TURNUS

in Roman legend, king of the Rutuli (an ancient Italic tribe on the coast of Latium), and the accepted suitor of Lavinia, daughter of Latinus, king of the Latins. After Latinus betrothed Lavinia instead to the hero Aeneas (q.v.), Turnus, joined by the Rutuli and the Latins, made war against Aeneas and the Trojans. Though Turnus was protected by the goddess Juno, Aeneas finally succeeded in pursuing and killing him.