Low Ham Roman Villa large 14 foot (4.3m) square mosaic from the floor of the "frigidarium" depicts the story of Aeneas and Dido, as told in the 1st century BC by the Roman poet, Virgil. Like the villa, it dates to the mid-4th century. The Low Ham mosaic is unique in Roman Britain in providing a narrative story in five panels. First is a scene of Aeneas sailing to Carthage, with Achates lifting from a ship the crown described as a gift to Dido in "Aeneid" Book I. The next shows Aeneas meeting Dido, with his son Ascanius and his mother Venus. There follow
Aeneas fall of Troy (1184 BC) and the founding of Rome (753 BC), this seems unlikely. The Julian family of Rome, most notably Julius Cæsar and Augustus, traced their lineage to Ascanius and Aeneas, thus to the goddess Venus. Through the Julians, the Palemonids make this claim. The legendary kings of Britain – including King Arthur – trace their family through a grandson of Aeneas, Brutus. Aeneas's consistent epithet in Virgil and other Latin authors is "pius", a term that connotes reverence toward the gods and familial dutifulness. In the "Aeneid", Aeneas is described as strong and handsome, but neither his