Questions about Catullus

Short answers, pulled from the story.

When was Gaius Valerius Catullus born and where did he originate from?

Gaius Valerius Catullus was born around the 84th year before the Common Era in the provincial city of Verona in Cisalpine Gaul. He emerged from the Roman equestrian class and spent his childhood summers at a family villa on the shores of Lake Garda.

Who is the woman known as Lesbia in the poems of Gaius Valerius Catullus?

Modern scholarship identifies Lesbia with Clodia Metelli, a wealthy and powerful woman from the patrician Claudii Pulchri family who was a widow after her husband died in 59 BC. She was the sister of the demagogue Publius Clodius Pulcher and maintained multiple lovers alongside Catullus.

How did Julius Caesar respond to the insults written by Gaius Valerius Catullus?

Julius Caesar did not deny the truth of the accusations in the poems but responded with magnanimity by inviting Catullus to dinner on the same day the poet apologized. This gesture suggests a complex relationship where personal charm overrode political enmity between the young poet and the rising dictator.

What happened to the brother of Gaius Valerius Catullus during his time in Bithynia?

During the year from the summer of 57 to the summer of 56 BC, Catullus traveled to the Troad to perform rites at the tomb of his brother who had died. He recorded this profound grief in poem 101, describing the burial as a total collapse of his family's future and his own emotional stability.

Which Greek poet influenced the work of Gaius Valerius Catullus the most?

The seventh-century BC Greek poet Sappho was the most profound influence on the work of Gaius Valerius Catullus, who translated and imitated her poetry. Catullus 51 is a direct adaptation of Sappho 31, and he adopted the Sapphic stanza in several of his own works including poems 11 and 51.

How many poems make up the surviving corpus of Gaius Valerius Catullus?

The surviving corpus of Gaius Valerius Catullus consists of 116 poems preserved in an anthology known as the carmina. These poems have been read, studied, and set to music for over two thousand years, inspiring composers and novelists from Mátyás Seiber to Vladimir Nabokov.