Wars of the Aeneid

Virgil’s Aeneid, a Latin epic on the Trojan Aeneas and the founding of his people in Italy, contains two wars. The first, the capture of Troy, is told in retrospect by Aeneas himself. The second, fought in Latium after his arrival, occupies the second half of the poem.

The Fall of Troy

In Aeneid Book 2, Aeneas narrates the capture of Troy to Dido, queen of Carthage, who has asked for the history of his adventures since the siege. Books 2 and 3 are given over to this narrative.

According to Book 2, Troy fell after a ten years’ siege, through the treachery of Sinon and the stratagem of a wooden horse. Aeneas states that he resolved not to survive the ruin of his country and met with various adventures in its defense.

The Trojan Hector appears to him as a ghost, and his mother Venus later appears to him as well. Persuaded to leave the city, Aeneas carries his father Anchises on his shoulders, leads his young son by the hand, and is followed by his wife. At the appointed meeting place he finds many refugees but not his wife, whose ghost afterward appears and tells him of the land designed for him.

Book 3 continues the account with the fleet’s departure, the voyage by way of Thrace, Delos, Crete and Sicily, and the death of Anchises in Sicily.

The War in Latium

In Book 7, King Latinus receives Aeneas and promises him his daughter Lavinia, heiress of his crown. Turnus, who is in love with her, is favored by her mother and by Juno and the Fury Alecto. He breaks the treaty and draws other neighboring leaders into the quarrel, among them Mezentius, Camilla and Messapus. The book also lists their forces and commanders.

In Book 8, both sides prepare. Turnus sends to Diomedes. Aeneas seeks help from Evander and the Tuscans, and Evander sends his son Pallas with him. At Venus’s request Vulcan makes arms for Aeneas and depicts on the shield the memorable deeds of his descendants.

In Book 9, Turnus takes advantage of Aeneas’s absence, sets fire to some of his ships, which are transformed into sea nymphs, and assaults the Trojan camp. The besieged Trojans send Euryalus and a companion to recall Aeneas, which produces the episode of their friendship.

In Book 10, Jupiter calls a council of the gods and forbids them to take either side. After Aeneas returns, a battle follows in which Turnus kills Pallas and Aeneas kills Lausus and Mezentius.

In Book 11, Aeneas erects a trophy from the spoils of Mezentius, grants a truce for burying the dead, and sends Pallas’s body home. Latinus calls a council to consider offers of peace, and the proposal sets Turnus against Drances. In a cavalry engagement Camilla distinguishes herself and is killed, and the Latin troops are defeated.

In Book 12, Turnus challenges Aeneas to single combat. The Rutulians break the agreed terms and wound Aeneas, and Venus heals him. He then forces Turnus to a duel, and the poem ends with the death of Turnus.