Maecenas

me-se'nas (73-8 B. C.), a celebrated minister of the Roman Empire. Nothing is known of his early life. After the death of Julius Caesar he was the trusted friend and confidential adviser of Octavianus, known later as the Emperor Augustus. This emperor rewarded him with a palatial residence in the midst of gardens on the Esquiline. His home was the resort of the literary people of Rome. Virgil and Horace owed him many favors. A new poem or play was sure to be read in the house of Maecenas before it was made public. His name has become synonymous for a patron of literature. He himself wrote some minor works, a few fragments of which are extant.