Aeneid 12.697–745

Aen. 12.697At pater Aenēās audītō nōmine Turnī
dēserit et mūrōs et summās dēserit arcēs
praecipitatque morās omnīs, opera omnia rumpit,
700laetitiā exsultāns, horrendumque intonat armīs;

But father Aeneas, hearing the name of Turnus, leaves the walls, leaves the high citadel, throws aside every delay, breaks off all his work, exulting with joy, and thunders terribly in his armour:

Note. audītō nōmine Turnī: ablative absolute, 'when the name of Turnus was heard' (Turnus has just called for single combat). dēserit … dēserit: the repeated verb stresses how completely Aeneas drops the siege. horrendum intonat: horrendum is an adverbial accusative, 'thunders terribly'.

Aen. 12.701quantus Athōs aut quantus Eryx aut ipse coruscīs
cum fremit īlicibus quantus gaudetque nivālī
vertice sē attollēns pater Appennīnus ad aurās.

as huge as Athos, or as Eryx, or as huge as father Apennine himself when he roars with his quivering holm-oaks and rejoices, lifting his snowy head to the skies.

Note. Three mountains for Aeneas' size: Athos in Greece, Eryx in Sicily, and the Apennines of Italy, ending on Italian ground. quantus … quantus … quantus: '(as) huge as …'. sē attollēns: 'raising himself'.

Aen. 12.704Iam vērō et Rutulī certātim et Trōēs et omnēs
705convertēre oculōs Ītalī, quīque alta tenēbant
moenia quīque īmōs pulsābant ariete mūrōs,
armaque dēposuēre umerīs.

Now indeed the Rutulians and the Trojans and all the Italians eagerly turned their eyes, those who held the high walls and those who were battering the foot of the walls with the ram, and they laid the arms down from their shoulders.

Note. convertēre = convertērunt (the short perfect ending -ēre is common in verse). quīque … quīque: 'both those who … and those who'. ariete: the battering-ram (ariēs, 'ram'), here scanned as three syllables, a-rye-te.

Aen. 12.707Stupet ipse Latīnus
ingentīs, genitōs dīversīs partibus orbis,
inter sē coiisse virōs et cernere ferrō.

Latinus himself is amazed that huge men, born in distant parts of the world, have met together and are deciding the issue with the sword.

Note. ingentīs = ingentēs (accusative plural in -īs), subject of coiisse and cernere in indirect statement after Stupet. cernere ferrō: 'decide (the issue) with the sword'; cernō originally means 'sift, decide'.

Aen. 12.710Atque illī, ut vacuō patuērunt aequore campī,
prōcursū rapidō, coniectīs ēminus hastīs,
invādunt Mārtem clipeīs atque aere sonōrō.

And they, as soon as the field lay open in a clear space, charging at speed and hurling their spears from a distance, rush into battle with shields and ringing bronze.

Note. ut + perfect indicative: 'as soon as'. vacuō … aequore: 'in an empty level space'. invādunt Mārtem: Mars stands for battle itself (metonymy).

Aen. 12.713Dat gemitum tellūs;

The earth groans;

Note. A three-word sentence: the earth itself responds to the clash.

Aen. 12.713tum crēbrōs ēnsibus ictūs
congeminant: fors et virtūs miscentur in ūnum.

then they redouble blow on blow with their swords: chance and courage are mingled into one.

Note. fors et virtūs miscentur in ūnum: 'chance and courage are mixed into one': no one can tell yet which will decide the fight.

Aen. 12.715Ac velut ingentī Sīlā summōve Taburnō
cum duo conversīs inimīca in proelia taurī
frontibus incurrunt;

And as on huge Sila or on the heights of Taburnus, when two bulls charge into hostile battle with lowered foreheads;

Note. A famous bull simile. Sila and Taburnus are mountains of southern Italy. conversīs … frontibus: 'with lowered (turned) foreheads'. The sentence is completed in the next one; the comparison returns with nōn aliter (sentence 10).

Aen. 12.717pavidī cessēre magistrī,
stat pecus omne metū mūtum mussantque iuvencae,
quis nemorī imperitet, quem tōta armenta sequantur;

the herdsmen have drawn back in fear, the whole herd stands dumb with dread, and the heifers murmur in doubt who will rule the grove, whom all the herds will follow;

Note. cessēre = cessērunt. quis … quem …: indirect questions after mussant, 'murmur (wondering) who …'. imperitet and sequantur are subjunctive for that reason.

Aen. 12.720illī inter sēsē multā vī volnera miscent
cornuaque obnīxī īnfīgunt et sanguine largō
colla armōsque lavant;

the bulls deal many wounds to each other with great force, and, straining, they drive in their horns and bathe their necks and shoulders in streams of blood;

Note. illī: the two bulls. obnīxī: 'pushing against each other', from obnītor. colla armōsque: 'necks and shoulders'; armus is the shoulder of an animal.

Aen. 12.722gemitū nemus omne remūgit:
nōn aliter Trōs Aenēās et Daunius hērōs
concurrunt clipeīs;

the whole grove bellows back with the groaning: just so Trojan Aeneas and the Daunian hero clash with their shields;

Note. nōn aliter: 'not otherwise', i.e. 'just so', returning from the simile to Aeneas and Turnus. Daunius hērōs: Turnus, son of Daunus. The text here prints alitur, a misprint for aliter.

Aen. 12.724ingēns fragor aethera complet.

the huge crash fills the sky.

Note. aethera: Greek accusative of aether, 'the upper air, sky'.

Aen. 12.725Iuppiter ipse duās aequātō exāmine lancēs
sustinet et fāta impōnit dīversa duōrum,
quem damnet labor et quō vergat pondere lētum;

Jupiter himself holds up two scales, balancing the beam, and puts in them the different fates of the two, to see whom the struggle dooms and with whose weight death sinks down.

Note. Jupiter weighs the two fates on a balance, an image from Homer (Iliad 22, where Zeus weighs the deaths of Achilles and Hector). quem damnet labor et quō vergat pondere lētum: indirect questions, 'whom the struggle condemns and with which weight death sinks down'.

Aen. 12.728Ēmicat hīc, impūne putāns, et corpore tōtō
altē sublātum cōnsurgit Turnus in ēnsem
730et ferit: exclāmant Trōēs trepidīque Latīnī,
arrēctaeque ambōrum aciēs.

Here Turnus springs out, thinking it safe, and rises with his whole body to the sword raised high, and strikes: the Trojans and the anxious Latins cry out, and both armies are on edge.

Note. impūne putāns: 'thinking (he could do it) safely'. arrēctae … aciēs: supply sunt, 'the battle lines are tense (on tiptoe)'.

Aen. 12.731At perfidus ēnsis
frangitur in mediōque ārdentem dēserit ictū
nī fuga subsidiō subeat.

But the treacherous sword breaks, and in the middle of the blow it deserts the burning warrior, unless flight comes to his help.

Note. nī fuga subsidiō subeat: 'unless flight comes up as a help'; subsidiō is a dative of purpose. The present subjunctive vividly imagines what would happen.

Aen. 12.733Fugit ōcior eurō,
ut capulum ignōtum dextramque aspexit inermem.

He flees, swifter than the east wind, as soon as he saw a strange hilt and his right hand unarmed.

Note. ōcior Eurō: 'swifter than the east wind' (ablative of comparison). capulum ignōtum: the hilt is unfamiliar, because (as the next sentence explains) it is not his own sword.

Aen. 12.735Fāma est praecipitem, cum prīma in proelia iūnctōs
cōnscendēbat equōs, patriō mūcrōne relictō,
dum trepidat, ferrum aurīgae rapuisse Metiscī.

The story is that in his haste, when he was mounting his yoked horses for the start of the battle, he left his father's blade behind and in his alarm snatched up the sword of his charioteer Metiscus.

Note. Fāma est: 'the story is', introducing indirect statement (praecipitem … rapuisse). cum … cōnscendēbat: 'when he was mounting'. patriō mūcrōne relictō: his father's sword, which was forged by Vulcan for Daunus.

Aen. 12.738Idque diū, dum terga dabant pālantia Teucrī,
suffēcit: postquam arma deī ad Volcānia ventumst,
740mortālis mūcrō glaciēs ceu fūtilis ictū
dissiluit;

And that served for a long time, while the Trojans were scattering and turning their backs; when it came to the god-made arms of Vulcan, the mortal blade shattered at the blow like brittle ice;

Note. terga dabant: 'were turning their backs', i.e. running away. ventumst = ventum est, impersonal passive, 'it was come', 'it came to'. arma deī … Volcānia: Aeneas' arms, made by Vulcan in Book 8. mortālis mūcrō: Metiscus' ordinary sword.

Aen. 12.741fulvā resplendent fragmina harēnā.

the fragments glitter on the tawny sand.

Note. fulvā … harēnā: 'on the tawny sand'. The word order wraps the fragments in the sand.

Aen. 12.742Ergō āmēns dīversā fugā petit aequora Turnus
et nunc hūc, inde hūc incertōs implicat orbēs
undique enim dēnsā Teucrī inclūsēre corōnā,
745atque hinc vāsta palūs, hinc ardua moenia cingunt.

So Turnus, frantic, makes for different parts of the plain in flight, and winds uncertain circles now this way, now that; for the Trojans have shut him in on every side with a dense ring, and on one side a vast marsh, on the other the high walls hem him in.

Note. huc … hūc: Greenough prints inde hūc where many editions read inde illūc. undique enim: the reason he runs in circles: he is surrounded. hinc … hinc: 'on one side … on the other'.