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Virgil's Hostile Sources

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Recommended: Augustus commissioned the aeneid

Discuss some of the issues entrained when relying on hostile evidence for the reconstruction of historical events Include in your essay specific analysis of problematic sources. Relying on hostile evidence to recreate Marcus Antonius’ life from his youth until the Battle of Actium entrains several issues.. These sources are all hostile towards Antony therefore one must treat them with caution, not least because of the inherent bias present in their writing which is a key issue for reconstructing Antony’s life. When looking to hostile sources one must take into account the context, the type of source and how the author has shaped material for their own personal or political gain. Due to the limited word count, this essay will only look at …show more content…

Virgil was born in the year 44 BC, the year of Julius Caesar’s assassination. The 19 year old grand-nephew/adopted son Augustus was Caesar's heir and eventually he defeated Cleo and Antony at Actium in 31 bc. The Aeneid is in part a search for the moral regeneration for Rome, one can see that Virgil feels that a key player in this endeavour is Augustus. After a century of civil war, this victory promises a return of order, prosperity and peace to Rome. Virgil acknowledges the promise of a ‘Golden Age’, which at the time was not foolish to believe. In this Euphoria Virgil took to writing patriotic poems such as the Aeneid. Through this Latin epic Mark Antony is associated with violence of civil war through Octavian being depicted as a ‘bringer of peace’. Virgil died in 19 BC and had intended for his incomplete epic to be burned. However this action was countermanded by Augustus thus it is clear Virgil wrote in favour of his patron, ruler of Rome and is hostile towards Antony due to …show more content…

While the Aeneid does not flatter Augustus explicitly, it does praise him in two ways; firstly, it tells the story of Augustus’ great ancestry, the first founder of Rome in such a way that resembles Augustus himself, its third founder. THis is clear in Book six in which Virgil sends his hero to the Underworld. Virgil creates a kind of reverse funeral which peaks in a eulogy of the Julian family and an obituary of Augustus’ son-in law, nephew and heir-designate, young Marcellus. Not only this but nine-tenths of the heroes represented in the parade are members of Augustus’ Julian family. (xxii) While the epic is set in a heroic past, the politics are relevant to Virgil’s own era, not unlike platonic myths, Virgil creates an analogy between falsehoods and truth. Secondly, Virgil alludes to Augustus in prophecies and visions, take for example the Great Shield of Aeneas at the finale of book 8. This shield depicts the history of Roman wars, for the purposes of this essay, most notably the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at Actium, it depicts Augustus as a saviour of Rome and suggests that like Hercules, he will become a god. His family ties are again recognised through the Julian star above his head. In this poem, 54 lines are dedicated to Augustus’ success,

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