SOURCE: "The Panegyrics of Domitan in Martial, Book 9," Ramus, Vol. 22, No. 1, 1993, pp. 78-102.
In the essay that follows, Garthwaite focuses on Book 9, discerning a subtle thematic relationship between the epigrams praising the emperor Domitian, the verses dedicated to the young slave Earinus, and the poems dealing with patronage. Garthwaite concludes that the Earinus cycle represents an ironic commentary on Domitian's moral hypocrisy, and that the patronage epigrams suggest that imperial panegyrics are really nothing more than the poet's fulfillment of his part of the client-patron bargain.
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