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Juvenal

Saturae

satire

Sixteen verse satires attacking the corruption, hypocrisy, and moral decay of imperial Rome. Juvenal's indignation is theatrical and magnificent — "difficile est saturam non scribere." The angriest poet in Latin.

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Books

  • Book I (Satires 1-5)

    The opening salvo. Satire 1: impossible not to write satire in this Rome. Satire 3: the great denunciation of the city. Satire 5: humiliation of a dinner guest.

    990 lines
  • Book II (Satire 6)

    One poem, 700 lines: the notorious satire against women. Roman misogyny at its most sustained.

    700 lines
  • Book III (Satires 7-9)

    The patron system and its victims. Poverty of poets and teachers. Attacks on hereditary nobility.

    669 lines
  • Book IV (Satires 10-12)

    Satire 10: the vanity of human wishes. Power, eloquence, beauty, long life — all bring destruction.

    704 lines
  • Book V (Satires 13-16)

    The late satires are quieter. The anger has cooled into weary observation.

    815 lines
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