The Epigrams (Penguin Classics)

I love these epigrams. Some are better than others, although possibly the passage of time or the translation (or both) may lessen the impact or humour. Many are still relevant today in their biting (and often sarcastic) observations of everyday life. This extract about a student doctor's treatment always makes me smile '......I was unwell. Now I'm extremely ill'.

First-class writing and, just as important, a first-class translation. For those who know some Latin it will be clear, both what a task faced the translator and how heroically he tackled it. By using considerable licence he managed to produce some excellent English poetry while conserving the spirit of the original pretty much intact. Bravo!

As a recent translator of Martial myself (World's Classics) I tried not to sneak too many peeks at my predecessors while my version was still 'in progress'. In Michie's case that's meant saving myself a treat for when I was done. His old Penguin is witty and stylish; his selection offers a sympathetic and frequently naughty Martial and is very more-ish. Still a Martial to reckon with after all these years.

The good points of this edition are Martial, who is hillarious with a capital H, a sort of cruder but kinder Roman version of Oscar Wilde, and the fact that original Latin epigrams are printed next to their English translations.The down side is the fact that the notes are rather brief, that the edition presents only a selection of Martials epigrams (and some of the funnier ones aren't in here) and the translation is not the best, due to the fact that the translator has attempted to make them poetic in a modern European sense with rhyming. Having read a few other epigrams in a straighter, plainer style, it is my personal opinion that by the peotic style, whilst re-enforcing the idea that the epigrams are poetry, also results in them loosing some of their quick-fire zest, which is what they are best at.Nevetheless, a really good read from the man (Martial) who sees human fault as clear as day but chooses not to sneer but to point it out and laugh semi-affectionately.

Martial was such a prolific epigrammatist that a full collection (e.g. Loeb) doesn't come cheap. This selection - in Latin and with an English translation - gives a taste at an affordable price.Martial is incomparable: snappy, witty, sarcastic, satirical, withering - and, sometimes, genuinely laugh-out-loud funny.Writing in the 1st century CE under Domitian, he certainly looks back to Catullus writing epigram in the late Republic, but makes the form utterly his own.This translation is fine, but to get the full impact of Martial's terse and flexible language it's best to read them, if possible, in Latin.