Catullus 113 Translation

Introduction

In Catullus 113, the poet addresses a situation with Pompey and Maecilia. Catullus is telling his friend Cinna about how Maecilia was frequented by two men. Catullus does not like Pompey, who is actually Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. This Pompey was a friend of Caesar, but that didn’t stop Catullus from criticizing him in several poems, including this one, along with 29 and 55, where he refers to Pompey as a sodomizer and molester. 

In this poem, Catullus tells Cinna that there were two men who frequented Maecilia. Readers can understand this as two men who had romantic relations with Maecilia. Two men did this while Pompey was the consul. Now that Pompey is consul again, two men are still visiting Maecilia. But, there are three “noughts” who have grown near them. In line four, Catullus mentions how adultery is a fruitful seed.

The actual identity of Maecilia is unknown, other than as a family name in Rome. But, what readers can assume from Catullus’s poem is that Maecilia welcomes many adulterers. And, that the number of adulterers who visited Maecilia grew in number in Pompey’s second time as consul. 

In line 3, Catullus uses the term “nought” to describe an increase in numbers. Nought is a reference to zero. Since Catullus uses the number three as an adjective describing noughts (in the plural), he most likely was not referring to zero. Catullus is most likely referring to a number in the thousands since there are three zeros in the number. He has to be exaggerating about the number of adulterers who have been interested in Maecilia.

Since it is a poem by Catullus, the hyperbole has a point - that Pompey is a man who cannot be trusted. As the consul, Pompey has encouraged more people to become adulterers, which could suggest that he is misusing his political power. 

Carmen 113

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