When the first three books of Horace’s Odes were published in 23 BCE, the first Emperor, Augustus, was leading an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to bring the wealthy Roman elite back to the austere standards of life which laid the foundations for the greatness of the city. Horace, not necessarily insincerely, included more than one poem in his collection which chimed with this theme. Whether he would really have been happy if the law had required him to roof his house with nothing but turf is perhaps open to question.
The illustration is the oath of the Horatii by Jean-Louis David.
Hear Horace’s Latin and follow in English here.