Catullus XXVIII: Ad Verannium et Fabullum
Salvete! Unfortunately, the work for this post never ended up saved, so I will write what I remember, and refer to my notes for a similar translation.
This poem is a bit crass. It deals with corrupt rich friends and intense sexual references, and is overall a diss poem. Catullus was known for this sort of thing alongside his love poems, and wrote many poems about people he didn’t like. Maybe I’ll translate another one, but they tend to be sort of gross, so I might go in another direction. So, some context for this poem: Piso was a man who Catullus’ friends worked under, and he talks about how he’s a bad employer, and then compares him to Memmius, an employer of Catullus, who was quite unsavory.
Pisonis comites, cohors inanis,
aptis sarcinulis et expeditis,
Verani optime tuque mi Fabulle,
quid rerum geritis? satisne cum isto
vappa frigoraque et famem tulistis?
ecquidnam in tabulis patet lucelli
expensum, ut mihi, qui meum secutus
praetorem refero datum lucello?
o Memmi, bene me ac diu supinum
tota ista trabe lentus irrumasti.
sed, quantum video, pari fuistis
casu: nam nihilo minore verpa
farti estis. pete nobiles amicos!
at vobis mala multa di deaeque
dent, opprobria Romuli Remique.
Comrades of Piso, a hollow cohort,
With ready and light packs,
Pleasant Veranus and you,
My Fabullus, what affairs do you bear?
Have you borne enough frost and famine
With that good-for-nothing?
Is there any petty gain or expense
On your tablets, as there is for me,
Who followed my praetor
And brought home a small sum?
O Memmius, well and slow
You defiled me at length,
On my back with that whole shaft.
But, I see how much you were in the same situation,
For you were stuffed with a dick no smaller.
Seeking friends! But may the gods and goddesses
Bestow misfortune on you all,
Disgraces of Romulus and Remus.
So! That’s how the poem goes. Like most poems, the grammar gets more complicated as the poem goes along, but I would say the most confusing part is the bit in the middle about gains and expenses, and I think it’s partially confusing because the words it uses likely reference certain economic things that make less sense in English than they do in Latin. Otherwise, it went pretty smoothly in terms of translation. Overall, this poem complains about having rich friends, something that poets and artists needed to get by, because they often sucked! Gratias vobis et valete!
