Life
Titus Calpunius Siculus was a bucolic poet of the Neronian age. Nothing else is known about him with certainty, though some have tried to link him to (or tried to claim that he was) C. Calpurnius Piso, the infamous Roman put to death by Nero for instigating the so-called “Pisonian Conspiracy.” His cognomen Siculus “the Sicilian” could be a reference to his poetical forebears (the Idylls of Theocritus of Syracuse essentially founded the genre), but “Calpurnius” was a very common name. Any link between the Calpurnius Piso and Calpurnius Siculus remains highly speculative.
Works
The sole works of Calpurnius are his seven Eclogues in hexameters. The Eclogues feature the familiar blend (following Theocritus’ Idylls and Vergil’s Eclogues) of the idyllic countryside and its inhabitants with court poetry expressing hope and thanks to royal patronage. Though he does not name him outright, the new “golden age” administered by a charming, young, and intellectual prince matches Nero’s first five years (his quinquennium), for which Nero was widely admired.
He speaks of a patron, Meliboeus, though the identity of this person remains a mystery. Some have tried to link him to Seneca or the aforementioned Calpurnius Piso. Similarly, others have tried to link Calpurnius Siculus to the Laus Pisonis, which heaped praise on Calpurnius Piso, and the Einsiedeln Eclogues, though again these ideas remain speculative.
Calpurnius Siculus Online
Latin: PHI Latin Texts
Latin and English: Lacus Curtius
Further Reading
- Evangelos Karakasis 2016. T. Calpurnius Siculus: A Pastoral Poet in Neronian Rome. Berlin: De Gruyter.
