Poetry of Catullus
poetry collection by Gaius Valerius Catullus
The poetry of Gaius Valerius Catullus was written towards the end of the Roman Republic in the period between 62 and 54 BC.
The collection of approximately 113 poems includes a large number of shorter epigrams, lampoons, and occasional pieces, as well as nine long poems mostly concerned with marriage. Among the most famous poems are those in which Catullus expresses his love for the woman he calls Lesbia.
Dates of the poems
If Catullus's girlfriend Lesbia is, as is usually assumed, a pseudonym for Clodia, the wife of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer, it may be that he first met her in 62 BC, when her husband was governor of Cisalpine Gaul. In poem 83 Metellus is spoken of as being still alive (he died in early 59 BC). It is thought that the earliest poems were written in this period.
In 57 BC Catullus went abroad for a year as part of the entourage of the governor of Bithynia, Gaius Memmius. Poem 10 was evidently written after his return, as well as 28, in which he reports in obscene language how badly he was treated by Memmius.
Poem 113 mentions that Pompey has become consul for the second time, dating it to 55 BC. Poems 11 and 29, mentioning the potential invasion of Britain, are also thought to date to 55 BC. Poem 55 mentions the colonnade attached to Pompey's theatre (dedicated 55 BC). None of the poems can be dated later than this.
It is often thought that Catullus may have died not long after this.
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This entry incorporates text from “Poetry of Catullus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.