Introduction

This edition provides an English translation of and detailed commentary on the second book of epigrams published by the Latin poet Marcus Valerius Martialis.

Background and Significance

The past ten years have seen a resurgence of interest in Martial's writings. But contemporary readers are in particular need of assistance when approaching these epigrams, and until now there has been no modern commentary dedicated to Book II.

Content and Approach

This new commentary carefully illuminates the allusions to people, places, things, and cultural practices of late first-century Rome that pervade Martial's poetry. It analyzes the epigrammatist's poems as literary creations, treating such topics as the structure of the individual poems and of the book as a whole, and the influence of earlier texts on Martial's language and themes.