Most of origin stories are shrouded in mystery and mythology. Mythical persons such as Romulus, Lycurgus of Sparta, or King Arthur are created most likely as an amalgamation of several historical figures and myths, in order to give answer to the questions 'where do we came from' and 'what is our common history that defines us as a people'.

In the case of the Romans, the story of Aeneas itself likely was adopted from the Etruscans. Virgil's version of the story of Aeneas legitimized the whole Roman history up to that point - it explained the Punic wars, it justified the Roman conquest of Greece, it celebrated their traditional virtues, it legitimized Augustus, all the while being tied to the character from Illiad, a work of high culture that most educated Romans at the time would be familiar with since childhood.

Today we know from archeology that the idea of Romans descending from Trojans was almost certainly fiction. But it made for a good story that they told themselves.