Which figure is associated with the founding of Rome as a descendant of a Trojan hero?

• A. Mars
• B. Romulus
• C. Remus
• D. Aeneas

Answer: (D)

This item tests how Roman myth ties Rome’s origins to Troy through a specific ancestor. In the legends, Aeneas, a Trojan hero, survives the fall of Troy and makes his way to Italy, where his line is said to found or eventually lead to the founding of Rome. His son Ascanius (Iulus) is credited with founding Alba Longa, and Romulus and Remus—the legendary founders of Rome—are described as descendants of Aeneas. So the figure most closely associated with founding Rome as a descendant of a Trojan hero is Aeneas. Mars is a war god and not the lineage connecting Troy to Rome, while Romulus and Remus themselves are the founders of Rome, not the Trojan-origin figure whose lineage leads to Rome.