HORACE (QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS), Roman poet of the Augustan Age: b. Venusia, Italy, 8 Dec. 65 s.c.; d. Rome, 27 Nov. 8 Ja.c. Our information about Horace's life is derived in the main from his own writings, which are supplemented in a few details by a brief biog raphy attributed to Suetonius. He was born at Venusia, a small town in Apulia, near the boundaries of Lucania and Samnium. His father was a freedman, and, according to Hor ace's own statement, followed the trade of a coactor, or collector. He seems to have pros pered, for he was able to purchase a small farm. He was not satisfied to send the boy to the local school of Flavius, which was patronized by the aristocracy of Venusia, but moved to Rome to give his son the best possible educa tional advantages. It is to his credit that he did this, not that Horace might better his posi tion in life, but for the sake of the education itself. At the capital he supplied his son with the means of making a creditable appearance, and he himself accompanied him to and from his classes, giving him moral instruction in a shrewd and homely way by pointing out men who offered examples to be followed or shunned. To this training Horace owed both his habit of self-examination and his consequent tem perance and self-control, and that keen ob servation of men and things which is one of his marked characteristics. He nowhere makes mention of his mother, who very likely died while he was an infant.
At Rome, Horace pursued the usual gram matical studies under the notorious uflogging and doubtless supplemented them by more advanced work in rhetoric and literature. It is, however, in marked contrast to the fullness of our information about the other details of his life, that we know little or nothing about the masters who influenced him or about the particulars of his education, except that he im plies that he attended the classes of several teachers. We may, however, infer something from the results. He certainly acquired a taste for reading, both in the literature of Greece and that of his native land, a habit which he continued to follow throughout his life. Some where about 46 B.c., in his 19th year, Horace went to Athens to study philosophy but he does not seem to have been especially at tracted by any particular school. In his early life he leaned toward the Epicurean doctrine, but as time went on he turned more and more to that of the Stoics, without, however, com mitting himself to either sect. The assassination
of Caesar and the arrival of Brutus in Athens in September 44 B.C. put an end to his quiet student life. He joined the army of the liber ators, and received a commission as tribune, though he was in no way fitted for the post. At Philippi he fled from the field with the rest of the routed forces, and, as he himself says, left his shield behind.* His humble estate was confiscated, but on his return to Rome in 41, when a general amnesty was granted by Oc tavian, he in some way secured a position as clerk in the qusestor's office, which furnished him the means of livelihood.
Horace freely admits that it was lack of money which first led him to write verse, and it was to his efforts in this line that he owed his advancement. He soon made the acquaint ance of Virgil and of Varius, by whom he was introduced to Maecenas. After a delay of several months, during which the astute states man doubtless took the young man's measure, his position was established by his admission to the select circle of Mwcenas' literary friends. This honor, as he says with pardonable pride, was due not to high birth, but to his personal character. In 33 he received from his patron a small estate, the famous Sabine farm, situated in the valley of the Digentia, a small stream flow ing into the Anio, about 30 miles northeast of Rome. Through Maecenas he became intimate with the most eminent men of the day, both in literary and in political life, including Augustus. Toward the emperor his attitude was one of dignified independence. He was quick to rec ognize the advantages of the peaceful and es tablished order of things which Augustus had brought about, and he celebrates it in many of his odes; but he did not hesitate to decline the position of private secretary which the emperor offered him. This he did without giving offense, for Suetonius quotes extracts from letters of Augustus which indicate a cordial and even an intimate friendship. Horace also preserved his independence in his relations with his bene factor, Maecenas, as appears from several pas sages in his works, although he showed a proper gratitude for his many favors.