Chapter 48

of that name is mentioned in ancient literature, and it has been suggested that the author may have been a young relative of Tibullus who used a Greek adaptation of the gentile name Albius (+lygdos+ = white marble). He speaks as a man of good social position (iii. 2, 22). From the fact that he belonged to the circle of Messalla, his poems came to be added to those of Tibullus, whom he constantly imitates. There are also many reminiscences of Horace, Ovid, and Propertius. The six Elegies are addressed to Neaera, who was probably the poet's cousin and was married or betrothed to him (iii. 1, 23; 2, 12). Lygdamus was born in the same year as Ovid, B.C. 43;