The wolf does not care about the number of sheep. This is one of the quotes of the great Roman poet Virgil.
His influence in Antiquity is comparable to that of Homer. It is no coincidence that Dante Alighieri chooses Virgil as his companion in the Underworld.
Virgil's contribution to the propaganda of Rome as a world power is the poem “Aeneid“. The epic poem was written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC. It tells the legend of the Trojan Aeneas, who goes to Italy and becomes the ancestor of the Romans. Later, he married the daughter of the local king Latinus and created a dynasty from which the great Roman Empire was born.
Emperor Augustus was personally interested in the creation of a national epic and unobtrusively followed Virgil's work, providing him with all-round support. This was especially important, since, according to experts, Virgil was already seriously ill with tuberculosis during the years of his work on the “Aeneid“.
In 19 BC. the poet undertook a journey to Greece. He intended to live here for three years and spend all his time working on the final processing of the “Aeneid”. In Athens, Virgil met with Emperor Augustus, after a conversation with him he decided to interrupt his journey and return home. Some biographers explain the poet's urgent departure with the exacerbation of his illness after the poet caught a cold in Megara. On the ship, his condition worsened.
The poet died on September 21, 19 BC in the Italian city of Brindisi.
The rumor spread through the cities and he quickly gained strength. He often liked to say Virgil.
For the first time, Virgil's poems began to be studied in ancient Roman schools in 26 BC. Since then, they have been mandatory in the programs of the best schools in the Europeanized world. Other major works of the poet are “Bucolics“ (“Eclogues“) and “Georgics“.
In antiquity, several other small poems were also attributed to Virgil. Usually, these poems appear under the name “Virgil's Appendix“.