'Non tu corpus eras sine pectore; Dî tibi formam, * His patrimonial estate-he was of equestrian rank-lay at Pedum, between Tibur and Præneste. A considerable portion of this property he seems to have lost: as in the cases of Virgil and Horace, it had probably been confiscated during the civil wars. Tibullus, however, contented himself with the residue, and resided on his estate during the greater part of his short but happy life. Dissen regards the Tenth Elegy of the First Book as prior in point of time to any other of his poetical effusions: he dates it from the year 712 A.U.C., 42 B.C., the 17th year of the author's life, when his military duties as a knight commenced-duties for which he evinced an aversion very unusual in a Roman. On his return to Rome, he gained the patronage of Messala, who invited him to join him in the impending conflict between Octavius and Antony, which terminated in the battle of Actium, B.C. 31. The expedition was declined by Tibullus, who was at this time deeply in love with Delia, a Roman lady; who, says Dissen, haud dubie ex eo feminarum ordine erat, qui medius inter matronas ac viles meretrices morum suavitate et vestitus liberioris elegantiâ juventutem Romanam tenebat." Her real name was probably Plania, as appears from Apul. Apolog. 106: "Lesbiam Catullus pro Clodiâ nominavit: Propertius Cynthiam dicit, Hostiam dissimulat: Tibullo Plania est in animo, Delia in versu." Under the influence of these feelings the First Elegy of the First Book was written. Delia belonged to a respectable family, and possessed several slaves, I. 3, 87. Tibullus had no intention of marrying her, but he wished to retire with her, as his mistress, into the country, and pass the rest of his life in quiet enjoyment. The poet, however, was soon called away from Rome, to attend Messala, in the capacity of aide-de-camp [contubernalis], when despatched by Octavius to repress a formidable insurrection which had broken out in Aquitaine towards the close of the year B.C. 31, A.U.C. 723. He describes his departure on this campaign, I. 3, 9, seqq. On the reduction of Aquitaine, in which Tibullus boasts that he had a share, I. 7, 9, Messala was sent into the East to organise that part of the empire: Tibullus set out in his company, but was taken ill, and obliged to remain at Corcyra, where he wrote the Third Elegy of the First Book, in the autumn† of the year 724 A.U.C., 30 B.C. Messala, proceeding on his mission, reor Eleg. I. i. 19, seqq. This is inferred from verse 85, where, says Dissen, "lucernæ vespertinæ mentio breviores dies indicat:" p. 60. ganised Cilicia, Syria, and Egypt, I. 7, 13 seqq. Shortly after, Tibullus returned to Rome; when he found Delia ill. He attended her with affectionate care, I. 5, 9 seqq., and hoped to prevail upon her to retire to his estate, and share with him the joys of country life, which he describes, Eleg. I. 5, 19 seqq. During his absence abroad, however, a richer lover had supplanted him in her affections: and she shortly afterwards married. Tibullus, however, continued his attentions: not without encouragement, and partial success, as appears from the Second Elegy of the First Book, composed probably in the winter of 725, 726 a.u.c., 29, 28 B.C., during Messala's campaign in Cilicia, which is alluded to in lines 69, 70. The Sixth Elegy of the same book followed; it is not given in this collection, and differs chiefly from the Fifth in the greater vehemence of his invectives against the levity of his mistress, whom he seems henceforth to have resigned. In the year A.U.C. 727, B.C. 27, Messala returned from the East and triumphed; his birthday, which came round soon afterwards, is celebrated by the poet in his Seventh Elegy. Dissen thinks that the verses on Marathus, which are not given here, and of which the less said the better, were written about this time. He regards them as an ebullition of the poet's despair of ever regaining Delia's love. According to the same critic, Tibullus fell in love with Glycera, the lady mentioned by Horace, Od. I. 23, init., at this period of his life, when he had relinquished all hope of Delia. Spohn identifies Glycera with Delia. Passow thinks Glycera only another name for Nemesis. Dissen, after a careful examination of the evidence, shows that both these suppositions are untenable. The loves of Sulpicia and Cerinthus as described in the short Elegies of the Fourth Book,* seem to have occupied the poet's pen when his passion for Glycera had cooled. There seems to be no question of their authenticity: Dissen remarks that, if they were not written by Tibullus, there must have been another Tibullus at Rome at the same epoch-so tasteful and characteristic of the poet are they. Shortly after this, and during his retirement in the country, Dissen thinks the First Elegy of the Second Book was composed. It was certainly written prior to his intrigue with Nemesis, which apparently commenced about 733 A.U.C., 21 B.c. We know from Ovid's Epicediuin, where Nemesis says— 'Me tenuit moriens deficiente manu,' that this was his last passion: and that death surprised him before it was exhausted. He believes the three Elegies in honour of Nemesis were written in the same order in which they appear here. The poem on Messalinus, in which Tibullus records his despairing passion, Dissen refers to the year A.U.C. 734, B. C. 20. *The panegyric on Messala, and the two Elegies in honour of Priapus, are, by the general consent of critics, denied to be the work of Tibullus. The following summary is quoted from Dissen, "de vitâ Tibulli," pp. xxxiv-xxxvi. Circa A.U.C. 695: B.C. 59. 712 A.U.C. 42 B.C. 722 A.U.C. 32 B.C. 723 A.U.C. 31 B.C. 724 A.U.C. 30 B.C. 725 A.U.C. 29 B.C. Natus videtur Tibullus. Penates reliquit stipendia equestria meriturus ætate militari. Rediit post decem annos, confectis stipendiis equestribus. In Scribit Eleg. I. 1, cum invitatus a Messala ut secum iret in bellum Auctumno cum Messala in Orientem proficiscens, morbo retinetur in Restitutâ valetudine Romam reversus, Deliam ægrotam invenit, nisi Discidium ortum cum Deliâ, quæ jam absente Tibullo clam fidem deseruisse videtur, post morbum aperte divitem amatorem admitteret. Sub æstatem tamen scripta videtur Eleg. I. 5, cum discidium non ferret diutius. Sed Delia circa hoc tempus viro nubit. 725, 6 A.U.C. Hieme reddit favorem Delia poetæ, qui scribit Eleg. I. 2, cum primum nova limina tentaret. 726 A.U.C. 28 B.C. 727 A.U.C. 27 B.C. Gerebatur circa hoc tempus bellum in Ciliciâ sub Messalæ auspiciis, qui Orientem componebat. Delia novum amatorem admittit, et poeta scribit Eleg. I. 6. Postea relicta est. D. XXIV. Sept. Messala, redux ex Oriente, triumphavit de Aquitanis. Paullo post Tibullus natalitia ejus celebravit Eleg. I. 7. 729,30 A.U.C. Glycera amatur et canuntur propter eam flebiles elegi [those alluded to by Horace, as "miserabiles elegi "]. Initio amoris scribi potuit Carm. IV. 13. 25, 24 B.C. 731 A.U.C. 23 B.C. 733 A.U.C. 21 B.C. 734 A.U.C. 20 B.C. 735 aut 736 A. U.C. 19, 18 B.C. Post Glyceræ amorem elegidia libri quarti componere cœpit. Nemesim amare cœpit, cui deinde tria carmina consecrata. Messalino in Collegium Quindecemv. cooptato, scripta Eleg. II. 5. Dissen's sketches of the characters of Delia and Nemesis, are worth quoting. "Delia quidem per se bona et proba puella fuisse videtur, honestis moribus, ingenio non inculto, quæ Tibulli amore initio non indigna esset. Callidas artes aliarum puellarum credam ab eâ alienas, cum Tibullo innotesceret; at amabiles mores fuerunt, sive educatione sive alio modo parti. Ingenium erat mite: sævitiæ et superbiæ nullum vestigium extat. Nec luxuriam, cui Nemesis tantopere dedita, in his elegiis queritur poeta, sed potius probabile est simplicitatem quandam vitæ ex origine plebeiâ, antequam corrumperetur muneribus aliorum, ab eâ retentam, quam post reditum e Corcyrâ invenire velit vespere inter ancillas ad lucernam matre, fabellas narrante, femineo caste occupatam labore, quam sperabat negotia domestica in prædio suo curaturam sic, ut describit in quintâ. Certe a Nemesis fastu aliena hæc. Talis fere cum Delia esset, Tibullus primum incensus pulchritudine ejus sic eam amare cœpit, ut quam perpetuam sociam vitæ ad mortem habere cupias. Quid mollius his verbis I. 1, 49 ? 'Te spectem, suprema mihi cum venerit hora, Te teneam moriens deficiente manu.'" pp. xlii, xliii. Of Nemesis he says: "Erat puella formosa haud dubie et elegans, sed probitate Deliâ inferior, quippe meretrix jam tum, cum Tibullo innotesceret. Pecuniæ servire cœperat postremo etiam Delia, sed Nemesis avara erat, luxuriæ ultra modum dedita,* munerum pretiosiorum ita cupida, ut satis dari non posset. Ac cum Delia bona et mitis, sed nimis levis fuisset, hæc dura, aspera, sæva, superba, male callida fuit, aliis ditioribus facilis, Tibullo difficillima, quem sæpissime remittebat e limine."-P. xlviii. BOOK I.-1. On the date of this poem, and the circumstances under which it was written, see Introduction, p. 194. The reigning sentiment [summa sententia] of the Elegy, is the opposition between peaceful pursuits and military life. 1, 2. auro] refers to the treasure gained by war: jugera] to the assignments of land, so common in the civil wars, among the victorious soldiery. Heyne. 6. dum] "provided that:" in which sense it always takes a subjunctive mood. 7. ipse] without the aid of slaves. Dissen. 2, 7 of Retribution, 'Pœna,' I. 9, 4: of Fortune, I. 5, 70. 10. pleno lacu] "in the brimming vat." lorn stake." As to the expression, com11, 12. stipes desertus] "a forpare Propert. I. 20, 36: desertæ arbores: Mosch. III. 21, èpnμaîai δρύες. with garlands, 'florea serta,' or fillets, Stakes and stones, crowned were placed in the fields of the rustics as rude emblems of the rural Gods. Thus Ovid, F. II. 461: "Termine, sive lapis, sive es defossus in agris stipes." 14. agricolæ deo] i.e. Silvānus. 'Ante' seems to mean antequam ipse gustem: thus Censorinus de D. Nat. c. 1, says of the ancients, cum perceperant fruges, antequam vescerentur, dis libare instituerunt." Heyne. 66 9. Dissen takes 'Spes' as a personification of Hope: not as equivalent to spes anni,' which in Ovid, Met. XV. 113, and elsewhere, means the 'harvest.' Similar personifications are 17. ruber] Prof. Conington, on common in Tibullus: e. g. that of Virg. Ecl. X. 27, "minioque rubenPeace, I. 10, sub fin.: of Death, IV. | tem" [Pana], says: "the ancients seem * See especially Eleg. II. 3, 50 seqq., where these traits are strongly painted. not unfrequently to have painted their | Gods red. In Tibull. II. 1, 55, the rustic worshipper of Bacchus paints himself with vermilion: and Pliny, 33, 36, tells us that the bodies of generals who triumphed were coloured with the same substance." 19, 20. See Introd. p. 194. 21 22. The Sacra Ambarvalia,' described in Bk. II. 1, are here alluded to. 25. I have given in the text Dissen's emendation, instead of the senseless line, 'Jam modo non possum contentus vivere parvo.' 28. Dunlop, R. L., on Catullus, remarks that we need not wonder at finding more appreciation of country scenery among the Italian than the Greek poets; the Greeks, he says, were originally a seafaring people, the Italians mainly a pastoral race. 35. hic] i. e. on the estate of Tibullus: who tells the wolves they will find no prey there, as his flocks are under the protection of Pales. The 'festa Palilia,' here alluded to, took place on the 21st of April. See Ovid, F. IV. Comp. Livy X. 7.: Propert. III. 9, 26. 56, 7. This couplet hardly requires Heyne's explanation, that porters at Rome were sometimes chained to the door. 63, 64. vincta] "cased." silex] Compare Virg. Æn. VI. 470: "Nec magis-movetur, Quam si dura silex aut stet Marpesia cautes." 67. Manes] Dissen thus explains: "flere et crines solutos habere consentaneum, si vero etiam abscinderet crines Delia et genas laceraret, ægre ferrent hoc Manes poetæ, quibus etiam in Orco cura formosæ puellæ." 66 68. Compare Ovid, Trist. III. 3, 51: parce tamen lacerare genas, nec scinde capillos." 74. inseruisse] Madvig, Lat. Gram. § 407, Obs. 2, says: "In the poets the perf. infin. act. is sometimes used, like the Greek aorist, for the pres. infin.: especially after "verba voluntatis et potestatis" e. g. Virg. G. III. 436. "Neu dorso nemoris libeat jacuisse per herbas." Hor. Od. III. 4, 52: "fratresque tendentes opaco Pelion imposuisse Olympo." Comp. Virg. Æn. VI. 77. Prof. Key, Lat. Gram. § 1256, remarks that "in such cases it will be seen that the completion or consequences of the action are regarded more than the action itself." See note on Ovid, 12, 2, above. I.-2. Delia having See Introd. p. 195. married during her lover's absence from Rome, he tries to drown his grief in wine. Then he alternately abuses and coaxes her obdurate door: 57. non ego laudari curo] i. e. and entreats her to summon up conr.on curo militarem gloriam, noto usurage to admit him, assuring her that |