§9.1Atque ea diversa penitus dum parte geruntur, §9.2Irim de caelo misit Saturnia Iuno §9.3audacem ad Turnum.
And while these things are being done in a completely different part, Saturnian Juno sent Iris from heaven to bold Turnus.
Luco tum forte parentis §9.4Pilumni Turnus sacrata valle sedebat.
Then by chance Turnus was sitting in the sacred valley of the grove of his ancestor Pilumnus.
§9.5Ad quem sic roseo Thaumantias ore locuta est: §9.6Turne, quod optanti divom promittere nemo §9.7auderet, volvenda dies en attulit ultro.
To whom the daughter of Thaumas spoke thus with her rosy mouth: "Turnus, that which no one of the gods would dare to promise to you who wished for it, lo, the rolling time has brought of its own accord.
Aeneas, having left his city, companions, and fleet, seeks the scepter of the Palatine and the seat of Evander.
§9.10Nec satis: extremas Corythi penetravit ad urbes §9.11Lydorumque manum collectos armat agrestis.
Nor is that enough: he has penetrated to the ultimate cities of Corythus and arms a band of Lydians, peasants gathered together.
§9.12Quid dubitas? Nunc tempus equos, nunc poscere currus.
Why do you hesitate? Now is the time to demand horses, now chariots.
§9.13Rumpe moras omnis et turbata arripe castra. §9.14Dixit et in caelum paribus se sustulit alis §9.15ingentemque fuga secuit sub nubibus arcum.
Break all delays and seize the troubled camp." She spoke, and raised herself into heaven with equal wings, and in her flight cut a huge arch under the clouds.
§9.16Adgnovit iuvenis duplicisque ad sidera palmas §9.17sustulit ac tali fugientem est voce secutus: §9.18Iri, decus caeli, quis te mihi nubibus actam
The youth recognized her and raised his two palms to the stars, and followed her as she fled with such a voice: "Iris, glory of heaven, who brought you down to earth to me, driven from the clouds?
§9.19detulit in terras? Unde haec tam clara repente
Whence this suddenly so bright a weather?
I see the middle of heaven part and the stars wander in the sky.
Sequor omina tanta, §9.22quisquis in arma vocas. Et sic effatus ad undam §9.23processit summoque hausit de gurgite lymphas, §9.24multa deos orans, oneravitque aethera votis.
I follow so great omens, whoever you are who call me to arms." And having spoken thus, he proceeded to the stream, and scooped up water from the surface of the pool, praying much to the gods, and burdened the ether with vows.
§9.25Iamque omnis campis exercitus ibat apertis, §9.26dives equum, dives pictaï vestis et auri; §9.27Messapus primas acies, postrema coercent §9.28Tyrrhidae iuvenes, medio dux agmine Turnus, §9.30Ceu septem surgens sedatis amnibus altus §9.31per tacitum Ganges aut pingui flumine Nilus §9.32cum refluit campis et iam se condidit alveo.
And now all the army was marching in the open plains, rich in horses, rich in embroidered raiment and gold; Messapus controls the first lines, the sons of Tyrrheus the last, and in the middle of the column is the leader Turnus, just as the deep Ganges rising with its quieted seven streams in silence, or the Nile with its rich flood when it flows back from the plains and has now hidden itself in its channel.
§9.33Hic subitam nigro glomerari pulvere nubem §9.34prospiciunt Teucri ac tenebras insurgere campis.
Here the Trojans behold a sudden cloud of black dust gather, and darkness rise upon the plains.
First from the opposite mound Caicus cries out: "What crowd, oh citizens, is rolling in black darkness?
§9.37Ferte citi ferrum, date tela, ascendite muros, §9.38hostis adest, heia!
Ingenti clamore per omnis §9.39condunt se Teucri portas et moenia complent.
Bring steel quickly, give weapons, climb the walls, the enemy is present, ho!" With a huge shout the Trojans hide themselves through all the gates and fill the walls.
§9.40Namque ita discedens praeceperat optumus armis §9.41Aeneas: siqua interea fortuna fuisset, §9.42neu struere auderent aciem neu credere campo; §9.43castra modo et tutos servarent aggere muros.
For so Aeneas, most excellent in arms, departing had commanded: if any fortune should occur in the meantime, they should not dare to draw up a line of battle nor trust the plain; they should only keep the camp and the walls safe with a mound.
§9.44Ergo etsi conferre manum pudor iraque monstrat, §9.45obiciunt portas tamen et praecepta facessunt §9.46armatique cavis expectant turribus hostem.
Therefore, although shame and anger prompt them to join battle, nevertheless they bar the gates and perform his commands, and armed in the hollow towers they await the enemy.
§9.47Turnus ut ante volans tardum praecesserat agmen §9.48viginti lectis equitum comitatus, et urbi §9.49improvisus adest; maculis quem Thracius albis §9.50portat equus cristaque tegit galea aurea rubra.
Turnus, flying ahead, had outstripped the slow column, accompanied by twenty chosen horsemen, and is unexpectedly present at the city; whom a Thracian horse with white spots carries, and a golden helmet covers with a red crest.
§9.51Ecquis erit, mecum, iuvenes, qui primus in hostem?
"Will there be anyone, youth, who with me will be first against the enemy?
§9.52En,
ait et iaculum attorquens emittit in auras, §9.53principium pugnae, et campo sese arduus infert.
Lo!" he says, and brandishing his javelin, hurls it into the air, the beginning of the battle, and proudly enters the plain.
§9.54Clamore excipiunt socii fremituque sequuntur §9.55horrisono: Teucrum mirantur inertia corda, §9.56non aequo dare se campo, non obvia ferre §9.57arma viros, sed castra fovere.
With a shout his companions receive him, and follow with a horrific-sounding roar: they wonder at the inactive hearts of the Trojans, that the men do not trust themselves to the fair plain, nor bring opposing arms, but cherish their camp.
Huc turbidus atque huc §9.58lustrat equo muros aditumque per avia quaerit.
Hither and thither, raging, he surveys the walls on his horse, and seeks an entrance through pathless ways.
§9.59Ac veluti pleno lupus insidiatus ovili §9.60cum fremit ad caulas, ventos perpessus et imbris, §9.61nocte super media; tuti sub matribus agni §9.62balatum exercent, ille asper et improbus ira §9.63saevit in absentis, collecta fatigat edendi §9.64ex longo rabies et siccae sanguine fauces: §9.65haud aliter Rutulo muros et castra tuenti §9.66ignescunt irae, duris dolor ossibus ardet.
And just as a wolf lying in wait for a full sheepfold, when he growls at the pens, having endured winds and rains, after midnight; the lambs, safe under their mothers, keep up their bleating; he, fierce and wicked with anger, rages against those out of reach; the madness of eating, gathered from a long time, and his jaws dry of blood, torment him: not otherwise do angers inflame the Rutulian as he views the walls and the camp, and grief burns in his hard bones.
§9.67Qua temptet ratione aditus et quae via clausos §9.68excutiat Teucros vallo atque effundat in aequum?
By what means should he attempt an approach, and what way could shake the enclosed Trojans from the rampart and pour them out into the plain?
§9.69Classem, quae lateri castrorum adiuncta latebat, §9.70aggeribus saeptam circum et fluvialibus undis, §9.71invadit sociosque incendia poscit ovantis §9.72atque manum pinu flagranti fervidus implet.
The fleet, which lay hidden close to the side of the camp, fenced around by ramparts and river waves, he attacks, and demands fire from his rejoicing companions, and eagerly fills his hand with a burning pine torch.
§9.73Tum vero incumbunt, urget praesentia Turni,
Then indeed they press on, the presence of Turnus urges them,