In this episode, we tackle Juvenal, whose sixteen satires influenced libertines, neoclassicists and early Christian moralists alike. Conservative to a fault, Juvenal’s Satires rails against the rapid expansion and transformation of Roman society in the early principate – immigration, sexual mores and eating habits all come under fire. But where his contemporary Tacitus handled the same material with restraint, Juvenal’s work explodes with vivid and vicious depictions of urban life, including immigration, sexual mores and eating habits. Emily and Tom explore the idiosyncrasies of Juvenal’s verse and its handling in Peter Green’s translation, and how best to parse his over-the-top hostility to everyone and everything.

Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up:

Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq

In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings

Further reading in the LRB:

Remembering Peter Green

https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2024/september/peter-green-1924-2024

Claude Rawson: Blistering Attacks

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v02/n21/claude-rawson/blistering-attacks

Clare Bucknell & Colin Burrow: What is satire?

https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/close-readings/on-satire-what-is-satire

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The Annals, Tacitus’ study of the emperors from Tiberius to Nero, covers some of the most vivid and ruthless episodes in Roman history. A masterclass in political intrigue (and how not to do it), the Annals features mutiny, senatorial backstabbing, wars on the imperial frontiers, political purges and enormous egos. Emily and Tom explore the many ambiguities that make the Annals rewarding, as well as difficult, reading and discuss Tacitus’ knotty style and approach to history.

Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up:

Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq

In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings

Further reading in the LRB:

Mary Beard: Four-Day Caesar

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v26/n02/mary-beard/four-day-caesar

Anthony Grafton: Those Limbs We Admire

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v33/n14/anthony-grafton/those-limbs-we-admire

Shadi Bartsch: Fratricide, Matricide and the Philosopher

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v37/n12/shadi-bartsch/fratricide-matricide-and-the-philosopher

Mark Ford: The Death of Petronius

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v30/n24/mark-ford/the-death-of-petronius

Emily Wilson is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jones is an editor at the London Review of Books.

Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk

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In his prodigious, prolific and very short career, Lucan was at turns championed, disavowed and finally forced into suicide at 25 by the emperor Nero. His only surviving work is Civil War, an account of the bloody and chaotic power struggle between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great. In their first episode on Latin literature’s so-called ‘Silver Age’, Tom and Emily dive into this brutal and unforgiving epic poem. They explore Lucan’s slippery relationship to power, his rhetorical virtuosity and the influence of Stoicism on his worldview.

Non-subscribers will only hear an extract form this episode. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up:

Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq

In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings

Further reading in the LRB:

John Henderson: Dead Eyes and Blank Faces

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v20/n07/john-henderson/dead-eyes-and-blank-faces

Nora Goldschmidt: Pompeian Group Therapy

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n18/nora-goldschmidt/pompeian-group-therapy

Thomas Jones: See you in hell, punk

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v40/n23/thomas-jones/see-you-in-hell-punk

Emily Wilson is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jones is an editor at the London Review of Books.

Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.