Q. Horatius Flaccus

Q. Horatius Flaccus Venusiae anno LXV a.C.n. natus est, libertino patre, qui omnia sua impendit ut filium Romae erudiret et ipse eum ad magistros comitabatur. Athenis philosophiae studuit, in exercitu Bruti tribunus militum fuit, et ex clade Philippensi anno XLII fugit; agrum paternum, agris veteranis divisis, amisit.

Quintus Horatius Flaccus was born at Venusia in southern Italy in 65 B.C., the son of a freedman who spent all he had to have him educated in Rome and walked him to his teachers himself. He studied philosophy in Athens, served as a military tribune in Brutus' army, fled from the defeat at Philippi in 42 B.C., and lost his father's farm when land was handed out to veterans.

Scriba quaestorius scribere coepit et a Vergilio et Vario Maecenati commendatus est, qui patronus eius factus fundum ei in Sabinis donavit. Fundus ille Sabinus, deliciae eius, saepe in carminibus celebratur. Sermones, Epodos et anno XXIII tres libros Carminum edidit; officium epistularum, quod Augustus ei offerebat, recusavit.

Working as a treasury clerk, he began to write and was introduced by Virgil and Varius to Maecenas, who became his patron and gave him a farm in the Sabine hills. The Sabine farm, his delight, became a frequent theme of his poems. He published the Satires, the Epodes and, in 23 B.C., three books of Odes; he declined Augustus' offer to make him his private secretary.

Anno XVII Carmen Saeculare ad Ludos Saeculares composuit, deinde Epistularum librum alterum, quartum Carminum librum, Artem Poeticam. Quartum Carminum librum, ut Suetonius narrat, Augusto cogente addidit, ut victorias privignorum eius Tiberii et Drusi celebraret. Mense Novembri anni VIII mortuus est, paulo post Maecenatem, et prope tumulum eius in Esquiliis sepultus est.

In 17 B.C. he wrote the Carmen Saeculare for the Secular Games, then a second book of Epistles, a fourth book of Odes and the Art of Poetry. The fourth book of Odes, Suetonius says, was added at Augustus' insistence, to celebrate the victories of his stepsons Tiberius and Drusus. He died in November 8 B.C., shortly after Maecenas, and was buried near his tomb on the Esquiline.

1. 65 a.C.n.65 B.C.Venusiae nascitur.Born at Venusia.
2. 42 a.C.n.42 B.C.Apud Philippos cum Bruto victus.Defeated with Brutus at Philippi.
3. c. 38 a.C.n.c. 38 B.C.Maecenati commendatur.Introduced to Maecenas.
4. c. 35 a.C.n.c. 35 B.C.Sermonum librum primum edit.Publishes the first book of Satires.
5. 23 a.C.n.23 B.C.Carminum libros I–III edit.Publishes Odes I–III.
6. 17 a.C.n.17 B.C.Carmen Saeculare.The Carmen Saeculare.
7. 8 a.C.n.8 B.C.Moritur.Dies.