ABSTRACT
The problem of the Culex has received a great deal more attention than is demanded by the intrinsic worth of the poem. It is a work of little merit, and, though it differs considerably from any previous epyllion, it remains isolated and has inspired no imitators. In itself it is little more than a literary curiosity, the work of an author who, while scrupulously preserving the epyllion form, has endeavoured to introduce a new type of subject. In a consideration of the history of the epyllion it deserves study as an excellent example of the form; but its importance is enormously increased, if it is indeed an early work of Vergil.
