IRIS

Today is the birthday of the Roman poet Horace. We know the exact date from Suetonius’ Life of Horace (tr. J.C. Rolfe):

He was born on the sixth day before the Ides of December in the consulate of Lucius Cotta and Lucius Torquatus [65 BCE].

natus est VI Idus Decembris L. Cotta et L. Torquato consulibus.

Suetonius’ De Poetis also provides us with biographies of Terence, Lucan, Vergil, Tibullus, Persius, Crispus, and Pliny the Younger.

[Tip: Michael Gilleland]