la with the founder of the Valerian family who had aided the first
Brutus in establishing the republic as he now was aiding the last Brutus
in restoring it. The comparison is the more startling because our
Messalla later explicitly rejected all connection with the first Valerius
and seems never to have used the cognomen Publicola. The explanation of
Vergil's passage is obvious.[2] The poet hearing of Messalla's remarkable
exploit at Philippi saw at once that his association with Brutus would
remind every Roman of the events of 509 B.C., and that the populace would
as a matter of course acclaim the young hero by the ancient cognomen
"Publicola." Later, after his defeat and submission, Messalla had
of course to suppress every indication that might connect him with
"tyrannicide" stock or faction. The poem, therefore, must have been
written before Messalla's surrender in 42 B.C.

[Footnote 2: The argument is given in full in _Classical Philology_,
1920, p. 36.]

The poet's silences and hesitation in touching upon this subject of civil
war are significant of his mood. The principals of the triumph receive
not a word: his friend is the "glory" of a triumph led by men whose names
are apparently not pleasant memories. Nor is there any exultation over
a presumed defeat of "tyrants" and a restoration of a "republic." The
exploit of Messalla that Vergil especially stresses is the defeat of
"barbarians," naturally the subjection of the Thracian and Pontic tribes
and of the Oriental provinces earlier in the year. And the assumption is
made (1. 51 ff.) that Messalla has, as a recognition of his generalship,
been chosen to complete the war in Africa, Spain, and Britain. Most
significant of all is Vergil's blunt confession that his mind is not
wholly at ease concerning the theme (II. 9-12): "I am indeed strangely at
a loss for words, for I will confess that what has impelled me to write
ought rather to have deterred me." Could he have been more explicit in
explaining that Messalla's exploits, for which he has friendly praise,
were performed in a cause of which his heart did not approve? And does
not this explain why he gives so much space to Messalla's verses, and why
he so quickly passes over the victory of Philippi with an assertion of
his incapacity for doing it justice?

To the biographer, however, the passage praising Messalla's Greek
pastorals is the most interesting for it reveals clearly how Vergil came
to make the momentous