The poet Publius Vergilius Maro, Virgil, spent the last eleven years of his life, until his death in Brundisium on 21 September 19 BC, on the Aeneid, a Latin epic in twelve books telling how the Trojan hero Aeneas, escaping the burning of Troy, travels to Italy to found the line that would build Rome. Dissatisfied with the unfinished manuscript, Virgil asked that it be burned, but Augustus ordered it to be published. The poem gave Rome a founding myth tied to the new emperor's family and a model of epic. Dante chose Virgil as his guide through Hell and Purgatory.
Before and after
- from 27 BCE to 284 CEPrincipate
- from January 27 BCE to January 395 CERoman Empire
- 27 BCEOrigins of Pula Arena
- from 27 BCE to 180 CEPax Romana
- c. 20 BCEVirgil's Aeneid is published
- 19 BCEConstruction of Western Wall
- 21 September 19 BCEDeath of Virgil
- from 18 BCE to 660 CEThree Kingdoms of Korea
- from 18 BCE to 660 CEBaekje
More in Art, literature & culture
- c. 2,100s BCEEpic of Gilgamesh
- c. 1,500 BCEOrigins of Zoroastrianism
- 551 BCEBirth of Confucius
- 6th century BCEOrigins of Judaism
- 33 CEOrigins of Christianity
- 381 CEFirst Council of Constantinople
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 1st century BCE.