Phaedrus lived in ancient Rome and was the first person to translate into Latin and put into verse whole books of the Greek prose fables then circulating and attributed to Aesop.
Phaedrus was a slave by birth. He went to Rome early in life and became a freedman in the household of the Emperor Augustus. Phaedrus was familiar with the works of Greek and Roman writers. Though others before him had rendered fables into verse and used them in their work, Phaedrus considered himself a pioneering artist, and believed his poems would give him immortal fame. His fables include favourites such as 'The Fox and the Grapes' and 'The Wolf and the Lamb.'
Phaedrus became extremely popular in Europe during the Middle Ages.
In the 18th century, a manuscript was discovered in Parma that contained 64 fables of Phaedrus. 30 of these were new. Another manuscript was found in the Vatican and published in 1831. Later research identified 30 more fables as written by Phaedrus.
http://www.longlongtimeago.com/llta_fables_phaedrus.html
I found the following quotes by Phaedrus, more than 2000 years old! Some of them are very well known in our everyday language.
You will soon break the bow if you keep it always stretched.
An alliance with a powerful person is never safe.
The mind ought sometimes to be diverted, that it may return the better to thinking.
First appearance deceives many.
Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden.
Submit to the present evil, lest a greater one befall you.
The humble are in danger when those in power disagree.
http://www.quotationsbook.com/authors/5678/Phaedrus
