Abstract

The poetry of the famous Roman poet Catullus (first century BC) has come down to us through a single manuscript. The question as to whether the order of the poems in this collection shows original composition of the poet has vexed scholars for over a hundred years. This paper will show that modern conceptions of publishing have anachronistically influenced the proposed solutions to this problem. After examination of the reactions of ancient readers to Catullus’ poetry, it will become clear that no ancient reader of Catullus’ poems has read the same “book”. This urges us to reconsider our frame of reference in discussing ancient publishing.