Aeneid 12.257–286

Aen. 12.257Tum vērō augurium Rutulī clāmōre salūtant
expediuntque manūs;

Then indeed the Rutulians greet the omen with a shout and get their hands ready;

Note. augurium … salūtant: they 'hail the omen' as favourable. expediunt manūs: they 'get their hands ready' for fighting.

Aen. 12.258prīmusque Tolumnius augur
Hoc erat, hoc, vōtīs, inquit, quod saepe petīvī.

and first the augur Tolumnius says: 'This was it, this is what I often sought in my prayers.

Note. Tolumnius the augur interprets the sign. Hoc erat, hoc: 'this was it, this', i.e. this is the sign I prayed for. vōtīs: 'with my prayers'.

Aen. 12.260Adcipiō adgnōscōque deōs;

I accept it and recognise the gods;

Note. Accipiō … agnōscō: the ritual words for accepting an omen. The edition spells them with the old prefix forms adc- and adg-.

Aen. 12.260mē, mē duce ferrum
corripite, Ō miserī, quōs improbus advena bellō
territat invalidās ut avēs et lītora vestra
vī populat: petet ille fugam penitusque profundō
vēla dabit.

with me, with me as your leader, seize the sword, poor wretches, whom a cruel foreigner terrifies with war like feeble birds and plunders your shores by force: he will take to flight and set sail far out on the deep.

Note. mē, mē duce: ablative absolute, 'with me, me as leader'; the repetition is urgent. miserī: vocative. quōs … territat: the 'foreign invader' (advena, Aeneas) frightens them like 'feeble birds', picking up the omen. penitus … prōfundō: 'far out on the deep'. vēla dabit: 'will set sail', i.e. run away like the eagle.

Aen. 12.264Vōs ūnanimī dēnsēte catervās
265et rēgem vōbīs pugnā dēfendite raptum.

You, with one mind, close up your companies and defend in battle the king who has been snatched from you.'

Note. dēnsēte: from dēnseō, 'close up your ranks'. rēgem … raptum: the king (Turnus) about to be 'snatched away' from them by the duel; vōbīs is dative of disadvantage.

Aen. 12.266Dīxit et adversōs tēlum contorsit in hostīs
prōcurrēns: sonitum dat strīdula cornus et aurās
certa secat.

He spoke, and running forward hurled a spear against the enemy facing him: the whistling cornel-wood shaft gives a sound and cuts the air unerringly.

Note. adversōs … in hostīs: hostīs is accusative plural (= hostēs), 'against the enemy facing him'. strīdula cornus: the 'whistling cornel-wood' shaft. certa: 'unerring', agreeing with cornus (feminine).

Aen. 12.268Simul hoc, simul ingēns clāmor et omnēs
turbātī cuneī calefactaque corda tumultū.

At once with this came a huge shout, and all the wedges of men were thrown into confusion and their hearts heated by the uproar.

Note. Simul hoc, simul …: supply fit, 'at the same time as this (happens), a great shout (rises) and …'. cuneī: the 'wedges' of soldiers. calefacta … corda: supply sunt.

Aen. 12.270Hasta volāns, ut forte novem pulcherrima frātrum
corpora cōnstiterant contrā, quōs fīda creārat
ūna tot Arcadiō coniūnx Tyrrhēna Gylippō,
hōrum ūnum ad medium, teritur quā sūtilis alvō
balteus et laterum iūnctūrās fībula mordet
275ēgregium fōrmā iuvenem et fulgentibus armīs
trānsadigit costās fulvāque effundit harēnā.

The spear flies on: as it happened, nine very handsome brothers had stood their ground opposite, all of whom one faithful Etruscan wife had borne to Arcadian Gylippus; one of these, at the waist where the stitched belt rubs the belly and the buckle bites the joints of its sides, a young man outstanding in beauty and gleaming armour, it drives through the ribs and stretches him out on the yellow sand.

Note. A long sentence; the main verb is trānsadigit near the end, with hasta as subject. ut forte: 'as it happened'. quōs … crēārat (= creāverat): the nine brothers were born to 'one faithful wife', an Etruscan, and Gylippus the Arcadian. hōrum ūnum … iuvenem: object of trānsadigit; ad medium: 'at the waist', where the stitched belt and its buckle are. effundit … harēnā: 'stretches him out on the yellow sand'.

Aen. 12.277At frātrēs, animōsa phalanx accēnsaque lūctū,
pars, gladiōs stringunt manibus, pars missile ferrum
corripiunt caecīque ruunt.

But the brothers, a spirited band and fired with grief, some draw their swords in their hands, some seize missile steel and rush blindly on.

Note. fratrēs … pars …, pars …: the subject is split: 'some … others'. accēnsa luctū: 'fired by grief'. missile ferrum: 'throwing steel', spears.

Aen. 12.279Quōs agmina contrā
280prōcurrunt Laurentum, hinc dēnsī rūrsus inundant
Trōēs Agyllīnīque et pictīs Arcadēs armīs:
sīc omnis amor ūnus habet dēcernere ferrō.

Against them run the columns of the Laurentines; from this side again the Trojans and the Agyllines and the Arcadians with painted arms pour in close-packed: so one desire holds all, to settle it with the sword.

Note. Quōs … contrā: the preposition follows its object: 'against them'. Laurentum: genitive plural of Laurentēs. Agyllīnī: the men of Agylla (Caere), an Etruscan town. pictīs … armīs: ablative of description, 'with painted arms'. sīc: 'so'. amor ūnus: 'a single desire'; dēcernere ferrō: 'to settle it with the sword'.

Aen. 12.283Dīripuēre ārās, it tōtō turbida caelō
tempestās tēlōrum ac ferreus ingruit imber,
285crātērasque focōsque ferunt.

They have stripped the altars; a thick storm of weapons goes through the whole sky and an iron rain falls upon them, and they carry off the mixing-bowls and the hearths.

Note. Dīripuēre = dīripuērunt: 'they tore apart', the altars set up for the treaty. it … tempestās: 'a storm of weapons goes'. ferreus … imber: 'an iron rain'. crātērās: Greek accusative plural of crātēr, the mixing-bowls used in the ceremony; they carry them off as weapons or for safety.

Aen. 12.285Fugit ipse Latīnus
pulsātōs referēns īnfectō foedere dīvōs.

Latinus himself flees, carrying back his gods, insulted by the broken treaty.

Note. pulsātōs … dīvōs: the gods of the treaty, 'insulted' (literally 'struck') by its breach. īnfectō foedere: ablative, 'by the treaty left unfulfilled'.