Virgil: AENEID

Atque ea diversa penitus dum parte geruntur,
Irim de caelo misit Saturnia Iuno
audacem ad Turnum. luco tum forte parentis
Pilumni Turnus sacrata valle sedebat.
ad quem sic roseo Thaumantias ore locuta est: 5
'Turne, quod optanti divum promittere nemo
auderet, volvenda dies en attulit ultro.

And while these things are being carried on in a far different quarter,
Saturnian Juno sent Iris from heaven
to bold Turnus. just then by chance in the grove of his parent
Pilumnus, Turnus was sitting in a consecrated valley.
to whom thus the Thaumantian, with rosy mouth, spoke: 5
'Turnus, that which no one of the gods would dare to promise to one wishing,
behold, the rolling day has brought unasked.

Aeneas urbe et sociis et classe relicta
sceptra Palatini sedemque petit Evandri.
nec satis: extremas Corythi penetravit ad urbes 10
Lydorumque manum, collectos armat agrestis.
quid dubitas?

Aeneas, with the city and allies and fleet left behind,
seeks the scepters of the Palatine and the seat of Evander.
and not enough: he penetrated to the farthest cities of Corythus 10
and he arms a Lydian band, countryfolk gathered together.
why do you hesitate?

nunc tempus equos, nunc poscere currus.
rumpe moras omnis et turbata arripe castra.'
dixit, et in caelum paribus se sustulit alis
ingentemque fuga secuit sub nubibus arcum. 15

now is the time for horses, now to demand chariots.
break all delays and seize the disordered camp.'
she said, and into the sky on equal wings she lifted herself
and with flight cut a mighty arc beneath the clouds. 15

agnovit iuvenis duplicisque ad sidera palmas
sustulit ac tali fugientem est voce secutus:
'Iri, decus caeli, quis te mihi nubibus actam
detulit in terras? unde haec tam clara repente
tempestas? medium video discedere caelum 20
palantisque polo stellas.

the youth recognized her and raised both palms to the stars
and with such a voice followed the fleeing one:
'Iris, glory of heaven, who has borne you, driven in the clouds, down to earth to me?
whence is this so bright a tempest so suddenly?
I see the sky parting in the midst 20
and the stars scattering across the pole.

sequor omina tanta,
quisquis in arma vocas.' et sic effatus ad undam
processit summoque hausit de gurgite lymphas
multa deos orans, oneravitque aethera votis.

i follow such great omens,
whoever you are who call to arms.' and thus having spoken he advanced to the wave
and from the summit of the whirlpool he drew waters,
praying much to the gods, and he burdened the aether with vows.

Iamque omnis campis exercitus ibat apertis               25
dives equum, dives pictai vestis et auri;
Messapus primas acies, postrema coercent
Tyrrhidae iuvenes, medio dux agmine Turnus:
ceu septem surgens sedatis amnibus altus               30
per tacitum Ganges aut pingui flumine Nilus
cum refluit campis et iam se condidit alveo.
hic subitam nigro glomerari pulvere nubem
prospiciunt Teucri ac tenebras insurgere campis.
primus ab adversa conclamat mole Caicus:               35

And now the whole army was going over the open plains               25
rich in horses, rich in painted vesture and gold;
Messapus kept the foremost ranks, the Tyrrhid youths the rear,
Turnus, leader, in the middle of the column:
as the Ganges, rising high with its seven streams stilled,               30
moves through the silent course, or the Nile with its fat flood
when it flows back from the fields and now has withdrawn into its channel.
Here the Teucrians descry a sudden cloud massing with black dust
and darkness rising over the plains.
First Caicus shouts from the opposite rampart:               35

'quis globus, o cives, caligine volvitur atra?
ferte citi ferrum, date tela, ascendite muros,
hostis adest, heia!' ingenti clamore per omnis
condunt se Teucri portas et moenia complent.
namque ita discedens praeceperat optimus armis 40
Aeneas: si qua interea fortuna fuisset,
neu struere auderent aciem neu credere campo;
castra modo et tutos servarent aggere muros.

'what mass, O citizens, is rolling in black murk?
bring swiftly the iron, hand out the missiles, mount the walls,
the foe is at hand, hey!' with huge clamor on all sides
the Teucrians hide themselves within the gates and fill the walls.
for thus, departing, Aeneas, best in arms, had enjoined 40
Aeneas: if any fortune meanwhile should have arisen,
neither should they dare to draw up a battle line nor to trust to the plain;
only the camp and the safe walls they should preserve with the rampart.

ergo etsi conferre manum pudor iraque monstrat,
obiciunt portas tamen et praecepta facessunt, 45
armatique cavis exspectant turribus hostem.

therefore, although shame and wrath show that they should join hand-to-hand combat,
yet they bar the gates and carry out the precepts, 45
and, armed, they await the enemy in the hollow towers.

Turnus, ut ante volans tardum praecesserat agmen
viginti lectis equitum comitatus et urbi
improvisus adest, maculis quem Thracius albis
portat equus cristaque tegit galea aurea rubra, 50
'ecquis erit mecum, iuvenes, qui primus in hostem—?
en,' ait et iaculum attorquens emittit in auras,
principium pugnae, et campo sese arduus infert.
clamorem excipiunt socii fremituque sequuntur
horrisono; Teucrum mirantur inertia corda, 55
non aequo dare se campo, non obvia ferre
arma viros, sed castra fovere. huc turbidus atque huc
lustrat equo muros aditumque per avia quaerit.

Turnus, as, flying ahead, he had outstripped the slow column,
accompanied by twenty chosen horsemen, arrives at the city unforeseen,
whom a Thracian horse, dappled with white spots, bears, and a golden helmet with a red crest covers, 50
'will there be anyone with me, young men, who first [goes] against the foe—? Look,' he says, and, whirling a javelin, he sends it into the breezes,
the beginning of the fight, and towering he throws himself onto the plain.
his comrades catch up the shout and follow with a dread-sounding roar;
they marvel at the inert hearts of the Teucrians, 55
that they do not commit themselves to an even field, do not bring arms to meet men,
but keep to the camp. This way and that, in turbulence, he scans the walls on horseback and seeks an approach through pathless places.

ac veluti pleno lupus insidiatus ovili
cum fremit ad caulas ventos perpessus et imbris 60

and just as a wolf, having lain in ambush for a full sheepfold,
when he growls at the folds, having endured winds and rains 60

nocte super media; tuti sub matribus agni
balatum exercent, ille asper et improbus ira
saevit in absentis; collecta fatigat edendi
ex longo rabies et siccae sanguine fauces:
haud aliter Rutulo muros et castra tuenti 65
ignescunt irae, duris dolor ossibus ardet.
qua temptet ratione aditus, et quae via clausos
excutiat Teucros vallo atque effundat in aequum?
classem, quae lateri castrorum adiuncta latebat,
aggeribus saeptam circum et fluvialibus undis, 70
invadit sociosque incendia poscit ovantis
atque manum pinu flagranti fervidus implet.

past midnight; safe beneath their mothers the lambs
practice their bleating, while he, harsh and immoderate with wrath,
rages at those not present; the hunger-madness for eating, gathered long,
wearies him, and his throats dry of blood:
not otherwise, as the Rutulian looks at the walls and the camp, 65
his angers ignite, pain burns in his hard bones.
by what plan might he try the approaches, and what road
might shake the Teucrians shut in by the rampart and pour them onto the level ground?
the fleet, which lay hidden fastened to the flank of the camp,
hedged around by embankments and by riverine waves, 70
he makes for, and he calls for firebrands, his comrades exulting,
and, fervid, he fills his hand with flaming pine.

tum vero incumbunt (urget praesentia Turni),
atque omnis facibus pubes accingitur atris.
diripuere focos: piceum fert fumida lumen 75

then indeed they bear down (the presence of Turnus urges),
and all the youth girds itself with black torches.
they tore apart the hearths: the smoky fire brings a pitchy light 75

taeda et commixtam Volcanus ad astra favillam.

a torch, and Vulcan flings the commingled cinder to the stars.

Quis deus, o Musae, tam saeva incendia Teucris
avertit? tantos ratibus quis depulit ignis?
dicite: prisca fides facto, sed fama perennis.

What god, O Muses, turned aside such savage conflagrations from the Teucrians?
who drove away such fires from the rafts?
speak: ancient is the credence for the deed, but the fame perennial.

tempore quo primum Phrygia formabat in Ida 80
Aeneas classem et pelagi petere alta parabat,
ipsa deum fertur genetrix Berecyntia magnum
vocibus his adfata Iovem: 'da, nate, petenti,
quod tua cara parens domito te poscit Olympo.
pinea silva mihi multos dilecta per annos, 85
lucus in arce fuit summa, quo sacra ferebant,
nigranti picea trabibusque obscurus acernis.
has ego Dardanio iuveni, cum classis egeret,
laeta dedi; nunc sollicitam timor anxius angit.

at the time when first on Phrygian Ida Aeneas was fashioning his fleet and was preparing to seek the deep of the sea, 80
the Berecyntian genetrix herself is said to have addressed the great god with these voices: ‘grant, son, to your petitioner,
what your dear parent asks of you, now that Olympus is tamed beneath you.
a pine-wood, long beloved by me through many years, 85
a grove was on the highest citadel, to which they used to bring the sacred rites,
dark with blackening spruces and with maple beams.
these I to the Dardanian youth, when the fleet was in need,
gladly gave; now an anxious fear distresses me.

solve metus atque hoc precibus sine posse parentem, 90

resolve the fears and allow by prayers that your parent be able to do this, 90

ne cursu quassatae ullo neu turbine venti
vincantur: prosit nostris in montibus ortas.'
filius huic contra, torquet qui sidera mundi:
'o genetrix, quo fata vocas? aut quid petis istis?
mortaline manu factae immortale carinae 95
fas habeant?

let them not, shaken by any course nor by a whirlwind of wind,
be overcome: let it profit that they were born on our mountains.'
the son to her in reply, he who turns the stars of the world:
'o mother, whither do you call the fates? or what do you seek by these?
made by mortal hand—immortal keels 95
may they have right (fas)?

certusque incerta pericula lustret
Aeneas? cui tanta deo permissa potestas?
immo, ubi defunctae finem portusque tenebunt
Ausonios olim, quaecumque evaserit undis
Dardaniumque ducem Laurentia vexerit arva, 100
mortalem eripiam formam magnique iubebo
aequoris esse deas, qualis Nereia Doto
et Galatea secant spumantem pectore pontum.'
dixerat idque ratum Stygii per flumina fratris,
per pice torrentis atraque voragine ripas 105

and shall Aeneas, certain, traverse uncertain perils?
To what deity has so great a power been permitted?
rather, when, their task finished, they shall one day hold
Ausonian limits and harbors, whatever shall have escaped the waves
and the Laurentian fields shall have borne the Dardanian leader, 100
I will snatch away their mortal form and will command them
to be goddesses of the great main, such as the Nereid Doto
and Galatea cut the sea foaming at the breast.'
He had spoken, and he confirmed it by the rivers of his Stygian brother,
by the banks of the pitchy torrent and the black whirlpool’s gulf 105

adnuit, et totum nutu tremefecit Olympum.

he nodded assent, and with a nod he made all Olympus tremble.

Ergo aderat promissa dies et tempora Parcae
debita complerant, cum Turni iniuria Matrem
admonuit ratibus sacris depellere taedas.
hic primum nova lux oculis offulsit et ingens 110
visus ab Aurora caelum transcurrere nimbus
Idaeique chori; tum vox horrenda per auras
excidit et Troum Rutulorumque agmina complet:
'ne trepidate meas, Teucri, defendere navis
neve armate manus; maria ante exurere Turno 115
quam sacras dabitur pinus. vos ite solutae,
ite deae pelagi; genetrix iubet.' et sua quaeque
continuo puppes abrumpunt vincula ripis
delphinumque modo demersis aequora rostris
ima petunt.

Therefore the promised day was at hand and the Fates had fulfilled the times owed, when the outrage of Turnus admonished the Mother to drive off the torches from the sacred ships.
here first a new light flashed upon their eyes and a huge cloud seemed from Aurora to race across the sky and the Idaean choirs; then a dreadful voice fell through the airs and filled the battle-lines of the Trojans and Rutulians:
'do not tremble, Teucrians, to defend my ships, nor arm your hands; it will sooner be granted to Turnus to burn the seas than the sacred pines. you go released, go, goddesses of the deep; the Mother orders.' and straightway each stern breaks its own bonds from the banks and, in the manner of dolphins, with prows dipped, they seek the depths of the waters.

hinc virgineae (mirabile monstrum) 120

thence virginal (a wondrous prodigy) 120

reddunt se totidem facies pontoque feruntur. 122

just so many faces render themselves and are borne upon the deep. 122

Obstipuere animis Rutuli, conterritus ipse
turbatis Messapus equis, cunctatur et amnis
rauca sonans revocatque pedem Tiberinus ab alto.               125
at non audaci Turno fiducia cessit;
ultro animos tollit dictis atque increpat ultro:
'Troianos haec monstra petunt, his Iuppiter ipse
auxilium solitum eripuit: non tela neque ignis
exspectant Rutulos. ergo maria invia Teucris,               130
nec spes ulla fugae: rerum pars altera adempta est,
terra autem in nostris manibus, tot milia gentes
arma ferunt Italae. nil me fatalia terrent,
si qua Phryges prae se iactant, responsa deorum;
sat fatis Venerique datum, tetigere quod arva               135

The Rutulians were astounded in spirit; he himself, Messapus, was terrified,
with his horses thrown into turmoil; and the river
Tiberinus, hoarsely sounding, hesitates and draws back its step from the deep.               125
but confidence did not depart from bold Turnus;
of his own accord he raises their spirits with words and even rebukes them in turn:
'These monsters aim at the Trojans; from these Jupiter himself
has snatched the customary aid: neither weapons nor fire
await the Rutulians. Therefore the seas are pathless to the Teucrians,               130
nor is there any hope of flight: one part of their options has been taken away,
but the land is in our hands; so many thousands the Italian
nations bear arms. No fated responses, whatever the Phrygians
flaunt before themselves, the responses of the gods, frighten me;
enough has been granted to the Fates and to Venus, in that they have touched the fields.               135

fertilis Ausoniae Troes. sunt et mea contra
fata mihi, ferro sceleratam exscindere gentem
coniuge praerepta; nec solos tangit Atridas
iste dolor, solisque licet capere arma Mycenis.
"sed periisse semel satis est": peccare fuisset 140
ante satis, penitus modo non genus omne perosos
femineum.

the Trojans are fertile for Ausonia. And I too have in turn my own fates for me: to extirpate with iron the criminal race, my consort having been snatched away; nor does that grief touch the Atridae alone, nor is it permitted for Mycenae alone to take up arms. "but 'to have perished once is enough'": it would have been enough to sin before, provided only that they had not utterly come to hate the whole female race. 140

quibus haec medii fiducia valli
fossarumque morae, leti discrimina parva,
dant animos; at non viderunt moenia Troiae
Neptuni fabricata manu considere in ignis? 145
sed vos, o lecti, ferro qui scindere vallum
apparat et mecum invadit trepidantia castra?
non armis mihi Volcani, non mille carinis
est opus in Teucros. addant se protinus omnes
Etrusci socios.

to whom this confidence of the middle rampart
and the delays of the ditches, the slight boundaries from death,
give courage; but did they not see the walls of Troy,
fabricated by Neptune’s hand, settle into the fires? 145
but you, O chosen—who is it that prepares to cleave the rampart with steel
and with me invades the quivering camp?
I have no need of Vulcan’s arms, nor of a thousand ships,
against the Teucrians. let all the Etruscans forthwith add themselves
as allies.

tenebras et inertia furta 150

the darkness and inert thefts 150

Palladii caesis late custodibus arcis
ne timeant, nec equi caeca condemur in aluo:
luce palam certum est igni circumdare muros.
haud sibi cum Danais rem faxo et pube Pelasga
esse ferant, decimum quos distulit Hector in annum.               155
nunc adeo, melior quoniam pars acta diei,
quod superest, laeti bene gestis corpora rebus
procurate, viri, et pugnam sperate parari.'
interea vigilum excubiis obsidere portas
cura datur Messapo et moenia cingere flammis.               160
bis septem Rutuli muros qui milite servent
delecti, ast illos centeni quemque sequuntur
purpurei cristis iuvenes auroque corusci.
discurrunt variantque vices, fusique per herbam
indulgent vino et vertunt crateras aenos.               165

With the guardians of the Palladian citadel cut down far and wide,
let them not fear, nor are we shut up in the blind belly of a horse:
in daylight, openly, it is fixed to surround the walls with fire.
I will see to it that they do not claim they have to do with the Danaans
and Pelasgian youth, whom Hector put off till the tenth year.               155
Now then, since the better part of the day has been spent,
as for what remains, joyfully, with deeds well done, tend your bodies,
men, and hope that battle is being prepared.'
Meanwhile the charge is given to Messapus to beset the gates with the watches of sentries
and to gird the walls with flames.               160
Twice seven Rutulians, chosen to keep the walls with soldiery;
but a hundred purple-crested youths, flashing with gold, follow each of them.
They run to and fro and vary the watches, and, spread over the grass,
they indulge in wine and keep the bronze kraters turning.               165

conlucent ignes, noctem custodia ducit
insomnem ludo.

the fires shine together, the watch leads the night sleepless with sport
unsleeping in play.

Haec super e vallo prospectant Troes et armis
alta tenent, nec non trepidi formidine portas
explorant pontisque et propugnacula iungunt, 170
tela gerunt. instat Mnestheus acerque Serestus,
quos pater Aeneas, si quando adversa vocarent,
rectores iuvenum et rerum dedit esse magistros.
omnis per muros legio sortita periclum
excubat exercetque vices, quod cuique tuendum est. 175

Over these things from the rampart the Trojans look out and with arms
hold the heights, and likewise, trembling with fear, they explore the gates
and join the bridges and the battlements, 170
they bear weapons. Mnestheus presses on and keen Serestus,
whom father Aeneas, if ever adverse things should call,
appointed to be rulers of the youths and masters of affairs.
Every legion along the walls, the peril having been allotted,
keeps watch and exercises shifts, what for each is to be guarded. 175

Nisus erat portae custos, acerrimus armis,
Hyrtacides, comitem Aeneae quem miserat Ida
venatrix iaculo celerem levibusque sagittis,
et iuxta comes Euryalus, quo pulchrior alter
non fuit Aeneadum Troiana neque induit arma, 180
ora puer prima signans intonsa iuventa.
his amor unus erat pariterque in bella ruebant;
tum quoque communi portam statione tenebant.
Nisus ait: 'dine hunc ardorem mentibus addunt,
Euryale, an sua cuique deus fit dira cupido? 185
aut pugnam aut aliquid iamdudum invadere magnum
mens agitat mihi, nec placida contenta quiete est.

Nisus was the gate’s guard, most keen in arms,
the son of Hyrtacus, whom huntress Ida had sent as Aeneas’s companion,
swift with the javelin and with light arrows,
and next to him his companion Euryalus, than whom a fairer other
of the Aeneads there was not, nor did Trojan arms ever clothe one more beautiful; 180
a boy, his face marked by first, unshorn youth.
to these two there was one love, and side by side they rushed into wars;
then too they held the gate in a shared station.
Nisus says: “Do the gods add this ardor to minds,
Euryalus, or does each one’s own dire desire become his god? 185
my mind has long been urging me to invade either a fight or something great,
nor is it content with placid quiet.”

cernis quae Rutulos habeat fiducia rerum:
lumina rara micant, somno vinoque soluti
procubuere, silent late loca. percipe porro 190

You see what confidence of affairs holds the Rutulians:
scant lights flicker; loosened by sleep and wine
they have sunk down; the places are silent far and wide. Perceive furthermore 190

quid dubitem et quae nunc animo sententia surgat.
Aenean acciri omnes, populusque patresque,
exposcunt, mittique viros qui certa reportent.
si tibi quae posco promittunt (nam mihi facti
fama sat est), tumulo videor reperire sub illo 195
posse viam ad muros et moenia Pallantea.'
obstipuit magno laudum percussus amore
Euryalus, simul his ardentem adfatur amicum:
'mene igitur socium summis adiungere rebus,
Nise, fugis?

what should I doubt, and what decision now rises in my mind.
That Aeneas be summoned, both the people and the fathers
demand, and that men be sent to report sure things.
If they promise to you the things I ask (for to me the fame
of the deed is enough), under that mound I seem able to find 195
a way to the walls and the Pallantean ramparts.'
Euryalus stood aghast, smitten by a great love of praises,
and at once addresses his burning friend with these words:
'Do you then, Nisus, flee from adding me as associate
to the highest enterprises?'

solum te in tanta pericula mittam? 200
non ita me genitor, bellis adsuetus Opheltes,
Argolicum terrorem inter Troiaeque labores
sublatum erudiit, nec tecum talia gessi
magnanimum Aenean et fata extrema secutus:
est hic, est animus lucis contemptor et istum 205

Shall I send you alone into such great dangers? 200
Not thus did my begetter, Opheltes, inured to wars,
train me, reared amid the Argolic terror and the toils of Troy,
nor have I with you borne myself in such a way, having followed
magnanimous Aeneas and his utmost fates:
there is here, there is a spirit a contemner of the light, and that 205

qui vita bene credat emi, quo tendis, honorem.'
Nisus ad haec: 'equidem de te nil tale verebar,
nec fas; non ita me referat tibi magnus ovantem
Iuppiter aut quicumque oculis haec aspicit aequis.
sed si quis (quae multa vides discrimine tali)                210
si quis in adversum rapiat casusve deusve,
te superesse velim, tua vita dignior aetas.
sit qui me raptum pugna pretiove redemptum
mandet humo, solita aut si qua id Fortuna vetabit,
absenti ferat inferias decoretque sepulcro.               215
neu matri miserae tanti sim causa doloris,
quae te sola, puer, multis e matribus ausa
persequitur, magni nec moenia curat Acestae.'
ille autem: 'causas nequiquam nectis inanis
nec mea iam mutata loco sententia cedit.               220

who deems the honor to which you strive well bought by life.'
Nisus to this: 'indeed I feared nothing of the kind about you, nor were it right; not so may great Jupiter in triumph bring me back to you, or whoever looks upon these things with even eyes.
but if anyone (as you see, many in such a crisis)                210
if anyone, chance or some god, should carry me into adversity,
I would wish you to survive; your age is more worthy of life.
let there be one who will commit me, snatched in battle or ransomed for a price,
to the earth; or if Fortune in her wonted way shall forbid that,
let him bear funeral offerings to me absent and honor me with a tomb.               215
and let me not be the cause of so great a grief to your wretched mother,
who alone, boy, out of many mothers has dared
to follow you, nor does she care for the walls of great Acesta.'
but he in turn: 'you weave vain empty causes to no purpose,
nor does my resolve, now fixed in its place, yield.'               220

acceleremus' ait, vigiles simul excitat. illi
succedunt servantque vices; statione relicta
ipse comes Niso graditur regemque requirunt.

'let us hasten,' he says, and at the same time rouses the sentries. They
take over and keep the turns; with the station left,
he himself goes as a companion to Nisus, and they seek the king.

Cetera per terras omnis animalia somno
laxabant curas et corda oblita laborum: 225
ductores Teucrum primi, delecta iuventus,
consilium summis regni de rebus habebant,
quid facerent quisve Aeneae iam nuntius esset.
stant longis adnixi hastis et scuta tenentes
castrorum et campi medio. tum Nisus et una 230
Euryalus confestim alacres admittier orant:
rem magnam pretiumque morae fore.

The rest, across the lands, all living creatures in sleep
were loosening cares and hearts forgetful of labors: 225
the foremost leaders of the Teucrians, the chosen youth,
were holding council about the highest affairs of the realm,
what they should do and who should now be the messenger to Aeneas.
they stand, leaning on long spears and holding shields
in the middle of the camp and the plain. Then Nisus and together 230
Euryalus promptly, eager, beg to be admitted:
that the matter is great and there will be a price for delay.

primus Iulus
accepit trepidos ac Nisum dicere iussit.
tum sic Hyrtacides: 'audite o mentibus aequis
Aeneadae, neve haec nostris spectentur ab annis 235

first Iulus
received them, trembling, and ordered Nisus to speak.
then thus the Hyrtacid: 'hear, O Aeneadae, with even-minded hearts,
and let these things not be regarded according to our years 235

quae ferimus. Rutuli somno vinoque soluti
conticuere. locum insidiis conspeximus ipsi,
qui patet in bivio portae quae proxima ponto.

which we bring forward. The Rutulians, loosened by sleep and wine,
have fallen silent. We ourselves have spotted a place for ambush,
which lies open at the fork of the gate that is nearest to the sea.

interrupti ignes aterque ad sidera fumus
erigitur. si fortuna permittitis uti               240
quaesitum Aenean et moenia Pallantea,
mox hic cum spoliis ingenti caede peracta
adfore cernetis. nec nos via fallit euntis:
vidimus obscuris primam sub vallibus urbem
venatu adsiduo et totum cognovimus amnem.'               245
hic annis gravis atque animi maturus Aletes:
'di patrii, quorum semper sub numine Troia est,
non tamen omnino Teucros delere paratis,
cum talis animos iuvenum et tam certa tulistis
pectora.' sic memorans umeros dextrasque tenebat               250

the fires are interrupted, and black smoke is raised to the stars.
if you permit Fortune to be employed to seek out Aeneas and the Pallantean walls,               240
soon here, with spoils, once a huge slaughter has been accomplished,
you will behold us present. nor does the route for our going deceive us:
we have seen the foremost city beneath shadowy valleys
by continual hunting, and we have come to know the whole river.'                245
here Aletes, weighty with years and mature in spirit:
'ancestral gods, under whose numen Troy always is,
you are not, however, altogether preparing to destroy the Teucrians,
since you have borne such spirits of youths and such sure hearts.'
so speaking he was holding their shoulders and right hands.               250

amborum et vultum lacrimis atque ora rigabat.
'quae vobis, quae digna, viri, pro laudibus istis
praemia posse rear solvi? pulcherrima primum
di moresque dabunt vestri: tum cetera reddet
actutum pius Aeneas atque integer aevi 255
Ascanius meriti tanti non immemor umquam.'
'immo ego vos, cui sola salus genitore reducto,'
excipit Ascanius 'per magnos, Nise, penatis
Assaracique larem et canae penetralia Vestae
obtestor, quaecumque mihi fortuna fidesque est, 260
in vestris pono gremiis.

and he was wetting with tears the countenance and the faces of both.
'what prizes for you, what worthy, men, do I suppose can be paid in return for those praises?
the most beautiful first the gods and your own mores will grant: then the rest dutiful Aeneas will render
forthwith, and Ascanius, in the fullness of his years, 255
never at any time unmindful of so great a desert.'
'nay, I— for whom the only safety is with my father brought back—,'
Ascanius takes it up, 'by the great Penates, Nisus, and the Lar of Assaracus and the gray inner-sanctuary of Vesta
I adjure, whatever fortune and good faith are mine, 260
I place in your bosoms.

revocate parentem,
reddite conspectum; nihil illo triste recepto.
bina dabo argento perfecta atque aspera signis
pocula, devicta genitor quae cepit Arisba,
et tripodas geminos, auri duo magna talenta, 265

call back my parent,
restore his sight; nothing is sad with him recovered.
I will give two cups perfected in silver and rough with figures,
which my father took when Arisba was vanquished,
and twin tripods, two great talents of gold, 265

cratera antiquum quem dat Sidonia Dido.
si vero capere Italiam sceptrisque potiri
contigerit victori et praedae dicere sortem,
vidisti, quo Turnus equo, quibus ibat in armis
aureus; ipsum illum, clipeum cristasque rubentis 270
excipiam sorti, iam nunc tua praemia, Nise.
praeterea bis sex genitor lectissima matrum
corpora captivosque dabit suaque omnibus arma,
insuper his campi quod rex habet ipse Latinus.

the ancient bowl which Sidonian Dido gives.
but if indeed it shall befall the victor to seize Italy and to possess the scepters,
and to declare the lot of the plunder,
you have seen, on what horse Turnus, in what arms he went forth,
golden; that very horse itself, the shield and the ruddy crests 270
I will reserve from the lot—already now your prizes, Nisus.
moreover, my father will give twice six, the choicest bodies of mothers,
matrons, and captives, and to all his own arms,
over and above these, what of the field King Latinus himself possesses.

te vero, mea quem spatiis propioribus aetas 275
insequitur, venerande puer, iam pectore toto
accipio et comitem casus complector in omnis.
nulla meis sine te quaeretur gloria rebus:
seu pacem seu bella geram, tibi maxima rerum
verborumque fides.' contra quem talia fatur 280

but you, whom my age pursues at nearer intervals, 275
venerable boy, I now with my whole breast receive,
and I embrace you as a comrade in all fortunes.
no glory in my affairs shall be sought without you:
whether I conduct peace or wars, to you shall be the greatest faith
of things and of words.' in reply to whom he speaks such things: 280

Euryalus: 'me nulla dies tam fortibus ausis
dissimilem arguerit; tantum fortuna secunda
haud adversa cadat. sed te super omnia dona
unum oro: genetrix Priami de gente vetusta
est mihi, quam miseram tenuit non Ilia tellus 285
mecum excedentem, non moenia regis Acestae.
hanc ego nunc ignaram huius quodcumque pericli
inque salutatam linquo (nox et tua testis
dextera), quod nequeam lacrimas perferre parentis.

Euryalus: 'no day will arraign me as unlike to such brave undertakings;
only let favorable fortune, not adverse, befall. But of you above all gifts
I beg one thing: I have a mother, of Priam’s ancient race,
whom, wretched, neither the Iliac land held back, departing with me, nor the walls of king Acestes. 285
this woman I now leave unaware of this whatever danger
and un-saluted (night and your right hand are witness), because I cannot endure
a parent’s tears.

at tu, oro, solare inopem et succurre relictae. 290
hanc sine me spem ferre tui, audentior ibo
in casus omnis.' percussa mente dedere
Dardanidae lacrimas, ante omnis pulcher Iulus,
atque animum patriae strinxit pietatis imago.
tum sic effatur: 295

but you, I beg, solace the needy and succor the forsaken. 290
let her, without me, bear this hope of you; more daring I will go
into every hazard.' with mind smitten the Dardanians shed tears,
before all fair Iulus, and the image of paternal piety tightened his spirit.
then he speaks thus: 295

'sponde digna tuis ingentibus omnia coeptis.
namque erit ista mihi genetrix nomenque Creusae
solum defuerit, nec partum gratia talem
parva manet. casus factum quicumque sequentur,
per caput hoc iuro, per quod pater ante solebat: 300
quae tibi polliceor reduci rebusque secundis,
haec eadem matrique tuae generique manebunt.'
sic ait inlacrimans; umero simul exuit ensem
auratum, mira quem fecerat arte Lycaon
Cnosius atque habilem vagina aptarat eburna. 305
dat Niso Mnestheus pellem horrentisque leonis
exuvias, galeam fidus permutat Aletes.

'I pledge all things worthy of your vast undertakings.
for that woman shall be to me a mother, and only the name of Creusa
will have been lacking, nor does a small favor remain
for such an offspring. Whatever chances may follow the deed,
by this head I swear, by which my father was wont before: 300
what I promise to you returned and with affairs favorable,
these same things shall abide for your mother and for your lineage.'
Thus he speaks in tears; and at once he strips from his shoulder the sword
overlaid with gold, which Lycaon the Cnossian had made with wondrous art
and had fitted with a handy sheath of ivory. 305
Mnestheus gives to Nisus a pelt and the bristling spoils of a lion,
faithful Aletes exchanges a helmet.

protinus armati incedunt; quos omnis euntis
primorum manus ad portas, iuvenumque senumque,
prosequitur votis. nec non et pulcher Iulus, 310

straightway they advance, armed; whom, as they go,
the whole band of the chiefs to the gates, both of youths and of old men,
escorts with vows. And likewise the fair Iulus, 310

ante annos animumque gerens curamque virilem,
multa patri mandata dabat portanda; sed aurae
omnia discerpunt et nubibus inrita donant.

before his years, bearing a spirit and a virile care,
he kept giving many messages to be carried to his father; but the breezes
tear them all apart and donate them, ineffectual, to the clouds.

Egressi superant fossas noctisque per umbram
castra inimica petunt, multis tamen ante futuri 315
exitio. passim somno vinoque per herbam
corpora fusa vident, arrectos litore currus,
inter lora rotasque viros, simul arma iacere,
vina simul. prior Hyrtacides sic ore locutus:
'Euryale, audendum dextra: nunc ipsa vocat res. 320
hac iter est.

Having gone forth, they surmount the ditches and through the shadow of night seek the hostile camp, yet destined beforehand to be the doom of many. 315
Everywhere they see bodies poured out over the grass by sleep and wine, chariots upraised along the shore, men among reins and wheels, weapons lying as well, and wine as well. First the Hyrtacid spoke thus with his mouth: “Euryalus, we must dare with the right hand: now the very situation calls. 320
this is the way.”

tu, ne qua manus se attollere nobis
a tergo possit, custodi et consule longe;
haec ego vasta dabo et lato te limite ducam.'
sic memorat vocemque premit, simul ense superbum
Rhamnetem adgreditur, qui forte tapetibus altis 325

you, lest any band raise itself against us
from the rear, keep watch and look out from afar;
these I will lay waste, and I will lead you along a broad path.'
thus he speaks and suppresses his voice, and at once with his sword he attacks proud
Rhamnes, who by chance upon high tapestries 325

exstructus toto proflabat pectore somnum,
rex idem et regi Turno gratissimus augur,
sed non augurio potuit depellere pestem.
tris iuxta famulos temere inter tela iacentis
armigerumque Remi premit aurigamque sub ipsis               330
nactus equis ferroque secat pendentia colla.
tum caput ipsi aufert domino truncumque relinquit
sanguine singultantem; atro tepefacta cruore
terra torique madent. nec non Lamyrumque Lamumque
et iuvenem Serranum, illa qui plurima nocte               335
luserat, insignis facie, multoque iacebat
membra deo victus—felix, si protinus illum
aequasset nocti ludum in lucemque tulisset:
impastus ceu plena leo per ovilia turbans
(suadet enim vesana fames) manditque trahitque               340

built up high he was blowing sleep from his whole breast,
a king as well and to King Turnus a most-pleasing augur,
but not by augury could he drive away the pest.
three servants nearby, lying recklessly among the weapons,
and Remus’s armiger he presses, and the charioteer, found beneath the very 330
horses, and with iron he cuts the pendent necks.
then from the master himself he takes off the head and leaves the trunk
hiccupping with blood; the earth, warmed with black gore,
and the couches, are soaked. and likewise Lamyrus and Lamus
and the youth Serranus, who that night had played most,
notable in face, and he was lying, his limbs overcome by much god (wine)—fortunate, if straightway he had
matched his game to the night and carried it into the light:
unfed, like a lion disturbing through full sheepfolds
(for mad hunger urges) he bites and he drags

molle pecus mutumque metu, fremit ore cruento.
nec minor Euryali caedes; incensus et ipse
perfurit ac multam in medio sine nomine plebem,
Fadumque Herbesumque subit Rhoetumque Abarimque
ignaros; Rhoetum vigilantem et cuncta videntem, 345
sed magnum metuens se post cratera tegebat.
pectore in adverso totum cui comminus ensem
condidit adsurgenti et multa morte recepit.

the soft flock, mute with fear; he bellows with a blood-stained mouth.
nor is the slaughter of Euryalus less; incensed, he too
rages madly and lays low much nameless common-folk in the midst,
and he comes upon Fadus and Herbesus and Rhoetus and Abaris
unaware; Rhoetus, awake and seeing all, 345
but in great fear was hiding himself behind a crater.
into his opposite breast, as he was rising, at close quarters he buried
the whole sword, and drew it back with much death.

purpuream vomit ille animam et cum sanguine mixta
vina refert moriens, hic furto fervidus instat. 350
iamque ad Messapi socios tendebat; ibi ignem
deficere extremum et religatos rite videbat
carpere gramen equos, breviter cum talia Nisus
(sensit enim nimia caede atque cupidine ferri)
'absistamus' ait, 'nam lux inimica propinquat. 355

He vomits forth his purple life-breath and, dying, brings up wines mixed with blood; this one, fervid, presses on in furtive fashion. 350
and now he was tending toward Messapus’s comrades; there he saw the final fire failing and the horses duly tethered cropping the grass, when briefly Nisus
(for he perceived that he was being borne away by excessive slaughter and cupidity)
“let us desist,” he said, “for hostile light approaches.” 355

poenarum exhaustum satis est, via facta per hostis.'
multa virum solido argento perfecta relinquunt
armaque craterasque simul pulchrosque tapetas.
Euryalus phaleras Rhamnetis et aurea bullis
cingula, Tiburti Remulo ditissimus olim 360
quae mittit dona, hospitio cum iungeret absens,
Caedicus; ille suo moriens dat habere nepoti;
post mortem bello Rutuli pugnaque potiti:
haec rapit atque umeris nequiquam fortibus aptat.
tum galeam Messapi habilem cristisque decoram 365
induit.

enough of penalties has been drained; a way has been made through the foes.'
they leave behind many pieces of men’s gear finished in solid silver,
and arms and craters together and beautiful tapestries.
Euryalus (the phalerae of Rhamnes and the golden belts with bosses),
gifts which Caedicus, once most wealthy, sent to the Tiburtine Remulus, 360
when, though absent, he would join him in guest-friendship:
he, dying, gives them to his own grandson to have;
after his death the Rutuli, masters by war and by battle, got them:
these he snatches and fits upon his shoulders, strong but in vain.
then the helmet of Messapus, handy and adorned with crests, 365
he puts on.

excedunt castris et tuta capessunt.

they depart from the camp and make for safety.

Interea praemissi equites ex urbe Latina,
cetera dum legio campis instructa moratur,
ibant et Turno regi responsa ferebant,
ter centum, scutati omnes, Volcente magistro. 370
iamque propinquabant castris murosque subibant
cum procul hos laevo flectentis limite cernunt,
et galea Euryalum sublustri noctis in umbra
prodidit immemorem radiisque adversa refulsit.
haud temere est visum.

Meanwhile the horsemen sent ahead from the Latin city,
while the rest of the legion delays, drawn up on the plains,
were going and were bearing answers to King Turnus,
three hundred, all with shields, with Volcens as their captain. 370
And now they were drawing near the camp and were approaching the walls
when from afar they discern these men turning aside along a leftward track,
and the helmet betrayed Euryalus in the sub-lustrous shadow of the night,
unmindful, and facing the rays it flashed back.
Not idly was it seen.

conclamat ab agmine Volcens: 375
'state, viri. quae causa viae? quive estis in armis?

Volcens shouts from the column: 375
'Halt, men. What is the cause of your way? Or who are you in arms?'

quove tenetis iter?' nihil illi tendere contra,
sed celerare fugam in silvas et fidere nocti.
obiciunt equites sese ad divortia nota
hinc atque hinc, omnemque aditum custode coronant. 380

'or whither do you hold your course?' They attempt nothing in reply,
but speed their flight into the woods and trust to the night.
The horsemen throw themselves to the well-known crossroads
on this side and that, and crown every approach with a guard. 380

silva fuit late dumis atque ilice nigra
horrida, quam densi complerant undique sentes;
rara per occultos lucebat semita callis.
Euryalum tenebrae ramorum onerosaque praeda
impediunt, fallitque timor regione viarum.               385
Nisus abit; iamque imprudens evaserat hostis
atque locos qui post Albae de nomine dicti
Albani (tum rex stabula alta Latinus habebat),
ut stetit et frustra absentem respexit amicum:
'Euryale infelix, qua te regione reliqui?               390
quave sequar?' rursus perplexum iter omne revolvens
fallacis silvae simul et vestigia retro
observata legit dumisque silentibus errat.
audit equos, audit strepitus et signa sequentum;
nec longum in medio tempus, cum clamor ad auris               395

there was a wood, far and wide bristling with brambles and black holm-oak,
horrid, which dense briars had filled on all sides;
a rare path gleamed through hidden byways.
the darkness of the branches and the burdensome booty
hinder Euryalus, and fear misleads him as to the region of the roads.               385
Nisus goes on; and now unwitting he had escaped the enemy
and had reached the places which afterwards, from Alba’s name, were called
the Alban (then King Latinus had lofty stables there),
when he halted and in vain looked back for his absent friend:
“Unhappy Euryalus, in what region did I leave you,               390
or by what way shall I follow?” Again unrolling the whole perplexed path
of the fallacious forest and at once the footprints noted back,
he strays among the silent thickets.
he hears horses, he hears the din and the signals of the pursuers;
nor was the time long in between, when a clamor to his ears               395

pervenit ac videt Euryalum, quem iam manus omnis
fraude loci et noctis, subito turbante tumultu,
oppressum rapit et conantem plurima frustra.
quid faciat? qua vi iuvenem, quibus audeat armis
eripere?

He arrives and sees Euryalus, whom now the whole band,
by the fraud of the place and of night, as sudden tumult throws all into confusion,
seizes—overborne—and attempting very many things in vain.
What should he do? With what force the youth, with what arms may he dare
to snatch him away?

an sese medios moriturus in enses               400
inferat et pulchram properet per vulnera mortem?
ocius adducto torquet hastile lacerto
suspiciens altam Lunam et sic voce precatur:
'tu, dea, tu praesens nostro succurre labori,
astrorum decus et nemorum Latonia custos.               405
si qua tuis umquam pro me pater Hyrtacus aris
dona tulit, si qua ipse meis venatibus auxi
suspendive tholo aut sacra ad fastigia fixi,
hunc sine me turbare globum et rege tela per auras.'
dixerat et toto conixus corpore ferrum               410

or should he, about to die, carry himself into the midst of the swords               400
and hasten a fair death through wounds?
more swiftly, with his upper arm drawn back, he whirls the spear-shaft,
looking up to the high Moon and thus with his voice he prays:
'you, goddess, you, being present, succor our labor,
ornament of the stars and Latonian custodian of the groves.               405
if ever my father Hyrtacus brought gifts to your altars on my behalf,
if ever I myself augmented them with my hunts
and hung beneath the dome or fixed to the sacred gables,
allow me to throw this mass into confusion, and guide the missiles through the airs.'
he had spoken, and straining with his whole body, the iron               410

conicit. hasta volans noctis diverberat umbras
et venit aversi in tergum Sulmonis ibique
frangitur, ac fisso transit praecordia ligno.
volvitur ille vomens calidum de pectore flumen
frigidus et longis singultibus ilia pulsat. 415
diversi circumspiciunt.

he hurls it. The spear, flying, cleaves the shades of night
and comes into the back of Sulmo, turned away, and there
is broken, and with the split wood passes through his precordia.
he rolls, spewing a hot river from his breast,
cold, and with long sobs he beats his flanks. 415
they look around in different directions.

hoc acrior idem
ecce aliud summa telum librabat ab aure.
dum trepidant, it hasta Tago per tempus utrumque
stridens traiectoque haesit tepefacta cerebro.
saevit atrox Volcens nec teli conspicit usquam 420
auctorem nec quo se ardens immittere possit.

All the keener for this, the same man
behold, was poising another missile at his very ear.
while they panic, the spear goes to Tagus through both temples
hissing, and, having transfixed him, it stuck fast, warmed by the brain.
atrocious Volcens rages, nor does he anywhere descry the author of the weapon 420
nor where, burning, he might hurl himself.

'tu tamen interea calido mihi sanguine poenas
persolves amborum' inquit; simul ense recluso
ibat in Euryalum. tum vero exterritus, amens,
conclamat Nisus nec se celare tenebris 425

'you, however, meanwhile, will pay to me with hot blood the penalties of both,' he says; at once, with the sword unsheathed,
he made for Euryalus. then indeed, terrified, out of his mind,
Nisus cries aloud, nor can he hide himself in the shadows 425

amplius aut tantum potuit perferre dolorem:
'me, me, adsum qui feci, in me convertite ferrum,
o Rutuli! mea fraus omnis, nihil iste nec ausus
nec potuit; caelum hoc et conscia sidera testor;
tantum infelicem nimium dilexit amicum.' 430
talia dicta dabat, sed viribus ensis adactus
transadigit costas et candida pectora rumpit.
volvitur Euryalus leto, pulchrosque per artus
it cruor inque umeros cervix conlapsa recumbit:
purpureus veluti cum flos succisus aratro 435
languescit moriens, lassove papavera collo
demisere caput pluvia cum forte gravantur.

no longer could he endure so great a grief:
'me, me—here I am who did it; turn the steel upon me,
O Rutulians! all the fraud is mine; that man neither dared
nor could; this heaven and the conscious stars I call to witness;
only—he, unlucky—loved his friend too much.' 430
such words he was giving, but the sword, driven with force,
passes through his ribs and bursts his white breast.
Euryalus rolls in death, and over his beautiful limbs
goes the gore, and his neck, collapsed, sinks upon his shoulders:
just as when a purple flower, cut down by the plough, 435
languishes dying, or poppies with weary neck
have let fall the head when by chance they are weighted with rain.

at Nisus ruit in medios solumque per omnis
Volcentem petit, in solo Volcente moratur.
quem circum glomerati hostes hinc comminus atque hinc 440

but Nisus rushes into the midst and through all he seeks Volcens alone; on Volcens alone he is intent.
Around him the enemies, massed, from this side and that at close quarters 440

proturbant. instat non setius ac rotat ensem
fulmineum, donec Rutuli clamantis in ore
condidit adverso et moriens animam abstulit hosti.
tum super exanimum sese proiecit amicum
confossus, placidaque ibi demum morte quievit. 445

they drive him back. He presses on nonetheless and whirls his lightning-like sword,
until he buried it in the face of the opposing Rutulian as he shouted
and, dying, carried off the enemy’s soul.
Then upon his lifeless friend he flung himself,
pierced through, and there at last he rested in a placid death. 445

Fortunati ambo! si quid mea carmina possunt,
nulla dies umquam memori vos eximet aevo,
dum domus Aeneae Capitoli immobile saxum
accolet imperiumque pater Romanus habebit.

Fortunate both! if my songs have any power,
no day ever shall remove you from a remembering age,
so long as the house of Aeneas shall dwell by the immovable rock of the Capitol
and the Roman father shall hold imperial sway.

Victores praeda Rutuli spoliisque potiti 450
Volcentem exanimum flentes in castra ferebant.
nec minor in castris luctus Rhamnete reperto
exsangui et primis una tot caede peremptis,
Serranoque Numaque. ingens concursus ad ipsa
corpora seminecisque viros, tepidaque recentem 455
caede locum et pleno spumantis sanguine rivos.

The Rutulians, victors in booty and possessors of the spoils, 450
were carrying the lifeless Volcens, weeping, into the camp.
nor was the lament in the camp less, with Rhamnes found
bloodless and the foremost slain all together in so great a slaughter,
and Serranus and Numa. A vast concourse to the very
bodies and to the half-dead men, and to the place warm with recent 455
slaughter, and to rivulets foaming with full blood.

agnoscunt spolia inter se galeamque nitentem
Messapi et multo phaleras sudore receptas.

they recognize the spoils among themselves and the gleaming helmet
of Messapus, and the phalerae, recovered with much sweat.

Et iam prima novo spargebat lumine terras
Tithoni croceum linquens Aurora cubile.               460
iam sole infuso, iam rebus luce retectis
Turnus in arma viros armis circumdatus ipse
suscitat: aeratasque acies in proelia cogunt,
quisque suos, variisque acuunt rumoribus iras.
quin ipsa arrectis (visu miserabile) in hastis               465
praefigunt capita et multo clamore sequuntur
Euryali et Nisi.
Aeneadae duri murorum in parte sinistra
opposuere aciem (nam dextera cingitur amni),
ingentisque tenent fossas et turribus altis               470

And already Dawn was sprinkling the lands with new light,
Aurora leaving Tithonus’s saffron couch.               460
now with the sun poured in, now with things laid bare by the light,
Turnus, himself girt about with arms, rouses the men to arms;
and they marshal the bronze-clad battle lines into combats,
each man his own, and with various rumors they whet their wraths.
Nay, they even—(a pitiable sight)—on raised spears fix the heads,               465
and with much clamor parade them, of Euryalus and Nisus.
The hardy Aeneadae on the left part of the walls
set their battle line (for the right is girdled by the river),
and they hold the huge ditches and the lofty towers.               470

stant maesti; simul ora virum praefixa movebant
nota nimis miseris atroque fluentia tabo.

they stand mournful; at the same time the faces of men, affixed, moved them,
too well known to the miserable and flowing with black gore.

Interea pavidam volitans pennata per urbem
nuntia Fama ruit matrisque adlabitur auris
Euryali. at subitus miserae calor ossa reliquit, 475
excussi manibus radii revolutaque pensa.
evolat infelix et femineo ululatu
scissa comam muros amens atque agmina cursu
prima petit, non illa virum, non illa pericli
telorumque memor, caelum dehinc questibus implet: 480
'hunc ego te, Euryale, aspicio?

Meanwhile, flitting, winged Rumor, the messenger, rushes through the trembling city and glides to the ears of Euryalus’s mother.
But suddenly the warmth left the wretched woman’s bones, 475
the distaffs shaken from her hands and the spinnings unwound.
Unhappy, she flies out and with feminine ululation,
her hair torn, out of her mind she seeks at a run the walls and the ranks first,
not mindful of men, not mindful of danger and of missiles;
then she fills the sky with laments: 480
'Do I behold you thus, Euryalus?

tune ille senectae
sera meae requies, potuisti linquere solam,
crudelis? nec te sub tanta pericula missum
adfari extremum miserae data copia matri?
heu, terra ignota canibus data praeda Latinis 485

are you that belated repose of my old age,
could you leave me alone, cruel one?
and was no chance granted to your wretched mother
to address you at the last, you sent under such great perils?
alas, in an unknown land given as prey to the Latin hounds 485

alitibusque iaces! nec te tua funere mater
produxi pressive oculos aut vulnera lavi,
veste tegens tibi quam noctes festina diesque
urgebam, et tela curas solabar anilis.
quo sequar?

and you lie a prey to the birds! nor did I, your mother, lead you forth at your funeral
or press your eyes closed or wash your wounds,
covering you with a garment which through hurrying nights and days I kept pressing on for you,
and with the loom I would solace old-womanly cares.
whither shall I follow?

aut quae nunc artus avulsaque membra 490
et funus lacerum tellus habet? hoc mihi de te,
nate, refers? hoc sum terraque marique secuta?

or what limbs, and torn-off members, 490
and mangled corpse does the earth now hold? Is this what you bring back to me of yourself,
son? Is this what I have followed by land and sea?

figite me, si qua est pietas, in me omnia tela
conicite, o Rutuli, me primam absumite ferro;
aut tu, magne pater divum, miserere, tuoque 495
invisum hoc detrude caput sub Tartara telo,
quando aliter nequeo crudelem abrumpere vitam.'
hoc fletu concussi animi, maestusque per omnis
it gemitus, torpent infractae ad proelia vires.
illam incendentem luctus Idaeus et Actor 500

Transfix me, if there is any piety; at me hurl all your weapons,
O Rutulians; with iron consume me first;
or you, great father of the gods, have mercy, and with your 495
weapon thrust this hated head down beneath Tartarus,
since otherwise I cannot break off this cruel life.'
At this weeping their spirits are shaken, and a mournful
groan goes through all; their broken forces grow numb for battles.
Idaeus and Actor, stoking her griefs, 500

Ilionei monitu et multum lacrimantis Iuli
corripiunt interque manus sub tecta reponunt.

At Ilioneus’s monition and of Iulus, weeping much,
they snatch her up and, between their hands, put her back beneath the roofs.

At tuba terribilem sonitum procul aere canoro
increpuit, sequitur clamor caelumque remugit.
accelerant acta pariter testudine Volsci 505
et fossas implere parant ac vellere vallum;
quaerunt pars aditum et scalis ascendere muros,
qua rara est acies interlucetque corona
non tam spissa viris. telorum effundere contra
omne genus Teucri ac duris detrudere contis, 510
adsueti longo muros defendere bello.

But the trumpet with sonorous bronze rang out a terrible sound afar,
a clamor follows and the sky bellows back.
they hasten, the Volsci, with the tortoise equally advanced, 505
and prepare to fill the fosses and to tear down the rampart;
some seek an entrance and to climb the walls with ladders,
where the battle-line is thin and the crown shines through,
not so thick with men. The Teucrians pour forth against them every kind of
missile and shove them down with hard pikes, 510
accustomed to defend the walls in a long war.

saxa quoque infesto volvebant pondere, si qua
possent tectam aciem perrumpere, cum tamen omnis
ferre iuvet subter densa testudine casus.
nec iam sufficiunt. nam qua globus imminet ingens, 515

they also were rolling stones with hostile weight, if in any way
they might be able to break through the roofed battle-line, while yet it profits all
to bear every onfall beneath the dense tortoise.
nor now do they suffice. for where a huge mass overhangs, threatening, 515

immanem Teucri molem volvuntque ruuntque,
quae stravit Rutulos late armorumque resolvit
tegmina. nec curant caeco contendere Marte
amplius audaces Rutuli, sed pellere vallo
missilibus certant. 520
parte alia horrendus visu quassabat Etruscam
pinum et fumiferos infert Mezentius ignis;
at Messapus equum domitor, Neptunia proles,
rescindit vallum et scalas in moenia poscit.

The Teucrians roll and rush an immense mass, which laid the Rutulians low far and wide and loosed the coverings of their arms. Nor do the audacious Rutuli care to contend in blind Mars any longer, but they vie to drive them from the rampart with missiles. 520
elsewhere Mezentius, horrendous to behold, was brandishing an Etruscan pine and brings in smoke-bearing fires; but Messapus, horse-tamer, Neptune’s offspring, cuts down the rampart and calls for ladders against the walls.

Vos, o Calliope, precor, aspirate canenti 525
quas ibi tum ferro strages, quae funera Turnus
ediderit, quem quisque virum demiserit Orco,
et mecum ingentis oras evolvite belli.

You, O Calliope, I pray, breathe upon the singer 525
what slaughters there then with steel, what funerals Turnus
brought forth, what man each warrior sent down to Orcus,
and with me unroll the vast margins of war.

Turris erat vasto suspectu et pontibus altis,               530
opportuna loco, summis quam viribus omnes
expugnare Itali summaque evertere opum vi
certabant, Troes contra defendere saxis
perque cavas densi tela intorquere fenestras.
princeps ardentem coniecit lampada Turnus               535
et flammam adfixit lateri, quae plurima vento
corripuit tabulas et postibus haesit adesis.
turbati trepidare intus frustraque malorum
velle fugam. dum se glomerant retroque residunt
in partem quae peste caret, tum pondere turris               540

There was a tower of vast menace to view and with high bridges,               530
well-situated in position, which the Italians with utmost strength all
strove to storm and to overturn with the extreme force of their resources;
the Trojans, in turn, to defend with stones
and, packed close, to hurl missiles through the hollow windows.
Turnus first hurled a blazing torch               535
and fastened the flame to the side, and, fanned mightily by the wind,
it seized upon the planks and clung to the doorposts, eaten away.
Dismayed, they tremble within and vainly desire a flight
from their troubles. While they mass themselves and settle back
into the part that is free from the plague, then by the weight the tower               540

procubuit subito et caelum tonat omne fragore.
semineces ad terram immani mole secuta
confixique suis telis et pectora duro
transfossi ligno veniunt. vix unus Helenor
et Lycus elapsi; quorum primaevus Helenor, 545
Maeonio regi quem serva Licymnia furtim
sustulerat vetitisque ad Troiam miserat armis,
ense levis nudo parmaque inglorius alba.

It suddenly sprawled forward, and the whole sky thunders with a crash.
the half-dead are borne to the ground, its immense mass following,
and, pierced by their own spears and their chests run through
by hard wood, they come. Scarcely did Helenor alone
and Lycus slip away; of whom Helenor, in his prime, 545
whom the handmaid Licymnia had secretly reared for the Maeonian king
and had sent to Troy with banned arms,
lightly armed with a sword and inglorious with a bare white parma (small shield).

isque ubi se Turni media inter milia vidit,
hinc acies atque hinc acies astare Latinas, 550
ut fera, quae densa venantum saepta corona
contra tela furit seseque haud nescia morti
inicit et saltu supra venabula fertur—
haud aliter iuvenis medios moriturus in hostis
inruit et qua tela videt densissima tendit. 555

and he, when he saw himself amid the thousands of Turnus,
on this side and on that the Latin battle-lines standing by, 550
like a wild beast, which, hemmed by a dense corona of hunters,
rages against the missiles and, not unknowing of death,
throws itself in and with a leap is borne above the hunting-spears—
not otherwise the youth, about to die, into the midst of the enemies
rushes and where he sees the missiles densest he makes for. 555

at pedibus longe melior Lycus inter et hostis
inter et arma fuga muros tenet, altaque certat
prendere tecta manu sociumque attingere dextras.
quem Turnus pariter cursu teloque secutus
increpat his victor: 'nostrasne evadere, demens, 560
sperasti te posse manus?' simul arripit ipsum
pendentem et magna muri cum parte revellit:
qualis ubi aut leporem aut candenti corpore cycnum
sustulit alta petens pedibus Iovis armiger uncis,
quaesitum aut matri multis balatibus agnum 565
Martius a stabulis rapuit lupus. undique clamor
tollitur: invadunt et fossas aggere complent,
ardentis taedas alii ad fastigia iactant.

but Lycus, far better in his feet, between both foe and weapons
in flight keeps to the walls, and strives with his hand to seize the high roofs
and to reach the right hands of his comrades. Turnus, pursuing him alike
by running and by spear, rebukes him thus as victor: ‘Did you hope, madman, 560
that you could escape our hands?’ At once he snatches him
as he hangs and wrenches him away with a great part of the wall:
just as when the armiger of Jove, seeking the heights, has lifted either a hare
or a swan with gleaming body by his hooked feet,
or when the wolf of Mars has snatched from the stalls a lamb, sought by its mother with many bleatings. 565
On all sides a clamor is raised: they assault and fill the ditches with an embankment,
others hurl burning torches to the roof-ridges.

Ilioneus saxo atque ingenti fragmine montis
Lucetium portae subeuntem ignisque ferentem, 570

Ilioneus with a rock and a huge fragment of the mountain strikes down Lucetius as he comes up to the gate and carries fires, 570

Emathiona Liger, Corynaeum sternit Asilas,
hic iaculo bonus, hic longe fallente sagitta,
Ortygium Caeneus, victorem Caenea Turnus,
Turnus Ityn Cloniumque, Dioxippum Promolumque
et Sagarim et summis stantem pro turribus Idan,               575
Privernum Capys. hunc primo levis hasta Themillae
strinxerat, ille manum proiecto tegmine demens
ad vulnus tulit; ergo alis adlapsa sagitta
et laevo infixa est alte lateri, abditaque intus
spiramenta animae letali vulnere rupit.               580
stabat in egregiis Arcentis filius armis
pictus acu chlamydem et ferrugine clarus Hibera,
insignis facie, genitor quem miserat Arcens
eductum Martis luco Symaethia circum
flumina, pinguis ubi et placabilis ara Palici:               585

Liger lays low Emathion, Asilas strikes down Corynaeus,
this one good with the javelin, that one with the long-deceiving arrow,
Caeneus [fells] Ortygius; Turnus [fells] Caeneus the victor;
Turnus [fells] Itys and Clonius, Dioxippus and Promolus,
and Sagar and Idas standing before the topmost towers,               575
Capys [fells] Privernus. Him at first the light spear of Themillas
had grazed; he, witless, with his covering cast aside,
stretched his hand to the wound; therefore an arrow, gliding on its wings,
was fixed deep in his left flank, and, hidden within,
burst the breathing-passages of life with a lethal wound.               580
The son of Arcens was standing in distinguished arms,
his cloak embroidered with the needle and bright with Iberian ferruginous dye,
remarkable in face; his begetter Arcens had sent him,
brought up around the Symaethian streams from the grove of Mars,
where the altar of the Palici is rich and placable.               585

stridentem fundam positis Mezentius hastis
ipse ter adducta circum caput egit habena
et media adversi liquefacto tempora plumbo
diffidit ac multa porrectum extendit harena.

Mezentius, with spears set aside, a whirring sling—
he himself three times, with the strap drawn tight, drove it around his head,
and split the middle of his opponent’s temples with molten lead,
and stretched him out, extended upon the much sand.

Tum primum bello celerem intendisse sagittam               590
dicitur ante feras solitus terrere fugacis
Ascanius, fortemque manu fudisse Numanum,
cui Remulo cognomen erat, Turnique minorem
germanam nuper thalamo sociatus habebat.
is primam ante aciem digna atque indigna relatu               595
vociferans tumidusque novo praecordia regno
ibat et ingentem sese clamore ferebat:
'non pudet obsidione iterum valloque teneri,
bis capti Phryges, et morti praetendere muros?
en qui nostra sibi bello conubia poscunt!               600

Then for the first time in war Ascanius is said to have drawn a swift arrow               590
who before was wont to terrify the skittish beasts, and to have laid low by his hand the brave Numanus, whose cognomen was Remulus, and he had lately, joined in the thalamus, the younger sister of Turnus. He, vociferating things worthy and unworthy of relation before the front line,               595
and tumid in his breast with his new kingship, was going and with clamor was bearing himself as mighty: 'Are you not ashamed to be held again by siege and rampart, you twice-captured Phrygians, and to hold forth walls against death? Lo, these are they who demand for themselves by war our marriages!'               600

quis deus Italiam, quae vos dementia adegit?
non hic Atridae nec fandi fictor Vlixes:
durum a stirpe genus natos ad flumina primum
deferimus saevoque gelu duramus et undis;
venatu invigilant pueri silvasque fatigant, 605
flectere ludus equos et spicula tendere cornu.
at patiens operum parvoque adsueta iuventus
aut rastris terram domat aut quatit oppida bello.

what god drove you to Italy, what madness drove you?
not here the Atridae nor Ulysses, a fabricator of speech:
a hard race from the stock; we bring our sons first down
to the rivers and harden them with savage frost and with the waves;
the boys keep vigil in hunting and wear out the forests, 605
their play is to wheel horses and to stretch arrows on the bow.
but the youth, patient of labors and inured to little,
either with rakes tames the earth or shakes towns in war.

omne aevum ferro teritur, versaque iuvencum
terga fatigamus hasta, nec tarda senectus 610
debilitat viris animi mutatque vigorem:
canitiem galea premimus, semperque recentis
comportare iuvat praedas et vivere rapto.
vobis picta croco et fulgenti murice vestis,
desidiae cordi, iuvat indulgere choreis, 615

All our age is worn by iron, and with the reversed spear we weary the backs of bullocks,
and sluggish senescence does not debilitate our strengths nor change the vigor of spirit: 610
we press our gray hair with the helmet, and it ever delights to bring in fresh
booty and to live by rapine. For you a garment embroidered with saffron and gleaming murex-purple,
idleness is at heart; it pleases to indulge in choruses, 615

et tunicae manicas et habent redimicula mitrae.
o vere Phrygiae, neque enim Phryges, ite per alta
Dindyma, ubi adsuetis biforem dat tibia cantum.
tympana vos buxusque vocat Berecyntia Matris
Idaeae; sinite arma viris et cedite ferro.' 620

and you have sleeves to your tunics and the headbands of mitres.
O truly Phrygian women—indeed, not Phrygians—go through the high Dindyma,
where the pipe gives its two-voiced song as is customary.
the drums and the Berecynthian boxwood of the Idaean Mother call you; leave arms to men and yield to steel.' 620

Talia iactantem dictis ac dira canentem
non tulit Ascanius, nervoque obversus equino
contendit telum diversaque bracchia ducens
constitit, ante Iovem supplex per vota precatus:
'Iuppiter omnipotens, audacibus adnve coeptis. 625
ipse tibi ad tua templa feram sollemnia dona,
et statuam ante aras aurata fronte iuvencum
candentem pariterque caput cum matre ferentem,
iam cornu petat et pedibus qui spargat harenam.'
audiit et caeli genitor de parte serena 630
intonuit laevum, sonat una fatifer arcus.
effugit horrendum stridens adducta sagitta
perque caput Remuli venit et cava tempora ferro
traicit. 'i, verbis virtutem inlude superbis!

Hurling such words and chanting dire things
Ascanius did not endure it, and, facing the horse‑sinew string,
he strained the spear, and drawing his arms in opposite directions
he stood fast, a suppliant before Jove, praying by vows:
'Jupiter Omnipotent, assent to my audacious undertakings. 625
I myself will bear to your temples the solemn gifts,
and I will set before the altars a young bull with gilded forehead,
snow‑white, and bearing his head level together with his mother,
one who already attacks with his horn and who scatters the sand with his feet.'
He heard, and the Father of heaven from the clear quarter of the sky 630
thundered on the left; at once the death‑bearing bow resounds.
the drawn arrow sped, hissing horribly, from the taut string,
and came through Remulus’s head and pierced his hollow temples with iron.
'Go, mock valor with proud words!'

bis capti Phryges haec Rutulis responsa remittunt': 635

'Twice-captured Phrygians send back these responses to the Rutulians': 635

hoc tantum Ascanius. Teucri clamore sequuntur
laetitiaque fremunt animosque ad sidera tollunt.

Only this did Ascanius. The Teucrians follow with clamor
and roar with joy and lift their spirits to the stars.

Aetheria tum forte plaga crinitus Apollo
desuper Ausonias acies urbemque videbat
nube sedens, atque his victorem adfatur Iulum: 640
'macte nova virtute, puer, sic itur ad astra,
dis genite et geniture deos. iure omnia bella
gente sub Assaraci fato ventura resident,
nec te Troia capit.' simul haec effatus ab alto
aethere se mittit, spirantis dimovet auras 645
Ascaniumque petit; forma tum vertitur oris
antiquum in Buten. hic Dardanio Anchisae
armiger ante fuit fidusque ad limina custos;
tum comitem Ascanio pater addidit.

The aetherial region then by chance long-haired Apollo
from above was watching the Ausonian battle-lines and the city
sitting on a cloud, and he addresses Iulus the victor with these words: 640
'Well done with new virtue, boy; thus is the way to the stars,
born from gods and destined to beget gods. By right all wars
that are to come settle with the race under the fate of Assaracus,
nor does Troy contain you.' As soon as he had spoken these things, from the high
aether he sends himself, he parts the breathing breezes, 645
and seeks Ascanius; then the form of his face is turned
into ancient Butes. This man formerly was the armor-bearer
of Dardanian Anchises and a faithful guard at the thresholds;
then as a companion to Ascanius the father added him.

ibat Apollo
omnia longaevo similis vocemque coloremque 650

Apollo went
in all respects like the aged one, both in voice and in color 650

et crinis albos et saeva sonoribus arma,
atque his ardentem dictis adfatur Iulum:
'sit satis, Aenide, telis impune Numanum
oppetiisse tuis. primam hanc tibi magnus Apollo
concedit laudem et paribus non invidet armis; 655
cetera parce, puer, bello.' sic orsus Apollo
mortalis medio aspectus sermone reliquit
et procul in tenuem ex oculis evanuit auram.
agnovere deum proceres divinaque tela
Dardanidae pharetramque fuga sensere sonantem. 660
ergo avidum pugnae dictis ac numine Phoebi
Ascanium prohibent, ipsi in certamina rursus
succedunt animasque in aperta pericula mittunt.

and white locks and cruel arms resounding,
and with these words he addresses ardent Iulus:
'let it be enough, descendant of Aeneas, that Numanus has met death unpunished by your weapons. great Apollo grants to you this first praise and does not envy you equal arms; 655
spare the rest, boy, from war.' thus begun, Apollo,
with mortal appearance, left off in mid-speech
and far away vanished from their eyes into thin air.
the leaders recognized the god, and the Dardanians felt the divine weapons
and the quiver sounding in his flight. 660
therefore, by the words and nod of Phoebus, they restrain
Ascanius, eager for battle; they themselves again advance into the contests
and send their spirits into open perils.

it clamor totis per propugnacula muris,
intendunt acris arcus amentaque torquent. 665

the clamor goes all along through the battlements of the walls,
they stretch fierce bows and whirl the javelin-thongs. 665

sternitur omne solum telis, tum scuta cavaeque
dant sonitum flictu galeae, pugna aspera surgit:
quantus ab occasu veniens pluvialibus Haedis
verberat imber humum, quam multa grandine nimbi
in vada praecipitant, cum Iuppiter horridus Austris 670
torquet aquosam hiemem et caelo cava nubila rumpit.

all the ground is strewn with missiles, then shields and hollow
helmets give sound with their clash; a harsh battle rises:
as great as, coming from the west with the pluvial Kids,
a shower lashes the ground, as many hailstones do the storm-clouds
precipitate into the shallows, when Jupiter, grim with the South Winds, 670
whirls the watery winter and bursts the hollow clouds in the sky.

Pandarus et Bitias, Idaeo Alcanore creti,
quos Iovis eduxit luco silvestris Iaera
abietibus iuvenes patriis et montibus aequos,
portam, quae ducis imperio commissa, recludunt               675
freti armis, ultroque invitant moenibus hostem.
ipsi intus dextra ac laeva pro turribus astant
armati ferro et cristis capita alta corusci:
quales aeriae liquentia flumina circum
sive Padi ripis Athesim seu propter amoenum                680
consurgunt geminae quercus intonsaque caelo
attollunt capita et sublimi vertice nutant.
inrumpunt aditus Rutuli ut videre patentis:
continuo Quercens et pulcher Aquiculus armis
et praeceps animi Tmarus et Mavortius Haemon               685

Pandarus and Bitias, begotten of Idaean Alcanor,
whom woodland Iaera brought up from Jove’s grove,
youths equal to their native firs and to the mountains,
open the gate, which had been entrusted by the command of the leader,               675
trusting in arms, and of their own accord they invite the enemy to the walls.
They themselves stand within to right and left before the towers,
armed with iron and with crests their high heads gleaming:
such as, around the liquid rivers of the airy heights,
whether on the banks of the Po or beside lovely Athesis,               680
twin oaks rise and lift their unshorn heads to the sky
and with lofty summit they nod.
The Rutuli burst through the approaches as soon as they saw them lying open:
immediately Quercens and fair-in-arms Aquiculus,
and Tmarus headlong in spirit and Martial Haemon               685

agminibus totis aut versi terga dedere
aut ipso portae posuere in limine vitam.
tum magis increscunt animis discordibus irae,
et iam collecti Troes glomerantur eodem
et conferre manum et procurrere longius audent. 690

either with their whole ranks, turned about, they gave their backs,
or on the very threshold of the gate they set down their life.
then anger swells the more in discordant souls,
and now the Trojans, gathered, cluster to the same place,
and they dare to join hand-to-hand and to run farther forward. 690

Ductori Turno diversa in parte furenti
turbantique viros perfertur nuntius, hostem
fervere caede nova et portas praebere patentis.
deserit inceptum atque immani concitus ira
Dardaniam ruit ad portam fratresque superbos.               695
et primum Antiphaten (is enim se primus agebat),
Thebana de matre nothum Sarpedonis alti,
coniecto sternit iaculo: volat Itala cornus
aera per tenerum stomachoque infixa sub altum
pectus abit; reddit specus atri vulneris undam               700
spumantem, et fixo ferrum in pulmone tepescit.
tum Meropem atque Erymanta manu, tum sternit Aphidnum,
tum Bitian ardentem oculis animisque frementem,
non iaculo (neque enim iaculo vitam ille dedisset),
sed magnum stridens contorta phalarica venit               705

To the leader Turnus, raging in a different quarter and throwing the men into turmoil, a message is borne that the enemy is seething with fresh slaughter and that the gates lie open.
He abandons his undertaking and, driven by immense wrath, rushes to the Dardan gate and the proud brothers.               695
and first he lays low Antiphates (for he was driving himself foremost), the bastard of lofty Sarpedon by a Theban mother, with a hurled javelin: the Italian cornel-shaft flies through the air and, fixed in the stomach, goes beneath the upper chest; the cavern of the black wound gives back a foaming stream, and the iron, fixed in the lung, grows warm.               700
then with his hand he strikes down Merops and Erymas, then he lays low Aphidnus, then Bitias, blazing in his eyes and roaring in spirit— not with a javelin (for by a javelin he would not have given up life), but a great phalarica, shrieking, came, having been hurled.               705

fulminis acta modo, quam nec duo taurea terga
nec duplici squama lorica fidelis et auro
sustinuit; conlapsa ruunt immania membra,
dat tellus gemitum et clipeum super intonat ingens.
talis in Euboico Baiarum litore quondam 710
saxea pila cadit, magnis quam molibus ante
constructam ponto iaciunt, sic illa ruinam
prona trahit penitusque vadis inlisa recumbit;
miscent se maria et nigrae attolluntur harenae,
tum sonitu Prochyta alta tremit durumque cubile 715
Inarime Iovis imperiis imposta Typhoeo.

driven but now by lightning, which neither two bull-hide skins
nor a cuirass loyal with double scale and gold
sustained; his immense limbs collapse and crash down,
the earth gives a groan and the huge shield thunders above.
such on the Euboean shore of Baiae once 710
a rocky pile falls, which, constructed earlier with great masses,
they cast into the deep; thus that thing draws its ruin
headlong and, dashed deep upon the shallows, settles;
the seas mingle and black sands are heaved up,
then at the sound tall Prochyta trembles, and the hard couch 715
Inarime, imposed by Jove’s commands upon Typhoeus.

Hic Mars armipotens animum virisque Latinis
addidit et stimulos acris sub pectore vertit,
immisitque Fugam Teucris atrumque Timorem.
undique conveniunt, quoniam data copia pugnae,               720
bellatorque animo deus incidit.
Pandarus, ut fuso germanum corpore cernit
et quo sit fortuna loco, qui casus agat res,
portam vi multa converso cardine torquet
obnixus latis umeris, multosque suorum               725
moenibus exclusos duro in certamine linquit;
ast alios secum includit recipitque ruentis,
demens, qui Rutulum in medio non agmine regem
viderit inrumpentem ultroque incluserit urbi,
immanem veluti pecora inter inertia tigrim.               730

Mars here, armipotent, added spirit and strength to the Latins
and turned sharp stimuli beneath their breast,
and he sent in among the Teucrians Flight and black Fear.
They convene from every side, since the chance for battle was given,               720
and the war-god fell upon their spirit.
Pandarus, when he sees his brother with body poured out
and in what place Fortune is, what chance drives affairs,
twists the gate with much force, the hinge reversed,
bracing with broad shoulders, and he leaves many of his men               725
shut out from the walls in hard combat;
but others he shuts in with himself and receives those rushing in,
madman, who has seen the Rutulian king breaking in with no column about him
and has even enclosed him within the city,
huge, like a tiger among inert herds of cattle.               730

continuo nova lux oculis effulsit et arma
horrendum sonuere, tremunt in vertice cristae
sanguineae clipeoque micantia fulmina mittit.
agnoscunt faciem invisam atque immania membra
turbati subito Aeneadae. tum Pandarus ingens 735
emicat et mortis fraternae fervidus ira
effatur: 'non haec dotalis regia Amatae,
nec muris cohibet patriis media Ardea Turnum.

At once a new light flashed to their eyes, and the arms
sounded horrendous; on his head the sanguine crests tremble,
and from his shield he sends glittering lightnings.
They recognize the detested face and the monstrous limbs,
the Aeneads suddenly dismayed. Then mighty Pandarus 735
leaps forth and, fervid with wrath at fraternal death,
declares: 'This is not the dotal royal palace of Amata,
nor does midmost Ardea confine Turnus within his paternal walls.

castra inimica vides, nulla hinc exire potestas.'
olli subridens sedato pectore Turnus: 740
'incipe, si qua animo virtus, et consere dextram,
hic etiam inventum Priamo narrabis Achillem.'
dixerat. ille rudem nodis et cortice crudo
intorquet summis adnixus viribus hastam;
excepere aurae, vulnus Saturnia Iuno 745

'you see the enemy camp; from here there is no power to get out.'
to him, smiling with a settled breast, turnus: 740
'begin, if there is any valor in your spirit, and engage your right hand,
here too you will tell priam that you found achilles.'
he had spoken. he, straining with his utmost forces, whirls and hurls
a spear rough with knots and with raw bark;
the breezes caught it; saturnian juno turned aside the wound. 745

detorsit veniens, portaeque infigitur hasta.
'at non hoc telum, mea quod vi dextera versat,
effugies, neque enim is teli nec vulneris auctor':
sic ait, et sublatum alte consurgit in ensem
et mediam ferro gemina inter tempora frontem 750
dividit impubisque immani vulnere malas.
fit sonus, ingenti concussa est pondere tellus;
conlapsos artus atque arma cruenta cerebro
sternit humi moriens, atque illi partibus aequis
huc caput atque illuc umero ex utroque pependit. 755

she, coming, twisted it aside, and the spear is fixed in the gate.
'but not this weapon, which my right hand with its force wields,
will you escape, for neither is he the author of the weapon nor of the wound':
so he speaks, and he rises to his sword lifted high
and with iron he splits the mid forehead between the twin temples and the beardless cheeks with a monstrous wound. 750
there is a sound, the earth is shaken by the huge weight;
dying, he lays his collapsed limbs and his arms, bloody with brain, upon the ground,
and for him in equal parts the head hung here and there from either shoulder. 755

Diffugiunt versi trepida formidine Troes,
et si continuo victorem ea cura subisset,
rumpere claustra manu sociosque immittere portis,
ultimus ille dies bello gentique fuisset.
sed furor ardentem caedisque insana cupido 760
egit in adversos.
principio Phalerim et succiso poplite Gygen
excipit, hinc raptas fugientibus ingerit hastas
in tergus, Iuno viris animumque ministrat.

The Trojans scatter, turned by trembling fear,
and if straightway the care had come upon the victor
to break the bars by hand and to let his comrades in through the gates,
that would have been the last day for the war and for the nation.
but fury and, burning, an insane desire of slaughter 760
drove him against his adversaries.
to begin with he takes Phaleris, and Gyges with his hamstring cut;
then he drives spears, snatched up, into the backs of the fleeing,
Juno ministers strength and spirit to the men.

addit Halyn comitem et confixa Phegea parma, 765
ignaros deinde in muris Martemque cientis
Alcandrumque Haliumque Noemonaque Prytanimque.
Lyncea tendentem contra sociosque vocantem
vibranti gladio conixus ab aggere dexter
occupat, huic uno deiectum comminus ictu 770

he adds Hales as a comrade and Phegeus with his shield transfixed, 765
then, unknowing on the walls and summoning Mars,
Alcandrus and Halius and Noemon and Prytanis.
Lynceus, stretching out against him and calling his comrades,
with a quivering sword, straining from the rampart, skillful with his right hand,
he forestalls; this man, cast down at close quarters by a single blow 770

cum galea longe iacuit caput. inde ferarum
vastatorem Amycum, quo non felicior alter
unguere tela manu ferrumque armare veneno,
et Clytium Aeoliden et amicum Crethea Musis,
Crethea Musarum comitem, cui carmina semper 775
et citharae cordi numerosque intendere nervis,
semper equos atque arma virum pugnasque canebat.

with the helmet the head lay far away. Then Amycus, devastator of wild beasts, than whom no other was more fortunate to anoint weapons with his hand and to arm the iron with poison, and Clytius the Aeolid, and Cretheus friendly to the Muses, Cretheus companion of the Muses, to whom songs were always dear to the heart and to stretch numbers to the strings on the cithara, 775
he ever sang of horses and the arms of men and battles.

Tandem ductores audita caede suorum
conveniunt Teucri, Mnestheus acerque Serestus,
palantisque vident socios hostemque receptum. 780
et Mnestheus: 'quo deinde fugam, quo tenditis?' inquit.
'quos alios muros, quaeve ultra moenia habetis?
unus homo et vestris, o cives, undique saeptus
aggeribus tantas strages impune per urbem
ediderit?

At last the Teucrian leaders, the slaughter of their own having been heard, convene—Mnestheus and keen Serestus—and they see their comrades straggling and the enemy admitted. 780
And Mnestheus says: 'Whither then flight, whither are you heading?'
'What other walls, or what walls beyond do you have?
Shall one man, O citizens, even though on every side hemmed in by your ramparts, have wrought such great slaughters through the city with impunity?'

iuvenum primos tot miserit Orco? 785
non infelicis patriae veterumque deorum
et magni Aeneae, segnes, miseretque pudetque?'
talibus accensi firmantur et agmine denso
consistunt. Turnus paulatim excedere pugna
et fluvium petere ac partem quae cingitur unda. 790

has he sent so many foremost youths to Orcus? 785
do you not, slack ones, both pity and feel shame for your ill-fated fatherland, for the ancient gods,
and for great Aeneas?'
Enflamed by such words they are strengthened and in a dense column they take their stand.
Turnus little by little begins to withdraw from the battle and to seek the river and the part that is girdled by the wave. 790

acrius hoc Teucri clamore incumbere magno
et glomerare manum, ceu saevum turba leonem
cum telis premit infensis; at territus ille,
asper, acerba tuens, retro redit et neque terga
ira dare aut virtus patitur, nec tendere contra               795
ille quidem hoc cupiens potis est per tela virosque.
haud aliter retro dubius vestigia Turnus
improperata refert et mens exaestuat ira.
quin etiam bis tum medios invaserat hostis,
bis confusa fuga per muros agmina vertit;               800
sed manus e castris propere coit omnis in unum
nec contra viris audet Saturnia Iuno
sufficere; aeriam caelo nam Iuppiter Irim
demisit germanae haud mollia iussa ferentem,
ni Turnus cedat Teucrorum moenibus altis.               805

At this the Teucrians press on more keenly with a great clamor
and mass their band, as a crowd presses a savage lion
with hostile weapons; but he, terrified,
harsh, gazing bitterly, goes back, and neither do anger
nor valor allow him to give his back, nor to stretch forward against them,               795
he indeed desiring this, is able through spears and men.
Not otherwise does Turnus, doubtful, carry back his hasty steps
and his mind boils over with wrath.
Nay even twice then he had attacked the midst of the foe,
twice he turned the ranks in confused flight to the walls;               800
but the band from the camp swiftly gathers all into one,
nor does Saturnian Juno dare to supply strength in opposition;
for Jupiter sent down airy Iris from heaven,
bearing to her sister not gentle commands,
unless Turnus withdraw from the high walls of the Teucrians.               805

ergo nec clipeo iuvenis subsistere tantum
nec dextra valet, iniectis sic undique telis
obruitur. strepit adsiduo cava tempora circum
tinnitu galea et saxis solida aera fatiscunt
discussaeque iubae, capiti nec sufficit umbo 810
ictibus; ingeminant hastis et Troes et ipse
fulmineus Mnestheus. tum toto corpore sudor
liquitur et piceum (nec respirare potestas)
flumen agit, fessos quatit aeger anhelitus artus.

therefore neither with his shield is the youth able thus to stand his ground,
nor with his right hand is he strong; with missiles cast in from all sides thus
he is overwhelmed. The hollow helmet clatters with incessant ringing
around his temples, and the solid bronzes give way under stones,
and the crest is shattered, nor does the boss suffice for the blows to his head 810
they redouble with spears, both the Trojans and Mnestheus himself,
lightning-like. Then sweat melts over his whole body,
and he drives a pitch-black river (nor is there power to breathe),
a sickly panting shakes his weary limbs.

tum demum praeceps saltu sese omnibus armis 815
in fluvium dedit. ille suo cum gurgite flavo
accepit venientem ac mollibus extulit undis
et laetum sociis abluta caede remisit.

then at last headlong, with a leap, he gave himself with all his arms 815
into the river. That one, with his own yellow whirlpool,
received him as he came and lifted him up with soft waves,
and sent him back, joyful, to his comrades, the slaughter washed away.