Gaius Maecenas

Roman statesman

• Born: April 13, 1970
• Birthplace: Arretium (now Arezzo, Italy)
• Died: 8 b.c.e.
• Place of death: Rome (now in Italy)

Maecenas was one of the most powerful men in Rome of the first century b.c.e., often functioning as diplomatic arbiter and city administrator. His most significant role was as patron to a circle of writers who became known as the poets of the Golden Age of Latin literature.

Early Life

Gaius Maecenas (mi-SEE-nuhs) was born in Arretium (modern Arezzo, Italy) to a wealthy equestrian family that traced its origins to Etruscan kings. Nothing is known of the first thirty years of his life, but he must have received an aristocratic education, for he knew Greek as well as Latin. He first emerges in the works of ancient writers as the intimate friend and financial and political supporter of Octavian (called Augustus after 27 b.c.e.), the heir of Gaius Julius Caesar, the junior member of the Second Triumvirate, and the future first emperor of Rome.

Maecenas greatly preferred the life of a private citizen, but he shocked Rome. He hosted extravagant parties, drank excessively, and wore his tunic unbelted (in opposition to proper Roman fashion). Two eunuchs frequently accompanied him through the streets. Although he became notorious as self-indulgent and effeminate, Maecenas appears to have been popular with the Roman people.

Octavian also liked, and trusted, Maecenas. In the years directly following 44 b.c.e., the year of Julius Caesar’s assassination, the young heir found himself faced with the monumental task of avenging his adopted father’s murder and making all Italy safe from disenfranchised Romans. Initially, Octavian struck an alliance with Marc Antony, then with Sextus Pompeius (Pompey the Younger), whose bands were raiding the southern coast of Italy. Repeated setbacks with these two, however, convinced Octavian to enlist the aid of friends. Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa became his general and Maecenas his diplomat and politician.

At Octavian’s request, Maecenas arranged an engagement between Octavian and Scribonia, Pompey’s sister-in-law, in the hope of allying Octavian with Pompey. When relations grew strained between Octavian and Antony, Maecenas helped arbitrate reconciliations at Brundisium, in 40, and at Tarentum, in 37 b.c.e. For unknown reasons, he was present at the Battle of Philippi (42 b.c.e.), where Octavian and Agrippa defeated the forces of Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus, the major surviving assassins of Julius Caesar. Octavian again inexplicably summoned Maecenas to Actium (31 b.c.e.), where the troops of Antony and Cleopatra VII of Egypt were defeated. Maecenas may also have been present at the campaigns against Pompey.

When Maecenas’s services were not required in the field, he was governing Rome and the rest of Italy. Octavian had entrusted Maecenas in his absence with temporary administration of the city, hoping to bolster popular support for himself and quash any resurgent popularity for his opponents. Maecenas now held all the powers of City Prefect but without the title. His power even extended to issuing official proclamations. He quelled a civil riot in 37 b.c.e., and in 30 b.c.e. he quietly crushed the assassination plot against Octavian that was led by the son of the recently deposed Triumvir, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Maecenas made the city streets safe after dark and may have helped rid Rome of magicians and astrologers. All these duties without benefit of public office endowed Maecenas with powers greater than those of any elected official.

Life’s Work

Octavian’s return to Rome in 29 b.c.e. ended Maecenas’s role as public servant but not his influence in Rome. While he had been acting as diplomat and administrator, Maecenas had also begun befriending at Rome a number of writers whose talents he could use to the advantage of Octavian’s new political order. With this growing group of friends he had assumed the position of literary patron, a role to which he now devoted all his energy. Literary patronage frequently included gifts of money or possessions. In addition, it usually included a larger audience for a poet’s writings, circulation of his poems, and their publication. Maecenas entertained certain of his friends at his mansion to provide these benefits. Scholars disagree as to what extent Maecenas actually used his patronage to foster a state propaganda literature, but the works of his poets make it clear that they realized some expectation on the part of Augustus. In several of his Odes written in 23 b.c.e. (English translation, 1621) the poet Horace answers with a polite refusal (recusatio) a request from his patron to write on a suggested topic. Sextus Propertius does the same when Maecenas suggests a change in theme from love to state matters. Because the literary refusal was standard in Alexandrian verse, it is uncertain how strongly Maecenas actually made his requests for propaganda poems. He may have done no more than give general guidance.

Maecenas’s circle included many people who have become little more than names to posterity: Gaius Melissus, Lucius Varius Rufus, Domitius Marsus, and Plotius Tucca. His three most famous poets, however, whose works have survived to modern times have immortalized Maecenas. Vergil may have become Maecenas’s protégé as early as 40 b.c.e. His three major works, the Eclogues (43-37 b.c.e., also known as Bucolics; English translation, 1575), the Georgics (c. 37-29 b.c.e.; English translation, 1589), written in honor of Maecenas, and the Aeneid (c. 29-19 b.c.e.; English translation, 1553), all glorify ideals that Octavian was trying to reinstate in society. In 38, Vergil and his friend Varius Rufus introduced Horace to Maecenas, who invited the young man to become one of his special “friends” eight months later when he returned from a diplomatic mission to the east on Octavian’s behalf. Horace’s lyric poetry, while not as universally patriotic as Vergil’s, does reflect his respect for Octavian and the new regime. Propertius, who was already an established elegiac poet, became one of Maecenas’s circle about 25 b.c.e. and dedicated the first poem of his second book to Maecenas, though his poetry is least indicative of Augustan ideals.

It is a paradox that the man who sought out and encouraged the most talented group of literary artists of his day was himself an author of the worst type. Enough fragments of his works survive to reveal that his compositions were oddly expressed and affected. Augustus disliked his style and parodied it unmercifully. From his semiretirement in 29 until about 20, Maecenas reigned as the predominant literary patron in Rome. This era saw the publication of Horace’s Odes (books 1-3), Vergil’s Georgics, and the second book of Propertius’s Elegies (c. 24 b.c.e.). Thereafter, Augustus personally assumed the role of patron, and Maecenas returned completely to private life.

Ancients and moderns have speculated on this shift in literary power. Ancient historians supposed that Augustus never forgave Maecenas for telling his wife, Terentia, of the discovery of her brother’s conspiracy against the emperor. Others say that Augustus’s passion for his friend’s wife led to the rift. Maecenas, for his part, may have wished, for personal or health reasons, to resume the life of a private citizen. Many modern scholars believe that Augustus was the real patron, Maecenas only his interim manager. Augustus, now secure in his position as princeps (first citizen) and at leisure to pursue more than war, no longer needed Maecenas as an intermediary between himself and the writers. As Maecenas always preferred the life of a private citizen, his retirement may have been mutually desirable.

Even in retirement, however, Maecenas retained influence with the emperor in public and private matters. Several times, Maecenas’s sound judgment restored Augustus to an even temper. Moreover, it was supposedly on Maecenas’s advice that Augustus married his daughter, Julia, to his general, Agrippa in 21 b.c.e.

The life of private citizen seems to have suited Maecenas’s tastes well. Despite his years as Augustus’s factotum, Maecenas chose to limit his involvement in politics, refusing all elective offices and remaining an equestrian all of his life. He erected a huge mansion on the Esquiline Hill, which he transformed from a plebeian cemetery into a magnificent residential area. The estate included a large house, a magnificent tower, lush gardens, and even a swimming pool. There he lived with his wife, Terentia, a beautiful but faithless woman whom he may eventually have divorced.

Despite his eccentricities, Maecenas retained his popularity with the Roman people and his intimacy with individual friends. After recovering from a serious illness, for example, Maecenas was greeted with resounding applause from the audience as he entered a theater. Whenever Augustus was ill, he slept at Maecenas’s house. Vergil had a house on the Esquiline Hill very near Maecenas’s. Horace, who became his personal as well as professional friend, was buried near the tomb of Maecenas on that same hill.

Maecenas’s excesses, though tolerated by Augustus and the Roman people, seem to have caught up with him. He suffered from a chronic fever for the last three years of his life. When he died, he was mourned by his friends and especially by Augustus, to whom he had devoted so much of his life, talents, and energy.

Significance

Maecenas, through his lifelong friendship with Augustus and his almost fifteen years’ government service, helped Augustus establish a firm foundation for a smooth transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire. It is his discovery, support, and nurturing of some of the greatest poets of Latin literature, however, that accounts for Maecenas’s most lasting effect on the ancient world. He provided a buffer between the emperor and the poets, a role that had advantages for both factions. On the Imperial side, Augustus was protected by the figure of Maecenas from the embarrassment of being eulogized by any poet unworthy of his theme. On the other hand, poets who might have felt compelled to yield to a suggestion from Augustus as if it were a command still exercised their prerogative of saying no to Maecenas. In this way, the illusion of the Roman Republic that allowed freedom of choice was maintained. Maecenas’s patronage supported Augustus’s assertion that the Republic had been restored.

Maecenas believed in the idea of merit rather than wealth or social class. In the poets he selected he must have recognized their ability to form their own judgment and must have trusted that judgment to guide them in their writings. While he may have provided encouragement and general guidance to the poets, Maecenas shrewdly avoided demanding particular types of poems from his authors. This policy of nonintervention distinguished him from preceding centuries of literary patrons and set the standard for later generations of patrons in Europe. By fostering such poets as Vergil, Horace, and Propertius, Maecenas became identified with the Golden Age he helped Augustus establish. By giving the poets the freedom to express themselves as they saw fit, Maecenas became the model for future literary patrons. Immortalized by the Golden Age poets, Maecenas’s name has become synonymous with the term literary patron.

Bibliography

DuQuesnay, I. M. Le M. “Horace and Maecenas: The Propaganda Value of Sermones I.” In Poetry and Politics in the Age of Augustus, edited by Tony Woodman and David West. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984. A convincing argument for the propagandist nature of the poems dedicated to Maecenas. Includes copious notes and bibliography.

Fraenkel, Eduard. Horace. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1966. Focuses especially on Maecenas’s relationship with Horace, with occasional references to the public Maecenas and fewer to the person. No bibliography, and the footnotes are in general useful only to readers of Latin.

Gold, Barbara K. Literary Patronage in Greece and Rome. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987. Maecenas’s role as patron is explored; carefully examines their dynamic relationship as seen through Horace’s writings. Includes bibliography, index, and copious notes.

Griffin, J. “Augustus and the Poets: Caesar Qui Cogere Posset.” In Caesar Augustus: Seven Aspects, edited by Fergus Millar and Erich Segal. New York: Clarendon Press, 1984. Cites practical reasons for Maecenas, not Augustus, being the patron of the literary set. Endnotes provide little explanation but instead refer the reader to ancient works, most of which can be found in English translation.

Shackleton Bailey, D. R. Profile of Horace. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982. Maecenas is mentioned everywhere in this excellent literary criticism of Horace’s Epodes and Satires. Gives more of a sense of who Maecenas was as a patron than actual data on his life. Latin passages are translated. Limited bibliography.

Syme, Ronald. The Roman Revolution. Reprint. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Maecenas is mentioned often as the close friend of Augustus, running personal and political errands for the leader and acting as a diplomat of invaluable skill. No straightforward biography. Minimal notes.