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Horace: Poet on a Volcano
A biography of Horace, one of the most popular poets from antiquity, revealing the little-known man behind his famous lines
“Peter Stothard is a master of modern writing about ancient Rome, of vividly bringing to life its poetry and its poets.”—Mary Beard
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65–8 BCE) wrote some of ancient Rome’s greatest poetry, melding languages and cultures with youthful ideals and a realist’s recognition of the dictatorial world around him. Horace is famed for his fine phrases, lyric sex, and guidance on how to live, but he was a poet maddened by war, and many of his most self-revealing poems have rarely been read. He could be sublime and obscene, amusing and abusive, a model of moderation and anything but.
In this book, the first modern retelling of Horace’s life, Peter Stothard follows the poet from his birth as the son of a formerly enslaved father through his rise to the highest circles of Roman society. He shines a light on how shattering experiences in the war to save Rome’s republic shaped the loyal servant and revolutionary artist he became. With astute scholarship and sympathy, Stothard follows Horace’s rise from humble beginnings to the social and political heights of the autocracy he had fought to prevent.
“Peter Stothard is a master of modern writing about ancient Rome, of vividly bringing to life its poetry and its poets.”—Mary Beard
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65–8 BCE) wrote some of ancient Rome’s greatest poetry, melding languages and cultures with youthful ideals and a realist’s recognition of the dictatorial world around him. Horace is famed for his fine phrases, lyric sex, and guidance on how to live, but he was a poet maddened by war, and many of his most self-revealing poems have rarely been read. He could be sublime and obscene, amusing and abusive, a model of moderation and anything but.
In this book, the first modern retelling of Horace’s life, Peter Stothard follows the poet from his birth as the son of a formerly enslaved father through his rise to the highest circles of Roman society. He shines a light on how shattering experiences in the war to save Rome’s republic shaped the loyal servant and revolutionary artist he became. With astute scholarship and sympathy, Stothard follows Horace’s rise from humble beginnings to the social and political heights of the autocracy he had fought to prevent.
306 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 13, 2025
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September 17, 2025
This is the perfect book for one who’s forgotten his one year of Latin, never stayed up at night thinking of the Roman Empire, didn’t know which English language version of his poems to read—or if I wanted to bother at all. More of a biography than a literary exposition, it manages both, describing a man in his time. (Having read this, I now vaguely recall Seutonius himself wrote a chapter on Horace, using Augustus’s papers.)
Don’t expect a Latin edition of his poems, or even an English translation (though three are included at the end). This is a biography, more suitable for those, like me, more interested in moments than meter.
Don’t expect a Latin edition of his poems, or even an English translation (though three are included at the end). This is a biography, more suitable for those, like me, more interested in moments than meter.
Displaying 1 of 1 review