Latin Poets
Latin poets to know and love.
Boethius
c. 480 - 524 CE
Boethius was a sixth-century statesman and scholar who met a cruel death on suspicion of treason, but whose writings were hugely influential during the middle ages.
The Consolation of Philosophy 4. 6. lines 1 - 18
Some things never change
Si vis celsi tonantis iura pura sollers cernere mente
Boethius's reminder that some things never change
Consolation of Philosophy Book 3 M12
Orpheus and Eurydice by Boethius
Felix qui potuit boni
On death row, Boethius ponders the worlds of light and darkness
Catullus
84BC - 54BC
The first of the Big Four to write was Catullus. He was reportedly born in 84 BCE in Verona, but spent much of his adult life in Rome, and died young in about 54 BCE, ten years before the death of Julius Caesar. References in the poems suggest that he spent a year abroad at some point on the staff of the Governor of the Province of Bithynia, near the Bosphorus and Black Sea in modern Turkey.
Catullus 1
Catullus dedicates his little book
cui dono lepidum novum libellum
Catullus begins with a dedication
Catullus 3
Lugete, o Veneres Cupidinesque
Lugete, o Venerese Cupidinesque
A lament for Lesbia's sparrow
Catullus 6
The wayfaring bedstead
Flavi, delicias tuas Catullo
Catullus asks his friend awkward questions
Catullus 11
Catullus and the end of the affair
Furi et Aureli, comites Catulli
Catullus's bitter farewell to his mistress
Catullus 16
Constructive criticism welcome
pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo
Catullus holds his ground with the critics
Catullus 17
Marriage guidance from Catullus
O Colonia, quae cupis ponto ludere longo
An older man takes a young wife
Catullus 101
Catullus’s farewell to his brother
Multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus
Catullus mourns his loss
Horace
65BCE - 8BCE
Horace, with Virgil, is one of the twin giants of poetry in the time of Augustus. While Virgil was taking the Greek tradition of epic poetry and giving it a new set of completely Roman clothes with the Aeneid, Horace was taking the Greek tradition of lyric poetry that was the established stock-in-trade for much non-epic Roman poetry, and giving it a new and distinctly Roman character.
Odes, 1.1
Horace’s first Ode
Maecenas atavis edite regibus
Horace dedicates his first Ode to his patron, Maecenas
Odes 1.2
Rome: disaster and salvation
Iam satis terris nivis atque dirae
Horace exalts Augustus, the saviour of Rome from civil war
Odes 1.3
Virgil’s perils on the sea
Sic te diva potens Cypri
Horace prays for a safe voyage for Virgil
Odes Book 1.4
Carpe diem, Sestius
Solvitur acris hiems grata vice veris et Favoni
The joys of spring are short, Sestius
Odes 1.7
The consolations of wine
Laudabunt alii claram Rhodon aut Mytilenen
Pride of place and the pleasure of wine
Odes 1.9
Soracte
Vides ut alta stet nive candidum Soracte
Life is short – enjoy it while you are young
Odes 1.11
Gathering rosebuds: carpe diem
Tu ne quaesieris (scire nefas) quem mihi, quem tibi
Carpe diem
Odes 1.12
Augustus, master of the world
Quem virum aut heroa lyra vel acri
Horace sets out to praise, and does not hold back
Odes 1.15
Nereus prophesies the Trojan War
Pastor cum traheret per freta navibus
An epic theme in lyric verse
Odes 1.17
The country is best
Velox amoenum saepe Lucretilem
Horace prefers his Sabine farm to town life
Odes 1.18
The pleasures and dangers of wine
Odes 1.21
Diana and Apollo: a hymn
Dianam tenerae dicite virgines
A chorus of boys and girls hymns Diana and Apollo
Horace Odes, Book 1.22
Horace, the wolf and the upright life
Integer vitae scelerisque purus
The upright life protects Horace from a wolf
Odes 1.24
Mourning for a good man
Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus
Quintilius, a good man and a friend of Virgil, has died
Odes 1.26
A garland from the Muses
Musis amicus tristitiam et metus
A garland from the Muses - and Horace
Odes 1.28
A plea for burial
Te maris et terrae numeroque carentis harenae
An earthbound spirit speaks
Odes 1.30
A prayer to Venus
Odes 1.34
A change of mind
Parcus deorum cultor et infrequens
Thunder from a clear sky shakes Horace's convictions
Odes, 1.36
Numida’s back
Ode 2.1
Pollio’s histories of civil war
Motum ex Metello consule civicum
A statesman and historian writes on the civil wars
Odes 2.2
Wealth should be used, not hoarded
Nullus argento color est avaris
Money should be put to use
Odes 2.4
Love a slave-girl? Oh, Xanthias!
Ne sit ancillae tibi amor pudori
Of course it's OK to fall in love with a slave(!)
Odes 2.6
Tibur or Tarentum: a poet’s dilemma?
Septimi, Gadis aditure mecum
Tibur or Tarentum: a poet's dilemma?
Odes 2.7
Horace welcomes his army comrade
O saepe mecum tempus in ultimum
Horace welcomes his army comrade
Odes 2.11
Don’t worry, be happy
Quid bellicosus Cantaber et Scythes
Stop worrying and enjoy wine in the shade
Odes Book 2. 19
Horace’s reverence to Bacchus
Bacchum in remotis carmina rupibus
Horace's hymn to Bacchus
Odes 3.2
What Roman youth should be
Angustam amice pauperium pati
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori
Odes 3.5
Courage and decadence: the Regulus ode
Caelo tonantem credidimus Iovem regnare
Horace's Regulus ode
Odes 3.8
An invitation to Maecenas
Martiis caelebs quid agam kalendis
A fulsome compliment to Horace's patron Maecenas
Odes 3.20
The tug-of-war for Nearchus
Non vides quanto moveas periclo
Pyrrhus has a fight on his hands for Nearchus.
Odes 3.28
Celebrating Neptune’s feast day
Festo quid potius die festo Neptuni faciam?
Horace celebrates Neptune's feast day
Odes 3.30
Horace’s monument
Exegi monumentum aere perennius
Horace concludes the Odes - or so he thinks
Odes 4.2
Pindar and Augustus
Odes 4.7
Housman and Horace
Gratia cum Nymphis geminisque sororibus audet
The snows are fled away, leaves on the shaws
Lucan
3 - 30 CE
Author of "De Bello Civile" ("On the Civil War"), also known as the Pharsalia.
De Bello Civile Book 1, lines 125 - 157
Pompey the oak and Caesar the thunderbolt
Quis iustius induit arma
Lucan introduces the combatants at the beginning of his poem on the civil war
De Bello Civile Book 1, lines 213 - 234
Caesar crosses the Rubicon
Fonte cadit modico, parvisque impellitur undis
Caesar crosses the Rubicon
De Bello Civile Book 1, lines 356 - 391
Caesar’s Centurion pledges loyalty
Summi tunc munera pili
Lessons in loyalty and daring from an old campaigner
Lucretius
c. 99 - c. 55 BCE
Lucretius wrote De Rerum Natura, a work exploring cosmology, physics and theology in order to explain and justify the philosophical basis for Epicureanism.
De Rerum Natura, lines 1.44 - 1.48 and 3.894 - 911
Lucretius’s consolation
omnis enim per se divum natura necessest
Lucretius offers the rational view of grief and fear
Ovid
43BC - c.18CE
Ovid built a glittering career as the fashionable poet of Love and mythology, but made an enemy of the Emperor Augustus and died around 18 CE after a long and unhappy exile. Meet him at Pantheon Poets.
Ovid Amores Book 2. 12
Ovid’s triumph
Ite triumphales circum mea tempora laurus
Ovid congratulates himself on success with Corinna
Amores, Book 3.14
Ovid’s broad-minded advice to his mistress
Sit tibi mens melior
Kiss, but don't tell!
Metamorphoses Book 1, lines 466-76 and 525-67
Apollo and Daphne
inpiger umbrosa Parnasi constitit arce
To escape Apollo, Daphne becomes a laurel tree
Metamorphoses Book 2, lines 150 - 177
Phaethon
Occupat ille levem juvenali corpore currum
Phaethon's ride in the chariot of the Sun begins.
Metamorphoses Book 2, lines 178 - 216
Phaethon, continued
Ut vero summo despexit ab aethere terras
Phaethon's disastrous ride in the chariot of the Sun continues
Metamorphoses Book 2, lines 301 - 332
Phaethon, concluded
Dixerat haec Telllus: neque enim tolerare vaporem
Jupiter's intervention finally brings Phaethon's disastrous chariot-ride to a close
Metamorphoses Book 2, lines 843 - 875
Europa and the bull
dixit, et expulsi iamdudum monte iuvenci
The story of Europa
Metamorphoses book 4, lines 169-189
Venus and Mars
Hunc quoque, siderea qui temperat omnia luce
Adultery in heaven
Ovid Metamorphoses Book 4, lines 449-56; 473-78; 481-511
The Fury Tisiphone
Quo simul intravit sacroque a corpore pressum
Juno orders the Furies to destroy the house of Cadmus
Metamorphoses Book 6, Lines 103 - 145
Minerva and Arachne have a weaving contest
Maeonis elusam designat imagine tauri Europam
The mortal Arachne versus the Goddess Minerva
Metamorphoses Book 6, lines 382 - 400
The flaying of Marsyas
Sic ubi nescio quis Lycia de gente virorum
A terrible punishment for a musical offence
Metamorphoses Book 8, Lines 200 - 235
Daedalus and Icarus
postquam manus ultima coepto inposita est
The story of Daedalus and Icarus
Metamorphoses Book 8, Lines 738 - 779
The sacrilege of Erysichthon
Nec minus Autolyci coniunx, Erysichthone nata
Erysichthon's sacrilege
Metamorphoses Book 8, Lines 780 - 816
Ceres takes revenge
Attonitae dryades damno nemorumque suoque
Fames, the personification of famine and hunger
Metamorphoses Book 8, lines 817 - 845
Erysichthon the Glutton
Dicta Fames Cereris, quamvis contraria semper
Hunger invades the blasphemer, Erysichthon
Metamorphoses Book 8, lines 846 - 884
Erysichthon’s end
Iamque fame patrias altaque voragine ventris
Erysichthon's horrible end
Metamorphoses book 10, lines 23 - 63
Orpheus and Eurydice
Causa viae est coniunx, in quam calcata venenum
The great singer and his doomed love
Metamorphoses Book 11, Lines 100 - 128
The Midas touch
Huic deus optandi gratum, sed inutile, fecit muneris arbitrium
Midas and the golden touch
Metamorphoses Book 12, lines 39 - 63
The House of Rumour
Orbe locus medio est inter terrasque fretumque
As the Trojan War becomes imminent, rumour is rife.
Metamorphoses Book 13, lines 789 - 869
The Cyclops in Love
Candidior folio nivei, Galatea, ligustri
A Cyclops serenades his love
Petronius
c. 27-c. 66 CE
Petronius was the Emperor Nero’s “arbiter of elegance” until he fell out of favour and died by an elaborate suicide in or around 66 CE.
Petronius 28
Kissing is better than sex
Foeda est in coitu et brevis voluptas
Kissing is better than sex, says Petronius
Propertius
About 55 BCE - after 16 BCE
Much of Propertius’s work is love poetry to a mistress he calls Cynthia. A love/hate element often features in the feelings that poets express for their mistresses, and in Propertius both elements are particularly vivid.
Elegies, Book 1.2
The beauty of simplicity
Quid iuvat ornato procedere, vita, capillo
Propertius's praise of natural beauty in women
Elegies, Book 1.3
Propertius and his sleeping beauty
Qualis Thesea iacuit cedente carina
Propertius returns from a night out
Elegies, Book 1.4
Back off, Bassus!
Quid mihi tam multas laudando, Basse, puellas
Give up Cynthia for someon else? Never, Bassus!
Elegies, Book 1.5
Back off, Gallus!
Invide, tu tandem voces compesce molestas
Propertius deters a riveal
Elegies, Book 1.12
A change of fortune
Quid mihi desidiae non cessas fingere crimen,
Propertius and the pains of separation
Elegies, Book 1.16
The lover’s complaint to the door
Quae fueram magnis olim patefacta triumphis
The lover's complaint to the door
Elegies, Book 2.22A
Propertius on the razzle
Scis here mi multas placuere puellas
Propertius in insatiable mood
Elegies, Book 4.7
The last of Cynthia?
Sunt aliquid Manes, letum non omnia finit
Poor Cynthia is no more ...
Elegies, Book 4.8
The last of Cynthia!
disce, quid Esquilias hac nocte fugarit aquosas
Propertius and Cynthia's final reconciliation
Tibullus
?55 - ?19 BCE
Tibullus, c55 - c19 BC, one of the Augustan writers of love poetry in elegiac metre.
Tibullus 1.1, lines 53 - 78
Tibullus’s appeal to Delia
Te bellare decet terra, Messalla, marique
Tibullus's opening poem