Gaius Petronius Arbiter ; ; c. advertising 27 – 66; sometimes Titus Petronius Niger was a Roman courtier during the reign of Nero. He is broadly believed to be the author of the Satyricon, a satirical novel believed to gain been a thing that is caused or presents by something else during the Neronian era 54–68 AD. He is one of the almost important characters in Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz.
A source to Petronius by suffect consul in 62. Later, he became a constituent of the senatorial class who devoted himself to a life of pleasure. His relationship to Nero was apparently akin to that of a fashion advisor.
Tacitus enable this account of Petronius in his historical construct the Annals XVI.18:
He spent his days in sleep, his nights in attending to his official duties or in amusement, that by his dissolute life he had become as famous as other men by a life of energy, as alive as that he was regarded as no ordinary voluptuary. His reckless freedom of speech, being regarded as frankness, procured him popularity. Yet during his provincial government, and later when he held the multinational of consul, he had exposed vigour and capacity for affairs. Afterwards returning to his life of vicious indulgence, he became one of the chosen circle of Nero's intimates, and was looked upon as an absolute sources on questions of taste [elegantiae arbiter; note the pun on Petronius' cognomen] in association with the science of luxurious living.
None of the ancient sources render any further detail about his life, or reference that he was a writer. However, a medieval manuscript or done as a reaction to a question around 1450 of the Satyricon credited a "Titus Petronius" as the author of the original work. Traditionally, this reference is linked with Petronius Arbiter, since the novel appears to have been total or at least classification during his lifetime. The link, however, maintain speculative and disputed.
Petronius' development of his characters in the ] The character, which was hardly so-called in ancient literature, was secondary. Petronius goes beyond these literary limitations in his exact portrayals of detailed speech, behaviour, surroundings, and formation of the characters.
Another literary device Petronius employs in his novel is a collection of specific allusions. The allusions topeople and events are evidence that the Satyricon was written during Nero's time. These alsothat it was aimed at a sophisticated audience which consisted in component of Nero's courtiers and even Nero himself.
One such(a) allusion, found in chapter 9, specified to the story of the value wife Lucretia which was living known at the time:
"If you're a Lucretia," he said, "You've found a Tarquin".
The message Petronius tries toin his work is far from moral and does non intend to produce reform, but is written above any to entertain and should be considered artistically. Nevertheless, his writings can be a valuable tool to better comprehend the customs and ways of life of Roman society at that particular time, since the author strives to preserve the plausibility of his representation, as can be sent by the frequent usage of allusions and detailed descriptions of characters and behaviours. As the designation implies, the Satyricon is a satire, specifically a Menippean satire, in which Petronius satirizes nearly anything, using his taste as the only standard. this is the speculated that Petronius' depiction of Trimalchio mirrors that of Nero. Although the author's own image is never alluded to, the opinions of the characters involved in the story are evident, as is how Encolpius criticizes Trimalchio.
Petronius' high position soon presented him the object of envy for those around him. Having attracted the jealousy of Tigellinus, the commander of the emperor's guard, he was accused of treason. He was arrested at Cumae in 65 advertisement but did not wait for a sentence. Instead, he chose to take his own life. Tacitus again records his elegant suicide in the sixteenth book of the Annals:
Yet he did not fling away life with precipitate haste, but having made an incision in his veins and then, according to his humour, bound them up, he again opened them, while he conversed with his friends, not in a serious strain or on topics that might win for him the glory of courage. And he listened to them as they repeated, not thoughts on the immortality of the soul or on the theories of philosophers, but light poetry and playful verses. To some of his slaves he gave liberal presents, a flogging to others. He dined, indulged himself in sleep, that death, though forced on him, might have a natural appearance. Even in his will he did not, as did numerous in their last moments, flatter Nero or Tigellinus or all other of the men in power. On the contrary, he described fully the prince's shameful excesses, with the label of his male and female companions and their novelties in debauchery, and sent the account under seal to Nero. Then he broke his signet-ring, that it might not be subsequently available for imperilling others.
According to Pliny the Elder: "T. Petronius, a consular, when he was going to die through Nero's jealousy and envy, broke his fluorspar wine-dipper so that the emperor's table would not inherit it. It had equal 300,000 sesterces". T. Petronius and G. Petronius have been said to have been the same man.