From her he may have got the small vineyard near Nomentum which he possessed by A.D. 84 (xiii. 42 and 119). Little is known of Martial's life before the reign of Domitian. He may have practised at the bar; cf. ii. 30, 5, 'Is mihi "dives eris, si causas egeris" inquit'; and Quintilian appears to have advised this course (ii. 90). He probably lived as a client of great houses to which he was recommended by his early-developed poetical talents. Cf. i. 113, 1, 'Quaecumque lusi iuvenis et puer quondam.' In A.D. 80 he commemorated the opening by Titus of the Flavian Amphitheatre by a collection of poems sent to the emperor. Cf. _Spectac._ 32, 'Da veniam subitis: non displicuisse meretur, festinat, Caesar, qui placuisse tibi.' Martial received the 'ius trium liberorum' from two of the emperors. This probably means that Titus bestowed it and Domitian ratified it. Cf. ix. 97, 5, 'tribuit quod Caesar uterque ius mihi natorum.' Martial became a titular tribune, and consequently an _eques_, an honour probably given him by Titus; iii. 95, 9 'vidit me Roma tribunum'; v. 13, 1, 'Sum, fateor, semperque fui, Callistrate, pauper, sed non obscurus nec male notus eques.' Martial is unsparing in his flattery of Domitian and his freedmen. Cf. ix. 79, iv. 45, of Parthenius, the emperor's chamberlain; vii. 99, viii. 48, of Crispinus, the emperor's favourite. In A.D. 86 we find his poems eagerly read by the emperor. Cf. iv. 27, 'Saepe meos laudare soles, Auguste, libellos.' He obtained citizen rights for several applicants; cf. ix. 95. 11, 'Quot mihi Caesareo facti sunt munere cives'; and was occasionally invited to the emperor's table; cf. ix. 91. Domitian, however, refused to assist him pecuniarily (vi. 10). A description of Martial's life as a client of great houses is found, _e.g._, in v. 20. Among the friends of high rank whom Martial made after A.D. 86 were the poet Silius Italicus (iv. 14), the future emperor Nerva (v. 28), the author S. Iulius Frontinus (x. 58), the younger Pliny (x. 19). Martial also mentions Quintilian (ii. 90) and other literary men from Spain, and Juvenal (vii. 24, etc.). Statius he never mentions, and was probably at enmity with him; cf. his sneers at mythological epics (x. 4, etc.), which hint indirectly at the _Thebais_. Martial also attacks his critics (i. 3; xi. 20, etc.), plagiarists (_e.g._ xi. 94), and those who wrote scurrilous verses in his name (_e.g._ x. 3). Martial received rewards in return for his poetry, and often begs for gifts, and complains of his poverty and the unproductiveness of his estate at Nomentum (xii. 57); v. 36, 'Laudatus nostro quidam, Faustina, libello dissimulat, quasi nil debeat: imposuit'; vii. 16, 'Aera domi non sunt, superest hoc, Regule, solum, ut tua vendamus munera: numquid emis?' From 86 to 90 A.D. Martial lived in lodgings on the Quirinal, three stairs up; i. 117, 6,