LXXXIII. 'Twas thus that now Latinus they require To dare AEneas' followers to the fray, And ope the portals. But the good old Sire Shrank from the touch, and, shuddering with dismay, Shunned the foul office, and abjured the day. Then, downward darting from the skies afar, Heaven's empress with her right hand wrenched away The lingering bars. The grating hinges jar, As back Saturnia thrusts the iron gates of War. LXXXIV. Then woke Ausonia from her sleep. Forth swarm Footmen and horsemen, and in wild career Whirl up the dust. "Arm," cry the warriors, "arm!" With unctuous lard their polished shields they smear, And whet the axe, and scour the rusty spear. Their banners wave, their trumpets sound the fight. Five towns their anvils for the war uprear, Crustumium, Tibur, glorying in her might, Ardea, Atina strong, Antemnae's tower-girt height. LXXXV. Lithe twigs of osier in their shields they weave, And shape the casque, and in the mould prepare The brazen breastplate and the silver greave. Scorned lie the spade, the sickle and the share, Their fathers' falchions to the forge they bear. Now peals the clarion; through the host hath spread The watch-word. Helmets from the walls they tear, And yoke the steeds. In triple gold arrayed, Each grasps the burnished shield, and girds the trusty blade. LXXXVI. Now open Helicon; awake the strain, Ye Muses. Aid me, that the tale be told, What kings were roused, what armies filled the plain, What battles blazed, what men of valiant mould Graced fair Italia in those days of old. Aid ye, for ye are goddesses, and clear Can ye remember, and the tale unfold. But faint and feeble is the voice we hear, A slender breath of Fame, that falters on the ear. LXXXVII. First came with armed men from Etruria's coast Mezentius, scorner of the Gods. Next came His son, young Lausus, comeliest of the host, Save Turnus--Lausus, who the steed could tame, And quell wild beasts and track the woodland game. A hundred warriors from Agylla's town He leads--ah vainly! though he died with fame. Proud had he been and worthy to have known A nobler sire's commands, a nobler sire to own. LXXXVIII. With conquering steeds triumphant o'er the mead, His chariot, crowned with palm-leaves, proudly wheeled The comely Aventinus, glorious seed Of glorious Hercules; the blazoned shield His father's Hydra and her snakes revealed. Him, when of old, the monstrous Geryon slain, The lord of Tiryns, victor of the field, Reached in his wanderings the Laurentian plain, And bathed in Tiber's stream the captured herds of Spain,