Christer Henriksen Martial, Book IX- A Commentary (Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis Studia Latina Upsaliensia, 24)-2 Volume Set (Latin Edition) 1999

7/23/2019 Christer Henriksen Martial, Book IX- A Commentary (Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis Studia Latina Upsaliensia, 24)-2

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Dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Latin presented at UppsalaUniversity in 1998

ABSTRACT

Henriksn, C., 1998. Martial, Book IX. A Commentary. Vol. 1. Acta. Univ. Ups., StudiaLatina Upsaliensia24:1. 223 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 91-554-4293-5.

This dissertation consists of a commentary on Book 9 of the Epigrams of M. ValeriusMartialis (ca.40104 AD). The book, with its 105 epigrams one of the longer in Martials

production, was published in late 94 or early 95 and presents the reader with Martialscharacteristic variety of subjects drawn from contemporary Roman society and everydaylife. Notable is that Book 9 contains a markedly higher frequency of poems focusing on theemperor Domitian than any other of Martials books. The tendency towards a greaterattention to Domitian is obvious already in Book 8 (published in early 94) and is likely tohave been continued also in the last book published under his reign, the now lost firstedition of Book 10 (published in 95). In Book 9, this tendency is also reflected in theincrease of references to Domitian simply as Iuppiteror as Tonans, of the application tothe emperor of epithets originally belonging to divinities, and of comparisons of Domitianwith gods, particularly with Jupiter, the Sun, and Hercules. The book as a whole is set

within an imperial framework, marked at the beginning by poems 1, 3, 5 and 7, and bypoem 101 at the end.The present commentary consists of an introduction discussing the date, general char-

acteristics, structure and themes of Book 9 (with special regard to matters concerning theemperor), followed by a detailed commentary on each of the 105 poems, placing them intheir social, historical and literary context.

Key-words: Martial, epigram, Domitian, Silver Latin, panegyric, Statius, Ovid, GreekAnthology.

C. Henriksn, Department of Classical Philology, Uppsala University, Box 527, SE-751

20 Uppsala, Sweden.

Christer Henriksn 1998

ISSN 0562-2859ISBN 91-554-4292-7 (vols. 24:124:2)ISBN 91-554-4293-5 (vol. 24:1)ISBN 91-554-4294-3 (vol. 24:2)

Printed in Sweden by Textgruppen i Uppsala AB 1998Distributor: Uppsala University Library, Box 510, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden


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Susannaelongi laboris consciae


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Preface and Acknowledgements

A new commentary on Martial needs little justification. Since the publication of

Friedlnders commentary on the complete works of Martial in 1886, our abilityto understand the Epigrams has greatly improved, thanks to the increasingamount of modern scholarly work. Silver Latin poetry, long considered to be ba-roque in comparison with its Augustan precursors, has been re-assessed. Theemperor Domitian, who for a very long time was looked upon as a ruthless tyrant,has obtained some redress, which is bound to be reflected on the poets who puttheir talents to his service. For all that, there will always be some lines or poemsin the text of Martial which will remain enigmatic, single distichs that are obvi-ously witty jokes or savage satire but which will elude our understanding. Nomatter how much progress is made in the field of classical studies, we shall neverbe able to fully attain the frames of reference of a late-first-century Roman. Insuch cases, we can but suggest an explanation and argue in favour of it, butprobably never conclusively demonstrate its correctness.

The first modern commentary, by Mario Citroni on Book 1, appeared in 1975.Since then, commentaries have been published on Book 1 (1980) and Book 5(1995) by Peter Howell, on Book 11 by Nigel Kay (1985), on Book 14 by TimLeary (1996), and on Book 6 by Farouk Grewing (1997). To all of these, I freelyacknowledge my debts. Besides, commentaries on some of the books exist in theform of unpublished Ph.D. theses in Britain. For the current state of research into

Martial, I refer the reader to the surveys by Grewing in the introduction to hiscommentary (pp. 1116) and in his preface to F. Grewing (ed.), Toto notus inorbe. Perspektiven der Martial-Interpretation, Stuttgart 1998, pp. 713.

I would here like to express my cordial thanks to Professor Hans Helander,who has firmly guided me through the writing of this commentary, scrutinized mytext and purged it from many an error, while always sharing generously his pro-found knowledge of Greek and Latin literature. Docent Monica Hedlund has fol-lowed my work with great interest and often put stray reasoning back on the pathof common sense. Professor Sten Eklund has, as always, not only advised me onphilological matters, but also assisted me with financial and technical concerns.To all of these, I offer my sincere gratitude, not least for believing that this workwas possible in the first place. My thanks are also due to Henrik Vitalis, M.A.,who patiently read the manuscript from cover to cover, and to Dimitrios Iordano-glou, B.A., who kindly undertook the task of proof-reading the Greek. My Englishhas been corrected by Neil Tomkinson, B.A., and has also benefited from thevaluable advice of Denis Searby, Ph.D.

Uppsala, 24 September 1998

C.H.


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Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1. The date of Book 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112. General characteristics and metres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133. The structure of Book 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3.1. The general pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3.2. Cycles and pairs of epigrams in Book 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164. Themes and motifs in Book 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214.1.General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214.2. Domitian the commander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

4.2.1.Domitianus Germanicus: The war against the Chatti . . . . 234.2.2. The Second Pannonian War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4.3. Domitian the god . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284.3.1. Comparisons with Jupiter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294.3.2. Comparisons with other divinities and Domitian as deus. . 32

5. Some notes on the tradition of the manuscripts and on the textof Book 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

6. A note on the use of this commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377. Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

7.1. Editions of Martial: A selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377.2. Modern commentaries on Martial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387.3. Commentaries on other Greek and Latin authors . . . . . . . . . . . . 387.4. Works referred to by abbreviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407.5. Secondary literature referred to in this commentary . . . . . . . . . . 41

Text and Commentary: Praefatioand poems 147. . . . . . . . . 45


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Introduction

1. The date of Book 9

We know, with a reasonable degree of certainty, that Book 8 appeared at the be-ginning of the year 94 and that the first edition of Book 10 appeared in (the De-cember of ?) 95.1These dates, obviously, are the definitive termini post quemandante quemfor the publishing of Book 9. From the mid-eighties, Martials books ofepigrams had appeared at fairly regular intervals (usually about a year, nevermore than two), so there is reason to suppose that the publication of Book 9 fellmidway between these two termini. Similarly, it must be assumed that the major-ity of the poems in the book were written in 94 or else would have appeared in

Book 8. This is, however, not conclusive, as will be demonstrated below.Friedlnder (pp. 61 f.) placed the publishing of Book 9 in the late summer orearly autumn of 94. As evidence for this dating, he produced two poems in par-ticular, 9, 84 and 9, 40. In the former, Martial states that the addressee of theepigram, Norbanus, had been absent from Rome (viz. in the office of equestrianprocurator of Rhaetia) for six years when it was written. The opening lines of thepoem (Cum tua sacrilegos contra, Norbane, furores | staret pro domino Caesaresancta fides) mention the revolt of Saturninus, which broke out about the turn ofthe year 8889. Friedlnder, who was not aware that Norbanus was stationed inRhaetia as procurator, connected his departure from Rome with the outbreak of

the revolt and concluded that 9, 84 was written in the autumn of 94 (ohneZweifel konnte M. von einem Zeitraum von 6 Jahren sprechen, wenn auch nocheinige Monate daran fehlte). However, Norbanus did not likely leave Rome inorder to suppress the revolt but to enter upon his office as procurator. The problemis, though, that it is not known precisely when he arrived in Rhaetia, only that hewas there by the time of Saturninus revolt. If he entered upon his office in 87 (asdid Lappius Maximus, the governor of Germania inferior, who led the suppres-sion of the revolt), this would place 9, 84 in 93 instead of 94. The only objectionthat can be made to such an assumption is that 9, 84, had it been written in 93,would probably have appeared in Book 8. However, such an argument is far fromcogent, as is sufficiently demonstrated by 9, 31. In this poem, Martial commemo-

1I follow here the dating of Books 8 and 10 given by Citroni in his article Marziale e la Letteratura per iSaturnali (poetica dellintrattenimento e cronologia della pubblicazione dei libri), ICS 14 (1989), pp.201226. Sullivan (Martial, p. 40) erroneously sets the date for the publication of Book 8 in December 94on the basis of 8, 66, in which Martial congratulates Silius Italicus elder son L. Silius Decianus on hisconsulship. It is true that Silius Decianus was suffect consul from the 1st of September 94, but 8, 66 was inall likelihood not written to congratulate him on his entrance upon office but on his designation, probably inearly January 94 (see R. Hainslink, Die neuen Fastenfragmente von Ostia in ihrer Beziehung zugleichzeitigem epigraphischem und literarischem Material, WS 63 [1948], pp. 117135 [here p. 127];

Citroni, op. cit, p. 224, n. 40). As a consequence of his dating of Book 8 to December 94, Sullivan puts thepublishing of Book 9 in the spring of 95. Hainslink (op. cit., pp. 126129) also argued in favour of thepublication of Book 9 in early 95, but his argument was partly based on the dating of 9, 84 to late 94,which cannot be ascertained with the requisite certainty (see below). Hainslinks dating of the SecondPannonian War to 9394 instead of 9293 is, while of no consequence for the dating of Book 9, obviouslymistaken, since this war is alluded to also in Book 7, which was published in 92.


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rates a vow performed by a certain Velius, in all probability C. Velius Rufus, onthe return of Domitian from the Second Pannonian War. The emperor returnedfrom this war in January 93; the vow is likely to have been performed and 9, 31written shortly afterwards (cf. 9, 31, 9 f. quae litat argento pro te, non sanguine,Caesar, | victima, iam ferro non opus esse docet). Yet it did not appear in Book 8,perhaps because Martial wanted the imperial theme of Book 8 to focus entirely onthe celebration of the emperors return, while saving the aspect of Domitian as aPrince of Peace for Book 9 (see section 4.2.2 below).

More useful is 9, 40, which relates to the Capitoline games, instituted byDomitian in 86 and held in the summer every fourth year (see note on 9, 3, 8).The poem tells of the Alexandrine poet Diodorus, who left Alexandria for Rometo participate in the games but was shipwrecked and forced to return. It mustreasonably have been written in connection with (probably after) the games of thesummer of 94. 9, 35 would have been written slightly before these games, when

the question of who was going to win the oak-wreath was still a matter of gossip(see 9, 35, 10).A handful of poems can be assigned to a certain time of the year, i.e. 39

(written for the birthday of Caesonia on the 24th of October), 52 and 53 (writtenfor the birthday of Q. Ovidius on his birthday on the 1st of April), 54 and 55 (forthe Caristiaon the 22nd of February), 60 in the early summer (in der Rosenzeit,Friedlnder, p. 62), and perhaps also 90 (ibid.). Poem 98, finally, alluding to thewine harvest, would have been written in the autumn. Of these poems,Friedlnder attributes nos. 39 and 98 to the year 93, the rest to 94. However, thereis really nothing in the poems to support such a division, and it is just as likelythat all of them were written in 94.

Of great importance for dating the publishing of Book 9 are poems 43 and 44,on the Hercules statuette in the possession of Novius Vindex. This statuette ismade the subject also of Statius silv. 4, 6, and it is most likely that all three po-ems were written for one and the same dinner party (see 9, 43 intro.), which,according to Statius, took place on a winters night; see silv. 4, 6, 1216 nobisverus amor medioque Helicone petitus | sermo hilaresque ioci brumalem ab-sumere noctem | suaserunt mollemque oculis expellere somnum, | donec abElysiis prospexit sedibus alter | Castor et hesternas risit Tithonia mensas. H.-J.

van Dam (Notes on Statius Silvae IV, Mnemosyne45 [1992], p. 216) has sug-gested that Statius, in mentioning alter Castor, hints at the date of Vindex din-ner-party (or rather the morning after the day before), viz. January 27, the dateof the dedication of the temple of Castor and Pollux. But is this the January of 94or of 95, or even of 93? In her commentary on Silvae4, Coleman (p. xxii) statesthat silv. 4, 6 can be dated after the publication of Books 13;1the terminus antequem is obviously the publishing of Silvae4 in the summer of 95 (Coleman, pp.xix ff.). Hardie (p. 65) goes one step further, saying that the nine poems whichnow make up the fourth book all seem to have been written between the end of 94and mid-95. Silvae3 is traditionally dated to the late summer or the autumn of

1Coleman supports the hypothesis that Silvae 13 were published together and not separately (see hercommentary, pp. xvi ff.). In his commentary on Silvae2 (p. 3), van Dam took the opposite view, viz. thatthe books were published separately. This complicated and, it would seem, indeterminable issue is luckilyof no importance to the dating of silv. 4, 6.


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94; see Wissowa in Friedlnder, Sittengeschichte4, p. 296, and H. Frre, Stace,Silves, Paris 1961, p. xxi. Hardie (p. 64) puts it in 9394, and van Dam, whilecommending Frres chronology, cautiously places it after the summer of 93(commentary, p. 3). However, I think it is safe to assume a date in 94 for the pub-lication of Silvae3, because silv. 3, 4, written to commemorate the hair-offeringof Earinus, must be contemporaneous with the Earinus cycle in Book 9, which islikely to have been written in that year.

There is always the danger of begging the question when using poems in theSilvae to date poems in the Epigrams and vice versa. If, however, as it seemsreasonable to assume, Silvae3 was published in 94, and all the poems in Silvae4were written after the publishing of Book 3, silv. 4, 6, and consequently Martials9, 43 and 44, must have been written for a dinner-party given at Vindex house inthe winter of 9495. In such a case, Book 9 cannot have been published earlierthan, say, December 94. Furthermore, if van Dams theory, that the dinner was

given on the 26th of January, is correct, then Book 9 cannot have been publishedin 94, but must have appeared in early 95.Accordingly, there may be reason to advance Friedlnders dating of the pub-

lishing of Book 9 by half a year or so to December 94 or even to early 95. One ortwo poems may be dated to the year 93, but the book as a whole should be consid-ered a product of the year 94, in which the majority of the poems would have beenwritten.

2. General characteristics and metres

Book 9 consists of a preface (containing an introductory epigram), followed by104 epigrams (no. 95 being divided into 95 and 95 b). These 105 epigrams con-tain altogether 855 lines, giving an average length of 8.14 lines per epigram. Tenepigrams consist of only two lines (nos. 10, 15, 33, 63, 69, 78, 80, 89, 95 and 96;apart from no. 33, these are exclusively written in elegiacs). Nine poems havemore than 12 lines (no. 57 [13 lines]; 2, 3, 27, 43, 65 [14 lines each]; 22 [16]; 11[17]; 90 [18]), three have more than 20 lines (59 and 61 [22 lines each]; 101[24]).

With regard to the number of epigrams, Book 9 is the third longest of Books112; only Books 1 (119 epigrams, including the one in the preface) and 11 (108epigrams) contain more poems.1As regards the number of lines, Book 9 is onlysurpassed by Book 10 (second edition, published in the year 98), which contains878 lines.2

1The average number of epigrams in Books 112 (including the epigrams found in the prefaces of Books 1and 9) is 97.9. Grewing (p. 24) sets the average number at 97.7, not counting, I suppose, the epigramsfound in the prefaces. The figures for the other books are as follows: Book 2, 93 epigrams; Book 3, 100;

Book 4, 89; Book 5, 84; Book 6, 94; Book 7, 99; Book 8, 82; Book 10, 104; Book 11, 108; Book 12, 98.Not included in these statistics are the fragmentaryLiber de spectaculis(37 poems in Shackleton Baileysedition) and Books 13 and 14. Book 13, theXenia, consists of 127 poems, apart from nos. 13 exclusivelysingle elegiac couplets, Book 14, theApophoreta, of 223 poems, of which all except nos. 1 and 2 are singleelegiac couplets. These books were published prior to Book 1, probably in 8384 and 8485 respectively.2See Grewing, p. 24, n. 32, for the lengths of Books 18 and 1112.


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The metres used in Book 9 are roughly representative of Martials metres ingeneral. The elegiacs are distinctly predominant (87 poems 82.8%); 11 poems(10.5%) are written in hendecasyllables (9, 11, 19, 40, 42, 44, 52, 57, 62, 87and 90) and 6 (5.7%) in choliambics (1, 5, 27, 33, 75 and 98).1Metrical peculi-arities are few. Note, however, the versus spondiacusin 9, 59, 9 and the diaeresisfollowing the third foot of the hexameter in 9, 60, 3, which splits the verse intotwo equivalent halves (see notes ad locc.).

The only metrical experiment is to be found in 9, 77, which is in iambic ep-ode, a metre which Martial uses also in 1, 49; 3, 14; and 11, 59; see further 9, 77intro. Metres used elsewhere by Martial but missing in Book 9 are hexameters(found in 1, 53; 2, 73; 6, 64; and 7, 93), iambic trimeters (11, 77, possibly also 6,12, see Grewings note on 6, 12, 2); choliambics with alternating dimeters (1, 61),and sotadics (3, 29).2For Martials use of metres see also the excellent survey inFriedlnder, pp. 2650; C. Giarratano, De M. Val. Martialis re metrica, Naples

1908; Siedschlag, Form, pp. 127133.A notable feature of Martials elegiacs is their obvious dependence on theverse of Ovid. Martial frequently uses verse-endings and turns of phrase (usuallywith the same metrical position) directly borrowed from Ovid.3 These are, natu-rally, for the greater part quite conscious borrowings, even though the possibilityshould not be excluded that some, and lesser similarities in particular, are simplyunconscious echoes of the Latin metrical artist par excellence. I think, though,that Martials dependence on Ovid on the purely metrical level is greater than hasbeen previously recognized, and to illustrate this, I give here a selective list ofinstances in which a phrase or verse-ending of Ovids surfaces again in MartialsBook 9 without intermediaries; for details, the reader is referred to the commen-tary on the respective line.

9, praef., 2 sed, puto Ov. am. 2, 15, 25; 3, 7, 55; 3, 11b, 34; rem.556; Nux 57

9, 12, 1Nomen habes Ov. am. 3, 6, 91; ars 3, 536; met. 5, 461; 9,665; 13, 570; fast. 2, 132

9, 18, 1 Est mihi sitque precor Ov. epist. 1, 111; fast. 6, 219; trist. 1, 10, 19, 20, 7 crepitantibus armis Ov. met. 1, 143; 15, 783.

9, 23, 1 contigit auro Ov. epist. 3, 59; met. 15, 416; 15, 4979, 23, 3Aspicis en Ov. met. 13, 264; Pont. 4, 7, 39, 24, 2 imagine vultus Ov. trist. 1, 7, 1; Pont. 2, 8, 219, 29, 11 mollique harena Ov. am. 2, 11, 47, cf. met. 2, 577; Ib. 4229, 38, 2 non tamen efficies Ov. Pont. 2, 2, 24; cf. met. 13, 649, 38, 6 celeres vela negata Noti Ov. fast. 5, 686; Ov. epist. 2, 100; am. 2, 16,

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1The figures for the entire corpus of Martial are as follows: elegiac distichs: 79%; hendecasyllables: 15%;

choliambics: 5% (see Sullivan,Martial, p. 227, n. 22).2Sullivan, loc. cit.3 For Martials dependence on Ovid, see A. Zingerle, Martials Ovid-Studien, Innsbruck 1877; E.Siedschlag, Ovidisches bei Martial,RFIC100 (1972), pp. 156161; Sullivan,Martial, pp. 105107; R.A. Pitcher, Martials Debt to Ovid in F. Grewing (ed.), Toto notus in orbe. Perspektiven der Martial-

Interpretation, Stuttgart 1998, pp. 5976.


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9, 38, 8 ventus et unda Ov. epist. 7, 44; am. 2, 16, 469, 41, 2 amica manus 9, 55, 6 and 68, 10 grave est Ov. am. 2, 4, 6; trist. 4, 8, 49, 56, 10 bona fata manent Ov. fast. 4, 1569, 58, 6 Pegasis unda Ov. trist. 3, 7, 159, 65, 12 Tartareumque canem Ov. ars 3, 3229, 79, 3Auguste tuorum Ov. met. 1, 204; trist. 2, 1, 5099, 84, 7 non infitiatus amicum Ov. Pont. 1, 7, 279, 86, 5 quae stabat proxima fratri Ov. met. 8, 367; 12, 149, 86, 6 Tu quoque vulnus habes Ov. epist. 4, 20; ars 1, 166; met. 13, 497;

Pont. 1, 7, 50; Ib. 3449, 90, 17 candidas ... aras Ov. fast. 6, 394; Pont. 3, 2, 539, 101, 8 cum cane Ov. ars 2, 484; Nux 1189, 102, 3 Quaere alium Ov. met. 5, 181; am. 3, 11a, 28

Apart from these instances, there is a large number of Ovidian phrases whichappear in other poets before finding their way into the epigrams of Martial. Insuch cases, the immediate influence of Ovid on Martial, while very likely, cannotbe demonstrated with certainty. Such instances, of course, are noted in the com-mentary.

3. The structure of Book 9

3.1. The general pattern

No book of Martials Epigrams is the product of arbitrary compilation. The poettook care in arranging the poems in the book, perfectly aware that excellent epi-grams can very well be put together to make up a bad book; in 7, 85, 3 f., he statesthatfacile est epigrammata belle | scribere, sed librum scribere difficile est. Thisdoes not mean that every single poem has its given place within the book thatcannot be altered without disturbing the whole (cf. Grewing, p. 26); such an ar-rangement in a book which contains well over a hundred poems, many of them

not exceeding a single distich, would presumably be neither effective nor percep-tible to the reader. Rather, Martial aims at variatio, by distributing his themesover the book and also by varying the metres.

Within this main principle of variation in motif and metre, there are usuallysome features designed to hold the book together. As regards Book 9, there is aclearly defined beginning, consisting of poems 1, 3, 5, and 7. These poems have acommon basic theme (the emperor Domitian), they are arranged at an interval ofone poem and also correspond metrically to one another (choliambicselegiacscholiambicselegiacs). It is quite obvious, I think, that their purpose is to inaugu-

rate the Emperor theme of Book 9 and to lay down its most prominent motifs: firstand foremost, the newly finished Templum gentis Flaviae (poem 1), thenDomitian as builder and restorer of temples (poem 3, varying the otherwise sol-emn tone by its humorous approach) and finally Domitian as the guardian of mor-


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als (poems 5 and 7). While it may perhaps be an exaggeration to speak of Book 9as programmatic, there can be little doubt that the book as a whole was composed,as it were, ad maiorem Caesaris gloriam. The imperial theme of Book 9 is moreextensive than in any other book in the whole of Martials production (see section4.1 below), and all motifs found in the introductory poems surface again at vari-ous points of the book. The end of the book is equally clearly marked in this re-spect by 9, 101, a grand comparison of the deeds of Domitian to the Labours ofHercules. Representing a miniature Res Gestae of the emperor, this poem, thelongest of the book, summarizes the imperial theme and provides, together withthe opening poems, a frame for the book as a whole. Within these bounds, thepanegyrics of the emperor are distributed at fairly regular intervals throughout thebook.

Apart from this general structure a variation of subjects framed by an over-arching main theme the book is held together by linking epigrams into pairs or

cycles.

3.2. Cycles and pairs of epigrams in Book 9

There are in Book 9 several poems which are connected by a common theme.Depending on the number of poems in each of these groups, I refer to them eitheras pairs of epigrams or as cycles.1Following essentially the definition formu-lated by Grewing (pp. 30 f.), I regard as cycles such groups (1) as consist of atleast three poems with a common theme, (2) as develop the common theme eitherlinearly (focusing on the end of the group) or concentrically (the last poem of thecycle looking back to the first) and (3) in which each poem has a distinctive posi-tion which cannot be arbitrarily altered.

Before examining the poems of Book 9 on the basis of these criteria, it is nec-essary to discuss in some detail the views expressed on this matter by Karl Bar-wick and John Garthwaite, who both discerned an imperial cycle throughoutBook 9. In his paper Zyklen bei Martial und in den kleinen Gedichten des Ca-tull, Philologus 102 [1958], pp. 284318, Barwick suggested a cycle consistingof epigrams 1; 3; 5; 7; 18; 20; 34; 36; 39; 64; 65; 79; 83; 91; 93; and 101.2

Among these poems, he makes out three subdivisions, thus: 1; 3; 5; 7 20; 34;36; 39 79; 83; 91; 93. Each of these subdivisions is united primarily by the in-ternal arrangement of the respective poems, as follows: in the first group, a poemin choliambics (nos. 1 and 5) is followed by one in elegiacs (nos. 3 and 7). In thesecond, a longer poem alternately follows a shorter. In the third group, two shorterpoems are enclosed by two longer. In this division, the contents of the respective

1Such an arrangement of the poems in a book is likely to have been found in Hellenistic collections ofepigrams, which suggested its use to Catullus. In arranging his epigrams in pairs or in cycles, Martial was

probably influenced by Catullus and certainly by his Hellenistic precursor. This method of arrangement wasobviously also applied in such collections of Greek and Latin epigrams as appeared after Catullus; thus,Burnikel (Struktur, pp. 93 f.) has shown that Lucilius was an important pattern to Martial in this respect.See also Barwick,Zykeln, p. 318 (full title below).2For reasons not given, Barwick omits nos. 2324, 28, 31 and 71. He also includes no. 36, while leavingout the rest of the Earinus cycle.


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poems are obviously of minor importance. Within the first group, though, poems 1and 3 are connected by references to the building of temples, while 5 and 7 dealwith Domitians moral legislation. In the second group, nos. 20 and 34 concen-trate on the Flavian temple, 36 and 39, being, according to Barwick, connected bythe fact that both poems flatter also a second person apart from the emperor(Earinus and Caesonia respectively). In the third group, an internal division withregard to the contents of the poems is not possible.

This highly technical method of discerning cycles within a book has beenjustly criticized by Citroni, saying that Le corrispondenze individuate dal Bar-wick sono per lo pi molto incerte e spesso del tutto inconsistenti ... Talvolta poi ilBarwick estende questo tipo di analisi a gruppi di epigr. di carattere assai diversotra loro, e che hanno in commune, ad es., solo lidentit del destinatario, il che mepare senzaltro illegitimo (pp. xxvii f.; see also Burnikel, Struktur, pp. 87 f.).

In an article (The Panegyrics of Domitian in Martial Book 9, Ramus 22

[1993], pp. 78102) based upon the corresponding section of his dissertation(Court Poets, pp. 43 ff.), John Garthwaite has attempted to distinguish a generalimperial cycle in Book 9, using criteria different from Barwicks. Garthwaiteunderstands a cycle as a series of epigrams written as elaborations on aparticular theme and spread intermittently throughout the volume. This is essen-tially a correct approach. However, Garthwaite holds that by considering all thepanegyrics of Domitian in Book 9 as one large cycle, it becomes apparent thatthese epigrams not only interact subtly with several other poems in the book butalso assume ... an altogether different significance when sewn into the larger con-text of the volume than they would have had as a self-contained booklet. Garth-waites theory needs to be discussed here at some length.

Garthwaite considers poems 1, 3, 5 and 7 to be programmatic, containing ref-erences to the imperial motifs subsequently found in the book. The last poem ofthe series, 9, 101, he calls a concluding synopsis with an index of the imperialthemes of Book 9 in lines 21 f. So far I agree, but in my opinion, the first four ofthese poems inaugurate the imperial themeof Book 9 (see above), not the imperialcycle. The programmatic character which Garthwaite sees in 9, 1 is as follows:the reference to the month of October in line 1 introduces Domitians birthday,recurring in 9, 39; the Rhine and the title Germanicus mentioned in lines 3 f.

point to his military victories (a very general statement which applies regardlessof whether or not one chooses to consider the poems as introducing a vast cycle);1

the Capitol, mentioned in line 5, entails a reference to Domitians restoration ofIuppiter Optimus Maximus, explicitly celebrated in 9, 3; the motif of the Templumgentis Flaviae in line 7 is echoed in 9, 20 and 9, 34. 2Garthwaite concludes hisanalysis by stating the the reference in the last line to the celestial nature (caeliest) of Domitians building programme provides the bridge for the continuation of

1On p. 81, Garthwaite suggests that it recalls the emperors return in only the previous year from his latest

Northern campaigns, which seems highly unlikely and surely cannot have been Martials primaryintention. The title Germanicuswas connected with the triumph over the Chatti in 83, not with the SecondPannonian War.2As will be obvious from the commentary on this poem, I do not subscribe to such a division. It is quiteclear from the structure of 9, 1 that the motifs mentioned do not have the same status; the series of dum-clauses leads up to what is the prime object of glorification, viz. the Templum gentis Flaviae.


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the imperial theme in 9, 3. The programmatic nature of this latter poem mustneeds be of much less significance; Garthwaite actually only manages to gather alink with 9, 23 and 24 (on Domitians Alban games in honour of Minerva) fromsuch a line as 9, 3, 10 Pallada praetereo: res agit illa tuas (which would ratherrefer to the temples of Minerva restored or erected by the emperor; he actuallyadduces lines 810 as evidence, but line 8 refers to the Capitoline games and line9 to Juno, and thus has no connection whatsoever with 9, 23 and 24). 9, 3, 11 quidloquar Alciden is obviously prompted by Domitians temple to Hercules on theAppian Way (which is the theme of 9, 6465 and provides the frame of 9, 101).

9, 5 and 9, 7 introduce the motif of Domitian as a guardian of morals, whichsurfaces briefly also in 9, 28 and 9, 79. Now the principal reason why Martial tookup this motif in Book 9 was probably the prohibition of the prostitution of chil-dren, which is likely to have been passed in or shortly before 94 (see 9, 7 intro.);in this context, it is only natural to mention also Domitians previous achieve-

ments in this field, viz. the edict against castration passed perhaps in 8687 (see9, 5 intro.) and his renewal of theLex Iulia de adulteriis. However, the juxtaposi-tion of 9, 28 (which touches upon the topic of morality) and 9, 27, a poem attack-ing the hypocritical moral philosopher Chrestus, suggests to Garthwaite that thetheme of moral hypocrisy (appearing also in nos. 41 and 47; I would not add no.70 to this group, as does Garthwaite) is consciously linked with the poems onDomitians moral leadership, meaning, I suppose, that Martial is hinting thatDomitian himself is a moral hypocrite. Moreover, the fact that there are only afew poems separating 9, 7 from the Earinus cycle leads Garthwaite to even moreastounding conclusions. Here indeed, Garthwaite says, the topics of child pros-titution and castration are echoed most strongly, for ... Martial stresses two fea-tures about Earinus: first, that he was Domitians catamite and, second, that hehad also suffered castration. But Martial does not stress the fact that Earinuswas a eunuch (see note on 9, 11, 6) and the almost certain existence of a sexualrelation between Domitian and Earinus has got nothing to do with the street pros-titution of children; on the contrary, this was quite the normal relation betweenthe cupbearer and his master. Consequently, Garthwaites suggestion that theinclusion of the topic of moral legislation in Book 9 was actually prompted by itsrelevance to the figure of Earinus is preposterous. As suggested below, the dras-

tic increase of imperial panegyrics in Book 9 may have been due to a desire onMartials part to appear as mainly a court poet, perhaps in competition with Sta-tius. Needless to say, a person who takes pains to win the attention and approvalof the emperor does not do so by suggesting that he was as a moral hypocrite.Furthermore, if there was an element of irony in these poems, it must have beenconceivable to the readers. If conceivable to the readers, it was naturally conceiv-able to the emperor.1 And while Domitian certainly could take a good joke(compare section 4.3.1 below), he would not have appreciated a poet who made

1 Domitian was sensitive to such innuendoes, as is emphatically demonstrated by the fact that he hadHelvidius the Younger put to death for having written a mythological farce in which the emperor suspectedallusions to his own divorce, and by the execution of Hermogenes of Tarsus propter quasdam figuras inhis history (Suet. Dom. 10, 4); see K. M. Coleman, The Emperor Domitian and Literature, ANRW32:5,pp. 3111 ff.


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fun of his moral legislation.1Martial himself was certainly aware of the danger ofcriticising Domitian; this kind of awareness made Juvenal keep his mouth shutuntil his detested emperor had been assassinated. Ovid had been exiled underAugustus because of his carmen et error (trist. 2, 207). Under Domitian, a carmenalone would probably have done the trick.

As is obvious, neither Barwicks nor Garthwaites attempts to detect a generalimperial cycle in Book 9 conform with the definition of the term cycle given atthe beginning of this chapter. The fact that the poems in question concentrate onDomitian is in itself not enough for them to make up a cycle. Barwicks sugges-tion focuses too much on metrical and positional technicalities and takes too littleheed of the contents of the poems, while that of Garthwaite is, in my opinion,based too much on an overinterpretation of several of the poems under discussion.It is also important to consider whether or not the reader would be able to perceivesuch subtle allusions, often placed far apart from each other (cf. Burnikel, Struk-

tur, p. 87). Instead, I would argue that Book 9 contains not one vast imperial cy-cle, but an imperial theme, in which two cycles may be discerned, viz. the Tem-plum gentis Flaviaecycle and the Earinus cycle.

The cycle on the Templum gentis Flaviae consists of three linearly arrangedpoems, nos. 1, 20, and 34. The temple, a dynastic mausoleum of the Flavian fam-ily, had in all probability been finished in or shortly before 94; it must obviouslyhave suggested itself as one of the major motifs of Book 9, and Martial was natu-rally ready to comply. The first poem of the cycle, an elevated glorification of thetemple, is given a prominent position at the very beginning of the book. Poem 20is concerned with the location of the temple, on the site of Vespasians house onthe Quirinal. The concluding poem, no. 34, is one of the easy and humorouspieces which will be discussed below (section 4.3.1).

The Earinus cycle, also linear in its structure, is longer and more elaborate, be-ing divisible into two subsections, which I refer to as the name series (poems1113, celebrating the name Earinus) and the offering series (1617, hymningthe offering of Earinus newly shorn locks to Aesculapius). Like the temple cycle,it is concluded by a humorous epigram comparing Domitian and Earinus to Jupi-ter and Ganymede. This cycle will be discussed in greater detail in the commen-tary.

It is not possible to form poems 5, 7, 28 and 79 into a cycle on Domitian as theguardian of morals, because the latter two do not focus on this theme, nor is theorder of the poems of such significance as is required in a cycle; instead, poems 5and 7 should be considered a pair of epigrams. Poem 31 I would refer to thehuge cycle suggested below, extending over Books 7 to 9, on the Second Pan-nonian War. The juxtaposition of nos. 64 and 65 also suggests them as a pair ofepigrams (see below) and not as a cycle including also no. 101, the position,length and contents of which indicate that it was intended as a concluding sum-mary of the imperial theme in Book 9.

1For the related topic of the cycle in Book 6 on the reinforcement of the Lex Iuliaand the various ways inwhich people bypassed it, see Grewing pp. 31 ff. (characterizing it as Gesellschaftskritik and not criticismof Domitian).


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It remains now to have a closer look at the pairs of epigrams in Book 9. Thebasic examination of the works of Martial is here Karl Barwicks article ZurKompositionstechnik und Erklrungen Martials, Philologus 87 (1932), pp. 6379; an elucidative survey is also given in Burnikel, Struktur, pp. 8895.1

The poems in Book 9 concerned are nos. 57; 2324; 4344; 5253; 5455;6465; 7476; 9496; and 9595b. As is evident, Martial in such pairs uses par-ticularly juxtaposition but also separation; in the latter case, the poems are, as arule, not placed very far apart, so as not to obscure the connection between theepigrams in question (there are, however, exceptions to this rule; thus, there is aslight possibility that 9, 91 forms a pair with 8, 39; see 9, 91 intro.). In somecases, there is no perceptible line running through the pair; the latter epigramsimply provides a variation of the motif of the former (which is sometimes alsoneeded for the understanding of the latter); thus, the pair on Domitians morallegislation (poems 5 and 7), on doctors (94 and 96), and on the picture of Camo-

nius (nos. 74 and 76, the former acting as an introduction to the latter). Otherpairs seem to postulate some kind of imaginary reaction to the first poem, causingMartial to write a second epigram in reply to this reaction; instances in Book 9 arepoems 52 and 53 (where Ovidius [feigned] unwillingness to be properly cele-brated provokes the second piece, which is contrasted with the heartily sinceretone of the former by its joking sullenness), 54 and 55, and 95 and 95 b. 2Burnikel(loc. cit.) sorts poems 43 and 44 (on the Hercules statuette of Novius Vindex)under the heading Steigerung oder berbietung. I would rather suggest that no.44 is written as a humorous counterbalance to the more serious 9, 43 (see 9, 44intro.). A similar relation is that between poems 64 and 65, on the statue ofHercules (bearing the features of the emperor) in the temple on the Appian Way.While 64 treats the motif on a serious basis, its sequel adopts an easier approach,playing with the myth and adjusting it to the new guise of the hero. As intensify-ing in relation to its predecessor, I would regard poem 24, which, like no. 23,deals with the olive wreath won by a certain Carus in the Alban games and theeffect which Carus bust of Domitian had on it. In the former poem, we are toldthat the olive wreath (symbolizing Minerva) has of its own accord placed itself onthe bust of the emperor (her protg). In the latter, it is revealed that not only thewreath but also the bust itself has been given by Minerva.

1In the classification of the pairs of epigrams given below, I often differ from that of Burnikel, loc. cit.2Notable are couples in which the former epigram stands out by its exceptional length or coarse language,while in the latter, Martial defends himself against the criticism aroused by the former; cf. 1, 34 and 35;109 and 110; 3, 82 and 83; 6, 64 and 65.


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4. Themes and motifs in Book 9

4.1. General

The themes and motifs found in Book 9 are representative of Martials works as awhole. What are not representative are the proportions of these motifs in relationto one another: no less than twenty-six epigrams are devoted to the emperor(below), which is about as many as are bestowed on patrons and friends (26, 30,42, 43, 44, 45, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 58, 60, 72, 74, 76, 77, 84, 89, 90, 98,99, and 103). This number of imperial poems is matched only by Book 8. As aconsequence, obscenity and sexual allusiveness are kept at a comparatively lowlevel (4, 21, 33, 40, 63, 66, 67, 69), although obscenity is an important elementalso of the vetula scoptics (29, 37, 62) and of the epigrams on moral hypocrisy(27, 41, 47, 57; poem 70 falls into this group but does not allude to sexual moral-

ity). Closely related to the vetulascoptics are such poems as deal with marriage towealthy hags (10 and 80, perhaps also 95).

Various kinds of stinginess and meanness, often involving criticism of the cli-ent system, are treated in a number of epigrams (2, 6, 8, 9, 25, 46, 48, 75, 82, 85,88, 100, 102). Particularly notable are those on legacy-hunting or captatio (8, 48,and 88) and on dinner-hunting (14, 19, and 35). More drastic ways of getting holdof a legacy appear in poems 15 and 78 (on murdering spouses); the manipulationof a will is the motif of 87. The greed and insolence of Greco-Roman doctors aremocked in 94 and 96.

A slightly philosophical criticism of excessive luxury is found in poems 22 and92; pretended wealth and frustration at not being able to live in luxury are com-bined in the character of Mamurra in poem 59. In 73 the poet airs his grudgeagainst a shoemaker who has inherited the entire estate of his patron, while envyof Martials own success is scorned in 97. In poems 50 and 81, he defends himselfagainst attacks from another poet probably writing in the epic genre. These poemsare important arguments for a possible dispute between Martial and Statius in themid-nineties.

Separate poems treat Martials preferences in his mistress (32), the marvellousart of a skilled juggler (38), a plane-tree in Cordoba planted by Julius Caesar (61),

and the vociferous schoolmaster (68).

Twenty-six epigrams, or 25% of Book 9, focus in various ways on the emperorDomitian; among these poems are also one major and one minor cycle, the formerbeing made up of the poems in celebration of the hair-offering of Domitianseunuch Earinus and the latter of those on the newly finished Flavian Temple onthe Quirinal (see above). In addition, the emperor figures in another handful ofpoems without being the addressee or without the epigram primarily having beenwritten in his praise1(see 42, 6; 70, 7 f.; 84, 1 f.; 86, 8; 97, 5; these poems are not

included in the statistics below).

1I have made the following distinction for the relevant poems in Book 9: poems focusing on the emperor:nos. 1, 3, 5, 7, 1113, 1617, 18, 20, 2324, 28, 31, 34, 36, 39, 6465, 71, 79, 83, 91, 93, and 101;


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With these twenty-six epigrams, Book 9 contains relatively more Domitianicpoetry than any of its predecessors. The figures for Books 18 are approximatelyas follows: Book 1: 7.6%; Book 2: 4.3%; Book 4: 6.7%; Book 5: 10.7%; Book 6:7.5%; Book 7: 10.1%; Book 8: 24.4%.1This may be expressed in a diagram, thus:

Percentage

0

5

10

15

20

25

Book 1 Book 2 Book 3 Book 4 Book 5 Book 6 Book 7 Book 8 Book 9

As there is a substantial difference between Book 8 and 9, on the one hand,and Books 1 to 7, on the other, as regards the relative number of poems devoted tothe emperor, there is also a difference in the motifs of the poems in question. Nowthe poems on the emperor in Books 1 through 7 are mostly of a general nature;there is praise of his shows, his laws and his building activity, as well as petitionsfor the ius trium liberorumand wishes that Domitian may read Martials poetrywith a benignant attitude. With Book 8, the situation is very different; here, theall-pervading motif is the return of Domitian from the Second Pannonian War.Some of this still lingers in Book 9, but here, the exultation at the triumphantreturn of the emperor is turned into a rendering of Domitian as a Prince ofPeace (see further section 4.2.2 below). But in Book 9, there is also a slight in-crease of references to Domitians warlike achievements in general, as comparedwith Books 1 through 8. The Chatti, over whom Domitian celebrated a triumph in83, and the honorary title Germanicus, which he adopted in connection with thetriumph, are alluded to in 9, 1, 1 f. (dum grande famuli nomen adseret Rheni |Germanicarum magna lux Kalendarum); 9, 5, 1 (Domitian is referred to as Rhenidomitor); 9, 93, 8 (nomen, ab Odrysio quod deus orbe tulit); 9, 101, 20 (victor

Hyperboreo nomen ab orbe tulit); the campaigns against Dacians and the Sarma-

tians are mentioned in 9, 101, 17 f. (cornua Sarmatici ter perfida contudit Histri,| sudantem Getica ter nive lavit equum), and his triumphs (three in all) in line 19of the same poem (saepe recusatos parcus duxisse triumphos). Other poems dealwith Domitians moral legislation (9, 5; 9, 7), some with his building activity (9,3); among the latter may be counted the small cycle on the Templum gentisFlaviaeon the Quirinal (9, 1; 9, 20; 9, 34; the temple is alluded to also in 9, 93, 6and 9, 101, 22). The new temple of Hercules on the Appian Way (see 9, 64 intro.),

poems mentioning or alluding to the emperor but not included in the present statistics: nos. 42 (line 6), 70

(lines 7 f.), 84 (lines 1 f.), 86 (line 8), 97 (line 5).1 It is notable that Book 3, which was published from Forum Cornelii in modern Lombardy, does notmention Domitian at all (except for a mention of Caesar uterquein 3, 95, 5; see note on 9, 97, 5 f.). Notealso that Book 5 contains a cycle of poems based on the motif of Domitians regulations concerning theseats in the theatre, some of which have not been taken into account in the figures presented above as nothaving been written in praise of the emperor nor mentioning him explicitly.


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which contained a statue of the hero with the features of the emperor, provides themotif of 9, 64 and 65, and also forms the basis of the monumental comparison ofHercules and Domitian in 9, 101. A bust of Domitian in the house of Carus, win-ner of the Alban games perhaps of 94, is credited with two poems (9, 2324).

Members of the imperial household appear in a number of poems, particularlythe eunuch Earinus, whose hair-offering to Aesculapius forms the theme of theEarinus cycle (9, 1113; 1617; 36). 9, 28 is an epitaph on the mimic actorLatinus, who was employed at the court, while 9, 79 holds up Domitians influ-ence on the members of the familia Caesaris in general. Among separate poemsare found Martials petition for water for his city house (9, 18), the poem on thebirthday of Rufus wife Caesonia, which coincided with that of the emperor (9,39), the humorous 9, 83, which states that the foremost merit of Domitiansgames is that they keep the reciting poets off the streets, the hypothetical dinnerinvitation in 9, 91, and the pledge to Caesar Domitianus Germanicus in 9, 93.

Apart from these poems, the emperor figures also in 9, 42, 7; 9, 84, 2; 9, 86, 7 f.;and 9, 97, 5.Given this emphasis on Domitian throughout the book, it is justifiable here to

give a short account of the historical background to some of the recurring motifs.This will concern the wars mentioned in Book 9, notably the campaigns againstthe Chatti and the Second Pannonian War, and the all-pervading presentation ofDomitian as a living god. Any modern scholar occupying him- or herself with thereign of Domitian is necessarily much indebted to two recently published biogra-phies, each of them excellent in its own right: Brian W. Jones The Emperor

Domitian (London 1993) and Pat Southerns Domitian. Tragic Tyrant (London1997). Much of what is said about Domitian below, particularly in sections 4.2.1and 4.2.2, owes its origin to these books.

4.2. Domitian the commander

4.2.1.Domitianus Germanicus: The war against the Chatti

The Chatti were a German tribe whose homelands lay around Kassel in modern

Hesse (which probably derives its name from the tribe), north-east of the TaunusMountains by the Rhine (Southern, p. 82). They were a formidable and warlikepeople, even like the Romans in manners and conduct. Tacitus wrote about themin his Germania (30, 2 f.): Multum, ut inter Germanos, rationis ac sollertiae:

praeponere electos, audire praepositos, nosse ordines, intellegere occasiones,differre impetus, disponere diem, vallare noctem, fortunam inter dubia, virtuteminter certa numerare, quodque rarissimum nec nisi Romanae disciplinae conces-sum, plus reponere in duce quam in exercitu. Omne robur in pedite, quem superarma ferramentis quoque et copiis onerant: alios ad proelium ire videas, Chattos

ad bellum. Rari excursus et fortuita pugna. Equestrium sane virium id proprium,cito parare victoriam, cito cedere: velocitas iuxta formidinem, cunc-tatio propior constantiae est.This people had been matched against Roman forcesand defeated a couple of times before Domitian, first during the German expedi-


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tion of Drusus in 119 BC, and again by Germanicus, who celebrated a triumphde Cheruscis Chattisque (Tac. ann. 2, 41) in 17 AD. In the reign of Claudius, acampaign against them was conducted by Sulpicius Galba (the future emperor) in41, and in 50 an attack on Mainz was repelled by the legate Pomponius Secundus.After a second, unsuccessful attack by the Chatti on Mainz in 69, Vespasianstrengthened the Roman defences by building a line of forts from Mainz-Kastelnorth-eastward to Friedberg.

An account of Domitians campaign against the Chatti meets with a number ofdifficulties; indeed, owing to the almost complete lack of substantial evidence, it isimpossible to say for certain when it began, why it was conducted, when it wasended and what it achieved. The range of possible datings for the commencementof hostilities stretches from late 81 to mid 83; Southern (p. 79) suggests a date inthe spring or early summer of 82 as likely for the first moves towards armed con-flict. From an important passage in Frontinus Strategemata, we know that

Domitian himself was present on the Rhine and gathered troops, all under thepretext of conducting a census in Gaul; see Frontin. strat. 1, 1, 8: Imperator Cae-sar Domitianus Augustus Germanicus, cum Germanos, qui in armis erant, velletopprimere nec ignoraret maiore bellum molitione inituros, si adventum tantiducis praesensissent, profectioni[s] suae census obtexuit Galliarum: sub quibusinopinato bello affusus contusa immanium ferocia nationum provinciis consuluit.According to this passage, the Chatti were already in armisand, while they hadnot yet begun any hostile actions, they would have posed a threat to Roman inter-ests in the area. Domitians census was thus a stratagem designed to forestall theChatti and get the advantage of a surprise attack, a scenario very different fromSuetonius description of the expedition as having been undertaken by Domitiansponterather than necessario(Dom. 6, 1).

It is not known when the initial attack on the Chatti was launched, nor is therea record of the course of the war. What is known is that Domitian celebrated atriumph as early as 83, a decision which incurred much scorn and derision fromTacitus, who spoke of Domitians conscientia derisui fuisse nuper falsum e Ger-mania triumphum, emptis per commercia, quorum habitus et crinis in captivorumspeciem formarentur (Agr. 39, 2) and made remarks like proximis temporibustriumphati magis quam victi sunt (sc. Germani; Germ. 37, 6). It is true that a

triumph at such an early date may convey the impression of having been prema-ture. But it is important to bear in mind that this triumph need not have beenmeant to indicate the completion of the campaign. Rather, it may have been cele-brated at a time when the outcome of the war was inevitable even though finalvictory was not yet achieved; in the very same manner, Vespasian and Titus hadcelebrated a triumph over Judaea in 71, after the fall of Jerusalem, although sev-eral fortresses still remained to be taken. The Chattan war, then, may well havebeen a lengthy process which lasted another couple of years before final victorywas brought about in Domitians absence by his subordinates.1

1Southern (pp. 80 f.) suggests that the war up to Domitians triumph may have been conducted as a wintercampaign in 8283. She points out that the Chattan territory was very suitable for guerrilla warfare andthat a winter campaign, while arduous also for the aggressor, would nonetheless provide certain advantages;systematic and constant destruction of food supplies and refuges would be enough to wear the enemy down.


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Contemporary coinage suggests that the war against the Chatti was concludedin late 8485. At the end of 84, there appeared coins with the impression of awoman with bowed head, representing the subdued German people; in 85, thereare legends like Germania capta, Victoria AugustiandDe Ger(manis). This goeswell with Martials reference to the pax ... certa ducis in 14, 34, 1, published in(December) 8485 (see Learys discussion of the date of Book 14, pp. 9 ff.). Themain achievement of the war was that a line of defence systems could now beestablished from the Rhine by the Taunus Mountains southeastward towards theNeckar. Perhaps the creation of the two German provinces of Germania superiorand Germania inferior was immediately connected with the victory over theChatti and the remodeling of the frontier, but since these areas are not recorded asprovinces earlier than the year 90, this cannot be definitively asserted.

Like everything else connected with the Chattan war, it is not known exactlywhen Domitian adopted the honorary title of Germanicus. Braunert (Zum Chat-

tenkriege Domitians, BJ 153 [1953], pp. 98 f.) maintained that is was first re-corded at some time between 9 June and 28 August 83, basing this theory on theevidence of one coin, an inscription and two papyri. Even though this evidencehas been questioned, and in spite of the titles not regularly appearing in inscrip-tions before 86 (see P. Kneissl,Die Siegestitulatur der Rmischen Kaiser, Gttin-gen 1969, pp. 4 ff.), Martials first mention of the title (13, 4, 1) strongly supportsa date in 83. Thenceforth, Martial regularly mentions Domitian as Germanicusorotherwise alludes to the title; cf. 14, 170, 1 f. (nomina Rhenus | vera dedit); 2, 2, 3(nobilius [sc. nomen]domito tribuit Germania Rheno); Germanicus: 5, 2, 7; 5, 3,1; 5, 19, 17; 7, 61, 3; 8, praef. (Imperatori Domitiano Caesari Augusto Ger-manico Dacico, where Dacicus is not an official title but merely a mark of flat-tery); 8, 4, 3; 8, 26, 3; 8, 39, 3; 8, 53, 15; 8, 65, 11; for references in Book 9, seeabove. In like manner, Statius uses the title on eleven occasions in his Silvae(except in the lemmaeof silv. 4, 1 Septimus decimus consulatus imp. Aug. Ger-maniciand 4, 2 Eucharisticon ad imp. Aug. Germ. Domitianum);1 the only otherpoet to mention it is Silius (3, 607 tu transcendes, Germanice, facta tuorum; cf.the introduction to 9, 101).2As a victory title, Germanicus was a novelty; previousemperors (viz. Caligula, Claudius and Nero) had adopted the title not because oftheir military achievements, but to indicate descent from Germanicus Caesar.

However, Domitian soon found followers in this respect; his successor Nervaadopted the title Germanicus, and by his death in 117, Trajan was not only Ger-manicus but also Dacicus and Parthicus. Such epithets were to multiply in thetitles of the emperors of the second century.

The Chatti were defeated in 8485, but by no means conquered. Domitian wasto deal with them also in 89, when they teamed up with the governor of Germania

Southern argues that It is comparable to taking a city block by block; if external help can be eliminated,there comes a point at which the outcome is inevitable but the final capitulation takes time to bring about.1See silv. 1, 1, 5; 1, 4, 4; 3, praef. (Germanici nostri libertus referring to Earinus); 3, 3, 165; 3, 4, 49; 4,

praef. (septimum decimum Germanici nostri consulatum); 4, 1, 2; 4, 2, 52; 4, 9, 17; 5, 1, 105; 5, 2, 177.2The readiness of the poets to emphasize his new title would presumably have appealed very much toDomitian, who obviously was very fond of titles, whether this, as Southern thinks possible, reflected adeep inner insecurity that required constant reassurance or simply because titles ought to have conferredon him a certain gravitasand created a respectful distance between him and his subordinates (Southern, p.36).


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superior, L. Antonius Saturninus, in his revolt against the emperor (the sacrilegifuroresmentioned in 9, 84, 1; see note ad loc.). The rebellion having been sup-pressed, Domitian again sent his legions against the Chatti, who were now de-feated and made to sign a peace treaty (Jones,Domitian, p. 150). In November 89,the emperor celebrated a double triumph over the Chatti and the Dacians.

For the Chattan war, see further Jones, Domitian, pp. 128131, and Southern,pp. 7991.

4.2.2. The Second Pannonian War

The Indo-European Sarmatians roamed, during the greater part of antiquity, overthe area from Hungary to the lower Volga. As their western branch, the Iazygesand Roxolani, gradually moved westwards, they came to pose a real threat to

Rome on the Danube (cf. Ovids references to these tribes and their crossing of theDanube in trist. 3, 10, 33 f.; 3, 12, 29 f.; Pont. 4, 7, 9 f.), and various measureswere taken to control them. Vespasian made great efforts to strengthen the de-fences on the Danube, a policy which was continued by Domitian right from thebeginning of his reign (see Jones, Domitian, pp. 135 ff.). However, in 92,Domitian was forced into military conflict with the Sarmatians, as the Iazyges

joined the German Suebi in the Second Pannonian War.According to Dio (67, 5, 2), the discontent among the Sarmatians and the

Suebi was due to the fact that Domitian had sent a troop of a hundred cavalrymento Moesia to assist the Lugii in a war against some of the Suebi. Sarmatian-Ger-man forces were preparing to cross the Danube. Domitian sent a force consistingof vexillations from nine legions (which was allowed to march through the king-dom of the Dacian king Decebalus so as to attack the Iazyges from the rear, cf.note on 9, 35, 5), but the initial onslaught ended in disaster and an entire legion,probably the XXI Rapax, was annihilated. In May 92, the emperor himself ap-peared on the Danube and apparently managed to repel the attacks, but it is notknown how this was done, nor to what degree the campaign was a success. Hereturned to Rome in January 93; for the dates, see 9, 31 intro.

Domitian celebrated no triumph after the Second Pannonian War, only an ova-

tio, dedicating a laurel wreath to Iuppiter Capitolinus (Suet. Dom. 6, 1), a cere-mony that was part of a regular (iustus) triumph; this may perhaps indicate thathe was not completely satisfied with the outcome. It is all the more remarkablethat this war attracted far more of Martials attention than any other war, eventhose that resulted in regular triumphs. The way was paved by some epigrams inBook 7, published in December 92, which opens with a couple of generally war-like poems on Domitians cuirass, impenetrable by Sarmatian arrows (7, 12),followed by a handful marked by eager expectation of the emperors return fromthe war (7, 58) and referring to the Danube as captivus Hister (7, 80, 11) and

Hister iacens(7, 84, 3). In Book 8, published in early 94 and as a whole dedicatedto Domitian, there is a series of exultant poems on his return from the war, thegames and the banquet given on the occasion (see in particular 8, 2; 4; 8; 11; 15;21; 26; 30; 50; 55; 65; 78). The ovation is passed off as secreti triumphi(8, 15, 5)and Stella, who arranged games on the occasion (see 9, 42 intro.), is referred to as


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Hyperborei celebrator ... triumphi(8, 78, 3) and Domitian as Victor Histri(8, 2,2). Domitians refusal of a triumph made Martial speak of saepe recusatos ...triumphos(9, 101, 19); Statius ascribed it to the emperors clemency, quae modo

Marcomanos post horrida bella vagosque | Sauromatas Latio non est dignatatriumpho(silv. 3, 3, 170 f.), later urging Domitian not to decline further triumphs:mille tropaea feres, tantum permitte triumphos (silv. 4, 1, 39). In Book 9, theexultation at the triumphant return of the emperor is turned into a rendering ofDomitian as a Prince of Peace; willing sacrificial animals reveal that there is nomore need for bloodshed (9, 31), insania ferri no longer prevails and there is a

pax certa(9, 70, 7 f.), since Domitian has given otia ferro (9, 101, 21); perhapsalso 9, 71, on the miraculous concord of a lion and a ram, should be read as anallegory and counted among these poems.

It is tempting to speak of a vast cycle in Martial on the Second PannonianWar, beginning with the expectant poems of Book 7, continuing with the celebra-

tion of the emperors return in Book 8, and concluding with the motif of Domitianas Prince of Peace in Book 9.1Indeed, it may seem curious that a war which wasnot among Domitians most glorious nor most important military achievementsshould generate such a number of verses from a poet who was being even moreenthusiastic than usual. Considering the drastic increase of imperial poetry inBooks 8 and 9, as compared with previous Books, perhaps Martial had now seri-ously set his heart upon being a court poet, ready to celebrate whatever deedsthe emperor accomplished without too much consideration of the level of successthey had actually achieved. Clearly, Martials picture of Domitian was now that ofa hero returning after having pacified the horrid north once and for all.

There was at least some of truth in this; from the end of the Second PannonianWar to the murder of Domitian in 96, the empire in fact enjoyed a period of peace(see Southern, pp. 111 ff., for a summary). Towards the end of his reign, though,there are signs of preparations for yet another campaign on the Danube, presuma-bly as the Sarmatians had again teamed up with neighbouring German tribes toconfront Rome. There is epigraphic evidence for a concentration of troops in Up-per Moesia in the first half of 96, which, regardless of whether or not Domitianentered into an armed conflict, shows that he did not feel that his affair with theSarmatians had been settled (Jones,Domitian, pp. 153 ff.). However, the inclusion

in Book 9 of a poem like no. 70 (which in lines 7 f. speaks of nulla insania ferriand pax certa) shows that, at the time when it was written, and in all likelihoodby the publication of the book, a third campaign in the north could not yet havebegun. Whether or not Roman forces resumed hostilities with these tribes in thereign of Domitian, he never managed to finish a Third Pannonian War; hostilitieson the Danube were to continue through the reign of Nerva and were not con-cluded until Trajan. See further Jones,Domitian, pp. 152 ff.; Southern, pp. 111 ff.

1In such a case, there may be reason to speak not merely of a theme but of a linearly arranged cycle. Onthe other hand, it may be doubtful whether all the poems in Book 8 on the Second Pannonian War reallyoccupy a given position which cannot be altered without disturbing the whole (see the definition of cyclegiven in section 3.2 above).


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4.3. Domitian the god

When evaluating the religious respect shown to Domitian and the poets acknow-ledgement of him as deusandIuppiternoster, it is important to bear in mind that

this was essentially nothing new. It is the proportions of this kind of flattery ofDomitian, particularly in connection with his alleged insistence on being ad-dressed as dominus et deus, that has given offence.

The conception of the emperor as a god had its origin in the ruler cult, whichhad developed from the heroization of prominent men, who were considered anintermediate stage between gods and human beings. As the heir of the Pharaohs,Alexander the Great was recognized by the Egyptians as son of Ammon and ac-knowledged as a god also by the Greeks (albeit not without a certain resistance; cf.Kaerst in RE 1, s.v. Alexandros 10, 1433). In the Hellenistic kingdoms formedafter his death, the cult of the sovereign became a cult of the state, in which the

ruling monarch was worshipped together with his ancestors and provided withcultic epithets such as , , and . The first Roman citizento be made the object of such veneration was T. Quinctius Flamininus, whosephilhellenic politics earned him the name of in Greece; similar marks ofhonour were given to, for example, Sulla, Pompey, and Caesar.1

At Rome, formal worship was originally given only to those rulers who hadbeen deified after their deaths, beginning with Julius Caesar (deified in 42 BC).While emperors in the first century wisely declined to be venerated as gods intheir lifetimes, they could not break the tradition in the Hellenistic world of wor-shipping the monarch; thus, temples were erected already to Augustus (togetherwith Roma) in, for example, Pergamum and Epidaurus. But this concerns theEast; in Rome, living emperors were not worshipped during the first century, andno temples were erected for them; this applies also to Domitian. However, whathas been standing in his way in this respect is the unfortunate dominus et deus, aformula with which he was supposed to have begun an official letter which he wasdictating in the name of his procurators (dominus et deushoc noster fieri iubet;Suet. Dom. 13, 2). This formula will be discussed on 9, 66, 3; here, it may sufficeto note that there is no evidence whatsoever that Domitian actually demanded tobe addressed as dominus et deus, no matter what later, highly anti-Domitianic

writers (like Aurelius Victor and Orosius) have had to say on the subject. Sueto-nius states that it afterwards became the custom not to address the emperor other-wise in speech or in writing. But this may just as well, or perhaps even rather, bedue to the zeal of unscrupulous flatterers as to imperial instructions. Domitianhimself must surely have been well aware that it would have been most unwise toorder such an address. Furthermore, one might ask to whom the letter mentionedby Suetonius was addressed; if to the eastern provinces, an opening such as domi-nus et deushoc noster fieri iubetcould very well have been the rule rather than anexception. What is most remarkable is that contemporary antagonists, such asTacitus, Pliny and Juvenal, did not take advantage of what would have been aconsiderable lack of discernment on Domitians part. This indicates, perhaps, that

1For a brief summary of the cult of the sovereign, see H. Volkmann in KP2, s.v.Herrscherkult, 1110 ff.,with further references.


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there was in fact much less to Domitians use of dominus et deusthan would ap-pear from Suetonius and later writers.

If the ruler cult is the foundation on which Martials celebration of Domitianas deusultimately rests, there is a more immediate source to be found in the pane-gyrical tradition. In first-century Rome, the comparison of the ruling emperor todivinities and the acknowledgement of him as a god were restricted to variousworks within this genre. Here, the emperor, regardless of his nature, obviouslyemerges as an optimus princeps who enjoys the favour of the gods and on thewhole is in close contact with the divine sphere; for panegyrical authors, it wasnatural to compare him to the gods themselves (see here the summary in M.Mause, Die Darstellung des Kaisers in der lateinischen Panegyrik, Stuttgart1994, pp. 219 ff.). Plutarch makes an amusing remark on the panegyrical com-parison of the monarch to divinities (de adul.56 F): , ' ,

'

In this respect, Martial had great precursors in the field of poetry, who werescarcely passed over by the epigrammatist. Horace offers concrete examples; see,for instance, carm. 1, 2, 45 serus in caelum redeas; 1, 12, 49 ff. gentis humanae

pater atque custos, | orte Saturno, tibi cura magni | Caesaris fatis data: tu se-cundo | Caesare regnes; 3, 5, 1 ff. (quoted below). There are extensive compari-sons between Augustus and Jupiter in Ov. met. 15, 858 ff. (Bmer notes ad loc.:Die Parallel- oder gar Gleichsetzung Iuppiter und Augustus ist fr Ovid undauch fr viele seiner Zeitgenossen beinahe selbstverstndlich; see his commen-

tary with further references).2This kind of flattery, it is true, is commoner in Mar-tial than in the Augustan poets, and he sometimes goes further then they did inthis respect (see, for example, the elaborate comparison of Domitian and Herculesin 9, 101). One wonders, though, whether at least some of the scorn of Martial forexcessive cringing actually sprang from the fact that Domitian was for a very longtime considered a bad emperor, whereas Augustus always has been a goodone.

4.3.1. Comparisons with JupiterThe comparison, or even equation, of Domitian with certain deities appearsthroughout Books 1 to 9. Most notably the emperor is compared to Jupiter:Domitian is Palatinus Tonans, just as Jupiter is Tarpeius Tonans(9, 86, 7); this isthe very same idea that is found, for example, in Hor. carm. 3, 5, 1 ff. Caelo to-nantem credidimus Iovem | regnare: praesens divus habebitur | Augustus. It is insuch instances, in which the emperor himself is referred to as Iuppiter etc., that

1

And is not almost any king called an Apollo if he can hum a tune, and a Dionysus if he gets drunk, and aHeracles if he can wrestle? And is he not delighted, and thus led into all kinds of disgrace by the flattery?(translation by C. Babbit, Loeb).2For a survey of the ruler cult in Roman poetry, see K. Thraede, Die Poesie und der Kaiserkult, in: E.Bickerman (ed.),Le culte des souverains dans lEmpire romain(Entretiens sur lantiquit classique 19),Geneva 1973, pp. 273303.


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this comparison finds its most marked expression. In Book 9, there are five epi-grams in which Domitian appears as Iuppiter or Tonans; see 9, 28, 10 suus (i.e.

Romae) Iuppiter; 9, 39, 1 and 9, 86, 7 Palatinus Tonans (and cf. line 8 uterqueIuppiterof Jupiter and Domitian); and 9, 65, 1 LatiusTonans; 9, 91, 6 meus Iup-piter. This is a decidedly higher frequency than in any other book; the first occur-rence is to be found in 4, 8, 12 (matutinus Iuppiter), then 5, 6, 9 (Iuppiter sere-nus), 6, 10, 9 and 7, 56, 4(nosterTonans), and 7, 99, 1 (Tonans). Thus, of elevenreferences in the works of Martial to Domitian as Iuppiter or Tonans, five are tobe found in Book 9. There is a similar tendency in Martials application toDomitian of epithets and attributes normally belonging to Jupiter: the epithetsummus first appears in 6, 83, 2 (summe ducum, obviously modelled on summedeumfound, for example, in Verg. Aen. 11, 785), then in 7, 7, 5 (summe mundirector; compare Ov. met. 13, 599 summe deum rector) and in 9, 5, 1 (summe

Rheni domitor); Domitian is hailed as parens orbis in 7, 7, 5 and 9, 5, 1 (cf.

Lucan 4, 110 summe parens mundiof Jupiter), and called Ausonius pater in 9, 7,6 (with which compare aetherius pater in 9, 35, 10 and 9, 36, 7). The epithetinvictusbalances on the verge between victorious commander (for example, Hor.sat. 2, 1, 11; Ov. trist. 4, 2, 44) and god (for example, invictus IuppiterOv. fast. 5,126); Martial applies it to Domitian in 7, 6, 8 (in connection with his eagerlyawaited return from the Second Pannonian War) and twice in Book 9, both timesin poems which do not focus on Domitian as commander and therefore suggest astronger implication of divinity (9, 1, 10 invicta manus and 9, 23, 6 invictumcaput). The emphasis on the emperors manusin 9, 1, 10, recurring also in 9, 20,3 f. felix o, ... quas | vidit reptantis sustinuitque manus (of the house in whichDomitian was born), also implies divinity; the hands of Domitian are the earthlycounterpart offulminantis magna manus Iovis(Hor. carm. 3, 3, 6); compare herealso 4, 1, 6; 4, 8, 10; 4, 30, 5; and 6, 1, 5.

Further comparisons between Domitian and Jupiter are to be found in the fol-lowing poems: 9, 18, 8, in which Martial says that the water supplied by the em-peror will be as dear to him asIovis imber (see note ad loc.for the meaning of theexpression). 9, 20, 5 f. compare the house in which Domitian was born to Crete,birthplace of Jupiter: hic steterat veneranda domus, quae praestitit orbi | quod

Rhodos astrifero, quod pia Creta polo, and in 9, 24 a bust of Domitian is said to

recallIovis ora sereni: | sic tonat ille deus, cum sine nube tonat (lines 2 f.). In 9,91, Martial states that he would prefer an invitation to dine with the emperor to aninvitation to dine with Jupiter himself (9, 91, 6 me meus in terris Iuppiter ...tenet). The comparisons in the Earinus cycle between Earinus, cupbearer ofDomitian, and Ganymede, cupbearer of Jupiter, naturally also imply a comparisonof their respective masters; see 9, 11, 7; 9, 16, 6; 9, 36.

The poem 9, 36 brings a related matter to the fore, viz. the question whetherMartial in some poems depicts Domitian not only as the equal of, but even assuperior to Jupiter. Apart from 9, 36, this concerns 9, 3, and in principle also 9,34. However, in the latter poem the object of comparison is not Jupiter himself but

his divine children (viz. Mars, Apollo, Diana, Hercules and Mercury); in it, thesupreme god, tipsy with nectar, looks down from Olympus on the Templum gentisFlaviaeand compares it with his own alleged humble tomb in Crete, which natu-rally cannot rival the splendid marble and gold of the Flavian mausoleum. Saying


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to his assembled children Gnosia vos nobis monumenta dedistis: cernite, quamplus sit, Caesaris esse patrem, he suggests that they have been outdone by theemperor and, accordingly, that he is superior to them. In 9, 3, a handful of gods,and in particular Jupiter, are presented as being indebted to Domitian for the tem-ples built by him in their honour, a debt so large that they could have no hopes ofever settling it. In 9, 36, written after the hair-offering and manumission ofEarinus, Ganymede is complaining to Jupiter that he too should be released fromhis office as cupbearer, being now rather a young man than a handsome boy. Jupi-ter finds this impossible and explains why to Ganymede: Domitian has a thousandstarry-eyed ministri, and his palace, however big, can scarcely hold them. Jupiter,on the other hand, has only Ganymede; if he was to allow him to cut his hair andreceive his freedom, who would then mix the nectar for him?

Now there are several points which are crucial for a correct understanding ofthese poems. Most importantly, these are humorous pieces; the situations depicted

are paradoxically absurd and the poet did not expect anyone to take them seri-ously. In spite of the flattery of ingratiating poets, Domitian, being deeply relig-ious, obviously knew that he was not a god himself (see Jones,Domitian, p. 109);serious attempts at depicting him as the superior of Jupiter may very well not havemet with his approval. Martial, for his part, was naturally aware of the fact thatJupiter was the supreme deity; it is sufficient to refer to 9, 20, 19 f. te protexitsuperum pater, et tibi, Caesar, | pro iaculo et parma fulmen et aegis erat (theinfant Jupiter was under the protection of the Curetes, whereas the infantDomitian was protected by Jupiter himself). Also in 9, 36 there are signs of Jupi-ters supremacy: Ganymede talks to Jupiter of Domitian as tuus Caesar (line 3),and Jupiter himself mentions him as Caesar nosterin line 9. These were mattersobvious to everyone and therefore also the basic conditions which made it safe towrite such poems as 9, 3 and 9, 36. These poems should not be understood asattempts to make Domitian stand out as Jupiters superior. Rather, they seize uponthe rigidity of ancient Greco-Roman mythology, which was not an inviolablematter in Martials day. The reason why Jupiter cannot release Ganymede andpick another cupbearer is not that he would be inferior to Domitian, but that my-thology hinders him. Domitian is not obstructed by mythology and is free to act ashe chooses; Jupiters freedom of action is blocked by the res ipsa(9, 36, 8); he is

forever married to Juno, and Ganymede is forever his cupbearer (see further theintroduction to 9, 36).Nevertheless, it may perhaps seem hazardous to adopt such a tone in a poem

on the achievements of a sovereign who has been described as both superstitiousand suspicious, completely lacking a sense of humour (Jones, Domitian, p. 198),but this description is not altogether true; that Domitian had in fact a sense ofhumour is suggested, apart from 9, 34 and 36, also by 9, 83 (see the introductionad loc.), 1, 5 (with Howells introduction) and 5, 19, 17 f. As 9, 3; 34; and 36 alldeal with Domitian and the gods and with Jupiter and his envy of Domitian inparticular, the humorous air in these poems may perhaps be regarded as Martials

way of playing down a matter which he felt not to be really serious, viz. his ownand his fellow poets rendering of Domitian as the earthly Jupiter. Such jokesinvolving the emperor (but naturally not made at his expense) could not have beenmade unless Martial was sure about Domitians reaction. Apparently they had his


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consent, a fact which, if anything, demonstrates that he knew that he was not infact a god himself. In this context, it may therefore not be inappropriate to speakof Martial not as a court poet, but as a court jester.

4.3.2. Comparisons with other divinities and Domitian as deus

Book 9 also contains some epigrams comparing Domitian to gods other than Jupi-ter, in particular to the Sun and to Hercules. Martials comparison of Domitian tothe Sun has previously been little heeded; most of the instances given by Sauter(pp. 137 ff.) refer not to the Sun, but to stars. The comparison of the ruler to theSun, the supreme star which illuminates the world with its life-giving rays, wasnaturally at home in the oriental ruler cult; applied to Alexander, it lived on in theHellenistic cult and was thence adopted into Roman panegyrical literature and

applied, for example, by Horace to Augustus (see E. Doblhofer, Die Augus-tuspanegyrik des Horaz in formalhistorischer Sicht, Heidelberg 1966, pp. 86 ff.;H. Halfmann, Itinera principum. Geschichte und Typologie der Kaiserreisen im

Rmischen Reich, Stuttgart 1986, pp. 148 ff.; for further instances from Latinpoetry, see note on 9, 20, 6).

Comparisons between Domitian and the Sun are completely lacking in Books1 through 7. The first sign appears in 8, 21, 11 f. Iam, Caesar, vel nocte veni:stent astra licebit, | non deerit populo te veniente dies, which presumably alludesto the emperor as a second Sun. Still, there are more evident instances to be foundin Book 9, most obviously in 9, 20, 5 f. (quoted above), in which the house inwhich Domitian was born is compared not only to Crete as the birthplace of Jupi-ter, but also to Rhodes, birthplace of the Sun-god. In 9, 24, 3, Martial, marvellingat the beauty of a bust of Domitian, compares it to mundi facies (the face ofheaven) and to Iovis ora sereni; this recalls 9, 20, 6, in which Jupiter and theSun are mentioned as objects of comparison. In 9, 34, 5, finally, there is a possiblecomparison, one of the few in Martial, between the emperor and Apollo; the godis here mentioned as Phoebus(the name proper to Apollo as sun-god), and I haveassumed that he appears in this context partly as representing Domitian as con-noisseur and patron of literature and partly as the Sun; see further note ad loc.

and cf. also note on 9, 1, 9.Like Jupiter and the Sun, the comparison of the ruler with Hercules, the modelof the victorious hero, has Hellenistic origins (see the introduction to 9, 64). Com-parisons between Domitian and Hercules, however, are surprisingly few, not onlyin Martial but also in Statius. But, in this respect, Book 9 occupies a place apart.Previous to this book, Hercules appears only in 5, 65, a poem comparing his deedsunfavourably with Domitians games in the arena, for which the emperor, likeHercules before him, will receive heaven as a reward. In Book 9, though, there arethree poems occasioned by the newly finished temple to Hercules on the AppianWay, in which there was a statue of the hero bearing the features of Domitian.The epigrams in question are 9, 64, which concentrates on the statue and may notbe much of a comparison, and 9, 65, which proclaims that, had these been hisfeatures in his lifetime, Hercules would not have had to serve under Eurystheusnor under Omphale, nor would he have had to be purified of his mortal elements


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in the fire of Oeta, but safely would have entered into the Heavens without havingto suffer those ordeals. But all of this appears as rather modest as compared with9, 101, the longest poem of the book and the height of Martials eulogies ofDomitian. In this poem, the deeds of Hercules, called minor Alcides, are almostsystematically compared with the actaof Domitian, maior Alcides. This leaves nodoubt about the order of precedence; Domitian is the greater of the two. Conse-quently, also his deeds surpass those of the Argive hero; Herculeum tantis numennon sufficit actis, Martial says in the concluding distich; Tarpeio deus hic com-modet ora patri. The only god who may be compared to Domitian is Jupiter. Her-cules also appears among the children of Jupiter mentioned in 9, 34 (line 6; seenote ad loc.).

Domitian is seldom brought into connection with other gods than Jupiter, theSun and Hercules. In Book 9, further deities are introduced only in 9, 34; Apollohas been mentioned above (on the Sun); see also 9, 34, 4 mentioning Mars (a god

elsewhere connected with Domitian in 7, 2, 1 f. and 8, 65, 11, both poems dealingwith the Second Pannonian War), and 9, 34, 6, introducing Mercury who proba-bly represents the emperor as (see note ad loc.).

An even more obvious manifestation of the divinity ascribed to Domitian isprovided by instances in which the emperor is not compared to any deity but issimply mentioned as deus. The first instance appears in 4, 1, 10 (pro tanto quaesunt inproba vota deo?) and is followed by a couple in Book 5 (5, 3, 6 and 5, 5,2). The frequency increases in Book 7 (see 7, 2, 6 nostri ... dei; 7, 5, 3 deum; 7, 8,2 victor ... deus, all with reference to the Second Pannonian War; also 7, 40, 2utrumque deum [our God in either mood]), and falls again in Book 8 (two in-stances, 8, 8, 6 reducem ... deumand 8, 82, 3 deum), but reaches its peak in Book9, which offers in all six instances; see 9, 28, 8; 9, 65, 2; 9, 66, 3; 9, 93, 3; 9, 93,8; and 9, 101, 24.

To sum up, in no other book of Martials is there, expressed in percentages,such a large number of poems on Domitian as in Book 9. As we have only thesecond edition of Book 10 (published in 98), Book 9 now represents the climax ofa development towards a greater degree of attention to

Documents

Christer Henriksen Martial, Book IX- A Commentary (Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis Studia Latina Upsaliensia, 24)-2 Volume Set (Latin Edition) 1999