Irrumator/Imperator
A Political Joke in Catullus 10
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21303644 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Steven Brandwood (Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 116 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 603-613 |
| Publication date | 2021-10-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Classical Philology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0009-837X • E-ISSN: 1546-072X |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/715670 |
| OpenAlex | W3203815133 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 9 |
This paper offers a reading of C. Memmius’ characterization in Catullus 10 and 28 in light of coinage, RRC 427/1, issued by his nephew and hailing him as C. MEMMIVS IMPERATOR for unknown victories in Bithynia. Catullus transforms this imperatorial acclamation in Poem 10 into an obscene pun that renders Memmius an irrumator rather than an imperator and mocks the promagistrate’s triumphal aspirations. This reading places Catullus’ poem more firmly in its political context and sheds light on both Memmius’ political career and his other famous appearance in Roman literature, as dedicatee of Lucretius’ De rerum natura
Archaeology · Art · Close reading · Context (archaeology) · Joke · Linguistics · Literature · Nephew and niece · Poetry · Political science · Politics · Reading (process) · Classical Antiquity Studies · History · Law · Organic Chemistry Synthesis Methods · Philosophy
| Highly cited | No |
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