File:Gaius_Cilnius_Maecenas_Roman_Statesman_(cropped).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Gaius Maecenas
Sign in to saveAlso known as Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, Mæcenas, Maecenas, C. Maecenas
Roman political advisor (d. 8 BC)
OverviewAI-generated
Gaius Maecenas was a male citizen of Ancient Rome, belonging to the Cilnia gens and the social class of equites. Born in Arezzo around 70 BCE, he worked as a politician, patron of the arts, poet, and writer. He spoke and wrote in Latin. His spouse was Terentia.
Maecenas authored the work *Frammenti e testimonianze latine*. He is described in sources including the *Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary*, *The Nuttall Encyclopædia*, the *Encyclopædia Britannica* 11th edition, and Pauly–Wissowa. He died in 8 BCE.
Synthesized by Vinony from 20 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, Europeana Sparql. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- approximately 70 B.C.
- Died
- 8 B.C.
- Works
- 0
Top works
- Frammenti e testimonianze latine
via Open Library + Wikidata
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Ancient Rome
- Place of birth
- Arezzo
- Spouse
- Terentia
- Occupation
- poet
- Languages spoken
- Latin
- Image
- Maecenas Coole Park.JPG
Show 9 more facts
- date of birth
- 0070-00-00
- date of death
- 0008-00-00
- praenomen
- Gaius
- described by source
- Pauly–Wissowa
- gens
- Cilnia gens
- writing language
- Latin
- name in native language
- C.Maecenas
- social classification
- equites
- Commons category
- Gaius Maecenas
via Wikidata · CC0
Works in European collections
2 objects attributed to Gaius Maecenas, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana
~16 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Gaius Cilnius Maecenas ([ˈɡaːiʊs̠ ˈkɪɫ̪niʊs̠ mae̯ˈkeːnaːs̠] 13 April 68 BC – 8 BC) was a friend and political advisor to Octavian (who later reigned as emperor Augustus). He was also an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil. In many languages, his name is an eponym for "patron of arts".
During the reign of Augustus, Maecenas served as a quasi-culture minister to the Roman emperor but in spite of his wealth and power he chose not to enter the Senate, remaining of equestrian rank.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Gaius Maecenas” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.