He was born at Volaterrae in Etruria, and was the son of a Roman knight of wealth and rank. At twelve years of age Persius was removed to Rome, where he placed himself under the guidance of the Stoic Cornutus, who remained his close friend to the end of his short life. Persius (Sat. v.) touchingly describes his residence with Cornutus, and the influence of this beloved teacher in moulding his character:
Pars tua sit, Cornute, animae, tibi, dulcis amice,
Ostendisse iuvat:
‘My delight is to show you, Cornutus, how large a share of my inmost being is yours, my beloved friend.’—C.
He was nearly related to Arria, daughter of that ‘true wife’ who taught her husband Paetus how to die (Mart. I. xiii.; Pliny Epist. i. 16). In the consistent life of Thrasea (the husband of Arria), who was a Cato in justice and more than a Cato in goodness, Persius had a noble example to follow. So during the short span of his life the poet lived and worked, a man of maidenly modesty, an excellent son, brother, and nephew, of frugal and moderate habits.
2. Works.
Saturae, six Satires in hexameter verse. The first, devoted to an attack upon the literary style of the day, is the only real Satire: the other five are declamations or dogmas of the Stoic system (e.g. Sat. ii., on right and wrong prayers to the gods), interspersed with dramatic scenes. It was to Lucilius that Persius owed the impulse that made him a writer of Satire, but his obligations to Horace are paramount. ‘He was what would be called a plagiarist, but probably no writer ever borrowed so much and yet left on the mind so decided an impression of originality. Where he draws from his own experience, his portraits have an imaginative truth, minutely accurate yet highly ideal, which would entitle them to a distinguished place in any portrait gallery.’—Nettleship.
3. Style.
‘The involved and obscure style of much of his work is the style which his taste leads him to assume for satiric purposes. He feels that a clear, straightforward, everyday manner of speech would not suit a subject over which the gods themselves might hesitate whether to laugh or weep. As the poet of Stoicism, using the very words of Vergil, he calls upon a benighted race to acquaint itself with the causes of things: to an inquiry into the purpose of man’s being, the art of skilful driving in the chariot-race of life, and the ordained position of each individual in the social system.’—Nettleship.
‘Persius is the sole instance among Roman writers of a philosopher whose life was in accordance with the doctrines he professed.’—Cruttwell.