# Virgil — The City of God character guide > Virgil in The City of God by Augustine of Hippo. **Role:** supporting **First appearance:** 0002-part-i-book-i ## Snapshot Rome's great poet, quoted by Augustine both for his vision of Roman destiny and as evidence of the pagan world's moral and theological confusion. ## Who they are Virgil stands on the pagan side of Augustine's ledger, the poet whose Aeneid gave Rome its sense of divine mission and whose lines Augustine turns against the philosophers. The tension is that Rome's own best poet cannot deliver the city from its unhinged morals or its contradictory theorizings about the gods. His presence matters because Augustine needs a worthy opponent: to show that even Rome's finest imagination falls short of the city whose builder and maker is God. ## In the story ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-iii) Roman poet whose works, especially the Aeneid, are cited to illustrate the conquered state of the Trojan gods. ### [XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxii) Quoted for the line about gods abandoning their shrines. ### [Whether the gods, whom the Greeks and Romans worshipped in common, were justified in permitting the destruction of Ilium](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-ii) Roman poet quoted regarding Neptune's will to destroy perjured Troy. ### [Chapter X: The Price of Empire and the Illusion of Peace](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-x) Roman poet quoted for his lines on the decline into war and greed. ### [Of the statue of Apollo at Cumae, whose tears are supposed to have portended disaster to the Greeks, whom the god was unable to succour.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xi) Augustine references Virgil's depiction of Diana mourning for Camilla and Hercules weeping for Pallas. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xiv) Quoted regarding the departure of gods and the grief of Aeneas. ### [Of the first Roman consuls, the one of whom drove the other from the country, and shortly after perished at Rome by the hand of a wounded enemy, and so ended a career of unnatural murders](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xvi) Poet quoted by Augustine for his lines on Brutus slaying his sons, expressing horror at the deed despite praising the motive. ### [Book V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-book-v) Roman poet quoted for his verses on Roman glory and destiny. ### [By What Virtues the Ancient Romans Merited That the True God, Although They Did Not Worship Him, Should Enlarge Their Empire](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xii) Roman poet quoted on Roman destiny and arts of ruling. ### [Chapter XIX: True Glory vs. the Desire for Domination](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xix) Referenced for the ancient use of the word 'tyrant' in the Aeneid. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-ix) Poet quoted for his verse on the happiness of knowing causes. ### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxvii) Quoted for his poetic account of Saturn's exile by Jove, used to illustrate the human origins of the gods. ### [Book IX: The Mediation of Demons and the Unique Mediation of Christ](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-book-ix) Quoted for his description of Aeneas as unmoved by tears, illustrating Stoic ideal of controlling passions. ### [Chapter IV: The Opinion of the Peripatetics and Stoics About Mental Emotions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-iv) Quoted for his description of Aeneas as immovable by tears, exemplifying the wise man's control. ### [Of the power delegated to demons for the trial and glorification of the saints, who conquer not by propitiating the spirits of the air, but by abiding in God.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxi) Quoted for his portrayal of Juno and the advice given to Aeneas to propitiate her, representing pagan religious error. ### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxvii) Quoted for his poetic reference to the Cumaean sibyl's prophecy about Christ. ### [Porphyry's Emendations of Platonism on the Soul's Return](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-xxx) His poetic description of souls returning to bodies from Lethe is cited as an example of the Platonic cycle. ### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xix) Mentioned as borrowing from Plato's system regarding the return of souls to bodies. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-iii) Cited for his poetic expression of the Platonic view that the body is the source of emotions and vices. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-v) Quoted for Aeneas's lines expressing surprise that souls would return to bodies. ### [Of the long life and greater stature of the antediluvians](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-ix) Quoted as a poet who affirmed the greater stature of ancient men. ### [Of the fall of the kingdom of Argos, when Picus the son of Saturn first received his father’s kingdom of Laurentum](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xv) Mentioned for his poetic account of Saturn's reign in Italy. ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xii) Quoted as the poet who described Cacus's cave as 'reeking with recent slaughter.' ### [Book XXI: The Eternal Punishment of the Damned](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-book-xxi) Quoted regarding purgatorial punishments after death, representing the Platonist view. ### [Chapter III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-iii) Quoted for the line 'Hence wild desires and grovelling fears, And human laughter, human tears.' ### [That All Marvels Are Not of Nature's Production, but That Some Are Due to Human Ingenuity and Others to Diabolic Contrivance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-vi) Quoted for his description of a powerful magician, illustrating the extent of diabolic power. ### [Chapter XIII: Against the Opinion of Those Who Think That the Punishments of the Wicked After Death Are Purgatorial](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xiii) Quoted for his poetic depiction of purgatorial punishments after death, which Augustine uses to represent the Platonic position he critiques. ### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxvii) Cited for a line about those who served others, paralleling Christian teaching on alms. ### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/endnotes) His Aeneid is frequently cited for classical parallels and moral examples. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters/virgil - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters