In the first few sections, I have chosen my examples from Martial’s epigrams. For the most part, in order to translate the poems listed under Technique #1, students need only a knowledge of the present tense. If they encounter any unusual constructions or vocabulary, the teacher should simply gloss whatever words are causing difficulties. Most students should be able to tackle these poems in the first few weeks of any Latin course. If teachers find the following examples helpful, I encourage them to browse through the collected poems of Martial (see SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING). There are many other poems of Martial that would make excellent additions to Latin classes at the elementary level.
Martial 1.32
Non amo te, Sabidi, nec possum dicere quare:
hoc tantum possum dicere: non amo te.
Martial 1.64
Bella es, novimus, et puella, verum est,
et dives, quis enim potest negare.
sed cum te nimium, Fabulla, laudas,
nec dives neque bella nec puella es.
Martial 7.3
Cur non mitto meos tibi, Pontiliane, libellos?
ne mihi tu mittas, Pontiliane, tuos.
Martial 12.46
Difficilis facilis, iucundus acerbus es idem:
nec tecum possum vivere nec sine te.
