author
Sextus Propertius
A major voice of Augustan Rome, this poet turned love elegy into something intense, clever, and surprisingly personal. His surviving poems mix passion, jealousy, myth, and flashes of Roman public life in ways that still feel vivid.
1 Audiobook
Sexti Properti Elegiarvm: Liber Primvs
by Sextus Propertius
About the author
Born in Umbria, probably near Assisi, Sextus Propertius lived in the late 1st century BCE and became one of the leading Latin elegists of the Augustan age. Ancient details about his life are patchy, but reliable reference sources agree that he was active in Rome and that his career unfolded during the reign of Augustus.
Propertius is best known for his four books of Elegies. The first book, often linked with the name Cynthia, made his reputation and centers on a powerful, troubled love affair that became one of the most memorable relationships in Roman poetry. His work is admired for its emotional intensity, dense mythological references, and the way it blends intimate feeling with literary sophistication.
He is also associated with the cultural circle of Maecenas, the famous patron connected with several major poets of the period. Even though much about the man himself remains uncertain, his poetry secured his place beside Tibullus and Ovid as one of the key writers who shaped the Roman love elegy tradition.