Background
Nothing is definitely known of his personality, including his birth, family description and education years.
Nothing is definitely known of his personality, including his birth, family description and education years.
He was one of the young men who accompanied Tiberius on His mission to settle the affairs of Armenia. He has been variously identified with Julius Florus, a distinguished orator and uncle of Julius Secundus, an intimate friend of Quintilian (Instit. x. 3, 13); with the leader of an insurrection of the Treviri (Tacitus, Ann. iii. 40); with the Postumus of Horace (Odes, ii. 14) and even with the historian Florus. Florus competed in the Capital Competition. In that competition poets received rewards and recognition from the emperor himself. He didn't won in that competition although he acquired great applause from the crowds. Florus himself blamed his loss on favoritism on behalf of the emperor. Then Florus traveled through the Greek-speaking sections of the Roman Empire, taking in Sicily, Crete, the Cyclades, Rhodes, and Egypt. At the conclusion of his travels, he resided in Tarraco, Spain. In Tarraco, Florus founded a school and taught literature. During this time he also began to write the Epitome of Roman History. After many years in Spain, he eventually came back to Rome during the rule of Hadrian (117 A. D- 138 A. D). Hadrian and Florus became very close friends, and Florus was rumored to be involved in government affairs during the second half of Hadrian's rule.
Florus is credited with being politically unbiased for almost all of his work. However, many will say that after reviewing his descriptions of the civil war, he seems to position himself closer to Julius Caesar than Pompeius.
Quotes from others about the person
The statement of Porphyrion, the old commentator on Horace, that Florus himself wrote satires, is probably erroneous, but he may have edited selections from the earlier satirists (Ennius, Lucilius, Varro).