Editing Tibullus (section)

===Epitaph===
At the end of the book comes the epigram of the poet [[Domitius Marsus]], a contemporary of Tibullus, commemorating the fact that both Tibullus and Virgil died about the same time (19 BC), Tibullus being only a young man at the time.<ref>For a critical appreciation of this epitaph see: Morgan, L. (2001). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/44696760 "Metre matters: some higher-level metrical play in Latin poetry"]. ''The Cambridge Classical Journal'', 46, 99–120; pages 108–111.</ref>

To sum up: the third and fourth books appear in the oldest tradition as a single book, and they comprise pieces by different authors in different styles, none of which can be assigned to Tibullus with any certainty. The natural conclusion is that a collection of scattered compositions, relating to Messalla and the members of his circle, was added as an appendix to the genuine relics of Tibullus. When this "Messalla collection" was made cannot be exactly determined; but it was definitely not till after the death of Tibullus, 19 BC, and perhaps as late as the late 1st century AD. Besides the foregoing, two pieces in the collection called ''[[Priapea]]'' (one an epigram and the other a longer piece in iambics) have been attributed to Tibullus; but there is little external and no internal evidence of his authorship.<ref>Cf. Hiller, E. (1883). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4471871 "Die Tibullische Elegiensammlung"]. ''Hermes'', 343–361.</ref>{{sfnp|Postgate|1911|p=930}}