59. Romulus and Remus nursed by the wolf-from an ancient bronze statue in the Capitoline Conservatory, 60. Anubis-from Vollmer, 61. The Nile as a river god-from a Roman coin, PAGE 559 560 560 BOOK IX. 62. Head of Juno-from the bust in the Villa Ludovisi at Rome, . 63. Calliope-from Vollmer, 561 565 64. Head of Medusa—from a cutting on agate in the Bourbon Museum, 568 BOOK X. 65. Jupiter and the Olympian gods-bas-relief on a Grecian altar, 66. Etruscan warriors-from Hope's Costumes, . 569 67. Nemesis, 571 576 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF VIRGIL. PUBLIUS VIRGILIUS* MARO was born at Andes, a village near Mantua, in the consulship of Pompey and Crassus, B. C. 70. Virgil's father possessed a farm at Andes sufficiently valuable to place his family in easy circumstances, and to afford him the means of educating his son under the most eminent teachers then living in Italy. The education of Virgil appears to have been commenced at Cremona, from whence, on assuming the manly gown, in his sixteenth year, he was transferred to the charge of new teachers at Milan. After pursuing his studies, probably for several years, at Milan, he placed himself under the instruction of the Greek poet and grammarian, Parthenius, who was then flourishing at Naples. At the age of twenty-three he left Naples for Rome, where he finished his education under Syro the Epicurean, an accomplished teacher of philosophy, mathematics, and physics. Virgil's love of literary pursuits, as well as the delicacy of his physical constitution, led him to choose a life of retire ment rather than that public career which was more generally deemed proper for a Roman citizen. Hence, at the age when aspiring young Romans usually entered upon the stirring scenes of political and military life, he withdrew from Rome to his native Andes, with the intention of devoting himself to * The name, as given in the older manuscripts and inscriptions, is Vergilius. |