Rome is in turmoil. Bitter rivalry between the senators has resulted in bribery, manipulation, and assassination. Thousands have died in the civil war, and then in the slave Spartacus’ revolt. This, one of the bloodiest periods in Roman history will see the betrayal of Caesar and the orator Cicero’s tongue nailed to the podium. It will see the end of the Roman republic, and the establishment of an autocracy.

Yet into this macho, Roman-eat-Roman world, there comes a poet whose fame, two thousand years later, rests on his femininity, his vulnerability, and his turbulent, ill-starred relationship with Lesbia, whose faithlessness and disinterest cause Catullus an endless catalogue of woes.

Who was Catullus?

Catullus, one of the earliest Latin love elegists, lived from approximately 84BC-54BC (dates uncertain). According to the ancient sources, he was born in Verona of a leading equestrian (upper middle-class) family, although he lived most of his life in Rome.

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