Quintus Horatius Flaccus, known internationally as Horace, is one of the towering figures in Roman literature. Born on December 8, 65 BCE in Venusia in Southern Italy, he came of age during Rome's tumultuous transition from Republic to Empire. Horace was the son of a freedman and progressed from modest beginnings to become one of the leading poets of his time, enjoying the patronage of Maecenas, a...