Aeneid 12.195–215

Aen. 12.195Sīc prior Aenēās;

So Aeneas spoke first;

Note. Sīc prior Aenēās: supply dīxit, 'so Aeneas spoke first'.

Aen. 12.195sequitur sīc deinde Latīnus
suspiciēns caelum tenditque ad sīdera dextram:
Haec eadem, Aenēā, terram mare sīdera iūrō
Lātōnaeque genus duplex Iānumque bifrontem
vimque deum īnfernam et dūrī sacrāria Dītis;

Latinus follows like this, looking up at the sky and stretching his right hand to the stars: 'By the same powers, Aeneas, I swear, by earth, sea and stars, by Latona's twin children and two-faced Janus, by the power of the gods below and the shrine of harsh Dis;

Note. suspiciēns: 'looking up at'. Haec eadem … iūrō: 'I swear by these same things'; iūrō takes the accusative of what one swears by. Lātōnae … genus duplex: Apollo and Diana, Latona's twin children. Iānum bifrontem: two-faced Janus, the god of beginnings. deum = deōrum. dūrī sacrāria Dītis: the shrine of Dis, king of the dead.

Aen. 12.200audiat haec genitor, quī foedera fulmine sancit.

let the Father hear this, who seals treaties with his thunderbolt.

Note. audiat: jussive subjunctive, 'let (the Father) hear'. fulmine sancit: 'confirms with his thunderbolt'.

Aen. 12.201Tangō ārās, mediōs ignīs et nūmina testor:
nūlla diēs pācem hanc Ītalīs nec foedera rumpet,
quō rēs cumque cadent;

I touch the altars, I call the fires between us and the gods to witness: no day will break this peace and treaty for the Italians, however things fall out;

Note. Tangō ārās: touching the altar was part of a solemn oath. mediōs ignīs: the fires that stand between the two parties. quō rēs cumque cadent: tmesis again, quōcumque split: 'however things fall out'.

Aen. 12.203nec mē vīs ūlla volentem
āvertet, nōn, sī tellūrem effundat in undās
205dīluviō miscēns caelumque in Tartara solvat;

no force will turn me from my will, not if it pours the earth into the waves in a flood and dissolves heaven into Tartarus;

Note. volentem: 'willing', i.e. against my will no force will turn me; agrees with mē. nōn, sī … effundat … solvat: 'not even if it pours … and dissolves', present subjunctives in an imagined condition.

Aen. 12.206ut scēptrum hoc (dextrā scēptrum nam forte gerēbat)
numquam fronde levī fundet virgulta nec umbrās,
cum semel in silvīs īmō dē stirpe recīsum
mātre caret posuitque comās et bracchia ferrō,
210ōlim arbos, nunc artificis manus aere decōrō
inclūsit patribusque dedit gestāre Latīnīs.

just as this sceptre' (for by chance he was holding a sceptre in his right hand) 'will never put out light foliage in shoots or give shade, once it has been cut from its lowest stem in the woods, has lost its mother and laid down its leaves and arms to the steel; once a tree, now an artist's hand has encased it in fine bronze and given it to the fathers of Latium to carry.'

Note. A comparison with an oath on the sceptre, modelled on Achilles' oath in Iliad 1. ut … numquam … fundet: 'as this sceptre will never put out'. cum semel … recīsum: 'once it has been cut back'. mātre caret: it lacks its mother, the parent tree. posuitque comās et bracchia: the leaves and branches are its 'hair' and 'arms'. arbos = arbor. aere decōrō inclūsit: 'encased in fine bronze'. The sceptre that can never grow again is the image of a treaty that can never be undone, which makes its breaking soon after all the more shocking.

Aen. 12.212Tālibus inter sē firmābant foedera dictīs
cōnspectū in mediō procerum.

With such words they confirmed the treaty between them in the sight of the nobles.

Note. Tālibus … dictīs: 'with such words'. conspectū in mediō procerum: 'in full sight of the nobles'.

Aen. 12.213Tum rīte sacrātās
in flammam iugulant pecudēs et viscera vīvīs
215ēripiunt cumulantque onerātīs lancibus ārās.

Then they duly slaughter the consecrated beasts over the flame, tear out the entrails from them while still alive, and heap the altars with laden dishes.

Note. rīte: 'with due rites'. in flammam iugulant: 'they cut the throats (of the victims) over the flame'. vīvīs: dative of separation, 'from (the animals) still alive'. onerātīs lancibus: 'with laden dishes'.