Teacher’s Guide to Martha Marchina

This teacher’s guide to Martha Marchina (1600-16476) contains some free teaching resources to introduce her to your students. These materials provide biographical information, in Latin, about her life as well as accompanying activities based on the biography. In addition, materials to teach one of the 20 poems included in the guide are available. This poem ties into her biography as it commemorates the death of her sister. These free teaching resources are available after a description of the teacher’s guide to Martha Marchina.

The entire teacher’s guide can be purchased here for $30. It contains materials and activities to teach 20 different poems from the Latin 2 – 4 level. For more information, please check the list of included materials and the complete table of contents in the guide description. In addition, several of Marchina’s poems are available as audio here.

About Martha Marchina, an Early Modern Poet

Martha Marchina (1600-1647) was exceptional as a female poet from a modest middle-class background—a perspective too often lost due to biases of what constitutes quality literature or literature worth reading. And make no mistake:  Marchina wrote exceptional poetry with complex, nuanced themes that are worthy of reading and discussing broadly. Nor is she a simple woman to understand. Was she the humble, devout woman who wrote religious poetry commemorating Mary and martyred women or was she the self-assured, witty woman who felt confident enough to one-up Cardinal Spada by criticizing his epigram and writing a better one? Clearly, she was both. After all, she not only commemorates Mary and the martyred women, but she elevates them over men while centering the reader as their supportive ally.

The biographies that survive of Marchina’s life emphasize that she is a woman and that she has a modest background. She is lionized in these biographies due to her exceptional intellectual abilities—she taught herself Latin by taking on the role of her brothers’ mother and making them recite their coursework—and for her natural feminine modest. For example, she supposedly meekly accepts her confessor’s strong rebuke that she not be further educated and should instead take up needlework as befits a young woman. Anthony Querengus accosted her and demanded that she write a poem in front of him to prove that she had not copied her poetry. How she truly felt about these obstacles that she had to surmount is not clear, though she wrote a clearly disparaging poem about Querengus. Ultimately, she received some patronage from Cardinal Spada, and it was the Spada family that collected her poems and published them after her death in Musa Posthuma. They used her name and reputation—she had been famous throughout Europe—to bolster their own prestige.

Unfortunately, in emphasizing Marchina’s feminity, these biographies tend to imply that she was an anomaly, almot even a man, or as if she were a mouthpiece for God’s words rather than an author in her own right. Such a treatment of her tends to further exclude other women and outsiders from the corpus. She was, after all, the daughter of a soap and a broom maker. Beyond her background and gender, though, she was a remarkable poet. How many other women wrote poetry or stories that others deemed unimportant? Whose modest background wasn’t used by to prop up a wealthy family? Too many remarkable women have disappeared to the ravages of time and sexism. It’s time to reclaim Marchina and for students to read her beautiful poetry in classrooms—and to read the perspectives of women in those same classrooms.

I invite you to read Marchina’s poetry and develop the same love of her style and wit that so many of us who have discovered her have cultivated. Thank you for taking the first step of introducing her to others by reading this teacher’s guide.

About the Complete Teacher’s Guide to Martha Marchina

This teacher’s guide was born as a result of the Martha Marchina poetry challenge that I started participating in along with a group of fierce, friendly women in November of the darkest year I have personally ever had:  2020. I will not rehash how much this group has meant to me, but I am grateful that I can give back to them through the creation of these teaching materials for you and your classroom. Martha became a dear friend, right alongside these women, and I hope you love her as much as we do.

I am pleased to offer this teaching guide to several of the poems we read together from Musa Posthuma, though I can also assure you if you want to expand your scope beyond this guide, Martha’s oeuvre is much, much meatier than the poem’s included in this guide. Musa Posthuma is available in a scanned copy online. Project Nota is working to digitize and to translate the poetry and letters in the book to make Martha’s wit more accessible to teachers. I consider this teacher’s guide smack dab in the middle of that vein. We have done some of the hard work for you. Now, you just need to get to know her and introduce her to your students.

This teacher’s guide is broken up into thematic arrangements of Martha’s poetry. This allows you to pick and choose which thematic groups you would prefer to teach to your students. Most do not rely on knowledge of the other curated sets of poems, which allows for a lot of flexibility. It also allows you to choose the collection of poems that best fit your students ability. For example, the collection of correlative verses are much easier than the other curated sets, allowing you to introduce Martha to your Latin II students. Some teachers are also not comfortable teaching religious poetry—or conversely want to teach religious poetry—so grouping those poems into these themes allows for great flexibility of choice in teaching.

Thematic Collections:

• Martha Marchina’s Biography
  • Suitable for Latin III-IV
• Correlative verse
  • Strong religious themes
  • Suitable for Latin II-IV
• Replacing the Pagan
  • Strong religious themes
  • Suitable for Latin III-IV
• Witty Epigrams
  • Suitable for Latin III-IV
• Biographical Poems
  • Suitable for Latin III-IV

The Poems Included in the Teacher’s Guide to Martha Marchina

These poems are selected from Marchina’s Musa Posthuma. They are all between two and six lines, though she also wrote longer poems, including a memorable one on Vesuvius, which was active during her lifetime.

Thematic Collection: Correlative Verse

Dē Beātissimā Virgine.
Distichon.

Fīlia, spōnsa, parēns, flectit, dēvincit, adōrat
Patrem, ignem, nātum, lēge, pudōre, prece.

Dē Eādem.
Distichon.

Fēmina, fortis, ovāns, salvāvit, frēgit, adīvit,
Terram, Erebum, Caelum, lēge, dolōre, Deō.

Religiōsus
Deō Vōtīs Cōnsecrātus.

Rēx, mīles, dīves; trānscendō, vincō, relinquō;
Sīdera, corda, aurum; lēge, pudōre, fugā.

In Eādem
Distichon.

Iēsus, Chrīstus, Amor docuit, superāvit, adussit
Terram, Erebum, Venerem: lēge, cruōre, face.

Thematic Collections: Replacing the Pagan

Ad Beātissimam Virginem.
Tetrastichon.
Tōta Pulchra Es.

Aspexit cum Virgō tuōs pulcherrima vultūs
Omnipotēns hominum, cælicolumque sator,
Ad superōs conversus, ait, “vōs cēdite Dīvī,
Pulchrior est vestrīs ista puella Chōrīs.”

Lūna
Ad Eandem Virginem.

Ōlim nocte micāns Phoebō redeunte recessī,
Et mea pervāsit plūrimus ōra rubor.
Postquam Virgō tuīs substernor gressibus, ipsō
Cynthia iam Phoebō clārior ecce micō.

D. Prīsca Virgō, & Martyr Leōnī Obiecta
Epig.

Aspicit innocuum Virgō sēcūra leōnem
Vulneribus, līctor, saucia facta tuīs.
Nempe ferae incipiunt saevōs dēdiscere mōrēs,
Hūmānōs postquam dēdicēre hominēs.

Dē Eōdem Leōne.
Distichon.

Sīdera, sī vōbīs cūrae est servāre Leōnem,
Hōc nūllus vestrō dignior orbe fuit.

D. Marthae
S. Mariī Coniugī, & Mātrī S.S Audifacis & Abachiī

Sponte subit flammās, ēnsēsque invicta Virāgō,
Nec timor est raptam cernere utramque manum;
Nē iactet dextrā contemptōs Mūcius ignēs:
Plūs potuit prō tē fēmina, Chrīste, patī.

Thematic Collection: Witty Epigrams

In Indoctum Poetam

Quid tibi cum nostrā est, vātēs indocte, Minervā?
Hīc tē nūllus honor, praemia nūlla manent.
Cernis, ut innumerīs turpātur pāgina mendīs,
Vulneribusque tuīs carmina laesa dolent?
Redde igitur Mūsīs calamōs, fessōsque libellōs:
Nōn sunt haec dextrā mūnera digna tuā.

In Loquacem,
Distichon.

“Nīl,” inquis, “dīcō.” At nōn cessās fundere verba,
Ut vel sīc taceās obsecrō dīc aliquid.

In Vetulam Loquācem.
Distichon.

Ōdī verbōsōs: “ego servō silentia” dīcis.
“Tūnē silēre potes?” “Ceu modo, nōn aliter.”

In Cinnamum Circulatorem.

Cinname, sollicitus stomachī medicāmina vendis.
Cūr? Vacuum sentīs esse tibi stomachum.

In Quendam
Distichon

“Quid facis?” Atque Abeō. Properāns mihi dīcis utrumq;
Quae respōnsa feram? Nīl faciō, atque Abeās.

In Eundem
Aliud

Semper festīnās, ut sī lūx ultima adesset:
Haec putō causa est, cūr disticha sola probās.

Dē Epigrammatīs.
Distich.

Scrībere dē rēbus magnīs epigrammata lūdus
Nōn est. Quid possit sērius esse iocō?

In Librum

Praecipis ex istō dēmī mala carmina librō.
Sī mala sustuleris, quid reliquum fuerit?

Thematic Collection: Biographical Poems

In Antōnium Querengum.
Epig.

Dēsine dulciloquās āles profundere vōcēs
Cycne: tibi fūnus quid moritūre canis?
Ēn melior Querengus olor, dīvīnus Apollō
Vīvere perpetuum carmina vōce iubet,
Hic canat: Occiduīs at tū iam parce querēlīs,
Dum canis ipse pērīs, dum canit iste viget.

Tumulus
Magdalenae Marchīnae Sorōris

Magdālis hōc tumulō tegitur, Virtūtis imāgō,
Addita cui nōndum septima messis erat.
At vix aspectam ēripuit Parca impia lūcem,
Aetātem, & laudēs, dum putat esse parēs.

In Frātrem Suum
Epig.

Ecce vīderis homō rigidus, nimiumque sevērus,
Dum, germāne, tibi carmina nūlla placent.
“Dēsipit hoc,” inquis,” dūra isthaec, illa redundant,
Hoc iacet, ista tument, hoc hiat, illa cadunt.”
Innumerās notās in nostrō carmine mendās:
Atque ego nōn bona, tū carmina nūlla facis.

Materials Included in the Teacher’s Guide to Martha Marchina

• Materials for the Biographical Thematic Collection
  • Marchina Dictato – PowerPoint
  • Vita Marthae Marchinae – Reading
  • Rogata – Reading Comprehension Questions
  • Vita Marthae Marchinae (Paulo Simplicius et Brevius) – Reading
  • Rogata – Reading Comprehension Questions for the Paulō Simplicius Reading
  • How to Suppress Women’s Writing – PowerPoint
  • Martha Marchina Biography Packet – Handout
• Materials Included in the Correlative Verse Collection:
  • The Latin poems with English translations
  • “Dē Beātissimā Virgine” – PowerPoint
  • “Dē Eādem” – PowerPoint
  • “Religiōsus” – PowerPoint
  • Versus in Poculō: A manipulable poetry activity
  • In Eadem – Christus – PowerPoint
  • Martha Marchina Mad Libs – Handout
  • Marchina Poem Prompt for writing a poem – Handout
• Materials Included in the Replacing the Pagan Collection:
  • The Latin poems with English translations
  • Story Listen with script for “Ad Beatissimam Virginem.”
  • Tiered readings of “Ad Beatissimam Virgindem.”
  • Movie Talk with script for preteaching “Luna ad Eandem Virginem” with accompaying vocabulary PowerPoint
  • Tiered readings of “Luna ad Eandem Virginem.”
  • A Picture of Prisca and the Lion with script for a picture talk
  • A short biography of Prisca written in Latin with reading comprehension questions
  • A picture of the Nemean Lion with script for a picture talk.
  • A short non-fiction text about the Nemean lion and the Leo Maior et Minor constellations with reading comprehension questions
  • A short biography of the life of the martyr Martha and her family with reading comprehension questions
  • A short text describing Mucius Scaevola and accompanying activity.
  • Tiered reading for the poem “D. Marthae”
• Materials Included in the Witty Epigrams Collection:
  • The Latin poems with English translations
  • Martha Marchina & Indoctus Poeta Acrostic – Handout
  • Tiered Reading of “In Indoctum Poetam”
  • Tiered Readings for “In Loquacem” and “In Vetulam Loquacem” – PowerPoint Format
  • Circulatōrēs Cinnamī reading and accompanying reading comprehension questions
  • “Peddler” – Image from the Dance with Death series.
  • In Quendam – Comic Strip Handout
  • “Festina Lente” – PowerPoint
  • “A Serious Business” – Enrichment Reading
  • De Epigrammatis – PowerPoint with discussion questions
  • Libri Expurgati – Reading on expurgated books
  • In Librum – Spanish Translation, image of poem in a Spanish book
• Materials Included in the Biographical Poems Collection:
  • The Latin poems, with English translations
  • A short non-fiction text explaining the concept of the “Swan Song”
  • Tiered reading for “In Antonium Querengum”
  • “Tumulus Magdalenae Marchinae Sororis” – A PowerPoint
  • Tiered Reading for Martial Epigram 1.101 with discussion questions
  • “Gementem, Plangentem, Plorantem” – A PowerPoint
  • Comparing Marchina, Martial, and Mamma Handout
  • “Innumerās Mendās – Vocabulary” – A PowerPoint
  • Prose tier for “In Frātrem Suum”

Sample Teaching Resources from the Teacher’s Guide to Martha Marchina

These teaching resources are available to introduce your students to Martha Marchina’s biography, read one of her poems, and compare that poem to an epigram written by Martial and a funeral monument written by Salvidiena Hilara. They include the materials for a dictatio that foreshadows Marchina’s biography, a complete biography of Marchina’s life, reading comprehension questions to accompany that biography, and teaching activities to teach the poem Tumulus, including some cultural connections to Martial and Salvidiena Hilara.

Marchina Dictatio

• Objective:       To introduce students to the outline of Marchina’s life to prepare them to read her biography.

The PowerPoint for the activity is available for you, titled “Dictatio de Vita Marthae Marchinae.” Click here to download it.

1. Print out a copy of the sentences that you will read to the students so you have them in front of you.
2. The sentences are in the PowerPoint, but they are also here:
   1. Martha Marchīna erat Catholica vātes quae in Ītaliā nāta est.
   2. Pater Marchīnae orbiculōs ex sāpōne odōrātō et scōpās vendēbat.
   3. Māter Marchīnae mortua est cum Marchīna septem annōs nāta est.
   4. Itaque Marchīna cūrābat frātrēs quia in familiā nōn iam māter erat.
   5. Marchīna magistra optima vidēbātur frātribus et patrī.
   6. Marchīna plūrēs librōs Latīnōs legere volēbat.
   7. Marchīna, autem, emere librōs non poterat.
   8. Pater Santolīnus in templō multōs librōs habuit.
   9. Pater Santolīnus, autem, dīxit “legere nōn licet!”
   10. Marchīna librōs legere per sex annōs nōn poterat.
3. Read each sentence slowly three times. Students are to listen to what you are saying and write the sentence down to the best of their ability.
4. After you have read the sentence the third time, project it. Students are to correct any errors they have.
5. I tend to establish meaning here after students have corrected their sentences by asking questions in Latin, leading up to a translation of each sentence.
6. This is a great opportunity for differentiation because you can ask simpler questions for students who are weaker and the translation sentence for some of the stronger students.
   1. If you have never done a dictatio before, Keith Toda has an excellent write-up on his website.
      

Vīta Marthae Marchinae

Martha Marchīna erat Catholica vātes[1] quae annō MDC in Ītaliā nāta est. Marchīna multōs versūs scrīpsit. Hominēs eam et versūs eius valdē admīrābantur quia versūs pulchrī, salsī,[2] religiōsī, et lepidī erant! Marchīna epigrammata brevia, versūs longiōrēs, et epistolās scrīpsit. Marchīna loquī, scrībere, et legere linguās Graecās, Latīnās, Hebraēās, et Italicās sciēbat. Annō MDCXLVI mortua est.

Vīta et versūs eius maximī mōmentī erant quia Marchīna fēmina pauperior erat, et nōs multōs versūs scrīptōs ā fēminā pauperiōre ex illō tempore legere hodiē nōn possumus. Marchīna numquam uxor, māter, aut monacha[3] erat, itaque rāra fēmina illō tempore quoque erat.

Familia et Vīta ab Īnfantiā

Marchīna Napōlī in Ītaliā nāta est, sed Rōmam cum familiā vēnit cum infāns esset. Marchīna ūnam sorōrem et duōs frātrēs, alterum maiōrem et alterum minōrem, in familiā habēbat. Nōn multum dē vītā sorōris scīmus quia nūllī scrīptōrēs quī dē vītā Marchīnae scrīpsērunt dē sorōre nārrāvērunt. Marchīna ipsa, autem, versum dē morte sorōris Magdalēnae scrīpsit, itaque scīmus sorōrem mortuam esse antequam septem annōs nāta esset.

Pater Marchīnae tabernam Rōmae īnstituit ut pecūniam habēret et familiam cūrāret. In tabernā orbiculōs ex sāpōne odōrātō et scōpās vendēbat. Facere sāpōnem erat difficile, itaque multī hominēs facere sāpōnem suum nōluērunt. Cum Marchīna adulta esset, Marchīna orbiculōs ex sāpōne odōrātō adhūc fēcit et hōs ante domum suam vendidit.

Māter Marchīnae mortua est cum Marchīna septem annōs nāta est. Itaque necesse erat Marchīnae cūrāre frātrēs quia in familiā nōn iam māter erat. Quōmodo Marchīna frātrēs cūrābat? Māne, Marchīna rogāvit frātrēs ut omnia quae in scholā didicerant repeterent. Marchīna hoc cotīdiē[4] agēbat antequam ad scholam īrent. Frātrēs omnia iterum iterumque explicābant et recitābant quae magistrī in scholā docēbant. Nocte, Marchīna iterum rogāvit ut frātrēs omnia quae in scholā magistrī docuerant repeterent. Itaque, frātrēs omnia multō melius discēbant et memoriā tenēbant. Marchīna ipsa quoque optimē discēbat et docēbat, et magistra ipsa optima vidēbātur frātribus et patrī.

Pater Ludovicus Santolīnus et Librī Latīnī

Pater Marchīnae sciēbat fīliam esse intellegentem. Quia Marchīna plūrēs librōs legere volēbat, pater ad patrem in templō Santolīnum quī cōnfessiōnēs familiae excipiēbat īvit. Illō tempore, patrēs in templīs multōs librōs habēbant et hominēs quī multum pecūniae habēbant librōs emere poterant. Virī quī orbiculōs ex sāpōne odōrātō et scōpās fēcērunt et vendidērunt nōn multum pecūniae habēbant. Itaque hī virī, sīcut pater Marchīnae, librōs ēmēre nōn poterant.

Pater Marchīnae rogāvit Santolīnum, “licetne Marchīnae librōs Latīnōs tuōs legere?” Pater Santolīnus īrātus erat et dīxit, “Nōn licet!” Pater Santolīnus putābat multō melius Marchīnae agere mūnera fēminārum. Pater Santolīnus dīxit, “relinque rēs aptās vīrīs, sed disce lānam facere, texere, et opus Phrygium efficere.” Itaque, Marchīna librōs legere nōn poterat. Per sex tōtōs annōs Marchīna lānam fēcit, texit, et opus Phrygium effēcit… et frātrēs suōs docēbat et cūrābat.

Ōlim, Santolīnus rogāvit patrem Marchīnae dē ēducātiōne fīliōrum. Santolīnus putāvit fīliōs habēre dēbēre magistrum et domī et in scholā quia intellēgentēs erant. Pater rīsit et dīxit, “Cūr dēbeam pecūniam magistrō dare? Fīlia mea Martha est optima magistra.” Santolīnus attonitus fuit et rogāvit patrem ut ūnum epigramma scriptum ā Marthā ferret. Nōn difficile erat quia Marchīna multa epigrammata scrībere solēbat.

Itaque, pater ferēns ūnum epigramma ā Marchīnā scrīptum revēnit, et hunc versum Santolīnus lēgit. Santolīnus attonitissimus erat quia versus lepidus et optimus erat. Santolīnus rogāvit, “Num[5] fīlia tua—Martha—hunc versum scrīpsit?” Santolīnus nōn poterat crēdere virginem tredecim annōs nātam hoc epigramma scrīpsisse. Pater dīxit, “Fīlia mea hoc certē scrīpsit. Multa epigrammata scrībit!” Itaque, Marchīna librōs Latīnōs Santolinī legere tandem incēpit.

Antōnius Quaerengus

Antōnius Quaerengus vir gravis et sevērus erat quī epigrammata scrīpta ā Marchīnā quoque lēgit. Quaerengus quoque putāvit Marchīnam haec epigrammata nōn scrīpsisse. Epigrammata lepida et optima erant, et putāvit nūllam virginem versōs bonōs scrībere posse.

Itaque, Quaerengus rogāvit ut Marchīna alium epigramma dē pugnā inter Iacobum et Angelum scrīberet. Quaerengus quoque rogāvit ut Marchīna nōn sōla esset cum hōc epigramma scrīpserit quia Quaerengus crēdidit Marchīnam ex aliō librō epigrammata scrīpsisse. Quā dē causā, Marchīna epigramma scrībēns ā virō spectābātur.

Marchīna multō celerius et multō melius quam Quaerengus putāverat epigramma dē pugnā inter Iacobum et Angelum scrīpsit. Quaerengus attonitus erat, et Marchīnam et intellegentiam eius admīrābātur. Quaerengus, similis patrī, Marchīnam regēbat quia illō tempore virgō sōla esse nōn poterat. Quaerengus voluit Marchīnam īre ad oppidum in Alpibus[6] ut in scholā docēret. Marchīna īre ad Alpēs nōluit, sed necesse erat eī īre.

In itinere, frāter minor cum Marchīnā īvit quia iter facere fēmīnīs sōlīs nōn licuit. In itinere, frāter eius aeger factus est, et fuit necesse Marchīnae frātrem cūrāre. Marchīna ad oppidum in Alpibus numquam īvit, sed cum frāter nōn iam aeger erat, Rōmam revēnērunt. Marchīna Quaerengum fortasse nōn amāvit quia ūnus scrīptōrum scrīpsit, eō regente, Marchīnam multōs annōs sē miseram habēre. Plūs dē hōc virō, autem, nescīmus.

Cardinālis Spada, ille Patrōnus

Fāma Marchīnae in Ītaliā et in aliīs patriīs crēscēbat. Ōlim, Cardinālis Bernadīnus Spada cum aliīs loquēbātur et hīs virīs epigramma quod ipse scrīpserat lēgit. Hoc epigramma pestilentiam horribilem in Ītaliā dēscrīpsit. Cardinālis putāvit sē epigramma bonum scrīpsisse, sed pater Santolīnus, quī cōnfessiōnēs Marchīnae excipiēbat, aderat. Epigramma Cardinālis lēgit, et Santolīnus dīxit Marchīnam esse vātem optimam et Cardinālem versūs eius legere dēbēre.

Postrīdiē,[7] Santolīnus epistolam scrīptam ā Marchīnā et epigramma ad Cardinālem tulit. Marchīna epigramma melius quam Cardinālis, et Cardinālis illud epigramma valdē admīrābātur. Itaque, Cardinālis patrōnus Marchīnae factus est, et Marchīna beneficium eius decem annōs accēpit.

Postquam Marchīna mortua est, Cardinālis Spada versūs scrīptōs ā Marchīnā in librō nōmine Mūsa Posthuma ēdidit. Cardinālis Spada fāmam suam hōc librō crēscere fortasse voluit quia multī versūs in hōc librō dē Cardinālī Spadā aut familiā eius sunt. Paene omnēs versūs quōs hodiē legere possumus in hōc librō inveniuntur.

Vīta Religiōsa et Cotīdiānā

Religiō maximī mōmentī Marchīnae erat, et ad templum saepissimē īvit. Vītam in meditātiōne rērum caelestium agēbat. Quadrigentā (XL) hōrās in templō in hebdomade precēbātur,[8] et ter[9] in hebdomade Chrīstī corporis Sacrāmenta suscēpit.

Fortasse ut similis exemplīs Paulī Apostolī aut Iēsū esset, Marchīna stolās simplicēs gerēbat et multum pecūniae habēre nōlēbat. Marchīna calceōs simplicēs (aut nūllōs calceōs!) gessit, et calceōs quibus altior vidērētur certē numquam gessit.

Prīnceps Rōmae voluit Marchīnam in ūniversitāte docēre, sed Marchīna nōluit. Marchīna pudōre[10] docēre fortasse nōluit, ut scrīptōrēs illō tempore scrīpsērunt. Illō tempore, fēminae in ūniversitāte certē docēbant, sed hae fēminae quoque ā multīs hominibus—et virīs et fēminīs—vexābantur. Multī iam putāverant Marchīnam versūs suōs nōn scrīpsisse. Marchīna fortasse vexārī ab illīs hominibus nōluit. In ūniversitāte nōn docuit, sed satis orbiculōrum ex sāpōne odōrātō fēcit et vendidit ut tōtum annum simpliciter vīveret.  

Ūnus scrīptōrum illōrum illius temporis dīxit mūnera fēminārum Marchīnam nōn dēlectāvisse, sed omnia mūnera optimē agere posse. Aliī scrīptōrēs dīxērunt mūnera fēminārum Marchīnam dēlectāvisse et optimē agere potuisse. Marchīna texere, lānam facere, et opus Phrygium efficere poterat. Marchīna quoque sciēbat opus Phrygium fīlō aureō efficere, et Marchīna fortasse hoc opus hominibus in templīs efficiēbat. Marchīna ipsa stolās fīlīs aureīs numquam gessit.

Loquī cum multīs hominibus nōlēbat. Silentium eam dēlectāvit, et hominēs quī nimium loquēbantur eī molestī vidēbantur. Cum Marchīna aliquid dīceret, aliquid maiōris mōmentī certē fuit quia versūs Marchīnae salsī[11] et amīcī sunt. Cum hōs versūs legis, vidēris legere versūs scrīptōs ab amīcā.

Themata Versuum

Marchīna versūs dē religiōne saepe scrīpsit, praesertim dē Virgine Mariā et dē fēminīs quae martȳrēs fuerant. In versibus dē martyribus et dē Virgine Mariā, fēminae saepe fortēs sunt, et hae fēminae saepe fortiōrēs quam virī sunt. Marchīna quoque scrīpsit dē nātū Iēsū et dē amōre Deī. Marchīna dē nātūrā in versibus suīs quoque scrīpsit. In hīs versibus, imāginēs nātūrālēs, sīcut lūx, flamma, et nix, dēscrībuntur ut amor Deī maius dēmōnstrāretur.

Marchīna quoque saepe scrīpsit dē deīs Rōmānīs et Graecīs, et hī antīquī deī saepe vincēbantur ā Virgine Mariā aut Iēsū. In ūnō hōrum versuum, Marchīna dē martȳre scrīpsit, et haec martȳr fortior quam Mūcius Scaevola. Duae manūs martȳris sectae erant,[12] sed Scaevola ūnam manum āmīserat.

Marchīna quoque dē arte scrībendī scrīpsit, et hī versūs praesertim lepidī et salsī[13] sunt quia Marchīna nōn numquam scrīpsit alium scrīptōrem versūs malōs scrīpsisse. Versus, nōmine “In Indoctum Poetam,” thema optimē illustrat.

Rogāta dē Vītā Marchīnae

Directions:  Answer the questions using complete sentences in Latin. The questions are generally in the same order as the reading.

1. Cūr Marchīna et versus eius maximī mōmentī sunt? Scrībe saltem trēs sententiās.
2. Ubi Marchīna habitābat cum puella esset?
3. Dēscrībe familiam Marchīnae.
4. Quid pater agēbat ut pecūniam habēret?
5. Cūr Marchīna cūrāre frātrēs incēpit?
6. Quōmodo Marchīna frātrēs cūrābat?
7. Quis pater Santolīnus erat?
8. Cūr pater Marchīnae ad Santolīnum īvit?
9. Quid Santolīnī respōnsum erat?
10. Cūr Marchīnae librōs Latīnōs Santolīnī legere tandem licuit?
11. Cūr Querengus rogāvit ut Marchīna epigramma dē luctā inter Iacobum et Angelum scrīberet?
12. Quō Querengus voluit Marchīnam īre? Cūr?
13. Cūr Marchīna ad illum locum numquam īvit?
14. Quōmodo Cardinālis Spada dē Marchīnā didicit?
15. Quid erat Mūsa Posthuma? Dēscrībe hunc.
16. Dēscrībe vestīmentum Marchīnae. Quid vestīmentum Marchīnae dē vītā eius significat?
17. Cūr tū putās Marchīnam in ūniversitāte nōn docuisse?
18. Marchīna cum verbōsīs hominibus loquī nōluit. Esne similis an dissimilis Marchīnae? Cūr? 
19. Quae sunt themata versum scrīptōrum ā Marchīnā? Quae thema tē maximē dēlectat?

[1] Vātes versūs et carmina scrīpsit. Vergilius et Sapphō vātēs erant.

[2] Comicī et intellēgentēs

[3] Fēmina quae uxōr Iēsū est.

[4] Omnēs diēs

[5] Vocābulum quae significat Santolīnum putāre patrem “minimē” respōnsūrum esse.

[6] Montēs, nomine Alpēs

[7] Diēs sequēns

[8]  Ubi cogitās dē deō et rogās deum ut auxilium det

[9] Trēs

[10] Pudicitiā; timōre praesertim fēmīnā; mōrēs

[11] Comicī et intellēgentēs

[12] Remōtae sunt gladiō

[13] Comicī et intellēgentēs

Story Listening:  Learning about Magadalena

• Objective:       To preview vocabulary in the poem and to introduce students to Marchina’s sister.

For a story listen, you will narrate a story while drawing it on the board. Add labels. Students’ jobs are to pay attention to the story. You may wish to tell it multiple times or to ask students to identify key words with question and answers, depending on your students.

Here is a story that you can use that focuses on the vocabulary that students will read in the poem. I’ve bolded the most important words to hit in this story, but feel free to wing it too!

Ecce, est puella! Puella est optima et bona et imago virtutis. Nomen puellae est Magdalis. Magdalis habet sororem, nomine Martha. Magdalis sex annos nata est. Nondum est septima messis Magdalenae. Quid est messis? Messis significat harvest. Itaque, fortasse est mensis Iunii aut Iulio aut Februarii! Nondum est Septembris aut Octobris quia messis est illis mensibus.

Et, quam horribile! Est Parca impia! Parca impia Magdalenam vidit. Quis est Parca? Cur Parca impia? Parca impia habet forficem et filum! Di immortales! Parca impia secavit filum Magdalenae, et mortua est! Cur Parca impia erupuit vitam Magdalenae?

Ecce, est tumulus. Est tumulus Magdalenae. Ubi est Magdalena? Mortua est, et tegitur hoc tumulo. Martha adest, et videt tumulum Magdalenae. Martha vult scire cur Parca impia erupuerit vitam Magdalenae. Erupuitne vitam quia Magdelena erat imago virtutus? Erupuitne vitam Magdalenae quia homines dederunt laudes puellae? Quid vos putatis?

Consider letting the students come up with a reason and draw the end to the story. Alternatively, have students come up with their own reasons and write them as part of a timed write retelling the story.

Review the story, identifying who the characters are and trying to hit those key words from the poem again. Ask for volunteers to tell the story. You can leave the drawing with labels for them.

Tumulus Predictions & Poem

• Objective:       To allow students to make predictions, to read the final pome, and to discuss its significance.

Materials:

• Whiteboards, markers, and erasers for students (or adapt PowerPoint to a different platform)
• PowerPoint titled “Tumulus Magdalenae Marchinae Sororis. You can download it here.

1. Project the PowerPoint “Tumulus Magdalenae Marchinae Sororis.”
2. Ask students to make predictions about which words Marchina may have written in the blanks.
   1. You can provide some hints about the word forms you’re looking for in the blanks or using guiding questions to encourage students to think about what’s missing from the line of poetry.
3. Discuss each new word in each line of poetry—it is slightly adjusted from the final poem to be more like English syntax.
4. Read the final poem together and reflect on the meaning.
   1. I have provided some possible discussion questions for you in the PowerPoint, but please use alternate questions if you prefer.

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.

1. 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.
2. Pass out the handout with Tier 1 and Tier 2 of epigram 1.101 on it along with the accompanying comprehension questions.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Chorally read the tier when students are done (or mostly done) reading in small groups.
6. 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.
   2. 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.
   3. 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.
7. Read the original poem with your students.
8. Pass out the Supporting a Claim handout.
   1. 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.
   2. 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.
   3. 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.
   4. 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.

The Tiers of Martial’s Epigram 1.101

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:

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 of 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:

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:

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.

Rogāta

1. 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?
2. Quālis servus erat Dēmētrius? Dēscrībe Dēmētrium.
3. Quot annōs natus est Dēmētrius?
4. What is the effect of Martial describing Dēmētrius as “quārta messis addita erat quindecim annīs”?
5. Cūr Martiālis remīsit omne iūs dominī?
6. Quid erat mūnus Martiālis?
7. “Dignus convaluisse mūnere meō.” Quid haec sententia Anglicē significat?
8. 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.

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.

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

Dictionary for Martial’s Epigram 1.101

 
Martial’s Original 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

 
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 strong argument in writing. A little of all of them may be true, though some arguments 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:

• “Gementem, Plangentem, Plorantem” PowerPoint. Click here for the download.

Funeral Inscription:

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. 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.
2. 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.

Marchina, Martial, and Mamma

• Objective: For students to compare the styles and tone of Marchina’s tumulus poem, Martial’s epigram, and Mamma’s funerary inscription

Materials:

• Handout on Comparing Marchina, Martial, and Mamma

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Make sure to review Marchina’s poem by asking whether we know what Marchina feels for her sister.
4. For example, I was struck by how abstract and emotionally distant Marchina’s poem was, particularly in comparison to the inscription. Martial’s emphasis on himself as a man of status may also be significantly more apparently to students in juxtaposition to these other texts.
5. This activity will also set students up for a final writing activity related to Marchina’s tumulus poem. 

Comparing Marchina, 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.

Tumulus
Magdalenae Marchīnae Sorōris

Magdālis hōc tumulō tegitur, Virtūtis imāgō,
Addita cui nōndum septima messis erat.
At vix aspectam ēripuit Parca impia lūcem,
Aetātem, & laudēs, dum putat esse parēs.

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.