A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

a Roman poet of the Augustan age, of whose life no particulars have come down to us. We may, however, conclude from his surname, Marsus, that he or his ancestors belonged to the Marsian nation, and were adopted bv the noble house of the Domitii. He survived Tibullus, who died B. C. 18, and on whom he wrote a beautiful epitaph, which is still extant : his works were therefore probably written about the same time that Horace was in his greatest glory, although he is not mentioned by the latter poet. The year in which Marsus died is uncertain : whether he was alive at the time of Ovid's banishment (A. D. 9) we do not know, but he appears to have been dead when Ovid wrote his elegies in exile. (Ex Pont. 4.16.)