VIRGIL
(Roman Sculptor. Bust of Virgil. Marble. ca. 45 BC. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Publius_Vergilius_Maro.jpg)
Can a poem commissioned by an emperor be more than propaganda?
70–19 B.C. · Rome
Virgil is often regarded as the greatest of the Roman poets. His epic poem, the Aeneid, has been of continuing importance to Western literature. Products of the chaos of the Roman civil war years, his works show a longing for a more peaceful ordering of society.
Two visions of a more peaceful world
- Regarded as: Often the greatest of the Roman poets
- Major works: The Eclogues, written first, and the Aeneid
- The Aeneid: Commissioned by the emperor Augustus
- Shaped by: The chaos of the Roman civil war years
- Admired by: Dante and Milton, who composed epic poems on his model
After civil war, what would a more peaceful world look like?
Hover or tap each idea to look closer
- A Longing for PeaceProducts of the chaos of the Roman civil war years, Virgil’s works show a longing for a more peaceful ordering of society. His two major works emphasize different aspects of this longing.
- The EcloguesWritten first, the Eclogues is a collection of escapist poems that dwell on the ideal nature of a peaceful, rural life.
- The AeneidA more complete consideration of the new world Virgil desired, the Aeneid considers the political form under which this new order will come.
- More Than PropagandaAlthough it was commissioned by the emperor Augustus, the Aeneid is more than early imperial propaganda. It proclaims the divine mission of Aeneas to found Rome.
- A World UnitedThe poem also proclaims the divine injunction of the Romans to unite the world under a noble emperor such as Augustus.
Virgil’s importance to world literature is difficult to overestimate.
Later poets and writers have venerated and sought to imitate him; Dante and Milton composed epic poems on his model. A masterpiece of epic poetry and the Latin language, the Aeneid has been used as a textbook for the study of Latin almost from its first publication.
It also shaped Christian thought in the Middle Ages. Through allegorical interpretations, Virgil was widely believed to have prophesied the coming of Christ to the Roman world, lending support to the view of the Holy Roman Empire as the protector and champion of Christianity.
Where to read more about Virgil.
- 1993Virgil and the ModernsZiolkowski, Theodore · Princeton University Press
- 1996Virgil: Aeneid I–VI (commentary)Williams, R. D. · Bristol Classical Press · first published 1972
- 1998VirgilHardie, Philip · Oxford University Press
- 1998Virgil’s Epic Designs: Ekphrasis in the AeneidPutnam, Michael C. J. · Yale University Press
- 2017True Names: Vergil and the Alexandrian Tradition of Etymological WordplayO’Hara, James J. · University of Michigan Press · new and expanded edition, first published 1996
- 2019The Cambridge Companion to Virgil (2nd ed.)Mac Góráin, Fiachra, and Charles Martindale, eds. · Cambridge University Press
- Eclogues, Georgics, Aeneid (Loeb Classical Library)Latin text with English translation by H. R. Fairclough, revised by G. P. Goold. Harvard University Press, revised 1997–2000.loebclassics.com (subscription)
- P. Vergili Maronis Opera (Oxford Classical Texts)The standard Latin edition, edited by R. A. B. Mynors. Oxford University Press.
- Perseus Digital Library: VirgilThe original Latin text and English translations.perseus.tufts.edu
(Unknown. Virgil Mosaic. Marble mosaic. 3rd century AD. Bardo National Museum, Tunis, Tunisia. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Virgile.JPG)
This 3rd-century AD Roman mosaic depicts the poet Virgil holding a volume of the Aeneid, flanked by the muses Clio (history) and Melpomene (tragedy), discovered in Sousse, Tunisia, and exemplifying his central role in classical literature.
(Jean-Baptiste Wicar, Virgil Reading the "Aeneid" to Augustus, Octavia, and Livia, 1790–93, oil on canvas, 111.1 × 142.6 cm, Art Institute of Chicago, https://www.artic.edu/artworks/17161/virgil-reading-the-aeneid-to-augustus-octavia-and-livia.)
Jean-Baptiste Wicar’s Virgil Reading the Aeneid to Augustus, Octavia, and Livia (1790–93) captures a legendary moment of literary intimacy: the poet reciting his epic to the imperial family. Octavia’s faint, said to stem from hearing her dead son Marcellus praised, blends personal grief with public myth, making the painting a poignant emblem of art’s power to move both heart and empire.
(Unknown. Folio 14r of the Vergilius Romanus. Manuscript illumination on vellum. 5th century. Vatican Library, Vatican City. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RomanVirgilFolio014rVergilPortrait.jpg.)
Folio 14r from the 5th-century Vergilius Romanus manuscript features a seated portrait of Virgil holding a scroll, rendered in vibrant colors on vellum, capturing the ancient poet in a contemplative pose.