mid-course of the driven-off night,
had expelled sleep, when a woman first,
upon whom it has been imposed to sustain life by the distaff and by slender Minerva,
rouses the ash and the slumbering fires, adding night to her work,               410
and keeps her maids busy at the lights with a long allotment of wool,
so that she may preserve the chaste couch
of her spouse and be able to rear her little sons:
not otherwise the fire-potent one, nor slower at that time,
rises from his soft couches to smith-craft labors.               415
An island rises, Lipara, lofty with smoking rocks,
next the Sicanian side and Aeolian,
beneath which the caverns and the Aetnaean caves, gnawed out by the Cyclopes’ furnaces,
thunder, and the strong strokes on anvils, being heard,
send back groans, and they shriek in the caverns.               420

stricturae Chalybum et fornacibus ignis anhelat,
Volcani domus et Volcania nomine tellus.
hoc tunc ignipotens caelo descendit ab alto.
ferrum exercebant vasto Cyclopes in antro,
Brontesque Steropesque et nudus membra Pyragmon. 425
his informatum manibus iam parte polita
fulmen erat, toto genitor quae plurima caelo
deicit in terras, pars imperfecta manebat.

the temperings of the Chalybes and at the furnaces the fire pants, the house of Vulcan and a land by name Volcanian. Here then the fire-powerful one descended from high heaven. Iron the Cyclopes were working in a vast cavern, Brontes and Steropes and Pyragmon with his limbs bare. 425
By their hands a thunderbolt had been shaped, now with part polished, the many which the Father hurls from the whole heaven down upon the lands; a part remained unfinished.

tris imbris torti radios, tris nubis aquosae
addiderant, rutuli tris ignis et alitis Austri. 430
fulgores nunc terrificos sonitumque metumque
miscebant operi flammisque sequacibus iras.
parte alia Marti currumque rotasque volucris
instabant, quibus ille viros, quibus excitat urbes;
aegidaque horriferam, turbatae Palladis arma, 435

three rays of twisted rain, three of watery cloud
they had added, three of ruddy fire and of winged Auster. 430
now they were mixing into the work terrifying flashes and both sound and fear,
and wraths with pursuing flames.
in another part they were pressing on for Mars the chariot and winged wheels,
with which he rouses men, with which he excites cities;
and the horrific aegis, the arms of agitated Pallas, 435

certatim squamis serpentum auroque polibant
conexosque anguis ipsamque in pectore divae
Gorgona desecto vertentem lumina collo.
'tollite cuncta' inquit 'coeptosque auferte labores,
Aetnaei Cyclopes, et huc advertite mentem: 440
arma acri facienda viro. nunc viribus usus,
nunc manibus rapidis, omni nunc arte magistra.

eagerly, in rivalry, they were burnishing the serpents’ scales and the gold, and the interlaced snakes, and the Gorgon herself on the goddess’s breast, turning her eyes though the neck was cut off. ‘Take up everything,’ he says, ‘and carry off the labors begun, Aetnaean Cyclopes, and turn your mind hither: 440
arms are to be made for a fierce man. Now there is use for strengths, now for rapid hands, now for every art as mistress.

praecipitate moras.' nec plura effatus, at illi
ocius incubuere omnes pariterque laborem
sortiti. fluit aes rivis aurique metallum 445
vulnificusque chalybs vasta fornace liquescit.
ingentem clipeum informant, unum omnia contra
tela Latinorum, septenosque orbibus orbis
impediunt.

'Precipitate the delays.' And he spoke no more; but they
more swiftly they all bent to it and equally apportioned the labor
having shared by lot. Bronze flows in streams, and the metal of gold 445
and wound-bringing steel liquefies in the vast furnace.
They fashion a huge shield, one against all the
weapons of the Latins, and with orbs upon orbs sevenfold
they interweave.

alii ventosis follibus auras
accipiunt redduntque, alii stridentia tingunt 450

some with windy bellows take in and give back the airs,
others dip the hissing metal 450

aera lacu; gemit impositis incudibus antrum;
illi inter sese multa vi bracchia tollunt
in numerum, versantque tenaci forcipe massam.

the bronzes in the trough; the cavern groans with the anvils set in place;
they among themselves lift their arms with great force in measure,
and with a tenacious forceps they turn the mass.

Haec pater Aeoliis properat dum Lemnius oris,
Evandrum ex humili tecto lux suscitat alma 455
et matutini volucrum sub culmine cantus.
consurgit senior tunicaque inducitur artus
et Tyrrhena pedum circumdat vincula plantis.
tum lateri atque umeris Tegeaeum subligat ensem
demissa ab laeva pantherae terga retorquens. 460
nec non et gemini custodes limine ab alto
praecedunt gressumque canes comitantur erilem.

While the Lemnian hastens these things on the Aeolian shores,
the kindly light rouses Evander from his humble roof 455
and the morning song of birds beneath the roof-crest.
the elder rises and with a tunic clothes his limbs
and he girds Tyrrhenian bindings of the feet about his soles.
then to his side and shoulders he fastens the Tegean sword,
twisting back the panther’s hide that had been let down from his left. 460
and likewise the twin guardians from the high threshold
go before, and the dogs accompany the master’s step.

hospitis Aeneae sedem et secreta petebat
sermonum memor et promissi muneris heros.
nec minus Aeneas se matutinus agebat; 465

he was seeking the seat and the private recesses of his host Aeneas
the hero, mindful of the discourses and of the promised gift.
no less Aeneas was up early and at work; 465

filius huic Pallas, illi comes ibat Achates.
congressi iungunt dextras mediisque residunt
aedibus et licito tandem sermone fruuntur.
rex prior haec:
'maxime Teucrorum ductor, quo sospite numquam 470
res equidem Troiae victas aut regna fatebor,
nobis ad belli auxilium pro nomine tanto
exiguae vires; hinc Tusco claudimur amni,
hinc Rutulus premit et murum circumsonat armis.

To this man his son Pallas, to that one Achates went as companion.
Having met, they join right hands and sit down in the middle of the halls,
and at last enjoy permitted discourse.
The king first [speaks] these things:
'O greatest leader of the Teucrians, while you are safe I will never indeed 470
confess the affairs of Troy or her realms to be conquered;
for us, for aid in war, our forces are scant in proportion to so great a name; on this side we are hemmed in by the Tuscan river,
on this side the Rutulian presses and makes the wall resound around with arms.

sed tibi ego ingentis populos opulentaque regnis 475
iungere castra paro, quam fors inopina salutem
ostentat: fatis huc te poscentibus adfers.
haud procul hinc saxo incolitur fundata vetusto
urbis Agyllinae sedes, ubi Lydia quondam
gens, bello praeclara, iugis insedit Etruscis. 480

but for you I prepare mighty peoples and opulent in realms 475
to join to your camp, which unlooked-for Fortune displays as deliverance;
with the Fates demanding, you bring it hither. not far hence, upon ancient rock is inhabited, founded, the seat of the Agylline city, where once a Lydian
race, preeminent in war, settled on the Etruscan ridges. 480

hanc multos florentem annos rex deinde superbo
imperio et saevis tenuit Mezentius armis.
quid memorem infandas caedes, quid facta tyranni
effera? di capiti ipsius generique reservent!

This seat, flourishing for many years, King Mezentius then held with proud dominion and with savage arms.
Why should I recount unspeakable slaughters, why the deeds of the tyrant, brutal?
May the gods reserve them for his own head and for that of his lineage!

mortua quin etiam iungebat corpora vivis 485
componens manibusque manus atque oribus ora,
tormenti genus, et sanie taboque fluentis
complexu in misero longa sic morte necabat.
at fessi tandem cives infanda furentem
armati circumsistunt ipsumque domumque, 490
obtruncant socios, ignem ad fastigia iactant.
ille inter caedem Rutulorum elapsus in agros
confugere et Turni defendier hospitis armis.

nay indeed he even yoked dead bodies to the living 485
arranging hands to hands and mouths to mouths,
a kind of torment, and with gore and corruption flowing
in a wretched embrace thus he was killing by a long death.
but at length the wearied citizens, armed, surround the one raging with unspeakables
both himself and his house, 490
they cut down his associates, they hurl fire at the gables.
he, having slipped away amid the slaughter of the Rutulians, into the fields
took refuge and was defended by the arms of his host, Turnus.

ergo omnis furiis surrexit Etruria iustis,
regem ad supplicium praesenti Marte reposcunt. 495

therefore all Etruria rose with just furies,
they demand the king for punishment, with Mars present. 495

his ego te, Aenea, ductorem milibus addam.
toto namque fremunt condensae litore puppes
signaque ferre iubent, retinet longaevus haruspex
fata canens: "o Maeoniae delecta iuventus,
flos veterum virtusque virum, quos iustus in hostem 500
fert dolor et merita accendit Mezentius ira,
nulli fas Italo tantam subiungere gentem:
externos optate duces." tum Etrusca resedit
hoc acies campo monitis exterrita divum.
ipse oratores ad me regnique coronam 505
cum sceptro misit mandatque insignia Tarchon,
succedam castris Tyrrhenaque regna capessam.

to these I will add you, Aeneas, as leader to the thousands.
for the ships, packed, roar along the whole shore,
and they bid to bear the standards; an aged haruspex
singing the fates holds them back: "O Maeonian chosen youth,
the flower and virtue of ancient men, whom just grief against the enemy 500
bears along and Mezentius’s deserved wrath inflames,
it is not lawful for any Italian to subject so great a nation:
choose foreign leaders." Then the Etruscan battle-line settled
on this plain, terrified by the monitions of the gods.
he himself sent envoys to me and the crown of the realm 505
with the scepter, and Tarchon has sent the insignia and mandates
that I take command of the camp and assume the Tyrrhenian realms.

sed mihi tarda gelu saeclisque effeta senectus
invidet imperium seraeque ad fortia vires.
natum exhortarer, ni mixtus matre Sabella 510

but to me slow old age, tardy with frost and effete with ages
begrudges command and strength belated for brave deeds.
I would exhort my son, were he not of mixed blood by a Sabellian mother 510

hinc partem patriae traheret. tu, cuius et annis
et generi fatum indulget, quem numina poscunt,
ingredere, o Teucrum atque Italum fortissime ductor.
hunc tibi praeterea, spes et solacia nostri,
Pallanta adiungam; sub te tolerare magistro 515
militiam et grave Martis opus, tua cernere facta
adsuescat, primis et te miretur ab annis.

hence he would draw a portion of his fatherland. you, whom fate indulges both in years and in lineage, whom the divine powers demand,
advance, O bravest leader of the Teucrians and Italians. this one moreover, the hope and solace of us, Pallas, I will join to you;
under you as master let him learn to endure military service and the grave work of Mars, to behold your deeds, 515
and from his earliest years let him admire you.

Arcadas huic equites bis centum, robora pubis
lecta dabo, totidemque suo tibi nomine Pallas.'

I will give to him two hundred Arcadian horsemen, the picked strength of the youth,
and Pallas, in his own name, will give to you just as many.'

Vix ea fatus erat, defixique ora tenebant 520
Aeneas Anchisiades et fidus Achates,
multaque dura suo tristi cum corde putabant,
ni signum caelo Cytherea dedisset aperto.
namque improviso vibratus ab aethere fulgor
cum sonitu venit et ruere omnia visa repente, 525
Tyrrhenusque tubae mugire per aethera clangor.
suspiciunt, iterum atque iterum fragor increpat ingens.

Scarcely had he spoken these things, and Aeneas, son of Anchises, and faithful Achates kept their faces fixed, 520
and with their own sad hearts they were considering many hard things, if the Cytherean had not given a sign in the open sky.
for unexpectedly a flash, quivered from the aether, came with a sound, and all things seemed suddenly to rush down, 525
and the Tyrrhenian blare of the trumpet bellowed through the aether.
they look up; again and again a huge crash resounds.

arma inter nubem caeli in regione serena
per sudum rutilare vident et pulsa tonare.
obstipuere animis alii, sed Troius heros 530

arms amid a cloud of the sky in a serene region
they see to rutilate through the clear, and, when smitten, to thunder.
others were stupefied in mind, but the Trojan hero 530

agnovit sonitum et divae promissa parentis.
tum memorat: 'ne vero, hospes, ne quaere profecto
quem casum portenta ferant: ego poscor Olympo.
hoc signum cecinit missuram diva creatrix,
si bellum ingrueret, Volcaniaque arma per auras 535
laturam auxilio.

he recognized the sound and the promises of his goddess-mother.
then he recounts: 'nay indeed, guest, do not by any means inquire
what event the portents bear: I am summoned by Olympus.
this sign the goddess creatress sang she would send,
if war should break in, and that Vulcanian arms through the airs 535
she would bring for aid.

heu quantae miseris caedes Laurentibus instant!
quas poenas mihi, Turne, dabis! quam multa sub undas
scuta virum galeasque et fortia corpora volves,
Thybri pater!

Alas, how great slaughters are imminent for the wretched Laurentians!
What punishments to me, Turnus, will you pay! How many beneath the waves
shields of men and helmets and brave bodies you will roll,
Father Tiber!

poscant acies et foedera rumpant.' 540

let the battle-lines demand it and rupture the treaties.' 540

Haec ubi dicta dedit, solio se tollit ab alto
et primum Herculeis sopitas ignibus aras
excitat, hesternumque larem parvosque penatis
laetus adit; mactat lectas de more bidentis
Evandrus pariter, pariter Troiana iuventus. 545
post hinc ad navis graditur sociosque revisit,
quorum de numero qui sese in bella sequantur
praestantis virtute legit; pars cetera prona
fertur aqua segnisque secundo defluit amni,
nuntia ventura Ascanio rerumque patrisque. 550
dantur equi Teucris Tyrrhena petentibus arva;
ducunt exsortem Aeneae, quem fulva leonis
pellis obit totum praefulgens unguibus aureis.

When he had given these words, he lifts himself from the high throne
and first rekindles the altars of Hercules with slumbering fires,
and gladly approaches the yesterday’s Lar and the little Penates;
Evander, together, sacrifices choice bidents according to custom, together the Trojan youth. 545
After this he goes to the ships and revisits his comrades,
and from their number he chooses those outstanding in virtue to follow him to wars;
the rest of the band, leaning forward, is borne by the water and glides sluggishly down the favoring stream,
to bear tidings to Ascanius of the events and of his father. 550
Horses are given to the Teucrians seeking the Tyrrhenian fields;
they lead one specially assigned for Aeneas, whom a tawny lion’s
skin covers wholly, shining in front with golden claws.

Fama volat paruam subito vulgata per urbem
ocius ire equites Tyrrheni ad limina regis.               555
vota metu duplicant matres, propiusque periclo
it timor et maior Martis iam apparet imago.
tum pater Evandrus dextram complexus euntis
haeret inexpletus lacrimans ac talia fatur:
'o mihi praeteritos referat si Iuppiter annos,               560
qualis eram cum primam aciem Praeneste sub ipsa
stravi scutorumque incendi victor acervos
et regem hac Erulum dextra sub Tartara misi,
nascenti cui tris animas Feronia mater
(horrendum dictu) dederat, terna arma movenda—               565

Rumor flies, suddenly broadcast through the small city
that the Tyrrhenian horsemen are going more swiftly to the thresholds of the king.               555
the mothers double their vows in fear, and nearer to the peril
goes fear, and now a greater image of Mars appears.
then father Evander, having clasped the right hand of the one departing,
clings unsated, weeping, and speaks such words:
'o if Jupiter would bring back to me the years gone by,               560
such as I was when beneath Praeneste itself I laid low the foremost battle-line
and, victor, I set on fire heaps of shields,
and with this right hand I sent King Erulus down beneath Tartarus,
to whom at his birth his mother Feronia
(horrendous to say) had given three souls, three arms to be wielded—               565

ter leto sternendus erat; cui tunc tamen omnis
abstulit haec animas dextra et totidem exuit armis:
non ego nunc dulci amplexu divellerer usquam,
nate, tuo, neque finitimo Mezentius umquam
huic capiti insultans tot ferro saeva dedisset               570
funera, tam multis viduasset civibus urbem.
at vos, o superi, et divum tu maxime rector
Iuppiter, Arcadii, quaeso, miserescite regis
et patrias audite preces. si numina vestra
incolumem Pallanta mihi, si fata reservant,               575
si visurus eum vivo et venturus in unum,
vitam oro, patior quemvis durare laborem.
sin aliquem infandum casum, Fortuna, minaris,
nunc, nunc o liceat crudelem abrumpere vitam,
dum curae ambiguae, dum spes incerta futuri,               580

thrice was he to be laid low in death; but from him then this right hand took away all his souls and stripped him of as many sets of arms: not now would I be torn anywhere from your sweet embrace, my son, nor would Mezentius, our neighbor, ever, insulting this head, have dealt so many cruel deaths with iron, have widowed the city of so many citizens.               570
but you, O gods above, and you, most mighty rector of the gods, Jupiter, have pity, I pray, on the Arcadian king and hear a father’s prayers. if your numina, if the fates reserve Pallas unharmed for me, if I, living, am to see him and am to come together into one with him,                575
I ask for life, I endure to last through any toil. but if, Fortune, you threaten some unspeakable mishap, now, now, O let it be permitted to break off this cruel life, while the cares are ambiguous, while the hope of the future is uncertain,               580

dum te, care puer, mea sola et sera voluptas,
complexu teneo, gravior neu nuntius auris
vulneret.' haec genitor digressu dicta supremo
fundebat; famuli conlapsum in tecta ferebant.

while I hold you, dear boy, my only and belated delight,
in an embrace, let not a graver message wound my ears.'
the father was pouring out these words at the last parting;
the servants were bearing him, collapsed, into the house.

Iamque adeo exierat portis equitatus apertis               585
Aeneas inter primos et fidus Achates,
inde alii Troiae proceres; ipse agmine Pallas
it medio chlamyde et pictis conspectus in armis,
qualis ubi Oceani perfusus Lucifer unda,
quem Venus ante alios astrorum diligit ignis,               590
extulit os sacrum caelo tenebrasque resolvit.
stant pavidae in muris matres oculisque sequuntur
pulveream nubem et fulgentis aere catervas.
olli per dumos, qua proxima meta viarum,
armati tendunt; it clamor, et agmine facto               595

And now indeed the cavalry had gone forth from the opened gates,               585
Aeneas among the first, and faithful Achates,
then the other chiefs of Troy; Pallas himself goes
in the midst of the column, conspicuous with a cloak and with painted arms,
just as when Lucifer, bathed in the wave of Ocean,
whom Venus before the other fires of the stars loves,               590
has lifted his sacred face to the sky and has loosened the darkness.
The mothers stand, fearful, on the walls and with their eyes they follow
the dusty cloud and the troops gleaming with bronze.
To them, through the brambles, where is the nearest goal of the roads,
the armed men stretch; a clamor goes, and a column having been formed,               595

quadripedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum.
est ingens gelidum lucus prope Caeritis amnem,
religione patrum late sacer; undique colles
inclusere cavi et nigra nemus abiete cingunt.
Silvano fama est veteres sacrasse Pelasgos, 600
arvorum pecorisque deo, lucumque diemque,
qui primi finis aliquando habuere Latinos.

with four-footed sound the hoof shakes the crumbling field.
there is a vast grove near the chilly Caerite river,
widely sacred by the religion of the fathers; on every side hollow hills
have enclosed it, and black fir girds the grove.
report is that the ancient Pelasgians consecrated it to Silvanus, 600
the god of fields and of flock, both the grove and the day,
they who first at some time held the Latin borders.

haud procul hinc Tarcho et Tyrrheni tuta tenebant
castra locis, celsoque omnis de colle videri
iam poterat legio et latis tendebat in arvis. 605
huc pater Aeneas et bello lecta iuventus
succedunt, fessique et equos et corpora curant.

not far from here Tarcho and the Tyrrhenians were holding a safe camp in positions, and from a high hill the whole legion already could be seen and was stretching across the broad fields. 605
hither father Aeneas and the youth chosen for war advance, and, weary, they care for both their horses and their bodies.

At Venus aetherios inter dea candida nimbos
dona ferens aderat; natumque in valle reducta
ut procul egelido secretum flumine vidit,               610
talibus adfata est dictis seque obtulit ultro:
'en perfecta mei promissa coniugis arte
munera. ne mox aut Laurentis, nate, superbos
aut acrem dubites in proelia poscere Turnum.'
dixit, et amplexus nati Cytherea petivit,               615
arma sub adversa posuit radiantia quercu.
ille deae donis et tanto laetus honore
expleri nequit atque oculos per singula voluit,
miraturque interque manus et bracchia versat
terribilem cristis galeam flammasque vomentem,               620

But Venus, a shining goddess amid ethereal clouds,
bearing gifts, was at hand; and her son, in a withdrawn valley,
when she saw him far off secluded by a tepid stream,               610
she addressed him with such words and offered herself unbidden:
'Lo, the gifts, perfected by the art of my spouse, as promised.
Do not, my son, soon hesitate to challenge either the proud Laurentine
or keen Turnus to the battles.'
She spoke, and Cytherea sought her son’s embraces,               615
and set the shining arms beneath the opposing oak.
He, glad at the goddess’s gifts and so great an honor,
cannot be sated and rolled his eyes over each particular,
and he marvels and turns between his hands and arms
the helm, terrible with crests and vomiting flames,               620

fatiferumque ensem, loricam ex aere rigentem,
sanguineam, ingentem, qualis cum caerula nubes
solis inardescit radiis longeque refulget;
tum levis ocreas electro auroque recocto,
hastamque et clipei non enarrabile textum.               625
illic res Italas Romanorumque triumphos
haud vatum ignarus venturique inscius aevi
fecerat ignipotens, illic genus omne futurae
stirpis ab Ascanio pugnataque in ordine bella.
fecerat et viridi fetam Mavortis in antro               630
procubuisse lupam, geminos huic ubera circum
ludere pendentis pueros et lambere matrem
impavidos, illam tereti cervice reflexa
mulcere alternos et corpora fingere lingua.
nec procul hinc Romam et raptas sine more Sabinas               635

and the fate-bearing sword, a cuirass stiff from bronze,
sanguine, immense, such as when a cerulean cloud
blazes with the sun’s rays and gleams far;
then light greaves of electrum and re-fired gold,
and a spear and the not-to-be-told weave of the shield.               625
there the affairs of Italy and the triumphs of the Romans
the fire-mighty one had fashioned, not unknowing of the bards nor ignorant of the age to come;
there the whole race of the future stock from Ascanius
and the wars fought in order. He had also fashioned in a green cave of Mars
a she-wolf, teeming, to have lain down, the twins around her teats               630
playing as they hung and fearlessly licking their mother,
while she, with rounded neck bent back,
soothes them in turn and shapes their bodies with her tongue.
Nor far from here Rome and the Sabine women seized without due custom               635

consessu caveae, magnis Circensibus actis,
addiderat, subitoque novum consurgere bellum
Romulidis Tatioque seni Curibusque severis.
post idem inter se posito certamine reges
armati Iovis ante aram paterasque tenentes 640
stabant et caesa iungebant foedera porca.
haud procul inde citae Mettum in diversa quadrigae
distulerant (at tu dictis, Albane, maneres!),
raptabatque viri mendacis viscera Tullus
per silvam, et sparsi rorabant sanguine vepres. 645
nec non Tarquinium eiectum Porsenna iubebat
accipere ingentique urbem obsidione premebat;
Aeneadae in ferrum pro libertate ruebant.

the assembly of the tiers, the great Circensian games having been enacted,
he had added; and suddenly a new war to rise up for the Romulids and for aged Tatius and for austere Cures.
afterwards the same kings, their contest set aside between them,
stood armed before the altar of Jove and holding paterae, 640
and with a slaughtered sow they were joining treaties.
not far from there swift quadrigae had torn Mettus apart in different directions
(but if only you had abided by your words, Alban!),
and Tullus was dragging the entrails of the lying man through the wood,
and the scattered briers were dripping with blood. 645
nor was Porsenna failing to bid that the expelled Tarquin be received,
and he was pressing the city with a vast siege; the Aeneadae were rushing upon the steel for liberty.

illum indignanti similem similemque minanti
aspiceres, pontem auderet quia vellere Cocles 650

him, like one indignant and likewise threatening,
you would behold, because Cocles dared to tear up the bridge 650

et fluvium vinclis innaret Cloelia ruptis.
in summo custos Tarpeiae Manlius arcis
stabat pro templo et Capitolia celsa tenebat,
Romuleoque recens horrebat regia culmo.
atque hic auratis volitans argenteus anser 655
porticibus Gallos in limine adesse canebat;
Galli per dumos aderant arcemque tenebant
defensi tenebris et dono noctis opacae.

and Cloelia swam the river, her bonds broken.
at the top Manlius, guardian of the Tarpeian citadel,
stood before the temple and held the lofty Capitolia,
and the palace bristled, fresh with Romulean thatch.
and here a silver goose, flitting through gilded porticoes, 655
was singing that the Gauls were at the threshold;
the Gauls were present through the brambles and held the citadel,
defended by the darkness and the gift of shadowy night.

aurea caesaries ollis atque aurea vestis,
virgatis lucent sagulis, tum lactea colla 660
auro innectuntur, duo quisque Alpina coruscant
gaesa manu, scutis protecti corpora longis.
hic exsultantis Salios nudosque Lupercos
lanigerosque apices et lapsa ancilia caelo
extuderat, castae ducebant sacra per urbem 665

golden hair for them and a golden garment,
they shine with striped little cloaks, then their milky necks 660
are fastened with gold; each brandishes in his hand two Alpine gaesae,
their bodies protected by long shields. Here he had hammered out the exulting Salii and the naked Luperci,
and the wool-bearing apex-caps and the ancilia fallen from heaven;
he had hammered out, chaste women were leading the sacred rites through the city 665

pilentis matres in mollibus. hinc procul addit
Tartareas etiam sedes, alta ostia Ditis,
et scelerum poenas, et te, Catilina, minaci
pendentem scopulo Furiarumque ora trementem,
secretosque pios, his dantem iura Catonem. 670
haec inter tumidi late maris ibat imago
aurea, sed fluctu spumabant caerula cano,
et circum argento clari delphines in orbem
aequora verrebant caudis aestumque secabant.
in medio classis aeratas, Actia bella, 675
cernere erat, totumque instructo Marte videres
fervere Leucaten auroque effulgere fluctus.

mothers in soft carriages. From here afar he adds
the Tartarean seats as well, the high doors of Dis,
and the penalties of crimes, and you, Catiline, hanging
from a menacing crag and trembling at the faces of the Furies,
and the pious set apart, and Cato giving laws to these. 670
amid these the image of the swelling sea went far and wide,
golden, but on the wave the deep-blue waters foamed with hoary white,
and around, dolphins bright with silver in a circle
were sweeping the waters with their tails and were cleaving the tide. In the midst, bronze-clad fleets, the Actian wars, 675
could be discerned, and you would see all Leucate seethe with Mars drawn up
and the waves flash forth with gold.

hinc Augustus agens Italos in proelia Caesar
cum patribus populoque, penatibus et magnis dis,
stans celsa in puppi, geminas cui tempora flammas 680

hence Augustus Caesar, leading the Italians into battle,
with the senators and the people, with the Penates and the great gods,
standing on the lofty stern, upon whose temples twin flames 680

laeta vomunt patriumque aperitur vertice sidus.
parte alia ventis et dis Agrippa secundis
arduus agmen agens, cui, belli insigne superbum,
tempora navali fulgent rostrata corona.
hinc ope barbarica variisque Antonius armis, 685
victor ab Aurorae populis et litore rubro,
Aegyptum virisque Orientis et ultima secum
Bactra vehit, sequiturque (nefas) Aegyptia coniunx.

joyful, his temples pour forth flames, and on his crest the paternal star is revealed.
in another part, with favorable winds and gods, Agrippa, towering, leads the column,
for whom, a proud insignia of war, his temples gleam with the naval rostral crown.
from here Antony, with barbarian aid and diverse arms, 685
a victor from the peoples of Dawn and the red shore,
carries with him Egypt and the forces of the Orient and farthest Bactra,
and his Egyptian consort follows (abomination).

una omnes ruere ac totum spumare reductis
convulsum remis rostrisque tridentibus aequor. 690
alta petunt; pelago credas innare revulsas
Cycladas aut montis concurrere montibus altos,
tanta mole viri turritis puppibus instant.
stuppea flamma manu telisque volatile ferrum
spargitur, arva nova Neptunia caede rubescunt. 695

as one all rush, and the whole sea, wrenched, foams with oars drawn back and with three-toothed beaks. 690
they seek the deep; you would believe the Cyclades, torn away, to be floating on the sea,
or high mountains to be colliding with mountains,⟨so⟩ vast the mass as the men press on with turreted sterns.
tow-flame in hand, and by missiles the flying iron
is scattered, the Neptunian fields grow red with fresh slaughter. 695

regina in mediis patrio vocat agmina sistro,
necdum etiam geminos a tergo respicit anguis.
omnigenumque deum monstra et latrator Anubis
contra Neptunum et Venerem contraque Minervam
tela tenent. saevit medio in certamine Mavors 700
caelatus ferro, tristesque ex aethere Dirae,
et scissa gaudens vadit Discordia palla,
quam cum sanguineo sequitur Bellona flagello.

the queen in the midst calls the ranks with her native sistrum,
nor yet even does she look back at the twin snakes on her back.
and the monsters of the gods of every kind and the barking Anubis
hold weapons against Neptune and against Venus and against Minerva;
Mars, engraved in iron, rages in the middle of the contest, 700
and the grim Dirae from the aether,
and Discord, rejoicing, goes with her robe torn,
whom Bellona follows with a blood-red scourge.

Actius haec cernens arcum intendebat Apollo
desuper; omnis eo terrore Aegyptus et Indi, 705
omnis Arabs, omnes vertebant terga Sabaei.
ipsa videbatur ventis regina vocatis
vela dare et laxos iam iamque immittere funis.
illam inter caedes pallentem morte futura
fecerat ignipotens undis et Iapyge ferri, 710

Actian Apollo, perceiving these things, was bending his bow from above;
at that terror all Egypt and the Indians, 705
all Arabia, all the Sabaeans were turning their backs.
the queen herself seemed, the winds having been called, to give sails
and even now to let loose the slackened ropes.
her, pale amid the slaughters with death to come,
the Fire-powerful had made to be borne by the waves and by the Iapygian wind, 710

contra autem magno maerentem corpore Nilum
pandentemque sinus et tota veste vocantem
caeruleum in gremium latebrosaque flumina victos.
at Caesar, triplici invectus Romana triumpho
moenia, dis Italis votum immortale sacrabat, 715
maxima ter centum totam delubra per urbem.
laetitia ludisque viae plausuque fremebant;
omnibus in templis matrum chorus, omnibus arae;
ante aras terram caesi stravere iuvenci.

but opposite, the Nile, mourning with its great body,
and opening its folds and, with all its garment, calling
the conquered into its blue bosom and its sheltering rivers.
but Caesar, borne into the Roman walls in a triple triumph,
was consecrating to the Italian gods an immortal vow, 715
three hundred very great shrines throughout the whole city.
the streets roared with joy and with games and with applause;
in all the temples a chorus of mothers, everywhere altars;
before the altars the slaughtered bullocks strewed the earth.

ipse sedens niveo candentis limine Phoebi 720
dona recognoscit populorum aptatque superbis
postibus; incedunt victae longo ordine gentes,
quam variae linguis, habitu tam vestis et armis.
hic Nomadum genus et discinctos Mulciber Afros,
hic Lelegas Carasque sagittiferosque Gelonos 725

he himself, sitting on the snow-white threshold of shining Phoebus, 720
reviews the gifts of the peoples and fits them to the proud
doorposts; the conquered nations advance in a long array,
as diverse in tongues, so in the fashion of dress and in arms. Here the race of the Nomads and the loose-girdled Africans Mulciber shows,
here the Leleges and the Carians and the arrow-bearing Geloni. 725

finxerat; Euphrates ibat iam mollior undis,
extremique hominum Morini, Rhenusque bicornis,
indomitique Dahae, et pontem indignatus Araxes.

he had fashioned it; the Euphrates was now going gentler in its waves,
and the farthest of men, the Morini, and the two-horned Rhine,
and the untamed Dahae, and the Araxes indignant at a bridge.

Talia per clipeum Volcani, dona parentis,
miratur rerumque ignarus imagine gaudet 730
attollens umero famamque et fata nepotum.

Such things across the shield of Vulcan, the gifts of his parent,
he marvels at, and, ignorant of the realities, he rejoices at the image 730
lifting on his shoulder the fame and the fates of his descendants.