Horace provides autobiographical information in his poetry. We learn that he was the son of a freedman who worked as a coactor argentarius 'auction broker' and publicanus 'tax collector'. Another source for his life is Suetonius who calls Horace a native of Venusium. He adds that Horace was short and fat, liked lascivious pictures, and spent most of his time in retirement on his farm.
Horace received an education at Rome under L. Orbilius Pupillus, and then in Athens, at the Academy, where he met Cicero. While in Greece, Horace joined the army of Brutus and fought at Philippi as military tribune. As a result of being on the losing side against Octavian and Mark Antony, Horace's family's property was confiscated.
In 39 B.C., after Augustus granted amnesty, Horace became a secretary in the Roman treasury. In 38, Horace met and became the client of the artists' patron Maecenas, who provided Horace with a villa in the Sabine Hills. Augustus favored Horace, commissioning him to write the Carmen Saeculare for the Secular Games of 17 B.C.
When Horace died at age 59, he left his estate to Augustus and was buried near the tomb of Maecenas.
The Works of Horace
- De Arte Poetica Liber - The Art of Poetry (18 B.C.)
- Carmen Saeculare - Poem of the Secular Games (17 B.C.)
- Carminum Libra IV - The Odes (4 Books) (starting 23 B.C.)
- Epistularum Libri II - The Epistles (2 Books) (starting 20 B.C.)
- Epodon Liber - The Epodes (30 B.C.)
- Sermonum Libri II (Satura) - The Satires (2 Books) (starting 35 B.C.)
- Satires I 35-34 B.C.
- Satires II 30-29
- Epodes 30-29
- Odes 1-3 23
- Epistulae I 20-19
- Epistula 2.2 19-18
- Carmen saeculare 17
- Epistula 2.1 c.15
- Odes 4 14 or later
- Ars poetica between 23-17 or after Odes 4.
Source: Latin Literature, by E. J. Kenney, P. E. Easterling, Wendell Vernon Clausen.
