THE FIGURE of CORNELIUS GALLUS in PROPERTIUS' MONOBIBLOS Joel Violette BA History, St. Thomas Aquinas College, 2006 Master of Ar
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THE FIGURE OF CORNELIUS GALLUS IN PROPERTIUS' MONOBIBLOS by Joel Violette BA History, St. Thomas Aquinas College, 2006 A Report Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Graduate Academic Unit of Classics Supervisor: John Geyssen, Ph.D, Classics Examining Board: William Kerr, Ph.D, Classics, Chair Demetres Tryphonopoulos, Ph.D, English This report is accepted by the Dean of Graduate Studies THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK April, 2011 © Joel Violette, 2011 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du 1+1 Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-91831-9 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-91831-9 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Canada ABSTRACT Long has the identity of Gallus in poems 5,10,13, 20, and 21 of Propertius' Monobiblos been disputed and long have scholars hesitated to connect this figure to the elegiac poet Cornelius Gallus. With the exception of 1.20, there has been little agreement over whether these Galluses should be seen as the poet. Various arguments regarding individual poems have been advanced to deny a reference to Cornelius Gallus, and very few have been willing to see the poet as having an important role in theMonobiblos. However, this general misunderstanding of Propertius' handling of Gallus has resulted in a misreading of much of Propertius' first book. This report will examine the figure of Gallus as he is presented in the first book of Propertius' poetry. After surveying the life and what can be said of Gallus' poetry by looking at the individual poems in which Gallus is addressed, we will establish that the Gallus addressed in the Monobiblos is indeed the poet. And finally, with the poet Gallus thus understood as a major figure in Propertius' book, we will explore Gallus' function within the book. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................................................ii TABLE OF CONTENTS.............................................................................................................................iii INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................1 GAIUS CORNELIUS GALLUS: LIFE AND W O R K ................................................................................ 2 THE TWO GALLUSES OF PROPERTIUS' MONOBIBLOS................................................................17 PROPERTIUS 1 .5 ..................................................................................................................... 18 PROPERTIUS 1.10 & 1.13......................................................................................................23 PROPERTIUS 1 .2 0 ...................................................................................................................27 PROPERTIUS 1.21 & 1.22......................................................................................................32 GALLUS' POETIC PERSONA................................................................................................................40 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................................................... 44 CURRICULUM VITAE The Figure of Cornelius Gallus in Propertius' Monobiblos Introduction The fragmentary state of Latin poetry naturally leads to speculation. This will be espe cially true when confronting a figure such as Gaius Cornelius Gallus, universally regard ed among the ancients as both a poet of distinction and as the inventor of Latin Elegy. Quintilian ranks him as a poet of the calibre of Tibullus and Propertius, though describ ing his style as durior, rather harsher, than that of either.1 Ovid mentions Gallus sever al times throughout his works and also esteems him among Vergil, Tibullus, and Prop ertius.2 Gallus is rightly viewed as having had a major influence on the group of poets writing around the time of Augustus, most notably Vergil in his Eclogues, and Properti us in the first book of his elegies, known as the Monobiblos. Because his poetry survives in only the scantiest of remains, one certain frag ment of one line and one recently-found and highly-debated fragment consisting of nine lines, modern scholars have been unable to evaluate properly Gallus' contribu tions to Latin poetry. However, despite the paucity of remains, Gallus is still a figure who intrigues scholars of Augustan elegy. He is referenced by many of his contempo rary and near-contemporary poets and portrayed as a character in the works of both Vergil and Propertius. 1 Quint. 10.1.93 2 Ov., Tristia 4.10.51-54 1 This report will examine the figure of Gallus as he is presented in the first book of Propertius' poetry. After surveying the life and what can be said of Gallus' poetry, we will establish that the Gallus addressed in the Monobiblos is indeed the poet. And finally, with the poet Gallus thus understood as a major figure in Propertius' book, we will explore Gallus' function within the book. Gaius Cornelius Gallus: Life and Work The Chronicle of St. Jerome provides a synopsis of Gallus' life: "Cornelius Gallus Foroiuliensis poeta, a quo primum Aegyptum rectam supra diximus, XUII aetatis suae anno propria se manu interficit ."3 St. Jerome indicates Gallus' birthplace with Foroiuliensis, which simply means "born in a location called Forum lulii." But there are a few problems with this. First, not only are there several places named Forum lulii, but there are too few clues to help us select conclusively any of them. Second, places called "Forum lulii" generally had not been called that in the time of Gallus' birth. Third, an epigraphic inscription discovered in 1963 revealed that Cornelius Gallus him self established a "Forum lulii" in Egypt while prefect there. Since this both suggests confusion in St. Jerome's information and provides a plausible reason for that confu sion, it cannot be considered valid information on Gallus' birthplace.4 Cairns and Man- 3 Chron., 188 ol., p. 164 H. (188th Olympiad = 28-25 BC.), following Syme, p.39. Translation: "Cornelius Gallus, a Forum lulii-born poet, by whom Egypt was first governed, as mentioned above, killed himself by his own hand in the 43rd year of his life." 4 Cairns (2006), 72. 2 zoni, two of the most prolific recent contributors to Gallan scholarship, suggest he came from Gallia Cisalpina.5 In 43 BC Gallus appeared in Rome as the mutual acquaintance of Asinius Pollio and Cicero.6 In 30 BC aspraefectus fabrum he participated in Augustus' Egyptian cam paign. According to Cairns, Gallus played a much more important role in Octavian's triumph over Antony and Cleopatra than is generally credited to him; he believes that Gallus' role in the conquest of Egypt has been victim of a "deliberate down-grading." Having landed in Cyrenaica in 30 BC, Gallus secured the western flank of Egypt first by winning over the four legions Antony had posted there, then by capturing Paraetoni- um, foiling Antony's attempt to cause his four legions to re-defect, and finally trapping and destroying Antony's fleet in the harbour of Paraetonium. With the western flank secured, Augustus was able to invade the eastern flank. Gallus captured Alexandria and contrived the capture of Cleopatra.7 Because of this display of military prowess and loyalty to Augustus, Gallus became first praefectus of Egypt. Following several achievements in this office, such as suppressing a rebellion in the Thebaid and estab lishing a Roman protectorate over the Ethiopian kingdom, he erected a rather self- aggrandizing inscription at Philae, dated 15 April 29,8 and inscribed a list of his achievements upon the Pyramids. He also set up statues