Ars Poetica

Quintus Horatius Flaccus, known as Horace, lived from 65-8 BCE. Much of what historians know about Horace comes from his poetry, which contains autobiographical details and sketches of his childhood and hometown in southern Italy, Samnite. Despite being the son of a freed enslaved person, Horace received a rigorous education at private academies in Rome. Following his father’s death, Horace traveled to Athens where he studied at the Academy, the renowned institution founded by Plato. After his studies, Horace served in the Roman army under the leadership of Marcus Brutus, a conspirator in the assassination of Julius Caesar. Although Brutus’s campaign eventually ended in defeat, Horace was permitted under an amnesty to return to Rome and served as a civil clerk in the government.

Horace’s reputation as a writer of satires, epistles, and odes drew the attention of a wealthy patron named Maecenas. Maecenas afforded Horace the time, money, and place to write and refine his verses. Horace wrote most of his poetry from his country villa in Licenza, given to him by Maecenas. Dedicated to his patron Carmina, the Odes reflect the unique verse form developed by Horace. The Odes consists of Latin lyrics written in four books and exemplifies the distinctive Horatian ode, a short lyric written in stanzas ranging from two to four lines. Horatian odes often deal with love and intimacy to loved ones and friends, as opposed to Greek odes which praised or glorified gods and warriors. Other works by Horace include the Satires, Epodes, Epistles, and Carmen Saeculare.

Ars Poetica, or Epistle to the Pisos, is an epistle in hexameter verse written to instruct the sons of Lucius Calpurnius Piso. Piso, like Maecenas, was a patron of Horace. Despite the poem being written for two young aspiring writers, the text is dense with allusions, aphorisms, and references to the mediums of poetry and drama. Ongoing scholarship debates the original purpose of the text, date of composition, identity of addressees, and the title itself.

Horace died at age 56 at his villa in Licenza. Romans recognized Horace as the premier lyric poet of his lifetime and era. Following his death, his texts were taught as part of Roman school curricula. Centuries following his last writings, through the Medieval, Renaissance, Enlightenment, Romantic, and Modernist periods of literature, Horace retains a legacy as one of the foremost and masterful poets in the Western literary tradition.