Recently I
bought a nice little book `How to Insult, Abuse & insinuatei in Classical
Languge, by Michelle Lovric and Nikiforos Doxiadis Mardas. I found it in a
secondhand bookshop for 1,50 euro. It contains Latin phrases with translations,
often well found like `egghead’ for `calve’ (calvus means `bald’ and calve is
the vocative). Finally I can use abusive language without being beaten up!
It also
includes an epigram by Martial:
Lesbia se
iurat gratis numquam esse fututam
verum est, cum futui vult, numerare solet.
This is of
course a very mean statement towards Lesbia. The name Lesbia reminds us of the
Lesbia for whom Catul wrote his poems, but as Martial lived well a 100 years
after Catul, it can’t refer to the same woman. As the Lesbia of Catul is a nickname
– probably Claudia Metelli Celeris – it is likely that this Lesbia is a nickname too.
The Latin
is easy: an a.c.i. construction with se
referring to the subject of the main clause. Numerare means `to pay’. literally
`to count’ of course meaning counting money. I will come back on fututam and
futui.
The book I
bought has the following translation:
Lesbia
swears she only does it for money,
and it’s true. When she wants it,
she usually pays cash.
A nice
translation, but Martial is writing more bluntly. The verb futuare means `to
fuck’. Indeed, as this verb belongs to
vulgair Latin speech, we should not upgrade it with `making love’. But why does
Martial use the passives fututam and futui? Well, from the same root the noun
fustis `club’ is formed and now it is easy to see why: only a male can be the
subject of the active voice.
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