Marțial și împărații

Martial dedicated many epigrams to the four successive emperors of Rome with whom he had been contemporary: Titus, Domitian, Nerva and Trajan. In all the poet’s volumes, his epigrams were similar with respect of their underlying strategy even if they were praising a different sovereign. Each time the poet depicted the current emperor as a perfect ruler, endowed with the most noble virtues and in total contrast with the previous monarch who was loaded with vices. During the reign of Nerva, while recurring to his usual tactics of praising the current leader and attacking the previous one, Martial arrived in the position of posthumously denigrating Domitian whom he had adulated many years before.