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2 results

  • Chapter 2 - How Many Books?

  • from Part I
  • T. P. Wiseman, University of Exeter
  • Book:
    Catullan Questions Revisited
    Published online:
    13 October 2022
    Print publication:
    20 October 2022, pp 13-47

  • Summary

    The surviving collection of Catullus’ poems evidently derives from a parchment codex edition created probably in the second century AD. This chapter argues that it combined seven previously separate libelli – (1) poems 2–14, (2) poems 14b–53, (3) poem 61, (4) poem 62, (5) poem 63, (6) poem 64, (7) poems 65–116 – that had been designed as Catullus’ self-chosen body of work from 56 to early 54 BC, that is, from the start of his poetic career to the point where his brother’s death changed everything. Poem 1 was a personalized dedication of one particular copy, and poems 54–60, not intended for publication, were added by the owner of one particular copy. The first libellus was the Passer Catulli referred to by Martial, the second was introduced by a poem set in a bookshop. The ‘long poems’ were separate libelli, but their order is probably the poet’s own. Early in 54 BC, persuaded by Caesar to abandon direct abuse and invective, Catullus turned to writing for the stage.

Catullan Questions Revisited
  • T. P. Wiseman
  • Published online:
    13 October 2022
    Print publication:
    20 October 2022
  • Catullan Questions Revisited offers a new insight into the brilliant poet who loved an aristocratic girl, attacked Julius Caesar and became a satirical playwright. Insisting on scrupulous use of the primary sources, Peter Wiseman combines textual, historical and even archaeological evidence to explode the orthodox view of Catullus' life and work. 'Lesbia' was not a woman in her thirties, as has been believed for 150 years, but a girl only recently married; Catullus' poems were written for performance, private or public, and it was only in 54 BC, at what he saw as the turning-point of his life, that he collected their texts into a sequence of probably seven volumes. His subsequent literary career, equally successful but much less well attested, was as a 'mime'-dramatist. This book is intended for everyone who is interested in poetry and history, and who does not believe that literary texts exist in a vacuum.