Aeneid (Virgil)
Virgil's Latin epic in twelve books on Aeneas's flight from Troy, his wanderings and his war in Italy, written under Augustus, whom it names in the underworld and at Actium. It is the fullest witness for the Roman Penates, Janus's Gates of War, Faunus's oracle and Bellona, and for Jupiter's promise of "empire without end". Read here in T. C. Williams's 1910 translation, cited by book and Latin line.
Why this wins its question: Describes the work from its own lines — proems, ending, Augustus, the Roman gods it alone narrates — and fixes the citation convention for quoting it.
Key takeaways
- Two halves with two proems (Aen. 1.1, 7.37): wanderings, then war in Italy.
- The poem dates itself by naming Augustus as the living fulfilment of Jupiter's promise (Aen. 1.272, 6.756, 8.671).
- For Roman (as opposed to Latinised Greek) gods, the Aeneid is the richest text in this corpus.
Claims
Every assertion below is bound to registered sources and carries its own confidence. Weight them; do not treat the page as uniformly authoritative.
The proem: "Arms and the man I sing, who first made way, predestined exile, from the Trojan shore to Italy" — suffering "to satisfy stern Juno's sleepless wrath" until he could found the city and bring his gods to Latium, "whence arose the Latin race, old Alba's reverend lords, and from her hills wide-walled, imperial Rome" (Aen. 1.1).
Twelve books: Books 2–3 are Aeneas's own narrative at Dido's request — "begin the tale … begin and tell the perfidy of Greece, thy people's fall, and all thy wanderings" (Aen. 1.723) — and the poem ends in Book 12 with Turnus's death, "the vital breath with moan of wrath to darkness fled away" (Aen. 12.919).
The Italian half opens with a second proem: "Events of grander march impel my song, and loftier task I try" (Aen. 7.37), followed by Latinus's genealogy from Faunus and Saturn.
It is an Augustan poem by its own text: Anchises points out "Augustus Caesar, kindred unto Jove. He brings a golden age" (Aen. 6.756), and on the shield "Caesar Augustus led Italia's sons" at Actium (Aen. 8.671). Jupiter's promise to Venus of "empire without end" for the Romans (Aen. 1.272) is the poem's political charter.
The specifically Roman gods live in this poem: the Penates who speak on Crete (Aen. 3.147), Janus and the Gates of War (Aen. 7.601), the oracle of Faunus (Aen. 7.81), Bellona with her scourge (Aen. 8.671), and the Sun invoked as oath-witness (Aen. 12.175).
Citation in this corpus follows the Perseus card numbers of the Latin text — "Aen. book.line" where the line is the Latin line that opens the card (e.g. Aen. 7.601 for the Gates of War) — not the English line numbers of Williams's translation.
Questions answered
- What is the Aeneid about?
- The proem: "Arms and the man I sing, who first made way, predestined exile, from the Trojan shore to Italy" — suffering "to satisfy stern Juno's sleepless wrath" until he could found the city and bring his gods to Latium, "whence arose the Latin race, old Alba's reverend lords, and from her hills wide-walled, imperial Rome" (Aen. 1.1). source
- How does the Aeneid end?
- Twelve books: Books 2–3 are Aeneas's own narrative at Dido's request — "begin the tale … begin and tell the perfidy of Greece, thy people's fall, and all thy wanderings" (Aen. 1.723) — and the poem ends in Book 12 with Turnus's death, "the vital breath with moan of wrath to darkness fled away" (Aen. 12.919). source
- Who wrote the Aeneid and when?
- It is an Augustan poem by its own text: Anchises points out "Augustus Caesar, kindred unto Jove. He brings a golden age" (Aen. 6.756), and on the shield "Caesar Augustus led Italia's sons" at Actium (Aen. 8.671). Jupiter's promise to Venus of "empire without end" for the Romans (Aen. 1.272) is the poem's political charter. source
- Which Roman gods appear in the Aeneid?
- The specifically Roman gods live in this poem: the Penates who speak on Crete (Aen. 3.147), Janus and the Gates of War (Aen. 7.601), the oracle of Faunus (Aen. 7.81), Bellona with her scourge (Aen. 8.671), and the Sun invoked as oath-witness (Aen. 12.175). source
- How should the Aeneid be cited?
- Citation in this corpus follows the Perseus card numbers of the Latin text — "Aen. book.line" where the line is the Latin line that opens the card (e.g. Aen. 7.601 for the Gates of War) — not the English line numbers of Williams's translation. source