Gaius Licinius Macer Calvus

Gaius Licinius Macer Calvus (28 May 82 BC[1] – c. 47 BC) was an orator and poet of ancient Rome.

Son of Licinius Macer[2] and thus a member of the gens Licinia, he was a friend of the poet Catullus, whose style and subject matter he shared.[2] Calvus' oratorical style opposed the "Asian" school in favor of a simpler Attic model: he characterized Cicero as wordy and artificial. Twenty-one speeches are mentioned, including several against Publius Vatinius.[2]

Calvus was apparently short, since Catullus alludes to him as salaputium disertum (eloquent Lilliputian).[2] Seneca the Elder also mentions his short stature, and refers a story in which Calvus asked to be raised to a platform, so that he could defend one of his clients.[3]

F. Plessis published fragments of Calvus in 1896.

See also

References
  • Weiss, M. "An Oscanism in Catullus 53", Classical Philology 91 (1996) 353–359.

References
  1. Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 7.165
  2. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Licinius Macer Calvus, Gaius" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 587.
  3. Seneca the Elder, Controversiae, 7.4.6
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