Abstract
If we examine Vergil's use of the adjective liber, which occurs almost as sparingly in the Aeneid (four times) and Georgics (three times) as libertas, we find that it often appears in context of or in reference to Turnus and/or to horses, with which he, like Homer's Hector, tends to be associated, as for example in Aen. 11.493, where Turnus is compared to a horse that has finally been set free. In this presentation I will examine the philosophical and political implications of these occurrences in Vergil.