The Poetry of Gaius Valerius Catullus/113

Text and Translation
Meters - Elegiac couplets

Line 1

 * Consule Pomeio primum: the year of the first consulship of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, 70 B.C.
 * Solebant: soleo, meaning "to be used to" or "to be wont", here used euphemistically

Line 2

 * Maeciliam: A well-known Roman name. Possibly a misspelling of Mucillam, a diminutive of Mucia, and therefore a possible reference to Mucia Tertia, the daughter of Quintus Mucius Scaevola and the third wife of Pompey; she was divorced by the latter on accusations of adultery.
 * facto consule nunc iterum: the year of Pompey's second consulship, 55 B.C.

Line 3

 * cereverunt milia in unum/singula: a thousand (rivals) have sprung up against each man, the implication being that between the consulships, Maecilia's lovers have grown from two to two thousand.

Line 4

 * adulterio: dative of possession; est is omitted