Virgil, Horace and Varius at the house of Maecenas. Gaius Cilnius Maecenas (70 BC-8 BC) was an ally, friend and political advisor to Octavian as well as an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets. During the reign of Augustus, Maecenas served as a quasi-culture minister to the Emperor. His name has become a byword for a wealthy, generous and enlightened patron of the arts. He supported Virgil who wrote the Georgics in his honor. Virgil introduced Horace to Maecenas. Horace begins the first poem of his Odes by addressing his new patron. Maecenas gave him full financial support as well as an estate in the Sabine mountains. Propertius and the minor poets Varius Rufus, Plotius Tucca, Valgius Rufus and Domitius Marsus also were his prot矇g矇s.