In the verdant heart of ancient Latium, where rolling hills cradled modest estates and the echoes of civil strife still lingered in the air, Albius Tibullus entered the world around 55 BCE. He would depart it far too soon, in 19 BCE, leaving behind a slender but radiant corpus of elegiac poetry that has captivated readers for over two millennia. Tibullus was no bombastic chronicler of empire or grand epic hero; inste…
“Glory is a shadow that follows virtue, now preceding it, now following behind, but always accompanying it.”
Neighbourhood:
Ancient & Classical Poets, Classical & Ancient Poets, Death & Mortality, Love Poets
Emotional landscape: Sorrow, Longing, Peace
Publius Aelius Hadrianus, known to history as Hadrian, was born on 24 January 76 and died on 10 July 138. He is remembered above all as Roman emperor from 117 to 138, builder of a great frontier wall in Britain, patron of Greek culture, architect of the Pantheon’s reconstruction, traveler across nearly every major province of the empire, and the grieving lover who raised the drowned Antinous into divine memory. Yet h…
“My little soul, wandering, charming, guest and companion of the body, into what places will you now go?”
Neighbourhood:
Ancient & Classical Poets, Classical & Ancient Poets, Death & Mortality, LGBTQ+ Poets, Mystical & Spiritual Poets
Emotional landscape: Sorrow, Spirituality, Longing
