<p>Emily and Tom follow Virgil with one of his contemporaries, Horace, whose poetry played an important political role in the early years of Augustan Rome and has had an enormous influence on subsequent European lyric verse. They consider the original meanings of some of Horace’s famous phrases –&nbsp;<em>carpe diem</em>,<em>&nbsp;in medias res</em>,<em>&nbsp;nunc est bibendum</em>&nbsp;– and look at the ways his often complex poetics interrogate the art and value of poetry itself.</p><p>Non-subscribers can only hear extracts from most of the episodes in this series. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, subscribe:</p><p>Directly in Apple Podcasts: <a href="https://lrb.me/ataapple" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://apple.co/3pJoFPq</a></p><p>In other podcast apps: <a href="https://lrb.me/atasignuppod" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lrb.me/closereadings</a></p><p>Further reading in the <em>LRB</em>:</p><p>Nicholas Horsfall:</p><p><...