Portrayal of war

• virgil was 21 when the civil wars began and 40 when they ended with the death of Antony
• he experienced war for most of his adult life
• he questions the Homeric ideal of unthinking pursuit of war for personal glory
• he sees it more as a means to restore civilisation
• he does this by showing Aeneas as a hero who avoids conflict
• he interrupts his narrative in bk 7 with 'I shall speak of wars...For me this is the birth of the higher order of things'