„ 29. Completed Georgics read to Octavianus. Aeneid begun.
„ 27. Augustus Emperor.
„ 26. Banishment and death of his friend Gallus.
„ 25. Marriage of Marcellus to Julia, daughter of Augustus.
„ 23. Death of Marcellus: Aeneid, Book VI, read to the Imperial family.
„ 19. Journey of Vergil to Greece: is taken ill, dies at Brundusium, and is buried at Naples:
Mantua me genuit, Calabri rapuere, tenet nunc
Parthenope: cecini pascua, rura, duces.
2. Works.
(1) Bucolica (Pastoral Poems), ten Eclogues (selected pieces), written 42-39 B.C. These are closely modelled on Theocritus, and have all the weaknesses of imitative poetry. ‘The Eclogues of Vergil have less of consistency but more of purpose than the Idylls of Theocritus. They are an advocacy of the charm of scenery and the pleasures of the country addressed to a luxurious and artificial society of dwellers in a town.’—Myers.