Funeral of Pallas and Truce with the Latins — Virgil, Aeneid Book 11 (lines 79–154), Latin & English

aggerat et longo praedam iubet ordine duci.

He piles up (the spoils) and orders the prey to be led in a long line.

Addit equos et tela, quibus spoliaverat hostem.

He adds horses and weapons, of which he had stripped the enemy.

Vinxerat et post terga manus, quos mitteret umbris

He had also bound their hands behind their backs, whom he would send as offerings

inferias, caeso sparsuros sanguine flammas,¹

to the shades, to sprinkle the flames with slain blood,

indutosque iubet truncos hostilibus armis

and orders the leaders themselves to carry trunks clothed in enemy arms,

ipsos ferre duces inimicaque nomina figi.

and the hostile names to be fixed to them.

Ducitur infelix aevo confectus Acoetes:

Unhappy Acoetes, worn out by age, is led along:

pectora nunc foedans pugnis, nunc unguibus ora

now defiling his breast with his fists, now his face with his nails,

sternitur et toto proiectus corpore terrae.~.~.

he is prostrated, and with his whole body flung to the earth.

Ducunt et Rutulo perfusos sanguine currus.

They also lead chariots drenched in Rutulian blood.

Post bellator equus positis insignibus Aethon

Behind goes the warhorse Aethon, his trappings laid aside,

it lacrimans guttisque umectat grandibus ora.

weeping, and wets his face with great drops.

Hastam alii galeamque ferunt, nam cetera Turnus

Others carry the spear and helmet, for the victor Turnus

victor habet. Tum maesta phalanx Teucrique sequuntur

has the rest. Then the mournful phalanx and the Trojans follow,

Tyrrhenique omnes et versis Arcades armis.

and all the Tyrrhenians and Arcadians with reversed arms.

Postquam omnis longe comitum praecesserat ordo,

After the whole line of companions had gone far ahead,

substitit Aeneas gemituque haec addidit alto:

Aeneas halted, and added these words with a deep groan:

Nos alias hinc ad lacrimas eadem horrida belli

”The same harsh fates of war call us from here to other tears:

fata vocant: salve aeternum mihi, maxime Palla,

hail forever, greatest Pallas,

aeternumque vale. Nec plura effatus ad altos

and forever farewell.” Having spoken no more, he began to head

tendebat muros gressumque in castra ferebat.

towards the high walls and turned his steps into the camp.

100

Iamque oratores aderant ex urbe Latina,

And now ambassadors were present from the Latin city,

velati ramis oleae veniamque rogantes:

veiled with olive branches and asking for favor:

corpora, per campos ferro quae fusa iacebant,

that he would return the bodies which lay scattered by the sword through the fields,

redderet ac tumulo sineret succedere terrae;²

and permit them to go under a mound of earth;

nullum cum victis certamen et aethere cassis;

that there is no quarrel with the vanquished and those deprived of air;

105

parceret hospitibus quondam socerisque vocatis.

that he would spare those once called hosts and fathers-in-law.

Quos bonus Aeneas haud aspernanda precantis

Whom good Aeneas, praying for things not to be despised,

prosequitur venia et verbis haec insuper addit:

dismisses with favor and adds these words besides:

Quaenam vos tanto fortuna indigna, Latini,

”What unworthy fortune, Latins, has entangled you

implicuit bello, qui nos fugiatis amicos?

in so great a war, that you flee from us, your friends?

110

Pacem me exanimis et Martis sorte peremptis

Do you beg me for peace for the dead and those slain by the lot of Mars?

oratis? Equidem et vivis concedere vellem.

Indeed, I would have wished to grant it to the living as well.

Nec veni, nisi fata locum sedemque dedissent,

Nor would I have come, unless the fates had given a place and a seat,

nec bellum cum gente gero: rex nostra reliquit

nor do I wage war with your people: the king abandoned our

hospitia et Turni potius se credidit armis.

hospitality and trusted himself rather to the arms of Turnus.

115

Aequius huic Turnum fuerat se opponere morti.³

It would have been fairer for Turnus to expose himself to this death.

Si bellum finire manu, si pellere Teucros

If he prepares to end the war with his hand, if to expel the Trojans,

apparat, his mecum decuit concurrere telis:

it was fitting for him to clash with me with these weapons:

vixet,⁴ cui vitam deus aut sua dextra dedisset.

he would have lived, to whom god or his own right hand had given life.

Nunc ite et miseris supponite civibus ignem.

Now go and place fire under your unhappy citizens.”

120

Dixerat Aeneas. Illi obstipuere silentes

Aeneas had spoken. They stood silent in amazement,

conversique oculos inter se atque ora tenebant.

and turning, they held their eyes and faces on one another.

Tum senior semperque odiis et crimine Drances

Then the elder Drances, always hostile with hatred and accusations

infensus iuveni Turno sic ore vicissim

toward young Turnus, thus in turn with his mouth

orsa refert: O fama ingens, ingentior armis

returns these words: “O great in fame, greater in arms,

125

vir Troiane, quibus caelo te laudibus aequem?⁵

Trojan man, with what praises shall I equal you to heaven?

Iustitiaene prius mirer belline laborum?

Shall I marvel first at your justice or your labors in war?

Nos vero haec patriam grati referemus ad urbem

We indeed will gratefully bring these words back to our native city,

et te, siqua viam dederit fortuna, Latino

and, if any fortune gives a way, we will join you to king

iungemus regi: quaerat sibi foedera Turnus.

Latinus: let Turnus seek treaties for himself.

130

Quin et fatalis murorum attollere moles

Rather, it will be a joy even to raise the fated masses of the walls

saxaque subvectare umeris Troiana iuvabit.

and to carry the Trojan stones on our shoulders.”

Dixerat haec, unoque omnes eadem ore fremebant.

He had spoken these things, and all with one voice murmured the same.

Bis senos pepigere dies et pace sequestra

They settled on twelve days, and with peace as mediator,

per silvas Teucri mixtique inpune Latini

Trojans and Latins mixed together wandered safely through the woods

135

erravere iugis. Ferro sonat alta bipenni

on the ridges. The high ash-tree resounds with the double-edged iron

fraxinus, evertunt actas ad sidera pinus,

axe, they overturn pines raised to the stars,

robora nec cuneis et olentem scindere cedrum

nor do they cease to cleave the oaks with wedges and the fragrant cedar,

nec plaustris cessant vectare gementibus ornos.

nor to carry the wild ashes in groaning wagons.

Et iam Fama volans, tanti praenuntia luctus,

And now flying Fame, the herald of so great a grief,

140

Evandrum Evandrique domos et moenia replet,

fills Evander and the houses and walls of Evander,

quae modo victorem Latio Pallanta ferebat.⁶

which but lately brought news of Pallas as victor in Latium.

Arcades ad portas ruere et de more vetusto

The Arcadians rushed to the gates and, according to ancient custom,

funereas rapuere faces; lucet via longo

snatched up funeral torches; the road shines with a long

ordine flammarum et late discriminat agros.

line of flames and distinguishes the fields far and wide.

145

Contra turba Phrygum veniens plangentia iungit

Coming to meet them, the crowd of Phrygians joins the wailing

agmina. Quae postquam matres succedere tectis

columns. When the mothers saw them approaching the dwellings,

viderunt, maestam incendunt clamoribus urbem.

they set the mournful city ablaze with cries.

At non Evandrum potis est vis ulla tenere,

But no force is able to hold back Evander,

sed venit in medios. Feretro Pallanta reposto

but he comes into their midst. The bier having been set down,

150

procubuit super atque haeret lacrimansque gemensque,

he flung himself upon Pallas, and clings weeping and groaning,

et via vix tandem vocis laxata dolore est.

and at last, with difficulty, a path for his voice was opened by grief.

Non haec, O Palla, dederas promissa parenti,

”These, O Pallas, were not the promises you had given to your parent,

cautius ut saevo velles te credere Marti;

that you wished to trust yourself more cautiously to savage Mars;

haud ignarus eram, quantum nova gloria in armis

I was not ignorant how great new glory in arms...”

Syntax notes6 items

11.81quos mitteret umbris / inferias, caeso sparsuros sanguine flammas
The clause introduced by the relative pronoun quos (quos mitteret) takes the subjunctive imperfect to express purpose. The future participle sparsuros also expresses purpose or intention, modifying quos and describing the act of sprinkling the flames with the blood of the slain.
11.103redderet ac tumulo sineret succedere terrae
This clause depends on oratores... rogantes in line 100, representing an indirect command or petition. The imperfect subjunctives (redderet and sineret) stand for the imperative or optative of direct speech.
11.115Aequius huic Turnum fuerat se opponere morti
The indicative pluperfect of an impersonal expression (fuerat with the comparative aequius) expresses a counterfactual meaning ('it would have been fairer for Turnus to... [but he did not]'). The indicative is idiomatically used here instead of the pluperfect subjunctive.
11.118vixet
vixet is a syncopated form of vixisset (third-person singular pluperfect active subjunctive of vivo). It forms the apodosis of a past contrary-to-fact conditional sentence ('he would have lived').
11.125quibus caelo te laudibus aequem
aequem is a present subjunctive (first-person singular) used as a deliberative subjunctive in a rhetorical question ('with what praises should I equal you...?'). The dative caelo depends on aequem ('equal to heaven').
11.141quae modo victorem Latio Pallanta ferebat
The antecedent of the relative pronoun quae (feminine singular) is Fama (feminine singular noun) in line 139. The clause contrasts the current bad news with the earlier report that was bringing news of Pallas as a victor from Latium. Latio is an ablative of place from which.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi003.humanitext-lat2:11.79-11.154