Catullus 37 in Latin & English: Salax taberna vosque contubernales
Channel: David Amster
Date: 2021-09-12

#catullus
#latinpoetry
#latinpronunciation

Catullus 37 is fine example of “savage iambics” (truces iambos) mentioned in Carmen 36! The meter is “limping iambics,” perhaps a reference to the “lame god” (tardipedi deo) of poem 36. Catullus is attacking the tavern where’s Clodia spends time with her lovers, and especially Egnatius. The ancient portrait I’ve chosen is meant to suggest her long-haired favorite. 

contubernales: tent mates, comrades-in-arms, but the root of the word is the same as taberna.

pilleatis fratribus: the felt-capped brothers, Castor and Pollux, whose temple was near the southeastern end of the Forum. 

pila nona: the ninth pillar; there was a pillar at the door of each taberna or shop advertising its goods. 

centum an ducenti: one or two hundred! Catullus liked to exaggerate. 

irrumare: irrumate, one of Catullus’ favorite terms of sexual abuse, used as a figure of speech to express contempt. 

amata tantum quantum amabitur nulla: compare “amata nobis quantum amabitur nulla” in Carmen 8; here it may be used ironically, alluding to Clodia’s promiscuity. 

magna bella: great battles, perhaps referring to the challenges Catullus faced in order to have a love affair with the wife of a prominent senator. 

sopionibus: probably a colloquial word for penis, found only here and in graffiti. 

pusilli: “junior league,” pusillus is the diminutive of pusus (little boy). 

cuniculosae: abounding in rabbits; Spain was known as the “Land of Rabbits,” called Ispania from the Carthaginian word “sphan” (rabbit). The reference is probably to Egnatius’ long hair, his softness, and perhaps other rabbity tendencies. 

capillatis: long-haired; the traditional Roman custom was to have short hair, unlike Egnatius and his fashionable young friends. 

Celtiberiae: Celtiberia, an area in Spain named from of its mixture of Celts and native Iberians. 

urina: the Celtiberians did in fact polish their teeth with urine. Charming! 


Pronunciation 

Salāx tabeRna vōsque contubeRnālēs,
ā pilleātīs nōna fRātRibus pīla,
sōlīs putātis esse mentulās vōbīs,
sōlīs licēre, quidquid est puellārumNG
cōñfutuer(e)et putāre cēterōs hiRcōs?
an, continenteR quod sedētis īñsulsī
cent(um) an ducentī, nōnM putātis ausūrum
m(ē) ūnā ducentōs iRRumāre sessōrēs?
atquī putātē: nam(NG)que tōtius vōbīs
fRontemN tabeRnae sopiōnibus scRība(m).
puella nam mī, quae meō sinū fūgit,
amāta tantum(NG) quant(um)amābituR nūlla,
pRō quā mihī sunt ma(ñ)gna bella pu(ñ)gnāta,
cōñsēdit istīc.  hañc bonī beātīque
omnēs amātis, et quidem(ñ), quod indi(ñ)gn(um)st,
omnēs pusill(ī)et sēmitāriī moechī;
tū pRaeter omnēs ūne dē capillātīs,
cunīculōsae Celtibēriae fīlī,
E(ñ)gnāt(ī), opāca quem bonu(m) facit baRba
et dēñs Hibērā defRīcātus ūrīnā.


Meter: Choliambic or limping iambs   x — u —  x — u —  u — — — 

sălāx tăbērnă, uōsquĕ cōntŭbērnālēs,
ā pīllĕātīs nōnă frātrĭbūs pīlā.
sōlīs pŭtātĭs ēssĕ mēntŭlās uōbīs.
sōlīs lĭcērĕ quīdquĭd ēst pŭēllārūm
cōnfŭtŭĕre ēt pŭtārĕ cētĕrōs hīrcōs?
ān cōntĭnēntēr quōd sĕdētĭs īnsūlsī
cēntum ān dŭcēntī nōn pŭtātĭs aūsūrūm
me ūnā dŭcēntōs īrrŭmārĕ sēssōrēs?
ātquī pŭtātē. nāmquĕ tōtĭūs uōbīs
frōntēm tăbērnaē sōpĭōnĭbūs scrībām.
pŭēllă nām mī quaē mĕō sĭnū fūgīt,
ămātă tāntūm quāntum ămābĭtūr nūllā,
prō quā mĭhī sūnt māgnă bēllă pūgnātā
cōnsēdĭt īstīc. hānc bŏnī bĕātīquē
ōmnēs ămātĭs. ēt quĭdēm quŏd īndīgnūm est
ōmnēs pŭsīlli ēt sēmĭtārĭī moēchī.
tū praētĕr ōmnēs ūnĕ dē căpīllātīs
cŭnīcŭlōsaē Cēltĭbērĭaē fīlī,
Ēgnāti, ŏpācă quēm bŏnūm făcīt bārbā
ēt dēns Hĭbērā dēfrĭcātŭs ūrīnā.


Salacious tavern and you its fellow tavern dwellers,
at the ninth pillar from the temple of the felt-capped Brothers,
do you think you are the only ones that have dicks,
that only you are allowed to screw whatever girls there are
and to think the rest of us are stinking goats?
Or perhaps, since you insipid idiots sit there all together, 
a hundred, or even two hundred, do you not think 
I would dare irrumate two hundred sedentarians all at once?
But indeed think about this:  I swear I’m going to scrawl all 
over the front of your tavern with phallic graffiti! 
For my girl, who has fled from my lap,
loved as much as no woman will be loved,
for whom I have fought great battles,
she has taken her seat there with you.
This one all you fine and fortunate men now love,
and indeed, what is intolerable,
you’re all junior-league and back-alley adulterers;
you, ahead of them all, alone among the long-haired herd,
son of rabbit-infested Celtiberia, 
Egnatius, whose dark beard makes you seem well-bred,
and your teeth, polished with Iberian piss.

Artwork:

Roman marble bust, possibly of Sauromates II, 2nd century AD, Acropolis Museum, Athens; I’ve used the image here to suggest a long-haired foreign lover of Clodia.

Fresco from Pompeii, 1st century AD, National Archeological Museum, Naples

Translation, DWA
Fez, September 12, 2021

Erratum: please note that I pronounced the E in omnes like an I! Mea culpa! (hanc boni beatique omnes amatis)