Who was Mamurra in Catullus’s political invective?

In the political invective of the Roman poet Catullus, Mamurra was a figure identified as an agent and military engineer for Julius Caesar.1

Catullus targeted Mamurra with intense, scurrilous lampoons that were so biting that Caesar himself acknowledged the poetry was personally damaging and would leave a lasting mark on history. These attacks were part of a broader pattern of contempt Catullus directed toward Caesar and his associates, despite the fact that Catullus’s own father had maintained a friendly relationship with the future dictator. According to the biographer Suetonius, Caesar’s reaction to these insults—which included inviting the poet to dinner—was cited as a notable example of his clemency.1