Juno having finished her speech against the Trojans, and none of the other divinities desiring to take part in the controversy, Jupiter then delivered judgment, declaring that as the quarrel between the two goddesses could not be amicably settled, nor peace brought about between the Trojans and Italians, the fates should take their course.
"Since Troy with Latium must contend,
And these your wranglings find no end,
Let each man use his chance to day
And carve his fortune as he may;
Each warrior from his own good lance
Shall reap the fruit of toil or chance;
Jove deals to all an equal lot,
And Fate shall loose or cut the knot."
CONINGTON, AEneid, BOOK IX.
Thus ended the council of the gods, and so by the decree of the king of heaven the quarrel between the Trojans and Italians was left to the fortune of war.
Meanwhile the Trojans in the camp on the Tiber were being hard pressed by the enemy. As soon as Turnus had rejoined his army, the attack on the ramparts was renewed with increased vigor, and the brave Mnestheus and his companions, their forces now much reduced in number, were beginning to lose hope.
Hopeless of flight, more hopeless of relief,
Thin on the towers they stand; and e'en those few,
A feeble, fainting, and dejected crew.
DRYDEN, AEneid, BOOK X.
But AEneas was hastening to the rescue. Having formed the league with Tarchon, he lost no time in preparing to return to his friends. Many other chiefs of Etruria joined their forces to the expedition, and all placed themselves under the command of AEneas, in accordance with the will of the gods that only under a foreign leader could they be successful in the war against the Rutulians.
When everything was ready for departure they embarked on a fleet of thirty ships, and sailed down the Tyr-rhe'ni-an Sea, along the Etrurian coast, towards the mouth of the Tiber. AEneas led the way in his own galley, and with him was young Pallas, the son of Evander. During the voyage he learned in a strange manner of the perilous situation of his people in the camp. It was night, and as he was seated at the helm, for his anxiety permitted him not to sleep, a number of sea-nymphs appeared swimming by the side of his ship. One of them, Cym-o-do-ce'a by name, grasped the stern of the vessel with her right hand, while with her left she gently rowed her way through the waves. Then she addressed the Trojan chief. "Son of the gods," said she, "we are the pines of Mount Ida, at one time your fleet, but now nymphs of the sea. The Rutulian king would have destroyed us with fire had it not been permitted to us by the mother of the gods to burst our cables, and assume our present form. We come to tell you that your son Ascanius is besieged in the camp, and pressed on all sides by the Latian foe. Be ready then at the dawn of morning with your troops, and bear with you to the fight the arms and armor which Vulcan has made. To-morrow's sun shall see many of the Rutulian enemy slain."
She ceased, and parting, to the bark
A measured impulse gave;
Like wind-swift arrow to its mark
It darts along the wave.
The rest pursue. In wondering awe
The chief revolves the things he saw.
CONINGTON, AEneid, BOOK X.
At dawn of morning the fleet came within view of the Trojan camp. Then AEneas standing on the deck of his own vessel, held aloft his bright shield made by Vulcan. His people saw it from the ramparts, and shouted loud with joy, and now, their hope being revived, they assailed the enemy with fresh courage. The Rutulians and Latians were amazed at this sudden change, not knowing the cause, but looking back, they too beheld the fleet approaching the shore.
The brave Turnus however was not dismayed at the sight. On the contrary he resolved to give battle to the new foe without delay, and so addressing his men he bade them fight valiantly for their homes and country, remembering the glorious deeds of their ancestors.