The works of Catullus which have come down to us consist of a series of 116 poems, thrown together apparently at random, with scarcely an attempt at arrangement. The first of these is an epistle dedicatory to a certain Cornelius, the author of some historical compendium. The grammarians decided that this must be Cornelius Nepos, and consequently entitled the collection The pieces are of different lengths, but most of them are very short. They refer to such a variety of topics, and are composed in so many different styles and different metres, that it is almost impossible to classify them systematically. A few, such as the hymn to Diana (xxxiv.), the translation from Sappho (li.), the address to Furius and Aurelius, and the two Hymenaeal lays (lxi. lxii.), especially the former, may be considered as strictly lyrical. The Nuptials of Peleus and Thetis, which extends to upwards of 400 Hexameter lines, is a legendary heroic poem; the four which are numbered lxiv.--lxvii., although bearing little resemblance to each other either in matter or manner, fall under the head of elegies; the Atys stands alone as a religious poem of a description quite peculiar, and the great mass of those which remain may be comprehended under the general title of epigrams, provided we employ that term in its widest acceptation, as including all short, occasional, fugitive compositions, suggested by some passing thought and by the ordinary occurrences of every-day social life. From the nature of the case it is probable that many such effusions would be lost, and accordingly Pliny (Plin. Nat. 28.2) makes mention of verses upon love-charms of which no trace remains, and Terentianus Maurus notices some Ithyphallica. On the other hand, the Ciris and the have been erroneously ascribed to our author.

Notwithstanding his remarkable versatility, it may be affirmed with absolute truth, that Catullus adorned all he touched. We admire by turns, in the lighter efforts of his muse, his unaffected ease, playful grace, vigorous simplicity, pungent wit, and slashing invective, while every lively conception is developed with such matchless felicity of expression, that we may almost pronounce them perfect in their kind. The lament for his brother's death is a most touching outburst of genuine grief, while the elegy which immediately follows, on the transformation of Berenice's hair into a constellation, being avowedly a translation or close imitation of Callimachus, is a curious and valuable specimen of the learned stiffness and ingenious affectation of the Alexandrian school. It is impossible not to admire the lofty tone and stately energy which pervade the Peleus and Thetis; and the sudden transition from the desolation and despair of Ariadne to the tumultuous merriment of Bacchus and his revellers is one of the finest examples of contrast to be found in any language. Comparison is almost impossible between a number of objects differing essentially from each other, but perhaps the greatest of all our poet's works is the Atys, one of the most remarkable poems in the whole range of Latin literature. Rolling impetuously along in a flood of wild passion, bodied forth in the grandest imagery and the noblest diction, it breathes in every line the frantic spirit of orgiastic worship, the fiery vehemence of the Greek dithyramb. Many of his poems, however, are defiled by gross coarseness and sensuality; and we shall not attempt to urge his own plea (cxvi.) in extenuation, although approved by the solemn inanity of the younger Pliny, for the defence in reality aggravates the crime, since it indicates a secret though suppressed consciousness of guilt. At the same time they were the vices of the age rather than of the individual. The filth of Catullus seldom springs from a prurient imagination revelling in voluptuous images, it rather proceeds from habitual impurity of expression, and probably gives a fair representation of the manners and conversation of the gay society of Rome at that period.

The epithet doctus applied to our poet by Tibullus, Ovid, Martial, and others, has given rise to considerable discussion. It was bestowed, in all probability, in consequence of the intimate acquaintance with Greek literature and mythology displayed in the Atys, the Peleus, and many other pieces, which bear the strongest internal marks of being formed upon Greek models. Catullus also, it must be remembered, was the first who naturalized many of the more beautiful species of Greek verse, and Horace can only claim the merit of having extended the number. At the same time, most of the shorter poems hear deep impress of original invention, are strikingly national, and have a strong flavour of the old republican roughness. Nay more, as a German critic has well remarked, even when he employs foreign materials he works them up in such a manner as to give them a Roman air and character, and thus approaches much more nearly to Lucretius and the ancients than to the highly polished and artificial school of Virgil and the Augustans. Hence arose the great popularity he enjoyed among his countrymen, as proved by the long catalogue of testimonies from the pens of poets, historians, philosophers, men of science, and grammarians. Horace alone speaks in a somewhat contemptuous strain, but this is in a passage where he is professedly depreciating the older bards, towards whom he so often displays jealousy.