Book 9 brings us back to Turnus and the Trojans. Aeneas is off building up their forces, making allies, and admiring his new shield. Juno decides it's about time Turnus started attacking the Trojans, so she sends Iris down. Iris tells him it’s time to quit stalling and go spring a surprise attack upon the Trojans.
Turnus responds by doing just that. After going down to the river to pray, he organizes his
army and they set out to the field outside the Trojans’ gate. He calls out to them to fight, and hurls a javelin to mark the beginning of the battle. The walls, however, remain quiet, the gate closed. Before he left, Aeneas had instructed the Trojans to stay inside the gate no matter what, and to just wait for Aeneas to return. The Trojans didn’t engage with Turnus and the Rutulians.
Turnus gets annoyed and decides they should just burn down the Trojan fleet instead. The walls were built by the river and the fleet is moored on the banks. Turnus and his Rutulians light torches and rush toward the ships, intending to burn them which will cut off the Trojans’ potential route of retreat. However, what Turnus doesn’t know is that the ships are made from wood cut from the sacred wood of The Berecynthian Mother Of Gods. When Aeneas had first used her wood for the ships, she had entreated Jupiter to protect her wood. He declined at first, but promised that once the Trojans arrived in Italy, he would make the ships immortal. When Turnus is charging for the ships, Jupiter changes the ships into their immortal form, and the ships swim away like dolphins.
The Rutulians are shocked of course, but they completely misinterpret what just happened. They conclude that the gods are on their side and have caused the Trojan ships to depart, cutting off any hope for retreat and ensuring a Rutulian victory, or so they think.
That night, Turnus and the Rutulians set up their camps all around the walls. They light campfires and drink wine late into the night. Eventually, most of the Rutulians fall asleep, drunk. Many of the Trojans are on the wall surveying the scene. The Trojans know they need to let Aeneas know what is happening. Two friends, Nisus and Euryalus, find a weak spot in the Rutulian forces, and decide they could make it through during the night and carry the message to Aeneas. They approach Ascanius and the other Trojan captains about their idea, and their plan is accepted. Ascanius promises great rewards to Nisus, and promises to place his highest trust in Euryalus, should they return. Euryalus also requests that Ascanius take care of his mother should anything happen to him. Ascanius agrees, and the two friends depart.
They successfully wipe out a group of Rutulians, clearing a path to then exit unseen, but
Euryalus makes a mistake. After they kill many men, they also take some of their stuff to equip themselves. Euryalus takes a very shiny helmet. They hear some Rutulians approaching and hide in the nearby trees. Unfortunately for the duo, the Rutulians spot the shiny helmet and pursue them. They rush through the forest. Nisus makes it to the other side, but somewhere along the way, he was separated from Euryalus. Instead of pressing on and delivering the message to Aeneas, he goes back to look for Euryalus. Euryalus had gotten turned around in the darkness and was captured by the Rutulians, led by Volcens. Nisus starts to throw spears and kills a few of the Rutulians. However, Volcens then draws his sword and is about to kill Euryalus.
Nisus, wanting to save his friend, reveals himself and pleads with them to let Euryalus go free. Volcens drives his sword into Euryalus. Enraged, Nisus draws his own sword and heads straight for Volcens. The Rutulians surround Nisus, but Nisus manages to plunge his sword into Volcens’ face before succumbing to his many wounds dealt to him by the other Rutulians. He falls lifeless on Euryalus’ corpse.
The Rutulians return to camp with the bodies of Volcens, Nisus, and Euryalus. They see the men who were slaughtered by Nisus and Euryalus, and are very angry. When the sun rises, the Rutulians prepare to attack again. They affix the heads of Nisus and Euryalus to spears. The Trojans see their fallen friend and prepare to fight as well. By the time they are in formations, Euryalus’ mother has heard the news of her son’s death. She had followed them from Troy to Italy, staying with her dear son. When she learns of his death, she stands on the front line and begs for death, wanting to be freed from her grief. The Trojans feel her pain and are frozen in place. Ascanius escorts her back inside the walls and the preparations resume.
On one side of the wall is a great tower where the Trojans are concentrated, so that’s where Turnus focuses his attacks. He lights the tower on fire and it comes crashing down. The two survivors are quickly slaughtered, one by a group of Rutulians, the other by Turnus himself. The Trojans are still somewhat protected by the wall.
Numanus Remulus, who is married to Turnus’ sister, approaches the wall and taunts the
Trojans, telling them to fight like men instead of hiding like women. Ascanius responds by aiming an arrow, praying for Jupiter to guide it well, and shooting Numanus square in the head. The Trojans all cheer and their spirits rise. Apollo then appears and tells Ascanius to stay out of the rest of the battle. Ascanius, recognizing the god, complies.
The other Trojans continue fighting. Eventually, they open the gate and start to spill out of the walls. However, the Rutulians, especially Turnus, prove too strong and the Trojans retreat back into the safety of the walls and close the gate. Unfortunately, they didn't realize Turnus and entered the city with them. He begins slaughtering them. The Trojans run around in a panic, getting cut down one by one. If Turnus had thought to open the gate and let the Rutulians in, the Trojans could have been defeated that day. Instead, he rushes around killing as many as he can as fast as he can.
Mnestheus, one of the Trojan captains, comes down from his post on the wall and sees what is happening. He tells the Trojans to pull themselves together, Turnus is one man. The Trojans then band together and go after Turnus, who goes up the wall and jumps into the river, the current carrying him safely to the other side of the river where he rejoins his army.
Book 9 is packed with action. The battle is starting. We are introduced to characters just long enough to find out how they die. Despite the small achievements made by the Trojans, at this point, Turnus seems almost unstoppable. He is a formidable opponent and clearly won’t be easily defeated.
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