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 As such, in the "natural order", the meaning of Aeneas' name combines Greek "ennos" ("dweller") and "demas" ("body"), which becomes "ennaios", meaning "in-dweller" (i.e. as a god inhabiting a mortal body). However, there is no certainty regarding the origin of his name. In imitation of the "Iliad", Virgil borrows epithets of Homer, including; Anchisiades, "magnanimum", "magnus", "heros", and "bonus". Though he borrows many, Virgil gives Aeneas two epithets of his own in the "Aeneid:" "pater" and "pius". The epithets applied by Virgil are an example of an attitude different from that of Homer, for whilst Odysseus is "poikilios" ("wily"), Aeneas