The Satyricon: A Biting Roman Satire of Status, Folly, and Trimalchio’s Feast
The Satyricon: A Biting Roman Satire of Status, Folly, and Trimalchio’s Feast
The Satyricon: Petronius Arbiter’s Ancient Roman Satirical Novel in W. C. Firebaugh’s Translation - Unabridged & Authentic
Ancient Rome at Its Most Savage, Decadent, and Absurd
The Satyricon is one of the strangest surviving works of ancient fiction: a wild Roman mixture of satire, farce, social mockery, literary parody, and outrageous misadventure. Following Encolpius and his companions through a fragmented world of feasts, quarrels, desire, greed, performance, and grotesque excess, Petronius turns Roman society into a brilliant comic spectacle.
What You’ll Experience
- The infamous Dinner of Trimalchio: one of ancient literature’s great scenes of wealth, vulgarity, performance, and absurd social ambition
- A chaotic Roman underworld: lovers, rivals, freedmen, poets, tricksters, parasites, and social climbers collide in comic disorder
- Satire with ancient bite: Petronius mocks pretension, appetite, luxury, education, status, and the foolishness beneath polished society
Perfect for fans of ancient satire, Roman decadence, comic fiction, and classics that expose society through excess and absurdity.
Why Readers Love The Satyricon
Readers love this book because it feels shockingly alive. Petronius does not present Rome as marble, virtue, and solemn history; he gives readers appetite, vulgarity, theatrical wealth, literary games, social performance, and people constantly chasing status. That raw comic energy is what keeps the work strange, vivid, and unforgettable.
Sneak Peek
"The exquisite Trimalchio, who keeps a clock and a liveried bugler in his dining-room, so that he can tell, instantly, how much of his life has run out!"
Edition Features
- Authentic Text: Complete W. C. Firebaugh translation, unabridged
- Reader-Friendly: Clean formatting designed for focused, extended reading
- Quality Build: Matte cover with cream paper
Ready to enter one of the wildest, sharpest, and most unforgettable works of ancient Roman fiction?
Title Details
- Title: The Satyricon
- Author: Petronius Arbiter
- Translator: W. C. Firebaugh
- Original composition: late 1st century AD
- Genre: Ancient Roman Fiction, Satire, Classical Literature
- Edition: Unabridged & authentic text