Virgil's Works with English Translation

What it is

This is volume II of the Loeb Classical Library edition of Virgil's works, printed in London and New York in 1918 and scanned for the Internet Archive. It contains Aeneid books VII–XII and the Minor Poems, with the Latin text and an English translation by H. Rushton Fairclough, professor of Latin at Stanford University. The Internet Archive record dates the volume to 1916.

Why it matters

Virgil wrote the Aeneid in the late first century BCE, a national epic that traced the legendary origins of Rome through the Trojan hero Aeneas. The Minor Poems included here are shorter works attributed to Virgil. A bilingual edition like this one lets modern readers check the Roman poet's own words against a translation.

Look closer

• How does the English translation handle the sound and rhythm of the Latin verse?
• Why might an editor have placed the translation on facing pages with the Latin?
• What might a modern translation leave out about Virgil's original audience?