List of poems by Catullus

This article lists the poems of Catullus and their various properties.
Catullus' poems can be divided into three groups:

the polymetrics
the long poems
the epigrams

Historical context

Catullus lived in the waning days of the Roman Republic, just before the Imperial era that began with Augustus. Catullus is the chief representative of a school of poets known as the poetae novi or neoteroi, both terms meaning "the new poets". Their poems were a bold departure from traditional models, being relatively short and describing everyday occurrences and intense personal feelings; by contrast, traditional poetry was generally large and epic, describing titanic battles among heroes and gods. These avant-garde poets drew inspiration from earlier Greek authors, especially Sappho and Callimachus; Catullus himself used Sapphic meter in two poems, Catullus 11 and 51, the second of which is almost a translation. His poems are written in a variety of meters, with hendecasyllabic verse and elegiac couplets being the most common by far.
Catullus is renowned for his love poems, particularly the 25 poems addressed to a woman named Lesbia, of which Catullus 5 is perhaps the most famous. Scholars generally believe that Lesbia was a pseudonym for Clodia and that the name Lesbia is likely an homage to Sappho, who came from the isle of Lesbos. Catullus is also admired for his elegies, especially Catullus 101 and Catullus 96, for his hymn to his homeland, Sirmio, in Catullus 31, and for his many depictions of everyday life in ancient Rome, such as Catullus 4, Catullus 10, and Catullus 13. Finally, he was well-nigh infamous even in his own time for his fierce, sometimes obscene, invectives against faithless friends, faithless lovers, corrupt politicians, and bad poets.
Catullus was admired in ancient times for his elegantly crafted poems, and inspired many of the next generation of poets, especially Ovid, Tibullus, and Sextus Propertius. Even Virgil and Horace are also known to have adopted some elements of his poetry, although the latter was also critical of his work. Martial seems to be the only later Latin poet to be influenced significantly by Catullus. Catullus is mentioned by a few other Roman scholars, such as Pliny the Younger and Quintilian, and by St. Jerome. Since Catullus' work was not adopted as part of a classical curriculum, it was gradually forgotten over time, although one Bishop Rather of Verona is said to have delighted in reading his poems c. 965 AD. That changed c. 1300 AD, with the discovery of a manuscript that contained 116 poems by Catullus.

Main list

The table below lists all of Catullus' extant poems, with links to the full text, the poetic meter, the number of lines, and other data. The entire table can be sorted according to any column by clicking on the arrows in the topmost cell. The "Type" column is color-coded, with a green font indicating poems for or about friends, a magenta font marking his famous poems about his Lesbia, and a red font indicating invective poems. The "Addressee" column cites the person to whom Catullus addresses the poem, which ranges from friends, enemies, targets of political satire, and even a sparrow.

Poem	Text	First line	Meter	# lines	Type	Themes	Addressee	Reading
1	Latin English	Cui dono lepidum novum libellum?	hendecasyllabic	10	Friends	Gifts to friends, poems	Cornelius Nepos
2	Latin English	Passer, deliciae meae puellae	hendecasyllabic	10	Lesbia	A young woman and her pet bird	Lesbia's sparrow
2b	Latin English	tam gratum est mihi quam ferunt puellae	hendecasyllabic	3	Lesbia	Atalanta
3	Latin English	Lugete, o Veneres Cupidinesque	hendecasyllabic	18	Lesbia	Eulogy to the girlfriend's pet bird	Orcus
4	Latin English	Phaselus ille quem videtis, hospites	iambic trimeter	27	Miscellaneous	An old boat, once fast, entering retirement	A little boat
5	Latin English	Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus	hendecasyllabic	13	Lesbia	Brief lives and many kisses	Lesbia
6	Latin English	Flavi, delicias tuas Catullo	hendecasyllabic	17	Friends	Uncovering a friend's love life	Flavius
7	Latin English	Quaeris quot mihi basiationes	hendecasyllabic	12	Lesbia	Never growing tired of kissing	Lesbia
8	Latin English	Miser Catulle, desinas ineptire	choliambic	19	Lesbia	Getting over being dumped	Himself
9	Latin English	Verani, omnibus e meis amicis	hendecasyllabic	11	Friends	A friend's homecoming	Veranius
10	Latin English	Varus me meus ad suos amores	hendecasyllabic	34	Invective	Caught in a boast	Varus' girlfriend
11	Latin English	Furi et Aureli, comites Catulli	Sapphic stanza	24	Lesbia	Dumping a promiscuous girlfriend	Furius and Aurelius
12	Latin English	Marrucine Asini, manu sinistra	hendecasyllabic	17	Invective	Shaming a napkin thief	Asinius Marrucinus
13	Latin English	Cenabis bene, mi Fabulle, apud me	hendecasyllabic	14	Friends	Partying on a friend's dime	Fabullus
14	Latin English	Ni te plus oculis meis amarem	hendecasyllabic	23	Invective	Despising pompous poetry	Bad poets
14b	Latin English	Si qui forte mearum ineptiarum	hendecasyllabic	3	Miscellaneous	Risqué poetry	His readers
15	Latin English	Commendo tibi me ac meos amores	hendecasyllabic	19	Invective	Hands off my boy-toy	Aurelius
16	Latin English	Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo	hendecasyllabic	14	Invective	Nasty reply to critics	Aurelius and Furius
17	Latin English	O Colonia, quae cupis ponte ludere longo	priapean	26	Invective	My acquaintance, the utter dunce	Verona
21	Latin English	Aureli, pater esuritionum	hendecasyllabic	13	Invective	Hands off my boy-toy	Aurelius
22	Latin English	Suffenus iste, Vare, quem probe nosti	choliambic	21	Invective	Everyone deceives themselves	Suffenus
23	Latin English	Furi, cui neque servus est neque arca	hendecasyllabic	27	Invective	Nasty insults to whole family	Furius
24	Latin English	O qui flosculus es Iuventiorum	hendecasyllabic	10	Invective	Don't give in to his seductions!	Juventius
25	Latin English	Cinaede Thalle, mollior cuniculi capillo	iambic tetrameter catalectic	13	Invective	Give me back my stuff, expressed beautifully	Thallus
26	Latin English	Furi, villula vestra non ad Austri	hendecasyllabic	5	Invective	Losing the farm to debt	Furius
27	Latin English	Minister vetuli puer Falerni	hendecasyllabic	7	Miscellaneous	Out with water, in with wine!	His cupbearer
28	Latin English	Pisonis comites, cohors inanis	hendecasyllabic	15	Invective	Screwed over by politicians	Memmius
29	Latin English	Quis hoc potest videre, quis potest pati?	iambic trimeter	25	Invective	Waste of money by politicians	Mamurra
30	Latin English	Alfenus immemor atque unanimis false sodalibus	greater Asclepiadean	12	Invective	Boyfriends can't be trusted	Alfenus
31	Latin English	Paene insularum, Sirmio, insularumque	choliambic	14	Miscellaneous	A hymn to homecoming	Sirmio
32	Latin English	Amabo, mea dulcis Ipsitilla	hendecasyllabic	11	Friends	Get ready for me	Ipsitilla
33	Latin English	O furum optime balneariorum	hendecasyllabic	8	Invective	Father thief, son gigolo	Vibennius, Sr. and Jr.
34	Latin English	Dianae sumus in fide	glyconic (3) / pherecratean (1)	24	Miscellaneous	Hymn to Diana	Diana
35	Latin English	Poetae tenero, meo sodali	hendecasyllabic	18	Friends	Please don't go	His papyrus
36	Latin English	Annales Volusi, cacata carta	hendecasyllabic	20	Lesbia	Burning bad poetry to win love	Annals of Volusius
37	Latin English	Salax taberna, vosque contubernales	choliambic	20	Lesbia	Girlfriend left for richer men	Egnatius
38	Latin English	Male est, Cornifici, tuo Catullo	hendecasyllabic	8	Friends	Why aren't you comforting me?	Cornificius
39	Latin English	Egnatius, quod candidos habet dentes	choliambic	21	Invective	Smiling hypocrite	Egnatius
40	Latin English	Quaenam te mala mens, miselle Ravide	hendecasyllabic	8	Invective	Threatening a romantic rival	Ravidus
41	Latin English	Ameana puella defututa	hendecasyllabic	8	Invective	woman asking for money	Ameana
42	Latin English	Adeste, hendecasyllabi, quot estis	hendecasyllabic	24	Invective	the effectiveness of politeness	His own verses
43	Latin English	Salve, nec minimo puella naso	hendecasyllabic	8	Invective	Insulting Mamurra's girlfriend	Ameana
44	Latin English	O funde noster, seu Sabine seu Tiburs	choliambic	21	Invective	Head colds and cold writing	Publius Sestius
45	Latin English	Acmen Septimius suos amores	hendecasyllabic	26	Friends	Over-the-top love poem
46	Latin English	Iam ver egelidos refert tepores	hendecasyllabic	11	Miscellaneous	the springtime urge to wander	His friends
47	Latin English	Porci et Socration, duae sinistrae	hendecasyllabic	7	Invective	unworthy become rich	Porcius and Socration
48	Latin English	Mellitos oculos tuos, Iuventi	hendecasyllabic	6	Juventius	Not tiring of kissing	Juventius
49	Latin English	Disertissime Romuli nepotum	hendecasyllabic	7	Invective	Praise of a politician-or not	Cicero
50	Latin English	Hesterni, Licini, die otiosi	hendecasyllabic	21	Friends	Exchanging poetry between friends	Calvus
51	Latin English	Ille mi par esse deo videtur	Sapphic stanza	16	Lesbia	The feeling of love; translation of Sappho	Lesbia
52	Latin English	Quid est, Catulle? quid moraris emori?	iambic trimeter	4	Invective	Suicidal thoughts at the current political situation	Self
53	Latin English	Risi nescio quem modo e corona	hendecasyllabic	5	Invective	The crowd's thoughts on a friend's rhetoric	Calvus, Vatinianus
54	Latin English	Othonis caput oppido est pusillum	hendecasyllabic	7	Invective	Direct attack on Julius Caesar's followers	Otho, Libo, Sufficius, and Julius Caesar
55	Latin English	Oramus, si forte non molestum est	hendecasyllabic	33	Friends	Tracking down a lover	Camerius
56	Latin English	O rem ridiculam, Cato, et iocosam	hendecasyllabic	7	Friends	Surprise threesome	Cato
57	Latin English	Pulcre convenit improbis cinaedis	hendecasyllabic	10	Invective	Abominable sodomites	Julius Caesar and Mamurra
58	Latin English	Caeli, Lesbia nostra, Lesbia illa	hendecasyllabic	5	Lesbia	My ex is a slut now	Caelius
58b	Latin English	Non custos si fingar ille Cretum	hendecasyllabic	10	Friends	Tracking down a lover, part II	Camerius
59	Latin English	Bononiensis Rufa Rufulum fellat	choliambic	5	Invective	Adultery and graverobbing	Rufa and Rufulus
60	Latin English	Num te leaena montibus Libystinis	choliambic	5	Invective	Hard-hearted benefactor
61	Latin English	Collis o Heliconii	glyconic (4) / pherecratean (1)	235	Friends	Marriage hymn on occasion of friends' wedding	Junia and Manlius
62	Latin English	Vesper adest, iuvenes, consurgite: Vesper Olympo	dactylic hexameter	66	Miscellaneous	Girls and boys share views on marriage	Wedding guests
63	Latin English	Super alta vectus Attis celeri rate maria	galliambic	93	Miscellaneous	Attis, who castrated self to be with Cybele	Attis
64	Latin English	Peliaco quondam prognatae vertice pinus	dactylic hexameter	408	Miscellaneous	Mini-epic about the wedding of Peleus and Thetis	Theseus, Ariadne, Peleus and Thetis
65	Latin English	Etsi me assiduo confectum cura dolore	elegiac couplets	24	Friends	Writing poetry after his brother's death	Hortalus
66	Latin English	Omnia qui magni dispexit lumina mundi	elegiac couplets	94	Miscellaneous	translation of Callimachus	Berenice
67	Latin English	O dulci iucunda viro, iucunda parenti	elegiac couplets	48	Miscellaneous		A door
68a	Latin English	Quod mihi fortuna casuque oppressus acerbo	elegiac couplets	40	Friends	To Mallius	Mallius
68b	Latin English	Non possum reticere, deae, qua me Allius in re	elegiac couplets	120	Lesbia	To Allius, with thanks	Allius
69	Latin English	Noli admirari, quare tibi femina nulla	elegiac couplets	10	Invective	Clean up your act!	Rufus
70	Latin English	Nulli se dicit mulier mea nubere malle	elegiac couplets	4	Lesbia	Girlfriends can't be trusted
71	Latin English	Si cui iure bono sacer alarum obstitit hircus	elegiac couplets	6	Invective	On the contagiousness of gout and stink
72	Latin English	Dicebas quondam solum te nosse Catullum	elegiac couplets	8	Lesbia		Lesbia
73	Latin English	Desine de quoquam quicqum bene velle mereri	elegiac couplets	6	Invective	Can't trust anybody
74	Latin English	Gelius audierat patruum obiurgare solere	elegiac couplets	6	Invective	Poor uncle	Gellius
75	Latin English	Huc est mens deducta tua mea, Lesbia, culpa	elegiac couplets	4	Lesbia	Helpless in love	Lesbia
76	Latin English	Siqua recordanti benefacta priora voluptas	elegiac couplets	26	Lesbia		The gods
77	Latin English	Rufe mihi frustra ac nequiquam credite amice	elegiac couplets	6	Invective	I thought we were friends!	Rufus
78	Latin English	Gallus habet fratres, quorum est lepidissima coniunx	elegiac couplets	6	Invective		Gallus
78b	Latin English	sed nunc doleo, quod purae pura puellae	elegiac couplets	4	Invective
79	Latin English	Lesbius est pulcer. quid ni? quem Lesbia malit	elegiac couplets	4	Lesbia	She loves her brother a little too much	Lesbius
80	Latin English	Quid dicam, Gelli, quare rosea ista labella	elegiac couplets	8	Invective		Gellius
81	Latin English	Nemone in tanto potuit populo esse, Iuventi	elegiac couplets	6	Juventius	How could you prefer him to me?	Juventius
82	Latin English	Quinti, si tibi vis oculos debere Catullum	elegiac couplets	4	Friends		Quintius
83	Latin English	Lesbia mi praesente viro mala plurima dicit	elegiac couplets	6	Lesbia	She insults me because she still cares	Lesbia's husband
84	Latin English	Chommoda dicebat, si quando commoda vellet	elegiac couplets	12	Invective	Making fun of pronunciation	Arrius
85	Latin English	Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris?	elegiac couplets	2	Lesbia	Inner turmoil
86	Latin English	Quintia formosa est multis. mihi candida, longa	elegiac couplets	6	Lesbia	What's beauty without charm?
87	Latin English	Nulla potest mulier tantum se dicere amatam	elegiac couplets	4	Lesbia	Depth of my love	Lesbia
88	Latin English	Quid facit is, Gelli, qui cum matre atque sorore	elegiac couplets	8	Invective	Incest in the family	Gellius
89	Latin English	Gellius est tenuis: quid ni? Cui tam bona mater	elegiac couplets	6	Invective	Incest in the family II	Gellius
90	Latin English	Nascatur magus ex Gelli matrisque nefando	elegiac couplets	6	Invective		Gellius
91	Latin English	Non ideo, Gelli, sperabam te mihi fidum	elegiac couplets	10	Lesbia	Since she's not your relative, I thought you'd stay away	Gellius
92	Latin English	Lesbia mi dicit semper male nec tacet umquam	elegiac couplets	4	Lesbia	Lesbia and I are the same
93	Latin English	Nil nimum studeo, Caesar, tibi velle placere	elegiac couplets	2	Invective	I don't like you	Julius Caesar
94	Latin English	Mentula moechatur. Moechatur mentula? Certe.	elegiac couplets	2	Miscellaneous		Cock
95	Latin English	Zmyrna mei Cinnae nonam post denique messem	elegiac couplets	10	Invective		Volusius
95b	Latin English	Parva mei mihi sint cordi monimenta...	elegiac couplets	10	Miscellaneous		Antimachus
96	Latin English	Si quicquam mutis gratum acceptumve sepulcris	elegiac couplets	6	Friends	On the death of Calvus' wife	Calvus
97	Latin English	Non quicquam referre putavi	elegiac couplets	12	Invective	On Aemilius's oral hygiene	Aemilius
98	Latin English	In te, si in quemquam, dici pote, putide Victi	elegiac couplets	6	Invective		Victius
99	Latin English	Surripui tibi, dum ludis, mellite Iuventi	elegiac couplets	16	Juventius	Regretting a stolen kiss	Juventius
100	Latin English	Caelius Aufillenum et Quintius Aufillenam	elegiac couplets	8	Friends		Caelius
101	Latin English	Multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus	elegiac couplets	10	Friends	An elegy for a brother	His brother
102	Latin English	Si quicquam tacito commissum est fido ab amico	elegiac couplets	4	Friends		Cornelius Nepos
103	Latin English	Aut sodes mihi redde decem sestertiis, Silo	elegiac couplets	4	Invective	Give me back my money	Silo
104	Latin English	Credis me potuisse meae maledicere vitae	elegiac couplets	4	Lesbia
105	Latin English	Mentula conatur Pipleium scandere montem	elegiac couplets	2	Miscellaneous		Cock
106	Latin English	Cum puero bello praeconem qui videt esse	elegiac couplets	2	Miscellaneous
107	Latin English	Si quicquam cupido optantique optigit umquam	elegiac couplets	8	Lesbia		Lesbia
108	Latin English	Si, Comini, populi arbitrio tua cana senectus	elegiac couplets	6	Invective	A fitting punishment	Cominius
109	Latin English	Iucundum, mea vita, mihi proponis amorem	elegiac couplets	6	Lesbia	Lifelong love	Lesbia and the gods
110	Latin English	Aufillena, bonae semper laudantur amicae	elegiac couplets	8	Invective		Aufillena
111	Latin English	Aufillena, viro contentam vivere solo	elegiac couplets	4	Invective		Aufillena
112	Latin English	Multus homo es, Naso, neque tecum multus homo	elegiac couplets	2	Invective		Naso
113	Latin English	Consule Pompeio primum duo, Cinna, solebant	elegiac couplets	4	Invective		Maecilia
114	Latin English	Firmano saltu non falso Mentula dives	elegiac couplets	6	Miscellaneous		Cock
115	Latin English	Mentula habet instar triginta iugera prati	elegiac couplets	8	Miscellaneous		Cock
116	Latin English	Saepe tibi studioso animo venante requirens	elegiac couplets	8	Invective		Gellius