Publisher's Synopsis
This new version from the 1922 edition, translated by W. C. Firebaugh, illustrated by Norman Lindsay (47 plates).Gaius Petronius Arbiter( c. 27 - 66 AD) was a Roman courtier during the reign of Nero. He is generally believed to be the author of the Satyricon, a satirical novel believed to have been written during the Neronian era (54-68 AD).The work is narrated by its central figure, Encolpius, a retired, famous gladiator of the area. The surviving sections of the novel begin with Encolpius traveling with a companion and former lover named Ascyltos, who has joined Encolpius on numerous escapades. Encolpius' slave, Giton, is at his owner's lodging when the story begins.The Satyricon is considered one of the gems of Western literature, and, according to Branham, it is the earliest of its kind in Latin. Petronius mixes together two antithetical genres: the cynic and parodic menippean satire, and the idealizing and sentimental Greek romance.The mixing of these two radically contrasting genres generates the sophisticated humor and ironic tone of Satyricon.
