- Source
- Vergil. The Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics Of Virgil. Greenough, J.B., editor. Boston: Ginn and Company, 1881.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi003.humanitext-lat2:10.457-10.532
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
Pallas challenges Turnus to single combat but is slain by Turnus' spear while Jupiter laments his destiny. Turnus takes Pallas' belt as a trophy, and Aeneas, enraged by Pallas' death, launches a fierce counterattack, slaying enemy soldiers in his path.
Hunc ubi contiguum missae fore credidit hastae,
When Pallas believed that he had come within range of a hurled spear,
ire prior Pallas,1 siqua fors adiuvet ausum
Pallas went first, in case some fortune might aid his daring attempt
viribus imparibus, magnumque ita ad aethera fatur:
with unequal strength, and thus spoke to the great heavens:
Per patris hospitium et mensas, quas advena adisti,
”By my father’s hospitality and the tables which you as a stranger visited,
te precor, Alcide, coeptis ingentibus adsis.
I pray you, Alcides, be present to aid my mighty undertakings.
Cernat semineci sibi2 me rapere arma cruenta
Let Turnus see me strip the bloody arms from his dying body,
victoremque ferant morientia lumina Turni.
and let his dying eyes endure the sight of me as victor.”
Audiit Alcides iuvenem magnumque sub imo
Alcides heard the youth, and deep in his heart
corde premit gemitum lacrimasque effundit inanis.
suppressed a heavy groan and poured forth useless tears.
Tum Genitor natum dictis adfatur amicis:
Then the Father addressed his son with friendly words:
Stat sua cuique dies, breve et inreparabile tempus
”To each his own day is fixed; a short and irretrievable time
omnibus est vitae: sed famam extendere factis,
of life is given to all: but to extend fame by deeds,
hoc virtutis opus. Troiae sub moenibus altis
this is the work of virtue. Beneath the high walls of Troy
tot nati cecidere deum; quin occidit una
fell so many sons of the gods; indeed, there fell along with them
Sarpedon, mea progenies. Etiam sua Turnum
Sarpedon, my own offspring. His own fates also call
fata vocant, metasque dati pervenit ad aevi.
Turnus, and he has reached the limits of his given span of life.”
Sic ait atque oculos Rutulorum reicit arvis.
So he spoke, and turned his eyes away from the Rutulian fields.
At Pallas magnis emittit viribus hastam
But Pallas hurls his spear with great force
vaginaque cava fulgentem deripit ensem.
and tears his shining sword from its hollow sheath.
Illa volans umeri surgunt qua tegmina summa
Flying, it struck where the topmost guards of the shoulder rise,
incidit atque viam clipei molita per oras
and forcing a way through the border of the shield,
tandem etiam magno strinxit de corpore Turni.
finally grazed even a part of the great body of Turnus.
Hic Turnus ferro praefixum robur acuto
Here Turnus, having long poised against Pallas the oak shaft
in Pallanta diu librans iacit atque ita fatur:
tipped with sharp iron, hurls it and speaks thus:
Adspice, num mage sit nostrum penetrabile telum.
”See whether our weapon is not more piercing.”
Dixerat; at clipeum, tot ferri terga, tot aeris,3
He had spoken; but the shield, with its many layers of iron, so many of bronze,
quem pellis totiens obeat circumdata tauri,
which the wrapped hide of a bull surrounds so many times,
vibranti cuspis medium transverberat ictu
the spear-point pierces right through the middle with a vibrating blow,
loricaeque moras et pectus perforat ingens.
and penetrates the barriers of the corselet and the mighty breast.
Ille rapit calidum frustra de volnere telum:
In vain he snatches the warm weapon from the wound:
una eademque via sanguis animusque sequuntur.
by one and the same path, blood and life follow.
Corruit in volnus, sonitum super arma dedere
He fell upon his wound, his armor clanged over him,
et terram hostilem moriens petit ore cruento.
and dying, he bites the hostile earth with bloody mouth.
Quem Turnus super adsistens,
Standing over him, Turnus says:
Arcades, haec, inquit, memores mea dicta referte
”Arcadians, bring these my words back mindfully
Euandro; qualem meruit, Pallanta remitto.
to Evander: I send Pallas back as he deserved.
Quisquis honos tumuli, quidquid solamen humandi est,
Whatever honor there is in a tomb, whatever solace in burial,
largior. Haud illi stabunt Aeneia parvo
I grant freely. His hospitality to Aeneas will cost him no small price.”
hospitia. Et laevo pressit pede talia fatus
And having spoken thus, he pressed the lifeless body with his left foot,
exanimem, rapiens immania pondera baltei
snatching away the immense weight of the sword-belt
impressumque nefas, una sub nocte iugali
and the engraved crime: a band of youths foully slain
caesa manus iuvenum foede thalamique cruenti,
on a single nuptial night, and bridal chambers bloody,
quae Clonus Eurytides multo caelaverat auro;
which Clonus, son of Eurytus, had chased in abundant gold;
quo nunc Turnus ovat spolio gaudetque potitus.
in which spoil Turnus now triumphs and rejoices in its possession.
Nescia mens hominum fati sortisque futurae
O mind of men, ignorant of fate and of future lot,
et servare modum, rebus sublata secundis!
and how to keep limits when uplifted by prosperity!
Turno tempus erit, magno cum optaverit emptum4
To Turnus there will come a time when he would wish to have bought
intactum Pallanta et cum spolia ista diemque
Pallas untouched at a great price, and when he will hate
oderit. At socii multo gemitu lacrimisque
this day and those spoils. But his comrades, with many groans and tears,
impositum scuto referunt Pallanta frequentes.
bring Pallas back in crowds, laid upon his shield.
O dolor atque decus magnum rediture parenti
O grief and great glory, you who will return to your parent!
haec te prima dies bello dedit, haec eadem aufert,
This first day gave you to war, this same day takes you away,
cum tamen ingentis Rutulorum linquis acervos.
though yet you leave behind vast heaps of Rutulian dead.
Nec iam fama mali tanti, sed certior auctor
And now no longer mere rumor of so great a disaster, but a surer messenger
advolat Aeneae, tenui discrimine leti
flies to Aeneas, warning him that his men are but a hair’s breadth from death,
esse suos, versis tempus succurrere Teucris.
and that it is time to succor the routed Trojans.
Proxima quaeque metit gladio latumque per agmen
With his sword he mows down everything nearby, and raging,
ardens limitem agit ferro, te, Turne, superbum
drives a wide path with the steel through the army, seeking you, Turnus,
caede nova quaerens. Pallas, Euander, in ipsis
proud with new slaughter. Pallas, Evander, are before his very
omnia sunt oculis, mensae, quas advena primas
eyes, and the tables which he as a stranger first
tunc adiit, dextraeque datae. Sulmone creatos
approached, and the right hands given. Here he takes alive
quattuor hic iuvenes, totidem, quos educat Ufens,
four youths, and as many whom Ufens rears,
viventis rapit, inferias quos immolet umbris
to sacrifice as funeral offerings to the shades,
captivoque rogi perfundat sanguine flammas.
and to drench the flames of the pyre with captive blood.
Inde Mago procul infensam contenderat hastam.
Next, from afar, he had hurled his hostile spear at Magus.
Ille astu subit ac tremibunda supervolat hasta,
He ducked cunningly, and the quivering spear flies over him;
et genua amplectens effatur talia supplex:
and clasping his knees, he speaks thus as a suppliant:
Per patrios manis et spes surgentis Iuli
”By your father’s shades and the hopes of rising Iulus,
te precor, hanc animam serves natoque patrique.
I pray you, save this life for both a son and a father.
Est domus alta, iacent penitus defossa talenta
I have a lofty house; deep underground lie buried talents
caelati argenti, sunt auri pondera facti
of engraved silver; there are weights of gold, both wrought
infectique mihi. Non hic victoria Teucrum
and unwrought, belonging to me. The victory of the Trojans does not
vertitur aut anima una dabit discrimina tanta.
turn on this, nor will one life make so great a difference.”
Dixerat. Aeneas contra cui talia reddit:
He had spoken. To whom Aeneas returns such words in reply:
Argenti atque auri memoras quae multa talenta,
”Those many talents of silver and gold which you mention,
natis parce tuis. Belli commercia Turnus
spare them for your children. Turnus has already abolished
- 10.458ire prior Pallas
ire is a historical infinitive (infinitivus historicus), functioning as the main verb of the clause. The subject is Pallas in the nominative case.
- 10.462semineci sibi
sibi is a dative of separation (dativus separationis) depending on rapere. This third-person reflexive pronoun refers to Turnus, who is the logical subject of the action in the subordinate clause (described by semineci).
- 10.482tot ferri terga, tot aeris
A noun phrase in apposition to clipeum (accusative). terga (literally "backs") here denotes "layers" or "plates" of the shield, with ferri and aeris functioning as genitives of material.
- 10.503magno cum optaverit emptum
emptum (esse) is a perfect passive participle functioning as the infinitive in an accusative-with-infinitive (A.C.I.) construction, with magno as an ablative of price. The literal structure is "wished [that] Pallas untouched [had been] bought at a great price."