A patron is a person who primarily supports the arts, persons or institutions financially or in other ways without retribution or consideration. The patron actually lived in the past: His name was Gaius Cilnius Maecenas and he lived from 70 to 8 BC He was a confidant and adviser to Gaia Octavio, the later first Roman emperor Augustus. He inherited immense wealth, but he was not a dozen rich. He was a very educated man, he even wrote verses. In the first place, the noble Virgil belonged to his retinue. He then brought Horatia and Tibulla to Maecenas' court.