Virgil

70–19 BCE · Roman (Andes, near Mantua) · Roman Republic / Early Roman Empire

Known for: Author of the Aeneid, Rome's national epic

Publius Vergilius Maro was Rome's greatest poet, author of the Aeneid—the epic that gave Rome its founding myth and its national identity. He also wrote the pastoral Eclogues and the agricultural Georgics, works of exquisite craftsmanship that established him as Augustus's court poet. He was close to Emperor Augustus and the patron Maecenas.

Virgil was shy, reclusive, and of delicate health—Neapolitans called him 'the maiden' for his gentleness. He worked slowly and meticulously, spending 11 years on the Aeneid and still wanting to burn it on his deathbed because it wasn't finished. His poetry combines political propaganda glorifying Rome's destiny with genuine compassion for the losers of history—the Aeneid's most moving passages are about defeated enemies. He was revered in the Middle Ages as a near-prophet.

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