LIFE OF HORACE

QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUs of Venusia had for a father, as he himself writes, a freedman who was a collector of money at auctions; but it is believed that he was a dealer in salted provisions, for a certain man in a quarrel thus taunted Horace : "How often have I seen your father wiping his nose with his arm!" Horace served as tribune of the soldiers in the war of Philippi, at the instance of Marcus Brutus, one of the leaders in that war. When his party was vanquished, he was pardoned and purchased the position of a quaestor's clerk. Then contriving to win the favour, first of Maecenas and later of Augustus, he held a prominent place among the friends of both. How fond Maecenas was of him is evident enough from the well known epigram:

"If that I do not love you, my own Horace, more than life itself, behold your comrade leaner than Ninnius." a

But he expressed himself much more strongly in his last will and testament in this brief remark to Augustus: "Be as mindful of Horatius Flaccus as of myself." Augustus offered him the post of secretary, as appears in this letter of his to Maecenas: "Before this I was able to write my

a

Ninnius is unknown, but if the reading be correct, he was notorious for his leanness; cf. Telegenius, Claud. xl. 3.

ipse sufficiebam scribendis epistulis amicorum, nunc occupatissimus et infirmus Horatium nostrum a1 te cupio abducere. Veniet ergo ab ista parasitica mensa ad hanc regiam, et nos in epistulis scribendis iuvabit." Ac ne recusanti quidem aut suscensuit quicquam aut amicitiam suam ingerere desiit. Exstant epistulae, e quibus argumenti gratia pauca subieci : "Sume tibi aliquid iuris apud me, tamquam si convictor mihi fueris; recte enim et non temere feceris, quoniam id usus mihi tecum esse volui, si per valitudinem tuam fieri possit." Et rursus: "Tui qualem habeam memoriam, poteris ex Septimio quoque nostro audire; nam incidit ut illo coram fieret a me tui mentio. Neque enim si tu superbus amicitiam nostram sprevisti, ideo nos quoque ανθυπερηφανοῦμεν. Praeterea saepe eum inter alios iocos “purissimum penem 3 et" homuncionem lepidissimum appellat, unaque et altera liberalitate locupletavit. Scripta quidem eius usque adeo probavit mansuraque perpetuo opinatus est, ut non modo Saeculare carmen componendum iniunxerit sed et Vindelicam victoriam Tiberii Drusique, privignorum suorum, eumque coegerit propter hoc tribus Carminum libris ex longo intervallo quartum addere; post Sermones vero quosdam lectos nullam sui mentionem habitam ita sit questus: "Irasci me tibi scito, quod non in a, added by Nannius. 2 Casaubon. 3 penem, Muretus; pene, mss.

"2

1

4

4 perpetuo, V; the other mss. have perpetua.

a It seems probable that there is a word-play on the double sense of rex, "king" and "wealthy patron," since Augustus would hardly use regiam literally of his table. The meaning would then be "let the parasite change tables (and patrons)."

See Th. Birt, Müller's Handbuch, 13. 3. 166.

letters to my friends with my own hand; now overwhelmed with work and in poor health, I desire to take our friend Horace from you. He will come then from that parasitic table of yours to my imperial board, and help me write my letters." a Even when Horace declined, Augustus showed no resentment at all, and did not cease his efforts to gain his friendship. We have letters from which I append a few extracts by way of proof: "Enjoy any privilege at my house, as if you were making your home there; for it will be quite right and proper for you to do so, inasmuch as that was the relation which I wished to have with you, if your health had permitted." And again, “How mindful I am of you our friend Septimius can also tell you; for it chanced that I spoke of you in his presence. Even if you were so proud as to scorn my friendship, I do not therefore return your disdain.' Besides this, among

other pleasantries, he often calls him " a most immaculate libertine " and "his charming little man,' and he made him well to do by more than one act of generosity. As to his writings, Augustus rated them so high, and was so convinced that they would be immortal, that he not only appointed him to write the Secular Hymn, but also bade him celebrate the victory of his stepsons Tiberius and Drusus over the Vindelici, and so compelled him to add a fourth to his three books of lyrics after a long silence. Furthermore, after reading several of his "Talks,” c the Emperor thus expressed his pique that no mention was made of him: "You must know that I am

Sermones was apparently the title which Horace gave his 66 'Satires " ; the term saturae is broader and covers the Epistles as well; see p. 488 and note b.

plerisque eius modi scriptis mecum potissimum loquaris; an vereris ne apud posteros infame tibi sit, quod videaris familiaris nobis esse?" Expressitque eclogam ad se, cuius initium est:

"Cum tot sustineas et tanta negotia solus, Res Italas armis tuteris, moribus ornes,

Legibus emendes: in publica commoda peccem, Si longo sermone morer tua tempora, Caesar.” Habitu corporis fuit brevis atque obesus, qualis et a semet ipso in saturis describitur et ab Augusto hac epistula: "Pertulit ad me Onysius libellum tuum, quem ego ut excusantem,1 quantuluscumque est, boni consulo. Vereri autem mihi videris ne maiores libelli tui sint, quam ipse es; sed tibi statura deest, corpusculum non deest. Itaque licebit in sextariolo scribas, ut circuitus voluminis tui sit ỏуkwdéotatos, sicut est ventriculi tui."

Ad res Venerias intemperantior traditur; nam speculato cubiculo scorta dicitur habuisse disposita, ut quocumque respexisset ibi ei imago coitus referretur. Vixit plurimum in secessu ruris sui Sabini aut Tiburtini, domusque eius 2 ostenditur circa Tiburni luculum. * * * * 3 Venerunt in manus meas et elegi sub titulo eius et epistula prosa oratione quasi commendantis se Maecenati, sed utraque falsa puto; nam elegi vulgares, epistula etiam obscura, quo vitio minime tenebatur.

1 accusantem, mss.; excusantem, Reiff.; ut accusem te, Bentley.

2 eius, V; the other mss. omit.

30. Jahn indicated a lacuna; there is no mention of Horace's genuine works.

Epist. 1. 4. 15; 1. 20. 24; see note on p. 487.

not pleased with you, that in your numerous writings of this kind you do not talk with me, rather than with others. Are you afraid that your reputation with posterity will suffer because it appears that you were my friend?" In this way he forced from Horace the selection which begins with these words:

66

Seeing that single-handed thou dost bear the burden of tasks so many and so great, protecting Italy's realm with arms, providing it with morals, reforming it by laws, I should sin against the public weal, Caesar, if I wasted thy time with long discourse.” a

b

In person he was short and fat, as he is described with his own pen in his satires and by Augustus in the following letter: "Onysius has brought me your little volume, and I accept it, small as it is, in good part, as an apology. But you seem to me to be afraid that your books may be bigger than you are yourself; but it is only stature that you lack, not girth. So you may write on a pint pot, that the circumference of your volume may be well rounded out, like that of your own belly."

It is said that he was immoderately lustful; for it is reported that in a room lined with mirrors he had harlots so arranged that whichever way he looked, he saw a reflection of venery. He lived for the most part in the country on his Sabine or Tiburtine estate, and his house is pointed out near the little grove of Tiburnus. I possess some elegies attributed to his pen and a letter in prose, supposed to be a recommendation of himself to Maecenas, but I think that both are spurious; for the elegies are commonplace and the letter is besides obscure, which was by no means one of his faults.