[asimpletune]

Probably bc Romans believed they descended from people who were at the battle of Troy. In particular it was Aeneas whom they believed escaped the sacking of Troy and made it to Latina. Later his progeny founded Rome. Being connected with great myths, whether historically true or not was a big deal, so everyone wanted to be able to claim some connection to that big event.

[beezlebroxxxxxx]

Brutus of Troy is the medieval British equivalent, and has other examples in the Renovatio imperii Romanorum phenomenon. Connecting oneself to history and myth have long been ways that various monarchies and dynasties across the Eurasian continent sought legitimacy and "publicized" their power.

[krapp]

Also Snorri Sturluson recontextualized the Norse gods as descendants of Troy in the Prose Edda, because he was writing in the context of a post-Christianized society in which acknowledging pagan gods would have been heresy.