326:" of all; however, he would also be calling himself the worst poet of all, "pessimus omnium poeta", which doesn't seem much like Catullus. On the other hand, if he is being sarcastic, not only does he not call himself the worst poet of all, the claim against Cicero makes more sense: it would be saying that Cicero is the best "patronus" of all the people, the good and the bad, for money, which isn't really much of a compliment.
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A point made by D.E.W. Wormwell also brings some light to the subject: a sincere thanks or praise would sound much different. In lines 4 and 5, Catullus places himself in the third person, making it impersonal in a way and less natural. Yes, Catullus is fond of addressing himself by the third
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It is a constant debate whether this poem is
Catullus praising Cicero, who indeed was one of the best speakers of the time, or actually mocking him. He begins by praising him "as the most learned" of all the Romans ever. But as we keep reading, we keep seeing many more superlatives –
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could be considered as exaggerated. Usually, the frequent use of exaggeration can be discerned as sarcasm, which might be the case here. The last line also reveals more of
Catullus' real intent. If Catullus is indeed being sincere, then he just simply means that Cicero was the best
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and offer little favors like political campaigning and household chores. One of the types of patronage was the slave-owner over his freedmen, where the slave-owner retained some power over them and inherited their property if they died heirless. The betrayal of this bond or
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was someone who gave assistance and protection to another person, including non-Romans. The people for whom the patron spoke for were the
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The descendants of
Romulus are the Romans, since it is believed that Remus and Romulus founded Rome.
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as a superficially laudatory poem. Like the majority of
Catullus' poems, the
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401:, Simon Hornblower, Anthony Spawforth, Oxford University Press
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Catullus 49 in Latin & English- Disertissime Romuli nepotum
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Catullus: Edited with a
Textual and Interpretative Commentary
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as many there are and as many as there were, Marcus
Tullius,
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The following Latin text is taken from D. F. S. Thomson.
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103:O most learned of the descendants of Romulus,
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125:or as many as there will be later in years,
1205:List of bibliographies of works on Catullus
414:, Vol. 17, No. 1 (Spring, 1963), pp. 59-60
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1200:Codex Vaticanus Ottobonianus Latinus 1829
300:Learn how and when to remove this message
1210:List of English translations of Catullus
136:Catullus gives you the greatest thanks,
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192:and they, in return, would respect the
169:as you the best lawyer/patron of all.
111:quot sunt quotque fuere, Marce Tulli,
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238:adding citations to reliable sources
206:The debate over the tone of the poem
410:Wormwell, D.E.W., "Catullus 49" in
166:quanto tu optimus omnium patronus.
158:by as much the worst poet of all,
122:quotque post aliis erunt in annis,
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348:vale puella. iam Catullus obdurat
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399:The Oxford Classical Dictionary
225:needs additional citations for
387:. University of Toronto Press.
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1236:Cultural depictions of Cicero
133:gratias tibi maximas Catullus
364:ille optimus omnium patronus
100:Disertissime Romuli nepotum,
92:Literal English Translation
155:tanto pessimus omnium poeta
144:agit pessimus omnium poeta,
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330:person, but it is usually
315:maximas, pessimus, optimus
54:Latin text and translation
1195:List of poems by Catullus
147:the worst of all poets,
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28:Gaius Valerius Catullus
201:was a capital offense.
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16:Latin poem by Catullus
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756:Unusual poetic meters
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40:Marcus Tullius Cicero
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317:– even the
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20:Catullus 49
1225:Categories
370:References
360:Tom Jones
290:March 2022
260:newspapers
89:Latin Text
342:, rarely
457:Catullus
344:Catullus
340:Catullum
324:patronus
194:patronus
186:patronus
412:Phoenix
336:Catulle
332:Catullo
274:scholar
80:Poem 49
338:, and
319:omnium
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281:JSTOR
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