Non-storia in Orazio? Rappresentazione, poesia e realtà nel poeta del principato

In order to establish to what extent history serves as a “reservoir” for Horatian poetry, it is necessary for us to cope with the very concept of “history” in Horace. The position held on this question by D. Musti, expressed in terms of “non-history”, is an important point of departure that proves useful precisely for its being so problematic. Through the analysis of some relevant passages in Horace, this paper seeks to define how Horace represents both contemporary political trends and the historiographic activities of influential personalities such as Pollio and Maecenas. Through allusions and implicit hints, all mutually interconnected within the whole body of Horace’s works, the poet manages to communicate to the competent reader a clear sense of how he envisions the relationship between history, ideology, and historiographic representation. The cases of Varius Rufus in sat. i 5, of Pollio in carm. ii 1, and of Maecenas in carm. ii 12 are particularly significant in this regard.