representative of Roman common sense rather than any School.


HORACE AND HELLENISM

A word should be said here regarding the frequent use of the word
"Hellenic" in connection with Horace's genius. Among the results of his
higher education, it is natural that none should be more prominent to
the eye than the influence of Greek letters upon his work; but to call
Horace Greek is to be blinded to the essential by the presence in his
poems of Greek form and Greek allusion. It would be as little reasonable
to call a Roman triumphal arch Greek because it displays column,
architrave, or a facing of marble from Greece. What makes Roman
architecture stand is not ornament, but Roman concrete and the Roman
vault. Horace is Greek as Milton is Hebraic or Roman, or as Shakespeare
is Italian.



4. HORACE THE PHILOSOPHER OF LIFE

HORACE THE SPECTATOR AND ESSAYIST

A great source of the richness of personality which constitutes Horace's
principal charm is to be found in his contemplative disposition. His
attitude toward the universal drama is that of the onlooker. As we shall
see, he is not without keen interest in the piece, but his prevailing
mood is that of mild amusement. In time past, he has himself assumed
more than one of the rôles, and has known personally many of the actors.
He knows perfectly well that there is a great deal of the mask and