Social Commentaries
Book I, Epigram 21 (Ker)
Translated by Walter C. A. Ker (1919–20) · From Epigrams (Loeb, 1919–20)
The right hand which, aimed at the king, was cheated by an attendant,' laid itself, doomed to perish, upon the sacred hearth. But a prodigy so cruel the kindly foe could not brook, and he bade the warrior go rescued from the flame. The hand which, scorning the fire, Mucius, endured to burn, Porsena could not endure to behold. Greater, because it was cheated, is the fame and glory of that right hand; had it not erred, it had achieved less.
This translation is printed as prose in its source edition.
Cite this poem
MLA
Martial. “Book I, Epigram 21 (Ker).” Translated by Walter C. A. Ker. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/martial/357/.
Chicago
Martial. “Book I, Epigram 21 (Ker).” Translated by Walter C. A. Ker. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/martial/357/.
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