Varro
Life Marcus Terentius Varro was born into a plebeian family of equestrian rank in 116 BCE near Reate (mod. Rieti). He studied grammar under L. Aelius Stilo—who also taught Cicero—and later studied in…
Tacitus
Life Publius Cornelius Tacitus was born in the middle of the 50s CE to an equestrian family. His exact location of birth is unknown, though some scholars suggest his place…
Vitruvius
Vitruvius was a Roman architect active in the first century BCE. Life Little is known about Vitruvius apart from what he says about himself in his writings. His praenomen is unknown,…
Juvenal
Life Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis (in English as Juvenal) was the last great Roman satirist. Almost nothing of his life is known. There are thirteen medieval biographies of him attached to…
Martial
Life Most of what we know about Marcus Valerius Martialis (Eng: Martial) comes from his very generous autobiographical statements, although as with any author, conflating the author with their literary…
Caecilius Statius
Life Caecilius Statius is an early second-century writer of fabulae palliatae, though beyond that, there are some problems concerning the traditions of his life. The fourth century chronicler Jerome says he…
Livy
Life Titus Livius, known to the English-speaking world as Livy, was born in Patavium (modern Padua) in 59 BCE. Very little of his early life is known. From his own…
Vergil
Publius Vergilius Maro (simply Vergil or less accurately Virgil in English) was the greatest Latin poet of the Augustan Age, and has been compared to Homer for his masterpiece epic,…
Petronius
Life and Identity The identity of Petronius is an unsettled debate within scholarship. The name on the manuscripts is Petronius Arbiter. Some scholars connect this name to a certain Petronius whom Tacitus,…
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (just Horace in English) was one of the leading poets of the Augustan Age. He is considered not only the finest of Latin lyric, but, along with…