Troy, Aeneas, and the Roman
Empire
The Roman Empire
For years, Rome was a republic
That means that it was led by
democratically-elected people, like we
have in the United States.
Then, Rome had a leader that was so
strong and revered that he changed
everything.
His name was Julius Caesar
Caesar was never officially an emperor,
but by the time of his assassination (at the
hands of rivals), he had assumed
leadership of the entire government and
had been named “dictator for life.”
After his death, there was a vacuum of
power. Three men stepped up to take
over, and one of them won. His name
was…
Augustus Caesar
Augustus knew that he
was not as well-loved as
Julius Caesar. He
wanted help in making
the people feel that he
deserved to be emperor.
He needed help from, of
all people, a poet.
Virgil
Virgil
Virgil was already a well-loved poet.
Caesar asked him to write a new
mythology for Rome, drawing on the
beloved Greek myths. This epic would
prove that Augustus’s position had been
destined by the gods. The story would
end with the establishment of the Roman
empire.
Virgil knew what to do
He went back to The Iliad
and The Odyssey for his
inspiration.
He chose Aeneas, the only
Trojan who escaped, as his
hero.
He started a new epic
about him, called The
Aeneid.
Augustus’ plan worked.
The Roman people loved the idea that
they were the descendants of the Trojans.
Augustus was a hugely popular and, for
the most part, fantastic emperor.
The idea of the empire was firmly in
place for the rest of a long line of Roman
emperors.
Some of the emperors were good…
Hadrian
Some were not so good:
Caligula
Nero
End of notes.
You can put your pencil down now. You
don’t need to know the next few slides,
though you might find this to be the most
interesting part.
On the road from Troy to Rome, Aeneas
makes a trip through Hell. Very few mortals
get to do this, as you may remember. He
sees some of Rome’s enemies burning. He
meets his dad, and one other person who we
will talk about later.
Dante
In the 14th Century, another
Italian poet named Dante
Alighieri wrote an epic poem
called The Inferno. In this
poem, he takes a guided tour
of Hell.
Everyone who tours Hell
needs a guide, of course, and
guess who Dante chose to
guide him….
Virgil, naturally.
Virgil’s scenes in Hell
were so inspiring to
Dante that he wanted
to include him in his
poem.
Now, let’s have a look at Dante’s version
of Hell.
Here are the three worst sinners in the
world, according to Dante.
They are
Judas, Brutus,
and Cassius
Questions you should be able to answer:
1. Who killed Julius Caesar? Why?
2. What was the difference between Rome
under Caesar and Rome under Augustus?
3. Who was Virgil?
4. Why did Augustus need Virgil’s help?
5. How did Virgil convince people that
empire was the right choice for Rome?
Questions (continued)
6. Where did Virgil get his inspiration for
his poem?
7. What was the reaction to the poem?
8. Why do you think he chose Aeneas as
his hero?
9. Name one “good” Roman emperor.
10. Name one “bad” Roman emperor.
11. Finally—why would USC name its
football team after a bunch of losers?
Now, to read about Aeneas…
Read “Part One: From Troy to Italy” (this
is pages 230-236 in your packet.)
Come up with 15 true or false questions
to turn in.