et novum genus togatarum inscripsitque
trabeatas.'

TIBULLUS.

(1) LIFE.

Albius Tibullus (his praenomen was perhaps Aulus, which, from the
abbreviation A. being followed by Albius, was lost in the MSS.) seems
to have been born near Pedum in Latium. (1) Horace, in _Ep._ i. 4, 2,
addressed to Tibullus, asks, 'Quid nunc te dicam facere in regione
Pedana?' apparently referring to the 'sedes avitae' of Tibullus
(Tibull. ii. 4, 53). (2) The Life contained in the best MSS., and
probably to be attributed to Suetonius, calls him 'Albius Tibullus,
eques Romanus' (codd. Paris. and Lips. 'regulis'). Baehrens
(_Tibullische Blaetter_) holds that _Romanus_ is an erroneous
correction of _regulis_, for which he proposes to read _R._ (=
Romanus) _e Gabis_ (= Gabiis). Gabii was within a short distance of
Pedum.

The date of his birth can be fixed only by indirect evidence.

(1) The Life says 'obiit adulescens,' and the epigram of Domitius
Marsus, found in the best MSS., calls Tibullus 'iuvenis' at the time
of his death, which must have occurred about the same time as
Virgil's, in B.C. 19,

'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.'

(2) Ovid (_Tr._ iv. 10, 53) says of Tibullus,

'Successor fuit hic tibi, Galle, Propertius illi.'

Since Gallus was born B.C. 70, and Propertius about B.C. 49, the birth
of Tibullus must have fallen between those years.

(3) Tibullus accompanied Messalla when he left for Aquitania, B.C. 30
or 29, according to the Life: 'Ante alios Corvinum Messallam oratorem
dilexit, cuius etiam contubernalis Aquitanico bello militaribus donis
donatus est.' Cf. Tibull. i. 7, 9,

'Non sine me est tibi partus honos; Tarbella Pyrene
testis et Oceani litora Santonici.'

Putting together these references we may place the date of Tibullus'
birth in B.C. 54. (The statement of the Life in the Codex
Guelferbytanus, 'Natus est Hyrtio et Pansa coss.' is clearly wrong).

He was of equestrian rank, and at one time possessed considerable
wealth, apparently inherited from a long line of ancestors; i. 1, 41,

'Non ego divitias patrum fructusque requiro
quos tulit antiquo condita messis avo.'

Cf. ii. 1, 1; ii. 4, 53; Hor. _Ep._ i. 4, 7,

'Di tibi divitias dederunt.'

His family property, however, had been greatly diminished; i. 1, 19,

'Vos quoque, felicis q