Roman Verse Satire Lucilius to Juvenal: A Selection with an Introduction, Text, Translations, and Notes

by William J. Dominik, William T. Wehrle

Satura quidem tota nostra est Satire is altogether ours was the claim of the Roman Quintilian, the first century ce commentator on rhetorical and literary matters, for the literary world had not previously seen the likes of satire. Not for the faint of heart, satire is characterized by its wide-ranging themes, its tone that is sometimes humorous and distinctively biting, and its undeniable perspicacity. As an antidote to life’s frustrations and human foibles, satire is the undisputed queen of genres. This edition provides selections in both English and Latin, with explanatory notes keyed to the English text, a full introduction to the genre and its practitioners, and an index of names. Roman satire is represented in its full the more familiar Horace and Juvenal stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the lesser known Lucilius and Persius. The difficulties presented by Roman satire are thus admirably met by the editors. With this helpful edition in hand, readers will find themselves nodding in recognition, perhaps even agreeing with Juvenal (Satire 1.30): difficile est saturam non scribere it is difficult not to write satire …and even more difficult it is not to read it!

242 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1999