Fracti bello fatisque repulsi ductores Danaum, tot iam labentibus annis, instar montis equum divina Palladis arte aedificant sectaque intexunt abiete costas; votum pro reditu simulant; ea fama vagatur.
Broken in war and thwarted by the fates, the Danaan chiefs, now that so many years were gliding by, build by Pallas divine art a horse of mountainous bulk, and interweave its ribs with planks of fir. They pretend it is an offering for their safe return; this is the rumour that goes abroad.