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Martial (040–104)

Author of Epigrams

204+ Works 1,749 Members 27 Reviews 11 Favorited

About the Author

Image credit: From Wikipedia

Works by Martial

Epigrams (0103) 558 copies
I cento epigrammi proibiti (1992) 37 copies
Selections from Martial and Pliny the Younger (1942) — Writer — 10 copies
Epigrammen (1975) 7 copies
Epigrammata selecta (1983) 6 copies
Verzamelde epigrammen (2019) 5 copies
Epigrammen 4 copies
Gli Epigrammi di Marziale (2006) 3 copies
Epigramas selectos (1981) 3 copies
Spotepigrammen (2009) 2 copies
Epigrammi. Vol. II (2000) 2 copies
Epigram i urval 2 copies
Epigrammi. Vol. I (2000) 2 copies
Epigramas I (2008) 2 copies
Epigrammes (1934) 2 copies
Epigramas II (2010) 1 copy
EPIGRAME IV 1 copy
Epigramme (1966) 1 copy
Epigrammes — Author — 1 copy
Epigramas - Volume II (2000) 1 copy
Epigramas Vol.III (2001) 1 copy
Epigrammi 1 copy
SELECTED EPIGRAMS (1966) 1 copy
Epigrams II 1 copy
Mottoes 1 copy
Letter to Juvenal (1985) 1 copy
Apophorètes 1 copy
Épigrammes (1989) 1 copy
Epigrams 1 copy
Epigrammi 1 copy
Loci Selecti 1 copy
Epigrams 1 copy

Associated Works

Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 915 copies
The Penguin Book of Homosexual Verse (1983) — Contributor — 236 copies
The Columbia Anthology of Gay Literature (1998) — Contributor — 158 copies
The Norton Book of Friendship (1991) — Contributor — 95 copies
Roman Readings (1958) — Author — 67 copies
The Name of Love: Classic Gay Love Poems (1995) — Contributor — 51 copies
Komt een Griek bij de dokter humor in de oudheid (2007) — Contributor — 25 copies
The Ribald Reader: 2000 Years of Lusty Love and Laughter (1906) — Contributor — 17 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

I think this is the Doctor in Roman guise
Not Who or House to get a rise
But rather that kindliest of physician
Neither research nor clinician
To suss then, I mean Seuss.
 
Flagged
MichaelDavidMullins | 7 other reviews | Oct 17, 2023 |
Martial VI.60
Laudat, amat, cantat nostros mea Roma libellos,
meque sinus omnes, me manus omnis habet.
Ecce rubet quidam, pallet, stupet, oscitat, odit.
Hoc volo: Nunc nobis carmina nostra placent.

Liber I, 33
Non amo te, Sabidi, nec possum dicere quare:
Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te.

II.38
quid mihi reddat ager quaeris, Line, Nomentanus?
hoc mihi reddit ager: te, Line, non video.

III.53 Ad Chloen, a qua abstinere se potuisse dicit.
Et vultu poteram tuo carere,
Et collo, manibusque cruribusque,
Et mammis, natibusque clunibusque:
Et, ne singula persequi laborem,
Tota te poteram, Chloë, carere.

VIII.69 In Vacerram, qui solos poetas mortuos laudabat
Miraris veteres, Vacerra, solos,
Nec laudas nisi mortuos poetas.
Ignoscas petimus, Vacerra: tanti
Non est, ut placeam tibi, perire.

VII, 29
Das Cattis, das Germanis, das, Caelia, Dacis:
Nec Cilicum spernis, Cappadocumque toros:
Et tibi de Pharia Memphiticus urbe fututor,
Navigat a rubris et niger Indus aquis:
Nec recutitorum fugis inguina Judaeorum,
Nec te Sarmatico transit Alanus equo.
Qua ratione facis, cum sis Romana puella,
Quod Romana tibi mentula nulla placit?
… (more)
 
Flagged
olaf6 | Mar 19, 2022 |
You have to love martial; offering glimpses into daily life in ancient Rome with his witty, and often scathing and obscene epigrams.

I read the OWC edition translated by Dr. Gideon Nisbet which is immensely readable and entertaining.

The publishing team released a very informative & entertaining playlist of short interviews with him about his translation which serves as a great introduction to Martial's life & times which can be found here:

rel="nofollow" target="_top">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY2GBapteg3nSigwX9KOzBb4YFYnGeYQ6

_________
Here is a really beautiful epigram which shows a very different side of Martial which is, unfortunately, not included in this selection

—Book X, Epigram 47

__________
A few of my favourites...

"...No puffery gets near my little books; my Muse doesn't swell and strut in the trailing robe of Tragedy. 'but that stuff gets all the applause, the awe, the worship.' I can't deny it: that stuff does get the applause. But my stuff gets read." - 4.49

"Antonius Primus is happy: he has tallies fifteen completed Olympiads in a life untroubled. He can look back at the days gone by, at the years he has banked; the waters of Lethe draw closer, but he does not fear them. None of his days fails to please, or is hard to bear, as he reviews it in memory; every last one is a pleasure to recall. The good man broadens himself the span of his years: to be able to enjoy the life you have spent, is to live it twice." - 10.23

"You wonder why Marius' ear smells bad. You're making it smell, Nestor: you keep talking shit into it." - 3.28

"Want to know how skinny your arse is, Sabellus? It's so skinny you can fuck people in the arse with it." 3.98

"When you step across the threshold of a marked-up cubicle, whether your hard-on's for a boy or a girl, you're never happy with doors and a curtain and a bolt; you demand greater secrecy. If there's the smallest crack you don't like the look of, or a tiny hole bored by a voyeur's pin, it's plastered over. No one is so fastidious or so anxious about appearances who just fucks arses or pussies, Cantharus." - 11.45
… (more)
 
Flagged
EroticsOfThought | Feb 27, 2018 |
It's always difficult to give a truly bad rating to something in the classical world, but this to me seemed just like the sort of doggerel you see on bathroom walls. It's possible I'm missing something and there is a real profundity and beauty here, but if so, I didn't spot it.
 
Flagged
Devil_llama | 1 other review | Oct 4, 2016 |

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