Chosen as father of Rome
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non pare indegno ad omo d’ intelletto; ch’ e’ fu de l’ alma Roma e di suo impero ne l’ empireo ciel per padre eletto:
It does not seem unworthy to a man of understanding; for he was chosen, in the empyrean heaven, to be the father of fostering Rome and of her empire.
To a man of understanding it does not seem unfitting: Aeneas was chosen in the highest heaven to be father of holy Rome and of her empire.
The argument reaches its keystone. Aeneas's descent was not a private adventure but a decree of the <i>empireo ciel</i>, the highest heaven: he was <i>eletto</i>, elected, to father Rome. <i>Alma</i> gives Rome an epithet usually reserved for nurturing mothers — the city that will foster the world.
Dante writes as a man for whom Rome's empire and the Church are two halves of one providential plan. The whole scaffolding is being built so that, a few lines on, the same providence can be shown reaching down for him.
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Inferno 2.19 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/dante-inferno/2.19/