From Treaty to Total War

Aeneid

This flow charts the escalation from diplomatic promise to communal violence, siege, reprisal, and final combat.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Diplomatic Promise The Diplomatic Promise from "Aeneid". The Diplomatic Promise Agreement Latinus offers land and Lavinia, believing that the foreign prince fulfills prophetic signs.

The Diplomatic Promise from "Aeneid". The Diplomatic Promise Agreement Latinus offers land and Lavinia, believing that the foreign prince fulfills prophetic signs.

The Diplomatic Promise Agreement Latinus offers land and Lavinia, believing that the foreign prince fulfills prophetic signs. Opposition Turnus’s claim is displaced but not resolved, while Amata refuses to accept the decision. Fragility The peace depends on shared obedience to prophecy, which Juno soon attacks.

The Stag’s Wound The Stag’s Wound from "Aeneid". The Stag’s Wound Incident Ascanius shoots the tame stag of Silvia, violating an emotional bond between the household and the animal.

The Stag’s Wound from "Aeneid". The Stag’s Wound Incident Ascanius shoots the tame stag of Silvia, violating an emotional bond between the household and the animal.

The Stag’s Wound Incident Ascanius shoots the tame stag of Silvia, violating an emotional bond between the household and the animal. Mobilization The local peasants gather with improvised weapons, converting grief into collective rage. War The first dead make reconciliation difficult, and the treaty becomes an empty memory.

The Gates of War The Gates of War from "Aeneid". The Gates of War Refusal Latinus rejects the ritual opening of the Gates of War because he recognizes the injustice of the conflict.

The Gates of War from "Aeneid". The Gates of War Refusal Latinus rejects the ritual opening of the Gates of War because he recognizes the injustice of the conflict.

The Gates of War Refusal Latinus rejects the ritual opening of the Gates of War because he recognizes the injustice of the conflict. Violation Juno opens them herself, overriding the king’s resistance. Expansion The war spreads across the Ausonian cities, becoming larger than the original dispute over Lavinia.

The Camp Siege The Camp Siege from "Aeneid". The Camp Siege Pressure Turnus surrounds the Trojan camp and attacks its walls, ships, and towers.

The Camp Siege Pressure Turnus surrounds the Trojan camp and attacks its walls, ships, and towers. Defense The Trojans endure through discipline, while Nisus and Euryalus attempt to summon Aeneas. Reversal Aeneas’s alliance with Evander and the Etruscans turns isolation into a two-front war.

The Truce Broken The Truce Broken from "Aeneid". The Truce Broken Mourning Trojans and Latins bury their dead during a temporary suspension of violence.

The Truce Broken from "Aeneid". The Truce Broken Mourning Trojans and Latins bury their dead during a temporary suspension of violence.

The Truce Broken Mourning Trojans and Latins bury their dead during a temporary suspension of violence. Debate The Latin Senate considers peace, but Turnus’s pride and Drances’s hostility prevent a stable settlement. Renewal Juturna provokes the armies, and an arrow wounds Aeneas before the agreed duel can begin.

immediately after Aeneas reaches Latium

the first hunting season in Latium

after Latinus refuses to open the war gates

while Aeneas travels for allies

after Pallas’s funeral and the twelve-day truce