anything to do with sex in the most obscene category. These words are strictly avoided in most types of Latin literature; however, they are common in graffiti, and also in certain genres of poetry, such as the short poems known as epigrams, such as those written by Catullus and Martial. The poet Horace also used obscenities in his early poems, that is the Epodes and the first book of Satires, but later writers of satire such as Juvenal and Persius avoided the coarser words even when discussing obscene topics. There were, however, some occasions in public life, such as in triumphal processions, at weddings, and at certain festivals, where obscenities were traditionally allowed. The purpose of these was presumably twofold, first to ward off the evil eye or potential envy of the gods, and second to promote fertility. Euphemistic expressions A very common way of avoiding words for sexual acts was simply to omit the word in question. J.N. Adams collects numerous examples of this. For example, in Horace (Epodes 12.15): ("You are capable of [having sex with] Inachia three times in a night.") Another way was to substitute the taboo word with a milder one or a metaphor, for example using ("rump (of an animal)") for or for . Sometimes the offending word was replaced by a pronoun such as ("that") or an adverb such as ("there"), as in Martial (11.104.16): ("And when the Ithacan was snoring, modest though she was, Penelope always kept her hand there.") : the penis is the basic Latin word for penis. It is used 48 times in Martial, 26 times in the Priapeia, and 18 times in Pompeian inscriptions. Its status as a basic obscenity is confirmed by the Priapeia 29, in which and are given as ideal examples of obscene words: ("May I die if it doesn't shame meto use obscene and improper words;but when you, Priapus, as a god, shamelesslyshow me your balls hanging out,it is appropriate for me to speak of cunts and cocks.") Martial mocks a friend who despised effeminate clothing, explaining why he suspects that he is secretly homosexual: ("He will ask why I suspect him to be a 'soft' man.We go to the baths together. He never looks at anything above,but examines the athletes with devouring eyes,and looks at their dicks with constantly moving lips.") A (the word occurs only in Martial), according to Housman, was a