Catullus

About the Author

Gaius Valerius Catullus, the ancient Roman poet born around 84 BCE in Verona, remains one of the most vibrant voices of classical literature, renowned for his passionate and often irreverent verses that blend personal emotion with sharp wit. Living during the turbulent late Roman Republic, Catullus mingled with the elite in Rome, where he fell deeply in love with the enigmatic Clodia, immortalized as Lesbia in his poetry. His work spans tender lyrics of affection and despair to scathing invectives against rivals and politicians, capturing the raw intensity of human experience. Collected in The Poems of Catullus (Oxford World's Classics), his slim corpus of about 116 poems has influenced generations, from Renaissance humanists to modern confessional poets, for its innovative meters, colloquial language, and unflinching honesty about desire, loss, and friendship.