A day in the life of Juvenal.

And then many years later.

By Devon Kelly

I’ll tell you how Juvenal became the father of a thing called Satire.Juvenal was born in between the years of 55-60AD in the town of Aquinum, Italy. He died around 127AD at the ages 67-72.

He began his career in the military under Domitian.

He had great hopes for success followed by a political career possibly with a consulship.

Bust of Domitian

Juvenal being masked and bequeathed a laurel.

Aquinum, Italy

His Failure in War and Embitterment in LifeHis career failed, and he became cynical as a result which would be seen in his I-XVI Satires.

He creates his first satire, this satire declaring that court favorites were more likely to receive promotion.

He was then banished to a small town of what was once Syene and now is Aswan, Egypt.

To add onto his banishment, the government took his property.

Modern day Aswan along the Nile

What Juvenal failed to be

Dignitas and Cynicism in a Parallel GrowthWith more fuel to fill the fire Juvenal begins on his Satires.

He writes 16 Satires all pertaining to different subjects. Some about immigration, others about corruption in law, and others about promiscuity among women.

Each satire covers a different aspect of life in which Juvenal felt was threatened or lost because of society. Satires 1,3, and 10.

1 pertains to how it is hard not to write a satire.3 is about immigrationAnd lastly 10 is about how people pray to god for the wrong things.

His Immediate Effect on RomeImmediately after his first satire, he was banished. That is one immediate effect.

A second was that people became inspired to write more Satire, namely Martial who was greatly inspired by Juvenal and spoke highly of him.

A third being people began to question the quality of their government.

A bust of Martial, the man who idolized Juvenal.

His Long Lasting Effects are now even longer!Juvenal did not just leave a short term effect on Rome.

Roman’s remembered his Satires and looked at them to see the problems that they may have been blindly accepting.

His writings gave entertainment to the Roman citizens for many years until the fall of Rome in 476 AD.

A Roman Orator

A look back on his Effects on RomeJuvenal influenced the people to not let the cruelty of the emperor go unchecked.

He provided entertainment at the cost of his citizenship because he was banished along with other writers.

He created a new form of literature called Satire which would then be utilized by other Roman writers such as Martial.

Juvenal in the Modern DayJuvenal being born in 60AD would now be 1952 years old, it’d be incredible if his skeleton was as in good of a condition as the one in the picture.

Many people like satiric shows that would of never been without Juvenal to begin Satire in the first place.

US revolution may of never happened without Juvenal’s witty ways of criticizing the government that can be seen in revolutionary propaganda. Juvenal’s current state

A favorite Satirst of many, John Colbert.

Authors of SatireAlexander Pope was one of the authors who took after Juvenal in writing criticism of government with satire.

Charles Dickens also took slightly after Juvenal, but was more like Martial in the way that his writings were not as severe.

Many other writers were influenced by Juvenal but the previous two were very well known for the satires.

Alexander Pope(He even has Juvenal’s nose!)

Charles Dickens, a well known writer

Satire in current day CultureSatire can be seen in every form of media whether from books, to television and speeches to songs. Satire is seen everywhere.

One previously noted satirist was John Colbert who has a satirical news show where he satirizes politicians and current events.

A movie example would be A Clockwork Orange. The main character satirizes the government in how since he was an experiment, rather than show the cruelties performed on him, he would be given monetary benefits after their experiment had failed

Stephen Colbert, host of the Colbert Report

One of the cruelties suffered in A Clockwork Orange

Juvenal’s Effects SummarizedJuvenal influenced the people of Rome to not be oppressed by their rulers.

Created Satire and entertained the people.

Influenced writers such as Charles Dickens, Alexander Pope and many more.

Influenced the media and it’s use of Satire in many different mediums.

His greatest achievement was his 16 Satires.

THE END!