Suetonius presents
Augustus’ character in various ways. He gives Augustus’ view that Horace was a
“most immaculate libertine” and “his charming little man,” which seems to
indicate that though Horace was writing with a somewhat innovative genre, Augustus did
not see him as threatening to his regime as he viewed Catullus “Life or Horace.” Suetonius writes as
a physiognomon one who judges a
person’s character through observing physical features. He describes Horace as
“short and fat,” which appears to hint Horace’s decadence and profligacy, which
are not conservative Roman character values. Illustrating Horace’ “immoderately
lustful” character and absorption with extravagance, Suetonius adds that “in a room lined with mirrors he
[Horace] had harlots so arranged that whichever way he looked, he saw a
reflection of venery.” Horace appears to have a rather outrageous character.
This is a little hard to understand-- do you mean S. presents Horace's character in various ways? Also, I'm not sure what this means: "Augustus did not see him as threatening to his regime as he viewed Catullus “Life or Horace.” " Note that Catullus died before Augustus came to power. I like your choice of anecdotes. It raises the question of how his persona in the poems matches S's description.
ReplyDelete+1