This book completes the story of Aeneas, as he ventures into the underworld, guided by Sybil. Returning to the human world, Sybil tells Aeneas that she is cursed to age at the normal pace, but not to die – until she eventually becomes only a disembodied voice. Early Roman history begins in book 14, with some of Rome’s founding myths, including the deification of Aeneas. Book 14 also relates the especially obscure story of Pomona, the goddess of gardens, and Vertumnus, the god of plants, and his protean, shape-shifting attempts to woo (or seduce, or rape) her. What is the role of the poet within an imperial civilization as vast as Rome? What is proper balance between Nature and Order? Is something like an empire or an emperor required to maintain that balance? What do we want to preserve of ourselves in history? Is the human voice and the written word enough to carry a culture forward through time, or does cultural transmission ultimately rest on political power, even on violence?