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Which child may have been the subject of Virgil’s fourth Eclogue?

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Ancient Roman mosaic showing the poet Virgil seated and writing, flanked by the muses Clio and Melpomene, displayed in a decorative border. — Virgil Virgil (centre) holding a scroll with a quotation from the *Aeneid* and flanked by the muses Clio and Melpomene, mosaic, early 3rd century ce; in the Bardo National Museum, Tunis, Tunisia.

The fourth Eclogue by Virgil is an elevated poem that prophesies the birth of a child who will restore the Golden Age and bring peace to the world. While the poem has been historically referred to as the "Messianic" Eclogue due to later interpretations viewing it as a prophecy of Christianity, scholars suggest it was written between 41 and 40 BCE during a period of hope for the end of civil war.1

It is considered most likely that the child referred to in the poem was the expected offspring of the triumvir Mark Antony and his wife Octavia, who was the sister of Augustus. Although the poem may have been written for this specific occasion, it transcends that context to present a broader symbolic vision of global harmony.1