ad the friendship
of all the most accomplished men of his day, among whom was Horace, who
entertained a strong affection for him. His fame, which was established
in his lifetime, was cherished after his death as an inheritance in
which every Roman had a share; and his works became school-books even
before the death of Augustus, and have continued such ever since.

HORACE (65-8 B. C.) was born at Venusia, but received his education at
Rome and Athens. He was present at the battle of Philippi (42), where he
fought as Tribune under Brutus. His first writings were his _Satires_.
These he read to his friends, and their merit was at once recognized.
His great patron was MAECENAS, who introduced him to the Emperor, and
gave him a fine country seat near Tivoli, among the Sabine Mountains.
He died the same year as his patron, and was buried beside him at the
Esquiline Gate.

The poems of Horace give us a picture of refined and educated life in
the Rome of his time. They are unsurpassed in gracefulness and felicity
of thought. Filled with truisms, they were for centuries read and quoted
more than those of any other ancient writer.

OVID (43 B. C.-18 A. D.), a native of Sulmo, is far inferior to Virgil
and Horace as a poet, but ranks high on account of his great gift for
narration.

"Of the Latin poets he stands perhaps nearest to modern civilization,
partly on account of his fresh and vivid sense of the beauties of
nature, and partly because his subject is love. His representations of
this passion are graceful, and strikingly true. He also excelled other
poets in the perfect elegance of his form, especially in the character
and rhythm of his verses." He spent his last days in exile, banished by
Augustus for some reason now unknown. Some of his most pleasing verses
were written during this period.

One of the most noted men of the Augustan age was MAECENAS, the
warm friend and adviser of Augustus. He was a constant patron of the
literature and art of his generation. He was very wealthy, and his
magnificent house was the centre of literary society in Rome, He helped
both Virgil and Horace in a substantial manner, and the latter is
constantly referring to him in his poetry. He died (8 B. C.) childless,
and left his fortune to Augustus.

The prose writers who lived at this period were Livy, Sallust, and
Nepos.

LIVY is the best of these. He was a native of Patavium (Padua), a man of
rhetorical training, who spent most of his