THE EPIGRAM AND ITS GREATEST MASTER 9 



and aggressive employment of this form by these two writers, particularly 

 by Martial, gave the word a new meaning : 



Omne epigramma sit instar apis, sit aculeus illi. 

 Sint sua mella: sit et corporis exigui. 



The qualities rare in a bee that we meet 



In an epigram never should fail, 

 The body should always be little and sweet 



And a sting should be left in the tail. 



— Panorama of Wit, 1809, p. 250. 



These Hnes, notwithstanding the protests of accurate scholars, con- 

 tinue to express the ordinary understanding of epigram, and this fact is 

 due very largely to Martial's influence. Indeed, so closely does the 

 theory of this couplet correspond to much of Martial's practice that it was 

 attributed to his authorship by a long-persistent error. 



That Martial was the greatest of epigrammatists was stated by Les- 

 sing in his still valuable treatise on the epigram, and has been reiterated by 

 many men of less authority. It is easy to abuse Martial ; but it is impos- 

 sible to procure a reversal of this general verdict. Relatively to the other 

 great Latin authors Martial is at present Httle read, and for one student 

 who is familiar with the molder of the modern epigram the readers of 

 Horace or Vergil may be counted by scores or even hundreds. Of this 

 neglect a talented Frenchman has offered an explanation in a dehghtful 

 article in the Revue des Deux Mondes for July 15, 1900. " Martial is httle 

 read in France," says M. Boissier, "and the poet himself is to blame, be- 

 cause his works with all their wit and charm contain disgusting obscenities 

 which render it dangerous to speak to younger people of the jolies choses 

 for fear of inspiring them with a desire to read the rest." Thus the youth 

 of Paris are guarded from the perils of the deep. Previous generations 

 of Frenchmen, however, were not so paternally sheltered, as is shown by 

 Martial's tremendous influence on French literature, nor have comijion- 

 sense Germany and respectable England refrained from the fullest 

 enjoyment of his genius. 



Martial was born on a fourth of March between 38 and 41 of our 

 era. His parents hved in the little town of Bilbihs in central Spain and 

 gave their son an excellent education, which was probably begun in his 



