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OmniClassics · Literature

The Satires of Juvenal, Persius, Sulpicia, and Lucilius

Juvenal Gaius Lucilius Persius Sulpicia

Roman satirical voices scrutinize wealth, pretension, corrupt ambition, and the uneasy performance of virtue.

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About the book

This volume combines Lewis Evans's prose translations of Juvenal, Persius, Sulpicia, and surviving material attributed to Lucilius with William Gifford's verse versions of Juvenal and Persius. The juxtaposition makes translation itself part of the experience, allowing differences in movement and emphasis to become visible. Across the works, attacks on luxury, flattery, greed, literary fashion, and moral hypocrisy create a forceful but partial picture of Roman life. The speakers' indignation is an artistic stance, not a transparent substitute for social history, and some judgments preserve harsh prejudices. Notes, arguments, and chronological material help orient readers among names and allusions. The 1881 collection therefore offers several authors, forms of survival, and English approaches within a single historically framed anthology of satire.

  • Moral indignation
  • Wealth and status
  • Satire and social judgment

Why read it

The paired prose and verse translations invite comparison while the different satirists complicate any single account of Roman moral criticism.

Lewis Evans's prose translations with William Gifford's verse Juvenal and Persius, 1881

Contents and reading sections