Aeneid, ih NEE ihd, the national epic of ancient Rome, is one of the world's greatest poems of heroic adventure. It was written by the Roman poet Virgil between 30 and 19 B.C. This period was one of national pride for the Romans. The emperor Augustus had just united the people of the Italian peninsula to defeat Rome's enemies in the eastern provinces. Virgil chose the myth of the Trojan hero Aeneas to express ancient Rome's moral and religious values and to honor Augustus, who was believed to be Aeneas' descendant.