Catullus 41 in Latin & English with Vocabulary & Grammar notes: Ameana puella defututa
Channel: David Amster
Date: 2021-10-30

#catullus
#latinpoetry
#latinpronunciation

Ameana seems to be a high-class courtesan from Cisalpine Gaul and the mistress of the millionaire Mamurra, whom Catullus attacked in Carmen 29. 

Puella: used emphatically four times in the poem. “Puella” and “amica” were sometimes used as a euphemism for a courtesan. 

Defututa: exhausted by sensuality, from “futuo” (the F-word); Catullus uses almost the same word to refer to Mamurra in Carmen 29: “ista vestra diffututa mentula.”

Tota: can be understood with defututa or milia decem (a full 10,000) or both. I like “defututa tota” because of the sound. 

Milia decem: sesterces was understood. 10,000 sestertes was a year's rent for a small apartment in Rome! The normal fee for a prostitute’s services in Pompeii was 2-16 “asses”.  1 sesterius = 4 asses (bronze coins). I wonder if she meant this as a joke/put down: “Well for you, it’ll be 10,000!”

Poposcit: asked for, demanded

Ista: “that,” often implies scorn or contempt

Turpiculo: diminutive of turpis, ugly, deformed, unsightly 

Decoctoris: one who has squandered his own or another’s property, a ruined spendthrift

Formiani: of or belonging to Formiae, Formian; refers to Mamurra, a native of Formiae and Caesar’s notorius “praefectus fabrum” in Gaul. 

Propinqui: neighbors, relatives 

Quibus est puella curae: dative of reference + dative of “purpose”. 

Convocate: call together, summon

Rogare: to ask

Qualis: of what sort, what kind 

Qualis sit, subjunctive in indirect question

Solet: is accustomed to, is used to

Aes: bronze, brass; money, wages (neuter accusative)

Aes imaginosum: (polished) bronze, full of images, i.e., her mirror. May also allude to the unthinkable amount of money she has requested. 


Here are some excellent articles that provide insight into the poem: 

The Mirror of Catullus, Susan Shapiro

https://www.academia.edu/7376901/The_Mirror_of_Catullus_Poems_12_22_39_41_42_and_84

The Ameana Cycle of Catullus, Phyllis Young Forsyth

https://www.jstor.org/stable/4348714?read-now=1&seq=6#page_scan_tab_contents

Unveiling Roman Courtesans, Ria Berg, The Roman Courtesan

http://irfrome.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ActaIRF%2046.pdf

Prostitution in Ancient Rome

https://imperiumromanum.pl/en/roman-society/marriage-and-love-life-in-ancient-rome/prostitution-in-ancient-rome/


Pronunciation:

Ameāna pueLLa dēfutūta
tōta mīlia mē decem poposcit,
ista tuRpiculō pueLLa nāsō,
dēcoctōris amīca foRmiānī.
pRopinquī, quibus est pueLLa cūrae,
amīcōs medicōsque convocāte:
nōn est sāna pueLLa, nec Rogāre
quālis sit solet aes imāginōsu(m).


Meter: 

Phalaecean Hendecasyllables
⏓ ⏓ – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏓ 

Ămĕānă pŭēllă dēfŭtūtă
tōtă mīlĭă mē dĕcēm pŏpōscĭt,
īstă tūrpĭcŭlō pŭēllă nāsō,
dēcōctōrĭs ămīcă Fōrmĭānī.
prŏpīnquī quĭbŭs ēst pŭēllă cūraē,
ămīcōs mĕdĭcōsquĕ cōnvŏcātĕ.
nōn ēst sānă pŭēllă, nēc rŏgārĕ
quālīs sīt sŏlĕt aēs ĭmāgĭnōsŭm.


Artwork:

Portrait of Isidora, Fayum, Roman Egypt, ca. 100 AD, Getty Villa Museum, Malibu, photo by DWA. 

Greek Bronze mirror, 5th century BC, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 

Fresco of woman looking in a mirror, 1st century AD, from the Villa of Arianna at Stabiae, Naples Archeological Museum, photo by Carole Raddato. 


Translation: DWA, Fez, October 30, 2021