Virgil - Roman Poet

Enlarge Image Virgil, whose real name was Publius Vergilius Maro, was born on 15 October 70 B.C. Although we know him as a Roman Writer, he was actually of Celtic origin. His family was Gauls from the Lombardy plain on the northern banks of the Po River - then part of what was known as Cisalpine Gaul. This was under Roman rule and so they were, for all purposes, Roman citizens.

Virgil's father, a poor cobbler to start out with, married well and then improved his own standing by saving and buying land to start a farm. He had higher ambitions for his clearly intellectually inclined son and, when Virgil was twelve, he sent him to be educated first at Cremona, then Milan, and finally Rome.

Education

Virgil studied science and astronomy for two years each at Cremona and Milan, and then switched to philosophy under the Epicureans in Rome. The details of this period of his life are not known. Most likely his education was interrupted - or at least affected to a certain degree - by the civil wars that engulfed Rome before and after the assassination of Julius Caesar.

Career

More is known about Virgil's life around 42 B.C. He had made enough inroads in the poetic department to have established a reputation for himself as a rising literary figure. He had also befriended Asinius Pollio, the Roman Governor of the area north of the Po, who appears to have greatly admired his poetic talent.

After the battle of Philippi, fought between Octavian Augustus and the Republican forces, a great many farms and lands were seized by the victorious Octavian and redistributed as fringe benefits to his soldiers. Amongst the properties so appropriated was the farm of Virgil's father and we hear of Virgil, on the advice of Asinius Pollio and other influential friends, proceeding to Rome to petition to Octavian for its return.

It was a successful mission - his father's farm was duly returned - and he also met and created a very positive impression on both Octavian and Octavian's close friend and capable right hand man, Mcenas, who became his patron. It was also on this visit that he became acquainted with the other leading poet of the day, Horace.

Fame

The Romans had a great passion for literature and, in the absence of printing technology, droves of slaves were kept busy copying out books for public consumption - certainly a worthwhile and safer occupation to entertaining poor, underfed lions in the Roman Circuses. The rich Romans maintained private libraries, the poor ones haunted the public ones, and everyone gathered at public forums to hear public readings and check out the bulletins on the latest releases.

Poets and Writers were treated like celebrities and Virgil went on to achieve great personal fame and fortune - in him, at last, the Romans found their answer to those oh-so-superior Greek literati. He was actually dogged by crowds whenever he went out. Such attention seems to have exacerbated his reclusive tendencies and he preferred living on the country estate he bought in Nola to Rome.

Poetic Output

Virgil's poetic career had begun when still a student, but his surviving early poems have no special merit. His reputation was established by the 'Ecologues' or Pastoral Poems. Started before he left for Rome on his father's behalf, these were completed and published in 37 B.C. and met with an immediate success.

Then, on the suggestion of Mcenas, he began another notable work, the 'Georgics'. This was completed in 29 B.C. and again received with great enthusiasm.

After this, he began the most famous of his works, the neid. He finished the first draft of this work in 19 B.C. and planned on revising it before publication. In the meantime though, worn out with the work, he decided to take some time off and set off to travel through Greece and Asia.

End

He got as far as Athens and then, on Octavian's request, turned homeward to finish the new master-piece. He fell ill before he left and the rough sea journey to Brindisi didn't help matters. He died shortly after landing and was buried at Naples.

He had never married - he was a homosexual - and left no immediate family. According to his will, he asked for all his incomplete works to be summarily destroyed and this would have been the fate of the neid if Octavian hadn't intervened. He ordered the poem to be published as it was. Virgil remains the foremost of Latin poets to this day and his works continue to be studied as part of Latin curriculum in schools and Universities.

Works

The Ecologues

The Ecologues are romantic Pastoral Poems, extolling the natural beauty of the world and calling for universal peace and happiness. These were just the sentiments to appeal to the Romans after the years of civil strife.

The Georgics

In the Georgics, he again returned to the glories of rural life. The work was actually a subtle propaganda piece for Octavian. In writing about a farmer working on his land, the idea was to give a much-needed boost to the Roman Agricultural Industry, which had been ravaged by the civil wars.

The neid

The neid chronicles the adventures of the Trojan hero and founder of the Romans, neas. Here too a subtle propaganda was at play. His heroics, of course, were intended to cast a favorable light on those of Octavian and laud the greatness of the Roman Empire.