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Martialis, Marcus Valerius
(Author)
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Martial's 12 books of Epigrams were written for the most part in elegiac couplets modeled on Ovid and Catullus. They show Martial's acute observation of Roman life in the last third of the first century and were written with wit and brevity, often postponing the point or sting until the end. They are frequently insulting and sexually explicit.
Not much is known of Martial's life, except that he left his home in Bilbilis, Spain to live by his writing and his wits in Rome. He courted the favor of the rich and powerful, was a friend of Seneca, Lucan, Juvenal, and Quintilian, and Pliny the Younger lamented his death. The Epigrams have been read and imitated throughout the centuries; one of them was translated as the memorable "I do not love thee, Dr. Fell."
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