The work "Artful Hexameters" by Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus, 65–8 BC) highlights his life and artistic journey. Born in Venusia, the son of a freedman scribe, Horace received an excellent education in Rome and Athens. He supported the unfortunate assassins of Caesar, lost his property, and became a clerk in the Treasury before he began writing poetry. Maecenas, a lover of letters, became his friend and offered him a farm, allowing him to lead a completely independent life. After 30 BC, Horace met and supported Emperor Augustus with his talent, who commissioned him to celebrate imperial matters through poetry. Despite the offer to become Augustus's private secretary, Horace declined and died a few months after Maecenas.

His work includes lyrical pieces (in various meters) as well as other works (in hexameters) and is imbued with Roman spirit and Greek technique. In the two books of Satires, Horace acts as a moderate social critic, while the two books of Epistles are more personal and cultivated, with the second offering literary criticism, as does the Ars Poetica.

The Epodes in various (mainly iambic) meters are related to the 'discourses' (as he called his satires and epistles) but at the same time look towards the famous Odes, which are in four books and use the ancient Greek lyrical meters with great skill. Some are national odes about public affairs, others delightful poems of love and wine, and others moral letters. All possess rare perfection. The Odes and Epodes are found in the LCL 33 edition.

Pages: 544, Year of Publication: 0101, Dimensions: 10.8x10.8cm