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
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 1.9
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
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 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 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 4.7
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 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 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 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
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
Virgil
70BC - 19BC
Virgil was born in 70 BCE. Like Catullus, according to ancient commentators, he came from the North, near Mantua. His was a family of farmers, reasonably prosperous, to judge from his upbringing, but lower in the scale of wealth and social position than Catullus. He had a thorough education, reportedly studying Greek, Epicurean philosophy and rhetoric at Cremona, Milan and Naples.
Eclogue 4, lines 1-17
Virgil predicts a forthcoming birth and a new golden age
Ultima Cumaei venit iam carminis aetas
Virgil predicts a momentous birth
Aeneid Book 1, lines 81 - 143
Storm at sea!
Haec ubi dicta, cavum conversa cuspide montem
A tremendous storm threatens death to the Trojans
Aeneid Book 1, lines 254 - 296
Jupiter’s prophecy
Olli subridens hominum sator atque deorum
The future greatness of Rome and Augustus
Aeneid Book 1, lines 387 - 409
Venus’s swans
'Quisquis es, haud, credo, invisus caelestibus auras
The oracle of the swans brings good news to Aeneas
Aeneid Book 1, lines 441-65
The Trojans reach Carthage
Lucus in urbe fuitmedia, laetissimus umbrae
Tears for the human predicament
Aeneid Book 2, lines 1-13
Aeneas prepares to tell Dido his story
Conticuere omnes
Aeneas prepares to tell Dido his story
Aeneid Book 2, lines 40-49
Laocoon warns against the Trojan horse
Primus ibi ante omnes, magna comitante caterva
Laocoon warns against the Trojan horse
Aeneid Book 2, lines 199-227
Laocoon and the snakes
Hic aliud maius miseris multoque tremendum
Laocoon and the snakes
Aeneid Book 2, lines 234 - 245
The Trojan Horse enters the city
Dividimus muros et moenia pandimus urbis
The Trojans seal their fate
Aeneid Book 2, lines 286-313
Hector visits Aeneas in a dream
ille nihil, nec me vana quaerentem moratur
The sack of Troy begins
Aeneid Book 2, lines 526 - 558
The death of Priam
Ecce autem elapsus Pyrrhi de caede Polites
The death of Priam
Aeneid Book 2, Lines 679 - 710
Aeneas rescues his Father Anchises
Talia vociferans gemitu tectum omne replebat
Aeneas rescues his Father Anchises
Aeneid Book 2 lines 707 - 746
Aeneas saves his son and father, but at a cost
Mihi parvus Iulus sit comes
Aeneas flees with his family as the foh of war descends
Aeneid Book 3, lines 374 - 395
How Aeneas will know the site of his city
Nate dea, nam te maioribus ire per altum
Aeneas learns how he will know the site of his city
Aeneid Book 3, lines 231 - 267
The Harpy’s prophecy
Instruimus mensas arisque reponibus ignem
Aeneas and his men encounter the Harpies
Aeneid Book 4, lines 65 - 89
Dido falls in love
heu vatum ignarae mentes!
Dido's fatal passion begins
Aeneid Book 4, lines 129 - 172
Dido and Aeneas: royal hunt and royal affair
Oceanum interea surgens Aurora reliquit
The splendid hunt, the lovers' cave
Aeneid Book 4, lines 173 - 195
Rumour
ille dies primus leti primusque malorum
Dido and Aeneas: the monster Rumour spreads the news
Aeneid Book 4, lines 238 - 258
Mercury’s journey to Carthage
Dixerat. ille patris magni parere parabat
Mercury's journey to Carthage
Aeneid Book 4, lines 362 - 393
Dido and Aeneas: Hell hath no fury …
Talia dicentem iamdudum aversa tuetur
Dido and Aeneas: the confrontation
Aeneid Book 4, lines 393 - 411
The Trojans prepare to set sail from Carthage
At pius Aeneas, quamquam lenire dolentem
The Trojans prepare to set sail from Carthage
Aeneid Book 4, lines 642 – 668
The death of Dido.
at trepida et coeptis immanibus effera Dido
The death of Dido
Aeneid Book 5, lines 680 - 699
Fire strikes Aeneas’s fleet
non idcirco flamma atque incendia viris indomitas posuere
Fire in Aeneas's fleet
Aeneid Book 5, lines 719 - 740
Anchises’s ghost invites Aeneas to visit the underworld
Talibus incensus dictis senioris amici
Anchises calls Aeneas to visit the underworld
Aeneid Book 5, lines 833 - 861 and 867-871
Palinurus the helmsman is lost
princeps ante omnis densum Palinurus agebat agmen
Palinurus the helmsman is lost
Aeneid Book 6, lines 77 - 101
The Sibyl’s Prophecy
At Phoebi nondum patiens immanis in antro
The Sibyl of Cumae prophesies
Aeneid Book 6, lines 124 - 155
Aeneas learns the way to the underworld
Talibus orabat dictis arasque tenebat
Aeneas learns of the way to the underworld
Aeneid Book 6, lines 236 - 268
The journey to Hades begins
His actis propere exsequitur praecepta Sibyllae
Aeneas and the Sybil take the road for the underworld
Aeneid Book 6, lines 295 - 330
Charon, the ferryman
Hinc via Tartarei quae fert Acherontis ad undas
Charon, the ferryman of the dead
Aeneid Book 6, lines 450 - 476
Aeneas finds Dido among the shades
Inter quas Phoenissa recens a vulnere Dido
Aeneas finds Dido among the shades
Aeneid Book6, lines 548 - 579
Aeneas comes to the Hell of Tartarus
Respicit Aeneas subito et sub rupe sinistra
Aeneas hears of the punishments of Hell in Tartarus
Aeneid Book 6, lines 608 - 627
Souls awaiting punishment in Tartarus, and the crimes that brought them there.
Hic, quibus invisi fratres, dum vita manebat
Crime and punishment in the underworld
Aeneid Book 6, lines 637 - 659
Aeneas reaches the Elysian Fields
His demum exactis, perfecto munere divae
Aeneas and the Cumaean Sibyl reach the Elysian Fields.
Aeneid Book 6, lines 788 - 805
Aeneas’s vision of Augustus
huc geminas nunc flecte acies, hanc aspice gentem
Aeneas's father sings the praises of the future Emperor Augustus.
Aeneid Book 6, lines 860 - 886
Aeneas sees Marcellus, Augustus’s tragic heir
Atque hic Aeneas (una namque ire videbat
Aeneas sees Augustus's tragic heir Marcellus
Aeneid Book 6, lines 886 - 901
The portals of sleep
Sic tota passim regione vagantur
Aeneas returns to the upper Earth through the gates of sleep.
Aeneid Book 7, lines 54- 78
Omens for Princess Lavinia
Multi illam magno e Latio totaque petebat
Strange omens for a Princess
Aeneid Book 7, lines 116- 147
Aeneas arrives in Italy
"heus, etiam menses consumimus!", inquit Iulus
The Harpy's prophecy is harmlessly fulfilled
Aeneid Book 7, Lines 166 - 193
In King Latinus’s hall
Cum praevectus equo longaevi regis ad auris
King Latinus awaits the Trojan envoys in his ancestral hall
Aeneid Book 7, Lines 249 - 273
King Latinus grants the Trojans’ request
Talibus Ilionei dictis defixa Latinus
King Latinus grants Aeneas's request to settle in Italy, and makes an offer.
Aeneid Book 7, lines 445 - 470
A Fury rouses Turnus to war
Talibus Allecto dictis exarsit in iras
The Fury Allecto rouses King Turnus to war
Aeneid Book 7, Lines 511 - 528
The Fury Allecto blows the alarm
At saeva e speculis tempus dea nacta nocendi
The fury Allecto calls the Italian coutryfolk to arms against the Trojans
Aeneid Book 7, Lines 607 - 622
Juno throws open the gates of war
Mos erat Hesperio in Latio, quem protinus urbes
Juno throws open the gates of war
The Aeneid, Book 8, lines 26 - 67
Help for Father Aeneas from Father Tiber
nox erat et terras animalia fessa per omnis
Tiberinus the river-God brings Aeneas helpful advice.
Aeneid Book 8, lines 347- 369
Aeneas tours the site of Rome
vix ea dicta, dehinc progressus monstrat et aram
A tour of the rustic country town that will become Rome
The Aeneid, Book 8, lines 416 - 463
Vulcan’s forge
insula Sicanium iuxta latus Aeoliamque
Vulcan's forge
Aeneid Book 8, lines 505 - 531
New allies for Aeneas
ipse oratores ad me regnique coronam
Evander suggests to Aeneas an alliance with the Etruscans
Aeneid Book 8, lines 678 - 684 and 714 - 731
The shield of Aeneas
hinc Augustus agens Italos in proelia Caesar
The decoration on Aeneas's new shield shows the future history of Rome, culminating in the triumphs of the Emperor Augustus
Aeneid Book 9, lines 54 - 66
Turnus the wolf
clamorem excipiunt socii fremituque sequuntur
Turnus descends on the camp like a wolf on the sheep-fold
Aeneid Book 9, lines 98 - 122
Aeneas’s ships are transformed
immo, ubi defunctae finem portusque tenebunt
Aeneas's ships achieve a glorious fate
Aeneid Book 9, lines 410 - 449
The death of Euryalus and Nisus
dixerat et toto conixus corpore ferrum
Comrades and lovers, Nisus and Euryalus find death together
Aeneid Book 9, lines 791 - 818
Turnus at bay
acrius hoc Teucri clamore incumbere magno
Turnus at bay
Aeneid Book 10, lines 215 - 248
Sea-nymphs
Iamque dies caelo concesserat almaque curru
Aeneas's ships, transformed into sea-nymphs, warn him that the Trojans are in danger.
Aeneid Book 10, lines 333 - 344
Aeneas joins the fray
'Suggere tela mihi, non ullum dextera frustra
Aeneas shows the Rutuli what they have to contend with
Aeneid Book 10, lines 474 - 502
The death of Pallas
At Pallas magnis emittit viribus hastam
Pallas dies at the hands of Turnus
Aeneid Book 10, lines 633 - 665
Turnus is lured away from battle
Iunonem interea compellat Iuppiter ultro
Fearing for his safety, Juno decoys Turnus away from the battlefield.
Aeneid Book 10. lines 885 - 908
King Mezentius meets his match
desine, nam venio moriturus et haec tibi porto
King Mezentius follows his son to death
Aeneid Book 11, lines 24 - 58
Mourning for Pallas
"Ite,"ait "egregias animas, quae sanguine nobis"
Mourning for Pallasand the Trojan dead
Aeneid Book 11, lines 182 - 202
Rites for the allies’ dead
Aurora interea miseris mortalibus almam
The Trojan dead are given burial
Aeneid Book 11, lines 539 - 566
The infant Camilla
Pulsus ob invidiam regno virisque superbas
The childhood of Camilla, the warrior-Queen
Aeneid Book 12, lines 161 - 194
Aeneas’s oath
Interea reges ingenti mole Latinus
Aeneas's oath for the future
Aeneid Book 12, lines 311 - 340
Aeneas is wounded
At pius Aeneas dextram tendebat inermem
A stray arrow catches Aeneas
Aeneid Book 12, lines 791 - 807 and 818 - 842
Juno is reconciled
Iunonem interea rex omnipotentis Olympi
Juno finally relinquishes her anger against Aeneas and the Trojans
Aeneid Book 12, lines 919 - 952
The death of Turnus
Cunctanti telum Aeneas fatale coruscat
Virgil's great epic concludes with Turnus's death
Georgics 1, lines 1 - 42
Virgil begins the Georgics
Quid faciat laetas segetes
Virgil sets the agricultural scene
Georgics Book 1, lines 204 - 230
The farmer’s starry calendar
Praeterea tam sunt Arcturi sidera nobis
Farming by the stars
Georgic 1, lines 351 - 392
Signs of bad weather
Atque haec ut certis possemus discere signis
Weather-wisdom from the ancient world
Georgics Book 1, lines 461 - 514
Catastrophe for Rome?
Denique quid vesper serus vehat
Only Augustus can save Rome
Georgics, Book 2, lines 458 - 474
The farmer’s happy lot
O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint
Virgil's rosy view of the farming life
Georgics Book 2, lines 490 - 502 and 513 - 532
More from Virgil’s farming Utopia
Felix qui potuit reum cognoscere causas
More from Virgil's idealised countryside
Georgics Book 3, lines 6 - 22 and 40 - 48
Virgil’s poetic temple to Caesar
Cui non dictus Hylas puer et Latonia Delos
Virgil looks forward to the Aeneid
Georgics Book 4, lines 149 - 190
The natural history of bees
nunc age, naturas apibus quas Iuppiter ipse
Bees and their city state
Georgics Book 4, lines 243 - 279
Love is the same for all
Omne adeo genus in terris hominumque ferarumque
Desire affects all living beings
Georgics Book 4, lines 531 - 558
Aristaeus’s bees
Nate, licet tristes animo deponere curas.
Aristaeus learns how to atone for his guilt and recover his bees
