"Think'st thou not I recognized thee? Thy deceit is in vain. Is to die so
wretched a thing? Let us go to the battle. At least, I will die not
unworthy of my ancestry."
As he spoke, Saces, wounded and bleeding, rushed to him, imploring:
"Turnus, have pity on us; come to our rescue! The Latins call thee, the
queen is dead, the phalanxes crowd thick around the gates, while thou
drivest idly here."
Turnus, amazed, confused, and shamed, saw flames consuming the towers of
Latium.
"Now, sister, the fates control. Desist! It is too late, I will be shamed
no more!" Leaping from his chariot, he rushed forward, demanding that war
cease in order that he and Aeneas might decide the battle in single combat.
When Turnus's sword broke on the helmet of Aeneas,--the sword of his
charioteer, that he had seized by mistake instead of his own Styx-hardened
blade,--he turned and fled, Aeneas pursuing.
Above, in Olympus, Jupiter and Juno quarrelled, as they watched the heroes
circling over the yellow sand.
"Give over thy enmity," said the omnipotent father. "Thou hast caused the
treaty to be violated; even now thou hast made Juturna return the lost
sword to Turnus--in vain. Grieve no more, and goad no longer these
suffering men of Troy."
Then Juno yielded, stipulating only that the Trojans lay aside their
ancient name, that Latium remain Latium, and the future growth Roman.
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