Chapter 21

III of domestic animals, Book IV of bees (including the Myth of Aristaeus, ll. 315-558).

The _purpose of the Georgics_ is to ennoble the annual round of labour in which the rural life was passed and to help the policy of Augustus by inducing the people to go back to the land.

'The motto of the Georgics might well be said to be _Ora et labora_.' --Tyrrell.

'The Georgics represent the art of Vergil in its matured perfection, and in mere technical finish are the most perfect work of Latin literature.' --Mackail.

(3) The +Aeneid+, in twelve Books, written 29-19 B.C.

The _choice of the subject_ was influenced by the wish of Augustus to establish the legendary tradition of the connection of the gens Iulia with Aeneas through his son Iulus, and by Vergil's own desire to write an epic on the greatness of Rome, in the manner of Homer. Thus 'the centre of the mythical background was naturally Aeneas, as Augustus was the centre of the present magnificence of the Roman Empire. _We surpass all other nations_, says Cicero (_De Nat. Deor._ ii. 8), _in holding fast the belief that all things are ordered by a Divine Providence_. The theme of the _Aeneid_ is the building up of the Roman Empire under this Providence. Aeneas is the son of a goddess, and his life the working out of the divine decrees.' --Nettleship.

_Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento; Hae tibi erunt artes; pacisque imponere morem._

_Aen._ vi. 851-2.

'At a verse from the _Aeneid_, the sun goes back for us on the dial; our boyhood is recreated, and returns to us for a moment like a visitant from a happy dreamland.' --Tyrrell.

'In merely technical quality the supremacy of Vergil's art has never been disputed. The Latin Hexameter, _the stateliest measure ever moulded by the lips of man_, was brought by him to a perfection which made any further development impossible.' --Mackail.

'As Homer among the Greeks, so Vergil among our own authors will best head the list; he is beyond doubt the second epic poet of either nation.' --Quint. X. i. 85.

'The chastest poet and royalest, Vergilius Maro, that to the memory of man is known.' --Bacon.

APPENDIX VII.

NOTE

The following Chronological Outlines of Roman History and Literature are intended to illustrate the passages selected for translation. Important events and writers in contemporary History and Literature are added, in order to emphasise the comparative method of treating History.

The names of those Latin authors from whose works passages have been selected are printed in capitals in the Literature Column.

A fuller outline of the Imperial Period will be given in a later volume.

PERIODS OF LATIN LITERATURE.

PERIOD I. The Growth of Latin Literature 250-80 B.C. PERIOD II. The Golden Age of Latin Literature 80 B.C.-14 A.D. PERIOD III. The Silver Age of Latin Literature 14-117 A.D. PERIOD IV. The Later Empire from 117 A.D.

CHRONOLOGICAL OUTLINES OF ROMAN HISTORY AND LITERATURE

---------------------------------------- B.C. ROME. OTHER NATIONS. B.C. LITERATURE. B.C. ----------------------------------------