Chapter II: The Ciceronian Age (3)

The poems against Caesar's party belong to the years B.C. 55 and 54. In cc. 41 and 43 Catullus calls a Transpadane girl 'decoctoris amica Formiani,' the reference being to Mamurra, 'the bankrupt from Formiae,' who had been Caesar's _praefectus fabrum_ in Gaul, and who may have been a successful rival of Catullus in love. C. 29, written probably in B.C. 54, attacked Mamurra, and also his patrons, Caesar and Pompey. From l. 24, 'socer generque, perdidistis omnia,' it is clear that the poem was written before Julia's death in September, B.C. 54; and from ll. 11-12,

'eone nomine, imperator unice,
fuisti in ultima occidentis insula,'

that it was written after Caesar's first expedition to Britain in B.C. 55. The poem is referred to by Sueton. _Iul._ 73, 'Valerium Catullum, a quo sibi versiculis de Mamurra perpetua stigmata imposita non dissimulaverat, satis facientem eadem die adhibuit cenae hospitioque patris eius sicut consueverat uti perseveravit.'

C. 52 (against Vatinius) was written B.C. 55 or 54. It used to be assigned to B.C. 47, when Vatinius was consul, but l. 3, 'per consulatum perierat Vatinius' means 'Vatinius perjures himself by his hope of the consulship' (his name stood on the list agreed on at Luca, which is mentioned by Cic. _ad Att._ iv. 8_b_, 2); and l. 2, 'Sella in curuli struma Nonius sedet,' cannot refer to B.C. 47, as the only ordinary curule magistrates in that year were P. Vatinius and Q. Fufius Calenus. Among other poems against personal enemies are c. 98, against Vettius, and c. 108, against Cominius, both of them informers; and c. 84, against Arrius, who aspirated his words wrongly, and who, from l. 7, 'hoc misso in Syriam,' is supposed to have gone out to Syria as _legatus_ to Crassus in B.C. 55. C. 49 is an attack on Cicero:

'Disertissime Romuli nepotum,
quot sunt quotque fuere, Marce Tulli,
quotque post aliis erunt in annis,
gratias tibi maximas Catullus
agit, pessimus omnium poeta,
tanto pessimus omnium poeta
quanto tu optimus omnium patronus.'

The sting lies in the _double entendre_ in the last two lines, which really mean 'so much the worst poet of all poets, as you are the best advocate of all clients, good and bad.' So Cicero is called in a good sense _omnium patronus_ by Caecina in Cic. _ad Fam._ vi. 7, 4. The poem has special reference to B.C. 54, when Cicero defended Vatinius (whom he had reviled two years before in the speech _Pro Sestio_), when prosecuted by Catullus' friend, Calvus (cf. c. 14, 1-3); and thanks Cicero ironically for some criticism he had passed on his poems. Catullus attacks several contemporary poets; so in c. 22, Suffenus, who in c. 14 is coupled with Caesius and Aquinus; Volusius in cc. 36 and 95; cf. 36, 1, 'Annales Volusi, cacata charta.'[36]

Among Catullus' friends were Veranius and Fabullus (cc. 9, 28, etc.); P. Alfenus Varus of Cremona (cc. 10, 22, 30), consul B.C. 39, and a famous _iurisconsultus_. C. 61 celebrates the marriage of L. Manlius Torquatus (who was praetor B.C. 49) and Vinia Aurunculeia. Several poems are addressed to brother poets; c. 35 is to Caecilius of Novum Comum; c. 38 to Cornificius, a writer of slight love poems (Ovid, _Trist._ ii. 436) who died B.C. 41; c. 95 is on Cinna's _Zmyrna_; cc. 14, 50, and 96 are addressed to C. Licinius Calvus; c. 56 to Valerius Cato (see above); c. 65 to Hortensius Ortalus, who asked Catullus to translate Callimachus; c. 1, and possibly c. 102, to Cornelius Nepos.

_Catullus' longer poems._--These, unlike the shorter personal poems, are mostly due to Alexandrian influence, to which Catullus may have been introduced by his teacher, Valerius Cato. To these poems Catullus owes his title _doctus_ (Tibull. iii. 6, 41; Martial, i. 62, 1, etc.). They include: c. 66, 'coma Berenices,' from Callimachus; cf. c. 65, ll. 15-6,

'Sed tamen in tantis maeroribus, Ortale, mitto
haec expressa tibi carmina Battiadae';

c. 68 to Allius, also Alexandrian; c. 64, the 'Nuptials of Peleus and Thetis,' l. 30 of which,

'Oceanusque, mari totum qui amplectitur orbem,'

is from Euphorion, fr. 158 (Meineke), +Okeanos, tô pasa perirrytos endedetai chthôn+; c. 63, the 'Attis' in Galliambic metre; c. 62, a translation of a Sapphic epithalamium. C. 51, and possibly some parts of c. 61, are from Sappho. Catullus was the first Roman to use the Sapphic measure (in cc. 11 and 51).

_Publication of the Poems._--From the arrangement of the poems, which accords neither with chronology nor with subjects, and from the large number of lines extant (2286), which does not suit _libellus_ (c. i. 1), it is highly probable that they were not left by Catullus as we find them. C. 2, beginning 'Passer, deliciae meae puellae,' was the first of a series of short poems. Cf. Martial, iv. 14, 13,

'Sic forsan tener ausus est Catullus
magno mittere passerem Maroni';[37]

the book being named from its first word, like _Arma virumque_ of the _Aeneid_. C. 1 (to Cornelius Nepos) is the first of another series of short pieces (cf. the epithet _nugae_ in l. 4). Catullus doubtless published his larger pieces together. The traditional arrangement, due to a later hand, is as follows: (1) The lyric poems in various metres; (2) the larger poems and the elegies; (3) the shorter poems written in elegiacs. Catullus began to be popular as soon as his works were published; cf. Nep. _Att._ 12, 4 (quoted p. 124). He is imitated in the _Priapea_, in Ovid, in Ausonius, in the _Ciris_, in Martial, etc. C. 4 is closely parodied in Verg. _Catal._ 8.

CONTEMPORARY POETS:

(_a_) _Ticidas_ wrote the Hymenaeus and love-poems on Perilla. For the latter cf. Ovid, _Trist._ ii. 433-4 and 437-8 (read by Riese immediately after),

'Quid referam Ticidae, quid Memmi carmen, apud quos
rebus adest nomen nominibusque pudor,
et quorum libris modo dissimulata Perillae
nomine nunc legitur dicta, Metelle, tuo?'

(_b_) _C. Helvius Cinna_ was intimate with Catullus, who refers to him in c. 10 as being along with him in Bithynia in B.C. 57. See p. 136. From the reference to Gallia Cisalpina in Cinna, frag. I (Bährens), we might conclude that he was a countryman of Catullus,

'At nunc me Cenumana per salicta
bigis raeda rapit citata nanis.'

In Sueton. _Iul._ 52, Cinna is spoken of as a partisan of Caesar: 'Helvius Cinna tribunus plebis,' etc.; and he is probably identical with the person mentioned _ibid._ 85, as put to death in mistake for a man of the same name shortly after the murder of Caesar: 'Plebs statim a funere ad domum Bruti et Cassii cum facibus tetendit, atque aegre repulsa, obvium sibi Helvium Cinnam per errorem nominis, quasi Cornelius is esset, quem graviter pridie contionatum de Caesare requirebat, occidit caputque eius praefixum hastae circumtulit.'

Cf. especially Plutarch, _Brut._ 20, +ên de tis Kinnas, poiêtikos anêr, ouden tês aitias metechôn, alla kai philos Kaisaros gegonôs+, etc.[38]

Weichert (_Poet. Lat. Rell._ p. 157) thinks that Plutarch has confused the tr. pleb. with the poet, and that Virgil's words (below) imply that Helvius Cinna was alive when the _Eclogue_ was written (B.C. 41-39). The latest authorities, however, identify the two persons. Verg. _Ecl._ 9, 35,

'Nam neque adhuc Vario videor nec dicere Cinna
digna, sed argutos inter strepere anser[39] olores.'

Cinna's works were:

1. _Zmyrna_, on the incestuous love of Myrrha for Cinyras. Cinna spent nine years on this poem, which was very obscure. Catull. 95,

'Zmyrna mei Cinnae nonam post denique messem
quam coeptast nonamque edita post hiemem.'

Philargyrius ad Verg. _Ecl._ 9, 35, 'Fuit autem liber obscurus adeo ut et nonnulli eius aetatis grammatici in eum scripserint magnamque ex eius enarratione sint gloriam consecuti.'

2. _Propempticon Pollionis_, written on the occasion of Asinius Pollio's visit to Greece.

3. _Epigrams and Love Poems._--For the latter cf. Ovid, _Trist._ ii. 435 (on the erotic poets),

'Cinna quoque his comes est, Cinnaque procacior Anser,
et leve Cornifici parque Catonis opus.'

(_c_) _C. Licinius Macer Calvus_ was the son of the annalist C. Licinius Macer, and was born 28th May, B.C. 82.

Cic. _ad Q.F._ ii. 4, 1, 'Macer Licinius.'

Valer. Max. ix. 12, 7, 'C. Licinius Macer, Calvi pater.'

Pliny, _N.H._ vii. 165, 'C. Mario Cn. Carbone iii. coss. a. d. v. Kal. Iun. M. Caelius Rufus et C. Licinius Calvus eadem die geniti sunt.'

Calvus probably died B.C. 47. Cf. Cic. _ad Fam._ xv. 21, 4, written to C. Trebonius towards the end of that year. The letter refers to correspondence with Calvus, and criticizes his oratory.

See also Cic. _Brut._ 279 and 283-4; and, for his relations with Cicero, Tac. _Dial._ 18. Calvus vied with Cicero for the first place in the forum. His best known speeches were _in Vatinium_, whom he prosecuted at least three times (B.C. 58-54).

Seneca, _Controv._ vii. 4, 6-8, 'Calvus, qui diu cum Cicerone iniquissimam litem de principatu eloquentiae habuit, usque eo violentus actor et concitatus fuit, ut in media eius actione surgeret Vatinius reus et exclamaret: Rogo vos, iudices, num si iste disertus est, ideo me damnari oportet? Idem postea cum videret a clientibus Catonis, rei sui, Pollionem Asinium circumventum in foro caedi, imponi se supra cippum iussit; erat enim parvolus statura, propter quod etiam Catullus in hendecasyllabis (c. 53) vocat illum "salaputtium disertum." ... Solebat praeterea excedere subsellia sua et impetu latus usque in adversariorum partem transcurrere. Et carmina quoque eius, quamvis iocosa sint, plena sunt ingentis animi ... Compositio quoque eius in actionibus ad exemplum Demosthenis riget: nihil in illa placidum, nihil lene est, omnia excitata et fluctuantia.'

Catullus also refers to Calvus in c. 14, and in c. 96, where he speaks of the 'mors immatura Quintiliae,' probably Calvus' wife.

Of the poems about nineteen lines are extant. They included: (1) _ludicra_ (in hendecasyllables); (2) _epithalamia_; (3) _Io_; (4) _ad uxorem_; (5) _epigrammata_. For the last cf. Sueton. _Iul._ 73, 'C. Calvo post famosa epigrammata de reconciliatione per amicos agenti ultro ac prior scripsit.' (6) 'Calvi de aquae frigidae usu,' which forms the title of Martial xiv. 196, may have been a didactic poem. Other references to Calvus' poetry are: Ovid, _Trist._ ii. 431,

'Par fuit exigui similisque licentia Calvi,
detexit variis qui sua furta modis';

Propert. iii. 34, 89,

'Haec etiam docti confessast pagina Calvi
cum caneret miserae funera Quintiliae';

Hor. _Sat._ i. 10, 16,

'Illi, scripta quibus comoedia prisca viris est,
hoc stabant, hoc sunt imitandi: quos neque pulcher
Hermogenes umquam legit, neque simius iste
nil praeter Calvum et doctus cantare Catullum.'

(_d_) _P. Terentius Varro Atacinus_ was born B.C. 82 in Gallia Narbonensis near Atax (a river, not a town, as Jerome states).

Jerome yr. Abr. 1935 = B.C. 82, 'P. Terentius Varro vico Atace in provincia Narbonensi nascitur; qui postea xxxv. annum agens Graecas litteras cum summo studio didicit.'

Porphyr. ad Hor. _Sat._ i. 10, 46, 'Terentius Varro Narbonensis, qui Atacinus ab Atace fluvio dictus est.'

Varro must have died before B.C. 35, when Horace, speaking of satire, wrote, _Sat._ i. 10, 46,

'Hoc erat, experto frustra Varrone Atacino
atque quibusdam aliis melius quod scribere possem.'

Varro's works were:

1. _Bellum Sequanicum_, probably an epic on Caesar's war with Ariovistus in B.C. 58.

2. _Saturae_, mentioned only in the above passage of Horace.

3. _Argonautae_, a translation from Apollonius Rhodius in four Books. Probus ad Verg. _Georg._ ii. 126, 'Varro qui quattuor libros de Argonautis edidit.'

Cf. Sen. _Controv._ vii. 1, 27, 'Illos optimos versus Varronis (= Apoll. iii. 749-50),

"Desierant latrare canes urbesque silebant;
omnia noctis erant placida composta quiete."

Solebat Ovidius de his versibus dicere, potuisse fieri longe meliores, si secundi versus ultima pars abscideretur et sic desineret "omnia noctis erant."'[40]

Cf. also Quint. x. 1, 87; Ovid, _Am._ i. 15, 21; Stat. _Silv._ ii. 7, 77.

4. _Chorographia_, a geographical work, as the fragments show.

5. _Ephemeris_.--Serv. ad Verg. _Georg._ i. 375, 'Hic locus omnis de Varrone est; nam et Varro et Vergilius Aratum secuti sunt.'

6. _Elegies._--One line is given by Bährens. Cf. Propert. iii. 34, 85,

'Haec quoque perfecto ludebat Iasone Varro,
Varro Leucadiae maxima flamma suae.'

(_e_) _Publilius Syrus_ was a manumitted slave, a native of Syria, probably of Antioch.

Jerome yr. Abr. 1974 = B.C. 43, 'Publilius mimographus natione Syrus Romae scaenam tenet.'

Pliny, _N.H._ xxxv. 199, 'Est et vilissima [creta] qua circum praeducere ad victoriae notam pedesque venalium trans maria advectorum denotare instituerunt maiores talemque Publilium Antiochium (MSS. lochium) mimicae scaenae conditorem et astrologiae consobrinum eius Manilium Antiochum, item grammaticae Staberium Erotem eadem nave advectos videre proavi.'

An account of Publilius' manumission, and his contest with Laberius in B.C. 45, is given by Macrob. _Saturn._ ii. 7, 4-8, and is quoted under 'Laberius,' p. 97.

Publilius' works were:

1. _Mimi._--Two titles are quoted.

2. _Sententiae._--Six hundred and ninety-seven lines from his mimes (unconnected and alphabetically arranged) are preserved from different sources. Most are iambic senarii, some trochaic septenarii.

Macrob. _Saturn._ ii. 7, 10, 'Publili sententiae feruntur lepidae et ad communem usum adcommodatissimae.'

Cicero heard his and Laberius' plays in B.C. 46. See _ad Fam._ xii. 18, 2, quoted under 'Laberius,' p. 99.

Sen. _de tranquill._ 11, 8, 'Publilius, tragicis comicisque vehementior ingeniis, quotiens mimicas ineptias et verba ad summam caveam spectantia reliquit, inter multa alia cothurno, non tantum sipario fortiora, et hoc ait,

"Cuivis potest accidere quod cuiquam potest."'

The lines are, like the above, proverbs of worldly wisdom, and seem to have been used in schools.

Jerome _Ep. ad Laetam_, 107, 'Legi quondam in scholis puer,

"Aegre reprendas quod sinas consuescere."'

Footnotes to Chapter II

[25] Q. Hortensius Hortalus (B.C. 114-50), Cicero's rival as an orator, and author of _Annales_ (Vell. ii. 16, 3), a _Rhetoric_ (Quint. ii. 1, 11), and love poems (Ovid _Tr._ ii. 441).

[26] According to _ad Att._ ii. 1, 3 (if genuine), Cicero intended to publish speeches 9-11 in a collection of 'orationes consulares' ('Hoc totum +sôma+ curabo ut habeas').

[27] _R.H._ iv. 311 (note).

[28] Q. Asconius Pedianus (A.D. 3-88), probably a native of Padua, author of a commentary on Cicero's speeches. The extant part is on _Pro Cornelio de maiestate_, _In toga candida_, _In Pisonem_, _Pro Scauro_, and _Pro Milone_. The commentary on the Verrines and Divinatio, which deals almost exclusively with the language, is spurious: the true Asconius confines himself to the subject-matter.

[29] The Epicurean philosophy was expounded in the writings of C. Amafinius, Rabirius, and T. Catius, whose opinions and literary style were alike distasteful to Cicero (_Ac._ i. 5; _ad. Fam._ xv. 19, 2).

[30] F. Ritschl, _Opuscula_, iii., p. 525.

[31] L. Schwabe, _Quaest. Catull._, p. 296. B. Schmidt, however (ed. of Catullus, p. 57), thinks that the _Chronica_ are not referred to here.

[32] A life of Lucretius has been recently discovered by J. Masson (_Journal of Philology_, xxiii. 46), which was written by Girolamo Borgia in 1502. It gives B.C. 95-51 as the poet's dates. Several new points were supposed to lend it a claim to authority, such as the statement that he was 'matre natus diu sterili.' This, however, has been shown to rest on a wrong reading of Q. Serenus Sammonicus' _Liber Medicinalis_, xxxii., in a passage dealing with the barrenness of women, 'hoc poterit magni quartus [liber] monstrare Lucreti,' where _partus_, the reading of the oldest edition, was used. This, and other considerations, show that the _vita_ does not rest on any ancient sources, beyond those which are still extant.

[33] Memmius wrote love poems (Ovid, _Tr._ ii. 433).

[34] Some ascribe these stories to Lenaeus, a freedman of Pompey, Sueton. _Gramm._ 15.

[35] Only inferior MSS. give Q., and the reading in c. 67, 12, 'verum istud populi, fabula, Quinte, facit,' is not to be accepted.

[36] Some critics, without sufficient proof, identify Volusius with the inferior poet Tanusius Geminus.

[37] Martial, of course, has here forgotten his dates.

[38] The incident has been borrowed from Plutarch by Shakespeare, _Julius Caesar_, Act iii. Scene 3.

[39] See p. 184.

[40] This appears to us to be an indirect proof that the half lines in Virgil are often complete as they stand.