Horace: Poet on a Volcano (Ancient Lives)

Synopsis

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.

Copyright:

2025

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9780300283747

Publisher:

Yale University Press

Date of Addition:

05/13/25

Copyrighted By:

Peter Stothard.

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Nonfiction, Biographies and Memoirs, Literature and Fiction, Language Arts

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.