J823.] 



T.ycmm of Ancient Literature, 



and some of the most judicious ciilics 

 «t' a later date liavc conlinned tijo 

 praises Ijostowed upon him by his co- 

 tcmpoiarits. Uy the latter liis works 

 were held in liigii estimation, as plainly 

 appears from their ninuerous testimo- 

 nies to his merits. Perhaps we may 

 reasonably be permitted to suspeet, 

 that he was indebted lor mucli of this 

 admiration to his having introduced a 

 species of composition till tiicn lit- 

 tle known lo his countrymen. A few 

 specimens of it may, it is true, be oc- 

 casionally found in the Greek Antho- 

 logy ; but Marlial is almost the only 

 writer among the ancients who has 

 left us numerous or happj' examples 

 of the kind of epigram to which the 

 moderns appear to have exclusively 

 appropriated that name ; where a 

 pointed or witty conclusion is drawn 

 from a peciUiar collision of resem- 

 blances or differences in tiie subjects 

 ciioscn. In devoting himself to the 

 composition of j)oems of this nature, 

 the poet of Bilbilis selected a ground 

 almost untrodden by any of his prede- 

 cessors, and wiiieli, if we take into 

 account Ihc number iind variety of his 

 j)roiluetions, no succeeding writer has 

 occnpicd to so much advantage. Mar- 

 lial appears to have been born an 

 tpigramniatist. He found in every 

 aeliou which he perlurmcd himself, or 

 remarked in another, the theme of au 

 epigram ; and a kind of compo.sition 

 so readily adapting itself to every 

 subject, equally calculated for the 

 pnrpoSLS of wit or humour, satire or 

 compliment, and recommended to 

 mo^t of his readers by the attractive 

 charm of novelty, could hardly fail to 

 be pleasing and jiopnlar. 



It is not, at )lie same time, to be 

 concealed, that his productions were 

 of a nature (o create him numerous 

 enemies. Many of his epigrams were 

 t^ntircly personal in their subjects ; and 

 the severity and pointedness which 

 usually characterised his satire were 

 not likely to be speedily forgot, or 

 easily forgiven, by those who were the 

 objects of it. There can be little <loubt, 

 that to this circumstance may be attri- 

 buted much of the vexations that he 

 experienced, and the malevolence 

 with which he was assiiiled, particu- 

 larly in tlie decline of Ids life, lint 

 the ennnty which had power to harass 

 and embitter the latter part of his exis- 

 tence, was unable to inllucnee the 

 poet's posthumous reputation. Mar- 

 MoNTiiLY M.\fi. No. .378. 



17 



tial had evidently been cautious in the 

 selection of snbjcets for his satire ; of 

 the majority of those persons whom he 

 has attacked in his epigranrs, the very 

 names would have been unknown to 

 posterity, had be not given them an 

 unenviable niche iti the temple of fame. 

 And scarcely an instance occurs of 

 his having risqued ollending any con- 

 temporary v\liose testimony could be 

 likely to detract from the high charac- 

 ter which the poet enjoyed among the 

 literati of antiquity. 



Judging of his merits as an autlior, 

 at a distance of time which precludes 

 the possibility of being iidluenc; d by 

 those prejudices and personal feelings 

 which might bias the decision of his 

 contemporaries, it would appear that 

 the praises bestowed on his Mritings 

 by the critics of his own time have, to 

 say the least, had quite their due 

 weight in swaying the opinions of 

 readers at a later period. Martiai 

 seems to liave been generally over- 

 rated ; and that celebrity has been 

 attributed to his superiority as a poet, 

 which it is far more probable he owed 

 to the circumstances we have before 

 alluded to. His Latin can by no 

 meiins be considered as remarkable 

 for its purity, though, on this head, 

 allowance must certainly be made for 

 the period at whieli he wrote. Though 

 he has given sniBcient proof that he 

 was capable of elegance, he was far 

 from being habitually studious of it; 

 and hence many of his compositions 

 betray a carelessness and want of 

 finish altogether unworthy of his abi- 

 lities. In others he has evidently 

 written, not con amove, but merely for 

 the purpose of paying a compliment 

 to son-e friend or patron ; and in these 

 ellusions the reader looks in vain for 

 that spirit and vivacity, wln'ch on 

 many occiisions appear to be eharac- 

 teristics of the author. It must like- 

 wise be remarked, that even some of 

 his wittiest epigrams are chargeable 

 M ith one fault, scarcely to be pardoned 

 in that species of composition ; name- 

 ly, enabling tlie reader to anticipate 

 the point of them almost from the very 

 beginning. One praise, however, must 

 be conceded to Martial, to which very 

 few of the " (/emts irritahile vutimi" can 

 lay claim, — that of having apparently 

 been capable of forming a just esti- 

 mate of his own merits. The candid 

 confession contained in one of his 

 pieces — 



X) Sujit 



