I'd been looking for an edition of Martial that did not try to sugar coat who he was. I found it in this, happily ( )

This is a book I found in a used book store years ago. It tickled my curiosity and has been sitting on my shelves gathering dust. There were a lot of giggles in this book and a few groans. The giggles are for Martial's wit, the groans are for his over the top obscenity. The editor of this book made a point of putting in a lot of poetry of Martial that had not been printed before for that very reason. Martial was the master of the epigram; concise, precise and insightful. It just so happens that as Freud proved sex is a big part of human behavior and Martial didn't leave anything out. In his own words;

Not all my poems are meant
for cocktail parties-----
a few are fit for morning tea.

Still he does have a way of getting right to the point in a few words and his style of epigrams set the tone for many writers. The editor mentions quite a few poets that followed Martial's style and has a quote from Byron who paying his respects to the Roman poet.

And then what proper person can be partial
to all those nauseous epigrams of Martial

Don Juan Canto I
stanza xliii, 11. 343-44

Considering that he was writing in 100 c.e. Martial's comments seem very timely. The editor put it nicely in saying," When we look at the nature of man, strip man down to his bare self, today's man versus yesterday's, we find that progress amounts to little more than toilet paper, tin cans and atom bombs." Except for the Latin name the following could easily have been written by Dorothy Parker.

Saenia swore that she
was robbed of her virtue.
So how can a girl be robbed
of what she hasn't got?

There don't seem to be a lot of copies around but I am glad I have this book on my shelf for those moments when I want a laugh or a reason not to take life so seriously. ( )

Edition: // Descr: xvi, 261 p. 19 cm. // Series: Call No. { 877 M36 5 c. #1 } Edited by Hubert McNeill Poteat Contains Notes. // //

Edition: // Descr: xvi, 261 p. 19 cm. // Series: Call No. { 877 M36 5 c. #2 } Edited by Hubert McNeill Poteat Contains Notes. // //

Edition: // Descr: li, 402 p. 19 cm. // Series: College Series of Latin Authors Call No. { 877 M36 4 } Series Edited under the Supervision of Clement Lawrence Smith and Tracy Peck Edited with Introduction and Notes by Edwin Post Contains Critical Appendix, Index of Passages Cited in the Notes, and General Index. // //