![]() ![]() In the meantime, Horace found favour with Maecenas, Octavian's rich and influential ally, who was fostering and patronising a talented literary circle in the emperor's interests. ![]() Octavian took the title of Augustus and the rest is history. The young Octavian established himself as the leading citizen, princeps, in other words, Emperor at Rome, enjoying the monopoly of power in all its territories throughout the world. The Odes were published from 30 to 23 BC, a decade following the battle of Actium where Octavian, the heir of Caesar, and Caesar's armies defeated Antony and Cleopatra. The poet suffered property confiscation after fighting on the losing side of Brutus and Cassius in the Civil Wars but at least a timely amnesty saved him from permanent exile or death. Seize the day was likely to be sound advice when fortunes could rise rapidly and fall just as fast. The phrase has been bandied about in a fair few cultures over time as it seems to summarise the human condition – a sense of mortality matched with a response of frivolity. "Even while we talk," writes Horace, "a span of envious time has flown by best to be savvy, strain the wine and don't trust too much to the future." Carpere, a versatile verb, also suggests plucking, grasping, devouring. "Live for the moment!" is one way of translating the compact little command carpe diem that forms part of the final flourish in Horace's Ode to Leuconoe (the eleventh poem in Book One.) We don't know anything about the girl in question or whether this poem urging her literally to seize the day is a nifty strategy for seduction ("Gather ye rosebuds while ye may" springs to mind here): "Don't ask the astrologers how many years you have left – but this might be the last winter you will see!" His lyrical, satirical, and sometimes mildly perplexing verse continues to inspire creative poets like Maureen Almond, who appeared in conversation with Stephen Harrison on BBC Radio 3's series The Essay: Greek and Roman Voices. Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace) and his reflections upon the world around him have - perhaps surprisingly - stayed in tune with human experience through many centuries. ![]()
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