  publius vergilius maro () (october 15, 70 bc â september 21, 19 bc), usually called virgil or vergil  in english, was an ancient roman poet of the augustan period. he is known for three major works of latin literature, the eclogues (or bucolics), the georgics, and the epic aeneid. a number of minor poems, collected in the appendix vergiliana, are sometimes attributed to him. virgil is traditionally ranked as one of rome's greatest poets. his aeneid has been considered the national epic of ancient rome from the time of its composition to the present day. modeled after homer's iliad and odyssey, the aeneid follows the trojan refugee aeneas as he struggles to fulfill his destiny and arrive on the shores of italyâin roman mythology the founding act of rome. virgil's work has had wide and deep influence on western literature, most notably the divine comedy of dante, in which virgil appears as dante's guide through hell and purgatory. ==life and works== ===birth and biographical tradition===  virgil's biographical tradition is thought to depend on a lost biography by varius, virgil's editor, which was incorporated into the biography by suetonius and the commentaries of servius and donatus, the two great commentators on virgil's poetry. although the commentaries no doubt record much factual information about virgil, some of their evidence can be shown 
19_BC_deaths 1st-century_BC_Romans 1st-century_BC_poets 1st-century_BC_writers 70_BC_births Ancient_Roman_writers Bucolic_poets Didactic_poets Epic_poets Golden_Age_Latin_writers Latin-language_writers People_from_Mantua People_from_the_Province_of_Mantua Virgil