Martial epigrams II.XIII

A wry observation from Martial before recommending his friend pay his creditor first. Et iudex petit et petit patronus. Both the judge seeks and the patron seeks. Et ("and") is a conjunction. Iudex ("judge") is in the nominative singular form Petit ("seeks") is the third person singular present active indicative of "peto," meaning "to seek" or "to ask for." Et ("and") Patronus ("patron or advocate") is in the nominative singular form.