M/M: I'm Not Jealous, But... Catullus 81

 

Nemone in tanto potuit populo esse, Iuventi,
     bellus homo, quem tu diligere inciperes.
praeterquam iste tuus moribunda ab sede Pisauri
     hospes inaurata pallidior statua,
qui tibi nunc cordi est, quem tu praeponere nobis
     audes, et nescis quod facinus facias?

---Catullus LXXXI

So, Juventius,  there’s no one in the whole world

No handsome guy

Whom you’d begin to have feelings for

Except THAT guy from Pisaurum (a dying town for sure),

a guy paler than a gilded statue…

That’s the man in your heart?

You dare to prefer him over ME?

Don’t you know what a terrible mistake you’re making?

CATULLUS	MAP:
Name:  Gaius Valerius Catullus Date:  84 – 54 BCE Works:  Poems	REGION  1
BIO:	Timeline:
Catullus was a Roman statesman born in Verona  (Cisalpine Gaul, located in northern Italy) who lived during the tumultuous last days of the Roman Republic.  His poetry offers rare insight into the mores of the time period. Like Propertius and Tibullus, Catullus used a pseudonym for the objects of his attention; many of his love poems were addressed to either “Lesbia” or “Juventius.”	GOLDEN AGE