Gaius Valerius Catullus

Gaius Valerius Catullus (c. 84–c. 54 BCE) was a Roman lyric poet from Verona in Cisalpine Gaul. Active in the late Roman Republic, he is associated with the neoteric (poetae novi) circle, which favored learned, highly crafted poetry influenced by Greek models. Catullus wrote in a range of meters, including polymetric poems and elegiac couplets, and his surviving collection includes invective, friendship poems, epigrams, and intense love lyrics. He is especially known for poems addressed to “Lesbia,” a pseudonym for a woman he portrays in a turbulent relationship. His work helped shape later Latin love elegy.