The Complete Poems of Tibullus

Tibullus is considered one of the finest exponents of Latin lyric in the golden age of Rome, during the Emperor Augustus’s reign, and his poetry retains its enduring beauty and appeal. Together these works provide an important document for anyone who seeks to understand Roman culture and sexuality and the origins of Western poetry.



• The new translation by Rodney Dennis and Michael Putnam conveys to students the elegance and wit of the original poems.

• Ideal for courses on classical literature, classical civilization, Roman history, comparative literature, and the classical tradition and reception.

• The Latin verses will be printed side-by-side with the English text.

• Explanatory notes and a glossary elucidate context and describe key names, places, and events.

• An introduction by Julia Haig Gaisser provides the necessary historical and social background to the poet’s life and works.

• Includes the poems of Sulpicia and Lygdamus, transmitted with the text of Tibullus and formerly ascribed to him.

Rodney G. Dennis was Curator of Manuscripts at Houghton Library, Harvard University, from 1965 to 1991. A translator of both Classical and Renaissance Latin, he was a founding editor of Persephone as well as a lecturer in English at Harvard.

Michael C. J. Putnam is MacMillan Professor of Classics and Professor of Comparative Literature emeritus at Brown University. His many other books include Virgil’s Epic Designs and Horace’s Carmen Saeculare , Poetic Interplay, and A Companion to Virgil’s Aeneid and its Tradition.

Julia Haig Gaisser Eugenia Chase Guild Professor Emerita in the Humanities and Professor Emerita of Latin at Bryn Mawr College. Her book The Fortunes of Apuleius and the Golden Ass won the 2009 Charles J. Goodwin Award of Merit, the highest award for a work of Classics, given by the American Philological Association. Her other books include Catullus in Englishand Pierio Valeriano on the Ill-fortune of Learned Men.