The Epigrams: Dual Language Edition (Penguin Classics) (Latin Edition) [Mass Market Paperback]

Martial (Author), James Mitchie (Translator, Introduction)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0140443509 | ISBN-13: 978-0140443509 | Publication Date: January 1, 1995

Martial, like many of the Latin poets, was born in Bibilis, Spain, probably around 38-41 AD. He appears to have lived in Rome for nearly thirty-four years, under the patronage of the great Spaniard Senaca, the Younger. He belonged to a class of intellectuals who were in resolute opposition to the emperor Domitian, so many times figures like Cicero, Brutus, and Pompey are used as literary devices against the crazed tyrant. Martial's poems are definitely modelled off of Catullus' epigrams and elegiac verses, although they are different in meaning and theme. These poems are hilarious and audacious, cruel, lewd, charming, spiteful, and creative; and they bring to life the social and political milieu of Rome.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An enjoyable book which engages the attention throughout, marks a useful advance in the study of Martial's works, and establishes a firm foundation from which to mount further investigations."--Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"The commentary is wonderfully focused and manageable.... Williams has created a very fine tool for perceiving and appreciating much of what Martial was doing in the poems.... Williams gives the reader just what is wanted and needed in a commentary."--New England Classical Journal

"What Williams has to offer is solid and reliable, the work of a skilled and diligent philologist, and for future studies of the genre his book will be indispensable."--Classical World

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Craig A. Williams is Associate Professor of Classics at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and author of Roman Homosexuality: Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (January 1, 1995)
• Language: Latin
• ISBN-10: 0140443509
• ISBN-13: 978-0140443509
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,573,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than Loeb 94, June 19, 2000

By 

Stephen M. Kerwick (Wichita, KS United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Martial: Epigrams, Volume III, Books 11-14. (Loeb Classical Library No. 480) (Hardcover)

Everything said in my review of the first 6 books in Loeb's Martial I No 94) is true with greater force here. Book XI is the peak of the poet's nasty, often obscene, humor. Again, the 1993 translation is much more timely than the previous Ker edition by Loeb in the first part of the century. Reading this shows that in spite of almost 2000 intervening years, the crudest elements of decadent societies still run closely parallel. Read it, you'll be amazed.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classics are Wasted on Being Classical, April 3, 2000

By 

N. Martin (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Martial: Epigrams, Books VIII-XIV; Loeb Classical #95: Loeb Classical #95 (Loeb Classical Library) (Bks.VIII-XIV Vol 2) (Hardcover)

For some sad reason, people think the classics are boring and dull and dry. They should read more things like this spicy, sassy collection of epigrams and poetry; Martial would certainly change their minds. When I was a high school student struggling to learn Latin, I bribed myself with Martial: learn enough, and I could read the naughty bits. It worked.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very funny, November 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Epigrams: Dual Language Edition (Penguin Classics) (Latin Edition) (Mass Market Paperback)

These short poems are laugh out loud funny. This is a very readable translation. Forget that these are considered "classics." There is nothing stuffy about these ribald, sarcastic, hilarious poems about Roman life. It is amazing how little people have changed! I spent a very enjoyable afternoon reading through these.