Lines 223-304

Question 1

Et iam finis erat, cum Iuppiter aethere summo
despiciens mare velivolum terrasque iacentis
litoraque et latos populos, sic vertice caeli
constitit, et Libyae defixit lumina regnis.

Answer 1

And now it was complete, when Jupiter, from the heights of the air,
looking down on the sea with its flying sails and the broad lands
and the coasts and the people far and wide, paused in this way,
at the summit of heaven, and fixed his eyes on the Libyan kingdom.

Question 2

Atque illum talis iactantem pectore curas
tristior et lacrimis oculos suffusa nitentis
adloquitur Venus: “O qui res hominumque deumque
aeternis regis imperiis, et fulmine terres,
quid meus Aeneas in te committere tantum,
quid Troes potuere, quibus, tot funera passis,
cunctus ob Italiam terrarum clauditur orbis?

Answer 2

And considering such cares in his heart, Venus spoke
to him, rather saddened and her bright eyes brimming with tears:
‘Oh you who govern things human and divine, with eternal rule,
and who terrifies with your lightning-bolt,
what so great thing can my Aeneas have done to you,
what could the Trojans have done, who have suffered so much destruction,
from whom the whole world is closed off, for the sake of the Italian lands?

Question 3

Certe hinc Romanos olim, volventibus annis,
hinc fore ductores, revocato a sanguine Teucri,
qui mare, qui terras omni dicione tenerent,
pollicitus, quae te, genitor, sententia vertit?

Answer 3

Surely it was promised some time ago that from here, as the years rolled by,
the Romans would rise from them as leaders, restored from Teucer’s blood,
who would hold power over the sea, and all the lands.
Father, what thought has changed your mind?

Question 4

Hoc equidem occasum Troiae tristisque ruinas
solabar, fatis contraria fata rependens;
nunc eadem fortuna viros tot casibus actos
insequitur. Quem das finem, rex magne, laborum?

Answer 4

With this (promise) indeed I consoled myself for the fall of Troy, and its sad ruin,
weighing one destiny, against opposing destinies:
now the same (mis)fortune follows these men driven on by such
disasters. Great king, what end to their efforts will you give?

Question 5

Antenor potuit, mediis elapsus Achivis,
Illyricos penetrare sinus, atque intima tutus
regna Liburnorum, et fontem superare Timavi,
unde per ora novem vasto cum murmure montis
it mare proruptum et pelago premit arva sonanti.

Answer 5

Antenor having escaped through the middle of the Greeks,
safe, was able to enter the Illyrian gulfs, and deep into the realms
of the Liburnians, and overcome the founts of Timavus,
from where the river emerges in a burst, with a huge mountainous roar,
through nine mouths, and buries the fields under its noisy flood.

Question 6

Hic tamen ille urbem Patavi sedesque locavit
Teucrorum, et genti nomen dedit, armaque fixit
Troia; nunc placida compostus pace quiescit:

Answer 6

Here, nonetheless, he located the city of Padua, and homes
for Teucrians, and gave the people a name, and hung up
the arms of Troy: now settled, he lives quietly in tranquil peace.

Question 7

nos, tua progenies, caeli quibus adnuis arcem,
navibus (infandum!) amissis, unius ob iram
prodimur, atque Italis longe disiungimur oris.

Answer 7

(But) we, your race, to whom you grant the heights of heaven,
lost our ships (shameful!), we are betrayed because of one person’s anger,
and kept far away from the shores of Italy.

Question 8

hic pietatis honos? sic nos in sceptra reponis?’
Olli subridens hominum sator atque deorum,
voltu, quo caelum tempestatesque serenat,
oscula libavit natae, dehinc talia fatur:

Answer 8

Is this the prize for virtue? Is this how you restore our rule?’
The father of men and gods, smiling at her with that look,
and with which he clears the sky of storms,
kissed his daughter’s lips, then said this:

Question 9

“Parce metu, Cytherea: manent immota tuorum
fata tibi; cernes urbem et promissa Lavini
moenia, sublimemque feres ad sidera caeli
magnanimum Aenean; neque me sententia vertit.

Answer 9

‘Don’t be afraid, Cytherea, the fate of your (child) remains unaltered:
You will see the city of Lavinium, with it’s promised walls,
and you will raise great-hearted Aeneas high, to the starry sky:
No thought has changed my mind.

Question 10

Hic tibi (fabor enim, quando haec te cura remordet,
longius et volvens fatorum arcana movebo)

Answer 10

This (son) of yours (For I will speak, since this trouble gnaws at you,
and unrolling in more detail I shall bring to light the secrets of destiny)

Question 11

bellum ingens geret Italia, populosque feroces
contundet, moresque viris et moenia ponet,
tertia dum Latio regnantem viderit aestas,
ternaque transierint Rutulis hiberna subactis.

Answer 11

he will wage a mighty war in Italy, and destroy proud peoples,
and establish laws, and city walls, for his men,
until a third summer sees him reigning in Latium,
and three winters in camp pass (since) the Rutulians were beaten.

Question 12

At puer Ascanius, cui nunc cognomen Iulo
additur,—Ilus erat, dum res stetit Ilia regno,—
triginta magnos volvendis mensibus orbis
imperio explebit, regnumque ab sede Lavini
transferet, et Longam multa vi muniet Albam.

Answer 12

But the boy Ascanius, to whom the surname Iulus is now added
(He was Ilus while the Ilian state stood in sovereignty)
will complete with his kingdom thirty great circles of the turning months,
and transfer his throne from its site at Lavinium,
and strong in power, will fortify Alba Longa.

Question 13

Hic iam ter centum totos regnabitur annos
gente sub Hectorea, donec regina sacerdos,
Marte gravis, geminam partu dabit Ilia prolem.

Answer 13

Here those from Hector’s race will reign now
for three hundred years complete, until a royal priestess,
Ilia, heavy with child, shall give in birth twins by Mars.

Question 14

Inde lupae fulvo nutricis tegmine laetus
Romulus excipiet gentem, et Mavortia condet
moenia, Romanosque suo de nomine dicet.

Answer 14

Then Romulus will further the race, proud in his nurse
the she-wolf’s tawny pelt, and found the walls of Mars,
and call the people Romans, from his own name.

Question 15

His ego nec metas rerum nec tempora pono;
imperium sine fine dedi. Quin aspera Iuno,
quae mare nunc terrasque metu caelumque fatigat,
consilia in melius referet, mecumque fovebit
Romanos rerum dominos gentemque togatam:

Answer 15

I place neither limits of place nor duration on them:
I gave empire without end. What’s more, harsh Juno,
who now torments lands and sea and sky with fear,
will respond in better judgement, and favour the Romans,
masters of the world, and people of the toga, with me.

Question 16

sic placitum. Veniet lustris labentibus aetas,
cum domus Assaraci Phthiam clarasque Mycenas
servitio premet, ac victis dominabitur Argis.

Answer 16

So it is decreed. A time will come, as the sacred seasons glide by,
when the (Trojan) house of Assaracus will force Phthia and bright Mycenae
into slavery, and be lords of beaten Argos.

Question 17

Nascetur pulchra Troianus origine Caesar,
imperium oceano, famam qui terminet astris,—
Iulius, a magno demissum nomen Iulo.

Answer 17

From this illustrious source a Trojan Caesar will be born,
who will bound the empire with Ocean, his fame with the stars,
Julius, his name descended from the great Iulus.

Question 18

Hunc tu olim caelo, spoliis Orientis onustum,

accipies secura; vocabitur hic quoque votis.

Answer 18

You, no longer anxious, will receive him one day in heaven,

burdened with Eastern spoils: he also will be called to in prayer.

Question 19

Aspera tum positis mitescent saecula bellis;
cana Fides, et Vesta, Remo cum fratre Quirinus,
iura dabunt; dirae ferro et compagibus artis
claudentur Belli portae; Furor impius intus,
saeva sedens super arma, et centum vinctus aenis
post tergum nodis, fremet horridus ore cruento

Answer 19

Then with wars abandoned, the harsh ages will grow mild:
White haired Trust, and Vesta, Quirinus with his brother Remus
will give the laws: the gates of War, grim with iron,
and narrowed by bars, will be closed: inside impious Rage will roar
frightening from blood-stained mouth, seated upon savage weapons,
hands tied behind his back, with a hundred knots of bronze

Question 20

Haec ait, et Maia genitum demittit ab alto,
ut terrae, utque novae pateant Karthaginis arces
hospitio Teucris, ne fati nescia Dido
finibus arceret: volat ille per aera magnum
remigio alarum, ac Libyae citus adstitit oris.

Answer 20

Saying this, he sends Maia’s son down from heaven,
so that the lands and strongholds of this new Carthage
would open to the Trojans, as guests, and Dido, unaware of fate,
would not keep them from her territory. He flies through the air
with a beating of mighty wings and quickly lands on Libyan shore.

Question 21

et iam iussa facit, ponuntque ferocia Poeni
corda, volente deo; in primis regina quietum
accipit in Teucros animum mentemque benignam.

Answer 21

And now does as commanded, and the Phoenicians set aside
their savage instincts, by the god’s will: the queen above all
adopts calm feelings, and kind thoughts, towards the Trojans.