Format: Feature Film | Genre: History, Drama | Language: Englisch
Based on Aeneis by Publius Vergilius Maro
A Trojan prince who can escape the Greek destruction of his city, sets out on a voyage to found the second Troy prophesied to him despite Greek mercenaries and local tribes fighting him.
Our protagonist AENEAS, the hero of Virgil's epic poem the Aeneid, is son of Venus and one of the few Trojans to escape from Troy after it was sacked by Greeks led by Agamemnon. He flees with his father Anchises and his son Ascanius. His companion on this journey is Achates who serves as a kind of foil to Aeneas' character because he does not have any idea about what will happen in the future for them. As the result of a fierce storm, the crew has to find refuge in Carthage of North Africa at the mercy of Dido, Carthage’s founder and queen. The story begins when they are in flight in Carthage before reaching Italy where they have hope for a better life.
Aeneas relates to Dido the long and painful story of his group’s travels thus far. Dido is impressed by Aeneas and his feats, and succumbs to her feelings for him. But destiny has different plans for Aeneas and is thrown from his comfortable life in the royal palace of Dido into a new journey - to fulfill his true destiny: travelling to Italy. A love affair ends as new adventures begin.
He is then finally able to arrive in Italy, where the local king Latinus initially welcomes him, who promises him his daughter Lavinia’s hand in marriage to seal peace between Trojans and Latins. However, other Italians resent this arrangement, including Latinus’ wife Amata and the Italian prince Turnus, who hopes to marry Lavinia himself. War soon breaks out between the Trojans and the Italians.
From here, everything starts going wrong. Turnus starts amassing an army to drive out the Trojans. Ascanius, Aeneas's son, goes hunting and wounds a deer who happens to be the pet of local herdsmen. This causes the herdsmen to rally and attack the Trojans, leading to the death of many Latins. The Latin people cry out for war and king Latinus, not wanting to go to war, retreats to his chamber, accepting he cannot change what has been put in motion.
Ante Roma is a capturing story about the inevitable nature and cruelty of destiny. Our hero Aeneas leaves his devastated home city of Troy with nothing but a ship, crewmates few in number - only to arrive at Carthage where he becomes overwhelmed by luxuries offered there that do not match up well against what was left back home; yet still through it all, the strong willed protagonist must go on regardless because as foretold him long ago, he has been marked for greatness from earliest times: founding The second Troy, Rome, that will one time rule the entire world.