Maecenas Eques

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.