History of Tunisia for centuries assigned its foundation to a queen of Tyre, Elissa, also called Dido. The Roman historian Pompeius Trogus, a near contemporary of Virgil, describes a sinister web of court intrigue which caused Queen Elissa (Dido) to flee the city of Tyre westward with a fleet of ships. The Roman poet Virgil (70–19 B.C.) portrays Dido as the tragic, admirable heroine of his epic the "Aeneid", which contains many inventions loosely based on legendary history, and includes the story about how the Phoenician queen acquired the Byrsa. By the middle of the sixth century B.C., Carthage had grown into a
Dido and Aeneas performed by students of the Royal College of Music at London's Lyceum Theatre to mark the bicentenary of Purcell's death. "Dido and Aeneas" received its first performance outside England on 14 December 1895 in a concert version at the University Society in Dublin. "Dido and Aeneas" premiered in the United States at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on 10 February 1923 performed by the girls of the Rosemary School, although "The New York Times" noted that "considerable liberties" had been taken with the score. A concert version with professional musicians organised by the Society of Friends of Music