Book description
The Satyricon
is one of the most outrageous and strikingly modern works to have
survived from the ancient world. Most likely written by an advisor of
Nero, it recounts the adventures of Encolpius and his companions as they
travel around Italy, encountering courtesans, priestesses, con men,
brothel-keepers, pompous professors and, above all, Trimalchio, the
nouveau riche
millionaire whose debauched feasting and pretentious vulgarity make him
one of the great comic characters in literature. Estimated to date from
63 - 65 AD, and only surviving in fragments, The Satyricon
nevertheless offers an unmatched satirical portrait of the age of Nero,
in all its excesses and chaos.
