During the time when he was writing, the Roman Empire was being conquered and Julius Caesar was at the height of his campaigns Gaul was overcome, and Caesar led the first of two Roman expeditions to Britain. He is popular because of his language, his great wit, and his topics.Ĭlassical scholar Andrew Feldherr very neatly sums up Catullus’ place and reputation. Yet to those who know him, he sits in the same company as those hallowed craftsmen, and according to the Academy of American Poets, was a major influence upon other Roman poets of his time and after, such as love poets Horace, Virgil and Ovid. Such important names as Ovid, Virgil, Horace, Cinna, Cicero and Livy, will tower above his in conventional Classical scholarship and reputation because they are better known than he is, and perhaps, more ‘Roman’. He is often considered in many ways, so atypical of Roman poetry or Roman writing, that it is remarkable that he has been so influential a poet and personality in Roman letters. The Roman poet Catullus (Vallus Galerius Catullus, 84bc-54bc) lived for such a short time and in such a glorified period of Roman power, dominance, conquest and empire building, that two things are remarkable.
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