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
HMS Dido (37) the rest of the year supporting the British campaign in North Africa before being transferred to the Western Mediterranean Fleet in December 1942. "Dido" then performed the duty of anti-aircraft guard at Bone and Algiers until March 1943. In April 1943, "Dido" returned to Liverpool for a 3-month refit before rejoining the Western Mediterranean squadron. The next month was spent taking part in diversionary bombardments against North Sicily during the landings. "Dido" was then used as an anti-aircraft guard for invasion bases at Palermo and Bizerte. On 12 September 1943, "Dido" escorted 600 troops to Taranto where the Italian Fleet