Malati immaginari e tecniche di simulazione nel II libro di Marziale

In a group of epigrams from Martial’s second book (16; 26; 40; 65), illness has a double meaning, physical and moral. The poet mocks abject characters such as Zoilus (2, 16), who is driven by a desire for social revenge or has an immoderate passion for a comfortable life, without ever being satisfied. These imaginary sick people feign fever and coughs, and, at the same time, show off their wealth, to obtain the care of the captatores or satisfy their sexual desires. The fake illness can also affect the soul: this is the case of Saleianus (2, 65), who is not really in despair over the death of his wife, but is happy heredipeta of a fabulous dowry. Sickness becomes the mirror of a society irreparably affected by vice, which Martial reveals through the exasperated use of pathetic tones and the reversal of elegiac stylistic devices. Behind the biting satire aimed at the parvenus lies the ill-concealed resentment of the cliens, who feels the weight of their condition.