Martial's Epigrams: A Selection

By Marcus Valerius Martialis and Frederick Apthorp Paley

Book Overview

One of literature's greatest satirists, Martial earned his livelihood by excoriating the follies and vices of Roman society and its emperors, and set a pattern that satirists have admired across the ages. For the first time, readers can enjoy an English translation of these rhymes that does not sacrifice the cleverly constructed effects of Martial's short and shapely thrusts. Martial's Epigrams "bespeaks a great scholar at play" (The New York Times Book Review), makes for addictive reading, and is a perfect, if naughty, gift.

Look out for a new book from Garry Wills, What the Qur'an Meant, coming fall 2017.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0143116274
• ISBN13: 9780143116271
• Release Date: October 2009
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.8" x 7.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Bawdy, backbiting and hilarious

Translations of Martial's bawdy and bitchy epigrams, as pertinent today as they were in the first century AD, when he wrote them.