Aeneid 1.418–440

Aen. 1.418Corripuēre viam intereā, quā sēmita mōnstrat.

Meanwhile they hurried along the road, where the path points the way.

Aen. 1.419Iamque ascendēbant collem, quī plūrimus urbī
420imminet, adversāsque adspectat dēsuper arcēs.

And now they were climbing the hill that looms very large over the city and looks down from above on the citadel facing it.

Note. plūrimus urbī imminet: 'towers very high over the city'. adversās … arcēs: the citadel facing them.

Aen. 1.421Mīrātur mōlem Aenēās, māgālia quondam,
mīrātur portās strepitumque et strāta viārum.

Aeneas marvels at the great buildings, once mere huts; he marvels at the gates, the bustle, and the paved streets.

Note. māgālia quondam: 'once (mere) huts', a Punic word for the round huts of the region. strāta viārum: 'the paving of the streets'.

Aen. 1.423Īnstant ārdentēs Tyriī pars dūcere mūrōs,
mōlīrīque arcem et manibus subvolvere saxa,
425pars optāre locum tēctō et conclūdere sulcō.

The eager Tyrians press on, some to build walls, to raise the citadel and roll up stones by hand, some to choose a site for a house and mark it out with a furrow.

Note. pars … pars: 'some … others'. Instant governs the infinitives dūcere, mōlīrī, subvolvere, optāre, conclūdere: 'they press on with building …'. sulcō: a furrow traced around a new building plot, as at a city's founding.

Aen. 1.427hīc portūs aliī effodiunt;

Here some are digging out a harbour;

Note. Line 426, iūra magistrātūsque legunt sānctumque senātum ('they choose laws, magistrates and a sacred senate'), is bracketed by this edition as a later addition and left out here, so the numbering jumps from 425 to 427.

Aen. 1.427hīc alta theātrīs
fundāmenta locant aliī, immānīsque columnās
rūpibus excīdunt, scaenīs decora alta futūrīs.

here others lay deep foundations for theatres, and cut huge columns from the cliffs, tall ornaments for stages to come.

Note. theātrīs: dative of purpose, 'for theatres'. scaenīs … futūrīs: dative, 'for stages to come'. The Carthage Aeneas sees is built like a Roman city.

Aen. 1.430Quālis apēs aestāte novā per flōrea rūra
exercet sub sōle labor, cum gentis adultōs
ēdūcunt fētūs, aut cum liquentia mella
stīpant et dulcī distendunt nectare cellās,
aut onera accipiunt venientum, aut agmine factō
435ignāvom fūcōs pecus ā praesēpibus arcent:
fervet opus, redolentque thymō frāgrantia mella.

Just as in early summer work keeps the bees busy under the sun through the flowery countryside, when they lead out the grown young of their race, or when they pack in the flowing honey and swell the cells with sweet nectar, or take the loads of those arriving, or, forming a column, drive the drones, a lazy herd, away from the hives: the work seethes, and the fragrant honey smells of thyme.

Note. The bee simile, adapted from Vergil's own Georgics (4.162–169), compares the busy Tyrians to bees. quālis … labor exercet: 'such work as keeps them busy'. venientum = venientium. ignāvum fūcōs pecus: fūcōs is the object of arcent; ignāvom pecus stands in apposition to it, 'the drones, a lazy herd'.

Aen. 1.437Ō fortūnātī, quōrum iam moenia surgunt!

'Fortunate are those whose walls are already rising!'

Note. Ō fortūnātī: Aeneas envies people whose city is already being built, while his own is still a promise.

Aen. 1.438Aenēās ait, et fastīgia suspicit urbis.

says Aeneas, and looks up at the rooftops of the city.

Aen. 1.439Īnfert sē saeptus nebulā, mīrābile dictū,
440per mediōs, miscetque virīs, neque cernitur ūllī.

Wrapped in mist he goes in, marvellous to tell, through the midst of them, mingles with the men, and is seen by no one.

Note. mīrābile dictū: supine in -ū after an adjective, 'wonderful to say'.