Salve, O venusta Sirmio, atque ero gaude (C. 31)
and near Tibur: O funde noster seu Sabine seu Tiburs (C. 44). His father was an intimate friend of Caesar. He went to Rome early, where he spent the greater part of his short life,
Romae vivimus: illa domus,
Illa mihi sedes, illic mea carpitur aetas (C. 68),
with the exception of an official journey to Bithynia, 57 B.C. to better his fortunes: cf. Iam ver egelidos refert tepores ... Linquantur Phrygii, Catulle, campi (C. 46). After a life of poetic culture and free social enjoyment he died at the early age of thirty, ‘the young Catullus,’ hedera iuvenilia tempora cinctus (Ovid, Am. III. ix. 61).
2. Works.
116 poems written in various metres and on various subjects, Lyric, Elegiac, Epic.
‘The event which first revealed the full power of his genius, and which made both the supreme happiness and supreme misery of his life, was his love for Lesbia (Clodia).’—Sellar.
‘Catullus is one of the great poets of the world, not so much through vividness of imagination as through his singleness of nature, his vivid impressibility, and his keen perception. He received the gifts of the passing hour so happily that to produce pure and lasting poetry it was enough for him to utter in natural words something of the fulness of his heart. He says on every occasion exactly what he wanted to say, in clear, forcible, spontaneous language.’—Sellar.
‘The most attractive feature in the character of Catullus is the warmth of his affection. If to love warmly, constantly, and unselfishly be the best title to the love of others, few poets in any age or country deserve a kindlier place in the hearts of men than “the young Catullus.”’—Sellar.