Camilla crosses the river on a spear
Aeneid 11.549–572: read the assigned Latin, work through language and interpretation, then practise with explained responses.
Exam scope and assessment notes
Original teaching foundations for the 2026–2028 syllabus. Six prescribed texts have passage-specific sequences; all 693 printed vocabulary rows have been reconciled into 692 distinct records, with additional number, comparison and compound-verb practice. Linked teaching and lexical self-checks do not certify mastery. Complete line-by-line annotation, further translation and scansion practice, qualified Latin-teacher review, full timed papers and human marking remain outstanding. Open the assigned edition alongside these lessons: public ancient texts can differ in spelling, punctuation or editorial readings from the prescribed prose anthology. Practice explanations are formative, not Cambridge questions, marks or predicted grades. Cambridge has announced withdrawal; the last assessment is June 2028, in administrative zones 3, 4, 5 and 6 only. Confirm entry with your centre.
Before you begin
- Read the assigned Latin alongside this guide
- Use case, verb and clause evidence before literary interpretation
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
What should distinguish passage evidence from wider context?
What you will learn
- Explain the dedication and unusual crossing
- Read case relationships and trace the rescue into wilderness upbringing
Read this assigned passage
Aeneid 11.549–572. Keep your assigned edition open. These original guides use the underlying ancient text; check differences against the prescribed anthology and your teacher's reading.
Trace the full episode
In 549–556 Metabus's concern for the infant delays his attempt to swim. He binds the child, protected by bark and cork, to the spear he carries. In 557–560 he dedicates her to Diana as her servant and entrusts her to the dangerous air. This is an appeal within the story, not a claim that every dangerous act receives divine approval.
In 561–566 the spear carries Camilla across and Metabus follows through the river, recovering spear and child on the far bank. In 567–572 cities do not receive him; he lives among shepherds and mountains and feeds the child with a mare's milk. The rescue leads into life outside the ordinary civic household.
Translate the relationships
Infantis amore expresses the love that affects the father; caro oneri is the precious burden for which he fears. Follow the case relation rather than force both into direct objects. Natam points to the daughter attached to the weapon; the infant is not throwing it herself.
The label infelix for Camilla can suggest her future ill fortune even though this crossing succeeds. The weapon is both a means of danger and rescue, anticipating a life formed around arms. A supported interpretation must distinguish successful immediate rescue from the larger tragic framing.
Sources for this lesson
Pause and explain
Does Metabus travel across on the spear with Camilla?
Worked example
Why does ‘infelix’ not prove that the river crossing kills Camilla?
Show the worked solution
- The local story shows her carried across.
- Metabus recovers her.
- The adjective can look ahead to later misfortune.
Answer The crossing succeeds and the subsequent upbringing requires her survival. Infelix can contribute tragic foreshadowing; it should not override the narrated rescue and invent a death here.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
Guided: Put preparation, dedication, throw, crossing and recovery in order.
Give me a hint
Track child and father separately.
Compare my reasoning
- He binds and dedicates the child.
- He throws the spear with her attached.
- He crosses and recovers her.
The sequence is preparation and dedication, the child's spear crossing, then the father's separate river crossing and recovery. Combining both travellers into the thrown weapon loses a decisive action.
Look for these in your work
- Orders preparation
- Separates crossings
- Includes recovery
Independent: Explain the meaning relationship in ‘infantis amore’.
Give me a hint
Ask whose love and love for whom.
Compare my reasoning
- Amore supplies the feeling/cause.
- Infantis identifies the infant related to that love.
- Connect it to the father's hesitation.
The phrase conveys the father's love for the infant as the reason affecting his action. It does not make the infant a direct object of a finite verb or the person performing the rescue.
Look for these in your work
- Reads relationship
- Uses context
- Avoids role reversal
Application: Evaluate the claim that the spear is presented only as destructive.
Give me a hint
Compare its function here with the martial context.
Compare my reasoning
- It carries the protected infant.
- It also belongs to the warrior's equipment.
- Explain the combination without ignoring danger.
The spear is not only destructive in this episode: it enables the child's rescue while remaining a dangerous martial object. That combination links protection with the armed life she will later lead, rather than remove the peril from the crossing.
Look for these in your work
- Uses rescue
- Uses weapon identity
- Explains dual effect
Common mistakes
- Assigning the throw to the infant
- Confusing foreshadowing with an immediate event
- Omitting the father's separate crossing
What can you explain now?
Does Metabus travel across on the spear with Camilla?
Compare with the explanation
No, he enters the river separately
The child is attached to the spear; the father follows through the river and recovers her.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
Your review choice appears on Today. Sign in to sync it across devices.
Make it stick
Does Metabus travel across on the spear with Camilla?
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.