qq._). In B.C. 29 or 28 his
acquaintance with Cynthia began. Her real name was Hostia (Apuleius,
_Apol._ 10, 'Accusent ... Propertium, qui Cynthiam dicat, Hostiam
dissimulet'), and she was possibly a grand-daughter of the poet
Hostius (p. 65). Cf. iii. 20, 8,

'Splendidaque a docto fama refulget avo.'

A courtesan of the higher class, she is represented by Propertius as
possessed of great personal charms and varied accomplishments (i. 2,
30, 'Omnia quaeque Venus quaeque Minerva probat'), combined with many
faults of temper and character. She had a house at Rome in the Subura,
and we hear of her also at Tibur, where she was buried (iv. 7, 15;
85). She was considerably older than Propertius; ii. 18, 19,

'At tu etiam iuvenem odisti me, perfida, cum sis
ipsa anus haud longa curva futura die.'

At the end of two years the unfaithfulness of Propertius led to twelve
months of estrangement; iii. 16, 9,

'Peccaram semel, et totum sum pulsus in annum.'

Cynthia was reconciled to him about the beginning of B.C. 25; but the
passion on both sides gradually cooled until, in 23, Propertius
harshly cast her off (iii. 24 and 25). Possibly there was a second
reconciliation before her death (iv. 7). The five years of bondage
(iii. 25, 3, 'Quinque tibi potui servire fideliter annos,') will thus
be B.C. 28, 27, 25-23.

Propertius lived chiefly at Rome; but i. 18 was written near the
Clitumnus, and in ii. 19 he promises to join Cynthia in that region.
In iii. 21 he contemplates a voyage to Athens; l. 1,

'Magnum iter ad doctas proficisci cogor Athenas,
ut me longa gravi solvat amore via.'

A few years earlier he had refused to accompany his friend Tullus to
Athens and Asia (i. 6).

Nothing is known of the subsequent life of Propertius, but from two
passages in the younger Pliny it is natural to infer that he married,
in obedience to the _Lex Iulia_ of B.C. 18, and had issue. Pliny,
_Ep._ vi. 15, 'Passennus Paullus ... inter maiores suos Propertium
numerat'; ix. 22, 'Propertium ... a quo genus ducit.'

We cannot tell even when he died. He must have been alive in B.C. 16,
because iv. 6 was written for the _ludi quinquennales_, which were
held for the first time in that year; and iv. 11. 65, is an allusion
to the consulship of P. Cornelius Scipio, also in B.C. 16.

In personal appearance Propertius was pale and thin, and rather fond
of dress; i. 5, 21,

'Nec iam pallorem totiens mirabere nostrum,
aut cur s