Summary
The day after the battle, Aeneas views the body
of young Pallas and, weeping, arranges for 1,000 men
to escort the prince’s corpse to King Evander and to join the king
in mourning. When Evander hears of his son’s death, he is crushed,
but because Pallas died honorably, he forgives Aeneas in his heart
and wishes only for the death of Turnus.
Back at the battlefield, messengers arrive from
the Latins, who request a twelve-day truce so that both sides may
bury their dead. Aeneas agrees to the ceasefire. The messengers
are impressed with Aeneas’s piety. They think to themselves that
Turnus should settle the quarrel over Lavinia in a duel with Aeneas
to avoid further battle.
At a council called by King Latinus, others echo the
messengers’ sentiment. There, the Latins learn that Diomedes, the
great Greek warrior who fought at Troy and now reigns over a nearby
kingdom, has rejected their plea for aid. Latinus confesses that
he does not think they can win, and proposes the offering of some
territory to the Trojans in exchange for peace. A man named Drancës
speaks, blaming the whole war on Turnus’s arrogance. He claims that
the rest of the Latins have lost the will to fight. The council
begins to turn against Turnus, who, back from his foray on the ship,
responds in anger. He challenges the courage and manhood of Drancës
and Latinus, insulting the former and begging the latter to continue fighting.
Still, Turnus says, if the council wishes him to fight Aeneas alone,
he will do so without fear.
Just at that moment, a messenger arrives to warn the
Latins that the Trojans are marching toward the city. Forgetting
their debate, the Latins rush in a panic to prepare their defenses,
joined now by Camilla, the famous leader of the Volscians, a race
of warrior maidens. Turnus hears from a spy that Aeneas has divided
his army: the light horses gallop toward the city while Aeneas and
the heavily armored captains take a slower path through the mountains.
Turnus rushes off to lay a trap for the Trojan leader on a particular mountain
path, leaving the defense of the city to Camilla.
Soon the Trojans reach the field in front of the city,
and the battle begins. Camilla proves the fiercest warrior present,
scattering Aeneas’s troops with her deadly spears and arrows. She
brings down many soldiers before a Tuscan named Arruns catches her
off guard, piercing her with his javelin. Unfortunately for him,
the goddess Diana holds Camilla in high favor and dispatches her
attendant Opis down from Olympus to kill Arruns as an act of revenge,
cutting his personal victory short.
Having lost their leader in Camilla, the Latin troops
scatter and flee back to the city. Many are killed in the retreat.
Meanwhile, Camilla’s companion Acca goes off to inform Turnus that
the Latins lack a leader. Turnus is forced to return to the city
just as Aeneas passes by the place of the ambush. Aeneas and Turnus
return to their respective armies to make camp as night falls.
