2. Student Study Book - Cambridge School Classics Project

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Martial, Epigrams 8.12, Marital equality?uxorem quare locupletem ducere nolimquaeritis? uxori nubere nolo meae.inferior matrona suo sit, Prisce, marito:non aliter fiunt femina virque pares.1 uxor, uxoris, f. - wifequare? - why?locuples, gen. locupletis - rich, wealthyduco, ducere, duxi, ductus - marry; leadnolo, nolle, nolui - not want2 quaero, quaerere, quaesivi, quaesitus - askuxor, uxoris, f. - wifenubo, nubere, nupsi + dat. - be a wife tonolo, nolle, nolui - not wantmeus, mea, meum - my3 inferior, inferior, inferius - lowermatrona, matronae, f. - wife, married womansuus, sua, suum - his, her, itssum, esse, fui - bePriscus, Prisci, m. - Priscusmaritus, mariti, m. - husband4 non - notaliter - in another way, otherwisefio, fieri, factus sum - becomefemina, feminae, f. - womanvir, viri, m. - husband, man-que - andpar, gen. paris - equal, equally matched72 WJEC Level 2 Latin Literature Unit 9541 Love and Marriage
Marcus Valerius Martialis (Martial) came from Spain and lived from about AD 40 to about AD 104. He spent mostof his life in Rome, supported by wealthy patrons and composing epigrams. He was a keen observer of everythingaround him, and his picture of Rome, its inhabitants, its sights, its sounds and its smells, is sometimes remarkablyvivid, coloured at times by lively exaggeration and obscenity. This epigram, like many of his others, is in elegiaccouplets.1. An epigram is a sentence or short poem normally making a single point in a witty or unexpected way, and oftencarrying a sting in its tail. Some examples:Swans sing before they die; ‘twere no bad thingShould certain persons die before they sing. (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)He could never make a fool of himself. Nature beat him to it. (Anon.)Your teeth are like stars – they come out at night. (Anon.)Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason. (Sir John Harrington – various versions)*Working together, can you find or quote other examples of epigrams? (Beware of getting too tangled inarguments over whether a particular example qualifies or not.)2. Martial’s epigrams are often directed at named individuals. Some of the epigrams praise or flatter the people hewrites about, but others concentrate more on faults of character, social misbehaviour, physical defects and otherfeatures characteristic of the human race. His targets include writers of bad poetry, people who always praisethe past, a woman who got through seven husbands, and a doctor who became an undertaker (“different name,same job” says Martial); he even attacks a schoolteacher.Not all his poems were strictly epigrams, and at times he could compose poems very different from his usualacid style – an affectionate elegy on a dead slave girl, a tribute to an old friend or reflections on the pleasures ofcountry life.3. Read the poem (aloud if possible) or listen to the audio on the CSCP website.4. Study the vocabulary.5. Read the poem (or listen to the audio) again.Check6. A reminder about direct and indirect questions: translate these examples.(i) direct question:quare Publius cantare non vult?(ii) indirect question:amici semper quaerunt quare Publius cantare nolit.(iii) angry exclamation by Publius to his friends, combined with an indirect question: (translate theexclamation first, then the indirect question)quare cantare nolim semper quaeritis!(iv) angry direct question by Publius, combined with an indirect question:di immortales! quare cantare nolim iterum quaeritis?7. Find the adjective which describes uxorem in line 1. Translate both words.8. What question is put to Martial (or to whoever is meant to be the “speaker” of the poem) in line 1?9. What answer does Martial give in line 2?10. Why is his answer extraordinary? (If the difference between uxorem duco and nubo has slipped your mind, seeCatullus Poem 70, question 8.)11. What does Martial mean by uxori nubere? (Hint: which member of a Roman married couple was normallysupposed to be in charge? What does Martial imply would happen if the marriage involved an uxor locuples?)12. In Catullus Poem 5, question 8 you met the “jussive” subjunctive, used when somebody gives an order andincludes himself in the order:vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus.Let us live and love, my Lesbia.The jussive subjunctive is also used to give an order about somebody or something, and English has severalways of translating it:nuntius hodie reveniat Let the messenger return today, orThe messenger is to return today.huc fur ducaturLet the thief be brought here, orThe thief should be brought here, orThe thief is to be brought here.WJEC Level 2 Latin Literature Unit 9541 Love and Marriage 73
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WJECLevel 2 Certificate in Latin Li
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CIL 1.2.1211, Epitaph to Claudia -
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NotesWJEC Level 2 Latin Literature
Page 9 and 10:
20. Read lines 5-8 (aloud if possib
Page 11 and 12:
Follow your teacher's guidance over
Page 13 and 14:
13. Read lines 4-8 (aloud if possib
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
28. Read lines 8-11 (aloud if possi
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Page 21 and 22: 47. Read lines 11-14 (aloud if poss
Page 25 and 26: NotesWJEC Level 2 Latin Literature
Page 27 and 28: The poems of Catullus, who lived in
Page 29 and 30: NotesWJEC Level 2 Latin Literature
Page 31 and 32: 27. Read lines 7-9 (aloud if possib
Page 36 and 37: Catullus, Poem 8 - lines 1-5miser C
Page 38 and 39: 18. According to Catullus in line 3
Page 40 and 41: Catullus, Poem 8 - lines 6-8ibi ill
Page 42 and 43: Catullus, Poem 8 - lines 9-11nunc i
Page 44 and 45: Catullus, Poem 8 - lines 12-15vale
Page 46 and 47: Catullus, Poem 8 - lines 16-19quis
Page 48 and 49: 82. Translate the last three words
Page 50 and 51: Catullus, Poem 70nulli se dicit mul
Page 52 and 53: (ii) The person who ought to do som
Page 54 and 55: Catullus, Poem 72 - lines 1-4diceba
Page 56 and 57: Catullus, Poem 72 - lines 5-8nunc t
Page 58 and 59: Catullus, Poem 83 - lines 1-2Lesbia
Page 60 and 61: Catullus, Poem 83 - lines 3-6mule,
Page 62 and 63: 24. et in line 6 is more than just
Page 64 and 65: Ovid, Ars Amatoria 1.469-478, Advic
Page 66 and 67: 15. In time, what do these animals
Page 68 and 69: Ovid, Ars Amatoria 1.469-478, Advic
Page 70 and 71: 44. What is the literal translation
Page 74 and 75: CheckCheckCheckTranslate these exam
Page 76 and 77: Pliny, Letters 4.19, To Calpurnia H
Page 78 and 79: Check12. Translate these examples:(
Page 84 and 85: allowed in court (see question 30),
Page 92 and 93: 77. The marriage (like Pliny’s tw
Page 94 and 95: Pliny, Letters 6.24, Faithful unto
Page 98 and 99: Check20. Another version of the wif
Page 102 and 103: The following questions refer to Lo
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