Critics have always expressed their admiration for the comprehensive scope of the Aeneid, its depth of learning, its finished artistry, and its wide range of observation.  The substantial character of the poem is not a mystery to us when we consider how long its theme lay in the poet’s mind.

VII

EPICUREAN POLITICS

Caesar fell on the Ides of March, 44.  The peaceful philosophic community at Herculaneum “seeking wisdom in daily intercourse” must have felt the shock as of an earthquake, despite Epicurean scorn for political ambition.  Caesar had been friendly to the school; his father-in-law, Piso, had been Philodemus’ life-long friend and patron, and, if we may believe Cicero, even at times a boon companion.  Several of Caesar’s nearest friends were Epicureans of the Neapolitan bay.  Their future depended wholly upon Caesar.  Dolabella was Antony’s colleague in that year’s consulship, while Hirtius and Pansa had been chosen consuls for the following year by Caesar.  To add to the shock, the liberators had been led by a recent convert to the school, Cassius.

The community as a whole was Caesarian, a fact explained not wholly by Piso’s relations to Philodemus and the friendly attitude of so many followers of Caesar, but also by the consideration that the leading spirits were Transpadanes:  Vergil, Varius and Quintilius, at least.  But at Rome the political struggle soon turned itself into a contest to decide not whether Caesar’s regime should be honored and continued in the family—­Octavius seemed at first too young to be a decisive factor—­but whether Antony would be able to make himself Caesar’s successor.  When in July Brutus and Cassius were out-manoeuvered by Antony, and Cicero fled helplessly from Rome, it was Piso who stepped into the breach, not to support Brutus and Cassius, but to check the usurpation of Antony.  This gave Cicero a program.  In September he entered the lists against Antony; in December he accepted the support of Octavian who had with astonishing daring for a youth of eighteen collected a strong army of Caesar’s veterans and placed himself at the service of Cicero and the Senate in their warfare against Antony.  Spring found the new consuls, Hirtius and Pansa, both Caesarians, with the aid of Octavian, Caesar’s heir, besieging Antony at the bidding of the Senate in the defence of Decimus Brutus, one of Caesar’s murderers!  Such was Cicero’s skill in generalship.  Of course Caesarians were not wholly pleased with this turn of events.  Cicero’s success would mean not only the elimination of Antony—­to which they did not object—­but also the recall of Brutus and Cassius, and the consequent elimination of themselves from political influence.  Piso accordingly began to waver.  While assuring the Senate of his continued support in their efforts to render Antony harmless, he refused to follow Cicero’s leadership in attempting the complete restoration of Brutus’ party.  Cicero’s Philippics dwell with no little concern upon this phase of the question.