Flavian Poetry

The sense of smell is traditionally found to be of little importance compared to the other senses. In Martial’s Epigrams, however, it takes a conspicuously prominent role. For Martial, smells are an anxiety-provoking topic to the extent that he thinks they should be avoided altogether: rather than to smell good, he thinks, a person should not smell at all (2.12; 6.55).

Beyond the Xenia and Apophoreta, Martial’s poetry is self-consciously Saturnalian. Six of Martial’s books were published around the time of the Saturnalia (Citroni, Rimell), and many of the individual epigrams pertain to gift-giving during the holiday. One poem exemplifies Martial’s overarching Saturnalian theme: epigram 4.46, which satirizes a certain Sabellus for taking pride in paltry holiday gifts.

In this paper, I explore the haunting presence of Britannicus in the Octavia, arguing that the theme of troubled fraternal relationships is consistently evoked in the text through recurrent references to Britannicus.

The seventh and final poem of Calpurnius Siculus’ collection of eclogues presents a pastoral landscape that collides with an urban environment to produce strange results. Corydon, a naïve young shepherd, returns to the countryside after twenty nights in the city and proceeds to tell the elder shepherd Lycotas all the marvelous things he observed on his sojourn to Rome.