regard to the birth of this poet; for in the passage above cited of the Tristia, Ovid mentions Tibullus as a writer, who, though his contemporary, was much older than himself. From this passage we should be justified in placing the death of Tibullus between the fortieth and fiftieth year of his age, and rather nearer to the latter period; for, otherwise, Horace would scarcely have mentioned him in the manner he does in one of his epistles.
Albi, nostrorum sermonum candide judex,
Quid nunc te dicam facere in regione Pedana?
Scribere quod Cassi Parmensis opuscula vincat;
An tacitum silvas inter reptare salubres,
Curantem quicquid dignam sapiente bonoque est?—*Epist.* i. 4.
> Albius, in whom my satires find
> A critic, candid, just, and kind,
> Do you, while at your country seat,
> Some rhyming labours meditate,
> That shall in volumed bulk arise,
> And e’en from Cassius bear the prize;
> Or saunter through the silent wood,
> Musing on what befits the good.—Francis.This supposition is in no degree inconsistent with the authority of Ovid, where he mentions him as a young man; for the Romans extended the period of youth to the fiftieth year.——
PROPERTIUS was born at Mevania, a town of Umbria, seated at the confluence of the Tina and Clitumnus. This place was famous for its herds of white cattle, brought up there