Virgil's Fourth Eclogue: The Pagan Prophecy Christians Linked to Jesus
Composed in 40 BC, Virgil's fourth eclogue from The Eclogues predicted the arrival of a child who would usher in peace for the Roman Republic. Early Christians identified similarities with Old Testament prophecies regarding Jesus, especially those in Isaiah. The identity of the child remains a topic of discussion: Asinius Gallus asserted he was the child, while others proposed Augustus and Scribonia's offspring, Mithras, or interpreted it as a representation of a Golden Age. Virgil alluded to the Cumaean Sibyl, referencing Sibylline Oracles. Emperor Constantine approved the eclogue around 312 or 313 AD, associating it with Christ's return. Augustine supported this view, whereas Theophilus of Antioch and Jerome dismissed the connection. The eclogue later inspired poets and thinkers and may have acted as political propaganda for Pollio.
Key facts
- Virgil wrote the fourth eclogue in 40 BC as part of The Eclogues (also called The Bucolics).
- The poem predicted a child who would usher in a golden age of peace and prosperity.
- Some early Christians believed it foretold Jesus due to parallels with Isaiah.
- Asinius Gallus, son of Gaius Asinius Pollio, claimed to be the prophesied child.
- Virgil referenced the Cumaean Sibyl (line 4), drawing on the Sibylline Oracles.
- Emperor Constantine sanctioned the eclogue in his Oration to the Assembly of Saints (312 or 313 AD).
- Augustine endorsed it as prophecy in his Commentary on the Book of Romans.
- Jerome rejected the link, saying Virgil could not be called Christian.
- Dante placed Virgil in Limbo and made him his guide in Inferno.
- T. S. Eliot's 1951 essay called it an 'accidental' prophecy linking pagan and Christian worlds.
Entities
Artists
- Virgil
- Publius Vergilius Maro
- Julius Caesar
- Marcus Junius Brutus
- Asinius Gallus
- Gaius Asinius Pollio
- Augustus
- Scribonia
- Mithras
- Servius the Grammarian
- Isaiah
- Paul
- Epimenides
- Aratus
- Constantine
- Lactantius
- Augustine
- Theophilus of Antioch
- Jerome
- Dante Alighieri
- Jacopo Sannazaro
- René Rapin
- Alexander Pope
- Theodor Haecker
- C. S. Lewis
- T. S. Eliot
- Raffaele Giannetti
- Lorenzo di Credi
- Michelangelo
- Frederic Leighton
- Orazio Gentileschi
- Raphael
- Piero della Francesca
- Philippe de Champaigne
- William-Adolphe Bouguereau
- Henri Delaborde
- Jeremiah
- Shakespeare
Institutions
- The Collector
- Wikimedia Commons
- Artvee
- The Royal Collection
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art
- Musée d’Orsay
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
Locations
- Mantua
- Italy
- Rome
- Athens
- Cumae
- Antioch
- France
- England
- Germany