Quintus Horatius Flaccus

     Quintus Horatius Flaccus, as the nomen suggests, was a Roman citizen born in Venusis in 65 B.C. He was the son of a freed slave. He developed a friendship with rich and influential Maecenus, who was a confidant of Caesar Augustus. Quintus was a
poet-philosopher who also wrote satires and epistles.
     Students of Latin or Roman history may recall these classic lines:
     "It's pointless to cure one problem by creating another."
     "Silver has less worth than gold, gold less than virtue."
     "Rule your passions or they will rule you."
     "Rufillus smells like candy, Gargonius like a goat."
     "He lies in such a way, making truth and fiction blend, that beginning and middle, and middle and end won't disagree."
     "Making changes is quite allowable, before you publish. Once freed, word's can't return."
     "Why is it, Maecenus, that no one, no matter what role he's chosen for himself or what fate offers him, lives with it in peace, but envies the lives of other men?"
     We know Quintus Horatius Flaccus as Horace today. Some of his satires and epistles can be read without charge at Google books.