E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Mæce’nas.
A patron of letters; so called from C. Cilnius Mæce’nas, a Roman statesman in the reign of Augustus, who kept open house for all men of letters, and was the special friend and patron of Horace and Virgil. Nicholas Rowe so called the Earl of Halifax on his installation to the Order of the Garter (1714).
1
The last English Mæcenas. Samuel Rogers, poet and banker. (1763–1855.)
