nubo, -ere, nupsi,
nuptum + dative
be married to; veil herself for (the verb used
for a woman marrying). Can you see how artfully Martial has placed the words in
this first line? In particular he joins together the last names of the bride
and groom, uniting them additionally through alliteration.
Peregrina, -ae f.
While the
name Claudia suggests association with the
gens Claudia, the cognomen
Peregrina indicates a foreign woman, not a Roman citizen. This
Claudia is generally considered to be the Claudia Rufina from Britain whose
marriage is celebrated by Martial in Epigrammata
11.53, where the husband’s name is not
indicated.
Pudens,-entis m.
The full
name and identity of Pudens is contested, some claiming he was Rufus Pudens, a
centurian in the Roman army posted in Britain, others that he was Aulus Pudens
Pudentia, a Roman senator who, with his wife Claudia, became Christian and bore
children who were martyred for their faith. That the poem is addressed to Rufus
seems to lend credence to the first identification, for it would be strange for
the poet to address a marriage hymn to a third party.
macte esto:
good
fortune! hail!
taeda, ae f.
torch;
wedding torch.
Hymenaeeus, –i m.
Hymen, god of marriage.
cinnamum, i n.
cinnamon; pl. twigs of cinnamon. In imitation of the
sentiment, the word cinnamon is placed beside nardo,
another allusion to the couple’s union.
Massicum vinum,
excellent
wines made from grapes grown on Mount Massicus in Campania.
Vina is paired with favis; the poet
attributes the quality of the vine to the activity of the local bees.
Theseus, -a, -um
of
Theseus, or simply Athenian; this region of Campania was settled
by Greek colonists in the 8th century BCE and was part of Magna Graecia until
the Romans conquered it in 3rd century BCE.
vitis, -is f.
vine;
vine branch. Note the pairing of vitibus and
ulmi; although both words are feminine they suggest the
traditional genderized qualities of weakness and strength.
ulmus, -i f.
elm.
Roman farmers had the practice of "marrying the vine to a tree" in order to
support the vines, whose training stems were held up by the tree branches. In
his article "Trees: Living Links to the Classical Past," in the
Newsletter of the Classical Association of the Empire State 30.2 (1995),
John M. McMahon, Le Moyne College, writes "For example . . . the supportive
elm, nec inhospita vitibus ulmus ("hospitable to grapevines") since its
light shade was ideal for growing and ripening the grapes trained up its trunk
and branches."
lotos, -i f.
lotus. The lotus flower is associated with Aphrodite/Isis/Venus as
well as with marriage (Maria Pantelia offers a reference to Theocritus,
Idyls
18.43, the "Epithalamium for Helen," where a chorus of
maidens makes a wreath of lotus flowers for the bride). The lotus became
associated with Venus when Aphrodite was assimilated to the goddess Isis, to
whom the lotus was sacred; see the inscribed gold-plated
bronze pin (c. 200-100 CE) decorated with lotus flowers
and dedicated by the wife of a Ptolemaic official to Aphrodite in her sanctuary
at Paphos on Cyprus.
litus, -oris n.
shore,
coast. This line contains two additional paired terms whose relationship
is built on dependency and which are associated with the goddess Venus.
myrtus, -i f.
myrtle (a Greek noun). Pausanias, in his Description of Greece
6.24.6-7, writes that the myrtle was sacred to Aphrodite/Venus (see Ovid,
Amores
I.1. 29, who associates the litorea myrto with
the muse of love poetry) and was connected with the story of
Adonis.
candidus, -a, -um
radiant, beautiful; happy; gleaming; white.
resideo, -ere, -sedi
remain; abide, reside; scansion of the line shows that the final
syllable is long.
aequus, -a, -um
fair,
just; favorable; equal; predicate adjective with sit, an
optative subjunctive.
iugum, -i n.
yoke; pair; team.
diligo, -ere, dilexi,
dilectum
value; esteem highly; love; the optative subjunctive. The
poet’s choice of this word over amo is instructive.
quondam (adverb)
once; sometimes; with future reference: one day.
anus, -us f.
old
woman; a dreaded term (more so than senex) which is
associated with physical unattractiveness and the ugly behavior of
stereotypical old women in comedy and satire.
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