The opening of Virgil's Aeneid begins with the words "I sing of war and a man at war" (Vergil 1.1) which signal two themes important parts of the epic: the war and the struggles of a man (Boyle). The epic revolves around a Trojan named Aeneas, who follows his destiny to found the city of Lavinium, a precedent for Rome, where his descendants continued to rule until the birth of Romulus. Virgil adapts Homeric epic and structure to make a social commentary on Roman life under Augustus. Like Homer, Virgil uses a shield as an ekphrasis to show the transition from the primal to the civilized state and the future history of Rome (Boyle). Virgil demonstrates how the Roman values ​​of virtus, iustitita and pietas prevailed over Rome's barbaric and uncivilized enemies in the episodes on the shield (Boyle). While Rome became a great empire through war, Virgil seems to advocate peace rather than more bloodshed and warn that even if peace could be achieved, it is not a permanent state. Achilles' shield holds parties and a wedding, but a murder occurs during a seemingly peaceful time (Homer 18. 490-508), similar to the bloodshed and eventual peace at Aeneas' shield ( Vergil 7.746). Virgil uses Aeneas' shield like Homer as an allegorical symbol to emphasize that even in times of peace there is violence, connecting history and myth and ultimately revealing that no person or city can escape this spell. Vergil draws parallels between Achilles and Aeneas to show his artistic abilities to those of Homer. Achilles and Aeneas receive their shield from their mother and Hephaestus or Vulcan, the god of fire, forges the weapon. The shield of Achilles details scenes from nature and the creation of the universe, and represents agriculture...... middle of paper ...... the Gauls are similar to the clothing worn by the people conquered who parade before Augustus. Additionally, the description of Mettus' torn body is similar to how the Battle of Actium takes place on the sea. Virgil describes the water as being "torn" (7.715) and how the fighting turned the sea red ( 7.722), which refers to Mettus and shows the bloodiest events in Roman history. The symbolic nature of Cocles and Cloelia's destruction of the bridge seems to show that they are destroying every aspect of the lives of the kings of Roman history. Through the shield, Virgil shows the importance of peace to prevent history from repeating itself, but also as a warning. Like the great city of Troy, Rome will even fall under the splendor of Augustus. Virgil, like Vulcan, shapes and shapes Roman history into his own narrative and creates a new artistic form..