Many of Virgil's rules, particularly those con-
cerning the care of cattle, have been taken from the
works of the ancient agricultural writers of his own
country.
cerning the care of cattle, have been taken from the
works of the ancient agricultural writers of his own
country.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
" (In Somn.
, Scip.
, 2,
8. ) During his residence in this city he perused the
most celebrated Greek writers, being instructed in
their language and literature by Parthenius Nicenui
(Macrob. , Sat. , 5, 17), well known as the author cf ?
collection of amatory talcs, which he wrote for the use
ly-acquired power, however, in criminal and oppress- i of Cornelius Gallus, in order to furnish him with ma-
ivo acts, plundering others to enrich himself. Vin-
ius advised Galba to adopt Otho for his successor;
but, Galba having nominated Piso, Otho revolted, de-
throned Galba, and Vinius perished along with the
latter, notwithstanding his vehement protestations to
the soldiery that Otho had not ordered his death. It
is probable that Vinius was implicated in the conspir-
acy of Otho itself against his friend arid protector.
(Tacit. . Hist. , 1, 11, cec. )
VIRBIUS (qui tir bis fuit), a name given to Hippol-
Vtus after he had been brought back to life by ^Escu-
lapius, at the instance of Diana, who pitied his unfor-
tunate end. Virgil makes him son of Hippolytus.
(JEn. , 7, 762. --(hid, Met. , 15, 544. )
VIRGILICS, MARO PUBLIUS, a celebrated Latin poet,
born at the village of Andes, a few miles distant from
Mantua, about 70 B. C. It has been disputed whether
his name should be Vcrgilius or Virgilius. "De scrip-
tura nominis," says Heyne, "digladiati mint inter se
cum velcres turn reccntiorcs grammalici. " The let-
ters << and >> were frequently convertible in the old Lat-
in language; and sanction may be found for either
mode of spelling, both in MSS. and inscriptions. At
the revival of letters, Politian contended strenuous-
'y for Vergilius; but even his authority was not suffi-
cient to bring this orthography into general practice.
There exist but few authentic materials frnrn which
we can collect any circumstances concerning the life
af the poet. We possess only some scattered remarks
tf ancient commentators or grammarians, and a life
iy Donatus, of very dubious authority. It bears the
oame of Tiberius Claudius Donatus, who lived in the
fifth century, son:: time after . 'Illius Donatus, so wel
known as a commutator on Terence. Hcyne thinks
Uiat the basis of the Life was laid by Donatus, but thai
it was altered and interpolated from time to time by
the grammarians, and librarians of the convents. It
s thus apparently written without any arrangement in
ihe series of events, and many things are recorded
which are manifestly fictitious. The monks, indeed,
? I' the middle ages seem to have conspired to accumu
iate fables concerning Virgil. --It appears that Virgil's
father was a man of low birth, and that, at one period
of his life, he was engaged in the meanest employ-
ments. According to some authorities he was a pot-
ter orbrickmaker; and, according to others, the hire-
ling of a travelling merchant, called Magus or Maius.
He so ingratiated himself, however, with his master,
? ? that he received his daughter Maia in marriage, and
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? V1RUILTO8.
Talcs. --It does njt seen: certain, or even probable,
iiui Virgil went at all to Koine from Naples. It rath-
er appears thai he returned to his native country, and
to the charge of his paternal farm; and if, as is gen-
. /ally supposed, he intended to describe his own life
<<nd character under the person of Tityrus, in the first
rcloguc, it is evident that he did not visit Rome until
after the battle of Philippi, and consequent division of
the lands among the soldiery. Some poems which
are s'. ill extant, as the Culex and Ciris, were at one
lime believed to have been the fruits of his genius at
tt is early period. We are also told, that, in the
warmth of his earliest youth, he had formed the bold
design of writing, in imitation of Ennius, a poem on the
'. vars of Kome,*but that he was deterred from proceeding
by the ruggedneas of the ancient Italian names, which
wounded the delicacy of his ear. It seems certain, at
east, that, previous to the composition of his Eclogues,
he had made imperfect attempts in the higher depart-
ments of heroic poetry. (Eclog. , G, 3. )--The battle
of Mutina (Modena. ) was fought in 711 A. U. O. , and
'. he triumvirate having been shortly afterward formed,
Asinus Pollio was appointed, on the part of Antony,
to the command of the distridt in which the farm of
Virgil lay. Pollio, who was a noted extortioner, lev-
ied enormous contributions from the inhabitants of the
territory intrusted to his care; and, in some instances,
when the pecuniary supplies failed, he drove tim an-
cient colonists from their lands, and settled his veterans
in their place. He was fond, however, of poetry, and
was a generous protector of literary man. The rising
genius of Virgil had now begun to manifest itself. His
poetic talents and amiable manners recommended him
to the favour of Pollio; and, so long as that chief
continued in command of the Mantuan district, he was
relieved from all exaction, and protected in the peace-
able possession of his property. Residing constantly
in the country, and captivated with the rural beauties
of the Idyllia of Theocritus, Virgil early became ambi-
tious of introducing this new species of poetry into his
rjative land; and, accordingly, he seems to have bent
bis iJ2f endeavours at this time to imitate and rival
the sweet Sicilian. The eclogue entitled "Alexis,"
which is usually placed second in the editions of his
works, is supposed to have been his first pastoral pro-
duction, and to have been written in 711, the year in
which Pollio came to assume the military command
of the territory where our poet resided. It was quick-
iy followed by the "Dophnis" and "Silenus," as also
by the "Palamon," in which he boasts of the favour
of Pollio, and expresses his gratitude for tho favour
that leader had extended to him. But the tranquillity
he enjoyed under the protection of Pollio was of short
duration. Previously to the battle of Philippi, the tri-
umvirs had promised to their soldiers the lands be-
longing to some of the richest towns in the empire.
Augustus returned to Italy in 712, after his victory
at Philippi, and found it necessary, in order to satisfy
their claims, to commence a division of lands in Italy
in a more extensive scale even than he had intended.
,n that country there were considerable territories
which had been originally and legally the patrimony of
the state. But extensive tracts of this species of pub-
lic property had, from time to time, been appropriated
by corporations and individuals, who were unwilling
to Vr disturbed in (heir possessions. Julius Caesar
had ! >et the example of reclaiming these farms and
colonizing them with his soldiers. His successor now
? ? undertook a similar but more extensive distribution.
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? VIRGILIUS
numbers as the pastoral muse demanded. The Bu
colics accordingly were' relished and admired by all
classes of his contemporaries. So universal was their
popularity, that the philosophic eclogue of Silcnui,
soon after its composition, was publicly recited in tho
theatre by Cylhens, a celebrated actress of mimes. --
On quitting his paternal fields, Virgi! first proceeded
to the capital. Here his private fortune was consid-
erably augmented by the liberality of Maecenas (Mar-
tial. 8, 56); and such was the favour he possessed
with his patron, that we find him, soon after his arri-
val at Koine, introducing Horace to the notice of tho
minister (//or, Hut, 1, 6), and attending him, along
with that pud, on a political mission to Brundisium.
Nor did Virgil enjoy less favour with the emperor him-
self than with his minister. It is said that he never
asked anything of Augustus that was refused , and Do-
natus even affirms, though, it must be confessed, with-
> out the least probability, that Augustus consulted him
with regard to his resignation of the government, as ;? .
sort of umpire between Agrippa and Maecenas. It
was probably during this period of favour with the
emperor and his minister that Virgil contributed the
verses in celebration of the deity who presided over
the gardens of Mxcenas; and wrote, though without
acknowledging it, that well-known distich in honour
of Augustus,
"Noetc flu. il lota; redcunt spectacula mane;
Divisum imperium cum Jove Cxsar habet. "
Fnc story goes on to relate, that Bathyllus, a con-
temptible poet of the day, claimed these verses as his
:nvn, and was liberally rewarded. Vexed' at the im-
posture, Virgil again wrote the verses in question near
the palace, and under them,
"Has cgc versiculos fed, lulit alter honores;
with the beginning of another line in these words,
"Sic vos nan vobis,"
foui times repeated. Augustus wished the lines to be
finished; Bathyllus seemed unable; and Virgil at last,
bv completing the stanza in the following order,
"Sic vos non votns nidificatis aues;
Sir. voi non vobis vcllera fcrtis oves;
Sic vos non talus mcUifir. niis ape*;
Sic vos non ruins fertis aratra tones,"
proved himself to be the author of the distich, and the
poetical usurper became the sport and ridicule of
Rome. During his residence at Rome, Virgil inhab-
ited a house on the Esquiline Hill, which was fur-
nished with an excellent library, and was pleasantly
situated near the gardens of Maecenas. The supposed
site, and even ruins of this mansion, were long shown
to modern travellers. -- Yet, however enviable was
Virgil's present lot, the bustle and luxury of an im-
mense capital were little suited to his taste, to his
:arlv habits, or to the delicacy of his constitution,
while the observance and attention he met with were
strongly repugnant to the retiring modesty of his dis-
position. Such was the popularity which he derived
from his general character and talents, that, on one
occasion, when some of his verses were recited in the
theatre, the whole audience rose to salute Virgil, who
>>as present, with the same respect which they would
nave paid to the emperor. (De Cam. corr. cloy. , c.
13. ) And so great was the annoyance which he felt
on being gazed at and followed in the streets of Rome,
that he sought shelter, it is said, in the nearest shops
or alleys from public observation. -- At the period
when Virgil enjoyed so much honour and popularity
? ? u. the cap'tal, Naples was a fa Durite retreat of illus-
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? VIRGILIUS
VIRGILIUiS
ing passage in w'r. ich he alludes to the premature
death of the beloved yo;,ih:
"0 note, ingeniem luctum ne wire titomm," &c.
But he had skilfully suppressed thfl name uc Marcellus
till he came to the line,
"2'u Marcellus eris--manibus date liliajlenia. "
It may well be believed that the widowed mother
of Marcellus swooned away at the pathos of these
verses, which no one, even at this day, can read un-
moved. Virgil is said to have received from the
afflicted parent 10,000 sesterces (dena sestertia) for
each verse of this celebrated passage. --It was much
the practice among the Roman poets to read their
productions aloud; and Virgil is said to have recited
his verses with wonderful sweetness and propriety of
articulation. During the composition of the jEneid,
he occasionally repeated portions of it to those friends
whose criticisms he thought might improve the pas-
sage he rehearsed. Eros, his librarian and freedman,
used to relate, when far advanced in life, that, in the
course of his reciting, his master had extemporarily
filled up two hernistichs; the one was "Misenum
JEolidcn," to which he immediately added, " quo nan
prtestantior alter," and the other the half verse fol-
lowing, "JErc ciere viros," to which, as if struck by
noetic inspiration, he subjoined, "Martcmque acr. cn-
dere eantu;" and he immediately ordered his amanu-
ensis to insert these additions in their proper places in
the manuscript of his poem. --Having brought the
-? Knrnl to a conclusion, but not the perfection which
he wished to bestow upon it, Virgil, contrary to the
advice and wish of his friends, resolved to travel into
Greece, that he might correct and polish this great
f reduction at leisure in that land of poetic imagination.
It was on undertaking this voyage that Horace ad-
jrf jssii to him the affectionate ode beginning,
"Sic te Diva potent Cypri," &c. (I, 3).
Virgil proceeded dirccily to Athens, where lie com-
menced the revisal of his epic poem, and added the
magnificent introduction to the third book of the
Georgics. He had been thus engaged for some months
>>t Athens, when Augustus arrived at that city, on his
return to Italy, from a progress through his eastern do-
minions. When he embarked ior Greece, it had been
the intention of Virgil to have spent three years in that
country in the correction of his poem; after which he
proposed to pass his days in his native country of Man-
tua, and devote the rest of his life to the studv of philoso-
phy, or to the composition of some great historical poem.
The arrival of Augustus, however, induced him to short
en his stay, and to embrace the opportunity of returning
to Italy in the retinue of the emperor. But the hand of
death was nlready upon him. From his youth he had
been of a delicate constitution; and, as age advanced,
he was afflicted with frequent headaches, asthma, and
(pitting of blood. Even the climate of Naples could
not preserve him from frequent attacks of these mala-
dies, and their worst symptoms had increased during
bii residence in Greece. The vessel in which he
nmbarked with the emperor touched at Megara, where
he was seized with great debility and languor When
he again went on board, his distemper was so increased
by the motion and agitation of the vessel, that he ex-
pired a few days after he had landed at Brundisium,
on the southeastern coast of Italy. His death happen-
ed A. U. C. T34, when he was in the 51st year of his
ige. When he felt its near approach, he ordered his
? ? friends Varius and Plotius Tucca, who were then with
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? VIRGIUCS.
VltiGILlUS.
(t was a common practice among the Latin pjets to
xntr. '. heir own epitaphs*; and, if the above distich be
the production of Virgil himself, it is eminently ex-
pressive of that modesty which is universally allowed
to have been one of the many amiable features of IMS
character, and which is by no means observable in the
epitaphs composed for themselves by Ennius and Nee-
trius. The Italian writer just cited also remarks,
t! at Robert of Anjou, apprehensive for the safety of
such a relic during '. he civil wars, had the urn conveyed
. o C&stel Nuovo. It-seems that BO much care was
taken, that it was concealed too well to be ever after-
ward discovered. --We have seen that, a: Rome, Vir-
gil avoided all public honours, and was disconcerted
by marks of general admiration. But, though he
loved retirement and contemplation; though he was of
a thoughtful and somewhat melancholy temper; and
though he felt not that anxiety for paltry distinctions
or trivial testimonies of honour which harassed the
morbid mind of Tasso, it seems to be a mistaken idea
that he was indifferent (o glory, as Donatu. -i and As-
conius Pedianus have asserted. He was evidently
fond of fame, and desirous to obtain the applause of
his contemporaries. And while he shunned the vul-
gar gaze and shrunk from the pressure of the multi-
tude, he was not, in the hours of retirement, without
that proud exultation of spirit, that consciousness of
high intellectual endowments and strong imaginative
powers, which announced to him that he was called
to immortality, and destined to confer immortality on
his country. --It has already been remarked,-that, in
his pastoral poetry, Virgil was the professed imUator
of Theocritus: his images, indeed, arc all Greek, and
bis scenery such as he found painted in the pages of
the Sicilian poet, and not what he had himself observ-
ed on the banks of the Mincins. Yet, with all this im-
itation ond resemblance, the productions of the two
poets are widely different. Thus, the delineations of
character in Theocritus are more varied and lively.
His Idyls exhibit a gallery of portraits which enter-
tains by its variety or delights by its truth; and in
wliich every rural figure is so distinctly drawn, that it
_ stands out, as it were, from the canvass, in a defined
>>nd certain form. But that want of discrimination of
character, which has been so frequently remarked in
the I'lirul, is also observable in the pastorals of Vir-
gil. His Thyrsis, Daphnis, and Mcnalcas resemble
each other. No shepherd is distinguished by any po-
culinr disposition or humour; they all speak from the
lips of the poet, and their dialogue is modelled by the
standard of his own elegant mind. A difference is
likewise observable in the scenes and descriptions.
Those of Theocritus possess that minuteness and accu-
racy so conducive to poetic truth and reality; Virgil's
representations are more general, and bring only vague
images before the fancy. In the Idyls of Theocritus
we find a rural, romantic wildncss of thought, and the
most pleasing descriptions of simple, unadorned nature,
heightened by the charm of the Doric dialect. But
Virgil, in borrowing his images and sentiments, has
seldom drawn an idea from his Sicilian master without
tcautifying it by the lustre of his language. The chief
merit, however, of Virgil's imitations lies in his judi-
cious selections. Thcocritus's sketches of manners are
often coarse and unpleasing; and his most beautiful
descriptions are almost always loo crowded. But Vir-
gil refined whatever was gross, and threw aside all that
? ? was overloaded or superfluous. He made his shep-
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? VIRGILIUS.
VIRGIL] US.
jri i li. cn he discloses to our view a more open
prospect and a wider horizon, leading us among the
rich and diversified scenes of nature, the shades of
vineyards, and blossoms of orchards. He next pre-
sents us with pictures of joyous and animated exist-
ence. The useful herds, the courageous horse, the
Nomades of Africa and Scylhia pass before us, and
the fancy is excited by images of the whole moving
creation. He at length concludes with those insects
which have formed themselves into a well-ordered com-
? jiunity, and which, in their nature, laws, and govern-
ment, seem most nearly to approach the human spe-
L'ies.
Many of Virgil's rules, particularly those con-
cerning the care of cattle, have been taken from the
works of the ancient agricultural writers of his own
country. Seneca, indeed, talks lightly of the accuracy
and value of his precepts. But Columella speaks of
him as an agricultural oracle ("veritsima vativclut
oramlo credidcrimus"'); and all modern travellers, who
have had occasion tu examine the mode of agriculture
even at this day practised in Italy, bear testimony to
bis exactness in the minutest particulars. His pre-
cepts of the most sordid and trivial descriptions are de-
livered with dignity, and the most common observa-
tions have received novelty or importance by poetic
embellishment. It is thus lhat he contrives, by con-
verting rules into images, to give a picturesque col-
ouring or illustration to the most unpromising topics,
>>o scatter roses amid his fields, and to cover, as it
were, with verdure the thorns and briers of agricultural
discussion. This talent of expressing with elegance
what is trifling and in itself little attractive, is one of
the most difficult arts of poetry, and no one was better
acquainted with it than Virgil. But, though he has
inculcated his precepts with as much clearness, ele-
gance, and dignity as the nature of the subject admits,
and even in this respect has greatly improved on Hc-
*iod, still it is not on these precepts thai the cliief beau-
ty of the Georgics depends. With the various discus-
nions on corn, vines, cattle, and bees, he has interwo-
>>in every philosophical, moral, or mythological episode
c. n which he could with propriety seize. In all didac-
jc poems the episodes are the chief embellishments.
The noblest passages of Lucretius are those in which
he so sincerely paints the charms of virtue, and the
delights of moderation and contentment. In like man-
ner, the finest verses of Virgil are his invocations to
the gods, his addresses to Augustus, his account of the
prodigies before the death of Caesar, and his descrip-
tion of Italy. How beautiful and refreshing are his
praises of a country life! how solemn and majestic his
encomiums on tho sage who had triumphed, as it were,
over the powers of destiny; who had shut his ears to
the murmurs of Acheron, and dispelled from his ima-
gination those invisible and inaudible phantoms which
wander on the other side of death! In these and
many other passages, it is evident that Virgil contends
with Lucretius, and strives hard to surpass him.
There is a close resemblance in the topics on which
these two poets descant, but a wide difference between
them in tone and manner. Lucretius is more bold and
simple than hie successor, and displays more of the
vivida ri. t mini; but his outlines are harder, and we
never find in Virgil any of those rugged verses or un-
polished expressions which we so frequently encoun-
ter in Lucretius. In the theological parts, and those
which relate to a state of future existence, Lucretius
? ? assumes, as it were, a tone of defiance, while Virgil
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? VIRGILIUS
Ai . settling rolonics (Catrou, CEuvra de Virgilt, vol.
3, p. 486), or to supply Augustus with political rules
for the government and legislation of a great empire;
but he evidently desigr. ed, not merely to deduce the
descent of Augustus and the Romans from . . ? Eneas and
his companions, but, by creating a perfect character in
his hero, to shadow out the eminent qualities of his im-
perial patron; to recommend bis virtues to his coun-
trymen, who would readily apply to him the amiable
portrait; and perhaps to suggest, that he was the ru-
ier of the world announced of old by the prophecies and
oracles of the Satumian land. (. K<< , 6, 789, *r//</. )
No one who has read the . Encul, and studied the histor-
ical character of Augustus, or the early events of his
reign, can doubt that Ajiras is an allegorical repre-
sentation of that emperor. --The chief objection which
critics in all ages have urged against the . Knoiil, or, at
least, against the poetical character of its author, is the
defect in what forms the most essential quality of a
poet, originality and the power of invention. It ha*
never, indeed, been denied that he possessed a species
of invention, if it may be so called, which consists in
placing ideas that have been preoccupied in a new
light, or presenting assemblages, which have been al-
ready exhibited, in a new point of view. Nor has it
been disputed that he often succeeds in bestowing on
them the charm of novelty, by the power of more per-
IIT. I diction, and by that poetic touch winch transmutes
whatever it lights on into gold. But it is alleged that
he has contrived few incidents, and opened up no
new veins of thought. It is well known that the Ro-
man dramatic writers, instead of contriving plots of
their own, translated the master-pieces of Sophocles,
Euripides, and Menandcr. The same imitative spirit
naturally enough prevailed in the first attempts at Epic
poetry. When any beautiful model exists in an art,
it so engrosses and intimidates the mind, that we are
apt to think that, in order to execute successfully any
work of a similar description, the approved prototype
must be imitated. It is supposed that what had pleas-
ed onre must please always; and circumstances, in
themselves unimportant, or perhaps accidental, are
converted into general and immutable rules. It was
natural, then, for the Romans, struck with admiration
at the sublimo and beautiful productions of the epic
muse of Greece, to follow her lessons with servility.
The mind of Virgil also led him to imitation. His
excellence lay in the propriety, beauty, and majesty of
his poetical character, in his judicious contrivance of
composition, his correctness of drawing, his purity of
taste, his artful adaptation of the conceptions of others
to his own purposes, and his skill in the combination of
materials. Accordingly, when Virgil first applied him-
self to frame a poem, which might celebrate his im-
perial master, and emulate the productions of Greece,
in a department of poetry wherein she was as yet unri-
valled, he first naturally bent a reverent eye on Ho-
mer; and, though he differed widely from his Grecian
master in the qualities of his mind and genius, ho be-
came his most strict and devoted disciple. The Lat-
in dramatists, in preparing their pieces for the stage,
had frequently compounded them of the plots of two
Greek plays, melted, as it were, into one; and thus
compensated for the want of invention and severe sim-
plicity of composition by greater richness and variety
of incident. From Bieir example, Virgil comprehend-
ed in his plan the arguments both of the Iliad and
Odyssey: the one serving him as a guide for the wan-
? ? derings and adventures of his hero previous to the land-
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? VIR
V 1T
translormation into the bird called Ciris, from which the
poem derives its title. That part which is introductory
to the complaint of Scylla is not very clear in language
or lofty in point of conception. The lamentation it-
>c! f is as good as might be expected, considering the
position in which it was uttered, Minos having, on his
voyage home, fastened her to the side of his vessel,
>>n'J thus dragged her along through the sea. Some
of the lines arc palpable imitations of the soliloquy of
Ariadne in Catullus. Perhaps the best passage is
one in which that poet has also, been closely imitated,
describing the effects of ungovernable love in the
breast of Scylla. From the Ciris, Spenser, who had
translated the Culcx, imitated a long passage, which
constitutes part of the Legend of Britomart, in the
third book of the Faery Queen. --The Morelum would
certainly be a curious and interesting production, could
it be authenticated as the work of Virgil or Septimius
Serenus, to whom Wernsdorff has ascribed it, and who
flourished at Rome during the reigns of the Flavian
family. Its subject is one concerning which few rel-
ics have descended to us from antiquity. It gives
an account of the occupations and daily life of an Ital-
ran peasant; and, so far as it goes, everything is re-
lated with the greatest minuteness; but the employ-
ments only of the morning are recorded. The peasant
Simulus rises with the dawn. He gathers together
the ashes of the yesterday's fire. He then bakes some
bread; and, with the assistance of an African fret d-
woman named Cybale, he prepares a sort of food call-
ed Morctum, which gives name to the poem, and was
chiefly composed of herbs culled from his garden.
This introduces a curious description of a peasant's
kitchen-garden, and the sort of plants which were rear-
ed in it. The poem concludes with the peasant's
yoking his oxen, and beginning to plough his field.
Jt is probable, huwever, that what is now extant is
only a fragment at the commencement of the Morelum,
or the first of a scries of rustic eclogues, in which the
avocations of a peasant were described in succession
through the whole day. The Copa merely contains
in invitation from an hostess, who was a native of
Syria, to pass the hours merrily in a place of enter-
tainment which she kept beyond the gates of Rome;
but a good-humoured drinking-song by the majestic
author of the Georgics and ,T''. noid is in itself a curi-
osity. --The best edition of Virgil is that of Heyne,
which first appeared from the Leipsic press in 1767-
68, 4 vols. 8vo. It has been often reprinted: the most
complete is that with the additions of Wagner, Lips. ,
1831. The edition of Forbigcr, Lira. , 1826-9, 3 vols.
8vo, is also a very useful one. (Dunlop's Roman
Literature, vol. 3, p. 68, scqq. )
VIRGINIA, a daughter of the centurion L. Virginius.
The maiden had been betrothed to L. Icilius, one of the
tribunes, and the author of the law known by his name.
Her beauty, however, inflamed the passions of Appius
Claudius, the decemvir, and he caused one of his cli-
ents, M. Claudius, to seize her as his slave, intending
in this manner to get the person of the damsel within
his power. Intelligence was immediately sent to the
camp to Virginius, who, obtaining leave of absence,
battened to Rome to protect his daughter. But in
vain did he claim his child ; in vain appeal to the sym-
pathy of the people; in vain address himself to the
better mind of Appius. The decemvir, blind to ev-
erything but the beauty of Virginia, and deaf to all but
? ? the impulse of his own passion, passed sentence, as-
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? V IT
BIO
claimed emperor, and the exaltation of his rival was
no sooner heard in the camp, than he was likewise
invested with the purple hy his soldiers. He accept-
ed with pleasure the dangerous office, and instantly
marched against Otho. Three battles were fought,
tnd in all Vitellius was conquered. A fourfh, how-
ever, in the plains between Mantua and Cremona, left
him master of the field and of the Homan empire.
Vitellius bcgar. his reign by endeavouring to concili-
ate the favour of the populace and the troops by large
donations and expensive amusements. He then gave
t loose rein to his own debasing appetites, of which
the chief was absolute gluttony of the very grossest
kind. It is almost incredible, though stated by histo-
rians, that in less than four months he expended on
the mere luxuries of the table a sum equal to about
seven millions sterling. This bloated and pampered
ruler was soon regarded by all his subjects with con-
tempt and disgust. The unrestrained licentiousness
of the soldiery tended equally to make his reign hated
and feared by all who were exposed to the insults and
outrages in which they indulged. To supply the funds
necessary for the maintenance of his excessive luxury,
he resorted to the too prevalent custom of listening to
the accusations of spies, and putting to death all such
accused persons, that he might seize upon their prop-
erty. While thus wallowing in the indulgence of the
most debasing appetites, Vitellius was startled by ti-
dings of a very alarming nature. Vespasian, who had
been sent to take the command of the army in Syria
in the Jewish war, and had been detained there by the
desperate resistance of the Jews, had sent his own son
Titus to offer his allegiance to Galba. But, before
bis arrival, Galba was dead, and Uiho and Vitellius
were contending for the empire. Titus returned to
his father for instructions; and, though Vespasian ap-
peared ready to acknowledge Vitellius, his own troops
were eager to raise him to the sovereignty. Being at
length prevailed on to comply with the wishes of the
? rmy, he commenced his march towards Europe. The
Illyrian and Pannonian armies immediately declared
ir. his favour; and that of Illyricum, under the com-
mand of Antonius Primus, crossed the Alps and
marched towards Rome to dethrone Vitellius. The
Vitelliar army, commanded by Caecina, encountered
that of Antonius near Cremona, but was defeated with
great loss, and the city was taken. Antonius con-
tinued to advance on Rome, and crossed the passes
of the Apennines while the emperor was hastening to
secure them. Vitellius fled to Rome, which was soon
invested by the victorious army of Antonius. An in-
surrectionary tumult arose in the city itself, during
which the Capitol was burned tf> the ground, and Sa-
binus, the brother of Vespasian, was killed. The
troops of Antonius at length forced an entrance into
the city, stormed the quarters of the pratorian guards,
? nd put those turbulent bands to the sword. Vitel-
lius endeavoured to conceal himself, but was discov-
ered, dragged through the streets to the place of pun-
ishment for common malefactors, put to death in the
most ignominious manner, and his mangled carcass
cast into the Tiber amid the execrations of the multi-
hide. Eight months and five days had this despica-
oh wretch seemed to sway the sceptre of supreme do-
minion, when thus overtaken by the due reward of
ois debauchery and crimes. (Hctherinflon's History
of Rome, p. 185, seqq. )
? ? ViTRUv? 7s Por. Lio, M. , a celebrated writer on ar-
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? UMB
? ind Juvenal give us but a wretched idea of the place.
(Horut. , Ep. , 1, 11, 30. -- Juv. , 10, 101. -- Cramers
Ane. Italy, vol. 2, p. 85. )
ULYSSKS, a king of Ithaca, son of Amiclea and La-
ertes, or, according to r-mur, of Sisyphus. (Vid. Sis-
yphus, and Anticica. ) He became, like the other
princes of Greece, one of the suiters of Helen; but,
as he despaired of success in his application on ac-
count of the great number of his competitors, lie so-
licited the hand of Penelope, the daughter of Icarius.
Tymlarus, the father of Helen, favoured the addresses
uf Ulysses, as by him ho was directed to choose one
of his daughter's suiters without offending the others,
and to bind them all by a solemn oath that they would
unite together in protecting Helen if any violence were
ever offered to her person. Ulysses had no sooner
obtained the hand of Penelope than he returned to
Ithaca, where his father resigned him the crown, and
retired to peace and rural solitude. The abduction
of Helen, however, by Paris, did not long permit him
to remain in his kingdom; and as he was bound, in
common with the rest, to defend her against every in-
truder, he was summoned to the war with the other
princes of Greece. Pretending to be insane, not to
leave his beloved Penelope, he yoked a horse and a
hull together, and ploughed the seashore, where he
sowed salt instead of grain. The artifice, however,
was soon detected; and Pdamedes, by placing before
the plough of Ulysses his infant son Telemachus, con-
vinced the world that the father was not insane, who
had the foresight to turn away the plough from the
furrow, not to hurt his child. Ulysses was therefore
. liilii'rd to go to thewar; but he did not forget him
who had exposed his pretended insanity. (Vid Pala-
medcs ) During the Trojan war, the King of Iihaca
listinguished himself by his prudence and sagacity
<<s well as by his valour. By his means Achilles was
discovered among the daughters of Lycomedes, king
of Scyros (ml. Achilles); and Philocteles was in-
duced to abandon Lemnos. and to come to the Tro-
i,'ii> war with the arrows of Hercules. (Vid. Philoc-
letes. ) With the assistance of Diomcdes he slew
Rhesus, and destroyed many of the sleeping Thra-
cians in the midst of their camp (ml. Rhesus, and
Dolon); and, in conjunction with the same warrior,
he carried off the Palladium of Troy. (Vid. Palla-
dium, where, however, other accounts are given. )
These, as well as other services, obtained for-him the
armonr of Achilles, which Ajax had disputed with
him. After the Trojan war Ulysses embarked on
board his ships to return to Greece, but he was ex-
posed to a number of misfortunes before he reached
his native country: he was thrown by the winds upon
the coasts of Africa, and visited the country of the
Lotophagi (vid. Lotophagi), and afterward that of the
Cyclopes, where his adventure in the cave of Poly-
phemus occurred. (Vid. Cyclopes, and Polyphemus. )
He came next, in the course of his wanderings, to '. he
island of ^Eolus, monarch of the winds, who gave
him, tied up in a bag of ox-hide, all the winds which
could obstruct his return to Ithaca; but the curi-
osity of his companions to know what the bag con-
tained proved nearly fatal. The winds rushed out,
and hurried tl em back to . i. 'ulin; the king of whjch,
judging, from what had befallen them, that they were
hated by the gods, drove them with reproaches from
his isle. Thence he was carried to the land of the
Lestrygonians (fill Ltestrygones), where he lost all
? ? his vessels except the one in which he himself was;
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? voc
TOl
serous nations of . he land (1,19). From his account,
at well as from Herodotus (1, 94), it would appear
that the Umbri were already settled in Italy long be-
fore the arrival of the Tyrrhenian colony. To the
Greeks they were known under the name of '0/t6piKoi,
a word which they supposed to be derived from 6/i-
6poc, under the idea that they were a people sared
from an unusual deluge. (Plin. , I.
8. ) During his residence in this city he perused the
most celebrated Greek writers, being instructed in
their language and literature by Parthenius Nicenui
(Macrob. , Sat. , 5, 17), well known as the author cf ?
collection of amatory talcs, which he wrote for the use
ly-acquired power, however, in criminal and oppress- i of Cornelius Gallus, in order to furnish him with ma-
ivo acts, plundering others to enrich himself. Vin-
ius advised Galba to adopt Otho for his successor;
but, Galba having nominated Piso, Otho revolted, de-
throned Galba, and Vinius perished along with the
latter, notwithstanding his vehement protestations to
the soldiery that Otho had not ordered his death. It
is probable that Vinius was implicated in the conspir-
acy of Otho itself against his friend arid protector.
(Tacit. . Hist. , 1, 11, cec. )
VIRBIUS (qui tir bis fuit), a name given to Hippol-
Vtus after he had been brought back to life by ^Escu-
lapius, at the instance of Diana, who pitied his unfor-
tunate end. Virgil makes him son of Hippolytus.
(JEn. , 7, 762. --(hid, Met. , 15, 544. )
VIRGILICS, MARO PUBLIUS, a celebrated Latin poet,
born at the village of Andes, a few miles distant from
Mantua, about 70 B. C. It has been disputed whether
his name should be Vcrgilius or Virgilius. "De scrip-
tura nominis," says Heyne, "digladiati mint inter se
cum velcres turn reccntiorcs grammalici. " The let-
ters << and >> were frequently convertible in the old Lat-
in language; and sanction may be found for either
mode of spelling, both in MSS. and inscriptions. At
the revival of letters, Politian contended strenuous-
'y for Vergilius; but even his authority was not suffi-
cient to bring this orthography into general practice.
There exist but few authentic materials frnrn which
we can collect any circumstances concerning the life
af the poet. We possess only some scattered remarks
tf ancient commentators or grammarians, and a life
iy Donatus, of very dubious authority. It bears the
oame of Tiberius Claudius Donatus, who lived in the
fifth century, son:: time after . 'Illius Donatus, so wel
known as a commutator on Terence. Hcyne thinks
Uiat the basis of the Life was laid by Donatus, but thai
it was altered and interpolated from time to time by
the grammarians, and librarians of the convents. It
s thus apparently written without any arrangement in
ihe series of events, and many things are recorded
which are manifestly fictitious. The monks, indeed,
? I' the middle ages seem to have conspired to accumu
iate fables concerning Virgil. --It appears that Virgil's
father was a man of low birth, and that, at one period
of his life, he was engaged in the meanest employ-
ments. According to some authorities he was a pot-
ter orbrickmaker; and, according to others, the hire-
ling of a travelling merchant, called Magus or Maius.
He so ingratiated himself, however, with his master,
? ? that he received his daughter Maia in marriage, and
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? V1RUILTO8.
Talcs. --It does njt seen: certain, or even probable,
iiui Virgil went at all to Koine from Naples. It rath-
er appears thai he returned to his native country, and
to the charge of his paternal farm; and if, as is gen-
. /ally supposed, he intended to describe his own life
<<nd character under the person of Tityrus, in the first
rcloguc, it is evident that he did not visit Rome until
after the battle of Philippi, and consequent division of
the lands among the soldiery. Some poems which
are s'. ill extant, as the Culex and Ciris, were at one
lime believed to have been the fruits of his genius at
tt is early period. We are also told, that, in the
warmth of his earliest youth, he had formed the bold
design of writing, in imitation of Ennius, a poem on the
'. vars of Kome,*but that he was deterred from proceeding
by the ruggedneas of the ancient Italian names, which
wounded the delicacy of his ear. It seems certain, at
east, that, previous to the composition of his Eclogues,
he had made imperfect attempts in the higher depart-
ments of heroic poetry. (Eclog. , G, 3. )--The battle
of Mutina (Modena. ) was fought in 711 A. U. O. , and
'. he triumvirate having been shortly afterward formed,
Asinus Pollio was appointed, on the part of Antony,
to the command of the distridt in which the farm of
Virgil lay. Pollio, who was a noted extortioner, lev-
ied enormous contributions from the inhabitants of the
territory intrusted to his care; and, in some instances,
when the pecuniary supplies failed, he drove tim an-
cient colonists from their lands, and settled his veterans
in their place. He was fond, however, of poetry, and
was a generous protector of literary man. The rising
genius of Virgil had now begun to manifest itself. His
poetic talents and amiable manners recommended him
to the favour of Pollio; and, so long as that chief
continued in command of the Mantuan district, he was
relieved from all exaction, and protected in the peace-
able possession of his property. Residing constantly
in the country, and captivated with the rural beauties
of the Idyllia of Theocritus, Virgil early became ambi-
tious of introducing this new species of poetry into his
rjative land; and, accordingly, he seems to have bent
bis iJ2f endeavours at this time to imitate and rival
the sweet Sicilian. The eclogue entitled "Alexis,"
which is usually placed second in the editions of his
works, is supposed to have been his first pastoral pro-
duction, and to have been written in 711, the year in
which Pollio came to assume the military command
of the territory where our poet resided. It was quick-
iy followed by the "Dophnis" and "Silenus," as also
by the "Palamon," in which he boasts of the favour
of Pollio, and expresses his gratitude for tho favour
that leader had extended to him. But the tranquillity
he enjoyed under the protection of Pollio was of short
duration. Previously to the battle of Philippi, the tri-
umvirs had promised to their soldiers the lands be-
longing to some of the richest towns in the empire.
Augustus returned to Italy in 712, after his victory
at Philippi, and found it necessary, in order to satisfy
their claims, to commence a division of lands in Italy
in a more extensive scale even than he had intended.
,n that country there were considerable territories
which had been originally and legally the patrimony of
the state. But extensive tracts of this species of pub-
lic property had, from time to time, been appropriated
by corporations and individuals, who were unwilling
to Vr disturbed in (heir possessions. Julius Caesar
had ! >et the example of reclaiming these farms and
colonizing them with his soldiers. His successor now
? ? undertook a similar but more extensive distribution.
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? VIRGILIUS
numbers as the pastoral muse demanded. The Bu
colics accordingly were' relished and admired by all
classes of his contemporaries. So universal was their
popularity, that the philosophic eclogue of Silcnui,
soon after its composition, was publicly recited in tho
theatre by Cylhens, a celebrated actress of mimes. --
On quitting his paternal fields, Virgi! first proceeded
to the capital. Here his private fortune was consid-
erably augmented by the liberality of Maecenas (Mar-
tial. 8, 56); and such was the favour he possessed
with his patron, that we find him, soon after his arri-
val at Koine, introducing Horace to the notice of tho
minister (//or, Hut, 1, 6), and attending him, along
with that pud, on a political mission to Brundisium.
Nor did Virgil enjoy less favour with the emperor him-
self than with his minister. It is said that he never
asked anything of Augustus that was refused , and Do-
natus even affirms, though, it must be confessed, with-
> out the least probability, that Augustus consulted him
with regard to his resignation of the government, as ;? .
sort of umpire between Agrippa and Maecenas. It
was probably during this period of favour with the
emperor and his minister that Virgil contributed the
verses in celebration of the deity who presided over
the gardens of Mxcenas; and wrote, though without
acknowledging it, that well-known distich in honour
of Augustus,
"Noetc flu. il lota; redcunt spectacula mane;
Divisum imperium cum Jove Cxsar habet. "
Fnc story goes on to relate, that Bathyllus, a con-
temptible poet of the day, claimed these verses as his
:nvn, and was liberally rewarded. Vexed' at the im-
posture, Virgil again wrote the verses in question near
the palace, and under them,
"Has cgc versiculos fed, lulit alter honores;
with the beginning of another line in these words,
"Sic vos nan vobis,"
foui times repeated. Augustus wished the lines to be
finished; Bathyllus seemed unable; and Virgil at last,
bv completing the stanza in the following order,
"Sic vos non votns nidificatis aues;
Sir. voi non vobis vcllera fcrtis oves;
Sic vos non talus mcUifir. niis ape*;
Sic vos non ruins fertis aratra tones,"
proved himself to be the author of the distich, and the
poetical usurper became the sport and ridicule of
Rome. During his residence at Rome, Virgil inhab-
ited a house on the Esquiline Hill, which was fur-
nished with an excellent library, and was pleasantly
situated near the gardens of Maecenas. The supposed
site, and even ruins of this mansion, were long shown
to modern travellers. -- Yet, however enviable was
Virgil's present lot, the bustle and luxury of an im-
mense capital were little suited to his taste, to his
:arlv habits, or to the delicacy of his constitution,
while the observance and attention he met with were
strongly repugnant to the retiring modesty of his dis-
position. Such was the popularity which he derived
from his general character and talents, that, on one
occasion, when some of his verses were recited in the
theatre, the whole audience rose to salute Virgil, who
>>as present, with the same respect which they would
nave paid to the emperor. (De Cam. corr. cloy. , c.
13. ) And so great was the annoyance which he felt
on being gazed at and followed in the streets of Rome,
that he sought shelter, it is said, in the nearest shops
or alleys from public observation. -- At the period
when Virgil enjoyed so much honour and popularity
? ? u. the cap'tal, Naples was a fa Durite retreat of illus-
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? VIRGILIUS
VIRGILIUiS
ing passage in w'r. ich he alludes to the premature
death of the beloved yo;,ih:
"0 note, ingeniem luctum ne wire titomm," &c.
But he had skilfully suppressed thfl name uc Marcellus
till he came to the line,
"2'u Marcellus eris--manibus date liliajlenia. "
It may well be believed that the widowed mother
of Marcellus swooned away at the pathos of these
verses, which no one, even at this day, can read un-
moved. Virgil is said to have received from the
afflicted parent 10,000 sesterces (dena sestertia) for
each verse of this celebrated passage. --It was much
the practice among the Roman poets to read their
productions aloud; and Virgil is said to have recited
his verses with wonderful sweetness and propriety of
articulation. During the composition of the jEneid,
he occasionally repeated portions of it to those friends
whose criticisms he thought might improve the pas-
sage he rehearsed. Eros, his librarian and freedman,
used to relate, when far advanced in life, that, in the
course of his reciting, his master had extemporarily
filled up two hernistichs; the one was "Misenum
JEolidcn," to which he immediately added, " quo nan
prtestantior alter," and the other the half verse fol-
lowing, "JErc ciere viros," to which, as if struck by
noetic inspiration, he subjoined, "Martcmque acr. cn-
dere eantu;" and he immediately ordered his amanu-
ensis to insert these additions in their proper places in
the manuscript of his poem. --Having brought the
-? Knrnl to a conclusion, but not the perfection which
he wished to bestow upon it, Virgil, contrary to the
advice and wish of his friends, resolved to travel into
Greece, that he might correct and polish this great
f reduction at leisure in that land of poetic imagination.
It was on undertaking this voyage that Horace ad-
jrf jssii to him the affectionate ode beginning,
"Sic te Diva potent Cypri," &c. (I, 3).
Virgil proceeded dirccily to Athens, where lie com-
menced the revisal of his epic poem, and added the
magnificent introduction to the third book of the
Georgics. He had been thus engaged for some months
>>t Athens, when Augustus arrived at that city, on his
return to Italy, from a progress through his eastern do-
minions. When he embarked ior Greece, it had been
the intention of Virgil to have spent three years in that
country in the correction of his poem; after which he
proposed to pass his days in his native country of Man-
tua, and devote the rest of his life to the studv of philoso-
phy, or to the composition of some great historical poem.
The arrival of Augustus, however, induced him to short
en his stay, and to embrace the opportunity of returning
to Italy in the retinue of the emperor. But the hand of
death was nlready upon him. From his youth he had
been of a delicate constitution; and, as age advanced,
he was afflicted with frequent headaches, asthma, and
(pitting of blood. Even the climate of Naples could
not preserve him from frequent attacks of these mala-
dies, and their worst symptoms had increased during
bii residence in Greece. The vessel in which he
nmbarked with the emperor touched at Megara, where
he was seized with great debility and languor When
he again went on board, his distemper was so increased
by the motion and agitation of the vessel, that he ex-
pired a few days after he had landed at Brundisium,
on the southeastern coast of Italy. His death happen-
ed A. U. C. T34, when he was in the 51st year of his
ige. When he felt its near approach, he ordered his
? ? friends Varius and Plotius Tucca, who were then with
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? VIRGIUCS.
VltiGILlUS.
(t was a common practice among the Latin pjets to
xntr. '. heir own epitaphs*; and, if the above distich be
the production of Virgil himself, it is eminently ex-
pressive of that modesty which is universally allowed
to have been one of the many amiable features of IMS
character, and which is by no means observable in the
epitaphs composed for themselves by Ennius and Nee-
trius. The Italian writer just cited also remarks,
t! at Robert of Anjou, apprehensive for the safety of
such a relic during '. he civil wars, had the urn conveyed
. o C&stel Nuovo. It-seems that BO much care was
taken, that it was concealed too well to be ever after-
ward discovered. --We have seen that, a: Rome, Vir-
gil avoided all public honours, and was disconcerted
by marks of general admiration. But, though he
loved retirement and contemplation; though he was of
a thoughtful and somewhat melancholy temper; and
though he felt not that anxiety for paltry distinctions
or trivial testimonies of honour which harassed the
morbid mind of Tasso, it seems to be a mistaken idea
that he was indifferent (o glory, as Donatu. -i and As-
conius Pedianus have asserted. He was evidently
fond of fame, and desirous to obtain the applause of
his contemporaries. And while he shunned the vul-
gar gaze and shrunk from the pressure of the multi-
tude, he was not, in the hours of retirement, without
that proud exultation of spirit, that consciousness of
high intellectual endowments and strong imaginative
powers, which announced to him that he was called
to immortality, and destined to confer immortality on
his country. --It has already been remarked,-that, in
his pastoral poetry, Virgil was the professed imUator
of Theocritus: his images, indeed, arc all Greek, and
bis scenery such as he found painted in the pages of
the Sicilian poet, and not what he had himself observ-
ed on the banks of the Mincins. Yet, with all this im-
itation ond resemblance, the productions of the two
poets are widely different. Thus, the delineations of
character in Theocritus are more varied and lively.
His Idyls exhibit a gallery of portraits which enter-
tains by its variety or delights by its truth; and in
wliich every rural figure is so distinctly drawn, that it
_ stands out, as it were, from the canvass, in a defined
>>nd certain form. But that want of discrimination of
character, which has been so frequently remarked in
the I'lirul, is also observable in the pastorals of Vir-
gil. His Thyrsis, Daphnis, and Mcnalcas resemble
each other. No shepherd is distinguished by any po-
culinr disposition or humour; they all speak from the
lips of the poet, and their dialogue is modelled by the
standard of his own elegant mind. A difference is
likewise observable in the scenes and descriptions.
Those of Theocritus possess that minuteness and accu-
racy so conducive to poetic truth and reality; Virgil's
representations are more general, and bring only vague
images before the fancy. In the Idyls of Theocritus
we find a rural, romantic wildncss of thought, and the
most pleasing descriptions of simple, unadorned nature,
heightened by the charm of the Doric dialect. But
Virgil, in borrowing his images and sentiments, has
seldom drawn an idea from his Sicilian master without
tcautifying it by the lustre of his language. The chief
merit, however, of Virgil's imitations lies in his judi-
cious selections. Thcocritus's sketches of manners are
often coarse and unpleasing; and his most beautiful
descriptions are almost always loo crowded. But Vir-
gil refined whatever was gross, and threw aside all that
? ? was overloaded or superfluous. He made his shep-
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? VIRGILIUS.
VIRGIL] US.
jri i li. cn he discloses to our view a more open
prospect and a wider horizon, leading us among the
rich and diversified scenes of nature, the shades of
vineyards, and blossoms of orchards. He next pre-
sents us with pictures of joyous and animated exist-
ence. The useful herds, the courageous horse, the
Nomades of Africa and Scylhia pass before us, and
the fancy is excited by images of the whole moving
creation. He at length concludes with those insects
which have formed themselves into a well-ordered com-
? jiunity, and which, in their nature, laws, and govern-
ment, seem most nearly to approach the human spe-
L'ies.
Many of Virgil's rules, particularly those con-
cerning the care of cattle, have been taken from the
works of the ancient agricultural writers of his own
country. Seneca, indeed, talks lightly of the accuracy
and value of his precepts. But Columella speaks of
him as an agricultural oracle ("veritsima vativclut
oramlo credidcrimus"'); and all modern travellers, who
have had occasion tu examine the mode of agriculture
even at this day practised in Italy, bear testimony to
bis exactness in the minutest particulars. His pre-
cepts of the most sordid and trivial descriptions are de-
livered with dignity, and the most common observa-
tions have received novelty or importance by poetic
embellishment. It is thus lhat he contrives, by con-
verting rules into images, to give a picturesque col-
ouring or illustration to the most unpromising topics,
>>o scatter roses amid his fields, and to cover, as it
were, with verdure the thorns and briers of agricultural
discussion. This talent of expressing with elegance
what is trifling and in itself little attractive, is one of
the most difficult arts of poetry, and no one was better
acquainted with it than Virgil. But, though he has
inculcated his precepts with as much clearness, ele-
gance, and dignity as the nature of the subject admits,
and even in this respect has greatly improved on Hc-
*iod, still it is not on these precepts thai the cliief beau-
ty of the Georgics depends. With the various discus-
nions on corn, vines, cattle, and bees, he has interwo-
>>in every philosophical, moral, or mythological episode
c. n which he could with propriety seize. In all didac-
jc poems the episodes are the chief embellishments.
The noblest passages of Lucretius are those in which
he so sincerely paints the charms of virtue, and the
delights of moderation and contentment. In like man-
ner, the finest verses of Virgil are his invocations to
the gods, his addresses to Augustus, his account of the
prodigies before the death of Caesar, and his descrip-
tion of Italy. How beautiful and refreshing are his
praises of a country life! how solemn and majestic his
encomiums on tho sage who had triumphed, as it were,
over the powers of destiny; who had shut his ears to
the murmurs of Acheron, and dispelled from his ima-
gination those invisible and inaudible phantoms which
wander on the other side of death! In these and
many other passages, it is evident that Virgil contends
with Lucretius, and strives hard to surpass him.
There is a close resemblance in the topics on which
these two poets descant, but a wide difference between
them in tone and manner. Lucretius is more bold and
simple than hie successor, and displays more of the
vivida ri. t mini; but his outlines are harder, and we
never find in Virgil any of those rugged verses or un-
polished expressions which we so frequently encoun-
ter in Lucretius. In the theological parts, and those
which relate to a state of future existence, Lucretius
? ? assumes, as it were, a tone of defiance, while Virgil
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? VIRGILIUS
Ai . settling rolonics (Catrou, CEuvra de Virgilt, vol.
3, p. 486), or to supply Augustus with political rules
for the government and legislation of a great empire;
but he evidently desigr. ed, not merely to deduce the
descent of Augustus and the Romans from . . ? Eneas and
his companions, but, by creating a perfect character in
his hero, to shadow out the eminent qualities of his im-
perial patron; to recommend bis virtues to his coun-
trymen, who would readily apply to him the amiable
portrait; and perhaps to suggest, that he was the ru-
ier of the world announced of old by the prophecies and
oracles of the Satumian land. (. K<< , 6, 789, *r//</. )
No one who has read the . Encul, and studied the histor-
ical character of Augustus, or the early events of his
reign, can doubt that Ajiras is an allegorical repre-
sentation of that emperor. --The chief objection which
critics in all ages have urged against the . Knoiil, or, at
least, against the poetical character of its author, is the
defect in what forms the most essential quality of a
poet, originality and the power of invention. It ha*
never, indeed, been denied that he possessed a species
of invention, if it may be so called, which consists in
placing ideas that have been preoccupied in a new
light, or presenting assemblages, which have been al-
ready exhibited, in a new point of view. Nor has it
been disputed that he often succeeds in bestowing on
them the charm of novelty, by the power of more per-
IIT. I diction, and by that poetic touch winch transmutes
whatever it lights on into gold. But it is alleged that
he has contrived few incidents, and opened up no
new veins of thought. It is well known that the Ro-
man dramatic writers, instead of contriving plots of
their own, translated the master-pieces of Sophocles,
Euripides, and Menandcr. The same imitative spirit
naturally enough prevailed in the first attempts at Epic
poetry. When any beautiful model exists in an art,
it so engrosses and intimidates the mind, that we are
apt to think that, in order to execute successfully any
work of a similar description, the approved prototype
must be imitated. It is supposed that what had pleas-
ed onre must please always; and circumstances, in
themselves unimportant, or perhaps accidental, are
converted into general and immutable rules. It was
natural, then, for the Romans, struck with admiration
at the sublimo and beautiful productions of the epic
muse of Greece, to follow her lessons with servility.
The mind of Virgil also led him to imitation. His
excellence lay in the propriety, beauty, and majesty of
his poetical character, in his judicious contrivance of
composition, his correctness of drawing, his purity of
taste, his artful adaptation of the conceptions of others
to his own purposes, and his skill in the combination of
materials. Accordingly, when Virgil first applied him-
self to frame a poem, which might celebrate his im-
perial master, and emulate the productions of Greece,
in a department of poetry wherein she was as yet unri-
valled, he first naturally bent a reverent eye on Ho-
mer; and, though he differed widely from his Grecian
master in the qualities of his mind and genius, ho be-
came his most strict and devoted disciple. The Lat-
in dramatists, in preparing their pieces for the stage,
had frequently compounded them of the plots of two
Greek plays, melted, as it were, into one; and thus
compensated for the want of invention and severe sim-
plicity of composition by greater richness and variety
of incident. From Bieir example, Virgil comprehend-
ed in his plan the arguments both of the Iliad and
Odyssey: the one serving him as a guide for the wan-
? ? derings and adventures of his hero previous to the land-
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? VIR
V 1T
translormation into the bird called Ciris, from which the
poem derives its title. That part which is introductory
to the complaint of Scylla is not very clear in language
or lofty in point of conception. The lamentation it-
>c! f is as good as might be expected, considering the
position in which it was uttered, Minos having, on his
voyage home, fastened her to the side of his vessel,
>>n'J thus dragged her along through the sea. Some
of the lines arc palpable imitations of the soliloquy of
Ariadne in Catullus. Perhaps the best passage is
one in which that poet has also, been closely imitated,
describing the effects of ungovernable love in the
breast of Scylla. From the Ciris, Spenser, who had
translated the Culcx, imitated a long passage, which
constitutes part of the Legend of Britomart, in the
third book of the Faery Queen. --The Morelum would
certainly be a curious and interesting production, could
it be authenticated as the work of Virgil or Septimius
Serenus, to whom Wernsdorff has ascribed it, and who
flourished at Rome during the reigns of the Flavian
family. Its subject is one concerning which few rel-
ics have descended to us from antiquity. It gives
an account of the occupations and daily life of an Ital-
ran peasant; and, so far as it goes, everything is re-
lated with the greatest minuteness; but the employ-
ments only of the morning are recorded. The peasant
Simulus rises with the dawn. He gathers together
the ashes of the yesterday's fire. He then bakes some
bread; and, with the assistance of an African fret d-
woman named Cybale, he prepares a sort of food call-
ed Morctum, which gives name to the poem, and was
chiefly composed of herbs culled from his garden.
This introduces a curious description of a peasant's
kitchen-garden, and the sort of plants which were rear-
ed in it. The poem concludes with the peasant's
yoking his oxen, and beginning to plough his field.
Jt is probable, huwever, that what is now extant is
only a fragment at the commencement of the Morelum,
or the first of a scries of rustic eclogues, in which the
avocations of a peasant were described in succession
through the whole day. The Copa merely contains
in invitation from an hostess, who was a native of
Syria, to pass the hours merrily in a place of enter-
tainment which she kept beyond the gates of Rome;
but a good-humoured drinking-song by the majestic
author of the Georgics and ,T''. noid is in itself a curi-
osity. --The best edition of Virgil is that of Heyne,
which first appeared from the Leipsic press in 1767-
68, 4 vols. 8vo. It has been often reprinted: the most
complete is that with the additions of Wagner, Lips. ,
1831. The edition of Forbigcr, Lira. , 1826-9, 3 vols.
8vo, is also a very useful one. (Dunlop's Roman
Literature, vol. 3, p. 68, scqq. )
VIRGINIA, a daughter of the centurion L. Virginius.
The maiden had been betrothed to L. Icilius, one of the
tribunes, and the author of the law known by his name.
Her beauty, however, inflamed the passions of Appius
Claudius, the decemvir, and he caused one of his cli-
ents, M. Claudius, to seize her as his slave, intending
in this manner to get the person of the damsel within
his power. Intelligence was immediately sent to the
camp to Virginius, who, obtaining leave of absence,
battened to Rome to protect his daughter. But in
vain did he claim his child ; in vain appeal to the sym-
pathy of the people; in vain address himself to the
better mind of Appius. The decemvir, blind to ev-
erything but the beauty of Virginia, and deaf to all but
? ? the impulse of his own passion, passed sentence, as-
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? V IT
BIO
claimed emperor, and the exaltation of his rival was
no sooner heard in the camp, than he was likewise
invested with the purple hy his soldiers. He accept-
ed with pleasure the dangerous office, and instantly
marched against Otho. Three battles were fought,
tnd in all Vitellius was conquered. A fourfh, how-
ever, in the plains between Mantua and Cremona, left
him master of the field and of the Homan empire.
Vitellius bcgar. his reign by endeavouring to concili-
ate the favour of the populace and the troops by large
donations and expensive amusements. He then gave
t loose rein to his own debasing appetites, of which
the chief was absolute gluttony of the very grossest
kind. It is almost incredible, though stated by histo-
rians, that in less than four months he expended on
the mere luxuries of the table a sum equal to about
seven millions sterling. This bloated and pampered
ruler was soon regarded by all his subjects with con-
tempt and disgust. The unrestrained licentiousness
of the soldiery tended equally to make his reign hated
and feared by all who were exposed to the insults and
outrages in which they indulged. To supply the funds
necessary for the maintenance of his excessive luxury,
he resorted to the too prevalent custom of listening to
the accusations of spies, and putting to death all such
accused persons, that he might seize upon their prop-
erty. While thus wallowing in the indulgence of the
most debasing appetites, Vitellius was startled by ti-
dings of a very alarming nature. Vespasian, who had
been sent to take the command of the army in Syria
in the Jewish war, and had been detained there by the
desperate resistance of the Jews, had sent his own son
Titus to offer his allegiance to Galba. But, before
bis arrival, Galba was dead, and Uiho and Vitellius
were contending for the empire. Titus returned to
his father for instructions; and, though Vespasian ap-
peared ready to acknowledge Vitellius, his own troops
were eager to raise him to the sovereignty. Being at
length prevailed on to comply with the wishes of the
? rmy, he commenced his march towards Europe. The
Illyrian and Pannonian armies immediately declared
ir. his favour; and that of Illyricum, under the com-
mand of Antonius Primus, crossed the Alps and
marched towards Rome to dethrone Vitellius. The
Vitelliar army, commanded by Caecina, encountered
that of Antonius near Cremona, but was defeated with
great loss, and the city was taken. Antonius con-
tinued to advance on Rome, and crossed the passes
of the Apennines while the emperor was hastening to
secure them. Vitellius fled to Rome, which was soon
invested by the victorious army of Antonius. An in-
surrectionary tumult arose in the city itself, during
which the Capitol was burned tf> the ground, and Sa-
binus, the brother of Vespasian, was killed. The
troops of Antonius at length forced an entrance into
the city, stormed the quarters of the pratorian guards,
? nd put those turbulent bands to the sword. Vitel-
lius endeavoured to conceal himself, but was discov-
ered, dragged through the streets to the place of pun-
ishment for common malefactors, put to death in the
most ignominious manner, and his mangled carcass
cast into the Tiber amid the execrations of the multi-
hide. Eight months and five days had this despica-
oh wretch seemed to sway the sceptre of supreme do-
minion, when thus overtaken by the due reward of
ois debauchery and crimes. (Hctherinflon's History
of Rome, p. 185, seqq. )
? ? ViTRUv? 7s Por. Lio, M. , a celebrated writer on ar-
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? UMB
? ind Juvenal give us but a wretched idea of the place.
(Horut. , Ep. , 1, 11, 30. -- Juv. , 10, 101. -- Cramers
Ane. Italy, vol. 2, p. 85. )
ULYSSKS, a king of Ithaca, son of Amiclea and La-
ertes, or, according to r-mur, of Sisyphus. (Vid. Sis-
yphus, and Anticica. ) He became, like the other
princes of Greece, one of the suiters of Helen; but,
as he despaired of success in his application on ac-
count of the great number of his competitors, lie so-
licited the hand of Penelope, the daughter of Icarius.
Tymlarus, the father of Helen, favoured the addresses
uf Ulysses, as by him ho was directed to choose one
of his daughter's suiters without offending the others,
and to bind them all by a solemn oath that they would
unite together in protecting Helen if any violence were
ever offered to her person. Ulysses had no sooner
obtained the hand of Penelope than he returned to
Ithaca, where his father resigned him the crown, and
retired to peace and rural solitude. The abduction
of Helen, however, by Paris, did not long permit him
to remain in his kingdom; and as he was bound, in
common with the rest, to defend her against every in-
truder, he was summoned to the war with the other
princes of Greece. Pretending to be insane, not to
leave his beloved Penelope, he yoked a horse and a
hull together, and ploughed the seashore, where he
sowed salt instead of grain. The artifice, however,
was soon detected; and Pdamedes, by placing before
the plough of Ulysses his infant son Telemachus, con-
vinced the world that the father was not insane, who
had the foresight to turn away the plough from the
furrow, not to hurt his child. Ulysses was therefore
. liilii'rd to go to thewar; but he did not forget him
who had exposed his pretended insanity. (Vid Pala-
medcs ) During the Trojan war, the King of Iihaca
listinguished himself by his prudence and sagacity
<<s well as by his valour. By his means Achilles was
discovered among the daughters of Lycomedes, king
of Scyros (ml. Achilles); and Philocteles was in-
duced to abandon Lemnos. and to come to the Tro-
i,'ii> war with the arrows of Hercules. (Vid. Philoc-
letes. ) With the assistance of Diomcdes he slew
Rhesus, and destroyed many of the sleeping Thra-
cians in the midst of their camp (ml. Rhesus, and
Dolon); and, in conjunction with the same warrior,
he carried off the Palladium of Troy. (Vid. Palla-
dium, where, however, other accounts are given. )
These, as well as other services, obtained for-him the
armonr of Achilles, which Ajax had disputed with
him. After the Trojan war Ulysses embarked on
board his ships to return to Greece, but he was ex-
posed to a number of misfortunes before he reached
his native country: he was thrown by the winds upon
the coasts of Africa, and visited the country of the
Lotophagi (vid. Lotophagi), and afterward that of the
Cyclopes, where his adventure in the cave of Poly-
phemus occurred. (Vid. Cyclopes, and Polyphemus. )
He came next, in the course of his wanderings, to '. he
island of ^Eolus, monarch of the winds, who gave
him, tied up in a bag of ox-hide, all the winds which
could obstruct his return to Ithaca; but the curi-
osity of his companions to know what the bag con-
tained proved nearly fatal. The winds rushed out,
and hurried tl em back to . i. 'ulin; the king of whjch,
judging, from what had befallen them, that they were
hated by the gods, drove them with reproaches from
his isle. Thence he was carried to the land of the
Lestrygonians (fill Ltestrygones), where he lost all
? ? his vessels except the one in which he himself was;
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? voc
TOl
serous nations of . he land (1,19). From his account,
at well as from Herodotus (1, 94), it would appear
that the Umbri were already settled in Italy long be-
fore the arrival of the Tyrrhenian colony. To the
Greeks they were known under the name of '0/t6piKoi,
a word which they supposed to be derived from 6/i-
6poc, under the idea that they were a people sared
from an unusual deluge. (Plin. , I.
