The Aeneid

The epic poem Aeneid was penned by the Roman poet Virgil in the 1st century BC. The story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled from Troy to Italy to eventually found Rome, it combines two genres of the day—travel and war—into one poem. Virgil picked up the story of Aeneas, which was already floating around at the time, and forged an epic founding myth for Rome. By linking Rome with the legends of ancient Troy, glorifying stodgy Roman values, and legitimizing its emperors as descendants of the heroes and gods of the past, The Aeneid fit the bill.