Volume 320

This commentary considers Book XI of Virgil's Aeneid as the key
book in which the poet explicates his great themes: the ascendancy of
Italy over Troy, the ultimate triumph of Diana over Venus, and the
beginning of the process by which Aeneas prepares to assume the wrath of
Juno, as he is foiled in his plan to win the war in Latium at one stroke
by seizing the city by secret infantry assault. The commentary both
expands on and complements the coverage of other works on the book; in
particular, it provides a new appraisal of Virgil's Camilla, in which
the speculation is raised that the character may reflect pre-existing
folklore traditions about female lycanthropy. The close connections
between Books 11 and 5 of the epic are also explored in detail, as are
the links between Camilla and Pallas.