VIRGIL’S PLACEMENT OF THE GATES OF SLEEP ( <i>AEN.</i> 6.893–8)

Abstract Virgil’s placement of the Gates of Sleep immediately after Anchises’ review of Roman heroes and his instructions to Aeneas about the latter’s future mission can be seen as an hommage to the traditions of early Roman historiography and in particular to Fabius Pictor, in whose history Aeneas learned his destiny through dreams.