Horace
Part of The Encyclopedia of Southern Italy.
Horace: (full name: Quintus Horatius Flaccus). Roman satirical poet; born 65 BCE in Venusia. His father was believed to have been a manumitted slave. His family had enough wealth to allow Horace to study in Athens from 46 to 44 BCE. His “base” roots did not prevent him from joining the staff of M. Brutus in Asia (c43 BCE) and he fought at the Battle of Philippi. Following this defeat and the subsequent suicides of Cassius and Brutus, Horace left the military and began writing in 41 BCE. In c39/38 BCE he was he was already friends with fellow poets Vergil and Varius, who introduced him to C. Cilnius Maecenas, a leading patron of the arts. Horace published his first book of satires in 35 BCE and his second in 31 BCE. Horace’s Epistles 2.1 to Augustus were commissioned and published in 12 BCE. Horace died suddenly in 8 BCE.