Domitius Marsus

Domitius Marsus (/ˈmɑːrsəs/; died c. 15 BC) was a Latin poet, friend of Virgil and Tibullus, and contemporary of Horace.

[1] He survived Tibullus (died 19 BC), but was no longer alive when Ovid wrote (c. 12 AD) the epistle from Pontus (Ex Ponto, iv.

He was the author of a collection of epigrams called Cicuta ("hemlock") for their bitter sarcasm, and of a beautiful epitaph on the death of Tibullus;[2] of elegiac poems, probably of an erotic character; of an epic poem Amazonis; and of a prose work on wit (De urbanitate).

[1] Martial often alluded to Marsus as one of his predecessors, but he was never mentioned by Horace, although a passage in the Odes (iv.

4, 19) is supposed to be an indirect allusion to the Amazonis.