Catullus

1966

Brasch PA6275 E5 SL47

London: MacGibbon & Kee

Gaius Valerius Catullus (84-54 BC) was born into a wealthy family in Verona and consequently moved to Rome. He was a contemporary of Cicero and Julius Caesar, both of whom feature in his poetry, which has been described as personal, emotional, beautiful and sometimes ‘slangy and obscene’. Catullus admired and was influenced by the Greek poets Sappho and Callimachus (c. 310-240 BC), some of whose poetry he translated and adapted for his own purpose. Popular in the Renaissance, Catullus was widely read and imitated by Ben Jonson (1572-1637) and Christopher Marlowe (1564-93).