In contrast to Horace, for example, who spent time in the paid employ of Augustus as a kind of civil servant, Vergil seems to have substantial means of his own. But, although I can't remember the details, I think Vergil did receive substantial sums of money and/or land from Augustus.
Good places to start looking:- the Vergilian "Lives"; Suetonius' Life of Augustus. There is a book by Oliver Lyne on Horace's political poetry with stuff on Horace's means and the rewards he got from Augustus, which contrasts Horace's position with Vergil's. Fairly vague, but might provide a starting point. Remember also that monetary reward was not the only incentive/pressure to promote Augustan values. Adrian Pay -----Original Message----- From: Monique Bouquet [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 12, 1999 6:53 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: VIRGIL: paid for propaganda? Rebecca Smyth wrote: > Salvete! > > I read a suggestion that we should not believe that Virgil was a paid > court poet writing propaganda for his patron. > I'm not sure that I agree with this, but reflecting on it has brought > several questions to my mind. > > Virgil's patron provided him with the leisure to write his poetry. > Was the poet therefore showing his gratitude by writing propaganda? > > Was Virgil making the most of this opportunity to write his poetry at > leisure? > Did he really desire to promote Augustus, or was he trying to show how > ridiculous the Emperor might be? > Was the "propaganda" actually humourous? > > If anyone could help to settle my confusion, I would be very grateful. > > Rebecca Smyth Un ouvrage francais "La mort de Virgile" de J. Y Maleuvre demontre que les relations entre Virgile et Auguste n'etaient pas des plus amicales et qu'Auguste aurait commandite la mort de Virgile Cordialement M.Bouquet > > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. > Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message > "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You > can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
