anything is known of the life of Calpurnius; we gather from the poems
themselves (in which he is obviously represented by "Corydon") that he
was in poor circumstances and was on the point of emigrating to Spain,
when "Meliboeus" came to his aid. Through his influence Calpurnius
apparently secured a post at Rome. The time at which Calpurnius lived
has been much discussed, but all the indications seem to point to the
time of Nero. The emperor is described as a handsome youth, like Mars
and Apollo, whose accession marks the beginning of a new golden age,
prognosticated by the appearance of a comet, doubtless the same that
appeared some time before the death of Claudius; he exhibits splendid
games in the amphitheatre (probably the wooden amphitheatre erected by
Nero in 57); and in the words

maternis causam qui vicit Iulis[1] (i. 45),

there is a reference to the speech delivered in Greek by Nero on behalf
of the Ilienses (Suetonius, _Nero_, 7; Tacitus, _Annals_, xii. 58), from
whom the Julii derived their family.[2] Meliboeus, the poet's patron,
has been variously identified with Columella, Seneca the philosopher,
and C. Calpurnius Piso. Although the sphere of Meliboeus's literary
activity (as indicated in iv. 53) suits none of these, what is known of
Calpurnius Piso fits in well with what is said of Meliboeus by the poet,
who speaks of his generosity, his intimacy with the emperor, and his
interest in tragic poetry. His claim is further supported by the poem
_De Laude Pisonis_ (ed. C.F. Weber, 1859) which has come down to us
without the name of the author, but which there is considerable reason
for attributing to Calpurnius.[3] The poem exhibits a striking
similarity with the eclogues in metre, language and subject-matter. The
author of the _Laus_ is young, of respectable family and desirous of
gaining the favour of Piso as his Maecenas. Further, the similarity
between the two names can hardly be accidental; it is suggested that the
poet may have been adopted by the courtier, or that he was the son of a
freedman of Piso. The attitude of the author of the _Laus_ towards the
subject of the panegyric seems to show less intimacy than the relations
between Corydon and Meliboeus in the eclogues, and there is internal
evidence that the _Laus_ was written during the reign of Claudius
(Teuffel-Schwabe, _Hist, of Rom. Lit._ S 306, 6).

Mention may here be made of the fragments of two short hexameter poems
in an Einsiedeln MS.