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CALPURNIUS, TITUS

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 69 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CALPURNIUS, See also:TITUS , See also:Roman bucolic poet, surnamed SICUI.us from his birthplace or from his See also:imitation of .the See also:style of the Sicilian See also:Theocritus, most probably flourished during the reign of See also:Nero. Eleven eclogues have been handed down to us under his name, of which the last four, from metrical considerations and See also:express MS. testimony, are now generally attributed to See also:Nemesianus (q.v.), who lived in the See also:time of the See also:emperor See also:Carus and his sons (latter See also:half of the 3rd See also:century A.D.). Hardly anything is known of the See also:life of Calpurnius; we gather from the poems themselves (in which he is obviously represented by " See also:Corydon ") that he was in poor circumstances and was on the point of emigrating to See also:Spain, when "Meliboeus " came to his aid. Through his See also:influence Calpurnius apparently secured a See also:post at See also:Rome. The time at which Calpurnius lived has been much discussed, but all the indications seem to point to the time of Nero. The emperor is described as a handsome youth, like See also:Mars and See also:Apollo, whose See also:accession marks the beginning of a new See also:golden See also:age, prognosticated by the See also:appearance of a See also:comet, doubtless the same that appeared some time before the See also:death of See also:Claudius; he exhibits splendid See also:games in the See also:amphitheatre (probably the wooden amphitheatre erected by Nero in 57); and in the words maternis causam qui vicit Iulis 1 (i. 45), there is a reference to the speech delivered in See also:Greek by Nero on behalf of the Ilienses (Suetonius, Nero, 7; See also:Tacitus, See also:Annals, xii. 58), from whom the Julii derived their See also:family.' Meliboeus, the poet's See also:patron, has been variously identified with See also:Columella, See also:Seneca the philosopher, and C. Calpurnius See also:Piso. Although the See also:sphere of Meliboeus's See also:literary activity (as indicated in iv. 53) suits none of these, what is known of Calpurnius Piso fits in well with what is said of Meliboeus by the poet, who speaks of his generosity, his intimacy with the emperor, and his See also:interest in tragic See also:poetry. His claim is further supported by the poem De Laude Pisonis (ed.

C. F. See also:

Weber, '859) which has come down to us without the name of the author, but which there is considerable See also:reason for attributing to Calpurnius.' The poem exhibits a striking similarity with the eclogues in See also:metre, See also:language and subject-See also:matter. The author of the Laus is See also:young, of respectable family and desirous of gaining the favour of Piso as his See also:Maecenas. Further, the similarity between the two names can hardly be accidental; it is suggested that the poet may have been adopted by the courtier, or that he was the son of a freedman of Piso. The attitude of the author of the Laus towards the subject of the See also:panegyric seems to show less intimacy than the relations between Corydon and Meliboeus in the eclogues, and there is See also:internal See also:evidence that the Laus was written during the reign of Claudius (See also:Teuffel-See also:Schwabe, Hist. of Rom. Lit. § 306, 6). Mention may here be made of the fragments of two See also:short See also:hexameter poems in an See also:Einsiedeln MS., obviously belonging to the time of Nero, which if not written by Calpurnius, were imitated from him. lulis for in ulnis according to the best MS. tradition. 2 According to Dr R. See also:Garnett (and Mr Greswell, as stated in See also:Conington's See also:Virgil, i. p.

'23, See also:

note) the emperor referred to is the younger See also:Gordian (A.D. 238). His arguments in favour of this will be found in the See also:article on Calpurnius by him in the 9th edition of the See also:Encyclopaedia Britannica and in the See also:Journal of See also:Philology, xvi., 1888; see in See also:answer J. P. Postgate, " The Comet of Calpurnius Siculus " in Classical See also:Review, See also:June 1902. See also:Dean See also:Merivale (Hist. of the See also:Romans under the See also:Empire, ch. 6o) and Pompei, " Intorno al Tempo del Poeta Calpurnio " in Atli del Istituto Veneto, v. 6 (188o), identify the amphitheatre with the Colosseum (See also:Flavian amphitheatre) and assign Calpurnius to the reign of See also:Domitian. ' It has been variously ascribed to Virgil, See also:Ovid, See also:Lucan, See also:Statius and Saleius See also:Bassus. Although there is nothing See also:original in Calpurnius, he is " a skilful literary craftsman." Of his See also:models the See also:chief is Virgil, of whom (under the name of Tityrus) he speaks with See also:great See also:enthusiasm; he is also indebted to Ovid and Theocritus. Calpurnius is " a See also:fair See also:scholar, and an See also:apt courtier, and not devoid of real poetical feeling. The See also:bastard style of See also:pastoral cultivated by him, in which the description of nature is made the writer's pretext, while ingenious flattery is his real purpose, nevertheless excludes genuine See also:pleasure, and consequently genuine poetical achievement.

He may be fairly compared to the See also:

minor poets of the reign of See also:Anne " (Garnett). Calpurnius was first printed in 1471, together with Silius Italicus and has been frequently republished, generally with Gratius Faliscus and Nemesianus. The See also:separate authorship of the eclogues of Calpurnius and Nemesianus was established by M. See also:Haupt's De Carminibus bucolicis Calpurnii et Nemesiani (1854). See also:Editions by H. Schenk! (1885), with full introduction and See also:index verborum, and by C. H. See also:Keene (1887), with introduction, commentary and appendix. See also:English See also:verse See also:translation by E. J. L.

See also:

Scott (1891); see H. E. See also:Butler, Post-Augustan Poetry (See also:Oxford, 1909), pp. 150 See also:foil., and F. Skutsch in Pauly-Wissowa's Realencyclopodie, iii. I (1897). (J. H.

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