Epigrams

Description

This new, parallel-text prose translation of a generous selection of Martial's witty and satiric epigrams pulls no punches and matches the boldness of the originals. They bring Imperial Rome vividly to life. The edition establishes Martial's originality as a literary author and includes a full introduction and notes.

• Martial's epigrams target every level of Roman society, from slave to aristocrat. This newly translated selection is as punchy and close to the knuckle as the originals.
• One of only two substantial modern translations since 1972, and the first by a classicist. Witty and accurate prose translations convey incidental detail and the poet's consummate comic timing.
• The first translation to bring out the literariness of Martial, to show how his books and poems interconnect. The selection illustrates the range and diversity of Martial's style and topics.
• Includes facing Latin text.
• The Introduction considers Martial's life and times, his importance for the genre, and the thematic structure of the original books.
• Notes identify Martial's literary and mythic allusions, explain real-world contexts, and show the interaction of different books and poems.

About the Author(s)

Martial

Gideon Nisbet has taught and researched the classical world and its reception at the Universities of Glasgow, Reading, Warwick, and Oxford, and is an expert in ancient epigram. His publications includes Greek Epigram in the Roman Empire: Martial's Forgotten Rivals (OUP, 2003), Greek Epigram in Reception (OUP, 2013) and the Greece and Rome New Survey, Epigram (CUP, 2010).

Reviews

"Martial is an epigrammatist of unmatched range and brilliance. Treating life, society and human foibles with coruscating wit, he mixes vicious abuse, frequently sexual, of individuals with biting satire on human weakness and lyrical reflections on Rome, friendship and country life. In his extremely useful edition Gideon Nisbet selects over 300 of his subject's c. 1600 poems, doing full justice to Martial's range." - Peter Jones, Classics for All

"This translation is offering not only a reasonably comprehensive view of Martial's literary universe, but also a pleasant experience. Gideon Nisbet's version of Martial's Rome and Martial's world is enjoyable and lively." - Carmen Fenechiu, Journal of Ancient History and Archeology