The authorship of Sulpicia
This chapter explores a model of collaborative authorship for the Sulpicia elegies in the Appendix Tibulliana ([Tib.] 3.8–18). These poems represent the largest corpus of extant women’s writing in Latin from pre-Christian antiquity—but their authenticity is doubted by some. Such doubts are partly prompted by the presentation of Sulpicia—especially the switch to the third person in 3.8, 3.10, 3.12. It is argued here, however, that Sulpicia would have been required partially to conceal her authorial identity; attention is drawn to the evidence of the place of Roman women at recitationes in Pliny’s Epistles. It is suggested that Sulpicia’s poetry may originally have been recited by a lectrix. The possibility is considered that Sulpicia’s poems might have been written in partnership with other members of her household. Finally, a reading of [Tib.] 3.13 shows Sulpicia reaching out to the literary community of which she was not allowed full membership, and inviting women readers to engage with her in collaboration.