Aeneid 1.272–296

Aen. 1.272Hīc iam ter centum tōtōs regnābitur annōs
gente sub Hectoreā, dōnec rēgīna sacerdōs,
Mārte gravis, geminam partū dabit Īlia prōlem.

Here for three hundred whole years there will be kings of Hector's race, until a royal priestess, Ilia, pregnant by Mars, gives birth to twin offspring.

Note. regnābitur is impersonal passive: 'there will be reigning'. Īlia (Rhea Silvia), a Vestal priestess, became the mother of Romulus and Remus by Mars. Mārte gravis: 'pregnant by Mars'.

Aen. 1.275Inde lupae fulvō nūtrīcis tegmine laetus
Rōmulus excipiet gentem, et Māvortia condet
moenia, Rōmānōsque suō dē nōmine dīcet.

Then Romulus, rejoicing in the tawny hide of the she-wolf, his nurse, will take over the race, found the walls of Mars, and call the people Romans after his own name.

Note. Romulus wears the wolf-skin as a trophy of his nurse, the she-wolf. Māvortia moenia: Mavors is an old name of Mars, the father of the twins.

Aen. 1.278Hīs ego nec mētās rērum nec tempora pōnō;

For them I set no limits of space or time;

Note. hīs: the Romans (dative). mētās: a mēta was the turning-post in a chariot race; here 'boundaries'.

Aen. 1.279imperium sine fīne dedī.

I have given them rule without end.

Note. imperium sine fīne dedī: one of the most quoted lines in Latin, the core of Rome's imperial self-image. dedī is a perfect: the gift is already made.

Aen. 1.279Quīn aspera Iūnō,
280quae mare nunc terrāsque metū caelumque fatīgat,
cōnsilia in melius referet, mēcumque fovēbit
Rōmānōs rērum dominōs gentemque togātam:
sīc placitum.

Indeed, harsh Juno, who now wearies sea and land and sky with fear, will change her plans for the better and with me will cherish the Romans, the masters of the world, the people of the toga: so it has been decided.

Note. Quīn: 'nay, indeed'. in melius referet: 'will change for the better'. gentem togātam: the toga was the dress of the Roman citizen in peace. sīc placitum [est]: impersonal, 'so it has been decided'.

Aen. 1.283Veniet lūstrīs lābentibus aetās,
cum domus Assaracī Phthīam clārāsque Mycēnās
285servitiō premet, ac victīs dominābitur Argīs.

As the years slip by, an age will come when the house of Assaracus will press Phthia and famous Mycenae into slavery and rule over conquered Argos.

Note. lūstrīs lābentibus: ablative absolute; a lūstrum was a five-year period. The house of Assaracus (the Trojan royal line) will avenge Troy on the Greeks: Phthia was Achilles' home, Mycenae Agamemnon's, Argos Diomedes'. Rome conquered Greece in the second century BC.

Aen. 1.286Nāscētur pulchrā Trōiānus orīgine Caesar,
imperium ōceanō, fāmam quī terminet astrīs,—
Iūlius, ā magnō dēmissum nōmen Iūlō.

A Trojan Caesar will be born of noble origin, to bound his empire by the Ocean and his fame by the stars: Julius, a name handed down from great Iulus.

Note. This Caesar is almost certainly Augustus (Julius by adoption), though some readers take him as Julius Caesar. The qui-clause with subjunctive (terminet) expresses purpose: 'to bound his empire …'. Iūlius … nōmen: the name Julius is derived from Iulus.

Aen. 1.289Hunc tū ōlim caelō, spoliīs Orientis onustum,
290accipiēs sēcūra;

Him, loaded with the spoils of the East, you will one day receive in heaven, free from care;

Note. spoliīs Orientis: the spoils of the East, probably Augustus' victories over Antony and Cleopatra and the eastern settlement. caelō: 'in heaven' (local ablative). Venus is promised that her descendant too will be deified (vocābitur … vōtīs).

Aen. 1.290vocābitur hic quoque vōtīs.

he too will be called on in prayers.

Aen. 1.291Aspera tum positīs mītēscent saecula bellīs;

Then wars will be laid aside and the harsh ages will grow gentle;

Aen. 1.292cāna Fidēs, et Vesta, Remō cum frātre Quirīnus,
iūra dabunt;

grey-haired Faith and Vesta, Quirinus with his brother Remus, will give laws;

Note. cāna Fidēs: grey-haired Good Faith, an old Roman virtue. Remō cum frātre Quirīnus: Romulus (deified as Quirinus) reconciled with Remus, whom he had killed: a picture of civil war ended.

Aen. 1.293dīrae ferrō et compāgibus artīs
claudentur Bellī portae;

the grim gates of War will be shut with iron and close-fitting bars;

Note. The doors of the temple of Janus (Bellī portae) were shut only when Rome was at peace; Augustus closed them in 29 BC, the first time for over two centuries.

Aen. 1.294Furor impius intus,
295saeva sedēns super arma, et centum vīnctus aēnīs
post tergum nōdīs, fremet horridus ōre cruentō.

within, impious Fury, sitting on savage arms and bound behind his back with a hundred bronze knots, will roar, hideous, with bloody mouth.'

Note. Furor impius, 'godless Madness', is pictured as a prisoner chained inside the closed temple. centum … aēnīs … nōdīs: separated adjective and noun frame the line.