Camilla

Prior to Vergil’s description of the Italic warrior Camilla in the Aeneid, there are no extant mentions of her, even in passing. Vergil may have been drawing on an earlier (now lost) Italic mythic tradition for this narrative of Camilla, but it is just as possible that she is a purely Vergilian creation based on an amalgam of other mythic warrior women including Penthesilea (the Amazon warrior queen who fought alongside the Trojans) as well as Atalanta (see chapter 1. Whatever the case, Camilla is one of few warrior women in classical Latin literature to receive such extensive and detailed treatment, and this chapter relates her exploits and death in battle against the Trojans and their allies. The Latin text enables readers to review indirect statement.