It could not be
doubtful. On the side of Aeneas were the expressed decree of
destiny, the aid of his goddess-mother at every emergency, and
impenetrable armor fabricated by Vulcan, at her request, for her
son. Turnus, on the other hand, was deserted by his celestial
allies, Juno having been expressly forbidden by Jupiter to assist
him any longer. Turnus threw his lance, but it recoiled harmless
from the shield of Aeneas. The Trojan hero then threw his, which
penetrated the shield of Turnus, and pierced his thigh. Then
Turnus's fortitude forsook him and he begged for mercy; and Aeneas
would have given him his life, but at the instant his eye fell on
the belt of Pallas, which Turnus had taken from the slaughtered
youth. Instantly his rage revived, and exclaiming, "Pallas
immolates thee with this blow," he thrust him through with his
sword.
Here the poem of the "Aeneid" closes, and we are left to infer
that Aeneas, having triumphed over his foes, obtained Lavinia for
his bride. Tradition adds that he founded his city, and called it
after her name, Lavinium. His son Iulus founded Alba Longa, which
was the birthplace of Romulus and Remus and the cradle of Rome
itself.
There is an allusion to Camilla in those well-known lines of Pope,
in which, illustrating the rule that "the sound should be an echo
to the sense," he says:
"When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw,
The line too labors and the words move slow.
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