The story of AE-ne'as, as related by the Roman poet Ver'gil in his
celebrated poem called the AE-ne'id, which we are to tell about in
this book, is one of the most interesting of the myths or legends that
have come down to us from ancient authors.

Vergil lived in the time of the Roman Emperor Au-gus'tus (63 B. C.--14
A. D.), grand-nephew and successor of Ju'li-us Cae'sar. Augustus and
his chief counsellor or minister Mae-ce'nas, gave great encouragement
to learning and learned men, and under their liberal patronage arose a
number of eminent writers to whose works has been given the name of
classics, as being of the highest rank or _class_. The period is known
as the Augustan Age, a phrase also used in reference to periods in the
history of other countries, in which literature reached its highest
perfection. Thus the reign of Queen Anne (1702-1714) is called the
Augustan age of English literature, because of the number of literary
men who flourished in England in that period, and the excellence of
their works.

Vergil was the greatest of the poets of ancient Rome, and with the
exception of Ho'mer, the greatest of the poets of antiquity. From a
very early period, almost from the age in which he lived, he was
called the Prince of Latin Poets. His full name was Pub'li-us
Ver-gil'i-us Ma'ro. He was born about seventy years before Christ,
in the village of An'des (now Pi-e'to-le), near the town of Man'tu-a
in the north of Italy. His father was the owner of a small estate,
which he farmed himself. Though of moderate means, he gave his son a
good education. Young Vergil spent his boyhood at school at Cre-mo'na
and Milan. He completed his studies at Naples, where he read the Greek
and Latin authors, and acquired a knowledge of mathematics, natural
philosophy, and medical science. He afterwards returned to Mantua, and