IT now seemed as if Troy might find peace. The Greek camp was empty; and with Paris, nicked by a poisoned arrow, lying in state upon his funeral pyre, the cause of the strife was gone.

But in the quiet of the night, a panel in the wooden horse grated aside, and Greek soldiers began to emerge. Softly they opened the city gates, and signalled to the Greek fleet that had been hiding behind the island of Tenedos. Outnumbered and taken by surprise, the Trojans were quickly routed. Priam died on the steps of the altar of Zeus, and the wealth of his city was poured into the laps of the Greek victors.

Helen was restored to King Menelaus; Agamemnon took Cassandra for his own; Odysseus set off back to Ithaca, a journey that became a legend in itself. Alone of all its people, Aeneas and his father Anchises escaped the sack of Troy. But that too is another tale: the Tale of Rome.*