<P> The Roman stories still matter, as they mattered to Dante in 1300 and Shakespeare in 1600 and the founding fathers of the United States in 1776 . What does it take to be a free citizen? Can a superpower still be a republic? How does well - meaning authority turn into murderous tyranny? </P> <P> Major sources for Roman myth include the Aeneid of Vergil and the first few books of Livy's history as well as Dionysius' s Roman Antiquities . Other important sources are the Fasti of Ovid, a six - book poem structured by the Roman religious calendar, and the fourth book of elegies by Propertius . Scenes from Roman myth also appear in Roman wall painting, coins, and sculpture, particularly reliefs . </P> <P> The Aeneid and Livy's early history are the best extant sources for Rome's founding myths . Material from Greek heroic legend was grafted onto this native stock at an early date . The Trojan prince Aeneas was cast as husband of Lavinia, daughter of King Latinus, patronymical ancestor of the Latini, and therefore through a convoluted revisionist genealogy as forebear of Romulus and Remus . By extension, the Trojans were adopted as the mythical ancestors of the Roman people . </P> <P> The characteristic myths of Rome are often political or moral, that is, they deal with the development of Roman government in accordance with divine law, as expressed by Roman religion, and with demonstrations of the individual's adherence to moral expectations (mos maiorum) or failures to do so . </P>

Who do the romans cite as their ancestors