View source for Persius

{{Short description|Roman poet and satirist (AD 34–62)}}
{{Distinguish|Perseus}}
[[File:Aulus Persius Flaccus.jpeg|thumb|Persius]]
'''Aulus Persius Flaccus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ɜr|ʃ|i|ə|s|,_|ˈ|p|ɜr|ʃ|ə|s}}; 4 December 34{{snd}}24 November 62 AD) was a [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[poet]] and [[satirist]] of [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] origin. In his works, poems and [[satire]], he shows a [[Stoicism|Stoic]] wisdom and a strong criticism for what he considered to be the stylistic abuses of his poetic contemporaries. His works, which became very popular in the [[Middle Ages]], were published after his death by his friend and mentor, the Stoic philosopher [[Lucius Annaeus Cornutus]].

==Life==
According to the ''Life'' contained in the manuscripts, Persius was born into an equestrian family at [[Volterra]] (Volaterrae, in Latin), a small Etruscan city in the province of [[Pisa]], of good stock on both parents' side. When he was six years old he lost his father; his stepfather died a few years later. At the age of twelve Persius came to Rome, where he was taught by [[Quintus Remmius Palaemon|Remmius Palaemon]] and the [[rhetor]] [[Verginius Flavus]]. During the next four years he developed friendships with the [[stoicism|Stoic]] [[Lucius Annaeus Cornutus]], the lyric poet [[Caesius Bassus]] and the poet [[Marcus Annaeus Lucanus|Lucan]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Persius|volume=21|pages=254–255}}</ref> Lucan would become a generous admirer of all Persius wrote. He also became close friends with [[Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus|Thrasea Paetus]], the husband of [[Caecinia Arria|Arria]], a relative of Persius's; over the next ten years Persius and Thrasea Paetus shared many travels together. Later, he met [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], but was not impressed by his genius.

In his boyhood, Persius wrote a [[tragedy]] dealing with an episode in [[Roman history]], and another work, probably on travel (although this would have been before the travels with Thrasea Paetus). Reading the satires of [[Lucilius]] made Persius want to write like him, and he set to work on a book of his own satires. But he wrote seldom and slowly; a premature death (''uitio stomachi'') prevented him from completing the book. He has been described as having "a gentle disposition, girlish modesty and personal beauty", and is said to have lived a life of exemplary devotion towards his mother Fulvia Sisennia, his sister and his aunt. To his mother and sister he left his considerable fortune. Cornutus suppressed all his work except the satires, to which he made some slight alterations before handing it over to Bassus for editing. It proved an immediate success.<ref name="EB1911"/>

===Doubts over his biography===
[[File:Persius.jpg|thumb|left]]
The ''scholia'' add a few details—on what authority is, as generally with such sources, very doubtful. The ''Life'' itself, though not free from the suspicion of interpolation and undoubtedly corrupt and disordered in places, is probably trustworthy. The manuscripts say it came from the commentary of [[Marcus Valerius Probus|Valerius Probus]], no doubt a learned edition of Persius like those of [[Virgil]] and [[Horace]] by this same famous "grammarian" of [[Beirut|Berytus]], the poet's contemporary. The only case in which it seems to conflict with the ''Satires'' ({{lang|la|Saturae}}) themselves is in its statement as to the death of Persius's father. The declaiming of a ''suasoria'' in his presence (Sat. 3.4 sqq.) implies a more mature age than that of six in the performer. But ''pater'' might here mean "stepfather," or Persius may have forgotten his own autobiography, may be simply reproducing one of his models. The mere fact that the ''Life'' and the ''Satires'' agree so closely does not of course prove the authenticity of the former. One of the points of harmony is, however, too subtle for us to believe that a forger evolved it from the works of Persius: the ''Life'' gives the impression of a "bookish" youth, who never strayed far from home and family. This is also the picture drawn by the ''Satires''; many of the characters that Persius creates have the same names as characters found in Horace.<ref name="EB1911"/>

A keen observer of what occurs within his narrow horizon, Persius did not shy away from describing the seamy side of life (cf. e.g. such hints as ''Sat.'' iii.110), especially the relationship between excesses of consumption and moral failure; he shows little of Horace's easy-going acceptance of human weaknesses. Perhaps the sensitive, homebred nature of Persius can also be glimpsed in his frequent references to ridicule, whether of great men by street gamins or of the cultured by [[philistinism|philistines]].<ref name="EB1911"/> [[Montaigne]] mentions Persius several times.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.sup.org/books/theory-and-philosophy/complete-essays-montaigne |title=The Complete Essays of Montaigne {{!}} Stanford University Press |date=1958-06-01 |isbn=978-0-8047-0486-1 |language=en}}</ref>

==Work==
[[File:1693 gravestone in the old kirkyard of St Fergus - geograph.org.uk - 726434.jpg|thumb|17th-century Scottish gravestone with a quote from Persius: ''Vive memor lethi fugit hora'', "Live mindful of death, for time flies."]]
The chief interest of Persius's work lies in its relation to Roman satire in its interpretation of Roman [[Stoicism]], and in its use of the Latin tongue. The influence of Horace on Persius can, in spite of the silence of the ''Life,'' hardly have been less than that of Lucilius. Not only characters, as noted above, but whole phrases, thoughts and situations come directly from him. The resemblance only emphasizes the difference between the caricaturist of Stoicism and its preacher. Persius strikes the highest note that Roman satire reached; in earnestness and moral purpose he rises far superior to the political rancour or good-natured persiflage of his predecessors and the rhetorical indignation of [[Juvenal]]. From him we learn how that philosophy could work on minds that still preserved the depth and purity of the old Roman ''gravitas.'' Some of the parallel passages in the works of Persius and Seneca are very close, and cannot be explained by assuming the use of a common source. Like Seneca, Persius censures the style of the day, and imitates it. Indeed, in some of its worst failings, straining of expression, excess of detail, exaggeration, he outbids Seneca, whilst the obscurity, which makes his little book of not seven hundred lines so difficult to read and is in no way due to great depth of thought, compares poorly with the terse clearness of the ''Epistolae morales''. A curious contrast to this tendency is presented by his free use of "popular" words. As of [[Plato]], so of Persius, we hear that he emulated [[Sophron]]; the authority is a late one (the Byzantine [[John of Lydia|Lydus]], ''De mag.'' I.41), but we can at least recognize in the scene that opens ''Sat.'' 3 kinship with such work as [[Theocritus]]' ''Adoniazusae'' and the ''Mimes'' of [[Herodas]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

Persius's satires are composed in [[hexameter]]s, except for the scazons of the short prologue above referred to. The first satire censures the literary tastes of the day as a reflection of the decadence of the national morals. The theme of Seneca's 114th letter is similar. The description of the recitator and the literary twaddlers after dinner is vividly natural, but an interesting passage which cites specimens of smooth versification and the languishing style is greatly spoiled by the difficulty of appreciating the points involved and indeed of distributing the dialogue (a not uncommon crux in Persius). The remaining satires handle in order (2) the question as to what we may justly ask of the gods (cf. ''[[Second Alcibiades]]''), (3) the importance of having a definite aim in life, (4) the necessity of self-knowledge for public men (cf. Plato's ''[[First Alcibiades]]''), (5) the Stoic doctrine of liberty (introduced by generous allusions to [[Lucius Annaeus Cornutus|Cornutus]]' teaching), and (6) the proper use of money.<ref name="EB1911"/>

The ''Life'' tells us that the ''Satires'' were not left complete; some lines were taken (presumably by Cornutus or Bassus) from the end of the work so that it might be ''quasi finitus.'' This perhaps means that a sentence in which Persius had left a line imperfect, or a paragraph which he had not completed, had to be omitted. The same authority says that Cornutus definitely blacked out an offensive allusion to the emperor's literary taste, and that we owe to him the reading of the manuscripts in Sat. i.121,—"''auriculas asini ''quis non'' (for ''Mida rex'') habet!''" Traces of lack of revision are, however, still visible; cf. e.g. v.176 (sudden transition from ambition to superstition) and vi.37 (where criticism of Greek ''doctores'' has nothing to do with the context). The parallels to passages of Horace and Seneca are recorded in the commentaries: in view of what the ''Life'' says about [[Marcus Annaeus Lucanus|Lucan]], the verbal resemblance of ''Sat.'' iii.3 to ''[[Pharsalia|Phars.]]'' x.163 is interesting. Examples of bold language or metaphor: i.25, ''rupto iecore exierit caprificus,'' 60, ''linguae quantum sitiat canis''; iii.42, ''intus palleat,'' 81, ''silentia rodunt''; v.92, ''ueteres auiae de pulmone reuello.'' Passages like iii.87, 100 sqq. show elaboration carried beyond the rules of good taste. "Popular" words: ''baro'', ''cerdo'', ''ebullire'', ''glutto'', ''lallare'', ''mamma'', ''muttire'', ''obba'', ''palpo'', ''scloppus''. Fine lines, etc., in i.116 sqq., ii.6 sqq., 61 sqq., 73 sqq., iii.39 sqq.<ref name="EB1911"/>

===Authorities===
The manuscripts of Persius fall into two groups, one represented by two of the best of them, the other by that of [[Petrus Pithoeus]], so important for the text of [[Satires of Juvenal|Juvenal]]. Since the publication of [[J. Bieger]]'s ''de Persii cod. pith. recte aestimando'' (Berlin, 1890) the tendency has been to prefer the tradition of the latter.<ref name="EB1911"/>

The first important editions were: (1) with explanatory notes: [[Isaac Casaubon]] (Paris, 1605, enlarged edition by [[Johann Friedrich Dübner]], Leipzig, 1833); [[Otto Jahn]] (with the ''[[scholia]]'' and valuable ''prolegomena,'' Leipzig, 1843); [[John Conington]] (with translation; 3rd ed., Oxford, 1893), etc.; but there are several modern editions.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Editions==
* Hemphill, Samuel (1901) ''The Satires of Persius''. Hodges, Figgis & Co., Ltd.
* Braund, Susanna M. (2004) ''Juvenal and Persius''. Loeb Classical Library. Harvard University Press.

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* Bartsch, Shadi. ''Persius:  A Study in Food, Philosophy, and the Figural.'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015).
* Hooley, D. M. ''The Knotted Thong: Structures of Mimesis in Persius'' (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997). 
* Reckford, Kenneth J. ''Recognizing Persius'' (Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2009) (Martin Classical Lectures).

==External links==
* {{commonscatinline}}
* {{wikisourcelang-inline|la|Scriptor:Aulus Persius Flaccus|Aulus Persius Flaccus}}
* {{wikisourcelang-inline|en|Author:Aulus Persius Flaccus|Aulus Persius Flaccus}}
* {{wikiquote-inline}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=25123}}
* {{Internet Archive author}}
* [http://hos.ou.edu/galleries//02LateAncient/Persius/ Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries] High resolution images of works by Persius in .jpg and .tiff format.
* ''[https://archive.org/details/satirarumlibercu00persuoft Auli Persii Flacci satirarum liber, cum scholiis antiquis]'', [[Otto Jahn]] (ed.), Lipsiae, typis et impensis Breitropfii er Baertelii, 1843.
* ''[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/de_Poetis/Persius*.html The Life of Aulus Persius Flaccus]'' from [[Suetonius]]'s ''De Viris Illustribus''

{{Stoicism}}
{{Etruscans}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Persius Flaccus, Aulus}}
[[Category:34 births]]
[[Category:62 deaths]]
[[Category:1st-century Romans]]
[[Category:1st-century Roman poets]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman satirists]]
[[Category:Silver Age Latin writers]]
[[Category:Etruscans]]
[[Category:Persii]]