Epigrams

Martial's collection of about 1,500 epigrams — written 86–103 CE — satirizing Roman social life with wit, obscenity, and acute observation — the foundation of the epigram as a literary form.

Creates the satirical epigram as a literary form — Martial's epigrams established the two-part structure (setup and punchline) that defines the epigram in Western literature; his observations on Roman social climbing, hypocrisy, and absurdity are the most precise social satire of antiquity.