LXX. Thee, too, great Æolus, Laurentum's plain
Saw trampled down by Turnus, as he flew,
And stretched at length among the Trojan slain.
Thou diest, whom ne'er could Argive bands subdue,
Nor Peleus' son, who Priam's realm o'erthrew.
Thy goal is here; beyond the distant wave,
Beneath the mount where Ida's fir-trees grew,
High house was thine; high house Lyrnessus gave,		622
Thy home; Laurentum's soil hath given thee a grave.
LXXI. So met the ranks, and mingled, man with man,
Latins and Dardans in promiscuous throng,
Mnestheus and fierce Serestus in the van,
Messapus, tamer of the steed, and strong
Asylas. There in tumult swept along
Arcadian horsemen, and the Tuscan train.
No rest is theirs, no respite; loud and long
The conflict rages, as with might and main,		631
Each for his own dear life, the warriors strive and strain.
LXXII. Now lovely Venus doth her son persuade
To seek the walls, and townward turn his train,
And deal swift havoc on the foe dismayed.
While here and there Æneas scans the plain,
Still tracking Turnus through the ranks in vain,
Far off the peaceful city he espies,
Unscathed, unstirred, and in his restless brain
The vision of a greater war doth rise;		640
Larger the War-God looms, and to his chiefs he cries.
LXXIII. Mnestheus, Sergestus and Serestus strong
He calls, and on a hillock takes his stand.
There, mustering round him, all the Teucrians throng,
Each armed with buckler, and his spear in hand,
And from the mound he thus exhorts the band:
"Hear, sons of Teucer, and let none be slack.
Jove fights for us, so hearken my command.
Though strange the venture, sudden the attack,		649
Let none for that cause faint, none loiter and hang back.
LXXIV. "This town—unless they yield them and obey—
This town, the centre of Latinus' reign,
The cause of war, will I uproot this day,
And raze her smoking roof-tops to the plain.
What! shall I wait, and wait, till Turnus deign
To take fresh heart, and tempt the war's rough game,
And, conquered, face his conqueror again?
See there the fount of all this blood! For shame;		658
Bring quick the torch; let fire the perjured pact reclaim!"
LXXV. So spake he, and one purpose nerves them all.
They form a wedge, and forward with a cheer
The close-knit column charges at the wall.
Here scaling ladders in a trice they rear,
And firebrands suddenly and flames appear.
These seek the gates, and lay the foremost dead;
Those flash the sword, or shake the shining spear.
Darts cloud the skies. Æneas, at their head,		667
Stands by the lofty walls, and with his hands outspread,
LXXVI. Upbraids aloud Latinus, twice untrue,
And bids heaven witness and his wrongs regard,
Thus forced reluctant to the fight anew;
How loth again with Latin foes he warred,
How twice the truce the Latin crimes had marred.
Upsprings wild discord in the town; some call
To cede the city, and have the gates unbarred,
And drag the aged monarch to the wall;		676
Some rush to arms, and strive their entrance to forestall.
LXXVII. As when within a crannied rock some hind,
Returning home, a swarm of bees hath found,
And all the nest with bitter smoke doth blind:
They, in their waxen citadel fast bound,
Post to and fro, the narrow cells around,
And whet their stings in fury and despair:
With stifled hum the caverned crags resound,
The black fumes search the windings of their lair,		685
And the dark smoke rolls up, and mingles with the air.
LXXVIII. A new mischance now smote with further woe
The Latin town, and fainting hearts dismayed.
As queen Amata sees the coming foe,
The ramparts stormed, their flames the roofs invade,
And nowhere Turnus nor his troops to aid,
Him dead she deems, herself the cause declares,
Herself alone she spares not to upbraid.
She wails,—she raves,—her purple robe she tears,		694
And from a lofty beam the hideous noose prepares.