Horace

HORACE (Roman, 65-8 BCE)

Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. He lived through the period when Rome went from republic to empire, and though he was an officer in the republican army, he managed to find favor with the new regime.

He wrote in several poetic genres:

• Satires: combining Greek philosophy with Roman good sense;
• Epodes: "blame poetry," which seeks to discredit and humiliate its targets;
• Odes: four books dedicated to various subjects (Love, Friendship, Wine, Religion, etc.);
• Epistles: not really letters, but essays; the second of his two is the Ars Poetica, sometimes considered a separate work, on the arts of poetry and drama; and
• the Carmen Saeculare: a hymn in the form of a prayer to Apollo and Diana.

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