Book Description
Arms and the man I sing,
who first from coasts of Troy
To Italy and Latian shores, exiled by fate,
Much tossed about on sea and land by heaven, came,
Through Juno’s wrath remembered, suffering in war,
Till he could found the city, and bring to Latium
His gods; and from that place the Latin race would spring,
The Alban fathers and exalted walls of Rome.
So begins the greatest poem of the Roman world, the poem that made Rome into the empire we remember today. Composed by Publius Vergilius Maro (70-19 BC), the Aeneid tells the story of Aeneas, exiled prince of Troy, and his mission to found a city destined to become the imperium sine fine, empire without end. The poem chronicles his turbulent journey from Troy to Carthage to the shores of Latium, and the war that would win Italy for Rome.
In this Reader’s Guide to the great epic, Joe Carlson walks through the poem’s twelve books, offering for each a list of the characters and places, in-depth summaries, and several analyses that explore both what Vergil is doing and its relevance to a modern audience.