Of the personal history of Publius Vergilius Maro, the greatest of Latin poets, little is known with certainty. The principal authority on which his biography rests, is a life usually attributed to Tiberius Claudius Donatus, a grammarian who flourished in the fifth century of the Christian era. Its authenticity, however, is very questionable; and, at all events, it is so much disfigured by interpolations, that it is difficult to extract from it such facts as may be implicitly relied on. To this suspicious document we have to add a few scanty allusions by the poet's contemporaries, and the scattered remarks of ancient scholiasts and grammarians.

By all accounts, the parentage of Virgil is represented as exceedingly humble. Donatus informs us, that, according to some authorities, his father was originally a potter, but according to others, and those the more numerous, the hired servant of a travelling merchant, to whom he recommended himself by his faithful services, and who gave him his daughter Maia in marriage. By his father-in-law he was entrusted with the charge of a small farm in the vicinity of Mantua, which he ultimately seems to have inherited, and which probably constituted the poet's patrimony. Whatever may have been the original condition of his father, it is gratifying to find this testimony to his moral worth, and to be assured that he was capable of appreciating, and possessed the means, as well as the desire, of cultivating the rising genius of his illustrious offspring. In this respect, Virgil was equally fortunate with Horace, whose father, although possessed but of moderate fortune, placed him under the ablest masters at Rome, along with the sons of knights and senators.

Virgil was born at Andes, now called Pietola, a village about three miles distant from Mantua, in the year of Rome Virgil now proceeded to Milan, and from thence, after a short stay, to Naples. Here he devoted himself to study with intense application, and laid the foundation of that varied learning, for which he was no less remarkable than for poetical genius. To the language and literature of Greece he applied himself with peculiar ardour; and, in this department, enjoyed the instructions of Parthenius Nicenus, an author of some reputation. But literature alone, however varied and attractive, could not satisfy the inquisitive and capacious mind of Virgil. He strove also to penetrate the depths of philosophy and science; and medicine and mathematics continued to be favourite subjects of pursuit with him through life. Along with his friend Varins, he studied the system of Epicurus, under Syro, a distinguished teacher of that sect, and the intimate friend of Cicero. Traces of this early discipline are perceptible in his works; although by some he is represented as an academic, and as preferring the sentiments of Plato to those of all other philosophers. To some tradition of his addiction to science, to the revelations contained in the sixth book of the Æneid, and to the magic spells described in the eighth Eclogue, Virgil probably owes his reputation as a wizard, the character in which he principally figures during the middle ages.

Donatus carries Virgil from Naples to Rome, and there makes him the subject of several fabulous stories, which it would be idle to repeat. The probability is that he did not visit Rome at this time, but having finished his studies at Naples, returned directly to his paternal abode; where he continued to reside till his fame as a poet had begun to attract public notice.

Much uncertainty prevails respecting the early productions of his muse. That the Eclogues were not the first offspring of his genius, we have sufficient testimony; but the genuineness of the minor poems, which usually pass under his name, may well be questioned. The most probable conclusion is, that they are either entirely spurious, or so much disfigured by interpolators as to leave few traces of their original form. Donatus enumerates the following as youthful productions of Virgil: Catechism, Moretum, Priapeia, Epigrammata, Diræ, Culex, and, while he admits that doubts existed respecting its authorship, Ætna. He is also said to have undertaken a poetical work on the early wars of Rome, but to have been deterred from the prosecution of his design, by the rugged and inharmonious structure of the ancient Italian names. To this attempt the poet probably alludes in the sixth Eclogue, where he represents himself as having prematurely undertaken a work beyond his strength. But whatever may have been the early essays of Virgil, there can be no doubt that he continued sedulously to cultivate those talents with which he was so richly endowed; and to pursue with intense admiration and delight those masterpieces of Grecian genius, which it was his great ambition to rival and excel. Nor was he inattentive to the literature of his own country; which however presented a comparatively limited field for the poetical student. Yet the works of Ennius, Plautus, Terence, Catullus, and above all, Lucretius, contained a rich poetical mine, from which much precious ore might be extracted, and to which, it is manifest, he did not scruple freely to resort. Into the genius, structure, and capabilities of his native tongue, he appears to have penetrated more deeply than any other writer; and his dicta became the standard to which succeeding poets yielded implicit, perhaps a slavish obedience. What Cicero effected for prose, Virgil effected for poetry. Few literary phenomena, perhaps, are more remarkable, than the mastery over the Latin language, which even his earliest productions display. In the works of preceding writers may be found many detached passages scarcely to be surpassed; but uniformly-sustained beauty and propriety of diction, Mantuan hard leaves all his predecessors, as well as successors, at an immeasurable distance.

Virgil is usually represented as having undertaken the composition of his Eclogues at the suggestion of C. Asinius Pollio, a nobleman who was not more distinguished as a commander, than as a cultivator and patron of letters. On the formation of the second triumvirate, A.U.C. 71, Pollio was entrusted by Antony, whose interests he espoused, with the command of Gallia Transpadana, which district the patrimony of Virgil lay. The rising talents of the youthful poet early attracted his notice, and continued to extend to him his patronage and protection, long as he remained in the command of the province. These services thus generously and seasonably rendered to genius were amply rewarded; and the name of Pollio will ever continue associated with some of the poet's noblest strains.

The date and order of composition of the Eclogues have been matter of dispute among critics. By some they are supposed to have been written in the order in which they now stand in the printed editions, and, it is believed, in the manuscripts of Virgil's works; by others, the second, third, fifth, and sixth are thought to have preceded the first. The determination of the question is of little importance and our present limits forbid discussion. The subject of the first Eclogue sufficiently indicates the date of its composition. After the battle of Philippi, A.U.C. 712, Augustus, in fulfilment of a promise which had been previously given to the army, made a large division of lands among the veteran soldiers. Cremona having espoused the cause of Brutus, was among the first to suffer on the present occasion. Its territory was assigned to the soldiers; but proving of insufficient extent, the deficiency was supplied from the neighbouring district of Mantua. Virgil was involved in the general calamity, and driven with violence from his humble patrimony. About this time, however, it appears to have renewed his acquaintance and friendship with Alphenus Varus, who had been his fellow-student at Naples, and who now discharged some important public function in the poet's district. Under his protection, it is supposed, Virgil repaired to Rome, and by personal application obtained from Augustus the restoration of his fortune. To record his gratitude for this signal favour, he composed the first Eclogue, which, in the person of Meliboeus, presents a vivid picture of the distress and misery by which he was surrounded; while in that of Titrypus, he eulogises in glowing strains, and honours as a god, the youth to whom he owed his own more fortunate lot. It appears, however, that he experienced no slight difficulty in recovering his farm, notwithstanding the order of Augustus; and that, on one occasion, when pursued by the tribune Arrius, who had taken forcible possession of it, he saved his life by swimming across the Mincius. To these fresh disasters he is supposed to allude in the ninth Eclogue. Besides Augustus, persons chiefly celebrated in the Eclogues are Pollio, Varus, and Gallus, who had been the poet's earliest patrons, and who ever after continued his most esteemed and beloved friends.

The Eclogues, in the composition of which he is said to have spent three years, were received by his countrymen with unbounded applause. They were universally read and admired, and such was their popularity, that they were publicly recited in the theatre at Rome. Their novelty, storical poetry now appeared for the first time in a Roman less; the pictures which they presented of rural felicity, and simple and innocent pleasures, so strongly contrasted with the scenes of violence and bloodshed which had so long deluged Italy; the descriptions of nature so exquisitely blended with human feelings and human sympathies; the visions to recent and passing events; the polished simplicity, beauty, and harmony of the verse; all contributed to enhance their merit in the eyes of his contemporaries, and establish them in popular favour.

But, however great their merit in other respects, the Eclogues of Virgil can lay little claim to the praise of originality. They are, for the most part, imitations, and occasionally little more than translations of Theocritus. Roman literature was indeed essentially imitative; and its greatest masters rarely ventured to give unfettered scope to the impulses of their native powers. Seldom venturing to depart from their Grecian models, they were content to follow closely in their footsteps, and deemed it sufficient to be in the language of Rome those ideas and descriptions which were furnished by their intellectual masters.

Virgil, while retaining the substance of Doric song, succeeded in impressing on his Italian transcript not a little of his own calm and meditative nature, and in awakening popular sympathies of his countrymen in a manner which at once stamped him as the national poet of Rome. At least difficulty which he had to encounter in introducing this new species of composition, was the apparently intractable and inflexible nature of the language which he had to employ, little fitted, apparently, for the description of pastoral and rural scenes. But the power of the poet triumphed, in a great measure, even over this difficulty; and although unable to rival the matchless melody of the Doric reed, he imparted to his native tongue elegance, softness, and variety, of which till then it had been considered unsuited.

In estimating the immediate reception of the Eclogues, we must not altogether overlook the skill and dexterity with which the poet paid court to his early patrons, whose voice was perhaps no less influential in the literary than in the political world. Their decision must, at all events, be considered an important era in the literary history of Rome, as exhibiting the fruits of that genius which was destined to stamp its indelible impress on the literature of future ages.

About the thirty-third year of his age Virgil removed to Rome. Here he experienced the bounty, as well as friendship, of Mecenas and Augustus, and appears to have been aided by their liberality in circumstances which enabled him ever after to devote his undivided energies to his favorite pursuits. It is pleasing to find the most cordial attention subsisting, even at this early period, between such men as Virgil and Horace. Both candidates for popularity, in circumstances which too frequently produce rivalry, if not hostility, these illustrious poets appear to have been united in the closest ties of friendship. Virgil is said to have introduced Horace to the notice of Mecenas; and the deep feeling of respect and admiration with which Mecenas regarded Virgil, is manifested in several parts of works. The sixth Satire of the first book exhibits a rising picture of the intimate terms on which they lived in their common patron Mecenas, and with some of their poetical contemporaries. During his residence at Rome, Virgil inhabited a house on the Esquiline hill, near the gardens of Mecenas. He was treated with universal respect; and on one occasion, when some of his verses were recited in the theatre, the whole audience rose to salute him, with the same respect that they were accustomed to bestow on the emperor. But his modesty shrank from the public gaze; and amid the splendour and magnificence of Rome, he longed for scenes more in harmony with his poetical and contemplative genius, and, it may be added, better suited to the delicacy of his constitution.

After a brief sojourn in the metropolis, he accordingly retired to Naples, at that time the favourite retreat of literary men; and there, or at a delightful residence in the vicinity of Nola, about ten miles distant, he continued chiefly to reside during the remainder of his life.

Having thus chosen a congenial place of abode, Virgil, at the suggestion of Mecenas, commenced the composition of the Georgics. The subject was selected, we are told, with the view of restoring among the Romans a love of those rural pursuits to which they had been peculiarly addicted in early times, but which, amid the desolation and bloodshed of the civil wars, had been entirely abandoned and forgotten. Little is known of the private life of Virgil during the composition of this immortal poem, which occupied the space of seven years. Donatus and others relate, that he was accustomed to dictate a number of verses in the morning, and spend the day in polishing and reducing them to a smaller number. From internal evidence, this appears to be no inaccurate description of his literary habits.

The Georgics more than realized the highest expectations that had been formed of Virgil's poetical powers. This work, which is dedicated to Mecenas, is divided into four books, and treats in succession of husbandry, planting, cattle, and bees. Our limits forbid any attempt at analysis; nor indeed could words convey any adequate notion of the wonderful union which this masterwork presents of didactic precept, varied and splendid description, touching pathos and sensibility, episodes at once appropriate and striking, historic and mythologic allusion, displaying all the resources of the richest poetical treasury. The sweetness and easy flow of versification by which the Elegiacs are distinguished, gave but faint indication of the matchless power, variety, and magnificence of the Georgics. Although the subject of this poem is peculiarly national, yet the same imitative spirit which pervades the whole literature of Rome, exercised its influence here also. As in the Elegiacs Theocritus, so here Hesiod formed the chief model for the general structure and conduct of the work. But in this poem Virgil perhaps owes less to his prototypes than in his other productions; and he has diffused over the whole a flood of poetical light peculiarly his own. The poet has indeed exhibited the happiest combination of genius and art, and has succeeded in imparting to didactic themes a life, an interest, and a grandeur, of which, from their nature, they seem scarcely susceptible. Here the Romans found scenes and modes of life in which their fathers had delighted, depicted in colours which could not fail to excite the deepest interest, and rekindle in their breasts the love of pursuits, which, though for a time banished by the rude collisions of civil strife, were associated in their minds with the heroes and patriots of old, with the undying achievements and illustrious characters of ancient times. In estimating the merits of the Georgics, we must not pass without special notice the matchless beauty of the versification. In sustained majesty, in melody that ever satisfies but never cloyes the ear, in variety of modulation, in stateliness but freedom of march, it stands unapproached by any other Roman poet, and unsurpassed by Virgil himself.

Having with such signal success enriched the literature of his country with two species of poetry, of which till then it possessed no example, he resolved to attempt a work of still higher nature. It is evident that he had long meditated such a work; as we find allusions to it both in the Elegiacs and Georgics. He commenced the Aeneid, A.D. 724, the year in which he completed the Georgics. This great work, undertaken, we are told, at the request of Augustus, occupied him till his death, and even then had not received his finishing touch. As he proceeded with its composition, the greatest interest was excited re- specting it, and the highest expectations were entertained of its merits, as may be gathered from the prognostication of Propertius, who thus anticipates its future fame:

Cedite Romani sceptrores, cedit Graii, Nescio quid majus nascitur Iliade.

In 729, Augustus expressed a strong desire to be favoured with a perusal of the poem, so far as it had been completed; but Virgil excused himself, on the ground that the work was not yet worthy of such an honour. About a year afterwards, however, he was prevailed on to read the sixth book to Augustus, in the presence of his sister Octavia. When the poet reached the beautiful passage in which he alludes so pathetically to the death of her son Marcellus, the adopted child of Augustus, and the universal favourite of Rome, Octavia is said to have swooned away; and, on reviving, to have ordered the poet to be rewarded with ten sestertia for each line. In conformity with the usual practice among Roman poets, Virgil occasionally recited portions of his verses to his literary friends; not, however, for the sake of display, but in order to be favoured with their critical remarks. His recitation is represented as highly effective, and as distinguished by remarkable sweetness, and propriety of articulation.

Having completed the Æneid, he resolved to travel into Greece, that he might, at leisure, correct and polish his great work, and bring it to the greatest possible perfection before giving it to the world. On this occasion, Horace addressed to him the beautiful ode, beginning, "Sic te diva potens Cypri;" in which he expresses in the most affectionate terms, his anxiety for the safe return of his beloved friend. On arriving at Athens, Virgil proceeded to execute the task which he had imposed upon himself; and, besides, composed the splendid introduction to the third book of the Georgics. His original intention, on quitting Italy, was to dedicate three years to the work of revision, and then, amid the scenes of his native country, to devote the rest of his life to the study of philosophy, in which he had always delighted. Augustus, however, on his return from the East, having reached Athens, Virgil, probably in consequence of the state of his health, resolved to accompany him to Rome. But his days were now numbered. The vessel in which he sailed along with the emperor, touched at Megara, where he was seized with extreme debility; and his distemper increased so much during the remainder of the voyage, that he died a few days after reaching Brundusium. This event took place, A.D. 735, in the fifty-first year of his age. In compliance with his dying wishes, his bones were conveyed to Naples, where, in literary seclusion, he had spent so many years of his life; and his tomb is still pointed out at a spot about two miles distant from that city. The urn which was supposed to contain his ashes, bore the following inscription, which is said, but without sufficient authority, to have proceeded from the lips of the dying poet:

Mantua me genuit; Calabri rapuere; tenet nunc Parthenope: cecini pascua, rura, duces.

The precise locality of Virgil's tomb has been made the subject of controversy; but there seems to be no good reason for rejecting the common tradition of the country on this point. He bequeathed the greater part of his wealth to his brother; the rest, to Augustus and Maecenas, and his friends L. Varius and Plotius Tucca.

Virgil is represented as tall of stature, of a swarthy complexion, negligent in his dress, and somewhat ungraceful in his deportment. The melancholy with which he was tinged probably arose from the delicacy of his constitution, and the ill health under which he laboured. Of the native warmth of his heart, and the sincerity of his friendships it is impossible to doubt, since he was universally beloved as well as admired by his contemporaries; who, amid their mutual jealousies and literary rivalry, seem to have united in doing honour to one, who ever cheerfully recognised the merits of others, rejoiced in, and, to the utmost of his power, promoted success. Of the more private and familiar life of Virgil nothing is known. Unlike Horace, whose works constitute his best biography, Virgil has few allusions to himself, none that throw light on his domestic habits. He presents before us with much of the indistinctness and shadowy grandeur in which he envelopes the shades in Elysium.

When he perceived his end approaching, he is said to have ordered Varius and Plotius Tucca to burn Æneid, on which he had expended so many years' labour, and on which his future fame was expected mainly to depend. The reason of this command has been the subject of discussion. The common opinion is, that not having received his finishing hand, he was unwilling to transmit posterity and peril his fame on a work, which he had brought to that degree of perfection which he had contemplated. Some, again, account for the poet's conduct by the supposition that, on the approach of death, he felt regret at having produced a work which, instead of inspiring sentiments of liberty, was intended to reconcile his countrymen to the chains which had been imposed upon them by a successful but unworthy usurper. Fortunately for the interests of literature, Augustus interposed his authority to save a poem, to the completion of which he had looked forward with intense interest, and from which he anticipated so much glory to himself and the Roman state. He was intrusted to Varius and Tucca for revision and publication, but with express injunctions that they should make no additions to the words of the poet; and we have reason to believe that they executed their honourable task in a spirit of due reverence for departed genius.

The Æneid, as already mentioned, excited the highest expectations among the literary contemporaries of the poet during its composition; and on its publication, was held in universal approbation. Ovid alludes to it more than once in terms expressive of his conviction that it occupied the first place in Roman literature; and that, in common with the other works of the author, it would last while the eternal city should endure. The sentence thus early pronounced, has been confirmed by the consenting voice of succeeding ages; and, whatever difference of opinion may exist respecting its comparative merits, the Æneid has ever been ranked as one of the rare productions of human genius, which are destined to immortality. If considered as the rival of the Iliad, the Æneid will be presented as a false as well as unfavourable point of view; and it is difficult to conceive that it was composed under any such dominating idea. Neither the age which produced it, nor the genius of the poet, was favourable to such an attempt; but having resolved to compose an epic poem, no doubt took Homer as his model, and endeavoured to transplant into the fabric of his work as many of the peculiarities of the Grecian poet as suited the nature of his subject. We accordingly find that he drew equally on the Iliad and Odyssey, the first six books being on the model of the former, and the remaining six on that of the latter. So far his plan was adopted with a view to avail himself of the whole range of Homeric materials; it is difficult to determine; but it was a bold attempt, if it was ever completed, to rival or surpass in a single work, the combined excellencies of his matchless models.

The chief design of the Æneid appears to have been to deduce the origin of the Romans from the Trojans, and tracing the family of Augustus to Æneas, to establish a divine title to the sovereignty of Rome. This leading thread pervades the whole texture of the work; and the restraint which was thus necessarily imposed on the poet, must have interfered most unfavourably with the freedom of movement. The character of Æneas is meant to show forth that of Augustus; but while he constantly occu... Of the English translations of Virgil, that of Dryden is the most popular. A translation of the Eclogues and Georgics by Warton, and of the Æneid by Pitt, appeared in 1753, 4 vols. 8vo. These are held in high repute. The Æneid has also been translated into English verse by Symmons and Ring; and into Scotch verse by Gavin Douglas, bishop of Dunkeld. Of this last work, an excellent edition was published by Ruddiman, Edin. 1710, fol.; but a still more valuable edition, in 3 vols. 4to, is now printing for the Bannatyne Club, under the superintendence of George Dundas, Esq. Of the Georgics, Sotheby's translation is incomparably the best.

Virgil, Polydore, an English historian, born at Urbino in Italy, was sent in the beginning of the sixteenth century by Pope Alexander VI., as sub-collector of the papal tax called Peter-pence in this kingdom. He had not been long in England before he obtained preferment in the church; for in 1503 he was presented to the rectory of Church-Langton, in the archdeaconry of Leicester. In 1507 he was collated to the prebend of Scamblesby, in the church of Lincoln; and in the same year was made archdeacon of Wells, and prebendary of Hereford. In 1513, he resigned his prebend of Lincoln, and was collated to that of Oxgate in St Paul's, London. We are told, that on his preferment to the archdeaconry of Wells, he resigned the office of sub-collector to the pope, and determined to spend the remainder of his life in England, the History of which kingdom he began in the year 1505, at the command of Henry VII. That work cost him twelve years' labour. In 1526, he finished his treatise on Prodigies. Polydore continued in England during the whole reign of Henry VIII., and part of that of Edward VI., whence it is concluded that he was a moderate Papist. In 1550, being now an old man, he requested leave to revisit his native country. He was accordingly dismissed with a present of 300 crowns, together with the privilege of holding his preferments to the end of his life. He died at Urbino in the year 1555. As an historian, he is accused by some as a malignant slanderer of the English nation; yet Jovius remarks, that the French and Scotch accuse him of having flattered that nation too much. Besides the above work, he wrote, 1. De Rerum Inventoribus; of which an English translation was published by Langley in 1663. It was also translated into French and Spanish. 2. De Prodigiis et Sortibus. 3. Episcoporum Angliae Catalogus. Manuscript. 4. De Vita perfecta, Basil. 1546, 1553, 8vo. 5. Epistolae erudite; and some other works.