Simplify the following text for a Grade 7 native English-speaking person.
Original: Horace was a member of a literary circle that included Virgil and Lucius Varius Rufus , who introduced him to Maecenas , friend and confidant of Augustus .
Simplified: His friends , Lucius Varius Rufus and Virgil , who were also writers , introduced him to Maecenas . Maecenas was a close friend of Augustus , the emperor of Rome .