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Home , AD 23, AD 35, Apuleius, Cassius Dio, Pisonian conspiracy, Pliny the Elder

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Ancient authors 289

book on farming, De Agricultura (On including Bacchae and Medea. Agriculture). Cato was famous for ANCIENT AUTHORS Homer: Homer is traditionally the his strictness and his criticism of author of the Greek epic poems contemporary morality. He wanted Antipater: Antipater ( the Iliad and the Odyssey, which to return to the old Roman values bc) came from Sidon in Phoenicia were composed about 750–700 bc. of frugality and simplicity. and spent the last years of his life Nothing is known about his life. in . He was a poet who wrote : Gaius Valerius Catullus Both poems deal with the Trojan epigrams in Greek. (c.84–c.54 bc) was born in , War, a ten-year war between the : Lucius Apuleius (c.ad 155) in northern , to a wealthy Greeks and the Trojans, and its was born in the of family. Very little is known about his aftermath. The subject of the Iliad is and lived in . He was life. He came to Rome as a young the anger of the hero and the author of the , man and spent some time in the its effects, an episode in the final also known as , a province of on the staff of year of the war. The Odyssey tells about the adventures of a the governor. He is best known for of the adventures and sufferings young man who is turned into an his love poems. of Odysseus after the war, and his return home from to Ithaca. ass. Celsus: (first ad : Augustus (63 bc–ad century ), who lived in the reign of : Quintus Horatius 14) was born Gaius Octavius (ad 14–37), wrote a treatise (65–) was born in Apulia, in the and became Gaius Iulius on , De Medicina. south of Italy. He was of humble origins, the son of a freedman who Octavianus when he was adopted : Marcus Tullius Cicero worked as a collector of payments by his great-uncle, . He (106–43 bc) was a politician and at auctions. His father sent him to was known by the title Augustus , who was a leading figure Rome and to be educated, after 27 bc when he became Rome’s in events at the end of the Roman and he became one of the most first . TheRes Gestae Divi Republic. He was born in a town not celebrated poets of his day. Augusti (Deeds of the Divine Augustus) far from Rome and came to Rome Maecenas, the friend and adviser of is an account of the career of to study. Although not born into Emperor Augustus, was his patron. Augustus written in the first person. the senatorial class, he reached His most famous works are the Augustus left the document with his the highest office of state, the Odes, short poems on a variety of will, with instructions to the Senate consulship. He was executed on the subjects, but he also wrote Epodes, to set up the text as an inscription. orders of Mark Anthony during the , and . It was engraved on a pair of bronze unrest following the assassination pillars in front of Augustus’ tomb in of Julius Caesar in 44 bc. His : Flavius Iosephus (ad the . The original surviving writings include speeches 37– c.100) was born in Jerusalem, has not survived, but copies were for the law courts, political in the Roman province of Judaea, carved in stone on monuments and speeches, philosophical essays, to a wealthy, aristocratic family. temples all over the , and personal letters to friends and His Hebrew name was Yosef ben and parts of these have survived. family. Matityahu. He was captured in the Jewish Revolt against the Romans (also Dio Cassius): : Epictetus (mid–1st (ad 66–70), then, after the fall of Cassius Dio Cocceianus (c.ad 164– to 2nd century ad) was born in Jerusalem, he lived in Rome and after 229) was born in Bithynia. He in Phrygia and came was given . His had a political career as a consul to Rome when he was enslaved. of the Jewish War (Bellum in Rome and as governor of the His owner was Epaphroditus, Iudaicum) was originally written provinces of Africa and Dalmatia. ’s freedman. After gaining his in Aramaic, then translated into His , written in freedom, Epictetus studied Stoic Greek. His other works were written Greek, covers the period from philosophy and taught in Rome in Greek: they include a history of ’ arrival in Italy to ad 229. until he was banished by Emperor the Jews, Antiquitates Iudaicae (Jewish in ad 89. A summary of Cato: Marcus Porcius Cato (234–149 Antiquities). bc) was born at Tusculum, a town his ideas, the Manual, has survived about sixteen miles from Rome. along with records of his oral Julius Caesar: Gaius Iulius Caesar He had a distinguished military teachings (Discourses). (100–44 bc), the general, politician, and dictator, belonged to an and political career, reaching Euripides: Euripides (c.480–c.407/6 aristocratic Roman family. He was the consulship and the office of bc) was a Greek playwright from assassinated on the Ides (15th) of censor, despite not being born Athens. He wrote , of March 44 bc, by a group of senators into a senatorial family. He wrote a which eighteen have survived, who feared that he intended to put T

290 Ancient authors

an end to the republican system : Lucretius Carus southern Italy. The main episode is of government and keep supreme (c.94–c.55 bc) was the author of the Trimalchionis (Trimalchio’s power for himself and his family. (On the Dinner Party). Trimalchio is a Caesar wrote an account of his of Things), a long poem about wealthy freedman to whose dinner campaigns in Gaul and Britain . Very little is known party the three main characters (58-), the Commentaries (also about his life. are invited. mocks and known as the Gallic Wars). They are grotesquely exaggerates the vulgar : Marcus Valerius Martialis written in the third person, as if to extravagance and bad taste of (c.ad 40–c.104) was born at Bilbilis give an objective account of events. Trimalchio, and his ostentatious in Spain and came to live in Rome display of wealth. : Decius Iunius Iuvenalis in about ad 64. He is best known (early 2nd century ad) was born in for his short poems, known as : Gaius Plinius a town in Italy, but lived in Rome. Epigrams, which often criticize and Secundus (ad 23/24–79) was born He was the author of sixteen mock the faults and vices of his at Comum (modern ) in Satires, long poems criticizing and fellow Romans. His De Spectaculis northern Italy. He is known as attacking the vices of his fellow (On the Spectacles) is a collection of Pliny the Elder to distinguish him Romans. The Satires have a bitter epigrams written to celebrate the from his nephew, known as Pliny humor and pessimistic attitude, opening of the in ad 80, the Younger. He had a career in and there is much exaggeration. in the reign of Emperor Titus. military and government service, Nevertheless, Juvenal sheds light serving as procurator in several : Publius Ovidius Naso (43 on contemporary Roman society provinces before his final post as bc–ad 17) was born in a town near and provides lots of detail about commander of the fleet at Misenum Rome and educated in the city. everyday life. in Italy. He dedicated his spare He abandoned a public career to time to research and writing, and : Titus Livius (59 bc–ad 17) was become a poet. Emperor Augustus among his many learned works is born at Patavium (modern Padua) banished him to Tomis on the his , an encyclopaedic in north-east Italy. Little is known Black Sea (in modern Romania). collection of facts and stories about about his life, but he probably came According to Ovid, there were a huge variety of subjects. It is a to Rome as an adult. He wrote A two reasons for his exile, very useful source of information History of Rome, starting with its (a poem) and error (a mistake). on many aspects of Roman life. In foundation and going up to his own The poem was Ars Amatoria (The Suburani ‘Pliny’ refers to Pliny the lifetime. Originally there were 142 Art of Love) which fell foul of laws Younger. books, of which about twenty-five introduced by Augustus to improve have survived. the morals of contemporary : Gaius Caecilius society. The mistake was probably Plinius Secundus (/2–c.112) : Annaeus Lucanus Marcus connected to the love affairs was the nephew of Pliny the Elder. (ad 39–65) was born in Corduba of Augustus’ granddaughter, He was born at Comum (modern (modern Cordoba), in Spain. He was Julia. Among his other works are Como) in northern Italy. He had from a well-connected equestrian love poems such as the Amores a successful career as a lawyer, family; his uncle was Nero’s adviser, (Loves) and a long epic poem, politician, and administrator, and Seneca. After studying and the Metamorphoses, which is a his final post was as governor of philosophy in Rome and Athens, collection of stories from mythology Bithynia. His letters to friends, he became a friend of Nero, who bound together by the theme of family, and colleagues include an made him a . However, transformation. exchange with Emperor he lost the favor of the emperor when he was governor of Bithynia. and joined the Petronius: Petronius Arbiter (died The letters offer a glimpse into against Nero. When the conspiracy ad 66) was a provincial governor the lives, attitudes, and politics of was discovered, Lucan was forced and consul. He then became the society of his time. Pliny wrote to kill himself. He is the author of Emperor Nero’s arbiter ēlegentiae with the intention of publishing the Pharsalia, an epic poem about (arbiter of taste), a play on his his letters, and at regular intervals the civil war between Julius Caesar name; this meant he advised Nero during his lifetime he published and . on what was tasteful or elegant. collections of them. Although they He was falsely accused of being Lucillius: ( ad) lived are real personal letters, many of involved in a plot to kill Nero and during the reign of Nero, but them resemble short essays on committed suicide. Petronius was nothing more is known about his various themes. In Suburani ‘Pliny’ probably the author of the , life. He wrote satirical epigrams in refers to Pliny the Younger. a novel about the adventures Greek. of three young men traveling in T

Ancient authors 291

Plutarch: Ploutarchos (c.ad 46– his father of the same name, who archives, he is not very reliable in after 120) was a Greek biographer, was also a writer. He was born his use of sources, and his work historian, and philosopher. He took in Corduba (modern Cordoba) in relies heavily on uncritical reporting the name Lucius Mercius Plutarchus Spain and came to Rome to be of gossip and anecdote. when he became a Roman citizen. educated. He was Nero’s tutor : Publius (or Gaius) visited Rome, where and, after Nero became emperor, Cornelius Tacitus (c.ad 56– after he taught and gave lectures, his political adviser. In , after 117) may have been born in Gaul. but spent most of his life in his he had retired from public life, he He had a successful political career native . Among his many was implicated in a conspiracy to in Rome and wrote two major works are biographies of famous overthrow Nero and was forced works of history. covered Greek and Roman politicians and to commit suicide. Seneca was the period ad 14-68, from the soldiers, the Parallel Lives, so called a philosopher, politician, and death of Augustus to the death because they are arranged in pairs dramatist. Among his many of Nero, and continued of Greek and Roman so that the writings are several works of with the years ad 69-96. Only parts subjects can be compared. He also moral philosophy which contain of these works survive. Tacitus wrote biographies of the Roman interesting details about life in used as his sources the writings of . His biographies of Rome in the first centuryad . Some earlier historians, official records, Galba and survive in full, and of these are in the form of letters and his own experience. He was a there are fragments of his lives of to friends and family. In Suburani supporter of the republican system Tiberius and Nero. ‘Seneca’ refers to Seneca the of government and a harsh critic Younger. : Procopios (c.ad 500– of the emperors and the imperial after 540) was a Greek historian, Soranos: Soranos (late 1st century system. He claims to write without born in Caesarea, in the Roman ad –c.138) was born in , in prejudice, but his bias is often province of Palaestina. the province of . He studied evident. medicine in and : Sextus Propertius Vegetius: Publius Flavius Vegetius practiced in Rome. He wrote several (c.50– before 2 bc) was born at Renatus (late 4th to 5th century ad) works on medical subjects in Greek, Assisium (modern Assisi) in central was the author of De Re Militari (On including On the Art of Surgery (now Italy and educated at Rome. He Military Matters), which describes lost) and Gynaecology. wrote poems known as , the training and organization of a many of them love poems. : Publius Papinius Statius . Vegetius was not (c.ad 45–c.96) was born in himself a soldier, and his work is a : Marcus Fabius (modern Naples) in Italy. His collection of material from various Quintilianus (c.– c.96) was father was a poet and teacher of periods and sources. born at Calagurris in Spain. He was literature. He wrote an epic poem, a famous teacher of rhetoric in Vergil (also ): Publius Vergilius the Thebaid, and a collection of Rome; Pliny the Younger was one Maro (70–19 bc) was born at Mantua shorter poems, the Silvae. of his pupils, and he was tutor to in and educated at the two great-nephews of Emperor : Strabo (64 bc– after ) Cremona, (modern Domitian. He was the author of a was a Greek from Pontus who Milan), and Rome. Maecenas, the book on rhetoric, Institutio Oratoria came to Rome in 44 bc to finish friend and adviser of Emperor (Training in Oratory). his education, then visited the Augustus, was his patron, and he city several times afterwards. His became the most celebrated poet Seneca the Elder: Lucius Annaeus , written in Greek, is a of his day. His greatest work is the Seneca (c.– c.ad 40) was born description of the main countries in , an epic poem which tells the in Corduba (modern Cordoba) in the Roman world, including physical story of the founding of the Roman Spain. He is known as Seneca the geography, history, and economic race by the Trojan hero Aeneas. Elder to distinguish him from his development. There is also much The poem is a celebration of the son of the same name. He was incidental detail about customs, origin and growth of the Roman the author of a book on rhetoric, animals, and plants. Empire and of the achievements parts of which survive. In Suburani of Augustus. Vergil also wrote the ‘Seneca’ refers to Seneca the : Gaius Suetonius Eclogues, pastoral poems about the Younger. Tranquillus (c.–c.130) was a lives of shepherds, and the Georgics, secretary at the imperial palace. He : Lucius a poem about farming. wrote biographies of Julius Caesar Annaeus Seneca (c.4 bc–ad 65) is and the first eleven emperors,Lives sometimes known as Seneca the of the Caesars. Although his position Younger to distinguish him from gave him access to the state