What is the main focus of Catullus poem number 10?

Question

I have found many different things explicit and implicit and I need some help

Answer 1

Poems 29, 93, 10, 28, and 47 give a particularly vivid picture of Catullus' views of contemporary politics. Poem 10 contains obscene abuse of the provincial governors Memmius and Piso. Catullus does not seem to be indignant at any illegal activity on the part of these governors, however, but rather at the fact that neither he nor his friends were able to profit from their service as part of these governors' cohorts.
Catullus thus represents a social as well as a literary phenomenon, providing us with a glimpse of the life and concerns of a wealthy and talented member of the equestrian class in the midst of the turmoil of the Late Republic. In this sense Catullus' poetry serves as a useful corrective to the gloomy picture conveyed by the violent and chaotic politics of this period: it is clear that, despite the uncertainties of the times, for many people life went along its usual course.

The above-cited poem is also useful for revealing something of the Romans' attitude toward sexuality. (Note how Catullus repeatedly demeans his opponents by threatening to subjugate them sexually, reducing them to a passive, "feminine" status — or by suggesting that such a status is habitual for them.)

Poem 10
My friend Varus had taken me from the forum
(I had nothing going on) to visit his latest love —
a little tart, so she struck me at first sight,
not at all without charm and wit.
When we got there we fell into conversation 5
on a variety of topics, among which was the question of
what Bithynia was like these days, how things were going there,
and whether it had proved at all beneficial to my purse. [FN 6]
I told them the truth — that there was nothing there, either for the locals
or for the praetors or for the praetor's cohort 10
that would cause anyone to carry a sleeker head —
especially for those who had an irrumator [FN 7] for a praetor,
one who didn't give a straw for his cohort.
"But at the very least," they said, "you must certainly
have acquired what they say is the native custom, 15
some slaves to bear your litter?" I (thinking I would increase
my standing in the girl's eyes)
replied, "Things weren't so bad for me that,
just because I'd landed a lousy province,
I wasn't able to acquire eight good strong men." 20
(Yet in fact I had no one, neither here nor there,
who might carry on his neck the
fractured foot of my ancient little cot.)
At this point she said — as you'd expect from a little tramp —
"Please, my dear Catullus: lend them to me 25
just for a short while. I want to be carried to Serapis' temple [FN 8]
in style." "Hold on!" I said to her.
"That which I said I had a moment ago —
What was I thinking? My friend,
Gaius Cinna, [FN 9] he acquired them. 30
But, really, whether they're his or mine, what's that to me?
I have the use of them, just as if I bought them.
But you, with your wicked wit, are a downright plague,
who allow no one the slightest latitude of speech."

Answer 2

When I found Catullus poem number 10 this warning was on before I read the poem.
This Poem includes references to the digestive and reproductive systems that may give offence.
http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/010x.html

X. A TEASE

I was strolling where t'was shady in the square,
When Varus came with eagerness disarming
And bore me off to see a lady fair,
As full of wit indeed as she was charming.

There we talked about Bithynia, I recall,
How fortune on the provinces was falling:
Said I, "For subaltern or general
The prospect's simply hopeless - quite appalling!

No hope of coming home with larded locks -
Mere errand boys, or so the praetor thought us".
Said she "You weren't completely on the rocks?
At least you did bring home with you some porters"?

I never had a fellow who could place
Beneath a broken piece of wood his shoulder,
But, as I badly wished to save my face,
"Oh yes, I've six or seven lads", I told her.

Said she, "Catullus! That is simply great"!
(For how should I foretell her wicked capers?)
"Please lend me them! I want to go in state
To worship at the temple of Serapis".

"A truce"! I cried. "I fear I never thought!
The real purchaser was Caius Cinna,
Whose goods I use as though myself had bought -
Wines, horses, slaves, and frequently a dinner!

But you're a plague, and hardly fit to live:
If I'd my way you'd be severely shaken!
T'would have been nicer of you to forgive
My slip - it's only that I was mistaken"!


http://members.lycos.co.uk/geoff_harrisson/cat2.html