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Whatever happened to hiring an arbiter of elegance? Petronius, who lived during the reign of Emperor Nero in the 1st Century AD, rose to become Nero’s arbiter elegantiae, advising him in matters of personal style and taste and thereby establishing standards of refinement throughout the court.
As recommendation culture abounds with the rise of shopping newsletters and crowdsourced opinions for what is worth one’s money or time, it can become rather unruly to take direction from an overabundance of sources—somewhat akin to drinking out of a fire hose.
Why not nominate a singular person to this onerous task? Petronius conducted all of his business affairs by night and slept during the day. Rather than being dismissed as merely dissolute, he was respected as an “accomplished voluptuary,” someone who had elevated hedonism to an art form.
As Nero’s arbiter of elegance, Petronius became the ultimate authority on what constituted good taste in the imperial circle. Nero reportedly considered “nothing charming or elegant without Petronius' approval.” Tacitus explained that Petronius was “looked upon as an absolute authority on questions of taste in connection with the science of luxurious living.”
Let us reconsider luxurious living as what it is: a science. How is living well any less important now than it was for the Romans in the 1st Century AD?
Careful, when nominating an arbiter of elegance, to avoid the pitfalls of flattery. Unlike typical courtiers who gained favor through honeyed words, Petronius was known for his “reckless freedom of speech, being regarded as frankness,” which paradoxically “procured him popularity.” In other words, heed only the advice of the honest.