Appendix Vergiliana
The Appendix Vergiliana is a collection of Latin poems traditionally ascribed as being the juvenilia (work written as a youth) of Virgil (70–19 BC). Many of the poems in the Appendix were considered works by Virgil in antiquity. However, recent studies suggest that the Appendix contains a diverse collection of minor poems by various authors from the 1st century AD. Scholars are almost unanimous in considering the works of the Appendix spurious, primarily on grounds of style, metrics, and vocabulary. Composition The collection most likely formed in Late Antiquity. The individual components are older: ancient authors considered the Culex to be a youthful work of Virgil's and the Ciris is ascribed to Virgil as early as Donatus' Vita. Quintilian quotes Catalepton 2 as the work of Virgil. The Elegiae in Maecenatem cannot possibly be by Virgil, as Maecenas died eleven years after Virgil in 8 BC. The poems are all probably by different authors, except for the Lydia and Dirae which may have a common author, and have been given various, nebulous dates within the 1st century AD. The Culex and the Ciris are thought to have been composed under the emperor Tiberius. Some of the poems may be attempts