The epigram, a short poem leading up to an and ending in a witty or ingenious turn of thought, is a part small but real of our large legacy from that Roman poet whose name already has so often been invoked. Martial, master of the epigram, has rarely been surpassed by his many imitators. The author remarks sadly that "his mantle as a humorist seems to have fallen nowadays upon the comic-verse writers and newspaper columnists who motley stanzas amuse so many." Nixon sees Martial more as a wit than a humorist, his object more to instruct than to entertain, his impact more intellectual than emotional. Regarding his role as critic in a hard and licentious society, the author observes that "people whom Martial ridiculed generally deserved ridicule... and frequently hanging."