Ancient Carthage her rule. Her subjects adore her and present her with a festival of praise. Her character is perceived by Virgil as even more noble when she offers asylum to Aeneas and his men, who have recently escaped from Troy. A spirit in the form of the messenger god, Mercury, sent by Jupiter, reminds Aeneas that his mission is not to stay in Carthage with his new-found love, Dido, but to sail to Italy to found Rome. Virgil ends his legend of Dido with the story that, when Aeneas tells Dido, her heart broken, she orders a pyre to be built
Political commentary of the Aeneid that Virgil wrote the "Aeneid" to reflect the Roman political stance of his time. Virgil does this primarily by splitting the story into two parts. The first half shows an obsession with the fall of Troy, together with failed attempts to establish cities during Aeneas' wanderings; while the second half depicts victory in battle and the establishment of a new Troy at Rome. This mirrors Rome's disestablishment of the republic after the strife of a civil war, and the establishment of peace and prosperity with the new Roman Empire. These reflect Augustan propaganda which asks that his people to forget