Horace

Poet on a Volcano

Peter Stothard

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Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Yale University
13 July 2025

Biography: literary; History

Series: Ancient Lives

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A biography of Horace, one of the most popular poets from antiquity, revealing the little-known man behind his famous lines

""Peter Stothard is a master of modern writing about ancient Rome, of vividly bringing to life its poetry and its poets.""—Mary Beard

Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65–8 BCE) wrote some of ancient Rome's greatest poetry, melding languages and cultures with youthful ideals and a realist's recognition of the dictatorial world around him. Horace is famed for his fine phrases, lyric sex, and guidance on how to live, but he was a poet maddened by war, and many of his most self-revealing poems have rarely been read. He could be sublime and obscene, amusing and abusive, a model of moderation and anything but.

In this book, the first modern retelling of Horace's life, Peter Stothard follows the poet from his birth as the son of a formerly enslaved father through his rise to the highest circles of Roman society. He shines a light on how shattering experiences in the war to save Rome's republic shaped the loyal servant and revolutionary artist he became. With astute scholarship and sympathy, Stothard follows Horace's rise from humble beginnings to the social and political heights of the autocracy he had fought to prevent.

By: Peter Stothard
Imprint: Yale University
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 140mm,
ISBN: 9780300256581
ISBN 10: 0300256582
Series: Ancient Lives
Pages: 328
Publication Date: 13 July 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Peter Stothard is an author, journalist, and critic. His books include The Last Assassin: The Hunt for the Killers of Julius Caesar; Crassus: The First Tycoon; and Palatine: An Alternative History of the Caesars. He lives in Berkshire, UK.

Reviews for Horace: Poet on a Volcano

""Peter Stothard is a master of modern writing about ancient Rome, of vividly bringing to life its poetry and its poets.""—Mary Beard ""A fascinating biography of an extraordinary life. Sexual abuse and the madness of war beyond the better known moral lectures, wine and rose petals. A brilliant and compelling study that brings Horace to life for a new generation.""—Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The World: A Family History of Humanity ""Peter Stothard is a master of modern writing about ancient Rome, of vividly bringing to life its poetry and its poets.""—Mary Beard ""A fascinating biography of an extraordinary life. Sexual abuse and the madness of war beyond the better known moral lectures, wine and rose petals. A brilliant and compelling study that brings Horace to life for a new generation.""—Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The World: A Family History of Humanity