R. Alden Smith is Professor of Classics at Baylor University. He is the author of Poetic Allusion and Poetic Embrace in Ovid and Virgil (1998) and The Primacy of Vision and Virgil’s Aeneid (2005), as well as many articles on Latin and Greek poetry, and Greek epigraphy.

“The real gem of this book comes in Chapter 6, where Smith offers a wonderfully concise and comprehensible overview of the Vergilian manuscripts with examples of textual problems that he teases out carefully to show why and how editors emend; teachers who wish to introduce textual criticism to advanced Latin students or to explain how Vergil got from ancient Rome to modern readers will find this section a superb resource . . . Chapter 8 closes the volume with ample suggestions for further reading that will be especially useful for those teaching Vergil for the first time, including much readily accessible material that can be used to fill those gaps in Smith’s book that will present difficulties to newcomers to Vergil and Classical literature.”  (Classical Journal,  1 December 2012)"Overall this is a highly successful volume ... He is to be commended on producing a sensitive, sensible, and thoroughly useful book that will be of great help to students, teachers, and those who would like to gain insights on Vergilian matters and scholarship." (Vergilius, 2011)"The present book contains eight chapters, one of the most valuable of which is a handsomely illustrated guide to the Virgilian manuscript tradition that constitutes a welcome primer with useful analyses of several textual cruces ... While volumes of this sort have little to offer seasoned scholars, S.'s book will be of interest and use to students of Virgil at all levels. The more experienced, too, will care to see how a gifted Virgilian treats both familiar problems and less travelled Maronian byways." (The Classical Review, 2011)"Smith has written a guide that should become a standard for the next generation of Vergilian readers." (Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 11 June 2011)

• List of Figures viiiPreface ixNote on Abbreviations xi1 Generalizing about Virgil: Dialogue, Wisdom, Mission 12 Publius Vergilius Maro: A Preamble 263 Eclogue Dialogues 404 The Georgics: A Repast of Wisdom 755 The Aeneid: Mission and Telos 1046 Virgilian Manuscripts: Codex to Critical Edition 1507 The Virgilian Legacy 1688 Further Reading 188Index 205