Martial: Epigrams, Volume II: Books 6-10 (Loeb Classical Library No. 95)

426 Pages·1993·12.94 MB·English

by  Martial

It vvas to celebrate the openlng of the
Roman Colosseum in 80 that Martial
A.O.
published his first book of poems, "On the
Speetaeles." W ritten \Nith satirie \Nit and a
talent for the memorable phrase, the
poems in this eollection reeord the broad
spectacle of sho\vs in the ne\v arena. The
great Latin epigrammist's t\Nelve subse
quent books capture the spirit of Roman
life-both public and ,private-in vivid
detail. Fortune hunters and busybodies,
orators and la\\;ryers, sehoolmast~rs and
street ha\\;Tkers, jugglers and acrobats, doe
tors and plagiarists, beautiful slaves, and
generous hosts are among the diverse
eharaeters who populate his verses.
Martial is a keen and sharp-tongued obser
ver of Roman society. His pen brings into
crisp relief a wide variety of seenes and
events: the theater and public games, life
in the eountryside, a rieh debauchee's
banquet, lions in the amphitheater, the
eruption of Vesuvius. The epigrams are
sometimes obseene, in the tradition of the
genre, sometimes warmly affectionate or
amusing, and always pointed. Like his
contemporary Statius, though, Martial
shamelessly flatters his patron Domitian,
one of Rome's worst-reputed emperors.
D. R. Shaekleton Bailey no\\;r gives us, in
three volumes, a reliable modern transla
tion of Martial's often diffieult Latin,
eliminating many misunderstandings in
THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY
FOUNDED BY JAMES LOEB
EDITED BY
G. P. GOOLD
PREVIOUS EDITORS
T. E. PAGE E. CAPPS
\V. H. D. ROUSE L. A. POST
E. H. \VARMINGTON
MARTIAL
11
LCL 95
MARTIAL ~ {
%, .~ ' ~~. .~ ;>[
EPIGRAMS
EDITED AND TRANSLATED BY
D. R. SHACKLETON BAILEY
VOLUME 11
J~Jl~ IIIUJ!IUllttlt I~ l
111"
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
ENGLAND
LONDO~,
1993
Copyright © 1993 by the President and Fellows
of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Library of Co ngress Ca taloging-in-Publication Data
Martial.
Epigrams / edited and translated by D. R. Shackleton Bailey.
p. cm. - (Loeb classicallibrary)
Translation of: Epigrarnmata.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-674-99555-4 (v. 1). ISBN 0-674-99556-2 (v. 2).
ISBN 0-674-99529-5 (v. 3).
1. Martial-Translations into English.
2. Epigrams. Latin-Translations into English.
3. Occasional verse, Latin-Translations into English.
1. Shackleton Bailey, D. R. (David Roy), 1917-.
11. Title. IB. Series: Loeb classicallibrary; L094, L095, L480
PA6502.B35 1993 92-8234
878'.0102-dc20 CIP
Typeset by Chiron, Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Printed in Great Britain by St Edmundsbury Press Ltd,
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on acid-free paper.
Bound by Hunter & Foulis Ltd, Edinburgh, Scotland.
CONTENTS
EPIGRAMS
2
BOOK VI
74
BOOK VII
158
BOOK VIII
232
BOOKIX
324
BOOK X
EPIGRAMS
BOOKS VI-'X
LIBER VI
1
Sextus mittitur hic tibi libellus,
in primis mihi care Martialis:
quem si terseris aure diligenti,
audebit minus anxius tremensque
5 magnas Caesaris in manus venire.
2
Lusus era t sacrae conubia faUere taedae,
lusus et immeritos execuisse mares.
utraque tu prohibes, Caesar, populisque futuris
succurris, nasci quos sine fraude iubes.
nec spado iam nec moechus erit te praeside quisquam:
5
at prius - mores! - et spado moechus erat.
0
3
Nascere Dardanio promissum nomen Iulo,
vera deum suboles; nascere, magne puer,
Cf. 5.75n and 2.60n.
a
An echo ofVirg.Aen. 1.288 Iulius, a magno demissum
b
2
»
BOOK VI
1
This, my sixth little book, is sent to you, Martialis,
dear to me above all men. If you tidy it with atten
tive ear, it will dare with less fear and trembling to
come into Caesar's mighty hands.
2
It used to be agame to betray the sacred marriage
torch and agame to castrate innocent males. Yo u
forbid both,a Caesar, and come to the aid of future
generations; for by your order their birth is made
safe. Under your rule no man shall be either
eunuch or adulterer. Formerly (alas for our morals!)
even a eunuch was an adulterer.
3
Be born, name promised to Dardanian Julus,b true
child of gods; be born, great boy, so that ages hence
nomen Iulo, hut the significance ofnomen is not clear. Had
Domitian declared an intention to call the expected child
Julius or Julia (SB3)?
3
MARTIAL
cui pater aeternas post saecula tradat habenas,
quique regas orbem cum seniore senex.
5 ipsa tibi niveo trahet aurea pollice fila
et totam Phrixi Iulia nebit ovem.
4
Censor maxime principumque princeps,
cum tot iam tibi debeat triumphos,
tot nascentia templa, tot renata,
tot spectacula, tot deos, tot urbes,
5 plus debet tibi Roma'quod pudica este
5
Rustica mercatus multis sum praedia nummis:
mutua des centum, Caeciliane, rogo.
nil mihi respondes? tacitum te dicere credo
'non reddes.' ideo, Caeciliane, rogo.
6
Comoedi tres sunt, sed amat tua Paula, Luperce,
quattuor: et Paula amat.
KWCPOV 7TPOC1W7TOV
4