Virgil: Aeneid VII-XII

This is the second volume of R. Deryck Williams' classic edition of the Aeneid, covering books VII to XII. It includes the Latin text, accompanied by an English introduction, along with extensive commentary and notes by this renowned Virgilian scholar.

Designed for upper school and university students, the commentary interprets the poetic methods and intentions of the Aeneid. It explains not only what Virgil says but also how he says it and why he chooses to express it in that particular manner.

The outstanding and long-lived "red Macmillan" series of editions survived on the basis of T. E. Page’s perceptive and exemplary editions of Virgil, dating from the closing decade of the nineteenth century. In the early 1970s, replacement editions were prepared by the eminent Virgilian scholar R. D. Williams, to accommodate more modern approaches to Virgil and the needs of new generations of upper school and university students.

The scale of the edition required brevity and immediate relevance to the text; however, Williams achieved his aim of being "concise rather than omissive". His notes remain an example of clarity and good sense for any student approaching the second half of the Aeneid, in whole or in part.