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LANVVINVS ATER ATQVE DENTATVS: A NOTE ON CATULLUS 39.12

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2026

Paolo Garofalo Open the ORCID record for Paolo Garofalo [Opens in a new window]
Paolo Garofalo*
Affiliation:
Centre for Classical Studies School of Arts and Humanities University of Lisbon
*
pgarofalo@edu.ulisboa.pt
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Abstract

Catullus’ invective against Egnatius (poem 39) reveals a belief in the curative properties of certain waters for oral health. In this context, the poet’s obscure reference to the ‘black and toothy Lanuvian’ has long been enigmatic. The recent archaeological discovery of a votive deposit linked to a local spring in the ager Lanuuinus may provide an explanation.

Keywords

CatullusEgnatiusOld LatiumLanuviumspringvotive depositoral cavities

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Shorter Notes
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The Classical Quarterly , First View , pp. 1 - 4
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
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© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association

INTRODUCTION

Catullus’ invective against Egnatius,Footnote 1 jealous at his interest in Lesbia, is widely known from poems 37 and 39.Footnote 2 In poem 39, in particular, Catullus derides Egnatius for his incessant smiling, which he finds inelegant and distasteful: an unwavering grin remains plastered on his face regardless of the situation he finds himself in, whether a sombre trial, where the defence lawyer stirs the jury’s emotions, or a funeral, where a grief-stricken mother laments the loss of her only child.

In the second half of the poem, Catullus accuses Egnatius of an unconventional approach to oral hygiene: while the norm among Italic populations was to rinse one’s teeth with water, Egnatius apparently adhered to the Celtiberian custom of whitening one’s teeth with urine. Here I will focus on the peoples qui puriter lau[unt] dentes (l.14), giving particular attention to the mention of the Lanuvini:Footnote 3

If you were a Roman or a Sabine or a Tiburtine or a plump Umbrian or a fat Etruscan, or a black and toothy Lanuvian, or a Transpadane (to touch on my own people too), or anybody else who washes his teeth with clean water, still I should not like you to be smiling everlastingly.Footnote 4

Catullus is the only extant writer who characterizes the inhabitants of Lanuvium as atri atque dentati. This curious statement has not (to my knowledge) been addressed by any editor.Footnote 5 Among the rare scholars to comment on this passage is Wilhelm Kroll, who confines himself to the statement: ‘Wie Catullus dazu kommt, den Lanuvini dunklen Teint und gute Zähne zuzuschreiben, und was ihn veranlaßt, die Bewohner gerade dieser Stadt zu nennen, ist nicht klar … ’Footnote 6 It is indeed unclear why Catullus mentions the Lanuvini, and why he might characterize the ‘typical’ Lanuvian as ater atque dentatus. The first point (ater) is certainly the more difficult to decipher and I shall attempt to explain it in a second step. There may be a plausible explanation for the Lanuvian’s good teeth: the argument of the poem helps us to solve this little enigma, but the contribution of archaeology is indispensable.

OPEN YOUR MOUTH: CATULLUS AND EX-VOTOS

Two points can be deduced from Catullus’ passage: (1) the waters of the ager Lanuuinus were considered pure; (2) they were considered curative for afflictions of the mouth. There is, therefore, a clear link between the quality of the water of Lanuvium and its inhabitants’ ‘strong’ teeth. Yet it must be noted that nowhere else in the literary sources are such properties attributed to Lanuvian water. Catullus’ assertion is therefore of great importance because it agrees with ancient medical texts, where rinsing with cold water (preferably spring water) is confirmed as a means of preventing dental and more generally oral ailments.Footnote 7 Catullus’ reference thus seems not at all incidental, suggesting that it could be traced to a specific spring in the territory he knew of, or had visited himself. This is certainly possible, since Lanuvium was very close to Rome and a favoured destination of the city elites.Footnote 8

A possible confirmation of this hypothesis, which can also explain the ironic but good-natured description of the Lanuvini, comes from an important archaeological discovery made in the area. In 2012, in the locality of Pantanacci,Footnote 9 a suburban area north of Lanuvium but certainly within the boundaries of its ager, a rich votive deposit was found in a tuffaceous cave, in which there was a spring.Footnote 10 The richness of the deposit, despite years of plundering by clandestine excavators, demonstrates an extensive frequentation of the site that cannot be attributed to the local population alone. We can certainly affirm the existence of a cult connected to this spring, even if we cannot say more at present.Footnote 11

Among the numerous anatomical terracotta votive offerings found, a conspicuous number are peculiar and unique: ex-votos reproducing an open mouth, with tongue, lower teeth and uvula (Fig. 1).Footnote 12

Fig. 1.

Oral cavity ex-voto from Pantanacci (inv. IG147795); by the kind permission of Direzione Generale Musei Lazio, Museo delle Navi Romane, Nemi (Rome, Italy).

A terracotta ex-voto depicting an open mouth with visible tongue, lower teeth, and uvula.

Their presence demonstrates that the water of this spring was believed to be beneficial for the treatment of oral ailments.Footnote 13

The chronology of the site, in use mainly between the fourth and second centuries b.c. but continuing throughout the Late Republican and Early Imperial periods, fits Catullus’ reference well. One can presume, therefore, that he was aware of this specific spring whose relation to dental care seems to have been established. It is not absurd to imagine that the Lanuvini were believed to be dentati because of this specific cult, one of many in the area.Footnote 14

WHY ARE THE LANUVINI CALLED ATRI?

We have explained why the Lanuvini were dentati, but it is more difficult to explain why Catullus calls them atri. This, too, may be related to water quality: Pliny shows that it was believed that certain waters made the skin darker.Footnote 15 Another explanation, purely conjectural, is that the Lanuvians’ skin was ‘black’ when they performed their ritual ablutions, because they were in the dark of the sacred cave, where the contrast with their bright white teeth made them seem all the darker.

While the immediate context suggests a literal reading of ater, it can also be used figuratively to convey moral darkness—wickedness, depravity or baseness—indicating potential for a metaphorical extensionFootnote 16 which could support a veiled critique of the rising Lanuvian elites, whose attainment of prestigious offices in Late Republican Rome exemplifies their growing political prominence.Footnote 17

To conclude, Catullus’ mention of the Lanuvini, despite appearing to be a minor and insignificant aside, contains multifaceted meaning. It reveals Catullus as an astute observer and satirist. In mentioning the Lanuvini, he preserves valuable information about local cults that are remarkably corroborated by local archaeological evidence. The connection he makes between Lanuvian water and dental health provides a unique glimpse into ancient health practices in this ancient city of Latium, of which we would otherwise know nothing.

Footnotes

*

This work is financed with National Funds through FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology), through the project UID/00019/2025, Centro de Estudos Clássicos (https://doi.org/10.54499/UID/00019/2025). I am grateful to Ana Loio, Gabriel Silva, Giorgio Ferri, Laila Dell’Anno, Francesca Diosono, the editor Bruce Gibson and the anonymous reader for CQ for their incisive comments; the sole responsibility for the content of this article rests with me.

References

1 The poet Egnatius is mentioned by Macrob. Sat. 6.5.2. See F. Skutsch, ‘Egnatius 3’, RE 5.2 (1905), cols. 1993–4; C.L. Neudling, A Prosopography to Catullus (Oxford, 1955), 58–64; J. Uden, ‘Egnatius the Epicurean: the banalization of philosophy in Catullus’, Antichthon 55 (2021), 94–115; T.P. Wiseman, Roman Studies: Literary and Historical (Liverpool, 1987), 340.

2 J.T. Katz, ‘Egnatius’ dental fricatives (Catullus 39.20)’, CPh 95 (2000), 338–48; B.A. Krostenko, ‘Arbitria urbanitatis: language, style, and characterization in Catullus cc. 39 and 37’, ClAnt 20 (2001), 239–72; B. Arkins, ‘The modern reception of Catullus’, in M.B. Skinner, A Companion to Catullus (Malden, MA, 2007), 461–78; M.S. Marsilio, ‘Catullus 37: Lesbia, Egnatius, and Roman mime’, AClass 59 (2016), 203–14; S. O’Bryhim, ‘Egnatius as dux gregis (Catullus 37 and 39)’, CPh 113 (2018), 352–60; B. Gibson, ‘Catullan themes’, in I. Du Quesnay and A.J. Woodman (edd.), The Cambridge Companion to Catullus (Cambridge, 2021), 89–115, at 90–1.

3 Lanuvium is a municipium of Latium uetus: see P. Garofalo, Lanuvio. Storia e istituzioni, 2 vols. (Tivoli, 2014).

4 Text taken from R.A.B. Mynors, C. Valerii Catulli Carmina (Oxford, 1958). Translation from F.W. Cornish, J.P. Postgate and J.W. Mackail, Catullus, Tibullus, Peruigilium Veneris, revised by G.P. Goold (Cambridge, MA and London, 19882). The term ‘toothy’ is preferred to Cornish’s translation ‘tusky’; the reference clearly concerns, however, the quality rather than the size of the teeth (dentatus being equivalent to ‘endowed with good teeth’). This interpretation is supported by the antithetical usage in Ov. Rem. am. 339 si male dentata est …

5 Similar references to other ethnic groups have received attention: already in the sixteenth century the humanist Achilles Statius noted, in his erudite commentary on Catullus, comparisons for the ‘plump Umbrian’ (parcus Vmber, Gloss. Vat: see G. Brugnoli, ‘Catull. 39,11’, RCCM 33 [1991], 81–3) and the ‘obese Etruscan’ (pinguis Tyrrhenus, Verg. G. 2.193) but mentioned no parallels for these specific characteristics of the Lanuvini. See J.H. Gaisser, Catullus and his Renaissance Readers (Oxford, 1993), 168–78.

6 W. Kroll, C. Valerius Catullus (Stuttgart, 19685), 73. Equally laconic considerations in C.J. Fordyce, Catullus: A Commentary (Oxford, 1961), 187; K. Quinn, Catullus: The Poems (London, 19732), 82–3; H.-P. Syndikus, Catull: Eine Interpretation. Erster Teil: Die kleinen Gedichte (1–60) (Darmstadt, 1984), 220 n. 16. See also M. Lenchantin de Gubernatis, Il libro di Catullo Veronese (Turin, 1933).

7 See Celsus, Med. 1.8; Plin. HN 28.14; Serenus, Med. 245.

8 On the possessores of uillae in the ager Lanuuinus, see Garofalo (n. 3), 218–29. Some of the conspirators against Caesar had luxurious residences in this territory: Q. Servilius Caepio Brutus (Cic. Att. 15.9.1) and C. Cassius Longinus, but also L. Cornelius Balbus, who sold his property to M. Aemilius Lepidus (Cic. Att. 13.46.2). It is probable that Cicero acquired a property in the ager Lanuuinus late in life (Cic. Att. 15.17).

9 Pantanacci today belongs to the municipality of Genzano di Roma in the Metropolitan Area of Rome; see IGM F. 150 III SE and Carta Tecnica Regionale Sez. n. 388094 (Lanuvio).

10 Water filtered through tufa was considered especially pure (see Plin. HN 31.48).

11 Servius (on Verg. Aen. 7.84) recalls that nullus enim fons non sacer (‘there is no spring that is not sacred’).

12 V. Boecker, Kulte, Orte, Körperteile: eine Neubewertung der Weihung anatomischer Votive in Latiums Heiligtümer (Wiesbaden, 2023), Kat. 26.c and now L. Attenni, A.L. Fischetti and G. Granata, ‘The votive deposit of Pantanacci’, in F. Fabbri and A. Sebastiani (edd.), Sacred Landscapes in Central Italy: Votive Deposits and Sanctuaries (400 BC–AD 400) (Turnhout, 2025), 35–45, with further references.

13 The connection between anatomical votives and medicine is explored by R. Flemming, ‘Anatomical votives: popular medicine in Republican Italy?’, in W.V. Harris (ed.), Popular Medicine in Graeco-Roman Antiquity: Explorations (Leiden and Boston, 2016), 105–25.

14 Cicero notes the presence of many cults, plurima … sacrificia et fana (Fin. 2.63–4), in this antiquissimum municipium (i.e. Lanuuium: Cic. Mur. 86.40).

15 Plin. HN 31.14 qui e Sybari bibant, nigriores esse durioresque et crispo capillo (‘those who drink of the Sybaris are darker and more hardy, and with curly hair’).

16 Cf. Porph. 1.4.100–1 malos autem homines atros ac uenenatos dicere solemus (‘We are also accustomed to defining evil men as “black and venomous”’). Cf. TLL 2.1018.50, 1021.20 s.v. ater).

17 On these aspects, see P. Garofalo, ‘Sulla, i Caecilii Metelli e Lanuvium’, Historia 147 (2019), 42–52 and, most recently, ‘Lanuvium vs. Lavinium: confusione tra poleonimi o appropriazione di miti eneadici?’, MEFRA 137 (2025), 399–411.

Figure 0

Fig. 1. Oral cavity ex-voto from Pantanacci (inv. IG147795); by the kind permission of Direzione Generale Musei Lazio, Museo delle Navi Romane, Nemi (Rome, Italy).