28 APRIL 2001, Page 27

Baldric boob

From Mr Matthew Stadlen Sir: Impressed as I was by your article linking the Aeneid to the Middle East conflict ('Virgil's message for the Middle East', 7 April). I feel bound to point out an inaccuracy in your account of Turnus' death. The baldric worn by the Latin warrior that inspired Aeneas to mercilessness had in fact belonged not to another Trojan, but to an Arcadian. Pallas was the son of Evander, the king who allied himself to Aeneas.

Matthew Stadlen

Clare College, Cambridge