VALERY Mark Marcial (Martialis, Marcus Valerius)

Marcial, Mark Valeri; Martialis, Marcus Valerius, from the Bible in Spain, ca. 40-104 years. n. e., Roman epigrammatik. Receiving a thorough education in the rhetorical school in his native Spain, in 64 g. moved to Rome. There he started a relationship with the noble families of mostly Spanish origin: Seneca, families Junius Galleon and Anne Melia, the father of the poet Lucan. He also made friends with luminaries of the literary and cultural world: Siliem Italians Kvintalianom, Pliny the Younger, Juvenal, Frontino. He particularly fussed about improving relations with the imperial court and high personages, dedicating them to their (often full of humility and flattery) works. Although hard work and undoubted poetic talent have helped him acquire a modest house in Rome and a small estate near Nomentanom, he was never able to achieve full financial independence and has never ceased to seek the attention of the powerful. In 98 g. by Pliny the Younger, who paid for the trip, M. returned home. There, a rich admirer of his talent Marcellus gave him a rural estate, giving them an opportunity to lead a quiet and prosperous life.

Even in his youth M. tried to force in the poetry, but the first of his works were lost. He worked as appears in only one poetic genre - epigrammatic, and brought him to the highest point of development. We now know of 15 books of epigrams Moscow, which are divided into three groups: having no room book Epigrammaton (Epigrammaton liber), also known as the Book of spectacles (Spectaculorum liber), which included an epigram, written in 80 g. and in subsequent years; kn. XIII and XIV issued in December 85 or 86 g. and Prince. I-XII (the first 11 of them were established in Rome to 98 g., and Prince. XII - in Spain in late 101 or early 102 g.). The book includes epigrams sights associated with the games, organized by Titus at the opening of the amphitheater was built, called the Colossus. Because she survived, only 33 short epigrams that describe the magnificence of the amphitheater, the celebration of its opening scenes, the battle of gladiators, exotic animals and t. d. Kn. XIII, . called Gifts (Xenia) contains a short poem, . play the role of inscriptions on gifts, . exchanged between friends during Saturnalia; similar products, . on trinket, . is playing during the feast, and carried away home, . are kn,
. XIV entitled goodies (Apophoreta).

These collections were beforehand introductory works, explaining the purpose of going after them epigrams. Books I-XI, Moscow, apparently published gradually, some of the books separately for several times, to make changes in re-editions. This is a rich collection of epigrams (1557), known in the latest edition of M. and they themselves divided on the books secured him a place in world literature Maitre. M., gifted with wit and observation showed the descendants of a number of details that are emerging in a colorful image of the socio-cultural attitudes and mores of the era. Against the backdrop of the beautiful public and private buildings bustling capital of the then world - Rome, . the poet shows the daily lives of people of different social groups, . parties and professions: outlines the shape of senators, . riders, . but also of the lower social classes - slaves and artisans,
. In the caricature he presents philosophers, healers, singers, leads to the baths, market and m. d. Particularly well it represents the characteristics of human types: minions of fortune, the parasite, the swindler, tricksters, etc.. For obvious reasons, he did not mention the names of his contemporaries, who are the subject of his ridicule, in such cases, he uses symbolic names: Sely - hanger-parasite Fidenza - plagiarism, etc.. M. says that he condemns the mistakes, but not people.

Most often, it shows the weaknesses and vulnerabilities, such as informing, impudence upstart, the excesses of fashion, sexual abuse and pranks. He describes the world around him with great realism, irony and the mark of criticism, but is drawn to his own thoughts, feelings and experiences. Sometimes he slips autobiographical details, for example, the mention of their homeland, their land, etc.. Relatively long and with enthusiasm he said of his own poetic creativity and the arts, tells about the fate of their publications. Heterogeneous content, he designed the various Foot, the most frequently used the elegiac distich, used as Choliamb (after Catullo), iambic trimeter, dactylic hexameter, etc.. Epigrams M. features a slim and well-considered composition, their deeper meaning is often revealed through the play of words, they are deprived of artificial rhetorical, for the remarkable literature of the time. Although M. and relies on the creativity of their Roman predecessors: Catullus, Domitius Mars and others, adopting their poetic phraseology, but it makes it so that the borrowing invisible. Also in those epigrams, where he imitates the Greek poets, M. shows our individuality and often exceeds the samples. Can object to the laudatory, and sometimes servile nature of his poetry, but M. is undoubtedly the original artist. He enjoyed fame throughout antiquity and in modern times.