Cum iam fulua cinis fuero: On C. Licinius Calvus’ Poetic Height

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to consider C. Licinius Calvus’ poetic facet in view of ancient testimonies and the comparison with other parallel personalities in order to understand his own poetic career. Early approaches of modern criticism will be also taken into account. Our conclusion is that some ancient authors who allude to Calvus as a poet are indeed referring to Catullus’ poems. Furthermore, his own poetic work was not very well-known in the old days. Nevertheless, his epyllion must be considered an exception because of its echoes in works such as those by Virgil and Ovid. It is precisely here where Calvus differed from Catullus’ resolutions despite being frequently compared with him in his work devoted to Quintilia.