Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus [Suetonius]
69-130 AD
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Imperial Era)
C. SVETONI TRANQVILLVI DE POETIS
VITA TIBULLI
"Te quoque Vergilio comitem non aequa, Tibulle,
Mors iuvenem campos misit ad Elysios,
["You too, did Death unfairly send to the Elysian Fields, as a young man, and a friend of Vergil,]
Ne foret, aut elegis molles qui fleret amores
Aut caneret forti regia bella pede."
[lest he should be present, and be a man who could either weep the the softness of his love affairs, or sing of the royal wars in a sturdy meter."]
Albius Tibullus eques Romanus, insignis forma cultuque corporis observabilis, ante alios Corvinum Messalam oratorem dilexit,
[Albius Tibullus was a Roman with equestrian status, renowned for his handsome looks, and noticeable from the upkeep of his body, who gained the favor of the orator Corvinus Messala,]
cuius etiam contubernalis Aquitanico bello militaribus donis donatus est.
[from whose gifts, along with his fellow soldiers, he benefitted during the war against the Aquitani,]
Hic multorum iudicio principem inter elegiographos obtinet locum.
[This man gains a top spot among elegaic writers, according to the opinion of many people.]
Epistolae quoque eius amatoriae, quamquam breves, omnino utiles sunt.
[His love letters too, although brief, are completely respectable.]
Obiit adulescens,
[He died a young man,]
ut indicat epigramma supra scriptum.
[as the epigram written above shows.]
