Why was the Aeneid written?
The Aeneid was written as an explanation as to how the people of the Roman Empire had come to settle in Italy. It tells the story of Aeneas, a Trojan who, according to legend, became the ancestor of the Romans. Virgil, the author of the epic poem, cleverly created family ties from Aeneas to Augustus (emperor and Virgil’s patron) to make the story more interesting and important to the people of the Roman Empire.
