FREE ESSAY ON THE PERSONIFICATION OF ROME

THE PERSONIFICATION OF ROME

Virgil spent a substantial amount of time and research on his masterpiece, The Aeneid. His
goal was to create a piece of literature that would be praised by King Augustus Caesar of
Rome. In order to properly display his devotion and gratitude towards his gracious
leader, Virgil wrote The Aeneid as an adoration of Rome. The book was designed to exalt
the country ruled by Augustus, while simultaneously giving a sense of the new, ordered
society. The features and virtues of Rome were indirectly personified through Aeneas.
This was proven by the background and roots of the creation of the book, the main
characters similarities to Augustus, and his dedication to duty and responsibility, which
resembled that of Rome and its people.
Virgil first befriended Octavian, or future emperor Augustus, when he was studying law
and rhetoric in Rome. During the reign of Augustus, poetry and prose flourished in Rome.
Both the king himself and his close advisor, Marcenas were patrons of influential poets
and writers of that time. As a result, the relationship between Augustus and Virgil
became one of respect for each other and their duty to society. With this is mind; Virgil
took on the task of creating an epic poem that would embody the characteristics and
hardships of what was historical Rome to him at that time. Virgil took on this task with
pride and dedicated years of his life to research and refinement of The Aeneid. 
Virgil visited various landmarks and sites that me writes about in his depiction of Rome.
Upon reaching Athens, and ultimately facing declining health conditions, he came across
King Augustus and was asked to accompany him to Italy. The trip was not beneficial to the
health situation at hand, and Virgil was not able to survive the voyage. As a final
request before his untimely death, Virgil asked that his work up until that point on The
Aeneid be destroyed. Such a request was due to the fact that he did not want to present
Augustus with an unfinished piece. However, Augustus disobeyed his dying wish and,
instead, put two of Virgil's friends on the job of finishing his epic . 
Augustus's decision to put others on the job of finishing The Aeneid hints at the idea
that the additions and editing could have been manipulated to glorify Augustus and Rome
more so than Virgil intended. Obviously, such a comment is only speculation, however it
is also insightful to the possible corruption of the epic on behalf of Augustus. Accusing
the Roman King of corruption is a bold statement, and quite possibly very untrue, yet at
the same time it is not inconceivable that Augustus may have been involved in glorifying
himself through the contents of Virgil's work. Rather than comply with the authors dying
wishes, he took his own route with the situation and chose who would finish the book.
Such a decision and his close ties with every aspect of it, may insinuate that Augustus
was involved in manipulating parts of The Aeneid as to give a positive, strong outlook on
Rome at that time. The King was fully aware that such literature could have influential
impact on its readers as to the trials and content of the Roman Empire for many years to
come.
The similarities between Aeneas and Augustus are blatantly portrayed in The Aeneid. The
main character shared an array of heroic and patriotic qualities with the King of Rome.
Both were courageous and willing to face battle by any means. Just as Aeneas was forced
to confront battle and death in order to salvage the strength of his country, Augustus
was courageous to rebuild Rome after years of civil war that seemed to wreck their
society . 
There was also the connection in the lineage of Augustus and Aeneas. As legend told,
Augustus is a distant heir to Aeneas . Such a fact could interpret The Aeneid to be a
direct praise and account of the reign of Augustus. One particular parallel relating to
that would be that Aeneas was indirectly the founder of Latium, which was later Rome.
Augustus, on the other hand, was often portrayed as the second founder of Rome. This was
in reference to the fact that he redeveloped their society and helped them to recover
from the distraught of civil war. The sheer notion that the two heroes are related in any
sense helps to support the fact that the character of Aeneas was a reflection of King
Augustus and his empire of Rome.
Augustus and Aeneas also shared the quality of being dedicated to the duties and
responsibilities of the given time, particularly their devotion to the gods. As written
in the epic, Aeneas abandoned his love for Dido to follow the command given to him by
Mercury, who was sent by Jupiter. Aeneas was informed that the duty given to him by fate
was to discover a new homeland. He had strayed away from that while pursuing his minds
desire to be with Dido. Mercury informed Aeneas that he must sail from Carthage
immediately and seek out the destiny that he was sent to. Due to his devotion to fate and
the gods, Aeneas acted immediately upon Mercury's request, and set his ships to leave.
All of which was done without informing Dido. She eventually discovered the truth on her
own, and was not happy with the decision of Aeneas. As a result, she committed suicide
and prayed for eternal hostility between her people and those of Aeneas (Virgil,
4:97-118). Augustus, too, felt similarly in his devotion to the gods. He put fate and
destiny above all else. Such dependency on the will of the gods was a crucial part of
leading Rome. Augustus recognized and exemplified just that.
Aeneas personified Rome and its emperor Augustus in nearly all aspects in The Aeneid.
Virgil purposely wrote an epic to depict the triumphs and tribulations of Rome through a
legendary character that even traced back to Augustus. The obvious connections involved
the background facts having to do with the creation of the book, the evident associations
between Aeneas and Augustus, and the dedication to duty and responsibility that can
easily be linked back to the Romans and their king. Rome proved to be a stout country
that would live on and create the basis for countries to come. Such a task required
countless amounts of devotion, courage, direction, and strength on behalf of the
individuals that inhabited it and lead it. All of the above also proved to be true of
Aeneas; the man that initially took homage on the grounds that would later be Rome. His
valor and heroism in war directed the path of the Roman Empire and arranged a firm
grounding for what was to come for its people. Aeneas set the foundation for Rome;
Augustus helped to build the strength of the empire. 
Bibliography
Africa, Thomas W. Rome of the Caesars. John Wiley & Sons, 1965.
Knight, W.F. Jackson trans. The Aeneid. Virgil. Penguin Books, 1956.
Kuttner, Ann L. Dynasty and Empire in the Age of Augustus. University of California
Press, 1995.
Mackie, C.J. The Characterisation of Aeneas. Scottish Academic Press, 1988.