Horatius, Lucilius, and Brutus Hor. SERM . I 7

Hegyi, György (2009) Horatius, Lucilius, and Brutus Hor. SERM . I 7. Acta Antiqua, 49 (4). pp. 421-432. ISSN 0044-5975

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Abstract

The main question of the paper is the place of the poem beginning with the words Proscripti Regis in the first book of the satires. One of the links with his other poems is Lucilius; the great predecessor is evoked, among other things, by the topic itself, the two litigating figures, and, also, by the “stylistic exercise” character of the poem. It is a conspicuous feature of Horace’s first book how the poet’s portray takes shape from the allusions scattered in the poems. While seemingly incidentally sketching his self-portray, Horace puts a special emphasis on his “handicaps”: his low origin and his being a native of the provinces. The indirect mention of the fact that he used to belong to Brutus’s camp suits these things. However, by putting the poem based on a rude joke into the book, the poet might have also spoken about his freedom (of speech) and about the prevailing atmosphere around Maecenas’s table. The playfulness and boldness of Proscripti Regis suggest an atmosphere similar to what Horace depicted so pictur-esquely in the first poem of the second book of the satires, when he described the friendship of Lucilius and Scipio. The paper, in the analysis of the poem, also touches on its “political topicality”, as well as on the most interesting feature of this chreia : the re-interpretation of the meeting of Diomedes and Glaukos.

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