Vergil's pastoral poems -- Bucolica -- are not only some of the most prodigious from the Roman Antiquity to have survived, they are also the most elaborate. In this book Sven Lindahl interprets them in relation to the political situation of their context and points out a subtle 'architectural structure' in the collection. Shortly after young Vergil had written his pastorals, his friend Horace wrote his Epodes and in these poems, Lindahl sees a cunning dialogue with Vergil's work.