such as Valerius Messalla and Aelius Lamia, who not merely made their
peace with Antony and Octavius, but cemented it by taking service in
their army.



CHAPTER II.

RETURNS TO ROME AFTER BATTLE OF PHILIPPI.--EARLY POEMS.


Availing himself of the amnesty proclaimed by the conquerors, Horace
found his way back to Rome. His father was dead; how long before is
not known. If the little property at Venusia had remained unsold, it
was of course confiscated. When the lands of men, like Virgil, who had
taken no active part in the political conflicts of the day, were being
seized to satisfy the rapacity of a mercenary soldiery, Horace's
paternal acres were not likely to escape. In Rome he found himself
penniless. How to live was the question; and, fortunately for
literature, "chill penury" did not repress, but, on the contrary,
stimulated his "noble rage."

"Bated in spirit, and with pinions clipped,
Of all the means my father left me stripped,
Want stared me in the face, so then and there
I took to scribbling verse in sheer despair."

Despoiled of his means, and smarting with defeat, Horace was just in
the state of mind to strike vigorously at men and manners which he did
not like. Young, ardent, constitutionally hot in temper, eager to