[571] The poem lxviii:—
'Quod mihi fortuna casuque oppressus acerbo'—
was addressed to Manlius just after Catullus had heard of his brother's death, i.e. probably late in the year 60, or early in the year 59 B.C. Manlius was himself suffering then from a great and sudden sorrow. The expressions in lines 1, 5, 6, 'casu acerbo,' 'sancta Venus,' 'desertum in lecto caelibe,' make it at least highly probable that this sorrow was the premature death of his young bride. If this generally accepted opinion is true the Epithalamium must have been written some time before 59 B.C.
[572] That of Westphal.
[573] There is some uncertainty both as to the reading and interpretation of the lines (lxviii. 15-19). The most generally accepted view is that Manlius had written to let Catullus know that several fashionable rivals were supplanting him in his absence. Mr. Munro supposes that the letter was written from Baiae, and that the hic is so to be explained. Another view of the passage is that Manlius had, without any reference to Clodia, merely rallied Catullus on leading a dull and lonely life at Verona, a place quite unsuitable for the pleasures of a man of fashion.
[574] Cf. poems x. 30, etc., and xcv.
[575] Cf. Munro's Criticisms and Elucidations of Catullus, p. 214.
[576] Cf. xxiv. 7:—
'Qui? non est homo bellus? inquies. Est.'
[577] Two of the four poems connected with Calvus allude to his antagonism to Vatinius, which went on actively between the years 56 and 54 B.C. In none of them is there any allusion to Lesbia, who was never out of Catullus' thoughts or his verse till after his Bithynian journey.