In the year 35 Horace issued his first book of satires, to which he himself gave the title of 'Sermones,' or familiar talks. On this branch of literature, which the Romans claimed as their own creation, see SATIRE. He took as his model Lucilius, and at first seems to have fol lowed him closely, but he soon found himself out of sympathy with the earlier poet's severity in invective and disregard of form. In the fourth and tenth satires he subjects the work of his predecessor to a thorough criticism, and defines his own ideal of what satire should This book was complete in itself, and begins with an essay addressed to Maecenas. That the reception given to his first effort, which did not lack serious defects, was not wholly favor able, and that Horace had not satisfied himself, is evident from the poet's own words in the introductory essay of the second book, which seems to have appeared in the year 30. This book marks a great advance on the first, from which it differs in its externals in having no formal dedication and in being cast almost wholly in dialogue form, whereas in the first book Horace himself had been the chief speaker In the following year, urged by Maecenas, Hor ace published his first collection of lyrics, some of which doubtless represent his earliest at tempts at verse. It was a volume of 17 Epodes, or as he himself named them. He chose as his model the Greek iambic poet Archi lochus, and followed him closely in form. His work, however, has little of the bitter invective for which the Greek poet was notorious, and Horace shows no little originality both in his choice of themes and in his treatment of them. Six years later Horace, now a man of 42, pub lished the first three books of the Odes, which form a work complete in itself, opening with a dedication to Maecenas and closing with an epi logue in which he predicts his own immortal ity. In his choice of metres he followed espe cially Almus and Sappho, from whom he also took many of the subjects of his odes. But he shows the influence of many other Greek poets as well as considerable independence. Al though this work did not wholly escape host criticism, it at once placed Horace in the rank of Roman poets. This position was fL mally recognized in 17 B.c. through his appoint ment by Augustus to write the ode, the well known 'Carmen Smculare,) which was sung at the celebration of the secular games in that year.
His next work was a return to the field of satire, for the 'Epistles) belong with the (Ser to that branch of literature in the Ro man sense of the term. They differ from the (Sermones) in their greater finish and in their external form. Horace regarded the hexameter as the conventional form for satire, and the poetic epistle represents his third and final choice of form for his essays in that measure. The first book was apparently issued in the year 20. Horace was then a mature man, who had made his mark, and his tone is more assured and his self-appreciation is greater, though without any trace of egotism. The practical philosophy of life seemed to him the thing most worthy of serious consideration, and to teach ing this he proposed to devote the rest of his literary work. This book, which consists of 20 letters, of which some are genuine and some fictitious, is also dedicated to Maecenas. The
second book is devoted wholly to literary criti cism, a subject which lay within the domain of satire and had already been handled in some of the (Sermones.) The chronology of the book is somewhat difficult. It was probably published in the year 14. Whether the Ars Poetics formed the third letter of the second book or not is uncertain. It has been assigned to various years from 20 to 8 B.c., and if it really belongs to the latter date, it must have been published separately, perhaps after Hor ace's death, and is the latest of his works. The title which Horace gave it seems to have been ad Pisones,' but it received its pres ent designation at an early period. The second book of epistles begins with a letter addressed to Augustus, who is said by Suetonius to have taken Horace to task for dedicating none of his works to him. In his epistles, Horace had formally renounced lyric poetry. Nevertheless, at the express request of the emperor, he pub lished a fourth book of odes in 13 B.C. This collection, though admirable in form and tuning some of Horace's best work, is char acterized by certain perfunctoriness and lack of spontaneity. It was not addressed to Mz cenas, and is without a formal dedication. This was however, not due to any diminution of his regard for his patron, but to the fact that the book was published by the special re quest of Augustus.
Of the remaining years of the poet's life we know very little. Suetonius says that he died 27 Nov. 8 B.C., and there seems to be no ground for rejecting this testimony. No authentic por trait of Horace has come down to us. From his own allusions to his personal appearance, and from a letter of Augustus, quoted by Sue tonius, we learn that he was stout and short, with dark eyes and hair, but prematurely gray. He further tells us that he was quick to anger, but easily appeased. He never married, and of all the loves of which he sings, C,anara alone seems to be other than imaginary.
It is probably safe to say that Horace has been the most widely read of all Roman writ ers, not excepting Virgil, and that he has ap pealed to a more varied circle of readers than any of his countrymen. This statement applies especially to his odes, since it is to them that his popularity with the general,public is for the most part due. It has been said that the odes are not poetry of the highest type, and that when they are analyzed and their contents sub jected to searching criticism, the sum total of poetic material is scanty. This is unquestion ably true, yet it is equally true that their influ ence and popularity have none the less been great. This is due in part to the personality of the man and the sympathetic feeling which he rouses in his readers on account of his broad humanity; and in part to the fact that the very simplicity of the odes and their ease of comprehension appeal to readers of all classes. As Mackail says, he realized that lim ited as was his own range of emotions that of I mankind at large was still more so. In some notably in the love poems and the con vivial odes, we are conscious that he did not always feel even the emotions which he de scribes. In spite of all criticism, the one un doubted fact remains, that the odes of Horace have pleased readers of all epochs and all sorts and conditions of men.