Martial’s lagalopex ‘Long-Eared Bat’

Abstract

The Roman epigrammatist Martial mentions the ‘long-eared lagalopex’ (Latin aurītā lagalōpece in the ablative sg.) as a pet animal kept by his good friend Flaccus (Ep. VII 87, 1). Multiple identifications of the Latin zoonym lagalōpex (gen. sg. lagalōpecis) have been suggested so far. The author discusses the problem at hand once more, concluding that the correct identification of Flaccus’ pet animal as the long-eared bat (Pol. gacek) was offered 110 years ago by Jan Czubek, the excellent classical philologist and translator from Cracow.