Our Aeneid Donation: Ascanius

Our Aeneid is an ambitious, collaborative reimagining of Vergil’s epic, made possible by the time, effort, and generosity of hundreds of contributors. While translators volunteer their work, your donations help fund the backbone of the project: the systems, labor, and coordination needed to bring this massive book to life. 

Ascanius donors will be acknowledged for their donation in the preface of the book, receive behind the scenes project updates, and a personal thank you letter from the project leaders. 

Below is a breakdown of how your donation supports the project:

1. Editorial Team Support

Our editors are essential to ensuring each translation is reviewed, honored, and refined with care.

Tasks include:

• Reading and evaluating submitted translations

• Providing personalized feedback and guidance to translators

• Ensuring consistency of formatting and source text usage

• Communicating with contributors to maintain deadlines and standards

• Vetting commentary, literal translations, and notes

• Finalizing each section for publication

Note: While editors are not full-time employees, they are compensated based on available funds and scope of work.

2. Formatting & Layout

Once translations are finalized, they must be assembled into a coherent, readable, and beautiful book.

Tasks include:

• Integrating 200+ contributions into a single flowing document

• Designing a layout that balances readability and multilingual content

• Organizing commentary, English literals, and notes in the back matter

• Preparing digital and print-ready files for publication

3. Project Coordination

Keeping hundreds of contributors on track requires constant organization.

Tasks include:

• Assigning lines and resolving duplicate requests

• Responding to questions from translators, editors, and artists

• Managing deadlines, reminders, and communications

• Coordinating across language teams and international time zones

• Maintaining transparency and community engagement throughout.

As a project managed by a private LLC, please note that donations are considered non-tax-deductible. All contributions help fund editorial reviews, formatting, coordination, and outreach. Your support ensures that hundreds of voices can come together to shape a rich, modern reading of Vergil’s epic.