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 (1869) Portsmouth on 27 May 1879, now as a 12-gun corvette, commanded by Captain Arthur Richard Wright. "Dido" served on the West Africa Station, where Captain Wright died in command on 19 August 1879. He was succeeded by Captain Compton Edward Domvile on 19 September 1879. In 1881 "Dido" contributed 50 men and two field guns to a Naval Brigade, which went to the front under Lieutenant Henry Ogle. "Dido" lost 3 killed and 3 wounded at the Battle of Majuba Hill on 27 February. Captain Compton Domvile went to the front to take charge of the Naval Brigade, but no