Publius Vergilius Maro was born October 15, 70 B.C., in the northern Italian village of Andes, a town just outside the city of Mantova, known today as Mantua. Although his name is correctly spelled "Vergil," the variant "Virgil" is more commonly used. This name derives from the Latin word virga, meaning "wand," which reflects the belief, prevalent during the Middle Ages, that a poet is a great magician, with the power to conjure dead spirits.
The eldest of three sons — his brother Silo died in childbirth, and Flaccus, his other brother, lived only to young manhood — Virgil came from a prosperous family. His father, an industrious potter and cattle farmer, married his landlord's daughter, worked at beekeeping, and invested in the lumber industry. An ambitious man, he strove to provide Virgil with an aristocratic education to prepare him for a law career.
