Disjecta membra Disjecta membra , also written , is Latin for "scattered fragments" (also scattered limbs, members, or remains) and is used to refer to surviving fragments of ancient poetry, manuscripts, and other literary or cultural objects, including even fragments of ancient pottery. It is derived from , a phrase used by Horace, a Roman poet. Fragments of ancient writing, especially ancient Latin poetry found in other works are commonly referred to as "disjecta membra". The terms "disiecta membra" and "disjecta membra" are paraphrased from the Roman lyric poet Horace (65 BC – 8 BC), who wrote of in his "Satires", 1.4.62,
Horace borrowed from Archaic Greece, employing hexameters in his "Satires" and "Epistles", and iambs in his "Epodes", all of which were relatively easy to adapt into Latin forms. His "Odes" featured more complex measures, including alcaics and sapphics, which were sometimes a difficult fit for Latin structure and syntax. Despite these traditional metres, he presented himself as a partisan in the development of a new and sophisticated style. He was influenced in particular by Hellenistic aesthetics of brevity, elegance and polish, as modeled in the work of Callimachus. In modern literary theory, a distinction is often made between immediate personal experience