Too many Caesars, too many Clodiae !!
 

So you think you know who Julius Caesar was. Oh boy.

I get about nineteen (19) Julius Caesars from this table, of which four (4) others are direct horizontal generational contemporaries of the famous multiply-elected 'et tu' dictator that we know and maybe love. Simultaneous Julius Caesars. Oh. They are relatives, naturally.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/45456...fn-744_sml.png

Much the same situation exists with practically every (every) person named in Catullus' poems. Fancy that. We don't know exactly who anyone is outside of the poems, and it's possible (given the milieu of the poems' recitations) that two people can be alluded to with just one name. Think about the spin that puts on a poetry reading among the rich, famous, drunk, and well-acquainted.

We all know that all unmarried Roman daughters of the same father had the same formal name that was the feminine form of the father's best name. A male Clodius with three surviving daughters had three daughters all named Clodia. Rough on readers looking for a particular Clodia as a part-time lover for Catullus! Suppose Clodia (sub A) was a much cooler a person than Clodia (sub B) or Clodia (sub C), and didn't make the headlines as much as Clodia (sub B) or (sub C). How would anyone know except by looking for a "quieter" Clodia?

Too many Caesars. Too many Clodiae.

PS: the numbers refer to the years elapsed after the supposed founding of Rome in 753 BC.

And this, I always understood, was the reason for the agnomen.

Off go the folk, chasing after Clodia/Lesbia like a rat up a hypocaust. And look at the amount of speculation as to poor Ipsitilla, on whom I have written a little myself.

I like to think that she is but a nudge and a wink - "Ipsa et Illa". Her, She, That Woman, with whom Catullus might well have claimed he did not have sexual relations.

Do we, do you suppose, Allen, have a little too much time on our hands?

Wonderful reply, Ann. I don't know your writings on Ipsy. Perhaps I should. Your present comments upon "her" are easily assimilated to my own thoughts, such as they are. Young Catullus is claiming that his organism has almost no refractory problems with sexual supply and demand when she is handy. A great party piece at an imagined banquet with Cicero and a few of the boni, perhaps. At least we know who Cicero is.