Editing Gaius Maecenas (section)

==Life==
Expressions in [[Propertius]]<ref>ii. I, 25–30</ref> seem to imply that Maecenas had taken some part in the campaigns of [[Battle of Mutina|Mutina]], [[Battle of Philippi|Philippi]], and [[Battle of Perugia|Perugia]]. He prided himself on his ancient [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] lineage, and claimed descent from the princely house of the [[Cilnia (gens)|Cilnii]], who excited the jealousy of their townsmen by their preponderant wealth and influence at [[Arretium]] in the 4th century BC.<ref>[[Livy]] x. 3.</ref> Horace makes reference to this in his address to Maecenas at the opening of his first books of ''[[Odes (Horace)|Odes]]'' with the expression "atavis edite regibus" (descendant of kings). [[Tacitus]]<ref>Tacitus, ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]]'' 6. 11.</ref> refers to him as "Cilnius Maecenas"; it is possible that "Cilnius" was his mother's [[Roman naming conventions|nomen]] – or that Maecenas was in fact a [[cognomen]].<ref>Varro, however, specifies that the name ''Maecenas'' is a nomen based on origin like Lesas, Ufenas, etc: see {{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.cisi.unito.it/arachne/num4/simpson.html |first1=Chris J. |last1=Simpson |title=Two Small Thoughts on 'Cilnius Maecenas' |date=1996 |work=Arachnion |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100401205942/http://www.cisi.unito.it/arachne/num4/simpson.html |archive-date=2010-04-01 }}</ref>
 
The Gaius Maecenas mentioned in [[Cicero]]<ref>''Pro Cluentio'', 56</ref> as an influential member of the [[equestrian order]] in 91 BC may have been his grandfather, or even his father. The testimony of Horace<ref>''Odes'' iii. 8, 5</ref> and Maecenas's own literary tastes imply that he had profited from the highest education of his time.

His great wealth may have been in part hereditary, but he owed his position and influence to his close connection with the [[Roman emperor|emperor]] Augustus. He first appears in history in 40 BC, when he was employed by Octavian in arranging his marriage with [[Scribonia (wife of Augustus)|Scribonia]], and afterwards in assisting to negotiate the [[Treaty of Brundisium]] and the reconciliation with [[Mark Antony]]. As a close friend and advisor he had even acted as deputy for Augustus when he was abroad.

It was in 38 BC that Horace was introduced to Maecenas, who had before this received [[Lucius Varius Rufus]] and [[Virgil]] into his intimacy. In the "Journey to Brundisium",<ref>Horace, ''Satires'', i. 5.</ref> in 37, Maecenas and [[Marcus Cocceius Nerva (consul 36 BC)|Marcus Cocceius Nerva]] – great-grandfather of the future emperor [[Nerva]] – are described as having been sent on an important mission, and they were successful in patching up, by the [[Treaty of Tarentum]], a reconciliation between the two claimants for supreme power. During the Sicilian war against [[Sextus Pompeius]] in 36, Maecenas was sent back to Rome, and was entrusted with supreme administrative control in the city and in Italy. He was [[vicegerent]] of Octavian during the campaign that led to the [[Battle of Actium]], when, with great promptness and secrecy, he crushed the [[Conspiracy (political)|conspiracy]] of [[Lepidus the Younger]]; during the subsequent absences of his chief in the provinces he again held the same position.
[[File:Terentia, spouse of Gaius Maecenas.jpg|thumb|Bust of Maecenas' wife Terentia (1st century BC)]]
During the latter years of his life as recorded by [[Suetonius]] he fell somewhat out of favour with his master.<ref>''Augustus'', 66</ref> The historian attributes the loss of the imperial favour to Maecenas' having indiscreetly revealed to Terentia, his allegedly beautiful but difficult wife, the discovery of the conspiracy in which her brother [[Lucius Licinius Varro Murena]]<ref>Murena was accused of being in a conspiracy with Fannius Caepio and executed in 22 BC ({{cite web |url=http://www.tonykline.co.uk/PITBR/Latin/HoraceIndexMNOPQR.htm |website=A.S. Kline |title=Index to Horace Satires: Epistles |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130505081841/http://poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/HoraceIndexMNOPQR.htm |archive-date= 5 May 2013 }}).</ref> was implicated, but according to [[Cassius Dio]]<ref>liv. 19</ref> (writing in the early 3rd century AD) it was due to the emperor's relations with Terentia. Maecenas died in 8 BC, leaving the emperor sole heir to his wealth.