The Invisible Satirist

This title offers a new reading of the Satires of Juvenal, rediscovering the poet as a smart and scathing commentator on the cultural and political world of second-century Rome. The study is unified by the idea of Juvenal as an 'invisible satirist'. Previous studies have focused on the nature of his poetic persona, but this study argues that Juvenal creates no coherent character in his Satires. Rather, the satirist flaunts his ability to disguise his identity, to shift voices and provoke his audience with contradictory perspectives and ideas.