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The Romans, tracing the history of their race back beyond the times when events were recorded in history into the realm of tradition and myth, honored Æ ne’as, the son of An chi’ses, by the goddess Venus, as the founder of their race. Throughout the Trojan War Æneas had proved himself one of the bravest and ablest leaders of the Trojan forces, standing next, perhaps, to Hector in general esteem. On the occasion of his single combat with Diomedes his goddessmother had intervened to save his life; he had joined in the contest over Patroclus' body and had even stood to meet the invincible Achilles. So much we learn from Homer, but it is the Latin poet Vergil who narrates the full story of Æneas' deeds and wanderings, making him the central figure in his great Roman national epic, the Æneid,

Fig. 97. Æneas Wounded.

On the night when, neglecting the wise counsels of Laocoön, the Trojans had drawn the wooden horse within their walls, the weary citizens, relieved of immediate anxiety by the apparent departure of the Greeks, had given themselves up to much needed rest and sleep. Æneas' rest was disturbed by the vision of his dead cousin Hector appearing before him, all bloody from the wounds he had received at Achilles' hands, and bidding him arouse himself and see the destruction that had at last come upon Troy. Springing up, the hero rushed to the roof of his house and from that point could see that the city was already in the hands of its foes. Reckless of personal danger and caring little for his own life if he might yet bring some support to his falling city, he led a band of Trojans in one last desperate struggle. Driven from one point to another he came at last to Priam's palace and saw the old king lying slain before his household altar, his last son lying near him and his women huddled together in despair. But the fates decreed that Æneas should not perish in burning Troy, but should live to found a new and greater city on the banks of Tiber. Venus appeared to her son, and "drawing aside the veil that dims mortal sight," showed him the gods directing the destruction of the city. Then Æneas yielded and hurried at once to his home to save his own family. Bidding his father Anchises take up the images of the Penates or family gods, he took the old man upon his back, seized his little son As ca’ni us, or I u’lus, by the hand, and bidding his wife Creu’sa follow close behind, he made his way through the flames and confusion to a place of safety outside the walls. Not until he had passed the city gate did he discover that his wife was not following. In his distracted and hopeless search for her he met only her shade which came to tell him that the gods detained her on those shores and that it was their will that he should go on his way without her. Other Trojans who. had escaped in the course of a few days joined the little group in their place of hiding between the mountains and the sea, and here they built and fitted out twelve ships on which the next spring they set sail.

Then began a period of wandering almost as full of adventure as the nine years of Ulysses' seafaring. First the company landed in Thrace, where Æneas hoped to found a new city, but the strange portent of a bush which, when uprooted, dripped blood and spoke in the voice of Priam's murdered son Pol y dor’us drove them to seek a more propitious land. They sailed to Delos to consult Apollo, and understanding a reference of the oracle to art ancestral home as meaning Crete, whence, tradition held, their forefathers had gone to Troy, they made their way thither. While they were building the new city, a terrible pestilence fell upon them, blighting the grain and killing men and beasts. Then the Penates warned Æneas in a dream that the ancestral land Apollo prophesied was Hesperia, or Italy, whence, as legend told, Dardanus, the ancestor of the Trojans, had originally come. In pain and grief, but still hopeful, the diminished band started on their western voyage; but a terrible storm drove the ships out of their course to the island of the Strophades, haunted by those dreadful Harpies which the Argonauts had met. While the exhausted sailors were feasting, these horrible bird-women swooped down and seized the food off the tables. Driven off by the men, they yet left despair behind them, for their leader prophesied a long and destructive voyage, and that finally the day should come when hunger would force the wanderers to eat their own tables. Leaving the Strophades the Trojans sailed northward along the coast of Epirus, passing Odysseus' rocky island of Ithaca and the coast of the Phæacians, and landing finally in a harbor further up the coast. Here they were overjoyed to find a new city modeled on Troy and ruled over by Priam's prophetic son Hel’e nus. Hector's wife Andromache, who at the fall of Troy had been given to Achilles' son Neoptolemus, was now living with Helenus as his wife. At the moment of the Trojans' landing she was occupied in offering a sacrifice at the empty tomb of her noble first husband. She and Helenus received their wandering countrymen with enthusiastic hospitality, and when Æneas felt that they must continue on their divinely guided way, they loaded him with gifts, and after Helenus had warned him of the dangers that lay before him, they unwillingly let him go. Sailing westward they sighted Italy, but knowing that the towns of this part of south Italy were Greek they gave the coast a wide berth. As they neared Sicily they saw the cave of dreadful Scylla and the waters thrown high from the whirlpool of Charybdis, but, more fortunate than Ulysses, had no need to pass between. Not knowing the risk they ran, the sailors beached their ships on the south coast of Sicily near the cave of the Cyclops Polyphemus and came on shore to spend the night. But Ætna belching forth flames and thundering in full eruption drove sleep away and kept the men in terrified suspense. At dawn a man, hairy, savage, and emaciated, came to them pitifully begging to be taken from this terrible island. He was a Greek, a companion of Ulysses, who had been left behind when those whom Ulysses' craft had saved from being devoured had made their hasty escape, but in the face of the savagery of the inhuman Cyclops race-enmity was forgotten and the wretched Greek found refuge on the Trojan ships. They did not get away from the island without seeing Polyphemus and his brothers, however, for Polyphemus, coming down to the water to bathe his bloody eye-socket, heard the sound of their oars and bellowed aloud. The other Cyclopes heard him, and hurrying to the shore, stood there towering up like great trees and threatening the ship with destruction. On the further shore of Sicily a grief of which Æneas had not been forewarned awaited him; his old father Anchises, who had nobly borne with him the hardships of these years of wandering, died and had to be given a grave in this foreign soil. From Sicily it was but a short voyage to the destined home in Italy, but when the ships had been launched and were well out at sea, Juno, still cherishing resentment against the hated Trojan race, persuaded Æolus, king of the winds, to let out conflicting blasts against the ships. Driven directly south, they finally sought shelter in an inlet on the coast of Africa where the new city of Carthage was building. Æneas, setting out with his faithful comrade Acha’tes to explore the neighborhood, was met by his mother Venus disguised as a huntress and by her was directed to the city.

Fig. 98. Æneas fleeing from Troy.

Though on the coast of Africa, Carthage was a Phœnician city, founded by a Phœnician king's daughter, Dido, who with a large following had secretly departed from her native land after the murder of her husband by her wicked brother. She was well acquainted with the story of Troy, and the name of Æneas was familiar to her, so she welcomed the unfortunate strangers cordially and generously, and even urged them to share her new city and happy prospects. Venus had a hand in this extreme good-will shown her son, for she sent her powerful boy Cupid to take the form of little Ascanius and inspire in the widowed queen love for the noble stranger. Indeed Æneas, who, not unresponsive to the queen's advances, had united with her in a secret marriage, might have been tempted to remain in Carthage, had not Jupiter sent Mercury to warn him against such an alliance and to remind him of his great destiny as founder of that Ronian race that was to hold the world under its rule. So, obedient to the gods' will, the righteous Æneas put behind him his personal feelings and also, from the human standpoint, all thought of gratitude and honor towards his generous hostess and wife, and fixing his eyes only on the command of the fates, hastened to launch his ships and sail away. Then the unfortunate Dido, thus betrayed by the goddess into a passionate and unwise love, and by the god-fearing Æneas deserted while her passion still burned at its hottest, had a great pyre erected in the court of her palace, and mounting to the top, killed herself with the sword her faithless lover had left behind him, on her lips curses against her betrayer. As the Trojans sailed away towards their unknown future home, the sea behind them was lighted by the red flames of that tragic pyre.

But the ships came safely to Sicily, where kind A ces'tes, the king of Trojan descent who ruled over that part of the island, received them hospitably. Here they stayed to offer sacrifices and hold the postponed funeral games in honor of Anchises. While the men were thus employed, unrelenting Juno sent her messenger Iris down to tempt the Trojan women to burn the ships and thus thwart the fates and secure for themselves an end of their wanderings and the settlement they longed for in Sicily. Some ships had been previously lost in the storm, now others were destroyed by fire, and too few were left to transport all the company to the land decreed by fate. Therefore the older and weaker men and the women, already regretting their rash act, were left behind with Acestes, and with his diminished following Æneas started on once more. For the final voyage Venus secured from Neptune favorable seas; yet one man was demanded as a sacrifice for his favor — Pal i nu’rus, the skilful pilot, overcome with sleep, fell backward into the sea and was lost. A point of land on the west coast of Italy, where his body came ashore, still retains his name.

The friendly seer Helenus had told Æneas that before he could reach his future home and found a city he must visit the Sibyl of Cumæ and through the help of the prophetess descend to the lower world and obtain his father's advice on his future course. Leaving his men on the shore a few miles from where Naples stands, Æneas sought the cave of the Sibyl. This cave with its hundred dark mouths, was near Avernus, a lake mysteriously formed from the waters of the lower world and not far from the cave that opened into Hades. Within it sat the Sibyl and uttered her prophecies when the god Apollo inspired and took possession of her. After the sacrifice had been offered and Æneas had prayed for help, the Sibyl poured forth her prophetic warnings and promises:

The Trojans shall come to the kingdom of Lavinium (Italy); dismiss this anxious care from your heart; but they will wish that they had not come. Wars, horrid wars, and the Tiber flowing with blood, I see. . . . Yet yield not to misfortune, but go boldly forward.

Undaunted, Æneas only asked that the Sibyl should open to him the way to the lower world that he might go to see his father, penetrating, as those other sons of the gods, Hercules, Theseus, and Orpheus, had done, the fearful places of the dead. The Sibyl answered:

Easy is the descent to Avernus; day and night the gates of black Dis (Pluto) lie open, but to retrace your steps, and escape once more to the upper air, that is the toil, that is the difficult task, (Æneid, VI, 126 ff.)

Yet it might be done if the hero could first find and pluck the golden branch that Proserpina claimed as her due offering. In the thick wood where the strange tree grew that one golden bough could hardly have been found had not Venus sent two doves to lead the way for her son.

After Æneas had offered the proper sacrifice of black sheep to the infernal deities, the Sibyl led him through a black cavern upon the gloomy road that led to the kingdom of Pluto. Here before the gates sat Grief and avenging Cares, pale Disease and sad Old Age, Fear and evil Famine, and shameful Want, and Death's twin brother Sleep, and death-dealing War on the threshold. Here were the iron chambers of the Furies, and here was mad Discord, her snaky locks bound with bloody fillets. In the middle of the open space was a huge elm beneath whose leaves clung deceiving Dreams, and about were many other monstrous forms. Centaurs, Scyllas, flaming Chimsera, Gorgons, and Harpies. Yet these were only unbodied shades against which, the Sibyl warned the hero, his sword could have no effect. Below this place seethed black Acheron, where the foul ferryman Charon waited with his frail skiff. About the bank crowded the shades of the dead whose funeral rites had been left undone, "as many as the leaves that fall in the woods in autumn at the first touch of frost." But the ferryman refused them all and sent them away to wander vainly about the shore until a hundred years should pass; then they win a passage to the sunless shore beyond. Here Palinurus greeted Æneas and begged him, when he returned to the upper air, to seek his body on the shore and give him proper burial. Charon at first refused to accept a living man in his little boat, but the word of the Sibyl and the sight of the golden bough overcame his unwillingness, and he turned out his ghostly passengers to make room for the hero, and so set him across the stream. A honey-cake thrown by the Sibyl pacified three-headed Cerberus. Then his guide led Æneas through the places of the dead. First they passed those who had died in infancy and those who had suffered death on false accusations ; next were those who had taken their own lives, and the Fields of Mourning inhabited by unhappy lovers, and among these the hero recognized unfortunate Dido, fresh from the funeral pyre she herself had built. He would have stopped to talk with her and excuse to the shade his desertion of the living woman, but she silently turned from him and glided away, to rejoin her first husband. Proceeding they came to where thronged the great warriors. The Greeks fled before the Trojan hero, but his friends and countrymen stayed to speak with him and ask of the world they had left. Then they came to the fiery river Phlegethon, encircling the adamantine walls of Tartarus, guarded by the Furies. From here arose groans and the sound of blows and the clank of iron chains. In the pit below writhed the Titans and the rebellious giants and those who had sinned against the gods or had been guilty of unnatural crimes. Into this deep hell Æneas could not look, but the Sibyl told him of it as they passed by. In contrast to the fiery tortures of Tartarus the Elysian Fields spread before them, lighted by their own sun and stars, and bathed in a generous air and rosy light. Here the great heroes, children of the gods, contended in games, or joined in the song and choral dance. Here were the great founders of the Trojan race, Ilus, Dardanus, and others. Afar 9ff in a green secluded valley of this realm at last Æneas met Anchises, reviewing the long line of souls who, having stayed the allotted time in the lower world and having clrunk forgetfulness from the stream of Lethe, were ready to return in other bodies to the upper air as the descendants of Æneas, the glorious Roman race, Romulus who was to found Rome; all the seven Roman kings, and the great governors and generals who should make of Rome a world empire, all up to Augustus, in whose time Vergil wrote his great poem. When Anchises had shown his son all the future glories of their race, and warned him of the hardships that yet lay before him, he brought him to the Gates of Dreams. Through the gate of horn pass dreams that are to be fulfilled; through that of ivory, those sent to deceive mortals. From hence Æneas proceeded to the world above.

Sailing up the west coast of Italy, the Trojans finally beached their ships near where the Tiber, yellow with the sand it washes down, empties into the sea. When they had landed and prepared a hasty meal, their hunger led them to devour not only the food intended for them but the flat cakes of bread on which the food had been laid out. Seeing this, young Ascanius cried: "See, we are eating our tables!" So Æneas, recognizing that the prophecy of the Harpy was thus harmlessly fulfilled and that the land granted them by fate had at last been reached, gave thanks and worshiped the divinities of the place. The king of this part of the country was La ti’nus, whose daughter La vin’i a was sought as wife by the king of a neighboring tribe, Turnus by name. Though the parents of the girl would have been glad to have this prince as a son-in-law, the gods had warned them against the marriage, since a hero from over the sea was to have her as wife and by her raise up a race that should rule the world. When, therefore, Æneas sent messengers to Latinus, the king recognized his destined son-in-law in the stranger, and readily formed an alliance and offered him his daughter in marriage. But Juno, still implacable towards Æneas, sent one of the Furies to rouse Turnus and Latinus' queen against the Trojans. Moreover she made trouble between the newcomers and some Latin herdsmen, and finally threw open the gates of Janus' temple and roused all the country in war. By night Father Tiber, the river-god, rose from his stream, and speaking to the sleeping Æneas, bade him proceed up the river to where the good king EvanMer had his palace. With willing obedience Æneas made his way up the stream until at noon he came to Evander's settlement, its humble roofs clustered among the seven hills that later bore the massive buildings of imperial Rome. Fitly entertained by Evander on the spot later to be made glorious by his descendants, Æneas formed a compact of mutual help with the king, and on his new ally's advice proceeded thence northward to Etruria to draw into his alliance an Etruscan king who was already a bitter enemy of Turnus. Thus reinforced, Æneas returned at last to his camp by the Tiber to find a fierce battle in progress. Notwithstanding the superior numbers of the enemy and the brave deeds of Turnus and his allies, the Trojans were victorious, and Turnus died at Æneas' hand. At this point Vergil's story closes, but we know that Lavinia became Æneas' wife and that in her honor he named the town that he founded Lavinium.

Æneas' son Ascanius, or lulus, founded Alba. Longa on the slope of the Alban Mount, and here his descendants continued to rule after his death. The last of the line to hold the throne was Nu'mi tor, whose younger brother A mu’li us wickedly supplanted him, and to preserve his own power, put to death Numitor's only son, and consecrated his daughter Rhea Silvia to the service of the goddess Vesta as a Vestal Virgin, But the virgin was loved by the war-god Mars and by him became the mother of twin sons. When Amulius, persisting in his wicked designs, ordered the babies to be drowned in the river, the trough that held them was carried down the stream into the Tiber, and by the guidance of the gods was washed high up on the bank and left by the retreating waters under a fig tree on the Palatine Hill. A she-wolf, wandering that way, was attracted by the babies' cries, and adopting them as her own whelps, nourished them with her milk. It is said that a wood-pecker, a bird sacred to Mars, also brought the babies food in her beak. After some time a kindly shepherd came upon the little savages and took them home to his hut on the Palatine Hill. As they grew, the twins, called by their foster-parents Romulus and Remus, became the acknowledged leaders of all the young shepherds about and fought against many wild beasts and robbers. After a quarrel with some herdsmen of Numitor Remus was taken before his grandfather and was recognized by him as his daughter's child. Amulius met at the. young men's hands the death he deserved, and Numitor was restored to his kingdom. But Romulus and Remus, having a particular affection for the hills where they had lived as boys, put themselves at the head of a band of young men and set out to found a new city on the banks of the Tiber. A dispute arising between the two as to whether the Palatine or the Aventine Hill was the more favorable site, they agreed to leave the matter to be decided by the gods. To Remus, looking for the divine sanction on the Aventine, appeared six vultures, but when he would have claimed the decision in his favor, Romulus on the Palatine reported the flight of twelve vultures. Disappointed in his hopes and wishing to show his contempt for his successful brother's plans, Remus mockingly leaped over the wall Romulus was building. Romulus in a rage killed him on the spot. The new settlement was soon enlarged by the people from the country around, who were gladly afforded refuge there from enemies and a hospitable reception. Only wives were lacking. To supply this deficiency, when he had vainly tried more peaceful methods, Romulus adopted a somewhat treacherous device. Under pretense of celebrating sacred games, he invited his neighbors, the Latins and Sabines, to visit his city with their wives and daughters, and when the visitors were off their guard, the young Romans seized the Sabine women and drove the men away with violence. After some time the Sabines returned in force to recover their women, and a bloody battle was fought in what was afterwards the Roman Forum. In the midst of the fight the Sabine women, whose affections had been won by their violent young captors, but who still were anxious for the safety of their relatives, rushed between the combatants and effected a reconciliation. The Sabines were now given a settlement on the Capitoline and Quirinal Hills, and the two races united in one state with a common meeting-place in the Forum, the valley between their respective settlements. Through the wise and strong rule of Romulus the new city grew rapidly, and successful wars were carried on against hostile neighbors. One day when the king was reviewing his army in the Campus Martius, or Field of Mars, outside the city walls, an eclipse of the sun, accompanied by a terrific storm, darkened the heavens and threw the assemblage into a panic. As the men dispersed, Mars descended in a fiery chariot and carried his son Romulus off to heaven. After this his people worshiped the deified Romulus under the name of Qui ri’nus, and side by side with the temples of their other gods, religiously preserved the little straw hut he had occupied as a shepherd. The stories of Romulus's six successors in the kingship, full of interest and adventure, belong rather to the legendary history of Rome than to mythology.

Fig. 99. The wolf with Romulus and Remus.