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[[Image:Gjcjyf68.jpg|right|thumb|A bust of Virgil, from the entrance to his tomb in Naples, Italy.]]

[[Image:Gjcjyf68.jpg|right|thumb|A bust of Virgil, from the entrance to his tomb in Naples, Italy.]]

'''Virgil''' (Publius Vergilius Maro) lived from 70 to 19 BC.  He was a well known and great [[Roman]] [[poet]] & [[philosopher]] who was born at Mantua in [[Italy]] and went to study in Cremona, Milan, and finally [[Rome]].  Maecenas was his patron (he paid for him to write and live) and he was friends with [[Octavian]], the future first emperor of Rome.

'''Virgil''' (Publius Vergilius Maro) lived from 70 to 19 BC.  He was a well known and great [[Roman]] [[poet]] & [[philosopher]] who was born at Mantua in [[Italy]] and went to study in Cremona, Milan, and finally [[Rome]].  Maecenas was his patron (he paid for him to write and live) and he was friends with [[Octavian]], who was to become the first emperor of Rome.

Three of Virgil's works are known to have been of note:

Three of Virgil's works are known to have been of note:

* ''Eclogues'' are pastoral poems about his own day.  The fourth "Messianic" eclogue was perceived by some as fortelling the coming of Christ <ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/377185/Messianic-eclogue Britannica.com]</ref>, ensuring that Virgil's works were well-read through the [[Middle Ages]] to the present.

* ''Eclogues'' are pastoral poems about his own day.  The fourth "Messianic" eclogue was perceived by some as foretelling the coming of Christ <ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/377185/Messianic-eclogue Britannica.com]</ref>, ensuring that Virgil's works were well-read through the [[Middle Ages]] to the present.

* ''Georgics'' is a didactic poem on farming, using the world of the farmer as a model for the world at large.

* ''Georgics'' is a didactic poem on farming, using the world of the farmer as a model for the world at large.

* ''[[Aeneid]]'' was the work he spent the last decade of his life on.  It was an epic [[poem]], the about the wanderings of [[Aeneas]] after the [[Trojan War]] and his travels to found the city Rome, which would one day become the Roman Empire.  It is this work for which he is most known in history.

* ''[[Aeneid]]'' was the work he spent the last decade of his life on.  It was an epic [[poem]], the about the wanderings of [[Aeneas]] after the [[Trojan War]] and his eventual settlement in Italy, where his descendants would one day found the city of Rome and eventually the Roman Empire.  It is this work for which he is best known in history.

In [[Dante]]'s classic ''[[The Divine Comedy]]'', it is Virgil who as the noble [[pagan]] and symbol of wisdom who is the man to lead him through the lower levels of his journey, showing the respect that he still had in European culture over 1000 years after his death.

In [[Dante]]'s classic ''[[The Divine Comedy]]'', it is Virgil who as the noble [[pagan]] and symbol of wisdom, is the man to lead him through the lower levels of his journey, showing the respect that he still had in European culture over 1000 years after his death.

    

    

Although Virgil's Latin name (nomen) was "Vergilius", it is nonetheless commonly rendered in English as "Virgil", with the second vowel an "i". This is often attributed to a desire in the [[Middle Ages]] to associate Virgil with the Latin "virga", "wand", thereby reinforcing belief in his prophetic powers.  The more straightforward spelling "Vergil" also remains in common English usage.

Although Virgil's Latin name (nomen) was "Vergilius", it is nonetheless commonly rendered in English as "Virgil", with the second vowel an "i". This is often attributed to a desire in the [[Middle Ages]] to associate Virgil with the Latin "virga", "wand", thereby reinforcing belief in his prophetic powers.  The more straightforward spelling "Vergil" also remains in common English usage.