MARTIAL (MARCUS VALERIIIS MARTIAL'S), the first of epigramnaatists, was b. at Bilbilis, in Spain, 43 A.D. In 66 he came to Rome, where he resided till 100, when he returned to his native town. There he married a lady called Marcella, on whose property he lived till his death (about 104). When at Rome he soon became famous as a wit and poet, received the patronage of the emperors Titus and Domitian, and obtained from :hem the privileges of those who were fathers of three children, and, in addition, the rank of tribune and the rights of the equestrian order. He lived, seemingly, in affluence in a mansion in the city, and in Nomentum, a suburban villa, to both of which he makes frequent reference. From Rome his reputation rapidly extended to the provinces; and even in Britain his Epigrammata, which, divided into 14 books, now, form his extant works, were familiarly read. These books, which were arranged by himself for publica tion, were written in the following order: the first 11 (including the Liber de Speetaeulis) were-composed at Rome, with the exception of the third, which was written during a tour in Gallia Togata; the 12th was written at Bilbilis, and the 13th and 14th at Rome, tinder Domitian. The last two, entitled Xenia and Apephoreta, describe, in distichs, the
various kinds of souvenirs presented by the Romans to each other on holidays. To the other books we are also indebted for much of our knowledge of the manners and customs which prevailed under the emperors Nero, Galba, Otho, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Nerva, and Trajan, under whose collective reigns he spent 85 years of his life. His works have also a great literary value, as embodying the first specimens of what we now understand by epigram—not a mere inscription, but a poem of two or more lines, con taining the terms of an antithesis, which goes off with a repercussion at the close. The wonderful inventiveness and facility displayed by Martial in this species of composition have always received the highest admiration, only qualified by his disgusting grossness, which, blameworthy in him, was even more so in the age by which it was demanded and relished. The best edition of Martial is that of Schneidewin. He has never found an adequate translator.