author
Persius
A sharp, thoughtful Roman satirist, this first-century poet turned a small body of work into a lasting voice of moral criticism. His six satires blend Stoic seriousness with biting humor about vanity, bad writing, and self-deception.
2 Audiobooks
The Satires of Juvenal, Persius, Sulpicia, and Lucilius Literally translated into English prose, with notes, chronological tables, arguments, &c.
by Juvenal, Gaius Lucilius, Persius, Sulpicia
The Satires of A. Persius Flaccus
by Persius
About the author
Born Aulus Persius Flaccus in Volaterrae in Etruria on December 4, 34 CE, Persius came from a well-off family and was educated in Rome. He became closely associated with the Stoic teacher Lucius Annaeus Cornutus, and Stoic ideas shaped both his outlook and his poetry.
Persius is known for six Latin satires, written in a dense, allusive style that later readers often found challenging. Unlike satire that aims mainly for entertainment, his poems press moral questions: how people flatter themselves, misuse language, chase status, and ignore the harder work of living honestly.
He died young, on November 24, 62 CE, but his reputation endured. Ancient and later readers valued him for giving Roman satire a serious ethical edge, and his brief body of work has kept him in view as one of the notable satirists of imperial Rome.