Catullus 49

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Catullus 49 is a Latin poem by Gaius Valerius Catullus. It was addressed to the famous orator Cicero.

The meter of this poem is hendecasyllabic, a common form in Catullus' poetry.

Contents 1 Latin text and translation 2 General comments 3 Bibliography 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Latin text and translation

Line	Latin Text	English Translation
1	Disertissime Romuli nepotum,	Most eloquent of the descendants of Romulus,
2	quot sunt quotque fuere, Marce Tulli,	however many there are and however many there were, Marcus Tullius,
3	quotque post aliis erunt in annis,	and however many will be after in other years,
4	gratias tibi maximas Catullus	Catullus, the worst poet of all,
5	agit pessimus omnium poeta,	gives you the greatest thanks,
6	tanto pessimus omnium poeta,	for by as much as he is the worst poet of all,
7	quanto tu optimus omnium patronus.	you are the best patron of all.

[edit] General comments

Some have taken this as a personal thank you note from Catullus to Cicero in return for not mentioning him in proceedings against Clodia, who has been identified with Catullus's Lesbia. Clodia's character had been severely attacked by Cicero in his defense of Marcus Caelius Rufus, immortalized in the Pro Caelio. This identification is not universally accepted, however, and the mockery of the last two lines makes this theory slightly unlikely, if the text is sound. Alternatively, it could be a mock thanks for Cicero's comments to Atticus about what he considered the dodgy style of Catullus' school, the Neoterics. If Cicero was accustomed to sneer at Catullus, Cinna and Calvus, they might well have taken exception to this, and retaliated by attacking Cicero's prowess as a speaker.

[edit] Bibliography

• Svavarsson, SH (1999). "On Catullus 49". Classical Journal 95: 131–138. 

• Batstone, W (1993). "Logic, Rhetoric and Poesis". Helios 20: 143–172. 

• Tatum, WJ (1988). "Catullus' Criticism of Cicero in Poem 49". Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 118: 179–184. 

• Basson, WP (1980). "The Riddle of Catullus 49: Some Notes on its Interpretation". Acta Classica 23: 46–52. 

• McDermott, WC (1980). "Cicero and Catullus". Wiener Studien 14: 76–82. 

• Fredricksmeyer, EA (1973). "Catullus 49, Cicero, and Caesar". Classical Philology 68: 268–278. doi:10.1086/366005. 

• Laughton, E (1970). "Disertissime Romuli nepotum". Classical Philology 65: 1–7. doi:10.1086/365553. 

• Thomson, DFS (1967). "Catullus and Cicero: Poetry and the Criticism of Poetry". Classical World 60: 226–230. 

• Wormell, DEW (1963). "Catullus 49". Phoenix 17: 59–60. doi:10.2307/1085845. 

[edit] References

• Fordyce, C. J. Catullus, a commentary. Oxford University Press, Great Britain, 1961
• Lee, Guy. Catullus, a new translation. Oxford University Press, Great Britain, 1990
• Lewis, C.T. Elementary Latin Dictionary. Oxford University Press, Oxford, Great Britain, 1894
• Loeb Classical Library. Catullus translations by F.W. Cornish. Revised by G.P. Goold. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1913 (this edition 1995)
• Wiseman, T. P. Catullus and his World, a reappraisal. Cambridge University Press, Great Britain, 1985

[edit] External links

• Catullus website Last modified May 2005. Written by Rudy Negenborn.
• Catullus translation and text.
• Whitakers Words: An awesome online dictionary.

Poems (Carmina) of The Roman poet Catullus
Lesbia poems	2, 2b, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 36, 37, 51, 58, 68, 70, 72, 75, 76, 79, 83, 85, 86, 87, 91, 92, 104, 107, 109
Invective poems	10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 33, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 47, 49, 52, 53, 54, 57, 59, 60, 69, 71, 73, 74, 77, 78, 80, 84, 88, 89, 90, 93, 95, 97, 98, 103, 108, 110, 111, 112, 113, 116
Unusual poetic meters	4, 8, 11, 17, 22, 25, 29, 30, 31, 34, 37, 39, 44, 51, 52, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64
Hendecasyllabic verse	1, 2, 2b, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 14b, 15, 16, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 58b
Elegiac couplets	65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116
See also the list of poems by Catullus.