ANCIENT ROME 101
Faunus. Once again, however, the
enmity of Juno worked against him.
The goddess persuaded Lavinia’s
mother, Queen Amata, that her
daughter must marry Turnus, ruler
of the neighboring Rutuli. Juno
then called on Alecto, one of the
three Furies (or goddesses of
retribution) to foment war.The final conflict
Vastly outnumbered by Turnus’s
forces, Aeneas initially despaired,
but was then visited by the river
god Tiberinus in a dream. The god
told him that he should find a place
on the river bank where a white
sow was nursing 30 piglets; there
his son Ascanius would one dayfound a city called Alba Longa.
Encouraged by Tiberinus, Aeneas
then gained the support of the aged
Evander, king of Pallanteum, on the
Palatine Hill, where Rome would
later be founded, and of Tarchon,
the king of the Etruscans.
With new allies—and help from
the gods—Aeneas began to gain
ground. When the enemy tried to
set fire to the Trojan fleet, the
goddess Cybele turned the ships
into nymphs, who swam away.
However, Turnus had Juno on his
side and killed King Evander’s son
Pallas, taking his belt as a trophy.
Finally, Aeneas and Turnus met
in single combat; Venus supported
Aeneas while Turnus had his sister,
the water nymph Juturna, at his
side. Jupiter then persuaded Juno
to abandon Turnus and cease her
opposition to Aeneas, assuring
her that the Latin name (“Latium”)
and language would be preserved.
Jupiter sent a snake-haired Fury to
drive off Juturna and harrass
Turnus. Aeneas wounded Turnus
but was about to spare his life
when he saw that he was wearing
Pallas’s belt. In fury, he drove his
sword through Turnus’s heart. The
epic poem ends in Turnus’s death,
which also ended the war. ■In Sicily, Aeneas
performs funeral
games following
the death of his
father, Anchises.The Sibyl of Cumae
leads Aeneas to the
underworld, where
he talks to several
spirits, including Dido
and Anchises. The
future of Rome is
revealed to him.Landing in
Latium, Aeneas
is welcomed at the
mouth of the Tiber
River by King
Latinus, who offers
his daughter Lavinia
in marriage.The Trojans go to
war in Italy. Aeneas
initially sustains heavy
losses, before enlisting
King Evander and his
people as allies.In a duel with
Turnus, Aeneas
is the victor and
ends the war.New cities
Aeneas founded the city
of Lavinium in Latium and
named it for his wife, Lavinia.
After Aeneas’s death, his son
Ascanius founded the city of
Alba Longa, at the spot
prophesied by the river god
Tiberinus, in the Alban hills
southeast of Rome. For 400
years, the descendants of
Aeneas ruled Alba Longa until
Romulus and Remus founded
Rome. According to legend,
war between the two cities
broke out in the 7th century
bce. Livy described how two
pairs of triplets—the Horatii
for Rome and the Curiatii for
Alba Longa—did battle. The
Romans emerged victorious.
Historically, the Romans
and the people of Latium were
part of a confederation known
as the Latin League, which
fought together against
enemies. When the Albans
deserted the Romans in a war
against the Etruscans, the
Romans killed the Alban
leader, Mettius, razed Alba
Longa to the ground, and
brought its people to Rome.Against my own wishes I
have abandoned Turnus and
abandoned the earth.
AeneidUS_096-101_Aeneas.indd 101 01/12/17 4:22 pm