Catullus

Lore & Background

Catullus was born to a leading equestrian family of Verona, in Cisalpine Gaul. The social prominence of his family allowed his father to entertain Julius Caesar when he was the Promagistrate (proconsul) of both Gallic provinces. He appears to have spent most of his young adult years in Rome. His friends there included the poets Licinius Calvus and Helvius Cinna, and the biographer Cornelius Nepos, to whom Catullus dedicated a libellus of poems. He appears to have been acquainted with the poet Marcus Furius Bibaculus. A number of prominent contemporaries appear in his poetry, including Cicero, Caesar and Pompey. The 'Lesbia' of his poems is usually identified with Clodia Metelli, a sophisticated woman from the aristocratic house of patrician family Claudii Pulchri, sister of Publius Clodius Pulcher, and wife to Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer (consul of 60 BC). He spent the year from summer 57 to summer 56 BC in Bithynia on the staff of the commander Gaius Memmius. While in the East, he traveled to the Troad to perform rites at his brother's tomb. No ancient biography of Catullus has survived; his life has to be pieced together from scattered references. Thus it is uncertain when he was born and when he died. Jerome stated that he was born in 87 BC and died in Rome in his 30th year, but Catullus's poems include references to events of 55 BC. Some scholars accept the dates 84–54 BC; other authors suggest 52 or 51 BC as the year of the poet's death.

Reader's Guide

Catullus's poems have been preserved in an anthology of 116 carmina, which can be divided into three parts: approximately sixty short poems in varying meters (polymetra), nine longer poems, and forty-eight epigrams in elegiac couplets. The text used today is based on a manuscript that surfaced in Verona in 1305. After the late 2nd century CE, Catullus’ poetry was relatively unknown. In 1305 the Verona manuscript was discovered, but again disappeared; two copies were made. There is no scholarly consensus on whether Catullus himself arranged the order of the poems. The longer poems often lack Catullus’s lyrical style; several are based on the theme of marriage. Poem 64 is his longest poem, a miniature epic or 'epyllion'. The polymetra and epigrams can be divided into four major thematic groups: poems to and about his friends, erotic poems (including those about 'Lesbia'), invectives, and condolences. Catullus's poetry was influenced by the innovative poetry of the Hellenistic Age, and especially by Callimachus and the Alexandrian school.

Did You Know?

• Catullus's father entertained Julius Caesar when Caesar was proconsul of both Gallic provinces, not Hispania Ulterior.
• Catullus's known friends include Licinius Calvus, Helvius Cinna, and Cornelius Nepos; Quintus Hortensius is not mentioned as a friend in the source.
• The 'Lesbia' of his poems is usually identified with Clodia Metelli, sister of Publius Clodius Pulcher.
• Catullus traveled to the Troad to perform rites at his brother's tomb, recorded in poem 101.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Gaius Valerius Catullus (c. 84 – c. 54 BC) was a Roman poet, the dominant figure among the New Poets (neoterici) of the 1st century BC." — Catullus "Quotations in English are taken from The Poems of Gaius Valerius Catullus, trans. Francis Warre Cornish (Cambridge University Press, 1904), unless otherwise noted." — Catullus "Cui dono lepidum novum libellumArido modo pumice expolitum?" — Catullus "To whom am I to present my pretty new book, freshly smoothed off with dry pumice stone?" — Catullus