Why Say They Were Friends? Post-Augustan Poets on Horace and Virgil

Shannon N. Byrne (Xavier University)

As Richard Thomas and others have observed, there is no evidence that Virgil and Horace were fast friends. In fact, early biographies suggest otherwise: Horace appears nowhere in Suetonius’ Life of Virgil, nor Virgil in Horace’s Life. A sense of friendship might be found in Horace’s poetry: Virgil’s name appears five times in the first book of Satires, though only once apart from other frequently mentioned names like Varius, Plotius Tucca, and Maecenas. The two mentions of Virgil in Odes 1-3 are hardly indicative of close friendship, Virgil is always paired with Varius when his name appears in later Epistles, and the controversy over the “Vergilius” in Ode 4.12 serves to strengthen the observation that we should not assume the two poets were friends. This paper argues that the notion of friendship between Virgil and Horace originates mainly in the quest for patronage of imperial poets.

Virgil and Horace address Maecenas in terms suggestive of Roman patronage, but they do not outright state that they write poetry in exchange for his support. As Augustus became more established and Maecenas was no longer a buffer between poet and emperor, Roman poets had a difficult time managing self-respect and panegyric. This situation changes by the time of Claudius and Nero, when Roman poets are as bold as Greek poets in their pleas for support, and idealize Maecenas’ patronage in an effort to shame potential patrons into conferring similar benefits. These poets chiefly point to Virgil, Horace, and Varius, who, they claim, were poverty-stricken and found success only because they enjoyed Maecenas’ generosity (cf. Laus Pis. 230-248; Calp. Sic. Ecl. 4.158-163). In idealizing Maecenas as a patron, these poets portray his relationship with Virgil, Horace, and Varius as being close and constant, as if all three lived together writing poetry and enjoying the good life because of Maecenas.

Martial builds on such imagery in his own effort to acquire patronage: he refers to Maecenas’ role as patron five times (1.107; 7.29; 8.55[56]; 11.3; 12.3[4]), twice in connection with the same poets named in the Laus Pisonis, Virgil, Varius, and Horace, and once in connection with Virgil and Horace alone. Martial’s success in the genre of epigram ensured that future generations would take it for granted that a close friendship existed not only between Maecenas and poets, but among the poets themselves, in particular between Virgil and Horace.

Post-Augustan poets presumably had access to some of the commentaries and biographical information that Suetonius consulted a few decades later, which did not indicate Virgil and Horace were friends. But they also had ready access to the Georgics, all of which Virgil addressed to Maecenas, and any number of Horace’s works addressed to Maecenas, which were suggestive enough of close friendship for the purposes of embellishment. The idea of a close friendship between Virgil and Horace begins with first-century poets, whose primary goal was to draw attention to Maecenas’ patronage in the hope that others would imitate it.