Brutus, at the age of fifteen, attending his father to the chase, unfortunately killed him with an arrow.  Banished therefor by his kindred, he sought refuge in that part of Greece where Helenus, with a band of Trojan exiles, had become established.  But Helenus was now dead and the descendants of the Trojans were oppressed by Pandrasus, the king of the country.  Brutus, being kindly received among them, so throve in virtue and in arms as to win the regard of all the eminent of the land above all others of his age.  In consequence of this the Trojans not only began to hope, but secretly to persuade him to lead them the way to liberty.  To encourage them, they had the promise of help from Assaracus, a noble Greek youth, whose mother was a Trojan.  He had suffered wrong at the hands of the king, and for that reason the more willingly cast in his lost with the Trojan exiles.

Choosing a fit opportunity, Brutus with his countrymen withdrew to the woods and hills, as the safest place from which to expostulate, and sent this message to Pandrasus:  “That the Trojans, holding it unworthy of their ancestors to serve in a foreign land, had retreated to the woods, choosing rather a savage life than a slavish one.  If that displeased him, then, with his leave, they would depart to some other country.”  Pandrasus, not expecting so bold a message from the sons of captives, went in pursuit of them, with such forces as he could gather, and met them on the banks of the Achelous, where Brutus got the advantage, and took the king captive.  The result was, that the terms demanded by the Trojans were granted; the king gave his daughter Imogen in marriage to Brutus, and furnished shipping, money, and fit provision for them all to depart from the land.

The marriage being solemnized, and shipping from all parts got together, the Trojans, in a fleet of no less than three hundred and twenty sail, betook themselves to the sea.  On the third day they arrived at a certain island, which they found destitute of inhabitants, though there were appearances of former habitation, and among the ruins a temple of Diana.  Brutus, here performing sacrifice at the shrine of the goddess, invoked an oracle for his guidance, in these lines: 

    “Goddess of shades, and huntress, who at will
    Walk’st on the rolling sphere, and through the deep;
    On thy third realm, the earth, look now, and tell
    What land, what seat of rest, thou bidd’st me seek;
    What certain seat where I may worship thee
    For aye, with temples vowed and virgin choirs.”

To whom, sleeping before the altar, Diana in a vision thus answered: 

    “Brutus! far to the west, in the ocean wide,
    Beyond the realm of Gaul, a land there lies,
    Seagirt it lies, where giants dwelt of old;
    Now, void, it fits thy people:  thither bend
    Thy course; there shalt thou find a lasting seat;
    There to thy sons another Troy shall rise,
    And kings be born of thee, whose dreaded might
    Shall awe the world, and conquer nations bold”