It is granted that the father of Horace was libertinus--that is, one
degree removed from his grandfather, who had been once a slave. But
Horace, speaking of him, gives him the best character of a father
which I ever read in history; and I wish a witty friend of mine, now
living, had such another. He bred him in the best school, and with
the best company of young noblemen; and Horace, by his gratitude to
his memory, gives a certain testimony that his education was
ingenuous. After this he formed himself abroad by the conversation
of great men. Brutus found him at Athens, and was so pleased with
him that he took him thence into the army, and made him Tribunus
Militum (a colonel in a legion), which was the preferment of an old
soldier. All this was before his acquaintance with Maecenas, and
his introduction into the court of Augustus, and the familiarity of
that great emperor; which, had he not been well bred before, had
been enough to civilise his conversation, and render him
accomplished and knowing in all the arts of complacency and good
behaviour; and, in short, an agreeable companion for the retired
hours and privacies of a favourite who was first minister.
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