Virgil and the Water of Nola in the Renaissance

Abstract

Abstract The article focuses on the Renaissance debate about an anecdote reported by Gellius, Noctes Atticae 6.20, according to which Virgil erased the name of the city of Nola, in Campania, from Georgics 2.225, since the Nolans did not allow him to run some public water into a farm belonging to him. This essay offers an outline of how and where, between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the debate pro or contra Gellius developed. The epicentre of this debate was the Kingdom of Naples, since Gellius’ anecdote cast a shadow over Nola, which in the Renaissance period was a prosperous centre and wished to appear as the authentic descendant of the glorious ancient town that, according to Livy and Silius, was loyal to Rome during the Punic Wars. The citizens of Nola were concerned that Gellius’ words could be used to create an image of the city as one hostile to the most celebrated poet in antiquity, and thus damage its public reputation. Some voices emerged in defence of Nola while others argued against it. Whether as defenders or accusers, a number of the leading humanists of the Kingdom became involved in this querelle, namely Giovanni Pontano, Jacopo Sannazaro, and Ambrogio Leone, through whom the debate also reached the Netherlands, and Erasmus of Rotterdam.