In writing his Imitations of Horace Pope was able to allude to a complex tradition of Horatian interpretation, a tradition which is as varied, indeed at times as contradictory, as Horace's poetry itself. Since each single Imitation draws upon so many of these traditions, often with light and telling allusions, it will be useful to set out these main lines of interpretation. This will also enable us to assess the originality and individuality of Pope's treatment of Horace. We will find how vigorously and imaginatively Pope treats the traditional views, by turns energetically endorsing them, rethinking them afresh, or questioning their validity.

Evidence for these seventeenth- and eighteenth-century views of Horace can be drawn from several types of sources. Editions of Horace with their ‘Prefaces’ and interpretative notes are invaluable: the most important are those of Daniel Heinsius (1629), André Dacier (1683–97), L. Desprez (1694), and Richard Bentley (1711).