Virgil the Virgin and the Creation of the Authoritarian State

Among the poets of early Augustan Rome, Virgil had a niche: nostalgia. He wrote poems about the Roman countryside, farmers, and a mourned, simpler past that may have never existed. And when Augustus came to power, he recognized Virgil’s skill as one he could exploit.

Augustus commanded Virgil to write the Aeneid—an epic poem tying him (Augustus) to an ancient past going all the way back to the Illiad, and elevating his family as descended from Venus and divinely appointed to rule. Virgil’s act of resistance was endlessly writing this poem, never finishing it, and ordering it burned when he died (though Augustus had other ideas).

What happens to an artist’s art when it is used in a way that transcends its creation? And how does an ancient poem connect to the Trump Administration’s war with the Smithsonian?

It turns out one of fascism’s most potent weapons is nostalgia. Join us as we dig into it. Get the show notes here.