Vergil, perhaps the greatest poet in all Roman history, wrote what became the national epic of the Roman people during the rule of Augustus Caesar. In it he tells of the end of the Trojan War and the escape of the Trojan Aeneas to found a new nation in Italy after many trials and tribulations. At the beginning of the poem, Vergil invokes the Muse's help as he attempts to undertake the massive task of narrating this heroic story:

I sing of warfare and a man at war.
From the sea-coast of Troy in early days
He came to Italy by destiny,
To our Lavinian western shore,
A fugitive, this captain, buffeted
Cruelly on land as on the sea
By blows from powers of the air — behind them
Baleful Juno in her sleepless rage.
And cruel losses were his lot in war...