Editing Virgil (section)

===Childhood and education===

Virgil spent his boyhood in [[Cremona]] until his 15th year (55 BC), when he is said to have received the ''[[toga virilis]]'' on the very day that [[Lucretius]] died.{{sfn|Brummer|1912|p=2}} From Cremona, he moved to Milan, and shortly afterwards to Rome.{{sfn|Brummer|1912|p=2}} After briefly considering a career in [[rhetoric]] and law, the young Virgil turned his talents to poetry.<ref>Damen, Mark. [2002] 2004. "[http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320AncLit/chapters/11verg.htm Vergil and 'The Aeneid']." Ch. 11 in ''A Guide to Writing in History and Classics''. [[Utah State University]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20170216160433/http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320AncLit/chapters/11verg.htm Archived] from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2020.</ref> Despite the biographers statements that Virgil's family was of modest means, these accounts of his education, as well as of his ceremonial assumption of the ''toga virilis,'' suggest that his father was in fact a wealthy [[equites|equestrian]] landowner.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gordon |first=Mary L. |title=The Family of Vergil |journal=The Journal of Roman Studies |volume=24 |issue=1 |date=1934 |pages=1–12|doi=10.2307/297009 |jstor=297009 }}</ref>

He is said to have been tall and stout, with a swarthy complexion and a rustic appearance.{{sfn|Brummer|1912|p=2}} Virgil also seems to have suffered bad health throughout his life and in some ways lived the life of an invalid. Schoolmates considered Virgil extremely shy and reserved, and he was nicknamed "Parthenias" ("virgin") because of his social aloofness.