Juvenal | |
|---|---|
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| Born | c. 55 AD |
| Died | 128 (aged c. 73) |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Nationality | Roman |
| Genre | Satire |
Decimus Junius Juvenalis (Latin:[ˈdɛkɪmʊsˈjuːniʊsjʊwɛˈnaːlɪs]), known in English asJuvenal (/ˈdʒuːvənəl/JOO-vən-əl;c. 55–128), was aRomanpoet. He is the author of theSatires, a collection of satirical poems. The details of Juvenal's life are unclear, but references in his works to people from the late first and early second centuries AD suggest that he began writing no earlier than that time. One recent scholar argues that his first book was published in 100 or 101.[1] A reference to a political figure dates his fifth and final surviving book to sometime after 127.[2]
Juvenal wrote at least 16 poems in the verse formdactylic hexameter. These poems cover a range of Roman topics. This followsLucilius—the originator of the Roman satire genre, and it fits within a poetic tradition that also includesHorace andPersius. TheSatires are a vital source for the study ofancient Rome from a number of perspectives, although their comic mode of expression makes it problematic to accept the content as strictly factual. At first glance theSatires could be read as a critique of Rome.
Details of the author's life cannot be reconstructed definitively. TheVita Iuvenalis (Life of Juvenal), a biography of the author that became associated with his manuscripts no later than the tenth century, is little more than an extrapolation from theSatires.
Traditional biographies, including theVita Iuvenalis, give us the writer's full name and also tell us that he was either the son, or adopted son, of a richfreedman. He is supposed to have been a pupil ofQuintilian, and to have practiced rhetoric until he was middle-aged, both as amusement and for legal purposes. TheSatires do make frequent and accurate references to the operation of the Roman legal system, which adds credit to him having studied law. His career as a satirist is supposed to have begun at a fairly late stage in his life, possibly by a lack of income in his study of law. TheVita Iuvenalis also states that he was incredibly poor, which is further reinforced by Martial calling him 'a poor dependent cadging from rich men'.
Biographies agree in giving his birthplace as theVolscian town ofAquinum[3] and in allotting to his life a period of exile, which supposedly was due to his insulting an actor who had high levels of court influence – possibly the actorParis, whom he slandered in his 7thSatire. The emperor who banished him wasTrajan orDomitian. A preponderance of the biographies place his exile in Egypt, with the exception of one that opts for Scotland.[4]
Only one of these traditional biographies supplies a date of birth for Juvenal: it gives 55 CE, which most probably is speculation, but accords reasonably well with the rest of the evidence. Other traditions have him surviving for some time past the year ofHadrian's death (138 CE). Some sources place his death in exile, others have him being recalled to Rome (the latter of which is considered more plausible by contemporary scholars). If he was exiled by Domitian, then it is possible that he was one of the political exiles recalled during the brief reign ofNerva.[4]
It is impossible to tell how much of the content of these traditional biographies is fiction and how much is fact. Large parts clearly are mere deduction from Juvenal's writings, but some elements appear more substantial. Juvenal never mentions a period of exile in his life, yet it appears in every extant traditional biography. Many scholars think the idea of his exile to be a later invention, made up to show how much his works offended others. However theSatires do display some knowledge of Egypt and Britain, and it is thought that this gave rise to the tradition that Juvenal was exiled. Others, however—particularlyGilbert Highet—regard the exile as factual, and these scholars also supply a concrete date for the exile: 93 CE until 96, when Nerva became emperor. They argue that a reference to Juvenal in one ofMartial's poems, which is dated to 92, is impossible if, at this stage Juvenal was already in exile, or, had served his time in exile, since in that case, Martial would not have wished to antagonize Domitian by mentioning such apersona non grata as Juvenal. If Juvenal was exiled, he would have lost hispatrimony, and this may explain the consistent descriptions of the life of the client he bemoans in theSatires.
The only other biographical evidence available is a dedicatory inscription said to have been found at Aquinum in the nineteenth century, which consists of the following text:[5]
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Scholars usually are of the opinion that this inscription does not relate to the poet: a military career would not fit well with the pronounced anti-militarism of theSatires and, moreover, the Dalmatian legions do not seem to have existed prior to 166 CE. Therefore, it seems likely that this reference is to a Juvenal who was a later relative of the poet, however, as they both came from Aquinum and were associated with the goddessCeres (the only deity theSatires shows much respect for). If the theory that connects these two Juvenals is correct, then the inscription does show that Juvenal's family was reasonably wealthy, and that, if the poet really was the son of a foreign freedman, then his descendants assimilated into the Roman class structure more quickly than typical.Green thinks it more likely that the tradition of the freedman father is false, and that Juvenal's ancestors had been minor nobility of Roman Italy of relatively ancient descent.[6]
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