208-502: Quintus Horatius Flaccus ( Classical Latin : [ˈkʷiːntʊs (h)ɔˈraːtiʊs ˈfɫakːʊs] ; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace ( / ˈ h ɒr ɪ s / ), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his Odes as the only Latin lyrics worth reading: "He can be lofty sometimes, yet he
416-460: A civil war against the Senate and Pompey. After his victory, Caesar established himself as dictator for life . His assassination in 44 BC led to a second Triumvirate among Octavian (Caesar's grandnephew and heir), Mark Antony and Lepidus , and to a final civil war between Octavian and Antony. In 27 BC, Octavian was named Augustus and princeps , founding the principate ,
624-523: A diarchy between the princeps and the senate. Over time, the new monarch came to be known as the imperator (hence emperor ), meaning "commander". During the reign of Nero , two thirds of the city was ruined after the Great Fire of Rome , and the persecution of Christians commenced. Rome's empire reached its greatest expansion in the second century under the Emperor Trajan . Rome
832-467: A senatore or patrizio . In the 12th century, this administration, like other European cities, evolved into the commune , a new form of social organisation controlled by the new wealthy classes. Pope Lucius II fought against the Roman commune, and the struggle was continued by his successor Pope Eugenius III : by this stage, the commune, allied with the aristocracy, was supported by Arnaldo da Brescia ,
1040-468: A series of civil wars between rival claimants to power resulted in the unification of the empire under Constantine the Great in 324. Hereditary succession was restored, but the east–west division was maintained. Constantine undertook a major reform of the bureaucracy, not by changing the structure but by rationalising the competencies of the several ministries. The so-called Edict of Milan of 313, actually
1248-508: A Christian Horace, adapting Horatian meters to his own poetry and giving Horatian motifs a Christian tone. On the other hand, St Jerome , modelled an uncompromising response to the pagan Horace, observing: " What harmony can there be between Christ and the Devil? What has Horace to do with the Psalter? " By the early sixth century, Horace and Prudentius were both part of a classical heritage that
1456-526: A ceremonial ode for the Centennial Games in 17 BC and also encouraged the publication of Odes 4, after which Horace's reputation as Rome's premier lyricist was assured. His Odes were to become the best received of all his poems in ancient times, acquiring a classic status that discouraged imitation: no other poet produced a comparable body of lyrics in the four centuries that followed (though that might also be attributed to social causes, particularly
1664-478: A certain sense, therefore, Latin was studied as a dead language, while it was still a living." Also problematic in Teuffel's scheme is its appropriateness to the concept of classical Latin. Cruttwell addresses the issue by altering the concept of the classical. The "best" Latin is defined as "golden" Latin, the second of the three periods. The other two periods (considered "classical") are left hanging. By assigning
1872-402: A civil service position at the aerarium or Treasury, profitable enough to be purchased even by members of the ordo equester and not very demanding in its work-load, since tasks could be delegated to scribae or permanent clerks. It was about this time that he began writing his Satires and Epodes . He describes in glowing terms the country villa which his patron, Maecenas, had given him in
2080-575: A crusade against the Colonna family and, in 1300, called for the first Jubilee of Christianity , which brought millions of pilgrims to Rome. However, his hopes were crushed by the French king Philip the Fair , who took him prisoner and held him hostage for three days at Anagni . The Pope was able to return to Rome, but died a month later, it was said of shock and grief. Afterwards, a new pope faithful to
2288-433: A detailed analysis of style, whereas Teuffel was more concerned with history. Like Teuffel, Cruttwell encountered issues while attempting to condense the voluminous details of time periods in an effort to capture the meaning of phases found in their various writing styles. Like Teuffel, he has trouble finding a name for the first of the three periods (the current Old Latin phase), calling it "from Livius to Sulla ." He says
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#17327717739392496-434: A difficult fit for Latin structure and syntax . Despite these traditional metres, he presented himself as a partisan in the development of a new and sophisticated style. He was influenced in particular by Hellenistic aesthetics of brevity, elegance and polish, as modelled in the work of Callimachus . As soon as Horace, stirred by his own genius and encouraged by the example of Virgil, Varius, and perhaps some other poets of
2704-441: A focus on philosophical problems. The sophisticated and flexible style that he had developed in his Satires was adapted to the more serious needs of this new genre. Such refinement of style was not unusual for Horace. His craftsmanship as a wordsmith is apparent even in his earliest attempts at this or that kind of poetry, but his handling of each genre tended to improve over time as he adapted it to his own needs. Thus for example it
2912-419: A form of Greek that was considered model. Before then, the term classis , in addition to being a naval fleet, was a social class in one of the diachronic divisions of Roman society in accordance with property ownership under the Roman constitution. The word is a transliteration of Greek κλῆσις (clēsis, or "calling") used to rank army draftees by property from first to fifth class. Classicus refers to those in
3120-419: A fragment of a letter from his co-emperor Licinius to the governors of the eastern provinces, granted freedom of worship to everyone, including Christians, and ordered the restoration of confiscated church properties upon petition to the newly created vicars of dioceses. He funded the building of several churches and allowed clergy to act as arbitrators in civil suits (a measure that did not outlast him but which
3328-420: A fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth . The most familiar of these myths, and perhaps the most famous of all Roman myths , is the story of Romulus and Remus , the twins who were suckled by a she-wolf . They decided to build a city, but after an argument, Romulus killed his brother and
3536-538: A hymn to John the Baptist, Ut queant laxis , composed in Sapphic stanzas . This hymn later became the basis of the solfege system ( Do, re, mi... )—an association with western music quite appropriate for a lyric poet like Horace, though the language of the hymn is mainly Prudentian. Lyons argues that the melody in question was linked with Horace's Ode well before Guido d'Arezzo fitted Ut queant laxis to it. However,
3744-520: A large area in Rome, and the city has one of the largest areas of green space among European capitals. The most notable part of this green space is represented by the large number of villas and landscaped gardens created by the Italian aristocracy. While most of the parks surrounding the villas were destroyed during the building boom of the late 19th century, some of them remain. The most notable of these are
3952-416: A lesson to. Horace modelled these poems on the poetry of Archilochus . Social bonds in Rome had been decaying since the destruction of Carthage a little more than a hundred years earlier, due to the vast wealth that could be gained by plunder and corruption. These social ills were magnified by rivalry between Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and confederates like Sextus Pompey , all jockeying for a bigger share of
4160-472: A letter to his friend Quintius: "It lies on a range of hills, broken by a shady valley which is so placed that the sun when rising strikes the right side, and when descending in his flying chariot, warms the left. You would like the climate; and if you were to see my fruit trees, bearing ruddy cornils and plums, my oaks and ilex supplying food to my herds, and abundant shade to the master, you would say, Tarentum in its beauty has been brought near to Rome! There
4368-494: A model for their own verse letters and it also shaped Ovid's exile poetry. His influence had a perverse aspect. As mentioned before, the brilliance of his Odes may have discouraged imitation. Conversely, they may have created a vogue for the lyrics of the archaic Greek poet Pindar , due to the fact that Horace had neglected that style of lyric (see Influence and Legacy of Pindar ). The iambic genre seems almost to have disappeared after publication of Horace's Epodes . Ovid's Ibis
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#17327717739394576-434: A moment, my self-praise), and if I am to my friends a good friend, my father deserves all the credit... As it is now, he deserves from me unstinting gratitude and praise. I could never be ashamed of such a father, nor do I feel any need, as many people do, to apologize for being a freedman's son. Satires 1.6.65–92 He never mentioned his mother in his verses and he might not have known much about her. Perhaps she also had been
4784-626: A monk who was a religious and social reformer. After the pope's death, Arnaldo was taken prisoner by Adrianus IV , which marked the end of the commune's autonomy. Under Pope Innocent III , whose reign marked the apogee of the papacy, the commune liquidated the senate, and replaced it with a Senatore , who was subject to the pope. In this period, the papacy played a role of secular importance in Western Europe , often acting as arbitrators between Christian monarchs and exercising additional political powers. In 1266, Charles of Anjou , who
4992-420: A monument more durable than bronze ("Exegi monumentum aere perennius", Carmina 3.30.1). For one modern scholar, however, Horace's personal qualities are more notable than the monumental quality of his achievement: ... when we hear his name we don't really think of a monument. We think rather of a voice which varies in tone and resonance but is always recognizable, and which by its unsentimental humanity evokes
5200-455: A natural affinity with the moralising and diatribes of Cynicism . This often takes the form of allusions to the work and philosophy of Bion of Borysthenes but it is as much a literary game as a philosophical alignment. By the time he composed his Epistles , he was a critic of Cynicism along with all impractical and "high-falutin" philosophy in general. The Satires also include a strong element of Epicureanism , with frequent allusions to
5408-407: A phase of styles. The ancient authors themselves first defined style by recognizing different kinds of sermo , or "speech". By valuing Classical Latin as "first class", it was better to write with Latinitas selected by authors who were attuned to literary and upper-class languages of the city as a standardized style. All sermo that differed from it was a different style. Thus, in rhetoric, Cicero
5616-418: A poem that one modern scholar considers the best memorial by any son to his father. The poem includes this passage: If my character is flawed by a few minor faults, but is otherwise decent and moral, if you can point out only a few scattered blemishes on an otherwise immaculate surface, if no one can accuse me of greed, or of prurience, or of profligacy, if I live a virtuous life, free of defilement (pardon, for
5824-633: A population of 4,355,725 residents, is the most populous metropolitan city in Italy. Its metropolitan area is the third-most populous within Italy. Rome is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula , within Lazio ( Latium ), along the shores of the Tiber Valley . Vatican City (the smallest country in the world and headquarters of the worldwide Catholic Church under
6032-457: A serious and vigorous opponent of wrong-doers, Horace aimed for comic effects and adopted the persona of a weak and ineffectual critic of his times (as symbolized for example in his surrender to the witch Canidia in the final epode). He also claimed to be the first to introduce into Latin the lyrical methods of Alcaeus ( Epistles 1.19.32–33) and he actually was the first Latin poet to make consistent use of Alcaic meters and themes: love, politics and
6240-547: A slave. Horace left Rome, possibly after his father's death, and continued his formal education in Athens, a great centre of learning in the ancient world, where he arrived at nineteen years of age, enrolling in The Academy . Founded by Plato , The Academy was now dominated by Epicureans and Stoics , whose theories and practices made a deep impression on the young man from Venusia. Meanwhile, he mixed and lounged about with
6448-534: A slight alteration in approach, making it clear that his terms applied to Latin and not just to the period. He also changed his dating scheme from AUC to modern BC/AD. Though he introduces das silberne Zeitalter der römischen Literatur , (The Silver Age of Roman Literature) from the death of Augustus to the death of Trajan (14–117 AD), he also mentions parts of a work by Seneca the Elder , a wenig Einfluss der silbernen Latinität (a slight influence of silver Latin). It
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6656-503: A strong measure of independence (he was "a master of the graceful sidestep") but for others he was, in John Dryden 's phrase, "a well-mannered court slave". Horace can be regarded as the world's first autobiographer. In his writings, he tells far more about himself, his character, his development, and his way of life, than any other great poet of antiquity. Some of the biographical material contained in his work can be supplemented from
6864-417: A very special blend of liking and respect. Yet for men like Wilfred Owen , scarred by experiences of World War I, his poetry stood for discredited values: My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The Old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. The same motto, Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori , had been adapted to the ethos of martyrdom in
7072-554: A warrior pope, to Alexander VI , immoral and nepotist , from Julius II , soldier and patron, to Leo X , who gave his name to this period ("the century of Leo X"), all devoted their energy to the greatness and the beauty of the Eternal City and to the patronage of the arts. During those years, the centre of the Italian Renaissance moved to Rome from Florence. Majestic works, as the new Saint Peter's Basilica ,
7280-616: A young boy and later he poked fun at the jargon of mixed Greek and Oscan spoken in neighbouring Canusium . One of the works he probably studied in school was the Odyssia of Livius Andronicus , taught by teachers like the ' Orbilius ' mentioned in one of his poems. Army veterans could have been settled there at the expense of local families uprooted by Rome as punishment for their part in the Social War (91–88 BC) . Such state-sponsored migration must have added still more linguistic variety to
7488-729: Is Cruttwell's Augustan Epoch (42 BC – 14 AD). The literary histories list includes all authors from Canonical to the Ciceronian Age—even those whose works are fragmented or missing altogether. With the exception of a few major writers, such as Cicero, Caesar, Virgil and Catullus, ancient accounts of Republican literature praise jurists and orators whose writings, and analyses of various styles of language cannot be verified because there are no surviving records. The reputations of Aquilius Gallus, Quintus Hortensius Hortalus , Lucius Licinius Lucullus , and many others who gained notoriety without readable works, are presumed by their association within
7696-450: Is a fountain too, large enough to give a name to the river which it feeds; and the Ebro itself does not flow through Thrace with cooler or purer stream. Its waters also are good for the head and useful for digestion. This sweet, and, if you will believe me, charming retreat keeps me in good health during the autumnal days." The remains of Horace's Villa are situated on a wooded hillside above
7904-463: Is a wide consensus that the city developed gradually through the aggregation (" synoecism ") of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. This aggregation was facilitated by the increase of agricultural productivity above the subsistence level , which also allowed the establishment of secondary and tertiary activities . These, in turn, boosted the development of trade with
8112-405: Is above 21 °C (70 °F) during the day and 9 °C (48 °F) at night. In the coldest month, January, the average temperature is 12.6 °C (54.7 °F) during the day and 2.1 °C (35.8 °F) at night. In the warmest month, August, the average temperature is 31.7 °C (89.1 °F) during the day and 17.3 °C (63.1 °F) at night. December, January and February are
8320-585: Is also a notable pine wood at Castelfusano , near Ostia. Rome also has a number of regional parks of much more recent origin, including the Pineto Regional Park and the Appian Way Regional Park. There are also nature reserves at Marcigliana and at Tenuta di Castelporziano. Rome has a Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification : Csa ), with hot, dry summers and mild, humid winters. Its average annual temperature
8528-444: Is also full of charm and grace, versatile in his figures, and felicitously daring in his choice of words." Horace also crafted elegant hexameter verses ( Satires and Epistles ) and caustic iambic poetry ( Epodes ). The hexameters are amusing yet serious works, friendly in tone, leading the ancient satirist Persius to comment: "as his friend laughs, Horace slyly puts his finger on his every fault; once let in, he plays about
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8736-606: Is also the capital of the Lazio region , the centre of the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital , and a special comune (municipality) named Comune di Roma Capitale . With 2,860,009 residents in 1,285 km (496.1 sq mi), Rome is the country's most populated comune and the third most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. The Metropolitan City of Rome, with
8944-622: Is another large green space: it has few trees but is overlooked by the Palatine and the Rose Garden ('roseto comunale'). Nearby is the lush Villa Celimontana , close to the gardens surrounding the Baths of Caracalla. The Villa Borghese garden is the best known large green space in Rome, with famous art galleries among its shaded walks. Overlooking Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps are the gardens of Pincio and Villa Medici . There
9152-562: Is based on the amount of pork, 3,629,000 lbs. distributed to poorer Romans during five winter months at the rate of five Roman lbs per person per month, enough for 145,000 persons or 1/4 or 1/3 of the total population. Grain distribution to 80,000 ticket holders at the same time suggests 400,000 (Augustus set the number at 200,000 or one-fifth of the population). After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in AD ;476, Rome
9360-413: Is clear in his Satires, even though the genre was unique to Latin literature. He brought to it a style and outlook suited to the social and ethical issues confronting Rome but he changed its role from public, social engagement to private meditation. Meanwhile, he was beginning to interest Octavian's supporters, a gradual process described by him in one of his satires. The way was opened for him by his friend,
9568-443: Is clear that his mindset had shifted from Golden and Silver Ages to Golden and Silver Latin, also to include Latinitas , which at this point must be interpreted as Classical Latin. He may have been influenced in that regard by one of his sources E. Opitz, who in 1852 had published specimen lexilogiae argenteae latinitatis , which includes Silver Latinity. Though Teuffel's First Period was equivalent to Old Latin and his Second Period
9776-512: Is first attested in Odes 3.3 and 3.5. In the period 27–24 BC, political allusions in the Odes concentrated on foreign wars in Britain (1.35), Arabia (1.29) Hispania (3.8) and Parthia (2.2). He greeted Augustus on his return to Rome in 24 BC as a beloved ruler upon whose good health he depended for his own happiness (3.14). The public reception of Odes 1–3 disappointed him, however. He attributed
9984-509: Is generally agreed that his second book of Satires , where human folly is revealed through dialogue between characters, is superior to the first, where he propounds his ethics in monologues. Nevertheless, the first book includes some of his most popular poems. Horace developed a number of inter-related themes throughout his poetic career, including politics, love, philosophy and ethics, his own social role, as well as poetry itself. His Epodes and Satires are forms of 'blame poetry' and both have
10192-559: Is generally thought the population of the city until AD 300 was 1 million (estimates range from 2 million to 750,000) declining to 750–800,000 in AD 400, then 450–500,000 in AD 450 and down to 80–100,000 in AD 500 (though it may have been twice this). The Bishop of Rome, called the Pope , was important since the early days of Christianity because of the martyrdom of both the apostles Peter and Paul there. The Bishops of Rome were also seen (and still are seen by Catholics) as
10400-723: Is intended to be ambiguous. Ambiguity is the hallmark of the Epistles . It is uncertain if those being addressed by the self-mocking poet-philosopher are being honoured or criticised. Though he emerges as an Epicurean , it is on the understanding that philosophical preferences, like political and social choices, are a matter of personal taste. Thus he depicts the ups and downs of the philosophical life more realistically than do most philosophers. The reception of Horace's work has varied from one epoch to another and varied markedly even in his own lifetime. Odes 1–3 were not well received when first 'published' in Rome, yet Augustus later commissioned
10608-607: Is known as "classical" Latin literature . The term refers to the canonical relevance of literary works written in Latin in the late Roman Republic , and early to middle Roman Empire . "[T]hat is to say, that of belonging to an exclusive group of authors (or works) that were considered to be emblematic of a certain genre." The term classicus (masculine plural classici ) was devised by the Romans to translate Greek ἐγκριθέντες (encrithentes), and "select" which refers to authors who wrote in
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#173277177393910816-473: Is not that of the golden age... Evidently, Teuffel received ideas about golden and silver Latin from an existing tradition and embedded them in a new system, transforming them as he thought best. In Cruttwell's introduction, the Golden Age is dated 80 BC – AD 14 (from Cicero to Ovid ), which corresponds to Teuffel's findings. Of the "Second Period", Cruttwell paraphrases Teuffel by saying it "represents
11024-441: Is possible that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternative theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma . Several hypotheses have been advanced focusing on its linguistic roots which however remain uncertain: Rome has also been called in ancient times simply "Urbs" (central city), from urbs roma , or identified with its ancient Roman initialism of SPQR ,
11232-601: Is that period in which the climax was reached in the perfection of form, and in most respects also in the methodical treatment of the subject-matters. It may be subdivided between the generations, in the first of which (the Ciceronian Age) prose culminated, while poetry was principally developed in the Augustan Age. The Ciceronian Age was dated 671–711 AUC (83–43 BC), ending just after the death of Marcus Tullius Cicero. The Augustan 711–67 AUC (43 BC – 14 AD) ends with
11440-587: Is the first known reference (possibly innovated during this time) to Classical Latin applied by authors, evidenced in the authentic language of their works. Imitating Greek grammarians, Romans such as Quintilian drew up lists termed indices or ordines modeled after the ones created by the Greeks, which were called pinakes . The Greek lists were considered classical, or recepti scriptores ("select writers"). Aulus Gellius includes authors like Plautus , who are considered writers of Old Latin and not strictly in
11648-454: Is to be distinguished by: until 75 BC Old Latin 75 BC – 200 AD Classical Latin 200–700 Late Latin 700–1500 Medieval Latin 1300–1500 Renaissance Latin 1300– present Neo-Latin 1900– present Contemporary Latin Rome Rome ( Italian and Latin : Roma , pronounced [ˈroːma] ) is the capital city of Italy . It
11856-652: The Age of Enlightenment , new ideas reached the Eternal City, where the papacy supported archaeological studies and improved the people's welfare. But not everything went well for the Church during the Counter-Reformation. There were setbacks in the attempts to assert the Church's power, a notable example being in 1773 when Pope Clement XIV was forced by secular powers to have the Jesuit order suppressed . The rule of
12064-619: The Antonines ), and the 3rd through 6th centuries. Of the Silver Age proper, Teuffel points out that anything like freedom of speech had vanished with Tiberius : ...the continual apprehension in which men lived caused a restless versatility... Simple or natural composition was considered insipid; the aim of language was to be brilliant... Hence it was dressed up with abundant tinsel of epigrams, rhetorical figures and poetical terms... Mannerism supplanted style, and bombastic pathos took
12272-529: The Dominate , derived from his title of dominus ("lord"). His most marked feature was the unprecedented intervention of the State down to the city level: whereas the State had submitted a tax demand to a city and allowed it to allocate the charges, from his reign the State did this down to the village level. In a vain attempt to control inflation, he imposed price controls which did not last. Diocletian divided
12480-1233: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the UN System Network on Rural Development and Food Security . The city also hosts the European Union (EU) Delegation to the United Nations (UN) and the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) as well as the headquarters of several Italian multinational companies, such as Eni , Enel , TIM , Leonardo , and banks such as BNL . Numerous companies are based within Rome's EUR business district, such as
12688-679: The Gauls , Osci - Samnites and the Greek colony of Taranto , allied with Pyrrhus , king of Epirus ) whose result was the conquest of the Italian peninsula , from the central area up to Magna Graecia . The 3rd and 4th century BC saw the establishment of Roman hegemony over the Mediterranean and the Balkans through the three Punic Wars (264–146 BC) fought against Carthage and
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#173277177393912896-830: The Greek world had enabled his literary heroes to express themselves freely and his semi-retirement from the Treasury in Rome to his own estate in the Sabine hills perhaps empowered him to some extent also yet even when his lyrics touched on public affairs they reinforced the importance of private life. Nevertheless, his work in the period 30–27 BC began to show his closeness to the regime and his sensitivity to its developing ideology. In Odes 1.2, for example, he eulogized Octavian in hyperboles that echo Hellenistic court poetry. The name Augustus , which Octavian assumed in January of 27 BC,
13104-513: The Roman Empire , and is regarded by many as the first-ever Imperial city and metropolis . It was first called The Eternal City ( Latin : Urbs Aeterna ; Italian : La Città Eterna ) by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid , Virgil , and Livy . Rome is also called Caput Mundi (Capital of the World). After the fall of
13312-605: The San Lorenzo district was subject to Allied bombing raids , resulting in about 3,000 fatalities and 11,000 injuries, of whom another 1,500 died. Mussolini was arrested on 25 July 1943 . On the date of the Italian Armistice 8 September 1943 the city was occupied by the Germans. Allied bombing raids continued throughout 1943 and extended into 1944. Rome was liberated on 4 June 1944. Rome developed greatly after
13520-653: The Sistine Chapel and Ponte Sisto (the first bridge to be built across the Tiber since antiquity, although on Roman foundations) were created. To accomplish that, the Popes engaged the best artists of the time, including Michelangelo , Perugino , Raphael , Ghirlandaio , Luca Signorelli , Botticelli , and Cosimo Rosselli . The period was also infamous for papal corruption, with many Popes fathering children, and engaging in nepotism and simony . The corruption of
13728-590: The Villa Borghese , Villa Ada , and Villa Doria Pamphili . Villa Doria Pamphili is west of the Gianicolo hill, comprising some 1.8 km (0.7 sq mi ). The Villa Sciarra is on the hill, with playgrounds for children and shaded walking areas. In the nearby area of Trastevere, the Orto Botanico (Botanical Garden) is a cool and shady green space. The old Roman hippodrome (Circus Maximus)
13936-483: The classici scriptores declined in the medieval period as the best form of the language yielded to medieval Latin , inferior to classical standards. The Renaissance saw a revival in Roman culture, and with it, the return of Classic ("the best") Latin. Thomas Sébillet 's Art Poétique (1548), "les bons et classiques poètes françois", refers to Jean de Meun and Alain Chartier , who the first modern application of
14144-586: The founding of Rome at around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it a major human settlement for over three millennia and one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in Europe. The city's early population originated from a mix of Latins , Etruscans , and Sabines . Eventually, the city successively became the capital of the Roman Kingdom , the Roman Republic and
14352-476: The genre . The Odes display a wide range of topics. Over time, he becomes more confident about his political voice. Although he is often thought of as an overly intellectual lover, he is ingenious in representing passion. The "Odes" weave various philosophical strands together, with allusions and statements of doctrine present in about a third of the Odes Books 1–3, ranging from the flippant (1.22, 3.28) to
14560-466: The prima classis ("first class"), such as the authors of polished works of Latinitas , or sermo urbanus . It contains nuances of the certified and the authentic, or testis classicus ("reliable witness"). It was under this construct that Marcus Cornelius Fronto (an African - Roman lawyer and language teacher) used scriptores classici ("first-class" or "reliable authors") in the second century AD. Their works were viewed as models of good Latin. This
14768-742: The symposium . He imitated other Greek lyric poets as well, employing a 'motto' technique, beginning each ode with some reference to a Greek original and then diverging from it. The satirical poet Lucilius was a senator's son who could castigate his peers with impunity. Horace was a mere freedman's son who had to tread carefully. Lucilius was a rugged patriot and a significant voice in Roman self-awareness, endearing himself to his countrymen by his blunt frankness and explicit politics. His work expressed genuine freedom or libertas . His style included 'metrical vandalism' and looseness of structure. Horace instead adopted an oblique and ironic style of satire, ridiculing stock characters and anonymous targets. His libertas
14976-599: The western and eastern empires respectively. The seat of government in the Western Roman Empire was transferred to Ravenna in 408, but from 450 the emperors mostly resided in Rome. Rome, which had lost its central role in the administration of the empire, was sacked in 410 by the Visigoths led by Alaric I , but very little physical damage was done, most of which was repaired. What could not be so easily replaced were portable items such as artwork in precious metals and items for domestic use (loot). The popes embellished
15184-472: The 15 BC military victories of his stepsons, Drusus and Tiberius, yet it and the following letter were largely devoted to literary theory and criticism. The literary theme was explored still further in Ars Poetica , published separately but written in the form of an epistle and sometimes referred to as Epistles 2.3 (possibly the last poem he ever wrote). He was also commissioned to write odes commemorating
15392-506: The 3rd century AD into Late Latin . In some later periods, the former was regarded as good or proper Latin; the latter as debased, degenerate, or corrupted. The word Latin is now understood by default to mean "Classical Latin"; for example, modern Latin textbooks almost exclusively teach Classical Latin. Cicero and his contemporaries of the late republic referred to the Latin language, in contrast to other languages such as Greek, as lingua latina or sermo latinus . They distinguished
15600-536: The Balkans made serious uncoordinated incursions that were more like giant raiding parties rather than attempts to settle. The Persian Empire invaded from the east several times during the 230s to 260s but were eventually defeated. The civil wars ended in 285 with the final victory of Diocletian , who undertook the restoration of the State. He ended the Principate and introduced a new authoritarian model known as
15808-568: The Church. Under the popes from Pius IV to Sixtus V , Rome became the centre of a reformed Catholicism and saw the building of new monuments which celebrated the papacy. The popes and cardinals of the 17th and early 18th centuries continued the movement by having the city's landscape enriched with baroque buildings. This was another nepotistic age; the new aristocratic families ( Barberini , Pamphili , Chigi , Rospigliosi , Altieri , Odescalchi ) were protected by their respective popes, who built huge baroque buildings for their relatives. During
16016-664: The Classical Latin period formed the model for the language taught and used in later periods across Europe and beyond. While the Latin used in different periods deviated from "Classical" Latin, efforts were periodically made to relearn and reapply the models of the Classical period, for instance by Alcuin during the reign of Charlemagne , and later during the Renaissance , producing the highly classicising form of Latin now known as Neo-Latin . "Good Latin" in philology
16224-629: The Empire in the west , which marked the beginning of the Middle Ages , Rome slowly fell under the political control of the Papacy , and in the 8th century, it became the capital of the Papal States , which lasted until 1870. Beginning with the Renaissance , almost all popes since Nicholas V (1447–1455) pursued a coherent architectural and urban programme over four hundred years, aimed at making
16432-463: The English translation of A History of Roman Literature gained immediate success. In 1877, Charles Thomas Cruttwell produced a similar work in English. In his preface, Cruttwell notes "Teuffel's admirable history, without which many chapters in the present work could not have attained completeness." He also credits Wagner. Cruttwell adopts the time periods found in Teuffel's work, but he presents
16640-530: The Epicurean poet Lucretius . So for example the Epicurean sentiment carpe diem is the inspiration behind Horace's repeated punning on his own name ( Horatius ~ hora ) in Satires 2.6. The Satires also feature some Stoic , Peripatetic and Platonic ( Dialogues ) elements. In short, the Satires present a medley of philosophical programmes, dished up in no particular order—a style of argument typical of
16848-473: The French was elected, and the papacy was briefly relocated to Avignon (1309–1377). During this period Rome was neglected, until a plebeian man, Cola di Rienzo , came to power. An idealist and a lover of ancient Rome, Cola dreamed about a rebirth of the Roman Empire: after assuming power with the title of Tribuno , his reforms were rejected by the populace. Forced to flee, Cola returned as part of
17056-421: The Golden Age. A list of canonical authors of the period whose works survived in whole or in part is shown here: The Golden Age is divided by the assassination of Julius Caesar . In the wars that followed, a generation of Republican literary figures was lost. Cicero and his contemporaries were replaced by a new generation who spent their formative years under the old constructs, and forced to make their mark under
17264-567: The Gothic siege of 537, the population dropped to 30,000 but had risen to 90,000 by the papacy of Gregory the Great . The population decline coincided with the general collapse of urban life in the West in the fifth and sixth centuries, with few exceptions. Subsidized state grain distributions to the poorer members of society continued right through the sixth century and probably prevented the population from falling further. The figure of 450,000–500,000
17472-698: The Great (which by then was in a dilapidated state) was demolished and a new one begun. The city hosted artists like Ghirlandaio , Perugino , Botticelli and Bramante , who built the temple of San Pietro in Montorio and planned a great project to renovate the Vatican . Raphael, who in Rome became one of the most famous painters of Italy, created frescoes in the Villa Farnesina , the Raphael's Rooms , plus many other famous paintings. Michelangelo started
17680-399: The Greek colonies of southern Italy (mainly Ischia and Cumae ). These developments, which according to archaeological evidence took place during the mid-eighth century BC, can be considered as the "birth" of the city. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome was founded deliberately in the middle of the eighth century BC, as the legend of Romulus suggests, remains
17888-502: The Hellenistic thinkers were ill qualified to grapple with. Some of them censured oppression of the poor by the rich, but they gave no practical lead, though they may have hoped to see well-meaning rulers doing so. Philosophy was drifting into absorption in self, a quest for private contentedness, to be achieved by self-control and restraint, without much regard for the fate of a disintegrating community. Horace's Hellenistic background
18096-602: The Imperial Period, and is divided into die Zeit der julischen Dynastie ( 14–68); die Zeit der flavischen Dynastie (69–96), and die Zeit des Nerva und Trajan (96–117). Subsequently, Teuffel goes over to a century scheme: 2nd, 3rd, etc., through 6th. His later editions (which came about towards the end of the 19th century) divide the Imperial Age into parts: 1st century (Silver Age), 2nd century (the Hadrian and
18304-546: The Italian Republic. In 2019, Rome was the 14th most visited city in the world, with 8.6 million tourists, the third most visited city in the European Union, and the most popular tourist destination in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site . The host city for the 1960 Summer Olympics , Rome is also the seat of several specialised agencies of the United Nations , such as
18512-1080: The Kings was built on seven hills: the Aventine Hill , the Caelian Hill , the Capitoline Hill , the Esquiline Hill , the Palatine Hill , the Quirinal Hill , and the Viminal Hill . Modern Rome is also crossed by another river, the Aniene , which flows into the Tiber north of the historic centre. Although the city centre is about 24 km (15 mi) inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea , the city territory extends to
18720-513: The Octavian regime yet, in the second book of Satires that soon followed, he continued the apolitical stance of the first book. By this time, he had attained the status of eques Romanus (Roman 'cavalryman', 'knight'), perhaps as a result of his work at the Treasury. Odes 1–3 were the next focus for his artistic creativity. He adapted their forms and themes from Greek lyric poetry of the seventh and sixth centuries BC. The fragmented nature of
18928-529: The Papal States were reconstituted by a decision of the Congress of Vienna of 1814. In 1849, a second Roman Republic was proclaimed during a year of revolutions in 1848 . Two of the most influential figures of the Italian unification , Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi , fought for the short-lived republic. Rome then became the focus of hopes of Italian reunification after the rest of Italy
19136-564: The Popes and the huge expenses for their building projects led, in part, to the Reformation and, in turn, the Counter-Reformation . Under extravagant and rich popes, Rome was transformed into a centre of art, poetry, music, literature, education and culture. Rome became able to compete with other major European cities of the time in terms of wealth, grandeur, the arts, learning and architecture. The Renaissance period changed
19344-579: The Popes was interrupted by the short-lived Roman Republic (1798–1800), which was established under the influence of the French Revolution . The Papal States were restored in June 1800, but during Napoleon 's reign Rome was annexed as a Département of the French Empire : first as Département du Tibre (1808–1810) and then as Département Rome (1810–1814). After the fall of Napoleon,
19552-492: The Roman Empire . Once again, Cruttwell evidences some unease with his stock pronouncements: "The Natural History of Pliny shows how much remained to be done in fields of great interest." The idea of Pliny as a model is not consistent with any sort of decline. Moreover, Pliny did his best work under emperors who were as tolerant as Augustus had been. To include some of the best writings of the Silver Age, Cruttwell extended
19760-447: The Romans expelled the last king from their city and established an oligarchic republic led by two annually-elected consuls . Rome then began a period characterised by internal struggles between patricians (aristocrats) and plebeians (small landowners), and by constant warfare against the populations of central Italy: Etruscans, Latins, Volsci , Aequi , and Marsi . After becoming master of Latium , Rome led several wars (against
19968-474: The Second Period in his major work, das goldene Zeitalter der römischen Literatur ( Golden Age of Roman Literature ), dated 671–767 AUC (83 BC – AD 14), according to his own recollection. The timeframe is marked by the dictatorship of Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix and the death of the emperor Augustus . Wagner's translation of Teuffel's writing is as follows: The golden age of the Roman literature
20176-584: The Third Century , during which numerous generals fought for power and the central authority in Rome weakened dramatically. Around the same time, the Plague of Cyprian ( c. 250–270) afflicted the Mediterranean. Instability caused economic deterioration, and there was a rapid rise in inflation as the government debased the currency in order to meet expenses. The Germanic tribes along the Rhine and north of
20384-668: The acerbity of Lucillius and the gentler touch of Horace. Juvenal 's caustic satire was influenced mainly by Lucilius but Horace by then was a school classic and Juvenal could refer to him respectfully and in a round-about way as " the Venusine lamp ". Statius paid homage to Horace by composing one poem in Sapphic and one in Alcaic meter (the verse forms most often associated with Odes ), which he included in his collection of occasional poems, Silvae . Ancient scholars wrote commentaries on
20592-430: The advance would be perceptible by us." In time, some of Cruttwell's ideas become established in Latin philology. While praising the application of rules to classical Latin (most intensely in the Golden Age, he says "In gaining accuracy, however, classical Latin suffered a grievous loss. It became cultivated as distinct from a natural language... Spontaneity, therefore, became impossible and soon invention also ceased... In
20800-399: The ancient definition, and some of the very best writing of any period in world history was deemed stilted, degenerate, unnatural language. The Silver Age furnishes the only two extant Latin novels: Apuleius's The Golden Ass and Petronius's Satyricon . Writers of the Silver Age include: Of the additional century granted by Cruttwell to Silver Latin, Teuffel says: "The second century
21008-564: The area. According to a local tradition reported by Horace, a colony of Romans or Latins had been installed in Venusia after the Samnites had been driven out early in the third century. In that case, young Horace could have felt himself to be a Roman though there are also indications that he regarded himself as a Samnite or Sabellus by birth. Italians in modern and ancient times have always been devoted to their home towns, even after success in
21216-400: The assassination of Julius Caesar were soon to catch up with him. Marcus Junius Brutus came to Athens seeking support for the republican cause. Brutus was fêted around town in grand receptions and he made a point of attending academic lectures, all the while recruiting supporters among the young men studying there, including Horace. An educated young Roman could begin military service high in
21424-403: The birth of the conclave . In this period the city was also shattered by continuous fights between the aristocratic families: Annibaldi , Caetani , Colonna , Orsini , Conti , nested in their fortresses built above ancient Roman edifices, fought each other to control the papacy. Pope Boniface VIII , born Caetani, was the last pope to fight for the church's universal domain ; he proclaimed
21632-436: The blend of Greek and Roman elements adds a sense of detachment and universality. Horace proudly claimed to introduce into Latin the spirit and iambic poetry of Archilochus but (unlike Archilochus) without persecuting anyone ( Epistles 1.19.23–25). It was no idle boast. His Epodes were modelled on the verses of the Greek poet, as 'blame poetry', yet he avoided targeting real scapegoats . Whereas Archilochus presented himself as
21840-515: The city centre in order to build wide avenues and squares which were supposed to celebrate the fascist regime and the resurgence and glorification of classical Rome. The interwar period saw a rapid growth in the city's population which surpassed one million inhabitants soon after 1930. During World War II, due to the art treasuries and the presence of the Vatican, Rome largely escaped the tragic destiny of other European cities. However, on 19 July 1943,
22048-540: The city the artistic and cultural centre of the world. In this way, Rome first became one of the major centres of the Renaissance and then became the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism . Famous artists, painters, sculptors, and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, creating masterpieces throughout the city. In 1871, Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy , which, in 1946, became
22256-568: The city took his name. According to the Roman annalists , this happened on 21 April 753 BC. This legend had to be reconciled with a dual tradition, set earlier in time, that had the Trojan refugee Aeneas escape to Italy and found the line of Romans through his son Iulus , the namesake of the Julio-Claudian dynasty . This was accomplished by the Roman poet Virgil in the first century BC. In addition, Strabo mentions an older story, that
22464-624: The city was affected by the divisions which rocked the Church. In 1418, the Council of Constance settled the Western Schism , and a Roman pope, Martin V , was elected. This brought to Rome a century of internal peace, which marked the beginning of the Renaissance . The ruling popes until the first half of the 16th century, from Nicholas V , founder of the Vatican Library , to Pius II , humanist and literate, from Sixtus IV ,
22672-554: The city was an Arcadian colony founded by Evander . Strabo also writes that Lucius Coelius Antipater believed that Rome was founded by Greeks. After the foundation by Romulus according to a legend, Rome was ruled for a period of 244 years by a monarchical system , initially with sovereigns of Latin and Sabine origin, later by Etruscan kings. The tradition handed down seven kings: Romulus , Numa Pompilius , Tullus Hostilius , Ancus Marcius , Tarquinius Priscus , Servius Tullius and Lucius Tarquinius Superbus . In 509 BC,
22880-471: The city with large basilicas, such as Santa Maria Maggiore (with the collaboration of the emperors). The population of the city had fallen from 800,000 to 450–500,000 by the time the city was sacked in 455 by Genseric , king of the Vandals . The weak emperors of the fifth century could not stop the decay, leading to the deposition of Romulus Augustus , who resided on Ravenna, on 4 September 476. This marked
23088-419: The civil wars to be the result of contentio dignitatis , or rivalry between the foremost families of the city, and he too seems to have accepted the principate as Rome's last hope for much needed peace. In 37 BC, Horace accompanied Maecenas on a journey to Brundisium , described in one of his poems as a series of amusing incidents and charming encounters with other friends along the way, such as Virgil. In fact
23296-455: The coldest months, with a daily mean temperature of approximately 8 °C (46 °F). Temperatures during these months generally vary between 10 and 15 °C (50 and 59 °F) during the day and between 3 and 5 °C (37 and 41 °F) at night, with colder or warmer spells occurring frequently. Snowfall is rare but not unheard of, with light snow or flurries occurring on some winters, generally without accumulation, and major snowfalls on
23504-449: The collection demonstrates a leaning towards stoic theory, it reveals no sustained thinking about ethics. Maecenas was still the dominant confidante but Horace had now begun to assert his own independence, suavely declining constant invitations to attend his patron. In the final poem of the first book of Epistles , he revealed himself to be forty-four years old in the consulship of Lollius and Lepidus i.e. 21 BC, and "of small stature, fond of
23712-402: The common vernacular , however, as Vulgar Latin ( sermo vulgaris and sermo vulgi ), in contrast to the higher register that they called latinitas , sometimes translated as "Latinity". Latinitas was also called sermo familiaris ("speech of the good families"), sermo urbanus ("speech of the city"), and in rare cases sermo nobilis ("noble speech"). Besides the noun Latinitas , it
23920-474: The death of Augustus. The Ciceronian Age is further divided by the consulship of Cicero in 691 AUC (63 BC) into a first and second half. Authors are assigned to these periods by years of principal achievements. The Golden Age had already made an appearance in German philology, but in a less systematic way. In a translation of Bielfeld's Elements of universal erudition (1770): The Second Age of Latin began about
24128-584: The decoration of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and executed the famous statue of the Moses for the tomb of Julius II. Its economy was rich, with the presence of several Tuscan bankers, including Agostino Chigi , who was a friend of Raphael and a patron of arts. Before his early death, Raphael also promoted for the first time the preservation of the ancient ruins. The War of the League of Cognac caused
24336-533: The elite of Roman youth, such as Marcus, the idle son of Cicero , and the Pompeius to whom he later addressed a poem. It was in Athens too that he probably acquired deep familiarity with the ancient tradition of Greek lyric poetry, at that time largely the preserve of grammarians and academic specialists (access to such material was easier in Athens than in Rome, where the public libraries had yet to be built by Asinius Pollio and Augustus). Rome's troubles following
24544-546: The empire in 286, ruling over the eastern half from Nicomedia , while his co-emperor Maximian ruled the western half from Mediolanum (when not on the move). The empire was further divided in 293, when Diocletian named two caesar , one for each augustus (emperor). Diocletian tried to turn into a system of non-dynastic succession, similar to the Antonine dynasty. Upon abdication in 305, both caesars succeeded and they, in turn, appointed two colleagues for themselves. However,
24752-477: The end of the Western Roman Empire and, for many historians, the beginning of the Middle Ages . The decline of the city's population was caused by the loss of grain shipments from North Africa, from 440 onward, and the unwillingness of the senatorial class to maintain donations to support a population that was too large for the resources available. Even so, strenuous efforts were made to maintain
24960-400: The entourage of Cardinal Albornoz , who was charged with restoring the Church's power in Italy. Back in power for a short time, Cola was soon lynched by the populace, and Albornoz took possession of the city. In 1377, Rome became the seat of the papacy again under Gregory XI . The return of the pope to Rome in that year unleashed the Western Schism (1377–1418), and for the next forty years,
25168-422: The epic poet and the lyric poet are aligned with Stoicism and Epicureanism respectively, in a mood of bitter-sweet pathos. The first poem of the Epistles sets the philosophical tone for the rest of the collection: "So now I put aside both verses and all those other games: What is true and what befits is my care, this my question, this my whole concern." His poetic renunciation of poetry in favour of philosophy
25376-443: The extinction of freedom... Hence arose a declamatory tone, which strove by frigid and almost hysterical exaggeration to make up for the healthy stimulus afforded by daily contact with affairs. The vein of artificial rhetoric, antithesis and epigram... owes its origin to this forced contentment with an uncongenial sphere. With the decay of freedom, taste sank... In Cruttwell's view (which had not been expressed by Teuffel), Silver Latin
25584-600: The face of Rome dramatically, with works like the Pietà by Michelangelo and the frescoes of the Borgia Apartments . Rome reached the highest point of splendour under Pope Julius II (1503–1513) and his successors Leo X and Clement VII , both members of the Medici family . In this twenty-year period, Rome became one of the greatest centres of art in the world. The old St. Peter's Basilica built by Emperor Constantine
25792-423: The failed attempt of social reform of the populares Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus , and the war against Jugurtha , there was a civil war from which the general Sulla emerged victorious. A major slave revolt under Spartacus followed, and then the establishment of the first Triumvirate with Caesar , Pompey and Crassus . The conquest of Gaul made Caesar immensely powerful and popular, which led to
26000-624: The first half of the first century (under Tiberius ) and popularised by his apostles through the empire and beyond. The Antonine age is considered the zenith of the Empire, whose territory ranged from the Atlantic Ocean to the Euphrates and from Britain to Egypt . After the end of the Severan dynasty in AD 235, the Empire entered into a 50-year period known as the Crisis of
26208-692: The first plunder of the city in more than five hundred years since the previous sack ; in 1527, the Landsknechts of Emperor Charles V sacked the city , bringing an abrupt end to the golden age of the Renaissance in Rome. Beginning with the Council of Trent in 1545, the Church began the Counter-Reformation in response to the Reformation, a large-scale questioning of the Church's authority on spiritual matters and governmental affairs. This loss of confidence led to major shifts of power away from
26416-543: The free-born son of a prosperous 'coactor'. The term 'coactor' could denote various roles, such as tax collector, but its use by Horace was explained by scholia as a reference to 'coactor argentarius' i.e. an auctioneer with some of the functions of a banker, paying the seller out of his own funds and later recovering the sum with interest from the buyer. The father spent a small fortune on his son's education, eventually accompanying him to Rome to oversee his schooling and moral development. The poet later paid tribute to him in
26624-422: The fundamental characteristics of a language. The latter provides unity, allowing it to be referred to by a single name. Thus Old Latin, Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin , etc., are not considered different languages, but are all referred to by the term, Latin . This is an ancient practice continued by moderns rather than a philological innovation of recent times. That Latin had case endings is a fundamental feature of
26832-658: The governance of the Holy See ) is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city. Rome is often referred to as the City of Seven Hills due to its geographic location, and also as the "Eternal City". Rome is generally considered to be the cradle of Western civilization and Western Christian culture , and the centre of the Catholic Church . Rome's history spans 28 centuries. While Roman mythology dates
27040-454: The heartstrings". His career coincided with Rome's momentous change from a republic to an empire. An officer in the republican army defeated at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, he was befriended by Octavian's right-hand man in civil affairs, Maecenas , and became a spokesman for the new regime. For some commentators, his association with the regime was a delicate balance in which he maintained
27248-471: The help of the plebs (urban lower class) to gain power. In the same period, the bankruptcy of the small farmers and the establishment of large slave estates caused large-scale migration to the city. The continuous warfare led to the establishment of a professional army, which turned out to be more loyal to its generals than to the republic. Because of this, in the late 2nd and early 1st century BC there were several conflicts both abroad and internally: after
27456-527: The highest excellence in prose and poetry." The Ciceronian Age (known today as the "Republican Period") is dated 80–42 BC, marked by the Battle of Philippi . Cruttwell omits the first half of Teuffel's Ciceronian, and starts the Golden Age at Cicero's consulship in 63 BC—an error perpetuated in Cruttwell's second edition. He likely meant 80 BC, as he includes Varro in Golden Latin. Teuffel's Augustan Age
27664-571: The journey was political in its motivation, with Maecenas en route to negotiate the Treaty of Tarentum with Antony, a fact Horace artfully keeps from the reader (political issues are largely avoided in the first book of satires). Horace was probably also with Maecenas on one of Octavian's naval expeditions against the piratical Sextus Pompeius, which ended in a disastrous storm off Palinurus in 36 BC, briefly alluded to by Horace in terms of near-drowning. There are also some indications in his verses that he
27872-439: The lack of success to jealousy among imperial courtiers and to his isolation from literary cliques. Perhaps it was disappointment that led him to put aside the genre in favour of verse letters. He addressed his first book of Epistles to a variety of friends and acquaintances in an urbane style reflecting his new social status as a knight. In the opening poem, he professed a deeper interest in moral philosophy than poetry but, though
28080-457: The language "is marked by immaturity of art and language, by a vigorous but ill-disciplined imitation of Greek poetical models, and in prose by a dry sententiousness of style, gradually giving way to a clear and fluent strength..." These abstracts have little meaning to those not well-versed in Latin literature. In fact, Cruttwell admits "The ancients, indeed, saw a difference between Ennius , Pacuvius , and Accius , but it may be questioned whether
28288-511: The language. Whether a given form of speech prefers to use prepositions such as ad , ex , de, for "to", "from" and "of" rather than simple case endings is a matter of style. Latin has a large number of styles. Each and every author has a style, which typically allows his prose or poetry to be identified by experienced Latinists. Problems in comparative literature have risen out of group styles finding similarity by period, in which case one may speak of Old Latin, Silver Latin, Late Latin as styles or
28496-483: The last half of the ninth century, it was not uncommon for literate people to have direct experience of Horace's poetry. His influence on the Carolingian Renaissance can be found in the poems of Heiric of Auxerre and in some manuscripts marked with neumes , mysterious notations that may have been an aid to the memorization and discussion of his lyric meters. Ode 4.11 is neumed with the melody of
28704-445: The latter poet is uncanny: Archilochus lost his shield in a part of Thrace near Philippi, and he was deeply involved in the Greek colonization of Thasos , where Horace's die-hard comrades finally surrendered. Octavian offered an early amnesty to his opponents and Horace quickly accepted it. On returning to Italy, he was confronted with yet another loss: his father's estate in Venusia was one of many throughout Italy to be confiscated for
28912-610: The luxury fashion house Fendi located in the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana . The presence of renowned international brands in the city has made Rome an important centre of fashion and design, and the Cinecittà Studios have been the set of many Academy Award –winning movies. According to the Ancient Romans' founding myth , the name Roma came from the city's founder and first king , Romulus . However, it
29120-464: The lyric meters of the Odes , including the scholarly poet Caesius Bassus . By a process called derivatio , he varied established meters through the addition or omission of syllables, a technique borrowed by Seneca the Younger when adapting Horatian meters to the stage. Horace's poems continued to be school texts into late antiquity. Works attributed to Helenius Acro and Pomponius Porphyrio are
29328-537: The lyrics of early Christian poets like Prudentius . These preliminary comments touch on a small sample of developments in the reception of Horace's work. More developments are covered epoch by epoch in the following sections. Horace's influence can be observed in the work of his near contemporaries, Ovid and Propertius . Ovid followed his example in creating a completely natural style of expression in hexameter verse, and Propertius cheekily mimicked him in his third book of elegies. His Epistles provided them both with
29536-416: The melody is unlikely to be a survivor from classical times, although Ovid testifies to Horace's use of the lyre while performing his Odes. Classical Latin language Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire . It formed parallel to Vulgar Latin around 75 BC out of Old Latin , and developed by
29744-465: The mid-1980s when the comune had more than 2.8 million residents. After this, the population declined slowly as people began to move to nearby suburbs. Rome is in the Lazio region of central Italy on the Tiber ( Italian : Tevere ) river. The original settlement developed on hills that faced onto a ford beside the Tiber Island , the only natural ford of the river in this area. The Rome of
29952-570: The monumental centre, the palatine, and the largest baths, which continued to function until the Gothic siege of 537. The large baths of Constantine on the Quirinale were even repaired in 443, and the extent of the damage exaggerated and dramatised. However, the city gave an appearance overall of shabbiness and decay because of the large abandoned areas due to population decline. The population declined to 500,000 by 452 and 100,000 by 500 AD (perhaps larger, though no certain figure can be known). After
30160-684: The north Latium town of Sutri to the Church, starting its temporal power. In 756, Pepin the Short , after having defeated the Lombards, gave the Pope temporal jurisdiction over the Roman Duchy and the Exarchate of Ravenna , thus creating the Papal States . Since this period, three powers tried to rule the city: the pope, the nobility (together with the chiefs of militias, the judges, the Senate and
30368-448: The other, would savour of artificial restriction rather than that of a natural classification." The contradiction remains—Terence is, and is not a classical author, depending on the context. Teuffel's definition of the "First Period" of Latin was based on inscriptions, fragments, and the literary works of the earliest known authors. Though he does use the term "Old Roman" at one point, most of these findings remain unnamed. Teuffel presents
30576-405: The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War . Italian troops were able to capture Rome entering the city through a breach near Porta Pia . Pope Pius IX declared himself a prisoner in the Vatican . In 1871 the capital of Italy was moved from Florence to Rome. In 1870 the population of the city was 212,000, all of whom lived with the area circumscribed by the ancient city, and in 1920, the population
30784-473: The parasitism that Italy was sinking into). In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, ode-writing became highly fashionable in England and a large number of aspiring poets imitated Horace both in English and in Latin. In a verse epistle to Augustus (Epistle 2.1), in 12 BC, Horace argued for classic status to be awarded to contemporary poets, including Virgil and apparently himself. In the final poem of his third book of Odes he claimed to have created for himself
30992-457: The period between the mid sixth century and the Carolingian revival . Horace's work probably survived in just two or three books imported into northern Europe from Italy. These became the ancestors of six extant manuscripts dated to the ninth century. Two of those six manuscripts are French in origin, one was produced in Alsace , and the other three show Irish influence but were probably written in continental monasteries ( Lombardy for example). By
31200-450: The period of classical Latin. The classical Romans distinguished Old Latin as prisca Latinitas and not sermo vulgaris . Each author's work in the Roman lists was considered equivalent to one in the Greek. In example, Ennius was the Latin Homer , Aeneid was the equivalent of Iliad , etc. The lists of classical authors were as far as the Roman grammarians went in developing a philology . The topic remained at that point while interest in
31408-410: The period through the death of Marcus Aurelius (180 AD). The philosophic prose of a good emperor was in no way compatible with either Teuffel's view of unnatural language, or Cruttwell's depiction of a decline. Having created these constructs, the two philologists found they could not entirely justify them. Apparently, in the worst implication of their views, there was no such thing as Classical Latin by
31616-480: The philological notion of classical Latin through a typology similar to the Ages of Man , setting out the Golden and Silver Ages of classical Latin. Wilhem Wagner, who published Teuffel's work in German, also produced an English translation which he published in 1873. Teuffel's classification, still in use today (with modifications), groups classical Latin authors into periods defined by political events rather than by style. Teuffel went on to publish other editions, but
31824-419: The place of quiet power. The content of new literary works was continually proscribed by the emperor, who exiled or executed existing authors and played the role of literary man, himself (typically badly). Artists therefore went into a repertory of new and dazzling mannerisms, which Teuffel calls "utter unreality." Cruttwell picks up this theme: The foremost of these [characteristics] is unreality, arising from
32032-411: The poet Virgil, who had gained admission into the privileged circle around Maecenas, Octavian's lieutenant, following the success of his Eclogues . An introduction soon followed and, after a discreet interval, Horace too was accepted. He depicted the process as an honourable one, based on merit and mutual respect, eventually leading to true friendship, and there is reason to believe that his relationship
32240-445: The pope, the emperor, and each other. These were the times of Theodora and her daughter Marozia , concubines and mothers of several popes, and of Crescentius , a powerful feudal lord, who fought against the Emperors Otto II and Otto III . The scandals of this period forced the papacy to reform itself: the election of the pope was reserved to the cardinals, and reform of the clergy was attempted. The driving force behind this renewal
32448-402: The populace), and the Frankish king, as king of the Lombards, patricius, and Emperor. These three parties (theocratic, republican, and imperial) were a characteristic of Roman life during the entire Middle Ages. On Christmas night of 800, Charlemagne was crowned in Rome as Emperor by Pope Leo III : on that occasion, the city hosted for the first time the two powers whose struggle for control
32656-408: The public performance of his "Carmen saeculare" or "Century hymn" at a public festival orchestrated by Augustus. In it, Horace addresses the emperor Augustus directly with more confidence and proclaims his power to grant poetic immortality to those he praises. It is the least philosophical collection of his verses, excepting the twelfth ode, addressed to the dead Virgil as if he were living. In that ode,
32864-414: The ranks and Horace was made tribunus militum (one of six senior officers of a typical legion), a post usually reserved for men of senatorial or equestrian rank and which seems to have inspired jealousy among his well-born confederates. He learned the basics of military life while on the march, particularly in the wilds of northern Greece, whose rugged scenery became a backdrop to some of his later poems. It
33072-400: The realities confronting him. Archilochus and Alcaeus were aristocratic Greeks whose poetry had a social and religious function that was immediately intelligible to their audiences but which became a mere artifice or literary motif when transposed to Rome. However, the artifice of the Odes is also integral to their success, since they could now accommodate a wide range of emotional effects, and
33280-457: The remnants of a much larger body of Horatian scholarship. Porphyrio arranged the poems in non-chronological order, beginning with the Odes , because of their general popularity and their appeal to scholars (the Odes were to retain this privileged position in the medieval manuscript tradition and thus in modern editions also). Horace was often evoked by poets of the fourth century, such as Ausonius and Claudian . Prudentius presented himself as
33488-423: The river at Licenza , which joins the Aniene as it flows on to Tivoli. The Epodes belong to iambic poetry . Iambic poetry features insulting and obscene language; sometimes, it is referred to as blame poetry . Blame poetry , or shame poetry , is poetry written to blame and shame fellow citizens into a sense of their social obligations. Each poem normally has a archetype person Horace decides to shame, or teach
33696-415: The rules of politus (polished) texts may give the appearance of an artificial language. However, Latinitas was a form of sermo (spoken language), and as such, retains spontaneity. No texts by Classical Latin authors are noted for the type of rigidity evidenced by stylized art, with the exception of repetitious abbreviations and stock phrases found on inscriptions. The standards, authors and manuals from
33904-511: The same generation, had determined to make his fame as a poet, being by temperament a fighter, he wanted to fight against all kinds of prejudice, amateurish slovenliness, philistinism, reactionary tendencies, in short to fight for the new and noble type of poetry which he and his friends were endeavouring to bring about. In modern literary theory, a distinction is often made between immediate personal experience ( Urerlebnis ) and experience mediated by cultural vectors such as literature, philosophy and
34112-407: The satiric poet, and in Odes 2.10 even proposes Aristotle's golden mean as a remedy for Rome's political troubles. Many of Horace's poems also contain much reflection on genre, the lyric tradition, and the function of poetry. Odes 4, thought to be composed at the emperor's request, takes the themes of the first three books of "Odes" to a new level. This book shows greater poetic confidence after
34320-407: The settlement of veterans ( Virgil lost his estate in the north about the same time). Horace later claimed that he was reduced to poverty and this led him to try his hand at poetry. In reality, there was no money to be had from versifying. At best, it offered future prospects through contacts with other poets and their patrons among the rich. Meanwhile, he obtained the sinecure of scriba quaestorius ,
34528-428: The shore, where the south-western district of Ostia is located. The altitude of the central part of Rome ranges from 13 m (43 ft) above sea level (at the base of the Pantheon ) to 139 m (456 ft) above sea level (the peak of Monte Mario ). The Comune of Rome covers an overall area of about 1,285 km (496 sq mi), including many green areas. Public parks and nature reserves cover
34736-425: The short but valuable "Life of Horace" by Suetonius (in his Lives of the Poets ). He was born on 8 December 65 BC in Apulia , in southern Italy . His home town, Venusia , lay on a trade route in the region of Apulia at the border with Lucania ( Basilicata ). Various Italic dialects were spoken in the area and this perhaps enriched his feeling for language. He could have been familiar with Greek words even as
34944-415: The solemn (2.10, 3.2, 3.3). Epicureanism is the dominant influence, characterising about twice as many of these odes as Stoicism. A group of odes combines these two influences in tense relationships, such as Odes 1.7, praising Stoic virility and devotion to public duty while also advocating private pleasures among friends. While generally favouring the Epicurean lifestyle, the lyric poet is as eclectic as
35152-402: The spoils. One modern scholar has counted a dozen civil wars in the hundred years leading up to 31 BC, including the Third Servile War under Spartacus , eight years before Horace's birth. As the heirs to Hellenistic culture, Horace and his fellow Romans were not well prepared to deal with these problems: At bottom, all the problems that the times were stirring up were of a social nature, which
35360-408: The successors of Peter, who is considered the first Bishop of Rome. The city thus became of increasing importance as the centre of the Catholic Church . After the Lombard invasion of Italy (569–572), the city remained nominally Byzantine, but in reality, the popes pursued a policy of equilibrium between the Byzantines , the Franks , and the Lombards . In 729, the Lombard king Liutprand donated
35568-529: The sun, prematurely grey, quick-tempered but easily placated". According to Suetonius, the second book of Epistles was prompted by Augustus, who desired a verse epistle to be addressed to himself. Augustus was in fact a prolific letter-writer and he once asked Horace to be his personal secretary. Horace refused the secretarial role but complied with the emperor's request for a verse letter. The letter to Augustus may have been slow in coming, being published possibly as late as 11 BC. It celebrated, among other things,
35776-430: The support system from its control. Christianity in the form of the Nicene Creed became the official religion of the empire in 380, via the Edict of Thessalonica issued in the name of three emperors – Gratian, Valentinian II, and Theodosius I – with Theodosius clearly the driving force behind it. He was the last emperor of a unified empire: after his death in 395, his young children, Honorius and Arcadius , inherited
35984-569: The symbol of Rome's constituted republican government . Furthermore, Rome has been called Urbs Aeterna (The Eternal City), Caput Mundi (The Capital of the world ), Throne of St. Peter and Roma Capitale. While there have been discoveries of archaeological evidence of human occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago, the dense layer of much younger debris obscures Palaeolithic and Neolithic sites. Evidence of stone tools, pottery, and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence. Several excavations support
36192-437: The term "pre-classical" to Old Latin and implicating it to post-classical (or post-Augustan) and silver Latin, Cruttwell realized that his construct was not accordance with ancient usage and assertions: "[T]he epithet classical is by many restricted to the authors who wrote in it [golden Latin]. It is best, however, not to narrow unnecessarily the sphere of classicity; to exclude Terence on the one hand or Tacitus and Pliny on
36400-419: The three Macedonian Wars (212–168 BC) against Macedonia . The first Roman provinces were established at this time: Sicily , Sardinia and Corsica , Hispania , Macedonia , Achaea and Africa . From the beginning of the 2nd century BC, power was contested between two groups of aristocrats: the optimates , representing the conservative part of the Senate , and the populares , which relied on
36608-421: The time of Caesar [his ages are different from Teuffel's], and ended with Tiberius. This is what is called the Augustan Age, which was perhaps of all others the most brilliant, a period at which it should seem as if the greatest men, and the immortal authors, had met together upon the earth, in order to write the Latin language in its utmost purity and perfection... and of Tacitus, his conceits and sententious style
36816-534: The victories of Drusus and Tiberius and one to be sung in a temple of Apollo for the Secular Games , a long-abandoned festival that Augustus revived in accordance with his policy of recreating ancient customs ( Carmen Saeculare ). Suetonius recorded some gossip about Horace's sexual activities late in life, claiming that the walls of his bedchamber were covered with obscene pictures and mirrors, so that he saw erotica wherever he looked. The poet died at 56 years of age, not long after his friend Maecenas, near whose tomb he
37024-418: The view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum . Between the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age , each hill between the sea and the Capitoline Hill was topped by a village (on the Capitoline, a village is attested since the end of the 14th century BC). However, none of them yet had an urban quality. Nowadays, there
37232-416: The visual arts ( Bildungserlebnis ). The distinction has little relevance for Horace however since his personal and literary experiences are implicated in each other. Satires 1.5, for example, recounts in detail a real trip Horace made with Virgil and some of his other literary friends, and which parallels a Satire by Lucilius , his predecessor. Unlike much Hellenistic-inspired literature, however, his poetry
37440-433: The war as part of the " Italian economic miracle " of post-war reconstruction and modernisation in the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, the years of la dolce vita ("the sweet life"), Rome became a fashionable city, with popular classic films such as Ben Hur , Quo Vadis , Roman Holiday and La Dolce Vita filmed in the city's iconic Cinecittà Studios . The rising trend in population growth continued until
37648-493: The watchful eye of a new emperor. The demand for great orators had ceased, shifting to an emphasis on poetry. Other than the historian Livy , the most remarkable writers of the period were the poets Virgil , Horace , and Ovid . Although Augustus evidenced some toleration to republican sympathizers, he exiled Ovid, and imperial tolerance ended with the continuance of the Julio-Claudian dynasty . Augustan writers include: In his second volume, Imperial Period , Teuffel initiated
37856-492: The wider world, and Horace was no different. Images of his childhood setting and references to it are found throughout his poems. Horace's father was probably a Venutian taken captive by Romans in the Social War, or possibly he was descended from a Sabine captured in the Samnite Wars . Either way, he was a slave for at least part of his life. He was evidently a man of strong abilities however and managed to gain his freedom and improve his social position. Thus Horace claimed to be
38064-489: The words. According to Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary , the term classical (from classicus) entered modern English in 1599, some 50 years after its re-introduction to the continent. In Governor William Bradford 's Dialogue (1648), he referred to synods of a separatist church as "classical meetings", defined by meetings between "young men" from New England and "ancient men" from Holland and England. In 1715, Laurence Echard 's Classical Geographical Dictionary
38272-424: Was 660,000. A significant portion lived outside the walls in the north and across the Tiber in the Vatican area. Soon after World War I in late 1922 Rome witnessed the rise of Italian Fascism led by Benito Mussolini , who led a march on the city . He did away with democracy by 1926, eventually declaring a new Italian Empire and allying Italy with Nazi Germany in 1938. Mussolini demolished fairly large parts of
38480-442: Was a "rank, weed-grown garden," a "decline." Cruttwell had already decried what he saw as a loss of spontaneity in Golden Latin. Teuffel regarded the Silver Age as a loss of natural language, and therefore of spontaneity, implying that it was last seen in the Golden Age. Instead, Tiberius brought about a "sudden collapse of letters." The idea of a decline had been dominant in English society since Edward Gibbon 's Decline and Fall of
38688-424: Was a happy period for the Roman State, the happiest indeed during the whole Empire... But in the world of letters the lassitude and enervation, which told of Rome's decline, became unmistakeable... its forte is in imitation." Teuffel, however, excepts the jurists; others find other "exceptions", recasting Teuffels's view. Style of language refers to repeatable features of speech that are somewhat less general than
38896-413: Was a rare attempt at the form but it was inspired mainly by Callimachus , and there are some iambic elements in Martial but the main influence there was Catullus . A revival of popular interest in the satires of Lucilius may have been inspired by Horace's criticism of his unpolished style. Both Horace and Lucilius were considered good role-models by Persius , who critiqued his own satires as lacking both
39104-406: Was able to define sublime, intermediate, and low styles within Classical Latin. St. Augustine recommended low style for sermons. Style was to be defined by deviation in speech from a standard. Teuffel termed this standard "Golden Latin". John Edwin Sandys , who was an authority in Latin style for several decades, summarizes the differences between Golden and Silver Latin as follows: Silver Latin
39312-400: Was equal to the Golden Age, his Third Period die römische Kaiserheit encompasses both the Silver Age and the centuries now termed Late Latin , in which the forms seemed to break loose from their foundation and float freely. That is, men of literature were confounded about the meaning of "good Latin." The last iteration of Classical Latin is known as Silver Latin. The Silver Age is the first of
39520-483: Was first under the control of Odoacer and then became part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom before returning to East Roman control after the Gothic War , which devastated the city in 546 and 550 . Its population declined from more than a million in AD 210 to 500,000 in AD 273 to 35,000 after the Gothic War (535–554), reducing the sprawling city to groups of inhabited buildings interspersed among large areas of ruins, vegetation, vineyards and market gardens. It
39728-522: Was genuinely friendly, not just with Maecenas but afterwards with Augustus as well. On the other hand, the poet has been unsympathetically described by one scholar as "a sharp and rising young man, with an eye to the main chance." There were advantages on both sides: Horace gained encouragement and material support, the politicians gained a hold on a potential dissident. His republican sympathies, and his role at Philippi, may have caused him some pangs of remorse over his new status. However, most Romans considered
39936-443: Was governed by creating regional dioceses. The existence of regional fiscal units from 286 served as the model for this unprecedented innovation. The emperor quickened the process of removing military command from governors. Henceforth, civilian administration and military command would be separate. He gave governors more fiscal duties and placed them in charge of the army logistical support system as an attempt to control it by removing
40144-408: Was heading south to fight the Hohenstaufen on behalf of the pope, was appointed Senator. Charles founded the Sapienza , the university of Rome. In that period the pope died, and the cardinals, summoned in Viterbo , could not agree on his successor. This angered the people of the city, who then unroofed the building where they met and imprisoned them until they had nominated the new pope; this marked
40352-444: Was known as the caput Mundi , i.e. the capital of the known world, an expression which had already been used in the Republican period. During its first two centuries, the empire was ruled by emperors of the Julio-Claudian , Flavian (who built an eponymous amphitheatre known as the Colosseum ), and Antonine dynasties. This time was also characterised by the spread of the Christian religion, preached by Jesus Christ in Judea in
40560-633: Was laid to rest. Both men bequeathed their property to Augustus, an honour that the emperor expected of his friends. The dating of Horace's works isn't known precisely and scholars often debate the exact order in which they were first 'published'. There are persuasive arguments for the following chronology: Horace composed in traditional metres borrowed from Archaic Greece , employing hexameters in his Satires and Epistles , and iambs in his Epodes , all of which were relatively easy to adapt into Latin forms . His Odes featured more complex measures, including alcaics and sapphics , which were sometimes
40768-442: Was not composed for a small coterie of admirers and fellow poets, nor does it rely on abstruse allusions for many of its effects. Though elitist in its literary standards, it was written for a wide audience, as a public form of art. Ambivalence also characterizes his literary persona, since his presentation of himself as part of a small community of philosophically aware people, seeking true peace of mind while shunning vices like greed,
40976-454: Was nothing like it in Greek or Roman literature. Occasionally poems had had some resemblance to letters, including an elegiac poem from Solon to Mimnermus and some lyrical poems from Pindar to Hieron of Syracuse . Lucilius had composed a satire in the form of a letter, and some epistolary poems were composed by Catullus and Propertius . But nobody before Horace had ever composed an entire collection of verse letters, let alone letters with
41184-567: Was published. In 1736, Robert Ainsworth 's Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Compendarius turned English words and expressions into "proper and classical Latin." In 1768, David Ruhnken 's Critical History of the Greek Orators recast the molded view of the classical by applying the word "canon" to the pinakes of orators after the Biblical canon , or list of authentic books of the Bible. In doing so, Ruhnken had secular catechism in mind. In 1870, Wilhelm Sigismund Teuffel 's Geschichte der Römischen Literatur ( A History of Roman Literature ) defined
41392-472: Was referred to with the adverb latine ("in (good) Latin", literally "Latinly") or its comparative latinius ("in better Latin", literally "more Latinly"). Latinitas was spoken and written. It was the language taught in schools. Prescriptive rules therefore applied to it, and when special subjects like poetry or rhetoric were taken into consideration, additional rules applied. Since spoken Latinitas has become extinct (in favor of subsequent registers),
41600-405: Was restored in part much later). In 330, he transformed Byzantium into Constantinople , which became his new capital. However, it was not officially anything more than an imperial residence like Milan , Trier or Nicomedia until given a city prefect in 359 by Constantius II . Constantine, following Diocletian's reforms. regionalised the administration, which fundamentally changed the way it
41808-429: Was struggling to survive the disorder of the times. Boethius , the last major author of classical Latin literature, could still take inspiration from Horace, sometimes mediated by Senecan tragedy. It can be argued that Horace's influence extended beyond poetry to dignify core themes and values of the early Christian era, such as self-sufficiency, inner contentment and courage. Classical texts almost ceased being copied in
42016-399: Was the monk Ildebrando da Soana , who once elected pope under the name of Gregory VII became involved into the Investiture Controversy against Emperor Henry IV . Subsequently, Rome was sacked and burned by the Normans under Robert Guiscard who had entered the city in support of the Pope, then besieged in Castel Sant'Angelo . During this period, the city was autonomously ruled by
42224-415: Was the private freedom of a philosophical outlook, not a political or social privilege. His Satires are relatively easy-going in their use of meter (relative to the tight lyric meters of the Odes ) but formal and highly controlled relative to the poems of Lucilius, whom Horace mocked for his sloppy standards ( Satires 1.10.56–61) The Epistles may be considered among Horace's most innovative works. There
42432-501: Was there in 42 BC that Octavian (later Augustus ) and his associate Mark Antony crushed the republican forces at the Battle of Philippi . Horace later recorded it as a day of embarrassment for himself, when he fled without his shield, but allowance should be made for his self-deprecating humour. Moreover, the incident allowed him to identify himself with some famous poets who had long ago abandoned their shields in battle, notably his heroes Alcaeus and Archilochus . The comparison with
42640-409: Was to be a constant of the Middle Ages. This event marks the beginning of the Carolingian Empire , the first phase of the Holy Roman Empire . In 846, Muslim Arabs unsuccessfully stormed the city's walls , but managed to loot St. Peter 's and St. Paul's basilica, both outside the city wall. After the decay of Carolingian power , Rome fell prey to feudal chaos: several noble families fought against
42848-431: Was united as the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 with the temporary capital in Florence . That year Rome was declared the capital of Italy even though it was still under the Pope's control. During the 1860s, the last vestiges of the Papal States were under French protection thanks to the foreign policy of Napoleon III . French troops were stationed in the region under Papal control. In 1870 the French troops were withdrawn due to
43056-462: Was well adapted to Augustus's plans to reform public morality, corrupted by greed—his personal plea for moderation was part of the emperor's grand message to the nation. Horace generally followed the examples of poets established as classics in different genres, such as Archilochus in the Epodes , Lucilius in the Satires and Alcaeus in the Odes , later broadening his scope for the sake of variation and because his models weren't actually suited to
43264-450: Was with Maecenas at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, where Octavian defeated his great rival, Antony. By then Horace had already received from Maecenas the famous gift of his Sabine farm , probably not long after the publication of the first book of Satires . The gift, which included income from five tenants, may have ended his career at the Treasury, or at least allowed him to give it less time and energy. It signalled his identification with
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