Vergil’s epic follows Aeneas, the only Trojan destined to survive the Achaians’ siege of Ilion, as he makes his way to Italy. The Aeneid adapts Homer’s epic for Rome, telling the history of its founding to provide a narrative to the Roman people that both celebrated and criticized their emperor, Augustus. A quintessential Core text, Vergil’s Aeneid shows how old stories can be taken up, reinterpreted, and told in new ways.