(Go to Questions )

• The Roman Empire began to develop following the death of Alexander in 323 B.C.
• By end of 1st century B.C., the empire stretched from the Strait of Gibraltar to Palestine.
• Unlike Greeks,  "Romans were above all a practical people" (Norton 987).
• Conservative, held fast to mos maiorum, "the wisdom of the predecessors."
• Latin writers "borrowed wholesale" from the Greek originals, "as a tribute to the master" (Norton 987).
• By end of 1st century B.C., Rome mired in civil wars due to the instability of the city-states system.
• 44 B.C.: Julius Caesar died.
• By 31 B.C., his nephew, Octavius,  controlled the western half of the empire, Marc Antony controlled eastern half of the empire.
• In 31 B.C., Octavius defeats Marc Antony, along with Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, at Actium, thus uniting the empire under one authority.
• A.D. 96-180: "The longest period of peace that has ever been enjoyed by the inhabitants of an area that included Britain, France, all southern Europe, the Middle East, and the whole of North Africa" (Norton 988).
• As empire fell to "barbaric invaders from the north" in 3rd and 4th centuries, the Catholic church, "with its center and spiritual head in Rome, converted the new inhabitants," replacing secular authority with spiritual authority (Norton 988).

• 84-54 B.C.: Catullus
• 70-19 B.C.: Virgil
• 43 B.C.- ca. A.D. 17: Ovid
• 31 B.C.:  Battle of Actium
• 476 A. D.:  Fall of Rome

• Imitated Greek Poets, wrote long poems on Greek mythological themes
• "Lesbia":  poetic representation of Roman woman with whom Catullus had tumultuous affair

• What are the three periods of Roman Literature?

• What is Satire (besides "the only clearly Roman literary invention during the Republic")?

• How does The Aeneid reflect "an evolution in the technical form of the epic"(195)?

• How is Catullus's poetry different from traditional Roman lyric poetry?

• What is carpe diem? How is it expressed in this poem?
• What will "morose old sages" say about their expressions of love? Why doesn't Catullus care?

• How does this poem compare to Sappho's "Like the Very Gods in My Sight Is He"?

• Explain what Catullus means when he says he once loved her "as a father loves his sons and his sons-in-law" (482).
• Explain the final three sentences.

• How is Lesbia's criticism of him to her husband a "good thing" for Catullus?
• Here's an alternative translation, taken from the Penguin edition of Catallus's works:

 

Lesbia is extraordinarily vindictive  about me in front of her husband  who is thereby moved to fatuous laughter --  a man mulishly insensitive, failing to grasp  that a mindless silence (about me) spells safety  while to spit out my name in curses, baring  her white teeth, means she remembers me, and  what is more pungent still, is scratching the wound  ripening herself while she talks.

481: "You Ask How Many Kisses"

• What are the similarities and differences between this poem and "Let Us Live and Love"?

• Summarize the message of this poem.
• What is the tone of this poem?

• How does this poem compare to "Let us Live" and  "You Ask How Many Kisses"?

• Explain the final sentence.

• Who are Struma Nonius and Vatinius? 
• What is the main point of this poem?

• How does this poem compare with "You Used Once to Say"?

• How does this poem compare with Sappho's "Throned in Splendor, deathless, O Aphrodite"?

• What has happened to inspire this poem? How does Catullus respond to this event?

• Who is Cominius? 
• What is Catullus's view of Cominius?  Why does he feel this way?

• How do the gods function here?