CONTEMPORARY POETS:

The following writers were friends of Horace:

(a) C. Valgius Rufus, consul suffectus B.C. 12, belonged to the circle of Maecenas (Hor. Sat. i. 10, 82).

Valgius’ works, of which only a few lines are extant, included (1) Elegiae. Cf. Hor. Od. ii. 9, 9-12,

‘Tu semper urges flebilibus modis
Mysten ademptum, nec tibi Vespero
surgente decedunt amores
nec rapidum fugiente solem.’

(2) Epigrammata, (3) Miscellanies, (4) A translation of Apollodorus’ τέχνη. (See Quint. iii. 1, 18.) (5) A book on herbs. (Pliny, N.H. xxv. 4.) An epic was also expected of him, but whether written is unknown. Tibull. iv. 1, 179,

‘Est tibi, qui possit magnis se adcingere rebus,
Valgius; aeterno propior non alter Homero.’

(b) M. Aristius Fuscus, a poet and grammarian (Porphyr. ad Sat. i. 9, 60); Od. i. 22, and Ep. i. 10, are addressed to him.

(d) C. Fundanius, wrote comedies (Porphyr. ad Sat. i. 10, 40).

(e) Servius Sulpicius, a love poet (Ovid, Trist. ii. 441; Hor. Sat. i. 10, 86).

(f) Iulius Florus was ‘saturarum scriptor’ (Porphyr. ad Hor. Ep. i. 3, 1). Hor. Ep. i. 3 and ii. 2, are addressed to him.

(g) Titius wrote Pindaric odes, and tragedies, Hor. Ep. i. 3, 9-14.

(h) Albinovanus Celsus. See Hor. Ep. i. 3, 15-7.

(i) C. Iullus Antonius, B.C. 44-B.C. 2, was a son of the triumvir M. Antonius. The Schol. on Hor. Od. iv. 2, 2, says of him, “Heroico metro Diomedeam scripsit et nonnulla alia soluta oratione.”

(k) Furnius, an orator; died B.C. 37. He is mentioned by Hor. Sat. i. 10, 86.

Other poets contemporary with Virgil and Horace are:

(a) L. Varius Rufus (cf. Verg. Ecl. 9, 35). His works were:

(1) Epics (a) on the death of Julius Caesar (Macrob. Saturn. vi. 1, 39), (b) in praise of Augustus. Hor. Ep. i. 16, 27-29 is a quotation from this poem (Acron ad loc.), and it is probably referred to in Od. i. 6, 1 (to Agrippa),

‘Scriberis Vario fortis et hostium
victor Maeonii carminis aliti,
quam rem cumque ferox navibus aut equis
miles te duce gesserit.’

(2) A tragedy, Thyestes, praised by Quint. x. 1, 98, ‘iam Varii Thyestes cuilibet Graecarum comparari potest.’

(3) Elegies: Porphyr. ad Hor. Od. i. 6, 1, ‘fuit L. Varius et ipse carminis et tragoediarum et elegiorum auctor.’

(b) Aemilius Macer was a native of Verona, and died B.C. 16: Jerome yr. Abr. 2001, ‘Aemilius Macer Veronensis poeta in Asia moritur.’ He was a friend of Virgil, and was the ‘Mopsus’ of Ecl. 5, according to Serv. ad loc. Ovid in his youth enjoyed his acquaintance; cf. Tr. iv. 10, 43, where three didactic poems are referred to: (1) Ornithogonia, on birds; (2) Theriaca, on venomous serpents; (3) De Herbis, on plants.

For his obligations to Nicander, see under ‘Virgil,’ [p. 158]. Quintilian calls him ‘humilis’ (x. 1, 87).

(c) C. Cornelius Gallus was born at Forum Iulii B.C. 70, and died by his own hand B.C. 27. Jerome yr. Abr. 1990, ‘Cornelius Gallus Foroiuliensis poeta ... xliii. aetatis suae anno propria se manu interficit.’ Having commanded a division in the war against Antony, he was appointed by Octavian the first prefect of Egypt, B.C. 30, but incurred his anger and was banished from Caesar’s house and provinces (Sueton. Aug. 66). The cause of his downfall was indiscreet language about Augustus, according to Ovid, Tr. ii. 445,

‘Non fuit opprobrio celebrasse Lycorida Gallo,
sed linguam nimio non tenuisse mero’;

and Am. iii. 9, 63,

‘Tu quoque, si falsum est temerati crimen amici,
sanguinis atque animae prodige, Galle, tuae.’

The tenth eclogue of Virgil is a testimony to his friendship for Gallus, l. 2,

‘Pauca meo Gallo, sed quae legat ipsa Lycoris,
carmina sunt dicenda; neget quis carmina Gallo?’

Lines 44-49 are said by Servius, ad loc., to be quoted from Gallus (‘de ipsius translati carminibus’). For the tribute to Gallus in the original draft of Georgic iv. see under ‘Virgil,’ [p. 157].

He wrote four Books of love-poems to Cytheris, the liberta who afterwards deserted him for Antony: Serv. ad Ecl. x. 1, ‘amorum suorum de Cytheride scripsit libros iv.’ According to Servius he also translated the poems of Euphorion of Chalcis. Cf. Verg. Ecl. x. 50,

‘Ibo et Chalcidico quae sunt mihi condita versu
carmina pastoris Siculi modulabor avena.’

Compared with Tibullus and Propertius, he was ‘durior’ (Quint. x. 1, 93).

(d) Codrus, mentioned by Virgil, Ecl. 7, 22 and 26; 5, 11, was a contemporary poet (Serv. ad Ecl. 7), and was praised by Valgius (Schol. Veron. ad loc.), but nothing is known of his writings. The name is not Roman, and is probably a disguised form of Cordus. He is sometimes identified with the Iarbitas of Hor. Ep. i. 19, 15.

(e) Bavius and Mevius were enemies of Virgil and Horace. Verg. Ecl. 3, 90,

‘Qui Bavium non odit, amet tua carmina, Mevi.’

Horace, Epod. 10, prays for the shipwreck of Mevius. He wrote about the prodigal son of the actor Aesopus (Porphyr. ad Hor. Sat. ii. 3, 239). Bavius died B.C. 35, according to Jerome.

(f) Anser wrote a poem in praise of Antony, and was rewarded with a grant of land (Serv. ad Ecl. 9, 36; Cic. Phil. xiii. 11). He is mentioned by Ovid, Tr. ii. 435,

‘Cinna quoque his comes est, Cinnaque procacior Anser.’

Servius sees an allusion to him in Ecl. 9, 36,

‘Argutos inter strepere anser olores.’

(g) Domitius Marsus. His epigram on Tibullus (see [p. 186]) shows that he was alive in B.C. 19; he was, however, dead when Ovid was exiled in A.D. 8.

Ovid, Ex Pont. iv. 16, 3,

‘Famaque post cineres maior venit; et mihi nomen
tunc quoque, cum vivis adnumerarer, erat,
cum foret et Marsus, magnique Rabirius oris,
Iliacusque Macer sidereusque Pedo.’

He was a member of Augustus’ literary circle. Mart. viii. 56, 21,

‘Quid Varios Marsosque loquar, ditataque vatum
nomina, magnus erit quos numerare labor?’

His works were:

1. Cicuta, a collection of epigrams, often referred to by Martial. Cf. ii. 71, 3,

‘aut Marsi recitas aut scripta Catulli.’

2. Amazonis, an epic poem.[64] Mart. iv. 29, 7,

‘Saepius in libro memoratur Persius uno
quam levis in tota Marsus Amazonide.’

3. Amores or Elegiae. Mart. vii. 29, 7,

‘Et Maecenati, Maro cum cantaret Alexin,
nota tamen Marsi fusca Melaenis erat.’

4. Fabellae.

5. De Urbanitate (in prose). Quint. vi. 3, 102, ‘Domitius Marsus, qui de urbanitate diligentissime scripsit.’

(h) Pupius, a tragedian, sneered at by Hor. Ep. i. 1, 67, ‘lacrimosa poemata Pupi.’

(i) C. Melissus, a freedman of Maecenas, invented the trabeata, a variety of the togata.

Sueton. Gramm. 21, ‘Fecit et novum genus togatarum inscripsitque trabeatas.’