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Petronius



 
 
Gaius Petronius Arbiter (ca. 27–66) was a Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 courtier
Courtier

A courtier is a person who attends the noble court of a monarch or other Executive . Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the Official residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together....
 during the reign Nero
Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
. He is speculated to be the author of the Satyricon
Satyricon

Satyricon is a Latin language work of fiction in a mixture of prose and poetry. It is believed to have been written by Petronius, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as a certain Titus Petronius....
, a satirical novel
Satire

Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre; although, in practice, it is also found in the graphic arts and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about improv...
 believed to have been written during the Neronian age.

lass="link1" onMouseover='showByLink("m1127457",this)' onMouseout='hide("m1127457")'href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Tacitus">Tacitus
Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman Senate and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories —examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those that reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors....
, Plutarch
Plutarch

Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. AD 46 ? 120 ? commonly known in English as Plutarch ? was a Ancient Rome historian , biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonism....
 and Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
 describe Petronius as the elegantiae arbiter, "judge of elegance" in the court of the emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 Nero. He was a member of the senatorial class
Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
 who devoted himself to a life of pleasure, whose relationship to Nero was apparently akin to that of a fashion
Fashion

Fashion refers to the styles and customs prevalent at a given time. In its most common usage, "fashion" exemplifies the appearances of clothing, but the term encompasses more....
 advisor.






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Quotations


A man who is always ready to believe what is told him will never do well.

Sec. 43

Abiit ad plures.

Translation: He has joined the great majority., Sec. 42

Beauty and wisdom are rarely conjoined.

Sec. 94

Horatii curiosa felicitas.

Translation: The studied spontaneity of Horace., Sec. 118

Litterae thesaurum est.

Translation: Education is a treasure. , Sec. 46

One good turn deserves another.

Sec. 45





Encyclopedia


Gaius Petronius Arbiter (ca. 27–66) was a Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 courtier
Courtier

A courtier is a person who attends the noble court of a monarch or other Executive . Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the Official residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together....
 during the reign Nero
Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
. He is speculated to be the author of the Satyricon
Satyricon

Satyricon is a Latin language work of fiction in a mixture of prose and poetry. It is believed to have been written by Petronius, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as a certain Titus Petronius....
, a satirical novel
Satire

Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre; although, in practice, it is also found in the graphic arts and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about improv...
 believed to have been written during the Neronian age.

Life

Tacitus
Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman Senate and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories —examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those that reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors....
, Plutarch
Plutarch

Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. AD 46 ? 120 ? commonly known in English as Plutarch ? was a Ancient Rome historian , biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonism....
 and Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
 describe Petronius as the elegantiae arbiter, "judge of elegance" in the court of the emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 Nero. He was a member of the senatorial class
Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
 who devoted himself to a life of pleasure, whose relationship to Nero was apparently akin to that of a fashion
Fashion

Fashion refers to the styles and customs prevalent at a given time. In its most common usage, "fashion" exemplifies the appearances of clothing, but the term encompasses more....
 advisor. He served as consul
Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Roman Empire. The title was also used in other city states, and revived in modern states, notably French Republic before the Napoleon I of Franceic counter-revolution....
 in the year 62 AD. Tacitus records that he was eventually forced to commit suicide
Suicide

Suicide is the intentional taking of one's own life. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"....
 after being embarrassed in front of Nero.

None of the ancient sources give any further detail about his life, or mention that he was a writer. However a medieval manuscript, written c. 1450 AD, of the Satyricon credited a Titus Petronius as the author of the original work. Traditionally this is reference is linked with Petronius Arbiter, since the novel appears to have been written or at least set during his lifetime. The link, however, remains speculative and disputed.

In fiction

Petronius, usually assumed to be the author of the Satyricon, appears or is referenced in several works of fiction:

  • Henryk Sienkiewicz
    Henryk Sienkiewicz

    Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz was a Poland journalist and Nobel Prize-winning novelist. He was one of the most popular Polish writers at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905 for his "outstanding merits as an epic writer."...
    's novel Quo Vadis
    Quo Vadis (novel)

    Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero, commonly known as Quo Vadis, is a historical novel written by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Quo vadis is Latin for "Where are you going?" and alludes to a New Testament verse ....
     and its adaptations
    Quo vadis

    Quo vadis? is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you going?" or "Whither goest thou?". The phrase refers to a legend in Christian tradition, related in the apocryphal Acts of Peter , in which Saint Peter meets Jesus as Peter is running from being crucified in Rome....
     (but see below for the film), where C. Petronius is the preferred courtier of Nero, using his wit to adulate and mock him at the same time. He is horrified at Nero's burning of Rome, and eventually commits suicide to escape both Nero's antics and his anticipated execution.


  • in Robert A. Heinlein
    Robert A. Heinlein

    Robert Anson Heinlein was an United States novelist and science fiction writer. Often called "the dean of science fiction writers", he is one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of the genre....
    's novel The Door into Summer
    The Door into Summer

    The Door into Summer is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, originally serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and 1957 in literature....
    , in which the protagonist's cat is named "Petronius the Arbiter".


  • in Jesse Browner's novel The Uncertain Hour, which recounts Petronius' final banquet and suicide
    Suicide

    Suicide is the intentional taking of one's own life. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"....
     (as told by Tacitus, ).


  • in Anthony Burgess
    Anthony Burgess

    John Burgess Wilson was an England author, poet, playwright, composer, linguist, translator and critic.His Utopian and dystopian fiction satire A Clockwork Orange, widely considered to be his magnum opus, is by far his most famous novel, and was adapted into a famous, if highly controversial, A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick....
    's novel The Kingdom of the Wicked
    The Kingdom of the Wicked

    The Kingdom of the Wicked is a 1985historical novel by Anthony Burgess.Like two of his earlier works, the long narrative poem Moses: A Narrative and the novel Man of Nazareth , Burgess wrote The Kingdom of the Wicked in part as preparation for a screenplay; in this case for the...
    , Gaius Petronius appears as a major character, an advisor to Nero
    Nero

    Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
    .


  • In the 1951 film of Quo Vadis
    Quo Vadis (1951 film)

    Quo Vadis is an epic 1951 film made by MGM. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sam Zimbalist, from a screenplay by John Lee Mahin, S....
    , Petronius is portrayed by Leo Genn
    Leo Genn

    Leo John Genn was an English people actor on stage and in films....
    , for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.


  • In the 2001 film of Quo Vadis
    Quo Vadis (2001 film)

    Quo Vadis is a 2001 in film Cinema of Poland Film director by Jerzy Kawalerowicz. It was Poland's submission to the 74th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee....
    , Petronius is portrayed by Boguslaw Linda
    Boguslaw Linda

    Boguslaw Linda is a Poland actor known from films such as Psy and Tato. He is also one of the co-founders of the first privately owned schools for actors in Poland....
    . It was the first Polish adaptation of Sienkiewicz's novel.


In recent times, a popular quote on reorganization is often (but spuriously) attributed to a Gaius Petronius. In one version, it reads:
We trained hard ... but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.


See also


  • Satyricon
    Satyricon

    Satyricon is a Latin language work of fiction in a mixture of prose and poetry. It is believed to have been written by Petronius, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as a certain Titus Petronius....
  • Supplements to the Satyricon
    Supplements to the Satyricon

    Petronius's Satyricon, the only realistic classical Latin novel , survives in a very fragmentary form. Many readers have wondered how the story would begin and end....
  • Asteroid 3244 Petronius
    3244 Petronius

    3244 Petronius is an asteroid found in the asteroid belt, a member of the Flora asteroid family. It was discovered by Cornelis Johannes van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels in 1960....
     named after the satirist


External links

  • of the Satyricon from