HORATIVS
Information by Tobius Tullius
Gens Horatia, originally a patrician clan made famous by legendary heros of early ancient Rome, but still the most known of the Horatii is the poet Horace of the first century BC.
Horace, Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65-8 B.C.), the most original lyric poet in Latin, was a son of a freedman. His father encouraged him to study Greek and philosophy in Rome and Athens. While in Greece Horace joined the army of Brutus, but after the Battle of Philippa (42 BC) and returning
to Rome, he found his father dead and his property confiscated.
Poor but not defeated, he was known in literary circles, and finally, with the financial help of Maecenas, Octavian's friend and politicical advisor, he was able to practise his art freely and became an outstanding poet. According to Dante, he is "second" only to Homer and Virgil (who was another poet profiting from Maecenas' patronage). In his poetry, Horace used only hexameter and other Greek metres.
Horace's works include:
- Satires I and II (35 & 30 BC);
- Epodes (30 BC), attacks on social abuse;
- Odes (23 & 13 BC), four books, the first one being the one where the popular quote "Carpe diem" comes from: "Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero" ("seize the day, never trust the next");
- Epistulae (20-18 BC), three books, third one "Epistula ad pisones" is better known as "Ars Poetica", which influenced such western authors as Montaigne, Ben Johnson, Lord Chesterfield and Horace Walpole.;
- Carmen Saeculare ie. secular hymns, written for the secular games of 17 BC.
Horatius Cocles, a mythological hero, who was told to have defended alone a bridge against the Etruscans. Mentioned by both Livy and Polybius, his story was retold in the 19th century poem Horatius at The Bridge by Lord Macaulay. (detail of a sixteenth-century fresco by Tommaso Laureti).
Other Horatii worth a mention in Roman history include consuls Marcus Horatius Pulvillus (509 and 507 BC), C. Horatius Pulvillus, (477 and 457 BC), Marcus Horatius Barbatus (449 BC) and consular tribunes L. Horatius Barbatus (425 BC), L. Horatius Pulvillius (386 BC) and M. Horatius, (378 BC).
Oath of the Horatii (1784), French painting by Jacques-Louis David, depicting the three brothers Horatii making an oath to defend Rome and defeat the three brothers Curiatia of Alba Longa (in the VII century BC).
Text sources Wikipedia.org and kirjasto.sci.fi, image source VRoma.org.
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