VirgilArticle Free Pass Virgil, also spelled Vergil, Latin in
full Publius Vergilius Maro (born October 15, 70 bc, Andes, near
Mantua [Italy]—died September 21, 19 bc, Brundisium), Roman
poet, best known for his national epic, the Aeneid (from c. 30
bc; unfinished at his death). Virgil was regarded by the Romans
as their greatest poet, an estimation that subsequent
generations have upheld. His fame rests chiefly upon the Aeneid,
which tells the story of Rome’s legendary founder and proclaims
the Roman mission to civilize the world under divine guidance.
His reputation as a poet endures not only for the music and
diction of his verse and for his skill in constructing an
intricate work on the grand scale but also because he embodied
in his poetry aspects of experience and behaviour of permanent
significance. Virgil was born of peasant stock, and his love of
the Italian countryside and of the people who cultivated it
colours all his poetry. He was educated at Cremona, at Milan,
and finally at Rome, acquiring a t