Publius Vergilius Maro, who is referred to as Virgil among English speaking people, was a poet who lived in ancient Rome between 70 BC and 19 BC, during the reign of King Augustus. Virgil is regarded as one of the greatest poets in the Latin language to have ever lived and his poems are still counted among the classics in the language. Virgil is the author of the Latin epic ‘Aeneid’, which is considered among the greatest epics in the Latin language and in addition to that, he penned the Georgics and Eclogues, which are also considered to be major works. Virgil is counted among the greatest poets to have ever emerged from the Roman Empire and rightly so, considering the body of work that he had produced during his career. Virgil’s body of work is not only considered to be the among the finest in Ancient Rome but his work also went on to influence poets who came after him and in fact, Dante’s Divine Comedy was heavily influenced by his work. Here are some of the best quotes by Virgil.
The gates of hell are open night and day;
Smooth the descent, and easy is the way:
But to return, and view the cheerful skies,
In this the task and mighty labor lies.
Virgil
Do the gods light this fire in our hearts or does each man's mad desire become his god?