The Roman Poet Martial: His
Life and Times
By Professor R. Gentilcore
Martial is depicted in an English aquatint
engraving from 1814.
Life of Martial
• M. Valerius Martialis was born between 38 and 41
A.D.
• Born and educated in Roman province of Hispania
(Spain)
• Went to Rome around A.D. 64 to find his fortune
under patronage of fellow Spaniards Seneca and
Lucan
• Their condemnations by Nero and deaths meant he
had to find his own way
• Through patronage and by writing occasional
poetry Martial made his living
Life of Martial continued
• “What reason or what confidence draws
your to Rome, Sextus . . .?” “I will compose
poems: hear them, you will call them
Virgil’s work.” You are crazy. “I will haunt
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, I am bent on living in
Rome.” If you are a good man, Sextus, you
may live by accident.”
Patronage and Poems
• First volume was published in A.D. 80
• Over next 15 years continued to write welltimed poems to gain imperial patronage
• Praised and flattered Titus and Domitian
• He did receive some minor privileges and
some financial rewards
Liber Spectaculorum or The Book of
Spectacles
• The collection survives only in fragments; we
have about 200 lines
• A verse narrative commemorating the opening of
the Roman Colosseum in A.D. 80
• the opening was a spectacular event celebrated
with great pomp and expense
• mesmerized the city's population for 100 days
• Martial describes some of the highlights of the
occasion such as -- encounters between
professional gladiators, a mock sea battle, and a
fight between a rhinoceros and a bull
Liber Spectaculorum or The Book of
Spectacles
• All the descriptions include extravagant praise for
the emperor Titus, who built the Colosseum and
sponsored its inauguration
• “It is the only surviving vestige of an
epigrammatic collection commemorating a
specific public event. We assume that it was one of
many such works that were written at the time
because this sort of thing was what poets were
trained to do.“ Coleman, editor of recent edition.
Martial’s Poetry and Later Patronage
• Transferred allegiance to emperors Nerva
and Trajan and renounced earlier, proFlavian poems
Martial’s Epigrams
• Also wrote to order short poems for other
patrons
• Wrote two volumes of verse-mottoes to
accompany presents
• Bulk of his poetry consists of 12 books of
epigrams
• Mostly in elegiacs but also in
hendecasyllabics and ‘limping iambics’
Martial’s Epigrams
• Issued these books of epigrams annually from 86
onward with exception of Book 12 which was
finished in Spain about 100
• Model was Catullus
• Every poem concerns some little incident of
everyday life
• Enormous range from obscene to tender
• Full of characters from the young boys who raked
the sand at the Circus, to terrible poets reciting
their verses, to charioteers who fix races
Martial’s Epigrams continued
• Give us vivid description of Roman society
and daily life
• Poems are witty and satiric
• Claimed that his pages were dirty but his
life was clean
• Embittered that his talent never earned him
the income he felt he deserved
Martial returns home
• By 98 Martial returned to Spain, having become
tired of life in Rome
• Perhaps were political reasons too
• Accepted financial help from Pliny
• Continued to write
• Died between 101 and 104
• Pliny the Younger, in the short tribute which he
pays to him on hearing of his death, wrote, "He
had as much good-nature as wit and pungency in
his writings" (Ep. iii. 21).
Some of Martial’s Best-known Epigrams
• “Live for today; tomorrow is too late.”
• “If fame comes after death, then I’m in no hurry
for it.”
• “Why do strong arms fatigue themselves with
frivolous dumbbells? To dig a vineyard is worthier
exercise for men.”
• “Conceal a flaw, and the world will imagine the
worst.”