Among the more colorful characters in Roman literature and mythology, Egnatius the Spaniard takes the proverbial cake. Maybe Egnatius would have been better off brushing his teeth with cake, since it at least tastes better than urine. (Why Lesbia agreed to kiss Egnatius is anyone's guess; I wouldn't kiss a guy who brushed his teeth with urine.)
Real ancient Romans and Greeks added crushed oyster shells and bones to toothpaste and perfected it. In the Islamic world, there was a good toothpaste recipe, though the ingredients are lost to time (Wikipedia, "Toothpaste").
I wonder why Egnatius is described as brushing his teeth with urine. That is so gross. I know the Romans used to clean their wool with urine (Wikipedia, "Urine"), but brushing your teeth with it? Not even a Roman, who considered it perfectly fine to watch people be killed for sport, would do that. Maybe Catullus was mad at Egnatius for stealing Lesbia (apparently, Egnatius was either Lesbia's most surprising "moechor" or her favorite "moecher," since the other two hundred ninety-nine aren't mentioned by name) and this is an exaggeration; maybe Catullus is venting about how he lost Lesbia to, among others, a mere foreigner (note, in poem 39, Egnatius is described as "unurbane," meaning not Roman and therefore inferior. Also, were beards fashionable for Roman men in Catullus' day? I don't think they were).
So, should we take this literally? I am struggling to find references to Egnatius outside of Catullus' Carmina, so I'm not sure. However, I think we should all take this cum grano salis and remember: Romans were wonderful exaggerators.

On Silphium and some grammatical details

AC1119, your thoughts on silphium are exactly on target, and thanks for the illustration.  It was believed to be a contraceptive, and was a very sought-after commodity in antiquity.  From a Greek or Roman point of view, to be in a love affair with a woman who can't bear you any legitimate children (for whatever reason-- she may be a slave or non-citizen or married to someone else) is to be in a sterile relationship--hence the emphasis on the sands of the desert and the heat in Egypt and Libya.  Torrid affair = sterility, yet it is still exotic and attractive.  Lots of conflicting emotions in Catullus.

As for poem 9, yes, your translation after 'ut mos est tuus"  is correct.

N.B.:  henDECAsyllabics. 

My Hendosyllabic Poem and Other Stuff

Salvete omnes!!
Here's my poem (gratias Magistra!):

I dance not beautifully though I do aspire to

Dance with grace therefore I permit disaster.

I preferred Poem # 9 ("Welcome  Home, Veranius!") because it was the simplest of the lot. It was very straightforward. After "ut mos est tuus," is it "leaning on your neck I will kiss your joyful mouth and eyes?" Gratias.


This is silphium (poem 7) on a silver coin (Wikipedia). As the notes says, silphium juice was thought to be an effective contraceptive. I think that's why Catullus mentioned this in the love poem: wives were for reproduction, mistressess/girlfriends/boyfriends/prostitutes were for pleasure.

Interesting section.