him, straightway plunges by pathless ways among the high mountains, conscious of a reckless deed, and slackening his tail claps it quivering, beneath his belly, and seeks the woods: even so does Arruns, in confusion, steal away from sight, and, bent on flight, plunges amidst the armed throng. She, with dying hand, tugs at the dart; but between the bones the iron point stands fast beside the ribs within the deep wound. Bloodless she sinks; her eyes sink, chill with death; the once radiant hue has left her face. Then, as her breath fails, she thus accosts Acca, a maiden of equal years and true to Camilla beyond all else, sole sharer of her cares, and thus she speaks: "Thus far, sister Acca, has my strength availed; now the bitter wound o'erpowers me, and all around grows dim and dark. Haste away, and bear to Turnus this my latest charge, to take my place in the battle, and ward the Trojans from the town. And now farewell!" With these words she dropped the reins, gliding helplessly to earth. Then, growing chill, she slowly freed herself from all the body's bonds, drooped her nerveless neck and the head which Death had seized, letting fall her weapons: and with a moan life passed indignant to the Shades below. Then indeed a boundless uproar rose, striking the golden stars: Camilla fallen, the fight waxes fiercer; on they rush in crowds together, all the Teucrian host, the Tyrrhene chiefs, and Evander's Arcadian squadrons. 836 But Opis, Trivia's sentinel, has long been seated high on the mountain top, and, undismayed, watches the combat. And when far off, amid the din of 291 840 845 850 prospexit tristi mulcatam morte Camillam, ingemuitque deditque has imo pectore voces: “heu nimium, virgo, nimium crudele luisti supplicium, Teucros conata lacessere bello ! nec tibi desertae in dumis coluisse Dianam profuit aut nostras umero gessisse sagittas. non tamen indecorem tua te regina reliquit extrema iam in morte, neque hoc sine nomine letum per gentis erit aut famam patieris inultae. nam quicumque tuum violavit volnere corpus, morte luet merita." fuit ingens monte sub alto regis Dercenni terreno ex aggere bustum antiqui Laurentis opacaque ilice tectum; hic dea se primum rapido pulcherrima nisu sistit et Arruntem tumulo speculatur ab alto. ut vidit laetantem animis ac vana tumentem, "cur," inquit, "diversus abis? huc derige gressum, 855 huc periture veni, capias ut digna Camillae praemia. tune etiam telis moriere Dianae?" dixit et aurata volucrem Threissa sagittam deprompsit pharetra cornuque infensa tetendit et duxit longe, donec curvata coirent inter se capita et manibus iam tangeret aequis, laeva aciem ferri, dextra nervoque papillam. extemplo teli stridorem aurasque sonantis audiit una Arruns haesitque in corpore ferrum. illum exspirantem socii atque extrema gementem 865 obliti ignoto camporum in pulvere linquunt; Opis ad aetherium pinnis aufertur Olympum. Prima fugit domina amissa levis ala Camillae, turbati fugiunt Rutuli, fugit acer Atinas, 889 mulcatam MPRy1bc2, Servius: multatam c1. 845 relinquet Pyb1c: relinquit ba. 852 dea] ea M1. 854 laetantem animis M1 fulgentem armis M2PRY. 856 Camilla R. FMPR 860 raging warriors, she espied Camilla done piteously to death, she sighed and from her heart's depth uttered these words: "Alas! too cruel, too cruel, O maiden, the forfeit thou hast paid for essaying to brave the Teucrians in battle! Naught has it availed thee, all lonely mid the wilds, to have served Diana, or to have carried our shafts upon thy shoulder. Yet thy queen has not left thee unhonoured even in death's last hour; nor shall this thy doom be without renown among the nations, nor shalt thou bear the reproach of one unavenged; for whoso hath with wound profaned thy limbs shall pay the debt of death." Under the mountain height stood a mound of earth, the mighty tomb of Dercennus, Laurentine king of old, screened by shadowy ilex; here first the beauteous goddess, with swift spring, plants her feet, and from the barrow's height espies Arruns. When she saw him exulting in spirit and swelling with pride: "Why," she cries, "strayest so far? Hither turn thy steps, hither come to thy death and for Camilla receive due guerdon! Shalt thou, even thou, die by Diana's darts?" So spake the Thracian nymph, and from gilded quiver plucked a winged shaft, stretched the bow with full intent, and drew it far, till the curving ends should meet together and, with levelled hands, she should touch the steel's point with her left, her breast with her right and with the bow-string. Straightway, at the selfsame moment, Arruns heard the whistling dart and whirring air, and the steel was lodged in his breast. Him, gasping and moaning his last, his forgetful comrades leave on the unknown dust of the plain; Opis wings her way to heavenly Olympus. 868 First flees, their mistress lost, Camilla's light squadron; in rout flee the Rutulians, flees valiant disiectique duces desolatique manipli tuta petunt et equis aversi ad moenia tendunt. nec quisquam instantis Teucros letumque ferentis sustentare valet telis aut sistere contra, sed laxos referunt umeris languentibus arcus quadrupedumque putrem cursu quatit ungula campum. volvitur ad muros caligine turbidus atra 870 875 880 885 890 (monstrat amor verus patriae), ut videre Camillam, tela manu trepidae iaciunt ac robore duro stipitibus ferrum sudibusque imitantur obustis praecipites, primaeque mori pro moenibus ardent. 895 Interea Turnum in silvis saevissimus implet nuntius et iuveni ingentem fert Acca tumultum : deletas Volscorum acies, cecidisse Camillam, ingruere infensos hostis et Marte secundo 871 equos Py. quadripedem F 870 defecti M1. 882 inter Py, Macrobius. MPR Atinas; scattered captains, and troops left leaderless make for shelter, and, wheeling their horses, gallop to the walls. Nor can any with arms check the onset of death-dealing Trojans, nor stand against it, but their unstrung bows they cast on fainting shoulders, and in their galloping course the horsehoof shakes the crumbling plain. On rolls to the walls a cloud of dust, black and murky, and from the watch-towers mothers, beating their breasts, uplift to the stars of heaven their womanish cries. Upon such as first broke at full speed through the open gates, there presses hard a throng of foes, mingling with their ranks, nor escape they a piteous death, but on the very threshold, their native walls about them, and within the shelter of their homes, they are thrust through, and gasp away their lives. Some close the gates, and dare not open a way to their friends, nor receive them in the town, implore as they may; and slaughter most pitiful ensues, these guarding the entry sword in hand, and those rushing upon the sword. Shut out before the eyes and gaze of weeping parents, some, driven by the rout, roll headlong into the trenches; some, charging blindly with loosened rein, batter at the gates and stoutlybarred doors. The very mothers from the walls, in keenest rivalry (true love of country points the way), when they marked Camilla, flung weapons with trembling hands, and hastily do the work of the steel with stout oak-poles and seared stakes, and foremost are fain to die upon their walls. 896 Meanwhile among the forests the woeful tidings fill Turnus' ears, and Acca brings the warrior her tale of mighty turmoil: the Volscian ranks destroyed, Camilla fallen, the foe fiercely advancing and sweep |