Abstract

In this article, the – in a double sense – problematic passages in the epithalamium for Stella and Violentilla and in thematically linked epigrams of Martial (especially in the epigram 6.21 whose subject likewise is their wedding, but also in the epigrams 5.11 and 5.12) are analyzed. These are the passages that, firstly, are difficult to interpret and, secondly, seem to cast a bad light on Stella and Violentilla in the form of explosive details and tactlessness. The guiding question in this article will be whether and to what extent Martial’s and especially Statius’ portrayal of the wedding couple is not only idealizing but also ambivalent.