Mommsen refers to this period, of a Gaius Propertius, who, amongst other offices, was triumuir capitalis and proconsul. In later times we hear of a Propertius Celer, a senator in the reign of Tiberius, who was too poor to support his rank and received from the emperor a subvention of a million sesterces1; and of Propertius Blaesus (Passennus Paullus), an eques splendidus, for whom see below.

We

Date of birth.

The date of Propertius' birth is uncertain. have only the testimony of Ovid that he was older than himself, but not too old to be his companion. Again he places Propertius and Tibullus as the two links in the elegiac chain between himself and Cornelius Gallus3. Now Ovid was born in B. C. 43 and Gallus in 69. So that we shall probably be near the mark in making him from six to eight years older than Ovid and in putting the year of his birth as 50 or thereabouts.

Early life.

He

His youth was crowded with misfortunes. lost his father early, and, soon after, his large and well cultivated estate in the general confiscation of 41, a misfortune which he shared with Virgil, Horace and many others. The indignation aroused by the arbitrary measures of the triumvirs caused a general rising in the North under the leadership of L. Antonius, brother of the Triumvir, and the notorious Fulvia. This outbreak, generally called the bellum Perusinum, was crushed by Octavian by the capture and sack of Perusia in 40. This siege, which seems to have been attended by circumstances of peculiar horror, made a deep impression on the poet's susceptible imagination; the more so as it proved fatal to another of his relations*, who has been

generally identified with the Gallus who was killed in the fight of the Antonian army, and whose death is the subject of I. 21. In this case he was probably related to the poet by the mother's side. Whether there was anything saved from the wreck of the poet's property is not known. He and his mother may have found shelter with her own kinsmen, or her own property may have been untouched. From his expressions which vary a good deal we should conclude that he was reduced to comparative poverty but not to penury (tenues Lares-nulla domi fortuna relicta— non ita diues). At any rate his mother managed to secure him a superior education, of which his poems bear abundant traces, possibly (like Horace) at a ludus in Rome. After assuming the toga of manly freedom about 34, we find him with his mother in Rome, where he was probably urged to study as a pleader. But, like Ovid, he found the attractions of love and poetry too strong; or, as he puts it himself, 'Apollo forbade him to thunder phrases in the frenzied forum' (v. 1. 134).

Soon afterwards he made the acquaintance of Lycinna We do not know who she was, Lycinna nor how long the attachment lasted. It attachment. is however probable from the way in which Propertius speaks of her that his heart was not seriously engaged, though she seems subsequently to have excited the jealousy of Cynthia and been exposed to all her powers of persecution (uexandi)'. It is not necessary to suppose that Propertius was idle during this period. He was probably engaged in studying Greek and Roman literature and antiquities, and earning the name of doctus, to which no Roman poet has a better right than he. It is also possible that he may have written some of the archaeological poems in the fifth book.

1 IV. 13 (15). 3—10, 43.

But the mistress of his life and the directress of his inspiration was now to appear upon Cynthia the scene, the famous CYNTHIA. Her real attachment. name was Hostia', and she was a native of Tibur2. But her condition in life has been a much disputed question. There is now however no reasonable doubt that she was a courtesan of the higher class. All the evidence points in this direction. Her accomplishments which were those of a Thais, her house in the Subura, the occurrence of scenes like those in 1. 3, 111. 27 (21), 31 (25), v. 8, the mention of a lena (v. 5), and above all the fact that Propertius could not have married her, admit of no other explanation. But, though a meretrix, she was not an ordinary one. She had inherited literary distinction from her grandfather, probably the poet Hostius, who wrote a poem on the Illyrian war of 178, and flourished about the time of the Gracchi". Of her personal appearance Propertius has left us glowing accounts. She was

1 Appul. Apol. p. 415.

2

v. 7. 85.

3 We do not know how large an establishment she had there. Eight slaves are mentioned by name in v. 7. 35 sqq., 73 sqq. one of whom, Lygdamus, was probably a present from Propertius. Horace puts the minimum for a man at ten, Sat. 1. 3. 12. She had no near relations alive with the exception of her mother and sister (II. 6. 11, 12) who probably died before her, or they would have been mentioned in v. 7. Compare III. 11. 11 (9. 33) cum tibi nec frater nec sit tibi filius ullus, &c. which is a way of saying that she had no male pro

tectors.

4 We shall not be doing any wrong to the gens Hostia in adopting this supposition. The only members of it that we have records of were far from reputable: e.g. L. Hostius was the first parricide after the Punic war (Plutarch Romul. 22).

5 See IV. 20. 8 splendidaque a docto fama refulget auo. Some fragments of this poem have been preserved. Here is one from Festus s. v. tesca: Hostius belli Histrici 1. 1: per gentes alte aetherias atque auia tesca perque uolabis templa antiqua deum. It was written in an archaic style.

6 II. 2. 5 sqq., 3. 9 sqq., III. 3. 23, 24. Allusions to the

tall, stately, and well proportioned, with long tapering hands, a clear red and white complexion, dark brown hair and brilliant black eyes. Her eyes especially and her graceful movements are the theme of the poet's perpetual admiration. To these she added other attractions. She was a skilful player and accomplished dancer and an adept in the processes of the loom. She had inherited a taste for poetry too, and wrote verses whose merits she did not underrate'. Of her character we cannot form so favourable an estimate, at any rate if we believe what her lover says. She had all the faults of her class-fickleness, avarice, and an excessive love of finery. To these she added a very violent temper, which often vented itself in slander of those who had offended her. It is curious that we hear nothing of her good qualities. Probably she had some. At any rate she seems to have entertained for Propertius all the affection of which she was capable.

beauty of her eyes occur again and again, beginning with the very first line, Cynthia prima suis miserum me cepit ocellis.

II. 3. 21 et sua cum antiquae committit scripta Corinnae, carmina quae quinis (Rossberg) non putat aequa suis. For her accomplishments see, besides the passages cited, 1. 2. 27 sqq., IV. 19 (20). 7, 8. He frequently calls her docta puella, e. g. 111. 2. 6.

2 I am not responsible for this not very flattering portrait. It is drawn from Propertius himself. Possibly it needs mitigation in some respects. It must be remembered here, as elsewhere, that we have only one side of the picture and that independent evidence, if we had it, might deprive Cynthia of some of her wonderful charms, but restore her some amiable traits. For her fickleness see the subsequent history aud compare also 1. 15; 16. 11. 6 (where he says she had as many lovers as Lais, Thais or Phryne); 8; 9. III. 14 (12); 20 (17); 30 (24). Her love of money resulted from her love of ornament. Propertius often complains of both; e.g. III. 8 (7). 11, 12 'Cynthia does not care for office or distinction. She always weighs her lover's purse' (semper amatorum ponderat una sinus); III. 11. 1 (9. 23) sqq. Sometimes his complaints seem just (1 15); sometimes they are amusing 11. 18 (15). 11 et modo

We do not know how she became acquainted with Propertius. Possibly she heard of him

connexion.

through Lycinna; possibly the young poet History of the may even then have gained a name amongst his private acquaintances which attracted the poetic Cynthia. It is certain that she made the first proffers of affection, and proposed to the poet that he should supply the place of a lover who had just deserted her to go to Africa'. To these he eagerly responded; for he was captivated by the beauty and charms of Cynthia. The disparity of their ages-for she was a good deal older than he was not felt to be a bar, and may have been an attraction. The intimacy began in pauonis caudae flabella superbae et manibus dura frigus habere pila et cupit iratum talos me poscere eburnos quaeque nitent Sacra uilia dona Via. But we gather from what he says himself that he knew these to be common failings (111. 8 (7). 17— 20) and that he had less cause than others to complain. For he was exceptionally favoured; see e.g. 1. 8 and notes, and in. 18 (11). 25, 26 'I have never bought your preference by rich gifts; quicquid eram, hoc animi gratia magna tui'; and he indulged her taste for magnificence himself, e.g. II. 3. 15, 16 nec si qua Arabio lucet bombyce puella-non sum de nihilo blandus amator ego ('it costs me something to be an attractive lover'; P.'s translation is wrong). His somewhat voluptuous nature was sensible to the charms of attire. He associates his first conquest with a particular dress, qua primum oculos cepisti ueste Properti indue, nec uacuum flore relinque caput Iv. 9 (10). 15; perhaps the purple tunic of III. 27 (21). 26 non illa mihi for. mosior umquam uisa, neque ostrina cum fuit in tunica. Her violent temper too pleased him: he regarded its outbursts as proofs that her heart was really touched Iv. 7 (8), esp. 10 nam sine amore graui femina nulla dolet, 28 semper in irata pallidus esse uelim. But when she was seriously angry, he felt it as saeuitia (1. 3. 18). For her love of slander see 1. 4. 18 sqq. sciet haec insana puella et tibi non tacitis uocibus hostis erit......et te circum omnes alias irata puellas differet; cf. III. 17 (14). 17; 18 (15). 7 and 10. It was her personal attractions that kept Propertius at her side. He tells her so himself, Iv. 7 (8). 35 gaude quod nullast aeque formosa, doleres si qua foret: nunc sis iure superba licet.

1 See Iv. 20 which was written on the occasion.