Catullus' Villa
Gaius Valerius Catullus (84-54 BC) was a Roman lyric poet. He constructed his villa at Sirmione on Lake Garda near Verona, his place of birth. The villa itself is located on a finger of land that extends into Lake Garda from its southern tip. Catullus came from a wealthy family (as the owners of villas have a way of doing) and lived to be only 30. He is best known for his passionate love poems to a married woman he called Lesbia. Capable of the most delicate and refined language in his love poems, he also revelled in writing bawdy poetry so vulgar that much of it is routinely left untranslated. He was a major influence on such poets as Herrick, Jonson, and Spenser. [Note: Some authorities question that this is the authentic site of Catullus' Villa.]
Poems
 |