Horace Basics | Horace Profile
Dates of Horace:
The Latin poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus or Horace was born December 8, 65 at Venusia, near Apulia, and died on November 27, 8 B.C.
Education:
Horace received an education at Rome under L. Orbilius Pupillus, and then in Athens, at the Academy, where he met Cicero.
Horace on the Losing Side Against the Second Triumvirate:
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.
Dates of Horace's Writing:
* 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.
* 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.
Honored by the Emperor:
In 39 B.C., after Octavian (Augustus) granted amnesty to those involved in the civil war sparked by the assassination of his uncle Julius Caesar, Horace became a secretary in the Roman treasury. In 38, he met and became the client of the artists' patron Maecenas, who provided Horace with a villa in the Sabine Hills (his Sabine Farm). In addition, Augustus favored him by commissioning him to write the Carmen Saeculare for the Secular Games of 17 B.C.
Ancient Biographical Information on Horace:
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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. Suetonius describes Horace as short and fat. He adds that Horace liked lascivious pictures and spent most of his time in retirement on his Sabine farm.
Claim to Fame:
Horace was the leading lyric poet and satirist in the Augustan Age. He wrote the Carmen Saeculare for Augustus to celebrate a very important set of public games.
