Aeneid 2.442-478

Haerent parietibus scalae

Ladders were fixed to the walls

postesque sub ipsos nituntur gradibus

and up against the very doorposts they strove to climb the rungs

clipeosque ad tela sinistris protecti obiciunt,

and their shields they held out as protection against the weapons with their left hands

prensant fastigia dextris.

as with their right hands they clutched at the roof gables.

Dardanidae contra turres ac tota domorum culmina convellunt;

The Trojans for their part were tearing down their towers and the roofs of all their buildings.

his se, quando ultima cernunt, extrema iam in morte parant defendere telis,

With these weapons, when they saw the end was near, they were preparing to defend themselves in the very final moment of death,

auratasque trabes, veterum decora alta parentum, devolvunt;

and they rolled down the gilded beams and richly ornamented ceilings of their ancestors;

alii strictis mucronibus imas obsedere fores,

Others, with drawn swords, took up position at the doors below,

has servant agmine denso.

and these they protected with their massed forces.

Instaurati animi regis succurrere tectis

My spirit was renewed to bring relief to the palace of my king,

auxilioque levare viros

with reinforcement to lighten the men's load,

vimque addere victis.

and to add strength to the defeated

Limen erat caecaeque fores et pervius usus

There was an entrance and a hidden doorway, a through passage

tectorum inter se Priami postesque relicti,

which joined the different parts of Priam's palace and the unused doorways,

a tergo infelix qua se, dum regna manebant,

at the rear, where—while the kingdom still stood—unhappy

saepius Andromache ferre incomitata solebat

Andromache quite often used to come unattended

ad soceros et avo puerum Astyanacta trahebat.

to visit her in-laws and bring young Astyanax to his grandfather.

Evado ad summi fastigia culminis,

I slipped through this door up to the topmost gables,

unde tela manu miseri iactabant inrita Teucri.

from where the doomed Trojans were vainly hurling missiles.

Turrim in praecipiti stantem summisque sub astra eductam tectis,

There stood a tower on the edge, rising from the roof up toward the stars,

unde omnis Troia videri et Danaum solitae naves et Achaica castra,

from which all Troy, the Greek fleet, and the Achaean camp were customarily visible:

adgressi ferro circum,

We attacked it all around with iron tools,

qua summa labantes iuncturas tabulata dabant,

where the upper floors had loosening joints,

convellimus altis sedibus impulimusque;

we tore it from its high position and sent it toppling

ea lapsa repente ruinam cum sonitu trahit

it collapsed suddenly with a crash and spread instant destruction

et Danaum super agmine late incidit.

and fell from above, crushing a great column of Greeks, far and wide

Ast alii subeunt, nec saxa nec ullum telorum interea cessat genus.

But others still endured, and neither stones nor any kind of missile never slackened in the meantime.

Vestibulum ante ipsum primoque in limine Pyrrhus exsultat telis

Before the very entrance porch and on the brink of the threshold Pyrrhus himself was rampaging

et luce coruscus aëna:

dazzling in the light with the bronze of his armor:

qualis ubi in lucem coluber mala gramina pastus,

just as when into the light a snake, having fed on poisonous herbs,

frigida sub terra tumidum quem bruma tegebat,

whom the cold winter had kept swollen underground,

nunc, positis novus exuviis nitidusque iuventa,

now, new in its sloughed skin and gleaming with youthful shine,

lubrica convolvit sublato pectore terga

coils its glistening back, its breast towering high

arduus ad solem, et linguis micat ore trisulcis.

towering to the sun, and flickers its three-forked tongue from its mouth.

Una ingens Periphas et equorum agitator Achillis,

With him was mighty Periphas and the charioteer of Achilles' horses,

armiger Automedon, una omnis Scyria pubes

his arms-bearer Automedon, and all the young warriors from Scyros

succedunt tecto et flammas ad culmina iactant.

running to attack the palace and hurling firebrands onto the roof.