Domitius Marsus

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Domitius Marsus was a poet from the time of the Augustees, i.e. from the last decades before the turn of the times, during the reign of the emperor Augustus . Ovid names him first in a catalog of contemporary poets (Pont. IV, 16,5). Marsus should have been about the same age as Ovid.

As little is known about his life, only fragments are known of his work. His main work were epigrams . In addition, he wrote other poems, an epic and a prose work.

Marsus' epigrams, as far as we can tell, were largely aggressive and critical. The great Roman epigrammarian Martial refers to Marsus.

An obituary for the poet Tibullus has been handed down .

Te quoque Vergilio comitem non aequa, Tibulle,
Mors iuvenem campos misit ad Elysios,
Ne foret, aut elegis molles qui fleret amores
Aut caneret forti regia bella pede.

You, too, Tibullus, as a young companion for Virgil,
the unjust death sent to the Elysian fields,
and there will no longer be anyone who weeps for tender love affairs with elegies
or who praises royal wars with great verse.

Marsus speaks of that in 19 BC Virgil who died . The young Tibullus , that is, Tibullus, who is about 20 years younger than him, must have died around the same time as the great epic for the poem to make sense. Marsus complains at the same time about the lack of elegists and epics , a sign that with Augustus the golden era of Roman poetry will come to an end.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Marsus, Domitius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Latin epigrammatic poet
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 1st century BC BC or 1st century