nte bibit.'

In Propertius love of social pleasures appears side by side with a
strain of deep melancholy _e.g._ in. 5, 21,

Me iuvat et multo mentem vincire Lyaeo
et caput in verna semper habere rosa,

contrasted with the numerous passages where he is thinking of the
grave, _e.g._ ii. 1, 71,

'Quandocumque igitur vitam mea fata reposcent,
et breve in exiguo marmore nomen ero.'

There is no greater patriot than Propertius. Cf. the denunciation of
Cleopatra (iii. 11) and the frequency of the epithet 'Romanus.'

OVID.

(1) LIFE.

Ovid's own writings (especially _Tr._ iv. 10) supply nearly all the
information we possess regarding his life. The biographies in the MSS.
are valueless.

P. Ovidius Naso was his full name, in which the MSS. agree. He speaks
of himself as Naso simply, and Statius and Martial refer to him by
that name; Tacitus and the two Senecas use the _nomen_ Ovidius.

He was born in Sulmo, one of the three divisions of the Paelignian
country, B.C. 43--the year in which Hirtius and Pansa fell at Mutina.
_Tr._ iv. 10, 3,

'Sulmo mihi patria est, gelidis uberrimus undis,
milia qui novies distat ab urbe decem.
Editus hic ego sum; nec non ut tempora noris,
cum cecidit fato consul uterque pari.'

His birthday was 20th March--the second day of the festival of the
Quinquatria (cf. _Fast._ iii. 809-814), l. 13,

'Haec est armiferae festis de quinque Minervae,
quae fieri pugna prima cruenta solet.'

He belonged to an equestrian family, and he frequently contrasts
himself with those who had reached that dignity by military service or
by possessing the requisite fortune; _ibid._ l. 7,

'Si quid id est, usque a proavis vetus ordinis heres,
non sum fortunae munere factus eques.'

Cf. _Am._ i. 3, 7; iii. 8, 9; iii. 15, 5; _Pont._ iv. 8, 17.

Along with his elder brother, he received a careful education at Rome,
and studied also at Athens. He practised rhetoric under Arellius
Fuscus and Porcius Latro. _Tr._ iv. 10, 15,

'Protinus excolimur teneri, curaque parentis
imus ad insignes urbis ab arte viros.'

_Tr._ i. 2, 77,

'Non peto quas quondam petii studiosus Athenas.'

Sen. _Contr._ ii. 10, 8, 'Hanc controversiam memini ab Ovidio Nasone
declamari apud rhetorem Arellium Fuscum, cuius auditor fuit, nam
Latronis admirator erat, cum diversum sequeretur dicendi genus.'
Seneca says that _Met._ xiii. 121, and _Am._ i. 2, 11, were borrowed
from Latro.

But