A new edition of the classic Latin epic poem -- Virgil's The Aeneid -- based on John Dryden's 17th century verse translation. The Aeneid , written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, tells the legendary story of the Trojan hero Aeneas, who after the fall of Troy travelled to Italy to found the nation that would one day become Rome. Set out in twelve books, the first six tell the story of Aeneas's dramatic flight from Troy and his wanderings throughout the Mediterranean, including his memorable encounter with the ill-fated Dido, Queen of Carthage, and his journey into the underworld. The last six books focus on the Trojans' war with the indigenous population in Italy, as Aeneas struggles to find a home for his band of refugees and claim the destiny he has been promised. In Virgil's telling, The Aeneid became the national epic of Augustan Rome, tying Rome to the storied legends of Troy, glorifying traditional Roman values, and legitimizing the Julio-Claudian dynasty as descendants of Aeneas and his mother the goddess Venus. A masterful work of astounding breadth and depth, The Aeneid is widely regarded as Virgil's masterpiece, one of the greatest works of Latin literature, and a foundational work of the Western cultural canon. Virgil , or Publius Vergilius Maro (70 BC – 19 BC) was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period who authored three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: the Eclogues (or Bucolics ), the Georgics , and the Aeneid , often considered to be the national epic of ancient Rome. Virgil is generally recognized as Rome's greatest and most important poet, with a wide and deep influence on Western literature. John Dryden (1631 – 1700) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was appointed England's first Poet Laureate in 1668. He was such a dominating force in the literary life of Restoration era England, among literary scholars the period has come to be known as The Age of Dryden . He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.