Persius

Persius or Aulus Persius Flaccus (pûr`shēəs; ôl`əs, flăk`əs), A.D. 34–A.D. 62, Roman satirical poet, b. Etruria. A member of a distinguished family, he went to Rome in boyhood, was educated there, and came under the influence of the Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Cornutus, to whom he became attached in lasting friendship. Gentle and modest by nature, Persius had high moral standards. His writings (only six short satires), influenced in manner by Horace and Lucilius, preach Stoic moral doctrine. He exposed to censure the corruption and folly of contemporary Roman life, contrasting it with the ideals of the Stoics and of earlier Rome. Persius' writing is harsh, obscure, and difficult to translate.

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Persius 

(Aulus Persius Flaccus). Born Dec. 4, 34, in Volater-rae; died Nov. 24, 62, near Rome. Roman poet and satirist.

Persius was in sympathy with the Senate’s opposition to Nero but was not active in public life. The themes of his six satires, published posthumously, are traditional for Stoic philosophy: the necessity of improving morals; education; self-knowledge; true freedom; and the wise use of wealth. The tone of the satires is impassioned and their style artificial. Persius continued the tradition of Horace and himself influenced Juvenal.

EDITIONS

Satirae. Berlin, 1932.

Satirae. Oxford, 1961.

In Russian translation:

Satiry. In Rimskaia satira. Moscow, 1957. (Translated by F. A. Petrovskii.)

REFERENCE

Marmorale, E. V. Persio, 2nd ed. Florence, 1956.