79-532: Gaius Valerius Catullus ( Classical Latin : [ˈɡaːius waˈlɛrius kaˈtullus] ; c. 84 – c. 54 BC), known as Catullus ( kə- TUL -əs ), was a Latin neoteric poet of the late Roman Republic . His surviving works remain widely read due to their popularity as teaching tools and because of their personal or sexual themes. Gāius Valerius Catullus was born to a leading equestrian family of Verona , in Cisalpine Gaul . The social prominence of
158-578: A certain dilution) when it achieved widespread recognition. In this model, which derives from Chinese tradition, the object of compiling an anthology was to preserve the best of a form, and cull the rest. In Malaysia , an anthology (or antologi in Malay ) is a collection of syair , sajak (or modern prose), proses , drama scripts, and pantuns . Notable anthologies that are used in secondary schools include Sehijau Warna Daun , Seuntai Kata Untuk Dirasa , Anak Bumi Tercinta , Anak Laut and Kerusi . In
237-473: A certain sense, therefore, Latin was studied as a dead language, while it was still a living." Also problematic in Teuffel's scheme is its appropriateness to the concept of classical Latin. Cruttwell addresses the issue by altering the concept of the classical. The "best" Latin is defined as "golden" Latin, the second of the three periods. The other two periods (considered "classical") are left hanging. By assigning
316-402: A deep and permanent relationship. In his poems, Catullus wavers between devout, sweltering love and bitter, scornful insults that he directs at her blatant infidelity (as demonstrated in poems 11 and 58). His passion for her is unrelenting—yet it is unclear when exactly the couple split up for good. Catullus's poems about the relationship display striking depth and psychological insight. He spent
395-433: A detailed analysis of style, whereas Teuffel was more concerned with history. Like Teuffel, Cruttwell encountered issues while attempting to condense the voluminous details of time periods in an effort to capture the meaning of phases found in their various writing styles. Like Teuffel, he has trouble finding a name for the first of the three periods (the current Old Latin phase), calling it "from Livius to Sulla ." He says
474-467: A form of Greek that was considered model. Before then, the term classis , in addition to being a naval fleet, was a social class in one of the diachronic divisions of Roman society in accordance with property ownership under the Roman constitution. The word is a transliteration of Greek κλῆσις (clēsis, or "calling") used to rank army draftees by property from first to fifth class. Classicus refers to those in
553-715: A great sense of humour such as in Catullus 13 . The Hungarian-born British composer Matyas Seiber set poem 31 for unaccompanied mixed chorus Sirmio in 1957. The American composer Ned Rorem set Catullus 101 to music for voice and piano; the song, "Catullus: On the Burial of His Brother", was originally published in 1969. Catullus Dreams (2011) is a song cycle by David Glaser set to texts of Catullus, scored for soprano and eight instruments; it premiered at Symphony Space in New York by soprano Linda Larson and Sequitur Ensemble. Carmina Catulli
632-429: A more flexible medium than the collection of a single poet's work, and indeed rang innumerable changes on the idea as a way of marketing poetry, publication in an anthology (in the right company) became at times a sought-after form of recognition for poets. The self-definition of movements, dating back at least to Ezra Pound 's efforts on behalf of Imagism , could be linked on one front to the production of an anthology of
711-407: A phase of styles. The ancient authors themselves first defined style by recognizing different kinds of sermo , or "speech". By valuing Classical Latin as "first class", it was better to write with Latinitas selected by authors who were attuned to literary and upper-class languages of the city as a standardized style. All sermo that differed from it was a different style. Thus, in rhetoric, Cicero
790-422: A single scroll. There is no scholarly consensus on whether Catullus himself arranged the order of the poems. The longer poems differ from the polymetra and the epigrams not only in length but also in their subjects: several of them are based on the theme of marriage. The longest (64) of 408 lines, contains two myths (the abandonment of Ariadne and the marriage of Peleus and Thetis ), one story included inside
869-530: A slight alteration in approach, making it clear that his terms applied to Latin and not just to the period. He also changed his dating scheme from AUC to modern BC/AD. Though he introduces das silberne Zeitalter der römischen Literatur , (The Silver Age of Roman Literature) from the death of Augustus to the death of Trajan (14–117 AD), he also mentions parts of a work by Seneca the Elder , a wenig Einfluss der silbernen Latinität (a slight influence of silver Latin). It
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#1732851835402948-729: Is Cruttwell's Augustan Epoch (42 BC – 14 AD). The literary histories list includes all authors from Canonical to the Ciceronian Age—even those whose works are fragmented or missing altogether. With the exception of a few major writers, such as Cicero, Caesar, Virgil and Catullus, ancient accounts of Republican literature praise jurists and orators whose writings, and analyses of various styles of language cannot be verified because there are no surviving records. The reputations of Aquilius Gallus, Quintus Hortensius Hortalus , Lucius Licinius Lucullus , and many others who gained notoriety without readable works, are presumed by their association within
1027-613: Is a song cycle arranged from 17 of Catullus's poems by American composer Michael Linton. The cycle was recorded in December 2013 and premiered at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in March 2014 by French baritone Edwin Crossley-Mercer and pianist Jason Paul Peterson. Thomas Campion also wrote a lute-song entitled "My Sweetest Lesbia" dating from 1601 using his own translation of the first six lines of Catullus 5 followed by two verses of his own;
1106-443: Is clear that his mindset had shifted from Golden and Silver Ages to Golden and Silver Latin, also to include Latinitas , which at this point must be interpreted as Classical Latin. He may have been influenced in that regard by one of his sources E. Opitz, who in 1852 had published specimen lexilogiae argenteae latinitatis , which includes Silver Latinity. Though Teuffel's First Period was equivalent to Old Latin and his Second Period
1185-599: Is known as "classical" Latin literature . The term refers to the canonical relevance of literary works written in Latin in the late Roman Republic , and early to middle Roman Empire . "[T]hat is to say, that of belonging to an exclusive group of authors (or works) that were considered to be emblematic of a certain genre." The term classicus (masculine plural classici ) was devised by the Romans to translate Greek ἐγκριθέντες (encrithentes), and "select" which refers to authors who wrote in
1264-467: Is not that of the golden age... Evidently, Teuffel received ideas about golden and silver Latin from an existing tradition and embedded them in a new system, transforming them as he thought best. In Cruttwell's introduction, the Golden Age is dated 80 BC – AD 14 (from Cicero to Ovid ), which corresponds to Teuffel's findings. Of the "Second Period", Cruttwell paraphrases Teuffel by saying it "represents
1343-588: Is that period in which the climax was reached in the perfection of form, and in most respects also in the methodical treatment of the subject-matters. It may be subdivided between the generations, in the first of which (the Ciceronian Age) prose culminated, while poetry was principally developed in the Augustan Age. The Ciceronian Age was dated 671–711 AUC (83–43 BC), ending just after the death of Marcus Tullius Cicero. The Augustan 711–67 AUC (43 BC – 14 AD) ends with
1422-583: Is the first known reference (possibly innovated during this time) to Classical Latin applied by authors, evidenced in the authentic language of their works. Imitating Greek grammarians, Romans such as Quintilian drew up lists termed indices or ordines modeled after the ones created by the Greeks, which were called pinakes . The Greek lists were considered classical, or recepti scriptores ("select writers"). Aulus Gellius includes authors like Plautus , who are considered writers of Old Latin and not strictly in
1501-567: Is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire . It formed parallel to Vulgar Latin around 75 BC out of Old Latin , and developed by the 3rd century AD into Late Latin . In some later periods, the former was regarded as good or proper Latin; the latter as debased, degenerate, or corrupted. The word Latin is now understood by default to mean "Classical Latin"; for example, modern Latin textbooks almost exclusively teach Classical Latin. Cicero and his contemporaries of
1580-738: Is to be distinguished by: until 75 BC Old Latin 75 BC – 200 AD Classical Latin 200–700 Late Latin 700–1500 Medieval Latin 1300–1500 Renaissance Latin 1300– present Neo-Latin 1900– present Contemporary Latin Anthology In book publishing , an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and genre-based anthologies. Complete collections of works are often called " complete works " or " opera omnia " ( Latin equivalent). The word entered
1659-502: The Alexandrian school , which had propagated a new style of poetry that deliberately turned away from the classical epic poetry in the tradition of Homer . Cicero called these local innovators neoteroi ( νεώτεροι ) or "moderns" (in Latin poetae novi or ' new poets '), in that they cast off the heroic model handed down from Ennius in order to strike new ground and ring a contemporary note. Catullus and Callimachus did not describe
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#17328518354021738-608: The Antonines ), and the 3rd through 6th centuries. Of the Silver Age proper, Teuffel points out that anything like freedom of speech had vanished with Tiberius : ...the continual apprehension in which men lived caused a restless versatility... Simple or natural composition was considered insipid; the aim of language was to be brilliant... Hence it was dressed up with abundant tinsel of epigrams, rhetorical figures and poetical terms... Mannerism supplanted style, and bombastic pathos took
1817-545: The Greek Anthology . Florilegium , a Latin derivative for a collection of flowers, was used in medieval Europe for an anthology of Latin proverbs and textual excerpts. Shortly before anthology had entered the language, English had begun using florilegium as a word for such a collection. The Palatine Anthology , discovered in the Palatine Library , Heidelberg in 1606, is a collection of Greek poems and epigrams that
1896-478: The classici scriptores declined in the medieval period as the best form of the language yielded to medieval Latin , inferior to classical standards. The Renaissance saw a revival in Roman culture, and with it, the return of Classic ("the best") Latin. Thomas Sébillet 's Art Poétique (1548), "les bons et classiques poètes françois", refers to Jean de Meun and Alain Chartier , who the first modern application of
1975-466: The prima classis ("first class"), such as the authors of polished works of Latinitas , or sermo urbanus . It contains nuances of the certified and the authentic, or testis classicus ("reliable witness"). It was under this construct that Marcus Cornelius Fronto (an African - Roman lawyer and language teacher) used scriptores classici ("first-class" or "reliable authors") in the second century AD. Their works were viewed as models of good Latin. This
2054-646: The Catullus family allowed the father of Gaius Valerius to entertain Julius Caesar when he was the Promagistrate (proconsul) of both Gallic provinces . In a poem, Catullus describes his happy homecoming to the family villa at Sirmio , on Lake Garda , near Verona; he also owned a villa near the resort of Tibur (modern Tivoli). Catullus appears to have spent most of his young adult years in Rome. His friends there included
2133-646: The Classical Latin period formed the model for the language taught and used in later periods across Europe and beyond. While the Latin used in different periods deviated from "Classical" Latin, efforts were periodically made to relearn and reapply the models of the Classical period, for instance by Alcuin during the reign of Charlemagne , and later during the Renaissance , producing the highly classicising form of Latin now known as Neo-Latin . "Good Latin" in philology
2212-572: The English language in the 17th century, from the Greek word, ἀνθολογία ( anthologic , literally "a collection of blossoms", from ἄνθος , ánthos , flower), a reference to one of the earliest known anthologies, the Garland ( Στέφανος , stéphanos ), the introduction to which compares each of its anthologized poets to a flower. That Garland by Meléagros of Gadara formed the kernel for what has become known as
2291-408: The English translation of A History of Roman Literature gained immediate success. In 1877, Charles Thomas Cruttwell produced a similar work in English. In his preface, Cruttwell notes "Teuffel's admirable history, without which many chapters in the present work could not have attained completeness." He also credits Wagner. Cruttwell adopts the time periods found in Teuffel's work, but he presents
2370-421: The Golden Age. A list of canonical authors of the period whose works survived in whole or in part is shown here: The Golden Age is divided by the assassination of Julius Caesar . In the wars that followed, a generation of Republican literary figures was lost. Cicero and his contemporaries were replaced by a new generation who spent their formative years under the old constructs, and forced to make their mark under
2449-584: The Imperial Period, and is divided into die Zeit der julischen Dynastie ( 14–68); die Zeit der flavischen Dynastie (69–96), and die Zeit des Nerva und Trajan (96–117). Subsequently, Teuffel goes over to a century scheme: 2nd, 3rd, etc., through 6th. His later editions (which came about towards the end of the 19th century) divide the Imperial Age into parts: 1st century (Silver Age), 2nd century (the Hadrian and
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2528-486: The Roman Empire . Once again, Cruttwell evidences some unease with his stock pronouncements: "The Natural History of Pliny shows how much remained to be done in fields of great interest." The idea of Pliny as a model is not consistent with any sort of decline. Moreover, Pliny did his best work under emperors who were as tolerant as Augustus had been. To include some of the best writings of the Silver Age, Cruttwell extended
2607-467: The Second Period in his major work, das goldene Zeitalter der römischen Literatur ( Golden Age of Roman Literature ), dated 671–767 AUC (83 BC – AD 14), according to his own recollection. The timeframe is marked by the dictatorship of Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix and the death of the emperor Augustus . Wagner's translation of Teuffel's writing is as follows: The golden age of the Roman literature
2686-430: The advance would be perceptible by us." In time, some of Cruttwell's ideas become established in Latin philology. While praising the application of rules to classical Latin (most intensely in the Golden Age, he says "In gaining accuracy, however, classical Latin suffered a grievous loss. It became cultivated as distinct from a natural language... Spontaneity, therefore, became impossible and soon invention also ceased... In
2765-399: The ancient definition, and some of the very best writing of any period in world history was deemed stilted, degenerate, unnatural language. The Silver Age furnishes the only two extant Latin novels: Apuleius's The Golden Ass and Petronius's Satyricon . Writers of the Silver Age include: Of the additional century granted by Cruttwell to Silver Latin, Teuffel says: "The second century
2844-470: The death of Augustus. The Ciceronian Age is further divided by the consulship of Cicero in 691 AUC (63 BC) into a first and second half. Authors are assigned to these periods by years of principal achievements. The Golden Age had already made an appearance in German philology, but in a less systematic way. In a translation of Bielfeld's Elements of universal erudition (1770): The Second Age of Latin began about
2923-443: The extinction of freedom... Hence arose a declamatory tone, which strove by frigid and almost hysterical exaggeration to make up for the healthy stimulus afforded by daily contact with affairs. The vein of artificial rhetoric, antithesis and epigram... owes its origin to this forced contentment with an uncongenial sphere. With the decay of freedom, taste sank... In Cruttwell's view (which had not been expressed by Teuffel), Silver Latin
3002-411: The feats of ancient heroes and gods (except perhaps in re-evaluating and predominantly artistic circumstances, e.g. poem 64), focusing instead on small-scale personal themes. Although these poems sometimes seem quite superficial and their subjects often are mere everyday concerns, they are accomplished works of art. Catullus described his work as expolitum , or polished, to show that the language he used
3081-480: The first edition of Arthur Quiller Couch 's Oxford Book of English Verse (1900). In East Asian tradition, an anthology was a recognized form of compilation of a given poetic form . It was assumed that there was a cyclic development: any particular form, say the tanka in Japan , would be introduced at one point in history, be explored by masters during a subsequent time, and finally be subject to popularisation (and
3160-422: The fundamental characteristics of a language. The latter provides unity, allowing it to be referred to by a single name. Thus Old Latin, Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin , etc., are not considered different languages, but are all referred to by the term, Latin . This is an ancient practice continued by moderns rather than a philological innovation of recent times. That Latin had case endings is a fundamental feature of
3239-618: The good families"), sermo urbanus ("speech of the city"), and in rare cases sermo nobilis ("noble speech"). Besides the noun Latinitas , it was referred to with the adverb latine ("in (good) Latin", literally "Latinly") or its comparative latinius ("in better Latin", literally "more Latinly"). Latinitas was spoken and written. It was the language taught in schools. Prescriptive rules therefore applied to it, and when special subjects like poetry or rhetoric were taken into consideration, additional rules applied. Since spoken Latinitas has become extinct (in favor of subsequent registers),
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3318-564: The highest excellence in prose and poetry." The Ciceronian Age (known today as the "Republican Period") is dated 80–42 BC, marked by the Battle of Philippi . Cruttwell omits the first half of Teuffel's Ciceronian, and starts the Golden Age at Cicero's consulship in 63 BC—an error perpetuated in Cruttwell's second edition. He likely meant 80 BC, as he includes Varro in Golden Latin. Teuffel's Augustan Age
3397-457: The language "is marked by immaturity of art and language, by a vigorous but ill-disciplined imitation of Greek poetical models, and in prose by a dry sententiousness of style, gradually giving way to a clear and fluent strength..." These abstracts have little meaning to those not well-versed in Latin literature. In fact, Cruttwell admits "The ancients, indeed, saw a difference between Ennius , Pacuvius , and Accius , but it may be questioned whether
3476-511: The language. Whether a given form of speech prefers to use prepositions such as ad , ex , de, for "to", "from" and "of" rather than simple case endings is a matter of style. Latin has a large number of styles. Each and every author has a style, which typically allows his prose or poetry to be identified by experienced Latinists. Problems in comparative literature have risen out of group styles finding similarity by period, in which case one may speak of Old Latin, Silver Latin, Late Latin as styles or
3555-416: The late republic referred to the Latin language, in contrast to other languages such as Greek, as lingua latina or sermo latinus . They distinguished the common vernacular , however, as Vulgar Latin ( sermo vulgaris and sermo vulgi ), in contrast to the higher register that they called latinitas , sometimes translated as "Latinity". Latinitas was also called sermo familiaris ("speech of
3634-417: The like-minded. Also, whilst not connected with poetry, publishers have produced collective works of fiction and non-fiction from a number of authors and used the term anthology to describe the collective nature of the text. These have been in a number of subjects, including Erotica , edited by Mitzi Szereto , and American Gothic Tales edited by Joyce Carol Oates . The Assassin's Cloak: An Anthology of
3713-448: The other, would savour of artificial restriction rather than that of a natural classification." The contradiction remains—Terence is, and is not a classical author, depending on the context. Teuffel's definition of the "First Period" of Latin was based on inscriptions, fragments, and the literary works of the earliest known authors. Though he does use the term "Old Roman" at one point, most of these findings remain unnamed. Teuffel presents
3792-505: The other. The polymetra and the epigrams can be divided into four major thematic groups (ignoring a rather large number of poems that elude such categorization): Above all other qualities, Catullus seems to have valued venustas , or charm, in his acquaintances, a theme which he explores in a number of his poems. Catullus's poetry was influenced by the innovative poetry of the Hellenistic Age , and especially by Callimachus and
3871-552: The period of classical Latin. The classical Romans distinguished Old Latin as prisca Latinitas and not sermo vulgaris . Each author's work in the Roman lists was considered equivalent to one in the Greek. In example, Ennius was the Latin Homer , Aeneid was the equivalent of Iliad , etc. The lists of classical authors were as far as the Roman grammarians went in developing a philology . The topic remained at that point while interest in
3950-410: The period through the death of Marcus Aurelius (180 AD). The philosophic prose of a good emperor was in no way compatible with either Teuffel's view of unnatural language, or Cruttwell's depiction of a decline. Having created these constructs, the two philologists found they could not entirely justify them. Apparently, in the worst implication of their views, there was no such thing as Classical Latin by
4029-575: The philological notion of classical Latin through a typology similar to the Ages of Man , setting out the Golden and Silver Ages of classical Latin. Wilhem Wagner, who published Teuffel's work in German, also produced an English translation which he published in 1873. Teuffel's classification, still in use today (with modifications), groups classical Latin authors into periods defined by political events rather than by style. Teuffel went on to publish other editions, but
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#17328518354024108-419: The place of quiet power. The content of new literary works was continually proscribed by the emperor, who exiled or executed existing authors and played the role of literary man, himself (typically badly). Artists therefore went into a repertory of new and dazzling mannerisms, which Teuffel calls "utter unreality." Cruttwell picks up this theme: The foremost of these [characteristics] is unreality, arising from
4187-475: The poems one can adduce no fewer than five lovers in addition to Catullus: Egnatius (poem 37), Gellius (poem 91), Quintius (poem 82), Rufus (poem 77), and Lesbius (poem 79)." There is also some question surrounding her husband's mysterious death in 59 BC: in his speech Pro Caelio Cicero hints that he may have been poisoned. However, a sensitive and passionate Catullus could not relinquish his flame for Clodia, regardless of her obvious indifference to his desire for
4266-501: The poet for dinner the very same day. The " Lesbia " of his poems is usually identified with Clodia Metelli , a sophisticated woman from the aristocratic house of patrician family Claudii Pulchri, sister of the infamous Publius Clodius Pulcher , and wife to Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer (consul of 60 BC). In his poems Catullus describes several stages of their relationship: initial euphoria, doubts, separation, and his wrenching feelings of loss. Clodia had several other partners; "From
4345-631: The poets Licinius Calvus and Helvius Cinna , Quintus Hortensius (son of the orator and rival of Cicero ), and the biographer Cornelius Nepos , to whom Catullus dedicated a libellus of poems, the relation of which to the extant collection remains a matter of debate. He appears to have been acquainted with the poet Marcus Furius Bibaculus . A number of prominent contemporaries appear in his poetry, including Cicero, Caesar and Pompey . According to an anecdote preserved by Suetonius , Caesar did not deny that Catullus's lampoons left an indelible stain on his reputation, but when Catullus apologized, he invited
4424-415: The rules of politus (polished) texts may give the appearance of an artificial language. However, Latinitas was a form of sermo (spoken language), and as such, retains spontaneity. No texts by Classical Latin authors are noted for the type of rigidity evidenced by stylized art, with the exception of repetitious abbreviations and stock phrases found on inscriptions. The standards, authors and manuals from
4503-398: The song is found on Jóhannsson's album Englabörn , and is sung through a vocoder , and the music is played by a string quartet and piano . Catulli Carmina is a cantata by Carl Orff dating from 1943 that sets texts from Catullus to music. Finnish jazz singer Reine Rimón has recorded poems of Catullus set to standard jazz tunes. Classical Latin language Classical Latin
4582-437: The term "pre-classical" to Old Latin and implicating it to post-classical (or post-Augustan) and silver Latin, Cruttwell realized that his construct was not accordance with ancient usage and assertions: "[T]he epithet classical is by many restricted to the authors who wrote in it [golden Latin]. It is best, however, not to narrow unnecessarily the sphere of classicity; to exclude Terence on the one hand or Tacitus and Pliny on
4661-421: The time of Caesar [his ages are different from Teuffel's], and ended with Tiberius. This is what is called the Augustan Age, which was perhaps of all others the most brilliant, a period at which it should seem as if the greatest men, and the immortal authors, had met together upon the earth, in order to write the Latin language in its utmost purity and perfection... and of Tacitus, his conceits and sententious style
4740-609: The translation by Richard Crashaw was set to music in a four-part glee by Samuel Webbe Jr. It was also set to music, in a three-part glee by John Stafford Smith . Catullus 5 , the love poem Vivamus mea Lesbia atque amemus , in the translation by Ben Jonson , was set to music in 1606, ( lute accompanied song) by Alfonso Ferrabosco the younger . Dutch composer Bertha Tideman-Wijers used Catullus's text for her composition Variations on Valerius "Where that one already turns or turns." The Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson set Catullus 85 to music; entitled Odi Et Amo ,
4819-504: The twentieth century, anthologies became an important part of poetry publishing for a number of reasons. For English poetry , the Georgian poetry series was trend-setting; it showed the potential success of publishing an identifiable group of younger poets marked out as a 'generation'. It was followed by numerous collections from the 'stable' of some literary editor, or collated from a given publication, or labelled in some fashion as 'poems of
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#17328518354024898-549: The watchful eye of a new emperor. The demand for great orators had ceased, shifting to an emphasis on poetry. Other than the historian Livy , the most remarkable writers of the period were the poets Virgil , Horace , and Ovid . Although Augustus evidenced some toleration to republican sympathizers, he exiled Ovid, and imperial tolerance ended with the continuance of the Julio-Claudian dynasty . Augustan writers include: In his second volume, Imperial Period , Teuffel initiated
4977-741: The wedding of Peleus and Thetis , the departure of the Argonauts , Theseus and the Minotaur, Ariadne 's abandonment, Tereus and Procne , as well as Protesilaus and Laodamia . Catullus wrote in many different meters including hendecasyllabic verse and elegiac couplets (common in love poetry). A great part of his poetry shows strong and occasionally wild emotions, especially in regard to Lesbia (e.g., poems 5 and 7). His love poems are very emotional and ardent, and are relatable to this day. Catullus describes his Lesbia as having multiple suitors and often showing little affection towards him. He also demonstrates
5056-489: The words. According to Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary , the term classical (from classicus) entered modern English in 1599, some 50 years after its re-introduction to the continent. In Governor William Bradford 's Dialogue (1648), he referred to synods of a separatist church as "classical meetings", defined by meetings between "young men" from New England and "ancient men" from Holland and England. In 1715, Laurence Echard 's Classical Geographical Dictionary
5135-563: The year from summer 57 to summer 56 BC in Bithynia on the staff of the commander Gaius Memmius . While in the East, he traveled to the Troad to perform rites at his brother's tomb, an event recorded in a moving poem (101). No ancient biography of Catullus has survived. His life has to be pieced together from scattered references to him in other ancient authors and from his poems. Thus it is uncertain when he
5214-855: The year of the poet's death. Though upon his elder brother's death Catullus lamented that their "whole house was buried along" with the deceased, the existence (and prominence) of Valerii Catulli is attested in the following centuries. T. P. Wiseman argues that after the brother's death Catullus could have married, and that, in this case, the later Valerii Catulli may have been his descendants. Catullus's poems have been preserved in an anthology of 116 carmina (the actual number of poems may slightly vary in various editions), which can be divided into three parts according to their form: approximately sixty short poems in varying meters, called polymetra , nine longer poems, and forty-eight epigrams in elegiac couplets. Each of these three parts – approximately 860 (or more), 1136, and 330 lines respectively – would fit onto
5293-481: The year'. Academic publishing also followed suit, with the continuing success of the Quiller-Couch Oxford Book of English Verse encouraging other collections not limited to modern poetry. Not everyone approved. Robert Graves and Laura Riding published their Pamphlet Against Anthologies in 1928, arguing that they were based on commercial rather than artistic interests. The concept of 'modern verse'
5372-442: Was a "rank, weed-grown garden," a "decline." Cruttwell had already decried what he saw as a loss of spontaneity in Golden Latin. Teuffel regarded the Silver Age as a loss of natural language, and therefore of spontaneity, implying that it was last seen in the Golden Age. Instead, Tiberius brought about a "sudden collapse of letters." The idea of a decline had been dominant in English society since Edward Gibbon 's Decline and Fall of
5451-478: Was a happy period for the Roman State, the happiest indeed during the whole Empire... But in the world of letters the lassitude and enervation, which told of Rome's decline, became unmistakeable... its forte is in imitation." Teuffel, however, excepts the jurists; others find other "exceptions", recasting Teuffels's view. Style of language refers to repeatable features of speech that are somewhat less general than
5530-455: Was able to define sublime, intermediate, and low styles within Classical Latin. St. Augustine recommended low style for sermons. Style was to be defined by deviation in speech from a standard. Teuffel termed this standard "Golden Latin". John Edwin Sandys , who was an authority in Latin style for several decades, summarizes the differences between Golden and Silver Latin as follows: Silver Latin
5609-462: Was based on the lost 10th Century Byzantine collection of Constantinus Cephalas, which in turn was based on older anthologies. In The Middle Ages, European collections of florilegia became popular, bringing together extracts from various Christian and pagan philosophical texts. These evolved into commonplace books and miscellanies , including proverbs, quotes, letters, poems and prayers. Songes and Sonettes , usually called Tottel's Miscellany ,
5688-446: Was born and when he died. Jerome stated that he was born in 87 BC and died in Rome in his 30th year. However, Catullus' poems include references to events of 55 BC. Since the Roman consular fasti make it somewhat easy to confuse 87–57 BC with 84–54 BC, many scholars accept the dates 84 BC–54 BC, supposing that his latest poems and the publication of his libellus coincided with the year of his death. Other authors suggest 52 or 51 BC as
5767-400: Was equal to the Golden Age, his Third Period die römische Kaiserheit encompasses both the Silver Age and the centuries now termed Late Latin , in which the forms seemed to break loose from their foundation and float freely. That is, men of literature were confounded about the meaning of "good Latin." The last iteration of Classical Latin is known as Silver Latin. The Silver Age is the first of
5846-457: Was famous for. Catullus twice used a meter that Sappho was known for, called the Sapphic stanza , in poems 11 and 51, perhaps prompting his successor Horace's interest in the form. Catullus, as was common to his era, was greatly influenced by stories from Greek and Roman myth. His longer poems—such as 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , and 68 —allude to mythology in various ways. Some stories he refers to are
5925-470: Was fostered by the appearance of the phrase in titles such as the Faber & Faber anthology by Michael Roberts in 1936, and the very different William Butler Yeats Oxford Book of Modern Verse of the same year. In the 1960s The Mersey Sound anthology of Liverpool poets became a bestseller, plugging into the countercultural attitudes of teenagers. Since publishers generally found anthology publication
6004-721: Was published. In 1736, Robert Ainsworth 's Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Compendarius turned English words and expressions into "proper and classical Latin." In 1768, David Ruhnken 's Critical History of the Greek Orators recast the molded view of the classical by applying the word "canon" to the pinakes of orators after the Biblical canon , or list of authentic books of the Bible. In doing so, Ruhnken had secular catechism in mind. In 1870, Wilhelm Sigismund Teuffel 's Geschichte der Römischen Literatur ( A History of Roman Literature ) defined
6083-478: Was the first of the great ballad collections, responsible for the ballad revival in English poetry that became a significant part of the Romantic movement. William Enfield 's The Speaker; Or, Miscellaneous Pieces was published in 1774 and was a mainstay of 18th Century schoolrooms. Important nineteenth century anthologies included Palgrave's Golden Treasury (1861), Edward Arber 's Shakespeare Anthology (1899) and
6162-544: Was the first printed anthology of English poetry. It was published by Richard Tottel in 1557 in London and ran to many editions in the sixteenth century. A widely read series of political anthologies, Poems on Affairs of State , began its publishing run in 1689, finishing in 1707. In Britain, one of the earliest national poetry anthologies to appear was The British Muse (1738), compiled by William Oldys . Thomas Percy 's influential Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765),
6241-420: Was very carefully and artistically composed. Catullus was also an admirer of Sappho , a female poet of the seventh century BC. Catullus 51 partly translates, partly imitates, and transforms Sappho 31 . Some hypothesize that 61 and 62 were perhaps inspired by lost works of Sappho but this is purely speculative. Both of the latter are epithalamia , a form of laudatory or erotic wedding-poetry that Sappho
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