 The poet compares Charlemagne to Aeneas, forefather of the Romans, and calls him "augustus" and "Europae venerandus apex, pater optimus" ("revered pinnacle of Europe; best father").The poet also likens Charlemagne's capital of Aachen to a "second Rome" and a "Rome-to-be".The city of the poem is generally identified with Charlemagne's capital, although it is not explicit in the poem and the city might in fact be Paderborn itself, whose church was consecrated in 799.