Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/979

MARTIALIS. only in the cit}-, but also in Gaul, Germany, Britain, Getica, and the wild region of the north ; he secured the special patronage of the emperors Titus and Domitian, obtained by his influence the freedom of the state for several of his friends, and received for himself, although apparently with- out family if not unmarried, the highly-valued pri- vileges accorded to those who were the fathers of three children {justrium Uherorum)^ together with the rank of tribunus and the rights of the eques- trian order, distinctions which in his case were probably merely honorary, not implying the dis- charge of any particular duties, nor the possession of any considerable fortune. His circumstances, however, must have been at one time easy ; for he had a mansion in the city whose situation he de- scribes, and a suburban villa near Nomentum, to which he frequently alludes with pride. It is true that Pliny, in the letter to which we have referred above, states that he made Martial a pecuniary present to assist in defraying the expenses of his journey (prosecutus eram viatico secedentem), but when he adds that the gift was presented as an acknowledgment for a complimentary address, he gives no hint that the poverty of the bard was such as to render this aid an act of charity. The assertion that the father of Martial was named Fronto and his mother Flaccilla, rests upon a mistaken interpretation of the epigram v. 34 ; and another curious delusion at one time prevailed with regard to the name of Martial himself. In the biography of Alexander Severus (c. 38) we find the twenty- ninth epigram of the fifth book quoted as " Mar- tialis Coci Epignimma," and hence Joannes of Salis- bury {Curitd. Nu(jar. vii. 12, viii. 6, 13), Jacobus Magnus of Toledo {Sopholog. passim), and 'Vin- centius of Beauvais (Specul. Doctr. iii. 37), suppose Coquus to have been a cognomen of the poet, and designate him by that appellation. The numerous corniptions which everywhere abound in the text of the Augustan historians, and the fact that the word in question is altogether omitted in several MSS. and early editions, while we find etiam sub- stituted for it in two of the Palatine codices, justify us in concluding either that cod was foisted in by the carelessness of a transcriber, or that the true reading is coce, i. e. quoque, which will remove every difficulty. The extant works of Martial consist of an assemblage of short poems, all included wider the general appellation Epigravimata^ upwards of 1500 in number, divided into fourteen books. Those which form the two last books, usually distinguished respectively as Xenia and Aj>opkoreta, amounting to 350, consist, with the exception of the intro- ductions, entirely of distichs, descriptive of a vast variety of small objects, chiefly articles of food or clothing, such as were usually sent as presents among friends during the Saturnalia, and on other festive occasions. In addition to the above, nearly all the printed copies include 33 epigrams, forming a book apart from the rest, which, ever since the time of Gruter, has been commonly known as Lifter de Speclaculis, because the contents relate entirely to the shows exhibited by Titus and Domitian, but there is no ancient authority for the title, and hence the most recent editor restores the proper and simple form Liber Epigranimaton. The " De Spec- taculis" is altogether wanting in most of the best MSS., and of those which embrace it two only, botli derived from the same archetype, are older MARTIALIS. 965 than the fifteenth century ; but the most judicious critics are of opinion that the greater number of the pieces are g(!nuine, although it is not unlikely that spurious matter may have found its way both into this and the other books, for we find a re- monstrance (x. 100) addressed to an unscrupulous pretender, who was attempting to palm his own progeny on the public under the cover of Martial's reputation. Considerable praise is due to the industry dis- played by Loyd and Dodwell in adjusting the chronology of Martial, but the recent labours of Clinton are much more satisfactory. It is clear from the introductory dedication and notices in prose and verse, that the different books were col- lected and published by the author, sometimes singly and sometimes several at one time. The " Liber de Spectaculis" and the first nine books of the regular series involve a great number of "his- torical allusions, extending from the games of Titus (a. D. 80) down to the return of Domitian from the Sarmatian expedition, in January, a. d. 94. The second book could not have been written imtil after the commencement of the Dacian war (ii. 2), that is, not before A. D. 86, nor the sixth until after the triumph over the Dacians and Germans (a. d. 91); the seventh was written while the Sarmatian war, which began in A. d. 93, was still in progress, and reaches to the end of that year. The eighth book opens in January, A. d. 94, the ninth also refers to the same epoch, but may, as Clinton sup- poses, have been written in a. d. 95. The whole of these were composed at Rome, except the third, which was written during a tour in Gallia Togata. The tenth book was published twice : the first edition was given hastily to the world ; the second, that which we now read (x. 2), celebrates the arrival of Trajan at Rome, after his accession to the throne (x. 6, 7, 34, 72). Now, since this event took place a. d. Q9^ and since the twenty- fourth epigram of this book was written in honour of the author's fifty-seventh birthday, we are thus supplied with the data requisite for fixing the epoch of his birth ; and since at the close of the book (x. 104) he had been tliirty-four years at Rome, we can thence calculate the thne when he left Spain. The eleventh book seems to have been published at Rome, early in a. d. 100, and at the close of the year he returned to Bilbilis. After keeping silence for three years (xii, prooem.), the twelfth book was despatched from Bilbilis to Rome (xii. 3, 18), and in this he refers (xii. 5) to the two preceding books, published, as we have seen, in a. d. d^ and 100. Allowing, therefore, for the interval of repose, the twelfth book must be assigned to A. D. 104. It must be observed, however, that if the Parthenius, to whom book xi, is dedicated, and who is again addressed in book xiL (ep. 11), be the "■ Palatinus Parthenius,*' the chamberlain of Domitian (iv. 45, v. 6, viii. 28 ; comp. Sueton. Domit. 16), and if the statement of Victor {Epit. 12), that this Parthenius was cruelly murdered by the soldiery (a. d. 97) soon after the elevation of Nerva, can be depended upon, it is evident that some pieces belonging to earlier years were included in the later books. It is not necessary, however, to hold with Clinton, that Ep. xi. 4 is in honour of the third consulship of Nerva (a. d. 97), since the words and the name Nerva are equally aj)- plicable to the third consulship of Trajan (a. i>* 100). Books xiii. and xiv., the Xcnia nwA Apopho- 3q 3