No prince, Italian born, should heir my throne:

Oft have our augurs, in prediction skilled,

And oft our priests, a foreign son revealed.

Yet, won by worth that cannot be withstood,

Bribed by my kindness to my kindred blood,

Urged by my wife, who would not be denied,

I promised my Lavinia for your bride:

Her from her plighted lord by force I took;

All ties of treaties, and of honour, broke:

}