Martial Book Iv

Martial, Book IV

This volume is the first comprehensive commentary on the fourth book of Martial's epigrams. The introduction discusses its date of publication, major themes (Domitian, literature, death), the arrangement and form of the epigrams, and some issues concerning the transmission of the text. Of special note is the author’s study of the structure of the book. The commentary, preceded by the Latin critical text and an English translation, aims to provide readers with as much pertinent information as possible to enable them to fully comprehend the epigrams. Attention is paid to style and literary tradition, as well as to realia. Both each individual epigram and the book as a whole are studied as finely accomplished works of art.

Epigrams from Martial

Martial, Book VII. A Commentary

This volume is the first comprehensive commentary on the seventh book of Martial's epigrams. The introduction discusses the date of publication of Martial’s books, the themes of the epigrams of book seven as well as the transmission of the text. The autor pays special attention to the adulation of Domitian in book seven, the satirization of lawyers, legacy-hunters, parasites and dinner-guests, and hetero- and homosexuality. The commentary, preceded by a revised edition of Shackleton Bailey’s Teubner edition (1990), focuses on literary, linguistic and metrical matters. Thematic relationships with other books of Martial and other Greek and Latin literature are highlighted. Attention is also paid to the use of recurrent motifs, obscene language, puns, double meanings and proper names.