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The Etruscans, who lived primarily in the region now

known as Tuscany, emerged around the 8th century BCE. They had a

significant impact on the early Roman civilization and were eventually

absorbed by the Romans.

There were also various Italic tribes, including the

Latins, Sabines, and Samnites, who lived in the Italian peninsula from around

the 2nd millennium BCE. The Latins were the tribe from which the Romans

emerged.

Starting from the 8th century BCE, the Greeks established

colonies in southern Italy and Sicily, an area that was often referred to as

Magna Graecia.

Aeneas, a legendary figure of both Trojan and Roman mythology, is renowned as

the son of the divine Aphrodite and mortal Anchises. A part of Troy's royal lineage

and a kin of Hector, Aeneas was a distinguished defender of his city during the

Trojan War, demonstrating martial prowess second only to Hector himself. Homer's

work subtly hints at Aeneas' discontent with his secondary role, thereby giving rise

to a later narrative that posits Aeneas as a conspirator in Troy's betrayal to the

Greeks. However, a more prevalent version of his story portrays Aeneas as the

helm of the Trojan survivors following the Greek conquest of Troy. Regardless of

these divergent accounts, the common thread in all the narratives is the survival of

Aeneas, enabling him to be woven into the fabric of Roman mythology.

The connection of Homeric heroes to Italy and Sicily can be traced back to the 8th

century BCE, coinciding with the era when Homer's epics are believed to have

transitioned into written form. Greek colonies, established in Italy and Sicily during

this period and the ensuing century, often claimed lineage from figures central to

the Trojan War. Aeneas, in particular, was associated with various locales and

dynasties, notably within the region of Latium. As the Roman Empire expanded

throughout Italy and across the Mediterranean, Roman authors imbued with a

sense of patriotism sought to craft a mythological tradition that would

simultaneously infuse their land with historical grandeur and subdue an underlying

resentment towards Greek cultural hegemony. Aeneas, in his role as a Trojan

adversary of the Greeks, and with a post-war narrative open to interpretation, was

uniquely suited to embody the mythical precursor to the inception of Roman

supremacy.

Composed circa 29-19 BCE, Virgil's Aeneid narrates across 12 books the mythic

establishment of Lavinium, the precursor to Alba Longa and Rome, by the Trojan

hero Aeneas. As Virgil recounts, when the Greeks seized Troy, a resilient Aeneas

was instructed by the apparition of Hector to escape and initiate a significant city

abroad. Mustering his family and followers, Aeneas secured the penates—

household deities—of Troy. However, amidst the chaos of evacuation from the

burning city, his wife vanished. Her spirit later appeared to him, revealing his

destiny to venture to a land in the west where the Tiber River coursed.

Thus began Aeneas's epic journey, with stops in Thrace, Crete, and Sicily, and

fraught with a plethora of trials culminating in a shipwreck near Carthage on the

African coast. Here, he was hospitably received by Dido, the bereaved queen. As

he narrated his tale, they fell in love and he delayed his journey until a stern

reminder from the god Mercury refocused him on his ultimate objective: Rome.

Wracked with guilt, he immediately deserted Dido, who subsequently ended her

own life. Resuming his voyage, Aeneas eventually reached the mouth of the Tiber.

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