Tibullus (Albius Tibullus) [key], c.55? b.c.–19 b.c., Roman elegiac poet, b. Pedum, near Praeneste. Probably of the equestrian order, he was a friend of Messala, whom he accompanied on campaign. A master of the Latin love elegy, Tibullus wrote two books of verse (concerned, respectively, with “Delia” and “Nemesis”—names symbolic of his loves) that were published during his lifetime; some doubtfully attributed posthumous pieces plus works by other poets constitute a third book.
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