5 is referred to, and cc. 11 and 29 were written after Caesar's
expedition to Britain in B.C. 55. C. 52 used to be taken as referring
to B.C. 47, from l. 3, 'per consulatum perierat Vatinius,' but, as
shown below, was written in B.C. 55 or 54. As no clear reference is
found to any event after B.C. 54 (a highly important time, which would
have been likely to produce some sarcastic poetry from Catullus), it
is best to accept the view that Catullus lived from 87 to 54 or 53
B.C. B. Schmidt (ed. mai. 1887, prolegomena), on the other hand, fixes
the dates as 82-52 B.C. (accepting Jerome's account of Catullus' age),
and attributes c. 38 (to Cornificius) to the latter year.

Catullus' family was wealthy and of good position, as is seen from his
having estates at Sirmio (c. 31) and Tibur (c. 44), and from the fact
that his father was a friend of Julius Caesar.

Sueton. _Iul._ 73, 'Hospitioque patris eius [Catulli], sicut
consueverat, uti perseveravit.'

Catullus went to Rome early, and there, as Schmidt thinks, was taught
by the grammarian Valerius Cato, to whom c. 56 is probably addressed.
From c. 68, 34-5, we see that he was settled at Rome.

'Romae vivimus: illa domus,
illa mihi sedes, illic mea carpitur aetas.'

Catullus wrote love-poetry soon after taking the _toga virilis_; c.
68, 15,

'Tempore quo primum vestis mihi tradita purast,
iucundum cum aetas florida ver ageret,
multa satis lusi.'

Catullus' love for Lesbia is the outstanding fact of his life. Her
real name was Clodia, the sister of P. Clodius, nicknamed for her
immorality 'quadrantaria.'

Apuleius, _Apol._ 10, 'Accusent C. Catullum quod Lesbiam pro Clodia
nominarit.'

Ovid, _Trist._ ii. 427,

'Sic sua lascivo cantata est saepe Catullo
femina, cui falsum Lesbia nomen erat.'

The name Lesbia (which scans like Clodia) may be got from Sappho, the
Lesbian poetess, on whom c. 51 (probably the first addressed to
Clodia) is modelled. The facts known about Clodia all fit in with what
Catullus tells us of Lesbia. For Lesbia's beauty, cf. cc. 43 and 86;
Clodia was called +boopis+ from her large and lustrous eyes
(Cic. _ad Att._ ii. 9, 1; 12, 2, etc.). For her relations with her
husband, cf. Cic. _ad Att._ ii. 1, 5 (written B.C. 60), 'Est enim
seditiosa: cum viro bellum gerit.' A hint of the real name is got from
c. 79, where the Lesbius mentioned is Clodius, just as Lesbia is
Clodia,

'Lesbius est pulcer: quid ni? quem Le