Albius Tibullus

Tibullus, Albius (c.55–19 BC), Roman elegiac poet of equestrian rank. He was a friend of Horace and Ovid, and belonged to the circle of poets around M. Valerius Messala Corvinus, whom he may have followed on campaign in Gaul and the Near East between 31 and 27 BC. He wrote two books of elegies, the first published c.27 BC; the date of the second is unknown. The first book contains mostly love elegies, five about his love for Delia (pseudonym for Plania) and three for a boy Marathus; the second contains only six poems, three concerning his love for a girl Nemesis; the opening poem, a dramatization of the Ambarvalia, is a notable work. The rest of the works that have come down in his corpus are by other poets, notably the elegies of one Lygdamus, rather sentimental compositions by a poet who writes like Ovid, and six elegies (IV. 7–12) by Sulpicia, the niece of Messala, recording her love for Cerinthus (a pseudonym). Tibullus' favourite themes are romantic love and the pleasures of country life. He is a minor poet, a little dull perhaps, but tersus atque elegans, ‘polished and discriminating’ (Quintilian).