Horace, an unworthy attempt at an introduction

Horace and his friend, Vergil, seem the very epitomes of the Augustan
litterateur. Vergil preceded and helped Horace gain his foothold and
patronage in his rise from postbellum impoverishment.

Horace says of himself, in his epistle, 'Flore, bono claroque fidelis
amice Neroni', "I had the good fortune to be brought up in Rome, and
to learn of the wrath of Achilles that brought such ruin upon the
Greeks, and to have added a little more education from the treasures
of Athens, and to have sought Truth in the groves of her Academe."

A big fan of Archilochus, Horace likely picked up the story of
throwing away his shield and fleeing the battlefield from
Archilochus' famous ancient poem. No doubt but that 'unvirile' tale
would have been more pleasing to the conquerors of Brutus and his
army than any honorable military service. Professor William Harris
seems to agree on this.

http://community.middlebury.edu/~harris/Archilochus.pdf

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Horace

http://www.authorama.com/works-of-horace-8.html

p.s. "maculas in facie oesypum cum melle Corsico, quod asperrimum habetur, extenuat, item scobem cutis in facie cum rosaceo inpositum vellere — quidam et butyrum addunt —, si vero vitiligines sint, fel caninum prius acu conpunctas, liventia et suggillata pulmones arietum pecudumque in tenues consecti membranas calidi inpositi vel columbinum fimum." from
http://laudatortemporisacti.blogspot.com/ in his truly funny "Cosmetic Treatments" post of Thursday, June 19, 2008