Library of the world's best literature, ancient and modern . n whom he pulled all the stringsof fulsome flattery and importunate appeal;adjusting himself to the privileges and ex-pectancies of Romes miscellaneous upperten^^ in private and public resorts: solacinghis better nature with the contact and es-teem of the best authors of the day. Boredwith the ^^ fuss and feathers*^ of town life,and yearning for the lost or imagined happiness of his native place,he would from time to time fly to his Nomentane cottage or maketrips into the provinces, only to be disenchanted by rustic monotonyand depre
Library of the world's best literature, ancient and modern . n whom he pulled all the stringsof fulsome flattery and importunate appeal;adjusting himself to the privileges and ex-pectancies of Romes miscellaneous upperten^^ in private and public resorts: solacinghis better nature with the contact and es-teem of the best authors of the day. Boredwith the ^^ fuss and feathers*^ of town life,and yearning for the lost or imagined happiness of his native place,he would from time to time fly to his Nomentane cottage or maketrips into the provinces, only to be disenchanted by rustic monotonyand depressed by the lack of urban occupations and diversions. Hisworks, and his life as there sketched, expose the times and theiirepresentative men at their best and at their worst. This delineationgives to his writings an importance even greater than that due tohis general pre-eminence as the one poet of his age, or to the specialsupremacy of his epigrams as such. His rating as a poet has indeedbeen questioned, and his restriction of the epigram deplored; but no. -?:;?; <«^5 Martial MARTIAL . 97^1 one can question his portraiture of the Roman Empire at the turn ofits troubled tide. Returning to Spain early in Trajans reign, he died there about102; and his death is noted with sincere feeling by the youngerPliny, whose recognition must to a certain degree offset our repug-nance to some of Martials acknowledged characteristics. Martial wasa man of many personal attractions: he was essentially sympatheticand true, loving nature and children; his manners were genial, andhis education was finished; his acute observation was matched by hisversatile wit; in an age of artifice, his style was as natural as hisdisposition was fair and generous. All these qualities are detectedin his works, although his time demanded the general repression orthe prudent display of such qualities by one whose livelihood mustdepend on patronage, — an inevitable professionalism that perhapsfully explains, not
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectliterat, bookyear1902
