Gaius Licinius Macer Calvus
Gaius Licinius Macer Calvus (28 May 82 BC<ref>Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 7.165</ref> – Template:Circa<ref name=novi />) was an orator and poet of ancient Rome.
Son of Licinius Macer<ref name=novi /> and thus a member of the gens Licinia, he was a friend of the poet Catullus, whose style and subject matter he shared.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Calvus's oratorical style opposed the "Asian" school in favor of a simpler Attic model: he characterized Cicero as "Template:Lang" (loose and nerveless), while Cicero described him as "Template:Lang" (bloodless and dry).<ref>Tacitus, Dialogus, 18</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> However, there was no enmity between these two, and Cicero praised Calvus highly.<ref name=novi>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Tacitus mentions twenty-one of his speeches, including several speeches against Publius Vatinius.<ref>Tacitus, Dialogus, 21</ref> Calvus likely prosecuted Vatinius multiple times, in 58 BC and then later in 54 BC, where he was defended by Cicero.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref> One of these trials (probably the second) is described in Catullus's poem 53.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> At the trial one of the bystanders caused Catullus to laugh by crying out "Great gods, what an eloquent Template:Lang!". The meaning of the rare word Template:Lang has been disputed, but it has been suggested that it may have referred to Calvus's wit or short stature. There may also have been an obscene meaning.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=Quinn>Quinn, K. (1973) Catullus: the Poems, 2nd ed., pp. 248–249.</ref>
Seneca the Elder mentions his short stature, and refers a story in which Calvus asked to be raised to a platform, so that he could defend one of his clients, Asinius Pollio, being attacked by supporters of Gaius Cato.<ref>Seneca the Elder, Controversiae, 7.4.7</ref> Seneca also tells a story of how, at a trial, the defendant jumped up and complained "I ask you, judges, am I to be condemned just because that man is a good speaker?"<ref name=Quinn /><ref>Seneca the Elder, Controversiae, 7.4.6</ref>
Catullus counted him as a close friend and addressed several poems to him. In one of these, no. 50, he describes how he and Calvus spent a pleasant afternoon taking turns to write short poems.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Frédéric Plessis published fragments of Calvus in 1896.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>