Sacro-Legal Exegesis of Vergil in Late Antiquity.

This paper sheds new light on a mode of late antique Vergilian interpretation, according to which Aeneas, Dido, and other characters in the Aeneid observe the regulations of Roman ritual norms, even standing in for priests including the famous flamen and flaminica Dialis. I argue that this mode of interpretation, which I refer to as sacro-legal exegesis, was a productive endeavor in Late Antiquity, offering members of the pagan aristocracy a means for locating and formulating the practice of traditional Roman cult within the pages of the Aeneid. I close by offering some parallels to a mode of rabbinic midrash according to which the biblical patriarchs followed the commandments prior to the revelation at Sinai. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]