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The voyage of Aeneas, Trojan prince and hero of The Aeneid, belongs to Rome’s foundation mythology rather than historical record. Composed by Virgil (70–19 BCE) between 29–19 BCE, during the reign of Augustus (reign 27 BCE–14 CE), the epic reimagines events traditionally placed after the fall of Troy (c. 12th century BCE). Through Aeneas, Virgil connects the heroic world of Greece with Augustan Rome, presenting Roman origins as the outcome of divine purpose, endurance, sacrifice, and duty.
Aeneas’s Mediterranean wanderings, from the eastern Aegean through Sicily and North Africa to Italy, adapt Homeric traditions to distinctly Roman concerns. His abandonment of Dido of Carthage creates a mythic prehistory for later Roman–Carthaginian conflict, while his descent into the Underworld and wars in Latium emphasize pietas: duty to gods, family, and destiny above personal desire. His intended marriage to Lavinia links the Trojans with Latium and, in later Roman tradition, the ancestry of Rome. For Augustan audiences, Aeneas could therefore embody both Rome’s legendary past and contemporary ideas about sacrifice, authority, and imperial destiny.
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Cite This Work
APA Style
Netchev, S. (2026, August 13). Map of the Voyage of Aeneas from Troy to the Origins of Rome: The Mediterranean Journey in Virgil’s Aeneid. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/16056/map-of-the-voyage-of-aeneas-from-troy-to-the-origi/
Chicago Style
Netchev, Simeon. "Map of the Voyage of Aeneas from Troy to the Origins of Rome: The Mediterranean Journey in Virgil’s Aeneid." World History Encyclopedia, August 13, 2026. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/16056/map-of-the-voyage-of-aeneas-from-troy-to-the-origi/.
MLA Style
Netchev, Simeon. "Map of the Voyage of Aeneas from Troy to the Origins of Rome: The Mediterranean Journey in Virgil’s Aeneid." World History Encyclopedia, 13 Aug 2026, https://www.worldhistory.org/image/16056/map-of-the-voyage-of-aeneas-from-troy-to-the-origi/.
