ON January 16, in the year 27 before Christ, the Roman Senate conferred upon the great-nephew of Julius Caesar the title of Augustus. This event sealed the end of a long period of violence, disruption, and civil discord. For nearly one hundred years Rome had been in the hands of military adventurers whose successive inter-necine quarrels bled white the Roman ruling class. During the same time, Rome was also plagued by a serious barbarian invasion from the North, by the revolt of her Italian allies, by the slave rebellion of Spartacus and the conspiracy of Catiline. The uncertainty, disorder, and bloodshed in Italy caused by these and countless other minor conflicts deeply shocked and disturbed the civilized sensibilities of Roman society.

The Pax Augusta re-established "normalcy." Civil strife ceased, social stability once again prevailed. Rome had been founded a second time; the military virtues of Romulus and the religious piety of Numa Pompilius both found example in the character of the new Prince. Augustus proclaimed the dawn of another Golden Age and urged a return to the old Roman virtues of the mos maiorum: austerity, honesty, dedication, obedience, loyalty, courage, and religious devotion.

The Roman selected to celebrate in verse the values of the new regime was Virgil. It was in some ways a very unlikely choice. To be sure, Virgil was (together with his younger contemporary, Horace) the leading poet of the day. In his verses he had assimilated the charm of Theocritus and the sternness of Hesiod to Roman taste. His praise of Augustus had won him favor at the new Ministry of Culture headed by Maecenas. But the delicacy, refinement, and sophistication of