A twelve-day truce was called in which both sides burned their dead on pyres and mourned. In Latium Queen Amata and Turnus prepared for further war. The Amazonian Camilla plotted with Turnus to ambush Aeneas and his troops as they rode through a narrow pass. In the fighting that followed, Camilla and her Volscians did great damage to the Etruscan army, but Camilla was slain and the disheartened Turnus called off the ambush.
Another truce followed in which King Latinus and Queen Amata tried to persuade Turnus to withdraw and allow Aeneas to wed Lavinia. Instead, Turnus challenged Aeneas to single combat before both armies. The next morning Aeneas and Iulus rode out to meet Turnus and Latinus. Before the assembled throng Aeneas promised that if he lost, his son would leave the territory forever, but if he won he would treat the Latins generously and build a city in honor of his bride Lavinia.
Juno sent Turnus' immortal sister, the numph Juturna, to spread confusion. Some Rutulian shot an arrow at Aeneas, hitting him. A general melee broke out as Aeneas withdrew, and Turnus waded into the dismayed Trojans, killing them freely. Venus quickly helped to heal her son's wound, so Aeneas returned to the fray, hunting for Turnus, who managed to elude him in a chariot drawn by Juturna. After hours of pursuit Aeneas decided to attack Latium. While the Trojans assaulted the city gates with battering rams, Queen Amata assumed that Turnus was dead and hanged herself. The Trojans felled a tower of the city, which prompted Turnus to quit fleeing and meet Aeneas head on. For a long time their duel was in doubt. Both men inflicted wounds and suffered them. But then Turnus' weapon shattered, so he turned to flee, and Aeneas chased him on limping legs. Juno saw the contest was already settled, but she exacted a promise from Jupiter that the Trojans and Latins would unite as a single people. Aeneas caught up with Turnus, crippling him. Turnus begged the Trojan to let him return to his father. Aeneas was on the verge of granting the request, but then he saw the belt Turnus had stripped from the dead Pallas. With a yell of victory Aeneas struck Turnus the death blow.
Needless to say, Aeneas married the Latin princess Lavinia and built the city of Lavinium. Through his Trojan son Iulus (also called Ascanius) he founded the line of Alban kings, which would result in the founding of Rome. By his strength, courage, piety, and steadfastness he exemplified the finest qualities his successors would possess.
