The Roman poet Marcus Valerius Martialis, otherwise known as Martial, wrote a number of epigrams to depict scenes of contemporary Rome. These were short, satirical verses with a witty or paradoxical ending.
Martial on Aelia
Higgledy-Piggledy
Snaggle-toothed Aelia,
Subject to coughing as
Martial observed,
Lost her four teeth and was
Epigrammatically
Skewered and counseled to
Cough unperturbed.