[2] flos iuvenum: cf. Catul. 24.1.
[2] depereunt: see Catul. 35.12n.
[3] hic: referring to the first mentioned person, Caelius, while ille refers to Quintius; cf. the similar use of hoc and illud in Catul. 97.3.
[3] hoc est quod dicitur: cf. Catul. 94.2.
[5] cui faveam potius: i. e. in whose success shall I feel the most lively interest? With the question and answer cf. Catul. 1.1ff. “cui” is for utri, as occasionally in writers of this and the following periods.
[6] per facta exhibita: the friendship may have been proved by withdrawing from rivalry with Catullus in his affair with Lesbia; but if Caelius be Caelius Rufus, we must suppose the withdrawal was but feigned, as Catullus afterward discovered; see Intr. l.c.
[7] vesana flamma: of the love of the poet for Lesbia; cf. Catul. 7.10 vesano Catullo.
[7] torreret medullas: cf. Catul. 35.15n.
[8] potens: successful; cf. Prop. 3.26.21 “quod tam mihi pulchra puella serviat et tota dicar in urbe potens;” and the fuller form in Ov. Met. 8.409 “voti potente” .