Dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Latin presented at Uppsala

University in 1998

ABSTRACT
Henriksn, C., 1998. Martial, Book IX. A Commentary. Vol. 1. Acta. Univ. Ups., Studia
Latina Upsaliensia 24:1. 223 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 91-554-4293-5.
This dissertation consists of a commentary on Book 9 of the Epigrams of M. Valerius
Martialis (ca. 40104 AD). The book, with its 105 epigrams one of the longer in Martials
production, was published in late 94 or early 95 and presents the reader with Martials
characteristic variety of subjects drawn from contemporary Roman society and everyday
life. Notable is that Book 9 contains a markedly higher frequency of poems focusing on the
emperor Domitian than any other of Martials books. The tendency towards a greater
attention to Domitian is obvious already in Book 8 (published in early 94) and is likely to
have been continued also in the last book published under his reign, the now lost first
edition of Book 10 (published in 95). In Book 9, this tendency is also reflected in the
increase of references to Domitian simply as Iuppiter or as Tonans, of the application to
the emperor of epithets originally belonging to divinities, and of comparisons of Domitian
with gods, particularly with Jupiter, the Sun, and Hercules. The book as a whole is set
within an imperial framework, marked at the beginning by poems 1, 3, 5 and 7, and by
poem 101 at the end.
The present commentary consists of an introduction discussing the date, general characteristics, structure and themes of Book 9 (with special regard to matters concerning the
emperor), followed by a detailed commentary on each of the 105 poems, placing them in
their social, historical and literary context.
Key-words: Martial, epigram, Domitian, Silver Latin, panegyric, Statius, Ovid, Greek
Anthology.
C. Henriksn, Department of Classical Philology, Uppsala University, Box 527, SE-751
20 Uppsala, Sweden.

Christer Henriksn 1998

ISSN 0562-2859
ISBN 91-554-4292-7 (vols. 24:124:2)
ISBN 91-554-4293-5 (vol. 24:1)
ISBN 91-554-4294-3 (vol. 24:2)
Printed in Sweden by Textgruppen i Uppsala AB 1998
Distributor: Uppsala University Library, Box 510, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden

Susannae
longi laboris consciae

Preface and Acknowledgements

A new commentary on Martial needs little justification. Since the publication of
Friedlnders commentary on the complete works of Martial in 1886, our ability
to understand the Epigrams has greatly improved, thanks to the increasing
amount of modern scholarly work. Silver Latin poetry, long considered to be baroque in comparison with its Augustan precursors, has been re-assessed. The
emperor Domitian, who for a very long time was looked upon as a ruthless tyrant,
has obtained some redress, which is bound to be reflected on the poets who put
their talents to his service. For all that, there will always be some lines or poems
in the text of Martial which will remain enigmatic, single distichs that are obviously witty jokes or savage satire but which will elude our understanding. No
matter how much progress is made in the field of classical studies, we shall never
be able to fully attain the frames of reference of a late-first-century Roman. In
such cases, we can but suggest an explanation and argue in favour of it, but
probably never conclusively demonstrate its correctness.
The first modern commentary, by Mario Citroni on Book 1, appeared in 1975.
Since then, commentaries have been published on Book 1 (1980) and Book 5
(1995) by Peter Howell, on Book 11 by Nigel Kay (1985), on Book 14 by Tim
Leary (1996), and on Book 6 by Farouk Grewing (1997). To all of these, I freely
acknowledge my debts. Besides, commentaries on some of the books exist in the
form of unpublished Ph.D. theses in Britain. For the current state of research into
Martial, I refer the reader to the surveys by Grewing in the introduction to his
commentary (pp. 1116) and in his preface to F. Grewing (ed.), Toto notus in
orbe. Perspektiven der Martial-Interpretation, Stuttgart 1998, pp. 713.
I would here like to express my cordial thanks to Professor Hans Helander,
who has firmly guided me through the writing of this commentary, scrutinized my
text and purged it from many an error, while always sharing generously his profound knowledge of Greek and Latin literature. Docent Monica Hedlund has followed my work with great interest and often put stray reasoning back on the path
of common sense. Professor Sten Eklund has, as always, not only advised me on
philological matters, but also assisted me with financial and technical concerns.
To all of these, I offer my sincere gratitude, not least for believing that this work
was possible in the first place. My thanks are also due to Henrik Vitalis, M.A.,
who patiently read the manuscript from cover to cover, and to Dimitrios Iordanoglou, B.A., who kindly undertook the task of proof-reading the Greek. My English
has been corrected by Neil Tomkinson, B.A., and has also benefited from the
valuable advice of Denis Searby, Ph.D.

Uppsala, 24 September 1998

C.H.

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1. The date of Book 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2. General characteristics and metres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3. The structure of Book 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.1. The general pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2. Cycles and pairs of epigrams in Book 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4. Themes and motifs in Book 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.1. General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.2. Domitian the commander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.2.1. Domitianus Germanicus: The war against the Chatti . . . . 23
4.2.2. The Second Pannonian War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.3. Domitian the god . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.3.1. Comparisons with Jupiter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.3.2. Comparisons with other divinities and Domitian as deus . . 32
5. Some notes on the tradition of the manuscripts and on the text
of Book 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
6. A note on the use of this commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
7. Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
7.1. Editions of Martial: A selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
7.2. Modern commentaries on Martial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
7.3. Commentaries on other Greek and Latin authors . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
7.4. Works referred to by abbreviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
7.5. Secondary literature referred to in this commentary . . . . . . . . . . 41

Text and Commentary: Praefatio and poems 147 . . . . . . . . . 45

Introduction
1. The date of Book 9
We know, with a reasonable degree of certainty, that Book 8 appeared at the beginning of the year 94 and that the first edition of Book 10 appeared in (the December of ?) 95.1 These dates, obviously, are the definitive termini post quem and
ante quem for the publishing of Book 9. From the mid-eighties, Martials books of
epigrams had appeared at fairly regular intervals (usually about a year, never
more than two), so there is reason to suppose that the publication of Book 9 fell
midway between these two termini. Similarly, it must be assumed that the majority of the poems in the book were written in 94 or else would have appeared in
Book 8. This is, however, not conclusive, as will be demonstrated below.
Friedlnder (pp. 61 f.) placed the publishing of Book 9 in the late summer or
early autumn of 94. As evidence for this dating, he produced two poems in particular, 9, 84 and 9, 40. In the former, Martial states that the addressee of the
epigram, Norbanus, had been absent from Rome (viz. in the office of equestrian
procurator of Rhaetia) for six years when it was written. The opening lines of the
poem (Cum tua sacrilegos contra, Norbane, furores | staret pro domino Caesare
sancta fides) mention the revolt of Saturninus, which broke out about the turn of
the year 8889. Friedlnder, who was not aware that Norbanus was stationed in
Rhaetia as procurator, connected his departure from Rome with the outbreak of
the revolt and concluded that 9, 84 was written in the autumn of 94 (ohne
Zweifel konnte M. von einem Zeitraum von 6 Jahren sprechen, wenn auch noch
einige Monate daran fehlte). However, Norbanus did not likely leave Rome in
order to suppress the revolt but to enter upon his office as procurator. The problem
is, though, that it is not known precisely when he arrived in Rhaetia, only that he
was there by the time of Saturninus revolt. If he entered upon his office in 87 (as
did Lappius Maximus, the governor of Germania inferior, who led the suppression of the revolt), this would place 9, 84 in 93 instead of 94. The only objection
that can be made to such an assumption is that 9, 84, had it been written in 93,
would probably have appeared in Book 8. However, such an argument is far from
cogent, as is sufficiently demonstrated by 9, 31. In this poem, Martial commemo1
I follow here the dating of Books 8 and 10 given by Citroni in his article Marziale e la Letteratura per i
Saturnali (poetica dellintrattenimento e cronologia della pubblicazione dei libri), ICS 14 (1989), pp.
201226. Sullivan (Martial, p. 40) erroneously sets the date for the publication of Book 8 in December 94
on the basis of 8, 66, in which Martial congratulates Silius Italicus elder son L. Silius Decianus on his
consulship. It is true that Silius Decianus was suffect consul from the 1st of September 94, but 8, 66 was in
all likelihood not written to congratulate him on his entrance upon office but on his designation, probably in
early January 94 (see R. Hainslink, Die neuen Fastenfragmente von Ostia in ihrer Beziehung zu
gleichzeitigem epigraphischem und literarischem Material, WS 63 [1948], pp. 117135 [here p. 127];
Citroni, op. cit, p. 224, n. 40). As a consequence of his dating of Book 8 to December 94, Sullivan puts the
publishing of Book 9 in the spring of 95. Hainslink (op. cit., pp. 126129) also argued in favour of the
publication of Book 9 in early 95, but his argument was partly based on the dating of 9, 84 to late 94,
which cannot be ascertained with the requisite certainty (see below). Hainslinks dating of the Second
Pannonian War to 9394 instead of 9293 is, while of no consequence for the dating of Book 9, obviously
mistaken, since this war is alluded to also in Book 7, which was published in 92.

11

rates a vow performed by a certain Velius, in all probability C. Velius Rufus, on

the return of Domitian from the Second Pannonian War. The emperor returned
from this war in January 93; the vow is likely to have been performed and 9, 31
written shortly afterwards (cf. 9, 31, 9 f. quae litat argento pro te, non sanguine,
Caesar, | victima, iam ferro non opus esse docet). Yet it did not appear in Book 8,
perhaps because Martial wanted the imperial theme of Book 8 to focus entirely on
the celebration of the emperors return, while saving the aspect of Domitian as a
Prince of Peace for Book 9 (see section 4.2.2 below).
More useful is 9, 40, which relates to the Capitoline games, instituted by
Domitian in 86 and held in the summer every fourth year (see note on 9, 3, 8).
The poem tells of the Alexandrine poet Diodorus, who left Alexandria for Rome
to participate in the games but was shipwrecked and forced to return. It must
reasonably have been written in connection with (probably after) the games of the
summer of 94. 9, 35 would have been written slightly before these games, when
the question of who was going to win the oak-wreath was still a matter of gossip
(see 9, 35, 10).
A handful of poems can be assigned to a certain time of the year, i.e. 39
(written for the birthday of Caesonia on the 24th of October), 52 and 53 (written
for the birthday of Q. Ovidius on his birthday on the 1st of April), 54 and 55 (for
the Caristia on the 22nd of February), 60 in the early summer (in der Rosenzeit,
Friedlnder, p. 62), and perhaps also 90 (ibid.). Poem 98, finally, alluding to the
wine harvest, would have been written in the autumn. Of these poems,
Friedlnder attributes nos. 39 and 98 to the year 93, the rest to 94. However, there
is really nothing in the poems to support such a division, and it is just as likely
that all of them were written in 94.
Of great importance for dating the publishing of Book 9 are poems 43 and 44,
on the Hercules statuette in the possession of Novius Vindex. This statuette is
made the subject also of Statius silv. 4, 6, and it is most likely that all three poems were written for one and the same dinner party (see 9, 43 intro.), which,
according to Statius, took place on a winters night; see silv. 4, 6, 1216 nobis
verus amor medioque Helicone petitus | sermo hilaresque ioci brumalem absumere noctem | suaserunt mollemque oculis expellere somnum, | donec ab
Elysiis prospexit sedibus alter | Castor et hesternas risit Tithonia mensas. H.-J.
van Dam (Notes on Statius Silvae IV, Mnemosyne 45 [1992], p. 216) has suggested that Statius, in mentioning alter Castor, hints at the date of Vindex dinner-party (or rather the morning after the day before), viz. January 27, the date
of the dedication of the temple of Castor and Pollux. But is this the January of 94
or of 95, or even of 93? In her commentary on Silvae 4, Coleman (p. xxii) states
that silv. 4, 6 can be dated after the publication of Books 13;1 the terminus ante
quem is obviously the publishing of Silvae 4 in the summer of 95 (Coleman, pp.
xix ff.). Hardie (p. 65) goes one step further, saying that the nine poems which
now make up the fourth book all seem to have been written between the end of 94
and mid-95. Silvae 3 is traditionally dated to the late summer or the autumn of
1

Coleman supports the hypothesis that Silvae 13 were published together and not separately (see her
commentary, pp. xvi ff.). In his commentary on Silvae 2 (p. 3), van Dam took the opposite view, viz. that
the books were published separately. This complicated and, it would seem, indeterminable issue is luckily
of no importance to the dating of silv. 4, 6.

12

94; see Wissowa in Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 4, p. 296, and H. Frre, Stace,

Silves, Paris 1961, p. xxi. Hardie (p. 64) puts it in 9394, and van Dam, while
commending Frres chronology, cautiously places it after the summer of 93
(commentary, p. 3). However, I think it is safe to assume a date in 94 for the publication of Silvae 3, because silv. 3, 4, written to commemorate the hair-offering
of Earinus, must be contemporaneous with the Earinus cycle in Book 9, which is
likely to have been written in that year.
There is always the danger of begging the question when using poems in the
Silvae to date poems in the Epigrams and vice versa. If, however, as it seems
reasonable to assume, Silvae 3 was published in 94, and all the poems in Silvae 4
were written after the publishing of Book 3, silv. 4, 6, and consequently Martials
9, 43 and 44, must have been written for a dinner-party given at Vindex house in
the winter of 9495. In such a case, Book 9 cannot have been published earlier
than, say, December 94. Furthermore, if van Dams theory, that the dinner was
given on the 26th of January, is correct, then Book 9 cannot have been published
in 94, but must have appeared in early 95.
Accordingly, there may be reason to advance Friedlnders dating of the publishing of Book 9 by half a year or so to December 94 or even to early 95. One or
two poems may be dated to the year 93, but the book as a whole should be considered a product of the year 94, in which the majority of the poems would have been
written.

2. General characteristics and metres

Book 9 consists of a preface (containing an introductory epigram), followed by
104 epigrams (no. 95 being divided into 95 and 95 b). These 105 epigrams contain altogether 855 lines, giving an average length of 8.14 lines per epigram. Ten
epigrams consist of only two lines (nos. 10, 15, 33, 63, 69, 78, 80, 89, 95 and 96;
apart from no. 33, these are exclusively written in elegiacs). Nine poems have
more than 12 lines (no. 57 [13 lines]; 2, 3, 27, 43, 65 [14 lines each]; 22 [16]; 11
[17]; 90 [18]), three have more than 20 lines (59 and 61 [22 lines each]; 101
[24]).
With regard to the number of epigrams, Book 9 is the third longest of Books
112; only Books 1 (119 epigrams, including the one in the preface) and 11 (108
epigrams) contain more poems.1 As regards the number of lines, Book 9 is only
surpassed by Book 10 (second edition, published in the year 98), which contains
878 lines.2

The average number of epigrams in Books 112 (including the epigrams found in the prefaces of Books 1
and 9) is 97.9. Grewing (p. 24) sets the average number at 97.7, not counting, I suppose, the epigrams
found in the prefaces. The figures for the other books are as follows: Book 2, 93 epigrams; Book 3, 100;
Book 4, 89; Book 5, 84; Book 6, 94; Book 7, 99; Book 8, 82; Book 10, 104; Book 11, 108; Book 12, 98.
Not included in these statistics are the fragmentary Liber de spectaculis (37 poems in Shackleton Baileys
edition) and Books 13 and 14. Book 13, the Xenia, consists of 127 poems, apart from nos. 13 exclusively
single elegiac couplets, Book 14, the Apophoreta, of 223 poems, of which all except nos. 1 and 2 are single
elegiac couplets. These books were published prior to Book 1, probably in 8384 and 8485 respectively.
2
See Grewing, p. 24, n. 32, for the lengths of Books 18 and 1112.

13

The metres used in Book 9 are roughly representative of Martials metres in

general. The elegiacs are distinctly predominant (87 poems 82.8%); 11 poems
( 10.5%) are written in hendecasyllables (9, 11, 19, 40, 42, 44, 52, 57, 62, 87
and 90) and 6 ( 5.7%) in choliambics (1, 5, 27, 33, 75 and 98).1 Metrical peculiarities are few. Note, however, the versus spondiacus in 9, 59, 9 and the diaeresis
following the third foot of the hexameter in 9, 60, 3, which splits the verse into
two equivalent halves (see notes ad locc.).
The only metrical experiment is to be found in 9, 77, which is in iambic epode, a metre which Martial uses also in 1, 49; 3, 14; and 11, 59; see further 9, 77
intro. Metres used elsewhere by Martial but missing in Book 9 are hexameters
(found in 1, 53; 2, 73; 6, 64; and 7, 93), iambic trimeters (11, 77, possibly also 6,
12, see Grewings note on 6, 12, 2); choliambics with alternating dimeters (1, 61),
and sotadics (3, 29).2 For Martials use of metres see also the excellent survey in
Friedlnder, pp. 2650; C. Giarratano, De M. Val. Martialis re metrica, Naples
1908; Siedschlag, Form, pp. 127133.
A notable feature of Martials elegiacs is their obvious dependence on the
verse of Ovid. Martial frequently uses verse-endings and turns of phrase (usually
with the same metrical position) directly borrowed from Ovid.3 These are, naturally, for the greater part quite conscious borrowings, even though the possibility
should not be excluded that some, and lesser similarities in particular, are simply
unconscious echoes of the Latin metrical artist par excellence. I think, though,
that Martials dependence on Ovid on the purely metrical level is greater than has
been previously recognized, and to illustrate this, I give here a selective list of
instances in which a phrase or verse-ending of Ovids surfaces again in Martials
Book 9 without intermediaries; for details, the reader is referred to the commentary on the respective line.
9, praef., 2 sed, puto
9, 12, 1 Nomen habes
9, 18, 1 Est mihi sitque precor
9, 20, 7 crepitantibus armis
9, 23, 1 contigit auro
9, 23, 3 Aspicis en
9, 24, 2 imagine vultus
9, 29, 11 mollique harena
9, 38, 2 non tamen efficies
9, 38, 6 celeres vela negata Noti

Ov. am. 2, 15, 25; 3, 7, 55; 3, 11b, 34; rem.

556; Nux 57
Ov. am. 3, 6, 91; ars 3, 536; met. 5, 461; 9,
665; 13, 570; fast. 2, 132
Ov. epist. 1, 111; fast. 6, 219; trist. 1, 10, 1
Ov. met. 1, 143; 15, 783.
Ov. epist. 3, 59; met. 15, 416; 15, 497
Ov. met. 13, 264; Pont. 4, 7, 3
Ov. trist. 1, 7, 1; Pont. 2, 8, 21
Ov. am. 2, 11, 47, cf. met. 2, 577; Ib. 422
Ov. Pont. 2, 2, 24; cf. met. 13, 64
Ov. fast. 5, 686; Ov. epist. 2, 100; am. 2, 16,
22

The figures for the entire corpus of Martial are as follows: elegiac distichs: 79%; hendecasyllables: 15%;
choliambics: 5% (see Sullivan, Martial, p. 227, n. 22).
Sullivan, loc. cit.
3
For Martials dependence on Ovid, see A. Zingerle, Martials Ovid-Studien, Innsbruck 1877; E.
Siedschlag, Ovidisches bei Martial, RFIC 100 (1972), pp. 156161; Sullivan, Martial, pp. 105107; R.
A. Pitcher, Martials Debt to Ovid in F. Grewing (ed.), Toto notus in orbe. Perspektiven der MartialInterpretation, Stuttgart 1998, pp. 5976.
2

14

9, 38, 8 ventus et unda

9, 41, 2 amica manus
9, 55, 6 and 68, 10 grave est
9, 56, 10 bona fata manent
9, 58, 6 Pegasis unda
9, 65, 12 Tartareumque canem
9, 79, 3 Auguste tuorum
9, 84, 7 non infitiatus amicum
9, 86, 5 quae stabat proxima fratri
9, 86, 6 Tu quoque vulnus habes
9, 90, 17 candidas ... aras
9, 101, 8 cum cane
9, 102, 3 Quaere alium

Ov. epist. 7, 44; am. 2, 16, 46

.T CNGQR   RPGQR   

Ov. am. 2, 4, 6; trist. 4, 8, 4

Ov. fast. 4, 156
Ov. trist. 3, 7, 15
Ov. ars 3, 322
Ov. met. 1, 204; trist. 2, 1, 509
Ov. Pont. 1, 7, 27
Ov. met. 8, 367; 12, 14
Ov. epist. 4, 20; ars 1, 166; met. 13, 497;
Pont. 1, 7, 50; Ib. 344
Ov. fast. 6, 394; Pont. 3, 2, 53
Ov. ars 2, 484; Nux 118
Ov. met. 5, 181; am. 3, 11a, 28

Apart from these instances, there is a large number of Ovidian phrases which
appear in other poets before finding their way into the epigrams of Martial. In
such cases, the immediate influence of Ovid on Martial, while very likely, cannot
be demonstrated with certainty. Such instances, of course, are noted in the commentary.

3. The structure of Book 9

3.1. The general pattern
No book of Martials Epigrams is the product of arbitrary compilation. The poet
took care in arranging the poems in the book, perfectly aware that excellent epigrams can very well be put together to make up a bad book; in 7, 85, 3 f., he states
that facile est epigrammata belle | scribere, sed librum scribere difficile est. This
does not mean that every single poem has its given place within the book that
cannot be altered without disturbing the whole (cf. Grewing, p. 26); such an arrangement in a book which contains well over a hundred poems, many of them
not exceeding a single distich, would presumably be neither effective nor perceptible to the reader. Rather, Martial aims at variatio, by distributing his themes
over the book and also by varying the metres.
Within this main principle of variation in motif and metre, there are usually
some features designed to hold the book together. As regards Book 9, there is a
clearly defined beginning, consisting of poems 1, 3, 5, and 7. These poems have a
common basic theme (the emperor Domitian), they are arranged at an interval of
one poem and also correspond metrically to one another (choliambicselegiacs
choliambicselegiacs). It is quite obvious, I think, that their purpose is to inaugurate the Emperor theme of Book 9 and to lay down its most prominent motifs: first
and foremost, the newly finished Templum gentis Flaviae (poem 1), then
Domitian as builder and restorer of temples (poem 3, varying the otherwise solemn tone by its humorous approach) and finally Domitian as the guardian of mor-

15

als (poems 5 and 7). While it may perhaps be an exaggeration to speak of Book 9
as programmatic, there can be little doubt that the book as a whole was composed,
as it were, ad maiorem Caesaris gloriam. The imperial theme of Book 9 is more
extensive than in any other book in the whole of Martials production (see section
4.1 below), and all motifs found in the introductory poems surface again at various points of the book. The end of the book is equally clearly marked in this respect by 9, 101, a grand comparison of the deeds of Domitian to the Labours of
Hercules. Representing a miniature Res Gestae of the emperor, this poem, the
longest of the book, summarizes the imperial theme and provides, together with
the opening poems, a frame for the book as a whole. Within these bounds, the
panegyrics of the emperor are distributed at fairly regular intervals throughout the
book.
Apart from this general structure a variation of subjects framed by an overarching main theme the book is held together by linking epigrams into pairs or
cycles.

3.2. Cycles and pairs of epigrams in Book 9

There are in Book 9 several poems which are connected by a common theme.
Depending on the number of poems in each of these groups, I refer to them either
as pairs of epigrams or as cycles.1 Following essentially the definition formulated by Grewing (pp. 30 f.), I regard as cycles such groups (1) as consist of at
least three poems with a common theme, (2) as develop the common theme either
linearly (focusing on the end of the group) or concentrically (the last poem of the
cycle looking back to the first) and (3) in which each poem has a distinctive position which cannot be arbitrarily altered.
Before examining the poems of Book 9 on the basis of these criteria, it is necessary to discuss in some detail the views expressed on this matter by Karl Barwick and John Garthwaite, who both discerned an imperial cycle throughout
Book 9. In his paper Zyklen bei Martial und in den kleinen Gedichten des Catull, Philologus 102 [1958], pp. 284318, Barwick suggested a cycle consisting
of epigrams 1; 3; 5; 7; 18; 20; 34; 36; 39; 64; 65; 79; 83; 91; 93; and 101.2
Among these poems, he makes out three subdivisions, thus: 1; 3; 5; 7 20; 34;
36; 39 79; 83; 91; 93. Each of these subdivisions is united primarily by the internal arrangement of the respective poems, as follows: in the first group, a poem
in choliambics (nos. 1 and 5) is followed by one in elegiacs (nos. 3 and 7). In the
second, a longer poem alternately follows a shorter. In the third group, two shorter
poems are enclosed by two longer. In this division, the contents of the respective
1

Such an arrangement of the poems in a book is likely to have been found in Hellenistic collections of
epigrams, which suggested its use to Catullus. In arranging his epigrams in pairs or in cycles, Martial was
probably influenced by Catullus and certainly by his Hellenistic precursor. This method of arrangement was
obviously also applied in such collections of Greek and Latin epigrams as appeared after Catullus; thus,
Burnikel (Struktur, pp. 93 f.) has shown that Lucilius was an important pattern to Martial in this respect.
See also Barwick, Zykeln, p. 318 (full title below).
2
For reasons not given, Barwick omits nos. 2324, 28, 31 and 71. He also includes no. 36, while leaving
out the rest of the Earinus cycle.

16

poems are obviously of minor importance. Within the first group, though, poems 1
and 3 are connected by references to the building of temples, while 5 and 7 deal
with Domitians moral legislation. In the second group, nos. 20 and 34 concentrate on the Flavian temple, 36 and 39, being, according to Barwick, connected by
the fact that both poems flatter also a second person apart from the emperor
(Earinus and Caesonia respectively). In the third group, an internal division with
regard to the contents of the poems is not possible.
This highly technical method of discerning cycles within a book has been
justly criticized by Citroni, saying that Le corrispondenze individuate dal Barwick sono per lo pi molto incerte e spesso del tutto inconsistenti ... Talvolta poi il
Barwick estende questo tipo di analisi a gruppi di epigr. di carattere assai diverso
tra loro, e che hanno in commune, ad es., solo lidentit del destinatario, il che me
pare senzaltro illegitimo (pp. xxvii f.; see also Burnikel, Struktur, pp. 87 f.).
In an article (The Panegyrics of Domitian in Martial Book 9, Ramus 22
[1993], pp. 78102) based upon the corresponding section of his dissertation
(Court Poets, pp. 43 ff.), John Garthwaite has attempted to distinguish a general
imperial cycle in Book 9, using criteria different from Barwicks. Garthwaite
understands a cycle as a series of epigrams written as elaborations on a
particular theme and spread intermittently throughout the volume. This is essentially a correct approach. However, Garthwaite holds that by considering all the
panegyrics of Domitian in Book 9 as one large cycle, it becomes apparent that
these epigrams not only interact subtly with several other poems in the book but
also assume ... an altogether different significance when sewn into the larger context of the volume than they would have had as a self-contained booklet. Garthwaites theory needs to be discussed here at some length.
Garthwaite considers poems 1, 3, 5 and 7 to be programmatic, containing references to the imperial motifs subsequently found in the book. The last poem of
the series, 9, 101, he calls a concluding synopsis with an index of the imperial
themes of Book 9 in lines 21 f. So far I agree, but in my opinion, the first four of
these poems inaugurate the imperial theme of Book 9 (see above), not the imperial
cycle. The programmatic character which Garthwaite sees in 9, 1 is as follows:
the reference to the month of October in line 1 introduces Domitians birthday,
recurring in 9, 39; the Rhine and the title Germanicus mentioned in lines 3 f.
point to his military victories (a very general statement which applies regardless
of whether or not one chooses to consider the poems as introducing a vast cycle);1
the Capitol, mentioned in line 5, entails a reference to Domitians restoration of
Iuppiter Optimus Maximus, explicitly celebrated in 9, 3; the motif of the Templum
gentis Flaviae in line 7 is echoed in 9, 20 and 9, 34.2 Garthwaite concludes his
analysis by stating the the reference in the last line to the celestial nature (caeli
est) of Domitians building programme provides the bridge for the continuation of
1
On p. 81, Garthwaite suggests that it recalls the emperors return in only the previous year from his latest
Northern campaigns, which seems highly unlikely and surely cannot have been Martials primary
intention. The title Germanicus was connected with the triumph over the Chatti in 83, not with the Second
Pannonian War.
2
As will be obvious from the commentary on this poem, I do not subscribe to such a division. It is quite
clear from the structure of 9, 1 that the motifs mentioned do not have the same status; the series of dumclauses leads up to what is the prime object of glorification, viz. the Templum gentis Flaviae.

17

the imperial theme in 9, 3. The programmatic nature of this latter poem must
needs be of much less significance; Garthwaite actually only manages to gather a
link with 9, 23 and 24 (on Domitians Alban games in honour of Minerva) from
such a line as 9, 3, 10 Pallada praetereo: res agit illa tuas (which would rather
refer to the temples of Minerva restored or erected by the emperor; he actually
adduces lines 810 as evidence, but line 8 refers to the Capitoline games and line
9 to Juno, and thus has no connection whatsoever with 9, 23 and 24). 9, 3, 11 quid
loquar Alciden is obviously prompted by Domitians temple to Hercules on the
Appian Way (which is the theme of 9, 6465 and provides the frame of 9, 101).
9, 5 and 9, 7 introduce the motif of Domitian as a guardian of morals, which
surfaces briefly also in 9, 28 and 9, 79. Now the principal reason why Martial took
up this motif in Book 9 was probably the prohibition of the prostitution of children, which is likely to have been passed in or shortly before 94 (see 9, 7 intro.);
in this context, it is only natural to mention also Domitians previous achievements in this field, viz. the edict against castration passed perhaps in 8687 (see
9, 5 intro.) and his renewal of the Lex Iulia de adulteriis. However, the juxtaposition of 9, 28 (which touches upon the topic of morality) and 9, 27, a poem attacking the hypocritical moral philosopher Chrestus, suggests to Garthwaite that the
theme of moral hypocrisy (appearing also in nos. 41 and 47; I would not add no.
70 to this group, as does Garthwaite) is consciously linked with the poems on
Domitians moral leadership, meaning, I suppose, that Martial is hinting that
Domitian himself is a moral hypocrite. Moreover, the fact that there are only a
few poems separating 9, 7 from the Earinus cycle leads Garthwaite to even more
astounding conclusions. Here indeed, Garthwaite says, the topics of child prostitution and castration are echoed most strongly, for ... Martial stresses two features about Earinus: first, that he was Domitians catamite and, second, that he
had also suffered castration. But Martial does not stress the fact that Earinus
was a eunuch (see note on 9, 11, 6) and the almost certain existence of a sexual
relation between Domitian and Earinus has got nothing to do with the street prostitution of children; on the contrary, this was quite the normal relation between
the cupbearer and his master. Consequently, Garthwaites suggestion that the
inclusion of the topic of moral legislation in Book 9 was actually prompted by its
relevance to the figure of Earinus is preposterous. As suggested below, the drastic increase of imperial panegyrics in Book 9 may have been due to a desire on
Martials part to appear as mainly a court poet, perhaps in competition with Statius. Needless to say, a person who takes pains to win the attention and approval
of the emperor does not do so by suggesting that he was as a moral hypocrite.
Furthermore, if there was an element of irony in these poems, it must have been
conceivable to the readers. If conceivable to the readers, it was naturally conceivable to the emperor.1 And while Domitian certainly could take a good joke
(compare section 4.3.1 below), he would not have appreciated a poet who made

Domitian was sensitive to such innuendoes, as is emphatically demonstrated by the fact that he had
Helvidius the Younger put to death for having written a mythological farce in which the emperor suspected
allusions to his own divorce, and by the execution of Hermogenes of Tarsus propter quasdam figuras in
his history (Suet. Dom. 10, 4); see K. M. Coleman, The Emperor Domitian and Literature, ANRW 32:5,
pp. 3111 ff.

18

fun of his moral legislation.1 Martial himself was certainly aware of the danger of
criticising Domitian; this kind of awareness made Juvenal keep his mouth shut
until his detested emperor had been assassinated. Ovid had been exiled under
Augustus because of his carmen et error (trist. 2, 207). Under Domitian, a carmen
alone would probably have done the trick.
As is obvious, neither Barwicks nor Garthwaites attempts to detect a general
imperial cycle in Book 9 conform with the definition of the term cycle given at
the beginning of this chapter. The fact that the poems in question concentrate on
Domitian is in itself not enough for them to make up a cycle. Barwicks suggestion focuses too much on metrical and positional technicalities and takes too little
heed of the contents of the poems, while that of Garthwaite is, in my opinion,
based too much on an overinterpretation of several of the poems under discussion.
It is also important to consider whether or not the reader would be able to perceive
such subtle allusions, often placed far apart from each other (cf. Burnikel, Struktur, p. 87). Instead, I would argue that Book 9 contains not one vast imperial cycle, but an imperial theme, in which two cycles may be discerned, viz. the Templum gentis Flaviae cycle and the Earinus cycle.
The cycle on the Templum gentis Flaviae consists of three linearly arranged
poems, nos. 1, 20, and 34. The temple, a dynastic mausoleum of the Flavian family, had in all probability been finished in or shortly before 94; it must obviously
have suggested itself as one of the major motifs of Book 9, and Martial was naturally ready to comply. The first poem of the cycle, an elevated glorification of the
temple, is given a prominent position at the very beginning of the book. Poem 20
is concerned with the location of the temple, on the site of Vespasians house on
the Quirinal. The concluding poem, no. 34, is one of the easy and humorous
pieces which will be discussed below (section 4.3.1).
The Earinus cycle, also linear in its structure, is longer and more elaborate, being divisible into two subsections, which I refer to as the name series (poems
1113, celebrating the name Earinus) and the offering series (1617, hymning
the offering of Earinus newly shorn locks to Aesculapius). Like the temple cycle,
it is concluded by a humorous epigram comparing Domitian and Earinus to Jupiter and Ganymede. This cycle will be discussed in greater detail in the commentary.
It is not possible to form poems 5, 7, 28 and 79 into a cycle on Domitian as the
guardian of morals, because the latter two do not focus on this theme, nor is the
order of the poems of such significance as is required in a cycle; instead, poems 5
and 7 should be considered a pair of epigrams. Poem 31 I would refer to the
huge cycle suggested below, extending over Books 7 to 9, on the Second Pannonian War. The juxtaposition of nos. 64 and 65 also suggests them as a pair of
epigrams (see below) and not as a cycle including also no. 101, the position,
length and contents of which indicate that it was intended as a concluding summary of the imperial theme in Book 9.

For the related topic of the cycle in Book 6 on the reinforcement of the Lex Iulia and the various ways in
which people bypassed it, see Grewing pp. 31 ff. (characterizing it as Gesellschaftskritik and not criticism
of Domitian).

19

It remains now to have a closer look at the pairs of epigrams in Book 9. The
basic examination of the works of Martial is here Karl Barwicks article Zur
Kompositionstechnik und Erklrungen Martials, Philologus 87 (1932), pp. 63
79; an elucidative survey is also given in Burnikel, Struktur, pp. 8895.1
The poems in Book 9 concerned are nos. 57; 2324; 4344; 5253; 5455;
6465; 7476; 9496; and 9595b. As is evident, Martial in such pairs uses particularly juxtaposition but also separation; in the latter case, the poems are, as a
rule, not placed very far apart, so as not to obscure the connection between the
epigrams in question (there are, however, exceptions to this rule; thus, there is a
slight possibility that 9, 91 forms a pair with 8, 39; see 9, 91 intro.). In some
cases, there is no perceptible line running through the pair; the latter epigram
simply provides a variation of the motif of the former (which is sometimes also
needed for the understanding of the latter); thus, the pair on Domitians moral
legislation (poems 5 and 7), on doctors (94 and 96), and on the picture of Camonius (nos. 74 and 76, the former acting as an introduction to the latter). Other
pairs seem to postulate some kind of imaginary reaction to the first poem, causing
Martial to write a second epigram in reply to this reaction; instances in Book 9 are
poems 52 and 53 (where Ovidius [feigned] unwillingness to be properly celebrated provokes the second piece, which is contrasted with the heartily sincere
tone of the former by its joking sullenness), 54 and 55, and 95 and 95 b.2 Burnikel
(loc. cit.) sorts poems 43 and 44 (on the Hercules statuette of Novius Vindex)
under the heading Steigerung oder berbietung. I would rather suggest that no.
44 is written as a humorous counterbalance to the more serious 9, 43 (see 9, 44
intro.). A similar relation is that between poems 64 and 65, on the statue of
Hercules (bearing the features of the emperor) in the temple on the Appian Way.
While 64 treats the motif on a serious basis, its sequel adopts an easier approach,
playing with the myth and adjusting it to the new guise of the hero. As intensifying in relation to its predecessor, I would regard poem 24, which, like no. 23,
deals with the olive wreath won by a certain Carus in the Alban games and the
effect which Carus bust of Domitian had on it. In the former poem, we are told
that the olive wreath (symbolizing Minerva) has of its own accord placed itself on
the bust of the emperor (her protg). In the latter, it is revealed that not only the
wreath but also the bust itself has been given by Minerva.

In the classification of the pairs of epigrams given below, I often differ from that of Burnikel, loc. cit.
Notable are couples in which the former epigram stands out by its exceptional length or coarse language,
while in the latter, Martial defends himself against the criticism aroused by the former; cf. 1, 34 and 35;
109 and 110; 3, 82 and 83; 6, 64 and 65.

20

4. Themes and motifs in Book 9

4.1. General
The themes and motifs found in Book 9 are representative of Martials works as a
whole. What are not representative are the proportions of these motifs in relation
to one another: no less than twenty-six epigrams are devoted to the emperor
(below), which is about as many as are bestowed on patrons and friends (26, 30,
42, 43, 44, 45, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 58, 60, 72, 74, 76, 77, 84, 89, 90, 98,
99, and 103). This number of imperial poems is matched only by Book 8. As a
consequence, obscenity and sexual allusiveness are kept at a comparatively low
level (4, 21, 33, 40, 63, 66, 67, 69), although obscenity is an important element
also of the vetula scoptics (29, 37, 62) and of the epigrams on moral hypocrisy
(27, 41, 47, 57; poem 70 falls into this group but does not allude to sexual morality). Closely related to the vetula scoptics are such poems as deal with marriage to
wealthy hags (10 and 80, perhaps also 95).
Various kinds of stinginess and meanness, often involving criticism of the client system, are treated in a number of epigrams (2, 6, 8, 9, 25, 46, 48, 75, 82, 85,
88, 100, 102). Particularly notable are those on legacy-hunting or captatio (8, 48,
and 88) and on dinner-hunting (14, 19, and 35). More drastic ways of getting hold
of a legacy appear in poems 15 and 78 (on murdering spouses); the manipulation
of a will is the motif of 87. The greed and insolence of Greco-Roman doctors are
mocked in 94 and 96.
A slightly philosophical criticism of excessive luxury is found in poems 22 and
92; pretended wealth and frustration at not being able to live in luxury are combined in the character of Mamurra in poem 59. In 73 the poet airs his grudge
against a shoemaker who has inherited the entire estate of his patron, while envy
of Martials own success is scorned in 97. In poems 50 and 81, he defends himself
against attacks from another poet probably writing in the epic genre. These poems
are important arguments for a possible dispute between Martial and Statius in the
mid-nineties.
Separate poems treat Martials preferences in his mistress (32), the marvellous
art of a skilled juggler (38), a plane-tree in Cordoba planted by Julius Caesar (61),
and the vociferous schoolmaster (68).
Twenty-six epigrams, or 25% of Book 9, focus in various ways on the emperor
Domitian; among these poems are also one major and one minor cycle, the former
being made up of the poems in celebration of the hair-offering of Domitians
eunuch Earinus and the latter of those on the newly finished Flavian Temple on
the Quirinal (see above). In addition, the emperor figures in another handful of
poems without being the addressee or without the epigram primarily having been
written in his praise1 (see 42, 6; 70, 7 f.; 84, 1 f.; 86, 8; 97, 5; these poems are not
included in the statistics below).

I have made the following distinction for the relevant poems in Book 9: poems focusing on the emperor:
nos. 1, 3, 5, 7, 1113, 1617, 18, 20, 2324, 28, 31, 34, 36, 39, 6465, 71, 79, 83, 91, 93, and 101;

21

With these twenty-six epigrams, Book 9 contains relatively more Domitianic

poetry than any of its predecessors. The figures for Books 18 are approximately
as follows: Book 1: 7.6%; Book 2: 4.3%; Book 4: 6.7%; Book 5: 10.7%; Book 6:
7.5%; Book 7: 10.1%; Book 8: 24.4%.1 This may be expressed in a diagram, thus:
25
20
15
Percentage
10
5
0
Book 1 Book 2 Book 3 Book 4 Book 5 Book 6 Book 7 Book 8 Book 9

As there is a substantial difference between Book 8 and 9, on the one hand,

and Books 1 to 7, on the other, as regards the relative number of poems devoted to
the emperor, there is also a difference in the motifs of the poems in question. Now
the poems on the emperor in Books 1 through 7 are mostly of a general nature;
there is praise of his shows, his laws and his building activity, as well as petitions
for the ius trium liberorum and wishes that Domitian may read Martials poetry
with a benignant attitude. With Book 8, the situation is very different; here, the
all-pervading motif is the return of Domitian from the Second Pannonian War.
Some of this still lingers in Book 9, but here, the exultation at the triumphant
return of the emperor is turned into a rendering of Domitian as a Prince of
Peace (see further section 4.2.2 below). But in Book 9, there is also a slight increase of references to Domitians warlike achievements in general, as compared
with Books 1 through 8. The Chatti, over whom Domitian celebrated a triumph in
83, and the honorary title Germanicus, which he adopted in connection with the
triumph, are alluded to in 9, 1, 1 f. (dum grande famuli nomen adseret Rheni |
Germanicarum magna lux Kalendarum); 9, 5, 1 (Domitian is referred to as Rheni
domitor); 9, 93, 8 (nomen, ab Odrysio quod deus orbe tulit); 9, 101, 20 (victor
Hyperboreo nomen ab orbe tulit); the campaigns against Dacians and the Sarmatians are mentioned in 9, 101, 17 f. (cornua Sarmatici ter perfida contudit Histri,
| sudantem Getica ter nive lavit equum), and his triumphs (three in all) in line 19
of the same poem (saepe recusatos parcus duxisse triumphos). Other poems deal
with Domitians moral legislation (9, 5; 9, 7), some with his building activity (9,
3); among the latter may be counted the small cycle on the Templum gentis
Flaviae on the Quirinal (9, 1; 9, 20; 9, 34; the temple is alluded to also in 9, 93, 6
and 9, 101, 22). The new temple of Hercules on the Appian Way (see 9, 64 intro.),
poems mentioning or alluding to the emperor but not included in the present statistics: nos. 42 (line 6), 70
(lines 7 f.), 84 (lines 1 f.), 86 (line 8), 97 (line 5).
1
It is notable that Book 3, which was published from Forum Cornelii in modern Lombardy, does not
mention Domitian at all (except for a mention of Caesar uterque in 3, 95, 5; see note on 9, 97, 5 f.). Note
also that Book 5 contains a cycle of poems based on the motif of Domitians regulations concerning the
seats in the theatre, some of which have not been taken into account in the figures presented above as not
having been written in praise of the emperor nor mentioning him explicitly.

22

which contained a statue of the hero with the features of the emperor, provides the
motif of 9, 64 and 65, and also forms the basis of the monumental comparison of
Hercules and Domitian in 9, 101. A bust of Domitian in the house of Carus, winner of the Alban games perhaps of 94, is credited with two poems (9, 2324).
Members of the imperial household appear in a number of poems, particularly
the eunuch Earinus, whose hair-offering to Aesculapius forms the theme of the
Earinus cycle (9, 1113; 1617; 36). 9, 28 is an epitaph on the mimic actor
Latinus, who was employed at the court, while 9, 79 holds up Domitians influence on the members of the familia Caesaris in general. Among separate poems
are found Martials petition for water for his city house (9, 18), the poem on the
birthday of Rufus wife Caesonia, which coincided with that of the emperor (9,
39), the humorous 9, 83, which states that the foremost merit of Domitians
games is that they keep the reciting poets off the streets, the hypothetical dinner
invitation in 9, 91, and the pledge to Caesar Domitianus Germanicus in 9, 93.
Apart from these poems, the emperor figures also in 9, 42, 7; 9, 84, 2; 9, 86, 7 f.;
and 9, 97, 5.
Given this emphasis on Domitian throughout the book, it is justifiable here to
give a short account of the historical background to some of the recurring motifs.
This will concern the wars mentioned in Book 9, notably the campaigns against
the Chatti and the Second Pannonian War, and the all-pervading presentation of
Domitian as a living god. Any modern scholar occupying him- or herself with the
reign of Domitian is necessarily much indebted to two recently published biographies, each of them excellent in its own right: Brian W. Jones The Emperor
Domitian (London 1993) and Pat Southerns Domitian. Tragic Tyrant (London
1997). Much of what is said about Domitian below, particularly in sections 4.2.1
and 4.2.2, owes its origin to these books.

4.2. Domitian the commander

4.2.1. Domitianus Germanicus: The war against the Chatti
The Chatti were a German tribe whose homelands lay around Kassel in modern
Hesse (which probably derives its name from the tribe), north-east of the Taunus
Mountains by the Rhine (Southern, p. 82). They were a formidable and warlike
people, even like the Romans in manners and conduct. Tacitus wrote about them
in his Germania (30, 2 f.): Multum, ut inter Germanos, rationis ac sollertiae:
praeponere electos, audire praepositos, nosse ordines, intellegere occasiones,
differre impetus, disponere diem, vallare noctem, fortunam inter dubia, virtutem
inter certa numerare, quodque rarissimum nec nisi Romanae disciplinae concessum, plus reponere in duce quam in exercitu. Omne robur in pedite, quem super
arma ferramentis quoque et copiis onerant: alios ad proelium ire videas, Chattos
ad bellum. Rari excursus et fortuita pugna. Equestrium sane virium id proprium,
cito parare victoriam, cito cedere: <peditum> velocitas iuxta formidinem, cunctatio propior constantiae est. This people had been matched against Roman forces
and defeated a couple of times before Domitian, first during the German expedi-

23

tion of Drusus in 119 BC, and again by Germanicus, who celebrated a triumph
de Cheruscis Chattisque (Tac. ann. 2, 41) in 17 AD. In the reign of Claudius, a
campaign against them was conducted by Sulpicius Galba (the future emperor) in
41, and in 50 an attack on Mainz was repelled by the legate Pomponius Secundus.
After a second, unsuccessful attack by the Chatti on Mainz in 69, Vespasian
strengthened the Roman defences by building a line of forts from Mainz-Kastel
north-eastward to Friedberg.
An account of Domitians campaign against the Chatti meets with a number of
difficulties; indeed, owing to the almost complete lack of substantial evidence, it is
impossible to say for certain when it began, why it was conducted, when it was
ended and what it achieved. The range of possible datings for the commencement
of hostilities stretches from late 81 to mid 83; Southern (p. 79) suggests a date in
the spring or early summer of 82 as likely for the first moves towards armed conflict. From an important passage in Frontinus Strategemata, we know that
Domitian himself was present on the Rhine and gathered troops, all under the
pretext of conducting a census in Gaul; see Frontin. strat. 1, 1, 8: Imperator Caesar Domitianus Augustus Germanicus, cum Germanos, qui in armis erant, vellet
opprimere nec ignoraret maiore bellum molitione inituros, si adventum tanti
ducis praesensissent, profectioni[s] suae census obtexuit Galliarum: sub quibus
inopinato bello affusus contusa immanium ferocia nationum provinciis consuluit.
According to this passage, the Chatti were already in armis and, while they had
not yet begun any hostile actions, they would have posed a threat to Roman interests in the area. Domitians census was thus a stratagem designed to forestall the
Chatti and get the advantage of a surprise attack, a scenario very different from
Suetonius description of the expedition as having been undertaken by Domitian
sponte rather than necessario (Dom. 6, 1).
It is not known when the initial attack on the Chatti was launched, nor is there
a record of the course of the war. What is known is that Domitian celebrated a
triumph as early as 83, a decision which incurred much scorn and derision from
Tacitus, who spoke of Domitians conscientia derisui fuisse nuper falsum e Germania triumphum, emptis per commercia, quorum habitus et crinis in captivorum
speciem formarentur (Agr. 39, 2) and made remarks like proximis temporibus
triumphati magis quam victi sunt (sc. Germani; Germ. 37, 6). It is true that a
triumph at such an early date may convey the impression of having been premature. But it is important to bear in mind that this triumph need not have been
meant to indicate the completion of the campaign. Rather, it may have been celebrated at a time when the outcome of the war was inevitable even though final
victory was not yet achieved; in the very same manner, Vespasian and Titus had
celebrated a triumph over Judaea in 71, after the fall of Jerusalem, although several fortresses still remained to be taken. The Chattan war, then, may well have
been a lengthy process which lasted another couple of years before final victory
was brought about in Domitians absence by his subordinates.1

Southern (pp. 80 f.) suggests that the war up to Domitians triumph may have been conducted as a winter
campaign in 8283. She points out that the Chattan territory was very suitable for guerrilla warfare and
that a winter campaign, while arduous also for the aggressor, would nonetheless provide certain advantages;
systematic and constant destruction of food supplies and refuges would be enough to wear the enemy down.

24

Contemporary coinage suggests that the war against the Chatti was concluded
in late 8485. At the end of 84, there appeared coins with the impression of a
woman with bowed head, representing the subdued German people; in 85, there
are legends like Germania capta, Victoria Augusti and De Ger(manis). This goes
well with Martials reference to the pax ... certa ducis in 14, 34, 1, published in
(December) 8485 (see Learys discussion of the date of Book 14, pp. 9 ff.). The
main achievement of the war was that a line of defence systems could now be
established from the Rhine by the Taunus Mountains southeastward towards the
Neckar. Perhaps the creation of the two German provinces of Germania superior
and Germania inferior was immediately connected with the victory over the
Chatti and the remodeling of the frontier, but since these areas are not recorded as
provinces earlier than the year 90, this cannot be definitively asserted.
Like everything else connected with the Chattan war, it is not known exactly
when Domitian adopted the honorary title of Germanicus. Braunert (Zum Chattenkriege Domitians, BJ 153 [1953], pp. 98 f.) maintained that is was first recorded at some time between 9 June and 28 August 83, basing this theory on the
evidence of one coin, an inscription and two papyri. Even though this evidence
has been questioned, and in spite of the titles not regularly appearing in inscriptions before 86 (see P. Kneissl, Die Siegestitulatur der Rmischen Kaiser, Gttingen 1969, pp. 4 ff.), Martials first mention of the title (13, 4, 1) strongly supports
a date in 83. Thenceforth, Martial regularly mentions Domitian as Germanicus or
otherwise alludes to the title; cf. 14, 170, 1 f. (nomina Rhenus | vera dedit); 2, 2, 3
(nobilius [sc. nomen] domito tribuit Germania Rheno); Germanicus: 5, 2, 7; 5, 3,
1; 5, 19, 17; 7, 61, 3; 8, praef. (Imperatori Domitiano Caesari Augusto Germanico Dacico, where Dacicus is not an official title but merely a mark of flattery); 8, 4, 3; 8, 26, 3; 8, 39, 3; 8, 53, 15; 8, 65, 11; for references in Book 9, see
above. In like manner, Statius uses the title on eleven occasions in his Silvae
(except in the lemmae of silv. 4, 1 Septimus decimus consulatus imp. Aug. Germanici and 4, 2 Eucharisticon ad imp. Aug. Germ. Domitianum);1 the only other
poet to mention it is Silius (3, 607 tu transcendes, Germanice, facta tuorum; cf.
the introduction to 9, 101).2 As a victory title, Germanicus was a novelty; previous
emperors (viz. Caligula, Claudius and Nero) had adopted the title not because of
their military achievements, but to indicate descent from Germanicus Caesar.
However, Domitian soon found followers in this respect; his successor Nerva
adopted the title Germanicus, and by his death in 117, Trajan was not only Germanicus but also Dacicus and Parthicus. Such epithets were to multiply in the
titles of the emperors of the second century.
The Chatti were defeated in 8485, but by no means conquered. Domitian was
to deal with them also in 89, when they teamed up with the governor of Germania
Southern argues that It is comparable to taking a city block by block; if external help can be eliminated,
there comes a point at which the outcome is inevitable but the final capitulation takes time to bring about.
1
See silv. 1, 1, 5; 1, 4, 4; 3, praef. (Germanici nostri libertus referring to Earinus); 3, 3, 165; 3, 4, 49; 4,
praef. (septimum decimum Germanici nostri consulatum); 4, 1, 2; 4, 2, 52; 4, 9, 17; 5, 1, 105; 5, 2, 177.
2
The readiness of the poets to emphasize his new title would presumably have appealed very much to
Domitian, who obviously was very fond of titles, whether this, as Southern thinks possible, reflected a
deep inner insecurity that required constant reassurance or simply because titles ought to have conferred
on him a certain gravitas and created a respectful distance between him and his subordinates (Southern, p.
36).

25

superior, L. Antonius Saturninus, in his revolt against the emperor (the sacrilegi
furores mentioned in 9, 84, 1; see note ad loc.). The rebellion having been suppressed, Domitian again sent his legions against the Chatti, who were now defeated and made to sign a peace treaty (Jones, Domitian, p. 150). In November 89,
the emperor celebrated a double triumph over the Chatti and the Dacians.
For the Chattan war, see further Jones, Domitian, pp. 128131, and Southern,
pp. 7991.

4.2.2. The Second Pannonian War

The Indo-European Sarmatians roamed, during the greater part of antiquity, over
the area from Hungary to the lower Volga. As their western branch, the Iazyges
and Roxolani, gradually moved westwards, they came to pose a real threat to
Rome on the Danube (cf. Ovids references to these tribes and their crossing of the
Danube in trist. 3, 10, 33 f.; 3, 12, 29 f.; Pont. 4, 7, 9 f.), and various measures
were taken to control them. Vespasian made great efforts to strengthen the defences on the Danube, a policy which was continued by Domitian right from the
beginning of his reign (see Jones, Domitian, pp. 135 ff.). However, in 92,
Domitian was forced into military conflict with the Sarmatians, as the Iazyges
joined the German Suebi in the Second Pannonian War.
According to Dio (67, 5, 2), the discontent among the Sarmatians and the
Suebi was due to the fact that Domitian had sent a troop of a hundred cavalrymen
to Moesia to assist the Lugii in a war against some of the Suebi. Sarmatian-German forces were preparing to cross the Danube. Domitian sent a force consisting
of vexillations from nine legions (which was allowed to march through the kingdom of the Dacian king Decebalus so as to attack the Iazyges from the rear, cf.
note on 9, 35, 5), but the initial onslaught ended in disaster and an entire legion,
probably the XXI Rapax, was annihilated. In May 92, the emperor himself appeared on the Danube and apparently managed to repel the attacks, but it is not
known how this was done, nor to what degree the campaign was a success. He
returned to Rome in January 93; for the dates, see 9, 31 intro.
Domitian celebrated no triumph after the Second Pannonian War, only an ovatio, dedicating a laurel wreath to Iuppiter Capitolinus (Suet. Dom. 6, 1), a ceremony that was part of a regular (iustus) triumph; this may perhaps indicate that
he was not completely satisfied with the outcome. It is all the more remarkable
that this war attracted far more of Martials attention than any other war, even
those that resulted in regular triumphs. The way was paved by some epigrams in
Book 7, published in December 92, which opens with a couple of generally warlike poems on Domitians cuirass, impenetrable by Sarmatian arrows (7, 12),
followed by a handful marked by eager expectation of the emperors return from
the war (7, 58) and referring to the Danube as captivus Hister (7, 80, 11) and
Hister iacens (7, 84, 3). In Book 8, published in early 94 and as a whole dedicated
to Domitian, there is a series of exultant poems on his return from the war, the
games and the banquet given on the occasion (see in particular 8, 2; 4; 8; 11; 15;
21; 26; 30; 50; 55; 65; 78). The ovation is passed off as secreti triumphi (8, 15, 5)
and Stella, who arranged games on the occasion (see 9, 42 intro.), is referred to as
26

Hyperborei celebrator ... triumphi (8, 78, 3) and Domitian as Victor Histri (8, 2,
2). Domitians refusal of a triumph made Martial speak of saepe recusatos ...
triumphos (9, 101, 19); Statius ascribed it to the emperors clemency, quae modo
Marcomanos post horrida bella vagosque | Sauromatas Latio non est dignata
triumpho (silv. 3, 3, 170 f.), later urging Domitian not to decline further triumphs:
mille tropaea feres, tantum permitte triumphos (silv. 4, 1, 39). In Book 9, the
exultation at the triumphant return of the emperor is turned into a rendering of
Domitian as a Prince of Peace; willing sacrificial animals reveal that there is no
more need for bloodshed (9, 31), insania ferri no longer prevails and there is a
pax certa (9, 70, 7 f.), since Domitian has given otia ferro (9, 101, 21); perhaps
also 9, 71, on the miraculous concord of a lion and a ram, should be read as an
allegory and counted among these poems.
It is tempting to speak of a vast cycle in Martial on the Second Pannonian
War, beginning with the expectant poems of Book 7, continuing with the celebration of the emperors return in Book 8, and concluding with the motif of Domitian
as Prince of Peace in Book 9.1 Indeed, it may seem curious that a war which was
not among Domitians most glorious nor most important military achievements
should generate such a number of verses from a poet who was being even more
enthusiastic than usual. Considering the drastic increase of imperial poetry in
Books 8 and 9, as compared with previous Books, perhaps Martial had now seriously set his heart upon being a court poet, ready to celebrate whatever deeds
the emperor accomplished without too much consideration of the level of success
they had actually achieved. Clearly, Martials picture of Domitian was now that of
a hero returning after having pacified the horrid north once and for all.
There was at least some of truth in this; from the end of the Second Pannonian
War to the murder of Domitian in 96, the empire in fact enjoyed a period of peace
(see Southern, pp. 111 ff., for a summary). Towards the end of his reign, though,
there are signs of preparations for yet another campaign on the Danube, presumably as the Sarmatians had again teamed up with neighbouring German tribes to
confront Rome. There is epigraphic evidence for a concentration of troops in Upper Moesia in the first half of 96, which, regardless of whether or not Domitian
entered into an armed conflict, shows that he did not feel that his affair with the
Sarmatians had been settled (Jones, Domitian, pp. 153 ff.). However, the inclusion
in Book 9 of a poem like no. 70 (which in lines 7 f. speaks of nulla insania ferri
and pax certa) shows that, at the time when it was written, and in all likelihood
by the publication of the book, a third campaign in the north could not yet have
begun. Whether or not Roman forces resumed hostilities with these tribes in the
reign of Domitian, he never managed to finish a Third Pannonian War; hostilities
on the Danube were to continue through the reign of Nerva and were not concluded until Trajan. See further Jones, Domitian, pp. 152 ff.; Southern, pp. 111 ff.

1
In such a case, there may be reason to speak not merely of a theme but of a linearly arranged cycle. On
the other hand, it may be doubtful whether all the poems in Book 8 on the Second Pannonian War really
occupy a given position which cannot be altered without disturbing the whole (see the definition of cycle
given in section 3.2 above).

27

4.3. Domitian the god

When evaluating the religious respect shown to Domitian and the poets acknowledgement of him as deus and Iuppiter noster, it is important to bear in mind that
this was essentially nothing new. It is the proportions of this kind of flattery of
Domitian, particularly in connection with his alleged insistence on being addressed as dominus et deus, that has given offence.
The conception of the emperor as a god had its origin in the ruler cult, which
had developed from the heroization of prominent men, who were considered an
intermediate stage between gods and human beings. As the heir of the Pharaohs,
Alexander the Great was recognized by the Egyptians as son of Ammon and acknowledged as a god also by the Greeks (albeit not without a certain resistance; cf.
Kaerst in RE 1, s.v. Alexandros 10, 1433). In the Hellenistic kingdoms formed
after his death, the cult of the sovereign became a cult of the state, in which the
ruling monarch was worshipped together with his ancestors and provided with
cultic epithets such as
,
, and
. The first Roman citizen
to be made the object of such veneration was T. Quinctius Flamininus, whose
philhellenic politics earned him the name of
in Greece; similar marks of
honour were given to, for example, Sulla, Pompey, and Caesar.1
At Rome, formal worship was originally given only to those rulers who had
been deified after their deaths, beginning with Julius Caesar (deified in 42 BC).
While emperors in the first century wisely declined to be venerated as gods in
their lifetimes, they could not break the tradition in the Hellenistic world of worshipping the monarch; thus, temples were erected already to Augustus (together
with Roma) in, for example, Pergamum and Epidaurus. But this concerns the
East; in Rome, living emperors were not worshipped during the first century, and
no temples were erected for them; this applies also to Domitian. However, what
has been standing in his way in this respect is the unfortunate dominus et deus, a
formula with which he was supposed to have begun an official letter which he was
dictating in the name of his procurators (dominus et deus hoc noster fieri iubet;
Suet. Dom. 13, 2). This formula will be discussed on 9, 66, 3; here, it may suffice
to note that there is no evidence whatsoever that Domitian actually demanded to
be addressed as dominus et deus, no matter what later, highly anti-Domitianic
writers (like Aurelius Victor and Orosius) have had to say on the subject. Suetonius states that it afterwards became the custom not to address the emperor otherwise in speech or in writing. But this may just as well, or perhaps even rather, be
due to the zeal of unscrupulous flatterers as to imperial instructions. Domitian
himself must surely have been well aware that it would have been most unwise to
order such an address. Furthermore, one might ask to whom the letter mentioned
by Suetonius was addressed; if to the eastern provinces, an opening such as dominus et deus hoc noster fieri iubet could very well have been the rule rather than an
exception. What is most remarkable is that contemporary antagonists, such as
Tacitus, Pliny and Juvenal, did not take advantage of what would have been a
considerable lack of discernment on Domitians part. This indicates, perhaps, that
VZWU

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For a brief summary of the cult of the sovereign, see H. Volkmann in KP 2, s.v. Herrscherkult, 1110 ff.,
with further references.

28

there was in fact much less to Domitians use of dominus et deus than would appear from Suetonius and later writers.
If the ruler cult is the foundation on which Martials celebration of Domitian
as deus ultimately rests, there is a more immediate source to be found in the panegyrical tradition. In first-century Rome, the comparison of the ruling emperor to
divinities and the acknowledgement of him as a god were restricted to various
works within this genre. Here, the emperor, regardless of his nature, obviously
emerges as an optimus princeps who enjoys the favour of the gods and on the
whole is in close contact with the divine sphere; for panegyrical authors, it was
natural to compare him to the gods themselves (see here the summary in M.
Mause, Die Darstellung des Kaisers in der lateinischen Panegyrik, Stuttgart
1994, pp. 219 ff.). Plutarch makes an amusing remark on the panegyrical comparison of the monarch to divinities (de adul. 56 F):
,
'
,
'
Rb G| SROORg

RN

$SOOZQHM

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SDODdVZVL

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SURVDJRUHXPHQRL

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NDg

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In this respect, Martial had great precursors in the field of poetry, who were
scarcely passed over by the epigrammatist. Horace offers concrete examples; see,
for instance, carm. 1, 2, 45 serus in caelum redeas; 1, 12, 49 ff. gentis humanae
pater atque custos, | orte Saturno, tibi cura magni | Caesaris fatis data: tu secundo | Caesare regnes; 3, 5, 1 ff. (quoted below). There are extensive comparisons between Augustus and Jupiter in Ov. met. 15, 858 ff. (Bmer notes ad loc.:
Die Parallel- oder gar Gleichsetzung Iuppiter und Augustus ist fr Ovid und
auch fr viele seiner Zeitgenossen beinahe selbstverstndlich; see his commentary with further references).2 This kind of flattery, it is true, is commoner in Martial than in the Augustan poets, and he sometimes goes further then they did in
this respect (see, for example, the elaborate comparison of Domitian and Hercules
in 9, 101). One wonders, though, whether at least some of the scorn of Martial for
excessive cringing actually sprang from the fact that Domitian was for a very long
time considered a bad emperor, whereas Augustus always has been a good
one.

4.3.1. Comparisons with Jupiter

The comparison, or even equation, of Domitian with certain deities appears
throughout Books 1 to 9. Most notably the emperor is compared to Jupiter:
Domitian is Palatinus Tonans, just as Jupiter is Tarpeius Tonans (9, 86, 7); this is
the very same idea that is found, for example, in Hor. carm. 3, 5, 1 ff. Caelo tonantem credidimus Iovem | regnare: praesens divus habebitur | Augustus. It is in
such instances, in which the emperor himself is referred to as Iuppiter etc., that
1
And is not almost any king called an Apollo if he can hum a tune, and a Dionysus if he gets drunk, and a
Heracles if he can wrestle? And is he not delighted, and thus led into all kinds of disgrace by the flattery?
(translation by C. Babbit, Loeb).
2
For a survey of the ruler cult in Roman poetry, see K. Thraede, Die Poesie und der Kaiserkult, in: E.
Bickerman (ed.), Le culte des souverains dans lEmpire romain (Entretiens sur lantiquit classique 19),
Geneva 1973, pp. 273303.

29

this comparison finds its most marked expression. In Book 9, there are five epigrams in which Domitian appears as Iuppiter or Tonans; see 9, 28, 10 suus (i.e.
Romae) Iuppiter; 9, 39, 1 and 9, 86, 7 Palatinus Tonans (and cf. line 8 uterque
Iuppiter of Jupiter and Domitian); and 9, 65, 1 Latius Tonans; 9, 91, 6 meus Iuppiter. This is a decidedly higher frequency than in any other book; the first occurrence is to be found in 4, 8, 12 (matutinus Iuppiter), then 5, 6, 9 (Iuppiter serenus), 6, 10, 9 and 7, 56, 4 (noster Tonans), and 7, 99, 1 (Tonans). Thus, of eleven
references in the works of Martial to Domitian as Iuppiter or Tonans, five are to
be found in Book 9. There is a similar tendency in Martials application to
Domitian of epithets and attributes normally belonging to Jupiter: the epithet
summus first appears in 6, 83, 2 (summe ducum, obviously modelled on summe
deum found, for example, in Verg. Aen. 11, 785), then in 7, 7, 5 (summe mundi
rector; compare Ov. met. 13, 599 summe deum rector) and in 9, 5, 1 (summe
Rheni domitor); Domitian is hailed as parens orbis in 7, 7, 5 and 9, 5, 1 (cf.
Lucan 4, 110 summe parens mundi of Jupiter), and called Ausonius pater in 9, 7,
6 (with which compare aetherius pater in 9, 35, 10 and 9, 36, 7). The epithet
invictus balances on the verge between victorious commander (for example, Hor.
sat. 2, 1, 11; Ov. trist. 4, 2, 44) and god (for example, invictus Iuppiter Ov. fast. 5,
126); Martial applies it to Domitian in 7, 6, 8 (in connection with his eagerly
awaited return from the Second Pannonian War) and twice in Book 9, both times
in poems which do not focus on Domitian as commander and therefore suggest a
stronger implication of divinity (9, 1, 10 invicta manus and 9, 23, 6 invictum
caput). The emphasis on the emperors manus in 9, 1, 10, recurring also in 9, 20,
3 f. felix o, ... quas | vidit reptantis sustinuitque manus (of the house in which
Domitian was born), also implies divinity; the hands of Domitian are the earthly
counterpart of fulminantis magna manus Iovis (Hor. carm. 3, 3, 6); compare here
also 4, 1, 6; 4, 8, 10; 4, 30, 5; and 6, 1, 5.
Further comparisons between Domitian and Jupiter are to be found in the following poems: 9, 18, 8, in which Martial says that the water supplied by the emperor will be as dear to him as Iovis imber (see note ad loc. for the meaning of the
expression). 9, 20, 5 f. compare the house in which Domitian was born to Crete,
birthplace of Jupiter: hic steterat veneranda domus, quae praestitit orbi | quod
Rhodos astrifero, quod pia Creta polo, and in 9, 24 a bust of Domitian is said to
recall Iovis ora sereni: | sic tonat ille deus, cum sine nube tonat (lines 2 f.). In 9,
91, Martial states that he would prefer an invitation to dine with the emperor to an
invitation to dine with Jupiter himself (9, 91, 6 me meus in terris Iuppiter ...
tenet). The comparisons in the Earinus cycle between Earinus, cupbearer of
Domitian, and Ganymede, cupbearer of Jupiter, naturally also imply a comparison
of their respective masters; see 9, 11, 7; 9, 16, 6; 9, 36.
The poem 9, 36 brings a related matter to the fore, viz. the question whether
Martial in some poems depicts Domitian not only as the equal of, but even as
superior to Jupiter. Apart from 9, 36, this concerns 9, 3, and in principle also 9,
34. However, in the latter poem the object of comparison is not Jupiter himself but
his divine children (viz. Mars, Apollo, Diana, Hercules and Mercury); in it, the
supreme god, tipsy with nectar, looks down from Olympus on the Templum gentis
Flaviae and compares it with his own alleged humble tomb in Crete, which naturally cannot rival the splendid marble and gold of the Flavian mausoleum. Saying

30

to his assembled children Gnosia vos nobis monumenta dedistis: cernite, quam
plus sit, Caesaris esse patrem, he suggests that they have been outdone by the
emperor and, accordingly, that he is superior to them. In 9, 3, a handful of gods,
and in particular Jupiter, are presented as being indebted to Domitian for the temples built by him in their honour, a debt so large that they could have no hopes of
ever settling it. In 9, 36, written after the hair-offering and manumission of
Earinus, Ganymede is complaining to Jupiter that he too should be released from
his office as cupbearer, being now rather a young man than a handsome boy. Jupiter finds this impossible and explains why to Ganymede: Domitian has a thousand
starry-eyed ministri, and his palace, however big, can scarcely hold them. Jupiter,
on the other hand, has only Ganymede; if he was to allow him to cut his hair and
receive his freedom, who would then mix the nectar for him?
Now there are several points which are crucial for a correct understanding of
these poems. Most importantly, these are humorous pieces; the situations depicted
are paradoxically absurd and the poet did not expect anyone to take them seriously. In spite of the flattery of ingratiating poets, Domitian, being deeply religious, obviously knew that he was not a god himself (see Jones, Domitian, p. 109);
serious attempts at depicting him as the superior of Jupiter may very well not have
met with his approval. Martial, for his part, was naturally aware of the fact that
Jupiter was the supreme deity; it is sufficient to refer to 9, 20, 19 f. te protexit
superum pater, et tibi, Caesar, | pro iaculo et parma fulmen et aegis erat (the
infant Jupiter was under the protection of the Curetes, whereas the infant
Domitian was protected by Jupiter himself). Also in 9, 36 there are signs of Jupiters supremacy: Ganymede talks to Jupiter of Domitian as tuus Caesar (line 3),
and Jupiter himself mentions him as Caesar noster in line 9. These were matters
obvious to everyone and therefore also the basic conditions which made it safe to
write such poems as 9, 3 and 9, 36. These poems should not be understood as
attempts to make Domitian stand out as Jupiters superior. Rather, they seize upon
the rigidity of ancient Greco-Roman mythology, which was not an inviolable
matter in Martials day. The reason why Jupiter cannot release Ganymede and
pick another cupbearer is not that he would be inferior to Domitian, but that mythology hinders him. Domitian is not obstructed by mythology and is free to act as
he chooses; Jupiters freedom of action is blocked by the res ipsa (9, 36, 8); he is
forever married to Juno, and Ganymede is forever his cupbearer (see further the
introduction to 9, 36).
Nevertheless, it may perhaps seem hazardous to adopt such a tone in a poem
on the achievements of a sovereign who has been described as both superstitious
and suspicious, completely lacking a sense of humour (Jones, Domitian, p. 198),
but this description is not altogether true; that Domitian had in fact a sense of
humour is suggested, apart from 9, 34 and 36, also by 9, 83 (see the introduction
ad loc.), 1, 5 (with Howells introduction) and 5, 19, 17 f. As 9, 3; 34; and 36 all
deal with Domitian and the gods and with Jupiter and his envy of Domitian in
particular, the humorous air in these poems may perhaps be regarded as Martials
way of playing down a matter which he felt not to be really serious, viz. his own
and his fellow poets rendering of Domitian as the earthly Jupiter. Such jokes
involving the emperor (but naturally not made at his expense) could not have been
made unless Martial was sure about Domitians reaction. Apparently they had his

31

consent, a fact which, if anything, demonstrates that he knew that he was not in
fact a god himself. In this context, it may therefore not be inappropriate to speak
of Martial not as a court poet, but as a court jester.

4.3.2. Comparisons with other divinities and Domitian as deus

Book 9 also contains some epigrams comparing Domitian to gods other than Jupiter, in particular to the Sun and to Hercules. Martials comparison of Domitian to
the Sun has previously been little heeded; most of the instances given by Sauter
(pp. 137 ff.) refer not to the Sun, but to stars. The comparison of the ruler to the
Sun, the supreme star which illuminates the world with its life-giving rays, was
naturally at home in the oriental ruler cult; applied to Alexander, it lived on in the
Hellenistic cult and was thence adopted into Roman panegyrical literature and
applied, for example, by Horace to Augustus (see E. Doblhofer, Die Augustuspanegyrik des Horaz in formalhistorischer Sicht, Heidelberg 1966, pp. 86 ff.;
H. Halfmann, Itinera principum. Geschichte und Typologie der Kaiserreisen im
Rmischen Reich, Stuttgart 1986, pp. 148 ff.; for further instances from Latin
poetry, see note on 9, 20, 6).
Comparisons between Domitian and the Sun are completely lacking in Books
1 through 7. The first sign appears in 8, 21, 11 f. Iam, Caesar, vel nocte veni:
stent astra licebit, | non deerit populo te veniente dies, which presumably alludes
to the emperor as a second Sun. Still, there are more evident instances to be found
in Book 9, most obviously in 9, 20, 5 f. (quoted above), in which the house in
which Domitian was born is compared not only to Crete as the birthplace of Jupiter, but also to Rhodes, birthplace of the Sun-god. In 9, 24, 3, Martial, marvelling
at the beauty of a bust of Domitian, compares it to mundi facies (the face of
heaven) and to Iovis ora sereni; this recalls 9, 20, 6, in which Jupiter and the
Sun are mentioned as objects of comparison. In 9, 34, 5, finally, there is a possible
comparison, one of the few in Martial, between the emperor and Apollo; the god
is here mentioned as Phoebus (the name proper to Apollo as sun-god), and I have
assumed that he appears in this context partly as representing Domitian as connoisseur and patron of literature and partly as the Sun; see further note ad loc.
and cf. also note on 9, 1, 9.
Like Jupiter and the Sun, the comparison of the ruler with Hercules, the model
of the victorious hero, has Hellenistic origins (see the introduction to 9, 64). Comparisons between Domitian and Hercules, however, are surprisingly few, not only
in Martial but also in Statius. But, in this respect, Book 9 occupies a place apart.
Previous to this book, Hercules appears only in 5, 65, a poem comparing his deeds
unfavourably with Domitians games in the arena, for which the emperor, like
Hercules before him, will receive heaven as a reward. In Book 9, though, there are
three poems occasioned by the newly finished temple to Hercules on the Appian
Way, in which there was a statue of the hero bearing the features of Domitian.
The epigrams in question are 9, 64, which concentrates on the statue and may not
be much of a comparison, and 9, 65, which proclaims that, had these been his
features in his lifetime, Hercules would not have had to serve under Eurystheus
nor under Omphale, nor would he have had to be purified of his mortal elements
32

in the fire of Oeta, but safely would have entered into the Heavens without having
to suffer those ordeals. But all of this appears as rather modest as compared with
9, 101, the longest poem of the book and the height of Martials eulogies of
Domitian. In this poem, the deeds of Hercules, called minor Alcides, are almost
systematically compared with the acta of Domitian, maior Alcides. This leaves no
doubt about the order of precedence; Domitian is the greater of the two. Consequently, also his deeds surpass those of the Argive hero; Herculeum tantis numen
non sufficit actis, Martial says in the concluding distich; Tarpeio deus hic commodet ora patri. The only god who may be compared to Domitian is Jupiter. Hercules also appears among the children of Jupiter mentioned in 9, 34 (line 6; see
note ad loc.).
Domitian is seldom brought into connection with other gods than Jupiter, the
Sun and Hercules. In Book 9, further deities are introduced only in 9, 34; Apollo
has been mentioned above (on the Sun); see also 9, 34, 4 mentioning Mars (a god
elsewhere connected with Domitian in 7, 2, 1 f. and 8, 65, 11, both poems dealing
with the Second Pannonian War), and 9, 34, 6, introducing Mercury who probably represents the emperor as
(see note ad loc.).
An even more obvious manifestation of the divinity ascribed to Domitian is
provided by instances in which the emperor is not compared to any deity but is
simply mentioned as deus. The first instance appears in 4, 1, 10 (pro tanto quae
sunt inproba vota deo?) and is followed by a couple in Book 5 (5, 3, 6 and 5, 5,
2). The frequency increases in Book 7 (see 7, 2, 6 nostri ... dei; 7, 5, 3 deum; 7, 8,
2 victor ... deus, all with reference to the Second Pannonian War; also 7, 40, 2
utrumque deum [our God in either mood]), and falls again in Book 8 (two instances, 8, 8, 6 reducem ... deum and 8, 82, 3 deum), but reaches its peak in Book
9, which offers in all six instances; see 9, 28, 8; 9, 65, 2; 9, 66, 3; 9, 93, 3; 9, 93,
8; and 9, 101, 24.
To sum up, in no other book of Martials is there, expressed in percentages,
such a large number of poems on Domitian as in Book 9. As we have only the
second edition of Book 10 (published in 98), Book 9 now represents the climax of
a development towards a greater degree of attention to the emperor which was
begun in Book 8 and which was probably continued in the first edition of Book 10
(published in 95). This does not only imply that there are more Emperor poems
in Book 9 as compared with its predecessors; Martial here also pays more attention to the divine aspect of the emperor. Much effort is made to present the emperor as the earthly counterpart to Jupiter, by means of comparison and by referring to him as Tonans or Iuppiter and providing him with epithets appropriately
belonging to the supreme god. While nothing of this is new, there are generally
more instances in Book 9 than in any of Books 1 through 8; for example, in the
entire corpus of Martial, Domitian is referred to as Tonans or Iuppiter in ten epigrams;
five of these appear in Book 9. Particularly notable is the comparison between the
emperor and the Sun, which first appears in 8, 11 and is exploited in four poems
in Book 9. Significantly more room is also provided for the comparison of
Domitian with Hercules; this device, used by Martial only once prior to Book 9,
here provides the frame for the climax, as it were, of Martials imperial eulogies
on the whole (9, 101).
%DVLOHM VZWU

33

One can but speculate on the reason for this drastic increase in Martials attention to Domitian. It seems clear that it was connected with the emperors return
from the Second Pannonian War but, given the course and outcome of this war, it
cannot in itself have been the reason. Rather, the small success of the war suggests
that the reason was really something else. Of course, it is possible that Martial had
simply decided that he now wanted to appear mainly as a court poet. But it is
interesting to note that the increase roughly coincides with Statius beginning
publication of the Silvae. I have elsewhere argued that Martial, as the Silvae began to appear, may have felt that Statius was encroaching on a genre which hitherto had been his own domain, viz. that of occasional verse. As Statius in these
poems often addresses the very same men whose friendship Martial had been
cultivating for years, the result was very likely a hardened competition between
the two poets; there are signs of such a development in the Epigrams as well as in
the Silvae.1 Perhaps Statius publishing of his occasional verses would account
also for Martials increasing flattery of Domitian; he now had to keep pace with a
poet who celebrated the emperor in such poems as silv. 1, 1 (Equus maximus
Domitiani imp.), 1, 6 (Domitians games on the Kalendae Decembres), 3, 4
(Capilli Flavi Earini), 4, 1 (Septimus decimus consulatus imp. Aug. Germanici),
4, 2 (Eucharisticon ad imp. Aug. Germ. Domitianum), and 4, 3 (Via Domitiana).

5. Some notes on the tradition of the manuscripts and on the text of

Book 9
The text of the Epigrams of Martial owes its current state primarily to the efforts
of two distinguished philologists: F. G. Schneidewin, who divided the manuscripts
into three groups, and W. Lindsay, who, guided by L. Friedlnder, showed that
these three groups derive from three ancient editions, the archetypes of which he
designated AA, BA and CA (W. M. Lindsay, Ancient Editions of Martial, Oxford
1903). In his Teubner edition of 1925, Heraeus adopted the designations , , and
for these same archetypes; in the following, as in the commentary below, I use
Heraeus designations.
Since Lindsays Ancient Editions, the tradition of the manuscripts has been
discussed in several editions, commentaries and articles (most recently by Grewing in his commentary on Book 6, pp. 5155; a minute description of the manuscripts is given in Citronis edition of and commentary on Book 1, pp. xlvlxxiii;
see also Friedlnder, pp. 6796; M. D. Reeve in L. D. Reynolds, Texts and
Transmission, Oxford 1983, pp. 239244). It may therefore be sufficient to give
only a brief survey here.
D

represented by the three florilegia H (Hauptii florilegium Vindobonense 277,

early 9th century), R (Vossianum florilegium Leidense Q 86, 9th10th century), and T (Thuaneum florilegium Parisinum 8071, 9th10th century). The
archetype was probably a two-volume MS belonging to a French monastery
and containing the complete works of Martial; thus, these MSS are the only

See here Henriksn, Martial und Statius, pp. 111 ff.

34

ones to contain the Liber de spectaculis. H is without relevance for Book 9,

though, as it contains only epigr. 1930; 1, 3; and 1, 4. Lindsay (Ancient
Editions, pp. 8 ff.) characterized this group as an edition in usum elegantiorum, because it uses euphemisms for the grosser words, like monstrum
for cunnus, salire for futuere.
E

represented by L (Lucensis bibl. reg. Berolinensis fol. 612, 12th century;

optimus testis stirpis), P (Palatinus Vaticanus 1696, 15th century), Q
(Arondellianus Musei Britannici 136, 15th century), and f (Florentinus
chartaceus bibl. Laur. XXXV 39, 15th century). The L MSS did not appear
until the year 1900 (see W. M. Lindsay, The new codex optimus of Martial, CR 15 [1901], pp. 413420), and was first used by Lindsay in his Oxford edition (1903). The archetype of the -group, probably a 9th- or 10thcentury MS written in Beneventan script, contained the Epigrams (except for
the Liber de spectaculis) in a recension completed in 401 by Torquatus
Gennadius, as appears from the subscriptions found at the beginning of
each of Books 214 in the L and Q MSS (for example, at the beginning of
13, 4: EMENDAVI EGO TORQUATUS GENNADIUS IN FORO DIVI
AUGUSTI MARTIS CONSULATU VINCENTII AT FRAGUITII VIRORUM
CLARISSIMORUM FELICITER; a complete list of the subscriptions will be
found in Lindsay, Ancient Editions, pp. 3 f.).
E

represented by E (Edinburgensis bibl. Facultatis Advocatorum, early 10th

century; optimus testis), A (Vossianus Leidensis primus Q 56, 11th century),
X (Putaneus Parisinus lat. 8067, 10th century), and V (Vaticanus 3294, 9th
or 10th century). The archetype of this group (labelled the vulgate edition by Lindsay) was probably found in a French MSS written in the 8th
9th centuries in early Carolingian minuscule (Lindsay, Ancient Editions, p.
7). Less important text witnesses belonging to this group are B, C, F, G, and
N (all written between the 12th and the 15th centuries).

There was no contamination between these groups before the 12th century, when
contamination between and can be seen in France, spreading thence to Renaissance Italy (see Reeve, pp. 241 f.).
D

The text of Book 9 given in the following commentary is essentially that found in
I. Borovskijs editio correctior of Heraeus Teubner edition (Leipzig 1976).
Shackleton Baileys Teubneriana (Stuttgart 1990) is not based upon a new collation of the MSS1 and thus makes no claim to contribute anything to the establishment of the text in this respect. However, Shackleton Bailey has inserted a number
of emendations, both his own and those of others, which obviously makes his text
different from, though not necessarily better than, that of Heraeus. Here, I have
chosen to adopt a more conservative attitude, generally following the principle of
1

For his edition of and commentary on Book 1, Citroni made new collations of all the important
manuscripts. This, however, did not lead to any significant improvements of the text; it did, though, enable
Citroni to give a much fuller apparatus than the one in Heraeus edition (see J. Delzs review in MH 34
[1977], p. 259).

35

allowing emendations into the text only when the evidence of the MSS cannot be
defended with reason or when the emendation provides a decidedly better meaning. In most cases, this means that, if the transmitted text is grammatically correct
but does not seem to convey an immediately acceptable meaning, before having
recourse to emendations, every effort within the limits of reason should be made
to uncover a meaning in the text as it has been transmitted.
In my opinion, many of the emendations admitted by Shackleton Bailey into
the text of Book 9 are unnecessary. In some cases, he has chosen another reading
in the MSS where I prefer to keep the text of Heraeus. I give here a list of the
more significant instances in which I have kept the text as printed by Heraeus
rather than accepted that of Shackleton Bailey:
9, 3, 14

quod Heraeus following the MSS : quo Shackleton Bailey following

Duff
9, 25, 6 petat Heraeus T : tegam Shackleton Bailey
9, 42, 11 nata Heraeus MSS : lecta Shackleton Bailey
9, 44, 1 Alciden Vindicis Heraeus : Alcides Vindicem Shackleton Bailey
following Gilbert
9, 45, 3 Promethei Heraeus : Prometheae Shackleton Bailey
9, 47, 5 serum Heraeus T : carum Shackleton Bailey
9, 48, 8 callida Heraeus MSS: pallida Shackleton Bailey following Dousa (this
emendation was adopted also by Borovskij in his editio correctior)
9, 61, 17 deiecta Heraeus PQ : delecta L f : delecta Shackleton Bailey
9, 70, 6 Caeciliane Heraeus T : M(a)eciliane Shackleton Bailey
9, 73, 3 decepti regna Heraeus : defuncti rura
: decepti rura Shackleton
Bailey, following Schneidewin (and Friedlnder)
J

DJ

Divergences in the text presented in this commentary from that printed by

Heraeus are fewer and less radical, as follows:
9, praef. Heraeus put lines 58 of the prefatory poem in italics; like Shackleton
Bailey, I put these lines within inverted commas. In line 6 of the same
poem, I follow Shackleton Baileys punctuation sed, puto, rather than
Heraeus sed puto,.
9, 21, 4 I accept here Gaselees emendation arat for the amat found in the MSS.
9, 44, 6 Like Shackleton Bailey (following Housman), I print here the reading
Lysippum of the MSS, instead of
, which was introduced in
the editio Aldina and has been kept by most modern editors.
9, 48, 8 In his editio correctior of Heraeus, Borovskij printed Dousas emendation callida for pallida. I keep pallida in the text.
9, 57, 12 I follow Shackleton Baileys punctuation res una est tamen ipse non
negabit instead of Heraeus res una est tamen: ipse non negabit,.
9, 59, 19 I agree here with Shackleton Bailey in printing the emendation veros of
the editio Aldina for vero of
9, 89, 2 I take the words Licet scribere nempe malos as an utterance not of
Stella but of Martial, and thus do not put it within inverted commas.
/XVdSSRX

E

36

9, 95, 1

I print, with the MSS, Alphius and Olphius for Heraeus Alfius and
Olfius.

6. A note on the use of this commentary

In the following pages, the commentary follows immediately on the poem upon
which it comments. I believe that this will reduce the turning of leaves to a minimum. The commentary on each poem consists of (1) a short introduction, meant
to provide the social, political and literary context in view of which the poem
should be read, and (2) a line-by-line commentary, explaining the poem on a more
detailed level. No critical apparatus is appended to the text. Instead, textual variants are discussed in the commentary as they occur.
References to Latin authors are made according to the system of the Thesaurus
Linguae Latinae. For references to Greek authors and their works, I have not used
the system of abbreviations of LSJ, which tends to give up instant comprehensibility for the sake of brevity. Instead, I have used a system of my own, which I hope
will be self-explanatory.
The Real-Encyclopdie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft is referred to by
volume, entry and column (for example, RE 16, s.v. Molorchos 13). RE 2:8 denotes Reihe 2, Band 8, and RE Suppl. 3 supplementary volume 3. References to
the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae are made to entry, column and line (for example,
TLL, s.v. leo 1169, 41 ff.). Similar systems are used for other major encyclopaedias and lexica. Titles of periodicals are abbreviated according to the system of
LAnne philologique.

7. Bibliography
The following bibliography lists only such works as are referred to on several
occasions in the commentary. Editions of Martials works are presented in a selective list. Of the editions published before Schneidewin, I have included only such
as are mentioned in the commentary.

7.1. Editions of Martial: A selection

Calderini
Aldina
Gruterus

Scriverius

Schneidewin

D. Calderini (Domizio Calderini), Domitii Calderini Veronensis

Commentarii in M. Valerium Martialem, Venetiis 1482.
Editio Aldina, Venetiis 1501.
I. Gruterus (Jan Gruytere), Epigrammaton libri XV. M. Val.
Martialis. Mille amplius locis serio correcti atque emendati a Iano
Grutero, Francofurti 1602.
P. Scriverius (Peter Schryver), M. Val. Martialis. Nova editio. Ex
Museo Petri Scriverii, Lugduni Batavorum 1619.
F. G. Schneidewin, M. Val. Martialis libri, 2 vols., Grimae 1842 (ed.
maior).

37

F. G. Schneidewin, M. Val. Martialis libri. Ex recensione sua denuo

recognita edidit, Lipsiae 1853 (ed. minor).
Gilbert
W. Gilbert, M. Valerii Martialis epigrammaton libri, Lipsiae 1886;
editio stereotypa emendatior 1896.
Friedlnder
L. Friedlnder, M. Valerii Martialis epigrammaton libri. Mit erklrenden Anmerkungen, 2 vols., Leipzig 1886 (reprinted Amsterdam
1967).
Lindsay
W. M. Lindsay, M. Val. Martialis epigrammata, Oxonii 1903; 2nd
ed. 1929.
Duff
J. D. Duff, M. Valerii Martialis epigrammata (Corpus poetarum
Latinorum a J. P. Postgate aliisque editum, vol. 2, pp. 431531),
London 1905.
Ker
W. C. A. Ker, Martial, Epigrams. With an English Translation, 2
vols., London & Cambridge Mass. 19191920 (Loeb).
Giarratano
C. Giarratano, M. Valerii Martialis epigrammaton libri IXIV,
Augusta Taurinorum 19191921; 3rd ed., ibid. 1951.
Heraeus
W. Heraeus, M. Valerii Martialis epigrammaton libri, Lipsiae 1925.
Izaac
H. J. Izaac, Martial, pigrammes. Texte tabli et traduit, Paris 1930
1933 (Bud).
Dol
M. Dol, M. Valeri Marcial. Epigrames, vol. 1, Barcelona 1949.
HeraeusBorovskij W. Heraeus, M. Valerii Martialis epigrammaton libri. Editionem
correctiorem curavit I. Borovskij, Lepizig 1976.
Shackleton-Bailey D. R. Shackleton-Bailey, M. Valerii Martialis epigrammata post W.
Heraeum edidit D. R. S.-B., Stutgardiae 1991.

D. R. Shackleton-Bailey, Martial, Epigrams. Edited and translated, 3

vols., Cambridge Mass. & London 1993 (Loeb).

7.2. Modern commentaries on Martial

Citroni
Friedlnder

Grewing
Howell

Kay
Leary

M. Citroni, M. Valerii Martialis Epigrammaton Liber Primus, Florence 1975.

L. Friedlnder, M. Valerii Martialis epigrammaton libri. Mit erklrenden Anmerkungen, 2 vols., Leipzig 1886 (reprinted Amsterdam
1967).
F. Grewing, Martial, Buch VI. Ein Kommentar, Gttingen 1997.
P. Howell, A Commentary on Book One of the Epigrams of Martial,
London 1980.
P. Howell, Martial, The Epigrams Book V, Warminster 1995.
N. M. Kay, Martial Book XI. A Commentary, London 1985.
T. J. Leary, Martial Book XIV. The Apophoreta, London 1996.

7.3. Commentaries on other Greek and Latin authors

Austin

38

R. G. Austin, P. Vergili Maronis Aeneidos liber primus. With a

Commentary, Oxford 1971.
R. G. Austin, P. Vergili Maronis Aeneidos liber secundus. With a
Commentary, Oxford 1964.
R. G. Austin, P. Vergili Maronis Aeneidos liber sextus. With a Commentary, Oxford 1977.

C. Bailey, Titi Lucreti Cari De rerum natura libri sex. Edited with
Prolegomena, Critical Apparatus, Translation and Commentary, 13,
Oxford 1947.
Booth
J. Booth, Ovid, The Second Book of Amores, Warminster 1991.
Brandt
P. Brandt, P. Ovidi Nasonis Amorum libri tres, Leipzig 1911
(reprinted Hildesheim 1963).

P. Brandt, P. Ovidi Nasonis De arte amatoria libri tres, Leipzig

1902.
Brink
C. O. Brink, Horace on Poetry. The Ars poetica, Cambridge 1971
(abbreviated Brink, Hor. ars).

C. O. Brink, Horace on Poetry. Epistles Book II: The letters to

Augustus and Florus, Cambridge 1982 (abbreviated Hor. epist. II).
Bmer
F. Bmer, P. Ovidius Naso, Metamorphosen, Heidelberg 196986.

F. Bmer, P. Ovidius Naso, Die Fasten, Heidelberg 195758.

Coleman
K. M. Coleman, Statius, Silvae IV. Edited with an English translation
and commentary, Oxford 1988.
Courtney
E. Courtney, A Commentary on the Satires of Juvenal, London 1980.
van Dam
H.J. van Dam, P. Papinius Statius, Silvae Book II. A Commentary,
Leiden 1984.
Fordyce
C. J. Fordyce, Catullus. A Commentary, Oxford 1961.

C. J. Fordyce, P. Vergili Maronis Aeneidos Libri VIIVIII. With a

Commentary, Oxford 1977.
Friedlnder
L. Friedlnder, D. Junii Juvenalis Saturarum libri V. Mit erklrenden
Anmerkungen, Leipzig 1895.
Goodyear
F. R. D. Goodyear, The Annals of Tacitus, Books 16. Edited with a
commentary, Cambridge 1972.
Gow
A. S. F. Gow, Theocritus. Edited with a translation and commentary,
2 vols., Cambridge 1950.
Hollis
A. S. Hollis, Ovid , Ars Amatoria, Book I. Edited with an introduction and commentary, Oxford 1977.
Kiessling & Heinze Q. Horatius Flaccus, Oden und Epoden. Erklrt von Adolf Kiessling.
Achte Auflage von Richard Heinze, Berlin 1955.
Q. Horatius Flaccus, Satiren. Erklrt von Adolf Kiessling. Sechste

Auflage von Richard Heinze, Berlin 1957.

Q. Horatius Flaccus, Briefe. Erklrt von Adolf Kiessling. Fuenfte

Auflage von Richard Heinze, Berlin 1957.

Kiel
W. Kiel, Aules Persius Flaccus, Satiren. Herausgegeben, bersetzt
und kommentiert, Heidelberg 1990.
Koestermann
E. Koestermann, Cornelius Tacitus, Annales. Erlutert und mit einer
Einleitung versehen, 14, Heidelberg 19631968.
Lejay
F. Plessis & P. Lejay, Oeuvres dHorace. Satires par Paul Lejay,
Hildesheim 1964.
Luck
G. Luck, P. Ovidius Naso, Tristia. Herausgegeben, bersetzt und
erklrt, Heidelberg 196777.
Lucke
C. Lucke, P. Ovidius Naso, Remedia amoris, Kommentar zu Vers
397814, Bonn 1982.
Mayor
J. E. B. Mayor, Thirteen satires of Juvenal, 4th ed., London 1889.
McKeown
J. C. McKeown, Ovid: Amores. Text, prolegomena and commentary
in four volumes, Liverpool 1987.
Mooney
G. W. Mooney, C. Suetoni Tranquilli de vita Caesarum, libri VII
VIII, repr. New York 1979.
Bailey

39

Mynors
Nisbet & Hubbard

Norden
Pease

Quinn
Sherwin-White
Smolenaars
Tchterle
Warmington
Venini
Williams
Vollmer

R. A. B Mynors, Virgil, Georgics. Edited with a commentary, Oxford

1994.
R. G. M. Nisbet & M. Hubbard, A Commentary on Horace: Odes
Book I, Oxford 1970.
R. G. M. Nisbet & M. Hubbard, A Commentary on Horace: Odes
Book II, Oxford 1978.
E. Norden, P. Vergilius Maro, Aeneis Buch VI, 2nd ed., Leipzig and
Berlin 1916.
A. S. Pease, M. Tulli Ciceronis De natura deorum, Darmstadt 1968.
A. S. Pease, Publi Vergili Maronis Aeneidos liber quartus, 2nd ed.,
Darmstadt 1967.
K. Quinn, Catullus, The Poems. Edited with introduction, revised text
and commentary, Hampshire & London 1973.
A. N. Sherwin-White, The Letters of Pliny. A historical and social
commentary, Oxford 1966.
J. J. L. Smolenaars, Statius, Thebaid VII. A Commentary, Leiden etc.
1994.
K. Tchterle, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Oedipus. Kommentar mit
Einleitung, Text und bersetzung, Heidelberg 1994.
B. H. Warmington, Suetonius, Nero, Bristol 1977.
P. Venini, P. Papini Stati Thebaidos liber XI, Florence 1970.
R. D. Williams, Publi Papini Stati Thebaidos liber decimus. Edited
with a commentary, Leiden 1972.
F. Vollmer, P. Papinii Statii Silvarum libri, Leipzig 1898.

7.4. Works referred to by abbreviation

ALL
ANRW
AP
CIL
CLE
IG
ILS
KP
LSJ

NP
OLD
PIR1
PIR2
RAC
RE
TGL

40

Archiv fr lateinische Lexikographie und Grammatik, 115, Leipzig 18841908.

Aufstieg und Niedergang der rmischen Welt. Geschichte und Kultur Roms im
Spiegel der neueren Forschung, Berlin 1972.
Anthologia Palatina
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, Berlin 1863.
Carmina Latina epigraphica, ed. F. Buecheler, Leipzig 189597 (reprinted
Stuttgart 1982).
Inscriptiones Graecae, Berlin 1873.
Inscriptiones Latinae selectae, ed. H. Dessau, Berlin 18921916 (reprinted
Berlin 195455).
Der kleine Pauly. Lexikon der Antike auf der Grundlage von Paulys Realencyclopdie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, Munich 19641975.
H. G. Liddell & R. Scott, A GreekEnglish Lexicon, 9th ed., revised by H. Stuart
Jones with the assistance of R. McKenzie, with a revised supplement, Oxford
1996.
Der neue Pauly. Enzyklopdie der Antike, Stuttgart 1996.
Oxford Latin Dictionary, ed. P. G. W. Glare, Oxford 1982.
Prosopographia imperii Romani saec. I.II.III, 3 vols., Berlin 189798.
Prosopographia imperii Romani saec. I.II.III, 2nd ed., Berlin & Leipzig 1933.
Reallexikon fr Antike und Christentum. Sachwrterbuch zur Auseinandersetzung des Christentums mit der antiken Welt, Stuttgart 1950.
Paulys Real-Encyclopdie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, neue Bearbeitung, ed. G. Wissowa, Stuttgart 18941978.
Thesaurus Graecae linguae ab Henrico Stephano constructus, Paris 18311865.

TLL

Thesaurus Linguae Latinae, Lepizig 1900.

7.5. Secondary literature referred to in this commentary

J. N. Adams, The Latin sexual vocabulary, London 1982.
R. Bauman, The Resum of Legislation in Suetonius,
ZRG 99 (1982), pp. 81127.
Blake, Construction
M. E. Blake, Roman Construction in Italy from Tiberius
through the Flavians, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Publication 616, Washington 1959.
Blmner, Privataltertmer
H. Blmner, Die rmischen Privataltertmer, Munich 1911.
Blmner, Technologie
H. Blmner, Technologie und Terminologie der Gewerbe
und Knste bei Griechen und Rmern, vol. 1, 2nd. ed.,
Leipzig 1912, vols. 24, Leipzig 18751887.
Brecht, Spottepigramm
F. J. Brecht, Motiv- und Typengeschichte des griechischen
Spottepigramms, Philologus suppl. 22:2, Leipzig 1930.
Bruchmann, Epitheta
C. F. H. Bruchmann, Epitheta deorum quae apud poetas
Graecos leguntur, Leipzig 1893.
Burnikel, Struktur
W. Burnikel, Untersuchungen zur Struktur des Witzepigramms bei Lukillios und Martial, Wiesbaden 1980.
Carter, Epitheta
I. B. Carter, Epitheta deorum quae apud poetas Latinos
leguntur, Leipzig 1902.
Citroni,
M. Citroni, Marziale e la Letteratura per i Saturnali (poetiLetteratura per i Saturnali ca dellintrattenimento e cronologia della pubblicazione dei
libri), ICS 14 (1989), pp. 201226.
Cook, Zeus
A. B. Cook, Zeus. A Study in Ancient Religion, 3 vols.,
Cambridge 19141940.
Crusius
F. Crusius, Rmische Metrik, 2nd ed., Munich 1955.
Curtius
E. R. Curtius, Europische Literatur und lateinisches
Mittelalter, Berne 1948.
Duncan-Jones
R. Duncan-Jones, Economy of the Roman Empire, Cambridge 1974.
Emanuele, Aes Corinthum
D. Emanuele, Aes Corinthum, fact, fiction and fake,
Phoenix 43 (1989), pp. 347358.
ErnoutMeillet
A. Ernout & A. Meillet, Dictionnaire tymologique de la
langue Latine. Histoire de mots, 4th ed., Paris 1959
(reprinted with additions and corrections Paris 1994).
Forbes, Studies
R. J. Forbes, Studies in ancient technology, 9 vols., Leiden
19551964.
Totius Latinitatis Lexicon opera et studio Aegidii Forcellini
Forcellini, Lex.
lucubratum ... amplissime auctum atque emendatum cura et
studio Vincentii De-Vit, 6 vols., Prato 18581875.
Totius Latinitatis Lexicon opera et studio Aegidii Forcellini
Forcellini, Onomast.
lucubratum ... curantibus F. Carradini et I. Perin ... emendatius et auctius melioremque in formam redactum, vols. 5
6, Padua 1940.
Friedlnder,
L. Friedlnder, Darstellungen aus der Sittengeschichte
Sittengeschichte
Roms, 4 vols., neunte neu bearbeitete und vermehrte Auflage besorgt von Georg Wissowa, Leipzig 191921.
Garthwaite, Court Poets
J. Garthwaite, Domitian and the Court Poets Martial and
Statius, diss. Cornell University, 1978.
Adams
Bauman

41

Garthwaite, Censorship
Gsell
Hardie
Henderson
Henriksn,
Martial und Statius
Heuvel

Hofmann
Hofmann,
Motivvariationen
HofmannSzantyr

Housman, Class. pap.

Housman, Corrections
Housman, Draucus
Housman, Heraeus
Housman, Notes
Jones, Domitian
Jones, Senatorial order
Joepgen
Kajanto, Cognomina
Kaser Privatrecht
Kaser, Zivilprozessrecht
Keil
Keller, Tierwelt
KhnerStegmann

Latte
Lindsay, Ancient Editions
Lfstedt, Synt.

42

J. Garthwaite, Martial, Book 6, On Domitians Moral

Censorship, Prudentia 22 (1990), pp. 1322.
S. Gsell, Essai sur le rgne de lempereur Domitien, Paris
1894.
A. Hardie, Statius and the Silvae, Liverpool 1983.
J. Henderson, The Maculate Muse. Obscene Languange in
Attic Comedy, New York 1975.
C. Henriksn, Martial und Statius in F. Grewing (ed.),
Toto notus in orbe. Perspektiven der Martial-Interpretation,
Stuttgart 1998, pp. 77118.
H. Heuvel, De inimicitiarum, quae inter Martialem et
Statium fuisse dicuntur, indiciis, Mnemosyne 4 (193637),
pp. 299330.
J. B. Hofmann, Lateinische Umgangssprache, Heidelberg
1926.
W. Hofmann, Motivvariationen bei Martial. Die Mucius
Scaevola- und die Earinus-Gedichte, Philologus 134
(1990), pp. 3749.
Hofmann, J. B. & Szantyr, A., Lateinische Syntax und
Stilistik. Verbesserter Nachdruck der 1965 erschienenen ersten Auflage, Munich 1972.
The Classical Papers of A. E. Housman, collected and
edited by J. Diggle and F. R. D. Goodyear, 3 vols., Cambridge 1972.
A. E. Housman, Corrections and explanations of Martial,
JPh 30 (1907), pp. 22965.
A. E. Housman, Draucus and Martial XI 8 1, CR 44
(1930), pp. 114116.
A. E. Housman, W. Heraeus, M. Valerii Martialis
Epigrammaton libri, CR 39 (1925), pp. 199203.
A. E. Housman, Notes on Martial, CQ 13 (1919), pp. 68
80.
B. W. Jones, The Emperor Domitian, London 1993.
B. W. Jones, Domitian and the senatorial order, Philadelphia 1979.
U. Joepgen, Wortspiele bei Martial, diss. Bonn 1967.
I. Kajanto, The Roman cognomina, Helsinki 1964.
M. Kaser, Das rmische Privatrecht, 2 vols., Munich 1955
59.
M. Kaser, Das rmische Zivilprozessrecht, Munich 1966.
H. Keil, Grammatici Latini, 8 vols., Leipzig 18571878.
O. Keller, Die antike Tierwelt, 3 vols., Leipzig 19091920.
R. Khner & C. Stegmann, Ausfhrliche Grammatik der
lateinischen Sprache, zweiter Band: Satzlehre, Hannover
191214.
K. Latte, Rmische Religionsgeschichte, Munich 1960.
W. M. Lindsay, Ancient Editions of Martial, Oxford 1903.
E. Lfstedt, Syntactica. Studien und Beitrge zur historischen Syntax des Lateins, vol. 1, 2nd ed., Lund 1942, vol. 2,
Lund 1933.

Marquardt
Marquardt,
Staatsverwaltung
Mommsen, Staatsrecht
Mommsen, Strafrecht
Norden, Kunstprosa
Otto
Pape
Platner & Ashby
PrellerRobert
Richlin
Riewald
Roscher
Rudd
Sauter
Schmidt, Geburtstag
Schmoock
Schneider
Scott
Shackleton Bailey,
Corrections
Shackleton Bailey,
More Corrections
Siedschlag, Ovidisches
Siedschlag, Form
Southern
Sullivan, Martial
Sullivan, Nero
Sullivan, Satyricon
Syme, Tacitus
Toynbee, Animals

J. Marquardt, Das Privatleben der Rmer, 2 vols., Leipzig

18791882.
J. Marquardt, Rmische Staatsverwaltung, 12, Leipzig
187376, 3, 2nd ed., Leipzig 1885.
Th. Mommsen, Rmisches Staatsrecht, 3 vols., 3rd ed.,
Leipzig, 18871888.
Th. Mommsen, Rmisches Strafrecht, Leipzig 1899.
E. Norden, Die antike Kunstprosa, Leipzig 1898.
A. Otto, Die Sprichwrter und sprichwrtlichen Redensarten der Rmer, Hildesheim 1962.
W. Pape, Wrterbuch der griechischen Eigennamen, 3rd
ed., Braunschweig 186370.
S. Platner & T. Ashby, A Topographical Dictionary of
Ancient Rome, Oxford 1929 (reprinted Rome 1965).
L. Preller, Griechische Mythologie, vierte Auflage erneuert
von Carl Robert, 2 vols., Berlin 18871926.
A. Richlin, The Garden of Priapus. Sexuality and aggression in Roman humor, New Haven & London 1983.
P. Riewald, De imperatorum Romanorum cum certis dis et
comparatione et aequatione, diss. Halle 1912.
Ausfhrliches Lexicon der griechischen und rmischen
Mythologie, hrsg. von W. H. Roscher, Leipzig 18841937.
N. Rudd, The Satires of Horace, Cambridge 1966.
F. Sauter, Der rmische Kaiserkult bei Martial und Statius,
Stuttgart & Berlin 1934.
W. Schmidt, Geburtstag im Altertum, Gieen 1908.
R. Schmoock, De M. Valeri Martialis epigrammatis sepulcralibus et dedicatoriis, diss. Weida 1911.
G. Schneider, De M. Valerii Martialis sermone observationes, diss. Breslau 1909.
K. Scott, The Imperial Cult under the Flavians, Stuttgart &
Berlin 1936.
D. R. Shackleton Bailey, Corrections and explanations of
Martial, CPh 73 (1978), pp. 273297.
D. R. Shackleton Bailey, More corrections and explanations of Martial, AJPh 110 (1989), pp. 131150.
E. Siedschlag, Ovidisches bei Martial, RFIC 100 (1972),
pp. 156161.
E. Siedschlag, Zur Form von Martialis Epigrammen, Berlin
1977.
P. Southern, Domitian. Tragic Tyrant, London 1997.
J. P. Sullivan, Martial: The Unexpected Classic, Cambridge
1991.
J. P. Sullivan, Literature and Politics in the Age of Nero,
Cornell 1985.
J. P. Sullivan, The Satyricon of Petronius. A literary
study, London 1968.
R. Syme, Tacitus, 2 vols., Oxford 1958.
J. M. C. Toynbee, Animals in Roman Life and Art, London
& Southampton 1973.

43

WaldeHofmann

Weaver
Weinreich, Studien
White, Amicitia
White, Aspects
White, Dedication
White, Friends
Wissowa, Religion

44

A. Walde, Lateinisches etymologisches Wrterbuch, 3.,

neubearbeitete Auflage von J. B. Hofmann, 2 vols., Heidelberg 19381954.
P. R. C. Weaver, Familia Caesaris, Cambridge 1972.
O. Weinreich, Studien zu Martial. Literarhistorische und
religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen, Stuttgart 1928.
P. White, Amicitia and the profession of poetry in early
imperial Rome, JRS 68 (1978), pp. 7492.
P. White, Aspects of Non-Imperial Patronage in the Works
of Martial and Statius, diss. Harvard 1972.
P. White, The presentation and dedication of the Silvae
and the Epigrams, JRS 64 (1974), pp. 4061.
P. White, The Friends of Martial, Statius, and Pliny, and
the Dispersal of Patronage, HSPh 79 (1975), pp. 265300.
G. Wissowa, Religion und Kultus der Rmer, Munich 1902.

Text and Commentary

Praefatio and poems 147

Have, mi Torani, frater carissime. Epigramma, quod extra ordinem paginarum

est, ad Stertinium clarissimum virum scripsimus, qui imaginem meam ponere in
bibliotheca sua voluit. De quo scribendum tibi putavi, ne ignorares, Avitus iste
quis vocaretur. Vale et para hospitium.
Note, licet nolis, sublimi pectore vates,
cui referet serus praemia digna cinis,
hoc tibi sub nostra breve carmen imagine vivat,
quam non obscuris iungis, Avite, viris:
Ille ego sum nulli nugarum laude secundus,
quem non miraris, sed, puto, lector, amas.
Maiores maiora sonent: mihi parva locuto
sufficit in vestras saepe redire manus.

Martial opens the book with a short preface, in which he explains to his friend
Toranius the identity of the Avitus of the following epigram. This epigram, which
stands extra ordinem paginarum and thus does not belong to the actual book,
Martial wrote to be placed on his own bust or portrait, which the consular Stertinius Avitus had recently placed in his library. Stertinius had perhaps asked for a
poem suitable for the purpose.
In the second part of the first century AD, it became fashionable to head collections of poetry with a dedicatory prose preface in the form of a letter (epistula).
The idea, as such, was not new: epistolary prefaces were first used by Archimedes,
and the practice was continued by other Hellenistic scientific writers;1 in Latin,
the earliest instance preserved is the preface to Hirtius De Bello Gallico, Book 8,
followed by the preface to Senecas Controversiae.2 However, in the case of poetry, there are no examples of epistolary prefaces prior to Martial and Statius; epic
works, like the Punica of Silius Italicus and the Argonautica of Valerius Flaccus,
lacked a preface, and while it is possible that the tragedies of Seneca (cf. Mart. 2,
praef.; Quint. inst. 8, 3, 31) and even Statius Thebaid (cf. Stat. silv. 4, praef.) had
such prefaces attached to them,3 these are now lost, making the five epistolary
prefaces of Martial and the five of Statius, one for each book of the Silvae, the
earliest instances preserved.4
The prose prefaces of Martial, apart from the present one, are to be found in
Books 1, 2, 8 and 12 (the books lacking a preface open, in a more traditional way,
with an introductory or dedicatory poem). Of these prefaces, only those of Books 8
and 12 are proper (or serious) dedications, to Domitian and to Terentius Priscus
respectively.5 The preface to Book 1 is the only one to lack even an explicit addressee, being something of a literary manifesto, in which the poet expresses a
wish that he has been successful in writing a book which no one will find either
1

T. Janson, Latin Prose Prefaces, Stockholm 1964, pp. 19 ff.

Ibid. p. 106.
Ibid. p. 109.
4
Besides using the preface for the purpose of dedication, Statius also uses it as a kind of table of contents
of the book and as a brief commentary on the circumstances under which each of the poems in the book was
written (see van Dam, pp. 51 ff.; Coleman, pp. 53 ff.).
5
For a detailed discussion of the dedication of books at Rome, see White, Dedication.
2
3

47

personally or morally offensive, since he is merely writing in a genre; in this respect, this preface stands out against the other four. That of Book 2 is an amusing
parody of the dedicatory epistolary preface. It opens with a salutation of the addressee, Val. Martialis Deciano suo sal., but Martial is at once interrupted by
Decianus, saying that he fails to see the point in writing an epistula. The poet
admits that he meant to write quite a long preface, but Decianus has made him
change his mind; for this, thanks will be due to him on behalf of the readers, quod
ad primam paginam non lassi pervenient.
The prefaces of Books 1, 2, 8 and 12 have one thing in common: they are all
directed to one person1 and are followed by an epigram, either being no. 1 of the
book or lacking a number (i.e. standing extra ordinem paginarum, see below),
addressed to the same person as the preface2 or to the book itself;3 thus, there is no
doubt as to whom the book is directed.4 The present book, however, opens with a
prose part to Toranius, followed by an epigram extra ordinem paginarum to Stertinius Avitus, neither of which contains any hints that the book as a whole is directed to the person addressed. The prose preface of Book 9 is very much shorter
than any of the others; it does not say anything in defence of Martials choice of
genre, like that of Book 1, no information is given to elucidate the character of the
book, like those of Books 8 and 12, and it is not witty, like that of Book 2. Indeed,
it does not have the character of a preface at all, but rather of a brief note, a short
letter, simply to notify Toranius of the identity of Avitus. In this respect, it reminds us of the origin of such prefaces, i.e. the practice of sending a manuscript to
a friend to receive comments, along with a letter intended to be published as the
preface of the book.5 Martial may well have sent the manuscript of Book 9 to
Toranius to get his comments and friendly criticism, but presumably this does not
imply that he meant Toranius also to be the dedicatee. As for the epigramma extra
ordinem paginarum directed to Stertinius Avitus, it is clearly the central point of
the preface as a whole. Stertinius was an important figure, senator as well as consular, and Martial had further reason to dedicate a book to him, as this prominent
man had placed a bust or a portrait of the poet in his library; if Martial received a
request for a poem to go with his picture, he would have been likely also to have
taken the opportunity to court Stertinius as a possible patron. Yet there is nothing,
not even a mention of liber or libellus, to indicate that he is the dedicatee of the
book as a whole, only the mention of hoc carmen in line 3, indicating that he is
the recipient of this particular epigram. Thus, though it may seem probable that
the consular Stertinius was the one to whom the book was directed and Toranius
1
The preface to Book 1, while having no explicit addressee, is obviously directed to the reader, lector;
some MSS even have the heading Valerius Martialis lectori suo salutem added to this preface (see e.g.
Citroni, ad loc.).
2
So Books 1 (lector) and 12 (Terentius Priscus).
3
So Books 2 (preface to Decianus, epigr. 1 to liber) and 8 (preface to Domitian, epigr. 1 to liber).
4
For the books lacking a preface, the case is as follows: Book 3 is directed to Faustinus (3, 2), Book 5 to
Domitian (5, 1), and Book 6 to Iulius Martialis (6, 1); Book 10 lacks an addressee other than the lector
(10, 1; 2), and Book 11 opens with a poem mentioning Parthenius without being directly addressed to him;
the opening poem of Book 4 celebrates Domitians birthday but does not address the emperor, whereas 7, 1
invites Domitian to wear a cuirass resembling the aegis of Minerva for his campaign against the
Sarmatians.
5
Janson, op. cit, p. 109. This is the evident purpose, for example, of Statius preface to Silvae 2 and of
Martials dedicatory poem to Iulius Martialis (6, 1), but less so in his prefaces, except for that of Book 12.

48

was simply the recipient of a manuscript, this is not an irrefutable conclusion.

Perhaps it is safer to say that the preface pays honour both to Toranius and to
Stertinius but that there is no dedicatee, in the modern sense of the word, of Book
9 as a whole. To the Romans, the explicit dedication of a book may not have been
of such importance as it is to us; it was the mention in a literary work that brought
honour and to be named at the beginning of a book brought the greatest honour
of all.1
Another problem is posed by the interpretation of the phrase extra ordinem
paginarum, indicating that the epigram to Stertinius Avitus, and necessarily also
the prose part, are somehow separated from the rest of the book. The easiest way
to explain the expression is to claim that its only significance is that the epigram
to Stertinius is not to be counted among those which properly constitute the book,
but extra ordinem seems to be too definite an expression to be of such vague significance. Important in this case is the preface to Book 2, where Martial proclaims
that he is abstaining from writing a long preface, lest the reader should be exhausted when he arrives ad primam paginam. So, when Martial in two of his
prefaces applies terms which imply that they stand before the beginning of the
actual book (which began, then, on the pagina prima, being the beginning of the
ordo paginarum), we have reason to believe that this applied also to his other
prefaces and that the epigram attached to the preface of Book 1 is also an
epigramma extra ordinem paginarum. A further indication that prefaces generally
were placed before the pagina prima is to be found in Bass. Rufin. gramm. VI
555, 27 ff. est in Eunucho Terentii statim in prima pagina hic versus trimetrus,
exclusit, revocat, redeam? non, si me obsecret. The line quoted is the fourth of
the first act, thus standing at the very beginning of the actual play; as Bassus
denotes this as being statim in prima pagina, the prologue of the play must have
stood before the pagina prima, thus presumably extra ordinem paginarum.
What, then, was the difference between the ordo paginarum and that which
was extra ordinem? Since pagination was very rarely found in book-rolls,2 the
explanation cannot be as easy as that;3 it seems, that we must first grasp the mean1

White, Dedication, p. 50. Ambiguities concerning the person to whom a book is actually directed by its
author can be observed, for example, in Vergils Georgics (georg. 1, 2 addresses Maecenas but invokes
Augustus in lines 24 ff.) and Quintilians Institutio oratoria, in the preface of which he writes opus,
Marcelle Vitori, tibi dicamus, but which is headed by a letter to Trypho. White (Dedication, p. 55)
explains this by the fact that, whereas modern dedications are usually exclusive and a recognized place and
form is allocated to the dedication in a modern book, the ancient practise, being less formally conceived,
admitted of occasional ambiguities. Roman writers possessed several forms by which to signify their desire
to honour a given person, and sometimes, in different ways, they honoured more than one.
2
Th. Birt (Das antike Buchwesen in seinem Verhltniss zur Litteratur, Berlin 1882, p. 158) produces one
paginated book-roll, containing the Commentarium cottidianum municipi Caeritum of 114 BC. He adds
that the counting of pages never seems to have become common practice and that the page, as such, was
indeed of very little importance, since quotations were made with reference to verses or, in extreme cases, to
letters. That pagination was utterly rare in antiquity is also shown by the fact that there are no instances of
secunda pagina, tertia pagina, etc., but only of prima or extrema pagina; in addition to the above
examples, see also Mart. 4, 89, 6, Cic. orat. 41, and Ov. trist. 2, 304. Cic. fam. 16, 4, 1 mentions the
pagina prior and pagina altera of a letter.
3
There is no reason to assume that here Martial is referring to a codex (in which case, the pagina as a unit
would perhaps be of greater significance). Martial, it is true, elsewhere mentions the codex (1, 2; 14, 184;
188; 190; 192), obviously an innovation in his day, stressing its advantages as being lighter and smaller
than the liber (thus a sort of paperback easy to keep and suitable for travelling), but it seems most
unlikely that he would have chosen this medium for the publication of a new book. Moreover,

49

ing of the word pagina in this context. It must be noted, that the sheet of papyrus,
in connection with book-rolls, was of no importance to the Romans, other than
those who put the roll together. For it was only at this stage that the pagina as an
entity was of any significance. Once they were put together to form a roll, the
scribe who wrote on them totally neglected the joints between the papyrus sheets;
he wrote in columns, and his writing frequently ran over the junctions.1 While
there are instances in Martial in which pagina may have the sense of sheet of
papyrus,2 the word should in this case certainly be taken as meaning column,
which is the normal sense of the word at this time.3 A possible explanation would
be that the ordo paginarum was the running columns; the text extra ordinem
paginarum might have been written at the beginning of the roll in such a way
that, when the preface or prologue was inscribed, the rest of the column was left
blank. The proper text of the book was then begun in a new column, and the columns then ran uninterrupted throughout the roll.4
Clausulae
As has been shown by Havet and Gonzalez de la Calle,5 Martial writes a highly
metrical prose, with clausulae before almost every punctuation mark; even in this
short passage, at least five, probably seven (depending on whether or not one
chooses to read with elision or synaloephe), such metrical sentence endings can be
shown. Havet identified five clausulae in this passage, as follows:
DPRP APQQK (molossus with creticus), a subsection to acatalectic dicreticus
(
), in its turn a subsection to catalectic dicreticus (
),
which constitutes 25 per cent of the clausulae in the speeches of Cicero.6
AJ?PGQQGKK TPK QAPNQKSQ acatalectic dicreticus .
@G@JGMRFCA Q TJR, catalectic dicreticus, the trochee having been resolved.
OSQ TAPRSP catalectic dicreticus .

  

  

R NP FQNRK CGRFCP ?L ?A?R?JCARGA BGAPCRGASQ  RFC DGL?J JMLE QWJJ?@JC F?T

GLE @CCL PCQMJTCB MP UGRF CJGQGML R NP? FQNRK  ? A?R?JCARGA BGAPCRGASQ

UGRF PCQMJSRGML MD RFC RFGPB JCLERF 3FC OSCQRGML MD UFCRFCP MP LMR MLC QFMSJB
AMLQGBCP RFC NMQQG@GJGRW MD CJGQGML MP QWL?JMCNFC GL KCRPGA?J NPMQC F?Q @CCL QS@
HCAR RM BGQASQQGML 3FCPC GQ FMUCTCP QMKC CTGBCLAC GL D?TMSP MD GR AD CE
"GA MP?R 

Quod (i.e. a careful arranging of the words) quidem Latina lin-

contemporary writers are silent about it, and it was only in the 3rd and 4th centuries that the codex came
into wider use as a means of literary publication (see C. H. Roberts & T. C. Skeat, The Birth of the Codex,
London 1983, pp. 24 ff., Howells introduction to 1, 2, and Leary on 14, 18396, p. 247).
1
See F. G. Kenyon, Books and readers in ancient Greece and Rome, Oxford 1951, p. 55.
2
For example, 4, 10, 1 f. Dum novus est nec adhuc rasa mihi fronte libellus, | pagina dum tangi non
bene sicca timet
3
Martial offers a number of instances of pagina in this sense, e.g. 2, 6, 2, f. Lectis vix tibi paginis duabus |
spectas eschatocollion, Severe, | et longas trahis oscitationes; 10, 59, 1 f. Consumpta est uno si lemmate
(i.e. epigram) pagina, transis, | et breviora tibi, non meliora placent.
4
It has also been suggested that the prefaces of Martial were written on the outside of the roll, as was
apparently the case with those of Polybius and Hieronymus (see Birt, op. cit., pp. 141 f.). But in silv. 4
praef., Statius says that his preface was written in libro, which may indicate that it was written inside the
roll (Janson, op. cit., p. 108, n. 7).
5
L. Havet, La prose mtrique de Martial, RPh 27 (1903), pp. 123-124; P. U. Gonzalez de la Calle,
Algunas observaciones acerca de la prosa de Marcial, Emerita 3 (1935), pp. 1-31.
6
See Crusius, 185 A, pp. 134 f.

50

gua sic observat, nemo ut tam rusticus sit quin vocalis nolit coniungere,1 and
Martial probably intended his prose to be read with elision; in the case of et
para hospitium, the ?A?R?JCARGA BGAPCRGASQ UGRF PCQMJSRGML MD RFC DGL?J JCLERF
K?W RFSQ @C ?TMGBCB ? AJ?SQSJ? NCQQGK? MAASPPGLE MLJW RFGPRW CGEFR RGKCQ GL
2

RFC QNCCAFCQ MD "GACPM 

To the clausulae identified by Havet may be added NELPK QR, a so-called

hypodochmius (trochee followed by creticus). Gonzales de la Calle reads with
elision (paginarum (e)st), thus getting a creticus followed by a ditrochaeus, a
clausula more common in Cicero than the hypodochmius. He also adds RG@
NRT

NJ?GL

BGRPMAF?CSQ

RFMSEF

UGRFMSR

RFC

SQS?JJW

NPCACBGLE

APCRGASQ

KMJMQQSQ MP QNMLBCC

The epigram extra ordinem paginarum falls into two parts. First, in lines 1-4,
Martial turns to Stertinius, whom he addresses as vates; presumably, Stertinius
was an amateur writer of epic poetry and consequently one of the maiores mentioned in verse 7. Apparently, he himself did not want to make any fuss about his
writings, but Martial assures him that it is no good trying to escape the fame
which will inevitably come to him; if not sooner, death will surely lend him the
laurel which he refused while living. Then, in lines 5-8, follows the epigram to be
placed on Martials picture in Stertinius library. It opens in an epigraphic manner (ille ego sum), and continues in the grandiose style with a kind of recusatio
(see 9, 50 intro.); letting those who have the ability speak of greater matters, Martial writes nugae, but in this art, he is second to none. He does not expect his
audience to admire his work as much as that of a Vergil yet is confident that they
will appreciate it for what it is, down-to-earth poetry on subjects close to everyday
life. His praemia are the readers honest appreciation and sincere love, not the
audiences admiration for profound learning and depth of thought. But, unlike
Catullus, who in the humble opening poem to his liber does not seem to understand why Nepos regards his nugae as something more than mere trifles, Martial
displays a firm self-confidence in his role as epigrammatic poet, which after all
had acquired him a place next to Vergil and Ovid and other viri non obscuri in
the library of Stertinius.
Have: Martial has exclusively the form with h,3 which also seems to be the etymologically correct form. The word, which is not to be regarded as the imperative
of avere but as probably derived from the Punic greeting
F?U JMQR GRQ F GL
NMNSJ?P QNCCAF ? DMPK UFGAF U?Q RFCL ?BMNRCB ?JQM @W NMJGRC QMAGCRW AD 0SGLR

From this passage it is clear, however, that

the initial h had again established itself in the popular speech of Martials day,
GLQR    UGRF D?JQC CRWKMJMEW 

Cf. Norden, Kunstprosa, p. 932, n. 6; H. Aili, The Prose Rhythm of Sallust and Livy, Stockholm 1979,
p. 48.
2
Th. Zielinski, Der constructive Rhythmus in Ciceros Reden. Der Oratorischen Rhythmik, vol. 2,
Leipzig 1914, p. 9.
3
Also 1, 55, 6; 1, 68, 6; 3, 95, 1 and 14; 4, 78, 4; 5, 51, 7; 7, 39, 2; 9, 6, 2; 14, 73, 2. The infinitive
havere, used only by Martial, Quintilian (inst. 1, 6, 21) and the grammarians (cf. Citroni on 1, 108, 10 and
Kay on 11, 106, 1) appears in 1, 108, 10; 3, 5, 10; 9, 6, 4 and 11, 106, 1.
4
TLL, s.v. ave 1300, 40 ff.

51

and probably it was never completely dispelled even from the conversational language of the educated; cf. Cic. fam. 8, 16, 4.
Torani: This person is mentioned also in 5, 78, five years earlier than this occurrence, in a dinner invitation. Apart from these two instances, he is completely
unknown, but he seems to have been a dear friend of Martials, as is indicated by
the intimate phrase frater carissime.1 Friedlnder suggested that Toranius was
living away from Rome, perhaps in Spain (und M. trug sich schon damals mit
dem Gedanken an die Heimkehr), when the book was published, as Martial asks
him to para hospitium and as otherwise he would have known who Avitus was
without Martial having to explain it to him; the latter reason may be refuted with
reference to Whites interpretation (below on Stertinium).
Stertinium: usually identified with L. Stertinius Avitus,2 consul suffectus with Ti.
Iulius Celsus Polemaeanus between the first of May and the last of August 92, and
perhaps the descendant of the L. Stertinius who successfully took part in Germanicus campaigns of 15 and 16 AD.
An Avitus appears in six other epigrams, ranging from Book 1 to Book 12,3
but the varying tones of these, especially the flippant tone of 6, 84, made White
suspect that they were not all directed to the same person;4 he thus concludes that
the phrase de quo ... putavi implies that Stertinius is new to the pages of the
Epigrams, and should be distinguished from anyone else bearing the same cognomen. This seems more plausible than Friedlnders interpretation of the
phrase, for even if Toranius did not live in Rome, he would still have been familiar with Avitus from the mentions of him in 1, 16 and 6, 84, and there would have
been no call for a further explanation in this particular case. However, the possibility of Stertinius also being the Avitus of 1, 16 cannot be ruled out on the basis
of the content (on the difficulty of composing a homogeneous book), which is the
case also with 12, 24 (on a chaise suitable for private conversation); the sexual
innuendo of 10, 102 and 12, 75 offers no argument in either direction, whereas
10, 96 must be directed to a fellow-client, making an identification impossible.
clarissimum virum: the attribute vir clarissimus had been used of senators as an
unofficial title since the end of the republic (for example, by Cicero of Brutus in
fam. 12, 15, 1), but it was not until the reign of Trajan that it became an official
title (extended to apply also to the senators wife, clarissima femina, and children,
c. iuvenis, puer, puella).5
imaginem meam: it was customary to place not only busts, but also paintings of
famous writers in private libraries. Thus, for example, Pliny the Younger was
1

Cf. TLL, s.v. carus 504, 74 ff.

PIR1 S 659; Groag in RE, 2:3, s.v. Stertinius 12, 2453; Syme, Tacitus, p. 597, n. 4 suggests that he might
have been from Africa.
3
1, 16; 6, 84; 10, 96; 102; 12, 24, 9; 75.
4
White, Aspects, pp. 56 f.
5
Thus, it is used as a title by Pliny (epist. 3, 8, 1; 9, 13, 19; 10, 56, 2; 10, 61, 5; 10, 77, 1; 10, 87, 3;
paneg. 50, 3; 90, 3); see M. Bang in Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 4, pp. 77 ff.
2

52

asked to order paintings of Cornelius Nepos and the Epicurean philosopher T.

Catius for the library of Herennius Severus (epist. 4, 28, 1); cf. also Iuv. 2, 4 ff.
referring to would-be philosophers filling their houses with busts of their famous
role-models. Whether Stertinius picture of Martial was a painting or a bust is
impossible to say, but we know that his portrait was painted for Caecilius Secundus, commander on the Danube (7, 84, 1 f.): Dum mea Caecilio formatur imago
Secundo | spirat et arguta picta tabella manu.1
scribendum putavi: a verbum putandi with the gerundive not only expressing the
will of the writer, but also being a circumlocution for the action desired as having
been carried out after careful consideration on behalf of the writer.2 Martial, in
writing scribendum putavi, says I have written this to you, because I thought it
necessary for your proper understanding of the epigram. The list of such instances, mainly found in letters, can be made quite long; of the in all forty-one
instances in Cicero, no less than twenty-five are found in his correspondence.
iste: the pronoun iste had in Martials day practically lost its connection with the
second person, a development which had begun quite early and was supported by
its use in vulgar language. Already Catullus was capable of writing iste meus
stupor (17, 21), but it was not until the Silver Latin epoch that the use became
more regular;3 Martial has two instances of iste coupled with meus, 9, 84, 8 and
11, 2, 8 iste liber meus est. That iste, once freed from the intimate connection
with the second person, is closer to hic than to ille, appears also from such instances, in which the classical hic ille (the latter the former) is replaced by
iste ille. Thus, for example, 4, 49, 10 laudant illa (the works of the Greek poets), sed ista (my epigrams) legunt; Quint. inst 8, 5, 34 veterem illum horrorem
dicendi malim quam istam (= hanc) novam licentiam.4
Avitus iste quis vocaretur: probably a colloquial contamination of two expressions such as Avitus iste quis esset and Avitus quis vocaretur. That expressions
involving vocari and esse were easily contaminated is indicated by Plaut. Mil. 436
quis igitur vocare?, a mixture of quis es and quid vocare.
1. sublimi pectore: For pectus as the source of higher poetic ability, cf. 9, 77, 4;
Ov. Pont. 4, 2, 25 f. Inpetus ille sacer qui vatum pectora nutrit; Lucan. 1, 63; 5,
208 (both with the same ending as here); Sil. 1, 686 f.; TLL, s.v. 915, 35 ff.
2. serus: often used of things that happen in vain, too late, etc.; cf. 1, 25, 8 cineri
gloria sera venit; OLD, s.v. serus 1, but in this case, it would rather convey a
sense of relief, at last, in the end; cf. Ov. met. 15, 384 on the bees that are born

See Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 3, pp. 55 ff.

See O. Hey, Aus dem kaiserlichen Kanzleistil, ALL 15, pp. 55 ff. According to Hey, a phrase like
edicendum putavi (Cic. Att. 6, 1, 15) is equal to edixi, quia necessarium (consentaneum) putavi.
3
Hofmann-Szantyr, 105 b, p. 183; Wlfflin-Meader, Zur Geschichte der Pronomina demonstrativa,
ALL 11, pp. 382 ff.
4
Wlfflin-Meader, op. cit., pp. 384 f.
2

53

without limbs and are said to seros pedes serasque adsumere pinnas; Tib. 1, 9, 4
Sera tamen tacitis Poena venit pedibus.
cinis: the usual metonymy for mors, cf. 5, 13, 4; 6, 85, 4; 7, 44, 8 (TLL, s.v.
cinis 1074, 11 ff.).
3. tibi vivat: vivere alicui usually takes a personal subject, as in Cic. Marcell.
25, and Sil. 17, 612. In 1, 88, 8 hic tibi perpetuo tempore vivet honor, the subject
is inanimate, but as the honor consists of a box and a vine, that instance is less
harsh than the present one.
5. Ille ego sum: also in 9, 28, 2; 10, 53, 1. The phrase, which occurs already in
Plaut. Aul. 704 (ego sum ille rex Philippus), is first used in dactylic verse by Tib.
1, 6, 31, followed by Prop. 4, 9, 38. It becomes especially popular with Ovid (ars
2, 451; met. 4, 226; fast. 3, 505; trist. 4, 5, 12; Pont. 1, 2, 33; 1, 2, 129; 4, 3, 11
17; Ib. 247). Silius has it three times (9, 128; 15, 5961), and Statius once (Theb.
11, 165). Of the phrase with only ille ego, there is one instance in Vergil, two in
Tibullus, seventeen in Ovid, four in Silius, two in Valerius Flaccus, five in Statius, and one in Juvenal. Cf. also the alternative, though probably false, opening of
the Aeneid (Ille ego, qui quondam gracili modulatus avena | carmen), which, it
has been suggested, was actually intended as an inscription beneath a portrait of
Vergil on the front page of a copy of the work.1
nugarum: on the model of Catullus (1, 3 f.), Martial frequently refers to his
epigrams as nugae, trifles (1, 113, 6; 2, 1, 6; 4, 10, 4; 4, 72, 3; 4, 82, 4; 5, 80, 3;
6, 64, 7 f.; 7, 11, 4; 7, 26, 7; 7, 51, 1; 8, 3, 11; 10, 18, 4; 12 praef.; 13, 2, 4; 14,
183, 2).2
6. quem non miraris, sed amas: a somewhat concise expression for whom
you do not exactly admire, but yet love. Martial means that he is not the kind of
poet that one admires for his gallant prosody or wide learning, like Vergil or Ovid
(the maiores of the following line); still, his readers love him for his easiness of
access.
sed, puto: sed followed by paratactical puto (a colloquialism, Hofmann, pp.
105 ff.) only here and in Ov. am. 2, 15, 25; 3, 7, 55; 3, 11b, 34; rem. 556 (with
Luckes note); Nux 57 (always with iambic shortening: NR 
7. Maiores etc.: note the rhythm underlining the content, the heavy spondees of
K?MPQ K?P? DMJJMUCB @W RFC NJ?WDSJ B?ARWJQ GL KF NPT JAR 3FC

FCNFRFCKGKCPCQGQ GQ TCPW QRPMLEJW DCJR

See R. G. Austin, ille ego qui quondam ..., CQ 18 (1968), pp. 10715; cf. Mart. 14, 186 (Vergilius in
membranis) Quam brevis inmensum cepit membrana Maronem! | Ipsius vultus prima tabella gerit.
2, 86, 9 is a general reference to epigrammatic writing. For its frequency in other authors, see Citroni on
1, 113, 6.

54

maiores: referring to ability and talent, synonymous with sublimes (TLL s.v.
magnus 134, 72 ff.). The persons meant are those who are better able to produce
maiora, i.e. epic writers like Vergil, Ovid and Silius.
maiora: more lofty, elevated, important; cf. Horaces words of the tragic
genre, which is said to magnum ... loqui nitique cothurno (ars 280). He who talks
of maiora does so magno ore (cf. Ov. ars 1, 204 f. Auguror, en, vinces; votivaque
carmina reddam, | et magno nobis ore sonandus eris; TLL, s.v. magnus 135, 23).
sonent: for the solemn poetical use of sonare in the sense of dicere, canere, cf.
e.g. Hor. epod. 17, 39 f. sive mendaci lyra | voles sonare: tu pudica, tu proba
, and Ov. ars 1, 205 f. cited above.
mihi parva locuto etc.: for me, who have talked of small matters. Note the
contrast of maiores/mihi, maiora/parva and sonent/locuto: whereas the maiores
sonant maiora, Martial loquitur parva. The expression seems to be modelled on
Tib. 2, 6, 11 f. Magna loquor, sed magnifice mihi magna locuto | excutiunt clausae fortia verba fores (Tibullus has decided to become a soldier [the magna which
he has spoken of in the preceding lines], but the sound of a door being shut makes
him recall that his place is under the banner of Love, talking of parva).

1
Dum Ianus hiemes, Domitianus autumnos,
Augustus annis commodabit aestates,
dum grande famuli nomen adseret Rheni
Germanicarum magna lux Kalendarum,
Tarpeia summi saxa dum patris stabunt,
dum voce supplex dumque ture placabit
matrona divae dulce Iuliae numen:
manebit altum Flaviae decus gentis
cum sole et astris cumque luce Romana.
Invicta quidquid condidit manus, caeli est.

10

Book 9 opens with a celebration of Domitians newly finished Templum gentis

Flaviae, here referred to as altum Flaviae decus, which, according to the poet,
will stand forever and is compared to the standard Roman images of eternity,
given in a row of future dum-clauses: the constant return of the years, the supremacy of Rome, the Capitol, the cult of the gods, and the cosmos. The model is naturally Hor. carm. 3, 30, 8 f., though only the Capitol and the cult are mentioned;
for similar lists, usually less elaborate and with varying objects of comparison
(often motifs from nature), cf. Verg. ecl. 5, 76 f.; Aen. 1, 607 f.; 9, 448 f.; Tib. 1,
4, 65; Hor. epod. 15, 7 f.; Ov. am. 1, 15, 9 ff.; Ib. 135 ff.; Sil. 7, 476 ff.
These stock images Martial has adapted to the glory of the emperor Domitian.
He appears as god of the calendar, next to Janus and Augustus, and he is closely
55

related to the Capitol; such a notion is present also in Stat. silv. 1, 6, 102 f., in
which the poet prays that the festival given by Domitian on the Kalends of December will abide dum ... terris | quod reddis Capitolium manebit, referring to the
temples built and restored on the hill by Domitian (notes on 9, 3, 7 and 9; 9, 101,
21). He also seems to be involved in the comparison with the sun and the stars,
that is, if there is a reference to Domitian himself in sol in line 9 and the astra are
not only the stars, but the deified Flavians; such an interpretation would at least
not be inappropriate, considering the reference to the dynastic mausoleum in the
preceding line. If so, Martial, using the standard Roman images of eternity, has
managed to turn them all into an eulogy of Domitian.
Book 9 contains a small cycle on Domitians Templum gentis Flaviae (cf. the
introduction, p. 19); it forms the theme also of 9, 20 and 9, 34 and is mentioned in
9, 93, 6 as sacrae nobile gentis opus. These poems are the earliest references to
the temple, suggesting that it was completed in the year 94. Contrary to what
might be expected, Statius does not devote a whole poem to the newly finished
temple, but mentions it only twice and in passing: silv. 4, 3, 18 f. genti patriae
futura semper | sancit lumina Flaviumque caelum; 5, 1, 240 f. aeternae modo qui
sacraria genti | condidit inque alio posuit sua sidera caelo (both of Domitian).
Suetonius mentions it apropos of Domitians building activities (Dom. 5, 1 item
Flaviae templum gentis [sc. Domitianus excitavit]) but also provides more substantial information: the temple was located on the spot where stood the house in
which Domitian was born (Dom. 1, 1 Domitianus natus regione urbis sexta ad
Malum Punicum, domo quam postea in templum gentis Flaviae convertit), it was
struck by lightning in 96 (15, 2) and, after Domitians assassination, his ashes
were brought here by his nurse Phyllis and mingled with those of Julia (17, 3).
After Suetonius, there is no mention of the temple until the 4th century Chronogr.
a. 354 chron. I p. 146, 17, with similar entries in the Notitia regionum urbis XIV
and Curiosum urbis regionum XIV;1 apparently, by this time the temple was
known simply as gens Flavia. The last references are found in the Historia
Augusta, in which Trebellius Pollio, referring to the temple as gentes Flaviae,
states that it had once been the house of Titus (Hist. Aug. trig. tyr. 33, 6 [gentes
Flaviae] qu<a>e [sc. domus] quondam Titi principis fuisse perhibetur) and that it
was enlarged by Claudius Gothus (Hist. Aug. Claud. 3, 6).2
As appears from 9, 20 and from Suet. Dom. 1, 1, the Templum gentis Flaviae
stood on the plot where Domitian was born, reasonably in the house of Vespasian
(afterwards perhaps the house of Titus), on the street called ad Malum Punicum
(now the Via delle Quattro Fontane) on the Quirinal south of the Alta Semita.3
Although no certain traces of the temple have been found, it is probably located
under San Carlo alle Quatro Fontane.4 For want of archaeological evidence, the
outer features of the temple remain uncertain. Judging from 9, 20, 1, it seems to
have been a marble structure with gold ornaments, the same materials that were
used in Domitians magnificent restoration of the temple of Iuppiter Capitolinus
1

See H. Jordan, Topographie der Stadt Rom im Althertum, vol. 2, Berlin 1871, p. 549.
For the supposed reference to the temple in Val. Fl. 1, 15, see J. Strand, Notes on Valerius Flaccus
Argonautica, Gothenburg 1972, pp. 23 ff.
3
Jones, Domitian, p. 87.
4
Ibid., pp. 87 f.
2

56

(cf. 9, 3, 7 note). If Suetonius (and Pollio) are right in stating that the house of
Vespasian was actually converted into the temple, this would still imply that the
greater part of the domus would have had to be torn down, but perhaps it may
suggest that the temple preserved the square shape of a domus.1 There was probably no dome, as domes by this time were mostly found on tombs, villas, palaces
and thermae, although it is possible that Stat. silv. 4, 3, 19 Flavium caelum implies that the ceiling was decorated with stars (see Coleman, ad loc.; cf. 9, 101,
22), as was that of the triclinium in Domitians palace (see 9, 91, 1 note and intro.).
It is obvious that Domitian meant the Templum gentis Flaviae to be the dynastic mausoleum of the Flavian family, corresponding to the mausoleum Augusti of
the Julio-Claudians. From Suet. Dom. 17, 3 (above), it appears that the ashes of
Julia were kept in the temple, and that those of Domitian himself were brought
there after his death (as mentioned above). 9, 34, 7 f. presuppose that the temple
housed the ashes of Vespasian, and it is logical to assume that at least also Titus
rested there. The idea of a dynastic mausoleum appears also from Statius statement that Domitian placed his stars in a different heaven (silv. 5, 1, 241).
Domitian being the last of the Flavians, the temple was no longer used as an imperial burying-place after his death; his successor Nerva was buried in the Augustan mausoleum, the ashes of Trajan were placed in the base of his column in the
Forum Trajani, and subsequently the mausoleum of Hadrian became the great
sepulchre of its founder and of the Antonine emperors; see O. Hirschfeld, Die
kaiserlichen Grabsttten in Rom, in Kleine Schriften, Berlin 1913, pp. 463 ff.
1 f. Ianus ... Domitianus ... | Augustus: the months January, October and August.
Domitian had changed the name of the month of October to Domitianus, his
birthday being on the 24th, and also that of September to Germanicus (see below),
since he had ascended the throne on the 14th of September 81 (cf. Suet. Dom. 13,
3).2 By changing the names of the months, Domitian hoped to join his predecessors Divus Iulius and Divus Augustus as gods of the calendar, but his arrangements were not to last, and after his assassination in 96, the months regained their
previous names (cf. Plut. Num. 19, 4).3
2. commodabit: lend, cf. 4, 14, 10 nostris otia commoda Camenis; 7, 72, 14; 8,
52, 5; 9, 101, 24. Also in malam partem 5, 51, 4; TLL, s.v. 1919, 11.
3. famuli Rheni: cf. 5, 3, 1 2 famulis Histri ... aquis; Ov. fast 1, 286 famulas ...
Rhenus aquas. The reference is to Domitians campaign against the Chatti, see
1

Jordan, op. cit., vol. 1:3 (bearbeitet von Ch. Hlsen, Berlin 1907), p. 426, n. 91, and Platner & Ashby,
loc. cit., suggest that the temple was probably round in shape, with reference to 9, 3, 12; 9, 34, 2; Stat. silv.
4, 3, 19. There is, however, nothing in these lines to support such a view.
2
It is not certain when the months received their new names, but, judging from epigraphical evidence, the
change occurred in 88 or 89; Scott treats the matter at length on pp. 158-165.
3
In this respect, he rather joined such emperors as Nero, who named the month of April Neroneus (Suet.
Nero 55, 1), and Caligula, who called the month of September Germanicus in memory of his father (Suet.
Cal. 15, 2), neither of which names remained after the deaths of their inventors. Other emperors had acted
more wisely; thus, Tiberius had forbidden the month of September to be called Tiberius and the month of
October Livius (Suet. Tib. 26, 2).

57

the introduction, pp. 23 ff. For Romes everlasting sovereignty, see Verg. Aen. 1,
278 ff.; 9, 446 ff. nulla dies umquam memori vos eximet aevo, | dum ... imperium
... pater Romanus habebit.
Famulus is adjectival (synonymous with serviens), the construction thus being
an example of the so-called ab urbe condita construction with adjectives: the main
sense of the expression is conveyed not by the substantive Rheni, but by the adjective famuli. Heick, who has treated the construction mainly with regard to participles, offers only one example from Martial with an adjective, 1, 35, 8 f. Quis
Floralia vestit et stolatum | permittit meretricibus pudorem?1 Helander, who
discerned five types of the ab urbe condita construction, has produced some instances of this construction with adjectives,2 from which it appears that the instances involving the genitive are often attached to fama or rumor,3 comparable to
the present instance with nomen. Other examples from Martial are 7, 32, 1 Attice,
facundae renovas qui nomina gentis; 9, 20, 2; 9, 26, 7; 11, 9, 1.
Mostly used with animate objects (cf. TLL, s.v. 269, 37 ff.), the adjectival famulus indicates that the Rhine here, as often, is regarded as a river-god, cf. 4, 11,
7; 5, 37, 7; 7, 7, 3; 8, 11, 1; 10, 7, 1; Stat. silv. 1, 4, 89 Rhenum ... rebellem. The
idea of the enslaved Rhine occurs also in Stat. silv. 1, 1, 50 f. vacuae pro cespite
terrae | aerea captivi crinem tegit ungula Rheni.
4. Germanicarum magna lux Kalendarum: the first of September (cf. note on
line 1 above). Domitian adopted the honorary title of Germanicus in connection
with the triumph over the Chatti in 83, see the introduction, p. 25.
5. Tarpeia saxa: the Tarpeian rock on the Capitol, called after the Vestal
virgin Tarpeia, who, according to legend, was killed there by the Sabinians. Prisoners sentenced to death were thrown from this rock.4 The plural may be considered poetical but may also be due to the fact that Martial does not allude to the
Tarpeian rock only, but to the whole of the Capitol (not one rock but several
rocks;5 cf., e.g., Sil. 2, 33 f.).
Martial uses the adjective Tarpeius exclusively of things connected with Jupiter; apart from the present instance, all other instances refer either to Jupiter himself or to the oak-wreath awarded the winner at the Capitoline games (note on 9,
3, 8). Of the in all eight occurrences, five appear in Book 9: of Jupiter in 7, 60, 1
Tarpeiae venerande rector aulae; 9, 86, 7 and 13, 74, 1 Tarpeius Tonans; 9, 101,
24 Tarpeius pater; of the oak-wreath in 4, 54, 1 Tarpeias quercus; 9, 3, 8 Tarpeiae frondis honore; 9, 40, 1 Tarpeias coronas.

O. W. Heick, The ab urbe condita construction in Latin, Lincoln, Nebraska 1936, p. 54. This instance he
places, unnecessarily, among those he considers dubious, because the accusative depends on verbs which
also allow the accusativus cum infinitivo construction (p. 52). Heicks few additional instances of the
construction with adjectives are to be found on pp. 68-69.
2
H. Helander, On the Function of Abstract Nouns in Latin, Uppsala 1977, p. 28. Examples on pp. 67, 89,
and 120.
3
Tac. hist. 2, 16, 1 fama victricis classis; ibid. 2, 93, 2 sinistrum lenti itineris rumorem; ann. 12, 29, 3
fama ditis regni.
4
Varro ling. 5, 41; see Hfer in Roscher, s.v. Tarpeia.
5
See Lfstedt, Synt. 1, p. 29.

58

As regards the Capitol as the symbol of everlasting stability, cf. Horaces famous lines crescam laude recens, dum Capitolium | scandet cum tacita virgine
pontifex (carm. 3, 30, 9 f.); Verg. Aen. 9, 447 f. dum domus Aeneae Capitoli
immobile saxum | accolet; Stat. silv. 1, 6, 102. The Capitol is in fact pignus imperii (Tac. hist. 3, 72). In addition to these obvious ideas, the association with
Domitians work of restoration (mentioned above) must have presented itself
immediately.
summi patris: sc. Iovis, also 9, 65, 10 and 11, 4, 4; cf. Verg. Aen. 1, 665
nate patris summi qui tela Typhoea temnis; Stat. Theb. 9, 22.
6. voce supplex ... ture placabit: cf. Hor. carm. 1, 36, 1 f. Et ture et fidibus iuvat
| placare; voce supplice in Tib. 1, 2, 13 f.; Ov. met. 2, 396; 6, 33; Pont. 4, 6, 10;
4, 8, 22 (cf. Pont. 2, 9, 5 supplicis ... vocem).
Offerings to the gods are expected to continue while Rome stands; the idea is
to be found in Hor. carm. 3, 30, 9 f., quoted above, but whereas the religious act in
Horace concerns the Capitoline triad, the offering here is to Julia, daughter of
Titus and deified by Domitian (note on line 7 divae Iuliae below).
placabit: cf. Hor. carm. 1, 36, 1 ff. Et ture et fidibus iuvat | placare et vituli
sanguine debito | custodes Numidae Deos, with the note by Nisbet and Hubbard:
gods are potentially hostile, and need to be mollified, hence placare.
7. dulce numen: dulcis in the sense of beloved; TLL, s.v. 2194, 29. Julias
numen is dulce, yet it has to be propitiated for the reason just mentioned (cf. Ov.
Pont. 2, 2, 109 Mite, sed iratum merito mihi numen).
divae Iuliae: Julia Augusta, daughter of Titus and his wife Marcia Furnilla,
niece of Domitian.1 She had been offered to Domitian in matrimony by her father,
but as he declined, she was married to T. Flavius Sabinus, nephew of Vespasian.
After her marriage, Domitian was seized with passion for her, and after the death
of her father, he had her husband assassinated, got rid of his own wife Domitia on
the pretext of adultery, and openly entered into an extra-marital liaison with her.
In the end, he also caused her death by forcing her to have an abortion (cf. Suet.
Dom. 22, 1; Iuv. 2, 32 f.). Her ashes were later moved to the Templum gentis
Flaviae (see the introduction above). In the reign of her father, Julia had been
given the honorific name Augusta, and after her death, which probably occurred
in 89, she was deified, presumably in the year 90.2 She is mentioned yet twice in
the Epigrams, in 6, 3, 6 (Julia, and not the Fates, shall spin the life-threads of
Domitians expected child) and in 6, 13, 1, on a statue of her.
matrona: in art and on coins, Julia is occasionally depicted with a peacock,
the bird of Juno, an indication that she was assimilated to the goddess. Domitia
had been depicted in the same way and the reason for this is obvious; as Domitian
1
2

See Jones, Domitian, pp. 38 ff.

Scott, pp. 75-77.

59

is the earthly Jupiter, his consort must be the earthly Juno. When Domitia had left
the scene, her place having to some extent been taken by Julia, it was natural that
she also should be associated with Juno.1 Above all others, Juno was the goddess
of women, the ideal image of the Roman matrona (cf. 9, 3, 9 matrona Tonantis);
offerings to her were made by the matrons, who also celebrated the great feast of
the Matronalia on the first of March.2 Consequently, as the matrons made offerings to Juno, they would also make offerings to Julia.
8. altum Flaviae decus gentis: decus in the sense of honos, gloria (cf. TLL s.v.
238, 36 ff.; cf. also note on 9, 28, 1). The allusion is to the Templum gentis
Flaviae, the dynastic mausoleum of the Flavians built by Domitian and probably
completed in 94 (see above).
The expression altum decus may be used with reference to buildings as well as
to people, e.g. in Verg. Aen. 2, 448 auratasque trabes, veterum decora alta
parentum; Sen. Tro. 15 alta muri decora; Ag. 395 telluris altum ... Argolicae
decus (of Agamemnon; cf. Tarrant, ad loc.); Stat. Theb. 5, 424 magnorum decora
alta patrum (of the Argonauts), or abstractly (heights of glory, high renown),
so Sen. Herc. O. 391 Vides ut altum famula non perdat decus? (glorious charm,
Millers Loeb translation); Sil. 3, 144; 6, 124. Note that the singular altum decus
appears only in iambic verse (the only instances apart from the present one being
Sen. Ag. 395 and Herc. O. 391).
The Flaviae decus gentis is the glory of the Flavian family, as manifested in
the Templum gentis Flaviae. This interpretation is strongly suggested by the concluding line, which indicates that the reference is to something founded by
Domitian. If altum Flaviae decus gentis is taken to mean the glory of the Flavian
dynasty exclusively, the invicta manus would be that of Vespasian as conditor
gentis, which, while perhaps not impossible, is most unlikely, as both Martial and
Statius use invictus only of Domitian and (once) of Titus (see below). The context
also argues in favour of the reference being to the temple; it is preceded by a mention of Julia, one of the deified Flavians whose ashes were kept in the temple, and
followed by the astra, in which there is certainly at least a notion of the deified
Flavians (below).
9. cum sole et astris: the cosmos is for obvious reasons often produced as an
image of eternity, cf. Verg. Aen. 1, 608 polus dum sidera pascet; Tib. 1, 4, 66;
Sen. Oed. 503 ff. (with Tchterle); Sil. 7, 476 f.; Stat. silv. 1, 1, 93 f. stabit (sc.
Domitians equestrial statue), dum terra polusque. The sun, the moon and the
stars are also among the attributes of Aeternitas as a goddess (see Aust in RE 1,
s.v. 694 ff.; Graf in NP 1, s.v. 206 f.).
Given the reference to the Templum gentis Flaviae in the preceding line, it is
possible that there is an allusion here to Domitian as the Sun. This is obviously
the case in 9, 20, 6 (see note ad loc.), and the idea of the emperor as the Sun may
perhaps explain 8, 21, 11 f. Iam, Caesar, vel nocte veni: stent astra licebit, | non
deerit populo te veniente dies; cf. Stat. silv. 4, 1, 3 f. (on the inauguration of
1
2

Ibid.
Roscher in Roscher, s.v. Iuno 583 f.

60

Domitian as consul for the seventeenth time) oritur (sc. Domitianus) cum sole
novo, cum grandibus astris | clarius ipse nitens et primo maior Eoo (with Coleman); cf. Sauter, pp. 138 f. and see the introduction, p. 32. The astra are very
likely the deified Flavians (see 9, 101, 22, note); the ceiling of the temple was
probably also decorated with stars (see the introduction above).
luce Romana: the splendour, the glory of Rome (TLL, s.v. lux 1915, 46); cf.,
e.g., Cic. Catil. 4, 11 hanc urbem, lucem orbis terrarum; leg. agr. 2, 71 hac luce
rei publicae. Statius has a similar expression (though probably not with the same
significance) in silv. 1, 1, 94 (stabit) dum Romana dies.
10. invicta manus: invictus of Domitian also 7, 6, 8; 9, 23, 6; Stat. silv. 3, 1,
155; 4, 7, 49; 4, 8, 61. Martial uses it also once of Titus (epigr. 20, 4) and once of
Julius Caesar (9, 61, 7).1
Originally, invictus was used as an honorary title of victorious commanders
(cf., e.g., Cic. Verr. II 4, 82) and hence also of the Roman people as invictus
populus (Cic. Catil. 2, 19), but, more importantly, it was used as an epithet of
gods, above all, of Jupiter and Mars, but also of Hercules. Of the Roman rulers, it
is first applied by Cicero to Caesar the dictator (Marcell. 12), which was probably
due primarily to his military achievements; the case is the same in Hor. sat. 2, 1,
11 Caesaris invicti res dicere (referring to an epic on the deeds of Augustus); Ov.
trist. 4, 2, 44 (Germania) ducis invicti sub pede maesta sedet (of Tiberius). The
first instance in which invictus is used of the emperor as an adulatory epithet,
with reference to the emperor not only as commander but as majesty, is Ov. trist.
5, 1, 41 f. lenior invicti si sit mihi Caesaris ira, | carmina laetitiae iam tibi plena
dabo. The emperors from Tiberius to Vespasian are not mentioned as invicti.2
caeli est: originates from heaven,3 i.e. is divine; whatever the manus invicta of Domitian has created has a trace of divinity in it, its creator himself being
a god.

For a detailed account of invictus as an epithet of the emperor, see Sauter, pp. 153-159; on its use in
connection with gods and emperors, see M. Imhof, invictus, MH 14 (1957), pp. 197215.
2
Tiberius was offered the title invictus, having suppressed the rebellion in Pannonia; cf. Suet. Tib. 17, 2
censuerunt etiam quidam ut Pannonicus, alii ut Invictus, nonnulli ut Pius cognominaretur.
3
; KhnerStegmann 1, 86, 1, p. 452.
Cf. Gr.
HlQDL JdJQHVTDd WLQRM

61

2
Pauper amicitiae cum sis, Lupe, non es amicae,
et queritur de te mentula sola nihil.
Illa siligineis pinguescit adultera cunnis,
convivam pascit nigra farina tuum;
incensura nives dominae Setina liquantur,
nos bibimus Corsi pulla venena cadi;
empta tibi nox est fundis non tota paternis,
non sua desertus rura sodalis arat;
splendet Erythraeis perlucida moecha lapillis,
ducitur addictus, te futuente, cliens;
octo Syris suffulta datur lectica puellae,
nudum sandapilae pondus amicus erit.
I nunc et miseros, Cybele, praecide cinaedos:
haec erat, haec cultris mentula digna tuis.

10

Greedy and ignorant patrons and stingy friends, indeed every failure to show
appropriate respect and gratitude, are recurring targets of mockery in Martials
works; in the present book, cf. epigrams 6, 8, 9, 46, 48, 85, 88, and 100.1 The
voluptuous miser Lupus is even worse than most, being greedy to his clients but
lavish to his mistress.
The poem is throughout built on antithetic arrangements; through five distichs, Martial contrasts the way Lupus mistreats the former with his fawning on
the latter: she gets the finest foods and the most delicate wine; his guests dine
upon coarse bread and a wine no one has ever heard of. On her, he heaps expensive presents, and she gets estates as payment for not even a whole nights pleasure, while the tenant farmer ploughs land which is not even his own, and his
client, unable to pay his debts, is handed over to the creditor. She is carried
around in a luxurious sedan, whereas the one time his friend will not have to
walk is when he gets carried away on the bier. The epigram closes with a wish
that Lupus may be deprived of the cause of this discrimination, his mentula.
Note that Martial constantly refers to Lupus mistress by a different word: in
line 3, she is called adultera, in line 5 domina, in line 9 moecha, and in line 11
puella. Martial has certainly chosen the various designations with regard to the
context. Thus, in line 3, he writes adultera because of its obscene and negative
ring, which goes well with the following cunnis. The loftier style of line 5, with
the reference to the noble Setian wine, makes him choose the word domina,
whereas the word Erythraeis in line 9, being a Latin transcription of the Greek
, causes him to call the mistress moecha, derived from the Greek
.
Also the references to his clients vary: line 4 conviva, (6 nos,) 8 sodalis, 10
cliens, 12 amicus. Whereas the significance of cliens is unmistakable, also sodalis
and amicus may be used of a client; indeed, the Romans themselves preferred
such terms to the more outspoken cliens, and the relationship between the patron
and the client was generally referred to as amicitia (see White, Amicitia, pp. 81).
xUXTUM

Cf. Sullivan, Martial, pp. 122 f.

62

PRLF

A client dining at his patrons house would naturally be a conviva. Thus, there is
a further contrast in the euphemistic denomination (perhaps imagined as originating from Lupus himself) of the clients and the way Lupus actually treats them.
Finally, note the contrasts between line 3 pinguescit/4 pascit, 5 dominae liquantur/6 nos bibimus, 7 fundis/8 rura, 9 perlucida/10 addictus, and 11 lectica/12
sandapilae.
1. Pauper: with the dative in the sense of greedy; cf. Stat. silv. 3, 1, 102 f. mihi
pauper et indigus uni | Pollius?; Iuv. 5, 113; TLL, s.v. 845, 30 ff.
amicitiae: metonymically for amicis, cf. 9, 99, 6; 10, 44, 10 teque tuas numeres inter amicitias; 11, 44, 1 f. The usage is found from Cicero onwards (e.g.
dom. 27; see Hofmann-Szantyr, 23, I b, p. 747; TLL, s.v. 1893, 51 ff.). The word
is used here with special reference to clients (see above).
Lupe: the name is commonly used by Martial of misers, for whom the name
was very suitable, because of the wolfs proverbial rapacity.1 Practically all eleven
instances of the name in Martial are pseudonyms,2 as is also the case here.
3. siligineis cunnis: a pastry in the shape of a cunnus, made of the very finest
wheat-flour, the siliginea farina (cf. Plin. nat. 18, 86; Blmner, Technologie, pp.
76 f.). The practice of forming the dough into obscene shapes apparently existed
already among the Greeks,3 but in Greek and Latin literature evidence is scarce.
Apart from the present instance of siliginei cunni, the sole mention of such bread
in the form of a cunnus, Martial has a distich in the Aphophoreta on a Priapus
siligineus (14, 70 [69 Leary]): Si vis esse satur, nostrum potes esse Priapum: |
Ipsa licet rodas inguina, purus eris (with Learys note), and Petronius mentions a
similar pastry (60, 4): iam illic repositorium cum placentis aliquot erat positum,
quod medium Priapus a pistore factus tenebat, gremioque satis amplo omnis
generis poma et uvas sustinebat more vulgato.
4. pascit nigra farina: coarse bread (TLL, s.v. farina 283, 17 ff. i. q. massa ex
aqua sim. subacta, depsta); cf. 11, 56, 8 stipula et nigro pane carere potes. Also
denoted as durus (Sen. epist. 18, 7), ater (Ter. Eun. 939), etc.; Blmner, Technologie, p. 79. The simple nourishment goes well with pascit in the sense of
feed (of animals, slaves, troops, etc., cf. OLD s.v. 1).

Cf. Kay on 11, 55, 1.

The name appears also in 1, 59, 3; 2, 14, 12; 5, 56, 1; 6, 79, 2; 7, 10, 7, 8; 10, 40, 3; 10, 48, 6; 11, 18, 1,
25; 11, 55, 1, 6; 11, 88, 1; 11, 108, 3. Kay thinks that the Lupus of 11, 88, is probably real, being the
addressee of an epigram, the target of which is a person other than the addressee, and suggests that he is the
same Lupus (perhaps an amateur poet) whom Martial invites to dinner in 10, 48.
3
Comica Adespota (Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta, ed. Th. Kock, vol. 3, Leipzig 1888, p. 589)
, a loaf in the shape of a
(i.e. a leather penis quo improbae tribades
mentions an
prurientem libidinem fallunt, TGL, s.v.; cf. Suda 169).
2

OLVERNOOL[

OLVERM

63

5. incensura: alluding to the colour of the Setian wine, which would have been
dark yellow, fulvus, or light red, sanguineus.1 Cf. also 9, 22, 8, (Falerna) faciant
nigras nives.
Setina: The city of Setia, some 70 km south-east of Rome, which had earlier
played a certain political role as a Latin colony,2 was in Martials day exclusively
mentioned for its wine, which was rated among the very best and said to have
been the favourite of Augustus.3 On its character, cf. Plin. nat. 23, 36 virium plus
Surrentino, austeritatis Albano, vehementia minus Falerno.
dominae ... liquantur: to get rid of the dregs contained as a result of the relatively primitive method of production, even in better wines, the wine was strained
before drinking through a colander, colum, or a saccus. In this process, snow was
placed in the colander to cool the wine; cf. 9, 22, 8; 14, 103 colum nivarium and
14, 104 saccus nivarius.4
6. pulla venena: rot-gut. Pullus may signify simply that the wine is of poorer
quality, such as is drunk by ordinary people; cf., e.g., Varro ling. 9, 33 pullus
sermo, vulgar language, Quint. inst. 6, 4, 6 turba pullata, and pullati used as a
noun by Suetonius (Aug. 40, 5 and 44, 2). However, in this case there is certainly
a notion of dusky, dark-coloured: whereas expensive wines are strained for
Lupus mistress, his friends must be contented with wine of the worst sort, which
is not even strained but is still dusky from the dregs.
Corsi cadi: the cadus, originally a vessel for Greek wine but also used for
storing oil, figs, salted fish, etc., is, as regards Roman goods, usually identical
with the amphora.5
Editors have been at pains to try to see the point in this expression, which
would seem to have some negative implication; Friedlnder even felt compelled to
make the conjecture Tusci for Corsi (cf. 13, 118, 2 haec genuit Tuscis aemula
vina cadis), since the Tuscan wine in antiquity was considered of lesser quality.6
However, there is at least some negative ring to Corsus, since in the empire Corsica was still considered a less civilized place, suitable for deportations;7 its wine
is not mentioned anywhere else in the whole of classical literature, and perhaps
this is Martials point: Lupus friends get wine from an out-of-the-way spot, wine
such as nobody has ever heard of. Perhaps there is also an allusion to the fact that
tar was found in abundance on Corsica and was among the things which the
Etruscans demanded as tribute of the inhabitants during their domination of the
island (Diod. Sic. 5, 13, 4).
1

Cf. Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 201.

Philipp in RE 2:2, s.v. Setia 1, 1924 f.
3
Cf. Plin. nat. 14, 59 ff. Despite the judgement of Pliny, Martial has a preference for the Falernian, which
he mentions twenty-six times, whereas the Setian is mentioned only seven (cf. 9, 22, 8 faciant nigras
Falerna nives with note).
4
Blmner, Privataltertmer, pp. 402 f.
5
Marquardt, p. 628.
6
Marquardt, p. 436.
7
See Hlsen in RE 4, s.v. Corsica 1659.
2

64

7. empta tibi etc.: note the arrangement of the line, with the words non tota paternis effectively placed at the end; Lupus buys a single night, and the payment is
an estate, but it is not even a whole night, and the payment is not just any estate,
but the very estate which has been handed down from father to son.
Non totus in the sense of not even a whole also in 5, 80, 1 ff. Non totam
mihi, si vacabis, horam, | dones; and 9, 3, 5; cf. non unus in the same sense as
ne quidem (e.g. Prop. 2, 9, 19 f. at tu non una potuisti nocte vacare, | impia,
non unum sola manere diem).1
8. non sua desertus rura ... arat: chiastically placed in relation to non tota paternis. Non sua indicates that Lupus sodalis has to make a living as a tenant
farmer, colonus, renting a piece of land from a large landed proprietor. Such
coloni led a humble life (cf. Hor. carm. 1, 35, 5 f. te pauper ambit sollicita prece |
ruris colonus; ibid. 2, 14, 11 f. sive reges | sive inopes erimus coloni), which
could be rather troublesome, if he was unable to pay his rent. A colonus in debt
was tied to the estate like a slave, until he managed to pay off the debt with interest and compound interest, a fact which often led the jurists to equate the coloni
with vilici and actores.2
,
9. Erythraeis lapillis: the Erythraeum mare (
being the Greek word for red) originally signified the Red Sea3 but was extended to include the whole ocean surrounding the Arabian peninsula and washing the shores of India, i.e. the sea from Suez to Sri Lanka.4 This sea had several
localities important for pearl-fishing, both in India (especially the strait between
the Indian mainland and Sri Lanka) and in the Persian Gulf, and from the references in Martial to Erythraei lapilli (gemmae), it is clear that he means the Indian
pearls.5 Garthwaite claims that Martial most frequently mentions Indian pearls in
an amatory context,6 which is a qualified truth. What Martial really does is to use
these pearls as an example of redundant wealth and luxury, sometimes also of
pure beauty (cf. 1, 109, 4; 5, 37, 4; 8, 28, 14; 9, 12, 5; 10, 17, 5; 10, 38, 5). Of
these, perhaps two (5, 37, 4 and 9, 12, 5) may be said to occur in an amatory context, whereas it is clear that all of them can easily be interpreted as expressions for
something very expensive and dear to those who own them. This, at least, is the
prevalent notion in Ov. ars 3, 129 f. Vos quoque nec caris aures onerate lapillis, |
quos legit in viridi decolor Indus aqua; and Tib. 3, 3, 11 ff. Nam grave quid
prodest pondus mihi divitis auri, | quidve in Erythraeo legitur quae litore

(UXTU

TODVVD

xUXTUM

Hofmann-Szantyr, 241 A, Zus. , p. 448.

Blmner, Privataltertmer, pp. 542 ff.
3
Berger in RE 6, s.v.
, 6, 592 ff.
4
Goodyear on Tac. ann. 2, 61, 2; also Forcellini, Onomast., s.v. Erythraeum.
5
1, 109, 4 Issa est carior Indicis lapillis; 5, 37, 4 cui (sc. puellae) nec lapillos praeferas Erythraeos; 8,
28, 14 Cedet (sc. Palatinae togae) Erythraeis eruta gemma vadis; 9, 12, 5; 10, 17, 5 Quidquid
Erythraea niger invenit Indus in alga; 10, 38, 5 f. O nox omnis et hora, quae notata est | Caris litoris
Indici lapillis. Cf. 8, 26, 5 Vincit Erythraeos tua, Caesar, harena triumphos, alluding to the Indian
triumph of Bacchus, and 13, 100 on a wild ass: Pulcher adest onager: mitti venatio debet | dentis
Erythraei: iam removete sinus.
6
Garthwaite, Court Poets, p. 77.
G

(UXTU TODVVD

65

concha | et quae praeterea populus miratur? In illis | invidia est: falso plurima
volgus amat. Finally, the sole mention in Statius of Erythraei lapilli, very similar
to 10, 38, 5, lacks any kind of erotic allusion, as Statius is talking of a night spent
discussing art with his friend Vindex: nox et Erythraeis Thetidis signanda lapillis
| et memoranda diu geniumque habitura perennem (silv. 4, 6, 18 f.; see Coleman,
ad loc.).
perlucida: in the sense of splendens, like 12, 38, 3 Crine nitens, niger unguento, perlucidus ostro; Cic. div. 1, 57 inlustris et perlucida stella; Tib. 3, 12, 13
Adnue purpureaque veni perlucida palla.
10. ducitur addictus cliens: Lupus client is indebted and has not been able to
repay the debt at the prescribed time. He would then be brought before the praetor, who would grant the creditor addictio, if he could find no reason for a closer
investigation (which could occur, for example, if the debtor denied his debt). The
creditor was allowed to take away the debtor, now his addictus, if necessary by
force, and keep him locked up until the debt was fully paid; if after sixty days the
debt was still not paid, the addictus could be sold as a slave or even killed.1 In
such a case, a client could normally count on the aid of his patron, but not Lupus
client.
11. octo Syris suffulta lectica: a sedan, carried by eight bearers, a so-called
octophoros; the person carried was lying instead of sitting. Syrian bearers were
common in Rome in Martials day; cf. 7, 53, 10 munera, quae grandes octo tulere
Syri and 9, 22, 9 with my note. As can be gathered from the mention in 7, 53,
they were sturdily built and thus apt for this service; cf. also Iuv. 6, 351 quae
longorum vehitur cervice Syrorum. For the same reason, we may presume, they
were womens favourites; Martial in 12, 58, 2 refers to a girl as lecticariola, and
Eros occurs twice in inscriptions (CIL 6, 9505 and 33368) as the name of such
bearers.2
12. nudum pondus: the corpse was normally dressed up in the toga; see note
on 9, 57, 8.
sandapilae: a simple, wooden, funeral bier, carried by four bearers (cf. 8, 75,
9), on which the poor, as well as gladiators and criminals, were cremated; cf. 2,
81 Laxior hexaphoris tua sit lectica licebit: | cum tamen haec tua sit, Zoile, sandapila est; 6, 77, 9 f. Invidiosa tibi quam sit lectica, requiris? | Non debes ferri
mortuus hexaphoro.
amicus erit: cf. 1, 78, 10; 1, 93, 6; 9, 14, 4; 11, 43, 10; 14, 87, 2; Prop. 1, 13,
12; 2, 4, 18; Ov. ars 1, 580.

1
2

See Leist in RE 1, s.v. addictus, 352 f.; Kaser, Zivilprozessrecht, pp. 101 f.
See Lamer in RE 12, s.v. lectica, 1056 ff.; on the lecticarii, ibid. 1095 ff.

66

13. I nunc et: the formula i nunc (et) followed by a second imperative is often
used by Martial; cf. epigr. 22, 12; 1, 42, 6; 2, 6, 1 and 17; 8, 63, 3; 11, 33, 3.
Further instances lack nunc, having only the imperative i followed by a second
imperative or by a hortative subjunctive, such as 1, 3, 12 I, fuge; sed poteras tutior esse domi; 4, 10, 3; 5, 82, 4; 7, 2, 7; 7, 89, 1; 10, 12, 7; 10, 20, 4; 10, 96, 13.
Originally a colloquialism,1 almost with the force of an interjection, it appears in
higher poetry for the first time in Verg. Aen. 7, 425 i nunc, ingratis offer te, inrise, periclis, emphasizing the imperative offer. In Aen. 4, 381, Didos words
clearly show the irony and indignation which were to make the construction so
popular with later satirists: i, sequere Italiam ventis, pete regna per undas. Thus,
the Aeneid already displays the two prevalent notions of the construction, the
emphasizing and the ironical/indignant, the latter being the commoner in Martial
(as in Juvenal, see 6, 103; 10, 310; 12, 57).2
miseros: miser in the sense of turpis, pravus; cf. 2, 83, 1 Foedasti miserum,
marite, moechum; TLL, s.v. 1104, 74 ff.
, literally a sodomite. Martial alludes to the galli, cascinaedos: Gr.
trated priests serving in the cult of Cybele, brought to Rome from Asia Minor,
where eunuch priests were an ancient phenomenon.3 In Rome, however, eunuchs
were very ill reputed,4 and the priests of Cybele were often derided, called cinaedi
and depicted as addicted to unnatural vices. They are ridiculed by Martial in quite
a number of passages, airing his contempt for them (e.g. 3, 81 Quid cum femineo
tibi, Baetice Galle, barathro? | Haec debet medios lambere lingua viros. | Abscisa est quare Samia tibi mentula testa, | si tibi tam gratus, Baetice, cunnus
erat? | Castrandum caput est: nam sis licet inguine Gallus, | sacra tamen Cybeles
decipis: ore vir es; 11, 72 Drauci Natta sui vocat pipinnam, | collatus cui Gallus
est Priapus).5 As Kay points out (on 11, 72, 2), the Galli had presumably been rid
not only of their testicles but also of their penises, since this seems necessary to
make the comparison effective in 11, 72, 2. Among the instances produced by
Kay in support of this view is the present epigram,6 and indeed it seems vital to
the point of this epigram that such was the case.
NdQDLGRM

14. haec erat, haec: cf. Verg. Aen. 12, 259 hoc erat, hoc votis inquit quod
saepe petivi; Ov. met. 11, 694; Stat. Theb. 10, 812. As in the impersonal expres-

And thus frequent in Plautus and Terence; see Hofmann, p. 189.

See E. B. Lease, I nunc and i with another imperative, AJPh 19 (1898), pp. 5969, listing the
occurrences in a large number of authors; note, however, the misprint on p. 66 l. 2 concerning Martial,
which reads IX 21, 3 instead of IX 2, 13. Lease is also mistaken in listing 10, 104, 3 as an instance of i with
et, since that verse does not contain an imperative at all; perhaps he means 10, 104, 1 I nostro comes, i,
libelle, Flavo, which, however, would be equally erroneous, since that i is a real exhortation to the book to
go. See also Citroni on 1, 42, 6.
3
Latte, pp. 259 f.; Cumont in RE 7, s.v. Gallos 5, 674 ff.; Sanders in RAC 8, s.v. Gallos 984 ff.
4
Hug in RE Suppl. 3, s.v. Eunuchen 453 f.
5
Cf. also 1, 35, 15; 2, 45; 3, 24, 13; 3, 91; 5, 41, 3; 7, 95, 15; 9, 20, 8; and 13, 63 and 64, in which capons
are compared to Galli.
6
The others being Catull. 63, 5 f., Hor. sat. 1, 2, 45, and Mart. 2, 45. He also points to Hopfer, Das
Sexualleben der Griechen und Rmer, Prague 1938, pp. 421 f.
2

67

sions aequum, melius, satius erat, the indicative is due to the fact that the reality
of the opinion, however subjective, is stressed.1
cultris: culter with special reference to the cult of Cybele also in 3, 24, 8; 11,
84, 3; Prop. 2, 22, 15; Iuv. 2, 116; cf. 2, 45, 2; 3, 24, 10; 3, 47, 2; 3, 91, 8; Stat.
Theb. 10, 171; 12, 227. The Galli mostly performed the castration with a piece of
Samian pottery (which, according to Plin. nat. 35, 165, was the only way to perform it without other effects than those desired; cf. 3, 81, 3 quoted above; Iuv. 6,
514) or with a sharp stone (Catull. 63, 5; Ov. fast. 4, 237 [with Bmer]; Sanders,
op. cit. 1004).

3
Quantum iam superis, Caesar, caeloque dedisti
si repetas et si creditor esse velis,
grandis in aetherio licet auctio fiat Olympo
coganturque dei vendere quidquid habent,
conturbabit Atlans, et non erit uncia tota,
5
decidat tecum qua pater ipse deum:
pro Capitolinis quid enim tibi solvere templis,
quid pro Tarpeiae frondis honore potest?
Quid pro culminibus geminis matrona Tonantis?
Pallada praetereo: res agit illa tuas.
10
Quid loquar Alciden Phoebumque piosque Laconas?
Addita quid Latio Flavia templa polo?
Expectes et sustineas, Auguste, necesse est:
Nam tibi quod solvat non habet arca Iovis.
This epigram celebrates Domitians achievements as builder and restorer of temples but does so in a humorous way, depicting the gods, and especially Jupiter, as
being in debt to Domitian, a debt so large that it would be quite impossible for
them to settle it, even if they were to sell everything they own (lines 1-6). For a
similar humorous treatment of Domitians relation to the Olympic gods (and to
Jupiter in particular), compare 9, 34 and 9, 36 and see the introduction, pp. 30 ff.
It is noteworthy that Martial leaves Minerva out of the list of debtors. In the same
way, she does not appear among the gods mentioned in 9, 34. These omissions
indicate that there was in fact a limit to what a poet could allow himself in this
respect; the tutelary goddess of Domitian was no joking matter.
In lines 7-12, Martial lists almost every god whom Domitian had credited with
a temple. First, he refers to Jupiter and his temples on the Capitol, i.e. the great
temple of Iuppiter Optimus Maximus, the restoration of which also made Juno and
Minerva indebted to Domitian, the temple of Iuppiter Custos and perhaps also
that of Iuppiter Tonans; Jupiter also owes the emperor for the Capitoline games,
1

Hofmann-Szantyr, 183 b, p. 327.

68

the agon Capitolinus. Next comes Juno, who is in debt for also another temple,
apart from that to Iuppiter Optimus Maximus, presumably for a restoration of the
temple of Iuno Moneta on the Arx. The second goddess of the Capitoline Triad,
Minerva, would likewise be indebted for the temple to Iuppiter Optimus Maximus
and for a couple of other temples as well, but is passed over as being Domitians
patron deity. After a short reference to the temple of Hercules on the Appian Way,
that of Apollo on the Palatine and the temple of the Dioscuri on the Forum Romanum, Martial adds also the Templum gentis Flaviae to his list, which in fact
implies that he makes also Domitians father, brother and niece indebted to the
emperor, but it also means that he equates the gods created by Domitian with the
traditional gods. For Domitian as builder and restorer of temples, see also note on
9, 101, 21.
1. caeloque dedisti: for the prosody, cf. Ov. trist. 5, 2, 55; Stat. Theb. 12, 576;
silv. 1, 2, 66; 1, 4, 24; 3, 5, 30; 4, 2, 63; 5, 3, 213; Iuv. 14, 70. The word preceding the enclitic que in this phrase is usually disyllabic (exceptions in Statius
Thebais and Juvenal).
2. esse velis: frequent at the end of the pentameter, cf. 1, 8, 2; 2, 5, 2; 2, 64, 2; 13,
2, 6; Prop. 2, 17, 10; 2, 28, 48; 3, 8, 28; Tib. 3, 20, 2; Ov. am. 3, 14, 40; epist. 3,
74; 13, 96; 16, 82; rem. 274; 750; fast. 4, 226; trist. 5, 12, 42; 5, 14, 8; Pont. 1, 2,
6; 1, 2, 34; 3, 3, 108; 3, 6, 38; 4, 3, 2; Priap. 82, 4.
3. aetherio Olympo: a Vergilian expression, appearing four times in the
Aeneid (6, 579; 8, 319; 10, 620; 11, 867), but lacking in Hor., Ov., Sil., Val. Fl.,
Stat., etc. Apart from the obvious meaning of sky-high (as in Sil. 3, 480 f. montis | aetherii), there is also a notion of divine; cf. 3, 6, 3 aetherios ortus; 4, 8, 9
aetherio ... nectare; 9, 35, 10; 9, 36, 7; 13, 4, 1 Serus ut aetheriae Germanicus
imperet aulae.
5. conturbabit: go bankrupt. Absolute also in, for example, Petron. 38, 16 cum
timeret ne creditores illum conturbare existimarent; Iuv. 7, 129; TLL, s.v. 808, 6.
Atlans: metonymy for heaven as the abode of the gods,1 i.e. the Heaven would
go bankrupt, but certainly also with a notion of the myth according to which Mt.
Atlas in north-western Africa was formed when Perseus, with the head of Medusa,
turned the enormously rich king Atlas into stone.2 The notion of the wealthy king
thus improves the effect of conturbabit.
non uncia tota: not even a whole uncia, an extremely small amount of
money (uncia = 1/12 as). For non totus in the sense of not even a whole, see
note on 9, 2, 7.
1

Mt. Atlas was regarded as supporting the heaven and the stars; according to Herodotus, it was called
, the pillar of heaven (4, 184). For other metonymies in Martial involving names of gods,
see Friedlnder on epigr. 12, 1 Caesareae Dianae.
2
See Furtwngler in Roscher, s.v. Atlas 707, 34 ff. The story is told by Ovid in met. 4, 621-662 (influenced
by Verg. Aen. 4, 246 ff.; see Bmer ad. loc.); cf. Lucan. 9, 654 ff.
NdRQD RUDQR

69

6. pater ipse deum: Ciris 269 (with different position in the verse).
7. Capitolinis templis: Domitian concerned himself with at least two, perhaps
three, temples of Jupiter on the Capitol.1 He had restored the great temple of Iuppiter Optimus Maximus (cf. Plut. Vit. Publicol. 15, 3),2 which burnt down for the
third time in 80,3 a work which was begun the same year and completed probably
in 82, when the dedication seems to have taken place. This temple greatly surpassed the earlier in magnificence, having columns of Pentelic marble, doors
plated with gold and a roof with gilt tiles.4 On the Capitol, Domitian had also
erected a temple to Iuppiter Custos.5 Built during the reign of Vespasian as a
sacellum to Iuppiter Conservator (the saviour), on the site of the porters house
in which he had hidden from Vitellius and his supporters in 69 (cf. note on 9, 101
13), Domitian enlarged it upon his accession into a proper temple to Iuppiter
Custos (the preserver; Tac. hist. 3, 74). It has been argued that the temple of
Iuppiter Tonans on the Capitol also suffered in the fire of 806 and that Domitian
restored it, but this is uncertain.7 For other references in Martial to Domitian and
his concern for the temples of Jupiter, see 6, 10, 2; 13, 74; cf. Sil. 3, 622 ff.; Stat.
silv. 1, 6, 102; 4, 3, 160 f.
8. Tarpeiae frondis honore: a wreath of oak-leaves8 was awarded the winner at
the Capitoline games, the agon Capitolinus (or Capitolia, Gr.
), a
Roman counterpart to the Olympic games.9 Instituted by Domitian in 86,10 in honour of Iuppiter Capitolinus, the agon was held during the summer every fourth
year and is described by Suetonius as triplex, i.e. contests were held in each of the
events usually found at Greek
: music (with Greek and Latin poetry),
horse-racing and athletics (Suet. Dom. 4, 4).11 Domitian himself acted as judge,
assisted by the flamen dialis and the Flavian college of priests, the sodales Flaviales. The emperor wore a Greek garment and sandals, and on his head rested a
golden crown with pictures of the Capitoline Triad, Jupiter, Juno and Minerva;
the priests were dressed in the same way, except for the crown, which in their case
NDSLWOHLD

JQHM

Cf. Suet. Dom. 5, 1 Plurima et amplissima opera incendio absumpta restituit, in quis et Capitolium,
quod rursus arserat; sed omnia sub titulo tantum suo ac sine ulla pristini auctoris memoria. Novam
autem excitavit aedem in Capitolio Custodi Iovi.
2
Plut. Vit. Publicol. 15, 3:
(The fourth temple ... was both completed and consecrated by Domitian; transl. by B. Perrins, Loeb).
3
The temple had previously burned down in 83 BC and during the civil war of 69; cf. Jones, Domitian, p.
92.
4
Platner & Ashby, pp. 300 f.; Jones, loc. cit..
5
Platner & Ashby, p. 292, Jones, Domitian, p. 88.
6
Dio Cass. 66, 24; the temple of Iuppiter Capitolinus with the surrounding temples was burned down
completely in this fire.
7
The suggestion is based on the interpretation of one of the temples shown in the Haterii Relief as the
temple of Iuppiter Tonans; see Blake, Construction, pp. 101 f.; Jones, Domitian, p. 92.
8
The sacred tree of Jupiter; see Olck in RE 5, s.v. Eiche 2051 f. For the epithet Tarpeius, see note on 9, 1,
5.
9
Cf. Cens. 18, 4 quare agon et in Elide Iovi Olympio et Romae Capitolino quinto quoque anno redeunte
celebratur.
10
Cens. 18, 15 duodecimo eius et Servi Corneli Dolabellae consulatu.
11
Subsequently, more events were added; see Wissowa in Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 4, pp. 276 ff.
C2

70

G|

WyWDUWRM

RWRM

'RPHWLDQR

NDg

VXQHWHOyVTK

NDg

NDTLHUTK

also carried the picture of Domitian. For the musical and poetical contests,
Domitian built the Odeum on the Campus Martius, an impressive construction
with a capacity of about 5,000 spectators, which in the fourth century was still
considered one of the most conspicuous monuments in Rome.1 Just north of the
Odeum was erected the Stadium (the modern Piazza Navona), meant for the athletic contests and holding a good 15,000 people; like the Odeum, it was in later
times still looked upon as one of Romes most excellent buildings.2 The agon
Capitolinus was probably still in existence in the fourth century, since Ausonius
almost certainly alludes to the contests in 4, 5, 5 ff. Prete Tu paene ab ipsis orsus
incunabilis Dei poeta nobilis, sertum coronae praeferens Olympiae puer celebrasti Iovem.3
The oak-wreath is commemorated by Martial also in 4, 1, 6; 4, 54, 1; 9, 23, 5;
9, 35, 10; 9, 40, 1; 11, 9, 1. Much coveted as it was, the oak-wreath of the Capitoline games was won neither by Martial nor by Statius, though at least the latter
participated in the contest.4
9. culminibus geminis: culmen as metonymy for templum,5 but presumably also in
the sense of mountain-top (of the Capitol, e.g., Sil. 3, 510; 6, 102 f.; Suet. Dom.
23, 2). The two temples would then be situated on the two summits of the Capitol;
on one summit, that of Iuppiter Optimus Maximus (above), dedicated also to Juno
and Minerva, and, on the other (the northern summit, the Arx), the temple of Iuno
Moneta. It is likely that also the latter was among those restored by Domitian after
the great fire of 80; even though there is no explicit indication that this was the
case, it is not contradicted by Suetonius vague reference to the Capitolium (Dom.
5, 1, quoted above), nor by Dio Cassius allusion to the temple of Iuppiter Capitolinus with surrounding temples (66, 24).
matrona Tonantis: see note on 9, 1, 7 matrona and cf. Ov. fast. 6, 33 dicor
matrona Tonantis; met. 2, 466 magni matrona Tonantis; Anth. 939, 1 Matronam
magni ... Tonantis. For the ending, cf. also Ov. met. 5, 508; 6, 581.
10. Pallada: apart from the restoration of the temple to Iuppiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitol (in which Minerva was also worshipped as part of the Capitoline Triad), there is some evidence which connects Domitian also with two other
temples of his patron goddess, the templum Minervae and Minerva Chalcidica.
The first is attributed by the Chronographus anni 354 to Domitian and described,
rather oddly, as templum Castorum et Minervae,6 a name which occurs also in the

Amm. 16, 10, 14, tells of Constantius arriving in Rome: quicquid viderat primum, id eminere inter alia
cuncta sperabat: Iovis Tarpei delubra et Pompei theatrum et Odeum et Stadium, aliaque inter haec
decora urbis aeternae; Jones, Domitian, p. 86; Platner & Ashby, p. 371.
2
Amm. loc. cit.; Jones, Domitian, pp. 86 f.; Platner & Ashby, pp. 495 f.
3
See Wissowa in RE 3, s.v. Capitolia 1527 ff.; Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 2, pp. 148 f.
4
Probably in 90, see Hardie, p. 62; van Dam, p. 14, n. 16; cf. Stat. silv. 3, 5, 31 ff.; 5, 3, 231 f.
5
For culmen in the sense of the summit of a building, a roof, cf. 7, 73, 1 f.; TLL, s.v. 1290, 56 ff.
6
Th. Mommsen, Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Chronica minora saec. IV. V. VI. VII, vol. 1, Berlin
1892, p. 146.

71

Curiosum urbis Romae.1 From the latter, it is clear that it was situated in the Forum Romanum, but the identification of the temple is one of the most vexed
problems in the list of the Chronographer.2 Earlier attempts to locate the temple
next to that of Divus Augustus in the Forum or in the Forum Transitorium have
now been rejected on the basis of archaeological investigations; the theory that the
Chronographers reference to the temple by so curious a name was due to the fact
that Domitian had restored the temple of the Dioscuri on the Forum (which apparently he did; see below) and then rededicated it both to the Dioscuri and to
Minerva has not met with any acceptance. Thus, the question is better left open.
To judge from the Chronographers reference, though, it would appear that it was
situated close to the temple of the Dioscuri in the Forum Romanum. The same
Chronographer includes among the buildings erected by Domitian the temple of
Minerva Chalcidica, situated in the Campus Martius. In the Severan Marble Plan,
there is a temple of Minerva next to the Porticus Divorum and apparently linked
to it by a flight of steps, and it seems plausible that Domitian had erected this
temple of Minerva, his patron goddess, near the Porticus, the sanctuary of his
divine father and brother.3
In honour of Minerva, Domitian also instituted the Alban games; see 9, 23 intro.
res agit tuas: minds your affairs. Domitian had chosen Minerva to be his
patron goddess, and, according to Suetonius, he worshipped her with a superstitious reverence (Dom. 15, 3; cf. Dio Cass. 67, 1, 2). In 8, 1, 4, Martial mentions
her as Pallas Caesariana, and Quintilian, speaking of Domitians poetical abilities, refers to the goddess as Domitians familiare numen (inst. 10, 1, 91); compare also Stat. silv. 1, 1, 5 f. and 4, 1, 2. It appears that Domitian even claimed to
be her son, for, according to Philostratus (vita Apoll. 7, 24), he had a man persecuted because he, in the prayers at a public sacrifice in Tarentum, had omitted to
mention that Domitian was the son of Minerva. In his bedroom in the Palatina
domus he kept a statue of the goddess (Dio Cass. 67, 16, 1) and, before his assasination, he dreamt that she departed from her shrine and declared that she could
no longer protect him, because she had been disarmed by Jupiter (Suet. loc. cit.);
in Dios version of the dream, Minerva had thrown away her weapons and
plunged into an abyss, mounted on a chariot drawn by black horses (Dio Cass.
loc. cit.).
Domitians choice of Minerva was perhaps inspired by the goddess warning to
Augustus on the eve of Philippi, by which the future emperor escaped a certain
death (see note on 9, 34, 5 Phoebum); he may also have chosen this particular
goddess because she, as the patron of the arts, naturally suggested herself as the
patron deity of a self-practising poet like Domitian (see Sauter, pp. 91 f.). It has
1
There is no mention of the temple in the somewhat earlier Notitia regionum urbis XIV, which only knows
of a templum Castorum; see H. Jordan, Topographie der Stadt Rom im Althertum, vol. 2, Berlin 1871, p.
553.
2
J. C. Anderson, Jr., A Topographical Tradition in Fourth Century Chronicles: Domitians Building
Program, Historia 32 (1983), pp. 93105 (pp. 100 f.), which is also the best summary of the problem; cf.
Jones, Domitian, p. 91; Platner & Ashby, pp. 342 f.
3
Anderson, op. cit., p. 97; Platner & Ashby, p. 344; Jones, Domitian, p. 88.

72

been suggested, as a deeper cause for his intimate relation to Minerva, that this to
a certain extent may have compensated for the loss of his mother Flavia Domitilla,
who died when Domitian was still quite young (probably before 66; see Southern,
pp. 9 f.).
Domitian was clearly very serious about his devotion to Minerva, which is the
reason why Martial leaves her out when joking with the gods; see the introduction
above and cf. 9, 34 intro.
The phrase res agere may also have a legal sense (look after ones legal business); both senses are to be found in 5, 61, 7 and 13 f., see Howell ad. locc.
11. quid loquar: a common form of rhetorical praeteritio, very frequent in Cicero
but found also in poetry; cf. 8, 55, 21; Verg. ecl. 6, 74; Ov. trist. 2, 399; Manil. 2,
596; TLL, s.v. 1672, 68. Cf. also Verg. Aen. 6, 123 Quid memorem Alciden,
which occurs immediately after Aeneas words about the Dioscuri quoted below.
Alciden: Domitian built a temple to Hercules on the Appian Way; see 9, 64 intro.; 9, 65; 9, 101.
Phoebum: Martial may be alluding to the temple of Apollo on the Palatine
hill, in which there are traces of a restoration perhaps undertaken by Domitian;1
cf. note on 9, 42, 5 Palatia.
piosque Laconas: the reference here is to Domitians restoration of the temple
of Castor and Pollux in the Forum Romanum, a restoration for which the sole
evidence is that of the Chronographus anni 354, which mentions it as templum
Castorum et Minervae (see above on line 10 Pallada).2
Martial refers to Castor and Pollux by the adjective Lacones, the Spartans,
as they were the sons of the Spartan Leda, also in epigr. 26, 5 and 1, 36, 2. They
are called pii because of their proverbial brotherly love (cf., e.g., Ov. trist. 4, 5, 30
pius affectu Castora frater amat), and their pietas is manifested most clearly in
the myth. Castor, son of Tyndareus and mortal, has been killed by Idas, and Pollux, the immortal son of Zeus, is allowed by his father to choose between a life
among the gods and sharing life and death with his brother and living half his life
in heaven and half in the underworld. Pollux chooses without hesitation the latter
alternative.3 In Verg. Aen. 6, 121 f., Aeneas, himself the model of pietas (Verg.
Aen. 1, 220 et passim), mentions Pollux sacrifice for his brother: si fratrem Pollux alterna morte redemit | itque reditque viam totiens. Martial alludes to this
myth in two epigrams on the brothers Domitius Tullus and Domitius Lucanus,
whose brotherly pietas is praised in 5, 28, 3 and 9, 51.
12. Addita ... Latio polo: given to the Latin gods, i.e. to the deified Flavians. The expression is unparalleled, but cf. 9, 34, 2 Augusti Flavia templa poli.

Blake, Construction, p. 118; cf. Platner & Ashby, p. 18.

Platner & Ashby, pp. 102 ff.
3
See, for example, Bethe in RE 5, s.v. Dioskuren 1115.
2

73

The context requires polus not to be understood as the usual metonymy for the
abode of the gods (like, e.g., 5, 65, 1), but as metonymy for those abiding there.
Flavia templa: the templum gentis Flaviae; see 9, 1 intro.
13. sustineas: this absolute use of sustinere, unparalleled, is due to an ellipse of a
word meaning something like the circumstances, i.e. you must put up with the
situation as it is.1
14. quod: against the reading of the MSS, Shackleton Bailey has adopted Duffs
conjecture quo, supported also by Housman, Heraeus, p. 201 (= Class. pap., p.
1102). However, this conjecture seems unnecessary, as solvo frequently has the
accusative in the sense of to give something in payment (e.g., Cic. Verr. II 3,
165 permultis civitatibus pro frumento nihil solvit omnino; cf. OLD, s.v. solvo 19
b). If solvo is taken as meaning simply give in payment, instead of settle the
debt (with something), in which case the ablative would be necessary, the transmitted text may be accepted as correct.

4
Aureolis futui cum possit Galla duobus
et plus quam futui, si totidem addideris:
aureolos a te cur accipit, Aeschyle, denos?
Non fellat tanti Galla. Quid ergo? Tacet.
The contents of this epigram are slightly reminiscent of AP 5, 126 (Philodemus):
3yQWH

GdGZVLQ

wQM

GHjQD

GHjQD

WODQWD

NDg

ELQHj

IUdVVZQ

NDd

WQ RG| NDOQ _ SyQWH G

xJ GUDFPM WQ GGHND /XVLDQVV9 _ NDg ELQ
SUM W NUHdVVRQD NDg IDQHUM _ SQWZM WRL xJ IUyQDM RN {FZ W JH
ORLSQ _ WRM NHdQRX SHOyNHL GHj GLGPRXM IHOHjQ

.2

1. aureolis duobus: for the ablative of price denoting the price for sexual services, cf. 7, 10, 3 centenis futuit Matho milibus; 10, 29, 6 muneribus futuis ... meis;
CIL 4, 2193 Arphocras hic cum Drauca bene futuit denario; for the extended use
of this ablative, see HofmannSzantyr 80 a, p. 129.
The diminutive aureolus appears only in Martial (also 5, 19, 14; 10, 75, 8; 11,
27, 12; 12, 36, 3). Two aureoli, corresponding to 50 denarii or 200 IIS (800
asses), was an almost absurdly high price for a prostitute. In the brothels and inns,
the prostitutes services would cost her client anything from two asses (cf. 2, 53, 7

For the word sustinere in the sense of put up with, endure, cf. OLD, s.v. 7.
So-and-so gives so-and-so five talents for once, and possesses her in fear and trembling, and, by Heaven,
she is not even pretty. I give Lysianassa five drachmas for twelve times, and she is better-looking, and there
is no secret about it. Either I have lost my wits or his testicles ought to be chopped off and removed
hereafter.
2

74

si plebeia Venus gemino tibi vincitur asse),1 to sixteen asses (= 4 IIS; thus, CIL 4,
1751; 2193); the price of one as, mentioned by Martial in 1, 103, 10, is absurdly
low and presumably to be considered abusive (see Howell, ad loc.). Prostitutes
who were not attached to a brothel or an inn were usually more expensive. If
young and beautiful, fairly well educated and of good manners (boni mores are
often emphasized in the advertising graffiti), so as to be able to provide their customers with pleasant company in addition to their sexual favours, the prices were
high.2 If two aureoli were indeed Gallas normal charge, she would belong to the
cream of this category, but perhaps it is more reasonable to consider the two
aureoli a fancy price. Cf. also 2, 63, in which Milichus spends 100,000 IIS on the
purchase of Leda in the Via sacra.
Galla: Martial mentions a Galla in another fifteen epigrams, about half of
which may allude to one and the same person, presumably a concubine, who had
obviously won the poets affection, since he constantly complains that she does
not keep her promises and never gives him that for which he is begging. The
poems, rarely exceeding a single distich, are found in Books 24 (5); cf. 2, 25
numquam, semper promittis, Galla, roganti. | Si semper fallis, iam rogo, Galla,
nega; 3, 51; 3, 54; 3, 90; 4, 38; probably also 5, 84.
The present Galla is, however, one of those who are for the most part clearly
prostitutes; cf. 2, 34; 4, 58; 7, 18, 4; 7, 58; 9, 37; 9, 78 (a poisoner); 10, 75; 10,
95; 11, 19 (with Kays note).
3. Aeschyle: the name is used also in 9, 67 in connection with oral sex.
Friedlnder (p. 21, n. 1) suspected that this name was of particular significance in
these two epigrams, a thought which was elaborated by Killeen (p. 234). Thus, if
the diphthong ae was pronounced as e, aes- would be heard as es (of edo); in the
second half, the h was not pronounced at all, while the y differed little from an u,
giving a pronunciation similar to culus. This would generate esculos, you eat
buttocks.
denos: in the full sense of the word, i. e. ten aureoli each time.
4. Non fellat tanti Galla: Martial, seemingly failing to understand the reason
for the high price, intentionally ruins Aeschylus strategy of silence by noising the
fellatio abroad. For the genitive, cf. 2, 63, 3 Miliche, luxuria est, si tanti dives
amares (HofmannSzantyr, 57, p. 73).
Tacet: Galla is being silent about her doings with Aeschylus, and that is what
she is being paid for. For Martials disgust at oral sex, which was obviously
widely practised in his day,3 see 9, 27 intro.; 63; 67; 92, 11.

The price of two asses for sexual services is often mentioned in Pompeian graffiti (cf. CIL 4, 1969; 3999;
4023; 4150; 4592; 5105; 5372); Duncan-Jones, p. 246, notes that this is no more than the cost of a loaf of
bread, but it is possible that some of the graffiti represent abuse rather than advertisement.
2
Schneider in RE 15, s.v. meretrix 1025; Blmner, Privataltertmer, pp. 367 ff
3
Cf. Sullivan, Martial, p. 189.

75

5 (6)
Tibi, summe Rheni domitor et parens orbis,
pudice princeps, gratias agunt urbes:
populos habebunt; parere iam scelus non est.
Non puer avari sectus arte mangonis
virilitatis damna maeret ereptae,
nec quam superbus conputet stipem leno,
dat prostituto misera mater infanti.
Qui nec cubili fuerat ante te quondam,
pudor esse per te coepit et lupanari.

From very early in his reign, Domitian showed great interest for the moral conduct of his subjects, striving, it seems, to set a limit to the moral decay, taking
measures above all against sexual license and depravity. Apparently, he wanted to
bring Rome back to the moral standards of the Augustan days, not, however, as a
mere display of his absolute power, but because he seems to have been sincerely
concerned to make Rome an empire unblemished instead of a state addicted to
moral corruption.1 To this end he took various legal measures, of which the present epigram mentions three: the edict against castration, a prohibition of the prostitution of children, and the revival of the lex Iulia de adulteriis coercendis. See
further Suet. Dom. 8 and note on 9, 101, 21 mores populis.
Castration was in Martials day obviously practised exclusively on slave boys;
cf. note on line 4 below; 9, 7, 7; and the case of Earinus (9, 11 intro.). Domitian
prohibited it by edict,2 the first reference to which is in 2, 60 (in a context hardly
ingratiating), published in 8687 and providing a terminus ante quem for its
promulgation. As Domitian became censor in the April of 85, and towards the end
of the same year, censor perpetuus, censor for life, it would seem plausible that he
issued the ban on castration by virtue of his censorship; this seems to be the implication also of Stat. silv. 4, 3, 13 ff. fortem vetat (sc. Domitianus) interire sexum |
et censor prohibet mares adultos | pulchrae supplicium timere formae. Against
the dating of the edict to 8587 argue the accounts in two later chronicles, that of
Jeromes Latin translation of the Chronicon of Eusebius (3rd4th century), placing it in the year of Abraham 2096, i.e. between October 81 and September 82,
and that of the 7th century Chronicon Pascale, placing it in 83.3 Garthwaite, who,
following the chronicles, advocates a date in the early eighties, argues that, since
Statius wrote silv. 4, 3 about a decade after the events referred to in lines 13 ff.,
his memory of the edict may not have been the clearest,4 but the combined evidence of Martial and Statius, however vague, would nevertheless be as reliable as
the precise evidence of chronicles written several hundred years later, all the more
so as the chronicles do not agree between themselves. A dating to 8687 is perhaps also suggested by Martials reference to the edict in 9, 7, 7 as having been
1

Jones, Domitian, p. 99.

So Bauman, p. 117 n. 171.
3
R. Helm, Die Chronik des Hieronymus, 2nd ed., Berlin 1956, p. 190; L. Dindorff (ed.), Chronicon
Pascale, vol. 2, Bonn 1832, p. 465; cf. Jones, Domitian, p. 107.
4
Garthwaite, Court Poets, p. 23; cf. id., Censorship, p. 14.
2

76

passed nuper. Suetonius references to the edict are of little value as regards its
dating. The fact that it is mentioned in Dom. 7, 1, among the things which
Domitian in communi rerum usu novavit, and not in Dom. 8, 3, dealing with his
censorial acts, does not exclude the possibility of the edict against castration being
censorial; the account immediately preceding the mention of the edict concerns
the prohibition of actors appearing on stage, which presumably was promulgated
by Domitian as censor.1 The edict is also mentioned by Dio Cassius (67, 2, 3),
Philostratus (Vita Apoll. 6, 42) and Ammianus Marcellinus (18, 4, 5), none of
which mentions is of relevance to the dating. It was renewed by Nerva and
Hadrian and further tightened up by Constantine and Justinian (see Hitzig in RE
3, s.v. Castratio 1772 f.).
Martials next mention of the edict against castration is to be found in Book 6,
which comprises a proper cycle of epigrams on Domitians moral legislation.2
While mainly focusing on his renewal of the Julian law against adultery, the edict
is mentioned once, in 6, 2, a poem of much the same tone as the present. Finally,
the reference in 9, 7, 7 f. is the last mention in Martial of the edict. Apart from 4,
3, 13 ff., quoted above, Statius only mention of the edict appears in silv. 3, 4, 74
ff. (excusing the castration of Earinus).
In lines 6 f., Martial alludes to a prohibition of Domitians against child prostitution, on which see 9, 7 intro. Here, it may be sufficient to note that the prohibition of the prostitution of children was probably the foremost reason for Martial to
take up the subject of Domitians moral legislation in Book 9; since the present
epigram is the first (and, together with 9, 7, the only) one to mention the prohibition, it must have been passed in or shortly before 94.
The poem closes with a reference to the Lex Iulia de adulteriis coercendis.
Passed by Augustus in 18 BC,3 it was renewed by Domitian, probably in 89, since
Martial in 6, 7, 1 ff. states that the renewal took place thirty days ago, at the most:
Iulia lex populis ex quo, Faustine, renata est | atque intrare domos iussa Pudicitia est, | aut minus aut certe non plus tricesima lux est, | et nubit decimo iam
Telesilla viro. As mentioned above, the law against adultery is the subject of a
cycle of epigrams in Book 6, apart from 6, 7, also 2; 22; 45 and 91. To these may
be added 6, 4, which does not explicitly mention the Lex Iulia but concerns
Domitians moral legislation in general; the emperor is addressed as censor
maximus, and Martial claims that Rome, while being indebted to Domitian for his
triumphs, his building activity, his shows and so on, is now even more so, since he
has made her pudica.4 The law against adultery is also mentioned once by Statius
(silv. 5, 2, 102).
1. summe etc.: Domitian is addressed with the epithet summus also in 6, 83, 2
summe ducum (likewise Stat. silv. 3, 3, 155; cf. Sil. 7, 16 [of Fabius]), clearly
modelled on the summe deum (of Jupiter) in Verg. Aen. 11, 785 (also Ov. met. 2,
1

Jones, Domitian, p. 107.

See Garthwaite, Censorship; Grewing, pp. 31 ff.
3
See, for example, The Cambridge Ancient History 10, Cambridge 1934, pp. 443 ff.
4
For Martials cycle in Book 6 on Domitians moral legislation, see Garthwaite, Censorship, arguing that
6, 2 and 4 are probably ironic, since the remaining poems deal with the ways in which people tried to avoid
following the law, thus pointing to the vanity of trying to force morality upon people by legal means.
2

77

280; 13, 599; Sil. 15, 362; Stat. Theb. 11, 210; cf. Lucan. 1, 632 f.), and in 7, 7, 5
Te, summe mundi rector et parens orbis, influenced by Ov. met. 13, 599 summe
deum rector.
Rheni domitor: on Domitians achievements in Germany, see the introduction, pp. 23 ff. The word domitor had been used of victorious commanders since
Cicero (rep. 1, 5 Miltiadem, victorem domitoremque Persarum1), but was not so
used in poetry before Manil. 1, 793 Pompeius ... orbis domitor, then Lucan. 9,
1014 terrarum domitor, Romanae maxime gentis (of Caesar); Octavia 500 gentium domitor (Caesar); Sil. 15, 642 domitor telluris Hibernae (Hannibal). The
instances from poetry are thus few, and Martials applying it to Domitian was
probably suggested by the commoner usage of domitor as an epithet of gods and
major mythological figures; cf. Verg. Aen. 5, 799 domitor maris ... alti (Neptune);
Hor. epist. 1, 2, 19 domitor Troiae (Odysseus), Ov. trist. 2, 1, 397 domitore Chimaerae (Bellerophon); Sen. Herc. f. 619 domitor orbis (Hercules); 903 Lycurgi
domitor et rubri maris (Bacchus); Herc. O. 1989 domitor magne ferarum
(Hercules); Sil. 9, 291 domitor tumidi ... maris (Neptune). A similar development
can be observed concerning invictus (see 9, 1, 10, note). Domitor would perhaps
also have a ring of Fate in it, emanating from the idea of Rome itself and the
Roman soldier as domitor mundi (Plin. nat. 36, 118; Lucan. 7, 250; 8, 553).
parens orbis: cf. 7, 7, 5 quoted above; Stat. silv. 4, 2, 14 f. regnator terrarum
orbisque subacti | magne parens. Parens and pater are applied to the emperor
partly as a paraphrase of the title pater patriae and partly to compare him to Jupiter as parens mundi.2 This may be illustrated by Ov. fast. 2, 127132 (of Augustus): Sancte pater patriae, tibi plebs, tibi curia nomen | hoc dedit, hoc dedimus
nos tibi nomen, eques. | Res tamen ante dedit: sero quoque vera tulisti | nomina,
iam pridem tu pater orbis eras. | Hoc tu per terras, quod in aethere Iuppiter alto,
| nomen habes: hominum tu pater, ille deum.
Apart from the present instance and 7, 7, 5, Martial mentions Domitian as pater/parens also in 9, 7, 6, probably with reference primarily to the emperor as the
earthly Jupiter, here perhaps also, as the context actually suggests, as a father of
the world, to whom the cities owe their populations.
4. avari mangonis: cf. Anth. 1, 109 incertum ex certo sexum fert pube recisa,
| quem tenerum secuit mercis avara manus. The mangones were merchants who
falsified their merchandise or made it look better than it actually was; from Pliny
we know of mangones who dealt in perfumes, wine, and gems.3 There were also
mangones dealing in slaves, for example, Sen. epist. 80, 9, and Quint. inst. 2, 15,
25. Particularly high prices were paid for eunuchs, which was reason enough for
1

Then frequently in prose, cf., for example, Liv. 21, 43, 15 domitor Hispaniae Galliaeque (Hannibal); 38,
53, 1 domitor ille Africae Scipio; 45, 39, 8 L. Paulum ... domitorem Graeciae; Val. Max. 6, 7, 1
domitorem orbis Africanum (Scipio); Mela 2, 34 Philippus Graeciae domitor; Curt. 3, 12, 19 gentium ...
domitores (of Alexanders companions); Sen. contr. 7, 2, 6 Cn. Pompeius terrarum marisque domitor; 9,
1, 6 orientis ... domitor (Alexander); Hygin. grom. p. 141, 12 divus Iulius, vir acerrimus et multarum
gentium domitor.
2
Cf. Sauter, pp. 28 ff.
3
Nat. 12, 98; 23, 40 and 37, 200 respectively.

78

the mangones to produce eunuchs themselves by means of castration1 and for

Domitian both to forbid castration and also to moderate the prices (Suet. Dom. 7,
1).2
sectus: of a castrate, also 5, 41, 3 sectus Gallus.
arte: tricks (TLL, s.v. 658, 46 ff.).
5. virilitatis: of the male genitals, cf. Plin. nat. 7, 36; Bell. Alex. 70 neque interfectis amissam vitam, neque exsectis virilitatem restituere posse; Dig. 48, 8, 4,
2 qui (sc. spadones) virilitatem amiserunt; OLD, s.v. 1 b.
damna: cf. Phaedr. 3, 11, 3 damnum amissi corporis eunuchi.
6. Nec quam superbus etc.: various interpretations have been given of this and
the following line. Housman, dissatisfied with the transmitted text, suggested that
it be altered to nec, quam superbus, conputat, stipem leno | det prostituto, misera
mater, infanti; the mother, says Housman, would reckon how much the child
would earn, which is what Domitian has now forbidden.3 Housmans suggestion,
making the mother a consenting party, was rightly rejected by Shackleton Bailey,4
who explains: Before the new edict, a child, presumably of a slave mother, might
be snatched from the breast and sold to a leno against the mothers will The
mother keeps track of him and gives him money, so that he does not have to beg
for it or be punished by his master for not getting it. This explanation may be
accepted, though with one small correction: Shackleton Baileys suggestion, based
on his interpretation of vagitu posceret in 9, 7, 4 (see note ad loc.), that the children were merely put out to beg, not prostituted in the ordinary sense, seems less
plausible. The mother may keep track of her child and give him money, so that he
will not have to beg for it or be punished for not getting it, but above all so that he
will not have to gain it by means of prostitution in the ordinary sense.
stipem: originally, stips in the cult was an offering of money, a development
of which was the collection of money gifts for religious purposes. In these cases,
the word stips alludes to a small amount of money, and in the same sense it is also
used of the small gifts given to beggars,5 for example, Sen. clem. 2, 6, 2 dabit
egenti stipem; benef. 4, 29, 2. However, this does not support Shackleton Baileys
theory of the child begging in the street (see note on 9, 7, 4 vagitu posceret), since
stips is also used of the payment to a prostitute; cf. Sen. contr. 1, 2, 3 (on a vestal
charged with unchastity) castam te putas quia invita meretrix es? Inpensius
stipem rogasti quam sacerdotium rogas.

Cf. Anth. 1, 108 and 109.

Cf. Hug in RE 14, s.v. mango 1107 and in RE Suppl. 3, s.v. Eunuchen 449 ff.
3
Housman, Corrections, p. 246 (= Class. pap., p. 724).
4
Shackleton Bailey, Corrections, p. 284.
5
Cf. Hug in RE 2:3, s.v. stips 2538 ff.
2

79

8 f. cubili ... lupanari: cubile marriage bed (cf. Iuv. 6, 118); the allusion is to
Domitians reinforcement of the Lex Iulia de adulteriis (see above). For a similar
line of thought in the concluding lines, cf. 9, 7, 910.

6 (7)
Dicere de Libycis reduci tibi gentibus, Afer,
continuis volui quinque diebus Have:
non vacat aut dormit dictum est bis terque reverso.
Iam satis est: non vis, Afer, havere: vale.
Martial wants to pay his salutations to one of his patrons, Afer, who has recently
returned from a voyage to Africa, but is not admitted, even though he keeps trying
for several days. Finally, Martial has had enough and airs his disappointment in
the concluding line, the ambiguity of which is essential to the epigram.1 For Martials criticism of ignorant patrons, see 9, 2 intro.
1. Libycis: most probably simply in the sense of African; in antiquity, Libya
referred to northern Africa in general (see Forcellini, Onomast., s.v.; cf. also 9,
35, 8; 9, 43, 9; 9, 56, 1). For the opening of the line, cf. 2, 56, 1.
Afer: the name appears seven times in Martial (also 4, 37 and 78; 6, 77; 9, 25;
10, 84 and 12, 42), all applied to targets of Martials satirical wit. Perhaps Martial
has chosen it here because of the connection with Africa.
2. continuis quinque diebus: not to be taken literally, but as for several
days; five days was the set phrase for a short period; cf. Iuv. 11, 206 with
Courtneys note; Hor. sat. 1, 3, 16; epist. 1, 7, 1.
Have: the clients formal greeting to his patron at the salutatio; cf. 1, 55, 6
matutinum ... Have; 4, 78, 4; 7, 39, 2; see also note on 9, praef. Have.
3. bis terque: like quinque diebus used of an undetermined amount, i.e. again
and again; cf. 7, 92, 1 f. Si quid opus fuerit, scis me non esse rogandum | uno
bis dicis, Baccara, terque die; 5, 14, 3; 6, 64, 15; in the same place of the hexameter also in Ov. met. 4, 517; Sil. 2, 616; 15, 143; Stat. Ach. 1, 773. Similar
expressions are to be found in 4, 81, 3 semel rogata bisque terque neglexit; 6, 66,
7 et bis terque quaterque basiavit; cf. Brink, Hor. ars, pp. 366 f.; Coleman on
Stat. silv. 4, 2, 58; OLD, s.v. ter 1 b. This is a good example of the vagueness of
the expressions quinque diebus and bis terque, since, taken literally, they do not
match (bis terque would mean not five times, but two and even three times).

As is the case, for example, in 9, 9; 9, 15; 9, 21; see Siedschlag, Form, pp. 87 f.

80

4. Iam satis est: with the same placing as here, Hor. sat. 1, 1, 120; 1, 5, 13; epist.
1, 7, 16; with different meaning also Ov. fast. 2, 844 iam satis est virtus dissimulata diu; cf. Ov. epist. 21, 245; Lucan. 3, 388. Martial has it four times (also 4,
89, 1 and 9; 7, 51, 14), the present being the only one in which it occurs in this
metrical position.
non vis havere: vale: the infinitive havere, formed on have on the analogy
of salve/salvere and vale/valere, is found only in Martial,1 in Quint. inst. 1, 6, 21
and in Char. gramm. p. 333, 11,2 making the poet the only one to use it outside a
context of grammatical analysis. Its basic meaning would have been to be (fare)
well,3 from which emanated the secondary meaning to be greeted; thus, 11,
106, 1 si vacas havere, if you have time to be greeted. Compare also 3, 5, 10
Marcus havere iubet with the common phrase salvere iubeo.4
In the pun here, Martial plays on both meanings of havere, interacting with
the likewise ambiguous vale. This may be taken as an allusion to the threefold
vale presented as a last good bye to the deceased at the funeral,5 as in 5, 66 Saepe
salutatus numquam prior ipse salutas: | sic eris? Aeternum, Pontiliane, vale6
(Catull. 101, 10 atque in perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale). This provides a
pretty contrast: you do not want to be well, Afer: good-bye forever (i.e. die).
But vale could also be used as an insult, cf. Serv. Aen. 11, 97 f. Varro in libris
logistoricis dicit, ideo mortuis salve et vale dici, non quod aut valere aut
salvi esse possunt, sed quod ab his recedimus, eos numquam visuri. Hinc ortum
est ut etiam maledicti significationem interdum vale obtineat, ut Terentius
valeant qui inter nos discidium volunt, hoc est ita a nobis discedant, ut numquam
ad nostrum revertantur aspectum. The quotation from Terence is Andria 696 f.,
on which Eugraphus says valeant est acyrologia (incorrect phraseology), id
est pereant (Eugraph. Ter. Andr. 696); for this sense of vale, cf. also Mart. 6, 78,
5. For the purpose of the present pun, this would be rendered as you do not want
to be greeted: go to hell.

Also 1, 108, 10; 3, 5, 10; 11, 106, 1.

Completely equating it with salve: Sunt quaedam verba in quibus tantum imperativo modo declinamus
in secunda persona singulariter et pluraliter, item infinito modo praesentis tantum temporis. Et haec
sunt duo, ave salve, et declinantur hoc modo: infinitivo modo praesentis temporis avere te volo et vos
et illos. See also Citroni on 1, 108, 10, who, however, takes no account of the occurrence in Quintilian,
probably because his etymology, explaining ave as the imperative of avere, is false (see note on 9, praef.
have).
3
This is the meaning given by LS, s.v. 2. aveo, whereas OLD, s.v. ave, gives the, as it seems, secondary
meaning to be greeted.
4
OLD, s.v. salve1 2.
5
Cf. Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 509.
6
I follow here the punctuation of Housman, Notes, pp. 7071 (= Class. pap., p. 985).
2

81

7 (8)
Tamquam parva foret sexus iniuria nostri
foedandos populo prostituisse mares,
iam cunae lenonis erant, ut ab ubere raptus
sordida vagitu posceret aera puer:
inmatura dabant infandas corpora poenas.
Non tulit Ausonius talia monstra pater,
idem qui teneris nuper succurrit ephebis,
ne faceret steriles saeva libido viros.
Dilexere prius pueri iuvenesque senesque,
at nunc infantes te quoque, Caesar, amant.

10

Like 9, 5, this poem deals with the moral legislation of Domitian, focusing on an
edict (or law) against the prostitution of children, probably passed in or shortly
before 94, as it is not mentioned previous to Martials Book 9; it also mentions the
prohibition of castration (lines 78), on which see the introduction to 9, 5. The
edict against the prostitution of children is completely unattested in any other
author than Martial, who refers to it only here and in 9, 5, save for a possible
reference to it by Statius, who, in connection with the edict against castration, says
nec lege sinistra | ferre timent famulae natorum pondera matres (silv. 3, 4, 76 f.,
unless this also concerns castration). The situation before the prohibition had
obviously become totally precarious; procurers did not refrain from snatching
infants from the very cradle and prostituting them. Allowing for some poetical
exaggeration on Martials part, it is easy to understand that Domitian felt compelled to intervene.
A notable feature of the poem is the strong emphasis on males throughout. The
pattern is set already in the first line, where Martial speaks of the iniuria sexus
nostri, alluding to the prostitution of grown-up men; female prostitution would
not have upset any contemporary Roman.1 The reference only to ephebi in line 7
is quite natural, as the subject there is castration, but it is worth noticing that
Martial in line 3 f. speaks of the prostitution of children only as a contumely
against his own sex, mentioning only the raptus puer. While Domitians prohibition would probably have concerned children in general, it was obviously only the
prostitution of small boys (and not of girls, if it existed at all) which was a big
enough problem to attract notice; cf. also Quint. inst. 7, 1, 55, quoted below on
line 3.
1. iniuria nostri: for the ending, cf. Verg. Aen. 3, 604; Ov. epist. 20, 93; met. 3,
267; trist. 4, 4, 23.

1
Martials disapproval of male prostitution is to be seen in connection with his contempt for male
homosexuality (see Sullivan, Martial, pp. 188 f.). Female prostitution, on the other hand, does not in the
first place necessarily imply any sexual deviations on the part of the male; female prostitutes also had a
natural place in Roman society, Martial himself took advantage of their services, and the brothels played a
part in more or less every young Romans sexual education (see Kays introduction to 11, 45; Sullivan, op.
cit., pp. 168 f.).

82

2. foedandos populo prostituisse: prostitute for the people to desecrate; populo

should be taken with prostituisse; cf. Plaut. Pseud. 179 cras populo prostituam
vos. As in Plautus, the use of populus expresses contempt; the allusion is to the
vilest form of prostitution, like that of the public brothels; cf. also Sen. contr. 1, 2,
12 servavit te leno, quam prostituturus erat in libidinem populi?1
mares: of male prostitutes since Ov. met. 10, 83 f. ille etiam Thracum populis
fuit auctor amorem | in teneros transferre mares (see Bmer ad loc.), then Livy
(39, 15, 9; 39 15, 13), Phaedrus (4, 15, 1), and others; cf. 9, 36, 10 and TLL, s.v.
423, 18 ff.
3. ab ubere raptus: cf. here Verg. Aen. 6, 426 ff., a passage which obviously has
influenced also the following line: Continuo auditae voces vagitus et ingens |
infantumque animae flentes, in limine primo | quos dulcis vitae exsortis et ab
ubere raptos | abstulit atra dies; the reminiscence of Vergils description of the
deceased children in Hades is very effective in this context. The same ending as
here also in Aen. 7, 484; also Ov. fast. 4, 459; cf. Stat. Ach. 1, 858.
Shackleton Bailey comments: ... a child, presumably of a slave mother, might
be snatched from the breast and sold to a leno against the mothers will.2 That
this could befall slave mothers is confirmed by Stat. silv. 3, 4, 76 f. (cited in the
introduction above). Presumably, it did not usually happen among the free; Quint.
inst. 7, 1, 55 mentions such a case (all the more horrible, since it is the father who
sells his own child) as a subject for controversiae, which largely drew their material from the most horrifying and absurd stories: it is often a matter of issue, says
Quintilian, whether or not a son is to be disinherited, who fails to appear in court
for a neglectful father, in such controversies in quibus petuntur in vincula qui
parentis suos non alunt, ut eam quae testimonium in filium peregrinitatis reum
dixit, eum qui filium lenoni vendidit.
4. sordida vagitu posceret aera: crying asked for his sordid pay, the money
being called sordidus because it is given as payment for a sordid service. For aera
poscere of a prostitute who demands her pay, cf. Iuv. 6, 125 excepit blanda intrantis atque aera poposcit. Shackleton Bailey, however, takes the words vagitu
posceret as an indication that the children were merely put out to beg, not prostituted in the ordinary sense,3 thus, it seems, understanding aera as synonymous
with stips in the sense of alms. But whereas there seems to be no reason for the
alms of an unsuspecting giver to be called sordida, it is a fitting description of the
money given to the prostituted child by his client after the act. Shackleton Baileys
explanation is further contradicted by the infandas poenas of the following
line.
5. infandas poenas: cf. Val. Fl. 2, 173, where infanda foedera = paelicatum;
Sen. Phaedr. 115 ff. infando malo | correpta pecoris efferum saevi ducem | audax
1
TLL, s.v. foedo 997, 78 f., erroneously explains foedandos as castrandos, whereas the correct
explanation (de scortis masculis) is given s.v. mas 423, 18.
2
Shackleton Bailey, Corrections, p. 284.
3
Ibid.

83

amasti; Ps. Quint. decl. 3, 9 infando nexui; further instances in TLL, s.v. infandus
1345, 27 ff. The phrase leaves little doubt that children were prostituted in the full
sense of the word and thus refutes Shackleton Baileys suggested explanation
mentioned in the preceding line.
6. Ausonius pater: cf. Stat. silv. 4, 8, 20 Ausoniae pater augustissimus urbis.
For Domitian as pater, see note on 9, 5, 1 parens orbis. The present expression is
probably meant to parallel aetherius pater as an epithet of Jupiter (cf. 9, 35, 10;
36, 7; Stat. Theb. 11, 207; silv. 3, 1, 108; 186) in the same way as Palatinus Tonans parallels Tarpeius Tonans in 9, 86, 7 (see note ad loc.).
The adjective Ausonius is used by the Latin poets, on the pattern of Hellenistic
writers (e.g. Apoll. Rhod. 4, 553
=
), as synonymous with Italicus.1 Martial has the adjective sixteen times
(whereof five in the present book), apart from this occurrence, yet three times with
direct reference to Domitian and his court; thus 8, 21, 10 Ausonius dux (of
Domitian also Stat. silv. 4, 4, 96; used of Tiberius by Ovid in trist 2, 171; of
Scipio in Sil. 17, 619; cf. Verg. Aen. 10, 267); 9, 36, 1 Ausonius minister (of
Earinus); 12, 5, 3 Ausonia aula (of the imperial palace).
PId

WH

JDjDQ

$VRQdKQ

PId

WH

JDjDQ

,WDOQ

monstra: of sexual perversions, like Ov. met. 9, 735 ff. ne non tamen omnia
Crete | monstra ferat, taurum dilexit filia Solis, | femina nempe marem; TLL, s.v.
1435, 30 ff.
7. nuper: the line refers to Domitians edict against castration, issued presumably
in the mid-eighties (see 9, 5 intro.). If any conclusions can be drawn from the
vague nuper concerning the uncertain dating of the edict, it would be placed in
8587 rather than in 8183.
teneris ephebis: the same juncture also Stat. Theb. 1, 423. As in 7, 80, 9
Mitylenaei roseus mangonis ephebus, the Greek word indicates that slave-boys are
meant (see 9, 5 intro.; cf. TLL, s.v. ephebus 655, 1 ff.). Note also the parallel
position to steriles viros in the following line.
8. saeva libido: with an obvious implication of disgust; cf. Cic. Phil. 2, 45 puer
emptus libidinis causa; 13, 45 eius pueritia pertulerat libidines eorum, here emphasized by saevus with reference to the mutilation implied.
9. iuvenesque senesque: with this position in the metre also 1, 3, 5; 7, 71, 5 (7,
35, 5 immediately following the penthemimeresis); cf. Verg. Aen. 9, 309; Ov.
met. 7, 612; 8, 526; 12, 464; 15, 210; Epiced. Drusi 203; Lucan. 7, 37; Stat. Theb.
5, 149. For a similar line of thought, cf. 9, 5, 89.

Ausones was the Greek term (

) for the Aurunci, a tribe living in southern Latium (Dion. Hal. 1,
22, 3); see TLL, s.v. 1537, 32 ff.; Hlsen in RE 2, s.v. 2561; Bmer on Ov. fast. 1, 55.

84

$VRQHM

8 (9)
Nil tibi legavit Fabius, Bithynice, cui tu
annua, si memini, milia sena dabas.
Plus nulli dedit ille: queri, Bithynice, noli:
annua legavit milia sena tibi.
Legacy-hunting, captatio,1 was a favourite target of the satirists from Horace
onwards; Martial deals with it also in 1, 10; 2, 32, 6; 2, 40; 4, 56; 5, 39; 8, 27; 9,
48 (in which Martial himself acts as captator); 9, 88 (where he is the victim); 11,
44; 11, 55; 11, 83; 12, 40; 12, 90. The legacy-hunters (captatores or heredipetae;
cf. 9, 14, intro.) tried to make their way into the wills of, above all, the childless
rich by means of excessive obsequiousness and extraordinary generosity;2 cf. Sen.
benef. 4, 20, 3: faciat licet omnia, quae facere bonus amicus et memor officii
debet: si animo eius obversatur spes lucri, captator est et hamum iacit (for the
metaphor of the hook, cf. Mart. 4, 56, 5). The practice was widely spread; in
Petron. 116, 6, a farm-bailiff in the city of Croton complains that quoscumque
homines in hac urbe videritis, scitote in duas partes esse divisos. Nam aut captantur aut captant. Notable is a passage from Tacitus (ann. 13, 52), as it gives an
idea of the proportions which captatio could take on. Two proconsulars of the
province of Africa, Sulpicius Camerinus and Pompeius Silvanus, stood accused of
misconduct in their office but were acquitted by Nero: Camerinum (sc. absolvit
Caesar) adversus privatos et paucos, saevitiae magis quam captarum pecuniarum
crimina obicientis: Silvanum magna vis accusatorum circumsteterat poscebatque
tempus evocandorum testium; reus ilico defendi postulabat, valuitque pecuniosa
orbitate et senecta quam ultra vitam eorum produxit quorum ambitu evaserat.3
Eventually, the senate felt compelled to intervene: Captatorias institutiones non
eas senatus improbavit, quae mutuis affectionibus iudicia provocaverunt, sed
quarum condicio confertur ad secretum alienae voluntatis (Dig. 28, 5, 71).
However, among the targets of the captatores were also those who, like Fabius, took advantage of the eagerness of the legacy-hunters, encouraging their
gifts and attendance while having no intention of inserting them in their wills; cf.
2, 40; 5, 39; 9, 48; 12, 40. By Book 12, this has given Martial a certain wisdom:
Heredem tibi me, Catulle, dicis. | Non credam, nisi legero, Catulle (12, 73). Pliny
(epist. 2, 20) presents the captator par excellence, a certain Regulus, who had
tried to trap in turn Veronia, the widow of Piso, Velleius Blaesus, a rich consular,
1
On the captatio as a whole and its origin, see Rudd, pp. 224 ff.; V. A. Tracy, Aut Captantur and
Captant, Latomus 39 (1980), pp. 399402; Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 1, pp. 246 ff. Cf. Citroni and
Howell on 1, 10 and Kay on 11, 44.
2
The victims of the captatores were not necessarily the childless. The legacy-hunter could also pick a man
who had a son and try to be appointed second heir, a position which could be equally profitable should
anything happen to the son (see Rudd., p. 226). Also old and rich widows were attended by captatores; cf.,
e.g., 1, 10; 4, 56, 9, 100 and AP 11, 65. For advice to the would-be captator, see Hor sat. 2, 5. Suitable
gifts to the victims were, apart from money, for example, old and precious wines (Mart. 2, 40), cakes
flavoured with honey from Hybla (5, 39), a boar (9, 48), turtle-doves and the barbel of a mullet (Iuv. 6,
38), quails (Iuv. 12, 97) or sweet fruits (Hor. sat. 2, 5, 12).
3
Cf. here Hor. sat. 2, 5, 2831 Magna minorve foro si res certabitur olim, | vivet uter locuples sine
gnatis, inprobus, ultro | qui meliorem audax vocet in ius, illius esto | defensor; fama civem causaque
priorem | sperne, domi si gnatus erit fecundave coniux.

85

and the distinguished lady Aurelia. From Blaesus, though, he got ne tantulum
quidem. In epist. 8, 18, Pliny tells of the enormously wealthy Cn. Domitius Tullus,1 who, in spite of having encouraged legacy-hunters (cum se captandum praebuisset), nevertheless left his money to his adopted daughter, which gave rise to
varii tota civitate sermones; to leave someone who had paid you attention completely disinherited was certainly taken as an injury, even in the case of captatores.2
In the present epigram, Bithynicus has bestowed an annual gift of 6.000 IIS on
Fabius, and still he gets nothing in return. Martial tries to comfort him: Fabius did
not bequeath a larger amount on anyone. Obviously, Bithynicus has made a misjudgement: Fabius has simply run through his money and probably had no intention of ever leaving anything to anyone; there is a similar situation in 7, 66 (see
note on Fabius below). Nevertheless, Bithynicus will save 6.000 IIS each year, no
longer having to give it to Fabius, and thus has got off rather well.
1. Nil tibi ... Bithynice: note the parallel alteration of nil tibi to plus nulli in l. 3,
the repetition of the vocative Bithynice following the hephthemimeresis,3 and also
the almost identical pentameters (annua
| milia sena
. For the name
Bithynicus as a pseudonym in an unflattering context, see also 2, 26, 3; 6, 50, 5;
12, 78, 1.

 

Fabius: cf. 7, 66, in which the captator Labienus complains about his legacy
being too small, although Fabius has made him sole heir. Another Fabius, in 8,
43, uses up his wives in a suspicious way.
2. si memini: in dactylic verse, either at the beginning of the line (1, 19, 1; Hor.
sat. 2, 8, 21; Prop. 2, 1, 49) or, as here, immediately before the penthemimeresis
of the hexameter or the diaeresis of the pentameter. All three occurrences in Ovid
occupy this position (am. 3, 1, 33; fast. 3, 248; 5, 646).

9 (10)
Cenes, Canthare, cum foris libenter,
clamas et maledicis et minaris.
Deponas animos truces, monemus:
liber non potes et gulosus esse.
Anyone who wants to be invited to his patrons table has to adapt himself to his
demands. There is no room for socializing on equal terms, and certainly none for
independence; one cannot behave as if among equals, nor indulge in food and
drink. An occasional invitation to dine with his patron was among the few bene1

Cf. 9, 51; also 1, 36; 3, 20, 17; 5, 28, 3.

Cf. Rudd, p. 226.
According to Schneider, pp. 56 ff., this is the usual position of vocatives corresponding to Ionici a maiore
in Martial.

2
3

86

fits of the clientship (cf. 9, 85), and apparently one much appreciated; when Martial in 2, 53 tries to convince Maximus that being independent is not worthwhile
for the likes of him, the dinner out is his principal argument: Liber eris, cenare
foris si, Maxime, nolis, | Veientana tuam si domat uva sitim, | si ridere potes
miseri chrysendeta Cinnae (2, 53, 3 f.). This hope of a free dinner was shared, as
he reluctantly admits, also by Martial himself; cf. 2, 18; 11, 24 (with Kays introduction). From Iuv. sat. 5, it appears that the clients, if invited at all (Iuv. sat. 1,
132 ff.), were not always met with kind treatment nor provided with good food; cf.
also Mart. 3, 60, Plin. epist. 2, 6.
The epigrams on clients and their hopes of dinners are to be distinguished
from those on professional dinner-hunters, cenipetae, on whom see 9, 14 intro.
1. f. Cenes, Canthare ... minaris: Adamik suggested the the alliteration (Cenes,
Canthare, cum foris libenter, | clamas et maledicis et minaris) would serve to
illustrate das stndige Murren des hochtnenden Kritikers.1
Canthare: the name occurs also in 11, 45, 8, but nowhere else in Latin litera,a
ture,2 although fairly common in Greek.3 It is derived from the Greek
kind of a drinking-vessel with a long stem and ears,4 and the name may in this
case be translated as Drunkard.5 Furthermore, the cantharus was the characteristic cup of Bacchus or Liber, and the god is associated with such a vessel in art
(CIL 11, 3586) as well as in literature; cf. Plin. nat. 33, 150; Macr. Sat. 5, 21, 16
scyphus Herculis poculum est, ita ut Liberi patris cantharus. Obviously, there is a
play on the name Cantharus and the word liber (Liber) in l. 4 (see below).
NQTDURM

2. clamas etc.: Cantharus behaviour is explained by the fact that he is drunk;

apparently, he is unable to hold his liquor. Such a guest was a nightmare to the
host Nasidienus in Hor. sat. 2, 8, who turned pale when he noticed that one of his
guests, Vibidius, called for larger cups, fearing nothing as much as heavy drinkers, vel quod male dicunt liberius, vel | fervida quod subtile exsurdant vina palatum (sat. 2, 8, 37 f.).
3. animos truces: your harsh ways, animus in this sense usually in the plural;
cf., e.g., Verg. Aen. 11, 366; Sen. Tro. 1158; epist. 4, 2; TLL, s.v. 104, 46 ff.

T. Adamik, Die Funktion der Alliteration bei Martial, ZAnt 25 (1975), pp. 6975.
Plautus (Epid. 567) and Terence (Ad. 353 and Andr. 769) have the feminine form Canthara. On Andria
769, G. P. Shipp (P. Terenti Afri Andria, Melbourne 1960) comments: The name is formed as a fem. to
cantharus, name of a kind of drinking-vessel, and suits the companion of Lesbia and Archylis. K. Schmidt,
Die griechischen Personennamen bei Plautus, Hermes 37 (1902), p. 181, points to the similarity with the
name Scapha in Plautus Mostellaria.
3
See Pape, s.v.
4
See Marquardt, p. 633.
5
Kay (on 11, 45, 8) offers a different interpretation of the name.
6
Marquardt, loc. cit.
2

.QTDURM

87

monemus: Martial mostly uses moneo and monemus paratactically, followed

either by the imperative or by the subjunctive, which in most cases is bare.1 This
parataxis, essentially a colloquialism, is Proto-Italic, although there are no preserved instances of monere with the bare subjunctive earlier than Terence.2
4. liber etc.: you cannot be both independent and gluttonous. The point is twofold, depending on the two obvious senses of the word liber: (1) free as opposed
to being a client and (2) bold, because of Cantharus being constantly drunk (as
suggested by his name); for a similar play on the word liber, see 1, 67,3 and cf. 4,
42, 12. In the present case, there may be a third possibility of interpreting liber as
a Liber (a Bacchus, i.e. a drunkard), which likewise would interact with his
name Cantharus. On ambiguous conclusions, see 9, 6 intro.

10 (5)
Nubere vis Prisco: non miror, Paula: sapisti.
Ducere te non vult Priscus: et ille sapit.
Cf. 10, 8: Nubere Paula cupit nobis, ego ducere Paulam | nolo: anus est. Vellem,
si magis esset anus. Old women seeking marriage with younger men for their own
pleasure and presumably also as a kind of status symbol are among the targets of
the vetula-Skoptik (see 9, 37 intro.), appearing also in 3, 93; 10, 8; 11, 23. In
the Greek Anthology, cf. in particular 11, 71 (Nicharus):
s+NPDVH

NJ
P|Q

OyJZ

RQ

NPDVH

PHjM

RN

G
DW

RfGDPHQ

QdND
OO

'HXNDOdZQ

WL

WDWKQ

SOHWRQ
RN

HlGHQ

QGUD

1LNRQK

GZU

]KWHjQ

WDWD

QQ

{GHL

.4 For a young man, however, there was little reason to marry an old
woman, apart from the fact that such a marriage might provide a way out of poverty, if the woman was rich. But this was by no means the optimal solution to
financial problems; cf. AP 11, 65 (Parmenion):
OO

WIRQ

/LPR

NUdVLM

UJDOyRQ

P|Q

SHLQQ

NRdWK

{VW

NDg

GXQKURWyUD

JUDdKM

SHLQQ

FDOHS
HFHWR

.5
The man entering into such a marriage also ran the risk of being subjected to his
wealthy wife, which, of course, made it impossible for Martial to consider such a
marriage: Uxorem quare locupletem ducere nolim, | quaeritis? Uxori nubere nolo
meae. | Inferior matrona suo sit, Prisce, marito: | non aliter fiunt femina virque
JUDQ

NRLPPHQRM

HFHWR

OLPQ

)dOOLM

fG

NOURX

SDLGM

QZPDOdKQ

The imperative is found also in 4, 30, 1; 6, 73, 9; 8, 44, 1; 14, 103, 1 and 14, 178, 1; the subjunctive in 1,
116, 5; 5, 56, 3; 8, 40, 4; 9, 90, 10; 12, 14, 1; 13, 15, 2 and 14, 98,1. With conjunction in 1, 116, 5 and 4,
86, 2 (where the the influence of exhortor should be considered).
2
Hofmann-Szantyr, 289 i, pp. 529 ff.
3
Although the interpretation of this epigram is not completely obvious, see the commentaries by Citroni
and Howell.
4
Niconoe was once in her prime, I admit that, but her prime was when Deucalion looked on the vast
waters. Of those times we have no knowledge, but of her now we know that she should seek not a husband,
but a tomb; translated by W. R. Paton, Loeb
5
It is difficult to choose between famine and an old woman. To hunger is terrible, but her bed is still more
painful. Phillis when starving prayed to have an elderly wife; but when he slept with her he prayed for
famine. Lo the inconstancy of a portionless son; W. R. Patons translation, Loeb.

88

pares (8, 12).1 If the woman was not only rich but also of good family, the situation might become even worse for the husband,2 at least as long as the wife was
alive. Hence Martials sarcastic view of the grief of Saleianus, whose wife has
recently died and left him a million (2, 65), and of the alleged self-possession of
Paetus, whose late wife has left him twenty million (5, 37, 20 ff.).
1. Prisco: a pseudonym, like most occurrences of the name in Martial. In some
cases, though, it refers to Terentius Priscus,3 and once (7, 79) perhaps to Q. Peducaeus Priscinus, consul in 93.
Paula: apart from 10, 8 quoted above, Martial uses this name of an adulteress
in 1, 74; 6, 6; 11, 7.
sapisti: present perfect, you have made a wise decision, expressing the same
thought as novi;4 this use of sapisti is found in 3, 2, 6 and 11, 106, 4.

The Earinus cycle (1113, 1617, 36)

There are six epigrams in Book 9 occasioned by a hair-offering by the eunuch
Earinus, Domitians favourite. The epigrams principally fall into two subdivisions: nos. 11-13 celebrate the name Earinus and may be referred to as the name
series and nos. 16-17, the offering series, consider the actual offering; these
five epigrams were presumably written at the time of the event they celebrate. 9,
36, in which Jupiter and Ganymede are contrasted with their earthly counterparts,
Domitian and Earinus, is separated from the others not only in space, but presumably also in time; the differences in tone and approach to the subject indicate
that it was not among the poems written primarily to celebrate the event, but
rather as a humorous offset to the others when incorporated into Book 9. On the
same occasion, Statius wrote a poem in hexameters on the locks of Earinus, published as silv. 3, 4, which is the primary source of our knowledge of Earinus; the
sole mention of him outside the works of Martial and Statius, Dio Cassius 67, 2, 3
(mentioning Earinus apropos of Domitians legislation against castration), has no
value as a source of information.5
From Statius, it appears that Earinus was sent as a boy to Rome from his native Pergamum (silv. 3, 4, 12 ff.; cf. 81 f.) and that, because of his beauty, he
seems from the very beginning to have been destined for Domitian the emperor
1

For the discussion, whether Martial himself was married or not (which he most certainly was not), see L.
Ascher, Was Martial really unmarried?, CW 70 (1977), pp. 441-444; J. P. Sullivan, Was Martial really
married? A reply, CW 72 (1978-79), pp. 238-239; see also Kays introduction to 11, 23.
2
Cf. Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 1, p. 278.
3
See the index nominum in the editions of Heraeus and Shackleton Bailey, s.v. Priscus and Terentius
respectively; Lippold in RE 23:1, s.v. Priscus 11, 4 f.
4
Hofmann-Szantyr, 178 a, p. 318.
5
For a detailed discussion of Earinus on the basis of the evidence from Martial and Statius, see C.
Henriksn, Earinus: An Imperial Eunuch in the Light of the Poems of Martial and Statius, Mnemosyne
50 (1997), pp. 281294.

89

(silv. 3, 4, 26 ff.; 38). On his arrival, he was castrated, no doubt to make his
youthful beauty last as long as possible by eliminating the onset of puberty.1 Afterwards, he was installed as Domitians cupbearer and attendant, vini minister
(cf. 9, 36, 1), a duty that usually befell handsome youngsters, who sometimes also
had to serve as their masters concubine.2 Earinus relation to Domitian is guardedly given an erotic implication through the references to Ganymede in 9, 11, 7;
16, 6; nectar in 9, 11, 5; honey in 9, 11, 3; 12, 2; and amber in 9, 12, 6.
In the year 94 (as indicated by the inclusion of the Earinus cycle in Book 9), it
was decreed that Earinus was to be allowed to cut his hair. As a minister, he
would have worn it long, falling over his neck and on his shoulders (cf. 9, 17, 8),
which was also the normal hair style of free-born children, until they began to
wear the toga virilis;3 since cupbearers kept this haircut regardless of age, they
were considered to be caught in boyhood.4 The decision was obviously made
primarily on the basis of his age: from Statius, it is quite clear that Earinus, had
he not been a eunuch, would now have been a young man (silv. 3, 4, 79) and
would not have sent unum gaudens Phoebea ad limina munus (ibid. 80) but two,
his locks and his first beard. As it is, patrias nunc solus crinis ad oras naviget
(ibid. 81 f.); the hair-offering thus corresponds to the depositio barbae, which was
impossible in the case of a eunuch. He would now have been 1618 years old (cf.
note 1 above) and eagerly awaited the release from boyhood. The hair was placed
in a golden box decorated with jewels (Stat. silv. 3, 4, 91; silv. 3 praef.), which
obviously was the usual practice,5 and sent along with a mirror set in jewelled
gold (9, 17, 5; Stat. silv. 3, 4, 94) to the Asklepieion at Pergamum, where it was
1

In silv. 3, 4, 65 ff., Statius is at pains to explain how a castration could be performed in the house of
Domitian, who himself had legislated against it. To this end, he has Aesculapius himself perform the
operation tacita ... arte | leniter haud ullo concussum vulnere corpus (silv. 3, 4, 69 f.), thereby toning
down the cruelty of the act while also giving it divine sanction. Vollmers suggestion (ad loc.), that haud
ullo concussum vulnere corpus implies that Earinus was in fact a thlibias, i.e. that the castration was
performed without surgery by pressing the testicles until they evanesced (cf. Paul. Aeg. 6, 68), is not
unlikely but largely depends on the age at which the castration took place. According to Paul. Aeg. 6, 68,
, which, to have any significance in this context, must refer to
the method was practised on
infants, not above the age of four or five years. The termini post and ante quem for the castration itself is
Domitians ascension to the throne in 81 and the latest possible date for his edict against castration (8687;
see 9, 5 intro.); furthermore, it appears that Earinus hair-offering was a kind of substitute for the depositio
barbae, and he would therefore have been somewhere between sixteen and twenty years old at the hairoffering in 94 (see below). Assuming that Earinus was at least sixteen in 94 and that the castration took
place at the earliest possible date, i.e. in 81, he would have been three years old at the time of the castration,
a perfectly acceptable age for a
; perhaps he could have been made a thlibias even at the
age of four or five (in which case he would have been seventeen or eighteen at the time of the hair
offering). On the other hand, if he was castrated at the latest date possible, in 86 or 87, his having been
made a thlibias seems much less likely: assuming that he was and that this operation was not performed on
boys older than five, he would have been 1112 years old in 94, an age presumably too young for the
depositio barbae. Most likely, then, Earinus was castrated in 8183 at the age of 35, and 1618 years old
at the hair-offering in 94.
2
Cf. 12, 96; Sen. epist. 47, 7 (quoted below); 95, 24 (quoted on 9, 36, 5); Blmner, Privataltertmer, p.
396.
3
Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 271
4
Sen epist. 47, 7 may be quoted here in full: Alius vini minister in muliebrem modum ornatus cum aetate
luctatur: non potest effugere pueritiam, retrahitur, iamque militari habitu glaber retritis pilis aut
penitus evulsis tota nocte pervigilat, quam inter ebrietatem domini ac libidinem dividit et in cubiculo
vir, in convivio puer est.
5
The use of such a precious box was naturally restricted to the imperial family and the very rich; cf. Suet.
Nero 12, 19; Dio Cass. 61, 19, 1; Petron. 29, 8.
QSLD SDLGdD

SDLGdRQ

90

QSLRQ

consecrated to Aesculapius, presumably with some dedicatory verses accompanying it, like those found in AP 6, 198 (Antipater of Thessalonica), 278 (Rhianus)
and 279 (Euphorion).1 That either Statius or Martials poems were meant to
accompany Earinus offering as dedicatory poems, is, however, improbable, as
such poems would have been likely to have been written in Greek.
Subsequently, Earinus was also manumitted, and it is a curious fact that neither Statius nor Martial takes advantage of this opportunity to flatter the emperor
in their poems on the hair-offering. The explanation seems to be that, when the
poems were written, Earinus had not yet received his freedom: 9, 36 seems to
imply that Earinus is no longer in the service of Domitian, but the sole explicit
mention of Earinus as freedman is found in the preface to Silvae 3 (see below).
However, neither 9, 36 nor the preface to Silvae 3 was written on the event of the
hair-offering, but when the respective books were put together for publishing.2
Consequently, at that time, Earinus had been manumitted, but presumably he had
not been when the poems celebrating the hair-offering were written, which may
have been at any time between the beginning of 94 and the autumn of the same
year.3
Of the conception of the Earinus poems, we know only as much as Statius tells
us in the preface to Silvae 3, that Earinus had asked him to celebrate his dedication in verse: Earinus praeterea, Germanici nostri libertus scis quamdiu
desiderium eius moratus sim, cum petisset ut capillos suos quos cum gemmata
pyxide et speculo ad Pergamenum Asclepium mittebat, versibus dedicarem. Statius, then, has written his poem at the direct request of Earinus himself, that is,
indirectly at the request of the emperor.4 Hence, the question arises whether Mar1

Vollmer, p. 422, points out that the cult of the home town was usually preferred at such offerings (cf.
Hom. Il. 23, 144 ff.; Stat. Theb. 6, 610; Sil. 4, 200). Naturally, Earinus had also a specific reason to choose
Aesculapius as the recipient of his offering: through his castration, he had made closer contact with the god
of medicine, who had a major sanctuary in his home town of Pergamum, a sanctuary which, while still at
the beginning of its period of greatness, was already competing with the other gods of Pergamum, Zeus,
Athena and Dionysus. It may even be that Earinus had chosen Aesculapius as his patron deity, as Minerva
was that of Domitian (see note on 9, 3, 10 res agit tuas). See further Henriksn, op. cit., pp. 289 ff.
2
Practically at the same time, probably in the second half of the year 94; see the introduction, pp. 12 f.
3
The termini post and ante quem are set by the publication of Martials Book 8, probably at the beginning
of 94 (Citroni, Letteratura per i Saturnali, pp. 223 f.) and of Book 9 in the autumn of the same year. The
manumission need not be taken as a reason for letting Earinus cut his hair. It is true that slaves upon
manumission might cut their long hair, the insignia of slavery, and offer it to the gods (cf. Plaut. Amph.
462; Serv. Aen. 8, 564), as an old fisherman offers his tools to the seagods (as in AP 6, 27) or a wornout
soldier offers his arms to Ares (AP 6, 81). However, manumission was not a requirement, as is shown by
the case of Encolpos, the slaveboy of Martials friend the centurion Aulus Pudens: in 1, 31, the locks of
Encolpos are vowed to Apollo for Pudens promotion to primipilus; in 5, 48, at last, Encolpos is allowed to
cut his hair, presumably without Pudens having got his promotion. Probably, Encolpos was tired of waiting
and, eager to be recognized as an adult, had persuaded his master to permit the cutting of his locks; but
neither in 1, 31 nor in 5, 48 is there a word to indicate that Encolpos could look forward to manumission in
connection with the cutting of his tresses (cf. also 12, 24 f.).
4
Statius statement, that he had delayed the composition of the poem, indicates that, in one way or another,
he had problems in composing it. Garthwaite (Court Poets, pp. 94 ff.) ascribes this to the difficulties
presented by the subject, above all, the fact that Earinus was the eunuch of an emperor who had himself
forbidden castration, but the reason would rather be that Martial divulged his poems first and that this
caused Statius problems. As Heuvel (p. 324) has pointed out, Statius in the case of Earinus completely
abstains from facetious etymologies, of which he is otherwise very fond (cf. Vollmer on silv. 1, 1, 6) and
this abstinence is probably explained by the fact that Martial had already exhausted the possibilities of
etymological play on Earinus name. However, Garthwaite is, I think, right in rejecting Vesseys theory that
Statius delay does not imply any diffidence in executing it, but is merely an expression of affected

91

tial received a similar request or whether he composed the poems of the Earinus
cycle on his own initiative. It has mostly been agreed that Martial, like Statius,
wrote his poems at an imperial command1 or that he at least knew of Statius
commission and felt compelled to write something similar.2 But there is also a
third possibility to be considered: if the offering of Earinus was such a notable
event as we may suspect, then it seems likely that contemporary poets would have
come forward spontaneously to celebrate it, whether or not they knew of other
poets doing the same thing or having been commissioned to do so (cf. note on 9,
11, 13). Consequently, Martial, knowing or not knowing of Statius work, would
certainly not have missed such an opportunity to commemorate an important
happening within the palace, regardless of whether or not he had got an imperial
commission for his poems. His reason for writing them cannot, and need not, be
established with greater certainty than that. Statius was asked to compose a poem
which was not intended to accompany the locks of Earinus to Pergamum, but to
celebrate and commemorate the event. Martials aims, whether he had been commissioned to write the poems or not, would have been much the same, and so the
poets celebrated the offering each in his own significant way, Statius by composing a large poem in the epic style with quasi-mythological elements and Martial
by writing several smaller pieces and presenting them to the emperor and Earinus
as a libellus (see 9, 16 intro.).
Except for the note in Dio Cassius (above), Earinus is not mentioned either
before or after Martials Earinus cycle and Statius Silvae 3, 4. This fact, in addition to the absence of sentimental epithets (Earinus meus, carissimus, etc.) which
would argue for familiarity and friendship with him,3 suggests that he was not
one of the close acquaintances of either poet.

modesty, which stresses the fact that in composing verses for Domitians eye special care and preparation
were necessary (D. Vessey, Statius and the Thebaid, Cambridge 1973, pp. 28 f.; see Garthwaite, Court
Poets, pp. 91 ff.). Likewise, Garthwaite is right in defusing Vesseys stress on the fact that Domitians
baldness would have presented a problem in a poem about hair, for, as Garthwaite (Court Poets, p. 94)
says, if Domitian was as acutely sensitive on the subject of hair as Suetonius suggests, he would hardly
have commissioned the poem in the first place. It is also worth noting that Domitian himself had in fact
written and published a book on baldness (Jones, Domitian, p. 13).
1
So White, Friends, p. 290; Garthwaite, Court Poets, p. 64.
2
Hofmann, Motivvariationen, p. 45.
3
White, Friends, pp. 290 f.

92

11
Nomen cum violis rosisque natum,
quo pars optima nominatur anni,
Hyblam quod sapit Atticosque flores,
quod nidos olet alitis superbae;
nomen nectare dulcius beato,
quo mallet Cybeles puer vocari
et qui pocula temperat Tonanti,
quod si Parrhasia sones in aula,
respondent Veneres Cupidinesque;
nomen nobile, molle, delicatum
versu dicere non rudi volebam:
sed tu syllaba contumax rebellas.
Dicunt Eiarinon tamen poetae,
sed Graeci, quibus est nihil negatum
et quos
decet sonare:
nobis non licet esse tam disertis,
qui Musas colimus severiores.
q$UHM s$UHM

10

15

The first poem of the Earinus cycle opens with a series of paraphrases of the name
Earinus (a Latin transcription of the Greek adjective
, of spring),1 successively providing the reader with more and more information, until the name is
finally revealed in line 13, not even then in its correct Latin form, but in Greek.
First, Martial lets us know that the name was born with violets and roses, suggesting a connection with spring. The notion of pleasure is further increased by
references to honey and fragrances, followed by a series of highly charged topics:
nectar, Attis and Ganymede, concluding with an allusion to the passer Catulli.
Through the reference to the imperial palace, the much discussed Veneres
Cupidinesque and a series of charged adjectives, the reader is brought to the turning-point of the poem: the rebellious syllable, which prevents Martial from fitting
the name Earinus into his verse. The second section forms a glaring contrast to
the former; the lyrical Martial has turned into a small-minded grumbler expressing his disdain for the lax prosody of the Greeks. Yet, by this device, he accomplishes something important: he reveals to the reader the identity of his object,
whose name he even manages to fit into his verse as an example of the licentious
practice of the detested Greeks, thereby avoiding any metrical errors on his own
part. Thus, he fulfils both of the wishes expressed in line 11: the name of the
emperors favourite appears in the poem, and yet his verse is non rudis.
xDULQM

1. violis: in Greece as in Rome, the violet was considered a messenger of spring.

According to Theophrastus hist. plant. 6, 8, 1, the gillyflower was the first to
appear, where the air is mild, even as soon as winter comes. A similar account is
given by Pliny (nat. 21, 64): Florum prima ver nuntiat viola alba, tepidioribus
vero locis etiam hieme emicat; cf. also Ov. trist. 3, 12, 1 ff. and AP 5, 144, 1 f.
1

Such paraphrases of a specific name can be observed also in Greek epigram (see Schmoock, p. 91).

93

(Meleager). The violet was also associated with Attis (see note on Cybeles puer
below): according to Arnobius 5, 7, Attis castrated himself beneath a spruce; out
of his blood, violets shot forth.1 Presumably, Martial had this story in mind, even
though Attis is not properly introduced until line 6.
rosisque: the rose was the last flower to bloom (Plin. nat. 21, 65).2 Mentioning
it together with violets, Martial marks off the spring, violets being its beginning
and roses its end, but the two would also convey a sense of pleasure; cf. Cic. Tusc.
5, 73: (A) Etiamne in cruciatu atque tormentis? (M) An tu me in viola putabas aut
in rosa dicere? where among violets and roses (used at banquets as stuffing for
pillows) is equal to amidst the highest pleasure. Roses are otherwise generally
mentioned with violets in connection with wreaths and garlands (see note on 9,
60, 1).
3. Hyblam quod sapit flores: conveying a sense of sweetness and pleasure, as
in 5, 37, 10, where Erotions breath is described as being as fragrant as the first
honey of Attica; cf. also AP 12, 133, 6 (Meleager), likening the kiss of the fair
Antiochus to a drink of
...
(the sweet honey of the soul). There
is some erotic implication in the word, though less than in nectar (below).
The very best and sweetest honey was that which was produced in Attica,3 especially on Mt. Hymettos, which also has its own distich in the Xenia (13, 104).
The second best was that of Mt. Hybla in Sicily; Martial mentions it side by side
with that of Attica also in 7, 88,8 and 11, 42, 3, and alone in 2, 46, 1; 5, 39, 3; 9,
26, 4 and 13, 105. The finest honey was that extracted from thyme (Plin. nat. 11,
38), but violets and roses also played a part in its production; cf. Colum. 9, 4, 4
Mille praeterea semina flores amicissimos apibus creant At in hortensi lira
consita nitent candida lilia, nec his sordidiora leucoia, tum puniceae rosae luteolaeque.
\XFM G

PyOL

4. nidos ... alitis superbae: the Phoenix, superbus meaning grand or proud.
This epithet applied to the Phoenix is found only in Martial, who uses it also in 6,
55, 2, again with allusion to the Phoenix nest being full of fragrances. The idea
of the Phoenix building its nest of fragrant material first appears in an account by
the senator Manilius (beginning of 1st century BC4), from whom Pliny drew his
information in nat. 10, 4 f. It is elaborated by Ovid in met. 15, 392 ff.; see Bmer,
ad loc., pp. 357 ff.
The plural nidos may refer to the Phoenix building not one single nest, but one
nest every five hundred years; the name of Earinus smells of all the nests of the
Phoenix.
1

The death of Attis as a consequence of his castration and the violets growing from his blood symbolize the
turn of the seasons, the violets symbolizing spring; cf. Rapp in Roscher, s.v. Attis 716 ff.
2
Cicero makes use of the late blooming of the rose to slander Verres (Verr. II 5, 27): Cum autem ver esse
coeperat (cuius initium iste [sc. Verres] non a Favonio neque ab aliquo astro notabat, sed cum rosam
viderat, tum incipere ver arbitrabatur) dabat se labori atque itineribus. See also Levens interpretation
of this passage (R. G. C. Levens, Cicero, The Fifth Verrine Oration, London 1944).
3
On honey in antiquity, see Schuster in RE 15, s.v. mel 367 ff.
4
See Mnzer in RE 14, s.v. Manilius 4, 1115. Pliny, nat. 10, 4, describes him as senator ille maximis
nobilis doctrinis doctore nullo.

94

5. nectare beato: this juncture only here and in Stat. silv. 3, 1, 26 f. The epithet alludes to its connection with the gods;1 cf. 8, 39, 3 sacrum nectar (also Stat.
silv. 4, 2, 54), 4, 8, 9 aetherium nectar (AP 9, 404, 8
), Ov.
met. 4, 252 caeleste nectar. Similar epithets are to be found in Greek, for example, AP 7, 31, 6
; Nonn. Dionys. 40, 421
.
Besides having a symbolic value as the drink of the gods, nectar is often used
in an erotic context and usually in connection with Ganymede (see below) as a
metaphor for kisses. Cf. AP 12, 133 (Meleager), where the poet says, that in
summer, when he was thirsty, he kissed the tender-fleshed boy (i.e. his darling
Antiochus) and was relieved of his thirst. He then calls to Zeus: Father Zeus, do
you drink the nectareous kiss of Ganymede, and is this the wine he tenders to your
lips?.2 See note on 9, 36, 12 with further instances.
DcTHUdRX

QyNWDURM PEURVdRX

QyNWDURM

QyNWDU PEURWRQ

6. Cybeles puer: The story of Attis occurs in different versions, the most common
being the one related by Ovid in fast. 4, 223 ff. (see Bmer ad loc.). Here, Attis is
a beautiful youth, with whom the goddess Cybele falls in love and has him make a
vow of chastity. Attis breaks the vow with the nymph Sagaritis, who is then killed
by Cybele, whereupon Attis goes mad, cuts off his genitals and dies beneath a
spruce.3 Some sources (e.g. Diod. 3, 5859) state that Attis rose from the dead, a
symbol of spring returning after the winter, symbolized by Attis death (on Attis
and violets, see note on violis above). This association of Attis with springtime
was very old in Phrygia, where a special feast was celebrated in springtime. Once
the cult of Attis was brought to Rome, the spring feast was magnificently celebrated from Claudius onwards, beginning on the 22nd of March and culminating
on the 24th with the dies sanguinis, when the galli castrated themselves.4
The introduction of Attis, associated with springtime as well as with castration, is thus ingenious, making it possible to allude not only to the notion of
spring in Earinus name, but also quite irreproachably to the fact that he, like
Earinus, was a eunuch. Probably Martial, like Statius, felt that such an allusion
had to be made but also that extreme caution had to be exercised, as Domitian
himself had legislated against castration; there could be no better solution than the
introduction of Attis, by which castration could be alluded to under the cloak of
springtime. Statius, who in silv. 3, 4 refrains from any mention of spring, had to
solve the problem in a more strained way (silv. 3, 4, 65 ff.).
7. qui pocula Tonanti: Ganymede is naturally the model for the cupbearer (cf.
7, 50, 3; 9, 103; 10, 66, 7), and his relation with Jupiter the model for the sexual
relationship between the cupbearer and his master in general (cf. Sen. epist. 47, 7;
Lucian. dial. deor. 10; the word catamite is etymologically derived from the
1
Beatus is thus in this case synonymous with divinus. The listing of the TLL, s.v. beatus 1915, 33 ff., of
this occurrence under the heading de rebus vel ipsis felicibus vel homines reddentibus felices can hardly
be correct.
2
Translation by W. R. Paton, Loeb.
3
Except for the emasculation, none of this is mentioned in the most famous single Latin poem on Attis,
Catull. 63.
4
See Cumont in RE 2, s.v. Attis 2247 ff.

95

name, via the Latin variant Catamitus, cf. OLD, s.v.), but the comparison is here
of special significance, as Ganymede, the cupbearer of the heavenly Tonans,
parallels Earinus, the cupbearer of the earthly. Erotic epigrams likening fair boys
to Ganymede or alluding to Jupiters relation with him are common in the Greek
Anthology,1 and Martial uses the theme or hints at it in several other epigrams,
for example, 2, 43; 3, 39, 1; 5, 55; 7, 47; 8, 46; 9, 22, 12; 10, 98; 11, 26; 11, 43;
11, 104, 19 ff.; cf. note on 9, 36, 12 qui nectar misceat.
8. Parrhasia: = Palatina. Originally, Parrhasia was used of the region in Arcadia
in which the town of Parrhasia lay; thus, for example, Callimachus Hymn 1, 10,
where
is equivalent to
. Subsequently, Parrhasius
came to be used of things or persons with any connection with Arcadia; thus, for
example, Ov. met. 8, 315 Parrhasius Ancaeus (of Ancaeus of Tegea, referred to
simply as Arcas in met. 8, 391); Lucan. 9, 660 Parrhasiae pinnae (of the wings of
Mercury); Val. Fl. 4, 138 Parrhasium galerum (of Mercurys hat). Callisto is
frequently referred to as Parrhasia or Parrhasis (the latter being a Grecism introduced by Ovid; cf. Bmer on met. 2, 460); Parrhasia ursa is hence the Great
Bear.
Parrhasius may be substituted for Palatinus because of the Palatines connection with Evander, who came from Arcadia (Ov. fast. 1, 478 deserit Arcadiam
Parrhasiumque larem) to Italy and settled on the Palatine hill, which he named
Palatium after his home town Pallantium in Arcadia.2
xQ

3DUUDVd9

xQ

$UNDGdY

aula: of the imperial palace also epigr. 2, 10; 5, 6, 8 (sanctior); 7, 40, 1

(Augusta); 9, 16, 3; 9, 36, 10; 12, 5, 3 (Ausonia); cf. Stat. silv. 3, 3, 67 (Tibereia)
and 4, 2, 23; cf. 9, 35, 3 Arsacia ... aula of the royal palace of the Parthians. Martial uses it with the epithet Parrhasia also in 7, 99, 3; 8, 36, 3; 12, 15, 1; cf. 7, 56,
2 Parrhasia domus.
sones: not sing the praises of, but synonymous with voces or clames; cf. 2,
72, 5 f. auctorem criminis huius | Caecilium tota rumor in urbe sonat; OLD, s.v.
7.
9. Veneres Cupidinesque: cf. 11, 13, 5 f. omnes Veneres Cupidinesque | hoc sunt
condita, quo Paris, sepulchro. Venus and her suite are, of course, closely connected with springtime (see the introduction to 9, 12), but the reference to Catullus (3, 1 lugete o Veneres Cupidinesque, on the death of Lesbias sparrow; also
13, 12) is obvious, and intentionally so. Garthwaite writes: We are so strongly
reminded of Catullus grieving Venuses and Cupids that we sense a rather
mournful response. But why should Martial suggest that these deities weep for
1

For example, 12, 69 (anonymous)

GyUNHX

WKOTHQ

ITRQyZ

Hc

=H
G|

SURWyUZ

Ed9

WQ

WyUSRX

NDOQ

*DQXPGHm

SRdVHDL

WQ

RNyW

xPQ

QHNWM

QD[
_

'y[DQGURQ

GHVS]HLM

SdWZ

(Take thy delight, Zeus, with thy former Ganymede, and look from afar, O King,
on my Dexandrus. I grudge it not. But if thou carriest away the fair boy by force, no longer is thy tyranny
supportable. Let even life go if I must live under thy rule; transl. by W. R. Paton, Loeb). Other examples
are AP 5, 65; 12, 37; 12, 68; 12, 70; 12, 133; 12, 194; and 12, 221.
2
So Pliny nat. 4, 20; see Robert in RE 6, s.v. Evandros 839 ff.
NDg

96

ELRQ

xSg

VR

Earinus when they hear his name? The answer, perhaps, lies in what Martial
thought they were weeping for in Catullus poems on the death of the sparrow.1
There is little doubt that this is a hint in the right direction, since the passer of
Catullus poem is nothing but an euphemism for his own penis.2 This was, of
course, evident to Martial, who himself frequently refers to the passer Catulli (1,
7, 3; 1, 109, 1; 4, 14, 14; 7, 14, 4; 11, 6, 16) with an obscene implication.3 Consequently, the Venuses and Cupids would let the name Earinus echo through the
Palatine halls as a sign of mourning for the boys lost virility, and the line is yet
another reference to Earinus being a eunuch, hidden behind the deities of love.
The word-for-word interpretation, that the genii of love respond when the name
Earinus is sounded in the halls of the imperial palace simply because Earinus is
dear to them, simply provides the cover.4
10. nobile: Martial would refer to the name Earinus as nobile because of its qualities listed above rather than because Earinus himself is the attendant of Domitian,
as suggested by Garthwaite.5 The epithet stands out against the other adjectives in
this line; the lofty word, effectively placed just before the caesura, is contrasted
with the following molle and delicatum, which may have a more charged meaning
(see below).
molle: sweet; cf. Cic. off. 1, 37 quid ad hunc mansuetudinem addi potest,
eum, quicum bellum geras, tam molli nomine appellare, but also effeminate; cf.
Ov. fast 4, 243 mollesque ministri (sc. Cybeles) and see note on 9, 25, 3 mollem.
delicatum: = elegans, almost synonymous with molle. Note, however, that
also this word is capable of bearing a meaning in malam partem, like 3, 58, 32 et
delicatus opere fruitur eunuchus; there are instances of its being used side by side
with mollis in the negative sense, for example, Cic. fin. 1, 37; 5, 12; Sen. epist.
66, 49; see TLL, s.v. 444, 80 ff.
11. versu dicere: also 10, 64, 5 lascivo dicere versu; cf. Hor. sat. 1, 5, 87 oppidulo, quod versu dicere non est (of a town the name of which cannot be accommodated in verse [Aequum Tuticum? Asculum Apulum?], see Lejay ad loc.).
non rudi: rudis means roughly fashioned, unpolished and alludes to the
quality of the verse. If Martial was to incorporate the name PLSQ GLRM FGQ TCPQC
FC UMSJB K?IC GR KCRPGA?JJW CPPMLCMSQ rudis.
volebam: with regard to the following rebellas, this could be considered imperfectum praesens of an action begun in the past but continuing in the present
1

Court Poets, p. 70.

As demonstrated by G. Giangrande, Catullus lyrics on the passer, MPhL 1 (1975), pp. 137-146. He is
joined by Y. Nadeau, O passer nequam (Catullus 2, 3), Latomus 39 (1980), pp. 879-880.
3
Garthwaite, op. cit., pp. 70 ff.; Y. Nadeau, Catullus Sparrow, Martial, Juvenal and Ovid, Latomus 43
(1984), pp. 861-868.
4
Hofmann, Motivvariationen, p. 46, takes account only of this interpretation.
5
Op. cit., p. 69.
2

97

time;1 the use is colloquial, as in Plaut. Asin. 392 quid quaeritas Demaenetum
volebam.
12. syllaba contumax: the

GL

PLSQ

.TGB F?Q RFC Q?KC NPM@JCK GL /MLR 

 ? NMCK ?BBPCQQCB RM ? ACPR?GL 3SRGA?LSQ GL UFGAF RFC NMCR PCEPCRQ RFC GKNMQ

s name, 3RALSQ, into his elegiacs. Such humorous problems can be said to form a small topos; cf. Hor. sat. 1, 5, 87 quoted above
(with Lejays note); Manil. 2, 897. Cf. also the name TBSQ which can only be
fitted into dactylic verse or hendecasyllabic in the vocative; hence Martials description of Ovid as Paelignus ... poeta in 2, 41, 2.
QG@GJGRW MD ECRRGLE RFC ?BBPCQQCC

; the Greek poets from Homer on

13. Eiarinon: instead of the usual form
allow themselves to lengthen certain syllables in words which otherwise would not
fit the metre, so-called productio epica;2 cf., e.g., Hom. Il. 16, 643
. White suggested that the line indicates that also Greek poets took upon
themselves to celebrate Earinus.3 This is, of course, quite possible, and Martial,
considering his views of the Greeks (see 9, 40 intro.), would probably not have
welcomed such competition.
xDULQM

U9

xQ

HcDULQ

q$UHM s$UHM:

from Hom. Il. 5, 31 and 5, 455

(Ares, Ares, bane of men, blood-stained stormer of
walls). There is an echo of it in AP 11, 191, an epigram on a careless barber
(

4
), and Lucilius (fragm. 345 ff. Krenkel) mentions it in
discussing quantities: aa primum longa, a brevis syllaba: nos tamen unum | hoc
faciemus et uno eodemque ut dicimus pacto | scribemus pacem, placide,
Ianum; aridum, acetum, |
Graeci ut faciunt. For other examples of the Greek poets licence in changing the quantities of the vowels to fit
the metre, see Korzeniewski, loc. cit.
15.

PLDLIQH

q$UHM

q$UHM s$UHM EURWRORLJy PLDLIQH

RNyWL

s$UHM

EURWRORLJy

WHLFHVLSOWD

SR

PH

SDHR NRXUH _ WyPQZQ R JU {FHLM

WHPHjM

q$UHM

s$UHM

16. nobis disertis: cf. Ov. epist. 14, 64 quo mihi commisso non licet esse
piae?; 15, 134 et siccae non licet esse mihi. The dative of the adjective is in these
cases due to assimilation to the case of nobis etc., which since Plautus is the regular construction when licet stands with mihi, tibi, etc. (the accusative, which occurs from Cicero and Caesar onwards, is more rarely used).5 The wide extension
of this construction in Greek made Lfstedt suspect at least some Greek influence
on authors like Ovid and Horace (who has the dative also with active dare; cf.
epist. 1, 16, 61 da mihi fallere | da iusto sanctoque videri) in this respect.6

HofmannSzantyr, 176, Zus. a, p. 316.

Cf. Hjalmar Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Wrterbuch, Heidelberg 1960, vol. I, p. 433. Of the
phenomenon in general, see D. Korzeniewski, Griechische Metrik, Darmstadt 1968, p. 23.
3
Friends, p. 291, n. 37.
4
Ares, Ares, destroyer of men, blood-fiend, cease, barber, from cutting me, for you have no place left in
which to cut me; translation by W. R. Paton, Loeb.
5
HofmannSzantyr, 191, II Zus. , p. 349.
6
Synt. 2, pp. 107 f.
2

98

12 (13)
Nomen habes teneri quod tempora nuncupat anni,
cum breve Cecropiae ver populantur apes;
nomen Acidalia meruit quod harundine pingi,
quod Cytherea sua scribere gaudet acu;
nomen Erythraeis quod littera facta lapillis,
gemma quod Heliadum pollice trita notet;
quod pinna scribente grues ad sidera tollant;
quod decet in sola Caesaris esse domo.

The second epigram of the cycle resembles the first section of 9, 11, inasmuch as
Martials concern is still the celebration of the sweet name of Earinus, a task to
which he can now devote himself entirely, having got rid in the previous poem of
the problem that it cannot be fitted into Latin verse. One obvious difference between this epigram and 9, 11 (as indeed the other Earinus poems as well) is that
Martial now, for the sake of variation, turns to address Earinus directly. Still, he
keeps a notable distance; there is no sign of familiarity, not even a vocative of the
elevated kind used by Statius (silv. 3, 4, 60 care puer); cf. the introduction to the
Earinus cycle.
The first lines of the poem, referring to Earinus connection with springtime,
recalls the opening of 9, 11, but Martial has now added a bitter-sweet notion of
the brevity of springtime: it explodes in cascades of beauty and flowers, and then
fades away, having been exploited to the point of bursting by bees, who know that
the spring is short and that the opportunity must be seized. This is probably an
allegory of the fate of a eunuch;1 for a short time, he is in the prime of his youth,
during which he is exploited by his master, just as the flowers of the short spring
are savaged by the bees in their search for nectar.2 As he gets older, he turns into a
fat and disgusting sexless being; cf. the complaints of Pythias in Ter. Eun. 687 ff.
ad nos deductus hodiest adulescentulus, | quem tu videre vero velles, Phaedria. |
hic est vietu vetu veternosus senex,| colore mustelino; Hor. epod. 9, 13 f. spadonibus rugosis; Lucian. Am. 21
.3 Claud. 18, 469 mixta duplex aetas (sc.
eunuchi); inter puerumque senemque nil medium.4
In line 3, Martial introduces a new approach to the name of Earinus by mentioning five different ways in which the name should be depicted: with a pen
made of a reed from the fountain of the Graces, with the embroidery needle of
Venus, with a figure of Indian pearls, with rubbed amber, and by the formation of
a flock of cranes in flight. The first two references, to the Acidalian pen and the
needle of Venus, are warranted by the connection of the goddess of love and the
Graces with springtime; cf., e.g., Hor. carm. 1, 4, 5-7 (see Nisbet & Hubbard, p.
W

JUDM

DWRM

PDUDdQHLQ

xQ

QHWKWL

SDUDPHjQDQ

QTRM

HcM

SUZURQ

Garthwaite, Court Poets, p. 76, suggests that the metaphor alludes to Earinus experience of his
castration.
2
Cf. the erotic notion of nectar in 9, 11, 5.
3
The bloom that has lingered with them in their youth makes them fade prematurely into old age;
translation by M. D. Macleod, Loeb.
4
Cf. Hug in RE Suppl. 3, s.v. Eunuchen 453.

99

59, and notes ad locc.) The significance of the following lines is less obvious.
Martial continues with the statement that the name is worthy of being represented
by a letter, made of the precious Indian pearls, which Martial often applies as an
example of redundant luxury as well as pure beauty.1 Amber is likewise used as a
symbol of luxury but carries a stronger amatory meaning (see below). As for the
cranes, there is no notion of love, beauty or luxury and, indeed, there is no need
for them. The fact that nature herself lets Earinus initial (however, in Latin) be
seen in the firmament, the domain of Jupiter, is in itself more than enough; suggesting that Earinus is also the favourite of the gods, it prepares the ground for the
conclusive verse: there is no place on earth for Earinus, except in the palace of the
earthly Tonans, Domitian.
1. Nomen habes: at the beginning of the hexameter also 13, 78, 1; Ov. am. 3, 6,
91; Ov. ars 3, 536; met. 5, 461; 9, 665; 13, 570; fast. 2, 132.
nuncupat: very rare in poetry, found only here and in Ov. met. 14, 608 (see
Bmer, ad loc.); fast. 1, 246.
2. cum breve etc.: cf. 2, 46, 2 cum breve Sicaniae ver populantur apes.
breve ver: also Ov. met. 1, 116; 10, 85. As in Ovid, the meaning is the all
too short springtime (cf. Bmer on met. 1, 116). In this case, ver is used metonymically, meaning not only the springtime as an abstraction, but, as indicated
by populantur, also the luxuriant flora it brings in its train.
Cecropiae apes: the bees of Attica produced what was considered the best
honey (cf. note on 9, 11, 3). They are mentioned also in 6, 34, 4 and 11, 42, 4 (cf.
Verg. georg. 4, 177).
3. Acidalia harundine: i.e. a calamus or reed-pen, like 1, 3, 10, neve notet
lusus tristis harundo tuos, and 14, 209, 2 inoffensa curret harundo via.
Acidalius, derived from the Fons Acidalius in Boeotia, the fountain of the
Graces, is found only four times in classical Latin literature. Whereas the present
instance is perhaps best taken as alluding to the Graces (with the following line
devoted to Venus), the other three occurrences all refer to the goddess; thus, 6, 13,
5 Acidalius nodus (the cestus); Verg. Aen. 1, 720 mater Acidalia; Laus Pis. 91
Acidalia ales (the dove).2 Austin (on Aen. 1, 720) presumes that Vergil borrowed

1
Garthwaite complicates the matter, saying that Martial appears to be thinking of a specific letter or shape
commonly associated with, or formed from, pearls and having some connection with Earinus name.
2
dicunt, vel certe
Cf. Serv. Aen. 1, 720 Acidalia Venus dicitur vel quia inicit curas, quas Graeci
a fonte Acidalio qui est in Orchomeno Boeotiae civitate, in quo se Gratiae lavant, quas Veneri esse
constat sacratas; it is, however, doubtful whether the Greeks actually used the word
in the sense of
curae; cf. TGL, s.v.
1208, 1 ff. (the word is missing in LSJ). Servius note appears to be the source
of similar information in [Mythogr.] 2, 36; Vib. Seq. geogr. 164; Gloss. V 615, 49.
NLGDM

NdGHM

$NdGHM

100

the adjective from some Hellenistic source, even though there is no preserved
instance of
applied to Aphrodite.1
Acidalia harundo may signify either a pen made of reed from the Graces
fountain or one made of reed from Cnidus, a centre of the cult of Aphrodite in
south-western Asia Minor, both suppliers of high-quality reed to be used in pens
(Plin. nat. 16, 157). For the connection of Venus and the Graces with spring, see
the introduction above.

$NLGDOdK

pingi: the usual word with harundo or calamus is naturally scribere. The use
of pingere here suggests that ornamental writing is meant.
4. scribere acu: embroider, also Sil. 14, 660 scribuntur acu. Whereas the
normal expression is pingere acu (e.g. 8, 28, 17 f.; cf. Verg. Aen. 11, 777; Ov.
met. 6, 23), the use of scribere in the present case may be due to the fact that the
reference is to the embroidering not of shapes, but of letters; note, however, that
Greek occasionally has
(e.g. Arist. Ran. 938). Martial associated the art
of embroidering with the Babylonians (8, 28, 17; 14, 150), and Pliny ascribes it to
the Phrygians (nat. 8, 196), even though it was much older than that, going back
to the earliest peoples of the East; see Hug in RE 2:3, s.v. Stickerei 2490 ff.;
Blmner, Technologie, pp. 218-222.
JUIHLQ

5. Erythraeis lapillis: on the costliness of Indian pearls, see note on 9, 2, 9.

The practice of marking happy days (or nights) on the calendar with a pearl (as an
expensive substitute for the ordinary chalk; cf. 10, 38, 5; Stat. silv. 4, 6, 18) seems
to be of no particular relevance here.
6. Gemma Heliadum pollice trita: according to the myth, the Heliades,
daughters of the sun-god Helios, were transformed into poplars mourning their
brother Phaeton. They continued to weep even after the metamorphosis, and from
their tears, amber arose; Ap. Rhod. 4, 595 ff.; Ov. met. 2, 340 ff.; Verg. Aen. 10,
189 (with Servius).
Like Indian pearls, amber was used as a model of costliness; in 4, 59, Martial
considers a viper, accidentally encapsulated in amber, to be buried in a nobler
tomb than Cleopatra, and in 6, 15, an ant which met with the same accident is
regarded as funeribus facta pretiosa suis. But amber also has a marked amatory
implication; cf. 3, 65, 5 ff. quod sucina trita ... hoc tua, saeve puer Diadumene,
basia fragrant; 5, 37, 9 ff. fragravit ore (sc. Erotion) quod sucinorum rapta de
manu glaeba; 11, 8, 6 ff. Sucina virginea quod regelata manu ... Hoc fragrant
pueri basia mane mei; cf. also Iuv. 6, 573. All mention the amber as rubbed with
the fingers or tepid from having been rubbed, the reason for which is that amber
from a special kind of pine, now extinct, was used as a perfume for the hands;

The word is equally rare in Greek; cf. Pind. fr. 244

mentioning the Graces as coming
magnum and Suda, s.v.
SUM

s2OXPSRQ

FHjU

$NLGDOdDM

$NLGDOdKM

; Menophilus in Stob. 4, 21a, 7,

; cf. also Etymologicum
SKJM

101

when rubbed with the fingers, it emitted a fragrance of pine and camphor.1 It was
also rare and expensive; see Kays note on 11, 8, 6.
notet: you have a name, which a letter made of pearls etc. may present; for
the expression, cf. Suet. Aug. 97, 2 centum quem numerum C littera notaret;
Quint. inst. 1, 7, 29 Subura cum tribus litteris notatur. The hortative subjunctive expresses the same thought as meruit in line 3.
7. pinna scribente grues: the letter v ( ), the first letter of the word ver, which,
according to the myth, got its form from the triangular formation of a flock of
cranes in flight. The mythological inventor Palamedes, who is credited with the
invention of the alphabet or at least of some of its letters,2 was considered to have
got the forms of the letters from the flight and behaviour of birds, especially of the
crane; cf. 13, 75 (Grues): Turbabis versus nec littera tota volabit, | unam perdideris si Palamedis avem; Auson. 16, 13, 25 Prete; Philostr. Her. 10, 3; 10, 1.
X

8. Caesaris esse domo: cf. Ov. Pont. 4, 9, 105 f. videt hospite terra | in nostra
sacrum Caesaris esse domo. The words Caesaris esse occur, with the same placing, also in 4, 3, 8; 9, 34, 8; Prop. 3, 18, 12.

13 (12)
Si daret autumnus mihi nomen, Oporinos essem,
horrida si brumae sidera, Chimerinos;
dictus ab aestivo Therinos tibi mense vocarer:
tempora cui nomen verna dedere, quis est?
This epigram, the last of the cycle to be devoted to the name Earinus, approaches
its subject in yet another way. It is a straight forward riddle, in which the answer
to the final question is made evident from the preceding examples, a series of
names, all of them derived in the same manner as Earinus from the Greek adjectives of the seasons. The epigram totally lacks the glorifying tone of the two
preceding poems. Still, its plainness and simplicity provide a sense of relief after
the elaborate innuendo of nos. 11 and 12, making a fitting conclusion to the
name series of the cycle.

When rubbed, it also behaved like a sort of magnet, attracting straw, dry leaves and linden bark (Plin. nat.
in Greek, from which word the phenomenon
37, 48). This was due to static electricity; amber is
of electricity got its name.
2
The first author to credit him with the whole alphabet was apparently Stesichoros (Anecdota Graeca, vol.
2, ed. Becker, Berlin 1816, p. 783, l. 16 f.); also Gorg. Pal. 30; Schol. Eur. Or. 432; Dio Chrys. 13, 21; et
al. According to others, he invented only certain letters, for example, Pliny (nat. 7, 192), who ascribes to
Palamedes the invention of the letters
and ; Serv. Aen. 2, 81 credits him with * F cum h
aspiratione.
OHNWURQ

]

102

X

, of autumn (
1. Oporinos: Gr.
, is attested in an inscription.1
SZULQM

SUD

). A Greek version of the name,

2SZUHjQRM

2. horrida sidera: sidus is used metonymically in the sense of season; cf.,

e.g., Ov. Pont. 2, 4, 25 f. longa dies citius brumali sidere noxque | tardior hiberna
solstitialis erit; OLD, s.v. sidus 5 a. The winter is commonly referred to as horridus; cf. 7, 95, 1; TLL, s.v. horridus 2992, 11 ff.
brumae: bruma is actually the winter solstice2 but is more often used as a metonymy for winter; cf. Ov. Pont. 2, 4, 25 quoted above; TLL, s.v. bruma 2208,
23 ff. This use of bruma can be observed (although not yet fully developed) already in Lucr. 5, 746 f. tandem bruma nives adfert pigrumque rigorem | reddit,
where bruma signifies the early winter, as opposed to a following hiemps (see
Bailey, ad loc.).
that which is born
Chimerinos: modelled on the Greek adjective
or has taken place during the winter (
). There appears to be no similar
name in Greek.
FHLPHULQM

FHjPD

, of summer (
3. Therinos: from
instances of Greek versions of the name (
THULQM

TyURM

). Pape, s.v.
/
).

4yULQRM

, gives three

4yULQRM 4HUjQRM

tibi: should probably be taken as an ethic dative, named after a summer

month, I would be Therinos to you, perhaps with a tinge of the dative of agent:
named after a summer-month, you would call me Therinos.3

14
Hunc, quem mensa tibi, quem cena paravit amicum,
esse putas fidae pectus amicitiae?
Aprum amat et mullos et sumen et ostrea, non te.
Tam bene si cenem, noster amicus erit.
A reproach to a victim of a dinner-hunter not to be so credulous as to think that
the dinner-hunter dines with him for the sake of friendship, since the only thing
he is interested in is the costly dishes on his table. The dinner-hunters (cenipetae4)
1

Pape s.v., also giving three instances of the womans name

.
TLL, s.v. bruma 2207, 1 ff.
Although the dative of agent is mostly used with a perfect participle or a gerundive (cf. HofmannSzantyr,
67 d, p. 96), there are instances of its being used with a finite verb, for example, Acc. trag. 284 ne cui
cognoscar noto; Cic. inv. 1, 86 illa nobis alio tempore explicabuntur; Verg. Aen. 1, 440 neque
cernitur ulli with Servius note.
4
The word is formed on the model of agripeta (cf. Cic. Att. 16, 1, 2), heredipeta (Petron. 124, 2),
lucripeta, etc. and is found only in a lemma on 2, 37; cf. TLL, s.v. 783, 17. There is also the humorous
word laudiceni, formed by Pliny as a play on Laodiceni (epist. 2, 14, 5; see Sherwin-White, ad loc., and
TLL, s.v. laudiceni 1041, 80 ff.).

2SUD

2
3

103

were professional parasites who had made the quest for dinner invitations into an
art,1 spending whole days on the Campus Martius,2 watching for suitable victims,
whose tables they knew to be loaded with food and drink. Their distinctive feature
was greed: when Santra manages to get an invitation, he stuffs his napkin with
food and sells it the day after (7, 20), and Philo, if not invited, does not eat at all.
Their means was largely flattery: the notorious dinner-hunter Selius presents the
reciting Martial with an Effecte! Graviter! Cito! Nequiter! Euge! Beate! (2, 27, 3;
cf. 6, 84) to get a seat at his table,3 as the Sabellus of 9, 19 praises the baths of the
gourmet Ponticus; that they were quite unabashed liars is indicated by the Philomusus of 9, 35. Naturally, the friendship offered by the dinner-hunter was quite
worthless; cf. also 9, 35; 12, 19; 12, 82.
2. fidae pectus amicitiae: cf. Stat. silv. 4, 4, 102 f. almae | pectus amicitiae;4 for
pectus used per periphrasin for homo, see TLL, s.v. 916, 66 f. It is frequently
determined by fidus, for example, Hor. carm. 2, 12, 16; Ov. met. 9, 248; trist. 3, 3,
48; Stat. Theb. 2, 364; silv. 3, 2, 99.
3. Aprum ... ostrea: these delicacies are mentioned, by themselves or in different
combinations, throughout the epigrams as instances of exquisite dishes, for example, 2, 37; 3, 45; 3, 77; 7, 20, 7, 78; 10, 37; 12, 17; 12, 48. They all have their
own distich in Book 13 (boar 13, 93; mullet 79; udder 44; oysters 82).
Aprum: the Romans had a special liking for game, the boar being in a class of
its own; it is also the delicacy mentioned most often by Martial when referring to
dinner-parties, at which it was a must on the table; a skimpy dinner is that at
which a nudus aper, sed et hic minimus is placed before the guests (1, 43, 9), and
the poet is disappointed when, invited to dine on a boar, he is presented with a pig
(8, 22). Delicious boars, of different qualities due to the variation in their feeding,
came from the forests of Lucania (e.g. Hor. sat. 2, 8, 6), Umbria (ibid. 2, 4, 40),
Tuscany (Mart. 7, 27, 1 f.; 12, 14, 9; generosior Umbro Stat. silv. 4, 6, 10) and
from the region of Laurentum on the coast of Latium (9, 48, 5 with note; 10, 45,
4).5
mullos: the red mullet appears in literature from Cicero and Varro. It was
rather small, rarely weighing more than two librae (approx. 0.6 kg; cf. 11, 49, 9
mullus bilibris) but highly esteemed, the best kind having the flavour of an oyster
(Plin. nat. 9, 64). That a mullet of three librae ( 1 kg) was large enough to at1
, on which see O. Ribbeck, Kolax, Eine ethologische
They correspond to the Greek
Studie (Abhandlungen der philologisch-historischen Classe der kniglich Schsischen Gesellschaft der
Wissenschaften 9), Leipzig 1884. The Greek Anthology has a number of epigrams mentioning these
flatterers in the same contemptuous tone as Martial, for example, AP 9, 43, 3; 9, 119; 9, 394, 1; 10, 86; 11,
323; 11, 346.
2
The chief hunting-ground for the dinner-hunters (cf. 2, 14), but they also frequented the baths (12, 19),
and even the public toilets (11, 77).
3
Selius is Martials dinner-hunter par excellence, appearing also in 2, 11; 2, 14; 2, 69, 6.
4
In the passage from Statius, parcus has been suggested for pectus, an emendation which is unnecessary
and rightly rejected by Coleman (p. 157) with reference to this instance.
5
Blmner, Privataltertmer, pp. 175 f.
NOD[SDUVLWRM

104

tract notice if thrown back into the sea appears from 10, 37, 6 f.1 (cf. Hor. sat. 2,
2, 33), and in 10, 31 Calliodorus sells a slave for 200.000 IIS, so that he may for
once be able to dine well on a mullet of 4 librae ( 1.3 kg). A giant mullet weighing 6 librae ( 2 kg) is mentioned by Juvenal (4, 15 f.) and there are even such
fantastic weights as the mullet of 80 librae ( 26 kg), which, according to Plin.
nat. 9, 68, was captured in the Red Sea.
A sign of the high esteem in which the fish was held is the high, even enormous sums paid for big specimens. Seneca (epist. 95, 42) mentions a mullet of
four and a half librae ( 1.5 kg) which was bought for 5000 IIS, the 6-pound
mullet in Iuv. 4, 15 is described as aequantem sane paribus sestertia libris, i.e. its
price was 6000 IIS, and during the reign of Caligula, the consular Asinius Celer is
said to have provoked all spendthrifts by paying 8000 IIS for a mullet (Plin. nat.
9, 67).2
sumen: together with the matrix, the liver and the glandula,3 the sows udder
was considered the most delicious part of the pig. The best udder was that of a
sow slaughtered the day after farrowing, whereas the worst was that of a sow
which had had a miscarriage (Plin. nat. 11, 211).
ostrea: the Romans had early developed a certain taste for oysters, the fishing
for which is mentioned already by Plautus (Rud. 297). In favourable locations,
like the Gulf of Baiae (whence came oysters of high quality; cf. 10, 37, 11; Iuv.
11, 49), certain ponds were constructed for their cultivation, as in the Lacus Lucrinus4 (cf. 3, 60, 3; 6, 11, 5; 12, 48, 4; 13, 82; Hor. epod. 2, 49) and in the Lacus
Avernus (Plin. nat. 32, 61).5
The quality and taste of oysters vary from place to place, but it was generally
agreed that the best were those which were spissa nec saliva sua lubrica, crassitudine potius spectanda quam latitudine, neque in lutosis capta neque in harenosis, sed solido vado, spondylo brevi atque non carnoso, nec fibris laciniosa ac
tota in alvo (Plin. nat. 32, 60). Like the mullet, oysters were a luxurious dish and
commanded high prices; cf. 13, 82, 2 luxuriosa (sc. concha), Lucil. fragm. 448 f.
Krenkel ostrea milibus nummum | empta.
4. amicus erit: see note on 9, 2, 12.

The point is that Maternus, the addressee of the epigram, is supposed to drag it up from the Spanish ocean;
Martial the patriot can see no reason to keep it in those waters there are much bigger specimens.
2
Marquardt, pp. 418 f., Blmner, Privataltertmer, pp. 182 f.
3
It is uncertain which part of the animal is to be understood by the word glandula; see Blmner,
Privataltertmer, p. 174, n. 7.
4
The first pond in this location was built aetate L. Crassi oratoris, ante Marsicum bellum (i.e. before 91
BC) by C. Sergius Orata (Plin. nat. 9, 168).
5
Marquardt, pp. 426 f., Blmner, Privataltertmer, pp. 188 f.

105

15
Inscripsit tumulis septem scelerata virorum
se fecisse Chloe. Quid pote simplicius?
Wife- and husband-murderers are recurring characters in Martial; cf. 4, 69
(Papylus has poisoned four wives); 8, 43 (Fabius and Chrestilla would make a
nice couple, both having murdered their former consorts); 9, 78; 10, 43 (Phileros
has murdered seven wives). Since divorce in Martials day was possible on the
part of both the man and the woman,1 resorting to murder would have been due to
an eagerness for the inheritance; a divorce was not lucrative for either party.2
Thus, the individual who made a habit of remarrying and poisoning the spouse
may be seen as a brutal form of the captator (9, 8 intro.). But marrying for the
purpose of murdering the spouse for the inheritance would have required great
care in the choice of the victim. Failure of the wife to become her husbands appointed heir would result in her getting nothing but her own dowry;3 for want of
appointed heirs, the legacy would go to the spouse (husband or wife) only if there
were no liberi, legitimi or cognati (all terms of a wide significance).4
1. scelerata: an ironical reference to the frequent use of sceleratus of the survivors in funerary inscriptions, for example, CIL 6, 9961 Annius Hilarus et Annia
Helpis mater scelerata ... filio dulcissimo fecerunt; 15160 filiis suis infelicissimis
fecit mater scelerata; 35769 Myseri posuimus hic immaturu parentes
scelerati; 35769; 10, 310; cf. 6, 13353. In these cases, the parents are called
guilty because they still remain among the living and do not follow their children in death; the same usage can be observed regarding impius, crudelis, iniquus,
etc.5 In applying it to Chloe, who is scelerata also in the usual sense of the word,
Martial achieves a brilliant ambiguity.
2. se fecisse: Chloes inscriptions might have read something like d. m. [the
husbands name in the dative] coniugi carissimo Chloe fecit. Naturally, what
Chloe means is that she has built the tombs for her husbands, but Martial, reading
between the lines, hints at a totally different interpretation (not theoretically contradicted by the inscription), viz. that Chloe has taken the lives of her seven hus1

See Kaser, Privatrecht 1, pp. 278 ff. The increase in divorces during the Principate offered a welcome
target for satirists to attack; their targets remarried and divorced indiscriminately; cf. 6, 7; 10, 41; Iuv. 6,
229; see Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 1, pp. 283 ff.; for the possibility of exaggeration on the part of the
sources, see S. Treggiari, Divorce Roman Style: How Easy and how Frequent was it? in B. Rawson (ed.),
Marriage, Divorce, and Children in Ancient Rome, Oxford 1991, pp. 3146. Dissatisfaction with the
marriage and the impossibility of getting a divorce may naturally account for earlier cases of poisoning
within the marriage, in a time when the divorce regulations were more rigorous; in 329 BC., 170 matrons
were found guilty of having poisoned their husbands (Liv. 8, 18; Val. Max. 2, 5, 3); the consul Piso was
poisoned by his wife Quarta Hostilia in 180 (Liv. 40, 37), and in 154 two noble ladies, Publilia and
Licinia, were convicted of having poisoned their husbands, who were both consulars (Liv. perioch. 48); cf.
Marquardt, pp. 66 ff.
2
Kaser, loc. cit., pp. 287 ff.
3
Ibid., p. 289.
4
Ibid., pp. 582 ff.
5
See H. Armini, Till de romerska gravskrifternas fraseologi, Eranos 19 (1920), pp. 50 ff.

106

bands (Chloe did it). A third possibility is that Martial also is alluding to the
signature of the type Apelles faciebat on the work of painters and sculptors;1
Chloe would then be a poisoner, hardened enough even to have signed her work.
Chloe: Martial has two more epigrams aimed at a woman of this name, 3, 53
and 4, 28. Whereas these may perhaps be aimed at the same woman,2 they clearly
have nothing to do with the present Chloe.
Quid pote simplicius: this is the sole occurrence in Martial of the archaic
pote, which is equally rare in contemporary authors; entirely lacking in Lucan,
Silius, Statius and Juvenal, it is found once in Persius and once in Valerius Flaccus. Among the poets of the late republic and the Augustan era, the situation is
much the same: pote is found five times in Catullus and twice in Propertius, while
there are no instances in Vergil, Horace, Tibullus and Ovid. The alternative form
potis (probably the masculine/feminine form corresponding to the neutral pote)
occurs four times in Catullus and three in Vergil, and, among Silver Latin poets,
once in Persius and once in Silius Italicus.
Martials use of the word should probably not be designated as an archaism,3
but regarded as a Catullianism, a direct borrowing from Catullus, in which
metrical considerations presumably also played a part. Probably it was not an
archaism for Catullus either but rather, as in the letters of Cicero,4 a colloquialism.

Or fecit, depending on whether or not the artist considered his work unfinished (as did the great ones) or
not (as did the lesser, cf. Plin. nat. praef. 26 f.); W. Stuart Messer, Martial IX, 15, CJ 36 (1940-41), pp.
226-229. E. Post suggested that there is also a reference to the legal term for condemnation, fecisse videtur
(Selected Epigrams of Martial, Boston 1909, joined by Stuart Messer, op. cit.), but I fail to see what this
would add to the point, Chloe is guilty being equal to the obvious translation of Chloe did it.
2
In 3, 53, Martial expresses his contempt for Chloes whole being: Et voltu poteram tuo carere | et collo
manibusque cruribusque | et mammis natibusque clunibusque, | et, ne singula persequi laborem, | tota
te poteram, Chloe, carere. This may indicate,that her face, neck, hands, legs, bosom, etc. were generally
appreciated by other men. In 4, 28, he reproaches her for giving loads of expensive presents to a young boy
named Lupercus; the combined information of these two epigrams would perhaps suggest a femme fatale
entangling young boys.
3
See Manu Leumanns valuable definition of the word archaism in Die lateinische Dichtersprache,
MH 4 (1947), pp. 116-139. On pp. 125 f., Leumann writes: Ein Wort, das zu Ennius Zeit bereits aus der
lebenden Sprache geschwunden ist, ist ein Archaismus des Ennius. In sptere Dichtung sind Archaismen
meist Ennianismen: Ein sonst verschollenes Wort, das Vergil aus Ennius bernimmt, ist fr Vergil ein
Archaismus oder Ennianismus, ohne fr Ennius schon ein Archaismus gewesen sein zu mssen Ein
Wort, das sptere Dichter aus Vergil bernehmen, ist fr diese nur ein poetisches Wort, ganz gleichgltig,
ob es fr Vergil oder gar fr Ennius ein Archaismus war.
4
For example, Att. 13, 38, 1 hoc quidquam pote inpurius; Hofmann-Szantyr, p. 769.

107

16
Consilium formae, speculum, dulcisque capillos
Pergameo posuit dona sacrata deo
Ille puer tota domino gratissimus aula,
nomine qui signat tempora verna suo.
Felix, quae tali censetur munere tellus!
Nec Ganymedeas mallet habere comas.

The second series of poems in the Earinus cycle deals with the actual offering of
Earinus tresses and may be referred to as the offering series. It comprises two
epigrams, 9, 16 and 17, both very different from those of the name series, not
only regarding the subject, but also in approach. The sexual implication is
strongly defused (present here only in the reference to Ganymede, in 17 totally
abolished) and replaced by a serious and almost religious tone.
In this poem, the reason for the poems on Earinus is at last revealed to the
reader: he has offered his locks and his mirror to the Pergamenic Aesculapius.
What could be inferred from 12, 8 is now explicitly said: of the servants in the
imperial palace, Earinus is the emperors particular favourite. The purpose of line
4, simply restating the idea of 12, 1 and 13, 4, can hardly be to bring etymological
play on Earinus name into this poem as well; the subject would by now seem
rather trite and require a drastically new turn to be taken any further. Nor is Martial driven by an urge to mention Earinus explicitly in each and every one of the
poems in the cycle, since there is no such mention in the following poem. Now it
is reasonable to presume that the Earinus cycle, before it was incorporated into
Book 9, was presented to the emperor and to Earinus as a libellus, containing only
the poems of the cycle (apart from 9, 36; see the introduction to that epigram);1 it
would naturally have been self-evident that all the poems in such a libellus were
written in celebration of the same event. In incorporating the present epigram into
Book 9, with two epigrams separating it from 9, 13, Martial may have felt it necessary to emphasize that this epigram is again about Earinus and, accordingly, he
may have substituted line 4 for a former line to connect the epigram with 9, 13.
Perhaps it is even possible that the entire poem was written only to appear in Book
9, as it provides the reader with some important information which otherwise
might have been unknown to him, thus paving the way for 9, 17, in which the
poet can then allow himself to be less precise and more poetic.

There is a handful of epigrams indicating that Martial presented patrons and friends and even the emperors
with small collections of poems (libelli) both prior to publication and as selections from his published
works. Thus, 12, 4 was written to introduce an abridgement of Books 10 and 11 presented to Nerva, and
the timidam brevemque chartam of 5, 6, 7 may allude to a libellus to Domitian. 1, 44 indicates that
Martial had sent two collections of poems, each containing an epigram from the harelion cycle, to Stella,
and the cycle itself was probably presented to Domitian in the form of a libellus (Weinreich, Studien, pp.
106 f.). In 2, 91, 3 f., the poet mentions festinati libelli sent to Domitian, and in 1, 101, 2, he refers to the
hand of his copyist Demetrius as nota Caesaribus, indicating that Titus also had received such collections
of poems; cf. also 4, 82; 7, 26; 11, 106; 12, praef.; White, Dedication, pp. 44 ff. However, the importance
of such libelli vis--vis the published books should not be overstated; see D. P. Fowler, Martial and the
Book, Ramus 24 (1995), pp. 3158.

108

In the concluding lines, Pergamum is praised as being lucky to receive the offering of Earinus (cf. 9, 20, 3 f.); indeed, it would not rather have the tresses of
Ganymede. But the comparison is not really between the two cupbearers; Pergamum prefers that which comes from Domitian to that which comes from Jupiter
himself.
1. Consilium formae: Earinus offers to Aesculapius his golden mirror, an insignia of his previous life as an imperial eunuch (see the Earinus cycle intro.). The
mirror is represented as Earinus advisor on his beauty (cf. 9, 17, 6); cf. Ov. ars 3,
135 f., where women are exhorted to ask their mirror for advice, speculum consulere, before deciding what ornamentation will suit them best. The TLL, s.v. 453,
19 ff., does not give any exact parallels to consilium used as abstractum pro concreto of a thing in the sense of conciliarius, but there are instances referring to
persons (e.g., Ov. fast. 3, 276 illa [sc. Egeria] Numae coniunx consiliumque fuit;
epist. 17, 267 f.; trist. 4, 2, 31 f. [with Lucks note]). Cf. also the cases in which
things are represented as giving consilium (e.g., Ov. am. 1, 4, 54).
speculum: the mirror dedicated by Earinus was of jewelled gold (cf. Stat. silv.
3, 4, 94). Hand-mirrors (by far the most usual mirror in antiquity) were otherwise
usually made of bronze, which was sometimes covered with silver;1 there were
also mirrors of solid silver.2 The mirror was almost exclusively a womans accessory, used when she made herself up or fixed her hair. It was often one of her
most precious belongings and sometimes was even given as an offering, especially
to Aphrodite,3 but there is also evidence of mirrors being given to Hera, Artemis
and others.4 Real men did not use mirrors, except at the barbers, and the effeminate who did make use of them supplied welcome material to the satirists; cf.
Iuv. 2, 99 f. speculum, pathici gestamen Othonis, | actoris Aurunci spolium.
As a eunuch, Earinus is likely to have adopted such female habits as the use of
the hand-mirror. There is no other evidence of a mirror dedicated to a god instead
of a goddess, and Earinus offering may perhaps be seen as a manifestation of the
eunuchs uncertainty of his sexual identity.5

Cf. Sen. nat. 1, 17, 6.

29 ff.
On the mirror in antiquity, see v. Netoliczka in RE 11, s.v.
3
AP 6, 1 (Plato); 18 and 19 (Iulianus) on the aged Lais, who dedicated her mirror to Aphrodite. Cf.
Philostr. imag. 1, 6, 304 on a shrine, established by the Nymphs for Aphrodite, in which hangs, among
other things, a silver mirror, a gift of the Nymphs.
4
According to Apul. flor. 15, the great temple of Hera on Samos had a donarium deae perquam
opulentum: plurima auri et argenti ratio in lancibus, speculis, poculis et huiuscemodi utensilibus. A
mirror dedicated to Artemis is mentioned in Corpus inscriptionum Atticarum II: 2, 754. In AP 6, 210
(Philetas of Samos) and 211 (Leonidas of Tarentum), two women offer bronze mirrors to Cypris. In both
cases, the mirrors are accompanied by other offerings, among which are womens accessories and locks of
their hair.
5
This uncertainty is apparent, for example, in the poets presentation of the emasculated Attis: in poem 63,
Catullus begins to refer to Attis as a woman immediately after the emasculation, although in 63, 27 he calls
him notha mulier; Kroll, ad loc., compares Ov. Ib. 455 deque viro fias nec femina nec vir, ut Attis; AP 6,
217, 9
.
2

NWRSWURQ

PLJQDLND THM OWULQ

109

2. Pergameo deo: the epithet Pergameus of Aesculapius does not occur nearly
as often as Epidaurius,1 the only literary instances being the present line and
Statius preface to silv. 3 (the variant Pergamenus); there are also some occurrences in inscriptions, for example, IG IV 1262 (from the Asklepieion of Epidaurus)
; ILS 3854 (from Sarmizegetusa)
Aescul. Pergam. | et Hygiae | sacrum | C. Spedius Hermias | flamen col. sarm. |
pos.2

$UQM 0L>V  _
$VNOKSLR _ 3HUJDPKQR

posuit: dedicated; cf. Sen. suas. 5, 2, haec ego tropaea dis posui; OLD, s.v.
pono 8 c.
3. tota gratissimus aula: strictly grammatically, the ablative RMR w ?SJ is an
ablativus loci in adnominal position to the superlative gratissimus; cf. 7, 64, 1
tota notissimus urbe. The construction is relatively unusual but occurs a number
of times in Ovid (am. 2, 11, 55 caelo nitidissimus alto; ars 2, 561 toto notissima
caelo; met. 4, 664 caelo clarissimus alto; 9, 47 toto nitidissima saltu; 14, 696 tota
notissima Cypro; trist. 1, 3, 71 caelo nitidissimus alto).3
Aula may signify the imperial palace (as in 9, 11, 8) but may also be taken as a
metonymy for the servants of the imperial household, as in Hor. carm. 1, 29, 7
puer ex aula; TLL, s.v. 1458, 13 f. Such an interpretation lends a strong partitive connotation to the ablative, approximating it to the equally rare construction
involving de with the ablative for the partitive genitive (thus, Ov. epist. 18, 37 de
rapidis inmansuetissime ventis; met. 3, 623 f.; 5, 431; 12, 586 [with Bmer]; 13,
529).
4. nomine etc.: cf. 9, 11, 2; 12, 1; 13, 4.
5. censetur: is renowned; cf. 1, 61, 3 censetur Aponi Livio suo tellus; 8, 6, 9 Hi
duo longaevo censentur Nestore fundi; TLL, s.v. 789, 28 ff.
munere: of gifts to the gods, cf. TLL, s.v. 1666, 50 ff. Catullus (66, 38) applies
it to the lock vowed by Berenice for the safe return of her husband Ptolemy III
from the invasion of Syria.
6. Ganymedeas: for Earinus and Ganymede, see 9, 11, 7 note.

Cf. Cic. nat. 3, 83; Hor. sat. 1, 3, 27; Prop. 2, 1, 61; Ov. met. 15, 723; Pont. 1, 3, 21. This is due to the
earlier status of the shrine at Epidaurus as the centre of the cult of Aesculapius (Plin. nat. 29, 72). It was
from Epidaurus that the god was fetched to Rome to combat the plague in about 293 BC (cf. Ov. met. 15,
622 ff. with Bmer, pp. 417 ff.).
2
, Philologus 88 (1933), p. 98, n. 41.
See H. Hepding,
3
Bmer on met. 9, 47, Adnominale Stellung eines Abl. locat. (toto saltu) zu einem Superlativ (im ganzen
Walde der schnste) ist ungewhnlich; nur entfernt vergleichbar sind Stellen wie IV 89 niveis uberrima
pomis und adnominale Verwendungen praepositionaler Begriffe wie V 587 sine vertice aquae, is thus
misleading.
C5RXIdQLRQ s$OVRM

110

17
Latonae venerande nepos, qui mitibus herbis
Parcarum exoras pensa brevesque colos,
hos tibi laudatos domino, rata vota, capillos
ille tuus Latia misit ab urbe puer;
addidit et nitidum sacratis crinibus orbem,
quo felix facies iudice tuta fuit.
Tu iuvenale decus serva, ne pulchrior ille
in longa fuerit quam breviore coma.

The concluding poem of the Earinus cycle is by far the most elevated and religious
in its tone and is completely lacking in any kind of sexual innuendo. Its opening
has the features of a hymn to Aesculapius, beginning with a vocative, clearly
resembling and probably influenced by the first line of Horaces hymn to Mercury
(carm. 1, 10) Mercuri, facunde nepos Atlantis. There is no mention of the gods
name; instead, Martial invokes Aesculapius by an allusion to his ancestry,1 followed by a relative clause relating the gods powers, corresponding to Horaces
carm. 1, 10, 2-4 qui feros cultus hominum recentum | voce formasti catus et
decorae | more palaestrae.2 The following four lines, opening with a demonstrative pronoun and describing the gifts of Earinus, break off the traditional form of
the hymn and suggest a dedicatory inscription; Martial uses the same device in 1,
31, 1 f. (on the hair-offering of Encolpos) hos tibi, Phoebe, vovet totos a vertice
crines | Encolpos, domini centurionis amor; see Citroni ad loc. The hymnal character is taken up again in line 7, a concluding prayer, missing in Horace but occurring, for example, in the conclusion of Catullus hymn to Diana (carm. 34,
21-24) sis quocumque tibi placet | sancta nomine, Romulique, | antique ut
solitas, bona | sospites ope gentem. The prayer in this poem does not necessarily
express a wish of Earinus, but is rather a stock prayer for continuing youth. The
same theme is to be found also in 1, 31 and 5, 48, where the poet asks Apollo to
retain Encolpos youthful beauty, although his locks have been newly shorn, and
in 7, 29, where Martial expresses the wish that Thestylus may remain positis
formosus capillis.3
The epigrams in AP 6 involving offerings of hair by youths, although usually
less elaborated than the present epigram, generally display the same arrangement
(invocation, dedication, prayer).4 Regarding the concluding prayer, though, there
is usually an acceptance of the fact that the donor is growing older, and the prayer
is not for eternal youth as much as for a long and happy life (cf., e.g., AP 6, 198;
278; 279), even though wishes for youth occur, for example, in AP 6, 76
(Agathias Scholasticus).
1
As in Horace, such mentions of ancestry usually stand in apposition to the gods name (cf., e.g., Catull.
34, 5 O Latonia maximi magna progenies Iovis). E. Norden, Agnostos theos, Leipzig and Berlin 1913, p.
148, gives instances from Greek as well as Latin.
2
Cf., e.g., Lucr. 1, 2 ff. alma Venus, caeli subter labentia signa | quae mare navigerum, quae terras
frugiferentis | concelebras; Norden, op. cit., pp. 168 ff.
3
Note that in Statius poem, the prayer at the end (silv. 3, 4, 99-106) is for eternal, youthful beauty and a
long life for Domitian.
4
See Schmoock, pp. 33 ff.

111

1. Latonae nepos: Aesculapius is called the descendant of Latona as the son

of the mortal Coronis and Apollo, son of Latona.1 The same reference is found in
Stat. Theb. 1, 577 sidereum Latonae nepotem, but is otherwise unusual;
Bruchmann (Epitheta s.v.
, p. 52) gives only one instance from Greek
(Hesiod fragm. 51
), to which add AP, app. 4, 29, 2 and 52, 2, where
Aesculapius is invoked as
, son of Letos child.

$VNOKSLM

/KWRdGKM

/KWRdGRX SDj

mitibus herbis: lenient herbs (cf. Ser. med. 633 sanguine mite columbae;
Paneg. 4, 9, 2 mitior medicina; TLL, s.v. mitis 1158, 56 ff.). The discovery of the
use of herbs in medicine was made by Apollo and Aesculapius (according to Pythagoras: Plin. nat. 25, 13); cf. Ov. Pont. 1, 3, 21.
The same ending is found in 9, 71, 5; cf. Ov. met. 14, 690.
2. Parcarum exoras pensa: as the god of healing, Aesculapius is said to be able
to avert death. Pensum is, strictly speaking, the quantity of wool which a slave
was supposed to spin in one day,2 but it is often used with reference to the term of
life allotted to each human by the Fates; cf. 4, 54, 9; 4, 73, 3; 7, 96, 4; 9, 76, 7;
TLL, s.v. pendo 1048, 43 ff.
brevesque colos: colus, literally distaff, is used here de ipso fato; cf. Sen.
Herc. f. 559 Parcarumque colos non revocabiles; TLL, s.v. 1744, 63 ff. Martial
also has the accusative plural of the 4th declination in 7, 47, 8 raptas colus.
3. laudatos: cf. Stat. silv. 3, 4, 6 Accipe laudatos, iuvenis Phoebeie, crines.
Laudatos may simply mean that the locks are generally praised for their beauty,
but perhaps there is a notion of their having been praised in verse, i.e. versibus
laudatos (cf. 9, 19, 1 Laudas balnea versibus trecentis; 11, 80, 3 f.; TLL, s.v.
1043, 53 ff.
domino: predicative attribute to be taken with tibi. Aesculapius is Earinus
dominus, as Earinus is his puer (line 4); perhaps the terms are used here because
Earinus may have considered Aesculapius his patron-god (see the Earinus cycle
intro.).
rata vota: due offerings, cf. Ov. Ib. 97 nulla mora est in me: peragam rata
vota sacerdos. Friedlnder (1, 31 intro.) suggested that these words imply that
such boys often vowed their locks to a god.
4. Latia urbe: the circumlocution of Latia urbs for Rome is not found in the
poets of the late republic or the Augustan era but appears to be a Silver Latin
phenomenon; cf. 6, 58, 9; 10, 96, 2; 12, 60, 4; 12, 62, 8; Stat. silv. 1, 4, 95; Val.
1
Nisbet & Hubbard (on Hor. carm. 1, 10, 1) point out that nepos has none of the prosaic note of English
grandson and give Ov. fast. 5, 663 Clare nepos Atlantis and Claud. Rapt. Pros. 1, 89 Atlantis Tegeaee
nepos as comparable instances.
2
Blmner, Technologie, p. 122.

112

Fl. 1, 21. Cf. Ausonia urbs first used by Ovid Pont. 3, 2, 101; 4, 8, 86; then Lucan.
7, 33; Mart. epigr. 4, 5; Stat. silv. 4, 8, 20. The same two epithets are also used
alternately of the Appian Way (see 9, 64, 2 and 9, 101, 2 with notes).
5. nitidum orbem: Earinus mirror; cf. 9, 16, 1. For orbis as a metonymy of a
mirror (perhaps a Grecism1), see also Sen. nat. 1, 17, 6; epist. 86, 6; cf. TLL, s.v.
907, 75 ff.
Nitidum may perhaps suggest that the mirror was of high quality, plain and
highly polished, so as to avoid distortion and give as accurate a reflection as possible of the viewer (cf. note on tuta below). That mirrors in antiquity were often
deficient in this respect appears from the famous passage in the first letter of Paul
to the Corinthians (Cor. 1, 13, 12)
'
,
(videmus nunc per speculum in
aenigmate: tunc autem facie ad faciem), which seems to imply that antique mirrors often gave an unclear and distorted view of the objects reflected in them; cf.
AP 6, 210 (Philetas of Samos), where a certain Nicias is said to have offered to
Cypris, among other things, her bronze mirror, which did not lack accuracy
(
6, 210, 3 f.).
EOySRPHQ

DcQdJPDWL

WWH

G|

SUVZSRQ

SUM

JU

UWL

GL

xVSWURX

xQ

SUVZSRQ

WQ G| GLDXJ _ FDONQ NULEHdKM RN SROHLSPHQRQ

6. quo iudice: the only instance of a mirror being called the judge of someones beauty. Concrete objects are, on the whole, rarely referred to as iudices; for
abstract things, cf., e.g., Cic. Phil. 5, 50 res publica, Liv. 21, 10, 9 eventus belli,
Sen. dial. 6, 4, 4 fama; see TLL, s.v. 603, 11 ff. Note, however, that the mirror is
referred to as consilium formae in 9, 16, 1.
felix facies: for felix in the sense of beautiful of things which are a delight to
the eye, the ear, etc., cf. 9, 44, 2; Hor. carm. 4, 13, 21 f. felix post Cinaram notaque et artium | gratarum facies; Stat. silv. 5, 1, 54 et felix species multumque
optanda maritis. I find it difficult to join Garthwaite (Court Poets, pp. 79 f.) in his
assumption that the word felix includes an ironical notion of fertility, alluding to
the contrast between the significance of his name and his actual physical state.
tuta: safe from adverse judgement; cf. Prop. 2, 13, 14 nam domina iudice tutus ero; Ov. trist. 5, 11, 22 tuta suo iudice causa mea est. Earinus safety depends
on the high quality of his mirror (see note on nitidum orbem above).
7. iuvenale decus: juvenile beauty, which largely consisted in his intonsi
capilli; cf. Ov. met. 1, 564 meum intonsis caput est iuvenale capillis with
Bmers note. The juncture is found only here, but cf. Stat. silv. 2, 1, 155 puerile
decus; 2, 6, 38 femineum.

So Schmoock, p. 35, with reference to AP 6, 18, 6 (Iulianus), where there is a similar use of

GdVNRM

113

18
Est mihi sitque precor longum te praeside, Caesar
rus minimum, parvi sunt et in urbe lares.
Sed de valle brevi, quas det sitientibus hortis,
curva laboratas antlia tollit aquas:
sicca domus queritur nullo se rore foveri,
5
cum mihi vicino Marcia fonte sonet.
Quam dederis nostris, Auguste, penatibus undam,
Castalis haec nobis aut Iovis imber erit.
At the time of the publication of Book 9, Martial possessed a small house on the
Quirinal in Rome (cf. 9, 97, 8; 10, 58, 10; 11, 1, 91) and had, at least since the
early eighties, a small farm at Nomentum (2, 38, 1; 6, 43; 7, 31; 93; 9, 54; 10, 44;
58; 92; 94; 12, 57; 13, 15; 42), 20 km north-west of Rome, at the modern Castali.
Seneca had an estate in the same location (see epist. 104, 1; 110, 1), and it seems
likely that Martial received his estate as a gift from Seneca himself or, more
probably, from his heirs.2 The location of his urban domus on the Quirinal appears
from 10, 58, 10 and 11, 1, 9, and it was further specified by C. H. Hlsen
(Jahresbericht ber neue Funde und Forschungen zur Topographie der Stadt
Rom 18891890, MDAI [R] 6 [1891], p. 121) as being between the Via Rasella
and the Via del Tritone, west of the Via delle Quattro Fontane. Previously, Martial had rented an apartment ad Pirum, likewise on the Quirinal (1, 108, 3), making it dubious whether 5, 22, 3 (Tiburtinae sum proximus accola pilae) and 6, 27,
1 f. (tu [sc. Nepos] quoque proxima Florae | incolis et veteres tu quoque Ficelias)
refer to the domus or to the cenacula. The lack of mention of a domus among
Martials possessions in 8, 61 may perhaps indicate that he had just moved in in
mid-94.3
In this epigram, Martial makes a request to the emperor for a steady supply of
water, presumably not for both the estate and the domus, as suggested by
Friedlnder (on 9, 18, 7), but only for the latter.4 The arguments in favour of
Friedlnders suggestion are virtually non-existent (the plural penatibus in line 7
and the fact that Statius had recently received a supply of water to his estate at
Alba5), and there are, moreover, several objections to it: (1) Lines 34 clearly
show that there was a water-supply at Nomentum, if not from an aqueduct. (2) At
1

Perhaps there are earlier references to the domus; cf. Citroni, p. 330 and 357, and Howell, pp. 349 f.
See Sullivan, Martial, p. 4, n. 8. For Martials relations to the Annaean family, ibid., p. 3.
See Citroni on 1, 108, 3, and Howell on 1, 117, 6 and 5, 22, 4.
4
Cf. Forbes, Studies 1, p. 170: The emperor could grant any syndicate or person (even for life) the right to
tap the mains for his own use, but generally the aquarii who were in charge of each castellum delivered
water to customers and charged them according to the only standard known then, a nozzle or ajutage,
taking the maximum throughput per day of such a nozzle as a basis for their calculations. The nozzle
(calix) was inserted into a conduit or reservoir; service pipes were attached to it, which led the water to the
house of the receiver (Frontin. aq. 36, 3).
5
At Alba, some 20 km south of Rome on the Via Appia (cf. silv. 3, 1, 61 ff), Statius was the neighbour of
the emperor himself, who had his favourite villa in the same location. As the imperial villa comprised
aqueducts, reservoirs and baths (Jones, Domitian, pp. 96 ff.), it would have been natural for Statius to turn
to Domitian for water, and a small thing for the emperor to grant his request. The villa of Statius may
originally have belonged to his father (see Hardie, pp. 12 f.).
2
3

114

Nomentum, unlike Alba, there were no imperial holdings, only the villa of the
Senecas (if it was still in their possession at this time). If there was indeed a
shortage, it would have been more natural to turn to them for water than to the
emperor. (3) From the references in Book 13 (above), it appears that Martial possessed his Nomentan estate already in the December of 83 or 84. If there was no
water-supply at Nomentum, this would have been the situation for at least ten
years, before the thought of making a request for one crossed Martials mind. (4)
Martial frequently mentions the shortcomings of his estate: it lacked fire wood
(13, 15), the land was not fertile (10, 58, 9), it produced no livestock (7, 31, 8)
and the fruits were poor (10, 94, 4), but nowhere is there a mention of a water
shortage. Now these complaints need not be taken too seriously; in 7, 31, for example, the poet says that there are no chickens at Nomentum, whereas in 9, 54, he
sends Nomentan chickens to Flaccus (cf. note on 9, 54, 11), and in 7, 49 eggs and
apples to Severus. Thus, there would have been water at Nomentum, at least as
much as was needed to satisfy Martials needs; he obviously had no ambition as a
farmer.
Still, the granting of water to Statius Alban estate may have acted as a stimulus to Martial to ask for water to be supplied to his city-house, a comparatively
small favour, especially since his house was situated near the Aqua Marcia. This
may also explain the sed at the beginning of line 3, and the epigram may be summarized thus: I have a small estate in the country and a tiny habitation in the
city. But, in the country, I have water (there is no need for Domitian to get upset;
Martials petition is not for the favour granted to Statius); my city-house, on the
other hand, is dry (a small thing as compared with a dry estate in the country).
1. Est mihi sitque precor: cf. 1, 108, 1 Est tibi sitque precor multos crescatque
per annos | pulchra quidem, verum transtiberina domus (sc. of Gallus). The
opening of the hexameter with a monosyllabic word followed by mihi or tibi is a
favourite especially of Propertius and Ovid; cf., e.g., Prop. 1, 20, 5; Ov. epist. 4,
163;1 with parenthetical sitque precor also Ov. epist. 1, 111; fast. 6, 219; trist. 1,
10, 1; Epiced. Drusi. 471. Citroni (on 1, 108, 1) suggests that it is derived from a
common augural formula, remodelled by Ovid into a poetic expression and then
adopted by Martial, who also made the emphatic addition multos crescatque per
annos. In this case, though the words are different, the content of Martials addition is exactly the same.
longum: as an adverb in the sense of diu, also 1, 31, 7; 8, 38, 15. Longum in
this sense first appears in Plautus (Epid. 376 nimis longum loquor; 665; Pers. 167;
Pseud. 687) and is taken up by Vergil (ecl. 3, 79; Aen. 10, 740); cf. Hor. ars 459,2
Ovid. met. 5, 65; particularly frequent in Statius (e.g., Theb. 2, 269; 707; silv. 1,
3, 13; 1, 4, 15; 2, 3, 72; 3, 2, 58); cf. TLL, s.v. 1643, 34 ff.

Cf. Hbner, Das Epicedion Drusi, Hermes 13 (1878), p. 180.

See Brink, Hor. ars, ad loc. Hofmann-Szantyr, 45 d, p. 40, take no account of the occurrences in
Vergil.

115

te praeside: thus of Titus epigr. 2, 11; of Domitian also 6, 2, 5; 8, 80, 5; of

Nerva 11, 2, 6.
4. curva antlia: an antlia was a mechanism used for raising water (cf. Gr.
, draw water) to be used in irrigation (Gr.
, for irrigation,
see LSJ, s.v.), apparently in the shape of a wheel with bailers attached to it. Its
function appears from Anth. 284 (De antlia): Fundit et haurit aquas, pendentes
evomit undas, | et fluvium vomitura bibit. Mirabile factum! | Portat aquas, portatur aquis. Sic unda per undas | volvitur et veteres haurit nova machina lymphas. From this epigram, it is obvious that the antlia was placed in a river and set
in motion by the current (that it was not driven by hand is indicated by lines 2 f.),
thus lifting up the water with shovel-like blades and presumably emptying the
shovels into some kind of furrow. The present epigram and Anth. 284 are the only
sources for the antlia and its use in agriculture; Suetonius mention of a man in
antliam condemnatus (Tib. 51) probably refers to a treadmill (cf. Mau in RE 1,
s.v.
2565).
QWOyZ

QWOKWLNM

$QWOdD

laboratas: used transitively in the sense of troubled, afflicted (perhaps put

to work), viz. by the wheel (cf. above Anth. 284, 3); note the spondees underlining the content. This use of laboratus is very rare and is presumably suggested by
labor in the sense of trouble, pain; cf. Stat. Theb. 1, 341 grata laboratae
referens (sc. Somnus) oblivia vitae; Val. Fl. 5, 224 f. Scythica senior iam Solis in
urbe | fata laborati Phrixus compleverat aevi.
A transitive use of laboro can be observed also in Verg. Aen. 1, 639 arte laboratae vestes (with Austin); 8, 181 dona laboratae Cereris; Hor. epod. 5, 59, f.
quale non perfectius | meae laborarint manus; Stat. Theb. 10, 579 laboratasque
premunt ad pectora ceras (with Williams); silv. 3, 2, 143 quaeve laboratas
claudat mihi pagina Thebas. However, such instances are not directly comparable
to the present, since they rather seem to convey a sense of carefully elaborate
(cf. elaboro) or laboriously obtain.
5. foveri: refresh; cf., e.g., Plin. epist. 5, 6, 20 aqua platanos et subiecta
platanis leni aspergine fovet; TLL, s.v. 1220, 33 ff.
6. mihi sonet: i.e. mihi obstrepat, rushes in my ears.
Marcia: the Aqua Marcia (also mentioned in 6, 42, 18; 11, 96, 1), built in
144140 BC by Q. Marcius Rex. It ran for about 90 km from the springs to the
city, supplying 194,635 m3 of water in twenty-four hours. The terminal castellum
was just inside the Porta Collina, north-east of the Quirinal, but, as indicated by
the present poem, it also ran to the Quirinal itself.1
fonte: used of flowing water also, for example, in Lucan. 3, 235; Stat. Ach. 1,
180; see TLL, s.v. 1024, 38 ff.

Platner & Ashby, pp. 24 ff.

116

7. nostris penatibus: simply my house; there is nothing in the plural to

indicate that Martial means both his Nomentan villa and his house in Rome; cf.,
e.g., Cic. Quinct. 83 at hic quidem iam de fundo expulsus, iam a suis dis penatibus praeceps eiectus; Ovid. Fast. 4, 531 illa soporiferum, parvos initura penates;
TLL, s.v. 1026, 73 ff.
8. Castalis: cf. 7, 22, 4 Castaliae aquae; 12, 2, 13 Fons Castalius. The form
Castalis (also 4, 14, 1; 7, 12, 10) for the usual Castalius is a Grecism formed on
(cf. Theocrit. 7, 148) and appears only in Martial.
Castalia is a (still extant) well at Delphi at the foot of Mt. Parnassus, sacred to
Apollo and the Muses; cf. 4, 14, 1 Castalidum sororum; 7, 12, 10 Castaliumque gregem; Theocrit. 7, 148
; Hor. carm. 3, 4, 61 f.
(Apollo) rore puro Castaliae lavit | crinis solutos; Ov. am. 1, 15, 35 f. mihi flavus
Apollo | pocula Castalia plena ministret aqua; Bmer on Ov. met. 3, 14. Its water
was sweet to drink and pleasant to bathe in (Pausan. 10, 8, 9), and was also used
for religious purification (e.g., Eur. Phoen. 220 ff.; Ov. met. 1, 369 ff.).
From the beginning of the Principate, the Latin poets use the adjective
Castalius not only of things directly related to the well, but of all things connected
with Delphi and Apollo (e.g. Prop. 3, 3, 13 C. arbore; Tibull. 3, 1, 16 C. umbram;
Sen. Oed. 709 C. nemus; Stat. Theb. 7, 96, C. altaribus) or even of poetical activity; thus, 8, 66, 5 Castaliam domum of the house of Silius Italicus.
.DVWDOdM

1PIDL

.DVWDOdGHM

Iovis imber: the water supplied by Domitian will be as dear as the rain of
Jupiter. Coupled with the Castalian well, Iovis imber must obviously signify something more than ordinary rain. Perhaps there is an allusion to
referring to the life-giving rain of Zeus (Hom. Od. 9, 111; 9, 358) or to the golden rain
in which Jupiter approached Dana. Otherwise, Iovis imber (as
; cf.
Hom. Il. 5, 91; 11, 493; 12, 286) is usually brought in connection with tempests;
cf., e.g., Hor. epod. 2, 29; Stat. silv. 1, 6, 25 ff. ducat nubila Iuppiter per orbem |
et latis pluvias minetur agris, | dum nostri Iovis hi ferantur imbres (where the rain
of sweets which Domitian let fall on the spectators in the amphitheatre is contrasted with the rain of Jupiter).
'LM

PEURM

'LM

PEURM

19
Laudas balnea versibus trecentis
cenantis bene Pontici, Sabelle.
Vis cenare, Sabelle, non lavari.
The cenipeta Sabellus celebrates the baths of the gourmet Ponticus in countless
verses; but he does not want to bathe, he wants to dine. For the cenipetae and
their methods, see 9, 14 intro. It may be noted, if only as a curiosity, that both
Martial himself and Statius, presumably in 90, had written poems on the baths of
the wealthy Claudius Etruscus (6, 42 and silv. 1, 5), the poem of Statius comprising 65 verses and written intra moram cenae (silv. 1 praef.), probably a party to
117

inaugurate the baths. Even though there may have been quarrels between Martial
and Statius in 94,1 it is unlikely that this epigram would have been aimed at Statius; an allusion to the baths of Etruscus would have had little effect four years
after the event, and Statius poem, being short even for a Silva, cannot really be
said to contain innumerable verses. Moreover, Martial is likely to have been
present at the same party himself, and 6, 42 (comprising 24 verses, long for an
epigram) would have been written under similar circumstances.2
1. trecentis: as an indeterminately large number, also 2, 1, 1; 3, 22, 1; 3, 93, 1; 4,
61, 11; 7, 48, 1; 11, 35, 1; 12, 70, 7. The expression is frequent in Catullus (9, 2;
11, 18; 12, 10; 48, 3) and occurs also in Tibullus (1, 4, 69), Vergil (e.g., Aen. 8,
716), Horace (carm. 2, 14, 5; 3, 4, 79; sat. 1, 5, 12; 2, 3, 116) and Silius (7, 56).3
2. cenantis bene: the bona cena is to Martial a mere display of the wealth of
mean patrons (3, 12; 4, 68; cf. 9, 2 intro.) and those dining well are presented as
dewy-eyed victims of shrewd captatores (9, 14). To make a show of being a
gourmet, Papylus, while dining himself on lizard-fish and beans, sends luxurious
dishes as presents (7, 78), and the Calliodorus of 10, 31 sells a slave in order to be
able to buy a large mullet (cf. 9, 14, 3), so as to be able for once to bene cenare.
But, to Martial, this it not to dine well, since Calliodorus in fact eats a man, not
a fish; a similar reflection on the meaning of bene cenare is made by Cicero fin.
2, 24 f., arguing that a gourmet may indeed dine pleasantly (libenter), but never
well (bene), as long as the principal dish is not a bonus sermo; cf. also Hor. epist.
1, 6, 56 ff.
Pontici: Martial mostly attaches this name to bad patrons (2, 32; 3, 60; 4, 85;
perhaps also 5, 63) or masters (2, 82); the Ponticus of 9, 41, 1 is the only one
criticized for sexual perversion.
Sabelle: used in 7, 85 of a poet who has problems in writing at length but is
witty and elegant in his short pieces. Also of a sodomite in 3, 98; 6, 33; of a lawyer in 4, 46; of a dandy in 12, 39; of a man with a predilection for obscene verse
in 12, 43; and of a severe patron in 12, 60, 7.

See Henriksn, Martial und Statius, pp. 111 ff.

Cf. White, Friends, p. 277; Henriksn, op. cit., pp. 94 ff.
3
See E. Wlfflin, Sescenti, mille, centum, trecenti als unbestimmte und runde Zahlen, ALL 9, pp. 188 ff.
2

118

20
Haec, quae tota patet tegiturque et marmore et auro,
infantis domini conscia terra fuit,
felix o, quantis sonuit vagitibus et quas
vidit reptantis sustinuitque manus:
hic steterat veneranda domus, quae praestitit orbi
5
quod Rhodos astrifero, quod pia Creta polo.
Curetes texere Iovem crepitantibus armis,
semiviri poterant qualia ferre Phryges:
at te protexit superum pater, et tibi, Caesar,
pro iaculo et parma fulmen et aegis erat.
10
In this epigram, the second of the Templum gentis Flaviae cycle, the ground on
which the Flavian temple stands is praised as being lucky in having witnessed the
infancy of the future emperor Domitian and seen and sustained as tender the
hands which were to become the magnae manus of a divine monarch. It is compared to Rhodes and Crete, the one probably as the birth place of the Sun, the
other certainly as that of Jupiter. But whereas the infant Jupiter was protected by
the Curetes beating their shields with their spears, Domitian was under the protection of the thunderbolt and aegis of Jupiter himself.
For the Templum gentis Flaviae, see the introduction to 9, 1.
1. patet: probably implies that the area surrounding the temple has been cleared
of buildings. The ground on which the house of Vespasian stood has become a
temple-court, a temenos.
tegiturque et marmore et auro: for gold and marble as the typical materials
for lavish temples, cf. Prop. 2, 31, 1 f. (on the inauguration of the temple of
Apollo on the Palatine) aurea Phoebi | porticus; ibid. 9 claro ... marmore templum; for the idea of the earth being concealed or hidden by the marble, cf. Ov.
medic. 7 f. Auro sublimia tecta linuntur, | nigra sub imposito marmore terra latet;
met. 8, 699 ff. illa vetus dominis etiam casa parva duobus | vertitur in templum:
furcas subiere columnae, | stramina flavescunt aurataque tecta videntur |
caelataeque fores adopertaque marmore tellus; 11, 359 f. (with Bmer); 15, 672.
2. infantis domini conscia: with verbal force, witnessed our lord as a child; the
construction is of the ab urbe condita type with an adjective (see 9, 1, 3 note),
infantis thus being equal to infantiae. This may account for the genitive of the
person, which is rare with conscius in this sense, mostly appearing with inanimate
attributes (cf. TLL, s.v. 371, 49 ff.).
domini: to the Romans of the republic, the word dominus had been odious,
like anything that reminded them of autocracy. But, during the early empire,
through oriental influence, dominus came to be used in daily life as a civil form of
address, not only by freedmen towards their former masters, but among the freeborn towards their official or social superiors. Seneca (epist. 3, 1) relates that
119

people used to address those whose names they had forgotten as dominus. Martial
himself used it so often that he would even return a slaves greeting with domine1
(cf. 5, 57). Thus, Martials single address of Domitian as domine in the preface of
Book 8 is not a sign of excessive flattery of a despot; even Pliny on no less than 70
occasions in Book 10 of his Epistulae addresses Trajan (who was careful about not
appearing as an absolute monarch) as domine. It seems clear that dominus in the
vocative had lost most of its semantic content.
More conspicuous are the many references in the third person to Domitian as
dominus, which may have played a part in paving the way for the more daring,
and more rarely used, dominus et deus (which appears a couple of years later; see
note on 9, 66, 3). Still, being on different levels, the two should not, I think, be
discussed in immediate connection with one another,2 dominus being to some
degree established in contemporary social language, while dominus et deus would
incontestably be the title of a divine autocrat. Suetonius himself obviously did not
find Domitians delight in being called dominus quite as repulsive as his use of
dominus et deus (Dom. 13, 12).
Even though the early empire shows sporadic instances of dominus in the third
person from the private sphere (Seneca, for example, refers to his brother as dominus meus Gallio in epist. 104, 1), the emperors generally avoided it (even
though Caligula demanded to be thus addressed; see Svennung, op. cit., p. 343).
But in Martial and Statius, it is quite frequently used as a kind of title of
Domitian. As Sauter (p. 34) pointed out, the instances of dominus with a genitive
attribute (like terrarum dominus in 7, 5, 5) should not be taken into account as
being equivalent to expressions like parens orbis etc. But this still leaves a number of instances in which dominus is used absolutely,3 as in Martial 2, 92, 4; 4, 67,
4; 5, 2, 6; 5, 5, 3; 6, 64, 14; 7, 12, 1; 8, 1, 1; 8, 31, 3; 8, 82, 2; 9, 20, 2; 9, 23, 3; 9,
24, 6;4 in Statius silv. 3, 3, 103; 3, 3, 110; 4 praef.; 5, 1, 42; 5, 1, 74; 5, 1, 94; 5,
1, 112; 5, 1, 261. Clearly, both Martial and Statius were initially more cautious in
referring to Domitian as dominus; they were, of course, aware of the negative
connotation of the word. Martial never used it of Nerva or Trajan and also had
second thoughts about his having applied it to Domitian; of Trajan, he says non
est hic dominus sed imperator (10, 72, 8).5 In Statius, the first instance appears in
1

This is usually taken as referring to the greeting as domine of someone whose name one had forgotten or
as an indication that the original notion of lord was completely lost; see M. Bang, ber den Gebrauch
der Anrede domine in Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 4, p. 86; J. Svennung, Anredeformen, Lund 1958, p.
342; Howells introduction to 5, 57. But if dominus was so faint as to retain nothing of its original
meaning, it would hardly have been very startling when used of the emperor. Perhaps in 5, 57 Martial
means to express his weariness of the clients constant greeting of the patron as dominus (a custom of which
he complains elsewhere; cf. 1, 112; 2, 68) , which for Martials part, as the everlasting client, had now
resulted in his unintentionally greeting everybody as dominus.
2
As done by Scott, pp. 102112; Sauter, pp. 3140, is more strict on this point, though not as much as
would be desired.
3
The instances in which a slavemaster relationship is apparent should not be taken into consideration here;
this is the case in the poems to Earinus (Mart. 9, 16, 3; Stat. silv. 3, 4, 35; 3, 4, 101) and Latinus (Mart. 9,
28, 7).
4
In some of these instances, Martial may be using dominus of the emperor as his patron, as would any
client.
5
Martials statement in line 3 of that poem, dicturus dominum deumque non sum, refer to his having
called Domitian dominus et deus, which implies going much further than calling the emperor dominus and
is thus not immediately comparable.

120

silv. 3. Previously, he had been anxious to point out that Domitian forbade the
people to call him dominus when they saluted him thus in the amphitheatre (silv.
1, 6, 83 f.). Both poets use dominus contemptuously (= tyrant) of Nero; thus,
Mart. epigr. 2, 12; Stat. silv. 2, 7, 61 (cf. Plin. epist. 4, 11, 5 dominus tyrannus of
Domitian).
But even if Statius at the beginning was more restrained than Martial, in time
he gave way to this form of flattery. The reason for this was presumably that
Domitian, to begin with, wanted, like Augustus and Tiberius before him, to be
considered princeps and not dominus. Rather early, in 8687 (as indicated by
Mart. 2, 92), it became apparent that, though he did not encourage it, Domitian
still did not decline and even liked to be called dominus.1 The poets, Statius
somewhat more guardedly than Martial, naturally complied with his wish. But
there are no signs of Domitians prescribing that he should be addressed as dominus.
3 f. quas ... manus: of the hands of the emperor 4, 30, 5 (manus) qua nihil est in
orbe maius; 6, 1, 5 magnas Caesaris manus (with Grewing); cf. 4, 1, 6 manus
tantas; 4, 8, 10 ingenti ... manu. Sauter, p. 104, derives the usage from the
as the helping and healing hand of a god, but it rather seems to be an epithet
suggesting power and strength; cf. of Jupiter Hor. carm. 3, 3, 6 fulminantis magna
manus Iovis; Ov. met 1, 595 f. caelestia magna | sceptra manu teneo; of Mars Sil.
9, 488, etc. See also Ov. met. 14, 8 inde manu magna Tyrrhena per aequora vectus, in which manu magna is explained by Bmer as adverbial formelhaft und
terminologisch im Bereich bermenschlicher Wesen (cf. Verg. Aen. 3, 624; 5,
241).
FHgU

THR

5. veneranda domus: the house is venerable as the birthplace of Domitian; cf.

1, 70, 5 veneranda Palatia (as the site of the imperial palace, cf. Citroni, ad
loc.); 9, 101, 1 venerandus Caesar of Domitian himself. The word naturally
belongs in the religious vocabulary; cf. 7, 60, 1, of Jupiter; 9, 17, 1, of Aesculapius; 12, 2, 7, of the temple of Divus Augustus on the Palatine (see Scott, pp. 99
f.).
6. Rhodos: mentioned here as the birthplace of the Sun; cf. Cic. nat. deor. 3, 54.
The suggestion was first made by Housman,2 rightly refusing Friedlnders suggestion (accepted by Sauter, p. 66) that the god alluded to would be Neptune, who
was brought up on Rhodes by the Telchines (Diod. 5, 55). To Housmans argument, that Neptune has no particular connection with astrifer polus, it may be
added that Domitian is in fact nowhere compared to Neptune; indeed, Martial
never mentions Neptune at all. On the other hand, previous emperors had been
likened to the Sun (Housman compares Manil. 4, 756 f.; Buc. Eins. 1, 27; AP 9,
178), and an important argument, though unknown to Housman, is that there is
further evidence that Domitian was also in fact compared to the Sun (see 9, 1, 9;
1

Cf. Suet. Dom. 13, 1 Adclamari etiam in amphitheatro epuli die libenter audiit: domino et dominae
feliciter!. Sauter (p. 32) over-interprets these lines when he states that Domitian den Titel dominus sowie
den Doppeltitel dominus et deus ausdrcklich fr sich beanspruchte.
2
Housman, Notes, p. 75 (= Class. pap., p. 989).

121

9, 24, 3; 9, 34, 5; and the introduction, p. 32). Presumably, the mention of Rhodes
would have made the reader think of the Sun also because of the celebrated colossus of the Sun-god, considered to be one of the wonders of the world. Toppled by
an earthquake in 224 BC, its enormous fragments still excited wonder in the time
of Pliny. In silv. 1, 1, 103 f., Statius implies that Rhodes would prefer the equestrian statue of Domitian to the colossus of Helios (Phoebus): tua sidereas imitantia
flammas | lumina contempto mallet Rhodos aspera Phoebo
Scott (p. 139) made the suggestion that the god meant would perhaps be Neptune but might also be Minerva, unfortunately without offering any evidence in
favour of the latter.1 A reference to Minerva, the patron goddess of Domitian,
obviously seems very attractive, but nevertheless has to be disregarded. While her
connection with Rhodes is guaranteed by the great temple at Lindos, there is nothing to suggest that she would actually have been considered to have been born or
brought up on the island, although Zeus let a golden snow-shower fall on the
Rhodians on her birth (see Pind. Ol. 7, 33 ff.; Philostr. imag. 2, 27; AP 8, 220, 1;
cf. PrellerRobert 1, pp. 190 f.).
astrifero polo: polus here in the proper sense of the word; the juncture is
singular.
pia Creta: Crete was considered the birthplace of Jupiter,2 and is commonly
referred to as such in poetry, for example, Verg. Aen. 3, 104 Creta Iovis magni;
Ov. am. 3, 10, 20 Crete nutrito terra superba Iove; epist. 4, 163 Iovis insula,
Crete; met. 8, 99 Iovis incunabula, Creten; cf. also note on 9, 34, 1.
7. Curetes crepitantibus armis: in order to save him from the fate of his
brothers and sisters, who had all been devoured by their father Kronos, Rhea took
the infant Jupiter away and placed him under the protection of the Curetes, Cretan
semi-deities or daemons. The divine child was hidden in a cave, and the Curetes
drowned his cries by clashing their lances against their shields; cf. Lucr. 2, 633
ff.; Verg. georg. 4, 151 f.; Ov. fast. 4, 207 f.3
The juncture crepitantia arma is Ovidian; cf. met. 1, 143; 15, 783.
8. semiviri Phryges: the Curetes were not castrates, nor had they any connection with Phrygia. However, from Phrygia originated the Corybantes, who, like
the Curetes, were semi-deities or daemons and were frequently confused with
them. The cult of the Corybantes was ecstatic, involving orgiastic dancing, shouting and also self-castration,4 features which at an early stage brought them into
connection with Cybele. Through this connection, they became known to the
Romans (cf., e.g., 1, 70, 9 f.), who also inherited their confusion with the Curetes.

1
Scott is joined by Garthwaite, Court Poets, p. 48, n. 56, who, while offering no other evidence than that
Minerva was supposed to have been born on Rhodes, states that the mention of the aegis in line 10 (see
below) makes a reference to the goddess almost certain.
2
See Ziegler in Roscher 6, s.v. Zeus 578 ff.
3
Schwenn in RE 11, s.v. Kureten 2206 f.; Immisch in Roscher 2, s.v. Kureten und Korybanten 1593 ff.
4
Schwenn in RE 11 Korybanten, 1442.

122

This confusion was very old, and the ancients themselves were not sure
whether the names Curetes and Corybantes (or, indeed, the Cabeires, Dactyli and
Telchines) in fact alluded to the same beings or whether they really designated
different semi-gods of similar character, brought into connection by a common
feature, such as the weapon-dance. I quote here the definition given by Immisch, op. cit., p. 1594: Kureten wie Korybanten sind von Haus aus halbgttlichdmonische Wesen, nicht nur menschliche Priester oder deren mytische Vertreter.
Die Kureten unterschieden sich von den Korybanten so, dass diese ursprnglich
nach Asien, jene nach Kreta, diese zu Kybele, jene zu Rhea und Zeus gehren, bei
diesen ndlich gemss ihrer barbarischen Herkunft das orchestisch-entusiastische,
zugleich aber auch mytische Element des Kultus von Anfang an mit weniger
Mass und Zurckhaltung vorwaltet als bei jenen.
When the Corybantes are not, as here, presented as wholly identical with the
Curetes, they are mentioned alongside them as the protectors of the infant Jupiter;
cf. Ov. fast. 4, 209 f. pars clipeos sudibus, galeas pars tundit inanes: | hoc Curetes habent, hoc Corybantes opus (see Bmer, ad loc.).
poterant qualia ferre: with a concessive sense, but it was such weapons as
half-men could bear to carry, as opposed to the fulmen and aegis of Jupiter. For
the prosody, cf. Prop. 3, 8, 30.
10. iaculo et parma: the weapons of the Curetes are unsophisticated and humble,
the light iaculum and the parma, a shield such as may be used by jugglers like
Agathinus in 9, 38 (cf. note on 9, 38, 2). The contrast with the mighty thunderbolt
and the aegis of Jupiter is sharp.
fulmen et aegis: the mention of the aegis does not indicate that Martial means
both Jupiter and Minerva; for Jupiter wielding the aegis, cf. Verg. Aen. 8, 352 ff.;
Val. Fl. 4, 520 f. fulmina ... aegidaque ... gerens; Sil. 12, 719 ff. Sed enim aspice,
quantus | aegida commoveat nimbos flammasque vomentem | Iuppiter et quantis
pascat ferus ignibus iras.
The contrast between the crepitantia arma and the real divine power of Jupiter
may remind the reader of Vergils description of Salmoneus attempt to initiate
thunder and lightning, as opposed to Jupiters bolt with all its force: demens, qui
nimbos et non imitabile fulmen | aere et cornipedum pulsu simularet equorum. |
At pater omnipotens densa inter nubila telum | contorsit, non ille faces nec fumea
taedis | lumina, praecipitemque immani turbine adegit (Aen. 6, 590 ff.).

123

21
Artemidorus habet puerum, sed vendidit agrum;
agrum pro puero Calliodorus habet.
Dic, uter ex istis melius rem gesserit, Aucte:
Artemidorus arat, Calliodorus arat.
There are two other epigrams in Martial on a person who has sold an estate and
bought catamites for the money; thus 12, 16 Addixti, Labiene, tres agellos; |
emisti, Labiene, tres cinaedos: | pedicas, Labiene, tres agellos; 12, 33 Ut pueros
emeret Labienus vendidit hortos. | Nil nisi ficetum nunc Labienus habet. A similar idea is found also in 10, 31: Calliodorus has sold a slave to buy a large mullet;
consequently, he eats a man.
1. Artemidorus: a common Greek name (see Pape, s.v.), appearing also in 5, 40,
of an unsuccessful painter, in 6, 77, 3, of an athlete, and in 8, 58, of a person
(perhaps the same as in 6, 77; see Howell on 5, 40, 1) who may be called Sagaris
because of his thick cloak (cf. sagum, thick military cloak). Here, the name is
naturally fictitious, and there is nothing to suggest a connection with any of the
former.
is used only by
2. Calliodorus: the Latin transcription of the Greek
Martial, and in various satirical contexts; thus 5, 38; 6, 44; 10, 11 and 10, 31 (see
above).1 Howell (on 5, 38, 1) suggests that Martials fondness for the name is due
to its convenient scansion.
.DOOdGZURM

3. ex istis: almost exclusively (the one exception being 2, 28, 5) placed immediately before the penthemimeresis of the hexameter or the caesura of the pentameter; cf. 1, 76, 4; 9, 22, 15; Ciris 431; Ov. am. 3, 2, 35; epist. 11, 104; fast. 2, 386;
6, 215; Pont. 1, 3, 38; 4, 14, 6; Epiced. Drusi 244.
Aucte: an Auctus appears in three other epigrams, and there is no reason to
suppose that they do not all refer to the same person, viz. the Pomponius Auctus
of 7, 51. As appears from the latter, Auctus was an admirer of Martials who
apparently knew his poems by heart (cf. 7, 51, 6 Non lector meus hic, Urbice, sed
liber est); in 7, 52, the poet thanks him for reading his poems to a certain Celer.
In 12, 13, as here, Auctus is simply the addressee of the epigram, but it would
seem likely that the mention of him in these two poems was Martials way of
expressing his gratitude for Auctus unsolicited services to him.
4. arat1: Gaselees emendation of the amat of the MSS to arat should be accepted2
with reference to Martials predilection for ambiguous puns (see 9, 6 intro.). For
aro in the sense of futuo and ager etc. as a paraphrase for cunnus or culus, cf.
1
is equally rare in Greek; no instances are given in Pape, s.v. (his reference to its
The name
occurring in Plaut. Pseud. is erroneous). There are two instances in P. M. Fraser & E. Matthews (eds.), A
Lexicon of Greek Personal Names, vol. 1, Oxford 1987, s.v.
2
S. Gaselee, Martial IX. 21, CR 35 (1921), pp. 104 f.
.DOOdGZURM

124

Plaut. Asin. 874 fundum alienum arat, incultum familiarem deserit; Truc. 149 f.
Non arvos hic, sed pascuost ager: si arationes | habiturus, qui arari solent, ad
pueros ire meliust; Merc. 356 arare mavelim, quam sic amare; Anth. 712, 17
arentque sulcos molles arvo Venerio (see Adams, pp. 24 and 154). This also provides the epigram with the same kind of paradox as is found in 12, 16, 3 pedicas
agellos and 10, 31, 6 hominem comes (see the introduction above).

22
Credis ob haec me, Pastor, opes fortasse rogare,
propter quae vulgus crassaque turba rogat,
ut Setina meos consumat glaeba ligones
et sonet innumera compede Tuscus ager;
ut Mauri Libycis centum stent dentibus orbes
et crepet in nostris aurea lamna toris,
nec labris nisi magna meis crystalla terantur
et faciant nigras nostra Falerna nives;
ut canusinatus nostro Syrus assere sudet
et mea sit culto sella cliente frequens;
aestuet ut nostro madidus conviva ministro,
quem permutatum nec Ganymede velis;
ut lutulenta linat Tyrias mihi mula lacernas
et Massyla meum virga gubernet equum.
Est nihil ex istis: superos et sidera testor.
Ergo quid? Ut donem, Pastor, et aedificem.

10

15

Martial criticizes the greed of the people, the vulgus crassaque turba, who want
riches for no other purpose than to be able to live in the lap of luxury. The refusal
of extravagance is in line with Martials own Epicurean view of life, reflected in
some of his poems to Iulius Martialis (1, 15; 5, 20; 10, 47; see 9, 97, 1 note), in
which he extols convictus facilis, sine arte mensa; | nox non ebria, sed soluta
curis; (10, 47, 8 f.). He does not despise wealth but prefers that which is non parta
labore, sed relicta (ibid. 3) or, as here, given to him. In this poem, however, Martial states that he asks for money (as he does, for example, of Domitian in 6, 10),
not to enable him to lead a quiet life, but to act as the model of the good patron, to
be able both to build and to give; this should be considered in the light of 9, 46, in
which Gellius spends all his fortune on expensive building while giving nothing
to needy friends; see the introduction to that epigram. For greedy patrons, see 9, 2
intro.
1. Pastor: suggested by Giese (see Friedlnder, ad loc.) as being identical with the
Iunius Pastor, whom Pliny in his youth had defended in court contra potentissimos civitatis atque etiam Caesaris (sc. Domitiani) amicos (epist. 1, 18, 3). There
is no other mention of him by Martial; cf. also Stein in RE 10, s.v. Iunius 117,
1074.
125

2. vulgus crassaque turba: naturally to be taken in malam partem, accentuated by

crassus in the sense of stultus, rusticus, etc. (TLL, s.v. 1105, 46 ff.). Vulgus and
turba are used together in this sense also in Cic. fam. 7, 1, 3 Extremus elephantorum dies fuit. In quo admiratio magna vulgi atque turbae; and Sen. dial. 10, 1,
1 turba et inprudens vulgus. Shackleton Bailey prints the reading of populus
for the vulgus of .
E

3. Setina glaeba: for Setian wine, see 9, 2, 5 note.

ligones: The ligo, a mattock with a broad, inward-curving iron blade, served
various purposes in ancient agriculture. The reference here is to its use in hilly
regions, where it was used in place of the plough; cf. 4, 64, 32; 9, 57, 7; Iuv. 11,
89 erectum domito referens a monte ligonem.1
4. innumera compede: according to Columella, the slaves employed in vineyards (vinitores) should be cleverer than those working in the fields. However,
being smarter, they were also more unrestrained and inclined to escape, for which
reason they mostly worked in fetters (Colum. 1, 9, 4 f.). As qualified workers, the
vinitores easily got employment elsewhere, if they escaped; there were even professional slave-catchers, fugitivarii, who for a high price and under suspicious
circumstances transferred the vinitores from one master to another; see D. Flach,
Rmische Agrargeschichte, Munich 1990, p. 170.
Tuscus ager: the wine of Etruria was generally considered of poorer quality
(Marquardt, p. 436), but Martial does not seem to have had anything against it.
He mentions it again in 9, 57, 7 (without any hint as to its quality), and in 13,
118, he compares it to the wine of Tarraco, which, according to Pliny (nat. 14,
71), could compete with the very best Italian wines. In 1, 26, 5 ff., it is mentioned
as inferior to an Opimian vintage, but as the year of Opimius consulship (121
BC) produced the best vintage ever, the reference is not necessarily negative.
5. Mauri Libycis ... dentibus orbes: luxurious table-leaves of citrus-wood on feet
of ivory; cf. 2, 43, 9; 9, 59, 10; 10, 98, 6; 12, 66, 6; 14, 89; 14, 91, 2; Cic. Verr. II
4, 37; Lucan. 10, 144 f.; Stat. silv. 3, 3, 94; 4, 2, 38 f. (with Coleman); Apul. met.
2, 19. They are referred to as Mauri (Libyci 2, 43, 9; 14, 91, 2; Atlantica munera
14, 89, 1; Maurusiaci 12, 66, 6; Massyla robora Stat. silv. 3, 3, 94; robora
Maurorum Stat. silv. 4, 2, 39) because Mauritania had a particularly large supply
of citrus-trees, the most celebrated being those provided by Mt. Ancorarius in
Mauretania Citerior, although they were already exhausted in Plinys day (nat. 13,
95). Table-leaves were made from an excrescence on the root, and fetched enormous prices (cf. 14, 89, 2). Cicero possessed a table for which he had paid
500,000 IIS, and nearly three times as much, 1,300,000 IIS, had been paid for a

For the ligo and its various types, see K. D. White, Agricultural Implements of the Roman World,
Cambridge 1967, pp. 36 ff.

126

table belonging to the Cethegan family; see Plin. nat. 13, 91 ff.; Marquardt, p.
702; Blmner, Privataltertmer, pp. 124 ff.
Ivory is commonly referred to as the tooth of the elephant; thus 2, 43, 9 Indis
... dentibus; 5, 37, 5 pecudis Indicae dentem; 7, 13, 2 antiqui dentis ebur; 10,
98, 6 Indicos ... dentes; 13, 100 dentis Erythraei; 14, 3 Libyci ... dentis; 14, 91
lem. dentes eborei, although opinions varied as to whether it really was a tooth or
a horn; cf. epigr. 19, 3 cornuta mole (sc. elephante); 1, 72, 4 Indico ... cornu;
Plin. nat. 7, 7.
6. aurea lamna: the bed is covered with sheets of gold, probably on a wooden
frame; such covering could be thin enough to be scraped off with the nail; cf. 8,
33, 5 f. derasa ... ungue ministri | brattea, de fulcro quam reor esse tuo. Seneca
mentions beds of gold (aurei lecti) as an instance of superabundance in epist. 110,
12 and 17, 12, but it is uncertain whether this refers to beds covered with gold or
to beds of solid gold as a mere exaggeration for literary effect. Golden beds are
otherwise mentioned as elements of Eastern luxury; thus Plaut. Stich. 377; Cic.
Tusc. 5, 61; Curt. 9, 7, 15; Suet. Iul. 49, 3; Flor. epit. 1, 40, 28. For beds with
silver coverings, see Plin. nat. 33, 146; Suet. Cal. 32, 2; cf. Marquardt, p. 301;
Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 118.
7. labris meis terantur: wear out with my lips. For tero indicating constant use, cf. 8, 3, 4 teritur noster ubique liber; 11, 3, 4 a rigido teritur centurione
liber.
magna crystalla: Martial often mentions crystal vessels, crystalla or crystallina (cf. 1, 53, 6; 3, 82, 25; 8, 77, 5; 9, 73, 5; 10, 14, 5; 10, 66, 5; 14, 111), but
it is sometimes difficult to tell whether he is referring to genuine rock-crystal or to
crystal glass; the latter would be the case at least in 9, 59, 13 (see note ad loc.)
and 12, 74, 1, although it seems reasonable to assume that at least the fictitious
references are to rock-crystal, the prices of crystal glass in Martials day having
fallen, owing to mass production (Forbes, Studies 5, p. 171).
Vessels of genuine rock-crystal were much sought after, especially those with
no defects in the material, the so- called vasa acenteta (Plin. nat. 37, 28); cf.
Apul. met. 12, 19 crustallum inpunctum. They were very fragile, which was also
the reason for their costliness (Sen. benef. 7, 9, 3) Breaking such a vessel would
have been a slaves utmost fear; Seneca relates an episode which occurred when
Augustus was dining in the house of Vedius Pollio (dial. 5, 40, 2): Fregerat unus
ex servis eius crustallinum; rapi eum Vedius iussit ne vulgari quidem more periturum: murenis obici iubebatur, quas ingentis in piscina continebat (cf. 14, 111).
They also serve as stock examples of unnecessary luxury in epist. 119, 3 and 123,
7; see also Marquardt, p. 743; Blmner, Privataltertmer, pp. 408 f.
8. faciant nigras Falerna nives: because of its dark colour, Martial frequently
refers to the Falernian as nigrum; thus 8, 55, 14; 77, 5; 11, 8, 7; 49, 7; cf. 2, 40, 6
fusca Falerna. The wine frequently appears in the works of the poets and particularly often in Martial, who mentions it twenty-six times, whereas the Caecubum

127

and Setinum are mentioned seven times each, the Sabinum but once (see Heraeus
Index nominum).
On the Falernian wine, see, above all, Plin. nat. 14, 62 f. It was grown on the
Ager Falernus in Campania, the estate producing the finest wine being that of L.
Cornelius Sulla Faustus (son of the dictator), situated six miles east of Sinuessa,
north-east of Capua. However, Pliny reckoned the Falernian of his day a secondclass wine, culpa copiae potius quam bonitati studentium (but, as he himself
acknowledges, it is a matter of taste which wine each man considers the best; nat.
14, 59). There were three varieties of Falernian, one dry (austerum), one sweet
(dulce) and one light (tenue), whereas some discerned three vintages according to
the place of growth, Caucinian growing on the tops of the hills, Faustian half-way
up, and Falernian at the bottom.
For the practice of straining the wine through a colander containing snow, see
note on 9, 2, 5 dominae ... liquantur.
9. canusinatus ... Syrus: a Syrian dressed in Canusian wool; the adjective canusinatus is found only here and in Suet. Nero 30 canusinatis mulionibus. The
carriers of the sedan (lecticarii), commonly Syrians (see note on 9, 2, 11), wore a
livery, probably a paenula (cf. Sen. benef. 3, 28, 5), a heavy, water-repellent cloak
for outdoor use. In Book 14, Martial has two distichs on Canusinae (14, 127 C.
fuscae; 129 C. rufae), both probably referring to paenulae; see Leary ad locc.;
Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 448.
Canusium in Apulia was famous for working and dyeing the high-quality
Apulian wool, which was the best available (Plin. nat. 8, 190);1 cf. 8, 28, 1 ff.;
Varro ling. 9, 39; Iuv. 6, 150 (with Courtney); Mau in RE 3, s.v. Canusium 1501;
Marquardt, p. 459; Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 237.
assere: the pole used for carrying the sedan, here probably collective singular;
cf. Iuv. 7, 131 longo ... assere with Courtneys note. The poles were placed on the
carriers shoulders, and the sedan was hung on them with plaited straps (cf. 2, 57,
6), short enough to keep the person travelling in the sedan above those who
walked (Iuv. 1, 158 f. qui dedit ergo tribus patruis aconita, vehatur | pensilibus
plumis atque illinc despiciat nos?); Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 447.
10. culto sella cliente frequens: after the salutatio, at which the client was not
allowed to enter before his patron unless properly dressed in the toga (hence culto;
see 9, 49, intro.), he was expected to accompany his patron to the forum, clearing
his way through the crowd; thus, clients are sometimes referred to as anteambulones (a word found only in Martial and Suet. Vesp. 2, 2); cf. 2, 18, 5; 2, 74; 3, 7,
2; 3, 46, 4 f.; 10, 74, 3. The patron was carried in a sedan, here a sella, in which
the person carried sat upright; cf. 2, 57, 6; 3, 36, 4; 9, 100, 3; 10, 10, 7; Blmner,
Privataltertmer, p. 445.

See also Mau in RE 3, s.v. Canusium 1501; Marquardt, p. 459; Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 237.

128

11. conviva ministro: for dinner-guests lusting after the attending servants, see 9,
25 intro. (the same ending in 9, 25, 9). For vini ministri as concubines, see the
Earinus cycle, intro.
12. Ganymede: for the comparison of young boys to Ganymede, a notable feature
of the Earinus cycle, see 9, 11, 7 note.
13. lutulena linat mihi mula lacernas: note the alliteration, underlining the
contents; cf. HofmannSzantyr, p. 713.
Tyrias lacernas: the lacerna was an open cloak with fringes, thrown over
the shoulders, hanging down over the loins and held together with a clasp on the
chest or on the shoulder. It was probably brought to Rome from the Orient in the
first century BC and was worn at first exclusively by soldiers; the lacerna was,
however, soon adopted by civilians, which caused the conservative Augustus to
forbid its use in the Forum (Suet. Aug. 40). It nevertheless gained in popularity,
and, in Martials day, it appears to have been commonly worn over the toga as
protection (cf. 8, 28, 22; 12, 26, 11); see Lange in RE 12, s.v. Lacerna 327 ff.
Given its protective function, the lacerna was usually made of coarse material
(cf. 1, 96, 4; 7, 86, 8; 8, 58), but there were also more fashionable designs made of
less durable materials (6, 59, 5 f.), plain white (14, 135) or dyed with purple (14,
131), the former for use at spectacles, perhaps to match the toga made compulsory
by Domitian (see Leary on 14, 135, 2). Disregarding the decree, some still appeared in scarlet (5, 23, 5 f.) or even black lacernae (4, 2, 2). Apart from these,
there were natural-coloured lacernae (14, 1331), amethyst-coloured (2, 57, 2 f.),
greenish-yellow (5, 23, 1 with Howells note) and lacernae interwoven with gold
(Iuv. 10, 212), but the height of luxury were those dyed with Tyrian purple (see,
apart from the instances above, 2, 29, 3; 2, 43, 7; 5, 8, 5 and 11; 10, 87, 10; 13,
87; 14, 133, 2). Such a cloak would change hands for 10,000 IIS (4, 61, 4 f.; 8,
10). To Seneca, such cloaks were mere objects of display, worn by those who
would do nothing that might pass unnoticed (epist. 114, 21).
On Tyrian purple, see note on 9, 62, 4.
14. Massyla virga gubernet equum: alluding to Massylian outriders, employed by the rich when travelling, to make way for the company; they formed
part of a showy display which also included precursors (the so-called cursores),
and an often overburdened baggage train carrying costly services, sometimes
statues and even mosaic floors.2 The outriders seem in general to have been Africans dressed in magnificent garments; cf. 10, 6, 7 picti tunica Nilotide Mauri; 10,
14, 2 Libys ... eques; 12, 24, 6. Seneca was naturally upset by this luxurious and
ostentatious way of travelling (see epist. 87, 9; 123, 7).
Like the Numidians and other neighbouring nations, the Massylians were
skilled horsemen, who did not use reins or saddles when riding, but only riding1
The natural colour of the lacernae Baeticae mentioned in 14, 133 would be a reddish brown, owing to
the colour of the fleece of the Baetic sheep (see Leary, ad loc.).
2
See Blmner, p. 466, Marquardt, pp. 147 f.

129

whips (cf. Lucan. 4, 682 f.).1 Massylus, like Libycus (cf. 9, 1, 6), could denote
Africans in general (for example, Stat. Theb. 11, 27 Massyla per arva with Veninis note), but in this case, it may well be taken in its proper sense.
15. superos et sidera testor: a solemn oath and a reminiscence of Vergil, who is
the first Latin poet to let his characters swear by the gods and the stars or to take
them as witnesses; thus Aen. 3, 599 f. (Achaemenides) per sidera testor, | per
superos atque hoc caeli spirabile lumen; 4, 519 f. (Dido) testatur moritura deos et
conscia fati | sidera; 6, 458 f. (Aeneas) per sidera iuro, | per superos et si qua
fides tellure sub ima est; cf. 9, 429; 12, 197 ff.; then Lucan. 8, 728 ad superos
obscuraque sidera fatur; cf. 9, 522; Stat. silv. 1, 4, 117 f. ardua testor | sidera
teque, pater vatum Thymbraee; cf. Theb. 10, 360; 12, 393; Val. Fl. 7, 498 ff.

23
O cui virgineo flavescere contigit auro,
dic, ubi Palladium sit tibi, Care, decus.
Aspicis en domini fulgentes marmore vultus?
Venit ad has ultro nostra corona comas.
Albanae livere potest pia quercus olivae,
cinxerit invictum quod prior illa caput.

Like 9, 24, this epigram is addressed to Carus, the winner at one of Domitians
Alban games (in 94?), but the chief aim of both poems is really to flatter the emperor with the description of the miraculous behaviour of Carus prize, the golden
olive-wreath, when faced with a bust of Domitian. Carus had the bust on display
in his home, and Martial would presumably have seen it on a visit; on its head
rested the golden olive-wreath, inviting an aetiological poem on its choice of
resting-place: it has flown thither of its own accord, the olive of Minerva being
drawn to the head of her protg Domitian (cf. note on 9, 3, 10 res agit tuas).
Thus, the oak (as awarded the winner at the Capitoline contest) must envy the
olive, since the latter has been the first to encircle the head of Domitian. The oakwreath, of course, represents Jupiter, just as eager as Minerva to mark his favour
to Domitian; but, as Carus gained the victory at Alba, not yet having been victorious in the Capitoline games, he has given Minerva the advantage.
With the olive representing Minerva, the alleged behaviour of the wreath is
not immediately comparable to those instances in which, typically, animals are
affected by the numen of the divine emperor (like the goose of 9, 31, for example);
whereas the animals act directly under the influence of the emperors numen, the
olive-wreath of Carus would have been placed on Domitians bust by Minerva
herself or at least flown to the bust, not so much because it felt the divinity of the

See Schwabe in RE 14, s.v. Massyli 2166.

130

emperor as because her attributes, like the goddess herself, lovingly tend her
ward.1
Domitians Alban games, the Quinquatria Minervae, are known primarily
from Suet. Dom. 4, 4: the games, consisting of hunting spectacles, scenic performances and contests in oratory and poetry, were held annually in honour of
Minerva at Domitians villa at Alba2 and were overseen by supervisors elected by
lot from the members of a college of priests formed by Domitian. Dio Cassius (67,
1, 2) says that the games were held almost every year (
,
suggesting that there may have been intermissions) at the
, i.e. the
Quinquatrus, the official feast in honour of Minerva celebrated between the 19th
and the 23rd of March.3
Martial mentions or alludes to the Alban games in five epigrams, twice outside
Book 9. The first reference is 4, 1, 5 f. Hic (sc. Domitianus) colat Albano
Tritonida multus in auro | perque manus tantas plurima quercus eat, where the
Alban gold certainly alludes to the golden olive-wreath; the epigram thus marks
the terminus ante quem for the institution of the games, which accordingly must
have occurred before the publication of Book 4 at the turn of the year 8889. In 5,
1, 1, Martial mentions Alba as Palladia, probably with reference to the festival
(but perhaps also to the Palladium brought by the Trojans to Alba Longa; see
Howell ad loc.). Apart from the present poem and the following, there is also a
mention of the wreath in 9, 35, 9. Statius, who had himself been victorious in the
Alban games of March 90,4 mentions the games four times with regard to his
victory (silv. 3, 5, 28 ff.; 4, 2, 63 ff.; 4, 5, 22 ff.; 5, 3, 227 ff.). Besides Suetonius
and Dio, the sole reference to the Alban games later than Martial and Statius is
Iuv. 4, 99 ff. mentioning the venationes; the games apparently came to an end
with the assassination of their founder.5
NDW

{WRM

HcSHjQ

3DQDTQDLD

1. O cui: cf. 4, 54, 1 f. (of the winner at the Capitoline games Collinus) O cui
Tarpeias licuit contingere quercus | et meritas prima cingere fronde comas. The
address with o cui appears for the first time in Verg. georg. 1, 12 f. (of Neptune)
tuque o, cui ... frementem | fudit equum; then Ov. met. 7, 164; 15, 39; Sil. 13, 8;
Stat. Theb. 6, 180. O qui in Catull. 24, 1; o quicumque in Verg. Aen. 8, 122.6

1
Weinreich (Studien, p. 137) considers the wreath as acting under the influence of Minerva: Domitian,
der Verehrer Minervas, hatte ja den alljhrlichen Dichterwettstreit in seinem Albanum eingesetzt, und so
huldigt nun der dem siegreichen Dichter verliehene Kranz ultro dem Stifter des Agons, der ein Liebling der
Gttin ist. Scott (p. 123) seems exclusively to consider the influence of the imperial numen (the crown
felt the divine power of the monarch).
2
The building, which was probably designed by Rabirius, comprised a theatre as well as a circus (Jones,
Domitian, p. 97).
3
Jones, Domitian, p. 100; cf. Hentschel in RE 24, s.v. Quinquatrus 1149 ff.; Mooney on Suet. Dom. 4, 4,
p. 527.
4
See Coleman, pp. xvii f. The prize-winning poem was about Domitians actions against the Chatti in 89
and his campaign against the Dacians of the same year (the First Pannonian War); see Coleman on silv. 4,
2, 667.
5
So Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 2, p. 230.
6
O qui also in Verg. Aen. 1, 229; Hor. carm. 1, 26; 3, 26, 9; Ov. rem. 557; met. 8, 855; trist. 4, 4, 1; Val.
Fl. 1, 194; 5, 235; Stat. Theb. 10, 762; o quicumque also in Ov. met. 4, 114; Manil. 3, 36; Val. Fl. 4, 674;
Stat. Theb. 5, 20.

131

virgineo flavescere contigit auro: the golden olive-wreath; cf. 4, 1, 5 Albano

... auro; Stat. silv. 3, 5, 29 sancto ... Caesaris auro; 4, 2, 67 Palladio ... auro. The
colour of gold is flavus (cf. 9, 61, 3), because of which things with golden ornamentation are said to flavescere; cf. Ov. met. 8, 701 stramina flavescunt aurataque tecta videntur with Bmers note; TLL, s.v. flavesco 887, 20 ff.
Virgineus of things pertinent to Minerva appears, apart from this instance,
only in Verg. Aen. 2, 168 virgineas ... vittas (of the Palladium) and Val. Fl. 5,
646 virgineas Cecropis arces; OLD, s.v. 2 c. Later Claud. 8, 36 virgineum
Tritona.
For the ending contigit auro, cf. Ov. epist. 3, 59; met. 15, 416; 15, 497; Iuv. 5,
164.
2. Dic, ubi: at the beginning of the hexameter also 4, 66, 17; 7, 73, 5; Ov. met. 8,
861; Lucan. 9, 123.
Palladium decus: again, the olive-wreath; cf. Stat. silv. 4, 2, 67 (cited
above); Ov. ars 1, 727 Palladiae coronae (of the prize at the Olympic games);
Palladius of the olive also Verg. georg. 2, 181; Moret. 113; Ov. met. 8, 275 (with
Bmer); Stat. Theb. 5, 417; 6, 575; Sil. 1, 238; 3, 405.
Cf. decus of laurel wreaths in Ov. trist. 3, 1, 46 aeternum ... decus; Pont. 2, 8,
25 decus indelebile; of the corona navalis Sen. benef. 3, 32, 4; decus of a diadem
Ov. met. 9, 690; Sen. Herc. f. 252; Ag. 8; Thy. 701; Stat. Theb. 11, 161 (with
Venini).
Care: this Carus is otherwise unknown, nor is there anything to indicate in
what event he took part. Friedlnders identification of him with an alleged Carus
of 7, 74, 7 and 9, 54, 5 cannot be accepted; in 7, 74, Carpo should be read (with
; see Heraeus apparatus); for 9, 54, 5, see note ad loc.

3. Aspicis en: cf. Ov. met. 13, 264; Pont. 4, 7, 3.

domini: for Domitian as dominus, see note on 9, 20, 2 domini.
fulgentes marmore vultus: fulgere of the lustre of marble statues, cf. 1, 70, 6
plurima qua (sc. sacro clivo) summi fulget imago ducis; 6, 13, 4 placido fulget
vivus in ore decor; Octavia 795; TLL, s.v. fulgeo 1509, 72 ff. The ending is a
reminiscence (appearing also in 8, 24, 5) of the famous prophecy of Anchises in
Verg. Aen. 6, 847 f. excudent alii spirantia mollius aera | credo equidem, vivos
ducent de marmore vultus.
5. Albanae olivae: metonymy for the wreath, cf. 9, 35, 9; Verg. Aen. 5, 309
flava caput nectentur oliva; Hor. carm. 1, 7, 7 decerptam fronti praeponere
olivam; TLL, s.v. oliva 565, 55 ff.
pia quercus: the oak-wreath awarded the winner in the Capitoline games; see
note on 9, 3, 8.

132

livere: to envy (cf. TLL, s.v. 1544, 20 ff.), with the dative on the analogy of
invideo, cf. Khner-Stegmann 1, 76, p. 310. Perhaps there is also a play on the
basic meaning to be dark blue, alluding to the colour of an olive: the oak envies
the olive and turns dark blue, imitating the colour of its fruits in the hope of getting the same advantages.
6. invictum caput: for the epithet invictus, see note on 9, 1, 10 invicta ... manus.

24
Quis Palatinos imitatus imagine vultus
Phidiacum Latio marmore vicit ebur?
Haec mundi facies, haec sunt Iovis ora sereni:
sic tonat ille deus, cum sine nube tonat.
Non solam tribuit Pallas tibi, Care, coronam;
effigiem domini, quam colis, illa dedit.

Continuing the theme of 9, 23, this epigram praises Carus bust of Domitian, on
which he had placed the olive-wreath of Alba. Although made of simple Latin
marble, in the eyes of Martial the bust surpasses the noble ivory of Phidias Olympic Zeus. From its radiant beauty and majestic serenity, it appears that this is not
the image of a man, but that of the earthly Jupiter; indeed, it is such as cannot
have been made by mortal hands: it must be the work of Domitians patron-goddess Minerva (cf. Stat. silv. 1, 1, 5 f., of the equestrian statue of Domitian, an te
Palladiae talem, Germanice, nobis | effecere manus). Compare also 9, 64, on a
bust of Hercules with the features of Domitian.
1. Palatinos imitatus ... vultus: of the twelve instances of the adjective Palatinus
in Martial, three are directly applied to Domitian as the earthly Jupiter, making a
parallel to Tarpeius of the heavenly (see note on 9, 86, 7). Six instances are obviously synonymous with imperial; thus 4, 45, 2 (of Parthenius); 8, 28, 22 (of a
toga received from Parthenius); 8, 39, 1 and 13, 91, 1 (mensa, the imperial
kitchen); 9, 79, 2; 11, 8, 5 (of the clothes presses of Nervas wife); three instances
refer to gods, 5, 5, 1 (Minerva); 5, 19, 4 (Palatini dei; see Howell ad loc.); 8, 60,
1 (Palatinus colossus, of uncertain significance; see Friedlnder ad loc.).
It is noteworthy that prior to Martial Palatinus is used only in a neutral sense,
referring to the Palatine without further connotation (Verg. Aen. 9, 9 P. Evander;
Ov. met. 14, 622 P. gens; 15, 560 P. colles; fast. 6, 794 P. iugum; 5, 152 and
Prop. 4, 6, 44 P. aves) or to the famous temple of Apollo situated on the hill (P.
Apollo Hor. epist. 1, 3, 17; Prop. 4, 6, 11; P. arae Hor. carm. saec. 65; P. laurus
Ov. fast. 4, 953; P. Phoebus Calp. ecl. 4, 159). The sense of imperial is thus
introduced by Martial, as is the application of the word to Domitian; he is fol-

133

lowed in the former respect by Iuv. 6, 117 P. cubile, in the latter (or perhaps in
both respects) by Stat. silv. 3, 4, 38 Palatino ... amori (sc. Domitian).
Note the scansion /J?RGLMQ, which is the usual one in Martial; of twenty cases
(comprising also Palatia etc.), fifteen are scanned / , UFCPC?Q MLJW DGTC ?PC
QA?LLCB / .1 The long scansion was introduced, for metrical convenience, by
Silius (12, 516); see Citroni on 1, 70, 5.
For imitor of sculpturing, cf. Hor. ars 33 (faber) mollis imitabitur aere capillos; Ov. Ib. 437 aere Perilleo veros imitere iuvencos; TLL, s.v. imitor 435, 10 ff.
The ending imagine vultus also 6, 27, 3; 9, 74, 3; Ov. trist. 1, 7, 1; Pont. 2, 8,
21.
2. Phidiacum ebur: Phidias great statue of Zeus in Olympia, made of ivory
and gold on a wooden frame and further decorated with ebony, gems, etc.2 The
works of Phidias were highly praised in antiquity; cf., for example, Cic. Brut. 228
Q. Hortensi admodum adulescentis ingenium ut Phidiae signum simul aspectum
et probatum est; orat. 8 Phidiae simulacris quibus nihil in illo genere perfectius
videmus. The statue of Zeus was the model of perfection: Plin. nat. 36, 18 Phidian
clarissimum esse per omnes gentes, quae Iovis Olympii famam intellegunt, nemo
dubitat; 34, 54. Martial has, in all, nine references to Phidias,3 although the statue
at Olympia is mentioned only here.
Latio marmore: as a material for sculpture, marble was inferior to ivory; cf.
Sen. epist. 85, 40 Non ex ebore tantum Phidias sciebat facere simulacra; faciebat
ex aere. Si marmor illi, si adhuc viliorem materiam obtulisses, fecisset quale ex
illa fieri optimum posset; Plin. nat. 36, 15. There is no reason to doubt, though,
that the marble used for the bust would have been the finest available in Italy;
thus, as there is no mention of marble from Latium in antiquity, Latius should
probably be taken in a wide sense (cf. 9, 64, 2 Latia via of the Appian way) as
referring to the Etruscan marble of Luna (Carrara), quarried on a larger scale
from the end of the republic and used for sculpture (for example, the Apollo di
Belvedere) as well as for buildings (for example, the temple of Apollo on the
Palatine); see Philipp in RE 2:3, s.v. Luna 1, 1804 f. But, in spite of the high
esteem in which it was held, it naturally yielded to ivory as material for sculpture,
and there is, of course, an effective contrast between Latium marmor and
Phidiacum ebur; although the artist has used a decidedly inferior material, his
work surpasses the splendour of Phidias Zeus, because the subject is Domitian.
3. mundi facies: the face of heaven, perhaps referring to the Sun, as in Lucr. 4,
134 mundi species ... serena; Sen. Oed. 250 sereni maximum mundi decus (with
Tchterle). The comparison of Domitian both to the Sun and to Jupiter would then
be of the same kind as in 9, 20, 6 (see note ad loc.). Mundi facies is otherwise
used by Manilius as a kind of terminus technicus for the aspect of the firma1

Long scansion: 1, 70, 5; 4, 5, 7; 4, 78, 7; 7, 28, 5; 8, 28, 22; 8, 39, 1; 9, 24, 1; 9, 42, 5; 9, 79, 2; 9, 86, 7;
9, 91, 3; 9, 101, 13; 11, 8, 5; 12, 21, 3; 13, 91, 1. Short scansion: 4, 45, 2; 5, 5, 1; 5, 19, 4; 8, 60, 1; 9, 39,
1.
2
Pausan. 5, 11; cf. Sieveking in RE 19, s.v. Pheidias 1921.
3
Thus, 3, 35, 1; 4, 39, 4; 6, 13, 1; 6, 73, 8; 7, 56, 3; 9, 44, 6;10, 87, 16; and 10, 89, 2.

134

ment, the face of heaven; cf. Manil. 1, 33; 1, 111; 1, 811; 2, 923; 4, 267; also
Sen. epist. 89, 1. Thus, while it is possible to take this and the following Iovis ...
sereni as meaning the aspect of the firmament and the sky on a clear day, the
connection with Iovis ora sereni is effective only if taken to refer also to the actual
Sun and Jupiter himself. Cf. also patriae facies of Augustus in Ov. Pont. 2, 8, 20.
Iovis ora sereni: cf. 5, 6, 9 (to Parthenius) Nosti tempora tu Iovis sereni (you
know the time when Caesar is cheerful). Martial continues the metaphor of the
sky, cf. the expressions sub Iove, in the open, under the heavens and Iuppiter
= weather (for example, Hor. carm. 1, 1, 25 f. manet sub Iove frigido | venator;
1, 22, 19 f. malus ... Iuppiter; Ov. fast. 2, 138; Stat. Theb. 2, 404), on the analogy
of which Iuppiter serenus would be fair weather.1
4. sine nube: cf. Ov. fast. 3, 369 ter tonuit sine nube deus, tria fulgura misit.
Bmer, ad loc., points to Greek models, like Hom. Od. 20, 103 f.
(sc.
)
;2 and 20,
113 f.
.3 Thunder from a clear sky was regarded as an omen; cf. Serv. Aen. 7, 141 f.
(hic pater omnipotens ter caelo clarus ab alto | intonuit) in serenitate, quod est
augurii; nam in nubibus causa est; cf. also Verg. Aen. 8, 523 ff.; 9, 630. When
Jupiter thundered from a clear sky, a caelum serenum, he was propitious; the bust
of Domitian carries the features of a friendly Thunderer.
DWdND

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5. Care: see note on 9, 23, 2.

coronam: the olive-wreath awarded to the winner at the Alban games (see 9,
23 intro.).
6. domini: Domitian as dominus (see note on 9, 20, 2 domini).
illa dedit: as shown by the opening questions, Minerva has not only given the
bust to Carus, but sculptured it herself, being the patron deity of painters and
sculptors.4 The situation is the same in 6, 13, 1 f. (on a statue of Julia) Quis te
Phidiaco formatam, Iulia, caelo, | vel quis Palladiae non putet artis opus? Minerva is also mentioned, for the same reason as in the present epigram, at the beginning of Stat. silv. 1, 1 (on the equestrian statue of Domitian) Quae superinposito moles geminata colosso | stat Latium complexa forum? Caelone peractum |
fluxit opus? Siculis an conformata caminis | effigies lassum Steropem Brontemque
reliquit? | An te Palladiae talem, Germanice, nobis | effecere manus (silv. 1, 1, 16).
1

The expression has been treated at some length by Sauter, p. 62 f. It would ultimately go back to the
ancient Indo-European concept of the supreme god as the brightness of heaven; see Wachsmuth in KP 5,
s.v. Zeus 1516 ff.
2
At once he (sc. Zeus) thundered from gleaming Olympus from on high from out the clouds.
3
How loudly you have thundered from the starry sky, yet nowhere is there any cloud. Translations by A.
T. Murray & G. E. Dimock, Loeb.
4
See, for example, Furtwngler in Roscher, s.v. Athene 681 f.

135

25
Dantem vina tuum quotiens aspeximus Hyllum,
lumine nos, Afer, turbidiore notas.
Quod, rogo, quod scelus est, mollem spectare ministrum?
Aspicimus solem, sidera, templa, deos.
Avertam vultus, tamquam mihi pocula Gorgon
5
porrigat atque oculos oraque nostra petat?
Trux erat Alcides, et Hylan spectare licebat;
ludere Mercurio cum Ganymede licet.
Si non vis teneros spectet conviva ministros,
Phineas invites, Afer, et Oedipodas.
10
The theme of tipsy guests looking eagerly at the hosts young and beautiful servants is found elsewhere in Martial; cf. 9, 22, 11, and in particular 10, 98, in
which the poet expresses the same indignation at the hosts jealousy: should Martial rather look at his lamps and citrus-tables than at the minister Idaeo resolutior
cinaedo? Moreover, the servants were not totally discouraging, as might be gathered from line 6 (see note below), and cf. 11, 23, 9 f. dabit nobis lasciva minister
basia. On the sexual abuse of the ministri, see the Earinus cycle, intro.
The present epigram is clearly influenced by AP 12, 175 (Strato):
u+

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) appears three times more in Martial,

1. Hyllum: the name Hyllus (Gr.
always in an obscene context; thus of a lascivious boy in 2, 60 and 4, 7, and in 2,
51 of a depraved miser.
r8OORM

2. lumine turbidiore notas: you mark me with a yet gloomier glance; for noto
in the sense of to look askance at, see Forcellini, Lex., s.v. 8, 296.
3. Quod, rogo, quod: Martial often puts such affectionate questions, opened by a
monosyllabic interrogative pronoun followed by parenthetical rogo, at the beginning of the verse; thus 2, 80, 2; 3, 76, 3; 5, 25, 7; 10, 41, 3; 10, 66, 1. The parenthetical rogo in questions is a distinctive feature of Martials language (eleven
instances more,2 always with iambic shortening; cf. 9, praef., 6 puto); the usage is
colloquial and first appears in Petronius, who uses it frequently (for example, 7, 1;
20, 1; 39, 1; see Hofmann, p. 130). There are no other instances from the poets of
1
Either be not jealous with your friends about your slave boys, or do not provide girlish-looking cupbearers. For who is of adamant against love, or who succumbs not to wine, and who does not look curiously
at pretty boys? This is the way of living men, but if you like, Diophon, go away to some place where there
is no love and no drunkenness, and there induce Tiresias or Tantalus to drink with you, the one to see
nothing and the other only to see (W. R. Patons translation, Loeb). The first distich of this epigram would
be the model also of 10, 98, 11 f. habere, Publi, | mores non potes hos et hos ministros.
2
3, 44, 9; 3, 52, 3; 3, 73, 3; 4, 84, 4; 5, 44, 1; 5, 82, 3; 6, 17, 2; 7, 86, 3; 10, 15, 2; 10, 21, 2; 13, 58, 2.

136

the parenthetical rogo in questions, except for Stat. silv. 4, 9, 42 ff. ollares, rogo,
non licebat uvas, | Cumano patinas in orbe tortas | aut unam dare synthesin quid
horres?, whereas the corresponding quaeso, which is not found in Martial, appears once each in Horace, Propertius and the Priapea, six times in Phaedrus and
four times in Silius.
Similarly, Martial has six instances of the paratactic rogo followed by either
an imperative or subjunctive (cf. 9, 9, 3 monemus),1 which otherwise appears only
in Ov. epist. 11, 127; trist. 3, 6, 22; compare the much commoner, paratactic
quaeso, found twice each in Catullus, Vergil, Valerius Flaccus and Juvenal, six
times each in Tibullus and Propertius, nine in Ovid, eleven in Silius and ten in
Statius.
Emphatic gemination like quod ... quod is originally colloquial, adopted into
rhetoric and higher poetry as a means of significant ornamentation and emphasis;
the latter is particularly obvious in cases in which the repeated words are separated by, as here, rogo, inquam (so 6, 64, 8), precor, etc. Compare 9, 84, 8 and see
HofmannSzantyr, 45 b, pp. 809 f.
mollem: girlish, dainty; cf. 9, 11, 10; 9, 59, 3; Hor. epod. 11, 4 mollibus
in pueris aut in puellis urere; mollis is often used of catamites in this sense; cf. 3,
73, 4; Catull. 25,1; TLL, s.v. 1379, 26 f. It may also signify compliance in love
(TLL, s.v. 1377, 71 ff.), cf. Prop. 2, 22, 13 quaeris, Demophoon, cur sim tam
mollis in omnis?; Ov. am. 2, 3, 5, which may strengthen Martials argumentation:
the boy is even inviting.
4. templa, deos: deos is metonymy for statues of the gods, TLL, s.v. deus 889, 7
ff. For the prosody, cf. Ov. trist. 3, 1, 60.
5 f. Avertam ... petat: Should I turn away, as if it were a Gorgon (and not the
boy) who poured the wine for me and tried to catch my eye (cf. Friedlnder ad
loc.); the one who looked upon the face of a Gorgon was immediately turned to
stone. Against the reading of T petat, Shackleton Bailey has adopted the reading
of tegam, altering the punctuation of the whole sentence thus: avertam vultus,
tamquam mihi pocula Gorgon | porrigat, atque oculos oraque nostra tegam?
Whereas both readings give acceptable meanings, petat seems nonetheless preferable, as it implies that it is not only Martial who looks at the boy, but also that the
boy gives him inviting glances.
The introduction of the Gorgon may perhaps be influenced by AP 6, 126
(Dioscorides), on the Cretan warrior Hyllus, who wore a picture of a Gorgon on
his shield.2
J

Paratactic with imperative: 2, 14, 18; 2, 25, 2; 6, 20, 4; with subjunctive: 3, 95, 3; 6, 5, 2; 7, 95, 18.
AP 6, 126, 14
(Not idly did Hyllus
the son of Polyttus, the stout Cretan warrior, blazon on his shield the Gorgon, that turns men to stone, and
the three legs; translation by W. R. Paton, Loeb). This Hyllus is otherwise unknown (see A. S. F. Gow &
D. L. Page, The Greek Anthology, vol . 2, Cambridge 1965, p. 245).
2

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137

7. Trux Alcides: Hercules is mentioned as trux also in Sen. Troad. 720 and
Stat. Theb. 11, 46 f.; cf., for example, Ov. epist. 16, 267 ferus Alcides; Val. Fl. 6,
462 durus Tirynthius; Petron. 123, 1, 205 f. arduus Amphitryoniades; Sen. Herc.
O. 495 Hercules horridus; see Carter, Epitheta, s.v. Hercules 42 ff.
Hylan: the earliest transmitted accounts of the story of Hylas (originally a
Cian hero) are those of the contemporaneous Theocrit. 13 and Apollon. 1, 1207 ff.
(it is possible that Theocritus wrote his account with his eyes on that of Apollonius; see A. J. F. Gow, Theocritus. Edited with a Translation and Commentary,
Cambridge 1950, vol. 2, pp. 231 f.). According to Apollonius, Hylas was the son
of king Theiodamas, killed by Hercules, who fell in love with the young Hylas and
brought him along on the journey of the Argonauts. When Hylas in Mysia was
seeking for a spring to get water, the Naiads of the spring were struck by his
beauty and pulled him into the water, where he disappeared. Hercules, suspecting
that the Mysians had kidnapped Hylas, seized hostages and ordered them never to
rest until Hylas was recovered (see Sittig in RE 9, s.v. Hylas 110 ff.). The comprehensive accounts in Latin poetry of Hylas are Prop. 1, 20 and Val. Fl. 3, 521
ff.; cf. Verg. ecl. 6, 43; georg. 3, 6; Ov. ars 2, 110; trist. 2, 406; Stat. Theb. 5,
443; silv. 1, 2, 199; 2, 1, 113; Iuv. 1, 164.
There are seven mentions more of Hylas in Martial, mostly (like Ganymede) as
the pattern of fair boys; thus 5, 48, 5; 6, 68, 8; 7, 15, 2; 7, 50, 8; 11, 43, 5. There
is a humorous allusion to his abduction in 9, 65, 14, and he represents the Argonauts as epic stock-subject in 10, 4, 3. Three times the poet mentions a real boy by
the name of Hylas; thus 3, 19; 8, 9; 11, 28 (with Kay on 11, 28, 2).
8. Ludere Mercurio cum Ganymede licet: cf. 7, 74, 3 sic tibi (sc. Mercurio)
lascivi non desit copia furti, | sive cupis Paphien, seu Ganymede cales, but these
are the only instances in Latin literature to present Mercury as smitten with love
for Ganymede. Now the mentions of both Venus and Ganymede in 7, 74 are important, because Hermes was considered to have abducted Aphrodite from the
party of Artemis; thus Hymn. Hom. Ven. 116 f. (Aphrodite to Anchises)
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.1 Some one hundred verses further below in the same poem (202
204), the abduction of Ganymede is mentioned:

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, snatch
up) is elsewhere used of the abduction of people by a gale of wind;4 the uncompounded
is used in the passage mentioning Ganymedes abduction,
where it is also explicitly said that he was snatched away by a
.
HOOD

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1
And now the Slayer of Argus with the golden wand has caught me up from the dance of huntress
Artemis, her with the golden arrows.
2
Verily wise Zeus carried off golden-haired Ganymedes because of his beauty, to be among the Deathless
Ones and pour drink for the gods in the house of Zeus.
3
But grief that could not be soothed filled the heart of Tros; for he knew not whither the heaven-sent
whirlwind had caught up his dear son (translations by H. G. Evelyn-White, Loeb).
4
Roscher in Roscher, s.v. Hermes 2372.

138

Given Hermes function as god of the wind,1 it seems likely that he was considered, along with Jupiter himself, the eagle, Minos and Tantalos, as one of Ganymedes abductors. Perhaps Martial mentions Ganymede together with Venus in 7,
74 because Mercury had been involved in the abduction of both.
9. teneros ministros: tender, but also amorous (cf. 4, 14, 13) and
effeminate; see OLD, s.v., and cf. mollem above. For the ending of the line, cf.
9, 22, 11.
10. Phineas et Oedipodas: Phineus was a seer in the story of the Argonauts,
and, like Oedipus, he was blind, not from birth, but as a result either of his being
thus punished by the gods or because he had traded the sight of his eyes for a long
life (see Ziegler in RE 20, s.v. Phineus 225 ff.). Such tragic figures would be quite
safe guests at a banquet attended by beautiful young slaves; on the other hand, in
the company of such guests, the banquet would be equally entertaining.
The parallel to AP 12, 175 (quoted above), where Strato suggested that his
host should invite Tiresias and Tantalus, is very close.

26
Audet facundo qui carmina mittere Nervae,
pallida donabit glaucina, Cosme, tibi,
Paestano violas et cana ligustra colono,
Hyblaeis apibus Corsica mella dabit:
sed tamen et parvae nonnulla est gratia Musae;
appetitur posito vilis oliva lupo.
Nec tibi sit mirum, modici quod conscia vatis
iudicium metuit nostra Thalia tuum:
ipse tuas etiam veritus Nero dicitur aures,
lascivum iuvenis cum tibi lusit opus.

10

This poem was certainly originally intended to head a collection of poems (a libellus; cf. 9, 16 intro.) which Martial sent to Nerva. There are a number of poems
throughout the Epigrams which have obviously served the same purpose before
being incorporated into a published book; in Book 9, cf. nos. 58, 84, and 99.2
M. Cocceius Nerva, who was to succeed Domitian as emperor, is mentioned in
six epigrams of Martials, the present one and 8, 70 being the only ones to appear
before his accession to the throne and, as such, of greater interest; the references
made to Nerva the emperor (11, 2, 5; 11, 4, 5; 11, 7, 5; 12, 5, 3) tend to be mere
flattery. First and foremost a politician (praetor in 66, consul in 71 with Vespasian
1
Ibid. 2360 Die Bedeutung, welche H. als Diener der Gtter, namentlich des Zeus hatte, erklrt sich sehr
einfach aus der das ganze Altertum, vor allem aber Homer und die brigen Dichter beherrschenden
Anschauung, dass der Wind das Werkzeug der Gtter, namentlich des Zeus sei und von diesem gesendet
werde.
2
See White, Dedication, pp. 56 f.

139

and in 90 with Domitian), Nerva was renowned for his oratorical abilities, which
were, however, restrained to some degree by his modesty (cf. 8, 70, 1 cited below).
Pliny mentions an oratio pulcherrima of his in a letter to Trajan (epist. 10, 8, 1).
Somewhat better attested than his eloquence is his poetry, although none of it
has survived. Nerva was one of the literary circle formed by Nero in 59 and comprising, among others, Lucan and Petronius, perhaps also Silius Italicus.1 Martial
states that he could have risen to considerable heights as a poet, had not his
modestia stood in his way;2 cf. the characterisation of Nerva the poet in 8, 70:
Quanta quies placidi, tantast facundia Nervae, | sed cohibet vires ingeniumque
pudor | cum siccare sacram largo Permessida posset | ore, verecundam maluit
esse sitim, | Pieriam tenui frontem redimire corona | contentus, famae nec dare
vela suae. | Sed tamen hunc nostri scit temporis esse Tibullum, | carmina qui
docti nota Neronis habet. As appears from the concluding line of this poem, Nero
referred to Nerva as the Tibullus of his time, which may suggest that he, like
Tibullus, wrote in the genre of tender elegy. What is quite obvious is that he wrote
epigrams or erotic poems, for he is among the doctissimos gravissimos sanctissimos homines, whom Pliny produces in defence of his own versiculos severos
parum (epist. 5, 3, 2 ff.).3
Lines 9-10 state that ipse Nero recited his poems to Nerva with the utmost respect for his judgement and express some esteem of the poetry of the otherwise
despised emperor. Neros poetic ambitions, probably encouraged by his teachers,
the Alexandrian Chaeremon and the younger Seneca,4 are well known from various authors; apparently, he was not completely devoid of talent (cf. 8, 70, 8
[quoted above], and Suet. Nero 52, 1).5 Like Nerva, Nero wrote in different genres; the present epigram refers to his opus lascivum, his epigrams, which are
mentioned only here and perhaps also in Plin. nat. 37, 50, but he also wrote epic
and hymns, perhaps also satire.6 Of his works, nothing has come down to us,
except for thirteen lines from the Troica.

Nerva was in great repute with Nero, not only as a poet, but above all as a counsellor; he began his
political career under Nero and also played a significant role in the suppression of Pisos conspiracy. Their
mutual interest in poetry may well have played an important part, at least initially, in Nervas popularity
with the emperor (see Sullivan, Nero, pp. 31 ff.).
2
Modesty was obviously an inherited feature among the Nervae; cf. 5, 28, 3 f. Pietate fratres Curvios licet
vincas, | quiete Nervas, comitate Rusones.
3
The list given by Pliny comprises such names as Cicero, Sulla, Hortensius, Julius Caesar, Augustus and
Tiberius. The greatest poet in the circle of Nero, Lucan, also wrote obscene epigrams, as appears from 10,
64, 5 Non tamen erubuit (sc. Lucanus) lascivo dicere versu | Si nec pedicor, Cotta, quid hic facio? (=
Lucan. frg. 10).
4
Sullivan, op. cit., pp. 28 f.
5
Itaque ad poeticam pronus carmina libenter ac sine labore composuit nec, ut quidam putant, aliena
pro suis edidit. Venere in manus meas pugillares libellique cum quibusdam notissimis versibus ipsius
chirographo scriptis, ut facile appareret non tralatos aut dictante aliquo exceptos, sed plane quasi a
cogitante atque generante exaratos. Tacitus admits that Nero as a boy aliquando carminibus pangendis
inesse sibi elementa doctrinae ostendebat (ann. 13, 3), but his judgement of the poetry of the emperor is
far less complimentary (see ann. 14, 6).
6
His epic work is represented by the Troica, but he also had plans to write an enormous epic on the history
of Rome (Dio Cass. 62, 29); his other works are less well attested (see B. H. Warmington, Suetonius, Nero,
Bristol 1977, pp. 116 f.).

140

1. facundo carmina mittere Nervae: Ovid has the same doubts about sending
one of his Letters from Pontus to Severus: Quis mel Aristaeo, quis Baccho vina
Falerna, | Triptolemo fruges, poma det Alcinoo? | ... | Mittere ad hunc carmen
frondes erat addere silvis (Pont. 4, 2, 913). For the expression carry coals to
Newcastle in Latin, cf. also 7, 42, 6 Alcinoo nullum poma dedisse putas? (as in
Ov. Pont. 4, 2, 10; Alcinous, king of Phaeacia, had famous orchards); 11, 42, 4
thyma Cecropiae Corsica ponis api (cf. line 4 below); Hor. sat. 1, 10, 34 in silvam
non ligna feras insanius; Ov. am. 2, 10, 13 f. quid folia arboribus, quid pleno
sidera caelo, | in freta collectas alta quid addis aquas?; cf. Otto, s.v. Alcinous, p.
12; s.v. silva 1, p. 323.
2. pallida glaucina: glaucina (plur.), mentioned only here and in dig. 34, 2,
21, 1 (TLL, s.v. glaucina 2036, 40 ff.), was a salve made of the herb glaucium
(Gr.
), the seeds and leaves of which were crushed and used for curing
inflammations in the eyes; see Plin. nat. 27, 83, who refers to the salve made from
it as dia glauciu (Gr.
). The health-giving juice of the glaucium is
mentioned also in Colum. 10, 103 f., and Scrib. Larg. 22 proscribes the use of
diaglaucium at an early stage of the inflammation.
The word glaucina, intentionally or not, would perhaps remind the reader of
the Greek coals to Newcastle, viz.
, owls to Athens.
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Cosme: the cosmetics of Cosmus were in Martials day the most famous beyond comparison, first appearing in Book 14 and still mentioned in Book 12.
Apart from perfumes, oils and salves (cf. 3, 82, 26 Cosmianis ampullis; 11, 8, 9
Cosmi alabastra; 11, 15, 6 pingui Cosmiano; 11, 49, 6 Cosmi onyx; 12, 55,
7 libram [sc. of unguent] Cosmiani; 12, 65, 4 Cosmi libram; 14, 59, 2 delicias Cosmi) and aromatic herbs (11, 18, 9 Cosmi folium; 14, 146, 1 Cosmi folio),
Cosmus also supplied pastilles against bad breath (such as Fescennina in 1, 87,
devours to rid herself of the smell of hesterno vino); cf. also 3, 55, 1; 14, 110, 1;
perhaps also 7, 41, 1 (the quintessence of Cosmus perfumes?).
Kay on 11, 8, 9 (cf. Courtney on Iuv. 8, 86) suggested that Cosmus may actually have been a trade name (Gr.
, ornament etc., although there were
other Cosmi), and Bowie (on 12, 55, 7) that there were several generations of
Cosmi in the trade, just as there may have been several gourmets called Apicius
(Leary on 14, 59, 2). It has even been suggested that Martials many references to
Cosmus were part of an advertising campaign and that Cosmus in some way paid
Martial for making them, i.e. a case of ancient sponsorship (see A. P. Ball, CJ 2
[1906], pp. 168 f.).
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3. Paestano colono: Paestum in north-western Lucania, a colony since 273 BC,

was famous for its floral splendour (cf. 6, 80, 6; Riemann in RE 22, s.v. Poseidonia 1233). Martial refers particularly to its beautiful roses, thus 4, 42, 10; 5, 37, 9;
9, 60, 1; 12, 31, 3; also Verg. georg. 4, 119; Prop. 4, 5, 61; Ov. met. 15, 708;
Pont. 2, 4, 28; Anth. 646, 11 f. Of its violets and privets, there is no mention other
than the present one.

141

cana ligustra: the image of pale (or white) beauty in 1, 115, 3; 8, 28, 11; thus
first Verg. ecl. 2, 17 f. o formose puer, nimium ne crede colori: | alba ligustra
cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntur; then only Ov. met. 13, 789 (with Bmers note).
4. Hyblaeis apibus Corsica mella: the honey of Mt. Hybla in Sicily was counted
among the very best, second only to that of Attica (see note on 9, 11, 3). On the
other hand, the Corsican honey, like that of Sardinia, was among the worst
(Porph. Hor. epist. 2, 3, 375 Corsicum et Sardum mel pessimi saporis est), and its
acridity is well attested. According to Pliny, it was good for removing stains on
the face (nat. 30, 28) and was also, on account of its acidity, the best honey for
boiling gems to make them more colourful (nat. 37, 195); as food, it was obviously quite useless, and Ovid even refers to it as mel infame (am. 1, 12, 10). Various reasons were given for its acidity. Pliny (nat. 16, 71), like Theophrastus (hist.
plant. 3, 15, 5), ascribes it to the box, while Vergil (ecl. 9, 30) considered the yewtree as causing the bitterness (cf. Colum. 9, 4, 3); see also Schuster in RE 15, s.v.
mel 369.
5. parvae Musae: the genre of short poems, cf. TLL, s.v. Musa 1692, 18 ff.
But parvus may also express a sense of humbleness, more apparent in this case
than in 7, 29, 6 and 8, 82, 2 (carmina parva) and 10, 1, 3 (carmine parvo), where
the interpretation of parvus simply as short is perhaps more likely.1 This is also
true of the parvum carmen in Hor. epist. 2, 1, 258 (see Brink, Hor. epist. II, ad
loc.).
6. posito lupo: even though a bass is put on the table. A fish highly esteemed
in Greece as well as in Rome, Martial mentions the bass alongside the red mullet
in 2, 37, 4; 2, 40, 4; 11, 49, 9. The most appreciated variety was the lupus lanatus
(so-called from the whiteness of its flesh), which was at its best when caught in
rivers (cf. 13, 89; Plin. nat. 9, 61), especially in the Tiber between the two
bridges (Hor. sat. 2, 2, 31 ff.; Plin. nat. 9, 169; Macr. Sat. 3, 16, 11 ff.), but it
was also bred in ponds (cf. 10, 30, 21 Piscina rhombum pascit et lupos vernas; see
Wellmann in RE 3, s.v. Barsch 27 f.).
The bass was most cunning and had certain ways of avoiding the fishermans
net. Ovid tells how the fish, when surrounded by the net, used its tail to dig itself
into the sand and lay thus concealed, until the net had passed (hal. 23 ff.; cf. Plin.
nat. 32, 11). It was also rapacious, which earned it its Latin name (like its Greek
name
, derived from
, greedy).
When posito vilis lupo was scanned, perhaps the listener would perceive the
last part as ovilis lupo, which in that case might be a playful hint at such lines
as Ov. ars 2, 364 Plenum montano credis ovile lupo?; 3, 7 f. quid virus in angues
| adicis, et rabidae tradis ovile lupae?; trist. 1, 6, 10 incustoditum captat ovile
lupus.
OEUD[

OEURM

Cf. TLL, s.v. parvus 556, 45 ff. (55).

142

vilis oliva: cf. 1, 103, 7; cf. Hor. sat. 2, 2, 44 ff. necdum omnis abacta
pauperies epulis regum: nam vilibus ovis nigrisque est oleis hodie locus. Olives
were served at almost every meal (see Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 168).
7 f. modici conscia vatis | nostra Thalia: my Thalia, well aware of the fact
that I am a minor poet; modici conscia vatis would be an instance of the ab urbe
condita construction with adjectives (cf. note on 9, 1, 3).
Thalia was the Muse of comedy as well as of light verse and, as such, Martials confidante (cf. 9, 73, 9; 10, 20, 1 ff.). He often refers to his poetry as nostra
(mea) Thalia (cf. 4, 8, 12; 8, 73, 3; 12, 94, 3, with the epithet lasciva in 7, 17, 4,
cf. Stat. silv. 2, 1, 116; 5, 3, 98); cf. also 7, 46, 4 tua ... Thalia of the hopeless
verses of Priscus, and see Hfer in Roscher, s.v. Thaleia 450 f.
9. dicitur aures: the same ending in Prop. 2, 20, 13.
10. lascivum: lascivia was the main feature of the epigram (cf. 1, praef. lascivam
verborum veritatem, id est epigrammaton linguam), and consequently Martial
often refers to his own works with the epithet lascivus; cf. 1, 4, 8; 3, 86, 1; 4, 14,
12; 5, 2, 5; 7, 14, 7; 7, 68, 3; TLL, s.v. lascivus 985, 73 ff. For Neros poetry, see
the introduction above.
lusit: here perhaps of recitation, like Ov. ars 3, 317 f. et modo marmoreis
referant audita theatris, | et modo Niliacis carmina lusa modis; otherwise frequently of the composition of light verse; thus 9, 84, 3; TLL, s.v. 1781, 84 ff.

27
Cum depilatos, Chreste, coleos portes
et vulturino mentulam parem collo
et prostitutis levius caput culis,
nec vivat ullus in tuo pilus crure,
purgentque saevae cana labra volsellae:
Curios, Camillos, Quintios, Numas, Ancos,
et quidquid umquam legimus pilosorum
loqueris sonasque grandibus minax verbis,
et cum theatris saeculoque rixaris.
Occurrit aliquis inter ista si draucus,
iam paedagogo liberatus et cuius
refibulavit turgidum faber penem:
nutu vocatum ducis, et pudet fari
Catoniana, Chreste, quod facis lingua.

10

Attacks on sham philosophers occur throughout Books 1 to 12, the targets being
principally Stoics and Cynics, although Martial generally does not explicitly refer
to them as philosophers or mention what doctrine they profess (except for 4, 53,
143

which is openly aimed at a Cynic). From his descriptions of their conduct and the
attributes he gives them, it nonetheless becomes quite clear that they are men who
are bald or have short haircuts (significant of Stoics as well as Cynics; cf. Kiel
on Pers. 3, 54), appearing as stern moralizers, a principal Stoic feature, finding
fault with the ways of the world and holding up the ancient Roman exempla virtutis as models for the unimpeachable life, neglecting their appearance, an essential
mark of the Cynics, who took pride in an ascetic life of absolute poverty, with the
ragged cloak, staff and beggars wallet as their badge with a complete disregard of
appearances 1 (cf. 4, 53, 3 ff. and see note on 9, 47, 2). But when no one sees,
the would-be Stoic indulges in vices well below human dignity, and under the
worn-out cloak of the filthy Cynic are found the tokens of effeminate vanity. See
1, 24; 1, 96; 2, 36; 6, 56; 7, 58, 7; 9, 47; 12, 42.
Philosophers who fail to live up to their doctrine are known already to Cicero;
cf. Tusc. 2, 11 f. Quotus enim quisque philosophorum invenitur, qui sit ita moratus, ita animo ac vita constitutus, ut ratio postulat? Qui disciplinam suam non
ostentationem scientiae, sed legem vitae putet? Qui obtemperet ipse sibi et decretis suis pareat? Videre licet alios tanta levitate et iactatione, ut iis fuerit non
didicisse melius, alios pecuniae cupidos, gloriae non nullos, multos libidinum
servos, ut cum eorum vita mirabiliter pugnet oratio. Later, they are a source of
irritation to Seneca (epist. 108, 5 f.) and Quintilian (inst. 1, praef.; 12, 3, 122), but
these instances are not directly comparable with those in Martial, as they rather
deal with failure to adopt a given teaching; Martials characters are mere hypocrites, some of whom appear not to have received any education at all, only to
have grown a beard, put on tattered clothes and gone out to complain about others. The principal attack on these would-be philosophers is, however, the opening
of Juvenals Second Satire (135), in which he lets fly at those qui Curios simulant et Bacchanalia vivunt (2, 3). His targets are the same as Martials, as is the
gist of his argumentation: Castigas turpia, cum sis | inter Socraticos notissima
fossa cinaedos? | Hispida membra quidem et durae per bracchia saetae | promittunt atrocem animum, sed podice levi | caeduntur tumidae medico ridente mariscae (2, 913). Compare also the vetula of Hor. epod. 8, who keeps libelli Stoici
among her satin pillows (8, 15 f.), yet is unable to keep her unchecked sexuality
within bounds.
It has been suggested that the invectives against philosophers in Quintilian
and Martial may to some extent be directed against a Stoic opposition to
Domitian, which for the opponents resulted in several exiles and death sentences
and which would have made philosophers fair game for satirical scorn (cf.
Courtney, p. 120). However, Austin (op. cit., p. xvi) denies this on the part of
Quintilian, and there is in fact little to indicate that there ever was an opposition
united by a common Stoic ideal (see Jones, Domitian, pp. 119 ff.). Moreover,
Martial in his epigrams on philosophers adopts and elaborates a theme found in
Greek epigram; thus the present epigram is clearly modelled on AP 11, 155
1

W. K. C. Guthrie, A History of Greek Philosophy, vol. 2, Cambridge 1969, p. 490; see further note on 9,
47, 2.
2
Quintilians hostility may have emanated from the feud between rhetoricians and philosophers concerning
which educational method should be preferred (see R. G. Austin, Quintiliani Institutionis Oratoriae Liber
XII, Oxford 1948, pp. xvii ff. and notes ad loc.).

144

(Lucilius):

2WRM

WM

UHWM

GPDM

EDUM

RWRM

SQW9

SVLQ

xSLSOVVZQ RWRM LJRPFRM _ NDg SJZQD WUyIZQ wOZ Wd JU SUHS|M

1
(see Burnikel, Struktur, pp. 22
ff.). For the theme in later Greek authors, cf. Athenaeus 13, 563 d ff.; Lucian.
symp. 34 f. See also Courtneys introduction to Iuv. 2 and Richlin 138 f.

HcSHjQ

OO

wOZ

1. Chreste: Gr.

SRLQ

&UVWRM

{UJD

NDNRVWRPWZQ

, used also of a miser in 7, 55.

coleos: testicles; cf. Petron. 44, 14 si nos coleos haberemus, if we were virile men. The word was apparently less obscene than mentula; its tone is commented on even by Cicero (fam. 9, 22, 4) Testes verbum honestissimum in
iudicio, alio loco non nimis. Et honesti colei Lanuvini, Cliternini non honesti,
although the significance of this remark is uncertain. Martial uses it metonymically of libidinous men in 12, 83, 2; see Adams, pp. 66 f.
portes: usually not of parts of the body, but in this case perhaps because
Chrestus carries his depilated testicles as a kind of adornment; cf. TLL, s.v. porto
51, 54 ff. (cf. ibid. 50, 40 ff.).
3. caput levius: a head more hairless; for levis in the sense of bald, cf. Iuv.
10, 199 leve caput; TLL, s.v. levis 2, 1222, 44 ff. Short hair was characteristic of
Stoics and Cynics; cf. Pers. 3, 35 (with Kiel); Iuv. 2, 15.
prostitutis culis: male prostitutes and effeminates depilated the culus, just
as a female prostitute or courtesan would depilate the cunnus (see Henderson, p.
220), cf. 2, 62 Quod pectus, quod crura tibi, quod bracchia vellis, | quod cincta
est brevibus mentula tonsa pilis: | hoc praestas, Labiene, tuae (quis nescit?) amicae. | cui praestas, culum quod, Labiene, pilas?; 6, 56, 4; Iuv. 2, 12.
4. nec ullus pilus: to remove the hair from the legs was a sign of exaggerated vanity and detestable effeminacy; cf. 2, 62 quoted above; 5, 61, 6; 6, 56; 10,
65, 8; 12, 38, 4; compare the pun in 2, 36, 5 f. Male depilation was obviously
practised in Rome already in the second century BC, as it is castigated, along with
other signs of effeminacy, in a speech by Scipio Aemilianus (referred in Gell. 6,
12); see Richlin, pp. 92 f.
5. saevae volsellae: tweezers, called saevae, because the treatment naturally
hurt. The tearing out of the hairs was used alongside cutting and shaving, though
such scrupulous care of the body was not regarded as quite becoming in a man (cf.
8, 47). According to Suetonius, the method was used by Julius Caesar, who was
circa corporis curam morosior (Suet. Iul. 45, 2); cf. Sen. nat. 1, 17, 2; epist. 114,
21; Bmer, Privataltertmer, p. 269.

1
This solid adamant of virtue, this rebuker of everyone, this fighter with the cold, with his long beard, has
been caught. At what? It is not proper to say at what, but he was caught doing things that foul-mouthed
people do. (Translation by W. R. Paton, Loeb.)

145

cana labra: in a wider sense of the parts around the actual lips (and thus hypallage), cf. 10, 42, 6; TLL, s.v. 1. labrum 811, 27 ff. There may, however, also be
an allusion to Martials idea, that those who practised oral sex attracted a sickly
pallor (cf. 1, 77 and see 9, 95 intro.).
6. Curios, Camillos: generalizing plurals (typisiert, Hofmann-Szantyr 28, p.
19), as the names serve as representatives of a certain character; cf., for example,
Cic. Sest. 143; Sen. dial. 9, 7, 5; epist. 22, 11; Gell. 14, 1, 29; and instances from
Martial below.
The present is Martials longest continuous list of exempla virtutis, models of
ancient Roman virtue.1 Although the prime model was naturally Cato (see below
on line 14), the Curii are those most often used by Martial in such contexts; cf. 1,
24, 3; 6, 64, 2; 7, 58, 7; 7, 68, 4; 9, 28, 4; 11, 16, 6; 11, 104, 2. Behind the name
stands M. Curius Dentatus, consul 290, 284 (suffectus), 275 and 274, who ended
the Samnite War and conquered, among other peoples, the Sabines. The Camilli
(also 1, 24, 3 and 11, 5, 7) owe their fame to M. Furius Camillus, who captured
Veii about 396, defeated the Gauls who invaded Rome in 3876 and was considered parens patriae conditorque alter urbis (Liv. 5, 49, 7). For similar mentions
of the Curii and Camilli, cf. Cic. Sest. 143; Cael. 39; Pis. 58; Hor. carm. 1, 12, 41
f.; epist. 1, 1, 64; Lucan. 1, 169 f.; 6, 787 f.; 7, 358; Sil. 13, 723 f.; Iuv. 2, 153 f.;
see also Otto, s.v. Camillus, p. 68 and s.v. Curius, p. 102; Citroni and Howell on
1, 24, 3 respectively.
Quintios: mentioned because of the achievements of T. Quinctius Capitolinus
Barbatus, consul six times between 471 and 439, and L. Quinctius Cincinnatus
(perhaps the formers elder brother), who was consul suffectus in 460 and was
summoned directly from the plough to the dictatorship in 458; cf. Cic. Cato 56;
Hanslik in RE 24, s.v. Quinctius 24, 1012 ff., and Quinctius 27, 1020 ff. For the
spelling Quint- for Quinct-, cf. Plin. paneg. 57, 5 Tantone Papiriis etiam et Quintiis moderatior Augustus et Caesar et pater patriae?
Numas: Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, presented as a model of
integrity and irreproachability also in 11, 5, 2; 11, 15, 10; 11, 104, 2; 12, 3, 8;
perhaps also 10, 52, 2.
Numa is mentioned only twice before the present instance (3, 62, 2 sub rege
Numa condita vina; 6, 47, 3 Numae coniunx), and it is interesting to note that, in
Books 10 and 11, Numa is mentioned in no less than eleven poems; apart from as
an exemplum in the instances given above, also in expressions like plebs Numae
(10, 10, 4; 10, 76, 4), Numae colles (10, 44, 3), denoting old age (10, 39, 2; 10,
97, 4), and as Egerias husband (10, 35, 14). In Book 12, the frequency again
drops to two instances, apart from 12, 3, 8 (above) also 12, 62, 8 urbs Numae.
It is thus quite obvious that the frequency of references to Numa in Books 10
and 11 is somehow connected with the emperor Nerva. Perhaps they reflect Mar1
For Martials use of such exempla, see A. Nordh, Historical exempla in Martial, Eranos 52 (1954), pp.
224-238. Nordh observes that the selection of names is very similar to that of Juvenal, Statius (in the
Silvae), Pliny the Younger and Quintilian, indicating that the uniform selection of types in these authors
reflects the exempla and the favourite subjects for suasoriae in the rhetorical schools (p. 225).

146

tials solution to the problem that the emperor would not have himself compared
to divinities; Martial then introduces expressions like plebs Numae to compare
Rome under Nerva with the reign of Numa, who to the Romans represented peace,
piety and morality, whom Livy describes as consultissimus vir ... omnis divini
atque humani iuris (1, 18, 1), whose mind would have been suopte ... ingenio
temperatum ... virtutibus, ... instructumque non tam peregrinis artibus quam disciplina tetrica ac tristi veterum Sabinorum (ibid. 4), and who on his accession set
out to build a new Rome: urbem novam, conditam vi et armis, iure eam legibusque ac moribus de integro condere parat (ibid. 19, 1). This would have been a
flattering comparison, and presumably also one to which Nerva could consent. It
would also have been quite in line with contemporary efforts to present the reign
of Nerva as a new age of peace and freedom; a temple was erected to Libertas ab
imp. Nerva Caesare Aug. restituta (CIL 6, 472), and the coins were inscribed with
libertas, libertas publica, and Roma renascens (see Stein in RE 4, s.v. Cocceius
16, 153).1 There are, it is true, still a couple of epigrams in Book 10 of satirical
content, in which Numa is used merely as the image of antiquity or old age, but,
in Books 11 and 12, he appears only as an exemplum virtutis and in the phrase
urbs Numae. These less reverent instances may perhaps be a remnant from the
first edition of Book 10, which appeared Domitian was still emperor.
Ancos: the only allusion in Martial to Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome
and grandson of Numa; cf. Cic. rep. 2, 33; Liv. 1, 32 ff.; Philipp in RE 14, s.v.
Marcius 9, 1543. He is mentioned alongside his grandfather in Hor. epist. 1, 6,
27; cf. 4, 7, 15; Iuv. 5, 57.
7. pilosorum: a play on the similar sound of pilosorum and philosophorum, to
whom Martial alludes here; the philosophers (and, we may add, the would-be
philosophers) were hairy and wore long beards like their Greek models; cf. 2, 36,
5 f. Nunc sunt crura pilis et sunt tibi pectora saetis | horrida, sed mens est, Pannyche, volsa tibi; 6, 56; 9, 47 (with commentary); Iuv. 2, 11 f.; AP 11, 156.
In this line, Shackleton Bailey prints usquam of for the umquam of .
E

8. minax: threatening but also severe; cf. TLL, s.v. minax 995, 77.
grandibus verbis: grandiose, in malam partem; cf. 2, 69, 7 f. En rogat
ad cenam Melior te, Classice, rectam. | Grandia verba ubi sunt? Si vir es, ecce,
nega; 9, 32, 5; cf. TLL, s.v. grandis 2186, 37 ff.
9. theatris: Chrestus problem with the theatre would have been due to two genres, the mime and the pantomime. The mime was a burlesque farce, largely drawing on mythological subjects, but also involving a good many love and adultery
scenes, which were also the chief reason for its popularity; it probably also took up
many of the features of comedy, which it gradually superseded. The language of
the mime was coarse and vulgar (cf. 8, praef. mimicam verborum licentiam), and
1

For the comparison of Hadrian with Numa, see R. Zoepfel, Hadrian und Numa, Chiron 8 (1978), pp.
391427.

147

the character of the play often obscene, sometimes involving actresses performing
in the nude; such immoral plays, enjoyed by men, women and children alike, were
held out by Ovid to show that his Ars really was quite innocent (trist. 2, 497 ff.),
and Martial claims that, if chaste matrons watch mimes, they ought to be able to
read his epigrams without blushing (3, 86). However, the license of the mimes
was to some degree excused by the nature of the feast of Flora, at which they were
mainly performed (cf. Ov. fast. 5, 329 ff.). It was on one such occasion that Cato
Uticensis had to leave the theatre, ne praesentia sua spectaculi consuetudinem
impediret; the anecdote is related by Val. Max. 2, 10, 8 (cf. Sen. epist. 97, 8), and
Martial alludes to it in 1, praef. (see Citroni ad loc.). On the mime in general, see
R. C. Beacham, The Roman Theatre and its Audience, London 1991, pp. 129
140; Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 2, pp. 113 ff.
The pantomime, which enjoyed the same popularity as the mime, was likewise
a source of moral degeneration. While the range of its themes was quite large, the
commoner and also the most appreciated were love stories, often derived from
mythology, such as Apollo and Daphne, Aphrodite and Ares, and the amorous
adventures of Zeus. Like the mime, the pantomime often involved a substantial
amount of obscenity, and the actors (the so-called histriones; there were no female
actors in pantomime) developed an elasticity in their bodies, which enabled them
to dance the parts of women in such a scabrous way that even real women, however voluptuous they might be, could learn something from them (cf. Iuv. 6, 63
f.). In spite of, or perhaps rather because of, the popularity of the pantomimes,
Domitian forbade the histriones to appear on stage,1 while it was still permitted
for them to perform in peoples homes. On the pantomime, see Beacham op. cit.,
pp. 140153; O. Weinreich, Epigramm und Pantomimus, Heidelberg 1948.
10. draucus: the word, perhaps of Gallic origin (cf. TLL, s.v. draucus 2067, 47
ff.), may simply denote an athlete who performs in public (thus 7, 67, 5 and 14,
48), but in some cases, the emphasis lies not on their athletic abilities, but on the
fact that they were considered to be of extraordinary sexual ability; thus 1, 96, 12
f. spectat (sc. Maternus) oculis devorantibus draucos | nec otiosis mentulas videt
labris; 11, 72 Drauci Natta sui vocat pipinnam, | collatus cui Gallus est Priapus.
This view was partly due to the alleged connection between bodily strength and
sexual ability, but above all to the fact that the drauci wore a fibula on the penis to
prevent them from having intercourse, which would diminish their strength.2
Once the fibula had been removed, they might be expected to be more sexually
vigorous than usual.3 It should be noted that fibula in this context does not refer to
the usual safety-pin, but to a ring, which was pulled through the prepuce and
joined together at the ends by a craftsman (the faber of line 12), cf. Schol. Iuv. 6,
1
Suet. Dom. 7, 1; Plin. paneg. 46, 1. The pantomimi had previously been banished from Italy by Tiberius,
restored by Caligula and banished again by Nero, during whose reign, though, they reappeared. Domitians
prohibition was abolished by Nerva, but renewed by Trajan, who, however, removed it in 107 (see Mooney,
p. 539).
2
Such fibulae were worn also by actors (cf. 7, 82; 14, 215; Iuv. 6, 73 with the note of the scholia: nam
omnes pueri vocales fibulas in naturis habent, ne coeant) and by citharoedi and choraules (11, 75, 3;
14, 215; cf. Iuv. 6, 379 with the scholia cited below), as the voice was supposed to be maintained in good
shape if one abstained from intercourse.
3
See Housman, Draucus (= Class. pap., pp. 1166 f.).

148

379 fibulam dicit circellos, quos tragoedi sive comoedi in penem habent, ut coitum non faciant, ne vocem perdant; on the operation necessary to apply the fibula,
described by Cels. 7, 25, 2, see Jthner in RE 9, s.v. Infibulatio 2543 ff.
Rather strange is Martials mention in 11, 75, 1 of a fibula in the shape of a
theca ahenea, a case of bronze, which obviously covered the penis and would
hardly have been fastened by a faber, since it might fall off during exercise (cf. 7,
82). There is no other evidence of the fibula in the shape of a case, and so it is
difficult to form any further idea of it, but cf. Kay on 11, 75, 1.
11. iam paedagogo liberatus: just released from the paedagogus, indicating
that the draucus is a youngster. The paedagogus, often a Greek slave, was the
permanent companion of the boy until he adopted the toga virilis around the age
of seventeen (Marquardt, p. 111).
12. refibulavit: freed from the fibula, the only instance of this word, the opposite of which is infibulare.
turgidum penem: not swollen, but swelling because of the long abstinence.
13. ducis: perhaps related to the expression scortum sim. ducere, attested mainly
in Plautus; cf. TLL, s.v. duco 2143, 53 ff.
fari: the only occurrence in Martial of this somewhat archaic word, certainly
ironical with reference to the Catoniana lingua.
14. Catoniana lingua: Cato, the stock example of Roman virtue,1 sums up the
exempla virtutis above. He is often mentioned by Martial, sometimes with a certain amount of irony, as the model of severe morality (see Citroni, p. 11). The
Cato family possessed two such exempla, Cato Censorius and his great-grandson
Cato Uticensis, and it is sometimes difficult to say to which one Martial alludes.
Some references are clearly to Cato Uticensis (thus 1 praef. [twice]; 1, 8, 1; 1, 78,
9; 5, 51, 5 [on his eloquence, see Howell ad loc.]; 6, 32, 5; 9, 28, 3; 11, 5, 14),
while at least one certainly alludes to Cato Censorius (2, 89, 1 f. Quod nimio
gaudes noctem producere vino, | ignosco: vitium, Gaure, Catonis habes; cf. Hor.
carm. 3, 21, 11 f. narratur et prisci Catonis | saepe mero caluisse virtus). Cato
Censorius is perhaps referred to also in 12, 3, 8, but, in some cases, no clear distinction can be made (10, 20, 21; 11, 2, 1; 11, 15, 1; 11, 39, 15). As, some lines
above, Martial has Chrestus attacking the theatre, Cato Uticensis was probably
chiefly in his mind in this case (cf. note on line 9 above), which also contains
Martials only instance of the adjective Catonianus.
Martial consistently expresses the utmost disgust at acts of oral sex; worse
than fellatio was perhaps only cunnilinctio. For instances in the present book, cf.
63; 67, 5; 92, 11; perhaps also 95; see Sullivan, p. 189.
1

For example, Verg. Aen. 6, 841; Hor. carm. 2, 1, 24; Stat. silv. 2, 7, 68; Iuv. 2, 40; cf. Otto, s.v. Cato, p.
78.

149

28
Dulce decus scaenae, ludorum fama, Latinus
ille ego sum, plausus deliciaeque tuae,
qui spectatorem potui fecisse Catonem,
solvere qui Curios Fabriciosque graves.
Sed nihil a nostro sumpsit mea vita theatro,
et sola tantum scaenicus arte feror:
nec poteram gratus domino sine moribus esse;
interius mentes inspicit ille deus.
Vos me laurigeri parasitum dicite Phoebi,
Roma sui famulum dum sciat esse Iovis.

10

An epigram on the mimic actor Latinus, employed at Domitians court, probably

meant as an epitaph or, as suggested by Friedlnder, written on the occasion of
Latinus retirement from the stage and intended to form the legend on a picture of
him. The potui in line 3 shows only that he is no longer active, and the fact that
this is Martials last mention of Latinus (see below) suggests that the poem is not
merely honorary, but sepulchral; cf. also the similarity to 10, 53, the epitaph of the
charioteer Scorpus. For Martials sepulchral poetry, see S. Johnson, The Obituary Epigrams of Martial, CJ 49 (195354), pp. 264272.
The latter part of the poem is devoted to explaining how an actor in the genre
of mime, characterized by obscenity and licence, may be employed at the court of
Domitian, the restorer of morals (9, 5 intro.). The reason must be that Latinus
employment could obviously be regarded as paradoxical and thus perhaps seem to
malignant people to indicate that Domitian was not as serious about morals as he
seemed; consequently, it forms a parallel to Statius eagerness to provide divine
sanction for the castration of Earinus, which likewise was felt to need some explanation, having been performed under the auspices of an emperor who himself
prohibited castration (silv. 3, 4, 65 ff.; see the Earinus cycle intro.). Martial
therefore felt it necessary to point out that Latinus personal life was unpolluted by
the licence of the stage; otherwise, he could not have been in favour with the emperor, who as a god had the power to look into peoples minds and see their true
selves. The poem turns rather into an eulogy of Domitian, which culminates in the
concluding lines, making a handsome contrast to each other; the people might
well call Latinus a parasitus Phoebi, which is what he is as a professional, as long
as Rome knows that, at heart, he is a servant of her Jove.
Martial mentions Latinus five times more, only here and in 1, 4, 5 in connection with Domitian; the other instances (as also 1, 4, 5) mostly refer to what
would have been Latinus preferred character, the derisor, which apparently he
often played against another famous actor, Panniculus (see 2, 72, 1; 3, 86, 3; 5,
61, 11; 13, 2, 3). An idea of Latinus role at Domitians court is given by the only
mention of him in Suetonius, where Latinus tells Domitian at dinner inter ceteras
diei fabulas that he had accidentally passed the funeral pyre of the astrologer
Ascletarion (whom the emperor had sentenced to death but had given a dignified
funeral to frustrate his prophecy that his body was to be torn apart by dogs), that a
sudden breeze had scattered the pyre and that he had seen that his body had been

150

devoured by dogs after all (Suet. Dom. 15, 3). Juvenal mentions Latinus twice, in
1, 36 and 6, 44; the latter instance simply refers to his acting, but the former appears in a context which has made some think that he actually acted as an informer, although Juvenal does not expressly state that he did; he simply mentions
a magni delator amici | ... | ... quem Massa timet, quem munere palpat | Carus et
a trepido Thymele summissa Latino (1, 33 ff., see Courtney ad loc. and cf. Mart.
1, 4, 5). This anonymous informer is said to have been feared and bribed by two
other known informers, Baebius Massa and Mettius Carus (cf. Jones, Domitian, p.
181); it is true that the third person mentioned as smearing him is Latinus, but
this does not necessarily imply that he too was an informer. However, the scholia
ad loc. states that he was a nequissimus delator, a freedman of Nero, who had him
put to death for having been involved in the adultery of Messalina. Unless there
were two Latinuses, this is naturally quite impossible; if anything, the author
seems to have confused Latinus with Paris, Nero with Domitian, and Messalina
with Domitian (see below). Another note in the scholia (Schol. Iuv. 4, 53) says
that the most influential informers at the court of Domitian were Armillatus,
Demost<h>enes et Latinus archimimus, but then adds sicut Marius Maximus
scribit, which does not increase its credibility.1 On the whole, the only reasonable
information on Latinus is that of Suetonius; but from Latinus acquainting
Domitian at dinner with the gossip of the day, it is rather a long way to the
nequissimus delator.
Actors enjoying considerable imperial favour and exercising substantial influence are known also from the courts of earlier emperors, for example, the pantomimic Mnester (Suet. Cal. 55, 1) and the tragic actor Apelles (Dio Cass. 59, 5, 2)
at the court of Caligula and the mimic actor Halityrus at Neros (Joseph. vit. 16;
see Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 1, pp. 61 ff. and 2, pp. 141 f.). At the early court
of Domitian, the pantomimic dancer Paris was a force to be counted with, until he
was put to death by the emperor, according to Dio Cass. 67, 3, because he had
been involved in an affair with Domitia (cf. Suet. Dom. 3, 1), whom Domitian
would have divorced, but much of this is probably nothing more than antiDomitianic propaganda (see Jones, Domitian, pp. 34 ff.). Still, it is clear that Paris
was not to be mentioned while Domitian was emperor, for the epitaph which
Martial wrote for him was not published until Book 11 (11, 13, on which see
Kays introductory note).
1. dulce decus: an echo of Hor, carm. 1, 1, 2 dulce decus meum (of Maecenas).
The combination is otherwise unusual, the only other instances being Ciris 246
and Stat. silv. 3, 1, 161 (cf. TLL, s.v. decus 244, 70 f.). The epigraphic character
of the poem is emphasized by the adjective dulcis, which is very frequently used of
the dead in funerary inscriptions (see TLL, s.v. 2194, 43 ff.).
fama: fama of the object of fame (TLL s. v. 217, 24 ff.), often used with decus;
thus 8, 28, 2 fama decusque gregis; 10, 103, 4 decus et nomen famaque vestra.
1
Marius Maximus, who wrote a continuation of the Lives of Suetonius, from Nerva to Elagabalus, and was
a source to the authors of the Historia Augusta, is characterised as an uncritical collector of material rather
than a historian; see Miltner in RE 14, s.v. Marius 48, 1828 ff.

151

Fama in this sense is relatively common in Martial, slightly more often with reference to persons and animals (thus also 7, 27, 2; 9, 71, 1; 10, 103, 4; 11, 9, 1)
than to things (8, 28, 2; 9, 43, 5; 9, 101, 2). Elsewhere, the word is used of a person only in Prop. 1, 15, 22 and Ov. am. 3, 9, 5.
2. ille ego sum: see note on 9, praef., 5. The phrase has an epigraphic ring to it.
plausus: metonymy for the one receiving the applause, cf. 10, 53, 2, (of Scorpus) plausus, Roma, tui deliciaeque breves (cf. OLD, s.v. 2).
3. spectatorem Catonem: Cato Uticensis was said to have left the theatre at
the ludi Florales, in order that the licentious mimes would not be restrained by his
presence (see note on 9, 27, 9). Latinus would have made him stay.
4. solvere: make them soften, cf. 14, 183 (Homeri Batrachomachia) Perlege
Maeonio cantatas carmine ranas | et frontem nugis solvere disce meis and see
OLD, s.v. 9.
Curios Fabriciosque graves: on Martials use of exempla virtutis and on the
Curii, see note on 9, 27, 6.
C. Fabricius Luscinus, consul in 282 and 278, censor in 275, was a leading
figure in the war against Pyrrhus, whom he defeated at Beneventum. Martial
refers to him as a model of austerity and frugality in 7, 68, 4; 10, 73, 3; 11, 2, 2
(not himself, but his daughter, whom Martial assumes to have inherited her fathers morality; see Kays note); 11, 5, 8; 11, 16, 6 (Curio Fabricioque); cf. also
Hor. carm. 1, 12, 40 and Otto, s.v. Fabricius, p. 129.
Persons renowned for their auctoritas are often described as graves; cf. Lucan.
10, 152 Fabricios Curiosque graves; Stat. silv. 2, 7, 68 gravem Catonem; see
TLL, s.v. gravis 2278, 67 ff. and J. Hellegouarch, Le vocabulaire Latin des relations et des partis politiques sous la rpublique, Paris 1972, pp. 287 ff.
5. Sed nihil ... theatro: a necessary reservation in an epigram in which the presence of Domitian is so clearly felt. Latinus defence of his personal morality (mea
vita) against the immorality of his art (nostro theatro, cf. 9, 27, 9, note) is similar
to Martials own defence of himself in 1, 4, 8 lasciva est nobis pagina, vita proba,
which has its prototype in Catull. 16; cf. Ov. trist. 2, 353 f., and see commentaries
by Citroni and Howell ad loc. For sumere in the sense adopt a habit, see OLD,
s.v. 12. For the ending, cf. Prop. 2, 3, 23; 2, 20, 11; 2, 26a, 1; Ov. am. 2, 15, 21.
6. scaenicus: Latinus would be eager to emphasize that he is a scaenicus only by
virtue of his ars; being a scaenicus also in private life was equal to being a hypocrite (see Forcellini, Lex., s.v. scenicus 5, 368).
7. moribus: used pregnantly in the sense of bonis moribus; cf. 9, 101, 21 mores
populis dedit (sc. Domitianus); Verg. Aen. 6, 852 paci ... imponere morem (with
Austins note); TLL, s.v. 1, 1525, 6 ff.

152

7 f. domino ... deus: perhaps an allusion to the formula dominus et deus (on
which see note on 9, 66, 3). However, dominus is justified by Latinus relation to
Domitian being that of a servant to his dominus (cf. famulus in line 10), and the
two words are thus not synonymous, as is the case, for example, in 5, 5, 1 ff.
Sexte, Palatinae cultor facunde Minervae, | ingenio frueris qui propiore dei |
nam tibi nascentes domini cognoscere curas | et secreta ducis pectora nosse licet.
The presentation of Domitian as a god is discussed in the introduction, pp. 32 f.
For the ending of line 8, cf. epigr. 17, 4; 5, 3, 6; 8, 62, 2; 13, 39, 2; 13, 74, 2;
Ov. epist. 4, 12.
9. laurigeri parasitum Phoebi: Latinus was a member of the guild of mimes
called parasiti Apollinis. The only other literary mention of the parasiti Apollinis
is Fest. p. 326, but there are twelve known inscriptions mentioning the guild, six
involving pantomimi, two archimimi, one a mimus and three lacking specific
reference to the professions of the parasiti in question; the absence of mention of
any actors other than the mimi and pantomimi as members of the guild would
indicate that it comprised no dramatic actors.1 The name of the parasiti Apollinis
may derive from Delos, a centre of the cult of Apollo, which, with its pilgrimage
and many festivals, made the city prosperous; the 2nd-century comedy-writer
Crito called the very citizens of Delos parasites of the god:
(frg. 3, 8, CAF 3, p. 354). Performing at these festivals
were not only such artists as were organised in the worldwide guild of Dionysiac
artists, but also incidental performers who were not admitted to that guild; these
would be the
, parasites, as they earned their livings
from performances in honour of Apollo. These actors would correspond to the
performers who became popular in Rome from the beginning of the second century BC, like the mimi at the Floralia (which became an annual festival in 173),
and which probably named their guild after their equivalents on Delos; see E. J.
Jory, Associations of Actors in Rome, Hermes 98 (1970), pp. 224-253 (the
parasiti are discussed on pp. 237-242).
Together with Ov. ars 3, 389, the present is the only instance in Latin of
lauriger being used with direct reference to Apollo (see TLL, s.v. lauriger 1059,
32 ff.). Similarly,
is applied to Apollo but once, in Anacreont. 12, 6
(Bruchmann, Epitheta, p. 22).
DWRM SDUDVdWRXM

WR

THR

WRM

'KOdRXM

SDUVLWRL

$SOOZQRM

GDIQKIURM

GDIQKIURLR )RdERX

10. sui Iovis: for Domitian as the Jupiter of Rome, see the introduction, pp. 29
ff.

Contrary to what was previously assumed, cf. Ziehen in RE 18, s.v. Parasiti Apollinis 1376 f.

153

29
Saecula Nestoreae permensa, Philaeni, senectae,
rapta es ad infernas tam cito Ditis aquas?
Euboicae nondum numerabas longa Sibyllae
tempora: maior erat mensibus illa tribus.
Heu quae lingua silet! Non illam mille catastae
vincebant, nec quae turba Sarapin amat,
nec matutini cirrata caterva magistri,
nec quae Strymonio de grege ripa sonat.
Quae nunc Thessalico lunam deducere rhombo,
quae sciet hos illos vendere lena toros?
Sit tibi terra levis mollique tegaris harena,
ne tua non possint eruere ossa canes.

10

An obituary epigram on the old procuress and practician of love magic, Philaenis,
based throughout on ironical paradoxes of expressions and mythological commonplaces, such as would be found in a serious obituary or epitaph but which
become patently absurd when applied to Philaenis. Thus, the opening reference to
Nestor, the stock example of old age, is followed by an expression with an epigraphic ring (rapta tam cito), which would be used of those carried off by a premature death (but then, again, Philaenis had not yet reached the age of the Sibylla). The affectued exclamation in line 5 is such as might be found in the epitaph
of a great orator; that this is not Martials reason for introducing it here is at once
made apparent. The rhetorical questions of lines 9 and 10 are also such as may be
found in a serious epitaph, if the dead had been in possession of such abilities as
would be hard to replace; Martial surely does not mourn the loss of a witch and
procuress. The epigram is closed by an inside out parody of the common funerary formula sit tibi terra levis: what Martial wishes is not that the earth may not
lie heavily on Philaenis, but that she may be covered by a thin layer of earth, so
that the dogs may easily dig out her bones.
The theme is related to the vetula-Skoptik, represented in the present book,
for example, by 9, 37, but the points of emphasis are not totally representative of
that genre, the preferred subjects of which are the physical repulsiveness of older
women, particularly courtesans, who deny their age and make up themselves to
appear younger than they are (see 9, 37, intro.), and the scorn directed at them.
Here, the scorn is not so much at the physical as at the psychological repulsiveness of an old, chattering and hypocritical procuress. The epigram shows some
debt to Greek predecessors, especially for the concluding pun, which has its model
in AP 11, 226 (Ammianus)
;1 cf. also 11, 72 (Bassus of Smyrna)
,
|
,
'
, |
'
,
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May the dust lie light on thee when under earth, wretched Nearchus, so that the dogs may easily drag
thee out.

154

,|
note on line 12 below.
QPIK

VWH PH GLVW]HLQ

P WL SySRQT

'

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;1 and 7, 345 (anonymous); cf.

1. Saecula Nestoreae senectae: the generations of the aged Nestor; Nestorea

senecta would be abstractum pro concreto for Nestor senex (cf. HofmannSzantyr, p. 748). The expression would thus be equivalent to Eleg. in Maecen. 1, 139
Nestoris annosi ... saecula. For Nestorea ... senecta with the same placing
(though of different significance), see also 13, 117, 1; Stat. silv. 1, 3, 110.
Nestor was considered to have lived through three generations (approximately
three hundred years), as stated already by Homer Il. 1, 250 f.:
|
; cf.
Cic. Cato 31; Hor. carm. 2, 9, 13 ter aevo functus (with Porph.); Ov. met. 12, 187
f. vixi | annos bis centum; nunc tertia vivitur aetas (see Bmer ad loc.); Hygin.
fab. 10, 3 Nestor ... qui tria saecula vixisse dicitur beneficio Apollinis. In Greek
as in Latin, he is used as the model of old age, see Otto, s.v. Nestor, p. 242;
Schmidt in RE 17, s.v. Nestor 119. Martial uses him as such (often together with
Priam) also in 2, 64, 3; 5, 58, 5; 6, 70, 12; 7, 96, 7; 8, 6, 9; 8, 64, 14; 10, 24, 11;
10, 67, 1; 11, 56, 13; 13, 117, 1.
W

JHQHDg PHUSZQ QTUSZQ _ xITdDT

GK

GR

P|Q

PHW G| WULWWRLVLQ QDVVHQ

Philaeni: the name Philaenis is used by Martial only of the vilest possible
women; three epigrams (2, 33; 4, 65; 12, 22) are aimed at a one-eyed courtesan,
whom Martial finds utterly disgusting (perhaps this is the same Philaenis as in 9,
62 and 10, 22), while 7, 67; 7, 70; and 9, 40 refer to women addicted to what in
Martials eyes were the worst kinds of sexual vice.
2. rapta tam cito: cf. 1, 116, 3 Hoc tegitur cito rapta suis Antulla sepulchro;
11, 69, 11 Nec queror (sc. Lydia) infernas quamvis cito rapta sub umbras. Variants of this expression are very common in the funeral inscriptions of those carried off by a premature death (see Citroni on 1, 116, 3 with instances), thus making a paradoxical irony when used of someone who has filled the whole life-span
of Nestor.
infernas Ditis aquas: with the same position also 1, 101, 10; Prop. 2, 34,
92; Ov. trist. 1, 5, 20. Apart from this instance and 1, 101, 10, Martial has the
adjective infernus four times (1, 36, 5; 4, 16, 5; 11, 5, 13; 11, 69, 11, all of which
define umbra), always immediately before the penthemimeresis, a position which
is also prevalent in Vergil, Ovid, Lucan, etc.3 Note also, that infernus is a word
1
Cytotaris with her grey temples, the garrulous old woman, who makes Nestor no longer the oldest of
men, she who has looked on the light longer than a stag and has begun to reckon her second old age on her
left hand, is alive and sharp-sighted and firm on her legs like a bride, so that I wonder if something has not
befallen death. Translations by. W. R. Paton, Loeb. For emphasis on old age, cf. also AP 11, 67; 11, 69.
2
Two generations of mortal men had he ere now seen pass away and he was king among the third; cf.
also Od. 3, 245.
3
See Citroni on 1, 36, 5. Note, however, that he is wrong in stating that infernus without exception stands
immediately before the penthemimeresis; of the nine instances of the word in Ovid, eight occupy this
position, whereas one, Met. 3, 504 tum quoque se, postquam est inferna sede receptus, stands before the
bucolic diaeresis. Moreover, Verg. Aen. 12, 199 vimque deum infernam et duri sacraria Ditis displays
essentially the same placing of the adjective, but Citroni disregards it as not standing directly before the

155

typical of dactylic verse,1 where it replaces inferus, which in some forms cannot be
fitted into the verse.
Martial mentions Dis twice more, in 11, 5, 13 infernis ... Ditis ab umbris; and
in 12, 32, 6 nocte Ditis. Together with Tibullus (who has a similar ending of the
pentameter in 3, 1, 28 Auferet extincto pallida Ditis aqua), he is alone in Latin
literature in referring to the waters of the nether regions as Ditis aqua.
3 f. Euboicae Sibyllae: the Sibyl of Cumae. She is called Euboica, since Cumae was founded from the cities of Chalcis and Cyme on Euboea. The adjective is
applied to the Sibyl herself only here and in Stat. silv. 1, 2, 177 Euboicae carmen
Sibyllae and 4, 3, 24 Euboicae domum Sibyllae, but it is elsewhere used with
reference to the region of Cumae (for example, Aen. 6, 2; 6, 42; Ov. met. 14, 155)
or to the oracles of the Sibyl (Ov. fast. 6, 210, cf. Stat. silv. 5, 3, 182); see Rzach
in RE 2:2, s.v. Sibyllen 2091 ff.
A common feature of all the Sibyls of the ancient world is that they were proverbially old,2 and the great age of the Sibyl of Cumae is frequently emphasized;
Vergil calls her longaeva sacerdos (Aen. 6, 321 and 628), Propertius speaks of
the Cumaeae saecula vatis (2, 2, 16), Ovid calls her vivax (met. 14, 104; fast 4,
875), and Silius refers to her as vetus Sibylla (13, 411). In the story of Aeneas at
Cumae (met. 14, 101-157), Ovid ascribes the age of 1,000 years to the Sibyl (14,
144 ff. nam iam mihi saecula septem | acta, tamen superest, numeros ut pulveris
aequem, | ter centum messes, ter centum musta videre; see Bmer ad loc.).
The Sibyl is used as the archetype of old age also in Prop. 2, 2, 16; 2, 24, 33 f.;
Ov. fast. 3, 534 (see Bmer ad loc.); 4, 875; Pont. 2, 8, 41; Priap. 12, 1 ff.; Stat.
silv. 1, 4, 125 ff. Petronius makes a joke of it in 48, 8: nam Sibyllam quidem
Cumis ego ipse oculis meis vidi in ampulla pendere, et cum illi pueri dicerent:
,
respondebat illa:
; cf. Otto, s.v. Sibylla, p.
321.
6dEXOOD

Wd

TyOHLM

SRTDQHjQ

TyOZ

numerabas longa tempora: normally, longa tempora would mean long

lifetime, as in 14, 84 Ne toga barbatos faciat vel paenula libros, | haec abies
chartis tempora longa dabit (cf. Ov. trist. 3, 3, 80; Iuv. 14, 157 f.; OLD, s.v. tempus1 5 c), but this is somewhat awkward when coupled with numerabas, suggesting something that may be counted (like 7, 14, 9 bis denos puerum numerantem
perdidit annos). Perhaps this is an early instance of the use of tempora for anni,
which otherwise is attested only in considerably later sources;3 there may be a
parallel in the use of saecula in the sense of tempora in Ov. met. 4, 67 nulli per
saecula longa notatum (with Bmers note), where also longus, as probably in the

penthemimeresis because of the elision. To the information given by Citroni, it may be added that 10 out of
11 occurrences of infernus in Propertius stand immediately before the penthemimeresis, as is also the case
with all three instances in Tibullus.
1
Appearing for the first time in Varro and Cicero (only in his translation of Aratos); see Leo, Superne,
supernus, ALL 10 (1898), pp. 436 f.
2
Rzach, op. cit., 2078 f.
3
For example, CE 186, 7 sic fortis centum nummerabat (sic) tempora vitae; see E. Lfstedt, Zu den
neuen Carmina Latina Epigraphica, RhM 67 (1912), pp. 207-225 (particularly p. 216); cf. id.,
Philologischer Kommentar zur Peregrinatio Aetheriae, Uppsala 1911, p. 194 n. 2.

156

present case, tends towards the meaning numerosus; cf. Mart. 8, 8, 2 (of Ianus)
renoves voltu saecula longa tuo; TLL, s.v. longus 1638, 26 ff.
4. maior erat etc.: a humorous hair-splitting; when talking of such enormous
periods of time, three months more or less do not really make any difference.
5. heu quae: similar affected exclamations are to be found at the beginning also of
1, 12, 6; Verg. Aen. 3, 317; Ov. am. 2, 4, 6; met. 2, 447; trist. 3, 4b, 52. In the
following references to Philaenis loquacity, one may sense a contrast with the
pleasant eloquence of Nestor, cf. Cic. Cato 31 ut ait Homerus ex eius lingua
melle dulcior fluebat oratio.
catasta: a platform on which slaves were displayed in the market; see Mau in
RE 3, s.v. catasta 1785 f. Martial must be thinking of the noise caused by the
slave-dealers when offering their goods for sale, not, as suggested in TLL, s.v.
catasta 597, 61 ff., of a turba vilium hominum, servorum, barbarorumve.
6. quae turba Sarapin amat: the worshippers of Sarapis, the Egyptian, Hellenistic and syncretistic god, whose cult was introduced into Italy in the second century
BC. Ignored by Augustus and suppressed by Tiberius, it was not until the reign of
Caligula that the first temple of Isis and Sarapis was built on the Campus Martius.
The temple was burned down in the fire of 80, and Domitian, who, like his father
and brother, encouraged the cult, had it restored (see Jones, Domitian, pp. 91 f.).
The cult of Isis and Sarapis flourished particularly in the second and third centuries, supported by emperors like Trajan, Hadrian and Caracalla; the last mentioned built a splendid temple on the Quirinal (see Roeder in RE 2:1, s.v. Sarapis
2416 f.).
The reference here is probably to flute-players or musicians of some kind; cf.
Apuleius description of the procession at the festival of the dedication of a ship to
Isis in met. 11, 9: Ibant et dicati magno Sarapi tibicines, qui per oblicum calamum, ad aurem porrectum dexteram, familiarem templi deique modulum frequentabant. The musicians in question probably played the bombyx flute or tibia obliqua. Flute-playing was a feature of Egyptian ceremonies in honour of Osiris,
elements of which were inherited by the rites of Sarapis; musical activity in connection with Sarapis is recorded in an early-first-century BC inscription at Tanagra in Boeotia, mentioning the gathering of Sarapis worshippers for competitions
in playing the trumpet, flute and lyre; see J. G. Griffiths, Apuleius of Madauros,
The Isis Book (Metamorphoses, Book XI), Leiden 1975, pp. 188 f.
Amat suggests a more intimate relationship to the deity than does colo (cf. 9,
42, 5).
7. matutini magistri: for Martials complaints about the noise of the schools,
which began early in the morning, see the introduction to 9, 68. Matutinus also of
the client in 12, 68, 1; cf. TLL, s.v. matutinus 506, 67 ff.
cirrata caterva: curly-headed; freeborn boys wore their hair long until the
adoption of the toga virilis (see the Earinus cycle intro.). The adjective is not
157

normally used with direct reference to persons, cf. TLL, s.v. cirratus 1188, 53 ff.,
but cf. Pers. 1, 29 cirratorum centum, in which Kiel perceives a sense of affection, whereas in the present case, there is rather a notion of annoyance. The
schoolboys are called capillati in 10, 62, 2.
8. Strymonio de grege: the river Strymon in Thracia, falling into the Aegean Sea
just north of the peninsula of Chalcidice, was reputed to be the habitat of numerous cranes;1 from thence, they moved south to the Nile in winter (cf. Lucan. 5, 711
f.; 3, 199; Sen. Oed. 604). Vergil alludes to the screaming of the cranes in Aen.
10, 264 ff. tela manu iaciunt, quales sub nubibus atris | Strymoniae dant signa
grues atque aethera tranant | cum sonitu; Servius comments: Haec autem comparatio non ad telorum pertinet iactum, sed ad Troianorum clamorem. Cf. also
Verg. georg. 1, 120 Strymoniaeque grues (with Servius); Aen. 11, 580; Iuv. 13,
167.
9. quae nunc: the despairing questions recall Catull. 8, 16 ff. (at Lesbias loss
of Catullus) Quis nunc te adibit? Cui videberis bella? | Quem nunc amabis?
Cuius esse diceris? | Quem basiabis? Cui labella mordebis? Cf. Verg. Aen. 2, 69
f.; 9, 490 f.; Iuv. 3, 49 f.; 7, 54 f.; 12, 48 f.
Thessalico lunam deducere rhombo: Thessaly was traditionally the home of
witchcraft (see in particular Apul. met. 2, 1), perhaps as it was a centre of the cult
of Hecate and is often mentioned in connection with magic herbs (for example,
Plaut. Amph. 1043) and even more often with the rite of pulling down the moon,
a characteristic feat of the Thessalian witches. The earliest extant mention of this
rite is in Arist. nub. 74955
6W

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;2 cf. Plato, Georgias 513 with note in E. R. Dodds, Plato,

Georgias, Oxford 1959. The rite is frequently alluded to in Latin poetry, particularly because it was an important element of love magic; thus, for example, Verg.
ecl. 8, 68 ff. ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnin. | Carmina vel
caelo possunt deducere lunam; Hor. ep. 5, 45; id. carm. 1, 27, 21 (with Nisbet and
Hubbard ad loc); Prop. 1, 1, 19; 2, 28, 35; Tib. 1, 8, 21; Ov. epist. 6, 85; am. 2, 1,
23; met. 12, 263; Lucan. 6, 500. Lunam deducere is a magical terminus technicus;
see S. Ingallina, Orazio e la magia, Palermo 1974, pp. 135 ff.; id., I giambi
opera prima di Orazio, Latomus 39 (1980), p. 362.
The question whether the witches were believed to be able to actually pull
down the moon or only to cause an eclipse has been the subject of debate; D. E.
SRGRdKQ WRM WNRXM

Presumably in the lake of Tachino in the basin of Seres, which was passed by the river on its way to the
sea; see Oberhummer in RE 2:4 s.v. Strymon 392; cf. also Gossen-Steiner in RE 11 s.v. Kranich 1573.
2
Strepsiades: Suppose I hire some grand Thessalian witch to conjure down the Moon, and then I take it
and clap it into some round helmet-box, and keep it fast there, like a looking glass. Socrates: But whats the
use of that? Strepsiades: The use, quotha: why, if the moon should never rise again, Id never pay one
farthing (translation by B. Bickley Rogers, Loeb). Strepsiades wants to hide away the moon, so that his
creditors will not know the beginning of each new month.

158

Hill has a good collection of literary instances,1 but his arguments in favour of the
thesis that ancient references to the trick always suggest the physical removal of
the moon are not altogether convincing; he does not mention, for example, AP
14, 140, 1 ff.
,2
where the verb
(to put out, quench, etc.) suggests an eclipse, and he
finds an argument for his opinion in Lactantius note on Stat. Theb. 1, 105 Talis
erat lux illi, qualis est luna, cum laborat magica arte. Nam pagani magicis artibus credebant lunam posse mutari, unde Vergilius carmina vel lunam caelo
deducere possunt (sic), translating posse mutari as could be moved, whereas
could be changed would presumably be a more correct translation. Certainly,
neither Pliny (nat. 30, 6 f.) nor Ovid (medic. 41 f.) believed in their powers. The
effect which the witches rites allegedly had on the moon could be neutralized by
the clashing of cymbals, the noise of which annoyed Martial just as much as that
of the matutini magistri; cf. 12, 57, 15; Tib. 1, 8, 21; Tac. ann. 1, 28; Theocrit. 2,
36.
There have been various opinions also about the nature of the rhombus (Gr.
), a magical instrument used particularly in love magic (cf. Prop. 2, 28, 35
ff. deficiunt magico torti sub carmine rhombi, | et iacet exstincto laurus adusta
foco; | et iam Luna negat totiens descendere caelo, | nigraque funestum concinit
omen avis; 3, 6, 25; Ov. am. 1, 8, 7), but it would seem that it was similar to the
, a magic wheel used for the same purpose; thus Theocrit. 2, 17
,
.3 Gow ad loc. has a description of the
though without connecting it with the rhombus; it had two holes, one on each side
of the centre, and a thread was run through the one hole and back through the
other, and its ends were tied together. The ends of the loop thus created were
alternatively pulled and relaxed, thus making the wheel revolve. See A. M. Tupet,
La magie dans la posie latine. 1: Des origines la fin du rgne dAuguste, Paris
1976, pp. 50 ff.; McKeown on Ov. am. 1, 7, 8.
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10. hos illos toros: Philaenis procured sexual favours (cf. OLD, s.v. torus 5 b)
right and left without misgivings. The indefinite hic and ille are usually linked by
a copula, but the same asyndeton as here is found in 12, 60, 11 Excipere hos illos
(sc. amicos), et tota surgere cena; cf. TLL, s.v. hic 2736, 54 ff; A. Sonny,
Demonstrativa als Indefinita, Glotta 6 (1915), pp. 61-70.
11. Sit tibi terra levis: a very frequent formula in funerary inscription; the dead
man usually asks the person who passes by to wish that the earth may lie lightly
on him; cf., for example, CE 1452 dic rogo qui transis: sit tibi terra levis; see R.
Lattimore, Themes in Greek and Latin Epitaphs, Urbana, Illinois 1942, pp. 65 ff.;
TLL, s.v. levis 1, 1203, 8 ff. Martial paraphrases the formula also in 5, 34, 9 f. (on
Erotion) Mollia non rigidus caespes tegat ossa, nec illi, | terra, gravis fueris: non
fuit illa tibi; 6, 52, 5 f. (on the barber Pantagathus) Sis licet, ut debes, tellus, pla1

D. E. Hill, The Thessalian Trick, RhM 116 (1973), pp. 211-238.

Blessed Zeus, are these deeds pleasing in thy sight that the Thessalian women do in play? The eye of the
moon is blighted by mortals; I saw it myself. Translation by W. R. Paton, Loeb.
3
My magic wheel, draw to the house the man I love; cf. Verg. ecl. 8, 68 f. quoted above.
2

159

cata levisque, | artificis levior non potes esse manu; 11, 14 Heredes, nolite
brevem sepelire colonum: | nam terra est illi quantulacumque gravis; cf. also Tib.
2, 4, 50; Ov. ars 3, 740.
mollique harena: mollis in the sense of soft, yielding to the touch; cf.
TLL, s.v. mollis 1372, 4 ff. The combination mollis harena occurs for the first
time in Ov. am. 2, 11, 47 (cf. met. 2, 577; Ib. 422).
12. ne tua non possint etc.: normally a simple ne possint would be expected, but
Martial turns it the other way round, on the pattern of AP 11, 226 (Ammianus);
see the introduction above. For other humorous paraphrases of the formula, cf. AP
7, 204, 7 f. (Agathias Scholiasticus); 7, 583, 7 f. (by the same).
To be left unburied and to be devoured by animals was to the Roman the utmost horror; as such, it was imposed as a severe punishment upon those convicted
for perduellio, high treason; see Mommsen, Strafrecht, pp. 987 ff. This view is
occasionally reflected in literature; thus, for example, Cic. Mil. 33; Catull. 108, 3
ff. non equidem dubito quin primum inimica bonorum | lingua exsecta avido sit
data vulturio, | effossos oculos voret atro gutture corvus, | intestina canes, cetera
membra lupi. For more instances involving dogs, who were considered to be keen
on human flesh (cf. Phaedr. 1, 27, 3 effodiens ossa thesaurum canis), see TLL, s.v.
canis 254, 18 ff.

30
Cappadocum saevis Antistius occidit oris
Rusticus. O tristi crimine terra nocens!
Rettulit ossa sinu cari Nigrina mariti
et questa est longas non satis esse vias;
cumque daret sanctam tumulis, quibus invidet, urnam,
visa sibi est rapto bis viduata viro.

A sincere and touching epigram on the death of L. Antistius Rusticus and his
loving wife Mummia Nigrinas recovery of his ashes from Cappadocia. Once
bereft of her husband, she carries his urn in her bosom, complaining that the way
is not long enough before she, then twice bereft, must entrust his ashes to the
tomb, which she envies. The moving picture of Nigrina reminds us in its sympathetic tone of Tacitus pitiful picture of the once illustrious Agrippina, defessa
luctu et corpore aegro, boarding the ship for Rome with her children, carrying the
urn with Germanicus ashes in the fold of her gown (Tac. ann. 2, 75).
L. Antistius Rusticus and Mummia Nigrina are mentioned in only two epigrams of Martial in the whole of the transmitted literature, the other being 4, 75,
praising Nigrina for her generosity in sharing her fathers wealth with her husband. Yet they are quite well known, thanks to two inscriptions. One (from Rome,
CIL 6, 27881) is the epitaph of their slave-girl Tyche, who died at the age of
twenty, set up by her husband and fellow-slave Celtiber: Dis Manibus | Tyche | vix
160

ann XX | Antisti Rustic | et Mummiae | Nigrinae | fec Celtiber | conservus |

coniugi carissi | h(ic) s(ita) e(st) s(it) t(ibi) t(erra) l(evis) | d(ecessit) V I(dus)
Mar(tias) i(mperatore) D(omitiano) XIII cos. From this inscription, dating from
87,1 we know that Nigrinas nomen gentilicium was Mummia (see PIR2 M
714)..The other inscription concerns Antistius doings in Cappadocia and is thus
of greater relevance to the present epigram.2 Found in Psidian Antioch, it proclaims the measures taken, apparently on his own authority without the intervention of Domitian,3 by Antistius, who served as legate of Galatia-Cappadocia in
91-93 or 94, against a famine following an unusually harsh winter. The rough
dating of the inscription to 93 confirms that Antistius was in Cappadocia and
would have died there in 93 or 94, shortly before the publication of Martials
Book 9. It also gives Lucius as his praenomen and lists, in reverse order, every
office he had held, including a suffect consulship, probably in the eighties, and a
proconsulship of the province of Hispania ulterior Baetica, along with numerous
military distinctions. His connection with Martial is perhaps explained by the fact
that they were apparently compatriots (the inscription opens with L. Antistio [L.]
f. | Gal. Rustico, where Gal. probably indicates that he was a Spaniard from the
tribus Galeria4).
As Mummia Nigrina, for obvious reasons, is not mentioned in the Cappadocian inscription, our knowledge of her depends entirely on Martial and on CIL 6,
27881. Her affection for and submission to her husband secured a place for her
among the (comparatively few) virtuous women recognized by Martial, and she
would probably have complied fully with Martials formula for equality given in
8, 12, 3 f. Inferior matrona suo sit, Prisce, marito: | non aliter fiunt femina virque
pares. Other ideal wives mentioned by Martial are Claudia Rufina (11, 53; she
was British by birth and is thus perhaps the same person as the Claudia Peregrina
of 4, 13; see Kay on 11, 53, 1), Argentaria Polla, Lucans widow (7, 21 and 23;
10, 64; cf. Stat. silv. 2, 7), and Sulpicia, wife of Calenus (10, 35 and 38). Among
historical exempla of female virtue are Porcia, the wife of Brutus (1, 42) and Caecina Paetus wife Arria Paeta (1, 13); see further Sullivan, Martial, pp. 191 f.
1. Cappadocum saevis oris: saevis would refer both to the climate of Cappadocia being very rigorous in winter (cf. Forcellini, Onomast., s.v. Cappadocia
330) and to its savage inhabitants, elsewhere described as feroces Cappadoces
(Lucan. 3, 243 f.), and their land as regno ... feroci Cappadocum (Manil. 4, 760
f.).
2. tristi crimine terra nocens: the land is made guilty of Antistius death (OLD,
s.v. nocens 2), like of that of Camonius Rufus in 6, 85, 3 f. impia Cappadocum
tellus (cf. Sil. 2, 29; Stat. Theb. 10, 850; TLL, s.v. impius 624, 41 ff.). Similarly,
1

Domitian began his thirteenth consulship that year but laid it down on the thirteenth of January, and thus
was in fact not consul in March.
M. McCrum & A. G. Woodhead, Select Documents of the Principates of the Flavian Emperors
including the Year of the Revolution A.D. 68-96, Cambridge 1961, no. 464, pp. 139 f.
3
See B. Levick, Domitian and the Provinces, Latomus 41 (1982), pp. 50-73 (pp. 57 f.).
4
See S. E. Stout, L. Antistius Rusticus, CPh 21 (1926), p. 47. There is nothing to support Groags
opinion in RE 16, s.v. Mummius 27, 534, that Mummia Nigrina was a rich patroness of Martial.
2

161

the fields of Pharsalus are called terra nocens in Lucan. 7, 768 and 869; cf. also
Stat. Theb. 5, 592.
3. Rettulit ossa sinu: the bones of the cremated corpse were collected by the nearest relations and put in the sinus, a hanging fold of the dress used as a pocket,
before they were put in the urn; Nigrina carries the urn containing the ashes of
her beloved husband in this fold, as Agrippina did when she brought back the
ashes of Germanicus from Antioch (Tac. ann. 2, 75 feralis reliquias sinu ferret);
cf. Tib. 1, 3, 5 f.; Prop. 1, 17, 11 f.; Sen. dial. 12, 2, 5; Mau in RE 3, s.v. Bestattung 356 ff.
4. esse vias: this ending also in Tib. 1, 1, 26; 1, 9, 36; Prop. 3, 5, 10; Ov. epist.
17, 146; 18, 154; fast. 2, 8; Ib. 24.
5. sanctam urnam: this is the only instance of this juncture, but cf. Stat. Theb.
7, 697 f. sanctum et venerabile ... funus; Cic. Phil. 9, 14 sepulcra sanctiora; Sen.
Tro. 509 f. sanctas parentis conditi sedes. It is used more frequently of the spirits
of the dead (thus 6, 18, 1; 7, 40, 3) and of deceased persons, for example, Verg.
Aen. 11, 158; see OLD, s.v. sanctus 3 c.
tumulis: when the plural is used of one single grave, it is usually in order to
avoid elision; thus Prop. 4, 7, 53 f. si fallo, vipera nostris | sibilet in tumulis et
super ossa cubet; Sil. 9, 133 fratris tumulis arma; Stat. Theb. 5, 679 tumulis
etiamnum; silv. 3, 1, 24 mersum tumulis Eurysthea; 4, 4, 55 magni tumulis adcanto magistri; CIL 11, 911, 15 te pi[e] possessor, sive, colone, precor | ne patiare meis tumulis [i]ncrescere silvas. In the present case, there are no metrical
reasons for the plural, nor can it be maintained that Martial preferred a dactyl (-is
quibus) to a spondee (-o cui) before the bucolic diaeresis; of 188 instances of such
diaeresis in Book 9, 86 are preceded by a dactyl, whereas 102 are preceded by a
spondee.
6. rapto bis viduata viro: twice deprived through the snatching away of her
husband (bis is used
), recalling Vergils words of Orpheus in georg.
4, 504 quo se rapta bis coniuge ferret? Probably Martial wants to draw a parallel
with the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, in which Orpheus, having lost his wife
for the second time, would have felt the same bitter grief as Nigrina.
S NRLQR

162

31
Cum comes Arctois haereret Caesaris armis
Velius, hanc Marti pro duce vovit avem;
luna quater binos non tota peregerat orbes,
debita poscebat iam sibi vota deus:
ipse suas anser properavit laetus ad aras
et cecidit sanctis hostia parva focis.
Octo vides patulo pendere nomismata rostro
alitis? Haec extis condita nuper erant:
quae litat argento pro te, non sanguine, Caesar,
victima, iam ferro non opus esse docet.

10

This epigram is concerned with a picture of a goose, which had been vowed and
sacrificed to Mars by C. Velius Rufus (?; see below on line 2) for the safe return of
Domitian from the campaign against the Sarmatians on the Danube, the Second
Pannonian War (see the introduction, pp. 26 f.). Miraculously, hidden in the entrails of the bird were found eight silver coins, each of them obviously representing one month of the emperors absence in the war. In this way, the goose had
showed, by silver instead of blood, that the offering was pleasing to Mars, but
above all that there was no more need of bloodshed; Domitian appears as a Prince
of Peace, a role which Martial ascribes to him also in 9, 70, 7 f. and 9, 101, 21,
obviously inspired by the war in question, although it actually was not a success;
see further note on 9, 70, 7 f. The image of the goose may perhaps have been
placed next to a statue of Mars,1 since the opening lines are such as may be found
on a votive tablet (cf. below on line 2), and since lines 78, which speak of the
silver coins as hanging from the gooses open beak, make little sense unless we
take them as referring to something like a mittelalterliches Spruchband, emerging, in the picture, from the beak and showing the coins (so Weinreich, Studien,
p. 133).2
The present epigram is of some importance for the dating of Domitians Second Pannonian War. From other epigrams of Martial, it appears that Domitian
returned from this war in January 933 and, assuming that Velius made the vow at
the departure of the emperor and performed it on his return, Domitian would have
left for the Danube little less than eight months before, that is, in May 92 (line 3;
cf. Gsell, pp. 225 ff.). The poem is also, as Friedlnder observed (pp. 61 f.),
among the earliest of Book 9, as the two concluding lines, stating that there is no
longer any call for armed conflict, indicate that the vow was performed and the
poem written immediately upon the return of the emperor, in January 93.
1

See F. Mller, Die Gans auf Denkmlern des Mars, Westdeutsche Zeitschrift fr Geschichte und
Kunst 5 (1886), pp. 321331. Mller points to an image of a she-goat standing next to the statue of
Vediovis, to whom that animal was sacrificed (cf. Gell. 5, 12, 12). As such an image, he also explains the
goose standing next to the enthroned Mars on a bronze tablet found in Bonn (see note on line 2 below).
2
Schmook, p. 54, thinks that the goose was stuffed and placed on view in a temple, the coins being put in
its mouth.
3
Probably on the 1st or the 2nd, if 8, 4 was written on the day of the votorum nuncupatio, January 3rd,
when vows were offered for the emperor (see Friedlnder, p. 60). Cf. also 7, 58 (Friedlnder, p. 58); 8, 2;
8, 8; 8, 11; 8, 21 (Friedlnder, pp. 59 f.).

163

That the goose did not resist being sacrificed was, of course, technically
important to the offering; the resistance of the sacrificial animal was a sign that
the offering was not pleasing to the gods, making litatio (see below on line 9)
impossible.1 But the gooses going to the altar even of its own accord and volunteering to be sacrificed are due to its perception of Domitians divine numen. The
ability of animals to feel the sacra potestas of the emperor is frequently stressed
by Martial, as their incapability of lying (epigr. 29, 8 mentiri non didicere ferae)
furnishes an irrefutable proof of his divine power. Many instances are provided by
the animals in the arena: in epigr. 17, an elephant kneels to Titus non iussus,
nulloque docente magistro, but because nostrum sentit et ille deum; similarly, a
hind hunted by Molossian hounds flees to the feet of Titus, where the hounds dare
not follow; Martial exclaims Numen habet Caesar, sacra est haec, sacra potestas
(epigr. 29, 7). The hares of the harelioncycle in Book 1 (poems 6; 14; 22; 48; 51;
60; 104; cf. 44; 45) may safely leap unharmed in and out of the mouth of
Domitians lions because of the lions consciousness of their divine master (1,
104, 22 norunt cui serviant leones).2 Domitians sacred fish in Lacus Baianus has
a similar awareness of the emperor (4, 30), as has the parrot of 14, 73, which by
its own accord has learned to speak the words Caesar have. Cf. also poems 61 and
79 of the present book.
The idea of the willing sacrificial animal goes back to the theme of animals
voluntarily sacrificing themselves to gods (like the ox to Demeter in Aelian. nat.
anim. 11, 4) and later to Hellenistic rulers.3 However, Weinreich points to a passage from Plutarch (Lucull. 24), indicating that the theme appeared in Roman
tradition already during the republic (then in connection with military commanders).4 Plutarch tells how Lucullus, after crossing the Euphrates, ran across the
sacred heifers of Artemis, which were grazing freely and could only with difficulty be caught and dragged to the sacrificial altar; but presently, one of these
heifers came to a certain rock which is deemed sacred to the goddess, and
stood upon it, and lowering its head without any compulsion from the usual rope,
offered itself to Lucullus for sacrifice.5 In Latin, the volunteering sacrificial animal perhaps appears in Tib. 2, 1, 15 and Petron. 133, 13 f., but, if so, its willingness is in these cases due to the influence of the god in question (Bacchus/Ceres
and Priapus respectively). The first certain instance of the application of the
theme to a Roman emperor would be AP 9, 352, 3 f. (Leonidas of Alexandria), on
a sacrifice following Neros deliverance from the Pisonian conspiracy, stating that
Rb

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Wissowa, Religion, p. 351.

See Citronis introduction to 1, 6.
3
See Weinreich, Studien, pp. 156 ff.
4
Weinreich, op. cit., pp. 137 ff.
5
Plut. Lucull. 24, 7; translation by Bernadotte Perrin, Loeb.
6
A hundred axes made the willing necks of as many bulls bleed at the altars of Heavenly Zeus (W. R.
Patons translation, Loeb). However, Weinreich (p. 140) must be mistaken in assuming that
refers to Nero, da Leonidas IX 355, 3 die Poppa anredet als
,
,
.
The epithet
(used of Zeus also in AP 12, 230, 4 [Callimachus], and 16, 293, 3 [Anonymous])
would rather emphasize that the Zeus in question is the heavenly, and not Nero; cf. Martials use of
different attributes (Ausonius pater [9, 7, 6], as opposed to pater deum [9, 3, 6], Palatinus Tonans, as
opposed to Tarpeius Tonans [9, 86, 7], etc.) to distinguish Domitian from Jupiter.
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animals and the emperors numen as a whole, see Weinreich, Studien, pp. 74 ff.;
cf. Scott, pp. 119 ff. For its influence on plants, see note on 9, 61, 9 Auctorem
sentire videtur.
) was introduced into Latin poetry
1. Arctois: the adjective Arctous (Gr.
by Seneca (for example, Oed. 606 Arctoas nives with Tchterles note; TLL, s.v.
Arctous 472, 58 ff.). Martial has it six times, twice as a general reference to the
North (epigr. 15, 4; 5, 68, 1), twice with reference to the Rhine (4, 11, 8; 10, 6, 2),
and twice referring to the war against the Sarmatians (8, 65, 3 Arctoi belli and
the present occurrence). Note also that, of in all thirty-two occurrences of this
adjective in Silver Latin dactylic verse, twenty-four stand, as here, immediately
before the penthemimeresis.1
UNWRM

haereret Caesaris armis: haereret may be taken in the sense of adhaereret

(cf. Ov. met. 8, 144 Cnosiacaeque haeret comes invidiosa carinae; Lucan. 3, 24
haereat illa tuis per bella per aequora signis; TLL, s.v. haereo 2496, 8 ff.), in
which case armis must be taken as metonymy for exercitui (TLL, s.v. arma 600,
44 ff.). It would also be possible to understand haereret as occupatus esset (TLL,
s.v. haereo 2499, 23 ff.); armis should then be taken abstractly as synonymous
with bellis; cf. Ov. met. 4, 34 f. aut ducunt lanas aut stamina pollice versant | aut
haerent telae famulasque laboribus urguent, see Bmer ad loc.; TLL, s.v. arma
599, 11.
The ending Caesaris armis, found once in Ovid (am. 1, 2, 51), appears no less
than ten times in Lucan.
2. Velius: most probably C. Velius Rufus, whose distinguished military career
spanned all three Flavian emperors and was crowned with a procurate of Pannonia and Dalmatia between c. 90 and the beginning of 93, followed by a governorship of Raetia between 9394 and 9596.2 His military career is recorded in an
inscription from Baalbek (ILS 9200), from which it appears that he was decorated
in bello Marcomannorum Quadorum (both Suebic tribes) Sarmatum (viz. the
branch of the Iazyges), adversus quos expeditionem fecit per regnum Decebali,
regis Dacorum (lines 14 ff.); this might have been in 89 at the earliest, in the First
Pannonian War,3 since the words per regnum Decebali imply that Domitian had
come to terms with the Dacian king.4 Jones assumes that the expedition took place
in 92, during the Second Pannonian War,5 but this is not important for the identi1

Lucan. 10 before the penthemimeresis, 2 at the beginning of the verse; Sil. 2 before the penthemimeresis;
Stat. 7 before the penthemimeresis, 1 at the beginning of the verse; Mart. 4 before the penthemimeresis, 1
one preceding the diaeresis of the pentameter, 1 at the beginning of the verse; most divergent is Val. Fl., in
having 1 instance before the penthemimeresis, 1 following the penthemimeresis, and 2 before the
hephthemimeresis.
2
See K. Strobel, Zur Rekonstruktion der Laufbahn des C. Velius Rufus, ZPE 64 (1986), pp. 265286.
Friedlnder (following Mommsen) identified Velius as Velius Paulus, governor of Pontus-Bithynia (see
Dihle in RE 2:8, s.v. Velius Longus 628 f., where Longus is a mistake for Paulus, see Eck in RE Suppl. 14,
827 [to the article Velius 5]). There is no evidence that Velius Paulus participated in any of the Pannonian
Wars.
3
So Strobel, op. cit., p. 277.
4
Jones, Domitian, pp. 150 ff.
5
Jones, op. cit., p. 152.

165

fication of the Velius of this epigram with Velius Rufus, who in any case was
procurator of Pannonia at the time of the latter war.
hanc Marti avem: the formula suggests a dedicatory inscription, cf. 1, 31,
1 Hos tibi, Phoebe, vovet totos a vertice crines (sc. Encolpos) with Citronis note.
This is the only literary evidence that geese were sacrificed to Mars, but there
is a handful of different monuments and utensils from Roman Britain and Germany (see Mller, op. cit.), depicting Mars with a goose, presumably while the
watchfulness of the bird was such as would be expected of the Roman soldier,
above all, of those at the frontier, who had to live with the constant threat of barbaric tribes. The connection of the goose with Mars is certainly also due to the god
of war being the vigilant guardian of soldiers and generals; before going to war,
the commander would betake himself to the Sacrarium Martis and shake the ancilia and the lance of the god, while calling to Mars Mars vigila (Serv. Aen. 8,
3); see Roscher in Roscher, s.v. Mars 2422 f.
pro duce vovit: similar prosody in 8, 4, 2 suspicit et solvit pro duce vota suo;
Ov. epist. 10, 72.
3. Luna quater binos peregerat orbes: the moon is frequently used by the
poets to denote a series of months, according to the principle Luna dabit menses,
peragit quod menstrua cursum (Manil. 3, 517). Such expressions are mostly of
similar structure, luna being the subject of a verb (impleo, retego, compleo, etc.)
governing orbem or orbes. The amount of time is denoted by a numeric adverb
when the singular orbem is used (for example, Ov. met. 2, 344 luna quater iunctis
inplerat cornibus orbem [with Bmers note]; 7, 531 Luna, quater plenum tenuata
retexuit orbem; 11, 453; Lucan. 2, 577) or, with the plural orbes, either by a numeric adverb with a distributive (for example, Sil. 3, 67 bissenos Lunae nondum
compleverat orbes; Stat. Theb. 1, 576 bis quinos plena cum fronte resumeret
orbes; cf. silv. 5, 2, 12) or by a cardinal number (Ov. fast. 3, 517 sex ubi
sustulerit, totidem demerserit orbes). The verb perago appears also in Val. Fl. 1,
283 f. septem Aurora vias totidemque peregerat umbras | luna polo.
4. debita ... iam sibi vota: Domitian has returned, and Mars has fulfilled his part
of the vow. Poscebat, since the demand remains until the vow is performed. Note
also the frequency of pentameters ending with vota deus sim. (4, 1, 4; 4, 73, 6;
Tib. 3, 3, 10; Prop. 3, 3, 10; Ov. epist. 16, 282; Pont. 2, 8, 28; 4, 4, 30; Epiced.
Drusi 22; 194).
5. ipse: in the sense of sua sponte; cf. Serv. georg. 1, 34.
6. cecidit sacris focis: the focus was the portable seat of fire which stood at the
altar to receive the offering of wine and incense that began the sacrifice (see Wissowa, Religion, pp. 351 f.).
The juncture sacris focis sim., in the pentameter always with the same position as here, is first found in Tibull. 1, 2, 83 f. Num feror incestus sedes adiisse
deorum | sertaque de sanctis deripuisse focis? (also 1, 8, 69; 3, 10, 23), followed
166

by Ovid (fast. 3, 734; 4, 297; Pont. 2, 1, 32; cf. also fast. 3, 30 sacros focos;
Mart. 1, 21, 2 sacris focis). The dative focis with cecidit indicates that the
firepan is regarded as a kind of manifestation of the god, replacing the dative of
expressions like Verg. Aen. 1, 334 multa tibi ante aras nostra cadet hostia dextra.
Although cado focis is elsewhere unattested, the same idea may be observed in
Sen. Thy. 1057 ff. ferro vulnera impresso dedi, | cecidi ad aras, caede votiva
focos | placavi.
hostia parva: cf. Tib. 1, 22 nunc agna exigui est hostia parva soli.
, a very rare word in classical Latin, occurring once in
7. nomismata: Gr.
Horace (epist. 2, 1, 234) and five times in Martial, where it usually signifies a
coupon of some kind, probably in the shape of a coin; thus 1, 11, 1; 1, 26, 3; 8, 78,
9; in 12, 62, 11, the word signifies tokens bearing a text and a picture of different
kinds of apophoreta, which should be exchanged for the gift itself (see Citroni on
1, 11, 1). In later Latin, the word mostly alludes to strange or rare coins, such as
collectors items or coins for ornamental use;1 there is something of this notion
here it is not just any coins that hang from the beak of the goose, but sacred
coins, formed as an omen in the entrails of the bird.
QPLVPD

8. nuper erat: the same ending in 8, 65, 2; 14, 128, 2; Ov. trist. 2, 1, 158.
9. litat: give favourable omens; of the sacrificial animal also in 10, 73, 6; cf. 8,
15, 2. Expressions of the victima litat kind are considered by Bmer to be Ovidian
coinages (Ov. met. 15, 794 victima nulla litat, with Bmers note; also Plin. nat.
8, 183; 207), but cf. the phrase hostiae litationem inspexerunt in the Acts of the
Arval brethren, which may have preserved an ancient usage (see Wissowa in RE
13, s.v. litatio 740 ff.). The word is more commonly used with the person offering,
in the sense of to sacrifice successfully; thus 10, 92, 16; TLL, s.v. lito 1511, 4
ff.; cf. Serv. Aen. 4, 50 inter litare et sacrificare hoc interest, quod
sacrificare veniam petere, litare propitiare et votum impetrare; 2, 119.
The litatio was the conclusion of the sacrifice, when the entrails of the animals
were inspected. If abnormalities or malformations were found, then the sacrifice
remained sine litatione and had to be repeated usque ad litationem (see Wissowa
in RE, loc. cit., and Religion, p. 253).
9 f. sanguine ... | ... ferro: note the resemblance to Sen. epist. 77, 9 on the suicide
of Marcellinus: Non fuit illi (sc. Marcellino) opus ferro, non sanguine.

Cf. Dig. 7, 1, 28 pr. Pomponius libro quinto ad Sabinum. Nomismatum aureorum vel argenteorum
veterum, quibus pro gemmis uti solent, usus fructus legari potest; 10, 4, 9, 4; 34, 2, 27, 4; Ser. med. 520.

167

32
Hanc volo, quae facilis, quae palliolata vagatur,
hanc volo, quae puero iam dedit ante meo,
hanc volo, quam redimit totam denarius alter,
hanc volo, quae pariter sufficit una tribus.
Poscentem nummos et grandia verba sonantem
possideat crassae mentula Burdigalae.

This epigram presents a variation of a common theme in the tradition of erotic

poetry, the poets preferences regarding his mistress (or lover).1 The theme is
found several times in the Greek Anthology, it has been variously treated by,
among others, Horace, Propertius and Ovid, and Martial varies it in a number of
epigrams. In 1, 57, he advocates a golden mean: the girl should not be too easy
to catch and not too repugnant (cf. AP 5, 42 [Rufinus]; 12, 200 [Strato]); 5, 83
treats a classical dilemma: Insequeris, fugio; fugis, insequor; haec mihi mens est:
| velle tuum nolo, Dindyme, nolle volo (cf. Hor. sat 1, 2, 107 f.; Ov. am. 2, 19, 36;
AP 12, 102, 5 f. [Callimachus]; 12, 203 [Strato]); in 11, 100, Martial proclaims
that the girl should be neither too skinny nor too fat (cf. AP 5, 37 [Rufinus]). 4, 42
is a longer piece on the poets preferences in a boy; cf. 2, 36; 11, 60; 11, 102.
The present epigram explicitly contradicts 1, 57 and 5, 83, as Martial proclaims that he wants a girl who is facilis, who is not vain, who will do anything
you say for a couple of denarii and yet is able to satisfy three men at the same
time. What he wishes for is thus an ordinary meretrix, as the counterpart of which
he poses those poscentes nummos et grandia verba sonantes. Strange as it may
seem, what Martial understands by the latter phrase is not luxurious concubines,
but most surely married women of leisure from the upper social classes, as may be
concluded from some verses in Horaces sat. 1, 2, which, as shown by Prinz,2
more or less form a key to the understanding of the second part of this epigram.
The lines in question are sat. 1, 2, 116 ff. Tument tibi cum inguina, num, si | ancilla aut verna est praesto puer, impetus in quem | continuo fiat. Malis tentigine
rumpi? | Non ego; namque parabilem amo venerem facilemque. | Illam post
paulo sed pluris si exierit vir | Gallis, hanc Philodemus ait sibi, quae neque magno | stet pretio neque cunctetur cum est iussa venire. The passage obviously goes back to a (now lost) epigram of Philodemus but shows so many similarities to the present epigram that Prinz is surely right in assuming that the epigram of Philodemus was the source of both Martials and Horaces verses. Prinz
also draws attention to a passage from Propertius containing the same similarities
and probably also modelled on the same epigram of Philodemus, which thus
seems to have been well known; cf. Prop. 2, 23, 12 ff. Ah pereant, si quos ianua
clausa iuvat! | Contra, reiecto quae libera vadit amictu, | custodum et nullo
saepta timore, placet. | Cui saepe immundo Sacra conteritur Via socco, | nec sinit
esse moram, si quis adire velit; | differet haec numquam, nec poscet garrula,
1
The matter has been fully treated by K. Prinz in his paper Zu Horaz Sat. I 2, 121 und Martial Epigr. IX
32, WS 34 (1912), pp. 227-236.
2
Op. cit., pp. 232 ff.

168

quod te | astrictus ploret saepe dedisse pater, | nec dicet timeo, propera iam
surgere, quaeso: | infelix, hodie vir mihi rure venit. | Et quas Euphrates et quas
mihi misit Orontes, | me iuerint: nolim furta pudica tori.
The same desire for love without demands as here can be observed in 3, 33, in
which Martial sets out by saying that he most of all wants a free-born girl, but, on
second thoughts, comes to the conclusion that what he really wants is a slave girl
with the looks of a free-born (cf. AP 5, 18, 7 f. [Rufinus]). In the Greek Anthology, there are also a couple of epigrams making fun of Zeus for taking such pains
to get at his mistresses, when one can get what one wants with such ease for two
obols or a drachma; thus AP 5, 125 (Bassus)
2

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1. Hanc volo, quae: Friedlnder compares Auson. 26, 56, 1 Prete Hanc volo,
quae non vult; illam, quae vult ego nolo (cf. 5, 83, 1); cf. also 1, 8, 6 Hunc volo,
laudari qui sine morte potest; 10, 59, 6 Hunc volo, non fiat qui sine pane satur; 6,
60, 4.
facilis: easy to come to terms with, as in 1, 57, 2 Nolo nimis facilem difficilemque nimis; 3, 69, 5 facilesque puellae; 12, 46, 1 Difficilis facilis, iucundus
acerbus es idem; cf. TLL, s.v. facilis 62, 28 ff. This is the parabilem venerem
facilemque of Hor. sat. 1, 2, 119 quoted above.
palliolata: a very rare adjective; apart from the present, there are only three
instances, Suet. Claud. 2, 2; Act. lud. saec. Sept Sev. 5a, 59; and Hist. Aug. quatt.
tyr. 15, 8; TLL s.v. palliolatus 132, 47 ff.; compare the adverb palliolatim in
Plaut. Pseud. 1275; Caecil. com. 133; Fronto p. 150, 16 van den Hout.
The pallium, the outer garment corresponding to the
of the Greeks,
was worn by men and women alike, by respectable matrons (11, 104, 7) as well as
by concubines (Ov. am. 1, 4, 49; 3, 2, 25; ars 1, 153 with Hollis note; ars 1, 733
refers to a head-dress; see also McKeown on am. 1, 4, 41); cf. also Martials complaints of his fictitious wife in 11, 104, 7 fascia te tunicaeque obscuraque pallia
celant. The adjective palliolatus is derived from the diminutive palliolum, the
precise meaning of which is somewhat obscure; probably, the diminutive would
convey a sense of plain, simple, etc., to distinguish the palliolum from the pallium of the matrons, which was usually purple-coloured; cf. 11, 27, 8, where the
unstylish mistress of Flaccus asks for five untreated fleeces for a palliolum, and
Prop. 2, 23, 13 reiecto quae libera vadit amictu (see above); see also Kreis & von
Schaewen in RE 18 s. v. pallium 250, and Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 235, the
bPWLRQ

1
I am never going to turn into gold, and let someone else become a bull or the melodious swan of the
shore. Such tricks I leave to Zeus, and instead of becoming a bird I will give Corinna my two obols.
2
You can have the Attic Europa for a drachma with none to fear and no opposition on her part, and she
has perfectly clean sheets and a fire in winter. It was quite superfluous for you, dear Zeus, to turn into a
bull; W. R. Patons translations, Loeb.

169

latter making a distinction between the pallium and the palliolum, though with no
further explanation.
2. dedit: sc. se, like in 10, 81, 3 promisit pariter se Phyllis utrique daturam; cf. 7,
75, 2 (addressed to a deformis anus) vis dare (sc. te) nec dare vis (sc. pecuniam);
TLL s.v. do 1697, 80 ff. With dedo, cf. Trabea com. 3 ff. De inproviso Chrysis ubi
me aspexerit, | alacris obviam mihi veniet complexum exoptans meum, | mihi se
dedet (TLL, s.v. dedo 267, 72 ff.).
The ellipse suggests that se dare alicui was a common phrase of prostitutes
and concubines.
3. redimit denarius alter: a metaphor from the legal language, to buy up (in
order to acquire control), cf. OLD, s.v. redimo 2. One denarius (= ten asses)
would be quite an ordinary price for a prostitute, and two denarii still not too
expensive; see note on 9, 4, 1. Perhaps the denarius alter should not be taken too
literally, since the point is to distinguish Martials girl from those who poscent
nummos (line 5) for each additional service: add another denarius, and shell do
whatever you want.
4. una tribus: una in the sense of sola. The number three is not chosen at random
but is an echo of Prop. 1, 13, 29 f. nec mirum, cum sit Iove dignae proxima Ledae
| et Ledae partu gratior, una tribus (with the same sense of una); Ov. Pont. 2, 8,
56; Nux 76.
5. grandia verba sonantem: grandia, i.e. tumida, superba (cf. note on 9, 27, 8);
the lofty verb sono is aptly chosen to go with the adjective (cf. note on 9, praef. 7).
The haughty words of arrogant ladies are spelled out by Hor. sat. 1, 2, 120: post
paulo sed pluris si exierit vir. Cf. also Prop. 2, 23, 17 f. quoted above.
6. crassae: Heraeus in his apparatus explains crassus as pinguis, dives et luxuriosus, but Shackleton Bailey is surely right in rejecting this and pointing to 9, 22, 2
vulgus crassaque turba, i.e. crassae in the sense of stultae or rusticae (see note ad
loc.).
Burdigalae: metonymy for the inhabitants of Burdigala (now Bordeaux),1 corresponding to the Galli in Hor. sat. 1, 2, 221 (quoted above), which, in its turn, is
dependent on Martial to be correctly understood (cf. Prinz, op. cit., pp. 233 ff.). It
must be assumed that both Martial and Horace had a common source in Philodemus, but, judging only from Horaces Galli, it would be impossible to say whether
Philodemus wrote
, i.e. the Gauls, or
, the castrate priests of
Cybele; in writing Burdigalae, Martial shows that his Greek model most certainly
had
. Porphyrio (Hor. sat. 1, 2, 120-121) explains the passage in Horace
thus: Gallis autem has (such women mentioned in Hor. sat. 1, 2, 120, corresponding to the nummos poscentes etc. of Martial) ait aptiores esse, quia Filodamus
*DOWDL

*OORL

*DOWDL

A collection of the instances mentioning Burdigala will be found in A. Holder, Alt-celtischer

Sprachschatz, 1-3, Leipzig 1891-1913, s.v. Burdigala; cf. Ihm in RE 3, s.v. Burdigala 1061.

170

Epicurius, cuius sensum transtulit, relegat tales ad Gallos, qui magno adulteria
mercantur vel propter divitias, vel quod incensioris libidinis sint. The incensior
libido may perhaps point rather to eunuchs than to Gauls,1 but Prinz produces a
couple of instances describing the Gauls in a way comparable to Porphyrio, in
particular with reference to their wealth; thus Tac. ann. 3, 46, who describes the
Aedui as quanto pecunia dites et voluptatibus opulentos tanto magis imbellis; the
wealth of the Gauls is emphasized in Ioseph. Bell. Iud. 2, 364
; and Poseidonius in Strabo 7, 2, 2 calls the Helvetii
. Thus, Prinz assumes that the Gauls
had become the model for rich provincials (cf. Manil. 4, 793 Gallia dives). But
they were also regarded as notoriously credulous,2 and the crassa Burdigala would
then probably be metonymy for well-to-do country bumpkins, who, when in the
big city, want to show off by going only for that which is most thrilling and most
expensive the pampered wife of a well-to-do Roman.
PHjM

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HcUKQDdRXM

Gy

33
Audieris in quo, Flacce, balneo plausum,
Maronis illic esse mentulam scito.
The contents of this epigram closely resemble an event that occurred at a bath in
the Satyricon of Petronius (92, 8 f.), involving a young man who had lost his
clothes: illum autem frequentia ingens circumvenit cum plausu et admiratione
timidissima. Habebat enim inguinum pondus tam grande, ut ipsum hominem
laciniam fascini crederes. O iuvenem laboriosum: puto illum pridie incipere,
postero die finire. Itaque statim invenit auxilium; nescio quis enim, eques Romanus ut aiebant infamis, sua veste errantem circumdedit ac domum abduxit, credo,
ut tam magna fortuna solus uteretur. Other epigrams making fun of an excessively large penis are 6, 36 (a big nose and a big penis; see Grewings introduction, ad loc.); 11, 51; 11, 72; Kay (on 11, 51) compares AP 11, 224 (Antipater);
Iuv. 9, 92; Suet. Vesp. 23, 1; Hist. Aug. Comm. 10, 9. The theme is, of course,
ultimately at home in poetry devoted to Priapus, the foremost attribute of whom is
a very conspicuous penis; in the Priapea, compare, in particular, poems 1, 6, 8,
18, 30, and 36 (cf. W. H . Parker, Priapea: Poems for a Phallic God, London &
Sydney 1988, p. 41).
Given the exposure of naked bodies in the public baths, those who in fact came
there to find a lover did not run the risk of buying a pig in a poke; the inpudici
balneum Tigillini (3, 20, 15) is perhaps an instance of a bath known to be preferred by homosexuals; cf. also 1, 23 (with commentaries by Citroni and Howell).
The nakedness could also lead to various embarrassing situations; in 12, 83, Fabianus goes about making fun of others haemorrhoids, until, on a visit to Neros
baths, he discovers that he has them himself (cf. Iuv. 6, 374 ff.; 11, 156 ff.).
1
2

On the lewdness of eunuchs, see Hug in RE Suppl. 3, s.v. Eunuchen 454.

Cf. 5, 1, 10 tumidus Galla credulitate fruar; Otto, s.v. Gallus, p. 152.

171

1. Flacce: there are twenty-two epigrams in Martial that mention a Flaccus (in
Book 9 also nos. 55 and 901), and it is most likely that all of these refer to one and
the same Flaccus, perhaps identical with the Calpurnius Flaccus, to whom Pliny
addressed epist. 5, 2 (see note on 9, 90, 10, and, in particular, White, Aspects, pp.
113-118; cf. Howell on 1, 57, 1, and Kay on 11, 27, 1).
Flaccus came from Patavium (1, 61, 3 f.; 1, 76, 2), and wrote poetry in his
youth, which may explain his acquaintance with Martial; in 1, 76, Martial dissuades him from writing poetry and advises him to commit himself to rhetoric
instead, since this is what brings in the money. Flaccus seems to have taken his
advice, for there is no mention later on of his poetry. Instead, he devoted himself
to a political career, for his stay on Cyprus was most likely as a proconsul, legate
or quaestor (8, 45; 9, 90, 10, note). Consequently, he must have been of senatorial
rank, which, along with their interest in poetry and their common origin from
Patavium, would have recommended him to another of Martials close friends, L.
Arruntius Stella (see note on 9, 55, 2). Like he was with Stella (see 9, 42 intro.),
Martial appears to have been quite intimate with Flaccus, in spite of his (probable)
senatorial rank; he is one of the persons mentioned most frequently in the Epigrams, being the recipient also of epigrams with obscene contents, which, when
addressed to a senator, argue for close acquaintance.
2. Maronis: the same name appears in 4, 80 (the variant Maron); 11, 34; 11, 67
and 12, 90, of which this is the only instance with a sexual implication. The
Greek variant of the name,
, has been derived from (
)
, to flash,
sparkle, gleam (see Pape, s.v.
, which is perhaps what Martial alludes to
here; Maro, then, would be a flashy, exhibitionistic dandy. There is also an erotic
undertone in Homers description of the eyes of Aphrodite as
(Il. 3, 397).
0UZQ

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PPDWD

PDUPDdURQWD

34
Iuppiter Idaei risit mendacia busti,
dum videt Augusti Flavia templa poli,
atque inter mensas largo iam nectare fusus,
pocula cum Marti traderet ipse suo,
respiciens Phoebum pariter Phoebique sororem,
cum quibus Alcides et pius Arcas erat:
Gnosia vos inquit nobis monumenta dedistis:
cernite, quam plus sit, Caesaris esse patrem.

The last epigram on the templum gentis Flaviae (on which see 9, 1 intro.) is a
somewhat absurd piece, in tone and function not unlike 9, 3 and 9, 36 (see 9, 3
1

Also 1, 57; 1, 59; 1, 61; 1, 76; 1, 98; 4, 42; 4, 49; 7, 82; 7, 87; 8, 45; 8, 55; 10, 48; 11, 27; 11, 80; 11,
95; 11, 98; 11, 100; 11, 101; 12, 74.

172

intro.). The framework is Homeric: the gods are assembled at the table of Jupiter,
drinking nectar and looking down upon the earth (cf., for example, Hom. Il. 4, 1
4). But here, Jupiter, fuddled with nectar, seeing the magnificent splendour of the
newly built Flavian temple, the dynastic mausoleum and the resting-place of Vespasian, laughs scornfully at his own alleged grave in Crete and makes a bizarre
joke to his assembled children: when one compares Jupiters humble grave on Mt.
Ida with the Flavian temple in Rome, it is quite obvious how much better it is to
be the father of Domitian than the father of Olympic gods.
The last two lines of the poem are important. First, the reference to Caesaris
pater clearly shows that Domitian intended the temple to be a dynastic mausoleum and that the ashes of Vespasian rested there. Secondly, Jupiter states that it
is his present children, Mars, Apollo, Diana, Hercules, and Mercury, who have
built the tomb on Crete. This feature, which naturally lacks any support in mythology,1 is obviously introduced by Martial to make an exact parallel between
Jupiter and his children, on the one hand, and Vespasian and Domitian, on the
other; the children of Jupiter had built the tomb on Crete, just as Domitian had
built the templum gentis Flaviae as a resting-place for Vespasian.
The group of Jupiters children here mentioned consists partly of deities elsewhere brought into connection with Domitian (Mars, Hercules, Apollo) and partly
of those who had been compared or identified with earlier emperors, particularly
with Augustus (i.e. Apollo and Mercury); Diana stands out as not having been
previously included in such comparisons. But the choice of Mars, Apollo, Diana,
Hercules and Mercury as corresponding to Domitian in this context is certainly
not arbitrary; rather, each divinity is selected as being comparable to or identifiable with Domitian or as representing an aspect of the emperor. Thus, Mars represents the emperor as victorious commander, Apollo alludes to his literary interests
and also implies a comparison to the Sun, Diana is presumably an image of his
interest in and legislation on matters of morality, Hercules, as usual, is the prime
model of the victorious hero, and finally, the comparison with Mercury is a transfer, on the model of Horace, of the Hellenistic
bringing laws
and culture to men, perhaps also representing an interest in trade and economic
matters (see further the commentary below). It is notable that Minerva is left out
of the group; in all likelihood, she is excluded here for reasons similar to those
that account for her not being mentioned as indebted to Domitian in 9, 3, 10: it
would not be proper to add Domitians protecting goddess to a band which had
failed to equal the Flavian temple; again, the emperors relation to Minerva was
no joking matter (cf. 9, 3 intro.).
%DVLOHM

VZWU

The grave of Zeus was naturally exploited in the polemics of Christian authors. For instance, Lactantius
(inst. 1, 11, 46 f.) quotes some lines of Euemeros (whom he refers to as Ennius) about the death of Zeus
and his funeral, which would have been taken care of by the Curetes (cf. note on 9, 20, 8): aetate pessum
acta in Creta vitam commutavit et ad deos abiit eumque Curetes filii sui curaverunt decoraveruntque
eum. Lactantius is eager to pass this off as historical facts: hoc certe non poetae tradunt, sed antiquarum
rerum scriptores. Quae adeo vera sunt, ut ea Sibyllinis versibus confirmentur, qui sunt tales:
,
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(= Oracula
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173

1. Idaei mendacia busti: mendacia of the figments of poets and fables; cf.,
for example, Ov. am. 3, 6, 17 prodigiosa veterum mendacia vatum; TLL, s.v.
mendacium 700, 65 ff.
The Cretans claim to possess the grave of Zeus gave rise, if nothing else, to
the rumour of the Cretans being notorious liars, cf. Callimach. Iov. 8 f.

.1 The reason for this claim is to be sought in the religion of

the pre-Greek inhabitants of the island, a community of peasants with the God of
the year as principal deity, personified in a child, born in spring and dying in
autumn, symbolizing the growing power of nature, rising in spring, bearing fruit
in summer, and wilting away in autumn. On the immigration into Crete of the
Greek tribes from the north, this deity came to be identified with the main divinity
of the immigrants, Zeus, and with this identification followed a mingling of the
myths; Zeus, like the God of the year, came to be considered not only as having
been born on the island, but also all the more offensive in the eyes of later
generations (save the Christians, who naturally benefited largely from it) to
have died there (see Ziegler in Roscher, s.v. Zeus 578 ff.).
According to Varro (as stated by Solin. 11, 6) and Porphyrius (vita Pyth. 17),
the tomb itself was shown on Mt. Ida, while others placed it at Cnossus or on Mt.
Dicte (see Cook, Zeus 1, pp. 157 ff.). Of the nature of the tomb, the sources, for
obvious reasons, are reticent. It was said, though, to have had an inscription,
reading something like
or
.2
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2. Augusti Flavia templa poli: cf. 9, 3, 12 with note. Here, Martial has changed
the epithet from Latius to Augustus, emphasizing the connection with the deified
Flavians.
3. inter mensas: metonymically, during dinner (equivalent to, for example, Cic.
ad Q. fr. 3, 1, 19 inter cenam); thus, first Verg. Aen. 1, 686 regalis inter mensas;
then Hor. ars 374 (different meaning in sat. 2, 2, 4); Sil. 11, 243; Stat. silv. 4, 2,
17 vina inter mensasque; TLL, s.v. mensa 742, 12 ff.
4. Marti: Mars represents Domitian as victorious commander; compare in particular 6, 76, 1, the epitaph of the Praetorian prefect Cornelius Fuscus, who is
referred to as sacri lateris custos Martisque togati, guardian of a sacred life and
of Mars clad in toga (the Praetorian cohorts furnished the guards for the imperial
palace; cf. Friedlnder, ad loc.). Mars is mentioned in connection with
Domitians Second Pannonian War in 7, 2, 1 f. (on Domitians cuirass) lorica ...
Martis Getico tergore fida magis; 8, 65, 11 f. (on the temple of Fortuna Redux
and the triumphal arch built on the emperors return) Haec est digna tuis, Germanice, porta triumphis; | hos aditus urbem Martis habere decet. Statius com1

Cretans are always liars. Yea, a tomb, O Lord, for thee the Cretans builded; but thou didst not die, for
thou art for ever (translation by. A. W. Mair, Loeb). Note, however, that also the tombs of Apollo, Uranus
and Dionysus were exhibited in antiquity (see F. Pfister, Der Reliquienkult im Altertum, Gieen 1909, pp.
385 ff.).
2
The former according to Euemeros (Ennius) in Lact. inst. 1, 11, 46, the latter according to the Schol. in
Lucian. Iup. trag. 45; further instances in Pfister, op. cit., p. 386.

174

pares the equestrian statue of Domitian to Mars returning on his steed from
Thrace (silv. 1, 1, 18 f. exhaustis Martem non altius armis | Bistonius portat
sonipes), and Domitian reclining at dinner to Mars resting after his Thracians
exploits (silv. 4, 2, 46 f. non aliter gelida Rhodopes in valle recumbit | dimissis
Gradivus equis). With the same reference to Domitian as successful general, Mars
also appears on Domitianic coins (see Scott, p. 93). Cf. also epigr. 6, where Mars
appears as the military assistant of Titus.
5. Phoebum: The comparison with Apollo is presumably twofold, alluding partly
to Domitian as connoisseur and patron of literature and a poet himself (cf. 5, 5, 7,
with Howells note) and partly to Domitian as the Sun (see note on 9, 20, 6 Rhodos). The former notion is apparent in 5, 6, 18 f., where Martial expresses his
certainty that Domitian will, without being pressed, want to read the book he
sends him, because he, being the dominus novem sororum, knows good literature.
The latter may be observed in Stat. silv. 1, 1, 103 f., stating that Rhodes would
prefer the equestrian statue of Domitian to the colossus of Helios (Phoebus): tua
sidereas imitantia flammas | lumina contempto mallet Rhodos aspera Phoebo
(where, as in the present case, the identification with the Sun is suggested by the
use of Phoebus, properly used of Apollo as sun-god [cf. OLD, s.v.; Wernicke in
RE 2, s.v. Apollon 19 ff.]).
There is another possible comparison of Domitian with Apollo in Mart. 5, 1, 3
f., presenting him as inspiring the responses of the oracle at Antium (where the
emperor himself had a villa), an idea which may be based on a desire to compare
Domitian to the Delphic Apollo.1 Compare also Stat. silv. 5, 1, 13 ff. temptamus
dare iusta lyra, modo dexter Apollo | quique venit iuncto mihi semper Apolline
Caesar | annuat, where Domitian and Apollo are invoked side by side, as are
Apollo and Vespasian in Val. Fl. 1, 5 ff.
In connection with Apollo, it should be noted that previously Nero and
particularly Augustus had been compared to this god, the former because of his
literary and dramatic ambitions2 and the latter for more complex reasons. His
mother Atia claimed to have conceived him by Apollo while sleeping in his temple; likewise, his father Octavius maintained that he had seen the sun rise from
the womb of his pregnant wife in a dream (Suet. Aug. 94, 4; Dio Cass. 45, 1, 2).3
Subsequently, Augustus unabashedly emphasized his connection with Apollo; in a
kind of masquerade (referred to as
), he appeared dressed up as
Apollo (Suet. Aug. 70, 1), and in his library, he had a statue on display showing
himself habitu ac statu Apollinis (Schol. Hor. epist. 1, 3, 17). According to
Servius (ecl. 4, 10), Augustus cult of Apollo had perhaps awakened a literary
echo in Verg. ecl. 4, 10: quidam hoc loco casta fave Lucina, tuus iam regnat
GZGHNTHRM

Cf. Sauter, p. 89, n. 9. Sauter (p. 88) suggests that the mention of the Castalian well in 9, 18, 8 likewise
implies a comparison with Apollo, which, however, seems both unnecessary and too far-fetched to be taken
into consideration.
2
When he appeared on stage, Nero was hailed by the spectators in such terms as
(Glorious Caesar! Our Apollo, our Augustus, another
Pythian!; Dio Cass. 61, 20, 5) and was greeted as an Apollo on returning from Greece in 68 (ibid. 63, 20,
5). Calpurnius Siculus also referred to him as Palatinus Phoebus (ecl. 4, 159; see Riewald, pp. 278 f.).
3
Similar tales were told of Alexander the Great and Scipio Africanus (see Riewald, pp. 269 f.).

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Apollo Octaviam sororem Augusti significari adfirmant ipsumque Augustum

Apollinem.
Given Domitians striving towards Augustan standards in moral, religious and
economic matters (cf. Jones, Domitian, pp. 13 and 99), it would probably have
been natural for the poets to flatter him by attempting to set up a connection between Domitian and the god most revered by Augustus. Whether or not Domitian
actually considered himself a second Augustus, the account in Suet. Dom. 15, 3,
of Minerva appearing to Domitian before his assassination in a dream and warning him that she could not protect him any more, having been disarmed by Jupiter, is something in that line; for, in the same manner, on the eve of Philippi, she
had appeared to Augustus physician Artorius, warning him that Augustus, however ill, should not remain in the camp during the battle; the future emperor left
the camp and thus saved his life when it was captured by Brutus (Val. Max. 1, 7,
1).1
Phoebique sororem: a common antonomasia in Latin poetry, particularly
promoted by Ovid and Seneca. Carter (Epitheta, s.v. Diana 31) records nine instances of Phoebi soror (Verg. 1, 329; Ov. met. 5, 330; 15, 550; Priap. 1, 3; Sen.
Herc. fur. 136; 905; Oed. 44; Stat. Theb. 2, 237; 8, 271) and two of soror alone
(Mart. 4, 45, 6; Sen. Herc. fur. 906), to which add Prop. 2, 15, 15; Ov. epist. 11,
45; rem. 200; and fast. 6, 111. Bruchmann (Epitheta, s.v.
44) produces
only one Greek parallel, Eur. Hipp. 15
.
The inclusion of Diana, it must be admitted, poses a problem, as a man would
not be directly compared to a goddess and there is no apparent connection between Domitian and Diana, except in the imperial cult at Ephesus, which is not of
relevance in this epigram.2 But unless Phoebum ... Phoebique sororem is to be
considered as a kind of formula (echoing, for example, fast. 5, 699 abstulerant
raptas Phoeben Phoebesque sororem), in which Phoebique sororem has no particular relevance, Diana, considering her function as goddess of chastity, may
perhaps appear in this context as representing Domitians moral reforms. These
would have pleased her in more than one way, obviously through the reinforcement of the Lex Iulia (see 9, 5 intro.), but certainly also through the edict against
castration and the prohibition of the prostitution of children (see the introductions
to 9, 5 and 9, 7).3
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Sauter (pp. 91 f.) considers Minervas saving of Augustus a reason why Domitian should choose her as
his patron goddess, which is perhaps correct; if nothing else, it certainly was a reason for Domitians own
dream, as told by Suetonius; cf. also note on 9, 3, 10 res agit tuas.
2
Domitian was honoured particularly through the institution of the Ephesian Olympic games, which were
probably held for the first time in the October of 89 and discontinued with Domitians assassination (see S.
J. Friesen, Twice Neokoros. Ephesus, Asia and the Cult of the Flavian Imperial Family, Leiden 1993, pp.
137 ff.). The Ephesian mint produced a coin, showing the head of Domitian on the obverse and, on the
reverse, an image of Olympian Zeus, a symbol which was previously unknown on Ephesian coinage. The
sitting Zeus holds the sceptre in his left hand, and his outstretched right hand holds, not a Nike, but the
temple statue of the Ephesian Artemis. This implies two innovations as regards Ephesian coinage: the coin
assimilated the emperor to Zeus, and it placed the emperor in a direct relationship to Ephesian Artemis
(ibid., p. 119).
3
Dianas special connection with untouched children is apparent in the famous hymns of Catullus (34, 1 f.
Dianae sumus in fide | puellae et pueri integri) and Horace (letting, however, the boys praise Apollo,

176

6. Alcides: the comparison of the monarch with Hercules as the victorious hero
had Hellenistic roots and is frequently applied by Martial to Domitian (see 9, 64
intro. and cf. 9, 65 and 9, 101).
pius Arcas: on HellenisticAugustan pattern, Mercury (called Arcas because
of his birth on Mt. Cyllene in Arcadia) represents the emperor probably as a Hellenistic
, identified with the Egyptian Hermes (Toth) who
brought leges et litteras to men (cf. Cic. nat. deor. 3, 56) and who presumably
also, as the Latin Mercury, was the god of trading and of welfare in general (see
K. Scott, Mercur-Augustus und Horaz C. I 2, Hermes 63 [1928], pp. 15-33).
Hellenistic rulers had long been identified with Hermes, and there is epigraphic
evidence from the East that Augustus was too; this would have inspired Horace to
identify Augustus with Mercury in carm. 1, 2, 41 ff. sive mutata iuvenem figura |
ales in terris imitaris almae | filius Maiae patiens vocari | Caesaris ultor; see
Nisbet & Hubbard on Hor. carm. 1, 2, 43, for a valuable discussion of Hellenistic
models (for example, Alexander, Ptolemy III and Ptolemy V) and epigraphic
evidence. There is also a bilingual inscription from Cos explicitly mentioning
Augustus as Hermes (Scott, op. cit.): Imp. Caesari Divi f. Aug. | Mercurio scrutarei. |
(To the emperor
Caesar Augustus Hermes, son of the god, by the sellers of small wares led by
Diogenes, son of Polychares, loyal to Caesar); the guild of
would
probably have set up the inscription to honour Augustus-Mercury, god of trading.
As with Apollo above, it seems reasonable to assume that Martial would have
been inspired by Augustan ideas and notably by Horace when he included Mercury in the present group of Jupiters children, as there is no further certain evidence of a comparison of Domitian with Mercury; the suggestion that two bronze
statuettes of Mercury carry the features of Domitian is doubtful (see Scott, Imperial cult, p. 148).
Mercury is referred to as pius probably because he accompanied the dead to
Hades (cf. Hor. carm. 1, 10, 17 ff.), perhaps also because he was the rescuer of
divine children (for example, Dionysus, Aesculapius and the Dioscuri) and
brought them to safety, and because he was the follower of heroes under divine
protection (Perseus, Hercules and Priam); see Drexler in Roscher, s.v. Hermes
2363 f. and 2373 ff.
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7. Gnosia monumenta: Gnosius, lit. of Cnossus, is frequently used, in the

sense of Cretensis, of the whole of Crete; cf. 13, 106, 1 Gnosia Minoae genuit
vindemia Cretae; Forcellini, Onomast., s.v. Gnosos 679.
8. Caesaris esse patrem: the pater referred to is, of course, Vespasian; for the
prosody, cf. note on 9, 12, 8.

carm. 1, 21, 1 f. Dianam tenerae dicite virgines, | intonsum pueri dicite Cynthium); cf. also carm. saec.
70 ff. quindecim Diana preces virorum | curat et votis puerorum amicas | adplicat auris.

177

35
Artibus his semper cenam, Philomuse, mereris,
plurima dum fingis, sed quasi vera refers.
Scis, quid in Arsacia Pacorus deliberet aula,
Rhenanam numeras Sarmaticamque manum,
verba ducis Daci chartis mandata resignas,
victricem laurum quam venit ante vides,
scis, quotiens Phario madeat Iove fusca Syene,
scis, quota de Libyco litore puppis eat,
cuius Iuleae capiti nascantur olivae,
destinet aetherius cui sua serta pater.
Tolle tuas artes; hodie cenabis apud me
hac lege, ut narres nil, Philomuse, novi.

10

Philomusus tries to get dinner invitations by always being able to give details of
the latest news in matters of lesser or greater importance to the Roman public. He
knows the current situation on the unsettled frontiers of the empire, where Parthians, Chatti, Sarmatians and Dacians pose a constant threat; he knows the quality
of the African harvests, of vital importance to the corn supply of Rome herself; but
he is also capable of more down-to-earth gossip, such as which lucky poet is going
to win the golden olive-wreath at the Alban games and whom Jupiter is going to
crown with the oak of the agon Capitolinus. There is only one snag in it: Philomusus is making it all up. So, when the wily Martial invites him, it is on one
condition that he will not tell any news.
On the phenomenon of dinner-hunting, see 9, 14 intro.
; the name appears also in 3, 10; 7, 76; and 11, 63,
1. Philomuse: Gr.
but there is nothing to connect the epigrams. Kay (on 11, 63, 1) points out that
Philomusus was common as a slave name and as cognomen (of liberti).
)LOPRXVRM

mereris: not deserve, but get together, receive (as ones wage), cf. 10, 74,
4 centum merebor plumbeos die toto; TLL, s.v. mereo 802, 55 ff.; OLD, s.v. 1.
2. vera refers: the same ending in 9, 99, 2.
3. Pacorus:, successor, together with Vologaeses II, of Vologaeses I, king of the
Parthians, who may have been Pacorus father (see Miller in RE 18, s.v. Pakoros
3, 2438). Domitian did not make contact with him in terms of regular warfare,
but, as king, Pacorus played a prominent part in the Parthians support of the
third false Nero, who appeared in the East about 88, when the main efforts of the
Romans were directed against the Dacians. Pacorus was thus able to support the
pretender at little or no risk, before unwillingly giving him up to Rome; cf. Suet.
Nero 57, 2 and see Jones, Domitian, pp. 157 f.
Arsacia aula: in the Parthian palace; cf. note on 9, 11, 8. The adjective
Arsacius (
), derived from the founder of the Parthian kingdom Arsaces

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178

(
), does not appear in Latin prior to the present instance (which is also
the only occurrence in Martial); the TLL, s.v. Arsacius 674, 30, records three
more instances, but from the fifth century (Claud. 8, 216; 18, 415; Sidon. carm. 2,
450).
Note the parallel arrangement of aula and the qualifying adjective in 7, 99, 3
Carmina Parrhasia si nostra legentur in aula; 8, 36, 3 Pars quota Parrhasiae
labor est Mareoticus aulae?; 12, 5, 3 Contigit Ausoniae procerum mitissimus
aulae; 13, 4, 1 Serus ut aetheriae Germanicus imperet aulae.

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4. Rhenanam manum: the Chatti, on whom see the introduction, pp. 23 ff.
The adjective Rhenanus is
; cf., however, transrhenanus, which
is found in Caesar and Pliny and which is particularly frequent in Tacitus, with
nine instances in the Histories and one in the Annals. Caesar also has one instance of cisrhenanus (Gall. 6, 2, 3).
SD[

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Sarmaticamque: the Indo-European Sarmatians roamed, during the greater

part of antiquity, over the region from Hungary to the lower Volga. As their western branch, the Iazyges and Roxolani, gradually moved westwards, they came to
pose a real threat to Rome on the Danube (cf. Ovids references to these tribes and
their crossing of the Danube in trist. 3, 10, 33 f.; 3, 12, 29 f.; Pont. 4, 7, 9 f.), and
various steps were taken to control them. Vespasian put much effort into strengthening the defences on the Danube, a policy which was continued by Domitian
right from the beginning of his reign.1 However, in 92, Domitian was forced into
military conflict with the Sarmatians, when they joined the German Suebi in the
Second Pannonian War; the campaign was far from successful for the Romans, as
the Sarmatians managed to destroy an entire legion. There is also evidence of
substantial concentrations of troops in Pannonia and Upper Moesia towards the
end of Domitian reign, presumably as the Sarmatians had again teamed up with
the Germans to confront Rome; see further the introduction, pp. 26 f.
5. ducis Daci: the Dacian king Decebalus, with whom the Romans made contact
during Domitians First Dacian War, launched because of the Dacians crossing
of the Danube under Decebalus predecessor Diurpaneus in the winter of 8485
and their attack on the Romans in Moesia, in which the governor Oppius Sabinus
was killed. Accompanied by his praetorian prefect Cornelius Fuscus, Domitian
moved to the area, but the repulse of the Dacians was complicated by the appearance of the new king Decebalus, who, like his predecessor Burbista in the time of
Sulla and Caesar, had apparently succeeded in uniting under one ruler the
Dacians, who normally lived scattered through several principalities. However,
Fuscus managed to force the Dacians back across the Danube, but then, in the first
half of 86, decided to avenge Sabinus death by invading Dacia, with disastrous
results. In the late summer, Domitian again left Rome for the Danube, but returned only a couple of months later, having strengthened the defences of Moesia
with three additional legions; the real revenge for the destruction of Fuscus was
not to come until the defeat of the Dacians at Tapae by Tettius Iulianus in late 88.
1

Jones, Domitian, pp. 135 ff.

179

Domitian came to terms with Decebalus at the beginning of the First Pannonian
War in 89, and, after that, he was to cause him no more trouble (see Jones,
Domitian, pp. 138 f., pp. 141 ff. and p. 150; Brandis in RE 4, s.v. Dacia 1960;
ibid., s.v. Decebalus 2250; cf. 9, 101, 17 note).
6. victricem laurum: the message of victory (lauratae litterae or tabellae), which
was sent by the commander to the emperor, was wrapped in a branch of laurel; cf.
7, 5, 3 f. Invidet hosti | Roma suo, veniat laurea multa licet (with Friedlnders
note); Ov. am. 1, 11, 25 f. non ego victrices lauro redimire tabellas | nec Veneris
media ponere in aede morer. The messenger with such litterae was distinguished
by carrying a laurel on the head of his spear; cf. 7, 6, 5 f. Publica victrices testantur gaudia chartae, | Martia laurigera cuspide pila virent; Plin. nat. 15, 133;
Pers. 6, 43 f.; Sen. Ag. 410 hasta summo lauream ferro gerit (with Tarrant); Stat.
Theb. 12, 520; silv. 5, 1, 92; Iuv. 10, 65; cf. Iuv. 4, 149 with the scholia; von
Premerstein in RE 12, s.v. Lauratae litterae 1014.
quam venit ante vides: ante postpositive to quam is found in only four instances, apart from the present also Lucr. 3, 973; 4, 884; Tib. 3, 13, 8; cf. TLL,
s.v. ante quam 154, 54 ff. Compare the same position of quam and ante (although
not in the same sense as here) in a number of Ovidian pentameters; thus fast. 1,
94 quam fuit ante domus; trist. 5, 12, 22 quam fuit ante minus; Pont. 2, 1, 4 quam
fuit ante locus; 3, 1, 50 quam fuit ante dedit; 3, 1, 98 quam fuit ante minus.
7. Phario Iove: Pharius used in a general sense of the whole of Egypt; cf. 3,
66, 1 Phariis armis; 4, 11, 4 Phariae coniugis (= Cleopatrae); 5, 69, 1 Phario
Pothino; 6, 80, 3 Pharios hortos; 7, 30, 3 de Pharia Memphiticus urbe; 10,
48, 1 Phariae iuvencae (= Isidis); cf. Pharus metonymically for Egypt in 9, 40,
2; Forcellini, Onomast., s.v. Pharus 2, 469. For Iuppiter as metonymy for imber,
cf. 7, 36, 1 Cum pluvias madidumque Iovem perferre negaret and Friedlnder on
epigr. 12, 1; cf. Cook, Zeus 2, pp. 1 ff., for Zeus the sky-god as god of the
weather.
fusca Syene: Syene, the modern Aswan, situated in the far south of Egypt,
represents the southern extremity of the Empire (as in 1, 86, 6; see Citroni ad
loc.), contrasted with the northern provinces mentioned above; cf. 5, 13, 7 f.
Magnaque Niliacae servit tibi glaeba Syenes, | tondet et innumeros Gallica
Parma greges (with Howells note). The epithet fusca is hypallage alluding to the
colour of the skin of the inhabitants (cf. TLL, s.v. fuscus 1654, 7 ff.). There are no
comparable parallels, but the similarity of expression may perhaps support Watts
emendation of the corrupted line in Stat. silv. 4, 2, 27 mons Libys Iliacusque nitet,
multa Syene (on different kinds of marble) to simul atra Syene (alluding in that
case to the colour of the stone; see Coleman ad loc.). Note also that Syene etc. is
always placed at the end of the verse (hexameter or hendecasyllabus); thus 1, 86,
7; 5, 13, 7; Ov. Pont. 1, 5, 79; Lucan. 2, 587; 8, 851; 10, 234; Val. Fl. 6, 74; 6,
703; Stat. Theb. 4, 745; silv. 2, 2, 86; 4, 2, 27; Iuv. 11, 124.
The corn harvest of Egypt and Africa, like the weather on which its quality
depended, was of vital interest to the city of Rome, as it was from there that the
180

annona civica, the corn supply of the city itself, came (cf. Plin. paneg. 30 f.). If
the crops failed there, the result would be serious problems in Rome (see Marquardt, Staatsverwaltung 2, p. 233).
8. Libyco litore: Libycus in the sense of DPALSQ

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quota puppis eat: quotus in the sense of how many? (interdum ponitur
pro quot, Forcellini, Lex., s.v. 2, 68); cf. 14, 218, 1 Dic quotus et quanti cupias
cenare; Hor. epist. 1, 5, 30 tu quotus esse velis rescribe. Note the resemblance to
Ov. trist. 3, 12, 32 hospitaque in Ponti litore puppis erit.
9. Iuleae olivae: the golden olive-wreath awarded the winner at Domitians
Alban games; see 9, 23 intro. and note on 9, 23, 5 Albanae olivae. It is called
Iulea, as Domitians villa, at which the games were held, was situated in the Ager
Albanus, the site of the ancient town of Alba Longa, founded by Iulus (Ascanius),
son of Aeneas.1 The adjective (scanned JSQ) was coined by Propertius (4, 6, 17)
and is subsequently used only by Ovid (fast. 4, 124; 5, 564; 6, 797; Pont. 1, 1, 46;
2, 5, 49), Lucan (1, 197; 9, 995) and Martial, with the same sense as here in 13,
109 (on Alban wine), in the sense of imperial in 9, 101, 15 (see note ad loc.).
The ending echoes Verg. georg. 2, 85 nec pingues unam in faciem nascuntur
olivae.
10. aetherius pater: also 9, 36, 7; Stat. Theb. 11, 207; silv. 3, 1, 108 and 186;
cf. Lucan. 5, 96 aetherius Tonans; Stat. Theb. 1, 704 aetherius parens; Achill. 2,
53 aetherius rector. Before the Silver Latin epoch, the epithet seems to have been
restricted to things (although sometimes with a sense of divinity), for example,
Cic. nat. deor. 1, 103 a. ignes (cf. Lucr. 2, 1098); 2, 42 locus; 2, 54 cursus; Catull.
66, 55 umbrae; Hor. carm. 1, 3, 29 domus; Ov. am. 2, 14, 41 aurae; ars 3, 550
sedes. Cf. also note on 9, 3, 3.
sua serta: the wreath of oak-leaves which constituted the prize at the agon
Capitolinus (see note on 9, 3, 8). Which poet was going to win the prize would
reasonable only have been a subject of gossip before the games were held, and this
poem would therefore have been written in 94, before the summer.
11. hodie cenabis apud me: an echo of Catull. 13, 1, like 11, 52, 1 Cenabis belle,
Iuli Cerialis, apud me (see Kay, ad loc.). For the future of invitation, see and
Nisbet & Hubbard on Hor. carm. 1, 20, 1 (comparing, for example, Plaut. Curc.
728 tu, miles, apud me cenabis; Hor. epist. 1, 7, 71 post nonam venies; Prop. 3,
23, 15 venies hodie).

According to Vergil, Ascanius, cui nunc cognomen Iulo additur, was called Ilus, dum res stetit Ilia
(Aen. 1, 267 ff.). In the Aeneid, the frequencies of the two names are more or less equal, Ascanius
appearing 41 times and Iulus 35 (see Austin on Aen. 1, 267; Serv. Aen. 1, 267; Rossbach in RE 2, s.v.
Askanios 4, 1611 ff.).

181

36
Viderat Ausonium posito modo crine ministrum
Phryx puer, alterius gaudia nota Iovis:
quod tuus, ecce, suo Caesar permisit ephebo,
tu permitte tuo, maxime rector ait;
iam mihi prima latet longis lanugo capillis,
iam tua me ridet Iuno vocatque virum.
Cui pater aetherius Puer o dulcissime, dixit,
non ego, quod poscis, res negat ipsa tibi:
Caesar habet noster similis tibi mille ministros
tantaque sidereos vix capit aula mares;
at tibi si dederit vultus coma tonsa viriles,
quis mihi, qui nectar misceat, alter erit?

10

The last epigram of the Earinus cycle is very different from the five preceding
(nos. 11-13; 16-17). Whereas the first five poems form a two fold entity, a name
series and an offering series, this epigram stands apart as neither celebrating
the name Earinus nor the hair-offering. The five preceding epigrams are such as
would have been written to comply with an imperial request or spontaneously in
celebration of an important event within the palace. This is hardly the case with
the present epigram; its humorous character, light-hearted approach to its theme
and obvious choice of sexually allusive words (gaudia, ephebo, mares, nectar)
rather indicates that Martial does not take the subject seriously any more. The
poem was certainly not part of the libellus presented to Domitian and Earinus (see
9, 16 intro.), was but probably written to provide a humorous offset to the Earinus
cycle when incorporated into Book 9. It may thus be seen as a result of Martials
inability to be consistently serious in treating a matter in which he felt there was
room for a joking twist. Such jokes might be made also on matters concerning
(but naturally not at the expense of) Domitian himself (cf. 9, 3 and 9, 34) and
must consequently have had Domitians consent, leading one to think of Martial
as a kind of court jester (see the introduction, pp. 31 f.).
The poem describes the reaction on Mt. Olympus to the hair-offering of
Earinus (Ausonius minister), making a complete comparison of Domitian and
Earinus to Jupiter and Ganymede; cf. notes on 9, 11, 7 and on line 12 below.
Ganymede is growing up; the first signs of a beard are hidden under his long
curls, and Juno smiles scornfully at him and calls him a man, adding to his
frustration at being trapped in boyhood like the ministri in Sen. epist. 47, 7 and
95, 24 (see the Earinus cycle intro and note on line 5 below). Still, he cannot be
allowed to cut his hair but must remain the eternal cupbearer and perform his
office to the full; the notion of a grown-up Ganymede as lover of Jupiter is present
also in 11, 43, 3. Earinus had none of the features of a man, yet he was allowed,
by the grace of Domitian and to Ganymedes envy, to be treated as one. But it is
not Jupiter himself who opposes Ganymedes wishes, it is the actual circumstances, the res ipsa: although Jupiter is the supreme god, his freedom of action is
heavily obstructed by mythology; he cannot pick another cupbearer, no more than
he can remarry or do anything else that would disturb the mythological tradition.

182

Domitian, on the other hand, is a living god with no mythology other than that
which he creates himself through his actions; he can do what he pleases, and has
the means to do it. This paradoxical situation is a good illustration of the artificiality and rigidity which many of Martials contemporaries probably felt was inherent in Graeco-Roman religion; the growing desire for religious confidence and
a more personal relation to the gods was presumably a reason for people to choose
a certain deity as their own patron god or goddess, as Domitian chose Minerva. A
healing and helping god was naturally very suitable as a private deity, which
may account for the growing popularity of Aesculapius during this period and for
the rise of the Asklepieion at Pergamum, where the locks of Earinus were offered
(see C. Habicht, Die Inschriften des Asklepieions, in E. Boehringer (ed.), Altertmer von Pergamon, 3:3 (Berlin 1969), pp 6 ff.).
1. Ausonium ministrum: the usual designation for the slaves serving the wine
was vini ministri (see Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 396). For their task, often
involving sexual services and appearance in womens clothing, see the Earinus
cycle intro. On the adjective Ausonius, see note on 9, 7, 6.
posito crine: see note on 9, 16, 2 posuit. For the ending crine ministrum,
cf. Ov. fast. 6, 441 attonitae flebant demisso crine ministrae.
2. Phryx puer: Ganymede is called Phryx as the son of Tros, king and mythological founder of Troy; cf. 10, 20, 9 raptum Phryga; 12, 15, 7 Phrygium ministrum; Stat. Theb. 1, 548 Phrygius venator. For the same epithet of other Trojans, cf. Ov. epist. 16, 203 (of Anchises); fast. 4, 274 (of Aeneas); Verg. Aen. 7,
363 (of Paris).
alterius Iovis: alter does not imply (as Garthwaite, Court Poets, p. 82,
would have it) that Jupiter himself is the second Jupiter, inferior to Domitian; as
the words Ausonium ministrum in the preceding line have drawn attention to
Earinus and Domitian (the earthly Jupiter), Jupiter himself is quite naturally the
other Jupiter when introduced in line 2. It is true that alter may seemingly equate
Domitian and Jupiter, just as the one of the two consuls is referred to as alter
consul without any notion of inferiority (cf. TLL, s.v. alter 1731, 4 ff.). However,
the words tuus Caesar in line 3 and Caesar ... noster in line 9 still suggest
Jupiter as the greater deity and Domitian as being under his protection.
gaudia: the usual metonymy of the person who is the source of the joy (TLL,
s.v. 1712, 73 ff.), but cf. also the frequent use of gaudia with reference to erotic
pleasure (see note on 9, 41, 8 gaudia foeda).
3. tuus Caesar: indicating Jupiters supremacy over and protection of
Domitian, just as suo and tuo ephebo indicate the respective cupbearers standing
in relation to his master.
ephebo: often in the sense of puer amatus, concubinus; cf. TLL, s.v. ephebus
655, 73 ff.
183

4. maxime rector: of Jupiter also in Verg. Aen. 8, 572 f. divum ... maxime rector
Iuppiter.
5. prima lanugo: lanugo from lana, because of the similarity of the first beard
to wool; it is usually qualified by prima; cf., for example, Verg. Aen. 10, 323;
Stat. silv. 3, 4, 65; 5, 5, 20; Iuv. 13, 59. The first beard is among the features of
the pitiable catamites in Sen. epist. 95, 24: Transeo puerorum infelicium greges
quos post transacta convivia aliae cubiculi contumeliae expectant; transeo agmina exoletorum per nationes coloresque discripta ut eadem omnibus levitas sit,
eadem primae mensura lanuginis, eadem species capillorum, ne quis cui rectior
est coma crispulis misceatur.
6. me ridet Iuno vocatque virum: Juno is generally presented as envying Ganymede and disapproving of his relation to Jupiter; cf. 11, 43, 1 ff.; Verg. Aen. 1,
28; Ov. met. 10, 161 (with Bmer); fast. 6, 43; AP 9, 77 (Antipater of Thessalonica). The idea was to be made the theme of an amusing dialogue between Zeus
and Hera by Lucian (dial. deor. 8), and Statius contrasts Junos disapproval of
Ganymede with the love of both Domitian and Domitia for Earinus (silv. 3, 4, 14,
ff.). The point here is therefore Junos malicious pleasure in seeing Ganymede
growing up with no hope of ever being recognized as an adult; this will be her
revenge on her husbands cupbearer.
7. pater aetherius: see note on 9, 35, 10.
10. tantaque aula: tantus has a concessive implication: his palace, however
big; cf. Plaut. Bacc. 124 qui tantus natu deorum nescis nomina.
sidereos ... mares: sidereus of radiant, almost divine beauty; cf. 10, 66, 7
sidereos ... ministros; OLD, s.v. sidereus 2. For mas of an object of homosexual
affection, see note on 9, 7, 2.
12. qui nectar misceat: there is often a clearly felt sexual implication in the description of Ganymede as the one who blends and pours out the nectar for Jupiter,
indicating that Jupiters main concern is not the potential loss of a cupbearer, but
of a concubine; cf. AP 12, 68 (Meleager), in which the poet denies that he wants
the fair Charidemus, because the boy looks at Zeus, as if already serving the god
with nectar (12, 68, 2
), and then asks in resignation what gain there is in having the king of heaven as a competitor for victory in love (
); cf. also AP 12, 70, 1 f.
'
,
,
,|
,1 and see note on 9, 11, 5. In
Lucian. dial. deor. 8, Heras principal complaint about Zeus and Ganymede is
Zeuss constant kissing of the cupbearer: And you cant take the cup from him,
M

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I will stand up even against Zeus if he would snatch you from me, Myiscus, to pour out the nectar for
him (W. R. Patons translation, Loeb).

184

without kissing him first before all our eyes, and you find his kiss sweeter than the
nectar, and so you keep on and on asking for a drink, even when youre not
thirsty (dial. deor. 8, 2; translation by M. D. Macleod, Loeb). Martial extends the
metaphor to anal intercourse in 11, 104, 17 ff. (Martial addresses his fictitious
wife) Pedicare negas: dabat hoc Cornelia Graccho, | Iulia Pompeio, Porcia,
Brute, tibi; | dulcia Dardanio nondum miscente ministro | pocula Iuno fuit pro
Ganymede Iovi.

37
Cum sis ipsa domi mediaque ornere Subura,
fiant absentes et tibi, Galla, comae,
nec dentes aliter quam Serica nocte reponas,
et iaceas centum condita pyxidibus,
nec tecum facies tua dormiat, innuis illo,
quod tibi prolatum est mane, supercilio,
et te nulla movet cani reverentia cunni,
quem potes inter avos iam numerare tuos.
Promittis sescenta tamen; sed mentula surda est,
et sit lusca licet, te tamen illa videt.

10

Attacks on elderly women (vetula-Skoptik) abound in Martial, deriding their

toothlessness, baldness, withering bodies, stench, blindness or one-eyedness1 and
their desperate attempts to conceal all this by means of wigs, false teeth and heavy
make-up. Especially repulsive to Martial is their unchecked sexual urge (furor
Venereus), manifesting itself in the sex-starved vetula who now is even willing to
pay and also in the old hag who continuously outlives her husbands and looks for
new ones. The present Galla is Martials foremost representative of the former
category (which may be observed also in 10, 90; 11, 29; perhaps also in 2, 33; 2,
41; 7, 75), as the Vetustilla of 3, 93 is that of the latter (cf. 9, 10 intro.); cf. also 1,
19; 1, 72, 36; 2, 41, 11; 3, 32; 4, 20; 5, 43; 6, 12; 6, 93; 8, 33, 17; 12, 7; 12, 23;
perhaps also 9, 62.
The vetula was already a feature of Attic comedy, but the character was greatly
promoted by Greek epigram; there is a number of epigrams in the Greek Anthology that largely scorn the same defects as does Martial. The aged prostitute and
the vetula keen on getting married appear in two epigrams of Nicharcus (AP 11,
73 [below] and 71 [see 9, 10 intro.] respectively), 11, 417 (Anonymous). Toothlessness is mocked at in AP 11, 310 (Lucilius) and 11, 374, 3 f. (Macedonius the
consul); baldness in 11, 68 (Lucilius);2 general corporal decay in AP 5, 21
(Rufinus); 5, 76 (Rufinus); 5, 204 (Meleager) and 5, 273 (Agathias Scholiasticus);
1

It may be noted that some of these features are mentioned also in the mockery of old men; cf. 2, 41, 10; 6,
57; 6, 74; 8, 57.
2
The epigrams of the Greek Anthology otherwise do not mock baldness, but grey or white hair; cf., for
example, AP 11, 66, 3 (Antiphilus of Byzantium); 11, 67, 4 (Myrinus); 11, 69 (Lucilius); and 11, 72, 1
(Nicarchus).

185

and a heavy make-up to conceal it in AP 11, 66 (Antiphilus of Byzantium); 11,

310; 11, 374, 1 f.; and 11, 408 (Lucian).
The epigrams of Martial stressing the furor Venereus should be compared also
with Horaces Epodes 8 and 12; thus 3, 39, the opening twelve lines of which
were demonstrated by Grassman (see below) to have been written as an aemulatio
of epod. 8, 110; as in epod. 8, their sexual eagerness effects nothing but impotence; cf. 6, 23 and 11, 29 (the contents of which also resemble epod. 12). The
stench of the vetula in epod. 12, 4 ff. is an element not found in the Greek Anthology but continued by Martial. The silk gown in line 3 of the present epigram
also has its counterpart in epod. 12, 21 and Gallas forefathers perhaps in epod. 8,
11 ff., but cf. here in particular AP 11, 73 (Nicharcus), on the lusty old prostitute
who, like Galla, is now prepared to pay for sex (see Burnikel, Struktur, pp. 111
ff.).1 See further Brecht, Spottepigramm, pp. 62 ff.; V. Grassmann, Die erotischen
Epoden des Horaz, Munich 1966, pp. 18 ff., and his index, s.v. vetulaSkoptik;
Richlin, pp. 109 ff.
1. Cum sis: a common opening (although you are so and so, you still do so and
so) of satirical epigrams; cf. 2, 35; 3, 93; 4, 6; 6, 64; 6, 77; 13, 34.
mediaque ornere Subura: a Roman lady would have a staff of ornatrices at
her disposal, who made her toilet in the comfort of her own home;2 not so Galla,
who nevertheless is at home while her toilet is taken care of by the wigmakers and
cosmeticians of the Subura, the busy area south of the Viminal and west of the
Esquiline. It housed shops (7, 31, 9 ff.; 10, 94, 5) and also private houses (like
that of Stella; see 12, 2, 11 and cf. 9 42 intro.), but Martial mentions it primarily
with reference to prostitution (2, 17, 1; 6, 66, 1; 11, 61, 3; 11, 78, 11; cf. Prop. 4,
7, 15; Pers. 5, 32; Priap. 40, 1), describing it as noisy (clamosa 12, 18, 2; cf. Iuv.
11, 51), humid and filthy (5, 22, 5); see Platner & Ashby, pp. 500 ff.
2. fiant absentes comae: this being the only instance of the phrase comae fiunt
(cf. TLL, s.v. coma 1749, 64 f.), it is impossible to decide whether it refers to the
production of the wig or to a wig handed in for setting.
Wigs were worn by men and women alike under the influence of fashion, but
naturally also to conceal baldness; see Blmner, Privataltertmer, pp. 276 f. Martial mocks bald women also in 2, 33, 1; 3, 93, 2; 6, 12; 12, 7; 12, 23.
For the ending, cf. 4, 45, 8.

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(A handsome old woman (why deny it?) you know she was, when she was young; but then she asked for
money while now she is ready to pay her mount. You will find her an artist, and when she has had
something to drink then all the more you will have her submissive to whatever you want. For she drinks, if
you consent, three or four pints, and then things are all topsyturvy with her; she clings, she scratches, she
plays the pathic; and if one gives her anything, she accepts, if not, the pleasure is her payment; translation
by W. R. Paton, Loeb).
2
See Forbes, Studies 3, p. 41.

186

Galla: see note on 9, 4, 1; cf. here in particular the Galla of 10, 75.
3. dentes: a grotesque picture: at the same time as Galla takes off her luxurious
silk gown (see below), she also takes out her denture.
Martial makes fun of the toothless and of those with false teeth (exclusively
women, cf. note 1 above) in several epigrams (cf. 1, 19; 1, 72, 3 f.; 2, 41; 3, 93, 2;
5, 43; 12, 23) which may seem neither particularly attractive nor particularly
amusing to us but which is more understandable at a time when dentistry was
still primitive (Howell 1, 19 intro.). False teeth were made from bone and ivory
(cf. 1, 72, 4), pitch and boxwood (2, 41, 7), and fastened with gold (Cic. leg. 2,
60); see Marquardt, p. 756; Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 478.
) is real silk, so called from the inhabitants of conSerica: Serica (Gr.
temporary China, the Seres (Gr.
; see H. Frisk, Griechisches Etymologisches Wrterbuch, Heidelberg 196070, s.v.), which was the only habitat of the
silk worm (Bombyx mori) in antiquity. There was also an inferior but highly esteemed silk (such as the Assyrian and Coan; see below) produced by scraping the
cocoons of wild Bombyx (or similar) species native to the Mediterranean world.
Silk came into greater use in Rome from the beginning of the Empire and, being among the most expensive things brought forth by the earth (Plin. nat. 37,
204), silk clothes were much cherished by dainty women; in connection with
concubines, the thin and transparent Coa vestis is mentioned particularly often;
cf. Hor. sat. 1, 2, 101; Tib. 2, 3, 53; Prop. 1, 2, 2; Ov. ars 2, 298; Pers. 5, 135
(with Kiels note). Perhaps this corresponds to the bombycina in Martial (8, 68,
7; 11, 49, 5 with Kay; 14, 24, 1), who otherwise only mentions the Serica, such as
was worn by Nervas empress (11, 8, 5) and which could be bought of top quality
in the Vicus Tuscus (11, 28, 11 with Kay).
The extravagance of the silk gowns naturally upset Seneca, cf. benef. 7, 9, 5
Video sericas vestes, si vestes vocandae sunt, in quibus nihil est, quo defendi aut
corpus aut denique pudor possit, quibus sumptis parum liquido nudam se non esse
iurabit; hae ingenti summa ab ignotis etiam ad commercium gentibus accersuntur, ut matronae nostrae ne adulteris quidem plus sui in cubiculo, quam in publico ostendant. See further Forbes, Studies 4, pp. 49 ff.
VKULNM

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4 f. centum condita pyxidibus | nec tecum facies tua dormiat: Galla is so heavily made up that it appears that her face is not really with her in bed but is scattered throughout a number of toilet-boxes (pyxides). Greek and Roman women as
a rule applied make-up that was heavy from the modern point of view; they powdered themselves preferably with white lead (which might melt away in sunshine,
2, 41, 12; cf. 1, 72, 5 f.; 7, 25, 2) but also with chalk (which could get washed
away by rain, 2, 41, 11), beanflour, earth of Chios or white crocodile droppings,
used rouge, nail-paint and eye-paint (see below), and even applied a blue colour to
accentuate the veins. This ars ornatrix also generated a literature that is now
mostly lost but was probably once large on the production and use of perfumes
and cosmetics. Hippocrates gives recipes for unguents, Galen mentions a work on
cosmetics by Heraclides (about 250 BC), and Cleopatra VII is said to have written
a book on beautification; in Latin, there is Ovids De medicamine faciei, but also
187

Apicius and Pliny give occasional recipes for perfumes and cosmetics; see further
Blmner, Privataltertmer, pp. 437 f.; Forbes, Studies 3, pp. 38 ff.
The awkward attempts of old hags to acquire a youthful appearance must, to
attract notice under these circumstances, have led them to such heavy application
of powder that their faces actually seemed like masks that could be taken off.
There is a similar line of thought in AP 11, 310 (Lucilius):
,
,
,
,
|
.1
For the phrase centum condita pyxidibus, cf. Hor. carm. 2, 14, 26 (Caecuba)
centum servata clavibus.

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5 f. innuis supercilio: Galla coquetishly raises the eyebrow which has been
brought in the morning from its pyxis; the same phrase supercilia proferre also in
Petron. 110, 2. Such patches came into use in Rome at the beginning of the first
century. Otherwise, the eyebrows were lengthened particularly by using soot; cf.
Ov. ars 3, 201; Petron. 126, 15; Iuv. 2, 93; Blmner, loc. cit.; Forbes, Studies 3, p.
40.
7 f. nulla ... cani reverentia cunni | quem potes inter avos iam numerare: no
reverence towards your white-haired cunt, which you may now count among your
(venerable white-bearded) ancestors. The parallel between Gallas cunnus and
her ancestors is made on the basis of the white hair which they have in common;
but whereas the white hair in the case of the ancestors suggests that they are venerable on account of old age (cf. TLL, s.v. canus 297, 47 ff.), it would rather imply
something like faded with old age in the case of Gallas cunnus.
Furthermore, the reference to Gallas ancestors indicates that she was of a noble family and thus probably also rich; it recalls the mention of the ancestral
masks in Hor. epod. 8, 11 ff. (the poet having just vented his scorn at the physical
ugliness of the vetula) esto beata, funus atque imagines | ducant triumphales
tuum. Here, as in Horace, her wealth and high birth cannot compensate for her
general repulsiveness.
Gallas lack of reverence towards her white-haired cunnus probably implies
that she had depilated it; cf. 10, 90, in which Martial expresses his indignation at
this practice on the part of the exceedingly old Ligeia (10, 90, 1 f. Quid vellis
vetulum, Ligeia, cunnum? | Quid busti cineres tui lacessis?). Depilation of the
cunnus was otherwise considered quite appropriate in prostitutes and concubines
(cf. note on 9, 27, 3 prostitutis culis).
For the ending of line 7, cf. Ov. fast. 5, 57.
9. sescenta: innumerable pleasures or 600,000 IIS. In either case, sescenti
indicates an indefinitely large number; it is similarly used in 6, 59, 2; 11, 65, 1
(with Kay); see E. Wlfflin, Sescenti, mille, centum, trecenti als unbestimmte
und runde Zahlen, ALL 9, pp. 178 ff. Cf. the vain promises of the aged Phyllis in
11, 29, 5 and the use of trecenti in 9, 19, 1.
1

You bought hair, rouge, honey, wax, and teeth. For the same outlay you might have bought a face
(translation by W. R. Paton, Loeb).

188

9 f. surda ... lusca: but the dick cannot hear your promises and, one-eyed as it
may be, it still sees you; for impotence caused by the appearance and pushfulness
of the lovesick vetula, cf. 6, 23; 11, 29; Hor. epod. 12, 8 f.
The single eye of the penis is the orifice of the urethra; cf. 2, 33, in which the
aged Philaenis is found to have the same features as a penis: Cur non basio te,
Philaeni? Calva es. | Cur non basio te, Philaeni? Rufa es. | Cur non basio te,
Philaeni? Lusca es. | Haec qui basiat, o Philaeni, fellat; cf. TLL, s.v. luscus 1866,
8 ff.

te tamen illa videt: the same structure of the second half of the pentameter (
tamen ille
) also in 4, 71, 6; 7, 25, 4; Tib. 1, 6, 66; Ov. am. 1, 5, 14; 1, 11,
16; ars 1, 666; 2, 186; fast. 2, 602; 6, 414; trist. 2, 1, 466; Pont. 2, 11, 14; 3, 4, 4.

38
Summa licet velox, Agathine, pericula ludas,
non tamen efficies, ut tibi parma cadat.
Nolentem sequitur, tenuisque reversa per auras
vel pede vel tergo, crine vel ungue sedet;
lubrica Corycio quamvis sint pulpita nimbo
et rapiant celeres vela negata Noti,
securos pueri neglecta perambulat artus,
et nocet artifici ventus et unda nihil.
Ut peccare velis, cum feceris omnia, falli
non potes: arte opus est, ut tibi parma cadat.

10

The skill of Agathinus, the master juggler, is overwhelming. With swift limbs he
hurls the shield up in the air and catches it on his foot, on his back, on his head
and on his fingertips, although the stage is slippery from sprinkles of perfume and
the wind blows hard; it seems as though he is trying to avoid the shield, which is
seeking his body of its own accord. To keep the shield in constant motion is
childs play for Agathinus; to drop it would take practice. The present epigram
would seem to be the result of Martials having watched one of his performances.
The juggling with a shield appears only in this epigram, but cf. the pilarii juggling with balls, who arouse the same admiration as Agathinus. Quintilian refers
to their tricks as miracula illa in scaenis and describes their skill in a way very
similar to Martials account of Agathinus: ea quae emiserint ultro venire in manus credas et qua iubentur decurrere (inst. 10, 7, 11); cf. also Manilius description of a pilarius in 5, 168 ff. (on the dexterity of those born under the Twins) ille
potens turba perfundere membra pilarum | per totumque vagas corpus disponere
palmas, | ut teneat tantos orbes sibique ipse reludat | et velut edoctos iubeat
volitare per ipsum. There are pictures of pilarii preserved on gravestones, and
also occasional epitaphs, like that of the imperial freedman P. Aelius Secundus,

189

who was pilarius omnium eminentissimus (CIL 6, 8997); see Schneider in RE 20,
s.v. pilarius 1320 ff.
The poem is so full of Ovidian echoes as almost to seem like an Ovidian cento;
see the commentary on lines 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8 below.
1. Summa pericula ludas: play with the utmost danger, viz. of the shield
falling on the ground (thus Friedlnder ad loc.); the accusative is internal (cf.
Khner-Stegmann 1, 71 c, p. 277). The expression has no exact parallels, but
similar expressions are listed in the TLL, s.v. ludo 1780, 59 ff.
. He was obviously a real person, perhaps, like the
Agathine: Gr.
mimic actor Latinus in 9, 28, a member of Domitians staff of entertainers (like
the Aelius Secundus above, who would also have been engaged at the court).

$JDTjQRM

2. non tamen efficies: a direct borrowing from Ov. Pont. 2, 2, 24 non tamen efficies ut timeare mihi; cf. met. 13, 64.
parma: a small shield, round or oval, used by the lightly armed velites as well
as the cavalry and the Thracian gladiators (cf. note on 9, 68, 8 parmae). This is
the only instance of its being used by a juggler, but cf. Iuv. 5, 153 ff., which mentions a monkey, dressed up in helmet and parma and armed with a spear, riding
on a shegoat; see Lambertz in RE 18, s.v. Parma 1, 1539 ff.; cf. also 9, 20, 10.
3. Nolentem: Martial takes the rendering one step further than do Manilius and
Quintilian (above); whereas these two authors describe the balls as following the
pilarius of their own accord, the skill of Agathinus is so great that it seems as if
his hands are actually trying to avoid the chasing shield.
tenuisque reversa per auras: cf. Ov. ars 1, 43 haec tibi non tenues veniet delapsa per auras. The ending per auras is much favoured by Lucretius (14 instances), Vergil (17), Ovid (19), and Silius (31) but is found only five times in
Statius and seven in Valerius Flaccus. Martial has it also in 1, 3, 11 and 1, 6, 1.
4. ungue: metonymy for fingertip (cf. Iuv. 10, 53).
5. lubrica Corycio pulpita nimbo: the stage is slippery from having been
sprinkled with sweet wine mixed with saffron (Plin. nat. 21, 34), which, because
of its fragrance (considered equal to that of the rose), was used to freshen up the
air in diningrooms, baths and theatres. The epithet Corycius is used because the
best saffron was that which thrived in the caves of Mt. Corycus in Cilicia (Plin.
nat. 21, 31 ff.); cf. 3, 65, 2; Eleg. in Maecen. 1, 133; Ciris 317; Hor. sat. 2, 4, 68;
Lucan. 9, 809; Stat. silv. 5, 1, 214; Iuv. 14, 267; see Orth in RE 2:3, s.v. Safron
1730; Ruge in RE 11, s.v. Korkyros 4, 1452; TLL suppl., s.v. Corcyrus 660, 47 ff.
6. celeres Noti: this phrase also in Ov. fast. 5, 686 with the same position in
the metre as here. For celer as an attribute of winds, cf., for example, Hor. carm.
1, 12, 10 and see TLL, s.v. celer 751, 24 ff.
190

vela negata: in the theatre, as in the amphitheatre, awnings could be stretched

out over a system of poles and crossbeams to protect the spectators from the sun.
They were naturally a welcome arrangement (at Pompeii they were mentioned
even in the advertisements for gladiatorial games in the phrase vela erunt; cf., for
example, CIL 4, 1177; 1180), but their use was made impossible by strong wind;
cf. 11, 21, 6 Pompeiano vela negata Noto (with Kays note). In such cases, Martial recommends the use of sunshades (14, 28 with Leary) or a sun-hat; thus 14,
29 (Causea) In Pompeiano tecum spectabo theatro: | nam flatus populo vela
negare solet;1 see also Fensterbusch in RE 2:5, s.v. Theatron 1414; Friedlnder in
Marquardt, Staatsverwaltung 3, pp. 533 f.
For the prosody, cf. also Ov. epist. 2, 100 expectem pelago vela negata meo?;
am. 2, 16, 22 dare non aequis vela ferenda Notis.
7. securos neglecta perambulat artus: because of Agathinus skill, his limbs
are securi (sure, steady), as he is free from the fear of dropping the shield,
which moves about his limbs seemingly neglected by him. Securus is similarly
used in 11, 11, 2 et mihi secura pocula trade manu (cf. Kay ad loc.). For perambulo as conveying a sense of steadiness and ease, see TLL, s.v. perambulo 1185,
61 f.
There is an Ovidian echo also in this line; cf. Ov. epist. 9, 135 mens fugit admonitu, frigusque perambulat artus.
8. ventus et unda: the unda being the sprinklings of saffron of line 5. The juncture is Ovidian, appearing twice in his pentameters (am. 2, 16, 46; epist. 7, 44),
both with the same position as here.
9. cum feceris omnia: though you have done everything, cf. 6, 93, 11 f. Cum
bene se tutam per fraudes mille putavit, | omnia cum fecit, Thaida Thais olet
(where the indicative should probably be ascribed to the Verszwang; cf. HofmannSzantyr, 336, pp. 624 f.).
10. ut tibi parma cadat: Martial often ends an epigram by repeating one of the
opening lines, sometimes with a slight variation; in Book 9, see poems 46, 55, 57,
77, 78 and 100. Similar methods of embracing a poem can be observed also in
Greek epigram (for example, AP 11, 254; 11, 308; 11, 310 [Lucilius]; 11, 186
[Nicarchus]); see Friedlnder on 2, 6, 17; Siedschlag, Form, pp. 123 f.; cf. Joepgen, pp. 101 f.

1
Leary, like most editors, prints Pontanus conjecture nam flatus, whereas Heraeus, followed by Housman,
retained the reading of TE Mandatus, taking it as the name of a velarius amphitheatralis (see Leary on 14,
29, 2).

191

39
Prima Palatino lux est haec orta Tonanti,
optasset Cybele qua peperisse Iovem;
hac et sancta mei genita est Caesonia Rufi:
plus debet matri nulla puella suae.
Laetatur gemina votorum sorte maritus,
contigit hunc illi quod bis amare diem.

A birthday poem to Rufus wife Caesonia, who was lucky enough to have been
born on the same day as Domitian, the 24th of October. Accordingly, it is the
latter that is important; no girl is so much in debt to her mother as Caesonia,
because she was born on the same day as the emperor, and her husband Rufus
counts himself lucky, as he has a twofold reason to love this day, as the birthday
of his wife and that of Domitian. Thus, the epigram is more of an adulatory piece
to the emperor in the guise of a birthday poem for Caesonia; cf. the poems to
Carus (9, 2324) and Latinus (9, 28), which are just as much eulogies of
Domitian as of the persons they obviously celebrate. For Martials birthday poems,
see 9, 52 intro.
1. Palatino Tonanti: for Palatinus and its scansion in Martial, see note on 9,
24, 1. This is one of five instances in Martial of the scansion P NCPF?NQ GLDJS
CLACB @W .T fast. 5, 152 prima Palatinae signa dedistis aves). The epithet Tonans
of Domitian as the earthly Jupiter is discussed in my note on 9, 86, 7.
2. Cybele peperisse Iovem: the mention of Cybele, the mother of Jupiter,
draws attention to Domitians mother Flavia Domitilla (who died before his accession and is otherwise not mentioned in the epigrams).
The Phrygian Great Mother Cybele had since the 5th century BC been identified by the poets (for example, Soph. Phil 391; Aristoph. Av. 875; Eur. Ba. 126
ff.) with the Greek Rhea, wife of Kronos and mother of Zeus, presumably as both
were mothers of gods; see Rapp in Roscher, s.v. Kybele 1638 ff., and cf. AP 6, 217
(Simonides) and 218 (Alcaeus), in which
and
are used alternately
of the same goddess. The identification was continued by the Latin poets; cf., for
example, Verg. Aen. 9, 83; Sil. 17, 36; Ov. fast. 4, 194 (on which see Bmer with
further instances)
.XEyOK

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3. sancta: sanctitas morum was a prime virtue in a wife, of the wife of Apollinaris
in 10, 30, 5 and cf. Phaedr. 3, 10, 30 Sanctam ... uxorem; Cic. Phil. 3, 16 sanctissimae feminae atque optimae of Augustus mother Atia; Plin. epist. 9, 28, 1 Plotinam sanctissimam feminam and paneg. 83, 5 Quid enim illa sanctius, quid antiquius of the empress Pompeia Plotina; OLD, s.v. sanctus 4.
mei Caesonia Rufi: as this Rufus is known only by his cognomen, his identity cannot be determined with certainty, but meus suggests that he was closely
acquainted with Martial, and he seems also to have had some connection with the
emperor. Now some of the Rufi mentioned by Martial may be ruled out at once as
192

possible objects of identification, viz. Camonius Rufus, who was dead (cf. 9, 74
and 76), Canius Rufus (who was married to Theophila; see Howell on 1, 61, 9)
and the Rufus of 12, 52, 3, married to Sempronia; nor is there anything to argue
for an identification with Safronius Rufus (4, 71; perhaps 11, 103; see Kay ad
loc.) or the satirist Iulius Rufus (10, 99). Unless the present Rufus appears only in
this epigram, the most likely candidate would be Instantius Rufus (7, 68; 8, 50; 8,
73; 12, 95; 12, 98); he was married, as appears from 7, 68, 2 and 12, 95, 4 ff., and
the fact that Martial did not refrain from addressing a poem like the latter to him
indicates that they knew each other quite well. Even though there is no tangible
connection between Domitian and Instantius, from 12, 98 it appears that he was
proconsul of Baetica and thus at least made a political career, even though it was
probably not a distinguished one; see White, Aspects, pp. 89 ff.
4. nulla puella: common after the diaeresis of the pentameter. Martial has it seven
times more,1 and cf. Tib. 3, 8, 24; Prop. 2, 26b, 26; Ov. m. 2, 10, 26; ars 1, 714; 2,
688; 3, 552.
5. gemina votorum sorte: the twice happy outcome of his prayers; the expression is unparalleled.

40
Tarpeias Diodorus ad coronas
Romam cum peteret Pharo relicta,
vovit pro reditu viri Philaenis,
illam lingeret ut puella simplex,
quam castae quoque diligunt Sabinae.
Dispersa rate tristibus procellis
mersus fluctibus obrutusque ponto
ad votum Diodorus enatavit.
O tardus nimis et piger maritus!
Hoc in litore si puella votum
fecisset mea, protinus redissem.

10

The poet Diodorus has left Egypt for Rome to participate in the Capitoline games
(cf. note on 9, 3, 8), and his wife Philaenis, a simpleminded girl, makes a vow
that she, upon his safe return, will perform fellatio on him. Diodorus is shipwrecked (without ever getting to Rome, as nothing is mentioned of the contest)
and makes quite a silly figure as he swims ashore to his wifes vow, which the
shipwreck has brought to a premature fulfilment. Still, Martial makes fun of him
for not returning fast enough: had his girl made such a vow, he would have turned
around at once.

1, 76, 4; 2, 66, 6; 4, 71, 2 and 4; 7, 29, 4; 11, 64, 2; 14, 205, 2.

193

The aim of the epigram is presumably to poke fun at Greek professional poets, who travelled from festival to festival (of which there were over a hundred in
the Greek world under the early Empire) to advertise their talents and hopefully
gain prizes, viz. money in the minor festivals, in the major also crowns and honour (see Hardie, pp. 23 ff.). In the Capitoline games of the summer of 94, no less
than fifty-two competitors participated in the event of improvising Greek hexameters, as appears from the epitaph of Q. Sulpicius Maximus (CIL 6, 33976), a
young boy who himself took part in this event that year; many of these had certainly come from abroad. If this was an unusually large number (and its being
mentioned in the inscription points in that direction; cf. Wissowa in Friedlnder,
Sittengeschichte 4, p. 276), it might perhaps have annoyed Martial, who, in spite
of his apparent debt to Greek epigrammatists, would probably have joined Juvenal
in his negative view of the Greeks as unfair and unwelcome competitors for the
favour of rich patrons. In his third satire, Juvenal refers to the Greeks as a divitibus gens acceptissima nostris (3, 58), with whom one could not compete on equal
terms, since they also were an adulandi gens prudentissima (3, 86; cf. also 3, 92
and 104; see Courtney on Iuv. 3, p. 153). This negative view was shared also by
men like Pliny, otherwise pro-Greek, and by Tacitus (see A. N. Sherwin-White,
Racial Prejudice in Imperial Rome, Cambridge 1967, pp. 71 ff.).
It does not seem unlikely that also Martial would have felt provoked by the
Greek master flatterers, especially by those working in his own field of poetry.
The dig in 9, 11, 14, at Greek poets quibus est nihil negatum may be a sign in this
direction, as is also perhaps Martials reference to the effects of the fancy versus
echoici as Graecula echo (see Friedlnder ad loc.); cf. also 10, 76. Perhaps the
present epigram is a manifestation of an urge to ridicule the Graeculi flooding the
Capitoline games of 94.
Shipwreck and death at sea were common themes in Greek epigram; compare
in particular AP 7, 366 (Antistius) on Greek athletes who had perished while
travelling between games:
,
,
,
,|
,
,

;1 cf. also AP 7,
665 (Leonidas of Tarentum); 7, 500 (Asclepiades); 7, 738 (Theoridas); 9, 85
(Philip); and see G. Williams, Change and Decline, Berkeley etc. 1978, p. 194.

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1 f. Tarpeias ad coronas | Romam cum peteret: when Diodorus set out for
Rome for the Capitoline games; the construction with ad, to participate in, is
slightly brachylogical and may be labelled as concretum pro abstracto; cf., for
example, Prop. 3, 14, 9 nunc ligat ad caestum gaudentia bracchia loris; TLL, s.v.
ad 536, 5 ff.
The oak-wreath is metonymy for Domitians Agon Capitolinus, on which see
note on 9, 3, 8.

1
To thee, Menestratus, the mouth of the Aous was fatal; to thee, Menander, the tempest of the Carpathian
Sea; and thou, Dionysius, didst perish at sea in the Sicilian Strait. Alas, what grief to Hellas! the best of all
her winners in the games gone (W. R. Patons translation, Loeb).

194

Diodorus: obviously fictitious, as Martials epigrams always salva infimarum

quoque personarum reverentia ludant (1, praef.); see the principles for real and
fictitious characters in Martial formulated by Kay on 11, 7, 1, and cf. 5, 15, 2; 9,
95b; 10, 33, 9 f. Rather surprisingly, Diodorus is considered to have been a real
person by Frobben (in his index of names in Friedlnder), Heraeus and Shackleton
Bailey, and even by W. Schmid & O. Sthlin, Geschichte der griechischen Litteratur, vol. 2:1, 6th ed., Munich 1920, p. 326.
2. Pharo: metonymy for Egypt; see note on 9, 35, 7 Phario Iove. Even though
a reference particularly to Alexandria (cf. the indices of names in Friedlnder,
Heraeus and Shackleton Bailey) may be likely, it cannot be confirmed by Pharus
alone (cf. 7, 30, 3 de Pharia Memphiticus urbe fututor, where Pharia urbs is
Memphis).
3. Philaenis: on this name in Martial, see note on 9, 29, 1.
4. illam quam: this kind of periphrastic circumscription (a noun or pronoun
followed by a relative clause) for mentula is common in Latin; cf. 3, 68, 7 f. nominat illam, | quam recipit sexto mense superba Venus; 11, 15, 8 f. nec per circuitus
loquatur illam, | ex qua nascimur, omnium parentem (with Kay); cf. pars, quam
etc. (for example, Ov. ars 2, 707; Petron. 129, 1; Priap. 37, 8 f.; 48, 1 f.; Adams,
p. 45.
puella simplex: the simpleminded girl; the vow of Diodorus wife does not
consist of laboured artefacts or of ritual slaughter, but simply and plainly of fellatio.
5. castae Sabinae: the Sabines were of proverbial moral sternness and their
women equally virtuous and chaste; thus, in 1, 62, 1, the chaste Laevina is said
not to yield to the antiquis Sabinis (cf. Citroni ad loc.); cf. 11, 15, 1 f. Sunt
chartae mihi, quas Catonis uxor | et quas horribiles legant Sabinae; Ov. am. 2, 4,
15 rigidas ... Sabinas; 3, 8, 61 tetricas ... Sabinas. The epithet horribiles in 11,
15, 2 agrees with Ovids description of the Sabine women as immundae (am. 1, 8,
39), indicating that their rigidity also made their appearance suffer; Kay ad loc.
fittingly remarks that their morality derived from the fact that casta est quam
nemo rogavit (Ov. am. 1, 8, 43); see also Otto, s.v. Sabina, p. 304.
7. mersus fluctibus obrutusque ponto: dipped in the waves and overwhelmed by
the ocean; mersus and obrutus often appear side by side; cf. Ov. trist. 5, 11, 13
(with Lucks note); Liv. 6, 17, 2; Sen. nat. 4, 2, 6; Sil. 4, 79 f.; Tac. ann. 1, 64, cf.
TLL, s.v. mergo 832, 20 ff. and s.v. obruo 153, 3 ff. For obrutus ponto, cf. also
Sen. Tro. 1031 and Sil. 9, 541.
8. ad votum enatavit: an amusing ambiguity; ad votum can mean either Diodorus escaped according to (his wifes) wish (cf. Quint. decl. 332, 1; Ps. Quint.
decl. 1, 5; ibid. 3, 9; Sen. epist. 15, 3; Tac. dial. 41, 1; Porph. Hor. epist. 1, 11,

195

17) or Diodorus escaped to the vow (= to claim the vow); for enatare ad aliquod, cf. TLL, s.v. enato 554, 45 f.

41
Pontice, quod numquam futuis, sed paelice laeva
uteris et Veneri servit amica manus,
hoc nihil esse putas? Scelus est, mihi crede, sed ingens,
quantum vix animo concipis ipse tuo.
Nempe semel futuit, generaret Horatius ut tres,
5
Mars semel, ut geminos Ilia casta daret:
omnia perdiderat, si masturbatus uterque
mandasset manibus gaudia foeda suis.
Ipsam crede tibi naturam dicere rerum:
istud quod digitis, Pontice, perdis, homo est.
10
This epigram is aimed at a certain Ponticus, who is in the habit of masturbating
without ever having sexual intercourse, and he is bitterly reproached by Martial,
who delivers a virtual hellfire sermon, using parodic, quasi-philosophical arguments which are very remote from his own view of the matter, as it emerges elsewhere (see below). This moralizing outburst and Martials hypocritical argumentation in particular would be hard to explain unless Ponticus is taken to be a
would-be moral philosopher, like the Chrestus of 9, 27 and the Pannychus of 9,
47, preaching sexual abstinence but masturbating when no one sees. Lines 310
could then be seen as a mocking pastiche of the kind of lectures Ponticus himself
gives to those who listen to him in the streets. The would-be philosopher is thus,
as it were, paid back in his own coin: applying an excessively moralizing and
quasi-philosophical diction (notably in lines 3 f. and 9 f.), Martial holds up masturbation as the most dreadful crime, implying the wastage of a human being, and
quite possibly more than one: it took Horatius only one act of intercourse to beget
the three Horatii and it took Mars only one such act to beget Romulus and Remus.
Note the parodic inclusion of historical exempla, a feature very popular with
moral philosophers (see 9, 27 intro.), and the ridiculous use of futuit with the
father of the Horatii and Mars as subjects. On top of it all, in support of his fabricated argumentation, Martial produces Nature itself, the Stoics measure of good
and bad. But the arguments produced by the poet are presumably not meant to
recall the doctrines of any particular school; philosophers do not seem to have had
any problem with masturbation, and some even approved of it (thus Zeno the
Stoic; cf. Sext. Empir. pyrrhon. hypot. 3, 206) or practised it themselves (thus the
Cynic Diogenes; see Plut. de stoic. repugn. 21). Rather, such words as scelus est,
sed ingens and the plea to Nature itself are simply meant to give the outburst a
philosophical air.
Martial himself quite obviously did not consider every sexual activity not
aimed at child birth as unjustifiable; he even did what he could to secure the ius
trium liberorum for himself without actually having to produce a single child (2,

196

91; 2, 92). The point that the semen is actually a human being and is not to be
wasted by masturbation is naturally also inconsistent with his general view on
masturbation; elsewhere, he thinks it acceptable as a last resort (as such, he practised it himself; cf. 2, 43, 14; 11, 73, 4), even though it should be avoided if one
has the means (hence his advice in 12, 95, 5 ff. to Instantius Rufus not to read
Musaeus pathicissimi libelli without the company of his wife, ne talassionem |
indicas manibus libidinosis | et fias sine femina maritus).1 This is essentially in
line with the prevalent view of masturbation in antiquity, which generally did not
condemn it if practised for want of something better, although there were naturally those who chose to reject it, as there were those who advocated it
(particularly Cynic philosophers); see W. A. Krenkel, Masturbation in der Antike, WZRostock 28 (1979), pp. 159178; Henderson, p. 221.
1. Pontice: for Martials use of this name, see note on 9, 19, 2.
paelice laeva: your left hand as mistress; the left hand is associated with
masturbation also in 11, 73, 3 f. Cum frustra iacui longa prurigine tentus, | succurrit pro te saepe sinistra mihi and with heterosexual stimulation in, for example, Lucil. fragm. 308 Krenkel (quoted below); ars 2, 706; Anth. 742, 84 (for Ov.
am. 2, 15, 11, see Booths commentary). In all likelihood, this association emanates from the idea of the left hand as unclean (cf. Adams, p. 209), not necessarily in a moral sense but rather in a physical one.
Kay (on 11, 73, 4) denies the notion of uncleanness, because there is no reason why heterosexual acts should be stigmatised in this way, and there is little
evidence that Romans considered masturbation a bad practise. He suggests that
the left hand was originally associated only with masturbation because its movements were easier to conceal than those of the right when the man was clothed2
and that the association was then transferred to other erotic contexts. However,
the use of the left hand in masturbation was not an entirely Roman phenomenon
but is found also in Greek art (see Krenkel, op. cit., p. 161); furthermore, the fact
that the left hand is already associated with heterosexual stimulation by Lucilius,
whereas there appears to be no connection with masturbation in Latin literature
prior to Martial, would contradict Kays suggestion that the sexual connotation
linked to the left hand emanates from masturbation. The explanation of the left
hand as unclean would therefore be the more likely. Cf. also J. Rosenbaum,
Geschichte der Lustseuche im Altertume, 8th ed., Berlin 1921, p. 343, n. 7.
2. amica manus: cf. Priap. 33, 5 f. turpe quidem factu, sed ne tentigine rumpar, |
falce mihi posita fiet amica manus; Friedlnder suggests that both derive from
Lucil. fragm. 308 Krenkel at laeva lacrimas muttoni absterget amica (which can
1
Martials denunciation of the stimulation of boys genitals by men (11, 22; cf. 11, 46, 3) is based on the
view that the anus belongs to men, the penis to women (see Kays introduction to 11, 22) and thus has no
relevance here, nor has his defence of masturbation as part of the sexual act against the objections of his
fictitious wife (11, 104, 13 f.).
2
As a similar thought, Kay produces the idea of the left hand as given to theft, apparently because its
movements were less noticeable; cf. 12, 28, 3; Plaut. Pers. 226 furtifica laeva; Catull. 12, 1; Plin. nat. 24,
103; 33, 13; Ov. met. 13, 111 natae ... ad furta sinistrae is irrelevant here (see Bmer, ad loc.).

197

be understood both as J?CT ?KGA ?LB ?Q J?CT ?KGA  3FC Q?KC CLBGLE GQ DMSLB
GL .T CNGQR   RPGQR   

3 f. Scelus est etc.: this sentence is a typical example of the threatening grandia
verba in which the would-be philosophers excelled (see 9, 27, 8).
mihi crede: Martial and Ovid offer far more instances of the colloquial, interposed mihi crede (or crede mihi) than any other Latin poet; Martial has 18 occurrences, Ovid 40. Next comes Propertius with seven, and then there are but a few
to be found in Lucilius, Tibullus, Horace, Calpurnius, the Priapea, Silius and
Statius. Statistical analysis, based on comedy and the works of Lucilius and
Petronius, has shown that crede mihi, which is the commoner formula in the
Latin poets, as opposed to mihi crede, was also the one preferably used in the
spoken language (see Citroni on 1, 3, 4).
sed: a colloquial and emphasizing use (= et quidem), found from Plautus onward, but more frequent in Silver and Late Latin. It is common in Martial
(sometimes intensified by an et), for example, 1, 43, 9; 1, 117, 7; 2, 6, 6; 5, 44, 9;
6, 68, 1; 7, 2, 8; 10, 87, 14; 12, 18, 22; cf. HofmannSzantyr, 260 b, p. 487, and
see Citroni on 1, 43, 9 with further instances. The ending sed ingens also in Ov.
met. 11, 15; Stat. Theb. 9, 103; silv. 3, 3, 44.
5 f. Horatius ... Mars: to parody the would-be philosophers manner of speaking,
Martial introduces two historical/mythological exempla from Romes distant past,
who would have given the history of Rome a different turn had they been incorrigible masturbators. The lines are clearly influenced by Ov. am. 2, 14, 918, in
which Ovid reminds Corinna, who has just terminated a pregnancy, that history
would have looked different had Thetis, Ilia and Venus (the mothers of Achilles,
Romulus and Remus, and Aeneas respectively) resorted to abortion. But in a context such as the present, the device naturally becomes completely absurd. To lend
further weight to his fake argumentation and to emphasize that each time Ponticus
masturbates, he wastes not only one human life but possibly two or three, Martial
chooses fathers of triplets and twins as exempla.
Horatius is the father of the Horatian triplets, who, in the days of Tullus Hostilius, saved Rome from Alban domination by defeating in single combat the Alban triplets matched against them. Two of the Horatii fell, whereas the third, by a
cunning move, killed the lot. The fathers role in the legend is limited to forgiving
his surviving son for killing also his own sister, who was engaged to one of the
Alban brothers and upset her brother by showing more grief for the death of her
betrothed than for that of her brothers (see Mnzer in RE 8, s.v. Horatius 2,
2322).
Mars is naturally mentioned as the father of Romulus and Remus (see below).
6. Ilia casta: Ilia is the original Latin name of the mother of Romulus and Remus,
found in the legend that made her the daughter of Aeneas (so Naevius and Ennius, according to Serv. Aen. 1, 273; 6, 778) and stressing her Trojan ancestry.
Owing to the chronological difficulties posed by this idea, the legend was remod198

elled during the 2nd century BC, using additional myths that introduced the Alban kings and made her the daughter of Numitor. The name Ilia now seemed
inappropriate and, instead, she was given the name of the Greek god mother
,
together with her nomen gentilicium as daughter of an Alban king, Silvia. However, the poets of the classical period, following Ennius, retained to a large extent
the name Ilia and emphasized her Trojan ancestry, for example, Hor. carm. 3, 3,
32 Troica sacerdos.
The epithet casta is probably due to the fact that Ilia or Silvia had been made a
Vestal virgin, an arrangement which the later legend ascribes to her uncle
Amulius, vainly trying to prevent her from getting any offspring to succeed her
father, Amulius brother Numitor, who had inherited the throne; see Rosenberg in
RE 2:1, s.v. Rea Silvia 341 ff.
C5yD

7. omnia perdiderat: Mars and Horatius would have ruined the future of Rome,
had they exclusively masturbated. Omnia perdere is a common phrase, capable of
meaning both to lose everything and to destroy everything; cf. Cic. Att. 2, 21,
1; Catull. 29, 24; Liv. praef. 12; Ov. met. 13, 527 with Bmers note.
masturbatus: the verb masturbor (like its derivations masturbator and masturbio; see TLL, s.v. respectively) is found only in Martial (this instance and 11,
104, 13), except for one instance in Charisius and one in the Glossaria Latina; see
TLL, s.v. masturbor 434, 14 ff.
The etymology of the word is much disputed. ErnoutMeillet (s.v., p. 389)
suggest that it is a distortion of the Greek verb
(to prostitute), but
the most plausible suggestion is that it consists of KL- (of manus) and stupro,
where the -n- has dropped out with lengthening of the preceding -a- ( > m and
the second element has been remodelled on the analogy of turbo; see WaldeHofmann, s.v. masturbor 48; Adams, pp. 209 ff. (with conclusive refutation of the
theory proposed by J. P. Hallet, Masturbator, Mascarpio, Glotta 54 [1976], pp.
292 ff.). These phonetic changes indicate that the word was not a neologism in
Martials day, but it is surprising that the word is not found prior to Martial; the
fact that it is entirely absent in literature as well as in Pompeian graffiti, combined
with the fact that both examples in Martial appear in a historical/mythological
context, supports Adams suggestion that masturbor was not even a vulgarism,
but an obsolescent verb which Martial resuscitated.
PDVWURSHZ

8. mandasset etc.: put their shameful delight in their hands. There are no other
instances of mandare gaudium, but cf. Sen. Med. 150 f. questus ... secreto abditos
| manda dolori; Sil. 7, 655 f. totam pectoris iram | mandat atrox hastae; TLL, s.v.
1 mando 263, 19 ff.
gaudia foeda: a singular juncture, but cf. Lucr. 4, 1158 and Ov. met. 10, 319
foedo amori. Gaudia is commonly used in an erotic sense, cf. 11, 27, 5; Petron.
132, 15, 5 nam quis concubitus, Veneris quis gaudia nescit?; Prop. 1, 4, 14; Ov.
am. 3, 7, 63; ars 2, 459; 3, 88; 3, 805. See Adams, pp. 197 f.; TLL, s.v. gaudium
1712, 33 ff.; and cf. 9, 36, 2 with note.

199

9. Ipsam ... naturam ... rerum: a particularly Stoic-sounding line; the Stoics
declared that Nature was the perfect being and deemed things good or bad in so
far as they agreed with Nature (see, for example, A. A. Long, Hellenistic Philosophy. Stoics, Epicureans, Sceptics, London 1974, pp. 179 ff.). In his philosophical
writings, Seneca uses similar expressions to lend emphasis to his thought; thus
dial. 6, 17, 6 Dicit omnibus nobis natura; epist. 91, 18 Hoc puta rerum naturam
dicere; 110, 20 Haec nobis Attalus dixit, natura omnibus dixit; cf. Ps. Quint. decl.
4, 10 finge tibi velut ipsam proclamare naturam.
For the prosody, cf. 3, 3, 3 Ipsam crede deam verbis tibi dicere nostris.
10. homo est: Martial crowns his annihilation of Ponticus by claiming that the
semen which he wastes by masturbation is a human being. What he has in mind
here is probably the doctrine formulated by Democritus and known as pangenesis,
according to which the seed (Democritus discerned a paternal and a [practically
identical] maternal seed, the conglomeration of which resulted in a foetus) consisted of small particles of atoms drawn from every part of the body, so that it
contained all the elements of the grown individual. While different from the view
proposed by Aristotle (according to whom, the semen of the male provided
movement and form, and the menstrual fluid of the female the matter), this doctrine was embraced by Lucretius (see 4, 12091232) as well by Seneca (cf., for
example, nat. 3, 29, 3 in semine omnis futuri hominis ratio comprehensa est et
legem barbae canorumque nondum natus infans habet); see J. Blayney, Theories
of conception in the ancient Roman world, in B. Rawson (ed.), The Family in
Ancient Rome. New Perspectives, Ithaca, New York 1986, pp. 230236.
For the ending, see note on 9, 53, 2.

42
Campis dives Apollo sic Myrinis,
sic semper senibus fruare cycnis,
doctae sic tibi serviant sorores,
nec Delphis tua mentiatur ulli,
sic Palatia te colant amentque:
bis senos cito te rogante fasces
det Stellae bonus adnuatque Caesar.
Felix tunc ego debitorque voti
casurum tibi rusticas ad aras
ducam cornibus aureis iuvencum.
Nata est hostia, Phoebe; quid moraris?

10

Martial prays Apollo that Domitian, at Apollos request, may not delay in granting the consulship to L. Arruntius Stella, Martials patron and close friend, presumably as Stellas year of office as praetor has recently come to an end (see below). For some reason, Martials petition had no effect; Stella had to wait until
101102 for the consulship (see below).
200

Mentioned in eighteen poems, Stella is one of the individuals to receive most

attention in the Epigrams; his wife Violentilla occurs in another three.1 Only
Flaccus, the mutual friend of Stella and Martial (see notes on 9, 33, 1 and 9, 55,
2), and Domitian are mentioned more frequently. Stella was of patrician origin
(Stat. silv. 1, 2, 71 patriciis maioribus ortum2), born in the neighbourhood of
Padua (Apona tellus 1, 61, 3) and destined to have a successful career in Roman
administration; yet Martial is almost completely reticent about it. The sole explicit
mention of an office is his reference to Stella as consul meus in 12, 2, 10, an office
which he would have entered in 101 or 102 (cf. Friedlnder, p. 66; according to
CIL 6, 1492, Stella was consul on the 19th of October, so the consulship would
have been suffect); thus, the present poem had no effect on Domitian, unless that
of 101102 was Stellas second consulship, which seems improbable, as an earlier
consulship would hardly have passed unnoticed by Martial. Stella was probably
praetor in 93, because 8, 78 mentions him as the arranger of games held in celebration of Domitians return from the Second Pannonian War in early 93 (cf. the
introduction, pp. 26 f.; PIR2 A 1151; White, Aspects, p. 109), although Martial
makes no mention of his title.
Some additional information on Stellas cursus may be gathered from the famous epithalamium (silv. 1, 2), which Statius composed on the occasion of
Stellas wedding to Violentilla in 8990.3 In lines 176 f., Statius presents him as a
quindecimvir sacris faciundis, and lines 178 ff. probably envisage the praetorship,
which would make Stella quaestorius at the time of the wedding, although the
interpretation of these lines in uncertain; see White, Aspects, pp. 107 ff., for a
discussion. A consulship ante diem is foretold in 174 ff.
In spite of Stellas senatorial standing and patrician origin, the great majority
of Martials epigrams in which he appears are rather unpretentious, sometimes
humorous (cf. 9, 55) or even somewhat daring in approach, arguing for considerable intimacy between the senator and the poet; perhaps this close friendship
originated from the fact that Stella himself (like Flaccus; see note on 9, 33, 1) was
an amateur poet (cf. 1, 7; 1, 61, 4; 4, 6; 6, 21, 1; 7, 14, 5; Stat. silv. 1, 2, 195 ff.).
This fact certainly accounts for Martials choice of Apollo, god of poetry, to make
the request to Domitian. On Stella, see further PIR2, loc. cit.; White, Aspects, pp.
105 ff.; Friends, pp. 267 ff.
The epigram is threefold. First, there is a wish that Apollo, having fulfilled
Martials prayer, may always take pleasure in his cult at Gryneion, the swans, the
Muses, and the Delphian oracle (15); it is followed by an expression of the actual
prayer (67) and by Martials promise to make a sacrifice, should Apollo grant his
prayer (811). For the promise of a sacrifice on the hearing of a prayer, cf. AP 6,
157 (Theodoridas); 6, 191 (Cornelius Longus); 6, 240 (Philippus); 6, 300
(Leonidas); Schmoock, p. 57.
1

Stella also in 1, 7; 44; 61; 4, 6; 5, 11; 12; 59; 6, 21; 47; 7, 14; 36; 8, 78; 9, 55; 89; 10, 48; 11, 52; 12, 2;
Violentilla in 6, 86; 7, 15; 50.
2
If Stellas equestrian namesake, who supervised the Neronian games of 55 (Tac. ann. 13, 22), was his
father or grandfather, Statius reference may be to Stellas maternal ancestry (see PIR2 A 1150 and 1151;
White, Aspects, pp. 105 f.).
3
Statius also dedicated his first book of Silvae to Stella but may not have been among his close
acquaintances; see White, Friends, pp. 267 ff. For Martials celebration of the wedding (6, 21) and its
relation to Statius epithalamium, see Henriksn, Martial und Statius, pp. 91 ff.

201

1. Campis dives Myrinis: to be taken as being governed by fruare in the following line, and dives probably as hypallage for campis divitibus, so may you
delight in the rich fields of Myrina. The reference is to the cult of Apollo at Gryneion (a town in southern Aeolis, some 7 km from the town of Myrina), where
there was an ancient oracle, a marble temple and a sacred grove (cf. Verg. ecl. 6,
72 with Servius; Aen. 4, 345; Orph. hymn. 34, 4; Strab. 13, 3, 5; Philostr. vita
Apoll. 4, 14; Pausan. 1, 21, 7; Aristid. or. 51, 7 Behr); see KrollBrchner in RE
7, s.v. Gryneion 1900 f., and Ruge in RE Suppl. 6, s.v. Myrina 615 ff; Jessen in
RE 7, s.v. Gryneios 1901 f.
Apart from Vergil and the present instance, there appears to be no other reference to Gryneion in Latin literature, and Martial would seem to be alluding to it
here in direct dependence on Vergil (cf. the reference to the Acidalian well in 9,
12, 3), though it is impossible to decide whether it is of any particular significance
in this context.
The adjective Myrinus (not found elsewhere) is modelled without a suffix directly on the name Myrina, a common practice in poetry; cf., for example, Verg.
Aen. 7, 710 Amiterna cohors (where Amiterna is a direct adjectivization of
Amiternum) and see W. Schulze, Zur Geschichte lateinischer Eigennamen, 2nd
ed., Berlin etc. 1966, pp. 535 ff.
sic: wishes with sic-clauses are common in the poets from Catullus (17, 5)
onwards, expressing a wish which is made conditional on the granting of a request (OLD, s.v. sic 8 d), commonly, as here, on the fulfilment of a prayer (may
you ever delight in the Myrinian fields ... should Caesar soon grant the consulship
to Stella). This condition is, however, not always expressed in a clause grammatically corresponding to the sic-clause (for example, an ut- or si-clause), but in
an imperative or subjunctive clause; see Blase in G. Landgraf, Historische Grammatik der lateinischen Sprache, vol. 3:1, Leipzig 1903, pp. 133 f.; cf., for example, Hor. carm. 1, 3, 1 ff. (with Kiessling & Heinze); Tib. 2, 5, 121 f. sic tibi sint
intonsi, Phoebe, capilli, | sic tua perpetuo sit tibi casta soror.
The construction is frequent in Martial in petitions to men as well as in prayers to the gods; thus again to Apollo in 4, 45, 5 ff.; to Vulcan in 5, 7, 7 f.; to Mercury in 7, 74, 3 ff.; to a nymph in 9, 58, 3 ff.; to Venus in 9, 90, 7 ff.; to the river
Rhine in 10, 7, 3 ff.; and to Saturn in 12, 62, 15 f.1
2. senibus cycnis: cf. 5, 37, 1 (of Erotion) Puella senibus dulcior mihi cycnis;
Stat. Theb. 5, 341 f. mitior senibus cycnis et pectine Phoebi | vox media de
puppe venit. The swan is already in Homer and Hesiod considered sacred to
Apollo (Hyperboreus), presumably as the whooper swan, like the god, came from
the north, from whence it migrated southward in winter.
The song of the dying swan, however, is not mentioned earlier than Aeschyl.
Ag. 1444, but thereafter becomes a commonplace. In Plat. Phaed. 85, Socrates
ascribes the singing to the swans prophetic ability (being the bird of Apollo):
because they (sc. the swans) have foreknowledge of the blessings in the other
1

For petitions to men, cf. 5, 6; 7, 28; 72; 99 ; 9, 90, 1 and 7; 10, 61, 5 f.; 12, 49, 5 ff.

202

world they sing and rejoice on that day (i.e. the day of their death) more than ever
before ;1 cf. Cic. Tusc. 1, 73. The song of the dying swan is mentioned by Martial
also in 13, 77; cf. Ov. met. 14, 430; Sen. Ag. 678; Phaedr. 301; Stat. silv. 2, 4, 10
(with van Dams note); see further R. Liver, Der singende Schwan, MH 39
(1982), pp. 148 ff.; Otto, s.v. cycnus 2 and 3, pp. 104 f.; TLL, s.v. cycnus 1585, 31
ff.
Pliny, who had apparently made some experiments on the matter, concluded
that the song of the dying swan was a misconception (nat. 10, 63), which naturally is essentially correct. The breathing of the dying swan, like that of most
other animals, tends to become violently uncontrolled just before the moment of
death; as the air passes the vocal cords, they produce cries, even though the swan
itself is no longer in control of either breathing or cry.2
3. doctae sorores: this juncture also in 1, 70, 15; Tib. 3, 4, 45; Ov. met. 5, 255
(with Bmers note); fast. 6, 811 (cf. 4, 191 with Bmers note); trist. 2, 13; Manil. 2, 49; Stat. Theb. 9, 317; see TLL, s.v. doceo 1757, 2 ff.; Nisbet & Hubbard on
Hor. carm. 1, 1, 29. The epithet (in the sense of learned, gifted, talented) was
first applied to the Muses in Latin by Catullus (65, 2 doctis virginibus); in the
same sense, it is commonly used as an epithet of poets (frequently so by Martial of
Catullus, see Citroni on 1, 61, 1); cf. also the interjection sophos (
) as a
bravo to reciting poets (for example, in 1, 3, 7).
VRIM

5. Palatia: the lavish temple of marble and gold on the Palatine was by far the
most celebrated shrine of Apollo in Rome and among the most magnificent structures erected by Augustus. Vowed in 36 BC, it was dedicated on the 9th of October 28; cf. Hor. carm. 1, 31 and Prop. 2, 31 written on the occasion; further references in Hor. epist. 1, 3, 17; Prop. 4, 1a, 3; Ov. ars 3, 119; 3, 389; Calpurn. 4,
159; Lucan. 3, 103. The temple was probably restored by Domitian (see note on 9,
3, 11 Phoebum; Platner & Ashby, pp. 16 ff.).
Note that Palatia may also contain an allusion to the emperor and the imperial
family, cf. 7, 28, 5 (to the lawyer Fuscus) sic fora mirentur, sic te Palatia laudent
(where Lindsay and Shackleton Bailey print Palatia with a capital P, Friedlnder
and Heraeus palatia). For the scansion /J?RG? see note on 9, 24, 1.
amentque: cf. note on 9, 29, 6.
6. bis senos fasces: the twelve fasces to which the consuls were entitled; Statius uses the same paraphrase in connection with Stella in silv. 1, 2, 174 ff. The
phrase was coined by Ovid (Pont. 4, 9, 4 bis senos fascis; the paraphrase bis seni
for the metrically impossible duodecim appears after Verg. ecl. 1, 43; cf. also
Bmer on Ov. met. 2, 497) and is used by Martial also in 7, 63, 9 and 8, 66, 3; cf.
Sil. 8, 484 and compare also seni fasces of the six fasces of the praetor in Mart.
11, 98, 15.

1
2

Harold North Fowlers translation, Loeb.

I am grateful to David Stenstrm, BA, for advising me on this matter.

203

7. bonus: good-tempered; cf. 4, 8, 9 bonus aetherio laxatur nectare Caesar;

contrasted with iratus in Stat. Theb. 7, 161 f. an nobis pater iratusque bonusque |
fulmen habes?; TLL, s.v. bonus 2087, 128 ff.
adnuatque: like det, to be taken with fasces and Stellae; cf., for example, Stat.
silv. 4, 1, 46 f. longamque tibi rex, magne, iuventam | annuit; TLL, s.v. adnuo
791, 73 ff.
8. debitorque voti: when a prayer had been granted and the thing prayed for was
no longer in votis but in manibus (Serv. Aen. 10, 280), the person who had made
the vow became compos voti but was now also indebted to the god until the vow
was paid.
Voti debitor (found only here and in Servius; see below) appears here as a
synonym of the commoner voti reus, a metaphor from legal language to emphasize the seriousness of the debt; cf. Verg. Aen. 5, 237 constituam (sc. taurum) ante
aras voti reus (with Servius note: voti reus voti debitor: unde vota solventes
dicimus absolutos. Inde est damnabis tu quoque votis, quasi reos facies);
Petron. frg. 27 vers. 12; Stat. Theb. 6, 198; Macr. Sat. 2, 3, 6. For damnare votis,
cf. Serv. Verg. 4, 699 cuiuscumque debiti, id est reatus damnatio finem facit.
Damnare autem est damno adficere, id est debito liberare. Ideo et cum vota
suscipimus, rei voti dicimur, donec consequamur beneficium et donec condemnemur, id est promissa solvamus, ut damnabis tu quoque votis; Verg. ecl. 5, 80
(with Servius); Liv. 7, 28, 4; 10, 37, 16; Germ. 348; Hygin. astr. 2, 24, 1; cf. condemnare votis (CLE 4, 4); see further Latte, p. 46.
9. rusticas ad aras: a singular juncture; Martial would be thinking of an altar of
turf (Verg. Aen. 12, 118 f. aras gramineas; Ov. met. 7, 240 with Bmers note;
15, 573 f. viridique e caespite factas | placat odoratis herbosas ignibus aras; Sil.
4, 701; 15, 434), probably to be raised at his country estate at Nomentum. In ancient times, the turf altar was the normal form of an altar (cf. Serv. Aen. 12, 119
Romani moris fuerat caespitem arae superimponere et ita sacrificare). Later,
such altars were used in private sacrifices and are often mentioned with emphasis
on humbleness and simplicity; thus in 12, 60, 3; cf. Hor. carm. 1, 19, 13 (with
Nisbet & Hubbard); 3, 8, 4; Ov. trist. 5, 5, 9; see Latte, p. 386; Reisch in RE 2,
s.v. Ara 338 f.
10. cornibus aureis iuvencum: the practice of gilding the horns of cattle destined
for sacrifice was an ancient one, mentioned already in the Iliad (10, 294; cf. Od.
3, 385; 3, 426; 3, 437) and indispensable in the lavish Roman state sacrifices (see
Latte, pp. 385 f.). Mentions of the practice are mostly in official and mythological
contexts (see Bmer on Ov. met. 7, 162 for a collection of instances, to which add
Plin. nat. 33, 39); here, it makes a glaring contrast to the humble rustic altar in
the preceding line.
Sacrifices of iuvenci are often mentioned by the poets; cf. 14, 4, 1; Verg.
georg. 2, 537; 3, 23; 4, 283; Aen. 3, 247; 3, 369; 5, 101; 5, 329; 6, 38 grege de
intacto septem mactare iuvencos (sacrifice to Apollo; see Norden, ad loc.); 8, 719;
9, 627 (with gilded horns) statuam ante aras aurata fronte iuvencum; Ov. met.
204

10, 272; 15, 129; fast. 1, 83; 3, 375 f.; Lucan. 4, 132; Sil. 4, 796; 11, 251; 12,
445; Val. Fl. 2, 331; Stat. Theb. 4, 409; 8, 594; Ach. 1, 417; Iuv. 6, 48 (with
gilded horns); see Latte, p. 381; Keller in RE 2:3, s.v. Stier 2516.
For the prosody, cf. 10, 7, 6 (of the horns of the river Rhine).
11. Nata est hostia: nata stresses the age of the victim; the bull-calf has already
been born (viz. at Martials Nomentan farm, where the sacrifice will take place;
see note on line 9 above). It is growing to be a iuvencus (the second of the ages of
cattle; cf. Varro rust. 2, 5, 6) and Apollo must not wait too long, lest the steer
grow into a bull. The age of the sacrificial animal was of importance; cf. Serv.
Aen. 3, 21 in victimis etiam aetas est consideranda; Latte, p. 381; Krause in RE
Suppl. 5, s.v. Hostia 246 ff.
The MSS all agree in the transmission of nata, which is printed by Schneidewin, Friedlnder, Gilbert, Lindsay and Heraeus; yet it has seemed unsatisfactory
to many editors and provoked emendations, like Heinsius rather vapid vota and
recently the lecta of Shackleton Bailey, based, I imagine, on Verg. Aen. 4, 57
mactant lectas de more bidentis (with Serv.: moris enim fuerat ut ad sacrificia
eligerentur oves, quibus nihil deesset) and Aen. 6, 39 lectas ex more bidentis
(Serv. de more [sic] antiquo scilicet, quem praetermisit quasi tunc omnibus
notum, id est ne habeant caudam aculeatam, ne linguam nigram, ne aurem fissam: quod docet aliud esse intactum, aliud lectum); cf. Krause, op. cit., p. 242.
This obviously provides a good sense, but not necessarily a better one than does
nata.

43
Hic qui dura sedens porrecto saxa leone
mitigat, exiguo magnus in aere deus,
quaeque tulit, spectat resupino sidera vultu,
cuius laeva calet robore, dextra mero:
non est fama recens nec nostri gloria caeli;
nobile Lysippi munus opusque vides.
Hoc habuit numen Pellaei mensa tyranni,
qui cito perdomito victor in orbe iacet;
hunc puer ad Libycas iuraverat Hannibal aras;
iusserat hic Sullam ponere regna trucem.
Offensus variae tumidis terroribus aulae
privatos gaudet nunc habitare lares,
utque fuit quondam placidi conviva Molorchi,
sic voluit docti Vindicis esse deus.

10

Novius Vindex was an amateur poet and collector of works of art, who had acquired a statuette by Lysippus of the sitting Hercules with a quite fantastic history.
The statuette was celebrated by Martial in the present epigram and the following,
and by Statius in silv. 4, 6 (on the latter, see, apart from Colemans commentary,
205

also H. Canick-Lindemaier, Ein Mahl vor Hercules. Ein Versuch zu Statius,

Silve IV 6: Hercules Epitrapezios, AU 14:3 [1971], pp. 43 65).
Novius Vindex was probably not one of the close acquaintances of either Martial or Statius, as he is not mentioned prior to or later than the poems in question;
there is no reason to identify him with the Novii of 1, 86 and 7, 72, 7 (see Howell
on 1, 86, 1), and even though Martial may have known of him already in 88 (if
the Vestinus of 4, 73 is to be identified with his namesake and friend of Vindex
mentioned in silv. 4, 6, 94), he did not consider him important enough to be approached as a possible patron. He was presumably not a senator or, if he was, he
had probably retired; for in the cases of the seven senators mentioned by Statius in
the Silvae, the poet never neglects to specify the senatorial post most recently held
(the one exception being the retired Rutilius Gallicus); there is no such information to be found on Vindex. The only actual facts known of him are that he wrote
poetry (see note on line 14 below; Stat. silv. 4, 6, 30) and collected works of art
(silv. 4, 6, 20 ff.); cf. Coleman, p. 173, and see PIR2 N 194.
There is no explicit information on the reason why Martial and Statius should
celebrate a work of art belonging to a man whom they addressed on no other occasion. Statius, who otherwise usually gives the circumstances of each poem in the
preface of the respective book of Silvae, is reticent about silv. 4, 6; however, in the
poem itself, he says that he had been invited to dinner by Vindex and shown numerous works of fine art by Myron, Praxiteles, Phidias, Polyclitus and Apelles
(silv. 4, 6, 25 ff.). But, on the table, there was the statuette of Hercules, of which
Statius became particularly fond (multo mea cepit amore pectora, silv. 4, 6, 33 f.).
But why did he celebrate this particular statuette in 109 hexameters, and why did
Martial compose two epigrams on the same work of art?
A comparison of silv. 4, 6 with the present poem reveals obvious similarities.
First, there is the ecphrasis: Hercules sits on the lion skin, which has been
stretched out on a stone (line 1; silv. 4, 6, 57 f.), holding the club in one hand and
a cup in the other (4; silv. 4, 6, 56 f.); the statuette is attributed to Lysippus (6;
silv. 4, 6, 37; 108 f.). Then, there is the list of its previous possessors: Alexander
(7 Pellaeus tyrannus; silv. 4, 6, 5974 Pellaeus regnator), Hannibal (9; silv. 4, 6,
7584) and Sulla (10; silv. 4, 6, 8588); the quiet of Vindex home is now a welcome resting-place for the statuette, weary of the life in the great houses (9, 43,
1112; silv. 4, 6, 8898). Both poets use the antithesis a great god in small
shape (9, 43, 2; silv. 4, 6, 35 f.), and both liken the statuette of Vindex to Hercules when staying with Molorchus (13 f.; silv. 4, 6, 51), a subordinate mythological
character whose inclusion would be by no means obvious .
These major similarities, which essentially appear in the same order in both
poems, suggest that neither Martial nor Statius wrote spontaneously, but on some
kind of given directive. The most obvious and also the most attractive explanation
would be that Vindex had recently acquired the statuette and, excited about its
history, gave a dinner to celebrate his new acquisition. Martial and Statius
(probably like several other poets or would-be poets as well) would have been
among the guests; quite obviously, neither would have failed to bestow some
verses on the object of honour, which would also be Vindex reason for inviting

206

them.1 It may well be, as suggested by White (Friends, pp. 286 f.), that the host
proposed the statuette as the theme for their afterdinner improvisations; see
also Henriksn, Martial und Statius, pp. 108 ff.; White, loc. cit.; Heuvel, pp. 315
ff.; Vessey in ANRW 32, 5, pp. 2794 ff.
In the preface of Silvae 4, Statius mentions the statuette of Vindex as Hercules
Epitrapezios (cf. the titulus of silv. 4, 6 Hercules Epitrapezios Novi Vindicis; cf.
Coleman, pp. xxviii ff.). In modern times, a whole genre of statues of the seated
Hercules has come to be designated as epitrapezios, owing to their similarity to
Vindex statuette, although the term epitrapezios (Gr.
) in antiquity
was probably only applicable to statuettes meant to be placed on a table (see Coleman, p. 174). The basic features, from which several copies show individual deviations, are as follows: the hero sits on a rock, on which he has stretched out the
lion skin; his left leg is put forward, his right foot rests by the rock, the leg being
bent at a sharp angle; his arms are stretched forward, the left hand holding the
club, the upper end of which rests on the ground; the right hand holds the cup, a
cantharos; his head is raised to the right, his eyes gazing at the sky.2 These features correspond to what the poets tell us about Vindex Hercules, which they
assure us was sculpted by the hand of Lysippus himself. This was perhaps the
case, even though a copy would seem more likely (Coleman, loc. cit.). The possibility of its being the original, however, cannot be ruled out, as Floren wishes (op.
cit., p. 51), on the basis of the signature reading
and not
, since the Greek genitive is not found in the MSS (see further note on 9,
44, 6 Lysippum).
Epigrams describing works of art are common in Greek epigram and occupy a
large section of AP 16 (epigrams 32334, nos. 9099; 101104; and 124 being on
pictures of Hercules).
xSLWUDSy]LRM

/XVdSSRX

/VLSSRM

xSRdHL

1. dura saxa: the statuette pictures Hercules sitting on the lion skin, which is
stretched out on a rock; cf. Stat. silv. 4, 6, 57 f. aspera sedis | sustinet et cultum
Nemeaeo tegmine saxum.
porrecto leone | mitigat: softens with the stretched-out lion skin. Leo is
metonymy for lion skin, cf., for example, Val. Fl. 1, 263; TLL, s.v. leo 1169, 41
ff.; mitigo in the sense of make soft (= make more comfortable to sit on);
ibid., s.v. mitigo 1148, 4 ff.
2. exiguo magnus in aere deus: the majesty of Hercules as a god is contrasted
with the smallness of the statuette (antithesis); Statius expresses the same idea
with emphasis on Hercules divinity in silv. 4, 6, 35 f. finisque inclusa per artos |
maiestas! Deus ille, deus! The same kind of antithesis is found also in Greek
1

Van Dam has suggested that the dinner was given on January 26; see the introduction, pp. 12 f.
See J. Floren, Zu Lysipps Statuen des sitzenden Herakles, Boreas 4 (1981), pp. 4760 (here pp. 48 f.);
F. de Visscher (Hrakls Epitrapezios, AC 30 [1961], pp. 67129) reproduces a number of pictures of
statues of the epitrapezios; mainly focusing on the then recently discovered colossus of Hercules at Alba
Fucens, he tends to overstress the connection between the colossus and the statuette of Vindex (see Floren,
pp. 50 f.; see also E. Berger, Antike Kunstwerke aus der Sammlung Ludwig, vol. 2, Terrakotten und
Bronzen, Basle 1982, pp. 306 ff.).

207

epigram; cf., for example, AP 9, 776 (Diodorus); 16, 120 (Archelaos); see also
Coleman on Stat. silv. 4, 6, 356.
The antonyms exiguus and magnus on both sides of the diaeresis of the pentameter are found also in Ov. fast. 6, 22 ause per exiguos magna referre modos,
and the words frequently appear as contrasts; Seneca is especially fond of the
juncture (for example, dial. 5, 34, 2; 10, 1, 3; 12, 10, 5; epist. 43, 3; 53, 11 At
mehercules magni artificis est clusisse totum in exiguo; 58, 34; 76, 28).
The statuette was made of bronze; cf. Stat. silv. 4, 6, 47 ff.
3. quaeque tulit sidera: Hercules carried the firmament while Atlas fetched
for him the golden apples of the Hesperides, the acquiring of which was one of the
Twelve Labours (see note on 9, 101, 4 aurea poma).
spectat resupino sidera vultu: the skyward gaze is one of the basic features of
the epitrapezios (see the introduction above).
Although this is the one instance in Martial, sidera vultu sim. is a common
verse-ending in hexameters; cf. Ov. met. 1, 731; Sil. 6, 101; 9, 168; 15, 84; Stat.
Theb. 9, 453; 11, 700; Val. Fl. 6, 622.
4. calet: the verb indicates a tension in the seated Hercules, suggesting a firm grip
of the club and the cup; one senses the force of the club and the ardour of the wine
running through his limbs. The statue seems to be alive; this is Vergils spirantia
aera (Aen. 6, 847).
laeva robore, dextra mero: this is the usual disposition of the club and the
cup (see the introduction above). Statius makes no distinction: tenet haec marcentia fratris | pocula, at haec clavae meminit manus (silv. 4, 6, 56 f.).
5. non est fama etc.: cf. 14, 93, 1 (on antique cups) Non est ista recens nec nostri
gloria caeli.
fama: fama of the object of fame; cf. TLL, s.v. 217, 24 ff. Fama in this sense is
relatively common in Martial, slightly more often with reference to beings (thus 7,
27, 2; 9, 28, 1 [see note ad loc.]; 9, 71, 1; 10, 103, 4) than to things, the latter
being the case also in 8, 28, 2 (toga) and 9, 101, 2 (the Appian Way).
nostri gloria caeli: gloria is used in a way similar to fama above, of the thing
which lends glory. For gloria of artefacts, cf. 10, 89, 1 Iuno labor, Polyclite, tuus
et gloria felix; Ov. Pont. 4, 1, 29; TLL, s.v. gloria 2080, 65 ff.
Caelum is here primarily the chisel, and nostri caeli would be of Roman
manufacture, but it may also refer to the sky, i.e. made under the Roman sky;
cf. Leary on 14, 93, 1.
6. nobile munus opusque: the synonyms munus and opus appear together
elsewhere, though with different meanings; cf., for example, Ov. ars. 1, 69 of
public buildings; met. 7, 436 of the deeds of Theseus; similarly in Pont. 4, 1, 36.

208

Nobile opus is a common juncture, cf. 6, 73, 2 and 8, 6, 8 (both with the same
meaning as here); epigr. 6b, 2; 9, 93, 6; Prop. 2, 31, 12 (cf. Mart. 14, 3, 2); Ov.
trist. 1, 10, 30; Sil. 2, 612; Stat. silv. 1, 2, 250 f. Nobile munus, however, is not,
and here the adjective would presumably have been chosen because of opus.
Lysippi: the Greek sculptor, active during the reign of Alexander the Great, of
whom he made several portraits (Plin. nat. 34, 63; cf. Cic. fam. 5, 12, 7; Hor.
epist. 2, 1, 140; Val. Max. 8, 11, 2). He was counted among the finest sculptors of
antiquity (cf., for example, Cic. de. orat. 3, 26; Prop. 3, 9, 9; Quint. inst. 12, 10,
9) and worked mostly in bronze; famous is his Apoxyomenos, a copy of which
is preserved in the Vatican. Heracles was, apart from Zeus, his favourite subject
among the gods, and his statues of the hero comprised the colossal Hercules of the
acropolis in Tarentum, which depicted him sitting on a basket, on which he, as in
this case, has stretched out the lion skin. A couple of epigrams in the Planudean
anthology, 4, 103 (= AP 16, 103 Geminus) and 4, 104 (= AP 16, 104, Philippus),
are about another statuette by Lysippus of a sitting Hercules, showing the god
without his club and lion skin, of which he had been deprived by Eros (see Lippold in RE 14, s.v. Lysippos 6, 48 ff.).
7. Pellaei tyranni: cf. Stat. silv. 4, 6, 59 f. Pellaeus habebat | regnator laetis
numen venerabile mensis. The reference is to Alexander the Great, called Pellaeus from his home town of Pella, the capital of Macedonia from about 400 BC
(Oberhummer in RE 19, s.v. Pella 3, 341 ff.).
The adjective Pellaeus (Gr.
) appears already in Plautus (Asin. 333
and 397 Pellaeus mercator), but it is mostly used with reference, in one way or
another, to Alexander; thus Verg. georg. 4, 287; Ov. met. 12, 254; see Forcellini,
Onomast., s.v. Pella 447. It frequently occurs in Silver Latin, particularly in Lucan (thirteen occurrences, some of which refer to Alexandria and Ptolemaic
Egypt; see Forcellini, loc. cit., c and d); also Sil. 11, 381; 13, 765; 17, 429 f.; Val.
Fl. 1, 365; Iuv. 10, 168. Martial has it also in 13, 85, 2 (with reference to the
Alexandrines); Statius also in silv. 1, 1, 86 (with direct reference to Alexander).
3HOODjRM

8. qui cito perdomito etc.: who rests a victor in the empire he swiftly subdued,
swiftly because it took him a little more than ten years to conquer his truly vast
empire. Alexanders corpse was moved from the scene of his death in Babylon to
Memphis and thence to Alexandria (Curt. 10, 10, 20), where it was buried in a
mausoleum, resting embalmed in honey in a glass coffin. It was one of the principal tourist attractions of Alexandria; cf. Stat. silv. 3, 4, 117 f.; Suet. Aug. 18, 1;
Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 1, p. 455.
The TLL (s.v. orbis 917, 1 ff.) knows but one instance of orbis being used of
the empire of Alexander (Sen. suas. 1, 5 orbis illum suus non capit) whereas it is
commonly used of the Roman empire.
9. hunc puer iuraverat Hannibal: when still a boy, Hannibal took an oath of
vengeance on Rome (see Liv. 35, 19, 3 f.); the scene is depicted on a shield in Sil.
2, 426 ff. parte alia supplex infernis Hannibal aris | arcanum Stygia libat cum
vate cruorem | et primo bella Aeneadum iurabat ab aevo; cf. Flor. epit. 1, 22, 2.
209

Statius also records that the statuette had belonged to Hannibal and that he poured
libations to it (silv. 4, 6, 76 ff.).
Iurare with the bare accusative is a common construction; see TLL, s.v. iuro
675, 46 ff. Servius Aen. 12, 197 calls it et ornatior elocutio et crebra apud
maiores, quam si velis addere praepositionem, ut dicas iuro per maria, per
terras. A Grecism, it found its way into Latin during the first century BC (see
Norden on Aen. 6, 324).
ad Libycas aras: see note on 9, 6, 1.
10. Sullam trucem: a singular epithet, but cf. 11, 5, 9 Sulla cruentus; Stat.
silv. 4, 6, 107 saevi Sullae; the cruelty of Sulla (particularly in the Civil War)
was almost proverbial (cf. Sall. Catil. 21, 4 Victoria Sullana and see Frhlich in
RE 4, s.v. Cornelius 392, 1548 ff.). His eastern campaigns gave much opportunity
for acquiring Greek and Hellenistic art, for example, he plundered the temple of
Zeus Eleutherios and stole a Hippocentaur by Zeuxis. His connection with Hercules consists in his offering a tenth of his property to the god, cf. Plut. Sull. 35, 1
and see Coleman on Stat. silv. 4, 6, 858 (Statius account of Sullas possession of
the statuette).
Martial makes an almost Statian move in having Hercules command Sulla to
lay down his power. Statius Silvae, unlike the epigrams of Martial, abound with
divine interventions in contemporary human life; cf., for example, the epithalamium of Stella and Violentilla (silv. 1, 2) and the poem on Earinus (silv. 3, 4). It
is perhaps more than a mere coincidence that a Statian feature otherwise foreign
to Martial appears in a poem on a theme common to both poets. See also 9, 44
intro.
11. offensus variae tumidis terroribus aulae: double hypallage for variis tumidae terroribus aulae, displeased with the numerous (and varied) terrors of the
haughty life in great houses; cf. HofmannSzantyr, 93, pp. 159 f.
The idea that the house of Vindex will lend Hercules a welcome life of peace
and quiet, as opposed to his turbulent life with his previous masters, appears in
Stat. silv. 4, 6, 89 ff., which in thought is very similar to the present line: Nunc
quoque, si mores humanaque pectora curae | nosse deis, non aula quidem,
Tirynthie, nec te | regius ambit honos, sed casta ignaraque culpae | mens domini,
cui prisca fides coeptaeque perenne | foedus amicitiae ... nec bella vides pugnasque feroces, | sed chelyn.
12. habitare: the transitive use of habitare appears more often with deities than
with humans beings; cf., for example, 10, 28, 3 (of Ianus) pervius exiguos habitabas ante penates; compare TLL, s.v. habito 2479, 47 ff. with 2478, 63 ff.
13. placidi Molorchi: Martial follows the legend as related by Apollodorus (2,
74 f.), according to whom Hercules came to Cleonae on his way to Nemea, and
was received as a guest by the day-labourer Molorchus (cf. 4, 64, 30). According
to Callimachus (to whom the character largely owes its fame; cf. Aitia frg. 103;
108; 142; 193; 250 Scm.; Probus on Verg. georg. 3, 19), Molorchus was a
210

goatherd with only one goat, which he would sacrifice to Hercules as a god if he
returned from Nemea victorious, otherwise to his manes; see Pley in RE 16, s.v.
Molorchos 13 f.; cf. note on 9, 101, 6 terga leonis.
Molorchus, the host of Hercules, is introduced here as a flattering parallel to
Vindex, at whose table the god is now a permanent conviva. He appears also in
Statius account (silv. 4, 6, 51 ff., quoted in the note on 9, 44 3), with the epithet
parcus; cf. Stat. silv. 3, 1, 29 pauper M.; Theb. 4, 160 Cleonaeus M.
14. voluit docti Vindicis esse deus: Martials only hint that Vindex was a poet
(for doctus as an epithet of poets, see the note on 9, 42, 3). Statius is more explicit, saying that art was Vindex pastime quotiens chelyn exuit (silv. 4, 6, 30)
and that Vindex will hymn the deeds of Hercules (ibid. 99 ff.); in the preface to
silv. 4, Statius also speaks of the honour, quem de me et de ipsis studiis meretur
(sc. Vindex).
The ending esse deus etc. is found also in 2, 91, 2; cf. Tib. 1, 8, 72; Prop. 2,
29a, 12; Epiced. Drusi 130; especially common in Ovid, who has no less than 16
instances.1

44
Alciden modo Vindicis rogabam,
esset cuius opus laborque felix.
Risit, nam solet hoc, levique nutu
Graece numquid ait poeta nescis?
Inscripta est basis indicatque nomen.
Lysippum lego, Phidiae putavi.

The sequel to 9, 43 is an epigram completely different from its predecessor. Logically, it precedes no. 43 in time, telling how Martial first sees Vindex statuette of
Hercules and asks for the artist, and its relation to its predecessor is comparable to
that of 9, 36 (see intro. ad loc.) to the Earinus cycle and 9, 34 to the series of
epigrams on the Flavian temple; again, Martial cannot bear a thoroughly serious
treatment of the matter but has to give it a humorous turn. This is Martial the
jester and, as such, he may well have appeared at the presumed dinner at Vindex
house (see 9, 43 intro.), improvising an ex tempore piece as a counterpart to the
more elevated poem which he bestowed on the statuette at first.
It is notable that Martial in this epigram turns to the statuette itself and asks
for the artist and that the statue itself smiles and gives him a hint. A speaking
statue was, of course, fantastic enough (cf. 11, 102, 8 portentum est, quotiens
coepit imago loqui with Kays note) and would really be a feature foreign to Martials style. It could be avoided by accepting the reading of or Shackleton Baileys emendation (see below), but there is no reason to do so; the view that the
J

am. 3, 3, 46; 3, 12, 38; epist. 2, 126; 7, 132; rem. 784; fast. 2, 398; 3, 112; 3, 874; 6, 366; trist. 1, 1, 32;
1, 3, 40; 5, 3, 18; 5, 11, 26; Pont. 2, 1, 48; 3, 4, 80; 3, 5, 54.

211

statuette really is the subject of risit and ait in lines 3 f. has substantial grammatical and manuscript support and, furthermore, in a jocular epigram such as the
present, the speaking statuette rather adds to the humour. However, as Statius was
also present at the dinner and composed a poem on the statuette, one cannot help
wondering if Martials conversation with the statuette was meant, in one way or
another, to be a paraphrase of the style of Statius (cf. note on 9, 43, 10). In a recent paper (Martial 9.44 and Statius, CPh 92 [1997], pp. 269272), A. Kershaw
has suggested that the poem as a whole was written (or improvised, one may add)
in response to Silvae 4, 6. The points made by Kershaw are as follows: (1) The air
of informality characterizing the opening of silv. 4, 6 is the same as pervades
Mart. 9, 44 (if Statius is on such familiar terms with Vindex, then Martial is
equally intimate with the statue!). (2) The talking statue of Martial hints perhaps
at Statius description of Vindex collection of art (silv. 4, 6, 20 ff. mille ibi tunc
species aerisque eborisque vetusti | atque l oc ut uras mentito corpore ceras |
edidici). (3) Statius flattering remark about Vindex profound knowledge of art
(silv. 4, 6, 22 ff. quis namque oculis certaverit usquam | Vindicis, artificum
veteres agnoscere ductus | et non inscriptis auctorem reddere signis?) is patently
alluded to in Martials presentation of himself as incapable of identifying an
artist, even if the work of art is inscribed with his name. This all seems very attractive, putting 9, 44 and silv. 4, 6 in a relation similar to that between Martials
and Statius respective poems in celebration of the wedding of Stella and Violentilla (Mart. 6, 21 and Stat. silv. 1, 2). There, Martial uses the intervention of Venus, a significant feature of silv. 1, 2, to travesty the long epithalamium of his
fellow poet (see Henriksn, Martial und Statius, pp. 91 ff.; cf. also Grewings
introduction to 6, 21).
9, 4344 is one of those pairs of epigrams in which the former treats the subject on a serious basis, while the latter adopts a humorous approach of some sort;
cf. nos. 5253 and 5455 in the present book. The relation between these epigrams is not such that the latter needs the former for its mere understanding, but
the effect is very much increased when the epigrams are read as placed in the
book; cf. the introduction, p. 20.
1. Alciden Vindicis: this is the reading of the group, which was accepted by
Lindsay and Heraeus; others have preferred that of the group Alciden Vindicem (so Schneidewin and Friedlnder), meaning that Martial asks Vindex. A
third variant is found in the editio Romana of 1473 (cf. HeraeusBorovskij, p.
vii), which has Alcides Vindicem (printed by Gilbert, advocated by Housman
[see below] followed by Shackleton Bailey).
Now there is nothing to suggest that the reading of is not correct, while the
fact that the proleptic accusative is rarely found in Silver Latin argues against that
of (see HofmannSzantyr, 252 d, p. 471). Furthermore, as observed by Kershaw (op. cit., p. 269), Martial uses the double accusative with rogo only in the
sense of ask for, never ask about. Consequently, the reading of should be
kept in the text.
E

212

2. opus laborque: coupled also in epigr. 1, 7 f.; 8, 36, 2 f. For labor as metonymy
for works of art cf. 4, 39, 5; 8, 50, 1; 10, 89, 1 Iuno labor, Polyclite, tuus et gloria
felix; Ov. Pont. 4, 1, 29; TLL, s.v. 2. labor 794, 31 ff.
felix: of things pleasant to look at; cf. 10, 89, 1 cited above and see note on 9,
17, 6 felix facies.
3. risit, nam solet hoc: on this line, Housman bases his rejection of the reading
Alciden Vindicis of the group. Housman says: If the statuette had a fixed
smile on its face (which, by the way, solet is incapable of meaning), it could not
have smiled in answer to Martials question, non risit uerum ridebat; it must
therefore have been Vindex who smiled and was wont to smile .1 I fail to see
why this has to be the case; nam introduces the reason for the smile, which is not
that Martial has asked a silly question but that he solet hoc, which may well allude to a fixed smile on the statuettes face. Even though no smile is clearly discernible on the face of the hero in any of the pictures of Hercules Epitrapezios
reproduced by de Visscher (see 9, 43 intro.), there may be some support for this in
Statius description of the statuette in silv. 4, 6, 51 ff. Statius says that the statue
presented Hercules qualem parci domus admirata Molorchi | aut Aleae lucis vidit
Tegeaea sacerdos; | qualis et Oetaeis emissus in astra favillis | nectar adhuc
torva laetus Iunone bibebat: | sic mitis vultus, veluti de pectore gaudens, | hortatur mensas. This may well imply a smile on the statuettes face.
Note that Martial in 6, 82, 7 f. uses almost the same words to describe his own
reaction to the somewhat ludicrous, yet flattering question, is he not the Martial?: Subrisi modice, levique nutu | me quem dixerat esse non negavi.
E

4. Graece poeta nescis: Heraeus (and Borovskij) reintroduce the comma,

removed by Lindsay, after poeta, making it vocative. Housman (loc. cit.) argues
that it should be removed again, and, obviously, poeta taken as predicative attribute gives a stronger emphasis to the word and a better meaning: Do you, a poet,
not know Greek? Those who did not know Greek were rustici (cf. 14, 58, 1), and
such ignorance was especially embarrassing in the case of a poet.
and the -group. Rejected by all modern
6. Lysippum: the reading of both the
editors and replaced by
(as printed in the editio Aldina of 1501),
Housman (followed by Shackleton Bailey) argued that Lysippum should be kept,2
in the sense of the name of Lysippus, and produced some instances from Ovid
in which a name is obviously used by itself in the sense of the name of . The
best parallel to the present instance is fast. 5, 567 f. spectat et Augusto praetextum
nomine templum, | et visum lecto Caesare maius opus, where the ablative absolute
realized as an independent utterance would be lego Caesarem. The inscription
would have involved the words Caesar fecit, just as the inscription of Vindex
statuette would very likely have read
(or
); the
of the Aldina would perhaps rather suggest that the statuette was a
E

/XVdSSRX

/VLSSRM

xSRdHL

xSRdKVHQ

/XVdSSRX

1
2

Housman, Heraeus, p. 202 (= Class. pap., p. 1103).

Housman, Corrections, pp. 246 f. (= Class. pap., pp. 724 f.).

213

copy (see Floren, p. 51). Other instances produced by Housman are fast. 513 f.
da nunc bibat ordine dixit | Iuppiter. Audito palluit ille Iove; met. 10, 401 f.
vivunt genetrixque paterque. | Myrrha patre audito suspiria duxit; see
Bmer ad loc. To these, Heraeus, while maintaining that Lysippum should be
rejected, adds Mart. 5, 54 Extemporalis factus est meus rhetor: | Calpurnium non
scripsit, et salutavit (see his apparatus, ad loc.).
Consequently, there seems to be no reason to reject the reading Lysippum of
the MSS, and the line should be translated thus: I read the name of Lysippus; I
thought it was by Phidias.
Phidiae putavi: to Martial, Phidias represents the height of Greek art and, as
such, receives more attention in the Epigrams than any other Greek artist, being
mentioned nine times.1 This would indicate that the line is complimentary (cf. 6,
13, 1 f. on the wonderful statue of Julia by an anonymous artist: Quis te Phidiaco
formatam, Iulia, caelo [sc. non putet]) and suggests a paraphrase like: I thought
it was a work by Phidias, that is, a work by the very best (like everything else in
your collection). And I see I am not mistaken; it is a work by Lysippus, who,
while not as prominent as Phidias, is reckoned among the greatest. While this
may perhaps seem to be exaggerated flattery (Sullivan [Martial, p. 124] referred
to it as a hyperbolic compliment), it would not appear so to a man who, according to Statius (silv. 4, 6, 25 ff.), in fact possessed works not only by Phidias, but
also by Myron, Praxiteles, Polyclitus and Apelles. Although Martial would not
actually have thought that the statuette was an original by Phidias (neither the size
nor the subject argues in favour of Phidias, although the great master was known
to have worked not only in ivory and gold but also in bronze; see Plin. nat. 34, 54;
Sen. epist. 85, 40 [quoted on 9, 24, 2]; Lippold in RE 19, s.v. Pheidias 1934 f.),
by presenting himself as ignorant, he would also have emphasized Vindex superiority as a connoisseur of art.
It has been suggested that the line implies that Martial considered Vindex
statuette a forgery; see R. M. Henry, On Martial IX. 44., Hermathena 71
(1948), pp. 9394. However, Henrys line of argument cannot be maintained, as it
is based primarily on
being written in Greek and Phidiae in Roman
characters.2 But whether Martial rendered the name in Roman or in Greek characters need not be of any importance to the theory of a possible forgery. Important,
on the other hand, is the implication of such a theory. If Martial had decided that
the statuette was a forgery even before he had had a close look at it, he would have
displayed a considerable mistrust of Vindex knowledge of art, turning him into a
rather naive, second-rate collector (of the kind he attacks, for example, in 4, 39).
This not only fits ill with the praise for profound knowledge of art heaped upon
/XVdSSRX

The second place is held by Mentor (see 9, 59, 16 note), appearing six times, then Polyclitus four, Myron
three, and Praxiteles and Scopas once each. Lysippus is only mentioned here and in 9, 43.
2
Henry poses the question, why only the name of Lysippus is in Greek and not the name of Phidias (but if
that had been the case, it would have been easily explained by the fact that the Greek genitive )HLGdRX
cannot be fitted into the verse) and suggests that Martial at once took the statuette for a forgery and
expected to read Phidiae in Latin on the base; to his surprise, he read /XVdSSRX in Greek. Henry
concludes: The forger had at least not given himself away, and betrayed the Roman atelier in which the
piece had been made by claiming it as the work of the great master and in his ignorance of forgetfulness
putting the name in Latin.

214

Vindex by Statius in silv. 4, 6, but there is also no apparent reason for Martials
wanting to degrade Vindex in such a way, unless he actually was under the impression that Vindex was a great hypocrite. If that had been the case, however, he
would probably not have written 9, 43 in the first place.

45
Miles Hyperboreos modo, Marcelline, triones
et Getici tuleras sidera pigra poli:
ecce Promethei rupes et fabula montis
quam prope sunt oculis nunc adeunda tuis!
Videris inmensis cum conclamata querellis
saxa senis, dices Durior ipse fuit.
Et licet haec addas: Potuit qui talia ferre,
humanum merito finxerat ille genus.

The epigram is addressed to Marcellinus, a soldier and a friend of Martials, who

had been fighting on the Danube and was now going to the Caucasus; he had thus
come to know the northern extremities of the empire and now he was going to the
legendary and forbidding regions of the far east. It can easily be imagined that this
was not the appointment of his dreams (see note on line 4 below); perhaps he had
hoped for something less arduous after his service on the Danube. The poem may
therefore be considered as a piece of encouragement or, perhaps, of consolation,
showing that there is always someone worse off and that even the hardest fate can
be endured. Here, the one worse off is Prometheus, who was chained to a rock in
the region to which Marcellinus is going. Although subjected to extreme and, as it
seemed, never-ending pain, he endured, harder than the rocks from which his
screams reverberated, and was eventually released through the intervention of
Hercules. Thus, he set an example to all men subjected to adverse fate, showing
them that even extreme pain can be endured and that, in the words of Horace,
non, si male nunc, et olim | sic erit (carm. 2, 10, 17 f.). Furthermore, as mankind
is always afflicted by hardships, Prometheus, the master of suffering, was worthy
to be its maker.
12. Hyperboreos triones | Getici poli: the lines closely resemble 6,
58, 1 f. Cernere Parrhasios dum te iuvat, Aule, triones | comminus et Getici
sidera ferre poli.
The use of the uncompounded triones (sc. the Great and the Little Bear; see
Forcellini, Lex., s.v. trio 2, p. 182) with an adjective (cf. 6, 58, 1 quoted above; 7,
80, 1 Odrysios ... triones; Verg. Aen. 1, 744 and 3, 516 geminos ... Triones) is
likely to be connected with such cases of tmesis of Septemtriones as Verg. georg.
3, 381 talis (sc. gens) Hyperboreo Septem subiecta trioni (cf. Ov. met. 2, 528) and
with triones used without attribute (for example, Ov. met. 2, 171); see Grewing on
6, 58, 1. Its significance here is further defined by Getici sidera poli; the
Getae (Gr.
) were the northern branch of the Thracian peoples, and the
*yWDL

215

Dacians in their turn the northwestern group of the Getae, so the reference here
(as in 6, 58) is probably to Dacia; cf. Weiss in RE 7, s.v. Getae 1330 ff.
The adjective Hyperboreus (Gr.
) was first used in prose by
Cicero (nat. deor. 3, 75, 12 tertius [sc. Apollo] Iove tertio natus et Latona, quem
ex Hyperboreis Delphos ferunt advenisse) and in poetry by Catullus (115, 6), but
never became very popular either with prose-writers or poets; among the latter,
Martial occupies a place apart, using the adjective five times (also 4, 3, 5 referring
to the Chatti and the Dacians; 7, 6, 1 and 8, 78, 3 to the Sarmatians; 9, 101, 20 to
the Chatti; see note ad loc.), compared with three each in Vergil and Statius and
one each in Catullus, Horace, Ovid, Lucan, Valerius Flaccus and Juvenal.
For locations given with similar reference to northern constellations, cf., for
example, Ov. trist. 3, 4b, 47 f. Proxima sideribus tellus Erymanthidos Ursae | me
tenet and see Luck, ad loc.
C8SHUEUHLRM

Marcellinus: a dear friend of Martials, the recipient of two more epigrams (3,
6; 6, 25) and mentioned in a third (7, 80). As appears from the first two, Martial
was also a close friend of his fathers. By the time 6, 25 was written, he was participating in Domitians First Pannonian War (as appears from 6, 25, 2 horrida
Parrhasio quem [sc. Marcellinum] tegit ursa iugo),1 which had ended when Martial wrote 7, 80 (see 7, 80, 1 f.). The first two lines of the present poem may also
allude to this war, but, if one is willing to take modo more literally, it is possible
that they indicate the participation of Marcellinus also in the Second Pannonian
War of 92 (on which see the introduction, pp. 26 f.).
Since little is known of Domitians doings in the far north-eastern part of the
empire, nothing can be said with certainty about Marcellinus doings in the Caucasus. There is no direct evidence of a campaign by Domitian in that area, but, as
it was of strategic importance, it attracted the emperors attention. Vespasian had
built fortifications on the land of the Iberi, who by then formed a client-kingdom,
controlling the Darial Pass. It is probable that Domitian managed to turn Albania,
the region east of Iberia towards the Caspian Sea, into a client-kingdom as well,
thereby gaining control of the important Derbend Pass (see further Jones,
Domitian, p. 156; A. B. Bosworth, Arrian and the Alani, HS Ph 81 (1977), pp.
226 f.). This he would already have achieved by 84, so Marcellinus task was
probably nothing more than control of the frontier, but cf. PIR2 M 183.
2. tuleras sidera pigra: sidus ferre, endure the climate, cf. Plin. paneg. 15,
diversam aquarum caelique temperiem ut patrios fontes patriumque sidus ferre
consuesti. Perhaps the construction is meant to parallel potuit qui talia ferre in
line 7.
Piger is the stock epithet for coldness; cf. Rhet. Her. 4, 43, frigus pigrum dicimus, quia pigros efficit; OLD, s.v. piger 1 c.
3. Promethei rupes: the Prometheae of the -group (printed by Scriverius) stands
against the Promethei of , which is retained by the editors. Shackleton Bailey,
however, accepts the reading of and compares it with Prop. 1, 12, 10 Prometheis
E

Jones, Domitian, pp. 150 f.; on Domitian and the Dacians, see note on 9, 35, 5 ducis Daci.

216

 iugis. Still, Promethei may very well be retained in the text, as it provides a
good hendiadys with the following fabula (the legendary cliffs of the Promethean
mountains).1
Prometheus was punished for having brought men fire by being chained fast to
the Caucasus; every day, an eagle devoured his liver, which then grew again, only
to be devoured again the next day. The eagle was killed by Hercules, who also
liberated Prometheus (see Bapp in Roscher, s.v. Prometheus 3041 ff.). According
to Arrian Peripl. Pont. Euxin. 11, 5, a peak in the Caucasus called
was
shown as the mountain to which Prometheus was chained (cf. Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 1, p. 451). Propertius (2, 1, 69) is the first to speak of the Caucasus
as rupes Promethei; cf. Mart. epigr. 7, 1; 11, 84, 9.
6WUELORM

fabula montis: fabula is metonymy for the things told in the fable (see TLL,
s.v. fabula 28, 1 ff.). In this case, it logically means the places mentioned in the
story of Prometheus. Presumably it does not allude to all the stories told of the
region (which could include, for example, the story of Medea); if that were the
case, we should expect the plural, as in 10, 5, 17 and Sen. nat. 3, 29, 7. The
singular rather indicates that a specific story or at least a circle of stories is meant,
as in Auson. 14, 28 f. Prete tota Minoia fabula Cretae ... tenui sub imagine
vibrat.
4. prope oculis adeunda tuis: a concise, and unparalleled, expression for
go and see at close quarters, oculis tuis serving as a substitute for videnda. In
spite of the marvellous things Marcellinus will see in the Caucasus, the gerundive
indicates that he is not going there of his own free will but is compelled to do so.
To have been on the Danube and be going to the Caucasus was something like
falling out of the fryingpan into the fire, as the Caucasus was proverbially horrid
(Verg. Aen. 4, 366 f.; Hor. carm. 1, 22, 6 f.; epod. 1, 12; Sen. Med. 43; Thy.
1048) and housed wild beasts (Sen. Herc. f. 1208 f.), especially tigers (Sil. 4, 331;
5, 148; 15, 81). Note also that adeundus, when appearing in the pentameter, always has the same placing as here.2
5. conclamata: conclamo here means call out to (= inclamo). To judge from the
TLL, s.v. conclamo 71, 15 ff., this sense of the word is rare and not found earlier
than Sen. Oed. 974 f. victor deos | conclamat omnis (cf. epist. 52,13 ); most instances are found in considerably later sources.
1
It may be noted, though, that an examination of the use of the genitive Promethei and the adjective
Prometheus in dactylic verse (based on all occurrences of the genitive of the noun and all cases of the
adjective in Enn., Lucil., Lucr., Catull., Verg., App. Verg., Hor., Prop., Tib., Ov., Albinov., Pers., Gaetul.,
Calp. Buc. Eins., Priap., Manil., Lucan., Sil., Val. Fl., Mart., Stat., Iuv.) argues for the reading
Prometheae. The adjective always appears either before the diaeresis of the pentameter (10, 39, 4; 14, 80,
2; Ov. am. 2, 16, 40) or, in hexameters, before the penthemimeresis (the present case; Stat. Theb. 8, 305;
Val. Fl. 7, 356) or in the second half of the fourth and the whole of the fifth foot (Mart. 11, 84, 9; Stat.
Theb. 11, 468). The one exception to this is Prop. 3, 6, 7 o prima infelix fingenti terra Prometheo, where
the final o is elided because of the ille beginning the following line. The genitive is otherwise exclusively
used in verseendings, where its final ei is always diphtongized (Verg. ecl. 6, 42 Caucasiasque refert
volucris furtumque Promethei; Prop. 2, 1, 69; Val. Fl. 5, 154).
2
1, 70, 12; 7, 93, 2; Tib. 1, 6, 22; 3, 5, 2; Ov. epist. 18, 8; fast. 4, 470; 4, 496; 5, 374; 6, 412; 6, 450; trist.
1, 4, 18; 1, 8, 38; 3, 1, 70; 3, 10, 76; Pont. 1, 8, 12; Ib. 478.

217

6. durior ipse fuit: sc. saxis, because Prometheus managed to endure the pains
when chained to the mountain. A trisyllabic comparative followed by ipse is fairly
common after the diaeresis of the pentameter, cf. 1, 114, 4 dignior ipse legi. It is
favoured by Ovid; thus am. 1, 6, 62 durior ipse tuis (sc. foribus); epist. 4, 166; 19,
188; Pont. 1, 3, 92; cf. also Ib. 22; Eleg. in Maecen. 1, 30; Priap. 68, 16. A monosyllabic word followed by a disyllabic comparative and ipse is less frequent; cf. 8,
18, 2; Ov. ars. 2, 218.
8. humanum finxerat genus: Prometheus was said to have created man out
of clay, cf. 10, 39, 4 ficta Prometheo diceris (sc. Lesbia) esse luto; 14, 182, 1;
Hor. carm. 1, 16, 13 (with Porph.); Phaedr. 14, 16, 3; Hyg. astr. 2, 15, 1; fab. 142,
1; see Bapp, op. cit., 3044 ff.

46
Gellius aedificat semper: modo limina ponit,
nunc foribus claves aptat emitque seras,
nunc has, nunc illas reficit mutatque fenestras;
dum tantum aedificet, quidlibet ille facit,
oranti nummos ut dicere possit amico
unum illud verbum Gellius Aedifico.

The grandeur of Roman private houses is a commonplace in literature. It is admired in Statius poems on the villa of Manilius Vopiscus at Tibur (silv. 1, 3) and
on that of Pollius Felix at Surrentum (silv. 2, 2); cf. the letters of Pliny on his
villas at Laurentum (2, 17 with Sherwin-Whites introduction) and at Tifernum
Tiberinum (5, 6); it is displayed as an example of unnecessary extravagance; thus
already by Cato (for example, orat. 185), and by Horace (for example, carm. 2, 18,
17 f., on which see the introduction by Nisbet & Hubbard) and, as such, it is attacked by satirists. An expressive example of this is Iuv. 14, 8695,1 on a certain
Cretonius who out-builded himself by erecting houses more splendid than the
temples of the gods, thus consuming the greater part of his fortune; what was left,
his son ran through in the same manner, following the example of his father.
Martials epigram on Gellius is a variation on the theme; it not only makes fun
of the morbid passion to build, but also emphasizes on one of the themes frequently used by Martial, viz. the greed of the rich and their unwillingness to share
with those of small means, neatly summarised in 11, 68, 1 Parva rogas magnos;
sed non dant haec quoque magni; cf. 9, 2 intro. It is clear that it is not because of
his constant building activities that Gellius cannot assist his begging friend but
because he realizes that, as long as he builds, he has a valid excuse and therefore
he does not dare to stop building. Of course, his greed entices him into a vicious
1

On this passage, see R. E. Colton, Juvenal 14 and Martial 9.46 on the Building Craze, CB 41 (1964),
pp. 2627. In spite of its title, the paper has little of value concerning Martial.

218

circle, and, in the end, he will meet with the same fate as did Juvenals Cretonius.
In 9, 22, Martial repudiates the character of Gellius and paves the way for this
epigram by stating that he himself wants riches to be able to build and to give.
Note also that Martial emphasizes Gellius fear of his begging friend in having
him build only doors and repair windows, by no means the most luxurious details
in a Roman house, but those which kept people out. Thus, Gellius builds himself
in, metaphorically as well as literally.
1. Gellius: Martial uses the name only here and in 9, 80, where Gellius is the very
opposite of the man in this epigram, a poor man who marries an rich old hag.
Previously, Martial had used only the feminine form Gellia in various satirical
epigrams; thus 1, 33; 3, 55; 4, 20; 5, 17; 5, 29; 6, 90; 8, 81.
limina ponit: the phrase is found only here and in Prop. 2, 6, 37 f. quos igitur
tibi custodes, quae limina ponam, | quae numquam supra pes inimicus eat?,
which alludes to the threshold. It may, however, also allude to the lintel (limen
superum; cf. Plin. nat. 36, 96 [limen] quod foribus inponebat) or perhaps to both.
The threshold, limen inferum was in the majority of cases made of stone, as was
usually the case also with the lintel (see Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 17).
2. foribus claves aptat: the TLL lists this passage s.v. apto 323, 81 ff., in the
sense of to fit into and compares it with, for example, 9, 68, 6 and 9, 93, 5. This
suggests a kind of slight metonymy with regard to claves, which logically would
allude not only to the key, but also to the actual lock; cf. Hor. carm. 2, 14, 26
servata centum clavibus. Note also Tib. 1, 6, 34 frustra clavis inest foribus and 2,
4, 31 hinc clavim ianua sensit, perhaps suggesting that the connection between
key and door was more important than the connection between key and lock.
Clavis is only mentioned together with the actual lock, claustrum, in two instances, both in connection with Egypt or North Africa and alluding to a kind of
lock common in these areas (see Apul. met. 4, 10 and Germ. 196 f.; Marquardt, p.
227; on Roman keys and locks, ibid., pp. 226 ff.; Blmner Privataltertmer, pp.
25 ff.).
seras: it was not uncommon for the front door of the house to have several
types of locking devices attached to it. Gellius combines his lock with a bar, of
which there were several different kinds, usually made of solid wood (Blmner
Privataltertmer, pp. 22 ff.).
3. nunc has, nunc illas: a very common pattern at the beginning of the hexameter, occurring already in Lucretius, who also has the most frequent recurrence of
this formula viz. nunc huc nunc illuc (2, 131, cf. Ov. epist. 10, 19; met. 4, 622;
Manil. 2, 904; 3, 167; 3, 268; Sil. 7, 574). Variants are nunc hinc nunc illinc
(Lucr. 2, 214; 6, 199); hic illic (Lucr. 2, 575); hunc illum (Lucan. 3,
276); hi illi (Verg. Aen. 10, 355); his illis (Manil. 1, 191; Stat. Theb.
11, 478); hos illos (Verg. Aen. 5, 441; Sil. 5, 150).

219

4. dum tantum: in the sense of dummodo, as noted by Friedlnder. The juncture

is extremely rare: the TLL, s.v. dum 2224, 14 f. knows no other instance than the
present, but note the occasional use of tantum in the sense of modo (see Hofmann
Szantyr, 330, IV a, p. 616). Here, it is probably used for the sake of metrical
convenience.
6. unum ... Aedifico: see note on 9, 38, 10.

47
Democritos, Zenonas inexplicitosque Platonas
quidquid et hirsutis squalet imaginibus,
sic quasi Pythagorae loqueris successor et heres.
Praependet sane nec tibi barba minor:
sed quod et hircosis serum est et turpe pilosis,
in molli rigidam clune libenter habes.
Tu, qui sectarum causas et pondera nosti,
dic mihi, percidi, Pannyche, dogma quod est?

Pannychus is one of the false philosophers, recurring characters in Martial, who

wears a long beard and preaches a rigid morality and yet practises sodomy himself. This poem is particularly close in content and tone to the beginning of
Juvenals Second Satire (see the introduction to 9, 27). Its point is also very similar to that of Mart. 2, 89: Quod nimio gaudes noctem producere vino, | ignosco:
vitium, Gaure, Catonis habes. | Carmina quod scribis Musis et Apolline nullo, |
laudari debes: hoc Ciceronis habes: | quod vomis, Antoni: quod luxuriaris, Apici.
| Quod fellas, vitium dic mihi cuius habes?
1. Democritos etc.: for generalizing plurals, see note on 9, 27, 6 Curios, Camillos; cf. here in particular Sen. dial. 9, 7, 5 Vix tibi esset facultas dilectus felicioris, si inter Platonas et Xenophontas et illum Socratici fetus proventum bonos
quaereres.
inexplicitosque Platonas: the obscure thoughts of pseudo-Platos. The adjective inexplicitus is found only here and in Stat. Theb. 2, 511 dictis inexplicitis,
obscure words. In his commentary, Friedlnder took it as ungelesene to make
it fit with his theory that the following line referred to pictures in bookrolls; he
was followed by the TLL, s.v. 1329, 43 ff. (suggesting that the adjective is equal to
non evolutos [= unread] and that Platonas means libros Platonis) and by the
OLD, s.v. inexplicitus 1. However, in the Sittengeschichte (see below),
Friedlnder rightly does not maintain this theory; not only would the generalizing

220

plural Platonas be unparalleled in the sense of the books of Plato,1 but there is
no reason to take inexplicitus as meaning non evolutus (as does the TLL, loc. cit.,
with reference to explico in the sense of to unroll a bookroll, i.e. to read
[ibid., s.v. explico 1727, 69 ff.]); the adjective should in this case be derived from
explico in the sense of to understand, interpret (ibid., s.v. explico 1735, 3 ff.),
used of philosophical ideas, for example, in Cic. phil. frg. 5, 29 magna animi
contentio adhibenda est in explicando Aristotele, si legas.
2. quidquid ... hirsutis squalet imaginibus: whatever appears unkempt in
shaggy images, an unparalleled expression, which, however, may be compared
grammatically to Sen. Herc. f. 366 f. tum vastis ager | squalebit arvis.
The reference is to the busts of philosophers, with which those who wanted to
appear as such were wont to fill their homes; cf. Iuv. 2, 47 indocti primum,
quamquam plena omnia gypso | Chrysippi invenias; nam perfectissimus horum, |
si quis Aristotelen similem vel Pittacon emit | et iubet archetypos pluteum servare
Cleanthas (with Courtney); Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 3, 42 f.; cf. Iuv. 8, 17
squalentis ... avos; OLD, s.v. squaleo 2 b.
hirsutis: the long beard (cf. line 4 below) was typical of ancient philosophers,
especially of Stoics and Cynics (see Mau in RE 3, s.v. Bart 32; Kiel on Pers. 4,
1). Also, they are often charged with having a dishevelled appearance, which was
true particularly of the Cynics (see the introductions to 9, 27 and 9, 57).
3. Pythagorae successor et heres: cf. Ov. met. 3, 589 accipe, quas (sc. opes)
habeo, studii successor et heres with Bmers note.2 For heres in this sense, cf.
TLL, s.v. 2655, 4 ff.; for successor, see OLD, s.v. c, to which Cels. 3, 9, 3, Sen.
nat. 7, 32, 2, and Gell. 13, 5, pr. may be added.
5. hircosis serum: serum, the reading of T , was met with scepticism already by
Friedlnder, who suggested that hircosis turpe (found in C) was the original reading. Serum is printed by Gilbert, Lindsay and Heraeus, but Shackleton Bailey
breaks with this tradition, regarding serum as nonsense because it would lack a
connection with hircosis similar to turpe pilosis. Instead, he prints carum, a conjecture of his own, in defence of which he writes: Pannychus would have to pay
for his pleasure, like the unattractive ladies in 9. 37. 9 and elsewhere; cf. also 14.
215.3
Serum, however, may perhaps be advocated by determining the sense of hircosus. Derived from hircus, hegoat, it is found but six times in the surviving
literature, of which three are in Martial (also 10, 98, 10; 12, 59, 5); also Plaut.
Merc. 575; Pers. 3, 77; Gell. 12, 2, 11. The OLD, s.v. defines the adjective as
E

1
When an authors name is used as metonymy for his writings, it normally takes the singular, cf., for
example, 14, 190 (Titus Livius in membranis) Pellibus exiguis artatur Livius ingens, | quem mea non
totum bibliotheca capit.
2
Bmer points out that successor rarely occurs in poetry, but perhaps fast. 5, 77 (where Bmer prints
successit, whereas the Teubner edition of Alton, Wormell & Courtney [Leipzig 1978] has successor)
should be added to his list of instances from Ovid.
3
Shackleton Bailey, Corrections, p. 284.

221

referring exclusively to the smell of a goat (i.e. smelling like a goat), which is
the obvious meaning in Pers. 3, 77 gente hircosa centurionum; Gell. 12, 2, 11
(contrasted with unguentatus), and Mart. 10, 98, 10 (hircosi subulci). In 12,
59, 4 f. te pilosus | hircoso premit osculo colonus, the sense of bristly (alluding
to the beard of the goat, cf. 14, 141) should be added; the colonus is pilosus, and
his kiss is like that of a goat, stinking and prickly (on the unpleasantness of kissing bearded persons, cf. 10, 42, 5; 11, 39, 4). This would be transferable also to
Plaut. Merc. 575 senex hircosus tu osculere mulierem?; if, as suggested by this
latter instance, the adjective was especially appropriate to old men, it is quite
possible that serum is correct, and the explanation of Gilbert (as printed in his
apparatus) would be quite close to the truth: paedicari velle Pannycho dicitur et
serum esse et turpe, sero ut adulto et iam hircoso, quem nemo iam vult, turpe ut
piloso, qui veri (non effeminati) viri speciem affectat; Heraeus in his apparatus
also compares Plin. epist. 3, 1, 12 (senibus) industria sera turpis ambitio est.
Given these notions, hircosus is especially luckily used of a philosopher, who
both smells as a consequence of his neglecting himself and, like the goat, wears a
beard; cf. AP 11, 430 (Lucian)
(c

WUyIHLQ

SJZQD

SHULSRLHjQ _ NDg WUJRM HSJZQ Dl\

ORM xVWg 3OWZQ

GRNHjM

VRIdDQ

pilosis: Martial jokingly uses this adjective instead of philosophi also in 9, 27,
7.
6. molli clune: clunis, lit. buttock, is used as an euphemism for culus (see
Adams, pp. 115 f.). Whereas the present instance is quite clear, it is often difficult
to judge whether it alludes to the culus or the actual buttock(s); cf. 11, 100, 3; Iuv.
2, 21. Mollis perhaps implies that Pannychus depilated his culus; cf. 9, 27, 3 prostitutis culis with note.
rigidam: sc. mentulam. Rigidus is commonly used of the erect penis, cf. 6, 49,
2; 11, 16, 5; Catull. 56, 7; Priap. 4, 1; 45, 1; Adams, p. 103.
7. causas et pondera: obviously nature (character) and line of argument and
claim of belief; for causa in this sense, cf., for example, Cic. fat. 33 non eadem
sit illorum causa et Stoicorum; TLL, s.v. caussa 687, 14 ff. But there is probably
also a pun here on the sense of ponera as scrotum (cf. Catull. 63, 5; Forcellini,
Lex., s.v. pondus 2, 728), and one cannot help wondering whether causas, carelessly pronounced, could not be made to sound like caudas (in the sense of
penises; cf. OLD, s.v. 2). The juncture is singular.
8. dic mihi: a common verseopening, first found in Verg. ecl. 3, 1, then in Hor.
ars 141; Prop. 2, 32, 55; 3, 6, 1; 4, 3, 23; surprisingly few instances in Ovid (epist.
2, 27; fast. 3, 170) but a favourite of Martials, who has no less than 12 instances
(also 1, 20, 1; 3, 11, 4; 3, 30, 2; 5, 55, 1; 5, 58, 2; 8, 3, 12; 9, 82, 6; 12, 92, 4; 13,
14, 2; 14, 179, 1; 14, 215, 1); also Iuv. 6, 393; 8, 56.
1

If you think that to grow a beard is to acquire wisdom, a goat with a fine beard is at once a complete
Plato (transl. by W. R. Paton, Loeb).

222

percidi: percido is attested in the sense of pedico in several passages in Martials epigrams, cf. 4, 48, 1 and 4; 6, 39, 14; 7, 62, 1 and 2; 12, 35, 2. It is used in
the same way twice in the Priapea (13, 1; 15, 6), and there is also some epigraphic evidence for this use (see Adams, pp. 146 f.).
Pannyche: a humorous name, derived from Gr. SQ and Q[, he who does
something the whole night. 3QQXFRM is attested in Greek inscriptions, whereas
the feminine form 3DQQXFdM occurs as the name of concubines and also as the
title of comedies (see Pape, s.v.). While there is epigraphic evidence of the Latin
transcription of the name,1 Martial offers the only surviving literary instances,
using the name also in 2, 36 (of a character identical with the present); 6, 39, 9; 6,
67; 12, 72. Cf., however, Petron. 25, 2 (Pannychis) and Sidon. epist. 5, 13; 7, 9,
18 (Pannychius, a real person).

See Forcellini, Onomast., s.v. Pannychus.

223

Revised edition of dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Latin

presented at Uppsala University in 1998. Printed with the aid of a grant from the
Swedish Council for Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSFR)

ABSTRACT
Henriksn, C., 1999. Martial, Book IX. A Commentary. Vol. 2. Acta. Univ. Ups., Studia
Latina Upsaliensia 24:2. 209 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 91-554-4294-3.
This dissertation consists of a commentary on Book 9 of the Epigrams of M. Valerius
Martialis (ca. 40104 AD). The book, with its 105 epigrams one of the longer in Martials
production, was published in late 94 or early 95 and presents the reader with Martials
characteristic variety of subjects drawn from contemporary Roman society and everyday
life. Notable is that Book 9 contains a markedly higher frequency of poems focusing on the
emperor Domitian than any other of Martials books. The tendency towards a greater
attention to Domitian is obvious already in Book 8 (published in early 94) and is likely to
have been continued also in the last book published under his reign, the now lost first
edition of Book 10 (published in 95). In Book 9, this tendency is also reflected in the
increase of references to Domitian simply as Iuppiter or as Tonans, of the application to
the emperor of epithets originally belonging to divinities, and of comparisons of Domitian
with gods, particularly with Jupiter, the Sun, and Hercules. The book as a whole is set
within an imperial framework, marked at the beginning by poems 1, 3, 5 and 7, and by
poem 101 at the end.
The present commentary consists of an introduction discussing the date, general characteristics, structure and themes of Book 9 (with special regard to matters concerning the
emperor), followed by a detailed commentary on each of the 105 poems, placing them in
their social, historical and literary context.
Key-words: Martial, epigram, Domitian, Silver Latin, panegyric, Statius, Ovid, Greek
Anthology.
C. Henriksn, Department of Classical Philology, Uppsala University, Box 527, SE-751
20 Uppsala, Sweden.

Christer Henriksn 1999

ISSN 0562-2859
ISBN 91-554-4292-7 (vols. 24:124:2)
ISBN 91-554-4293-5 (vol. 24:1)
ISBN 91-554-4294-3 (vol. 24:2)
Printed in Sweden by Textgruppen i Uppsala AB 1999
Distributor: Uppsala University Library, Box 510, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden

Preface and Acknowledgements

The manuscript of this volume was essentially in a finished state a year ago, and
originally intended to be published as one book together with volume 1. However,
as the commentary was nearing completion, it became apparent that it would have
to be divided into two volumes and the printing of the second postponed, until the
necessary funds could be raised. Now, almost a year later, I am happy to extend
my thanks to the Swedish Council for Research in the Humanities and Social
Sciences for providing the funds needed.
Since the appearance of the first volume of this commentary, my attention has
been claimed by other projects, and I regret that I have had little opportunity to
consider those works on Martial in general and on Book 9 in particular which
have appeared shortly before and since the printing of volume 1. Still, the delay in
the publication of volume 2 has enabled me to incorporate much of the friendly
criticism offered by Mr. Peter Howell, of Royal Holloway College, University of
London. The commentary has benefited greatly from his perspicacious remarks,
and I would like to convey to him my sincere thanks.
In preparing the present volume for publication, I have enjoyed the generous
support of Professor Hans Helander to which I have grown accustomed. My debt
to him I acknowledge with pleasure. Otherwise, what I have said in the preface to
volume 1 applies also to the present.

Uppsala, 31 August 1999

C.H.

Contents

Text and Commentary: Poems 48103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Indices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Addenda et corrigenda to volume 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Text and Commentary

Poems 48103

48
Heredem cum me partis tibi, Garrice, quartae
per tua iurares sacra caputque tuum,
credidimus, quis enim damnet sua vota libenter?
et spem muneribus fovimus usque datis.
Inter quae rari Laurentem ponderis aprum
misimus: Aetola de Calydone putes.
At tu continuo populumque patresque vocasti,
ructat adhuc aprum callida Roma meum:
ipse ego, quis credat? conviva nec ultimus haesi,
sed nec costa data est caudave missa mihi.
De quadrante tuo quid sperem, Garrice? Nulla
de nostro nobis uncia venit apro.

10

A certain Garricus, presumably a wealthy elder, has promised to bequeath to the

speaker a quarter of his fortune. The latter, acting like a second-rate captator,
does his best to add to the old mans goodwill by presenting him with various
gifts, among which is a huge Laurentine boar. Garricus instantly gives a dinnerparty, inviting everybody but the heir in spe, who realizes that his efforts have
been in vain. The wisdom gained from such experiences is summarized in 12, 73:
Heredem tibi me, Catulle, dicis. | Non credam, nisi legero, Catulle. For the phenomenon of captatio, see 9, 8 intro.
1. Heredem partis quartae: i.e. heres ex quadrante, heir of a fourth part
(or three-twelfths; see below on line 11) of his fortune; cf. Hor. sat. 2, 5, 100;
Manigk in RE 8, s.v. Hereditarium ius 639. The passage does not, like Plin. epist.
5, 1, 9 f., allude to the fourth part guaranteed to the heredes scripti by the lex
Falcidia of 40 BC (on which, see Kaser, Privatrecht 1, p. 630; Sherwin-White on
Plin. loc. cit.).
Garrice: the name appears also in 11, 105. In both instances, the more common name Car(r)ius appears in some of the MSS,1 but, as Garricus is attested in
inscriptions, it should no doubt be kept (see Heraeus apparatus, ad loc). In the
present case, Martial may have chosen the name because of its similarity to garrio; thus, it would imply something like he who is full of nonsense.
2. per tua iurares sacra etc.: Garricus swears a solemn oath by his family rites
(sacra, cf. 3, 6, 2; 12, 62, 6 & 14; OLD, s.v. sacrum 3 d) and by his head. Oaths
are commonly sworn by someones head, since the head was sacred; cf. Athen. 2,
72 Kaibel
.2 The first instances in Latin literature are in Vergil, for example, Aen. 9,
300; cf. Pease on Aen. 4, 357 and cf. also Ov. epist. 3, 107; trist. 5, 4, 45; Pont. 3,
WL

bHUQ

xQPL]RQ

WQ

NHIDOQ

GORQ

xN

WR

NDg

NDW

DWM

PQHLQ

1
In the present case, DE has Garrice but Carr- is found in a lemma in D; J has Gallice with Garr- in a
lemma; cf. Kay on 11, 105, 1.
2
That people regarded the head as sacred is clear from the fact that they swore by it (Gulickss translation, Loeb).

11

3, 68; Sil. 10, 437 f.; Iuv. 6, 16 f. with Courtneys note. Oaths sworn by anyones
family rites seem to be elsewhere unattested; cf., however, the oath sworn by the
penates in Cic. ac. 2, 65 iurarem per Iovem deosque penates me et ardere studio
veri reperiendi et ea sentire quae dicerem.
3. damnet vota: for who would renounce ones wishes? (cf., for example,
OLD, s.v. damno 3 c); perhaps there is also a play on the legal term damnas voti;
cf. note on 9, 42, 8.
5. rari Laurentum ponderis aprum: the boar of Laurentum was one of the best,
in spite of Horaces statement that it was malus, because it fed on grass and reeds
(sat. 2, 4, 42). Martial mentions it again in 10, 45, 4. Cf. also note on 9, 14, 3
Aprum.
Boars may weigh as much as 300 pounds (cf. Kay on 11, 69, 9); ancient
authors usually refer to large specimens simply as ingentes (14, 31, 2; Cic. Verr.
II 5, 7), ingentis magnitudinis (Val. Max. 1, 7 ext., 4) or primae magnitudinis
(Petron. 40, 3).
6. Aetola de Calydone: Martial compares the boar to that which ravaged the
region around the city of Calydon in Aetolia. Let loose by Artemis, who had been
left empty-handed at a sacrifice made by king Oeneus of Calydon, it was killed by
his son Meleager; see Ov. met. 8, 273546, with Bmer, pp. 94 ff. Martial mentions the boar also in 1, 104, 6 f.; 11, 18, 18; 11, 69, 10.
7. populumque patresque: everyone from high to low (van Dam on Stat. silv.
2, 5, 25; cf. senatus populusque and see OLD, s.v. populus 2 b). This is the only
instance of this phrase within the hexameter; it is commonly found at its end, as
in 7, 5, 1 and 8, 49, 7; thus already in Lucil. fragm. 1253 Krenkel; then Verg.
Aen. 4, 682; 9, 192; Ov. met. 15, 486; Sil. 10, 634; 11, 496; Stat. silv. 1, 4, 15; 2,
5, 25; Val. Fl. 8, 281.
8. callida Roma: partitive attribute, the shrewd part of Rome, because those
invited to dine on the boar would be such as Garricus wanted to encourage as
legacy-hunters, senators as well as ordinary people;1 just as before he had encouraged the narrator with the quadrans (which cost him nothing), he now uses the
boar which he got for nothing. They are all likely to become future fellows in
misfortune, and, though they naturally considered themselves callidi (a fitting
epithet of the legacy-hunter, cf. Petron. 125, 3 callidus captator), the adjective is
certainly used here ironically, as they in the end will surely find themselves left
with nothing, least of all a mention in Garricus will.
The MSS all have callida, which was printed by the editors up to and including Heraeus, while Dousas emendation pallida2 was advocated by Lieben3 and
1

As appears not least from Martials numerous epigrams on the subject, legacy-hunting was widespread in
Rome and was not practised only by the people of the lower classes; cf. Tac. ann. 13, 52 quoted in the
introduction to 9, 8.
2
Those indulging in exaggerated gluttony could become pale from bad digestion; cf. 1, 77, 3; TLL, s.v.
pallidus 130, 51 ff.

12

printed in Borovskijs editio correctior of Heraeus and by Shackleton Bailey.

However, Liebens argumentation in favour of pallida seems to be founded on a
misinterpretation of the situation; he writes: Was soll dieses callida bedeuten?
Etwa: schlau, weil es (sc. Rome) sich in den Handel der beiden nicht
eingemischt hat und aus ihm Vorteil zieht? Dazu ist callida ein viel zu starker
Ausdruck: es lag ja nicht in der Absicht von populusque patresque, einen solches
Vorteil zu erlangen. This is, of course, correct, but Lieben takes no account of
the possibility that those invited may be captatores themselves, nor does Nisbet
when proposing marcida with reference to Prud. psych. 316 (of Luxuria)
pervigilem ructabat marcida cenam.1
9. nec: = ne quidem. This use of nec, which is not recorded with certainty earlier than Cicero, can be observed also in Catull., Hor., Prop., Ov., Lucan., and
Pers. (see HofmannSzantyr, 241, B b, pp. 449 f.).
haesi: in the sense of particeps fui; cf. Liv. 5, 2, 10 ne in turba quidem haerere plebeium quemquam; Stat. silv. 3, 3, 64 ff.; TLL, s.v. haereo 2496, 31 ff.
10. sed: roughly and whats more; cf. 7, 71, 3 f. nec dispensator nec vilicus
ulcere turpi | nec rigidus fossor, sed nec arator eget; 10, 19, 2; see OLD, s.v. sed
9 b.
costa caudave: probably the scantiest part of the boar that Martial could
think of. Ribs occur as a joint of meat also in 10, 45, 3, (where rodere suggests its
meagreness); the only other mention of ribs as a dish is in Varr. rust. 2, 4, 11. The
boars tail is never mentioned as edible.
11 f. quadrante | uncia: Martial makes a play here on the division of the
inheritance (the as) into twelfths, unciae, which were distributed to the heirs (see
Manigk, loc. cit.). When the speaker does not even get the uncia of his own boar,
what can he hope for in the case of the quadrans of the inheritance?

3
1

E. Lieben, Zu Martial, Philologische Wochenschrift 50 (1930), p. 458.

R. G. M. Nisbet, A new Teubner of Martial, CR 52 (1992), pp. 5051.

13

49
Haec est illa meis multum cantata libellis,
quam meus edidicit lector amatque togam.
Partheniana fuit quondam, memorabile vatis
munus: in hac ibam conspiciendus eques,
dum nova, dum nitida fulgebat splendida lana,
dumque erat auctoris nomine digna sui:
nunc anus et tremulo vix accipienda tribuli,
quam possis niveam dicere iure tuo.
Quid non longa dies, quid non consumitis anni?
Haec toga iam non est Partheniana, mea est.

10

This lofty poem is the second and last in Martial on the toga given to the poet by
Domitians a cubiculo (i.e. chamberlain, cf. Rostowzew in RE 4, s.v. a Cubiculo)
Parthenius, the first being 8, 28, written a year or so earlier, apparently upon its
bestowal. Consequently, multum cantata libellis is hyperbole, unless Martial wrote
other epigrams on the toga as well, which for one reason or another were not
published in his books. The first epigram stresses the bright splendour of the toga,
which is said to shine whiter than lilies, privets, the ivory of Tibur, the Spartan
swan, etc. (8, 28, 11 ff.), but still, it is not whiter than Parthenius himself. The
present epigram offers the same play on the name of Parthenius (see below on line
3 Partheniana), but now the toga is so worn out as no longer to be Partheniana;
instead, it is now fully Martials.
The toga was made of white wool, and so it easily became dirty. But as it was
prescribed for the clients at the salutatio (see Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 1, pp.
226 f.), it was important to keep it clean, and therefore constant washings were
called for, which in their turn entailed that it quickly became threadbare (though a
toga which had been washed three or four times was considered as good as new;
see 10, 11, 6). The dilemma of the required whiteness of the toga and the easiness
with which it got soiled is a recurring theme in Martial (for example, 1, 103, 5; 3,
36, 9; 7, 33, 1; 9, 100, 5; Friedlnder, loc. cit.; Blmner, Privataltertmer, p.
214).
Note the high-flown, somewhat sentimental style of the poem, manifest in the
contrast between past (lines 5 and 6) and present (line 7), and the reflection on the
omnivorous time (line 9), reminiscent of Ovid.
1. Haec est illa meis: a common opening of the hexameter; cf. 7, 21, 1; 7, 69, 1;
9, 76, 1; Enn. frg. var. 19; Ov. epist. 15, 193; fast. 6, 713; Lucan. 7, 254.
meis multum cantata libellis: compare Dirae 26 multum nostris cantata
libellis.
pure, undefiled (or perhaps virgin-white),
3. Partheniana: of Gr.
a word-play alluding to its giver, (Ti. Claudius?) Parthenius; a similar play is
found in 8, 28, 15 f. Sed licet haec primis nivibus sint aemula dona (sc. the toga),
| non sunt Parthenio candidiora suo; cf. also line 6 below. Parthenius was a
SDUTyQLRM

14

freedman of Nero and Domitians a cubiculo and, like most chamberlains, he

exercised a considerable influence on his master and on his approachability (see
Weaver, p. 7; Jones, Domitian, pp. 61 ff.). As such, he was an important channel
for Martials access to the palace, as Flavius Abascantus, Domitians ab epistulis,
was for Statius; 1 see, for example, 5, 6, in which the poet asks Parthenius, who
knows tempora Iovis sereni, to give his book to Domitian.
Martial had made a careful approach to Parthenius already in 88 or 89, with a
petition to Apollo to make good Parthenius vow for his son Burrus (4, 45), and
he kept addressing him also after the assassination of Domitian, in which Parthenius played some part, if not as a murderer himself, at least as organiser of the
crime (see Jones, op. cit., pp. 193 ff.). He may also have been involved in the
nomination of Nerva, and Martials mention of Parthenius in 11, 1, only a few
months after the assassination, is likely to be seen as a political act to show his
support for the new regime (see Kay, pp. 52 f.). Parthenius also during the reign
of Nerva remained an important intermediary for Martials contact with the emperor; in the same way as he had asked him to give his writings to Domitian,
Martial in 12, 11 asks him to present them to Nerva.2
vatis: some other passages state that Parthenius wrote poetry himself; thus 5,
6, 1; 11, 1, 6; 12, 11, 1 ff., cf. 8, 28, 1.
4. conspiciendus eques: Martial alludes to his equestrian rank for the first time in
3, 95, 9 f., where, in connection with the rewards bestowed upon him by Caesar
uterque (i.e. Titus and Domitian), he speaks of himself as tribune. This would
have been a tribunatus semestris, an honorary title practically without duties, but
bringing in its train, like all tribunates, the knighthood (see Mommsen,
Staatsrecht 2, pp. 367 f.). Martial mentions his rank also in 5, 13, 2 and 12, 29, 2,
but it is not clear to which of the emperors he owed it; Howell (on 5, 13, 2) suggests that it may have been given by Titus.
The same ending appears in Tib. 1, 2, 72 and Ov. trist. 2, 114. Note that the
only dactylic poets to use the adjective conspiciendus (apart from Martial, who
has only this instance) are Tibullus, Ovid and Valerius Flaccus, of whom the lastmentioned has one instance (the only one found in a hexameter), Tibullus three
and Ovid 14; in Tibullus and Ovid, the word appears only in the pentameter,
always with the same placing as here, immediately following the diaeresis.
6. auctoris nomine digna: cf. above on line 3.
7. anus et ... vix accipienda: old and hardly acceptable to; for Martials frequent application of anus to things as a feminine adjective in the sense of aged,
cf. 1, 39, 2; 1, 105, 4; 6, 27, 8; 11, 46, 6; 12, 2, 4; 14, 127, 2 (see Howell on 1, 39,
2).
1

It is noteworthy that Martial never mentions Abascantus, and Statius never Parthenius (cf. Sullivan, Nero,
p. 194).
2
The carmina mentioned in 12, 11, 6 would have been a book of selected epigrams from Books 10 and 11
(cf. 12, 4; Sullivan, Martial, pp. 50 f.), and not Book 12, as Nerva was forced to hand Parthenius over to
the revengeful Praetorians before its publication (see Kay, p. 53).

15

The gerundive vix accipienda expresses the same sense as would an adjective
ending with -bilis; cf. 9, 65, 1 and see P. Aalto, Untersuchungen ber das
lateinische Gerundium und Gerundivum, Helsinki 1949, p. 99.
tremulo ... tribuli: a pauper trembling (from the cold), who otherwise would
gladly accept a toga because of its high price. Tribulis is literally of the same
tribus but is used also in the sense of vir humilis (cf. OLD, s.v. b one registered
by his tribe, i.e. not capite census and therefore a landless man); cf. tribus in the
sense of the masses (8, 15, 4; OLD, s.v. tribus 2 b), as distinguished from those
with equestrian or senatorial rank. Martial has tribulis in this sense also at 9, 57,
8; the only other instance is Hor. epist. 1, 13, 15 ut cum pilleolo soleas conviva
tribulis (with Porph.).
8. niveam dicere iure tuo: again a play on words, niveus here meaning cold as
snow, as a consequence of the togas being so threadbare as not to keep its
wearer warm any more; Friedlnder (on 4, 34, 2) compares 3, 38, 9 and 12, 36, 2;
cf. also 2, 46, 7 f. Tu spectas hiemem succincti lentus amici | Pro scelus! et
lateris frigora trita times (the threadbare garment of your companion).
For iure tuo at the end of the pentameter, see also 14, 142, 2.
9. longa dies: long time, cf., for example, Verg. Aen. 5, 783 with Servius; for
the juncture longa dies, cf. 11, 69, 7 (where dies, however, rather means life)
and see TLL, s.v. dies 1053, 69 ff.
consumitis anni: as regards the metaphor (the tooth of time in Shakespeare), cf. Ovids famous lines in met. 15, 234 ff. tempus edax rerum, tuque,
invidiosa vetustas, | omnia destruitis vitiataque dentibus aevi | paulatim lenta
consumitis omnia morte! (with Bmer), and the, equally famous, section in Pont.
4, 10, 58; also Hor. carm. 3, 6, 45 damnosa quid non inminuit dies?
For the prosody, cf. Ov. Ib. 145 Sive ego, quod nolim, longis consumptus ab
annis; Manil. 4, 1 Quid tam sollicitis vitam consumimus annis.
10. non est Partheniana, mea est: the pun is based on the ambiguity of Partheniana, meaning of Parthenius as well as pure (see above on line 3). Because the
toga is not shining white any more, it would no longer suit Parthenius, only Martial.

16

50
Ingenium mihi, Gaure, probas sic esse pusillum,
carmina quod faciam, quae brevitate placent.
Confiteor. Sed tu bis senis grandia libris
qui scribis Priami proelia, magnus homo es?
Nos facimus Bruti puerum, nos Langona vivum:
tu magnus luteum, Gaure, Giganta facis.

Recusatio, the renouncing of mythological and heroic themes in favour of more

down-to-earth subjects treated on a smaller scale, goes back to Callimachus of
Alexandria (Aetia 1, 17 ff.).1 It was introduced by Parthenius of Nicaea to Rome,
where it was adopted by the poetae novi; cf., for example, Catull. 14; 22; 36, and
his welcoming of the Zmyrna of his friend Cinna (95). Vergil echoes Callimachus
in ecl. 6, 3, and Horace takes his ideas as an excuse for declining to hymn Agrippas military achievements (carm. 1, 6), on the same grounds handing over to
Maecenas the task of honouring Augustus conquests in verse (carm. 2, 12; see
the introductions by Nisbet & Hubbard to these poems); see also carm. 4, 15 and
Horaces manifesto in sat. 2, 1, 1 ff., which served as a model for Pers. 1 (cf. also
5, 1 ff.) and Iuv. 1; see Rudd, pp. 124 ff. Propertius declares that he has not the
ability to write epic, but, if that were his gift, he would not sing of mythological
themes, but of the deeds of Caesar (2, 1, 17 ff.). Traces of this conception are to be
found also in Ovid (am. 1, 1 ff.), and even Statius could consider the mythological
themes of epic rather trite, referring to Troys fall, the straying of Odysseus and
the journey of the Argonauts as trita vatibus orbita (silv. 2, 7, 48 ff.; wisely, he
omits mention of the Theban cycle and of Achilles).
Martial, like Juvenal later on, adopts a more aggressive attitude towards
higher poetry, not that which deals with historical themes (Martial praises the
works of Lucan as well as those of Silius2), but that which extends over an intolerable number of books, crowded with mythology and obscure allusions. His principal argument is not that he is unable to write in the loftier genre; he does not ask
the reader to overlook any inability on his part but straightforwardly attacks those
who write in the genre of mythological epic as well as tragedy. In more than one
epigram, he lists the subjects which he find most detestable: the stories of Tereus,
Polyphemus (4, 49), Daedalus and Icarus (4, 49; 10, 4), Medea (5, 53; 10, 35) and
Colchian witches in general (10, 4), Niobe, Andromache, Deucalion, Phaethon (5,
53), and, what appears to be his favourite target, Thyestes (4, 49; 5, 53; 10, 4; 10,
35). The subject of Troy he speaks of only in the present epigram (while it occurs
in similar contexts elsewhere, for example, Prop. 2, 1, 14), and that of the giants
and the Gigantomachy, alluded to in line 6, is otherwise mentioned only in 11, 52,
1
On the phenomenon, see W. Wimmel, Kallimachos in Rom, Hermes Einzelschriften 16, Wiesbaden
1960, mainly dealing with the Augustan poets.
2
For Martials relation to Silius Italicus, see H. Szelest, Martial und Silius Italicus, Aus der
altertumswissenschaftlichen Arbeit Volkspolens, hrgb. von J. Irmscher und K. Kumaniecki, Berlin 1959,
pp. 7380, and pp. 78 ff. in particular. On Martials relation to mythology, see also F. Corsaro, Il mondo
del mito negli Epigrammaton libri di Marziale, SicGymn 26 (1973), pp. 171205; H. Szelest, Die
Mythologie bei Martial, Eos 62 (1974), pp. 297310.

17

17, a line slightly criticizing the poets friend Iulius Cerealis, who wrote a Gigantomachy. The mythological motives were all too artificial and divorced from reality and also indicated a certain snobbery on the part of the writer as well as the
reader (cf. 4, 49, 9 f. Illa [sc. epic] tamen laudant omnes, mirantur, adorant. |
Confiteor: laudant illa, sed ista (sc. epigram) legunt). Instead, Martial advises his
reader to read that of which possit dicere vita Meum est (10, 4, 8). Cf. also 10,
21; 14, 1, 11 f., and see also Courtneys introduction to Iuv. 1, 1 and J. W. H.
Atkins, Literary Criticism in Antiquity; A Sketch of its Development, vol. 2,
Graeco-Roman, London 1952, pp. 300 ff.
The reason for this hostile attitude is partly the fact that the popularity of the
mythological epic increased greatly during the Silver Age. Martial and Juvenal
lived at a time when nearly everybody seems to have composed tragedy and
mythological epic and recited it on every street corner and when one ran the risk
of having to listen to a Gigantomachy if one invited a friend to dinner (11, 52, 16
f.; see Iuv. 1, 1 ff.). But it is quite possible, even very probable, that there also
were personal reasons for Martials spitefulness.
It has long been held that Martial was not on friendly terms with Statius, the
foremost representative of the Silver Latin mythological epic, although the evidence brought forward for such an enmity is by no means conclusive (see Henriksn, Martial und Statius, pp. 81 f.). However, there are some indications that, at
least in 94, there was some kind of quarrel between the two poets, as Martial also
in 9, 81 defends himself against a certain poet (quidam poeta), who finds fault
with him because his poems are less elaborate. Both 9, 81 and particularly the
present poem are very personal in tone, rancorously defensive, and aimed at a
specific person, not at mythological epic in general. It is therefore reasonable to
assume that Gaurus and the quidam poeta of 9, 81 are one and the same person.
Although there is no clue to the identity of Martials slanderer in 9, 81, it is nonetheless clear that his criticism of Martial is such as would have been brought up
by a representative of higher poetry. In the case of the present epigram, it appears that Martial did in fact provide a hint by choosing the name Gaurus; in his
commentary on line 3, Friedlnder suggested that this particular name was selected because there is a mountain ridge called Gaurus in Campania, the home
district of Statius (cf. also Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 2, pp. 247 f.), and that
accordingly the epic poet was the particular target of this epigram. The theory of a
quarrel in 94 is further supported by the fact that Statius in the preface of Silvae 4
(published in 95) defends himself against his own slanderers, qui reprehenderunt,
ut audio, quod hoc stili genus (sc. lighter poetry) edidissem; a couple of lines
below, he says: quisquis ex meis invitus aliquid legit, statim se profiteatur adversum. Ita quare consilio eius accedam? In summam, nempe ego sum qui traducor:
taceat et gaudeat. It is quite likely that this criticism came partly from Martial (cf.
D. W. T. C. Vessey, Statius and the Thebaid, Cambridge 1973, p. 40; Coleman, p.
59).
The reason for the bitter feeling which surfaces in the passages mentioned is
certainly to be sought in the competition for literary patronage. This was of vital
importance both to Martial and to Statius, who, unlike Seneca, Lucan, Silius and
Valerius Flaccus, did not belong to the senatorial class and had no substantial
family fortune on which to fall back. But the Silver Age lacked a Maecenas, and

18

the generous climate enjoyed by the Augustan poets had changed (cf. 8, 55, 5; 1,
107), preparing the ground for fierce competition for the favour of those patrons
who could still be found. As long as Statius worked on the Thebaid (which was
published in 91 or 92), he may have competed with Martial for the favour of the
emperor and perhaps of certain wealthy patrons. But as, towards the end of the
eighties, he began to write occasional poems, the competition would have hardened drastically. Not only did Statius enter a field which Martial no doubt considered his own, but he also addressed patrons whom Martial had been courting for
several years. This competition may account for the rancorous attitude of the present poem and 9, 81 and of Statius defence of his Silvae in the preface to Book 4,
which were all written about the same time. See further Henriksn, Martial und
Statius, pp. 111 ff.
Note Martials contrasting of great and small throughout the epigram. Having
been charged with having an ingenium pusillum, he likens his poetry to small
works of art, whereas Gaurus, who wants to be considered a magnus homo, produces a luteus Gigas. Martial uses the same contrast elsewhere; cf., for example,
1, 9; 3, 62, 7 f.
1. Gaure: as suggested by Friedlnder, Martial probably chose this name as a
guarded allusion to Statius (see the introduction above). If Martial wanted to attack Statius, according to his principles (see note on 9, 40, 1 Diodorus), he could
naturally not do so openly and would probably not want to; it was a tradition not
to mention a rival or enemy by name, lest he should be remembered by posterity
(see Sullivan, Martial, p. 125).
Martial uses the name Gaurus also in 2, 89; 4, 67; 5, 82; and 8, 27, none of
which have anything in common with the present poem; the Gaurus of 2, 89 is
said, it is true, to write poems Musis et Apolline nullo, but since that is not the
main theme of the poem, it is not enough to connect that Gaurus with the present
one.
probas: the word is perhaps best taken in a conative sense = probare studes,
you try to demonstrate (see Khner-Stegmann 1, 31, 8, pp. 120 f.).
pusillum: the word is rarely found in poetry in general (Catull. 37, 16; 54, 1;
Hor. sat. 1, 4, 17; 5, 69; Ov. rem. 730; Priap. 14, 6; Iuv. 10, 121; 14, 29; 15, 70)
but is rather frequent in Martial, who has 11 instances (also 1, 9, 2; 3, 42, 3; 3,
47, 4; 3, 62, 8; 4, 43, 9; 5, 82, 4; 7, 55, 6; 10, 98, 9; 12 praef.; 14, 10, 1). Its tone
is colloquial, and it is used with regard to intellectual capacities also in Sen.
benef. 2, 27, 1; Hor. sat. 1, 4, 17 f. animus pusillus (see Citroni and Howell respectively on 1, 9, 2).
2. brevitate: one of the chief aims of the epigrammatist was placere brevitate, as
opposed to the long works of the epic poets; cf., for example, 8, 29; AP 9, 342
(Parmenion); 9, 369 (Cyrillus) (see Howell [Commentary on Book 1], pp. 8 f.;
Atkins, loc. cit.). Martial thought brevity essential in composing books as well as
epigrams (4, 29, 7 f.), but it is worth noting that he himself was subject to contemporary criticism for making his epigrams too long, as appears from the poems
19

written to rebut such charges (1, 110; 2, 77; 3, 83; 6, 65; 10, 59; see H. Szelest,
Ut faciam breviora mones epigrammata, Corde Eine Martial-Studie, Philologus 124 [1980], pp. 99108).
3. bis senis libris: Friedlnders suggestion that the specific mention of twelve
books alludes to Statius Thebaid is not conclusive, as twelve books is the ideal
length of an epic work. The fact that Vergils Aeneid, the prime model of epic
works in Latin, is divided into twelve books (half of the twenty-four books each of
the Iliad and the Odyssey corresponding to the letters of the Greek alphabet) has
certainly played a part.
3 f. grandia ... Priami proelia: grandia is, of course, ironical. On Martials
criticism of the mythological subject-matter of epic, see the introduction above.
Apart from the Ilias Latina and Book 2 of Vergils Aeneis, the Trojan war was
treated in Latin by Lucan (Iliacon), Petronius (Troiae Halosis) and the emperor
Nero (Troica; cf. 9, 26 intro. and see Sullivan, Nero, pp. 88 ff.), none of which
has been preserved, except for a handful of lines from the works of Lucan and
Nero.
magnus homo es: cf. 2, 32, 2 and see note on 9, 53, 2.
5 f. Bruti puerum Giganta: Martial adopts a metaphor from sculptural art,
likening his own poetry to art on the smaller scale, and introducing a giant in the
next line as a symbol of mythological epic.
Bruti puerum: the words allude to a statuette of a boy, famous as having been
a favourite with Brutus the Tyrannicide. It was quite small and is mentioned in
this capacity by Martial also in 2, 77, 4, in a context similar to the present. There
is also a distich on a clay copy of it in the Apophoreta (14, 171
fictile; see Leary, ad loc.).
Pliny (nat. 34, 82) ascribes the statuette to the sculptor Strongylion, active towards the end of the 5th and at the beginning of the 4th century BC. He was
probably an Athenian, as two of his works were put up on the Acropolis (a
wooden horse [in the temple of Artemis Brauronia] and a bull), and as he also
furnished the cult statue of Artemis Soteira for Megara, Athens ally. Together
with Cephisodotus and Olympiosthenes, he sculpted a group of Muses placed on
Mt. Helicon and is also known to have made a sculpture of an Amazon, which
was in the possession of Nero, presumably a statuette, as the emperor used to have
it carried in his suite (see Lippold in RE 2:4, s.v. Strongylion 372 ff.).
%URWRX

SDLGdRQ

Langona: the allusion here is obscure, since there is no unquestionable mention of a statue called Langon anywhere; the word langon itself is equally unattested in Latin, and the sole passage which could offer an explanation involves
textual problems. In nat. 34, 79, Pliny gives a list of famous sculptors and their
works: Lycius fecit puerum sufflantem languidos ignes et Argonautas
Leochares aquilam Autolycum pancratii victorem Iovemque item Apollinem diadematum, Lyciscum mangonem, puerum subdolae ac fucatae vernilita20

tis, Lycius et ipse puerum suffitorem. This is the text printed in the Teubner edition by Iahn & Mayhoff (Leipzig 1897), which follows the reading of the B-manuscript, the 10th century Bamberg MS which is an authority for the later books of
Pliny. However, all other MSS offer Luciscus langonem (or Lyciscus lag-; see the
apparatus by Iahn & Mayhoff) for Lyciscum mangonem; the adoption of this
reading, along with a slight alteration of the punctuation, would give Lyciscus (sc.
fecit) Langonem, puerum subdolae ac fucatae vernilitatis, which (as recognized
by Iahn & Mayhoff) would fit in well with the present line.
Friedlnder found it less likely that the passage from Pliny is of any relevance
here, rejecting earlier attempts to recognize in Langon the name of the Bruti puer,
as the latter statuette is known to have been made by Strongylion, not by a Lyciscus (cf. Lippold in RE 13, s.v. Lykiskos 7, 2296). Heraeus joined him in this view,
but he also demonstrated that the significance of langon is layabout, the word
being a transcription of Gr.
; cf. Etymologicum magnum 554, 14
1
and see W. Heraeus, Varia, RhM
54 (1899), pp. 309 f. Now Plinys description of the statuette as puer subdolae ac
in the above sense,2
fucatae vernilitatis does not seem inappropriate of a
and it is tempting to adopt the reading of the inferior MSS and translate the passage from Pliny thus: Lyciscus made Langon, a boy of deceitful and deceiving
impudence. Moreover, the subdola ac fucata vernilitas would be fittingly applied
to Martials epigrams and, hence, the Langon would be an appropriate representative of his writing. This would also imply that Martial in the present line mentions two works of art, the Boy of Brutus and the Langon of Lyciscus.
ODJJQ

ODJJQ

HTyZM ODQTQZQ WR JQRM NDg IERX

ODJJQ

6. Giganta: the giant is introduced here as a representative of the cumbrous epic.

Martials friend Iulius Cerealis wrote a Gigantomachy (see the introduction
above), and the young Ovid also had plans to write such a work; cf. Ov. am. 2, 1,
11 ff. (with Booths note); Waser in RE Suppl. 3, s.v. Giganten, 658.
The Gigas luteus is strangely reminiscent of the statues with feet of clay in
Daniel 14, 6.

ODJJQ: one who immediately hides away from struggle and things causing fear.
Cf. W. Klein, Studien zur griechischen Knstlergeschichte, ArchaeologischEpigraphische Mittheilungen aus Oesterreich 7 (1883), pp. 6084; see p. 73 for the Langon.
1
2

21

51
Quod semper superos invito fratre rogasti,
hoc, Lucane, tibi contigit, ante mori.
Invidet ille tibi; Stygias nam Tullus ad umbras
optabat, quamvis sit minor, ire prior.
Tu colis Elysios nemorisque habitator amoeni
esse tuo primum nunc sine fratre cupis;
et si iam nitidis alternus venit ab astris,
pro Polluce mones Castora ne redeat.

An epigram on the death of Cn. Domitius Lucanus, elder brother of Cn. Domitius
Tullus, adoptive sons of Domitius Afer the orator.1 They were enormously rich
and had notable political influence; from a plebeian family they became patricians
by 74, suffect consuls around 79 (Tullus perhaps for a second time about 98), and,
later on, proconsuls of Africa,2 and Martial did his best to draw their attention to
his poetry, approaching them with pieces flattering their mutual affection and
inseparability. That they exercised literary patronage is clear from 3, 20, where
Martials fellow Spaniard Canius Rufus, poet and historian, is described as being
in receipt of their support. It is, however, difficult to say whether Martial was as
successful as Rufus; perhaps the fact that he no longer addresses Tullus after the
present epigram is an indication that he was not or that his favour rested with
Lucanus. Anyhow, the Domitii were not likely to be easily captured by the flattery
of a poet; on the contrary, they were rather shrewd gentlemen, who did not refrain
from manipulating the will of Lucanus father-in-law for their own profit and, in
the case of Tullus, from encouraging legacy-hunters only to leave them completely
empty-handed.3 See further PIR2 D 167 and D 152 respectively; White, Aspects,
pp. 87 ff.; and the introductions to 1, 36 by Citroni and Howell.
The main theme in Martials poems mentioning the Domitii is their brotherly
pietas, which is the subject also of 1, 36 and 5, 28, 3 (in the latter, he talks of
them as the fratres Curvii, their full names being Cn. Domitius Afer Titus Marcellus Curvius Lucanus and Cn. Domitius Afer Titius Marcellus Curvius Tullus). 1,
36 is of special interest; in that epigram, Martial says that, if Lucanus and Tullus
were given the fate of Castor and Pollux, there would be a noble argument between them, as both would wish to be the first to die for his brother, so as to be
able, not to share life and death with the survivor but to say to him: Live on your
own time and live on mine too. When, some eight years later, Lucanus died,
Martial followed up 1, 36 with the present poem (which is the only source mentioning his death) as a natural sequel to the former. It is a poem not of compassion
and consolation, but of encouragement. Now, Lucanus has drawn the winning
ticket and died before his envious brother. But Lucanus is not treated as dead; he
1

Lucanus and Tullus were really the sons of Sex. Curvius, who was accused by Domitius Afer and condemned. Domitius then adopted them in 41 or 42 (18 years before his death [Plin. epist. 8, 18, 5], which
occurred in 59 [Tac. ann. 14, 19]).
2
See Syme, Tacitus, p. 4, n. 2; p. 69, n. 6.
3
When Tullus died in 1067, he left his entire fortune to his niece Domitia Lucilla; cf. the introduction to
9, 8 and see Howells introduction to 1, 36.

22

is mythologized, having become the counterpart of Castor, the one of the Dioscuri who was mortal (being the son of Tyndareus; cf. note on 9, 103, 2 alio ...
cycno). He dwells in the underworld and is now for the first time fully content
with being without his brother. And should he encounter Castor himself, stepping
down from heaven to change places with Pollux, he will exhort him not to return,
but to remain in the underworld, unselfishly granting his brother the privilege of
constantly being in heaven. The idea is the same as in 1, 36, 6; the will to sacrifice oneself for the other is greater with the Domitii than with the Dioscuri.
Martials emphasis on their mutual affection was not chosen at random; it was
certainly what the Domitii most wanted to hear. They apparently were anxious to
appear together; cf. the inscription from a road on their estate at Bomarzo, reading iter privatum duorum Domitiorum (CIL 11, 3042), and the stamps on the tiles
from their factory (ILS 86518651a). But even though Martial seems to have
pulled the right strings, he was probably not very successful in his flattery, at least
not after Lucanus death. As mentioned above, there are no subsequent epigrams
addressed to Tullus alone, in the same manner as Martial had addressed only
Lucanus in the humorous anecdote of 8, 75;1 perhaps Martial found Lucanus easier to get round than Tullus, which may be the reason why the death of the former
put an end to his poetic advances.
3. Stygias umbras: so ; undas O, It. vg., see Heraeus apparatus. The juncture Stygia unda is the commoner,2 hence the MSS often disagree as to which of
the variants should be read. Of the six instances of Stygiae undae/umbrae in Martial, two have been transmitted only with umbrae (1, 101, 5 and 1, 114, 5), one
with undae (6, 58, 3), and the rest (apart from the present also 11, 84, 1 and 12,
90, 3) with both variants. The confusion also extends to expressions like infernas
sub umbras (11, 69, 11; cf. Heraeus apparatus and Kay, ad loc.).
In the present case, undas was printed by the editors up to Lindsay, who introduced umbras in the text. The word has been kept by Heraeus and Shackleton
Bailey, although there are no means of judging between the two readings in Martial, except perhaps for the fact that there are two transmissions of umbrae without
variants and only one with undae. Heraeus in his apparatus compares the unanimously transmitted 1, 36, 5 infernas ad umbras (to which add 4, 16, 5), which,
however, is not a direct parallel, since infernus does not have the notion of water,
as Stygius has; moreover, the expression infernae umbrae has, as mentioned
above, also been transmitted with the variant undae in 11, 69, 11. Better support
is to be found in Ov. met. 1, 139 Stygiisque umbris; Sil. 5, 597 Stygiave sub
umbra; 9, 45 Stygia umbra; 13, 784 Stygia in umbra; Stat. Theb. 11, 85
Stygiis in umbris; silv. 3, 5, 37 Stygias ad umbras; Ach. 1, 630 Stygiasque
EJ

1
Groag (PIR2 D 152) is doubtful whether the Lucanus of 8, 75 is Domitius Lucanus, but his doubts have
not met with undivided approval either from White (op. cit., p. 88) or from Howell; in the index nominum
of Heraeus as well as of Shackleton Bailey, the Lucanus of 8, 75 is listed as identical with Domitius Lucanus.
2
Cf. Verg. Aen. 3, 215; 6, 385; 7, 773; 12, 91; Aetna 79; Hor. carm. 2, 20, 8; Prop. 2, 34, 53; 3, 18, 9;
Ov. epist. 16, 211; ars 2, 41; met. 2, 101; 3, 272; 10, 697; 11, 500; trist. 1, 2, 65; 5, 9, 19; Pont. 2, 3, 43;
Lucan. 6, 749; Sil. 2, 706; 15, 43.

23

 ad umbras, all unanimously transmitted. It is noteworthy that all the instances,

with the exception of Ovid, are to be found in Silver Latin.
5. Elysios: sc. campos. Elysii elliptical also in Lucan. 6, 699, Stat. Theb. 4, 482;
perhaps also in Serv. georg. 1, 39 sequi curet Proserpina matrem ad admirationem Elysiorum posuit. Heraeus in his apparatus also produces a number of
instances of the elliptical Elysii from the CLE.
nemorisque habitator amoeni: the grove, like the brook and the grotto, is one
of the features of the locus amoenus; see Curtius, pp. 199 ff.; Bmer on Ov. fast.
2, 315; Nisbet & Hubbard on Hor. carm. 2, 3, pp. 52 f., with further references.
For the probable source of this expression, see Verg. Aen. 6, 673 ff. (Anchises is
speaking) nulli certa domus; lucis habitamus opacis, | riparumque toros et prata
recentia rivis | incolimus; for groves in Elysium in general, cf. Verg. Aen. 6, 639;
Ov. am. 2, 6, 49; Sen. Herc. f. 744; Tro. 158.
Nemoris habitator is a singular juncture.
7. nitidis astris: astra should perhaps be taken as referring to the actual stars
(viz. the constellation of Gemini; see Ov. fast. 5, 693720 with Bmer) rather
than to the heavens as the abode of the gods.
The juncture nitida astra is to be found only in Martial (also 8, 36, 7) and Statius (silv. 1, 2, 147; 2, 1, 94).
alternus: predicative, with the force of an adverb, in his turn. The adjective
is frequently used in connection with the Dioscuri in the role referred to here; cf.
10, 51, 2; Verg. Aen. 6, 121; Ciris 397; Ov. fast. 5, 719; Sil. 9, 295; 13, 805; cf.
TLL, s.v. 1754, 70 ff.
8. pro Polluce mones Castora: Friedlnder punctuates pro Polluce, mones ,
which makes no great difference to the meaning, since it is still Castor who comes
from the heavens to relieve Pollux. The present punctuation, preferred by Schneidewin, Gilbert, Lindsay, Heraeus and Shackleton Bailey, implies that Lucanus is
an example for Castor, thereby exhorting him not to return to heaven, but to let
Pollux take over also his share of days on Olympus. Thus, the love of Lucanus for
Tullus is even greater than that of Castor for Pollux.

24

52
Si credis mihi, Quinte, quod mereris,
natales, Ovidi, tuas Aprilis
ut nostras amo Martias Kalendas.
Felix utraque lux diesque nobis
signandi melioribus lapillis!
Hic vitam tribuit, sed hic amicum.
Plus dant, Quinte, mihi tuae Kalendae.

This epigram, like its humorous sequel 9, 53, is written to Martials close friend
Quintus Ovidius on his birthday, the 1st of April. In its humble plainness, it is
perhaps the most sincere declaration of friendship among the poems to Ovidius
(see note on lines 1 f. below), although the idea of the birthday of a friend or patron as equally or even more sacred than ones own appears to have been something of a commonplace; it is expressed, for reasons similar to Martials, by Horace on the birthday of Maecenas (carm. 4, 11, 17 f. iure sollemnis mihi sanctiorque | paene natali proprio) and later by Pliny (epist. 6, 30, 1) and Censorinus
(3, 5 f.); cf. also Marcus Aurelius letter on Frontos birthday (Fronto p. 43, 10 ff.
van den Hout 1954), and see K. Argetsinger, Birthday Rituals: Friends and Patrons in Roman Poetry and Cult, ClAnt 11 (1992), pp. 175193 (pp. 176179
particularly). For other birthday poems in Martial, cf. 3, 6; 4, 1; 9, 39; 12, 60; see
also the poems on Argentaria Pollas celebration of the birthday of her late husband Lucan (7, 2123). On the birthday in antiquity, see W. Schmidt, Geburtstag
im Altertum, Gieen 1908.
All the information supplied by Martial himself indicates that he was really
born on the first of March. In 12, 60, 1 f., he explicitly says so: Martis alumne
dies, roseam quo lampada primum | magnaque siderei vidimus ora dei; elsewhere, he mentions that day as his natales Kalendae (10, 24, 1) or as meae
Kalendae (10, 92, 10); the Kalends of March was also the day when Martial expected (the fictitious) Sextilianus to present him with a toga (10, 29, 3). However,
the fact that a couple of other birthdays are mentioned by Martial as being on the
Kalendsbesides that of Q. Ovidius also that of the lawyer Restitutus (10, 87, 1
f.)made H. Lucas suspect that it was customary to celebrate a persons birthday
not on the birthday itself, but on the Kalends of the month in which one was born
(H. Lucas, Martials Kalendae nataliciae, CQ 32 [1938], pp. 56). As Lucas
acknowledges, the evidence only of the present epigram and 10, 87 is not enough
to support such a thesis, as it may still be a matter of coincidence. But Lucas finds
support for his theory in 8, 64, in which a certain Clytus wants as many opportunities as possible to demand presents: Ut poscas, Clyte, munus exigasque, | uno
nasceris octiens in anno | et solas, puto, tresve quattuorve | non natalicias habes
Kalendas (8, 64, 14). The fact that Martial here mentions the Kalends proves,
according to Lucas, that birthdays were celebrated on that day;1 the reason would
be the religious and commercial significance of the Kalends, which was sacred to
1

There seems to be nothing to support Lucas statement that This was either on the first of the month in
which the birthday fell or else on the first of the month following.

25

Juno, the guardian of birth, and on which there was greater license in spending
money; for the latter reason, the celebration of ones birthday on the Kalends
might result in greater heaps of presents.
The first objection to this theory is self-evident, as it seems rather absurd that
the birthdaycelebrations of the whole of Rome would have been limited to twelve
days only; if that were the case, those with even a limited circle of acquaintances
would surely know some persons whose birthdays fell in the same month and had
to be celebrated on the same day. Moreover, Martial, on whose evidence Lucas
bases his thesis, mentions the birthday of Marcellinus father as falling on the
18th of May, the day on which it was apparently also celebrated: Lux tibi post Idus
numeratur tertia Maias, | Marcelline, tuis bis celebranda sacris (3, 6, 1 f.).
A further and perhaps more important counter-argument against Lucas thesis
is provided by inscriptions recording a persons donation of funds for the celebration of his or her birthday (even after his or her death): from these inscriptions, it
is apparent that the donor wanted the celebrations to take place on the actual
birthday, cf., for example, CIL 10, 5849 iussit XII K. Octobr. die natalis sui
sportulas item populo fieri; 10, 4736; 10, 5654. Other literary sources also argue
against Lucas theory, for example, Hor. carm. 4, 11, 1420, in which Maecenas
is said to reckon his years from the Idus ... | qui dies mensem Veneris marinae |
findit Aprilem, and Ov. ars 1, 405 ff., where the poet advises against making an
approach on days when one is expected to bring a present: Sive dies suberit natalis, sive Kalendae, | quas Venerem Marti continuasse iuvat, differ opus.
Here, the birthday in contrasted with the Kalends of April (on which women apparently received presents; see Hollis, ad loc.). Similar to this instance is Prop. 4,
5, 35 f., where slaves, in order that their mistress may receive presents, are told to
put it into the lovers head that it will soon be the Kalends of April or that the
mistress has her birthday on the Ides of May.
To sum up, the evidence of Roman birthday celebrations indicates that these
took place on the actual birthday, and the fact that Martials and Ovidius birthdays, as well as that of Restitutus, were on the Kalends should be considered a
coincidence; in the case of Ovidius, such a coincidence might perhaps have acted
as a stimulus to Martial to stress the Kalends in the present epigram. 8, 64, it is
true, calls for an explanation. In this case, it would seem to be most natural to
accept that of Lucas: Clytus chose to celebrate his fictitious birthdays on the
Kalends, as this, he hoped, would result in his getting more presents. But this was
a device solely of Clytus, and is not to be regarded as common practice; for the
trick of faking a birthday to get presents, cf., for example, Ov. ars 1, 430;
Schmidt, op. cit., p. 29.
1. Si credis mihi: a modest variant of the more straightforward (and commoner)
crede mihi (cf. note on 9, 41, 3), usually with the addition of quid sim., as in Ov.
trist. 3, 4, 3 usibus edocto si quicquam credis amico; 5, 4, 23; Pont. 1, 5, 9 (1, 6,
19); Iuv. 10, 67; Sen. epist. 64, 2; 96, 2; 119, 9; Plin. epist. 7, 17, 7; 10, 26, 2 (but
crede mihi only 7, 31, 7); Fronto p. 128, 12; p. 167, 17 van den Hout 1954.
1 f. Quinte | Ovidi: a very dear friend of Martial, who is the only source of
our knowledge of Ovidius. Appearing in another eight epigrams ranging from
26

Book 13 to Book 10, he was the poets neighbour at Nomentum, where apparently
he grew wine, cf. 1, 105 and 13, 119. 9, 98 is a humorous piece on a miserable
vintage. Martial much admired the decision of Ovidius to accompany his patron
Caesonius Maximus, who had been exiled by Nero in 65, to Sicily (see 7, 44 and
45). 7, 93 is a poem addressed to the city of Narnia in Umbria, reproaching it for
keeping Ovidius away from Nomentum (and Martial) all too often. Ovidius may
have had some special connection with the town; perhaps it was his home-town,
as it was Nervas. In 10, 44, Martial advises the ageing Ovidius against going on
a journey with a friend to Britain. Thereafter, nothing more is heard of him.
For a similar spreading of a name over the two opening lines, cf. 7, 97, 1 f.
Nosti si bene Caesium, libelle, | montanae decus Umbriae Sabinum.
3. nostras Martias Kalendas: see the introduction above.
5. melioribus lapillis: the well-known habit of marking a happy day with a white
mark was, according to Plin. nat. 7, 131, derived from the Thracian custom of
putting stones of different colours, corresponding to the experience of each day,
into an urn. As regards the Romans, however, it was probably originally nothing
more than a way of marking the calendar (see Nisbet & Hubbard on Hor. carm. 1,
36, 10). The day was marked with chalk (Hor. carm. 1, 36, 10) or a small white
stone (Catull. 68, 148; Mart. 12, 34, 5; Plin. epist. 6, 11, 3), even with a pearl
(Mart. 10, 38, 4; Stat. silv. 4, 6, 18) or a gem (Mart. 8, 45, 2; 11, 36, 1); cf. Otto,
s.v. calculus, pp. 64 f.
The expression melior lapillus is found only here and in Pers. 2, 1, from which
Martial has apparently taken it over (cf. Kiel, ad loc.).
6. hic hic: for the usual hic ille. This repetition of the same pronoun with
explicit reference to two different things is of colloquial origin and appears already in Plautus. It was introduced into higher poetry by Vergil (ecl. 4, 56), under
whose influence it was adopted also by Tacitus (see HofmannSzantyr, 105 a,
Zus. , p. 181). In Martial, cf. also 11, 81: Cum sene communem vexat spado
Dindymus Aeglen, | | viribus hic, operi non est hic utilis annis | | Supplex
illa rogat pro se miserisque duobus, | hunc iuvenem facias, hunc, Cytherea,
virum.
E

27

53
Natali tibi, Quinte, tuo dare parva volebam
munera; tu prohibes: inperiosus homo es.
Parendum est monitis, fiat quod uterque volemus
et quod utrumque iuvat: tu mihi, Quinte, dato.
Martial wanted to give Q. Ovidius some presents on his birthday, the Kalends of
April (see 9, 52), but Ovidius, in a fit of modesty, would not accept them. Ovidius
had probably expected to be pressed, but instead Martial takes the opportunity of
pulling his friends leg: he has to obey Ovidius wish, and thus it is better that
Ovidius should give presents to Martial, for the poet enjoys getting them just as
much as his friend enjoys giving them. Herein lies a small lesson in friendship: it
is unjust of Ovidius to prevent Martial from giving him presents, for to a friend it
is worth just as much to be able to give as to receive.
The epigram is placed immediately after 9, 52, the warmhearted poem on
Ovidius birthday, and although it may be read by itself, it loses much of its effect
if detached from its context. Such coupled epigrams are common in Martial, and
often, one must imagine that something has occurred between the composition of
the two epigrams (commonly some kind of reaction to the former), causing Martial to write a second epigram in reply to the reaction; see the introduction, vol. 1,
p. 20.
On birthday presents in Rome, see Schmidt, Geburtstag, p. 29 (where, apparently, he is wrong about Pers. 1, 16; see Kiel, ad loc.). In 10, 87, 8 ff., Martial
has a list of exclusive birthday presents which would become the lawyer Restitutus, such as Tyrian mantles, evening dresses, genuine sardonyxes, embossed work
by Phidias, hares, kids and fish. Mantles occur again in this context in 7, 86, 7 ff.,
together with Spanish silver and a toga.
2. inperiosus homo es: Martial is fond of this structure in the second hemiepes of
the pentameter; cf. in particular 1, 73, 4 ingeniosus homo es; 1, 107, 2 desidiosus
homo es; 5, 82, 4 Gaure: pusillus homo es; 10, 88, 2 officiosus homo es; 12, 64, 2
Cinna, gulosus homo es; cf. also 1, 9, 2; 1, 67, 2; 2, 32, 2; 4, 83, 4; 5, 61, 8; 9, 41,
10; 9, 50, 4; and 9, 63, 2.
4. tu mihi, Quinte, dato: for the structure, cf. 2, 61, 6; 3, 60, 2; 13, 126, 2; and
14, 25, 2.

28

54
Si mihi Picena turdus palleret oliva,
tenderet aut nostras silva Sabina plagas,
aut crescente levis traheretur harundine praeda
pinguis et inplicitas virga teneret aves:
cara daret sollemne tibi cognatio munus,
nec frater nobis nec prior esset avus.
Nunc sturnos inopes fringuillarumque querellas
audit et arguto passere vernat ager;
inde salutatus picae respondet arator,
hinc prope summa rapax miluus astra volat.
Mittimus ergo tibi parvae munuscula chortis:
qualia si recipis, saepe propinquus eris.

10

The Caristia or cara cognatio (see below on line 5) was a family celebration falling on the 22nd of February, on the day after the Feralia, the feast in memory of
the dead. On this day, which was not an official festival day but a feria privata
(Fest. p. 242), the members of each family got together for a feast, for which everyone brought a certain amount of food and drink. As indicated by the present
epigram, it was customary also to send food for this feast to friends. Cf. also Ov.
fast. 2, 617638 (with Bmers note on 617); Val. Max. 2, 1, 8; Wissova in RE 3,
s.v. Caristia.
In this epigram, Martial regrets that he cannot provide the unnamed addressee
(who is probably the same as in the following poem, viz. Flaccus; see note on line
5 below) with a munus solemne, i.e. a thrush, which obviously would be a suitable
gift on the Caristia (cf. 9, 55, 1). But Martial has no means of breeding thrushes,
nor are there any wildfowl for him to catch, as his farm is not in the Sabine
woodland, but at Nomentum, where there are no edible birds at all, except for
those of the poultry yard. Thus, he will be giving a chicken.
Note the chiastic structure of the epigram: Martial begins by talking of bred
birds, and then turns to wild fowl; when in line 7 he gets on to the conditions at
Nomentum, he first mentions wild birds and then ends by talking of bred birds,
those of his poultry yard.
1. Picena oliva: the olives of Picenum were, along with those of Sidicini, the
best in Italy; cf. Plin. nat. 15, 16. Martial mentions them often; thus in 1, 43, 8; 4,
46, 12; 4, 88, 7; 5, 78, 20; 7, 53, 5; 11, 52, 11 (with Kays note); and 13, 36, 1.
turdus: in Rome as in Greece, the thrush was reckoned to be one of the most
delicious birds; Martial considered the thrust a mattea prima (13, 92) and mentions it also in 2, 40, 3; 3, 47, 10; 3, 58, 26; 3, 77, 1; 4, 66, 6; 6, 11, 3; 6, 75, 1; 7,
20, 6; 9, 55, 1 and 8; 11, 21, 5; and 13, 51. Besides being caught in the wild (see
below), there were also special turdaria for their breeding. These could be found
in Rome as well as in the countryside, especially in the Sabine land, which by its
nature was particularly suitable for thrushes and where the bird was found in large
numbers (Varro rust. 3, 4, 2). It was also wise to locate breeding in the same area
29

as birds were caught, as thrushes often died during transport in small cages
(Colum. 8, 10, 1), so presumably Martial, in mentioning the bred thrush and, in
the following line, the catching of birds in the Sabine woods, wants to contrast his
own farm at Nomentum with one in the Sabine land (see further Keller, Tierwelt
2, pp. 76 ff.; Ihm in RE 5, s.v. Drossel 1721 ff.).
Thrushes were normally bred on a mixture of figs and spelt, but it appears that
olives were their preferred food, which perhaps also made the meat paler and
more delicate; cf. Calp. ecl. 3, 48 non sic destricta macrescit turdus oliva; Auson.
25, 16, 1 f. Prete (perhaps in dependence on this epigram) Qualis Picenae populator turdus olivae | clunes opimat cereas; Athen. 2, 68 Kaibel
.

'
.1 The Byzantine Geoponica (14, 24, 6) mentions olives as food for
thrushes. Difference in taste due to variation in food was presumed, for example,
in boars (see note on 9, 14, 3 Aprum).
6XUDNRVLRL

WM

NdFODM

NLFODM

OyJRXVLQ

(SdFDUPRM

WM

G|

xODLRILORIJRXM

NLFODM

palleret: Friedlnder assumed that this refers to the colour of the meat turning
paler when the bird was fed on olives, which would seem to be correct with reference to the quotation from Ausonius above.
2. tenderet silva Sabina plagas: thrushes, like other birds and prey, could
be caught by using nets (cf. 2, 40, 3; 3, 58, 26; 11, 21, 5) fastened to trees (or to
poles, see Blmner, Privataltertmer, pp. 517 ff.; 526); cf. Ov. ars 1, 47 Aucupibus noti frutices; met. 11, 73 (laqueos) quos callidus abdidit auceps (with
Bmer).
On the frequency of thrushes in the Sabine land, cf. note on line 2 above.
3 f. crescente harundine | pinguis virga: another way of catching birds
was by using reeds, harundines aucupatoriae (cf. TLL, s.v. harundo 2543, 37 ff.),
at the end of which was fastened a rod (viscum) smeared with birdlime prepared
from mistletoe, here referred to as the sticky rod. Two or more reeds could be
joined to increase the range of the device, hence crescente; cf. also 14, 216; Sil. 7,
677; Val. Fl. 6, 261 ff. The bird got stuck on the limed rod and could thus be
pulled in by the birdcatcher (as suggested by traho); see K. Linder, Beitrge zu
Vogelfang und Falknerei im Altertum, Berlin 1973, pp. 19 ff.
levis praeda: also of the nymph Pholoe hunted by Pan in Stat. silv. 2, 3,
20.
5. cara: cara , Care T. The reading of T was preferred by earlier editors, and
Friedlnder identified the Carus thus obtained with the winner in the Alban
games of 9, 23, although there is nothing to argue for an identification between
the two (cf. note on 9, 23, 2 Carus). Lindsay introduced cara into the text, which
is obviously correct, as the Caristia is elsewhere referred to as cara cognatio (cf.
Pol. Silv. fast. Febr. 22; Tert. idol. 10; Menol. Colot. Febr. [CIL 12, p. 280]; Vall.
EJ

Syracusans call thrushes kichelae. Thus Epicharmus: kichelae, too, which like to eat the olives.
Translation by Gulick, Loeb.

30

Febr. [CIL, loc. cit]; CIL 6, 10234, 13; TLL, s.v. cognatio 1478, 50 ff.). This
leaves the epigram without an explicit addressee, but it seems safe to assume that
the poem is addressed to the same person as in 9, 55, viz. Martials friend and
patron Flaccus (see note on 9, 33, 1).1 Obviously, the two epigrams form a couple
of the kind serious epigram followed by humorous epigram on the same theme
and with the same addressee, which can be observed elsewhere in Martial (see 9,
53 intro.). Hence, the addressee is likely to have been the same person.
7. sturnos inopes: useless starlings. Even though the bird is mentioned as edible (its meat, however, being difficult to digest, see Anthim. 26), the Romans do
not seem to have cared for it as food; it was prescribed, though, for certain diseases (Philum. med. 2 p. 126, 8; Galen. 6, 435 K; see Steier in RE 2:3, s.v. Star
2150 f.). It is also possible that there is a notion of serving no good purpose,
inexpedient (for inops in this sense of things in nature, cf. TLL, s.v. 1755, 38 ff.),
because starlings in great numbers devastated the fields of corn and were a real
plague to farmers (cf. AP 7, 172 [Antipater of Sidon]; 9, 373 [Anonymous]). See
also F. Capponi, Ornithologia Latina, Genoa 1979, pp. 473 ff.
(for the differfringuillarumque querellas: fringuillarum ; fringillorum
ent forms, cf. Capponi, op. cit., p. 234; TLL, s.v. 1340, 21 ff.). The reading of
was introduced by Heraeus, who observed that the feminine form was preferred by
the authors (TLL, loc. cit.). The word is onomatopoetic (cf. fringultio, to twitter)
and probably refers to the chaffinch, which is seldom mentioned in literature (see
Capponi, op. cit., pp. 234 ff.; H. Gossen in RE Suppl. 8, s.v. Finken 12, 170; TLL,
loc. cit.). Querellae also of the croaking of the pica in 1, 53, 10.
E

DJ

8. arguto passere etc.: as observed by Siedschlag, Ovidisches, p. 160, the line is

presumably an adoption of Ov. trist. 3, 12, 8 indocilique loquax gutture vernat
avis. Like the starlings, sparrows in great numbers were a threat to the cornfields,
but, according to Anthim. 30, their meat was good and healthy to eat; cf. also
Athen. 2, 68 Kaibel. Mentioning them in this context, Martial (like the Romans in
general, perhaps, as there is no mention of the sparrow as food) would hardly
have shared this opinion (see Steier in RE 2:3, s.v. Sperling 1631 f.; Capponi, op.
cit., pp. 384 ff.).
The epithet argutus is not elsewhere applied to the sparrow, the song of which
is characterised by Catull. 3, 10 by the verb pipiare and by Suet. frg. 161 p. 254, 1
by the verb titiare; cf. TLL, s.v. passer 606, 32 ff.
9. salutatus picae respondet arator: the word pica was used by the Romans of
the magpie as well as of the jay, and it is often impossible to judge which bird is
meant. Both, again, are quite useless birds (cf. Martials disappointment at being
served a pica in 3, 60, 8), having the unpleasant call (1, 53, 10; Ov. met. 5, 678
rauca garrulitas) in common, but also the ability to imitate human speech (ibid.
299), which was much admired. Capponi (op. cit., p. 416) suggests, though, that
1

This suggestion was made by White, Dedication, p. 41, n. 4, although he also held open the possibility of
the addressee being the Ovidius of 9, 53 and, in fact, was doubtful about both.

31

the picae mentioned in Petronius and Martial (see below) are magpies, while
those appearing in Ovid (also met. 5, 299) are jays.
The pica seems to have been trained mostly to make salutations; cf. 7, 87, 6;
14, 76; Petron. 29, 1. The phenomenon was apparently common enough for Martial to talk jokingly of the pica here as being able to salute by nature, without any
training. Cf. also Plin. nat. 10, 118; Pers. pr. 9 (and see Kiels note); Stat. silv. 2,
4, 19; Keller, Tierwelt 2, pp. 112 f. Note also that the participle salutatus, like the
supine, always has this position in the hexameter.1
10. prope summa etc.: the line summarises two distinctive features of the kite,
which was proverbially greedy as well as an excellent flier; cf. Ov. am. 2, 6, 33 f.;
met. 2, 715 ff.; Pers. 4, 26; Plin. nat. 10, 28; Otto, s.v. milvus 1 and 4, pp. 222 f. It
was not hunted for food other than as a remedy for certain diseases (its liver was
considered effective against epilepsy [Plin. nat. 30, 92], ophthalmic diseases [ibid.
29, 125] and wryneck [ibid. 30, 110]), nor was its call a pleasure; Suet. loc. cit.
refers to it as lupire vel lugere. See also Capponi, op. cit., pp. 338 ff.; Steier in RE
2:3, s.v. Sperber 1619 ff.
The juncture summa astra is found only in Martial (only this occurrence) and
Statius (Theb. 10, 782; 12, 128; silv. 3, 4, 49).
miluus astra volat: milvus ad astra ; milvus in astra . Milvus was originally trisyllabic (for example, Plaut. Aul. 316) and retains this scansion in the
Augustan poets (for example, Hor. epod. 16, 32; epist. 1, 16, 51; always trisyllabic
in Ovid, except for hal. 95, at the verse-ending; cf. Bmer on met. 2, 716; see
TLL, s.v. 985, 44 ff.). The first instance in which the word is unquestionably disyllabic is Iuv. 9, 55; in late Latin, it reigns supreme (TLL, loc. cit.). The trisyllabic
scansion being prevalent in classical Latin, the prepositions ad and in have been
regarded as inserted by later interpolators, to whom the trisyllabic scansion was
unfamiliar; this is the case in Pers. 4, 26 dives arat Curibus quantum non miluus
errat, where later MSS offer the variant milvus oberrat (see Kiel, ad loc.).
The reading KGJQ U?Q DGPQR advocated in the present instance by A. Palmer
(Notes on Martial, Hermathena 21 [1895], p. 167), and printed by Heraeus and
Shackleton Bailey (referring to Housman, Versus Ovidi de piscibus et feris, CQ
1 [1907], pp. 275278 [= Class. pap., pp. 698701]). However, it has not been
universally accepted (see Kiel, loc. cit., and TLL, loc. cit.), and Martial, like
Juvenal, could presumably also have written milvus. In such a case, prope would
be an adverb and should be taken closely with hinc: at a close range from here,
the kite extends its flight up to the highest stars; cf. Ov. epist. 18, 50 Icarium
quamvis hinc prope litus abest!
If the reading milvus is accepted, we have also to judge between in astra and
ad astra. A prosodical investigation of the word astra in the same metrical position as here2 shows that, in all instances involving a verb of motion, astra is in the
majority of cases (12 instances) preceded by in, whereas ad appears in three inDJ

Cf. 1, 70, 1; 2, 18, 3 & 4; 5, 66, 1; Verg. Aen. 9, 288; Ov. fast. 4, 539; trist. 1, 3, 34; 3, 7, 1; Pont. 2, 7,
1; Stat. Theb. 4, 815; 7, 708; 12, 401; Achill. 1, 57; Iuv. 1, 116.
Based on all occurrences of the word in Bucolica Einsidlensia, Calpurnius Siculus, Catullus, Gaetulicus,
Martial, Ovid, Albinovanus Pedo, Persius, the Priapea, Propertius, and Tibullus.

32

stances (there is also one instance with sub).1 For want of other means of judging
between in and ad, in astra would be the safer reading here.
11. parvae munuscula chortis: Martial is referring to the poultry yard at his
Nomentan farm, and the munuscula would be chickens. Thus, his statement in 7,
31 that there were none at the farm should not be taken seriously, nor should his
constant complaints of its shortcomings in general (cf. 9, 18 intro.).
Note that Martial uses the form chors no less than six times, and always in the
sense of poultry yard (also 3, 58, 12; 7, 31, 1; 7, 54, 7; 11, 52, 14; 13, 54, 2);
the form cohors he has only once, in the sense of cohort (10, 48, 2). The contracted form is almost exclusively restricted to the sense of poultry yard (or
farmyard etc.), but it is extremely rare; see TLL, s.v. cohors 1549, 79 ff.
When Martial uses parvus and munusculum in the same context, the adjective
always, except here, accentuates the diminutive; see 5, 84, 7 munuscula parva; 7,
49, 1 parva suburbani munuscula ... horti; 7, 80, 5 parva tui munuscula ... amici .
12. saepe propinquus eris: you shall often be my relative, i.e., you will often
receive a present from me on the cara cognatio (cf. Friedlnder, ad loc.). For the
prosody, cf. Prop. 4, 1a, 14; Ov. trist. 3, 7, 24; 4, 4, 24; Pont. 2, 2, 104.

55
Luce propinquorum, qua plurima mittitur ales,
dum Stellae turdos, dum tibi, Flacce, paro,
succurrit nobis ingens onerosaque turba,
in qua se primum quisque meumque putat.
Demeruisse duos votum est; offendere plures
vix tutum; multis mittere dona grave est.
Qua possum sola veniam ratione merebor:
nec Stellae turdos nec tibi, Flacce, dabo.

The contents of this epigram are virtually the same as in the preceding poem
(which is presumably also addressed to Flaccus; cf. note on 9, 54, 5 cara), giving
the reason for Flaccus not getting any thrushes on the Caristia, although the reason here is quite different from that given in 9, 54: amidst Martials enthusiastic
preparations for sending thrushes to his patrons and close friends Stella and Flaccus, he comes to think of the huge and troublesome crowd of other patrons, each
and every one of whom believes himself to be Martials chief benefactor and most
appreciated supporter. Now, if Martial were to send thrushes only to Stella and
Flaccus, the others would take offence; sending thrushes to them all is out of the
question. Thus, his only way out of the difficulty is to send thrushes to no one.
1

in: Prop. 3, 18, 34; Mart. epigr. 1, 6; 16b, 2; 19, 2; 22, 6; 1, 3, 8; Ov. epist. 16, 72; fast. 2, 478; 3, 186; 3,
414; 3, 808; Pont. 2, 9, 62. ad: Mart. 11, 69, 6; Ov. fast. 3, 374; 4, 328. sub: Mart. 4, 75, 6. There are only
three instances in which astra is not preceded by a preposition, and none of these involves a verb of motion
(see Prop. 2, 32, 50; Epiced. Drusi. 256; Mart. 14, 124, 2).

33

Martial here refrains from mentioning the chicken which serves as a substitute
for the thrushes in 9, 54, 11, but it is doubtful whether this could be made into an
argument that 9, 54 is not addressed to Flaccus (see note on 9, 54, 5); the epigrams are too closely related in space and subject and, in a humorous and neatly
arranged piece such as this, the poet must allow himself a certain amount of artistic freedom to make it work. The epigram is just a joking excuse to Flaccus for not
giving him thrushes, and the addressee, being as close to the poet as Flaccus was,
would certainly take the epigram for what it was.
For similarly coupled epigrams in Martial, see the introductions to 9, 44 and
53.
1. Luce propinquorum: i.e. the Caristia, see 9, 54 intro.
1 f. plurima ales | turdos: birds, and apparently thrushes in particular (see
note on 9, 54, 1 turdus), seem to have been customary gifts in the Caristia; cf. 9,
54 intro.
2. Stellae ... Flacce: Stella and Flaccus were two of Martials closest friends, and
apparently, they were also acquainted with each other. Both came from Patavium,
had the senatorial rank in common and both had some poetic interests and ambitions, though not above the amateur level; in public life, both made political careers. They are mentioned side by side also in 1, 61, 4 (as poets from the land of
Aponus) and 10, 48, 5, in a dinner invitation. For Flaccus, see further note on 9,
33, 1; on Stella, 9, 42 intro.
3. ingens onerosaque turba: the crowd of tiresome patrons, whom Martial cultivates out of necessity and not because he wants to. For the prosody, cf. 12, 28, 19;
Verg. Aen. 6, 325; 11, 34; 11, 372; Lucan. 4, 748; Stat. silv. 5, 1, 235.
4. primum ... meumque: the chief and my (particular) friend (cf. TLL, s.v.
meus 919, 31 f.). Shackleton Bailey, in his Loeb edition, takes this as a hendiadys,
translating my prime favourite and adding Lit. first and mine in a note. However, the word order rather suggests the former translation, which also was preferred by Ker in his Loeb.
6. grave est: the same verse-ending is found in 9, 68, 10; Ov. am. 2, 4, 6; trist. 4,
8, 4.
8. nec dabo: for the device of ending an epigram with a line similar to a line at
the beginning, see note on 9, 38, 10. Pentameters of the same structure as the
present are to be found in 3, 77, 2 and 4; 4, 83, 4.

34

56
Spendophoros Libycas domini petit armiger urbis:
quae puero dones tela, Cupido, para,
illa quibus iuvenes figis mollesque puellas:
sit tamen in tenera levis et hasta manu.
Loricam clipeumque tibi galeamque remitto;
5
tutus ut invadat proelia, nudus eat:
non iaculo, non ense fuit laesusve sagitta,
casside dum liber Parthenopaeus erat.
Quisquis ab hoc fuerit fixus, morietur amore.
O felix, si quem tam bona fata manent!
10
Dum puer es, redeas, dum vultu lubricus, et te
non Libye faciat, sed tua Roma virum.
Spendophoros, a young and beautiful slave, is following his master, presumably
an officer, to Africa as an armiger. But the service for which Spendophoros is
truly fitted is not that of conventional warfare; the arrows of Cupid are more apt
for him, and the less armour he wears, the better equipped he will be for the battle
ahead. Martial thus depicts Spendophoros as a soldier of love, even as a new
Cupid: whoever gets hit by his arrows will die of love. This is a variation of the
metaphor of love as a militia amoris, appearing already in Roman comedy but
largely developed by the Latin elegists; cf. particularly Ov. am. 1, 9, 1 Militat
omnis amans, et habet sua castra Cupido; ars 2, 233; also Tib. 1, 10, 53 ff. (cf.
Prop. 2, 5, 21 ff.); Hor. carm. 3, 26; see R. O. A. M. Lyne, The Latin Love Poets,
Oxford 1980, pp. 71 ff. But whereas the amator militans of the elegists does battle
to win the favour of a mistress, Spendophoros will inspire love for his own person
by means of his arrows and naked beauty, thus forcing others to fight about
himself.
In lines 7 ff., Martial compares Spendophoros to Parthenopaeus, the young
Arcadian hero at Thebes, giving a hint that his beauty when naked would probably have given him more success than did the armour he wore when he was slain.
This concept of Parthenopaeus as a
is in all likelihood derived from
Statius picture of the young hero as given in the Thebaid; there is an obvious,
homoerotic notion about the young hero in Statius epic,1 which has apparently
inspired Martial also with regard to Spendophoros equipment: Statius Parthenopaeus fought with divine arrows, viz. those of Artemis, the protectress of his
mother Atalante (Stat. Theb. 9, 726 ff.), but also, and more important, with a
spear (ibid. 708), which would account for the hasta mentioned in line 4. Statius
is the only source who mentions Parthenopaeus with the hasta and the arrows of
Artemis, and it seems probable that he has influenced Martial in this respect. But
it is also possible that in the present case, the levis hasta of Spendophoros should
be understood as referring to his mentula (Adams, pp. 19 f.; TLL, s.v. hasta 2552,
SDjM

NDOM

See S. W. Schetter, Untersuchungen zur epischen Kunst des Statius, Wiesbaden 1960, pp. 44 ff. Note
also that in silv. 2, 6, 42 f., Statius compares the puer delicatus of Flavius Ursus to Parthenopaeus.

35

77 ff.; ibid., s.v. levis 1222, 43 ff.). In such a case, armiger would also be sexually
allusive; see note below.
As published in Book 9, this poem would probably have left most readers
without a hint as to its addressee: obviously, it was written to flatter not Spendophoros, but his unnamed master. Even though the recipient himself would naturally have recognized himself as the addressee of a poem such as the present, it
would still have failed to live up to the expectations of most of Martials patrons,
viz. to be honoured by an explicit mention in his poetry. White argues that poems
lacking an obvious addressee must therefore have been presented to their actual
recipients prior to publication, either by extempore performance, by public recitation or by circulation in libelli; other instances are 2, 85; 4, 19; 5, 42; 6, 52; 8, 46;
9, 103; 11, 91; and 12, 67 (see White, Dedication, pp. 40 ff.).
, to pour a libation and
, thus presumably
1. Spendophoros: of Gr.
the carrier of libations. Martial uses it of a beautiful youth also in 10, 83, 7, but
there are no other instances in Latin literature. The Greek version of the name
(
) appears in AP app. 2, 306, 1.
VSyQGZ

IyUZ

6SHQGIRURM

Libycas ... urbis: see note on 9, 6, 1 Libycis.

domini armiger: the office of armiger, in the sense of squire, was, of
course, of no relevance in classical Roman circumstances. In Suet. Aug. 49, 1, the
word apparently relates to the emperors bodyguard of Calagurritans, and when
Cicero in dom. 13 refers to a certain Sergius as armiger Catilinae, stipator tui
corporis, signifer seditionis, etc., this is obviously rather an expression of contempt than a relation of fact.
However, Roman soldiers may take slaves with them on campaign, and as was
Spendophoros no doubt the slave of a master here unnamed, Martial may simply
refer to him by an old-fashioned term, suitable because of the nature of his masters mission; see D. J. Breeze & B. Dobson, Roman Officers and Frontiers, Stuttgart 1993, p. 583. But armiger is surely also chosen for the double entendre
compare the phrase inguinis arma gero of Priapus in 6, 73, 6 (where arma is used
as a metaphor for the penis; see Grewing, ad loc.); cf. also 11, 78, 6. For the sexual symbolism of weapons, see Adams, pp. 19 f. (suggesting that it was instantly
recognisable in ancient society).
2. tela: the arrows, standard equipment of Cupid, are topical; cf., for example,
Tib. 2, 5, 107; 2, 6, 15; Ov. epist. 20, 232; am. 2, 9b, 34; ars 1, 261; rem. 612;
met. 1, 468; 5, 366; 10, 311; and trist. 4, 10, 65 and see Bmer on Ov. met. 10,
311. For the prosody of the line, cf. 14, 21, 2.
4. tenera manu: this juncture is commonly used in the same position in the
pentameter as here, cf. 3, 19, 4; 14, 54, 2; 14, 177, 2; Tib. 2, 3, 10; 3, 9, 8; 3, 12;
2; Prop. 3, 3, 34; 3, 7, 48; Ov. am. 1, 13, 18; epist. 15, 216; fast. 4, 120; 4, 774;
Pont. 4, 12, 24.

36

4. levis hasta: Martial has Spendophoros carrying a spear, obviously to make

him resemble Parthenopaeus, but possibly also as a sexual allusion (see the introduction above).
5. loricam clipeumque tibi galeamque remitto: in his Loeb, Shackleton Bailey
translates I dont ask you for breastplate ..., paraphrasing remitto as a te non
postulo in the apparatus of his Teubner edition. This seems preferable to Kers
Cuirass and shield and helm I leave to thee.
For the prosody, cf. Verg. Aen. 10, 553; also Ov. epist. 13, 147; met. 12, 130;
Sil. 4, 432; Stat. Theb. 9, 560.
7. non iaculo, non ense: Sil. 5, 429 nunc iaculis, nunc ense, modo inter milia
consul. The line is also reminiscent of Ovids description of the peaceful conditions during the Golden Age in met. 1, 99 f. non galeae, non ensis erat: sine militis usu | mollia securae peragebant otia gentes.
fuit laesus: = est laesus. The passive perfect may be felt to be not strong
enough to convey the notion of the past, the participle being close to an adjective;
for this reason, the normal sum may be replaced by fui to accentuate the past
tense. While it appeared in archaic Latin, the classical language generally repudiated this accentuation (though it was used even by Caesar, civ. 3, 101, 4) but allowed it in passages set in the past tense, where the passive perfect with sum was
felt to need emphasis; this would be the case here, even though metrical convenience probably played a part; cf. also 1, 43 1 f.
The use of fui for sum where there is no need of emphasis is very rare and remains so throughout antiquity (as opposed to fuerat for erat); see further H. Blase
in G. Landgraf, Historische Grammatik der lateinischen Sprache, 3:1, Syntax des
einfachen Satzes, Leipzig 1903, pp. 173 ff.
8. Parthenopaeus: the Arcadian hero, one of the Seven against Thebes, renowned
for his youth and beauty (Statius refers to him as puer, for example, Theb. 9, 877);
see Lewy in Roscher, s.v. Parthenopaios 1651 ff. He is mentioned by Martial also
in 6, 77, 2 as the model of strong youth (cf. 10, 4, 3). In 11, 86, it is the name of a
fictitious glutton.
The point here is that Parthenopaeus met his doom while wearing his protective armour, getting killed by a piece of battlement coping thrown by Periclymenus (Eur. Phoen. 1153 ff.) or slain by Dryas, grandson of Orion, in an assault
on the Arcadians (thus Stat. Theb. 9, 841 ff.; for other versions, see M. Dewar,
Statius, Thebaid IX, Oxford 1991, ad loc.). Had he been naked, he would have
been able to capture everyone by his mere beauty and thus would have been quite
safe.
9. ab hoc: sc. a Spendophoro, using the arrows in the same way as Cupid.
fuerit fixus: the passive future perfect with fuero, originally a vulgar parallel
form (used also by Cicero), is preferred by the poets to that with ero as being

37

metrically more convenient. There seems to be no consistent difference in sense

between the two forms (see Landgraf, op. cit., pp. 188 f.).
10. bona fata manent: Ov. fast. 4, 156 bona fama manet.
11 f. puer | virum: Martial wishes that Spendophoros may grant the last of
his boyhood not to Africa, but to Rome. There is not only a physical contrast here,
but also a sexual: as long as Spendophoros is a puer, he is morally permissible as
a passive homosexual partner; having entered puberty and become a vir and thus a
part of the heterosexual world, this is no longer the case (see Kay on 11, 22, 6
virum). Other instances of this contrast in Martial are 11, 31, 8; 8, 46; and 11, 78,
12.

57
Nil est tritius Hedyli lacernis:
non ansae veterum Corinthiorum,
nec crus compede lubricum decenni,
nec ruptae recutita colla mulae,
nec quae Flaminiam secant salebrae,
nec qui litoribus nitent lapilli,
nec Tusca ligo vinea politus,
nec pallens toga mortui tribulis,
nec pigri rota quassa mulionis,
nec rasum cavea latus visontis,
nec dens iam senior ferocis apri.
Res una est tamen ipse non negabit ,
culus tritior Hedyli lacernis.

10

Yet another epigram on an ostensible moralist who is really a pathic. Here, it is

not explicitly stated that the target, a certain Hedylus, is a would-be philosopher,
but this is quite obvious from his ragged appearance, represented by his threadbare cloak, the hallmark especially of Cynic philosophers. The requirement for
raggedness could lead to a kind of paradoxical vanity, which already Socrates saw
and rebuked in Antisthenes, who was anxious to wear his cloak so that the rents
could be clearly seen (Diog. Laert. 2, 36; cf. note on 9, 47, 2 hirsutis). In the same
manner, Hedylus would boast about and show off his worn-out cloak, and Martial
joins in the game, asserting that indeed nothing is as worn as the cloak of this
stern philosopher, only to pull him completely to pieces in the concluding lines,
for there is one thing more worn than his cloak: his anus.
For Martials attacks on moralizers who turn out to be pathics, see 9, 27 intro.
and cf. 9, 41 and 47. The hypocritical neglect of appearance forms the target of
his wit also in 1, 24; 2, 36; 4, 53, 3 f.; 6, 56; 7, 58, 7; 12, 42, 1; and 14, 81; in
Greek epigram, cf. AP 11, 139; 154; 156; 157; 410; and 430.

38

Repetition of subordinate clauses with anaphora of the conjunction is relatively

common in Martial; cf., for example, 1, 39; 1, 41; 2, 11; 2, 53; 2, 57; 3, 62; 3, 63;
3, 93; and 9, 97. This device, practically completely absent in Greek epigram, can
be observed in Catullus (for nec, compare in particular Catull. 43, 14); see
Siedschlag, Form, pp. 41 f.; cf. Howells introduction to 1, 39.
1. tritius lacernis: for the lacerna, see note on 9, 22, 13 Tyrias lacernas. In
1, 96, 4, one of Hedylus kindred spirits is referred to as amator ille tristium lacernarum.
(of
, sweety), is
Hedyli: the name, formed on the diminutive
used of a passive homosexual also in 1, 46 and 4, 52. Although the name is a
perfectly normal one in Greek (see Pape, s.v.
), there are no other instances of it in Latin. However, it seems to have had sexual undertones, and Martial would not have chosen it at random; cf., with reference to women, Hedylium
of an amica in Plaut. Pseud. 188 (cf. AP 5, 133) and Hedyle in Petron. 113, 3 (see
Howells introduction to 1, 46).
GORM

GM

C+GORM

2. ansae veterum Corinthiorum: the handles of old vessels of Corinthian

bronze. The formula of this highly praised bronze seems never to have been
known to the Romans, nor do the Greeks seem to have been agreed on its precise
content. It was thought to be a mixture of bronze, gold and silver accidentally
created when Corinth was captured and burnt in 146 BC (Plin. nat. 34, 6 ff.; Plut.
Delph. orac. 2, the latter also offering another myth of its invention, ascribing it to
a bronzeworker who mixed gold with bronze in order to hide it), but presumably,
the Corinthian bronze was a bronze with a particularly high content of tin (see
Emanuele, Aes Corinthum).
The Corinthian bronze was eagerly collected, among others, by Augustus
(Suet. Aug. 70, 2); cf. also Sen. dial. 9, 9, 6; 10, 12, 2; Plin. epist. 3, 1, 9; 3, 6, 4;
Trimalchio boasted about his being the only genuine collection of Corinthian ware
(Corinthian inasmuch as it was made by the smith Corinthus, Petron. 50, 2).
Martial mentions the bronze also in 9, 59, 11 (see note ad loc.); 14, 43; 14, 172;
14, 177.
3. crus compede lubricum decenni: Martial would be thinking of the shin of a
slave, kept in shackles for many years; cf. note on 9, 22, 4 innumera compede;
Tib. 1, 7, 42; 2, 6, 36; Ov. am. 2, 2, 47; Pont. 1, 6, 31.
4. ruptae mulae: the abraded [i.e. by the yoke or sim.] neck of a worn-out
mule. The mule was considered the animal most suitable for heavy work of different kinds; above all, it was used as a draught and pack animal (see Toynbee,
Animals, pp. 185 ff.). Martial, like other poets, prefers the feminine form mula to
the masculine mulus (of which there is only one instance in the Epigrams, 5, 22,
7, whereas there are eight instances of mula, 1, 79, 3; 3, 62, 6; 8, 61, 9; 9, 22, 13;
11, 79, 4; 14, 162, 1; 14, 197 lem.).

39

5. Flaminiam: sc. viam. The Flaminian Way, built in 220 BC by C. Flaminius,

was one of the three most important roads from Rome northwards (Cic. Phil. 12,
22). It was busy (Tac. hist. 2, 64, 1; cf. Iuv. 1, 61; Claudian carm. min. 40, 8
refers to it as pulverulenta) and also an important high way for armies (Tac. hist.
3, 79, 1; 82, 2; ann. 3, 9, 1) but was kept in good condition and restored by,
among others, Augustus (Suet. Aug. 30, 1). Its shortcomings, presumably not to
be taken too seriously, are mentioned only here. Like the other roads leading from
Rome, the via Flaminia was lined with sepulchral monuments (cf. 6, 28, 5; 11,
13, 1); see further Weiss in RE 6, s.v. Flaminia via, 2493 ff.
6. qui litoribus nitent lapilli: cf. in particular 8, 64, 5 f. Sit vultus tibi levior
licebit | tritis litoris aridi lapillis; the pebbles of the beach are in this case nothing
more than small stones (cf. Prop. 1, 2, 13; Ov. am. 2, 11, 13) abraded by the
waves and not, as in 10, 38, 5, pearls (cf. note on 9, 2, 9 Erythraeis lapillis).
7. Tusca ligo vinea politus: in hilly regions, the ligo (mattock) was used instead of the plough (and not to prune the vines themselves); see note on 9, 22, 3
ligones; thus, vinea here means vineyard. For Etrurian wine, see note on 9, 22,
4 Tuscus ager.
8. toga mortui tribulis: for the funeral, the dead person was dressed up in the
toga (see Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 484). In the case of the poor, the toga
would often be threadbare, as a consequence of constant washings to keep it clean
for the morning salutations, at which it was required. Because of its high price,
the poor would also be unable to replace it when worn out (cf. the introduction to
9, 49); indeed, according to Juvenal, there were even some who never put on the
toga at all, except on the bier (Iuv. 3, 171).
For tribulis in the sense of vir humilis, cf. note on 9, 49, 7 tremulo ... tribuli.
9. mulionis: there were different kinds of muliones, those who hired out draught
animals and carriages and who were for hire themselves, as well as those who
were slaves (Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 465). Of the muliones in general,
Martial did not have any high opinion; cf. 10, 76, 9, in which the poet complains
that even a mule-driver was better off than the likes of himself. Seneca (epist. 47,
15) reckoned that the task of the slave muleteers was among the dirtier kinds of
work (without taking any moral view of it).
10. visontis: the maned bison, found wild in Germania (Plin. nat. 8, 38), is mentioned by Martial in epigr. 22, 10 and 1, 104, 8 as occurring at spectacles; presumably, the one mentioned here was also destined for the arena, its side having
been rubbed against the cage during the long transport from Germania (see Toynbee, Animals, p. 148).
11. dens senior ferocis apri: the tusks are the boars only weapon, but a
dreadful one; cf. 11, 69, 9 (with Kay); 13, 94; TLL, s.v. aper 209, 47 ff. The boar
being ferocious (ferox as an epithet of the boar only here and in Ov. met. 4, 723;
cf., for example, trux aper Ov. met. 10, 715; torvus a. Prop. 2, 3, 6), and the one
40

mentioned here being an old one, its tusks would have been worn down not only
by chewing, but also in many a battle.
12. ipse non negabit: cf. 4, 43, 10, where the phrase occurs in the same place of
the hendecasyllabus and in a similar context. Here, I follow the punctuation of
Shackleton Bailey.
13. culus tritior etc.: for the idea of the anus of a passive homosexual being worn
by intercourse, cf. 2, 51, 2.
Martial often ends an epigram by repeating one of the opening lines, sometimes, as here, with a slight variation (see note on 9, 38, 10).

58
Nympha sacri regina lacus, cui grata Sabinus
et mansura pio munere templa dedit,
sic montana tuos semper colat Umbria fontes,
nec tua Baianas Sassina malit aquas:
excipe sollicitos placide, mea dona, libellos;
5
tu fueris Musis Pegasis unda meis.
Nympharum templis quisquis sua carmina donat,
quid fieri libris debeat, ipse monet.
C. Caesius Sabinus, a friend of Martials, has built a temple to the nymph of a
lake in his home town of Sassina in Umbria, and Martial offers some libelli of his
to the nymph, making a prayer that she will accept his offering. The prayer, which
occupies lines 16, is quite sincere and worded in the usual style with sic-clauses
followed by an imperative (the actual wish) and a vow on the poets part if the
prayer is heeded; the same structure can be observed in 9, 42, for example.
In lines 78, there follows, rather abruptly as an
, the answer of
the nymph; it is a snubbing and cruel one in glaring contrast to the preceding
lines: the man who offers his books to a temple of the nymphs has himself shown
what ought to be done with them (see below on lines 7 f.). In fact, the character of
this concluding distich is such that it might form an epigram of its own. As
pointed out by Barwick (Zur Kompositionstechnik und Erklrung Martials,
Philologus 87 (1932), p. 64), its relation to the rest of the poem is exactly paralleled by that of 1, 4 to 1, 5; in 1, 4, Martial asks Domitian to read his epigrams
(illa fronte) qua Thymelen spectas derisoremque Latinum (1, 4, 5), while 1, 5
gives Domitians reply (even alluding to the same idea that bad poems deserve to
be drenched in water): Do tibi naumachiam, tu das epigrammata nobis: | vis,
puto, cum libro, Marce, natare tuo. In the case of the present epigram there is
nothing in the MSS to support the separation of the concluding distich. But it is
worth noting that there is no manuscript support either for Scriverius obviously
correct and universally accepted separation of 9, 95 and 95 b. Barwick even refers
to the two sections as 9, 58 and 9, 58 b.
SURVGNKWRQ

41

The poem (or the first six lines) would have been written to head the libelli
presented to Caesius Sabinus, just as 9, 26 introduced a collection of poems presented to Nerva (see 9, 26 intro.).
1. sacri lacus: the lake is sacred because of the presence of the nymph; cf. 4,
57, 7 f. and Verg. ecl. 1, 51 f. fortasse senex, hic inter flumina nota | et fontis
sacros frigus captabis opacum (compare Servius, ad loc.: fontes sacros quia omnibus aquis nymphae sunt praesidentes).
Sabinus: C. Caesius Sabinus, of Sassina in Umbria (thus the fellow townsman
of the centurion Aulus Pudens of 1, 31 etc.; cf. 7, 97), appears with certainty in
two more epigrams, 7, 97 (giving his nomen gentilicium; his praenomen is recorded in inscriptions; cf. below) and 9, 60, and possibly also in 11, 8 and 17 (see
Kay on 11, 8, 14, though the Sabini appearing in these instances were regarded as
fictitious by Groag in RE 3, s.v. Sabinus 29, 1316); the occurrence of a Sabinus in
4, 37, 3 is uncertain, as Sabinus in this case is the reading only of , while the MSS offer Sabellus (which is printed by Shackleton Bailey). If the Sabinus of 11,
8 and 17 is to be identified as Caesius Sabinus, then the erotic allusions of these
epigrams would argue for some intimacy between him and the poet, but the same
allusions may also suggest that the name is in fact fictitious, as the use of the
name Sabinus, which has a ring of moral sternness to it (cf. note on 9, 40, 5),
would be quite humorous in such a context.
Caesius Sabinus building activities at Sassina are recorded in five fragmentary inscriptions (CIL 11, 64896493; 6499), four of which concern dedications to
Jupiter, Apollo, Minerva and the Dei publici respectively.
J

2. pio munere templa dedit: the gift of a temple is naturally pium; the juncture
also in Sil. 17, 32 pia munera and Val. Fl. 2, 330 f. insuetis et iam pia munera
templis | reddit.
The ending templa dedit also 6, 10, 2.
3. sic: see note on 9, 42, 1 sic.
montana Umbria: cf. 7, 97, 2, mentioning Caesius Sabinus as montanae
decus Umbriae; Umbria is intersected by the Apennines.
4. Baianas aquas: probably a reference to the sulphurous hot springs at Baiae,
which are often mentioned for their healing powers; cf. Plin. nat. 31, 5. Martial
mentions or alludes to them also in 1, 62, 4; 3, 20, 19; 4, 57, 6; 6, 42, 7; 6, 43, 1
f.; 10, 14, 3; cf. Hlsen in RE 2, s.v. Baiae 2774 f. (however, the reference in Ov.
met. 15, 713 is not altogether certain; see Bmer, ad loc.).
Sassina: Martial elsewhere mentions Sabinus home town of Sassina (for the
spelling Sarsina found in Plautus and Servius, see Philipp in RE 2:2, s.v. Sarsina
51) in northern Umbria because of its famous cheese: 1, 43, 7 (with Howell); 3,
58, 35. It was also renowned for its milk; cf. Plin. nat. 11, 241; Sil. 8, 461 f.

42

5. sollicitos: anxious (about their reception), cf., for example, Ov. trist. 5, 2, 1 f.
Ecquid ubi e Ponto nova venit epistula, palles, | et tibi sollicita solvitur illa
manu?; Forcellini, Lex., s.v. sollicitus 3, 555.
6. fueris: future perfect in the main clause to denote that the result is sure to occur; see Khner-Stegmann, 37, 2, pp. 147 f.; HofmannSzantyr, 180 a, p. 323.
) on Mt. Helicon, which,
Pegasis unda: the spring Hippocrene (Gr.
according to Hellenistic tradition, sprang from the hoof mark of Pegasus (Nicand.
heter. 4 quoted by Anton. Lib. met. 9, 2; Ov. met. 5, 257; fast. 3, 456; Pont. 4, 8,
80; AP 9, 225 [Honestus]; see Sittig in RE 8, s.v. Hippokrene 1854 ff.); Martials
description of it as Pegasis unda is a direct borrowing from Ov. trist. 3, 7, 15.
The spring was sacred to the Muses and a source of poetical inspiration (for
example, AP 9, 230 [Honestus]). Hesiods story of how he was inspired at Mt.
Helicon (Hesiod. theog. 5 ff.) was later improved by his drinking from the spring,
a subject which became something of a topos; cf. AP 7, 55, 5 f. (Alkaios); 9, 64
(Asclepiades or Archias); 11, 24 (Antipater). Mt. Helicon is associated with poetical inspiration also in Callimachus, Ennius, Vergil (ecl. 6, 64 f.) and Propertius
(3, 3, 1 ff.); see Sittig, op. cit., 1853 f.
C,SSRNUQK

7 f. Nympharum templis | ipse monet: viz. that they deserve to be thrown

into the water. Friedlnder understood the lines as the reply of Caesius Sabinus
but was contradicted by Barwick (loc. cit.), who took it as the reply of the nymph,
to whom the preceding prayer is addressed; compare 1, 4, containing a petition to
the emperor, which is followed, as here, by a snubbing reply (1, 5 quoted above),
quite obviously from the emperor himself.
The idea that bad poems deserve to be drenched in water occurs also in 1, 5; 3,
100; 5, 53; 14, 196. It has been traced to an anecdote about Plato in Diog. Laert.
3, 5, and is relatively widespread in Latin literature; often, as in 5, 53, 4, it is
mentioned together with the burning-up of the poems; see Nisbet & Hubbard on
Hor. carm. 1, 16, 3. Perhaps there was some magical rite of purification behind it;
Citroni (on 1, 5, 2) refers to A. Ronconi Malum carmen e malus poeta,
Filologia e linguistica, Rome 1968, pp. 141 f.

43

59
In Saeptis Mamurra diu multumque vagatus,
hic ubi Roma suas aurea vexat opes,
inspexit molles pueros oculisque comedit,
non hos, quos primae prostituere casae,
sed quos arcanae servant tabulata catastae
et quos non populus nec mea turba videt.
Inde satur mensas et opertos exuit orbes
expositumque alte pingue poposcit ebur,
et testudineum mensus quater hexaclinon
ingemuit citro non satis esse suo.
Consuluit nares, an olerent aera Corinthon,
culpavit statuas et, Polyclite, tuas,
et turbata brevi questus crystallina vitro
murrina signavit seposuitque decem
expendit veteres calathos et si qua fuerunt
pocula Mentorea nobilitata manu,
et viridis picto gemmas numeravit in auro,
quidquid et a nivea grandius aure sonat.
Sardonychas veros mensa quaesivit in omni
et pretium magnis fecit iaspidibus.
Undecima lassus cum iam discederet hora,
asse duos calices emit et ipse tulit.

10

15

20

A vivid description of how Mamurra spends a whole day at the Saepta, the distinguished market-place of contemporary Rome, looking at the most beautiful slaveboys, exclusive furniture, expensive utensils and luxury jewellery. But his intention was never to buy anything, only to make it look as if he intended to, eager to
disguise his true poverty with a veil of alleged wealth. He satisfies his lusts by
devouring with his eyes such slave-boys as are not displayed to the mob but are
reserved for more wealthy customers; once back among the crowd, he scrutinizes
all the most expensive wares, but, in order not to have to buy anything, he finds
fault with every object: the dinner sofa is too small for his enormous citrus-table,
the bronzes are not real Corinthian, there are too few gems inlaid in the golden
cup. He even has complains about genuine statues of the Greek masters and varies
his trickery by having put aside ten vessels of murrine ware, which, of course, he
will never come back for. Having spent the day in this manner, he sneaks away at
closing-time, having bought nothing but two cups of the cheapest kind.
The woes of the poor man who cannot buy the whole of Saepta are neatly
summarized by Martial in 10, 80, in which a certain Eros goes about vainly sighing for much the same wares as Mamurramurrine vessels, slave boys, a citrus
tableand weeps at his inability to buy them all. Martial adds a moral at the end:
Quam multi faciunt, quod Eros, sed lumine sicco! | Pars maior lacrimas ridet et
intus habet.

44

1. Saeptis: the Saepta Iulia, usually referred to simply as Saepta. The structure
was a rectangular porticus, completed by Agrippa in 23 BC on the location of the
ovile, the voting precinct of the comitia centuriata, on the Campus Martius. As
popular elections were rarely held from the time of Tiberius onward the Saepta
was used for other purposes; already under Augustus, as later under Caligula and
Claudius, it was the scene of gladiatorial combats, and naumachiae were given
there. The building was damaged in the fire of 80 but was quickly restored by
Domitian and became, to judge from the references to it in Martial and Statius, a
distinguished market-place (10, 80), a popular place for strolling (Stat. silv. 4, 6,
2), apparently the place to be seen (2, 57) and consequently also a hunting-ground
for dinner-hunters (cf. 9, 14 intro.); see further L. Richardson, A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, Baltimore 1992, pp. 340 f.; Platner &
Ashby, pp. 460 ff.; Rosenberg in RE 2:1, s.v. Saepta 1724 ff.
Mamurra: Martial applies this name to unpleasant persons here and in 10, 4,
11, drawing, of course, on the Mamurra of Catullus (Catull. 29; 41; 43; 57; nicknamed in 94, 105, 114, 115). A native of Formiae in southern Latium, Mamurra
had served under Pompey in the war against Mithridates and thereafter as praefectus fabrum under Caesar in Spain, services during which he accumulated substantial wealth, which he treated as wastefully as he had his patrimony. His
behaviour upset people (cf. Cic. Att. 7, 7, 6), not least Catullus, who also seems to
have had private reasons for not liking Mamurra (cf. Catull. 29; 41; 43; see
Fordyces introduction to Catull. 29).
Although Martials debt to Catullus is apparent in this case, the connection between his Mamurra and the actual person is limited to the sharing of the name
and of the low morals; already Horace (sat. 1, 5, 37) had used the name as a generic plural for persons of the same kind as Mamurra (see also R. Paukstadt, De
Martiale Catulli imitatore, diss. Halle 1886, p. 8).
2. Roma aurea: the line is an obvious echo of Ov. ars 3, 113 f. Simplicitas
rudis ante fuit: nunc aurea Roma est, | et domiti magnas possidet orbis opes,
which is the first instance of the juncture aurea Roma; after this, it does not occur
until considerably later: Iuvenc. 2, praef. 2; Hist. Aug. Pesc. 12, 6; Auson. 21, 1, 1
Prete. Whereas the meaning in Ovid is Rome adorned with gold, Martial has
here metonymically transferred the expression to wealthy Romans, giving the
phrase a partitive notion, the wealthy part of Rome.
vexat opes: waste their wealth. The unparalleled phrase suggests a frenetic
activity at the market-place. Friedlnder compared it to flagellat opes found in 2,
30, 4 and 5, 13, 6, meaning that the money is kept in constant motion (whip up;
OLD, s.v. 3), but perhaps a comparison with Sall. Catil. 20, 12 omnibus modis
pecuniam trahunt vexant is more natural, where the meaning is, using a metaphor
from warfare, devastate their fortune.
3 ff. molles pueros nec mea turba videt: molles (often used of effeminates; cf.
9, 11, 10 molle), oculis comedit (cf. 1, 96, 12 oculis devorantibus; the expression
is colloquial; see Howell, ad loc.) and prostituere (apparently not used elsewhere
45

with reference to the mere displaying of slaves, but, of course, frequent in the
sense of to prostitute) add a sexual notion to the passage.
Young and beautiful slave-boys could be very expensive; the sum of 100,000
IIS is mentioned both in 1, 58, 1 (see Howell ad loc.) and in 11, 70, 1. However,
these prices would not be fetched by the boys in the front booths, the primae
casae, as the more valuable slaves, to judge from this passage, were displayed on
a platform (catasta) in a hidden back room (cf. Blmner, Privataltertmer, p.
279), open only to those likely to be able to pay for them (hence servant; OLD,
s.v. 8), and not to the mob or the likes of Martial. For the ending of line 6, cf. Ov.
trist. 1, 5, 34.
7. inde satur: corresponds to comedit in line 3. For inde depending on an adverb
(substantive, adjective), see TLL, s.v. 1116, 33 ff.
opertos orbes: in the shops as well as in homes, expensive table-leaves,
like those of citrus-wood (see note on 9, 22, 5), were often covered with a protective cloth, a mantele (cf. 12, 28, 12; 14, 139); cf. Blmner, Privataltertmer, p.
125.
8. pingue ebur: exclusive table-leaves were usually put on an ivory leg (note
on 9, 22, 5), and it seems likely that Martial is referring to such a leg here, put
away on the top shelves to keep it out of reach of the customers.
To preserve it from decay, ivory was smeared with old olive-oil, hence pingue;
see Plin. nat. 15, 32; Blmner, Technologie 2, p. 374, n. 1.
,
9. testudineum hexaclinon: a dinner sofa for six (from Greek
with six couches) inlaid with tortoiseshell. It is of a kind called stibadia (Gr.
, dim. of
bed [of straw], cf. 14, 87), a semicircular sofa,
which, because of its shape, was also referred to as sigma (10, 48, 6). Apparently
Greek in origin, it came into use in the Principate and replaced the three lecti
tricliniares previously used.
Hexaclinon is a
in Latin, but there are instances of
and
in Greek (see Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 119). Tortoiseshell was a
popular decoration on couches (already mentioned by Varro ling. 9, 47), cf. 12,
66, 5; 14, 87; Blmner, op. cit., p. 117.
Note that the verse is a spondiacus; when such verses occur in Martial
(Friedlnder, p. 40, gives 13 instances), the poet generally follows the rule that the
fourth foot should be filled out with a dactyl and the fifth and sixth with a quadrisyllabic word; cf. Crusius, pp. 52 f.
w[NOLQRM

VWLEGLRQ

VWLEM

SD[

w[NOLQRQ

wSWNOLQRQ

9 f. mensus quater | ingemuit: to make it look like as if he really wants to buy

the luxury couch, Mamurra measures it time and time again to see if there is any
way to make it fit his huge (imaginary) table of citrus-wood (cf. note on line 7
opertos orbes above). Of course, he finds that there is not; otherwise, he would
have to buy the couch, for which he had no money. The costly table-leaves of
citrus-wood were usually small, made from a single piece of wood and resting on

46

a single leg (Blmner, op. cit., pp. 124 f.), so Mamurras exaggeration is almost
ridiculous.
As regards ingemesco with the accusativus cum infinitivo, see Khner-Stegmann, 1 126 b, p. 691; TLL, s.v. 1516, 79 ff.
11. Consuluit nares, an olerent aera Corinthon: the idea that Corinthian bronze
(on which see note on 9, 57, 2) could be recognized by its distinctive smell seems
to have had a proverbial ring in Martials day, even though there is no evidence
for such a smell. An attempt at an explanation was made by Emanuele, Aes
Corinthum, p. 354, suggesting that the patina itself, produced by the chlorides in
Corinthian water, had a distinct odor. But Emanuele also acknowledges that here
Martial might want to satirize the idea of a possible olfactory authentication,
and indeed it seems more likely that Martial really ridicules Mamurra by having
him putting into practice something that was probably nothing more than a
popular saying.
A hint of a solution of the problem is given by Petronius in the famous passage
in which Trimalchio, while boasting that he is the only one to possess genuine
Corinthian bronzes (which is true, inasmuch as his bronzes are made by a smith
named Corinthus), still declares that he prefers glass vessels: ignoscetis mihi quod
dixero: ego malo mihi vitrea, certe non olunt (Petron. 50, 7). This obviously refers to the same idea as the present line, but it is important to keep in mind that
Trimalchio does not claim to be able to identify real Corinthian bronze by its
smell but simply states that he prefers glass to his fake Corinthian bronze, since
glass does not smell; see J. Linderski, Aes olet: Petronius 50.7 and Martial
9.59.11, HSPh 94 (1992), pp. 349353. Obviously, his fake bronze smelled, the
reason for which would have been the practice of greasing bronze as a protection
against rust (Linderski, op. cit., p. 351). Corinthian bronze, on the other hand,
does not seem to have been inclined to rust (Cic. Tusc. 4, 32), presumably because
it had a high content of tin (Emanuele, Aes Corinthum, p. 352), and therefore did
not need to be greased to the same extent as bronze of poorer quality. Consequently, genuine Corinthian bronze would actually not have smelled as much as
such bronzes.
It would seem that the idea of the smell of Corinthian bronze belonged to the
sphere of popular sayings (perhaps something like to be able to scent gold out)
and lacked support in reality. Petronius makes a joke about it by introducing Trimalchios paradoxical, smelly, Corinthian bronze, possibly in his case because
they were really not from Corinth but only made by the smith Corinthus, and
Martial makes a fool of Mamurra putting a proverb into practice.
12. Polyclite: Mamurra, in his zeal to find fault with every object so as not to have
to buy it, shows his lack of culture in complaining about the statues that really are
by the great masters as if they were nothing but copies.
Martial mentions Polyclitus (the sculptor of the famous Doryphoros and of the
Diadumenos) in two more epigrams (8, 50, 2; 10, 89), making him, together with
Myron, the third most often mentioned Greek artist in the poets works (see note
on 9, 44, 6 Phidiae putavi).

47

13. turbata crystallina vitro: the line obviously refers to vessels of crystal
glass, but its exact meaning has been variously understood, for example, as referring to an impure section in the crystal resembling ordinary glass, to crystal mixed
up with small pieces of glass to cheat the customer or, as Friedlnder suggested, to
crystal with an piece of ordinary glass inset so as to look like a contamination; cf.
Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 408, n. 18. However, turbata should be interpreted,
I think, not as an attribute but as the predicative part of an accusativus cum infinitivo pronouncement governed by questus. Martials aim being to poke fun of Mamurra, there was probably no fault in the crystal at all (just as there cannot have
been any fault in the work of Polyclitus); Roman glass-workers were quite capable
of producing perfect crystal, but Mamurra, having started to examine the vessel,
has to find at least some tiny fault in it, lest it should seem that it is his limited
purse and not the low quality of the vessel that keeps him from buying it. Thus,
the line is more effective if there was in fact no fault in the crystal than if there
really was.
On Roman crystal cups, which were made both of rock-crystal and of glass
imitating crystal, see note on 9, 22, 7 magna ... crystalla.
14. murrina: murrines, vessels of a kind of glass originally produced as a substitute for precious stones, were just as sought after as crystal (they are mentioned
together in 3, 82, 25; Plin. nat. 33, 5; 35, 158, 36, 1; Iuv. 6, 155 f. grandia tolluntur crystallina, maxima rursus | murrina; Hist. Aug. Aur. 17, 4; murrine alone in
Mart. 3, 26, 2; 10, 80, 1; 11, 70, 8; 13, 110, 1; 14, 113). The ware displayed a
variety of colours, and it has been plausibly suggested that it was made of fluorspar. Pliny has an account of it in nat. 37, 1822, stating that it was imported
from the Parthian kingdom and first came to Rome after Pompeys victory over
Mithridates in the late sixties BC. It soon became popular and fetched enormous
prices (owing to its fragility: Plin. nat. 33, 5); Nero, for instance, had paid
1,000,000 IIS for one single bowl. See Kay on 11, 70, 8 with further references.
signavit seposuitque: Mamurra fastened a seal on the vessels as a token of
purchase, a custom which is rarely attested, but cf. Ulp. dig. 18, 6, 1 si dolium
signatum sit ab emptore, Trebatius ait traditum id videri; perhaps also Sen. benef.
3, 15, 2 refers to this practice: utinam nulla stipulatio emptorem venditori obligaret nec pacta conventaque inpressis signis custodirentur, fides potius illa servaret
et aecum colens animus!
, apparently first introduced into Latin by
15. veteres calathos: Gr.
Vergil, who uses the word in the original Greek sense of basket (ecl. 2, 46; Aen.
7,806), but also in the sense of drinking-vessel,1 the latter sense being unattested
in Greek; cf. A. E. A. Saalfeld, Tensaurus Italograecus, Vienna 1884, s.v.
Martial mentions the calathus twice more (8, 16, 6; 14, 107), both instances
referring to wine cups. As indicated by 8, 6, 16 Priami calathis and by the present
instance, the word carried a notion of great age.
NODTRM

For wine, ecl. 5, 71; for milk, georg. 3, 402; these vessels were probably either wicker-covered or shaped
like tapered baskets (see R. Coleman, Vergil, Eclogues, Cambridge 1977, p. 168).

48

16. Mentorea manu: at Rome, the Greek chaser Mentor (first half of the 4th
century BC?) was considered the prime master of his art. Pliny speaks of him as
maxime laudatus (nat. 33, 154) and relates that the orator Lucius Crassus possessed a pair of goblets chased by his hand, for which he had paid 100,000 IIS
(nat. 33, 147). Despite his origin, Mentor is not mentioned anywhere in the extant
Greek texts, except in Lucian (see Lippold in RE 15, s.v. 10, 965 ff.).
Mentor is one of the Greek artists who frequently appear in Martial (six instances, also 3, 40, 1; 4, 39, 5; 8, 50, 2; 11, 11, 5; 14, 93, 2, all referring to bowls,
plates or cups); only Phidias is mentioned more often (cf. note on 9, 44, 6 Phidiae
putavi). He seems to have worked mostly in silver, and his works were very rare
and equally sought after, which naturally resulted in there being not only copies,
but also forgeries.
17. viridis picto gemmas in auro: Mamurra counted the emeralds inlaid in
a chased golden cup, pretending to check whether there were enough for him to
consider a purchase.
Gold was used for luxury cups (if only as a gilding), a luxury which was
sometimes increased by the addition of precious stones to the cup to produce socalled pocula gemmata (Plin. nat. 33, 5; 37, 17). Apparently, emeralds (virides
gemmae, also 11, 28, 10; Iuv. 6, 458; cf. Val. Fl. 6, 699 f.) were used in particular; cf. 14, 109 (108 Leary) (Calices gemmati) Gemmatum Scythicis ut luceat
ignibus aurum, | aspice. Quot digitos exuit iste calix! mentioning Scythian emeralds, which were considered the best (cf. Plin. nat. 37, 65; Friedlnder on 4, 28, 4;
Leary on 14, 108, le.); cf. also Iuv. 5, 39 ff. and see Blmner, Privataltertmer, p.
408.
Pictus here must mean chased (so Ker in his Loeb), a usage of the word
which seems to be unattested elsewhere. The juncture pictum aurum appears in
Lucan. 2, 357 and Val. Fl. 3, 11, but both these refer to gold embroidery; it is
noteworthy, though, that in both instances, the words occupy the same metrical
position as in the present line; cf. also Ov. met. 3, 556 and Stat. Theb. 6, 208.
18. a nivea grandius aure sonat: large pearls, like precious stones, were popular
as decorations in earrings (cf., for example, Ov. medic. 21 f.; Sen. benef. 7, 9, 4;
Plin. nat. 9, 114). The type of earring known as crotalia (Plin. nat. 9, 114; Petron.
67, 9; Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 263) was decorated with several, loosely
hanging pearls, the rattling of which accounts for its name, cf. Gr.
, to
make a rattle.
Grandius may allude either to the rattle being louder the bigger the pearls, or
perhaps to the pearls themselves, in the sense of large or distinguished.
Niveus is a standard epithet of female beauty (see Bmer on Ov. met. 3, 423), but
the present may perhaps also be interpreted as a case of hypallage (the ear itself,
and not the pearls, is said to be as white as snow).
NURWyZ

19. Sardonychas veros: genuine sardonyx rings. To be considered a sardonyx, the

stone had to have three (or more) layers, black, white and red; varieties with only
two layers were considered ordinary onyxes (see Plin. nat. 37, 85 ff.). The sardonyx, which was found in India (as opposed to the onyx, which was imported
49

from Arabia), was a popular stone for rings and is often mentioned as such, especially by Martial (cf. 2, 29, 2; 4, 61, 6 [with the epithet verus]; 5, 11, 1; 11, 37, 2),
and also by Persius (1, 16) and Juvenal (6, 382; 13, 139; cf. also Plin. nat. 37, 4);
it is also mentioned without further specification in 4, 28, 4 (with the epithet Indus); 10, 87, 14 (verus); 11, 27, 10; Iuv. 7, 144; see Schramm in RE 18, s.v. Onyx
535 ff.
The semiprecious stone was obviously very valuable, and forgeries (which
were very hard to tell from the genuine stone) were made by putting together
separate pieces of stones of different colours (Plin. nat. 37, 197), hence Martials
stress on the stones as veri in 4, 61, 6 and 10, 87, 14. In the present instance, the
MSS offer vero ( , printed by Gilbert [but see his apparatus], Lindsay and Heraeus) and viro ( ), which was rightfully emended to veros in the editio Aldina.
Apart from the support of the parallels in Books 4 and 10, veros obviously provides a far better sense than vero: Mamurra is looking for real sardonyxes and no
forgeries; of course, he does not find any, lest he should be forced to buy them;
thus, the pattern from the preceding lines is repeated.
E

20. magnis iaspidibus: according to Pliny (nat. 37, 115 ff.), jasper (an opaque
variety of quartz) appears in a multitude of varieties, like the green Indian (similar
to emerald), the Cypriot greyish-green, the Persian sky-blue, the Phrygian purple,
etc., the best one being that which has a shade of purple. The yellowish variety is
mentioned by Pliny only in passing as similes myxis (like the sebesten plum),
although this is the kind most often mentioned by the Latin poets, presumably
because of the fact that the first mention of this variety in Latin appears in Verg.
Aen. 4, 261 f., referring to a sword inlaid with yellowish jasper: stellatus iaspide
fulva | ensis (cf. Serv. ad loc.; Gell. 2, 26, 11); then Lucan. 10, 122 and Stat.
Theb. 7, 659.
Of old, jasper was used for various decorative purposes; apart from the quotation from Vergil above, cf. Stat. Theb. 4, 270 (the quiver of Parthenopaeus
adorned with amber and jasper); 7, 658 f. (a fibula with jasper); cups inlaid with
jasper are mentioned by Lucan. 10, 122 and Iuv. 5, 42. Martials only other mention of jasper refers to the rings of his friend Stella (5, 11, 1 f. with Howell), and it
seems likely that this is the reference also of the present line, like that of the preceding one.
21. undecima hora: perhaps at closing-time. The eleventh hour fell in the
last quarter of the day, which was called suprema and lasted from the ninth hour
to sundown on the twelfth (Blmner Privataltertmer, pp. 373 f.). Even though
there seems to be no evidence for the eleventh hour as the common closing-time
of shops, there is a parallel in the stipulated time for court proceedings, which
were not allowed to begin earlier than the first hour or to end later than the eleventh (see Mommsen, Strafrecht, pp. 364 f., and cf. Cic. Cluent. 27 puer, cum hora
undecima in publico valens visus esset, ante noctem mortuus; Fronto p. 34, 25 f.
van den Hout 1954 ego quom sine te sum, causidicos in undecimam horam
audio).

50

22. asse duos calices emit: having spent the whole day at the Saepta, Mamurra
left without having bought anything but two calices, which he carried himself,
since he had not even got slaves to carry them for him. The calix was the commonest type of drinking-vessel (Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 405) and so could
be had in very cheap variants; cf. 12, 74; Iuv. 11, 145 plebeios calices et paucis
assibus emptos; Leary on 14, 94, le.

60
Seu tu Paestanis genita es seu Tiburis arvis,
seu rubuit tellus Tuscula flore tuo,
seu Praenestino te vilica legit in horto,
seu modo Campani gloria ruris eras:
pulchrior ut nostro videare corona Sabino,
de Nomentano te putet esse meo.

A neat epigram to accompany Martials gift to his friend Caesius Sabinus of a

wreath (probably) of roses and violets, the two flowers commonly used for
wreaths; cf. Plin. nat. 21, 14 paucissima nostri genera coronamentorum inter
hortensia novere, ac paene violas rosasque tantum; cf. Ov. met. 12, 410, with
Bmer; Stat. silv. 1, 2, 22. The flowers are, however, not such as Martial has
grown himself on his Nomentan farm, but such as had been imported into the city
from the famous flower gardens of Italy. Now, as several famous Romans had
villas in the areas renowned for their floral splendour, Martial here makes a contrast between these and his own (allegedly) poor farm at Nomentum: the flowers
in his wreath may be from Paestum, Tibur, Tusculum, Praeneste or Campania, but
if Sabinus thinks that the wreath is made of Nomentan flowers, it will seem all the
more beautiful to him.
Like Nomentum, Tibur, Tusculum and Praeneste are all country towns, situated in hilly regions at a convenient distance from Rome, Tibur to the east, Praeneste to the south-east and Tusculum to the south of the city. Because of their great
natural beauty, pleasant climate and nearness to Rome, the towns were enjoyed as
summer resorts by rich Romans, who built large villas in these regions; perhaps
the best-known are the villa of Cicero at Tusculum (which, however, could also
pride itself on those of Sulla, Varro, Pompey, Hortensius, Brutus and others; see
McCracken in RE 2:7, s.v. Tusculum 1484 ff.) and that of the emperor Hadrian at
Tibur (where also Statius friend Manilius Vopiscus had a villa, silv. 1, 3).
Alongside with Lanuvium and Tibur, Praeneste was the favourite secessus of
Augustus (Suet. Aug. 72, 2); cf. also Iuv. 14, 88.
As the foremost resorts of wealthy Romans, Tibur, Tusculum and Praeneste
are often mentioned together. In 10, 30, 5 ff., Martial states that Apollinaris prefers Formiae to all other places: non ille dulce Tibur , | nec Tusculanos
secessus, | Praeneste nec sic miratur; Pliny said that he preferred his Tuscan
villa to Tusculanis Tiburtinis Praenestinisque (epist. 5, 6, 45); cf. Stat. silv. 4, 4,
15 ff.; Sen. benef. 4, 12, 3. The same popularity was enjoyed by Campania, where,
51

among others, Cicero, Pliny the Younger and Statius friend Pollius (silv. 3, 1)
had villas; see in general Van Buren in RE 2:8, s.v. Villa 2150 ff. Paestum is the
one place lacking literary evidence for villas, but its mention in this epigram is
guaranteed by the fame of its roses; on the other hand, Tibur, while notable for its
villas, seems not to have had any specific reputation as a floral town.
The wreath was a popular gift as a sign of mutual friendship; see K. Baus, Der
Kranz in Antike und Christentum, Bonn 1940, pp. 34 f., and cf. 7, 89, an epigram
accompanying a wreath of roses to Apollinaris. Epigrams accompanying a gift of
some kind (other than those of the Xenia and Apophoreta) belong to a genre
popular especially with the poets of the Garland of Philip, perhaps to be regarded
as a secularised variant of the religious votive epigram. In Martial, cf., apart from
the present and 7, 89, also 1, 111 (a book and incense to Regulus); 5, 59
(earthenware to Stella); 7, 49 (eggs and apples to Severus); see Howells introduction to 1, 111 with further references.
1. Paestanis: the flowers of Paestum, in north-western Lucania, were famous,
above all, the roses (see note on 9, 26, 3 Paestano colono).
2. rubuit tellus Tuscula flore tuo: the only flower mentioned by Pliny in connection with Tusculum is the violet (nat. 21, 27), which was ranked third after the
rose and the lily. When Martial speaks of Tusculum as rubens flore, it seems that
he has in mind the kind of violet which antiquity in fact designated as red but
which today cannot be identified; cf. Ov. met. 4, 268 f. est in parte rubor violaeque simillimus ora | flos tegit with Bmers note. Among the varieties of the violet, Pliny mentions a purple (nat. 21, 27): Violis plura genera, purpureae,
luteae, albae (see also Cels. med. 5, 11, 1); cf. Pind. Ol. 6, 55 .
The alliterative juncture tellus Tuscula is to be found also in Tib. 1, 7, 57.
3. Praenestino in horto: the roses of Praeneste, together with those of Campania, were in the highest repute among the Romans and flowered longer than
any other rose (see Plin. nat. 21, 16 ff.).
Note the diaeresis after the third foot, an incision which is generally avoided
in hexameters, so as not to split the verse into two equivalent halves (this forms
the basis of the so-called Stellungsregel von Marx); in the exceptional cases in
which such a diaeresis can be observed, it is motivated by particularly strong connections between words or by points of emphasis (Crusius 55), but I fail to see
any such motivation in this line.
vilica: the bailiffs wife, like the bailiff himself, is a significant character in
Martials pastoral idylls, more so than in any other poet; the vilicus or the vilica
appear in 13 epigrams,1 which may be compared with one instance each of vilicus
(vilica) in Catullus and Ovid, four each in Horace and Juvenal; absent in Vergil.

Vilica also in 1, 55, 11; 3, 58, 20; 4, 66, 11; and 12, 18, 21; vilicus in 1, 49, 25; 3, 58, 31; 3, 68, 9; 7, 31,
9; 7, 71, 3; 10, 30, 28; 10, 92, 5; and 12, 18, 25. Cf. also 2, 11, 9; 6, 39, 19; 10, 48, 7; and 11, 39, 5.

52

4. Campani gloria ruris eras: cf. note on the preceding line Praenestino in
horto. Campania had an abundance of roses (copia rosae Plin. nat. 13, 26) which
flowered early, just as those of Praeneste flowered late (ibid. 20); in spring, when
the fields had had their rest, the Campanian fields brought forth a rose with a
scent sweeter even than that of the garden rose (ibid. 18, 111). Campania was also
the only place in Italy to grow the hundred-petalled rose (the centifolia, ibid.
21, 17).
For the ending gloria ruris eras, cf. 6, 80, 6 tantaque Paestani gloria ruris
erat; the source of the expression appears to be Verg. georg. 1, 168. For this use of
gloria, cf. note on 9, 43, 5 nostri gloria caeli.
5. nostro Sabino: Martials Umbrian friend, C. Caesius Sabinus (see note on
9, 58, 1 Sabinus).
6. Nomentano meo: Sabinus will appreciate the flowers more if he thinks that
they come from Martials own country estate at Nomentum (on which see the
introduction to 9, 18), all the more so, as Sabinus, who would not have been
spared Martials constant complaints about its shortcomings, would probably not
expect anything like that to come out of that estate. On Nomentum and Martials
(humorous) complaints about it, see the introduction to 9, 18.

putet esse
(with variants) is common in
putet esse: the combination
the second hemiepes of the pentameter; cf. 3, 5, 12; 8, 47, 2; 8, 78, 4; 11, 55, 8;
and 12, 21, 2. It first appears in Propertius (2, 29a, 12; 4, 1a, 38; 4, 5, 40); five
instances in Ovid (ars 2, 296; 3, 610; rem. 784; fast. 3, 658; Pont. 2, 3, 12).

53

61
In Tartesiacis domus est notissima terris,
qua dives placidum Corduba Baetin amat,
vellera nativo pallent ubi flava metallo
et linit Hesperium brattea viva pecus.
Aedibus in mediis totos amplexa penates
stat platanus densis Caesariana comis,
hospitis invicti posuit quam dextera felix,
coepit et ex illa crescere virga manu.
Auctorem dominumque nemus sentire videtur:
sic viret et ramis sidera celsa petit.
Saepe sub hac madidi luserunt arbore Fauni,
terruit et tacitam fistula sera domum;
dumque fugit solos nocturnum Pana per agros,
saepe sub hac latuit rustica fronde Dryas.
Atque oluere lares comissatore Lyaeo,
crevit et effuso laetior umbra mero;
hesternisque rubens deiecta est herba coronis,
atque suas potuit dicere nemo rosas.
O dilecta deis, o magni Caesaris arbor,
ne metuas ferrum sacrilegosque focos.
Perpetuos sperare licet tibi frondis honores:
non Pompeianae te posuere manus.

10

15

20

A poem on a plane-tree planted by Julius Caesar in a house at Corduba, presumably during the Civil War; the tree would thus have been about 140 years old when
celebrated by Martial (see note on line 2 dives Corduba below). In a pastoral
tone, the poem focuses on the fact that the plane was planted by Caesar and
stresses the divinity of the latter, and the trees connection with and awareness of
the divus Iulius.
Martial elsewhere shows neither approval nor disapproval when speaking of
Julius Caesar.1 But, in this poem, the tone is thoroughly laudatory. The hand of
Caesar is hospitis invicti dextera felix (line 7), Caesar himself is magnus (line 19),
and the tree is aware of his divinity, all features which, while applicable to Caesar
as commander, are equally at home in the terminology of the imperial cult. In the
concluding line, Martial even explicitly and unreservedly takes Caesars part
against Pompey, a position which was not a matter of course. The position of the
senatorial and Stoic opposition was for almost a century in favour of what Lucan
called the causa victa: Caesar was still considered an absolute ruler who had
subverted the free Republic, the defender of which was Pompey; this approach was
not to change until the reign of Trajan (cf. Syme, Tacitus, pp. 430 ff.). For instance, when Statius in silv. 1, 1, 22 ff. draws a parallel between Domitian and
1

Julius Caesar appears very rarely in the Epigrams, usually being mentioned in a general way; thus 6, 32,
5 sit Cato, dum vivit, sane vel Caesare maior; elsewhere with reference to the Civil War, cf. 9, 70, 3; 11,
5, 11 te (sc. Nerva) privato cum Caesare Magnus amabit (there would be no cause for civil strife in the
reign of Nerva).

54

Julius Caesar, apropos of the formers equestrian statue, which overlooked the
Forum and the templum divi Iulii, his picture of the latter is not uncritical: Hinc
obvia limina pandit | qui fessus bellis adsertae munere prolis | primus iter nostris
ostendit in aethera divis; | discit et e vultu quantum tu mitior armis, | qui nec in
externos facilis saevire furores | das Chattis Dacisque fidem: te signa ferente | et
minor in leges iret gener et Cato castris. As noted by Hardie (p. 191), the emphasis on Domitians clemency even to foreign enemies is a suggested comparison with Caesars anger even against domestic enemies, but there is also some
criticism of Pompey and Cato in his statement that they would not have broken
the law and gone to war had Domitian been in Caesars place.
Statius guarded judgement of Caesar and Pompey would have been in line
with the contemporary view, but this is actually irrelevant to Martials picture of
Caesar, as given in the present poem. What is important, though, is the thought
expressed by Statius in silv. 1, 1, 24: primus iter nostris ostendit in aethera divis.
Caesar was the first of the Roman divi, which is the only thing important here.
Regardless of his deeds as a living man, he is ineluctably the first divus, and the
plane-tree which he planted will continue to grow forever, a symbol of the eternal
succession of divine Roman emperors. Caesar the dictator or the politician is of no
immediate relevance; the tree is conscious only of Caesar the god.
The plane-tree was very much appreciated both in Greece and in Rome because of its large leaves providing plenty of shade; certain specimens were regarded as marvels, like the Lycian plane with a hollow trunk, 81 feet wide, inside
which the consular Licinius Mucianus gave a banquet with no less than eighteen
guests. Famous planes in literature include the one at Aulis, where the Achaeans
made a sacrifice before leaving for Troy (Hom. Il. 2, 307), the plane in Lydia
loved by Xerxes (Herodot. 7, 31; famous not least for its role in Handels aria
Ombra mai fu), and the plane at Ilissus outside Athens, beneath which Socrates
discussed the immortality of the soul with Phaedrus (Plat. Phaedr. 229 b); see
further the list given in Plin. nat. 12, 9 ff. (which, however, does not mention
Caesars plane at Corduba). According to the tradition, the plane was first brought
to Italy by Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, who used it as a decoration in his palace
at Rhegium (c. 390 BC, Plin. nat. 12, 6 ff.), and thence it spread north, being
found in central Italy by the end of the Republic.
The plane was an indispensable feature of any wealthy Romans garden; cf. 3,
58, 3 (of the villa of Bassus at Baiae); 12, 50, 1; Hor. carm. 2, 15, 4; there were
planes in the Tusculan villa of L. Crassus (Cic. de orat. 1, 28), and Seneca grew
them at his villa at Nomentum (epist. 12, 2); see also Plinys description of his
villa in Tifernum Tiberinum (epist. 5, 6, 20 ff.; 27, 32, 36) and R. Meiggs, Trees
and Timber in the Ancient World, Oxford 1982, pp. 276 f. In the same manner,
the plane was a standing element of the locus amoenus and the pastoral idyll, cf.,
for example, Theocrit. 18, 44; 22, 41; 25, 20; Catull. 64, 290; Verg. georg. 4, 146;
Hor. carm. 2, 11, 13; Calp. ecl. 4, 2; Petron. 131, 8. It provided welcome shade to
weary shepherds and is associated with them and with Pan himself; cf. particularly AP 6, 35 (Leonidas); 6, 96 (Erycius); 6, 106 (Zonas); 6, 170 (Thyillus); 7,
174 (Erycias): 7, 196 (Meleager); 9, 374 (Anonymous); for epigrams in the Greek
Anthology focusing on planes, see AP 9, 220 (Thallus); 9, 231 (Antipater); 9, 247
(Philippus, see below); 9, 627 (Marianus); 9, 669 (Marianus).

55

A poem about a tree in a Roman garden naturally suggests the inclusion of a

reference to the pastoral idyll: hence the section on the Fauns, Pan, the Dryad, and
the out-of-doors carousel in lines 1118. There is a parallel arrangement in Stat.
silv. 2, 3, the birthday poem to Atedius Melior on a plane-tree in his garden,
which bent towards a pool and then grew upwards again. The poem opens in a
manner which reminds us of lines 5 f. of the present poem (silv. 2, 3, 1 f. Stat,
quae perspicuas nitidi Melioris opacet | arbor aquas complexa lacus) and then
proceeds to give the reason for the trees conspicuous nature. Pan once hunted a
nymph, who escaped by plunging into the pool; deprived of his prey, Pan planted
a young plane beside the pool, commanding the tree to spread its sheltering leaves
above it (silv. 2, 3, 861). Statius poem being a kind of aition, the pastoralmythological section is the point of emphasis, but the poem still shows roughly
the same arrangement as the present one: there is an introduction describing the
tree (silv. 2, 3, 17; Mart. 9, 61, 110), a pastoral-mythological passage (silv. 2,
3, 861; Mart. 9, 61, 1118), and a conclusion (silv. 2, 3, 6277, containing congratulations and good wishes for Melior; Mart. 9, 61, 1922); it may well be that
Martial used it as a model for the present poem. For the pastoral-mythological
motif in and Ovidian influences (fast. 1, 391 ff., the ass of Silenus; the pursuit of
nymphs in the Metamorphoses) on silv. 2, 3, see van Dam, pp. 283 f. and 286; see
also his note on silv. 2, 2, 1006.
1. Tartesiacis terris: so-called from the ancient city of Tartessus in southern
Spain on the mouth of the river Baetis (now the Guadalquivir). Founded probably
by the Etruscans about 1100 BC because of the abundant silver and copper in the
region, it was an important commercial town until its destruction by the Carthaginians around 500 BC (see Schulten in RE 2:4, s.v. 2446 ff.).
domus est notissima: for all its fame in ancient times, it is not possible to determine which house is meant here. The pastoral setting of lines 11 ff. have been
taken as suggesting a villa outside the city itself, and one such villa, the so-called
palace of Mogueit el Rumi (where today a symbolic plane-tree grows), has been
tentatively identified as the location of Caesars planetree. There is, however, no
substantial evidence to support this theory (Knapp, Roman Crdoba, Berkeley etc.
1983, p. 66), and furthermore, a villa outside the town would probably not be
referred to as a domus.
For the prosody, cf. Ov. met. 2, 591; 4, 287.
2. dives Corduba: i.e. in Corduba on the river Baetis, the capital of the province of Baetica in southern Spain, founded probably by M. Claudius Marcellus as
a Roman colony (Knapp, op. cit., p. 11) in a region attractive on account of the
mineral riches of the Sierra Morena (above all, copper; Hbner in RE 4, s.v. Corduba 1223; for gold, see below) and the fertile land south of the river. It played a
significant role in the Civil War between Caesar and the Pompeians, at the beginning of which it was held for Pompey by his legate M. Terentius Varro (the
famous writer). Caesar himself, however, visited the town on only two occasions,
on one of which he must have planted the plane. The first occasion was a stay of a
couple of days in the late spring of 49; Caesar had summoned all the magistrates
56

and chief men of the surrounding communities to Corduba, which had been
evacuated by Varro when Caesar began to move towards the town. The assembled
magistrates gave Caesar their support, and Corduba remained pro-Caesarian,
although, after an interval of unrest, it fell into the hands of Sex. Pompeius, son of
Pompey the Great. Pompeius fled the town at the news of Caesars major victory
at Munda in 45,1 and Caesar then quickly suppressed the remaining pro-Pompeian
elements in Corduba by sending his troops into the town, which was partially
destroyed and the Pompeians slaughtered. Caesar remained in Corduba for a
while, and perhaps this is the more likely occasion for the planting of the plane.
For details concerning the Civil War in Baetica, see Knapp, op. cit., pp. 20 ff.
Baetin: the only instance of this accusative with -n.
3. vellera nativo pallent flava metallo: Baetica was famous for its production
of wool (12, 64, 5), of which there was a white variety suitable for the toga (8, 28,
5 f.), a black (1, 96, 5), and, in the region around Corduba, a reddish (5, 37, 7; 12,
63, 3 ff.) used particularly for mantles; Colum. 7, 2, 4; cf. Plin. nat. 8, 191; Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 240.
Martial implies that the mineral deposits of the region coloured the wool (cf.
Iuv. 12, 40 ff. [vestes] quarum generosi graminis ipsum | infecit natura pecus, sed
et egregius fons | viribus occultis et Baeticus adiuvat aer), and it seems that, in
using the epithet flavus (cf. note on 9, 23, 1 virgineo flavescere contigit auro), he
has particularly gold in mind. Corduba is not usually connected with this metal,
but Sil. 3, 401 speaks of its aurifera terra, and Spain was otherwise rich in gold;
Strabo 3, 2, 8 also states that Turdetania (somewhat east of Baetica) and the
territory adjoining it was very rich in gold, silver, copper and iron and that the
gold was not only mined but also washed from the rivers, which carried goldbearing sand; cf. also Blmner in RE 7, s.v. Gold 1564.
The phrase reminds us of Vergils description in ecl. 4, 42 of how wool will
automatically take purple colour during the Golden Age; see Coleman, ad loc.
4. linit brattea viva: lino here means to gild (cf. cf. 4, 39, 7; 8, 33, 11; Suet.
Nero 31, 2; TLL, s.v. 1456, 83 ff.), brattea a thin covering (cf. bratteatus =
auratus, TLL, s.v. 2167, 18) and vivus natural as opposed to artificial; cf. 12, 63
tinctis gregibus colore vivo of the sheep grazing in the fields of Corduba
(Forcellini, Lex., s.v. vivus 377, 5).
Hesperium pecus: the expression makes one think of the cattle of Geryon,
whose abode was in later tradition sometimes placed near Tartessus, see note on 9,
101, 10 (where Geryons cattle are referred to as Hesperias ... boves).

It may be noted here that the Caesarians, while cutting down trees for their camp at Munda, came upon a
palm-tree, which Caesar spared as foreboding his victory. A branch shot forth on the palm, growing continuously and overshadowing the mother tree within a few days; and many doves, the birds of Venus, nested
in it, although they normally shunned the stiff foliage of the palm (Suet. Aug. 94, 11); see W. Deonna, La
lgende dOctave-Auguste. Dieu, sauveur et matre du monde, RHR 83 (1921), pp. 192 ff.

57

5 f. Aedibus in mediis totos amplexa penates | stat platanus: obviously inspired

by Verg. Aen. 2, 512 ff. aedibus in mediis nudoque sub aetheris axe | ingens ara
fuit iuxtaque veterrima laurus | incumbens arae atque umbra complexa penatis;
cf. also Sil. 13, 277 f. Aedibus in mediis consurgens ilice multa | extruitur rogus,
hospitium commune peremptis. There was a tree in the atrium also at Manilius
Vopiscus villa at Tibur, cf. Stat. silv. 1, 3, 59 mediis servata penatibus arbor
(with Vollmers note).
Cf. also the opening lines of Stat. silv. 3, 2 Stat, quae perspicuas nitidi
Melioris opacet | arbor aquas complexa lacus.
6. densis comis: the plane has large leaves and provides plenty of shade; according to Pliny, this was the reason why it was brought to Italy: quis non iure
miretur arborem umbrae gratia tantum ex alieno petitam orbe? (nat. 12, 6).
Compare also Cic. carm. frg. 23, 10 platano umbrifera; Verg. georg. 4, 146 ministrantem platanum potantibus umbras; Nux 17 platanis ... praebentibus umbram;
Petron. 131, 8, 1 nobilis aestivas platanus diffuderat umbras; Fronto p. 29, 18 f.
van den Hout 1954 platanus umbrosa.
7. hospitis invicti: the reference here would obviously be to Caesars military
achievements, but in a poem such as this, one must also consider the formulary
usage of invictus with regard mainly to divinity, which Martial elsewhere applies
to Domitian; see note on 9, 1, 10 invicta manus.
dextera felix: like invictus, felix may simply mean victorious in battle, but,
like invictus, and for the same reasons, it should be taken one step further to the
sense of faustus, bene ominatus, sacer (TLL, s.v. 439, 2 ff.). Cf. Ov. am. 3, 13, 34,
referring to the hand of Halaesus, mythological founder of Falerii, as felix manus.
As the plane, still a virga, in the following line is said to begin to grow ex illa
manu, there may also be a notion of felix in the sense of fertile or productive,
adding to the trees perception of Caesars divinity.
9. Auctorem sentire videtur: for the influence of the numen of the divine
monarch on sacrificial animals and animals in the arena, see 9, 31 intro. The
same was applicable also to plants; the whole of nature is aware of his numen. It
was at home in the Hellenistic tradition; cf., for example, AP 9, 307 (Philippus),
presenting the emperor, as it were, as the creative force of nature: a laurel grew on
an altar of the emperor; Daphne, says Philippus, who refused Apollo, now desires
Zeus, the son of Aeneas, since not even stone can refuse to bear offspring to
Caesar. In like manner, the plane at Corduba is inspired by Caesars divinity,
making it flourish and strive to reach the heavens with its crown. Compare also
Quint. inst. 6, 3, 77, relating how Augustus, when the Tarraconians told him that
a palm had grown forth from his altar, jokingly answered: apparet ... quam saepe
accendatis; Suetonius tells that a withered oak on Capri revived at the coming of
Augustus (Aug. 92, 2); see Weinreich, Studien, p. 79, n. 11; Sauter, pp. 169 f.
Sentire videtur three times at the end of the hexameter in Lucretius (2, 989; 3,
607; 3, 1053).

58

nemus: this is the only instance of the word with reference to one single tree
(see Forcellini, Lex., s.v. 255, 6), and it has therefore been subjected to interpolations (suum in , see Heraeus apparatus). But perhaps nemus is meant to emphasize the sanctity of the tree; cf. nemus in the sense of sacred grove (cf. OLD, s.v.
2).
J

10. sidera celsa: in its consciousness of Caesar, the plane reaches towards the
stars, the abode of divus Iulius himself (see note on 9, 101, 22 astra suis, caelo
sidera).
The juncture sidera celsa appears first in Stat. Theb. 7, 4 (also 8, 61), which
may have influenced Martial here.
1114.: this is the order of these lines offered by the MSS and kept by all editors
except Friedlnder, who adopted Munros suggestion 13141112. The -group
gives the lines in the order 11141312.
However, at the time of Friedlnders edition, the important L manuscript of
the -group had not yet emerged from obscurity (see the introduction, vol. 1, p.
35), nor did he use the f MS of the same group. The -group has therefore gained
substantial in support, and Friedlnders argumentation need no longer be taken
into consideration.
E

11. madidi Fauni: in poetry, the plural Fauni as a category of rustic demons
(as opposed to the singular Faunus) is probably to be regarded as having been
influenced by the plurality of similar Greek demons (for example,
and
), although there may have been a native Roman concept of a multitude
of Fauni; see Otto in RE 6, s.v. Faunus 2060. They are a common feature of the
countryside and frequently appear either by themselves (8, 49, 4; 10, 92, 3; Verg.
ecl. 6, 27; Hor. ars 244; Priap. 36, 5; Sil. 5, 626; Stat. Theb. 4, 696; silv. 1, 3, 99;
2, 3, 7) or coupled with other rustic deities, such as the almost identical Satyrs
(Lucr. 4, 580; Hor. epist. 1, 19, 4; Ov. met. 6, 392), with the Nymphs (Lucr. 4,
580; Verg. georg. 1, 10; Aen. 8, 314; Stat. Theb. 2, 521; 6, 95; Ach. 1, 240),
sometimes with the addition also of rivers (Ov. Ib. 81 f.; Val. Fl. 1, 105 f.); often,
all or some of these are combined.
The Fauns usually carry epithets such as agrestum praesentia numina (Verg.
georg. 1, 10), ruricolae (Ov. met. 6, 392), Apenninicolae (Sil. 5, 626), capripedes
(Lucr. 4, 580), cornipedes (Stat. Theb. 4, 696) and faciles (Stat. silv. 2, 3, 7).
Madidus appears only here as an epithet of the Fauns, but Martial also in 8, 49, 4
hints at their addiction to wine (cf., for example, Hor. epist. 1, 19, 4; cf. carm. 3,
18, 6 of Faunus himself), which is a clear sign of their identification with the
Satyrs, companions of Bacchus.
The section on the rustic deities is neatly kept together by saepe sub at the beginning of this line and line 14. The same opening of the line is found in Verg.
georg. 3, 416; Ov. epist. 4, 97; ars 2, 315; met. 4, 626; 8, 746 saepe sub hac dryades festas duxere choreas; fast. 6, 554.
3QHM

6WXURL

or pan-pipe (TLL, s.v. fistula 829,

12. terruit fistula sera domum: the
70 ff.). Syrinx was a nymph loved by Pan, who transformed herself into a reed in
VULJ[

59

order to escape him; from the reed, Pan made the pan-pipe, hence its connection
with rustic demigods and shepherds; cf. Ov. met. 1, 689 ff. with Bmer; Eitrem in
RE 2:4, s.v. Syrinx 1777 f.
Terruit refers to the feeling of the inhabitants of the house when they become
aware of the presence of the numina, suggesting that the nightly lusus of the
drunken Fauns was rather noisy and perhaps also that the tones of the syrinx are
not languorous ones but rather such as earned the instrument epithets such as
arguta (Sidon. ecl. 7, 24) and garrula (Tib. 2, 5, 30).
Visits by rustic deities and other demigods mostly occur at night; cf. nocturnum Pana below and van Dam on Stat. silv. 2, 2, 1006.
13 f. solos nocturnum Pana per agros | Dryas: Pans love of nymphs was
always unhappy, and those he chased were transformed into trees or plants, like
Syrinx and Pitys; he had the reluctant Echo torn to pieces by mad shepherds.
None of these, it is true, were Dryads, but the Dryads were closely connected with
Pan as inhabitants of trees giving shade to shepherds during the heat of the summer; in this respect, the plane-tree, with its large leaves, played a significant role
and was considered (like the oak, the willow, the elm and, above all, the pine)
sacred to the god; see Roscher in Roscher, s.v. Pan 1393 ff., and cf. the epigrams
from the Greek Anthology mentioned in the introduction above.
For nocturnus Pan, see also Stat. Theb. 3, 480; Val. Fl. 6, 538. For the juncture soli agri, cf. Verg. georg. 3, 249; Ov. ars. 2, 473; Sil. 6, 57 f.
14. saepe sub hac: in distichs, saepe at the beginning of a pentameter is commonly repeated at the beginning of the following hexameter or pentameter or
both. There seems to be no other instance in which saepe is repeated at the beginning of the pentameter three lines below to enclose a section. On the iteration
of saepe, see also Bmer on Ov. met. 2, 813.
), an epithet of Dionysus as loosener, is
15. comissatore Lyaeo: Lyaeus (
not recorded earlier than Hellenistic times; it was adopted by the Latin writers
(already Enn. [trag. 121]; Verg. Aen. 4, 58; Ov. am. 3, 15, 17; met. 4, 11 etc.)
and, like the god himself, also serves as metonymy for wine (for example, Hor.
epod. 9, 38; carm. 1, 7, 22 with Nisbet & Hubbard; Ov. am. 2, 11, 49; ars 3, 645;
3, 765; fast. 5, 521). The present instance should probably be taken both as metonymy (as suggested by oluere) and as indicating that Bacchus himself was present at the revel of the Fauns; the reference to Bacchus proper is suggested by the
fact that comissator (a word virtually absent in poetry but found three times in
Martial, also 4, 5, 3 and 5, 16, 9) is not elsewhere applied to the wine itself (see
TLL, s.v. 1790, 7).
/XDjRM

16. crevit umbra mero: according to Plin. nat. 12, 8, plane-trees were fertilized with wine, as this was considered most beneficial to the roots; Pliny ascribes
this to the high esteem in which the plane was held, and it seems questionable
whether he really believed in wine as fertilizer, as he adds: docuimusque etiam
arbores vina potare! The idea was obviously well known, cf. Ov. rem. 141 ff.

60

quam platanus vino gaudet ... tam Venus otia amat; AP 9, 247 (Philippus), on a
plane uprooted by the wind, which was revived by pouring wine on it.
Umbra is metonymy for the foliage, cf. OLD, s.v. 3 b.
17 f. deiecta ... rosas: difficult lines; the reading of the -group and of L and f in
the -group is delecta, while deiecta is found in the remaining MSS of the group, P and Q. There is consequently substantial support in the MSS for delecta,
but this does not make much sense, and attempts at emendations have been made,
like Gilberts distincta (retracted by himself) or Shackleton Baileys depicta
(Corrections, p. 284). If, however, deiecta is accepted,1 we may translate: the
grass, reddening from yesterdays wreaths, has been pressed down, and no one
could say that the roses (sc. of the wreaths, cf. 9, 60 intro.) were his; cf. TLL, s.v.
deicio 397, 26 ff. (paraphrasing deiecta as deflexa).
Friedlnders explanation of deiecta, Von den Rosenkrnzen, welche die
Begleiter des Bacchus dort gelassen hatten, war das Gras niedergebogen und
zugleich gerthet, was opposed by Friedrich (G. Friedrich, Zu Martial, Philologus 68 [1909], pp. 111 f.), who suggested that the grass would have been
pressed down by the master of the house and his guests having a drinking-bout
beneath the plane and took line 18 as implying that the merry band would have
returned the day after, without anyone being able to tell which of the scattered
wreaths he had worn the night before; for he holds it to be too ridiculous that
Bacchus und seine Begleiter am nchsten Tag wiederkommen und sich nach
ihren Krnzen umsehen sollen. This explanation, while pointing in the right
direction, still needs some modification.
First, it is obvious that the revel is held by Bacchus and the Fauns, and herba
deiecta would refer to the grass having been pressed down by this merry band. It
would therefore be Bacchus and the Fauns who have left their wreaths scattered
about beneath the plane. But the lines clearly depict the scene of the revel on the
day after, and thus reasonably as found by the actual inhabitants of the house
when they woke up in the morning; the sight of the pressed-down grass and the
scattered wreaths, which no one among them could claim as his own, and the
memory of the sound of the flute at night, would probably make them suspect
what had really been going on the night before.
J

19. magni Caesaris: like invictus and felix above, the epithet magnus is capable
of bearing both a profane and a sacred sense; in the former sense, it was the honorary title of Pompey and was applied to Caesar by Catullus (11, 10 Caesaris
monumenta magni), to Augustus by Vergil (georg. 4, 560), Horace (carm. 1, 12,
50), Propertius (2, 1, 26; 2, 7, 5; 2, 31, 2) and Ovid (fast. 4, 124; 4, 859; trist. 1,
2, 3; 2, 230; 4, 1, 54; Pont. 1, 8, 24).
But magnus was naturally also used by the poets as an epithet of gods; of Jupiter (cf., for example, 12, 90, 4; Plaut. Aul. 776; Verg. Aen. 3, 104; 9, 82 f.; Hor.
carm. 1, 10, 5; Ov. am. 1, 10, 8; epist. 14, 95; ars 2, 540; met. 2, 677 f. [with
Bmer; for the Greek models, see Bruchmann, Epitheta, pp. 133 f.]), of Mars (Ov.
trist. 2, 295 [cf. Bruchmann, Epitheta, p. 40]) and as the official epithet of Hercu1

As it has been by all editors from Schneidewin to Heraeus; Shackleton Bailey prints delecta.

61

les (see note on 9, 64, 1 Herculis ... Caesar). When used by Martial and Statius of
Domitian, of his magnae manus etc., it is mostly to be taken as expressing the
emperors sanctity, apart perhaps from such instances as allude to the emperor as
the great commander (for example, Stat. silv. 3, 1, 62 magnus dux; see Sauter, pp.
96 ff.).
20. ne metuas focos: cf. Nux 177 ff. Si merui videorque nocens, imponite
flammae | nostraque fumosis urite membra focis: | si merui videorque nocens,
excidite ferro Caesars plane need not fear iron and fire; it is as though the
elements could sense the divinity behind the tree, in the same manner as the tree
itself is conscious of the divine Caesar. The thought is similar to 9, 1: invicta
quidquid condidit manus, caeli est.
The fires would be sacrilegi, as burning the tree of divus Iulius. Martial has
the adjective only four times, (apart from the present also 4, 30, 12; 9, 61, 20; 9,
70, 2), all of which are applied to actions against the state (9, 70, 2, Catilinas
sacrilegum nefas) or, more specifically, against the divine emperor or objects
related to him; thus, the hook catching Domitians sacri pisces in 4, 30 is called
sacrilegus, as well as the furores of Saturninus revolt (see note on 9, 84, 1 sacrilegos furores).
21. Perpetuos frondis honores: the plane will grow eternally, a symbol of the
divine successors of Caesar. Cf. Apollos words to Daphne in Ov. met. 1, 565 tu
quoque perpetuos semper gere frondis honores (with Bmer).
22. Pompeianae manus: the tree was planted by the hand of a victor and a
god, not by that of the mortal over whom he gained the victory.

62
Tinctis murice vestibus quod omni
et nocte utitur et die Philaenis,
non est ambitiosa nec superba:
delectatur odore, non colore.
Philaenis wears purple clothes day and night; it is not because she is particularly
fond of the colour but apparently because she likes the smell of urine, a side effect
of the dyeing process which seems to have remained in the final product (see
below on line 4). The reason, as suggested by Shackleton Bailey in his Loeb, is
very likely that it hides her own smell; she is presumably incontinent.
Although it is not explicitly said that Philaenis is an elderly women, it is reasonable to assume that she was; Martial uses the name only of such women as he
would have found particularly repulsive, explicitly of a vetula in 2, 33 (see note on
9, 29, 1 Philaeni). For the vetula-scoptic in Martial, see 9, 37 intro.

62

2. et nocte ... et die: the words substitute the Ovidian formula nocte dieque which
is common in dactylic verse; thus 10, 58, 11; 11, 56, 6; Ov. met. 2, 343; 4, 260;
12, 46; Pont. 3, 1, 40; then Silius (three instances), Valerius Flaccus (two), Statius
(six) and Juvenal (three).
3. ambitiosa nec superba: purple clothes were otherwise a sign of extravagant
luxury; they were the fashion among wealthy Roman ladies already in the 3rd
century BC, and Julius Caesar, followed by Augustus, Tiberius and Nero, tried to
restrict their use among the people (Suet. Iul. 43, 1). There are no indications of
such restrictions during the reign of the Flavians, although purple clothes were
still in vogue; Martial mentions such prices as 10,000 IIS for a Tyrian cloak coloris optimi (8, 10); cf. Schneider in RE 23, s.v. purpura 2006; Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 2, pp. 315 f.
4. odore: the smell of purple-dyed garments is mentioned also in 1, 49, 32 olidae
... vestes murice; 2, 16, 3 (torus) Sidone tinctus olenti; 4, 4, 6, comparing the
smell of Bassa to a bis murice vellus inquinatum.
The dyeing industry itself was a smelly business, owing to the method of extracting the dye from the molluscs: these were opened (or crushed) and the innards were left in salt for three days, after which the fleshy parts and impurities
were removed from the liquid. This was obviously a malodorous process; Strabo,
for example, says that Tyre was an unpleasant city to live in because of the number of dye-works (Forbes, Studies 4, pp. 117 f.). Lilja explains the smell of purple
on the basis of this method of preparation (S. Lilja, The treatment of odours in the
poetry of antiquity, Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum 49, Helsinki 1972,
p. 136; cf. p. 166). But nowhere in the ancient writers is there any mention that
the odour attached to the dye itself.
Important in this context is a passage from Pliny on the use of purple in the
robes of state (nat. 9, 127): Tyri praecipuus hic (sc. murex) Asiae, Meninge Africae et Gaetulo litore oceani, in Laconica Europae. Fasces <h>u<ic> securesque
Romanae viam faciunt, idemque pro maiestate pueritiae est, distinguit ab equite
curiam, dis advocatur placandis omnemque vestem inluminat, in triumphali miscetur auro. Quapropter excusata et purpurae sit insania. Sed unde conc<hy>liis
pretia, quis virus grave in fuco, color austerus in glauco et irascenti similis mari?
Apparently, Pliny makes a distinction between purpura and conchylia, the former
presumably signifying true purple, which apparently did not smell, and the
latter conchylian dye, which was odorous; cf. E. de SaintDenis in the Bud
edition of Pliny (Livre IX, Paris 1955); see also his note ibid., p. 138. Plinys
distinction between purpura and conchylia is also apparent elsewhere, for example, in nat. 5, 76; 8, 197; and 9, 130. In 9, 138 he gives the reason for the odour of
the conchylian dye: In conc<h>ylia<ta> veste ius temperatur aqua et pro
indiviso humani potus excremento. The smell would thus be due to the true purple
having been diluted with water and urine (see Blmner, Technologie 1, p. 236).
Martials mention of smelly Sidonian purple in 2, 16, 3 and of the odorous
cloth bis murice vellus inquinatum in 4, 4, 6 may perhaps be explained as referring to fabric dyed with Tyrian conchylian purple, which was done by a doubledyeing process: first, conchylian dye was used, followed by the usual method of
63

producing Tyrian purple, by soaking the cloth twice in two, different, true purple dyes (Blmner, op. cit., pp. 237; 234). Pliny remarks that the method would
have arisen from the dyers having second thoughts about the conchylian, dying
the cloth a second time to get rid of undesirable effects (Paenitentia hoc primo
debet invenisse, artifice mutante quod damnabat, nat. 9, 140). Among the undesirable effects would certainly have been the smell of the conchylian dye, which,
however, may have been present also in the final product.

63
Ad cenam invitant omnes te, Phoebe, cinaedi.
Mentula quem pascit, non, puto, purus homo est.
Phoebus gets invited to dinner by depraved persons because he is known to perform sexual services in return. He is thus a kind of male prostitute, a category of
men for whom antiquity on the whole showed disapproval (as of sex between
grown-up men; see Sullivan, Martial, pp. 188 f.). Similar to Phoebus is the
Telesinus of 6, 50: Cum coleret puros pauper Telesinus amicos, | errabat gelida
sordidus in togula: | obscenos ex quo coepit curare cinaedos, | argentum, mensas,
praedia solus emit. | Vis fieri dives, Bithynice? Conscius esto: | nil tibi vel minimum basia pura dabunt.
1. Phoebe: the name appears in ten other epigrams, two making cutting comments on his looks (2, 35; 3, 89), two poking fun at a bald man with artificial hair
(6, 57; 12, 45), four referring to a creditor (2, 44; 6, 20; 9, 92; 9, 102) and two
aimed, as here, at homosexuals (1, 58; 3, 73). Howell (on 1, 58, 2) remarks that
the name would suggest good looks, which, in a case like this, would perhaps
imply effeminacy.
2. Mentula quem pascit: Phoebus is metaphorically fed by the dick inasmuch
as he makes a living out of it, but also in a more literal way if he performed fellatio (which is certainly implied here, see note on purus below) or agreed to pedicatio; the culus (like the cunnus) is elsewhere depicted as eating or feeding on
the mentula; cf. 9, 80, 2 with note; 12, 75, 3 Pastas glande natis habet Secundus;
and see Adams, p. 138.
However, quem may perhaps also be taken to refer both to Phoebus and one of
the cinaedi of the preceding line, if one assumes that the latter acted as passive
homosexual and Phoebus took the active part (Adams, p. 141, reckons only with
this possibility). In such a case, Phoebus would still make a living out of his penis,
but the cinaedus, taking the passive part, would also pascere mentulam. Such an
interpretation gives us the opportunity of taking the line as anticipating an objection from Phoebus to Martials designation of his friends as cinaedi: But they are
not catamites, to which Martial ambiguously replies: I do not consider him who
is fed by the dick to be innocent.

64

purus: the word means, of course, morally innocent, but when referring to
concrete sexual acts, it often appears to have a more literal meaning. The general
idea seems to be that the semen was pollutant; Martial often uses (im)purus with
reference to fellatio; cf. 14, 70 (69 Leary) (Priapus siligineus) Si vis esse satur,
nostrum potes esse Priapum: | ipsa licet rodas inguina, purus eris; 2, 61, 8; 3, 75,
5; 6, 66, 5; 9, 67, 7; and see Adams, p. 199; also of the cunnus in 3, 87, 2. Perhaps the same idea is reflected in CIL 4, 1391 Veneria Maximo mentla exmuccavt
per vindemia tota et relinque(t) putr. ventre mucei os plenu It should be noted,
though, that in 11, 61, 14 purus is used also in connection with cunnilinctio, so
perhaps the impurity would be the result of oral sex rather than of the semen specifically. See also 9, 67, 7 with note.

64
Herculis in magni voltus descendere Caesar
dignatus Latiae dat nova templa viae,
qua, Triviae nemorosa petit dum regna, viator
octavum domina marmor ab urbe legit.
Ante colebatur votis et sanguine largo,
5
maiorem Alciden nunc minor ipse colit.
Hunc magnas rogat alter opes, rogat alter honores;
illi securus vota minora facit.
Domitian had built a temple to Hercules on the Via Appia, about midway to his
estate at Alba, and in the temple, there stood a statue of the god bearing the features of the emperor. The temple, which is mentioned also in 9, 3, 11, is not mentioned in Martials previous books and would therefore have been finished in 94.
It does not appear anywhere else in the extant literature and, the archaeological
evidence being equally scarce, no conclusions can be drawn as to the features of
the temple itself; the remains of a building on the same location, previously identified with the temple and commonly called tempio di Ercole, date in fact from
the late Republic (see L. Quilici, Via Appia da Porta Capena ai Colli Albani,
Rome 1989, p. 55).
The comparison of rulers with Hercules, the prime model of the victorious
hero, first appeared in the Hellenistic world, where it was as favoured by the rulers themselves as it was later by their Roman counterparts; Alexander the Great,
for example, used to wear a lion skin and carry a club
(Athen.
12, 53 Kaibel f.; see Sauter, pp. 78 ff.). In Rome, this habit was imitated by
Caligula and Nero; Augustus, being more cautious, was content with the mere
comparison; cf. Verg. Aen. 6, 801; Hor. carm. 3, 14, 1 ff. The height was reached
by Commodus, who dressed as Hercules, called himself Hercules Romanus and
even tried himself to imitate hero by performing cruel deeds in the amphitheatre.
Well known is the bust presenting Commodus in a lion skin, the club resting on
his shoulder (see further Riewald, pp. 283 ff.).
VSHU C+UDNOM

65

By letting the statue in the temple on the Appian Way be given his own features, Domitian perhaps made way for such extravagances as those of Commodus,
but literary comparisons of Domitian and Hercules are comparatively few. Martial
had made some attempts in that direction in 5, 65, depicting the deeds of Hercules
as inferior to the spectacles given by Domitian in the arena and foretelling that the
emperor, like Hercules, will be given heaven as a reward for them. It is not until
Book 9, however, that the true comparisons appear, probably in response to
Domitians statue of Hercules, which would have indicated that the emperor
thought the comparison appropriate. 9, 65 is coupled with the present poem and is
devoted entirely to the statue, but the thoroughly realized comparison appears in
9, 101, a grandiose piece weighing the deeds of Hercules against those of
Domitian, which are naturally found to be superior. The hero is also among the
children of Jupiter in 9, 34, who may be interpreted as representatives of the emperor (see 9, 34 intro.). Perhaps there were further comparisons in the first edition
of Book 10, of which only the second edition has survived; it was issued in the
reign of Trajan and was consequently cleared of all references to Domitian (cf.
Sullivan, Martial, pp. 44 ff.). See also 9, 101 intro.
In the Silvae of Statius, there are no elaborate comparisons between Domitian
and Hercules. A couple of lines in Book 4, however, compare the hero to the emperor; thus 4, 2, 50 f., in which Domitian hosting a banquet is likened to the relaxed Hercules resting after having accomplished his Labours, and 4, 3, 155 ff.,
which draws a parallel between the northward journeys of the emperor and those
of Hercules and Bacchus (cf. Sauter, p. 84). Although these instances are insignificant as compared with those of Martial, it may be noted that they appear in
poems written in 9495 (see Coleman, p. xx), and may thus perhaps have been
inspired by the statue of Hercules with the features of Domitian.
1. Herculis ... Caesar: the order of precedence is set at once: it is Domitian who
deigns to lend his features to Hercules, not vice versa.
The present line offers Martials only instance of Hercules with the epithet
magnus, which in the official Roman cult was restricted to Hercules Magnus Custos but is relatively common in Latin poetry (see Carter, Epitheta, p. 43). In Greek
poetry, the epithet
is rare (see Bmer on Ov. met. 9, 135). In using the
epithet here, Martial emphasizes Domitians greatness: Hercules is magnus, and
yet he is the minor when compared to Domitian (line 6).
PyJDM

2. Latiae viae: sc. Via Appia, presumably called Latia as being the principal
road to Rome from the south (cf. Friedlnder, ad loc.); apparently for the same
reason, it is called Ausonia via in 9, 101, 2. In the same manner, the city of Rome
itself is referred to as both Latia and Ausonia urbs (see note on 9, 17, 4). The
juncture Latia via is unparalleled.
3. Triviae nemorosa regna: south of the Alban lake, near the town of Aricia
(cf. 13, 19, 1) and east of the Appian Way, is the Lacus Nemorensis or Speculum
Dianae (now Lago di Nemi; see map in RE 1, 1310), on the shore of which lay the
famous temple of Diana Nemorensis, to whom the lake and the nearby grove,
nemus Dianae, were sacred. The priest of the temple bore the title of rex Ne66

morensis (cf. Stat. silv. 3, 1, 55; Suet. Cal. 35, 3),1 and the area could thus, as
here, be referred to as a regnum (cf. Ov. ars 1, 260; fast. 3, 271 with Bmer). The
feast of Diana Nemorensis fell on the 13th of August (Stat. silv. 3, 1, 60 Hecateidas idus), when women with torches walked in procession to Aricia (Prop. 2,
32, 10; Ov. fast. 3, 267 ff.; Stat. 3, 1, 56).
While Diana is often mentioned as Trivia by the poets (see Carter, Epitheta, p.
31), this is particularly the case with Diana Nemorensis (cf. 5, 1, 2; 6, 47, 3; Verg.
Aen. 7, 516; 774; 778; Prop. 2, 32, 10; Sil. 8, 362; Stat. 3, 1, 56), although this
seems somewhat incongruent with the archaeological evidence (for example,
votive offerings), which rather suggests that Diana Nemorensis was a goddess of
women and childbirth.
Nemorosa regna also in Sil. 3, 666 of the oracle of Ammon in Libya.
4. octavum marmor: the eighth milestone, slightly more than 10 km from
Rome, corresponding to the sixth milestone from Domitians Alban villa (9, 101,
12). Together with 7, 31, 10 rus marmore tertio notatum, this is the only instance
of marmor used in this sense; cf. TLL, s.v. 410, 76 f.
domina urbe: also 3, 1, 5; 12, 21, 9. The expression emanates from the
Augustan concept of Rome as the head of the world, the predestined rulers of
which are the Romans themselves (rerum dominos Verg. Aen. 1, 282). This particular juncture is Ovidian (am. 2, 14, 16, rem. 291; Pont. 4, 5, 7, cf. met. 15,
444447; also Calp. ecl. 4, 161), but Ovid has presumably drawn on Hor. carm. 4,
14, 44 domina Roma (found in Martial in 1, 3, 3; 10, 103, 9); see further Bmer
on Ov. met. 15, 447.
5. sanguine largo: the same ending in Verg. Aen. 12, 721.
6. maiorem minor ipse colit: in the same manner as Hercules, himself magnus
(cf. line 1 above), used to be worshipped with votive offerings and sacrificial animals, now he himself worships Domitian. Minor should be taken predicatively:
now he, himself the lesser, worships the greater; cf. 9, 101, 11.
For the prosody, cf. 11, 50, 4.
7. Hunc ... rogat alter opes alter honores: hunc must point to Domitian,
whom one man asks for great wealth and another for honours, which are precisely
what the emperor can give.
Rogat means simply ask. There is nothing to indicate that people prayedin
the religious senseto the emperors, dead or living, in the same way as they
prayed to an Olympic god (see G. W. Bowersock, Greek intellectuals and the
imperial cult in W. den Boer [ed.], Le culte des souverains dans l'empire Romain, Geneva 1973, p. 180).
1

Anyone who succeeded in breaking a branch on a certain tree in the grove and, using the branch as a
weapon, defeated the sitting rex in single combat would become rex Nemorensis. This was the practice also
during the empire, but, because of the danger involved, it particularly attracted runaway slaves, who could
find refuge in this office (see Wissowa, Religion, p. 199).

67

8. illi securus vota minora facit: to him (sc. Hercules), a man perfunctorily (for
this sense of securus, see OLD s.v. 4) makes lesser vows; the possibility of obtaining what you want from Hercules is so remote (unlike the possibility of getting
it from the emperor) that people are not very bothered about it; certainly, more
than one man had learned not to expect great things from such prayers. The lack
of confidence in traditional deities is apparent also in 9, 36 (see the introduction
to that epigram); they are, rather, legendary figures with small ability to act,
whereas Domitian is a concrete god and able to perform concrete actions.

65
Alcide, Latio nunc agnoscende Tonanti,
postquam pulchra dei Caesaris ora geris,
si tibi tunc isti vultus habitusque fuissent,
cesserunt manibus cum fera monstra tuis:
Argolico famulum non te servire tyranno
vidissent gentes saevaque regna pati,
sed tu iussisses Eurysthea; nec tibi fallax
portasset Nessi perfida dona Lichas,
Oetaei sine lege rogi securus adisses
astra patris summi, quae tibi poena dedit;
Lydia nec dominae traxisses pensa superbae,
nec Styga vidisses Tartareumque canem.
Nunc tibi Iuno favet, nunc te tua diligit Hebe;
nunc te si videat nympha, remittet Hylan.

10

This poem is attached to the preceding in the manner observed earlier in this book
(cf. 9, 44 and 55 and see the introduction, vol. 1, p. 20), being more light-hearted
and treating more freely of the new statue of Hercules bearing the features of
Domitian (see 9, 64 intro.). Here, Martial turns directly to Hercules, praising him
as lucky in his newly won likeness to Domitian: had such a divinely beautiful face
been his in his lifetime, he would not have attracted the anger of Juno, nor would
he have had to perform the Labours that it brought in its train and to suffer the
fire of Oeta to gain immortality; he would safely have gained his place among the
gods, which he had now earned through his suffering.
Thus, the poem is really a prophecy of what lies in store for the Roman Hercules: Domitian will be taken up among the gods, welcomed by all, without labours
and without pain. There is a similar, while not equally realized comparison in 5,
65: the Labours of Hercules are compared to the games given by Domitian in the
arena, the concluding lines foreseeing the emperors reception among the gods on
his death: Pro meritis caelum tantis, Auguste, dederunt | Alcidae cito di, sed tibi
sero dabunt (5, 65, 1516). For the comparison between Hercules and Domitian,
see further 9, 101 intro.

68

1. Latio agnoscende Tonanti: whom Jupiter now can acknowledge as his

own; for this sense of the gerundive, see note on 9, 49, 7 anus et ... vix accipienda.
As a Greek national hero, Heracles was naturally the son of the Greek Zeus
rather than of the specifically Roman Iuppiter Capitolinus (here mentioned as
Latius Tonans, as in Lucan. 8, 219 [foedera] per Latium iurata Tonantem). But
now, when a genuinely Roman Hercules has appeared in the shape of Domitian,
Jupiter can freely acknowledge him as his son.
2. pulchra ora: Domitian was in fact said to have been good-looking; cf. Suet.
Dom. 18, 1 Statura fuit procera, vultu modesto ruborisque pleno, grandibus oculis, verum acie hebetiore; praeterea pulcher ac decens, maxime in iuventa, et
quidem toto corpore exceptis pedibus, quorum digitos restrictiores habebat.
The ending ora geris also 10, 28, 6 Et fora tot numeras, Iane, quot ora geris.
dei Caesaris: the only instance mentioning Domitian as Caesar the god; see
the introduction, vol. 1, p. 33.
3. isti vultus habitusque: this face and this bearing, but here perhaps rather
this face and this outfit, alluding to the face of Domitian combined with the
usual attributes of Hercules, which surely would have been present in the statue;
the same distinction is made in Verg. Aen. 1, 315 virginis os habitumque gerens.
For the phrase, cf. Hor. sat. 2, 4, 92 voltum habitumque hominis (at the beginning of the line); Calp. ecl. 7, 76 f. (alluding to Nero) tibi si propius venerandum cernere numen | fors dedit et praesens vultumque habitumque notasti; also
Stat. Theb. 2, 230; 4, 546; 6, 263, all immediately following the penthemimeresis.
Similar expressions with the same metrical position are Verg. georg. 1, 52 cultusque habitusque (cf. Sil. 15, 171); Manil. 1, 342 cursumque habitumque; Stat.
Theb. 7, 222 mentemque habitumque; 10, 678 gressumque habitumque; silv. 2, 6,
104 moresque habitusque.
5. Argolico tyranno: sc. Eurystheus of Argos, referred to as Argolicus tyrannus also in Lucan. 9, 367, in the service of whom Hercules performed the Twelve
Labours.
According to the tradition of the Iliad (19, 103 ff.), Heracles service under
Eurystheus was the result of Heras cunning; bitter about Zeus having got
Alcmene pregnant with Heracles, she made her husband promise that any descendant of Perseus who was born on a certain day should rule Mycenae. As the goddess of birth, Hera delayed the delivery of Alcmene and accelerated the birth of
Eurystheus (cf. Sen. Herc. f. 830 Natus Eurystheus properante partu). Although
there are alternative traditions (for example, Eur. Herc. 15 ff.), the Homeric story
has exerted the greater influence, and in Latin poetry, Juno is generally given the
blame for the Labours of Hercules; cf. Verg. Aen. 8, 288 ff.; Ov. epist. 9, 5 ff.; 9,
45; met. 9, 15 (cf. Bmer on met. 9, 273 ff., pp. 360 ff.); Stat. silv. 3, 1, 22; see
PrellerRobert 2:2, pp. 615 ff.

69

6. saevaque regna: because of the Labours he imposed upon Hercules, the poets
presented Eurystheus as the heros brutal enemy and supplied him with epithets
such as Stheneleius hostis (Ov. epist. 9, 25); Eurysthea durum (Verg. georg. 3, 4);
see Bmer on Ov. met. 9, 203.
7. iussisses: with ellipsis of an infinitive like tua regna pati (so Friedlnder) or
servire; cf. TLL, s.v. iubeo 582, 58 ff.
7 f. fallax Nessi perfida dona Lichas: the fatal garment, smeared with the
blood of Nessus the centaur. It was given to Hercules by his herald Lichas on
behalf of Deianeira, the heros wife, whom Nessus was trying to abduct when he
was shot by Hercules with an arrow steeped in the poison of the Hydra. As the
hero fell in love with Iole, daughter of Eurytus of Oechalia (see below on line 11),
Deianeira, believing that the centaurs blood would work as a love-potion (as she
had been told by the dying Nessus), prepared the garment to regain her husband.
But the blood of the centaur was infected with the poison, and the garment stuck
to the body of Hercules, who then sought his death in the fire on Mt. Oeta; see
Kroll in RE 13, s.v. Lichas 260 f.; Escher, ibid. 4, s.v. Deaneira 2378 ff.; Eitrem,
ibid. 9, s.v. Iole 1, 1847 f.; Bmer on Ov. met. 9, 211 ff., pp. 310 ff.
Lichas was not really fallax, because he did not know of the powers of the
garment (cf., for example, Ov. met. 9, 155 ignaroque Lichae, quid tradat), even
though he appeared treacherous to Hercules himself (for example, Ov. met. 9, 213
f.), who threw his herald against a rock in the ocean when he became aware of the
effect of the garment (see Bmer on Ov. met. 9, 211 ff., pp. 341 ff.).
9. Oetaei sine lege rogi: without the necessity of (= having to be burnt in) the
fire at Oeta, cf. TLL, s.v. lex 1250, 61 ff.; the fire at Oeta, whence Hercules was
taken up among the gods, was a condition for his divinization, as it purified him
of his mortal human elements (PrellerRobert, op. cit., pp. 597 ff.).
The expression QL JE appears in Prop. 3, 13, 50 but is a favourite especially
with Ovid (epist. 15, 73; ars 3, 133; met. 1, 90; 1, 477; 2, 204; 11, 489); then Sil.
16, 202 and, with the same placing as here (favoured by Ovids famous words of
the Golden Age in met. 1, 90 sponte sua sine lege fidem rectumque colebat), Val.
Fl. 6, 445; Stat. Theb. 6, 768, silv. 3, 3, 49.
10. astra ... poena dedit: on poena = your suffering, i.e. the Labours, cf. 5, 65,
1 f. Astra polumque dedit ... | Alcidae Nemees terror et Arcas aper; 5, 65, 15; 9,
101, 22; 14, 124, 2 magno qui (sc. Domitian) dedit astra patri. Heracles was
promised immortality because of his Labours by Athena and Hermes (Diod. 4, 10)
or by the oracle at Delphi (Apollod. 2, 73); cf. Gruppe in RE Suppl. 3, s.v. Herakles 1020; cf. Stat. silv. 3, 1, 25 f. virtute parata | astra; Sen. Ag. 813 f.; Herc. O.
31 f.
The apotheosis of Hercules is frequently considered as a migration in astra;
cf., for example, Ov. met. 9, 271 f.; fast. 2, 478; 3, 186; Sen. Herc. f. 437; Herc.
O. 1433; 1942 f.; 1972; 1977 f.; Val. Fl. 4, 35 f.; Stat. Theb. 11, 46 f.; silv. 3, 1,
25 f.; 4, 6, 53. There is, naturally, no question of catasterism (cf. note on 9, 101,

70

22), but of astra as metonymy for the dwelling of the gods, see TLL, s.v. astrum
972, 75 ff.
patris summi: see note on 9, 1, 5 summi patris.
11. Lydia dominae pensa superbae: without the knowledge of Deianeira,
Heracles had asked king Eurytus of Oechalia for the hand of his daughter Iole and
been denied. In revenge, he killed Eurytus son Iphitus. Because of this crime,
Zeus sentenced him to pay a sum of money to Eurytus and, in order to earn this
sum, he was sold as a slave to Omphale, queen of Lydia, and remained in her
service for a year, performing various deeds.
The theme of the hero serving under a woman was much favoured in literature
and art. Old Attic comedy seized upon its comic potential, comparing Pericles and
Aspasia to Heracles and Omphale, and the theme was further developed by Hellenistic writers. In Latin poetry, Hercules servitude with Omphale is generally
presented as a servitium amoris, and the hero as wearing womens clothes and
spinning, the queen as wearing the lion skin and wielding the club; cf. Prop. 3,
11, 17 ff.; 4, 9, 45 ff.; Ov. epist. 9, 55 ff.; ars 2, 217 f.; fast. 2, 303 ff.; Sen. Herc.
f. 465 ff.; Herc. O. 371 ff.; Stat. Theb. 10, 646 ff.; Ach. 1, 260 ff.; see Preller
Robert, op. cit., pp. 567 f.; Herzog-Hauser in RE 18, s.v. Omphale 389 ff.
12. Styga Tartareumque canem: for Hercules fetching of Cerberus from
Hades, see note on 9, 101, 8 cum cane. Tartareus canis of Cerberus also in 5, 34,
4.
As noted by Siedschlag, Ovidisches, p. 159, this pentameter may haven been
inspired by Ov. ars 3, 322 Tartareosque lacus tergeminumque canem.
13. Nunc Iuno nunc Hebe: nunc, i.e. after your deification; cf. Oct. 210 f.
deus Alcides possidet Heben | nec Iunonis iam timet iras. On his ascension into
the heavens, Heracles was reconciled to Hera and married to Hebe, goddess of
youth and, according to the Homeric tradition (for example, Hom. Od. 11, 603 f.),
her daughter with Zeus. Later tradition considered her the daughter of Hera alone
(for example, Ov. met. 9, 400; see Bmer, ad loc.) and the marriage a sign of the
reconciliation (PrellerRobert, op. cit., p. 601).
14. nunc te si videat nympha: should the nymph who pulled down fair Hylas into
her spring set eyes on the new Hercules, she would let go of the boy as a sign of
favour; there is a similar mythological twist in the concluding distich of 9, 103.
For the story of Hylas, see note on 9, 25, 7 Hylan.
The previous line, which is a statement of mythological fact, paves the way,
as it were, for the concluding witticism, which brings together myth and reality.
The repetition of nunc, here in the sense of now, when you have got the features
of Domitian, makes the previous line lose something of its colour to this line and
vice versa: the fact stated in line 13 lends a notion of actual possibility to line 14,
while the latter, with its notion of contemporaneousness, seemingly suggests that
also the love of Juno and Hebe is in fact due to Hercules new likeness to
Domitian.
71

66
Uxor cum tibi sit formosa, pudica, puella,
quo tibi natorum iura, Fabulle, trium?
Quod petis a nostro supplex dominoque deoque,
tu dabis ipse tibi, si potes arrigere.
A certain Fabullus has made a petition to the emperor for the ius trium liberorum,
although he has a young and beautiful wife; Martial concludes that he is impotent:
Fabullus would not need to molest our Sire and God, if only he could get it up.
Impotence is a recurring theme of the scoptic epigrams, sometimes in connection with old age (3, 75; 11, 46; see Kay on the latter; cf. AP 11, 29 [Automedon];
11, 30 [Philodemus]), but more often as a theme in its own right (cf. 2, 45, 3, 73;
12, 86). The problem of childlessness due to impotence occurs also in 10, 91,
while 3, 70 deals with partial (or perhaps psychological) impotence. Those
affected by impotence often turned to unnatural ways of expressing their sexuality;
thus 6, 26; 11, 25 (with Kay).
1. Uxor cum tibi sit: this exact opening is found also in 12, 97, an epigram on
Bassus, who practises sodomy, in spite of his having a lovely wife. Cum sit tibi
(although you have ) is commonly used by Martial at the beginning of satiric
epigrams (cf. 1, 111, 1; 4, 34, 1; 4, 78, 1; 7, 18, 1; cf. Ov. met. 9, 549), as is cum
sis (see note on 9, 37, 1).
2. natorum iura trium: those of marriageable age who did not live in a respectable marriage were caelibes and therefore also incapaces, i.e. unable to be
appointed heir in a persons will; but as also widowers and widows, although they
may have had children, were considered caelibes, the lex Iulia of Augustus prescribed that, if they had at least three children, they should not be regarded as
incapaces; this was the ius trium liberorum. The right could also be bestowed by
the senate and later by the emperor as an honour to persons unmarried or childless; thus, it had been conferred upon Martial by both Titus and Domitian (see
note on 9, 97, 5 f.). Caelibes could not be appointed heirs at all, while those who
were married but childless were allowed to inherit only half the amount bequeathed (see Kaser, Privatrecht 1, pp. 273 f.).
Fabulle: Martial apparently had a friend of this name (cf. 5, 35, 8; 6, 72, 3;
12, 20, 1; 12, 22, 2), to whom the dinner-complaints of 3, 12 and 11, 35 were
perhaps also directed, depending on whether the poet was close enough to Fabullus for the latter not to be offended by such poems (cf. Kay on 11, 35, 4 Fabulle).
The present Fabullus is certainly not Martials friend and is surely, like those in 4,
87 and 12, 85 (equally uncomplimentary poems), fictitious.
3. dominoque deoque: the lofty tone of the line makes a sharp contrast with the
straightforwardness of what follows. The juncture dominus et deus appears in
Martial for the first time in 5, 8, 1, and then there are only a couple of instances in
the following books (7, 34, 8 and 8, 2, 6, apart from the present). In 10, 72, 3,
72

addressed to Trajan, who, like Nerva, rejected all such titles, the poet contrasts
him with Domitian: dicturus dominum deumque non sum.
Domitians use of the title dominus et deus must now be considered with
greater caution than it has previously received. The evidence of the ancient historians is limited to a note by Suetonius and one by Dio, presumably drawing on the
former. Suetonius states that Domitian, cum procuratorum suorum nomine formalem dictaret epistulam, sic coepit: dominus et deus noster hoc fieri iubet
(Dom. 13, 2; perhaps Martial is drawing on this same fact in 5, 8, 1 Edictum
domini deique nostri). Thenceforward, it became the custom not to address the
emperor otherwise, neither in writing nor in speech. Dio agrees that the titles
were used both in speech and in documents and improves the story by stating that
Domitian took vast pride in being called master and god (67, 4, 7). Later
writers, such as Aurelius Victor, Eutropius and Orosius, state that Domitian in
fact adopted the title and that this was linked to a deterioration in his character;
Orosius even adds that the emperor not only demanded to be referred to as dominus and deus in speech and writing, but also to be worshipped as one: Qui (sc.
Domitianus) per annos quindecim ad hoc paulatim per omnes scelerum gradus
crevit, ut confirmatissimam toto orbe Christi Ecclesiam, datis ubique crudelissimae persecutionis edictis, convellere auderet. Is in tantam superbiam prolapsus
fuit, ut dominum sese ac deum vocari, scribi, colique iusserit (hist. 7, 10, 2). But
these are authors whose works must be studied with great caution.
The use of dominus et deus by Martial and others who thought it important to
win the emperors favour1 is no proof that Domitian claimed it as a title and ordered everybody to use it. If that had been the case, it is remarkable that such antiDomitianic writers as Tacitus, Pliny, and Juvenal did not seize upon what would
have seemed a most detestable feature of the emperors character. Furthermore,
the juncture is never used by Statius; on the contrary, he states that Domitian
would not have himself called dominus (silv. 1, 6, 83 f.). I quote here the conclusion of Jones: He (sc. Domitian) obviously knew that he was not a God, and,
whilst he did not ask or demand to be addressed as one, he did not actively discourage the few flatterers who did (Domitian, p. 109; cf. also Scott, pp. 102 ff.,
which, however, should be read with more caution). Cf. also the introduction, vol.
1, pp. 28 f.

For example, the jurist Juventius Celsus, who had to convince the emperor that he had not been part of a
conspiracy against him (which in fact he had, Dio 67, 13, 3 f.).

73

67
Lascivam tota possedi nocte puellam,
cuius nequitias vincere nemo potest.
Fessus mille modis illud puerile poposci:
ante preces totas primaque verba dedit.
Inprobius quiddam ridensque rubensque rogavi:
pollicitast nulla luxuriosa mora.
Sed mihi pura fuit; tibi non erit, Aeschyle, si vis
accipere hoc munus condicione mala.

The narrator has spent a night with a girl who did anything he wanted; after a
while, he even dared to ask for anal intercourse and fellatio. The girl agreed to
both, but to the latter only on condition that he performed the same service in
return. Martial himself obviously found oral sex generally repulsive, and, accordingly, he has the narrator decline; but Aeschylus, a character elsewhere presented
as dedicated to oral sex, would probably not have.
1. Lascivam puellam: lascivus is a frequent epithet of girls in poetry, often,
but not always (cf. Verg. ecl. 3, 64; Hor. carm. 4, 11, 23), in malam partem, Ov.
epist. 9, 65; ars 1, 523; Iuv. 6, Ox32.
2. nemo vincere potest: nemo ; nulla . Although both words give an acceptable meaning, Housman advocated nemo as being better established in the MSS
and as giving a better sense, taking vincere as exhaust (with reference to Sall.
Cat. 20, 12 summa lubidine divitias suas vincere nequeunt): nemo amator quicquam nequitiae rogare potest, quod puellae praestare nolit (Housman, Corrections, p. 247 = Class. pap., p. 725).
DJ

3. mille modis: for this juncture to denote an infinitely large number, see also
Hor. carm. 3, 7, 12; Ov. am. 2, 8, 1; ars 1, 756; 3, 787; met. 5, 596 ; Ibis 187;
Lucan. 3, 689; Stat. Theb. 9, 28; cf. HofmannSzantyr, 113 a, p. 211.
Modus here, as in 12, 65, 2, refers to sexual schemata (cf. Tib. 2, 6, 52); common in Ovid, am. 2, 8, 28; 3, 7, 64 (with Brandts note); 3, 14, 24; ars 2, 680; 3,
787. The ablative is thus causal.
illud puerile: anal intercourse.
4. ante preces totas: before I had finished my prayers. The construction falls
somewhere between the ab urbe condita construction with omission of the participle (for example, factas) and the ab urbe condita construction with adjectives.
The former, treated by Heick on pp. 67 f., is not a fully apt description, as totas
conveys too much of the sense not to be vital to the construction; no instances
involving a similar adjective are presented by Heick. Nor does the a. u. c. construction with adjectives completely make the point, since one could omit totas
and still have a perfectly intelligible construction (which then would pass as an a.

74

u. c. construction with omission of the participle). Obviously, there is both

brachylogical and colloquial influence on the construction.
Ker wanted to alter totas to totum, as he felt ante prima verba to be a contradiction of ante preces totas (A. Ker, Some explanations and emendations of
Martial, CQ 44 [1950], p. 13). He was rightly contradicted by Hudson-Williams
(A. Hudson-Williams, Some other explanations of Martial, CQ 46 [1952], p.
27), whose analysis of the linethe first phrase, ante preces totas, gives the
general picture, the second, primaque uerba, is limitative and more precise
seems more apposite.
5. Inprobius quiddam: fellatio. Martial considered oral intercourse the vilest of
sexual acts (see note on 9, 27, 14).
For inprobus in connection with oral intercourse, cf. 2, 61, 2; 3, 82, 31.
6. pollicitast: there is a clear difference between dedit in line 4 and pollicitast: in
this case, the girl did not meet the speakers demands at once, but only promised
she would, and on special terms at that (the condicio of line 8).
luxuriosa: wanton, cf. 7, 91, 4. The frequency of the word, which is otherwise rarely found in poetry (four instances in Ovid, one each in Lucan and Juvenal), is comparatively high in Martial, being found on seven occasions.1
7. Sed mihi pura fuit etc.: several scholars have tried to explain the two concluding lines,2 which Friedlnder described as vllig unklar. The most satisfactory
explanation is, however, that provided by Housman (loc. cit.), who suggested that
the speaker gave up the demand for fellatio, as he would not agree to the girls
terms (see note on the following line). Thus, he did not pollute the girls mouth,
and so she is pura (for this use of the word, see note on 9, 63, 2) as far as the
speaker is concerned, but she will not be if Aeschylus accepts on the same terms.
Note the similarity between these words and the second hemiepes of Ov. fast.
5, 326: cura repellendi sed mihi nulla fuit.
Aeschyle: see note on 9, 4, 3, where the name is used, as here, in connection
with fellatio.
8. condicione mala: the significance of the girls terms has been as much disputed as that of the preceding line. Housman (loc. cit.) took it as implying that the
girl would perform fellatio only if her lover performed cunnilinctio, which surely
would have been a reason for Martials speaker to decline on account of the poets
disgust at oral sex. Prinz (op. cit., p. 116) suggests that the condition was payment, and he is followed by Killeen, who takes condicione mala as meaning
magno pretio (comparing 9, 4, which, however, seems of little relevance to the
sense of condicio here). Now, if the girl demanded money she would be a prosti1

Also 1, 87, 2; 9, 82, 4; 11, 8, 4; 13, 82, 2; 14, 110, 2.

M. Schuster, Ad Martialis Epigr. IX 67, RhM 77 (1928), p. 432; K. Prinz, De Martialis Epigr. IX 67,
WS 48 (1930), pp. 113116; J. F. Killeen, Ad Martialis Epigr. IX 67, Glotta 45 (1967), pp. 233234.
2

75

tute and, if she was a prostitute, it would have been obvious from the very beginning that she expected to be paid. In any case, her demanding money would not be
particularly shocking, nor is such an interpretation congruent with Martials generally complacent view of prostitutes (see Sullivan, Martial, p. 168).
However, since the essence of the two concluding lines is obviously I declined
on those conditions, but you wont, Aeschylus, there must be some negative
implication aimed at Aeschylus. To be charged with paying money (even large
sums) to prostitutes was not a great insult, while to be called a cunnilingus certainly was; thus Housmans interpretation is preferable.

68
Quid tibi nobiscum est, ludi scelerate magister,
invisum pueris virginibusque caput?
Nondum cristati rupere silentia galli:
murmure iam saevo verberibusque sonas.
Tam grave percussis incudibus aera resultant,
causidicum medio cum faber aptat equo;
mitior in magno clamor furit amphitheatro,
vincenti parmae cum sua turba favet.
Vicini somnum non tota nocte rogamus:
nam vigilare leve est, pervigilare grave est.
Discipulos dimitte tuos. Vis, garrule, quantum
accipis ut clames, accipere ut taceas?

10

Martials views of the Roman schoolmasters are pervaded by two facts: their habit
of always shouting and their beginning their lessons already at sunrise, which
kept the poet from sleeping; apparently, some teacher used to give lessons close to
Martials house on the Quirinal. These facts obviously caused the poet enough
irritation never to mention a schoolmaster without alluding to both or at least one
of these facts, hence the clamosus magister in 5, 84, 2; the tumidus rauca voce
magister of 8, 3, 15; the matutinus magister in 9, 29, 7; his exhortation to the
schoolmaster at last to let his pupils enjoy their summer holidays in 10, 62, and
Martials reason for staying in the countryside, as expressed in 12, 57, 4 f.: negant
vitam | ludi magistri mane, nocte pistores. The poet adds to this unsympathetic
picture of the schoolmaster by depicting him as bitter, stern, threatening and odious to his pupils; but Martials view of the schoolmaster as being utterly wicked
was probably rather a result of his own annoyance than a reflection of the general
opinion (see further Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 1, pp. 176 ff.).
1. Quid tibi nobiscum est: also at the beginning of 2, 22, 1 (mihi vobiscum); cf.
Ov. am. 1, 7, 27; trist. 2, 1.
ludi magister: the teacher at the Roman elementary school, the ludus litterarius or litterarum. For want of appropriate premises, the lessons often took
76

place in pergulae towards the street (or even in the street itself), marked off only
by a curtain, which did nothing to keep the noise inside (see Blmner, Privataltertmer, pp. 314 ff.).
2. invisum caput: also Verg. Aen. 9, 496; Ov. Ib. 50.
pueris virginibusque: this phrase, modelled on Hor. carm. 3, 1, 4 virginibus
puerisque canto, first appears in Ov. fast. 5, 50; trist. 2, 370 (probably the model
of Mart. 3, 69, 8); cf. also Ov. fast. 1, 628. The Roman elementary school was
mixed (cf. 8, 3, 15 f.; Blmner, op. cit., pp. 317 f.).
3. Nondum cristati ... galli: cf. 14, 223 (Adipata) Surgite: iam vendit pueris
ientacula pistor | cristataeque sonant undique lucis aves. The adjective cristatus
is first applied to the cock by Ovid, in a passage which may have influenced the
present line (met. 11, 597 ff.): non vigil ales ibi cristati cantibus oris | evocat
Auroram, nec voce silentia rumpunt | sollicitive canes canibusve sagacior anser;
also fast. 1, 455 f. nocte deae Nocti cristatus caeditur ales, | quod tepidum vigili
provocet ore diem.
The teaching frequently began in the early morning, cf. Ov. am. 1, 13, 17 f. tu
(sc. Aurora) pueros somno fraudas tradisque magistris, | ut subeant tenerae verbera saeva manus; Iuv. 7, 222 f.; Blmner, op. cit., pp. 318 and 379 f.
4. murmure saevo: this juncture also Val. Fl. 5, 121; Stat. Ach. 2, 120.
verberibusque: corporal punishment of boys and girls alike was a distinctive
element in the Roman school throughout antiquity and is mentioned by Plautus as
well as Ausonius. A notorious example is the plagosus Orbilius in Hor. epist. 2, 1,
70; see further Blmner, op. cit., p. 319.
sonas: thus . Editors have generally adopted the reading of T tonas, but sonas
may be advocated by taking the line as a humorous allusion to Vergils scene from
the Underworld in Aen. 6, 557 f. hinc exaudiri gemitus et saeva sonare | verbera,
tum stridor ferri tractaeque catenae.
E

6. causidicum etc.: the reading of and ( erroneously has medico for medio),
printed by the editors from Friedlnder onwards in preference to that of T causidico medium equum, which, while possible, is illogical.
The line alludes to an equestrian statue of a lawyer, likely meant to be placed
in his own home (cf. Iuv. 7, 125 f.), since equestrian statues in public places were
limited to the imperial family and to equestrian members of the State administration and high-ranking officers of the equestrian order (see J. Bergemann,
Rmische Reiterstatuen, Mainz am Rhein 1990, p. 14). In Martials day, knights
could not, by performing mere civil service, qualify themselves for the higher
offices open only to members of their order (which was possible from the reign of
Hadrian onward; see Mommsen, Staatsrecht 3, pp. 560 ff.), and Martial therefore
cannot have had in mind a knight, who by his work as a lawyer had gained access
to a praefecture, for example; more likely, he is mocking at lawyer who, while of
E

77

equestrian rank, was not entitled to an equestrian statue, but, by putting one up,
displayed what Martial probably considered some degree of hubris.
7. magno amphitheatro: Martial is, of course, thinking of the Flavian amphitheatre, which had a capacity of about 50,000 spectators (Platner & Ashby, p. 10).
8. parmae: metonymy for the Thracian gladiator, armed with the small, round
shield called parma (see Lambertz in RE 18, s.v. parma 1543 f.; cf. note on 9, 38,
2 parma). These gladiators were generally matched against the scutarii (armed
with the oblong scutum), who, according to Martial, mostly came out on top; cf.
14, 213 (Parma) Haec, quae saepe solet vinci, quae vincere raro, | parma tibi,
scutum pumilionis erit. Consequently, the shouts of approval of the parmularii,
the supporters of the Thracians, were all the louder when they did win.
Even if the smaller shield gave the Thracians a disadvantage, Martials picture
of them may be influenced by the fact that Domitian favoured the scutarii and that
it was in Martials interest to do likewise (cf. Suet. Dom. 10, 1). Titus (Suet. Tit.
8, 2), as earlier Caligula (Suet. Cal. 54, 55), had favoured the Thracians; see also
Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 2, pp. 75 f.
turba favet: the same ending in Ov. fast. 2, 654.
10. pervigilare grave est: at night, Martial was kept awake by the noise from the
bakeries (see 12, 57, 5 quoted above), and surely also by the traffic, which was
only allowed in at night; cf. Iuv. 3, 236 ff. (with Courtney) and see Blmner, op.
cit., p. 434 f.
11 f. quantum | accipis ut clames: which at any rate would not have been much.
The teacher was dependent for his subsistence on the monthly merces, which the
parents paid him for the education, but only for eight months, the period from July
to October inclusive being free. The merces of the teachers at elementary schools
was very low: according to Hor. sat. 1, 6, 75, they were paid 8 asses monthly for
each pupil, and Ovid calls them turba fere censu fraudata (fast. 3, 829 with
Bmer); cf. Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 1, pp. 178 f. Thus, they were often compelled to earn money on the side, for example, by drawing up wills (see Marquardt, pp. 92 ff.; Blmner, op. cit., pp. 315 f.).

69
Cum futuis, Polycharme, soles in fine cacare.
Cum pedicaris, quid, Polycharme, facis?
This short (and particularly rude) epigram is presented as a riddle, in which the
answer to line 2 lies in the statement of line 1. The picture of the pedicator being
defiled during the act by the pedicatus (apparently as the pedicatio was considered to give the latter loose bowels?) is found in Attic comedy (Henderson, pp.
78

193 f.) but is not too common in Latin. It can, however, be observed already in
Lucilius (fragm. 1205 Krenkel), but after that, in literary sources, not until the
Silver Age, which offers a handful of instances: Priap. 68, 8; 69, 9; Mart. 11, 88;
13, 26; Iuv. 9, 43 f.; see Adams, p. 171 f.; Richlin, p. 169.
1. Polycharme: also 8, 37 and 12, 56, neither of which has any sexual implications but deals with eagerness for money and presents. The name occurs in Greek
in the form
(see Pape, s.v.), i.e. the source of much joy, which
forms the basis for Martials ironical use of the name here. The name
, the one who takes much delight in battle, has presumably nothing to do with Martials Polycharmus.
3ROXFUPKM

3ROFDUPRM

in fine: when you have an orgasm; cf. Iuv. 7, 240 f. non est leve tot puerorum | observare manus oculosque in fine trementis and Adams, p. 143, n. 1.
cacare: Martial has this verb seven times in all (also 1, 37, 2; 1, 92, 11; 3, 44,
11; 3, 89, 2; 11, 98, 22; 12, 61, 10; the much rarer word cacaturo appears in 11,
77, 2, see Kay ad loc.), considerably more frequently than any other writer; Catullus has it three times (whereof two are the cacata charta of Volusius), the Priapea, Phaedrus and Horace once each. The appearance of the word in the language
of a freedman in Petronius (71, 8), and Senecas use of the compound concaco
(apocol. 4, 3), suggest that it may not have had the same offensiveness as the
sexual obscenities; see Adams, pp. 231 ff.
2. quid facis?: the answer to this question may be gathered from the previous
line. The pedicators running the risk of the pedicatus passing a motion during
the pedicatio (see the introduction above) generated the expression mentulam
caco, where caco carries the meaning of polluo cacando. Adams (loc. cit.) suggests that mentulam caco may have been a slang expression for pedicor, which, if
applied to the present epigram, may turn it into a tautological play with words:
quid facis cum pedicaris? Mentulam cacas (= pedicaris).

79

70
Dixerat o mores! o tempora! Tullius olim,
sacrilegum strueret cum Catilina nefas,
cum gener atque socer diris concurreret armis
maestaque civili caede maderet humus.
Cur nunc o mores!, cur nunc o tempora! dicis?
Quod tibi non placeat, Caeciliane, quid est?
Nulla ducum feritas, nulla est insania ferri;
pace frui certa laetitiaque licet.
Non nostri faciunt, tibi quod tua tempora sordent,
sed faciunt mores, Caeciliane, tui.

10

This epigram is aimed at a certain Caecilianus, who lets fly at contemporary society, using Ciceros famous O tempora! O mores! Martial considered this an abuse
and, to show this, he compares the times of Cicero with his own, separating them
by a repeated paraphrase of Ciceros exclamation in line 5. Cicero had good reason to complain, since he lived in a time when snares were set for the very state,
when father-in-law and son-in-law fought each other in battle and the Roman soil
was soaked with the blood of Roman soldiers in internecine war; Caecilianus, on
the other hand, has no reason to be discontent, living, as he is, in peace in the
reign of a propitious ruler. There is, then, no fault to be found with contemporary
morals, but there is with those of Caecilianus.
The epigram is classified with those in which a rebuker of other mens morals
is found himself to be morally depraved, but, in this case, the scene is changed
from moral philosophy to oratory. Presumably, Caecilianus is an orator who, in
his eagerness to imitate Cicero, even takes over words and phrases not applicable
to the times of Domitian; in attacking fictitious public viciousness, intrigues and a
nefas that does not exist, Caecilianus himself is the one guilty of nefarious behaviour and the one who should be rebuked; he thus parallels the moral philosophers
who themselves are the worst practicians of the vices they attack (see the introduction to 9, 27).
Martials description of the late Republic strongly reminds us of Ovids Age of
Iron. In fact, Martials wording seems meant to recall the description of Ovid;
according to the Metamorphoses, the Iron Age was subject to omne nefas (met. 1,
129); it was an age of war and blood (ibid., 142 f.); there is even the reference to
hostilities between father-in-law and son-in-law (non socer a genero sc. tutus,
ibid., 145). Consequently, the reign of Domitian with nulla ducum feritas and
nulla insania ferri (see below on line 7) would be the new Golden Age, although
this is not explicitly stated; note also that, in describing the new age, Martial
begins by telling what it is not; in the same way, Ovids description of the Golden
Age is crowded with negations (see Bmers introduction to Ov. met. 1, 89112,
pp. 48 f.). Although there was a tradition in Rome, after Vergils fourth Eclogue,
of presenting the emperor as the founder of a new Golden Age (Sauter, pp. 19 ff.),
there are few references to Domitians reign as an aetas aurea in Martial: 5, 19, 1
ff. and 8, 55, 1 ff. may point in that direction, and 9, 71 apparently depicts
Domitian as the Prince of Peace, albeit in a veiled and enigmatic way. Explicit

80

references are, however, to be found in Statius; thus silv. 1, 6, 39 ff. (see Sauter,
pp. 21 ff.).
1. o mores! o tempora!: Martials reference to the first speech against Catiline
(Cat. 1, 2) shows the fame enjoyed by the speech in antiquity. But it was not the
first, nor was it the only one in which Cicero exclaimed O tempora! O mores! He
had done so in Verr. II 4, 56; and afterwards in dom. 137 and Deiot. 31. The
phrase is cited also in Sen. suas. 6, 3, and Quintilian mentions it as an instance of
affected exclamation (inst. 9, 2, 26).
Tullius: Martial frequently mentions Cicero as the prime model of Roman
rhetoric and prose (as Vergil is that of poetry).1
2. sacrilegum Catilina nefas: cf. 5, 69, 4 hoc admisisset nec Catilina nefas.
Because of his attempted overthrow of the state during the consulship of Cicero,
Catiline became the model of sinful traitors, a fact of which there is ample literary
evidence; cf., for example, Verg. Aen. 8, 668 locating him in Tartarus; Iuv. 2, 27;
8, 231; 10, 288 (with Courtney); 14, 41.
3. gener atque socer: Caesar and Pompey, often referred to in this way after Catull. 29, 24 socer generque, perdidistis omnia; cf. Verg. catal. 6, 6; Verg. Aen. 6,
830; the innuendo in Ov. met. 1, 145 (with Bmer); Lucan. 1, 289; 4, 802; 10,
417.
diris armis: this juncture also in Prop. 2, 9b, 49, where it is used about the
war between Eteocles and Polynices, thus with reference to internecine slaughter,
as here.
4. maestaque civili caede maderet humus: obviously an imitation of Ov. fast. 1,
312 sparsaque caelesti rore madebit humus (as observed by Siedschlag,
Ovidisches, p. 159) and, of course, also reminiscent of met. 1, 149 f. virgo caede
madentis | ultima caelestum terras Astraea reliquit.
6. Caeciliane: thus T , M(a)eciliane . In five of the 15 epigrams containing the
name Caecilianus, there are alternative readings. The same variant as here is
found in 1, 73, 2, where T, again, offers Meciliane for the C(a)eciliane of and ,
and in 4, 15, 2, in which
has meciciliane, which is obviously wrong for
M(a)eciliane.
It has been argued that Maeciliane, being the more uncommon name and thus
the lectio difficilior, may well be the correct reading in these instances and that
Caeciliane, a very common name, was the result of interpolation. In the case of 1,
73, Postgate made an attempt to add to the evidence in support of Maeciliane,
suggesting that it might be an adjectivization of Maecilia, which Catullus would
have used as a pseudonym (via Aemilia, second wife of Pompey) for Mucia, third
J

Cf. 3, 38, 3; 4, 16, 5; 5, 51, 5; 5, 56, 5; 5, 69; 7, 63, 6; 11, 48, 2; 14, 188. However, he was not a divinely
gifted poet (2, 89, 4).

81

wife of Pompey (Catull. 113); see J. P. Postgate, On some passages of Catullus

and Martial, CPh 3 (1908), pp. 260 ff. Catull. 113 and Mart. 1, 73, it is true,
resemble each other in content: a woman (Maecilia in Catullus and the wife of
Caecilianus in Martial) who used to have no or few lovers now has a multitude;
but recent commentators on Catullus deny any connection with Mucia (see the
commentaries by Fordyce and Quinn).
Moreover, if the connection with Catullus is doubtful already in 1, 73, Postgates attempt to defend Maeciliane on the same grounds in the present epigram
is all the more so. There is better support to be had in the MSS on the grounds of
the lectio difficilior and facilior; also, here, as in 1, 73, the reading Maeciliane is
that of the MS with the fewest interpolations (T). Nonetheless, all the editors have
printed Caeciliane, with the exception of Schneidewin (in his first edition) and
Shackleton Bailey; for want of conclusive proof in either direction, there is no
means of making a definitive judgement, and therefore a fortasse recte should be
added, with Heraeus and Citroni, to Maecilianus. See further Citronis introductions to 1, 65, p. 213 and, 1, 73, p. 236.
7. ducum feritas: Martial is perhaps thinking primarily of the Sullan proscriptions and the second triumvirate, whose cruelty was notorious; cf. note on 9, 43,
10.
Note the position of feritas immediately before the penthemimeresis and of
ferri at the verse-ending, by which Martial perhaps means to indicate an etymological connection between the two nouns;1 see F. Grewing, Etymologie und
etymologische Wortspiele in den Epigrammen Martials, in F. Grewing (ed.),
Toto notus in orbe. Perspektiven der Martial-Interpretation, Stuttgart 1998, p.
335.
7 f. nulla insania ferri; | pace certa: after Domitians return in early 93
from the Second Pannonian War, Rome had enjoyed a time of peace, even though
this was not the pax certa that Martial wanted. Domitian seems to have had plans
for and had perhaps also begun a third war in the north; however, the present
lines show that, at the time this epigram was written, and in all likelihood by the
publication of Book 9, a third campaign on the Danube could not yet have begun;
see further the introduction, vol. 1, pp. 26 f.
Martials notion of Domitians reign as a Golden Age and his efforts to present the emperor as a Prince of Peace (an
), on the basis of a Hellenistic tradition adopted by the Romans and applied by Vergil to Augustus and by
Calpurnius Siculus to Nero etc. (cf. Sauter, pp. 17 f.), are almost exclusively connected with the ending of the Second Pannonian War, presumably rather as a
result of wishful thinking than of fact; cf. 7, 80, 1 f.; 8, 15. So, whereas these
epigrams may be considered as having sprung from the poets premature desire to
celebrate his emperor as a bringer of peace, the emphasis on peace in the present
poem is better established in reality; when it was written, there had in fact been a
couple of years of peace since the emperors return from the north; the same goes
(cUKQRSRLM

Martial would be wrong to assume a common etymology in this case; see ErnoutMeillet, s.v. ferus and
ferrum respectively.

82

for 9, 31, 9 f. and 101, 21. Before the Second Pannonian War, Martial had produced a celebration of peace only in 14, 34, written after the war against the
Chatti in the early eighties, in which, as in the present case, he talks of a pax
certa, although the peace then was as fragile as the one mentioned here (see the
introduction, vol. 1, pp. 23 ff.).
For the ending insania ferri, cf. Verg. Aen. 7, 461 insania belli. Perhaps Martial chose ferri here to emphasize the idea of the late Republic as an aetas ferrea,
widening the expression from the insanity of war to the insanity of the Iron
Age.

71
Massyli leo fama iugi pecorisque maritus
lanigeri mirum qua coiere fide.
Ipse licet videas, cavea stabulantur in una
et pariter socias carpit uterque dapes:
nec fetu nemorum gaudent nec mitibus herbis,
concordem satiat sed rudis agna famem.
Quid meruit terror Nemees, quid portitor Helles,
ut niteant celsi lucida signa poli?
Sidera si possent pecudesque feraeque mereri,
hic aries astris, hic leo dignus erat.

10

A miracle from the animal world: a lion and a ram, kept in the same enclosure,
live harmoniously together; they even eat together, and the same food at that: a
baby lamb eases their hunger. This would be enough to earn them the honour of
becoming constellations, which (less deservingly) befell the beasts of mythology.
The concord of the lion and the ram is, of course, reminiscent of the transformation of nature in the Golden Age in Verg. ecl. 22 nec magnos metuent armenta
leones; cf. Hor. epod. 16, 33 nec ravos timeant armenta leones; compare also
orac. Sibyll. 3, 791 f.
|
(the lion, devourer of flesh, will eat chaff by the manger like the ox);
Isaiah 11, 6 (the calf and the young lion will grow up together).1 But the epigram also raises a number of questions: which are the lion and the ram, why are
they kept in the same enclosure, and how did it come about that they live in such
harmony? The first scene that comes to mind is the stables of the amphitheatre;
lions would naturally be found there, and possibly also a ram, judging from a
passage from Columella: at 7, 2, 4 he speaks of miri coloris silvestres ac feri
arietes, which were brought from Africa to the munerarii, the givers of public
shows, in Spain. Northern Africa was generally rich in sheep, and it is likely that
an African ram is meant also in this epigram; presumably an African wild sheep,
Ovis tragelaphus, ArG in Arabic, which even today lives in the Atlas Mountains
VDUNREURM

WH

OyZQ

IJHWDL

FXURQ

SDU

IWQ9

ERM

Also in the fable of the lions share (Phaedr. 1, 5), there is cooperation between a lion and some of its
natural enemies (viz. a cow, a she-goat and a lamb).

83

(see Keller, Tierwelt 1, p. 317). Being natural enemies (cf. Verg. Aen. 9, 339; Sil.
2, 684 ff.; Stat. Theb. 2, 675 f. leo Massylas depastus oves), it seems possible
that such rams were matched against lions in the Roman arena; and it would
certainly be a marvel to see two beasts wont to fight each other fiercely now feeding together in the same enclosure.
There can be little doubt that Martial wanted this miraculous behaviour to be
due to the divine influence of the emperor; this is the reason for practically all
animal miracles appearing in Martial; cf. the fish in 4, 30, the goose in 9, 31, the
parrot in 14, 73, and from the arena, for example, the elephant in epigr. 17, the
hind in epigr. 29 and the harelion cycle of Book 1 (see 9, 31 intro.). The lion and
the ram would thus behave in this manner because they norunt cui serviant (1,
104, 22). In this particular case, Martial may have wished to attribute the peaceful
intercourse of natural enemies to the influence of Domitian as a Prince of Peace, a
role which he attempts to ascribe to the emperor elsewhere in this book (see 9, 70,
7 f. with note; 9, 31 intro.; 9, 101, 21). Perhaps it would then be possible to take
the interpretation into the field of allegory: the ram, adopting to the lions habits
and feeding on its own kin may be taken as representating the subdued nations
conforming to the habits of the conqueror, and the lion as representing Domitian
himself, showing his clemency towards the conquered by letting him share his
meal. Domitians indulgence towards foreign enemies is emphasized by Statius in
silv. 1, 1, 25 ff., in which he has him set an example to Julius Caesar himself:
discit (sc. Caesar) et e vultu quantum tu (sc. Domitian) mitior armis, | qui nec in
externos facilis saevire furores | das Cattis Dacisque fidem.
The animals behaviour makes them deserve a catasterism even more than did
the beasts of mythology. The same subject can be observed in the (perhaps fragmentary) epigr. 18 (16), and in a couple of epigrams in the Greek Anthology; thus
AP 9, 224 (Krinagoras) and 6, 221 (Leonidas of Tarentum), cf. Weinreich,
Studien, pp. 111 f.
1. Massyli leo fama iugi: Massylus, like Libycus, is in Silver Latin poetry generally equivalent to Africanus; see note on 9, 22, 14 and cf. 2, 75 quanta (sc. feritas leonis) nec in Libycis debuit esse iugis. It is, however, noteworthy that Massylus is used particularly often in connection with lions, by Martial also in 8, 53,
and especially by Statius; thus Theb. 2, 675 ff.; 5, 330 ff.; 8, 124 f.; 11, 27 ff.; silv.
2, 5, 8. Note also the other similarities to Statius in lines 4 and 9 of this epigram.
fama: for fama in the sense of pride, see note on 9, 28, 1.
pecorisque maritus: usually of the billy-goat as the husband of the flock (see
7, 95, 13; 14, 141; 211). The idea occurs quite often in Greek texts as well as in
Latin, for example, Verg. ecl. 7, 7; georg. 3, 125; Hor. carm. 1, 17, 7; see the
commentary by Nisbet & Hubbard on the latter.
2. lanigeri: a typical Lucretian compound (thus Bailey on Lucr. 2, 318; also 2,
661; 5, 866; 6, 1245), although it appears already in Acc. praetext. 20 and Enn.
sat. 66. This highly poetic word is quite common in classical poetry, though this is
the only instance in Martial. Manilius very frequently uses it of the constellation
84

Aries (see A. De Boeuffle, Les noms latins dastres et de constellations, Paris

1977, p. 154).
4. socias dapes: this juncture also Stat. silv. 1, 6, 48, of the emperors banquet.
5. mitibus herbis: also at the end of 9, 17, 1 (with different sense; mitis here is
merely sweet).
7. terror Nemees: also in 5, 65, 2 of the lion which roamed the area of Nemea in
the Peloponnesus. Its killing, which provided him with the lion skin, was traditionally the first of Hercules Twelve Labours (see note on 9, 101, 6 terga leonis).
After its killing, Zeus, to honour his son, placed it as a constellation in the heavens (cf. 4, 57, 5). Martial elsewhere applies it in comparisons with imperial
shows; thus epigr. 6b; 28, 3; 5, 65.
portitor Helles: the ram with the golden fleece, so-called also in Colum. 10,
155; Lucan. 4, 57. It carried Helle and her brother Phrixus, fleeing from their
stepmother Ino, through the air, but Helle fell off into the Hellespont, which thus
acquired its name. Phrixus was brought to Colchis, where he sacrificed the ram to
Zeus. In reward for its deed, the ram was made a constellation; see Ov. fast. 3,
849 ff.; PrellerRobert 2:1, pp. 41 ff.; Bmer on Ov. fast. 3, 852.
Martial usually mentions the ram alongside Phrixus; thus in 6, 3, 6; 8, 28, 20;
14, 211; with Phrixus and Helle 8, 50, 9 ff.; as a constellation 10, 51, 1.
8. lucida signa poli: also Tib. 1, 4, 20.
9. pecudesque feraeque: a purely Statian expression, found twice in the Thebaid,
4, 141 and 10, 141, both at the verse-ending.
10. dignus erat: cf. note on 9, 2, 14 haec erat, haec.

72
Liber, Amyclaea frontem vittate corona,
qui quatis Ausonia verbera Graia manu,
clusa mihi texto cum prandia vimine mittas,
cur comitata dapes nulla lagona venit?
Atqui digna tuo si nomine munera ferres,
scis, puto, debuerint quae mihi dona dari.

Liber, a young charioteer and a friend of Martial, has sent the poet a basket of
food, but without wine, offering a brilliant opportunity for a play with words:
surely, Liber knows what he should have sent (viz. wine), if he wanted to send a
gift worthy of his name.

85

The epigram is based on the play on the name Liber, which was also a byname
of Bacchus and a metonymy for wine; for such play on names in Martial, cf. 1, 41,
14 ff.; 3, 34; 3, 78; 4, 9; 6, 17; 9, 95; 12, 39; see Joepgen, pp. 57 ff.
1. Liber: this young acquaintance of Martials appears also in the erotically allusive 8, 77. He was probably a slave, since charioteers were usually freedmen or
slaves (see Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 2, pp. 25 ff.). Furthermore, the name
Liber itself is rare as a cognomen among the free (Kajanto, Cognomina, p. 280,
records 17 instances from CIL, one being a freedman).
Amyclaea corona: Amyclae in Laconia, often considered the birthplace of
Castor and Pollux,1 is used here, probably as a reminiscence of Verg. georg. 3, 89
f. Amyclaei domitus Pollucis habenis | Cyllarus, to lead the thoughts to horseracing. The reference was previously considered to be to boxing (see, for example,
Friedlnders commentary), but, as noted by Housman, this fits ill with the action
described as quatere verbera in the following line, which clearly alludes to a whip
(see Housman, Corrections, p. 248 [= Class. pap., pp. 725 f.]; cf. OLD, s.v. verber 1 b and compare, with Housman, Culex 219 et flammas et saeva quatit mihi
verbera [sc. Tisiphone]); the wreath was the ordinary prize at the races (see
Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte, loc. cit.).
Housmans concluding statement, however, needs revision; obviously unaware
of the above passage from Vergil, Housman wrote Amyclaea has nothing to do
with Pollux, but means Castorea. But there is no means of determining, nor any
reason to try to determine, which of the Dioscuri is meant here; for, although
Castor is the one usually connected with horses, Pollux also is occasionally mentioned as a horseman; cf. the above quotation from the Georgics (to which Servius
made the same objection as did Housman to the present line) and see Furtwngler
in Roscher, s.v. Dioskuren 1156, and Mynors on Verg. georg. 3, 8991, p. 195.
As Shackleton Bailey points out, the Dioscuri are generally
,
presiding over games (Shackleton Bailey, Corrections, p. 285).
THRg

xQDJQLRL

2. Graia verbera: Martials mention of a Greek whip made Shackleton Bailey

(loc. cit.) suspect that Liber had evidently won a race at a Greek festival.
3. clusa texto prandia vimine: a basket of wickerwork, always mentioned
by Martial in connection with food, cf. 3, 58, 39 f. dona matrum vimine offerunt
texto | grandes proborum virgines colonorum. The other instances in Martial all
refer to gifts of food at the Saturnalia, an occasion when such gifts were exchanged more often than usual, cf. 2, 85, 1; 4, 88, 7; 7, 53, 5. For presents of food
not given at the Saturnalia, cf. 5, 29; 6, 75; 7, 78.
, the wine flagon which was put before the guests at the
4. lagona: Gr.
table and also used as a sign outside the wine-merchants shop (7, 61, 5; see MarOJXQRM

1
Jessen in RE 1, s.v. Amyklaios 2, 1999. Cf. also 14, 161, 1; Ciris 489 (and R. O. A. M. Lyne, Ciris. A
Poem Attributed to Vergil, Cambridge 1978, ad loc.); Ov. epist. 8, 71; Stat. Theb. 6, 329; 7, 413; silv. 4,
8, 29; Val. Fl. 1, 426.

86

quardt, pp. 629 f.). The vessel is mentioned extraordinarily frequently in Martial
(16 occurrences), compared with three in Horace, two in Persius and five in Juvenal.
5. digna tuo nomine munera: viz. a jar of wine.
5 f. ferres ... debuerint: ferres instead of tulisses; such an unreal imperfect subjunctive expressing past time was originally an archaic phenomenon,1 but was still
quite common in Cicero; cf., for example, Brut. 238 huius si vita non omnem
commendationem ingeni everteret, maius nomen in patronis fuisset.2 In this case,
as in Juvenal (for example, 4, 85, see Courtney, ad loc.), the phenomenon should
be considered an archaism; HofmannSzantyr, 185 III, pp. 332 f.; 361 a, p.
662.
The unreal perfect subjunctive debuerint likewise expresses past tense because
of the modality of the word (haec dona dari debuissent being equal to haec dona
dari debuerunt, the latter keeping its tense when made dependent on scis).

73
Dentibus antiquas solitus producere pelles
et mordere luto putre vetusque solum,
Praenestina tenes decepti regna patroni,
in quibus indignor si tibi cella fuit;
rumpis et ardenti madidus crystalla Falerno,
et pruris domini cum Ganymede tui.
At me litterulas stulti docuere parentes:
quid cum grammaticis rhetoribusque mihi?
Frange leves calamos et scinde, Thalia, libellos,
si dare sutori calceus ista potest.

10

A shoemaker has inherited the estate of his dead patron and turned from being a
poor cobbler into a wealthy landlord. The fact that such riches may befall by mere
chance (and quite undeservedly) a simple, uneducated shoemaker stirs Martials
envy: when such a character, without doing anything in return, becomes one of
the very richest, what is the use of a proper literary education, which scarcely
leads to any income at all?
The scanty pecuniary rewards enjoyed by men of letters almost forms a topos
in Martial. The chief reason for this is the lack of substantial, non-imperial patronage in Martials day, the more obvious to the poet, as his ideal in this respect
was the literary patronage of Augustan times. Martial was of the opinion that a
life of comfort and leisure, free from financial cares, was the proper breeding1

For example, Cato in Quint. inst. 9, 2, 21 cedo, si vos in eo loco essetis, quid aliud fecissetis?; more
instances in Khner-Stegmann 2, 215 c 1, p. 399
Further instances in O. Jahn & W. Kroll, Cicero, Brutus, sechste Auflage berarbeitet von B. Kytzler,
Berlin 1962, ad loc.
2

87

ground for great poetry. What he really needed was a Maecenas: sint Maecenates,
non deerunt, Flacce, Marones (8, 55, 5; cf. 11, 3). Such a person he eventually
found in Terentius Priscus (12, 3), but, when in his dullest mood, in spite of the
patrons he had, Martial considered his own age as marked by ungenerousness and
the emperor as the only person to whom it was worth turning.1 In such times, one
would be better off not only in court (an occupation which Martial always declined; see Howells introduction to 1, 17), but even as a lyre-singer, a pipeplayer, an auctioneer, an architect, or a mule-driver (all, of course, quite unthinkable professions) than as a man of letters (cf. 1, 76; 3, 4, 7 f.; 5, 56; 10, 76). Thus,
epigrams such as the present should be considered as occasional outbursts of indignation at times which did not always know how to pay proper rewards to true
talent.
Juvenal devoted his seventh Satire to the theme of the unprofitability of poetical or any other learned activity; for him, as for Martial, the emperor was the only
hope, in Juvenals case Hadrian; see Courtneys introduction to Iuv. sat. 7 and his
survey of the subject on p. 350 in particular.
1. Dentibus etc.: in addition to tools, cobblers also used their teeth when mending
shoes, a usage which would appear all the more disgusting if the shoes were old
and muddy (line 2). The shoemaker of this epigram was apparently not one of the
more exclusive and is thus presumably not to be identified, as does Sullivan,2 with
the shoemaker of Bononia, who had become wealthy enough to give games of his
own (3, 16; 59; 99). In imperial times, as it became fashionable to wear shoes
dyed with purple, embroidered and adorned with precious stones, it was obviously
possible for a shoemaker to make a fortune out of his trade;3 but the one mentioned here was a common cobbler, a fact which also adds to the point.
3. Praenestina: for Praeneste as a resort, see the introduction to 9, 60.
decepti regna: thus , defuncti rura and ; the reading of and was
printed by Gilbert and Lindsay, whereas Schneidewin, Friedlnder and Shackleton Bailey have combined decepti from and rura from . Among modern editors, Heraeus (following Gruterus edition of 1602), Izaac, Giarratano and Dol
keep the reading of unaltered.
Although the choice in cases like the present is extremely uncertain,4 some
arguments can be put forward for the reading of . To begin with decepti/defuncti:
here, the lectio difficilior of needs little justification, having now been generally
acknowledged as being correct. Opinions differ, however, regarding its sense.
Heraeus (in his apparatus) wrote Decepti crimen tecte notat without further
specification, which nonetheless seems, in spite of Shackleton Baileys objection,5
E

DJ

Sullivan, Martial, pp. 116 ff.

Ibid., p. 169.
3
Forbes, Studies 5, p. 59.
4
Lindsay, Ancient Editions, pp. 23 ff.; some editors have in the apparatus expressed diffidence at the
reading printed in the text; thus Friedlnder (defuncti rura vielleicht richtig) and Gilbert (regna sane
elegantius est).
5
Shackleton Bailey, More Corrections, p. 141. He suggests that deceptus means Cheated of his due,
i.e., his expectation of life, comparing Cic. fam. 5, 16, 4 as well as epigraphic evidence (CIL 3, 14644 and
2

88

to be the correct interpretation. It was elaborated by Parroni,1 who suggested that

the shoemaker acted as a captator (on which see the introduction to 9, 8). This
may, however, be somewhat doubtful, as it seems questionable whether a poor
shoemaker (assuming this to be the implication of the opening lines) would have
the means to successfully act as a legacy-hunter; cf. the annual 6,000 IIS given by
the captator in 9, 8. Martial also explicitly states that the deceased was the shoemakers patron; nowhere in the epigrams on legacy-hunting is there a hint that
the captator is the client of his victim. Anyhow, the important thing is that the
shoemaker had been appointed heir and that Martial intimates that he had
achieved this by deceitful means (the crimen of Heraeus).
In defence of regna, Heraeus produced 12, 31, 8 has Marcella domos parvaque regna dedit; 57, 19 Petilianis in regnis; Verg. ecl. 1, 69. The list may be
augmented with Cic. Att. 14, 16, 1 haec Puteolana et Cumana regna; de orat. 1,
41 nisi hic in tuo regno essemus (sc. in Ciceros villa at Tusculum); cf. Forcellini,
Lex., s.v. 145. Furthermore, from the mention of the cella (slaves chamber) in
the following line, it appears that Martial has particularly the house in mind; in
that context, regna is more appropriate, since it would be a slight lapse to say
rura, in quibus cella fuit. In addition, the combination of regna and cella produces an antithesis that suits the context very well; it has also been suggested that
regna carries a notion of the succession being unmerited, contrasting it with the
poverty of the shoemaker.2 Consequently, it seems warranted to adopt the reading
of altogether.
E

5. rumpis crystalla: the price of crystal was advanced by its fragility (Sen.
benef. 7, 9, 3 crystallina, quorum accendit fragilitas pretium); see note on 9, 22, 7
magna ... crystalla.
ardenti Falerno: 14, 113, 1; Hor. carm. 2, 11, 19; Iuv. 4, 139. Wine was
preferably mixed with hot water, calda (Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 401); the
shoemaker shows his ignorace by adding water hot enough the break the fragile
crystal. The ending crystalla Falerno also in 8, 77, 5.
6. Ganymede: his deceased patrons delicatus; fair boys are often referred to by
the name of the cupbearer of Jupiter; see the introduction to 9, 11.
7. litterulas: not, as in OLD, s.v. 2, ones ABC, but literary education and
activity.3
stulti parentes: this phrase has been variously understood, but, in all likelihood, it should not be taken as being derogatory of Martials parents: stulti does
not refer to their intellectual capacities but has rather an implication of ironic
12, 18). But, just as he holds that Heraeus interpretation reads in too much, this explanation seems too
faint and does not make much sense in this context.
1
P. Parroni, Gli stulti parentes di Marziale e il prezzo di una vocazione (nota a mart. [sic] 9, 73), in
Studi di poesia latina in onore di Antonio Traglia, vol. 2, pp. 833839, Rome 1979.
2
Ibid., p. 838.
3
Ibid., p. 836, n. 14.

89

compassion for their naivet in letting him study with the grammaticus and the
rhetor: my poor foolish parents (viz. who put me in school to learn what they
thought to be something honourable but which, in these times, is worth nothing);
thus G. Hirst, Note on Martial 9. 73. 7, Classical Weekly 19 (1925), p. 66 (cf.
Parroni, op. cit., pp. 835 f.). As noted by Hirst, the line is clearly inspired by
Verg. Aen. 1, 392; cf. also Ov. trist. 2, 343.
The question whether or not we know the names of Martials parents has been
much debated, but as this has little relevance here and as the present mention of
them is clearly not crucial to the epigram (as it has sometimes been taken to be), it
may be sufficient to present here a brief account of the opinions expressed on this
issue. Calderinus, in his edition of 1482, identified them with the Fronto and
Flaccilla, whom Martial refers to as pater and genetrix and to whom is entrusted
the soul of Erotion in 5, 34. This was the prevalent opinion until Farnaby, in his
1625 edition, suggested that Fronto and Flaccilla were Martials slaves and the
parents of Erotion, and ever since the arguments have run in favour of now the
one and now the other opinion; see here J. Mantke, Do we know Martials parents? (Mart. V 34), Eos 57, 19671968, pp. 234244, for a summary. Mantke
himself came to the conclusion that Fronto and Flaccilla were in fact the parents
of Erotion, and his arguments were strongly vindicated by A. A. Bell.1 Most recently, in his commentary on Book 5, Howell took sides with the opinion that they
are in fact the parents of Martial.
8. quid cum etc.: what use was it for me to attend the lessons of the grammaticus
and of the rhetor? The grammaticus and the rhetor represent the two stages
following the elementary school (the ludus), the former teaching Latin and Greek
literature (mainly poetry) and the latter rhetoric. It is doubtful whether this line
can tell us anything of the social status of Martials parents, as it cannot at once
be accepted that the poet really attended the lessons of both; perhaps, Martial uses
them here as representatives of the non-lucrative literary education, as he does
elsewhere (5, 56, 3); furthermore, the grammatici occasionally gave rudimentary
teaching in rhetoric as well.2 It seems very likely, though, that the poet would
have attended both, even if there was no rhetor in Bilbilis; Sullivan supposes that
the nearest was to be found in Caesaraugusta or Tarraco.3 But this need by no
means imply that Martials parents were rich; even though it is difficult to get an
idea of the costs involved in giving ones son a proper education,4 the monthly
sum required to keep him in the school of the grammaticus was presumably not
excessively large, nor was that charged by the rhetor; see, for example, S. F.
Bonner, Education in ancient Rome, Berkeley & Los Angeles 1977, pp. 150 ff.

A. A. Bell, Martials daughter?, CW 78 (1984), pp. 2124.

Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 331.
3
Sullivan, Martial, p. 2.
4
There is scarcely any contemporary evidence at all of the charges; much later, the edict of Diocletian set
the sum to be charged by the grammaticus per pupil and month at 200 denarii (Blmner, op. cit., p. 324,
n. 9); in the case of the rhetor, the sum was set at 250 denarii (ibid., p. 334, n. 6). But there were other
factors involved. In Martials day, a famous teacher could charge considerably more than one with no
reputation; in the larger cities, the competition also helped to keep the prices down (see further Blmner,
op. cit., pp. 324 f. and 334).
2

90

9. Frange leves calamos etc.: Calp. ecl. 4, 23 (Corydon has dissuaded his brother
Amyntas from writing poetry) frange, puer, calamos (here in the sense of pipes)
et inanes desere Musas; Iuv. 7, 27 frange miser calamum vigilataque proelia
dele. Perhaps there was a common, now lost, source for the expression.
Levis is a common epithet of the reed, cf. Verg. georg. 2, 358; Moret. 61; also
in different functions, of arrows in Ov. met. 7, 778; Sil. 17, 88, and of a pipe in
Verg. ecl. 5, 2. In this case, it should be taken as alluding not only to the constitution of the reed, but also to the poetry written with it, i.e. light; the same double
meaning is found in Phaedr. 4, 2, 1 f. Ioculare tibi videtur, et sane levi, | dum
nihil habemus maius, calamo ludimus.
Thalia: cf. note on 9, 26, 7 f.

74
Effigiem tantum pueri pictura Camoni
servat, et infantis parva figura manet.
Florentes nulla signavit imagine voltus,
dum timet ora pius muta videre pater.
Camonius Rufus, a native of Bononia (modern Bologna),1 was Martials dear
friend and admirer, who knew whole epigrams by heart. Perhaps, Martial had
made his acquaintance during his stay at Forum Cornelii in 87; it has been suggested that the Rufus of some epigrams in Book 3 is to be identified as Camonius
(Sullivan, Martial, p. 31). Some time before the year 90, he had gone on some
mission to Cappadocia, where he died at an age probably slightly less than twentyfive years (see note on 9, 76, 3). His ashes were brought back to his father in Bononia, and Martial wrote a poem in commemoration of his death (6, 85, on which
see Grewings commentary).
The present epigram paves the way for 9, 76, for the correct understanding of
which it is essential. But nothing can be said with certainty about Martials reasons for taking up the theme of Camonius death again in Book 9, about five years
after it had occurred. The most likely explanation seems to be that Martial for
some reason had made contact with Camonius father, perhaps on a journey to
Bononia, and, visiting him in his home, had seen the picture of Camonius as a
baby. The fact that the father did not keep any other picture of his prematurely
dead son touched the poet, who presented the father with 9, 76 to be put beneath
Camonius picture. The character of 9, 74 suggests that it was not presented to the
father; instead, it may have been written as a prologue to 9, 76 when the poem
was incorporated into Book 9.
1. pueri pictura: cf. 9, 76, 9.
1

The family probably hailed from the region, as is indicated by the occurrence of the gentile name Camonius in some inscriptions in CIL 11 (5813; 5847; 6081; 6252).

91

2. infantis parva figura manet: Ov. fast. 6, 278 immensi parva figura poli.
3. Florentes nulla signavit imagine voltus: the father did not have his sons
youthful looks portrayed in any image; this use of signo is apparently unparalleled (see Forcellini, Lex., s.v. 2, 7, 503), but may perhaps derive from signum in
the sense of a figure in a painting (OLD, s.v. 12 c). Very similar in expression,
though not in meaning, are 6, 27, 3 est tibi (sc. nata), quae patria signatur imagine voltus; and 13, 30, 1 Caseus Etruscae signatus imagine lunae (with the clear
sense of stamped).
This is also the only instance of the juncture florentes voltus; cf., however, 3,
6, 3 florentes genas of the cheeks of Marcellinus at the time of the depositio
barbae.
For the ending imagine vultus, see note on 9, 24, 1.
4. dum timet ora muta videre: timet is perhaps best taken pregnantly and the
line translated as while his father yet only feared to see his lips silent. Shackleton Bailey (More Corrections, p. 141) took dum in a causal sense and suggested
that when Camonius as a young man left his father chose not to have a portrait painted, as most fathers would have done, because he was afraid that the
sight of the silent face would distress rather than console him. This, however, is
an odd explanation, as most people, as Shackleton Bailey admits, would find a
comfort in having with them the picture of an absent son. Shackleton Bailey
rightly denies that the father had a presentiment of his sons death; but if Camonius father felt that such an image would distress him, would this not be the same
thing as if he felt the sons journey to be ill-omened?
Grewing takes muta to mean lacking the faculty of speech, and concludes
that the father thought it appropriate to keep a picture only of the infans, i.e. of the
child that had not yet learnt to speak, since a picture, being unable to speak,
would correspond to the real nature of an infant but not to that of a young man.1
The same opening in Tib. 1, 8, 36; Ov. met. 2, 717; Priap. 3, 8.
pius ... pater: the affection between father and son in this case seems to have
been notable; cf. 6, 85, 7, but the father is naturally pius also through his recollection of and grief for his dead son.

F. Grewing, Etymologie und etymologische Wortspiele in den Epigrammen Martials, in F. Grewing

(ed.), Toto notus in orbe. Perspektiven der Martial-Interpretation, Stuttgart 1998, p. 347.

92

75
Non silice duro structilive caemento,
nec latere cocto, quo Samiramis longam
Babylona cinxit, Tucca balneum fecit:
sed strage nemorum pineaque conpage,
ut navigare Tucca balneo possit.
Idem beatas lautus extruit thermas
de marmore omni, quod Carystos invenit,
quod Phrygia Synnas, Afra quod Nomas misit,
et quod virenti fonte lavit Eurotas.
Sed ligna desunt: subice balneum thermis.

10

A certain Tucca has built himself a wooden balneum (a mere bath) at home, so
that he can afford to build lavish marble thermae (baths with sporting facilities1)
for the public as a kind of show-piece. Nonetheless, when the thermae were finished, he had no longer the means to provide for their heating. But Martial gives
him a piece of advice: why not put the balneum to use in the furnace of the thermae?
Considering the heating system, building a balneum out of wood is, of course,
absurd and certainly makes Tucca penny-wise and pound-foolish. Likewise, it is
an absurd improbability that a private individual would build thermae, at least at
Romethese were almost exclusively owned by the city or the state; see Yegl,
op. cit., pp. 43 ff.
1. silice duro: silex is frequently used as the model of hard rock, often with the
epithet durus; cf. Verg. Aen. 6, 471; catal. 9, 46; Ov. met. 2, 706; 9, 304; Stat.
silv. 4, 3, 1; Vitruv. 2, 7, 1. The name was applied to different stones showing this
quality, but, in the present case, the reference is likely to basalt; cf. Vitruv. 1, 5, 8
and 2, 8, 4 f., speaking of silex (= basalt) as a material very apt for use in walls.
structili ... caemento: building concrete, this juncture only here. Like basalt, Vitruvius (1, 5, 8) recommends its use in walls.
2 f. latere cocto, quo Samiramis | Babylona cinxit: obviously modelled on
Ovids lines from the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe: contiguas tenuere domos, ubi
dicitur altam | coctilibus muris cinxisse Semiramis urbem (met. 4, 57 f.).
Semiramis Babylonian walls were already in Ovids time a poetical topos
(Prop. 3, 11, 21 f. and see Bmer on met. 4, 58, p. 37 f. with an extensive list of
later instances). The standard picture of Semiramis as one of antiquitys greatest
builders is present already in Diodorus Siculus, who offers the earliest extant
account of her, drawing on an account by Ktesias from the early 4th century BC.
She is also credited with the founding of Babylon, a story which was very tenacious, although rejected already in the early third century BC by Berossus in his
1

For the distinction between balnea and thermae, see F. Yegl, Baths and Bathing in Classical Antiquity,
Cambridge Mass. & London 1992, p. 43.

93

Babylonian history (
; see Joseph. Ap. 1, 142); thus Vitruvius still
speaks of Semiramis as being the builder of the walls of Babylon as a historical
fact (8, 3, 8; brickwork in walls: ibid. 1, 5, 8); see W. Eilers, Semiramis, Vienna
1971, pp. 12 ff.; Lenschau in RE Suppl. 7, s.v. Semiramis 1210.
In the extant Latin texts, there are more instances of the spelling Samiramis
(always with substantial manuscript support) than of Semiramis,1 which is
strange, as Greek only displays the spelling
. Now the historical model
for the mythical Semiramis was Sammuramat (wife of the Assyrian king Samsiadad V, 824810 BC; see G. Pattinato, Semiramis, Zrich and Munich 1988, pp.
30 ff.), but this fact cannot have been any better known to the Romans than it was
to the Greeks, from whom they had the story. But the initial sa- is found in the
Near East in names of other mythical figures drawn from the legendary Semiramis, like the Armenian Samiran, Samira, etc. (see Eilers, op. cit., pp. 54 ff.).
Perhaps this is the source of the initial sa- appearing in Latin, although it cannot
be determined when and in what way it found its way into Latin.
longus here obviously in the sense of vast, cf. TLL, s.v. 1635, 11, which,
however does not offer any good parallels. Perhaps the adjective should be taken
predicatively (in all its length).
%DEXOZQLDN

6HPdUDPLM

3. Tucca: this rare cognomen, of Etruscan origin (cf. Howell on 1, 18; Kay on 11,
70, 1), appears in Martial quite often and almost exclusively in satirical and scoptic pieces; thus 1, 18; 6, 65; 7, 77; 11, 70, 12, 41; and 12, 94. 7, 41 is addressed to
a Sempronius Tucca.
4. strage nemorum: strage nemorum suggests a virtual havoc of forests for the
timber for Tuccass bath. Cf. Mercurys words to Hannibal in Sil. 3, 204 ff. te
maxima bella, | te strages nemorum, te moto turbida caelo | tempestas caedesque
virum magnaeque ruinae | Idaei generis lacrimosaque fata secuntur.
pinea ... conpage: compages, meaning either joint or framework, in the
poets from Vergil onwards often refers to the structure of a ship; see TLL, s.v.
1998, 53 ff. and 1999, 36 ff.
By building his bath of wood, and especially of pine, Tucca invites Martial to
remark that he may well use it as a boat; pine was the material par excellence for
ships; cf. Catull. 64, 10; Verg. ecl. 4, 38 f.; Hor. epod. 16, 57; Ov. met. 2, 185 (on
which see Bmer with further instances).
6. beatas lautus extruit thermas: extravagant he built sumptuous baths, rather
in malam partem, cf. Iuv. 1, 67 f. signator falsi, qui se lautum atque beatum |
exiguis tabulis et gemma fecerit uda.
7 f. List of marbles: marble came to be used to a greater extent in baths during
the 1st century AD, not only because of its beauty, but because of its resistance to
1

Semiramis is first found in Cicero (one instance, prov. 9), then Mela (1), Vell. Pat. (1), Hygin. (4), Prop.
(1), Ov. (3), and Plin. (3, Books 1933), whereas Samiramis first appears in Val. Max. (9, 3[ext], 4), then
Curt. (3), Front. (1), Vitruv. (1), Ampel. (2), Plin. (6, Books 68), and Hist. Aug. trig. tyr. (1).

94

damp and heat; cf. I. Nielsen, Thermae et balneae, 1, Aarhus 1990, p. 42. An
instance of such lavish constructions is provided by the sumptuously decorated
baths of Claudius Etruscus, celebrated by Statius (silv. 1, 5) as well as by Martial
(6, 42).1 Etruscus bath contained Numidian, Synnadic, Tyrian and Sidonian
marbles with Laconian for incrustation (Stat. silv. 1, 5, 34 ff.; cf. Mart. 6, 42, 11
ff.). But Statius elaborates his description by enumerating also those varieties
which it did not contain, thus forming an entire catalogue of marbles, which is
something of a Statian specialty (see van Dam, p. 247).
Three of the four marbles present in Tuccas baths are to be found also in
those of Etruscus, the exception being the Carystan, which Statius explicitly says
was not the be found in the latter. But it is noteworthy that all four are mentioned
by both poets in very similar diction; thus (marmor) quod Carystos invenit corresponds to (non huc admissa) undosa Carystos (silv. 1, 5, 34); quod Phrygia Synnas ... misit to purpura, sola cavo Phrygiae quam Synnados antro (ipse cruentavit
... Attis, silv. 1, 5, 37 f.); Afra quod Nomas misit to sola nitet flavis Nomadum
decisa metallis (sc. purpura, silv. 1, 5, 36); quod virenti fonte lavit Eurotas to vix
locus Eurotae, viridis cum regula longo | Synnada distinctu variat (silv. 1, 5, 40
f.). These similarities in diction may indicate that Martial, when describing the
baths of Tucca, had Statius list of marbles in mind; especially the use of the river
Eurotas to represent Laconian marble, a device common only to the poems in
question, may point in that direction.
Statius has furthermore an extensive catalogue of marbles in silv. 2, 2, 8395,
on the Surrentine villa of Pollius Felix (see van Dam, pp. 246 ff.).
7. quod Carystos invenit: Carystos is used metonymically for the inhabitants, and
the construction thus parallels Synnas misit in the following line. There is no need
for the emendations suggested by Heinsius (Carystides venae, see the apparatus of
Shackleton Bailey) and Watt (Carystos evexit, W. S. Watt, Notes on Martial,
AC 63 [1994], pp. 275277).
In Carystos (
) in southern Euboia at the foot of Mt. Oche was quarried a white marble with greenish veins, reminiscent of the sea. The marble,
which is known now as cipollino, was preferably used in luxury buildings, first
by Mamurra (notorious through the verse of Catullus; cf. note on 9, 59, 1), who in
his lavish home on Mons Caelius had columns of solid Carystan marble (Plin. nat.
36, 48). It is mentioned often; cf. Tib. 3, 3, 14; Lucan. 5, 232 (Stat. Theb. 7, 370);
Sen. Tro. 836; Stat. silv. 1, 2, 149 f.; 1, 5, 34; 2, 2, 93; 4, 2, 28; Plin. epist. 5, 6,
36; Hist. Aug. Gord. 32, 1; see R. Gnoli, Marmora Romana, Rome 1971, pp. 154
156; von Geisau in RE 10, s.v. Karystos 1, 2257.
.UXVWRM

8. Synnas: the Romans generally referred to the marble of Docimeion

(
) in Phrygia by the name of the nearby city of Synnas (more common
in the plural Synnada); Strab. 12, 8, 14; see Ruge in RE 5, s.v. Dokimeion 1273.
The costly marble, now called pavonazetto, is white and red (Hor. carm. 3, 1, 41
ff.; Stat. silv. 1, 5, 37 f.; Plin. nat. 35, 3). Martial mentions it as used in the baths
'RNdPHLRQ

For the interrelation of these poems, see Henriksn, Martial und Statius, pp. 94 ff.

95

of Claudius Etruscus in 6, 42, 13; cf. also Tib. 3, 3, 13; and Ov. epist. 15, 142. See
Gnoli, op. cit., pp. 142144.
) for the Latin NuNomas: Martial uses exclusively the Greek Nomas (
mida (also 8, 53, 8 and 12, 29, 6), presumably because of the metrical convenience of the shorter form. This is true also of Propertius (one instance) and Silius
(17 instances), while Numida is the only form used by Horace, Ovid, Manilius,
Lucan and Juvenal. The only poets to use both forms are Vergil (three instances of
Nomas, one of Numida) and Statius (two instances of Nomas, both with reference
to marble, three of Numida).
Numidian marble (giallo antico), yellow with red (or white) veins, was
quarried above all in Simitthu and Hippo; Martial mentions it also in 6, 42, 13
(the baths of Etruscus), 8, 53, 8; cf. also Hor. carm. 2, 18, 4 f.; see Gnoli, op. cit.,
pp. 139141; Windberg in RE 17, s.v. Numidia 1368.
1RPM

9. Eurotas: the largest river of Laconia, close to which, in Croceae (on the road
from Sparta to Gytheion), was quarried the green, Laconian marble (porfido
verde di Grecia o serpentino), used especially in luxury buildings like temples
and baths (Pausan. 3, 21, 4); see Gnoli, op. cit., pp. 115118; Pieske in RE 11,
s.v. Krokeai 1942 f. Martial mentions it again in connection with the baths of
Etruscus (6, 42, 11); cf. Tib. 3, 3, 14; Stat. silv. 1, 2, 148; 1, 5, 40; 2, 2, 90 f. Its
green colour is often alluded to, in this case by the mention of the source of the
Eurotas as virens fons.
10. subice balneum thermis: Martial suggests that Tucca should use his balneum
to heat his thermae. Roman baths were heated by hot air circulating in cavities
under the floor and in the walls (so-called balineae pensiles); the floor of these
cavities was made in such a way that it sloped down towards the furnace, which
facilitated the heating process (cf. Vitruv. 5, 10, 1 ff.; Mau in RE 2, s.v. Bder
2748).

76
Haec sunt illa mei quae cernitis ora Camoni,
haec pueri facies primaque forma fuit.
Creverat hic vultus bis denis fortior annis,
gaudebatque suas pingere barba genas,
et libata semel summos modo purpura cultros
sparserat: invidit de tribus una soror
et festinatis incidit stamina pensis,
absentemque patri rettulit urna rogum.
Sed ne sola tamen puerum pictura loquatur,
haec erit in chartis maior imago meis.

96

10

This epigram forms a pair with 9, 74, which acts as an introduction to the present.
It was probably presented to the father of Camonius Rufus of Bononia, who had
died in Cappadocia shortly before the year 90 (see the introduction to 9, 74), and
was meant to be placed beneath the picture which the father kept of his son and
which presented him as a boy.
The epigram is written in the manner of a sepulchral inscription: it opens by
giving the name of the deceased, who is subsequently described as having been a
promising young man in the flower of his youth when envious Fate cut off his lifethread; the only lines falling outside this setting are line 2 and the concluding
distich, in which Martial states that he has written the epigram in order that there
should be not only a picture showing Camonius the boy, but also a maior imago of
Camonius in his poem. By this, Martial meant primarily that his poem will give
an image of Camonius as a young man, as contrasted with the picture of Camonius the boy. But there is also the notion suggested by Ov. trist. 1, 7, 114, the
unnamed addressee of which carries Ovids picture set in a golden ring; the poet
is touched by his friends piety but remarks that carmina maior imago | sunt mea
(trist. 1, 7, 11 f.), here, the sense is obviously that Ovids works give a better or
more true image of the poet than does the portrait on the ring (not, as Luck, ad
loc., puts it, a greater image im Gegensatz zu der kleinen Gemme). A very
similar thought is appended to Albrecht Drers picture of Erasmus:
.
WQ

NUHdWWZ

W VXJJUPPDWD Gd[HL

1. Haec sunt illa: see note on 9, 49, 1.

mei: Camonius had been a good friend of Martials; see the introduction to 9,
74.
3. bis denis annis: the fact that this line mentions 20 years has caused some
confusion as to the meaning of 6, 85, 8, speaking of Camonius as having seen
Alphei praemia quinta, i.e. five olympiadas. Martial elsewhere uses an Olympiad,
on the Ovidian pattern, as synonymous with lustrum (cf. A. Scotland, Zu Martial, Philologus 29 [1870], pp. 185 f.), a period of five years, and certainly so in
this passage also.1 A possible explanation was offered by Friedrich: Genau auf
den Tag ist Camonius Rufus schwerlich bei seinem Tode 20 Jahre alt gewesen.
War er ein wenig lter, so ist viderat Alphei praemia quinta modo in Ordnung: er
hatte die fnfte Olympiade eben erblickt, war eben in sie eingetreten (G. Friedrich, Zu Martial, Hermes 43 [1908], p. 625). Still, it seems more attractive to
agree with Shackleton Bailey (in his Loeb edition, ad loc.), suggesting that the
wording ... rather favours understanding twenty years after the portrait was
painted; I quote here Grewing on 6, 85, 8: wenn also Camonius nicht gerade in
einem olympischen Jahr geboren worden war, wurde er lter als 20, doch wenig
lter als 25 Jahre.

The fact that the E-group has quanta for quinta in 6, 85, 8 has been taken as a possible indication that
Martial in fact wrote quarta here (see Friedlnder, ad loc.); however, this possibility has not been advocated by any editor except Gruter (see Grewing on 6, 85, 8).

97

4. pingere barba genas: pingere ; cingere . Both readings are possible, but
pingere would be preferable with reference to Camonius beard as purple in the
following line.
For the ending, cf. Priap. 3, 4.
J

5. libata semel ... purpura: cf. 3, 6, 4 libat florentes haec (sc. dies) tibi prima
genas (of the anniversary of the depositio barbae of Marcellinus). For libo of
offerings of hair, cf. Ov. fast. 3, 562; Stat. Theb. 2, 255; OLD, s.v. 1 c.
Purpura suggests that Camonius beard was red in colour; in like manner, the
red hair of Nisus is mentioned as purpureus in Ciris 281 and Ov. met. 8, 94.
6. de tribus una soror: sc. Atropos, who cuts off the thread of life. The formula
de tribus una is mainly used of the Parcae (thus in 4, 54, 10; Prop. 2, 13, 44; Ov.
Ib. 240; Epiced. Drusi 243) but appears also in other contexts, for example, Ov.
met. 10, 314 (with Bmer) of one of the Furies; cf. Ov. met. 10, 664; fast. 6, 288;
trist. 2, 1, 246; Priap. 12, 9 (perhaps making a joke on the formula).
7. et pensis: note the spondaic rhythm, underlining the contents. For pensa,
see note on 9, 17, 2.
8. absentemque rogum: the urn brought back to his father (the remains of)
the faraway pyre; there is a tendency here to the metonymical use of rogus =
cinis, but it is restrained by the adjective, which cannot be applied to cinis. For
absens of things in the sense of physically elsewhere, see TLL, s.v. absum 215,
33 f.; OLD, s.v. absens 3.
9. puerum pictura: 9, 74, 1.
10. maior imago: see the introduction above.

77
Quod optimum sit disputat convivium
facunda Prisci pagina,
et multa dulci, multa sublimi refert,
sed cuncta docto pectore.
Quod optimum sit quaeritis convivium?
In quo choraules non erit.

Priscus has written a learned and lofty poem on the best kind of dinner-party,
presumably concluding it to be the kind at which the dinner is accompanied by
philosophical conversation after the manner of the famous literary Symposia of
Plato, Xenophon and others (later instances by, for example, Athenaeus and Plutarch; a parody of the genre is Lucians
; see, for example,
Grtner in KP, s.v. Symposion-Literatur); cf. Macr. Sat. 7, 1, 1 ff. But Martial
6XPSVLRQ

98

/DSdTDL

holds that there is no need for profound erudition to reckon which is the best dinner-party: it is simply that at which there is no pipe-player.
This epigram is written in an unusual metre, the iambic epode (iambic trimeter alternating with iambic dimeter acatalectic; see Crusius, 154, and Howells
introduction to 1, 49, p. 213), used by Horace in the first ten of his Epodes. Martial uses this metre only in three other epigrams, 1, 49; 3, 14; and 11, 59. 1, 49
stands out from the others by its length (42 verses, the second longest in Martial)
and subject-matter, the praise of the comforts of country life, which, like the metre, is drawn from Horace. The remaining two, like the present, are short, joking
pieces; common to this epigram and 11, 59 is the question quaeritis in the last
line but one. It seems likely, too, that Martial has chosen the iambic metre for this
epigram and for 11, 59 to fit certain words that had to be included; in the present
case, it accommodates optimum and convivium, in 11, 59 dactyliothecam.
In this case, perhaps the subject-matter can be combined with the unusual
choice of metre to provide a clue to the circumstances under which the epigram
was conceived: one can imagine a dinner-party at which the conversation drifts on
to Priscus poem; perhaps the poet himself was present and had recited it. Martial,
either on his own initiative or having been asked to do so, improvises a poem of
his own on the same subject as Priscus, choosing the odd metre to fit the necessary
words optimum and convivium and perhaps also to show off his technique.
Quaeritis in line 5 may indicate that there are several persons present, as it would
at a party (see below); perhaps, then, the same is applicable also to 11, 59, which
shares the same metre and structure. For poetical improvisations at dinner-parties,
see 9, 89 intro.
2. Prisci: Friedlnder suggests that Martials benefactor Terentius Priscus is
meant here, the first certain mention of whom is in 8, 45, a poem on his return to
Rome from Sicily. Later, the poet presented him with Book 12 and addressed (or
mentioned) him in some other epigrams of that book, notably 12, 3, in which
Martial praises him as his Maecenas; cf. 12, 1; 3; 14; 62; 92. In this context, it is
interesting to note that the same Terentius Priscus may be the man to whom Plutarch dedicated his De Oraculorum Defectu (mor. 409 ff.);1 Quod optimum sit
convivium sounds a Plutarchian title.
Apart from the obviously fictitious Prisci in Martial (1, 112, 2; 2, 41, 10; 9,
10, 1), there has been some dispute as to whether the rest are to be identified as
Terentius Priscus or not. Immisch was rather liberal in this respect, taking 6, 18;
7, 46; and 8, 12, and also the present epigram as referring to Terentius, but was
wrong, apparently due to a misinterpretation of pater optime in 12, 62, 7, in seeing a son of his in the Priscus of 12, 1 and 12, 14 and even in the Priscus to whom
Book 12 is dedicated (O. Immisch, Zu Martial, Hermes 46 [1911], pp. 501 ff.).
However, several of these Prisci may be identified with Terentius Priscus, thus 6,
18; 7, 46; 8, 12; and 10, 3. The opinions of the editors have varied in this respect,
as there is no means of making a certain judgement. But the present Priscus has
the poetical activity in common with the one of 7, 46 and, if the one is to be iden1

See P. Howell, Martials Return to Spain, in F. Grewing (ed.), Toto notus in orbe. Perspektiven der
Martial-Interpretation, Stuttgart 1998, pp. 173186 (here p. 175).

99

tified with Terentius, it is reasonable to do so also in the case of the other. There
is nothing to contradict the identification of the present Priscus with Terentius;
perhaps, then, he should be recognized also in 7, 46, provided that Martial was
closely acquainted with him, as is required by the tone of that epigram.
3 f. dulci sublimi ... docto pectore: the ability to sing dulciter (well-sounding)
as well as sublimiter (in an elevated style) was as important to a poet as it was to
be able to present himself as doctus (a stock epithet of poets; see note on 9, 42, 3).
Compare here Quintilians characterization of the poetry of the young Domitian
(inst. 10, 1, 91): Quid tamen his ipsis eius operibus in quae donato imperio iuvenis secesserat sublimius, doctius, omnibus denique numeris praestantius? and
Plinys account of the poetical abilities of Sentius Augurinus (epist. 4, 27, 1):
Multa tenuiter multa sublimiter, multa venuste multa tenere, multa dulciter multa
cum bile.
Sublimi pectore also in 9, praef., 1 (cf. note ad loc.); docto pectore also in 1,
25, 2; Ov. trist. 3, 1, 63 f.
5. quaeritis: it has been suggested that Martial, when posing a question in the
plural, has a real audience in mind; thus also in 4, 65, 2; 8, 12, 2; 11, 59, 3; see
W. Burnikel, Zur Bedeutung der Mndlichkeit in Martials Epigrammbchern I
XII in VogtSpira (ed.), Strukturen der Mndlichkeit in der rmischen Literatur,
Tbingen 1990, p. 230, n. 38. Whereas there is in most cases nothing to indicate
that this is in fact the case (rather the opposite is indicated by 8, 12, 2, where
Martial uses quaeritis when addressing Priscus), it may be applicable to this epigram, assuming that Martial improvised it at a dinner-party.
6. the first line of the poem repeated almost identically at the end; see note on 9,
38, 10.
) playing the tibia (
). The
7. choraules: the one who led the chorus (
term choraules is not found in either Greek or Latin before the time of Nero. LSJ
gives but two literary instances, AP 11, 11, 1 (Lucilius) and Plut. Ant. 24. More
instances are to be found in Latin, beginning with Pliny the Elder and Petronius
and continuing through Servius, all in all, 16 instances, of which a quarter is to be
found in Martial (also 5, 56, 9; 6, 39, 19; 11, 75, 3).
In suggesting that the best dinner-party would be that at which there was no
choraules, Martial may be making a humorous reference to the probable philosophical contents of Priscus treaties; for Plato himself would not allow the
among the instruments in his State, because it could produce too many tones and
play in all
(Plat. Rep. 3, 399 d; see G. Comotti, Music in Greek and
Roman Culture, translated by R. V. Munson, Baltimore and London 1989, p. 70).
But perhaps there is also a trace here of Martials contempt of the choraules himself as a representative of a profession which he enviously disdained.1 All Martials mentions of the choraules are derogatory in one way or another, the reason
for which may perhaps be gathered from 5, 56, 9: it is a matter of pure and simple
FRUM

DOM

DOM

UPRQdDL

To the sound of the tibia Martial apparently had no objection (cf. 5, 78, 29 f.).

100

envy at the high esteem in which they were held and the large sums paid to them
(see Comotti, op. cit., p. 69) vis--vis the bare outcome of his own profession; cf.
the introduction to 9, 73 and see Howell on 5, 56, 9.

78
Funera post septem nupsit tibi Galla virorum,
Picentine: sequi vult, puto, Galla viros.
This epigram closely resembles 9, 15, which hints at Chloes having poisoned
seven husbands. The two pieces open in the same way, by stating that seven husbands are dead and buried. The following line, in both cases the last, contains the
pun of the epigrams, in 9, 15 the innuendo that Chloe has put her seven husbands
to death. The same hint is present here; Martial obviously means that Galla has
been the cause of the deaths of her seven previous husbands. But now, by marrying Picentinus, who is obviously a poisoner himself, she is sure to meet with the
same fate as her previous husbands. There is a similar situation in 8, 43: Effert
uxores Fabius, Chrestilla maritos, | funereamque toris quassat uterque facem. |
Victores committe, Venus: quos iste manebit | exitus, una duos ut Libitina ferat.
For the device of ending an epigram with a line similar to the beginning, see
note on 9, 38, 10; in the AP, most of the instances of this technique appear in twoline poems (see Siedschlag, Form, p. 124).
1. Galla: see note on 9, 4, 1.
2. Picentine: the only instance of this name in Martial. Kajanto records 16 instances, both male and female, of the cognomen but seems to be in some doubt as
to whether in some cases it derives from Picenum or from the town of Picentia in
southern Campania (Kajanto, Cognomina, p. 185). In this case, it is impossible to
decide whether there are any specific implications in the name; cf., however,
Martials use of the name Picens (lit. of Picenum) in 8, 57 and 62, both of satirical content.
puto, Galla viros: this exact ending of the pentameter also in 4, 58, 2 and 7,
58, 10.

101

79
Oderat ante ducum famulos turbamque priorem
et Palatinum Roma supercilium:
at nunc tantus amor cunctis, Auguste, tuorum est,
ut sit cuique suae cura secunda domus.
Tam placidae mentes, tanta est reverentia nostri,
tam pacata quies, tantus in ore pudor.
Nemo suos (haec est aulae natura potentis),
sed domini mores Caesarianus habet.

Early in the Principate, there are instances of members of the familia Caesaris
(imperial freedmen residing at court and holding various offices), who through
their ready access to the emperor had gained a considerable influence and substantial fortunes. Together with their often arrogant manners and coarse behaviour, this grated on the genuine Roman knights and senators, who quite naturally
thought it humiliating that former slaves should be placed on the very verge of
supreme power. The first instances appear in the reigns of weak and less apt emperors, who were more likely to come under the influence of cunning freedmen;
the degree of control exercised over his famuli was one of the criteria for distinguishing an emperors worth in the eyes of his class-conscious contemporaries
(Weaver, pp. 9 f.). Under Caligula, there was Callistus, who managed to keep his
position under Claudius by being part of the conspiracy against his predecessor.
The reign of Claudius had men like Pallas and Narcissus, and under Nero, there
were Helius and Polycleitus (see Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 1, pp. 40 ff.).
Under Vespasian and Titus, no freedmen seem to have become as influential
as under the last of the Julio-Claudians, nor are there any such striking instances
in the reign of Domitian. But they still held important positions at court; obvious
to anyone who tried to approach the emperor was the influence of the a cubiculo
(chamberlain), who controlled access to his master. The importance of being on
good terms with him appears from Martials poems to Domitians a cubiculo
Parthenius (see note on 9, 49, 3); he also addressed the a libellis (secretary dealing with petitions) Entellus (8, 68) and the triclinarius (the man in charge of the
arrangements of the dining-room) Euphemus (4, 8).
There is a vague indication that Domitian used his freedmen also as political
agents (Jones, Domitian, pp. 62 f.). In Agr. 40, 2, Tacitus refers to a rumour that
Domitian had sent a freedman ex secretioribus ministeriis to Britain to persuade
Agricola give up his command by promising him Syria. This was, however,
probably not the case, and even Tacitus himself doubts the story (see Ogilvie &
Richmond, Cornelii Taciti De vita Agricolae, Oxford 1967, ad loc.). An emperor
who used his freedmen as emissaries, as did Claudius (below) and Nero (Tac. ann.
14, 39, 1), would have been dangerously close to making himself ridiculous; Dio
Cassius tells how Narcissus, when sent by Claudius to replace Plautinus as commander of an army in Britain, was heckled by the soldiers shouting io Saturnalia,
referring to the festival when slave and master changed places (60, 19, 3). But
Domitian, like his predecessors, would probably have been under the influence of
his freedmen to a certain extent; cf. Tac. Agr. 41, 4 ... satis constat Domitiani

102

quoque auris verberatas, dum optimus quisque libertorum amore et fide, pessimi
malignitate et livore pronum deterioribus principem extimulabant. While noting
the dependence of previous emperors on their liberti, Pliny in his Panegyricus (in
a section not unlike the present poem) emphasized that this was not the case with
Trajan (paneg. 88, 1 f.): Plerique principes, cum essent civium domini, libertorum
erant servi: horum consiliis horum nutu regebantur; per hos audiebant per hos
loquebantur, per hos praeturae etiam et sacerdotia et consulatus, immo ab his
petebantur. Tu libertis tuis summum quidem honorem, sed tamquam libertis habes
abundeque sufficere his credis, si probi et frugi existimentur.
In the present epigram, Martial emphasizes that Domitians familia has none
of the abhorrent features of those of previous emperors. This, however, is not due
to their own character, but to that of Domitian, for such is the nature of a powerful court. Compare Philostratus vita Apoll. 5, 36, where the sage Apollonius
gives Vespasian some advice:
,
,
,
.1 In Philostratus, the point is that the freedmen
should realize how small they are by comparing themselves with the emperor, but,
in this epigram, the idea finds a more subtle expression: the freedmen have in fact
taken on the mores of their master, obviously under his mere influence and without any effort on their own part. Domitians charisma (or perhaps, his numen)
pervades and affects everybody around him, be it animals in the arena (see 9, 31
intro.) or the servants of his household. It seems like a more guarded variant of
the same idea when Statius says gaudent turmaeque tribusque | purpureique patres, lucemque a consule ducit | omnis honos (silv. 4, 1, 25 ff.; see Coleman, ad
loc., for the punctuation of this passage).
SHOHXTyUZQ

GdGZVLQ
V-

WH

NDg

GROZQ

RM

UF

VRL

QyOZPHQ WUXIQ WRVRW- WDSHLQWHURQ DWRM xTdVDQWHM IURQHjQ

PHd]RQRM

GHVSWRX

HcVdQ

1. turbamque priorem: the familiae of old.

2. Palatinum supercilium: the imperial haughtiness; cf. 1, 4, 2 (the eyebrow
of Domitian as a symbol of his moral sternness). The eyebrow was used in the
same way by the Greeks (see LSJ, s.v.
, and cf. the verb
, to be
supercilious). For Palatinus, see note on 9, 24, 1.
IUM

IURPDL

3 f. at nunc etc.: but now the members of your household are so dearly beloved,
that everybody cares less for his own house than for them. Nunc tantus with the
same placing as here also in Verg. Aen. 2, 10; 6, 133; Hor. sat. 2, 1, 10; Ov. Pont.
2, 4, 21; Lucan. 1, 21.
Auguste tuorum (without est) is an Ovidian ending; cf. met. 1, 204; trist. 2, 1,
509.
5 f. placidae mentes reverentia nostri | pacata quies in ore pudor:
the servants and freedmen of Domitian are distinguished by their kindly minds,
their respect for the Roman citizens, their peaceable gentleness and their radiation
1
Let us put an end to pride and luxury on the part of the freedmen and slaves whom your high position
assigns to you, by accustoming them to think all the more humbly of themselves, because their master is so
powerful (translated by F. C. Conybeare, Loeb).

103

of modesty, qualities which are combined elsewhere; cf. 8, 70, 1 f.; Ov. fast. 5, 23;
Pont. 4, 9, 91 f.; Stat. Ach. 1, 312; Iuv. 2, 110.
In the concluding distich, the members of the familia are said to have learned
these virtues from their master, but Martial elsewhere only speaks explicitly of
Domitians placiditas (5, 6, 10; 5, 23, 3; 6, 10, 6). Quies and pudor would be
evident qualities of a good emperor, but the latter, further defined by in ore, is
probably a hint at Domitians natural flush; see Suet. Dom. 18, 1 (quoted in the
note on 9, 65, 2 pulchra ora); according to Tacitus, this rubor was very handy
for Domitian as a means of hiding the blush of shame (Agr. 45, 2; cf. hist. 4, 40,
1; Plin. paneg. 48, 4). Martial is probably alluding to this flush also in 5, 2, 7,
when he states that his poems are such as Domitian may read to Minerva ore non
rubenti. His reverentia would not be for humbler folk, but rather for the gods and,
as is said of Trajan in 11, 51, 1, a reverentia recti et aequi. For reverentia nostri,
cf. Stat. Theb. 11, 467. Ore pudor 6, 58, 6; a favourite ending of Ovids, as in ars
2, 556; trist. 2, 130; 4, 3, 70; Pont. 4, 9, 92.
7. aulae potentis: according to the TLL, s.v. 1457, 44 ff., aula is here = rule.
But the presence of Domitian is so strongly felt in this phrase, that aula can almost be taken as metonymy for the emperor.
8. Caesarianus: this is the earliest instance of the substantival Caesarianus used
of an imperial servant. However, there is not enough evidence to support the assumption that it was in fact the general term for these servants in Martials day
(so Seeck in RE 3, s.v. Caesariani 1295 f.), even if this was to be the case later on.
However, the adjectival Caesarianus is particularly frequent in Martial (five instances; the only text having more is the anonymous Bellum Africum [9]) who
also uses it more freely than his predecessors so as to take on the sense of
imperial; it refers to Domitian also in 8, 1, 4, but to Julius Caesar in 9, 61, 6
and to Augustus in 10, 73, 4 and is rather synonymous with monarchist in the
pun of 11, 5. Previously, it had been used exclusively with reference to Julius
Caesar and Augustus by their contemporaries, but also by authors of the Principate when speaking of the Civil War (see OLD, s.v. 1), but never before Martial
with reference to the reigning emperor. The sense of imperial does not appear
again until Hist. Aug. Sept. Sev. 6, 9; cf. Ulp. dig. 48, 13, 8, 1.

80
Duxerat esuriens locupletem pauper anumque:
uxorem pascit Gellius et futuit.
To escape starvation, Gellius has married a wealthy old woman. But such a way
out of poverty was not an ideal one, as it unavoidably placed the man in an inferior position and entailed such obligations as Martial hardly thought preferable to
being poor (see 9, 10 intro.).

104

2. pascit: on the surface, this seems to mean that Gellius, who thought it worth
while to endure having sex with the old woman if only she supported him, not
only had to have sex with her, but to support her as well. But this is, of course,
absurd, since Gellius would have no means of supporting her. Instead, the epigram is based on a play on the sense of pascit, undoubtedly used here, as in 9, 63,
2, as a sexual metaphor. In his Loeb edition, Shackleton Bailey took it as referring
to the wifes performing fellatio (i.e. as synonymous with irrumat); however, as
the irrumans, and not the irrumatus, is generally the target of Martials wit, this
would leave the first hemiepes of the pentameter aimed at the wife, whereas one
would expect the whole line to be aimed at Gellius. I would therefore suggest that
pascit is used here in the obvious sense of provide for but with the implicit
metaphor of the cunnus feeding on the mentula, thus paving the way for futuit. Et
would in this context be taken epexegetically (to be precise, see OLD, s.v. 11),
and the line may be paraphrased thus: But Gellius provides for his wife, I can
assure you; to be more precise, he fucks her (see also TLL, s.v. pasco 598, 7 ff.).
Gellius: see note on 9, 46, 1.

81
Lector et auditor nostros probat, Aule, libellos,
sed quidam exactos esse poeta negat.
Non nimium curo: nam cenae fercula nostrae
malim convivis quam placuisse cocis.
A certain poet has criticized Martials books for being insufficiently elaborate, but Martial does not care. His audience likes them, and that is quite enough
for him: he would rather please the listeners and readers than other writers. The
conclusion is brilliantly formulated as a kind of allegory with a proverbial touch:
Martial likens his libelli to the dishes at a meal, representing the whole of his
production: the poet hopes that the various dishes of his dinner will please the
guests rather than the cooks. This kind of witticism, common in Martial, is derived from contemporary rhetoric and is dealt with by Cicero and Quintilian (see
Cic. de orat. 2, 261 f.; Quint. inst. 6, 3, 68 f.; 8, 6, 54). In the present book, cf. 9,
88, 4 and see K. Barwick, Martial und die zeitgenssische Rhetorik, Berichte
ber die Verhandlungen der Schsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Philologischhistorische Klasse 104:1, Berlin 1959, p. 43.
The idea of poems as a kind of food (viz. to the mind etc.) appears elsewhere
in antiquity; cf. AP 9, 43, 1 f. (Parmenion of Macedonia)
.1 Later, the idea of poems as courses at
a dinner was used by Agathias Scholiasticus of Myrina (6th century AD) in the
preface to his collection of new epigrams, preserved in the Greek Anthology
(AP 4, 3). The same idea appears to form the basis of the designation of Roman
RG|

GRXOHVZ 0RXVyZQ QTHD

WUDSy]DLM

ERVNPHQRM

I, who feed on the flowers of the Muses, shall never be the slave of the table.

105

satire as satura, which was believed by the Romans to be derived from a feminine
form of satur with ellipse of a noun; see Ernout-Meillet, s.v. satur, and cf. Diomed. gramm. I 485, 36 f. (late 4th century) ... satyra a lance quae referta variis
multisque primitiis in sacro apud priscos dis inferebatur et a copia ac saturitate
rei satura vocabatur (which, while probably correct, is in fact Diomedes second
preferred explanation of the word, see Gratwick in E. J. Kenney & W. V. Clausen
[eds.], The Cambridge History of Classical Literature, vol. 2, Cambridge 1982, p.
161). Compare also expressions like pabulum animi; see TLL, s.v. pabulum 9, 29
ff.
Like 9, 50, the present poem adopts a personally defensive attitude towards a
specific slanderer of Martials poetry, and the charges brought against him are
very much of the same kind: in 9, 50 an epic poet accuses Martial of being of less
capacity because of the shortness of his poems and here a poet attacks Martials
libelli as being insufficiently elaborate. This is criticism which is likely to have
been brought up by a representative of higher poetry and, given this, I think it
possible that the poet Gaurus who attacks Martial in 9, 50 is the same person as is
referred to as quidam poeta here; if the identification of this Gaurus as Statius is
correct, Statius would consequently be the poet alluded to also in the present case.
This, then, would indicate that, at least in 94, Martial and Statius were not on
friendly terms with each other, an assumption which also finds some support in
the preface of Statius fourth book of Silvae. See further 9, 50 intro.
1. Lector et auditor: this is one of the two instances in which Martial mentions
his listener, the other being 12, praef. (si quid est enim, quod in libellis meis
placeat, dictavit auditor; see Howell on 1, 1, 4). The reader appears much more
frequently, and Martial often addresses him directly in the vocative (8 instances);
this latter feature, otherwise uncommon in Latin literature, he shares with Ovid,
who addresses the lector particularly often in the poems written in exile. This
phenomenon, as regards Ovids exile poetry, may be explained by the fact that
Ovid had no audience to address at Tomi, but for Martials part it is a sign that
he, even though he gave recitations before an audience, did not consider these to
be the principal means of communicating his works; see Howell and Citroni respectively on 1, 1, 4 and cf. note on 9, 83, 4.
Aule: presumably Martials friend the centurion Aulus Pudens, who is addressed or mentioned in 16 epigrams. Those which do not mention his cognomen
but only an Aulus cannot all with absolute certainty be taken as referring to Pudens, but in all likelihood they do;1 see M. Citroni, La carriera del centurione A.
Pudens e il rango sociale dei primipilari. Interpretazione di Marziale V 48 e VI
58, 710, Maia 34 (1982), pp. 247257.
Obviously, Pudens had a certain interest in poetry, especially Martials, as the
poet addresses him on such matters also in 4, 29 and 7, 11; cf. also 8, 63, a joke
on Pudens interest in poetry and boys. On the address by praenomen, a sign of

1, 31; 4, 13; 4, 29; 5, 48; 6, 58; 7, 11; 7, 97; 13, 69 all mention his cognomen, while an Aulus appears in
5, 28; 6, 54; 6, 78; 7, 14; 8, 63; 11, 38; 12, 51

106

familiarity which is commonly used by Martial but rare in other authors, see
Howells note on 1, 5, 2 Marce.
2. exactos: perfect, elaborate; the word does not appear in this sense prior to the
Augustan poets. C. O. Brink, who has made a thorough study of its use with regard mainly to these poets, argues that it was taken over from the vocabulary of
the stonemasons (to finish off an artefact, see Brink, Hor. epist. II, pp. 121 f.
and 421 ff.), to replace and strengthen the somewhat superannuated Ciceronian
perfectus. Of the purely adjectival exactus in this sense, Brink identifies only
three instances in the classical poets, apart from the present also Prop. 3, 9, 10
and Hor. epist. 2, 1, 74. If finite forms and participles are taken into account,
Horaces famous carm. 3, 30, 1 exegi monumentum aere perennius and similar
instances may be added (see Brink, loc. cit.).
In Martial, there is yet another instance of the adjective which may qualify
here, 4, 86, 4 Nil exactius eruditiusque est (sc. Apollinari). It is true that this does
not strictly allude to a poem, a book or a work of art, but to Apollinaris judgement of such things; rather than taking it as exact, as does Ker, it may perhaps
be translated, with an extended field of application, as refined.
The two mentioned above are the only occurrences of the adjective exactus in
Martial. Perfectus he uses once, in the same sense (5, 63, 3). Finite forms of exigo
appear twice (4, 82 4 and 5, 80, 3), both with reference to Martials poems, but
both in the sense of examine. There seem to be no other instances of any form
of exigo or the adjective exactus in this sense in other Silver Latin poets (Lucan,
Silius, Statius and Valerius Flaccus).
For the ending esse poeta negat, cf. Ov. Pont. 1, 5, 66.
3. Non nimium curo: an echo of Catull. 93, 1 Nil nimium studeo Caesar tibi velle
placere.

82
Dixerat astrologus periturum te cito, Munna,
nec, puto, mentitus dixerat ille tibi.
Nam tu dum metuis, ne quid post fata relinquas,
hausisti patrias luxuriosus opes,
bisque tuum deciens non toto tabuit anno:
dic mihi, non hoc est, Munna, perire cito?

A certain Munna, good for 2,000,000 IIS, has consulted an astrologer about his
future and got the answer peribis cito. Taking this to mean that his death was
imminent, he started to use up his fortune, eager not to miss the enjoyment of a
single as. When, at last, he did not die but became bankrupt, he thought that the
astrologer had lied to him. But Martial realizes that he had not, for peribis cito
can be understood in two ways, either as you will die soon or as you will

107

quickly become ruined, which is precisely what has happened. Thus, the prophecy has come true.
The play on words with the same sound but of different meanings
(
) is frequently used by Martial; for such play on verbs, cf., for
example, 1, 79; 2, 67; 3, 75 and 10, 16 and see Joepgen, pp. 106 ff.
QWDQNODVLM

1. dixerat astrologus: in Martials day, astrology was nothing new, but since the
Hellenistic period, it had gained in respectability and acquired a more scientific
character through the advances of astronomy and the fame of brilliant scientists
and mathematicians such as Aristarchus of Samos and Hipparchus. The latter
himself believed in astrological calculations, as did later the great Ptolemy.
At Rome, the predictions of the astrologers were considered most reliable and
their services were requested by citizens as well as by emperors, for example, by
Augustus, Tiberius (who had his own court astrologer), Claudius, Nero and Vespasian. However, in times of unrest, the emperor could find reason to restrict the
publics access to their divination, lest rebellious elements should be encouraged
by prophecies in their own favour. This was the reason why astrologers on several
occasions, beginning in the Republic, were expelled from Rome and Italy; this had
occurred on eight, possibly eleven occasions before the accession of Domitian (see
F. H. Cramer, Expulsion of astrologers from ancient Rome, C&M 12 [1951],
pp. 950)..
Domitian, who was himself convinced of the ability of the astrologers, took
such measures at least once, in the mid-nineties, perhaps in connection with his
efforts to suppress the Stoic opposition (cf. 9, 27 intro.), and probably also in
the late eighties following the conspiracy of Saturninus.1 At any rate, they would
probably have been around in 94, as indicated by the present epigram (unless, of
course, Martial wanted to further blacken Munnas character by having him consult an astrologer after they had been banished). It may, however, be noteworthy
that Martial mentions astrologers only twice, the other instance being 2, 7, 4
(published in 8687). If Jeromes chronology is correct, both mentions preceded
Domitians expulsions by a year or so. While this may be a mere coincidence, it
may perhaps also be an indication that the expulsions of astrologers followed an
increased activity on their part.
The same opening of the line occurs in Iuv. 6, 554.
Munna: Martial is the only literary source of this name, which appears also in
10, 36 and 10, 60, both satirical. Forcellini (Onomast., s.v. Munnus), who suspects
the name to be of Spanish origin, records two epigraphic instances of the form
Munnus (CIL 2, 688; 9, 2080) and one of Munna as a female name (CIL 2, 238).
2. mentitus: in poetry, the perfect participle of mentior with present sense is comparatively frequent. Bmer (on. Ov. met. 9, 340) gives in all six instances from
the Metamorphoses (apart from 9, 340 also 3, 214; 5, 360; 6, 648; 8, 251), cf. am.
1

The chronology of these edicts cannot be firmly established; the only source giving any dates at all for the
expulsions of astrologers is Jeromes Latin translation of the Chronicon of Eusebius, placing them in 89/90
and 95/96; see Sherwin-White, p. 764; Jones, Domitian, pp. 119 ff.

108

2, 19, 11; Iuv. 6, 123. This comparatively high frequency in poetry is probably to
be explained by the fact that the present participle KLRLQ cannot be fitted into
dactylic verse.
In prose, this usage of mentitus is rare and not found earlier than Livy (24, 5,
11 f. postremo cum omnibus intolerandis patientiae humanae cruciatibus laceraretur, victum malis se simulans avertit ab consciis in insontes indicium, Thrasonem esse auctorem consilii mentitus, nec nisi tam potenti duce confisos rem
tantam ausuros fuisse); see Khner-Stegmann 1, 136 b , p 759.
E

3. ne quid post fata relinquas: viz. while Munna was afraid that he would not
manage to use up his wealth himself. Thus, Munna may be said to have paid heed
to the precepts of Horace in carm. 2, 14, in which is found the most famous expression of distaste at leaving ones property to an heir: absumet heres Caecuba
dignior | servata centum clavibus et mero | tinguet pavimentum superbo, | pontificum potiore cenis (lines 25 ff.; see Nisbet & Hubbard ad loc. with further literature on the subject).
The expression post fata (also 5, 10, 12; 11, 33, 1; 11, 67, 1) is poetical and
was frequently used by the poets after Verg. Aen. 4, 20.1 Bmer (on Ov. met. 13,
180) notes its use in prose seit Val. Max. 3, 2, ext. 4; 4, 7 (to which add 5, 3,
2b) but states that it is mainly restricted to poetry. And indeed, the prose occurrences are easily counted; apart from those given by Bmer, there seem to be only
two more instances from classical prose, Quint. inst. 12, 11, 7 and decl. 377, 8,
and one from later, Serv. Aen. 10, 905.
4. hausisti opes: evidently the only classical instance of opes as the object with
haurio; cf., however, Tac. ann. 16, 18 plerique sua haurientium; TLL, s.v. haurio
2569, 15 ff.
5. bisque tuum deciens: viz. centum milia, your 2 million sestertii. Decie(n)s is
used as a neuter substantive particularly in connection with money, cf. OLD, s.v. 2
b.
tabuit: melted away; this metaphorical use of tabesco with reference to assets is unparalleled (see OLD, s.v. 1 b) and provides a notion of a natural and
unstoppable course; Munnas money melted away like snow in sunshine.
6. dic mihi: see note on 9, 47, 8.
perire: pereo appears in the sense of go bankrupt already in Plautus, for example, Rud. 978 nam si istuc ius sit quod memoras, piscatores perierint; cf. Cic.
prov. 12 qui se ... subsidiis patrimoni aut amicorum liberalitate sustentant, hos
perire patiemur?; TLL, s.v. 1333, 6 ff.

Thus Prop. 4, 11, 63; Ov. am. 1, 15, 39; 3, 15, 20; met. 13, 180; Lucan. 7, 471; 8, 749; 9, 243; 9, 274;
Sil. 4, 635; 6, 561; 6, 575; 15, 184; Stat. Theb. 1, 35; silv. 5, 3, 37.

109

83
Inter tanta tuae miracula, Caesar, harenae,
quae vincit veterum munera clara ducum,
multum oculi, sed plus aures debere fatentur
se tibi, quod spectant qui recitare solent.
Seemingly a celebration of Domitians games in the amphitheatre, which Martial
freely admits surpass anything seen before. They attract the attention of the whole
of Rome and no one would want to miss them; during the show, the streets are
virtually deserted. So far, the epigram appears to be an adulatory piece. But in the
latter distich, Martial reveals his true cause for gratitude to the emperor, lending a
concessive notion to the former: Domitians games are marvellous to behold, it is
true, but their true merit is that they keep everybody off the streets, and thus also
the reciting poets, with whom contemporary Rome abounded and whom Martial
obviously found intolerable.
The present epigram is probably to be regarded as a humorous counterweight
to the elevated poems written in celebration of the games given on Domitians
return from the Second Pannonian War (see below). It thus has the same function
as 9, 3; 9, 34; and 9, 36, all light-hearted pieces likely to have been written to
balance the more serious poems celebrating Domitian as the great builder and as
the earthly Jupiter (see the respective introductions to these poems). Again, Martial must have been perfectly confident about the emperors reaction; it was, after
all, possible to pull the emperors leg, at least for the poets who had proved to be
loyal to him. See also 9, 3 intro.
2. quae vincit veterum ducum ... munera: the words ducum munera suggest that
the reference is to games given in celebration of a triumph, and the miracula of
the amphitheatre mentioned in the preceding line would therefore probably refer
to those seen at the games given in connection with Domitians return from the
Second Pannonian War in early 93. Four poems in Book 8 give lofty celebrations
of these games, in which a multitude of tigresses was displayed (8, 26), compared
by Martial to the wealthy suite of Bacchus (8, 26, 5 f. vincit Erythraeos tua, Caesar, harena triumphos | et victoris opes divitiasque dei), further self-torture la
Mucius Scaevola (who showed his indifference to physical pain by holding his
right hand in fire; cf. 8, 30, 1 f. Qui nunc Caesareae lusus spectatur harenae, |
temporibus Bruti gloria summa fuit) and a huge lion likened to that which roamed
Nemea (8, 55) and which also re-introduced the ancient event of pugilism (8, 80,
1 ff. Sanctorum nobis miracula reddis avorum | ... cum veteres Latiae ritus
renovantur harenae | et pugnat virtus simpliciore manu).1 For further mentions of
the marvellous spectacles given by Domitian, see the harelion cycle in Book 1; 4,
35; 5, 65; Stat. silv. 1, 6 (the account of the games given by Domitian on the

As a giver of games, Domitian was also otherwise innovative: in the circus, he added cavalry and infantry
battles, staged venationes and gladiatorial combats by the light of lamps in the amphitheatre, and encircled
a basin near the Tiber with seats for the purpose of giving an almost full-scale, naval battle; see Suet. Dom.
4, 12 (with Mooneys commentary); Dio 67, 8, 2 ff.; Jones, Domitian, p. 105.

110

Kalends of December with its rain of sweets, luxurious meals, female and dwarf
fighters, etc.).
In spite of the unsatisfactory outcome of the Second Pannonian War (see the
introduction, vol. 1, pp. 26 f.), it was celebrated with games also in the Circus (8,
11). 8, 78 mentions such games arranged by Stella (probably as praetor; see 9, 42
intro.).
4. quod spectant etc.: since they, who are wont to recite, now watch instead.
Poetical recitations, which had been customary in Rome since the late Republic
(see Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 2, pp. 223 ff.), were a constant source of annoyance to Martial and his fellow satirists (cf. Hor. sat. 1, 4, 23; 1, 4, 73; Pers. 1; Iuv.
1, 3 f.; 3, 9; 7, 40), although Persius and Juvenal probably (see Courtney on Iuv.
1, 3) and Martial certainly gave recitations themselves (as did virtually all the
great poets; see Mayor on Iuv. 3, 9) and were aware of their importance. To the
authors, recitations provided a means of presenting themselves to the public and
testing the effects of their poems before publishing; to the public, they offered an
opportunity to see established poets and rising talents in the flesh and listen to
their latest productions recited in the way in which they were meant to be. A recitation by a famous poet was a true happening, and the attention was great. Juvenal
tells of a recitation by Statius of the Thebaid: when the poet had fixed a day, the
people rushed to hear him; he captured their hearts with the sweetness of his
verse, and the crowd listened passionately, stamping the benches to pieces in
excited acclamation (7, 82 ff.). On the other hand, for the less famous, reciting
could be a thankless task; in the well-known letter to Sosius Senecio (epist. 1, 13),
Pliny complains of the bad manners of people who, when invited to listen to a
reciting poet, turn up only reluctantly and leave before the recitation is over.
However, in Martials day, there was also a multitude of would-be poets, who,
with no ability to write verses and even less to recite them, hunted the public and
their friends with their poems. Their different categories are the targets of quite a
number of epigrams in Martial. The untalented reciters appear in 1, 63; 2, 88; 4,
41; 6, 41; and 8, 20; it is these poets from whom Martial is glad to be spared during Domitians shows. He was troubled also by another group, namely those who
recited Martials poems as if they were their own (such as Fidentinus in 1, 29 [on
which see Howell] and 1, 38; also 1, 52; 1, 66). There were also those who in the
same way recited poems that they had bought (2, 20). A third category which met
with Martials disapproval was those who invited people to dinner only to get a
chance to recite their new poems (cf. 3, 45; 3, 50); the poet parodies the theme in
11, 52, a dinner invitation to Iulius Cerialis with a promise that he will recite
nothingMartial generally shows great detachment from his own recitations (cf.
14, 137). Finally, the poet complains about reciting patrons, to whom their clients
have no choice but to listen, because of their state of dependence; thus 10, 10, 9;
12, 40, 1. See also the introduction to 9, 89.

111

84
Cum tua sacrilegos contra, Norbane, furores
staret pro domino Caesare sancta fides,
haec ego Pieria ludebam tutus in umbra,
ille tuae cultor notus amicitiae.
Me tibi Vindelicis Raetus narrabat in oris,
nescia nec nostri nominis Arctos erat:
o quotiens veterem non infitiatus amicum
dixisti Meus est iste poeta, meus!
Omne tibi nostrum quod bis trieteride iuncta
ante dabat lector, nunc dabit auctor opus.

10

A poem to accompany Martials gift of Books 48 to Norbanus, on his return from

serving a six-year office in the northern provinces. It is important as being one of
the very few literary contributions to our knowledge of the knight Norbanus and
also plays a part in the dating of Book 9.
For epigrams accompanying gifts of poems, see 9, 26 intro.
1 ff. Cum ... umbra: the opening lines are clearly influenced by Verg. georg. 4,
559 ff. Haec super arvorum cultu pecorumque canebam | et super arboribus,
Caesar dum magnus ad altum | fulminat Euphraten bello victorque volentis | per
populos dat iura viamque adfectat Olympo (referring to Augustus eastern campaigns; see Mynors, ad loc.), and also by the opening of Verg. ecl. 1 (see below on
line 3).
sacrilegos furores: presumably the revolt of Saturninus in early 89 (see
note on Norbane), called sacrilegus (contrasted with sancta in the following line;
cf. Phaedr. 4, 11, 3; Stat. Theb. 10, 65, ff.) as being directed against the emperor.
Cf. 9, 61, 20 with note.
Norbane: because of the confused testimonia of the sources, there has been
much debate and many misunderstandings regarding the identity of this Norbanus. It now seems established that he was the equestrian procurator of Raetia,
who aided the commander of Lower Germany, A. Bucius Lappius Maximus, in
suppressing the revolt of Saturninus, which broke out in late 88early 89.1 Exactly
when Norbanus arrived in Raetia is not known, but he had been there for six years
(line 9 bis trieteride iuncta) when this poem was written (probably after the publication of Book 8 in early 94). His having got there already in 87 is perhaps unlikely, since that would date this poem in 93, in which case it would probably
(although by no means necessarily) have appeared in Book 8; still, the safest assumption is that Norbanus would have been in Raetia from 88.

1
See G. Winkler, Norbanus, ein bisher unbekannter Prokurator von Raetien, Akten des VI. Internationalen Kongresses fr Griechische und Lateinische Epigraphik, Munich 1973, pp. 495498; PIR2 N 162;
Jones, Domitian, p. 144. Domitian left Rome with the Pretorian guard for the scene of the revolt on 12
January 89 (Southern, p. 101).

112

After the suppression of Saturninus revolt, Lappius Maximus was promoted

to be procurator of Syria. Thus, a promotion also of Norbanus is likely. Winkler,
while suggesting the procuratorship of Belgica as well as of the Germanic provinces, advocates the prefecture of Egypt (Winkler, op. cit., p. 497). This suggestion was rejected by Petersen (PIR2, loc. cit.) and the fact that Martial in this
poem makes no mention of a southern office probably indicates that there was
none to mention. On the contrary, Arctos in line 6 puts a clear emphasis on the
north, indicating that Norbanus was promoted to be procurator probably of one of
the northern provinces mentioned above.
Norbanus probably remained in office in the north until 94, when he returned
to Rome and was presented with Martials gift of books. The reason for his return
was obviously his further promotion to praetorian prefect, an office he held, according to Dio Cassius (67, 15, 2), at the time of Domitians assassination (see
Winkler, op. cit., p. 498; Jones, op. cit., pp. 149 and 194).
In spite of Martials reference to himself as vetus amicus and a cultor notus of
Norbanus friendship in lines 4 and 7, Norbanus is not mentioned in any other of
his epigrams. Norbana, perhaps a relative of his, is mentioned in 7, 74, 7.
2. domino Caesare: see note on 9, 20, 2 domini.
sancta fides: Sauter (p. 111) suggested that the adjective here would not have
the same value as when applied directly to the emperor and that it would be synonymous with pius. Sancta fides is the commoner juncture (also 10, 44, 8; Catull.
76, 3; Verg. Aen. 7, 365; Phaedr. 4, 14, 5; Sil. 13, 749), pia fides being found but
twice (Ov. trist. 5, 14, 20; Pont. 3, 2, 98), and it is consequently not necessary to
assume that Martial would have chosen the adjective here because the fides in
question is a loyalty directed to the emperor. On the other hand, such considerations cannot be refuted: a loyalty to Domitian may be called sancta on the same
grounds as a rebellion against him is sacrilegus (cf. above); it may also be noted
that Martial in 8, 15, 7 defines the peoples pietas towards Domitian as a pietas
sancta, a juncture which is not found elsewhere.
3. haec ego Pieria ludebam tutus in umbra: viz. all the poems which Norbanus
during his absence would have known only from second-hand sources (lines 9
10). As he presumably had been in Raetia from 88, the poems in question would
be those published as Books 4 (published in December 88) to 8 inclusive. Book 3,
which was published in the autumn of 87, he would have known before his departure.
The immediate source of inspiration here is the famous opening of Vergils
ecl. 1, lines 4 ff. nos patriam fugimus; tu, Tityre, lentus in umbra formosam resonare doces Amaryllida silvas. By alluding to these Vergilian lines, Martial here
emphasizes the antithesis dangerous life abroad and bucolic peaceful existence. For the phrase and the prosody, cf. Prop. 2, 34, 85 haec quoque perfecto
ludebat Iasone Varro.
Pieria ... in umbra is in my poetical recess; cf. Stat. silv. 5, 2, 104 tacita
studiorum occultus in umbra; OLD, s.v. umbra 5. The juncture Pieria umbra
only here and in Iuv. 7, 8.
113

Pierides (
) was since Ps. Hesiod. scut. 206 a common epithet of the
Muses as daughters of Pieros and Antiope; their birthplace was Pieria in Macedonia, ranking second only to Mt. Helicon as home of the Muses; see HerzogHauser in RE Suppl. 8, s.v. Pierides 495 f. On the motif of the Pierides as Macedonian Muses competing with the Greek, see Bmers introduction to Ov. met. 5,
294678 (the struggle between the Pierides and the Muses).
The combination in umbra appears in the hexameter exclusively at the verseending (48 instances from Vergil to Juvenal). The ending tutus in
also Verg.
Aen. 8, 323; Lucan. 6, 65; 10, 55; Iuv. 4, 93.
3LHUdGHM



4. cultor notus amicitiae: cf. 4, 67, 2 cana notus amicitia.

5. Vindelicis in oris: strictly speaking, the Vindelici inhabited the eastern part
of Raetia; here, the adjective Vindelicus designates the whole of the province, of
which Norbanus was equestrian procurator at the time of Saturninus revolt.
The claim to empire-wide fame in this and the following line resembles 11, 3,
3 ff., where Martial similarly boasts that he is read in faraway lands: meus in
Geticis ad Martia signa pruinis | a rigido teritur centurione liber, | dicitur et
nostros cantare Britannia versus; often, he states that he is toto notus in orbe
(thus 1, 1, 2; cf. 5, 13, 2; 6, 64, 25; 7, 17, 10; 8, 61, 3). This is actually a poetical
topos, appearing as early as Alcman (7th century BC; see Howell on 1, 2, 2 f.) and
represented in Latin poetry, for example, by Hor. carm. 2, 20, 14, but the comparatively high frequency in Martial may primarily be due, as Citroni suggested,
to the influence of the many instances in Ovid (see Citroni on 1, 2, 2 with instances). That this is a topos and not necessarily in accordance with the truth
would be in line with Martials obvious excitement in 7, 88 at being read in Vienna in Gallia Narbonensis, a town neither particularly exotic nor very far from
Rome.
7. o quotiens: also 11, 16, 5 and 14, 119, 2. After Verg. ecl. 3, 72 very common at
the beginning of the hexameter, especially in Ovid (epist. 16, 187; met. 3, 375;
10, 661; 14, 643; Pont. 1, 9, 21 & 23; 4, 1, 9 & 11).
non infitiatus amicum: an echo of Ov. Pont. 1, 7, 27 Nec tuus est genitor nos
infitiatus amicos.
8. Meus est iste poeta, meus: Norbanus words when he heard Martials poems
read in the faraway land. The verse-ending shows yet another Ovidian echo; cf.
am. 2, 1, 10 (quo ab indice doctus) conposuit casus iste poeta meos?
For emphatic gemination, see note on 9, 25, 3 Quod, rogo, quod and for iste
coupled with meus, see note on 9 praef. iste.
9. bis trieteride iuncta: during two successive periods of three years. The
Greek
can mean either a triennial festival (with ellipse of
) or a
period of three years (with ellipse of
). The word first appears in Latin in
Cicero (nat. deor. 3, 58), mentioning a Theban festival known as trieterides (see
Pease, ad loc.). This is the only instance from prose; all the others (10 in all) are
WULHWKUdM

xRUW

SHUdRGRM

114

found in Silver Latin poetry, where the notion of festival is the predominant one;
thus Sil. 4, 776; Stat. Theb. 4, 729; 7, 93; 9, 480; Ach. 1, 595. Trieteris in the
sense of three years is found once in Statius, silv. 2, 6, 72, a rather lofty circumlocution for the age of Flavius Ursus deceased favourite; hence van Dams conclusion (p. 433), that Statius only uses trieteris in a solemn context. The same is
true of Martial, who never uses the word in the sense of festival, but, with the
exception of the present poem, only in circumlocutions for age, once of a living
boy (6, 38, 1, the son of Regulus), and twice of the deceased (7, 96, 3 of the delicatus of Bassus, and 10, 53, 3 of the charioteer Scorpus).
10. lector: in his Loeb, Shackleton Bailey took this to refer either to a friend,
who bought and read the books and then sent them on to Norbanus, or to your
reader (lector,
), a slave in Rome with whom he had left instructions
to send him M.s works as they appeared. He prefers the former explanation and
adduces 9, 99, 7 (vilis eras ... si nunc te mitteret emptor) and 7, 80 (3 f. hunc
Marcellino poteris, Faustine, libellum | mittere; Marcellinus was stationed in
Dacia) in support. However, neither explanation seems very convincing; why, for
instance, should Martial write lector here but emptor in 9, 99 if the circumstances
are identical? Perhaps what he means is that previously, Norbanus had only
known the books from a brother in arms who had read them aloud to him, having
taken his Martial with him into the field, like the imaginary rigidus centurio of
11, 3, 4, who thumbs his book in the Getic frosts.
QDJQVWKM

85
Languidior noster si quando est Paulus, Atili,
non se, convivas abstinet ille suos.
Tu languore quidem subito fictoque laboras,
sed mea porrexit sportula, Paule, pedes.
Paulus is simulating sickness in order to avoid giving a dinner and the speaker,
who was to be among the guests, is left empty-handed. Annoyed at this humiliating treatment and knowing that Paulus is simulating, he bitterly remarks that,
whereas poor Paulus may be suffering from a sudden illness, the speaker himself
is worse off: his sportula is actually dead.
The structure of the epigram is essentially such as can be observed in several
of Martials scoptic pieces: it falls into two parts, the first more or less objectively
describing the circumstances, while the poet uses the second, subjective part to
make his point. There is also a change of address: in the former part, the victim
appears in the third person, while in the second, he is spoken to directly; the same
structure can be observed, for example, in 1, 33; 2, 16; 2, 44; 4, 81; 7, 67. But
there is yet another device in this epigram, which makes it singular: the appearance of Atilius in the first part. Such an arrangement, in which the first part presents the victim in the third person while yet another person, the formal addressee of the poem, is directly addressed, is found only in this epigram and in 5,
115

38; see further K. Barwick, Zur Kompositionstechnik und Erklrung Martials,

Philologus 87 (1932), pp. 71 f.
1. Languidior: a bit unwell; cf. TLL, s.v. languidus 924, 71 ff.
Paulus: there are quite a few Pauluses in Martial, most of whom are fictitious;
as real can be taken only the (otherwise unknown) man behind the generalizing
plural Pauli as exempla of humour in 5, 28, 6, and possibly also the barrister in 7,
72, 1. Amongst the remainder, five allude to greedy patrons; thus 5, 22; 8, 33; 10,
10; and 12, 69. In these cases, as in the present, the name may have been chosen
because of its meaning small; cf. Howell on 5, 22, 2.
Atili: the name occurs only here in Martial; Friedlnder suggested that he was
identical with the Atilius Crescens (a man of letters but not an advocate, Sherwin-White on Plin. epist. 2, 14, 2), who appears in three letters of Pliny (1, 9, 8;
2, 14, 2; 6, 8, 1 ff.).
4. sportula: originally, the patron was expected to invite his clients to dinner once
in a while. But with the increased number of clients to each patron, this custom
became unpractical; instead, the clients were furnished with a small basket (a
sportula) of food to be carried away. Around the middle of the first century AD,
the food was replaced by a small amount of money, commonly 100 quadrantes,1
but the gift was still referred to as a sportula; thus, when mentioned by Martial, it
generally refers to this dole of money.
Around the year 87, Domitian revived the so-called publicae cenae, public
dinners given to the people (or some of them) by the emperor, a magistrate or
even a private person; they had been abolished by Nero for economical reasons
and replaced by sportulae (see Suet. Dom. 7, 1 with Mooneys note). Apparently,
Domitians decree also referred to the sportulae of private patrons, for in 3, 7; 3,
30; and 3, 60, 9, Martial implies that the dole of money is no longer given to the
clients, having been replaced by food. But this arrangement was unpopular both
with the patron and the client and soon ceased to be practised: already in Book 4,
the speaker has lost money by not attending a patron (4, 26), and the majority of
the following instances refer to the money dole.2 See also Courtney on Iuv. 1, 95;
Hug in RE 2:3, s.v. Sportula 1884 ff.
However, in the present instance, sportula does not seem to refer to the money
dole but rather, as suggested by Friedlnder in his commentary, to mean fare,
referring to the actual dinner. Compare 7, 86, 9 (similar in content to this epigram), in which sportula refers to the nataliciae dapes of Sextus (7, 86, 1).
porrexit pedes: obviously is actually dead, contrasted with Paulus fictitious languor in the preceding line. The expression, which has a touch of slang
about it, is presumably a humorous distortion of the phrase manum porrigo (see
1

Cf. 1, 59, 1; 3, 7, 1; 4, 68, 1; 6, 88, 4; 8, 42, 3; 10, 70, 13; 10, 75, 1; Iuv. 1, 120 f.
4, 68; 6, 88, 4; 8, 42; 9, 100; 10, 27, 3; 10, 70, 13; 10, 75, 11. In 8, 49, 10, the sportula is contrasted to a
recta (sc. cena), and may perhaps refer to a dole of food; for 7, 86, 9, see below.

116

OLD, s.v. porrigo 5), recalling the image of a dead animal with its legs in the air;
compare also porrectus in the sense of laid prostrate in death (OLD, s.v. porrigo
2) and cf. Catull. 67, 6 postquams porrecto facta marita sene (with Krolls note).

86
Festinata sui gemeret quod fata Severi
Silius, Ausonio non semel ore potens,
cum grege Pierio maestus Phoeboque querebar.
Ipse meum flevi dixit Apollo Linon:
respexitque suam quae stabat proxima fratri
Calliopen et ait: Tu quoque vulnus habes.
Aspice Tarpeium Palatinumque Tonantem:
ausa nefas Lachesis laesit utrumque Iovem.
Numina cum videas duris obnoxia fatis,
invidia possis exonerare deos.

10

A poem of consolation on the death of Severus, younger son of Silius Italicus, the
epic poet. Apparently, Martial met Silius and was taken up among his clients in
88,1 from which year dates the first epigram mentioning him (4, 14, in which
Martial asks Silius to take some time to read his poems). Then follow six epigrams equally spread through the following books; only Books 5 and 10 lack a
poem to Silius, whereas Book 11 has two.2 The subject-matter of these comparatively few but continuous epigrams is rather restricted, extending only to praise of
Silius own Punica and sound literary judgement, his activity as poet and orator,
and occasionally also, as here, to events within his family; thus, 8, 66 commemorates the consulship of his eldest son and also expresses a wish for a consulship
for Severus, so that three consulships would eventually befall his family.
In this epigram, Severus has died. Silius mourns, and Martial sadly complains
to Apollo and the Muses, manifesting his affection for the family. The words of
consolation are then spoken by Apollo, the god of poetry. In line 5 appears Calliope, the Muse of epic poetry, who, together with Apollo, forms a parallel to the
epic poet Silius, quite generally and in this case particularly because each had lost
a son.3
A proper epicedion, like the Epicedion Drusi and the consolations of Statius
(silv. 2, 1; 2, 5; 3, 3; 5, 1; 5, 3; 5, 5), would call for the poem to have several subdivisions, viz. introduction, laudatio, lamentatio, descriptio morbi and, finally,
consolatio; see J. Esteve-Forriol, Die Trauer- und Trostgedichte in der rmischen
Literatur untersucht nach ihrer Topik und ihrem Motivschatz, diss. Munich 1962,
1
On Martials relation to Silius, see H. Szelest, Martial und Silius Italicus, in J. Irmscher and K. Kumaniecki (eds.), Aus der altertumswissenschaftlichen Arbeit Volkspolens, Berlin 1959, pp. 7380.
2
Apart from the present and 4, 14, the poems are 6, 64, 10; 7, 63; 8, 66; 11, 48; and 11, 50.
3
There is no reason to assume that the connection of their children, Linus and Orpheus, with musical or
poetical activity implies any poetical ambitions on Severus part; the comparison is primarily between
Silius and the divinities, not between Severus and their sons (cf. Schmoock, p. 74).

117

p. 113; cf. pp. 118 f. On considering the format of Martials epigrams, it is easily
realized that none of his mourning poems meet these criteria. Most of Martials
production in this field consists of poems (serious or scoptic) in the form of funerary inscriptions (like 9, 29), although some can be said to correspond to certain
parts of the epicedion. Thus 5, 37 is to some extent a laudatio of Erotion, in the
same manner as the present poem would correspond to the consolatio. For the
consolatory topos that even the gods are subject to the austerity of Fate and that
the divinity of the parents is of no help to their children, cf. in particular Ov. am.
3, 9, 21 ff., which alludes both to Linus and Orpheus and may have influenced
Martial here;1 AP 7, 8, 7 f.; 7, 616. The theme is as old as Homer; cf. Il. 18, 117
f.; 21, 109; see Curtius, pp. 90 ff. Compare also Hor. carm. 1, 28, 7 ff. with Nisbet
& Hubbard, ad loc.
1. Severi: Silius or Catius Severus, younger son of Silius Italicus, who, judging
from this epigram, died in 94. His premature death, the circumstances of which
are unknown, is mentioned also by Pliny in a letter on the death of Silius (epist. 3,
7, 2).
Whereas this is the only certain mention of Silius (Catius) Severus in Martial,
there are a couple of others which may well be references to the same man (and
were taken to be so by Friedlnder [on 2, 6, 3] and Howell [on 5, 11, 2]); thus in
5, 11, 2; 5, 80, 2 and 12; 6, 8, 6; 7, 34, 1; 7, 38, 1; 7, 49, 2; 7, 79, 4; 8, 61, 8. The
Severus in 2, 6, 3 may be fictitious (although Friedlnder, loc. cit., identified him
as Silius son).
2. Ausonio ore: the Latin tongue; for this usage of os, cf. Ov. trist. 3, 14, 47
Threicio Scythicoque fere circumsonor ore; TLL, s.v. 1. 1082, 49 ff.
For Ausonius, see note on 9, 7, 6.
non semel: besides his poetical activity, which occupied his old age, Silius had
in his younger days been politically active, which involved appearing as an orator;
his career was crowned with the consulship in 68. In 7, 63, 5 f., Martial compares
him to Cicero and Vergil, both of whom Silius admired greatly. Obviously, he had
also bought an estate in Campania, which had belonged to Cicero and which
contained Vergils tomb; see 11, 48 with Kays note and Klotz in RE 2:3, s.v.
Silius 79 f.
The expression non semel ore potens is singular; the poetical litotes non semel, like semel in general, appears to be used only of time (OLD, s.v.), which is
probably not the case here. However, the adverb bis, equivalent to non semel in
the sense of twice, is capable of the meaning here required, viz. in twofold
manner (like, for example, Sil. 1, 322 hydro imbutas, bis noxia tela, sagittas).
Thus, Martial would have set out from bis in this sense, circumscribing it with a
phrase which quite obviously corresponds to bis in the sense of twice and apparently also to bis in the sense of in twofold manner.

In Ovid, however, the theme does not form part of the consolatio but of the lamentatio (see Esteve
Forriol, p. 137, 28).

118

ore potens: this juncture only here. Potens = capable, cf. Hor. ars 289 f. nec
virtute clarisve potentius armis | quam lingua Latium; TLL, s.v. potens 278, 60
ff.
3. cum grege Pierio ... querebar: the grex Pierius is the Muses; see note on 9,
84, 3. The expression is found only in Martial (also 12, 11, 4). As regards queror
with cum expressing the person to whom the complaint is made, see OLD, s.v. 1
c.
4. Linon: the mythological figure of Linus was variously considered in antiquity
and had various stories attached to him, but the present mention is brought about
by his being the prematurely dead son of Apollo. There are several myths involving this theme. According to the Argive version (Pausan. 1, 43, 7), Psamathe,
daughter of king Crotopus, had conceived Linus by Apollo. Fearing the wrath of
her father when he learned about the child, she exposed Linus in the forest, where
he was torn apart by the kings dogs. This version was promoted in Martials day
by its being related by Statius in Theb. 1, 562 ff. A Central Greek version
(Pausan. 9, 29, 6 ff.) made Linus the son of Amphimarus and Urania. He was the
greatest singer yet known and was killed by Apollo because he considered himself
equal to the god. To this Linus were brought sacrifices once a year in a grove on
Mt. Helicon, just before the sacrifice to the Muses, with whom he seems to have
become closely associated. According to yet another myth, Linus, here a brother of
Orpheus, taught Hercules to play the lyre and was killed by the hero for having
struck him (Apollod. 2, 63). There were also alternative genealogies, making him
the son of Apollo by Urania or even by Calliope; see Greve in Roscher, s.v. Linos
2054 ff.
When Linus appears in Latin poetry, it is generally in one of two functions, either as an inspired singer (in which case the details of his death are of less interest; Verg. ecl. 4, 56; 6, 67; Prop. 2, 13, 8) or as the prematurely deceased son of
Apollo. In the latter case, as in the present poem (see note on the following line),
Orpheus usually appears in the same context; thus Ov. Ib. 480 ff. (drawing on the
Argive version and mentioning both Crotopus and the dogs); am. 3, 9, 21 ff. (on
the death of Tibullus); Stat. silv. 5, 5, 54 ff. (the poem on the death of his adopted
son).
5. quae stabat proxima fratri: Apollo is the child of Jupiter by Latona, and Calliope by Mnemosyne. The line clearly echoes Ov. met. 8, 367 arboris insiluit,
quae stabat proxima, ramis; 12, 14 platanum, coeptis quae stabat proxima sacris.
6. Calliopen: Calliope, the Muse of epic poetry, was the mother of Orpheus.
Apollo is sometimes considered his father (for example, by Ov. met. 10, 167), but
as indicated by Apollos words tu quoque vulnus habet, Martial follows the oldest
tradition, according to which Orpheus was the son of Oeagrus and Calliope.
Orpheus died by being torn apart by Maenads or ecstatic women, and various
reasons have been given for this violent death. In Aeschylus (where the myth first
appears), it is Dionysus punishment for Orpheus neglecting him in favour of
Apollo ever since the journey to Hades; the great Latin poets of the Augustan age,
119

who certainly influenced Martial, drew on a Hellenistic tradition, according to

which Orpheus was torn apart by jealous women, who felt that Orpheus, in his
great love for the deceased Eurydice, neglected every other woman; cf. Verg.
georg. 4, 516 ff. and Ov. met. 11, 1 ff. (with additional nuances) and see Ziegler
in RE 18 s.v Orpheus 1283 ff.; Bmer on Ov. met. 11, 166, pp. 237 ff.
Tu quoque vulnus habes: this exact wording at the beginning of the hexameter in Ov. met. 13, 497. The ending vulnus habet (habent) is also a favourite of
Ovids; thus epist. 4, 20; ars 1, 166; Pont. 1, 7, 50; Ib. 344.
7 f. Tarpeium Palatinumque Tonantem utrumque Iovem: Jupiter and
Domitian, side by side as the heavenly and earthly thunderer. For the epithet Tarpeius, see note on 9, 1, 5; for Palatinus, see note on 9, 24, 1.
Among Jupiters numerous children, several were mortal and thus had no
chance of outliving their father. But Friedlnder suggests one in particular, the
Lycian king Sarpedon, son of Zeus by Europa and Priams ally, slain in the Trojan
war by Patroclus. In Hom. Il. 16, 459 ff., Zeus is said to have shed bloody raindrops on the earth, honouring his
, whom he knew was to be killed
shortly. Also here, the inability even of the gods to succour their mortal children
is put forward in Glaucus prayer to Apollo upon Sarpedons death:
'
6DUSKGQ 'LM XbM G' R R SDLGM PQHL.1 Although
Friedlnder does not offer anything in support of this suggestion, it is likely to be
correct; practically all occurrences of Sarpedon in Latin literature (which are
rather few) refer to his death and to his being the son of Jupiter, occasionally
linked with the fact that also the children of gods must yield to Fate; thus, in direct connection with Homer, Cic. div. 2, 25; cf. in particular Vergils majestic
words from the mouth of Jupiter in Aen. 10, 46772: Stat sua cuique dies, breve
et inreparabile tempus | omnibus est vitae; sed famam extendere factis, | hoc
virtutis opus. Troiae sub moenibus altis | tot gnati cecidere deum, quin occidit
una | Sarpedon, mea progenies; etiam sua Turnum | fata vocant metasque dati
pervenit ad aevi; also Aen. 1, 100 (with Servius); Ov. met. 13, 255; several mentions in Hygin. fab.
From Suet. Dom. 3, 1, it appears that Domitian was the father of at least one
son by Domitia, born in his second consulate, i.e. in 73; the boy died young,
probably before 83, and seems to have been deified (see Mooney on Suet. Dom. 3,
1, p. 518; cf. Stat. silv. 1, 1, 97; Sil. 3, 629). Martial mentions him once, half a
decade later, as sending the snow which falls on Domitian in 4, 3.2
SDjGD

IdORQ

QU

ULVWRM

OZOH

The bravest man has perished, Sarpedon, the son of Zeus; and he succoured not his own son.
There is yet another epigram in Martial referring to a child of Domitians; in 6, 3 (published in 90), the
poet bids a child to be born, a vera deum subdoles, to whom Domitian in time may pass over the eternal
reins of Rome and whose thread of life will be spun by the divine Julia, the daughter of Titus. As would be
expected, the poem has been taken as indicating that Domitia was pregnant again; but as henceforth nothing
is said of such a child, she must either have had a miscarriage or the child must have died in infancy. In that
case, however, Martial, as has been recognized, would certainly not have included the poem for publication
in Book 6; if the book had already been published or the poem was otherwise known to Domitian at the
death of the child, Martial would have had to write a consolatio, which he apparently did not. The reasonable conclusion must therefore be that no child was born, that there was not even a pregnancy in 90, and
that 6, 3 expresses nothing more than Martials (and reasonably also the emperors) hope of a heir; cf. Scott,
2

120

The thunder was traditionally ascribed to the rumbling of Zeus car, and thus
it is quite natural for him to appear as tonans. But with Augustus dedication of
the temple to Iuppiter Tonans on the Capitol in 26 BC,1 the participle begins to be
used by the poets as a true epithet of the god (see Weinstock in RE 2:6, s.v. Tonans 1708 f.). According to Dio Cassius 54, 4, the name was a translation of the
Greek =HM EURQWQ, but, apart from his own text, there is now only epigraphic
evidence of this epithet (LSJ, s.v.); in the Greek version of the Monumentum
Ancyranum, Iuppiter Tonans is rendered as EURQWVLRM =HM (18, 21). In Homer,
this aspect of Zeus is often expressed by the epithet \LEUHPyWKM (high-thundering); thus, for example, Il. 1, 354. In Aristotles De mundo 401a, 17 and in Orph.
Hymn. 15, 9 appears the epithet EURQWDjRM, and there are also some instances of
=HM NHUDQ(H)LRM (wielding the thunder) and NHUDXQREROM (hurling the
thunder, see LSJ, s.v.). Overall, however, there are not nearly as many instances
of Zeus the Thunderer in Greek as there came to be in Latin, where it became the
standard epithet of the god. In Ovid, the epithetical character is unmistakable (cf.
epist. 9, 7; met. 1, 170; 2, 466; 11, 198; fast. 2, 69; 4, 585; 6, 33; 6, 349), and
Ovid is also the first to use Tonans simply in the sense of Iuppiter (cf. Bmer on
met. 1, 170, p. 78); it was fully adopted by the Silver Latin epic poets (10 instances in Lucan, 22 in Silius, 25 in Statius Theb., 6 in silv., 4 in Ach.; 6 in
Valerius Flaccus), and Martial uses it often: 5, 55, 1; 5, 72, 1; 7, 60, 2; 8, 39, 5; 9,
3, 9; 9, 11, 7; 9, 91, 5; 10, 20, 9; 10, 35, 19; 10, 92, 6; 11, 43, 3; 11, 94, 7; 12, 15,
6 (further examples below).2 A singular instance is 7, 60, 1 f. Tarpeiae venerande
rector aulae, | quem salvo duce credimus Tonantem; here, it is apparent that the
Thunderer has become the epithet of Jupiter as the supreme god, so that Tonans
is practically capable of meaning omnipotent.
As Tonans came to be synonymous with Iuppiter, it acquired epithets of its
own; instances from Martial are summus T. (6, 13, 7 & 6, 83, 5) and Capitolinus
T. (10, 51, 13, cf. Ov. fast. 2, 69). Combined with Tarpeius, it first appears in Ov.
Pont. 2, 2, 42, but then not until Sil. 4, 548 and 17, 654; Martial has it yet once
more (13, 74, 1).
As the earthly Jupiter, Domitian is also referred to by Martial as Tonans,
usually with an additional epithet like noster (6, 10, 9; 7, 56, 4), Latius (9, 65, 1)
or, as here and in 9, 39, 1, Palatinus. Notable is 7, 99, 1, which mentions simply a
Tonans, but where the reference to Domitian is clear from the context.3 Latius T.
and Palatinus T. are apparently formed by analogy with epithets of Jupiter as
Tonans; the former would thus correspond to aetherius T. (Lucan. 5, 96) and the
latter to Tarpeius and Capitolinus T. Both are inventions of Martials own and
appear only in Book 9. The present instance most effectively creates an image of
Domitian as the other Jupiter, the Palatine Thunderer residing on the Palatine
hill next to the Capitoline on the Capitol; see further the introduction, vol. 1, pp.
29 ff.
p. 75; Garthwaite, Court Poets, p. 32; id. Censorship, pp. 1617; Jones, Domitian, p. 37. The opinion that
Domitia in fact expected a child is held by Friedlnder (commentary on 6, 3) and Sauter, p. 120.
1
The temple was built because Augustus had narrowly escaped being struck by lightning during his
Cantabrian campaign (see Platner & Ashby, pp. 305 f.).
2
5, 16, 5 falcifer Tonans is Saturn; cf. Howell, ad loc.
3
There are other instances in which Domitian is referred to simply as Jupiter; see Sauter, pp. 59 ff.

121

910. These lines were previously taken as Martials words to Silius, but that is
illogical, since it is Martial, and not Silius, who is complaining to Apollo. Gilbert
corrected this by putting the words in the mouth of Apollo; see W. Gilbert, Ad
Martialem quaestiones criticae, Programm des kgl. Gymnasiums zu Dresden
Neustadt 1883, p. 12.
9. obnoxia fatis: a similar ending appears in Lucan. 9, 336.
10. invidia deos: invidia was a common reaction to what were considered
unjust actions of the gods, especially regarding a persons death. The motif occurs
also in 1, 12, 9 f.; 7, 47, 7; 12, 14, 8; cf. Epiced. Drusi 189 f.; Stat. silv. 1, 4, 5 f.;
3, 5, 41 f.; 5, 5, 77 f.; and see Citroni on 1, 12, 9 f.; I. Odelstierna, Invidia, invidiosus and invidiam facere, Uppsala Universitets rsskrift 10, 1949, pp. 19 ff.

87
Septem post calices Opimiani
denso cum iaceam triente blaesus,
affers nescio quas mihi tabellas
et dicis Modo liberum esse iussi
Nastam (servolus est mihi paternus):
signa. Cras melius, Luperce, fiet:
nunc signat meus anulus lagonam.

Lupercus asks the drunken Martial to sign a document which he says concerns the
manumission of one of Lupercus slaves. But Martial is clear-headed enough to
suspect mischief and asks Lupercus to return the next day, finishing off the epigram with a play on the sense of signo: tonight, he signs no documents, only
wine-vessels (see note on line 7 below).
Lupercus procedure clearly shows that something is the matter with the content of the document. Now if it really concerns the manumission of a slave,1 the
document would presumably be a manumissio testamento, manumission according
to a will, which had to be attested by seven witnesses (see Kaser, Privatrecht 1, p.
568; Kbler in RE 2:5, s.v. Testament 989). Lupercus words in lines 4 f. liberum
esse iussi Nastam also indicate a manumissio testamento, in which the manumission was declared in the form of a command (see below on line 4). However, if
this is the kind of document that Lupercus puts forth, it is doubtful whether it
would have any legal value: for the seven witnesses had to be expressly summoned
for this purpose and, furthermore, had to sign the will at the same time (see
Kbler, op. cit. 998 f.).
1

Friedlnder suggested that Lupercus hands Martial a document with a content different from what he says,
a document such as he could only hope for Martial to sign when drunk. But if Lupercus really wanted to
mislead Martial regarding the content, he could easily have chosen a less suspicious reason to ask for his
signature than the manumission of a slave.

122

Still, it seems that the purpose of Lupercus obviously rather desperate trick is
to add another slave to his will, presumably for the sake of sordid gain, for, after
Augustus, there were restrictions on the number of slaves one was allowed to set
free. These restrictions were due to the fact that slaves who, according to their
masters will, were to be set free at his death (so called statuliberi) could be compelled to pay a sum of money from their peculium to compensate for the loss inflicted on the estate. As a consequence of the greed of the masters, this increased
the number of manumissions and the mass of liberti grew drastically. Augustus
wanted to prevent them from becoming too marked an element in Roman society
and passed two laws restricting manumission, the Lex Fufia Caninia of 2 BC, and
the Lex Aelia Sentia of 4 AD (Kaser, Privatrecht 1, pp. 99; 255). Lupercus is
presumably gathering witnesses among the drunks at a revel in an attempt to
circumvent these regulations. Perhaps the use in line 5 of the diminutive servolus
is provoked by his wanting the manumission of Nasta, though exceeding the limitations, to appear as a small matter, the thought being something like one poor
old slave more or less.
Falsification of wills is mentioned also at Iuv. 1, 67 (see Courtney, ad loc.); 8,
142 ff.; cf. Sall. Catil. 16, 2.
1. Opimiani: the vintage of 121 BC, the year of the consulate of L. Opimius, was
excellent enough to become almost proverbial. It is referred to by Cicero as an old
vintage, of which there was apparently some left in his day.1 Some seventy-five
years later, Velleius Paterculus (2, 7, 5) denied that there was any of it left, because of the time which had elapsed since Opimius consulship. Pliny, on the
other hand, attests the existence of Opimian wine in his day, even though it was
no longer drinkable because of the bitterness following the long maturing; it was
used in small amounts as a seasoning for other wines (nat. 14, 55). Hence it follows that the many references in Martial to Opimian wine do not refer to the
genuine product but have the function of an antonomasia for a wine of the highest
quality (cf. Citroni on 1, 26, 7).2 Trimalchios wine, the label of which claimed it
to be Falernum Opimianum annorum centum (Petron. 34, 6; cf. 34, 7), is thus no
more than a joke in the same style as his true Corinthian bronze (see note on 9,
59, 11).
2. denso triente: densus here in the sense of frequent, numerous; cf. 6, 86, 1
and TLL, s.v. 547, 45 ff. The singular is poetical; cf. OLD, s.v. 3.
Wine was poured with a ladle holding one cyathus (one-twelfth of a sextarius
or 0.045 l) and referred to by the same word. The amounts commonly poured were
called, after the division of an as, a triens (four cyathi, 1.8 dl), a quincunx (five), a
hemina (six), a septunx (seven) and a bes (eight); smaller or greater amounts were
seldom used (but cf. 9, 93, 2). For these measures, there were vessels of the same
amount (see Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 403). The triens is the one most often
1

Cic. Brut. 287 Ut si quis Falerno vino delectetur, sed eo nec ita novo ut proximis consulibus natum
velit, nec rursus ita vetere ut Opimium aut Anicium consulem quaerat atqui hae notae sunt optumae: credo; sed nimia vetustas nec habet eam, quam quaerimus, suavitatem nec est iam sane tolerabilis.
2
Cf. 1, 26, 7; 2, 40, 5; 3, 26, 3; 3, 82, 24; 10, 49, 2; 13, 113.

123

mentioned (cf. Prop. 3, 10, 29; Pers. 3, 100), especially so by Martial,1 whose
mentions of the triens are generally taken to refer to the vessel (cf. Citroni on 1,
106, 8), even though the notion of amount may still be present; cf. Kay on 11, 6,
9.
cum iaceam ... blaesus: cf. Iuv. 15, 47 f. facilis victoria de madidis et | blaesis atque mero titubantibus.
4. liberum esse iussi: in the will, the manumission was declared in the form of a
command, like Stichum servum meum liberum esse iubeo (Gaius inst. 2, 267; cf.
2, 276; Kaser, Privatrecht 1, p. 101); this would be the formula to which Lupercus words allude. Another allusion to the same formula appears in Plin. epist. 4,
10, 1; cf. also Petron. 54, 5 (which, however, does not refer to a will).
5. Nastam: the name, formed on the Greek QVWKM (inhabitant), appears on
only one other occasion in Latin literature, Petron. 53, 5 (likewise of a slave), but
Nasta also occurs in inscriptions, both as a slaves name (CIL 10, 4636 l. 12) and
as a cognomen (ibid. 926); cf. Forcellini, Onomast., s.v. 313.
6. signa: see the introduction above.
Luperce: this name, a common cognomen (see Kajanto, Cognomina, p. 318),
appears in eight other epigrams (1, 117; 3, 75; 4, 28; 6, 6; 6, 51; 7, 83; 11, 40; 12,
47) of various satirical contents; it has been suggested that a couple are real persons (the Luperci of 1, 117 and 6, 6), but this is most uncertain (see Howell and
Citroni respectively on 1, 117; Kay on 11, 40). In the present case, perhaps Martial chose the name because its first part is lupus (cf. OLD, s.v. and note on 9, 2, 1
Lupe).
7. nunc signat meus anulus lagonam: at present, Martial only uses his ring to
sign the wine-vessel (thus ensuring it for himself); the indication that he is not
going to drink any more is surely another hint to Lupercus. The practice of signing the wine-vessel is attested by Pliny nat. 33, 26 Denique v<el> plurima opum
scelera anulis fiunt. Quae fuit illa vita priscorum, qualis innocentia, in qua nihil
signabatur! Nunc cibi quoque ac potus anulo vindicantur a rapina; cf. also Iuv.
14, 132; Tac. ann. 2, 2.
For lagona, see note on 9, 72, 4.

Eleven instances; also 1, 106, 8; 4, 82, 5; 6, 86, 1; 8, 51, 24; 9, 90, 5 (metonymy); 10, 13, 5; 10, 49, 1;
11, 6, 9; 11, 39, 13; and 14, 103, 1.

124

88
Cum me captares, mittebas munera nobis:
postquam cepisti, das mihi, Rufe, nihil.
Ut captum teneas, capto quoque munera mitte,
de cavea fugiat ne male pastus aper.
Of the epigrams in Martial referring to legacy-hunting, this is the only one written
from the perspective of the victim: while Rufus the captator (see the introduction
to 9, 8) was trying to snare the speaker, he kept sending him gifts; now that he has
succeeded, he no longer bothers with presents. The moral of the poem is that
Rufus must keep sending presents, otherwise the goodwill will fade away, like
anything which is left without support. The theme recurs in connection with loveaffairs: once the girl is caught (the terminus technicus for which is the same
verb capto), love, like the fire to which it is often likened, has to be supported.
This is neatly summarised by Ovid when he presents the theme of the second book
of his Ars: Arte mea capta est, arte tenenda mea est (ars 2, 12, which has certainly lent its air to line 3 of the present poem). That money and gifts were considered crucial for the maintenance of love appears, for example, from Ov. rem.
749: Non habet, unde suum paupertas pascat amorem.
The same was true of captatores and their victims; the captatio itself comprised gifts of money and presents, which had to be kept coming if the victim was
not to cool down; this was also the reason why people encouraged legacy-hunters
(cf. 4, 56; 5, 39; 8, 27; 9, 8; 9, 48). This common idea is here expressed as a kind
of allegory in proverbial manner: if a boar is ill fed, you always run the risk of its
escaping from the cage (see 9, 81 intro.).
Note the progress of time through the epigram, emphasized by the change of
tenses and verb forms in lines 1 to 3 inclusive (captarescepisticaptum).
2. postquam cepisti: i.e. after Rufus had made his victim promise to insert him in
his will; cf. 9, 48, 1 f.
Rufe: Rufus here is either fictitious or a pseudonym; for other Rufuses in
Martial, see note on 9, 39, 3 mei Caesonia Rufi.

125

89
Lege nimis dura convivam scribere versus
cogis, Stella. Licet scribere nempe malos.
Martials friend Stella (see 9, 42 intro.) is giving a dinner-party and bids Martial
to improvise a poem but sets up a condition which Martial finds, in one way or
another, unacceptable. Presumably, Stella meant to tease the poet and deliberately
presented him with a theme to which he knew Martial would not consent; there
may be a similar situation in 11, 42, in which Martial complains about a certain
Caecilianus giving him mortua lemmata while demanding of him vivida epigrammata. As a consequence, instead of an extempore piece on the suggested
theme, Stella gets the present epigram, rounded off by a humorously sullen remark, making a play on the possible senses of malus, which is further underlined
by the ironical nempe: it is, I suppose, permitted to write bad/abusive verses.
Exactly the same play on malus with reference to poetry appears in Hor. sat. 2, 1,
80 ff. (conversation between Horace and the jurist C. Trebatius Testa, who advises
the former to beware of the penalties which may be inflicted upon writers of lampoons): Sed tamen ut monitus caveas, ne forte negoti | incutiat tibi quid sanctarum inscitia legum: | si mala condiderit in quem quis carmina, ius est | iudiciumque. Esto, siquis mala; sed bona siquis | iudice condiderit laudatus Caesare?
Siquis | opprobriis dignum latraverit, integer ipse? | Solventur risu tabulae, tu
missus abibis.
The second and concluding sentence was taken by Gilbert as the reply of Stella
to Martials complaints and put within quotation marks, giving the sense of you
may, of course, write bad verse. Gilbert was followed in this respect by Lindsay
(making the first sentence a question), Heraeus and Shackleton Bailey. However,
putting the concluding witticism in the mouth of Stella spoils something of its
pun, as the sense of abusive for malus would not only be more appropriate to but
also more effective in a remark from Martial on Stellas harsh terms than in
Stellas reply to the complaints of Martial.
Poetical recitations were a common feature of Roman supper parties and revels; it could be that the host himself recited his own poetry, often to his guests
dismay (like the reciting host Ligurinus in 3, 44; 3, 45; and 3, 50; cf. 5, 78, 25;
Plut. quaest. conv. 1, 4, 3), or that a lector (either a household slave or professional reciter) read from contemporary poetry or the classics (Iuv. 11, 179 ff.; see
Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 410). It does not seem that the guests themselves
generally recited the works of others,1 even though this apparently also occurred,
at least in the case of the works of a poet close to the person reciting such
would probably be the implication of 4, 82, in which Martial commends his third
and fourth books to Venuleius (probably L. Venuleius Montanus Apronianus,
consul in 92, see Friedlnder, ad loc.), and asks him to read them nec post
primum summumve trientem, | sed sua cum medius proelia Bacchus amat (4,
82, 5 f.); given the circumstances, it seems less likely that Martial meant him to
1

Thus Kiel on Pers. 1, 30 (p. 154). Kiel assumes that this was the case at least with the upper classes of
Roman society, but it seems to be contradicted by Mart. 4, 82 (see below).

126

read them silently; cf. also 2, 1, 9; 2, 6, 8; 4, 82, 5 f.; 5, 16, 9; 7, 97, 11; 10, 19,
19 ff.
Poetical improvisations were originally a Greek practice, which, while admired as intellectual entertainment by men like Cicero, were not practised in their
own right by the Romans of the Republic, but rather considered as belonging to
the field of rhetorical exercises.1 But with the Silver Age and the growing influence of rhetoric on poetry, the Latin authors became interested in extempore composition.2 This is quite obvious from the prefaces to Statius Silvae, in which the
poet frequently emphasizes the high speed with which the poems were written; in
the preface to silv. 1, he states that they arose from a subito calore et quadam
festinandi voluptate and that none of the poems in the book were written in more
than two days, some even in one single day.
In the case of Martial, Friedlnder, in the preface to his edition (p. 20), remarked that the poets ability to write on a great variety of subjects and in many
different moods, combined with an extraordinary ability of versification, would
have highly recommended him for improvisation and that a large number of poems without doubt arose extempore.3 This was very likely the case, but explicit
references to extempore composition in Martial are rare; thus, the present epigram, in which Stella at a dinner party has given him a theme on which to improvise, is singular, even though 11, 42 (see above) probably also refers to improvisation (see Kay, ad loc.).
The evidence of poetical improvisations at revels is likewise rather scarce.
Apart from this epigram, there is a line in the preface to Stat. silv. 1 stating that
the poem on the baths of Claudius Etruscus (silv. 1, 5, with its 65 hexameters the
shortest of the book) was written intra moram cenae. This would perhaps argue
against Whites assumption that, insofar as Romans annexed literary activity to
their carouses, it was probably expressed in epigrammatic form (White, Dedication, pp. 42 f.). Although epigram was very apt for this kind of composition, when
asked to improvise at a dinner party, established poets probably kept as close to
their chosen genre as possible.

See G. Williams, Change and Decline, Berkeley etc. 1978, p. 195.

Ibid., p. 267; Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 2, p. 198.
3
Friedlnder finds further arguments in what he calls Martials carelessness and sometimes even incorrectness of expression, which he explains by the assumption that the poet did not always have the time to
elaborate his poems carefully. Friedlnder also considers Martials inclination to repeat himself a consequence of his finding it more comfortable to use existing phrases than to invent new ones when improvising.
2

127

90
Sic in gramine florido reclinis,
qua gemmantibus hinc et inde rivis
curva calculus excitatur unda,
exclusis procul omnibus molestis,
pertundas glaciem triente nigro,
frontem sutilibus ruber coronis;
sic uni tibi sit puer cinaedus
et castissima pruriat puella:
infamem nimio calore Cypron
observes, moneo precorque, Flacce,
messes area cum teret crepantis
et fervens iuba saeviet leonis.
At tu, diva Paphi, remitte, nostris
inlaesum iuvenem remitte votis:
sic Martis tibi serviant Kalendae
et cum ture meroque victimaque
libetur tibi candidas ad aras
secta plurima quadra de placenta.

10

15

A poem written perhaps on Flaccus departure for Cyprus to enter upon the duties
probably of the praetorian proconsul of the province. The first two-thirds of the
poem contain a warning to Flaccus to beware of the infamous heat at the height of
the summer; it is formulated as a wish for Flaccus to once again be able to abide
the summer heat in the only tolerable way, should he heed Martials words: to
enjoy, free of cares, a cool draught of wine in a shady locus amoenus and the
undivided faith of his favourite boy and girl. The pastoral scene echoes Horaces
description of the good life in the famous poem of exhortation to Q. Dellius (carm.
2, 3 Aequam memento; see below); compare also Statius advice to Vitorius Marcellus to take an unofficial leave from his duties to escape the summer heat: sed
tu, dum nimio possessa Hyperione flagrat | torva Cleonaei iuba sideris, exue
curis | pectus et assiduo temet furare labori (silv. 4, 4, 27 ff.).
The last third of the poem is a similarly framed prayer to the Paphian Venus to
return Flaccus safe and sound to Rome. Here, Martial wishes that the Kalendae
Martiae may pay homage to the goddess and says that she will receive festive
sacrifices if his prayer be granted. Now the inclusion of the Paphian Venus is
quite obvious, but the mention of the Kalends of March calls for explanation,
since at Rome, this day was the Matronalia, sacred to Juno and not associated
with Venus. But because of the complete absence of further references to the
Kalends of March as a Roman celebration of Venus, it is not possible to arrive at
an explanation supported by literary evidence. However, guided by the fact that
gifts were given by husbands to their wives on the Matronalia and, as an extension of this practice, obviously also by young men to their fiances, Marquardt
suggested that there was in fact an element of a feast of love in the festival and
that this would account for the offerings to Venus mentioned here (see below). But
it remains perplexing that this is not attested by any Roman author. Perhaps Mar-

128

tial is here referring to a purely Cypriot practice which would be appropriate to

the Paphian Venus just mentioned. The absence of any mention by Latin authors
of such a practice would be easier to understand than would their reticence about a
Roman celebration of Venus on the Matronalia.
1. Sic: see note on 9, 42, 1.
in gramine ... reclinis: obviously an echo of Hor. carm. 2, 3, 6 f. te in remoto
gramine ... | ... reclinatum, on which Nisbet & Hubbard remark: grass is particularly prized in Mediterranean countries (cf. Mart. 3, 65, 4), and hence appears as
a conventional resting-place in the amoenus locus; it presupposes the shade and
stream of the rest of the picture. Cf. also Porphyrios comment, ad loc: In remoto
gramine, hoc est in secessu nemoris. Reclinatum autem, id est resupinum recumbentem, ut solent, qui securiores et soluto animo hoc faciunt.
For the grass and the river as distinctive features of the pastoral setting, cf.
also Lucr. 5, 1392; Verg. ecl. 5, 46 f.; georg. 4, 19; Ov. am. 2, 16, 9 f.; rem. 177 f.
2. gemmantibus ... rivis: gemmans is a Lucretian coinage (Lucr. 2, 319 herbae
gemmantes rore recenti; 5, 461), appearing also in Culex 70; Ov. met. 3, 264 f.
gemmantia sceptra; Manil. 4, 656 gemmantia litora; 5, 256; Sil. 4, 350 gemmanti gurgite; Stat. silv. 1, 5, 12, f. (of the baths of Etruscus) nitidis gemmantia
saxis | balnea; Martial has it three times, also in 12, 66, 5 and 13, 70 1. The only
prosaists to use the adjective are Columella (4, 24, 16; 7, 6, 6; 8, 11, 8; 10, 258)
and Pliny (nat. 10, 43; 17, 106; 17, 188; 36, 56).
The juncture gemmantes rivi, which alludes to the water glittering as though
with jewels as the sunlight is shining on it, is found only here; compare, however,
the instance from Sil. 4, 350 quoted above.
3. curva ... unda: also Aetna 95 and Stat. Theb. 2, 381; cf. Ov. fast. 3, 520 curvis
... aquis. The adjective curvus makes the waves appear more carefree, as it were,
than would curvatus (cf. Verg. georg. 4, 361; Sil. 1, 472; cf. 15, 155): they are in
themselves curvae, not curvatae through external influence.
4. exclusis ... molestis: freedom from care is naturally as essential to the pastoral
idyll as to the good life in general; cf. Catull. 31, 7 o quid solutis est beatius curis;
Hor. carm. 1, 22, 10 f. meam canto Lalagen et ultra | terminum curis vagor expeditis. In 10, 47, 9 (to Iulius Martialis), Martial mentions a nox non ebria, sed
soluta curis among the features of the Good Life (see 9, 22 intro.); cf. also 3, 20,
14.
5. pertundas glaciem triente nigro: wine was cooled by being poured through a
colander containing snow (see note on 9, 2, 5 dominae ... liquantur).
The triens, actually a vessel holding four cyathi (see note on 9, 87, 2 denso
triente), is here used as metonymy of the wine itself, presumably Falernian (as in
Hor. carm. 2, 3, 8), which is frequently referred to as niger (see note on 9, 22, 8
faciant nigras ... Falerna nives).

129

6. frontem sutilibus ruber coronis: according to Pliny, the most luxurious and
fashionable wreaths were the so-called coronae sutiles (nat. 1, 21a), made from
petals only (mero folio sutilis, nat. 21, 11, cf. TLL, s.v. folium 1013, 51 ff.)
stitched together with a ribbon or a string of bast (philyra, nat. 16, 65). Martial
commonly mentions such wreaths as made of roses (hence ruber here), cf. 5, 64, 4
rosis ... sutilibus; 9, 93, 5; 13, 51, 1 texta rosis (corona) and see 9, 60 intro. Compare also Hor. carm. 1, 38, 2 nexae philyra coronae (with Nisbet & Hubbard); Ov.
fast. 5, 335 tempora sutilibus cinguntur tota coronis; cf. W. A. Becker, Gallus
oder Rmische Scenen aus der Zeit Augusts, neu bearbeitet von H. Gll, vol. 3,
Berlin 1882, pp. 449 f.
7. uni tibi sit puer cinaedus: may your boy be wanton only to you, like 4, 42,
14 (also addressed to Flaccus) vir reliquis, uni sit puer ille mihi. From that poem,
it appears that Flaccus had previously had a delicatus called Amazonicus (4, 42,
16).
The word cinaedus, here used adjectivally (as in 6, 39, 12; see TLL, s.v. 1059,
73 ff.), usually has a strong derogatory notion, but Martial uses it, with the same
sense as here, of Ganymede in 2, 43, 13 Iliaco ... cinaedo and 10, 98, 2 Idaeo ...
cinaedo. Of boy slaves, with emphasis on the sexual aspect of their service, also in
12, 16, 2 emisti, Labiene, tres cinaedos.
The sexual allusion to Flaccus delicatus and to the girl in the following line
are indications of his intimacy with Martial; obviously, his sexual tastes were
unbiassed (Howell on 1, 57, 1); see note on 9, 33, 1.
8. castissima pruriat puella: castissima pruriat may seem to be an oxymoron, but
casta is here synonymous with fida (cf. TLL, s.v. 566, 53 ff.), paralleling uni tibi
in the preceding line.
9. Cypron: Flaccus was on Cyprus already when 8, 45 was written, i.e. probably
in late 93. In spite of infamis, Cyprus does not seem to have been more notorious
for its summer heat than other places in the area.
10. observes: beware of; the TLL, s.v. 215, 42 ff., gives no instance of this use
of the word earlier than the present.
Flacce: see note on 9, 33, 1. Whites argumentation for his being in Cyprus as
a magistrate is convincing (White, Aspects, pp. 113 f.); Cyprus was a praetorian
province, every year receiving a proconsul, a legate and a quaestor from Rome;
Flaccus would not have had to suffer the heat of Cyprus which in any case was
not considered a resort by the Romans unless he was there in an office. Furthermore, Martials mention of Flaccus being on Cyprus in 8, 45 shows that his
stay on the island was lengthy, supporting the idea that he was there in a one-year
office; the invocation of the Paphian Venus in line 13 may also serve as an argument in support, Paphos being the seat of the Roman administration (see below).
If this is correct, then Flaccus would have been of senatorial rank, which fits well
with Martials mentions of his wealth in 11, 80 and 12, 74.

130

It has been suggested that Flaccus was identical with Calpurnius Flaccus, to
whom Pliny addressed epist. 5, 2 and who may have been the suffect consul of 96
(White, Friends, p. 297, n. 46; see CIL 16, 40, and Sherwin-Whites introduction
to 5, 21). Assuming that Flaccus governed Cyprus as praetorian proconsul in 94,
such an identification would find some support in Domitianic policy towards these
officials. For in the reign of Domitian (as opposed to those of his predecessors),
the praetorian proconsulship gained in importance and status. Previously, it had
been of little value and the praetorian proconsuls seldom continued to the highest
offices of the state; but under Domitian, twelve out of twenty-five known proconsuls later became consuls, usually within three or four years of their proconsulship
(see Jones, Senatorial order, pp. 74 ff.; id., Domitian, pp. 169 f.). If Flaccus was
in Cyprus in the office of praetorian proconsul in 94, his being suffect consul in
96 would be quite in line with general Domitianic policy.
11. messes area cum teret crepantis: when the threshing-floor threshes the
clattering harvests; the image of threshing recurs as a metaphor for summer; cf.
Tib. 1, 5, 22 area dum messes sole calente teret; Ov. fast. 3, 557 tertia nudandas
acceperat area messes; Sil. 13, 671 f. octava terebat | arentem culmis messem
crepitantibus aestas. With reference to rich harvests, cf. Verg. georg. 1, 192; 1,
298; Hor. sat. 1, 1, 45; Sen. Thyest. 356 f.; Stat. silv. 3, 3, 91.
12. fervens iuba saeviet leonis: the sun enters into the constellation of leo on the
27th of July and remains there until the end of August; the Lion is therefore intimately connected with the latter, the hottest month of the year, a fact from which
it acquired a number of epithets, like
(flaming),
(fiery),
(hot), etc.; in Latin, for example, Hor. epist. 3, 29, 19 stella vesani Leonis;
Manil. 3, 424 ardenti ... Leoni; Ov. met. 2, 81 violenti ... Leonis; Lucan. 1, 655
saevum radiis Nemeaeum ... Leonem (cf. note on 9, 71, 7 terror Nemees); see
Gundel in RE 12, s.v. Leo 9, 1981 f. Martial mentions it also in 4, 60, 2 Quique
Cleonaeo sidere fervet ager; 5, 71, 3; 10, 62, 6 f. Albae leone flammeo calent
luces | tostamque fervens Iulius coquit messem; cf. also Hor. epist. 1, 10, 15 ff.
and Sen. Thyest. 855 f.
Prominence is often given to the mane; thus Germ. Arat. 321 horrentisque
iubas et fulvum cerne Leonem; 604 cum prima iuba radiarit flamma Leonis; Sen.
Herc. f. 948 ; Sen. Herc. O. 70 iactans fervidam collo iubam; Stat. silv. 4, 4, 27 f.
sed tu, dum nimio possessa Hyperione flagrat | torva Cleonaei iuba sideris, exue
curis... (cf. Coleman, ad loc.)
IORJHUM

SXUGKM

THUPM

13. At tu: the conjunction at bedeutet Rckkehr zu dem alten oder Hinwendung
zu dem neuen Gegenstand (der Rede) (Bmer on Ov. met. 4, 158). Martial often
uses at tu, given further emphasis by the pronoun, at the beginning of the verse,
commonly followed by an imperative or an imperative with a vocative. Here, the
formula introduces Martials turning to Venus with a prayer for Flaccus safe
return; cf. in particular 6, 80, 9 (to the Nile, see Grewing, ad loc.); 10, 28, 7
1

If Flaccus is to be identified as Calpurnius Flaccus, then Sherwin-Whites presumption of Calpurnius

Spanish origin must be incorrect.

131

(prayer to Janus) and 12, 62, 15 (prayer to Saturn); cf. Tib. 3, 12, 7; Prop. 2, 16,
3.
diva Paphi: the city of Paphos on the west coast of Cyprus possessed a famous
temple of Aphrodite, who was said to have risen from the sea outside the city,
hence her epithet
etc.: see Schmidt in RE 18, s.v. Paphos 1, 951 ff. and
Bruchmann, Epitheta, p. 67. In Latin poetry, cf., for example, Verg. Aen. 1, 415;
Hor. carm. 1, 30, 1 O Venus regina Cnidi Paphique; Ov. am. 2, 17, 4; ars 2, 588;
3, 181; met. 10, 297; Lucan. 8, 458; Stat. silv. 1, 2, 101; 1, 2, 159; 3, 4, 82; 88. In
Martial, cf. 8, 28, 13 Paphiaeque columbae; 7, 74, 4 Sive cupis Paphien, seu
Ganymede cales (where Paphie serves as metonymy for heterosexual love).
The invocation of the Paphian Venus is all the more apposite here, because
Paphos was the administrative centre of Roman Cyprus and the residence of the
proconsul (Cic. fam. 13, 48; Act. Apost. 13, 6 f.; Oberhummer in RE 18, s.v.
Paphos 1, 941), and thus the place where Flaccus would be stationed.
3DIdK

13 f. remitte, nostris ... | ... remitte votis: the repetition of the imperative remitte
obviously serves to emphasize the word as the focal point of the prayer, but it also
practically results in an epiphora, a figure used elsewhere by Martial (5, 24, 5 f.;
8, 54, 1 f.) and particularly often and in masterly fashion by Ovid; see Hofmann
Szantyr, 5, p. 698, and Bmer on Ov. met. 1, 325 f.
14. iuvenem: Flaccus was presumably about the same age as his friend and fellow
townsman Stella, who is assumed to have been praetor in 93 (see 9, 42 intro.) and
thus presumably in his early thirties. This would agree with his being on Cyprus
either as proconsul or as legatus; if he was quaestor, he would probably have been
somewhat younger, about the age of twenty-five (see White, Aspects, p. 115).
However, if he is to be identified with the Flaccus appearing in Book 1, some
eight years earlier, it seems more likely that he would be in his thirties than about
25 in 94.
The phrase remitto votis, to return someone (in answer) to ones prayers, is
not found elsewhere, but cf. reddo votis in 11, 36, 1 f. Gaius hanc lucem gemma
mihi Iulius alba | signat, io, votis redditus, ecce, meis; Sen. suas. 6, 26, 8; Plin.
paneg. 60, 1 iam urbi votisque publicis redditus.
15. sic: see note on 9, 42, 1.
Martis tibi serviant Kalendae: in Latin literature, there is no other mention
of Venus in connection with the Kalends of March, hence Friedlnders explanation Nach diesem Verse muss am 1. Mrz ... auch eine (sonst nicht erwhnte)
Feier der Venus stattgefunden haben. However, in sic-clauses like the present,
the object wished for is usually (the continuation of) something which was quite
obviously connected with the deity in question (see the instances given on 9, 42, 1
sic). The lack of such an apparent connection between the Roman Venus and the
Kalends of March, together with the fact that Martial in line 13 explicitly turns to
the Paphian Venus, would perhaps rather suggest that the reference here is to a
purely Cypriot practise not recorded elsewhere; see also the introduction above.
132

The Kalends of March were properly the Matronalia, sacred to Juno and honoured by the Roman matrons (cf. note on 9, 1, 7 matrona). It had no apparent
connection with Venus, and the strong matrimonial element in the Matronalia
was quite in line with Junos being the protectress of matrimony: offerings were
made for the happiness of the marriage (Schol. Hor. carm. 3, 8, 1 mariti pro conservatione coniugii supplicabant), and the husbands brought their wives presents
(Plaut. mil. 690; Hor. carm. 3, 8, 1 ff.). This practice appears to have been extended also to non-married couples, as there is evidence of beaux giving presents
to their sweethearts at the Matronalia, cf. Tib. 3, 1, 1 ff.; Martial turns the habit
into a joke in 5, 84 and humorously alludes to it also in 10, 24, 3.1 On these
grounds, Marquardt (Staatsverwaltung 3, pp. 571 f.) assumed that there was also a
celebration of Venus at the Matronalia, but if so, the fact remains that Roman
authors never thought it worth mentioning.
The choice of expression is here certainly to be taken as an allusion to the
love-affair of Mars and Venus, as in the references to the Kalends of April
(properly sacred to Venus) in Ov. ars 1, 405 f. Kalendae, | quas Venerem Marti
continuasse iuvat (see Brandt, ad loc.); fast. 4, 130 Marti continuata suo est (sc.
Venus); Auson. 13, 10, 7 f. Prete Aeneadum genetrix vicino nomen Aprili | das
Venus: est Marti namque Aphrodita comes.
16. ture meroque victimaque: these words suggest a festive sacrifice, at which
the unbloody offering of tus and merum (the sacrificial wine could not be mixed
with water) preceded the slaying of the sacrificial animal; hence it was referred to
as praefatio sacrorum. Offerings only of incense and wine were practically restricted to private sacrifices to the lares (see Wissowa, Religion, p. 347); for the
order of the sacrifice, cf. ibid., p. 352.
The tus and merum was modelled into the metrical formula tura merumque by
Ovid, cf. Ov. epist. 21, 92; ars 1, 638; fast. 1, 172; used by Martial in 11, 104, 12
(all instances immediately following the diaeresis of the pentameter). For references in poetry to the praefatio sacrorum with following sacrifice, see Mart. 8, 66,
1 f. Augusto pia tura victimasque | pro vestro date Silio, Camenae; Hor. carm. 1,
19, 13 ff. (tura, patera meri, hostia); Ov. met. 7, 159 ff. (tura, victima). Bloody
sacrifices to Venus are mentioned in Plaut. Poen. 449 ff.; Hor. carm. 1, 19, 16
(with Nisbet & Hubbard); Prop. 4, 5, 65 f.; Tac. hist. 2, 3, 5.
17. candidas ... aras: an Ovidian juncture, cf. Ov. fast. 6, 394 candida Pistori
ponitur ara Iovi; Pont. 3, 2, 53 ara ... quae fuerat natura candida saxi.
18. secta plurima quadra de placenta: the biggest piece of the scored sacrificial
cake. The placenta is probably a libum, cf. 10, 103, 8; Serv. Aen. 7, 109 liba ...
sunt placentae de farre, melle et oleo, sacris aptae; another recipe is given by
Cato (agr. 75, wheat flour, cheese and eggs). Like incense and wine, liba were
included in private offerings to a variety of deities (see TLL, s.v. 1353, 54 ff.) as

Some instances indicate that presents were given to women in general at the Matronalia; cf. Iuv. 9, 53 and
Suet. Vesp. 19, 1.

133

well as at festive sacrifices, where they formed part of the praefatio sacrorum
(Wissowa, Religion, pp. 346 f.).
Although the round loaves of bread were usually cut into four pieces (quadrae;
cf. Hor. epist. 1, 17, 49; Sen. benef. 4, 29, 2; Iuv. 5, 2; Blmner, Privataltertmer,
p. 164), the expressions secta placenta and quadra placentae are found only in
Martial; thus also 3, 77, 3 (without religious significance) nec te (sc. Baeticum)
liba iuvant nec sectae quadra placentae; 6, 75, 1 (on Martials birthday) cum
mittis turdumve mihi quadramve placentae.

91
Ad cenam si me diversa vocaret in astra
hinc invitator Caesaris, inde Iovis,
astra licet propius, Palatia longius essent,
responsa ad superos haec referenda darem:
quaerite qui malit fieri conviva Tonantis:
me meus in terris Iuppiter, ecce, tenet.

Martial says that he would prefer a dinner invitation from Domitian to one from
Jupiter himself. The epigram, which Sauter (p. 59) called a Hhepunkt der Adulation, is based on the recurring idea that Domitian, the earthly Jove, would be, if
not exactly superior, at least preferable to the heavenly.
The theme of the poem, an invitation to dinner at the palace of Domitian, recalls that of Stat. silv. 4, 2, in which Statius expresses his gratitude to the emperor
for letting him attend a dinner at the palace, together with Romuleos proceres
trabeataque ... agmina (i.e. knights) mille (silv. 4, 2, 32 f.).1 The dating of the
publication of Silvae 4 to 95 places the two poems roughly at about the same time
and, consequently, they have been brought into connection with each other as
possibly being occasioned by one and the same dinner.2 But it should be emphasized that there is no evidence that Martial (unlike Statius) ever was invited to
dine with Domitian; moreover, such a connection implies chronological difficulties.3
Instead of looking at silv. 4, 2 to learn Martials reason for writing this epigram, one should rather turn to 8, 39: Qui Palatinae caperet convivia mensae |
ambrosiasque dapes, non erat ante locus: | hic haurire decet sacrum, Germanice,
1

It is not known on what occasion this dinner took place. It has been suggested that it was the cena aditialis for Domitians inauguration as consul in January 95, but this is contradicted by the lack of references
to the consulship in silv. 4, 2 (see Colemans introduction to the poem, p. 83).
2
See L. Legras, Les dernires annes de Stace, REA 9 (1907), p. 345.
3
For silv. 4, 2, cf. Vollmer, p. 8, Wissowa in Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte 4, p. 295 and Coleman, pp. xx
ff. Vollmer is safe in stating that the date of the poem cannot be more precisely established than between 93
and the summer of 95. Coleman, on the other hand, may be right in assuming that silv. 4, 2 would have
appeared in Silvae 3, had it been written in 94, and that the thematic similarities between silv. 4, 1 (on the
seventeenth consulship of Domitian) and 4, 2 indicate that the two poems were written shortly after one
another. For Martials 9, 91, there is no means of establishing a more exact date than 94 (or early 95, see
the introduction, vol. 1, pp. 11 ff.).

134

nectar | et Ganymedea pocula mixta manu. | Esse velis, oro, serus conviva
Tonantis: | at tu si properas, Iuppiter, ipse veni. This poem was written to celebrate the triclinium at Domitians palace, which would have been newly finished
at that time, but, as with 9, 91, it cannot be precisely dated. If it is assumed, however, that 8, 39 was written at the latest date possible, at the beginning of 94,
shortly before the publication of Book 8, and that 9, 91 was written shortly after
the same publication, when the triclinium could still be considered a novelty, then
9, 91 may be regarded as another poem in celebration of Domitians new triclinium, but with a different approach to the subject, the same kind of variation which
Martial usually applies when writing several poems on the same theme. For an
even closer connection argues the fact that the poems complement each other
regarding the (at any rate scarce) information given on the hall: 8, 39 speaks of its
extensiveness, 9, 91 of its starred ceiling; the latter poem is also somewhat lighter
in character, and the last but one line in each poem, almost identical in thought
and wording, is given a humorous ambiguity in 9, 91. These are features normally
found in the pairs of epigrams with a common theme found throughout Martials
works. It is true that these, as a rule, appear side by side or at least in the same
book, but there are exceptions; cf. 7, 838, 52 and 2, 575, 26 and see Burnikel,
Struktur, p. 89.
In any case, I would suggest that 8, 39 and 9, 91 both celebrate the newly finished triclinium in the palace of Domitian, which definitely separates them from
silv. 4, 2, which was written, not to extol the building, but as thanks for an invitation to dinner (secundo gratias egi sacratissimis eius epulis honoratus; silv. 4,
praef.). The short ecphrasis (silv. 4, 2, 1831), mentioning the countless columns,
the huge extent of the hall and the ceiling resembling the sky and also, as usual
(see note on 9, 75, 7 f.), including a marble catalogue, forms a natural part of the
praise of the emperor.1 The lack of such information in Martials 8, 39 and 9, 91
again demonstrates that Martial had not seen the triclinium himself; the sole architectural feature to which he alludes, the ceiling made like the heavens and the
stars (9, 91, 1), was known to him already when the building was in progress (7,
56, 1; see below on line 1).
The conclusion is, therefore, that the present epigram and silv. 4, 2 were written quite independently of each other; the comparison of the triclinium to the
heavens would be more surprising if not found in the poems and thus is not an
argument in favour of dependence. More obviously similar are the comparisons
found in 8, 39 and silv. 4, 2 of the triclinium to that of Jupiter, where Ganymede
pours the nectar: compare 8, 39, 3 f. to silv. 4, 2, 10 ff. mediis videor discumbere
in astris | cum Iove et Iliaca porrectum sumere dextra | immortale merum! Statius, like Martial in 8, 39, 5, also exhorts Domitian not to hasten to ascend to the
sky: nec magnum properes escendere caelum (silv. 4, 2, 22). These instances,
while perhaps obligatory in this kind of poetry, may suggest that Statius, when
writing silv. 4, 2, rather had Martials 8, 39 in mind than that Martial wrote 9, 91
under Statian influence.
1

It is not certain whether Statius wrote his poem after the banquet or whether it was written in advance and
read at the banquet, as the information in the ecphrasis could have been known to Statius even if he had not
seen the triclinium himself (see Coleman, pp. 83 f.).

135

1. diversa ... in astra: the palace of Domitian is considered another heaven; the
idea is the same in 7, 56, 1 f. (to Rabirius, the architect of the Domus Domitiana)
Astra polumque pia cepisti mente, Rabiri, | Parrhasiam mira qui struis arte domum. Apparently, there was a ceiling in the triclinium resembling the heavens
and the stars: cf. Stat. silv. 4, 2, 10 quoted above; 31 auratique putes laquearia
caeli; see Coleman, ad loc. and p. 109. Ceilings of this type are mentioned also by
Manil. 1, 532. In line 3 below, astra refers exclusively to the heavens.
2. invitator Caesaris: this was evidently a title of a member of the imperial
household who delivered invitations, but nothing further is known of the office.
The present is the only mention of it in classical literature, but there are some
instances from inscriptions; thus CIL 6, 3975; 7010; 8634; 8792; 885762;
AnnEpigr 52, 31. The word does not appear again until the Fathers and Justinian
(see TLL, s.v. 226, 82 ff.).
Another title of slaves performing the same function is vocator, which was
used of private slaves (7, 86, 11; Sen. dial. 5, 37, 4) and imperial slaves (Suet.
Cal. 39, 2; Plin. nat. 35, 89 applies it to the invitators of Ptolemy I) alike, which
perhaps indicates that the title of invitator was not used outside the imperial
household.
hinc ... Caesaris, inde Iovis: for the prosody, see 1, 6, 6 and cf. epigr. 16b, 3.
3. Palatia: for the scansion, see 9, 24, 1.
5. conviva Tonantis: Martial uses this phrase also in 8, 39, 5 (to Domitian) Esse
velis, oro, serus conviva Tonantis, whence it appears that being the Thunderers
guest is equal to being dead. The line is thus humorously ambiguous: Ask him,
who would rather be the Thunderers guest/Ask him, who would rather be
dead. The same ending in Stat. Theb. 6, 282 (of Tantalus).
6. me meus in terris Iuppiter ... tenet: Martial sometimes refers to Domitian
simply as Iuppiter with or even without an attribute (see the introduction, vol. 1,
pp. 29 ff.). The present instance offers the most personal attribute ever used by
Martial in this respect.
If the preceding line is correctly taken as ambiguous, then this line would
mean not only my Jupiter keeps me on earth, but also keeps me alive.

136

92
Quae mala sint domini, quae servi commoda, nescis,
Condyle, qui servum te gemis esse diu.
Dat tibi securos vilis tegeticula somnos,
pervigil in pluma Gaius, ecce, iacet.
Gaius a prima tremebundus luce salutat
tot dominos, at tu, Condyle, nec dominum.
Quod debes, Gai, redde inquit Phoebus et illinc
Cinnamus: hoc dicit, Condyle, nemo tibi.
Tortorem metuis? Podagra cheragraque secatur
Gaius et mallet verbera mille pati.
Quod nec mane vomis nec cunnum, Condyle, lingis,
non mavis, quam ter Gaius esse tuus?

10

In this epigram, Martial contrasts the woes of a slave with those of the free and
rich, seemingly to the disadvantage of the latter. For with freedom comes the
burdensome clientship, itself a kind of slavery, and with wealth the fear of thieves,
gout, foul vices and, rich as you may be, the dependence on creditors. Having no
property, the slave need not fear thieves, nor salute his patrons in the early morning; he owes no money and is sound and healthy, physically as well as mentally.
Not surprisingly, most of Martials points here appear also in the letters of Seneca
(see the commentary below). The Stoics held that only the wise man was truly
free; see, for example, Diog. Laert. 7, 121 f. (
)
'
(sc.
),

,
.
,
,
.1 This idea provides the
motif for the dialogue between Horace and his slave Davus in Hor. sat. 2, 7 (see
the introduction by Kiessling & Heinze, ad loc.), making points similar to those of
the present epigram; cf. also Hor. epist. 1, 16, 63.
It has been suggested that Condylus was the slave of Martial (thus GarridoHory, p. 58; Sullivan, Martial, p. 164, n. 59), but this seems unlikely, as the epigrams Gaius would be his master (it would be pointless to compare him with
anyone else than his master, and the words Gaius ... tuus in line 12 indicate that
he is the slave of Gaius). However, Gaius could hardly be taken as a pseudonym
for Martial himself. For whereas Martial, who had at least the fortune of a knight
(cf. note on 9, 49, 4) and constantly complains about the duties of a client, would
presumably not be above borrowing money or depicting himself as gouty, he
would certainly not charge himself with cunnilinctio; on Martials disgust at oral
sex, see the introduction to 9, 27.
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1
The Stoics declare that he (sc. the wise man) alone is free and bad men are slaves, freedom being power
of independent action, whereas slavery is privation of the same: though indeed there is also a second form of
slavery consisting in subordination, and a third which implies possession of the slave as well as his subordination; the correlative of such servitude being lordship; and this too is evil (translation by R. D. Hicks,
Loeb).

137

2. Condyle: this is the only certain instance of this name, formed on the Greek
(knuckle; there are no instances in Pape of such a name in Greek). In
5, 78, 30 (parvi tibia condyli sonabit), the word has been considered a noun (in
which case it should be regarded as metonymy; see TLL, s.v. 165, 25 ff. and cf.
Friedlnder and Heraeus) as well as a name (thus Lindsay, Shackleton Bailey,
Howell and others), the latter being more plausible in view of the present instance
(cf. A. Stephani, De Martiale verborum novatore, Breslauer Philologische Abhandlungen 4:2, 1889, p. 86). Howell (on 5, 78, 30) suggested that the Condylus
of 5, 78 was Martials slave musician and that he might have been identical with
the present one. However, in view of what has been said above it would seem
more likely that Condylus here is a fictitious name, although it is not clear for
what reason Martial thought it appropriate to a slave.
NQGXORM

esse diu: the present tense, since the action was begun in the past but continues in the present time; for such use of the present tense with adverbs expressing
time, see HofmannSzantyr, 170 Zus. a, p. 305. For the prosody, cf. Prop. 2, 25,
34; Ov. epist. 7, 182; Pont. 2, 8, 42.
3. securos ... somnos: the slave sleeping under his blanket need not fear that
thieves will break into his house. The troubled sleep of the wealthy are among the
arguments against the quest for riches held out by Horace in sat. 1, 1 (lines 76
79).
The juncture securi somni also in Culex 160 and with the same placing in the
verse in Lucan. 1, 518; 3, 25 (cf. 5, 750); Stat. Theb. 5, 119.
tegeticula: diminutive of teges, a mat used for lying on or as a cover and associated with poverty (11, 32, 2; 56, 5; Prop. 4, 5, 69), prostitutes (6, 39, 4; Iuv. 6,
117) and begging (Iuv. 5, 8; 9, 140). The diminutive, strengthening here the notion of misery, appears only five times in Latin literature, the other four being
found in agricultural writings (Colum. 8, 9, 3 f.; Varro rust. 2, 11, 8; 3, 8, 2).
4. in pluma ... iacet: to sleep on down was a sign of luxury; cf. the words of the
rich Cotta in 10, 14, 6: dormiat in pluma nec meliore Venus. Down was used as
stuffing both for pillows and mattresses; the down most highly praised was that of
the German goose, followed by swans and partridges down; see Blmner,
Privataltertmer, pp. 115 f. It is applied also by Seneca to illustrate that a good
sleep does not follow wealth: Mero se licet sopiat et aquarum fragoribus avocet et
mille voluptatibus mentem anxiam fallat, tam vigilabit in pluma quam ille in
cruce (dial. 1, 3, 10).
Gaius: used of a rich but stingy man also in 2, 30 and 10, 17; Martial uses it
in a generalizing sense alongside Lucius in 5, 14, 5 (see Howell, ad loc.). The
only real person of that name appearing in the Epigrams is C. Iulius Proculus (11,
36).
a prima ... luce: this expression (used of the early morning, cf. TLL, s.v. lux
1906, 84 ff) with the same placing also in 12, 29, 3 (of the woes of a client). In 4,
138

8, 1, Martial says that prima salutantes atque altera conterit hora. Compare 2, 18
and 32, 7 f., where Martial speaks of the clientship as a kind of slavery, and cf.
Sen. epist. 9, 22 Quid ergo? Si beatum se dixerit ille turpiter dives et ille multorum dominus sed plurium servus, beatus sua sententia fiet?
7. Phoebus: like Cinnamus, a creditor; see note on 9, 63, 1 and cf. 9, 102 intro.
The Greek origin of this name and of the following Cinnamus may indicate that
Martial means wealthy freedmen, to the greater ignominy, we may suppose, of
Gaius. Yet another Greek creditor, Philetus, appears in 2, 44, 8.
) another three times, in 6,
8. Cinnamus: Martial uses this name (Gr.
17 of a freedman wanting to change his name to the more aristocratic Cinna, in 6,
64, 26 of a doctor (probably a freedman; cf. Grewing, ad loc.), and in 7, 64 of a
tonsor. The only other literary occurrence of this common slaves name is found
in Petron. 30, 2 (of a dispensator), but there are a number of epigraphical instances (see TLL suppl., s.v. 449, 77 ff.; Grewing on 6, 17, 1).
.dQQDPRM

9. Tortorem: the torture of slaves was not uncommon in Roman society, not just
as a punishment, but because the evidence of slaves was only acceptable in court if
extracted under torture (see Ehrhardt in RE 2:6, s.v. Tormenta, 1775 ff.). The
public slaves assigned to its execution, the tortores, are quite frequently mentioned in literature, especially in that of the Silver Age. Most often, they appear in
metaphors in the letters of Seneca (51, 4; 66, 18; 21; 29; 76, 20; 78, 18; 82, 7;
104, 20) and in the racy declamations of his father and of Quintilian; Juvenal
mentions them three times (6, Ox29; 480; 14, 21), and Martial explicitly only
once more, in 2, 17, 2, indicating that torturers scourges were made at the entrance to the Subura; cf. also Petron. 49, 6. Punishment was dealt out in the form
of whipping and flogging, but there were also more advanced methods, including
mutilation, red-hot tin-plates and the rack (eculeus; see Blmner, Privataltertmer, pp. 293 f.).
) and in the hands (chiragra,
podagra cheragraque: gout in the feet (
) respectively. These diseases were primarily associated with wealth and
frivolous living (cf. Iuv. 13, 96 pauper locupletem optare podagram; AP 11, 414
[Hedylus]
;1 Catull. 71; Hor. sat. 2, 7, 15; Pers. 5, 58 [with
Kiels note]), and are often mentioned together; thus Cels. 1, 9, 1; 2, 7, 6; 2, 8,
10; 4, 31, 1; Plin. nat. 24, 188; 28, 125; Sen. epist. 78, 9; Petron. 132, 14. They
were thought to be aggravated by sexual activities, cf. Cels. 1, 9, 1; 4, 31, 1; AP
12, 243 (Strato)
,
,
.2 Martial made a neat joke of them in 1, 98:
Litigat et podagra Diodorus, Flacce, laborat. | Sed nil patrono porrigit: haec
cheragra est.
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1
The daughter of limb-relaxing Bacchus and limb-relaxing Aphrodite is limb relaxing Gout (W. R.
Patons translation, Loeb).
2
If sodomy has destroyed me and because of this I suffer from gout, may Zeus turn me into a meat-hook.

139

According to Pliny, gout was a relatively new disease to the Romans: Podagrae morbus rarior solebat esse non modo patrum avorumque memoria, verum
etiam nostra, peregrinus et ipse, nam si Italiae fuisset antiquitus, Latinum nomen
invenisset (nat. 26, 100). Nevertheless, it is mentioned already by Ennius (sat. 64
numquam poetor nisi <si> podager).
11. vomis: vomiting caused by excessive consumption of wine was likewise a
consequence of luxurious living, cf. Sen benef. 7, 9, 3 Video murrea pocula; parum scilicet luxuria magno fuerit, nisi, quod vomant, capacibus gemmis inter se
propinaverint; dial. 1, 3, 13. Such people were not free, but slaves to their bodies
(cf. Sen. epist. 92, 33 nemo liber est qui corpori servit).

93
Addere quid cessas, puer, inmortale Falernum?
Quadrantem duplica de seniore cado.
Nunc mihi dic, quis erit, cui te, Catacisse, deorum
sex iubeo cyathos fundere? Caesar erit.
Sutilis aptetur deciens rosa crinibus, ut sit
5
qui posuit sacrae nobile gentis opus.
Nunc bis quina mihi da basia, fiat ut illud
nomen, ab Odrysio quod deus orbe tulit.
The habit of bibere ad numerum, originally a Greek practice, is mentioned already
by Plautus (Pers. 771 f.). In this, as many cyathi were poured as there were letters
in the name of the person whose health was to be drunk; the cup then had to be
drained (Cic. Tusc. 5, 118; Bmer on Ov. fast. 3, 532). Variants appear in Ov.
fast. 3, 531 ff., where the people at the feast of Anna Perenna (the 15th of March)
annos ... precantur | quot sumant cyathos, ad numerumque bibunt, and in Hor.
carm. 3, 19, 13 ff. qui Musas amat imparis, | ternos ter cyathos attonitus petet |
vates; tris prohibet supra | rixarum metuens tangere Gratia | nudis iuncta sororibus. See further Marquardt, pp. 326 f.; Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 405; Bmer,
loc. cit.
Martial refers to this practice another four times. In 1, 71, he drinks to a number of girls: Laevia sex cyathis, septem Iustina bibatur, | quinque Lycas, Lyde
quattuor, Ida tribus. | Omnis ab infuso numeretur amica Falerno, | et quia nulla
venit, tu mihi, Somne, veni. In 8, 50, 21, Martial asks for as many cyathi to be
poured as the letters in the name of Instantius Rufus,1 and in 11, 36, 5 ff. for nineteen cyathi, equalling the number of letters in Gaius Iulius Proculus. As in the
present instance, the toast is for the emperor in 14, 170 (Signum Victoriae
aureum): Haec illi sine sorte datur, cui nomina Rhenus | vera dedit. Deciens
1

Det numerum cyathis Instanti littera Rufi; it is not clear on what grounds Blmner (loc. cit., n. 6) assumed that wenn die betreffende Person zugegen war und angeruft wurde, die Buchstaben des Vokativs
gezhlt wurden.

140

adde Falerna, puer, where the number of cyathi corresponds to the letters in the
title Germanicus.
The wreath with as many roses as the letters in Domitianus and the kisses
equalling the letters of Germanicus are features not mentioned elsewhere and
seem to be inventions of Martial to parallel the number-drinking. The wreath,
however, has its obvious place at a carousal, as have the kisses of the minister; cf.,
for example, 11, 26, 3 basia da nobis vetulo, puer, uda Falerno.
Even though there may be no need to set this epigram in a real context, its
scope being solely to flatter Domitian, it may be noted that toasts were drunk or
libations poured to the emperor also at private carousals; cf. Ov. fast. 2, 636 ff.
larga precaturi sumite vina manu, | et bene vos, bene te, patriae pater, optime
Caesar | dicite; suffuso sint bona verba mero; Petron. 60, 7. According to Dio
Cassius (51, 19, 7), the Romans had decreed that libations should be poured to
Augustus at both private and public banquets:
(sc.
).
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1. inmortale Falernum: the same juncture also in 11, 36, 5; the adjective refers
primarily to the quality of the wine, high enough almost to make it divine (cf.
TLL, s.v. 494, 78 ff.). Cf. Stat. silv. 4, 2, 12, where the wine served at the emperors banquet is likened to nectar and referred to as immortale merum; Coleman
(ad loc.) notes a subsidiary notion of a vintage so fine that it is ageless, which
may be equally applicable in the present case.
2. Quadrantem duplica: pour two quadrantes, i.e. six cyathi (line 4), corresponding to the number of letters in Caesar. The quadrans (three cyathi) was
among the smallest amounts poured (see note on 9, 87, 2) and it is not known if
there was a particular vessel of the same name and amount (like the triens, quincunx, etc.); see Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 403.
seniore cado: Martial sometimes uses senex with an inanimate head-word:
senem ... cadum also at 11, 36, 6, and cf. 3, 58, 7 senibus autumnis and 5, 18, 3
senibus ... Damascenis. These are the only instances of this usage given by the
OLD, but cf. anus used as an adjective in 9, 49, 7 (with note). For cadus, see note
on 9, 2, 6 Corsi ... cadi. The age of the wine indicated by the age of the vessel: 11,
36, 6 (above); 13, 112 (vetulos ... cados); Hor. carm. 3, 14, 18 (cadum Marsi
memorem duelli).
3. cui ... deorum: for Domitian the god, see the introduction, vol. 1, p. 33.
Catacisse: the name of the puer. This is the only instance in Latin of this
name, derived from Gr.
, ivy-wreathed (Anacreont. 41, 5). The
name is appropriate to the context, as ivy is the plant of Bacchus (since Hymn.
Hom. 26, 1
[ivy-crowned Dionysos]); cf., for example,
1, 76, 7; Ov. fast. 3, 767 hedera est gratissima Baccho (with Bmers note); see
Olck in RE 5, s.v. Epheu 2835 f. The use of ivy-wreaths at symposia is first deNDWNLVVRM

.LVVRNPKQ

'LQXVRQ

141

picted in art in the middle of the 6th century BC (see M. Blech, Studien zum
Kranz bei den Griechen, Berlin and New York 1982, p. 68).
4. sex ... cyathos: cf. quadrantem above line 2.
Caesar erit: the same (or similar) ending of the pentameter also in 2, 2, 4; 4,
11, 10; it first appears in Ov. trist. 1, 3, 86; then 3, 1, 76; Pont. 1, 7, 22; 4, 4, 34.
5. sutilis ... rosa: see notes on 9, 90, 6 and 9, 60, 1.
deciens: corresponding to the number of letters in Domitianus. The adverb
goes with aptetur: may a sewn rose ten times be fitted, i.e. may ten sewn roses
be fitted.
6. sacrae nobile gentis opus: the Templum gentis Flaviae, on which see the introduction to 9, 1. This is the only instance of the gens Flavia being called sacra,
but Martial elsewhere uses the adjective of things related to Domitian; thus 4, 30,
3; 6, 76, 1; 7, 1, 4; 7, 2, 5; 7, 99, 4; 8 praef.; cf. epigr. 29, 7 of Titus. The only
other instance of the juncture is in Sil. 16, 76 armiferi gens sacra Quirini. On
nobile ... opus see note on 9, 43, 6 nobile munus opusque.
7. bis quina: as many as there are letters in Germanicus. Domitian adopted the
title in connection with his triumph over the Chatti in 83; see the introduction,
vol. 1, p. 25. For lusting after the wine-waiter, compare 9, 25.
) were a people of Thracia
8. ab Odrysio ... orbe: strictly, the Odrysae (
(see Lenk in RE 17, s.v. Odrysai 1900 ff.), appearing in Latin literature from Livy
and Ovid onwards; Ovid also offers the first instances of the adjective Odrysius
(am. 3, 12, 32; ars 2, 130; rem. 459; met. 6, 490; 13, 554; Pont. 1, 8, 15). Ovid
always uses Odrysius in the sense of Thracian (see Bmer on met. 6, 490),
which is also true of the other instances of the adjective, all found in Silver Latin
poetry (Sen. Thy. 273; Sil. 4, 431; 7, 570; 13, 441; Val. Fl. 1, 470; 4, 467; 5, 99;
5, 439; Stat. Theb. 4, 801; 5, 173; 7, 524; 8, 57; 12, 156; silv. 5, 1, 203; 5, 3, 271;
Ach. 1, 485).
Martial, however, does not use Odrysius with reference specifically to Thracia,
but to the horrid north in general. The instances in 7, 8, 2 and 7, 80, 1 refer to the
Second Pannonian War, which was fought in Dacia north of Thracia (thus, these
instances are perhaps less conspicuous), but the present reference is obviously to
the war against the Chatti north of the Rhine; the last occurrence also refers to the
far north, being found in 10, 7, 2, an epigram to Trajan while still on the Rhine
frontier. Thus, it seems that Martial, unlike his fellow poets, has extended the
notion of Odrysius to be almost synonymous with words like Arctous (cf. 9, 31, 1)
or Hyperboreus (9, 45, 1), an extension which was perhaps promoted by the association of the adjective with coldness and cruelty (cf. Smolenaars on Stat.
Theb. 7, 524).
The ending orbe tulit also in 9, 101, 20; cf. Ov. epist. 16, 360.

2GUVDL

142

94
Santonica medicata dedit mihi pocula virga:
os hominis! Mulsum me rogat Hippocrates.
Tam stupidus numquam nec tu, puto, Glauce, fuisti,
donanti
qui dederas.
Dulce aliquis munus pro munere poscit amaro?
5
Accipiat, sed si potat in elleboro.
FONHD

FUVHD

Martial has a number of satirical epigrams on doctors, mocking their incompetence and their greed, their insolence and immorality. Naturally this did not apply
to all doctors in contemporary Roman society; many competent doctors were in
high repute with particularly the upper classes (see J. Scarborough, Roman Medicine, London & Southampton 1969, pp. 109 ff.). Still, the satirical criticism of
these epigrams certainly did not lack a serious background. Apparently, many
alleged doctors in contemporary Rome were completely uneducated and sometimes could not even read and write (Galen. lib. prop. ed. Mller, Scripta minora
2, p. 91 = Khn 19, 9). Pliny speaks of their inscitia turpis (nat. 29, 23) and states
that medico ... tantum hominem occidisse inpunitas summa est (29, 18). But these
epigrams were also founded upon a Greek literary tradition going back to Aristophanes and thence found in comedy, mime and satire (see Brecht, Spottepigramm,
pp. 4549). It is represented by a number of epigrams in the Greek Anthology (see
AP 11, 61; 112126; 188, 257; 280; 333; 382; 401), largely drawing on the same
themes as Martial: the incompetent doctor (AP 11, 113; 114; 116; 118125; 188;
280; 401) and the greedy, thieving doctor, often an oculist, who blinds his patients
so as to make stealing from them easier (AP 11, 112; 115; 117; 126; 333; 382,
although, in some of these cases, the fault may be incompetence and not necessarily greed); some doctors were horrible enough for the mere thought of them to kill
you (AP 11, 257).
These motifs are prevalent also in Martials epigrams on doctors; he sometimes draws on epigrams of the Greek Anthology (notably in 6, 53, which is based
upon AP 11, 257 [Lucilius], see Grewings introduction, ad loc.; Burnikel, Struktur, pp. 54 ff.), but he also adds a few themes of his own. The incompetence and
carelessness of the doctors and the poets repugnance to them runs through all of
these epigrams and forms the subject of 5, 9; 6, 53; 10, 77 and 11, 28, whereas
some focus on doctors getting new jobs, becoming undertakers or gladiators without really changing their occupations (1, 30; 1, 47; 8, 74), a couple on greed and
inclination to thievishness (9, 96; perhaps 8, 9), and some (mainly found in the
lascivious Book 11) on their immorality (6, 31; 11, 60; 71; 74). Doctors appear
also as subordinate characters in a number of other epigrams; thus 2, 16, 5; 40, 7;
4, 9; 6, 64, 26; 70, 6; 78; 86; 7, 18, 10; 10, 56 (mentioning several fields of expertise); 11, 84, 5; 86; and 12, 90, 5.
The fact that contemporary doctors were mostly Greek slaves or freedmen (see
Blmner, Privataltertmer, pp. 475 ff.; Scarborough, op. cit., p. 111; cf. Plin. nat.
29, 17) may have excited the poets eagerness to mock them;1 the predominance of
1

On Martials possibly negative view of Greeks, see the introduction to 9, 40.

143

the Greeks in the medical profession is reflected in the names of the doctors, real
or fictitious, mentioned by Martial, among which we encounter no less than
eighteen Greek or Hellenistic names but only four Roman;1 note also Juvenals
words in 3, 76 ff.: grammaticus, rhetor, geometres, pictor, aliptes, | augur,
schoenobates, medicus, magus: omnia novit | Graeculus esuriens. See further A.
Dolderer, ber Martials Epigramme auf rzte, diss. Tbingen 1933; A. Spallicci,
I medici e la medecina in Marziale, Milan 1934; Citroni and Howell respectively
on 1, 31; Grewings introduction to 6, 31; J. Scarborough, Romans and Physicians, CJ 65 (1970), pp. 296306.
1. Santonica ... virga: a kind of wormwood (Artemisia maritima?). Wormwood
(ap-, absinthium, Gr.
) was recognized in antiquity as one of the foremost medical herbs; it was used mainly as a cure for different kinds of gastric
diseases, but also against pain in the eyes, as an antidote for poison, etc. Pliny
discerned three different kinds, Santonicum, Ponticum and Italicum; according to
him, all were herbae facillimae atque inter paucas utilissimae, see nat. 27, 46 ff.;
Schuster in RE 2:8, s.v. Wermut 1553 ff. The bitterness of the herb is often mentioned; thus Lucret. 1, 936 (cf. Quint. inst. 3, 1, 5); 1, 940 f.; 2, 400; 4, 11; 4, 16
f.; 4, 124; 4, 223; 6, 934; Varro Men. 440; Ov. trist. 5, 13, 21; Pont. 3, 1, 23; 3, 8,
15 (the latter three referring to the Ponticum); cf. AP app. 3, 199
.2
The Santonicum (Gr.
) derived its name from the Gallic tribe Santoni, in whose land it grew (Dioscor. mat. med. 3, 23; cf. Mart. 14, 128), the ancient name still being reflected in the name of its chief constituent, the crystalline
principle Santonin. Cf. also Colum. 6, 25; Larg. 141.
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2. os: insolence, cf., for example, Cic. Verr. II 2, 48 Nostis os hominis, nostis
audaciam; Ov. trist. 1, 1, 113 (with Lucks note); TLL, s.v. 1086, 21 ff.
Hippocrates: ironically, the Hippocrates; this is the only mention of the
Greek physician in Latin poetry. However, there is more than one instance of
Martials using the names of physicians from Greek myth to denote doctors in
general; thus 2, 16, 5 Machaonae (of Machaon, son of Aesculapius and, like his
brother Podalirius, doctor of the Greeks before Troy; cf. 10, 56, 7 enterocelarum
Podalirius of the physician Hermes) and 11, 60, 6, where female doctors are referred to by the name of Hygia, daughter of the same god.
3. Glauce: Glaucus, son of Hippolychus, was along with Sarpedon, commander of
the Lycian contingent at Troy. Having met Diomedes in single combat, he
changed his golden armour for the bronze armour of Diomedes as a sign of
friendship (note on line 4 below), thus making a bargain poor enough to become a
proverb among the Greeks and occasionally referred to also by Roman authors; cf.
1

Greek or Hellenistic (apart from the present occurrence): Diaulus (1, 30; 47); Sotas (4, 9); Symmachus
(5, 9; 6, 70, 6; 7, 18, 10); Hermocrates (6, 53); Cinnamus (6, 64, 26); Alcon (6, 70, 6; 11, 84); Dasius (6,
70, 6); Heras (6, 78); Herodes (9, 96); Eros (10, 65); Hermes (ibid.); Euctus (11, 28); Criton (11, 60).
Latin: Quintus (8, 9); Cascellius (10, 65); Fannius (ibid.); Carus (10, 77).
2
Setting forth bitter things in sweet words, you mix wormwood with honey, Sophocles.

144

Hor. sat. 1, 7, 15 ff.; Plin. nat. 33, 7, 4; Plin. epist. 5, 2, 2; Gell. 2, 23, 7; Weicker
in RE 7, s.v. Glaukos 11, 1413 f.; Otto, s.v. [chrysius], pp. 82 f.; Weinreich,
Studien, pp. 163 f.
This Glaucus is not to be confused with Glaucus of Anthedon, who appears
much more often in literature (see Weicker, op. cit., s.v. Glaukos 89; Bmer on
Ov. met. 13, 904 ff., pp. 453 ff.).
4. FONHD ... FUVHD: Hom. Il. 6, 234 ff.:
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6. in: sociative in, sometimes used when giving recipes for medicine and food, cf.
Plin. nat. 25, 146 in trimestri farina digeritur in pastillos (sc. sucus); Apic. 3, 10,
3; TLL, s.v. 794, 13 ff.
elleboro: i.e. if he at the same time takes a cure for insanity. The idea that
hellebore (Gr.
, black as well as white [veratrum]) was active, among
other things, against insanity was naturally a creation of folklore, but it was nonetheless prescribed by serious authors like Pliny (nat. 25, 54 f.) and Celsus (2, 13,
2). It is often mentioned when insinuating insanity; thus Plaut. Pseud. 1185; Men.
950; Hor. sat. 2, 2, 137; 2, 3, 82 (with Lejay); ars 300; Ov. Pont. 4, 3, 53; Pers. 1,
50. Like wormwood, it was bitter; cf. Catull. 99, 14 saviolum ... tristius elleboro
and AP 5, 29, 2 (Cillactor)
...
(bitterer than hellebore);
Otto (s.v. elleborus, p. 124) noted the proverbial ting of the expression. See further Stadler in RE 8, s.v. Helleboros, 163 ff.
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95
Alphius ante fuit, coepit nunc Olphius esse,
uxorem postquam duxit Athenagoras.
This is one of the more obscure epigrams of Martial, considered Ein vllig unverstndliches Wortspiel by Friedlnder, and consequently one of the most debated. There have been two principal ways of explaining it, the one (the alphabetical explanation) suggesting that it is a play with the Greek letters and as
denoting the first and the last, and the other (the etymological explanation) considering it to be an etymological play with Greek models for the names Alphius
and Olphius.
Mussehl was the first to suggest that the epigram is about two persons Alphius
and Athenagoras and that the former was the latters bedfellow,2 identified as a
D

1
And then from Glaucus did Zeus, son of Cronos, take away his wits, seeing he made exchange of armour
with Diomedes, son of Tydeus, giving golden for bronze, the worth of a hundred oxen for the worth of nine
(translation by A. T. Murray, Loeb).
2
J. Mussehl, Martial IX 95, Hermes 58 (1923), pp. 238239.

145

scortum masculum by Barwick.1 Alphius identity as such is supported by the

occurrence in 9, 95b, 1 of the name Callistratus, which Martial elsewhere uses of
a homosexual (see note, ad loc.); when the poet talks to him of vester Athenagoras in 9, 95b, 4, he may wish to imply that also Athenagoras had homosexual
preferences. Barwick sums up: Aber nach dessen [sc. Athenagoras] Heirat spielt
Alfius [cf. note on line 1 below] nicht mehr die erste Violine, sondern die letzte;
er wurde aus einem Alfius zu einem Olfius (with a play on Gr. and earlier
suggested by Crusius and maintained by Mussehl, op. cit.2). This provides an
acceptable explanation with a decent pun, but those who have advocated it have
not given any thought to the spelling Alphius of the MSS vis--vis Heraeus
emendation Alfius (cf. note on line 1 below). Now the spelling Alphius is in itself
not extraordinary; it is recorded in a couple of inscriptions from Rome, cf. CIL 6,
15509 mentioning C. Alphius Ampliatus as well as Alphia Paulina and Alphia
Prisca, CIL 6, 25370 M. Alphius Romanus, and CIL 6, 11500 three L. Alphius,
one bearing a cognomen Ty... But in choosing this Greekish spelling here,
Martial may have wanted to give a clue to the proper understanding of the epigram as a play on the Greek and .
Objections to this explanation have been made by those who, guided by the
readings Alphius and Olphius of the MSS, maintain a pun based on etymological
play. Common to these is the view that only one person appears in the epigram,
Alphius Athenagoras. The oldest view, proposed by Lemaire in 1825,3 is that
Alphius is modelled on the Greek
, dull-white leprosy, but Lemaire was
unable to furnish a sufficient explanation of the epigram as a whole. More than a
hundred years later, Schnur, deeming both this and the explanations of Crusius,
Mussehl and Barwick unsatisfactory, suggested that the names should be emended
to Albius and Olbius,4 as such an emendation would allow for the second name to
be derived from the Greek adjective
, rich; Schnur concludes that the
implication would be that Albius Athenagoras, by marrying a wealthy woman,
became Olbius. But, besides providing a rather faint pun, this would be inconD

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K. Barwick, Zur Kompositionstechnik und Erklrung Martials, Philologus 87 (1932), p. 65.

O. Crusius, Alphius - Olphius. (Martial IX 95), Philologus 65 (1906), pp. 159160. Crusius assumed,
however, that Alphius and Athenagoras were one and the same person (Vor der Hochzeit spielt Athenagoras die erste Violine, nach seiner Heirat die letzte, op. cit., p. 160). Franz Dornseiff, Martial IX 95 und
Rotas-opera-quadrat, RhM 96 (1953), pp. 373378, essentially agrees with Crusius in this respect, as does
A. G. Carrington, The Alpha and the Omega: Martial IX. 95, G&R 1 (1954), pp. 127128 (though
obviously unaware of the work of Crusius) and Shackleton Bailey in his Loeb (suggesting his name to be
Alfius [sic] Athenagoras, indicating that he was a Greek freedman). In his paper Martial 9.95 and the cap
that fits, Mnemosyne 47 (1994), pp. 685688, P. T. Eden suggests that Alphius would be, not the actual
name, but a nickname for Athenagoras.
The use of letters to denote the first or foremost, the second, the last, the last but one, etc. is, as acknowledged by Crusius, applied by Martial himself, who calls Cordus alpha paenulatorum (2, 57, 4). The
proverbiality of this mode of expression is sufficiently demonstrated by the famous words of Christ from the
, which is contemporaneous with Martials Book 9.
Apocalypse of St. John 1, 8
Mussehl (op. cit., p. 239) also produces AP 11, 15 (Ammianus, beginning of 2nd century A.D.), which is
based on a similar play on and :
,|
,
,
|
',
,
,|
,
,
. (Lucius, if you have decided to bury only the senators whose names begin
with Alpha, you have your brother [Ammianus] too. But if, as is reasonable to suppose, you proceed in
alphabetical order, my name, I beg to state, is now Origines; translation by W. R. Paton, Loeb).
3
N. E. Lemaire, M. V. Martialis Epigrammata, Paris 1825, p. 462.
4
H. C. Schnur, On a crux in Martial (9.95), The Classical Weekly 48 (1955), p. 51.
2

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gruous with 9, 95b, 4 peccat, since (as noted by Heraeus and Shackleton Bailey in
their respective apparatus) it is no offence in itself to marry a rich woman.
Another attempt at an emendation was made by L. C. Watson,1 connecting Alphius with the Greek
,
etc. (i.e. words referring to gain) and
changing Olphius to Ophlius, which it would be possible to derive from
,
, to owe. Watson concludes: Before his marriage, Athenagoras used to make a profit; now he has run into debt. In other words, his wife is a
spendthrift. In support of this emendation, Watson produces a handful of instances of lavish wives from Latin literature; thus Plaut. Cas. 822; Sen. contr. 2,
5, 7; Petron. 67, 10; Iuv. 6, 149 ff.; 208 ff.; 232; 508 ff. Still, it must be taken as a
counter-argument that Ophlius would ruin the neat parallellism between Alphius
and Olphius, which seems essential especially to a short epigram such as the present.
Most recently, an etymological explanation has been advocated by Brbara
Pastor de Arozena.2 She strongly objects to Barwicks explanation and says that
the problem ... is that he does not explain the meaning either of Alfius [sic] or of
Olfius (even though there is no need for further explanation of Alfius once Heraeus emendation has been accepted). Instead, Pastor de Arozena combines the
views of Lemaire and Schnur, asserting that neither Alphius nor Olphius are
names, but rather adjectives, both derived from Greek words, namely Alphius
from
and Olphius from
.3 She also deems it of great importance that
the ph- of the MSS be kept: As a writer of vers de societ, he [sc. Martial]
would naturally give preference to the correct Greek forms of the Greek words
which he uses. But in that case, would not the text of Martial read Olbius,
being spelled with a not a ? For all that, Pastor de Arozenas conclusion is
essentially the same as Schnurs, letting Alphius <
represent a state of
misery and Olphius <
a state of wealth; she translates: Athenagoras was
miserable before, now he becomes wealthy after he took a wife, which is as
pointless here as it was in Schnurs variant. In support of this explanation, Pastor
de Arozena produces 9, 80, of the poor Gellius who took a wealthy wife; but this
epigram is not comparable to the present one.
Consequently, I would agree with Barwick in all essentials: Alphius is the
lover of Athenagoras, but, as the latter marries, he loses his status as jeune premier and becomes Olphius. Quite contrary to Barwick, I suggest, however, that
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L. C. Watson, Three Women in Martial, CQ 33 (1983), pp. 258264. Watsons objection to the alphabetical explanation is that in all the other passages which scholars quote in support of the $: hypothesis,
a letter of the alphabet becomes a byname for an individual, and is not incorporated in another name, as
would be the case with Alphius and :lphius. While admitting that nonetheless this is the case in AP 11, 15
quoted above, Watson states that, in that case, the play on the initial letter of
is carefully prepared for by
in the first line.
2
B. Pastor de Arozena, Etymological Play on AlphiusOlphius. (Martial 9.95), Syllecta Classica 3
(1991), pp. 8184. The views expressed in this paper she maintained and elaborated in Marcial 9.95: Un
problema de critica textual, PP 49 (1994), pp. 427433.
3
Thus in Etymological Play; in Marcial 9.95: Un problema de critica textual, she more fittingly
applies the adjective
instead of the noun
.
In the latter paper, Pastor de Arozena tried to gain support for her hypothesis that Alphius and Olphius
are in fact adjectives by pointing to the evidence of the L MS (Lindsays codex optimus), which gives the
reading olfius with an intitial minuscle. But this MS also has athenagoras in line 2 with an intitial minuscle, which makes this argument void (see Lindsay, Ancient Editions, p. 99).

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147

the spelling Alphius, which reigns supreme in the MSS, be kept, primarily for the
reason given above. There may, however, be a possibility of elaborating Lemaires
derivation of Alphius from
and of keeping this as a hidden meaning, as
follows.
It seems that the primary sense of
is white (see TGL, s.v.). Now,
Martial in 1, 77, 6 ascribes a pallor to those practising oral sex: Cunnum Charinus
lingit, et tamen pallet.1 Citroni comments ad loc.: La comune metafora per cui il
vitium visto come morbus ... porta, in alcuni casi, ad attribuire al vizioso il pallor proprio della malattia: cfr. ad es. Hor. sat. II 3, 77 ss. quisquis / ambitione
mala aut argenti pallet amore ... aut alio mentis morbo calet e Iuv. 2, 50 Hispo
subit iuvenes et morbo pallet utroque (si tratta di vizi di natura sessuale).2
Courtney takes morbo ... utroque as indicating that Hispo is both paedicator and
pathicus and agrees on the reason for his paleness; cf. also Sen. dial. 10, 2, 4
quam multi continuis voluptatibus pallent (sc. illi ad quorum felicitatem concurritur). Of fellatio in Catull. 80: Quid dicam, Gelli, quare rosea ista labella | hiberna fiant candidiora nive, | mane domo cum exis et cum te octava quiete | e
molli longo suscitat hora die? | Nescioquid certest: an vere fama susurrat | grandia te medii tenta vorare viri? (16). It seems, then, that the Romans considered
those indulging in sexual vices as becoming pale from their lewd practice. This
idea may perhaps have played a part in Martials choice of the spelling Alphius,
hinting at the homosexual liaison between Alphius and Athenagoras.
It remains to answer the question why Alphius no longer remains the lover of
Athenagoras after the marriage, since this must also be part of the pun. I would
suggest that it is because Athenagoras wife will not let him; cf. 11, 104, 17 f., in
which we find Martials imaginative wife disapproving of his practising boy-love
(Pedicare negas: dabat hoc Cornelia Graccho, | Iulia Pompeio, Porcia, Brute,
tibi). But, in that case, Martial tells his wife vade foras, aut moribus utere nostris
(11, 104, 1). Apparently, Athenagoras did not, and so he has been transformed
from one detestable figure into another, from practising homosexual3 to henpecked husband, which was just as bad in the eyes of a poet who said Inferior
matrona suo sit, Prisce, marito: | non aliter fiunt femina virque pares (8, 12, 3
f.).4 The sense of the epigram may be illustrated with a paraphrase, thus:
Alphius, the pale wretch and prime lover of Athenagoras, has now become the
very last, since Athenagoras took a wife and became a hen-pecked husband.
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This was taken by Ker as meaning that Charinus practises cunnilinctio and yet does not blush, but it is
now generally agreed that his pallor is a result of his behaviour (see Citroni and Howell respectively, ad
loc.).
2
Note, however, that Howell adopts a different explanation of Charinus pallor, considering it more probable that C. has been smitten with the disease which the Romans seem to have associated with cunnilinctus ... The disease was probably reckoned to be caused by the supposedly poisonous nature of menstrual
discharge.
3
There is an important distinction here, as Martial had no objection whatsoever to boy-love while strongly
disapproving of sex between adult men; cf. the introduction to 9, 63.
4
The idea that Athenagoras would have turned into a hen-pecked husband was advocated also by Carrington (see above), who wrote Athenagoras was A I as a bachelora leading member of the gay set. He has
since married, and is no longer a leading figure; his wife now leads him by the nose. He that was first is now
the last.

148

1. Alphius ... Olphius: most of the MSS have the reading with ph or deteriorated
variants (Alpicius, Olficius, Colphius, etc.; see the apparatus of Lindsay). This
was emended by Heraeus, for want of a better explanation, to Alfius ... Olfius, with
reference to the Roman gentilicium Alfius, and as a transcription of the Greek
name
, rendering Alphus would ruin the metre. For the reasons given
above, I keep Alphius in the text.

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ante fuit: it may be noted that after Vergil (Aen. 9, 648; 11, 32) this expression always appears in this part of the hexameter (cf. Ov. met. 1, 739; 4, 659; 5,
571; 14, 614; exception: Ov. ars 3, 113). In the pentameter, it always stands at the
end (6, 33, 2; Ov. epist. 8, 22; rem 10; fast. 2, 48; 2, 476; 6, 302; 6, 404; Pont. 3,
4, 12; 4, 8, 54; Prop. 2, 18c, 22).
2. Athenagoras: Martial also uses this name in 8, 41, of a stingy friend.

95 b
Nomen Athenagorae credis, Callistrate, verum.
Si scio, dispeream, qui sit Athenagoras.
Sed puta me verum, Callistrate, dicere nomen:
non ego, sed vester peccat Athenagoras.
This epigram, the sequel to 9, 95, has joined on to the preceding in the MSS and
was first separated by Scriverius, the two being obviously separate pieces.1 They
are nonetheless intimately connected, the former occasioning a situation from
which the latter emerges (cf. the introduction to 9, 53). The present epigram also
provides some information useful for the understanding of the preceding, but the
main theme here is Martials use of pseudonyms. A certain Callistratus, a name
used elsewhere by Martial of a passive homosexual, thinks that Athenagoras is in
fact the name of the person mocked. Martial denies this, in accordance with his
manifesto as formulated in the preface to Book 1.2 But suppose that Athenagoras
is the real name of the target: it still would not be Martial but Athenagoras who is
at fault; but Martial does not reveal why this is so.
Of relevance to the understanding of both 9, 95 and 95b is the word vester, effectively placed in the concluding line, as it reveals a connection between Callistratus (itself, of course, a pseudonym) and the Athenagoras he has in mind;
probably, this Athenagoras is of the same kind as or perhaps even the friend of
1

Cf. here the similarly arranged 2, 2123: in the two former poems, Martial mocks a certain Postumus,
while, in the latter, he replied to a person asking for Postumus identity: Non dicam, licet usque me rogetis,
| qui sit Postumus in meo libello, | non dicam: quid enim mihi necesse est | has offendere basiationes, |
quae se tam bene vindicare possunt?
2
In the preface to Book 1, Martial states that the jokes in his books are made salva infirmarum quoque
personarum reverentia and continues: quae adeo antiquis auctoribus defuit, ut nominibus non tantum
veris abusi sint, sed et magnis; cf. 5, 15, 1 f.; 7, 12; 10, 33, 9 f. Hunc servare modum nostri novere
libelli, | parcere personis, dicere de vitiis; see also the note on 9, 40, 1 Diodorus.

149

Callistratus, who, with reference to the occurrences of the name in Book 12 (see
below), may be understood as being a homosexual. Now, this is essential to the
point, for the fault of Athenagoras cannot be simply that he has the same name as
one of Martials characters (as Friedlnder wanted), as many of the pseudonyms
used by Martial are quite ordinary names. The point would rather be that Athenagoras, while having the same name, also has a behaviour similar enough for him
to be confused with the Athenagoras of 9, 95, and peccat in line 4 would refer to
this behaviour. Martial, on the other hand, cannot have committed a fault, since
he knows no Athenagoras; instead, the one who has exposed the real Athenagoras is the complaining Callistratus.1 The epigram may be paraphrased as follows:
Callistratus (still a pseudonym) knows of a real Athenagoras, who, he thinks, is
the target of 9, 95; if that were the case, Martial would have made himself guilty
of a personal attack of the kind from which he has always claimed to abstain.
However, Martial cannot have committed such a fault, as he knows no Athenagoras. But suppose that the poet has unintentionally used the name of a real person:
he would still not be to blame, as he did not act on purpose, but the real
Athenagoras is obviously at fault, being so easily identified as the Athenagoras of
9, 95.
1. credis: this is the reading of the MSS of both the - and the -group, accepted
by all editors except Duff and Izaac, who printed the reading of quaeris. But
this is obviously erroneous, as it does not fit with line 3 Sed puta ...
E

Callistrate: the same name appears in four other epigrams (5, 13; 12, 35; 42;
80), always with a derogatory notion. Most important to the present epigram are
12, 35 and 42, which depict Callistratus as a passive homosexual, a notion which
is conveniently applied also to the present one.2 Dornseiff and Eden (see the introduction to 9, 95 for the titles) also identified Callistratus as a homosexual, but the
conclusions drawn from this by Dornseiff are preposterous. Eden takes the interest
shown by the homosexual Callistratus in the marriage of Athenagoras as an indication that this was in fact a homosexual union, and that this would be Athenagoras peccatum.

A similar explanation is given by Eden (op. cit.).

Admittedly, the chief difficulty about the identification of Callistratus as a homosexual in this case is that
this name is only used for a homosexual in Book 12, and that it is not clear how the readers of Book 9
could identify him as such. It is quite possible, though, that the name suggested a homosexual to Martials
readers, even if we, lacking much of the frames of reference of a late first century Roman, are unable to see
the reason.

150

96
Clinicus Herodes trullam subduxerat aegro:
deprensus dixit Stulte, quid ergo bibis?
As recognized by Prinz,1 there are essentially two themes to this epigram, the
prohibition of the patients using alcoholic beverages, and the thieving doctor, the
only occurrence of the latter character in Martial. Herodes has stolen his patients
scoop and, when caught, he defends himself with reference to the prohibition: the
patient is not supposed to drink anyway.
Abstinence from wine was prescribed particularly for mental diseases; thus already by Hippocrates; cf., for example, aff. 10 (on the treatment of phrenitis)
,
,

,
,
;2 cf. aff. 2. However, such abstinence
seems to have been a standard prescription in Rome; it certainly was an annoyance to Martial himself when ill; cf. the longing opening lines of 6, 86 Setinum
dominaeque nives densique trientes. | Quando ego vos medico non prohibente
bibam? It would seem that wine, at least by pseudo-medicine, was considered bad
for the eyesight; compare 6, 78, in which the doctor Heras tells the notorious
drunkard Phryx, who was lumine uno | luscus ... alteroque lippus (6, 78, 1 f.), that
more wine would make him blind altogether; also AP 11, 61. Persons with defects
of vision are also presented as favourite victims of thievish doctors (see the instances from the Greek Anthology given in 9, 94 intro.). These facts make it most
likely that the patient of Herodes suffers from a visual defect, because of which he
is ordered to abstain from drinking and which also invites Herodes to attempt to
steal his scoop. See further 9, 94 intro.
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1. Clinicus Herodes: clinicus (Gr.
only in Martial (also 1, 30, 2 and 4, 9, 1; instances of an adjectival usage are
found in CIL 6, 2532; Lact. inst. 3, 8, 10; Prud. apoth. 205; see TLL, s.v. 1350, 6
ff.). The word is rare also in Greek, appearing only in AP 11, 113, 1 (Nicarchus);
11, 116, 3 f. (Nicarchus); Galen. 12, 829; 13, 349 (as the title of a work by Damocrates); later in Ascl. p. 265, 32.
The significance of the Greek
is physician who visits his patients in
their beds (from
, bed; cf. Plin. nat. 29, 4 medicinam hanc, quae clinice
vocatur; Hygin. fab. 274, 9). However,
may also mean bier, a fact which
provides the basis for the joke in 1, 30 Chirurgus fuerat, nunc est vispillo Diaulus.
| Coepit quo poterat clinicus esse modo; but as the double entendre is lost in
Latin, Citroni assumed that the epigram was drawn from a Greek model. InspiraNOLQLNM

NOLQLNM

NOdQK

NOdQK

1
K. Prinz, Martial und die grieschiche Epigrammatik, Vienna 1911, p. 28, n. 3; cf. Dolderer, p. 23 (title
given in 9, 94 intro.). The interpretation of Friedlnder (Der Arzt hat dem Kranken den Medizinlffel
entwendet; als dieser ihn zur Rede stellt, entschlpft ihm mit der Frage, wozu jener denn berhaupt trinke,
das Gestndnis, da er selbst nicht an den Erfolg der Kur glaubt) must be erroneous, as not taking the
prohibition of alcoholic beverages, almost a topic in circumstances such as the present, into account.
2
As drink give any one you wish except wine; give vinegar, honey, and water, or water alone; wine,
however, does not benefit a deranged mind in either this disease or any other one (translation by P. Potter,
Loeb).

151

tion from Greek models may likewise account for the occurrence of the word
clinicus in 4, 9 (which is based on a play on Greek words), and also in the present
epigram, which deals with a theme appearing several times in Greek epigram (see
9, 94 intro. and cf. Citroni on 1, 30, 2).
Most doctors mentioned by Martial are Greek (see the introduction to 9, 94).
trullam: a scoop with a long handle used to ladle wine out of the mixing bowl,
but also used to drink from; cf. Hor. sat. 2, 3, 143 f. qui Veientanum festis potare
diebus | Campana solitus trulla (together with the present and Iuv. 3, 108 the only
instances of the word in poetry); Blmner, Privataltertmer, p. 407.
2. deprensus: the unsyncopated form BNPFLQSQ is metrically impossible in
dactylic verse.
Stulte, quid ergo bibis?: the answer of the doctor when caught must be
taken as following a request of the patient to give the scoop back, its obvious
meaning being, in Kers translation, You fool, why then do you drink?. I would
also agree with Kers explanation, that the doctor professes care for his patients
health by removing the article, whereas the purpose of the patient was not to
drink, but to get his scoop back for future use.
Prinz suggested that Herodes makes a show of wanting to try whether the patient is following his prescription; he presumed a question from the patient, something like Quid mihi trullam subducis?, and altered the punctuation of the answer
thus: Stulte! Quid ergo? Bibis!, translating Dummkopf! Was also? (d.h. was
folgt dann daraus?) Du trinkst.

97
Rumpitur invidia quidam, carissime Iuli,
quod me Roma legit, rumpitur invidia.
Rumpitur invidia, quod turba semper in omni
monstramur digito, rumpitur invidia.
Rumpitur invidia, tribuit quod Caesar uterque
ius mihi natorum, rumpitur invidia.
Rumpitur invidia, quod rus mihi dulce sub urbe est
parvaque in urbe domus, rumpitur invidia.
Rumpitur invidia, quod sum iucundus amicis,
quod conviva frequens, rumpitur invidia.
Rumpitur invidia, quod amamur quodque probamur:
rumpatur, quisquis rumpitur invidia.

10

A certain person, perhaps a fellow poet, at any rate someone less successful, is
bursting with envy of Martials great success as a poet and the privileges gained
from it: his fame and popularity with the Roman public, the favours bestowed on
him by emperors and patrons, and his success in social life, things of which he
152

was naturally proud and readily displayed when feeling called upon to meet envious attacks or defend his social standing (see 3, 95; 4, 27; 8, 61; 10, 9, 4; cf. 7, 12,
12).
The technique of ending a poem with a line similar to the first (second, third,
etc.), which Martial uses elsewhere in the present book (see note on 9, 38, 10), is
used here to frame the poem (lines 1 and 12), but it is also developed in miniature
form to embrace each single distich (rumpitur invidia ... | ... rumpitur invidia), a
device by the monotony of which Martial surely means to convey to the reader his
boredom with the envious person and, above all, to provoke his enemies and give
vent to his triumph. Repetition of phrases or sentences (the rhetorical term for
which is conduplicatio; cf. Rhet. Her. 4, 38) is in itself not an unusual feature of
Martials style (cf. 9, 57 intro.); distichs with the same ending are stacked, for
example, in 2, 18; 7, 92; and 11, 47; but there is no exact parallel to the present
scheme of ending each distich by its opening words, which remain the same
throughout the poem. Cf., however, 1, 32, which, while having the same structure,
is made up of one single distich: Non amo te, Sabidi, nec possum dicere quare: |
hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te; see also Joepgen, pp. 155 ff., and
Siedschlag, Form, pp. 45 f.
However, under the surface of this monotonous repetition, singular in the epigrams, there is an elaborate structure. H. J. Mans (Martial, 9, 97, Akroterion 29
[1984], pp. 6267) has discerned four parallel structures of symmetry within the
epigram, two of which are certain; the other two, however, are doubtful. First, the
first three distichs give one reason each for the envy, the second three distichs two
each; thus the poem falls into two parts (lines 16 and 712). Secondly, the number of lines devoted to each category of reasons decreases as the poem draws
towards a climax in the concluding witticism: the first category, public fame,
occupies four lines, as does the second, gifts and honours from emperors and
patrons. Two lines speak of friends and social success, after which the epigram
rushes towards the climax (rumpatur) via one line on the amor and probatio of
Martials readers. Thirdly, Mans discerns a structure based on the arrangement of
the distichs with respect to their content: the epigram opens with one distich on
Martials renown as a poet, followed by one on his reputation as a public figure;
the two middle distichs, on privileges and property, are considered by Mans as
two distichs on the same theme, followed by one distich on his popularity as a
friend and social success and, finally, one distich eulogizing his popularity and
the readers appreciation of him. According to Mans, this would give a structure
11211. However, a separation of the first two distichs (dealing with different
aspects of the same phenomenon), while coupling the third and fourth, is not
immediately acceptable; a division of the epigram with regard to the content of the
respective distich could well result in a scheme similar to the division according
to the number of lines devoted to each reason for envy, thus 2211 (or, in terms
of distichs, 2211, the last consisting of a hexameter to be taken with the
scheme and a pentameter containing the pun). Mans second and third schemes
may therefore be in fact one and the same, the latter underlining the former.
The fourth scheme relies on the similarities in the various reasons for envy.
Here, Mans has one letter (d, e, f) represent reasons of the same kind, where (d)
would be renown as a poet and popularity/approval of the readers (lines 12 and

153

11), (e) renown as a public figure and popularity as a friend/social success (lines
23 and 910), and (f) privileges and property. This gives a perfect ring composition deffed. The objection to this division is that it may be doubtful to
equate renown as public figure with popularity as a friend/social success.
Acknowledging this, Mans argues that although public and private life constitute
an antithesis, congruence can be discerned in the common factor renown and
popularity, but this argument is equally unconvincing. Moreover, line 11 so
clearly has the function of summing up all the preceding reasons for jealousy that
it can hardly be taken as corresponding only to lines 12; consequently, Mans
fourth scheme must, on the whole, be considered doubtful.
I would agree, however, with Mans that the privileges and the property are
placed in the very middle of the poem as a focal point, as a mark of courtesy to
emperors and influential patrons acknowledging the greatest fruits of the poets
labour, embraced by the lesser; this, as noted by Mans, is also apparent from the
metrical quantities of the first foot in each pentameter: lines 2 and 4, 10 and 12 all
open with spondees, while 6 and 8 have dactyls. But the main focal point is Martials proud awareness of his poetical genius, and this pervades the poem up to the
concluding line.
Compare also 8, 61, a poem on the envy of Charinus for Martials Nomentan
estate, and cf. AP 11, 192 (Lucilius) and 11, 193 (Anonymous) for general epigrams on envy. Prinz compared the present epigram to AP 7, 727 (Theaetetus),1
but, as noted by Joepgen (p. 156) the similarities do not extend beyond the fact
that both poems deal with envy.
1. Rumpitur invidia: rumpor is, naturally, often associated with envy (as with
lust, for example, Hor. sat. 1, 2, 118; Priap. 23, 5; 26, 6; 33, 5), cf. 8, 61, 1 Livet
Charinus, rumpitur, furit, plorat; Verg. ecl. 7, 26 invidia rumpantur ut ilia Codro.2 The word is also used absolutely, as in line 12, for which cf. Prop. 1, 8, 27
Hic erit! Hic iurata manet! Rumpantur iniqui!; Ov. rem. 389 Rumpere, Livor
edax: magnum iam nomen habemus. In such cases, the word has the force almost
of the hell with.
quidam: as in 9, 81, 2, this word may perhaps suggest that Martial has someone specific in mind, but there is no clue to whom this might be; perhaps the
envious person was a less talented and less successful fellow poet (but, unlike in 9,
81, the possibility of his being Statius would immediately be ruled out).
Iuli: presumably Martials dear friend Iulius Martialis, who in all likelihood is
the Iulius mentioned also in 1, 15; 3, 5 and 12, 34; he appears with cognomen or
both cognomen and gentilicium in 4, 64; 5, 20; 6, 1; 7, 17; 10, 47 and 11, 80, and
is thus mentioned in all of Martials books of epigrams proper, except Books 2
and 8.3 The two had known each other more or less since Martials arrival in
1

K. Prinz, Martial und die grieschiche Epigrammatik, Vienna 1911, p. 53.

For Ov. epist. 16, 223 rumpor et invidio have been suggested the emendations rumpor et invidia and
rumpor ab invidia; see E. J. Kenney, Ovid, Heroides XVIXXI, Cambridge 1996, ad loc.
3
It is not certain who is the L. Iulius of 1, 107, who says to Martial scribe aliquid magnum: desidiosus
homo es. Citroni thinks that he may have been Iulius Martialis, Iulius Cerealis or Iulius Rufus, whereas
2

154

Rome, and sharing the same attitude to life (three of the poems are about the vita
beata [1, 15; 5, 20; 10, 47]), they obviously became very close. In the sincere and
somewhat sentimental poem 12, 34, the poet says that he has known Iulius for 34
years, most of which were pleasant, some of which were bitter; for such is life
with an intimate friend.1 Three of the poems are to accompany books sent to
Iulius; in 3, 5, Martial sends his third book to Iulius house on the Via Tecta in
Rome, in 6, 1 the sixth is sent to Iulius for criticism, and in 7, 17, Books 17,
scored by the poet himself, are sent for Iulius library. 4, 64 describes Iulius
property on the Janiculum, and in the humorous 11, 80, addressed to Flaccus,
Martial says that he prefers Iulius to lovely Baiae; but, if he could have them both
at the same time: Quid gaudiorum est Martialis et Baiae!
All these poems are pervaded by the tokens of a sincere friendship, and in
most, Iulius Martialis is addressed as mihi post nullos ... memorande sodales (1,
15, 1), care Martialis (5, 20, 1), in primis mihi care M. (6, 1, 2) and iucundissime
M. (10, 47, 2) and his name is mentioned as adsiduum nomen in ore meo (3, 5, 4),
which would argue for his being the carissime Iuli also of this epigram; it may be
noted that none of Martials other acquaintances with this name, Iulius Cerealis
(10, 48, 5 and 11, 52, 1), C. Iulius Proculus (1, 70; 11, 36) and Iulius Rufus (10,
99), are addressed as care or by any other word suggesting intimacy. But the present is also the least personal epigram to Iulius Martialis, the only one in which he
has the mere function of addressee, while having nothing to do with the rest of the
poem. See also Citroni and Howell respectively on 1, 15.
2. me Roma legit: this is not an instance of the topical I am read throughout the
world (on which see note on 9, 84, 5), but (while allowing for some poetical
exaggeration) is to be taken as an actual fact, which Martial was eager to set off;
cf. 5, 16, 2 f.; 6, 60, 1 f.; 11, 24, 5 ff.; 12, 11, 8.2
4. monstramur digito: it was a thing most flattering and desirable to Roman
authors (as to the Greeks) to be recognized in a crowd and pointed out by the
passers-by as the great author. It was also something which they readily brought
out; according to an anecdote, Demosthenes rejoiced in attracting the attention of
ordinary people (cf. Cic. Tusc. 5, 103; Plin. epist. 23, 5), and Horace proudly uses
the same phrase as Martial here to refer to his own celebrity (carm. 4, 3, 21 f.
totum muneris hoc tui [sc. Melpomenis] est, | quod monstror digito praetereuntium), as does Persius (1, 28 at pulchrum est digito monstrari et dicier hic est).
Martial is shyly flattered when a person in the street cum vultu digitoque subnotasset, | Tune es, tune ait ille Martialis ... (6, 82, 3 f.), and Pliny considered
such a recognition to be a magnum laboris mei fructum (epist. 9, 23, 4 f.); cf. also
Tac. dial. 7, 4 and Kiels note on Pers. 1, 28 with further instances.
To point ones finger at somebody could naturally also be a mocking gesture;
thus, for example, Ov. am. 3, 1, 19 saepe aliquis digito vatem designat euntem; 3,
Howell inclines towards the latter two, who were poets themselves, and the theme of 1, 107 being the
impossibility of writing anything big without substantial literary patronage.
1
Hence Martials advice to Iulius: Si vitare velis acerba quaedam | et tristis animi cavere morsus, | nulli
te facias nimis sodalem: | gaudebis minus et minus dolebis (12, 34, 811).
2
Cf. E. E. Best, Martials readers in the Roman world, CJ 64 (196869), pp. 208212.

155

6, 77 quid moror et digitis designor adultera vulgi?; see C. Sittl, Die Gebrden
der Griechen und Rmer, Leipzig 1890, pp. 51 f.
5 f. Caesar uterque | ius ... natorum: Martial elsewhere states that the ius trium
liberorum (for which see the note on 9, 66, 2) had been bestowed on him by two
emperors; thus 3, 95, 5 f. Praemia laudato tribuit mihi Caesar uterque | natorumque dedit iura paterna trium. The problem here is that, while such privileges,
prior to the reign of Titus, had to be renewed by each new emperor, Titus confirmed all existing privileges by one single edict (see Suet. Tit. 8, 1; 66, 19, 3); in
this respect, he was followed by Domitian, who confirmed all privileges given by
Vespasian as well as Titus (Dio Cass. 67, 2, 1). Thus, there would be no obvious
need for reinforcement of Martials ius liberorum, which has led some to believe
that the Caesar uterque refers to Vespasian with Titus as his co-regent (thus, first
Mommsen, Staatsrecht 2:2, p. 888; further references in H. Szelest, Martial
eigentlicher Schpfer under hervorragendster Vertreter des rmischen Epigramms, ANRW II 32:4, p. 2565, n. 7).
However, in 2, 91, Martial makes a petition to Domitian for the ius liberorum,
and in 2, 92, the poet expresses his thanks to the emperor for granting him the
right, referring to it as Musarum pretium ... mearum (2, 92, 2). One of the two
Caesars would therefore reasonably be Domitian. The other is probably Titus,
because 3, 95 indicates that both Caesars granted him the ius in recognition of his
poetry. Whereas practically nothing is known of Martials literary activity under
Vespasian, it would probably not have been significant enough to obtain the poet
such a notable distinction, whereas in 80, under Titus, there was the Liber de
spectaculis. Moreover, Friedlnder (on 2, 91, 56) is probably right in considering a reference in the present epigram to an honour bestowed before the year 80 as
sehr unwahrscheinlich.
Still, it seems to be a departure from practice that Martials ius trium liberorum should have had to be specifically reinforced by Domitian. Whereas 2, 91
and 92 may in fact have been uncalled for and written as mere pieces of flattery on
the common reinforcement of privileges, it is more likely that there was indeed a
particular reinforcement of Martials ius by Domitian; had it been part of a routine procedure, there would have been small reason for the poet to put forth his ius
liberorum as granted by two emperors, both in 3, 95, 5 f. and in the present lines.
D. Daube (Martial, Father of Three, AJAH 1 [1976], pp. 145147) finds further
support for this theory in the fact that Martial in 2, 92, 2 gives his own poetry as
the specific reason for Domitians reinforcement and suggests that the reign of
Domitian was a transitional stage when, on the death of a princeps, a general
restoration of privileges did not yet exclude the special restoration of some. On
the accession of Nerva, all existing privileges were reinforced and, by the time of
Hadrian, such a procedure had become common practice (Daube, op. cit., p. 145).
78. rus ... | ... domus: Martials country estate at Nomentum and his house on
the Quirinal respectively; see the introduction to 9, 18. The poet elsewhere complains of the shortcomings of his Nomentan farm, but these complaints are not to
be taken too seriously (see 9, 18 intro.); he was certainly sincere in describing the

156

estate as a rus dulce. The farm at Nomentum is the source of envy also for the
Charinus of 8, 61.
9. iucundus amicis: Martial obviously made friends easily, and his books comprise no less than about 140 identifiable friends and patrons (see Sullivan, Martial, p. 16), to many of whom he was recommended by his poetical activity. He
enjoyed close bonds of friendship with rich and prominent figures of his day, as,
for instance, with Stella (see 9, 42 intro.), Faustinus (Citroni and Howell respectively on 1, 25) and Flaccus (note on 9, 33, 1), but did not cultivate friends merely
for the sake of political influence and financial independence; of his intimate
friends of lesser standing, notable instances in the present book, apart from Iulius
Martialis, are Q. Ovidius (9, 52), A. Pudens (9, 81) and Marcellinus (9, 45).
For the prosody, cf. Hor. sat. 1, 3, 93.
10. conviva frequens: certainly to a large extent owing to Martials popularity as
a poet. Martials epigrams, whether read aloud by a guest or improvised ilico by
the poet himself, are largely of a kind fitted for dinner-parties and carousals, as he
frequently says himself; see the introduction to 9, 89.
The juncture conviva frequens also in Ov. am. 2, 5, 21 (but with collective
sense, see Booth ad loc.).
11. amamur ... probamur: sums up lines 210, probo expressing a technical and,
as it were, objective opinion, amo a personal and subjective; cf., for example, Ov.
trist. 1, 5, 40 inque suis amat hanc Caesar, in hoste probat. The verbs are equally
applicable to Martials person and to his poetry; the approval and love of his
works generate approval and love of the author; still, to Martial, the more important thing was not the approval and admiration of his audience, but their love (see
9, praef., 2).
The verbs probo and amo are used to express Aulus Pudens high opinion of
the poet in 7, 11, 3, and there are some further instances of Martials using amo
and amor with reference to his own works or the works of others; thus 1, 61, 1
Verona docti syllabas amat vatis; 6, 60, 1; 7, 26, 7 f Quanto mearum, scis, amore
nugarum | flagret (sc. Apollinaris); 7, 68, 2; 9, 99, 1; cf. 9, 49, 2; Hor. epist. 2, 2,
58 f. denique non omnes eadem mirantur amantque: | carmine tu gaudes, hic
delectatur iambis,; Seneca in Gell. 12, 2, 11 qui huiuscemodi inquit (sc. Seneca) versus amant, liqueat tibi eosdem admirari et Soterici lectos.
12. rumpatur, quisquis etc.: similar formulas are used by Martial also in 1, 55,
13; 6, 61, 3; 3, 82, 1; and 10, 5, 1. The popularity of this mode of expression is
demonstrated by its occurring also in Pompeian graffiti, for example, CIL 4, 4091
(quis)quis amat valeat, pereat qui nescit amare; 1173; 3199.
For the hortative subjunctive rumpatur, see note on line 1 above.

157

98
Vindemiarum non ubique proventus
cessavit, Ovidi; pluvia profuit grandis.
Centum Coranus amphoras aquae fecit.
The wine harvest did not fail everywhere; a large rainfall came in very useful.
Coranus made a hundred amphorae (approx. 2000 l) of water. But the benefit of
the rain is, of course, ironical, and there is only one category of men who might
rejoice in the abundance of water: the innkeepers who overcharged their customers by selling diluted wine. These characters form the basis for the joke also in 1,
56: Continuis vexata madet vindemia nimbis: | non potes, ut cupias, vendere,
copo, merum, and cf. also CIL 4, 3948 (Pompeii) talia te fallant utinam
me(n)dacia, copo: | tu ve(n)des acuam et bibes ipse merum. But the wiliness of
the innkeepers could also show itself in quite the opposite way: in Ravenna, where
drinking-water is more precious than wine (as stated in 3, 56), the innkeeper
serves his guests merum when asked for mixtum (thus 3, 57 Callidus inposuit
nuper mihi copo Ravennae: | cum peterem mixtum, vendidit ille merum). This
slyness brought the caupones epithets like perfidus (Hor. sat. 1, 1, 29) and malignus (ibid. 1, 5, 4), and their habit of selling diluted wine as merum was presumably the reason for Petronius (39, 13) to place them in Aquarius. Their low repute
is reflected also in 3, 59; see also the introductions to 1, 56 by Citroni and Howell.
2. Ovidi: for Q. Ovidius, Martials friend and neighbour at Nomentum, see note
on 9, 52, 1 f. Perhaps his appearance in this epigram indicates that the subject was
of common interest to them both and, if so, Martials joke might have been occasioned by a failure of the wine harvest at Nomentum, where there were vineyards
of high quality, especially on the estate of Seneca; cf. Colum. 3, 3, 3; Plin. nat. 14,
48 ff.1 (although the Nomentan vines had the reputation of being particularly
resistant to rain and wind; Plin. nat. 14, 23 and Colum. 3, 2, 14). If so, the present
may be reckoned as one of the latest epigrams of the present book, the wine harvest in Italy beginning in early September and continuing at the furthest until the
first frost.2
3. Coranus: an innkeeper; the name appears also at 4, 37, 1 as that of a debtor
and, in connection with captatio (although of different kinds), in Hor. sat. 2, 5, 57
and 64 and Iuv. 16, 54 (with Courtneys note). A Coranus is also mentioned by
Pliny (nat. 11, 244), and there is some epigraphic evidence of the name (see TLL
suppl., s.v. 590, 48 ff.).

1
2

Cf. Duncan-Jones, pp. 46 f. For Senecas estate at Nomentum, cf. the introduction to 9, 18.
D. Flach, Rmische Agrargeschichte, Munich 1990, p. 282.

158

99
Marcus amat nostras Antonius, Attice, Musas,
charta salutatrix si modo vera refert:
Marcus Palladiae non infitianda Tolosae
gloria, quem genuit Pacis alumna Quies.
Tu qui longa potes dispendia ferre viarum,
i, liber, absentis pignus amicitiae.
Vilis eras, fateor, si te nunc mitteret emptor;
grande tui pretium muneris auctor erit:
multum, crede mihi, refert, a fonte bibatur
quae fluit, an pigro quae stupet unda lacu.

10

M. Antonius Primus, an acquaintance of Martials now living in Tolosa, has written a letter to Martial expressing his liking of his poems, and in answer, Martial
sends him a book of his, accompanied by the present poem (cf. 9, 26 intro.). This
letter of Antonius, with whom Martial had probably had no contact for nearly ten
years, made Martial write certainly two (10, 23; 10, 32) and probably three (10,
73) more poems to Antonius within the next year,1 the preceding absence of his
name making them seem as if they had sprung from a sudden reminder of a longlost patron, with whom the poet had once been rather close. Although opinions
have differed concerning the identity of the Marcus mentioned in 10, 73, I would
suggest that he is in fact identical with Antonius Primus and that the toga for
which Martial expresses his thanks in that poem was sent to him by way of thanks
for the liber mentioned in the present poem (see footnote below). After 10, 73,
Antonius Primus falls back into silence, either because Martial failed to renew the
acquaintance on a long-term basis or because Antonius, who was 75 years old in
95, had died.
1. Marcus ... Musas: modelled on Verg. ecl. 3, 84 Pollio amat nostram, quamvis
est rustica, Musam; cf. Ov. trist. 2, 313.
Marcus ... Antonius: mentioned also at 10, 23 (Antonius Primus), 10, 32
(Marcus Antonius Primus), and most likely also at 10, 73 (Marcus),2 this person is

There is no reason to suppose that the poems in question were not in the first edition of Book 10, which
was published in 95.
2
There have been various opinions as to the identity of the Marcus of 10, 73 (identified by Friedlnder as
Antonius Primus), to whom Martial expresses his thanks for the gift of a luxurious toga. This Marcus, who
clearly lives away from Rome, he calls his amicus, as he does Antonius in line 6 of the present poem; but
the Marcus of 10, 73 is also called facundus (10, 73, 1) and doctus (ibid. 10), epithets which do not occur
in any other poems to Antonius. However, they are not incongruent with Tacitus description of him as
sermone promptus (see below), and a patron of letters (below) may well be referred to as doctus even if he
did not write himself; cf., for example, Stat. silv. 2, 7, 83, referring to Lucans widow Argentaria Polla as
docta (with White, Friends, pp. 283 f.). Furthermore, 10, 73 contains some elements that make it possible
to consider it as a parallel to 9, 99: in this poem, Martial calls his book absentis pignus amicitiae; in 10,
73, 1 he refers to the toga as facundi ... pignus amici. The two poems contain variations on the same
metaphor: compare 9, 99, 710 with 10, 73, 5 ff. Vilior haec nobis alio mittente fuisset; | non quacumque
manu victima caesa litat: | a te missa venit. Finally, 10, 73 ends with a thankful reflection on the pleasure

159

usually identified as the M. Antonius Primus who played a significant role in the
civil war of 689.1 He was born in Tolosa in Gallia Narbonensis (Suet. Vit. 18).
Tacitus, who did not think very highly of him, relates that he had been condemned under Nero for involvement in the falsification of a will and lost his senatorial rank (ann. 14, 40; cf. hist. 2, 86). He was restored at the beginning of the
civil war (hist. 2, 86) and entrusted by Galba with the command of the Seventh
Legion in Pannonia. Eventually, as Vitellius began to slip, he rallied to the cause
of Vespasian and was in command of the army that took Rome on December 20 in
69; the senate granted him the insignia of a consul and, for a short time, he had
supreme power at Rome, which, however, was quickly lost when Licinius Mucianus, Vespasians supreme commander, arrived; outmanoeuvred by Mucianus,
Antonius betook himself to Vespasian but was received with a certain suspicion
because of Mucianus plotting against him; his military achievements nonetheless
guaranteed that he remained, at least on the surface, on friendly terms with Vespasian; see further von Rohden in RE 1, s.v. Antonius 89, 2635 ff.
As Antonius drops out of the Historiae, nothing more is known of him for certain. Tacitus account of him as being strenuus manu, sermone promptus, serendae in alios invidiae artifex, discordiis et seditionibus potens, raptor, largitor,
pace pessimus, bello non spernendus (hist. 2, 86) has made some doubt whether
this person could have been identical with the Antonius whom Martial calls
Tolosae gloria, quem genuit Pacis alumna Quies and depicts as placido felix ...
aevo (10, 23, 1) and of whom he says that nulla recordanti lux est ingrata
gravisque; | nulla fuit, cuius non meminisse velit (10, 23, 5 f.).2 But their identical
gentilicia and cognomina, common origin from Tolosa and Martials mention of
him as being 75 years old in 9598 (10, 23, 2) strongly suggest that they were
indeed one and the same person.
Antonius doings after the Flavian victory are practically unknown; all that
can be said is that he seemingly remained on friendly terms with Vespasian, but
this is important information; even if the road to further military advances was
closed to him, he would have been able to stay in Rome and to move in Roman
society. He would necessarily have kept a low profile, but, being sermone promptus, he may have dedicated himself to the forum and the senate, to quiet conversations in domus and villas,3 and, to some extent, to literary patronage, before eventually moving back to his native Tolosa. Such an unobtrusive life would account
of being appreciated by a man of letters. It may be, then, that the toga was sent to Martial by way of thanks
for the liber which he sent Antonius and that these resemblances are intended to couple the two poems.
1
So Friedlnder on 9, 99, 1, following P. Giese, De personis a Martiale commemoratis, diss. Griefswald
1872, pp. 5 f.; Gilbert; Heraeus (idem putatur ac notus ex Tac. hist. dux); White, Aspects, pp. 7479;
Sullivan, Martial, p. 43.
2
Housman (Notes, p. 76 = Class. pap., p. 990) claimed that It is clear from the whole tenour of the three
or four poems in which Martial celebrates him that this Antonius Pius of Tolosa is wrongly identified ...
with his namesake and townsman the soldier and politician, whose turbulent character and eventful career
we know from the histories of Tacitus, and whose praenomen we do not know to have been Marcus.
Although Housmans arguments are by no means conclusive, he is followed by Shackleton Bailey, who in
the index nominum of his edition states that Martials Antonius is haud dubie ab illo Flavianarum partium duce distinguendus. In the Index of Names of his Loeb edition, he is less dogmatic, saying that Martials characterization makes it practically impossible to identify him with a namesake prominent in the
civil war.
3
White, op. cit., pp. 76 ff.

160

for Martials characterisation of him as the son of Quietude, the nursling of Peace
(line 4; cf. esp. 10, 23); for, as White points out (op. cit., p. 77), Martial unlike
Statius, did not make praise of quies a convention of his cajolery ... Probably the
idealization of the quiet life here stems from Primus own effort to advertise necessity as virtue. But the designation of Antonius as son of Quietude, the nursling of Peace may perhaps also be occasioned by a desire to depict Antonius
himself as a product of the new, peaceful age and the blissful reign (cf. the legends paci orb(is) terr(arum) Aug(usti) etc. on Vespasians coins; Weynand in RE
6, s.v. Flavius 206, 2650 f.), in the establishment of which he had been
instrumental.
It is not likely that Martial made Antonius acquaintance before the civil war,
as, when Martial arrived in Rome in 64, Antonius would have been in disfavour.
The poet would therefore only have been familiar with the retired Antonius and,
though he doubtless knew of his prior activities, Martials opinion of him would
not be likely to rest on those, at least not primarily. As to the question when and
under what circumstances they met, nothing can be said with certainty. From the
epigrams of Martial, taking the warm-hearted 10, 73 into account, it seems that
the poet enjoyed a respectful friendship with the about 20 years older (10, 23, 2)
Antonius. But the fact that Antonius does not appear until Book 9 also indicates,
that there had probably been no contact between the two during the eight years
since the publication of Book 1.1 It is therefore likely that Antonius left Rome for
Tolosa before 86 and that, before that time, during the years of Martials life
which are virtually unknown to us, he was among Martials patrons.
In the turbulent time following the Flavian victory, Domitian, who had taken a
strong dislike to Mucianus, had attached Antonius and his companion Arrius
Varius to himself in friendship.2 If Antonius remained within the circle of
Domitian as long as he stayed in Rome, then perhaps this was where he met Martial, but this cannot be raised above the level of mere speculation.
Attice: this name appears also in 2, 7 (where it is obviously a pseudonym) and
in 7, 32, the latter probably being the same person as is addressed here, a young
man of noble birth, who apparently devoted himself to oratory (facundae renovas
qui nomina gentis | nec sinis ingentem conticuisse domum, 7, 32, 1 f.).
Friedlnder (on 7, 32, 1) suggested that he was a Pomponius Atticus, welche
Familie aber nach v. 2 ... damals bereits in den Senatorenstand erhoben gewesen
sein msste.
2. charta salutatrix: the adjective salutatrix, modelled on the noun salutator, is
found only here, in 7, 87, 6 pica salutatrix and in Iuv. 5, 21 salutatrix turba (cf.
the frequent use of salutator of a client).

1
Unless one takes this, as does White (op. cit., p. 77), as another reminder that the Epigrams imperfectly
reflect the poets life in society. But it must be dubious that a patron, on whom Martial suddenly, at the
request for a copy of his epigrams, bestows three (or four) poems would not appear in any of the published
epigrams if indeed he was among Martials acquaintances in Rome after 86.
2
Gsell, p. 10.

161

si modo: with the same position in the pentameter as in 3, 27, 2. This placing
is particularly popular with Ovid, who has in all 14 instances.1
vera refert: cf. the ending of 9, 35, 2.
3. Palladiae ... Tolosae: Tolosa (Toulouse) in Gallia Narbonensis. Following
Martial, the town is mentioned with the epithet Palladius also by Ausonius (3, 3,
11 Prete te sibi Palladiae antetulit toga docta Tolosae; 4, 17, 7 Prete Palladiae
primum toga te venerata Tolosae | mox pepulit levitate pari) and Sidonius (carm.
7, 455), certainly because Tolosa was a centre of learning of some importance,
which had reared at least one famous rhetor, L. Statius Ursulus (active in the
reign of Nero); cf. Suet. rhet. 36 and see M. Labrousse, Toulouse antique, Paris
1968, pp. 506 ff. Martials only other mention of Tolosa concerns its cheese (12,
32, 18), which is not mentioned elsewhere but which Martial clearly considered as
inferior.
4. quem genuit Pacis alumna Quies: cf. Ov. fast. 1, 704 Pax Cererem nutrit,
Pacis alumna Ceres. Alumna is thus used only of positive qualities (Varro Men.
141 Veritas, Attices philosophiae alumna; Cic. Brut. 45 bene constitutae civitatis
quasi alumna quaedam eloquentia) with few exceptions (for example, Tac. dial.
40, 2 eloquentia alumna licentiae; see A. Gudeman, P. Cornelii Taciti Dialogus
de oratoribus, 2nd ed., Berlin 1914).
Scriverius conjecture of quam for quem (adopted by Friedlnder and Gilbert)
is quite unnecessary, as the picture of Antonius as child of tranquillity is quite
in line with Martials characterization of him in 10, 23 (see the introduction
above); see Housman, Notes, pp. 75 f. (= Class. pap., p. 990).
5. dispendia ... viarum: dispendia here of an excessive distance, not necessarily
with the notion of detour (Frg. Bob. gramm. V 544, 37 Compendia, via cita;
dispendia, via per circuitiones difficilis; cf. Ov. met. 3, 234 with Bmer) elsewhere attached to this at any rate uncommon sense of the word (Manil. 2, 339;
Lucan. 8, 2; cf. TLL, s.v. 1397, 20 ff.).
6. I, liber: Martial tells the book to go, as in 1, 70, 1 Vade salutatum pro me,
liber; 3, 4, 1 Romam vade, liber; 7, 84, 3 I, liber, ad Geticam Peucen Histrumque
iacentem (viz. to Caecilius Secundus). 1, 70, 1 is clearly based on Ov. trist. 3, 7, 1
f. Vade salutatum, subito perarata, Perillam, | littera; cf. also trist. 1, 1, 1 Parve
nec invideo sine me, liber, ibis in Urbem; Pont. 4, 5, 1 Ite, leves elegi, doctas ad consulis aures. Compare also Hor. epist. 1, 20, 1 ff. and see notes on 1, 70,
1 by Citroni and Howell respectively.

am. 2, 18, 32; epist. 20, 218; ars 3, 474; rem. 576; trist. 1, 6, 18; 2, 1, 156; 4, 3, 20; 5, 9, 8; Pont. 2, 1,
64; 2, 2, 46; 4, 9, 36; 4, 10, 20; 4, 12, 4; 4, 15, 40. The phrase also occurs ten times at the beginning of the
pentameter in Ovid, a placing of which there are no instances in Martial.

162

absentis pignus amicitiae: pignus, token, cf. Ov. met. 7, 497 with Bmer.
For pignus amicitiae, see also Val. Max. 4, 7, 3; 7, 6, 2; Liv. 32, 38, 3; Tac. ann.
14, 25.
7 f. Vilis eras etc.: it is, of course, an honour to receive a copy from the authors
own hand, but, in Martials day, it was also a guarantee that the copy was in
complete agreement with the original. Because of negligent or rather non-existent
proof-reading, copies made by a librarius were not seldom incorrect; De Latinis
vero quo me vertam nescio; ita mendose et scribuntur et veneunt, says Cicero (ad
Q. fr. 3, 5, 6). Martial was very much aware that his books were being sold in
faulty copies (cf. 2, 8) and hence he provided copies for his friends corrected by
his own hand; in 7, 11, A. Pudens asks the poet for a corrected copy of his poems,
as he wants archetypae, and in 7, 17, Martial sends a corrected copy (haec illis
pretium facit litura, 7, 17, 8) of Books 17 to the library of Iulius Martialis (see
Marquardt, pp. 806 ff.).
fateor: often parenthetically interposed in all kinds of poetry as a kind of colloquial emphasis and, in accordance with the nature of his poetry, especially so in
Martial; cf. 1, 90, 5; 2, 28, 5; 3, 12, 1; 5, 13, 1; 5, 27, 2; 10, 75, 2; 12, 48, 5; 13,
103, 1; 13, 114, 1; 2, 3, 1 fatemur. There is an equal number in the works of Ovid,
but only one in Vergil, one in Horace, three in Calpurnius Siculus, one in Silius,
two in Valerius Flaccus, and three in Statius.1
8. grande ... erit: paralleling the thought in 10, 73, 5 f. (see footnote above); cf.
Ov. epist. 17, 71 f. acceptissima semper | munera sunt, auctor quae pretiosa facit.
The point is, of course, that Martial as auctor muneris makes the gift precious by
being also the auctor libri (cf. note on line 7 above). Housman (Notes, p. 76 =
Class. pap., p. 990) is thus mistaken in saying that no allusion to that fact (sc.
Martials being the author of the book) is contained in the word auctor. If the
emptor imagined in the verse above had been the sender, he would have been
muneris auctor ..., though Martial would still have been the author of the book.
Housmans statement is all the more remarkable considering Martials words in
the preceding line.
For the ending, cf. Ov. epist. 7, 136; ars 1, 326; rem. 22; fast. 5, 192.
9. crede mihi: a colloquial interposition, like fateor above, favoured by Martial
and Ovid; see note on 9, 41, 3.
9 f. fonte ... lacu: proverbial, cf. Ov. Pont. 3, 5, 17 ff. Nam, quamquam sapor est
adlata dulcis in unda, | gratius ex ipso fonte bibuntur aquae. | Et magis adducto
pomum decerpere ramo | quam de caelata sumere lance iuvat; Sall. hist. frg. 4,
38 Sapor iuxta fontis dulcissimos; Otto, s.v. fons 1, p. 140; TLL, s.v. 1026, 30 ff.

Ov. epist. 20, 35; rem. 314; met. 8, 127; 9, 362; 10, 643; 14, 440; trist. 2, 1, 469; 5, 6, 5; Pont. 1, 7, 55;
2, 2, 111; Ibis 641; Verg. Aen. 2, 134; Hor. sat. 2, 4, 4; Calp. ecl. 2, 61; 3, 28; 4, 70; 6, 30; Sil. 16, 649;
Val. Fl. 7, 346; 7, 518; Stat. silv. 2, 1, 67; 3, 4, 39; Ach. 1, 775.

163

The source of inspiration is presumably the famous passage at the end of Callimachus Hymn to Apollo:

$VVXUdRX SRWDPRjR PyJDM RM

OPDWD JM NDg SROOQ xI

GDWL VXUIHWQ zONHL _
GZU

IRUyRXVL

0yOLVVDL

OO

WLM

NDTDU

SdGDNRM x[ bHUM OdJK OLEM NURQ ZWRQ

WH

'KRj

NDg

OO
RN

SROO

FUDQWRM

SDQWM

QyUSHL

(2, 108112).1

10. pigro ... lacu: this juncture only here and in Stat. Theb. 8, 17.

100
Denaris tribus invitas et mane togatum
observare iubes atria, Basse, tua,
deinde haerere tuo lateri, praecedere sellam,
ad viduas tecum plus minus ire decem.
Trita quidem nobis togula est vilisque vetusque:
denaris tamen hanc non emo, Basse, tribus.

Martial was quite obviously just as indignant about, as tired of, the haughtiness of
some patrons and their failure to show appropriate recognition of the tiresome
officia of the clients. He often complains about their arrogant attitude towards
those who had come in all weathers from the other side of town to perform earlymorning salutations and to accompany the patron to the forum, while receiving
nothing but a supercilious glance or a reward which was rather an insult.
This running hither and thither bore heavily on the expensive toga, the Roman
equivalent of the tails and prescribed to the clients at the salutatio (see 9, 49 intro.). It often plays a notable part in the epigrams on the unprofitability of the
clientship, making it seem that, to Martial, it was the last straw when the recompense of the clients efforts was not even enough to pay for the toga; compare the
present epigram with in particular 4, 26: Quod te mane domi toto non vidimus
anno, | vis dicam, quantum, Postume, perdiderim? | Tricenos, puto, bis, vicenos
ter, puto, nummos. | Ignosces: togulam, Postume, pluris emo; cf. also 3, 36; 5, 22;
10, 10; 10, 74; without mentioning the toga; cf. 6, 88; 7, 39; 10, 82; 12, 29. Cf.
also 9, 2 intro.
The point here is similar to that in 10, 57. Sextus used to send Martial a pound
of silver as a gift; now he sends half a pound, but of pepper. Martial remarks:
Tanti non emo, Sexte, piper (10, 57, 2).
1. Denaris ... tribus: the sportula, see note on 9, 85, 4. The usual amount of the
sportula was 100 quadrantes (25 asses = 1 denarius and 9 asses), but sometimes
larger sums were given; the Diodorus of 10, 27, for example, distributes sportulae
of 30 IIS on his birthday; cf. also 8, 42.

1
Great is the stream of the Assyrian river, but much filth of earth and much refuse it carries in its waters.
And not of every water do Melissae carry to Deo, but of the trickling stream that springs from a holy fountain, pure and undefiled, the very crown of waters; translation by A. W. Mair, Loeb.

164

togatum: clients were expected to wear the toga at the salutatio (see 9, 49 intro.).
2. observare ... atria: the only instance of this juncture, but cf. Plaut. 273 indiligenter observavit ianuam; Mil. 328 ego ilico observo foris; 352 observare ostium.
We may suspect that the phrase is used ironically here and that the sense is you
invite me, and bid me watch (= keep me waiting in) your atrium; see TLL, s.v.
observo 205, 2 ff. (ironice de frustra exspectantibus).
Basse: Martial mentions a Bassus several times, some of which may refer to a
friend of his (3, 47, 5 with Friedlnder; 3, 58, 1; 7, 96, 1), but most of which are
clearly fictitious (3, 76, 1; 5, 23, 1; 5, 53, 2; 8, 10, 1; 12, 97). In 1, 37, 2, it is
doubtful whether Bassus or Bassa should be read (see Howell, ad loc.). There is
no other instance of Bassus used of a stingy patron.
3. haerere ... lateri: cf. Catull. 21, 6 haerens ad latus omnia experiris; cf. Verg.
Aen. 4, 73 haeret lateri letalis harundo; Val. Fl. 3, 486; Stat. Theb. 10, 101; TLL,
s.v. haereo 2496, 14 ff.
praecedere sellam: see note on 9, 22, 10.
4. viduas: Bassus courts widows in particular, hoping for a mention in their wills,
i.e. a form of captatio (see 9, 8 intro.).
plus minus: followed by a numeral is a fairly common idiom, with asyndeton
(Hirt. Gall. 8, 20, 1; Petron. 52, 1; Stat. silv. 4, 9, 22; Serv. Aen. 6, 43) as well as
co-ordination (plusve minusve Mart. 8, 71, 4 [Ov. rem. 560; fast. 5, 110; 6, 274];
plus aut minus Enn. 4, 154; Rhet. Her. 3, 32; plus minusve Serv. Aen. 3, 445, the
latter being the commonest form in prose when not followed by a numeral).
5. trita ... togula: the toga was quickly worn out (see 9, 49 intro.). The deprecatory diminutive togula is found only in Martial (3, 30, 3; 4, 26, 4; 4, 66, 3; 5, 22,
11; 6, 50, 2; 7, 10, 11; 12, 70, 2).
vilisque vetusque: like Ov. met. 8, 658 f. et haec vilisque vetusque | vestis
erat (with Bmer).
6. cf. note on 9, 38, 10. Togas were expensive; in 4, 26, 4 (quoted above), Martial
says that he could not buy one even for 60 IIS (= 15 denarii).

165

101
Appia, quam simili venerandus in Hercule Caesar
consecrat, Ausoniae maxima fama viae,
si cupis Alcidae cognoscere facta prioris,
disce: Libyn domuit, aurea poma tulit,
peltatam Scythico discinxit Amazona nodo,
addidit Arcadio terga leonis apro,
aeripedem silvis cervum, Stymphalidas astris
abstulit, a Stygia cum cane venit aqua,
fecundam vetuit reparari mortibus hydram,
Hesperias Tusco lavit in amne boves.
Haec minor Alcides: maior quae gesserit, audi,
sextus ab Albana quem colit arce lapis.
Adseruit possessa malis Palatia regnis,
prima suo gessit pro Iove bella puer;
solus Iuleas cum iam retineret habenas,
tradidit inque suo tertius orbe fuit;
cornua Sarmatici ter perfida contudit Histri,
sudantem Getica ter nive lavit equum;
saepe recusatos parcus duxisse triumphos
victor Hyperboreo nomen ab orbe tulit;
templa deis, mores populis dedit, otia ferro,
astra suis, caelo sidera, serta Iovi.
Herculeum tantis numen non sufficit actis:
Tarpeio deus hic commodet ora patri.

10

15

20

This poem is the longest poem of the book, standing at the end of Book 9 as a
worthy climax to the eulogies of Domitian in the corpus of Martial as we have it.
Whatever poetry was dedicated to Domitian in the first edition of Book 10, it is
not likely to have been splendid enough to eclipse this one.
Setting out from the statue of Hercules with the features of Domitian, which
stood in the new temple of Hercules on the Appian Way (see 9, 64 intro.), the
poem presents an elaborate comparison of the deeds of Hercules to the acta of
Domitian (ibid. for emperors compared to Hercules). The model is in all likelihood Anchises prophecy of Augustus in the Heldenschau of the Aeneid, Book
6, in which his future deeds are predicted to surpass those of Hercules and Bacchus (Verg. Aen. 6, 791807) and which in its turn shows signs of the traditional
encomia of Alexander (see Norden on Aen. 6, 788807).
After a short introduction addressed to the Appian Way and a reference to the
statue (lines 13), Martial gives a selective catalogue of the deeds of Hercules,
mentioning, in seven lines, one of the parerga and nine of the Twelve Labours:
Antaeus, the apples of the Hesperides, the girdle of Hippolyta, the Erymanthian
boar, the lion of Nemea, the stag, the Stymphalian birds, Cerberus, the Hydra, and
the cattle of Geryon (with an allusion to the story of Cacus). The arrangement is
roughly geographical, inasmuch as the deeds performed in the Peloponnesus are
listed together, framed by those of Argolis (the lion and the Hydra; the descent to

166

the Underworld may be counted among the Peloponnesian deeds because it was
made through the entrance at Cape Taenarum in Laconia). Yet, marvellous as
they may seem, those were the deeds of the lesser Hercules; Martial now proceeds
to tell of the deeds of the greater, which occupy the next ten lines, three more than
were devoted to those of the hero.
The catalogue of the acta of Domitian is designed to depict the emperor primarily as a great warrior to match the Argive hero (lines 1320), but also as a
magnanimous statesman and religious renewer (2122), things which had nothing
corresponding to them in the stories of Hercules. However, for the comparison to
be effective, the actual truth had to be somewhat improved. Martial begins by
speaking of the Vitellian siege of the Capitol just before the Flavian assumption of
power in 69, although Domitian is not known to have played a decisive part in
these events. The doubtful success of the Second Pannonian War is again passed
off as a great victory, and Domitians refusal of a triumph following this war is
made into saepe recusati triumphi. These exaggerations, though, are confined
entirely to the lines dealing with Domitian the warrior, i.e. to the aspect of the
emperor which is more obviously comparable to and which had to surpass the
deeds of Hercules. Moreover, these are stock exaggerations, made also by Silius
and Statius in contexts in which there was no need to make the deeds of Domitian
surpass those of a mythological hero (see below); lines 21 f. are principally a relation of fact. The gist of it all, which would naturally have been guessed from the
very beginning of the poem, is revealed in the concluding distich: Hercules cannot
stand a comparison to the emperor. The one god worthy to carry the features of
Domitian is Jupiter.
Mythography divides the labours of Hercules into several sub-categories, of
which the poets mainly draw on four: the Twelve Labours (
or
, imposed on the hero by king Eurystheus; cf. note on 9, 65, 5), the
(byworks, which Hercules performed voluntarily in connection with the Twelve
Labours), the
(Hercules campaigns, some of which were undertaken
together with other Greek heroes), and finally the stories telling of Hercules last
deeds, from Deianeira to his death on Mt. Oeta. The labours of the hero are
among the themes most frequently exploited by Greek and Latin poets, and their
works abound with references to them. Here, something will be said only about
such catalogues of the heros deeds as may be found in Latin poetry and which
may be referred to as aretalogies; for Greek equivalents, cf. in particular Soph.
Trach. 1091 ff. and Eur. Herc. 359 ff. (further instances in F. Brommer, Herakles.
Die zwlf Taten des Helden in antiker Kunst und Literatur, Mnster & Cologne
1953). On the deeds of Hercules in general, see PrellerRobert 2:2, 428 ff.;
Gruppe in RE Suppl. 3, s.v. Herakles, 1015 ff.
The first coherent list of the deeds of Hercules in Latin poetry appears already
in the Persae of Plautus, where a small catalogue of five Labours and one parergon is given: cum leone, cum excetra (i.e. the Hydra), cum cervo, cum apro Aetolico, | cum avibus Stymphalicis, cum Antaeo deluctari mavelim, | quam cum
Amore (3 ff.), but a more proper aretalogy does not appear until Lucr. 5, 2236,
which mentions eight of the Twelve Labours and compares them to the efforts of
TORL

{UJD

SUHUJD

SU[HLM

167

Epicurus in cleansing the human mind from delusions.1 Then follows the hymn to
Hercules sung by the Salii at the sacrificial rites of Evander in Verg. Aen. 8, 288
305 (which formed the basis for Propertius aetiological poem on the Ara Maxima
[4, 9] and for Ov. fast. 1, 543 ff.; see Fordyces commentary on Aen. 78, pp. 223
ff.); this account mentions four of the athloi (which are also mentioned collectively as duros mille labores), two of the parerga (the Centaurs and Typhoeus),
one praxis (Troy), Oechalia (from the circle of his last deeds), the strangling of
the snakes in the cradle, and Cacus (of special reference to the context; see note
on line 10 below). In Ovid, the ninth poem of the Heroides (Deianeira to Hercules), set in the time of Hercules service under Omphale, abounds with references
to the deeds of the hero, which are set out in contrast to his humiliating treatment
by the Lydian queen (cf. note on 9, 65, 11); see in particular lines 6172 (two
athloi, two parerga) and 85100 (the snakes, five athloi, two parerga). The longest aretalogy in Latin poetry, on the whole, is found in met. 9, 182198, in which
Hercules recounts his deeds while standing on the pyre at Mt. Oeta. This account
includes all of the twelve athloi, with three of the parerga.
In Silver Latin poetry, important aretalogies appear in three of the tragedies of
Seneca. All of these mention twelve deeds, perhaps to keep the canonical number
of the athloi, although some of these are replaced by parerga and praxeis (cf. J. G.
Fitch, Senecas Hercules Furens, Ithaca & London 1987, commentary on lines
23538). In Hercules furens 216248, Amphitryon gives an account mentioning
the snakes, ten of the athloi and one parergon; in the ode sung by the Argive
chorus in Agamemnon 808866 are mentioned eleven athloi and one praxis
(Troy), while in Hercules monologue at the beginning of Hercules Oetaeus are
included ten athloi and two parerga; cf. also Alcmenas lament in Herc. O. 1811
20. The Punica of Silius has a description of a set of doors in the temple of Hercules at (or near) Gades (3, 3444), displaying six athloi, two parerga, and the
wrestling with Achelous (circle of last deeds), while the Argonautica of Valerius
Flaccus lacks a proper aretalogy. In Statius, the only coherent account appears at
the end of the poem on Novius Vindex statuette of Hercules (silv. 4, 6, 99105,
six athloi, one parergon and one praxis), but scattered references are also found
throughout silv. 3, 1 (on the temple of Hercules at Surrentum). Martial has a
shorter list in 5, 65 (16; 1114), which compares the labours of the hero to the
spectacles of Domitians arena, but the present aretalogy remains the longest in
Silver Latin poetry save for those of Seneca. From later Latin poetry may be mentioned the scanty Monosticha de aerumnis Herculis of Ausonius (13, 24 Prete; the
poem devotes one hexameter to each of the Twelve Labours; cf. AP 16, 92
[Anonymous]), Claud. 3, 284295; rapt. Pros. 2, praef. 2948; Sidon. carm. 9,
94100; 15, 136143; compare particularly carm. 13, addressed to the emperor
Majorian, which in its structure is similar to the present poem, beginning with an
aretalogy of Hercules (lines 114) followed by a transitional section (1518 haec
quondam Alcides; at tu Tirynthius alter, | sed princeps, magni maxima cura dei, |
quem draco, cervus, aper paribus sensere sagittis, | cum dens, cum virus, cum

In Tusc. 2, 20 ff., Cicero gives an aretalogy of the deeds in iambic trimetres, which, however, is freely
translated from the section from the Trachiniae of Sophocles mentioned above.

168

fuga nil valuit) leading to a prayer for the emperor to exempt Sidonius from a
heavy tax imposed on the citizens of Lyon, and concluded by the usual sic-clauses.
From the aretalogies found in classical Latin poetry, it appears that there were
no given rules concerning what to include or in what order to present the material; for instance, the poets paid little heed to the canonical order of the athloi,
which at any rate was somewhat confused also in such works as were apparently
designed to establish a chronological order between them; see the Tabula Albana
(IG 14, 1293), Apollodorus 2, 74 ff.; Diodorus Siculus 4, 11 ff.; Hyg. fab. 30 (cf.
also Serv. Aen. 8, 299; see the summary by Gruppe, op. cit., 1021). If, however,
an attempt is made to create an average order according to these catalogues, the
result appears as (1) lion, (2) Hydra, (3) boar, (4) hind, (5) Stymphalian birds, (6)
Augeas, (7) bull, (8) horses, (9) Hippolyta, (10) Geryon, (11) Hesperides and (12)
Cerberus. But in the aretalogies by classical Latin poets, the only trace of this
arrangement is the mention of the Nemean lion first or at the beginning of most
accounts; no other common attempts at chronological arrangement can be observed (which does not imply that such attempts may not be found within the
individual aretalogies).
Martial here applies a geographical order constituted by a separation of the
deeds done in the Peloponnesus from the extra-Peloponnesian labours (see above),
a feature which is not found in any other of the Latin catalogues mentioned above.
There may be a general tendency to group the lion, the boar, the bull and the hind
(thus, apart from the present instance, also Lucr.; Verg.; Sen. Herc. f. and Ag.;
Mart. 5, 65), although this is not the case in the accounts of Ovid nor in Sen.
Herc. O.; in Silius, the lion is separated from the boar and the hind by Cerberus
and the horses. When Busiris and Antaeus appear in the same account, they are
mentioned in connection with one another, but again, this concerns only the sections from Ovid and Sen. Herc. O.
There is a clearer tendency concerning which deeds to mention. First of all,
the Nemean lion and the Hydra appear in all accounts except for Stat. silv. 4, 6;
likewise, the majority make mention of also of the boar, which is excluded only by
Vergil and in Sen. Herc. O. The rest of the athloi are fairly equally represented,
with the exception of Augeas, who appears only in Ov. met. and Sen. Herc. f.
Regarding the Silver Latin catalogues, there may perhaps be a certain Ovidian
influence to be taken into consideration. Certainly Ovid in the Metamorphoses
gives all twelve athloi, but this does not account for the inclusion in later aretalogies of athloi not mentioned by Lucretius and Vergil.1 More remarkable is the fact
that Antaeus, while missing in Lucretius and Vergil, appears in both accounts of
Ovid, in Sen. Herc. O., in Silius, in Mart. 5, 65 and in the present aretalogy. Also
Busiris, included in Sen. Herc. O. and by Statius, is mentioned by Ovid in both
the Heroides and the Metamorphoses. On the other hand, there are deeds mentioned in Silver Latin aretalogies which do not appear in Ovid, i.e. the opening of
the Straits of Gibraltar (Sen. Herc. f.), and the wrestling with Eryx (Mart. 5, 65).
Consequently, the conclusion is that there was no given formula for aretalogies in
1

This concerns the hind, first included by Ovid in the Metamorphoses and appearing in all three Senecan
aretalogies, in Silius and in the present instance, and Hippolyta, who appears in the Metamorphoses, in
Senecas accounts, in Statius silv. 4, 6, and here.

169

Latin poetry. The poets naturally influenced each other (for the Ovidian influence
on Seneca, see G. Runchina, Tecnica drammatica retorica nelle tragedie di Seneca, AFMC 28 [1960], pp. 263 f.) but drew also from other sources, such as
their Greek predecessors, and certainly also from prose descriptions like that of
Diodorus (suggested by Bmer on met. 9, 1 ff., pp. 275 f., as the model for Ovid).
In the catalogue given here by Martial, the only influences from other poets that
may be discerned with relative certainty are to be found in his description of the
Stymphalian birds, in which there are traces of Seneca, in his mention of the hind
as a stag, which is paralleled in Latin poetry only by Silius, and in his account of
the renascent heads of the Hydra, echoing Ovid and Seneca (see the commentary
below). See also H. Huxley, The Labours of Hercules, Proceedings of the Leeds
Philosophical and Literary Society, Literary and Historical Section, 7 (1952), pp.
2030. Huxley collects catalogues of Hercules deeds from Latin poetry but shows
little understanding of Martial and even leaves out the present catalogue altogether.
Corresponding lists of the acta of emperors are naturally much rarer, not only
because it was a form of recusatio to refrain from hymning the deeds of an emperor (see 9, 50 intro.), but also because, under most emperors, there were no
great poetical minds willing to put their talents entirely at the emperors disposal.
In this respect, though, there is an obvious parallel between Martial and the imperial poetry of the Augustan era (cf. 9, 34 intro.), in which are found two important prophecies about the deeds of Augustus. Vergil, as mentioned above, extols
the achievements of the emperor under cover of the prophecy of Anchises in
Aeneid 6. Here, the father of Aeneas talks of a re-introduction of the Golden Age,
of campaigns at the extreme ends of the empire and of expansion of its borders
beyond the Zodiac (Verg. Aen. 6, 792800), deeds greater than those of Hercules and Liber: nec vero Alcides tantum telluris obivit, | fixerit aeripedem cervam
licet, aut Erymanthi | pacarit nemora et Lernam tremefecerit arcu | nec qui
pampineis victor iuga flectit habenis | Liber, agens celso Nysae de vertice tigris
(801806). In Ovid, there is Jupiters prophecy at the murder of Caesar of the
coming achievements of Augustus (met. 15, 819839), which is similar in structure to Martials description of the deeds of Domitian. Ovid begins by speaking of
Augustus revenge on Caesars murderers and his dealing with the remnants of
the opposition (met. 15, 81928), Martial by accounting for Domitians role in the
suppression of the Vitellians and the Flavian assumption of power (9, 101, 13
15). Both poets mention the expansion of the empire (met. 15, 82931; 9, 101,
1620), followed by the emperors civil achievements as peace had been restored
(met. 15, 832 pace data; 9, 101, 21 dedit ... otia ferro), with special emphasis on
leges (met. 15, 833) and mores (met. 15, 834; 9, 101, 21). There is little doubt
that Vergil provided the frame for the present poem as a whole and that Ovids
account of the coming deeds of Augustus was the model for Martials catalogue of
the acta of Domitian.
It is not until the reign of the Flavians that similar catalogues of imperial acta
again appear in poetry. The first instance is found in the Punica of Silius. Again,
the account is given in the form of a prophecy put into the mouth of Jupiter (Sil.
3, 571629), foretelling the great deeds of Romans to come and concentrating on
the Flavian emperors (594 ff.). The acta of Vespasian are foretold (596602),

170

followed by those of Titus (603606), but the greater part is devoted to the deeds
of Domitian (607694), which are predicted to surpass those of his father and
brother (at tu transcendes, Germanice, facta tuorum). The material is arranged in
much the same way as in Martials account, although it begins with Domitians
suppression of the Batavian uprising in 70 (see note on lines 15 f. below). It continues with the siege of the Capitol and the victory over the Vitellians, and references are made to Domitians achievements at the extreme ends of the empire.
The section is closed by an account of his civil merits, concentrating, however, on
his rhetorical and poetical abilities and his activity as builder without mentioning
either leges or mores.
The Argonautica of Valerius Flaccus opens with an invocation to Apollo and
Vespasian, containing also a short section on Domitian (1, 1216) mentioning his
poetic talent and deification of his father. A longer account is given by Statius at
the beginning of the Thebaid (1, 1731), where the poet declares himself not yet
ready to recount the deeds of Domitian, his achievements on the Rhine and the
Danube and his defence of the Capitol against the Vitellians vix pubescentibus
annis. Though Jupiter should grant the emperor a part of the skies equal to his
own, Statius prays him to be content with the governance of men and to deify his
kin (sidera donare; cf. note on line 22 below). Domitian is briefly addressed also
at the beginning of the Achilleid, with a short reference to his poetic ability (1,
1419). Compare also silv. 1, 1, 7981, in which Curtius from his dwelling on the
Forum addresses the equestrian statue of Domitian on the Capitol: tu bella Iovis,
tu proelia Rheni, | tu civile nefas, tu tardum in foedera montem | longo Marte
domas.
Martial, then, had models from other Latin poets for the aretalogy of Hercules,
as well as for the catalogue of the acta of Domitian, the former being inspired,
probably, by Ovid and Seneca and the latter certainly by Jupiters prophecy about
Augustus at the end of the Metamorphoses of Ovid. The frame Hercules labours compared to the deeds of the emperor in all likelihood has its source in
the Heldenschau in the Sixth Book of Vergils Aeneid.
However, neither prior to nor later than Martial is there a comparison between
the hero and the emperor so elaborate and so thoroughly realized as the present
one. In the time following the reign of Domitian, the emperors were not particularly prone to the comparison (even though Pliny made attempts in that direction;
see paneg. 14, 5), and later, under emperors like Commodus, who delighted in
presenting himself as a Hercules Romanus, there was a lack of poetic talent.
When such parallels again appear in poetry, it is in the works of Claudian and
Sidonius. But neither devoted a complete poem to the theme.
1. simili venerandus in Hercule: Caesar, revered in a portrait of Hercules bearing his (sc. Domitians) features, referring to the statue put up by Domitian in
the temple and celebrated by Martial in 9, 64 and 65. Similis cannot here be taken
as conveying simply the sense of portrait (as in Stat. silv. 1, 1, 101 optassetque
novo similem te ponere templo | Atticus [to which Vollmer compares the present
instance]; Iuv. 2, 6 Aristotelen similem ... emit), as Hercules is not like himself but
like Domitian, and should be understood as Caesar venerandus in Hercule simili
sui.
171

2. consecrat: hallows; only in this sense in Martial; cf. 12, 67, 3; TLL, s.v. 384,
43 ff.
Ausoniae maxima fama viae: chief glory of the Ausonian way, referring to
the statue. The Appian Way is not elsewhere referred to as Ausonia via, but cf. 9,
64, 2 Latiae ... viae with note. Cf. also 7, 6, 2 Ausonias ... vias, the roads of
Italy. For the ending, cf. Ov. am. 3, 6, 90.
3. Alcidae ... facta prioris: prior is, of course, only temporal (cf. line 11). For the
ending, cf. Stat. Theb. 5, 3, 147.
4. Libyn: Antaeus, son of Neptune, referred to also in 5, 65, 3 (castigatum Libycae ceroma palaestrae, with which cf. Stat. silv. 3, 1, 57 seu tibi dulce manu
Libycas nodare palaestras) and 14, 48, 1, a giant who challenged strangers to
wrestle and killed them, himself gaining new strength as long as he remained in
contact with his mother Earth. Hercules, aware of his weak point, lifted him from
the earth and thus was able to strangle him. The killing of Antaeus is numbered
among the parerga.
The figure of Antaeus is based upon a mythical king of Cyrene (not earlier
than the 6th century BC), brought into the myths of Hercules as a wrestling giant
(Pind. Isthm. 4, 52 ff.; Diod. 4, 17, 4) and owing his final form to the Hellenistic
writers (son of Poseidon and Earth, Apollod. 2, 115; Philostr. imag. 2, 21). When
brought into connection with Hercules, his abode was moved further to the west;
according to Pliny (nat. 5, 2; cf. Mela 1, 26), Antaeus founded Tingi (Tangier) in
western Mauretania and his court was in the nearby Lixos, where also the wrestling-match took place (ibid. 5, 3). Pomponius Mela relates that Antaeus tomb
was still shown in Africae novissimus angulus (3, 106; see PrellerRobert, op. cit.,
pp. 514 ff.; Wernicke in RE 1, s.v. Antaios 1, 2339 ff.).
The story is referred to in Latin for the first time by Plautus (Pers. 4 cum Antaeo deluctari mavelim; cf. Serv. ecl. 10, 69). The only Augustan poets to mention
Antaeus are Propertius (3, 22, 9 f.) and Ovid, who includes him in both his accounts of the deeds of Hercules (epist. 9, 71; met. 9, 184 with Bmer; also Ib. 395;
399). Mentions in Silver Latin are more frequent; thus Sen. Herc. f. 482 and Herc.
O. 24 Antaeus Libys; Herc. O. 1788; 1899; Lucan. 2, 164 with a full account of
the story in 4, 593 ff.; Sil. 3, 40 f. (on a set of doors displaying the labours); 3,
264; Stat. Theb. 6, 893 ff.; silv. 3, 1, 157 (quoted above); Iuv. 3, 89; cf. also Hyg.
fab. 31, 1; Serv. Aen. 8, 299.
In some accounts, the killing of Antaeus is presented as a parergon to the apples of the Hesperides; cf. Diod. 4, 27, 3; Apollod. loc. cit.; Serv. loc. cit. The
mention of Antaeus and the Hesperides in the same line perhaps indicates that
Martial also adopted this view; Antaeus and the apples appear together also in
Prop. 3, 22, 9; Stat. silv. 3, 1, 157 ff.

BMKSt: lengthening of the short final syllable of the third person singular of
the perfect indicative. The frequency of such lengthening, which occurs already in
Plautus (Capt. 9 vendidt; 34 and Poen. 1059 emt; Pseud. 311 vixt), Terentius
172

(Phorm. 9 stett), and Ennius (ann. 120 constitut; 617 volut), increases in the
classical poets. It is rather frequent in verbs forming their perfect in -ii (as in 10,
60, 1 Iura trium NCRGR a Caesare discipulorum; particularly common in Ovid, see
Bmer on fast. 2, 341), though more sporadic in other formations;1 common to the
majority of cases is that the lengthening occurs immediately before the penthemimeresis of the hexameter, or, as here, before the diaeresis of the pentameter
(i.e. in the third arsis of the dactyl; cf. Bmer, loc. cit.). These instances likely
reflect an archaic perfect in -t (applied for metrical convenience; M. Platnauer,
Latin Elegiac Verse, Cambridge 1951, p. 61); see M. Leumann, Lateinische Lautund Formen-Lehre, Munich 1977, p. 607. Compare also 14, 77, 2 where Martial
uses the archaic third person singular of the imperfect indicative NJMP?@R
+CSK?LL

MN AGR

N  

aurea poma: thus ; raraque poma . The latter reading, which would render
the -it of domuit a positione longa syllaba, was advocated by Vollmer (SBAW
1917), thinking aurea to be a gloss. However, Gilbert was surely right in taking
raraque to be an interpolation; the situation is similar at 14, 77, 2, where has
plorabas for the obviously correct plorabt of
(see above).
The apples are, of course, the golden apples of the Hesperides, which the Earth
mother gave to Hera on her marriage to Zeus and which the goddess planted in
the garden of the Hesperides (cf. epigr. 21, 4; 4, 64, 2; Priap. 16, 2; Sil. 4, 636 f.)
in the far west, where Atlas carried the firmament on his shoulders (cf. Verg.
Aen. 4, 480 ff.; Ov. met. 4, 628). The story of Hercules acquiring the apples
appears in several variants. According to what may be the oldest variant, Hercules
carried the firmament, while Atlas fetched the apples for him. A second variant,
first appearing in Eur. Herc. 394 ff., presents Hercules as slaying a dragon, which
Hera had set to watch over the apples, and getting the apples himself; this variant
was used by Apollonius in his Argonautica (4, 1396 ff.). According to a third
variant, the apples were given to Hercules by the Hesperides themselves; see
Seeliger in Roscher, s.v. Hesperiden 2594 ff.; PrellerRobert, op. cit., pp. 488 ff.
Although Martial in Book 9 alludes only to the variant involving Atlas (9, 43,
3 with note; cf. Prop. 4, 9, 37 f.; Ov. epist. 9, 18), the account by Apollonius
seems to have exerted the greater influence on Latin poetry; the dragon appears in
10, 94, 1; 13, 27, 2; Ov. met. 9, 190; Lucan. 9, 357; Sen. Ag. 855 f.; Stat. Theb. 2,
280 f. (where flebile germen | Hesperidum alludes to the grief of the Hesperides at
the slaying of the dragon; see Mulder, Publii Papinii Statii Thebaidos liber secundus, Groningen 1954, ad loc.); Iuv. 14, 114.
J

DJ

5. Peltatam Amazona: the story of how Hercules acquired the girdle of the
Amazon queen Hippolyta, one of the Twelve Labours, appears in a number of
variants difficult to survey. It seems, however, that Hercules was originally considered to have fetched the girdle alone by slaying the Amazon in single combat.
In the account prevailing in classical times, he is put at the head of an army inCf. in particular Verg. georg. 2, 211 at rudis enitut impulso vomere campus (Mynors, ad loc., suspects
Ennian influnce); Aen. 8, 363 Alcides subit, haec illum regia cepit; CLE 280, 2 quae bitis genut aprico
sole refecta; also Catull. 64, 20 tum Thetis humanos non BCQNCVR hymenaeos (with Fordyce); Hor. carm.
1, 3, 36 (second Asclepiadean) perrupt Acheronta Herculeus labor.

173

volving also other heroes, which besieged the town of Themiscyra on the river
Thermodon (cf. below); he then acquired the girdle either by Hippolytas voluntarily giving it to him or by slaying the queen and taking it from her corpse. There
is also a version according to which Hercules performed the task with the aid of
the Argonauts; see Gruppe, op. cit., 1055 ff. According to Eur. Herc. 415 ff., the
booty was kept at Mycenae (see PrellerRobert, op. cit., pp. 462 ff.). Cf. also Ov.
epist. 21, 119; met. 9, 189; Val. Fl. 5, 13139; Verg. Aen. 5, 311 ff.;
The adjective peltatus is found only here and in Ov. am. 2, 14, 2; epist. 21,
117; Sen. Ag. 218; Val. Fl. 5, 613. The pelta was a light Thracian shield, round
or in the shape of a half-moon, made of wood or wickerwork (see Lammert in RE
19, s.v. Pelte 406) and frequently associated with the Amazons; cf. Verg. Aen. 1,
490; Ov. Pont. 3, 1, 95 f.; Sil. 2, 80; 8, 428 ff.; Stat. silv. 5, 1, 131.
Scythico nodo: the Amazons were originally considered as dwelling on
Lake Maeotis (i.e. the Sea of Azov) north of the Black Sea (Eur. Herc. 409), in the
land of the Scythians (Serv. Aen. 6, 799 Maeotia tellus Scythia, cuius palus est
Maeotis; Stat. silv. 4, 6, 105 refers to them as Scythiae ... puellae); cf., for example, Verg. Aen. 3, 349 Scythiae gentes Maeotiaque unda; Lucan. 2, 641); in connection with the Amazons, cf., for example, Prop. 3, 11, 13 f.; Stat. Ach. 1, 758 ff.
Later, the river Thermodon in Pontus south of the Black Sea is more frequently
mentioned as their abode (Apoll. Rhod. 2, 970), cf. Verg. Aen. 11, 654 f.; Prop. 3,
14, 13 f.; 4, 4, 71 f.; Ov. met. 9, 189; 12, 611; Pont. 4, 10, 51; Sil. 2, 80; 8, 430;
Val. Fl. 4, 601 f.; Stat. Theb. 12, 164; silv. 1, 6, 56.
For nodus in the sense of girdle, see also 6, 13, 5; Verg. Aen. 1, 320.
6. addidit: added the lion skin to the (skin of the) boar, i.e. accumulated trophies. The boar and the lion appear in the same line also in 5, 65, 2 (Nemees
terror et Arcas aper; cf., with the same order, Eleg. in Maecen. 1, 72; Val. Fl. 2,
495), and in successive lines in epigr. 28, 3 f. (cf. Lucr. 5, 24 f.), but the present
instance makes a startling deviation from the canonical order of the athloi (which
is usually observed particularly in the case of the lion; see above), according to
which the boar counts as the fifth, the lion being the first.
Arcadio ... apro: the boar of the Erymanthian mountains in Arcadia, which
Hercules was commissioned to bring alive before Eurystheus. He accomplished
the task by driving the boar into deep snow until it became too exhausted to move,
catching it with a coil and carrying it to Eurystheus, who was terrified at the sight
and hid himself in a subterranean barrel (see below on terga ... leonis; Apollod. 2,
83; Diod. 4, 12; according to Hyg. fab. 30, 4, the boar was slain by Hercules);
Gruppe, op. cit., 1044 ff.; PrellerRobert, op. cit., pp. 447 f. The story may have
been brought into connection with Hercules at a relatively late date; Wilamowitz
suggested1 that the Arcadian Atalanta was originally considered the slayer of the
boar, but, as Argive influence was extended over Arcadia, her role was taken over
by the Argive hero; see Bmer on Ov. met. 9, 192.
1

In Sitzen-Berichte der Akademie zu Wissenschaften zu Berlin (1925), p. 219 ( = Kleine Schriften 5, 2,

p. 92).

174

Martial refers to the Erymanthian boar also in epigr. 28, 4 (Maenalium

aprum; cf. 5, 65, 10), and in 11, 69, 10 ([aper] quantus erat , Erymanthe, tuus);
cf. Verg. Aen. 6, 802 f.; Eleg. in Maecen. 1, 72; Ov. epist. 9, 87; met. 9, 192; Sen.
Herc. f. 222; Sil. 3, 38; Val. Fl. 1, 374; 2, 495; Stat. Theb. 4, 298; silv. 4, 6, 101 f.
terga leonis: metonymy for the lion skin; compare Ov. ars 1, 68 cum sol Herculei terga leonis adit; fast. 2, 77; hal. 71; Lucan. 4, 612; cf. also Verg. Aen. 5,
351; Ov. met. 6, 123; Sil. 16, 450; Stat. Theb. 9, 589; OLD, s.v. tergum 7; 9, 43, 1
porrecto leone with note. It is elsewhere referred to as spolium leonis (Ov.
epist. 9, 113; met. 3, 81; 9, 113; fast. 2, 325; 5, 393); Nemeaeum vellus (Ov. met.
9, 235); Nemeaeum tegmen (Stat. silv. 4, 6, 58).
The Nemean lion is first mentioned by Hesiod (theog. 327), but more important for the later concept of the story are the accounts of Callimachus (cf. note on
9, 43, 13) and Apollodorus (2, 75). It dwelt in a pass on Mt. Tretos (in the Apesas
mountains) between Nemea and Cleonae in Argolis, in a cave with two exits;
blocking one, Hercules entered through the other and strangled the lion with his
bare hands (Ov. epist. 9, 61; met. 9, 197 his lacertis), the only way to kill the
beast, which was rendered invulnerable by its skin (Ps. Theocrit. 25). The hero
carried the corpse to Cleonae and thence to Mycenae, where, however, Eurystheus, terrified at the deed, denied him entrance, communicating with him only
through the herald Copreus while hiding himself in a subterranean barrel which
he had built as a hide-out (cf. above). Hercules wore the lion skin ever after this,
the first of the athloi, with which the story of Molorchus is also connected; see
note on 9, 43, 13; Gruppe, op. cit., 1028 ff.
The killing of the Nemean lion, its skin being a standard attribute of Hercules,
and its metamorphosis into a constellation (through the agency of Zeus; cf. note
on 9, 71, 7) is the athlon most often referred to by the poets. Martial compares it
to the lions of Titus and Domitians arena in epigr. 6b, 1; 28, 3; 5, 65, 2 and 9
and refers to the constellation in 4, 57, 5; 4, 60, 2; 5, 71, 3; 9, 71, 7; cf. Lucr. 5,
24 f.; Verg. Aen. 8, 295; Eleg. in Maecen. 1, 72; Ov. epist. 9, 61; met. 9, 197;
Lucan. 1, 655; 4, 612; Sil. 2, 483; 3, 33 f.; Val. Fl. 1, 34; 3, 511; 8, 125 f.; often
referred to by Statius, Theb. 1, 487; 2, 378; 4, 646 f.; 4, 832; 6, 368; 6, 837; 11,
47; silv. 1, 3, 6; 3, 1, 30; 143; 182; 4, 4, 28; 4, 6, 41; 5, 2, 48 f.
7. aeripedem ... cervum: a deer sacred to Artemis, which roamed the forests of
Arcadia (on Mt. Ceryneia, Apollod. 2, 81 [cf. Serv. Aen. 6, 802 Cerynitin cervam]; Mt. Parthenius, Ov. met. 9, 188; Mt. Maenalus, Sen. Herc. f. 222; Herc. O.
17; 1886; cerva Parrhasis Ag. 831). The animal is usually presented as female,
although it had golden horns, a fact which was already considered inconsistent by
ancient authors and may perhaps account for its occasionally appearing, as here,
as male; cf. Sil. 3, 39; Gruppe, op. cit., 1037 ff.; PrellerRobert, op. cit., pp. 448
ff. Hercules task was to catch it alive and bring it to Eurystheus in Mycenae, the
difficulty being the speed of the animal, which kept the hero chasing it for a year
before he was able to catch it, wounding it slightly with an arrow. Artemis reproaches him with having tried to kill the hind and wants to prevent him from
bringing it to Mycenae, but, as she learns of his having acted by order of Eurystheus, she blames the king and lets Hercules fulfil his task.
175

The adjective aeripes first appears in Verg. Aen. 6, 802 aeripedem cervam
and was used of the same hind/stag also by Sil. 3, 39 aeripedis ... cervi; elsewhere, it is applied only to the brazen-footed bulls at Colchis (Ov. met. 7, 105;
Val. Fl. 7, 545; Hygin. fab. 22, 2). Later, it was used, obviously following Martial
(note the gender), by Auson. 13, 24, 4 Prete aeripedis ... cervi; cf. 18, 14 (Prete)
aeripedes ... cervi. As there is no account ascribing brazen hoofs to the hind/stag,
the adjective would convey the same sense as its Greek model
(cf.
LSJ, s.v.), alluding to the strength of its hoofs and its indefatigability, which
seems more plausible than Servius explanation of aeripedem in Verg. Aen. 6,
802 as aripedem.
FDONSRXM

Stymphalidas: the birds living in the forests surrounding Lake Stymphalus in

Arcadia, the expulsion of which usually counts as the fourth of the Labours. These
birds were originally considered harmless and troublesome only because they, in
great numbers, devoured the crops (Apollod. 2, 92; Diod. 4, 13, 2). In the story of
the Argonauts, however, they appear as wardens of Ares, firing their arrow-like
feathers at men (Eur. fr. 838; Apollon. 2, 382 ff.; 1036 ff.; Hyg. fab. 20; 30, 6; cf.
Serv. Aen. 8, 299), the most repulsive concept being that of Pausanias (8, 22, 4),
who presents the Stymphalian birds as man-eating birds of prey.
When the Latin poets mention anything at all about the way in which Hercules
accomplished this task, they usually agree with Pausanias (loc. cit.) that he shot
the birds with his arrows; thus Catull. 68, 113; Sen. Ag. 849 ff.; Herc. O. 17;
1236 f.; 1650; Med. 783; Hyg. fab. 30, 6. There are also occasional references to
the version according to which Hercules scared the birds away with a brazen rattle
made by Hephaestus; cf. Petron. 136, 6; Stat. Theb. 4, 298.
In saying Stymphalidas astris detulit, Martial is clearly inspired by Sen. Herc.
O. 1236 f. tensus hac arcus manu | astris ab ipsis detulit Stymphalidas? He may
also be influenced by an idea recurring in Seneca but not found elsewhere, that the
birds darkened the sky with their wings; cf. Sen. Herc. f. 243 f. solitasque pinnis
condere obductis diem | petit ab ipsis nubibus Stymphalidas; Phoen. 422 f. quae
Sphinx vel atra nube subtexens diem | Stymphalis avidis praepetem pinnis feret?
The Stymphalian birds are mentioned also in Plaut. Pers. 4; Lucr. 5, 30; Ov. met.
9, 187; and Stat. silv. 4, 6, 101.
8. cum cane: the story of how Hercules, as the last of the Twelve Labours, fetched
Cerberus from Hades appears already in the Iliad (8, 362 ff.) and the Odyssey (11,
624), where he achieves it with the aid of Hermes and Athena; the most detailed
account in Greek is that of Apollodorus (2, 122 ff.), according to whom Hercules
was allowed by Pluto to bring Cerberus with him, should he be able to overcome
him without weapons. Having accomplished this by taking a stranglehold on the
dog, he led him by a chain before Eurystheus and afterwards brought him back to
Hades.
However, the fullest extant treatment of Hercules capture of Cerberus
(Fitch, op. cit., p. 317) is to be found in Sen. Herc. f. 762827. While Senecas
version differs in several ways from that of Apollodorus, the main difference is
that Hercules does not ask leave of Pluto but attacks Cerberus with his club, covering himself with a shield and protected by the lion skin. As the dog yields, Pluto
176

and Proserpina in fear bid Hercules lead the dog away (see further Fitch, op. cit.,
pp. 317 ff.).
Martial mentions Hercules encounter with Cerberus also in 9, 65, 12
(Tartareum ... canem), and Cerberus alone in 5, 34, 4 (ora ... Tartarei prodigiosa
canis), refraining from mentioning his three heads, a feature otherwise usually
emphasized; cf., for example, Verg. Aen. 6, 417 f.; Prop. 4, 7, 52; Tibull. 3, 4, 88;
Ov. ars 3, 322; trist. 4, 7, 16; Sen. Herc. f. 784.
The expression cum cane appears only in the pentameter of Ovid and Martial
and always with the same placing as here; cf. Ov. ars 2, 484; Nux 118; Mart. 1,
92, 10; 13, 1, 6; 14, 81, 2.
Stygia ... aqua: cf. 4, 73, 2 with the same placing; also Prop. 2, 9a, 26; Tib. 1,
10, 36; Ov. trist. 4, 5, 22; Pont. 4, 9, 74; Epiced. Drusi 410; 432. The expression
as such is Vergilian: Aen. 6, 374; cf. Culex 240; Ov. met. 3, 505; fast. 5, 250;
Pont. 1, 3, 20; 2, 3, 44.
9. fecundam ... hydram: obviously influenced by Ov. epist. 9, 95 redundabat
fecundo vulnere serpens; met. 9, 70 vulneribus fecunda suis (sc. Lernaea
echidna); Sen. Herc. f. 781 fecunda mergit capita Lernaeus labor; Ag. 835 morte
fecundum domuit draconem; Herc. O. 1292 f. non cum per artus hydra fecundum
meos | caput explicaret.
First mentioned by Hesiod in theog. 313 f. (then, for example, Soph. Trach.
1094; Eur. Herc. 419 f.; Apollod. 2, 77 ff.; Hygin. fab. 30; 151), the Hydra was a
poisonous, many-headed water-snake, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna and
dwelling beneath a plane by a spring at Lerna. Opinions about the number of her
heads vary from nine (Alc. frg. 118) through fifty (Simon. frg. 203; Verg. Aen. 6,
576) to one hundred, the latter being the commoner (Eur. Herc. 1190; Diod. 4, 11,
5; Verg. Aen. 7, 658; Ov. met. 9, 71; Sil. 2, 158; Sen. Herc. O. 1534 f.). Sometimes, they are mentioned simply as innumerable (for example, Eur. Herc. 419
; Verg. Aen. 8, 300 Lernaeus turba capitum circumstetit anguis;
Sen. epist. 113, 9 hydrae multa habentis capita). The middle head was immortal
(Apollod. 2, 77).
Having driven the monster out of her den by means of burning arrows, Hercules tried to kill each of her heads with his club; this, however, was in vain, because, as soon as one head was struck off, two new heads grew forth in its place
(Apollod. loc. cit.; Ov. epist. 9, 95; Lucan. 4, 635; Sen. Ag. 835 f.; Serv. Aen. 6,
287 mentions three heads). To prevent the constant regrowth, the hero ordered his
driver Iolaus to set the surrounding forest on fire, so that the blood of the fresh
wounds would dry, making it impossible for new heads to grow. Having thus
killed the mortal heads, he buried the immortal head and rolled a heavy block of
stone over it.
The recurring notion that Hercules steeped his arrows in the poison of the Hydra (Soph. Trach. 574; 714 f.; Eur. Herc. 423; Ov. epist. 9, 115; met. 9, 130; fast.
5, 405; Sen. Herc. f. 1195 f.; Med. 784; Herc. O. 905) is presumably not primary
but rather belongs to the story of Deianeira (cf. note on 9, 64, 7; PrellerRobert,
op. cit., p. 447; Gruppe, op. cit., 1035).
PXULNUDQRM

177

The Hydra appears often in the Latin poets. Martial mentions her also in epigr.
28, 5; 5, 65, 13 f. (compared to the crocodiles of Domitians arena); 14, 177. Cf.
also Verg. Aen. 6, 287 f.; 803 Hor. carm. 4, 4, 61 (hydra secto corpore firmior);
epist. 2, 1, 10; Eleg. in Maecen. 1, 83 (renascentem ... hydram); Prop. 2, 24b, 25
(Lernaeas ... hydras); Ov. met. 9, 74 (crescentem malo); 192 f. (nec profuit hydrae | crescere per damnum geminasque resumere vires); Lucan. 9, 644; Sen.
Herc. f. 46; 222; 241 f. (saeva Lernae monstra, numerosum malum); Med. 701;
Herc. O. 19; 94; 284; 851 et passim; Val. Fl. 1, 35; 2, 496; 3, 228; 3, 511; 7, 623;
Sil. 2, 158 f.; 3, 32 f.; 6, 182 f.; Stat. Theb. 1, 360; 385; 2, 376 f.; 4, 169; 5, 443;
9, 341; silv. 2, 1, 181; 3, 1, 29; 5, 3, 280.
vetuit reparari mortibus: cf. Sen. Med. 702 serpens caede se reparans sua;
Lucan. 4, 635 desectam timuit reparatis anguibus hydram.
10. Hesperias Tusco lavit in amne boves: Verg. Aen. 7, 663 Tyrrhenoque boves
in flumine lavit Hiberas; cf. 9, 61, 4 Hesperium pecus. The cattle of the threeheaded or three-torsoed monster Geryon (as he is usually represented in Roman
art and literature1) were grazing on the island of Erytheia (cf. Ov. fast. 1, 543
boves ... Erytheidas; 5, 649 Erytheida praedam) in the far west, beyond the
Ocean. To get to the island, Hercules betook himself to western Spain (Tartessus,
Apollod. 2, 107; cf. note on 9, 61, 1), whence he crossed the Ocean in the goblet
of the Sun; once on Erytheia, he was attacked by Orthos, the dog of Geryon, and
slew him, as well as the herdsman Eurythion, who came to the dogs aid. When
he then tried to abduct the herd, he was detected by Menoetes, herdsman of Hades,
who informed Geryon of Hercules venture. Geryon wanted to prevent the abduction of the cattle but was shot dead by Hercules, who then embarked the herd in
the goblet and sailed back to Tartessus.
Martial mentions Geryon twice, in a joke on a person who had hair on both
sides of his head but nothing on the top, thus appearing threefold (5, 49, 11
talem Geryonem fuisse credo), and in 5, 65, 11 f., comparing him to one of
Domitians gladiators (Reddatur si pugna triplex pastoris Hiberi, | est tibi qui
possit vincere Geryonen). His use of Hiberus shows that he concurs with the view
generally adopted by Latin poets, that Geryon lived in Spain; cf. Verg. Aen. 7,
663 quoted above; Ov. epist. 9, 91 f. armenti dives Hiberi | Geryones; met. 9,
184 pastoris Hiberi; Sen. Herc. f. 231 ff.; Herc. O. 1205 Hibera ... turba pastoris
feri; Sil. 16, 194 Herculeas Erythia ad litora Gades, Stat. silv. 4, 6, 102 pecoris
possessor Hiberi. This placing, which appears first in a fragment of Stesichoros in
Strabo 3, 2, 11, arose as a consequence of the Greeks gaining a firmer knowledge
1

PrellerRobert, op. cit., p. 446, n. 1. His three upper bodies are explicitly referred to in Lucr. 5, 28
tripectora tergemini vis Geryonai; Verg. Aen. 6, 289 forma tricorporis umbrae (with Austins note); Sil.
3, 422 Geryonae ... longa tricorporis arva; in 13, 200205, he is said to have fought with three different
weapons in each of his three right hands: qualis Atlantiaco memoratur litore quondam | monstrum Geryones immane tricorporis irae, | cui tres in pugna dextrae varia arma gerebant: | una ignes saevos, ast
altera pone sagittas | fundebat, validam torquebat tertia cornum, | atque uno diversa dabat tria vulnera
nisu. He is mentioned simply as threefold etc. in Mart. 5, 65, 11 pugna triplex pastoris Hiberi; Verg.
Aen. 8, 202 tergemini ... Geryonae; Hor. carm. 2, 14, 7 f. ter amplum | Geryonen; Ov. epist. 9, 91
prodigium ... triplex; met. 9, 184 f. pastoris Hiberi | forma triplex; Sen. Herc. f. 487 nec unus ... Geryon;
Ag. 481 Geryonae ... triformis.

178

of the western Mediterranean, occasioning the identification of Erytheia with an

islet off the coast of Gades (for example, Herodot. 4, 8; cf. Plin. nat. 4, 119 f.); see
Drexler in Roscher, s.v. Geryoneus, 1634 ff. Geryon is mentioned also in Prop. 3,
22, 8; Sen. Herc. f. 1170; Herc. O. 26; 1900; Sil. 1, 277.
The long journey driving the herd back to Eurystheus has become a virtual
hotbed of secondary adventures, usually involving attempts by various robbers to
steal the cattle. Among these stories is that of Cacus, which is alluded to here.1 It
is told by Livy in 1, 7, 57, who presents Cacus as a herdsman living by the Palatine, but the narrative by Evander in Verg. Aen. 8, 184279 had the greater impact. According to Vergil, Cacus was a cruel monster (semihomo Aen. 8, 194;
semiferus ibid. 267), a son of Vulcan living in a cave on the Aventine, who stole
four bulls and four heifers from Hercules and dragged them backwards by the tail
into his cave. Revealed by the lowing of the cattle, Cacus fled but was caught by
Hercules and throttled.
Martial mentions Cacus also in 5, 65, 5, as silvarum tremor (cf. Ov. fast. 1,
551), and thus, like the other poets, follows Vergil in making him a monster. The
model of the expression Tusco lavit in amne is also to be found in Vergil, Aen. 7,
663 quoted above (where Tyrrhenus, Gr.
, = Tuscus); in Aen. 8, 204,
Vergil says that vallemque boves amnemque tenebant as Hercules journeyed
through the area, and the Tiber plays a role also in Livys account, which says that
the hero rested himself and the cattle prope Tiberim fluvium, qua prae se armentum agens nando traiecerat, loco herbido (1, 7, 5). Thus, lavit in amne does not
imply that he actually washed the cattle in the Tiber, but merely that he traversed
it, driving the herd before him.
The story of Cacus, an entirely Roman contribution to the legends of Hercules,2 had special relevance for Latin authors not only because it took place in
Rome, but also because Hercules,3 according to the traditional legend, after slaying Cacus, erected the Ara Maxima on the Forum Boarium, the earliest cult-centre of Hercules in Rome; see Prop. 4, 9; Ov, fast. fast. 1, 543582; cf. fast. 5, 648
f.; 6, 81 f.; Ib. 490; Stat. silv. 2, 3, 12 f. belligerum Iani nemus atraque Caci |
rura; Iuv. 5, 125 duceris planta velut ictus ab Hercule Cacus.
7XUUKQM

Tusco ... in amne: Tuscus amnis of the Tiber is a Vergilian coinage: Aen. 8,
473; 10, 199; 11, 316; also Hor. carm. 2, 2, 33; Ov. ars 3, 386; fast. 1, 233; Sil. 8,
362 f.
11. minor ... maior: cf. 9, 64, 6.

Martial mentions another of these adventures, the wrestling with Eryx on Sicily, in 5, 65, 4. The startling
detour which Hercules made for these adventures erklrt sich aus dem Bestreben, die verschiedenen
rtlichen berlieferungen ber das Abenteuer und gelegentlich auch andere Sagen mit der herrschend
gewordenen Ansetzung des Geryones in Spanien auszugleichen (Gruppe, op. cit., 1063).
2
Cacus was originally a local Roman deity, who, according to a folk-tale, had been robbed of his cattle by a
deceitful guest. This tale was conglomerated with Greek stories exposing Heracles to robbers while driving
the cattle from Spain to Greece (cf. PrellerRobert, op. cit., p. 474), Cacus was turned into the culprit and
his name derived from Gr. NDNM; see Fordyce, loc. cit.; J. P. Small, Cacus and Marsyas in EtruscoRoman Legend, Princeton 1982.
3
Or Evander in honour of Hercules; thus Liv. 1, 7, 11; Tac. ann. 15, 41.

179

12. sextus ... lapis: the sixth milestone or 9 km from Alba; in 9, 64, 4, the site of
the temple is given by milestones from Rome (octavum marmor).
Albana ... arce: Domitians Alban villa (see 9, 23 intro.) is referred to invidiously as Albana arx by Iuv. 4, 145 and Tac. Agr. 45, 1 (with R. M. Ogilvie & C.
T. Richmond, Corneli Taciti De vita Agricolae, Oxford 1967, ad loc.); Dio compares it to WLQ NUSROLQ (67, 2), but, as it was situated on a mountain and also
incorporated parts of the ancient fortress, it may be thus referred to also without
any insinuation; cf. Liv. 1, 6, 1; 7, 24, 9; Sil. 6, 598; CIL 6, 2172; 14, 2947.
13. Adseruit possessa malis Palatia regnis: with Vespasian and Titus away,
Domitian was the only member of Vespasians family, apart from his brother
Flavius Sabinus, to be present in Rome during the last months of the year 69,
when Vitellius (who exercised the mala regna here mentioned) was overthrown.
Nonetheless, he played no known part in the Flavian victory brought about by
Antonius Primus (see note on 9, 99, 1 Marcus ... Antonius). On December 19th,
he made his famous escape from the Capitol, where his uncle Sabinus had entrenched himself and his family against the Vitellian besiegers, in the guise of a
worshipper of Isis and hid himself near the Velabrum, in the house of Cornelius
Primus, a client of Vespasians (Tac. hist. 3, 74).1 There, he remained in hiding
until the evening of December 20th, when he revealed himself to the victorious
Flavian forces and was hailed as Caesar and escorted to his paternal home on the
Quirinal (ibid. 3, 86). Domitians role in these events was thus rather insignificant, but it was unabashedly magnified by the poets; cf. Sil. 3, 607 ff. Nec te (sc.
Domitian) terruerint Tarpei culminis ignes: | sacrilegas inter flammas servabere
terris. | Nam te longa manent nostri consortia mundi and the following line with
note, references which are literary excesses at best (Jones, Domitian, p. 17).
14. prima suo gessit pro Iove bella puer: the temple of Iuppiter Optimus Maximus was destroyed by the Vitellians on the occasion referred to in the preceding
note (Suet. Vit. 15, 3, Dom. 1, 2). It was rebuilt by Vespasian, burned down again
in 80 and was restored by Domitian (see note on 9, 3, 7). Similar references are to
be found in Stat. Theb. 1, 21 f. defensa prius vix pubescentibus annis | bella Iovis;
silv. 1, 1, 79 tu bella Iovis (vincis; cf. Vollmer, ad loc.).2 Thus, Statius does not go
as far as Martial in exaggerating his youth (Domitian was after all eighteen years
old in 69), and perhaps Martial felt impelled to overdo it to make him match or
even surpass Hercules also in this respect; the hero had, at the age of eight
months, slain the serpents sent by Hera (Apollod. 2, 62) and was eighteen when
he killed the lion of Cithaeron (ibid. 2, 65). Note, however, that Martial mentions
him as puer also in 2, 2, 4 (et puer hic dignus nomine [sc. Germanico], Caesar,

1
According to Suetonius account (Dom. 1, 2), Domitian remained on the Capitol, in the house of a temple
attendant (credited with the idea of the disguise also by Tacitus), and made his escape on the morning of the
20th, hiding trans Tiberim in the house of the mother of a school friend; see Jones, Domitian, p. 14 and H.
Heubner, P. Cornelius Tacitus, Die Historien, vol. 3, Heidelberg 1972, pp. 153 f.
2
However, when Statius in silv. 5, 3, 195 ff. speaks of his fathers poem on the civil war, the ultor deorum
Caesar mentioned (silv. 5, 3, 199 f.) is obviously Vespasian (see Hardie, pp. 12 f.; cf. p. 45).

180

eras), referring to the campaign of the year 70 against the Batavians, as does
Silius (below).
15 f. solus Iuleas cum iam retineret habenas | tradidit: Domitian was indeed
called Caesar after the Flavian victory in 69 (see note on line 13 above) and
moved into the imperial residence, but supreme power was with Vespasians generals, first with Marcus Antonius (Tac. hist. 4, 2: Nomen sedemque Caesaris
Domitianus acceperat ... Praefectura praetorii penes Arrium Varum, summa
potentiae in Primo Antonio), then with Mucianus (cf. note on 9, 99, 1; cf. Tac.
Agr. 7, 2), until Vespasian hurried to Rome about the September of 70, according
to Suetonius (Dom. 2, 1) to reprimand Domitian for having, together with Mucianus, undertaken an (as it proved) unnecessary campaign to reinforce the legions
sent to suppress an uprising among the Batavian auxiliaries of the Rhine legions
(which made Silius [3, 608] hail him as iam puer auricomo praeformidate
Batavo), but perhaps rather to reduce the influence of Mucianus.1 In the words of
Jones (Domitian, p. 15), Mucianus was at the helm, Domitian the figurehead.
Habenae is the usual topos of the reins of the state; cf. 6, 3, 2 nascere,
magne puer: | cui pater aeternas post saecula tradat habenas (of Domitians
unborn son); occasional instances in Cicero, commonly used since Verg. Aen. 7,
600; cf., for example, Sil. 1, 144; 2, 292; 10, 282; 17, 175 rerum ... habenas; Ov.
met. 15, 481 populi Latialis habenas (with Bmer); Sil. 11, 50 patriae ... habenas; 13, 34 Latiae ... habenae; TLL, s.v. 2393, 80 ff.
The adjective (SJCSQ (of Iulus, son of Aeneas) was coined by Propertius (4, 6,
17) and was subsequently used only by Ovid (fast. 4, 124; 5, 564; 6, 797; Pont. 1,
1, 46; 2, 5, 49), Lucan (1, 197; 9, 995) and Martial (see note on 9, 35, 9). The
instances in Martial are the only ones not to allude to the Julian family, who
claimed descent from Iulus (cf., for example, Verg. Aen. 1, 288); while the instances in 9, 35, 9 and 13, 109 refer to Alba, founded by Iulus, the present instance stands out, conveying not simply the meaning of Julian, but rather of
imperial.
16. inque suo tertius orbe fuit: Martial insinuates that the empire belonged to
Domitian, apparently because of his presence in the capital at the time of the victory, but by the words suo ... orbe, Martial may also have wanted to instil a feeling
that it actually did so by divine right. In reality, it was, of course, obvious that his
elder brother Titus was to succeed his father; their relative status was evident in
Vespasians disposition of consulships, according to which Vespasian himself
always had two consulships more than Titus, and Titus one more than Domitian.2
For the ending, cf. 7, 63, 10; Ov. ars 1, 56; fast. 1, 284.
17. Sarmatici ... Histri: originally Hister (or Ister, Gr. s,VWURM) was the name
used by the Greeks for the lower Danube, while Danuvius (Danubius) was the
Celtic name designating the upper river (cf. Ov. Pont. 1, 8, 11 and Stat. silv. 5, 1,
1

Jones, op. cit., pp. 16 f.

In 76, for example, Vespasian was consul for the seventh time, Titus for the fifth and Domitian for the
fourth (Jones, op. cit., pp. 18 f.).

181

90 binominis Hister; see Forcellini, Onomast., s.v. Danubius 459). The former
name is much preferred by the poets to the more prosaic Danuvius, which appears
only once in Horace and twice each in Ovid and Valerius Flaccus (while Hister is
used twenty-seven times by Ovid). It is not elsewhere qualified as Sarmaticus, but
rather as Scythicus; thus Ov. trist. 5, 1, 21; Lucan. 2, 50; Val. Fl. 8, 185 (cf. Serv.
georg. 3, 349 Hister fluvius est Scythiae, qui et Danubius nominatur); there is,
however, no contradiction in this; cf. Plin 4, 81 Scytharum nomen usquequaque
transi<i>t in Sarmatas atque Germanos; Sen. nat. 1 praef. Danuvius Sarmatica
ac Romana disterminet; Sil. 3, 616 f. idem (sc. Domitianus) indignantem tramittere Dardana signa | Sarmaticis victor compescet sedibus Histrum.
Rivers, or river-gods, are often used metonymically for those living on them;
cf., for example, Ov. fast. 1, 286 f. pax erat, et vestri, Germanice, causa triumphi,
| tradiderat famulas iam tibi Rhenus aquas; Stat silv. 1, 4, 89 Rhenumque rebellem; frequently in Martial, 2, 2, 3 domito ... Rheno; 4, 11, 7 f. promisit Rhenus
quod non dedit ... | Nilus; 5, 3, 2 famulis Histri ... aquis; 7, 80, 11 captivo ... Histro; 7, 84, 3 Histrum ... iacentem; 8, 2, 2 Victorem ... Histri; 9, 1, 3; 9, 5, 1; Forcellini, Onomast., s.v. Ister 810.
The three crushings of the Danube allude, in all probability, to Domitians
campaigns against the Dacians in 8586 and 8689 (see note on 9, 35, 5 ducis
Daci) and against the Sarmatians in 9293 (Second Pannonian War, see the introduction, vol. 1, pp. 26 f.; note on 9, 35, 4 Sarmaticamque), mentioned also by
Suetonius (Dom. 6, 1): unam (sc. expeditionem) in Sarmatas legione cum legato
simul caesa; in Dacos duas, primam Oppio Sabino consulari oppresso, secundam
Cornelio Fusco praefecto cohortium praetorianarum. In his invocation to
Domitian in the opening of the Thebaid, Statius alludes to the Dacian campaigns
in similar words: bis adactum legibus Histrum | et coniurato deiectos vertice
Dacos (Theb. 1, 19 f.); the fact that Statius mentions only two Danubian victories
has been used as an argument for the publication of the Thebaid prior to 92.1 The
campaigns against the Dacians were both followed by a triumph, the first in the
spring of 86, the second, a double triumph over the Chatti and the Dacians, in
November 89.2 However, the Second Pannonian War was not a success, and
Domitian abstained from celebrating a triumph, being content with an ovation (in
January 93; see below).
cornua ... perfida: meant to recall Hercules wrestling with the river-god
Achelous for Deianeira, in which the hero broke off one of Achelous horns
(PrellerRobert, op. cit., pp. 570 ff.). River-gods are usually, on Greek pattern,
presented as having horns; Fest. p. 363 Taurorum specie simulacra fluminum, id
est cum cornibus, formantur, quod sunt atrocia ut tauri; Porph. Hor. carm. 4, 14,
25 Omnium fluminum genii taurino vultu, etiam cum cornibus, pinguntur propter
impetus et fremitus ipsarum aquarum; TLL, s.v. cornu 966, 70 ff.; Bmer on Ov.
fast. 3, 647. Defeated rivers are sometimes depicted with shattered horns; thus 7,
7, 3 Fractusque cornu iam ter inprobo Rhenus; Ov. trist. 4, 2, 41 f. cornibus hic
fractis viridi male tectus ab ulva | decolor ipse suo sanguine Rhenus erat; when,
1
2

L. Legras, Les dernires annes de Stace, REA 9 (1907), pp. 338 f.

Jones, op. cit., pp. 139 and 151 respectively.

182

under Trajan, the Rhine was at peace, Martial mentions it as cornibus aureis
receptis (10, 7, 6). Both in the present instance and in 7, 7, 3, Martial has applied
the adjectives (perfidus and improbus) to the horns rather than to the river (or the
inhabitants on its banks), as a kind of hypallage.
Enemies of the Romans are often characterized as perfidi; thus of the Sarmatians also in 7, 7, 4. Proverbially perfidious were the Carthaginians (for example,
4, 14, 3 f.; 6, 19, 6; Hor. carm. 4, 4, 49; Ov. fast. 3, 148; Sil. 11, 96) and the
Punica fides (Sall. Iug. 108, 3) a household word (cf. Otto, s.v. Punicus, p. 291).
For the Germans, cf. Ov. trist. 4, 2, 33; Pont. 3, 4, 97; TLL, s.v. 1390, 44 ff.
18. sudantem Getica ter nive lavit equum: alluding to the same campaigns as
the preceding line. For Geticus with reference to Dacia, see note on 9, 45, 12. It
appears in close connection with Sarmaticus also in 7, 2, 1 and 7, 80, 7 f. (cf. Ov.
trist. 5, 7, 13; 5, 12, 58; Pont. 3, 12, 40; Ib. 637) and is applied to the Hister in 7,
84, 3 (cf. Ov. Pont. 4, 7, 19 f.).
For the ending, cf. Prop. 2, 18b, 10; 4, 10, 38.
19. saepe recusatos ... triumphos: Domitian celebrated only three triumphs: apart
from the two of 86 and 89 mentioned above, also one over the Chatti in 83. Saepe
recusatos is a poetical exaggeration, alluding to Domitians declining a triumph
over the Sarmatians in 93 (above), celebrating only an ovation; see the introduction, vol. 1, pp. 26 f.
The opening of the line is influenced by Ov. trist. 4, 2, 36 and Pont. 4, 13, 28.
For the ending, cf. Ov. met. 15, 757; Lucan. 10, 154; Sil. 5, 115; Stat. Theb. 9,
579; silv. 4, 4, 73.
parcus duxisse: parcus (here with a concessive notion) with the infinitive only
here and in Sil. 1, 680 parcusque lacessere Martem; 8, 462 haud parci Martem
coluisse Tudertes (TLL, s.v. 344, 29 ff.). The adnominal infinitive is essentially a
poetic Graecism first used by Lucil. fragm. 416 f. Krenkel solvere nulli | lentus
and largely developed by the Augustan poets, whence it found its way also into
prose (for example, Sen. contr. 9, 1, 6). For some adjectives, the construction of
the corresponding verb with the infinitive may have simplified the process, as
with parcus (cf. parco + inf.), avidus (Verg. Aen. 1, 514; Ov. met. 5, 75 with
Bmer), cupidus, etc. (see HofmannSzantyr, 192 a, p. 350).
20. Hyperboreo ... orbe: here with allusion to Germania north of the Rhine,
where lived the Chatti, over whom Domitian celebrated a triumph in 83; on the
same occasion, he adopted the honorary title Germanicus (the nomen here mentioned); see the introduction, vol. 1, p. 25.
For the adjective Hyperboreus, see note on 9, 45, 12.
nomen ab orbe tulit: see note on 9, 93, 8 and cf. Ov. trist. 2, 118 grande
tamen toto nomen ab orbe fero.
21. templa deis: in the years between the early sixties and Domitians accession
to the throne, the face of Rome had suffered greatly from the two great fires of 64
183

and 80, and not least from the civil war. Restoration was necessary, and it was
executed mainly by Domitian; in addition, he also erected a number of public
buildings and completed some begun by his predecessors in what has been described as a massive and spectacular programme of public building equalled by
hardly any other emperor,1 part of which is reflected in Martials epigrams.
Thus, this side of the emperor was one that the poets could hardly exaggerate.
Apart from the Templum gentis Flaviae (cf. 9, 1 intro.) and the temple of Hercules on the Appian Way, the temples erected by Domitian include, on the Campus Martius, the Templum Divorum (a porticus with two aedes for Titus and Vespasian respectively), the temple of Fortuna Redux, built on his return from the
Danube in 93 (cf. 8, 65), and probably also a temple to Minerva Chalcidicia (see
note on 9, 3, 10 Pallada). On the Forum Transitorium, he built a temple to Ianus
Quadrifrons (cf. 10, 28) and, on the Capitol, on the site of the house where he hid
from the Vitellians in 69, a temple to Iuppiter Custos, originally erected as a
sacellum to Iuppiter Conservator, but enlarged upon his accession (note on 9, 3,
7).
On the Forum, Domitian restored the temple of the Dioscuri (note on 9, 3, 11
piosque Laconas) and obviously also a Templum Minervae (ibid. 10 Pallada), on
the Palatine the temple of Divus Augustus, which had burned down before 79, the
Iseum and Serapeum on the Campus Martius (2, 14, 7; 10, 48, 1), the Templum
Pacis on the Forum Pacis (1, 2, 8), obviously the temple of Apollo on the Palatine
(note on 9, 3, 11) and, on the Capitol, the temples of Iuppiter Tonans and Veiovis
(presumably damaged in the fire of 80), the temple of Iuppiter Optimus Maximus,
which had been rebuilt by Vespasian after the destruction by the Vitellians in 69
but burned down again in 80 (note on 9, 3, 7), and probably also the temple of
Iuno Moneta on the Arx (note on 9, 3, 9 culminibus geminis). By January of 87,
Domitian had also completed the Templum Divi Vespasiani, begun by Titus, below the Capitol.2
mores populis: mores pregnantly for bonos mores; cf. note on 9, 28, 7. On
Domitians censorship, his prohibitions of castration and of the prostitution of
children and on his renewal of the Lex Iulia de adulteriis, see 9, 5 intro. Furthermore, Suetonius account in Dom. 8 of Domitians activity as a guardian of morals includes the restoration of their due seats in the theatre to the knights (referred
to by Martial in a number of epigrams in Books 5 and 6, not always in terms appropriate to the subject3), the prohibition of lampoons against prominent persons,
the expulsion of a member of the senate because of his gesticulandi saltandique
studio, a prohibition of the use of litters by prostitutes, who were also deprived of
the right to receive legacies, and the removal of a knight from the album of
iudices because he remarried a woman whom he had previously divorced and
charged with adultery. Under the Lex Scantinia (prohibiting intercourse with freeborn men), he condemned senators as well as knights and punished incestuous
Vestals varie ac severe.
1

Jones, op. cit., p. 79.

Jones, op. cit., pp. 87 ff.
Cf. J. Garthwaite, Martial, Book 6, On Domitians moral censorship, Prudentia 22 (1990), pp. 1322;
Grewing, pp. 31 ff.
2
3

184

It is clear that Domitian did not act by virtue of his censorship in all these
cases; the punishment of the Vestals even occured in 83, before he assumed censorial power (cf. Dio 67, 3, 3 f.), and those condemned under the Scantinian law
would have been tried by the quaestio perpetua or, perhaps more likely, by
Domitian himself, in which case it would have been a personal cognitio.1 But this
is of little consequence here; the important thing is that Domitian, like Augustus,
was seriously concerned with the morals of his people; perhaps he felt that the
people, like the buildings, were in need of restoration after the reigns of the later
Julio-Claudian emperors.
otia ferro: for Martials rendering of Domitian as a Prince of Peace, especially
in connection with the Second Pannonian War, see 9, 31 intro., note on 9, 70, 7 f.,
and the introduction, vol. 1, p. 27.
22. astra suis, caelo sidera: apotheosis and NDWDVWHULVPM, respectively, of
members of the Flavian family. Domitian himself deified three members of the
family, his brother Titus (presumably in late 812), his niece Julia (note on 9, 1, 7
divae Iuliae), and his child by Domitia, a son who had died probably some
years before Domitians accession (note on 9, 86, 7 f.); Vespasian had already
been deified by Titus, as had his daughter Domitilla (both probably in 793).
Astra is here used in a wide sense of the word and referring to the abode of the
gods (see note on 9, 65, 10), not to the deceased Flavians having become stars
themselves (proper NDWDVWHULVPM, referred to in the following caelo sidera; for
the distinction, cf. F. Bmer, ber die Himmelserscheinung nach dem Tode
Caesars, BJ 152 [1952], p. 39); cf. 14, 124, 2; Stat. silv. 3, 3, 138 ff. qui (sc.
Vespasian) nutu superas nunc temperat arces, | progeniem claram terris partitus
et astris (i.e. Domitian and Titus); 4, 2, 59 rata numina miseris astris (sc.
Domitian); of the Flavian family, Sil. 3, 594 f. exin se Curibus virtus caelestis ad
astra | efferet. Sauters assumption, that the stars should in some cases be understood as the actual Wohnsitz des konsekrierten Kaisers, must doubtlessly, at
least concerning Martial and Statius, be refuted; even for the Roman poets, it must
have been patently absurd to actually consider a deceased member of the imperial
family as auf dem Gestirn der Bren wohnend.4 The only divus clearly to be
brought into connection with a particular star is divus Iulius with the planet Venus, from which goddess he derived his origin; thus Prop. 4, 6, 59 f. at pater
Idalio miratur Caesar ab astro. Moreover, there are numerous instances of astra

See Bauman, pp. 121 f.; Jones, op. cit., pp. 106 f.
In the acta of the Arval brethren of October 1, 81 (CIL 6, 2060), Titus daughter Julia is called daughter
of Titus, and not daughter of the deified Titus, so he would not yet have been deified by that date. On
the other hand, Dio (67, 2) states that Domitian had Titus hastily enrolled among the divi, which suggests
a date in late 81; see Scott, pp. 61 ff.
3
Scott, pp. 40 and 45 ff.
4
Sauter, pp. 146 ff. Of the instances given there, 4, 3, 58 and 8, 53, 1516 clearly do not place either
Domitians deified son or Titus and Vespasian among the stars at all, whereas 14, 124, 2; 5, 65, 1 and 15 f.
are metonymies or combinations of metonymy and NDWDVWHULVPM. The latter is the case also in Stat. silv.
3, 3, 76 f.; 4, 2, 59; Ov. Pont. 4, 11, 129 f. probably NDWDVWHULVPM only.
2

185

used metonymically for the dwelling of the gods;1 especially the apotheosis of
Hercules, in which case there is no question of a catasterism (see Bmer on Ov.
fast. 2, 478), is frequently looked upon as a migration to the stars (note on 9, 65,
10).
In caelo sidera, the sidera are the deified Flavians and the words thus refer to
proper NDWDVWHULVPM; cf. Stat. Theb. 1, 30 f. maneas hominum contentus habenis, | ... et sidera dones; silv. 1, 1, 97 f. ibit in amplexus natus fraterque paterque | et soror: una locum cervix dabit omnibus astris; 5, 1, 240 f. aeternae modo
qui sacraria genti | condidit inque alio posuit sua sidera caelo (all with reference
to Domitian). Of Vespasian, Val. Fl. 1, 15, ff. ille (sc. Domitian) tibi cultusque
deum delubraque genti | instituet, cum iam, genitor, lucebis ab omni | parte poli.
References to NDWDVWHULVPM and apotheoses of deceased emperors or their
relatives are numerous in the poetry of the Empire, with a few instances also in
prose. While myth had exalted Aeneas and Romulus to the stars, Julius Caesar
was believed to have appeared as a star (or comet) at the Ludi Victoriae given by
Augustus in July of 44 (Plin. nat. 2, 93; Suet. div. Iul. 88; Dio 45, 7, 1); this
event, the catasterism of Caesar in general and the expected apotheosis of his
successor(s) were eagerly referred to by the Augustan poets, for example, Verg.
ecl. 9, 47 (with Serv. ecl. 9, 46); georg. 1, 29 f.; Aen. 1, 286 ff.; 3, 158 f. (Serv. ad
loc.); 9, 641 f. macte nova virtute, puer, sic itur ad astra, | dis genite et geniture
deos (Apollo to Iulus; cf. Sen. epist. 48, 11; 73, 15); Prop. 3, 18, 33; 4, 6, 59 f.;
Caesars catasterism is elaborately related by Ovid in met. 15, 840850; cf. 15,
746 ff.; 15, 838 f. (Bmer, ad locc. and pp. 451 ff.); fast. 3, 703; Pont. 4, 8, 63; 4,
11, 128 ff.; Curt. 10, 9, 3 (of Augustus or Caligula). Tiberius is compared to the
stars of Caesar and Augustus in Val. Max. praef. fin., and the coming catasterism
of Nero foretold by Lucan. 1, 45 f. (cum statione peracta | astra petes serus). In
the Panegyric of Trajan, whose reluctant attitude to such matters was notorious,
Pliny is at pains to explain the catasterism of Nerva: Tu sideribus patrem intulisti
non ad metum civium, non in contumeliam numinum, non in honorem tuum, sed
quia deum credis (paneg. 11, 2; cf. the comparison of the emperor with the stars
in 19, 1). For the frequent comparisons of the living emperor with the stars, see
Sauter, pp. 138 ff.
In the word caelum, there is perhaps a hidden allusion to the Templum Gentis
Flaviae (which may have had a starred ceiling; see 9, 1 intro.), as in Stat. silv. 5,
1, 241 quoted above; cf. also silv. 4, 3, 19, in which the temple is mentioned as
Flavium caelum.
serta Iovi: the Agon Capitolinus, instituted by Domitian in 86 in honour of
Iuppiter Capitolinus; the winner received a wreath of oak-leaves (see note on 9, 3,
8).
23. Herculeum numen non sufficit: the inevitable conclusion forestalled in
line 11 above. Herculeum numen also 4, 44, 6; Prop. 4, 7, 82; Ov. met. 15, 47; Sil.
1

There is abundant evidence for this metonymy regarding the Olympic gods; cf., for example, Octavia 768
(Iuppiter) quae regit et nunc deseret astra; Stat. Theb. 8, 765 astra subit (Minerva); silv. 5, 1, 102
nuntiat ex celsis ales Tegeaticus (sc. Mercurius) astris; TLL, s.v. astrum 972, 75 ff.

186



7, 50. The ending non sufficit

Ov. met. 8, 833; Manil. 2, 394; Lucan. 5, 356;
7, 368; 10, 456; a favourite especially with Juvenal: 9, 66; 10, 40; 10, 168; 14,
141; 14, 172; 15, 169.
24. deus hic: deus of Domitian, cf. 9, 28, 8; 65, 2; 66, 3; see the introduction, vol.
1, p. 33.
Tarpeio ... commodet ora patri: lend his features to the Tarpeian Sire, the
only god to equal Domitian. For this sense of commodo, see note on 9, 1, 2; for
Tarpeius pater of Jupiter, see note on 9, 1, 5. For the ending, cf. 8, 36, 10.

102
Quadringentorum reddis mihi, Phoebe, tabellas:
centum da potius mutua, Phoebe, mihi.
Quaere alium, cui te tam vano munere iactes:
quod tibi non possum solvere, Phoebe, meum est.
Phoebus returns a bill of 400,000 IIS, eager to appear as having done a commendable deed. However, as Phoebus is very much aware, the debt could not have been
repaid anyway; knowing this, Phoebus takes the opportunity of making an apparent loss of money into a seemingly most generous gift. But the debtor sees through
him and would rather have what Phoebus would presumably not grant: another
100,000 on loan, which, of course, he would be equally unable to repay. Such a
loan to someone obviously incapable of repayment would be a true gift.
The idea that it is not really a charitable deed to return a bill to someone who
never could pay anyway appears also in 8, 37, which is very similar to the present
epigram: Quod Caietano reddis, Polycharme, tabellas, | milia te centum num
tribuisse putas? | Debuit haec inquis. Tibi habe, Polycharme, tabellas | et
Caietano milia crede duo. For the (unfortunately not too convincing) idea that
that which one cannot pay is ones own, compare also 2, 3: Sexte, nihil debes, nil
debes, Sexte, fatemur. | Debet enim, si quis solvere, Sexte, potest. It is driven to
extremes in 8, 10: Bassus has bought a 10,000 IIS cloak on credit; yet he made a
good bargain, because he is not going to pay.
The inability of debtors to repay their debts is the principal theme of Martials
epigrams on money-lending. Money-lenders acted accordingly, very much aware
of the danger of losing their money altogether; their unwillingness to lend money
to persons of small means may have been very reasonable, if one is to believe the
insinuation in 6, 5, that loans were asked for with no intention of repayment (the
speaker has asked Caecilianus for a loan of 100,000 IIS; when Caecilianus does
not answer, he concludes: Tacitum te dicere credo | Non reddes: ideo,
Caeciliane, rogo). In any case, there was a reluctance to lend larger amounts of
money (4, 76), disbursement was delayed (6, 20; 6, 30) and loans refused altogether (2, 44). The situation is neatly summarized in 1, 75: Dimidium donare
Lino quam credere totum | qui mavolt, mavolt perdere dimidium.
187

While much of this may naturally be exaggerated, it still reflects the importance of a secure financial standing in Martials Rome, giving, as Grewing put it
(6, 5 intro.), einen deutlichen Eindruck von der finanziellen Not, in der sich der
einzelne zu seiner Zeit vielfach befindet. That the theme was based on actual
Roman circumstances is further demonstrated by the fact that it is virtually absent
in the Greek Anthology, which appears to contain only a couple of poems on
money-lending; cf. AP 11, 233 (Lucilius); 11, 346 (Automedon).
While professional money-lenders, the so-called feneratores, were always in
low repute, money-lending at interest was practised even by knights and senators
at an early date, although legal measures were taken against it (thus already in the
lex Genucia of 342 BC and later in the lex Claudia; see Blmner, Privataltertmer, pp. 649 ff.). To Seneca, it was obviously quite in order (cf. epist. 41, 7 in
homine quoque id laudandum est quod ipsius est. Familiam formonsam habet et
domum pulchram, multum serit, multum fenerat), and Pliny himself lent money at
interest (epist. 3, 19, 8; see Duncan-Jones, p. 21). The characters in Martial who
considered themselves as doing a great favour when remitting a debt are presumably to be understood as wealthy patrons; a professional fenerator would
never do such a thing. In either case, Martial shows little pity for their loss, convinced that they were quite capable of taking it: when a certain Paetus, having
recently suffered a loss of 200,000 which he had on loan to Bucco, asks the
speaker to pay back the 10,000 IIS he owes, he gets the reply: tu qui | bis centena
potes perdere, perde decem (11, 76, 3 f.). For the same reason, he considered it to
be more commendable for a debtor to be able to repay a debt of 150,000 IIS than
for a wealthy man to lend it (3, 41). Such an extreme view naturally had nothing
in common with the general opinion. To Seneca, for instance, it was quite obvious
that debts should be paid (cf. benef. 4, 12, 1), no matter whether the creditor was
poor or a wealthy patron (ibid. 6, 30, 2), and that repayment did not give the former debtor any particular esteem: non magis enim laudabit quisquam gratum
hominem, quam eum, qui depositum reddidit aut, quod debebat, citra iudicem
solvit (ibid. 3, 7, 2; cf. 4, 17, 1).
See also the introductions to 1, 75 by Citroni and Howell, Grewings introduction to 6, 5, and the introduction by Kay to 11, 76.
1. Quadringentorum ... tabellas: a promissory note of 400,000 IIS; cf. 8, 37, 1.
The sum is presumably chosen here as corresponding to the equestrian census; if
it was to be repaid, the debtor would loose his equestrian status.
2. mutua: sc. milia. Note the prosodical similarity to Verg. catal. 4, 12 nam contra ut sit amor mutuus, unde mihi?
Phoebe: see note on 9, 63, 1. Martial generally places trochaic vocatives of the
second declination in the fifth foot of the hexameter (see Schneider, pp. 56 f.).
3. Quaere alium: echoing Ov. met. 5, 181 quaere alium, tua quem moveant
miracula dixit. Ovid has the same opening of the line also in am. 3, 11a, 28; cf.
Mart. 7, 58, 7.

188

te ... vano munere iactes: for iactare se with instrumental or causal ablative
for the object on which someone prides himself, cf., for example, Varro Men. 444;
Verg. ecl. 6, 73; Aen. 6, 877; Hor. sat. 2, 4, 34; Ov. epist. 21, 61; Sil. 2, 100; TLL,
s.v. 61, 19 ff.
For the juncture vanum munus, cf. also Val. Fl. 5, 31; for the ending, cf. Calp.
ecl. 3, 81 aurea sed forsan mendax tibi munera iactat.
4. quod ... non possum solvere ... meum est: the rather awkward thought is found
also in 2, 3; naturally, it does not reflect the general opinion (see the introduction
above).

103
Quae nova tam similes genuit tibi Leda ministros?
Quae capta est alio nuda Lacaena cycno?
Dat faciem Pollux Hiero, dat Castor Asylo,
atque in utroque nitet Tyndaris ore soror.
Ista Therapnaeis si forma fuisset Amyclis,
cum vicere duas dona minora deas,
mansisses, Helene, Phrygiamque redisset in Iden
Dardanius gemino cum Ganymede Paris.

Book 9 closes with an epigram similar in character to 9, 56, praising the beautiful
slaves of a master, who, while unnamed, would have been the actual person in
whose honour the poem was written; see 9, 56 intro. In this case, the slave boys
celebrated are a Hierus and an Asylus, perhaps twins and at least very similar in
appearance and of equal beauty; Martial likens them to the children of Leda, their
similarity being compared to that of the Dioscuri and their comeliness to the
beauty of Helen. The comparison is continued through the second part of the
poem, which is constituted by a learned twist of the myth of the Judgement of
Paris and the Rape of Helen: had Castor and Pollux possessed such beauty when
Paris encountered them in Amyclae on his way to abduct Helen, he would have
seized the brothers instead and returned to Mt. Ida; for a similar play on the fair
boys of mythology and the greater beauty of living persons, see 9, 65, 14
(Domitian compared to Hylas).
As in the case of 9, 56, the master of the slave boys mentioned in this epigram
would have remained unknown, had it not been for an inscription from the city of
Rome recording the dedication of a statue of Hercules (CIL 6, 280): Hierus et |
Asylus | Ti. Cl. Liviani | ser. Herculi | d. d. The inscription, now lost, was found
about 1660 on the Aventine and was first published by Raphael Fabretti, who
drew the parallel to the present epigram, though without going so far as to assert
that Hierus and Asylus were the same persons in both cases. The first to argue for
a complete identification was Ch. Hlsen (Zu Martial, Berliner Philologische
Wochenschrift 22 [1889], pp. 683684), pointing to the rarity of the names (cf.
below) and the improbability of their occurring twice together without referring to
189

the same individuals. Further support for an identification was gained in the nineteen-twenties, when a second dedicatory inscription (NSA ser. 5, 21 [1924], 67)
set up by Hierus and Asylus, slaves of Claudius Livianus, was discovered.
Although not much is known of the Ti. Claudius Livianus mentioned in these
inscriptions, what is known suggests that he was as a perfectly plausible recipient
of an epigram such as the present. He was of equestrian standing, held the office
of praetorian prefect under Trajan (who sent him along with Licinius Sura to
negotiate with Decebalus in the First Dacian War of 102; Dio Cass. 68, 9, 2) and
later, by the time of Trajans Parthian campaign, enjoyed the friendship of
Hadrian, as stated in Hist. Aug. Hadr. 4, 2. Nothing is known of his position in
94; although he was to become praetorian prefect only seven years later, White
(below) argued that Livianus may not yet have enjoyed the prospect of grave
responsibility, because the instability during the last years of the first century
may have entailed unexpected promotions of younger men, while catching
functionaries in the higher echelons off balance (see White, Aspects, pp. 126 ff.;
Stein in PIR2 C 913).
As Livianus does not appear elsewhere in the Epigrams, nothing can be known
of his relation to Martial. The circumstances under which this poem was written,
or rather improvised, may however be guessed with a fair amount of certainty:
very likely, Martial had been invited to a dinner-party, at which Hierus and Asylus, apparently their masters favourites, served the wine. Martials witty comparison of his hosts cupbearers to the Dioscuri may well have been made as a way of
saying Thank you for a nice evening.
2. alio ... cycno: referring to the well-known tale of Zeus visiting Leda in the
form of a swan (cf. 1, 53, 8), when she conceived Helen and Pollux (cf. note on
line 4 below). The same night, she became pregnant with Castor and Clytemnestra by her husband Tyndareus, king of Sparta; see Apollod. 3, 126; Hyg. fab. 77;
Bethe in RE 5, s.v. Dioskuren 1112; Eitrem in RE 12, s.v. Leda 1117. This traditional version of their descent, really a coalescence of older concepts that made the
Dioscuri, on the one hand, sons of Zeus and, on the other, sons of a deity named
7XQGUHZM, goes back to the cyclic epic Cypria (Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, ed. M. Davies, Gttingen 1988, pp. 2745), which provides a background
to the Trojan war, supplies the first detailed account of the Judgement of Paris, the
Rape of Helen and so forth (see below), and obviously exercised an immense influence on subsequent poetry (see. for example, J. P. Barron & P. E. Easterling in
P. E. Easterling & B. M. W. Knox [eds.], The Cambridge History of Classical
Literature, 1: Greek literature, Cambridge 1985, p. 107).
The scansion AALSQ is very rare, found only here and in Hor. carm. 4, 3, 20
(o mutis quoque piscibus) donatura cycni, si libeat, sonum, but quite possible, as
the letter n is here treated as a liquid; it is furthermore well attested in the ancient
grammarians; cf. frg. Bob. p. 539 l m n r liquidae vocantur, quia in metro saepe
deficiunt: l, ut neve flagella, m, ut distincta smaragdo, n, ut nuda Lacaena
cygno, r, ut ne desere frater. Servius states that n may be treated in this way
only in words of Greek origin (like NNQRM): Quattuor sunt liquidae, l m n r. Sed
frequenter utimur duabus, prima et quarta, raro secunda, tertia numquam nisi in

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Graecis nominibus (Serv. gramm. IV 422, 26 f.); cf. also Scaur. gramm. VII 26, 1
ff., and Crusius, 9, pp. 6 f.
Lacaena: this word (from the Gr. noun ONDLQD, Laconian woman) appears
in Latin both as a noun and as an adjective, in the latter case exclusively in the
feminine. Both functions first appear in Ciceros Tusculanae disputationes (noun:
1, 102; adjective: 2, 36), but the word is thenceforth rarely found in classical prose
(Hyg. fab. 181, 6; Plin. nat. 34, 92, referring to a work called saltantes Lacaenae
by the artist Callimachus; Quint. inst. 12, 10, 75, quoting Ovid; frg. Bob. gramm.
VII 538, 34 ff. [see above]; five instances in Serv. Aen.). It was introduced into
poetry by Vergil (georg. 2, 487) but never became very popular with the poets;
most, like Martial, offer one single instance, none more than three (thus Horace).
The line appears to be influenced by Prop. 2, 15, 13 ipse Paris nuda fertur periisse Lacaena (sc. Helen).
3. dat faciem: the opening of the line may be a faint echo of Ovids words about
the haughtiness of beauties in am. 2, 17, 7 Dat facies animos. Facie violenta
Corinna est.
Hiero: a slaves name (formed on Gr. bHUM), rarely attested in inscriptions
(apart from CIL 6, 280, also, for example, 10, 5709), found only here in literature;
cf. Forcellini, Onomast., s.v. 744.
Asylo: like Hierus, a slaves name (Gr. VXORM), but somewhat better attested
in inscriptions, particularly in those from the city of Rome; see TLL, s.v. 991, 32
ff. The name appears also in Iuv. 6, 267.
4. Tyndaris ... soror: their sister, the daughter of Tyndareus, i.e. Helen. She
first appears with the patronymic 7XQGDUdM in Euripides (for example, Andr.
898), and regularly in Latin poetry (for example, Lucr. 1, 464; Verg. catal. 9, 27;
Aen. 2, 569; Prop. 2, 32, 31; Ov. am. 2, 12, 18; epist. 5, 91; met. 15, 233; Mart.
12, 52, 6; Stat. Ach. 1, 946). Like the Dioscuri, she was originally considered the
child of Zeus (for example, Hom. Od. 4, 184); as daughter of Tyndareus, she is
not mentioned prior to Hesiod. frg. 176 (Fragmenta Hesiodea, edd. R. Merkelbach & M. L. West, Oxford 1967), presumably depending on a Spartan tradition,
which, as in the case of Castor and Pollux, was adjusted to the Homeric view of
her descent by means of the story of Leda and the swan (see note on line 2 above),
which had Leda sleeping with both Zeus and Tyndareus on the same night (see
Bethe in RE 7, s.v. Helene 2823 ff.). The same patronymic is sometimes used of
Clytemnestra (thus Hor. sat. 1, 1, 100; Ov. ars. 2, 408; trist. 2, 396; Sen. Ag. 162;
306; 897; Iuv. 6, 657); see Forcellini, Onomast., s.v. Tyndareus 735.
The beauty of Helen is, of course, locus communis; cf., for example, Lucr. 1,
473; Verg. Aen. 2, 601; Prop. 2, 3, 32; Ov. epist. 8, 99; 16, 308.
5. Therapnaeis ... Amyclis: Amyclae in Laconia was considered one of the
birthplaces and residences of the Dioscuri; cf. note on 9, 72, 1 Amyclaea corona. It is mentioned here because Paris, on his way to abduct Helen, was said to
191

have landed at Amyclae (Sen. Tro. 69 f. tetigit Phrygius Graiias | hospes Amyclas) and been the guest of the Dioscuri (so the Cypria [HQd]HWDL SDU WRjM
7XQGDUdGDLM Davies, p. 31 lines 17 f.); cf. PrellerRobert 2:3, p. 1079; Trk in
Roscher, s.v. Paris 1592 f.; and see below.
There was an ancient cult of the Dioscuri also at Therapne (see PrellerRobert
2:1, p. 306; Blte in RE 2:5, s.v. Therapne 2459 ff.), a cultic centre near Sparta;
from there, they were said to keep watch over the city (Pind. Nem. 10, 55); hence,
they are called Therapnaei ... fratres in Stat. Theb. 7, 793; cf. silv. 4, 2, 48
Therapnaea resolutus gymnade Pollux. When applied to places, though, the adjective Therapnaeus carries the meaning simply of Spartan; thus Stat. silv. 2, 2,
111 of the river Galesus (near Tarent, a former Spartan colony; see van Dam, ad
loc.); 3, 2, 111 of Canopus (where Canopus, the helmsman of Menelaus, was
buried); cf. also Sil. 8, 412 Therapnaeo ... sanguine Clausi (Attus Clausus was
supposed to have been of Spartan descent); 13, 43 non umquam ... Therapnaeis
Ilion armis (cessurum). In like manner, Therapne is used of Sparta in Sil. 6, 303.
The adjective was introduced into Latin by Ovid (on the pattern of the Gr.
4HUDSQDjRM, apparently coined by Apollonius), who uses it with reference to
Helen (epist. 16, 198 rure Therapnaeo nata puella; ars 3, 49 Therapnaeae ...
maritae) and Hyacinthus (fast. 5, 223 prima Therapnaeo feci de sanguine florem).
Both of these were connected with Therapne (where Helen shared a cult with
Menelaus; see Blte, op. cit., 2357 f.; for Hyacinthus, see Bmer on fast. 5, 223),
and it is therefore possible that the adjective was used by Ovid in the actual sense
of of Therapne. The extension of the word to mean simply Spartan may thus
be a Silver Latin phenomenon.
6. cum vicere duas ... deas: the reference is naturally to the well-known story of
the Judgement of Paris; as the gods were sitting at table at the wedding of Thetis
and Peleus, Eris, who had not been invited, threw an apple into their midst, on
which was inscribed to the most beautiful (W NDO W PORQ Schol. Lycophr.
92; NDO ODEyWZ Lucian. dial. deor. 20, 7; pulcherrimae deae donum
[Mythogr.] 1, 208; dicit (sc. Eris) quae esset formosissima attolleret Hyg. fab. 92,
1). The apple was claimed by Aphrodite, Athena and Hera, and the judgement
referred by Zeus to Paris. The goddesses were brought by Hermes to Mt. Ida,
where Paris was tending cattle. Each of them promised him a gift, should his
choice fall on her: Hera the dominion over Asia (or the whole world), Athena
victory in battle, Aphrodite the most beautiful woman (i.e. Helen) in marriage
(here referred to as dona minora, as opposed to those of Hera and Aphrodite).
According to Isocrates (Hel. 43), Paris choice of Aphrodite was motivated not by
lust for Helen, but because, by such a marriage, he hoped to become the son-inlaw of Zeus.
The story of the Judgement of Paris essentially remained unaltered from the
earliest known account of the Cypria throughout antiquity. The first complete
account, and the most important in Latin, is that given by Ovid in epist. 16, 53
88, which certainly influenced Martial; with the present line, compare epist. 16,
69 f. arbiter es formae; certamina siste dearum; | vincere quae forma digna sit
una duas!; Ovid also speaks of the ingentia dona promised to Paris by the goddesses (79 f.). Martial refers to the Judgement also in 10, 89, 3 4; for later render192

ings of the story, see Lucian. dial. deor. 20; Apul. met. 10, 30 ff. See further PrellerRobert 2:3, pp. 1071 ff.; Trk op. cit., 1586 ff.; Wst in RE 18, s.v. Paris
1494 ff.
For the prosody, cf. Ov. trist. 2, 380.
7. mansisses: had Castor and Pollux possessed such beauty when Paris encountered them in Amyclae, he would have turned round and returned with the Dioscuri, leaving Helen with her husband Menelaus in Sparta.
Martial alludes to the Rape of Helen also in 1, 62, 6; 12, 52, 6. Although it
was the trigger for the Trojan war, it is but briefly mentioned in the Iliad (3, 46
49; 443445), making the first fuller account that of the Cypria (as in the case of
the Judgement of Paris). While there are naturally many scattered references in
classical Latin poetry (for example, Lucr. 1, 464; Prop. 2, 32, 31; Ov. epist. 8, 73;
am. 2, 12, 17 f.; met. 12, 4; 15, 233; Stat. Ach. 1, 946), the only coherent narrative is again found in Ovids epist. 16, which tells the story from the building of
the ship to Paris arrival in the house of Menelaus (16, 99130). The one poem
entirely devoted to the theme, the epyllium De raptu Helenae of Dracontius, is
considerably later and also deviates in several ways from the traditional version of
the story; see further PrellerRobert 2:3, pp. 1077 ff.; Trk, op. cit., 1592 ff.;
Wst, op. cit., 1502 ff.
Phrygiamque redisset in Iden: Paris naturally did not return with Helen to
Ida, but to Troy, having been recognized as the son of Priam and Hecuba. This
leaves two possibilities of understanding the line: either Martial lets Mt. Ida represent Troy (which would be a usage elsewhere unparalleled) or he really means
that Paris would have returned to Mt. Ida instead of Troy, to lead a life of pastoral
seclusion, having the beautiful brothers all to himself.
Phrygia Ida is a Vergilian coinage appearing in georg. 4, 41; Aen. 3, 6; 9, 80;
also used by Ov. fast. 4, 79; Sil. 7, 437; Val. Fl. 1, 549.
8. Dardanius ... Paris: although the epithet is a very likely one, the only other
mention of Paris as Dardanius is in Verg. ecl. 2, 61.

193

Indices

Indices
The following indices are selective, and make no claim to comprehensiveness. In
the indices of names, references to epigrams are in italics.

1. Index of proper names

1.1. Real and fictitious persons
Pseudonyms and names of fictitious persons are indicated by an asterisk.
*Aeschylus 4; 67, I 75, II 7476
*Afer 6; 25, I 80
Agathinus 38, I 123, 189191
Agrippina maior I 160, 162
Alexander the Great 43, I 28, 32,
175 n., 177, 206, 209, II 65, 166
*Alphius 95, II 145149
Ancus Marcius I 147
Anci 27
Antistius Rusticus, L. 30, I 160161
Antonius Primus, M. 99, II 159
162, 180181
Antonius Saturninus, L. I 11, 26, II
62, 108, 112, 114
Apelles I 206, 214
Arruntius Stella, L. 42; 55; 89, I 26,
108 n., 172, 186, 200201, 203,
210, 212, II 33, 34, 50, 111,
126127, 132, 157
Asylus 103, II 189, 190
*Artemidorus 21, I 124
Atilius 85, II 116
*Athenagoras 95; 95 b, II 145150
Atticus 99, II 161
Augustus 1, I 19, 2829, 32, 49 n.,
55, 57, 61, 64, 72, 7778, 121,
127, 129, 135, 140 n., 157, 173,
175177, 203, II 17, 39, 40, 45,
51, 58, 61, 63, 65, 72, 82, 104,
108, 121, 123, 141, 166, 170
171, 185186
*Bassus 100, II 165
*Bithynicus 8, I 86
*Caecilianus 70, II 80, 8182, 126,

187
Caesius Sabinus, C. 58; 60, II 41
43, 51, 53
Caesonia 39, I 192
Caligula I 25, 57 n., 105, 120, 148
n., 151, 157, II 45, 65, 78, 102
*Callistratus 95 b, II 146, 149150
Calpurnius Siculus, T. II 82
Camilli 27
Camonius Rufus 74; 76, I 161, II
9192, 9798
*Cantharus 9, I 8788
Carus 23; 24, I 130, 132135, 192,
II 30
*Catacissus 93, II 141
Catilina, L. Sergius 70, II 62, 81
Cato I 146, Uticensis 28, I 148, 149,
152, 218, Censorius I 149
Catullus, C. Valerius I 51, 5354,
9697, 107, 111, 158, 203, 216,
II 17, 39, 45, 61, 79, 8182
Claudius I 2425, 95, II 45, 102,
108
Claudius Livianus, T. II 190
*Chloe 15, I 107, II 101
*Chrestus 27, I 145, 147, 149, 196
Cicero, M. Tullius 70, I 61, 78, 107,
118, 126, 144145, 216, II 52,
8081, 115, 168 n.
*Cinnamus 92, II 139
Commodus II 65, 171
*Condylus 92, II 137138
*Coranus 98, II 158
Cornelius Fuscus I 174, 179

197

Cosmus 26, I 141

Curius Dentatus, M. I 146
Curii 27; 28
Decebalus 35, I 26, 179, II 190
Democritus 47 (plur.)
*Diodorus 40, I 193195
Decianus I 48
Diurpaneus I 179
Domitia (wife of Domitian) I 5960,
151, 184, II 120, 185
Domitian 1; 3; 5; 7; 12; 18; 20; 23;
24; 31; 34; 36; 39; 42; 64; 65;
66; 79; 83; 84; 86; 91; 93; 97;
101, I 2134, 47, 48 n., 5557,
8992, 97, 108 n., 111 n., 114
116, 119121, 125, 129, 139
140, 144, 147, 150151, 161,
173, 178179, 182184, 190,
192, 216, II 1415, 41, 5455,
6569, 71, 7273, 78, 80, 82, 84,
100, 102104, 108, 110111,
113, 116, 120121, 131, 134
136, 141142, 156, 161, 166
168, 170171, 175, 178, 180
187, 189
Alban villa I 114 n., 131, 181, II
180
and Minerva I 68, 7273, 91 n.,
130, 131, 133, 173, 176 n.
as dominus I 119121, 132, 135,
153, II 73
as god I 23, 2834, 55, 57, 153,
164, 182183, II 69, 141
as Prince of Peace I 12, 22, 27,
163, II 80, 82, 84, 185
assassination of I 56, II 15, 113
building activity I 15, 17, 56, 59,
6873, 157, 203, II 45, 65, 184
Chattan war I 2326, 5758, II
83, 142
children of II 120121
compared with Apollo I 30, 33,
173, 175176
compared with Diana (?) I 30,
173, 176
compared with Hercules I 16, 23,
29, 3233, 173, 177, II 6569,

198

71, 166187
compared with Jupiter I 19, 28,
2932, 5960, 100, 109, 117,
134135, 153, 173, 183, 192, II
120121, 134, 136
compared with Mars I 30, 33,
173175
compared with Mercury I 30, 33,
173, 177
compared with the Sun I 3233,
56, 60, 119, 121122, 134135,
173, 175
First Dacian War I 179
First Pannonian War I 131 n.,
165, 180, 216
Germanicus I 17, 2225, 5758,
II 141142, 183
interest in morals and moral
legislation I 15, 1720, 22, 76
79, 82, 89, 90 n., 95, 148, 150,
152, II 184185
role in the civil war II 167, 180
181
Second Pannonian War I 11 n.,
12, 17 n., 19, 2223, 2627, 30,
33, 163, 165, 174, 179, 201, 216,
II 8283, 110111, 142, 167,
182, 185
triumphs of I 22, 58, II 142, 167,
182183
Domitilla (sister of Domitian) II 185
Domitius Lucanus 51, I 73, II 2224
Domitius Tullus, Cn. 51, I 73, 86, II
2224
Earinus, T. Flavius 11; 12; 13; 16;
17; 36, I 13, 1719, 21, 23, 30
31, 7677, 84, 8992, 93103,
108113, 150, 182185, 210
Etruscus, Claudius I 117118, II
9596, 127
*Fabius 8, I 86
Fabricii 28
Fabricius Luscinus, C. I 152
*Fabullus 66, II 72
Faustinus I 48 n., II 157
Flaccus 33; 55; 90, I 115, 169, 172,
201, II 29, 31, 3334, 128, 130

132, 155, 157

Flavia
Domitilla
(mother
of
Domitian) I 73, 192
Flavius Abascantus II 15
Flavius Sabinus, T. I 59, II 180
Furius Camillus, M. I 146
*Gaius 92, II 137139
Galba I 24, II 160
*Galla 4; 37; 78, I 75, 185188, II
101
*Garricus 48, II 1112
*Gaurus 50, II 1819, 106
*Gellius 46; 80, I 125, 218219, II
104105
Germanicus Caesar I 25, 52, 160,
162
Hadrian I 57, 77, 147 n., 157, II 51,
77, 88, 156, 190
Hannibal 43, I 206, 209210
*Hedylus 57, II 3839
*Herodes 96, II 151152
Hierus 103, II 189191
Hippocrates (ironice) 94, II 144
Horace (Q. Horatius Flaccus) I 29,
32, 59, 85, 111, 167168, 170,
173, 177, 186, 188, 218, II 12,
17, 25, 45, 61, 99, 126, 128, 137,
155
*Hyllus 25, I 136
Iulius Martialis 97, I 48 n., 125, II
154155, 157, 163
Iunius (?) Pastor see Pastor
Julia Augusta 1, I 5657, 5960,
135, 214, II 185
Julius Caesar, C. 61, I 21, 28, 61,
78, 140 n., 145, 179, II 45, 54
59, 6162, 63, 81, 84, 104, 170,
186
Juvenal (D. Iunius Iuvenalis) I 19,
28, 144, 151, 194, 218, 220, II
1718, 73, 88, 111
Latinus 28, I 23, 150153, 190, 192
Lappius Maximus I 11, II 112113
Liber 72, II 8586
Lucan (M. Annaeus Lucanus) I 140,
II 1718, 20, 25
*Lupercus 87, II 122124

*Lupus 2, I 63
Lysippus 43; 44, I 205207, 209,
213214
*Mamurra 59, II 4450
*Maro 33, I 172
Marcellinus 45, I 215217, II 157
Martial
and Statius II 18, 106
attitude towards epic poetry II
1718
born on the 1st of March II 25
26
equestrian rank II 15
Martials domus I 114115, II
155
Martials parents II 8990
use of pseudonyms I 195, II 149
150
Mentor 59, II 49
Mucianus, Licinius II 160161, 181
Mummia Nigrina 30, I 160161
*Munna 82, II 107109
Myron I 206, 214, II 47
*Nasta 87, II 123124
Nero 26, I 25, 57 n., 85, 121, 140,
148 n., 151, 164 n., 175, II 15,
20, 27, 48, 63, 65, 69, 82, 102,
108, 116, 160, 186, False Nero
I 178
Nerva 26, I 25, 27, 77, 108 n., 116,
120, 139, 140, 146147, 148 n.,
151 n., II 15, 27, 42, 73, 156,
186
Norbanus 84, I 11, II 112115
Novius Vindex 43; 44, I 1213, 20,
66, 205207, 210214, II 168
Numa 27 (plur.), I 146147
*Olphius 95, II 145147, 149
Oppius Sabinus I 179
Ovid (P. Ovidius Naso) I 1415, 19,
54, 9495, 98, 107, 115, 122,
141, 148, 167168, 176, 179,
180181, 187, 190191, 198,
203, II 1617, 21, 37, 45, 56, 63,
67, 70, 77, 80, 93, 96, 106, 114,
120121, 125, 132133, 142,
162, 168172, 177, 181, 186,

199

192193
Ovidius, Q. 52; 53; 98, II 2528, 31
n., 157158
Pacorus 35, I 178
Panniculus I 150
*Pannychus 47, I 196, 220223
Parthenius (Ti. Claudius?) 49, II
1416, 102
Pastor 22, I 125
*Paula 10, I 8889
*Paulus 85, II 115117
Persius Flaccus, A. II 111, 155
Petronius I 63, 136, 140, 171, II 20,
47, 158
Phidias 44, I 133134, 206, 214, II
49
*Philaenis 29; 40; 62, I 154155,
157, 159, 189, 193, 195, II 62
63
*Philomusus 35, I 178
*Phoebus 63; 92; 102, II 64, 139,
187
Phyllis (nurse of Domitian) I 56
*Picentinus 78, II 101
Plato 47 (plur.), I 220, II 43, 98100
Pliny (C. Plinius Caecilius Secundus) I 28, 52, 8586, 120, 125,
140, 172, 194, 218, II 52, 55, 73,
103, 111, 131, 155, 171, 186,
188
*Polycharmus 69, II 79
Polyclitus 59, I 206, 214, II 4748
Pompey II 45, 48, 51, 5457, 61, 81
Pomponius Auctus 21, I 124
*Ponticus 19; 41, I 104, 118, 196
198
Praxiteles I 206, 214
*Priscus 10, I 89, 143
Propertius, S. I 115, 168, 181, II 17,
62, 168, 181
Pudens, A. 81, I 91 n., II 42, 106
107, 157, 163
Pythagoras 47, I 112
Quinctius Capitolinus, T. I 146
Quinctius Cincinnatus, L. I 146
Quinctius Flaminius, T. I 28
Quin(c)tii 27

200

Quintilian (M. Fabius Quintilianus)

I 72, 83, 144, 189, II 100, 105
Rufus 39, I 192193
*Rufus 88, II 125
*Sabellus 19, I 104, 117118
Seneca the Younger I 47, 114115,
140, 200, II 18, 55, 79, 137, 158,
168, 170171, 176, 188
Seneca the Elder I 47
Severus (son of Silius Italicus) 86, II
117118
Silius Italicus 86, I 47, 134, 140, II
1718, 117118, 122, 167170,
181
Spendophoros 56; II 3538
Statius, P. Papinius, I 12, 18, 21, 25,
27, 32, 34, 47, 48 n., 50 n., 56,
57, 71, 7677, 82, 8992, 95, 99,
111 n., 114115, 117118, 120
122, 131, 150, 174, 184, 201,
205215, 218, II 15, 1720, 35,
5456, 66, 73, 81, 84, 95, 103,
106, 111, 115, 117, 119, 127
128, 134135, 154, 167169,
171, 175, 180, 182, 185
Stertinius Avitus, L. Praef., I 4749,
52
Sulla, L. Cornelius 43, I 28, 140 n.,
206, 210, II 51, 82
Tacitus, Cornelius I 2324, 28, 85,
160, 179, 194, II 73, 102, 104,
160
Terentius Priscus 77 (?), I 47, 48 n.,
89, II 88, 99100
Tettius Iulianus I 179
Tiberius I 57 n., 61, 84, 121, 140 n.,
148 n., 157, II 63, 108, 186
Titus I 24, 5657, 5961, 108 n.,
116, 164, 175, II 15, 72, 78, 102,
142, 156, 171, 175, 180181,
184185
Toranius Praef., I 4749, 52
Trajan I 25, 27, 52, 57, 120, 140,
148 n., 157, II 54, 73, 103104,
183, 186, 190
*Tucca 75, II 9396
Valerius Flaccus, C. I 47, II 18, 168,

171, 182
Velius Rufus (?), C. 31, I 12, 163,
165166
Vergil (P. Vergilius Maro) I 54, 69,
83, 100, 123, 130, 162, 202, II
17, 20, 27, 48, 57, 61, 77, 8082,
86, 96, 113, 118, 120, 163, 169
171, 177, 179, 191, 193
Vespasian I 19, 24, 26, 56, 57, 59,

6061, 70, 119, 139, 173, 175,

177, 179, 216, II 102103, 108,
156, 160161, 170171, 180
181, 184186
Violentilla (wife of Stella) I 201,
210, 212
Vitellius I 70, II 160, 167, 170, 171,
180, 184
Zeno 47 (plur.), I 196

1.2. Gods, mythological and legendary figures

Achelous II 182
Aesculapius 16; 17, I 19, 23, 90 n.,
91, 108112, 121, 177, 183, II
144
Antaeus 101, II 166, 169, 172
Aphrodite I 101, 109, 138, 148, 172,
II 132, 192
Apollo (Phoebus) 28; 34; 42; 86, I
30, 3233, 91 n., 111, 112, 117,
148, 153, 173, 174 n., 175176,
200205, II 15, 42, 58, 117,
119120, 171
Ares I 91 n., 148, II 176
Artemis I 109, 138, 164, II 12, 35,
175
Athena I 91 n., II 70, 176, 192
Atla(n)s 3, I 69, 208, II 173
Attis 11, I 9395, 109 n.
Bacchus I 78, 8788, II 5961, 66,
86, 110, 141, 166
Cacus II 166, 168, 179
Calliope 86, II 117, 119
Calydonian boar 48; II 12
Castor and Pollux 3; 51; 103, I 73,
II 2224, 86, 189191, 193
Cerberus 65; 101, II 71, 166, 169,
176177
Clytemnestra II 190191
Corybantes I 122123
Cupido 56; II 3537
Curetes I 31, 119, 122123, 173 n.
Cybele 2; 39, I 6768, 95, 122, 170,
192
Deianeira II 7071, 167168, 177,

182
Diana 34, I 30, 111, 173, 176, II 66
67
Dionysus I 174 n., 177, II 60, 120
Dis 29, I 156
Erymanthian boar 101, II 166, 170,
174175
Eurydice I 162, II 120
Eurystheus 65; II 6970, 167, 174
176, 179
Fauni 61, II 56, 5961
Ganymede 11; 22; 25; 36; 73, I 19,
3031, 8990, 93, 9596, 109
110, 129, 138139, 182184, II
89, 130, 135
Geryon II 57, 166, 169, 178179
Glaucus 94, II 144145
Hebe 65, II 71
Helen 103, II 189193
Heliades 12, I 101
Hera I 184, II 69, 71, 173, 180, 192
Heracles I 209, II 6971
Hercules 3; 25; 34; 43; 44; 64; 65, I
16, 18, 20, 23, 2930, 3233, 61,
78, 138, 173, 177, 217, II 61,
6571, 85, 119, 166168, 170
180, 182, 186, 189
apotheosis II 70, 186
parerga II 166168, 172
praxeis II 168
statuette of Novius Vindex I 12,
20, 205214
Twelve Labours I 208, II 6870,
85, 166179
201

Hermes I 138139, 177, II 70, 176,

192
Hesperides I 208, II 166, 169, 172
173
Hippolyta 101, II 166, 166, 173174
Horatian triplets I 198
Horatius (father of the triplets) 41, I
198
Hydra 101, II 70, 166167, 169
170, 177178
Hylas 25; 65, I 138, II 71, 189
Ilia 41, I 198199
Isis I 157, II 180
Iulus I 181, II 181
Juno 3; 36; 65, I 18, 31, 5960, 68,
7071, 182, 184, II 26, 6869,
71, 128, 133
Jupiter 1; 3; 24; 34; 35; 36; 39; 86;
91; 101, I 19, 2933, 58, 6061,
68, 70, 72, 78, 84, 89, 9596,
100, 109, 117, 119, 121123,
130, 133135, 139, 164 n., 173,
176178, 182184, 192, II 42,
61, 66, 69, 119122, 134136,
167, 170171, 187
Kronos I 122, 192
Leda 103, I 73, II 189191
Lichas 65, II 70
Linus 86, II 118119
Mars 31; 34; 41, I 30, 33, 61, 121,
163, 166, 173175, 196, 198
199, II 61, 133
Mercury 25; 34, I 30, 33, 96, 111,
138139, 173, 177, 202
Minerva 3; 24, I 18, 20, 68, 7073,
91 n., 122123, 131133, 135,
173, 176, 183, II 42, 104
Molorchus 43, I 206, 210211, 213,
II 175
Muses I 117, 143, 201, 203, II 43,
114, 117, 119

202

Nemean lion 71; 101, II 85, 110,

166, 169, 175
Neptune I 121122, II 172
Nessus 65, II 70
Nestor I 154155, 157
Oedipus 25 (plur.), I 139
Omphale 65, II 71, 168
Orpheus I 162, II 118120
Palamedes I 102
Pan 61, II 5556, 5960
Paris 103, II 189193
Parthenopaeus 56, II 35, 37
Phineus 25 (plur.), I 139
Phoebus see Apollo
Phoenix I 94
Priam 50, I 155, 177, II 20, 120, 193
Prometheus 45, I 215, 217218
Rhea Silvia I 199
Rhea I 122123, 192
Sarapis 29, I 157
Sarpedon II 120, 144
Semiramis 75, II 9394
Sibylla 29, I 154, 156
Stymphalian birds 101, II 166167,
169170, 176
Sun I 3233, 56, 60, 101, 119, 121
122, 135, 173, 175
Telchines I 121, 123
Thalia 26; 73, I 143
Trivia (Diana Nemorensis) 64, II
6667
Tyndareus I 73, II 23, 190191
Venus 12; 90, I 96, 100101, 138
139, 198, 212, II 128133, 185
Zeus I 73, 91 n., 95, 117, 122123,
148, 164 n., 169, 173 n., 174,
176 n., 184, 192, 209210, II 69,
71, 85, 120121, 173, 175, 190
192 Phidias statue of Z. I 133
134

1.3. Geographical names

Acidalius fons 12, I 100101
Africa I 69, 80, 85, 178, 180, 219, II
35, 38, 83
Alba I 130131, 181, II 6566, 180
181
Amyclae II 86, 189, 191193
Babylon 75, I 209, II 9394
Baetis 61, II 56
Burdigala 32, I 170171
Canusium I 128
Cappadocia 30, I 160161, II 91, 97
Carystos 75, II 95
Castalia 18, I 117, 175 n.
Caucasus I 215217
Chatti 35, I 17 n., 2226, 5758,
131 n., 178179, 216, II 83, 142,
182183
Corduba 61, II 5458
Corsica 2; 26, I 64, 142
Crete I 30, 32, 119, 122, 173174
Cyprus I 172, II 128, 130132
Dacia, Dacians I 22, 26, 131 n., 165,
178179, 216, II 142, 182183
Dalmatia I 165
Danube I 2627, 163, 179, 215, 217,
II 82, 171, 181182
Egypt I 157, 180, 193, 195, 219
Epidaurus I 28, 110
Euboea I 156
Eurotas 75, II 9596
Gaul I 24, 170171
Hybla 11; 26, I 94, 142
Iazyges I 26, 165, 179
Laurentum I 104, 218, II 12
Libya I 80, 181, 210
Mainz I 24
Massylians 22, I 129130

Moesia I 2627, 179

Nomentum I 114115, 117, 204
205, II 27, 2930, 51, 53, 55,
156158
Numidia I 129, II 9596
Paestum 26; 60, I 141, II 5152
Pannonia I 165, 179
Paphos II 130, 132
Parthians I 96, 178
Pergamum I 28, 8990, 91 n., 92,
109110, 183
Praeneste 60, II 5152, 88
Ravenna II 158
R(h)aetia I 11, 165, II 112114
Rhine 1; 5; I 17, 2325, 58, 165,
202, 205, II 142, 171, 181, 183
Rhodes 20, I 119, 121122, 175
Roxolani I 26, 179
Sabines 40, I 58, 146, 195
Sarmatians 35, I 22, 2627, 48 n.,
163, 165, 178179, 216, II 182
183
Strymon 29, I 158
Subura 37, I 186, II 139
Suebi I 26, 165, 179
Surrentum I 218
Syene 35, I 180
Synnas 75, II 95
Syrians as beareres 2; 22, I 66, 128
Tartessus II 56, 57, 178
Taunus Mountains I 23, 25
Therapne II 191192
Thessaly 29, I 158
Tibur 60, I 218, II 14, 5152, 58
Tolosa 99, II 159162
Tusculum 60, II 5152

203

2. Temples and buildings

Apollo (Gryneion) I 202
Apollo Palatinus I 69, 73, 119, 133
134, 203, II 184
Aqua Marcia I 115116
Athena at Lindos I 122
Castor and Pollux I 12, 69, 7273, II
184
Divus Augustus (Palatine) I 121, II
184
Divus Vespasianus II 184
Fortuna Redux I 174, II 184
Gentis Flaviae I 15, 17, 19, 2122,
30, 5557, 5960, 69, 74, 119,
172173, 211, II 142, 184, 186
Hercules (Appian Way) I 18, 20, 22,
32, 69, 73, II 65, 166, 184
Ianus Quadrifrons II 184

Isis and Sarapis (Campus Martius) I

157, II 184
Isis and Sarapis (Quirinal) I 157
Juno Moneta I 69, 71, II 184
Jupiter Conservator I 70, II 184
Jupiter Custos I 68, 70, II 184
Jupiter Optimus Maximus I 56, 68,
7071, II 180, 184
Jupiter Tonans I 68, 70, II 184
Jupiter Veiovis II 184
Minerva Chalcidica I 7172, II 184
Minerva I 7172, II 184
Pax II 184
Porticus (Templum) Divorum I 72, II
184
Saepta Iulia II 4445

3. Latin words and expressions

Acidalius I 99101
antlia I 116
anus (adjective) II 15
Ausonius I 30, 84, 96, 113, 164 n.,
182183
bibere ad numerum II 140141
Caesarianus II 104
Caesar uterque II 15, 156
calathus II 48
clinicus II 151152
AALSQ II 190191
dominus I 119121
dominus et deus I 2829, 120121
n., 153, II 7273
domitor I 22, 30, 78
BMKSR (( z
draucus I 148149
famulus (adjective) I 58
glaucina I 141
hexaclinon II 46
Hyperboreus I 216, II 183
invictus I 30, 6061, 78, 133, II 58

204

invitator II 136
Latia urbs I 112113
Latia via II 66
miluus II 32
nomisma I 167
Odrysius II 142
parens I 30, 78, 120, 147
Palatinus I 133134, 192
palliolatus I 169
Parrhasia I 96
refibulo I 149
Rhenanus I 179
rhombus I 158159
senex II 141
sit tibi terra levis I 154, 159
Tarpeius I 58
Tonans I 2930, 33, 84, 192, 164 n.,
II 69, 120121
Veneres Cupidinesque I 93, 9697
voti debitor I 204

4. General index
a cubiculo II 14, 102
Alban games (Quinquatria Minervae) I 18, 20, 23, 72, 130131,
133, 135, 178, 181, II 30
allegory I 99, II 84, 105, 125
alliteration I 87, 129
amber I 90, 99102, 102 n.
ambiguity I 8081, 88, 107, 124
125, 195, II 16, 65, 135136
archaisms I 107, 149, II 87, 173
aretalogies II 167171
astrologers II 107108
bass I 142
baths I 104, 117118, 171, 190, II
9396
birthdays I 12, 17, 23, 48 n., 57,
192, II 2526, 28
boars I 85 n., 104, II 1113, 30, 40,
125
Bruti puer (statuette) II 2021
building activity I 125, 218219
Capitoline games (agon Capitolinus) I 12, 18, 58, 68, 7071,
130132, 178, 181, 193194, II
186
Caristia (cara cognatio) II 29, 33
34
castration and castrates I 6768, 90,
9495, 99, 122, 170; Domitians
edict against c.: I 18, 7679, 79,
82, 84, 89, 95, 150, 176, II 184
catasterism II 70, 84, 186
choraules II 100
citrus-wood in table-leaves I 126,
137, II 44, 46
clausulae I 5051
colloquialisms I 5354, 67, 88, 98,
107, 136137, 198, II 19, 27, 75,
163
Corinthian bronze II 39, 44, 47, 124
cosmetics and make-up I 141, 185
188
courtesans, concubines I 75, 145,
154155, 168170, 187188
cranes I 99100, 102, 158

crystal I 127, II 48, 89

cunnilinctio I 149, II 65, 75, 137,
148 n.
cycles I 1619, 2123, 27, 30, 56,
77, 8990, 9293, 99, 102, 108,
111, 119, 164, 182, 211
Cynics, Cynic philosophy I 143
145, 196197, 221, II 38
denture, false teeth I 185, 187
depilation I 145, 188, 222
dinner-hunting I 21, 87, 103104,
117118, 178, II 45
divorce I 106
doctors and medicine I 112, II 139,
143144, 151152
down II 138
Epicurus and Epicureanism I 53,
125, II 168
exempla virtutis I 144, 146147,
149, 152, 196, 198
fellatio I 75, 149, 193, 195, II 64
65, 7475, 105, 148
freedmen, imperial II 15, 102103
gladiators I 190, II 78, 111 n., 143
Golden Age II 80, 8283
gout II 137, 139140
grammaticus II 90
hellebore II 145
homosexuals, homosexuality I 82 n.,
171, 184, II 3839, 41, 64, 146,
148150
honey I 85 n., 90, 9394, 100, 142
hymns and prayers I 111, 201202,
204, II 41, 43, 67, 128, 131, 164
impotence I 186, 189, II 72
improvisation I 194, 207, 211212,
II 99, 126127, 157, 190
informers I 151
innkeepers II 158
ius trium liberorum I 196, II 72, 156
ivory II 14, in tables I 126127, II
46, in sculpture I 133134, 214
in teeth I 187
jasper II 50
juggling I 21, 123, 189190
205

lacerna I 129, II 39
Langon II 2021
left hand I 197
Legacy-hunting (captatio) I 21, 85
86, II 12, 22, 89, 125, 158, 165
Lex Iulia de adulteriis I 18, 19 n.,
7677, 80, 176, II 184
libelli I 92, 108, 139, 182, II 36, 41,
105
manumission I 91 n., II 122124
marble in buildings I 30, 56, 70,
119, 203, II 9396, in sculpture I
133134
marriage I 21, 88, 106, 185
masturbation I 196200
Matronalia I 60, II 128129, 133
metre I 1415, 162, II 52, 99, productio epica I 98, versus spondiacus II 46
militia amoris II 35
mime I 147148, 150, 152153, II
143
mirrors I 90, 108109, 113
money-lending,
money-lenders
(feneratores) II 187188
mullet I 85 n., 104105, 118, 124,
142
murrine vessels II 44, 48
nectar I 90, 9395, 99, 173, 182,
184185
oral sex I 75, 146, 149, II 65, 7475,
137, 148
oyster I 104105
pairs of epigrams I 16, 1920, 212,
II 28, 31, 34, 66, 97, 135, 149
pallium I 169170
pantomime I 147148, 151, 153
parasiti Apolloninis (Phoebi) I 150,
153
parataxis I 54, 88, 138
pastoral II 52, 5456, 128129
patrons and patronage I 21, 6263,
66, 80, 108 n., 118, 120 n., 125,
128, 194, II 1819, 22, 25, 33
34, 36, 87, 89, 111, 116, 137,
152154, 157, 159161, 164,
188

206

plane-tree, Caesars plane at Corduba II 5462

pearls I 65, 100102, II 27, 49
philosophers and philosophy I 18,
143145, 147, 196199, 220
222, II 38, 80, 98, 100
Priapic poetry I 171
prose prefaces I 4750
prostitution and prostitutes I 7475,
83, 145, 170, 185186, 188, II
64, 7576, 138, of children and
Domitians edict against it I 18,
7677, 79, 8284, 176, II 184
purple clothes I 129, 169, II 6264,
88
recitations II 36, 106, 111, 126
recusatio I 51, II 17, 170
rhetor II 9091
roses I 94, 141, 190, II 5153, 61,
130, 141
sacrifice I 163164, 166167, 201,
204205, II 128, 133134
saffron I 190191
salutatio I 80, 128, II 14, 40, 164
sardonyx II 28, 4950
schools, schoolmaster I 21, 157
158, II 7678, 90
sedan I 62, 66, 128
semen I 197, 200, II 65
sepulchral poetry, epicedion I 150,
154, II 117118
shipwreck I 12, 193194
silk I 186187
slaves and servants I 65, 76, 79, 83
84, 91 n., 110, 127, 157, II 35,
44, 46, 86, 122123, 136139,
143, lector II 126, minister I 90,
129, 136, 182183, mulio II 40,
paedagogus I 159, vinitores I
126
sportula II 115116, 164
Stoics and Stoic philosophy I 143
145, 196, 200, 221, II 54, 108,
137
swan I 201203, Spartan swan II 14,
190191, down used as stuffing
II 138

theatre I 147149, 152, 190191

thrush II 2930, 3334
toga I 66, 90, 128129, 149, 157, II
14, 16, 25, 28, 40, 57, 159, 164
165
tortoiseshell II 46
udder I 104105
urine II 6264
vetula, vetula-Skoptik I 21, 88,
144, 154, 185189, II 63
wigs I 185186
villa I 218, II 51, 5556
wine I 12, 62, 64, 78, 85 n., 95, 166,
190, II 27, 60, 85, 89, 128129,
133, 140, 151, 158, Falernian I
127128, II 129, 140141, Opimian I 126, II 123, Setian I 64,
126, Tuscan I 64, 126, II 40
vine-yards I 126, II 158
violets I 9395, 141, II 5152
witches, witchcraft I 154, 158159
wool I 128, II 14, 57
wormwood II 144145
wreaths I 94, II 5152, 61, 86, 130,
141, golden olive wreath
awarded the winner in the Alban
games I 20, 130133 laurel
wreaths I 26, 132 oak wreath
awarded the winner in the Capitoline games I 70, 181, II 186

207

Addenda et corrigenda to volume 1

p. 7, l. 17
p. 33, l. 40
p. 34, l. 19
p. 60, l. 37
p. 69, n. 1, l. 1
p. 72, l. 35
p. 74, n. 2, l. 3
p. 75, l. 24

May : Kay
ten times : in ten epigrams
Domitian : Domitiana
DNP : NP
was called it : was called
Domtians : Domitians
ougth : ought
The title of Killeens article is given in the commentary on 9,
67, 7.
esculus : esculos
p. 75, l. 27
p. 76, l. 14
standarads : standards
p. 79, ll. 68
neque ... posse and qui ... amiserunt should be italicised.
LS refers to C. T. Lewis & C. Short, A Latin Dictionary, Oxp. 81, n. 3, l. 1
ford 1879.
p. 90, l. 20
note 2 above : note 1 above
p. 101, l. 14
... Arist. Ran. 938), : ... Arist. Ran. 938).
p. 102, n. 2, ll. 4 f. The reading of Serv. Aen. 2, 81 is that of Servii Grammatici
qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii, ed. G. ThiloH.
Hagen, vol. 1, Leipzig & Berlin 1923. In Servianorum in Vergilii carmina commentariorum Edition Harvardiana, vol. 2,
Lancastriae, Penn. 1964, the same passage reads T I F cum h
aspiratione.
p. 109, n. 4, l. 3 in mentioned : is mentioned

209