Etruscans and Trojans in Virgil’s Aeneid: Founders of New Civilisational Values of the Roman Empire

Abstract

The paper presents fresh reflections on the role played by Etruscans and Trojans in the dramaturgy of Virgil’s Aeneid, seeking to define the civilisational values common to the two peoples – the peoples that were to form the foundations of a nascent Roman Empire both in Augustus’ political programme and in Virgil’s literary concept. Foregrounded is the thesis that Virgil’s conception and structure of the Aeneid juxtapose the historical fate of the Etruscans with the myth of the Trojans: both peoples are the bearers of new civilisational values, which are manifested in military fortitudo, in the monarchic constitution of the empire, and in religious pietas.