Biography Essay

The primary evidence for the life of Juvenal is the small amount of information that can be gleaned from the Saturae (Satires) themselves. The first satire relates that Juvenal received the standard Roman school education and performed the rhetorical exercise, the Suasoria, a piece of improvised advice to mythical or historical characters (1.15-16). The third satire suggests that he had some connection with Aquinum (3.318- 320); most likely he had property there. In the eleventh satire he appears to have a place in Rome (11.193-198) and a Tiburtine farm (11.65-69). A passage in the fifteenth satire (15.44-46) implies some sort of knowledge of Egypt, although its nature remains unclear. There is no reason to suppose that the mention of a place in Rome and a farm at Tibur in the eleventh satire implies that Juvenal did not possess these earlier, nor does mention of these properties suggest...