Horace was the son of a freed slave in Rome who became one of the nation's greatest poets.

Horace

Horace (65 BC to 8 BC) was the son of a freed slave in Rome who became one of the nation's greatest poets. His works espoused the virtues of moderation and simplicity.

Full name: Quintus Horatius Flaccus
Horace received his education in one of the best schools in Rome. In 46 BC he went to Athens and attended lectures at the Academy. After the assassination of Julius Caesar, he was appointed tribunus militum in the army of Brutus. In 42 BC, he commanded his troops against Antony and Octavian and was defeated. He fled back to the Sabellian hillside country where he was born, but found that his father's lands had been confiscated by the state. Horace returned to Rome during a period of general amnesty. In 36 BC He held a minor post as clerk of the treasury where he was befriended by Gaius Maecenas, a writer who also served as one of Octavian's political advisors. Through Maecenas, Horace met many other writers. Maecenas provided Horace with land and a home in the peaceful hillside away from the politically charged atmosphere of Rome. Horace retired to the countryside retreat to write, refusing later offers of political posts from Emperor Augustus.

In 35 BC Horace published the first book of the Satires, a compilation of 10 poems. In the poems, Horace rejected his previous life as a public official and political appointee and espoused a life of growth through serenity. He later published the Epodes, an attack on social abuses and blind ambition. In 29 BC he published the second book of Satires, then set his pen to composing the Odes, a collection of 88 poems on topics such as love, friendship, and beauty. The Odes were published in 23 BC. Horace thereafter abandoned the lyrical form, and turned to a free verse form that he called "literary letters." Horace wrote three books of Epistles in this form, which were published between 19 and 15 BC. He returned to the lyric form for the Secular Hymn, written at the behest of Augustus for the Secular Games. He resumed writing in this style for his final book of Odes. He died just a few months after his friend, Maecenas, in 8 BC.

A biography of Horace written by Suetonius contains excerpts of letters between Augustus and the poet in which we learn that Horace was short, chubby, prematurely gray, and quick to anger but just as quick to forgive.

Random Quote from Horace

"Oh imitators, you slavish herd."

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Internet Resources about Horace

• Brief History of Horace
• Horace - a biography
• Epodon Liber - in the original Latin
• Horati Flacci Opera - Horace's works, in Latin, including Sermones, Ars Poetica, Carmen Saeculare, Epodes, and Espistulae.
• How to Read Latin Poetry
• Augustan Ecomiums - this page contains an English translation of the Secular Hymn
• Horace's Villa - contains readings of Horace's poetry (in Latin) and video clips of his villa.
• We All Must Die - English translation by Samuel Johnson.

Related Books

• Horace
• Ancient Rome
• Roman History
• Latin poetry

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