Horace between Freedom and Slavery: The First Book of Epistles
During the Roman transition from Republic to Empire in the first century B.C.E., the poet Horace found his own public success in the era of Emperor Augustus at odds with his desire for greater independence. In Horace between Freedom and Slavery, Stephanie McCarter offers new insights into Horace's complex presentation of freedom in the first book of his Epistles and connects it to his most enduring and celebrated moral exhortation, the golden mean.

She argues that, although Horace commences the Epistles with an uncompromising insistence on freedom, he ultimately adopts a middle course. She shows how Horace explores in the poems the application of moderate freedom first to philosophy, then to friendship, poetry, and place. Rather than rejecting philosophical masters, Horace draws freely on them without swearing permanent allegiance to any—a model for compromise that allows him to enjoy poetic

renown and friendships with the city's elite while maintaining a private sphere of freedom. This moderation and adaptability, McCarter contends, become the chief ethical lessons that Horace learns for himself and teaches to others. She reads Horace's reconfiguration of freedom as a political response to the transformations of the new imperial age.
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Horace between Freedom and Slavery: The First Book of Epistles
During the Roman transition from Republic to Empire in the first century B.C.E., the poet Horace found his own public success in the era of Emperor Augustus at odds with his desire for greater independence. In Horace between Freedom and Slavery, Stephanie McCarter offers new insights into Horace's complex presentation of freedom in the first book of his Epistles and connects it to his most enduring and celebrated moral exhortation, the golden mean.

She argues that, although Horace commences the Epistles with an uncompromising insistence on freedom, he ultimately adopts a middle course. She shows how Horace explores in the poems the application of moderate freedom first to philosophy, then to friendship, poetry, and place. Rather than rejecting philosophical masters, Horace draws freely on them without swearing permanent allegiance to any—a model for compromise that allows him to enjoy poetic

renown and friendships with the city's elite while maintaining a private sphere of freedom. This moderation and adaptability, McCarter contends, become the chief ethical lessons that Horace learns for himself and teaches to others. She reads Horace's reconfiguration of freedom as a political response to the transformations of the new imperial age.
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Horace between Freedom and Slavery: The First Book of <i>Epistles</i>

Horace between Freedom and Slavery: The First Book of Epistles

by Stephanie McCarter
Horace between Freedom and Slavery: The First Book of <i>Epistles</i>

Horace between Freedom and Slavery: The First Book of Epistles

by Stephanie McCarter

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Overview

During the Roman transition from Republic to Empire in the first century B.C.E., the poet Horace found his own public success in the era of Emperor Augustus at odds with his desire for greater independence. In Horace between Freedom and Slavery, Stephanie McCarter offers new insights into Horace's complex presentation of freedom in the first book of his Epistles and connects it to his most enduring and celebrated moral exhortation, the golden mean.

She argues that, although Horace commences the Epistles with an uncompromising insistence on freedom, he ultimately adopts a middle course. She shows how Horace explores in the poems the application of moderate freedom first to philosophy, then to friendship, poetry, and place. Rather than rejecting philosophical masters, Horace draws freely on them without swearing permanent allegiance to any—a model for compromise that allows him to enjoy poetic

renown and friendships with the city's elite while maintaining a private sphere of freedom. This moderation and adaptability, McCarter contends, become the chief ethical lessons that Horace learns for himself and teaches to others. She reads Horace's reconfiguration of freedom as a political response to the transformations of the new imperial age.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780299305703
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Publication date: 12/08/2015
Series: Wisconsin Studies in Classics
Edition description: 1
Pages: 384
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Stephanie McCarter is an associate professor of classical languages at Sewanee: The University of the South.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments                 
Abbreviations            
 
Introduction               
1 The Dilemma of Libertas in Epistles 1.1                
2 Horace the Student: Inconsistency and Sickness in Epistles 1.1, 1.8, and 1.15                  
3 Horace the Teacher: Poetry and Philosophy in Epistles 1.1 and 1.2                      
4 Nil Admirari: The Moral Adviser of Epistles 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, and 1.12                     
5 Otia Liberrima: Horace, Maecenas, and the Sabine Farm in Epistles 1.7 and 1.16            
6 The Limits of Rural Libertas: Epistles 1.10, 1.11, and 1.14                       
7 Moderate Freedom and Friendship: Epistles 1.17 and 1.18                       
8 Moderate Freedom and Poetry: Epistles 1.3 and 1.19                    
Conclusion: Freedom and Publication in Epistles 1.13 and 1.20                   
 
Notes             
Bibliography              
Index   
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