The poet's full name, C.[35] Valerius Catullus, is got from Jerome and other authorities quoted below, as also his birthplace, Verona, to which Catullus himself refers (c. 67, 34, 'Veronae meae'; 68, 27; 100, 2). The dates of his birth and death are uncertain. Jerome gives them as B.C. 87-58. Yr. Abr. 1930 = B.C. 87, 'Gaius Valerius Catullus scriptor lyricus Veronae nascitur.' Yr. Abr. 1959 = B.C. 58, 'Catullus xxx. aetatis anno Romae moritur.' His early death is referred to by Ovid, _Am._ iii. 9, 61, 'Obvius huic [Tibullo] venias hedera iuvenilia cinctus tempora, cum Calvo, docte Catulle, tuo'; but it is quite certain that the year of his death given by Jerome as B.C. 58 is wrong. In c. 113, 2, the second consulship of Pompeius in B.C. 55 is referred to, and cc. 11 and 29 were written after Caesar's expedition to Britain in B.C. 55. C. 52 used to be taken as referring to B.C. 47, from l. 3, 'per consulatum perierat Vatinius,' but, as shown below, was written in B.C. 55 or 54. As no clear reference is found to any event after B.C. 54 (a highly important time, which would have been likely to produce some sarcastic poetry from Catullus), it is best to accept the view that Catullus lived from 87 to 54 or 53 B.C. B. Schmidt (ed. mai. 1887, prolegomena), on the other hand, fixes the dates as 82-52 B.C. (accepting Jerome's account of Catullus' age), and attributes c. 38 (to Cornificius) to the latter year. Catullus' family was wealthy and of good position, as is seen from his having estates at Sirmio (c. 31) and Tibur (c. 44), and from the fact that his father was a friend of Julius Caesar. Sueton. _Iul._ 73, 'Hospitioque patris eius [Catulli], sicut consueverat, uti perseveravit.' Catullus went to Rome early, and there, as Schmidt thinks, was taught by the grammarian Valerius Cato, to whom c. 56 is probably addressed. From c. 68, 34-5, we see that he was settled at Rome. 'Romae vivimus: illa domus, illa mihi sedes, illic mea carpitur aetas.' Catullus wrote love-poetry soon after taking the _toga virilis_; c. 68, 15, 'Tempore quo primum vestis mihi tradita purast, iucundum cum aetas florida ver ageret, multa satis lusi.' Catullus' love for Lesbia is the outstanding fact of his life. Her real name was Clodia, the sister of P. Clodius, nicknamed for her immorality 'quadrantaria.' Apuleius, _Apol._ 10, 'Accusent C. Catullum quod Lesbiam pro Clodia nominarit.' Ovid, _Trist._ ii. 427, 'Sic sua lascivo cantata est saepe Catullo femina, cui falsum Lesbia nomen erat.'