Martial and the Moderns (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Martial and the Moderns Martial has received some prejudice from its being supposed, in modern times, that every epigram had its sting, and was always an attempt, more or less successful, at some flash of wit; whereas, the term anciently signified an inscription, of which the recom mendations are that? It should be brief, and simple, but not necessarily facetious. It is true that Martial labours to give to the last line or two of his epigrams a sharper edge than was the practice of Catullus, who followed more closely the patterns of the Greeks; yet he expressly repudiates the notion that epigrams are merely subservient to wit. Martial's works, however, may, sometimes, excite admiration for this quality; but, more frequently, for their humour, irony, ridicule, good sense, and sagacity. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.