Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo is the first line, sometimes used as a title, of Carmen 16 in the collected poems of Gaius Valerius Catullus (ca. 84 BC – ca. 54 BC). The poem, written in a hendecasyllabic (11-syllable) meter, was considered so explicit that a full English translation was not openly published until the late twentieth century.^[1] The first line has been called "one of the filthiest expressions ever written in Latin — or in any other language, for that matter."^[2]

Carmen 16 is significant in literary history as an artistic work censored for its obscenity, but also because the poem raises questions about the proper relation of the poet, or his life, to the work.^[3] Later Latin poets referenced the poem not for its ear-searing invective, but as a justification for subject matter that challenged the prevailing decorum or moral orthodoxy. Ovid,^[4] Pliny the Younger,^[5] Martial,^[6] and Apuleius^[7] all evoked the authority of Catullus in asserting that while the poet should be a respectable person, his work should not be constrained or restricted.^[8]

Censored editions [link]

This section requires expansion.

Several editions of Catullus omit the more explicit parts of the poem. A noteworthy example is the 1924 Loeb Catullus: this omits lines 1 and 2 from the English translation, but includes them in the Latin; lines 7-14 are omitted from both Latin and English; a later Loeb edition^[9] gives the complete text in both languages. Other editions have been published with the explicit words blanked out.^[10]

Social and literary context [link]

This section requires expansion.

Catullus addresses the poem to two men, Furius and Aurelius. Furius refers to Marcus Furius Bibaculus, a 1st century poet who had an affair with Juventius, Catullus' lover. Aurelius refers to Marcus Aurelius Cotta Maximus Messalinus, a 1st century consul, or senator, during the Julio-Claudian dynasty.^[11][12][13] Apparently, Furius and Aurelius find Catullus's verses to be molliculi ("a little soft," perhaps "nancy boy" in modern slang). Catullus responds with intense abuse and invective.

Latin text and translation [link]

Sexual terminology [link]

Latin is an exact language for obscene acts, such as pedicabo and irrumabo, which appear in the first and last lines of the poem. The term pedicare is a transitive verb, meaning to "insert one's penis into another person's anus",^[20] and derives from an analogous Greek word, παιδικω, itself derived ultimately from the Greek word παις, παιδος (child). The term cinaedus in line 2 refers to the "bottom" person in that act, i.e., the one being penetrated.^[21] The term irrumare is likewise a transitive verb, meaning to "insert one's penis into another person's mouth for suckling",^[22] and derives from the Latin word, ruma meaning "teat". A male who suckles a penis is denoted as a fellator or, equivalently, a pathicus (line 2).^[23] Thus, there is an elegant poetic chiasm (a "criss-cross" rhetorical structure) in the first two lines. Each line has two obscenities; the first of the first line, pedicabo, matches the second of the second line, cinaede, whereas the second of the first line, irrumabo, matches the first of the second line, pathice.

The central pun of the poem occurs in line 4 with quod sunt molliculi, parum pudicum. The word molliculi refers to Catullus' verses and means "soft and tender little verses", as in love poetry. However, mollis can also mean "effeminate fellator", as well as "soft" in the sense of "flaccid penis". Likewise, parum pudicum refers to Catullus, and can mean "wanton" or "fellator". Thus, in explicit modern English, the pun suggests that "just because my verses are little and soft, doesn't mean that I'm the same, that I'm some hussy cock-sucker who can't get it up". This may be translated more delicately with the analogous English pun, "that I've gone all soft".

The rest of the poem plays upon that pun. On the contrary, says Catullus, although my verses are soft (molliculi ac parum pudici in line 8, reversing the play on words), they can arouse even limp old men. Should Furius and Aurelius have any remaining doubts about Catullus' virility, he offers to have sex with them, anally and orally, to prove otherwise.

Notes [link]

References [link]

Latin Wikisource has original text related to this article: Catullus 16

English Wikisource has original text related to this article: Catullus 16

• Friedrich Karl Forberg (1824). De figuris Veneris (translated into English as Manual of Classical Erotology by Viscount Julian Smithson, MA and printed privately in 1884 in Manchester, England. Reprinted in 1966 ed.). New York: Grove Press. LCCN 6624913. 
• MacLeod CM (November 1973). "Parody and Personalities in Catullus". The Classical Quarterly (New Series) 23 (2): 294–303. DOI:10.1017/S000983880003679X. JSTOR 638185. 
• Richlin A (1981). "The Meaning of Irrumare in Catullus and Martial". Classical Philology 76: 40–46. DOI:10.1086/366597. JSTOR 269544. 
• Adams JN (1990). The Latin Sexual Vocabulary. The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-4106-4. 
• Hallett JP, Skinner MB (1997). Roman Sexualities. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01178-8. 

External links [link]

• Alternate translation from Virtual Roma
• Alternate translation from Negenborn
• Alternate translation from University of Saskatchewan
• Latin text with comments (go to poems 11 and 16 for remarks on c. 16)
• Translation and commentary on lines 5-6
• Scanned version of c.16