Porcius Licinus, poète et philologuqe du "cercle" de Q. Lutatius Catulus

It’s not very easy to give a reliable account of Porcius Licinus’ works and personality. Indeed, through lack of precise biographical indications, we can only formulate conjectures which allow us to determine in all probability the time when and the cultural environment in which he lived. More explicit in many respects appears his creative writing, from which remain – besides an epigram in four lines – several fragments of a didactic poem focused on literary criticism. The first fragment of this lost book created a considerable stir in Roman public opinion and seems to bear the stamp of Aristotelian literary theories. But the influence of the peripatetic doctrine on Porcius Licinus’ ideas may convince the readers that he belonged to the “literary society” of Q. Lutatius Catulus, a connoisseur of Greek philosophy.