Awarded the prize of The Vergilian
Society of America for best book on Virgil (2011).
From the Society's citation: “...the
contribution of this book lies above all in the compelling argument that
the political and military history of the 30s BC is more important for an
understanding of all three of Virgil's major works than it is often taken
to be...Powell's Virgil is unashamedly pro-Octavian, pro-Augustus, a poet
one of whose main goals was to address and palliate the weakness and unpopularity
of Octavian. This is not a fashionable approach to Virgil, and doubtless
many will resist Powell's political reading. But it will be impossible in
future to ignore Powell's careful and detailed arguments for the centrality
of the historical context...”
Philip Hardie and Julia Dyson Hejduk |