and it must be borne in mind that when this Epistle was written, S. Paul had never been in Rome; the proof, in this case, being all the stronger of their development in the capital. The point of contact between the Jews and S. Paul would be the expectation of the Messiah. He would surely be known to the most eminent of his countrymen at Rome. If the influence of the Jews was great at Rome, the influence of the Greeks was perhaps greater. The most popular stratum of Roman society was Greek, so much so that Juvenal laments on this point in the words :

Non possum ferre Quirites,
Græcam Urbem.

That they were influential in the Church, we have a proof from the list of S. Paul's converts; and when the list is examined (in the 16th chap. Rom.) we come across a few names which are distinctly Grecized, as if Greek were very popular. The Greeks were the confidential freedmen, the physicians, the skilled tradesmen, the successful teachers; cultured and refined, and the trusted retainers of the noblest houses.1

The labours of S. Paul would tell chiefly upon the Greek portion of the population, and upon his countrymen; and though his converts may have been recruited chiefly from the lower and middle classes, yet he does not seem to fail to win converts even amongst the higher, Pomponia Græcina we know was a Christian. Could she forget Paul ? S. Paul must also have had a great influence amongst the better class of soldiers-the bodyguard of the Emperors. Would it be impossible to influence their officers? On the whole, then, we may safely say that S. Paul's influence was not entirely among the lower classes, but extended even among Renan's " la haute société Romaine."

Others object to the identity of names here on the ground of discrepancy in dates. S. Paul, say they, was in Rome in A. D. 68. Martial did not write his Epigrams till from A. D. 81 to 96. How could he, therefore, celebrate the marriage of S. Paul's Claudia with Pudens and extol her graces at this date? She would be either dead by this time or a matron in middle life. The Jesuit Parsons was the first to make this objection, "because," as Fuller' naïvely says, " willingly he would not allow any sprinkling of Christianity in this Island but what was rained from Rome when Eleutherius sent to Christian King Lucius; that so our engagement to the Romish Church might be the more visible and conspicuous."

2

Hallam also objects on the same grounds." He says that from the date of the Epigrams in questionwhich were written in the reign of Domitian, from A. D. 81 to 96-it would be very improbable that the Claudia mentioned by him as married to Pudens, and as very beautiful, was the same as that known to Timothy during S. Paul's former residence in Rome in A. D. 60-64. Supposing she were at this time a very young girl, she would be, when Martial wrote his Epigrams, well advanced in age. This would be an overwhelming objection, presuming that Martial wrote his Epigrams at this date. But did he? When, therefore, was the Epigram in which the marriage of Claudia is celebrated 1 Fuller, book i. § i. 9.

* Hallam, Arch. 33, p. 323, quoted by Guest, Orig. Celt., pp. 129, 130, 131, where the whole question is discussed.

written? That is the question. Let us endeavour to answer it.

Martial, it is said, lived in the reign of Trajan; Claudia, in the reign of Nero. To this we would answer, that Martial died a very old man, in the reign of Trajan: from the fact that he was very familiar with his friend and fellow poet, Silvius Italicus,' in whose consulship Nero died, he must have flourished under Nero, Domitian, Nerva, and Trajan.

Furthermore, if in the writings of a great poet a poem is found written on the event that happened during the poet's lifetime, the presumption is that that particular poem was written immediately upon or soon after the event took place. Take, e. g., Lord Tennyson's "In Memoriam," or, better still, the poem on the marriage of Princess Beatrice, or the Jubilee of the Queen. Did we not know that they were written on these events, the presumption that they were written immediately upon or after these events, occurring during the poet's lifetime, would be a correct presumption, and would establish the date of these poems-on the supposition, that is, that the dates of the events were known. Specially would this hold good if the poet had occasion to apologize for the style and character of some of his poems on the ground that they were written in haste to meet the occasions they refer to. And this is just what we find in Martial. Undoubtedly some of his Epigrams were written immediately upon or soon after the events to which they refer. And from time to time he seems to have collected these poems and to have published them in a book. The books would be published many years after some of the Epigrams were written. This we may conclude from the nature of things.

From the contents of book vi, it is very evident that it was not published till about A. D. 91; yet the 32d Epigram of that book must have been written when Otho killed himself in A. D. 70.1

It is also clear that book xi. was not published till about A. D. 100. Yet its 33d Epigram must have been written soon after the death of Nero in A. D. 68; and its 39th soon after Martial had attained manhood, which must have been several years before the suicide of Nero. In the face of facts like these it is idle to try to bind the date of Martial's Epigrams to the date of their publication. Tennyson might have written a poem thirty years ago, and in spite of the facility which a writer has in this century of publishing his works, it might not be published for some years yet to come. The date of that poem, though it might not refer to anything special in A. D. 1862, could not be taken to be say A. D. 1898.

The objection to the identity of these persons founded on the character of Martial's Pudens, we will refer to later on.

Let us now review all the Epigrams which allude to Pudens; and let it be assumed that the Epigrams were written in the order they are found in the different books.

Pudens, the centurion, is anxious to obtain the post of Primipilus-the chief centurionship of that line of the Roman Legion the third from the front, the Triarii-and his

Epig. i. 31. servants vow an offering to Phœbus' in the event of his success. Then certain insinuations follow, revolting in character; but may after all be but the reflection of the licentiousness of Martial's mind that gave the colour to the Epigram, and not the character of his friend Pudens.

Martial in this addresses himself to one Rufus, and celebrates the marriage of Pudens Epig. iv. 13. and Claudia.

Martial excuses the number of his Epigrams, and asks Pudens to read but a few Epig. iv. 29. of them.

Pudens has gained the "Primipilus," and the vow has been offered. The poet gives rein to his coarse and foul imagination, which must be

Epig. v. 48. taken as banter, for no one, Christian or heathen, so soon after his marriage, could have tolerated so gross an insult. Pudens may at this time have been in Britain.

Epig. vi. 58.

The poet here imagines a certain " Aulus" looking on the Great and Little Bear, and suffering from the Scythian cold, or cold of the Scythian Pole, while he is brought to the edge of the grave and his cold lips utter the name of Pudens. If the gods hear the poet's prayer, Pudens shall return to Italy and enjoy the post of Primipilus. The name of Aulus is here given to Pudens. The refer

1 Apollo.