Catullus 10

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Catullus 10 is a poem written by the Roman poet Catullus. In it, the poet is caught in a boast by the "little floozy" (scortillum) of his friend Varus.

The meter of this poem is hendecasyllabic, a common form in Catullus' poetry.

[edit] Latin text

Line	Latin Text	English Translation
1	Varus me meus ad suos amores	Varus led me to his darling
2	visum duxerat e foro otiosum,	and out of the forum, having seen my idle;
3	scortillum, ut mihi tum repente visum est,	little slut, as she suddenly seemed to me,
4	non sane illepidum neque invenustum.	though not entirely unpleasant nor uncharming.
5	Huc ut venimus, incidere nobis	When we came there, we began speaking
6	sermones varii: in quibus, quid esset	on various topics: among which, what had become
7	iam Bithynia; quo modo se haberet;	of Bythinia, in what condition was it;
8	et quonum mihi profuisset aere.	and by how much bronze had it profited me.
9	Respondi id quod erat, nihil neque ipsis	I replied what was true; neither the inhabitants
10	nec praetoribus esse nec cohorti,	nor the praetors nor the cohort
11	cur quisquam caput unctius referret,	came back any richer,
12	praesertim quibus esset irrumator	especially those who the praetor was a jerk towards,
13	praetor, nec faceret pili cohortem.	and neither did the cohort make a cent.
14	"At certe tamen" inquiunt "quod illic	"But surely still," they said, "you acquired
15	natum dicitur esse, comparasti	what is said to be native to that place,
16	ad lecticam homines." Ego, ut puellae	men to carry the litter." I, to pretend to the girl
17	unum me facerem beatiorem,	that I was the one lucky man,
18	"non" inquam "mihi tam fuit maligne,	I said, "Things didn't go so badly for me
19	ut, provincia quod mala incidisset,	that, even though the province happened to be bad,
20	non possem octo homines parare rectos."	I could not buy eight strong men."
21	At mi nullus erat nec hic neque illic,	But for me there was nobody here nor there,
22	fractum qui veteris pedem grabati	who could even place the broken foot of an old couch
23	in collo sibi collocare posset.	on his neck.
24	Hic illa, ut decuit cinaediorem,	That women, as befitted a rather shameless girl,
25	"quaeso" inquit "mihi, mi Catulle, paulum	said, "Please, my Catullus,
26	istos commoda, nam volo ad Serapim	lend me those men for a little, for I want
27	deferri." "Mane," inquii puellae,	to be carried to the temple of Serapis."
28	"istud quod modo dixeram me habere,	"Wait," I said to the girl, "as to that thing which just now I said I had,
29	fugit me ratio: meus sodalis	I wasn't thinking: my companion,
30	Cinna est Gaius - is sibi paravit;	it is Gaius Cinna - he bought the slaves for himself;
31	verum utrum illius an mei, quid ad me?	but whether they are his or mine, what difference does it make?
32	Utor tam bene quam mihi pararim.	I use them as well as if I had bought them myself.
33	Sed tu insulsa male et molesta vivis,	But you, tasteless and annoying, live badly,
34	per quam non licet esse neglegentem!"	by whom it is never permitted to be careless!"

[edit] Bibliography

• Braund, DC (1996). "The Politics of Catullus 10: Memmius, Caesar, and the Bithynians". Hermathema 160: 46–57. 

• Skinner, MB (1989). "Ut decuit cinaediorem: Power, gender and Urbanity in Catullus 10". Helios 16: 7–23. 

• Nielsen, RM (1987). "Catullus and Sal (Poem 10)". L'Antiqué Classique 56: 148–161. 

• Sedgwick, WB (1947). "Catullus X: A Rambling Commentary". Greece and Rome 16: 108–114. 

[edit] External links

http://rudy.negenborn.net/catullus/text2/l10.htm - Latin
http://rudy.negenborn.net/catullus/text2/e10.htm - English
http://rudy.negenborn.net/catullus/text2/sc10.htm - Scansion

Poems (Carmina) of The Roman poet Catullus
Lesbia poems	2, 2b, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 36, 37, 51, 58, 68, 70, 72, 75, 76, 79, 83, 85, 86, 87, 91, 92, 104, 107, 109
Invective poems	10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 33, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 47, 49, 52, 53, 54, 57, 59, 60, 69, 71, 73, 74, 77, 78, 80, 84, 88, 89, 90, 93, 95, 97, 98, 103, 108, 110, 111, 112, 113, 116
Unusual poetic meters	4, 8, 11, 17, 22, 25, 29, 30, 31, 34, 37, 39, 44, 51, 52, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64
Hendecasyllabic verse	1, 2, 2b, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 14b, 15, 16, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 58b
Elegiac couplets	65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116
See also the list of poems by Catullus.