[273] Martial, Bk. I. Epigr. 66. The old Grammars had the following lines:
Haec ficus, fici vel ficus, fructus et arbor,
Hic ficus, fici, malus est in podice morbus.
(Feminine:—ficus, gen. -i and -us, fig and fig-tree; masculine:—ficus, gen. -i, is an evil disease of the fundament.)
[274] Satir. Bk. I. Sat. VIII. 46.
[275] Martial, Bk. VII. Epigram 71.
[276] There still remains some doubt in our mind as to the meaning of another Epigram of Martial’s, Bk. IV. Epigr. 52.
Gestari iunctis nisi desinis, Hedyle, capris
Qui modo ficus eras, iam caprificus eris,
(Unless you cease, Hedylus, to go with “she-goats” in copulation, you who were but now a fig-tree, will presently be a wild fig-tree (goat-fig)).