Juvenal in Roman Biography

Ju've-nal, [Lat. Jiivena'us ; Fr. Juvenal, zhii'vl'. nil'.j or, more fully, Dec'I-mus Ju'nl-U8 Ju-ve-na'- Us, one of the most celebrated of the Latin satirical pods, is believed to have been born in Aquimim, a Volscian town, about A.r>. 40. But few authentic facts have been preserved respecting his history: it is said, however, that he was the son of a wealthy frecdman, and that he devoted the early part of his life to the study of rhetoric and declamation. He afterwards became a pleader in the courts of law, where he appears to have been successful. He was an intimate friend of the poet Martial, who mentions him in two of his epigrams. None of the productions of Juvenal were given to the public until he had passed the age of sixty years. His poems, which he then recited, gained him universal admiration. One of his earliest satires had been written against an actor named Paris, who was a great favourite with the emperor Domitian. It was not published until the reign of Hadrian, who, imagining that it reflected on one of his own favourites, sent Juvenal into an honourable exile by making him the prefect of a legion in Egypt, where he is said to have died about ah. 125. Sixteen of his satires have been preserved. Several translations of them have been made into English, of which the most prominent are those of Dryden and Gifford. In these satires Juvenal severely lashes the prevailing vices cf his time ; but it may well be doubted whether his vivid pictures of the licentiousness of that age do not tend to fan those very passions which thev seem intended to restrain. He was distinguished for his force of intellect, his flow of language, and his never-failing wit. "Juvenal gives me," says Dryden, "as much pleasure as I can bear. He fully satisfies expectation ; he treats his subject home. . . . When he gives over, 'tis a sign that the subject is exhausted, and that the wit of man can carry it no further." His works, differing equally from the austere moral dialogues of Persius and the genial raillery of Horace, are rhetorical rather than poetical. They are brilliant and sonorous declamations, and master-pieces of denunciation. "Magnificent versification," says Macaulay, "and ingenious combinations rarely harmonize with the expression of deep feeling. In Juvenal and Dryden alone we have the sparkle and the heat together. Those great satirists succeeded in communicating the fervour of their feelings to materials the most incombustible, and kindled the whole mass into a blaze at once dazzling and destructive." (" Essay on Dryden.") Among the best editions of Juvenal is that of Ruperti, (Leipsic, 2 vols., 1801,) to which are prefixed all the ancient documents for the biography of the satirist. See J. V. Francke, " Examen criticum D. J. Juvenalis Vitae," 1S20, and " Programma de Vita D. J. Juvenalis Quesiio altera," 1827 ; Voi.krk, "Juvenal, Lehens- und Charakterbild," 1S51 ; Bauer, " Kritische Bemerkungen iiber einige Nacluichten aus dem Leben Juvenals," 1833 : Bahr, "Gescbichte der Rbmischen Litteratur."