23 LIFE OF TIBULLUS. Or the personal history of Albius Tibullus (his prænomen is unknown) little has been preserved. He was of Latin origin, of equestrian rank, and born about B.C. 54, though some of his editors believe him to have been five years older, and place his birth in B.C. 59. His paternal estate was at Pedum, between Tibur and Præneste, and, like that of Virgil and Propertius, it was confiscated, in part at least, during the civil wars ensuing on Cæsar's death. That he retained or recovered a portion of it is clear from Horace (Epist. i. 4), who congratulates Tibullus on his competent fortune, handsome person, his favour with the great, his sound health, and literary reputation. The confiscation of his land was probably owing to the necessities of the government at the time, and not to any overt act of the poet himself. For Tibullus had a most un-) -Roman aversion from both politics and war. Of the latter he speaks always with abhorrence. In the former he seems to have taken no part. Though contemporary with Virgil, and intimate with Horace, Tibullus does not appear to have been noticed by either Augustus or Mæcenas. His principal patron was M. Valerius Messala, who had fought against the Triumvirs at Philippi, but who distinguished himself highly at Actium on the side of Augustus. Tibullus however refused to accompany Messala to this war, B.C. 31. But in the autumn of the same year he followed his patron to Aquitania, as contubernalis, or aide-decamp, and was present at the battle of Atax (Aude, in Languedoc), which quelled the rebellion. In the autumn of B.C. 30, Messala was despatched to the East, and Tibullus set out in his train but he fell sick on the voyage, and was left behind at Corcyra (1 Eleg. i. 3). On his recovery he returned to Rome. The remainder of his days was spent in peaceful retirement and literary pursuits (Horace, l.c.). The mistress to whom Tibullus addresses the first six elegies of his first book, is Delia, whose real name is said to have been Plancia, Plania, or Plautia (Apuleius, Apolog. p. 12: Bipont. ed.). Her condition is not very clearly made out, as sometimes she appears to have been an Hetæra, like the Cynthia of Propertius, and at others a married woman. The second book of his poems is chiefly dedicated to a lady who goes by the poetic title of Nemesis. Ovid (Amor. iii. 9) mentions both Delia and Nemesis, and Horace (Carm. i. 33) alludes to a third name, of course a fictitious one, Glycera. According to the Epigram of Domitius Marsus, Tibullus died about the same time as Virgil, i.e. B.C. 19. "Te quoque Virgilii comitem non æqua, Tibulle, Ovid, a boy when Tibullus was a mature man, thus notices the difference of their respective ages (Trist. iv. 5, 51): The first two of the four books of elegies that go under his name are undoubtedly the work of Tibullus. Other and inferior hands contributed to the third and fourth books, although he may have revised them and even added a few passages. The hexameter poem, Ad Messalam,' which opens the fourth book, must have been written in a very ungenial mood, if indeed it be a genuine product of his pen. On the merits of Tibullus the opinions of critics, both ancient and modern, are much divided. Among the former, Quiutilian (Instit. Orat. x. 1, § 93) assigns to him the first place among Roman elegiac poets; but he adds, "Some prefer Propertius.' Dr. Arnold calls him simply "a bad poet," and joins him in badness with Propertius. Niebuhr (Lectures on Roman History, vol. ii. p. 164) says that "the doleful and weeping melancholy and sentimentality, such as we find them in Tibullus, are always un-antique; they are the misunderstood tones of Mimnermus.' Muretus, a better critic than either Arnold or Niebuhr, is more just in his opinion of Tibullus (Schol. in Propertium): "Illum (i.e. Tibullum) judices simplicius scripsisse quæ cogitaret; hunc (i.e. Propertium) diligentius cogitasse quæ scriberet. In illo plus naturæ, in hoc plus curæ atque industriæ perspicias." 5 10 15 ALBII TIBULLI CARMINA. ELEGIA I. Divitias alius fulvo sibi congerat auro, Dum meus assiduo luceat igne focus. Et quodcunque mihi pomum novus educat annus, Vos quoque felicis quondam, nunc pauperis, agri Tunc vitula innumeros lustrabat cæsa juvencos: 1. C Non agnamve sinu pigeat fetumve capellæ 35 40 Non ego divitias patrum fructusque requiro, Quos tulit antiquo condita messis avo. Parva seges satis est; satis est, requiescere lecto Quam juvat immites ventos audire cubantem, 45 Aut, gelidas hibernus aquas quum fuderit Auster, Hoc mihi contingat: sit dives jure, furorem 50 ( quantum est auri potius pereatque smaragdi, Quam fleat ob nostras ulla puella vias. Te bellare decet terra, Messala, marique, Me retinent vinctum formosæ vincla puellæ, Non ego laudari curo, mea Delia: tecum Dummodo sim, quæso, segnis inersque vocer. Te spectem, suprema mihi quum venerit hora, Te teneam moriens deficiente manu. Flebis et arsuro positum me, Delia, lecto, Tristibus et lacrimis oscula mixta dabis. Flebis; non tua sunt duro præcordia ferro Vincta, nec in tenero stat tibi corde silex. Illo non juvenis poterit de funere quisquam Lumina, non virgo, sicca referre domum. Tu Manes ne læde meos; sed parce solutis Crinibus, et teneris, Delia, parce genis. Interea, dum fata sinunt, jungamus amores; Jam veniet tenebris Mors adoperta caput; Jam subrepet iners ætas, nec amare decebit, Dicere nec cano blanditias capite. Nunc levis est tractanda Venus, dum frangere postes 55 60 65 70 |