Vita Marci Valerii Martialis
Marcus Valerius Martialis was born in 38 A.D. in a Roman colony in Spain. When he was in his twenty's he traveled to Rome where he became a client of the powerful Seneca family. At first, in Rome, he lived quite humbly, but as he acquired more recognition and fame he came to possess a town house on the Quirinal Hill and a country estate near a town called Nomentum. As he became more well known he met and began socializing with members of the elite literary circles of Rome. Martials first two books had to do with describing shows held in the Colosseum and gifts given to guests at Saturnalia (a Roman festival held in December). But after that he wrote the twelve books of epigrams which have made most of his fame. Having lived in Rome for thirty-four years Martial returned to spain to publish his last book, and he died about a year later.
Martial is often credited with the invention of what we know today as the epigram. Many of his were clever, stinging jabs at other people, using a single word at the end to complete a pun or in ingenious jest at someone else's expense.