When and where was Horace born?
Quintus Horatius Flaccus arrived in the world on the 8th of December 65 BC within the town of Venusia. This settlement sat upon a trade route at the border between Lucania and Apulia.
Questions about Horace
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What happened to Horace after the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC?
Horace fled without his shield during the battle and later faced poverty because his father's estate in Venusia was confiscated for the settlement of veterans. He claimed that he was reduced to poverty and this led him to try his hand at poetry.
How did Maecenas help Horace achieve financial stability?
Maecenas gave Horace a famous Sabine farm which included income from five tenants. This property may have ended his career at the Treasury or allowed him to give it less time and energy.
Why did Horace stop writing Odes and start Epistles?
The public reception of Odes 1, 3 disappointed him however and he attributed the lack of success to jealousy among imperial courtiers. Perhaps it was this disappointment that led him to put aside the genre in favor of verse letters called Epistles.
Who were some notable translators of Horace into English?
Thomas Drant placed translations of Jeremiah and Horace side by side in Medicinable Morall published in 1566. Later figures such as Ben Jonson, John Dryden, Samuel Johnson, Philip Francis, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, William Gladstone, W.H. Auden, Robert Frost, and Charles E. Passage also produced significant translations.