Virgilio nel circolo di Messalla : Ciris, Catalepton 9 e la letteratura di età tiberiana

Two poems of the Appendix Vergiliana, Ciris and Catalepton 9, allude to a patronage relationship between Virgil and Messalla Corvinus, which is not attested in other sources. By reviewing the reasons that suggest interpreting these texts as post-Augustan impersonations of a “young Virgil”, it is proposed to date them to the Tiberian age. Not only would they conform in many ways to Tiberius' literary tastes (Suet. Tib. 70), but the very choice of Messalla as a patron could be linked to the political and cultural influence of his sons Messalinus and Cotta. [Publisher's text]