The story takes place in Rome shortly after the expulsion of the Tarquin kings. Ordinary citizens are rioting after stores of grain were withheld. The rioters are particularly angry at Gaius Martius, a brilliant Roman general whom they blame. War breaks out with a neighboring Italian tribe, the Volscians, who are led by Martius' great rival, Tullus Aufidius.

The Aeneid is the great national epic of ancient Rome, and one of the most important works of literature ever written. And with Professor Vandiver's twelve instructive lectures, you'll enter fully into the gripping tale that Virgil tells. Join Aeneas on his long journey west from ruined Troy to the founding of a new nation in Italy, and see how he weaves a rich network of compelling human themes. Your encounter with the Aeneid focuses on careful,

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Vergil's Aeneid has been considered a classic, if not the classic, of Western literature for two thousand years. In recent decades this famous poem has become the subject of fresh and searching controversy. What is the poem's fundamental meaning? Does it endorse or undermine values of empire and patriarchy? Is its world view comic or tragic? Many studies of the poem have focused primarily on selected books. The approach here is comprehensive. An introduction...