Petronius

Petronius is usually linked with the fragmentary Satyricon, a prose-and-verse work following disreputable wanderers through banquets, sexual adventures, fraud and social display. The Cena Trimalchionis is especially important for its depiction of freedman wealth and performance.

For the site, Petronius belongs in Classical for pages on Roman satire, Nero’s reign, freedmen, dining culture and ancient prose fiction. His work provides a vivid counterweight to elite histories and public political narratives.