Who was Horace?

   Horace (65-8 B.C.) was one of the greatest poets of ancient Rome. He became famous for the beautiful song like verses in his Odes. Horace wrote about a variety of subjects, including friendship, heroism, politics, and religion. Some of his poems reflect such moral values as respect for the gods and obedience to the law and to the state.
   Horace's short lyrics are collected in Epodes and in Odes. His collection called Satires includes some warm and human poems, among them a famous one about a bore. Horace wrote poems to his friends in the form of letters, which make up the collection called Epistles.
   Quintus Horatius Flaccus was born in the province of Apulia in southern Italy. His father, though a former slave, gave him an excellent education in Rome and Athens. Horace left his studies in Athens to join the army of Marcus Junius Brutus, a Roman revolutionary general. In 42 B.C., Brutus was defeated in battle at Philippi and Horace returned to Rome. He became a clerk in the government of Emperor Augustus and began to write poetry. He devoted himself to writing after gaining the financial support of Gaius Maecenas, a wealthy patron of the arts.