Sulpicia Ser. f.

Sulpicia Ser. Sulpicii Rufi filia fuit, qui iuris consulti illius et consulis anni LI filius erat, et Valeriae, sororis M. Valerii Messallae Corvini, qui dux Augusti et Tibulli Ovidiique iuvenis patronus fuit. In tutela avunculi, ut videtur, in ea domo crevit ubi poetae eius conveniebant. Tempora eius accurate ignorantur; circa annum XX a.C.n. scripsit.

Sulpicia was the daughter of Servius Sulpicius Rufus, son of the great jurist who was consul in 51 B.C., and of Valeria, sister of Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, Augustus' general and the patron of Tibullus and the young Ovid. She seems to have grown up under her uncle's guardianship, in the house where the poets of his circle met. Her exact dates are unknown; she wrote around 20 B.C.

Sex eius elegiae breves, quadraginta fere versus, in tertio libro carminum Tibullo tributorum servantur. De amore iuvenis quem Cerinthum appellat narrant, de natali quem avunculus rure agi volebat, de rivali humiliore, de febri, de nocte quam paenituit. Amorem suum malle se notum quam celatum esse profitetur: 'cum digno digna fuisse ferar.'

Six short elegies by her, about forty lines in all, survive in the third book of the poems ascribed to Tibullus. They speak of her love for a young man she calls Cerinthus, of a birthday her uncle wanted her to spend in the country, of a rival beneath her station, of a fever and of a night she regretted. She declares that she would rather her love be known than hidden: 'let it be said that I, a worthy woman, was with a worthy man.'

Iuxta stant quinque carmina, quae Sulpiciae corona vocantur, ab aliquo eiusdem circuli poeta de ea vel eius voce scripta. Plerique docti sex elegias ipsius esse censent, fere unicos feminae Romanae versus qui supersunt, quamquam nonnulli virum eas eius nomine scripsisse contenderunt. Non est confundenda cum Sulpicia posteriore, quam Martialis laudavit.

Beside them stand five poems, the so-called Garland of Sulpicia, written about her or in her voice by a poet of the same circle. Most scholars accept the six elegies as her own work, almost the only Latin verse by a Roman woman to survive, though some have argued that a man wrote them in her name. She should not be confused with the later poet Sulpicia whom Martial praised.

1. 51 a.C.n.51 B.C.Avus eius Ser. Sulpicius Rufus consul.Her grandfather Servius Sulpicius Rufus is consul.
2. 43 a.C.n.43 B.C.Avus legatus ad Antonium moritur.Her grandfather dies on an embassy to Antony.
3. 31 a.C.n.31 B.C.Messalla avunculus consul.Her uncle Messalla is consul.
4. 27 a.C.n.27 B.C.Messalla de Aquitanis triumphat.Messalla celebrates his triumph over the Aquitani.
5. c. 20 a.C.n.c. 20 B.C.Elegias suas scribit.Writes her elegies.
6. 19 a.C.n.19 B.C.Tibullus moritur.Tibullus dies.