Catullus 10

Catullus 10 in Latin and English

Catullus 10 in Latin

Catullus 10 is a Latin poem of thirty-four lines in Phalaecean metre by the Roman poet Catullus.

Text

Literal English Translation	Original Latin	Line
My Varus had led me, at leisure, from the forum To his loves, to visit her A little whore, as it then immediately seemed to me, Not really uncharming and not unattractive. When we came to this place, varied conversations Fell onto us, in which, what was now Bithynia, how did it hold itself, and with just what bronze had Bithynia profited me. I answered that which was, that nothing neither to themselves Nor to the praetors nor to the cohort was there; Why anyone would bring back a oilier head, Especially [people] to whom the governor was a pervert [irrumator], and (to whom) didn't reckon the cohort the value of a hair. "But certainly nevertheless" they said, "that which it is said to be born there, you obtained Men for the purpose of a litter." I, in order that to the girl I might make myself (seem) one rather fortunate man, I said "it was not so badly for me with the result that because of the bad province that had fallen to my lot, I was not able to obtain eight straight-backed men." But nobody was mine, neither here nor there, Who was able to place the foot, having been broken, of an old couch upon his neck. That woman, as befit a rather slutty girl, "Please," she said, "my Catullus, lend to me for a little while those men: for I wish to be carried to Serapus." "Wait," I said to the girl, "That thing which just now I had said that I had, Reason fled me: my mate— It is Cinna Gaius,—he obtained (the slaves) for himself. But, whether of that man or of me, what (is it) to me? I use them as well as (if) I obtained (them) for myself. But you, uncharming and annoying, live badly, Through whom is it not permitted to be careless.	Vārus mē meus ad suōs amōrēs vīsum duxerat ē forō ōtiōsum, scortillum, ut mihi tum repente vīsum est, nōn sānē illepidum neque invenustum. Hūc ut vēnimus, incidēre nōbīs sermōnēs variī: in quibus, quid esset iam Bīthȳnia; quō modō sē habēret; et quōnam mihi prōfuisset aere. Respondī id quod erat, nihil neque ipsīs nec praetōribus esse nec cohortī, cūr quisquam caput ūnctius referret, praesertim quibus esset irrumātor praetor, nec faceret pilī cohortem. "At certē tamen" inquiunt "quod illic nātum dīcitur esse, comparāsti ad lectīcam hominēs." Ego, ut puellae ūnum mē facerem beātiōrem, "nōn" inquam "mihi tam fuit malignē, ut, prōvincia quod mala incidisset, nōn possem octō hominēs parāre rēctōs." At mī nūllus erat nec hīc neque illic, frāctum quī veteris pedem grabātī in collō sibi collocāre posset. Hīc illa, ut decuit cinaediōrem, "quaesō" inquit "mihi, mī Catulle, paulum istōs commoda, nam volō ad Serāpim dēferrī." "Mane," inquiī puellae, "istud quod modo dīxeram mē habēre, fūgit mē ratiō: meus sodālis Cinna est Gāĭus — is sibī parāvit; vērum utrum illius an meī, quid ad mē? Ūtor tam bene quam mihī parārim. Sed tū insulsa male et molesta vīvis, per quam nōn licet esse neglegentem!"	10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 10.14 10.15 10.16 10.17 10.18 10.19 10.20 10.21 10.22 10.23 10.24 10.25 10.26 10.27 10.28 10.29 10.30 10.31 10.32 10.33 10.34

Analysis

Catullus, or the speaker, tells at his own expense how neatly he was shown up when attempting to put on airs about his supposed wealth acquired in Bithynia, whither he went in 57 BC in the retinue of the governor Memmius. According to E. T. Merrill, "the forms of expression are thoroughly colloquial." He dates the composition to about 56 BC.

In his Victorian translation of Catullus, R. F. Burton titles the poem "He meets Varus and Mistress".

Sources

• Burton, Richard F.; Smithers, Leonard C., eds. (1894). The Carmina of Caius Valerius Catullus. London: Printed for the Translators: for Private Subscribers. pp. 16–19.
• Merrill, Elmer Truesdell, ed. (1893). Catullus (College Series of Latin Authors). Boston, MA: Ginn and Company. pp. xxv, xliii, 21–24. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

Further reading

• Braund, D. C. (1996). "The Politics of Catullus 10: Memmius, Caesar, and the Bithynians". Hermathema. 160: 46–57.
• Nielsen, R. M. (1987). "Catullus and Sal (Poem 10)". L'Antiqué Classique. 56: 148–161.
• Sedgwick, W. B. (1947). "Catullus X: A Rambling Commentary". Greece and Rome. 16: 108–114.
• Skinner, M. B. (1989). "Ut decuit cinaediorem: Power, gender and Urbanity in Catullus 10". Helios. 16: 7–23.

External links

• C. Valerius Catullus. "Catul. 10". Carmina. Leonard C. Smithers, ed. Perseus Digital Library. Retrieved 3 March 2023.