a divine mission, the goddess Venus is still worried about the outcome of the forthcoming war. So she turns to her husband, Vulcan, the god of fire and war, and persuades him to make some new armor and weapons for Aeneas that will give him the edge on the field of battle. Vulcan duly obliges and orders workers to begin forging the items.

One of these items is of particular significance. Vulcan’s workers have forged a mighty shield for the Trojan warrior. On the shield are a number of scenes depicting the future greatness and glory of what will one day be Rome. We see Romulus, one of the founders of Rome, being nursed by the legendary she-wolf; we see the defeat of the Gauls; and most importantly of all, we see Emperor Augustus’s defeat of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium. These are just some of many elements of Augustan propaganda in the Aeneid, which is hardly surprising when one considers that Augustus was Virgil’s patron.

The scenes depicted on Vulcan’s shield are significant for Aeneas, as they remind him what it is that he’s fighting for: a city that has a great future ahead of it. In helping to establish that city, Aeneas will be covering himself and his descendants in glory and renown.