Assault on the City, Suicide of Amata, and Turnus's Resolve — Virgil, Aeneid Book 12 (lines 560–639), Latin & English

560

Continuo pugnae adcendit maioris imago:

Straightway the image of a greater battle inflames his mind:

Mnesthea Sergestumque vocat fortemque Serestum

He calls Mnestheus and Sergestus and brave Serestus,

ductores tumulumque capit, quo cetera Teucrum

the leaders, and takes a mound, where the rest of the Trojans’

concurrit legio nec scuta aut spicula densi

legion rushes together, nor do they, crowded close, lay down

deponunt. Celso medius stans aggere fatur:

their shields or spears. Standing in their midst on the high mound, he speaks:

565

Nequa meis esto dictis mora; Iuppiter hac stat,

”Let there be no delay to my words; Jupiter stands on this side,

neu quis ob inceptum subitum mihi segnior ito.

nor let anyone advance more slowly for me because of this sudden enterprise.

Urbem hodie, causam belli, regna ipsa Latini,

Today I will overthrow the city, the cause of the war, the very kingdom of Latinus,

ni frenum accipere et victi parere fatentur,

unless they consent to receive the yoke and, conquered, to obey,

eruam et aequa solo fumantia culmina ponam.

and lay its smoking rooftops level with the ground.

570

Scilicet exspectem,¹ libeat dum proelia Turno

Am I indeed to wait until it pleases Turnus to endure

nostra pati rursusque velit concurrere victus?

our battle and, though conquered, he wishes to clash again?

Hoc caput, O cives, haec belli summa nefandi:

This is the head, O citizens, this the sum of this unspeakable war:

ferte faces propere foedusque reposcite flammis.

bring torches quickly, and demand the treaty back with flames.”

Dixerat, atque animis pariter certantibus omnes

He had spoken, and with minds equally striving they all

575

dant cuneum densaque ad muros mole feruntur.

form a wedge and are carried in a dense mass to the walls.

Scalae improviso subitusque apparuit ignis.

Ladders suddenly and unexpected fire appeared.

Discurrunt alii ad portas primosque trucidant,

Some run to the gates and slaughter the first they meet,

ferrum alii torquent et obumbrant aethera telis.

others hurl steel and darken the sky with weapons.

Ipse inter primos dextram sub moenia tendit

Aeneas himself among the foremost stretches out his right hand beneath the walls,

580

Aeneas magnaque incusat voce Latinum

and in a loud voice accuses Latinus,

testaturque deos, iterum se ad proelia cogi,

and calls the gods to witness that he is forced into battle again,

bis iam Italos hostis, haec altera foedera rumpi.

that the Italians are now twice enemies, and that this second treaty is broken.

Exoritur trepidos inter discordia civis:

Discord arises among the trembling citizens:

urbem alii reserare iubent et pandere portas

some order the city to be opened and the gates thrown wide

585

Dardanidis ipsumque trahunt in moenia regem,

to the Trojans, and drag the king himself to the walls,

arma ferunt alii et pergunt defendere muros.

others bring arms and hasten to defend the walls.

Inclusas ut cum latebroso in pumice pastor

As when a shepherd has tracked bees enclosed within

vestigavit apes fumoque implevit amaro:

a porous pumice and filled them with bitter smoke:

illae intus trepidae rerum per cerea castra

they inside, alarmed for their safety, through their waxen camp

590

discurrunt magnisque acuunt stridoribus iras;

run about and with loud buzzing sharpen their wrath;

volvitur ater odor tectis, tum murmure caeco

a black stench rolls through their dwellings, then with a blind murmur

intus saxa sonant, vacuas it fumus ad auras.

the rocks resound within, and smoke goes into the empty air.

Accidit haec fessis etiam fortuna Latinis,

This misfortune also befell the weary Latins,

quae totam luctu concussit funditus urbem.

which shook the entire city to its depths with grief.

595

Regina ut tectis venientem prospicit hostem,

When the queen from the palace beholds the enemy coming,

incessi muros, ignis ad tecta volare,

the walls attacked, the fire flying to the roofs,

nusquam acies contra Rutulas, nulla agmina Turni:

nowhere any Rutulian lines to oppose, no columns of Turnus:

infelix pugnae² iuvenem in certamine credit

the unhappy woman believes the youth has perished in the clash

exstinctum et, subito mentem turbata dolore,

of battle, and, her mind suddenly troubled by sudden grief,

600

se causam clamat crimenque caputque malorum,

she cries out that she is the cause, the guilty one, and the source of evils,

multaque per maestum demens effata furorem

and saying many things in her sad mad frenzy,

purpureos moritura manu discindit amictus

resolved to die she tears her purple robes with her hand

et nodum informis leti trabe nectit ab alta.

and ties the noose of an unsightly death from a high beam.

Quam cladem miserae postquam accepere Latinae,

After the wretched Latin women received this disaster,

605

filia prima manu flavos Lavinia crinis

first her daughter Lavinia, tearing her golden hair

et roseas laniata genas, tum cetera circum

and roseate cheeks, then the rest of the crowd around

turba furit: resonant late plangoribus aedes.

rages: the palace resounds far and wide with lamentations.

Hinc totam infelix volgatur fama per urbem.

From here the unhappy rumor is spread through the whole city.

Demittunt mentes; it scissa veste Latinus,

They cast down their minds; Latinus goes with torn garment,

610

coniugis attonitus fatis urbisque ruina,

dazed by the fate of his wife and the ruin of the city,

canitiem immundo perfusam pulvere turpans.

defiling his grey hair, covered with filthy dust.

Interea extremo bellator in aequore Turnus

Meanwhile, the warrior Turnus on the edge of the plain

615

palantis sequitur paucos iam segnior atque

pursues a few stragglers, now more sluggish and

iam minus atque minus successu laetus equorum

now less and less joyful in the success of his horses.

attulit³ hunc illi caecis terroribus aura

The breeze brought him this clamor mixed with blind terrors,

commixtum clamorem adrectasque impulit aures

and struck his strained ears

confusae sonus urbis et inlaetabile murmur.

with the sound of the confused city and its joyless murmur.

620

Ei mihi! Quid tanto turbantur moenia luctu?

”Alas for me! Why are the walls disturbed by so great a grief?

Quisve ruit tantus diversa clamor ab urbe?

Or what so great a clamor rushes from the distant city?”

Sic ait adductisque amens subsistit habenis.

So he speaks, and distracted, halts with drawn-in reins.

Atque huic, in faciem soror ut conversa Metisci

And to him his sister, as she, changed into the form of his charioteer Metiscus,

aurigae currumque et equos et lora regebat,

was ruling the chariot and horses and reins,

625

talibus occurrit dictis: Hac, Turne, sequamur

meets him with such words: “This way, Turnus, let us pursue

Troiugenas, qua prima viam victoria pandit;

the sons of Troy, where victory first opens a way;

sunt alii, qui tecta manu defendere possint.

there are others who can defend the dwellings with their hands.

Ingruit Aeneas Italis et proelia miscet:

Aeneas falls upon the Italians and joins battle:

et nos saeva manu mittamus funera Teucris.

let us also send cruel deaths to the Trojans with our hand.

630

Nec numero inferior pugnae nec honore recedes.

Neither inferior in the number of the slain nor in the honor of battle shall you withdraw.”

Turnus ad haec:

Turnus to this:

O soror, et dudum adgnovi, cum prima per artem

”O sister, both long ago I recognized you, when first through guile

foedera turbasti teque haec in bella dedisti,

you disturbed the treaty and threw yourself into this war,

et nunc nequiquam fallis dea. Sed quis Olympo

and now in vain you try to deceive me, though a goddess. But who wished you

635

demissam tantos voluit te ferre labores?

sent down from Olympus to bear such great labors?

An fratris miseri letum ut crudele videres?

Was it that you might see the cruel death of your wretched brother?

Nam quid ago? Aut quae iam spondet Fortuna salutem?

For what can I do? Or what Fortune now promises safety?

Vidi oculos ante ipse meos me voce vocantem

I myself saw before my own eyes Murranus calling me with his voice,

Murranum, quo non superat mihi carior alter,

than whom no other survives more dear to me,”

Syntax notes3 items

12.570exspectem
Present subjunctive of deliberation ("Should I wait?").
12.598infelix pugnae
Genitive of specification or relation with the adjective infelix ("unfortunate in battle"), a construction influenced by Greek grammar.
12.617attulit
The inverted syntax of lines 617–619. The subject of attulit is aura and its object is hunc ... clamorem, while in the following clause, sonus ... et murmur acts as the subject of impulit.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi003.humanitext-lat2:12.560-12.639