Augustus, Emperor Among Equals
A History of Mankind (224)
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The dominant populist style for the populist Augustan era dominated by the people’s champion and heir to Marius — Julius Caesar — and then by Caesar’s own heir — Augustus’ himself — could be described as sentimental cynicism; and it contributed to make sentimentally cynic writers popular among the lower classes who shared their emotional highs and unbecoming lows.
Catullus was perhaps the most popular author in this fashion, but he didn’t invent it, as shown by an anonymous poem recovered from Oxyrrhynchus1, likely dating to about the turn of the millennium, that displays fairly modern rhythm and repetition as it provides a stoic message of contentment with one’s lot2:
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