The Satires Of Juvenal Decimus Junis Juvenalis translated by Rolfe Humphries vintage softcover book 1974

Fine condition softcover published by Indiana University Press 1974 In Satires, Juvenal (c. 55-138 AD) creates a fascinating (and immediately familiar) world of fortune-tellers, boozy politicians, slick lawyers, shameless sycophants, ageing flirts and downtrodden teachers. A member of the traditional land-owning class which was rapidly seeing power slip into the hands of dynamic outsiders, he offers equally savage portraits of decadent aristocrats; women interested only in "rough trade" like actors and gladiators; and the jumped-up sons of panders and auctioneers. He constantly compares the corruption of his own generation with their stern upright forebears. And he makes us feel from within the deep humiliation of having to dance attendance on rich but odious patrons.