regius, -a, -um, royal;
magnificent
miraculum, miraculi, n., marvel,
wonder
rideo, ridere, risi,
risum, to laugh; to laugh at, smile at
taceo, tacere, tacui,
tacitum, to be silent; to say nothing about
eous, -a, -um, eastern
(comes from Eos, Dawn)
Memphis, Memphis, f., the city
of Memphis, in middle Egypt, known as the residence of Egyptian kings
quotus, -a, -um, what
number, how many; with pars and a noun in the genitive it means
“how very small a part of”
Parrhasius, -a, -um,
Arcadian; the reference here is to Evander, who came from Arcadia and dwelt on
the Palatine hill; hence this adjective came to mean “Palatine”
aula, aulae, f., great hall,
palace. Martial here refers to the grandiose palace built by Domitian on the
Palatine hill, called by archaeologists the Domus Flavia; this sentence seems
to mean that the Egyptians, despite the great pyramids, never constructed
anything as magnificent as Domitian's palace.
clarus, -a, -um, bright
(clarius is the comparative form, neuter singular)
orbis, orbis, m., the world;
circle, orbit
septeni, -ae, -a, seven;
seven each
pariter, adv., together, at the same
time; equally
credo, credere, credidi,
creditum, to believe; to think, suppose (credas is potential
subjunctive, “you could believe”)
adsurgo, adsurgere,
adsurrexi, adsurrectum, to rise, stand up
mons, montis, m., mountain;
Martial is, of course, referring to the seven hills of Rome
Thessalicus, -a, -um,
Thessalian (of or belonging to Thessaly, a region of northern Greece)
brevis, breve, short; brief
(brevior is the comparative form, feminine singular with Ossa;
shorter, and so “less high”)
Pelion, Pelii, m., Pelion, a
high mountain in Thessaly
Ossa, Ossae, f., Ossa, another
mountain in Thessaly. In Greek mythology, when the Giants rebelled against Zeus
they tried to reach Olympus by piling Pelion on top of Ossa, so this phrase
came to represent anything of great height (with the subtle implication,
perhaps, of overreaching—could Martial be ever so delicately implying that
Domitian is setting himself up too high?)
fero, ferre, tuli,
latum, to carry, bear
aether, aetheris, m., the upper
air; heaven (aethera is accusative singular, a Greek form)
intro, intrare, intravi,
intratum, to go in, enter; to penetrate
nitidus, -a, -um, bright,
shining
conditus, -a, -um,
hidden, buried (perfect passive participle of condo, condere)
inferus, -a, -um, lower,
below, underneath (inferiore is the comparative form, feminine singular
ablative)
tono, tonare, tonui, to
thunder; to thunder forth or out (ut . . . tonet is a result clause)
apex, apicis, m. summit, crown
prius . . . quam, conjunction, before
(this is an example of the rhetorical figure tmesis,
“cutting,” since the two parts of the word are separated by several
other words; prius by itself is an adverb)
arcanus, -a, -um,
secret, mystic
satio, satiare, satiavi,
satiatum, to fill,; to saturate; to satisfy (ut . . . satietur is
a result clause)
numen, numinis, n., divine power,
divinity, majesty
Phoebus, Phoebi, m., Apollo
(literally, “the bright one”)
nascens, nascentis, present
active participle of nascor, rising, growing
Circe, Circes, f., Circe,
daughter of the Sun-god, who lived on a far-off island and whose magic arts
turned men into animals;
this Greek vase shows Circe
with a pig-man behind her. Martial suggests that Domitian's palace is so lofty
that it catches the first rays of the sun even before Circe on her island at
the edge of the world
os, oris, n., mouth, face (here the
plural is used for the singular “face”)
augustus, -a, -um,
revered, majestic, august. Octavian adopted this as his title, and Augustus,
like Caesar, was later regularly applied to the emperors.
vertex, verticis, m., top,
summit
sidus, sideris, n., star,
constellation
pulso, pulsare, pulsavi,
pulsatum, to strike, hit; to knock
domus, domus (sometimes
domi), f., house (haec in the previous line modifies
domus)
minor, minus, comparative adj.,
less, inferior