A didactic acrostic in Virgil, Aeneid 6.847–850.

This article focuses on the identification of a deliberate backwards acrostic spelling "doce" (Latin for "teach") in Book 6 of Virgil's *Aeneid*, specifically within Anchises' speech about Rome's future mission. The acrostic aligns with the repeated use of the verb *doceo* ("to teach") in the passage, reinforcing a didactic tone reminiscent of ancient instructional poetry. The article argues that this wordplay is intentional, supported by thematic and intertextual connections to Lucretius' didactic poem *De rerum natura*, and fits within Virgil's known use of reverse acrostics in his works. This discovery suggests that Virgil embedded subtle didactic elements in the *Aeneid*, linking it to the didactic genre through both form and content.