https://www.patreon.com/GnosticInformant Thank you existing Patrons. The Etruscans, who lived primarily in the region now known as Tuscany, emerged around the 8th century BCE. They had a significant impact on the early Roman civilization and were eventually absorbed by the Romans. There were also various Italic tribes, including the Latins, Sabines, and Samnites, who lived in the Italian peninsula from around the 2nd millennium BCE. The Latins were the tribe from which the Romans emerged. Starting from the 8th century BCE, the Greeks established colonies in southern Italy and Sicily, an area that was often referred to as Magna Graecia. Aeneas, a legendary figure of both Trojan and Roman mythology, is renowned as the son of the divine Aphrodite and mortal Anchises. A part of Troy's royal lineage and a kin of Hector, Aeneas was a distinguished defender of his city during the Trojan War, demonstrating martial prowess second only to Hector himself. Homer's work subtly hints at Aeneas' discontent with his secondary role, thereby giving rise to a later narrative that posits Aeneas as a conspirator in Troy's betrayal to the Greeks. However, a more prevalent version of his story portrays Aeneas as the helm of the Trojan survivors following the Greek conquest of Troy. Regardless of these divergent accounts, the common thread in all the narratives is the survival of Aeneas, enabling him to be woven into the fabric of Roman mythology. The connection of Homeric heroes to Italy and Sicily can be traced back to the 8th century BCE, coinciding with the era when Homer's epics are believed to have transitioned into written form. Greek colonies, established in Italy and Sicily during this period and the ensuing century, often claimed lineage from figures central to the Trojan War. Aeneas, in particular, was associated with various locales and dynasties, notably within the region of Latium. As the Roman Empire expanded throughout Italy and across the Mediterranean, Roman authors imbued with a sense of patriotism sought to craft a mythological tradition that would simultaneously infuse their land with historical grandeur and subdue an underlying resentment towards Greek cultural hegemony. Aeneas, in his role as a Trojan adversary of the Greeks, and with a post-war narrative open to interpretation, was uniquely suited to embody the mythical precursor to the inception of Roman supremacy. Composed circa 29-19 BCE, Virgil's Aeneid narrates across 12 books the mythic establishment of Lavinium, the precursor to Alba Longa and Rome, by the Trojan hero Aeneas. As Virgil recounts, when the Greeks seized Troy, a resilient Aeneas was instructed by the apparition of Hector to escape and initiate a significant city abroad. Mustering his family and followers, Aeneas secured the penates— household deities—of Troy. However, amidst the chaos of evacuation from the burning city, his wife vanished. Her spirit later appeared to him, revealing his destiny to venture to a land in the west where the Tiber River coursed. Thus began Aeneas's epic journey, with stops in Thrace, Crete, and Sicily, and fraught with a plethora of trials culminating in a shipwreck near Carthage on the African coast. Here, he was hospitably received by Dido, the bereaved queen. As he narrated his tale, they fell in love and he delayed his journey until a stern reminder from the god Mercury refocused him on his ultimate objective: Rome. Wracked with guilt, he immediately deserted Dido, who subsequently ended her own life. Resuming his voyage, Aeneas eventually reached the mouth of the Tiber. #gnosticinformant #ancientrome #documentary #4k #rome #religion