A new Epic Poem set in ancient Italy, the Laviniad tells the story of bronze-age Lavinium right after the death of the Trojan War hero Aeneas. His young son Ascanius is thrust to the fore as leader of the Trojan emigrants and native Latins, now threatened by the bloodthirsty Etruscan tyrant Mezentius. Meanwhile Aeneas's faithful widow Lavinia conceals a secret that drives her to flee the safety of the city past the swords of the enemy and into the Italian wilderness.