(full Latin name, Decimus Junius Juvenalis). Born circa AD. 60 in Aquinum, near Rome; died circa 127 in Egypt. Roman satiric poet.
Juvenal wrote 16 satires in five books; the last satire was left unfinished. The satires of the first three books are stinging denunciations of Roman society, while those of books four and five are more detached soliloquies on moral themes in the manner of Stoicism
Juvenal’s view of the world, presented from the vantage point of the little man, is pessimistic. He writes of the tyranny of emperors and the stupidity of the masses with equal bitterness. His satires are grimly accusatory in tone and characterized by numerous digressions and such striking turns of speech as “bread and circuses.” According to tradition, Juvenal died in exile.