o videtur,"

and of Callimachus (lxvi.),--

"Omnia qui magni dispexit lumina mundi,"

belong to the earlier period, the _Attis_ and the _Peleus and Thetis_;
although perhaps suggested by the treatment of the same or similar
subjects in Greek authors, are executed with such power and originality
as declare them to be products of the most vigorous stage in the
development of the poet's genius. That his genius came soon to maturity
is a reason for hesitation in assigning any particular time between 62
and 54 B.C. for the composition of the _Attis_ and of that part of the
_Epithalamium_ ("Peliaco quondam prognatae vertice pinus") which deals
with the main subject of the poem. But the criticism of Munro in his
edition of Lucretius, which shows similarities of expression that cannot
be mere casual coincidences, between the Ariadne-episode in the
_Epithalamium_ of Catullus (from line 52 to 266) and the poem of
Lucretius, leaves little doubt that that portion at least of the poem
was written after the publication of the _De rerum natura_, in the
winter of 55-54 B.C.

No ancient author has left a more vivid impression of himself on his
writings than Catullus. Coming to Rome in early youth from a distant
province, not at that time included within the limits of Italy, he lived
as an equal with the men of his time of most intellectual activity and
refinement, as well as of highest social and political eminence. Among
those to whom his poems are addressed, or who are mentioned in them, we
find the names of Hortensius, Cicero, Cornelius Nepos, Licinius Calvus,
Helvius Cinna and Asinius Pollio, then only a youth (xii. 8). Catullus
brought into this circle the genius of a great poet, the social
vivacity of a vigorous nature, the simplicity and sincerity of an
unambitious, and the warmth of an affectionate disposition. He betrays
all the sensitiveness of the poetic temperament, but it is never the
sensitiveness of vanity, for he is characterized by the modesty rather
than the self-confidence which accompanies genius, but the sensitiveness
of a heart which gives and expects more sympathy and loyalty in
friendship than the world either wants or cares to give in return. He
shows also in some of his lighter pieces the fastidiousness of a refined
taste, intolerant of all boorishness, pedantry, affectation and sordid
ways of life. The passionate intensity of his temperament displays
itself with similar strength in the outpourings of his