Author

Horace and Persius

Two Roman satirical poets of the Augustan and Neronian periods

About Horace and Persius

Horace (65-8 BCE) was a Roman poet of the Augustan age whose Satires, Epodes, Odes and Epistles made urbane moderation a durable literary ideal. Persius (34-62 CE) was a younger Roman satirist of the Neronian period whose dense, Stoic poems attack moral corruption and bad writing. Together they show Roman satire developing from conversational self-scrutiny to compressed ethical invective.

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The Satires of Horace and Persius

Horace and Persius

c. 35–30 BCE / c. 60 CE · Ancient · Poetry

The Satires of Horace and Persius brings together two Roman satiric voices separated by style, temperament and political world. Horace's Sermones, written after the civil wars and during the rise of Augustus, are conversational poems about greed, ambition, social climbing, sexual folly, legacy-hunting, literary quarrels, dinner parties and the art of living within limits.

medium medical relevanceSatire FollyVirtue EthicsClass / Society