Camilla

The Swift Warrior Maiden

Her father, Metabus, was driven from his town while Camilla was still a baby. Fleeing armed enemies, he reached a flooded river and could not cross safely while carrying her. He wrapped the child in bark, tied her to his spear and promised her to Diana, goddess of the hunt, if she survived. Metabus hurled the spear across the river, swam after it and found Camilla unharmed on the opposite bank. He raised her in the wild countryside on mare’s milk and taught her to use a bow, spear and sling. Camilla grew up devoted to Diana and chose the freedom of hunting and warfare instead of marriage. She wore animal skin and could bring down birds or wild creatures with her weapons.

When war broke out between Aeneas’s newcomers and the local prince Turnus, Camilla arrived with a band of Volscian riders and foot soldiers. Virgil compares her to the Amazons, the legendary women warriors of Greek myth. King Latinus’s wife, Amata, and other Italian women admired her. Turnus trusted her with a crucial part of the battle while he prepared an ambush elsewhere. Book 11 of the Aeneid gives Camilla a long battle scene. She kills several Trojan and Etruscan warriors, sometimes with a spear and sometimes with an axe. One opponent chases her because he assumes she will be easy to defeat. Camilla deliberately retreats, circles around and surprises him. The episode makes his pride look foolish. She is not merely included as an unusual sight.

Virgil gives her speed, tactics and command. Her companions include other warrior women named Larina, Tulla and Tarpeia. Camilla’s success attracts danger. The Etruscan warrior Arruns follows her from a distance, too frightened to challenge her openly. Camilla spots Chloreus, a priest and fighter wearing brilliantly coloured foreign armour, and becomes determined to capture his equipment. While she concentrates on pursuing him, Arruns prays to Apollo and throws his spear. It strikes Camilla. Arruns immediately runs away instead of claiming a brave victory. Camilla’s final concern is the battle. She tells her companion Acca to warn Turnus, then dies as Diana’s nymph Opis watches.

⬅   Back