4.64, the poem we're on about, is actually his first definite appearance in the Martialverse (though there's a 'Julius' in 1.15 and 3.5 whom most readers will thereafter take to be him in retrospect). And already Martial feels right at home in his fabulous hilltop villa: "You will think the place is yours", he assures the reader (tuam putabis, 26). In the books that follow, Julius and the poet are the best of friends: they hang out together, put the world to rights (5.20). The wealth differential means nothing; they're two peas in a pod. The dedication of book 6 to 'Martialis, dear to me above all men' (in primis mihi care Martialis, 6.1.1) could as well be a self-dedication.
This is all very flattering, which would be one reason to think Julius Martialis is a real person in the world outside the text as well -- that is, Martial is cosying up to a mate, as he does with Pliny. But...the name. JULIUS MARTIAL. Really? Julius' name is forever on the poet's tongue (3.5), which of course it would be, because it's also the poet's own. Martial's books are making Julius as famous as Martial himself, in the same way:
toto notus in orbe Martialis (1.1.3)
quae cantaberis orbe nota toto (7.17.10)
Everyone (except me) translates Martialis' name as 'Martialis' -- but M. Valerius Martialis, the poet, we call 'Martial'. It's been important to keep the two apart. A while back I suggested that JULIUS MARTIAL is a kind of running gag; his name marks him out as an aspirational alter ego, the man of wealth and taste that Martial dreams of one day becoming if he plays his cards right... but never, ever will.
It's still an idea I like, but the Monte Mario stuff actually makes me doubt it more than I used to, for a weird reason that we'll get onto one of these days.
For now, back to that inscription...
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