Quintus Horatius Flaccus, anglicised as Horace, was a Roman poet who lived 65 to 8 BCE. The son of a freed slave, he nevertheless received a good education. The first poems he brought out were his Epodes (ironic lyrics in iambics) and Satires. Virgil introduced him to Maecenas who became his friend and patron, presenting him with a small Sabine estate, an idyllic rural retreat. From here he published his Odes and his Epistles. He prided himself on having introduced Greek verse forms into Latin[1] Both his satires and his odes had a great influence on English literature.