Albius Tibullus ( BC BC) was a Latin poet and writer of elegies. His first and second books of poetry are extant; many other texts attributed to him are of questionable origins.
Little is known about the life of Tibullus. There are only a few references to him by later writers and a short Life of doubtful authority. Neither his praenomen nor his birthplace is known, and his gentile name has been questioned. His status was probably that of a Roman eques (so the Life affirms), and he had inherited a considerable estate. Like Virgil and Propertius, he seems to have lost most of it in 41 BC in the confiscations of Mark Antony and Octavian.Damer, E. Z. (2014). "Gender Reversals and Intertextuality in Tibullus". Classical World, 493–514.
Life Tibullus's chief friend and patron was Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, himself an orator and poet as well as a statesman and a commander. Messalla, like Gaius Maecenas, was at the centre of a literary circle in Rome. This circle had no relationship with the court, and the name of Augustus is found nowhere in the writings of Tibullus. About 30 BC Messalla was dispatched by Augustus to Gaul to quell a rising in Aquitania and restore order in the country, and Tibullus may have been in his retinue. On a later occasion, probably in 28, he would have accompanied his friend who had been sent on a mission to the East, but he fell sick and had to stay behind in Corcyra. Tibullus had no liking for war, and though his life seems to have been divided between Rome and his country estate, his own preferences were wholly for the country life.
The loss of Tibullus's landed property is attested by himself (i.1, 19), as a farmer ("of a once fruitful, now impoverished field"; cf. 41, 42). Its cause is only an inference, though a very probable one. That he was allowed to retain a portion of his estate with the family mansion is clear from ii.4, 53. Tibullus may have been Messalla's in the Aquitanian War (Vita Tib. and Tib. i.7, 9 seq., a poem composed for Messalla's triumph), and may have received dona militaria (Vita Tib.).
Tibullus died prematurely, probably in 19, around the same time as Virgil or not long afterwards.Avery, W. T. (1960). "The year of Tibullus' death". The Classical Journal, 55(5), 205–209, argues that Tibullus died a little later than Virgil, some time between 17 and 12 BC; Levin, D. N. (1967). "The Alleged Date of Tibullus' Death". The Classical Journal, 62(7), 311–314 disagrees with Avery. His death made a deep impression in Rome, as is clear from his contemporary, Domitius Marsus, and from the elegy in which OvidOvid, Amores, iii.9. enshrined the memory of his predecessor.
Horace and Tibullus Two short poems by Horace, addressed to a certain Albius (Odes 1.33 and Epistles 1.4), are believed to refer to Tibullus.Putnam, Michael C. J. (1972), "Horace and Tibullus". Classical Philology, Vol. 67, No. 2 (Apr., 1972), pp. 81–88.Ball, Robert J. (1994). "Albi, Ne Doleas: Horace and Tibullus". The Classical World, Vol. 87, No. 5, pp. 409–414. In the first of these poems Horace advises Albius not to be excessive in singing sad elegies in memory of the cruel "Glycera" (assumed to be the same as Nemesis).
In the second poem, Horace imagines Albius, when he receives the letter, either writing poetry or wandering in the woods near Pedum. He goes on: "You were not (born as) a body without a heart; the gods gave you beauty, riches, and the art of enjoying them. What more could a nurse wish for in her charge than that he should be intelligent, able to speak what he feels, and have style, fame, and health in abundance?" Horace advises his friend, whatever hopes and fears and angers he has, to live each day as if it was his last. At the end he makes a joke to cheer his friend up, comparing himself to a "pig from Epicurus's herd".
Although J. P. Postgate challenged the identification of Albius with Tibullus, more recent scholars such as Ullman, Putnam, and Ball have argued that they are the same. In Putnam's analysis, Tibullus, in Horace's view, is too much given to self-pity, and would benefit from taking a more philosophical view of life's foibles.
The first book of Horace's Odes was published in 23 BC, and the first book of the Epistles in 20 BC, making the time-frame plausible, if Albius is Tibullus.
First book of poetry
Tibullus's first book consists of poems written at various times between 30 and 26. His first love, the subject of book i., is called Delia in the poems, but ApuleiusApuleius, Apol. 10. reveals that her real name was Plania. It appears that she was not entitled to wear the stola, the dress of Roman matrons (i. 6, 68), and so was doubtless a courtesan. Her husband is mentioned as absent (i. 2, 67 seq.). She eludes the guards placed over her (i. 2, 15 and 6, 7). Tibullus's suit was favoured by Delia's mother, of whom he speaks in very affectionate terms (i. 6, 57 seq.). For Tibullus's illness at Corcyra, see i. 3, I seq., 55 seq. The fifth elegy was written during an estrangement (), and the sixth after the return of the husband and during Delia's double infidelity. It is impossible to give an exact account of the intimacy. The poems which refer to her are arranged in no chronological order. Sometimes she appears as single, sometimes as married; but we hear nothing either of her marriage or of her husband's death. Yet it is clear that it was the absence of her husband on military service in Cilicia which gave Tibullus the opportunity to see her, and he continued to do so when the husband returned. Delia was clever in deception — too clever, as Tibullus saw when he found that he was not the only lover. His entreaties and appeals were of no avail; and after the first book no more is heard of Delia.
The Marathus cycle In addition, three elegies in Book I (1.4, 1.8, and 1.9) concern themselves with Tibullus's love for a boy, who is named Marathus.Drinkwater, M. O. (2012). "His turn to cry: Tibullus' Marathus cycle (1.4, 1.8 and 1.9) and Roman elegy". The Classical Journal, 107(4), 423–449. The three poems constitute the longest poetic project in Roman literature having homosexual love as theme. The first of these poems, 1.4, begins with an imprecation of the poet to the god Priapus, asking for advice on how to win over beautiful boys. The god advises patience and that the man in love yield to the beloved boy's every whim and perform a series of services if the boy demands it (1.4.15–53). At first the narrator of the poem presents himself as someone who is simply asking for advice from the god on behalf of a friend Titius who has fallen in love with a boy but whose wife forbids such affairs (1.4.73). He later portrays himself as a teacher in the affairs of love, declaring that the doors of his house are open for other men in love with boys to ask his advice (1.4.78). In the last four lines, however, he confesses to loving a boy named Marathus, who tortures him with "love's delay" (1.4.81) and whom the narrator cannot conquer with his arts, causing other men to laugh at his lessons (1.4.83).
The cycle is resumed in poem 1.8, in which the narrator learns that Marathus is in love with a girl. The narrator advises the girl to treat Marathus with more leniency than Marathus treated the narrator himself (1.8.49). The narrator accompanies Marathus to the girl's house, carrying a torch to light the path at night, bribes her so that she meets Marathus, and talks the boy up to the girl (this is described in more detail the next poem, 1.9, lines 41–44). This poem can be seen as part of the narrator's efforts to win Marathus' goodwill by performing a series of humiliating tasks for him, exceeding the god's counsel to perform hard physical labors for the lad, by also helping him carry on an affair with someone else.
In the poem that ends the cycle, 1.9, Marathus is not named, but it is usually assumed that it is about the same boy. In this poem the narrator reveals that Marathus is in a relationship with a much older married man who buys the young man's affections through expensive gifts. Initially, the narrator asks the gods for compassion towards Marathus (1.9.5–6), who betrayed a promise he had made to the narrator, but soon love yields to bitterness, and he begins to express the desire that the gifts of the rival lover turn to ashes (1.9.11–12) and that the same happen to the poems that the narrator wrote to Marathus to win him over (1.9.48–49), of which he is now ashamed. He turns to the rival, taking revenge on him for having stolen his boyfriend by taunting him with the affair that the rival's wife is herself having with another young man (1.9.54–58 and 65–74). Finally, the poet addresses the boy himself, telling him that he will cry when he sees the poet fall in love with another capricious lad (1.9.79–80), but declaring himself, for the time being, finally released from unfaithful love.
Second book of poetry
About the second book, scholars can only say that in all likelihood it was published before the poet's death in 19 BC. It is very short, containing only 6 poems (428 verses), but apparently complete.Dettmer, H. (1980). "The arrangement of Tibullus Books 1 and 2". Philologus, 124(1–2), 68–82; pages 78 ff.
The first poem, of 90 lines, describes an idealised life in the country; the second, of 22 lines, celebrates the birthday of a certain Cornutus. The fifth poem is a hymn to Apollo celebrating the installation of Messalla's son as one of the fifteen priests who were guardians of the Sibylline Books (the ).Johnson, W. R. (1990). "CHAPTER 5: MESSALLA'S BIRTHDAY: THE POLITICS OF PASTORAL". Arethusa, 23(1), 95-113.
In poems 3–6 of the second book the place of Delia is taken by "Nemesis", which is also a fictitious name. Nemesis (like the Cynthia of Propertius) was probably a courtesan of the higher class; and she had other admirers besides Tibullus. He complains bitterly of his bondage, and of her rapacity and hard-heartedness. In spite of all, however, she seems to have retained her hold on him until his death.
Ovid, writing at the time of Tibullus's death, says:Ovid, Amores, 3.9, 31-32. "" ("Thus Nemesis and Delia will be long remembered: one Tibullus' recent love, the other his first"). Nemesis is the subject of the last four poems of book 2. The connection had lasted a year when 2.5 was written (see ver. 109). It is worth noticing that Martial selects Nemesis as the source of Tibullus's reputation.Martial, viii.73, 7; cf. xiv.193.
Third book of poetry The third book of the collection contains a miscellaneous collection of poems, and most scholars today believe that none of them are by Tibullus (even though one of them 3.19, seems to claim Tibullus as author). Sometime in the 15th century the book was split into two parts, so that poems 3.8 to 3.20 are sometimes referred to as 4.1 to 4.14.
Lygdamus elegies