Juvénal

Juvénal (in Latin Decimus Iunius Iuuenalis ) was a satirical poet Latin of the end of the 1st century and beginning of the 2nd century of our era. He is the author of sixteen “satires” gathered in a book single and composed between 90 and 127.

Biography

Author very read as of the the Lower Empire and with the the Middle Ages (there would exist nearly 500 medieval manuscripts of the Satires ), his life is however very badly known. The biographers are often reduced by it to conjecture starting from the events of which it makes state in the Satires .

Probably born during the reign from Claude (but the dates 45 with vary 65) in Aquinum in Campanie, if one believes his dires of it, it begins its career as professor of eloquence, trade of which it rather suitably appears to have lived, because it seems that he bought a small farm on Tibur (Tivoli).

A great friendship bound it to Martial (the author of the Épigrammes ). It seems that he visited the Egypt, whereas he was octogenarian. Of aucuns go on even this journey an exile (together with a vague military mission), result of the imperial disgrace of Hadrian. Besides satire XV evokes lengthily Egypt and makes the account of a scene of Anthropophagie which was held there in 127. He would have died, perhaps in exile, after 128.

Its work

Hating Rome, Juvénal makes its contemporaries a sour painting and without pity. It is a world on which difficult is saturam not scribere. ( Satires , I-30)

Imperial Rome was indeed transformed into a gigantic city, a monstrous scene of theater filled buffoons who are unaware of themselves and swindlers. A brothel.

It hardly any more remains of choice to old Latin: they will escape and will take refuge in province or will be solved to make the court with parvenu of any hair, of the emperor to the enriched gigolo. Lastly, and it is of course the choice of Juvénal, they can poster with the crossroads and to howl of laughing with the sight, for example, of a castrato, former slave enriched, who pains to carry his ring, so much the stone is heavy!

Juvénal is unaware of, fortunately for us, all the correct Politiquement. Let us judge: it is caught some, in turn, with the women who, when they do not cocufient their husbands, poison them by their scholarship before doing it for good and of touching the heritage; with father-the-decency which dissimulates badly to them Homosexualité under their males words and their diaphanous silk clothing; with the rich person at the same time refined in their depravity and reached of a sordid avarice when it is a question of treating their customers or their let us gitons; with effeminate which marries between them in the absence of being able to give birth to; with Eastern of any hair, freed slaves, in particular the Greeks, who évincent the old Romans of the responsibilities; with the false excessively pious people, hypocrites who call upon the Gods only for better lightening the gogos of their beautiful money. Juvénal does not hesitate to approach over the ton of the joke the political game, play dangerous, where to speak about the rain and the good weather disgrace or death is worth you quickly. The table (parody of a lost work) which it proposes of the court of Domitien, the “Néron bald person”, if it is rich grotesque notations, makes very well the atmosphere nightmarish one time which exuded terror. Lastly, in Rome de Juvénal, it happens that an Empress, more often than in her turn, makes the tapin or than a princess is confined of a series of little runts, all faithful copy of their uncle, the Emperor.

One could not of course speak without anachronism about freedom of expression when it is about imperial Rome, and Juvénal takes care well not to be caught some to the reigning emperors. What did not prevent its contemporaries from reading in its remarks of allusions to the topicality of its time. That will be worth the exile in Egypt to him, under cover of a vague military mission. The language of Juvénal makes it possible to have an idea of the variety of the Latin speeches, according to the social classes and the areas. It is at the same time vigorous, even raw, and erudite. Juvénal likes to play of contrast between manners of the former Romans, frugal and bearded, and those of its contemporaries, lost of luxury and effeminatized.

With Horace, it will be a model at the 17th century for Nicolas Boileau in his Satires , for example “the congestion of the Paris streetses” (1666).

Quotation

Juvénal is especially known for these expressions:

“ panem and circenses ”: “of the bread and the plays”, expression relating to manners of the people under the Roman Empire
“ sed quis custodiat ipsos custodes? ”: “but which keeps these guards? ” (XV, 331)
“ Lie sanatorium in corpore sano ”: “a healthy mind in a healthy body” (X, 356)
“ will rara opinion in terris ”: “rare bird on ground” (VI, 165)
“ Vitam impendere vero ”: “To devote its life to the truth” (IV, 91)
“revenge is the pleasure of the weak, narrow and petty hearts” (XIII, 193)
“in Tiberim defluxit Orontes” : “The Oronte flowed in the the Tiber” (III, 62), expression which denounces the drifts of the Roman Syncrétisme.

Random links: