Albius Tibullus

Andreas Michalopoulos (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)

Ed. by Paul Roche, University of Sydney, William John Dominik, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Dates

Born c. -48
Died -19
Activity -30--19

Places

Born in Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire)
Active in Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire)

Activities

Primary

Poet

Resources

Tibullus' Works

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Tibullus is one of the four top elegiac poets of Rome. Ovid places him in the Canon of the Roman elegists (

. 4.10.51-4): “Vergilium vidi tantum, nec avara Tibullo / tempus amicitiae fata dedere meae. / successor fuit hic tibi, Galle, Propertius illi; / quartus ab his serie temporis ipse fui” [“Vergil I only saw, and to Tibullus greedy fate gave no time for friendship with me. Tibullus was thy successor, Gallus, and Propertius his; after them came I, fourth in order of time”, trans. A.L. Wheeler]. About a century later the rhetorician and literary critic Quintilian, in his brief reference to the genre of love elegy and its major exponents calls Tibullus “tersus atque elegans [polished and elegant] (

Inst

. 10.1.93).

Information on the life of Tibullus can be gathered from the

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1843 words

Citation: Michalopoulos, Andreas. "Albius Tibullus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 May 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12457, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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