Juvenal - The Satires

Satirist, born in Aquinum, Italy. He served as tribune in the army, in Britain and in Egypt. He is best known for his 16 brilliant satires in verse (c.100–c.127), dealing with life in Roman times under Domitian and his successors. Written from the viewpoint of an angry Stoic moralist, they range from the exposures of unnatural vices, the misery of poverty, and the extravagance of the ruling classes, to the precarious makeshift life of their hangers-on. His influence on English poetry is best seen in Johnson's poems ‘London’ and ‘The Vanity of Human Wishes’, while Dryden's versions of five of Juvenal's satires are among the best of his works.

He described himself as middle-aged at the time of publication of his first satire, which was sometime in the 100s. Information in ancient biographies of Juvenal (the scholia), of which thirteen survive, appears to be extrapolated from the satires themselves. Some modern scholars, most notably Gilbert Highet, have also attempted to glean biographical material about Juvenal the man from his satires.

While Juvenalian satire is virtually always described as "angry", scholars such as W.S. Braund have suggested that this anger is merely a rhetorical persona, and that the satires themselves are so exaggerated that the rage and bitterness in them cannot be taken at face value: they are instead a commentary on anger itself. Moreover, the mask of indignatio of the early satires falls away after the 6th, and the later satires are dominated by subtler forms of irony.

The Satires

The satires are not titled, but various translators (such as Niall Rudd) have added titles for the convenience of readers.

Why Write Satire? Hypocritical Perverts
With the 9th Satire, often expunged from pre-20th century editions. The Evils of the Big City The Emperor's Fish A Tyrannical Host Roman Wives
Often titled Against Women, famously misogynist. The Plight of Intellectuals True Nobility The Woes of a Gigolo The Futility of Aspirations
The famous phrase mens sana in corpore sano ('a sound mind in a sound body') is found here, as is bread and circuses. A Simple Lifestyle Welcome to a Survivor A Consolation The Influence of Vicious Parents A Case of Cannibalism The Advantages of Army Life
Unfinished.