The Role Of Augustus In The Aeneid

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Do I think Virgil is a toady for the Augustan Ministry of Propaganda? No. I do not sense anything obsequious in The Aeneid. Do I think that he is sympathetic to Augustus? Yes.

In The Aeneid, Books VIII through XII, Virgil references Aeneas’ Great Shield many times. We know from Galinsky that the Senate acted to honor Augustus with his new title by placing a golden shield, inscribed with the four virtues, on the wall of the wall of the new Senate building. Virgil’s consistent reference to the great shield of Aeneas could not have been accidental. Moreover, his sympathetic treatment of Aeneas, bearing Augustus’ symbol of power, may not make Virgil a tool of the new order, but makes him at least a tacit supporter.

In Book VIII Venus asks Vulcan