Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is celebrated for composing three of the most distinguished poems in Latin literature: the Eclogues (or Bucolics), the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid. Although a number of minor poems, collected in the Appendix Vergiliana, were attributed to him in ancient times, modern scholarship often questions his authorship of these works.

Virgil's influence on Western literature is profound, most notably demonstrated through Dante's Divine Comedy, where Virgil appears as the guide through Hell and Purgatory. He has been traditionally ranked as one of Rome's greatest poets. Since its composition, the Aeneid has been considered the national epic of ancient Rome, a testament to his enduring legacy.