KING LATINUS.
While they tarried at Cumæ, Caieta, who was the nurse of Æneas, died
and was buried; and they called the cape after her name. And
afterwards they set sail, and passed by the island wherein dwelt
Circé, who is the daughter of the Sun. Pleasantly doth she sing,
sitting at the loom, and burneth torches of sweet-smelling cedar to
give her light by night. And round about her dwelling you may hear the
growling of lions and wild boars and bears and wolves, which are men
whom the goddess with her enchantments hath changed into the shapes of
beasts. But Neptune would not that the men of Troy, being fearers of
the Gods, should suffer such things. Therefore did he send them
favourable winds, so that they passed quickly by that land.
Now when it was dawn, the wind being now lulled, they came to a great
wood upon the shore, and in the midst of the wood the river Tiber,
yellow with much abundance of sand, flowing into the sea. And on the
shore and in the wood were many birds. Thither the men of Troy brought
their ships safe to land.
Of this country Latinus was king, who was the son of Faunus, who was
the son of Picus, who was the son of Saturn. And King Latinus had not
a son, but a daughter only, Lavinia by name, who was now of an age to
be married. Many chiefs of Latium, and of all Italy, desired to have
her to wife; of whom the first was Turnus, a very comely youth, and of
a royal house. Now the queen, the mother of the virgin, loved him, and
would fain have married her daughter to him, but the Gods hindered the
marriage with ill omens and marvels. In the midst of the palace was a
great bay-tree, which the king who builded the house had dedicated to
Phœbus. On this there lighted a great swarm of bees, and hung like
unto a cluster of grapes from a bough thereof. And the seers,
beholding the thing, cried, "There cometh a stranger who shall be
husband to Lavinia, and a strange people who shall bear rule in this
place." Also when Lavinia lighted the fire upon the altar, standing by
her father, a flame leapt therefrom upon her hair, and burned the
ornament that was upon her head and the crown of jewels and gold, and
spread with smoke and fire over the whole palace. Whereupon the
prophets spake, saying, "The virgin indeed shall be famous and great,
but there cometh a dreadful war upon her people." And King Latinus,
fearing what these things might mean, inquired of the oracle of
Faunus, his father, which is by the grove of Albunea. Now the custom
is that the priest offereth sacrifice in the grove and lieth down to
sleep on the skins of the sheep that he hath slain; and it cometh to
pass that he seeth visions in the night and heareth the voice of the
Gods. So King Latinus, being himself a priest, made a great sacrifice,
even of a hundred sheep, and lay down to sleep upon the skins thereof.
And when he was laid down, straightway there came a voice from the
grove, saying, "Seek not, my son, to marry thy daughter to a chief of
this land. There shall come a son-in-law from beyond the sea, who
shall exalt our name from the one end of heaven to the other." Nor did
the king hide these things, but noised them abroad, and the fame
thereof was great in these days when Æneas and his company came to the
land of Italy.
Now it so chanced that Æneas and Iülus his son, and others of the
princes, sat down to eat under a tree; and they had platters of dough
whereon to eat their meat. And when they had ended, and were not
satisfied, they ate their platters also, not thinking what they did.
Then said Iülus, making sport, "What! do we eat even our tables?" And
Æneas was right glad to hear this thing, and embraced the boy, and
said, "Now know I that we are come to the land which the Gods have
promised to me and to my people, that they would give us. For my
father, Anchises, spake to me, saying, 'My son, when thou shalt come
to a land that thou knowest not, and hunger shall constrain thee to
eat thy tables, then know that thou hast found thee a home.' Now,
therefore, seeing that these things have an accomplishment, let us
pour out libations to Jupiter, and make our prayers also to my father,
Anchises, and make merry. And in the morning we will search out the
country, and see who they be that dwell herein."
Then he bound a garland of leaves about his head, and made his prayers
to Mother Earth, and to the gods of the land, of whom indeed he knew
not who they were, and to Father Jupiter, and to the other gods also.
And when he had ended his prayer, Jupiter thundered thrice from the
sky. Then was it noised abroad among the men of Troy that now indeed
were they come to the land where they should build them a city; and
they ate and drank and made merry.
The next day those who should search out the country went forth. And
when it was told Æneas, saying that this river was the Tiber, and that
the people who dwelt in the land were the Latins, valiant men of war,
he chose out a hundred men who should go, with crowns of olive upon
their heads, to the city of the king, having also gifts in their
hands, and should pray that there might be peace between the men of
Troy and his people. And the men made haste to depart; and in the
meanwhile Æneas marked out for himself a camp, and bade that they
should make a rampart and a ditch.
Now when they that were sent came nigh to the city, they saw the young
men in the plain that was before it, riding upon horses and driving
chariots. Others shot with the bow or cast javelins, and some
contended in running or boxing. And one rode on horseback and told the
king, saying that certain men in strange raiment were come. Then the
king commanded that they should be brought into the palace, and sat
upon the throne of his fathers, and gave audience to them.
Now the palace stood on the hill that was in the midst of the city,
where King Picus had builded it, having woods about it very sacred.
Here did the kings first receive the sceptre, that they should bear
rule over the people. A senate-house also it was, and a
banqueting-house, where the princes sat feasting. Very great was it
and magnificent, having a hundred pillars; and in the halls were the
statues of ancient kings, carven in cedar, even Italus, and Sabinus
the vine-dresser, and Father Saturn, and Janus with the two faces.
Also on the wall hung trophies of war, chariots, and battle-axes, and
helmets, and javelins, and the beaks of ships. And sitting on a throne
was the image of King Picus, clad in royal apparel, bearing a shield
on his left arm. But the king himself his wife Circé had changed into
a bird.
And King Latinus spake, saying, "Tell me, men of Troy, for I know you
who you are, what seek ye? For what cause are ye come to the land of
Italy? Have ye gone astray in your journey? or have the storms driven
you out of the way, as ofttimes befalleth men that sail upon the sea?
Ye are welcome. And know that we be of the race of Saturn, who do
righteously, not by constraint, but of our own will. From hence also,
even from Corythus, which is a city of the Etrurians, went forth
Dardanus, and abode in the land of Troy."
Then Ilioneus made answer, saying, "Great King, we have not gone
astray in our journey, nor have storms driven us out of the way. Of
set purpose are we come to this land. For we were driven away by
ill-fortune from our country, of which things we doubt not, O King,
that thou knowest the certainty. For who is there under the whole
heaven who knoweth not what a storm of destruction came forth from the
land of Greece and overthrew the great city of Troy, Europe and Asia
setting themselves in arms against each other? And now are we come to
ask for a parcel of land whereon we may dwell; and for air and water,
which indeed are common to all men. Nor shall we do dishonour to this
realm, nor be unthankful for these benefits. And be sure, O king, that
it will not repent thee that thou hast received us. For indeed many
nations and lands would fain have joined us to themselves. But the
Gods laid a command upon us that we should come to this country of
Italy. For indeed, as thou sayest, Dardanus came forth from hence, and
thither his children, Apollo bidding them, would return. And now,
behold, Æneas sends thee these gifts of the things which remain to us
of the riches which we had aforetime. This sceptre King Priam held
when he did justice among his people; here is a crown also, and
garments which the women of Troy have worked with their hands."
Then for awhile King Latinus kept silence, fixing his eyes upon the
ground. Deeply did he ponder in his heart upon the marriage of his
daughter, and upon the oracles of Faunus his father, whether indeed
this stranger that was now come to his land might haply be the
son-in-law of whom the prophets had spoken. At the last he spake,
saying, "May the Gods prosper this matter between you and me. We
grant, men of Troy, that which ye ask. Also we regard these your
gifts. Know ye that while we reign in this land ye shall not want for
riches, even unto the measure of the riches of Troy. And for your
king, Æneas, if he desire, as ye say, to join himself with us, let him
come and look upon us, face to face. And also take ye back this
message to your king. I have a daughter, whom the Gods suffer me not
to marry to a husband of this land. For they say that there shall come
a stranger who shall be my son-in-law, and that from his loins shall
come forth those who shall raise our name even unto the stars."
Then the king commanded that they should bring forth horses from the
stalls. Now there stood in the stalls three hundred horses, very fleet
of foot. And of these they brought forth one hundred, one for each
man of Troy; and they were decked with trappings of purple, and
champed on bits of gold. And for Æneas himself he sent a chariot, and
two horses breathing fire from their nostrils, which were of the breed
of the horses of the Sun. So the men of Troy went back riding on
horses, and took to Æneas the gifts and the message of peace.