Aen. 9.530Turris erat vāstō suspectū et pontibus altīs,
opportūna locō, summīs quam vīribus omnēs
expugnāre Italī summāque ēvertere opum vī
certābant, Trōēs contrā dēfendere saxīs
perque cavās dēnsī tēla intorquēre fenestrās.There was a tower of vast height to look up at, with lofty gangways, well placed, which all the Italians strove with utmost strength to storm and with the utmost force of their resources to overturn, while the Trojans in turn defended it with stones and, crowded together, hurled weapons through the hollow loopholes. Aen. 9.535Prīnceps ārdentem coniēcit lampada Turnus
et flammam adfīxit laterī, quae plūrima ventō
corripuit tabulās et postibus haesit adēsīs.Turnus first threw a blazing torch and fixed the flame to its side, which, fanned by the wind, seized the planks and clung to the devoured doorposts. Aen. 9.538Turbātī trepidāre intus frūstrāque malōrum
velle fugam.Those inside, in turmoil, panic, and wish in vain to escape their troubles. Aen. 9.539Dum sē glomerant retrōque resīdunt
540in partem, quae peste caret, tum pondere turris
prōcubuit subitō et caelum tonat omne fragōre.While they crowd together and fall back to the part that is free from the destruction, then under the weight the tower suddenly toppled, and the whole sky thunders with the crash.
Aen. 9.542Sēminecēs ad terram, immānī mōle secūtā,
cōnfīxīque suīs tēlīs et pectora dūrō
trānsfossī lignō veniunt.Half-dead, they come to the ground, the huge mass following, pierced by their own weapons, their breasts transfixed by the hard timber. Aen. 9.544Vix ūnus Helenor
545et Lycus ēlāpsī.Scarcely Helenor and Lycus alone escaped. Aen. 9.545Quōrum prīmaevus Helenor,
Maeoniō rēgī quem serva Licymnia fūrtim
sustulerat vetitīsque ad Troiam mīserat armīs,
ēnse levis nūdō parmāque inglōrius albā;Of these Helenor was in his first youth; the slave Licymnia had borne him secretly to the Maeonian king, and sent him to Troy in forbidden arms, lightly armed with a naked sword, and inglorious with a blank shield; Aen. 9.549isque ubi sē Turnī media inter mīlia vīdit,
550hinc aciēs atque hinc aciēs adstāre Latīnās:
ut fera, quae dēnsā vēnantum saepta corōnā
contrā tēla furit sēsēque haud nescia mortī
inicit et saltū suprā vēnābula fertur,
haud aliter iuvenis mediōs moritūrus in hostīs
555inruit et, quā tēla videt dēnsissima, tendit.and when he saw himself among the thousands of Turnus, Latin lines standing here and Latin lines there: like a wild beast which, ringed by a dense circle of hunters, rages against their weapons, and, not unaware, hurls itself to death and leaps above the spears, just so the young man rushes to his death into the midst of the enemy, and heads where he sees the weapons thickest.
Aen. 9.556At pedibus longē melior Lycus inter et hostīs
inter et arma fugā mūrōs tenet altaque certat
prēndere tēcta manū sociumque attingere dextrās.But Lycus, far better on his feet, in flight between enemies and between arms, reaches the walls and strives to grasp the top of the parapet with his hand and reach the right hands of his comrades. Aen. 9.559Quem Turnus, pariter cursū tēlōque secūtus,
560increpat hīs victor: Nostrāsne ēvādere, dēmēns,
spērāstī tē posse manūs?Turnus, following him with stride and spear alike, taunts him in victory thus: 'Did you hope, madman, that you could escape our hands?' Aen. 9.561Simul adripit ipsum
pendentem et magnā mūrī cum parte revellit.At once he seizes him as he hangs there and tears him down with a large part of the wall. Aen. 9.563Quālis ubi aut leporem aut candentī corpore cycnum
sustulit alta petēns pedibus Iovis armiger uncīs
565quaesītum aut mātrī multīs bālātibus agnum
Mārtius ā stabulīs rapuit lupus.As when Jupiter's armour-bearer, seeking the heights, has snatched up in his hooked talons a hare or a swan with gleaming body, or the wolf of Mars has seized from the folds a lamb sought by its mother with much bleating.
Aen. 9.566Undique clamor
tollitur: invādunt et fossās agere complent;On all sides a shout goes up: they charge and fill the ditches with earth; Aen. 9.568ārdentīs taedās aliī ad fastīgia iactant.others hurl blazing torches at the rooftops. Aen. 9.569Īlioneus saxō atque ingentī fragmine montis
570Lūcetium portae subeuntem ignīsque ferentem,
Ēmathiōna Liger, Corynaeum sternit Asīlās,
hic iaculō bonus, hic longē fallente sagittā,
Ortygium Caeneus, victōrem Caenea Turnus,
Turnus Ityn Cloniumque, Dioxippum Promolumque
575et Sagarim et summīs stantem prō turribus Īdān,
Prīvernum Capys.Ilioneus with a rock, a huge fragment of a mountain, lays low Lucetius as he approaches the gate carrying fire; Liger fells Emathion, Asilas Corynaeus, the one skilled with the javelin, the other with the arrow that deceives from afar; Caeneus fells Ortygius, Turnus the victorious Caeneus, Turnus Itys and Clonius, Dioxippus and Promolus and Sagaris, and Idas standing in front of the highest towers; Capys fells Privernus. Aen. 9.576Hunc prīmō levis hasta Themillae
strinxerat: ille manum prōiectō tegmine dēmēns
ad volnus tulit;Him the light spear of Themillas had first grazed: the fool threw down his shield and put his hand to the wound; Aen. 9.578ergō alīs adlāpsa sagitta
et laevō īnfīxa est laterī manus abditaque intus
580spīrāmenta animae lētālī volnere rūpit.so the arrow glided on its wings, and his hand was pinned to his left side, and, buried within, it burst the breathing passages of his life with a deadly wound.
Aen. 9.581Stābat in ēgregiīs Arcentis fīlius armīs,
pictus acū chlamydem et ferrūgine clārus Hibērā,
īnsignis faciē, genitor quem mīserat Arcēns,
ēductum Mātris lūcō Symaethia circum
585flūmina, pinguis ubi et plācābilis āra Palīcī:
strīdentem fundam positīs Mezentius hastīs
ipse ter adductā circum caput ēgit habēnā
et media adversī liquefactō tempora plumbō
diffīdit ac multā porrēctum extendit harēnā.There stood the son of Arcens in splendid armour, his cloak embroidered with the needle and bright with Iberian rust-red, remarkable for his looks; his father Arcens had sent him, reared in the grove of his Mother round the streams of Symaethus, where the altar of Palicus stands, rich and easily appeased: Mezentius, laying aside his spears, himself whirled the whistling sling three times round his head with the strap drawn tight, split the middle of his enemy's temples with molten lead, and stretched him out at length on the deep sand.