Petronius

4.0 credits

Petronius’ Satyrica is a Latin prose work that presents everyday Roman life with vivid colloquialisms and irreverent humour through the story of a wayward young Roman named Encolpius, out to have a good time with his buddies. The main focus of this course will be the Cena Trimalchionis, a section of the Satyrica in which Encolpius attends a lavish banquet at the house of the wealthy formerly enslaved Trimalchio. By reading and translating this satirical narrative, our class will explore the unusual, genre-bending literary qualities of Petronius’ work and will consider its implications for our understanding of Roman slavery and social history more broadly.