Game On! The Warrior Lineup
Book VII Fighting for Turnus
Game on! The end of Book 7 is the line-up of heroes and captains who will be fighting on the side of Turnus.
First to arrive are the Etruscans, with a thousand armed men from Agylla (Caere on the map), north of the Tiber, close to the coast. They are led by god-despising Mezentius – can you hear Virgil booing and hissing? – and his son Lausus, second only to Turnus in masculine beauty. The son is amazing with horses and wild animals, and deserves a better father than he has.
Next comes Aventinus, the son of Hercules. Yes, that Hercules. He leads his men on foot, wearing a lion skin with the lion’s open maw covering his head. His men carry javelins and Sabine-style thrusting spikes. No mention is made of armor or shields.
My first century AD Roman soldiers would, I think, immediately connect him to the Aventine hill, the southernmost of the seven hills of Rome. Also, Virgil adds to the story by claiming that Hercules conceived Aventinus in the forests of that hill, after completing his Tenth Labor, with the priestess Rhea. That would have to spark the connection with Rhea Silvia (Rhea from the woods), the mother of Romulus and Remus by Mars, not exactly a priestess, but dedicated to the goddess Vesta.
Now come the twin brothers Catillus and Coras, from the town of Tiburtus. They’re descended from the Greek seer Amphiaraus of Argos. They’re as fast and destructive of centaurs, crashing through to the front line of spears as if they were racing down Mount Othrys. No mention is made of them bringing along any troops with them, nor of how they are armed or equipped.
My soldiers would be likely to recognize that Greek mountain as the place that all the Olympian gods (plus Pluto) were born to the titans Saturn and Rhea. Hmm. There comes another reference, indirect this time, to a Rhea.
Caeculus is coming with a legion of country folk. He’s the founder of the city of Praeneste, to the west of Rome on the map, under the title that says “Aequi.” His men are armed with slings, that they use to throw lead balls or darts, and only some of them have bronze armor or shields. They wear yellow caps made of wolf skins, and walk with left foot bare, right foot shod. He’s thought to be a son of Vulcan, because although he was born in the sheep’s pasture, he was “found” next to the hearth.
This is a strange story that some people think is connected to the Sabine practice of the “ver sacrum” or the Roman practice of “devotio,” where in dangerous times people would dedicate the children born at a certain time to a god. Was Caeculus “devoted” to the god Vulcan?
Next is another horseman, Messapus, descended from Neptune, who couldn’t be killed by fire or sword. He’s an Etruscan (again, north of the Tiber on the map) from the Fescennine highlands and Falisci lowlands. They haven’t fought for a long time, and come marching in ranks and singing “like swans.”
I’m not sure that’s meant to be a complement. By Virgil’s time, “fescennine” was used to mean licentious or obscene. I’m pretty sure my soldiers are going to immediately think of ribald jody calls. I sure did.
And now comes the big army of Sabines, led by a man who is worth an army all by himself: Clausus. Virgil reminds us that the Claudian gens comes from the Sabines, and he names city after city that follow him, some of them on this map, some not. I imagine a lot of these places and names would be familiar to my Roman soldiers, especially any with Sabine heritage. The only description of arms or armor is the reference to clanging shields, so I assume their outfitting was the “default,” whatever that was. Swords? Spears? Bronze armor?
Obliquely referenced here is the Battle of Allia, which definitely would strike a nerve with the first century soldiers. It was a “Remember the Alamo” battle that the Gauls won against Rome in 390 BC, leading to the sacking of Rome. They would remember the stories of Julius Caesar defeating the Gauls in 52 BC at the Battle of Alesia. Apparently, some amount of conflict continued with the Gauls as late as 70 AD [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallic_Wars], so it’s possible some of them not only came from families that had fought Gauls, but some might have actually personally fought them.
And now we have a leader directly connected to the enemies of Troy, a son of Agamemnon, Halesus. How did he get here? He’s pulling not a thousand men, but a thousand clans, including the Arunci (southeast corner of the map), to the war for Turnus. He’s another charioteer. The men he leads throw clubs as missiles, leashed so they can be pulled back again. They carry light shields to cover their left, and use curved blades for close combat.
Oebalus is the son of Telon who ruled the Teleboan Isle of Capri to the nymph Sebethis. He expanded his father’s kingdom to the mainland. His fighters throw boomerangs “like the Teutons.” They wear headgear of bark stripped from the cork oak tree and carry small shields and swords of bronze.
Ufens is a bandit and a chieftain of the Aequicoli [see the region of Aequi on the map, east of Roma]. They keep their weapons on them when farming their rocky soil, but prefer raiding.
Virgil tells us going in that Umbro is going to die, and even gives him a couple of lines of elegy. He’s from Marrubium on Lake Fucinus, to the east and close to the top of the map. He’s a priest who wears a helmet wrapped in olive leaves and olives, but otherwise, no martial skill or outfitting is mentioned, nor does he seem to bring any troops. He heals snakebite with herbs and craft, but he won’t be able to cure the wound caused by a Trojan spear.
Virbius, son of Virbius, is another charioteer, and he drives a team of fiery horses. Virgil makes the father the Greek Hippolytus renamed to Virbius, who was trampled by horses when they were stampeded by Neptune’s sea beasts. It looks like he’s meant to come from Aricia, between Latini and Rutili on the map, where there was a temple to Diana? No other armor or weapons are mentioned, nor any other troops following him.
And now we have Turnus. Exemplar of masculine beauty and form. A head taller than all his gathered chiefs. His armor is described in loving detail. A female chimera breathing the fires of mount Aetna. Io, a golden heifer with horns upraised, her consort Argus, her father Inochus, a river god. The plain is filling up with all the nations and clans: Argive, Auruncan, Rutulian, Sicani, Sacrani and Labici. They’re coming from the river shores of Numicius and Tiber, from Rutulian hills and Circe’s ridge, from places under the aegis of Jupiter of Anxur or Feronia of the wild beasts, from Satura’s black marsh or the cold Ufens river.
And yes, I’m completely overwhelmed by all those places. Some I can find on the map, a lot of them I can’t. Some of them will be familiar to some of my soldiers, probably depending on whether they have friends or relatives from those places.
And finally, we have our “bellatrix,” our woman warrior, Camilla of the Volscian people, shown on the map just north of the Aurunci in the south east corner. She leads her cavalry, outfitted in bronze. Hardened to war, rather than to Minerva’s arts of the spindle and the wool basket, she can run faster than the wind. People pour out of town and field to gape at her and marvel. She wears royal purple over smooth shoulders, a golden brooch in her hair, carries a Lycian quiver, and spear made from the myrtle staff of a shepherd.
Thanks for sharing, Ms. Mary. I was having flashbacks to the days that I took my ancient history classes in college. So many names have common roots (like searching for "Yorktown" or "Charlestown" on US maps), not to mention the Latin-speakers tended to give their own spellings to foreign places, kind of like English names for all the places Englishmen have visited.
And so much of that area has had resident tribes further back than recorded history. Not to mention, all the foreign invaders: Gauls, Carthaginians, Epirotes(sp?), and North African Corsairs. Antium on the coast is the ancient name for Anzio, where my FIL served with Darby Rangers. So many wars in that peninsula.