Central Gubernator - Henry Allen
same time. This included a friend of Catullus’, one Caelius Rufus, who is described in Catullus 77 as “Rufus, my friend that I trusted in vain and to no avail.” But despite the rival suitors, Catullus still loved her. This love is best described in his most famous poem, Catullus 5. Here are a couple of lines:
"Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love, and let all those rumors from crotchety old men be worth just one penny!"
"Give me a thousand kisses, then another hundred, then another thousand, then a second hundred, then yet another thousand more, then another hundred."
Yeah, the dude was down bad. But it worked wonders for his career though! Catullus was extremely popular in his lifetime, and his poetry is still studied today. However, his risqué writing, including the infamous use of his "sparrow," made him quite the controversial figure.
Gaius Valerius Catullus was a Roman poet who lived in the late Republic. Born in c. 84 BC, he only lived to the age of 30, passing away in 54 BC. But the brightest stars burn the fastest, and Catullus was quite the character.
Catullus was a rebel and his poems reflected that. He was a pioneer of the Neoteric style, a response to the Homeric style of writing epic poetry about gods and heroes. Neoteric poets like Catullus said, “let’s write about more subtle topics, use eloquent vocabulary, and make our poems much more multifaceted (hard to translate)”.
Catullus’ number one character trait was that he was in love with a woman he referred to as Lesbia. She was supposedly the sister of Publius Clodius Pulcher, a wild politician during the time of the first triumvirate. This Lesbia was a married woman in her forties, who was having affairs with several other men at the
Our man Catullus wrote dozens of invective poems. Some were to the other men Lesbia was with, but many were famous figures as well. He took shots at Caesar, made a sarcastic ode to Cicero, and even had beef with two other poets, Furius and Aurelius. In response, he crafted a poem that amounted to an ancient diss track so vehemently vulgar that it was censored and not officially translated until the late 1900s. Let's just say Catullus was furious.
If you're looking for a wild ride into the world of ancient Latin poetry, read some Catullus. His poems are short and spicy, and tell the story of his rollercoaster relationship with Lesbia. While they may be a bit indecent at times, Catullus' works are passionate masterpieces that continue to be taught to students today.
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Catullus,
the poet of love and sass
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