Asinius Pollio in Vergil Eclogue 8

In 1971, G. W. Bowersock reopened the question of Vergil's addressee in Eclogue 8, contending that the unnamed honorand is not Asinius Pollio, as most modern scholars have always assumed, but Octavian. His contention has inspired or provoked a good deal of further discussion in favor of one or the other candidate. It has also given rise to a down-dating, not only of Eclogue 8, but of the entire collection. The questions of identification and date may never be finally resolved. Nevertheless, some important arguments in favor of the traditional view have been overlooked, and a few of the weaker ones advanced by the revisionists still await rebuttal. In this paper I will briefly review the evidence and add to the case for Pollio and against Octavian.