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Name: Vergil Date: 70 – 19 BCE Region: Mantua [modern northern Italy] Citation: Aeneid 5.568-572 |
the eponymous leader of the Latin Atii,
a boy beloved by the boy Iulus.
And next to him was pretty Iulus,
the prettiest and handsomest of all the boys,
riding a horse which Sidonian Dido gave to him as an emblem of love.
paruus Atys pueroque puer dilectus Iulo.
extremus formaque ante omnis pulcher Iulus
Sidonio est invectus equo, quem candida Dido
esse sui dederat monimentum et pignus amoris.
Vergil, also known as Virgil, [Publius Vergilius Maro; 70
– 19 BCE, modern Italy] was born in Mantua, Cisalpine Gaul, and lived during
the tumultuous transition of Roman government from republic to monarchy. His
writing talent earned him a place of honor among Maecenas’ fellow authors under
Augustan rule. He was friends with numerous famous authors of the time period,
including Horace and Asinius Pollio. His former slave Alexander was the most
influential romantic partner in his life, and the poet memorialized his love
for him under the pseudonym “Alexis” in Eclogue 2. His masterpiece, the Aeneid,
tells the story of Aeneas’ migration from Troy to Italy; it was used for
centuries as the pinnacle of Roman literature.
