Grief in Martial's Epigram 1.101 and a Mother's Funerary Inscription

Teaching Martial’s epigram 1.101 in conjunction with Salvidiena Hilara’s funerary inscription showcases Roman attitudes toward death, slavery, and women’s writing. This teacher’s guide provides tiered readings and various activities to allow students to explore the nuances of Martial’s epigram and the depth of feeling in Hilara’s monument to her daughter.

Martial’s Epigram 1.101 describes the death of Demetrius, whom Martial had enslaved. Yet, it serves less as a funerary monument than a reflection of Martial’s literary and cultural importance. Martial asserts a master’s role even as he does demonstrate some moments of tenderness to the dead youth. He complicates his eulogy and his grief by alluding to his power even as he was powerless to stop the young man’s death. In contrast, Salvidiena Hilara erected a tribute to her young daughter that demonstrates depth of feeling, grief, and loss for her daughter. Its specificity is tragic.

If you find this teaching resource useful, please consider supporting my writing and my website by purchasing the downloadable materials here for $4.

Martial’s Epigram 1.101

Illa manus quondam studiōrum fīda meōrum
Et fēlix dominō nōtaque Caesaribus,
Dēstituit prīmōs viridis Dēmētrius annōs:
Quārta tribus lustrīs addita messis erat.
Nē tamen ad Stygiās famulus dēscenderet umbrās,        5
Ūreret inplicitum cum scelerāta lues,
Cāvimus et dominī iūs omne remīsimus aegrō:
Mūnere dignus erat convaluisse meō.
Sēnsit dēficiēns sua praemia mēque patrōnum
Dīxit ad īnfernās līber itūrus aquās.                                   10

A translation of this Epigram is available here.

Hilara’s Funerary Inscription for her Daughter

V. Salvidiena Q. L. Hilara 
 Salvidienae Faustillae
 deliciae suae 
 eruditae omnibus artibus.
 Reliquisti mammam tuam 
 gementem plangentem plorantem.
 Vix(it) an. XV 
 mensib. III dieb. XI hor. VII.
 Virginem eripuit Fatus malus.
 Destituisti, Vitilla mea, 
 miseram mammam tuam.

Teaching Martial Epigram 1.101

Objective: For students to read and understand Epigram 1.101 and to prepare students to compare it to other poems about loss.

Project Tier 1 of Martial Epigram 1.101. Read it aloud to your students and give them the opportunity to ask questions about any unknown words or phrases.
1. Ensure that students know that “Ego” is Martial.
2. Establish the meaning of the tier with a quick choral reading.
Pass out the handout with Tier 1 and Tier 2 of epigram 1.101 on it along with the accompanying comprehension questions.
Read the second tier together, and allow students the opportunity to ask about any unknown words or phrases.
1. Ask students to reread, individually or in pairs, the second tier and answer the comprehension questions.
2. Review the meaning of the questions.
Project the third tier to your students. Read it aloud to your students and give them the opportunity to ask questions.
1. It is best if this tier is done on a day following the first and second tier.
2. Expect questions on viridis prīmōs annōs (green in his first years) and ītūrus (about to go). Ītūrus is a great opportunity to ask some clarifying questions (Mortuus est? Non est! Sed mox morietur; itaque iturus ad Stygias umbras quia mox morietur.)
3. Allow students to work in small groups to establish the meaning together.
4. Chorally read the tier when students are done (or mostly done) reading in small groups.
Pass out the fourth tier with accompanying questions.
1. The third and fourth tier are fairly similar, though the fourth tier is closer to the syntax of the poem. If students are working independently, consider leaving the third tier projected as some minor scaffolding.
1. You could do a choral reading of the fourth tier and then provide the original poem along with the reading questions, which are designed to be deeper and more complex than the original questions with the easier tiers. For that reason, many of them are in English. Please adjust to best fit your classroom and your students.
2. A dictionary of words used in the poem is included with this tier and includes all the words used in the poem. It is not an index, but uses dictionary forms.
Read the original poem with your students.
1. Pass out the Supporting a Claim handout.
2. Although this activity is in English, it is beneficial literacy development—and important cultural awareness—to review and discuss these different interpretations of the poem.
3. It might be helpful to review the claims, project the poem, and look for some words or phrases from the poem that might support the first claim together. This would help model the activity for your students.
4. When students are done writing, ask for some volunteers to read their paragraph on a claim that they most agreed with. Have several students read and encourage a discussion on these different interpretations of the poem.
5. Personally, this poem strikes me as odd for its emphasis on Martial’s own studies in the fist line and for introducing Demetrius with his hand in the first line. Further, it seems to focus more on Martial’s beneficence to a dying young man, hypocritical in its view of slavery (a man should die free would certainly indicate that freedom was the state a man should live in), and focused on Martial’s worth with an emphasis on his studia, him being a dominus juxtaposed in the same line as Caesaribus, his munus, and being greeted as dominus before Demetrius’ death. It reestablishes Martial’s superiority again and again while implying that he’s also emotionally and morally superior because—look! He freed a dying young man. At the same time, there is some rhetorical tenderness to Demetrius, but for me as a reader, it’s buried between Martial’s sense of self-importance.

Martial’s Epigram 1.101: The Individual Tiers

Tier 1: Martial’s Epigram 1.101

Ego tōtus tristis sum. Ōlim, tū bene nōtus mihi erās. Tū semper scrīpsistī studia mea fīdā manū. Et ego eram fēlix dominus quia tū, Dēmētrī, erās servus meus. Tū quoque nōtus erās Caesaribus! Dēmētrī, tū habuistī ūndēvigintī annōs. Tu aeger erās, et ego timuī quia putāvī tē moritūrum esse. Mortuī dēscendunt ad Stygiās umbrās, et nōluī tē dēscendere servum. Quā dē causā, ego remīsi omne iūs dominī. Tū, tamen, aeger erās. Scīvistī tē mox moritūrum esse. Scīvistī tē esse līberum. Dīxistī mē esse patrōnum, et īvistī ad īnfernās aquās.

Tier 2: Martial’s Epigram 1.101

Ōlim, tua fīda et fēlix manus studiōrum meōrum nōta est dominō tuō et Caesaribus. Dēmētrius mortuus est iuvēnis: quārta messis (harvest) addita erat quīndecim annīs tuīs (undēvigintī). Ego cāvī et remīsī omne īus dominī aegrō Dēmētriō quia terribile lues (plague) capiēbat eum. Noluī Dēmētrium dēscendere servum ad Stygiās umbrās. Dēmētrius erat dignus convaluisse (nōn iam esse aeger) mūnere meō. Sēnsit sē esse līberum, praemia sua. Antequam mortuus erat et īverat ad īnfernās aquās, Dēmētrius dīxit mē esse patrōnum.

Tier 3: Martial’s Epigram 1.101

Illa fīda et fēlix manus studiōrum meōrum quondam (ōlim) nōta est domino tuō et Caesaribus, Dēmētrius viridis prīmos annōs dēstituit (mortuus est iuvēnis): quārta messis addita erat quīndecim annīs. Ego cāvī et remīsī omne iūs dominī aegrō Dēmētriō cum scelerāta (terribile) luēs ūreret eum inplicitum (capiēbat eum) nē (so that he wouldn’t) servus tamen dēscenderet ad Stygiās umbrās, Dēmētrius erat dignus convaluisse mūnere meō. Dēficiēns (nōn iam esse fortis), sēnsit praemia sua, et līber īturus ad īnfernās aquās (antequam mortuus erat et īverat ad īnfernās aquās), dīxit mē esse patrōnum.

Tier 4: Martial’s Epigram 1.101

Illa manus quondam fīda studiōrum meōrum, et fēlix domīno, et nōta Caesaribus, dēstituit viridis Dēmētrius prīmōs annōs: quārta messis tribus lustrīs (quindecim) addita erat. Nē tamen famulus (servus) ad Stygiās dēscenderet umbrās, cum ūreret Dēmētrium inplicitum scelerāta lues, cāvimus et rēmīsimus dominī iūs omne aegrō: Dignus erat convaluisse mūnere meō. Sēnsit dēficiēns sua praemia et dīxit mē patrōnum ad īnfernās aquās līber itūrus.

Original Poem: Final Tier

Illa manus quondam studiōrum fīda meōrum
 Et fēlix dominō nōtaque Caesaribus,
 Dēstituit prīmōs viridis Dēmētrius annōs:
 Quārta tribus lustrīs addita messis erat.
 Nē tamen ad Stygiās famulus dēscenderet umbrās,        5
 Ūreret inplicitum cum scelerāta lues,
 Cāvimus et dominī iūs omne remīsimus aegrō:
 Mūnere dignus erat convaluisse meō.
 Sēnsit dēficiēns sua praemia mēque patrōnum
 Dīxit ad īnfernās līber itūrus aquās.                                     10

Tier 1 and Tier 2 Martial’s Epigram 1.101

Directions: Read Tier 2 and answer the questions. Some questions compare Tier 1 and Tier 2. You can respond in English to some questions, but the majority will require complete sentences in Latin.

Tier 1:

Tier 2:

Rogāta

Tier 1 and Tier 2 are written with different perspectives. Which tier feels as if Martial had a closer relationship with Demetrius, the young man who was his former slave? Why?
Quālis servus erat Dēmētrius? Dēscrībe Dēmētrium.
Quot annōs natus est Dēmētrius?
What is the effect of Martial describing Dēmētrius as “quārta messis addita erat quindecim annīs”?
Cūr Martiālis remīsit omne iūs dominī?
Quid erat mūnus Martiālis?
“Dignus convaluisse mūnere meō.” Quid haec sententia Anglicē significat?
Quandō Dēmētrius dīxit Martiālem esse patrōnum?

Tier 4: Martial’s Epigram 1.101

Directions: Read Tier 4 and answer the questions. Some questions compare Tier 1 and Tier 2. You can respond in English to some questions, but the majority will require complete sentences in Latin. You can use the separate dictionary to look up words. Remember: a dictionary does not have conjugated forms of words. For example, you will need to look under eō, īre for ītūrus.

Quā parte corpōris Martiālis prīmum dēscrīpsit Dēmētrium?
Quās persōnās Martiālis identificāvit antequam dīxit nomen Dēmētriō?
Why does Martial delay Demetrius’ name in the poem?
Quomodo Martiālis aetātem Dēmētriī dēscrīpsit?
Why do you think Martial described Demetrius’ age the way that he did? What is the effect of the description?
Martial begins a long sentence with nē. What expectation does Martial set up for his reader by inverting the syntax of the clause?
Quomodo Martiālis dēscrīpsit luem et mortem Dēmetriī?
What does it suggest about Martial that he knows a person should die free but that he had enslaved Demetrius?
Martial wrote, “Dignus erat convaluisse mūnere meō.” What does this suggest about Martial’s character?
Why does Martial include the phrase “dīxit mē patrōnum” in this poem?
Secundum Martiālem, cūr libertās erat praemium Dēmētriī?

Dictionary for Martial’s Epigram 101

Latin	English
Ad	To
Addō, addere, adidī, additus	Add
Aeger, aegra, aegrum	Sick
Annus, annī, m.	Year
Aqua, aquae, f.	Water
Caesar, caesaris, m.	Caesar
Caveō, cavēre, cāvī, cautus	Beware, take precautions
Convalēscō, convalēscere, convaluī, convalitus	Grow strong, regain health
Cum	When
Dēficiō, dēficere, dēfēcī, dēfectus	Fail, falter
Dēmētrius, Dēmētriī, m.	Demetrius, a name
Dēscendō, dēscendere, dēscendī, dēscensus	Descend
Dēstituō, dēstituere, dēstituī, dēstitūtus	Leave
Dignus, digna, dignum	Worthy
Dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dīctus	Say, tell
Dominus, dominī, m.	Master, enslaver
Ego, meī, mihi, mē, mē	I, me
Eō, īre, īvī, ītus	Go
Et	And
Famulus, famulī, m.	Slave
Fēlix, fēlīcis	Happy, lucky
Fīdus, fīda, fīdum	Faithful
Ille, illa, illud	That
Implicitus, implicita, implicitum	Entangled
Iūs, iuris, n.	Law, right
Īnfernus, īnferna, īnfernum	Infernal
Līber, lībera, līberum	Free
Lues, luis, f.	Plague
Lustrum, lustrī, n.	A period of five years
Manus, manūs, f.	Hand
Meus, mea, mem	My, mine
Messis, messis, f.	Harvest
Mūnus, mūneris, n.	Gift
Nōtus, nōta, nōtum	Known
Omnis, omne	All, every
Patrōnus, patrōnī, m.	Patron
Praemium, praemiī, n.	Reward
Prīmus, prīma, prīmum	First
Quārtus, quārta, quārtum	Fourth
-que	And
Quondam	Once
Remittō, remittere, remīsī, remissus	Remit
Scelerātus, scelerāta, scelerātum	Wicked
Sentiō, sentīre, sēnsī, sensum	Feel, sense
Studium, studiī, n.	Study
Stygius, Stygia, Stygium	Stygian
Sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	Be
Suus, sua, suum	His, her, their own
Tamen	Yet, nevertheless
Trēs, tria	Three
Umbra, umbrae	Shade
Ūrō, ūrere, ussī, ustus	Burn
Viridis, viride	Green

Supporting a Claim

This poem has a layered and nuanced purpose. You will write three different paragraphs that support different claims and interpretations of this poem. One may be easier to write than the other, but finding supporting evidence for an opinion contrary to your own is useful for developing your own strown argument in writing. A little of all of them may be true, though some argumetns are stronger than others. Annotate the poem, and use evidence from it to support each claim.

Claim #1: Martial uses this epigram about his dead slave to bolster his own importance among his acquaintances.

Claim #2: Martial relied on Demetrius and had a close relationship with the enslaved youth.

Claim #3: Martial’s epigram perpetuates the myth that a “good” slave earns freedom and rewards.

Teaching Epigraphy and a Mom’s Bereavement

Objective: For students to read a funerary inscription written by a woman and to recognize its emotional tenor.

Materials:

Funeral Inscription: CIL 06, 25808

 V. Salvidiena Q. L. Hilara
 Salvidienae Faustillae
 deliciae suae
 eruditae omnibus artibus.
 Reliquisti mammam tuam
 gementem plangentem plorantem.
 Vix(it) an. XV
 mensib. III dieb. XI hor. VII.
 Virginem eripuit Fatus malus.
 Destituisti, Vitilla mea,
 miseram mammam tuam.[1]

Project the PowerPoint titled “Gementem, Plangentem, Plorantem.” The PowerPoint walks through the teaching of this inscription.
1. The PowerPoint is downloadable here.
2. There will be words and phrases that your students are unfamiliar with as you progress through the PowerPoint. Pause to discuss them and come up with synonyms as you go.
On the final slide, ask students to identify words that reveal the relationship between the mother and daughter.
1. Emphasize, for example, that Hilara included the hours her daughter lived, that she used the word mamma instead of mater, and that she used gementem plangentem plorantem as well as miseram in this inscription to describe herself.

Martial vs. Mamma

Objective: For students to compare the styles and tone of Martial’s epigram and Hilara’s funerary inscription

Materials:

Handout on Comparing Martial and Mamma

Pass out the handout that will help students compare the emotional and biographical information in each poem. They will write a short summary in Latin of each poem or inscription.
When students have completed the activity, have a discussion about how the texts differ from each other in emotional tone or in which biographical information is included in them.
1. Discuss the cultural significance of these two texts, emphasizing slavery, wealth, and status.
2. Discuss the emotional significance of these two texts. Who loved the departed more? How can we tell?
3. For example, I was struck by Martial’s emphasis on himself as a man of status may also be significantly more apparently to students in juxtaposition to these other texts. Salvidiena Hilara, after all, was a freed slave who earned sufficient money to commemorate her daughter.
As an extension, you could have the deceased write a letter back to the author from the underworld. What would Demetrius say to Martial? What would Vitilla say to Salvidiena Hilara? Brainstorm together as a class before having students write these letters. If you want, collect, edit, and then share some of these letters your students have written with the class.

Comparing Martial and Mamma

Directions: Draw a box around any vocabulary that includes emotional overtones. Underline words that indicate biographical information. Write a summary, in Latin, of each poem in the space to the right that reflects both the biographical and emotional tone of the poem or inscription.

Martial, Epigram 1.101

Illa manus quondam studiōrum fīda meōrum
 Et fēlix dominō nōtaque Caesaribus,
 Dēstituit prīmōs viridis Dēmētrius annōs:
 Quārta tribus lustrīs addita messis erat.
 Nē tamen ad Stygiās famulus dēscenderet umbrās,        
 Ūreret inplicitum cum scelerāta lues,
 Cāvimus et dominī iūs omne remīsimus aegrō:
 Mūnere dignus erat convaluisse meō.
 Sēnsit dēficiēns sua praemia mēque patrōnum
 Dīxit ad īnfernās līber itūrus aquās.

Mamma

V. Salvidiena Q. L. Hilara 
 Salvidienae Faustillae
 deliciae suae 
 eruditae omnibus artibus.
 Reliquisti mammam tuam 
 gementem plangentem plorantem.
 Vix(it) an. XV 
 mensib. III dieb. XI hor. VII.
 Virginem eripuit Fatus malus.
 Destituisti, Vitilla mea, 
 miseram mammam tuam.

[1] B 1570. According to Jane Stevenson in Women Latin Poets, this was found outside the Collatine gate of Rome in a vineyard. She notes that the V. could stand for viva, but that it is likely to be the name Vitia or Vitilla given the daughter’s name (p. 54, n.19-20).