5 83 Lesbia mi praesente viro mala plurima dicit: mule, nihil sentis. si nostri oblita taceret, sana esset: nunc quod gannit et obloquitur, non solum meminit, sed, quae multo acrior est res, 84 Chommoda dicebat, si quando commoda vellet 83. 6. coquitur Lipsius loquitur VRM. 83 "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." Cf. No. 92. Written not later than 59 B.C., the year in which Lesbia's husband, Q. Caecilius Metellus Celer, died. 1. praesente: Catullus, however, seems not himself to have been there on the occasion referred to, as is indicated by oblita (v. 3), meminit (v. 5). 2. fatuo: the derivation of the word (fari) makes it peculiarly appropriate to one expressing illgrounded boasts. 3. mule much less frequent as a term of abuse than asinus. 4. sana: i.e. not wounded by Cupid's darts. Cf. Tib. 4, 6, 18. 5. acrior: more important,' because to the possessor of subtle 5 IO et tum mirifice sperabat se esse locutum, 84. 3 and 4, which stand as 9 and 10 in the Mss., were transposed by Politianus. fad became especially ridiculous when found in a parvenu of meager education. Such a person apparently was the Arrius of this witty epigram (cf. vv. 5, 6), who seems to have been as extravagant with his h's as a modern cockney. It has been conjectured, but without other than circumstantial evidence, that he may have been the Q. Arrius whom Cicero (Brut. 242) mentions as a worthless orator, without ability or noble birth, who had gained some prominence by political methods. 6 5. credo: no doubt.'-liber: the implication plainly is that either this uncle or some other uncle of his had not been free, and thus that Arrius was at least connected with a family of libertini, apparently on his mother's side, from comparison of the list of relatives mentioned here. It is certain that ignorance of the proper use of the aspirate was especially common among the lower classes. Cf. Gell. 13, 6, 3: rusticus fit sermo, inquit, si adspires perperam. 7. misso in Syriam if the above identification of Arrius be correct, this mission to Syria was doubtless with his friend Crassus (Cic. Brut. 242), i.e. in 55 B.C., and this would give an approximate date to the epigram. 8. audibant: cf. 68, 85, n. 9. postilla: the anteclassical equivalent of postea; another of the many archaisms of Catullus. 5 85 Odi et amo. quare id faciam, fortasse requiris. nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior. 86 Quintia formosa est multis, mihi candida, longa, 85 A brief and emphatic statement of the same theme as that of Nos. 72 and 75. 1. Odi et amo: cf. the imitation in Ovid, Am. 2, 4, 5: odi nec possum cupiens non esse, quod odi. 2. nescio . . . sentio: the fact is determined not by the intellect, but by the emotions. 86 The superiority of Lesbia's charms to those of an unknown beauty named Quintia. In No. 43 Catullus expressed his impatience of another such comparison. 1. candida, longa, recta: that these qualities were considered essential elements of female beauty is evident from such passages as the following: 13, 4: cenam non sine candida puella; Hor. Sat. 1, 2, 123 candida rectaque sit; munda hactenus ut neque longa nec magis alba velit, quam dat natura, videri; Ovid, Am. 2, 4, 33: quia tam longa es, veteres heroidas aequas. 2. sic i.e. as in vv. I and 2. 3. totum illud "formosa": i.e. the expression "formosa,” with all that the term properly implies. 4. nulla. . . mica salis: not a particle of wit' (sparkling fascination, urbanitas); cf. Mart. 7, 25, 3: nullaque mica salis nec amari fellis in illis gutta. 87 Nulla potest mulier tantum se dicere a vere, quantum a me Lesbia amata m nulla fides ullo fuit umquam foedere ta quanta in amore tuo ex parte reperta 92 Lesbia mi dicit semper male nec tacet u de me: Lesbia me dispeream nisi am quo signo? quia sunt totidem mea: dep adsidue, verum dispeream nisi amo. 87. 2. es Scaliger est VM. 87 Perhaps a fragment, though not necessarily incomplete. The supposition of Scaliger and other editors that No. 75 should be used to complete it is entirely gratuitous. More in sorrow than in reproach, Catullus reminds his Lesbia of the singleness and intensity of his love, which he apparently now realizes has been trifled with. 1. Cf. 8, 5: amata nobis quantum amabitur nulla; 37, 12; 58, 2: illa Lesbia quam Catullus unam plus quam se atque suos amavit omnes. 3. foedere a common term for mutual plighted faith in the lover's vocabulary; cf. Prop. 4, 3, 69; Pichon, s.v. 3. ullo VM nu 4. amore tuo meast: the love stowed upon the tive; similarly, emphatic by cont the other lovers 9 The theme is t of No. 83. 2. dispeream 21, 9: disperean aliud quam gloria 3. quo signo: cf. Plaut. Mil. Gl gumento. sunt t have exactly the riences,' viz. ( (2) love her.. nounce.' For this of the word, see th this passage in Ge 108 93 Nil nimium studeo, Caesar, tibi velle placere, nec scire utrum sis albus an ater homo. 95 Zmyrna mei Cinnae nonam post denique messem quam coepta est nonamque edita post hiemem, 93 Catullus does not care to be on good terms with Caesar. The same hatred towards the great "Imperator" appears in Nos. 29, 54, 57, where the connection has given rise to Baehrens's conjecture that this passage and the others mentioned were written soon after the arrival of Caesar with his retinue at Verona after the campaign of 55 B.C., when the military licentiousness which naturally prevailed crossed the path of the poet's own private life at some point, perhaps in the pursuit of Ameana by the notorious Mamurra. 1. Nil nimium studeo: 'I am not particularly anxious.' Somebody has apparently tried to reconcile Catullus to Caesar. A similar use of nimis is a favorite with Catullus; cf. e.g. 64, 22:0 nimis optato saeclorum tempore nati heroes; cf. also Mart. 9, 81, 3: non nimium curo. - velle is superfluous, as in Cic. Mur. 25, 50: nolite a me commoneri velle. 2. scire utrum sis albus an ater: a proverbial phrase; cf. Cic. Phil. 2, 41: vide quam te amarit is, qui albus aterne fuerit ignoras; Apul. Apol. 16: libenter te . . . albus an ater esses, ignoravi; cf. also Quint. II, I, 38. 95 On the appearance of the Zmyrna, a carefully elaborated poem by his friend C. Helvius Cinna, Catullus compares this work favorably with the attempts of three inferior poets. There is no need of separating vv. 9-10 from the rest of the poem. 1. Zmyrna: another name for Myrrha, whose unnatural love for her father, Cinyras, was the theme of the poem and gave it its name. The story is related in Ovid, Met. 19, 298 sqq. The inconsiderable fragments are collected in Baehrens's Frag. Poet. Rom., p. 324. — nonam: cf. Quint. 10, 4, 4: Cinnae Zmyrnam novem annis accepimus scriptam. Horace is very likely alluding to this case when he rec |