BOOK II. PREFACE. 2. praestamus, 'do our duty by you.' Cf. 1. 108. 7. 6 4. accipiant, are allowed.' So accipere veniam. epistolam. That is, the programme or play bill describing the pieces to be acted, put up in, or outside the theatre. In earlier times the information was given by a praeco. Seneca Ep. 117. Nemo qui obstetricem filiae parturienti__sollicitus accersit, edictum et ludorum ordinem perlegit. Friedländer in Marquardt (new series) ш. 521. The title of each piece as it came on was announced from the stage as well. In saying that Epigrams require no Curio the poet's meaning is clear: he means that an epigrammatist requires no one to speak to his audience for him, his epigrams speak for themselves. Curio in imperial times appears to have been used as praeco. Marquardt (new series) III. 118. n. 2. = 6. sua. The words id est, mala, which are inserted after sua in most of the editions are, probably rightly, rejected by Schneidewin. mala maledica, hurtful. So Verg. Ecl. vII. 28 where there is the notion of magical power to harm, and the malum Carmen of the XII. Tables. 8. toga, &c. Illustrates rem facere ridiculam. The toga was a large cumbrous garment and more particularly the official full dress of the Roman. No sight could be more incongruous than a dancer in a pantomime dressed in such a garment. The expression is probably a proverbial one. 9. denique. Lastly it is for you to consider whether you like the idea of a wooden sword against a trident,' i. e. whether you like a contest between a retiarius armed with the net and trident and a man with only a wand (ferula, the wooden weapon, with which the sham fight, which preluded the real contest of the gladiators, was fought) to defend himself with. That is, "You defending your reputation with an epistle are throwing away your natural weapon, the epigram. If you like it, do so. I should think it foolish." an here utrum annon. In the best Latin writers an alone after nescio, &c., implied the mental rejection of other alternatives and the statement of the one to which the speaker inclines; so that nescio an hoc ita sit 'I am inclined to think this is the case,' but later writers used it as it is used here. So even Horace, Odes Iv. 7. 17 Quis sit an adjiciant hodiernae crastina summae Tempora Di superi. 10. inter illos. Sc. spectatores. Keeping up the metaphor of the proverbial expression just used-I sit in that part of the amphitheatre where the people protest against such uneven fighting as a mirmillo armed only with the rudis fighting a retiarius fully equipped. Taken out of the metaphor it means, 'I strongly advise you not to have recourse to such a feeble protection as a prefatory epistle when you have such a powerful weapon as epigram writing.' 11. Puto begins Martial's reply to the supposed expostulation of Decianus. 12. quid. Sc. dicas. 'If you only knew what a letter and what a long letter you were going to be troubled with!' but for your expostulation. 13. negotium habere, to have dealings with.' fueris habiturus. Lit. 'You have been about to have.' 14. tibi, 'to your advice.' On Decianus see 1. 39. 6, 61. I. 1. An address to his book, congratulating it on being short. 3. at nunc. 'As it is' opposed to what it might have been. succincti properly means 'wearing a short or tucked-up garment.' So active, quick, because unencumbered, XII. 24. succinctus cursor: here it means concise, succinct, in our sense, short, having nothing superfluous in it. So Pliny speaks of trees as Graciles succinctioresque,' i.e. having no superfluous wood about them. N.H. xvi. 10. 5. librarius. Sc. scriba or servus 'The transcriber,' one of the publisher's staff of slaves. This line is important as showing the speed with which these men worked. The second book contains nearly 550 lines. 6. nec tantum nor be bound to devote so much time to my poor trifles,' i. e. as a longer book would require. 'He won't be all day copying my poor epigrams.' 8. usque malus though you may be as bad as ever you can be,' lit. continuously or unceasingly bad,' i.e. without any exception to your badness, without any redeeming feature. So Verg. Ecl. Ix. 64, where Professor Conington takes usque with eamus, but the sense appears to be rather, 'let us go on, but sing all the while (usque) as we go,' the parenthesis (minus via laedit) seeming to show that usque belongs to Cantantes; Martial v. 60. 1 allatres licet usque nos et usque,' i.e. without ceasing, 'ever so.' 9. te. 'A guest can read you after his glass of calda has been mixed, and before it has had time to cool.' The cyathus, not a drinking vessel, but a measure, bore the same proportion to the sextarius that the uncia did to the as. Consequently the divisions of the as, e. g. triens, quincunx, were constantly used to express drinking goblets containing so many cyathi 4, 5, or whatever the number might be, i. e. 1, of the sextarius. Martial mentions even deunces, that is cups containing of a sextarius. Cf. vI. 78. 6 misceri sibi protinus deunces sed crebros (and plenty of them). Quincunces and trientes appear to have been the commonest sizes. Calda, a mixture of wine with boiling water, was a very favourite drink. See Becker's Gallus, p. 493. tepesco here is to grow warm from having been boiling hot; so practically 'to cool.' Martial says that this book is so short that a man might read it through while his negus was cooling. For this sense of tepesco cf. Lucan Iv. 234 "Paullatim cadit ira ferox mentesque tepescunt." 11. "Dost think that thy size will secure thee (against neglect)? Alas! alas! short as thou art (sic quoque) how many will deem thee long?" VI. To Severus, a critic, complaining that he had urged the poet to publish, and would not read his poems when they were published. For Severus cf. v. 80. 1. I nunc. Cf. de Spect. XXIII. 6 so much for your urging me,' &c. 3. eschatocollion. The last page-derived either from κώλον οι κολλάω, the last member, or the last strip of papyrus glued on. In either case the meaning is the same. book was evidently a papyrus roll. See 1. 3. This 5. relegente, i.e. when I complied with your flattering request 'just to read that one over again.' 6. rapta, 'in a hurry '=raptim almost. sed Vitellianis. 'Aye, and on Vitellians too.' On sed see I. 43. 9. Vitelliani, sc. pugillares, were writing-tablets of the most expensive kind-so called probably from the name of the first maker. They were used especially for love-letters. XIV. 8. The tabulae ceratae or cerae, pieces of wood covered with wax, and written on with the Stilus, were most commonly used by the Romans for any kind of writing where great length was not required, e. g. for accounts, legal documents, letters, &c., when several of these were joined together (by means of wire at the back) they formed what were called codices, and according as two or three or more were fastened together, they were termed diptycha triptycha &c., or, by translation, triplices duplices, &c. When these were of small dimensions they were known as pugillares. The material generally employed for common writing purposes was deal wood, but sometimes, especially in the case of pugillares, more expensive materials were used-citron wood, ivory, and sometimes parchment. Martial xiv. 3-9 inclusive. What the peculiarity of the Vitelliani was is unknown. 9. aut meliora 'or else better ones, that you have not seen. They are either the same that you made such a fuss about, or if not the same, better ones-therefore there is no excuse for your neglect. si qua, i.e. 'si qua sunt quae nescis, meliora sunt.' 10. "What was the use of my keeping my book within such modest limits, if it takes you, an ardent admirer, three whole days to get through it?" Martial had apparently sent a copy of the book, as soon as it was published, hoping for an immediate and flattering reply. 11. umbilico in the singular, the stick on which the papyrus was rolled. This book was so small that it required no roller. Some of the papyrus rolls found at Pompeii were without sticks. Marquardt v. ii. 305, cf. 1. 66. 11. 13. nunquam. Never was such indolent enjoyment.' Ironical. Cf. vi. 42. 21 'Non attendis et aure me supina Jamdudum quasi negligenter audis.' 14. lassus, &c. Martial compares Severus to a lazy 15. Bovillae, a place on the via Appia, about ten miles 16. interiungere, properly unyoke for a while, 'bait,' here Camenas. The fountain and temple of the Camenae was XI. On a disappointed dinner-hunter-one of the class of men whom Pliny calls laudiceni ep. 11. 14, and ZopoкλEîs— men who earned their dinner by other means, and especially by indiscriminate applause and loud 'bravos' in the law court or at the recitation. The name coenipeta belongs to quite late 2. Laudantem Selium coenae cum retia tendit seram, hypallage-the lateness applied to the portico instead of the man. So serum iter v. 16. 3. lugubre. That the gloom on his countenance be- speaks a secret sorrrow,' lit. That his slow countenance is sarcinae. The wife's fortune. So Iuv. III. 163. Quis 9. nihil decoxit, 'has not proved defaulter.' decoquo, properly meant, to diminish by boiling. Then it was used |