Which Roman poet wrote Ode 1.37 about Cleopatra’s defeat? Horace wrote it.
Ode 1.37 is one of Horace’s best-known poems and begins with the famous Latin phrase “Nunc est bibendum,” usually translated as “Now is the time to drink.” It celebrates Octavian’s victory over Antony and Cleopatra, including the capture of Alexandria and Cleopatra’s death in 30 BCE.
The poem is more complicated than a simple victory song. Horace presents Cleopatra through hostile Roman political language, calling attention to the threat she supposedly posed to Rome, yet he also grants her courage and grandeur. Her decision to die rather than be displayed in Octavian’s triumph gives the poem a striking note of admiration for a defeated enemy.
Ode 1.37 belongs to the first book of Horace’s Odes, a collection of Latin lyric poetry influenced by Greek models such as Alcaeus and Sappho. The question can cause confusion because several Roman poets wrote about Cleopatra or the civil wars, including Virgil and Propertius. However, the specifically numbered Ode 1.37 is Horace’s poem.