25. But however gentle his treatment of Lesbia, the rivals of Catullus found now no mercy at his hands. For them lie had but bitter scorn and anger, since he mistakenly regarded them, and not Lesbia herself, as responsible for her downfall. Egnatius and his set of companions (cc. 37, 39), Gellius (cc. 74, 80, 88, 89, 90, 116), perhaps also Aemilius (c. 97), Victius (c. 98), and Cominius (c. 108), and other unnamed lovers (cc. 71, 78b) suffer on this account from the stinging lash of his satire. Even Caelius Rufus, like Quintius an early friend of the poet (c. 100), and like Quintius the subject of remonstrance a short time before (cc. 77, 82), now finds no such gentle treatment (cc. 69, 71 ?). Possibly, also, the apparent fling at Hortensius in c. 95.3, who was most kindly addressed in c. 65, may have been prompted by personal rather than by professional jealousy. Most significant, too (cf. ยง 28), is the bolt aimed at a certain Lesbius (c. 79).
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Catullus. Catullus. E. T. Merrill. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1893.
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