Wept for Dido as a schoolboy, he tells us in the Confessions, and quotes Vergil throughout The City of God.
“Mr. Humphries’ version is an extraordinarily fine achievement… [he] has done this generation and, I hope and believe, several generations to come a service for which no public reward could be too great.”
About the book
“Arms and the man I sing”
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.
This edition brings the classic Rolfe Humphries translation from 1951 back into print for the first time in over half a century. Included are the translator’s own introduction as well as a new introduction by Dr. Joe Carlson.
A long shadow
Read by saints, poets and founders
Chose Vergil as his guide through Hell and Purgatory in the Divine Comedy.
Took up its form for an epic of his own in English, Paradise Lost.
Two mottoes on the Great Seal of the United States, Annuit coeptis and Novus ordo seclorum, are adapted from Vergil.
PlayTaught in Old Western Culture
Year Two, Unit 1: The Aeneid
Wes Callihan’s lectures take the poem book by book: Rome as an idea, the fall of Troy, the tragedy of Dido, the underworld, the shield of Aeneas, the death of Turnus. Then he turns to Ovid, Lucretius, Lucan and Statius.
Oct 9, 2026 · 1 h 24 minVergil and the American Dream
The American founders appropriated the Roman Poet and his works to establish an atmosphere of victory, authority, and dignity. Through the use of literary symbols and allusions, the framers of our great country placed their project squarely within a tradition the roots of which are deep in the ancient world. This talk will consider specific elements from the Great Seal, as designed by the Secretary of Congress, Charles Thomson, and their intentional evocation of Vergil’s poetry, including the Aeneid. Panel discussion with Joe Carlson and Daniel Foucachon.
The introduction
Dr. Joe Carlson
Joe Carlson holds a BA in Liberal Arts and Culture from New Saint Andrews College, and an MA in Humanities and a PhD in Literature from the University of Dallas. In different lifetimes he has co-pastored a church, co-founded a campus ministry, published (micro) epic poetry, and managed a chain of coffee shops. Currently, he is a Senior Editor with Roman Roads Press and a Literature professor at New Saint Andrews College. He lives in Moscow, Idaho, with his wife and son.
Publishing information
- Translator
- Rolfe Humphries
- Introduction
- Dr. Joe Carlson
- Publisher
- Roman Roads Press, 2026
- Format & Dimensions
- Perfect Bound – 5.5 x 8.5
- Pages
- 318
- ISBN
- 978-1-963505-38-2
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