Roman Satire

Synopsis of Roman Satire

This book is a study of the work of all the Roman satirists, from the 2nd century BC, to the end of the reign of Hadrian in AD 138. The satirists' work reflects the constantly changing society in which they lived, and its topics range from the morally earnest to the bawdy. Certain themes are examined which are common in some degree to all the satirists: autobiographical revelation, personal invective, political and ethical judgements and literary criticism. The book provides an exposition of the tradition of verse satire from Lucilius through Horace and Persius to Juvenal, with an assessment of the structure and the distinctive literary quality of each satire. It discusses satire in the Menippean tradition, a composite form of prose and verse which was used first by Varro, then by Petronius and by Seneca in his "Apocolocyntosis", a comical and malicious satire on the deification of the emperor Claudius.