B . Arkins (Galway) : Catullus 58.

5 237
glubit magnanimos Remi nepotes
magnanimos cod. Vat . lat . 1608 a.1U79 et Calph. , magnanimi Vossius
Poem 58 of Catullus offers two well-known difficulties, the identity of its addressee Caelius
and the precise implications of the verb glubit. Discussion of these important problems has
perhaps tended to obscure another interesting point in the textual criticism of line 5. Most
editors now adopt Vossius' correction magnanimi, which gives good sense though ironic
comment: 'Lesbia degrades the heirs to Rome's glorious past along with herself,
K.Quinn, Catullus - the poems, London 1970, ad loc; cf. also W.Kroll, C.Valerius Catullus5,
Stuttgart 1968, M. Lenchantin de Gubernatis, II libro di Catullo, Torino 1966 (repr. of the 1928
edn.), C.J.Fordyce, Catullus - a commentary2, Oxford 1965, all ad loc, and F.W.Lenz, Riv.di
Cultura class. e mad. 5(1963), 66-7.
But equally good, if not better sense, together with the requisite irony is afforded by
magnanimos, the lectio difficilior of Cod.Vat.lat. 1608 (a. 1^79) and of Calphurnius (a.1U8l),
cf. C.Valerii Catulli carmina2 , ed. R. A.B.Mynors , Oxford (OCT) 1965, and
H.Bardon, Catulli carmina, Bru- xelles 1970, both ad loc. Catullus has spoken of his unique
love for Lesbia in lines 1-3; he then goes on to describe her promiscuous behaviour in lines
1+-5- Her sexual escapades take place with the great-hearted sons of Remus , magnanimos
Remi nepotes . The reference to the founder of Rome is, of course, ironic in itself, with
the mention of such an august person amid the sordid goings-on of Lesbia; but the epithet
magnanimos applied to those involved in these disgraceful activities is also ironic
For it is presumed to be Ennius' equivalent for UEY&^UUOC ; so F. Skutsch,
Archiv f.lat. Lex. u.Gramm. 12 '(1901) , 208-10 = Kleine Schriften, Stuttgart 1967, 207-8; U.
Knocher Philologus suppl. b. 27. 3(1935) , 2-U = Gymnasium Beiheft 2(1962), 32U; Kroll ad dh. 85; TLL 8 s.v. It is indeed Vergil's equivalent in serious contexts such
as Aeneid 1.259-60 (where see R.G.Austin's edition, Oxford 1971, that of R.D.Williams of
Book
5,
Oxford
i960,
on
5.17,
and
cf. F.Bomer,
P.Ovidius
Naso
Metamorphosen , Heidelberg 1969, on 2.111) and Aeneid 6.307 (where see E.Norden's
edition (repr. Stuttgart 1970). Magnanimus is also used by Cicero in serious philosophical
discussion, according to Skutsch as equivalent to UEY&A.6- cppcov, according
to Knoche to UEYaA6i|nJXOQ : for the latter as a translation of magnanimus at Aeneid
1.260 see R.Remondon, 'A propos d'un papyrus de l'Eneide, I.256-26I; 270-271*; 702707; 711-719, avec traduction grecque', J of juristic Pap. 4(1950) , 2U7 . Examples are
Tusc.2.k3, 4.6l, and Off. 1. 63, 65 & 68: see also Skutsch and Knoche and the new
Oxford Latin Dictionary (OLD) s.v
So magnanimos is used here with biting sarcasm of the Remi nepotes as it is
also used ironically in other authors as Vergil, Aeneid 22. lM & 878, of Jupiter, (see the
editions of Books 7-12 by R.D.Williams, London 1973, and R.E.H.WestendorpBoerma, Leiden 1973, both ad loc.) and Georg- ic 4.k, humorously of bees (see
L.P.Wilkinson, The Georgics of Vergil, Cambridge 1969, 100).So also by Persius, 6.22 (see
the commentaries of H.Beikircher, Wien-Koln-Graz 1969, and D.Bo, Torino 1969, both ad
loc).