Gaius Maecenas

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Gaius Cilnius Maecenas
Terentia

Gaius Cilnius Maecenas (

Octavian (who later reigned as emperor Augustus). He was also an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil. In many languages, his name is an eponym
for "patron of arts".

During the reign of Augustus, Maecenas served as a quasi-culture minister to the Roman emperor but in spite of his wealth and power he chose not to enter the Senate, remaining of equestrian rank.

Life

Expressions in

Arretium in the 4th century BC.[3] Horace makes reference to this in his address to Maecenas at the opening of his first books of Odes with the expression "atavis edite regibus" (descendant of kings). Tacitus[4] refers to him as "Cilnius Maecenas"; it is possible that "Cilnius" was his mother's nomen – or that Maecenas was in fact a cognomen.[5]

The Gaius Maecenas mentioned in

equestrian order in 91 BC may have been his grandfather, or even his father. The testimony of Horace[7]
and Maecenas's own literary tastes imply that he had profited from the highest education of his time.

His great wealth may have been in part hereditary, but he owed his position and influence to his close connection with the

Treaty of Brundisium and the reconciliation with Mark Antony
. As a close friend and advisor he had even acted as deputy for Augustus when he was abroad.

It was in 38 BC that Horace was introduced to Maecenas, who had before this received

Lepidus the Younger
; during the subsequent absences of his chief in the provinces he again held the same position.

Bust of Maecenas' wife Terentia (1st century BC)

During the latter years of his life as recorded by Suetonius he fell somewhat out of favour with his master.[9] The historian attributes the loss of the imperial favour to Maecenas' having indiscreetly revealed to Terentia, his allegedly beautiful but difficult wife, the discovery of the conspiracy in which her brother Lucius Licinius Varro Murena[10] was implicated, but according to Cassius Dio[11] (writing in the early 3rd century AD) it was due to the emperor's relations with Terentia. Maecenas died in 8 BC, leaving the emperor sole heir to his wealth.

Reputation

Opinions were much divided in ancient times as to his personal character; but the testimony as to his administrative and diplomatic ability was unanimous. He enjoyed the credit of sharing largely in the establishment of the new order of things, of reconciling parties, and of carrying the new empire safely through many dangers. To his influence especially were attributed the more humane policies of Octavian after his first alliance with Antony and

Lepidus
.

The best summary of his character as a man and a statesman, by

Odes of Horace[13]
seem to imply that Maecenas was deficient in the robustness of fibre which Romans liked to imagine was characteristic of their city.

Maecenate (patronage)

Stefan Bakałowicz: At Maecenas' Reception Room, 1890
Frog on an engraved gem: the seal-device of Mecaenas.[14]

Maecenas is most famous for his support of young poets; hence, in most European languages, his name has become an eponym for "patron of arts": in French, mécène; in Italian, mecenate; in Spanish, mecenas; in German, Mäzen; in Polish, mecenas; in Czech, mecenáš; in Hungarian, mécenás; in Ukrainian, Russian, and Bulgarian, меценат. The eponym has been in use since at least the composition of Laus Pisonis ("Praise of Piso") by an unknown author in the first century CE. Edmund Spenser's shepherds complain that there is no "Mecoenas" in England in the 1570s.[15]

Maecenas supported

Varius Rufus, Plotius Tucca, Valgius Rufus, and Domitius Marsus
also were his protégés.

His character as a munificent patron of literature – which has made his name a household word – is gratefully acknowledged by the recipients of it and attested by the regrets of the men of letters of a later age, expressed by

third book has been ascribed by some to the same guidance. However, since the organization of the Odes is not entirely chronological, and their composition followed both books of Satires and the Epodes
, this argument is plainly specious; but doubtless the milieu of Maecenas's circle influenced the writing of the Roman Odes (III.1–6) and others such as the ode to Pollio, Motum ex Metello (II.1).

Maecenas endeavoured also to divert the less masculine genius of Propertius from harping continually on his love to themes of public interest, an effort which to some extent backfired in the ironic elegies of Book III.[16] But if the motive of his patronage had been merely political, it never could have inspired the affection which it did in its recipients. The great charm of Maecenas in his relation to the men of genius who formed his circle was his simplicity, cordiality and sincerity. Although not particular in the choice of some of the associates of his pleasures, he admitted none but men of worth to his intimacy, and when once admitted they were treated like equals. Much of the wisdom of Maecenas probably lives in the Satires and Epistles of Horace. It has fallen to the lot of no other patron of literature to have his name associated with works of such lasting interest as the Georgics of Virgil, the first three books of Horace's Odes, and the first book of his Epistles.

Two poems in the

elegies to him. Virgil cannot have written them, as he died eleven years before Maecenas; they may have been written by Albinovanus Pedo.[17]

Works

Maecenas also wrote literature himself in both prose and verse, which are now lost literary work. The some twenty fragments that remain show that he was less successful as an author than as a judge and patron of literature.

His prose works on various subjects –

style
, the use of rare words and awkward transpositions.

According to

Dio Cassius, Maecenas was also the inventor of a system of shorthand
.

Gardens of Maecenas

Auditorium of Maecenas, Esquiline
Reconstruction of the Villa Maecenas in Tivoli, Italy, 1713
Main article: Gardens of Maecenas

Maecenas sited his famous gardens, the first gardens of the

terraces, libraries, and other aspects of Roman culture. Maecenas is said to have been the first to construct a swimming bath of hot water in Rome,[18] which may have been in the gardens. The luxury of his gardens and villas incurred the displeasure of Seneca the Younger
.

Though the approximate site is known, it is not easy to reconcile literary indications to determine the gardens' exact location, whether or not they lay on both sides of the Servian ager and both north and south of the

Auditorium of Maecenas", a probable venue for dining and entertainment, may still be visited (upon reservation[19]) on Largo Leopardi near Via Merulana
.

The gardens became imperial property after Maecenas's death, and Tiberius lived there after his return to Rome in 2 AD.[20] Nero connected them with the Palatine Hill via his Domus Transitoria,[21] and viewed the burning of that from the turris Maecenatiana.[22] This turris was probably the "molem propinquam nubibus arduis" ("the pile, among the clouds") mentioned by Horace.[23]

Whether the horti Maecenatiani bought by

Magister Gregorius may also refer to the gardens of Maecenas.[25]

Legacy

Elegiae in Maecenatem, which were written after his death and collected in the Appendix Vergiliana
.

In various languages, Maecenas' name has given rise to a word for private patronage, mainly cultural but sometimes wider, usually perceived as more altruistic than sponsorship. A verse of the Latin-language student song Gaudeamus igitur wishes longevity upon the charity of the students' benefactors ("Maecenatum", genitive plural of "Maecenas").

Phillis Wheatley, the 18th-century poet and the first African-American writer to publish a book, published a poem "To Maecenas" as the first poem in her 1773 book Poems on Various subjects, Religious and Moral.

In Poland and Western Ukraine, a lawyer would customarily be addressed with the honorific Pan Mecenas.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, Maecenas is one of the three famous wealthy men, along with Midas and J. P. Morgan, whose secrets the novel's narrator Nick Carraway hopes to find in the books he buys for his home library.[28]

In other media

Maecenas is a supporting character in

Enobarbus describes him as 'half the heart of Caesar'.[29] Maecenas was portrayed by Alex Wyndham in the second season of the 2005 HBO television series Rome. He was portrayed by Russell Barr in the made-for-TV movie Imperium: Augustus.[30] He is also featured in one episode of the second series of Plebs on ITV. In the 2021 TV series Domina, he was portrayed by Youssef Kerkour
.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gaius Maecenas.

Notes

  1. ^ Horace, Odes, IV 11
  2. ^ ii. I, 25–30
  3. ^ Livy x. 3.
  4. ^ Tacitus, Annals 6. 11.
  5. ^ Varro, however, specifies that the name Maecenas is a nomen based on origin like Lesas, Ufenas, etc: see Simpson, Chris J. (1996). "Two Small Thoughts on 'Cilnius Maecenas'". Arachnion. Archived from the original on 2010-04-01.
  6. ^ Pro Cluentio, 56
  7. ^ Odes iii. 8, 5
  8. ^ Horace, Satires, i. 5.
  9. ^ Augustus, 66
  10. ^ Murena was accused of being in a conspiracy with Fannius Caepio and executed in 22 BC ("Index to Horace Satires: Epistles". A.S. Kline. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013.).
  11. ^ liv. 19
  12. ^ ii. 88
  13. ^ ii. 17. a
  14. ^ King, Charles William (1885). Handbook of Engraved Gems (2nd ed.). London: George Bell and Sons. pp. viii.
  15. ISBN 978 0 691 193144, 463 pp.), London Review of Books
    , vol. 46, no. 14 (18 July 2024), pp. 33-34. (p. 33.)
  16. ^ Raccette-Campbell, Melanie (2013). "The Construction of Masculinity in Propertius" (PDF). Graduate Department of Classics University of Toronto.
  17. ^ Duff, J. W. Minor Latin Poets (Cambridge, 1934) pp.114–5
  18. ^ Cassius Dio LV.7.6
  19. ^ "Auditorium of Maecenas - Information about the Auditorium of Maecenas in Rome - Ancient Rome Monuments". Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-02-07.
  20. ^ Suet. Tib. 15
  21. ^ Tac. Ann. XV.39
  22. ^ Suet. Nero 38
  23. ^ Horace's Odes iii.29.10.
  24. ^ Fronto, ad M. Caesarem 2.2 – "Plane multum mihi facetiarum contulit istic Horatius Flaccus, memorabilis poeta mihique propter Maecenatem ac Maecenatianos hortos meos non alienus. Is namque Horatius Sermonum libr(o) s(ecundo) fabulam istam Polemonis inseruit, si recte memini, hisce versibus..."
  25. ^ Journal of Roman Studies 1919, 35, 53.1
  26. ^ μαικήνας in Greek, mecenaat in Dutch, mesenaatti in Finnish, mécénat in French, Mäzen in German, mecenate in Italian, mesen in Norwegian, mecenat in Romanian, mecen in Slovenian, mecenas in Spanish, Polish, and Ukrainian, mecénás in Hungarian, and меценат in Russian and Bulgarian.
  27. ^ Dewey, John (1934). Art as Experience. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. p. 9.
  28. ISBN 978-0-7432-7356-5
    .
  29. ^ "Antony and Cleopatra at Folger".
  30. ^ "Imperium: Augustus". IMDb. 30 November 2003.

References

Primary sources

  • Dio Cassius
  • Tacitus, Annals
  • Suetonius, Augustus
  • Horace, Odes with Scholia
  • Horace, Satires i.8.14 – "nunc licet Esquiliis habitare salubribus atque / aggere in aprico spatiari, quo modo tristes / albis informem spectabant ossibus agrum,/cum mihi non tantum furesque feraeque suetae/hunc vexare locum curae sunt atque labori/quantum carminibus quae versant atque venenis/humanos animos: has nullo perdere possum/nec prohibere modo, simul ac vaga luna decorum/protulit os, quin ossa legant herbasque nocentis."
  • Acro, Porphyrio, and Comm. Cruq. ad loc.
  • Topographical Dictionary

Secondary sources

Fragmenta poetarum Latinorum epicorum et lyricorum praeter Ennium et Lucilium, 3rd ed., Stuttgart:
Teubner
, 1995, pp. 243–48.
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