Martialis

• a native of Bilbilis, in Spain, a celebrated epigrammatic poet under Domitian, Nerva, and Trajan, Plin. Ep. 3, 21, 1.

(Μαρτίαλιος), a physician and anatomist at Rome, who was born about the year 95 after Christ. Galen became personally acquainted with him during his first visit to Rome, about A. D. 165, and speaks of him as an envious and quarrelsome person. He was a follower or admirer of Erasistratus, and wrote some anatomical works, which were in great repute for some years after his death (Galen, De Libris Propriis, 100.1, vol. xix. p. 13). He is probably the same person as the physician named Marcianus, though it is not quite certain which name is correct. [W.A.G]

was deprived of his rank as tribune, apparently in the praetorian guards, on the detection of Piso's conspiracy against Nero, in A. D. 66. He afterwards served in the army of Flavius Sabinus against the troops of Vitellius, and perished in the burning of the Capitol, A. D. 69. (Tac. Ann. 15.71, Hist. 3.70,73.)

is quoted as an authority for the private life and habits of Alexander Severus (Lamprid. Alex. Sev. 37), with whom he seems to have been contemporary, and is classed by Vopiscus (Prob. 2) along with Marius Maximus, Suetonius Tranquillus, Julius Capitolinus and Aelius Lampridius, historians of the second class, who recorded the truth, but without eloquence or philosophy. Works Curae Boum ex Corpore Gargilii Martialis

A short corrupt fragment on veterinary surgery, entitled Curae Boum ex Corpore Gargilii Martialis, was transcribed under the inspection of Perizonius, at the request of Schoetgen, from a Leyden MS., and published by Gesner in his " Scriptores Rei Rusticae Veteres Latini" (2 vols. 4to. Lips. 1735), vol. ii. p. 1170, but it is impossible to determine whether the compiler of this tract, the antiquity of which has been doubted by critics, is the same person with the historian. The MS. from which it was printed was comparatively recent, but had been copied from one of more ancient date, which once belonged to the monastery of Corvey on the Weser. (See Gesner, Praef. p. xvii. and the dissertation of Schoetgen, p. xlii.)

In the Divine Lections of Cassiodorus (100.28) we read " De hortis scripsit pulcherrime Gargilius Martialis, qui et nutrimenta olerum et virtutes eorum diligenter exposuit." This work is frequently quoted by Palladius (e. g. iv. tit. 9.9), but not by any older writer, although Servius (ad Virg. Georg. 4.147), speaks as if Virgil had discerned him from afar with prophetic eye. No portion of it was known to exist until Angelo Mai in 1826 discovered that a palimpsest in the royal library at Naples, which had originally belonged to the celebrated monastery of St. Columbanus at Bobbio, and which was known to contain the grammarian Charisius, fragments of Lucan, and some other pieces, all of which had been examined, contained also some chapters by a writer on rural affairs, treating of quinces (De Cydoneis), peaches (De Persicis), almonds (De Amygdalis), and chestnuts (De Castaneis). Upon closer investigation it was found by comparing these with the references in Palladius to Martialis, that they must actually be regarded as a portion of his essay De Hortis. The remains themselves, together with a full account of the Codex Rescriptus to which they belong, are included in the first volume of the Classici Auctores e Vaticanis Codicibus editi, 8vo. Rom. 1828. Nor was this all. Not long afterwards, the same scholar detected among the treasures of the Vatican, two MSS., one of the tenth, the other of the twelfth century, containing tracts upon medical subjects, in both of which was a section headed Incipit liber tertius. de pomis. Martialis, on the sanatory properties of various fruits, and in this the details with regard to the virtues of quinces were found to correspond almost verbatim with the remarks in the Neapolitan MS., thus removing the last shade of doubt with regard to the author. Confusion as to which Gargilius is the author

Whether, however, Gargilius Martialis the historian, Gargilius Martialis the horticulturist, and Gargilius Martialis the veterinarian, are all, or any two of them, the same, or all different personages, must in the absence of satisfactory evidence be considered as still an open question. Editions

Mai published the Vatican fragment in the third volume of the collection named above (Rom. 1831), and the whole three pieces were printed together in Germany, under the title " Gargilii Martialis Gargilii quae supersunt. Editio in Germania prima. Lunaeburgi, 1832." [W.R]

an evocatus, who, from private pique, joined the conspiracy against Caracalla. Having seized a convenient opportunity, he stabbed the emperor while on a journey from Edessa to Carrhae, and was himself slain upon the spot by one of the Scythian guards. The senate testified warm gratitude to their deliverer, and proposed to honour his memory by panegyrical orations and by statues. (D. C. 78.5, 18, comp. 8.) [W.R]

the epigrammatist. Whatever information we possess regarding the personal history of this writer is derived almost exclusively from his works; for although he often boasts of his own far-spread popularity, and although Aelius Verus was wont to term him " his Virgil," he is not spoken of by any contemporary author except the younger Pliny, nor by any of those who followed after him, except Spartianus, Lampridius, and perhaps Sidonius Apollinaris, until we reach the period of the grammarians, by whom he is frequently quoted. By collecting and comparing the incidental notices scattered through his pages, we are enabled to determine that he was a native of Bilbilis in Spain, that he was born upon the first of March, in the third year of Claudius, A. D. 43, that he canoe to Rome in the thirteenth year of Nero, A. D. 66, that after residing in the metropolis for a space of thirty-five years, he again repaired to the place of his birth, in the third year of Trajan, A. D. 100, and lived there for upwards of three years at least, on the property of his wife, a lady named Marcella, whom he seems to have married after his return to the banks of the Salo, and to whose graces and mental charms he pays a warm tribute. His death, which cannot have taken place before A. D. 104, is mentioned by the younger Pliny, but we are unabie to fix the date of the epistle (3.20, al. 21) in which the event is recorded. His fame was extended and his bools were eagerly sought for, not only in the city, 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 without family if not unmarried, the highly-valued privileges accorded to those who were the fathers of three children (jus trium liberorum), together with the rank of tribunus and the rights of the equestrian order, distinctions which in his case were probably merely honorary, not implying the discharge 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 describes, 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 5.34; and another curious delusion at one time prevailed with regard to the name of Martial himself. In the biography of Alexander Severus (100.38) we find the twenty-ninth epigram of the fifth book quoted as " Martialis Coci Epigramma," and hence Joannes of Salisbury (Curial. Nugar. 7.12, 8.6, 13), Jacobus Magnus of Toledo (Sopholog. passim), and Vincentius of Beauvais (Specul. Doctr. 3.37), suppose Coquus to have been a cognomen of the poet, and designate him by that appellation. The numerous corruptions 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 substituted for it in two of the Palatine codices, justify us in concluding either that coci was foisted in by the carelessness of a transcriber, or that the true reading is coce, i. e. quoque, which will remove every difficulty. Works Epigrammata

The extant works of Martial consist of an assemblage of short poems, all included under the general appellation Epigrammata, upwards of 1500 in number, divided into fourteen books. Those which form the two last books, usually distinguished respectively as Xenia and Apophoreta, amounting to 350, consist, with the exception of the introductions, 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 Liber de Spectaculis, 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 Epigrammaton. The " De Spectaculis" is altogether wanting in most of the best MSS., and of those which embrace it two only, beth derived from the same archetype, are older than the fifteenth century; but the most judicious critics are of opinion that the greater number of the pieces are genuine, although it is not unlikely that spurious matter may have found its way both into this and the other books, for we find a remonstrance (10.100) 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 displayed 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 collected 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 historical 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 until after the commencement of the Dacian war (2.2), 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 supposes, 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 (10.2), celebrates the arrival of Trajan at Rome, after his accession to the throne (10.6, 7, 34, 72). Now, since this event took place A. D. 99, 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 (10.104) he had been thirty-four years at Rome, we can thence calculate the time 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 (12.3,18), and in this lie refers (12.5) to the two preceding hooks, published, as we have seen, in A. D. 99 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 xii. (ep. 11), be the "Palatinus Parthenius," the chamberlain of Domitian (4.45, 5.6, 8.28; 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. 11.4 is in honour of the third consulship of Nerva (A. D. 97), since the words and the name Nerva are equally applicable to the third consulship of Trajan (A. D. 100). Books xiii. and xiv., the Xenia and Apophoreta, were written chiefly under Domitian (13.4. 14, 14.1. 179, 213), although the composition may have been spread over the holidays of many years.

It is well known that the word Epigram, which originally denoted simply an inscription, was, in process of time, applied to any brief metrical effusion, whatever the subject might be, or whatever the form under which it was presented, and in this sense the heterogeneous mass which constitutes the Greek anthology, and all the lighter effusions of Catullus, are called epigrams. In many of these, it is true, the sentiments are pithily worded, and a certain degree of emphasis is reserved for the conclusion; but Martial first placed the epigram upon the narrow basis which it now occupies, and from his time the term has been in a great measure restricted to denote a short poem, in which all the thoughts and expressions converge to one sharp point, which forms the termination of the piece. It is impossible not to be amazed by the singular fertility of imagination, the prodigious flow of wit, and the delicate felicity of language everywhere developed in this extraordinary collection, and from no source do we derive more copious information on the national customs and social habits of the Romans during the first century of the empire. But however much we may admire the genius of the author, we feel no respect for the character of the man. The inconceivable servility of adulation (e. g. 9.4, 5.8) with which he loads Domitian, proves that he was a courtier of the lowest class, and his name is crushed by a load of cold-blooded filth spread ostentatiously over the whole surface of his writings, too clearly denoting habitual impurity of thought, combined with habitual impurity of expression. Editions

Three very early impressions of Martial have been described by bibliographers, all of them in 4to., all in Roman characters, and all without date and without name of place or of printer. One of these, by many considered as the Editio Princeps, is supposed by Dibdin (Bibl. Spencer. vol. iv. p. 532) to have been the work of Ulric Han. The first edition which bears a date, and which contests the honour of being the Princeps, is that which appeared at Ferrara, 4to. 1471 (Dibdin, Bibl. Spencer. vol. ii. p. 169), and which does not contain the "Liber de Spectaculis." It was followed by the edition of Vindelin de Spira, 4to. Venet., without date, but probably executed about 1472; by that of Sweynheym and Pannartz, fol. Rom. 1473; that of Joannes de Colonia, fol. Venet. 1475; and that of Philippus de Lavania, fol. Mediol. 1478, the two last being merely reprints from Spira. The text, which was gradually improved by the diligence of Calderinus, fol. Venet. 1474, 1475, 1480, &c., of Aldus, 8vo. Venet. 1501, and Junius, 8vo. Basil. 1559, first assumed a satisfactory form in the hands of Gruterus, 16mo. Francf. 1602, who boasted, not without reason, that he had introduced more than a thousand corrections, and was still further purified by Scriverius, Lug. Bat. 12mo. 1619, Amst. 12mo. 1621, 16mo. 1629, and by Raderus, fol. Mogunt. 1627, Colon. 1628. Schrevelius, in the 8vo Variorum of 1670, exhibited very judiciously the results of the toils of his predecessors, and no important improvements were made from that time until 1842, when Schneidewinn published a new recension (8vo. 2 vols. Grem. 1842 founded upon a most careful examination of a very large number of MSS. His prolegomena contain a full and highly valuable account of these and other codices, of the places where they are at present deposited, and of their relative value. No ancient author stands more in need of an ample and learned commentary, but none has yet appeared which will satisfy all the wants of the student. The most useful, upon the whole, is that which is attached to the edition of Lemaire, 3 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1825, but Schneidewinn has promised to publish the notes of Fr. Schmieder, the preceptor of C. O. Müller, of which he speaks in high praise, and expresses a hope that he may be able to add the remarks compiled by Böttiger, which passed after his death into the hands of Weichert. Translations

A great number of translations from Martial will be found dispersed in the works of the English poets, and numerous selections have been given to the world from time to time, such as those by Thomas May, 8vo. Lond. 1629; by Fletcher, 8vo. Lond. 1656; by J. Hughes, in his Miscellanies, 8vo. Lond. 1737; by W. Hay, 12mo. Lond. 1754 ; by Wright, along with the distichs of Cato, 12mo. Lond. 1763; by Rogers, in his poems, 12mo. Lond. 1782; and finally a complete version of the whole by Elphinstone, 4to. Lond. 1782, a singular monument of dulness and folly. In French we have complete translations into verse, by Marolles, 4to. Paris, 1675, a translation into prose having been published previously (1655) by the same author; by Volland, 3 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1807; and by E. T. Simon, 3 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1819. Julius Scaliger rendered a considerable number of the epigrams into Greek, and these translations will be found placed under the original text in the edition of Lemaire. Further reading

Plin. Ep. iii 20. al. 21 ; Spartian. Ael. Ver. 2; Lamprid. Alex. Sever. 38 ; Sidon. Apoll. Carm. 9.33; Martial, 1.1, 2, 3, 62, 101, 117, 2.92, 3.95, 4.10, 72, 5.13, 16, 23, 6.43, 61, 64, 82, 7.11, 17, 51, 88, 93, 8.3, 61, 9.84, 98, 10.24, 92, 94, 100, 103, 104, 11.3, 24, 12.21, 31, 13.3, 119. An account of the celebrated MS. of Martial preserved in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, will be found in Dalyell, " Some account of an ancient MS. of Martial," &c., 8vo. Edin. 1812.) [W.R]

MARTIA´LIS a place in Gallia,near to,and northwest of Augustonemetum (Clermont en Auvergne), which Sidonius Apollinaris, once bishop of Clermont, names Pagus Violvascensis, with the remark that it was in a previous age named Martialis, from having been the winter quarters of the Julian legions. The tradition may refer to Caesar's legions. The place is now Volvic (D'Anville, Notice, &c. )

(1) M. Valerius, a writer of Latin epigrams, was born at Bilbilis in Spain, in the third year of Claudius, A.D. 43. He came to Rome in the thirteenth year of Nero, 66; and after residing in the metropolis thirty-five years, he returned to the place of his birth, in the third year of Trajan, 100. He lived there for upwards of three years at least, on the property of his wife, a lady named Marcella, whom he seems to have married after his return to Bilbilis. His death cannot have taken place before 104. His fame was extended, and his books were eagerly sought for not only in the city, but also in Gaul, Germany, and Britain; he secured the 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 without family, the privileges accorded to those who were the fathers of three children (ius trium liberorum), together with the rank of tribune and the rights of the equestrian order. His circumstances appear to have been easy during his residence at Rome, for he had a mansion in the city, whose situation he describes, and a suburban villa near Nomentum, to which he frequently alludes with pride.

The extant works of Martial consist of a collection of short poems, all included under the general appellation Epigrammata, upwards of 1500 in number, divided into fourteen books. Those which form the last two books, usually distinguished respectively as Xenia and Apophoreta, amounting to 350, consist of couplets, 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 thirty-three epigrams, forming a book apart from the rest, which has been commonly known as Liber de Spectaculis, because the contents relate to the shows exhibited by Titus and Domitian; but there is no ancient authority for the title. The different books were collected 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 historical allusions, extending from the games of Titus (80) down to the return of Domitian from the Sarmatian expedition, in January, 94. All these books 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 (99). The Eleventh Book seems to have been published at Rome, early in 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 must therefore be assigned to 104. Books xiii. and xiv., Xenia and Apophoreta, were written chiefly under Domitian, although the composition may have been spread over the holidays of many years. It is well known that the word epigram (ἐπίγραμμα), which originally denoted simply “an inscription,” was, in process of time, applied to any brief metrical effusion, whatever the subject might be, or whatever the form under which it was presented. Martial, however, first placed the epigram upon the narrow basis which it now occupies, and from his time the term has been in a great measure restricted to denote a short poem, in which all the thoughts and expressions converge to one sharp point, which forms the termination of the piece. See epigramma.

Martial's epigrams are distinguished by singular fertility of imagination, prodigious flow of wit, and delicate felicity of language; and from no source do we derive more copious information on the national customs and social habits of the Romans during the first century of the Empire. But, however much we may admire the genius of the author, we can feel no respect for one whose fulsome servility towards the great is equalled only by the frightful obscenity of much that he has written—an obscenity scarcely conceivable in modern times. He himself seems to feel a certain shame for so pandering to the corrupt tastes of his rich and dissolute patrons, and in one epigram he tries to draw the line between his life and his writings. “My Muse is wanton, but my life is pure” (i. 4, 8); and in the prose dedication to the First Book he explains that he is only following out the traditions of this form of literature; but these are excuses which, to many minds, only heighten the enormity of his offence.

The principal value of Martial's epigrams is in the insight they give us into the daily life of the times, since they abound in personal details, and are an indispensable contribution towards the Culturgeschichte of Ancient Rome. In modern literature they have been continually imitated and translated, but rarely equalled except now and then by the French.

The MSS. fall into three “families,” of which the typical representatives are a Paris Codex (T) of the ninth century, a Codex Palatinus (P) of the fifteenth century, and an Edinburgh Codex (E) of the tenth century. See the critical account in the editions of Schneidewin and Friedländer. The best texts are those of Schneidewin (Grimma, 1842), Friedländer, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1886), with a list of words; Gilbert (Leipzig, 1886). Friedländer's edition contains explanatory notes, but the best commentary on the subject-matter is his Sittengeschichte Roms, 3 vols (6th ed. Leipzig, 1888- 1890). Editions of selected epigrams with English notes are those of Paley and Stone (London, 1881); Sellar and Ramsay (Edinburgh, 1884); Stephenson (2d ed. London, 1888); and one (announced) by C. Knapp (N. Y. 1895). See Brandt, De Martialis Poetae Vita (Berlin, 1853); Van Stockum, De Martialis Vita et Scriptis (The Hague, 1884); and on his language, etc., Pankstadt, De Martiale Catulli Imitatore (Halle, 1876); Zingerle, Martials Ovidstudien (Innsbruck, 1877); and Stephani, De Martiale Verborum Novatore (Breslau, 1889).

(2) Q. Gargilius Martiālis, a Roman writer and a contemporary of Alexander Severus, who is cited by Vopiscus (Prob. ii. 7). There are extant some fragments on veterinary surgery and husbandry, bearing the name of Gargilius Martialis; and Angelo Mai discovered on a Neapolitan palimpsest a part of a work on gardens. The fourth book of the Medicina Plinii, or extracts on medicine from Pliny , was made up of citations from Gargilius Martialis. The same person also wrote a sketch of Alexander Severus. The greater part of the botanical fragments was printed in Lüneburg in 1832; and the veterinary fragments by Schuch (Donaueschingen, 1857).