THE LIFE OF PROPERTIUS
which Propertius refers contained similar provisions. Further, the same poem shows that he was unmarried and unwiUing to marry any one else, while there can be no doubt that Cynthia was unmarried, for among the objects of his jealousy Propertius never makes mention of a husband. It is possible that she may have been descended from Hostius, an epic poet of the second century B.C. (see III. xx. 8, note). We gather from the poems of Propertius that she had a gift for singing, dancing, and poetry, was tall and yellow-haired, with black eyes. We cannot trace the history of the liaison with any clearness. Neither party was faithful, and the course of love did not run smooth. On one occasion (see III. xvi. 9) there was a breach which lasted for a whole year. The quarrel was, however, made up, and at the close of the third book, where Propertius finally breaks with her, he claims to have been her faithful slave for five years (III. xxv. 3). In the fourth book Cynthia is mentioned in only two poems (vii. and viii.), though there is probably a reference to her in the fifth elegy; the seventh tells us that she died neglected and was buried near Tibur.
Propertius left four books of elegies behind him. It is hard to determine the dates of their publication. It is probable that Book I. was published about 26 B.C.,[1] Book II. about 24 or early in 23 B.C., Book III. in 22 or 21 B.C. The fourth book was published not earlier than 16 B.C. as both the fifth and eleventh poems refer to events of that year. As to the latter years of Propertius' life we know nothing. It is perhaps probable that he died not long after the
- ↑ It was published separately under the title Cynthia. Cp. II. iii. 4 (also Martial, xiv. 189). In some of the MSS. of Propertius it has the title Cynthia Monobiblos.
