AETNA, a Latin hexameter poem of 644 lines ascribed by the mss. to Virgil. This ascription is now universally rejected, but it is obvious that the author was an imitator of Virgil who was familiar with the Aeneid as well as the Bucolics and Georgics, and therefore lived at least as late as the time of Augustus. As there is no mention of the famous eruption of Vesuvius which de stroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum it is safe to presume that the work was composed before A.D. 79. The poem has been attributed by various authorities to Claudian, Cornelius Severus and Manilius, but modern opinion assigns it to Lucilius Junior, the friend of Seneca, whose interest in, and knowledge of scientific matters is alluded to in the philosopher's correspondence. He is known to have been a governor of Sicily and also to have written poems. Aetna discusses the possible scientific explanation of the volcano's action.
Text edited (192o) by Robinson Ellis in J. P. Postgate's Corpus Poetarum Latinorum.