THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY
EDITED BY
E.CAPPS, PH.D., LL.I). T. E. PAGE, Lrrr.D. W. IT. I). ROUSE, Lnr.D.
MARTIAL
EPIGRAMS
I
MARTIAL
EPIGRAMS
WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY
WALTER C. A. KER, M.A.
SOMETIMB SCHOLAR OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
OK THK INNKR TEMPI.K, BARRISTER-AT-LAW
IN TWO VOLUMES
I
LONDON : WILLIAM HEINEMANN
NEW YORK : G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
MCMXIX
CONTENTS
I'ACiE
INTRODUCTION vii
BIBLIOGRAPHY xix
ON THE SPECTACLES . . 2
BOOK I 27
BOOK II 107
BOOK III 163
HOOK IT-- . T 229
BOOK v 293
BOOK vi 357
BOOK VII 421
INTRODUCTION
AN epigram, as its etymology denotes, was originally
merely an inscription, such as is put on a statue or a
monument, a temple, or a triumphal arch.1 But in
process of time it came to mean ;i short poem dealing
with some .person, thing, or incident which the writer
thinks worthy of observation and record, and by
which he seeks to attract attention in the same way
as a passer-by would be attracted by an inscription
on a physical object. " It must have," says Professor
Mackail, " the compression and conciseness of a real
inscription, and in proportion to the smallness of its
bulk must be highly finished, evenly balanced,
simple, lucid." The comment of the writer on the
subject-matter of the epigram is called the point,
and this is generally satirical — " Dost thou think,"
says Benedick,2 " I care fora satire or an epigram ?"-
but it is not necessarily so : it may even be pathetic.
Martial has several poems3 which by reason of their
length are not strictly epigrams within the definition.
1 Even as a brand on the forehead of a runaway slave
(FUG) : Petr. ciii. - Shak. Much Ado, v. iv. 103.
3 t.g. HI. Iviii. ; x. xxx.
INTRODUCTION
But these are of the nature of epigrams, being
written in order to lead up to the point at the end.
Marcus Valerius Martialis, the greatest of epigram-
matists, and the father of the epigram as we
understand it, was born at Bilbilis, or Augusta l
Bilbilis, in Hispania Tarraconensis. The town stood
on a rocky height surrounded by the rushing Salo,
a confluent of the Ebro, and was a municipium
celebrated for the manufacture of iron, to which
the cold waters of the Salo gave a peculiar temper.
It also produced gold.2 The year of the poet's
birth cannot be fixed with certainty, but it was one
of the years A.D. 38 to 41. It has been inferred
from one of his epigrams 3 that his parents were
named Pronto and Flaccilla. Though they were
probably not rich, they gave the future poet a good
education, a fact he afterwards acknowledges * some-
what bitterly, having regard to its uselessness in that
corrupt age as a means of making money. About
A.D. 63 or 64 he came to Rome in the last days of
Nero, and attached himself to his countrymen
Quintilian, Lucan the poet, and the Senecas, who
introduced him to the Pisos. The ruin and death of
Seneca the philosopher and of Lucan, for partici-
pation in the abortive conspiracy of L. Calpurnius
1 cf. x. ciii. 1. 2 xn. xviii. 9.
3 v. xxxiv. 1. 4 In ix. Ixxiii. 7.
viii
INTRODUCTION
Piso in A.I). 65 threw Martial on his own resources.
Quintilian seems to have advised him to take up a
profession/ perhaps the bar, but Martial preferred,
as he says, to make the most of life while he could,
a note which he strikes consistently throughout his
writings.
Of his life up to A.D. 84 or 85, the date of the
publication of Book I. of his epigrams, we know
nothing. In A.D. 80, however, the collection known
as the Liber Spectaculorum was published to cele-
brate the opening of the Colosseum by Titus. On
the strength of this book, and the Xenia and
Apophoreta (Books XIII. and XIV.) which were issued
in A.D. 84 or 85, or of other writings that have
not come down to us, Martial by A.D. 85 enjoyed an
assured position as a poet, as he himself says,2
"known all over the world," and equally widely
plagiarised.
At Rome he remained continuously for thirty-five
years, and here all his books were published except
Book III., which was issued from Gallia Cisalpina,
whither he had gone in a fit of spleen at the poor
rewards of literature.3 In Book I. he speaks of him-
self4 as living in a garret up three high flights of
1 cf. n. xc. - cf. i. i. 2.
3 cf. in. iv. 8. * cf. i. cxvii. 7.
ix
INTRODUCTION
stairs. Later on, by A.D. 94, he had a house of his
own in the same quarter, the Quirinal, and a country
villa at Nomentum,1 which according to his own
account was a poor place. Whether these houses
were purchased or given to him is unknown. During
his thirty-five years' sojourn he led the ordinary life
of the needy client dependent on rich patrons, and
he never ceases to complain of the weariness of
levees to be attended, complimentary duties to be
discharged at unreasonable hours and in all weathers-
and of the insolence and stinginess of wealthy men.
Yet he was not without compensations. Domitian
rejected his petition for a sum of money, but he
received from Titus the jus trium liberorum, a right
confirmed by Domitian, and the tribunatus semestrix,
a kind of honorary tribuneship carrying with it the
title of a knight.2 Moreover, he mixed in the best
society in the capital, numbering among his friends
Quintilian, the poets Silius and Valerius Flaccus, the
younger Pliny, and Juvenal. That Martial was capable
of a very sincere and lusting friendship is shown by
many of his epigrams. It is curious that he never
mentions Statius, nor is he mentioned by him.
At the end of his thirty-five years' residence in
1 cf. ix. xviih -2.
• cf. in. xcv. 9, 10 ; ix. xcvii. 5.
INTRODUCTION
Rome, either as recognizing the fact that the new
regime under Nerva or Trajan was not favourable
to adulation of emperors, or from that general
weariness of City life of which he complains, and
a longing to see again the patrii anmes and the
saturae xordida rura casae of his native Bilbilis on
the rough hill-side, he returned in A.D. 100 to
Spain. The means of travel were supplied by
Pliny, as Pliny tells us,1 from friendliness towards
the poet, and in recompense for the complimentary
verses2 Martial had written upon him. Three years
afterwards Book XII. was sent from Spain. In
the meantime a Spanish lady, Marcella, of whom
he writes with great affection,3 and whom some
have supposed to be his wife, gave him a country
house, where he lived until his death. "She," he
says, "alone made a Rome for him." But the
delights and the freedom of the country, of which
at first he speaks exultingly, began to pall upon
him, and this fact and the narrow-minded jealousy4
of his neighbours made him look back fondly to-
wards the fuller life of the Imperial City. But he
was destined never to see it again. His death
cannot be dated later than A.D. 104.
1 Ep. iii. 21. 2 rf. x. xix.
3 cf. xn. xxi. and xxxi. * cj\ xii. K/iial.
xi
INTRODUCTION
Whether Martial was married is uncertain. In
several epigrams l he speaks as if he had a wife,
and in two 2 (and those of the foulest) he assumes
to address her. Again, a daughter is alluded to
in one epigram, and perhaps in two,3 for the read-
ing is uncertain. A writer, however, does not
always speak in his own person, and also (as
Martial did 4) sometimes writes on a subject sub-
mitted to him. In other epigrams5 the poet speaks
of a wife as an aspiration of the future, and, as
Professor Sellar says, " the general tone of his epi-
grams is that of an easy-living bachelor who knew
nothing of the cares or consolations of family life."
The probability is that he was never married, and
it may be said with some degree of certainty that
he had no children ; for the poet who touched so
tenderly on the deaths of Erotion, Urbicus, and
Canace, and who showed so loving a disposition
towards the young and the helpless, could not
have been silent if he had had children of his
own.
Pliny says 6 of him, " I hear that Valerius Martialis
is dead, and I am sorry. He was a man of genius,
] cf. iv. xxiii. 2 ; vn. xcv. 7 ; xi. Ixxxiv. 15.
- xi. xliii. and civ.
3 cf. vii. xcv. 8; x. Ixv. 11. 4 cf. xi. xlii. 1.
s n. xc. 9 ; ii. xcii. * Ep. iii. 21.
INTRODUCTION
of subtle, quick intelligence, and one who in his
writings showed the greatest amount of wit and
pungency, and no less of fairness. . . . But it may
be said his writings will not last. Perhaps they
will not, but he wrote as if they would." The
quality of candor which Pliny emphasises agrees
with what Martial claimed l for himself. " I spare
the person, I denounce the vice." Much of his
work is poor, and some of it even stupid, as might
have been expected in an author with so large an
output. And indeed he says himself that, to con-
stitute a book, the good must be mixed with the
bad and the indifferent2: "the equal book," he
says,3 " is the bad one." But Martial at his best
is without a rival. If the highest form of art be
to conceal art, then he was a consummate artist.
The point, whether dependent on a pun, or an
ambiguous phrase, on a new meaning given to a
word, or an antithesis, or Trapa TrpovSoKtav, is
sharply brought out. And the words fall into their
places with a fitness that suggests the solution of a
puzzle : the reader feels that no other words could
have been employed. He is never turgid or
pompous : all he touches with a light hand. A
1 cf. x. xxxiii. 10 ; vu. xii. 2 cf. I. xvi. ; vri.- Ixxxi.
3 cf. vu. xc. 4.
INTRODUCTION
master of terse and pregnant phrase, he has left us
lines that linger in the memory, such as perdideril
indium vita reversa diem ; vivere bis vifrt est posse priorc
fnti ; non est vivere, scd valerc vita ; cineri gloria sera
venit ; aestate pueri si valenl, .satis discitnt ; non bene
servo servitur amico ; sera minis vita esl crastina, vive.
hodie — and many others ; and above them all that
tender sigh for the shortness of mortality, which has
framed a thousand dials, and has from the Temple
walls reminded many a generation of lawyers of
the fleeting hours, pereunt et imputantnr.
Life was his subject, not outworn mythologies or
tragic bombast.1 And what a medley of detail that life
presents ! Fops, fortune-hunters and dinner-touters,
dabblers and busybodies, orators and lawyers, school-
masters, street hawkers, barbers, cobblers, jockeys,
architects, auctioneers, debtors, bores, quidnuncs, doc-
tors, plagiarists, hypocritical philosophers, poisoners,
jugglers and acrobats, the slave who has become a
knight, or the knight without a qualification, per-
sonal peculiarities, the faults and vices of fashionable
life. He describes a gown or a cup, a picture or a
statue, a rich debauchee's banquet, the courses of
a dinner, or the produce of a farm, a greenhouse,
a triumphal arch, a lion in the amphitheatre, a
1 cf. iv. xlviii. 7, 8 ; x. iv. 7 -12.
INTRODUCTION
suburban or country villa, a private bath, a beauti-
ful slave, the noises, duties, and distractions of the
town, its topography, the parties, theatres, public
games, exercise grounds, the baths and the Satur-
nalia. He gives us a birthday or a marriage poem,
the eulogy of a friend or of a Roman matron, the
praise of conjugal or of fraternal love, or of a life
well spent, the elements of a happy life, the death
of a good man, epitaphs, verses on the eruption of
Vesuvius, on a fragment of the Argo, or on an insect
embedded in amber. The list might be indefinitely
prolonged.
No account of the work of Martial would be com-
plete without two features being touched upon which
have darkened his fame, namely his indecency, and
his adulation of Domitian. With regard to the
first, however, of the 1171 epigrams in the first
twelve books, those open to objection do not exceed
a fourth, and if the 350 epigrams in Books XIII.
and XIV. be included, the proportion is still smaller.
On the other hand, of the objectionable epigrams
the greater part are indescribably foul. But it
should not be inferred that Martial was a peculiarly
immoral man. " My page is wanton," he says,1 " my
life is good." And borrowing the excuse made by
1 cf. i, iv. 8.
XV
ft
INTRODUCTION
his master Catullus, he says l that jocosa carmina
cannot please without prurience. That was as much
a feature of sportive epigrams as the nudity of the
performers at the Festival of Flora, and to \vrite
licentious verse was, as Pliny tells us,2 fashionable
with summi et gramssimi viri. A notable example of
the outspoken indecency in which even Augustus
indulged is to be found in xi. xx.3 As an epigram-
matist Martial had to adapt himself to the manners
of his age or starve.
The poet's adulation of Domitian sounds to modern
ears shameless and disgusting. But it must be re-
membered that the title " deus " was an official
one, and it would have been dangerous in those
critical times to omit it. Moreover, Martial had to
live ; the patronage of the Emperor and of his suite
was essential, and Martial had to pay the price of
recognition. A modern scholar, Professor Verrall, has
sought 4 to exculpate him on the ground that " the
worship of the Emperor was the best and truest form
which religion took in that ' inter-religious ' period
. . . When [the provincials] called the Emperor 'deus'
they took the simplest way of saying that the Empire
1 cf. I. xxxv. 11 ; following Cat. xvi. 9.
* Ep. iv. xiv. 4. He gives a long list of such authors in v. iii.
1 All epigrams possible of translation by the use of dashes
or paraphrases have been rendered in English, the wholly
impossible ones only in Italian. 4 Literary Estaya, 8.
INTRODUCTION
deserved from them, as human beings, gratitude and
veneration. And so it did." But Martial, unfor-
tunately for his future fame, has deprived himself of
this excuse. His changed tone after the accession
of Nerva and Trajan l shows that his previous flattery
of Domitian was insincere. In fact, inferentially he
admits it.
The terseness and vividness of Martial's style
makes the interpretation of particular words in
readable English at times peculiarly difficult. To
explain a phrase is easy, to translate it is often hard.
And the commentators, even the most noted of them,
often fail to bring out the point. Two instances only
may be given. In an epigram2 — which Pliny possibly
had in his mind when he summed up Martial's style
in a passage already quoted — the poet, criticising
another poet, says that his rival's epigrams were
cerussata candidiora cute. Here the epithet candidiora
has to do service, not only in comparison with the
physical feature of a white-leaded skin, but also in
comparison with the style of epigram, which should
contain wit and gall. Again, in another epigram 3
he speaks of the viva quies ponti. This, conversely put,
is exactly Tennyson's " such a tide as moving seems
1 cf. x. Ixxii. ; XI. iv. and v.
2 vii. xxv. 3 x. xxx. 12.
INTRODUCTION
asleep." But Tennyson has used seven words,
Martial only three.
Of the poet's personal appearance we know-
nothing beyond the slight sketch he has himself
drawn,1 where, comparing himself with an effeminate
fop, he alludes to his " stiff Spanish hair/ ' and his
" hairy legs and cheeks."
The dust of Martial has mingled this many a
year with the soil of his native land, and over it
has passed unregarding the life of the centuries,
the Visigoth, the Moor, and the Spaniard ; and of
the stones of Bilbilis none survive save in the
structure of a Moorish city.2 The written word,
as he has told us,3 is the only memorial that cannot
die. His writings have lived, as he prophesied,
when the stones of Messalla have been sundered by
the wild fig,4 the towering marble of Licinus has
fallen in dust,5 the work of Apelles has perished.6
And they will continue to live so long as the
finest literary art shall be held worthy to be had in
remembrance, and the classics be read and loved.
7 FIG TREE COURT, TEMPLE.
April 22, 1919.
1 cf. x. Ixv. 7, 9.
2 Calatayud (Job's Castle) two miles E.
3 cf. x. ii. 12. * cf. x. ii. 9 ; viu. iii. 5.
5 cf. viu. iii. 6. 8 cf. vii. Ixxxiv. 8.
xviii
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MANUSCRIPTS
THE acknowledgment of the translator is due to Messrs.
George Bell & Sons for kind permission to use the text of
Martial as published in their Corpus Poetarum Latinomm
(1905). According to the learned editor of this text the
MSS. of Martial may be divided into three families : —
The first is represented by H in the Vienna Library ; R
in the Leyden Library, both of the 9th century ; and T (a
transcript of H, and supplementing it) of the 9th-10th
century in the Paris Library.
The agreement of T and R is in the following pages
denoted by the letter o.
The second family is represented by L (13th century),
discovered at Lucca, and now at Berlin ; by P (15th century)
at the Vatican ; by Q (loth century) in the British Museum ;
and by f (15th century) in the Laurentian Library at
Florence. These MSS. contain the text as emended by
Torquatus Gennadius, A.D. 401. The agreement of these
codices is denoted by /8.
The third family is represented by E (10th century) in the
Advocates' Library at Edinburgh; by X (10th century) in
the Paris Library ; by A (llth century) at Leyden ; and by
V (10th century) at the Vatican. These are the four best,
their agreement being denoted by 7.
Of the same family are B (12th century) at Leyden ; C
(14th century) also at Leyden ; and G (12th century) at
Wolfenblittel.
Recent codices, not dependent on old recensions, but often
giving true emendations, are denoted by $-.
EDITIONS
Among the editions are the following. A fuller list will
be found in Brunet's Manuel du Libraire (Paris, 1862) : —
1. The Variorum Edition with the notes of T. Farnabius
and others, edited by Corn. Schrevelius, Lugd. Bat. 1661.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2. The Delphin Edition by Vine. Collesso, with a para-
phrase and variorum notes, Paris, 1680, 1823. Published by
command of Louis XIV.
3. An edition, containing old and new notes and occasional
Greek versions, by five Professors of the French Academy,
Lemaire, Paris, 1825.
4. An edition by F. G. Schneidewin, Grimae, 1842
5. Select Epigrams of Martial, with English notes by F. A.
Paley and W. H. Stone ("Grammar School Classics"),
Whittaker & Co. and George Bell, 1868. A useful and handy
edition.
6. The Epigrams of Martial, with explanatory notes by
L. Friedlander, Leips. 1886, 2 vols. A standard edition.
7. Selected Epigrams of Martial, edited, with introduction,
notes, and appendices, by Rev. H. M. Stephenson, Mac-
millan, 1880-1895.
8. Select Epigrams of Martial, edited according to the
text of Prof. Lindsay, by R. T Bridge and E. D. C. Lake,
Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1908, 2 vols.
There is a good introduction by Prof. Sellar in Extracts
from Martial, Edinburgh, 1884 ; and a valuable discussion
of the epigrams in Lessing's Prose Works.
TRANSLATIONS
An English prose translation (the obscene epigrams being,
however, in Graglia's Italian) is published in Bonn's "Classical
Library." The versions are not unsatisfactory as regards
correctness, but the style in the case of the more serious
epigrams often falls below the dignity of the subject. A
selection of 150 epigrams has also been translated, with an
introduction and notes, by Alfred S. West ( Wit and Wisdom
from Martial, Hampstead Priory Press, 1912).
Among verse translations are : a MS. of the age of Eliza-
beth ; Thomas May, poet and playwright, 1629 ; R. Fletcher,
J656 ; Anon. 1695 ; J. Hughes, 1737 ; William Hay, M.P. for
Seaford, 1755 ; Wright, 1763; E. B. Greene, 1774. Specimens
of the preceding and of many others will be found in the
Bohn Martial. Other translators are W. F. Shaw (Juvenal,
Persius, Martial and Catullus, an experiment in translation,
1882), forty-three epigrams in unrhymed trochaics, a close ren-
dering, the metre being, however, sometimes rugged ; Goldwin
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Smith (Bay Leaves, Toronto, 1890), anonymously ; W. T.
Courthope (Selections Translated or Imitated in English Verse,
Murray, 1914) ; both excellent. The most satisfactory of
the translations as a whole are Hay's, but his versions are
often imitations only.
Of foreign translations in prose we have in French :
Marolles, 1655; Volland, 1807; Verger, Dubois, and Man-
geart, 1834—5 (with a memoir of the author supposed to have
been written by himself) ; since reissued by the Librairie
Gamier Freres, Paris ; Nisard, 1842 ; J. B. (order re-
arranged, with notes and commentaries), Paris, 1842-3 ;
the obscene epigrams forming the 3rd vol.; and in Italian,
Giuspanio Graglia (London, 1782 and 1791), whose versions
of the obscene epigrams have been utilized in the following
work. In German is the version of K. W. Ramler, Leipzig,
1787-91.
Foreign translators in verse areMarolles, Paris, 1655, 1671,
1675 ; Volland, 1807 ; E. T. Simon and P. R. Auguis, 1819 ;
Constant Dubois (with an essay on Martial's life and works
by Jules Janin), Paris, 1841 ; in German, Zimmermann,
Frankfort, 1783 ; and Willemann, Cologne, 1825 ; the latter
being expurgated.
Imitations in French verse are by Ant. P. (Antoine
Pericaud), L'an de Rome 2569 (A.D. 1816) ; and by C. B. D. L.
(Claude Breghot du Lut), L'an de Rome 2569 ; and by E. T.
Simon, supra.
If a " bad eminence " confer any title to fame, James
Elphinston (1721-1809) deserves special notice. He was the
son of an Episcopalian clergyman, and was educated at the
High School and at the University of Edinburgh. In 1750
he superintended the issue of a Scotch edition of Johnson's
Rambler, supplying English translations of the mottoes, for
which he was thanked by Johnson. From 1752 to 1776 he was
successively a schoolmaster at Brompton and at Kensington.
He published in 1778 a Specimen of the Translations of
Epigrams of Martial, with a preface informing the public
that he awaited subscriptions to enable him to publish a
version of Martial's works complete. With regard to this
work, it is recorded by Boswell — under date of April 9, 1778
— that Garrick, being consulted, told Elphinston frankly
that he was no epigrammatist, and advised him against
publishing ; that Johnson's advice was not asked, and was
not forced upon the translator ; and that Elphinston's
BIBLIOGRAPHY
own brother-in-law, Strahan, the printer, in sending him a
subscription of fifty pounds, promised him fifty more if he
would abandon his project.
The offer was not accepted, and in 1782 the whole work
appeared in a handsome quarto. It was received with
derision, the poet Beattie saying, "It is truly an unique —
the specimens formerly published did very well to laugh at,
but a whole quarto of nonsense and gibberish is too much."
And Mrs. Piozzi records that "of a modern Martial, when it
came out, Dr. Johnson said ' there are in these verses too
much folly for madness, I think, and too much madness for
folly.'" And the unhappy author was gibbeted in the
following epigram by Robert Burns :
" O thou whom Poesy abhors,
Whom Prose has turned out of doors !
Heardst thou that groan ? Proceed no further :
'Twas laurell'd Martial roaring ' Murther !' "
XXH
THE
EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
VOL. I.
M. VALERI MARTIALIS
DE SPECTACULIS LIBER
BARBARA pyramidum sileat miracula Memphis,
Assyrius l iactet nee Babylona labor ;
nee Triviae templo molles laudentur lones,2
dissimulet Delon cornibus ara frequens ;
acre nee vacuo pendentia Mausolea
laudibus inmodicis Cares in astra ferant.
omnis Caesareo cedit labor Amphitheatre ;
unum pro cunctis fama loquetur opus.
II
Hit: ubi sidereus propius videt astra colossus
et crescunt media pegmata celsa via,
invidiosa feri radiabant atria regis
unaque iam tota stabat in urbe domus.
hie ubi conspicui venerabilis Amphitheatri
erigitur moles, stagna Neronis erant.
1 Assy r iiin Alciatus, awiduu* T.
* lones Scaliger, honor en T.
1 The Temple of Diana at Ephesus.
2 Constructed by Apollo of the horns of the beasts slain by
his sister Diana.
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
ON THE SPECTACLES
I
LET not barbaric Memphis tell of the wonder of
her Pyramids, nor Assyrian toil vaunt its Babylon ;
let not the soft lonians be extolled for Trivia's
fane x ; let the altar wrought of many hoi-ns 2 keep
hid its Delos ; let not Carians exalt to the skies with
boundless praise the Mausoleum 3 poised on empty
air. All labour yields to Caesar's Amphitheatre :
one work in place of all shall Fame rehearse.
II
HERE where, rayed with stars, the Colossus4 views
heaven anear, and in the middle way tall scaffolds 6
rise, hatefully gleamed the palace of a savage king,
and but a single house now stood in all the City.
Here, where the far-seen Amphitheatre lifts its mass
august, was Nero's mere. Here, where we admire
3 The tomb of Mausolus, king of Caria, constructed by his
wife Artemisia.
4 A statue of Nero, afterwards turned by Vespasian into a
statue of the Sun with rays surrounding the head : cf. i. Ixx. 7.
6 Either the scaffolding of the new works, or movable
cranes (pegmata) which could lengthen or contract, open or
shut, and were used at shows as part of the appointments.
B 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
hie ubi miramur, velocia munera, thermas,
abstulerat miseris tecta superbus ager.
Claudia diffusas ubi porticus explicat umbras,
ultima pars aulae deficientis erat. 10
reddita Roma sibi est et sunt te praeside, Caesar,
deliciae populi, quae fuerant domini.
Ill
QUAE tarn seposita est, quae gens tarn barbara, Caesar,
ex qua spectator non sit in urbe tua ?
venit ab Orpheo cultor Rhodopeius Haemo,
venit et epoto Sarmata pastus equo,
et qui prima bibit deprensi flumina Nili, 5
et quern supremae Tethyos unda ferit ;
festinavit Arabs, festinavere Sabaei,
et Cilices nimbis hie maduere suis.
crinibus in nodum tortis venere Sugambri,
atque aliter tortis crinibus Aethiopes. 10
vox diversa sonat populorum, turn tamen una est,
cum verus patriae diceris esse pater.
IV
TURBA gravis paci placidaeque inimiea qviieti,
quae semper miseras sollicitabat opes,
traducta est, ingens l nee cepit harena nocentis :
et delator habet quod dabat exilium.
1 ingens Housman, getitH* T.
1 The Baths of Titus. 2 Nero's Golden House.
ON THE SPECTACLES, n-iv
the warm-baths.,1 a gift swiftly wrought, a proud
domain 2 had robbed their dwellings from the poor.
Where the Claudian Colonnade extends its outspread
shade the Palace ended in its furthest part. Rome
has been restored to herself, and under thy govern-
ance, Caesar, that is now the delight of a people which
was once a master's.
Ill
WHAT race is set so far, what race so barbarous,
Caesar, wherefrom a spectator is not in thy city ?
There has come the farmer of Rhodope from Orphic
Haemus, there has come too the Sarmatian fed on
draughts of horses' blood, and he who quaffs at its
spring the stream of first-found Nile, and he 3 whose
shore the wave of farthest Tethys beats ; the Arab
has sped, Sabaeans have sped, and Cilicians have
here been drenched in their own saffron dew.4 With
hair twined in a knot have come Sygambrians, and,
with locks twined elsewise, Aethiopians. Diverse
sounds the speech of the peoples, yet then is it one
when thou art acclaimed thy country's Father true.
IV
A CROWD dangerous to peace and a foe to tranquil
rest, that ever vexed unhappy riches, has been
paraded, nor could the huge Arena hold the guilty ;
and the informer has the exile he once bestowed.5
3 Probably the Briton.
4 With which the stage was sprinkled : rf. v. xxv. 7 ; vm.
xxxiii. 4.
5 This epigram is sometimes joined to the following.
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
IVu
EXULAT Ausonia profugus delator ab urbe : [5]
haec licet inpensis principis adnumeres.
IUNCTAM Pasiphaen Dictaeo credite tauro :
vidimus, accepit fabula prisca fidem.
nee se miretur, Caesar, longaeva vetustas :
quidquid fama canit, praestat harena tibi.
VI
BELLIGER invictis quod Mars tibi servit in armis,
non satis est, Caesar ; servit et ipsa Venus.
VlB
PROSTRATUM vasta Nemees in valle leonem
uobile et Herculeum fama canebat opus.
prisca fides taceat : nam post tua munera, Caesar,
hoc iam femineo l
VII
QUALITER in Scythica religatus rupe Prometheus
adsiduam nimio pectore pavit avem,
nuda Caledonio sic viscera praebuit urso
non falsa pendens in cruce Laureolus.
1 Marte fatemur ayi suppl. Buecheler.
1 Because, by suppressing the informers, he lost the con-
fiscated estates.
2 Women sometimes fought in the Amphitheatre : Juv. i. 22.
6
ON THE SPECTACLES, iv B-VII
IVB
THE informer is an outcast and an exile from the
Ausonian City : this may you reckon to our Prince's
cost.1
V
THAT Pasiphae was mated to the Dictaean bull,
believe : we have seen it, the old-time myth has
won its warrant. And let not age-long eld, Caesar,
marvel at itself : whatever Fame sings of, that the
Arena makes real for thee.
VI
THAT warring Mars served thee in arms uncon-
quered suffices not, Caesar ; Venus herself too serves.2
V!B
OK the lion laid low in Nemea's vasty vale, a deed
renowned and worthy of Hercules, Fame used to
sing. Dumb be ancient witness ! for after thy
shows, O Caesar, we declare that such things are
wrought by woman's prowess now.
VII
As, fettered on a Scythian crag, Prometheus fed
the untiring fowl with his too prolific heart, so
Laureolus,3 hanging on no unreal cross, gave up his
vitals defenceless to a Caledonian bear. His mangled
3 A condemned criminal representing in the Amphitheatre
Laureolus, a robber who had been crucified and torn to pieces
by wild beasts, and whose death had been represented in a
Mime (fabula, 1. 12) under Caligula {Juv. 8, 187 ; Suet. Gal.
57), but in this case was enacted realistically in the Amphi-
theatre.
7
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
vivebant laceri membris stillantibus artus 5
inque omni nusquam corpora corpus erat.
denique supplicium1
vel domini iugulum foderat ense nocens,
templa vel arcano demens spoliaverat auro,
subdiderat saevas vel tibi, Roma, faces. 10
vicerat antiquae sceleratus crimina famae,
in quo, quae fuerat fabula, poena fuit.
VIII
DAEDALE, Lucano cum sic lacereris ab urso,
quam cuj)eres pinnas nunc habuisse tuas !
IX
PRAESTITIT exhibitus tota tibi, Caesar, harena
quae non promisit proelia rhinoceros,
o quam terribilis exarsit pronus in iras !
quantus erat taurus, cui pila taurus erat !
LAESEIIAT ingrato leo perfidus ore magistrum,
ausus tam notas contemerare manus ;
sed dignas tanto persolvit crimine poenas,
et qui non tulerat verbera, tela tulit.
quos decet esse hominum tali sub principe mores, 5
qui iubet ingenium mitius esse feris !
1 dignum tulit ; Me parentis suppl. Schneidewiu.
ON THE SPECTACLES, vn-x
limbs lived, though the parts dripped gore, and in all
his body was nowhere a body's shape. A punish-
ment deserved at length he won — he in his guilt had
with his sword pierced his parent's or his master's
throat, or in his madness robbed a temple of its
close-hidden gold, or had laid by stealth his savage
torch to thee, O Rome. Accursed, he had outdone
the crimes told of by ancient lore ; in him that which
had been a show before was punishment.
VIII
DAEDALUS, now thou art being so mangled by a
Lucanian boar, how wouldst thou wish thou hadst
now thy wings !
IX
SHOWN along thy Arena's floor, O Caesar, a rhino-
ceros afforded thee an unpromised fray. Oh, into
what dreadful rage fired he with lowered head !
How great was the bull ] to which a bull was as a
dummy !
X
A TREACHEROUS lion had with ungrateful fang
wounded his master, daring to violate hands so
familiar ; but a penalty fitted to a crime so great he
paid ; and he that would not brook stripes brooked
the steel. What manners befit men under such a
Prince who bids the nature of wild beasts to grow
more mild !
1 Probably the rhinoceros was known as bo$ Aethiophis :
cf. xiv. liii. As to the dummy (piln), cf. n. xliii. 6 ;
x. Ixxxvi. 4.
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XI
PRAECEPS sanguinea dum se rotat ursus harena,
inplicitam visco perdidit ille fugam.
splendida iam tecto cessent venabula ferro,
nee volet excussa lancea torta manu ;
deprendat vacuo venator in acre praedam, 5
si captare feras aucupis arte placet.
XII
INTER Caesareae discrimina saeva Dianae
fixisset gravidam cum levis hasta suem,
exiluit partus miserae de vulnere matris.
0 Lucina ferox, hoc peperisse fuit ?
pluribus ilia mori voluisset saucia telis, 5
omnibus ut natis triste pateret iter.
quis negat esse satum materno f'unere Bacchum ?
sic genitum iiumen credite : nata fera est.
XIII
ICTA gravi telo confossaque vulnere mater
sus pariter vitam perdidit atque dedit.
o quam certa fuit librato dextera ferro !
hanc ego Lucinae credo fuisse manum.
experta est numen moriens utriusque Dianae, 5
quaque soluta parens quaque perempta fera est.
1 i.e. What now remains but that beasts should fly if they
can be caught like birds ?
10
ON THE SPECTACLES, xi-xm
XI
WHILE on the bloody sand a bear whirled with
lowered head, he lost the escape that bird-lime
clogged. Let now the burnished hunting spears,
their steel hidden, lie at rest, nor the lance fly
hurled from projected arm ; let the hunter take his
prey in the empty air, if by the fowler's art one may
catch beasts.1
XII
WHEN, amid the cruel hazards of Caesar's hunt, a
light spear had pierced a pregnant sow, there sprang
forth one of her offspring from the wound of its
unhappy dam. O fell Lucina, was this a birth ? Yet
would she, wounded by more darts than one, have
welcomed death, that a sad path should open for all
her brood. Who gainsays the birth of Bacchus
from his mother's death ? 2 Believe ye, thus sprang
a deity : thus was born a beast.
XIII
SMIT by a fatal spear, and pierced by the wound,
the mother sow at once lost life and gave it. Oh,
how sure was the hand with its poised steel ! this, I
ween, was Lucina's hand. Dying, the beast proved
the deity of either Dian — of her that delivered the
dam, and of her that slew the brute.3
2 cf. v. Ixxii.
3 Diana, the huntress goddess, was also Lncina, who
assisted at child-birth.
II
XIV
Sus fera iam gravior maturi pignore ventris
emisit fetum, vulnere facta parens ;
nee iacuit partus, sed matre cadente cucurrit.
0 quantum est subitis casibus ingenium !
XV
SUMMA tuae, Meleagre, fuit quae gloria famae,
quantast Carpophori portio, fusus aper !
ille et praecipiti venabula condidit urso,
primus in Arctoi qui fuit arce poli,
stravit et ignota spectandum mole leonem, 5
Herculeas potuit qui decuisse manus,
et volucrem longo porrexit vulnere pardum.
praemia cum laudum ferret, adhuc poterat.
XVI
RAPTUS abit media quod ad aethera taurus harena,
non fuit hoc artis sed pietatis opus.
XVlB
VEXEIIAT Europen fraterna per aequora taurus :
at nunc Alciden taurus in astra tulit.
Caesaris atque lovis confer nuno, fama, iuvencos :
par onus ut tulerint, altius iste tulit.
1 There is a play here on the two meanings of "fall," to
descend or to happen.
2 A celebrated beatiari-us, or hunter of wild beasts, in the
Amphitheatre : cf. xxiii. and xxvii. of this Book.
•" A passage hopelessly corrupt. MSS. read Pratmia cum
laudem ferre adhuc poteram. Buecheler suggested Pr. cui
ON THE SPECTACLES, xiv-xvi B
XIV
A WILD sow, now full-heavy with the pledge of
her quick womb, gave forth her brood, made by her
wound a mother ; nor lay her offspring still-born,
but, as its mother fell, it ran. Sudden chances that
fall,1 how ingenious are they !
XV
THAT which was the highest glory of thy renown,
Meleager, how small a part is it of Carpophorus' -
fame, a stricken boar ! He plunged his hunter's
spear also in a headlong-rushing bear, the king of
beasts beneath the cope of Arctic skies ; and he laid
low a lion, magnificent, of bulk unknown before, one
worthy of Hercules' might ; and with a far-dealt
wound stretched in death a rushing pard. He won
the prize of honour ; yet unbroken still was his
strength.3
XVI
A BULL, borne aloft from the Arena's midst mounts
to the skies ; this was no work of art, but one of
piety.4
XVlB
A BULL carried Europa along fraternal seas 5 ; but
now a bull has borne Alcides to the stars.6 Compare
now, Fame, the steers of Caesar and of Jove : let the
burden be the same, yet CJaesar's bore his more high.
laudem ftrre duo poterant. ? Praemia cum laudem (or cur
laudtin ?) ferrea adhnc poterat.
4 A fragment, but sometimes combined with the succeeding.
6 Jupiter, in the guise of a bull, carried off Europa over
his brother Neptune's seas.
• A bestiarius representing Hercules, or a figure of Her-
cules, was tossed by a bull.
13
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XVII
QUOD pius et supplex elephas te, Caesar, adorat
hie modo qui tauro tarn metuendus erat,
non facit hoc iussus, nulloque docente magistro ;
crede mihi, nostrum sentit et ille deum.
XVIII
LAMBERE securi dextram consueta magistri
tigris, ab Hyrcano gloria rara iugo,
saeva ferum rabido laceravit dente leonem :
res nova, non ullis cognita temporibus.
ausa est tale nihil, silvis dum vixit in altis : 5
postquam inter nos est, plus feritatis habet.
XIX
Qui modo per totam flammis stimulatus h'arenam
sustulerat raptas taurus in astra pilas,
occubuit tandem cornuto ardore petitus,
dum facilem tolli sic elephanta putat.
XX
CUM peteret pars haec Myrinum, pars ilia Triumphum,
promisit pariter Caesar utraque manu.
non potuit melius litem finire iocosam.
o dulce invicti principis ingenium !
1 cf. n. xliii. 6.
14
ON THE SPECTACLES, xvu-xx
XVII
IN that, loyal and suppliant, the elephant adores
thee which here but now was so fearful a foe to a
bull, this it does unbidden, at the teaching of no
master ; believe me, it too feels the presence of our
God!
XVIII
WONT to lick the hand of its fearless master, a
tigress, sprung, their unmatched glory, from Hyr-
canian hills, savagely tore a fierce lion with mad-
dened fang : strange was the thing, unknown in any
age ! She ventured no such deed what time she
dwelt in her deep woods : she is in our midst, and
shows more fierceness now.
XIX
A BULL that but now, goaded by fire through the
Arena's length, had seized and flung the dummies l
skyward, fell at length, countered by a fiery tusk,2
while he deemed that with like ease an elephant
might be tossed.
XX
WHEN this faction called for Myrinus, that faction
for Triumphus,3 Caesar with either hand uplifted
promised both. In no wise better could he end the
friendly debate. O pleasant device of an uncon-
quered Prince !
2 Buecheler explains flammis de cornibus ; Friedlander
reads cornuto ut ab ore.
8 Probably names of popular fighters against beasts.
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXI
QUIDQUID in Orpheo Rhodope spectasse theatre
dicitur, exhibuit, Caesar, harena tibi.
repserunt scopuli mirandaque silva cucurrit,
quale fuisse nemus creditur Hesperidum.
adfuit inmixtum pecori genus omne ferarum, 5
et supra vatem multa pependit avis,
ipse sed ingrato iacuit laceratus ab urso.
haec tantum res est facta irap' la-roptav.1
XXlB
ORPHEA quod subito tellus emisit hiatu
ursam invasuram, venit ab Eurydice.2
XXII
SOLLICITANT pavidi duni rhinocerota magistri
seque diu magnae colligit ira ferae,
desperabantur promissi proelia Martis ;
sed tandem rediit cognitus ante furor,
namque gravem cornu gemino sic extulit ursum, 5
iactat ut inpositas taurus in astra pilas : 3
Norica tarn certo venabula derigit ictu [XXIII
fortis adhuc teneri dextera Carpophori.
ille tulit geminos facili cervice iuvencos,
illi cessit atrox bubalus atque vison : 1 0
hunc leo cum fugeret, praeceps in tela cucurrit.
i nunc et lentas corripe, turba, moras.
1 The MSS. read haec tamen res t<it facta ita pictoria. The
text is as amended by Housman.
2 So Postgate. The MSS. text versam is amur venit is
unintelligible. Ursam mersitram (Housman).
a From this point some editors begin a sep.irate epigram
on the prowess of Carpophorus.
16
ON THE SPECTACLES, xxi-xxm
XXI
WHATE'ER Rhodope saw, 'tis said, on the Orphic
stage, that the Arena, Caesar, has shown l to thee.
Cliffs crept, and a marvellous wood sped swiftly on,
one such as was in belief of men the grove of the
Hesperides. Every kind of wild beast was there
mingled with the flock, and above the minstrel
hovered many a bird, but he fell, mangled by an
ungrateful 2 bear. This thing alone was done untold
by history.
XXlB
WHEREAS the earth yawned suddenly and sent
forth a she-bear to attack Orpheus, the bear came
from Eurydice.3
XXII
WHILE in fear the trainers were goading a rhin-
oceros, and long was the great beast's wrath gather-
ing strength, all despaired of the conflict of the
promised war ; yet at length the fury, known ere-
while, returned. For a heavy bear he tossed with
his double horn, even as a bull hurls dummies
heavenward, and with as sure an aim as that where-
with the stout right hand of Carpophorus, as yet
young, levels the Noric hunting-spear. That beast,
agile with pliant neck, stood up against (?) a pair of
steers, to him yielded the fierce buffalo and bison ;
a lion in flight from him ran headlong upon the
spears. Go now, ye rabble, and gird at slow delays !
1 A representation of Orpheus' magic power and death.
2 Giving ill return for the sweetness of O.'s song.
3 The epigram seems to be connected with XXI., and
Eurydice sends the bear because she wants Orpheus back.
17
VOL. I. C
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXIV
Si quis ades longis serus spectator ab oris,
cui lux prima sacri muneris ista fuit,
ne te decipiat ratibus navalis Enyo
et par unda fretis, hie modo terra fuit.
non credis ? specta, dum lassant aequora Martem : 5
parva mora est, dices " Hie rnodo pontus erat."
XXV
QUOD nocturna tibi, Leandre, pepercerit unda
desine mirari : Caesaris unda fuit.
XXVe
CUM peteret dulces audax Leandros amores
et fessus tumidis iam premeretur aquis,
sic miser instantes adfatus dicitur undas :
" Parcite dum propero, mergite cum redeo."
XXVI
LUSIT Nereidum docilis chorus aequore toto,
et vario faciles ordine pinxit aquas,
fuscina dente minax recto fuit, ancora curvo :
credidimus remum credidimusque ratem,
1 Either as sacred to Neptune, or as having been given by
the Emperor.
2 While the sea-fight lasts.
3 Artificially admitted into the Arena.
18
ON THE SPECTACLES, XXTV-XXVI
XXIV
WHOEVER you are who come from distant shores,
a late spectator, for whom this day of the sacred1
show is your first, that this naval battle with its
ships, and the waters that represent seas, may not
mislead, I tell you "here but now was land." Be-
lieve you not? Look on while the seas weary the
God of war.2 Wait one moment— you will say
" Here but now was sea."
XXV
THAT the nightly wave spared thee, Leander, cease
to wonder : it was Caesar's wave.3
XX\'B
WHILE bold Leander was swimming to his sweet
love, and his weary head was now being engulphed
by the swelling waters, thus in misery ('tis said) he
spake to the on-surging waves : " Spare me while I
hasten, o'erwhelm me when I return."4
XXVI
A TRAINED bevy of Nereids pla}red along the
sea, and with their varied marshalling prankt the
yielding waters.5 Threatful with straight tooth,
was a trident, with curved tooth an anchor : we
deemed an oar, and we deemed a bark was there, and
4 This epigram seems out of place, and, like xiv. clxxxi.,
to refer to a statue.
* In a water spectacle, possibly by artificial light, in which
groups of Nereids presented somehow the picture of a boat
and rowers.
T9
c 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
et gratum nautis sidus fulgere Laconum, 5
lataque perspicuo vela tumere sinu.
quis tantas liquidis artes invenit in undis ?
aut docuit lusus hos Thetis aut didicit.
XXVII
SAECULA Carpophorum, Caesar, si prisca tulissent,
non Parthaoniam barbara terra feram,
non Marathon taurum, Nemee frondosa leoneni,
Areas Maenalium lion timuisset aprum.
hoc armante manus hydrae mors una fuisset, 5
huic percussa foret tota Chimaera semel.
igniferos possit sine Colchide iungere tauros,
possit utramque feram vincere Pasiphaes.
si sit, ut aequorei revocetur fabula monstri,
Hesionem solvet solus et Andromedan. 10
Herculeae laudis numeretur gloria : plus est
bis denas pariter perdomuisse feras.
XXVIII
AUGUSTI labor hie fuerat committere classes
et freta navali sollicitare tuba.
Caesaris haec nostri pars est quota ? vidit in undis
et Thetis ignotas et Galatea feras ;
vidit in aequoreo ferventes pulvere currus 5
et domini Triton isse putavit equos :
dumque parat saevis ratibus fera proelia Nereus,
horruit in liquidis ire pedestris aquis.
1 Castor and Pollux, the Constellation of Gemini.
2 i.e. of the Emperor.
8 cf. Lib. Spect. xv. 2.
4 For every head of the hydra that was cut off two fresh
ones grew.
ON THE SPECTACLES, xxvi-xxvm
that the Laconians' star l glittered in welcome to
the seamen, and sails bellied broad for all to see.
Who imagined arts so wondrous in liquid waves ?
These pastimes either Thetis taught or herself she
learned.2
XXVII
IF the ages of old, Caesar, had begotten Carpo-
phorus,3 a barbarous land had not dreaded Parthaon's
wild-boar, nor Marathon the bull, leafy Nemea the
lion, Arcadia the Maenalian boar. When he armed
his hand the hydra had died a single death,4 all the
shapes of Chimaera r> had been stricken by him
once. The fire-breathing bulls he might have yoked
without the Colchian's aid,6 he might have van-
quished either monster of Pasiphae. Were the story
of the sea monster renewed, he alone would loose
Hesione and Andromeda. Let the glories of Her-
cules' honour be summed : tis more to have quelled
twice ten beasts at one time.
XXVIII
IT was Augustus' work here 7 to embattle fleets,
and to wake the seas with the trump of naval war.
How small a part of our Caesar's task ! Thetis and
Galatea both saw on the wave beasts unknown ;
Triton saw on that seafloor 8 chariots in hot rivalry,
and deemed his Master's 9 steeds had sped ; and
Nereus, what time he set abroach fierce battle for
the hostile ships, shuddered to tread a-foot amid
5 A fabulous monster, part lion, part goat, and part
dragon. • Of Medea.
7 In the gardens of Caesar beyond the Tiber.
* Some commentators translate pulvis as "spray."
9 Neptune's.
21
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
quidquid et in Circo spectatur et Amphitheatre,
id dives, Caesar, praestitit unda tibi. 10
Fucinus et diri taceantur stagna Neronis : .
hanc norint unam saecula naumachiam.
XXIX
CUM traheret Priscus, traheret certamina Verus,
esset et aequalis Mars utriusque diu,
missio saepe viris magno clamore petita est ;
sed Caesar legi paruit ipse suae :
lex erat, ad digitum posita concurrere palma ; 1 5
quod licuit, lances donaque saepe dedit.
inventus tamen est finis discriminis aequi :
pugnavere pares, succubuere pares,
misit utrique rudes et palmas Caesar utrique :
hoc pretium virtus ingeniosa tulit. 10
contigit hoc nullo nisi te sub principe, Caesar :
cum duo pugnarent, victor uterque fuit.
XXX
CONCITA veloces fugeret cum damma Molossos
et varia lentas necteret arte moras,
Caesaris ante pedes supplex similisque roganti
constitit, et praedam non tetigere canes.
1 p>ilma H, parma Wagner.
1 He found the water sinking, and he was treading on
land.
22
ON THE SPECTACLES, xxvm-xxx
the liquid waters.1 Whatever is viewed in Circus
and in Amphitheatre, that have Caesar's waters, rich
in sights, made sure to thee. Let not the Fucine
lake 2 and the mere of dreadful Nero 3 be told of :
of this sea-fight alone let the ages know !
XXIX
WHILE Priscus drew out, and Verus drew out the
contest, and the prowess of both stood long in
balance, oft was discharge for the men claimed with
mighty shouts ; but Caesar himself obeyed his own
law : that law was, when the prize was set up, to
fight until the finger was raised ; what was lawful he
did, oft giving dishes and gifts therein. Yet was an
end found of that balanced strife : they fought well
matched, matched well they together yielded. To
each Caesar sent the wooden sword,4 and rewards to
each : this prize dexterous valour won. Under no
prince but thee, Caesar, has this chanced : while
two fought, each was victor.
XXX
WHILE a roused hind was flying from the swift
Molossian hounds, and tangled the drawn-out chase
by divers wiles, before Caesar's feet, suppliant and as
in prayer, she stayed, and the hounds touched not
2 Where the Emperor Claudius had exhibited a sea-fight :
Tac. Ann. xn. Ivi.-lvii.
3 Who had also represented a sea-fight : Suet. Nero xii.
Rudis, symbolic of discharge from service.
23
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
5
haec intellecto principe dona tulit.
numen habet Caesar : sacra est haec, sacra potestas ;
credite : mentiri non didicere ferae.
XXXI (XXXII)
DA veniam subitis : non displicuisse meretur,
festinat, Caesar, qui placuisse tibi.
XXXII (XXXI)
CEDERE maiori virtutis fama secunda est.
ilia gravis palma est, quam minor hostis habet.
XXXIII
Hoc epigramma post lihrum XI V invenies.
ON THE SPECTACLES, xxx-xxxin
their prey .... This boon she won for that she
avowed her Prince ! Power divine hath Caesar :
sacred, sacred is this puissance. Believe it ye :
beasts have not learned to lie.
XXXI
PARDON my hurried offering. He desei'ves not to
displease you, Caesar, who hastes to please you.
XXXII
To yield to the stronger is valour's second prize.
Heavy l is the palm the weaker foeman wins.
1 i.e. painful to the stronger, though defeated, man.
BOOK I
M. VALERI MARTIALIS
EPIGRAMMATON
LIBER PRIMUS
SPERO me secutum in libellis meis tale tempera-
mentum ut de illis queri non possit quisquis de se
bene senserit, cum salva infimarum quoque persona-
rum reverentia ludant ; quae adeo antiquis auctoribus
defuit ut nominibus non tantum veris abusi sint sed
et magnis. mihi fama vilius constet et probetur in
me novissimum ingenium. absit a iocorum nostrorum
simplicitate malignus interpres nee epigrammata mea
scribat : inprobe facit qui in alieno libro ingeniosus
est. lascivam verborum veritatem, id est epigram-
maton linguam, excusarem, si meum esset exemplum :
sic scribit Catullus, sic Marsus, sic Pedo, sic Gaetu-
licus, sic quicumque perlegitur. si quis tamen tarn
ambitiose tristis est ut apud ilium in nulla pagina
Latine loqui fas sit, potest epistula vel potius titulo
contentus esse. epigrammata illis scribuntur qui
28
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
BOOK I
I TRUST that I have followed in my little books
such a mean that none who forms a right judgment
of himself can complain of them, inasmuch as their
sprightliness does not violate that respect for persons
even of the lowest degree which was so little shown
by ancient authors that they maltreated the names,
not merely of real persons, but even of great ones.
May my fame be bought at lesser cost, and the
last thing to be approved in me be cleverness. May
the frankness of my jests find no malicious inter-
preter, and no such man rewrite my epigrams : it
is a shameless business when anyone exercises his
ingenuity on another man's book. For the undis-
guised freedom of my expressions, that is to say,
the language of epigram, I would apologise, if
mine were the example set : in this style writes
Catullus, in this style Marsus, in this style Pedo, in
this style Gaetulicus, in this style every one who
is read through. Yet, if there be any man so pre-
tentiously prudish that to his mind in no page is it
permissible to speak plain Latin, he may content
himself with the introductory epistle, or rather with
the title. Epigrams are written for those who are
29
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
solent spectare Florales. non intret Cato theatrum
ineuni aut, si intraverit, spectet. videor mihi meo
iure facturus si epistulam versibus clusero :
Nosses iocosae dulce cum sacrum Florae
festosque lusus et licentiam volgi,
cur in theatrum, Cato severe, venisti ?
an ideo tantum veneras, ut exires ?
I
Hie est quern legis ille, quern requiris,
toto notus in orbe Martialis
argutis epigrammaton libellis :
cui, lector studiose, quod dedisti
viventi decus atque sentienti 5
rari post cineres habent poetae.
II
Qui tecum cupis esse meos ubicumque libellos
et comites longae quaeris habere viae,
hos erne, quos artat brevibus membrana tabellis :
scrinia da magnis, me manus una capit.
ne tamen ignores ubi sim venalis et erres 5
urbe vagus tota, me duce certus eris :
libertum docti Lucensis quaere Secundum
limina post Pacis Palladiumque forum.
1 The reference is to a story told in Valer. Max. n, x. 8,
to the effect that at the Floralia in B.C. 55 Cato left the
theatre on finding that his presence checked the licence of
the actors.
3°
BOOK I. i-n
accustomed to look on the Games of Flora. Let no
Cato l enter my theatre, or if he enters, let him
look on.
I think I may justifiably close my epistle in verse :
You knew the rites to jocund Flora dear,
The festive quips and licence of the rout ;
Why on our scene, stern Cato, enter here ?
Did you then enter only to go out ?
I
HERE is he whom you read, he whom you ask for,
Martial, known throughout the whole world for his
witty little books of Epigrams. To him, studious
reader, while he lives and feels, you have given
the glory that poets win but rarely after they are
dust.
II
You, who wish my poems should be everywhere
with you, and look to have them as companions on a
long journey, buy these which the parchment confines
in small pages. Assign your book-boxes to the great;
this copy of me one hand can grasp. Yet, that
you may not fail to know where I am for sale, or
wander aimlessly all over the town, if you accept
my guidance you will be sure. Seek out Secundus,
the freedman of learned Lucensis, behind the en-
trance to the temple of Peace and the Forum of
Pallas.2
1 The Temple of Peace was dedicated by Vespasian in
A.D. 75 after his triumph for the capture of Jerusalem. The
Forum of Pallas was the Forum of Nerva, or transitorium,
begun by Domitian and completed by Nerva. It contained
a temple to Minerva.
3'
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
III
ARGILETANAS mavis habitare tabernas,
cum tibi, parve liber, scrinia nostra vacent ?
nescis, heu, nescis dominae fastidia Romae :
crede mihi, nimium Martia turba sapit.
maiores nusquam rhonchi : iuvenesque senesque 5
et pueri nasum rhinocerotis habent.
audieris cum grand e sophos, dum basia iactas,
ibis ab excusso missus in astra sago,
sed tu ne totiens domini patiare lituras
neve notet lusus tristis harundo tuos, 10
aetherias, lascive, cupis volitare per auras.
i, fuge ! sed poteras tutior esse domi.
IV
CONTIGERIS nostros, Caesar, si forte libellos,
terrarum dominum pone supercilium.
consuevere iocos vestri quoque ferre triumphi,
materiam dictis nee pudet esse ducem.
qua Thymelen spectas derisoremque Latinum,
ilia fronte precor carmina nostra legas.
innocuos censura potest permittere lusus :
lasciva est nobis pagina, vita proba.
Do tibi naumachiam, tu das epigrammata nobis :
vis, puto, cum libro, Marce, natare tuo.
1 Varro. Ling. Lat. v. 157, derives the word from argilla,
"clay"; Virgil, Aen. viii. 346, explains, letum docet hovpitis
A rqi.
2 It was customary for Roman soldiers, following a triumph,
32
BOOK I. IH-V
III
WOULD you rather dwell in the shops of the
Potters' Field 1 although, small volume, my book-
case stands empty for you ? You don't know, alas, you
don't know the superciliousness of Mistress Rome ;
believe me, the crowd of Mars is too clever for you.
Nowhere are heard louder sneers ; young men and
old, even boys, have noses tilted like a rhinoceros.
When you have heard a deep "Bravo," while you
are throwing kisses, up you will go, shot heavenward
from a jerked blanket. But you, to avoid your
master's constant erasures, and the scoring of your
playfulness by his critical pen, are eager, wanton
one, to flit through the airs of heaven. Go ! fly !
yet you might have been safer at home.
IV
IF perchance, Caesar, you shall come upon my
books, lay aside the frown that rules the world.
Your triumphs too have been wont to endure jests,
and no shame is it to a commander to be matter for
wit.2 With the air that views Thymele and the
mime Latinus, therewith I pray you to read my
verses. A censor 3 can permit harmless trifling :
wanton is my page ; my life is good.
V
I OFFER you a sea-fight : you offer me epigrams.
You wish, I think, Marcus, to swim along with your
book.4
to indulge in scurrile jests against their general. This was
<lone possibly to avert the evil eye. See vn. viii. 7.
3 Domitian became censor for life A.D. 85.
4 The Emperor will throw it into the water. For a similar
idea cf. ix. Iviii. 8.
33
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
VI
AETHERIAS aquila puerum portante per auras
inlaesum timidis unguibus haesit onus :
mine sua Caesareos exorat praeda leones,
tutus et ingenti ludit in ore lepus.
quae maiora put-as miracula ? summus utrisque 5
auctor adest : haec sunt Caesaris, ilia lovis.
VII
STEI.LAE delicium mei columba,
Verona licet audiente dicam,
vicit, Maxime, passerem Catulli.
tanto Stella meus tuo Catullo
quanto passere maior est columba. 5
VIII
QUOD magni Thraseae consummatique Catonis
dogmata sic sequeris salvos ut esse velis,
pectore nee nudo strictos incurris in ensis,
quod fecisse velim te, Deciane, facis.
nolo virum facili redemit qui sanguine famani ; 5
hunc volo, laudari qui sine morte potest.
IX
BEI.LUS homo et mngnus vis idem, Cotta, videri :
sed qui bellus homo est, Cotta, pusillus homo est.
1 Ganymede, the cupbearer of Jove.
1 Stella (see Index) had written a poem on a dove : the
word delicium may be a quotation.
34
BOOK I. vi-iv
VI
WHILE the eagle was bearing the boy1 through the
airs of heaven, its burden clung unscathed to those
timorous talons : now their natural prey bewitches
Caesar's lions, and safely the hare gambols in their
monstrous jaws. Which think you the greater
miracle ? To each belongs a supreme Cause : this is
Caesar's miracle, that Jove's.
VII
MY Stella's "Dove," that "pretty pet,"2 (I must say
it, though Verona hear me !) has surpassed, Maximus,
the "Sparrow " of Catullus.3 So much is my Stella
greater than your Catullus as a dove is greater than
a sparrow.
VIII
IN that you follow the maxims of great Thrasea
and of Cato the perfect, and yet are willing to live,
and rush not with unarmed breast upon drawn
swords, you do, Decianus, what I would have you
do. No hero to me is the man who, by easy shed-
ding of his blood, purchases his fame ; my hero is
he who, without death, can win praise.
IX
A PRETTY 4 fellow you wish to appear, and yet,
Cotta, a great man. But a pretty fellow, Cotta, is a
puny fellow.
3 Cat. ii. and iii. Catullus was born at Verona.
4 For bcllus cf, n. vii.; in. Ixiii.
35
i) 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
X
PETIT Gemellus nuptias Maronillae
et cupit et instat et precatur et donat. •
adeone pulchra est ? immo foedius nil est.
quid ergo in ilia petitur et placet ? tussit.
XI
CUM data sint equiti bis quina nomismata, quare
bis decies solus, Sextiliane, bibis ?
iam defecisset portantis calda ministros,
si non potares, Sextiliane, merum.
XII
ITUR ad Herculeas gelidi qua Tiburis ai-ces
canaque sulpureis Albula fumat aquis,
rura nemusque sacrum dilectaque iugera Musis
signat vicina quartus ab urbe lapis,
hie rudis aestivas praestabat porticus umbras, 5
lieu quam paene novum porticus ausa nefas !
nam subito conlapsa ruit, cum mole sub ilia
gestatus biiugis Regulus esset equis.
nimirum timuit nostras Fortuna querellas,
quae par tarn magnae non erat invidiae. 10
nunc et damna iuvant ; sunt ipsa pericula tanti :
stantia non poterant tecta probare deos.
BOOK I. x-xn
X
GEMELLUS seeks wedlock with Maronilla ; he de-
sires it, he urges her, he implores her, and sends
her gifts. Is she so beautiful? Nay, no creature
is more disgusting. What then is the bait and charm
in her? Her cough.
XI
WHILE twice five wine-tokens1 are a knight's
allowance, why do you, Sextilianus, all to yourself
take twice ten drinks ? By this time the warm water
would have failed the attendants who bring it, were
it not, Sextilianus, that you drank your wine un-
mixed.
XII
WHERE runs the road to the heights of cool Tibur,
sacred to Hercules, and milky-hued Albula steams
with its sulphurous waters, the fourth milestone
from the neighbouring city marks a farm and sacred
grove, acres dear to the Muses. Here a rustic-
portico secured a summer shade ; alas, how did that
portico all but dare a crime unheard of ! For sud-
denly it fell in ruin when, under that mighty mass,
Regulus had but now driven in his two-horse
carriage. Assuredly Fortune was fearful of our
plaints ; she could not brave odium so great. Now
even losses please ; dangers themselves bring repay-
ment : a standing roof could not witness to the
Gods.
1 Tesserae vinariae entitling to an allowance of wine at
a show : ef. i. xxvi. 3.
37
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XIII
CASTA suo gladium cum traderet Arria Paeto,
quem de visceribus strinxerat ipsa suis,
" Si qua fides, vulnus quod feci non dolet ; " inquit
" sed tu quod facies, hoc mihi, Paete, dolet."
XIV
DELICIAS, Caesar, lususque iocosque leonum
vidimus (hoc etiam praestat harena tibi)
cum prensus blando totiens a dente rediret
et per aperta vagus curreret ora lepus.
unde potest avidus captae leo parcere praedae ? 5
sed tamen esse tuus dicitur : ergo potest.
XV
O MIHI post nullos, luli, memorande sodales,
si quid longa fides canaque iura valent,
bis iam paene tibi consul tricensimus instat,
et numerat paucos vix tua vita dies,
non bene distuleris, videas quae posse negari, 5
et solum hoc ducas, quod fuit, esse tuuni.
exspectant curaeque catenatique labores ;
gaudia non remanent, sed fugitiva volant,
haec utraque manu conplexuque adsei'e toto :
saepe fluunt imo sic quoque lapsa sinu. 10
non est, crede mihi, sapientis dicere " Vivam " ;
sera nimis vita est crastina : vive hodie.
38
BOOK I. xii i-xv
XIII
WHEN chaste Arria was offering to her Paetus that
sword which with her own hand she had drawn
from out her breast : " If thou believest me," she
said, " the wound I have inflicted has no smart ; but
the wound thou shalt inflict — this for me, Paetus,
lias the smart."
XIV
THE tricks, Caesar, the play and pranks of the
lions we have seen — this tribute, too, the Arena pays
thee — when the hare was seized, and yet so oft was
let loose from the fondling fangs, and ran here and
there through the open jaws. Whence inspired can
a ravaging lion spare his captured prey ? But he
is called thine ; therefore can he spare.
XV
JULIUS, O thou who art to be named second to none
of my comrades, if long-continued faith and ancient
claims are worth aught, already thy sixtieth consul's
year is well-nigh treading on thy heels, yet thy
life scarce numbers a few days. Not well shalt
thou put off what thou seest may be denied ; and
count that only which has been as thine own.
Cares and linked l toils await us ; joys abide not,
but fugitive they fly. Grasp these with both thy
hands, and hold them in thy full embrace ; oft
they glide away, even so, slipping out of the inmost
bosom. It sorts not, believe me, with wisdom to
say "I shall live." Too late is to-morrow's life;
live thou to-day.
1 But Friedlamler explains labores quales #unt catenatorum.
39
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XVI
SUNT bona, sunt quaedam mediocria, sunt mala plura
quae legis hie. aliter non fit, Avite, liber.
XVII
COGIT me Titus actitare causas
et dicit mihi saepe " Magna res est."
res magna est, Tite, quam facit colonus.
XVIII
QUID te, Tucca, iuvat vetulo miscere Falerno
in Vaticanis condita musta cadis ?
quid tantum fecere boni tibi pessima vina ?
aut quid fecerunt optima vina mali ?
de nobis facile est : scelus est iugulare Falernum 5
et dare Campano toxica saeva mero.
convivae meruere tui fortasse perire :
amphora non meruit tarn pretiosa mori.
XIX
Si meminij fuerant tibi quattuor, Aelia, denies :
expulit una duos tussis et una duos,
iam secura potes totis tussire diebus :
nil istic quod agat tertia tussis habet.
1 Possibly the meaning is : it needs a good farmer to make
a good thing of a farm, and a good advocate — which I am
40
BOOK I. xvi-xix
XVI
THERE are good things, there are some indifferent,
there are more things bad that you read here.
Not otherwise, Avitus, is a book produced.
XVII
TITUS urges me to plead causes, and often says
to me: "There is fine profit." But the "fine
profit" of a farm, Titus, is the work of the
farmer.1
XVIII
WHY do you choose, Tucca, to mix with old Faler
nian the must stored in Vatican casks ? 2 What is
this great benefit the vilest wines have bestowed on
you, or what harm have the best wines caused you ?
As to us, 'tis no matter ; it is a crime to murder
Falernian, to apply to Campanian wine deadly
poison. Your guests perhaps have deserved ex-
tinction : a jar so priceless did not deserve to die.
XIX
IF I remember right, you had, Aelia, four teeth :
one fit of coughing shot out two, and another two
more. Now in peace you can cough all day : a third
fit has nothing left there to discharge.
not— to make a fortune by advocacy. Friedlauder suggests
that M. hints that the gift of a farm would suit him Better
than advice.
2 Vatican wine was very inferior : cf. vi. xcii.
41
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XX
Die mihi, quis furor est ? turba spectante vocata
solus boletos, Caeciliane, voras.
quid dignum tanto tibi ventre gulaque precabor ?
boletum qualem Claudius edit, edas.
XXI
CUM peteret regem decepta satellite dextra
ingessit sacris se peritura focis.
sed tarn saeva pius miracula 11011 tulit hostis
et raptum flammis iussit abire virum :
urere quam potuit contempto Mucius igne, 5
hanc spectare manum Porsena non potuit.
maior deceptae fama est et gloria dextrae :
si non errasset, fecerat ilia minus.
XXII
QUID non ' saeva fugis placidi, lepus, ora leonis ~'
frangere tarn parvas non didicere feras.
servantur magnis isti cervicibus ungues
nee gaudet tenui sanguine tanta sitis.
praeda canum lepus est, vastos non implet hiatus : 5
non timeat Dacus Caesaris arma puer.
1 non Dousa, mine codd.
1 The Emperor Claudius was poisoned by a mushroom : cf.
Juv. v. 147, where Juvenal probably had this passage in his
mind.
42
BOOK I. xx-xxii
XX
TELL me, what madness is this ? While the
throng of invited guests looks on, you, Caecilianus,
alone devour the mushrooms ! What prayer shall I
make suitable to such a belly and gorge ? May you
eat such a mushroom as Claudius 1 ate !
XXI
THE right hand which, aimed at the king, was
cheated by an attendant,'2 laid itself, doomed to
perish, upon the sacred hearth. But a prodigy so
cruel the kindly foe could not brook, and he bade
the warrior go rescued from the flame. The hand
which, scorning the fire, Mucius, endured to burn,
Porsena could not endure to behold. Greater,
because it was cheated, is the fame and glory of that
right hand ; had it not erred, it had achieved less.
XXII
WHY fliest thou, hare, the lion's jaws unstirred
to rage ? They have not learned to crunch beasts
so small. Those talons are kept for mighty necks ;
thirst so great delights not in a draught of blood so
meagre. The hare is the prey of dogs, it fills not
vasty mouths ; a Dacian boy would not dread Caesar's
arms.
2 Mucius Scaevola mistook an attendant for Porsena, the
king of Etruria. The story had no doubt been enacted in
the theatre. . rf. vm. xxx. on the same subject.
43
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXIII
INVITAS nullum nisi cum quo, Cotta, lavaris
et dant convivam balnea sola tibi.
mirabar quare numquam me, Cotta, vocasses :
iam scio me nudum displicuisse tibi.
XXIV
ASPICIS incomptis ilium, Deciane, capillis,
cuius et ipse times triste supercilium,
qui loquitur Curios adsertoresque Camillos ?
nolito fronti credere : nupsit heri.
XXV
EDE tuos tandem populo, Faustine, libellos
et cultum docto pectore profer opus,
quod nee Cecropiae damnent Pandionis arces
nee sileant nostri praetereantque senes.
ante fores stantem dubitas admittere Famam
teque piget curae praemia ferre tuae ?
post te victurae per te quoque vivere chartae
incipiant : cineri gloria sera venit.
XXVI
SEXTILIANE, bibis quantum subsellia quinque
solus : aqua totiens ebrius esse potes ;
nee consessorum vicina nomismata tantum,
aera sed a cuneis ulteriora petis.
44
BOOK I. xxin-xxvi
XXIII
You invite no man to dinner, Cotta, but your
bath-companion ; the baths alone provide you with a
guest. I was wondering why you had never asked
me ; now I understand that when naked I displeased
you.
XXIV
You see that fellow with unkempt hair, Decianus,
whose gloomy scowl you too fear, who prates of the
Curii, and of the Camilli, champions of liberty ?
Don't credit his appearance ; he was a bride
yesterday.
XXV
GIVE at length to the people, Faustinus, your
books, and send forth a work, polished by your
learned skill, which Pandion's Cecropian heights
would not condemn,1 nor our sages dismiss in silence
and pass by. Do you hesitate to admit Fame that
stands before your doors, and shrink from winning
the reward of your care ? Let writings that will
live after you by your aid also begin to live now ;
to the ashes of the dead glory comes too late.
XXVI
SEXTILIANUS, you drink as much as five rows of
benches to your own share ; drinking water so often
could make you drunk. It is not only the tokens of
those who sit near you, but you ask for the bronze
tickets from those in remoter blocks. This vintage
1 i.e. which the Athenians would not despise.
45
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
non haec Paelignis agitur vindemia prelis 5
uva nee in Tuscis nascitur ista iugis,
.testa seel antiqui felix siccatur Opimi,
egerit et nigros Massica cella cados.
a copone tibi faex Laletana petatur,
si plus quam decies, Sextiliane, bibis. 10
XX VII
HESTERNA tibi nocte dixeramus,
quincunces puto post decera peractos,
cenares hodie, Procille, mecum.
tu f'actam tibi rem statim putasti
et non sobria verba subnotasti 5
exemplo nimium periculoso.
/xicroJ fjLvu.fj.ova crvyujroTav, Procille.
XXVIII
HESTERNO fetere mere qui credit Acerram,
fallitur. in lucem semper Acerra bibit.
XXIX
FAMA refert nostros te, Fideutine, libellos
non aliter populo quam recitare tuos.
si mea vis dici, gratis tibi carmina mittam :
si dici tua vis, hoc erne, ne mea shit.
XXX
CHIRURGUS fuerat, mine est vispillo Diaulus.
coepit quo poterat clinicus esse modo.
1 Consul B.C. 121, a famous year for wine. Massic was
also a choice vintage ; the others mentioned were poor.
46
BOOK I. xxvi-xxx
is not pressed in Pelignian wine-presses ; nor is that
grape of yours born on Tuscan hills ; nay, a choice
jar of ancient Opimius l is drained ; 'tis a Massic
store-room sends forth its smoked jars. Get from
the taverner dregs of Laletanian if you take more
than ten drinks, Sextilianus.
XXVII
LAST night I said to you (I think it was after I
had got through ten half- pints) : " Dine with me to-
day, Procillus." You at once thought the matter
settled for you, and took secret note of my unsober
remark — a precedent too dangerous ! " I hate a
messmate with a memory," Procillus.
XXVIII
HE who fancies that Acerra reeks of yesterday's
wine is wrong. Acerra always drinks till daylight.
XXIX
RUMOUR assei-ts, Fidentinus, that you recite my
works to the crowd, just as if they were your own.
If you wish they should be called mine, I will send
you the poems gratis ; if you wish them to be called
yours, buy my disclaimer2 of them.
XXX
DIAUL.US has been a doctor, he is now an under-
taker. He begins to put his patients to bed in his
old effective way.
2 cf. I. Ixvi. 13.
47
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXXI
Hos tibi, Phoebe, vovet totos a vertice crines
Encolpos, domini centurionis amor,
grata Pudens meriti tulerit cum praemia pili.
quam primum longas, Phoebe, recide comas,
dum nulla teneri sordent lanugine voltus
dumque decent fusae lactea colla iubae ;
utque tuis longum dominusque puerque fruantur
muneribus, tonsum fac cito, sero virum.
XXXII
NON amo te, Sabidi, nee possum dicere quare :
hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te.
XXXIII
AMISSUM non flet cum sola est Gellia patrem,
si quis adest, iussae prosiliunt lacrimae.
non luget quisquis laudari, Gellia, quaerit :
ille dolet vere qui sine teste dolet.
XXXIV
INCUSTODITIS et apertis, Lesbia, semper
liminibus peccas nee tua furta tegis,
et plus spectator quam te delectat adulter
nee sunt grata tibi gaudia si qua latent.
at meretrix abigit testem veloque seraque
raraque Summoeni l fornice rima patet.
1 submemmi codd.
48
BOOK I. xxxi-xxxiv
XXXI
THESE, all the tresses from his head, Encolpos,
the darling of his master the centurion, vows,
Phoebus, to thee, when Pudens shall bring home
the glad guerdon of his merit, a chief centurion's
rank.1 Sever, Phoebus, with all speed these long
locks while his soft cheeks are darkened not with
any down, and while tumbled curls grace his milk-
white neck ; and, so that both master and boy may
long enjoy thy gifts, make him soon shorn, but a
man late !
XXXII
I DO not love you, Sabidius ; and I can't say why.
This only I can say : I do not love you.
XXXIII
GELI.IA weeps not while she is alone for her lost
lather ; if any one be present, her tears leap forth
at her bidding. He does not lament who looks,
Gellia, for praise ; he truly sorrows who sorrows
unseen.
XXXIV
IT is always with doors unguarded and open, Lesbia,
you offend, nor do you conceal your intrigues ; and
it is the spectator more than the adulterer that
pleases you ; no joys are grateful to you if they are
hidden. But a harlot repels a witness both by
curtain and bolt, and rarely a chink gapes in the
1 cf. v. xlviii. , where the vow was fulfilled.
49
VOL. I, E
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
a Chione saltern vel ab lade disce pudorem :
abscondunt spurcas et monumenta lupas.
numquid dura tibi nimium censura videtur ?
deprendi veto te, Lesbia, non futui. 10
XXXV
VERSUS scribere me parum severos
nee quos praelegat in schola magister,
Corneli, quereris : sed hi libelli,
tamquam coniugibus suis mariti,
non possunt sine mentula placere. 5
quid si me iubeas thalassionem
verbis dicere non thalassionis ?
quis Floralia vestit et stolatum
permittit meretricibus pudorem ?
lex haec carminibus data est iocosis, 10
ne possiiit, nisi pruriant, iuvare.
quare deposita severitate
parcas lusibus et iocis rogamus,
nee castrare velis meos libellos.
Gallo turpius est nihil Priapo. 15
XXXVI
Si, Lucane, tibi vel si tibi, Tulle, darentur
qualia Ledaei fata Lacones habent,
nobilis haec esset pietatis rixa duobus,
quod pro fratre mori vellet uterque prior,
diceret infernas et qui prior isset ad umbras : 5
" Vive tuo, frater, tempore, vive meo."
1 Summoenium was the name of a street or quarter in a
low neighbourhood, and the resort of prostitutes.
2 A reminiscence of Cat. xvi. 7-8.
5°
BOOK I. xxxiv-xxxvi
archway under the walls.1 From Chione at least, or
from las learn modesty : for dirty drabs even tombs
are hiding-places. Does my censure appear to you
too hard ? I forbid you, Lesbia, to be caught, not
to be a strumpet.
XXXV
THAT I write verses little squeamish, and not such
as a schoolmaster would dictate in school, is your
complaint, Cornelius ; but these poems cannot please,
any more than husbands can please their wives,
without amorousness. What if you bade me indite
a marriage song not in the words of a marriage
song ? Who brings garments into Flora's festival,
and permits prostitutes the modesty of the stole ?
This is the rule assigned to jocular poems, to be
unable to please unless they are prurient.2 Where-
fore lay aside your squeamishness, and spare my
pleasantries and my jokes, I beg you, and do not
seek to castrate my poems. Than a Priapus as
Cybele's priest 8 nothing is more disgusting.
XXXVI
IF, Lucanus, to thee, or if to thee, Tullus, were
given the fate of Leda's Spartan sons,4 now would
there be proud rivalry of love betwixt you twain, for
each would wish to be the first to die for his brother ;
and he who first had passed to the nether shades
would say : " Live, brother, thy own share of life,
and live thou mine ! "
3 The priests of Cybele were eunuchs.
4 Castor and Pollux, who divided alternately between
them life in the shades and in heaven.
51
E 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXXVII
VENTRIS onus misero, nee te pudet, excipis auro,
Basse, bibis vitro, carius ergo cacas.
XXXVIII
QUEM recitas meus est, o Fidentine, libellus :
sed male cum recitas, incipit esse tuus.
XXXIX
Si quis erit raros inter mnnerandus amicos,
quales prisca fides famaque novit anus,
si quis Cecropiae madidus Latiaeque Minervae
artibus et vera simplicitate bonus,
si quis erit recti custos, mirator honesti
et nihil arcano qui roget ore deos,
si quis erit magnae subnixus robore mentis :
dispeream si non hie Decianus erit.
XL
Qui ducis vultus et non legis ista libenter,
omnibus invideas, livide, nemo tibi.
XLI
URBANUS tibi, Caecili, videris.
non es, crede mihi. quid ergo ? verna,
hoc quod Transtiberinus ambulator,
qui pallentia sulpurata fractis
52
BOOK I. XXXVII-XLI
XXXVII
YOUR bowels' load — and you are not ashamed —
you receive in a golden vessel — unhappy urn !
Bassus, you drink out of crystal ; therefore your
evacuations are the more costly.
XXXVIII
THAT book you recite, O Fidentinus, is mine. But
your vile recitation begins to make it your OAVH.
XXXIX
IF any shall be found to be counted among rare
friends, such as old-time loyalty and aged fame
knows; if any shall be found steeped in the accom-
plishments of Attic and Latin learning, and good
with a true singleness of heart ; if any shall be
found the guardian of right, admirer of honour, and
not such as will sue the Gods for anything under
his breath ; if any shall be found pillared on the
strength of a great mind — may I perish if Decianus
will not be he !
XL
You who make faces, and grudgingly read that
eulogy above, may you envy all men, you jaundiced
fellow, no man envy you !
XLI
A WIT, Caecilius, you fancy yourself. You are
none, believe me. What then ? A buffoon. You
are just like the tramping hawker from beyond the
Tiber who exchanges pale sulphur matches for
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
permutat vitreis, quod otiosae 5
vendit qui madid um cicer coronae,
quod custos dominusque viperarum,
quod viles pueri salariorum,
quod fumantia qui tomacla raucus
circumfert tepidis cocus popinis, 10
quod non optimus urbicus poeta,
quod de Gadibus inprobus magister,
quod bucca est vetuli dicax cinaedi.
quare desine iam tibi videri,
quod soli tibi, Caecili, videris, 15
qui Gabbam salibus tuis et ipsum
posses vincere Tettium Caballum.
non cuicumque datum est habere nasuni :
ludit qui stolida procacitate,
non est Tettius ille, sed caballus. 20
XLII
CONIUGIS audisset fatum cum Porcia Bruti
et subtracta sibi quaereret arma dolor,
•' Nondum scitis " ait " mortem non posse negari ?
credideram fatis hoc docuisse patrem."
dixit et ardentis avido bibit ore favillas. 5
i mine et ferrum, turba molesta, nega.
XLI1I
Bts tibi triceni fuimus, Mancine, vocati
et positum est nobis nil here praeter aprum,
non quae de tardis servantur vitibus uvae
dulcibus aut certant quae melimela favis,
A street improvisatore : Friedlander.
A court-fool of Augustus: cf. x. ci.: Juv. xi. 162. So
54
BOOK I. XLI-XLIII
broken glass ; like him, who sells to the idle ring
warm pease-pudding ; like the keeper and owner of
vipers ; like the cheap slaves of the saltsellers ; like
the pieman, who bawls as he carries round in his
warm pans smoking sausages ; like a second-rate
street poet l ; like the lewd dance-master from
Gades ; like the chaps of an old foul-mouthed de-
bauchee. Wherefore cease to fancy yourself to be
what you alone, Caecilius, fancy yourself, one who
could surpass in wit Gabba,2 and even Tettius Caballus
himself. Not to everyone is given a critic's nose.
He who jests with a pointless impudence, is no
Tettius, but a dull hack.
XLII
WHEN Porcia had learned the fate of her husband
Brutus,3 and grief looked for the weapons that
had been stolen from it, "Know ye not yet," she
said, " that death cannot be denied ? I had be-
lieved my sire by his fate had taught you this ! "
She spake, and with greedy throat drank down the
glowing embers. Go to now ! officious throng : deny
the steel !
XLIIl
TWICE thirty were we, Mancinus, your invited
guests, and nothing was served us last night but
a boar. There were no grapes such as are left to
hang late upon the vine, nor honey-apples that vie
too, probably, was Caballus, a word which also means
" horse," on which M. plays.
s The assassin of Julius Caesar.
55
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
noil pira quae longa pendent religata genesta «J
aut imitata brevis Punica grana rosas,
rustica lactantis nee misit Sassina metas
nee de Picenis venit oliva cadis,
nudus aper, sed et hie minimus qualisque necari
a non armato pumilione potest. 10
et nihil inde datum est ; tantum spectavinufl omnes :
ponere aprum nobis sic et harena solet.
ponatur tibi nullus aper post talia facta,
sed tu ponaris cui Charidemus apro.
XLIV
LASCIVOS leporum cursus lususque leonum
quod maior nobis charta minorque geiit
et bis idem facimus, nimium si, Stella, videtur
hoc tibi, bis leporem tu quoque pone mihi.
XLV
EDITA ne brevibus pereat mihi cura libellis,
dicatur potius Tov 8' a7ra/A€iy3o/xevos.
XLVI
CUM dicis " Propero, fac si facis," Hedyle, languet
protinus et cessat debilitata Venus,
expectare iube : velocius ibo retentus.
Hedyle, si properas, die mihi, ne properem.
1 Some criminal who had been exposed to a wild boar in
the Arena.
2 Perhaps the single sheets on which some epigrams wire
56
BOOK I. XLIH-XLVI
with luscious combs ; nor pears that hang tied with
the pliant broom ; nor pomegranates that copy the
transient roses. Rural Sassina sent no cones of
cheese ; there came no olive from Picenian jars. A
boar, and nothing else ! and this too a tiny one, and
such as could be slaughtered by an unarmed dwarf.
And nothing after that was provided : all of us
merely looked on. Even the Arena serves us up a
boar in this style ! May no boar be served up to
you after such behaviour, but may you be served up
to the same boar as Charidemus ! l
XLIV
BECAUSE a larger and a lesser page 2 of mine pre-
sents the airy gambols of hares, and the lions' play,
and twice I do the same thing — if this seem to you
excessive, Stella, do you in turn serve up to me
twice a dish of hare !
XLV
THAT my labour be not lost because published in
tiny volumes, rather let there be added rw 8' dira-
fj.tif36p.evos.3
XLV1
WHEN thou sayest " I haste ; now is the time,"
then, Hedylus, my ardour at once flags and weakens.
Bid me wait : more quickly, stayed, shall I speed on.
Hedylus, if thou dost haste, tell me not to haste !
circulated before publication. Thus i. vi. and xxii. would
take " a lesser," i. civ. " a larger," page.
3 i.e. if the public won't buy a small book, I must stuff it
out with repetitions. The Greek words occur many hundreds
of times in Homer,
57
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XLVII
NUPER erat medieus, nunc est vispillo Diaulus :
quod vispillo facit, fecerat et medieus.
XLVIII
RICTIBUS his tauros non eripuere magistri,
per quos praeda fugax itque reditque lepus ;
quodque magis minim, velocior exit ab hoste
nee nihil a tanta nobilitate refert.
tutior in sola non est cum currit harena, 5
nee caveae tanta conditur ille fide,
si vitare caiium morsus, lepus-inprobe, quaeris,
ad quae confugias ora leonis habes.
XLIX
VIK Celtiberis non tacende gentibus
nostraeque laus Hispaniae,
videbis altam, Liciniane, Bilbilin,
equis et armis nobilem,
senemque Caium1 nivibus, et fractis2 sacrum 5
Vadaveronem montibus,
et delicati dulce Boterdi nemus,
Pomona quod felix amat.
tepidi natabis lene Congedi vadum
mollesque Nympharum lacus, 10
quibus remissum corpus adstringes brevi
Salone, qui ferrum gelat.
praestabit illic ipsa figendas prope
Vobesca prandenti feras.
aestus serenos aureo franges Tago 15
obscurus umbris arborum ;
1 Caium Vossius, calrum ft, catum y.
2 effractis codd.
BOOK I. XLVII-XLIX
XLVII
LATELY was Diaulus a doctor, now he is an under-
taker. What the undertaker now does the doctor
too did before.
XLVIII
THE trainers have not torn bulls from these yawn-
ing mouths wherethrough, a nimble prey, the hare
comes and goes, and — greater marvel yet ! — issues
out of the foe's jaws more agile than before ; some
spirit from a beast so noble he wins. No safer is he
while he speeds along the lonely sand, nor is he in
such ward when shut in a cage. If thou wouldst
shun, impudent hare, the bite of dogs, thou hast thy
refuge, the lion's mouth.
XLIX
You, a man worthy to be acclaimed by Celtiberian
tribes, and the glory of our Spain, you, Licinianus,
will see high-set Bilbilis, renowned for steeds
and armour, and Caius x with its aged snows, and
sacred Vadavero on the rugged hills, and the
pleasant grove of delightful Boterdus which blest
Pomona loves. You will swim in the smooth shal-
lows of tepid Congedus, and the mild lake of the
Nymphs, and brace your limbs, by them relaxed,
in shallow Salo that chills iron. There shall
Vobesca's self provide her own wild beasts to be
speared near by even while you lunch. The cloud-
less heat you, by boughs o'ershadowed, will assuage
in golden Tagus' stream ; your eager thirst icy Der-
1 Some peak in the Pyrenees.
59
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
avidam rigens Dercenna placabit sitim
et Nutha, quae vincit nives.
at cum December canus et bruma impotens
Aquilone rauco mugiet, 20
aprica repetes Tarraconis litora
tuamque Laletaniam.
ibi inligatas mollibus dammas plagis
mactabis et vernas apros
leporemque forti callidum runipes equo, 25
cervos relinques vilico.
vicina in ipsum silva descendet focum
infante cinctum sordido ;
vocabitur venator et veniet tibi
con viva clamatus prope ; 30
lunata nusquam pellis et nusquam toga
olidaeque vestes murice ;
procul horridus Liburnus et querulus cliens,
imperia viduarum procul ;
non rumpet altum pallidus somnum reus, 35
sed mane totum dormies.
mereatur alius grande et insanum sophos :
miserere tu felicium
veroque fruere non superbus gaudio,
duin Sura laudattir tuus. 40
non inpudenter vita quod relicum est petit,
cum fama quod satis est habet.
L
Si tibi Mistyllos cocus, Aemiliane, vocatur.
dicatur quare non Taratalla mihi ?
1 As an advocate : see Index.
60
BOOK I. xi.ix-i,
cenna will allay, and Nutha colder than the snows.
But when hoar December and wild winter shall
moan with the hoarse northern blast, you will repair
to Tarraco's sunny shores and your own Laletania.
There will you slay does enmeshed in yielding toils,
and home-bred boars, and with your stout steed
ride down the cunning hare, to your bailiff resign
the stags. To your very hearth, ringed with un-
kempt boy-slaves, shall come down the neighbouring-
wood ; the hunter will be invited, and he will come
as your guest when you shout for him hard by;
nowhere will be seen the crescent shoe, nowhere
the toga, and clothes smelling strong of purple dye ;
far off will be the odious Liburnian messenger, and
querulous client ; the haughty commands of widows
will be far off; your deep slumber the pale defendant
will not break, but all through the morning will
you dream. Let another win the loud and frantic
" bravo " ; do you pity the " fortunate," and without
pride enjoy true happiness, while your Sura earns
applause.1 Not presumptuously doth life seek what
remains to it when fame hath its sufficiency.
IF your cook, Aemilianus, is called Mistyllus,2 why
should not Taratalla be the name for mine ?
1 From recollection of the Homeric line, Mtffrv\\6v r'
\\a /cot au<' b$t\o'iffiv Hirfiuv.
61
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LI
NON facit ad saevos cervix, nisi prima, leones.
quid fugis hos denies, ambitiose lepus ?
scilicet a magnis ad te descendere tauris
et quae non cernuiit frangere colla velis.
desperanda tibi est ingentis gloria fati :
non potes hoc tenuis praeda sub hoste mori.
LII
COMMENDO tibi, Quintiane, nostros —
nostros dicere si tamen libellos
possum, quos recitat tuus poeta — :
si de servitio gravi queruntur,
adsertor venias satisque praestes,
et, cum se dominum vocabit ille,
dicas esse meos manuque missos.
hoc si terque quaterque clamitaris,
inpones plagiario pudorem.
LIII
UNTA est in nostris tua, Fidentine, libellis
pagina, sed certa domini signata figura,
quae tua traducit manifesto carmina furto.
sic interpositus villo contaminat uncto
urbica Lingonicus Tyrianthina bardocucullus,
sic Arretinae violant crystallina testae,
sic niger in ripis errat cum forte Caystri,
inter Ledaeos ridetur corvus olores,
1 As asaertor in libertatem, who takes up their claim to
freedom, not allowing the plagiarist to claim them when
manumitted by M.
62
HOOK I. LI-LIU. .
LI
No neck, save the chiefest, sorts 'with savage lions.
Why fliest thou these fangs, ambitious hare? Thou
wouldst forsooth have them come down from huge
bulls to thee, and crunch the neck which they can-
not see ! Not to be hoped for by thee is the glory of
a mighty death : thou canst not, slender quarry, die
under such a foe as this.
LII
To your charge I entrust, Quintianus, my works —
if, after all, I can call those mine which that poet of
yours recites. If they complain of their grievous
servitude, come forward as their champion l and give
bail for them ; and when that fellow calls himself
their owner, say that they are mine, sent forth from
my hand.2 If thrice and four times you shout this,
you will shame the plagiarist.
LIII
THERE is one page of yours, Fidentinus, in a book
of mine — a page, too, stamped by the distinct like-
ness of its master — which convicts your poems of
palpable theft. So, when set among them, a Lin-
gonian cowled cloak defiles with greasy wool the
violet-purple robes of town ; so crocks from Arre-
tium degrade crystal glass ; so a black raven, per-
chance wandering on Cayster's banks, is laughed at
among Leda's swans ; so, when a sacred grove is afire
2 " To send forth from the hand" was to make free a
slave. So, in another sense, a book on publication is sent
forth from the hand.
63
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
sic ubi multisona fervet sacer Atthide lucus,
in pro ha Cecropias offendit pica querellas. 10
indice non opus est nostris nee iudice libris ;
stat contra dicitque tibi tua pagina " Fur es."
L1V
Si quid, Fusee, vacas adhuc amari
(nam sunt hinc tibi, sunt et hinc amici),
unum, si superest, locum rogamus,
nee me, quod tibi sim novus, recuses :
omnes hoc veteres tui fuerunt. 5
tu tantum inspice qui novus paratur
an possit fieri vetus sodalis.
LV
VOTA tui breviter si vis cognoscere Marci,
clarum militiae, Fronto, togaeque decus,
hoc petit, esse sui nee magni ruris arator,
sordidaque in parvis otia rebus amat.
quisquam picta colit Spartani frigora saxi 5
et matutinum portat ineptus Have,
cui licet exuviis nemoris rurisque beato
ante focum plenas explicuisse plagas
et piscem tremula salientem ducere saeta
flavaque de rubro promere mella cado ? 10
pinguis inaequales onerat cui vilica mensas
et sua non emptus praeparat ova cinis ?
non amet hanc vitam quisquis me non amat, opto,
vivat et urbanis albus in officiis.
LVI
CONTINUIS vexata madet vindemia nimbis :
non potes, ut cupias, vendere, copo, merum.
64
BOOK I. LIII-LVI
with the varied notes of the Athenian nightingale,
an impudent jay jars on those Attic notes of woe.
My books need no title or judge to prove them ;
your page stares you in the face, and calls you
"thief."
LIV
IF, Fuscus, you have still any room for love — for you
have friends on this side, friends on that — a single
niche, if one remains, I ask. Nor should you reject
me because I am a "new" friend; all your old friends
were that once. Look only for this in the new friend
— is he worthy to become an old comrade ?
LV
IF you wish briefly to learn your Marcus' wishes,
Fronto, bright ornament of war and of the gown,
he seeks this — to be tiller of land that is his own,
though not large ; and rough ease he delights in
amid small means. Does any man court halls gaudy
and chill with Spartan stone, and bring with him —
O fool ! — the morning salute, who, blest with spoils
of wood and field, can before his hearth open his
crowded nets, and draw with trembling line the
leaping fish, and bring forth from the red jar his
golden honey ? For whom the bailiff's portly dame
loads his rickety table, and charcoal unbought cooks
his home-laid eggs ? May he, I pray, who loves not
me love not this, and live, pale-faced, amid the
duties of the town.
LVI
THE vineyard drips, lashed by continued rains.
Mine host, you can't, though you would, sell undiluted
wine.
65
VOL. I. F
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LVII
QUALEM, Flacce, velim quaeris nolimve puellam ?
nolo nimis facilem difficilemque nimis.
illud quod medium est atque inter utrumque pro-
bamus :
nee volo quod crucial nee volo quod satiat.
LVII I
MILIA pro puero centum me mango poposcit :
risi ego, sed Phoebus protinus ilia dedit.
hoc dolet et queritur de me mea mentula secum
laudaturque meam Phoebus in invidiam.
sed sestertiolum donavit mentula Phoebo 5
bis decies : hoc da tu mihi, pluris emam.
LIX
DAT Baiana mihi quadrantes sportula centum.
inter delicias quid facit ista fames ?
redde Lupi nobis tenebrosaque balnea Grylli :
tarn male cum cenem, cur bene, Flacce, laver ?
LX
INTRES ampla licet torvi lepus ora leonis,
esse tamen vacuo se leo dente putat.
quod ruet in tergum vel quos procumbet in armos,
alta iuvencorum volnera figet ubi ?
quid frustra nemorum dominum regemque fatigas ? 5
non nisi delecta pascitur ille fera.
66
BOOK I. LVII-I.X
LVII
Do you ask, Flaccus, what sort of girl I like or
dislike ? I dislike one too yielding, and one too
coy. That middle type between the two I approve :
I like not that which racks me, nor like I that which
cloys.
LVIII
THE dealer asked me a hundred thousand for the
lad ; I laughed, but Phoebus straightway paid the
price. Thereat my — — grieves and complains about
me to itself, and Phoebus is applauded to my de-
spite. But his — - presented Phoebus with a nice
two millions : do you give me as much, and I'll bid
higher.
LIX
MY dole at Baiae gives me a hundred farthings.
What avails that starvation allowance amid luxury?
Give me back the gloomy baths of Lupus and of
Gryllus. Seeing that so badly I dine, why, Flaccus,
sumptuously should I bathe ?
LX
ALBEIT, O hare, you enter the lion's yawning
mouth, the lion yet regards his fang as unfleshed.
Upon what back, upon what shoulders shall he throw
his weight ? The deep wounds that lay low steers —
where shall he plant them ? Why vainly tease the
woodland's lord and king ? 'Tis not save on the
beast he has chosen that he feeds.
6?
F 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXI
VERONA docti syllabas amat vatis,
Marone felix Mantua est,
censetur Aponi Livio suo tellus
Stellaque nee Flacco minus,
Apollodoro plaudit imbrifer Nilus, 5
Nasone Paeligni sonant,
duosque Senecas unicumque Lucanum
facunda loquitur Corduba,
gaudent iocosae Canio suo Gades,
Emerita Deciano meo : 10
te, Liciniane, gloriabitur nostra
nee me tacebit Bilbilis.
LXI I
CASTA nee antiquis cedens Laevina Sabinis
et quamvis tetrico tristior ipsa viro
dum modo Lucrino, modo se permittit Averno,
et dum Baianis saepe fovetur aquis,
incidit in flammas : iuvenemque secuta relicto 5
eoniuge Penelope venit, abit Helene.
LXI1I
UT recitem tibi nostra rogas epigrammata. nolo.
non audire, Celer, sed recitare cupis.
LXIV
BELLA es, novimus, et puella, verum est,
et dives, quis enim potest negare ?
sed cum te nimium, Fabulla, laudas,
nee dives neque bella nee puella es.
68
BOOK I. LXI-LXIV
LXI
VERONA loves the syllables of her learned bard,
Mantua is blest in Maro. The land of Aponus is
apprised by its Livy, and by Stella, by Flaccus no
less ; the flooding Nile applauds Apollodorus ; Pe-
lignians are loud in Naso's praise. The two Senecas
and matchless Lucan eloquent Corduba proclaims ;
laughing Gades delights in her Canius, Emerita in
my Decianus. Of you, Licinianus, shall our Bilbilis
boast, nor of me shall she be silent.
LXI I
CHASTE, and not inferior to the old-world Sabines,
straiter-laced, too, than her husband in his sternest
mood, Laevina, while she entrusted herself, now to
the Lucrine lake and now to Avernus, and was oft
refreshed by the waters of Baiae, fell into flames.1
She went after a youth, leaving a husband : she
arrived a Penelope and departed a Helen !
LXIII
You ask me to recite to you my epigrams. I
decline. You don't wish to hear them, Celer, but
to recite them.
LXIV
You are beautiful, we know, and young, that is
true, and rich — for who can deny it ? But while you
praise yourself overmuch, Fabulla, you are neither
rich, nor beautiful, nor young.
1 The looseness of morals at Baiae, Rome's fashionable
watering-place, was notorious.
69
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXV
CUM dixi ficus, rides quasi barbara verba
et dici ficos, Caeciliane, iubes.
dicemus ficus, quas scimus in arbore nasci,
dicemus ficos, Caeciliane, tuos.
LXV71
EKKAS, meorum fur avare librorun),
fieri poetam posse qui putas tanti,
scriptura quanti constet et tomus vilis :
non sex paratur aut decem sophos nummis.
secreta quaere carmina et rudes curas 5
quas novit unus scrinioque signatas
custodit ipse virginis pater chartae,
quae trita duro non inhorruit mento.
inutare dominum non potest liber notus.
sed pumicata fronte si quis est nondum 10
nee umbilicis cultus atque membrana,
mercare : tales habeo ; nee sciet quisquam.
aliena quisquis recitat et petit famam,
non emere librum sed silentium debet.
LXVII
" LIBER homo es nimium " dicis mihi, Ceryle, semper,
in te quis dicit, Ceryle, "liber homo es " ?
1 i.e. piles, or some tumour: cf. iv. li ; vn. Ixxi. ; xiv.
Ixxxvi.
2 By being held under the chin while being rolled up
(Friedlander) ; or by being kissed in compliment in the
recitation room (Paley) : c/. x. xciii. 6.
70
BOOK I. LXV-LXVII
LXV
WHEN I called figs "ficus" you laughed at it as
an outlandish word, and you require them, Caecil-
ianus, to be called "ficos." We will call those
" ficus " which we know grow on a tree ; we will
call your figs,1 Caecilianus, "ficos."
LXVI
You mistake, you greedy thief of my works, who
think you can become a poet at no more than the
cost of a transcript and a cheap papyrus roll. Ap-
plause is not acquired for six or ten sesterces. Look
out for unpublished poems and unfinished studies,
which one man only knows of, and which the sire of
the virgin sheet not yet grown rough by the contact
of hard chins,2 keeps sealed up in his book-wallet.
A well-known book cannot change its author. But
if there be one with ends not yet smoothed with
pumice, and not yet smart with its bosses and
wrapper, buy it : such I possess, and no man shall
know. Whoever recites another man's work, and so
woos fame, ought not to buy a book, but — silence.
LXVII
" YOU'RE too free a man," you are always saying
to me, Cerylus. In your case, Cerylus, who says
" you're a free man " ? 3
y Cerylus was a wealthy freed man of Vespasian who
changed his name to Laches and pretended to be a free
man (ingenmis) ; see Suet. Vesp. xxiii. The emendation of
the text est. (or est ?) is due to Wagner and accepted by
Friedlander.
71
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXVIII
QUIDQUID agit Rufus, nihil est nisi Naevia Rufo.
si gaudet, si flet, si tacet, hanc loquitur,
cenat, propinat, poscit, negat, innuit : una est
Naevia ; si non sit Naevia, mutus erit.
scriberet hesterna patri cum luce salutem,
"Naevia lux," inquit "Naevia lumen, have."
haec legit et ridet demisso Naevia voltu.
Naevia non una est : quid, vir inepte, furis ?
LXIX
COEPIT, Maxime, Pana quae solebat,
nunc ostendere Canium Tarentos.
LXX
VADE salutatum pro me, liber : ire iuberis
ad Proculi nitidos, officiose, lares,
quaeris iter, dicam. vicinum Castora canae
transibis Vestae virgineamque domum.
inde sacro veneranda petes Palatia clivo, 5
plurima qua summi fulget imago ducis.
1 i.e. the preceding part of the epigram, which the husband
(or lover) thinks must allude to his particular li Naevia "
1 Since he had gone there the City of Tarentum was as
proud of his laughing, face (rf. in. xr. 21) as of a famous
image of the laughing Pan. Tarentos (fern.) is probably a
literary form of Tarentum.
72
BOOK I. LXVUI-LXX
LXVIII
WHATEVER Rufus is doing, Naevia is to Rufus his
all in all. If glad, if tearful, if mute, of her he
speaks. He dines, drinks healths, asks, denies, or
nods : Naevia is everything ; be there no Naevia,
he will be dumb. When yesterday he was writing
a greeting to his father, " Naevia, light of my eyes,"
he wrote, " Naevia, my sunbeam, I salute thee."
Naevia reads these lines l with face down-dropt,
and laughs. There is more than one Naevia ; why,
you silly husband, do you rage ?
LXIX
TARENTOS, that used, Maximus, to display a statue
of Pan, now begins to display Canius.2
LXX
Go forth, my book, to bear my greeting for me ;
'tis to the smart house of Proculus you are bidden
to go, a duteous messenger. You ask the way ? I'll
tell you.3 You will pass the temple of Castor near
time-honoured Vesta, and the house of the Vestals.
Thence by the Sacred Slope you will make for the
august Palatine, where gleams many a statue of our
3 M. is sending his book from his house on the Quirinal to
Proculus on the Palatine across the Via Sacra and Forum
Romanum, and he points out the various temples, etc., on
the way. As to the Colossus (formerly a statue of Nero,
afterwards of the Sun), cf. Lib. Sped. ii. 1. It stood in
M.'s time on the Via Sacra, near the arch of Titus, and was
afterwards set by Hadrian near the Flavian Amphitheatre,
to which it gave the name of Colosseum.
73
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
nee te detineat miri radiata colossi
quae Rhodium moles vincere gaudet opus,
flecte vias hac qua madidi sunt tecta Lyaei
et Cybeles picto stat Corybante tholus. 10
protinus a laeva clari tibi fronte Penates
atriaque excelsae sunt adeunda domus.
hanc pete : ne metuas fastus limenque superbum.
nulla magis toto iaiiua poste patet,
nee propior quam Phoebus amet doctaeque sorores.
si dicet "Quare non tamen ipse venit ? " 16
sic licet excuses " Quia qualiacumque leguntur
ista, salutator scribere non potuit."
LXXI
LAEVIA sex cyathis, septem lustina bibatur,
quinque Lycas, Lyde quattuor, Ida tribus.
omnis ab infuso numeretur arnica Falerno,
et quia nulla venit, tu mihi, Somne, veni.
LXXII
NOSTRIS versibus esse te poetam,
Fidentine, putas cupisque credi ?
sic dentata sibi videtur Aegle
emptis ossibus Indicoque cornu ;
sic quae nigrior est cadente moro, 5
cerussata sibi placet Lycoris.
hac et tu ratione qua poeta es,
calvus cum fueris, eris comatus.
1 Domitian.
74
BOOK I. LXX-LXXII
illustrious Commander.1 Let not the mass, girt with
rays, of the wondrous Colossus that exults to surpass
the labour of Rhodes, detain you. Bend round here
where is the roof of wine-drenched Lyaeus, and
Cybele's dome stands with its painted Corybants.
Right before you on the left a dwelling with shining
front and the hall of a lofty house invite approach.
Make for this ; and, that you may not fear any dis-
dain and a proud threshold, know that 110 portal
gapes so wide to show its doorposts, nor is there one
whereto Phoebus and the learned Sisters draw more
near in love. If he shall say, " Yet why did he not
come himself? " thus you may excuse me : " Because
those poems, whatever their worth, no man could
have written who attends levees."
LXXI
LET Laevia be drunk in six measures, in seven
Justina, in five Lycas, Lyde in four, Ida in three.'2
Let every mistress' name be numbered by outpoured
Falernian. And, since none of them comes, do you,
Sleep, come to me !
LXXI I
Is it by borrowing my verses, Fidentinus, that you
think yourself a poet, and would have it believed ?
So Aegle imagines she has teeth when she has pur-
chased bone and ivory ; so she who is blacker than
a falling mulberry, Lycoris, fancies herself when
plastered with white lead. On this principle that
makes you too a poet you will be well thatched
when you are bald.
2 One cyathus ( = one-twelfth of a sextarius) is to be poured
into the cup for each letter of the name : cf. vui. li. 21 ;
xi. xxxvi. 7.
75
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXIII
NULLUS in urbe fuit tota qui tangere vellet
uxorem gratis, Caeciliane, ttiam,
dum licuit : sed nunc positis custodibus ingens
turba fututorum est. ingeniosus homo es.
LXXIV
MOECHUS erat : poteras tamen hoc tu, Paula, negare
ecce vir est : numquid, Paula, negare potes ?
LXXV
DIMIDIUM donare Lino quam credere totum
qui mavolt, mavolt perdere dirnidium.
LXXVI
O MIHI curarum pretium non vile mearuni,
Flacce, Antenorei spes et alumne laris,
Pierios differ cantus citharamque sororum ;
aes dabit ex istis nulla puella tibi.
quid petis a Phoebo ? nummos habet area Minervae ;
haec sapit, haec omnes fenerat una deos. 6
quid possunt hederae Bacchi dare ? Pallados arbor
inclinat varias pondere nigra comas,
praeter aquas Helicon et serta lyrasque dearum
nil habet et magnuni sed perinane sophos. 10
1 Divorced or widowed, she has married her lover, and
so confesses the charge.
76
BOOK I. LXXIII-LXXVI
LXXIII
THERE was no one in the whole town willing to
touch your wife, Caecilianus, gratis, while he was
allowed ; but, now you have set your guards, there
is a huge crowd of gallants. You are an ingenious
person !
LXXIV
HE was your lover; yet this, Paula, you once
could deny. Behold, he is your husband ; 1 can you
deny it now ?
LXXV
HE who prefers to give Linus half rather than
trust him with the whole, prefers to lose the half.
LXXVI
O YOU, whose friendship is no cheap reward for
my labours, Flaccus, the hope and nursling of An-
tenor's settlement,2 put aside your Pierian lays and
the lute of the Sisters ; no maid among them will
give you a penny. What seek you from Phoebus ?
'Tis Minerva's box holds the coin ; she is shrewd,
she^ alone is usurer to all the gods.3 What can ivy
wreaths of Bacchus give you ? The tree of Pallas bows
its varied leafage, and is dark with weight of fruit.
Beyond its streams and the chaplets and lyres of the
goddesses, Helicon has nought, nought beyond the
loud but empty " bravo." What have you to do with
2 Patavium, or Padua: cf. Virg. Aen. i. 246.
3 Friedlander takes deos as = deonim dona, ' ' lends all that
the gods can bestow," i.e. wealth, beauty, and the like.
77
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
quid tibi cum Cirrha ? quid cum Permesside nuda ?
Romanum propius divitiusque forum est.
illie aera sonant : at circum pulpita nostra
et steriles cathedras basia sola crepant.
LXXVII
PULCHRE valet Charinus et tamen pallet.
parce bibit Charinus et tamen pallet.
bene concoquit Charinus et tamen pallet.
sole utitur Charinus et tamen pallet.
tinguit cutem Charinus et tamen pallet. 5
cunnum Charinus lingit et tamen pallet.
LXXVIII
INDIGNAS premeret pestis cum tabida fauces
inque ipsos vultus serperet atra lues,
siccis ipse genis flentes hortatus amicos
decrevit Stygios Festus adire lacus.
nee tamen obscuro pia polluit ora veneno 5
aut torsit lenta tristia fata fame,
sanctam Romana vitam sed morte peregit
dimisitque animam nobiliore rogo.1
hanc mortem fatis magni praeferre Catonis
fama potest : huius Caesar amicus erat. 10
LXXIX
SEMPER agis causas et res agis, Attale, semper :
est, non est quod agas, Attale, semper agis.
si res et causae desunt, agis, Attale, mulas.
Attale, ne quod agas desit, agas animam.
1 rogo B, vita y, unde via 5-.
1 The nymph of the river Permessus, which rises on Mount
Helicon.
BOOK I. LXXVI— LXXIX
Cirrha ? what with naked Permessis ? *• Rome's forum
is nearer and richer. There is the ring of coin : but
around the platforms of us poets and our sterile
chairs there is only the chink of kisses.
LXXVII
CHARINUS has good health, and yet he is pale.
Charinus drinks moderately, and yet he is pale. Cha-
rinus has good digestion, and yet he is pale. Charinus
enjoys the sunshine, and yet he is pale. Charinus
rouges his skin, and yet he is pale. Charinus in-
dulges in every debauchery — and yet he is pale.2
LXXVIII
WHEN wasting disease choked his guiltless throat,
and o'er his very face crept black contagion, Festus,
dry-eyed himself, spake to his weeping friends,
and purposed to pass to the lake of Styx. Howbeit
he marred not his righteous face with secret poison,
nor with slow starvation tortured his sad fate ; but
his sacred life he closed by a Roman's death, and
set free his soul by a nobler end. This death may
Fame prize more than great Cato's doom : Caesar
was this man's friend.
LXXIX
You are always doing the pleader and always
doing the man of business, Attalus ; whether there
is or is not something to do, Attalus, you are always
doing something. If business and pleadings fail you,
you do the mule-driver, Attalus. Attalus, that some-
thing to do may not fail you, do for yourself.3
2 i.e. does not blush.
3 This epigram cannot satisfactorily be translated : it plays
on the meanings of agere, which means (inter alia) "conduct,"
"do," or " drive.""
79
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXX
SPORTULA, Cane, tibi suprema nocte petita est.
occidit puto te, Cane, quod una fuit.
LXXXI
A SERVO scis te genitum blandeque fateris,
cum dicis dominum, Sosibiane, patrem.
LXXXII
HAEC quae pulvere dissipata multo
longas porticus explicat ruinas,
en quanto iacet absoluta casu !
tectis nam modo Regulus sub illis
gestatus fuerat recesseratque, 5
victa est pondere cum suo repente,
et postquam domino nihil timebat,
securo ruit incruenta damno.
tantae, Regule, post metum querellae
quis curam neget esse te deorum, 10
propter quern fuit innocens ruina ?
LXXXIII
Os et labra tibi lingit, Manneia, catellus :
non miror, mei'das si libet esse cani.
LXXXI V
UXOREM habendam non putat Quirinalis,
cum velit habere filios, et invenit
quo possit istud more : futuit ancillas
domumque et agros implet equitibus vernis.
pater familiae verus est Quirinalis. 5
80
BOOK I. LXXX-LXXXIV
LXXX
ON the night you died, Canus, you looked for a
dole. What killed you, I think, Canus, was that
there was but one.
LXXXI
You know you were begotten by a slave, and you
blandly confess it, Sosibianus, when you address
your father as "master."
LXXXII
THIS portico which, scattered in clouds of dust,
spreads its length of ruin, lo ! of how great a mishap
does it lie guiltless ! For under that roof Regulus had
but lately driven and had passed out, when, suddenly
o'ercome by its own weight, now it felt no misgiving
for its lord, it crashed harmless in careless downfall.
Now, Regulus, that fear of such heavy complaining
is past, who could deny you are the charge of the
gods, you, for whose sake ruin wrought no harm ?
LXXXIII
You ii face and lips, Manneia, your little dog licks ;
I don't wonder that a dog likes to eat filth.
LXXXIV
QUIRINALIS does not think he should take a wife,
meanwhile he wishes to have sons ; and he has dis-
covered how to secure that object : he has relations
with maid-servants, and fills his town-house and
his country-place with home-born slave-knights. A
genuine " father of a family " l is Quirinalis.
1 The meaning of "paterfamilias," i.e. "head of a house-
hold," is altered to give a new sense.
81
VOL. I. G
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXXV
VENDERET excultos colles cum praeco facetus
atque suburban! iugera pulchra soli,
" Errat " ait " si quis Mario putat esse necesse
vendere : nil debet, fenerat immo magis."
" Quae ratio est igitur?" " Servos ibi perdidit omnes 5
et pecus et fructus, non amat inde locum."
quis faceret pretium nisi qui sua perdere vellet
omnia ? sic Mario iioxius haeret ager.
LXXXVI
VriciNus meus est manuque tangi
de nostris Novius potest fenestris.
quis non invideat mihi putetque
horis omnibus esse me beatum,
iuncto cui liceat frui sodale ? 5
tarn longe est mihi quam Terentianus,
qui nunc Niliacam regit Syenen.
non convivere, nee videre saltern,
non audire licet, nee urbe tota
quisquam est tarn prope tarn proculque nobis. 10
migrandum est mihi longius vel illi.
vicinus Novio vel inquilinus
sit, si quis Novium videre non volt.
LXXXVII
NE gravis hesterno fragres, Fescennia, vino,
pastillos Cosmi luxuriosa voras.
ista linunt dentes iantacula, sed nihil opstant,
extremo ructus cum redit a barathro.
1 Used in two senses, unhealthy, or unsaleable.
82
BOOK I. LXXXV-LXXXVII
LXXXV
WHEN a humorous auctioneer was selling a well-
cultivated hill-estate, and some beautiful acres of
land near the town, he said : " He is wrong who
thinks that Marius need sell ; he owes nothing, but
lends money rather." " What is the reason, then ? "
" He has lost there all his slaves, and his flocks, and
his crops; hence he does not like the place." Who
would make a bid but a man who was willing to lose
all his possessions ? So his injurious x land sticks to
Marius.
LXXXVI
Novius is my neighbour, and can be touched by
the hand from my windows. Who would not envy
me, and think me every hour of the day happy in
being able to enjoy so close a comrade ? He is as
far from me as Terentianus who now governs Syene
on the Nile. I can't dine with him, nor even see
him or hear him, and in all the city there is no man
who is so near and yet so far from me. I must
shift farther, or he must. You should be Novius's
neighbour, or fellow-lodger, if you don't wish to see
Novius.
LXXXVI I
THAT you may not smell strong of yesterday's
wine, Fescennia, you devour immoderately Cosmus's
pastilles. That snack discolours your teeth, but is
no preventive when an eructation returns from your
abysmal depths. What if the stench is stronger
83
G 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
quid quod olet gravius mixtum diapasmate virus 5
atque duplex animae longius exit odor ?
notas ergo nimis fraudes deprensaque furta
iam tollas et sis ebria simpliciter.
LXXXVIII
ALCIME, quern raptum domino crescentibus annis
Lavicana levi caespite velat humus,
accipe non Pario nutantia pondera saxo,
quae cineri vanus dat ruitura labor,
sed faciles buxos et opacas palmitis umbras 5
quaeque virent lacrimis roscida prata meis
accipe, care puer, nostri monimenta doloris :
hie tibi perpetuo tempore vivet honor,
cum mihi supremos Lachesis perneverit annos,
non aliter cineres mando iacere meos. 10
LXXXIX
GARRIS in aurem semper omnibus, Cinna,
garrire et illud teste quod licet turba.
rides in aurem, quereris, arguis, ploras,
cantas in aurem, iudicas, taces, clamas,
adeoque penitus sedit hie tibi morbus, 5
ut saepe in aurem, Cinna, Caesarem laudes.
XC
QUOD numquam maribus iunctam te, Bassa, videbam
quodque tibi moechum fabula nulla dabat,
omne sed officium circa te semper obibat
turba tui sexus, non adeunte viro,
esse videbaris, fateor, Lucretia nobis : 5
at tu, pro facinus, Bassa, fututor eras.
84
BOOK I. LXXXVII-XC
when mixed with drugs, and redoubled the reek of
your breath carries farther ? So away with tricks too
well known, and detected dodges, and be just simply
drunk !
LXXXVIII
ALCIMUS, whom, snatched from thy master in thy
burgeoning years, Lavican earth shrouds with its
light turf, take from me, not a nodding weight of
Parian stone, the perishable gift which vain toil
makes to the dust, but pliant box, and the vine's
dense shadow, and grass that grows green, dewy with
my tears. Take them, loved boy, as tokens of my
sorrow. Here for all time shall thy honour live.
When Lachesis shall have spun to their end my latest
years, I charge that in none other sort my ashes lie.
LXXXIX
You are always chattering in everybody's ear,
China, and even what one may chatter with the
crowd listening. You laugh in the ear, grumble,
make accusations, complain ; you sing in the ear,
give opinions, are silent, shout. And so deep-seated
is this malady of yours that often 'tis in the ear.
Cinna, you speak Caesar's praise.
XC
IN that I never saw you, Bassa, intimate with men,
and that no scandal assigned you a lover, but every
office a throng of your own sex round you performed
without the approach of man — you seemed to me, I
confess, a Lucretia ; yet, Bassa — oh, monstrous !• —
85
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
inter se geminos audes committere cunnos
mentiturque virum prodigiosa Venus,
commenta es dignum Thebano aenigmate monstrum,
hie, ubi vir non est, ut sit adulterium. 10
XCI
CUM tua non edas, carpis mea carmina, Laeli.
carpere vel noli nostra vel ede tua.
XCII
SAEPE mihi queritur non siccis Cestos ocellis,
tangi se digito, Mamuriane, tuo.
non opus est digito : totum tibi Ceston habeto,
si dest nil aliud, Mamuriane, tibi.
sed si nee focus est nee nudi sponda grabati 5
nee curtus Chiones Antiopesve calix,
cerea si pendet lumbis et scripta lacerna
dimidiasque nates Gallica paeda tegit,
pasceris et nigrae solo nidore culinae
et bibis inmundam cum cane pronus aquam, 10
non culum, neque enim est culus, qui non cacat olim,
sed fodiam digito qui superest oculum :
nee me zelotypum nee dixeris esse malignum.
denique pedica, Mamuriane, satur.
XCIII
FABRICIO iunctus fido requiescit Aquinus,
qui prior Elysias gaudet adisse domos.
ara duplex primi testatur munera pili :
plus tamen est, titulo quod breviore legis :
" Iunctus uterque sacro laudatae foedere vitae, 5
famaque quod raro novit, amicus erat."
1 This epigram closely copies Cat. xxi, xxiii, xxiv. In lines
11 and 12 there is a pun on culus and oculua.
86
BOOK I. XC-XCIH
you are, it seems, a nondescript. You dare things
unspeakable, and your portentous lust imitates man.
You have invented a prodigy worthy of the Theban
riddle, that here, where no man is, should be adultery !
XCI
ALTHOUGH you don't publish your own, you carp
at my poems, Laelius. Either do not carp at mine,
or publish your own.
XCII
OFTEN Cestos complains to me with overflowing
eyes that he is pawed by your finger, Mamurianus.
No need of a finger : take Cestos altogether to your-
self if he, Mamurianus, is all that you lack. But if
you possess no fire, nor frame of a bare truckle-bed,
nor a broken cup like Chione's and Antiope's ; if a
cloak, white with age and threadbare, hangs over
your loins, and a Gaulish cape covers but half your
buttocks ; and if you batten on the steam only of a
sooty kitchen, and on all fours like a dog drink from
dirty puddles, I will not prod that latter-end of
yours — it isn't a latter-end, being unused — but I will
gouge out your remaining eye. And don't say I am
jealous or malicious. In a word, follow your bent,
Mamurianus — on a full stomach ! l
XCIII
By the side of leal Fabricius rests Aquinus, who
is glad to have passed first to the Elysian abodes. A
double altar-tomb attests the rank of first cen-
turion, yet more is what you read in the brief
inscription : " Both were knit in the sacred bond
of a life with honour ; and (what fame but seldom
knows) both were friends."
87
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XCIV
CANTASTI male, dum fututa es, Aegle.
iam cantas bene ; basianda non es.
XCV
QUOD clamas semper, quod agentibus obstrepis, Aeli,
non facis hoc gratis : accipis, ut taceas.
XCVI
Si non molestum est teque non piget, scazon,
nostro rogamus pauca verba Materno
dicas in aurem sic ut audiat solus.
amator ille tristium lacernarum
et baeticatus atque leucophaeatus, 5
qui coccinatos non putat viros esse
amethystinasque mulierum vocat vestes,
nativa laudet, habeat et licet semper
fuscos colores, galbinos habet mores.
rogabit unde suspicer virum mollem. 10
una lavamur : aspicit nihil sursum,
sed spectat oculis devorantibus draucos
nee otiosis mentulas videt labris.
quaeris quis hie sit ? excidit mihi nomen.
XCVII
CUM clamant omnes, loqueris tune, Naevole, tantum,
et te patronum causidicumque putas.
hac ratione potest nemo non esse disertus.
ecce, tacent omnes : Naevole, die aliquid.
1 Lit. "halting verse," or iambics ending with two long
syllables.
2 Garments of this colour were worn by women or effemi-
nate men : Juv. ii. 97.
88
BOOK I. xciv-xcvn
XCIV
You sang badly while your practices were normal,
Aegle. Now you sing well — but I won't kiss you.
XCV
You are always shouting, always interrupting the
pleaders, Aelius. You don't do this for nothing :
you take pay to hold your tongue.
XCVI
IF it is not a burden nor irksome to you, my
verse,1 I beg you speak a few words into Maternus'
ear, just so, that he alone may hear. Admirer as he
is of sad-coloured cloaks, and clad in Baetic wool
and in grey, one who thinks that men in scarlet are
not men at all, and styles violet mantles the vesture
of women, although he praises native colours and
always affects sober hues, grass-green 2 are his morals.
He will ask you whence springs my suspicion of his
effeminacy. We bathe together ; he never lifts his
gaze, but with eyes devouring the catamites he looks
on and surveys their members with no untwitching
lips. Do you enquire who this man is ? The name
has dropped 3 from me.
XCVIJ
WHEN everybody is shouting, then only, Naevolus,
you speak, and think yourself an advocate and pleader.
On this principle there is none but may be eloquent.
See, everybody is silent : Naevolus, say something.
3 Used in an ambiguous sense, either as meaning "I let
the name out by accident just now," or "I have forgotten
the name."
89
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XCVIII
LITIGAT et podagra Diodorus, Flacce, laborat.
sed nil patrono porrigit : haec cheragra est.
XCIX
NON plenum modo viciens habebas,
sed tarn prodigus atque liberalis
et tarn lautus eras, Calene, ut omnes
optarent tibi centies amici.
audit vota deus precesque nostras 5
atque intra, puto, septimas Kalendas
mortes hoc tibi quattuor dederunt.
at tu sic quasi non foret relictum
sed raptum tibi centies, abisti
in tantam miser esuritionem, 10
ut convivia sumptuosiora,
toto quae semel apparas in anno,
nigrae sordibus explices monetae,
et septem veteres tui sodales
constemus tibi plumbea selibra. 15
quid dignum meritis precemur istis ?
optamus tibi milies, Calene.
hoc si contigerit, fame peribis.
MAMMAS atque tatas habet Afra, sed ipsa tatarum
dici et mammarum maxima mamma potest.
CI
ILLA manus quondam studiorum fida meorum
et felix domino notaque Caesaribus,
1 Friedlander explains selibra as a piece of plate of that
90
BOOK I. xcvin-ci
XCVIII
DIODORUS goes to law, and suffers, Flaccus, from
gout in the feet. But he offers his advocate no fee :
this is gout in the hand.
XCIX
LATELY you did not possess a full two millions, and
yet so profuse and open-handed, and so large in en-
tertainment were you, Calenus, that all your friends
wished you ten. The god heard our vows and prayers,
and within, I think, seven months, four deaths gave
you this sum. But you, just as if nothing had been
left you, but rather your two millions robbed from
you, came down — wretched man ! — to such starvation
parsimony that those more sumptuous banquets which
you provide just once in the whole year you now
set out at the squalid expenditure of dirty coppers ;
and we, your seven old comrades, cost you only a
half-pound of bad silver.1 What reward for merits
like those should we pray for ? We wish you a
hundred millions, Calenus. If this sum fall to you,
you will die of hunger.
AFKA has "mammas" and "dadas," but she her-
self may be called the most immemorial mamma
among these dadas and mammas.
CI
ONCE the trusty copyist of my poems, his hand
a treasure to his master and to the Caesars known,
weight which he sells to save his money, and plumbea as
" trumpery."
91
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
destituit primes viridis Demetrius annos :
quarta tribus lustris addita messis erat.
ne tamen ad Stygias famulus descenderet umbras, 5
ureret inplicitum cum scelerata lues,
cavimus, et domini ius omne remisimus aegro :
munere dignus erat convaluisse meo.
sensit deficiens sua praemia meque patronum
dixit ad infernas liber iturus aquas. 10
CII
Qui pinxit V^enerem tuam, Lycori,
blanditus, puto, pictor est Minervae.
cm
" Si dederint superi decies mihi milia centum "
dicebas, nondum, Scaevola, iustus eques,
" qualiter o vivam, quam large quamque beate ! "
riserunt faciles et tribuere dei.
sordidior multo post hoc toga, paenula peior, 5
calceus est sarta terque quaterque cute :
deque decem plures semper servantur olivae,
explicat et cenas unica mensa duas,
et Veientani bibitur faex crassa rubelli,
asse cicer tepidum constat et asse Venus. 10
in ius, o fallax atque infitiator, eamus :
aut vive aut decies, Scaevola, redde deis.
BOOK I. ci-ciii
Demetrius in his fresh prime has left behind him
years yet young : a fourth summer had been added
to three lustres. Yet, that he should not go down
to the shades of Styx a slave, when a cursed con-
tagion held him fevered in its toils — to this I took
heed, and to his sickness resigned all a master's
rights : worthy was he by my gift to have seen
health once more ! He felt with failing strength
the boon and called me "patron," now that he
was passing down, a free man, to the nether wave.
CII
HE who painted this Venus of yours, Lycoris, was
a painter, I think, who paid court to Minerva.
cm
" IF the high gods shall give me a million," you
said, Scaevola, when not yet a knight complete,1 "oh,
how I shall live ! how bounteously and how richly! "
Easy-going, the gods laughed and gave it you. After
this your toga is much dirtier than before, your
surtout shabbier, and your shoe has been thrice and
four times patched. And out of ten olives the larger
number is always put by, and one catering furnishes
forth two dinners ; and you drink thick dregs of red
Veientan wine ; your pea-soup costs you a penny,
and a penny your amours. Let us go into court,
you fraudulent trustee ! Either learn to live, or,
Scaevola, restore the gods that million !
1 He had not yet the full qualification of 400,000 sesterces.
93
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
CIV
PICTO quod iuga delicata collo
pardus sustinet inprobaeque tigres
indulgent patientiam flagello,
mordent aurea quod lupata cervi,
quod frenis Libyci domantur ursi 5
et, quantum Calydoii tulisse fertur,
paret purpureis aper capistris,
turpes esseda quod trahunt visontes
et molles dare iussa quod choreas
nigro belua non negat magistro : 10
quis spectacula non putet deorum r
haec transit tamen, ut minora, quisquis
venatus humiles videt leonum,
quos velox leporum timor fatigat.
dimittunt, repetunt, amantque captos, 15
et securior est in ore praeda,
laxos cui dare perviosque rictus
gaudent et timidos tenere dentes,
mollem f range re dum pudet rapinam,
stratis cum modo venerint iuvencis. 20
haec dementia non paratur arte,
sed norunt cui serviant leones.
cv
IN Nomentanis, Ovidi, quod nascitur agris,
accepit quotiens tempora longa, merum
exuit annosa mores nomenque senecta ;
et quidquid voluit, testa vocatur anus.
1 Nomentan wine, harsh when new, so improves with age
94
BOOK I. civ-cv
CIV
THE leopard carries a spangled yoke on its spotted
neck, and savage tigers give obedience to the whip ;
stags champ jagged golden bits ; Libyan bears are
cowed by the i-ein ; a boar, as huge as the Calydo-
nian of legend, yields to a purple halter; ugly
bisons draw two-wheeled Gallic cars, and the ele-
phant, bid lightly to dance, does not say nay to its
black master. Who would not think here were
sights fit for the gods ? Yet he passes these by as
lesser marvels, who sees lions hunting humble quarry
and wearied by the timorous speed of the hares.
They let them go, they retrieve them and fondle
their catch, and the prey is safer in their mouths.
To receive it the lions delight to offer their jaws
loose and gaping, and to keep their teeth careful
not to wound, ashamed as they are to crunch such
gentle booty when they have just come from laying
low steers. Such mercy is not won by training, but
the lions know whom they serve !
CV
THE new wine, Ovidius, that is born in Nomentan
fields, oft as it has taken upon it length of days, by
hoary age puts off its nature and its name, and when
old the jar is called by whatever name it chooses.1
that JTOU can consider it as good as any brand : cf. xin.
cxvii. of Mamertine.
95
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
CVI
INTERPONIS aquam subinde, Rufe,
et si cogeris a sodale, raram
diluti bibis unciam Falerni.
numquid pollicita est tibi beatam
noctem Naevia sobriasque mavis 5
certae nequitias fututionis ?
suspiras, retices, gemis : negavit.
crebros ergo licet bibas trientes
et durum iugules mero dolorem.
quid parcis tibi, Rufe ? dormiendum est. 10
CVI I
SAEPE mihi dicis, Luci carissime luli,
" Scribe aliquid magnum : desidiosus homo es."
otia da nobis, sed qualia fecerat olim
Maecenas Flacco Vergilioque suo :
condere victuras temptem per saecula curas 5
et nomen flammis eripuisse meum.
in steriles nolunt campos iuga ferre iuVenci :
pingue solum lassat, sed iuvat ipse labor.
CVI II
EST tibi (sitque precor multos crescatque per annos)
pulchra quidem, verum Transtiberina domus :
at mea Vipsanas spectant cenacula laurus,
factus in hac ego sum iam regione senex ;
= ^ sexlarius = 4 cyathi. In 1. 3 uncia = 1 cyathus.
2 In the Campus of Vipsanius Agrippa, the sou-in-law of
Augustus. Here stood the Porticus Agrippae. This was on
the right bank of the Tiber, and east of the Campus Martius.
96
BOOK I. cvi-cvin
CVI
You often put water in your wine, Rufus, and, if
you are pressed by a friend, drink — but seldom — a
twelfth-part measure of diluted Falernian. Is it that
Naevia has promised you a night of joy, and you
prefer the lecheries by sobriety assured ? You sigh,
you are dumb, you groan : she has denied "you. So
you may drink full cup l after full cup, and throttle
with wine your cruel pain. Why spare yourself,
Rufus? Remains but to sleep.
CVII
OFT you say to me, dearest Lucius Julius : " Write
something great ! You are a lazy man." Give me
leisure, and leisure such as once Maecenas provided
for Flaccus and his own Virgil ; then would I essay to
build up works that should live throughout ages, and
to rescue my name from the fire. Into unfruitful
fields steers care not to bear the yoke ; a fat soil
wearies, but the very labour delights.
CVIII
You have — and may it stand, I pray, and flourish
for many years ! — a house, beautiful indeed, but
beyond the Tiber, whereas my garret looks out on
the Vipsanian laurels,2 and in this region I have
already grown old : I must shift my quarters if I am
Beyond the Tiber the population was of a low class (cf.
i. xli. 3), but this epigram shows there were some better-
class residents.
97
VOL. I. H
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
migrandum est, ut mane domi te, Galle, salutem. 5
est tanti, vel si longius ilia foret.
sed tibi non multum est, unum si praesto togatum :
multum est hunc unum si mihi, Galle, nego.
ipse salutabo decuma te saepius hora :
mane tibi pro me dicet havere liber. 10
CIX
ISSA est passere nequior Catulli,
Issa est purior osculo columbae,
Issa est blandior omnibus puellis,
Issa est carior Indicis lapillis,
Issa est deliciae catella Publi. 5
hanc tu, si queritur, loqui putabis ;
sentit tristitiamque gaudiumque.
collo nixa cubat capitque somnos,
ut suspiria nulla sentiantur ;
et desiderio coacta ventris 10
gutta pallia non fefellit ulla,
sed blando pede suscitat toroque
deponi monet et rogat levari.
castae tantus inest pudor catellae,
ignorat Venerem ; nee invenimus 15
dignum tarn tenera virum puella.
hanc ne lux rapiat suprema totam,
picta Publius exprimit tabella,
in qua tarn similem videbis Issam,
ut sit tarn similis sibi nee ipsa. 20
Issam denique pone cum tabella :
aut utramque putabis esse veram,
aut utramque putabis esse pictam.
98
BOOK I. cvm-cix
to salute you, Gallus, in the morning at your house.
Tis worth my while, even if that house of yours
were farther off. But to you 'tis not much my pro-
viding one gowned client ; 'tis much if I refuse this
one man to myself.1 In person I will full fre-
quently salute you at the tenth hour 2 ; in the morn-
ing, on my behalf, my book will bid " good day."
CIX
ISSA is naughtier than Catullus' sparrow ; Issa is
more pure than kiss of dove ; Issa is more coaxing
than any maid ; Issa is more precious than Indian
pearls ; Issa is Publius' darling lap-dog. If she
whines you think she is speaking ; she feels sadness
and joy. Resting on his neck she lies and takes her
sleep so softly that her breathings are not heard ; and
when o'ercome by nature's longing never did she by
a single drop betray the coverlet, but with wheedling
paw she rouses you, warns you to put her down from
the bed, and asks to be lifted. So great is the
modesty of this chaste lap-dog that she knows not
of love, nor can we find a mate worthy of a maid so
tender. That death should not rob him of her alto-
gether, Publius portrays her in a picture, wherein
you will see an Issa so like that not even the dog
herself is so like herself. In fine, set Issa alongside
her picture ; you will think either that each is
genuine, or you will think that each is painted.
1 If I rob myself of my leisure.
2 The dinner hour.
99
H 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
CX
SCRIBERE me quereris, Velox, epigrammata longa,
ipse nihil scribis. tu breviora facis.
CXI
CUM tibi sit sophiae par fama et cura deorum,
ingenio pietas nee minor ipsa tuo :
ignorat meritis dare munera, qui tibi librum
et qui miratur, Regule, tura dari.
CXII
CUM te non nossenr, dominum regemque vocabam
iiunc bene te novi ; iam mihi Priscus eris.
CXIII
QUAECUMQUE lusi iuvenis et puer quondam
apinasque nostras, quas nee ipse iam novi,
male conlocare si bonas voles horas
et invidebis otio tuo, lector,
a Valeriano Pollio petes Quinto,
per quern perire non licet meis nugis.
CXIV
Hos tibi vicinos, Faustine, Telesphorus hortos
Faenius et breve rus udaque prata tenet.
100
BOOK I. cx-cxiv
CX
You complain, Velox, that I write long epigrams,
you yourself write nothing. Yours are snorter.
CXI
SINCE the fame of your scholarship is as great as
your allegiance to the gods, your piety no less than
your genius, he knows not how to reward merit who
wonders that a book, and who wonders, Regulus,
that incense is given to you.
CXII
WHEN I did not know you, I called you my master
and my king.1 Now I know you well ; henceforth
you shall be to me Priscus.
CXIII
ALL the light verse I penned once as youth and
boy, and my worthless efforts which not even I
myself now recognise — these, if you want to spend
good hours badly, and have a grudge against your
leisure time, reader, you can get from Pollius Quintus
Valerianus. It is through him my trifles are not
allowed to perish.
CXIV
THESE gardens near to thee, Faustinas, arid the
narrow field and water-meadows, Telesphorus Faenius
1 i.e. patron. M. has now found that his patron will do
nothing for him : cf. II. Ixviii.
101
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
condidit hie natae cineres nomenque sacravit
quod legis Antullae, dignior ipse legi.
ad Stygias aequum fuerat pater isset ut umbras
quod quia non licuit, vivat, ut ossa colat.
cxv
QUAEDAM me cupit, (invide, Procille !)
loto candidior puella cycno
argento nive lilio ligustro :
sed quandam volo nocte nigriorem
formica pice graculo cicada.
iam suspendia saeva cogitabas :
si novi bene te, Procille, vives.
CXVI
Hoc nemus aeterno cinerum sacravit honori
Faenius et culti iugera pulchra soli.
hoc tegitur cito rapta suis Antulla sepulchre,
hoc erit Antullae mixtus uterque parens.
si cupit hunc aliquis, moneo, ne speret agellum
perpetuo dominis serviet iste suis.
CXVII
OCCURRIS quotiens, Luperce, nobis,
" Vis mittam puerum " subinde dicis
"cui tradas epigrammaton libellum,
lectum quern tibi protinus remittam ? "
non est quod puerum, Luperce, vexes,
longum est, si velit ad Pirum venire,
et scalis habito tribus sed altis.
quod quaeris propius petas licebit.
102
BOOK I. cxiv-cxvn
owns. Here has he buried the ashes of his daughter
and made holy the name you read, Antulla, though
'twere fitter his own name were read there ! More
justly had the sire passed to the shades of Styx !
But as it could not be, let him live to honour her
bones.
cxv
ONE I could name desires me (be jealous, Pro-
cillus !), a girl whiter than a washed swan, than
silver, snow, lily, privet. But I woo one I could
name darker than night, than an ant, pitch, a
jackdaw, a cicada. Just now you were contem-
plating a cruel death by the rope. If I know you
well, Procillus, you will keep alive !
CXV I
THIS grove, and the fair acres of tilled land,
Faenius has consecrated to the eternal honour of the
dead. In this sepulchre is shut Antulla, snatched
too quickly from her own ; in this shall both An-
tulla's parents blend their dust. If someone covets
this small field, I warn him not to hope : for all time
shall it lie subject to its lords.
CXVII
As often as you run across me, Lupercus, at once
you say : " May I send a boy to get from you your
book of epigrams ? When I have read it I will at
once return it." There is no call, Lupercus, to
trouble your boy. It is a long way if he sets out
for the Pear-tree, and Ilive up three flights of stairs,
and high ones ; you can look for what you want
103
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
Argi nempe soles subire Letum :
contra Caesaris est forum taberna 10
scriptis postibus hinc et inde totis,
ornnis ut cito perlegas poetas.
illinc me pete, nee roges Atrectum
(hoc nomen dominus gerit tabernae) :
de primo dabit alterove nido 15
rasum pumice purpuraque cultum
denaris tibi quinque Martialem.
"Tanti non es" ais ? sapis, Luperce.
CXVIII
GUI legisse satis non est epigrammata centum,
nil illi satis est, Caediciane, mali.
104
BOOK I. cxvn-cxviii
nearer. Of course you often go down to the Potter's
Field.1 There is a shop opposite Caesar's Forum with
its door-posts from top to bottom bearing advertise-
ments, so that you can in a moment read through the
list of poets. Look for me in that quarter. No need
to ask Atrectus (that is the name of the shopkeeper) :
out of the first or second pigeon-hole he will offer
you Martial smoothed with pumice and smart with
purple, for three shillings. " You're not worth it,"
you say ? You are wise, Lupercus.
CXVIII
HE who is not glutted with the reading of a
hundred epigrams is not glutted, Caecilianus, with
any amount of badness.
1 cf. I. iii. 1.
BOOK II
LIBER SECUNDUS
VAL. MARTIALIS DECIANO Suo SAL.
" QUID nobis " inquis "cum epistula ? parum enim
tibi praestamus, si legimus epigrammata ? quid hie
porro dicturus es quod non possis versib?/* dicere ?
video quare tragoedia atque comoedia epistulam ac-
cipiant, quibus pro se loqui non licet : epigrammata
curione non egent et contenta sunt sua lingua : in
quacumque pagina visum est, epistulam faciunt. noli
ergo, si tibi videtur, rem facere ridiculam et in toga
saltantk 1 inducere personam. denique videris an te
delectet contra retiarium ferula, ego inter illos sedeo
qui protinus reclamant." puto me hercules, Deciane,
verum dicis. quid si scias cum qua et quam longa
epistula negotium fueris habiturus ? itaque quod
exigis fiat, debebunt tibi si qui in hunc librum
inciderint, quod ad primam paginam non lassi per-
venient.
I
TER centena quidem poteras epigrammata ferre,
sed quis te ferret perlegeretque, liber ?
1 scdtantis Pontanus, saltanti codd.
108
BOOK II
VALERIUS MARTIALIS TO HIS DECIANUS SENDS GREETING.
"WHAT have I to do," you say, "with a letter?
Why, am I not bountiful enough if I read epi-
grams ? What further are you going to say here
that you cannot say in verse ? I see why tragedy
and comedy admit of a prefatory epistle, for they
cannot speak for themselves. Epigrams need no
crier, but are content with their own tongue : in
whatever page they choose they constitute an epistle.
Do not then, if it please you, do a ridiculous thing
and introduce the character of one dancing in a
toga. Lastly, consider whether you are inclined to
encounter the net-caster with a wand.1 I sit with
those who at once protest." I think, so help me
Hercules ! Decianus, you say truly. But if you knew
what an epistle, and how long a one, you were about
to deal with ! So let what you require be done. It
will be owing to you that any persons who come
across this book will not be weary before they come
to the first page !
I
You might certainly have borne with you thrice a
hundred epigrams, but who would have borne with
you, my book, and have read you through ? But now
1 i.e. with such a poor weapon as a prefatory epistle to
encounter the critic.
109
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
at nunc succinct! quae sint bona disce libelli.
hoc primum est, brevior quod rnihi charta perit ;
deinde, quod haec una peragit librarius hora, 5
nee tantum nugis serviet ille nieis ;
tertia res haec est, quod si cui forte legeris,
sis licet usque malus, non odiosus eris.
te conviva leget mixto quincunce, sed ante
incipiat positus quam tepuisse calix. 10
esse tibi tanta cautus brevitate videris ?
ei mihi, quam multis sic quoque longus eris !
II
GRETA dedit magnum, maius dedit Africa nomen,
Scipio quod victor quodque Metellus habet ;
nobilius domito tribuit Germaiiia Rheno ;
et puer hoc dignus nomine, Caesar, eras.
frater Idumaeos meruit cum patre triumphos ; 5
quae datur ex Chattis laurea, tota tua est.
Ill
SEXTE, nihil debes, nil debes, Sexte, fatemur.
debet enim, si quis solvere, Sexte, potest.
IV
O QUAM blandus es, Ammiane, matri !
quam blanda est tibi mater, Ammiane !
fratrem te vocat et soror vocatur.
cur vos nomina nequiora tangunt ?
quare non iuvat hoc quod estis esse ? 5
1 Presumably he was drinking a hot mixture.
2 He assumed the name Germanicus in 84, after his triumph
BOOK II. i-iv
learn what are the merits of a concise book. This
first : less of my paper is wasted ; next, my copyist
gets through it in a single hour, and he will not be
wholly busied with my trifles ; the third thing is this,
that, if you are perhaps read to anyone, bad as you
may be all through, you will not be a bore. The
guest will read you after his five measures have been
mixed, and before the cup he has put aside begins to
grow cool.1 Do you fancy yourself guarded by such
brevity ? Alas, to how many even so will you be
long !
II
CRETE gave a great name, Africa gave a greater, the
one victorious Scipio, the other Metellus bears; a
nobler yet Germany bestowed when the Rhine was
subdued ; and of this name thou, Caesar, wert worthy
while still a boy ! 2 Along with his sire thy brother3
won his Idumaean triumph ; the bay given for the
Chatti is wholly thine.
Ill
SEXTUS, you are no debtor, you are no debtor,
Sextus, we allow. For he is a debtor, Sextus, who
can pay.
IV
OH, how fondling you are, Ammianus, to your
mother ! How fondling is your mother to you,
Ammianus ! Brother is what she calls you, and she
is called sister. Why do disreputable names attract
you ? Why are you not content to be what you are ?
over the Chatti, but he had taken part in an expedition into
Germany in A.D. 70.
3 Titus : the reference is to the capture of Jerusalem,
A.D. 70.
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
lusum creditis hoc iocumque ? non est :
matrem, quae cupit esse se sororem,
nee matrem iuvat esse nee sororem.
NE valeam, si non totis, Deciane, diebus
et tecum totis noctibus esse velim.
sed duo sunt quae nos disiungunt milia passum :
quattuor haec fiunt, cum rediturus earn,
saepe domi non es; cum sis quoque, saepe negaris; 5
vel tantum causis vel tibi saepe vacas.
te tamen ut videam, duo milia non piget ire :
ut te non videam, quattuor ire piget.
VI
1 NUNC, edere me iube libellos.
lectis vix tibi paginis duabus
spectas eschatocollion, Severe,
et longas trahis oscitationes.
haec sunt, quae relegente me solebas 5
rapta exscribere, sed Vitellianis ;
haec sunt, singula quae sinu ferebas
per convivia cuncta, per theatra ;
haec sunt, aut meliora, si qua nescis.
quid prodest mihi tarn macer libellus, 10
nullo crassior ut sit umbilico,
si totus tibi triduo legatur?
numquam deliciae supiniores.
lassus tarn cito deficis viator
et, cum currere debeas Bovillas, 15
interiungere quaeris ad Camenas ?
i nunc, edere me iube libellos.
1 Small, delicate tablets, often used for love-messages : cf.
xiv. viii. and ix.
112
BOOK II. iv-vi
Do you imagine this conduct is play and amusement ?
It isn't. A mother who desires that she should be
a "sister," is not content to be a mother or a sister
either.
V
MAY I be shot but I should like, Decianus, to be
with you all day and all night. But there are two
miles that part us ; these become four when I go
and have to return. Often you are not at home ;
even although you are, often you are denied ; or you
have spare time only for clients or for yourself. Yet
to see you I do not mind going the two miles ; not
to see you and to go four I do mind.
VI
So much for your bidding me publish my poems !
When you have read scarcely two pages, you glance
at the last sheet, Severus, and pull interminable
yawns ! These are the poems which, when I read
them again to you, you used to snatch from me and
copy, and on Vitellian tablets a too ! These are they,
which, every one, you used to carry in your pocket
at all the parties, at the theatres — these are they,
or others better you don't know of. What advantage
to me is a volume so thin that it is not thicker
than a roller-stick, if it takes three days to read it
all ? Never was dilettante so indolent ! A weary
traveller, do you give in so soon, and, although you
have to drive to Bovillae,2 want to change horses
at the Camenae ? So much for your bidding me
publish my poems !
2 Twelve miles from Rome on the Appian Way ; the
fountain and temple of the Camenae weru just outside the
Porta Capena.
JI3
VOL. I. I
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
VII
DECLAMAS belle, causas agis, Attice, belle,
historias bellas, carmina bella facis.
componis belle mimos, epigrammata belle ;
bell us grammaticus, bellus es astrologus ;
et belle caiitas et saltas, Attice, belle ; 5
bellus es arte lyrae, bellus es arte pilae.
nil bene cum facias, facias tamen omnia belle,
vis dicam quid sis ? magnus es ardalio.
VIII
Si qua videbuntur chartis tibi, lector, in istis
sive obscura nimis sive Latina parum,
non meus est error : nocuit librarius illis
dum properat versus adnumerare tibi.
quod si non ilium sed me peccasse putabis, 5
tune ego te credam cordis habere nihil.
" Ista tamen mala sunt." quasi nos manifesta ne-
gemus !
haec mala sunt, sed tu non meliora facis.
IX
SCRIPSI ; rescripsit nil Naevia ; non dabit ergo,
sed puto quod scripsi legerat : ergo dabit.
BASIA dimidio quod das mihi, Postume, labro,
laudo : licet demas hinc quoque dimidium.
vis dare maius adhuc et inenarrabile munus ?
hoc tibi habe totum, Postume, dimidium.
114
BOOK II. VH-X
VII
You declaim nicely ; you plead causes, Atticus,
nicely ; you write nice histories, nice poems. You
compose nicely mimes, epigrams nicely ; you are a
nice litterateur, a nice astronomer, and you sing
nicely and dance nicely, Atticus ; you are a nice
performer on the lyre, you are a nice player at ball.
Seeing that you do nothing well, yet do everything
nicely, would you have me describe you ? You are
a great dabbler.
VIII
IF any poems in those sheets, reader, seem to you
either too obscure or not quite good Latin, not mine
is the mistake : the copyist spoiled them in his
haste to complete for you his tale of verses. But
if you think that not he, but I am at fault, then I
will believe that you have no intelligence. " Yet,
see, those are bad." As if I denied what is plain !
They are bad, but you don't make better.
IX
I WROTE ; Naevia wrote me no reply ; so she will
not receive me. But, I think, she read what I wrote :
so she will.
X
IN that you give me kisses, Postumus, with only
half your lips, I thank you ; you may subtract a half
even from this half. Will you give me a gift still
greater, and one inexpressible ? Keep to yourself
the whole of this half, Postumus.
i 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XI
QUOD fronte Selium nubila vides, Rufe,
quod ambulator porticum terit seram,
lugubre quiddam quod tacet piger voltus,
quod paene terrain nasus indecens tan git,
quod dextra pectus pulsat et comam vellit, 5
non ille amici fata luget aut fratris ;
uterque natus vivit et precor vivat ;
salva est et uxor sarcinaeque servique ;
nihil colonus vilicusque decoxit.
maeroris igitur causa quae ? domi cenat. 10
XII
ESSE quid hoc dicam quod olent tua basia murrain
quodque tibi est numquam non alienus odor ?
hoc mihi suspectum est, quod oles bene, Postume,
semper :
Postume, non bene olet qui bene semper olet.
XIII
ET iudex petit et petit patronus.
solvas censeo, Sexte, creditori.
XIV
NIL intemptatum Selius, nil linquit inausum,
cenandum quotiens iam videt esse domi.
currit ad Europen et te, Pauline, tuosque
laudat Achilleos, sed sine fine, pedes.
1 In the Campus Martins. It was built by Vipsania Polla,
the sister of Agrippa, and was adorned with paintings of the
116
BOOK II. xi-xiv
XI
You see, Rufus, how Selius wears a cloudy brow,
how he paces up and down the colonnade late ; how
his heavy countenance silently bespeaks some me-
lancholy thought ; how his ugly nose almost touches
the ground ; how with his right hand he beats his
breast and plucks his hair. Yet he is not lamenting
the death of a friend or of a brother ; each of his
sons is living — and 1 hope may live ; his wife, too, is
safe, and his chattels and his slaves ; neither his
tenant nor his steward has made default. His
sorrow then — what is the cause of it ? He dines at
home !
XII
How shall I explain this, that your kisses smell
of myrrh, and that there is about you invariably
some foreign odour ? This is suspect to me, your
being well-scented, Postumus, always. Postumus, he
is not well scented who always is well-scented !
XIII
THE judge wants his fee, and your counsel wants
his. My advice, Sextus, is : pay your creditor.
XIV
NOTHING Selius leaves untried, nothing unventured,
as often as he perceives at last that he must dine at
home. He scurries to Europa's Portico 1 and pours
forth praise— and interminable praise — of you, Pau-
linus, and of your feet that vie with Achilles'. If
rape of Europa. As to its connection with running matches,
cf. vii. xxxii. 12.
117
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
si nihil Europe fecit, tune Saepta petuntur, 5
si quid Phillyrides praestet et Aesonides.
hie quoque deceptus Memphitica templa frequentat,
adsidet et cathedris, maesta iuvenca, tuis.
inde petit centum pendentia tecta columnis,
illinc Pompei dona nemusque duplex. 10
nee Fortunati spernit nee balnea Fausti
nee Grylli tenebras Aeoliamque Lupi :
nam thermis iterum ternis iterumque lavatur.
omnia cum fecit, sed renuente deo,
lotus ad Europes tepidae buxeta recurrit, 15
si quis ibi serum carpat amicus iter.
per te perque tuarn, vector lascive, puellam,
ad cenam Selium tu, rogo, taure, voca.
XV
QUOD nulli calicem tuum propinas,
humane facis, Horme, non superbe.
XVI
ZOILUS aegrotat : faciunt hanc stragula febrem.
si fuerit sanus, coccina quid facient ?
quid torus a Nilo, quid Sidone tinctus olenti ?
ostendit stultas quid nisi morbus opes ?
1 The Saepta Julia, an enclosure in the Campus Martius,
begun by Julius Caesar, and completed by Agrippa. It con-
tained shops, and became a fashionable place of resort : cf.
li. lix.; ix. lix. Pliny (Nat. Hist, xxxvi. 29) mentions it as
containing a group of Chiron (Philyrides) and Achilles.
Aesonides ( = Jason) probably refers to the neighbouring
Porticus Argonautarwm : cf. in. xx. ; XI. i. 12.
118
BOOK II. xiv-xvi
Europa has produced nothing, then he makes for the
Saepta,1 to see if the son of Philyras and the son of
Aeson will guarantee him anything. Baffled in this
quarter, too, he haunts the temple of Isis,2 and takes
his seat beside the chairs, sad heifer, of thy worship-
pers. Thence he seeks the roof poised on a hundred
columns ; 3 from there Pompey's gift with its double
groves. Neither of Fortunatus nor of Faustus does
he spurn the bath, nor Gryllus' gloom and Lupus'
cave of the winds ; as to the three hot baths 4 he
bathes again and again. When he has done every-
thing— the god still refusing his wishes — after his
bath he runs again to the box-groves of sun-warmed
Europa, in hope that there some friend may be walk-
ing late. Wanton carrier, I pray thee by thyself and
by thy virgin freight,5 do thou, O bull, ask Selius to
dinner.6
XV
To no one do you pass your cup to pledge you.
This is human feeling.7 Hormus, not pride.
XVI
ZOILUS is ill : it is his bed-trappings cause this
fever. Suppose him well ; what will be the use of
scarlet coverlets ? What of a mattress from Nile, or
of one dipped in strong-smelling purple of Sidon ?
What but illness displays such foolish wealth ?
2 Also in the Campus Martius.
3 The so-called Hecatostylon, close to the Portico and
Theatre of Pompey.
4 i.e. of Agrippa, Nero, and Titus. 6 Europa.
6 i.e. M. prays that S. should be thrown to a bull in the
Arena (Friedlander) : cf. I. xliii. 14. Others explain that M.
hopes Jupiter will remove S. from the world.
7 Because his lips polluted the cup (Friedlander).
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
quid tibi cum medicis ? dimitte Machaonas omnis. 5
vis fieri sanus ? stragula sume mea.
XVII
TONSTRIX Suburae faucibus sedet primis,
cruenta pendent qua flagella tortorum
Argique Letum multus obsidet sutor.
sed ista tonstrix, Ammiane, non tondet,
non tondet, inquam. quid igitur facit ? radit. 5
XVIII
CAPTO tuam, pudet heu, sed capto, Maxime, cenam,
tu captas aliam : iam sumus ergo pares,
mane salutatum venio, tu diceris isse
ante salutatum : iam sumus ergo pares,
sum comes ipse tuus tumidique anteambulo regis, 5
tu comes alterius : iam sumus ergo pares.
esse sat est servum, iam nolo vicarius esse.
qui rex est, regem, Maxime, non habeat.
XIX
FELICEM fieri credis me, Zoile, cena ?
felicem cena, Zoile, deinde tua ?
debet Aricino conviva recumbere clivo,
quern tua felicem, Zoile, cena facit.
1 cf. I. iii. 1 ; cxvii. 9. z Sensu obsceno. 3 cf. 11. xxxii.
I2O
BOOK II. xvi-xix
What do you want with doctors? Dismiss all your
physicians. Do you wish to become well ? Take
my bed-trappings !
XVII
A FEMALE barber sits just at the entrance of the
Subura, where the blood-stained scourges of the
executioners hang, and many a cobbler faces the
Potter's Field.1 But that female barber, Ammianus,
does not crop you ; she does not crop you, I say.
What, then, does she do ? She skins you.2
XVIII
I FISH for your invitation to dinner ; I am ashamed,
alas ! yet, Maximus, I fish for it ; you fish for another
man's ; so now we are a pair. In the morning I
attend your levee ; you, they tell me, have gone
before to another levee ; so now we are a pair. I
in person am your attendant, and the escort of a
haughty lord ; you are escort of another ; so now we
are a pair. To be a slave is enough ; I won't any
longer be a slave's slave. He who is a lord, Maxi-
mus, should not have his own lord.3
XIX
D'YE think I am made happy, Zoilus, by a dinner ?
Happy by a dinner, Zoilus, and — above all — by
yours ? That guest should lie at his meals on Aricia's
slope 4 whom your dinner, Zoilus, makes happy.
4 A favourite resort of begears : cf. xii. xxxii. 10 ; Juv.
iv. 117.
121
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XX
CARMINA Paulus emit, recital sua carmina Paulus.
nam quod emas possis hire vocare tuum.
XXI
BASIA das aliis, aliis das, Postume, dextram.
dicis " Utrum mavis ? elige." malo manum.
XXII
QUID mihi vobiscum est, o Phoebe novemque sorores?
ecce nocet vati Musa iocosa suo.
dimidio nobis dare Postumus ante solebat
basia. nunc labro coepit utroque dare.
XXIII
NON dicam, licet usque me rogetis,
qui sit Postumus in meo libello,
non dicam : quid enim mihi necesse est
has offendere basiationes
quae se tarn bene vindicare possunt ? 5
XXIV
" Si det iniqua tibi tristem fortuna reatum,
squalidus haerebo pallidiorque reo :
si iubeat patria damnatum excedere terra,
per freta, per scopulos exulis ibo comes."
Dat tibi divitias : ecquid sunt ista duorum ? 5
das partem? " Multum est." Candide, das aliquid?
mecum eris ergo miser : quod si deus ore sereno
adnuerit, felix, Candide, solus eris.
1 cf. n. xv.
BOOK II. xx-xxiv
XX
PAULUS purchases poetry, Paulus recites the poetry
as his. For what you purchase you may rightly call
your own.
XXI
KISSES you give to some ; to others you give,
Postumus, your hand. You say, " Which do you
prefer ? Choose." I prefer the hand.1
XXII
WHAT do I want with you, O Phoebus, and ye
Sisters Nine ? See how the jesting Muse injures
her own bard ! Postumus used before to give me
kisses with half his lips ; now he begins to give them
with both.
XXIII
I WILL not say, however repeatedly you ask me,
who is the Postumus in my little book ; I will not
say. For why must I offend those kisses which can
so well avenge themselves ?
XXIV
" SHOULD unkind Fortune give you the sad lot of
one accused, in squalid guise will I cling to you,
paler than the accused. Should she bid you, a con-
demned man, to leave your fatherland, over seas,
over rocks will I go, companion of the exile." She
gives you wealth ; does that belong to two ? Do
you give half? " 'Tis much." Candidus, do you
give something ? My comrade then you will be in
trouble ; but let the god smile with sunny face,
Candidus, your good luck you will enjoy alone.
123
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXV
DAS numquam, semper promittis, Galla, roganti.
si semper fallis, iam rogo, Galla, nega.
XXVI
QUOD querulum spirat, quod acerbum Naevia tussit,
inque tuos mittit sputa subinde sinus,
iam te rem factam, Bithynice, credis habere ?
erras : blanditur Naevia, non moritur.
XXVII
LAUDANTEM Selium cenae cum retia tendit
accipe, sive legas sive patronus agas :
" Effecte ! graviter ! cito ! nequiter ! euge ! beate ! "
hoc volui : facta est iam tibi cena, tace.
XXVIII
RIDETO multum qui te, Sextille, cinaedum
dixerit et digitum porrigito medium.
sed nee pedico es nee tu, Sextille, fututor,
ealda Vetustinae nee tibi bucca placet.
ex istis nihil es fateor, Sextille : quid ergo es ?
nescio, sed tu scis res superesse duas.
XXIX
RUFE, vides ilium subsellia prima terentem,
cuius et hinc lucet sardonychata manus,
1 cf. i. x. 2 The digitus infamis ; cf. Pers. ii. 33.
124
BOOK II. xxv-xxix
XXV
You never grant my prayer, Galla, but are always
promising. If you are always false my prayer is
now, " Galla, refuse."
XXVI
BECAUSE Naevia wheezes, because Naevia has a
racking cough, and oft flings her spittle into your
bosom, do you imagine, Bithynicus, that you have
your object already attained ? l You are mistaken.
Naevia is wheedling you ; she is not dying.
XXVII
WHEN Selius is spreading his nets for a dinner,
take him with you to applaud, whether you are re-
citing or acting as counsel. " A good point ! Weighty
that ! How ready ! A hard hit ! Bravo ! That's
happy ! " That is what I wanted. You have now
earned your dinner ; hold your tongue.
XXVIII
SCOFF much at him who calls you, Sextillus, a ,
and push out your middle finger.2 Indeed you are
no , nor are you, Sextillus, an adulterer, nor
have Vetustina's hot lips delight for you. None of
those things are you, I confess, Sextillus : what then
are you ? I don't know ; but you know two things
remain.
XXIX
RUFUS, you see that fellow lolling in the front
seats, whose hand even at this distance shines with
sardonyx, and whose mantle has so often absorbed all
125
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
quaeque Tyron totiens epotavere lacernae
et toga non tactas vincere iussa nives,
cuius olet toto pinguis coma Marcelliano 5
et splendent volso bracchia trita pilo.
non hesterna sedet lunata lingula planta,
coccina non laesum pingit aluta pedem,
et numerosa linunt stellantem splenia frontem.
ignoras quid sit ? splenia tolle, leges. 10
XXX
MUTUA viginti sestertia forte rogabam,
quae vel donanti non grave munus erat.
quippe rogabatur felixque vetusque sodalis
et cuius laxas area flagellat opes.
is mihi " Dives eris, si causas egeris " inquit. 5
quod peto da, Gai : non peto consilium.
XXXI
SAEPE ego Chrestinam futui. det quam bene quaeris ?
supra quod fieri nil, Mariane, potest.
XXXII
Lis mihi cum Balbo est, tti Balbum ofFendere non vis,
Pontice : cum Licino est, hie quoque magnus homo
est.
1 South of the Circus Flaminius. Begun by Julius Caesar,
and finished by Augustus, who dedicated it B.C. 11 in the
name of Marcellus.
* i.e. brand-new, not twenty-four hours old.
126
BOOK II. xxix-xxxn
the purple of Tyre, and whose toga has been made
to outshine the untrodden snow ; whose greasy hair
is smelt all over Marcellus' theatre l ; and whose
arms gleam smooth with the hair plucked off. His
shoe-latchet, not of yesterday,2 rests on a crescent-
decked 3 shoe ; scarlet leather adorns his ungalled
foot; and his brow numerous patches4 star and
plaster. Don't you know what is the reason ? Lift
the patches : you will read.
XXX
I ASKED, as it chanced, the loan of twenty thousand
sesterces, which, even to a giver, would have been
no burden. The fact was I asked them of a well-
to-do and old friend, and one whose money-chest
keeps in control5 o'erflowing wealth. His answer
was : " You will be rich if you plead causes." Give
me what I ask, Gaius : I don't ask for advice.
XXXI
I HAVE often enjoyed Chrestina's favours. Do you
ask how generously she grants them ? Beyond them,
Marianus, nothing is possible.
XXXII
I HAVE a lawsuit with Balbus : you don't wish to
offend Balbus, Ponticus ; I have one with Licinus :
* The crescent on the shoe was a mark of senatorial or
patrician rank : Juv. vii. 192.
4 Often used to set off beauty (cf. vni. xxxiii. 22), here to
hide the marks of the branding-iron.
5 Others take flayellat as = " urges into activity."
127
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
vexat saepe meum Patrobas confinis agellum ;
contra libertum Caesaris ire times,
abnegat et retinet nostrum Laronia servum ;
respondes " Orba est, dives, anus, vidua."
non bene, crede mihi, servo servitur amico :
sit liber, dominus qui volet esse meus.
XXXIII
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.
XXXIV
CUM placeat Phileros tota tibi dote redemptus,
tres pateris natos, Galla, perire fame.
praestatur cano tanta indulgentia cunno
quern nee casta potest iam decuisse Venus.
perpetuam di te faciant Philerotis amicam,
o mater, qua nee Pontia deterior.
XXXV
CUM sint crura tibi simulent quae cornua lunae,
in rhytio poteras, Phoebe, lavare pedes.
XXXVI
FLECTERE te nolim sed nee turbare capillos ;
splendida sit nolo, sordida nolo cutis ;
128
BOOK II. \\.\ii-xxxvi
he, too, is a great man. My next-door neighbour,
Patrobas, often trespasses on my small field : you are
afraid to oppose Caesar's freed-man. Laronia denies
that I lent her my slave, and keeps him : you will
answer me, "She is childless, rich, old, a widow."
It is useless, believe me, to be the slave of a slave,
though he is a friend : let him be free who shall
wish to be my lord.
XXXIII
WHY do I not kiss you, Philaenis? You are bald.
Why do I not kiss you, Philaenis ? You are carroty.
Why do I not kiss you, Philaenis ? You are one-eyed.
He who kisses these things, Philaenis, is capable of
anything.
XXXIV
WHILE Phileros, whom with your whole dowry you
have redeemed from slavery, is your favourite, you
allow your three sons, Galla, to perish of hunger.
Your hoary carcass is assured such indulgence as
this, although riot even chaste love can any longer
become it. For ever may the gods make you the
mistress of Phileros, O mother, than whom not even
Pontia l was viler !
XXXV
SEEING that your legs resemble the horns of the
moon, you could bathe your feet, Phoebus, in a
drinking-horn.
XXXVI
I WOULD not have you curl your hair, nor yet ruffle
it ; I do not want your skin to be sleek, I do not
1 She poisoned her two sons (.Tuv. vi. 638).
129
VOL. I. K
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
nee tibi mitrarum nee sit tibi barba reorum :
nolo virum nimium, Pannyche, nolo parum.
nunc sunt crura pilis et sunt tibi pectora saetis 5
horrida, sed mens est, Pannyche, volsa tibi.
XXXVII
QUIDQUID ponitur hinc et inde verris,
mammas suminis imbricemque porci
communemque duobus attagenam,
mullum dimidium lupumque totum
muraenaeque latus femurque pulli 5
stillantemque alica sua palumbum.
haec cum condita sunt madente mappa,
traduntur puero domum ferenda :
nos accumbimus otiosa turba.
ullus si pudor est, repone cenam : 10
eras te, Caeciliane, non vocavi.
XXXVIII
QUID mihi reddat ager quaeris, Line, Nomentanus ?
hoc mihi reddit ager : te, Line, non video.
XXXIX
COCCINA famosae donas et ianthina moechae :
vis dare quae meruit munera ? mitte togam.
1 M. is probably thinking of the eunuch and depilated
priests of Cybele (Friedlander).
130
BOOK II, xxxvi— xxxix
want it to be dirty ; do not let your beard be that
of Orientals l nor yet that of men on trial ; 2 I dp
not want one too much a man, Pannychus ; I do not
want one too little. As it is, your shanks are shaggy
with hair and your chest is with bristles : but it
is your mind, Pannychus, that is depilated.
XXXVII
WHATEVER is served you sweep off from this or
that part of the table : the teats of a sow's udder
and a rib of pork, and a heathcock meant for two, half
a mullet, and a bass whole, and the side of a lamprey,
and the leg of a fowl, and a pigeon dripping with
its white sauce. These dainties, when they have
been hidden in your sodden napkin, are handed over
to your boy to carry home : we recline at table, an
idle crowd. If you have any decency, restore our
dinner ; I did not invite you, Caecilianus, to a meal
to-morrow.
XXXVIII
Do you ask, Linus, what my Nomentan farm
returns me ? This my land returns me : 1 don't
see you, Linus.
XXXIX
You present a notorious adulteress with scarlet
and violet dresses. Do you want to give her the
present she has deserved? Send her a toga.3
2 Who let their beards grow unkempt to excite the jury's
compassion.
3 Courtesans, or women in adulterio deprthennae, were
compelled by law to wear the toga.
IS'
K 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XL
URI Tongilius male dicitur hemitritaeo.
novi hominis fraudes : esurit atque sitit.
subdola tenduntur crassis nunc retia turdis,
hamus et in mullum mittitur atque lupum.
Caecuba saccentur quaeque annus coxit Opimi, 5
condantur parco fusca Falerna vitro,
omnes Tongilium medici iussere lavari :
o stulti, febrem creditis esse ? gula est.
XLI
" RIDE si sapis, o puella, ride "
Paelignus, puto, dixerat poeta.
sed non dixerat omnibus puellis.
verum ut dixerit omnibus puellis,
non dixit tibi : tu puella non es, 5
et tres sunt tibi, Maximina, dentes,
sed plane piceique buxeique.
quare si speculo mihique credis,
debes non aliter timere risum,
quam ventum Spanius manumque Prisons, 10
quam cretata timet Fabulla nimbum,
cerussata timet Sabella solem.
voltus indue tu magis severos
quam coniunx Priami nurusque maior.
mimos ridiculi Philistionis 15
et convivia nequiora vita,
et quidquid lepida procacitate
laxat perspicuo labella risu.
1 Ovid ; but the passage is not found in his extant works.
He, however, gives a warning against laughing if the teeth
are bad (Art. Am. iii. 279 seqq.).
132
BOOK II. XL-XLI
XL
'Tis a false report that Tongilius is being consumed
by a semi-tertian fever. I know the tricks of the
man : he is hungry and thirsty. Crafty nets are now
being stretched for dull-witted thrushes, and the
hook is being let down for the mullet and the bass.
Let the Caecuban be strained, and the wines Opimius'
year ripened ; let the dark Falernian be poured in
small glasses. All his doctors have ordered Tongilius
to take baths. O you fools ! Think you this is a
fever ? 'Tis gluttony.
XLI
" LAUGH, if you are wise, O girl, laugh," the Pe-
lignian bard,1 I think, said. But he did not say it
to all girls. However, granted he said it to all girls,
he did not say it to you : you are not a girl, and
you have three teeth, Maximina, but they are
altogether of the hue of pitch or boxwood. So, if
you trust your mirror and me, you ought to dread
laughing as much as Spanius dreads a breeze,2 and
Priscus the touch of a hand ; as' much as pearl-
powdered Fabulla dreads a shower, white-leaded
Sabella dreads the sun. Do you put on an aspect
more grave than that of Priam's. spouse and of his
eldest son's wife. Avoid the mimes of laughter-
moving Philistion, and revelries of looser kind, and
anything that by witty wantonness unseals the lips
2 i.e. that might disorder the arrangement of his hair
that conceals his baldness (cf. x. Ixxxiii.). Priscus is a fop
who is afraid a touch might disorder or soil his dress (cf.
in. Ixiii. 10).
.'33
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
te maestae decet adsiderc matri
lugentive virum piumve fratrem, 20
et tantum tragicis vacare Musis.
at tu iudicium secuta nostrum
plora, si sapis, o puella, plora.
XLII
ZOILE, quid solium subluto podice perdis ?
spurcius ut fiatj Zoile, merge caput.
XLIII
Koti/a <£iAa>v haec sunt, haec sunt tua, Candide, Kowd,
quae tu magnilocus iiocte dieque sonas ?
te Lacedaemonio velat toga lota Galaeso
vel quam seposito de grege Parma dedit :
at me, quae passa est furias et cornua tauri, 5
noluerit dici quam pila prima suam.
misit Agenoreas Cadmi tibi terra lacernas :
non vendes nummis coccina nostra tribus.
tu Libycos Indis suspendis dentibus orbis :
fulcitur testa fagina mensa mihi. 10
inmodici tibi flava tegunt chrysendeta mulli :
concolor in riostra, cammare, lance rubes.
grex tuus Iliaco pbterat certare cinaedo :
at mihi succurrit pro Ganymede manus.
ex opibus tantis veteri fidoque sodali 15
das nihil et dicis, Candide, KOIVO.
1 The pila was a dummy figure thrown into the Arena to
enrage the bull: cf. Lib. Spect. ix. 4; x. Ixxxvi. The first
one thrown would be the worst gored.
134
BOOK II. XLI-XUH
in manifest laughter. You should rightly sit by some
sorrowing mother, or by one who weeps for her hus-
band or loving brother, and you should be free only
for the tragic Muse. Nay, follow my advice, and
weep, if you are wise, O girl, weep.
XLII
ZOILUS, why do you defile the bath by immersing
your latter end ? To make it dirtier, Zoilus, plunge
in your head.
XLIII
"FRIENDS have all in common." Is this, is this,
Candidus, that "all in common" which you night and
day mouth pompously ? A toga dipt in Lacedaemo-
nian Galaesus enwraps you, or one which Parma has
supplied you out of a choice flock ; as for mine, it is
one which has suffered the fury and horns of a bull,
one which the first straw-dummy1 would refuse to
have called its own. The land of Cadmus has sent
you Tyrian mantles ; my scarlet one you could not
sell for sixpence. You poise round Libyan table-tops
on legs of Indian ivory ; my beechen table is propped
on a tile. Mullets of huge size cover your yellow
gold-inlaid dishes ; thou, O crab,2 matching its hue,
dost blush upon my plate. Your train of slaves
might have vied with the cup-bearer from Ilium ;
but my own hand is Ganymede to serve me. Out
of such wealth to your old and trusty comrade do
you give nothing, and then say, Candidus, " Friends
have all in common " ?
a The cammarus was cheap food (cf. Juv. v. 84), and was
served on common red earthenware.
135
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XL1V
EMI seu puerum togamve pexam
seu tres, ut puta, quattuorve libras,
Sextus protinus ille fenerator,
quern nostis veterem meum sodalem,
ne quid forte petam timet cavetque, 5
et secum, sed ut audiam, susurrat :
" Septem milia debeo Secundo,
Phoebo quattuor, undecim Phil etc,
et quadrans mihi nullus est in area."
o grande ingenium mei sodalis ! 10
durum est, Sexte, negare, cum rogaris,
quanto durius, antequam rogeris !
XLV
QUAE tibi rion stabat praecisa est mentula, Glypte.
demens, cum ferro quid tibi ? Gallus eras.
XLVI
FLORIDA per varies ut pingitur Hybla colores,
oum breve Sicaniae ver populantur apes,
sic tua subpositis conlucent prela lacernis,
sic micat innumeris arcula synthesibus,
atque unam vestire tribum tua Candida possunt, "j
Apula non uno quae grege terra tulit.
tu spectas hiemem succincti lentus amici
pro scelus ! et lateris frigora trita tui.1
quantum erat, infelix, pannis fraudare duobus —
quid metuis ? — non te, Naevole, sed tineas ? 10
1 tni Friedlander, times codd.
136
BOOK II. XLIV-XLVI
XLIV
SUPPOSE I have bought a slave or a long-napped
toga, or three, say, or four pounds of plate ; straight-
way Sextus, the money-lender yonder whom you
know to be mine ancient comrade, is timorous and
careful lest perchance I should ask a loan, and mur-
murs to himself, but so that I may hear : " Seven
thousand I owe to Secundus, to Phoebus four, eleven
to Philetus, and there isn't a farthing in my chest ! "
O grand device of my comrade ! It is harsh to refuse,
Sextus, when you are asked ; how much harsher
before you are asked !
XLV
NERVELESS as you are, you have been operated
upon, Glyptus. Madman, what use had you for the
knife ? You were a Gaul l before.
XLVI
LIKE the flowers of Hybla painted in varied hues,
what time Sicilian bees ravage the brief-lived spring,
so shine your presses with mantles laid between, so
gleams your chest with countless dinner suits, and
a whole tribe might be clothed in the white togas
which Apulia's land has brought you out of more
flocks than one. You regard without concern your
shivering, thin-clad friend — what an outrage ! — and
your escort, threadbare and cold. What sacrifice
were it, wretched man, to cheat of a couple of
rags — why be afraid ? — not yourself, Naevolus, but
the moths?
1 See note to in. xxiv. 13.
'37
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XLVII
SUBDOLA famosae moneo fuge retia moechae,
levior o conchis, Galle, Cytheriacis.
confidis natibus ? non est pedico maritus :
quae facial duo sunt : irrumat aut futuit.
XLVII I
COPONEM laniumque balneumque,
tonsorem tabulamque calculosque
et paucos, sed ut eligam, libellos :
unum non nimium rudem sodalem
et grandem puerum diuque levem 5
et caram puero meo puellam :
haec praesta mihi, Rufe, vel Butuntis,
et thermas tibi habe Neronianas.
XLIX
UXOREM nolo Telesinam ducere : quare ?
moecha est. sed pueris dat Telesina. volo.
L
QUOD fellas et aquam potas, nil, Lesbia, peccas.
qua tibi parte opus est, Lesbia, sumis aquam.
LI
UNUS saepe tibi tota denarius area
cum sit et hie culo tritior, Hylle, tuo,
non tamen hunc pistor, non auferet hunc tibi copo,
sed si quis nimio pene superbus erit.
infelix venter spectat convivia culi 5
et semper miser hie esurit, ille vorat.
138
BOOK II. xi.vn-i.1
XLVI1
FLY, Gallus, I warn you, from the crafty toils of
the infamous adulteress, smoother though you are
than conch-shells of Cytherea. Do you trust in your
own charms ? The husband is not of that sort : there
are two things he can do, and neither is what you
offer.
XLVIII
A TAVERNER, and a butcher and a bath, a barber,
and a draught-board and pieces, and a few books —
but to be chosen by me — a single comrade not too
unlettered, and a tall boy and not early bearded, and
a girl dear to my boy — warrant these to me, Rufus,
even at Butunti,1 and keep to yourself Nero's warm
baths.
XLIX
I WILL not take Telesina to wife : why ? she is an
adulteress. But Telesina is kindly to boys. I will.
L
You — — and drink water : 'tis no error, Lesbia.
Just where you need it, Lesbia, you take water.
LI
QUANTUNQUE tutto il tuo danaro sorvente noil con-
sista, O Hyllo, che in una sola moneta, e questa piu
rimenata del tuo culo ; con tutto ci6 il panatiere non
te la tirer& dalle mani, ne tampoco 1'oste ; ma bensi
se qualcuno sar£ baldanzoso per esser bene in mem-
bro. Lo sfortunato ventre sta a videre i banchetti
del culo, e mentre miserabile, questo ha sempre
fame, quello divora.
1 An insignificant town in Calabria : cj\ iv. Iv.
139
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LII
NOVIT loturos Dasius numerare : poposcit
mammosam Spatalen pro tribus : ilia dedit.
LIII
Vis liber fieri ? mentiris, Maxima, noil vis :
sed fieri si vis, hac ratione potes.
liber eris, cenare foris si, Maxime, nolis,
Veientana tuam si domat uva sitim,
si ridere potes miseri chrysendeta Cinnae, 5
contentus nostra si potes esse toga,
si plebeia Venus gemino tibi iungitur asse,
si tua non rectus tecta subire potes.
haec tibi si vis est, si mentis tanta potestas,
liberior Partho vivere rege potes. 10
LIV
QUID de te, Line, suspicetur uxor
et qua parte velit pudiciorem,
certis indiciis satis probavit.
custodem tibi quae dedit spadonem.
nil nasutius hac maligniusque. 5
LV
Vis te, Sexte, coli : volebam amare.
jiarenduni est tibi ; quod iubes, col ere :
sed si te oolo, Sexte, non araabo.
140
BOOK II. Lit-i.v
LI I
DASIUS knows how to count his bathers. He
demanded of Spatale, that full-breasted lady, the
entrance-moneys of three ; she gave them.
LIII
Do you wish to become free ? You lie, Maximus ;
you don't wish. But if you do wish, in this way
you can become so. You will be free, Maximus, if
you refuse to dine abroad, if Veii's grape l quells
your thirst, if you can laugh at the gold-inlaid dishes
of the wretched Cinna, if you can content yourself
with a toga such HS mine, if your plebeian amours
are handfasted at the price of twopence, if you can
endure to stoop as you enter your dwelling. If this
is your strength of mind, if such its power over
itself, you can live more free than a Parthian king.
LIV
WHAT your wife's suspicion of you is, Linus, and
in what particular she wishes you to be more re-
spectable, she has sufficiently proved by unmistak-
able signs, in setting as watcher over you a eunuch.
Nothing is more sagacious and more spiteful than
this lady.
LV
You wish to be courted, Sextus ; I wished to love
you. I must obey you ; as you demand, you shall be
courted. But if I court you, Sextus, I shall not
love you.
1 Veientan wine was turbid and inferior : cf. I. eiv. 9 ;
in. xlix.
141
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LVI
GENTIBUS in Libycis uxor tua, Galle, male audit
inmodicae foedo crimine avaritiae.
sed mera narrantur mendacia : non solet ilia
accipere omnino. quid solet ergo ? dare.
LVI I
Hie quern videtis gressibus vagis lentum,
amethystinatus media qui secat Saepta,
quern non lacernis Publius meus vincit,
non ipse Cordus alpha paenulatorum,
quern grex togatus sequitur et capillatus 5
recensque sella linteisque lorisque,
oppigneravit modo modo ad Cladi mensam
vix octo nummis anulum, unde cenaret.
LVI 1 1
PEXATUS pulchre rides mea, Zoile, trita.
sunt haec trita quidem, Zoile, sed mea sunt.
LIX
MICA vocor : quid sim cernis, cenatio parva :
ex me Caesareum prospicis ecce tholum.
frange toros, pete vina, rosas cape, tinguere nardo :
ipse iubet mortis te meminisse deus.
1 Where Gallus was perhaps governor.
* See note to IL xiv. 5.
:: ef. v. xxvi., where M. apologises to Cordus.
4 Generally supposed to refer to a banqueting-hall said to
have been built by Domitian, and having a view of the
142
BOOK II. LVI-LIX
LVI
AMONGST Libyan tribes l your wife, Gallus, has a
bad reputation ; they charge her foully with insatiate
greed. But these stories are simply lies ; she is not
at all in the habit of receiving favours. What, then,
is her habit ? To give them.
LVI I
THIS fellow, whom you observe languidly wander-
ing ; who, in an amethystine gown, parts the crowd
in the middle of the Saepta ; 2 whom my Publius
does not outshine with his mantle, not Cordus him-
self, A 1 in cloaks;3 whom a throng of clients in
togas and of long-haired slaves attends, and whose
sedan has new blinds and straps — this fellow has only
just now with difficulty pawned for eighteenpence, at
Cladus' counter, a ring to get a dinner !
LVIII
SMART in a long-napped toga, you laugh, Zoilus, at
my threadbare garb. 'Tis threadbare no doubt, Zoilus,
but 'tis my own.
LIX
" THE Tiny " 4 am I called ; what I am thou seest,
a small dining-room ; from me thou lookest, see,
upon Caesar's dome. Crush the couches, call for
wine, wear roses, anoint thee with nard ; the god 5
himself bids thee to remember death.
Mausoleum August!, which stood about 650 yards S. of the
Porta Flamiuia, the N. gate of Rome. Burn, however (Rome
and C. p. 223), places the Mica Aurea on the Coelian and
identifies " Caesar's dome " as the Palace on the Palatine.
s Augustus, buried in the Mausoleum : cf. v. Ixiv. 5.
MS
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LX
UXOREM armati futuis, puer Hylle, tribuni,
supplicium tantum dum puerile times.
vae tibi ! dum ludis, castrabere. iam mihi dices
"Non licet hoc." quid? tu quod facis, Hylle, licet?
LXI
CUM tibi vernarent dubia lanugine malae,
lambebat medios inproba lingua viros.
postquam triste caput fastidia vispillonum
et miseri meruit taedia carnificis,
uteris ore aliter nimiaque aerugine captus 5
adlatras nomen quod tibi cumque datur.
haereat inguinibus potius tarn noxia lingua :
nam cum fellaret, purior ilia fuit.
LXII
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?
LXIII
SOLA tibi fuerant sestertia, Miliche, centum,
quae tulit e sacra Leda redempta via.
Miliche, luxuria est si tanti dives amares.
" Non amo " iam dices : haec quoque luxuria est.
1 Domitian forbade castration : cf. vi. 2; Suet. Dom. vii.
For supp. puerile, cf. n. xlvii. and xlix.
144
BOOK II. LX-LXIII
LX
You have relations, boy Hyllus, with the wife of
an armed tribune, and all the time are dreading only
a boy's punishment. Alas for you ! in the midst of
your enjoyments you will be gelded. You will reply
"This is not permitted." J Well ? Is what you are
doing, Hyllus, permitted ?
LXI
ALLORCHE un'apparente laiiugine spontava su '1 tuo
volte, la sozza tua lingua lambiva i centri virili.
Dopo che la tua odiata testa si tir6 1'aversione de'
beccamorti, e lo schiffo del carnefice, fai altr'uso
della tua lingua, ossesso da un'eccessivo livore, la
scateni contro chiunque ti viene in mente. Sia la
tua esecrabil lingua piu tosto appesa alle pudenda,
imperocche essa mentre fellava, era meno impura.
LXII
IL perche ti dissetoli il petto, le gambe, le braccia,
il perche la rasa tua mentola e cinta di curti peli, chi
non sa che tutto questo, O Labieno, prepari per la
tua arnica? Per chi, O Labieno, prepari tu il culo
che dissetoli ?
LXIII
ONLY a hundred thousand sesterces was what you
possessed, Milichus, and these the purchase of Leda
in the Sacred Way made off with. Milichus, 'tis ex-
travagance to love at such a price even if you were
rich. " I am not in love," you will reply ; that too 2
is extravagance.
2 i.e. all the more.
MS
VOL. I. L
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXIV
DUM modo causidicum, dum te modo rhetora fingis
et non decernis, Laure, quid esse velis,
Peleos et Priami transit et Nestoris aetas
et fuerat serum iam tibi desinere.
incipe, tres uno perierunt rhetores anno, 5
si quid habes animi, si quid in arte vales,
si schola damnatur, fora litibus omnia fervent,
ipse potest fieri Marsua causidicus.
heia age, rumpe moras : quo te sperabimus usque ?
dum quid sis dubitas, iam potes esse nihil. 10
LXV
CUR tristiorem cerniinus Saleianum ?
" An causa levis est ? " inquis "extuli uxorem."
o grande fati crimen ! o gravem casum !
ilia, ilia dives mortua est Secundilla,
centena defies quae tibi dedit dotis ?
nollem accidisset hoc tibi, Saleiane.
LXVI
UNUS de toto peccaverat orbe comarum
anulus, incerta non bene fixus acu.
hoc facinus Lalage speculo, quo viderat, ulta est,
et cecidit saevis icta Plecusa comis.
desine iam, Lalage, tristes ornare capillos, 5
tangat et insanum nulla puella caput.
1 A statue of Marsyas stood near the Rostra in the Forum
Romanum, and was a rendezvous of lawyers : rf. Hor. I. Sat.
vi. 120 ; Juv. ix. 2.
146
BOOK II. LXIV-LXVI
LXIV
WHILE you are shaping yourself, now into a pleader,
now into a teacher of rhetoric, and don't decide,
Taurus, what you want to be, the age of Peleus and
of Priam and of Nestor has passed, and by now 'twere
late for you even to be retiring. Begin — three
rhetoricians have died in a single year — if you have
any spirit, if any proficiency in your calling. If your
vote is against the schools, all the courts are alive
with suits : even Marsyas l himself may turn into a
pleader. Up, then ! put off delay ; how long shall
we be waiting for you ? While you cannot resolve
what you are, at last you may be nothing.2
LXV
WHY see we in Saleianus unwonted melancholy ?
" Is the reason light? " you answer, " I have buried
my wife." O grievous crime of Fate ! O heavy
chance ! Is that Secundilla, that rich Secundilla,
dead — she who brought you as dower a million ?
I am sorry this has happened to you,3 Saleianus !
LXVI
ONE curl of the whole round of hair had gone
astray, badly fixed by an insecure pin. This crime
Lalage avenged with the mirror in which she had
observed it, and Plecusa, smitten, fell because of
those cruel locks. Cease any more, Lalage, to trick
out your ill-omened tresses ; and let no maid touch
2 A play on words, i.e. "of no calling," or "dead."
8 Intentionally ambiguous.
M7
L 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
hoc salamandra notet vel saeva novacula nudet,
ut digna speculo fiat imago tua.
LXVII
OCCURRIS quocumque loco mihi, Postume, clamas
protinus et prima est haec tua vox " Quid agis ? "
hoc, si me decies una conveneris hora,
dicis : habes puto tu, Postume, nil quod agas.
LXVIII
QUOD te nomine iam tuo saluto,
quem regem et dominum prius vocabam,
ne me dixeris esse contumacem :
totis pillea sarcinis redemi.
reges et dominos habere debet 5
qui se non habet atque concupiscit
quod reges dominique concupiscunt.
servom si potes, Ole, non habere,
et regem potes, Ole, non habere.
LXIX
INVITUM cenare foris te, Classice, dicis :
si non mentiris, Classice, dispeream.
ipse quoque ad cenam gaudebat Apicius ire :
cum cenaret, erat tristior ille, domi.
si tamen invitus vadis, cur, Classice, vadis ? 5
"Cogor" ais : verum est; cogitur et Selius.
en rogat ad cenam Melior te, Classice, rectam.
grandia verba ubi sunt ? si vir es, ecce, nega.
1 It was supposed that contact with a salamander acted as
a depilatory : Plin. N.H. x. 188.
148
BOOK II. LXVI-LXIX
your distempered head. May salamander l mark it,
or ruthless razor rasp it bare, that your features
may befit your mirror.
LXVII
IN whatever place you meet me, Postumus, you
immediately cry out — and this is your first remark —
" How d'ye do ? " This if you meet me ten times
in a single hour you say. You have, 1 think,
Postumus, nothing "to do."
LXVIII
BECAUSE I greet you now by your own name whom
formerly I used to call "patron" and "master," do
not proclaim me insolent : I have bought my cap of
liberty at the cost of all my goods and chattels.
"Patrons" and "masters" a man should possess
who is not possessor of himself, and who eagerly
covets what patrons and masters eagerly covet. If
you can endure not having a slave, Olus, you can
also endure, Olus, not having a patron.
LXIX
UNWILLINGLY you dine out, you say, Classicus. If
you don't lie, Classicus, may I be hanged ! Even
Apicius himself was glad to go out to dinner ; when
he dined at home he was the more depressed. Yet
if you go unwillingly, Classicus, why do you go ?
"I am obliged," you say: 'tis true; Selius52 is also
obliged. See, Melior asks you, Classicus, to a grand
dinner. Where are your fine professions ? If you
are a man, come, refuse !
! Who fishes for invitations : cf. II. xi.
149
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXX
NON vis in solio prius lavari
quemquam, Cotile. causa quae, nisi haec est,
undis ne fovearis irrumatis ?
primus te licet abluas : necesse est
ante hie mentula quam caput lavetur. 5
LXX I
CANDIDIUS nihil est te, Caeciliaiie. notavi,
si quando ex nostris disticha pauca lego,
protinus aut Marsi recitas aut scripta Catulli.
hoc mihi das, tamquam deteriora legas,
ut conlata magis placeant mea ? credimus istud. 5
malo tamen recites, Caeciliane, tua.
LXXII
HESTERNA factum narratur, Postume, cena
quod nollem (quis enim talia facta probet ?)
os tibi percisum quanto non ipse Latinus
vilia Panniculi percutit ora sono :
quodque magis minim est, auctorem criminis huius 5
Caecilium tota rumor in urbe sonat.
esse negas factum : vis hoc me credere ? credo.
quid quod habet testes, Postume, Caecilius?
LXXIII
tQuio faciat volt scire Lyris : quod sobria : fellat.t
1 i.e. you are as great a source of pollution as the others
you complain of : cf. n. xlii.
BOOK II. LXX-LXXIII
LXX
You are unwilling that anyone should wash in the
bath before you, Cotilus. What reason is there but
this, that you be not touched by polluted waters ?
Be first then in the bath, but needs must be that
your - - is washed here before your head.1
LXXI
You are candour itself, Caecilianus. I have noticed
that if I ever read a few distichs of my poems, at
once you recite passages either of Marsus or Catullus.
Is this your compliment to me, as if you were read-
ing what was inferior, that, compared, my own should
please me the more ? I believe that. Yet I would
rather you recited your own, Caecilianus.
LXXII
A THING is said to have been done at dinner last
night, Postumus, which I should deprecate — for who
could approve such doings ? — it is said that your
face was mauled, and by an assault even noisier
than when Latinus smacks the beggarly cheeks of
Panniculus ; 2 and — what is more wonderful — it is
Caecilius whom as author of this outrage rumour
proclaims all over the city. You say this was not
done ; do you wish me to believe this ? I believe it.
What if Caecilius has witnesses, Postumus ?
LXXIII
LVKIS wishes to know what she is doing. What
she does when she is sober. She is .
2 Comic actors, like clown and pantaloon : cf. i. iv. 5 ;
v. Ixi. 11.
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXIV
CINCTUM togatis post et ante Saufeium,
quanta reduci Regulus solet turba,
ad alta tonsum templa cum reum misit,
Materne, cernis ? invidere nolito.
comitatus iste sit precor tuus numquam. 5
hos illi amicos et greges togatorum
Fuficulenus praestat et Faventinus.
LXXV
VERBERA securi solitus leo ferre magistri
insertamque pati blandus in ora manum
dedidicit pacem subito feritate reversa,
quanta nee in Libycis debuit esse iugis.
nam duo de tenera puerilia corpora turba, 5
sanguineam rastris quae renovabat humum,
saevos et infelix furiali dente peremit.
Martia non vidit maius harena nefas.
exclamare libet " Crudelis, perfide, praedo,
a nostra pueris parcere disce lupa ! " 10
LXXVI
ARGENTI libras Marius tibi quinque reliquit.
cui nihil ipse dabas, hie tibi verba dedit.
LXXVII
COSCONI, qui longa putas epigrammata nostra,
utilis unguendis axibus esse potes.
1 i.e. to return thanks that his advocacy has secured their
acquittal. Before trial the accused dressed in dark clothes,
and let his hair and beard grow, to excite pity by his un-
kempt appearance : cf. Ovid, Met. xv. 38.
'52
BOOK II. LXXEV-LXXV1I
LXXIV
SAUFEIUS is surrounded behind and in front with
gowned clients, a crowd as big as escorts Regulus
home when he has sent the accused with trimmed
hair to the temples of the high gods.1 Do you see
him, Maternus ? Don't envy him. May such a com-
pany, I pray, never be yours. These friends and troop
of gowned clients 'tis Fuficulenus and Faventinus 2
who provide.
LXXV
A LION, wont to stand the blows of its fearless
master, and with gentleness to suffer a hand thrust
into its mouth, unlearned its peaceful ways ; a fierce-
ness suddenly returned greater than he should have
shown even on Libyan hills. For two boys of the
youthful band that was smoothing with rakes the
bloody sand, the savage, ill-starred beast slew with
furious fang ; the sand of Mars never saw a greater
crime. One may cry aloud : " Cruel, perfidious,
robber, from our Roman wolf learn to spare boys ! "
LXXVI
MARIUS has left you five pounds of silver plate.
He, whom you yourself gave nothing, has given you
— words.3
LXXVI I
COSCONIUS, who think my epigrams long, you would
be useful for greasing axles.4 On this principle you
2 Moneylenders, who supply the means of display.
3 i.e. has cheated you.
4 He is a lump of stupidity, fit only for axle-grease ;
cf. the proverb pingui Minerva (of stupid wit).
'53
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
hac tu credideris longum ratione colosson
et puerum Bruti dixeris esse brevem.
disce quod ignoras : Marsi doctique Pedonis 5
saepe duplex unum pagina tractat opus,
non sunt longa quibus nihil est quod demere possis,
sed tu, Cosconi, disticha longa facis.
LXXVIII
AESTIVO serves ubi piscem tempore, quaeris ?
in thermis serva, Caeciliane, tuis.
LXXIX
INVITAS tune me cum scis, Nasica, vocasse.1
excusatum habeas me rogo : ceno domi.
LXXX
HOSTEM cum fugeret, se Fannius ipse peremit.
hie, rogo, non furor est, ne moriare, mori ?
LXXXI
LAXIOR hexaphoris tua sit lectica licebit :
cum tamen haec tua sit, Zoile, sandapila est.
LXXXII
ABSCISA servom quid figis, Pontice, lingua ?
nescis tu populum, quod tacet ille, loqui ?
1 vocatum 7.
1 A statuette admired by Brutus, the assassin of Caesar :
ef. ix. li. 5.
2 If vocatum (have an invitation) be read, M. returns an
excuse known by N. to be false, as a hint that M. knows
N.'s invitation was unreal.
154
BOOK II. i.xxvii-Lxxxn
would fancy the Colossus to be tall, and would de-
scribe Brutus' boy 1 as short. Learn what you are
ignorant of: often two pages of Marsus and of
learned Pedo treat of a single theme. Things are
not long from which you can subtract nothing ; but
you, Cosconius, make your distichs long.
LXXVIII
Do you ask where to keep your fish in summer ?
Keep them, Caecilianus, in your warm bath.
LXXIX
You ask me, Nasica, to dinner just when you know
I have guests.2 I beg you to hold me excused ; I
dine at home.
LXXX
BECAUSE he was flying from an enemy, Fannius3
slew himself. Is not this, I ask, madness — to die to
avoid death?
LXXXI
YOUR litter may be roomier than one borne by six ;
but, seeing that it is yours, Zoilus, it is a pauper's
bier.4
LXXXII
WHY cut your slave's tongue out and crucify him,
Ponticus ? Don't you know that the people speak
of what he cannot ?
3 Fannius Caepio, condemned for conspiring against Augus-
tus : Suet. Aitff. xix. and Tib. viii.
4 Which was ordinarily borne by four: cf. vi. Ixxvii.;
viii. Ixxv. Z. is such a worthless 'fellow (or, perhaps, so
foul a man) that he is no better than a rile cadaver.
*55
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXX1II
FOEDASTI miserum, marite, moechum,
et se, qui fuerant prius, requirunt
trunci naribus auribusque voltus.
credis te satis esse vindicatum ?
erras : iste potest et irrumare. 5
LXXXIV
MOLLIS erat facilisque viris Poeantius heros :
volnera sic Paridis dicitur ulta Venus,
cur lingat cunnum Siculus Sertorius, hoc est :
fab hocf occisus, Rufe, videtur Eryx.
LXXXV
VIMINE clausa levi niveae custodia coctae,
hoc tibi Saturni tempore munus erit.
dona quod aestatis misi tibi mense Decembri
si quereris, rasam tu mihi mitte togam.
LXXXVI
QUOD nee carmine glorior supino
nee retro lego Sotaden cinaedum,
nusquam Graecula quod recantat echo
nee dictat mihi luculentus Attis
mollem debilitate galliambon, 5
non sum, Classice, tarn malus poeta.
1 cf. in. Ixxxv.
2 cf. xiv. cxvi., and Plin. N. H. xxxi. 23, and the famous
Haec est Neronis decocta (Suet. Ner. xlviii.).
3 i.e. that read backward as well as forward.
4 Sotades was an obscene and scurrilous Alexandrian poet.
Perhaps the reference is to verses which, read one way, are
complimentary, read the other, the reverse.
156
BOOK II. LXXXIII-LXXXVI
LXXXIII
You have disfigured, O husband, the wretched
adulterer, and his face, shorn of nose and ears,
misses its former self. Do you believe you are suf-
ficiently avenged ? You mistake ; he has still other
activities.1
LXXXIV
L'EROE Peanzio era efFeminato e compiacente agli
uomini : si dice che Venere cosi abbia vendicato le
ferite di Paride. II perche Sertoria Siculo sia cun-
nilingo, si e, O Rufo, per quel che pare, dall'aver
ucciso Erice.
LXXXV
A FLASK enclosed in light wicker-work, and pre-
serving water boiled and iced,2 this shall be your
present at Saturn's season. If you complain that I
have sent you the gift of summer in the month of
December, do you send me a thin, smooth toga.
LXXXVI
BECAUSE I do not pride myself on topsy-turvy
verses,3 nor read backwards in obscene Sotadics;4
because nowhere does a Greekling echo5 answer
you, nor does graceful Attis ° dictate to me galli-
ambics, voluptuous and broken, I am not, Classicus,
5 Versus echoici, where a concluding word echoes a pre-
ceding one (e.g. rerits and eris) ; or where the first words of
an hexameter are repeated at the end of the pentameter.
6 A beautiful youth, beloved by Cybele, the Great Mother
of the Gods, who gives his name to a poem by Catullus
(Ixiii.) in the Galliambic metre.
157
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
quid si per gracilis vias petauri
invitum iubeas subire Ladan ?
turpe est difficiles habere nugas
et stultus labor est ineptiarum. 10
scribat carinina circulis Palaemon :
me raris iuvat auribus placere.
LXXXVII
DICIS amore tui bellas ardere puellas,
qui faciem sub aqua, Sexte, natantis habes.
LXXXVIII
NIL recitas et vis, Mamerce, poeta videri.
quidquid vis esto, dummodo nil recites.
LXXXIX
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. 5
quod fellas, vitium die mihi cuius habes ?
XC
QUINTILIANE, vagae moderator summe iuventae,
gloria Romanae, Quintiliane, togae,
vivere quod propero pauper nee inutilis annis,
da veniam : properat vivere nemo satis.
1 A famous Spartan runner, and winner at the Olympic
games : ef. x. c.
I5S
BOOK II. LXXXVI-XC
a bad poet after all. What if you bade Ladas *
unwillingly to mount the narrow ways of a spring-
board ? 'Tis degrading to undertake difficult trifles ;
and foolish is the labour spent on puerilities. Let
Palaemon2 write poems for the general throng; my
delight is to please listeners few and choice.
LXXXVII
You say that beautiful girls burn with love for
you, Sextus, who have a face like that of a man
swimming under water ! 3
LXXXVIII
You recite nothing, and yet wish, Mamercus, to
be held a poet. Be what you like — provided you
recite nothing.
LXXXIX
YOUR joy in prolonging the night with too much
wine I pardon ; this vice of yours, Gaurus, was
Cato's. Your writing poems, aided by no Muse and
no Apollo, must merit praise ; this gift of yours was
Cicero's. Your vomiting, 'twas Antony's vice ; your
luxury, Apicius'. Your beastliness — tell me, whose
vice was that ?
XC
QUINTILIAN, illustrious trainer of errant youth ;
Quintilian, glory of the Roman toga ; because,
though still poor, yet of an age not worn out, I
am quick to enjoy life, pardon me ; no man is quick
2 A grammarian and improvisatore of the day, who com-
posed in unusual metres : Suet. De Gram. xxii.
3 i.e. bloated and disfigured : c/. in. Ixxxix.
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
differat hoc patrios optat qui vincere census 5
atriaque inmodicis artat imaginibus.
me focus et nigros non indignantia fumos
tecta iuvant et fons vivus et herba rudis.
sit mihi verna satur, sit non doctissima coniuux,
sit nox cum somno, sit sine lite dies. 10
XCI
RERUM certa salus, terrarum gloria, Caesar,
sospite quo magnos credimus esse deos,
si festinatis totiens tibi lecta libellis
detinuere oculos carmina nostra tuos,
quod fortuna vetat fieri permitte videri, 5
natorum genitor credar ut esse trium.
haec, si displicui, fuerint solacia nobis ;
haec fuerint nobis praemia, si placui.
XCII
NATORUM mihi ius trium roganti
Musarum pretium dedit mearum
solus qui poterat. valebis, uxor.
non debet domini perire munus.
XCIII
" PRIMUS ubi est" inquis "cum sit liber iste secundus?"
quid faciam si plus ille pudoris habet ?
tu tamen hunc fieri si mavis, Regule, primum,
unum de titulo tollere iota potes.
1 By the Lex Julia et Papia Poppaea in A.D. 9 certain
privileges were conferred on the fathers of three sons (jus
trium liberorum). These privileges were afterwards often
1 60
BOOK II. xc-xrm
enough to enjoy life. Let him delay who craves to
surpass his father's means and crowds beyond measure
his hall with busts. My hearth and a roof-tree
that disdains not sooty smoke delight me, and a
bubbling spring and untrimmed sward. Let me
have a plump home-born slave, have a wife not too
lettered, have night with sleep, have day without
a lawsuit.
XCI
SURE saviour of our State, the world's glory, Caesar,
from whose safety we win belief that the great gods
exist, if, so oft read by thee in hurried books, my
poems have held thine eyes captive, vouchsafe me
in repute what Fortune denies me, that I be deemed
the sire of three sons.1 This, if I have displeased,
shall be my solace ; this shall be my reward if I have
pleased.
XCII
WHEN I begged for the right of a father of three
sons,1 he, who alone could, gave me the reward of
my Muse. Good bye, wife ! The bounty of my
master should not perish.
XCIII
"WHERE is the first book," you say, "if that is
the second ? " What can I do if my first book is
too shy ? Yet if you, Regulus, prefer that this
should become the first, you can take one " I " from
its title.
•»
given even to childless or unmarried persons. Both Titus
and Domitian conferred them on M.: cf. ill. xcv. 5 ; ix.
xcvii. 5.
161
VOL. I. M
BOOK III
LIBER TERTIUS
Hoc tibi quidquid id est longinquis mittit ab oris
Gallia Romanae nomine dicta togae.
hunc legis et laudas librum fortasse priorem :
ilia vel haec mea sunt, quae meliora putas.
plus sane placeat domina qui natus in urbe est :
debet enim Gallum vincere verna liber.
II
Cuius vis fieri, libelle, munus ?
festina tibi vindicem parare,
ne nigram cito raptus in culinam
cordylas madida tegas papyro
vel turis piperisve sis cucullus. 5
Faustini fugis in sinum ? sapisti.
cedro nunc licet ambules perunctus
et frontis gemino decens honore
pictis luxurieris umbilicis,
et te purpura delicata velet, 10
et cocco rubeat superbus index.
illo vindice nee Probum timeto.
1 Gallia Togata, that part of Cisalpine Gaul where the
toga was worn, i.e. on the Roman side of the Po. M. was
here at the time : cf. HI. iv. 4.
164
BOOK III
THIS, whate'er its worth, Gaul, named after Rome's
toga,1 sends you from distant snores. You read this
book, and perhaps praise the former one ; that or
this I claim as mine, the one you deem the better.
Let that which was born in the Queen City by all
means please you more : for the home-born book
should surpass the Gaul.
II
FOR whom, my little book, would you become a
present? Haste to get to yourself a protector, lest,
hurried off to a sooty kitchen, you wrap tunny-fry in
your sodden papyrus, or be a cornet for incense or
pepper. Fly you to Faustinus' bosom ? You are wise.
Now may you strut abroad, anointed with cedar-oil,
and, spruce with the twin deckings of your brow,
wax insolent with painted bosses,2 and a delicate
purple clothe you, and your title proudly blush with
scarlet. With him for your protector do not fear
even Probus.3
2 The two edges of the papyrus roll (called brows) were
gaily coloured. The bosses were the ends of the cylinder
round which the roll was wrapped. The outer membrane or
envelope of all was coloured purple.
3 A celebrated critic of the day : Suet. De. Gram. xxiv.
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
III
[FORMOSAM faciem nigro medicamine celas,
sed non formoso corpore laedis aquas.
ipsam crede deam verbis tibi dicere nostris :
"Aut aperi faciem, aut tunicata lava."]
ROMAM vade, liber : si, veneris unde, requiret,
Aemiliae dices de regione viae.
si, quibus in terris, qua simus in urbe, rogabit,
Corneli referas me licet esse Foro.
cur absim, quaeret : breviter tu multa fatere :
"Non poterat vanae taedia ferre togae."
" Quando venit ? " dicet : tu respondeto : " Poeta
exierat : veniet, cum citharoedus erit."
Vis commendari sine me cursurus in urbem,
parve liber, multis, an satis unus erit ?
unus erit, mihi crede, satis, cui non eris hospes,
lulius, adsiduum nomen in ore meo.
protinus hunc primae quaeres in limine Tectae : 5
quos tenuit Daphnis, nunc tenet ille lares,
est illi coniunx, quae te manibusque sinuque
excipiet, tu vel pulverulentus eas.
1 Ran from Ariminum (Rimini) to Placentia (Piacenza) in
Cisalpine Gaul. Cornelii Forum, a town called after the
Dictator Sulla ; now Imola.
166
BOOK III. m-v
III
A BEAUTEOUS face you conceal with black ointment
but with a body not beauteous you insult the waters.
Believe that the very goddess of the spring says to
you in my words : " Either disclose your face or
bathe in your shift ! "
IV
Go, book, to Rome ; if she shall ask whence you
came, you will say " From the district of the Aemi-
lian Way." l If she shall ask in what lands, in what
city, I am, you may report that I am in Cornelii
Forum.1 She will ask why I am abroad ; in brief
do you make full confession : "He could not en-
dure the weariness of the futile toga." "When
comes he?" she will say; do you reply: "A poet
he departed ; he will return when he is a harp-
player." 2
Now you purpose hurrying to the city without me,
little book, do you wish to be recommended to many,
or will one be enough ? One will be enough, believe
me, one to whom you will be no stranger, Julius, a
name perpetually in my mouth. Right before you,
just at the very threshold of the Covered Way,3 you
must look for him ; he now occupies the house
which Daphnis occupied. He has a wife who with
hand and heart will welcome you, however dusty
2 A lucrative calling : cf. \. Ivi. 9.
3 A colonnade closed at both ends, in the N. of Rome, not
far from the Mausoleum of Augustus.
167
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
hos tu seu pariter sive hanc illumve priorem
videris, hoc dices " Marcus havere iubet," 10
et satis est ; alios cornmendet epistula : peccat
qui commendandum se putat esse suis.
VI
Lux tibi post Idus numeratur tertia Maias,
Marcelline, tuis bis celebranda sacris.
inputat aetherios ortus haec prima parenti ;
libat florentes haec tibi prima genas.
magna licet dederit iucundae munera vitae, 5
plus numquam patri praestitit ille dies.
VII
CENTUM miselli iam valete quadrantes,
anteambulonis congiarium lassi,
quos dividebat balneator elixus.
quid cogitatis, o fames amicorum ?
regis superbi sportulae recesserunt. 5
" Nihil stropharum est : iam salarium dandum est."
VIII
"THAiDAQuintusamat." "Quam Thaida?" "Thaida
luscam."
unum oculum Thais non habet, ille duos.
1 The first shaving of the beard was considered the first
day of manhood, and was sacred. The hair was often dedi-
cated to a god : cf. i. xxxi. Nero dedicated his to Jupiter
Capitolinus in a gold box studded with pearls, and instituted
168
BOOK III. v-vm
you arrive. Whether you see them both at once, or
her or him first, you will say this : " Marcus sends
greeting/' and it is enough. A letter may recom-
mend others : he errs who thinks he should be
recommended to his friends.
VI
THIS is the third morn counted to you after the
tdes of May, Marcellinus, one twice to be honoured
by your rites. This first made your father debtor for
his birth into the light of heaven ; this first takes
toll of your blooming cheeks.1 Though that day
gave him the great gift of a joyous life, yet it has
not given thy sire more than it gives now.
VII
FAREWELL now, ye hundred wretched farthings, the
largess of the jaded escort, ye whom the parboiled
bath-man parcelled out. What think ye, my famished
friends ? The doles of a haughty patron are gone.
" No wriggling serves ; at once he must give a
salary." 2
VIII
" QUINTUS loves Thais." " Which Thais ? " " Thais
the one-eyed." Thais lacks one eye, he both.
the festival of the Juvenalia in honour of the event ; Suet.
Nzr. xii. ; Tac. Ann. xiv. xv.
2 Nero substituted for a dinner a dole to clients of a
hundred farthings. Uomitian restored the dinner. But
many clients (the "famished friends" of the epigram) de-
pended on the money dole, for which a dinner was a bad
substitute : cf. in. xxx. and Ix.
169
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
IX
VERSICULOS in me narratur scribere Cinna.
non scribit, cuius carmina nemo legit.
X
CONSTITUIT, Philomuse, pater tibi inilia bina
menstrua perque omnis praestitit ilia dies,
luxuriam premeret cum crastina semper egestas
et vitiis essent danda diurna tuis.
idem te moriens heredem ex asse reliquit. 5
exheredavit te, Philomuse, pater.
XI
Si tua nee Thais nee lusca est, Quinte, puella,
cur in te factum distichon esse putas ?
sed simile est aliquid. pro Laide Thaida dixi ?
die mihi, quid simile est Thais et Hermione ?
tu tamen es Quintus : mutemus nomen amantis : 5
si non vult Quintus, Thaida Sextus amet.
XII
UNOUENTUM, fateor, bonum dedisti
convivis here, sed nihil scidisti.
res salsa est bene olere et esurire.
qui non cenat et unguitur, Fabulle,
hie vere rnihi mortuus videtur. 5
1 in. viii.
2 If, instead of Thais, I had said Hermione, you would not
170
BOOK III. ix-xn
IX
CINNA is said to write verses against me. He doesn't
write at all whose poems no man reads.
X
PHILOMUSUS, your father an-anged to allow you two
thousand sesterces a month, and every day he handed
you that allowance, seeing that on the heels of
luxury trod ever to-morrow's beggary, and your vices
called for a daily wage. Dying he also left you heir
to every penny. Your father has disinherited you,
Philomusus !
XI
IK your mistress is neither Thais nor one-eyed,
Quintus, why do you think my distich J was aimed
at you ? But there is some likeness. Did I say " Thais"
and mean " Lais " ? Tell me, what likeness is there
between "Thais" and Hermione ? Yet you are
Quintus ; let us change the lover's name. If Quintus
is unwilling, let Sextus be Thais' lover.2
XII
GOOD unguent, I allow, you gave your guests yes-
terday, but you carved nothing. Tis a droll thing
to be scented and to starve. He who doesn't dine,
and is anointed, Fabullus, seems to me to be in very
truth a corpse.8
have seen any likeness. Let us call her Hermione, and
Sextus her lover.
3 Which was anointed.
171
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XIII
DUM non vis pisces, dum non vis carpere pullos
et plus quam putri,1 Naevia, parcis a pro,
accusas rumpisque cocum, tamquam omnia cruda
attulerit. numquam sic ego crudus ero.
XIV
ROMAM petebat esuritor Tuccius
profectus ex Hispania.
occurrit illi sportularum fabula :
a ponte rediit Mulvio.
XV
PLUS credit nemo tota quam Cordus in urbe.
"Cum sit tarn pauper, quomodo ? " caecus amat.
XVI
DAS gladiatores, sutorum regule cerdo,
quodque tibi tribuit subula, sica rapit.
ebrius es : neque enim faceres hoc sobrius umquam,
ut velles corio ludere, cerdo, tuo.
lusisti corio : sed te, mihi crede, memento 5
nunc in pellicula, cerdo, tenere tua.
1 putri Heins. , patri codd.
1 Crudus means "raw," and also " suffering from indiges-
tion." Milton uses the word in the latter sense (Com. 476),
and this has been adopted in the translation. See also
"crude or intoxicate" (Par. Reg. iv. 328).
2 Without even entering Rome. The Mulvian Bridge was
just outside the Porta Flaminia, the N. Gate of Rome. As
to the dole, cf. in. vii.
172
BOOK III. xm-xvi
XIII
WHILE you are unwilling to carve your fish, while
you are unwilling to carve your fowls, and spare,
Naevia, your boar although more than high, you
rate and cut up your cook, saying he sent up every-
thing crude. Mine will be no " crude surfeit " l on
these terms.
XIV
THE starveling Tuccius made for Rome, setting
out from Spain. A report of the clients' dole met
him : home he returned from the Mulvian Bridge.2
XV
No man in all the city gives more credit than
Cordus. " Seeing he is so poor, how's that ? " He
is a blind lover.3
XVI
You give a show of gladiators,4 cobbler, little king
of stitchers, and what the awl has earned for you
the poniard hurries off with. You are drunk ; for
you would never do this sober, to take your pleasure,
cobbler, at the expense of your own hide.5 You
have played with your hide ! but bear this in mind —
trust my word ! — to keep yourself, cobbler, now in
your own little skin.6
3 A play on the word "credit," i.e. "gives credit," or
" trusts," "believes." Cordus believes more than he sees :
cf. vin. xlix. 4 c,f. in. lix. and xcix.
5 Proverbial for " at your own expense."
t; Stick to your last. Perhaps also an allusion to the ass
in a lion's skin.
173
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XVII
CIRCUMLATA diu mensis scribilita secundis
urebat nimio saeva calore man us ;
sed magis ardebat Sabidi gula : protinus ergo
sufflavit buccis terque quaterque suis.
ilia quidem tepuit digitosque admittere visa est, 5
sed nemo potuit tangere : merda fuit.
XVIII
PERFRIXISSE tuas questa est praefatio fauces,
cum te excusaris, Maxime, quid recitas ?
XIX
PROXIMA centenis ostenditur ursa columnis,
exornant fictae qua platanona ferae,
huius duna patulos adludens temptat hiatus
pulcher Hylas, teneram mersit in ora manuni.
vipera sed caeco scelerata latebat in acre 5
vivebatque anima deteriore fera.
non sensit puer esse dolos, nisi dente recepto
dum perit. o facinus, falsa quod ursa fuit !
XX
Die, Musa, quid agat Canius meus Rufus :
utrumne chartis tradit ille victuris
legenda temporum acta Claudianorum ?
an quae Neroni falsus adstruit scriptor,
1 A live bear might have done no harm.
* There are many references to Nero's poetry. Tacitus
(Ann. xiv. xvi.) says it was not his own ; but Suetonius
174
BOOK III. xvn-xx
XVII
A TART, repeatedly handed round at the second
course, burnt the fingers cruelly with its excessive
heat. But Sabidius' gluttony was more ardent still ;
straightway, therefore, three and four times he blew
upon it with his full cheeks. The tart, indeed, grew
cooler, and seemed to allow the fingers ; but not a
man could touch it — 'twas filth !
XVIII
YOUR opening address complained that you had a
cold in your throat. Now you have excused yourself,
Maximus, why do you recite ?
XIX
NEXT to the Hundred Columns, where wild beasts
in effigy adorn the plane-grove, is shown a bear.
While fair Hylas was in play challenging its yawning
mouth he plunged into its throat his youthful hand.
But an accursed viper lay hid in the dark cavern of
the bronze, alive with a life more deadly than that
of the beast itself. The boy perceived not the guile
but when he felt the fang and died. Oh, what a
crime was this, that unreal was the bear ! l
XX
TELL me, Muse, what my Canius Rufus is doing.
Is he committing to immortal pages, for men to read,
the deeds of Claudian times ? or does he emulate the
works the lying chronicler ascribes to Nero ? 2 or the
denies this : Ner, lii. Some editions put a ? at scriptor,
making the sense: "is his theme the deeds the lying
chronicler etc. ? "
175
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
an aemulatur inprobi iocos Phaedri ? 5
lascivus elegis an severus herois ?
an in coturnis horridus Sophocleis ?
an otiosus in schola poetarum
lepore tinctos Attico sales narrat ?
hinc si recessit, porticum terit templi 10
an spatia carpit lentus Argonautarum ?
an delicatae sole rursus Europae
inter tepentes post meridiem buxos
sedet ambulatve liber acribus curis ?
Titine thermis an lavatur Agrippae 15
an inpudici balneo Tigillini ?
an rure Tulli fruitur atque Lucani ?
an Pollionis dulce currit ad quartum ?
an aestuantis iam profectus ad Baias
piger Lucrino nauculatur in stagno ? 20
"Vis scire quid agat Canius tuus ? ridet."
XXI
PROSCRIPTUM famulus servavit fronte notata.
non fuit haec domini vita, sed invidia.
XXII
DEDERAS, Apici, bis trecenties ventri,
et adhuc supererat centies tibi laxum.
hoc tu gravatus ut famem et sitim ferre
1 The translator of Aesop ; but the reference must be to
lost works.
* Not known, unless it was the Schola Oc'aviat, part of
the Porttcus Liviae et Octaviae.
3 Perhaps the Temple of Isis : cf. II. xiv. 7.
4 The Porticus Argonautarum : cf. ir. xiv. 6.
5 The Porticus Europae : cf. n. xiv. 5. ' cf. I. Ixix.
I76
BOOK III. xx-xxn
jests of naughty Phaedrus f l is he wanton in elegy
or severe in heroics ? or terrible in Sophoclean buskin ?
or does he, idling in the Poets' School,2 tell witty
stories touched with Attic grace ? If he has gone
hence, does he tread the Temple's 3 piazza, or idly
stroll along the expanse of the Argonauts ? 4 Or
again, does he sit or walk, free of anxious care, amid
the box-trees, warm after noon, of Europa 5 luxuriat-
ing in the sun ? Does he bathe in Titus' or Agrippa's
warm baths, or in the bath of shameless Tigellinus ?
Does he enjoy the country seat of Tullus and Lu-
canus? or is he driving to Pollio's charming house at
the fourth milestone ? or setting out for steaming
Baiae does he now sail lazily on the Lucrine mere ?
" Do you wish to know what your Canius is doing ?
He is laughing."6
XXI
A SLAVE he had branded saved the life of a pro-
scribed man.7 This was to give his master not life,
but lifelong shame.8
XXII
You had expended, Apicius, twice thirty millions
on your gorging, and still there remained to you a
full ten millions. This you scorned to endure, as
T Antius Restio, proscribed bv the Triumvirs, whose life
was saved by his slave's pretence to the soldiers in pursuit
that the corpse of a man he had slain, or had found, and was
burning, was his master's: Macrob. Sat. ii. 11; Val. Max.
vi. viii. 7.
8 For branding such a slave. The assonance in vita and
inuidia is intentional.
177
VOL. I. N
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
sunima venenum potione perduxti.
nihil est, Apici, tibi gulosius factuni. 5
XXIII
OMNIA cum retro pueris opsonia tradas,
cur non mensa tibi ponitur a pedibus ?
XXIV
VITE nocens rosa stabat moriturus ad aras
hircus, Bacche, tuis victima grata sacris.
quem Tuscus mactare deo cum vellet aruspex,
dixerat agresti forte rudique viro
ut cito testiculos et acuta falce secaret, 5
taeter ut inmundae carnis abiret odor,
ipse super virides aras luctantia pronus
dum resecat cultro colla premitque maim,
ingens iratis apparuit hirnea sacris.
occupat hanc ferro rusticus atque secat, 10
hoc ratus antiques sacrorum poscere ritus
talibus et fibris numina prisca coli.
sic, modo qui Tuscus fueras, mine Gall us aruspex,
dum iugulas hircum, factus es ipse caper.
XXV
Si temperari balneum cupis ferveiis,
Faustine, quod vix lulianus intraret,
roga lavetur rhetorem Sabineium.
Neronianas is refrigerat thermas.
1 i.e. for the benefit of your slaves. They stood behind
their masters at dinner. The epigram is taken by some as
addressed to one who (cf. n. xxxvii.) handed viands to his
slave to be carried home.
I78
BOOK III. xxn-xxv
mere hunger and thirst, and, as the last draught of
all, quaffed poison. You never did anything, Apicius,
more gluttonous !
XXIII
SEEING that you hand all your viands to your slaves
behind you, why is not the table laid out at your
feet?1 "
XXIV
GUILTY of having gnawed a vine, a he-goat, doomed
to die, stood at the altar, a victim, Bacchus, welcome
to thy rites. When the Tuscan soothsayer was minded
to sacrifice this to the god, he chanced to bid a country
clown quickly to sever with his sharp sickle the tes-
ticles of the beast that the foul odour of unclean
flesh should pass away. While he himself, leaning
over the turf altar, was cutting with his knife the
throat of the struggling beast and pressing it down
with his hand, a huge hernia was revealed to the
scandal of the rites ; this the clown at once seized
and severed, thinking that the ritual's ancient mode
required this offering, and that by such entrails the
old-world deities were honoured. So you, just lately
a Tuscan soothsayer, now a Gaul,2 in slaughtering a
he-goat have been made a gelding.3
XXV
IF you wish, Faustinus, that a bath, so hot that
even Julianus could scarcely get into it, should be
cooled, ask the rhetorician Sabineius to bathe in it.
He makes icy the warm baths of Nero.
2 The priests of Cybele were eunuchs, and called Galli.
3 Caper meant "goat" or " castrated goat": Gell. ix. ix.
179
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXVI
PRAEDIA solus habes et solus, Candida, nummos,
aurea solus habes, murrina solus habes,
Massica solus habes et Opimi Caecuba solus,
et cor solus habes, solus et ingenium.
omnia solus habes — hoc me puta l velle negare ! — 5
uxorem sed habes, Candide, cum populo.
XXVII
NUMQUAM me revocas, venias cum saepe vocatus :
ignosco, nullum si modo, Galle, vocas.
invitas alios : vitium est utriusque. " Quod ? " inquis.
et mihi cor non est et tibi, Galle, pudor.
XXVIII
AURICULAM Mario graviter miraris olere.
tu facis hoc : garris, Nestor, in auriculam.
XXIX
HAS cum gemina compede dedicat catenas,
Saturne, tibi Zoilus, anulos priores.
XXX
SPORTULA mil la datur ; gratis conviva recumbis :
die mihi, quid Romae, Gargiliane, facis ?
1 nee me puta Madvig.
1 cf. ii. xliii.
2 Probably porcelain : cf. xiv. cxiii.
1 80
BOOK III. xxvi-xxx
XXVI
LANDS are yours alone, and yours alone, Candidus,1
are moneys; gold plate is yours alone; murrine2 cups
are yours alone ; Massic wines are yours alone, and
Caecuban of Opimius' year yours alone, and talent is
yours alone; yours alone genius. All things are yours
alone — fancy I waijt to deny it ! — but you have a wife,
Candidus, who is also the people's property.
XXVII
You never invite me in return, though you come
often when invited ; I pardon you, Gallus, if only
you invite no one else. You invite others. This is a
fault in each of us. " What fault ? " you say. I have
no sense, and you, Gallus, no decency.
XXVIII
You wonder that Marius' ear smells abominably.
You are the cause : you whisper, Nestor, into his ear.
XXIX
THESE chains with their double fetter Zoilus dedi-
cates to you, Saturnus.3 They were formerly his
rings.4
XXX
No dole is given ; you recline an unbought guest
at dinner 5 : tell me, what do you, Gargilianus, at
3 Slaves, on gaining freedom, dedicated their fetters to
Saturn, during whose festival, the Saturnalia, they had some
degree of freedom.
4 Z. now wears the ring of a knight : cf, xr. xxxvii. 3.
5 cf. in. vii.
181
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
unde tibi togula est et fuscae pensio cellae ?
unde datur quadrans ? unde vir es Chiones ?
cum ratione licet dicas te vivere summa,
quod vivis, nulla cum ratione facis.
XXXI
SUNT tibi, confiteor, difFusi iugera campi
urbanique tenent praedia multa lares,
et servit dominae numerosus debitor arcae
sustentatque tuas aurea massa dapes.
fastidire tamen noli, Rufine, minores :
plus habuit Didymos, plus Philomelus habet.
XXXII
" AN possim vetulam " quaeris, Matronia : possum
et vetulam, sed tu mortua, lion vetula es.
possum Hecubam, possum Nioben, Matronia, sed si
nondum erit ilia cams, nondum erit ilia lapis.
XXXIII
INGENUAM malo, sed si tamen ilia uegetur,
libertina mihi proxuma condicio est :
extreme est ancilla loco, sed vincet utramque,
si facie nobis haec erit ingenua.
XXXIV
DIGNA tuo cur sis indignaque nomine, dicam.
frigida es et nigra es : non es et es Chione.
1 For the l>aths.
2 D. a wealthy eunuch ; P. a harp-player : -cf. in. iv. 8.
3 H. was turned into a bitch, N. into stone. H. was also
182
BOOK III. xxx-xxxiv
Rome ? Whence comes your poor toga and the rent
of your grimy garret ? Whence is provided the far-
thing ? l whence the support of Chione your mistress ?
You may say that you live with the most reasonable
economy : your living at all is unreasonable.
XXXI
You have, I allow, acres of land widely spread,
and houses in town occupy many sites, and many a
debtor is a slave to your imperious money-chest, and
gold plate supports your banquets. Yet do not scorn,
Rufinus, lesser men. More had Didymus ; more
Philomelus has.2
XXXII
"CAN I love an old woman ?" you ask me, Matronia.
1 can even an old woman ; but you are a corpse, not
an old woman. I can love Hecuba, I can Niobe,
Matronia, but only if the one is not yet a bitch, the
other not yet a stone.3
XXXIII
I PREFER one free-born, yet if she be denied me,
a freedwoman's quality is next in worth to me. In
the last rank is the servant-maid ; yet she shall
surpass either of the others if her face be to me
that of a free-born maid.
XXXIV
I WILL tell you why you suit, and do not suit, your
name. You are cold and you are dark ; you are, and
are not, Chione.4
called c.anis from the virulence of her vituperation : Cic.
Tusc. in xxvi. and Plant. Men. 718,
4 Derived from x1^ (snow).
183
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXXV
ARTIS Phidiacae toreuma clarum
pisces aspicis : adde aquam, natabunt.
XXXVI
QUOD novus et nuper factus tibi praestat amicus,
hoc praestare iubes me, Fabiane, tibi :
horridus ut primo te semper mane salutem
per mediumque trahat me tua sella lutuiii.
lassus ut in thermas decuma vel serius hora 5
te sequar Agrippae, cum laver ipse Titi.
hoc per triginta merui, Fabiane, Decembres,
ut sim tiro tuae semper amicitiae ?
hoc merui, Fabiane, toga tritaque meaque,
ut nondum credas me meruisse rudem ? 10
XXXVII
IRASCI tantum felices nostis amici.
non belle facitis, sed iuvat hoc facere.
XXXVIII
QUAE te causa trahit vel quae fiducia Romam,
Sexte ? quid aut speras aut petis inde ? refer.
"Causas" inquis "agam Cicerone disertior ipso
atque erit in triplici par mihi nemo foro."
egit Atestinus causas et Civis (utrumque 5
noras) ; sed neutri pensio tota fuit,
BOOK III. xxxv-xxxvm
XXXV
You see these fish carved finely in relief by Phidian
art. Add water : they will swim.
XXXVI
THE duties of a new and recent friend you bid me
perform towards you, Fabianus ; that shivering at
early morn I should pay my respects to you con-
tinually; that your chair should drag me through
the midst of the mud ; that when I am fagged out
I should follow you at the tenth hour, or later, to
the warm baths of Agrippa, although I myself bathe
at those of Titus. Is this what I have deserved,
Fabianus, for my thirty Decembers of service, to be
always a raw recruit to your friendship? Is this
what I have deserved, Fabianus, that, when my toga
(my own purchase) is threadbare, you think that I
have not yet deserved my discharge ?
XXXVII
To be angry is all you know, you rich friends.
You do not act prettily, but it pays to do this.1
XXXVIII
WHAT reason or what confidence draws you to
Rome, Sextus ? What do you either hope or look for
from that quarter? tell me. "I will conduct cases,"
you say, " more eloquently than Cicero himself, and
there shall be in the three Forums no man my match."
Atestinus and Civis each conducted cases — you knew
1 It is an excuse for not being liberal in presents : cf. xu.
xiii.
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
" Si nihil hinc veniet, pangentur carmina nobis :
audieris, dices esse Maronis opus."
insanis : omnes, gelidis quicumque lacernis
sunt ibi, Nasones Vergiliosque vides. 10
" Atria magna colam." vix tres aut quattuor ista
res aluit, pallet cetera turba fame.
" Quid faciam ? suade : nam certum est vivere Romae."
si bonus es, casu vivere, Sexte, potes.
XXXIX
JLIACO similem pueruni, Faustine, ministro
lusca Lycoris amat. quam bene lusca videt !
XL
MUTUA quod nobis ter quinquagena dedisti
ex opibus tantis, quas gravis area premit,
esse tibi magnus, Telesine, videris amicus.
tu magnus, quod das ? immo ego, quod recipis.
XLI
INSERTA phialae Mentoris manu ducta
lacerta vivit et timetur argentum.
XLII
LOMENTO rugas uteri quod condere temptas,
Polla, tibi ventrem, non mihi labra linis.
1 Jove's cupbearer Ganymede.
186
BOOK III. XXXVIII-XLII
both — but neither made his full rent. " If nothing-
comes from this source, I will compose poems ; hear
them, you will call them Maro's work." You are crazy ;
in all those fellows there with their chill mantles
you see Nasos and Virgils. " I will court the halls of
great men." Barely three or four has that procedure
supported ; all the rest of the crowd are pale with
hunger. "What shall I do ? Advise me, for I am
bent on living in Rome." If you are a good man
you may live, Sextus, by accident.
XXXIX
ONE-EYED Lycoris loves a youth like to the cup-
bearer from Ilium.1 How well the one-eyed sees !
XL
BECAUSE you made me a loan of one hundred and
fifty thousand sesterces out of all the wealth on
which your heavy money-chest shuts tight, you fancy
yourself, Telesinus, a great friend. You a great friend
because you give ? I, rather, because you get back.
XLI
SET 011 the bowl, portrayed by Mentor's 2 hand the
lizard lives ; and we fear to touch the silver.3
XLII
You try to conceal your wrinkles by the use of
bean-meal, but you plaster your skin, Polla, not my
- A celebrated artist in relief of some centuries before.
3 cf. in. xxxv. on a similar subject.
187
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
simpliciter pateat vitium fortasse pusillum :
quod tegitur, maius creditur esse malum.
XLIII
MENTIRIS iuvenem tirictis, Laetine, capillis,
tarn subito corvus, qui modo cycnus eras.
non omnes fallis ; scit te Proserpina canum :
personam capiti detrahet ilia tuo.
XLIV
OCCURRIT tibi nemo quod libeiiter,
quod, quacumque venis, fuga est et ingens
circa te, Ligurine, solitudo,
quid sit, scire cupis ? nimis poeta es.
hoc valde vitium periculosum est. 5
non tigris catulis citata raptis,
non dipsas niedio perusta sole^
nee sic scorpios inprobus timetur.
nam tantos, rogo, quis ferat labores ?
et stanti legis et legis sedenti, 10
currenti legis et legis cacanti.
in thermas fugio : sonas ad aureni.
piscinam peto : non licet natare.
ad cenam propero : tenes euntem.
ad cenam venio : fugas edentem. 15
lassus dormio : suscitas iacentem.
vis, quantum facias mali, videre ?
vir iustus probus innocens timeris.
1 To "plaster the face" (on sublinere} meant to deceive:
Plaut. Merc. n. iv. 17, et passim. The idea was taken from
188
BOOK III. XMI-XMV
lips.1 Let a blemish, which perhaps is small, simply
show. The flaw which is hidden is deemed greater
than it is.
You falsely ape youth, Laetinus, with dyed hair,
so suddenly a raven who were but now a swan. You
don't deceive all ; Proserpine 2 knows you are hoary :
she shall pluck the mask from off your head.
XLIV
THAT no man willingly meets you, that, wherever
you arrive, there is flight and vast solitude around
you, Ligurinus, do you want to know what is the
matter ? You are too much of a poet. This is a
fault passing dangerous. No tigress roused by the
robbery of her cubs, no viper scorched by tropic
suns, nor deadly scorpion is so dreaded. For who,
I ask you, would endure such trials ? You read to
me while I am standing, and read to me when I am
sitting ; while I am running you read to me, and
read to me while I am using a jakes. I fly to the
warm baths : you buzz in my ear ; 1 make for the
swimming bath : I am not allowed to swim ; I haste
to dinner : you detain me as I go ; I reach the
table : you rout me while I am eating. Wearied out,
I sleep : you rouse me up as I lie. Do you want to
appreciate the evil you cause ? Though you are a
man just, upright, and harmless, you are a terror.
the practical joke of blackening the face of a drunken
man.
2 Queen of the shades below.
189
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XLV
FUGERIT an Phoebus niensas cenamque Thyestae
ignore : fugimus nos, Ligurine, tuam.
ilia quidem lauta est dapibusque instructa superbis,
sed nihil omiiino te recitante placet,
nolo mihi ponas rhombos mullumve bilibrem 5
nee volo boletos, ostrea nolo : tace.
XLVI
EXIGIS a nobis operam sine fine togatam :
non eo, libertum sed tibi mitto meum.
" Non est" inquis "idem." multo plus esse probabo.
vix ego lecticam subsequar, ille feret.
in turbam incideris, cunctos umbone repellet : 5
invalidum est nobis ingenuumque latus.
quidlibet in causa narraveris, ipse tacebo :
at tibi tergeminum mugiet ille sophos.
lis erit, ingenti faciet convicia voce :
esse pudor vetuit fortia verba mihi. 10
" Ergo nihil nobis " inquis "praestabis amicus ? "
quidquid libertus, Candide, non poterit.
XLVII
CAPENA grandi porta qua pluit gutta
Phrygiumque Matris Almo qua lavat ferrum,
Horatiorum qua viret sacer campus
et qua pusilli fervet Herculis fanum,
1 Atreus, king of Argos, in revenge for an injury, served
up to his brother Thyestes the bodies of T. 's two sons, which
T. unknowingly ate. The Sun is said to have veiled his face
in horror : cf. x. iv. 1.
190
BOOK III. XLV-XI.VII
XLV
WHETHER Phoebus fled from the table and banquet
of Thyestes l I don't know : we fly from yours, Li-
gurinus. It is undoubtedly choice, and laid out with
rich viands, but nothing at all pleases us while you
recite. I don't want you to serve me turbots, or a
two-pound mullet, nor do I want mushrooms, oysters
I do not want : hold your tongue !
XLVI
You exact from me gowned service without end ;
I don't attend, but I despatch to you my freedman.
" It isn't the same thing," you say. I will prove it
is much more : I could hardly escort a litter, lie will
carry it. Supposing you get into a crowd, he will
thrust them all back with his elbow ; my flanks are
weak, and a gentleman's. Supposing you tell a story
in your pleading, I myself will hold my peace ; but
he will bellow for you a thrice-redoubled " Bravo ! "
If you have a lawsuit he will pour abuse in stentorian
tones ; shyness has forbidden me strong language.
" So you, though a friend, will give me no service ? "
you say. Whatever, Candidus,2 my freedman cannot.
XLVII
WHERE the Capene Gate drips with heavy drops,
and where Almo washes the Phrygian Mother's
knife,3 where the plain, hallowed by the Horatii, is
green, and where the temple of the little Hercules
2 Addressed also in n. xliii. and HI. xxvi.
3 The priests of Cybele annually washed the statue of the
Goddess, and the sacred implements, in the Almo : Ov.
Fast. iv. 339.
T9I
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
Faustine, plena Bassus ibat in raeda, 5
omnis beati copias trahens runs.
illic videres frutice nobili caules
et utrumque porrum sessilesque lactucas
pigroque ventri non inutiles betas ;
illic coronam pinguibus gravem turdis 10
leporemque laesum Gallici canis dente
nondumque victa lacteum faba poi'cum.
nee feriatus ibat ante carrucam
sed tuta faeno cursor ova portabat.
urbem petebat Bassus? immo rus ibat. 15
XLVIII
PAUPERIS extruxit cellam, sed vendidit Olus
praedia : nunc cellam pauperis Olus habet.
XLIX
VEIENTANA mihi misces, ubi Massica potas :
olfacere haec malo pocula quam bibere.
HAEC tibi, non alia, est ad cenam causa vocandi,
versiculos recites ut, Ligurine, tuos.
deposui soleas, adfertur protinus ingens
inter lactucas oxygarumque liber :
alter perlegitur, duru fercula prima morantur : 5
tertius est, nee adhuc mensa secunda venit :
1 And so had to carry his supplies with him, for his
country villa produced nothing : cf. ill. Iviii. 49.
2 He has become poor in earnest. "A poor man's box "
was ordinarily a modest apartment in rich men's houses,
192
BOOK III. XLVII-I.
is thronged, Bassus was riding, Faustinas, in a travel
ling carriage crammed full, dragging with him all the
abundance of the rich country. There might you
see cabbages with noble heads, and each kind of
leek, and squat lettuces, and beets not unserviceable
to a sluggish stomach ; there a hoop heavy with fat
fieldfares, and a hare that had been wounded by the
fang of a Gallic hound, and a sucking-pig too young
to munch beans. Nor was the runner taking holiday ;
he went before the vehicle carrying eggs protected
by straw. Was Bassus making for the city? On
the contrary : he was going into the country.1
XLVIII
OLUS built "a poor man's box," but sold his lands.
Now Olus occupies a "poor man's box." ''
XLIX
You mix Veientan wine3 for me, whereas you drink
Massic. I would rather smell these cups of mine
than drink them.
THIS, no other, is your reason for inviting me to
dine, that you may recite your verses, Ligurinus. I
have put off my shoes ; at once a huge volume is
brought along with the lettuce and the fish sauce.
A second is read through while the first course
stands waiting ; there is a third, and the dessert
constructed either for variety, or to be used on unceremonious
occasions : Sen. Ep. xviii. and c. Sen. associates it with
"quidquid est per quod luxuria divitiarum taedio ludit."
3 Poor wine : cf. r. ciii. 9. Massic was one of the finest.
193
VOL. I. O
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
et quartum recitas et quintum denique librum.
puticlus est, totiens si mihi pom's aprum.
quod si non scombris scelerata poemata donas,
cenabis solus iam. Ligurine, domi. 10
LI
CUM faciem laudo, cum miror crura manusque,
dicere, Galla, soles " Nuda placebo magis,"
et semper vitas communia balnea nobis.
numquid, Galla, times ne tibi non placeam ?
LII
EMPTA domus fuerat tibi, Tongiliane, ducentis :
abstulit hanc nimium casus in urbe frequens.
conlatum est deciens. rogo, non potes ipse videri
incendisse tuam, Tongiliane, domum?
LIII
ET voltu poteram tuo carere
et collo manibusque cruribusque
et mammis natibusque clunibusque,
et, ne singula persequi laborem,
tota te poteram, Chloe, carere. 5
LIV
CUM dare non possim quod poscis, Galla, rogantem,
multo simplicius, Galla, negare potes.
194
BOOK III. L-LIV
does not yet appear ; and you recite a fourth, and
finally a fifth book. Sickening is a boar if you serve
it to me so often. If you don't consign your ac-
cursed poems to the mackerel,1 in future, Ligurinus,
you shall dine at home alone.
LI
WHEN I compliment your face, when I admire your
legs and hands, you are accustomed to say, Galla :
" Naked I shall please you more," and yet you con-
tinually avoid taking a bath with me. Surely you
are not afraid, Galla, that I shall not please you ?
LII
You had bought a house, Tongilianus, for two hun-
dred thousand sesterces : an accident too common in
the city destroyed it. A million was subscribed. I
ask you, are you not open to the suspicion, Tongili-
anus, of having yourself set fire to your house ? 2
LIII
1 COULD dispense with your face, and neck, and
hands, and legs, and bosom, and back, and hips.
And — not to labour details — I could dispense with
the whole of you, Chloe.
LIV
As I cannot give the price, Galla, you demand of
your suitor, you may more simply, Galla, say "No"
outright.
1 cf. iv. Ixxxvi. K. 2 cf. Juv. iii. 220.
'95
o 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LV
QUOD quacumque venis Cosmum migrare putamus
et fluere excusso cinnama fusa vitro,
nolo peregrinis placeas tibi, Gellia, nugis.
scis, puto, posse nieum sic bene olere canem.
LVI
SIT cisterna mihi quam vinea malo Ravemiae,
cum possim multo vendere pluris aquam.
LVII
CALLIDUS inposuit nuper mihi copo Ravennae :
cum peterem mixtum, vendidit ille merum.
LVIII
BAIANA nostri villa, Basse, Faustini
non otiosis ordinata myrtetis
viduaque platano tonsilique buxeto
ingrata lati spatia detinet campi,
sed rure veto barbaroque laetatur. 5
hie farta premitur angulo Ceres omni
et multa fragrat testa senibus autumnis ;
hie post Novembres imminente iam bruma
seras putator horridus refert uvas.
truces in alta valle mugiunt tauri 10
vitulusque inermi fronte prurit in pugnam.
vagatur omnis turba sordidae chortis,
1 A perfumer of the period.
8 R. suffered from lack of water.
3 ef. note to last epigram.
196
BOOK III. LV-LVITI
LV
WHEREVER you come we fancy Cosmus1 is on the
move, and that oil of cinnamon flows streaming from
a shaken out glass bottle. I would not have you,
Gellia, pride yourself upon alien trumpery. You know,
I think, my dog can smell sweet in the same way.
LVI
I PREFER a cistern at Ravenna to a vineyard, seeing
that I can get a much better price for water.2
LVII
A CUNNING taverner imposed on me lately at Ra-
venna. Whereas I asked for negus, he sold me
wine neat.3
LVIII
THE Baian villa, Bassus, ot our friend Faustinas
keeps unfruitful no spaces of wide field laid out in
idle myrtle-beds, and with widowed planes and
clipped clumps of box, but rejoices in a farm, honest
and artless.4 Here in every corner corn is tightly
packed, and many a crock is fragrant of ancient
autumns. Here, when November is past, and winter
is now at hand, the unkempt primer brings home'
late grapes. Fiercely in the deep valley roar bulls,
and the steer with brow unhorned itches for the fray.
All the crowd of the untidy poultry-yard wanders
here and there, the shrill-cackling goose, and the
4 Friedlander takes barbaro as "uncultivated," But this
is inconsistent with what follows. The whole epigram is a
comparison between Faustinus' uncivilised farm ana Bassus'
artificial and unfruitful villa.
197
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
argutus anser gernmeique pavones
nomenque debet quae rubentibus pinnis
et picta perdix Numidicaeque guttatae 15
et impiorum phasiana Colchorum ;
Rhodias superbi feminas premunt galli ;
sonantque turres plausibus columbarum,
gemit hinc palumbus, inde cereus turtur.
avidi secuntur vilicae sinum porci 20
matremque plenam mollis agnus expectat.
cingunt serenum lactei focum vernae
et larga festos lucet ad lares silva.
non segnis albo pallet otio copo,
nee perdit oleum lubricus palaestrita ; 25
sed tendit avidis rete subdolum turdis
tremulave captum linea trahit piscem
aut inpeditam cassibus refert dammam.
exercet hilares facilis hortus urbanos,
et paedagogo non iubente lascivi 30
parere gaudent vilico capillati,
et delicatus opere fruitur eunuchus.
uec venit inanis rusticus salutator :
fert ille ceris cana cum suis mella
imtamque lactis Sassinate de silva ; 35
somniculosos ille porrigit glires,
hie vagientem niatris hispidae fetum, .
alius coactos non amare capones.
et dona matrum vimine offerunt texto
grandes proborum virgines colonorum. 40
facto vocatur laetus opere vicinus ;
nee avara servat crastinas dapes rnensa,
vescuntur omnes ebrioque non novit
satur minister invidere convivae.
at tu sub urbe possides famem mund&m 45
et turre ab alta prospicis meras laurus,
198
BOOK III. i.vin
spangled peacocks, and the bird that owes its name
to its flaming plumes,1 and the painted partridge,
and speckled guinea-fowls, and the impious 2 Col-
chians' pheasant. Proud cocks tread their Rhodian
dames, and cotes are loud with the pigeons' croon ;
on this side moans the ringdove, on that the glossy
turtle. Greedily pigs follow the apron of the bailiff's
wife, and the tender lamb waits for its dam's full
udder. Infant home-born slaves ring the clear-burning
hearth, and thickly piled billets gleam before the
household gods on holidays. The wine seller3 does
not idly sicken with pale-faced ease, nor the anointed
wrestling-master make waste of oil, but he stretches
a crafty net for greedy fieldfares, or with tremu-
lous line draws up the captured fish, or brings home
the doe entangled in his nets. The kindly garden
keeps the town slaves cheerfully busy, and, without
the overseer's order, even the wanton long-curled
pages gladly obey the bailiff; even the delicate
eunuch delights in work. Nor does the country visitor
come empty handed : that one brings pale honey
in its comb, and a pyramid of cheese from Sassina's
woodland ; that one offers sleepy dormice ; this one
the bleating offspring of a shaggy mother ; another
capons debarred from love. And the strapping
daughters of honest farmers offer in a wicker basket
their mother's gifts. When work is done a cheerful
neighbour is asked to dine ; no niggard table reserves
a feast for the morrow ; all take the meal, and the
full-fed attendant need not envy the well-drunken
guest. But you in the suburbs possess what is ele-
gant starvation, and from your high tower survey
1 Phoenicopterus, or flamingo.
3 An allusion to Medea's sorceries.
3 The slaves mentioned are employed in town for profit or
hmiry ; in the country they have healthy exercise.
199
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
furem Priapo non timente securus
et vinitovem farre pascis urbano
pictamque portas otiosus ad villain
holus, ova, pullos, poma, caseum, mustum. 50
rus hoc vocari debet, an domus longe ?
LIX
SUTOR cerdo dedit tibi, culta Bononia, munus,
fullo dedit Mutinae : nunc ubi copo dabit?
LX
CUM vocer ad cenam non iam venalis ut ante,
cur mihi non eadem quae tibi cena datur ?
ostrea tu sumis stagno saturata Lucrino,
sugitur inciso mitulus ore mihi :
sunt tibi boleti, fungos ego sumo suillos : 5
res tibi cum rhombo est, at mihi cum sparulo.
aureus inmodicis turtur te clunibus implet,
ponitur in cavea mortua pica mihi.
cur sine te ceno cum tecum, Pontice, cenem ?
sportula quod non est prosit, edamus idem. 10
LXI
ESSE nihil dicis quidquid petis, inprobe Cinna :
si nil, Cinna, petis, nil tibi, Cinna, nego.
1 cf. in. xlvii. £ rf. in. xvi.
BOOK III. LVIII-LXI
laurels alone ; you are not nervous, for your Priapus
fears no thief; and your vine-dresser you feed on
corn brought from town, and indolently cart to your
frescoed villa cabbages, eggs, fowls, apples, cheese,
must.1 Ought this to be called a farm, or a town-
house away from town ?
LIX
A COBBLER gave you a show,2 lettered Bononia, a
bleacher gave one to Mutina. Now where will the
taverner give one ?
LX
SINCE I am asked to dinner, no longer, as before,
a purchased guest,3 why is not the same dinner served
to me as to you ? You take oysters fattened in the
Lucrine lake,4 I suck a mussel through a hole in the
shell ; 5 you get mushrooms, I take hog funguses ; you
tackle turbot, but I brill. Golden with fat, a turtle-
dove gorges you with its bloated rump ; there is set
before me a magpie that has died in its cage. Why
do I dine without you although, Ponticus, I am
dining with you ? The dole has gone : let us have
the benefit of that ; let us eat the same fare.
LXI
" 'Tis nothing," you say, whatever you ask, impor-
tunate Cinna. If you ask "nothing," Cinna, nothing
I deny you, Cinna.
3 The money dole having been abolished : cf. III. vii.
4 Its waters imparted a flavour to oysters : cf. xm. Ixxxii.
6 Or (perhaps) " with lips cut by the shell."
2OI
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXII
CENTENIS quod emis pueros et saepe ducenis,
quod sub rege Numa condita vina bibis,
quod constat decies tibi non spatiosa supellex,
libra quod argenti milia quinque rapit,
aurea quod fundi pretio carruca paratur, 5
quod pluris mula est quam domus empta tibi :
haec animo credis magno te, Quinte, parare ?
falleris : haec animus, Quinte, pusillus emit.
LXIII
COTILE, bellus homo es : dicunt hoc, Cotile, multi.
audio : sed quid sit, die mihi, bellus homo ?
" Bellus homo est, flexos qui digerit ordine crines,
balsama qui semper, cinnama semper olet ;
cantica qui Nili, qui Gaditana susurrat, 5
qui movet in varios bracchia volsa modos ;
inter femineas tota qui luce cathedras
desidet atque aliqua semper in aure sonat,
qui legit hinc illinc missas scribitque tabellas ;
pallia vicini qui refugit cubiti ; 10
qui scit quam quis amet, qui per convivia currit,
Hirpini veteres qui bene novit avos."
quid narras ? hoc est, hoc est homo, Cotile, bellus ?
res pertricosa est, Cotile, bellus homo.
BOOK III. LXII-LXIII
LXII
You buy slaves for a hundred thousand, and often
for two hundred thousand sesterces apiece ; you drink
wines laid down in King Numa's reign ; no vast
amount of furniture stands you in a million ; a
pound of silver plate runs off with five thousand ;
a gilt coach is acquired at the price of a farm ; you
buy a mule for more than a town mansion. Do you
think, Quintus, that you acquire these things be-
cause you have a great mind ? You are deceived.
These are what a puny mind buys, Quintus.
LXIII
COTIUJS, you are "a pretty fellow" : many call you
so, Cotilus; I hear them. But, tell me, what is a
pretty fellow ? "A pret'ty fellow is one who arranges
neatly his curled locks, who continually smells of
balsam, continually of cinnamon; who hums catches
from the Nile and Gades ; who waves his depilated
arms in time to varied measures ; who all the day
lolls amid the women's chairs, and is ever whispering
in some ear ; who reads billets sent from one quarter
or another, and writes them ; who shrinks from con-
tact with the cloak on his neighbour's elbow ; l who
knows who is the lover of whom ; who hurries from
one party to another ; who has at his fingers' ends
the long pedigree of Hirpinus." 2 What do you
say? Is this thing, Cotilus, this thing a pretty
fellow? A very trumpery thing, Cotilus, is your
pretty fellow.
1 For fear it should soil or disarrange his dress : cf. n.
xli. 10. - A racehorse : Juv. viii. 62.
203
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXIV
Si REN AS hilarem navigantium poenam
blandasque mortes gaudiumque crudele,
quas nemo quondam deserebat auditas,
fallax Ulixes dicitur reliquisse.
non miror : illud, Cassiane, mirarer,
si fabulantem Canium reliquisset.
LXV
QUOD spirat tenera malum mordente puella,
quod de Corycio quae venit aura croco ;
vinea quod primis cum floret cana racemis,
gramina quod redolent, quae modo carpsit ovis ;
quod myrtus, quod messor Arabs, quod sucina trita, 5
pallidus Eoo ture quod ignis olet ;
gleba quod aestivo leviter cum spargitur imbre,
quod madidas nardo passa corona comas :
hoc tua, saeve puer Diadumene, basia fragrant.
quid si tota dares ilia sine invidia? 10
LXVI
PAR scelus admisit Phariis Antonius armis :
abscidit voltus ensis uterque sacros.
illud, laurigeros ageres cum laeta triumphos,
hoc tibi, Roma, caput, cum loquereris, erat.
Antoni tamen est peior quam causa Pothini : 5
hie facinus domino praestitit, ille sibi.
1 cf. m. xx. 8.
9 Antony, the Triumvir, was the murderer of Cicero ;
Pothinus, the eunuch of Ptolemy, king of Egypt, of Pompey.
204
BOOK III. I.XIV-LXVI
LXIV
THE sirens, who brought on mariners jocund
punishment, and alluring death, and cruel delight,
from whom, when their song was heard, no man
could of old rescue himself, the wily Ulixes is said
to have escaped. I don't wonder ; that I should
wonder at, Cassianus, — if he had escaped from
Canius1 and his anecdotes.
LXV
BREATH of a young maid as she bites an apple ;
effluence that comes from Corycian saffron ; perfume
such as when the blossoming vine blooms with early
clusters ; the scent of grass which a sheep has
just cropped ; the odour of myrtle, of the Arab
spice-gatherer, of rubbed amber ; of a fire made
pallid with Eastern frankincense ; of the earth when
lightly sprinkled with summer rain, of a chaplet
that has felt locks dewy with nard ; with all these,
Diadumenus, cruel boy, thy kisses are fragrant.
What if thou wouldst give those kisses in fulness
without grudging ?
LXVI
A CRIME equal to that of Egypt's armed hand
Anton ius wrought ; this steel and that destroyed H
sacred life." That head, O Rome, was thine when
thou didst with joy lead on thy laurelled triumphs ;
this was thine when thou wert speaking.3 Yet could
Antonius plead worse excuse than Pothinus : he by
his deed served his master, Antonius himself.
3 The pun on "head" is not happy. Cicero and Pompey
were both decapitated.
205
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXVII
CESSATIS, pueri, nihilque nostis,
Vaterno Rasinaque pigriores,
quorum per vada tarda navigantes
lentos tinguitis ad celeuma remos.
iam prono Phaethonte sudat Aethon 5
exarsitque dies et hora lassos
interiungit equos meridiana.
at vos, tarn placidas vagi per undas
tuta luditjs otium carina,
non nautas puto vos, sed Argonaiitas. 10
LXVIII
Hue est usque tibi scriptus, matrona, libellus.
cui sint scripta rogas interiora ? mihi.
gymnasium, thermae, stadium est hac parte : recede.
exuim-ur : nudos parce videre viros.
hinc iam deposito post vina rosasque pudore, 5
quid dicat nescit saucia Terpsichore :
schemate nee dubio sed aperte nominat illam
quam recipit sexto mense superba Venus,
custodem medio statuit quam vilicus horto,
opposita spectat quam proba virgo manu. 10
si bene te novi, longum iam lassa libellum
ponebas, totum nunc studiosa legis.
1 One of the horses of the Sun.
2 Aryonautas, which may be interpreted "Argonauts"
or " lazy sailors " (apyovs vavras).
3 The muse of dancing.
206
BOOK III. LXVll-LXVIII
LXVII
SLACK are ye, O youths, and no watermen, more
sluggish than Vaternus and Hasina, along whose slow
shallows ye float, and dip lazy oars in time to the
boatswain's call. Already, while Phaethon slopes
downwards, Aethon 1 sweats, and the day has burst
in flame, and the noontide hour unyokes weary
steeds. But you, straying along waves so placid,
play in idleness on a safe keel. Not tars do I
hold you, but tarriers.2
LXVIII
THUS far, O matron, my book has been written for
you. Do you ask for whom were writ the later parts ?
For me. A gymnasium, warm baths, a running ground
are in this part of the book ; depart, we are stripping ;
forbear to look on naked men. From this point Terp-
sichore,3 overcome with liquor, after the wine and the
roses lays aside shame and knows not what she says,
and in no ambiguous trope, but in plain speech, men-
tions that symbol which Venus proudly welcomes in
the sixth month,4 which the bailiff sets up as warder
in the midst of the garden, which a modest virgin
looks at with hand before her face. If I know you
well, you were laying down my long book, already
wearied ; now you are eagerly reading it all.
* An image of Priapus was carried in procession by Roman
matrons to the Temple of Venus Eryciua, outside the
Colline Gate in the N.E. of Rome. This was part of the
rites of Isis.
207
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXIX
OMNIA quod scribis castis epigrammata verbis
inque tuis nulla est mentula carminibus,
admiror, laudo ; nihil est te sanctius uno :
at mea luxuria pagina nulla vacat.
haec igitur nequam iuvenes facilesque puellae,
haec senior, sed quern torquet arnica, legat.
at tua, Cosconi, venerandaque sanctaque verba
a pueris debent virginibusque legi.
LXX
MOECHUS es Aufidiae, qui vir, Scaevine. fuisti ;
rivalis fuerat qui tuus, ille vir est.
cur aliena placet tibi, quae tua non placet, uxor ?
numquid securus non potes arrigere ?
LXXI
MENTULA cuin doleat puero, tibi, Naevole, culus,
non sum divinus, sed scio quid facias.
LXXII
Vis futui nee vis niecum, Saufeia, lavari.
nescio quod magnum suspicor esse nefas.
aut tibi pannosae dependent pectore mammae
aut sulcos uteri prodere nuda times
208
BOOK III. LXIX-I.XXII
LXIX
BECAUSE you write all your epigrams in decent
language, and in your poems no obscenity is found,
I admire, I applaud ; nothing is more chaste than
you of all men ; but no page of mine is without
wantonness. These then let naughty youths and
girls of easy virtue read, these any old sire, and
he too one whom his mistress tortures. But your
language, Cosconius, woi-thy of respect and chaste
as it is, should be read by boys and virgins.1
LXX
You are the paramour of Aufidia, and you were,
Scaevinus, her husband;2 he who was your rival is
her husband. Why does another man's wife please
you when she as your own does not please you ? Is
it that when secure you lack appetite ?
LXXI
SEEING that the boy is sore, and you too, Naevolus.
though I am no diviner, I know what you are up to.
LXXII
You wish to have an amour with me, and yet you
do not wish, Saufeia, to bathe with me ; I suspect
that some monstrous blemish is in question. Either
your dugs hang in wrinkles from your bosom, or you
fear by nakedness to betray the furrows in your
1 The epigram is ironical. C.'s milk-and-water stuff is fit
only for boys and girls. 2 S. had divorced A.
209
VOL. I. P
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
aut infinite lacerum patet inguen hiatu
aut aliquid cunni prominet ore tui.
sed nihil est horum, credo, pulcherrima nuda es.
si verum est, vitium peius habes : fatua es.
LXXIII
DORMIS cum pueris mutuniatis,
et non stat tibi, Galle, quod stat illis.
quid vis me, rogo, Phoebe, suspicari ?
mollem credere te virum volebam,
sed rumor negat esse te cinaedum.
LXXIV
PSILOTHRO faciem levas et dropace calvam.
numquid tonsorem, Gargiliane, times ?
quid facient ungues ? nam certe noil potes illos
resina Veneto nee resecare luto.
desine, si pudor est, miseram traducere calvam :
hoc fieri cunno, Gargiliane, solet.
LXXV
STARE, Luperce, tibi iam pridem mentula desit,
luctaris demens tu tamen arrigere.
sed nihil erucae faciunt bulbique salaces
inproba nee prosunt iam satureia tibi.
coepisti puras opibus corrumpere buccas :
sic quoque non vivit sollicitata Venus,
mirari satis hoc quisquam vel credere possit,
quod non stat, magno stare, Luperce, tibi ?
BOOK III. LXXII-LXXV
belly, or your person is lacerated and used up, or
you have a protuberance somewhere. But there is
nothing such, I am sure ; naked you are most beauti-
ful. But if there really is anything, you have a
worse delect : you are stupid.
LXXIII
Tu dormi con giovani membruti, e non ti sta, O
Gallo, quel che sta a loro. Che vuoi, dimmi, O Febo.
ch'io ne sospetti ? Volevo crederti un cinedo : ma
quel che si dice non e che sti un cinedo.
LXXIV
WITH salve you smooth your cheeks, and with
hair-eradicator your bald pate : surely you are not
afraid, Gargilianus, of a barber ? l How will your
nails fare ? for those at least you cannot trim with
resin or Venetian clay. Give over, if you have any
shame, making a sight of your wretched bald pate :
this is wont to be done by women elsewhere, Gar-
gilianus.
LXXV
GIA da lungo tempo, O Luperco, il tuo membro
cessa stare, tuttavia tu arrabiato ti sforzi arrigere.
Ma nulla fanno le rughe, e gli incitevoli bolbi, ne
tampoco ti giova la oltre modo lasciva satureia.
Tentasti corrompere con ricchezze le innocenti
bocche. Venere sollecitata cosi non ha vigore. Nes-
suno c'e che possa cid bastantemente ammirare o
credere, che cio che non ti consta, tanto, O Luperco,
ti costi.
1 Like Diouysius, tyrant of Syracuse, who, fearing assas-
sination, would not allow himself to be shaved, but burned
his hair off with lighted charcoal : Cic. De Off, II. vii. 25.
211
P 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXVI
ARRIGIS ad vetulas, fastidis, Basse, puellas,
nee formosa tibi sed moritura placet,
hie, rogo, non furor est, non haec est mentula demens ?
cum possis Hecaben, 11011 potes Andromachen !
LXXVII
NEC mullus nee te delectat, Baetice, turdus,
nee lepus est umquam nee tibi gratus aper ;
nee te liba iuvant nee sectae quadra placentae,
nee Libye mittit iiec tibi Phasis aves :
capparin et putri cepas allece natantis 5
et pulpani dubio de petasone voras,
teque iuvant gerres et pelle melandrj^a cana ;
resinata bibis vina, Falerna fugis.
nescio quod stomachi vitium secretius esse
suspicor: ut quid enim, Baetice, oa7rpo</>ayeis? 10
LXXVIII
MINXISTI currente semel, Pauline, cariiia.
meiere vis iterum ? iam Palimmis eris.
LXXIX
REM peragit nullam Sertorius, inchoat omnes.
hunc ego, cum futuit, non puto perficere.
1 The inferior parts of tunny salted, and called " heart of
oak" from its appearance : Plin. N.H. ix. 18.
2 Caused by lascivious practices : cf. in. Ixxxi.
212
BOOK III. I.XXVI-LXXIX
LXXVI
You are ardent for old women, you show disgust,
Bassus, for girls ; it is not the beautiful, but the
moribund attracts you. Is not this, I ask, frenzy,
is not this amorous madness ? Although you can
woo Hecuba, Andromache you cannot !
LXXVII
NOR mullet nor fieldfare gratifies you, Baetieus,
nor is hare or boar ever palatable to you. Nor do
rolls please you, nor a square of scored cake, nor
does Libya or Phasis send you her birds. You de-
vour capers, and onions floating in stale fish-pickle,
and the lean from a dubious ham ; and sprats salted
please you, and heart-of-oak tunny1 with white
skin; you drink resined wine, avoid Falernian. Your
stomach has some secret failing I suspect ; 2 for why,
Baeticus, do you feed on carrion?
LXXVIII
You made water on one occasion, Paulinus, while
the ship was on her course. Do you wish to exude
a second time ? At once you will be a Palinurus.3
LXXIX
THERE is no undertaking which Sertorius com-
pletes : he begins all. This fellow, I fancy, does not
in his amours achieve accomplishment.
3 Palinurus was the helmsman of Aeneas. The word
na\ivovpos may also be translated "one who makes water
again." For a similar pun on Argonauts, cf. m. Ixvii.
213
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXX
DE nullo quereris, nulli maledicis, Apici :
rumor ait linguae te tamen esse malae.
LXXXI
QUID cum femineo tibi, Baetice Galle, barathro ?
haec debet medios lambere lingua viros.
abscisa est quare Samia tibi mentula testa,
si tibi tarn gratus, Baetice, cunnus erat ?
castrandum caput est : nam sis licet inguine Gallus, 5
sacra tamen Cybeles decipis : ore vir es.
LXXXII
CONVIVA quisquis Zoili potest esse,
Summoenianas cenet inter uxores
curtaque Ledae sobrius bibat testa :
hoc esse levius puriusque contendo.
iacet occupato galbinatus in lecto 5
cubitisque trudit hinc et inde convivas
effultus ostro Sericisque pulvillis.
stat exoletus suggeritque ructanti
pinnas rubentes cuspidesque lentisci,
et aestuanti tenue ventilat frigus 10
supina prasino concubina flabello,
fugatque muscas myrtea puer virga.
percurrit agili corpus arte tractatrix
manumque doctam spargit omnibus membris ;
digiti crepantis signa novit eunuchus 1 5
et delicatae sciscitator urinae
1 Sensu obsceno.
2 Prostitutes : cf. i. xxiv. 6 ; xii. xxxii. 22.
214
BOOK III. LXXX-LXXXII
LXXX
You complain of no man, no man you slander,
Apicius ; yet rumour asserts that you are one of
evil tongue.1
LXXXI
CHE affari hai tu, O Betico Gallo, col femineo
baratro ? Questa tua lingua e fatta per lambire a
mezzo gli uomini. A che motivo la mentola fu a te
con Samia tegola recisa, se a te, O Betico, si grato
era il c — o ? II tuo capo merita esser castrato :
imperocche, quantunque sii Gallo nelle pudenda,
tuttavia inganni i sacrifici di Cibele : sei uomo nella
bocca.
LXXXII
WHOEVER can endure to be the guest of Zoilus
should dine among the wives by the Walls,2 and
drink, though sober, out of Leda's broken jar ; this
is a lighter and more decent thing, I maintain.
Garbed in green 3 he lies on a couch he alone fills,
and with his elbows thrusts off his guests on either
side, propped up as he is on purple and on silken
cushions. There stands a catamite by him and offers
his belching throat red feathers, and slips of mastick,4
and a concubine, lying on her back, with a green
fan stirs a gentle breeze to cool his heat, and a boy
flaps away the flies with a sprig of myrtle. With her
nimble art a shampooer runs over his body, and
spreads her skilled hand over all his limbs. A eunuch
knows the signal of a snapped finger, and, being the
inquisitor of that fastidious water, guides his boozy
1 A mark of effeminacy : cf. I. xcvi. 9.
J Toothpicks : cf. xiv. xxii.
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
domini bibentis ebrium regit penem.
at ipse retro flexus ad pedum turbam
inter catellas anserum exta lambentis
partitur apri glandulas palaestritis 20
et concubino turturum natis donat ;
Ligurumque nobis saxa cum ministrentur
vel cocta fumis musta Massilitanis,
Opimianum morionibus nectar
crystallinisque murrinisque propinat. 25
et Cosmianis ipse fusus ampullis
non erubescit murice aureo nobis
dividere moechae pauperis capillare.
septunce multo deinde perditus stertit :
nos accubamus et silentium rhonchis 30
praestare iussi nutibus propinamus.
hos Malchionis patimur inprobi fastus,
nee vindicarij Rufe, possumus : fellat.
UT faciam breviora mones epigrammata, Corde.
"fac mihi quod Chione " : non potui brevius.
LXXXIV
QUID uarrat tua moecha ? non puellam
dixi, Gongylion. quid ergo ? linguam.
LXXXV
Quis tibi persuasit naris abscidere moecho ?
non hac peccatum est parte, marite, tibi.
1 And so bad : cf. \. xxxvj. - cf. in. Iv.
216
BOOK III. LXXXII-LXXXV
master's drunken person. But he himself, bending
back to the crowd at his feet, in the midst of his
lapdogs who are gnawing goose's livers portions
among his wrestlers the kernel of a boar, and gives
his concubine the rumps of turtledoves. And, while
to us is supplied wine from Ligurian rocks, or must
ripened in Massylian smoke,1 he pledges his naturals
in Opimian nectar from crystal and murrine cups.
And, though he himself is drenched with all the
scent-bottles of Cosmus,2 he does not blush to parcel
out to us in a gold shell a starving whore's pomatum.
Then after many a half-pint he is done up and snores ;
we lie there, and being ordered to compliment his
snorts with silence, drink our pledges by nods. This
is the insolence of unconscionable Malchio 3 which
we endure, and cannot avenge ourselves, Rufus : he
is a
LXXXIII
You advise me to make my epigrams shorter,
Cordus. " Do me what Chione does " : 4 I could not
put it shorter.
LXXXIV
WHAT does yon drab say ? I did not mean your
mistress, Gongylion. What then ? Your tongue.
LXXXV
WHO induced you to cut off the adulterer's nose :
It was not by this part, husband, you were sinned
:1 From /j.a\ai(6s (effeminate .
•* ?f. m. Ixxxvii. and xcvii.
21 7
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
stulte, quid egisti ? nihil hie tibi perdidit uxor,
cum sit salva tui inentula Deiphobi.
LXXXVI
NE legeres partem lascivi, casta, libelli,
praedixi et monui : tu tamen, ecce, legis.
sed si Panniculum spectas et, casta, Latinum,
(non sunt haec mimis inprobiora,) lege.
LXXXVII
NARRAT te, Chione, rumor numquam esse fututam
atque nihil cunno purius esse tuo.
tecta tamen non hac, qua debes, parte lavaris :
si pudor est, transfer subligar in faciem.
LXXXVIII
SUNT gemini fratres, diversa sed inguina lingunt.
dicite, dissimiles sunt magis an similes ?
LXXXIX
UTERE lactucis et mollibus utere malvis :
nam faciem durum, Phoebe, cacantis habes.
1 Son of Priam, and husband, after Paris, of Helen.
Menelaus, her first husband, mutilated him: rf. Virg. Aen.
vi. 494.
218
BOOK III. LXXXV-LXXXIX
against. You fool, what have you done ? Your wife
has lost nothing in this quarter, seeing the organ
of your Deiphobus l is safe and sound.
LXXXVI
" DON'T read part of my wanton volume, chaste
madam," I told you before and warned you;2 and yet,
behold ! you read it. However, if you look on Pan-
iiiculus ; and if, chaste madam, you look on Latinus
— these writings of mine are not worse than mimes —
read on.
LXXXVII
RUMOUR reports that you, Chione, have never had
amours with men, and that nothing is purer than
your person. Yet you bathe covered, but not in your
appropriate part ; if you have any modesty, shift
your drawers to your face !
LXXXVIII
Vi sono due fratelli somigliantissimi, ma lambis-
cono contrarie pudenda. Dite se sieno piu dissimili
o simili ?
LXXXIX
TAKE lettuces and take aperient mallows, for you
have the appearance, Phoebus, of one straining at
stool.8
* In in. Ixviii.
3 The same cast of countenance was ascribed to the Em-
peror Vespasian : Suet. Vesp. xx.
219
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XC
VOLT, non volt dare Galla mihi, nee dicere possum,
quod volt et non volt, quid sibi Galla velit.
XCI
CUM peteret patriae missicius arva Ravennae,
semiviro Cybeles cum grege iunxit iter.
huic comes haerebat domini fugitivus Achillas
insignis forma nequitiaque puer.
hoc steriles sensere viri : qua parte cubaret ~>
quaerunt. sed tacitos sensit et ille dolos :
mentitur, credunt. somni post vina petuntur :
continuo ferrum noxia turba rapit
exciduntque senem spondae qui parte iacebat ;
namque puer pluteo vindice tutus erat. 10
suppositam fama est quondam pro virgine cervam :
at nunc pro cervo mentula supposita est.
XCII
UT patiar moechum rogat uxor, Galle, sed unum.
huic ego non oculos eruo, Galle. duos ?
XCIII
CUM tibi trecenti consules, Vetustilla,
et tres capilli quattuorque sint dentes,
1 Iphigenia's, when the latter was about to be sacrificed by
her father. Agamemnon,
22Q
BOOK III. xc-xcin
xc
GALLA is willing and yet unwilling to favour me.
And 1 cannot say, as she is willing and unwilling,
what Galla means.
XCI
WHILE a discharged soldier was returning to the
h'elds of his native Ravenna, he joined on the way
Cybele's sexless company. Close companion was his
master's fugitive slave, Achillas, a boy renowned for
beauty and for wanton ways. This those unfruitful
men perceived : they ask him in what part of the
bed he lay. But that boy, too, perceived the guile ;
he lied, they believed him. They seek their slumber
after their wine; straightway that harmful throng
snatch the steel and mutilate the old sire who lay
in his part of the bed ; for the boy was safe in the
ward of the inner side. Fame hath it that of old a
hind took a virgin's place ; l but now part of a man
took the place of a stag.2
XCII
MY wife asks me, Gallus, to put up with a lover of
hers, but only one.3 Am 1 not then, Gallus. to gouge
out this fellow's two "eyes " 4
XCIII
As you have seen out three hundred consuls.
Vetustilla, and have three hairs and four teeth, the
2 A runaway slave was called "a stag" because of its
speed. 3 cf. vi. xc. 4 i.e. testicuios.
221
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
pectus cicadae, crus colorque fonnicae ;
rugosiorem cum geras stola frontem
et araneorum cassibus pares mammas ; 5
cum conparata rictibus tuis ora
Niliacus habeat corcodilus angusta,
meliusque ranae garriant Ravennates
et Atrianus dulcius culix cantet,
videasque quantum noctuae vident mane, 1 0
et illud oleas quod viri capellarum,
et anatis habeas orthopygium macrae,
senemque Cynicum vincat osseus cunnus ;
cum te lucerna balneator extincta
admittat inter bustuarias moechas ; 1 5
cum bruma mensem sit tibi per Augustum
regelare nee te pestilenties possit :
audes ducentas nupturire post mortes
virumque demens cineribus tuis quaeris
prurire. quid sarrire si l velit saxum ? 20
quis coniugem te, quis vocabit uxorem,
Philomelus aviam quam vocaverat nuper ?
quod si cadaver exiges tuum scalpi.
sternatur Orci2 de triclinio lectus,
thalassionem qui tuum decet solus, 25
ustorque taedas praeferat novae nuptae :
intrare in istum sola fax potest cunnum.
XCIV
ESSE negas coctum leporem poscisque flagella.
mavis, Rufe, cocum scindere quam leporem.
1 Or quid ? sarrire quis. si mtias or satira codd.
2 Orci Roeper, Achori codd.
BOOK III. xcin-xciv
breast of a grasshopper, the leg and complexion of
an ant ; as you carry a forehead more wrinkled than
a woman's stole, and dugs as limp as spiders' webs ;
as, compared with those chaps of yours, the crocodile
of Nile has narrow jaws, and Ravenna's frogs croak
more agreeably, and the Atrian gnat hums more
sweetly, and your vision is on a par with an owl's
in the morning, and your odour is that of the hus-
bands of she-goats, and you have the latter-end of a
skinny duck, and your bony person would be too much
for an old Cynic ; as the bathmaii admits you among
the tomb-frequenting whores only when he has ex-
tinguished his lamp ; as winter continues for you all
through the month of August, and not even a ma-
larious fever can melt you ; you venture, after having
buried two hundred husbands, to yearn for marriage,
and madly look for a man to itch for your burned out
remnants. What, if he should wish to hoe a rock ?
Who will call you spouse, who wife, whom Philo-
melus has lately called his grandmother ? But if
you require your carcase to be clawed, let the
marriage-bed from the dining-room of Orcus be laid
out — this alone befits your nuptials — and let the
corpse-cremator carry before the new bride the
torches : only a funeral link can tickle those ancient
sides.
XCIV
You say the hare is underdone, and call for a whip.
You prefer, Rufus, cutting up your cook rather than
your hare.
223
THE EPIGRAMS OF MAKTIAI.
XCV
NOMQUAM dicis have sed reddis, Naevole, semper.
quod prior et corvus dicere saepe solet.
cur hoc expectes a me, rogo, Naevole, dicas :
nam, puto, nee melior, Naevole, nee prior es.
praemia laudato tribuit mihi Caesar uterque 5
natorumque dedit iura paterna trium.
ore legor multo notumque per oppida nomen
non expectato dat mihi fama rogo.
est et in hoc aliquid : vidit me Roma tribunum
et sedeo qua te suscitat Oceanus. 10
quot mihi Caesareo facti sunt munere cives,
nee famulos totidem suspicor esse tibi.
sed pedicaris, sed pulchre, Naevole, ceves.
iam iam tu prior es, Naevole, vincis : have.
XCVI
LIN GIS, non futuis meam puellam
et garris quasi moechus et fu tutor.
si te prendero, Gargili, tacebis.
XCVII
NE legat hunc Chione, mando tibi, Ilufe, libellum.
carmine laesa meo est, laedere et ilia potest.
1 cf. xiv. Ixxiv. and Macrob. Sat. vn. iv. 29.: "occurrit ei
(Augusto) inter gratulantes corvum tenens, quern instituerat
hoc dicere : Ave Caesar Victor Imperator ! " And see
Pliny's account (N.H. x. 60) of a crow that learned to salute
BOOK III. xcv-xcvn
xcv
You never volunteer, but always return, Naevolus,
that "good day " which even a crow1 is often wont
to say the first. Why expect this of me ? Tell me,
Naevolus : for I fancy you are neither a better man,
Naevolus, than I, nor above me. Each Caesar 2 has
praised me and bestowed on me rewards, and given
me the privileges of a father of three sons.3 By
many a reader am I read, and fame, without waiting
for my death, gives me a name celebrated throughout
the towns. There is something in this too : Rome
has seen in me a tribune, and I sit in seats out of
which Oceanus4 rouses you. As many have been
made citizens through me by Caesar's bounty as ex-
ceed, I suspect, even your household of slaves. But
you submit to foul lust ; but you, Naevolus, are a
fine practitioner. Now, now I see you are my
superior, Naevolus ; you beat me : good day !
Tu liiigi, non immembri la mia ragazza ; et ti
milanti qual drudo, e qual' immembratore. Se
t'acchiappo, O Gargilio, tacerai.
XCVII
Do not let Chione read this book, Rufus, I charge
you. She has been hurt by my verse, and she too
can hurt.5
the three Caesars, and was considered sacred, and honoured
with a funeral procession and a pyre on the Appian Way.
* Titus and Domitian. 3 cf. n. xci. 6.
4 The attendant of the theatre : cf. v. xxiii. 4 ; vi. ix. 2.
6 cf. in. Ixxxiii. and Ixxxvii.
225
VOL. i. g
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XCVIII
SIT culus tibi quam macer, requiris ?
pedicare potes, Sabelle, culo.
XCIX
IRASCI nostro non debes, cerdo, libello.
ars tua noil vita est carmine laesa meo.
non nocuos permitte sales, cur ludere nobis
non liceat, licuit si iugulare tibi ?
CURSOREM sexta tibi, Rufe, remisimus hora,
carmina quern madidum nostra tulisse reor
imbribus inmodicis caelum nam forte ruebat.
non aliter mitti debuit ille liber.
226
BOOK III. xcvni-c
XCVIII
Vuoi tu sapere quanto '1 tuo orripigio sia magro ?
Tu puoi, O Sabello, sodomizar con quello.
XCIX
You should not be angry, cobbler, at my book. It
was your trade, not your character, that was wounded
by my verse.1 Allow harmless witticisms. Why may
not I be permitted to jest, if you have been permitted
to cut throats ?
I SENT you my messenger, Rufus, at the sixth hour,
and I think that he was drenched when he delivered
my poems ; for it chanced the sky descended with
a downpour of rain. In no other way should that
book of mine have been sent.2
1 In in. xvi.
* The poems were fit only to be rubbed out.
227
Q 2
BOOK IV
LIBER QUARTUS
I
CAESARIS alma dies et luce sacratior ilia
conscia Dictaeum qua tulit Ida lovem,
longa, precor, Pylioque veni numerosior aevo,
semper et hoc voltu vel meliore nite.
hie colat Albano Tritonida multus in auro 5
perque manus tantas plurima quercus eat ;
hie colat ingenti redeuntia saecula lustro
> et quae Romuleus sacra Tarentos habet.
inagna quidem, superi, petimus sed debita terris :
pro tanto quae sunt inproba vota deo ? 10
II
SPECTABAT modo solus inter omnes
nigris munus Horatius lacernis,
cum plebs et minor ordo maximusque
sancto cum duce candidus sederet.
toto nix cecidit repente caelo : 5
albis spectat Horatius lacernis.
1 Domitian's birthday, October 24, 88 A.D., when he was 37.
2 Nestor's.
8 Some explain of D.'s golden palace, some of the golden
olive- wreath, the poet's prize at the annual contest in honour
of Minerva at D.'s Alban villa. M. is deliberately vague.
230
BOOK IV
PROPITIOUS day1 of Caesar, and more hallowed
than that morn whereon consenting Ida gave bii-th
to Jove in Dicte's cave, come thou oft, I pray, and
in fuller number than the Pylian's2 years, and ever
shine with countenance such as now, or with one
fairer still ! May he full oft honour the Tritonian
maid amid Alba's gold,3 and through those mighty
hands may many an oak-wreath pass ! 4 May he
honour the ages as they come round in their mighty
lustre,5 and the holy festival that Romulean Tarentos
keeps.6 Great things, ye Lords of Heaven, we ask
for, howbeit due to earth : for so great a god what
vows are too profuse ?
II
ALONE among all the rest the other day, Horatius
viewed the show in a black cloak, although the com-
mon people and the lower and the highest orders,
together with our hallowed Chief, sat in white. From
every door of heaven snow suddenly fell : it is in a
white cloak now that Horatius looks on.
4 D. founded a quinquennial contest, in honour of Jupiter
Capitolinus, in music, gymnastics, etc. The prize was a gold
oak-leaf crown.
8 Every hundred and ten years nominally, when the
Secular Games were held : Hor. Carm. Saec. 21.
9 Sacrifices to Pluto at a spot in the Campus Martius : cf.
i. Ixix.
231
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
III
ASPICE quam densum tacitarum vellus aquarum
defluat in voltus Caesaris inque sinus,
indulget tamen ille lovi, nee vertice moto
concretas pigro frigore ridet aquas,
sidus Hyperborei solitus lassare Bootae 5
et madidis Helicen dissimulare comis.
quis siccis lascivit aquis et ab aethere ludit ?
suspicor has pueri Caesaris esse nives.
IV
QUOD siccae redolet palus lacunae,
crudarum nebulae quod Albularum,
piscinae vetus aura quod marinae,
quod pressa piger hircus in capella,
lassi vardaicus quod evocati, 5
quod bis murice vellus inquinatum,
quod ieiunia sabbatariarum,
maestorum quod anhelitus reorum,
quod spurcae moriens lucerna Ledae,
quod ceromata faece de Sabina, 10
quod volpis fuga, viperae cubile,
mallem quam quod oles olere, Bassa.
Via bonus et pauper linguaque et pectore verus,
quid tibi vis urbem qui, Fabiane, petis ?
qui nee leno potes nee comissator haberi
nee pavidos tristi voce citare reos
1 An allusion to Domitian's campaigns against the Chatti
and against the Dacians.
232
BOOK IV. IH-V
III
MARK how thickly the still fleecy shower flows
down on Caesar's face and on his bosom ! Yet he
humours Jove, and with head unmoved smiles at
the waters congealed by numbing frost, wont as he
has been l to tire Bootes' Northern Star, and, with
drenched locks, to disregard the Greater Bear.
Who wantons with this dry shower and frolics from
heaven ? I deem these were snows sent by Caesar's
child.2
IV
THE stench of the bed of a drained marsh ; of
the raw vapours of sulphur springs ; the putrid reek
of a sea-water fishpond ; of a stale he-goat in the
midst of his amours ; of the military boot of a fagged-
out veteran ; of a fleece twice dyed with purple ; 3
of the breath of fasting Sabbatarian Jews ; of the
sighs of depressed defendants ; of filthy Leda's lamp
as it expires ; of ointment made of dregs of Sabine
oil ; of a wolf in flight ; of a viper's lair — all these
stenches would I prefer to your stench, Bassa !
A GOOD man and poor, true in tongue and heart,
what is your aim, Fabianus, you who come to Rome ?
You who cannot endure to be counted a pandar,
or boon-companion, or with ominous tone to cite
2 Who died in infancy, and is assumed to have been deified.
* The purple dye gave garments an unpleasant smell : cf.
l. xlix. 32 ; ix. Ixiii.
233
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
nee potes uxorem cari corrumpere amici 5
nee potes algentes arrigere ad vetulas,
vendere nee vanos circum Palatia fumos,
plaudere nee Cano plaudere nee Glaphyro :
unde miser vives ? " Homo certus, fidus amicus — "
hoc nihil est : numquam sic Philomelus eris. 10
VI
CREDI virgine castior pudica
et frontis tenerae cupis videri,
cum sis inprobior, Malisiane,
quam qui compositos metro Tibulli
in Stellae recitat domo libellos.
VII
CUR, here quod dederas, hodie, puer Hylle, negasti,
durus tarn subito qui modo mitis eras ?
sed iam causaris barbamque annosque pilosque.
o nox quam longa es quae facis una senem !
quid nos derides ? here qui puer, Hylle, fuisti, 5
die nobis, hodie qua ratioiie vir es ?
VIII
PRIMA salutantes atque altera conterit l hora ;
exercet raucos tertia causidicos ;
in quintam varios extendit Roma labores ;
sexta quies lassis ; septima finis erit ;
1 continet B.
1 To make baseless promises of favour by the Emperor.
Proverbial, cf. Erasm. Adag. *.v.
234
BOOK IV. v-vm
trembling defendants, nor endure to seduce the wife
of a dear friend, or to lecher after bloodless old
women, or to sell about the palace empty smoke,1 or
to applaud Canus, or applaud Glaphyrus,2 whence,
wretched man, will you get your living ? "A man
trustworthy, a loyal friend — " That is nothing :
never in this way will you be a Philomelus.8
VI
You desire to be thought chaster than a pure
virgin, and to win the semblance of bashful mien.
Yet you are more dissolute, Malisianus, than the man
who recites in Stella's house poems composed in the
metre of Tibullus.
VII
WHY, Hyllus boy, have you denied to-day what
yesterday you gave, hard so suddenly who erewhile
were gentle ? But now you plead your beard,
and your years, and hair: O night, how long thou
art, one night that makest an old man ! Why do
you laugh at me ? Hyllus, who yesterday were boy,
tell me how you are man to-day ?
VIII
THE first and the second hour wearies clients at
the levee, the third hour sets hoarse advocates to
work ; till the end of the fifth Rome extends her
various tastes ; the sixth gives rest to the tired ; 4
2 A flute-player and a musician respectively.
3 A rich freedman of evil repute : cf. in. xxxi.
4 The siesta.
235
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
sufficit in nonam nitidis octava palaestris ; 5
imperat extructos frangere nona toros ;
hora libellorum decuma est, Eupheme, meorum,
temperat ambrosias cum tua cura dapes
et bonus aetherio laxatur nectare Caesar
ingentique tenet pocula parca manu. 10
tune admitte iocos : gressu timet ire licenti
ad matutinum nostra Thalia lovem.
IX
SOTAE filia clinici, Labulla,
deserto sequeris Clytum marito
et donas et amas : eeis durwrtos-
X
DUM novus est nee adhuc rasa mihi fronte libellus,
pagina dum tangi non bene sicca timet,
i puer et caro perfer leve munus amico
qui meruit nugas primus habere meas.
curre, sed instructus : comitetur Punica librum 5
spongea : muneribus convenit ilia meis.
non possunt nostros multae, Faustine, liturae
emendare iocos : una litura potest.
XI
DUM nimium vano tumefactus nomine gaudes
et Saturninum te pudet esse, miser,
1 This and the following epithets are meant to suggest
Domitian's divinity.
2 According to Suetonius (Dom. xx.) Domitian was tem-
perate in his drinking.
236
BOOK IV. VHI-XI
the seventh will be the end. The eighth to the
ninth suffices for the oiled wrestlers ; the ninth bids
us crush the piled couches. The tenth hour is the
hour for my poems, Euphemus, when your care sets
out the ambrosial * feast, and kindly Caesar soothes
his heart with heavenly nectar, and holds in
mighty hand his frugal 2 cup. Then admit my jests :
my Thalia fears with unlicensed step to approach
a morning Jove.
IX
DAUGHTER of Doctor Sotas, Labulla, you leave your
spouse and depart with Clitus ; you give him gifts
and your love. You don't act like Sotas' daughter.3
X
WHILE my book is new and with its edges not
yet smoothed, while the page, not well dry, fears
the touch, go, boy, and bear a trifling present to
a dear friend who has deserved first to possess my
trifles. Run, but equipped : let a Punic sponge
attend the book ; that sorts with the gifts I give.
Many corrections, Faustinus, cannot emend my
jokes : one wiping-out can ! 4
XI
WHILE, swollen with pride, you rejoiced o'ermuch
in an empty name,5 and were ashamed, wretched
man, to be Saturninus, you awoke such impious
' The pun is untranslatable. The Greek may mean as in
the text, or "you act profligately." * III. c.
5 Antonius, the same as the Triumvir's. His other name
was Saturninus.
237
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
impia Parrhasia movisti bella sub ursa,
qualia qui Phariae coniugis arma tulit.
excideratne adeo fatum tibi nominis huius, 5
obruit Actiaci quod gravis ira freti ?
an tibi promisit Rhenus quod non dedit illi
Nilus, et Arctois plus licuisset aquis ?
ille etiam nostris Antonius occidit armis,
qui tibi conlatus, perfide, Caesar erat. 10
XII
NULLI, Thai, negas ; sed si te non pudet istud,
hoc saltern pudeat, Thai, negare nihil.
XIII
CLAUDIA, Rufe, meo nubit Peregrina Pudenti :
macte esto taedis, O Hymenaee, tuis.
tarn bene rara suo miscentur cinnama nardo,
Massica Theseis tarn bene vina favis ;
nee melius teneris iunguntur vitibus ulmi, 5
nee plus lotos aquas, litora myrtus amat.
Candida perpetuo reside, Concordia, lecto,
tamque pari semper sit Venus aequa iugo :
diligat ilia senem quondam, sed et ipsa marito
turn quoque, cum fuerit, non videatur anus. 10
XIV
SILI, Castalidum decus sororum,
qui periuria barbari furoris
1 He revolted in upper Germany at the end of A.D. 88.
238
BOOK IV. xi-xiv
war under the Northern Bear1 as he awoke who
wore his Pharian consort's arms.2 Had you so
forgotten the doom of this name, which the heavy
wrath of Actium's strait o'erwhelmed? Or did
Rhine promise you what Nile gave not to him, and
should larger rights have been given to Polar seas ?
Even that famous Antony fell beneath our arms, and
he, traitor, compared with you, was a Caesar.
XII
No lover, Thais, you deny. But if you are not
ashamed of that, at least be ashamed of this,
Thais — of denying nothing.
XIII
CLAUDIA PEREGRINA weds, Rufus, with my own
Pudens ; a blessing, O Hymenaeus, be upon thy
torches ! So well does rare cinnamon blend with
its own nard ; so well Massic wine with Attic combs.
Not closer are elms linked to tender vines, nor
greater love hath the lotos for the waters, the myrtle
for the shore. Fair Concord, rest thou unbroken on
that bed, and may Venus be ever kindly to a bond
so equal knit ! May the wife love her husband when
anon he is grey, and she herself, even when she
is old, seem not so to her spouse !
XIV
Siuus,3 the pride of the Castalian Sisters, who
with your mighty tones crush the perjuries of bar-
2 Cleopatra. Antony and Cleopatra were defeated by
Octavian (Augustus) at the battle of Actium, B.C. 31.
8 The poet of the Punic Wars.
239
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
ingenti premis ore perfidosque
astus Hannibalis levisque Poenos
magnis cedere cogis Africanis, 5
paulum seposita severitate,
dum blanda vagus alea December
incertis sonat hinc et hinc fritillis
et ludit tropa l nequiore talo,
nostris otia commoda Camenis, 10
nee torva lege fronte sed remissa
lascivis rnadidos iocis libellos.
sic forsan tener ausus est Catullus
magno mittere Passerem Maroni.
XV
MILLE tibi nummos hesterna luce roganti
in sex aut septem, Caeciliane, dies
" Non habeo " dixi : sed tu, causatus amici
adventum, lancem paucaque vasa rogas.
stultus es ? an stultum me credis, amice ? negavi
mille tibi nummos, milia quinque dabo ?
XVI
PRIVIGNUM non esse tuae te, Galle, novercae
rumor erat, coniunx dum fuit ilia patris.
non tamen hoc poterat vivo genitore probari.
iam nusquam pater est, Galle, noverca domi est.
magnus ab infernis revocetur Tullius umbris 5
et te defendat Regulus ipse licet,
1 tropa Buddaeus, popa 0, rota y.
1 Tropa was the game of pitching knuckle-bones into a
240
BOOK IV. xiv-xvi
baric frenzy, and compel Hannibal's false wiles and
the faithless Carthaginians to yield to the great
Africani, awhile lay aside your mien austere, what
time December, idling amid alluring hazard, rings
on this side and on that with risky dice-box, and
tropa1 sports with the licentious knuckle-bone.
Lend thy leisure to my Muse, and read with a
smooth, not frowning brow, poems steeped in wanton
quips. So belike tender Catullus ventured to send
his Sparrow2 to great Maro.
XV
WHEN you asked me yesterday to lend you a
thousand sesterces on six or seven days' credit,
Caecilianus, " I haven't got them," I said ; yet you,
on the pretext of a friend's arrival, ask me for a
dish and a few vases.3 Are you a fool, or do you
think me a fool, my friend? I refused you a
thousand sesterces ; shall I give five thousand ?
XVI
STEPSON to your stepmother, Gallus, rumour had
it you never were while she was your father's wife.
But this could not be proved while your progenitor
lived. Now your father lives nowhere, Gallus, your
stepmother lives with you. Though great Tully were
recalled from the nether shades, and Regulus himself
hole, or the mouth of a jar (Pers. iii. 50), probably played
with a good deal of disorder and cheating.
4 Cat. ii. and iii. 3 Evidently of silver.
241
VOL. I. R
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
non potes absolvi : nam quae non desinit esse
post patrem, numquam, Galle, noverca fuit.
XVII
FACERE in Lyciscam, Paule, me iubes versus,
quibus ilia lectis rubeat et sit irata.
o Paule, malus es : irrumare vis solus.
XVIII
QUA vicina pluit Vipsanis porta columnis
et madet adsiduo lubricus imbre lapis,
in iugulum pueri, qui roscida tecta subibat,
decidit hiberno praegravis unda gelu ;
cumque peregisset miseri crudelia fata, 5
tabuit in calido volnere mucro tener.
quid non saeva sibi voluit Fortuna licere ?
aut ubi non mors est, si iugulatis, aquae ?
XIX
HANC tibi Sequanicae pinguem textricis alumnam,
quae Lacedaemonium barbara nomen habet,
sordida sed gelido non aspernanda Decembri
dona, peregrinam mittimus endromida,
seu lentuin ceroma teris tepid um ve trigona 5
sive harpasta manu pulverulenta rapis,
1 Some archway in the region of the Campus Agrippae,
over which passed an aqueduct, perhaps the Aqua Virgo :
cf. ill. xlvii.
242
BOOK IV. xvi-xix
were to defend you, you cannot be acquitted; for
she who has not ceased to be such after your father's
death, never, Gallus, was a stepmother.
XVII
You bid me, Paul us, write against Lycisca verses
at which she would blush and be enraged. O
Paulus, you are a rogue ! You want to keep her to
yourself !
XVIII
WHERE the gate 1 drips near the Vipsanian Columns,
and the slippery stone is wet with the constant
shower, on a boy's throat, as he passed under that
dewy roof, fell water weighted with winter frost;
and when it had wrought the unhappy victim's cruel
death, the frail dagger melted on the warm gash.
What stretch of power has not ruthless Fortune
willed for herself? Or where is not death, if ye,
O Waters, are cut-throats ? 2
XIX
THIS shaggy nursling of a weaver on the Seine,
a barbarian garb that has a Spartan name, a thing
uncouth, but not to be despised in cold December —
we send you as a gift, a foreign endromis, whether
you rub the sticky ointment,3 or catch oft the warm-
ing hand-ball, or snatch the scrimmage-ball amid the
dust, or bandy to and fro the feather weight of the
2 cf. a Greek epigram on a similar subject : Anth. Pal.
ix. 56.
3 Or, perhaps, "whether you tread the lists of the oiled
wrestler": cf. vn. xxxii. 7.
243
R 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
plumea seu laxi partiris pondera follis
sive levem cursu vincere quaeris Athan :
ne niadidos intret penetrabile frigus in artus
neve gravis subita te premat Iris aqua. 10
ridebis ventos hoc munere tectus et imbris
nee sic in Tyria sindone tutus l eris.
XX
DIGIT se vetulam, cum sit Caerellia pupa :
pupam se dicit Gellia, cum sit anus,
ferre nee hanc possis, possis, Colline, nee illam :
altera ridicula est, altera putidula.
XXI
NULLOS esse deos, inane caelum
adfirmat Segius : probatque, quod se
factum, dum negat haec, videt beatum.
XXII
PitiMos passa toros et adhuc placanda marito
merserat in nitidos se Cleopatra lacus,
dum fugit amplexus. sed prodidit unda latentem ;
lucebat, totis cum tegeretur aquis.
condita sic puro numerantur lilia vitro, 5
sic prohibet tenues gemma latere rosas.
insilui mersusque vadis luctantia carpsi
basia : perspicuae plus vetuistis aquae.
1 cidt-ua y.
1 Whether you wrestle or play at ball. Three balls are
mentioned. The trigon was a small hand-ball bandied by
players standing in a triangle ; the harpastum a similar ball
244
BOOK IV. xix-xxn
flaccid bladder- ball,1 or strive to outrun in the race
the light-footed Athas ; that searching cold may not
pass into your moist limbs, or Iris 2 overwhelm you
with a sudden shower. You will laugh at winds
and rains, clad in this gift. In Tyrian muslin you
will not be so secure.
XX
CAERELLIA calls herself an old woman, although
she is a girl ; Gellia calls hei'self a girl, although she
is a crone. One cannot put up with either this
woman, Collinus, or that : one is ridiculous, the other
disgusting.
XXI
"THERE are no gods: heaven is empty," Segius
asserts ; and he proves it, for in the midst of these
denials he sees himself made rich !
XXII
NEW to the marriage-bed, and yet unreconciled
to her husband, Cleopatra had plunged into the
gleaming pool, seeking to escape embrace. But the
wave betrayed the lurking dame ; brightly she
showed, though covered by the o'erlapping water.
So, shut in pellucid glass, lilies may be counted, so
crystal forbids tender roses to lurk hidden.3 I leapt
in, and, plunged in the waters, plucked reluctant
kisses : ye, O transparent waters, forbad aught
beyond !
scrambled for by two sets of players : it was a dusty game.
Thefollis was a large ball filled with air and struck with the
hand. See generally xiv. xlv. to xlviii.
2 The goddess of the rainbow. 3 cf. vm. xiv. 3.
245
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXHI
DUM tu lenta nimis diuque quaeris
quis primus tibi quisve sit secundus,
Graium quos : epigramma conparavit,
palmam Callimachus, Thalia, de se
facuiido dedit ipse Brutiano. 5
qui si Cecropio satur lepore
Romanae sale luserit Minervae,
illi me facias, precor, secundum.
XXIV
OMNES quas habuit, Fabiane, Lycoris arnicas
extulit. uxori fiat arnica meae.
XXV
AEMULA Baianis Altini litora villis
et Phaethontei conscia silva rogi,
quaeque Antenoreo Dryadum pulcherrima Fauno
nupsit ad Euganeos Sola puella lacus,
et tu Ledaeo felix Aquileia Timavo, 5
hie ubi septenas Cyllarus hausit aquas :
vos eritis nostrae requies portusque senectae,
si iuris fuerint otia nostra sui.
XXVI
QUOD te mane domi toto non vidimus anno,
vis dicam quantum, Postume, perdiderim ?
1 Graium quos Koestlin, gratumque codd.
1 i.e Callimachus and Brutianus.
_2 A Greek poet of Alexandria of the third century B.C.
3 The scene is laid in Venetia. Sola is the nymph (here
246
BOOK IV. xxm-xxvi
XXIII
WHILE you were considering, Thalia, very carefully
and long, which in your judgment was first, and
which second, of the pair whom Greek epigTam has
matched in rivalry,1 Callimachus 2 of his own accord
resigned the palm to eloquent Brutianus. Should
he, cloyed with Attic wit, trifle with the Roman
epigram, make me, I pray, second to him.
XXIV
ALL the friends she had, Fabianus, Lycoris has
buried. May she become a friend to my wife !
XXV
ALTINUM'S shores3 that vie with Baiae's villas, and
the wood that saw the pyre of Phaethon, and the
maid Sola, fairest of Dryads, who wed with Paduan
Faunus by the Euganean meres, and thou, Aquileia,
blest with Timavus 4 honoured by Leda's sons, where
Cyllarus quaffed its sevenfold waters — ye shall be
the refuge and harbour of my old age, if I be free
to choose the place of my repose.
XXVI
BECAUSE I have not seen you at home in the
morning for a whole year, would you have me tell
put for the lake) of a lake in the Eugauean hills (La
Solana).
4 A river with seven, or, according to Virgil (Aen. i. 245),
nine mouths, probably the river down which (cf. Plin. N. H.
iii. 22) the Argo floated to the Adriatic. Cyllarus was the
horse of Castor, one of the Argonauts : cf. viii. xxi. 5.
247
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
tricenos, puto, bis, vicenos ter, puto, nuramos.
ignosces : togulam, Postume, pluris emo.
XXVII
SAEPE meos laudare soles, Auguste, libellos.
invidus ecce negat : num minus ergo soles ?
quid quod honorato non sola voce dedisti,
non alius poterat quae dare dona mihi ?
ecce iterum nigros conrodit lividus ungues.
da, Caesar, tanto tu magis, ut doleat.
XXVIII
DONASTI tenero, Chloe, Luperco
Hispanas Tyriasque coccinasque
et lotam tepido togam Galaeso,
Indos sardonychas, Scythas zmaragdos,
et centum dominos novae monetae,
et quidquid petit usque et usque donas,
vae glabraria, vae tibi misella :
nudam te statuet tuus Lupercus.
XXIX
OBSTAT, care Pudens, nostris sua turba libellis
lectoremque frequens lassat et implet opus.
rara iuvant : primis sic maior gratia pomis,
hibernae pretium sic meruere rosae ;
248
BOOK IV. xxvi-xxix
you, Posturuus, how much I have lost ? Twice thirty
sesterces, perhaps, perhaps thrice twenty. Your
pardon ! On a poor toga, Postumus, I spend more !
XXVII
OFT are you wont to praise my poems, Augustus.
See, a jealous fellow denies it ; are you wont to
praise them the less for that? Have you not besides
given me, honoured not in words alone, gifts that
none other could give ? See, the jealous fellow again
gnaws his filthy nails ! Give me, Caesar, all the
more, that he may writhe !
XXVIII
You have given, Chloe, to young Lupercus cloaks
of Spanish wool dyed with Tyrian purple and with
scarlet, and a toga dipt in the mild Galesus, Indian
sardonyxes, Scythian emeralds, and a hundred sove-
reigns of new-minted money, and whatever he asks
you give over and over again. Woe to you, enamoured
of smooth-skinned boys, woe to you, wretched woman !
Your Lupercus l will leave you naked.
XXIX
DEAR Pudens, their very number hampers my
poems, and volume after volume wearies and sates the
reader. Rare things please one ; so greater charm
belongs to early apples, so winter roses win value ;
1 Perhaps with a reference to the Luperci, priests of Pan,
who ran naked through Rome on the festival of the Luper-
calia. " Yon will be bare as Lupercus."
249
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
sic spoliatricem commendat fastus amicam, 5
ianua nee iuvenem semper aperta tenet.
saepius in libro numeratur Persius uno
quam levis in tota Marsus Amazonide.
tu quoque, de nostris releges quemcumque libellis,
esse puta solum : sic tibi pluris erit. 10
XXX
BAIANO procul a lacu, monemus,
piscator, fuge, ne nocens recedas.
sacris piscibus hae natantur undae,
qui norunt dominum manumque lambunt
illam, qua nihil est in orbe maius. 5
quid quod nomen habent et ad magistri
vocem quisque sui venit citatus ?
hoc quondam Libys impius profundo,
dum praedam calamo tremente ducit,
raptis luminibus repente caecus 10
captum non potuit videre plscem,
et nunc sacrilegos perosus hamos
Baianos sedet ad lacus rogator.
at tu, dum potes, innocens recede
iactis simplicibus cibis in undas, 15
et pisces venerare delicatos.
XXXI
QUOD cupis in nostris dicique legique libellis
et nonnullus honos creditur iste tibi,
ne valeam si non res est gratissima nobis
et volo te chartis inseruisse meis.
1 An epigrammatic poet : cf. vn. xcix. 7 ; vni. Iv. 24. He
seems to have also written an epic on the Amazons.
250
BOOK IV. xxtx-xxxi
so her pride commends a mistress who pillages you,
and a door always open holds fast no lover. Oftener
Persius wins credit in a single book than trivial
Marsus x in his whole Amazonid. Do you, too, what-
ever of my books you read again, think that it is
the only one : so 'twill be to you of fuller worth.
XXX
FROM Baiae's lake, fisherman, I warn thee, fly
afar, lest with guilt thou depart ! These waters
swim with hallowed fish, that know their lord,2 and
fondle that hand greater than anything on earth.
Aye, do they not bear his name, and at its master's
voice does not each when summoned come ? While
aforetime an impious Libyan was drawing up out
of this deep his prey with tremulous line, his eyes
were snatched from him, and in sudden blindness
he could not see the taken fish, and now, loathing
his sacrilegious hooks, he sits by Baiae's lake a beggar.
But do thou, while thou canst, depart yet innocent
when thou hast cast into the water guileless bait,
and revere these dainty fish.
XXXI
SEEING that you wish to be mentioned and read of
in my poems, and that honour you deem to be some-
thing, may I perish, but the idea is one most pleasant
to me ; and I wish to include you in my writings.
2 The Emperor.
251
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
sed tu nomen habes averse fonte sororum 5
inpositum, mater quod tibi dura dedit ;
quod nee Melpomene, quod nee Polyhymnia possit
nee pia cum Phoebo dicere Calliope.
ergo aliquod gratum Musis tibi nomen adopta :
non semper belle dicitur "Hippodame." 10
XXXII
ET latet et lucet Phaethontide condita gutta,
ut videatur apis nectare clusa suo.
dignum tantorum pretium tulit ilia laborum :
credibile est ipsam sic voluisse mori.
XXXIII
PLENA laboratis habeas cum scrinia libris,
emittis quare, Sosibiane, nihil ?
"Edent heredes" inquis "mea carmina." quando ?
tempus erat iam te, Sosibiane, legi.
XXXIV
SORDIDA cum tibi sit, verum tamen, Attale, dicit,
quisquis te niveam dicit habere togam.
1 A fanciful reproduction of some Latin name incapable of
being brought into M.'s metre, whether elegiac, lyric, or
heroic.
2 Similar epigrams are iv. lix. and vi. xv. See on the
subject generally, Tac. Germ. xlv. and Plin. N.H.ujmvu. 31.
252
BOOK IV. xxxi-xxxiv
But you have a name, given you by your hard-hearted
mother, which was laid upon you when the sister
Muses' fountain was unkind, and which neither
Melpomene nor Polyhymnia could utter, nor kindly
Calliope, with Phoebus' aid. So assume for yourself
some name the Muses like : it is not pretty to be
always saying " Hippodame." l
XXXII
IN an amber-drop the bee lies hid and lightens,
so that it seems to be shut in its native sweets.
Worthy reward for all its toils it has won ; methinks
itself would have wished so to die.2
ALTHOUGH you possess bookcases crammed with
books, arduously compiled, why, Sosibianus, do you
send forth nothing? " My heirs," you say, "will
publish my lays." When, oh, when ? 'Tis already
high time, Sosibianus, you should be read.3
XXXIV
ALTHOUGH your toga is dirty, Attalus, yet he says
truly who says that you have a snowy 4 toga.
3 There is an intentional ambiguity here. " You should
have by now given us a chance of reading you," or " By now
you should have been dead/'
4 A threadbare toga seems to have been called nivea, as
giving no warmth : c/. ix. xlix. 8.
253
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXXV
FRONTIBUS adversis molles concurrere dammas
vidimus et fati sorte iacere pan.
spectavere canes praedam, stupuitque superbus
venator cultro nil superesse suo.
unde leves animi tanto caluere furore ? o
sic pugnant tauri, sic cecidere viri.
XXXVI
CANA est barba tibi, nigra est coma : tinguere barbam
non potes (haec causa est) et potes, Ole, comam.
XXXVII
" CENTUM Coranus et ducenta Mancinus,
trecenta debet Titius, hoc bis Albinus,
decies Sabinus alterumque Serranus ;
ex insulis fundisque triciens soldum,
ex pecore redeunt ter ducena Parmensi " : 5
totis diebus, Afer, hoc mihi narras
et teneo melius ista quam meum nomen.
numeres oportet aliquid, ut pati possim :
cotidianam refice nauseam nummis :
audire gratis, Afer, ista non possum. 10
XXXVIII
GALLA, nega : satiatur amor nisi gaudia torquent :
sed noli nimium, Galla, negare diu.
1 cf. iv. Ixxiv.
254
BOOK IV. xxxv-xxxvm
XXXV
WITH opposing brows we have seen gentle does
meet in fight, and lie stricken by an equal fate of
death. Dogs have gazed upon the quarry, and the
proud huntsman has stood amazed that no task re-
mained for his knife. Whence have gentle spirits
drawn such furious heat ? So battle bulls, so have
fallen men.1
XXXVI
WHITE is your beard, black is your hair ; dye your
beard you cannot — this is the reason — but you can
your hair, Olus.2
XXXVII
"A HUNDRED thousand sesterces Coranus owes me,
and two hundred Mancinus, three hundred Titius,
twice as much Albinus, a million Sabinus, and another
million Serranus ; from my flats and farms come in
a clear three millions, from my flocks at Parma is a
return of six hundred thousand." Every and all day,
Afer, you prate of this to me, and I remember it all
better than my own name. You must count out
something to make me endure this ; cure by cash
my daily nausea ; I can't hear that tale, Afer, for
nothing.
XXXVIII
REFUSE me, Galla; love cloys if its pleasures torture
not : but refuse not, Galla, too long.
2 Perhaps the meaning is 0. is suffering from some disease
of the chin (cf. Plin. N.H. xxvi. 2) preventing the use of
dye : cf. i. Ixxvii. 5.
255
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXXIX
ARQENTI genus omne conparasti,
et solus veteres Myronos artes,
solus Praxitelus manum Scopaeque,
solas Phidiaci toreuma caeli,
solus Mentoreos habes labores. ;">
nee desunt tibi vera Grattiana
nee quae Callaico linuntur auro
nee mensis anaglypta de paternis.
argentum tamen inter omne miror
quare non habeas, Charine, purum. 10
XL
ATRIA Pisonum stabant cum stemmate toto
et docti Senecae ter numeranda domus,
praetulimus tantis solum te, Postume, regnis ;
pauper eras et eques sed mihi consul eras,
tecum ter denas numeravi, Postume, brumas : 5
communis nobis lectus et unus erat.
iam donare potes, iam perdere, plenus honorum,
largus opum : expecto, Postume, quid facias,
nil facis et serum est alium mihi quaerere regem.
hoc, Fortuna, placet ? "Postumus inposuit." 10
XLI
QUID recitaturus circumdas vellera collo?
conveniunt nostris auribus ista magis.
1 i.e. Spanish. The Gallaeci or Callaici inhabited the
modern Galicia where gold was found : cf. x. xvi. 3 ; xrv.
xcv. 1.
2 A play on the double meaning of "unadorned " and
" undenled by your lips": cf. I. Ixxvii. 6.
BOOK IV. xxx.x-xu
XXXIX
You have collected every kind of silver plate, and
you alone possess Myron's antique works of art, you
alone the handiwork of Praxiteles and of Scopas, you
alone the chased product of Phidias' graving chisel,
you alone the results of Mentor's toil. Nor do you
lack genuine works of Grattius, or dishes overlaid
with Gallician l gold, or pieces in relief from an-
cestral tables. Nevertheless I wonder why, amid
all your silver plate, you, Charinus, have nothing
chaste.2
XL
WHEN the Pisos' hall stood with all its ances-
try,3 and learned Seneca's house illustrious for its
triple names,4 you alone, Postumus, I chose before
patronage so great ; poor were you, and a knight,
but to me you were a consul. With you I summed,
Postumus, twice ten winters ; common to us both
was one couch. Now you can make gifts, now
squander, full as you are of honours, copious in
wealth ; I await, Postumus, to see what you will do.
You do nothing, and 'tis too late for me to seek
another patron. Does this, Fortune, please you ?
"Postumus is a fraud."5
XLI
WHY, when about to recite, do you put a muffler
round your neck ? That is more suitable to our ears !
3 The house had declined since C. Calpurnius Piso's con-
spiracy against Nero, A.D. 65.
4 Probably M. means Seneca, the philosopher and tutor of
Nero, his brother Gallio, and Annaeus Pomponius Mela, the
writer on geography.
6 This is Fortune's reply. P. has deceived her.
257
VOL. I. S
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XLII
Si quis forte mihi possit praestare roganti,
audi, quern puerum, Flacce, rogare velim.
Niliacis primum puer hie nascatur in oris :
nequitias tellus scit dare nulla magis.
sit nive candidior : namque in Mareotide fusca 5
pulchrior est quanto rarior iste color,
lumina sideribus certent mollesque flagellent
colla comae : tortas non amo, Flacce, comas,
frons brevis atque modus leviter sit naribus uncis,
Paestanis rubeant aemula labra rosis. 10
saepe et nolentem cogat nolitque volentem,
liberior domino saepe sit ille suo ;
et timeat pueros, excludat saepe puellas ;
vir reliquis, uni sit puer ille mihi.
" lam scio, nee fallis : nam me quoque iudice verum
est. 15
talis erat " dices " noster Amazonicus."
XLIII
NON dixi, Coracine, te cinaedum :
non sum tarn temerarius nee audax
nee mendacia qui loquar libenter.
si dixi, Coracine, te cinaedum,
iratam mihi Pontiae lagonam, 5
iratum calicem mihi Metili :
iuro per Syrios tibi tumores,
iuro per Berecyntios furores.
quid dixi tamen ? hoc leve et pusillum,
quod notum est, quod et ipse non negabis : 10
dixi te, Coracine, cunnilingum.
1 Pontia (cf. n. xxxiv.) and Metilius were poisoners.
258
BOOK IV. XLII-XLIII
XLII
IF any could by chance guarantee me the boon at
my asking, hear, Flaccus, what kind of boy I would
wish to ask for. First of all, let this boy be born
on the shores of the Nile ; no country knows better
how to beget roguish ways. Let him be fairer than
snow ; for in swarthy Mareotis that hue is more
beautiful by its rarity. Let his eyes vie with stars,
and his soft locks tumble over his neck ; I like not,
Flaccus, braided locks. Let his brow be low and
his nose slightly aquiline, let his lips rival the red of
Paestan roses. And let him oft compel endearments
when I am loth, and refuse them when I am fain ;
may he oft be more free than his lord ! And let him
shrink from boys, oft exclude girls ; man to all else,
to me alone let him be a boy. " Now I know him ;
you do not deceive me ; 'tis in my judgment true.
Such was," you will say, "my Amazonicus."
XLIII
1 DID not call you, Coracinus, an unnatural lecher ;
I am not so rash or daring, nor one willingly to
tell lies. If I called you, Coracinus, an unnatural
lecher, may I feel the wrath of Pontia's flagon, the
wrath of Metilius' cup ! ] I swear to you by the
swellings of Syrian votaries,2 I swear by Berecynthian
frenzies. Yet what did I say? This light and in-
significant thing — a known fact which you yourself,
too, will not deny: I said that you, Coracinus, were,
as regards women, " evil-tongued."
2 Perhaps a reference to the swellings with which Isis
punished misdeeds : cf. Deos inflantes corpora, Pers. v. 187.
259
S 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XLIV
Hie est pampiiieis viridis modo Vesbius umbris ;
presserat hie madidos nobilis uva lacus ;
haec iuga, quam Nysae colles plus Bacchus amavit ;
hoc nuper Satyri monte dedere chores ;
haec Veneris sedes, Lacedaemone gratior illi ; 5
hie locus Herculeo numine clarus erat.
cuncta iacent flammis et tristi mersa favilla :
nee superi vellent hoc licuisse sibi.
XLV
HAEC tibi pro nato plena dat laetus acerra,
Phoebe, Palatinus muiiera Parthenius,
ut qui prima novo signal quinquennia lustro,
impleat innumeras Burrus Olympiadas.
fac rata vota patris : sic te tua diligat arbor, 5
gaudeat et certa virginitate soror,
perpetuo sic flore mices, sic denique 11011 sint
tarn longae Bromio quam tibi, Phoebe, comae.
XLVI
SATURNALIA divitem Sabellum
fecerunt : merito tumet Sabellus,
nee quemquam putat esse praedicatque
inter causidicos 'beatiorem.
hos fastus animosque dat Sabello 5
farris semodius fabaeque fresae,
1 Mount Vesuvius, which erupted A.U. 79, and destroyed
Pompeii and Herculaneum.
2 Herculaneum. 3 Domitian's secretary : rf. xi. i.
260
BOOK IV. XLIV-XLVI
XLIV
THIS is Vesbius,1 green yesterday with viny shades ;
here had the noble grape loaded the dripping vats ;
these ridges Bacchus loved more than the hills of
Nysa; on this mount of late the Satyrs set afoot
their dances ; this was the haunt of Venus, more
pleasant to her than Lacedaemon ; this spot was
made glorious by the name of Hercules.2 All lies
drowned in fire and melancholy ash ; even the High
Gods could have wished this had not been permitted
them.
XLV
THESE offerings to thee for his son from flowing
censer, O Phoebus, Palatine Parthenius 3 gives with
joy, that Burrus, who crowns his first five years with
a new lustrum, may complete countless Olympiads.4
Make good a father's vows ! So may thy laurel love
thee, and thy sister 5 rejoice in her assured virginity,
so mayst thou shine in endless youth, so too may the
locks of Bromius 6 be not longer, Phoebus, than are
thine !
XLVI
THE Saturnalia have made Sabellus rich: with
reason Sabellus is puffed up ; and there is no man,
he thinks and declares, among the lawyers 7 more
fortunate. This pride and conceit is inspired in
Sabellus by half a peck of spelt and crushed beans,
4 The lustrum was five years, the Olympiad four. M. treats
them as the same. 5 Diana. 6 Bacchus.
7 Who received presents from their clients at the Satur-
nalia : cf. xii. Ixxii.
261
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
et turis piperisqtie tres selibrae,
et Lucanica ventre cum Falisco,
et nigri Syra defruti lagona,
et ficus Libyca gelata testa 10
cum bulbis cocleisque caseoque.
Piceno quoque venit a cliente
parcae cistula non capax olivae,
et crasso figuli polita caelo
septenaria synthesis Sagunti, 15
Hispanae luteum rotae toreuma,
et lato variata mappa clavo.
Saturnalia fructuosiora
annis non habuit decem Sabellus.
XLVII
ENCAUSTUS Phaethon tabula tibi pictus in hac est.
quid tibi vis, dipyrum qui Phaethonta facis ?
XLVIII
PERCIDI gaudes, percisus, Papyle, ploras.
cur, quae vis fieri, Papyle, facta doles?
paenitet obscenae pruriginis ? an rnagis illud
fles, quod percidi, Papyle, desieris ?
XLIX
NESCIT, crede inihi, quid sint epigrammata, Flacce,
qui tantum lusus ista iocosque vocat.
ille magis ludit qui scribit prandia saevi
Tereos aut cenam, crude Thyesta, tuam,
1 Sarcastic, relief work being appropriate to gold or silver,
not to clay : cf. vm. vi. and xiv. cviii. Saguntine cups were
of clay : cf. xiv. cviii.
262
BOOK IV. XLVI-XLIX
and three half-pounds of frankincense and pepper,
and Lucanian sausages together with a Faliscan
paunch, and a Syrian flagon of black boiled must, and
fig-jelly in a Libyan jar, together with bulbs, snails,
and cheese. There arrived also from a Picenian client
a small box scarcely large enough for a few olives,
and a set of seven cups smoothed at Saguntum by
the potter's clumsy chisel (the embossed l work in
clay of the Spanish wheel), and a napkin diversified
with a broad 2 stripe. Saturnalia more fruitful these
ten years Sabellus has not enjoyed.3
XLVII
ON this tablet you have an encaustic painting of
Phaethon. What is your object in getting Phaethon*
burnt twice ?
XLVIII
Tu godi d'essere immembrato ; e dopo d'esserlo
stato, tu, O Papilo, piangi. Perche, O Papilo, ti
lagni tu di ci6 che vuoi che ti si faccia ? Ti penti tu
dell'osceno prurito, ovvero piangi tu, Papilo, per
desiderarlo maggiormente ?
XLIX
HE does not know, believe me, what epigrams
are, Flaccus, who styles them only frivolities and
quips. He is more frivolous who writes of the meal of
savage Tereus, or of thy banquet, dyspeptic Thyestes,
2 Which was the distinction only of a senator, which S.
was not.
3 Ironical, the gifts being poor ones. * cf. IV. xxv.
263
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
aut puero liquidas aptantem Daedalon alas, 5
pascentem Siculas aut Polyphemon ovis.
a nostris procul est omnis vesica libellis,
Musa nee insano syrmate iiostra tumet.
"Ilia tamen laudant omnes, mirantur, adorant."
confiteor : laudant ilia sed ista legunt. 10
L
QUID me, Thai, senem subinde dicis?
nemo est, Thai, senex ad irrumandum.
LI
CUM tibi non essent sex milia, Caeciliane,
ingenti late vectus es hexaphoro :
postquam bis decies tribuit dea caeca sinumque
ruperunt nummi, factus es, ecce, pedes.
quid tibi pro meritis et tantis laudibus optem ? 5
di reddant sellam, Caeciliane, tibi.
LII
GESTAHI iunctis nisi desinis, Hedyle, capris,
qui modo ficus eras, iam caprificus eris.
LIII
HUNC, quern saepe vides intra penetralia nostrae
Pallados et templi limina, Cosme, novi
1 The epigram is possibly an attack on the poet Statius,
whom M. never mentions. * cf. i. xcix.
3 Haemorrhoids : cf. I. Ixv. ; vn. Ixxi. The caprificus was
a wild fig. M.'s pun is a cumbrous one.
264
BOOK IV. XLIX-LIII
or of Daedalus fitting to his son melting wings, or of
Polyphemus pasturing Sicilian sheep. Far from poems
of mine is all turgescence, nor does my Muse swell
with frenzied tragic train. " Yet all men praise
those tragedies, admire, worship them." I grant it :
those they praise, but they read the others.1
L
WHY, Thais, do you constantly call me old ? No
one, Thais, is too old for some things.
LI
WHEN you did not possess six thousand, Caecili-
anus, you were carried all over the town in a huge
litter and six ; now the blind goddess has bestowed
on you two millions, and your moneys have burst
through your purse, see, you go on foot ! What
should I wish you for merits and excellencies so
great ? May the gods restore you your litter,
Caecilianus ! 2
LII
UNLESS you leave off, Hedylus, being drawn by a
yoke of goats, you, who just now were adorned with
figs,3 will soon be a goat-fig.
LIII
THIS fellow, whom you often see in the inner pre-
cincts of our patron Pallas4 and on the threshold,
Cosmus, of the New Temple,5 a dotard with staff
4 The Temple of Minerva, lately founded by Domitian in
honour of the Flavian family : cf. ix. i. 8.
8 The Templum divi Augusti on the Palatine facing the
Capitol, or the Temple of Minerva already mentioned.
265
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
cum baculo peraque senem, cut cana putrisque
stat coma et in pectus sordida barba cadit,
cerea quern nudi tegit uxor abolla grabati, 5
cui dat latratos obvia turba cibos,
esse putas Cynicum deceptus imagine ficta.
non est hie Cynicus, Cosme : quid ergo ? canis.
LIV
O cui Tarpeias licuit contingere quercus
et meritas prima cingere fronde comas,
si sapis, utaris totis, Colline, diebus
extremumque tibi semper adesse putes.
lanificas nulli tres exorare puellas 5
contigit : observant quern statuere diem,
divitior Crispo, Thrasea constantior ipso,
lautior et nitido sis Meliore licet,
nil adicit penso Lachesis fusosque sororum
explicat et semper de tribus una secat. 10
LV
Luci, gloria temporum tuorum,
qui Caium veterem Tagumque nostrum
Arpis cedere non sinis disertis,
Argivas generatus inter urbes
Thebas carmine cantet aut Mycenas, 5
aut claram Rhodon aut libidinosae
Ledaeas Lacedaemonos palaestras.
1 " Cynic" was derived from KVUV (dog).
2 See iv. i. 6. » The Fates.
4 Either Passienus Crispus, consul A.D. 42, Nero's step-
father, or Vibius Crispus, the delator : Tac. Hist. ii. 10 ;
Juv. iv. 85.
266
BOOK IV. UII-LV
and wallet, whose hair stands up white and shaggy,
and whose filthy beard falls over his breast, whom a
threadbare cloak, the partner of his bare truckle-
bed, covers, to whom the crowd, as it meets him,
gives the scraps he barks for — you, deceived by his
get-up, imagine to be a Cynic. This fellow is no
Cynic, Cosmus. What is he, then ? A dog.1
LIV
O THOU, to whom it has been given to reach the
Tarpeian crown of oak,2 and to wreathe worthy locks
with peerless leafage, if thou art wise use to the full,
Colliiius, all thy days, and ever deem that each is
thy last. The three wool-spinning sisters3 it has
been no man's lot to move by prayer; they keep
their appointed day. Though thou wert richer than
Crispus,4 more firm of soul than Thrasea's self,5 more
refined even than sleek Melior, yet Lachesis addeth
nought to her tale of wool, and the sisters' spindles
she unwinds, and ever one of the three cuts the
thread.
LV
Lucius, the glory of your time, who let not hoary
Gaius 6 and our native Tagus yield to eloquent Arpi,7
let him who was born amid Argive cities chant in
his song Thebes, or Mycenae, or illustrious Rhodes,
or of the wanton wrestling-grounds of Ledaean Lace-
8 Thrasea Paetus, a Stoic philosopher, put to death by
Nero. Called by Tacitus (Ann. xvi. 21) virtiis ipaa '(virtue
itself).
8 cf. I. xlix. 5. Probably Lucius is the Licinianus of that
epigram.
7 i.e. to the birthplace of Cicero.
267
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
nos Celtis genitos et ex Hiberis
nostrae nomina duriora terrae
grato non pudeat referre versu : 10
saevo Bilbilin optimam metallo,
quae vincit Chalybasque Noricosque,
et ferro Plateam suo sonantem,
quatn fluctu tenui set inquieto
armorum Salo temperator ambit, 15
tutelamque chorosque Rixamarum,
et convivia festa Carduarum,
et textis Peterin rosis rubentem,
atque antiqua patrum theatra Rigas,
et certos iaculo levi Silaos, 20
Turgontique lacus Perusiaeque,
et parvae vada pura Tuetonissae,
et sanctum Buradonis ilicetum,
per quod vel piger ambulat viator,
et quae fortibus excolit iuvencis 25
curvae Manlius arva Vativescae.
haec tarn rustica, delicate lector,
rides nomina ? rideas licebit :
haec tarn rustica malo, quam Butuntos.
LVI
MUNERA quod senibus viduisque ingentia mittis,
vis te munificum, Gargiliane, vocem ?
sordidius nihil est, nihil est te spurcius uiio,
qui potes insidias dona vocare tuas.
sic avidis fallax indulget piscibus hamus, 5
callida sic stultas decipit esca feras.
quid sit largiri, quid sit donare docebo,
si nescis : dona, Gargiliane, mihi.
1 cf. i. xlix. 52.
268
BOOK IV. LV-LVI
daemon. Let not us, sprung from Celts and from
Iberians, be ashamed to recall in grateful verse the
harsher names of our native land, Bilbilis, excellent
in steel for war, that surpasses the Chalybes and the
Noricans, and Platea ringing with her native iron,
which with its small but troublous stream, Salo,
armour's temperer,1 encircles ; and the guardian god
and choruses of Rixamae, and the festive feasts of
Carduae, and Peteris blushing with twined roses, and
Rigae, our fathers' ancient theatre, and the Silai un-
erring with the light javelin, and the lakes of Tur-
gontum and'Perusia, and the clear shallows of small
Tuetonissa, and Buradon's hallowed oak-wood, where-
through even a lazy wayfarer is fain to walk, and
the fields of Vativesca on the slope which Manlius
tills with sturdy steers. Do you laugh, nice reader,
at these names as so rustic ? You may laugh : these
names, so rustic, I prefer to Butunti.2
LVI
BECAUSE you send huge presents to old men and
to widows, do you want me, Gargilianus, to call you
munificent? There is nothing more sordid, nothing
more filthy than your unrivalled self who venture to
call your enticements gifts. So the perfidious hook
flatters greedy fish, so the crafty bait deceives foolish
wild beasts. What is generosity, what is giving, I
will teach you if you don't know ; give, Gargilianus,
to me.
* A small town in Apulia, which M. elsewhere laughs at :
cf, n. xlviii.
269
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LVII
DUM nos blanda tenent lascivi stagna Lucrini
et quae pumiceis fontibus antra calent,
tu colis Argei regnum, Faustina, coloni,
quo te bis decimus ducit ab urbe lapis,
horrida sed fervent Nemeaei pectora monstri, 5
nee satis est Baias igne calere suo.
ergo sacri fontes et litora grata valete,
Nympharum pariter Nereidumque domus.
Herculeos colles gelida vos vincite bruma,
nunc Tiburtinis cedite frigoribus. 10
LVIII
IN tenebris luges amissum, Galla, maritum.
nam plorare pudet te, puto, Galla, virum.
LIX
FLENTIBUS Heliadum ramis dum vipera repit,
fluxit in obstantem sucina gutta feram ;
quae dura miratur pingui se rore teneri,
concreto riguit vincta repente gelu.
ne tibi regali placeas, Cleopatra, sepulchro, 5
vipera si tumulo nobiliore iacet.
LX
ARDEA solstitio Castranaque rura petantur
quique Cleonaeo sidere fervet ager,
1 Tibur, founded by Catillus the Argive.
* The Constellation Leo. The "heart" is a star in the
Constellation particularly bright.
3 Because she had been unfaithful to him while alive.
270
BOOK IV. LVII-LX
LVII
WHILE the seductive waters of the wanton Lucrine
lake keep me here, and the grots warm with their
volcanic springs, you, Faustinus, sojourn in the realm1
of the Argive colonist, whither the twice-tenth mile-
stone draws you from the city. But terribly glows
the heart of Nemea's monstrous lion,5* and Baiae is
not content with her own fire. So, ye sacred founts
and pleasant shores, farewell, the abode alike of
Nymphs and of Nereids ! Surpass ye the hills of
Hercules in cold winter; now yield ye to Tibur's
cool !
LVIII
IN darkness you lament, Galla, your husband lost.
For, I think, you are ashamed, Galla, to deplore your
spouse openly.3
LIX
WHILE a viper crept along the weeping poplar-
boughs there flowed a gummy drop o'er the beast that
met its path, and while she marvelled to be stayed
by that clinging dew, suddenly she grew stiff, en-
fettered by the congealing mass. Pride not thyself,
Cleopatra, on thy royal sepulchre if a viper lies in a
nobler tomb ! 4
LX
SEEK ye Ardea in summer's heat, and the fields
of Castrum, and meads scorched by Cleonae's
* cf. iv. xxxii. ; vi. xv. Notwithstanding his comparison
of Cleopatra's asp, M. by "viper" must mean some small
creeping thing. Pliny (N.ff. xxxvii. 11) speaks of ants,
gnats, and lizards.
271
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
cum Tiburtinas damnet Curiatius auras
inter laudatas ad Styga missus aquas,
nullo fata loco possis excludere ; cum mors 5
venerit, in medio Tibure Sardinia est.
LXI
DONASSE amicum tibi ducenta, Mancine,
nuper superbo laetus ore iactasti.
quartus dies est, in schola poetarum
dum fabulamur, milibus decem dixti
emptas lacernas munus esse Pompullae ; 5
sardonycha verum lineisque ter cinctum
duasque similes fluctibus maris gemmas
dedisse Bassam Caeliamque iurasti.
here de theatro, Pollione cantante,
cum subito abires, dum fugis, loquebaris, 10
hereditatis tibi trecenta venisse,
et mane centum, et post meridiem centum.
quid tibi sodales fecimus mali tantum ?
miserere iam crudelis et sile tandem.
aut, si tacere lingua non potest ista, 15
aliquando narra quod velimus audire.
LXII
TIBUR in Herculeum migravit nigra Lycoris,
omnia dum fieri Candida credit ibi.
1 Ardea and Castrum Inui in Latium were hot places,
as was also Baiae (ager) in summer : cf. iv. Ivii. 5. " Cleonae's
star " is the Constellation of Leo.
8 Proverbially unhealthy.
3 Sardonyx is the Sardian onyx (so called from Sardis, the
capital of Lydia : Skeat's Etym. Diet. 5,35), i.e. agate of a
deep red colour, which, when cut transversely, has the
272
BOOK IV. LX-LXII
star,1 seeing that Curiatius condemns Tibur's air ;
from amid waters so belauded was he sent to Styx.
In no spot canst thou shut out fate ; when death
comes even in Tibur's midst is a Sardinia.2
LXI
PROUDLY and joyfully the other day you boasted,
Maiicinus, that a friend had bestowed on you two
hundred thousand sesterces. Three days ago, while
we were chatting in the Poets' Club, you told me
that a cloak, Pompulla's present, cost ten thousand ;
you swore that Bassa and Caelia had given you a
genuine sardonyx, one girt with triple lines,3 and
two gems like the sea-waves.4 Yesterday, though
your exit from the theatre, while Pollio 5 was singing,
was sudden, in your very flight you said that three
hundred thousand sesterces had come to you by
will, and this morning you added a hundred, and
afterwards at noon another hundred. What great
injury have we, your friends, done you ? Cruel fellow,
at length pity us, and at length hold your peace. Or,
if that tongue of yours can't be still, prate some-
times of what we want to hear.
LXII
DARK Lycoris shifted her quarters to Herculean
Tibur, fancying that everything became white
there.6
main body of the stone surrounded by concentric rings of a
different colour. Such stones were much valued for signet-
rings : see King, Ant. Gems, i. 224 ; Skeat, supra.
4 Aquamarines.
8 A celebrated player on the cithara. 6 c/. vn. xiii.
273
VOL. I. T
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXIII
DUM petit a Baulis mater Caerellia Baias,
occidit insani crimine mersa freti.
gloria quanta perit vobis ! haec monstra Neroni
nee iussae quondam praestiteratis, aquae.
LXIV
IULI iugera pauca Martialis
hortis Hesperidum beatiora
longo laniculi iugo recumbunt :
lati collibus imminent 1 recessus
et planus modico tumore vertex 5
caelo perfruitur sereniore
et curvas nebula tegente valles
solus luce nitet peculiar! :
puris leniter admoventur astris
celsae culmina delicata villae. 10
hinc septem dominos videre montis
et totam licet aestimare Romam,
Albanos quoque Tusculosque colles,
et quodcumque iacet sub urbe frigus,
Fidenas veteres brevesque Rubras, 15
et quod virgineo cruore gaudet
Annae pomiferum nemus Perennae.
illinc Flaminiae Salariaeque
gestator patet essedo tacente,
ne blando rota sit molesta somno, 20
quern nee rumpere nauticum celeuma
1 eminent 0.
1 Who had attempted to drown his mother Agrippina in
a boat with a collapsible bottom.
274
BOOK IV. LXIII-LXIV
LXIII
WHILE Caerellia, a mother, was sailing from Bauli
to Baiae, she perished o'erwhelmed by the guilt of
a maddened sea. What glory ye lost, ye waters !
Such monstrous service, even at his bidding, ye once
refused to Nero.1
LXIV
THE few fields of Julius Martialis, more favoured
than the gardens of the Hesperides, rest on the long
ridge of Janiculum : wide sheltered reaches look
down2 on the hills, and the flat summit, gently
swelling, enjoys to the full a clearer sky, and, when
mist shrouds the winding vales, alone shines with its
own brightness ; the dainty roof of the tall villa
gently rises up to the unclouded stars. On this side
may you see the seven sovereign hills and take the
measure of all Rome, the Alban hills and Tusculan
too, and every cool retreat nestling near the city, old
Fidenae and tiny Rubrae, and Anna Perenna's fruitful
grove that joys in maiden blood.3 On that side the
traveller shows on the Flaminian or Salarian way,
though his carriage makes no sound, that wheels
should not disturb the soothing sleep which neither
2 Munro explains : deep clefts with their heights tower
over the fields.
3 A difficult passage. Anna Perenna was a native Latin
deity, at whose festival on the Ides of March women sang
lascivious songs. Munro accordingly suggests riryine nequiore
yaudet. Nothing is known of viryineus cruor.
275
T 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
nee clamor valet helciariorum,
cum sit tarn prope Mulvius sacrumque
lapsae per Tiberim volent carinae.
hoc rus, seu potius domus vocanda est, 25
commendat dominus : tuam putabis,
tam non invida tamque liberalis,
tarn comi patet hospitalitate :
credas Alcinoi pios Penates
aut, facti modo divitis, Molorchi. 30
vos nunc omnia parva qui putatis,
centeno gelidum ligone Tibur
vel Praeneste domate pendulamque
uni dedite Setiam colono,
dum me iudice praeferantur istis 35
lull iugera pauca Martialis.
LXV
OCULO Philaenis semper altero plorat.
quo fiat istud quaeritis modo ? lusca est.
LXVI
EGISTI vitam semper, Line, municipalem,
qua nihil omnino vilius esse potest.
Idibus et raris togula est excussa Kalendis,
duxit et aestates synthesis una decem.
saltus aprum, campus leporem tibi misit inemptum, 5
silva gravis turdos exagitata dedit.
captus flumineo venit de gurgite piscis,
vina ruber fudit non peregrina cadus.
1 King of Phaeacia, who entertained Ulysses on his jour-
ney to Ithaca homeward : Horn. Od. vii. seqq.
276
BOOK IV. LXIV-LXVI
boatswain's call nor bargemen's shout is loud enough
to break, though the Mulvian Bridge is so near,
and the keels that swiftly glide along the sacred
Tiber. This country seat — if it should not be called
a town mansion — its owner commends to you : you
will fancy it is yours, so ungrudgingly, so freely, and
with such genial hospitality it lies open to you ; you
will believe it to be the kindly dwelling of Alcinous,1
or of Molorchus2 just become rich. You who to-day
deem all this but small, subdue ye cool Tibur's soil,
or Praeneste, with an hundred hoes, and assign to
one tenant Setia on the hill, so that ye let me as
judge prefer to that the few fields of Julius Martialis.
LXV
PHILAENIS always weeps with one eye. Do you
ask how that happens ? She is one-eyed.
LXVI
You have lived a provincial life always, Linus, and
nothing in the world can be more inexpensive than
that. On the Ides, and now and again on the Kalends,
your poor toga has been shaken out, and a single
dinner-suit has gone through ten summers. The
glade has sent you boar, the field the unbought
hare ; the wood, when beaten, has given plump field-
fares. The captured fish has come from the river's
eddies, a red jar has poured out no foreign wine.
'*• A shepherd who unknowingly entertained Hercules.
277
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
nee tener Argolica missus de gente minister
sed stetit inculti rustica turba foci. 10
vilica vel duri conpressa est nupta coloni,
incaluit quotiens saucia vena mero.
nee nocuit tectis ignis nee Sirius agris,
nee mersa est pelago nee fluit ulla ratis.
subposita est blando numquam tibi tessera talo, 15
alea sed parcae sola fuere nuces.
die ubi sit decies, mater quod avara reliquit.
nusquam est : fecisti rem, Line, difficilem.
LXVII
PRAETOREM pauper centum sestertia Gaurus
orabat cana notus amicitia,
dicebatque suis haec tantum desse trecentis,
ut posset domino plaudere iustus eques.
praetor ait " Scis me Scorpo Thalloque daturum, 5
atque utinam centum milia sola darem."
a pudet ingratae, pudet a male divitis arcae :
quod non vis equiti, vis dare, praetor, equo ?
LXVIII
INVITAS centum quadrantibus et bene cenas.
ut cenem invitor, Sexte, an ut invideam ?
1 Greek, and so costly.
2 i.e. adopted the more expensive methods of gaming.
3 To make up a knight's qualification : cf. v. xxxviii.
278
BOOK IV. LXVI-LXVIII
No boy-slave has been sent from an Argolic tribe,1
but a country troop has stood by a homely hearth.
You have intrigued with your housekeeper, or with
a rough tenant-farmer's wife oft as your passions
pricked have warmed with wine. Fire has not
harmed your house nor the Dog-star your fields, nor
has your ship — there swims no ship of yours — sunk
in the sea. You have never substituted the die for
the alluring knuckle-bone,2 but your sole stake has
been a few nuts. Tell me, where is the million
your grasping mother left you ? 'Tis nowhere ; you
have achieved, Linus, a difficult feat !
LXVII
THE poor Gaurus — known to him by a friendship
of many years — besought the Praetor for a hundred
thousand sesterces, and said his own three hundred
thousand were short 3 only by this sum, to enable
him, as a qualified knight, to applaud our Master.
The Praetor said : " You know I am about to make
a gift to Scorpus and Thallus,4 and would that I
were giving only a hundred thousand!" Ah, shame
on your ungrateful money-chest, shame on its ignoble
riches ! That which you will not give to the knight
will you give, Praetor, to the horse ?
LXVIII
You invite me for a hundred farthings to dine with
you, and you dine well. Am I invited to dine,
Sextus, or to envy ? 5
4 Famous charioteers : cf. (for Scorpus) v. xxv. ; x. 1., liii. ,
and Ixxiv.
6 Being entertained with fare inferior to your own : cf.
vi. xi.
379
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXIX
Tu Setina quidem semper vel Massica ponis,
Papyle, sed rumor tam bona vina negat :
diceris hac factus caeleps quater esse lagona.
nee puto nee credo, Papyle, nee sitio.
LXX
NIHIL Ammiano praeter aridam restem
moriens reliquit ultimis pater ceris.
fieri putaret posse quis, Marulline,
ut Ammianus mortuum patrem nollet ?
LXXI
QUAERO diu totam, Safroni Rufe, per urbem,
si qua puella neget : nulla puella negat.
tamquam fas non sit, tamquam sit turpe negare,
tamquam non liceat, nulla puella negat.
casta igitur nulla est? sunt castae mille. quid ergo 5
casta facit ? non dat, non tamen ilia negat.
LXXII
EXIGIS ut donem nostros tibi, Quinte, libellos.
non habeo, sed habet bybliopola Tryphon.
" Aes dabo pro nugis et emam tua carmina sanus ?
non" inquis "faciam tam fatue," nee ego.
280
BOOK IV. LXIX-LXXII
LXIX
You indeed put on your table always Setine or
Massic, Papilus, but rumour says your wines are not
so very good : you are said by means of this brand
to have been made a widower four times. I don't
think so, or believe it, Papilus, but — I am not
thirsty.
LXX
His father, when he was dying, left by his last
will nothing to Ammianus but a shrivelled rope.
Who would have thought, Marullinus, it was possible
Ammianus should regret his father's death?
LXXI
I HAVE long been looking all through the city,
Safronius Rufus, for a girl who says " No " : no girl
says " No." As if it were not right, as if it were
disgraceful to say " No," as if it were not allowable,
no girl says " No." Is none therefore chaste ? A
thousand are chaste. What, then, does a chaste
girl do ? She does not offer, yet she does not say
"No."1
LXXII
You press me to give you my books, Quintus. I
haven't any, but bookseller Tryphon has. " Shall
I pay money for trifles," you say, "and buy your
poems in my sober mind ? I won't act so foolishly."
Nor will I.
1 The subject is continued in iv. Ixxxi.
281
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXIII
CUM gravis extremas Vestinus duceret horas,
et iam per Stygias esset iturus aquas,
ultima volventis oravit pensa sorores,
ut traherent parva stamina pulla mora.
iam sibi defunctus caris dum vivit amicis,
moverunt tetricas tarn pia vota deas.
tune largas partitus opes a luce recessit
seque mori post hoc credidit ille senem.
LXXIV
ASPICIS inbelles temptent quam fortia dammae
proelia ? tarn timidis quanta sit ira feris ?
in mortem parvis concurrere frontibus ardent,
vis, Caesar, dammis parcere ? mitte canes.
LXXV
O FELIX animo, felix, Nigrina, marito
atque inter Latias gloria prima nurus ;
te patrios miscere iuvat cum coniuge census,
gaudentem socio participique viro.
arserit Euhadne flammis iniecta mariti,
nee minor Alcestin fama sub astra ferat.
tu melius : certo meruisti pignore vitae
ut tibi non esset morte probandus amor.
1 The Fates. 2 Hounds would be less savage.
282
BOOK IV. LXXIII-LXXV
LXXIII
WHEN Vestinus in illness was drawing out his
latest hours, and now was bound beyond the Stygian
waters, he prayed the Sisters 1 as they unwound the
last strands to stay awhile the drawing of those
black threads. While, dead now to himself, he lived
for his dear friends, a prayer so kindly moved the
stern goddesses. Then, parcelling his ample wealth,
he parted from the sun, and death thereafter he
deemed a death in age.
LXXIV
SEE you what strong battle unwarlike does essay ?
how great the rage in beasts so timid ? Hot are they
to clash with puny brows, and die. Wouldst thou,
Caesar, spare the does ? Set on thy hounds.2
LXXV
O BLEST in soul, Nigrina, in husband blest ! and
among Latin wives the chiefest glory ! blithe art
thou to share with thy spouse thy father's wealth,
glad that thy husband should be partner and sharer
with thee. Let Evadne burn, cast on her hus-
band's pyre ; nor any lesser fame lift Alcestis to the
stars.3 Thou doest better : this hast thou earned
by a sure pledge given in life — that death was not
needed to prove thy love !
8 Both sacrificed themselves for their husbands.
283
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXVI
MILIA misisti mihi sex bis sena petenti.
ut bis sena feram, bis duodena petam.
LXXVII
NUMQUAM divitias deos rogavi
contentus modicis meoque laetus :
paupertas, veniam dabis, recede.
causast quae subiti novique voti ?
pendentem volo Zoilum videre. 5
LXXVIII
CONDITA cum tibi sit iam sexagensima messis
et facies multo splendeat alba pilo,
discurris tota vagus urbe, nee ulla cathedra est
cui non mane feras inrequietus " Have " ;
et sine te nulli fas est prodire tribune, 5
nee caret officio consul uterque tuo ;
et sacro decies repetis Palatia clivo
Sigerosque meros Partheniosque sonas.
haec faciant sane iuvenes : deformius, Afer,
omnino nihil est ardalione sene. 10
LXXIX
HOSPES eras nostri semper, Matho, Tiburtini.
hoc emis. inposui : rus tibi vendo tuum.
1 With envy of my wealth. As to Z. cf. u. xvi. and xix.
2 Gentlemen-in-waiting to the Emperor.
284
BOOK IV. LXXVI-LXXIX
LXXVI
You sent me six thousand when I asked for twice
six. To get twice six I will ask for twice twelve.
LXXVII
I HAVE never asked the gods for riches, content as
I am with moderate means, and pleased with what is
mine. Poverty — I ask your pardon ! — depart. What
is the reason of this sudden and strange prayer ? I
wish to see Zoilus hanging by the neck.1
LXXVIII
ALTHOUGH your sixtieth summer is already buried,
and your face shines white with many a hair, you
gad with roaming feet all over the city, and there
is no woman's chair but in your fussiness you bring
it in the morning your " How d'ye do ? " ; and
without you no praetor may go abroad, and neither
consul misses your attendance ; and ten times you
make for the palace by the Sacred steep, and pomp-
ously talk only of Sigeruses and Partheniuses.2
Young men may no doubt do this : nothing in the
world, Afer, is more ugly than an old busybody.3
LXXIX
You were my constant guest, Matho, at my villa
at Tibur. This you buy. I have cheated you ; I
am selling you your own country place.4
3 An ardelio was a fussy, pretentious person : rf. n. vii. 8 ;
Phaedr. ii. 7 ; and Sen. de Tranq. An. xii.
4 i.e. you were so often there, it was practically yours.
285
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXX
DECLAMAS in febre, Maron : hanc esse phrenesin
si nescis, non es sanus, amice Maron.
declamas aeger, declamas hemitritaeos :
si sudare aliter non potes, est ratio.
" Magna tamen res est." erras; cum viscera febris 5
exurit, res est magna tacere, Maron.
LXXXI
EPIGRAMMA nostrum cum Fabulla legisset
negare nullam quo queror puellarum,
semel rogata bisque terque neglexit
preces amantis. iam, Fabulla, promitte :
negare iussi, pernegare non iussi.
LXXXII
Hos quoque commenda Venuleio, Rufe, libellos,
inputet et nobis otia parva roga,
immemor et paulum curarum operumque suorum
non tetrica nugas exigat aure meas.
sed nee post primum legat haec summumve trientem,
sed sua cum medius proelia Bacchus amat. 6
si nimis est legisse duos, tibi charta plicetur
altera : divisum sic breve net opus.
LXXXIII
SECURO nihil est te, Naevole, peius ; eodem
sollicito nihil est, Naevole, te melius.
286
BOOK IV. Lxxx-Lxxxm
LXXX
You declaim in a fever, Maron ; if you don't know
that this is frenzy, you are not sane, friend Maron.
You declaim when you are ill, you declaim in a
semitertian : if otherwise you can't perspire, there
is some reason in it. " Yet it is a great thing."
You are wrong ; when fever burns up your vitals 'tis
a great thing to hold your tongue, Maron.
LXXXI
WHEN Fabulla had read my epigram x in which I
complain that no girl says " No," she, though solicited
once, twice, and three times, disregarded her lover's
prayers. Now promise, Fabulla : I bade you refuse,
I did not bid you to refuse for ever.
LXXXII
THESE little books 2 too commend, Rufus, to Venu-
leius, and ask him to put to my account a few idle
hours, and, forgetting awhile his cares and tasks,
to criticise my trifles with no ungracious ear. But
let him not read these poems either after his first
or his last cup, but when Bacchus in mid-revel loves
his bouts of wine. If it is too much to read two,
let one book be rolled up : divided the work will
thus become brief.
LXXXIII
WHEN you are easy in mind, Naevolus, nothing is
more odious than you ; again, when you are worried,
1 iv. Ixxi. 2 The third and fourth books.
287
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
securus nullum resalutas, despicis omnes,
nee quisquam liber nee tibi natus homo est :
sollicitus donas, dominum regemque salutas,
invitas. esto, Naevole, sollicitus.
LXXXIV
NON est in populo nee urbe tota
a se Thaida qui probet fututam,
cum multi cupiant rogentque multi.
tam casta est, rogo, Thais ? immo fellat.
LXXXV
Nos bibimus vitro, tu murra, Pontice. quare
prodat perspicuus ne duo vina calix.
LXXXVI
Si vis auribus Atticis probari,
exhortor moneoque te, libelle,
ut docto placeas Apollinari.
nil exactius eruditiusque est,
sed nee candidius benigniusque. 5
si te pectore, si tenebit ore,
nee rhonchos metues maligniorum,
nee scombris tunicas dabis molestas.
si damnaverit, ad salariorum
curras scrinia protinus licebit, 10
inversa pueris arande charta.
1 Sensu obsceno.
2 Good for yourself, inferior for your guests : cf. iv. Ixviii. ;
x. xlix. The excellence of a murrine cup was its opacity :
cf. X. Ixxx. 1 ; and Plin. N.H. xxxvii. 8.
288
BOOK IV. LXXXIII-LXXXVI
nothing is more pleasant. Easy in mind, you return
no man's greeting, you look down on all men ; none
to you is a free man, or even a created being : worried,
you make presents, give the title of " master " and
" lord," ask one to dinner. Naevolus, be worried.
LXXXIV
THERE is no one of the people, or in the whole
city, who can show that he has been favoured by
Thais, although many desire her favours, and many
ask for them. Is Thais so chaste then ? I ask.
Quite the contrary : she is evil-tongued.1
LXXXV
WE drink from glass, you from murrine, Ponticus.
Why ? That a transparent cup may not betray your
two wines.2
LXXXVI
IF you would be approved by Attic ears, I exhort
and warn you, little book, to please the cultured
Apollinaris.3 No man is more precise and scholarly
than he, at the same time no man more fair and
kindly. If he shall hold you in his heart, if on his
lips, you will neither fear the loud sneers of envy
nor supply dolorous wrappers 4 for mackerel.5 If he
shall condemn you, you must fly at once to the
drawers of the salt-fish sellers, fit only to have your
back ploughed by boys' pens !
3 A critic much relied upon by M. : cf. VH. xxvi. 9.
4 M. compares the paper of his book to the tunica molesta,
smeared with pitch, in which criminals were sometimes
burned, as in the case of Nero's treatment of the Christians :
cf. x. xxv. 5 ; and Juv. i. 155. 5 cf. ill. 1. 9.
289
VOL. I. U
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXXVII
INFANTEM secum semper tua Bassa, Fabulle,
conlocat et lusus deliciasque vocat,
et, quo mireris magis, infantaria non est.
ergo quid in causa est ? pedere Bassa solet.
LXXXVIII
NULLA remisisti parvo pro munere dona,
et iam Saturni quinque fuere dies,
ergo nee argenti sex scripula Septiciani
missa nee a querulo mappa cliente fuit,
Antipolitani nee quae de sanguine thynni 5
testa rubet, nee quae cottana parva gerit,
nee rugosarum vimen breve Picenarum,
dicere te posses ut meminisse mei ?
decipies alios verbis voltuque benigno ;
nam mihi iam notus dissimulator eris. 10
LXXXIX
OHE, iam satis est, ohe, libelle.
iam pervenimus usque ad umbilicos :
tu procedere adhuc et ire quaeris,
nee summa potes in schida teneri,
sic tamquam tibi res peracta non sit, 5
quae prima quoque pagina peracta est.
iam lector queriturque deficitque ;
iam librarius hoc et ipse dicit
"Ohe, iam satis est, ohe, libelle."
1 Considered inferior : cf. vin. Ixxi. 6.
290
BOOK IV. LXXXVII-I.XXXIX
LXXXVII
YOUR Bassa, Fabullus, constantly sets an infant by
her side and calls it her plaything and her darling,
and yet — that you may wonder the more — she is
not partial to infants. So what is the reason ? Bassa
is apt to break wind.
LXXXVIII
You have sent me no presents in return for my
small offering, and already Saturn's five days are
over. So not even six scruples of Septician l silver
plate have been sent me, nor a napkin given you by
a peevish client, nor a jar ruddy with the blood of
Antipolitan tunny,2 nor one containing small Syrian
figs, nor a stumpy basket of wrinkled Picenian olives,
so that you could say that you remembered me ? You
may deceive others with words and benignant face,
for to me in future you will be a detected pi'etender.
LXXXIX
Ho, there ! Ho, there ! 'tis now enough, my little
book. We have now come to the very end : you still
want to go on further and continue, and cannot be
held in even in your last strip, just as if your task
was not finished — which was finished, too, on the
first page ! Already my reader is grumbling and
giving in ; already even my scribe says : " Ho, there !
Ho, there ! 'tis now enough, little book."
- i.e. the inferior pickle called muria, as compared with
the pickle compounded of mackerel : cf. xm. ciii. Antipolis
(Antibes) in Gallia Narbonensis was an important seat of the
tunny fishery.
291
u 2
BOOK V
LIBER QUINTUS
HAEC tibi, Palladiae seu collibus uteris Albae,
Caesar, et hinc Triviam prospicis, inde Thetin,
seu tua veridicae discunt responsa sorores,
plana suburban! qua cubat unda freti,
seu placet Aeneae nutrix seu filia Solis 5
sive salutiferis eandidus Anxur aquis,
mittimus, o rerum felix tutela salusque,
sospite quo gratum credimus esse lovem
tu tantum accipias : ego te legisse putabo
et tumidus Galla credulitate fruar. 10
II
MATRONAE puerique virginesque,
vobis pagina nostra dedicatur.
tu, quern nequitiae procaciores
delectant nimium salesque nudi,
lascivos lege quattuor libellos :
quintus cum domino liber iocatur ;
quern Germanicus ore non rubenti
coram Cecropia legat puella.
1 The temple of Diana of the Crossways at Aricia.
2 Two goddesses of fortune worshipped at Antium.
294
BOOK V
THIS to thee, Caesar, whether them art enjoying
the hills of Alba dear to Pallas, and dost look forth,
here on Trivia's fane,1 there on the waves of Thetis ;
or whether the truth-speaking Sisters 2 learn the
oracles thou dost inspire, where, hard by the town,
sleeps the ocean's level wave ; whether Aeneas' nurse
delights thee, or the daughter of the Sun,3 or gleam-
ing Anxur with its healthful waters, this book I send,
O thou blest guardian and saviour of the state, whose
safety assures us that Jove is grateful.4 Do thou but
receive it ; 1 will deem that thou hast read it, and in
my pride have the joy of my Gallic trustfulness.5
II
MATRONS, and boys, and maids, to you my page is
dedicated. Do thou, whom bolder wantonness de-
lights o'errnuch, and wit unashamed, read my four
wanton little books ; the fifth laughs with its Master ;
this one Germanicus may, with unblushing face, read
in the presence of the Attic Maid.6
3 Whether you are at Caieta, called after the nurse of
Aeneas, or at Circeii, called after Circe.
* For the rebuilding by Domitian of Jupiter's Temple on
the Capitoline : cf. ix. iii. 7.
8 For the credulity of the Gauls cf. Caes. B. G. iv. 5.
6 Pallas, claimed by Domitian (Germanicus) as his
patroness.
295
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
III
ACCOLA iam nostrae Degis, Germanice, ripae,
a famulis Histri qui tibi venit aquis,
laetus et attonitus viso modo praeside mundi,
adfatus comites dicitur esse suos :
" Sors mea quara fratris melior, cui tarn prope fas est
cernere, tarn longe quern colit ille deum." 6
IV
FETERE multo Myrtale solet vino,
sed fallat ut nos, folia devorat lauri
merumque cauta fronde, non aqua, miscet.
hanc tu rubentem prominentibus venis
quotiens venire, Paule, videris contra,
dicas licebit " Myrtale bibit laurum."
SEXTK, Palatinae cultor facunde Minervae,
ingenio frueris qui propiore dei
(nam tibi nascentes domini cognoscere curas
et secreta ducis pectora nosse licet),
sit locus et nostris aliqua tibi parte libellis, 5
qua Pedo, qua Marsus quaque Catullus erit.
ad Capitolini caelestia carmina belli
grande coturnati pone Maronis opus.
1 Brother of Decebalus, king of Dacia, sent to treat for
peace.
2 i.e. is inspired. The priestess of Apollo at Delphi
chewed laurel-leaves to acquire inspiration.
296
BOOK V. in-v
III
A DWELLER, Germanicus, on the bank that is now
our own, Degis,1 who came to thee from Ister's subject
waves, with joy and wonder saw of late the Governor
of the world, and addressed — so 'tis said — his com-
pany : " Prouder is my lot than my brother's ; I may
behold so near the god whom he worships from
so far."
IV
MYRTALE is wont to reek with much wine, but, to
mislead us, she devours laurel leaves and mixes her
neat liquor with this artful frond, not with water.
As often as you see her, Paulus, flushed and with
swollen veins, coming to meet you, you can say :
" Myrtale has drunk the laurel." 2
SEXTUS, eloquent votary of Palatine Minerva,3 you
who enjoy more near the genius of the god 4 — for
you are permitted to learn our lord's cares as they
are born, and to know our chief's secret heart — let
there, I pray, be found also for my little books
somewhere a niche where Pedo, where Marsus, and
where Catullus shall be set. By the song divine
of the Capitoline war5 place the grand work of
buskined Maro.6
8 S. was probably curator of the Palatine library.
4 cf. note to v. viii. 1.
8 The civil disturbances of A. D. 69, in which the Capito-
line Temple was burnt. Perhaps Domitian was the author
of the poem. 6 The Aeneid of Virgil.
297
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
VI
Si non est grave nee nimis molestum,
Musae, Parthenium rogate vestrum :
sic te serior et beata quondam
salvo Caesare finiat senectus
et sis invidia favente felix, 5
sic Burrus cito sentiat parentem :
admittas timidam brevemque chartam
intra limina sanctions aulae.
nosti tempora tu lovis sereni,
cum fulget placido suoque vultu, 10
quo nil supplicibus solet negare.
non est quod metuas preces iniquas :
numquam grandia nee molesta poscit
quae cedro decorata purpuraque
nigris pagiiia crevit umbilicis. 15
nee porrexeris ista, sed teneto
sic tamquam nihil offeras agasque.
si novi dominum novem sororum,
ultro purpureum petet libellum.
VII
QUALITER Assyrios renovant incendia nidos,
una decem quotiens saecula vixit avis,
taliter exuta est veterem nova Roma senectam
et sumpsit vultus praesidis ipsa sui.
iam precor oblitus notae, Vulcane, querellae 5
parce : sumus Martis turba sed et Veneris :
parce, pater : sic Lemniacis lasciva catenis
ignoscat coniunx et patienter amet.
1 Domitian's secretary, and himself a poet : cf. iv. xlv. ;
xi. i. 2 cf. iv. xlv.
298
BOOK V. vi-vn
VI
IF it is not a burden, or unduly irksome, ye
Muses, make to your own Parthenius l this request :
"So full late may happy age one day close your
course while Caesar is still safe, and you by Envy's
favour be fortunate ; so may Burrus 2 soon learn his
sire's worth— admit this timid and brief volume
within the threshold of the hallowed hall. You
know the seasons when Jove's brow is unruffled,
when he beams with that calm look, all his own,
that is wont to deny suppliants nought. You need
not fear extravagant petitions ; never does a book
which, spruce with cedar oil and purple, has fully
grown with its black knobs, make a great or trouble-
some request.3 Do not protrude that book, but so
hold it, as if you offered and intended nothing." If
I know the Master of the Sisters Nine, of his own
accord he will ask for the little book in its purple.
VII
As when the fire renews the Assyrian nest, when-
ever one bird4 has lived its ten cycles, so has new Rome
shed her bygone age and put on herself the visage
of her Governor. Now, I pray thee, Vulcan, forget
thy well-known plaint against us,5 and spare ; we are
the crowd of Mars, but that of Venus withal. Spare
us, father; so may thy wanton spouse pardon her
Lemnian fetters and love thee with submission.
3 i.e. its very appearance shows it is nob a petition.
4 The phoenix. 6 As descendants from Mars.
299
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
VIII
EDICTUM domini deique nostri,
quo subsellia certiora fiunt
et puros eques ordines recepit,
dum laudat modo Phasis in theatro,
Phasis purpureis ruber lacernis, 5
et iactat tumido superbus ore :
" Tandem commodius licet sedere,
nunc est reddita dignitas equestris ;
turba non premimur, nee inquinamur " :
haec et talia dum refert supinus, 10
illas purpureas et adrogantes
iussit surgere Leitus lacernas.
IX
LANGUEBAM : sed tu comitatus protinus ad me
venisti centum, Symmache, discipulis.
centum me tetigere manus Aquilone gelatae :
non habui febrem, Symmache, nunc habeo.
X
" ESSE quid hoc dicam vivis quod fama negatur
et sua quod rarus tempora lector amat ? "
hi sunt invidiae nimirum, Regule. mores,
praeferat antiquos semper ut ilia novis.
sic veterem ingrati Pompei quaerimus umbram, 5
sic laudant Catuli vilia templa senes.
1 In 89 A.D. Domitian ordered his procurators to speak of
him as Dominus et Deus noster in official documents : Suet.
Dom. xiii.
2 By the Lex Julia of Roscius Otho in B.C. 67, which
assigned fourteen rows in the theatre to the knights. This
law Avas revived and strictly enforced by Domitian.
300
BOOK V. VIH-X
VIII
THE edict of our master and god,1 whereby the
seating has been made more definite and knights
have got back 2 their ranks uncontaminated, Pliasis
was lately approving in the theatre, Phasis glowing
in a purple mantle ; and he was proudly boasting
with swelling words : " At length can we sit more
conveniently, now the knightly dignity has been
restored ; we are not elbowed or besmirched by the
mob." While, lolling back, he made these and
similar remarks, Leitus 3 commanded that purple
and arrogant mantle to get up.
IX
I WAS sickening ; but you at once attended me,
Symmachus, with a train of a hundred apprentices.
A hundred hands frosted by the North wind have
pawed me : I had no fever before, Symmachus ; now
I have.
" How shall I explain this — that to living men
fame is denied, and that few readers love their own
times ? " 4 Of a truth, Regulus, this is envy's way :
ever to prefer the men of old to those new-born.
Thus ungratefully we sigh for Pompey's old shadowy
colonnade, so old men extol the poor temple 5 re-
3 The attendant. Phasis was not a knight, and could not
claim a seat. * Regulus is supposed to ask the question.
6 Of Jupiter, on the Capitol, consumed by fire B.C. 84,
and restored B.C. 62 by Q. Lutatius Catulus. The Dictator
Sulla had undertaken the restoration, but predeceased its
completion, "the only boon," says Tacitus (Hist. in. Ixxii. ),
" denied to his good fortune."
301
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
Ennius est lectus salvo tibi, Roma, Marone,
et sua riserunt saecula Maeoniden ;
rara coronato plausere theatra Menandro ;
norat Nasonem sola Corinna suum. 10
vos tamen o nostri ne festinate libelli :
si post fata venit gloria, rion propero.
XI
SARDONYCHAS, zmaragdos, adamantas, iaspidas uno
versat in articulo Stella, Severe, meus.
multas in digitis, plures in carmine gemmas
invenies : inde est haec, puto, culta manus.
XII
QUOD nutantia fronte perticata
gestat pondera Masclion superbus,
aut grandis Ninus omnibus lacertis
septem quod pueros levat vel octo,
res non difficilis mihi videtur, 5
uno cum digito vel hoc vel illo
portet Stella meus decem puellas.
XIII
SUM, fateor, semperque fui, Callistrate, pauper
sed non obscurus nee male notus eques,
sed toto legor orbe frequens et dicitur " Hie est,"
quodque cinis paucis hoc mihi vita dedit.
1 Homer. 2 Ovid.
3 i.e. it is from that the brilliants derive their real bril-
liancy— a somewhat far-fetched conceit.
4 Explained (but doubtfully) of a ring with ten stones, to
symbolise the nine Muses, together with Minerva, or S.'s
mistress Violentilla.
302
BOOK V. x-xin
stored by Catulus ; you read Ennius, O Rome, though
Maro is to your hand, and his own times laughed at
Maeonides ; l seldom did the theatres applaud the
crowned Menander ; Corinna alone knew her Naso.-
Yet be not too eager, O ye books of mine ! So after
death come glory, I hurry not.
XI
SARDONVXES, emeralds, diamonds, jaspers, my Stella,
Severus, twists on a single finger. Many gems will
you find on his hands, more in his verse ; therefrom,
methinks, is his hand adorned.3
XII
THAT Masclion on his pole-supporting brow proudly
bears a nodding weight, or huge Ninus with all the
strength of his arms lifts seven boys or eight, does
not seem to me a difficult feat, when on a single
finger, this one or that, my Stella carries ten
maids.4
XIII
I AM, I confess, and I have always been poor, Cal-
listratus, yet no obscure or ill-famed knight 5 am
I ; yet am I read through all the world by many, and
they say of me "'Tis he!",6 and what death has
given to few this has life given to me. But your
5 Titus (confirmed by Domitian) conferred on M. an
honorary knighthood and military tribuneship (tribunatus
semestris : cf. Suet. Claud, xxv. ; Juv. vii. 88). M. alludes to
this in in. xcv. 9.
8 cf. "At pulcrum est digito monstrari et dicier Hie est":
Pers. i. 28.
3°3
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
at tua centenis incumbunt tecta columnis 5
et libertinas area flagellat opes,
magnaque Niliacae servit tibi gleba Syenes
tondet et innumeros Gallica Parma greges.
hoc ego tuque sumus : sed quod sum noil potes esse ;
tu quod es e populo quilibet esse potest. 10
XIV
SEDERE primo solitus in gradu semper
tune, cum liceret occupare, Nanneius
bis excitatus terque transtulit castra,
et inter ipsas paene tertius sellas
post Gaiumque Luciumque consedit. 5
illinc cucullo prospicit caput tectus
oculoque ludos spectat indecens uno.
et hinc miser deiectus in viam transit,
subsellioque semifultus extremo
et male receptus altero genu iactat 10
equiti sedere Leitoque se stare.
XV
QUINTUS nostrorum liber est, Auguste, iocorum
et queritur laesus carmine nemo meo,
gaudet honorato sed multus nomine lector,
cui victura meo munere fama datur.
'' Quid tamen haec prosunt quamvis venerantia mul-
tos ? " 5
non prosint sane, me tamen ista iuvant.
3°4
BOOK V. xni-xv
roof rests on a hundred columns, and }rour money-
chest keeps close a freedman's wealth, and the broad
tillage of Nile's Syene serves you as lord, and Gallic
Parma shears for you unnumbered flocks. Such
are we — you and I ; but what I am you cannot be :
what you are that anyone of the people can be.
XIV
ACCUSTOMED always to sit in the front row in days
when to seize a place was lawful,1 Nanneius was
twice and thrice roused up and shifted camp, and
sat down right between the seats, making almost a
third behind Gaius and Lucius. Thence with his
head buried in a cowl he peers out, and views the
show indecently with one eye. Expelled even from
here, the wretched fellow passes into the gangway,
and, half propped up at the end of a bench and
allowed small room, with one knee pretends to the
knight by him that he is sitting, with the other to
Leitus 2 that he is standing.
XV
THIS, Augustus, is my fifth 'book of jests, and no
man complains as being wounded by my verse ; nay,
many a reader rejoices in an honoured name, to
whom, by bounty of mine, is given undying fame.
" Yet what profit is there in these poems, however
much they pay homage to many?" Let profit, in
truth, be none, yet those poems are at least my
delight.
1 i.e. when the Lex Julia was not enforced : cf. v. viii.
2 cf. v. viii. 12.
305
VOL. I. X
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XVI
SERIA cum possim, quod delectantia malo
scribere, tu causa es, lector amice, mihi,
qui legis et tota cantas mea carmina Roma :
sed nescis quanti stet mihi talis amor,
nam si falciferi defendere templa fTonantis 5
sollicitisve velim vendere verba reis,
plurimus Hispanas mittet mihi nauta metretas
et fiet vario sordidus acre sinus,
at mine conviva est comissatorque libellus
et tantum gratis pagina nostra placet. 1 0
sed non et veteres contenti laude fuerunt,
cum minimum vati munus Alexis erat.
" Belle " inquis "dixti : iuvat et laudabimus usque."
dissimulas ? facies me, puto, causidicum.
XVII
DUM proavos atavosque refers et nomina magna,
dum tibi noster eques sordida condicio est,
dum te posse negas nisi lato, Gellia, clavo
nubere, nupsisti, Gellia, cistibero.
1 i.e. take a brief for the Treasury, which was located in
the Temple of Saturn. But Saturn is nowhere else called
Tonans. Baehrens suggests togatus.
* Is only read at banquets where guests have not to pa}*
for it.
3 A slave presented to Virgil by Maecenas : cf. vm. Ivi. 12.
306
BOOK V. xvi-xvn
XVI
THAT I, who could write what is serious, prefer to
write what is entertaining, you, friendly reader, are
the cause, who read and hum my poems all over
Rome ; but you do not know what such love costs
me. For, were I willing to appear for the Temple
of the scythe-bearing Thunderer1 or to sell my
speech to anxious men accused, many a sailor will
send me firkins of oil from Spain, and my purse
become soiled with odd moneys. But, as it is, my
book is but a guest and boon-companion,2 and only
when 'tis unpaid for does my page charm. But our
ancestors were not as we, content \vith praise ; then
an Alexis3 was the smallest offering to a bard.
"You have written nicely," you say; "we enjoy,
and will to the end praise you." Do you pretend
not to understand ? You will make me, I think,
a lawyer.4
XVII
WHILE you were recalling your great grandfathers,
and their grandfathers, and the mighty names of
your ancestors ; while a knight like me is a poor
match for you ; while you said, Gellia, that you
could not marry except a broad stripe,5 you married,
Gellia, a box-bearer ! 6
* One of a more lucrative profession.
* i.e. & senator.
' Either a common carrier, or the priest who carried the
sacra arcana in a religious procession : cf, Hor. Od. i. xviii.
12. Some take the reference as meant for a Jew ; Juv.
iii. 14.
307
x 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XVIII
QUOD tibi Decembri mense, quo volant mappae
gracilesque ligulae cereique chartaeque
et acuta senibus testa cum Damascenis,
praeter libellos vernulas nihil misi,
fortasse avarus videar aut inhumanus. 5
odi dolosas munerum et malas artes :
imitantur hamos dona : namque quis nescit
avidum vorata decipi scarum musca ?
quotiens amico diviti nihil donat,
o Quintiane, liberalis est pauper. 10
XIX
Si qua fides veris, praeferri, maxime Caesar,
temporibus possunt saecula nulla tuis.
quando magis dignos licuit spectare triumphos ?
quando Palatini plus meruere del ?
pulchrior et maior quo sub duce Martia Roma ? 5
sub quo libertas principe tanta fuit ?
est tamen hoc vitium sed non leve, sit licet unum,
quod colit ingratas pauper amicitias.
quis largitur opes veteri fidoque sodali,
aut quern prosequitur non alienus eques ? 10
Saturnaliciae ligulam misisse selibrae
tflammarisvet togae J scripula tota decem
luxuria est, tumidique vocant haec munera reges :
qui crepet aureolos forsitan unus erit.
1 The text is probably corrupt. Damnatiave togae (Hous-
man), e lamniave Tagi (Munro), and flammantisve auri (Fried-
lander) have been suggested.
1 cf. v. lix. 4 for the same idea.
308
BOOK V. xvm-xix
XVIII
BECAUSE in December's month, when napkins fly
about, and slender spoons, and wax tapers, and paper,
and pointed jars of dried damsons, I have sent you
nothing but my home-bred little books, perhaps I
may seem stingy or impolite. I abhor the crafty and
cursed trickery of presents ; gifts are like hooks ;
for who does not know that the greedy sea-bream is
deceived by the fly he has gorged ? Every time he
gives nothing to a rich friend, O Quintianus, a poor
man is generous.1
XIX
IF one may trust truth, no ages, most mighty
Caesar, can be set above your times. When could
we view more noble triumphs ? when have the
Palatine gods more deserved our thanks? under
what chief was Rome, city of Mars, fairer and
greater ? under what prince was liberty so great ?
Yet is there this blot, no small one, though it be
but one : that a poor man courts ungrateful friend-
ships. Who lavishes his wealth on an old and loyal
comrade, or whom does a knight he himself made
escort ? 2 To have dispatched at the Saturnalia 3
a table-spoon weighing half a pound, or a flame-
hued toga worth ten scruples4 in all, is to them
extravagance, and our puffed-up lords call these
bounties, though perhaps just one of them may
2 To whom he has given the amount of a knightly
qualification.
3 The epithet Salunialiciae may perhaps convey a sug-
gestion that the silver was poor : cf. iv. Ixxxviii. 3.
* The scruple was a gold coin worth twenty sesterces,
about three and sixpence.
309
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
quatenus hi non sunt, esto tu, Caesar, amicus : 15
nulla ducis virtus dulcior esse potest.
iam dudum tacito rides, Germanice, naso ;
utile quod nobis do tibi consilium.
XX
Si tecum mihi, care Martialis,
securis liceat frui diebus,
si disponere tempus otiosum
et verae pariter vacare vitae,
nee iios atria nee domos potentum 5
nee litis tetricas forumque triste
nossemus nee imagines superbas ;
sed gestatio, fabulae, libelli,
campus, porticus, umbra, Vii-go, thermae,
haec essent loca semper, hi labores. 10
nunc vivit necuter sibi, bonosque
soles effugere atque abire sentit,
qui nobis pereunt et inputantur.
quisquam, vivere cum sciat, moratur ?
XXI
QUINTUM pro Decimo, pro Crasso, Regule, Macrum
ante salutabat rhetor Apollodotus.
nunc utrumque suo resalutat nomine, quantum
cura laborque potest ! scripsit et edidicit.
1 Cold baths from the Aqua Virgo, one of the aqueducts :
cf. vi. ilii. 18.
310
BOOK V. xix-xxi
make sovereigns chink. So long as these men are
no friends, be you, Caesar, our friend ; no merit in
a chief can be more pleasing. All this while you
are smiling, Caesar, with a quiet sneer because I am
giving you advice profitable to myself.
XX
IF I and you, dear Martial, were permitted to enjoy
careless days, if permitted to dispose an idle time,
and both alike to have leisure for genuine life, we
should not know the halls or mansions of men of
power, nor worrying lawsuits and the anxious forum,
nor lordly ancestral busts ; but the promenade, the
lounges, the bookshops, the plain, the colonnade,
the garden's shade, the Virgin water,1 the warm
baths — these should be our haunts always, these
our tasks. To-day neither lives for himself, and
lie feels the good days are flitting and passing
away, our days that perish and are scored to our
account. Does any man, when he knows how to
live, delay ?
XXI
APOLLODOTUS the rhetorician, Regulus, used to greet
Quintus for Decimus, Macer for Crassus ; now he
returns the greeting of each by his proper name.
What power has care and labour ! He wrote the
names down and learned them by heart ! 2
2 cf. v. liv.
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXII
MANE domi nisi te volui meruique videre,
sint mihi, Paule, tuae longius Esquiliae.
sed Tiburtinae sum proximus accola pilae,
qua videt anticum rustica Flora lovem :
alta Suburani vincenda est semita clivi 5
et numquam sicco sordida saxa gradu,
vixque datur longas mulorum rumpere mandras
quaeque trahi multo marmora fune vides.
illud adhuc gravius quod te post mille labores,
Paule, negat lasso ianitor esse domi. 10
exitus hie operis vani togulaeque madentis :
vix tanti Paulum mane videre fuit.
semper inhumanos habet officiosus amicos :
rex, nisi dormieris, non potes esse meus.
XXIII
HEHBARUM fueras indutus, Basse, colores,
iura theatralis dum siluere loci,
quae postquam placidi censoris cura renasci
iussit et Oceanum certior audit eques,
non nisi vel cocco madida vel murice tincta 5
veste nites et te sic dare verba putas.
quadringentorum nullae sunt, Basse, lacernae
aut meus ante omnis Cordus haberet equum.
1 Otherwise unknown.
2 The Temple of Flora and the Capitolium Vetus, a temple
dedicated to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva ; both stood on the
Quirinal where M. lived.
3 i.e. BO that I can see you. M. also hints that P.'s absence
312
BOOK V. xxii-xxm
XXII
IF I did not wish, and deserve, to see you " at
home " in the morning, Paulus, may your Esquiline
house be for me still farther off! But I am next-
door neighbour to the Tiburtine column,1 where
rustic Flora looks upon our ancient Jove ; 2 I must
surmount the track up the hill from the Subura and
the dirty pavement with its steps never dry, and I
can scarce break through the long droves of mules
and the blocks of marble you see hauled by many a
cable. And — more annoying still — after a thousand
exertions, Paulus, when I am fagged out, your door-
keeper says you are " not at home " ! Such is the
result of misspent toil, and my poor toga drenched !
To see Paulus in the morning was scarcely worth
the cost. A diligent client always has inhuman
friends : my patron if you do not stay in bed 3 you
cannot be.
XXIII
You were clad, Bassus, in the colour of grass so
long as the rules of seating4 in the theatre were
unheard. Now that our serene Censor's care has
bid them revive, and knights more genuine obey
Oceanus, 'tis never, but in robes steeped in scarlet
or dyed with purple, that you are resplendent, and
you fancy that thereby you cheat him ! No mantles,
Bassus, are reckoned at four hundred thousand
sesterces, or else my Cordus 5 before all men would
have his knighthood.
is caused by his dancing attendance on other patrons : cf. n.
xxxii. 8.
4 cf. viii., xiv., xxv., and xxxviii. of this Book. Oceanus
was one of the attendants of the theatre. 8 cf. n. Ivii.
313
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
xxrv
HERMES Martia saeculi voluptas,
Hermes omnibus eruditus armis,
Hermes et gladiator et magister,
Hermes turba sui tremorque ludi,
Hermes, quern timet Helius sed unum. 5
Hermes, cui cadit Advolans sed uni,
Hermes vincere nee ferire doctus,
Hermes subpositicius sibi ipse,
Hermes divitiae locariorum,
Hermes cura laborque ludiarum, 10
Hermes belligera superbus hasta,
Hermes aequoreo minax tridente,
Hermes casside languida timendus,
Hermes gloria Martis universi,
Hermes omnia solus et ter unus. 15
XXV
" QUADKINGENTA tibi non suiit, Chaerestrate : surge,
Leitus ecce venit : sta, fuge, curre, late."
ecquis, io, revocat discedentemque reducit ?
ecquis, io, largas pandit amicus opes ?
quern chartis famaeque damus populisque loquendum ?
quis Stygios non volt tobus adire lacus ? 6
hoc, rogo, non melius quam rubro pulpita nimbo
spargere et effuso permaduisse croco ?
1 Never vanquished, and so no other gliidiator being
substituted for him.
* Or "the anxiety of gladiators' wives," fearing the death
of their husbands at his hands.
BOOK V. xxiv-xxv
XXIV
HERMES, the age's delight to the Sons of Mars ;
Hermes, schooled in all weapons; Hermes, gladiator
and trainer both ; Hermes, the confusion and terror
of his own school ; Hermes, whom, but whom alone,
Helius fears ; Hermes, whom, but whom alone, Ad-
volans goes down before ; Hermes, skilled to vanquish
without slaying ; Hermes, himself his own substi-
tute ; l Hermes, fount of wealth to seat-contractors ;
Hermes, the darling and passion of gladiators'
women ; 2 Hermes, proud with the warrior's spear ;
Hermes, threatful with the sea-trident ; 3 Hermes,
terrible in the drooping casque ; 4 Hermes, the pride
of Mars in every shape ; Hermes is all things in his
single self, and trebly one.
XXV
" You don't possess four hundred thousand,
Chaerestratus ; get up ; see, Leitus is coming !
Stand up, fly, run, hide ! " Ho, there ! does anyone
call him back, and bring him back as he departs ?
Ho, there ! does any friend unlock his abounding
wealth ? Whom am I to give to my pages, and to
fame and the tongues of nations ? Who is loth to
pass, all unknown, to the lake of Styx ? Is not this,
I ask, better than to sprinkle the stage with a ruddy
shower, and be drenched with streams of saffron ?
3 As a retiarius, or net-caster, who was also armed with a
trident.
4 As an andabata, a gladiator who fought on horseback,
and more or less blindfolded by his helmet.
315
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
quam non sensuro dare quadringenta caballo,
aureus ut Scorpi nasus ubique micet ? 10
o frustra locuples, o dissimulator amici,
haec legis et laudas ? quae tibi fama perit !
XXVI
QUOD alpha dixi, Corde, paenulatorum
te nuper, aliqua cum iocarer in charta,
si forte bilem movit hie tibi versus,
dicas licebit beta me togatorum.
XXVII
INGENIUM studiumque tibi moresque genusque
sunt equitis, fateor : cetera plebis habes.
bis septena tibi non sint subsellia tanti,
ut sedeas viso pallidus Oceano.
XXVIII
UT bene loquatur sentiatque Mamercus,
efficere nullis, Aule, moribus possis,
pietate fratres Curvios licet vincas,
quiete Nervas, comitate Rusones,
probitate Macros, aequitate Mauricos, 5
oratione Regulos, iocis Paulos :
robiginosis cuncta dentibus rodit.
hominem malignum forsan esse tu credas :
ego esse miserum credo, cui placet nemo.
1 Than to set up a gilded statue of Scorpus, the jockey :
cf. x. 1. and liii. 2 u. Ivii.
316
BOOK V. xxv-xxvni
Than to give four hundred thousand sesterces to an
unconscious horse, that the nose of Scorpus l may
twinkle everywhere in gold ? O man uselessly rich,
O disguiser of your friendship ! Read you these
words, and praise them ? What renown you are
losing !
XXVI
I CALLED you lately,2 Cordus, when I was cracking
a joke in some page of mine, "A 1 in cloaks." If —
as may be — this verse has stirred your bile, you may
call me B 2 in togas.
XXVII
THE wit, and the taste, and the manners, and the
birth that fit a knight are yours, I grant : the rest is
plebeian. A place in the fourteen rows should not
seem to you worth having if you have to turn pale
in your seat at the sight of Oceanus.3
XXVIII
THERE is no virtue, Aulus, by which you could
induce Mamercus to speak and think kindly of you.
You may in affection surpass the brothers Curvii, in
calm the Nervas,4 in courtesy the Rusos, in goodness
the Macri,5 in justice the Maurici, in oratory the
Reguli, in wit the Pauli — he gnaws all with cankered
teeth. Malicious you perhaps may deem the fellow :
I deem him miserable whom no man pleases.
3 Because you are still "plebeian" as not having the
money-qualification of a knight. * cf. vm. Ixx.
5 cf. x. xvii. and Ixxvii. The rest of the names are
unknown.
317
Si quando leporem mittis mihi, GeHia, dicis :
"Formosus septem, Marce, diebus eris."
si non derides, si verum, lux mea, narras,
edisti numquam, Gellia, tu leporem.
XXX
VARRO, Sophocleo non infitiande coturno
nee minus in Calabra suspiciende lyra,
differ opus nee te facundi scaena Catulli
detineat cultis aut elegia comis ;
sed lege fumoso non aspernanda Decembri -5
carmina, mittuntur quae tibi mense suo,
commodius nisi forte tibi potiusque videtur
Saturnalicias perdere, Varro, nuces.
XXXI
ASPICE quam placidis insultet turba iuvencis
et sua quam facilis pondera taurus amet.
cornibus hie pendet summis, vagus ille per armos
currit et in toto ventilat arma bove.
at feritas inmota riget : non esset harena 5
tutior et poterant fallere plana magis.
nee trepidant gestus, sed de discrimine palmae
securus puer est sollicitumque pecus.
1 It was a vulgar superstition that eating a hare made
the eater beautiful for that time or longer : Plin. N.H.
xxviii. 19.
BOOK V. xxix-xxxi
XXIX
IF at any time you send me a hare, }7ou say, Gellia :
" Marcus, you will be comely for seven days." l If
you are not laughing at me, if you speak truly, my
love, you, Gellia, have never eaten a hare.
XXX
VAKRO, whom the Sophoclean buskin would not
disclaim, nor less to be looked up to for your Calabriaii
lyre,2 put off your studies and let not the stage of the
clever Catullus 3 keep you busy, or Elegy with her
trim locks ; rather read poems, not to be despised in
smoky December, which are sent you in their appro-
priate month. But perhaps it seems to you, Varro,
more suitable and better to lose your Saturnalian
nuts.4
XXXI
SEE how the troupe leaps on the placid steers, and
how complacently the bull accepts his appointed
burden ! This boy hangs on the tips of his horns,
that one runs here and there along his shoulders
and waves his weapons all over the ox. But the
fierce beast stands unmoved and stark ; the sand
would not be safer ; rather might the level ground
cause a slip. Nor are their movements troubled ;
but of the award of the prize the boy is sure, the
beast solicitous.
2 For lyrics like Horace's. Varro is unknown.
3 A writer of mimes or comic plays.
4 To gamble for nuts at the Saturnalia.
319
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXXII
QUADRANTEM Crispus tabulis, Faustine, supremis
non dedit uxori. " Cui dedit ergo ? " sibi.
XXXIII
CARPERE causidicus fertur mea carmina. qui sit
nescio : si sciero, vae tibi, causidice.
XXXIV
HANC tibi, Fronto pater, genetrix Flaccilla, puellam
oscula commendo deliciasque meas,
parvola ne nigras horrescat Erotion umbras
oraque Tartarei prodigiosa canis.
inpletura fuit sextae modo frigora brumae, 5
vixisset totidem ni minus ilia dies,
inter tarn veteres ludat lasciva patronos
et nomen blaeso garriat ore meum.
mollia non rigidus caespes tegat ossa nee illi,
terra, gravis fueris : non fuit ilia tibi. 1 0
XXXV
DUM sibi redire de Patrensibus fundis
ducena clamat coccinatus Euclides
Corinthioque plura de suburbano
longumque pulchra stemma repetit a Leda
et suscitanti Leito reluctatur, 5
equiti superbo nobili locupleti
cecidit repente magna de sinu clavis.
mnnquam, Fabulle, nequior fuit clavis.
1 i.e. he dissipated it in his lifetime.
2 Supposed to be M.'a father and mother.
320
BOOK V. xxxn-xxxv
XXXII
CRISPUS in his last will, Faustinas, did not give
his wife a farthing. " To whom, then, did he give
his estate ? " To himself.1
XXXIII
A LAWYER is said to carp at my poems ; who he is
I don't know : if I do know, woe to you, lawyer !
XXXIV
To thee, father Pronto, to thee, mother Flacilla,2 I
commend this maid, my sweetheart and my darling,
that tiny Erotion may not shudder at the dark shades
and the Tartarean hound's stupendous jaws. She
would have completed only her sixth cold winter
had she not lived as many days too few. Beside
protectors so aged let her lightly play, and prattle
my name with lisping tongue. And let not hard
clods cover her tender bones, nor be thou heavy upon
her, O earth : she was not so to thee !
XXXV
WHILE Euclides in scarlet was loudly proclaiming
that two hundred thousand sesterces a year were the
return of his farms at Patrae, and more that of his
property in the suburbs of Corinth, and was tracing
a long pedigree from beauteous Leda, and arguing
with Leitus who was making him stir— out of the
pocket of this proud, high-born, rich knight there
suddenly fell a big key. Never, Fabullus, was there
a key more wicked ! 3
3 As showing that E. was only a door-keeper, or in some
other menial position.
321
VOL. I. Y
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXXVI
LAUUATUS nostro quidam, Faustina, libello
dissimulat, quasi nil debeat : inposuit.
XXXVII
PUKLLA senibus dulcior mihi cycnis,
agna Galaesi mollior Phalantini,
concha Lucrini delicatior stagni,
cui nee lapillos praeferas Erythraeos
nee modo politum pecudis Indicae dentem 5
nivesque primas liliumque non tactum ;
quae crine vicit Baetici gregis vellus
Rhenique nodos aureamque nitellam ;
fragravit ore quod rosarium Paesti,
quod Atticarum prima mella cerarum, 10
quod sucinorum rapta de manu gleba ;
cui conparatus indecens erat pavo,
inamabilis sciurus et frequens phoenix,
adhuc recenti tepet Erotion busto,
quam pessimorum lex amara fatorum 15
sexta peregit hieme, nee tarn en tota,
nostros amores gaudiumque lususque.
et esse tristem me meus vetat Paetus,
pectusque pulsans pariter et comam vellens :
" Deflere non te vernulae pudet mortem ? 20
ego coniugem " inquit "extuli et tamen vivo,
notam superbam nobilem locupletem."
quid esse nostro fortius potest Paeto ?
ducentiens accepit et tamen vivit.
1 The water of the Baetis ^Guadalquivir) gave wool a
golden hue : ef. ix. Ixi. 3.
322
BOOK V. xxxvi-xxxvn
XXXVI
A CERTAIN individual, Faustinus, whom I praised
in my book, pretends he owes me nothing. He has
cheated me.
XXXVII
A MAID, sweeter-voiced to me than aged swans,
more tender than the lamb by Phalanthian Galaesus,
more dainty than mother of pearl of Lucrine's mere,
before whom thou wouldst not choose Eastern pearls,
nor the tusk new polished of India's beast, and snows
untrodden, and the unfingered lily ; whose locks out-
shone the Baetic fleece,1 the knotted hair of Rhine,2
and the golden dormouse ; whose breath was fragrant
as Paestan bed of roses, as the new honey of Attic
combs, as a lump of amber snatched from the hand;3
compared with Avhom the peacock was unsightly, no
darling the squirrel, and less rare the phoenix ; warm
on a pyre yet new Erotion lies, whom the bitter decree
of the most evil Fates carried off ere her sixth winter
was full, my love, my joy, my playfellow. And my
friend Paetus forbids me to be sad, while he beats
his breast with both his hands and plucks his hair.
" Are you not ashamed to bewail the death of a
paltry home-bred slave? I," he says, "have buried
my wife, and yet I live, a wife known to all,
proud, high-born, wealthy." What can be more
steadfast than our Paetus ? He has received twenty
millions— and goes on living still !
2 Which was yellow and knotted : cf. Lib. Spect. iii. 9 ;
Juv. xiii. 164.
3 The warmth of the hand brought out the fragrance of
amber.
323
Y 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXXVIII
CALLIODORUS habet censum (quis nescit?) equestrem,
Sexte, sed et fratrem Calliodorus habet.
" Quadringenta seca " qui dicis, O-VKO. /xe/ai^e :
uno credis equo posse sedere duos ?
quid cum fratre tibi, quid cum Polluce molesto ? 5
non esset Pollux si tibi, Castor eras,
unus cum sitis, duo, Calliodore, sedebis ?
surge : o-oAoi*io-ju.6V, Calliodore, facis.
aut imitai'e genus Ledae : cum fratre sedere
non potes : alternis, Calliodore, sede. 10
XXXIX
SUPREMAS tibi triciens in anno
signanti tabulas, Charine, misi
Hyblaeis madidas thymis placentas.
defeci : miserere iam, Charine :
signa rarius, aut semel fac illud, 5
mentitur tua quod subinde tussis.
excussi loculosque sacculumque :
Croeso divitior licet fuissem,
Iro pauperior forem, Charine,
si conchem totiens meam comesses. 10
XL
PINXISTI Venerem, colis, Artemidore, Minervam :
et miraris opus displicuisse tuum ?
1 The point of the epigram is that the knight's qualifica-
tion (400,000 sesterces) possessed by C. cannot serve for his
brother also.
8 Who, of the Twins, was the horseman : cf. vu. Ivii. 2.
3 Your procedure amounts to saying "two sits," i.e. on
the knight's horse.
324
BOOK V. XXXVIII-XL
XXXVIII
CALLIODORUS has — who does not know it? — a
knight's estate, Sextus, but Calliodorus also has a
brother. You, who say " Divide four hundred," go,
halve a fig : on one horse do you think that two
can sit ? 1 What have you to do with your brother,
what with troublesome Pollux ? If you had had no
Pollux, you would have been Castor.2 Although you
two are one, will you, Calliodorus, sit as two ? Get
up ! You are guilty of a solecism, Calliodorus.3 Or
else copy the sons of Leda — you can't sit with your
brother — sit alternately,4 Calliodorus.
XXXIX
WHILE you were thirty times in the year sealing
your last will, Charinus, I sent you cakes steeped
with Hybla's thyme-fed honey. I am used up : pity
me now, Charinus ; seal more seldom, or do once for
all what your cough constantly suggests falsely. I
have shaken out my boxes and my money-bag ; had
I been richer than Croesus, yet I should now be
poorer than Irus,5 Charinus, had you so often eaten
beans of mine.6
XL
You who have painted Venus, Artemidorus, are a
votary of Minerva ; 7 do you wonder that your work
has not found favour ?
4 Like Castor and Pollux, who lived alternately in Heaven
and in the vShades : cf. i. xxxvi.
5 The typical beggar : see Horn. Od. xvii.
6 Though beans are cheap : cf. Juv. iii. 293.
7 The tutelary goddess of art. Venus had defeated Minerva
in the contest of beauty decided by Paris.
325
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XLI
SPADONE cum sis eviratior fluxo,
et concubino mollior Celaenaeo,
quern sectus ululat matris entheae Gallus,
theatra loqueris et gradus et edicta
trabeasque et Idus fibulasque censusque,
et pumicata pauperes manu monstras.
sedere in equitum liceat an tibi scamnis
videbo, Didyme : non licet maritorum.
XLII
CALLIDUS efFracta nummos fur auferet area,
prosternet patrios irapia flamma lares :
debitor usuram pariter sortemque negabit,
non reddet sterilis semina iacta seges :
dispensatorem fallax spoliabit arnica,
mercibus extructas obruet unda rates,
extra fortunam est quidquid donatur amicis :
quas dederis solas semper habebis opes.
XLIII
THAIS habet nigros, niveos Laecania dentes.
quae ratio est ? emptos haec haljet, ilia suos.
XLIV
QUID factum est, rogo, quid repente factum,
ad cenam mihi, Dento, quod vocanti
(quis credat ?) quater ausus es negare ?
1 Attis. 2 Cybele.
3 Of July, when there was a procession of the knights
326
BOOK V. XLI-XLIV
XLI
ALTHOUGH you are more unmanned than a flaccid
eunuch, and more effeminate than the Ganymede of
Celaenae l whose name the emasculated priest of the
soul-maddening Mother2 howls, you talk of theatres,
and rows of seats, and edicts, and gowns of purple
stripe, and Ides,3 and clasps, and estates, and with a
pumice-smoothed hand point at poor men. Whether
you should sit on the knights' benches I will consider,
Didymus : you can't sit on those of husbands.4
XLII
A CUNNING thief will break your money-box and
carry off your coin, cruel fire will lay low your an-
cestral home ; your debtor will repudiate interest
alike and principal, your sterile crop will not return
you the seed you have sown ; a false mistress will
despoil your treasurer, the wave will overwhelm your
ships stored with merchandise. Beyond Fortune's
power is any gift made to your friends ; only wealth
bestowed will you possess always.
XLIII
THAIS has black, Laecania snowy teeth. What is
the reason ? One has those she purchased, the other
her own.
XLIV
WHAT has happened, I ask, what has happened
suddenly* that, when I asked you, Dento, to dinner,
four times (who would believe it ?) you made bold
(equilum transvectio) crowned with olive, and in their state
robes (trabeae) : Dion. Hal. vi. 13 ; Val. Max. n. ii. 9.
* Assigned seats in the theatre by Augustus.
327
sed nee respicis et fugis sequentem,
quern thermis modo quaerere et theatris 5
et conclavibus omnibus solebas.
sic est, captus es unctiore mensa
et maior rapuit canem culina.
iam te, sed cito, cognitum et relictum
cum fastidierit popina dives, 10
antiquae venies ad ossa cenae.
XLV
DICIS formosam, dicis te, Bassa, puellam.
istud quae non est dicere, Bassa, solet.
XLVI
13 ASIA dum nolo nisi quae luctantia carpsi
et placet ira mihi plus tua quam facies,
ut te saepe rogem, caedo, Diadumene, saepe :
consequor hoc, ut me nee timeas nee ames.
XLVII
NUMQUAM se cenasse domi Philo iurat, et hoc est :
non cenat, quotiens nemo vocavit eum.
XLVIII
QUID non cogit amor ? secuit nolente capillos
Encolpos domino, non prohibente tamen.
328
BOOK V. XLIV-XI.VIII
to refuse? Moreover, you don't even look back,
but fly, when I follow you, from me whom but lately
in warm baths, and in theatres, and in every dining-
room you used to look for. So it is : you have
been captured by a richer dinner, and a bigger
kitchen has carried off the dog ! Presently — and
that soon — when you are known and discarded,
and the wealthy eating-house is sick of you, to the
bones of the old dinner you will return.
XLV
You say, Bassa, that you are beautiful; you say
that you are a girl. That is what she who is neither
is wont to say, Bassa.
XLVI
KISSES I reject save those I have ravished from
reluctance, and your anger pleases me more than
your face ; so I often beat you, Diadumenus, to
make myself solicit you often. I achieve this : you
neither fear nor love me.
XLVII
PHILO swears he has never dined at home, and it
is so. He doesn't dine at all whenever no one has
invited him.
XLVIII
WHAT does not love compel ? Encolpos has shorn
his locks against his master's will, yet not forbidden.
329
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
permisit flevitque Pudens : sic cessit habenis
audaci questus de Phaethonte pater ;
talis raptus Hylas, talis deprensus Achilles
deposuit gaudens, matre dolente, comas.
sed tu ne propera (brevibus ne crede capillis)
tardaque pro tanto munere, barba, veni.
XLIX
VIDISSEM modo forte cum sedentem
solum te, Labiene, tres putavi.
calvae me numerus tuae fefellit.
sunt illinc tibi, sunt et hinc capilli
quales vel puerum decere possunt : 5
nudumst in medio caput nee ullus
in longa pilus area notatur.
hie error tibi profuit Decembri,
turn cum prandia misit Imperator :
cum panariolis tribus redisti. 10
talem Geryonem fuisse credo.
vites censeo porticum Philippi :
si te viderit Hercules, peristi.
CENO domi quotiens, nisi te, Charopine, vocavi,
protinus ingentes sunt inimicitiae,
1 E. had dedicated his long hair to Phoebus if his master
Pudens became first centurion (primi pili) (see i. xxxi.), and
now proceeds to fulfil the vow.
2 Helios, the Sun, allowed Phaethon to drive his chariot.
3 A beautiful youth drawn under the water by the ena-
moured Nymphs.
33°
BOOK V. XLVIII-L
Pudens allowed it and wept : l in such wise did his
sire 2 yield the reins, sighing at Phaethon's bold-
ness ; so fair was ravished Hylas,3 so fair discovered
Achilles,4 when amid his mother's tears with joy he
laid aside his locks. Yet haste not thou, O beard —
trust not those shortened tresses 5 — and spring slow
in return for sacrifice so great !
XLIX
WHEN, as it chanced, I saw you just now in your
seat, I fancied your single self, Labienus, was three
persons : my calculation of your bald pate came out
wrong. You have on that side hairs, you have hairs
on this, such as might grace even a boy ; and your
head in the middle is bare, and no single shoot is
noticed in its long expanse. This confusion was
profitable to you in December, just when the Em-
peror sent round lunches ; you went home with
three baskets of bread. Geryon6 was like you, I
am sure. You should avoid — in my opinion — the
Portico of Philippus;7 if Hercules sees you, you
are undone !
IF, as often as I dine at home, I have not invited
you, Charopinus, immediately you become my deadly
4 Who had been hidden by Thetis in woman's clothes to
prevent him going to the Trojan war. An early instance of
Pacificism !
8 Do not imagine him yet a man.
8 A three-headed herdsman slain by Hercules.
7 Where there was a Temple of Hercules and the Muses,
containing a statue of Hercules.
331
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
meque velis stricto medium transfigere ferro,
si nostrum sine te scis caluisse focum.
nee semel ergo mihi furtum fecisse licebit ?
inprobius nihil est hac, Charopine, gula.
desine iam nostram, precor, observare culinam,
atque aliquando meus det tibi verba cocus.
LI
Hie, qui libellis praegravem gerit laevam,
iiotariorum quern premit chorus levis,
qui codicillis hinc et inde prolatis
epistulisque commodat gravem voltum
similis Catoni Tullioque Brutoque,
exprimere, Rufe, fidiculae licet cogant,
have Latinum, xaV€ non P°test Graecum.
si fingere istud me putas, salutemUs.
LII
QUAE mihi praestiteris memini semperque tenebo.
cur igitur taceo, Postume ? tu loqueris.
incipio quotieus alicui tua dona referre,
protinus exclamat "Dixerat ipse mihi."
non belle quaedam faciunt duo : sufficit unus
huic operi : si vis ut loquar, ipse tace.
crede mihi, quamvis ingentia, Postume, dona
auctoris pereunt garrulitate sui.
1 Perhaps containing notes taken in shorthand of forth-
coming speeches.
332
BOOK V. L-MI
enemy, and you would wish to run me through
with a drawn sword if you discover that my kitchen
fire has been aglow without you as guest. Cannot
I then, not even once in a way, hoodwink you?
Nothing is more insatiable, Charopinus, than this
gluttony of yours. Cease, I pray, by now to watch my
kitchen, and let my cook occasionally cheat you !
LI
THAT fellow who has his left hand weighted with
documents, round whom a smooth-cheeked band of
shorthand-writers crowds, who, when note-books1 and
letters are offered to him on this side and on that,
lends them a severe countenance, looking like a very
Cato, and Tully, and Brutus ! — that fellow cannot
bring out, even though the fiddle-strings2 forced
him, a " How d'ye do ? " in Latin, a xa'Pe m Greek.
If you think I am inventing that, let us greet him.3
LII
YOUR bounty to me I remember and shall always
keep in mind. Why, then, am I silent about it,
Postumus ? You speak of it. As often as I begin
to report to someone your presents, he at once ex-
claims : " He himself had told me." These are
things which two persons do not do nicely : one suf-
fices for this work ; if you want me to speak, be you
yourself silent. Trust me ; gifts, however great, Pos-
tumus, lose their value by the chattering of the giver.
2 A method of torture : Sen. de Ir. in. 3.
3 An epigram on a pretentious and surly lawyer, possibly
the Pontilianus of v. Ixvi.
333
COLCHIDA quid scribis, quid scribis, amice, Thyesten ?
quo tibi vel Nioben, Basse, vel Andromachen ?
materia est, mihi crede, tuis aptissiina chartis
Deucalion vel, si non placet hie, Phaethon.
LIV
EXTEMPORALIS factus est tneus rhetor :
Calpurnium non scripsit, et salutavit.
LV
Die mihi, quern portas, volucrum regina? "Tonantem."
nulla manu quare fulmina gestat? " Amat."
quo calet igne deus ? " Pueri." cur mitis aperto
respicis ore lovem? "De Ganymede loquor."
LVI
GUI tradas, Lupe, filium magistro
quaeris sollicitus diu rogasque.
omnes grammaticosque rhetorasque
devites moneo : nihil sit illi
cum libris Ciceronis aut Maronis.
famae Tutilium suae relinquat ;
1 Medea.
2 i.e. they should be drowned or burned : cf. a similar
Greek epigram (Anth. Pal. xi. ccxiv.) which M. copies.
3 cf. v. xxi.
334
BOOK V. LIII-LVI
LIII
WHY write of the Colchian dame/ why write, my
friend, of Thyestes ? What does it avail you, Bassus,
to write of Niobe or Andromache ? The fittest
matter, believe me, for those sheets of yours is
Deucalion, or — if he doesn't please you — Phaethon.2
LIV
MY friend the rhetorician has become spontaneous.
He did not write down "Calpurnius," and yet greeted
him by name.3
LV
TELL me, whom bearest thou, queen of birds ?
"The Thunderer." Why carries he in his hand no
thunderbolts? "He loves." With what flame burns
the god ? " With love for a boy." Why lookest thou
mildly back with open mouth towards Jove ? " I am
speaking of Ganymede." 4
LVI
To what master should you entrust your son, Lupus ?
This you have long been anxiously considering and
asking me. All teachers of grammar and rhetoric
I warn you to avoid ; let him have nothing to do
with the works of Cicero or Maro; leave Tutilius5
4 A Phrygian youth carried off by the eagle to be Jove's
cupbearer : cf. I. vi., an epigram referring to the masterpiece
of Leochares, a Greek sculptor contemporary with Praxi-
teles: cf. Plin. N.H. xxxiv. 19 (17). M. now probably
alludes to some similar representation of Jupiter.
5 An advocate and author of some note in the time of
Augustus.
335
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
si versus facit, abdices poetam.
artes discere vult pecuniosas ?
fac discat citharoedus aut choraules ;
si duri puer ingeni videtur, 10
praeconem facias vel architectuni.
LVU
CUM voco te dominum, noli tibi, Cinna, placere :
saepe etiam servum sic resaluto tuum.
LVIII
CHAS te victurum, eras dicis, Postume, semper.
die mihi, eras istud, Postume, quando venit ?
quam longe eras istud, ubi est ? aut unde petendum r
numquid apud Parthos Armeniosque latet ?
iam eras istud habet Priami vel Nestoris annos.
eras istud quanti, die mihi, possit emi ?
eras vives ? hodie iam vivere, Postume, serum est :
ille sapit quisquis, Postume, vixit heri.
LIX
QUOD lion argentum, quod non tibi mittimus aurum,
hoc facimus causa, Stella diserte, tua.
quisquis magna dedit, voluit sibi magna remitti ;
fictilibus nostris exoneratus eris.
1 r/. in. iv.
336
BOOK V. LVI-LIX
to his own fame. If he make verses, disinherit the
bard. Does he wish to learn money-making arts ?
make him learn to be harper or flutist for the
chorus ; 1 if the boy seem to be of dull intellect,
make him an auctioneer or architect.
LVII
WHEN I call you "master"2 don't pride yourselr,
China. I often return even your slave's greeting so.
LVIII
" TO-MORROW you will live, to-morrow," you are
always saying, Postumus. Tell me, when does that
"morrow" of yours arrive, Postumus? How distant
is that morrow ? where is it ? or in what quarter
should we look for it ? Surely it does not lie hid
among the Parthians and Armenians ? Already that
morrow is as old as Priam or as Nestor. That morrow
— tell me for how much it can be bought ? To-morrow
will you live ? To live to-day, Postumus, is already
too late. He is wise, whoever he be, Postumus,
who " lived " yesterday.3
LIX
IN sending you no silver plate, no gold plate, I act
in your interest, eloquent Stella. He who has given
great presents has desired great presents in return :
your burden will be lightened by my earthenware.4
2 Apparently a form of address to a person whose name
had been forgotten.
3 cf. i. xv. * cf. v. xviii. 9.
337
VOL. I. Z
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LX
ADLATRES licet usque nos et usque
et gannitibus inprobis lacessas,
certum est hanc tibi pernegare famam,
olim quam petis, in meis libellis
qualiscumque legaris ut per orbem. 5
nam te cur aliquis sciat fuisse ?
ignotus pereas, miser, necesse est.
non derunt tarn en hac in urbe forsan
unus vel duo tresve quattuorve,
pellem rodere qui velint caninam : 10
nos hac a scabie tenemus ungues.
LXI
CRISPULUS iste quis est, uxori semper adhaeret
qui, Mariane, tuae ? crispulus iste quis est ?
nescio quid dominae teneram qui garrit in aurem
et sellam cubito dexteriore premit ?
per cuius digitos currit levis anulus omnis,
crura gerit nullo qui violata pilo ?
nil mihi respondes ? " Uxoris res agit " inquis
" iste meae." sane certus et asper homo est,
procuratorem voltu qui praeferat ipso :
acrior hoc Chius non erit Aufidius. 10
o quam dignus eras alapis, Mariane, Latini :
te successurum credo ego Panniculo.
res uxoris agit ? res ullas crispulus iste ?
res non uxoris, res agit iste tuas.
1 Alluding to the proverb "dog does not bite dog." AJ.
says "I will not retort." See Erasm. Adag. s.v. Caninam
pellem rodere.
1 i.e. the aestivum aurum of Juv. i. 28. Roman fops wore
the heavier hibernum aurum in winter.
338
BOOK V. LX-LXI
LX
BARK at me as you may for ever and ever, and
assail me with your ceaseless snarlings, resolved am
I to refuse you the fame you seek so long — to be
read of in whatever shape in my works throughout
the world. For why should some one or other know
you existed ? Unknown, you must perish, you miser-
able fellow. Yet there may be found in this city
perhaps one or two, or three or four, who are ready
to gnaw a dog's hide.1 I keep my nails from such
an itch.
LXI
WHO is that curled spark who is always clinging
to your wife's side, Marianus ? Who is that curled
spark, he who whispers some trifle into the lady's
tender ear, and leans on her chair with his right
elbow, round each of whose fingers runs a light 2
ring, who carries legs unmarred by any hair ? Do
you make no reply ? "That individual does my wife's
jobs," you say. To be sure ! he is a trusty and
rugged fellow who flaunts factor in his very face :
Chian Aufidius 3 will not be sharper than he. Oh,
Marianus, how you deserve the buffets of Latinus ! 4
You will be successor I fancy to Panniculus. He
does your wife's jobs, does he ? Thnt curled spark
do any ? That fellow doesn't do your wife's jobs :
he does yours.
8 Aufidius was a notorious libertine : Juv. ix. 25.
4 Latinus and Panniculus were comic actors in mimes, like
clown and pantaloon, the latter being the stupid character,
who gets his ears boxed by Latinus : cf. n. Ixxii. 4. M.
means that Marianus is a fool.
339
z 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
IURE tuo nostris maneas licet, hospes, in hortis,
si potes in nudo ponere membra solo,
aut si portatur tecum tibi magna supellex :
nam mea iam digitum sustulit hospitibus.
nulla tegit fractos nee inanis culcita lectos, 5
putris et abrupta fascia reste iacet.
sit tamen hospitium nobis commune duobus :
emi hortos ; plus est : instrue tu ; minus est.
LXIII
" QUID sentis " inquis " de nostris, Marce, libellis? "
sic me sollicitus, Pontice, saepe rogas.
admiror, stupeo : nihil est perfectius illis,
ipse tuo cedet Regulus ingenio.
" Hoc sentis ? " inquis " faciat tibi sic bene Caesar, 5
sic Capitolinus luppiter." immo tibi.
LXIV
SEXTANTES, Calliste, duos infunde Falerni,
tu super aestivas, Alcime, solve nives,
pinguescat nimio madidus mihi crinis amomo
lassenturque rosis tempora sutilibus.
tarn vicina iubent nos vivere Mausolea, 5
cum doceant ipsos posse perire deos.
1 i.e. asked for mercy, like a gladiator : cf. Lib. Spect. xxix. 5.
2 Ponticus' blessing being based on the truth of M.'s
opinions was an empty one. M. with ironical politeness
returns the blessing : cf. vm. Ixxvi.
34°
BOOK V. LXII-LXIV
LXII
OF your own right you may remain, my guest, in
my gardens if you can lay your limbs on the bare
ground, or if a pile of furniture is brought with you ;
for mine has already held up its finger J to my guests.
No cushion — not even one without stuffing — covers
my broken couches, and the rotten girth lies, its band
burst, upon the floor. Nevertheless, let hospitality
be divided between us two ; I bought the gardens :
that is the larger share; do you furnish them: that
is the smaller.
LXIII
You say " what is your opinion, Marcus, of my
little books ? " Such is the question, Ponticus, you
often ask me anxiously. I admire them ; I am over-
powered ; nothing is more perfect than they are ;
Regulus himself will give place to you in genius.
"Is this your opinion?" you say: "so may Caesar
bless you, so may Capitoline Jove." Rather be that
blessing yours.2
LXIV
POUR in, Callistus, two double-measures 3 of
Falernian ; do thou, Alcimus, dissolve upon them
the summer's snow ; let my dripping locks be rich
with over-bounteous balm, and my temples droop
beneath the knitted roses. Yon tombs,4 so nigh,
bid us enjoy life, forasmuch as they teach us that
the very gods can die.
3 Four cyathi, the sextans being equal to two cyathi.
4 The Mausoleum of Augustus (described by Strabo, v. iii.),
which M. could see from his house on the Quirinal : cf. n.
lix. M. probably imagines himself drinking in the Mica.
341
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXV
ASTRA polumque dedit, quamvis obstante noverca,
Alcidae Nemees terror et Areas aper
et castigatum Libycae ceroma palaestrae
et gravis in Siculo pulvere fusus Eryx,
silvarumque tremor, tacita qui fraude solebat 5
ducere non rectas Cacus in antra boves.
ista tuae, Caesar, quota pars spectatur harenae !
dat maiora novus proelia mane dies,
quot graviora cadunt Nemeaeo pondera monstro !
quot tua Maenalios conlocat hasta sues ! 10
reddatur si pugna triplex pastoris Hiberi,
est tibi qui possit vincere Geryonem.
saepe licet Graiae numeretur belua Lernae,
inproba Niliacis quid facit Hydra feris ?
pro meritis caelum tantis, Auguste, dederunt 15
Alcidae cito di sed tibi sero dabunt.
LXVI
SAEPE salutatus numquam prior ipse salutas.
sic erit ; aeternum, Pontiliane, vale.
LXVII
HIBERNOS peterent solito cum more recessus
Atthides, in nidis una remansit avis.
1 Hercules, son of Jupiter, who, having accomplished his
labours, was deified.
1 The Nemean lion, afterwards the Constellation Leo.
3 i.e. by their tails. * cf. v. xlix. 11.
342
BOOK V. LXV-LXVII
LXV
THE starry heaven, albeit his stepmother said nay,
was granted to Alcides l by his slaughter of Nemea's
dread beast,2 and by Arcadia's boar, and by the
chastisement of the oiled wrestler of Libyan lists,
and by the laying low of huge Eryx in Sicilian
dust, and of Cacus, the terror of the woods, wont
with secret guile to drag into his den the back-
turned 3 oxen. How small a part are such things of
the sights of thy Arena, Caesar ! Each new day
gives us at morn conflicts more great. How many
massive beasts, heavier than Nemea's monster, are
laid low ! How many Maenalian boars does thy
spear expose in death ! Were the threefold fight 4
with Iberia's shepherd fought anew, one 5 thou hast
that can vanquish Geryon. Though the heads of
Grecian Lerna's beast were counted oft,6 what is the
prodigious hydra to the brutes of Nile ? Heaven
for worth so great, Augustus, the gods quickly
granted to Alcides; but to thee they shall grant
it late.7
LXVI
THOUGH often greeted, you are never the first to
greet. So it shall be : Pontilianus, " farewell for
ever." 8
LXVII
WHEN the Attic birds9 in wonted wise sought their
winter retreats, one bird remained within the nest.
5 Carpophorus, a famous bestiarius : cf. Lib. Spect. xv. ,
xxiii., and xxvii
6 When one of the hydra's heads was cut off by Hercules,
two grew in its place.
7 i.e. that you may live long to benefit earth.
8 The last salutation to the dead 9 Swallows.
343
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
deprendere nefas ad tempera verna reversae
et profugam volucres diripuere suae.
sero dedit poenas : discerpi noxia mater J3
debuerat, sed tune cum laceravit Ityn.
LXVIII
ARCTOA de gente comam tibi, Lesbia, misi,
ut scires quanto sit tua flava magis.
LXIX
ANTONI Phario nihil obiecture Pothino
et levius tabula quam Cicerone nocens,
quid gladium demens Romana stringis in ora ?
hoc admisisset nee Catilina nefas.
impius infando miles corrumpitur auro, 5
et tantis opibus vox tacet una tibi.
quid prosunt sacrae pretiosa silentia linguae ?
incipient omnes pro Cicerone loqui.
LXX
INFUSUM sibi nuper a patrono
plenum, Maxime, centiens Syriscus
in sellariolis vagus popinis
circa balnea quattuor peregit.
o quanta est gula, centiens cornesse ! 5
quanto maior adhue, nee accubare !
1 Progne slew and served up her son Itys to his father
Tereus. She was turned into a swallow.
2 The eunuch of Ptolemy, king of Egypt, who slew Pompey.
344
BOOK V. LXVII-LXX
This crime they detected when they returned in the
spring time, and her own mates tore asunder the
deserter. Late was the penalty she paid : the guilty
mother had deserved to be rent in twain, but it was
when she mangled Itys.1
LXVIII
FROM a Northern race I sent you, Lesbia, a lock of
hair, that you might know how much more golden is
your own.
LXIX
ANTONY, who canst ne'er reproach Pharian Pothi-
nus,2 and less guilty for thy list of doom than for
Cicero's death, why, madman, drawest thou the
sword against the lips3 of Rome? A crime like
this not even Catiline had wrought. An impious
soldier is bribed with gold accursed, and a price so
great bought thee the stillness of that one voice !
What avails the dear-bought silence of that hal-
lowed tongue ? All men shall begin to speak for
Cicero.4
LXX
THE fortune showered upon him lately by his
patron — a full ten millions, Maximus — Syriscus,
gadding about, got through on tavern stools 6 about
the four baths. Oh, what stupendous gluttony, to
gorge ten millions ! And still more stupendous, not
even to recline at table !
3 The mouthpiece of Roman eloquence.
4 cf. in. Ixvi.
5 Much like our quick-lunch counters.
345
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXI
UMIDA qua gelidas summittit Trebula valles
et viridis Cancri mensibus alget ager,
rura Cleonaeo numquam temerata Leone
et domus Aeolio semper arnica Noto
te, Faustine, vocant : longas his exige messes
collibus ; hibernum iam tibi Tibur erit.
LXXII
Qui potuit Bacchi matrem dixisse Tonantem,
ille potest Semelen dicere, Rufe, patrem.
LXXIII
NON donem tibi cur meos libellos
oranti totiens et exigenti
miraris, Theodore ? magna causa est :
dones tu mihi ne tuos libellos.
LXXIV
POMPEIOS iuvenes Asia atque Europa, sed ipsum
terra tegit Libyes, si tamen ulla tegit.
quid mirum toto si spargitur orbe ? iacere
uno non poterat tanta ruina loco.
LXXV
QUAE legis causa nupsit tibi Laelia, Quinte,
uxorem potes hanc dicere legitimam.
1 The Constellation of Leo.
2 A summer resort. It will seem, in comparison, warm
enough to be a winter resort.
3 Bacchus was called bimater because, on the death of his
346
BOOK V. LXXI-LXXV
LXXI
WHERE moist Trebula stands above the cool
vales, and the green field is chill in the months of the
Crab, a farm by Cleonae's lion l never spoilt, and a
house ever welcoming the Aeolian south-west wind,
summon you, Faustinus ; on these hills spend your
long harvest-time : presently Tibur 2 will seem to
you a winter place.
LXXII
HE who could call the Thunderer the mother 01
Bacchus,3 can, Rufus, call Semele his father.
LXXIII
WHY don't I give you my works, although so often
you beseech me for them, and press me ? Do you
wonder, Theodorus ? There is great reason : that
you may not give me your works.
LXXIV
POMPEY'S sons Asia and Europe entomb, to himself
the land of Libya gives — if grave he has — a grave.
What wonder if o'er the whole world 'tis scattered ?
In one spot so vast a ruin could not lie.
LXXV
LAELIA, who married you, Quintus, to satisfy the
law,4 you may call your " lawful " spouse.
mother Semele, Jupiter placed him in his thigh till his birth
was due : cf. Lib. Sped. xii. 7.
4 The Lex Julia against adultery, revived by Domitian
cf. vi. vii.
347
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXVI
PKOFECIT poto Mithridates saepe veneno
toxica ne possent saeva nocere sibi.
tu quoque cavisti cenando tarn male semper
ne possis umquam, Cinna, perire fame.
LXXVII
NARRATUR belle quidam dixisse, Marulle,
qui te ferre oleum dixit in auricula.
LXXVIII
Si tristi domicenio laboras,
Torani, potes esurire mecum.
non derunt tibi, si soles irpottivuv,
viles Cappadocae gravesque porri,
divisis cybium latebit ovis. 5
ponetur digitis tenendus ustis
nigra coliculus virens patella,
algentem modo qui reliquit hortum.
et pultem niveam premens botellus,
et pallens faba cum rubente lardo. 10
mensae munera si voles secundae,
marcentes tibi porrigentur uvae
et nomen pira quae ferunt Syrorum,
et quas docta Neapolis creavit,
lento castaneae vapore tostae : 15
vinum tu facies bonum bibendo.
post haec omnia forte si movebit
Bacchus quam solet esuritionem,
1 You listen to great men with an ear as inclined as if you
carried oil in it. Said "of flatterers, who say pleasant
rather than salutary things": Erasm. Adag. s.v. Oleum in
auricula ferre.
348
BOOK V. LXXVI-LXXVIII
LXXVI
MITHRIDATES, by often drinking poison, achieved
protection against deadly drugs. You too, Cinna,
have taken care, by dining so badly always, against
ever perishing of hunger.
LXXVII
A CERTAIN person is said to have made this neat
remark, Marullus : he remarked that you carried oil
in your ear.1
LXXVIII
IF you are troubled by the prospect of a cheerless
dinner at home, Toranius, you may fare modestly
with me. You will not lack, if you are accustomed to
an appetizer,2 cheap Cappadocian lettuces and strong-
smelling leeks ; a piece of tunny will lie hid in sliced
eggs. There will be served — to be handled with
scorched fingers — on a black-ware dish light green
broccoli, which has just left the cool garden, and a
sausage lying on white pease-pudding, and pale beans
with ruddy bacon. If you wish for what a dessert
can give, grapes past their prime shall be offered you,
and pears that bear the name of Syrian, and chest-
nuts which learned Neapolis has grown, roasted in
a slow heat ; the wine you will make good by drink-
ing it.3 After all this spread, if — as may be — Bac-
chus rouses a usual appetite, choice olives which
2 Here begins the promulsis or gustus, consisting of a
draught of mulsum together with appetizers, such as lettuces,
etc. : cf. xiii. xiv. The dinner proper begins at 1. 6.
3 This seems to have been a common formula of politeness :
Petr. xxxix. and xlviii. " Your drinking will be sufficient
to recommend the wine."
349
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
succurrent tibi nobiles olivae,
Piceni modo quas tulere rami, 20
et fervens cicer et tepens lupinus.
parva est cenula (quis potest negare r)
sed finges nihil audiesve fictum
et voltu placidus tuo recumbes ;
nee crassum dominus leget volumen, 25
nee de Gadibus inprobis puellae
vibrabunt sine fine prurientes
lascivos docili tremore lumbos ;
sed quod nee grave sit nee infacetum,
parvi tibia Condyli sonabit. 30
haec est cenula. Claudiam sequeris.
quam nobis cupis esse tu priorem ?
LXXIX
UNDECIES una surrexti, Zoile, cena,
et mutata tibi est synthesis undecies,
sudor inhaereret madida ne veste retentus
et laxam tenuis laederet aura cutem.
quare ego non sudo, qui tecum, Zoile, ceno ? 5
frigus enim magnum synthesis una facit.
LXXX
NON totam mihi, si vacabis, horam
dones et licet inputes, Severe,
dum nostras legis exigisque nugas.
" Durum est perdere ferias " : rogamus
iacturam patiaris hanc ferasque. 5
1 M. keeps a surprise for the end. But the text, and
meaning, is obscure.
35°
BOOK V. LXXVIII-I.XXX
Picenian branches have but lately borne will relieve
you, and hot chick-peas and warm lupines. My poor
dinner is a small one — who can deny it ? — but you
will say no word insincere nor hear one, and, wearing
your natural face, will recline at ease ; nor will your
host read a bulky volume, nor will girls from wanton
Gades with endless prurience swing lascivious loins
in practised writhings ; but the pipe of little Con-
dylus shall play something not too solemn nor
unlively. Such is your little dinner. You will
follow Claudia. What girl do you desire to meet
before me ? l
LXXIX
ELEVEN times during one dinner you got up, Zoilus,
and your evening dress was changed eleven times,
that sweat, kept in by your moist garb, should
not cling to you, and a searching draught affect your
opened pores. How is it that I don't sweat, who
dine with you, Zoilus ? Why, a single evening suit
produces great coolness ! 2
LXXX
LESS than an hour, if you are at leisure, you may
give me, and charge to my account, Severus, while
you read and criticise my trifles. " 'Tis hard to spoil
one's holiday." Yet I ask you to endure and put up
2 Having no change, I cannot pretend perspiration as an
excuse for showing off.
351
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
quod si legeris ista cum diserto
(sed numquid sumus inprobi ?) Secundo,
plus multo tibi debiturus hie est
quam debet domino suo libellus.
nam securus erit, nee inquieta 10
lassi marmora Sisyphi videbit,
quern censoria cum meo Severe
docti lima momoi'derit Secundi.
LXXXI
SEMPER pauper eris, si pauper es, Aemiliane.
dantur opes nullis nunc nisi divitibus.
LXXXII
QUID promittebas mihi milia, Gaure, ducenta,
si dare non poteras milia, Gaure, decem ?
an potes et non vis ? rogo, non est turpius istud ?
i, tibi dispereas, Gaure : pusillus homo es.
LXXXIII
INSEQUERIS, fugio ; fugis, insequor ; haec mihi mens est :
velle tuum nolo, Dindyme, nolle volo.
LXXXIV
IAM tristis nucibus puer relictis
clamoso revocatur a magistro,
et blando male proditus fritillo,
arcana modo raptus e popina,
aedilem rogat udus aleator. 5
1 i.e. regard its labour wasted.
2 cf. vui. xix. 3 Playthings.
352
BOOK V. LXXX-LXXXIV
with this loss. If you read them — am I too pre-
sumptuous ? — along with eloquent Secundus, this
little book is likely to owe you much more than
it owes its author. For it will be free from anxiety,
nor will it look upon the restless stone of weary
Sisyphus,1 when the censorial file of the learned
Secundus, aided by my Severus, has scored it.
LXXXI
. You will always be poor, if you are poor, Aemili-
anus. Wealth is given to-day to none save the rich.2
LXXXII
WHY were you promising me, Gaurus, two hundred
thousand if you, Gaurus, could not give me ten
thousand ? Can you and won't you ? I ask you — is
not that more disgraceful ? Go to the devil your
own way, Gaurus : you are a paltry fellow.
LXXXIII
You pursue me, I fly ; you fly, I follow. Such is
my mind ; your willingness I reject, Dindymus, your
coyness I prize.
LXXXIV
Now the boy, sad to desert his nuts,3 is recalled
to school by his clamorous master; and, ill-betrayed
by the sound of his fascinating dice-box, and just
.dragged out of the secluded cook-shop, the boozy
gambler is begging for mercy of the Aedile.4 The
4 Who punished gambling except during the Saturnalia :
cf. iv. xiv. 7-9 ; xiv. i. 3.
353
VOL. I. A A
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
Saturnalia transiere tota,
nee munuscula parva nee minora
misisti mihi, Galla, quam solebas.
sane sic abeat meus December.
scis certe, puto, vestra iam venire 10
Saturnalia, Martias Kalendas ;
tune reddam tibi, Galla, quod dedisti.
354
BOOK V. LXXXIV
Saturnalia are all over, yet you, Galla, have not
sent me any small presents, not even any smaller
than usual. By all means let my December so depart;
you know at any rate, I fancy, that your Saturnalia
are coming presently, the Kalends of March ; l then
I will return you, Galla, what you gave.
1 Presents were made to women at the Matronalia on
March 1.
355
BOOK VI
LIBER SEXTUS
SEXTUS mittitur hie tibi libellus,
in primis mihi care Martialis :
quern si terseris aure diligenti,
audebit minus anxius tremensque
magnas Caesaris in manus venire. 5
II
Lusus erat sacrae conubia fallere taedae,
lusus et inmeritos exsecuisse mares,
utraque tu prohibes, Caesar, populisque f'uturis
succurris, nasci quod sine fraude iubes.
nee spado iam nee moechus erit te praeside quisquam :
at prius (o mores !) et spado moechus erat. 6
III
NASCERE Dardanio promissum nomen lulo,
vera deum suboles ; nascere, magne puer,
cui pater aeternas post saecula tradat habenas,
quique regas orbem cum seniore senex.
ipsa tibi niveo trahet aurea pollice fila 5
et totam Phrixi lulia nebit ovem.
1 See notes to v. Ixxv. and n. Ix.
* i.e. to the Romans.
: Niece of Domitian, deified after her death. She shall
358
BOOK VI
THIS, my sixth book, is sent to you, Martial, dear
to me above all men. If you, with a critic's careful
ear, will emend it, it will venture with less anxiety
and fear to pass into Caesar's mighty hands.
II
'TWAS pastime once to betray wedlock with its
hallowed torch, and pastime to mutilate unoffending
males.1 Both thou forbiddest, Caesar, and thou suc-
courest generations yet to come, in that thou biddest
births to be without dishonour. No man shall now
be eunuch or adulterer while thou art governor ; but
aforetime (shame on our morals !) even a eunuch was
adulterer.
Ill
BE born, thou name promised to Dardan lulus,'2
true scion of the gods ; be born, illustrious boy, that
thy sire, after long years have passed, may yield to
thee everlasting reins of empire, and thou mayst
sway the world in old age with one more aged still.
Julia3 with her own snow-white finger shall draw
thy golden threads, and spin for them all the fleece
of Phryxus' ewe.
watch over the destiny of Domitian's expected child instead
of the Fates, and spin his life's threads in gold.
359
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
IV
CENSOR maxime principumque princeps,
cum tot iam tibi debeat triumphos,
tot nascentia templa, tot renata,
tot spectacula, tot deos, tot urbes,
plus debet tibi Roma quod pudica est.
RUSTICA mercatus multis sum praedia nummis :
mutua des centum, Caeciliane, rogo.
nil mihi respondes ? taciturn te dicere credo
"Non reddes " : ideo, Caeciliane, rogo.
VI
COMOEDI tres sunt, sed amat tua Paula, Luperce,
quattuor : et K<a<f>ov Paula irpocrwirov amat.
VII
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.
quae nubit totiens, non nubit : adultera lege est.
offendor moecha simpliciore minus.
VIII
PRAETORES duo, quattuor tribuni,
septem causidici, decem poetae
cuiusdam modo nuptias petebant
360
BOOK VI. iv-vm
IV
GREATEST of censors and Prince of Princes, albeit
she already owes thee so many triumphs, so many
temples rising, so many renewed, so many spectacles,
so many gods, so many cities — yet more Rome owes
thee, in that she is chaste.
I HAVE bought a country property at a tall price ;
I ask you, Caecilianus, to lend me a hundred
thousand sesterces. You make me no answer? I
fancy you say to yourself: "You won't repay them."
That is why, Caecilianus, I ask.
VI
THERE are three actors in Comedy, but your Paula,
Lupercus, loves four. Paula loves a " walker-on "
as well.
VII
SINCE the Julian law, Faustinus, was re-enacted
for the peoples, and Chastity was commanded to
enter our homes, 'tis the thirtieth day — perhaps less,
at least no more — and Telesilla is now marrying her
tenth husband. She who marries so often does not
marry ; she is adulteress by form of law ; l by a more
straightforward prostitute I am offended less.
VIII
Two pi-aetors, four tribunes, seven lawyers, ten
poets, lately sued a certain old man for the hand of
1 cf. V. Ixxv. ; VI. xxii.
361
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
a quodam sene. non moi'atus ille
praeconi dedit Eulogo puellam. 5
die, numquid fatue, Severe, fecit ?
IX
IN Pompeiano dormis, Laevine, theatre :
et quereris si te suscitat Oceanus ?
X
PAUCA lovem nuper cum milia forte rogarem,
"Ille dabit " dixit " qui mihi templa dedit."
templa quidem dedit ille lovi sed milia nobis
nulla dedit : pudet, a, pauca rogasse lovem.
at quam non tetricus, quam nulla nubilus ira, 5
quam placido nostras legerat ore preces !
talis supplicibus tribuit diademata Dacis
et Capitolinas itque reditque vias.
die precor, o nostri die conscia virgo Tonantis,
si negat hoc vultu, quo solet ergo dare ? 10
sic ego : sic breviter posita mihi Gorgone Pallas :
"Quae nondum data sunt, stulte, negata putas ? "
XI
QUOD non sit Pylades hoc tempore, non sit Orestes
miraris ? Pylades, Marce, bibebat idem,
1 Auctioneers were wealthy: cf. v. Ivi. Eulogus ("the
man of fair speech") is an invented name.
362
BOOK VI. vm-xi
a certain maid. Without hesitation, he gave the
girl to Eulogus the auctioneer.1 Tell me, you don't
thinly he acted foolishly, Severus?
IX
Do you go to sleep, Laevinus, in Pompey's theatre,
and grumble if Oceanus 2 rouse you ?
X
WHEN for some poor thousands, as it chanced, I
was praying Jupiter, " He will give them," he said,
"who gave me temples." Temples, 'tis true, he
gave to Jupiter, but to me he gave no thousands ;
alas ! ashamed am I to have asked so few of Jove ! '6
Yet how little severe was he, how unclouded by
anger ! With a look how calm had he read my
petition ! Such his guise when he bestows diadems
on suppliant Dacians, and goes and returns along
Capitoline ways.4 Tell me, I pray, tell me, thou
Maid, our Thunderer's confidant, if with such a face
he denies, with what is he wont to give ? Thus I :
so briefly Pallas, laying aside her shield, answered
me : " That which has not yet been given, thinkest
thou, O foolish one, has been refused ? "
XI
Do you wonder that to-day there is no Pylades,
that there is no Orestes ? Pylades, Marcus, drank
a See note to v. xxiii. "Rouse" is intentionally am-
biguous.
3 Domitian. M. regrets having asked so little of one so
great : cf, xi, Ixviii. 4 In triumph.
363
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
nee melior panis turdusve dabatur Orestae,
sed par atque eadem cena duobus erat.
tu Lucrina voras, me pascit aquosa peloris : 5
non minus ingenua est et mihi, Marce, gula.
te Cadmea Tyros, me pinguis Gallia vestit :
vis te purpureum, Marce, sagatus amem ?
ut praestem Pyladen, aliquis mihi praestet Oresten.
hoc non fit verbis, Marce : ut ameris, ama. 10
XII
IURAT capillos esse, quos emit, suos
Fabulla : numquid ergo, Paule, peierat ?
XIII
Quis te Phidiaco formatam, lulia, caelo,
vel quis Palladiae non putet artis opus ?
Candida non tacita respondet imagine lygdos
et placido fulget vivus in ore decor.1
ludit Acidalio, sed non manus aspera, nodo, 5
quern rapuit collo, parve Cupido, tuo.
ut Martis revocetur amor summique Tonantis,
a te luno petat ceston et ipsa Venus.
1 liquor (quick blood) y.
1 The epigram is on a statue of Julia, the deified niece
of Domitian, along with Venus and Cupid : cf. vi. iii,
364
BOOK VI. XI-XIH
the same wine as Orestes, and no better bread or
field-fare was given to Orestes ; but equal and the
same was the dinner of the two. You gorge Lucrine
oysters, watery mussels from Pelorus feed me ; yet
my palate too, Marcus, is that of a gentleman.
Cadmean Tyre clothes you, Gaul with her greasy
wool me : would you have me, Marcus, in a coarse
wrapper love you in purple ? That I may prove
myself a Pylades, let someone prove himself to me
an Orestes. That does not come about by talk,
Marcus : by love win love.
XII
FABULLA swears that the hair she buys is hers.
Does she therefore swear falsely, Paulus?
XIII
WHO would not think, Julia,1 that thou wert shaped
by the chisel of Phidias ? or who that thou wert not
the work of Pallas' 2 skill ? The white Lygdian 3
marble answers me with its speaking likeness, and
a live beauty glows in the placid face. Her hand
with no rough touch plays with the Acidalian girdle 4
which it has snatched, small Cupid, from thy neck.
To win back the love of Mars and of the imperial
Thunderer, from thee let Juno ask for thy cestos,
and Venus herself too.
1 The goddess.
:! Parian marble from the Cyclades.
4 The girdle or ceattis of Venus, which inspired love.
365
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XIV
VERSUS scribere posse te disertos
adfirmas, Laberi : quid ergo non vis ?
versus scribere qui potest disertos,
f non scribatf , Laberi : virum putabo.
XV
DUM Phaethontea formica vagatur in umbra,
inplicuit tenuem sucina gutta feram.
sic modo quae fuerat vita contempta manente,
funeribus facta est nunc pretiosa suis.
XVI
Tu qui pene viros terres et falce cinaedos,
iugera sepositi pauca tuere soli,
sic tua non intrent vetuli pomaria fures
sed puer et longis pulchra puella comis.
XVII
CINNAM, Cinname, te iubes vocari.
non est hie, rogo, Cinna, barbarismus ?
tu si Furius ante dictus esses,
Fur ista ratione dicereris.
XVIII
SANCTA Salonini terris requiescit Hiberis,
qua melior Stygias non videt umbra domos.
1 I render Schneidewin's conjecture c,onscribat, which is
accepted by Friedlander.
1 cf. iv. xxxii. and lix.
366
BOOK VI. xiv-xvm
XIV
You affirm, Laberius, that you can write elegant
verses : why, then, are you unwilling ? He who can
write elegant verses should write them down,1 La-
berius : then I shall think him a hero.
XV
WHILE an ant was roaming in the poplar shade a
gummy drop enfolded the tiny insect. Thus, despised
but now while life remained, it has become to-day
precious by its death.2
XVI
THOU who with thy appurtenance scarest men,
and, with thy sickle, rascals, guard these few acres
of secluded ground. So may no hoary thieves enter
thy orchard ; only a boy or a fair girl with flowing
locks !
XVII
CiNNAMus,3 you bid us address you as Cinna. Is
not this, I ask, Cinna, a barbarism ? If you had been
called Furius before, you would, on that principle,
be called Fur.4
XVIII
THE holy shade of Saloninus sleeps in Iberia's
land, than whom no nobler shade views the abodes
3 Probably a freedman who wished to adopt a genuine
Roman name : cf. vii. Ixiv.
« A thief.
367
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
sed lugere nefas : nam qui te, Prisce, reliquit,
vivit qua voluit vivere parte magis.
XIX
NON de vi neque caede nee veneno,
sed lis est mihi de tribus capellis :
vicini queror has abesse furto.
hoc iudex sibi postulat probari :
tu Cannas Mithridaticumque bellum
et periuria Punici furoris
et Sullas Mariosque Muciosque
magna voce sonas manuque tota.
iam die, Postume, de tribus capellis.
XX
MUTUA te centum sestertia, Phoebe, rogavi,
cum mihi dixisses "Exigis ergo nihil ? "
inquiris, dubitas, cunctaris meque diebus
teque decem crucias : iam rogo, Phoebe, nega.
XXI
PERPETUAM Stellae dum iungit lanthida vati
laeta Venus dixit " Plus dare non potui."
haec coram domina ; sed nequius illud in aure :
" Tu ne quid pecces, exitiose, vide.
saepe ego lascivom Martem furibunda cecidi,
legitimos esset cum vagus ante toros.
1 cf. the Pythagorean saying q>i\wv aia^ara. pfv 5i5o
fila.
368
BOOK VI. xvm-xxt
of Styx. But grief is guilt ; for he who has left
thee, Priscus, behind him yet lives in that half
wherein he wished to live.1
XIX
MY action is not one for assault, or wounding, or
poisoning : it concerns my three she-goats ; I com-
plain that they are lost by my neighbour's theft ;
this is the fact which the judge prescribes to be
proved to him. You, with a mighty voice and every
gesture you know, make the court ring with Cannae,
and the Mithridatic war, and insensate Punic per-
juries, and Sullas, and Mariuses, and Muciuses. Now
mention, Postumus, my three she-goats.2
XX
1 ASKED you, Phoebus, for a hundred thousand ses-
terces on loan, seeing that you had said to me, " Do
you then beg for nothing? " You enquire, hesitate,
delay, and for ten days you torture both yourself and
me. I now ask you, Phoebus, to say "No."
XXI
WHILE she was uniting lanthis to Stella the poet
in lasting bonds, Venus joyfully said, " More I could
not give." This was in the presence of the bride,
but her word in his ear was naughtier. " See that
you make no slip, you rogue ! Oft in my fury have
I smitten wanton Mars when — not then my lawful
spouse — he strayed from me. But, now he is my
2 Copied from a Greek epigram of the age of Nero : Anth.
Pal. xi. cxli.
369
VOL. I. B B
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
sed postquam meus est, nulla me paelice laesit :
tarn frugi luno vellet habere virum."
dixit et arcauo percussit pectora loro.
plaga iuvat : sed tu iam, dea, caede duos.
XXII
QUOD iiubis, Proculina, concubino
et, moechum modo, nunc facis maritum,
ne lex lulia te notare possit,
non nubis, Proculina, sed fateris.
XXIII
STARE iubes nostrum semper tibi, Lesbia, penem :
crede mihi, non est mentula quod digitus.
tu licet et manibus blandis et vocibus instes,
te contra facies imperiosa tua est.
XXIV
NIL lascivius est Charisiano :
Saturnalibus ainbulat togatus.
XXV
•
MARCELLINE, boni suboles sincera parentis,
horrida Parrhasio quern tegit Ursa iugo,
ille vetus pro te patriusque quid optet amicus,
accipe et haec memori pectore vota tene,
1 cf. i. Ixxiv. and vi. vii.
2 When the wearing of the toga was unusual. Perhaps
37°
BOOK VI. xxi-xxv
own, he has wounded me by no paramour ; Juno
would wish to possess so virtuous a spouse." She
spake, and struck his breast with her mystic lash.
The blow aids him ; but do thou, goddess, now
smite two.
XXII
IN that you wed your paramour, Proculina, and
make him, but now your leman, your husband, to
avoid the brand of the Julian law, you are not
wedding, Proculina, but confessing.1
XXIII
You bid me, Lesbia, to be always prepared to
serve you ; believe me, one's faculties are not all
equally at hand. You may urge me with toyings
and wheedling words, but your face is imperious to
defeat you.
XXIV
CHARISIANUS is rakishness itself: he walks about
in the Saturnalia 2 in a toga !
XXV
MARCELLJNUS, true offspring of a good father, you
whom the numbing Bear covers with her Parrhasian3
car, hear what an old friend, and your father's, wishes
for you, and keep these prayers in a remembering
M. means that C. was too poor to buy the usual dress
(synthesis).
3 Helice, of Parrhasia, a district of Arcadia, was changed
into the Constellation.
371
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
cauta sit ut virtus nee te temerarius ardor 5
in medios enses saevaque tela ferat.
bella velint Martemque ferum rationis egentes,
tu potes et patris miles et esse ducis.
XXVI
PEKICLITATUR capite Sotades noster.
reum putatis esse Sotaden ? non est.
arrigere desit posse Sotades : lingit.
XXVII
Bis vicine Nepos (nam tu quoque proxima Florae
incolis et veteres tu quoque Ficelias)
est tibi, quae patria signatur imagine voltus,
testis maternae nata pudicitiae.
tu tamen annoso nimium ne parce Falerno, 5
et potius plenos acre relinque cados.
sit pia ; sit locuples, sed potet filia mustum :
amphora cum domina nunc nova fiet anus.
Caecuba non solos vindeinia nutriat orbos :
possunt et patres vivere, crede mihi. 10
XXVIII
LIBERTUS Melioris ille notus,
tota qui cecidit dolente Roma,
cari deliciae breves patroni,
1 " Your father has claims upon you, as well as the
Emperor."
2 " To have the head (civil status) in jeopardy " was said
of a man under a charge. There is a play on words here.
372
BOOK VI. xxv-xxvni
heart. See that your valour be wary ; let no rash
ardour bear you into the midmost fray of swords and
savage spears. Let those who lack sense be eager
for wars and fierce Mars ; you can be your father's
soldier and your Captain's l too.
XXVI
OUR friend Sotades has his head in jeopardy.2 Do
you fancy Sotades an accused man ? He is not.
Sotades' other powers have become nerveless : he
uses his tongue.
XXVII
NEPOS, doubly my neighbour — for you too dwell
full nigh to Flora,3 you too in old Ficeliae 4 — a
daughter you have, whose face is stamped with the
semblance of her sire, a witness to her mother's
virtue ! Yet spare not overmuch your old Falernian ;
rather leave your jars filled with coin. Loving let
her be, let her be rich, but let your daughter drink
new wine : a flagon, new to-day, will grow aged
with its mistress. Let not a Caecuban vintage cheer
only childless men ; fathers, too, can enjoy life :
believe my word.
MELIOR'S freedman, known to all men, he who
perished while all Rome grieved, his dear patron's
:! The Temple of Flora, on the Quirinal, not far from the
Capitolinm Vetus : cf. v. xxii. 4.
4 Near M.'s house at Nomentum, or (perhaps) a street or
district on the Quirinal: Burn's Rome and the Campagna,
pp. 251, 393.
373
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
hoc sub marmore Glaucias humatus
iuncto Flaminiae iacet sepulchre : 5
castus moribus, integer pudore,
velox ingenio, decore felix.
bis senis modo messibus peractis
vix unum puer adplicabat annum.
qui fles talia, nil fleas, viator. 10
XXIX
NON de plebe domus nee avarae verna catastae,
sed dommi sancto dignus amore puer,
munera cum posset nondum sentire patroni,
Glaucia libertus iam Melioris erat.
moribus hoc formaeque datum : quis blandior illo ?
aut quis Apollineo pulchrior ore fuit ?
inmodicis brevis est aetas et rara senectus.
quidquid ames, cupias non placuisse nimis.
XXX
SEX sestertia si statim dedisses,
cum dixti mihi "Sume, tolle, dono,"
deberem tibi, Paete, pro ducentis.
at nunc cum dederis diu moratus,
post septem, puto, vel novem Kalendas,
vis dicam tibi veriora veris ?
sex sestertia, Paete, perdidisti.
cf. x. Ixi.
Excessive excellence or good fortune, and the praise of
374
BOOK VI. XXVHI-XXX
brief-lived darling, beneath this marble Glaucias lies
in a tomb next the Flaminian way. Pure was he in
manners, of modesty unstained, nimble of wit, with
charm richly blest. To but twice six summers sped
the boy was scarcely adding a single year. Traveller,
who weepest for such a fate, never mayst thou have
cause to weep ! l
XXIX
HOME-BRED, no slave of the household's crowd nor
of the grasping auction mart, but a boy worthy of
his master's pure love, Glaucia, albeit not yet could
lie apprize his patron's gift, was already Melior's
freedman. To character and grace was this boon
given ; who was more witching than he ? or who
fairer with his Apollo's face ? To unwonted worth
comes life but short, and rarely old age. Whate'er
thou lovest, pray that it may not please thee too
much ! 2
XXX
HAD you given at once six thousand sesterces
when you said to me, "Take them, off with them,
I give them," I should be your debtor, Paetus, for
two hundred thousand. But now you have given
them after long delay, after seven, I think, or nine
Kalends have gone, would you have me tell you
what is truer than truth ? You have lost your six
thousand, Paetus.
it, was supposed to rouse the jealousy of the gods, and
amulets were worn as charms.
375
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXXI
UXOREM, Charideme, tuam scis ipse sinisque
a medico futui. vis sine febre mori.
XXXII
CUM dubitaret adhuc belli civil is Enyo,
forsitan et posset v'incere mollis Otho,
damnavit multo staturum sanguine Martem
et fodit certa pectora tota manu.
sit Cato, dum vivit, sane vel Caesare maior :
dum moritur, numquid rnaior Othone fuit ?
XXXIII
NIL miserabilius, Matho, pedicone Sabello
vidisti, quo nil laetius ante fuit.
furta, fugae, mortes servorum, incendia, luctus
adfligunt hominem, iam miser et ftituit.
XXXIV
BASIA da nobis, Diadumene, pressa. " Quot " inquis ?
oceani fluctus me numerare iubes
et maris Aegaei sparsas per litora conchas
et quae Cecropio monte vagantur apes,
1 But by poison.
2 See his dying speech in Plut. Otho xv. ; Tac. Hint. ii.
47-48. Suet. (Otho x.) adds: " etiam privation usque adeo
detestatum civilia bella. "
376
BOOK VI. xxxi-xxxiv
XXXI
You are quite aware, Charidemus, of your wife's
misconduct with your doctor, and you wink at it.
It is not by fever that you want to die.1
XXXII
ALBEIT the goddess of civil strife wavered yet, and
effeminate Otho belike might win, he cursed war that
should cost so much blood,2 and with unflinching
hand pierced deep his breast. Certes let Cato in
life be greater even than Caesar ; was he in death
greater than Otho ? 3
XXXIII
You have seen, Matho, nothing more miserable
than the unnatural Sabellus, and yet once nothing
was more cheerful than he. Thefts, flight, deaths
of slaves, fires, griefs, afflict the fellow : now the
miserable man actually runs after women !
XXXIV
GIVE me, Diadumenus, kisses closely pressed.
" How many ? " thou sayest. Thou biddest me sum
Ocean's waves, and the shells strewn o'er Aegean
shores, and the bees that stray on Cecrops' hill,4 the
3 Cato died when his cause was clearly lost ; not so Otho,
at the time of his defeat by Vitellius at Bedriacum, A.D. 69,
the " ingen* annua " of vn. Ixiii. 9.
4 Hymettus in Attica, noted for fragrant thyme, the food
of bees.
377
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
quaeque sonant pleno vocesque man usque theatre, 5
cum populus subiti Caesaris ora videt.
nolo quot arguto dedit exorata Catullo
Lesbia : pauca cupit qui numerate potest.
XXXV
SEPTEM clepsydras magna tibi voce petenti
arbiter invitus, Caeciliane, dedit.
at tu multa diu dicis vitreisque tepentem
ampullis potas semisupinus aquam.
ut tandem saties vocemque sitimque, rogamus 5
iam de clepsydra, Caeciliane, bibas.
XXXVI
MENTULA tam magna est, tantus tibi, Papyle, nasus,
ut possis, quotiens arrigis, olfacere.
XXXVII
SECTI podicis usque ad umbilicum
nullas relliquias habet Charinus,
et prurit tamen usque ad umbilicum.
o quanta scabie miser laborat !
culum non habet, est tamen cinaedus. 5
XXXVIII
ASPICIS ut parvus nee adhuc trieteride plena
Regulus auditum laudet et ipse patrem ?
maternosque sinus viso genitore relinquat
et patrias laudes sentiat esse suas ?
1 Cat. v. and vii.
2 Perhaps M. also means it is unlucky to count: see Cat. vii.
378
BOOK VI. xxxiv-xxxvm
voices and hands that resound in the full theatre
when the people see Caesar's unexpected face. Not
for me the number that .Lesbia, won by prayer, gave
to tuneful Catullus.1 He wishes but few who is
able to count.2
XXXV
SEVEN water-clocks' allowance 3 you asked for in
loud tones, and the judge, Caecilianus, unwillingly
gave them. But you speak much and long, and,
with back-tilted head, swill tepid water out of glass
flasks. That you may once for all sate your oratory
and your thirst, we beg you, Caecilianus, now to
drink out of the water-clock.
XXXVI
Tu, O Papilo, hai una mentula si smisurata, ed
un si gran naso, che potesti, ogni volta che arrigi,
fiutarla.
XXXVII
CARINO ha nessuna reliqui del suo podice raso
sino all' umbillico, e tuttavia gli prude sino all' um-
billico ; oh, da quanta scabie 1' infanie e travagliato !
culum habet sectum, e tuttavia e cinedo.
XXXVIII
SEE you how little Regulus, not yet full three years
old, himself too listens, and applauds his father's
speech, and, when he sees his sire, leaves his mother's
lap and feels his father's glory also his own ? Already
3 The length of speeches was regulated by the dropping
of water from clepsydrae, shaped like modern hour-glasses.
379
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
iam clamor centumque viri densumque corona 5
volgus et infant! lulia tecta placent.
acris equi suboles magno sic pulvere gaudet,
sic vitulus inolli proelia fronte cupit.
di, servate, precor, matri sua vota patrique,
audiat ut natum Regulus, ilia duos. 10
XXXIX
PATER ex Manilla, Cinna, factus es septem
non liberorum : namque nee tuus quisquam
nee est amici filiusve vicini,
sed in grabatis tegetibusque concept!
materna produnt capitibus suis furta. 5
hie qui retorto crine Maurus incedit
subolem fatetur esse se coci Santrae.
at ille sima nare, turgidis labris
ipsa est imago Pannychi palaestritae.
pistoris esse tertium quis ignorat, 10
quicumque lippum novit et videt Damam ?
quartus cinaeda fronte, candido voltu
ex concubino natus est tibi Lygdo :
percide, si vis, filium : nefas non est.
hunc vero acuto capite et auribus longis, 15
"quae sic moventur ut solent asellorum,
quis morionis filium negat Cyrtae ?
duae sorores, ilia nigra et haec rufa,
Croti choraulae vilicique sunt Carpi,
iam Niobidarum 1 grex tibi foret plenus 20
si spado Coresus Dindymusque non esset.
1 iamni ubida pniit g. y, iamque hybridarum g. $-.
380
BOOK VI. xxxvm-xxxix
the acclaim, and the Hundred Court,1 and the crowd
in a dense ring, and the Julian Basilica, please his
infant mind. The offspring of a mettled steed so
rejoices in the thick dust of the course, so the steer
with unarmed brow longs for battle. Ye gods, fulfil,
I pray, for mother and father their prayer, that
Regulus may listen to his son, she to both ! 2
You have been made, Cinna, by Marulla the father
of seven — not children, for there is no son of yours,
nor son of a friend or neighbour ; but creatures con-
ceived on truckle-beds and mats betray by their
features their mother's adulteries. This one who
struts with curly hair, a Moor, confesses he is the
offspring of Santra the cook ; but that other with
flat nostrils, blubber lips is the very image of Pan-
nichus the wrestler. Who is not aware, if he has
known and seen blear-eyed Dama, that the third
is the baker's son ? The fourth, with his shameless
brow, pallid face, was born to you from your minion
Lygdus : use your son as you do him, if you wish ;
'tis no crime. But this creature with pointed head,
and long ears which move just as donkeys' ears are
wont — who could deny he is the son of Cyrta the
cretin? Two sisters — one is dark, the other red-
haired — are the children of Crotus, fluter to the
chorus, and of Carpus the bailiff. By now your
troupe of slaves would have been made up of as
many sons as Niobe's if Coresus and Dindymus had
not been eunuchs.
1 The Court of the Cenlumviri (strictly 105).
2 The prayer was not granted ; the boy died young : Plin.
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XL
FEMINA praef'erri potuit tibi mil la. Lycori :
praeferri Glycerae femina nulla potest.
haec erit hoc quod tu : tu non potes esse quod haec est.
tempera quid faciunt ! hanc volo, te volui.
XLI
Qui recitat lana fauces et colla revinctus,
hie se posse loqui, posse tacere negat.
XLII
ETRUSCI nisi thermulis lavaris,
inlotus morieris, Oppiane.
nullae sic tibi blandientur undae,
non fontes Aponi rudes puellis,
non mollis Sinuessa fervidique 5
fluctus Passeris aut superbus Anxur,
non Phoebi vada principesque Baiae.
nusquam tarn nitidum vacat serenum :
lux ipsa est ibi longior, diesque
nullo tardius a loco recedit. 10
illic Taygeti virent metalla
et certant vario decore saxa,
quae Phryx et Libys altius cecidit ;
siccos pinguis onyx anhelat aestus
et flamma tenui calent ophitae. 15
ritus si placeant tibi Laconum,
1 Said to break into flame if a woman bathed after a mau.
Perhaps the allusion is only to the known chastity of Pata-
vian (Paduan) women : cf. xi. xvi. 8, and Plin. Ep. i. 14.
382
BOOK VI. XL-XLII
XL
No woman could once be preferred to you, Lycoris,
no woman can be preferred to Glycera now ; she shall
be the thing you are ; you cannot be what she is.
Such is the might of Time ! I long for her, for you
I longed.
XLI
HE who recites with throat and neck wrapped up
in wool declares that he can neither speak nor keep
silence.
XLII
IF you do not bathe in the warm baths of Etruseus,
you will die unbathed, Oppianus. No other waters
will so allure you, not even the springs of Aponus 1
unknown to women ; not mild Sinuessa, and the
waves of steaming Passer, or towering Anxur ; not
the waters of Phoebus,- and peerless Baiae. Nowhere
is the sunlit sheen so cloudless ; the very light is
longer there, and from no spot does day withdraw
more lingeringly. There the quarries of Taygetus 3
are green, and in varied beauty vie the rocks which
the Phrygian and Libyan4 has more deeply hewn.
The rich alabaster pants with dry heat, and snake-
stone is warm with a subtle fire. If Lacedaemonian
methods5 please you, you can content yourself with
2 The Aquae Passerianae in Etruria, where were also the
Aquae ApolliiMres, now Bagni di Vicarello.
3 The green Laconian marble : cf. ix. Ixxv. 9.
4 Synnadic and Numidian marble, one streaked with
purple, the other yellow.
5 A hot-air bath followed by a cold plunge. There was a
special apartment called Laconicum.
383
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
contentus potes arido vapore
cruda Virgine Marciave mergi ;
quae tarn Candida, tarn serena lucet
ut nullas ibi suspiceris undas 20
et credas vacuam nitere lygdoii.
non adtendis et aure me supina
lam dudum quasi neglegenter audis.
inlotus morieris, Oppiane.
XLIII
DUM tibi felices indulgent, Castrice, Baiae
canaque sulpureis unda natatur aquis,
me Nomentani confirmant otia ruris
et casa iugeribus non onerosa suis.
hoc mihi Baiani soles mollisque Lucrinus, 5
hoc sunt mihi vestrae, Castrice, divitiae.
quondam laudatas quocumque libebat ad undas
currere iiec longas pertimuisse vias :
nunc urbis vicina iuvant facilesque recessus,
et satis est, pigro si licet esse mihi. 10
XLIV
FESTIVE credis te, Calliodore, iocari
et solum multo permaduisse sale.
omnibus adrides, dicteria dicis in omnis ;
sic te convivam posse placere putas.
at si ego non belle sed vere dixero quiddam,
nemo propinabit, Calliodore, tibi.
1 Roman aqueducts.
2 rf. vi. xiii. 3.
384
BOOK VI. XLII-XLIV
dry warmth, and then plunge in the natural stream
of the Virgin or of Marcia,1 which glistens so bright
and clear that you would not suspect any water
there, but would fancy the Lygdian marble 2 shines
empty. You don't attend, but have been listening
to me all this time with a casual ear, as if you
didn't care. You will die unbathed, Oppianus !
XLIII
WHILE happy Baiae lavishes on you, Castricus, its
bounty, and the Nymph's spring, white with sul-
phurous water, is your swimming-bath, the quiet of
my Nomentan farm, and a small house not too large
for its fields, recruit me. This to me is Baian sun-
shine and mild Lucrine lake ; this to me is the
riches, Castricus, you enjoy. Erewhile I gladly
hurried everywhere to famous waters, and did not
fear long journeys ; now places near the city attract
me, and quiet retreats easy to reach, and 'tis enough
for me if I am allowed to be lazy.
XLIV
You believe yourself to be a pleasant jester, Cal-
liodorus, and alone overflowing with streams of wit.
At all you sneer, you shoot your scoffs against all ;
so, as a guest, you opine you can please. But if I
may make a remark, not smart indeed, but true, no
man, Calliodorus, will pass the cup in pledge to
you.3
3 Because it would be passed back to him defiled : cf. n.
xv. ; xn. Ixxiv. 9.
385
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XLV
LUSISTIS, satis est : lascivi nubite cunni :
permissa est vobis non nisi casta Venus.
haec est casta Venus ? nubit Laetoria Lygdo :
turpior uxor erit quam modo moecha fuit.
XLVI
VAPULAT adsidue veneti quadriga flagello
nee currit : magnam rem, Catiane, facis.
XLVII
NYMPHA, mei Stellae quae fonte domestica puro
laberis et domini gemmea tecta subis,
sive Numae coniunx Triviae te misit ab antris
sive Camenarum de grege nona venis,
exsoluit votis hac se tibi virgine porca
Marcus, furtivam quod bibit aeger aquam.
tu contenta meo iam crimine gaudia fontis
da secura tui : sit mihi sana sitis.
XLVIII
QUOD tarn grande sophos clamat tibi turba togata,
non tu, Pomponi, cena diserta tua est.
1 cf. vi. iv. and vii.
2 The charioteers of the circus were divided into four
factions, red, white, green, and blue, the last being out of
favour with Domitian. M. means that the Bine driver
pulled his horses, not wishing to win : cf. xiv. Iv.
3 The Nymph Egeria.
386
BOOK VI. XLV-XLVIII
XLV
You have had your fling : enough ! Wed, you
wantons ; you are allowed only chaste love.1 Is this
chaste love? Laetoria weds Lygdus : she will be
viler as wife than she was just now as adulteress.
XLVI
THE four-horse car of the Blue charioteer 2 is re-
peatedly lashed on, and yet goes slow. You are
doing a great feat, Catianus.
XLVII
NYMPH that, welcomed to my Stella's house, glidest
with thy pure spring and enterest beneath its master's
jewelled halls, whether Numa's spouse3 sent thee
from Trivia's grots,4 or thou comest, the ninth of
the Camenae,5 Marcus with this vii'gin porker acquits
him to thee of his vow 6 made because in sickness
he quaffed thy stream by stealth. Be thou content
to-day with my fault, and grant me without scathe
the delights of thy spring: may my thirst be again
without harm !
XLVIII
THE full-dressed throng shout a loud "Bravo"
to applaud you. 'Tis not you, Pomponius : it is
your dinner that is eloquent.
4 From Aricia, where Diana of the Crossways (Trivia) was
worshipped.
6 Native Nymphs of Italy, afterwards identified with the
Muses, and probably so here.
6 M., contrary to doctor's orders (see vi. Ixxxvi.), had
drunk cold water from the spring, and had made a vow to
the Nymph if the water did him no harm.
387
c c 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XLIX
NON sum de fragili dolatus ulmo,
nee quae stat rigida supina vena
de ligno mihi quolibet columna est,
sed viva generata de cupressu,
quae nee saecula centiens peracta 5
nee longae cariem timet senectae.
hanc tu, quisquis es o malus, timeto,
nam si vel minimos manu rapaci
hoc de palmite laeseris racemos,
nascetur, licet hoc velis negare, 10
inserta tibi ficus a cupressu.
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.
LI
QUOD convivaris sine me tarn saepe, Luperce,
inveni noceam qua ratione tibi.
irascor : licet usque voces mittasque rogesque —
" Quid facies ? " inquis. quid faciam ? veniam.
1 The epigram is on a statue of Priapus : cf. I. xxxv. 15
vi. Ixxiii.
388
BOOK VI. XLIX-LI
XLIX
NOT hewn am I of fragile elm, nor is my column,
which stands upright with rigid shaft,1 shaped of
common wood; but it was born of the long-lived
cypress, that dreads not cycles an hundred times
accomplished, nor the decay of prolonged age.
This fear thou, whoever thou art, O evil man! For
if with robber hand thou shalt wound of yonder
vine even its smallest shoots, there shall be born —
though thou wouldst deny it — grafted on thee by
this cypress-rod, a bunch of figs.2
WHEN Telesinus — a poor man then — cultivated
decent friends, he went about, a shabby figm-e, in a
poor shivering toga ; ever since he began to court
obscene rakes he buys — rivalled by none — silver-
plate, tables, landed properties. Do you wish to
become rich, Bithynicus ? Be an accomplice ; not
a stiver will pure kisses give you.
LI
BECAUSE you entertain so often without inviting
me, Lupercus, I have discovered a way to annoy
you. I am angry : though you go on asking me,
sending, begging — " What will you do ? " you say.
What will I do ? I'll — come.
2 A tumour : cf. I. Ixv. ; iv. lii.
389
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LIT
Hoc iacet in tumulo raptus puerilibus minis
Pantagathus, domini cura dolorque sui,
vix tangente vagos ferro resecare capillos
doctus et hirsutas excoluisse genas.
sis licet, ut debes, tellus, placata levisque,
artificis levior non potes esse manu.
LIII
LOTUS nobiscum est, hilaris cenavit, et idem
inventus mane est mortuus Andragoras.
tarn subitae mortis causam, Faustina, requiris ?
in somnis medicum viderat Hermocraten.
LIV
TANTOS et tantas si dicere Sextilianum,
Aule, vetes, iunget vix tria verba miser.
" Quid sibi vult ? " inquis. dicam quid suspicer esse :
tantos et tantas Sextilianus amat.
LV
QUOD semper casiaque cinnamoque
et nido niger alitis superbae
fragras plumbea Nicerotiana,
rides nos, Coracine, nil olentis,
malo quam bene olere nil olere. I
1 Copied from a Greek epigram : Anth. Pal. xi. cclvii.
cf. cxviii., which M, probably had also in his eye.
2 i.e. praegrandes draucos eorumque caudas.
39°
BOOK VI. LII-LV
LII
WITHIN this tomb lies Pantagathus, snatched away
in boyhood's years, his master's grief and sorrow,
skilled to cut with steel that scarcely touched the
straggling hairs, and to trim the bearded cheeks.
Gentle and light upon him thou mayst be, O earth,
as behoves thee ; lighter than the artist's hand thou
canst not be.
LIII
ANDRAOORAS bathed With us, took a cheerful dinner,
and nevertheless was found in the morning dead.
Do you ask, Faustinus, the cause of a decease so
sudden ? He had in a dream seen Doctor Her-
mocrates ! 1
LIV
IF, Aulus, you forbid Sextilianus to say the
words "so tall" — masculine or feminine — he can put
scarcely three words together, the wretched fellow.
" What is the matter with him ? " you say. I'll
tell you what I suspect. Sextilianus has " so tall "
attractions 2 of both genders !
LV
BECAUSE, constantly smeared darkly with cassia and
cinnamon and the perfumes from the nest of the
lordly bird,3 you reek of the leaden jars of Niceros,4
you laugh at us, Coracinus, who smell of nothing.
To smelling of scent I prefer smelling of nothing.5
3 Cassia and cinnamon were said to be found in the nest of
the phoenix : Plin. N.ff. xii. 42.
4 A celebrated perfumer of the day. 8 cf. u. xii.
391
QUOD tibi crura rigent saetis et pectora villis,
verba putas famae te, Charideme, dare.
extirpa, mihi crede, pilos de corpora toto
teque pilare tuas testificare natis.
" Quae ratio est? " inquis. scis multos dicere multa : 5
fac pedicari te, Charideme, putent.
LVII
MENTIRIS fictos unguento, Phoebe, capillos
et tegitur pictis sordida calva comis.
tonsorem capiti non est adhibere necesse :
radere te melius spongea, Phoebe, potest.
LVIII
CERNERE Parrhasios dum te iuvat, Aule, triones
comminus et Getici sidera pigra poli,
o quam paene tibi Stygias ego raptus ad uiidas
Elysiae vidi nubila fusca plagae !
quamvis lassa tuos quaerebant lumina vultus 5
atque erat in gelido plurimus ore Pudens.
si mihi lanificae ducunt non pulla sorores
stamina nee surdos vox habet ista deos,
sospite me sospes Latias reveheris ad urbes
et referes pili praemia clarus eques. 10
1 Aulus Pudens was campaigning against the Dacians.
* i.e. grant me longer life.
392
BOOK VI. LVI-LVIII
LVI
PERCHE hai le gambe irsute di setole, ed il petto
d'ispidi peli, tu t'imagini, O Caridemo, imporre alia
fama. Credimi, strappati i peli da tutto il corpo : e
commincia darne prova dalle natiche. " Per qual
motive?" di tu. Tu sai che molti mormorano. Fa,
O Caridemo, che piutosto pensino, che tu sei un
cinedo.
LVII
You fob us off with fictitious hair by means of
ointment, Phoebus, and your dirty bald scalp is
covered with locks represented in paint. You need
not call in a barber for your head ; to give you a
better clearance, a sponge, Phoebus, is the thing.
LVIII
WHILE it pleased you, Aulus, to survey anear the
Northern Bears and the slow-wheeling stars of Getic
heavens,1 oh, how nearly was I snatched away from
you to the waves of Styx, and viewed the gloomy
clouds of the Elysian plain ! Weary as they were,
my eyes searched for your face, and on my chill lips
oft was Pudens' name. If the wool-working Sisters
draw not my threads of sable hue,2 and this my
prayer find not the gods deaf, I shall be safe, and you
shall safe return to Latin cities and bring back a
chief centurion's honour,3 an illustrious knight withal.
3 cf. i. xxxi. 3.
393
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LIX
ET dolet et queritur sibi non contingere frigus
propter sescentas Baccara gausapinas,
optat et obscuras luces ventosque nivesque,
edit et hibernos, si tepuere, dies,
quid fecere mali nostrae tibi, saeve, lacernae 5
tollere de scapulis quas levis aura potest?
quanto simplicius, quanto est huinanius illud,
mense vel Augusto sumere gausapinas !
LX
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.
LXI
REM factam Pompullus habet, Faustine : legetur
et nomen toto sparget in orbe suum.
" Sic leve flavorum valeat genus Usiporum
quisquis et Ausonium non amat imperium."
ingeniosa tamen Pompulli scripta feruntur. 5
" Sed famae non est hoc, mihi crede, satis :
quam mtilti tineas pascunt blattasque diserti
et redimunt soli carmina docta coci !
nescio quid plus est, quod donat saecula chartis :
victurus genium debet habere liber." 10
394
BOOK VI. LIX-LXI
LIX
BACCARA is annoyed and grumbles that he meets
with no cold weather : 'tis on account of his innu-
merable frieze mantles ; and he wishes for dark
hours, and winds, and snows ; and hates winter days
if they are mild. What harm, you cruel fellow,
has my cloak, which a light breeze can lift from
my shoulder-blades, done you? How much more
straightforward, how much more kind it would be,
even in the month of August, to put on your frieze
wrappers ! l
LX
MY Rome praises, loves, and hums my verses, and
every pocket, every hand holds me. See, yonder
fellow turns red, turns pale, is dazed, yawns, curses !
That is what I want ; now my verses please me !
LXI
POMPULLUS has his wish achieved, Faustinus ; he will
be perused and will spread his name through the
whole world. "So may the fickle race of the yellow-
haired Usipi flourish, and everyone who does not love
Ausonia's rule ! " 2 Yet the writings of Pompullus are
said to be clever. " But this, trust me, is not enough
to bring fame ; how many fluent writers feed moths
and bookworms, and cooks alone buy their learned
lays ! There is something more that gives immor-
tality to writings ; a book, to live, must have a
Genius."
1 i.e. if you must show off.
2 i.e. may they perish as P.'s works will.
395
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXII
AMISIT pater unicum Salanus :
cessas munera mittere, Oppiane ?
lieu crudele nefas malaeque Parcae !
cuius vulturis hoc erit cadaver ?
LXIII
Scis te captari, scis hunc qui captat, avarum,
et scis qui captat quid, Mariane, velit.
tu tamen hunc tabulis heredem, stulte, supremis
scribis et esse tuo vis, furiose, loco.
" Munera magna tamen misit." sed misit in ha mo ; 5
et piscatorem piscis amare potest ?
hicine deflebit vero tua fata dolore ?
si cupis, ut ploret, des, Mariane, nihil.
LXIV
CUM sis nee rigida Fabiorum gente creatus
nee qualem Curio, dum prandia portat aranti,
hirsuta peperit deprensa sub ilice coniunx,
sed patris ad speculum tonsi matrisque togatae
films, et possit sponsam te sponsa vocare : 5
emendare meos, quos novit fama, libellos
1 In depriving S. of his only protection against fortune-
hunters : cf. the next epigram.
396
BOOK VI. LXII-LXIV
LXII
SALANUS the father has lost his only son ; do you
hesitate, Oppianus, to send a present ? Ah, mon-
strous cruelty and malignant Fates ! 1 To what
vulture shall this corpse belong?
LXIII
You know you are angled for,2 you know this fellow
who angles is greedy, and you know, Marianus, what
your angler wants ; yet you write him down your
heir, you fool, by your last will, and are willing he
should step, you madman ! into your shoes. " Yet
the presents he sent me were magnificent." But he
sent them on a hook ; and can a fish love the fisher-
man ? Will this man weep for your death with
genuine grief? If you want him to lament, leave
him, Marianus, nothing.
LXIV
ALTHOUGH you are not born of the stern Fabian
race, nor are such a one as Curius' wife, taken in
labour while she was carrying his midday meal to him
at the plough, brought forth under a shaggy oak,3
but the son of a father shorn in front of a mirror
and of a harlot mother, and though your own wife
might well call you wife, you take upon yourself to
amend my poems that Fame knows well, and to carp
2 capture (to hunt) was the regular phrase to express
fortune-hunting.
3 The rude Fabii and Curii might justly sneer at M.'s
verses.
397
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
et tibi permittis felicis carpere nugas,
has, inquam, nugas, quibus aurem advertere totam
non aspernantur proceres urbisque forique,
quas et perpetui dignantur scrinia Sili 10
et repetit totiens facundo Regulus ore,
quique videt propius magni certamina Circi
laudat Aventinae vicinus Sura Dianae,
ipse etiam tanto dominus sub pondere rerum
non dedignatur bis terque revolvere Caesar. 15
sed tibi plus mentis, tibi cor limante Minerva
acrius et tenues finxerunt pectus Athenae.
ne valeam, si non multo sapit altius illud,
quod cum panticibus laxis et cum pede grandi
et rubro pulmone vetus nasisque timendum 20
omnia crudelis lanius per compita portat.
audes praeterea, quos nullus noverit, in me
scribere versiculos miseras et perdere chartas.
at si quid nostrae tibi bilis inusserit ardor,
vivet et haerebit totaque legetur in urbe, 25
stigmata nee vafra delebit Cinnamus arte.
sed miserere tui, rabido nee perditus ore
fumantem nasum vivi temptaveris ursi.
sit placidus licet et lambat digitosque manusque,
si dolor et bilis, si iusta coegerit ira, 30
ursus erit : vacua dentes in pelle fatiges
et tacitam quaeras, quam possis rodere, carnem.
1 Silius Italicus, the poet of the Punic wars : cf. vii. Ixiii.
2 The celebrated advocate.
3 The Temple of Diana on the Aventine. The Circus was
in the hollow between the Aventine and Palatine hills.
398
BOOK VI. LXIV
at my happy triflings — these triflings, I say, to which
the chief men of state and courts of law do not
disdain to turn an attentive ear ; these which the
bookcases of immortal Silius1 think worthy of them,
and Regulus 2 with eloquent tongue repeats so often,
and Sura commends, he who views hard by the
struggles of the mighty Circus, Sura, the neighbour
of Aventine Diana;3 these which our lord, though
he bears so vast a weight of empire, does not disdain
twice and thrice to unroll, Caesar himself. But you
have more understanding, Minerva sharpened your
mind to a keener point, and subtle Athens shaped
your intellect ! May I hang if there is not fuller
flavour in that heart 4 which, together with protrud-
ing guts, and huge hoof, and gory lights, decayed
and a terror to the nose, the unfeeling butcher
carries from street to street. You dare besides to
write against me your paltry verses, which no one
will know of, and to spoil your wretched paper. But
if the heat of my wrath sets a brand upon you, that
will remain and cling to you and be read all over
the town, and Cinnamus,5 for all his cunning skill,
will not efface the marks. Nay, take pity on your-
self, and do not, lost man, tempt with your rabid
tooth the foaming snout of a live bear. He may
be gentle and lick your fingers and your hands, yet
if pain, and wrath, and righteous anger compel him,
he will be a bear. Weary out your fangs on an
empty hide, and look out for some flesh to gnaw
that cannot reply.
4 A play on two meanings of aapere, " to have flavour," or
" to have sense." Cor also has the two meanings of " heart,"
in a physical sense, and " intellect."
6 A barber of the day : cf. vi. xvii.; vn. Ixiv.
399
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXV
' HEXAMETRIS epigramma facis" scio dicere Tuccam.
Tucca, solet fieri, denique, Tucca, licet.
"Sedtamen hoc longum est." solet hoc quoque,Tucca,
licetque :
si breviora probas, disticha sola legas.
conveniat nobis ut fas epigrammata longa 5
sit transire tibi, scribere, Tucca, mihi.
LXVI
FAMAE non nimium bonae puellam,
quales in media sedent Subura,
vendebat modo praeco Gellianus.
parvo cum pretio diu liceret,
dum puram cupit adprobare cunctis,
adtraxit prope se manu negantem
et bis terque quaterque basiavit.
quid profecerit osculo requiris ?
sescentos modo qui dabat negavit.
LXVII
CUR tantum eunuchos habeat tua Caelia, quaeris,
Pannyche ? volt futui Caelia nee parere.
LXVIII
FLETE nefas vestrum sed toto flete Lucrino,
Naides, et luctus sentiat ipsa Thetis.
inter Baianas raptus puer occidit undas
Eutychos ille, tuum, Castrice, dulce latus.
400
BOOK VI. LXV-LXVIII
LXV
"You make your epigram1 in hexameters," says
Tucca, as I know. Tucca, that is usual, in fact, Tucca,
it is allowable. " Yet this one is long." That too is
usual, Tucca, and allowable ; if you approve of what
is shorter, read distichs only. Let us make a com-
pact : you to be permitted to skip long epigrams ; I,
Tucca, to write them.
LXVI
A GIRL of not too good a reputation, one of such
as sit in the middle of the Subura, the auctioneer
Gellianus was lately selling. As for some time she
was going for small biddings, wishing to prove to all
that she was clean, he drew the unwilling girl to
him, and twice, thrice, four times kissed her. Do
you ask what he achieved by the kiss ? A bidder
of six hundred sesterces withdrew his bid !
LXVII
Do you ask, Pannychus, why your Caelia consorts
with eunuchs only ? Caelia looks for the license of
marriage, not the results.
LXVIII
WEEP for your crime, aye, weep o'er all the Lucrine
lake, ye Naiads, and let even Thetis2 hear the sound
of your lament ! For the boy is dead, snatched
away amid the waves of Baiae, that Eutychos, thy
1 i.e. the preceding one. 2 The goddess of the sea.
401
VOL. 1. D D
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
hie tibi curarum socius blandumque levamen, 5
hie amor, hie nostri vatis Alexis erat.
numquid te vitreis nudum lasciva sub undis
vidit et Alcidae nympha remisit Hylan ?
an dea femineum iam neglegit Hermaphroditum
amplexu teneri sollicitata viri ? 10
quidquid id est, subitae quaecumque est causa rapinae,
sit, precor, et tellus mitis et unda tibi.
LXIX
NON miror quod potat aquam tua Bassa, Catulle :
miror quod Bassae filia potat aquam.
LXX
SEXAGESIMA, Marciane, messis
acta est et, puto, iam secunda Cottae
nee se taedia lectuli calentis
expertum meminit die vel uno.
ostendit digitum, sed inpudicum, 5
Alconti Dasioque Symmachoque.
at nostri bene conputentur anni
et quantum tetricae tulere febres
aut languor gravis aut mali dolores
a vita meliore separetur : 10
infantes sumus et senes videmur.
aetatem Priamique Nestorisque
longam qui putat esse, Marciane,
muitum decipiturque falliturque.
non est vivere, sed valere vita est. 15
1 A handsome youth celebrated by Virgil in his second
Eclogue : cf. v. xvi. 12 ; viu. Ivi. 12.
402
BOOK VI. LXVHI-LXX
sweet companion, Castricus. He to thee was partner
in thy studies, and thy soothing solace, he was
the darling, he the Alexis l of our bard. Did some
wanton nymph see thy nakedness under the glassy
waves, and give back Hylas 2 to Alcides ? or does the
goddess,3 won by the embrace of a soft spouse, now
slight womanly Hermaphroditus ? Whate'er it be,
whate'er the cause of a rape so sudden, let earth,
I pray, and wave, be gentle to thee !
LXIX
1 DON'T wonder, Catullus, your Bassa drinks water; 4
I wonder that the daughter of Bassa drinks water.
LXX
A SIXTIETH summer, Marcianus, has gone, and I
think already a second one also, over Cotta's head,
and yet he cannot recall that even for a single day
he has felt the weariness of a fevered bed. He points
his finger — and the insulting finger 5 — at Alcon, and
Dasius, and Symmachus.6 As for us, let our years be
strictly counted, and so much of them as harsh fevers
have carried off, or sore weakness, or racking pains,
be parted from happier life : we are children, and
seem old men. He who thinks the life of Priam
and of Nestor long, Marcianus, is much deceived and
mistaken : life is not living, but living in health.
2 See note to v. xlviii. 5. Alcides = Hercules.
3 Salmacis, originally the Nymph of a fountain in Caria,
but here, and in x. xxx. , identified by M. with the Nymph
of spring near the Lucrine lake. 4 cf. II. 1. 2.
5 The middle finger was called in/amis, and was used to
point in scorn. 6 Doctors.
4°3
D D 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXI
EDERE lascivos ad Baetica crusmata gestus
et Gaditanis ludere docta modis,
tendere quae tremulum Pelian Hecubaeque maritum
posset ad Hectoreos sollicitare rogos,
urit et excruciat dominum Telethusa priorem. 5
vendidit ancillam, nunc redimit dominam.
LXXII
FUR notae nimium rapacitatis
conpilare Cilix volebat hortum,
ingenti sed erat, Fabulle, in horto
praeter marmoreum nihil Priapum.
dum non vult vacua manu redire,
ipsum subripuit Cilix Priapum.
LXXIII
NON rudis indocta fecit me falce colonus :
dispensatoris nobile cernis opus,
nam Caeretani cultor ditissimus agri
hos Hilarus colles et iuga laeta tenet,
aspice quam certo videar non ligneus ore 5
nee devota focis inguinis arma gerain,
sed mihi perpetua numquam moritura cupresso
Phidiaca rigeat mentula digna manu.
vicini, moneo, sanctum celebrate Priapum
et bis septenis parcite iugeribus. 10
1 cf. v. Ixxviii. 26-
2 The father of Jason and Priam respectively, both typical
old men.
404
BOOK VI. LXXI-LXXIII
LXXI
SHE who was cunning to show wanton gestures to
the sound of Baetic castanets and to frolic to the tunes
of Gades,1 she who could have roused passion in
palsied Pelias, and have stirred Hecuba's spouse2
even by Hector's pyre — Telethusa burns and racks
with love her former master. He sold her as his
maid, now he buys her back as mistress.
LXXII
A THIEF of too notorious rapacity, a Cilician, was
minded to plunder a garden ; but in the immense
garden was nothing, Fabullus, but a marble Priapus.
Being loth to return with empty hands, the Cilician
carried off' Priapus 3 himself !
LXXIII
No rude husbandman shaped me with clumsy
sickle ; you see the steward's noble work ; for Hi-
larus, the most wealthy tiller of Caere's fields, pos-
sesses these hills and smiling slopes. Mark with
how distinct a likeness, and as though not in wood,
I appear, and carry a weapon not doomed to the
fire ; rather how an appendage, immortal, wrought of
imperishable cypress, and worthy of the handiwork
of Phidias, stands rigid. Ye neighbours, I charge you,
pay honour to holy Priapus and spare these twice
seven acres !
3 The guardian god of the garden could not protect
himself !
4°5
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXIV
MEDIO recumbit imus ille qui lecto,
calvam trifilem semitatus unguento,
foditque tonsis ora laxa lentiscis,
mentitur, Aefulane : non habet denies.
LXXV
CUM mittis turdumve mihi quadramve placentae,
sive femur leporis sive quid his simile est,
buccellas misisse tuas te. Pontia, dicis.
has ego non mittam, Pontia, sed nee edam.
LXXVI
ILLE sacri lateris custos Martisque togati,
credita cui summi castra fuere ducis,
hie situs est Fuscus. licet hoe, Fortuna, fateri :
non timet hostilis iam lapis iste minas ;
grande iugum domita Dacus cervice recepit 5
et famulum victrix possidet umbra nemus.
LXXVII
CUM sis tarn pauper quam nee miserabilis Iros,
tarn iuvenis quam nee Parthenopaeus erat,
1 The place of honour at dinner.
2 The usual toothpick : cf. xiv. xxii. There may perhaps
be a reference to the name given to those unduly solicitous
of their personal appearance, who were called " toothpick-
chewers " : cf. Erasm. Adag. s.v. lentiscum mandere.
3 A notorious poisoner : cf. n. xxxiv.
4 i.e. of the Emperor as warrior and statesman.
406
BOOK VI. LXXIV-LXXVII
LXXIV
HE who lies the lowest on the middle couch,1
with his three-haired baldness laid out in paths with
ointment, and who probes his loosened jaws with
strips of mastich,2 is a fraud, Aefulanus : he has no
teeth.
LXXV
WHEN you send me either a fieldfare, or a section
of cake, or a leg of hare, or something similar, you
tell me, Pontia,8 you have sent me your tit-bits.
These dainties I won't send elsewhere, Pontia — but
neither will I eat them.
LXXVI
THAT guardian of a sacred life, of Mars in the
civil gown,4 he to whom our great captain's camp
was given in trust, here Fuscus lies. This, Fortune,
may we confess : that stone fears no longer a foe-
man's threat. The Daciaii has taken on his bowed
neck our mighty yoke, and the victor ghost holds in
fee the subject grove.5
LXXVII
ALTHOUGH you are poorer than even wretched Irus,6
younger even than Parthenopaeus,7 stronger than
8 The epigram is supposed to be an inscription on the
tomb, in Dacia, of Cornelius Fuscus, a former captain of the
Emperor's Praetorian guard at Rome. He was defeated and
slain, A.D. 87, in an expedition against the Dacians, who were
subsequently subdued : cf. Juv. iv. iii.
6 The typical beggar : Horn. Od. xvii.
7 A Greek warrior, young and handsome : cf. ix, vi. 7.
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
tarn fortis quam nee cum vinceret Artemidorus,
quid te Cappadocum sex onus esse iuvat ?
rideris multoque magis traduceris, Afer, 5
quam nudus medio si spatiere foro.
non aliter monstratur Atlans cum compare ginno
quaeque vehit similem belua nigra Libyn.
invidiosa tibi quam sit lectica requiris ?
non debes ferri mortuus hexaphoro. 10
LXXVIII
POTOR nobilis, Aule, lumine uno
luscus Phryx erat alteroque lippus.
huic Heras medicus " Bibas caveto :
vinum si biberis, nihil videbis."
ridens Phryx oculo " Valebis " inquit. 5
misceri sibi protinus deunces
sed crebros iubet. exitum requiris ?
vinum Phryx, oculus bibit venenum.
LXXIX
TRISTIS es et felix. sciat hoc Fortuna caveto
ingratum dicet te, Lupe, si scierit.
LXXX
UT nova dona tibi, Caesar, Nilotica tell us
miserat hibernas ambitiosa rosas.
navita derisit Pharios Memphiticus hortos,
urbis ut intravit limina prima tuae :
1 A Greek athlete who won in the Capitoline contest,
A.D. 86 ; or (perhaps) a pancratiast of Tralles, of the days of
Galba and Vitellius. 2 A giant.
408
BOOK VI. LXXVII-LXXX
even Artemidorus l when he won in the contest, why
do you like to be the load of six Cappadocians ? You
are laughed at, and are much more a spectacle, Afer,
than if you were to walk naked in the midst of the
Forum. Similar would be the sight of an Atlas2
with a small mule to match him, or a black elephant
carrying a Libyan of the same hue. Do you want to
know how offensive your litter is ? Even when dead
you ought not to be carried in a litter and six.3
LXXVIII
PHRYX, a notorious tippler, was blind, Aulus, ot
one eye, and blear-eyed in the other. Heras, his
doctor, said to him : " Beware of drinking ; if you
drink wine you will not see at all." Phryx laughed,
and said to his eye '"'Adieu." Immediately he orders
eleven measures4 to be mixed for him, and frequently.
Do you ask the result ? Phryx drank a vintage, his
eye venom.
LXXIX
You are sad, although fortunate. Take care For-
tune does not know this ; " Ingrate" will be her name
for you, Lupus, if she knows.
LXXX
As a novel gift to you, Caesar, the land of Nile had
proudly sent winter roses. The sailor from Mem-
phis scoffed at the gardens of Egypt when he first
trod on the threshold of your city, so rich was the
3 But on a pauper's bier, borne by four at most : cf. vni.
Ixxv. 9.
4 Nearly three times the usual quantity, eleven cyathi
instead of four (triens, cf. vi. Ixxxvi. 1 ; i. cvi. 8).
409
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
tantus veris honos et odorae gratia Florae 5
tantaque Paestani gloria ruris erat ;
sic, quacumque vagus gressumque oculosque ferebat,
tonsilibus sertis omne rubebat iter.
at tu Romanae iussus iam cedere brumae
mitte tuas messes, accipe, Nile, rosas. 10
LXXXI
IRATUS tamquam populo, Charideme, lavaris :
inguina sic toto subluis in solio.
nee caput hie vellem sic te, Charideme, lavare.
et caput ecce lavas : inguina malo laves.
LXXXII
QUID AM me modo, Rufe, diligenter
inspectum, velut emptor aut lanista,
cum vultu digitoque subnotasset,
" Tune es, tune " ait " ille Martialis,
cuius nequitias iocosque novit 5
aurem qui modo non habet Batavam ? "
subrisi modice, levique nutu
me quern dixerat esse non negavi.
" Cur ergo " inquit " habes malas lacernas ? "
respond i : " quia sum malus poeta." 10
hoc ne saepius accidat poetae,
mittas, Rufe, mihi boiias lacernas.
LXXXIII
QUANTUM sollicito fortuna parentis Etrusco,
tantum, summe ducum, debet uterque tibi.
1 i.e.. thus polluting the water ; cf. n. xlii. and Ixx. For
Charideraus, cf. vi. lyi,
410
BOOK VI. LXXX-LXXXIII
beauty of spring and the charm of fragrant Flora,
so rich the glory of Paestan fields ; so ruddy, where'er
he turned his wandering footsteps or his eyes, was
every path with twining roses. But do thou, bidden
now to yield to a Roman winter, send us thy harvests,
receive, O Nile, our roses.
LXXXI
You wash, Charidemus, as if you were in a rage
with the people ; such a cleaning you give your middle
all over the bath.1 Even your head I should not wish
you to wash here in such a fashion, Charidemus. Lo !
you wash your head too : I prefer your washing
your middle.
LXXXII
A CERTAIN person, Rufus, lately looked me up and
down carefully, just as if he were a purchaser of
slaves or a trainer of gladiators, and when he had
furtively observed me and pointed me out : "Are you,
are you," he said, "that Martial, whose naughty jests
everyone knows who at least has not a barbarous
ear?" I smiled quietly, and with a slight bow, did
not deny I was the person mentioned. "Why,
then," said he, "do you wear a bad cloak?" I
replied: "Because I am a bad poet." That this
may not happen too often to a poet, send me,
Rufus, a good cloak.
LXXXIII
As much as his father's fortunes owe to Etruscus'
solicitude,2 so much both father and son, illustrious
2 He had accompanied his father into exile. As to the
father's death, see vii. xl.
411
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
nam tu missa tua revocasti fulmina dextra :
hos cuperem mores ignibus esse lovis ;
si tua sit summo, Caesar, natura Tonanti,
utetur toto fulmine rara manus.
muneris hoc utrumque tui testatur Etruscus,
esse quod et comiti contigit et reduci.
LXXXIV
OCTAPHORO sanus portatur, Avite, Philippus
hunc tu si sanum credis, Avite, furis.
LXXXV
EDITUR en sextus sine te mihi, Rufe Camoni,
nee te lectorem sperat, amice, liber :
impia Cappadocum tell us et numine laevo
visa tibi cineres reddit et ossa patri.
funde tuo lacrimas orbata Bononia Rufo, 5
et resonet tota planctus in Aemilia.
heu qualis pietas, heu quam brevis occidit aetas !
viderat Alphei praemia quinta modo.
pectore tu memori nostros evolvere lusus,
tu solitus totos, Rufe, tenere iocos, 10
accipe cum fletu maesti breve carmen amici
atque haec apsentis tura fuisse puta.
1 cf. ix. Ixxiv. and Ixxvi.
2 The district served by the Via Aemilia running from
Aritninum to Placentia.
412
BOOK VI. LXXXIII-LXXXV
chief, owe to thee. For thou hast recalled the bolts
by thy right hand hurled ; I could pray that Jove's
fire possessed such gentleness ! Were thy nature,
Caesar, the almighty Thunderer's, rarely shall his
hand employ his bolts' full force. To thy bounty,
Etruscus ascribes a two-fold boon : partnership in his
sire's exile, and his sire's return.
LXXXIV
PHILIPPUS, though sound, is carried in a litter and
six, Avitus. If you think this fellow "sound," Avitus,
you are crazy yourself.
LXXXV
Lo ! my sixth book goes forth without thee, Ca-
monius Rufus,1 and does not hope, my friend, that
thou wilt read it. The Cappadocian land, unholy and
with baleful omen visited by thee, gives back to thy
sire thy ashes and thy bones. Pour forth thy tears,
Bononia, widowed of thy Rufus ! and let lamentation
be loud o'er all Aemilia ! 2 Alas, what filial love !
alas, what brief a life has perished ! it had seen but
the fifth prize bestowed by Alpheus.3 Thou, who
with unforgetful heart wert wont to quote my casual
lays, thou, Rufus, wont to recall whole epigrams, re-
ceive, with his tears, thy sorrowing friend's brief
song, and deem these lines incense shed upon thee
from afar !
3 He had lived only five Olympiads, and thus was only
twenty : cf. ix. Ixxvi. 3. Usually in M. an Olympiad ==
lustrum = 5 years.
413
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXXVI
SETINUM dominaeque nives densique trientes,
quando ego vos medico non prohibente bibam ?
stultus et ingratus nee tanto munere dignus
qui mavult heres divitis esse Midae.
possideat Libycas messis Hermumque Tagumque, 5
et potet caldarn, qui mihi livet, aquam.
LXXXVII
Di tibi dent et tu, Caesar, quaecumque mereris :
di mihi dent et tu quae volo, si merui.
LXXXVIII
MANE salutavi vero te nomine casu
nee dixi dominum, Caeciliane, meum.
quanti libertas constet mihi tanta, requiris ?
centum quadrantes abstulit ilia mihi.
LXXXIX
CUM peteret seram media iam nocte matellam
arguto madidus pollice Panaretus,
Spoletina data est sed quam siccaverat ipse,
nee fuerat soli tota lagona satis,
ille fide summa testae sua vina remensus 5
reddidit oenophori pondera plena sui.
miraris, quantum biberat, cepisse lagonam ?
desine rnirari, Rufe : merum biberat.
1 A line wine : cf. iv. Ixix.
2 Or "my lady's snows," i.e. Violentilla's. Wine was
strained through snow : -cf. v. Ixiv. 2 ; xiv. ciii.
414
BOOK VI. LXXXVI-LXXXIX
LXXXVI
THOU, Setine,1 and ye lordly snows,2 and ye cups
filled oft, when shall I drink you, nor my doctor say
me nay ? Fool and ingrate, and unworthy such a boon
is he who would sooner be heir of wealthy Midas !
May he possess Libyan harvests, and Hermus, and
Tagus, who envies me — and drink warm water ! 3
LXXXVII
MAY the gods and thou, Caesar, grant thee all
thy deserts ; may the gods and thou grant me my
wish if I have deserved it !
LXXXVIII
THIS morning I addressed you, as it chanced, by
your own name, nor did I add " My lord," Caecili-
anus. Do you ask how much such casual conduct has
cost me ? It has robbed me of a hundred farthings.4
LXXXIX
WHEN Panaretus in his cups was, by snapping his
fingers, requiring — it being now midnight — a neces-
sary vase, a Spoletian jar was handed him, one which
he had already drained dry by himself, and the whole
flagon had not been sufficient for his single self. He,
with scrupulous accuracy, remeasured to the jar the
wine he had drunk from it, and returned the full
burden of his wine-holder. Do you wonder the
flagon took all he had drunk ? Don't wonder any
longer, Rufus : he had drunk his wine neat !
3 M. was ill : cf. vi. xlvii. and Iviii.
4 The client's usual dole : cf. in. vii. 1.
415
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XC
MOECHUM Gellia non habet nisi unum.
turpe est hoc magis : uxor est duorum.
XCI
SANCTA ducis summi prohibet censura vetatque
moechari. gaude, Zoile : non futuis.
XCII
CAELATUS tibi cum sit, Anniane,
serpens in patera Myronos arte,
Vaticana bibis : bibis venenum.
XCIII
TAM male Thais olet quam non fullonis avari
testa vetus media sed modo fracta via,
non ab amore recens hircus, non ora leonis,
non detracta cani Transtiberina cutis,
pullus abortivo nee cum putrescit in ovo, 5
amphora corrupto nee vitiata garo.
virus ut hoc alio fallax permutet odore,
deposita quotiens balnea veste petit,
psilothro viret aut acida latet oblita creta
aut tegitur pingui terque quaterque faba. 10
cum bene se tutam per fraudes mille putavit,
omnia cum fecit, Thaida Thais olet.
1 cf. Sen. De Btn. xvi. " matrimonium vocari unius adul-
terium": cf. in. xcii. 2 cf. V. Ixxv. ; vi. vii.
3 Vatican was very inferior wine : cf. I. xviii. 2 ; X. xlv. 5.
M. assumes that the serpent poisoned the wine. He means
that A. drank bad wine in costly cups.
416
BOOK VI. xc-xcm
xc
GELLIA has a paramour, but only one. That is all
the more disgraceful : she is the wife of two.1
XCI
THE sacred censor's edict of our illustrious chief
forbids and debars adultery.2 Congratulate yourself,
Zoilus : you are impotent.
XCII
ALTHOUGH, Ammianus, you have on your cup a
viper chased by Myron's art, you drink Vatican : you
drink venom.3
XCIII
THAIS smells worse even than a grasping fuller's
long-used crock,4 and that, too, just smashed in the
middle of the street ; than a he-goat fresh from his
amours ; than the breath of a lion ; than a hide
dragged from a dog beyond Tiber ; 5 than a chicken
when it rots in an abortive egg ; than a two-eared jar
poisoned by putrid fish-sauce. In order craftily to
substitute for such a reek another odour, whenever
she strips and enters the bath she is green with
depilatory, or is hidden behind a plaster of chalk
and vinegar, or is covered with three or four layers
of sticky bean-flour.0 When she imagines that by a
thousand dodges she is quite safe, Thais, do what she
will, smells of Thais.
4 Fullers used urine in their trade, and used to collect it at
street-corners in jars.
5 Where tanners pursued their trade ; Juv. xiv. 203.
6 Ordinarily used to remove wrinkles : cf. in. xlii. 1 ; xiv. Ix.
417
VOL. I. E E
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XCIV
PONUNTUR semper chrysendeta Calpetiano
sive foris seu cum cenat in urbe domi.
sic etiam in stabulo semper, sic cenat in agro.
non habet ergo aliud ? non habet immo suum.
418
BOOK VI. xciv
XCIV
GOLD-ENAMELLED plate is always served to Calpe-
tianus, whether he dines away from home or when
he is at home in town. In this way, too, he always
dines at an inn, in this way in the country. Has he
no other plate then ? Nay, he possesses none — of
his own ! l
1 C. is satirised for his ostentatious use of plate which is
not his own, but borrowed : cf. n. Iviii.
419
E E 2
BOOK VII
LIBER SEPTIMUS
ACCIPE belligerae crudum thoraca Minervae,
ipsa Medusaeae quern timet ira comae.
dum vacat, haec, Caesar, poterit lorica vocari :
pectore cum sacro sederit, aegis erit.
II
INVIA Sarmaticis domini lorica sagittis
et Martis Getico tergore fida magis,
quam vel ad Aetolae securam cuspidis ictus
texuit innumeri lubricus unguis apri,
felix sorte tua, sacrum cui tangere pectus
fas erit et nostri mente calere dei.
i comes et magnos inlaesa merere triurnphos
palmataeque ducem, sed cito, redde togae.
Ill
CUR non mitto meos tibi, Pontiliane, libellos ?
ne mihi tu mittas, Pontiliane, tuos.
1 These lines allude to a cuirass, made of boars' hoofs,
either taken from a temple of Minerva, or made for Domitian
in imitation of her aegis with the Gorgon's head upon it, and
worn by him in his Sarmatian expedition, A.D. 92. It is
again alluded to in xiv. dkxix.
422
BOOK VII
RECEIVE the savage breast-plate of warrior Minerva,
thou whom even Medusa's wrathful tresses dread.1
While 'tis unworn, this, Caesar, may be called a
cuirass ; when it shall repose on a sacred breast,
'twill be an aegis.
II
IMPENETRABLE by Sarmatian arrows, thou cuirass of
our Lord, more trusty than the Getic shield of Mars,
which, a safeguard even against the stroke of an
Aetolian spear,2 the burnished hooves of unnumbered
boars inwove, blest art thou in thy lot ! whose right
shall be to touch that sacred breast, and to warm
with the spirit of our God ! Go with him and win,
undinted, mighty triumphs, and bring home — and
that soon — our chief to the palm-embroidered gown.3
Ill
WHY do I not send you my works, Pontilianus ?
That you, Pontilianus, may not send yours to me.
2 Meleager's, who slew the Calydonian boar : cf. Lib.
Spect. xv. 1.
* A general in his triumphal procession wore a toga of
purple and gold (toga picta) over a tunic embroidered with
palm-leaves (tunica palmata).
423
THE EPIGRAMS OF MAHTIAL
IV
ESSEX, Castrice, cum mail coloris,
versus scribere coepit Oppianus.
Si desiderium, Caesar, populique patrumque
respicis et Latiae gaudia vera togae,
redde deum votis poscentibus. invidet hosti
Roma suo, veniat laurea multa licet :
terrarum dominum propius videt ille tuoque
terretur vultu barbarus et fruitur.
VI
ECQUID Hyperboreis ad nos conversus ab oris
Ausonias Caesar iam parat ire vias ?
certus abest auctor sed vox hoc nuntiat omnis :
credo tibi, verum dicere, Fama, soles,
publica victrices testantur gaudia chartae, 5
Martia laurigera cuspide pila virent.
rursus, io, magnos clamat tibi Roma triumphos,
mvicTusque tua, Caesar, in urbe sonas.
sed iam laetitiae quo sit fiducia maior,
Sarmaticae laurus nuntius ipse veni. 10
VII
HIBERNA quamvis Arctos et rudis Peuce
et ungularum pulsibus calens Hister
1 For the "pallor" of poets tf. Hor. Ep. i. xix. 28.
2 Domitian in A.D. 92 was campaigning against the Sarma-
tians. He returned in Jan. 93.
424
BOOK VII. iv-vn
IV
BECAUSE, Castricus, he was of a sickly hue,1 Oppi-
anus begins to write verses.
V
IF thou regardest, Caesar, the longing of the people
and of the Fathers, and the Latin gown's true joy,
bring back our God to our urgent prayers ! 2 Albeit
there comes many a letter laurel-wreathed,3 Rome
envies her own foe ; he views more near the Master
of the world, and in thy countenance the barbarian
finds his terror and his joy.
VI
TURNED usward from Hyperborean shores, is
Caesar now bent on treading Ausonian ways ? Sure
witness is there none, yet every voice so tells us ;
thee, Report, I trust ; thou art wont to speak the
truth. Despatches of victory attest the public joy ;
the pikes of war are green with laurel-crowned
heads. Again — O joy ! — Rome shouts thy mighty
triumphs, and in thy city, Caesar, thou art proclaimed
Unconquered. But now, that faith in our delight
be greater still, come, thyself the herald of thy
Sarmatian bay.
VII
ALBEIT the wintry North, and savage Peuce,4 and
Hister glowing with the beat of hooves, and Rhine,
3 Despatches announcing victory were laurel- wreathed.
4 An island at the mouth of the Danube (Hister), so called
from its pines : cf. vii. Ixxxiv. 3.
425
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
fractusque cornu iam ter inprobo Rhenus
teneat domantem regna perfidae gentis
te, summe mundi rector et parens orbis, 5
abesse nostris non tamen potes votis.
illic et oculis et animis sumus, Caesar,
adeoque mentes omnium tenes unus
ut ipsa magni turba nesciat Circi
utrumne currat Passerinus an Tigris. 10
VIII
NUNC hilares, si quando mihi, nunc ludite, Musae :
victor ab Odrysio redditur orbe deus.
certa facis populi tu primus vota, December :
iam licet ingenti dicere voce " Venit ! "
felix sorte tua ! poteras non cedere lano, 5
gaudia si nobis quae dabit ille dares,
festa coronatus ludet convicia miles,
inter laurigeros cum comes ibit equos.
fas audire iocos levioraque carmina, Caesar,
et tibi, si lusus ipse triumphus amat. 10
IX
CUM sexaginta numeret Cascellius annos,
ingeniosus homo est : quando disertus erit ?
PEDICATUR Eros, fellat Linus : Ole, quid ad te
de cute quid faciant ille vel ille sua ?
1 River gods were represented with horns. The shattering
of the horn meant defeat : cf. x. vii. 6.
426
BOOK VII. vn-x
his presumptuous horn now shattered thrice,1 detain
thee, while thou dost subdue a false nation's realm,
thou ruler supreme of the universe and father of the
world, yet thou canst not be parted from our prayers.
There, where thou art, are we in vision and in soul,
Caesar ; and so alone dost thou possess the thoughts
of all that the very throng of the mighty Circus
knows not whether Passarinus runs or Tigris.2
VIII
Now joyfully, if ever in page of mine, frolic, ye
Muses ! in victory is our God being restored to us
from the Odrysian world. Thou first, December,
makest sure fulfilment of a people's prayers : now
may we shout with a mighty voice, " He comes ! "
Happy in thy lot ! Thou mightest not have made
way for Janus, wert thou giving us the joys that
he shall give ! In festive raillery shall the wreathed
soldier sport when he shall tread attendant on the
laurelled steeds. To hear the jest and lighter song
is lawful even for thee, Caesar, if a triumph of itself
woos mirthfulness.3
IX
THOUGH Cascellius now numbers sixty years, he is
only a clever man : when will he be eloquent ?
EROS has one filthy vice, Linus has another : Olus,
what is it to you what one or the other does with
2 Race-horses.
3 For the licence allowed to soldiers in a triumphal pro-
cession cf. i. iv. 3.
427
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
centenis futuit Matho milibus : Ole, quid ad te ?
non tu propterea sed Matho pauper erit.
in lucem cenat Sertorius : Ole, quid ad te, 5
cum liceat tota stertere nocte tibi ?
septingenta Tito debet Lupus : Ole, quid ad te ?
assem ne dederis crediderisve Lupo.
illud dissimulas ad te quod pertinet, Ole,
quodque magis curae convenit esse tuae. 10
pro togula debes : hoc ad te pertinet, Ole.
quadrantem nemo iam tibi credit : et hoc.
uxor moecha tibi est : hoc ad te pertinet, Ole.
poscit iam dotem filia grandis : et hoc.
dicere quindecies poteram quod pertinet ad te : 15
sed quid agas ad me pertinet, Ole, nihil.
XI
COGIS me calamo manuque nostra
emendare meos, Pudens, libellos.
o quam me nimium probas amasque
qui vis archetypas habere nugas !
XII
Sic me fronte legat dominus, Faustine, serena
excipiatque meos qua solet aure iocos,
ut mea nee iuste quos odit pagina laesit
et mihi de nullo fama rubore placet,
quid prodest, cupiant cum quidam nostra videri, 5
si qua Lycambeo sanguine tela madent,
vipereumque vomat nostro sub nomine virus,
qui Phoebi radios ferre diemque negat ?
1 i.e. scurrilous. Lycambes was driven to suicide by the
428
BOOK VII. x-xn
his own hide ? Matho pays his whore a hundred
thousand : Olus, what is it to you ? You will not be
poor on that account, but Matho. Sertorius dines
till daylight : Olus, what is it to you, seeing you can
snore all night? Lupus owes seven hundred thou-
sand sesterces to Titus : Olus, what is it to you ?
don't give or lend Lupus a stiver. You ignore what
is your own affair, Olus, what more concerns your
careful thought. You owe for your sorry toga : this
is your affair, Olus. Nobody now lends you a
penny : this too. Your wife is a wanton ; this is
your affair, Olus. Your strapping daughter now
demands a dowry : this too. Fifteen times over I
could mention what is your affair : but your doings,
Olus, are no affair of mine.
XI
You compel me to correct my poems with my own
hand and pen, Pudeiis. Oh, how overmuch you
approve and love my work who wish to have my
trifles in autograph !
XII
MAY my Master be as certain to read me, Fausti-
nus, with an unruffled brow, and to welcome my jests
with his wonted heed, as my page has not wounded
even those it justly hates, and fame won from
another's blush is not dear to me ! What does this
avail me when certain folk would pass off as mine
darts wet with the blood of Lycambes,1 and under
my name a man vomits his viperous venom who
owns he cannot bear the light of day? My jests
lampoons of the poet Archilochus, to whom he had refused
his daughter.
429
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
ludimus innocui : scis hoc bene : iuro potentis
per genium Famae Castaliumque gregem 10
perque tuas aures, magni mihi numinis instar,
lector inhumana liber ab invidia.
XIII
DUM Tiburtinis albescere solibus audit
antiqui dentis fusca Lycoris ebur,
venit in Herculeos colles. quid Tiburis alti
aura valet ! parvo tempore nigra redit.
XIV
ACCIDIT infandum nostrae scelus, Aule, puellae ;
amisit lusus deliciasque suas :
non quales teneri ploravit arnica Catulli
Lesbia^ nequitiis passeris orba sui,
vel Stellae cantata meo quas flevit lanthis, 5
cuius in Elysio nigra columba volat :
lux mea non capitur nugis neque moribus istis
nee dominae pectus talia damna movent :
bis senos l puerum numerantem perdidit annos,
mentula cui nondum sesquipedalis erat. 10
XV
Quis puer hie nitidis absistit lanthidos undis ?
effugit dominam Naida numquid Hylas ?
o bene quod silva colitur Tirynthius ista
et quod amatrices tarn prope servat aquas !
1 senos Heins. , denos codd.
1 cf. iv. Ixii. The sulphurous exhalations of the springs
at Tibur (cf. iv. iv. 2) were supposed to have the property of
whitening things, especially ivory.
43°
BOOK VII. xn-xv
are harmless : you know this well : I swear by the
genius of mighty Fame, and the Castalian choir, and
by your ears, which are to me as a great deity, O
reader, who art free from ungentle envy.
XIII
HEARING that, under Tibur's suns, the ivory of an
old tusk grows white, dusky Lycoris came to the
hills of Hercules. What power high-set Tibur's air
has ! In a short time she returned black ! l
XIV
AN unspeakable calamity has chanced to a girl of
mine, Aulus : she has lost her plaything and her
darling, not such a one as Lesbia, the mistress of
tender Catullus, deplored when she was forlorn of
her sparrow's roguish tricks, nor such as lanthis,
sung of by my Stella,2 wept for, whose black dove
flits in Elysium. My love is not taken by trifles, nor
by such passions as that ; nor do such losses move
my mistress' heart : she has lost a boy just counting
twice six years, whose parts were not as yet Gar-
gantuan !
XV
WHAT boy is this who stands apart from lanthis'
sparkling fount ? Is it Hylas,3 who shuns the Naiad,
its mistress ? Oh, well that he of Tiryns 4 is wor-
shipped in that grove, and that so nigh he watches
2 L. Arruntius Stella, a poet, and the friend of M. : cf.
v. xi. 3 ; i. vii. 4, His wife was Violentilla (lanthis), whose
dove S. sang of : cf. I. vii.
3 The companion of Hercules. He was drawn under the
water by an enamoured nymph : cf. v. xlviii. 5 ; ix. Ixv. 14.
4 Hercules.
431
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
securus licet hos fontes, Argynne, ministres : 5
nil facient Nymphae : ne velit ipse cave.
XVI
AERA domi non sunt, superest hoc, Regule, solum
ut tua vendamus muriera : numquid emis ?
XVII
RURIS bybliotheca delicati,
vicinam videt unde lector urbem,
inter carmina sanctiora si quis
lascivae fuerit locus Thaliae,
hos nido licet inseras vel imo, 5
septem quos tibi misimus libellos
auctoris calamo sui notatos :
haec illis pretium facit litura.
at tu munere, delicata,1 parvo
quae cantaberis orbe iiota toto, 10
pignus pectoris hoc mei tuere,
luli bybliotheca Martialis.
XVIII
CUM tibi sit facies de qua nee femina possit
dicere, cum corpus nulla litura notet,
cur te tarn rarus cupiat repetatque fututor
miraris ? vitium est non leve, Galla, tibi.
1 ddicata y ; interpunctionem correxit Munro ; dedicala 0.
1 The epigram is on a statue of a boy running (probably
one of Stella's slaves), placed beside a fountain, perhaps in
Stella's garden (cf. vi. xlvii.), and named after Argynnus,
432
BOOK VII. XV-XVHI
the amorous waters ! Secure thou, Argynnus, mayst
tend this fount : the nymphs will do thee no harm ;
but ware the god himself! l
XVI
I HAVE not a copper at home ; this one thing alone
remains, Regulus, to sell your presents : are you a
buyer ?
XVII
O LIBRARY of a dainty country house, from which a
reader surveys the City close at hand, if, amid poems
more reverend, there shall be a place for wanton
Thalia, thou mayst put in a niche, though it be the
lowest one, these seven little books which I have
sent thee, scored by their author's pen : such correc-
tion gives them value ! But do thou,2 dainty one,
that, because of my small gift, shall be sung and
known throughout the world, protect this pledge of
my heart's love, O library of Julius Martialis !
XVIII
ALTHOUGH you have a face which not even a
woman could criticise, although no blemish marks
your body, do you wonder why it is so rarely a
gallant desires you and seeks you a second time ?
You have a defect, Galla, and no light one. Ogni
the favourite of Agamemnon. M. means that Hercules will
protect Argynnus from the nymphs of the fountain, but that
he will be in danger of being carried off by Hercules himself.
2 Or, without Munro's punctuation, "thou, who, because
of my gift, shall be sung of as dainty."
433
VOL. I. F F
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
access! quotiens ad opus mixtisque movemur 5
inguinibus, cunnus non tacet, ipsa taces.
di facerent ut tu loquereris et ille taceret :
offender cunni garrulitate tui.
pedere te mallem : namque hoc nee inutile dicit
Symmachus et risum res movet ista siniul. 10
quis rid ere potest fatui poppysmata cunni ?
cum sonat hie, cui non mentula mensque cadit ?
die aliquid saltern clamosoque obstrepe cunno
et, si adeo muta es, disce vel inde loqui.
XIX
FRAGMENTUM quod vile putas et inutile lignum,
haec fuit ignoti prima carina maris.
quam nee Cyaneae quondam potuere ruinae
frangere nee Scythici tristior ira freti,
saecula vicerunt : sed quamvis cesserit annis,
sanctior est salva parva tabella rate.
XX
NIHIL est miserius neque gulosius Santra.
rectam vocatus cum cucurrit ad cenam,
quam tot diebus noctibusque captavit,
ter poscit apri glandulas, quater lumbum,
et utramque coxam leporis et duos armos, 5
nee erubescit peierare de turdo
et ostreorum rapere lividos cirros.
buccis placentae ] sordidam Unit mappam ;
1 Buccis placentae Scriver. ; buccis plangentcm & ; dulcis
placenta y.
434
BOOK VII. xvm-xx
volta che venni teco alle prese, e nei mischiati pia-
ceri s'aggitiamo coi lumbi, tu taci, e '1 tuo c — o
chiazza. Volessero gli del che tu parlassi ed esso
tacesse : io sono nauseate dalla chiacchiera del tuo
c — o. Amerei meglio che tu petassi : imperocche
Simaco dice che ci6 e giovevole, e nel tempo stesso
muove il riso. Chi pu6 ridere ai poppismi d'un fatuo
c— o ? quando questo romba, a cui non cade la men-
tola e la mente ? Di almeno qualche cosa, o serra
il susurroso tuo c — o : e se non sei affatto mutola,
impara indi a parlare.
XIX
THE fragment thou regardest as cheap and useless
wood, this was the first keel to stem the unknown
sea. That which the clash of the Azure rocks l
could not shatter of old, nor the wrath, more dread,
of Scythia's ocean, ages have subdued : yet, however
much it has submitted to time, more sacred is this
small plank than the vessel unscathed.
XX
No miserliness or gluttony is equal to Santra's.
When he has been invited and has hurried off to the
grand dinner which he has for so many nights and
days fished for, he asks thrice for kernels of boar,
four times for the loin, and for each leg of a hare,
and both wings ; nor does he blush to tell lies about
a fieldfare, and to snatch the discoloured beards of
oysters. With mouthfuls of cake he stains his soiled
1 Two rocks at the mouth of the Bosphorus, supposed to
float and collide. They were, according to legend, discovered
by the Argonauts. Perhaps the legend represents early
experiences of icebergs.
435
F F 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
illic et uvae conlocantur ollares
et Punicorum pauca grana malorum 10
et excavatae pellis indecens volvae
et lippa ficus debilisque boletus.
sed mappa cum iam mille rumpitur furtis,
rosos tepenti spondylos sinu condit
et devorato capite turturem truncum. 15
colligere longa turpe nee putat dextra
analecta quidquid et canes reliquerunt.
nee esculenta sufficit gulae praeda :
mixto lagonam replet ad pedes vino.
haec per ducentas cum domum tulit scalas 20
seque obserata clusit anxius cella
gulosus ille, postero die — vendit.
XXI
HAEC est ilia dies, quae magni conscia partus
Lucanum populis et tibi, Polla, dedit.
heu ! Nero crudelis nullaque invisior umbra,
debuit hoc saltern non licuisse tibi.
XXII
VATIS Apollinei magno memorabilis ortu
lux redit : Aonidum turba, favete sacris.
haec meruit, cum te ±erris, Lucane, dedisset,
mixtus Castaliae Baetis ut esset aquae.
1 i.e. a sow's matrix, a favourite dish : cf. Hor. Ep. I. xv.
41. It was stuffed with appetising herbs and condiments :
cf. Athen. iii. 58, 59 ; which in this instance had already been
eaten. Excavatae, may be however = ejectitiae, a matrix from
436
BOOK VII. xx-xxn
napkin ; there too are packed preserved grapes, and
a few grains of pomegranate, and the unsightly skin
of a scooped out haggis,1 and an oozing fig, and a
flabby mushroom. And when his napkin is already
bursting under his thousand thefts, he secretes in
the reeking folds of his gown gnawed vertebrae, and
a turtle-dove shorn of its head already gobbled up.
Nor does he think it disgraceful to pick up with a
long arm whatever the sweeper and the dogs have
left. Nor are eatables sufficient loot for him : he
fills behind his back a flagon with the wine and water.
When that greedy fellow has carried these things home
up two hundred stairs, and anxiously shut himself
in his locked garret, the next day — he sells the lot !
XXI
THIS is that day which, conscious of a great birth,
gave Lucan to the nations and, Polla,2 to thee. Ah,
Nero ! cruel, and for no death more hateful ! this
deed at least should not have been permitted thee !
XXII
MADE glorious by the mighty birth of Apollo's
bard, the day returns : ye Aonian throng,3 look
kindly on these rites ! These it earned, when it had
given thee, Lucan, to the earth, that Baetis 4 might
be mingled with the water of Castalia.
which the fetus has been removed before birth : cf. Plin.
N.H. xi. 84.
2 Folia Argentaria, the widow of the poet Lucan. She
was a patron of M. : cf. X. Ixiv. 1. * The Muses.
4 Lucan was born at Cordova on the Baetis (Guadalquiver).
437
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXIII
PHOEBE, veni, sed quantus eras cum bella tonanti
ipse dares Latiae plectra secunda lyrae.
quid tanta pro luce precer ? tu, Polla, maritum
saepe colas et se sentiat ille coli.
XXIV
CUM luvenale meo quae me committere temptas,
quid non audebis, perfida lingua, loqui ?
te fingente nefas Pyladen odisset Orestes,
Thesea Pirithoi destituisset amor,
tu Siculos fratres et maius nomen Atridas 5
et Ledae poteras dissociare genus,
hoc tibi pro mentis et talibus inprecor ausis,
ut facias illud quod, puto, lingua, facis.
XXV
DULCIA cum tantum scribas epigrammata semper
et cerussata candidiora cute,
nullaque mica salis nee amari fellis in illis
gutta sit, o demens, vis tamen ilia legi !
nee cibus ipse iuvat morsu fraudatus aceti, 5
nee grata est facies cui gelasinus abest.
infanti melimela dato fatuasque mariscas :
nam mihi, quae novit pungere, Chia sapit.
1 " Inspire me now as thon didst inspire Lucan, the second
poet after Virgil, when he sang of the civil war between
Pompey and Caesar."
438
BOOK VII. xxm-xxv
XXIII
PHOEBUS, come thou, but in thy might, as thou
wert when to him who thundered of war thou gavest
with thy own hand the second quill of the Latin
lyre.1 What should be my prayer for a day so great ?
Mayst thou, Polla, long revere thy spouse, and may
he himself feel that he is revered !
XXIV
THOU that essayest to embroil me with my Juvenal,
what wilt not thou, perfidious tongue, dare to say ?
At thy imagining of wrong Orestes would have hated
Pylades, Peirithous' love would have left Theseus
lorn : thou couldst have parted the Sicilian brothers,2
and — a greater name — the sons of Atreus, and Leda's
generation.3 This is my curse on thee for thy de-
serts and for attempts so shameless : that thou mayst
do that which, O tongue, I wot thou doest !
XXV
ALTHOUGH you continually write epigrams that are
merely sweet, and more immaculate than a white-
enamelled skin, and no grain of salt, nor drop of
bitter gall is in them, yet, O madman ! you wish them
to be read ! Not food itself is pleasant robbed of
biting vinegar, nor is a face winning when no dimple
is there. To an infant give honey-apples and insipid
figs : for me the Chian fig with a tang has savour.
2 Amphinomus and Anapius, models of fraternal love and
filial piety, who carried their parents from an eruption of
Etna : Strabo, vi. 2. Claudian has a poem (De Piia Fra-
tribus) on the subject. 3 Castor and Pollux,
439
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXVI
APOLLINAREM conveni meum, scazon,
et si vacabit (ne molestus accedas)
hoc qualecumque, cuius aliqua pars ipse est
dabis : hoc facetae * carmen inbuant aures.
si te receptum fronte videris tota, 5
noto rogabis ut favore sustentet.
quanto mearum, scis, amore nugarum
flagret : nee ipse plus amare te possum.
contra malignos esse si cupis tutus,
Apollinarem conveni rneum, scazon. 10
XXVII
TUSCAE glandis aper populator et ilice multa
iam piger, Aetolae fama secunda ferae,
quern meus intravit splendenti cuspide Dexter,
praeda iacet nostris invidiosa focis.
pinguescant madido laeti nidore penates 5
flagret et exciso festa culina iugo.
sed cocus ingentem piperis consumet acervum,
addet et arcano mixta Falerna garo.
ad dominum redeas, noster te non capit ignis,
conturbator aper : vilius esurio. 10
XXVIII
Sic Tiburtinae crescat tibi silva Dianae
et properet caesum saepe redire nemus,
1 hoc 5-, haec codd.; facetae Gronov.,facetum codd.
440
BOOK VII. xxvi-xxvm
XXVI
SALUTE my Apolliiiaris, halting verse,1 and if he be
at leisure — do not approach him unseasonably — you
will give him this, whate'er its worth, in which he
too has some part : may cultivated ears be first to hear
this verse ! If you see yourself welcomed by an un-
ruffled brow, you will ask him to support you with
his well-known favour. With what great love for
my trifles he burns you know ; not even I myself can
love you more. If against malice you wish to be
safe, salute my Apollinaris, halting verse !
XXVII
THE ravager of Tuscan mast, now fat with many
an acorn, second in renown to the Aetolian beast,2
a boar which my Dexter pierced with his gleaming
spear, lies here, a booty abhorrent to my hearth.
Let my household gods joyously grow fat the
steaming reek, and my festal kitchen blaze with
felling of a hill top. But ah ! the cook will consume
a huge heap of pepper, and add Falernian mixed
with his treasured fish-sauce. Go back to your
owner • my fire is too small for you, O boar that
would bankrupt me ! 'tis less ruinous to starve.
XXVIII
So may Diana's wood at Tibur burgeon for you,
and the grove, oft lopped, be quick to grow anew ;
1 cf. i. xcvi. 1.
2 The boar slain by Meleager : cf. Lib. Spect. xv. 1.
441
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
nee Tartesiacis Pallas tua, Fusee, trapetis
cedat et inmodici dent bona musta lacus ;
sic fora mirentur, sic te Palatia laudent, 5
excolat et geminas plurima palma fores :
otia dum medius praestat tibi parva December,
exige, sed certa, quos legis, aure iocos.
" Scire libet verum ? res est haec ardua." sed tu
quod tibi vis dici dicere, Fusee, potes. 10
XXIX
THESTYLE, Victoris tormentum dulce Voconi,
quo nemo est toto notior orbe puer,
sic etiam positis formosus amere capillis
et placeat vati nulla puella tuo :
paulisper domini doctos sepone libellos, 5
carmina Victori dum lego parva tuo.
et Maecenati, Maro cum cantaret Alexin,
nota tamen Marsi fusca Melaenis erat.
XXX
DAS Parthis, das Germanis, das, Caelia, Dacis,
nee Cilicum spernis Cappadocumque toros ;
et tibf de Pharia Memphiticus urbe fututor
navigat, a rubris et niger Indus aquis ;
nee recutitorum fugis inguina ludaeorum, 5
nee te Sarmatico transit Alarms equo.
qua ratione facis, cum sis Romana puella,
quod Romana tibi mentula nulla placet ?
1 Now Tarifa, in Spain.
2 i.e. the law courts. They were at this time three, the
F. Romanum, F. Caesaris, and F. Augusti.
3 Palms were affixed to the doors of advocates after success
in court : Juv. vii. 117.
4 i.e. the plain truth.
442
BOOK VII. xxvin-xxx
and your olive, Fuscus, yield not to presses of Tar-
tessus,1 and your overflowing vats give you goodly
must ; so may the forums 2 admire you, so may the
Palace praise you, and many a palm deck your fold-
ing doors8 — while mid December secures you some
small leisure, examine, and with unfailing ear, the
jests you read, "Do you wish to learn the truth?
that is a hard matter." But you can say to me,
Fuscus, what* you wish said to you.
XXIX
THESTYLUS, the dear torment of Voconius Victor,
O boy better known 5 than any in all the world, so
may you, even now with your shorn locks, be beau-
tiful and dear, and no maiden be pleasing to your
bard — lay aside awhile your master's learned
books while I read some small verses to your Victor.
Even to Maecenas, although Maro was singing of
Alexis, still was Marsus' dusk Melaenis 6 known.
XXX
You grant your favours to Parthians, you grant
them to Germans, you grant them, Caelia, to Dacians,
and you do not spurn the couch of Cilicians and
Cappadocians ; and for you from his Egyptian city
comes sailing the gallant of Memphis, and the black
Indian from the Red Sea; nor do you shun the
lecheries of circumcised Jews, and the Alan on his
Sarmatian steed does not pass you by. What is your
reason that, although you are a Roman girl, no
Roman lewdness has attraction for you ?
5 Because you are sung of in his poems (docti libelli) ; cf.
vati in 1. 4.
6 On whom Marsus had written a poem. He was a younger
contemporary of Horace, and wrote elegies, and epigrams, and
an epic poem called Amazonis : cf. I. Epist. 12 ; iv. xxix. 8.
443
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXXI
RAUCAE chortis aves et ova matrum
et flavas medio vapore Chias
et fetum querulae rudem capellae
nee iam frigoribus pares olivas
et canum gelidis hoi us pruinis 5
de nostro tibi missa rure credis ?
o quam, Regale, diligenter erras !
nil nostri, nisi me, ferunt agelli.
quidquid vilicus Umber aut colonus
aut rus marmore tertio notatum 10
aut Tusci tibi Tusculive mittunt,
id tota mihi iiascitur Subura.
XXXII
ATTICE, facundae renovas qui nomina gentis
nee sinis ingentem conticuisse domum,
te pia Cecropiae comitatur turba Minervae,
te secreta quies, te sophos omnis amat.
at iuvenes alios fracta colit aure magister 5
et rapit inmeritas sordidus unctor opes,
non pila, non follis, non te paganica thermis
praeparat aut nudi stipitis ictus hebes,
vara nee in lento ceromate bracchia tendis,
non harpasta vagus pulverulenta rapis, 10
1 Frost-bitten. M. depreciates what he sends, lest R.
should think him a rich man.
2 i.e. M. has to buy in the market ; cf. x. xciv. 5.
444
BOOK VII. xxxi-xxxn
XXXI
BIRDS of the cackling farmyard, and eggs of mother
hens, and Chian figs yellow from insufficient heat,
and the young offspring of the bleating she-goat, and
olives unable now to stand the cold,1 and cabbages
whitened by chill hoar frosts — do you believe these
were sent you from my country-place ? Oh, how
carefully wrong, Regulus, you are ! My small fields
bear nothing but me. Whatever your Umbrian
bailiff, or tenant sends you, or your country-house
marked by the third milestone, or your lands in
Etruria or at Tusculum, this for me is produced all
over the Subura.2
XXXII
ATTICUS, who make live anew the names of an elo-
quent race, and suffer a mighty house to continue
mute, on you the pious votaries of Cecropian Minerva
attend, you cloistered leisure, you every philosopher
holds dear. But other young men the boxing-master
with his battered ear courts, and the dirty anointer
makes off with wealth undeserved. No hand-ball,
no bladder-ball, no feather-stuffed ball3 makes you
ready for the warm bath, nor the blunted stroke
upon the unarmed stump ; 4 nor do you stretch forth
squared arms besmeared with sticky ointment, nor,
darting to and fro, snatch the dusty scrimmage-ball,
3 As to these, cj. iv. xix. 5 ; xiv. xlv.-xlviii.
4 The post (palus) on which sword-strokes with a blunted
sword were practised : Juv. vi. 247. This was also done as
exercise before the bath.
445
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
sed curris niveas tantum prope Virginis undas
aut ubi Sidonio taurus amore calet.
per varias artes, omnis quibus area servit,
ludere, cum liceat currere, pigritia est.
XXXIII
SORDIDIOR caeno cum sit toga, calceus autem
candidior prima sit tibi, Cinna, nive :
deiecto quid., inepte, pedes perfundis amictu ?
collige, Cinna, togam ; calceus ecce perit.
XXXIV
Quo possit fieri modo, Severe,
ut vir pessimus omnium Charinus
unam rem bene fecerit, requiris ?
dicam, sed cito. quid Nerone peius ?
quid thermis melius Neronianis ? 5
non dest protinus, ecce, de malignis
qui sic rancidulo loquatur ore :
" Quid tu tot domini deique nostri
praefers muneribus ? " l Neronianas
thermas praefero balneis cinaedi. 10
XXXV
INGUINA succinctus nigra tibi servos aluta
stat, quotiens calidis tota foveris aquis.
sed meus, ut de me taceam, Laecania, servos
ludaeum nuda sub cute pondus habet,
tu tot Housman, quid te tot £, ut quid tu X V ;
interpunxit post muneribus Housman, who explains that the
maiignus wrests 1. 5 into an insnlt to Domitian. " No,"
says M., "I only said I prefer N. 'swarm baths to those of
a cinaedus," thus keeping the description of the vir pessimus
to the last word.
446
BOOK VII. xxxn-xxxv
but you run only by the clear Virgin water,1 or
where the Bull warms with passion for his Sidonian
love.2 To trifle in the various sports to which every
open space is devoted, when one can run, is sloth.
XXXIII
As your toga is dirtier than mud, whereas your
shoe, Cinna, is whiter than untrodden snow, why do
you, foolish man, overspread your feet with your
draggling garb ? Gather up your toga, Cinna ; see,
your shoe is being spoilt.3
XXXIV
How does it possibly come, Severus, that Charinus,
the worst rascal in the world, did one thing well ?
Do you ask ? I will tell you, and briefly. What was
worse than Nero ? What is better than Nero's warm
baths ? See, at once some one of the malicious
crowd is ready to say in sour tones : " What do you
set above the many structures erected by our Master
and God?" I set Nero's warm baths above the
baths of — a pathic.
XXXV
Un- servo, cinto le pudende con un nero cuojo,
attende a te ogni volta che tutta t'immergi nelle
calde acque. Ma il mio servo, senza parlare di me,
ha il giudaico peso sott'un nudo cuojo ; ma ed i
1 The Aqua Virgo. Here perhaps was a running ground,
as there was in the Port. Eur. : cf. n. xiv. 4.
2 In the Porticua Europae : cf. n. xiv. 3 ; in. xx. 12.
3 M. means that C. prefers white shoes to a white toga,
and yet allows the one to soil the other.
447
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
sed nudi tecum iuvenesque senesque lavantur. I
an sola est servi mentula vera tui ?
ecquid femineos sequeris, matrona, recessus,
secretusque tua, cunne, lavaris aqua ?
XXXVI
CUM pluvias madidumque lovem perferre negaret
et rudis hibernis villa nataret aquis,
plurima, quae posset subitos effundere nimbos,
muneribus venit tegula missa tuis.
horridus, ecce, sonat Boreae stridore December : i
Stella, tegis villam, non tegis agricolam.
XXXVII
NOSTI mortiferum quaestoris, Castrice, signum ?
est operae pretium discere theta novum :
exprimeret quotiens rorantem frigore nasum,
letalem iuguli iusserat esse notam.
turpis ab inviso pendebat stiria naso, B
cum flaret media fauce December atrox :
collegae tenuere manus : quid plura requiris ?
emungi misero, Castrice, non licuit.
XXXVIII
TANTUS es et talis nostri, Polypheme, Severi
ut te mirari possit et ipse Cyclops,
sed nee Scylla minor, quod si fera monstra duorum
iunxeris, alterius fiet uterque timor.
448
BOOK VII. xxxv-xxxvm
giovani, ed i vecchi si lavano nudi teco. La mentola
del tuo servo e solamente la vera ? O matrona,
siegui tu i feminei recessi, e ti lavi tu di nascosto
O c — o, nella tua acqua ?
XXXVI
WHEN my rough country-house was refusing to en-
dure any longer the rain and drenching sky, and was
swimming in a winter deluge, many a tile, to carry
off sudden storms, reached me by your bounty.
See, rough December roars with the North wind's
thunder ! Stella, you cover the farm, you don't
clothe the farmer !
XXXVII
Do you know, Castricus, the quaestor's signal
for death ? It is worth while to learn this new
kind of death-warrant : he had given orders that,
every time he blew his nose dripping with the
cold, that should be the fatal sign of execution.
An unsightly icicle was hanging from his hateful
nose, when wild December was blowing a blast from
the depths of its throat : his colleagues held his
hands : what more do you ask ? The unhappy man,
Castricus, was not allowed to blow his nose !
XXXVIII
So huge and so ugly are you, Polyphemus, slave
of my Severus, that even the Cyclops himself
might wonder at you. And Scylla is no smaller.
Now, if you marry the two wild monstrosities, each
will become the other's bogey !
o a
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XXXIX
DISCURSUS varies vagumque mane
et fastus et have potentiorum
cum perferre patique iam negaret,
coepit fingere Caelius podagram.
quam dum volt nimis adprobare veram 5
et sanas linit obligatque plantas
inceditque gradu laborioso,
(quantum cura potest et ars doloris !)
desit fingere Caelius podagram.
XL
Hie iacet ille senex Augusta notus in aula,
pectore non humili passus utrumque deum ;
natorum pietas sanctis quem coniugis umbris
miscuit : Elysium possidet ambo nemus.
occidit ilia prior viridi fraudata iuventa : 5
hie prope ter senas vixit Olympiadas.
sed festinatis raptum tibi credidit annis,
aspexit lacrimas quisquis, Etrusce, tuas.
XLI
COSMICOS esse tibi, Semproni Tucca, videris.
cosmica, Semproni, tarn mala quam bona sunt.
XLII
MUNERIBUS cupiat si quis contendere tecum,
audeat hie etiam, Castrice, carminibus.
1 i.e. pleased or angry. As to Claudius Etruscus, see
Stat. Sylv. iii. 3. He had been banished and recalled by
Domitiau : cf. vi. Ixxxiii.
2 Periods of five years, as generally in M. : cf. iv. xlv. 4.
45°
BOOK VII. xxxix-xLii
XXXIX
WHEN he refused any longer to endure and put
up with the various gaddings about, and the
devious morning calls, and the pride and salutations
of wealthy patrons, Caelius set up the pretence of
gout. And while he was anxious to prove it was
quite genuine, and plastered and swathed his sound
feet, and got along with a labouring gait, Caelius —
what potency has the exercise and cultivation of
illness ! — has ceased to pretend gout !
XL
HERE lies that aged sire, famed in the Augustan
hall as bearing with no abject soul our God in
either mood ; l his sons' love has joined him to
his wife's hallowed shade : Elysium's grove holds
them both. She died the first, robbed of her fresh
youth ; he lived well-nigh thrice six Olympiads.2
Yet whoever has seen thy tears, Etruscus, accounts
him snatched away from thee too swiftly.
XLI
THE very quintessence of Cosmus' shop you fancy
yourself, Sempronius Tucca. Of Cosmus' essences,3
Sempronius, as many are bad as good.4
XLII
IP any one wish to vie with you in gifts, let
him venture, Castricus, in poetry too. I am poorly
3 Another, but less likely, interpretation is to take cos-
micnx as = man of the world, and cosmica as = worldly
things.
4 cf. in. Iv. 1 ; I. Ixxxvii. 2.
451
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
nos tenues in utroque sumus vincique parati :
inde sopor nobis et placet alta quies.
tarn mala cur igitur dederim tibi carmina, quaeris ? 5
Alcinoo nullum poma dedisse putas ?
XLin
PRIMUM est ut praestes, si quid te, Cinna, rogabo ;
illud deinde sequens ut cito, Cinna, neges.
diligo praestantem ; non odi, Cinna, negantem :
sed tu nee praestas nee cito, Cinna, negas.
XLIV
MAXIMUS ille tuus, Ovidi, Caesonius hie est,
cuius adhuc vultum vivida cera tenet,
hunc Nero damnavit ; sed tu damnare Neronem
ausus es et profugi, non tua, fata sequi :
aequora per Scyllae magnus comes exulis isti, 5
qui modo nolueras consulis ire comes,
si victura meis mandantur nomina chartis
et fas est cineri me superesse meo,
audiet hoc praesens venturaque turba fuisse
illi te, Senecae quod fuit ille suo. 10
XLV
FACUNDI Senecae potens amicus,
caro proxinius aut prior Sereno,
1 i.e. carried coals to Newcastle. Alcinous, the mythical
king of Phaeacia, was celebrated for his orchards : cf. x.
xciv. 2.
452
BOOK VII. XLII-XLV
furnished in both, and prepared to be surpassed ;
hence repose and unbroken quiet are my delight.
Why then, you ask, did I send you such bad poems ?
Think you no man has given apples to Alcinous P1
XLIII
THE first thing is that you should hand it over
if I ask anything of you, Cinna ; the next thing
after that, Cinna, is that you should refuse quickly.
I like a man who hands over ; I do not hate, Cinna,
a man who refuses ; but you neither hand over,
nor do you, Cinna, quickly refuse.
XLIV
HERE, Ovidius,2 is your Maximus Caesonius,
whose lineaments the living wax still preserves.
He it was Nero condemned ; but you dared to
condemn Nero, and to follow the fortunes of a
banished man, not your own : over Scylla's seas
you went, that exile's high-souled comrade, you who
had lately refused to be comrade of a consul. If
those names shall live which are entrusted to my
pages, and if it may be that I survive my own ashes,
this shall the men of to-day and of to-morrow hear,
that you were to him all that he was to his Seneca.3
XLV
THE powerful friend of the eloquent Seneca,
counted next to his dear Serenus, or dearer still,
2 Quintus Ovidius, M.'s friend and neighbour at Nomen-
tum : cf. vn. xciii. 3 ; x. xliv.
3 Caesonius had followed Seneca into exile when he had
been banished by the Emperor Claudius.
453
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
hie est Maximus ille, quern frequenti
felix littera pagina salutat.
hunc tu per Siculas secutus undas, 5
o nullis Ovidi tacende linguis,
sprevisti domini furentis iras.
miretur Pyladen suum vetustas,
haesit qui comes exuli parentis.
quis discrimina conparet duorum ? 10
haesisti comes exuli Neronis.
XLVI
COMMENDARE tuum dum vis mihi carmine munus
Maeonioque cupis doctius ore loqui,
excrucias multis pariter me teque diebus,
et tua de nostro, Prisce, Thalia tacet.
divitibus poteris musas elegosque sonantes 5
mittere : pauperibus munera ?re£a 1 dato.
XLVII
DOCTOR UM Licini celeberrime Sura virorum,
cuius prisca gravis lingua reduxit avos,
redderis (heu, quanto fatorum munere !) nobis
gustata Lethes paene remissus aqua,
perdiderant iam vota metum securaque flebat 5
ftristitia 2 et lacrimisf iamque peractus eras :
non tulit invidiam taciti regnator Averni
et raptas Fatis reddidit ipse colus.
scis igitur quantas hominum mors falsa querellas
moverit et frueris posteritate tua. 10
1 iTf^d Palmer, pexa ft, plena, y.
2 flebant. tristitia Postgate, tristities Housman.
1 The S of salutem (greeting). These letters of Seneca are
unknown.
454
BOOK VII. XLV-XLVII
that Maximus is here, whom in many a page the
happy letter * greets. This is he whom you — no
tongue, Ovidius, but should speak your name ! —
followed over Sicilian waters, spurning the wrath of
an infuriate despot. Let hoary time admire its
Pylades, who as comrade clung to one 2 whom his
parent banished. Who could compare the perils
of the two ? You, as comrade, clung to one banished
by Nero !
XLVI
WHILE you are wishing to recommend your present
to me by a poem, and are anxious to speak more
skilfully than Homeric lips, you rack both me and
yourself alike for many days, and your Thalia,3
Priscus, at my expense — is dumb. You can send
to rich men verses and sounding elegies : to poor
men send prosaic gifts.
XLVII
MOST famed of learned men, Licinius Sura, whose
old world tongue recalled our grave grandsires,
thou art restored to us — ah, by how great a boon of
Fate ! — sent back when thou hadst well-nigh tasted
Lethe's wave. Already had our prayers lost their
fear ; and sadness wept in calm despair, and to
our tears thou wert already sped : the reproach
the Lord of silent Avernus could not bear, and
himself gave back their ravished distaff to the
Fates. Wherefore thou knowest what plaints of
men thy false death stirred, and dost enjoy
2 Orestes, banished by Clytemnestra after the murder of
Agamemnon : Aeseh. Cho. 912.
3 The Muse of epigram : <•/. iv. viii. 12. P. was apparently
a poet.
455
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
vive velut rapto fugitivaque gaudia carpe :
perdiderit nullum vita reversa diem.
XLVIII
CUM mensas habeat fere trecentas,
pro mensis habet Annius ministros :
transcurrunt gabatae volantque lances,
has vobis epulas habete, lauti :
nos offendimur ambulante cena.
XLIX
PARVA suburbani munuscula mittimus horti :
faucibus ova tuis, poma, Severe, gulae.
FONS dominae, regina loci quo gaudet lanthis,
gloria conspicuae deliciumque domus,
cum tua tot niveis ornetur ripa ministris
et Ganymedeo luceat unda choro,
quid facit Alcides silva sacratus in ista? 5
tarn vicina tibi cur tenet antra deus ?
numquid Nympharum notos observat amores,
tarn multi pariter ne rapiantur Hylae ?
LI
MERCARI nostras si te piget, Urbice, nugas
et lasciva tamen carmina nosse libet,
1 i.e. thy own after-fame. * Ravished from death.
3 A custom had arisen of handing the dishes round instead
of placing them on the table. M. complains that they are
handed round so quickly that the guest had no time to eat.
456
BOOK VII. XLVII-LI
succession to thyself.1 Live thy life as it were spoil,2
and pluck the joys that fly : life brought back should
lose no day.
XL VIII
ALTHOUGH Annius has almost three hundred
tables, he has servants instead of tables : the
platters scud across and the dishes flit.3 Keep such
banquets to yourselves, you epicures ! We are
annoyed by a peripatetic dinner.
XLIX
I SEND you these small offerings of my suburban
garden, eggs for your hunger, Severus, apples for
your palate.
L
FOUNT of thy mistress, in which lanthis,4 queen
of the spot, delights, glory and delight of a splendid
house, when thy marge is decked with so many
snow-white slaves and thy lucent wave reflects a
band of Ganymedes,5 what means Alcides consecrate
in yonder grove ? Why holds the God a grot so
near to thee ? Keeps he guard over the Nymphs,
known wantons, lest so many Hylases be rapt away
together ? 6
LI
IF you shrink from buying my trifles, Urbicus,
and yet would be acquainted with my wanton verses,
4 The wife of M.'s friend Stella. As to the fountain, cf.
vi. xlvii.
5 The fount appears to have been surrounded by marble
statues of slaves as cupboarers. 6 cf. VH. xv. 6.
457
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
Pompeium quaeres, et nosti forsitan, Auctum :
Ultoris prima Martis in aede sedet
iure madens varioque togae limatus in usu. 5
non lector metis hie, Urbice, sed liber est.
sic tenet absentes nostros cantatque libellos
ut pereat chartis littera nulla meis :
denique, si vellet, poterat scripsisse videri ;
sed famae mavult ille favere meae. 10
hunc licet a decuma (neque enim satis ante vacabit)
sollicites, capiet cenula parva duos,
ille leget, bibe tu ; nolis licet, ille sonabit :
et cum " lam satis est" dixeris, ille leget.
LII
GRATUM est quod Celeri nostros legis, Aucte, libellos,
si tamen et Celerem quod legis, Aucte, iuvat.
ille meas gentes et Celtas rexit Hiberos,
nee fuit in nostro certior orbe fides.
maior me tanto reverentia turbat, et aures 5
non auditoris, iudicis esse puto.
LIII
OMNIA misisti mihi Saturnalibus, Umber,
munera, contulerant quae tibi quinque dies :
bis senos triplices et dentiscalpia septem ;
his comes accessit spongea mappa calix
semodiusque fabae cum vimine Picenarum 5
et Laletanae nigra lagona sapae ;
458
BOOK VII. LI-LIU
you will seek out — and perhaps you know him —
Pomponius Auctus : he sits at the entrance of Aveng-
ing Mars, steeped in law, and versed in the many-
sided practice of the gown. He is not a reader of
my books, Urbicus, but himself the book. He so
remembers my poems, though they are not before
him, and declaims them, that not a letter is lost
from my pages ; in fine, he might, if he chose,
have been counted their author ; but he chooses
rather to support my fame. After the tenth hour —
for he will not be fully at leisure before — you may
solicit him : a small dinner will do for two ; he will
read : do you drink ; although you may not wish it,
he will mouth my verses ; and when you have said
" Hold ! enough ! " he will go on reading.
LII
I AM gratified that you read my poems to Celer,
Auctus x— if, that is, what you read, Auctus, pleases
Celer too. He was Governor over my native tribes
and Celtiberians, and in that world of mine was
no man of honour more sure. Therefore greater
awe confounds me ; and I deem his ears not those
of a hearer, but of a judge.
LIII
You have sent me at the Saturnalia, Umber, all
the presents the five days have contributed for you,
twice six three-leaved tablets, and seven toothpicks ;
these a sponge, a napkin, and a cup accompanied,
and a half-peck of beans, together with a wicker
crate of Picenian olives, and a black flagon of
1 The Auctus of the preceding epigram.
459
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
parvaque cum canis venerunt cottana prunis
et Libycae fici pond ere testa gravis.
vix puto triginta nummorum tota fuisse
munera, quae grandes octo tulere Syri. 10
quanto commodius iiullo mihi ferre labore
argenti potuit pondera quinque puer !
LIV
SEMPER mane mihi de me mera somnia narras,
quae moveant animum sollicitentque meum.
iam prior ad faecem, sed et haec vindemia, venit,
exorat noctes dum mihi saga tuas ;
consumpsi salsasque molas et turis acervos ; 5
decrevere greges, dum cadit agna frequens ;
non porcus, non chortis aves, non ova supersunt.
aut vigila aut dormi, Nasidiane, tibi.
LV
NULLI munera, Chreste, si remittis,
nee nobis dederis remiserisque :
credam te satis esse liberalem.
sed si reddis Apicio Lupoque
et Gallo Titioque Caesioque, 5
linges non mihi (nam proba et pusilla est)
sed quae de Solymis venit perustis
damnatam modo mentulam tributis.
1 Really to sponge on M. : cf. xi. 1. 7.
2 All these were used in expiations.
460
BOOK VII. Liii-Lv
Laletanian must ; and there came some small
Syrian figs, together with dried prunes, and a jar
heavy with the weight of Libyan figs. I hardly
think these presents in all were worth thirty
sesterces, and yet eight hulking Syrians carried
them ! How much more conveniently, with no
labour, might a boy have brought five pounds of
silver plate !
LIV
EVERLASTINGLY 011 a morning you relate to me
dreams — nothing but dreams about myself, to fret
and harass my mind.1 Already last year's vintage,
aye, and this one too, has come to the dregs, while
the wise woman is exorcising for me your nightly
visions ; I have used up salt cakes, as well as heaps
of frankincense ; my flocks have decreased by the
frequent slaughter of a lamb ; no porker, no
poultry-yard fowls, no eggs remain.2 Either keep
awake, Nasidienus, or dream about yourself!
LV
IP you give presents in return to no man,
Chrestus,3 give and return none to me either :
I will believe you to be generous enough. But
if you give them to Apicius, and Lupus, and Gallus
and Titius and Caesius, you shall assault, not my
person (for that is chaste and petty), but the one
that comes from Solyma now consumed by fire,4 and
is lately condemned to tribute.5
" cf. ix. xxviii.
4 Jerusalem, captured by Titus, and burned A.D. 70.
5 The Jews were subject to a tax : Suet. Dom. xii.
461
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LVI
ASTRA polumque pie cepisti mente, Rabiri,
Parrhasiam mira qui struis arte domain.
Phidiaco si digna lovi dare templa parabit,
has petet a nostro Pisa Tonante manus.
LVII
CASTORA de Polluce Gabinia fecit Achillan :
TTV£ dya0ds fuerat, nunc erit iTnr6Sa.fj.os.
LVIII
IAM sex aut septem nupsisti, Galla, cinaedis,
dum coma te nimium pexaque barba iuvat.
deinde, experta latus madidoque simillima loro
inguina nee lassa stare coacta manu,
deseris inbelles thalamos mollemque maritum, 5
rursus et in similes decidis usque toros.
quaere aliquem Curios semper Fabiosque loquentem,
hirsutum et dura rusticitate trucem :
invenies : sed habet tristis quoque turba cinaedos :
difficile est vero nubere, Galla, viro. 10
1 A reference to the domed roof of Domitian's palace,
built \>y R. , his architect (cf. x. Ixxi.), and completed in
A.D. 92.
- In Elis. " Phidian Jove" is the statue at Olympia of
Zeus by Phidias.
3 i.e. she has made a pugilist a knight. The reference is
462
BOOK VII. LVI-I.VIII
LVI
HEAVKN with its stars you, Rabirius, have con-
ceived in your pious soul, who by wondrous art
build the mansion of the Palatine.1 If Pisa - shall
be set to give Phidian Jove a temple worthy of
him, she will beg of our Thunderer these hands
of yours.
LVII
GABINIA has made Achillas a Castor out of a
Pollux.3 Pyxagathos he has been : now he will be
Hippodamus.
LVIII
ALREADY you have married six or seven paederasts,
Galla ; long hair and a combed-out beard much
attract you. Next, when you have tested their
capacity, and their flaccid and used-up powei's,
you desert weaponless encounters, and an effeminate
husband, and yet again you continually fall back
upon the same amours as before. Look out for
some fellow who is always prating of the Curii and
Fabii,4 shaggy, and with a savage look of stubborn
rusticity : you will discover him ; but even the
grim tribe 5 has its paederasts : it is difficult, Galla,
to marry a genuine man.6
to Horn. II. iii. 237, where Pyxagathos (TTI/£ ayuffos) is the
epithet of Pollux, the boxer, and Hippodamus ('nrirdSanos)
that of Castor, the horseman. There is probably an obscene
jest here: cf. Shak., Henry V., in. vii. 47-49.
4 Types of ancient Roman virtues : cf. ix. xxviii. G.
5 i.e. of so-called philosophers : cf. ix. xxvii. and xlvii.
' cf. i. xxiv.
463
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LIX
NON cenat sine apro noster, Tite, Caecilianus.
bellum convivam Caecilianus habet.
LX
TARPEIAE venerande rector aulae,
quern salvo duce credimus Tonantem,
cum votis sibi quisque te fatiget
et poscat dare quae del potestis :
nil pro me mihi, luppiter, petenti 5
ne stiscensueris velut superbo.
te pro Caesare debeo rogare :
pro me debeo Caesarem rogare.
LXI
ABSTULERAT totarn temerarius institor urbem
inque suo nullum limine limen erat.
iussisti tenuis, Germanice, crescere vicos,
et modo quae fuerat semita, facta via est.
nulla catenatis pila est praecincta lagonis 5
nee praetor medio cogitur ire Into,
stringitur in densa nee caeca novacula turba,
occupat aut totas nigra popina vias.
tonsor copo cocus lanius sua limina servant.
nunc Roma est, nuper magna taberna fuit. 10
LXII
RECI.USIS foribus grandes percidis, Amille,
et te depreiidi, cum facis ista, cupis,
1 On which he dines alone, whereas a boar is meant for a
party : cf. Juv. i. 140.
464
BOOK VII. LIX-LXII
LIX
OUR friend Caecilianus does not dine, Titus,
without boar.1 A fine guest Caecilianus has !
LX
RULER revered of the Tarpeian hall,2 whom,
while our Chief is safe, we believe art Thunderer,
while each man wearies thee with prayers for
himself, and claims gifts ye Gods can give, with me,
who ask naught for myself, be not wroth, as if I
were proud. Thee on behalf of Caesar ought I to
sue : for myself it behoves me to sue Caesar.
LXI
THE audacious huckster had robbed us of all the
City, and never a threshold kept within its own
bounds. You have ordered, 3 Germanicus, our
narrow streets to expand, and what was but now a
track has become a road. No pillar4 is girt with
chained flagons, nor is the praetor forced to walk in
the middle of the mud, nor is any razor rashly
drawn in the midst of a dense crowd, nor does
the grimy cook-shop monopolise the whole of the
way. Barber, taverner, cook, butcher keep to their
own thresholds. Now Rome exists : of late it was
a huge shop.
LXII
O AMILLO, tu precidi colle porte aperte, e brami
esser sorpreso quando fai queste cose, per tema
z Jupiter of the Capitol, where was the Tarpeian rock.
3 Domitian (Germanicus) in A. D. 92 by edict forbade stalls
protruding into the street. 4 Of a wine-shop.
465
VOL. I. H H
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
ne quid liberti narrent servique paterni
et niger obliqua garrulitate cliens.-
non pedicari se qui testatur, Amille,
illud saepe facit quod sine teste facit.
LXIII
PERPETUI numquam moritura volumina Sili
qui legis et Latia carmina digna toga,
Pierios tantum vati placuisse recessus
credis et Aoniae Bacchica serta coinae ?
sacra coturnati non attigit ante Maronis 5
implevit magni quam Ciceronis opus :
hunc miratur adhuc centum gravis hasta virorum,
hunc loquitur grato plurimus ore cliens.
postquam bis senis ingentem fascibus annum
rexerat, adserto qui sacer orbe fuit, 10
emeritos Musis et Phoebo tradidit annos
proque suo celebrat nunc Helicona foro.
LXIV
Qu tonsor tota fueras notissimus urbe
et post hoc dominae munere factus eques,
Sicanias urbes Aetnaeaque regna petisti,
Cinname, cum fugeres tristia iura fori.
qua nunc arte graves tolerabis inutilis annos ? 5
quid facit infelix et fugitiva quies ?
1 Teste ia ambiguous. It also means 6px^.
2 cf. iv. xiv. ' i.e. advocacy.
4 A spear set in the ground was the sign of the Centumviral
Court.
466
BOOK VII. LXII-LXIV
che i liberti ed i servi di casa dicano qualche cosa,
ed il cliente, periculoso per la sua chiacchiera
maliziosa. O Amillo, colui che testifica non esser
pedicato, fa sovente cio che fa senza testimonio.1
LXIII
You who read the undying works of immortal
Silius,2 poems worthy of the Latin gown, think you
the Muses' retreats only have delighted the bard,
and Bacchic chaplets on poetic locks ? Buskined
Maro's sacred art he essayed not ere he had wrought
to the full great Cicero's work 3 ; the stately spear 4
of the Hundred Court admires him still, of him
many a client speaks in grateful tone. When, with
the twice six axes, he had ruled the mighty year
hallowed by the freedom of the world regained,5
his veteran years he gave in their turn to the
Muses and to Phoebus, and, instead of his own
forum, courts Helicon now.
LXIV
You, who had been in all the City the most noted
barber, and were afterwards by your lady's bounty °
made a knight, took refuge in Sicilian cities and
Etna's kingdoms, Cinnamus, avoiding the stern laws
of the forum." By what art now will you, a useless
creature, support the heavy years ? What does
that unhappy and exiled leisure do ? Rhetorician,
5 He was consul in A.D. 68, the year of Nero's death.
6 She had given him his qualification of 400,000 sesterces.
7 Perhaps to avoid an enquiry into his qualification, or
into his free birth.
467
H H 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
non rhetor, non grammaticus ludive magister,
non Cynicus, non tu Stoicus esse poles,
vendere nee vocem Siculis plausumque theatris.
quod superest, iterum, Cinname, tonsor eris. 10
LXV
Lis te bis decumae numerantem frigora brumae
content una tribus, Gargiliane, foris.
a miser et demens ! viginti litigat annis
quisquam cui vinci, Gargiliane, licet ?
LXVI
HEREDEM Fabius Labienum ex asse reliquit :
plus meruisse tamen se Labienus ait.
LXVII
PEDICAT pueros tribas Philaenis
et tentigine saevior mariti
undenas dolat in die puellas.
harpasto quoque subligata ludit
et flavescit haphe, gravesque draucis 5
halteras facili rotat lacerto,
et putri lutulenta de palaestra
uncti verbere vapulat magistri :
nee cenat prius aut recumbit ante
quam septem vomuit meros deunces ; 10
ad quos fas sibi tune putat redire,
cum colophia sedecim comedit.
post haec omnia cum libidinatur,
468
BOOK VII. LXIV-LXVU
grammarian, or schoolmaster you cannot be, nor
Cynic, nor yet Stoic, nor can you sell your shouts
and applause to Sicilian theatres. What remains is
this, Cinnamus, you will be a barber again.
LXV
A LAWSUIT while you are counting its twentieth
cold winter, still wears you out, Gargilianus, a single
suit in three Courts. Ah, unhappy man, and mad !
Does anyone go to law for twenty years, Gargilianus,
who can give in ?
LXVI
FABIUS left Labienus heir to all his property.
Yet Labienus asserts he deserved still more.1
LXVII
LA tribade Filene pedica i ragazzi, e piu libidi-
nosa nella prurigine che un marito, liscia in un
giorno ondici ragazze. £ sbracciata giuoca anche
all' arpasto, ed ingialisce pel tatto della polvere,
e getta con robusto braccio palle di piombo 2
pesanti agli irsuti, e strofinata d'unguento della
putre palestra, e sferzata colla verga del maestro
che la ugne. Ne prima ella cena, o si mette a
tavola, che non abbia vomitato sette sestieri, al qual
numero essa pensa poter far ritorno quando ha
mangiato sedici colifie. Dopo tutte queste cose,
quando e presa dalla libidine, non fella : pensa ci6
1 Because he had given F. in his lifetime more than the
value of the estate.
3 Dumb-bells : cf. xiv. xlix. Juv. copies this passage in
vi. 421 seqq.
469
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
non fellat (putat hoc parum virile),
sed plane medias vorat puellas. 15
di mentem tibi dent tuam, Philaeni,
cunnum lingere quae putas virile.
LXVIII
COMMENDARE meas, Instanti Rufe, Camenas
parce precor socero ; seria forsan amat.
quod si lascivos admittit et ille libellos,
haec ego vel Curio Fabricioque legam.
LXIX
HAEC est ilia tibi promissa Theophila, Cani,
cuius Cecropia pectora voce madent.
hanc sibi iure petat magni senis Atticus hortus,
nee minus esse suam Stoica turba velit.
vivet opus quodcumque per has emiseris aures ; 5
tarn non f'emineum nee populare sapit.
non tua Pantaenis nimium se praeferat illi,
quamvis Pierio sit bene nota choro.
carmina fingentem Sappho laudabat amatrix :
castior haec et non doctior ilia fuit. 10
LXX
IPSARUM tribadum tribas, Philaeni,
recte, quam futuis, vocas amicam.
1 A friend of M. : cf. viu. 1. 21 ; vin. Ixxiii. 1 ; perhaps
identical with the proconsul of Baetica : cf. xn. xcviii. 3.
- Typical embodiments of old Roman virtues : cf. VI.
Ixiv. 2 ; ix. xxviii. 4.
470
BOOK VII. LXVII-LXX
esser poco maschile ; ma tutta strugge al mezzo
le ragazze. Gli del, O Filene, ti dieno un' in-
clinazione a te conveniente, tu che pensi esser
maschile lingere un c — o.
LXVIII
SPARE, I pray, Instantius Rufus,1 to recommend
my Muse to your father-in-law : perhaps he likes
serious poems. But if he too condescends to wanton
verse, these I would venture to read even to Curius
and Fabricius.2
LXIX
THIS is Theophila your affianced bride, Canius,
she whose mind is steeped in Attic lore. Rightly
might the Athenian garden of the great sage 3
claim her ; no less would the Stoic band wish her
for its own. That work shall live, whate'er it
be you pass through these ears, so little womanlike
or common is her judgment. Your Pantaenis 4 —
though well known is she to the Pierian choir —
would not o'ermuch rank herself before her. Sappho
the lover praised a poetess : more pure is Theophila,
yet Sappho was not more learned.
LXX
O FILENE, tribade delle tribadi stesse, tu chiami
con proprieta arnica colei che tu immembri.
3 Epicurus or Plato.
4 An unknown poetess of the time, whom Canius seems to
have admired.
471
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXI
FICOSA est uxor, ficosus et ipse maritus,
filia ficosa est et gener atque nepos,
nee dispensator nee vilicus ulcere turpi
nee rigidus fossor sed nee arator eget.
cum sint ficosi pariter iuvenesque senesque, 5
res mira est, ficos non habet unus ager.
LXXII
GRATUS sic tibi, Paule, sit December
nee vani triplices brevesque mappae
nee turis veniant leves selibrae,
sed lances ferat et scyphos avorum
aut grandis reus aut potens amicus : 5
seu, quod te potius iuvat capitque,
sic vincas Noviumque Publiumque
mandris et vitreo latrone clusos ;
sic palmam tibi de trigone nudo
unctae det favor arbiter coronae 10
nee laudet Polybi magis sinistras ;
si quisquam mea dixerit malignus
atro carmina quae madent veneno,
ut vocem mihi commodes patronam
et quantum poteris, sed usque, clames 15
"Non scripsit meus ista Martialis."
LXXIII
ESQUILIIS domus est, domus est tibi colle Dianae,
et tua patricius culmina vicus habet ;
1 cf. i. Ixv.
2 In the game of latrunculi, like our draughts or chess.
The latro (robber) was a superior piece to the mandra
(pawn) : cf. xiv. xvii.
472
BOOK VII. LXXI-LXXIII
LXXI
TUBEROUS 1 is the wife, tuberous too even the
husband, the daughter is tuberous, and the son-in-
law, and the grandson ; nor is the steward, or the
bailiff free from this unsightly wen, nor the sturdy
ditcher, and not even the ploughman. Seeing that
young and old alike are tuberous, the wonderful
thing is— not a single field bears tubers !
LXXII
So may December be pleasant to you, Paulus, and
no worthless three-leaved tablets and scant)' nap-
kins come to you, nor light half-pounds of frank-
incense ; but may either some hulking defendant
or wealthy friend bring you dishes and antique
goblets ; or — what pleases and attracts you more —
so may you beat Novius and Publius hemmed in by
your pawns and glass robbers 2 ; so may the oiled
ring's3 favourable judgment award you victory over
the thin-clad hand-ball players, and not praise more
than yours the left-handers4 of Polybus — if some
malignant fellow claim as mine poems that are
steeped in black venom, do you lend me a patron's
voice, and with all your strength and without stop-
ping shout : " My Martial did not write that." 5
LXXIII
ON the Esquiline you have a house, you have a
house on Diana's hill, and the Patrician Street
3 Of athletes looking on.
4 A left-hand stroke was considered a mark of skill. As
to the game, cf. vii. xxxii. 7. 5 </• i. lii.
473
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
hinc viduae Cybeles, illinc sacraria Vestae,
inde novum, veterem prospicis inde lovem.
die ubi conveniam, die qua te parte requiram : 5
quisquis ubique habitat, Maxime, nusquam habitat.
LXXIV
CVLLENES caelique decus, facunde minister,
aurea cui torto virga dracone viret :
sic tibi lascivi noil desit copia furti,
sive cupis Paphien seu Ganymede cales ;
maternaeque sacris ornentur frondibus Idus 5
et senior parca mole prematur avus :
hunc semper Norbana diem cum coniuge Carpo
laeta colat, primis quo coiere toris.
hie pius antistes sophiae sua dona ministrat,
hie te ture vocat fidus et ipse lovi. 10
LXXV
Vis futui gratis, cum sis deformis anusque.
res perridicula est : vis dare nee dare vis.
1 A mountain in Arcadia on which Mercury was born.
* The caduceus, or herald's wand, borne by Mercury as
the messenger of the gods.
3 The Ides of May : cf. xn. Ixvii. 1. Maia was the mother
of Mercury.
474
BOOK VII. LXXIII-I.XXV
holds a roof of yours ; from this you survey the
shrine of widowed Cybele, from that the shrine of
Vesta ; from here the new, from there the ancient
temple of Jove. Say where I may call upon you,
say in what quarter I may look for you : he who
lives everywhere, Maximus, lives nowhere.
LXXIV
PRIDE of Cyllene1 and of Heaven, eloquent
minister, whose golden rod 2 is alive with twining
snakes, so mayst thou lack no occasion for wanton
intrigue, whether 'tis Paphie thou desirest, or art
warm with love for Ganymede ; and so may thy
mother's Ides 3 be decked with holy boughs, and
thy aged grandsire 4 be bowed by little weight —
let Norbana with her husband Carpus ever cele-
brate with joy this day whereon they first joined
in wedlock. A duteous high-priest, he devotes his
gifts to wisdom, he invokes- thee with incense,
he too 5 a leal votary of Jove.
LXXV
You wish to receive services without paying for
them, although you are ugly and an old woman. It
is a thing too ridiculous : you wish to give, and yet
not to give.6
4 Atlas, who sustained the weight of the sky.
8 "He is faithful to our Jupiter, the emperor, as thou art
to the celestial Jupiter."
6 A play on two meanings of dare, one sensu obsceno, the
other in the sense of payment : cf. in. xc.
475
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXVI
QUOD te diripiunt potentiores
per convivia porticus theatra,
et tecum, quotiens ita incidisti,
gestari iuvat et iuvat lavari,
nolito nimium tibi placere.
delectasj Philomuse, non amaris.
LXXVII
EXIGIS ut nostros donem tibi, Tucca, libellos.
non faciam : nam vis vendere, non legere.
LXXVIII
CUM Saxetani ponatur coda lacerti
et, bene si cenas, conchis inuncta tibi,
sumen aprum leporem boletos ostrea mullos
mittis : habes nee cor, Papyle, nee genium.
LXXIX
POTAVI modo consulare vinum.
quaeris quam vetus atque liberale ?
prisco l consule conditum : sed ipse
qui ponebat erat, Severe, consul.
1 prisco Housman, ipso codd.
1 Possibly Al. is thinking of himself (Friedlander).
2 From Sex or Saxetanum in Hispania Baetica, where was
a noted salt-fishery. But the lacerti, according to Pliny
(N.H. xxxii. 53), were very small.
476
BOOK VII. LXXVI-LXXIX
LXXVI
BECAUSE men of influence vie in hurrying you off
to entertainments, colonnades, theatres, and enjoy,
whenever you happen to meet them, being carried
in litters with you, and enjoy bathing with you,
by no means fancy yourself too much. You entertain
them, Philomusus,1 you are not loved.
LXXVII
You demand that I should present you with my
works, Tucca. I won't do it ; for you want to sell
them, not to read.
LXXVIII
ALTHOUGH the tail of a Saxetan 2 lizard-fish is
served, and, if you dine lavishly, beans dressed with
oil are set before yourself, you send as presents
sow's paunch, boar, hare, mushrooms, oysters,
mullets : Papylus, you have neither sense nor
taste.3
LXXIX
I HAVE just drunk a consular wine. You ask how
old and generous it was ? Laid down in the year
of an ancient consul. But my host who served it,
Severus, was consul.4
3 P. dines poorly himself, but sends expensive eatables as
presents.
4 A fine vintage was known by the name of the consul of
the year, and a "consular wine" was generally "old and
generous": cf. i. xxvi. 7 of Opimian. Housman's emendation
follows a hint in $ that there isjocus de nomine commits.
477
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXX
QUATENUS Odrysios iam pax Romana triones
temperat et tetricae conticuere tubae,
hunc Marcellino poteris, Faustina, libellum
mittere : iam chartis, iam vacat ille iocis.
sed si parva tui munuscula quaeris amici 5
commendare, ferat carmina nostra puer ;
non qualis Geticae satiatus-lacte iuvencae
Sarmatica rigido ludit in amne rota,
sed Mitylenaei roseus mangonis ephebus
vel non caesus adhuc matre iubente Lacon. 10
at tibi captivo famulus mittetur ab Histro
qui Tiburtinas pascere possit oves.
LXXXI
"TRIOINTA toto mala sunt epigrammata libro."
si totidem bona sunt, Lause, bonus liber est.
LXXXII
MENOPHILI penem tarn grandis fibula vestit
ut sit comoedis omnibus una satis,
hunc ego credideram (nam saepe lavamur in unum)
sollicitum voci pai-cere, Flacce, suae :
dum ludit media populo spectante palaestra, 5
delapsa est misero fibula : verpus erat.
1 Who had been campaigning in Dacia : cf. vi. xxv.
2 Spartan boys used to be flogged at the altar of Diana to
teach them endurance.
3 The Danube. Marcelliuus will give, in return for the
478
BOOK VII. I.XXX-LXXXII
LXXX
SEEING that now the Roman peace restrains the
Thracian North,, and threatening clarions are un-
blown, you can send this little book, Faustinus,
to Marcellinus ; l he has leisure now for my writings,
now for my jokes. But, if you wish to commend
the small offering of your friend, let a boy carry my
poems, not such a one as, full-fed on the milk of
Getic cows, plays with Sarmatian hoop on the
icebound stream, but the rosy stripling of Mitylene's
slave-dealer, or a Spartan not yet scourged 2 at his
mother's bidding. But to you will be sent a slave
from subject Hister,3 who can feed your sheep at
Tibur.
LXXXI
"TAKE all your book, and there are thirty bad
epigrams in it." If as many are good, Lausus, the
book is a good one.
LXXXII
MENOPHILUS' person a sheath covers so enormous
that it alone would be sufficient for the whole tribe
of comic actors.4 This fellow I had imagined — for
we often bathe together — was solicitous to spare
his voice, Flaccus ; but while he was exercising
himself in the view of the people in the middle
of the exercise ground, the sheath unluckily fell off' :
lo, he was circumcised ! 6
boy, one of his Getic captives. For F.'s farm at Tibur, cf.
iv. Ivii. 3 ; v. Ixxi. 6.
4 Comic actors and singers wore this, as a preventive
of sexual indulgence, to save their voice : cf. xi. Ixxv. 3 ; xiv.
ccxv.; Juv. vi. 73, 380. ° i.e. a Jew.
479
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXXIII
EUTRAPELUS tonsor dum circuit ora Luperci
expingitque genas, altera barba subit.
LXXXIV
DUM mea Caecilio formatur imago Secundo
spirat et arguta picta tabella manu,
i, liber, ad Geticam Peucen Histrumque iacentem :
haec loca perdomitis gentibus ille tenet,
parva dabis caro sed dulcia dona sodali : 5
certior in nostro carmine vultus erit :
casibus hie nullis, nullis delebilis annis
vivet, Apelleum cum morietur opus.
LXXXV
QUOD non insulse scribis tetrasticha quaedam,
disticha quod belle pauca, Sabelle, facis,
laudo nee admiror. facile est epigrammata belle
scribere, sed librum scribere difficile est.
LXXXVI
AD natalicias dapes vocabar,
essem cum tibi, Sexte, non amicus.
quid factum est, rogo, quid repente factum est,
post tot pignora nostra, post tot annos
. quod sum praeteritus vetus sodalis ? 5
sed causam scio. nulla venit a me
1 In spite of the barber's name, " nimble " (evTpdire\os).
480
BOOK VII. I.XXXIII-LXXXVI
LXXXIII
WHILE Eutrapelus the barber goes round Lupercus'
face, and trims his cheeks, a second beard grows.1
LXXXIV
WHILE my likeness is taking form for Caecilius
Secundus,2 and the canvas breathes, painted by a
cunning hand, go, book, to Getic Peuce 3 and
prostrate Hister — these regions with their conquered
peoples he rules. Small, but welcome, shall be
the gift you will make to my dear comrade : more
truly in my song will my face be seen ; this my song,
which no chances, no lapse of years, can efface, shall
live when the work of Apelles shall perish.
LXXXV
YOUR writing, not without wit, certain quatrains,
your composing nicely a few distichs, Sabellus,
1 applaud, yet am not surprised. 'Tis easy to
write epigrams nicely, but to write a book is hard.
LXXXVI
I USED to be invited to your birthday feast,
although, Sextus, I was no intimate of yours. What
has happened, I ask, what has suddenly happened,
that, after so many pledges of friendship between
us, after so many years, I, your old comrade, am
passed over? But I know the reason. There came
2 Probably the younger Pliny.
8 cf. vil. vii. 1.
481
VOL. I. I I
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
Hispani tibi libra pustulati
nee levis toga nee rudes lacernae.
non est sportula quae negotiator :
pascis munera, Sexte, non amicos. 10
iam dices mihi " Vapulet vocator."
LXXXVII
Si meus aurita gaudet lagalopece Flaccus,
si fruitur tristi Canius Aethiope ;
Publius exiguae si flagrat amore catellae,
si Cronius similem cercopithecoii amat ;
delectat Marium si perniciosus ichneumon, 5
pica salutatrix si tibi, Lause, placet :
si gelidum collo nectit Glaucilla draconem,
luscinio tumulum si Telesilla dedit :
blanda Cupidinei cur non amet ora Labycae
qui videt haec dominis monstra placere suis ? 10
LXXXVIII
FERTUR liabere meos, si vera est fama, libellos
inter delicias pulchra Vienna suas.
me legit omnis ibi senior iuvenisque puerque
et coram tetrico casta puella viro.
hoc ego maluerim quam si mea carmina cantent o
qui Nilum ex ipso protinus ore bibunt ;
quam meus Hispano si me Tagus im pleat auro,
pascat et Hybla meas, pascat Hymettos apes,
non nihil ergo sumus nee blandae munere linguae
decipimur : credam iam, puto, Lause, tibi. 1 0
1 "Who negligently omitted your name.'' This is. of
course, an excuse.
1 What animal the lagalopex was is unknown.
482
BOOK VII. i.xxxvi-i. xxxvni
to you from me no pound of Spanish refined silver, nor
smooth-napped toga, nor new mantles. Hospitality
is not a matter of bargain ; you are feeding favours,
Sextus, not friends. You will now reply: "Let
my summoner1 be flogged."
LXXXVII
IF my Flaccus delights in a long-eared lynx,-
if Canius3 appreciates a grim Ethiopian, if Publius
is consumed with love for a tiny lapdog,4 if Cronius
loves a long-tailed monkey as ugly as himself;
if a mischievous ichneumon is a joy to Marius, if you,
Lausus, a talking magpie attracts ; if Glaucilla
twines a clammy snake round her neck, if Telesilla
has set up a monument over her nightingale ; why
should he who sees such monsters as these please
their masters not love the winning face of Labycas/
Cupid's boy?
LXXXVIII
FAIR Vienna5 is said, if report speak true, to.
hold my little books among her darling posses-
sions. Every old sire and youth and boy reads me
there, and the chaste bride in the presence of her
strait-laced husband. I prize this more than if
those who drink of Nile straight from its fount were
to hum my poems, than if my own Tagus were to
glut me with Spanish gold, and Hybla fed, and
Hymettus fed my bees. Of some account then am
I, nor am I deceived by the tribute of a flattering
tongue : now, I think, I will believe you, Lausus.0
3 A poet of Gades : cf. in. xx.
4 cf. I. cix. 5 Vienne on the Rhone.
• Who had condemned M.'s book of epigrams: cf. vu.
Ixxxi.
483
i i 2
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
LXXXIX
I, FELIX rosa, inollibusque sertis
nostri cinge comas Apollinaris.
quas tu nectere Candidas, sed olim,
sic te semper amet Venus, memento.
XC
IACTAT inaequalem Matho me fecisse libellum :
si verum est, laudat carmina nostra Matho.
aequales scribit libros Calvinus et Umber :
aequalis liber est, Cretice, qui malus est.
XCI
DE nostro, facunde, tibi, luvenalis, agello
Saturnalicias mittimus, ecce, nuces.
cetera lascivis donavit poma puellis
mentula custodis luxuriosa dei.
XCII
"Si quid opus fuerit, scis me non esse rogandum "
uno bis dicis, Baccara, terque die.
appellat rigida tristis me voce Secundus :
audis et nescis, Baccara, quid sit opus,
pensio te coram petitur clareque palamque : 5
audis et nescis, Baccara, quid sit opus.
esse queror gelidasque mihi tritasque lacernas :
audis et nescis, Baccara, quid sit opus,
hoc opus est, subito fias ut sidere mutus,
dicere ne possis, Baccara "Si quid opus." 10
1 cf. IV. Ixxxvi.; vii. xxvi.
484
BOOK VII. LXXXIX-XCH
LXXXIX
Go, happy rose, and with thy soft chaplet gird
the locks of my Apollinaris.1 And see that thou
wreathe them when — but may it be long hereafter —
they are white : so may Venus ever love thee !
XC
MATHO puts it abroad that I have composed an
unequal book ; if that is true, Matho praises my
poems. Equal books are what Calvinus and Umber
write : the equal book, Creticus, is the bad one.
XCI
FROM my small ground, eloquent Juvenal, I send
you, see, Saturnalian nuts. The rest of the fruit the
rakish Guardian God has bestowed on frolicking
girls.
XCII
" IF there be any need, you know you do not
require to ask me " : that is what you say, Baccara,
twice and thrice in a single day. Truculent
Secundus duns me in stringent tones : you hear
him, and don't know, Baccara, what my need is.
My rent is claimed in your presence loudly and
publicly : you hear, and don't know, Baccara, what
my need is. I complain that my cloak is thin and
threadbare : you hear, and don't know, Baccara,
what my need is. This is my need, that you should
be struck dumb by a sudden stroke from heaven,
that you may be unable to say, Baccara, " If there
be any need."
485
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
xcm
NARNIA, sulpureo quam gurgite candidus amnis
circuit, ancipiti vix adeunda iugo,
quid tarn saepe meum nobis abducere Quintum
te iuvat et lenta detinuisse mora ?
quid Nomentani causam mihi perdis agelli, 5
propter vicinum qui pretiosus erat ?
sed iam parce mihi, nee abutere, Narnia, Quinto :
perpetuo liceat sic tibi ponte frui.
XCIV
UNGUENTUM fuerat, quod onyx modo parva gerebat :
olfecit postquam Papylus, ecce, garumst.
XCV
BRUMA est et riget horridus December,
audes tu tamen osculo nivali
omnes obvius hinc et hinc tenere
et totam, Line, basiare Romam.
quid posses graviusque saeviusque 5
percussus facere atque verberatus ?
hoc me frigore basiet nee uxor
blandis filia nee rudis labellis,
sed tu dulcior elegantiorque,
cuius livida naribus caninis 10
dependet glacies rigetque barba,
qualem forficibus metit supinis
tonsor Cinyphio Cilix marito.
1 Quintus Ovidius, alluded to in vn. xliv. and xlv. : see
also x. xliv.
486
BOOK VII. xcin-xcv
XCIII
NARNIA, girdled by a stream, white with its sulphur-
ous eddies, thou whose twin peaks are scarce to be
scaled, why so oft art thou glad to draw my Quintus l
from me, and to keep him so weary a time ? Why
destroy est thou for me the value of my small
Nomentan farm, which was precious to me because
he was my neighbour ? But spare me now, nor
overdo, Narnia, thy welcome to Quintus : so for all
time mayst thou enjoy thy bridge/ !
XCIV
IT was perfume that the small casket held just
now : now Papylus has smelt it, see, it is fish-
pickle 3 !
XCV
'Tis winter, and rough December is stiff' with
frost, yet you dare with icy kiss, as you go here and
there, to stop all you meet, and to kiss all Rome,
Linus. What more severe and more cruel revenge
could you take if you had been assaulted and
beaten ? In this cold not even my wife should kiss
me, nor my innocent daughter with her wheedling
lips ; but you are more pleasant and refined, from
whose dog-like nostrils a livid icicle hangs, whose
beard is as stiff as that which, with up-turned
scissors, a Cilician barber reaps off' a Cinyphian 4
2 A high-level bridge joining the two heights, part of
which still stands.
3 Malodorous : cf. in. xvii. 6 : in. xxviii.
4 Cinyps or Cinyphus was a district on the N. coast of
Africa, famous for the long hair of its goats : Virg. Geory.
Hi. 312.
487
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
centum occurrere malo cunnilingis
et Gallum timeo minus recentem. 1 5
quare si tibi sensus est pudorque,
hibernas, Line, basiationes
in mensem rogo differas Aprilem.
XCVI
CONDITUS hie ego sum Bassi dolor, Urbicus infans,
cui genus et nomen maxima Roma dedit.
sex mihi de prima derant trieteride menses,
ruperunt tetricae cum male l pensa deae.
quid species, quid lingua mihi, quid profuit aetas ? 5
da lacrimas tumulo, qui legis ista, meo :
sic ad Lethaeas, nisi Nestore serior, undas
non eat, optabis quern superesse tibi.
XCVII
NOSTI si bene Caesium, libelle,
montanae decus Umbriae Sabinum,
Auli municipem mei Pudentis,
illi tu dabis haec vel occupato.
instent mille licet premantque curae, 5
nostris carminibus tamen vacabit.
nam me diligit ille proximumque
Tumi nobilibus legit libellis.
o quantum tibi nominis paratur !
o quae gloria ! quam frequens amator ; 10
te convivia, te forum sonabit
aedes compita porticus tabernae.
uni mitteris, omnibus legeris.
1 male Heins., mala codd.
488
BOOK VII. xcv-xcvn
he-goat. I would sooner run across a hundred lewd
rascals, and I fear less a priest of Cybele fresh from
his vices.1 So, if you have any feeling and shame,
I ask you, Linus, to put off your wintry osculations
till the month of April.
XCVI
BURIED am I here, by Bassus mourned, Urbicus,
an infant, to whom mightiest Rome gave race and
name. Six months were wanting of my first three
years when the harsh Goddesses cruelly snapt my
thread. What availed me my beauty, what my prattle,
what my age ? Give thou, who readest this, tears
to my tomb : so may he,2 whom thou wouldst have
survive thy years, pass not to the waters of Lethe,
save when older than Nestor !
XCVII
IF you know well, little book, Caesius Sabinus,3
the pride of hilly Umbria, fellow-townsman of my
Aulus Pudens, you will give him these, though he
be engaged. Though a thousand duties press on
and distract him, yet he will be at leisure for my
poems. For he loves me, and, next to Turnus' 4
famous satires, reads me. Oh, what a reputation
is being stored up for you ! Oh, what glory ! How
many an admirer ! With you banquets, with you the
forum will echo, houses, by-ways, colonnades, book-
shops ! You are being sent to one, by all will you be
read.
1 cf. ill. Ixxxi. ; Juv. viii. 176. a i.e. thy son.
3 Alluded to in ix. Iviii. * cf. xi. x.
489
THE EPIGRAMS OF MARTIAL
XCVIII
OMNIA, Castor, emis. sic fiet ut omnia vendas.
XCIX
Sic placidum videas semper, Crispine, Tonantem
nee te Roma minus quam tua Memphis amet,
carmina Parrhasia si nostra legentur in aula,
(namque soleiit sacra Caesaris aure frui)
dicere de nobis ut lector candidus aude
" Tempo ribus praestat 11011 nihil iste tuis,
nee Marso nimium minor est doctoque Catullo."
hoc satis est : ipsi cetera mando deo.
49°
BOOK VII. xcviu-xcix
XCVIII
You buy everything, Castor ; so the result will be
that you sell everything !
XCIX
So may you see the Thunderer always placid,
Crispinus,1 and Rome, no less than your native
Memphis, love you — if my poems shall be read iiithe
Palatine hall (for they are wont to reach Caesar's
sacred ear), venture, as a candid reader, to say this
of me : " He brings your time some honour, and is
not far behind Marsus and elegant Catullus." This
is sufficient : I leave the rest to the God himself.
1 A rich upstart, and favourite of Domitian, the verna
Canopi of Juv. i. 26 ; cf. also iv.
491
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VOLUMES ALREADY PUBLISHED.
Latin Authors.
APULEIUS. The Golden Ass. (Metamorphoses.) Trans, by W.
Adlington (1566). Revised by S. Gaselee. (2nd Impression.)
BOETHIUS: TRACTS AND DE CONSOLATIONE
PHILOSOPHIAE. Trans, by Rev. H. F. Stewart and
E. K. Rand.
CAESAR : CIVIL WARS. Trans, by A. G. Peskett.
CAESAR: GALLIC WAR. Trans, by H. J. Edwards.
(2nd Impression. )
CATULLUS. Trans, by F. W. Cornish ; TIBULLUS.
Trans, by J. P. Postgate ; and PERVIGILIUM VENERIS.
Trans, by J. W. Mackail. (yd Impression.)
CICERO: DE FINIBUS. Trans, by H. Rackham.
CICERO : DE OFFICIIS. Trans, by Walter Miller.
CICERO: LETTERS TO ATTICUS. Trans, by E. O.
Winstedt. 3 Vols. (Vol. I. 2nd Impression.)
CONFESSIONS OF ST. AUGUSTINE. Trans, by W. Watts
( 1 63 1 ). 2 Vols. ( 2nd Impression. )
HORACE : ODES AND EPODES. Trans, by C. E. Bennett.
(yd Impression. )
JUVENAL AND PERSIUS. Trans, by G. G. Ramsay.
MARTIAL. Trans, by W. C. Ker. 2 Vols. Vol. I.
OVID: HEROIDES AND AMORES. Trans, by Grant
Showerman.
OVID: METAMORPHOSES. Trans, by F.J. Miller. 2 Vols.
PETRONIUS. Trans, by M. Heseltine ; SENECA: APOCO-
LOCYNTOSIS. Trans, by W. H. D. Rouse, (yd Im-
pression. )
PLAUTUS. Trans, by Paul Nixon. 5 Vols. Vols. I and II.
PLINY : LETTERS. Melmoth's Translation revised by
W. M. L. Hutchinson. 2 Vols.
PROPERTIUS. Trans, by H. E. Butler. (2nd Impression.)
SENECA: EPISTULAE MORALES. Trans, by R. M.
Gummere. 3 Vols. Vols. I and II.
SENECA : TRAGEDIES. Trans, by F. J. Miller. 2 Vols.
SUETONIUS. Trans, by ]. C. Rolfe. 2 Vols.
TACITUS: DIALOGUS. Trans, by Sir Wm. Peterson;
and AGRICOLA AND GERMANIA. Trans. \>y Maurice
Hutton.
TERENCE. Trans, by John Sargeaunt. 2 Vols. (2nd Im-
pression. )
VIRGIL. Trans, by H. R. Fairclough. 2 Vols.
Greek Authors.
ACHILLES TATIUS. Trans, by S. Gaselee.
AESCHINES. Trans, by C. D. Adams.
APOLLONIUS RHODIUS. Trans, by R. C. Seaton. (2nd Impression.
THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS. Trans, by Kirsopp Lake. 2 Vols.
(Vol. \ yd Impression. Vol. II 2nd Impression.)
APPIAN'S ROMAN HISTORY. Trans, by Horace White. 4 Vols.
CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. Trans, by Rev. G. W. Butterworth.
DAPHNIS AND CHLOE. Thornley's Translation revised by J. M.
Edmonds ; and PARTHENIUS. Trans, by S. Gaselee.
DIO CASSIUS : ROMAN HISTORY. Trans, by E. Cary. 9 Vols.
Vols. I to VI.
EURIPIDES. Trans, by A. S. Way. 4 Vols. (Vols. I, III and IV
znd Impression. Vol. 1 1 yd Impression. ) .
GALEN: ON THE NATURAL FACULTIES. Trans, by A. J. Brock.
THE GREEK ANTHOLOGY. Trans, by W. R. Paton. 5 Vols. (Vol.
II 2nd Impression.)
THE GREEK BUCOLIC POETS (THEOCRITUS, BION, MOS-
CHUS). Trans, by J. M. Edmonds, (yd Impression.)
HESIOD AND THE HOMERIC HYMNS. Trans, by H. G. Evelyn
White.
HOMER : ODYSSEY. Trans, by A. T. Murray. 2 Vols. Vol. I.
JULIAN. Trans, by Wilmer Cave Wright. 3 Vols. Vols. I and II.
LUCIAN. Trans, by A. M. Harmon. 7 Vols. Vols. I and II. (tad
Impression.)
MARCUS AURELIUS. Trans, by C. R. Haines.
PAUSANIAS: DESCRIPTION OF GREECE. Trans, by W. H. S.
Jones. 5 Vols. and Companion Vol. Vol. I.
PHILOSTRATUS: THE LIFE OF APOLLONIUS OF TYANA.
Trans, by F. C. Conybeare. 2 Vols. (2nd Impression. )
PINDAR. Trans, by Sir J. E. Sandys, (znd Impression.)
PLATO: EUTHYPHRO, APOLOGY, CRITO, PHAEDO, PHAE-
DRUS. Trans, by H. N. Fowler, (yd Impression.)
PLUTARCH: THE PARALLEL LIVES. Trans, by B. Perrin. nVols.
Vols. 1 to IX.
PROCOPIUS : HISTORY OF THE WARS. Trans, by H. B. Dewing.
7 Vols. Vols. I to III.
QUINTUS SMYRNAEUS. Trans, by A. S. Way.
SOPHOCLES. Trans, by F. Storr. 2 Vols. (Vol. I yd Impression.
Vol. 1 1 znd Impression. )
ST. JOHN DAMASCENE : BARLAAM AND IOASAPH. Trans, by
the Kev. G. R. Woodward and Harold Mattingly.
STRABO : GEOGRAPHY. Trans, by Horace L. Jones. 8 Vols. Vol. I.
THEOPHRASTUS : ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS. Trans, by Sir Arthur
Hort, Bart. 2 Vols.
XENOPHON : CYROPAEDIA. Trans, by Walter Miller. 2 Vols.
XENOPHON: HELLENICA, ANABASIS, APOLOGY, AND SYM-
POSIUM. Trans, by C. L. Brownson. 3 Vols. Vol. I.
IN PREPARATION.
Autho rs .
AESCHYLUS, H. W. Smyth.
ARISTOTLE, NICOMACHEAN ETHICS, Michael Heseltine.
ARISTOTLE, ORGANON, St. George Stock.
ARISTOTLE, POLITICS AND ATHENIAN CONSTITUTION,
Edward Capps.
ATHENAEUS, C. H. Gulick.
CALLIMACHUS, A. W. Mair ; ARATUS, G. R. Mnir.
DEMOSTHENES, DE CORONA, H. Mattingly.
DIG CHRYSOSTOM, W. E. Waters.
DIOGENES LAERT1US, W. L. Hicks.
DIQ PRUSAENSIS, W. E. Waters.
EUSEBIUS, Kirsopp Lake.
GREEK IAMBIC AND ELEGIAC POETS, E. I). Perry.
GREEK LYRIC POETS, J. M. Edmonds.
GREEK MINOR ORATORS, H. G. Evelyn White
HERODOTUS, A. Godley.
HOMER, ILIAD, A. T. Murray.
1 SOCRATES, G. Norlin.
LIBANIUS, Wilmer Cave Wright.
LONGINUS, W. Hamilton Fyfe.
MANETHO, S. de Ricci.
MENANDER, F. G. Allinson.
PHILOSTRATUS, IMAGINES, Arthur Fairbanks.
PHII.OSTRATUS, LIVES OF THE SOPHISTS, Wilmer Cave Wright.
PLATO, ALCIBIADES, HIPPARCHUS, EKASTAI, THEAGES,
CHARM IDES, LACHES, LYSIS, EUTHYDEMUS, W. R. M.
Lamb.
PLATO. LAWS, R. G. Bury.
PLATO, PARMENIDES, PHILEBUS AND CRATYLUS, H. N.
Fowler.
PLATO, PROTAGORAS, GORGIAS, MKNO, W. R. M. Lamb.
PLATO, REPUBLIC, Paul Shorey.
PLATO, SYMPOSIUM, W. R. M. Lamb.
PLATO, THEAETETUS, SOPHISTES, POLITICUS, H N. Fowler
PLUTARCH, MORALIA, F. C. Babbitt.
POLYBIUS, W. R. Paton.
ST. BASIL, LETTERS, Prof. Van Den Ven.
THUCYDIDES, C. F. Smith.
XENOPHON, ANABASIS, APOLOGY AND SYMPOSIUM, C. L.
Brownson.
XENOPHON, MEMORABILIA AND OECONOMICUS, E. C. Mar-
chant.
XENOPHON, SCRIPTA MINORA, E. C. Marchant.
Latin Authors.
' AMMIANUS, C. U. Clark.
AULUS GELLIUS, S. B. -Plainer.
AUSONIUS, H. G. Evelyn White.
BEDE, ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, Rev. H. F. Stewart
CICERO, AD FAM1LIARES, E. O. Winstedt.
CICERO, DE ORATORE, ORATOR, "BRUTUS, Charles Stuttaford.
FRONTINUS, DE AQUIS, C. Herschel and C. E. Bennett.
FKONTINUS, STRATEGEMATA AND FRAGMENTS, C. E. Bennett.
FRONTO, C. R. Haines.
HISTORIA AUGUSTA, David Magic, Jr. *
HORACE, EPISTLES AND SATIRES, W. G. Hale and G. L.
Hcndrickson.
LIVY, B. O. Foster.
LUCAN, S. Reinach.
OVID, TRISTIA AND EX PONTO, A. L. Wheeler.
PLINY", NATURAL HISTORY, F. G. Moore.
ST. AUGUSTINE, MINOR WORKS, Rev. P. Wicksteed.
SALLUST, J. C. Rolfe.
SENECA, EPISTULAE MORALES. Vol. III.
SENECA, MORAL ESSAYS, J. W. Basore.
TACITUS, ANNALS, John Jackson.
VALERIUS FLACCUS, A. F. Scholfield.
VELLEIUS PATERCULUS, F. W. Shipley.
VITRUVIUS, F. W. Kelsey.
DESCRIPTIVE PROSPECTUS ON APPLICATION.
London - - WILLIAM HEINEMANN.
New York - - G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS.
Jrom which it was borrowed
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