Book Review: Martial's Epigrams

[Meredith Malkins]

Martial Epigrams - with an English translation by Walter C.A. Kerr, Volumes 1 & 2
Latin Poetry

Summary: This is a collection of the fourteen known books of the Roman poet Martial, who was (in)famous for his epigrams. Martial writes frankly on all aspects of Roman life, from buildings to people's flaws. This translation by Walter Kerr was published in 1919 in two volumes of seven books each. You can read it online here: https://archive.org/details/martialepigrams01martiala, https://archive.org/details/epigramswitheng02mart
Good points: Martial is hilarious. He has no qualms about insulting any person, and his most romantic poems tend to be about art and current emperors. He gives a very jaded but amazing view into Roman life. It's amazing because we get to see into the citizen's mind. We hear about his view on happiness, about the joys of country life and the evils of the city, about the gossip of the day, worry over wars and emperors, and see things like a same-sex wedding. It's both funny and enlightening, if sometimes slightly off-colour. It makes you think at any rate.
Bad points: Walter Kerr demonstrates the morals of the early 20th Century quite clearly, and funnily enough it clashes horribly with those of the Romans. He makes Martial child-friendly by blanking words out, using euphemisms, and sometimes translating an epigram partly or entirely into Italian (41 times in fact). This can be a bit frustrating, on the other hand if you are an adult or good with Latin you'll get all the jokes. It also allows for younger audiences to read it without being scarred for life, so it's HOL-friendly and I can post about it. Still, it makes for clunky reading, especially with all the archaic "thee & thou".
Overall: Great reading, excellent for browsing, very good for when you want to analyse a subject. The translation little unnatural, but generally very good.