The Roman poet Catullus is regarded as the founder of private love poetry. As a member of the group of poets known as “Neoterics” he had a particular influence on the literary life of Rome in the first century BC. To date, however, insufficient attention has been paid to his shortest poems, the epigrams, and neither their artistry hasbeen adequately appreciated, norhow much they owe to Hellenistic poetry. This is now demonstrated for all 48 of Catullus’ epigrams using methods of modern literary scholarship.