In his poem, Virgil sends his hero Aeneas to hell in order to teach the young man both his own and Rome’s destiny. Aeneas is met there by the shade of his father, Anchises, who gives his son a tour of the underworld, climaxing with a parade of Rome’s as yet unborn heroes. These heroes, from Brutus to Cato, Scipio to Caesar, will shoulder the enormous burden of empire. Their arts, Anchises emphasizes, will put their “stamp on the works and ways of peace/to spare the defeated, break the proud.” Ultimately, Rome’s fate is to rule over “empire without end.”
Read Full Article »
