- 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-lat2:11.231-11.307
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
King Latinus calls a great council and hears the report of the envoys from Diomedes. Venulus recounts Diomedes' refusal to join the war, citing the tragic fates of the Greek victors of Troy and Aeneas's invincible prowess and piety, leading Latinus to urge his citizens to seek peace.
Deficit1 ingenti luctu rex ipse Latinus.
King Latinus himself loses heart in his immense grief.
Fatalem Aenean manifesto numine ferri
That fated Aeneas is brought by a manifest divine will,
admonet ira deum tumulique ante ora recentes.
is warned by the anger of the gods and the recent tombs before their eyes.
Ergo concilium magnum primosque suorum
Therefore he summons a great council, and the chief men of his people,
imperio accitos alta intra limina cogit.
called by his command, he gathers within the high portals.
olli convenere fluuntque ad regia plenis
They assembled and stream to the royal palace along the crowded streets.
tecta viis. Sedet in mediis et maximus aevo
Latinus sits in the midst, greatest in age
et primus sceptris haud laeta fronte Latinus.
and first in sceptred power, with a countenance by no means joyful.
Atque hic legatos Aetola ex urbe remissos,
And here he bids the envoys sent back from the Aetolian city
quae referant, fari iubet et responsa reposcit
to tell what they report, and demands their answers
ordine cuncta suo. Tum facta silentia linguis,
all in their order. Then silence fell upon their tongues,
et Venulus dicto parens ita farier infit:
and Venulus, obeying the command, begins to speak thus:
Vidimus, o cives, Diomedem Argivaque castra
”We have seen, O citizens, Diomedes and the Argive camp,
atque iter emensi casus superavimus omnis
and having measured our way we overcame every chance,
contigimusque manum, qua concidit Ilia tellus.
and touched the hand by which the Ilian land fell.
Ille urbem Argyripam patriae cognomine gentis
He was founding the city of Argyripa, named after his fatherland’s race,
victor Gargani condebat Iapygis agris.
as victor of Garganus, in the fields of Iapygian land.
Postquam introgressi et coram data copia fandi,
After we entered and permission to speak in his presence was granted,
munera praeferimus, nomen patriamque docemus,
we present our gifts, declare our name and fatherland,
qui bellum intulerint, quae causa attraxerit Arpos.
who had brought war upon us, and what cause had drawn us to Arpi.
Auditis ille haec placido sic reddidit ore:
Having heard these things, he replied thus with a calm countenance:
O fortunatae gentes, Saturnia regna,
’O fortunate nations, Saturnian realms,
antiqui Ausonii, quae vos fortuna quietos
ancient Ausonians, what fortune disturbs you in your peace
sollicitat suadetque ignota lacessere bella?
and persuades you to provoke unknown wars?
Quicumque Iliacos ferro violavimus agros,
Whoever of us violated the Ilian fields with the sword—
mitto ea, quae muris bellando exhausta sub altis,
I pass over those things which were endured in fighting beneath the high walls,
quos Simois premat ille viros, infanda per orbem
and those heroes whom that Simois overwhelms—have paid unspeakable
supplicia et scelerum poenas expendimus omnes,
punishments throughout the world and all the penalties of our crimes,
vel Priamo miseranda manus:2 scit triste Minervae
a band to be pitied even by Priam: this is known by the grim
sidus et Euboicae cautes ultorque Caphareus.
star of Minerva, and the Euboean cliffs, and the avenging Caphareus.
Militia ex illa diversum ad litus abacti
Driven from that warfare to diverse shores,
Atrides Protei Menelaus adusque columnas
Menelaus, son of Atreus, even to the pillars of Proteus
exsulat, Aetnaeos vidit Cyclopas Ulixes.
is exiled; Ulysses saw the Aetnean Cyclopes.
Regna Neoptolemi referam versosque penates
Shall I speak of the realms of Neoptolemus, and the overthrown household gods
Idomenei? Libycone habitantis litore Locros?
of Idomeneus? Or the Locrians dwelling on the Libyan shore?
Ipse Mycenaeus magnorum ductor Achivom
The Mycenaean leader himself, ruler of the great Achaians,
coniugis infandae prima inter limina dextra
fell just inside his portals by the right hand of his wicked wife;
oppetiit: devictam Asiam subsedit adulter.3
the adulterer lay in wait for conquered Asia.
Invidisse deos,4 patriis ut redditus aris
To think that the gods grudged that, restored to my ancestral altars,
coniugium optatum et pulchram Calydona viderem?
I should see my longed-for wife and beautiful Calydon!
Nunc etiam horribili visu portenta sequuntur,
Even now, portents of horrible sight pursue me,
et socii amissi petierunt aethera pennis
and my lost comrades have sought the sky on wings,
fluminibusque vagantur aves, heu dira meorum
and wander as birds along the rivers—alas, the dreadful punishments
supplicia, et scopulos lacrimosis vocibus implent.
of my people!—and they fill the cliffs with tearful voices.
Haec adeo ex illo mihi iam speranda fuerunt
Indeed, such things were to be expected by me ever since that
tempore, cum ferro caelestia corpora demens
time when, madman that I was, I attacked celestial bodies with iron
adpetii et Veneris violavi volnere dextram.
and violated the right hand of Venus with a wound.
Ne vero, ne me ad talis impellite pugnas:
Do not indeed, do not urge me to such battles;
nec mihi cum Teucris ullum post eruta bellum
I have no war with the Trojans since the overthrow of
Pergama, nec veterum memini laetorve malorum.
Pergama, nor do I remember or rejoice in ancient evils.
Munera, quae patriis ad me portatis ab oris,
The gifts which you bring to me from your native shores,
vertite ad Aenean. Stetimus tela aspera contra
turn them to Aeneas. We have stood against his fierce weapons
contulimusque manus: experto credite, quantus
and joined hands: trust one who has tried, how greatly
in clipeum adsurgat, quo turbine torqueat hastam.
he rises to his shield, with what a whirlwind he hurls his spear.
Si duo praeterea talis Idaea tulisset5
If the Idaean land had produced two other such
terra viros, ultro Inachias venisset ad urbes
men besides, the Dardanian would of his own accord have come to the Inachian cities,
Dardanus, et versis lugeret Graecia fatis.
and Greece would be mourning with her fates reversed.
Quidquid apud durae cessatum est moenia Troiae,
Whatever delay there was before the walls of stubborn Troy,
Hectoris Aeneaeque manu victoria Graium
by the hand of Hector and Aeneas the victory of the Greeks
haesit et in decimum vestigia rettulit annum.
was stayed, and retraced its steps unto the tenth year.
Ambo animis, ambo insignes praestantibus armis
Both distinguished in courage, both in outstanding arms;
hic pietate prior. Coeant in foedera dextrae,
this man was prior in piety. Let your right hands join in alliance
qua datur; ast armis concurrant arma cavete.
in whatever way is granted; but beware that arms clash not with arms.’
Et responsa simul quae sint, rex optime, regis
’At once you have heard, O best of kings, what the replies of the king are,
audisti et quae sit magno sententia bello.
and what his opinion is regarding this great war.”
Vix ea legati, variusque per ora cucurrit
Scarcely had the envoys spoken these things, when a diverse murmur ran through the troubled
Ausonidum turbata fremor: ceu saxa morantur
mouths of the Ausonians; just as when rocks delay
cum rapidos amnis, fit clauso gurgite murmur
rapid rivers, a roar arises from the pent-up flood,
vicinaeque fremunt ripae crepitantibus undis.
and the neighboring banks resound with the splashing waves.
Ut primum placati animi et trepida ora quierunt,
As soon as their minds were calmed and their trembling lips grew still,
praefatus divos solio rex infit ab alto:
the king, having first addressed the gods, begins from his high throne:
Ante equidem summa de re statuisse, Latini,
”Indeed, Latins, I could have wished to have decided beforehand on this supreme matter,
et vellem et fuerat melius, non tempore tali
and it would have been better, rather than at such a time
cogere concilium, cum muros adsidet hostis.
to gather a council, when the enemy sits beside our walls.
Bellum importunum, cives, cum gente deorum
We are waging an importunate war, citizens, with a race of gods
invictisque viris gerimus, quos nulla fatigant
and unconquered men, whom no battles weary,
proelia: nec victi possunt absistere ferro.
nor even when defeated can they keep away from the sword.
- 11.231Deficit
Used here with the subject "rex ipse Latinus" to mean "loses heart" or "is at a loss" under the weight of immense grief. One may supply "animis" (in spirit) to complete the sense.
- 11.259Priamo miseranda manus
"Priamo" is a dative of agent or dative of relation, meaning "a band to be pitied even by Priam." It highlights their tragic state, so extreme that even their former arch-enemy Priam would feel pity for them.
- 11.268devictam Asiam subsedit adulter
"devictam Asiam" (conquered Asia) metonoymically represents Agamemnon's victory, spoils, or Agamemnon himself. "subsedit" is the perfect tense of "sub-sideo" (to lie in wait for, ambush), taking the accusative to mean "the adulterer (Aegisthus) lay in wait for (the victor of) conquered Asia."
- 11.269Invidisse deos
This is an example of the accusative and infinitive of exclamation or indignation (infinitivus indignationis). The accusative subject "deos" and the infinitive "invidisse" express strong indignation or lamentation: "To think that the gods grudged...!"
- 11.285Si duo praeterea talis Idaea tulisset
The protasis of a past contrary-to-fact condition, followed by the apodoses in line 286 (venisset, pluperfect subjunctive for past time) and line 287 (lugeret, imperfect subjunctive, indicating a continuing state in the present: "Greece would now be mourning").