Martial: An Introduction

Martial Valerius Martialis, known now simply by his praenomen Martial, was born around 40 CE in Bílbilis, a Roman colony in Hispania (modern-day Calatayud, Spain). Although not in Rome proper, Bílbilis was a well-established town, and Martial was born into the equestrian class, granting him access to a high-class literary education and the social status necessary to pursue his literary goals. Indeed, in his mid-twenties, around 64 CE, Martial moved to Rome during the reign of Emperor Nero and lived a precarious lifestyle, depending on friends, patrons, and connections to stay afloat.

Image Credit: Center for the Art of Translation

Martial's early years as a writer in Rome were notably modest, characterized by inconsequential publications and struggle, which contributed to his growing disenchantment with the opportunistic and at times absurd urban Roman society. While this awareness was germinating, Martial concurrently honed his literary skills and acquired an affinity for the epigram, a short and punchy poetic metrical style that, though used sparingly at the time, was traditionally associated with comedy and critique. By the time the Flavian dynasty came to power with Emperor Domitian, Martial was a practiced observer of Roman life and master of the epigramatic meter; he was ready to break into the mainstream.

With the publication of Liber Spectaculorum, written in commemoration of the Colosseum's opening in 80 CE, Martial achieved his first major literary success. Over the next two decades, Martial would go on to publish 15 books of epigrams chronicling Roman life, from political satire to the rich's ignorant complaints. Although aided by prominent patrons, without whom he would not have been able to write for a living, Martial did not hesitate to mock the system he so heavily relied on. His poems jovially attacked corrupt officials, entitled clients, social climbers, and, in his view, terrible poets. Biting, versatile, and conversational, Martial's verse was a refreshing change from the classic Roman epic, and fascinated the very readers he criticized so harshly.

Yet, despite his explicit, coarse, and sometimes sexual language, Martial's poetry was not devoid of tenderness; in fact, it held the attribute in spades. In poems that mourned his friends, celebrated pleasures, and admired the qualities of the lower-class workers around him, Martial displayed a tremendous capacity for empathy, endearing him even further to the Roman public. This emotional range propelled and sustained Martial's career, allowing him to compile a collection titled Xenia and Apophoreta in 84-85 CE while concurrently publishing twelve books of epigrams at an unbelievable speed: one per year.

Now famous and beloved amongst Roman society, Martial remained in favor even after the fall of Domitian and early Trajan's rule. However, with Rome undergoing rapid urbanization and wealth stratification, Martial increasingly expressed his frustrations with the chaos and performative nature of urban Roman life, instead favoring a dignified, rural existence. Finally, in around 98 CE, Martial acted on these impulses and returned to his native province of Hispania, where one of his benefactresses, Marcella, gifted him a small estate. Here, his final book of epigrams, which reflected on his newfound contentment, was completed. Sadly, Martial's time in the countryside was rather brief, with him likely dying just a few years later in around 105 CE.

However, Martial's legacy stretches on far longer than his life. Indeed, he greatly influenced Renaissance literature and individual poets such as Alexander Pope, Dorothy Parker, and Ben Johnson, who were all inspired by his wit and unafraid critique. His style, both sharp and sincere while still deeply personal and authentic, cements Martial's legacy as a pioneering ancient cultural critic. His most enduring quality, namely his remarkable capacity to observe with clarity, permeates through all types of art and writing today.

Although this post provides only the broadest strokes of Martial's life and legacy, we hope the context provided here creates a helpful backdrop for our future poetic analyses of Martial's work. As always, please let us know in the comments any additional facts you'd like to see included, as well as poems of Martial you'd like to see analyzed first!