Gaius Licinius Macer Calvus
Gaius Licinius Macer Calvus (28 May 82 BC[1] – c. Template:TrimScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".[2]) was an orator and poet of ancient Rome.
Son of Licinius Macer[2] and thus a member of the gens Licinia, he was a friend of the poet Catullus, whose style and subject matter he shared.[3]
Calvus's oratorical style opposed the "Asian" school in favor of a simpler Attic model: he characterized Cicero as "Script error: No such module "Lang"." (loose and nerveless), while Cicero described him as "Script error: No such module "Lang"." (bloodless and dry).[4][5] However, there was no enmity between these two, and Cicero praised Calvus highly.[2]
Tacitus mentions twenty-one of his speeches, including several speeches against Publius Vatinius.[6] Calvus likely prosecuted Vatinius multiple times, in 58 BC and then later in 54 BC, where he was defended by Cicero.[7] One of these trials (probably the second) is described in Catullus's poem 53.[8] At the trial one of the bystanders caused Catullus to laugh by crying out "Great gods, what an eloquent Script error: No such module "Lang".!". The meaning of the rare word Script error: No such module "Lang". has been disputed, but it has been suggested that it may have referred to Calvus's wit or short stature. There may also have been an obscene meaning.[9][10]
Seneca the Elder mentions his short stature, and refers a story in which Calvus asked to be raised to a platform, so that he could defend one of his clients, Asinius Pollio, being attacked by supporters of Gaius Cato.[11] Seneca also tells a story of how, at a trial, the defendant jumped up and complained "I ask you, judges, am I to be condemned just because that man is a good speaker?"[10][12]
Catullus counted him as a close friend and addressed several poems to him. In one of these, no. 50, he describes how he and Calvus spent a pleasant afternoon taking turns to write short poems.[13]
Frédéric Plessis published fragments of Calvus in 1896.[14]
See also
References
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- ↑ Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 7.165
- ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
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- ↑ Tacitus, Dialogus, 18
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- ↑ Tacitus, Dialogus, 21
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- ↑ a b Quinn, K. (1973) Catullus: the Poems, 2nd ed., pp. 248–249.
- ↑ Seneca the Elder, Controversiae, 7.4.7
- ↑ Seneca the Elder, Controversiae, 7.4.6
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
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