This text is a compact and critically up-to-date introduction to Roman satire. It examines the development of the genre and focuses particularly on the literary and social functionality of satire. The book considers why men of learning and position adopted this "low" mode of expression, why satire was important to the Romans, and why it still matters. Designed for student readers, it presumes no specialized knowledge, yet takes account of the most recent critical approaches.
The text presents each of the major practitioners of verse satire - Horace, Persius, and Juvenal, and their forebear Lucilius - in the context of the social milieux in which they wrote. It includes comparative and intertextual discussion of different satirists, including those of the Menippean tradition.