The Satires of Juvenal

The Roman poet Juvenal is widely regarded as the greatest satirist who ever lived. He is also one of the most politically incorrect writers of all time. In spite of this, he is one of the classical authors with most to offer to the contemporary general reader.

Juvenal’s descriptions of dictatorship and poverty are compelling. His portrayals of depravity in a teeming ancient city are disturbingly – some would say disgustingly – vivid, and his assassinations of character devilishly delicious. His bêtes noires – such as unconventional women, opportunistic Greek immigrants and the Egyptian-born political heavy Crispinus – leap defiantly from the page.

In his later poems, savage indignation is integrated with deeper philosophical insight, culminating in his celebrated Tenth Satire, adapted by Dr. Johnson as “The Vanity Of Human Wishes”, and Satire Fifteen, an account of violence in the Middle East which anticipates events today.

Whatever you think of Juvenal, he will not leave you unmoved.

Richard George’s dynamic new translation is a Juvenal for the twenty-first century, and also reconnects him to the Iambic tradition of English verse, the medium of John Dryden and Alexander Pope. It can be read alongside any other Juvenal translation or commentary, by students or by those who have never read a classical author.

In the words of Juvenal scholar Gilbert Highet:

“We do not live, as yet, in an age like that which he described… . But if it should ever descend on us, we must hope that rebels and satirists will arise among us to attack it; and we can be sure that, when they do, they will draw strength from the harsh and powerful voice which has sounded among men for eighteen centuries and is still not silent.”