INTRODUCTION CORRIGENDA P. ix. 1. 9 for equals read equal P. xix. 1. 8 P. xx. 1. 9 Lucilius : for Ascelepiad read Asclepiad after largely add except, perhaps, the rude satirist P. xxvii. 1. 12 from foot: delete remark after GOM P. xxxviii. note on LXI. 217: add suae GO P. xxxix. on LXIII. 5: add iletas acuto GO before ilei acuto P. xlvi. 1. 3 insert B. Schmidt after maritum P. 25, 1. 6: for XLVII read XLVIII P. 61, LXVIII. 141: for at qui read atqui P. 63, LXXV. I: for diducta read deducta emphatic position of Gaius? Why use it at all? INTRODUCTION I.-LIFE OF CATULLUS 1 GAIUS 2 VALERIUS CATULLUS, the most passionate and brilliant, if not the greatest of Roman poets, was 1 In this résumé results only are given: the most probable theories, as they seem to the editor, are adopted without discussion of the arguments on which they are based, or examination of rival theories. For the purposes of full inquiry the English reader should consult Ellis's Prolegomena to both his volumes: Munro's Criticisms and Elucidations of Catullus: and Teuffel's History of Roman Literature, Ed. 2, vol. i. p. 391 sqq., with the long list of authorities there given. 2 The praenomen Quintus (Q) is given to Catullus in many of the later mss. as D and P. The older mss. G and O give no praenomen. Gaius rests on the authority of Apuleius Apol. 10; and of Suetonius Frag. De Poetis in Jerome's Chronicle Ol. clxxiii. 2. Q. used to be read in Pliny H. N. 37. 81, but is not in the best mss. If Scaliger's conjecture Quinte for qui te in LXVII. 12 were satisfactory on other grounds, it would be an argument in favour of Quintus: but it does : not satisfy the passage. Gaius has the only testimony of any weight in its favour and it seems strange that x. 30 has not been pressed into the service in favour of Gaius: meus sodalis Cinna est Gaius, is sibi paravit. It would add some point if Catullus excuses himself for his slip by the fact that his friend had the same praenomen as himself. 'It's not Gaius Catullus I meant: it's Gaius Cinna.' Else why the emphatic position of Gaius? Why use it at all? born about the year 831 B.C., and died about 53 B.C. He was a native of Verona, and probably Celtic blood flowed in his veins. His father was a man of such wealth and position as to be a personal friend and entertainer of the great Julius Caesar.2 He had one brother, whose early death near Troy plunged him in the deepest grief. He added a thorough literary education to the most splendid gifts. When about the age of twenty-six he obtained an appointment on the staff of C. Memmius, propraetor of Bithynia. His chief did not allow him any opportunity of enriching himself, and Catullus vented his spleen and disappointment in very outspoken verses. He returned to his villa at lovely Sirmio next year, and the rest of his life was passed between Rome, Verona, Sirmio, and a farm at Tibur. He was a man of independent means, but often in monetary difficulties owing to his extravagance. 1 The oft-quoted statements of Jerome in the Eusebian Chronicle: 'Ol. 173.2=87 B.C. Gaius Valerius Catullus scribtor lyricus Veronae nascitur': 'Ol. 180. 3=58 B.C. Catullus xxx aetatis anno Romae moritur.' As there are many allusions in Catullus to events after 58 B.C. (see especially Lv. 6; CXIII; LIII; XI. 9; XXIX. 12), the latter date is certainly wrong. The early age at which Catullus was cut off impressed itself strongly on the minds of his contemporaries, Ovid Am. 3. 9. 61: Obvius huic venias hedera iuvenalia cinctus Tempora cum Calvo, docte Catulle, tuo. Probably the statement that he died in his thirtieth year was a true tradition. Very likely Jerome is just one Olympiad wrong as to the dates of both birth and death. 2 Suetonius, Iul. 73: Valerium Catullum a quo sibi versiculis de Mamurra perpetua stigmata imposita non dissimulaverat satisfacientem eadem die adhibuit cenae, hospitioque patris eius sicut consuerat uti perseveravit. He occupied a prominent position in the most fashionable literary circle of the day. He was the intimate friend of C. Licinius Calvus, poet and orator; of C. Helvius Cinna, author of the poem Zmyrna, on which he laboured for nine years; of Cornelius Nepos, to whom he dedicated his poems; of Asinius Pollio, the warrior, dramatist, orator, and historian, who lived to be addressed by Horace; of Cicero, whom he addresses as an admirer, on equals terms as regards station; of the witty and accomplished M. Caelius Rufus, Cicero's client and correspondent, who supplanted him in Lesbia's affections; of Alfenus Varus of Cremona, who showed himself to be ungrateful in Catullus's hour of need. Besides these he mentions Veranius and Fabullus as his fast friends; Caelius and Quintius of Verona; Caecilius, author of a poem on the Great Mother; Cornificius, the poet; Manlius Torquatus 1 and his wife Junia Aurunculeia ; Hortalus or Ortalus, perhaps the orator Hortensius Hortalus: all these he addresses in words which show his warm, generous heart. But his hot impetuous nature is evinced even more by his hates than his loves: the napkin - thief Marrucinus white-toothed, grinning, full-bearded Egnatius; the miserly Aurelius and starveling Furius, at one time his friends, but afterwards hated and lampooned by him; the shark Piso and pikes Porcius and Socration; Otho with his tiny head; Libo and Fuficius with their disgusting habits; Arrius with his superfluous aspirates; the 1 L. Manlius Torquatus, the friend of Cicero, the defender of the Epicurean Philosophy in the De Finibus. Schwabe, Quaestiones, P. 340-344. Munro, p. 169. |