Sextus Propertius was the greatest Roman elegiac poet, born at Assisium (now Assisi, in Umbria). His father died when he was still a boy, but he was given a good education by his mother. Part of the family estate was confiscated (c. 40 BC) to satisfy the resettlement needs of the veteran troops of Octavian. Propertius' income was thus severely diminished, though he was never really poor.

The first of his four books of elegies, published in 29 BC, is called Cynthia after its heroine. Cynthia's real name, according to the writer Apuleius, was Hostia. (It is often said that she was a courtesan, but Propertius himself suggests that she belonged to a distinguished family.) This book gained him entry into the literary circle centring on Maecenas.

The first of Propertius' four books of elegies was published in 29 BC, the year in which he first met "Cynthia," its heroine. Cynthia (the book) seems to have had an immediate success, for the influential literary patron Maecenas invited Propertius to his house, where he doubtless met the other prominent literary figures who formed Maecenas' circle, among others the poets Virgil and Horace.

Some of his contemporaries accused him of leading a life of idleness and complained that he contributed nothing to society. But Propertius felt it his duty to support the right of the artist to lead his own life, and he demanded that poetry, and art in general, should not be regarded simply as a civilized way of passing the time. Everywhere in his verses Propertius emphasizes the importance of the creative artist.

Many of his poems show the influence of Alexandrian poets and Propertius claims to be the "Roman Callimachus". The ancients themselves mentioned two merits of the poet: blanditia ("charme") and facundia ("eloquency").

As Propertius had borrowed from his predecessors, so his successors, Ovid above all, borrowed from him; and graffiti on the walls of Pompeii attest his popularity in the 1st century AD. In the European Middle Ages he was virtually forgotten, and since the Renaissance he has been studied by professional scholars more than he has been enjoyed by the general public. To the modern reader acquainted with the psychological discoveries of the 20th century, the self-revelations of his passionate, fitful, brooding spirit are of peculiar interest.

Almost nothing is known about Propertius' life after his love affair with Cynthia was over. It is possible that he married another woman and had a child, for an inscription in Assisi and two passages in the letters of the younger Pliny indicate that Propertius had a descendant called Gaius Passennus Paulus Propertius, who was also a poet. During his later years he lived in an elegant residential area in Rome on the Esquiline Hill. The date of his death is not certain.

Was Propertius gay, or at least bisexual? Judge by yourself...

IV

Multa prius dominae delicta queraris oportet,
    saepe roges aliquid, saepe repulsus eas,
et saepe immeritos corrumpas dentibus unguis,
    et crepitum dubio suscitet ira pede!
nequiquam perfusa meis unguenta capillis,
    ibat et expenso planta morata gradu.
non hic herba valet, non hic nocturna Cytaeis,
    non Perimedaeae gramina cocta manus;
nam cui non ego sum fallaci praemia vati?
    quae mea non decies somnia versat anus?
quippe ubi nec causas nec apertos cernimus ictus,
    unde tamen veniant tot mala caeca via est;
non eget hic medicis, non lectis mollibus aeger,
    huic nullum caeli tempus et aura nocet;
ambulat et subito mirantur funus amici!
    sic est incautum, quidquid habetur amor.
hostis si quis erit nobis, amet ille puellas:
    gaudeat in puero, si quis amicus erit. ⁽¹⁾
tranquillo tuta descendis flumine cumba:
    quid tibi tam parvi litoris unda nocet?
alter saepe uno mutat praecordia Verbo,
    altera vix ipso sanguine mollis erit.

(1) To my enemy, I wish he loves girls:
but I wish to enjoy a boy, to the one who is my friend.

Elegies - Book II,4