Perhaps no classical writer has been so consistently in vogue as Horace.
Famous in his own lifetime as a close associate of the Emperor Octavian,
to whom he dedicated several odes, Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65-8 BC)
has never really been out of fashion. Petrarch, for example, modelled
his letters on Horace's innovative Epistles, while also borrowing from
his Roman forebear in composing his own Italian sonnets.
The echo of Horace's voice can be found in almost every genre of
medieval literature. And in later periods, this influence and popularity
if anything increased. Yet, as Paul Allen Miller shows, while Horace may
justifiably be called the poet for all seasons he is also in the end an
enigma. His elusive, ironic contrariness is perhaps the true secret of
his success. A cultured man of letters, he fought on the losing side of
the Battle of Philippi (42 BC). A staunch Republican, he ended up
eagerly (some said too eagerly) promoting the cause of Julio-Claudian
imperialism. Viewed as the acme of Roman literary civilization, he was
shaped by his Athens education at Plato's famous Academy. This new
introduction reveals Horace in all his paradoxical genius and
complexity.
