Ideas from the CBC: The Aeneid: A Political Puzzle

The Roman poet Virgil had a knack for telling war stories. This was good news for his patron, Caesar Augustus, who had an empire to build: Augustus would conquer the known world and Virgil would lay down the propaganda. But is The Aeneid, one of the great classics of Latin literature just that, propaganda? Or does it carry a message about the horrors or empire, too? It's worth asking, especially at a time when empires are making a comeback. The Aeneid: A Political Puzzle, by Winnipeg contributor Tom Jokinen on IDEAS.