Maecenas Eques: A Study in the Creation and Development of an Image

Though the name of Maecenas has come to be associated with the phenomenon of literary and artistic patronage, the predominant attribute of his image in ancient sources was his equestrian status. This work examines references to Maecenas as ?eques? in all their permutations and diachronic developments in texts dating from Maecenas? day to the 3rd century C.E. There is a sharp dichotomy between the equestrian images of Maecenas in poetry and in prose. The poets of Maecenas? era, Horace and Propertius, and, nearly a century later, Martial use the expression ?Maecenas eques? in connection with Maecenas? power to make specific literary requests or to support poetic undertakings. The historians Velleius Paterculus, Tacitus, and Dio Cassius, on the other hand, focus their attention on his status as a non-senatorial aide of Augustus, whose objective was the supremacy of his leader and the consolidation of his power. After an analysis of these sources, Maecenas? social rank emerges as a complex and multifaceted element of his image, one that is transformed in manifold ways depending on the epoch, the literary genre, the socio-political climate, and the personal history of each author.