Maecenas

Gaius Maecenas was born in ca. 70 B.C. to an aristocratic Etruscan family from Arretium (Arezzo). He died in 8 B.C. Himself a writer and bon-vivant, who owned a famous palace with extensive gardens on the Esquiline, he was a friend and political advisor of Augustus. Through their mutual friend, Virgil, Horace met Maecenas in 38 B.C. (cf. Sat. 1.6.52-62). A scholium reports that Horace received his Sabine estate as a gift from Maecenas, but this has been disputed (see Bradshaw).