"I was born on 15th October in the first consulship of Pompey the Great and Marcus Licinius Crassus, in a ditch near Mantua. I don't think mother ever forgave my father that ditch. She certainly would not have forgiven me, if I had not gratified her social ambitions by showing an academic bent."
With these words novelist David Wishart introduces us to his not always heroic hero, Publius Vergilius. Better known as Virgil, scholar, visionary, idealist, poet and author of timeless works and a momentous epic.
Through his eyes we gain an oblique view of great historical events: the assassination of Caesar, the downfall of Pompey and the tragedy of Anthony and Cleopatra. He resists involvement in politics until fate leads him inexorably to the fateful meeting with Octavian that is to lead to the commission of his masterpiece, 'The Aeneid'.
